#one of those instances where it's like i have no desire to argue with people online really

[autumnrory]

losing it at a post that popped up on my facebook memories where i was basically saying women know more about what's misogynistic than men do bc women are the ones experience it and this guy wrote a fucking essay on there about doing his best and whatever shit and i'm just like why the fuck did he feel the need to do that sjkdfks

[queenaeducan]

In Defense of Spirits

Or, alternatively:

I. Introduction

Spirits are one of my favourite parts of the Dragon Age lore, but they didn't start that way! Initially with Origins the various demons I fought I considered little more than cannon fodder, enemies put in my way to cut down so I could move on with my mission. With the introduction of Justice in Awakening and Dragon Age II coupled with Merrill’s alternate perspective also introduced in the latter, my feelings about them started to change. Solas and Cole crack those feelings wide open come Inquisition, and when replaying the games I found myself questioning the motivations of encounters with people I once considered one-note enemies.

I wanted to compile a list of these alternate readings of the various spirits we meet throughout the series, starting first with Origins. I'll be detailing some common themes and, where it’s appropriate, to defend their actions. This list is not comprehensive as there are some encounters I don’t consider significant or interesting enough to mention, although if someone’s curious about a particular spirit I’m happy to oblige. For the purposes of clarity, if I use the word “spirit” I am still referring to all denizens of the Fade, whether they call themselves Pride or Compassion. I may use the word “demon,” as a treat.

The purpose of this retrospective is to reflect upon the motivations of the spirits we kill through the series and how I think Bioware successfully created a world where, in this instance, we were sucked into their preconceived biases regarding spirits. And hopefully to make you feel as bad as I do when I’m forced to kill spirits who probably are better people than my player characters. I am also not arguing that everything I put forth here was intended by the writers. I have the reach and flexibility to pull out threads they didn’t expect me to.

Finally, this won’t be an exhaustive examination. There are a lot of spirits and some don’t invite discussion on my part.

II. Analytical Lens

There are several recurring themes that will crop up when I’m recontextualising the motivations of the spirits throughout the series. We’ll be going over these in detail as we talk about individual spirits, but for now:

The Veil is a construct. There was initially no barrier stopping them from moving back and forth freely, and in many ways their desire to manifest physically outside the Fade is a natural inclination. The problem being that going there and back again isn’t as easy as it once was.

They don’t understand this world. Again, I think the presence of the Veil exacerbates this. Time and again we see spirits who do have enough will to manifest safely have difficulty adjusting. 

Trying to help hurts. Spirits can’t sicken with Blight or the common cold (that we know of), but intense emotions or cruel intentions can twist them from their purposes. Those who reach out in the honest urge to help may find themselves burned, sometimes through no fault of either party.

Their design encourages dehumanisation. For lack of a better word, considering this is a land of elves, dwarves, qunari, and so on. Many of the spirits we’re asked to empathise with are humanoid, with those we are at odds with being more likely to be monstrous or animal in design, making it easier to justify why we need to choose violence.

III. Dragon Age: Origins

Mouse

Mouse is among the first spirit players will meet in Dragon Age, depending on whether or not they play the Mage origin or not. Narratively he is meant to introduce the player to the role spirits often play in the lives of mages, that is to say: an evil that is not always self-evident. He tells a sympathetic lie, presents himself as someone who was once in a position like the protagonist currently is, and wants to make sure they don’t end up like him, only for it to be revealed that the entire reason he’s there is to possess them. At least, nominally that’s his role. A second pass at Mouse’s actions does raise questions as to his true intentions.

Throughout the test Mouse encourages two things within the protagonist: their self-worth and their questioning of the ritual. The former makes sense, he is ultimately revealed to be a spirit of Pride and so to stoke the protagonist’s own pride may inflate their confidence to a point where they can’t see the potential harm in dealing with him. Still, in a society where magic is feared and mages prisoners, there is something radical in encouraging that in someone. Especially when paired with remarks Mouse makes where he questions the logic of the Harrowing itself:

“It isn’t right they do this, the Templars. Not to you, me, anyone.”

This is one of the first things he says to you, and is one of the first pieces of Circle critical rhetoric in the entire series. From the perspective of the protagonist at the time, it would seem he’s referring only to apprentices, but is he? Spirits are drawn into the Harrowing as much as mages, ostensibly willingly with the promise of a body to possess, but we see in rituals such as the one that drew Wisdom into the world that the Circle isn’t above shackling spirits into doing their bidding, be it as a means of protection or garnering information. Once inside, they’re subject to the will of the apprentice, who have been taught to fear and mistrust the Fade since they were first brought to the Circle. So is Mouse expressing bitterness about the situation of the apprentices, or is he looking at the situation as being equally unfair to all involved?

Furthermore, what’s most interesting about Mouse is he never actually tries to possess you. He makes some requests, which Surana or Amell can’t agree to, but even if you avoid catching onto his game for as long as you can it never goes farther than that. He reveals himself as the final test and before the Harrowing ends he dispenses the to-be Warden a warning:

“Simple killing is a warrior’s job. The real dangers of the Fade are preconceptions, careless trust… pride. Keep your wits about you, mage. True tests never end.”

A piece of wisdom, if you will.

I don’t believe Mouse ever truly intended to possess you, although it’s impossible to tell if he truly would or not without the ability to agree to his bargain. He gives up the game too quickly, with the Warden only needing to vaguely doubt his story before he reveals it. By following the Warden through their Harrowing he helps them successfully bargain with spirits like Valor and Sloth and safely introduces the idea that not everything here is as it seems. Rather than being purely a Pride demon, I think Mouse is a spirit of Wisdom influenced by the Warden’s preconceptions towards what some might call the darker aspect of the values he represents. 

While I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that Mouse was exactly what we’re led to believe, nevertheless I believe it probable that spirits aren’t always gleeful participants in the Harrowing and that the rite is damaging to them as well as the apprentice mages.

Desire

We go now to another spirit from the Circle, specifically the Desire demon we meet in the Broken Circle quest. When we come across her she’s possessed a Templar and letting him live out a fantasy of having a wife and children. When the Warden and their party come across her, she argues that she’s giving him what he wants and doesn’t see the harm in it. Upon my first playthrough I took this as a lie and killed her, although it was difficult not feeling bad, as from the perspective of the enthralled Templar he died defending his family from bandits. To him the Warden was unequivocally the bad guy, and it’s tragic thinking about what his final thoughts might have been.

As for Desire herself, I think there’s an argument to be made that she simply didn’t see a difference between her making a life for herself and the Templar all within his head and a physical, lived life. We see in Inquisition especially, where we talk to more spirits, that the nature of the physical world is as alien to them as the Fade is to mortals. Command wonders out loud why the rocks do not move at her command, and Cole asks Varric to talk to his shoelaces for him because they “don’t listen to him.” They existed in a world where will mattered more and where dreams were real, so it stands to reason that to Desire there is no discernable difference between giving him what he wants for real and dreaming it.

Interestingly, you can choose to let them both go, and we get no indication of where they go from the Circle. Leliana also approves because she thinks what counts is that he’s happy. Personally I don’t feel there’s a right option in this quest as either leaves the Templar in a tragic spot, but I do think the Desire demon’s motivations aren’t as evil or manipulative as they seemed on my first playthrough.

Lady of the Forest

The Lady is perhaps the first spirit in the series given a more complicated character than “spirit good, demon bad.” We have Valor in the mage origin, Wynne’s spirit of Faith, etc, but they aren’t given much characterisation and their benevolent nature is taken as a matter of fact. We have a biased introduction to her, we see the damage she has done to Zathrian’s clan and hear his side of the story. We go into the forest to carve the heart from her chest.

But when the time comes to actually speak with her, his bias and deception is plain. She has all the trappings of a demon: summoned at a point of great tragedy, as a tool of vengeance, enacting a literal curse upon Zathrian’s enemies. Yet now she is an advocate for non-violent solutions, only compelled to violence by desperation (she sent letters but Zathrian left her on read) or by the player’s encouragement (potentially). I do think this was an end she worked towards, and didn’t come by naturally, saying to the Warden at one point:

“Then the time has come to… set our rage aside. I apologise on Swiftrunner’s behalf. He struggles with his nature.”

While she is speaking of Swiftrunnher, given she is the curse’s origin, I think the same could be said of her nature (as it is her curse). Zathrian implies much the same, saying to her:

“Your nature compels it, as does mine.”

I think it’s very likely that had we encountered the Lady those hundred years ago when she was first made, she would have been to our eyes a demon, rather than the semi-benevolent force of nature she appears as in-game. Interestingly, her outward nature doesn’t change if she is compelled to kill the Dalish. She isn’t thrilled, but neither is her nature twisted. She’s pretty quick to move on, afterwards. Of the major spirits in DA:O, I do think she is an outlier in the series. Killing her is the bad option, especially when a mutually beneficial solution is forced upon you. She also has a stronger presence of mind than many of the other spirits, perhaps accounting to her age and the fact that she is tethered to the world through not only Zathrian but her ‘followers.’ It’s fitting that the Dalish quest is the one where a spirit is presented not only sympathetically, but (as far as I can tell) exclusively referred to as a spirit whether they are doing right or wrong.

Rage

We meet many Rage demons in Origins, and throughout the series, but the spirit I’m referring to are the ones we meet in the Alienage’s orphanage. The recent site of a massacre, the orphanage is now home to a spirit of Rage who attacks those who enter. Rage, I thought, was a curious choice, when Despair and Terror exist. Although the fact that they probably didn’t want to make a new spirit model for this one sidequest would probably explain it on a development level, but then I wondered— whose rage?

The spirits don’t seem to embody the rage of the people who massacred the orphanage, or even the rage of the victims. They tell the Warden and Ser Otto that they “do not belong here” and one is furious that the party has killed “my brood.” I think the presence of the spirits here is indicative of how helpful or benevolent spirits can be twisted by the horrors of our world, that they were drawn by the misery of what happened at the orphanage and upon witnessing it they became enraged. They are ultimately protecting nothing, just an empty building that’s probably best torn down or cleared out, or whatever the elves of Denerim’s Alienage decide they need to properly mourn. Yet as we walk through the building the screams of children still play around us, it’s still happening for its current residents.

In the final encounter of the quest, the Rage demon targets and kills Ser Otto (assuming those mabari you encounter like two minutes in don’t get him first, like they do for me every time if I’m not paying attention) first out of your entire party. It makes sense, although his motivation was pure, he is representative of the human justice that allows horrors like this, and what’s more— how many orphans were taken from the orphanage’s midst by people wearing armour just like his, never to return?

The rage demons had every right to be angry, even if their anger manifested in a harmful way. The tragedy is that, outside of Denerim’s Alienage, most people weren’t.

IV. Other

These are spirits whose roles I don’t have much to say about, for one reason or another.

Kitty. I don’t have much to say about Kitty, who as a reminder is the spirit held captive in the basement of Wilhelm, the former master of Shale. Given Kitty can agree to not possess Amalia, content simply to be free of the basement, and then doubles back on that promise once you complete the puzzle, I don’t have the highest opinion of Kitty. However, can I do want to point out that Wilhelm held Kitty captive in his basement for decades for his research. Research which, by the way, was to find ways to prevent mages from becoming possessed. A little ironic that he essentially possessed a spirit to do so. I want to point this out only because I think it highlights how spirits are casually used by people and at no point do we stop and wonder what decades of being locked up in a basement outside of their intended realm of existence might do to someone, even a metaphysical someone.

Herren. The merchant and life partner of the blacksmith Wade, who may have made your Warden some nice armour from all those endangered dragons they killed. In the Darkspawn Chronicles Herren is fought— as a desire demon. Gaider says this is not canon, but he doesn’t even go here anymore, so instead I’d like to put forth the idea that Herren is a desire demon taken physical form who lives out his existence peacefully (if somewhat grumpily) with his eccentric husband. I have no evidence of this being a fact, in fact I have the opposite of evidence, but I like my version better, so.

The Grand Oak. I think everyone with a modicum of taste likes this guy, but I do think he's an interesting lens to look at how spirits in Elvhenan might have lived. I like to think all of them had a period where they just vibed as a tree for a hundred years or so.

[whitexwolfxx310]

I Love You In Every Universe

Pairing: Bucky x female reader

Summary: Trying to mend your relationship with Bucky is going so painfully slow. And then it's not.

Warnings: Spicy content! 18+ only! Cursing, oral sex MTF, penetration, praise kink, small amount of submissive kink, and I think that's all?

Word Count: 3428

A/Ns: I needed to write a total smut post. Those seem to be pretty popular haha. We have Baker Bucky! I got a few requests for that! Anyway, enjoy! I'll continue the storyline in my next post!

Previous Part

Masterlist

Finding out that your brother is not only alive, but that he is the new face of Hydra, is one of the biggest twists that fate could spit out. After the terrifying realization that occurred in your office, you’ve been thrown into countless meetings and conferences where you were probed for information on Luke that wasn’t already disclosed in his military files.

