#route: edward

[fma-03lric]

Imagine Hughes brings Elicia to work one day and leads her to Roy's office to visit. Ed's there too, likely revising some report. And she is just the biggest fan of him so she's always super excited to see him. She wiggles outta Maes' arms and plops down meanwhile her dad is invested in teasing Roy abt getting married or whatever. Ed is so wrapped up with his grumblings that he doesn't notice Elicia's hurried little steps as she sprints to hug his leg. The metal one. She crashes into it and falls to the floor in a heap sobbing. Hughes snaps to look at her, sees his little girl on the ground in pain and Ed confused and worried. So he directs his anger towards him and starts yelling at Edward. And Ed's like "I didn't do anything! I'm sorry! She ran into my leg!!" And in his anger Maes doesn't think abt how Edward's leg is literally metal so he dismisses that as any explanation at all.

Ed would just feel so so guilty whether he was at fault or not. He would take great care with his automail around fragile and cute things. Ultimately though, he'd break and hurt them unintentionally and it'd eat at him. Make him afraid of getting close to things he could potentially ruin. There would be like an internal struggle in him. It'd leave him behaving inconsistently bc he can't bring himself to completely separate himself from those things, so he confuses others too.

just another fun scenario that bounces from corner to corner in my skull space idk.

[loomsims]

Besides vegetables, fruits, and flowers, Eddy has also discovered some excavation sites! And for some reason the game made Niamh's home the neighborhood pet adoption spot? She was very happy to see some horses, but unfortunately for her the horses and stray animals were promptly deleted! 😙❤️

[putuponpercy]

I'm trying to get ai to make Thomas swear and the best it can do is have him call Edward a "sodding dictator"

[ashe-stxr]

RIDDLEBIRD VN CGS 3/16

Standing next to each other in the mirror, Oswald is struck with how right they look together.

No matter what happens, he feels they will stick together, feels they could conquer the world together if they wanted.

now feels like a good time to mention that the confession route of the visual novel has 6 cgs that are unique to it 😀

the coward bad route is the one with the second most unique cgs and it only has 3, and 1 of them is shared with the coward good route.. you can definitely tell i had a lot more fun with the confession route cause its the only one where ed and oswald are actually in a relationship LMAO

anyways, this one was interesting to do because i had to emulate the feeling that theyre looking in a mirror without just drawing it normally and flipping the canvas. my art is not meant to be flipped. i just draw without caring what the alternative version looks like so it almost always ends up looking like the mirrored version is melting. seriously, i almost cried when i saw the main oswald sprite mirrored.

should i start checking what my art looks like flipped? probably. but that sounds boring and time consuming so i will just continue to go in blindly and hope for the best

[wolpatinga]

didja know that hyde loves singing? tis true!

Hyde had a song upon his lips as he compounded the draught, and as he drank it, pledged the dead man.

also. lookie here

If each, I told myself, could be housed in separate identities, life would be relieved of all that was unbearable; the unjust might go his way, delivered from the aspirations and remorse of his more upright twin; and the just could walk steadfastly and securely on his upward path, doing the good things in which he found his pleasure, and no longer exposed to disgrace and penitence by the hands of this extraneous evil. It was the curse of mankind that these incongruous faggots were thus bound together that in the agonised womb of consciousness, these polar twins should be continuously struggling. How, then were they dissociated?

:3

[twink-catcoal-thing]

Ed and Stede calling each other "friend" when they are talking to others is so fucking real to me

[wusopiejung25]

Just finished reading all of SoL endings and my heart is bleeding.

[teecupangel]

Desmond is sent back in time after the flare, but is turned into a griffin. How does this change history with his ancestor's?

Okay, so the main problem is a griffin would have the stealth stat of a steam train in Ancient Greece. If they even try to hide the eagle head, people would look because “Why is that dog all wrapped up OH MY GOD IT HAS CHICKEN LEGS!” “Fuck you, man, they’re eagle legs!”

