#state pride and state infamy

[liketwoswansinbalance]

Rafal the Unethical Psychologist - Part 3

HOW-TO: The Running of an Evil School

Disclaimer: Please Do Not Try This At Home.

Rafal has a habit of following studies done by other unethical psychologists who've earned such infamy that all Never pedagogy is driven by them. There are several few who've been elevated to the status of household names, known for their dastardly methods. All the Evil professors recognize them and their foremost publications at Rafal's behest.

Today, Sophie read from one of the academic journals he subscribes to.

Sophie: A new publication by an accredited Woods psychologist called Skinner has led me to believe we've been running our School all wrong these past few years! He's famed for his work in behaviorism in the field of education!

Rafal: Let me guess. Is he an Ever psychologist? Evers have such delicate, sensitive psyches. Even the slightest bit of trauma sets them off for years.

Sophie: By that name, he sounds like a Never. Besides, I just read that punishment only teaches students to avoid punishment. They become better at evading it by lying, so I don't think it's effective.

Rafal: But what we've done has been working, hasn't it? We've had successful alumni, aside from the 200-year curse.

Sophie: I suppose you could be right.

Rafal: Anyway, we don't want to eliminate or extinguish problematic behaviors. That may hold true for Evers, but for Nevers, undesirable consequences reinforce exactly what we are trying to teach. Evil is our aim, is it not?

We punish them so they become better liars and perpetrators. So they are stealthier and more cautious, more clever in their cheating.

We don't want pro-social behaviors from them! We don't want to elicit healthy, emotional regulation from them! That's the point, my love.

For a student to work hard and succeed, or for a student to cheat and succeed—there is little difference here at our School because our professors design classes to be cheating-proof, against traditional methods. Thus, succeeding by cheating already innately requires a student to possess some proficient level of stealthiness, of cleverness, of guile.

And, when you're a Never in the Woods, survival depends on results, not the means you use. That is our advantage over the Evers. They fuss about how they go about doing things and who they impact, but to Nevers—it doesn't matter.

Simply stated, they don't care about the unintended ramifications of their actions, as they rightly should, to best serve themselves and their endings.

They will do anything to emerge victorious, and we should pride ourselves on that fact, on their resourcefulness and the desperation that drives the darkest hearts.

Sophie: That's all well and good, darling. I know that already. You and your monologues. Same old, same old. [She feigns a yawn.] On an unrelated note, our School desperately needs a makeover. The Nevers' faces are positively scabrous, and I have half a mind to mandate facials, if they resist!

[player-1]

Oh…That’s a wonderful piece of lore but now that’s going to be a doozy to fit into the main story (mostly figuring out how long each Abyssal were alive before they were killed by the Guild or Lateria). Also ignore the different avatar, I did encounter this convo before in my playthrough but didn't get the chance to get screenshots :')

And HC Abyssal timeline below

Venefelis (1,000-0): The real polecat (HC that she has phantom paws cause she has Pummel in her skill list :) and Operation Kill the Witch. Of course, after being forced to stay in the timeout corner for 1,000 years, she became really existential about her own existence, her creator's absence and trying to figure out why the Abyssals were made except being overpowered cannon-fodder.

Rotramus (700 [-300 yrs.]): Considering that the Guild would be at its infancy and still aware of Venefelis' impact, it makes some sense if they started hunting down Rotramus to prevent a repeat incident. Also consider he's a twisted mirror to Nara's personality (anti-human but will possibly answer any question to anyone that finds him) and might've been a rip-the-bandage creation due to Nara's infamy with her family's downfall.

Pluvean (500 [-200 yrs.]): Yet another pacifist Abyssal that was found by Palmaya and just waited for the Guild to kill him (but I like to believe he discovered Cadium at some point and was disgusted by the humans "corrupting the waters"). Even if he's the contrast to Arqua's short temper and drive for human adoration, Pluvean is also a bit snippy about stating the obvious and being revived past his expected lifespan.

Inominox (400 [-100 yrs.]): And just when the Guild develop a false sense of security with dealing with the Abyssals, Inominox comes in with the big guns and starting picking off any weak tamers he could find (possibly making the Frozen Tundra his main hunting ground). But with Ventra's pride and cockiness spelled his downfall when the Guild intervened during one of his attacks. But whether the victim was too traumatized to recall his trigger or the information was lost to time, the Guild was back to square one when the Abyssal was revived.

Helevolk (350 [-50 yrs.]): Of course, there's not a lot to say about Helevolk besides being a more unstable version of Fona despite having a surprising amount of mental/emotional strength (mainly with him breaking through the N1 Nightmare mind-wiping to an extent), but it's a bit of a mystery on how he got his name despite being just as mindless and violent as a normal Nexomon [Hele: "to hide" + volk: "army" or "person/people"]. And I assume Lateria killed the beast by redirecting his tunnels or cornering him in the tunnels.

Caelesa (310 [-40 yrs.]): But to make matters worse for the Guild, they have to deal with another pacifist, human-avoidant Abyssal that will surely make them doubt their anti-Tyrant campaign. Of course, there's no real explanation how she was taken out or how long she evaded the Guild (and/or Lateria), but she clearly had enough time to believe that humans were dumb and violent brutes that have nothing better to do in their lives besides hunt what threatens them (though mostly directed at Finn the second he explains the Guild’s history with her). And fun fact, despite Caelesa being Normal-type (like Metta), she has a interesting set of elemental moves under her belt (also like Metta) so do with that info as you will :) [Base moves: Rocknite Blast, Thunder Blast, Plasma Star, Psy Field]

Volcel (280 [-30 yrs.]): Then after that wild-goose chase comes the giant electric moth(?), also being human-avoidant but will also mock everything and everyone below him for being simple earth-dwellers (really embodying Luxa’s superiority complex, huh?). While there isn’t any concrete evidence on how he was caught (since the Guild jumped to making a standard Tyrant bait), I’ll assume it was Lateria and their extremely heavy ordinance.

Braccus (260 [-20 yrs.]): Here comes the boy~! :D And unlike the older Abyssals (and being the second-youngest), he’s the only one that specifically mentions hearing his creator’s voice and learning his mission to attract the world’s attention by any means necessary; which he easily turns to destruction and carnage (becoming the Grunda he was meant to be) until Xanders “Bare Hands” Nexomon killed the beast and earned his Gold Tamer promotion. Also his dex entry mentions him destroying multiple cities before reaching Lateria and/or Grunda’s Chasm, so I’m betting he started his rampage at Royalle City since a “unnamed Tyrant” was the reason for its downfall.

Kroma (250 [-10 yrs.]): And finally, Operation Kill the Witch: Electric Boogaloo. And what better way to complete her life's mission is to plop her right into the Immortal Citadel while having the handy-dandy ability to mind-control ghosts. Whether she can control both human and Nexomon ghosts is up to debate, but I'm all for her being a tiny menace using the IC residents, the Greater Drake Krainnull, and Ulzar himself when the going got tough with Deena the one-woman army.

Either way, I mainly followed the Abyssals locations on Precursor Mountain from furthest left to right (apart from Venefelis being past Kroma's position), though it's extra funny that both Braccus and Kroma's places are almost melded together (with the haunted woods being halfway through the Braccus’ maze) so that's kind of where the idea came from. Either way, how in the world was I supposed to expect that these two were the YOUNGEST!?!?

And I love that this were the first thing I thought of (if anyone’s willing to make an artist’s representation of the disaster siblings, I’m all for it :)

[shannendoherty-fans]

1993 - Shannen Doherty portrayed by Michael Comte for the November 1993 issue of Vanity Fair.

Brat on a Hot Tin Roof (Part 1)

For Shannen Doherty, the brunette bad girl of Beverly Hills, 90210, hell is other people. In a few short years, she has sent two fiancés and various managers and flacks packing and earned a reputation as one of L.A.'s shortest fuses. But now the volatile actress, a television-size Elizabeth Taylor, wants to set the record straight, and she shares with LYNN HIRSCHBERG the perils of being a star.

She's difficult. She always was. She’s been acting since she was 10, offscreen and on, and she’s never, ever, been easy. "I can be difficult,” Shannen Doherty admits, with a trace of pride. ‘‘But I'm not crazy.” She is serious. Always. She was serious before she became the star of Beverly Hills, 90210, the teen soap opera that is one of the most popular shows on the Fox network, but fame has made her even more serious. There is no irony or humor in Shannen’s perception of Shannen. She feels, she says, abused. By the press. By the public. And, most of all, by her ex-boyfriends. "Don’t judge me for who I am,’’ she says, ‘‘because everybody makes mistakes.’’