Steve and Tony had constant questions and concerns about the situation. They felt that maybe Luke would try and reach out or maybe there was some hidden information that you would somehow be privy to. But it had been two years since everyone thought that he was long dead.

The tension in The Compound rose. Your job got put into question, certain people wondering why you would even apply to intern here in the first place. Are you a double agent? Finding and leaking information to Hydra from within? Your morals had never once been questioned until now.

Bucky was the only one who didn’t make the whole situation feel like an interrogation. He remained supportive, being the person to suggest you take time to recollect yourself when it became too much. The only one who didn’t have questions but was always silently there in the corner watching and listening, taking every bit of information in.

A task force was assigned to try and track Luke, in hope of him not being too far gone. It had been done with Bucky, could it be done with your brother as well? You were also chosen for this mission, which did not go over well with Bucky. Him and Tony had argued over using yourself as bait to draw him out. In the end, it was your decision, and you would chose to go.

Even with the stress of the current situation, you used Bucky as a welcomed distraction. Leaning on one another as you both grasped onto your undeniable tethered connection. There was still a long road to recovery for both Bucky and your relationship. But he did his damndest to make you feel as though you weren’t under constant surveillance (at least from him). When the daily brainstorming sessions were over, you both avoided the topic of Luke. It was still difficult to process the concept that he was still alive. It just didn’t seem real.

Taking things slow with Bucky has always been an understatement. A part of him is apprehensive, more so now than ever. There has been close to no physical contact. You truly don't know everything that he went through overseas, but it was apparent that he was still working his way through it. You had your 'boyfriend' back. Yet in a sense, you didn't. And still, his presence still left the same, if not more, desire in it's wake.

Bucky was given his own apartment within The Compound for the time being. Although there was nothing to be 'afraid' of, everyone, except yourself, felt that it was necessary to slowly ease back into his routines and not just cannonball into the deep end.

Spending time together had always been your favorite thing. But now, it was like everything was exciting and new once again. The two of you were dealing with the 'holes' Bruce had warned you about- and the dark cloud of your brother hanging over both of your heads. These said ‘holes’ were more along the lines of not remembering how you take your coffee and other small instances. He remembers you, and most of the time that you had shared.

You filled the limited free time in your days together with simplistic dates and doing things that he really took interest in. Going to the gym together, long drives with the windows down listening to music playing, but most of all... Bucky loved being in the kitchen. It was as if he had a new found passion for cooking and baking-something simplistic to lose himself in. But he wouldn't share that pastime with anyone else, feeling like he may be judged. Although, you had no complaints. There was no shortage on baked goods and even homemade bread from scratch.

Bucky is in the kitchen, covered in flour and chocolate. The clear evidence of him indulging in his guilty pleasure.

"Mmm. These are seriously the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had." You mumble.

You didn't want to be rude by talking with your mouth full, but he eagerly watched, awaiting your reaction to his creation of the day.

"Really!?" He asks, excitedly.

Nodding your head and smiling, you go to take another bite of the cookie. Since it is still warm from recently coming out of the oven, it partially breaks- melty chocolate all over your face and hands.

There's a moment of silence- you and Bucky are looking at one another until his nose scrunches and he starts hysterically laughing. A sweet sound that I have missed for so long. It's contagious. The next thing you know, you're both laughing to the point of just wheezing. Your cheeks hurt, the place where your abs once were before he entered the baking scene, hurt. It wasn't even that funny, just one of those simplistic moments where you get to fully be yourselves. A core memory.

"You're a hot mess," Bucky says, trying to compose himself by fighting through the laughter. His cheeks are burning red. The harder he tries to subdue the laughing, the more he fails. "Come here..." He reaches for a dish towel, dampening it under the faucet of the sink before taking a few steps closer.

You abruptly stop laughing, taking in how suddenly close in proximity he is to you. Aside from the hello/goodbye awkward hugs that you look forward to just being in his arms for a moment- this is rediscovering old territory.

Your mouth opens slightly as you hold your breath, awaiting to see what he does next. Covering his thumb with the cloth, he ever so gently wipes chocolate off of your bottom lip. His eyes fasten their grip with your own, occasionally breaking contact to look down at your lips.

Kiss me. Your inner conscious is screaming, begging and pleading for him to make a move. To just be wrapped up in all that is him- to let go of the past few months and just be yourselves. You can feel your chest instinctively move closer to his- which is rising and falling deeply. Bucky's mouth opens slightly as he takes in a shuddering breath.

Yes... His eyes are now solely focused on your mouth. You impulsively bite your bottom lip, willing it into the universe for his lips to be on yours. You're met with glacier blue eyes, now looking deep within yours. You cannot help but look up at Bucky with pleading, desire filled eyes.

Please.

"I-" He starts. Time is standing still as you hang onto what he will say. "I...um-" He breaks the eye contact as he takes a step back. "I have to clean this kitchen. My OCD is getting the better of me." He nervously chuckles once.

"Oh." There is no hiding your disappointment.

Bucky grabs a nearby plate full of the cookies that he had just made.

"Here...some for you to take home." He offers, sounding hopeful that you’ll accept.

He's kicking me out. Point taken.

"Oh, okay. Well, thanks. I'll see you tomorrow?" You can only focus on the plate that he handed you, trying to hide the humiliation. Not even waiting for a response, you quickly dash out of his apartment.

Breaking into a full sprint in the hallway, your back at your own residence. Quickly shutting the door behind you and laying your back flat against it, your mind starts racing.

We will never get back to the way we were. Giving him time and space isn't enough. Maybe after all he has been through, he has moved past this relationship? Past me? But I love him. I promised I'd wait...but is he just prolonging the inevitable? Will my brother become the new thing to try and get between us? I can't just let him go... I can't. He needs to know.

In that moment you dropped the plate; The shattering muffled slightly from the softness of the cookies. You didn't care. Turning around to open the door and run back to his living quarters- professing your love and need like some girl in a romcom you would make fun of.

You swing open the door, about to dart out when you smack into something. Someone.

"Oh, sorry I-....Bucky?" Shocked is an understatement.

He's standing at your door with an anxious look on his face- still covered in flour.

"I-..." He starts. Your heart is pounding- the sound of your heartbeat swooshing in your ears.

"Fuck it." Bucky breathes as he takes a step forward. Cupping both sides of your face, hungrily pressing his lips into yours.

Immediately you liquify into the kiss. His lips taste sweet- the remanence from his all day baking. Your arms interlock behind his neck as he steps forward- pushing you backwards into your apartment without his lips leaving yours.

It doesn't matter that you clumsily stumble behind, Bucky keeps you steady by holding each side of your waist while sustaining the kiss. Once through the doorway, he uses the back of his boot to loudly kick the door closed- not caring who might see or hear.

Guiding you against the wall of the hallway, Bucky reaches behind his neck and grabs your hands to pin them on the surface above your head, his metal hand still on your hip. The assertive motion causes a chain reaction- a small whimper from your throat echoes into his mouth. Being held firmly in place, your hips hungerly try to buck up into his body, greedily needing every point of physical contact possible.

His lips break away, but only for a moment as they move down to your neck. His tongue grazes, teeth nip occasionally through the soft suction noises his mouth leaves behind. You know that you'll be marked in just a matter of time. But it is his public claim on you that you'll proudly wear.

While keeping your hands pinned against the wall, Bucky's free hand starts to explore your body; painfully gentle he traces along your side, the bottom of your stomach, between your breasts, etc. But he's being cautious. He knows how to manhandle you and this is not it. Call it selfish, but after a total of 2 months of not being with him, you want aggressive Bucky.

"Bucky..." You breathe. The sound of his name makes him stop.

His body leans more into yours- touching chest to chest, which is growing more difficult due to the heavy breathing. Pressing his forehead into yours, his vision still focused on the trail of red blotches he's left behind.

"Hmm?" He answers as he adjusts his posture slightly so that his thigh is now between your legs. If you pressed your hips down the tiniest bit against him, the evidence of just how desperate you are for him would be all over his leg.

"Don't hold back." You say softly, but confidently. Bucky's eyes blaze to yours with a look of exhilaration dancing across them.

"Don't worry..." His voice is deep, husky.

The hand that he was using to pin your arms above your head lets go- letting it gradually slip down to your jawline. He hooks your chin between his thumb and pointer finger, encouraging you to turn your head. Bucky leans in, his breath hot against your cheek.

"I'll take care of you." It comes out low, from the back of his throat. The throbbing between your legs starts to become fierce. In addition, his tongue presses flat to your cheek, licking the side of your face just once.

Using one prompt motion, Bucky is now carrying you bridal style. His lips rashly press back to yours. Even with your eyes closed, you can feel the gentle sway of him walking- the sound of his footsteps pressing down into the floor.

He sits you on the edge of the bed, getting down on his knees and hooking each of his pointer fingers into the waistband of your jeans to start shimmying them down. Lifting your feet barely off the floor to get your pants the rest of the way off, Bucky discards them and encourages you to lay back on the bed.

Still on his knees, Bucky leans in and places one velvety soft kiss on the inside of your thigh. The lack of touch for months has left you on a whole new level of sensitive. A low moan in the form of a hum reverberates in your throat. The warm air resulting from a tiny snort from him already making your legs twitch.

Hitching your knees over his shoulders, the tips of his fingers gently caress the inside of your thighs. It's almost painful how good it feels. Taking his warm pointer finger he swipes once in the middle of your folds- above the panties.

"You're already so wet for me. What a good girl." Bucky purrs.

I'm about to get absolutely fucking wrecked.

Your eyes roll back and close as your back arches, gripping the bedsheets already feeling like a volcano about to erupt just from Bucky's heated breath.

*Thwap*

The slight sting in the groin takes you by surprise. Propping yourself on your elbows, you look down to Bucky with confusion. He's gazing into your eyes and a playful smile.

"I want you to look at me." His voice is still smoky and deep.

Being so hyper focused on everything he was doing, including looking up at you from between your legs, you wouldn't even need to be touched to lose control at this point. Even just the thought of his body covering yours is sending cold shudders of ice down your spine.

Without warning, he shoves the back of your thighs so that your head is between your knees. Now kneeling on the bed, he holds you in place, leaving yourself completely exposed; propped up right to his face, occupied with a content and cunning grin.

Fuck.

With locked eyes, Bucky focuses on your face as his mouth simply presses directly on you. Allowing for you to have a small moment before he starts to work his magic. You gasp at the connection; your knees going weak as you grip onto the bedsheets underneath you.

'I want you to look at me.' His voice rings in your head. It takes every molecule in your body to hold his gaze with his head between your thighs, but you do. Just like the obedient woman that you are for him. His ridged tongue sweeps over your labia as a form of slow and delicious torture. The licking over your sensitive skin causes you to whimper- Bucky looks at you through hooded eyes as he makes a few small reverberating sounds in his throat as approval.

Moaning, you can't help but grind your hips against his face. It feels incredible. He feels incredible. The leisurely, steady, sensual motions tell you that he's enjoying this as much as you are. You're practically coming off of the bed, but Bucky holds you in place as you start panting- the sounds coming from your breath are pleading, begging for that outer body, earthshattering orgasm.

"Please," You sigh, as your hand digs and grips tightly into his hair; knowing full well that it's slightly painful but don't care. Your quiet request is received as his tongue swirls around the entrance of your core. Once, twice, three times and then you come apart.

Unsure if you are screaming his name, thrashing against him, or whatever else, as you can only see stars in the moment. There is no room for any sort of coherent thought. Spent and exhausted are an understatement as Bucky lifts his head- His eyes practically glowing as he licked the lips of his sinfully wet mouth.

"I love it when you squirm," it comes out as a purr.

He carefully lays you back down before crawling over your body like a panther, his hips pressed in and down against your own. You're pleased to find that he is already naked from the waist down, raring to go.

Bucky's hand tenderly grazes your cheek as your chest still heavily rises and falls. It isn't long until your fingertips are dragging across the hot, soft skin of his chest. His hips settle between yours and you instinctively lock a leg around them. You can feel him press against your entrance, wanting, needing to be inside of you. Now you're lasered focused on him as you wait for that sharp breath as he pushes himself in and his eyes practically roll back in his head.

"I want you to look at me," You think to yourself and completely understand the fascination in that moment.

Beginning to press inch by precious, thick inch, you're grateful for the remanence of your orgasm which helps to ease his way inside. "Fuck," he breathes out as he looks downward to watch himself enter. You smirk to yourself knowing just how tight you are and can feel your walls contracting around him, a silent invitation to bring his enormous length in deeper. Once Bucky was fully inside, down to the base, his eyelids fluttered shut for a moment as he took in the sensation. Once they opened, his gaze was sealed on yours.

Taking in a deep breath in unison, he waits as you become accustomed to stretching around him. His hips wriggle the tiniest bit before he pulls back and shallowly thrusts in once; The sound escaping from his lips makes every single nerve ending in your body light up. You suck in a sharp breath as he finds his rhythm, his pubic bone teasing your clit with every push. The smallest adjustment and he is now inclined so that each ridge can brush against your g-spot with every stroke. Forward and back. Forward and back.

