#stop assuming that everyone has the same level of access and someone else responsible to entrust their animals to

[pomeraniandancer]

The only thing I'd add to this is that I don't think cats are the largest invasive species in the world...that dubious prize goes to the humans.

I've been seeing a lot of Discourse around outdoor cats that talks past one of the biggest problems addressing community cats/outdoor working cats so I thought I'd chime in with my two cents.

Many arguments I see just... don't think about the cats at all? Or don't consider the logistics of actually addressing the feral cat problem in a humane way. It's always about how outdoor cats shouldn't be outdoors, which is neither realistic nor helpful.

I used to volunteer at an municipal animal shelter in the USA that had a TNR program (Trap, Neuter, Return) and also adopted out community cats to local farms and businesses. Here's my side of the story.

"Your cat doesn't need to be outside" -- Yes, correct. Your domesticated (non-feral) house cat does not need to go outside at all. They can have a fully actualized life safely indoors. When I see this argument, proponents of indoor only cats are correct in most or all their arguments regarding this.

"Outdoor cats are the largest invasive species in the world, and decimate bird populations." -- This is also correct, and part of the reason why you can help by bringing your house cat indoors. Cats are the largest invasive species. Spay and Neuter your cats, bring them inside, and socialize them so they don't become feral.

"TNR doesn't work." -- False. Whether we like it or not, feral cats exist. We have two methods by which we can address the feral cat population -- decimating them (humanely euthanizing the whole colony) or TNR. For a long time, euthanasia was the preferred way to address the feral cat problem. Afterall, if the cats aren't there, doesn't that save the local wildlife population?

Except that we found, studying these colonies, that when a colony is wiped out, the cats of another colony will spread into their territory and continue to have kittens and the population of feral cats is neither controlled nor diminished.

Hence, TNR. What we found performing TNR on cat colonies was that this controlled the population of the colonies, allowing them to stay in their territory, which kept other colonies from spreading (especially colonies we hadn't performed TNR on yet). We at the shelter felt this was the most humane way to control the feral cat population and safely deflate their existence without dealing with the population blooms that euthanasia caused.

"What about kittens?" -- Kittens from these colonies were brought into the shelter, socialized, and fostered out until they could be adopted. Some of these semi-feral kittens needed special homes to be adopted into, but this was the best quality of life for these cats.

"What about cats that get missed during TNR?" -- We would return to the colony several times over a period of several years to perform TNR on the same colony. We mark cats that have been neutered by clipping their ear (this is done humanely, but is the most reliable way to tell if a cat has been neutered so the poor thing doesn't have to have surgery 3-4 times in their life). Also, during the TNR process the cats would be vaccinated to ensure disease did not spread from the colony (i.e. rabies). Still, even getting 60% of the colony TNR'd would dramatically reduce the number of kittens being added to the colony each year. This controlled the population by allowing the territory to naturally deflate in size over time, buying us time to address the larger feral cat problem.

"What if the colony was in an unsafe location?" -- There were two ways we addressed unsafe colony locations -- remember, we know that when the colony is removed, a new colony will move into its place, so we tried not to move the colony unless we really felt the cats or the public was unsafe -- one was to move the whole colony to a new location. Preferably someplace like a warehouse where we have an agreement with the owners of the warehouse. Some of the cats were even relocated to shelter grounds as our community cats. If the colony was small enough we would bring them into our Feral Cats room and adopt them out as community cats.

"What is a community cat?" -- The way the program worked, was that anyone who needed a working cat could apply to the program. These were often rural farmers or businesses with warehouses that needed rodent protection. We trained the farmers and businesses on how to acclimatize the cats to their new home, and as part of the agreement, they had to care for the cats (veterinary care, vaccinations, food and water). This gave businesses and farms an alternative to expensive and environmentally unfriendly rodent control, and also gave these feral cats good places to live out their natural lives.

"Can't you just adopt out feral cats?" -- No. Cats that have not been socialized around humans as kittens, or who have several generations of feral cat in them could not interact with humans in a way that did not cause them undue stress. This was not a humane way to handle feral cats. However, when a cat was brought into the feral cat room, they would be monitored for up to a week. If the cat displayed signs of being semi-social or fully social (hanging out outside of their den, allowing staff to pet them, showing interest in staff in the room), then we would either move the cat into the adoption room or place them in foster to be socialized before adoption. Feral cats who displayed signs of being able to live full and healthy lives with human companions were NOT adopted out as community cats. We also observed this behavior during TNRs and would do the same for those cats too.

"But aren't cats bad hunters?" -- Compared to other species, cats are not the most effective form of rodent control. This is true. However, you have to understand that feral cats exist. There is no "undo" button we can push to stop them from existing. We have to deal with the problem we have right now, which is to safely and humanely decrease the number of feral cats in our communities. And yes, we do that by using cats as rodent control in the community.

"What can I do?" -- Stop saying community cats shouldn't exist. That's not helpful and doesn't solve the problem we have. Bring your cat indoors. Spay and neuter your cats. Adopt from shelters. Volunteer with a TNR team. Support TNR efforts in your community. Recognize that those of us actively dealing with the community/feral problem are trying to do what is in the best interest of our communities and the animals we love. We aren't sitting over here saying these cats should exist -- a feral cat will not have the same quality of life as one that is indoors with a family -- but we have to address the problem in practical terms. We don't have the moral high ground to just do nothing while pontificating solutions that have no basis in actuality.

And yes, it's okay to celebrate community cats. If your local farm has a couple of working cats, that means that farm is helping participate in the safe deflation of the feral cat population. Don't shame a farm or business for using community cats. We're all doing the best we can to solve the problem that we have.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

Lila Rossi: I’d Say She’s a Good Villain, but Then I’d Be Lying (300 Follower Special)

Deception and cunning are easily two of the most important traits an antagonist could have. It shows that even if they don't have the strength to overcome obstacles, their wit is more than enough. This kind of trait is why characters like Lex Luthor, David Xanatos, and Princess Azula are so beloved, simply because of how intelligent they can be as villains and pose a real threat to the heroes.

It's clear that the Miraculous Ladybug writers want Lila to be seen as this, but the writing seriously fails to back that claim up.

Easily one of the most controversial characters in Miraculous Ladybug is Lila, mainly for the writing surrounding her. But there was a time where she was actually more of an ambiguous character, mainly for the lack of screentime she had until Season 3. But unfortunately, the more appearances she's had have painted a very poor portrait of an antagonist.

Lila's Tragic and Sympathetic Motivation for Hating Ladybug

Lila's first appearance was at the tail end of Season 1, “Volpina”. She was a new transfer student from Italy, and quickly made friends with a lot of her classmates for the lies she told, including being friends with Ladybug (which Alya blindly believed without doing any research like any excellent journalist). But because of how close she was getting to Adrien, Marinette, in a rare act of selfishness, transforms into Ladybug just to chew out Lila for lying about knowing her, humiliating her in front of Adrien. And this is the only motivation we get for what Lila does afterwards.

I'm not saying that it's wrong for Lila to get upset at Ladybug for doing this, and I like the moment of weakness Marinette has, but this is literally the only explanation we get for Lila deciding to side with Hawkmoth, a literal terrorist. As much as I hated the way the arc turned out, I could still understand Chloe siding with Hawkmoth, as it was clear that Hawkmoth was manipulating her and taking advantage of her ego. Lila? Ladybug's mean to her one time, and that inspires her to conspire with a complete stranger who brainwashes people to attack the city, which endangers innocent people and causes God knows how much in collateral damage if not for Miraculous Ladybug fixing everything.

I just don't get how a single negative interaction with someone is enough to conspire with a literal supervillain. Even in Season 3, when Marinette and Lila truly became enemies, it was because she risked exposing all the lies she told, which could damage her reputation. Sure, it's petty, but it makes sense for Lila to want to keep up the illusion. If she was simply an antagonist to Marinette in her civilian life like Chloe was before “Miracle Queen” , I'd be fine with that, but the writers clearly want her to be seen as on the same level of evil as Hawkmoth. I'll get into why that doesn't work later on.

Why Lila is an Excellent Liar

In my Master Fu analysis, I had pointed out that despite all the flaws he had, the narrative insisted on portraying him as an incredibly wise mentor. The same problem applies for Lila as well. We're supposed to see Lila as an expert manipulator and liar, but her lies are insultingly obvious. She always claims to be friends with celebrities and does all these awesome things, and in an age where we can have almost any question answered thanks to the internet, nobody ever stops to question her.