She drags on her Camel. She is very small, but she affects a tough look, that bad-girl-in-high-school thing that makes her so tabloid-appealing. Shannen has on jeans and motorcycle boots and a vintage black bowling shirt that reads, MIKE. Her straight black hair hangs down past her shoulders and she’s wearing no makeup. Her most notable feature is her eyes, which are distinctly uneven—the left one is a good quarter-inch higher than the right. Despite this Cubist touch, Shannen’s face is particularly inexpressive. She doesn’t smile much; she doesn’t emote. Shannen is still.

At the moment, she is tucked into an overstuffed armchair in the dining room of the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. She’s been living here for the past three months, checked in under the alias Doobie Love, a moniker that seems to thrill her. Her new boyfriend, Judd Nelson, picked the name for her. "I like it,” she says giddily. "People have to call up and ask for ‘Doobie’ or they won’t get me.”’

She’s been staying at the Four Seasons ever since her relationship with Dean Factor, her latest fiancé (there has been at least one other), blew up. It was a particularly messy relationship—full of big dramatic fights, screaming accusations, and high-priced lawyers. Allegedly, Shannen pulled a gun on Dean, tried to run him over with her car, and threatened to have him sodomized on his front lawn. Or so he claims. She says he verbally abused her, closed a car door on her legs, and slugged her repeatedly. And nearly all of this was before she accepted his proposal of marriage.

But their love was not fated to last. It is gone now, replaced by a legal restraining order (his) stating that she cannot go within 100 yards of him. ‘“Which is fine by me,” says Shannen, looking rather blank. "I’m thinking of getting my own restraining order."

This is only the latest and most lurid chapter in the Shannen Chronicles, an ongoing study in how to become notorious. In the last two years alone, Shannen has been in a barroom brawl; has fired two managers, one of whom is threatening to sue her for thousands of dollars he claims she owes him; and has fired a publicist, who is also reportedly owed money. She is rumored to owe money to the I.R.S., has been in serious debt to American Express and a bank, and recently lost two endorsements, including Gitano jeans, because of her bad-girl ways.

She’s very calm about all this, refuting the charges point by point, chain-smoking throughout. She left one manager because ‘‘I despise people who lie,” left another ‘‘because the chemistry wasn’t there.”’ According to her, she doesn’t owe the money, didn’t write the bad checks, didn’t start the fights.

Today, except for the Dean thing, the details of her infamy are not important to her. She’s interested in how her image projects—the overall effect is what matters. ‘‘She has an Elizabeth Taylor complex,’” explains Darren Star, the creator and executive producer of Beverly Hills, 90210. "She has a sense of herself, a very strong sense of her own destiny. What's amazing is how much she’s realized it. She’s been able to parlay her visibility in a TV show to this extreme.’’

Still, things have gotten a little out of hand lately even for Shannen, who, at 22, is only beginning to understand that actions have consequences. ‘‘I’ve lost weight and I’ve been smoking a lot,”’ she says, lighting up another cigarette. “This is a really bad confession on my part, but one of the reasons why I started smoking is because I didn’t like my voice and I wanted it lower. Much sexier and lower. Raspier.”” She smiles guiltily. Anything for art.

She does look tired, but her manner is focused, energetic, especially when the subject is Shannen. She’s been working nonstop, having just finished two features back-to-back: Blindfold, co-starring Judd Nelson, and Resurrection. *‘I had four days off,”’ she says with a sigh, ‘‘and started back on the series.’ Tomorrow she is checking out of the hotel and moving into her new rented house way up in the Hollywood Hills, and she’s eager to get her life in order, to put all this craziness behind her.

Most of all, she wants to be viewed in a new light; she wants to be taken seriously. ‘“You know,”’ she says, "when people talk about Meryl Streep, they don’t delve into her personal life. They wish they could, but they don’t. I think they have such incredible respect for her acting that they leave her alone. My goal is to be very similar to that, that when my name comes up it’s not about ‘Oh, Shannen got in another, you know, fight at a bar.' ” She takes a puff and considers her position. ‘‘Being notorious, yeah, it’s great for some things,’” she says. ‘‘But it’s also bad for others. I just wish I was notorious in a much better sense. Like Meryl. That would be nice.”’

Shannen stands up. ‘“You know,” she says as she picks up her cigarettes, ‘‘always having to watch yourself is a major drag. Watch what you say, watch what you do. You know, when all you really want to do is, like, be a 22-year-old girl and live your life and do what you love doing, which is acting.” She puts her hand on her hip. “But I guess it comes with the territory. And I’m dealing with it.”’

Shannen is waiting in front of the Four Seasons for the attendant to bring up her truck from the parking lot. “‘I have two cars,’’ she explains. “A black Mercedes and a Porsche Carrera 4. It’s a beautiful car. And now I have this truck.”” She pauses a second. The Chevy Suburban is actually the property of Beverly Hills, 90210—she has simply borrowed it for a week or so—but Shannen looks at most everything as if she owns it, so now this is her truck. "I like this truck because Dean doesn’t know it. If I see him when I’m driving, he won’t know it’s me.”’ She stares for a second. ‘‘He won’t see me at all.’’

She says this with a mix of spite, petulance, and I-am-Sheena-hear-me-roar bravado, which is the way she always speaks when she speaks about the men in her life. Men. It’s really the men that seem to gum up Shannen’s game plan. They're always getting in Shannen’s way, pushing her around, trying to change her. Managers, agents, producers—but especially boyfriends. They fall in love with her, convinced she’s sweet and serene, young and innocent, with just a beguiling touch of wildness. But then they start to tinker, to make suggestions: if only she could alter this personality twist, keep that one in check, then she would be a truly great girl. They try and they fail. Changing Shannen does not work.

But they persist: they cling to the possibilities. "She has a lot of charm,” insists her ex-manager Mike Gursey, ‘‘but she’s a pathological liar. . . . I’ve never seen her use drugs, but she has a coke mentality. She feels above anything. She feels she can do anything to anyone. She doesn’t see anything wrong with the things she does." (She, of course, doesn’t agree with this.)

And yet Gursey, who is threatening to sue Shannen, would take her back. “‘I thought I could change her,”’ he confesses. “‘I'd still like to give it another shot.”” He pauses. "I had unconditional love for her. That was my mistake."

Well, maybe, but Shannen’s appeal to men is something of a phenomenon. In L.A. especially, there are prettier girls, sexier girls, smarter girls, but she has, it would seem, a mysterious allure. ‘‘She’s sort of dirty,”” says someone who has worked with her, ‘‘but she doesn’t seem to know it. She looks like you could do anything to her, ask her to do anything to you, and she would. She looks both willing and willful.”

This trait seems to attract a certain kind of guy. "It seems to be the norm for me to hook up with really bad men,” says Shannen. “How do I find them? That's the true question. They just come out of the woodwork. They're really gross.”’

She moved in with her first boyfriend, whom she will not name, when she was 18. She had been living with some girlfriends, and before that in the Valley with her parents—her mother works as a receptionist in a Beverly Hills nail-and-waxing salon, and her father is a semi-retired business-man. Shannen spent her teens acting in commercials and on dramatic shows (Shannen has no flair for comedy). At 11, she landed a role on Little House on the Prairie, and then, when that series ended, she co-starred for two years on Our House, where she reportedly feuded with Deidre Hall, the star of the show, who played her mom.

Between Our House and Beverly Hills, 90210, Shannen met her first boyfriend. "He was a total jerk,” she says. ‘‘He was, like, 35. He carried himself very well and he was older and I was like, oh, yeah, O.K. He was pretty cool when I first met him. But then his true colors came through. I moved in and that’s when I discovered his job, for instance. The type of person he was, which was not what you would classify as a good citizen. He sold things. Let’s just say that. He sold things that are extremely illegal. And that was a pretty rough lifestyle for me, because it was my first time out.”’

After three months, Shannen left. She seems to have decided that this short stint was her only debauched period. The only time she took drugs (cocaine, principally), the only time she was wild in the clubs, the only time she lived the life others claim she’s been living all along. Only for those three months. And only because of this guy. ‘‘He corrupted me,’’ she explains.

(Part 2 — Part 3)

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Let All the People Praise Thee

by Charles Spurgeon

Our Father, when we read Thy description of human nature we are sure it is true, for Thou has seen man ever since his fall and Thou hast been grieved at heart concerning him. Moreover, Thou hast such a love towards him that Thou didst not judge him harshly and every word that Thou hast spoken must be according to truth. Thou hast measured and computed the iniquity of man, for Thou hast laid it on the Well-Beloved and we know Thou hast not laid upon Him more than is meet.