Bucky almost growls as you claw at his back and practically scream in pleasure. Your lips mesh against his bicep, stifling your moans ever so slightly. You come again. And again. He relentlessly keeps the same pace, your body shuddering under his to the point that your mouth is wide open but no noise is coming out. You start to feel the familiar pulsing inside you, filling you. It's warm; a few degrees hotter than his body pressed against yours. His fingers dig into your hips as he thrusts harder, coming over and over again, (which you didn't even think was possible).

He collapses on top of you like a weighted blanket as he tries to level his breathing. Bucky's body continues to tremble against yours. A moment later he shifts his weight to lay next to you. Placing a kiss against your temple, Bucky pulls you in close against him; The coolness from his metal arm almost bites at the beads of sweat across your skin. The familiarity of his body spooning into yours is so comforting that you drift to sleep.

During the night you stir, reaching for Bucky on the other side of the bed to only be met with cold sheets. He's gone. Your heart drops to your stomach as you sit up, holding the blanket up to your chest to cover yourself as you stare at the emptiness beside you.

Maybe it was too fast.

Something catches your attention out of your peripheral vision. You quickly look to the corner of your room, which is especially dark for the time of night. You squint, seeing something- But unable to make out what it is. Though, your stomach jumps in excitement.

"Bucky?" You ask, sounding almost too hopeful. As your eyes adjust to the bold darkness, you can see his silhouette in the corner. But he doesn't move. It doesn't even look like he's breathing. He sits so completely still that it's... terrifying.

"Bucky...?" Calling his name softly, you realize that this might be one of those moments you had been warned about. Your mind is racing and blank at the same time as you reach for scenarios and resolutions- but come up with nothing.

Until...

You clear your throat softly, pulling yourself into a sitting fetal position. Why of all things this came to mind, you have no idea. You're hoping, praying that you are wrong. You cringe as the word slips out.

"Soldat?"

"Ya gotov otvechet." Ready to comply.

Fuck.

@peaches1958 @aquabrie @elsie-bells @pono-pura-vida @redbloodedgurl @almosttoopizza @beware-my-thorns @prettylittlepluviophile @annoyinglythoughtfuldestiny @calwitch @ozwriterchick @roofwitty779 @lessersole @lil-darhk @agoddoesnotplead @saranghaey @floralwsloki @erinallene @fafafalafel @mrsvxder @elizabeth916 @winterassisin84 @cjand10

[rnsk-kousatsu]

On Cherubimon's evolution

One thing that people often don’t realize about Shuuji, despite it being fairly obvious from the beginning of the game, is how easily influenced he is by those around him. Although he seems stubborn on the outside (at least initially), he’s actually quick to yield to external pressure and bend to others’ wills. You could argue that, initially, he only kept giving in because he kept getting outnumbered. However, this tendency to relent to others is still apparent even in the Truthful route, where he’s no longer pressured by numbers the way he was during the beginning. For instance, when he suggested moving in order from the shrine with the strongest barrier, Aoi objected, insisting they should start with the weakest one instead, and they ended up following Aoi’s suggestion. This shows that he hasn’t fully shaken his habit of giving in to others even when he’s outgrown his other early game traits.

Part of why I think this behavior remains in Shuuji is because of the way he was raised by his father. While it’s true that Shuuji — very much like Aoi — has a strong sense of responsibility, I believe this sense duty also comes from his need to meet the expectations others have of him. His urge to fulfill these expectations seems to be driven by a desire to be accepted, as his father has made him believe that living up to these expectations is the only way to gain approval. In short, he constantly seeks external validation by repressing how he truly feels and following through what other wants.

Cherubimon’s evolution scenario seems to address this persistent trait of his and attempts to make him grow out of it even if just a little. Due to the simplistic scenario presented in it (much like any other affinity-based evolution scene in Survive), perhaps not many notice it’s meant for that. However, ever since the first time I watched it play out, I’ve been intrigued by how this line by Cherubimon is worded:

“シュウジが責任感だけじゃなく、自分の中に見つけた『正しさ』を信じたから、ボクにも力が湧いたんだ”

This line (very literally) translates to “I was able to find strength because you (Shuuji) didn’t just rely on your sense of responsibility; you also believed in the ‘rightness’ you found within yourself.” Something to note is that I couldn’t quite come up with an appropriate word to translate “正しさ”, but we’ll get back to this later. English localization has it translated to “Believing not only in your duty, but in your own righteousness, you filled me with strength,” which isn’t wrong per se (it’s correct and it flows more naturally than the very literal translation I’ve come up with, in fact), but translating “正しさ” as “righteousness” in this context doesn’t really click in my opinion. Let me finally explain why.

While translating “正しさ” as “righteousness” isn’t necessarily wrong, “righteousness” often has a stronger moral or ethical connotation, implying a judgment of moral superiority or adherence to a strict set of principles. For me, this feels too heavy or “formal” in the context where Shuuji is simply discovering and trusting his own sense of what is right rather than claiming a broader moral high ground, which I believe is the case here. It’s probably why it’s written in quotes (『正しさ』), perhaps implying subjectivity since it comes internally from Shuuji’s own judgment.

Now, to connect my interpretation of what “正しさ” means with what I said earlier before about the line intriguing me: the line makes it seem like Shuuji’s sense of responsibility/duty (責任感) isn’t necessarily the same thing with what Shuuji believes to be right. The way Cherubimon puts it implies that duty is external, and this new thing that Shuuji discovers comes from within and it’s what has triggered the evolution. In other words, Shuuji finally finds it in himself to just follow what his heart believes without getting too concerned about what others think of it, instead of constantly focusing on fulfilling duties and obligations in response to external expectations, which is represented by his strong sense of responsibility.

The dialogue that comes after that line drives home the point even further too — Shuuji wonders if what Cherubimon calls his “rightness” is just his ego talking (the Japanese word used for this is literally also “ego”/“エゴ”). Instead of saying he’s wrong for thinking about it like that, Cherubimon reassures him that he doesn’t care whether his “rightness” is driven by his ego or his selfish desires (身勝手), because to him, it still holds value if it can be shared with and understood by others. Essentially, Cherubimon is saying that Shuuji’s own personal beliefs or actions are valid as long as they resonate with someone else, making them his form of justice or righteousness (as a note: “正義” usually translates to “justice” in English, but I think this is where the word “righteousness” would be appropriate to use). He wants Shuuji to realize that personal motivations can still lead to something meaningful and just when they connect with others. I personally find how this is incorporated in Cherubimon’s evolution beautiful — it’s in the way  Shuuji finally allows himself to embrace his personal beliefs after struggling with trusting his own heart (since it’s been long overshadowed with his need to meet the expectations imposed on him), and by doing so, he doesn’t just empower himself, but also enables Lopmon to reach his final stage of evolution.

Note: Something else I noticed just now, even if not very relevant to this writeup, is that Cherubimon uses the pronoun boku/ボク in that particular line, which is inconsistent with the pronoun he usually uses (watashi/ワタシ). I wonder why that is, but I figure it’s simply just a slip-up.

[mywitchyblog]

@shiftmaxxer

masterlist

In response to your post:

Thank you for your thoughtful contribution. It’s refreshing to engage in a counter-argument and have meaningful discussions that don’t devolve into insults or death threats. This kind of respectful dialogue is what allows for growth and understanding, even when we don’t see eye to eye.

Part 1: Clarifying Intent and Addressing Misrepresentation

First and foremost, it seems there may have been some misunderstandings regarding the purpose of my original post and the intentions behind it. I understand that you’re critiquing my previous rant, which I admit was written in a heated moment. In hindsight, I recognize that I should have taken the time to calm down before writing, as it might have conveyed my thoughts more clearly and without the emotional charge.

You mentioned, and I quote: "Calling other people of color 'pathetic' for what I believe to be perfectly understandable reactions to race-changing is reductive." I want to clarify that this was not my intention at all. The individuals I labeled as "pathetic" were those who, unlike you, resort to insults and threats, using logical fallacies as their only arguments—arguments that aren’t even valid to begin with.

The only other instance where I used the word "pathetic" in that post was in reference to certain white individuals who oppose race-changing without providing proper arguments. Here’s the passage in question: "As a person of color, this issue is especially relevant to me, yet the opposition I see frequently comes from individuals who don’t share my lived experiences—often white people who have no stake in the matter, telling me what I should or shouldn’t do. They’ll throw around terms like 'DNI,' 'I don't wanna argue with you,' 'if you support race-changing, block me,' or brand me as a bad person without engaging in any meaningful dialogue. It proves that they are cowards, pathetic, and that their claims hold no weight and reek of insecurity."

This quote is crucial because it explains why I referred to these individuals as insecure and pathetic: they immediately resort to name-calling without providing proper explanations. The "bad person" I referenced is someone who attacks me with labels like "racist" or even "pedophile"—terms that have nothing to do with the actual debate at hand. This is an example of a Strawman Fallacy because it misrepresents my argument by suggesting I called all POC "pathetic," which wasn’t the case. My criticism was aimed specifically at those who rely on insults and threats rather than valid arguments.

Part 2: Addressing Claims of Hostility and Spite

You also pointed out that I "completely dismiss any opposing arguments, calling it 'close-minded.'" Yes, I agree—logical fallacies and insults are indeed close-minded arguments. The only counter-argument I had is the one I mentioned earlier; feel free to check it out. So yes, I called it close-minded because that’s exactly what it is. Furthermore, accusing me of writing with ChatGPT is an Ad Hominem Fallacy, which targets my character rather than engaging with the substance of my arguments.

Regarding your statement: "You've stated yourself that you argue in a way to 'spite' people who oppose your opinion." Let me clarify—spite plays a dual role in my approach. On one hand, I genuinely want to uplift and educate people, sharing knowledge and perspectives that can help others grow and expand their understanding. On the other hand, there’s a part of me that’s driven by a desire to challenge and provoke—to make people think harder and question the status quo. Sometimes, that means making people uncomfortable or challenging their deeply held beliefs, especially when those beliefs are rooted in ignorance or prejudice. It’s about making them confront their biases to the point where their limited thinking is forced to evolve—or at the very least, be exposed.

And yes, I will not budge on the point that ad hominem attacks, threats, and insults are not acceptable forms of argumentation. They don’t contribute to meaningful discourse, and they certainly don’t challenge or strengthen any position.

You mentioned that my tone "is hostile and full of what I see as 'conversation enders' (you argue in a way that shuts down discourse rather than encourages it)." I apologize if my tone came across that way; it was not intended to be hostile. In the future, I’ll make an effort to use better disclaimers and perhaps even include tone tags to ensure that my intent is clear. My aim was never to shut down conversation but to challenge the status quo and encourage intelligent debate, free of ad hominem attacks—much like the approach you’ve taken in your response.

Part 3: Hypocrisy and Nuance in Race-Changing Discussions

You also raised the point that I’m "hypocritical for disregarding the value of people's hurt and frustrations and calling it a desire to be 'empathetic.'" This is not the case. In my essay, I acknowledged that there’s a fine line between empathy and the potential for fetishization, romanticization, and even racism if not handled carefully. For example, I specifically stated that "race-changing in reality shifting can serve as a unique and valuable tool for promoting intercultural understanding, challenging racial prejudices, and fostering a more empathetic and inclusive society" when done thoughtfully and ethically (Essay, Part I). If I were truly disregarding these concerns, I wouldn’t have included the parts of my essay where I emphasized the importance of treading lightly and being considerate.

Initially, I planned to argue that race-changing was entirely okay and not disrespectful at all. However, as I continued writing, I recognized the need to include those critical nuances—because nothing in this world is black and white. Consequently, I changed the direction of my essay to reflect this, and I quote myself: "By maintaining this careful balance, race-changing in reality shifting can serve as a unique and valuable tool for promoting intercultural understanding, challenging racial prejudices, and fostering a more empathetic and inclusive society. As with any powerful tool, its value lies not in the practice itself, but in how we choose to use it."

Originally, I might have said something like "Race-changing is okay and a good thing," but instead, I concluded, "Race-changing can be a good thing, but we need to be careful not to be disrespectful, as we have a duty and responsibility."

Part 4: Loaded Questions and Hasty Generalizations

You asked: "You would rather shift to be another race to 'understand' a race than engage with their media, their lived, documented experiences, or talk to others about their experiences? Are others' experiences meaningless to you unless you physically ARE them? If you lack that amount of empathy that you have to become another race, I don't think empathy was ever in the cards for you." I’m not sure if you’re addressing me directly here, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.

As for me, I never stated or implied that in my previous posts. Moreover, asserting that race-changers shift to another race because the experiences of POC are meaningless to them, ergo they never had any empathy to begin with, is a Hasty Generalization Fallacy. Additionally, the framing of the question is a Loaded Question Fallacy because it presumes a lot about my intentions without evidence, and frames the question in a way that makes any answer seem incriminating. It's an unfair setup.

In my essay, I made it clear that "shifting allows for experiencing life through different perspectives which can be enlightening as fuck" (Essay, Part I). The goal is not to dismiss or undermine anyone’s experiences but to gain a deeper understanding through direct experience in another reality, which is a legitimate and complex method of exploring identity and empathy.