It's even more frustrating when you hear Lila talk about saving Jagged Stone's cat, when Jagged Stone is established to be very fond of Marinette (evidentially more than his own daughter), and nobody ever points that out. I think if Lila's lies were more stories about her travels around the world than outright lies about real people, it could have worked. It'd still be hard to believe, but it's something.

But this is a problem with writing shows aimed at children. As much as we hate writers who need to spell out things to kids, sometimes, they just don't understand some of the media they consume. Seriously, I never got this joke in SpongeBob as a kid, and I can't believe Nickelodeon actually approved this.

So the dilemma when writing a show with children in mind is finding that sweet spot between assuming your audience can figure it out, but not being too vague in your details. It's even harder when you need to find a way to convey the fact that someone is lying without being too obvious. Unfortunately, the show clearly fails to do that

Okay, this is going to sound like an incredibly weird thing to cite, and I only know about it because I used to know someone who was a huge fan of the franchise, but the movie Monster High: Friday Night Frights does a better job of subtly explaining to the audience that a character is lying. Please, just hear me out.

The movie follows the main characters competing in their high school's roller derby for the season after everyone on the usual team gets injured, and the championship match is against another school whose team tends to cheat to win matches. How they manage to do this without getting caught is anyone's guess. While the main characters are practicing, their coach, Clawd, notices a spy for the enemy team taking video of them to study their moves. In response, he calls over one of the athletes, Operetta, to chew her out for her showboating attitude. In reality, he's alerting her to the spy. Only using facial expressions, he clues her, and by extension, the audience, in on the fact that they know what the opposing team is trying to do.

This soon leads to Operetta pretending to tell the enemy team about their secret plan for the championship match, which was really an attempt to outsmart them to gain the advantage in the final stretch. The brilliance of this is how the audience is informed of this with no dialogue, and there's no scene afterwards spelling it out for those who don't get it. It manages to convey deception without being too obvious that Clawd and Operetta are being deceitful.

I think if there were more subtle hints to show the audience Lila was lying, she would be seen in a better light. As it is, Lila's lies are just pathetic, and it's ridiculous that everyone believes her. Which leads me to...

Lila, the Master Manipulator

I once read a Star Trek: Voyager fanfic that poked fun at the series by claiming that the reason a lot of the dumber episodes like “Threshold” and “Twisted” happened was because one of the crew members was an alien who unintentionally produced mood altering pheromones, with Captain Janeway actually realizing they were all high because of said pheromones, while two of the unaffected crew members were wondering what the hell they were doing before they found out the cause. Why do I bring this up? Sometimes, it feels like Lila is an unintentional parallel to the alien in that story.

Like so many characters, it's clear the show desperately wants the audience to view Lila in a certain way, but her actions do very little to actually back up that claim. When she's not using lies to tell stories about so many famous people she knows like her uncle who works for Nintendo, Lila is using strategies to manipulate everyone that are so obviously deceptive, the Thermians could pick up on them. Everyone and their mother knows how ridiculous a lot of what Lila does in episodes like “Chameleon” and “Ladybug” are, and I've talked about them before, so I'll try to be quick.

First off, as someone who had access to accommodations through high school and has had assistance in college so far, there is no way in hell that Ms. Bustier should take Lila's tinnitus at face value in “Chameleon”. If a student has a disability that could interfere with the education process, physical or developmental, not only does the school have to evaluate their performance, and determine if they're eligible for an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, but her teachers would have to be notified in the first place. As her primary educator, Ms. Bustier would be part of the team to oversee Lila's IEP and determine what accommodations she needs to help her learn better with her tinnitus and arthritis. But because the writers don't know what Google is, they just ignore it,  assume that Lila can just say she has a disability, and have everyone believe it. Even when Eric Cartman pretended to be disabled to compete in the Special Olympics, he put in more effort to look the part, even if he looked like a caricature.

Then there's the fact that that in “Chameleon”, everyone just believes Lila when she says Marinette stole her grandmother's necklace when not only is said necklace from the Agreste line of jewelry, but Alya, who is Rena Rouge, can't pick up on the fact that it's a fake. All she does to justify these lies is come up with a sob story about how nobody believes her, yet nobody ever tries to defend Marinette except Alya one time, and it was after she got expelled.

Or what about in “Oni-Chan”, where Lila thinks having Kagami kill Ladybug while claiming she'll back away from Adrien is a good idea? Let's say Oni-Chan does kill Ladybug or at least take away her Miraculous, what then? We know Lila wouldn't go through with this promise, and as soon as Kagami sees her harassing Adrien, she'll be ripe for akumatization again. Overall, not a great plan.

And yet somehow, this last example is what made her worthy enough to become one of Hawkmoth's most trusted agents. I'm just going to say it: Lila is not a good fit for the power of illusion. Whenever she's Volpina or Chameleon, she always goes out of her way to make a big show instead of being subtle with her deceptions. “Chameleon” is the worst offender, as even though Lila gets the power to shapeshift into someone else, instead of being discreet and cornering people into kissing them and gaining their appearance, she just runs around to get Ladybug's attention instead of being subtle. Even Felix had the bright idea to pretend to be Adrien to catch Ladybug off guard. How do you lose to something that happened in “Felix”?

Despite all of these screw-ups, we're still supposed to see her as this master of deception worthy of allying with Hawkmoth in both his supervillain and civilian form, when really, she's a terrible liar on the schoolyard and on the battlefield.

Why Lila is an Important Character

In the grand scheme of things, Lila just isn't as important of a character that the show loves to parade her around as. She's nothing more than a plot device used to raise the stakes in an episode, given how much reality seems to bend over just to accommodate for her lies. Even when the show alludes to her being part of bigger things, like her deal with Adrien, or her rivalry with Marinette, they don't even go anywhere.

She just feels pointless when you remember Astruc's brilliant idea to force Chloe into being the final Akuma for the season while Lila isn't even mentioned once. She only really makes appearances whenever the writers feel like it, which is why it’s hard to take her seriously. Why should I take this character seriously as a threat if the writers refuse to take her seriously as a threat? Why build Lila up as a big threat and not give her a major role in the finale? Why even include her in the show in the first place when you could show Chloe being more manipulative to fill in the plots Lila plays a big part in?

As of the time I am writing this analysis, four episodes of Season 4 have aired, three of them have been about lies or deception, and Lila hasn't been mentioned at all. It honestly seems like she won't appear unless the writers need a easy way to drive up the conflict, so they can justify it by saying that Lila's “superpower” of lying is more powerful than the common sense of everyone else.

I'm sorry this post was shorter than the last one, but compared to Master Fu, there's not that much to say about Lila that I haven't already said. Even the show barely gives her any attention, so it's hard for me to really find a lot to talk about.

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (March 3/2021) -     The Burger is a Lie

Tubbo moves past the denial stage of grief into anger. After creating a grave for Tommy, he decides that someone needs to be held accountable.

It’s time for some good old-fashioned detective work.

---

VOD LINKS:

[Ponk’s VOD was deleted so unfortunately I can’t recap it since I didn’t see it :( ]

Tubbo

Foolish

Awesamdude

Captain Puffy

Ranboo

---

- Tubbo walks down the Prime Path with plans to build Tommy a grave in Snowchester. 

- He doesn’t even know why or how it happened. Why was Tommy in prison?

“I want to blame someone -- I’m angry! Who’s to blame?”

- He wonders who set off the TNT to trap Tommy in there.

- Tubbo reaches Snowchester and finds a small ice island just outside the border to set up a gravesite. He makes a patch of grass, a wooden bench, puts down some flowers. He makes the gravestone out of wood.

“Tommy’s favorite block was literally oak wood. (laughs) He was a simple person, chat. He was a simple person.”

- He places a sign.

“In the Memory of Tommy. He was taken from us too soon.”

- He puts cobblestone around, and puts down a jukebox.

“This was meant to give closure, chat. This was meant to just give closure, but instead I’m just feeling more and more mad."

- Tubbo places down some lanterns and a Prime Log. He has a moment on the bench.

“Alright...so...what now? I’m pissed, dude. I don’t know how this was allowed to happen. I don’t know how this was allowed to happen. Receive his stuff from the prison -- no, I’m not going in that thing for a very long time.”