O God, we are distressed, we are bowed down greatly when we see what is the condition to which we and all our race have fallen. “Where is boasting then?” And yet we grieve to say that we do boast, and have boasted, and that our fellow-men are great at boasting, whereas they ought rather to lay their hands upon their mouths before Thee.

It has become a wonder to us that Thou shouldst look upon man at all. The most hateful object in creation must be a man, because he slew Thy Son, because he has multiplied rebellions against a just and holy law. And yet truly there is no sight that gives Thee more pleasure than man, for Jesus was a man and the brightness of His glory covers all our shame, and the pureness and perfectness of His obedience shines like the sun in the midst of the thick darkness. For His sake, Thou art well pleased and Thou dost dwell with us.

Lord, we once thought that those descriptions of our heart were somewhat strained, but we think not so now, for verily we perceive that had it not been for restraint which held us like fetters we, in our unregenerate state, were capable of anything, for even now when we are regenerate, the old sin that abideth in us is capable of reaching to a high degree of infamy and did not the new life restrain the old death, we know not what we might yet become.

We thought once we were humble, but we soon found that our pride will feed on any current flattery that is laid at our door. We thought we were believers, but sometimes we are so doubting, so unbelieving, so vexed with skepticism that we should not certainly choose to follow that is Thy work in us. By nature, we are such liars that we think Thee a liar too. The surest token of our untruthfulness, that we think that Thou canst be untrue.

Oh, this base heart of ours! Hath it not enough tinder in it to set on fire the course of nature? If a spark does but fall into it, any one of our members left to itself would dishonor Christ, deny the Lord that bought us, and turn back into perdition.

We are altogether ashamed. Truly in us is fulfilled Thine own Word, “Thou shalt be a shame and never open thy mouth anymore.” For Thy love to us hath silenced us, that great love hath hidden boasting from us. Thy great love, wherewith Thou lovedst us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins. Thy great love wherewith Thou hast loved us still, despite our ill manners, our wanderings, our shortcomings, and our excesses.

Oh, the matchless love of God! Truly if there be any glory it must be all the Lord’s. If there be any virtue, it is the result of grace. If there be anything whatsoever that lifts us above the devil himself, it is the work of the divine Spirit, to whom be glory!

And now at the remembrance of all this, and being in Thy presence, we do yet rejoice that covered is our unrighteousness, from condemnation we are free, and we are the favored of the Lord. Thou hast given us, O Lord, to taste of that love which is not merely laid up for us, but we have enjoyed it and do enjoy it still.

Our heart knows the Father’s love, for we have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, “Abba Father.” And we joy and rejoice in the redemption of our spirits and we expect the redemption of our bodies, when at the coming of the Lord they too shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.

O Jesus, Thou wilt bring Thy Israel out of Egypt and not a hoof shall be left behind. No, not a bone, nor a piece of Thine elect shall be left in the hands of the adversary. We shall come out clean, delivered by Him who doeth nothing by halves, but who on the cross said, “It is finished.” Who much more will say it on His throne. Glory be unto Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who hath lifted us up from our ruin and condemnation, and made us new creatures and justified us, and guaranteed us eternal life, which eternal life shall be manifested at the coming of the Lord. All glory be unto His ever blessed name forever and ever!

And now, Lord, during the few days that remain to us here below, be it all our business to cry, “Behold the Lamb!” Oh! teach these hearts to be always conscious of Thy love and then these lips, that they may set out as best they can by Thy divine help, the matchless story of the cross. Oh! do give us to win many to Jesus. Let us not be barren, but may we have to cry that we are the beloved of the Lord and our offspring with us. May we have many spiritual offspring that shall go with us to the throne, that we may say before Him, “I and the children that Thou hast given me.”

Lord, bless the work of the Church and all its branches and let Thy kingdom come into the hearts of multitudes by its means. Remember all churches that are really at work for Jesus and all private individuals, workers alone, workers by themselves. Let the Lord’s own name be made known by tens of thousands. Give the Word and great may be the multitude of them that publish it. Let all this, our beloved country, know Christ and come to His feet. Let the dark places of this huge city be enlightened with the sweet name of Jesus. And then let the heathen know Thee and the uttermost parts of the earth hear of Thee.

Oh! from the tree declare Thou Thy salvation and from the throne let it be published in proclamations of a king. “Let the people praise Thee, O God; yea, let all the people praise Thee.”

Our heart seems as if it had not anything else to ask for when it reaches to this, yet would we go back a moment and say, Lord, forgive us our sins. Lord, sanctify our persons. Lord, guide us in difficulty. Lord, supply our needs. The Lord teach us. The Lord perfect us. The Lord comfort us. The Lord make us meet for the appearing of His Son from heaven!

And now we come back to a theme that still seems to engross our desires. Oh! that Christ might come. Oh! that His word might be made known to the uttermost ends of the earth! Lord, they die, they perish, they pass away by multitudes! Every time the sun rises and sets, they pass away! Make no tarrying, we beseech Thee. Give wings to the feet of Thy messengers and fire to their mouths that they may proclaim the Word with Pentecostal swiftness and might. Oh! that Thy kingdom might come and Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, for Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

[bunnymoon-phase]

Forgive me if this is something you already knew, OP, but as a semi-elder ace (in that I joined tumblr just in time to see the peak of ace pride before the aphobes destroyed the tumblr ace community with harassment, so I have seen the origins of a non-zero number of ace memes that gained partial infamy into adoption as symbols that have been re-adopted as the ace community builds back up with none of the previous knowledge) I can explain why garlic bread (and cake) are The asexual foods and how it has nothing to do with Actually being ace, regardless of their status now.

Both the garlic bread and the cake stemmed from popular text posts following roughly the same format: A hypothetical, joking text post about an asexual person being grilled about their preferences in a partner or in bed, and how they state they prefer the food in front of them as they refuse to answer the invasive and irrelevant questions, with that preference being a "gotcha!" punchline as the individual speaking to them gets so frustrated they leave.

The relatability of the situation and humor and the common like for garlic bread and cake spread the posts so they became common knowledge in the community at the time, and thus became symbols of asexuality in a kind of meme-y, metaphorical way.

You don't have to like garlic bread to be ace! They are in no way connected! And I support your dislike of it. If you have a preference for cake, you have an option for that now too!!

I find it funny how garlic bread is the asexual food and I absolutely fucking DESPISE garlic bread

yet I’m on the asexual spectrum

[benjaminthewolfnsfw]

P.O.V.: You're The Pred, And Batman's Mad Hatter Wants In

This isn't so much an April Fools upload as a, in my opinion, failed experiment opportunity that arose during a trade. Enjoy anyway though.

And I'm putting this here since in my eyes, the dialogue definitely can be interpreted as sexual tension.

****

     The experience that is the the nearly whole of the adult life of the middle class individual, systemically locked into a dreary, monotonous existence of 9-5, inable due to a combination of both circumstance and ability to rise themself any higher, whilst simultaneously recognizing that they should indeed be rather thankful for their position, in the sense of contrasting themself to an individual of the lower-class, creates a rather interesting dilemma within such an individual’s mind, wherein they are, indeed and true to form, locked within the very middle of existence; toiling in the waking day for their wages, and yet, due to such earnings, are able to afford conveniences and lavishes resulting in a rather tolerable personal life in the evenings and therefore the nights.

      This was indeed the state of affairs right now, and you, having far-long accepted this position due to your many, many years of experience, were far more than ready to reap your hard-earned rest, as you lightly, groggily, and wearily, grasped a hold onto the doorknob which would lead one therein into you and your partner’s shared bedroom. 

     And it was only then, upon a stark, yet unmoving jolt of reality, that you were able to remind yourself, although with nothing more but a blink, that despite your record remaining clean, (though hardly and quite barely in many instances), it was indeed a fact that the person you had become destined to return to each day was an individual to whom an incalculable cloud of infamy had adorned. This statement could not be any further hammered home (or at least to the same effect) aside from this as of yet unrevealed individual’s current state. For although he was remaining fully clothed, and though he did not bear any objects of particularly peculiar nature, there was indeed one, single object to which this person can be associated. A single, white, paper sign, draped loosely and seemingly nobly around the whole of his neck. And as to the unknown message printed across this very sign? Well, such words will only come as natural upon this figure’s reveal.

     Shoving the door on past, as if screeching for it to move out of the way, you promptly scamper your way into the currently blackened room, not bothering to turn on any lights. You did, however, bother to slam said door behind you, if only as a sort of justly punishment for the crime of not doing as you had said upon its own volition. Practically leaping in an arc length onto the bed, the very first words that you were destined to utter since arrival were finally forced past your lips.

     “Oh, Mad Hatter!” you giddily chuckle out. “You and your obsessive little references.”