Part 5: The Complexity of Reality Shifting and Allegory in Fiction

You also wrote: "For people from the racial identities being appropriated, witnessing individuals casually adopt and discard their race can be distressing. It can feel as though their experiences and struggles are being reduced to mere fantasy elements rather than being respected and understood. This disregard can contribute to feelings of marginalization and invalidate the real-life challenges faced by those of different races."

I completely agree with you that this can be distressing, and I cannot invalidate your feelings—you are entitled to them. However, I must disagree with the notion that race-changing "invalidates the real-life challenges" faced by those of different races, simply because in the context of reality shifting, the line between "real" and "fake" life blurs. If you meant "OR," then I retract my disagreement.

However, to suggest that some race-changers do this with the intention of causing this effect on POC is reductive. As a POC myself, if someone were to tell me they shifted to a reality where they are the same race as I am and then shared their experiences of discrimination, I would feel a sense of joy that they finally understand my pain—rather than dismissing it in this reality with statements like "Oh, come on, you’re exaggerating," or "It’s not so bad after all." Like, why don’t you walk in my shoes before saying that? Oh wait, they did, and now they get it.

You stated: "Being black and being a 'werewolf' aren't comparable in any version of reality. To trivialize a lived experience of an inconceivable number of people (because remember, this is the multiverse) is extremely bold." I have never trivialized or reduced the pain of other POC or marginalized communities. I merely pointed out that they share some similarities in that they are perceived as monstrous, discriminated against, and persecuted. The difference, of course, is that one is considered fictional in this reality, and the other is not.

It is you who is being bold by claiming they have nothing in common. Consider that some writers create fictional races as allegories for what marginalized communities face in our world. A prime example is the Na’vi from Avatar. James Cameron, the director of Avatar, explicitly stated: "Avatar very pointedly made reference to the colonial period in the Americas, with all its conflict and bloodshed between the military aggressors from Europe and the indigenous peoples. Europe equals Earth. The Native Americans are the Na'vi. It's not meant to be subtle."

In this context, someone shifting to be a Na’vi could be seen as analogous to race-changing to be a Native American, only with a superficial, fantastical layer added on top—a "pink bow" if you will. While the Na’vi might be fictional, their creation is deeply rooted in the real experiences and histories of Native Americans, particularly their suffering at the hands of colonial forces. The narratives of exploitation, resistance, and survival embodied by the Na’vi are direct reflections of those faced by Indigenous peoples.

Thus, shifting to become a Na’vi in a desired reality is not just adopting a fictional identity but engaging with the complex and painful history that the Na’vi represent. Whether or not the person shifting acknowledges this connection, the allegory remains. The act of shifting to a race that is explicitly crafted as a stand-in for a real marginalized group comes with inherent implications, making it far more than a mere fantasy element.

Therefore, equating the Na'vi with werewolves, and dismissing the deeper connections between these fictional and real marginalized groups, misses the point entirely. The comparison trivializes the intent behind these allegories, reducing complex social and historical narratives to mere fantasy. It's not bold to recognize these connections—it's simply understanding the truth of how fiction often reflects reality.

Part 6: Logical Fallacies and the Nature of Empathy

Regarding your statement: "Discrediting one's lived experiences (ergo, attacking their credibility) is not just questioning the validity of their personal story; it's denying the nuanced realities that intertwine us as people. If you can do that so easily, how can you become better and more understanding from rcta alone?" If I were discrediting my fellow POC’s experiences, I wouldn’t have brought a nuanced perspective to the subject. I acknowledged that it’s a topic that requires careful handling and that it’s not black and white, even though I tried to simplify it but couldn’t.

However, your assertion that "It won’t fix or better your empathy because you already lack it from the way you react to those who don’t agree with the practice" is an Ad Hominem Fallacy. You’re attacking my character without providing evidence to support your claim that I lack empathy.

In my essay, I discussed how "morals and ethics are not universal constants but are shaped by cultural, temporal, and situational factors" (Essay, Part I). This underscores the importance of understanding that empathy and moral considerations can vary greatly depending on the context and the reality in which they are applied.

Part 7: Nuanced Perspectives and False Dichotomy

Finally, I want to emphasize that it’s okay to feel offended by those who race-change. I won’t dictate your feelings—you are entitled to them. But you also need to acknowledge that not everything is black and white; not everyone who engages in race-changing does so to invalidate or trivialize the lives and experiences of other people of color.

You said: "But refusing to be accountable for the real reasons you race change (and why at least 50% of us shift) is disingenuous." If I were truly being disingenuous, as you claim, why would I have written in my essay that the issue is nuanced? By acknowledging the fact that we must tread lightly and be careful, I’ve already implicitly stated that those people exist. If I didn’t acknowledge that fact, I wouldn’t have discussed it at all.

You also mentioned: "There is no morality play. People don’t shift races to 'grow' or just because they're 'curious'. You make such an (understandably) loaded and controversial topic more innocent and sweet than it is." Let me stop you right there. I do not make a controversial topic more innocent and sweet than it is—I made it more nuanced.

Stating that race-changing is inherently bad is a False Dichotomy Fallacy; it reduces the topic to two simplistic notions when there are other perspectives. I acknowledge that some POC may be offended by it. But they must also acknowledge that not everyone who engages in race-changing does so to trivialize their experiences—quite the opposite.

How many POC (myself included) have been so sick and tired of having people dismiss our pain, wanting them to understand instead of diminishing it? I can’t recall the number of times I wanted those people to walk a mile in my shoes just to see what it feels like. And with shifting, they can.

Part 8: Conclusion and Invitation for Further Discussion

You concluded with: "It makes you someone who can't and won't make room for those who feel invalidated by those who race-change frivolously." So, what do you propose we should do? I specifically said in my post that we shouldn’t be frivolous about it—that we have a responsibility and a duty when engaging in such practices. And yes, I admit that saying "DNI," or "block me if you support race-changing," may have been too much, but when those same people are the ones who insult and threaten me, I cannot be blamed for making such assumptions about them.

To conclude, I really enjoyed your respectful perspective on the subject. However, stating that people who race-change immediately do it for disrespectful reasons is simply wrong. You should understand that nothing in Reality Shifting is purely good or bad, black or white; it is a spectrum of gray.

I’m also quite curious to hear your stance on bi/multiracial shifters who choose to change or "suppress" one of their races.

Ergo i have to refute those arguments, it was delightful to debate with you.

I wish you good luck and success in your shifting journey

Kind regards,

Luno

[amysubmits]

Have you ever found yourself in a heated argument with your dominant partner? If so, how do you navigate this situation, especially when rules might be involved? For instance, if you accidentally lash out or swear during an argument, what would be the protocol? Additionally, what's your perspective on swearing in general within the dynamic? Is it acceptable as long as it's not directed at the dominant partner? Lastly, if one partner struggles with quitting smoking despite efforts, is it fair to enforce a no-smoking rule with potential consequences, or how else could this challenge be addressed within the relationship?

Sorry for the delay on this, I forgot about it until another ask came in that made me check my inbox on here. I have childhood trauma that basically caused me to get detached from the 'fight' trauma response. I have a really hard time getting myself to feel primary anger for similar reasons. When others are heated (even strangers) it causes me to shut down and fawn (the trauma response). So, I've never really gotten into a back-and-forth heated argument. The most I've ever done before 'shutting down' is about 3 snips. For example, I snip at him, he snips back, I snip again and then shut down if he snips back. We've never had an argument get more heated than that as I just shut down and freeze or fawn. In general, I think the questions you're asking are totally dependent on the relationship and what has been agreed to. In my opinion, if you're anywhere close to arguing, you should be in a "meta-talk" meaning you are not seeing the sub as having less authority in that particular conversation. Some couples have a policy where someone has to announce or request a meta-talk, others will just say if we're talking about certain topics (including our dynamic) then those conversations are being had as equals in authority regardless of whether we've specifically announced or requested a meta-talk or not.

What's your perspective on swearing in general within the dynamic? We are small town midwestern people who were raised by rednecks. My family is made up of a lot of truckers, factory workers, etc and they swear a lot. I remember being shocked as a kid when I got old enough to realize that "mother fucker" and "cock sucker" had more meaning than I had realized when I was little (which was to basically just think they were made-up words that mean something similar to 'damn it')...but I knew those terms for YEARS before I was old enough to know anything about sex. I don't use the more crude phrases like that (at least not with any regularity), but CD doesn't care if I swear. It's just normal to us for adults to swear in casual settings. so, swearing has never been involved in our dynamic in any way. I wouldn't want to swear AT him in a disrespectful way (like calling him names or insulting him) but that's just about respect it's not specific to swearing or not.

Lastly, if one partner struggles with quitting smoking despite efforts, is it fair to enforce a no-smoking rule with potential consequences, or how else could this challenge be addressed within the relationship?

I personally think it's best to avoid using D/s to try to resolve addiction issues or mental health issues. Smoking is certainly an addiction, often physically AND emotionally. I would not suggest addressing it with consequences as that's likely to add in guilt which can just make the situation even heavier emotionally than it already is. If you're going to do anything with it D/s wise, perhaps some sort of reward system for when they are doing well, or supporting them with alternative coping methods. For example, if they know that they have a spike of desire to smoke when they feel stressed, you could implement some sort of routine for what they do when they notice their stress spiking, like texting you to let you know that they're in need of emotional support and encouragement or something.

[horizon-verizon]

The truth is out of the bag: I hate Jon Snow, it seems.

I remember distinctly saying that I didn't hate hate the guy, but I guess I was unconvincing when I expressed I didn't think Jonerys (the ship) was lasting and/or possible in canon and beceause of what Dany would have to go through to keep Jon versus Jon endangering her possible hold on power for being Rhaegar's bastard son.

What exaclty do you think makes Jon exactly like Rhaegar in personality, experience, psychological development, values, purpose, etc.? Dany like Lyanna? Because they are leaders for the "people", ful stop? Without stipulating that their similarity comes with different conditions, goals, philosophies, etc., that's almost like saying that bec Dany and Cersei are both queens, they can be near perfectly made out to be very similar people! Even the exact same sort! Could not be farther from the case.

I also never argued that Lyanna was "a means to Rhaegar's end". Espe because I call bullshit on the idea that he sought her out merely for the prophecy and needed a third child! I am not one of those who agrees with that theory. Not sure where you got that impression if you actually read anything I wrote about Rhaegar and Lyanna!

The argument above is an ad hominem, a logical fallacy where the person attacks the arguer's perceived or real identity and/or actions not havign to do with the argument topic or the arguemnts at hand, but meant to discredit the person and/or distract them and the possible audience to derail the conversation. Attacking character. Within it is also a strawman argument as the person has tried to make make as if I was ever judging Jon through his parents...very strange. The purpose is to transpose their own feelings about Rhaegar, transmute it as the topic, and use the "objectivity" of Rhaegar's deplorability to argue that my favor towards Rhaelays says somethign about me. Funny enough, this commentator did not bring up my arguments for why I argue Rhaegar was not the devil incarnate, but they do not care because that would mess up their aim--to discredit my rationality and throww some possile doubt on their own. If this was in an ask or a oublic thred, but thei was a DM, so I think they wanted to stir some doubt in me & shame silence into me.

but let's get back to this section:

You want the last legacy of a girl who risks her son's life to disappear. It's misogyny. What you're so excited about for Daenerys? Why do you do it with the son of a woman? What they did to Daenerys with Rhaego? Please stop belittling Lyanna and Jon because you're not a fan of Lyanna.

There's so many assumptions being made here.

First - The principal assumption here is that I am "belittling" Lyanna when I say that Jon is not politically safe enough a possible royal consort for Dany, one of the very few and only Queen regnants that have ever existed as she is capable of becoming and is currently being!

You want the last legacy of a girl who risks her son's life to disappear.

"Last legacy" implies the only one that gives any strong and valuable meaning to the woman/girl. IF you are talking about Lyanna, [3rd point below], she didn't do that. Doesn't work for Dany either. So who? If Lyanna, Jon is supposedly her only legacy (that matters or that you could detect and speculate), and I think that this is rather a sexist reading on your part as it assumes Lyanna only has Jon as an "accomplishment". Why? Because Jon is that badass so it stands to reason that Lyanna's "sacrifice" was necessary for his rise? Does this sound like it's in close proximity to another possible instance of the trope of a woman used--and worse killed off--for a male character's development in fiction? Same for Dany, except feministly, she lives and her son dies (without her desire but it happens) is accidentally used in part of a process that leads to her "birthing" dragons back to the world. In your schema of badass-Jon, a woman is narratively sacrificed for the man to be badass. This is not the case for Dany whatsoever!!! You should rather be the one NOT throwing a woman's importance to the bin! Truly, what was the connection here? Either way, any "legacy" that Jon would inherit from Lyanna would be tainted by his bastardry sociopolitically/in-world. It only matters differently to fans, as in-world, it'd be more a revisiitng of a scandal that led to a war if there had been no Long Night to face, which then would really be all about Jon's efforts and legacy, not Lyanna's! As of now in the books, Jon has more "legacy" or an inheritanc eof such from Ned, not Lyanna...bc of the whole thing being a secret still!