- He decides he needs someone to be held accountable. He wants to launch an investigation.

- He goes under the McPuffy’s and plans to make a little room to gather all the information in one place, and also a place to go in an emergency. Like a panic room or a bunker. No one should know about it until they have enough information to convict someone.

Tubbo starts building.

- He doesn’t even want to go into Tommy’s house, not even for supplies.

- He grabs a lectern for the room and starts writing. A storyline is needed.

The Crime:

- Murder

The Timeline:

- Tommy Visits Dream.

- Bomb gets set off.

- Tommy was Trapped with Dream.

- Tommy is The Crime is committed.

- Start with number two...where? Where were the bombs set off? Because if it was all a ploy, then Sam is the one to be held accountable. 

- Tubbo goes to the prison to check around the perimeter. The sound of the bombs came from above, but Tubbo remains skeptical. That could have been a ploy to cover up the tracks.

- Tubbo finds a patch of the shoreline where a water level is missing. He assumes that someone was just gathering sand there, not that it’s explosion damage.

- Tubbo flies onto the top of the prison and notices that there’s snow missing where the snow biome should encompass. A small area of a few blocks -- they must have been tampered with. Tubbo documents the evidence.

Evidence:

Tommy was trapped inside because of an explosion “outside” ..

Around the outside of “Pandora’s Vault” there was no evidence of explosion damage.

However on the roof of the Vault there is evidence of an explosion. We can tell this because of the snow pattern on the roof of the prison.

However snow can be broken by TNT from inside the Vault. But I suspect that the TNT was detonated outside.

- Now, Tubbo needs to go and find out who has access to stocks of TNT. Who has the majority of the world’s TNT? Well, there was a country that used to exist on this server. And who was responsible for its destruction? 

Tubbo visits L’manhole.

“Technoblade, Dream, and Philza. Suspects number two. We’ve moved on from Sam. Suspects number two and three, sorry -- Technoblade and Phil.”

“Everyone’s a suspect, chat. Guilty until proven innocent, I’ve always said.”

- And doesn’t Technoblade owe Dream a favor? Tubbo declares him suspect two.

- Tubbo runs to Technoblade’s house. There’s not much of anything out of the ordinary.

- He goes inside and looks through the chest, finding one with plenty of gunpowder, about half full. What looks off about it, though? What is missing here?

“Chat, where is the rest of the gunpowder, chat? Where is the rest of the gunpowder? It’s a fair question...Techno uses it for potions? No, no, hear me out. If chest was at least filled up to here, okay, that is four stacks and a half of gunpowder, okay? Each gunpowder is three splash potions. Three splash potions. So that’s over twelve stacks of potions! Potions that are not stackable! And in this establishment, there are not enough chests to hold twelve lots of sixty-four un-stackable potions. Rockets? Yeah, that’s another good call. What else is a good call? TNT. Let’s keep looking.”

- He continues to look through the chests, then exits. Suspect two has all of the materials to commit the crime.

- Suspect three? No sand, not enough gunpowder.

- He starts to leave.

“‘Check Ranboo?’ I mean it’s not gonna be Ranboo, is it? It’s not gonna be Ranboo. Yeah, he has access to all the stuff, but I doubt he even remembers it’s there..."

- He does a quick search anyway. The person who committed the crime must have not been prepared. They gathered the sand outside of the prison -- that’s what the missing shoreline must have meant.

- He notices Ranboo’s plan signs and reads them. He goes down into the basement but the vault door is shut, so he doesn’t find it. He assumes chat is talking about Pandora’s Vault.

“There is sand that has been mined outside the prison. The TNT was crafted rash. Technoblade doesn’t do rash, he does planned and calculated. Suspect two, three and four. I’m gonna presume they’re innocent right now, except for suspect two.”

- Technoblade could’ve supplied someone else with gunpowder. He wasn’t online during the explosion, but who was? Foolish and Ranboo.

“‘Big Law?’ Yeah, I’m back. I’m back in it again. I suppose you could say that...I’m on my A game right now.”

- Was Jack Manifold online at the time? No. Just Ranboo, Foolish, Dream, Tommy and Sam. Foolish lives in a desert. There’s a vast supply of sand in a desert...but was he streaming at the time?

- This does not look good for suspect number four...

- He returns to the bunker to get his evidence straight and places down signs.

Who Caused the Explosion?

Techno Owes Dream A Favor

Techno Has Gunpowder Missing

Sand Disturbed Outside The Vault

Techno Was Not Online @ The Time Of Explosion

Ranboo & Foolish Were Online @ TOM [time of explosion]

Foolish has access to sand

Ranboo has access to gunpowder

Sam lock Tommy In The Vault

Dream is in the Vault

TO DO:

Find out who visited Dream

Interview more players to get big picture

- Who visited Dream? So far, Tubbo only knows Tommy. Who else would ever want to visit Dream except for Tommy? 

- A dono leads Tubbo to realize that TNT can be planted beforehand with a timer. Sam could have planted the TNT with a timer. It could have all been Sam. It could have even been Dream with a contingency plan...but how could he have known Tommy would visit? Because of the favor? Did Techno convince Tommy to visit?

Why did Tommy visit Dream? Closure? Did anyone give him that idea?

- Tubbo decides he just needs more information.

- He sees the McPuffy’s...is it a coincidence that, as soon as Tommy got put in prison...burger shops started popping up on the Dream SMP?

- Maybe this happened because of the BURGERS.

- Could it have been Jack Manifold, wanting the hotel for himself? 

“Nah, Jack’s way too dumb for that.”

“The burger is a lie!”

- Maybe the Egg has something to do with it? Tubbo goes down into the Egg Room and shouts at the Egg to ask for answers. He leaves the Egg Room with no more answers, wondering if he’s about to leave the anger phase and head into bargaining instead.

- Ranboo works on his Conflict Resolution Pit after months, planning to finally finish it at long last.

- Ranboo looks at the chest by the pit and finds...a Manberg war shield? Whose is that? He isn’t sure what the shield means.

[Fun Fact: According to Karl about the banner’s design, the black represents all the colors combined, meaning “Unity.” The red is “the blood of our enemies.”

“It’s unity unless you go against us.”]

- Ranboo continues resource-gathering and building.

- Sam works on his creeper farm! He also answers several questions. Here are a few!:

* Are Sam Nook, warden Sam and Awesamdude all different people? 

Sam Nook and warden Sam are different people, but the warden is not a separate character from normal Awesamdude. They are the same person. Sam Nook is the only separate character. This will be explained more in the future!

* Why is Sam’s pickaxe named “Warden’s Will Breaker?” Does it have anything to do with breaking the prisoner’s will? 

“Mayhaps, mayhaps...”

* Isn’t it a little strange that he’s building a creeper farm? 

“Well, I’m the king of creepers so they should be excited to die for me.”

- Ranboo asks if he can shoot Sam. Sam says yes (in game)

- Ranboo shoots Sam in the face. Sam turns majestically and stops moving. Ranboo is confused and is worried that Sam might not be alive. Sam’s computer is suffering.

- Ranboo tries to get Sam to move.

“Oh my god he’s been completely paralyzationizitated.”

- By Sam’s request, Ranboo tries to push him to safety.

- Sam has been bound to the y-axis! He starts seeing through Ranboo’s stream.

- Ranboo tries to drive Sam in a boat but he starts seeing colors. 

- Sam dies on the Prime Path. Ranboo makes a marker sign in remembrance of where he died by paralyzationizitation. 

---

Upcoming events remain the same.

[rosesmith18]

(PnF) This Needs to be Said

I know this seems a bit random as I haven't post anything in awhile, but I wanted to speak on three specific topics, because they've been bothering me. I want to first say that no one has made any of the following comments directly towards me or my writing, but I still feel these things need to be said.*Disclaimer: I request anyone reading this post to hear me out before leaving a comment or turning away as these topics are serious. The Canonical Ferbnessa is NOT pedophilia: I'm not talking about all Ferbnessa stories hear just the canonical one presented in Act Your Age. I see people saying this is wrong cause it's pedophilia, and as a victim of pedophilia I can confidently say it is NOT. Is it grooming on some level? Depends on how you view their relationship before this episode, but assuming it might be is completely reasonable. But, on a completely factual level their is nothing pedophilic about this relationship. They get together when Ferb is 18 and graduated high school. Whether their age gap personally bothers you or not doesn't change the fact that Ferb, at this point, is a consenting adult and can date whoever he wants. Even if he was 16, in some states he'd still be legally allowed to date Vanessa, just not do anything sexual with her. If you have a loved one who is 16 or 18 who is in a relationship with an adult who knew them as a child, it is completely reasonable to feel uncomfortable and be concerned. You can take your kid to/suggest therapy, relationship counseling, or waiting till after high school/college, but you can NOT make the choice for them.