     Yes, it was indeed true. Making up the total of merely a single individual out of possibly hundreds, Mad Hatter, the Gotham City villain, was nonetheless certainly still a danger to all that approached. That being, of course, excluding the singular exception of you.

     Seeming to practically beam outwards with pride, and gesturing his hand onto the sign he still wore, Mad Hatter was therefore given reason to say, if only for emphasis and effect, the simple two words lying upon. Thus, with a wink and a smirk, out the two words came.

     “Eat me.” he joyously whispered. “...and let me look for that rabbit.”

     Now needing nothing more of confirmation to get started, that gleeful sparkle in your eye upon gazing into the man only infrared brighter upon you gently hoisting him up towards your face, before finally unveiling your maw.

     Mad Hatter in turn needed nothing more to say as he was delicately graced by the slimy, warmed surface of the light pink tongue as it lavishly sampled his cheek. The man could only guess at this point as to what foods he reminded you of, before, retracting in for just a moment to this end, the slickened, goopy muscle came in back for round two. 

     As you were quite busy positively slathering the man’s face with your saliva, you simultaneously began to stretch open the cavern, in preparation for the journey Mad Hatter faced before him. Finally removing your tongue from the face of the man, in order to once again grace it, though within a far more embracing manner of savoring, you were therefore able to feel it pushing in against your cheeks as the whole head of the man was forced in. Carefully bringing your jaws around the rounded, cheek-stuffing head of Mad Hatter, you were able as a result to carefully grasp ahold onto the villain’s arms, and secure him for the moment as such. Cautiously lifting your head up as the stretchy, smooth, heated packets of flesh that were, in fact, your cheeks lavishly ensconced Mad Hatter, if only as a preview of what was necessarily to come, you were now, at last, able to open your gullet onto the man, revealing the gaping drop upon the swaying, back and forth motions of your plump uvula, and tenderly inching him closer and closer to the oncoming valve as the seconds ticked by in mere indifference.

     Finally able to feel his head lodging cleanly into the upper esophageal sphincter, you briefly unhand the flesh upon one of the man’s arms as you take a good second to acquaint yourself with this bulge, poking and kneading your fingers onto the form of the thing as you did. Eventually, however, you knew it was indeed time to get the promised show onto the figurative road, or, more accurately, into the squelching tunnel. Slowly and deeply gulping as the resulting sound effect echoes all around the inside man’s ears, you are able to feel as a result the villain’s upper body and arms being inserted into your maw, as you promptly swallow once more. Now, you were able to close your maw and take the resulting moment to once again admire the enormous bulge in your throat that Mad Hatter was making, before at last, swallowing a third and final time.

     Now that Mad Hatter was subject to the squelching and squeezing motions that all swallowed objects must undergo, there was hardly anything left for you to do other than flop your form down onto the bed, and place your now unoccupied hands onto the awaiting stomach, the faintest gurgling and groaning emulating subtly from within.

     Mad Hatter on the inside, however, was positively soaking up all the sensory squeezings coming from the goopy, slimy, smooth walls. He was able to pick up your heartbeat at this point, due to just how close his head currently was to your chest and therefore your heart. It would only come as a natural result then, that the moment he was able to recognize that by now, his feet must be past the form of the collarbone, the lower esophageal sphincter was indeed to come but a mere two seconds later.

     Promptly closing his eyes as his head was firmly squeezed through, Mad Hatter’s body was therefore able to slip nicely and effortlessly into the harmless organ therein. The stomach walls expanding dramatically in order to adjust for its current gigantic meal, you on the outside were able to pat it over as the humongous, rumbling, shifting bulge upon your midsection growled happily with each of your pats and subsequent rubs.

     Your tongue hung loosely out of your mouth as you hazily began to drool. You could not imagine just what was going on with the tightly squeezed man inside your guts, and yet, if he were so inclined to tell you, the descriptions would, indeed, become something along the lines of this, here.

     With a constant, echoing symphony consisting of gurgling, growling, and glorping, kept in time by the baseline boom of the heartbeat all above it, the shifting, churning, goopy walls shoved in and out upon his being, massaging and relaxing the great body as the heat within its confines soaked within the man leisurely. The harmless, sloshing liquids inside left him naturally quite wet, as his entire lower half was deeply submerged inside of the water-like pool. Perhaps the most ensconcing aspect of this area, however, was indeed its cushiony, malleable nature and simultaneously, its slickness. Mad Hatter had absolutely no idea why he was so deeply drawn towards it, and yet, via your consent, he was now able to experience it in its fullness. You, within a similar mental experience of utter, unadulterated elation, were positively flooded with a similar kind of fullness, entirely separate to the physical sense of fullness you also naturally possessed. No, this kind of fullness was one to which only a connection such as this could be unlocked. And, despite all he had done, you were willing to put it all aside, as the infamous Mad Hatter rocked hazily inside of your guts. He was now all yours, and you were going to admire that fact to the greatest extent you could manage.

[rutugandhresort]

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[littlewestern]

On Hank

(This one goes out to the anon in my askbox who requested Hank for the bingo meme. I'll do you one better <3)

So to preface this I think some context is required. I’ll be brief.

When I started this train misadventure with @greatwesternway, I personally had no plans to watch beyond Season 6, which was the last season that I remembered watching as a child and so the last season I had any personal attachment to. Once that had been done, however, and I still wanted more trains, I skipped directly to season 17 (to see Duck) and then proceeded to watch the rest of the CGI (backtracking to season 13) and then all the movies and specials.

This watch order left a gap, Seasons 7-12. I was not looking forward to watching Seasons 7-12. I had no special memories associated with them, and knew from prior research that the characterization and writing was… shall we say, less than stellar. I also knew that these seasons added many one-off characters that the CGI would not end up carrying over, and which I had basically zero interest in. Who cares about Flora the steam tram? Not me, certainly.

Imagine my surprise, then, when Season 12 (of Steady Eddie infamy) delivered perhaps my favorite one-off character of the entire show, and a pretty good all-around episode in general.

Let’s talk about Hank and his episode, Heave Ho, Thomas.

Despite appearing in only one episode, we know a lot about Hank’s character. We know that he’s big, strong, gregarious, friendly, quick to compliment others, and– perhaps most importantly– American!

Yes, the engine whose color scheme is red, white, and blue and who has a Texan accent (which Michael Angelis is attempting so, so bravely) is American. Shocker!

I’m pointing this out primarily because it’s interesting on its own: the show never directly states that he is from America, but it’s made very clear to the audience that that is the case.

There are many American engines on Sodor (Rosie, Caitlin, Connor, Porter, Timothy, Victor) but Hank is the only one (aside from Victor, who I would consider a special case) who is shown to be Culturally American. Most of these other engines are given British (or in the case of Caitlin and Connor, Irish for some reason) accents and their status as transplants isn’t really commented on in the canon.

I’m not bringing this up in relation to Hank because I have a problem with this from a technical perspective, but because Hank being American is– I would argue– actually the crux of the whole episode and what makes it work.

(Hank actually gets a model face as opposed to a CGI one for this shot! This episode might have been planned for before the decision to switch to CGI faces had been finalized.)

The episode proper starts with Hank arriving on Sodor. Thomas and Percy are both excited to meet this new special and strong engine, but Thomas expresses some doubt that he could be stronger than any of the engines on Sodor. Already we’re seeing some hometown pride from Thomas, indicating both that Hank is an outsider and that wherever he’s from, Thomas thinks Sodor is better. Sir Topham Hatt gives Thomas his 3 strikes jobs for the day, which he instructs Thomas to do while showing Hank around the island.

Hank arrives and immediately sets Thomas off by calling him “one of the finest little engines [he’s] ever seen”. Thomas, being as he is, takes offense at being called “little”, disregarding of course that to Hank, the big fuckoff PRR K4 Pacific, every engine on Sodor is little. And of course, Hank doesn’t mean “little” as an insult either. He means… cute! But Thomas, being as he is, gets buttmad about it.

Hank sees the load of freight cars Thomas is set to haul to the factory and offers, quite magnanimously, to take them instead, setting Thomas off even more. And perhaps Hank is underestimating Thomas here, but on the other hand, to Hank it would be like offering to carry a child’s backpack. The narration even tells us that Hank is merely trying to be helpful. He’s got that Southern Hospitality thing goin’ on!

As these seasons adhere to a specific formula it doesn’t take a genius to see where this episode is going. Thomas doesn’t exchange his current train for the next as he was instructed and instead tries to do all of them together as Hank watches, offering each time to pull the train instead and getting turned down. Part of that aforementioned Southern Hospitality, though, is taking people at their word, and so Thomas struggles on in a valiant attempt to win the Cutting Off Your Nose To Spite Your Face Award.