But I like the idea of Altaïr finding Desmond as a baby griffin just a few days after his tragic fallout with Abbas. Desmond would be little enough that Altaïr could smuggle him inside Masyaf and maybe he’ll take him to the very depths of Masyaf where, later in life, his library would have been constructed. From there, Altaïr would keep visiting him and giving him food while Desmond would be trying to get used to his new body and slowly growing up. Al Mualim wouldn’t know about it because he would be too busy with his mentor duties (and, later on, too busy with the whole ‘being a Templar but planning to betray them anyway’ thing he had going for him). The one who would actually find out about Desmond would be Kadar because he has the best Altaïr radar in Masyaf (much to his brother’s annoyance) so he would be able to find Altaïr with Desmond. From there, Kadar will be his fellow secret-keeper and they’ll get close. Malik gets roped in because he’s had enough of Kadar being sneaky and followed him. His reaction was “Oh, thank Allah. They’re not having a secret affair. They’re just hiding a dangerous mythical creature underneath the fortress. That is a BETTER alternative.” From there, AC1’s plot will stay the same-ish with the addition of Kadar living because his closeness with Altaïr and all the sneaking they keep doing makes him less ‘hero-worship’ type and more of ‘I like you, Altaïr, but that’s dumb’ type towards Altaïr. Desmond would probably have his big hero moment by suddenly rushing out of his hiding place and flying around Masyaf once Malik and the Assassins he brought with him joins Altaïr in taking down Al Mualim. During that time, he’ll divebomb Al Mualim and pretty much crack the old man’s back so he would let go of the Apple. And that’s how the Levantine Brotherhood would find out there’s a freaking griffin living underneath Masyaf.

By the 15th century, the griffin would be considered a legend in the veins of “Some say the great Altaïr had a griffin by his side” or “It’s not an actual griffin. The griffin is a symbol of how Altaïr had the knowledge and drive to evolve the Brotherhood”. And then there’s the whole “The griffin is the name given to Altaïr’s Apple of Eden”. It’s the whole ‘the truth is distorted by time’ inevitability in play.

For Ezio, I have a very sad idea that I like: Ezio finds Desmond sleeping in Altaïr’s library. The entire plotline of Ezio’s Trilogy stays the same although Altaïr’s statue in Villa Auditore would be larger to accommodate the large griffin curled around his legs while the memory seals does include an actual griffin which made Ezio go “………… Yeah, okay. Why not? I already met a goddess anyway.” So, in this idea, Desmond stayed with Altaïr to the very end. Even when Altaïr tells him to go with Darim, he refuses and lies down on the ground next to Altaïr’s legs. Altaïr dies in the library after patting Desmond's head and saying “Thank you, my dear friend” to Desmond and Desmond just… sleeps. Maybe he expected to die in the library as well. Maybe he just wants to stay with Altaïr. Maybe… he just had enough of being powerless to change anything. He’s a griffin, sure, but everyone in Masyaf knows of him and they managed to chain him to stop him from saving Sef and Malik. In the end, Desmodn couldn’t save anyone. All he was able to do was help Altaïr and Darim escape after Darim found him and unlocked the chains. He shared Altaïr’s grief and, in the end, he was just as tired as Altaïr was.

When he next opened his eyes, he sees Ezio kneeling next to Altaïr’s skeletons and he let out a sorrowful sound. Ezio patted his head and said softly, “You’ve been here all this time, haven’t you? I’m terribly sorry for your loss. If you’d like… would you like to come with me?”

And Desmond says his final farewell to Altaïr and joins Ezio in his peaceful life back in Italy. Time still took Ezio away from him but, this time, he’s cared for and loved by Ezio’s wife and children. He stays more as a pet and a companion and he becomes a family secret of the Auditores.

In this scenario, I think that Desmond would leave the Auditore bloodline maybe a century or so after Ezio’s death. From there, he travels to the forest near Ratonhnhaké:ton’s village, waiting for him to be born. He regrets not spending enough time with Ezio so, this time, he plans to be there for Ratonhnhaké:ton. Perhaps a part of him wished he could find a way to help Haytham but the Haytham of his memories, of Ratonhnhaké:ton’s memories, was dedicated into the Templar cause too much for Desmond’s liking so Desmond gives up on Haytham and focuses on preparing for Ratonhnhaké:ton.