Thomarie is NOT incest: If you know what 'Thomarie' is then you get where this claim comes from, and it is a completely unreasonable claim. Baseline; Thomas and Marie are NOT blood related, because Phineas and Ferb are NOT blood related. Incest is illegal, because any children coming from those relationships would have basically no chance at life due to close genes. Thomas and Marie don't actually share any genes, so they could have completely viable offspring. And, for those saying; "But, Phineas and Ferb feel like brothers." So what? People feel like siblings to their friends all the time, it doesn't suddenly make them related, or make their children feel related. Secondly, to the statement; "Saying Phineas and Ferb aren't really related ruins the whole message of the show." No it doesn't. The whole message of Phineas and Ferb is right in the final song of 'Candace Against the Universe'; Us Against the Universe, 'I'm not just talkin' blood relation.' It is literally a summary of the shows entire message, which is NOT; 'If you feel related to someone you are related.' The message of the show IS; 'No matter WHAT relationship you have with some one(be it sibling, friend, romantic partner), it is a choice you make. You CHOOSE the people you care about, your blood ties or lack there of, don't/shouldn't do it for you.' And, by that logic. Thomas and Marie's relationship doesn't go against the shows message, it is instead, a PERFECT example of the shows message. It shows that no matter what your ties to someone are whether by blood or by paper, you can feel differently about anyone and everyone, attachment is not a one size fits all.

These characters are FICTIONAL: Whether Ferbnessa is pedophilia in some peoples stories, or if Thomarie is incest, at the end of the day they are fictional characters. Pedophilia and Incest is illegal, because they have a victim. All laws exist to protect a possible victim; Not to cater to your personal opinions. And, fictional characters are not real people(obviously), and because of this, there is no REAL victim in these relationships. For those saying; "It could effect the children who read these stories; They are about characters from/inspired by a kids show." Stories/Pictures have rating for a reason, they have tags for a reason, fanfiction/fanart sites have rules for a reason. If a child finds a way to stumble upon these fanfictions/pictures despite the sights rules/rating then that's not the site/writer/drawers fault, they didn't intend for it to happen. Porn sites are just as easily accessible and you can't take THEM to court when a child discovers them. And, secondly, so what if these characters are from/inspired by a kids show? A lot of people who write/draw these characters in pedophilic/incestuous/sexual ways are those kids themselves expressing themselves and exploring their sexualities with characters they are familiar/comfortable with. I started to write/read sexual things about these characters when I was nine, and have been to this day(I'm not even in my twenties yet). Don't bash kids for expressing/exploring themselves in safe ways, they have to do it eventually. And, don't bash adults who find comfort in expressing/exploring themselves with these characters, they likely grew up doing so. The Main Reason for this Post: The people saying this stuff are hurting REAL people way more than this stuff would be if it were true. First off, judging people who are 18 for dating someone quite a bit older than them is treating them like a child. Whether you feel they are ready for a relationship like that or not is no longer your choice to make. At 18 a person becomes an adult, and they can't get used to adulthood when people are still telling them that they have all the rights and mental capacity of a child. Secondly, there are people who are in romantic relationships with their step-sibling/step-cousins/kids they grew up with, and people calling these relationships gross is impinging on their rights. No one has a right to tell a person who to date when that relationship isn't hurting anyone, and I don't see how two teenagers with no blood relation, who are in the same age rang, who both can and do consent to the relationship could be hurting each other. In summary, for those who make these comments; STOP THINKING YOUR FEELINGS AND OPINIONS ARE ABOVE THE FEELINGS AND OPINIONS OF OTHERS WHEN THE LAW IS FOR PROTECTING THE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL WELL-BEING OF ALL PEOPLE, AND NOT THE FEELINGS AND OPINIONS OF THE INDIVIDUAL. The law can not pick a side in every debate, so it only picks sides when physical and mental pain is expressed, we as people have to deal with our on feeling and opinions. It isn't against the law to feel different then someone else, but it is against the law to physically/verbally harm others for feeling different than you. I want to make it clear that I am not forcing anyone to be comfortable with pedophilia/incest(in writing) or even relationships where someone is way older, or where the people in question are in a way, other than blood, related. I am simply telling those people to recognize that those are their opinions and their opinions are hurting even people they may be trying to 'help'. So, thank you for those who listened to my entire rant, and especially to those who learned something from it! If you wish to have a constructive conversation on any of the topics mentioned than I would be more than willing to listen and have a friendly debate with you, but I will not dignify simple hate with a response. Have a lovely day, evening, or night! *Ferb and Vanessa belong to Dan Povenmire & Jeff 'Swampy' Marsh *Thomas belongs to Melty64 *Marie belongs to angelus19 & sam-ely-ember

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

You See: Jellylorum’s Arc and Why It’s the Best Grizabella Arc

Yeah, so, I got writer’s block trying to organize and write this properly, so I’m just writing off the top of my head. I can only hope that any of it makes sense.

I said that I might elaborate on Jellylorum’s hatred of pubs and Grizabella, and I decided to go ahead and do it, even though literally no one asked.

So, the general arc with Grizabella for most characters, especially Munkustrap and Bombalurina, is that Griz did something to offend everyone and they still hold a grudge, so they won’t let her back into the tribe, even though she might be literally dying. Then Grizabella sings Memory and everyone’s moved and they learn to forgive and Grizabella goes to the Heaviside Layer, which was probably Old Deuteronomy’s plan all along.

However, many people, even if they like Memory as a song, don’t really follow the Grizabella story. I’ve gotten the feeling that she’s not a popular character on this site, which is not helped by Munk and Bomba, much more popular characters, being against her for most of the show. The main problem with the forgiveness story is that the audience lacks any context. We don’t know what happened, so we don’t know if this is a story about forgiving someone for something petty, or forgiving someone who seriously wronged you. Most attempts to solve this problem fall flat. The 2019 film said that Grizabella went off with Macavity, but the movie had to alter the roles of several characters to get that to work. Mungojerrie worked for Macavity, and the tribe took him back. Demeter and Bombalurina had some sort of relationship with Macavity, and the tribe took them back. So, the movie makes Jerrie and Bomba more villainous and removes Demeter’s connection to Macavity, so Grizabella stands out. If you have to throw out large portions of what’s interesting about three characters to make your backstory make sense, it’s not a good backstory.

But, the show already sort of has a built in solution to this problem. While most of the characters hate Griz because of some past incident, there’s still at least one character arc about accepting Grizabella that’s based entirely on what the audience can see and hear.

This is where Jellylorum comes in.

If you pay close attention to how Jellylorum reacts to Grizabella, as well as to several other characters, you’ll notice that, though I’m sure she’s upset over whatever Griz did too, Jelly is not motivated by a grudge. It’s not about Grizabella’s past. It’s about her present.

Grizabella the Glamor Cat

Jellylorum, for the first few numbers, doesn’t really stand out. She’s always part of a larger group. In Gumbie Cat, she’s in a trio with two other queens. At this point, the audience really wouldn’t know what makes these characters stand out from one another. In Tugger’s number, Jelly is one of four older cats who are shocked and offended by Tugger’s antics, but the reactions of all four characters serve the same purpose. Jelly, Jenny, Skimble, and Asparagus are part of an older generation and they don’t get the things kids are into these days, finding them downright offensive.

If isn’t until Glamor Cat that this starts to change. At first, Jelly’s still the same as Jenny and Skimble, an older cat who stops the kittens from touching Grizabella. What’s different is how Griz reacts. Skimble leads Jemima away and Griz doesn’t comment. Jenny slaps Electra’s hand away and Griz doesn’t comment. But, when Victoria and Etcetera crawl towards her and Jelly runs in to stop them, Griz turns on her. Up until this point, the song has been fairly quiet. This is the first time Griz raises her voice, taking the orchestra with her.