(Thomas, all out of Puff and Pull.)

It’s here that he gets called "Handsome Hank" in the episode by the narrator in passing. This is fun, because I love when one of the stereotypes Americans are given outside this country is that they're attractive. I suspect this comes from our only cultural export being film for 100 years, and so the impression that people who don't live here got was that Americans all look like movie stars.

Hank being called this is interesting though, in that sense, it characterizes him as American again without outright stating the fact, but it's also interesting because 'handsome' is not an adjective that gets ascribed to engines in canon. For this reason, I suspect it is a title in the vein of "Duck The Great Western Engine" or "James the Red Engine". It's a name given by humans to the engines as a form of address.

Because if it isn't... Well, how-dy Hank! Thomas (or the Narrator at least) thinks you look handsome! Add that to the list of things Thomas just can't stand about this guy! He swanks in here, disrespects Thomas, belittles him, and has the gall to look good while doing it. What a Hospitable asshole!

(Handsome Hank! I absolutely love these pieces of concept art and I'm so glad we have them.)

Hank is so Hospitable in fact, that when Thomas is completely out of steam and can’t whistle at the stations because of the heavy train, Hank announces in front of God and everybody that because Thomas is out of puff: he, Hank, will whistle for him! To Hank, this is just common courtesy. If he can’t pull the train, the very least he can do is whistle for his new friend.

Of course, this is about the worst thing you could say in front of an engine like Thomas. Thomas, who thinks everything is a competition, every offhand comment a slight against him personally, and every action he can’t do a knock against his own Usefulness. It’s not his fault, really. When you come up on a British railway with engines like Gordon and James, you expect to be belittled and patronized. But Hank isn’t being passive-aggressive here, he’s just being American!

Well of course, as it goes with these seasons, Thomas cracks a cylinder and learns a lesson about asking for help or somesuch, Hank has a party thrown for him and is promptly forgotten about for the rest of time forever, The End. It’s not a very satisfying conclusion or a particularly good episode when taken at face value, but I think it works if you look at it as a Cultural Differences sort of episode, where the sensibilities of two different railways come into contact and are, at least initially, at odds with each other.

And actually, doing some research for this episode, I found out that Heave Ho, Thomas was never shown in Japan on tv or released for home media. Maybe they thought an episode like this wouldn’t translate well for a Japanese audience? Interesting, either way!

[tarnished-doll]

[2/3] Failures and Successes [Godrick/OC]

[PART 1]

i do love writing them at their Most Divorced ngl

cw: descriptions/discussions of child death, experimentation, ect ect godrick wtf are you doing my guy

-

Marigold kept a distrustful eye on the grafted man as he led her into his bedroom, both for the privacy and for what he kept in it. A dogeared notebook was taken from a writing desk. What it had was no different than the research and note keeping Marigold made in her lab; it contained diagrams, thoughts, logs of operations and lists of needed materials. Fairly competent illustrations mapped out truly terrible, mismatched, monstrous bodies - all belonging to children.

“They all ended up worse than me, healthwise.” There was a dull note of grief in Godrick’s tone, numbed by time and rumination. “Their problems cropped up younger and younger, if they ever survived being born at all.”

Marigold leafed through the pages. It seemed chronologically documented, with the eldest son’s records being first. She flipped over to the back and found diagrams of young Godefroy’s distinctly awful body configuration.

Godrick glanced at them over her shoulder. “You can take those, if you want. I know you must want to ‘fix’ him.”

The Doll hesitated to take the pages. “I don’t know if I can, honestly. He’s the worst I’ve ever seen, and you grafted him before he hit puberty - I never even got as far as to research the side effects of doing that.”

“Well, I beat you to it. It’s all in there; every failure and success I had in fatherhood.” There was no pride in those words; Marigold wasn’t sure what she would do if there was. Hurt him some more, probably. She found him reading through the notebooks along with her, looming over her shoulder. His expression was stone-faced, and guarded.

Some of the other scions were truly hard to look at, and hard to draw, to boot. Though it seemed Godrick’s artistic talent had flourished in detailing the grotesque over the years. Marigold was glad for all of the clear labeling of different body parts, herself. “Are they all your bastards?”

“There’s no sense in wasting a proper heir on this work. Not until I can perfect the right kind of grafts they’ll need.”

“So they truly were just your test subjects, weren’t they?”

“Was I not your test subject, once?” Godrick snapped back at her snide comment. “They were my sons, too. I didn’t want them to have the life I had, I wanted them to be healthy. Even if it meant… replacing the parts of them that weren’t.”

He reached over to flip the book back to the front, detailing his firstborn. Godfrey the Fourth; deceased at age five. The most ‘normal’ of the young scions, in that all of his limbs were of a proportionate size. With it only being imagery and descriptions on paper, the shock of it was dulled. Marigold remembered what Godefroy said: ‘he didn’t want to cut up another child for it’.

She looked over her shoulder to find the grafted man pointedly averting his eyes from his sins. “I was more desperate, then. I couldn’t stomach it for very long. It’s not… it’s not worth it, Doll. I’d rather make living monsters than have twice the number of dead kids on my hands.”

The Doll nodded. She was starting to understand; she hated it, and in that moment she hated him, but she could understand. She saw him at his sickest, and she saw him at his most physically monstrous. He very much preferred one state of being over the other.

Marigold closed the book. “Where are the other survivors?”

“They’re young men by now, for the most part. I let them go off to strike out on their own.” Godrick’s smirk was a mockery of fatherly pride. “Let them and their monstrousness spread my infamy far and wide, if need be. They come back once in a while, bearing gifts and stories, telling me of the full lives they live thanks to me. They don’t resent what I did. They’ve all known what it felt like to have their health take a turn.”

Apprehensively, Marigold looked through the records of the scions with the intent to find a shape that would look familiar. It was difficult finding the boy that she had slain in the graveyard; it had been dark when he jumped her just near the gates, and all she could perceive was a flurry of limbs and swords. Godrick stuck to a similar composition of large abdominal cavities held up by multiple limbs, making differentiating them all the harder at a glance. She could have killed any one of these young men.

“My Lord,” she ventured carefully, “I found one of your sons when I awoke as a Tarnished, in the graveyard on the island just off the coast from here. I killed him, my Lord. I’m sorry.”

Godrick stared at her for a moment, her confession sinking in for him. He cast his gaze down to the floor sadly. “I see. Well… these things happen. They knew the risks.”

Godrick took a seat on his bed with a sigh. His drawn-out exhale came out with a wheeze from no longer having several healthy lungs doing the heavy lifting in his respiratory system.

Marigold sat next to him, still lingering on the notes detailing Godefroy’s condition. She could figure something out, surely. Something to at least streamline his body configuration, make it easier for the poor boy to interact with the world. And that wasn’t even getting into how his condition may change as he went through puberty; Marigold never studied the effects of childhood growth spurts on grafted flesh and bone. Godrick had, however. Measurements from some of the boys were detailed in the margins of his notes, taken intermittently as new grafts were added. Some of them were so small when the procedures began.

The grafted man watched her as she stared at the notes, deep in thought. As one pair of golden hands clutched the book, the other dug their fingernails into the yielding fabric of the bedspread.

“This art gave me a purpose, you know. A purpose that was more than just tending to you.” Marigold flipped through the pages again, going back through every atrocity cataloged within. “I wanted to make something beautiful of what we found; something that could transcend what we thought flesh was capable of.”

She had to close the book, lest she rip out the pages. It shook in her unsteady hands. “But then I wake up Tarnished, and I see all you’ve proven with grafting is that it could make monsters. Of them, and yourself. I cannot believe you managed to take something with so much potential and use it to such ends.”

Godrick straightened his crooked back a little against her hateful glare, matching it with a sneer. “It may be an art, Marigold, but you are not an artist. You are a butcher, like me - you were always a butcher; you just think moderation and symmetry makes it more palatable to an invisible audience. I chose to have alive monsters rather than dead children - what would you have done?”

Marigold didn’t break eye contact with him as they sat, silent, the tension between them tightening like a bowstring. The longer she stubbornly didn’t answer, the more Godrick’s heart sank.

“...Do what you will with him, Doll. I know you will, whether I ask it of you or not.” The grafted man stood with a lurch, still uneasy with his fairly new center of balance. He left her where she sat, rigid, shivering fitfully as her fingers dug into the bedding until it ripped.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Let All the People Praise Thee

by Charles Spurgeon

Our Father, when we read Thy description of human nature we are sure it is true, for Thou has seen man ever since his fall and Thou hast been grieved at heart concerning him. Moreover, Thou hast such a love towards him that Thou didst not judge him harshly and every word that Thou hast spoken must be according to truth. Thou hast measured and computed the iniquity of man, for Thou hast laid it on the Well-Beloved and we know Thou hast not laid upon Him more than is meet.