Feminism is not "a womans' son will give meaning to a woman's death & being". Feminism says "I spit on the whole thing, and maybe, in fact, I will reverse it and let the woman thrive."

There's a another sub-assumption about the world needing Jon more than they need Dany even thought you mention Dany as somehow disrepected by me precisely because you talk more about your dislike of me "hating" Jon, when I say what I say for Dany's interests alone. You don't seem to like that Dany could and should be separated in one's considerations of characterization and roles and development or narrative importance. To you, I think that Dany only matters bc Jon exists to give her meaning and a role and to make her actions in Essos have purpose instead of Dany's journey being a potential solo saga in itself about questioning rulers and subverting gender and sexuality! If you took Jon out, Dany's story--as it already has--would enthrall enough people to be a cultural phenomenon and she already is the most popular character of this series if you see the stats or had eyes. For goodness, sakes, her story ALONE won GRRM his Hugo award! I am not biased--look it up, these are the facts.

What does Dany's queenship have anything to do with Lyanna and Lyanna's death other than "granting" her a bastard nephew who shouldn't be a real political threat but is bc of this sexist world and the Dance's precedent and the Blackfyre Rebellion's example (sexism and xenophobia/racism-ableism)?

Why does it seem that the validity and very existence of Dany's queenship is narratively, socially, etc dependent on Jon's political success? As if she must needs be subservient to Jon to have any success in Westeros or to maintain any shred of power and credibility elsewhere? that we should look to her looking to Jon for an endured reign for herself when the text has given time and time again Dany is more than capable of ruling by herself and needs no "co ruler"...that a male "co ruler" is actually dangerous (Hizdhar) bc of how muc societies (that Dany will rule but still have to deal with local authorities there with their own rules, histories, etc. that she'd navigate as she does in Meereen) allow/credit men over any female relative or partner?! Whether the man is "nice" or not--was never about that and it's inconsequential to how the SYSTEM set against Dany anyway.

Second - How the hell do Dany's and Lyanna's "legacies" match"?! Lyanna is already dead while Dany is actively and currently doing stuff that only adds to what her leagcy would be after she dies!

Even if you manage to argue well for anything abt Lyanna's death to bring Jon into the world being Rhaegar just using her for her womb then informing the audience about Dany...Rhaego is DEAD, Dany is the one who lived! Nothing that happens to your version of Lyanna is going to happen to Dany and vice versa of Jon-Rhaego!

What in the world makes you believe that what we can relate and equate noble-privileged-even-she-is-a-teen-girl-Lyanna's decision to run off with Rhaegar to what Dany being sold (thus against her will) to Drogo and becoming a bridal slave?! Was Lyanna sold into sexual slavery by her own brother for an army in threat of mass r*pe if she didn't "comply"? Is Lyanna a queen now? How does what happens to Rhaego relate in anyway to HOW Dany's child was murdered for you to be comparing Rhaego to jon Snow, a bastard more privileged than most who, unlike Rhaego, got to grow into an "adult" (quotes bc he is one in his society and most of the world and that matters bc he gets to acquire a certain sort of authority because of it, esp as a man)?!

Obviously the assumption being made is that Rhaegar raped Lyanna and/or stole her away from her family or people against her will. The text gives SO MANY clues as to how this is just false. i already argued why and how in my earlier posts and reblogs of others sayign the same under "rhaeyla" or "lyanna and rhaegar"--tags in my blog. Since I reject this assumption and until you or others bring something that actually addresses what I argued, there's really no point in me addressing this assumption from you that is the foundation of your accusations other than:

Rhaegar and Lyanna were not tragic bc Rhaegar raped her or kidnapped her; they are tragic literally Romeo and Juliet styl;e where the love was impossible for their families' AND their individual sociopolitcal positions and they had no time/space afforded to them to be able to be totally fulfilled even if they had never met each other--critiques of whether a man and a girl could AND should be written as a love story to "teach" readers that such relationships are okay in real life is a different matter altogether [see bullet 3], and you don't have to like it, but you should not be denyign facts of story like how many green stans do with the whole Jaehaera v Daenaera bullcrap

you seem to like to waste my and others' time to feel smart

don't like this? Take it up w/GRRM. There is such thing as Watsonian readings of canon and Doylist readings of why the writer wrote what they wrote. I speak of what the story is telling its readers

Third- When did Lyanna "risk" Jon's life? Lyanna laid in the Tower of Joy for almost the entire war, pregnant with Jon, what "risk" is she putting fetus-Jon through? We can't even say Dany does that w/Rhaego bc SHE DIDN'T KNOW THAT MIRRI WAS GOING TO USE RHAEGO'S LIFE FOR DROGO'S!!! You make as if there's a possibility that this is true. So who are you talking about?!

Fourth - Somehow, I don't like Lyanna.

Person, this is the only girl of the Dead Ladies Club I care about and adore, partly bec she doesn't really fit even though she's definitely dead and her death fosters Jon's character (Knight of the Laughing Tree). Yeah, she and Rhaegar are a package deal narratively....Elia does not stand as a character without being Rhaegar's wife, though? And I don't like characters simply bc they are victims and happen to not be able to do nothing for themselves wehether they are partially to blame for that or not at all. And Lyanna, unlike Elia, is a packaged deal w/Rhaega bc from them comes. It's not fair to Elia that she is married to Rhaegar bc Aerys essentially wanted to make his own son less popular (Westerosi xenophobia against Dornishmen) and she grew sicker and bd bound in her gendered "duty" to provide him heirs...or that their marriage was not one Rhaegar would have chosen for himself. But sexism. Part of the point and something that negatively impacts Lyanna as well, NOT fans' insistence of "hating" or truly hating Jon!

Perhaps there is a racial bias against Elia on GRRM's part that makes him put a horrible fate on a darker skinned woman, even though Elia is NOT PoC in the way we think of PoC or what we are familiar with. In fact, she's a "white" woman who is not "white" like Italians and Irish people were at one point in the U.S. But all that would be on GRRM and a Doylist reading, NOT a Watsonian/in-text/story one!

And side note & jic, no Lyanna and Rhaegar's relationship was not one that made Jon legitimate or socially recognized as one bc Rhaegar did not contest polygamy against the Faith of Westeros after the Targs implicitly gave that up for the sake of peaceably marrying themselves in the Doctrine of Exceptionalism. Maegor may not have either, but he managed to dispel of his opposers to the marriages and thus they are "real". rhaegar, if he had married Lyanna, could not do anything like other the doctrine or killing off his foes, so Jon IS a bastard regardless.

[l0stfoster]

butterfly anon yet again, bc why have I just finally processed something…to speak in memes once more, imagine the megamind ‘no bitches’ meme but instead its ‘more death designs?!’

the potential…..symbolism…..

(I’m such a nerd this is ridiculous how excited I am for metaphor potential)

aNyway, in the death design post I noticed Johnny refers to Death as she, so (as you’ve said death is they / them) was this just retconning/change of mind, or did Johnny not know/perceived death more feminine? (Coughmotherissuescough)

also, even though that post said Johnny’s perception changes, would his be the most accurate? (As Death can mess w/ his death tingle (take that Peter tingle) does that potentially mean Johnny sees Death how they desire to be perceived?

WOAH WAIT HOLD THE DING DANG PHONE

DOTS HAVE BEEN CONNECTED

wait I can’t find the post I might have made this up, dots unconnected thrown in incinerator

Moving on to similar dots, Paul’s ancestor, curse creator, would they not have met death? Wait wait would there have been a discussion? Cause like Death big powerful and this witch just made big curse? Is this in relation to why Death is featureless for Paul?????

(Paul anon if you have thoughts pls join in theorizing, Paul is your blorbo you probably know more)

I love watching you realize things it's so awesome I noticed that Johnny refers to Death as she, so (as you’ve said, death is they/them) was this just retconning/change of mind, or did Johnny not know/perceive death as more feminine? (Coughmotherissuescough)

- Although I personally use they/them when referring to Death, I do feel that they can be referred to with, quite literally anything! It's a matter of a person's own perception, and I also felt like it was better to use a proper set of pronouns for Death rather than calling them it, which takes some of the human nature out of them. I also didn't want to use she/her or he/him at the time because that might make people automatically gender Death as male or female. They're beyond gender, that's a whole-ass borderline god. - Death uses any/all pronouns, call them whatever you'd like! I do they/them for writing's sake; since switching up actively might confuse people. - Johnny usually uses she/her for Death, it's mostly the mother issues. In this AU his mother's the one who 'killed' him, hence his meeting Death.

Also, even though that post said Johnny’s perception changes, would his be the most accurate? Does that potentially mean Johnny sees Death how they desire to be perceived?

- You could argue that Johnny holds the most accurate perception of Death, yes, as the first time they appeared to him was the form they specifically chose to appear to him in. (Novva made a comic for it, but Death appeared very motherly to him) - His perception of Death usually abides by that, but sometimes they're more masculine, or sometimes they don't have identifiable features. Sometimes they're just a void of darkness; something that can surround him and provide a sense of security when he really needs it. He sees Death in his dreams on occasion, so there are multiple instances where she'll change.

Moving on to similar dots, Paul’s ancestor, the curse creator, would they not have met death? Wait wait would there have been a discussion? Cause like Death, big powerful, and this witch just made big curse? Is this in relation to why Death is featureless for Paul?????

- You're pretty close!! The Witch did meet Death once, yes; likely at the end of their life. Usually, you only meet Death when you're in limbo, but I think they can choose to change that. There wasn't much discussion; Death absolutely thought the curse was overkill (we discussed the idea that maybe the witches' partner was killed and the curse was set as a kind of revenge, but it's not canon right now) and unnecessarily made things so much more difficult,, but then Death claimed Johnny, and suddenly they knew the lengths a person would go for those they love. - Death is featureless for Paul because he's never truly thought of them as anything; save for the obvious association of butterflies with her. Once he starts to associate Death with Johnny, Death would likey to change to hold some of his features as well; similar to the way that Dally views Death.

[leohtttbriar]

one day i'll make a whole obnoxious powerpoint (with the checkerboard transition effects obvs) that's a thematic comparison/contrast-ion between jadzia dax and odo and what they mean but for now i'm thinking again about "children of time" and the way odo and dax were framed as like the only possible actors in a impossible-to-act situation. it was odo or dax, who would let the potential closed-loop lives of a colony of people be rendered materially forgotten. and the more i think about it the more convinced i am that, actually, dax wouldn't have ever chosen differently. it had to be odo.

they're refracted versions of the other---defined by a multiplicity, which they understand and handle in different ways. where dax (who has been accused of frivolity the whole season by her upright buddy worf) can't see beyond the agony of her own selfishness, odo just does. he does what he thinks he is obligated to do based on his own individually-mandated moral rectitude. he is solipsistic in the way all of the changelings are for they can be anything and are also all each other and that is certain. but he loves kira, who is similar but solipsistically fastened to the world, thru a faith in fate, so he can just...selfishly act in a way she couldn't. and tbh the morality of the selfishness is up for grabs, too, bc kira "selflessly" choosing to die is also a condemnation for everyone else so like. odo's lawful/strict-desire sure does help them out of jam. and dax isn't about to step on anyone even if perhaps there should be some stepping. she is "conviction-less." but.

in a way. the show argues, while not really making the argument, that: dax's mistake is sourced in its own obligations. what's the point of anything if you're not going to risk it for sweet victory-biscuit? to risk something to get the details on some (potentially smart) maybe-fungus? to take a magic-carpet ride? to extract the dino-dna from the amber? to be curious? is that not also a carefully considered rectitude? is that not a justice--that, if one has the power to witness what exists, however weird, however potentially useless, then they possess a simple fealty, sworn to lord universe, as vassals made up of sensory powers, to continue witnessing? like "this planet is here and is therefore interesting and i seek glory thru it yay" and now she is presented with lives upon lives who absolutely need her--who existentially need her perpetual attention. as her curiosity dooms, her own version of personal law chooses for her too: odo and kira are sure of their own minds. dax is sure of everything else outside herself (or within herself but within a worm--the boundaries are fuzzy) and swears to it, quite a lot.

so like. where odo and dax agree about the value of a proto-universe, they disagree here. odo is like: "thou shall not kill. it is written." so he can just. unwrite a reality that is utterly dependent upon those that are not children of time, but freely moving amongst it. citizens, for instance, of the real. he breaks nothing bc the kira-dying reality is what is broken to begin with. also he's like. super in love. and dax is like: "phenomena! there it is! things that exist! in my hands and my choices, phenomena! you can't make me be god about it :(" and then her future self which is still technically her tries to be god about it and then ultimately doesn't. so.

what's really funny about all this is later when odo is fully on board with kira just throwing herself off a cliff bc of "fate," dax is in the background with miles coming up with scientific eviction papers for super-dimensional aliens. odo just accepts a law in contradiction to his own (he is large!) and dax is like "what even do we have to do with this" and "i think living is a lot more attractive." bc. the point is. they are foils.