You see the border of her coat is torn and stained with sand

Grizabella is dirty and beaten up by life and she accuses Jellylorum of responding to that, assuming that someone in Griz’s condition must be a threat to the children. This isn’t about a grudge. It’s about judging by appearances, specifically, the appearance of poverty, which will become more clear as we go.

When Demeter starts singing about Grizabella, she doesn’t sing about her glamorous past:

She haunted many a low resort

Near the grimy road of Tottenham Court

Tottenham Court Road, at the time this poem was written, was associated with crime. It’s a street in a lower class neighborhood which was infamous for theft and prostitution. So, Griz has been seen in a place where bad things happen. To think of her as a criminal is guilt by association.

The play decides not to tell us what Grizabella did to become an outcast, but it does tell us about her life as an outcast. From her character design, we can also see that Griz is in poor shape. This is the information the audience is actually given.

Bustopher Jones

Bustopher is easy to compare to Tugger, since the cats that don’t like Tugger all adore Bustopher. But, because we met Grizabella right before this, he can be compared to her too. Bustopher is everything the older cats see as ideal, while Griz is the opposite. Bustopher spends time among the rich in gentlemen’s clubs. Griz spends time in a working class neighborhood with a high crime rate. Even though they’re both probably strays, Bustopher presents as rich and Grizabellla presents as poor.

Just as different cats have different reasons for hating Grizabella, different cats have different reasons for liking Bustopher. For some, it’s his skill and gaining access to good food. Jenny has a crush on him. Misto likes that they look similar and that he’s the mature and sophisticated adult Misto wants to be. But, though Jellylorum’s part in the number is small compared to Jenny’s, the first thing she has to say about Bustopher is:

He doesn’t haunt pubs

Unlike gentlemen’s clubs, which are exclusive, pubs are everywhere and are for everyone. They’re frequented by the working class. Bustopher is only seen in the upper class parts of town.

Meanwhile, some of the locations Demeter mentions in Glamor Cat, The Rising Sun and The Friend at Hand are pubs. Bustopher doesn’t haunt pubs. Grizabella does.

The Glamor Cat Reprise:

So, a lot’s been implied about Jellylorum and how she admires things associated with the upper class and has disdain for things associated with the working class. But, this is where it all comes together. Grizabella accuses Jelly of treating her as someone to be feared and shamed because she’s from the bad side of town and looks it. Here, by repeating Grizabella’s words, Jelly confirms the accusation:

You see the border of her coat is torn and stained with sand

Jellylorum turns to Victoria, the pure white Symbol of Innocence who wears a sparkly pink collar, implying a wealthy owner, and points out that Griz is dirty and is both someone Victoria should avoid and strive not to be like. Victoria ignores her. Victoria is the feline equivalent of the sheltered princess, a proper young lady from a good family who hasn’t seen much of the world. But, Victoria is unaware of the implications of her status and sees someone like Grizabella as an equal. She doesn’t acknowledge class and doesn’t listen when adults try to explain it to her.

When Jellylorum pulls a kitten away from Grizabella, it’s always Victoria. The first time, it was Victoria and Etcetera, but Victoria is always involved. Victoria is never stopped by any other adult either. She seems to be Jelly’s responsibility, which creates and interesting contrast.

Gus: The Theatre Cat

After the Grizabella Reprise confirms that Jelly’s prejudice against Grizabella is based in classism, it would be easy to see her as a villain. The unspoken grudge of Munkustrap and Bombalurina is more sympathetic. 

But, very early on in act two, Jellylorum is given the spotlight, and we can see her good side. Gus is a lot like Grizabella. They’re both old and past their prime, but they once were stars of some sort. But, Gus is loved and cared for by everyone. Grizabella is one her own. 

Gus meets with his friends at the pub to tell theatre stories. You can tell from Jelly’s delivery when she brings it up that she’s not happy about this. But, she loves Gus anyway. Gus is old, his coat is a mess, and he hangs out in working class pubs, but Jellylorum loves him anyway. She’s perfectly capable of seeing beyond classist prejudice when it’s someone she already likes. She just hasn’t realized that Griz and Gus are the same. She can learn the lesson she needs to learn. She’s not a villain. She’s antagonistic, but she’s redeemable.

Memory

Griz appears one last time, Victoria tries to touch her, Jelly stops her. Same old, same old. Things don’t get interesting until everyone sits down. Jellylorum, along with Victoria, sits with Old Deuteronomy and Munkustrap. She’s right up there with the leaders of the tribe. This puts her on the same level as Munkustrap, who has his own lesson to learn from this.

Memory makes Jellylorum realize how much Grizabella is suffering. She’s not on Tottenham Court because she does bad things. She’s there because she’s in a bad situation and has nowhere else to go. Griz is also caught up in memories of her past like Gus is. Jelly, like everyone else in the tribe, figures it out.

When Victoria gets up to touch Grizabella, she looks back to the adults to get permission. Old Deuteronomy nods, letting her go ahead. But, it looks like all of the adults in that corner consulted each other. Munkustrap, at this moment, makes the decision to forgive Grizabella. Jellylorum, at this moment, makes the decision to accept Grizabella as an equal. She’s no longer beneath someone like Victoria.

Then, when all the cats greet and welcome Grizabella, Jelly looks very guilty, more so than the other older cats do. She’s realized just how petty she was being, that she was even worse to Griz than most of the tribe, because they either had a more emotionally-charged reason, or they just didn’t know any better.

Jelly’s story arc is a classic “don’t judge a book by its cover” story, with the symbols of class being the cover she judged.

In Conclusion:

Everything about this arc is based on information the audience is given. We can see that Grizabella is in bad shape. We know where she’s been spending her time because Demeter tells us. We can confirm Jelly’s motivation with the Grizabella reprise. We can compare how the characters of Gus and Griz are described:

You see the border of her coat is torn and stained with sand

vs.

His coat’s very shabby, he’s thin as a rake

Jellylorum sings the former line with disdain, but she sings the latter line with sympathy.

Jelly’s arc is where Grizabella stands out the most. Griz calls her out on her bullshit, is shown to be completely right in her judgement of her, and then is able to change her mind.

And, the emotional impact is all there, because no important information is hidden from the audience. The arc begins with the words “you see”, because you can.

[pandoraborn]

Cruelty of the Beast - Part 9

( previous. )

Characters: c!Ranboo, c!Dream, c!Wilbur, c!Tommy Word count: 2081 Content: jokes about brain damage, hypnosis, ranboo remembers everything

----

“Do you understand more?” Dream’s voice sounds almost too far away. Ranboo is still trying to grasp onto reality, still mentally lost in the end. Part of him doesn’t want to shake off the peaceful haze, but another part of him is struggling to surface, if not for himself then for Tommy.

Tommy’s hand is in his own, caressing the back of his hand tenderly. Ranboo can feel the comfort from the other teen, but the comfort only seems to keep him in this suspension. Still, he lifts his head and acknowledges Dream with a dreamy hum.

“He’s still lost,” Wilbur exclaims. “We shouldn’t have brought him there without preparing him.”

“Is he going to be okay though?” Not even Tommy’s brash voice can snap him out of it. There’s a distant thought that maybe this isn’t entirely his fault. Is it really such a bad thing though? Ranboo feels utterly at peace.

“He’ll be fine.” Dream presses his hands to Ranboo’s shoulders. “We could use this, actually. It’d be useful if we wanted to access his memories.”

“How do you suggest we use this? He’s barely responsive.” Wilbur sounds curious; Ranboo turns to gaze at the man. In this state of mind, Ranboo feels as though he can actually trust everyone around him. Though, shouldn’t that be a cause for concern? It’s not like the men are exactly plotting anything good.

Tommy seems to understand what’s being discussed, because he’s yanking his hand away from Ranboo and lurching to his feet. “Oy, no. He’ll snap out of it soon enough, neither of us need your help. You’re going to give him brain dama-”

“What are you talking about?” Wilbur sounds amused. “Do you really think he’ll get brain damage from being in trance?” Ranboo dimly notes a smirk on Wilbur’s face. “Tommy, I don’t know where you get your information, but you’re clearly looking at the wrong sources.”

“I know enough,” Tommy grumbles, seating himself back by Ranboo’s side. “He’ll get stuck like this, he’ll get brain damage and turn into some sort of puppet, then end up in a coma. You can’t use him.”