O God, we are distressed, we are bowed down greatly when we see what is the condition to which we and all our race have fallen. “Where is boasting then?” And yet we grieve to say that we do boast, and have boasted, and that our fellow-men are great at boasting, whereas they ought rather to lay their hands upon their mouths before Thee.

It has become a wonder to us that Thou shouldst look upon man at all. The most hateful object in creation must be a man, because he slew Thy Son, because he has multiplied rebellions against a just and holy law. And yet truly there is no sight that gives Thee more pleasure than man, for Jesus was a man and the brightness of His glory covers all our shame, and the pureness and perfectness of His obedience shines like the sun in the midst of the thick darkness. For His sake, Thou art well pleased and Thou dost dwell with us.

Lord, we once thought that those descriptions of our heart were somewhat strained, but we think not so now, for verily we perceive that had it not been for restraint which held us like fetters we, in our unregenerate state, were capable of anything, for even now when we are regenerate, the old sin that abideth in us is capable of reaching to a high degree of infamy and did not the new life restrain the old death, we know not what we might yet become.

We thought once we were humble, but we soon found that our pride will feed on any current flattery that is laid at our door. We thought we were believers, but sometimes we are so doubting, so unbelieving, so vexed with skepticism that we should not certainly choose to follow that is Thy work in us. By nature, we are such liars that we think Thee a liar too. The surest token of our untruthfulness, that we think that Thou canst be untrue.

Oh, this base heart of ours! Hath it not enough tinder in it to set on fire the course of nature? If a spark does but fall into it, any one of our members left to itself would dishonor Christ, deny the Lord that bought us, and turn back into perdition.

We are altogether ashamed. Truly in us is fulfilled Thine own Word, “Thou shalt be a shame and never open thy mouth anymore.” For Thy love to us hath silenced us, that great love hath hidden boasting from us. Thy great love, wherewith Thou lovedst us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins. Thy great love wherewith Thou hast loved us still, despite our ill manners, our wanderings, our shortcomings, and our excesses.

Oh, the matchless love of God! Truly if there be any glory it must be all the Lord’s. If there be any virtue, it is the result of grace. If there be anything whatsoever that lifts us above the devil himself, it is the work of the divine Spirit, to whom be glory!

And now at the remembrance of all this, and being in Thy presence, we do yet rejoice that covered is our unrighteousness, from condemnation we are free, and we are the favored of the Lord. Thou hast given us, O Lord, to taste of that love which is not merely laid up for us, but we have enjoyed it and do enjoy it still.

Our heart knows the Father’s love, for we have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, “Abba Father.” And we joy and rejoice in the redemption of our spirits and we expect the redemption of our bodies, when at the coming of the Lord they too shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.

O Jesus, Thou wilt bring Thy Israel out of Egypt and not a hoof shall be left behind. No, not a bone, nor a piece of Thine elect shall be left in the hands of the adversary. We shall come out clean, delivered by Him who doeth nothing by halves, but who on the cross said, “It is finished.” Who much more will say it on His throne. Glory be unto Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who hath lifted us up from our ruin and condemnation, and made us new creatures and justified us, and guaranteed us eternal life, which eternal life shall be manifested at the coming of the Lord. All glory be unto His ever blessed name forever and ever!

And now, Lord, during the few days that remain to us here below, be it all our business to cry, “Behold the Lamb!” Oh! teach these hearts to be always conscious of Thy love and then these lips, that they may set out as best they can by Thy divine help, the matchless story of the cross. Oh! do give us to win many to Jesus. Let us not be barren, but may we have to cry that we are the beloved of the Lord and our offspring with us. May we have many spiritual offspring that shall go with us to the throne, that we may say before Him, “I and the children that Thou hast given me.”

Lord, bless the work of the Church and all its branches and let Thy kingdom come into the hearts of multitudes by its means. Remember all churches that are really at work for Jesus and all private individuals, workers alone, workers by themselves. Let the Lord’s own name be made known by tens of thousands. Give the Word and great may be the multitude of them that publish it. Let all this, our beloved country, know Christ and come to His feet. Let the dark places of this huge city be enlightened with the sweet name of Jesus. And then let the heathen know Thee and the uttermost parts of the earth hear of Thee.

Oh! from the tree declare Thou Thy salvation and from the throne let it be published in proclamations of a king. “Let the people praise Thee, O God; yea, let all the people praise Thee.”

Our heart seems as if it had not anything else to ask for when it reaches to this, yet would we go back a moment and say, Lord, forgive us our sins. Lord, sanctify our persons. Lord, guide us in difficulty. Lord, supply our needs. The Lord teach us. The Lord perfect us. The Lord comfort us. The Lord make us meet for the appearing of His Son from heaven!

And now we come back to a theme that still seems to engross our desires. Oh! that Christ might come. Oh! that His word might be made known to the uttermost ends of the earth! Lord, they die, they perish, they pass away by multitudes! Every time the sun rises and sets, they pass away! Make no tarrying, we beseech Thee. Give wings to the feet of Thy messengers and fire to their mouths that they may proclaim the Word with Pentecostal swiftness and might. Oh! that Thy kingdom might come and Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, for Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

[emperor-zhaolie]

The Accursed Kings : The Iron King (Volume 1)

Here is my first post on trumblr. I decided to start a translation of the accursed king in english. I will try to give you one chapter by week. To convince to read it, this series inspired Goerge RR Martin for A Song of Ice and Fire. Hope you like it.

Prologue

At the beginning of the fourteenth century, Philippe IV, king of a legendary beauty, ruled over France as his absolute master. He had overcome the warlike pride of the great barons, defeated the Flemish rebels, the English in Aquitaine, and even the Papacy, which he had installed by force in Avignon. The Parliaments were at his command and the councils were at his bidding. He had three sons of age to assure his legacy. His daughter was wed to the king Edouard II of England. He counted 6 other kings amongst his vassals, and the network of his alliances extended to Russia. No wealth escaped his hand. He had in turn taxed the wealth of the Church, despoiled the Jews and extorted the bankiers Lombards compagnies. To square up to the needs of the Treasury he falsificated the currencies.  From one day to the next the gold weighed less and was worth more. The taxes were crushing ; the police abounding. Economic crisis led to ruin and famine which themselves generated riots which were bloody suppressed. The riots ended upon the forks of the gallows. Everything had to bow, bend or break to the royal authority. But the national idea lodged in the head of this calm and cruel prince for whom the reason of the State dominates all others. Under his reign, France was mighty and the people wretched. Only one power had dear to stand up against him : the Sovereign Order of the Knights Templar. This colossal organization, at once military, religious and financial, owes to the crusades, from which it emerged, its glory and its wealth. Templar's independence worried Philippe le Bel, as much as their wealth aroused his greed. He mounted against them the biggest trial earth had ever known, as he weighed nearly fifteen thousand defendants. All infamy was perpetrated and it lasted for seven years. This was at the end of these seven years that our story began…

[mcheang]

Nice to type back here Lila salt idea based on (if u saw) Zoey 101 anger management Lila sees a therapy about her lying and anger issues and jealousy of Mari and possesivness of Adrien and irrational hatred of LB after lashing out at Mari and Alya records live exposing herself. Search and watch the episode on dailymotion to get ideas then write

Lying management

When Alya demanded proof that Marinette could not provide, Tikki had been present. Then when Lila had started threatening Marinette...Tikki may have hit the record button and got the whole thing on the phone.

She was about to send it to Alya when Marinette got upset. She accidentally sent it to everyone on Marinette’s contact list, including Jagged, Nadja and Ms Busier (ok, she’s a lousy teacher and won’t do much), on her way out of the purse.

As a result, while Lila got upset by Adrien and Tiki was comforting Marinette, the akuma was confused as to where to go because there was so much rage and hurt everywhere.

Once Marinette’s class got the text; they were shocked by Lila’s admission and began to do real fact checking.

Hawkmoth decided to settle for Alya, the reporter whose pride was injured and angered on behalf of her Best Friend and blog’s reputation.

Ladybug and Chat Noir did manage to defeat Lady Wifi, but not before Lady Wifi made sure everyone could see the list of lies Lila made about celebrities.

And yes; Lady Wifi finally asked Ladybug it she and Lila were friends. Ladybug said no before telling Alya to release Lila.

As an afterthought, Lady Wifi had an epiphany on live tv. “Hey, since you obviously weren’t in Achu helping Prince Ali, where were you all this time while we were attending school?”