[lilithfairen]

How to accuse a work of "wish fulfillment" because it isn't about telling women they need to stay in the kitchen~

I'm going to delve deeper into this pathetic screed the loser head mod of /r/RWBYcritics wrote, because it's so very telling about the way RWBY "critics" view stories that don't blame women for everything~

Let's see, just off the top of my head in instances where characters in Team RWBY were depicted as "wrong" in any way:

Ruby overburdening herself as "the leader".

Weiss not understanding her brother is the result of the same upbringing she went through.

Blake being a member of an extremist group, then abandoning her friends after the fall of Beacon.

Yang's overreliance on letting loose with her Semblance.

Just a few examples, off the top of my head, because the protagonists of this show have a thing called "character development". It's this funny thing where, when a character of a story has flaws, they often work to address or grow out of these flaws. So it's not that RWBY has never depicted Team RWBY as being wrong, it's that RWBY doesn't always depict Team RWBY as being wrong that pisses off this loser.

So it's "wish fulfillment" to have a story where...characters suffer defeat and tragedy, but rather than wallowing in their loss and suffering, they rally themselves and return to the fray, determined to fight for those they love?

I can see that sort of thing being a form of "wish fulfillment" for people who've experienced trauma and depression, in that stories that tell such people that Things Get Better can be invaluable to them. All the more so when these stories feature characters that those people can identify more closely with, perhaps because of gender or sexuality. But I can see the idea of disparagingly referring to such as "wish fulfillment" for the sort of people who don't believe anyone but strong and confident white men can handle such a burden.

Was Ruby told that she was "perfect"? Nope, the specific word was "enough". Ruby felt like she couldn't live up to the burden of leading the fight against Salem, only to be reassured that it would be as much a burden on anyone else's shoulders. This is an interesting thing, because our angry white guy writing this conflates a story saying a woman isn't a complete loser responsible for everything bad that happens with claiming the story is declaring her to be "perfect".

Remember, kids: men are the only ones allowed to protect the ones they care about. Ruby tries to help her uncle fight off a psychotic assassin, unaware of the Semblance he never told her about? What a selfish fucking bitch amirite!

Ah yes, the selfish desire of "not standing around and letting the Grimm be lured to Argus". Why didn't she just fucking walk to Atlas, huh? Or send her friend back to her abusive father? What a selfish fucking bitch amirite!

This is 100% the sort of thing that comes out of the mouth of the kind of man who takes a woman out to an expensive restaurant on a first date, then screams abuse at her because she won't have sex with him afterwards. The attitude of "this man gives her things, how fucking dare this woman not unconditionally obey him in every fucking way".

Again: What a fucking selfish bitch Ruby was to try to help her uncle fight off a psychopathic murderer, huh?

"Why isn't this selfish bitch being punished for being a bitch?"

Yep, the wish fulfillment of "sometimes doing the right thing pays off". I can see how you'd resent this when you're a drooling stan of the authoritarian who decided to leave thousands of people to die at the drop of a hat, because he wanted to be The Hero and only he was allowed to be The Hero because he was a Manly Man Who Mans.

Get out the Anti-Strawman Spray, Batman!

Yep, because we saw that Ruby's plan ultimately did unite the people of Remnant in Vacuo, that means there was literally no panic whatsoever following the announcement! That's how logic works!

The "end point" was Ironwood's original plan before he threw it out the window, because there wasn't really anything wrong with Ironwood's original plan. Get the folks in Mantle to Atlas, evacuate with Atlas. That Ruby and her teammates were forced to work in secret, infiltrate Atlas command, and then seek medical attention for their critically-wounded friend as a result of Ironwood going Full Fascism is obviously all her fault. Bitch bitch bitch etc.

Man, I can think of nothing more despair-inducing than the idea that the Man in Charge doesn't have the one and only possible solution to any problem!

Hope is leaving thousands of people to fucking die, because the white man who wrote this does not identify or sympathize with anyone in Mantle.

Hope is the Man In Charge doing whatever he fucking wants and stupid bitches like Ruby falling in line and accepting their place.

Hope is adamantly clinging to a male authority figure, despite the glaring logical flaws with his plans and the glaring moral flaws he exhibits with every passing second.

But if it's a woman who keeps fighting for the right thing, she's a selfish bitch.

You notice how this screed somehow juggles between "Team RWBY are depicted as if they can do no wrong and always succeed in everything" and "Team RWBY ruins everything and makes everything worse for everyone"? It's a common tactic of fascists, actually; the enemy is both strong and weak at the same time. But why would the white man who idolizes a male military authoritarian and vilifies women, the poor, and minorities utilize fascist rhetorical devices?

The best part about "critics" like this is that RWBY is a story that introduced a plot device and exposited specific limitations to its power in the story, and none of these idiots can wrap their heads around a single part of that.

"When Salem does not do things the Staff has never been claimed to be able to do, that will just be wish fulfillment."

Well, anyway, here's me calling you stupid (and a drooling sexist pig) (and a racist fucko) (and a fascism stan)~

[curlybraceyourself]

Fan mail #1

Once again, do not harass any of the individuals discussed in this post. Particularly in this instance, where several persons mentioned have expressed a desire to no longer be involved in Lily-Critical discourse.

I thought I should take a moment to respond to this comment, left on the blog's primary post:

@queenvaleriapple , thank you for your inquiry. Wondering why a blog such as this exists is a reasonable question. As this response will involve multiple images, we have chosen to respond in post form.

It is true that Sai has an alt-account for purposes of posting about Lily Orchard. However, and this is a critical difference:

Sai's alt account is not used for purposes of anonymity. Quite simply, Sai posts on this alt so that the majority of her fans (who have little to no interest in Lily-Critical material) can ignore that stuff while still engaging with her art posts.

Linking Taffer and Curly-B did strip Taffer of one layer of anonymity, but her ability to comment on elements of the Lily-Critical community was in no way compromised. Taffer/Curly is welcome to continue providing commentary and art criticism (to those who would like to receive it), as long as she is willing to accept the consequences of doing so. More importantly, as she has now expressed a desire to not be involved in this discourse any further, I will be honoring her request from hereon and encourage any viewers to do the same.

You could argue that (for lack of a better, gender-neutral term) there should be a gentleman's agreement in these spaces- "Don't harass or start discourse with fans of Lily orchard, except where those persons instigate discourse themselves". If someone says they don't want to be involved, then don't involve them. If someone is not involved, do not involve them (which Taffer violated when she involved CelestialAlpacaron into the mix). And critically, if someone tries to leave the arena, for gods' sakes, do not drag them back in with you.

Which brings me to my next point:

I find it curious that you would bring up EredWolliw on Curly's Blog. For the record, EredWolliw is a young artist who, two weeks ago, responded to two posts about Lily orchard. They received harassment for those responses, and then stated their intent to stop posting about the subject:

Since that point, you, Queenvaleriapple, have persistently harassed this person and accused them of stalking Lily when they have done no such thing. You have thrown unwarranted shade on their artwork and accused them of racism for... having complex POC characters?

It's not unreasonable to assume that your above ask, sent to Curly-B, was an attempt to get Curly-B involved in this harassment as well.

This behaviour, quite frankly, is abhorrent. I strongly, strongly urge you to cease this inexplicable crusade, and to reflect on your behaviour. Do not engage people in drama, when said people have made every reasonable effort to step away from it.

Once again, thank you for your inquiry.

[highfantasy-soul]

NATLA - Episode 1: Aang (3/4)

[Masterlist of my NATLA thoughts]

An explanation of what I'm doing here and my history with ATLA.

Of course, full spoilers ahead.

<previous/next>

I like the change from Sokka being ham-fistedly sexist (though I would argue that in the animated series, it's a defense mechanism due to his feelings of inadequacy and him belittling girls is a cultural side-effect of that rather than the root cause) to him being strict in his leadership role and wanting Katara to 'fall in line' for everyone's safety.

As I saw another post explaining: Sokka is really shown to be the one holding the physical aspects of the village together - defense, food, shelter, order. Katara isn't only focusing on that - she's of course helping out (helping Sokka fish for instance), but she's also concerned about keeping the culture/spiritual/emotional side of the tribe alive.

Sokka thinks that his physical survival focus is the most important, which is where their clashes come from - not him just being sexist. Yes, he does have sexist tendencies, but he justifies them with 'real' reasons that aren't just alluded to like they are in the cartoon: Katara isn't taking the dangers of the world seriously and he feels like it's his job to protect her and if she gets hurt because of that perceived 'naivetee', then he feels he's failed.

It's a much more nuanced exploration of his sexism and machismo - something he and Aang both share in the sense that they both feel like it's their job to protect everyone and that protection, they first try to accomplish through control - Sokka learns against this as he sees how capable Katara is in the world and it comes to fruition in the Northern Water Tribe - where he shares this revelation with Aang. (I've written a little piece about people complaining that Sokka's sexism was 'erased but not erased' here - and there's another really great analysis by another person here).

 This is something they argue about right off the bat - Katara not backing down as she insists on the importance of her role, too. Her anger at the way things are and passion to fight as well as keep bending (and strange bald people falling out of icebergs) alive is front and center.

We see Katara taking a mothering leadership role already even though many of those gathered are older than her when she ushers everyone out of the igloo where Aang is passed out and tells them they need to let him rest. Even Gran Gran respects her role as a caretaker.

Zuko's introduction here gives more hints at how much time has passed without outright saying it. Iroh doesn’t want Zuko to get his hopes up to be dashed again, Zuko is steadfast in hunting down every last trace and rumor - even if it takes another 3 years so that he can return home and take his place as next in line to the throne.

I think this insistence of his that his goal is to take the throne, despite his uncle trying to sway him otherwise, is a great set-up for his future arc - him realizing that it's not the throne he really wants - or needs to attain, that it's ok that his real goal is to just have a family and it's ok to put aside the expectations others have set out for you.

I've seen many people writing off the show 'as soon as Zuko said he wanted the throne' since that's not where his motivations END during the story, but I think it would have been a weaker choice and undercut Zuko's story if his motivation off the bat is explained to be his desire for a family, not the throne. Here's another instance where the show isn't holding your hand and telling you explicitly what's going on in Zuko's mind: at this point, even HE thinks that his goal is to capture the Avatar to go back and take the throne. Those who've watched the animated show know that while that's the surface goal, it's because he thinks that's what will get him his family back. His motivations are nuanced and he verbally states things we know aren't entirely true - this is part of his character.

Aang waking up and immediately wanting to play with the kids is a great homage to him immediately asking Katara to go penguin-sledding. It shows he's just a kid who isn't scarred by this war yet and shows everyone that he really does have a whole bunch of joy in him that hasn't been stamped out yet.

Plus, Aang's immediate concern for where Appa is sets his character up just as well as it was in the cartoon

I like Gran Gran being the one to recite the animated series' opening monologue - positioning it as a story that everyone knows and presumably tells/talks about often - but it's new information to Aang - and the watcher who is just now realizing how long he's been in the iceberg.

Aang and Katara's chat about growing up fast is an homage to her saying 'I haven't had this much fun since I was a kid' and him replying 'you still are a kid'. It's a different tone the conversation takes, but the sentiment is the same: when threats loom, kids don’t get to be kids, they have to grow up fast.

Aang explains the theory of bending to Katara - I like how intrinsically they're weaving the spiritual aspect of bending into the world - Katara has no idea what she's doing and has been muscling through it, overthinking how to get water bending to work.

Aang is able to explain a different approach and this is what unlocks Katara's skill - she needed to change the way she viewed it in order to succeed - changing from focusing really hard to connecting to the ability with her feelings and the energy around her - as an extension of herself.

Because while Katara knows one of her primary roles is to keep alive the culture and be nurturing, there is still the warrior side of her that she tries to use waterbending to tap into - though we know she will be a great fighter with waterbending, how she goes about that, contrary to what she's been taught a warrior is, is the key to her success.

Just as in the cartoon, once Katara is shown something, especially the basic moves, she picks them up incredibly quickly. I like the choice to make her even worse at waterbending in the live-action than she was in the animated because it makes sense to me: she's never seen anyone waterbend before, she's the only one, there's a ton of danger surrounding bending, and she has a traumatic memory tied to her bending. All this adds layers and more space for her to grow in the season.

Condensing the three episodes into one, it makes sense that Aang doesn’t leave Wolf Cove (btw, LOVE that they gave 'the southern water tribe' and 'the norther water tribe' settlements actual names), but rather he stays and when Zuko comes with his warship, he's already there. In the animated version, he sees the village being attacked and comes in to stop it - in the live-action, he lets Sokka try to talk the fire-benders down - after all, he doesn't actually know what kind of threat they are and how quick they are to violence.

Aang's desire for peace and to avoid direct conflict is coming out and obviously he doesn’t want to be captured, so letting Sokka try his diplomacy is a way to keep the peace. He watches as Sokka defends the village, and when it's clear that he doesn’t stand a chance, Aang jumps in to stop the violence.