Wilbur snorts, but surprisingly, so does Dream. It’s almost enough for Ranboo to fully come back to reality as he glances back and forth. When he glances at Dream though, he notes the way Dream is presented. Dream’s hair is hanging loose around his face, no mask in sight. He’s not wearing his usual green for once, and instead a simple blue t-shirt hangs loose around his frame, paired with tan cargo pants. Dream looks like an ordinary man that’d be hard to pick out of a crowd normally, but right now, Ranboo feels completely and utterly drawn to him.

“If you’re going to do something, do it right now,” Dream urges Wilbur. “Before he completely snaps out of it.”

“Shut up dickhead,” Tommy mutters, snapping his fingers in Dream’s direction. “What if you two hurt him or some shit? You shouldn’t mess around with things you don’t understand!”

Wilbur drops his voice to speak quieter than normal. “What makes you think we don’t understand, Tommy? Remember all those nights I read to you until you fell asleep, all the times I was able to talk you out of a rash decision? Even when I was able to convince you the day we stood by the ocean, gathering sand. People find it so easy to listen to me, even more so when they’re already suggestible.”

“Wilbur,” Tommy warns.

Cocky grin in place, Wilbur moves around to stand behind Ranboo. Hands press down on the hybrid’s shoulders, heavy enough to keep him seated, light enough that he could wriggle out of the grip if he chose to. Ranboo leans back into Wilbur, head resting back against Wilbur’s chest.

“That’s it Ranboo,” Wilbur murmurs. “You enjoy feeling so relaxed, don’t you? Already so lost in the memory of your homeland, you’ll find it so easy to open the rest of your mind and let us in.”

“Us?” Ranboo finally finds his voice, and it’s shaky. He remembers what Tommy said five minutes ago. “I’ll be okay?”

“You’ll be more than okay.” It’s Dream now, and Ranboo is unconsciously leaning toward him. Dream means safety, he always has. But why?

Wilbur laughs. “I think he wants you, Dream.” He nudges at Ranboo before stepping back. “Should I keep going, though?”

Ranboo feels another arm wrap around him, holding him close. With a light sigh, Ranboo leans into the new body, recognizing the figure as Dream. He nods mutely toward Wilbur, encouraging him to keep going. He might not know what it is Wilbur is doing, but his voice is nice to listen to.

“Ranboo I want you to listen to me carefully.” Wilbur’s voice drops again, weaving gently through the room, before settling in his mind. “Just listen to me and let yourself go, back to the end. It holds all the answers you could possibly need. More specifically, the ones you’ve locked away from yourself.”

“Wilbur are you sure this will help?” Tommy whispers. The response Wilbur gives him is finger pressed to his forehead. Tommy goes cross-eyes trying to focus on the finger, but Wilbur jerks his hand downward, with Tommy’s eyes falling shut and his body falling forward. The man gathers Tommy in his arms and holds him before continuing to speak to Ranboo.

“You can see them just beyond your reach, Ranboo,” Wilbur whispers. “They’re not locked tight in a box, they’re open and available for you, you just have to be willing to reach for them.

In his mind, Ranboo’s in the end again. The purple haze surrounds him, leaving him feeling as though he’s completely alone. Wilbur’s voice is barely even heard, but Ranboo’s listening anyway. He can see what he only assumes are his memories (in the form of obsidian chunks), strewn about by the dragon’s small tower. His gaze locks onto those chunks as he moves closer, reaching an arm out. Though, Ranboo stops short of touching one. What if he finds something that scares him? He’s contributed to hurting Tommy as well as other people.

He doesn’t want to hate himself.

“It’s okay Ranboo,” Wilbur continues. “You’re safe with us. Your memories will not destroy you. Just breathe.”

He sucks in a breath, trying to steady his emotions. Everything seems to stretch out endlessly between himself and the obsidian chunks. It almost seems hopeless, but he finally closes his fist around the first one.

Everything rushes back.

He sees himself in Dream’s vault. This is his memory, he’s not watching it from an omniscient point of view, he recalls it perfectly now. Ranboo is with the rest of the SMP as they rush in to rescue Tommy and Tubbo, though he stands back to watch Tommy enact his revenge. Ranboo recalls staring at Dream, too, as the latter is led away to prison.

When he comes to, he’s still not back in the cabin, but back in the end. Obsidian chunks are still surrounding him, no longer stretched out, but pressed too close against him. The sensation is almost suffocating, and the only way out is to grab and push at them.

He remembers everything now.

Not all at once, it’s not a painful barrage against his brain, but more of a trickle, each memory dripping back in one by one. Everything he’d done, everything he’d help plan, everything he wanted to do. All the memories leave him feeling spent, even with Wilbur’s gentle cadence echoing in the back of his mind.

The last memory Ranboo picks up is the day Dream escaped from prison.

He pulls a sword on Tubbo, not to hurt him, but to warn him to stay back. He never wanted Tubbo to get hurt in the crossfire, he never wanted Michael to see this. Tubbo had always been better off away from any of this, where he can remain safe and raise Michael in peace.

Ranboo had pulled the sword and left him alone. He recalls the grief he’d pushed down in favor of guarding Tommy.

It was always about Tommy.

Ranboo had sworn to protect him from day one, hoping to guide him in the right direction, to steer him back toward Wilbur. Kind of a hard task to accomplish when he’s splitting his mind in half.

Everything makes sense now. Nothing’s changed, his mindset about Dream being evil has never changed. That much has always been true, the only difference now is Ranboo no longer feels remorse over being here.

He’d seen how everyone had twisted their morals and viewpoints into something barely recognizable. He’d seen how quickly everyone cast aside someone else for opposing beliefs, himself included. Everyone on the SMP is some level of selfish, and Ranboo had immediately gone to Dream, who had presented an idea.

He’d learned that Wilbur had the same mindset before he died. Ranboo had learned that in the deep pits of Pogtopia, where not even Tommy could reach, Wilbur had vented about his need to destroy more than just L’Manburg, that the two men had discussed starting over and creating a society where everyone would be on the same page. No more betrayal, no more destruction, no more pain.

Ranboo had loved the idea.

He still loves the idea.

When he sits up straight, he’s in the cabin again. It’s the same cabin, with the same beds and counters and furnaces. Wilbur is there holding a dazed Tommy, who’s glaring around the room. Dream is watching him with an expectant grin on his face.

The person Ranboo wants to speak to most isn’t there.

“Are you with us again?” Dream asks. “You look way more alert than you did before we started.”

Nodding, Ranboo stares down at his legs, wiping imaginary dirt off his trousers. “Thanks, I think. I don’t know what that was but-”

“Classic hypnosis,” Wilbur says smugly. “Tommy here thought it’d give you brain damage. Tommy, do you have brain damage?”

“I’ll smack you over the head with an obsidian brick,” Tommy grumbles. “That’ll give you brain damage.”

“I remember now,” Ranboo continues as though the brothers hadn’t just bickered. “I think I remember everything. Or at least, I know enough.”

“Do you still think I’m the bad guy?” Dream presses.

Ranboo snorts, but nods. “We’re all the bad guys, but I don’t mind as much. At least now I know what I’m doing.”

“Traitor.” There’s no bite in Tommy’s voice. “You lot are all traitors. Let me off this crazy ride.”

Reaching over, Ranboo gives Tommy’s hair a teasing ruffle. “You know you love us.”

“Two of you.” The younger teen shoots a pointed glare in Dream’s direction. “I only care about two of you.”

Dream shrugs. “That’s fair. I’m coming to terms with the fact that you hate me. I’ll live.”

“We’ve had a busy day,” Wilbur interrupts, pushing Tommy off his lap. The teen falls to the floor with a pained groan. “We should all sleep. We still have a lot of prep to do and things won’t be ready for awhile, but we’re making progress.”

“Wilbur you’re such a dick.” Tommy stretches out. “I’m sleeping on the floor.”

With a chuckle, Ranboo pulls Tommy up and drags him over to their makeshift double bed. “Just share with me again, alright?” He’s suprised when Tommy latches onto him, causing Ranboo to topple backwards into the bed. He makes a grab for Tommy in hopes of moving him, but it’s clear Tommy’s not moving.

“Don’t turn against me now that you have your memories back,” Tommy whispers. “I’m tired of losing people.”

Softening, Ranboo moves to grab at Tommy’s hand instead of his wrist. “No, never,” he promises. “It was always about you and your safety. I won’t let you down again, alright?”