Since this matter was blown up, the school board has no choice but to get involved. Dupont has ruined its reputation for blindly believing Lila’s falsified documents and excuses.

Mrs Rossi is embarrassed and agrees that she had failed to keep her Daughter in check.

Lila should have been expelled for her actions but since she was already receiving tons of hate mail and lawsuits (Jagged made sure the liar who threatened his favourite designer would not get away with this), that seems excessive.

As a result, Lila will repeat the year, serve detention, and attend lying management therapy classes.

Considering Lila’s infamy, everybody in that class hates her and bullies her.

Lila tries to get herself out of there by claiming she is being bullied.

Miss Bustier is not around to plea leniency on her behalf. She had been fired for bias treatment.

The new principal agreed to give Lila a trial. If she can make it 2 whole weeks without lying, she will no longer attend lying management classes.

Hired to be her constant supervisor is Mrs Verity.

Marinette complains that Lila will get off more easily now because she is good at acting the innocent lamb.

Adrien is also torn about how to feel about this. On one hand, he dislikes Lila for threatening Marinette. On the other hand, he feels sorry for her pariah status.

Alya suggests they test to see if Lila really will keep to her promise to be truthful and good from now on.

1. Alya gets tough looking fans of Jagged Stone to ask Lila if she is the one their idol warned about. (Lila changed her appearance so those outside of class won’t recognise her). Lila reluctantly says yes in front of Mrs Vertity. The fans do NOT beat her up but call her a horrible being. Lila just gritted her teeth through it all.

2. Marinette trips, splattering food all over Lila. As people start to gather, Lila knows they are not on her side and Marinette is obviously lying on the floor. There is no way they will believe Marinette did that on purpose. So Lila forcedly offers to help Marinette stand up. People wonder if Lila tripped Marinette. But as Lila starts to suggest that Marinette was the petty one, she sees Mrs Verity and just simply states she didn’t do anything.

3. Lila is preparing for a history presentation. She was supposed to do research on one of the French kings, but since she actually had to do the work instead of plagarising it, she relied on Wikipedia, as confirmed by Markov. Alya edited that page to have history on some other king. When Lila made her presentation, the teacher called her out for not doing proper research and asked where she got the information from. Lila truthfully says Wikipedia. (Mrs Verity had seen the site logo and while disapproving of it as a research source, she didn’t think it was the only source and had said nothing before). The professor asked if that was it and Lila sulkily agrees. This causes investigation to be done about Lila’s previous papers and they are discovered to have been done with her classmates help. Lila’s grades dropped. Lila wants to lighten her classmates’ accusations but Mrs Verity again makes her stop

Worried Lila will get away with no lying therapy, Marinette comes up with a plan.

On the last day, Lila is forced to give a seemingly sincere public apology to Marinette. Mrs Verity congratulates her and leaves to tell the principal.

Marinette: I honestly didn’t think you could be truthful. See; this is how you are supposed to make friends.

Lila: oh shut up! You may have won the battle this time around, but I will get even with you. I’ll smear your reputation so bad you’ll have to change your name!

Lila stills at the sight of Marinette’s unconcerned expression...and the sound of clicking heels returning.

Mrs Verity: sigh; you were right Marinette, she was just waiting for me to leave.

Lila’s punishment is extended, she is forced to be an outcast everywhere as her classmates keep posting what her new appearance look like so nobody will be deceived by her. Everywhere Lila goes, people call her names and avoid her. Some shops even refuse to serve her because they are worried about what she will do.

Akumas do come but Lila is no longer a suitable target because she has been exposed and people are keeping a close watch on her (even in the bathroom!)

It gets to the point where Mrs Rossi has no choice but to send Lila to a rural boarding school in the middle of nowhere for naughty children.

[plumbbobtoggle]

For the 100 OC Questions: Saaed, 33 & 73. Adam, 100 & 76. Keke, 63 & 90. Rosie, 85 & 23. Fabienne, 21 & 64. ~Simstralia

@simstralia thank you so much 💖 these were so harddd and i really enjoyed doing them

Saeed

33. What five objects or things could be expected to be found on your oc’s person at any time? Why?

Okay I'm not really writing corona into my sims story, living this is enough, so other than the wallet, the phone, the keys he carries airpods, so he can watch tiktoks on his lunch break without being rude, and chapstick, so his lips are always soft his boyfriend 😙 also he would totally carry a mask and an extra mask in case you forgot yours.

73. If your oc were to be arrested, what would it most likely be for? Is it justified? Have they actually been arrested before?

For disorderly conduct, and yes (Saeed, wiping blood from his lip, "A misunderstanding...but I guess"). He has never been arrested before, he spent his teen years actively obeying the law so as not to give his father the satisfaction of bailing him out.

Adam

100. Does your character ever swear? How often? How vulgar is their swearing?

appreciates swearing as a literary device, would be mortified to drop an f-bomb in polite company

76. What is/was your oc’s relationship with their family like? Was it happy, tense, or abusive? What living family does your oc currently have, if any?

okay not to break anyone's heart here, but Adam's parents worked really hard to give him a good childhood. He saw his dad as his buddy and his hero, and he died before Adam had had enough of his wisdom and his roughhousing and his dad jokes. Adam's mom was very loving and very busy and also honest and fair, which he did not at all appreciate in his early teens, so he's proud of the understanding they developed in the final years of her life. He has some living relatives (think parents' cousins, possibly a grandparent living out of state), but he doesn't know them all that well

Keke

63. How self-disciplined is your oc? Do they often think before they act, or the other way around?

yeah. yeah, he thinks before he acts. it's not always the right line of thinking, but the effort is there

90. Does your oc have any objects they could never give up? Why is it so important to them? Do they have any family heirlooms?

not attached to any of his material possessions. has a box of keepsakes from his home he doesn't want to look at

Rosie

85. What would history remember your oc for? How would they become famous? Or are they the sort that would really only be appreciated long after their death?

Honestly, the thought of being in the public eye makes Rosie break out in a cold sweat, and the thought of her dying and/or living in infamy makes me really sad, so I'll have to leave it at that.

23. How graceful is your oc? Are they elegant in their movements, or more clumsy?

walks in long strides, would never apply elegant or graceful (or clumsy tbh) to herself, slouches, has a natural sense of rhythm

Fabienne

21. Is your oc expressive, or would they rather conceal their emotions? What are their typical expressions like?

while not dishonest or particularly secretive, she's definitely intentional about which emotions she displays and to whom (also she's a compete hormonal wreck sometimes, and nobody's allowed to see it but Henry)

64. Which of the seven deadly sins does your oc fall under most? What about the seven heavenly virtues?

Pride and Diligence and absolutely does not fuck with the concept ("How is me enjoying a nice dinner and pegging my husband even bad!")

[youllneverseeonascreen]

@damthosefandoms (Sorry I’m in mobile) but you’re so right bc she’s so resigned to the south/east life like her brothers- she is doomed and damned from the start. And it’s so heartbreaking.

At first I didn’t think too much of her going after Ponyboy. And tbh I don’t think it was ever THAT serious or anything that would’ve lasted. BUT I do think she did have some sort of draw to him especially post Dally/Johnny/Bob. I mean her and her family are the quintessential greaser family- her brothers don’t mind their status and in fact they’re described to take pride in being a grease and getting into trouble. And i feel like for Angela getting with Pony: hood turned hero, the soc killer, a the tough Curtis who was on trial- it would’ve made perfect sense to the world she’s part of and the role she plays.

And I don’t know if it’s that she wasn’t aware that Pony only “blew her off” bc he was literally in the ninth circle of grief- but she was definitely taken aback bc that’s not how it should’ve been. He was now as infamous as her and her brothers. He could run off with that rep like her and her brothers did- played into the tough hood power couple. But he didn’t and that hurt or at least made her stop to think.

Bryon is a lot of things- little shit included. But I think he was so real about two things: Angela’s pride/ego/reputation and the HUGE shift the town and teen culture went through post murder.

Bryon mentions it a lot that soc/grease jumpings faded in popularity and by extension the soc/grease line crossing in general. And I think that started when Ponyboy- whether consciously or in his apathetic state- did not play into the infamy of what happened. It wasn’t a prideful situation and it wasn’t a badge of honor. He saw a classmate murdered after almost being murdered himself. His best friends died. It becomes encouragement a promise a mission that he HAS to get away not plant down roots and thrive in it like Angela would. And I think that scares her. Bc she’s so ready to resign and take what this life has given. I don’t think she expected that possibility, that realization that her and her generation could be more than this.

I can’t think about Angela Shepherd in That Was Then or else I’ll start crying.