In those intervening years, Desmond becomes known as the forest spirit and his fondness for Kaniehtí:io is noted as a sign that Kaniehtí:io would do great things.

Desmond doesn’t intervene for a while to make sure Kaniehtí:io and Haytham meets and he waits until they had sex (which was awkward for Desmond) before he approached Haytham. Haytham is too surprised by his appearance that Desmond is able to nick the key from him and then leaves without saying anything. Kaniehtí:io believes that Haytham was meant to give the key to Desmond. Haytham believes that Desmond may be the ‘key’ that is needed to find what he wants.

And that is how Desmond accidentally got Haytham to keep showing up in the forest and in the village, making him realize that Kaniehtí:io is pregnant with his child.

Desmond watches as Haytham grows closer to his family and they even got married but Ratonhnhaké:ton still grows up in the village because his mother refuses to leave the tribe. Because of this, Haytham and the Templars ally themselves with the tribes and Desmond has no idea if that’s a good thing or not.

Ratonhnhaké:ton grows up knowing Haytham and being cared for by Desmond.

……… that’s as far as I got. This would probably have Haytham leading the Templars to not being such dicks during the Revolutions but, in this scenario, Desmond fucked up so badly that the tribes would actually join forces with the British and Ratonhnhaké:ton would become a Templar… with Shay Cormac as his main instructor.

[wonder-worker]

The duke of Clarence before-named, brother to king Edward (IV), had been fully reconciled to the king by the mediation of his sisters, the duchesses of Burgundy and Exeter (Margaret of York and Anne of York), of whom, the one without the kingdom, and the other within it, entreated the duke to make peace with his brother."

-Croyland Chronicle

[retconomics]

Your wish is my command, N route was so fucking annoying omg, WHY IN THE GODDAMN FUCK I CANT BE ANGRY AT N? like every time the detective raises like pretty fucking valid points about N overprotectiveness is get solve in like the next scene LET.ME.BE.MAD like the detective is a whole ass adult they don't need a babysitter damn also the the way they just...brush past the love confession like I feel it was probably to early to say that but the way they just don't mention it again...😬😬

I liked it better when N was fingering books and alluding to being a freak. :(((

[perenlop]

also lex and i just watched the keldeo movie. it sure is a movie that exists

[cpirits]

(( MULTIMUSE STARTER MEME -- @historias-multorum said: [ 🤍 my most loving muses (For Madara) ]

Edward could hear the rustling of clothing nearby, raising his head as the grip on his cane grew tighter. The blonde wasn't that okay around other people, but they rarely approached him, so the former Alchemist was a little curious as to who it was. Whetting his lips, Edward spoke, "Who's there?"

[averyhollow]

The Difference Matters: In Service vs. Enslaved

Scope

My arguments and issues are specific to the HBOMax show Our Flag Means Death. I know my beliefs and arguments about euphemisms being used to establish false equivalencies in order to undermine the unique atrocities of chattel slavery may not apply to all languages or versions of English, or translations of the show.

In Service=/=Enslaved

I’ve noticed a trend in OFMD fanfic, headcanons, and meta, that I find incredibly disturbing: using in-service to mean enslaved.

In Service: employed as a servant (dated) - Oxford Languages

In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service". - (reference is for OED).

The term “in service” has long been used to refer to servants, especially in the case of domestic servants on large estates. To “enter service” meaning to go away and work for a family, often as a live-in servant.

Language matters. This should be especially clear to viewers in the U.S., where there’s long been a concerted effort to downplay the horrors of chattel slavery. Major parts of that effort have revolved around the language used to describe slavery, and efforts to equate chattel slavery to other forms of servitude.