I don't think this undercuts Aang's character at all - letting Sokka try diplomacy and then a little bit of fighting isn't Aang hiding from conflict, it's him believing there was another way than him fighting - in the animated version, Zuko is already burning down the village, so there's no place for Aang to wait for diplomacy.

Katara's point about 'hope is just as important to keeping people alive as food and shelter' was such a great reinforcement of the themes throughout the series: after 100 years of war, people are beaten down and tired of fighting - having the Avatar come back gives them the strength to carry on and fight harder - a theme that's a connecting thread through the season both for the good guys and the bad.

It shows that, though Sokka doesn't understand the spiritual health Katara is always going on about, he still respects her opinions and is able to be swayed by her arguments. He still is angry that Aang lied to them and brought danger to the village, but his sister is able to talk him down into finding another way

Katara stands her ground and her empathy, hope, and anger all swirl together in her confronting her brother who is ready to turn Aang in to the fire nation in order to save the village - in the animated series, Aang isn't there, so Sokka doesn’t have to make that choice.

Katara's argument to Sokka also pushes home another major theme: kids have to grow up too fast - she acknowledges how hard the responsibility has been on him rather than dismissing it wholly as 'playing soldier' like she does in the animated series. Though they both think they're still right and think their contributions are more important, they have the emotional maturity - beyond their age - to be able to acknowledge the strengths of the other.

Without that compromise, Wolf Cove wouldn't have survived.

This gives Sokka his character developing moment where he faces down the Fire Nation army alone and stands his ground to protect his village and everyone in it - he does 'try' diplomacy, but then challenges Zuko to an honorable duel - just as Sokka would do in the animated version - using his brains to get any advantage he can.

I love the addition of the child defenders fighting back as well once Sokka is defeated - they don't take their invasion quietly, they try to fight back the best they can.

I think this section of the episode was phoenomenal at setting up the characters, their motivations, and flaws they might have to grapple with in a compelling way.

[cardentist]

something that frustrates me is when you see an exclusionist or a bad actor say "X group doesn't experience oppression like Y does" the common response will be "you're right but that doesn't mean that X group doesn't still suffer."

the problem with this is not that it's an issue in a vacuum, that's a perfectly compassionate argument and an important one. people don't need to suffer "enough" to "deserve" to have their experiences taken seriously. comparing the suffering to two groups and punishing one of them for not meeting the standards of the other is an evil thing to do no matter what.

the problem is that nearly across the board it is wrong.

what it comes down to is that people Recognize invisibility and under exposure for certain groups. they recognize that certain marginalized identities aren't going to show up in the news or on a show, that they won't hear certain labels out of the mouths of their bigoted uncles at thanksgiving.

and that is taken As The Issue. that it is ignorance and ignorance alone that plagues the lives of the marginalized among the marginalized. what people don't understand is that invisibility doesn't mean that the marginalized do not suffer, it means that suffering isn't reported.

it's easy to take for granted the idea that X group doesn't experience outright violence when it's something that you haven't seen. And That's An Aspect Of Their Oppression. because when people don't know your rights are being violated then they don't know to help in the fight For those rights. even well meaning people will exclude marginalized groups from certain conversations because they don't realize they need to be there.

when people say, for instance, "Yes trans mascs don't face outright Violence from terfs, but the infantilization they face when terfs treat them like poor confused women that don't know what they're doing is still a kind of oppression"

what they Don't realize (and aren't taking into account) is that Statistically trans mascs face corrective rape and assault on similar levels to other trans demographics (among other forms of violence for that matter [Link 1, Link 2]. they Don't realize that there are Many Many instances of terfs openly fantasizing about doing Exactly That, of forcing trans mascs to turn into lesbians by having sex with them.

what they don't realize is that infantilization is a part of the Dehumanization and desire to strip autonomy and control away from trans mascs that they use to Justify their violence. that the perception of trans mascs as incapable, as needing to be rescued from blindly mutilating their own bodies, is a call to action.

sometimes that call to action is used to justify stripping the human rights of all trans people away through legislation, which we've seen most starkly with the focus on trans mascs in the uk. sometimes that call to action is personal violence. sometimes that call to action is indoctrination with the intent of abusing a trans masc into detransitioning.

what people see as Hurtful in words alone the victims see for the threat that it is.

I could make dozens of examples exactly like this (for instance, historically when trans mascs have been murdered it's been reported as violence against women. because when you're buried as a woman you don't have the voice to argue otherwise), and for a dozen other identities within the queer and lgbt+ communities (asexuals have a Very Similar story with their corrective rape statistics).

but what I want to impart with this post is the idea that you question assumptions about what a group does or does not experience. there's an entire world happening where you don't see it, and when somebody tries to cut an entire group of people out of an experience they're not doing it because they've Seen every corner of said world. question more than just the conclusions that they draw when they make these assumptions.

another thing of note: the more that these marginalized groups Do increase their visibility, the more we champion for their voices, the more this violence Will become overt. the more you Will hear about them in the news and on tv and from your bigoted uncle. and that violence won't be new, it'll just finally be drawn to the forefront. we've seen it before, and we're seeing it now.

[bluedalahorse]

Slates of Standard Pairings

Does your fandom have a Slate of Standard Pairings?

Maybe there’s a better term for this that TVTropes came up with years ago. But this is what I call it in my head.

A Slate of Standard Pairings is a phenomenon where if you have a fic with multiple pairings and almost every character being paired off, it will most likely include the pairings on the slate. This doesn’t mean the fandom only ships those pairings. It just means that those pairings have gained enough momentum, and enough momentum in proximity to one another that they sort of… show up together quite frequently.

For instance, I would argue that the Slate of Standard Pairings for Young Royals fandom is as follows:

Simon/Wilhelm, Sara/Felice, Maddie/Rosh, Stella/Fredrika, Walter/Henry, Nils/Vincent

If you are a boy in Young Royals and your name starts with the letter A, you are SOL for romantic relationships according to the Slate of Standard Pairings.

(Back when I was more active in Les Mis fandom, there were I believe two competing slates of Les Amis pairings, both of them headlined by Enjolras/Grantaire. Is that still the case, or have things shifted?)

For the most part, Slates aren’t intentionally created, but they do sort of drift together by probability. The thing about the Slate of Standard Pairings is that it can sometimes feel like a fandom rule, in an unconscious way where its structure is sort of encoded into the background of a lot of fics and discussions. They can also influence the prevailing fanon at any given time, in terms of which configurations of an ensemble hang out the most, who tops versus who bottoms, etc. There are some folks who actively choose all the pairings in the slate. Others choose some of the pairings in the Slate when writing a fic, but they may not choose all of them. Other people’s reading of their work may be affected by the Slate.

There are always ships that get popular outside of the Slate. For instance, Young Royals fandom has a fondness for Madisander. At one point we were getting into Roshella. Are we still into that? We should still be into that, it coulda been fun.

The Slate is not an inherently bad or an inherently good thing, but I think it’s good for fandoms to be aware of them. It’s also good to recognize the influence they have on fanon and interpretations of canon. It might also make you aware of which characters do and don’t get shipped a lot, or patterns in who your fandom recognizes as more dominant/more repressed/more desireable/whatever else.

You can also go against the Slate to shake things up once in a while, because it’s not actually a rule. I say this because “chronic desire to shake things up” was on my paperwork when I got diagnosed with hyperactive-subtype ADHD. (Yes, that was a neurodivergent joke, sorry.) For instance, Sara/Felice means so much more to me as a platonic relationship than a romantic relationship, because it reminds me of some of the strong platonic friendships that make my life rich and livable, but I’m totally here to ship Felice romantically with Rosh or maybe even Ayub. Or like, as far as non-canon August pairings go, I think we’re really sleeping on August/Nils. It could be so good! And then sometimes you get ideas for a crack pairing, because we all love a good crack pairing.

Anyway, what do you think? Does the Slate of Standard Pairings theory hold water?

What does it look like in your fandom?

Are you someone who tends to like Slates of Standard Pairings, or are you someone who prefers to ignore them?

[enlitment]

Unless you are using some fringe definition of 'populism' I am genuinely confused and alarmed by your point. Populism as understood broadly is not some fluffy ideology of just doing what the noble, righteous, working class masses want, it's specifically a movement that is pandering to the short sighted desires of the masses (commonly anti-immigrant, anti-institution, anti-outsider) withut any thought for the harm or impact. Yeah i don't wanna pay taxes, sure, but i know it's a good thing and infrastructure and institutions would crumble otherwise. If the masses wanted to kill all the gay people, should we just do that?? Society needs to be founded on values and principles not just popular opinons. (and besides, liberals are often the ones actually championing things that are widely desired/wanted, like abortion, immigration protection and rights for queer people. find me ONE populist who actually wants those things)

Hi!

 First of all –  thank you for reaching out, maybe it’s the annoying debater within me, but I do think there’s a lot of value in presenting an opposing opinion that encourages further discussion.

Secondly – I have to stress out that I’m not a poli-sci major and the last time I had actual classes on political theory or government would have been high school. Most of my background on the topic of populism comes from either the lecturers on political philosophy or history, which rarely deal with contemporary issues, so that’s potentially something that shaped my personal view on this topic. Secondly, most of my understanding of politics comes from the situation in my own country, which I recognise can be quite specific and doesn’t necessarily have to reflect what is true for other countries (especially those outside of Europe), in which the situation can be quite different.

That said, I do think there’s a lot more nuance to what ‘populism’ actually means than your comment suggest. I don’t believe that there’s one universally accepted definition. It certainly isn’t defined as doing something noble, but straight up calling it pandering goes too far in the other direction in my opinion. The way I understand it, it is trying to appeal to ‘the masses’ to gain political approval – and while that can certainly be dangerous, I’d argue it isn’t inherently so.

My view isn’t that I believe that everyone should be populist, or that I believe it is the best way to run a country (though where do these “values” and “principles” you mention come from? I’d argue they reflect the opinion of someone as well or were the popular opinion too at some point in history). My point is that I believe that mainstream media often label something (or someone) that threatens the status quo as “populist” in order to dismiss their actions as ‘disingenuous pandering’, even if it can be fuelled by a genuine desire to improve the conditions of those who are less well-off (and therefore can be referred to as “the people” or “the masses” of what have you). It is a common tactic to attack the integrity of people trying to push left-wing policies, at least the way I see it.

I am aware that there absolutely is a trend – at least in Europe – of certain political parties that  appeal to “the masses” by spewing anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. I’m obviously not in favour of that. That said, when a party or a candidate appeals to the masses by championing policies designed to help the working classes (e. g. increase of minimum wage, progressive taxation etc.), they absolutely have my support, since my political views are very much left-wing. The issue is that the second example is also often called ‘populist’ and is dismissed as a cynical attempt to win the votes of ‘the lower classes’ rather than something born out of a genuine wish for a more equal society.

Not sure how the point about taxes factors into it – I’d say increasing the taxes for the rich would for instance be something that the so-called populist would certainly be in favour of, since it wouldn’t be unpopular with ‘the masses’.

When it comes to the question of queer and minority rights, this is part of the issue (and the insidious ‘us vs. them’ – “us the liberal elite, them the uneducated bigots” narrative). It essentially leads to a false dichotomy. I’m both very much in favour of LGBTQ+ rights, women’s rights, reproductive rights (d’uh, I’m on Tumblr) while also believing that  the material conditions of lower classes should and indeed need to be improved (which is something that frequently gets dismissed as ‘populist policies designed to pander to the masses’). Why should I have to choose between one or the other if I strongly believe in both?

As for the “find me one populist who…” part of your argument, the issue is that no candidate nowadays is going to label themselves as a populist, seeing how the word has a clear negative connotation in the modern discourse. There was the Populist Party in the US back at the turn of the 20th century which was pretty progressive (though there were definitely a lot of issues as well), but no party is going to have that name in the 21st.

That said, there are certainly people who champion both progressive policies (LGBTQ+ rights, minorities rights) and left-wing policies (though sadly, there’s not enough of them) if that answers your question? An example would be the Green Party in CZ.

TL;DR: My point is not to celebrate politicians who appeal to people’s hate of immigrants/queer people/minorities obviously. My issue is that left-wing policies designed to help the working classes often get labelled as ‘populist pandering’ and are dismissed. Hence my argument that the term ‘populist’ or ‘populism’ is, as I perceive it, inherently classist – at least in the modern popular discourse.

[rainbow-scarab]

The Ancient Sea of Hallownest: Part 1

Hallownest is an ancient land, of many people and successive kingdoms. It has been through many changes, from the Pale King, to the Radiance, to an ancient civilization that worshipped the void at the bottom of the world.

But this is not quite the whole story. The land itself is full of history. The fossils upon fossils that fill the ground point to a much deeper history, spanning to even before the Ancient Civilization.

For this theory I’ve made a four part post, going over the geological formation of Hallownest, the origin of the void, and the history of the peoples of Hallownest with a focus on the Ancient Civilization and snails.