[oh-heartlessman]

PET’S BDRPWRIMO : TASK 10

Write a headcanon for 10 different celebrities in the BDRP world.

Ingary Magazine presents... the 2021 Selection

Every year, the prestigious Ingary Council selects a group of the ten brightest young sorcerers who have Emerged within the past year. Ingary does biannual Emergence ceremonies, each complete with a big ball afterwards. These young sorcerers usually range in age from 22 to 25, though there have been cases of them making the list as young as 18 (see, Howl Pendragon). 

This list is picked mostly on raw ability, but also any intriguing person will catch the attention of the Council, be it from infamy, theatricality, or family name. Thus, the Selection does not necessarily represent the most powerful or knowledgeable young sorcerers of the year -- but it always represents the ones to watch. 

As each year’s Emerging class debuts in society, they will be courted by a variety of Covens in Ingary. These ten specifically will be hot commodities and the talk of the town for the upcoming year. 

[descriptions under the cut bc they’re so smol on the image]

Mx. Trey Morgyn: The youngest child of Ingary’s Morgyn family, Trey has been one to watch. They surprised their family by stepping out of the Morgyn tradition of telekinesis specialties and has dazzled the covens with their work in Aether magic. Trey hopes to eventually master a Light and Shadow specialty, with emphasis on Shadow.

Mr. J.R. Robicheaux: Of the New Orleans Robicheaux sorcerers, J.R. came to study his specialty in Ingary under the tutelage of some of the finest elemental scholars. The Robicheaux family prides themselves on elite elemental magic, and J.R. is no different. Between him and Trey, the next generation of elemental sorcerers is sure to dazzle Ingary.

Mr. Drake Campbell: A newcomer to Ingary society, Drake hails from a Mundus family, but has nevertheless demonstrated a remarkable aptitude for spellcasting and a rapid understanding of transmutation. Drake has stood out particularly for his innovation in improvisational spell creation, making him one to watch. 

Ms. Layla Mirza: Like her late brother before her, Layla's rapid mastery of the abomination specialty has caught the attention of the most acclaimed scholars. She hopes to pick up where her brother left off and innovate new animation techniques.

Ms. Cyrena Killian: Another United States ex-pat, Cyrena hails from Salem and comes from a long-line of sorcerers, who can trace their heritage back to infamous witch trials. In addition to her aptitude for telekinesis, her dueling proficiency has been unrivaled.

Mr. Diego Rivera: Strong prophetic abilities manifested in Diego at a young age, and he's spent years honing his gift and taking to the crystal ball. He hopes to bring the old style of divination back into vogue, claiming that the crystal allows for clearer visions. He has, thus far, been right.

Ms. Astrid Shadowend: Astrid aspires to be the first storm sorceress in her family, who normally specialize in animation. She finds inspiration in tradition and taps into ancient rituals in order to hone her craft. Astrid is responsible for reviving some of the old customs for this year's Samhain festival.

Mr. Cullen Rosethorn: For the first time in publication history, Ingary Magazine honors a Battle Mage on this list. Cullen has proved that the specialty can have a more cerebral edge to it, and has experimented with incorporating more traditional spellcasting into the specialty.  

Mr. Kadir Ravin:  After fleeing the French government, Kadir sought refuge in Ingary, where he's studied with the most elite telepathy coven. His skills are strong and have made waves within Ingary society for some possibly controversial (yet certainly impressive and not illegal) uses.

Ms. Hermia Pentaghast:  The current protégé of Madame Suliman, Hermia's flair for the theatrical caught the experienced sorceress's eye and she immediately took Hermia under her wing. Hermia seeks to master not just five sense of illusion, but an elusive and theorized sixth one in order to truly fool the mind.

[phoenix-king-ozai]

Fire Nation Culture of Cruelty, Ruthlessness, Ambition, Abuse and Facistic Propaganda and it's effects on Azulon, Ozai and Azula.

Is redemption possible for this Father-daughter duo? 🤔

Ozai is a product of the Imperial Absolute Monorachy Facistic State and Society of the Fire Nation. Ozai was raised from childhood to be warrior, a conqueror, a killer, a Imperialist, a brutal warlord and dictator like his grandfather and father before him.

The "outliers" Iroh, Lu Ten and Zuko were raised the same way as Ozai and have many of his warmongering ways but have more empathy and kindness. The difference between Ozai and his other peers is probably abuse. Ozai probably had more negative relationship with his father Azulon who he wanted to impress as a children want to for their parents.

His Grandfather Sozin and father Azulon are genocidal warmongers that have killed thousands to possibly millions of innocent people for their regime gaining resources and infamy. Agni Kai's, Genocide, War Crimes, Murder, Assassinations, Child "Discipline" aka Child Abuse in normalize in this society for OVER ONE-HUNDRED YEARS.

The some fire nation nobels and royal turn out to be "good" "average"people unlike Ozai and Azula (Mai, Ty Lee, Iroh, Ursa, Zuko) . But, that doesn't mean Ozai and Azula were born evil. They just do in their nation propaganda and brainwashing by their society, social and political structure more serious and on face value. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan had good people in their society and thought THEIR society was the most MORAL and RIGHTEOUS despite committing grave acts of genocide.

Azulon, Ozai and Azula are VICTIMS of Sozin policies of Racism, discrimination, imperialism, and nationalism being brainwashed in a endless cycle of lies and hatred by their forefathers. Azulon, Ozai, and Azula are villains for their behavior and cruelty, but this behavior was passed down to them since childhood and the conditioning is hard to break.

Iroh and Zuko had to go through tremendous mental trauma and suffering due to Lu Ten death or Agni Kai's scaring and banishment. It took pain to them personally and years/months of guidance in order to realize the truth and come to terms with the reality and history of the Fire Nation brutality and cruelty domestic and international.

Ozai and Azula hadn't interact or related to any WT or EK people, from Azulon, Ozai and Azula point of view they are the enemies of their people and are savages and threats that need to be dealt with. Azulon, Ozai and Azula grew up in a world of privelage and war with FN propaganda. They can careless about their own children wellbeing let alone their peasants or their enemies. It why the FN is willing to use EK war prisoners as meat shield and FN troops as "a pack of fresh meat".

The FN state and high society cares only power, "glory", war, domination, "respect", and pride. Which is why Sozin, Azulon, Ozai, Zhao, and Azula are the way they are and others like Iroh, Ursa, Zuko and Ty Lee are Outliers. Again Iroh and Zuko are unique and Ty Lee and Mai are just lower class rebellious teenagers girls with limited authority and exception compared to their royal counterparts.

Even regular children in the FN are sent to coal miners for disobeying and disobedience, now imagine the ruthless punishment for noble and royal children who MUST conform and obey and be obedient slaves to Sozin's ideals and ideology. Ozai's abuse of Zuko and Azula probably doesn't seem likely abuse to him. The FN probably don't believe child abuse mental, psychological, or physical. But, I doubt physically harm his children beside Agni Kai. Ozai's is to turn Zuko and Azula into killing machines of war for the fascist imperialist nation state. Being a father to his children is secondary to him.

A Ozai and Azula Redemption need them to be able to break free from this cycle of hatred and brainwashing will take along of help and faith from other who escaped aka Iroh, Ursa, and Zuko. Even a spiritual and cultural journey will be necessary along with a lot of love and forgiveness and understanding by their family members. But Ozai and Azula must want to change and can't be forced to and come to terms with their past and nation's history and atone for their crimes and abuse. It is possible that Ozai and Azula can redeem themselves but they will need a lot of help and a lot of love and face their bias greed, and hatred which is difficult and complicated soul searching. Zuko redemption would be child play compare to Azula, and baby food compared to Ozai but theirs would very interesting and complex. A eye opening storyline for Ozai and Azula forsure.

I only which the fandom would accepting of a well written one. Most people say Ozai and Azula are born EVIL SCUM OF THE EARTH AND SHOULD DIE A PAINFUL DEATH and yadda yadda yawn... Ozai and Azula are pretty typical is Medieval Asia culture such as Tokugawa Shogunate Japan, Yuan Dynasty of China and other Chinese dynasties, Mongal Empire and etc. Avatar is a Medevial Asian setting that is view in the len of modern westerns. Historically, Ozai is that bad of rulers or father as a leader during that era. It is our modern lens that make us see Ozai as a villain that he is.

@jamvna @kkachi95 @theriseofthedragons @nuclearhazelnut @firelordazula @theantagonistfiles @anumofthemoon @theatergirl06 @thea-here @theatrequeen @momochi-owo @azuwulastan @wingsfreedom @klm-zoflorr @loserlordozai @proxissima @saereneth