Take the infamous Nottoway Plantation, which at one point on its website claimed “[Nottoway] knew that in order to maintain a willing workforce (emphasis added), it was necessary to provide not only for his slaves’ basic needs for housing, food and medicine, but to also offer additional compensation and rewards when their work was especially productive.” In the wake of increased scrutiny after Ani DiFranco showed her whole ass , the language was modified to “compliant workforce.” Exactly the kind of obfuscating language one would expect from a place that reportedly had “a gift shop stocked with books like Myths of Slavery and The South Was Right.”

The effort to soften the language of slavery doesn’t begin or end with euphemistic language on the websites of plantations that have been turned into resorts and reportedly boast gift shops selling pro-Confederacy books. Some of the more high profile examples in the U.S. center around Texas school curriculum changes that have been proposed to obfuscate the reality of chattel slavery and textbook “errors” that refer to enslaved people as “workers.”

I firmly believe that there is no difference between accepting “worker” or “workforce” as euphemisms for slavery, and accepting “in service” as a euphemism for being enslaved; and that even if the specifics of what “in service” is typically used to describe aren’t known to someone, the use of softening language should set off alarm bells.

In no way am I saying that I think using language that’s indirect or incorrect is always bad. There are any number of other ways a narrative can have characters use language that muddies the waters between enslaved people and servants, without it being something the narrative itself is doing. For example, in Alyssa Cole’s An Unconditional Freedom, the heroine reflects on how she was treated different from her father’s “servants” by virtue of being his child, but quickly corrects herself by pointing out that “servant” was a term that owners of enslaved people might use to be “polite”, but in reality they were slaves, not servants.

I don’t think OFMD did anything to set up a scenario where using an euphemism would make sense though. And if it were to go that route, and have it turn out that Frenchie was using in service to describe being enslaved for Stede’s benefit, or because that’s how he himself would rather frame it, then that’d leave the realm of fandom things that annoy me and enter the realm of things about the show itself that annoy me; and in this case, would make it unwatchable.

Selective Whitewashing

Depicting chattel slavery or making any of the Black characters enslaved would make the show irredeemable to me because it white washes the legacy of Stede Bonnet and Edward Teach. For the show to not only use obfuscating language to describe slavery, but paint over the involvement of the historical figures it uses as inspiration while subjecting original Black characters to enslavement, would be reprehensible to me.

Not that I doubt for a second that for some people, escapism can very much be a world where chattel slavery happens to Black people but isn’t done to Black people (at least not by the romantic leads). That’s not escapism to me though. It’s not realism either. It’s a perverse ode to white guilt, a rejection of responsibility, and erasure of culpability.

What If I’m Wrong And “In Service” Was Used As A Straightforward Euphemism For Enslavement?

Then fuck this show and all involved with that decision. I hope writers of meta and fic will still elect to create narratives that eschew such mealy-mouthed euphemisms and make it clear what they’re talking about isn’t service, but enslavement.

What If I’m Wrong And Black Characters Are Depicted As Former Or Current Slaves, But Stede and Ed Keep Their Whitewashed Histories?

Then fuck this show and all involved with that decision. I hope fan creators will balance the scales by creating narratives that don’t whitewash Ed and Stede’s contributions to, and enrichment by, chattel slavery. If doing that makes it impossible to consider them romantic leads, good. There’s a wonderful ensemble cast of characters not based on enslavers and traffickers, and whose backstories don’t necessitate shoddy and selective whitewashing.

[arc-angel-o]

Everytime i think of something clever, especially in the twists department of this fic, the ofmd ouat au. I'm like "oh. This is how it felt to write Once Upon A Time. No wonder they got carried away sometimes."

It's also destroying my sleep schedule. It's when I'm about to fall asleep that I get these ideas

@goatyoat read the tags, too. Don't worry about the first few tangents in there

[english-history-trip]

I think the funniest dynamic for arranged-marriage royalty would be a queen who came here 100% prepared to murder her future husband and rule as a widow queen in her own right, only to discover that the king is autistic as hell and responds to her wish to rule with "oh thank god please do, I don't want to be bothered by these people. I can just tell them to go bother you instead, if you really want that. I've got beetles I wanted to study."

[meerkeri]

I wanna write an interactive fiction but it’s clearly just a shitty insert of twilight 😭😭😭