“I’m tired of not trusting people either,” Tommy mumbles. He already sounds half asleep. “Just promise me that you and Wilbur won’t turn into Dream.”

“I promise.” Ranboo gives Tommy’s hand a squeeze. “We’re both here to protect you with everything we have. You can trust us unconditionally.”

“Thanks.” Mostly asleep, the teen’s voice is slurred. Ranboo settles for playing with Tommy’s hair to lull him down the rest of the way. He’d forgotten that in all this mess, Tommy probably doesn’t get very much comfort anymore.

That’s okay, Ranboo’s happy to provide. Just because they’re the bad guys doesn’t mean they have to be evil.

[good-rwbyaus]

Au where Whitley has actually been running the bank accounts since he was young and keeping the group financially viable

#Rising Snow AU - mod lilac - [ next ]

1. Beginning

It started when his father, smelling like expensive liquors and overbearing perfume, shoved a packet of folders at him and stated “You deal with it. Your father has a hang- headache” before staggering off back to his bedroom to sleep off yesterday’s social gathering.  

He was ecstatic. His father began to trust him to handle things in the company. Before he was a mere fixture in the company, only present to speak pleasantries and let others know that Jacques Schnee had a well-bred son. But now he had responsibilities and power.  

Whitley Schnee, soon-to-be-heir of the Schnee Dust Company since Weiss didn’t seem to care about it and Willow just left to join Atlas, will show everyone his worth, starting with.... a whole lot of complaints about their customer service.

_______________________________________

2. Complaints

“This motor is covered under warranty. I still have the original receipt. You have to take it back.”

“Sorry, but the warranty only covers usage in automobiles. You said you tried installing it in a motorcycle, so your warranty is void.”

“...A motorcycle is an automobile, sir.”

“Look smartass, you’re getting on my nerves. You’re not going to get a refund from the Schnee Dust Company, got it?”

“Excuse me!? I want to talk to your manager. Now.”

“I am the manager. Now stop wasting my time.”

“Wh-” 

Click.

Whitley’s eyebrows creased sharply as he closed the Scroll. He took slow deep breaths trying to get rid of the anger trembling through his body. A Schnee is like ice. They do not show their rage unless they can leverage it for their purposes. His teeth gritted once more and relaxed.

Those two-faced bastards. He knew the customer service staff were no good when they started fawning over him, telling him that “of course they got complaints when they couldn’t fulfill their requests” or “we got everything under control.” 

In reality, they were all just disgusting liars who couldn’t do their job. If he hadn’t been suspicious of them, they might’ve gotten away with it. Those people had to be removed before they truly caused an incident; he cannot let such unsightly things remain. 

He picked up the phone.

________________________________________

3. Fired.

“You can’t do this to us! This is going against our contract.”

“Just because you’re your father’s son doesn’t mean you have any power here.”

“You’re going to speak to my lawyer about unfair dismissal, kid!”

It’s funny. The half-dozen or so people who were fawning over him just hours earlier were now cursing and shaming him. Of course they were angry. He just told them they were all fired a couple minutes ago and stopped saying anything when they started yelling like a mob. His lips trembled, trying to stop himself from smiling. 

Gods. He was so angry that he’s finding humor in it. Do they really think they have power here?

Bang. 

A bald-headed tall man - the manager he spoke to last - slammed his hands onto his desk, looming over him as if to intimidate him with the threat of physical violence. The noise made him flinch slightly, breaking his facade of calm and causing the other guy to smirk mockingly at him. 

Bastard.

This farce has gone on long enough.

“Okay. You can keep your jobs...”

Immediately, the six people leered triumphantly with the one at the head of the pack messing his desk up proudly stood up. 

“Good kid, see you know when you’re in the wrong.”

“Yeah, smart like your father,” said the man at his desk about to pat him on the head. Immediately, he swatted the man’s hand away.

“...as I gather the audio logs for our lawyers to peruse and determine how much damage you’ve done to the company’s image.”

That silenced the room better than a dead body being found in it. 

“If you didn’t do anything wrong, you’ll have my apologies and a bonus for your troubles. But if you’ve damaged our image... well, a company’s face is priceless - but I can definitely try to get back some recompense.” 

He lifted a finger which everyone else in the room followed.

“That’s your first option. The other option is to resign quietly, and I will not pursue this in the future. You can take the time to think about it. 

“You can-”

“You’re all dismissed. If you linger around a second longer,” he glared at the group, “I’m going to assume you’re taking the first option and want to be escorted out.” 

Immediately, upon realizing who had the actual power in the room, the group of six began to scramble out of the room, but just as the bald-headed manager exited out the door, Whitley spoke up. The words caused the man to stiffen up.

“Except you. You don’t get an option, manager. You're fired. Wait to hear from my lawyers.” 

He steepled his fingers together, a vicious satisfied smile on his lips. 

________________________________________

4. Security Card

...Okay. That was scary. He honestly thought that baldy was going to hit him at the very end. In the future, he was going to have a bodyguard in the room or Klein just in case. He loosened his vest slightly, the cloth sticking to his back from the cold sweat.

It was weird though. Why did something like customer service go all the way up to the level of the President?

Wasn’t that something for managers or department heads to solve?

“Maybe it’s just a test from father,” Whitley spoke out loud. He shook his head.

Yeah, that was probably it. 

----

Little did he know that his carelessly stated statement was caught by a hidden camera in his room.

---- 

The next day he found a folder on his desk and a white card with the label of 00 on it. 

________________________________________

5. Assignment

“Hey, Klein,” Whitley asked cautiously as the loyal man handed him a glass of water, “Did father come into my room yesterday?” 

He didn’t know what to make of the butler at times or how to treat him. Father said never to treat the help too kindly or they’ll take advantage of it, but Klein was someone he knew since he was born. He’s never seen him be anything but loyal and attentive. He wasn’t like the people he just dealt with.

Maybe he would’ve just dismissed him as just the help, but after having seen a very recent example of two-faced people, he couldn’t quite agree with his father’s assessment of Klein.

“Your father has gone on va-,” the man paused upon seeing the contents on the desk, particularly the white card on his desk. “That card?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a card like this before,” Whitley replied, “What does it actually do?”

Klein stared at the card quietly before saying, “Only the Master of the House could’ve given you that card. It will open every lock and file in the Schnee Dust Company. It means the Master has given you authority second to them.”

“Father must really trust me after I got results, right?” he proudly stated as he started shuffling through the documents. In doing so, he missed Klein’s smile, both proud and pained at the same time. 

The cursory review made his self-praising words die in his throat.

“Wait...He wants me to solve all these?!” Whitley yelled. It wasn’t that the entire packet consisted of a single problem. The entire seventy-two page packet was a large list of overdue problems and documents that required his attention. 

“Where’s father?”

“He’s currently on vacation. He won’t be here for a month.”

“Didn’t he just go on vacation two weeks ago? There should be someone to substitute while he’s gone?” 

“...No, sir. This is how it always has been.”

“Haha. You’re joking. Or is this part of the test, Klein?” He laughed but it soon died on his throat, seeing the man’s grim face. 

 “I will not lie to you, young master.” Klein remarked before adding with a nudge of his head, “There’s a note.”

He’s right. There was. The script was in cursive; it would’ve been elegant and soft if it weren’t for the shakiness in it. 

‘You have the right idea. Sometimes problems need to find the right people.’

________________________________________

6. Delegation

This was stupid. The purchasing of toilet paper or whether it had to be 2-ply or 3-ply or setting the price of bubble-gum at the employee store did not need to pass through the president’s desk.

Hell. It’s like anything that involved the tiniest amount of money or required the slightest authority needed to make its way to his desk. 

This was not a functional solution. He’ll die of exhaustion by the end of the week if that continued.

And the answers from the department heads were incredibly unhelpful.

‘It has always been this way.’

But it hasn’t. Looking through the records only he could access, everything changed when his father inherited the company from his grandfather. His father first fired anyone that disagreed with him and then diverted anything that looked like it involved money up to the very top. Maybe it was important back then, but those measures certainly didn’t need to be used now. 

His father ruled with an iron fist when it came to the company. No one dared to challenge his authority now. 

His father was smart. Intelligent. These actions didn’t match that. Was this just another one of his tests? He wanted to believe that, but...

‘The only person you can trust is yourself. Everyone else can betray you. Even family. Only trust others if you have power over them, that is trust.’