Snail Shamans and Ancestral Power

Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

<Theory Masterpost>

There is but one surviving snail we can see in Hallownest, but we can see they used to live in various areas throughout the kingdom. All the examples, living and dead, are of mysterious and powerful beings who were capable of creating spells.

The living example, known only as Snail Shaman (who I will call AMSS (Ancestral Mound Snail Shaman) for short), gives Ghost a spell, and is able to comment on any new spells and spell upgrades they get. Most of the information we know about the snails comes from these comments.

This spell commentary suggests some very interesting things to me, beyond just how spells work. Using that and other evidence, I argue that snails are a very ancient species with ties to the void, even more ancient than the so-called Ancient Civilization.

There are various forms of magic in Hollow Knight. Spells. Charms. Dreams. Marks, as I wrote about recently. Many of these have quite personal components to them. For instance, Salubra says:

Few ways a charm appears but mainly it's from final wish, a dying bug's potent desire crystallised into these gorgeous, powerful trinkets.

And when I analyzed marks, I found they were used to pass on something from one bearer of the mark to the next. The personal component to dreams and the essence from such I feel is a bit self-explanatory, carrying the thoughts and hopes of beings.

Now, how about soul and spells? The developer notes speak some of them:

Dev note “Magic”: spell is used, but magic in Hollow Knight is generally a shamanistic thing, so the words around it are more 'will' 'spirit' 'force' and emotions like 'rage' 'vengeance' 'longing' etc. Maybe magic can be used?

Dev note “Vengeful Spirit”: A desire for revenge is seared into the SOUL of those who fell in battle or were wronged in life. A Shaman can concentrate this desire and cast it out into the world to burn away whatever stands before them. - old descriptor text. Is pretty good! Should we put it in dialogue somewhere?

The dev notes are not canon, and were not intended to be public, but they may give insight into Team Cherry’s mindset. They seem to speak of a connection between emotion, soul, and spells. And from what survives in the game, names for spells like Vengeful Spirit, Howling Wraiths, and Desolate Dive carry something about emotion.

Examining the Soul Sanctum and how soul was used there can tell us something as well. The Hunter’s Journal entry on Soul Warriors:

Learned bug, wielding a refined pinblade. Enhances its combat prowess with harvested soul. Where these strange warriors go, whispers follow them. Not only are they skilled with a nail, they can also use some strange power to shift suddenly from place to place. Stay on guard.

And their dreamnail dialog:

This soul...Is it my own? ...This power...What did it cost? These skills...No training I recall...

Soul is able to store something of the knowledge of a bug, and if the dev notes are true, the emotion as well. When another being gains that soul, that knowledge can be transferred.

Now…the dialog from AMSS, on all the spells Ghost can get.

First encounter, when giving Vengeful Spirit: I'm going to give you a gift, a nasty little spell of my own creation.

With Desolate Dive: My third uncle used to possess similar abilities. He also possessed a ferocious temper! Ohohoho! What a dreadful combination.

With Howling Wraiths: Pried a spell out've my larger cousin did you? Aren't you the charming one. She's not usually the generous sort, certainly not as giving as myself, but she does have that wonderful voice! It's no surprise her spells take on such aural force.

These are all the base versions, the versions with no void component. Vengeful Spirit from the living Snail Shaman, Howling Wraiths from the one in Overgrown Mound. Desolate Dive is gained from Soul Master, but that’s not the way AMSS speaks of it—he identifies it with his uncle. A locked area of the Soul Sanctum contains a snail who looks to have been experimented on. This may well be the uncle, the true origin of the spell.

Each one of these spells is spoken of in relation to something of the personal of the snail it comes from. AMSS giving his directly, which he says he created. His cousin, who he knew to have a powerful voice, and whose dreamnail dialog indicates she wished to be heard. And the uncle, who may have expressed his anger with destructive spells.

Though soul may carry the thought and emotions of others, the snails seemed to harness their own emotions for their spells (whether or not it is enhanced or aided by any emotion in the soul itself).

What’s even more interesting to me is AMSS’s dialog when you factor in the upgraded versions:

With Descending Dark: There's another quality about you yet. You didn't perchance visit my fourth aunt? She makes her home beside that Crystal Mount. Leaves quite an impression on those that seek her out.

With Shade Soul: What's this? My vengeful gift has warped within you. You've twisted it into something... else. Ohohohoh! I knew it. My friend! You're a marvel. Your essence has melded with the spell. You must have found a powerful source to transform it in such a unique, expressive way.

With Abyss Shriek: That scream? Ooohh, distorted in such a way... It's not within the skills of us snails to do such a thing. Wherever you draw this new power from, it's not a place my kind ever thought to look.

Snail Shaman speaks of Descending Dark in a manner similar to Desolate Dive and Howling Wraiths, in that he identifies it with a particular snail. Even though this is a void version, rather than just soul. The snail in Crystallised Mound, when freed from the crystal, does explode into void particles that Ghost absorbs to upgrade the spell, but I’m not sure that’s the whole story of what’s going on here. For Desolate Dive, the unupgraded version, he speaks of the ability of his uncle, but here for the upgraded version, he just speaks of the “quality” and “impression” of his aunt. Less about the technique of the spell, and more something personal that has been imparted.

Shade Soul is gotten from the snail in Soul Sanctum, the one who very likely was the origin of the Desolate Dive spell. For this version of the spell, AMSS does not remark upon the qualities of the other snail, but instead comments on Ghost themself. Ghost’s “essence”, changing the spell into something unique.

(And, I would say, a massive point on the side of “vessels are real people with real thoughts and emotions”, for AMSS to call this transformation expressive)

This snail in Soul Sanctum, the likely uncle of AMSS, is only referred to as the “powerful source” that enables such a transformation. They scream and explode into void when Ghost interacts with the body. This snail is the only one in the game who can’t be dreamnailed. And it’s not due to void, as the one from the Crystallised Mound also explodes into void and still has dreamnail dialog.

My guess is that experimentation from the Soul Sanctum bugs tore apart everything this snail was, forcibly extracting Desolate Dive from them for Soul Master’s use, and there wasn’t much left of mind or emotion after that. Only a body left suspended in a half-dead state, who still held power but little to nothing of who they were as a person.

For Abyss Shriek, I’ll be coming back to examine it in a bit.

All these spells, as common with other forms of magic in Hollow Knight, seem to not just be about power and ability but also of personal traits. Each snail AMSS comments on was someone he knew and was able to recognize their influence in the spells. This is true even in the case of his fourth aunt, who he does not identify with the actual technique of the spell. It’s still true in the case of Shade Soul, where AMSS attributes Ghost as the source of the personal contribution, with their essence and creativity. Such a personal aspect seems critical to the creation, modification, and use of spells.

The snails in the game seem to be very concerned with relationships, especially family. AMSS is found in what is called the Ancestral Mound. When he sends you off to take care of the elder baldur in the mound, he says: “I'm sure the spirits of my ancestors will be watching over you.” Each snail he speaks of is one relative of his or another. The description of the shaman stone, which is shaped in the manner of all the snail-related charms (spirals, opening possibly representing a front-view of a snail shell), says: “Said to contain the knowledge of past generations of shaman.” The snail shamans seem to care about all family relations, whether those known personally or long dead.

Now, it’s possible some of the shamans were not snails. It’s possible some of the snails were not shamans. But the only examples we get in the game are where both “snail” and “shaman” go together. Desolate Dive was almost certainly not shared willingly with Soul Master. Vengeful Spirit was shared willingly by AMSS with Ghost, for whatever his reasons. I don’t know how uncommon such a thing was, to share with a non-snail, but I am assuming due to all the association we see in the game that the snail tradition of spells was something primarily shared among themselves. Due to this, I think the snails were primarily concerned with biological ancestors.

(It's possible AMSS shared the spell with Ghost due to both having void in them. The snails seem to be at least partially made of it. Perhaps he felt a kinship of some kind. But also, it did not seem to take anything out of AMSS to share the spell. At least, not like how it was with the snail in Soul Sanctum, who was hanging between life and death after everything that was done to them. Even if it took some energy, AMSS was still just as full of life as he was beforehand.)

The Ancestral Mound contains a whispering root. The words upon completing it:

...Soul attuned... ...Spiral focus... ...Shunned Power...

I’ve heard some people speculate on the meaning of “shunned power”. That perhaps these spells were a kind of magic that was not accepted by wider Hallownest. The words “soul attuned” I find fairly self-explanatory. Spells use soul, which the snails seemed quite adept at.

As for “spiral focus”…this is a bit more tricky. Focus, we know, is a word related to the use of soul, the name of the ability that allows Ghost to heal, and possibly related to other things.

Tablet in King’s Pass: Higher beings, these words are for you alone. Your great strength marks you amongst us. Focus your soul and you shall achieve feats of which others can only dream.

Record in Soul Sanctum: Record Aba / The mind still limits us so. / How to break past its constraints? / To attain a pure focus, is it even possible?

Snails also have spiral shells of course, and the charms associated with them are full of spirals.

But um. Spiral focus. In actuality.

I think this is a joke!

A reference!

It’s not the only time Team Cherry has put in some kind of reference. And it’s not like Hollow Knight is entirely humorless. Such a small thing as a piece of text in a whispering root is not too consequential to include a fun reference.

Strap in everyone it’s time to talk about the 2007 anime and source of memes past Gurren Lagann.

(Yes, I’m going somewhere with this XD And if you’d like to avoid major spoilers for the anime, you can skip the next couple paragraphs)

Spirals feature throughout Gurren Lagann. In its universe, there’s a force called “spiral power”, which is revealed to be the power of evolution. The tone of the show can be rather silly, and spiral power is used in an utterly over the top manner, able to give the characters power-ups in real time somehow. But even so, it’s still supposed to be emblematic of the power of evolution, as symbolized by the spiral shape of the dna double helix.

(Is it worth it to mention that spiral power was considered a threat by the “anti-spirals” and humans were forced to live in hiding underground? Just as Hallownest is underground, and you might say the snails’ spiral focus was a shunned power? Sure XD Sure)

I wondered if the snails might derive some sort of power from their ancestors. Just like soul itself can hold knowledge, and the shaman stone contains ancestral knowledge. Spells, which carry something of the personality of their creators, may have been passed along—if not the individual spells, at least the knowledge of how to create and wield them. I wondered if they might practice some form of ancestor veneration, tending to their mounds. AMSS indicates that his ancestors would watch over Ghost, who perhaps reside in Ancestral Mound, or are honored from there.

(AMSS calls himself bound to the Ancestral Mound. A dev note indicates it may be by duty or possibly he's actually incapable of leaving. I have to wonder if perhaps snails found it critically important to have at least one person tending to a mound, due to the tie to ancestors and the important place they hold ancestors to have. And with so few snails left.....AMSS was the only one to be able to do so... This is just speculative though)

Further than all this, though. I had to wonder, at the thought of dna and evolution, if the snails were perhaps something very ancient indeed. Even if, yes, my thoughts going in such a direction had started at the thought of memes, I had to wonder if such a thing could arise due a real theme. I had to wonder how far back snails tracked their ancestors. How many ages they had been in Hallownest. If they could have been there so far back, they weren’t even snails anymore.

Before going further, let’s talk about Abyss Shriek.

The Abyss Shriek is obtained in the Abyss, in a room full of odd objects.

This area seems to be associated with the Ancient Civilization (discussion on Ancient Civilization architecture in the third part of the series, so for now it can just be taken as an assumption). These objects are reminiscent of the look of Howling Wraiths and Abyss Shriek, and each one looks somewhat like a soul vessel. When using the dreamnail, you get this dialog:

...Our voices... will cry out... again...

Ghost can use Howling Wraiths in this area to upgrade it to Abyss Shriek. Void pours into the room from above, before Ghost absorbs it into their body, upgrading the spell.

AMSS says:

That scream? Ooohh, distorted in such a way... It's not within the skills of us snails to do such a thing. Wherever you draw this new power from, it's not a place my kind ever thought to look.

I find this quite interesting.

I’ve seen this dialog referenced before in order to say that the snails are not associated with the Abyss, Ancient Civilization, and void.

However, I disagree with that on two counts.

I do think the snails are significantly tied to void, with bodies partially made of void. AMSS also doesn’t seem to be surprised by Ghost’s nature and calls them a shadow, so it’s possible he recognizes void in another.

I do think the snails may be tied to the Abyss, though I’ll be getting back to this.

I think what is meant here is that the snails have no ties to the Ancient Civilization.

All other examples of the spells were related to emotions and personal ties. The snail shamans seemed to draw power from their emotions and ancestors. It may not be the physical location that made AMSS comment as he did on Abyss Shriek, but instead the identity of those who enabled the upgrade.

Our voices will cry out again. Whose voices? I assume those of the Ancient Civilization, due to the architecture.

If the snails were associated with the Abyss and void, but have an origin other than the Ancient Civilization, what would this mean?

I don’t think the Ancient Civilization was the first.

I think we can find evidence of something much, much older.

In the very rock itself.

In the fossils that are found all throughout Hallownest, but change to be only one type, deeper down in the Ancient Basin and Abyss.

And in the void sea that resides there.

Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

<Theory Masterpost>