...It did match what his father would do. And if there was nothing else he learned from all those official dinners and parties, he knew how to read people, especially his father and his mercurial temper. 

With how many of these documents have been untouched and unread, what exactly is his father doing? 

Come to think of it. When was the last time his father sat in front of a computer instead of going on vacation or to one of his many dinners with his business associates?

He shook his head. Impossible. His father definitely worked hard. How else would this company be standing if he was that neglectful? Maybe these files were just like the 5% of untouched work since he had so much wor-

His screen flickered as he clicked on another file. The pillar of red pointing downwards made him pale. 

[ next ]

[mypinkparables]

The Disproportionately High Mortality Rate of Black Mothers and Babies :Facts, Factors, and Fatalities - Cheyenne Adderley

Throughout the history of the world, the loss of a child has always been a traumatic experience. In the past, losing children in their first year of life was a disturbingly common occurrence in the lives of many parents. Contributions that are majorly responsible for this phenomenon of post-neonatal death are diseases/infections, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), malnutrition, low birth weight, home environment issues, and troubled pregnancy. To combat this, pioneers in obstetrics/gynecology and medicine researched and developed ways in which to solve these issues. Immunizations and vaccines were developed to fight infectious diseases, education and emphasis was placed around the need for proper prenatal care, and awareness was brought to a good amount of the known dangers surrounding pregnancy. Many issues that had once plagued parenthood and pregnancies were solved. One problem that was never solved, though, would be the disproportionately high mortality rate of black mothers and babies compared to their white counterparts. Unlike the aforementioned contributions listed above, this high mortality rate is caused by a pervasive structure of systematic and societal racism that is to be explored further in the remainder of this essay. The disproportionately high mortality rate of black mothers and babies is caused by a combination of disadvantages created by societal and systematic racism, the empathy gap, and lack of access to proper prenatal medical treatment.

  The United States of America is a country that was built on the agony, anguish, and affliction of African Americans. Since it’s beginning, black lives and bodies have always been seen as being worth less than everyone else’s in economic, humanitarian, and even educational ways. There is evidence of this in slavery, Jim Crow laws, police brutality, the school-to-prison pipeline, and much, much more. There is no doubt about it, racism in the United States is an unfortunately prevalent part of our society. In terms of racial discrimination in the medical industry, the proof remains plentiful and certified. The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male was a secret experiment conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service to study the progression of syphilis without treatment. This experiment was advertised as a treatment for bad blood for colored people. Participants were promised free food, medical examinations, and burial insurance. Hundreds of poor black men signed up. The problem and unethicality within this research is that the men were not fully informed about the truth of the research. There were 600 men in total, 399 diagnosed with Syphilis and 201 did not have this deadly venereal disease. The participants who had been diagnosed with Syphilis were not given any treatment, but were instead essentially left to die so that their bodies could be examined for medical research post-mortem (Brown). This atrocity of a medical experiment is important to one’s understanding of the disproportionately high mortality rate of black mothers and babies because it proves that there exists and has existed, a racial bias in the pain assessment and medical treatment of black people. This bias is the foundation for creating serious health problems in black mothers and babies, specifically, because it is an error in the systematic structure of the lives of one particular group. Problems in systematic structures are especially dangerous because they can impact a group of already previously disadvantaged people on different levels from different angles. In the context of the topics being analyzed, it would be something in close relation to the dismissal of legitimate concerns and symptoms turning into a failure of empathy which perpetuates racial disparities, leading furthermore into wide scale issues similar to,”The United States’ African-American population [being] disproportionately poor. African Americans do not tend to hold employment positions that provide medical benefits” (Fauci 77). Seemingly “small” issues or biases in things that are of major importance to people’s health and livelihood creates room for large discrepancies that become dangerous as things advance and become more serious. These large discrepancies are part of the reason why black mothers are at a higher risk for pregnancies resulting in conditions (i.e. hypertension and pre-eclampsia) that cause higher rates of infant and maternal death. 

  In order to understand how these large discrepancies create and relate to lack of access, the topics of lack of access due to racial bias and their subsequent effects on the pregnancies specifically of black mothers, must be discussed. In the duration of a pregnancy, a woman’s body goes through countless transformations, whether they be physical, emotional, or in the form of something else that is a discomfort. Important necessities in order to help refrain from or stop these changes from disturbing one’s pregnancy include,” exercise and activity, maintaining a healthy weight, caring for your mental health, nutrition, and caring for your oral health” (Omama). This means that one has to have access to the time and resources required in order to maintain the necessities needed for a healthy pregnancy. Racial bias on all levels is partly responsible for perpetuating the higher mortality rate of black mothers and babies because it is what creates the lack of access gap that impacts minority mothers. It, being racial bias, is created when an obstacle is purposefully placed between a person and a thing that they need. In the past, these obstacles existed in the form of slavery or Jim Crow Laws. They were rules that were created in order to preserve the generational  downfall of black people. After the criminalization of segregation, oppressors had to become more creative with the ways in which they oppressed minority groups. This is where lack of access becomes more relevant. Despite the tremendous and widespread need for medical treatment,” many African Americans cannot effectively access medical care. This inaccessibility is due to a variety of factors, including a lack of health insurance, an inadequate number of healthcare facilities, “patient dumping,” difficulty in obtaining prescription drugs and an insufficient number of African-American doctors.” ( Fauci 71). Instead of being upfront with racism and racial bias, oppressors began to create lack of access to the resources minority groups needed to survive and exist comfortably. Once those resources were taken away, it had the same negative impact as slavery and Jim Crow laws, without actually having to be as boldly open and directly wrong. Oppressors succeeded in using lack of access as an updated form of segregation because it was subtle yet effective and able to be made to feel “normal”.  Racial bias being so deeply ingrained into the systematic design of this country to the point where it is seen as normal, is what creates widespread phenomenons such as black mothers and babies being negatively impacted in an unfortunate plethora of ways. The seemingly harmless and minute parts of racial bias all have the ability to exalt oppression. 

The creation and perpetuation of discrimination against the black race on systematic levels causes the trickle down effect that is responsible for certain phenomenons in the medical industry. Racial bias is what gives birth to negative discrepancies between races. When a person begins to look at one group of people as “the other”, they will begin to act differently towards “the other”, consciously or not. The widespread belief that somehow black people are stronger and able to withstand more struggle than others comes from “...an underlying belief that there is a single black experience of the world. Because this belief assumes blacks are already hardened by racism, people believe black people are less sensitive to pain. Because they are believed to be less sensitive to pain, black people are forced to endure more pain” (Silverstein). This may include showing favoritism to other races because of their racial background, using slurs to describe certain races, or even just seemingly harmless jokes. Racial bias is an attitude that can take place and be reflected in many different forms. Bias is not something that can be turned off or hidden. Bias will always find a way to make itself known, but unconscious bias is especially dangerous because it gives people the illusion of not having done anything wrong. It is similar to how a big portion of the general population believes that vaping is somehow a healthier and safer option compared to real cigarette smoking. In both situations, damage is still being done no matter what the appearance of the danger is because the root of the problem still exists in both situations. Unconscious bias is able to explain why things may appear to be equal even though there are still several unfair aspects to society. Implicit biases are so powerful because they have the power to impact almost every facet of life. This means unconscious bias can range from affecting the decision of a police officer choosing whether or not to pull someone over, a hiring manager deciding on who to hire for a new position, or a doctor choosing which method of care to give to a patient. All of these situations can end up being dire and life-altering situations depending on the circumstances, as is. Adding in a bias toward a certain kind of civilian, employee, or patient only ensures that an issue will arise more in that group. Racial bias is what creates the circumstances that allow for black mothers and babies to suffer medically on such a broad and undeniable scale. Implicit bias is what makes the conditions that much worse between black and white mothers. Relating back to the topic of black mothers and babies, implicit bias is a subdivision of the empathy gap. The empathy gap is a phenomenon in which people are not able to emphasize with or fully understand one’s situation because they are cognitively unaware of how to account for the decision making process and mental state of others. There are certain careers in this world that require more empathy than others. For example, doctors and nurses should be able to empathize with patients because of the considerable difference between each one and their case. Situations vary greatly and not everyone comes from the same background with the same knowledge of healthcare and how to get help. This is something that needs to be empathized with and understood because a misunderstanding of this fact is what can lead to a widening of the empathy gap. When a doctor looks at a patient and sees someone from a certain background dealing with a persistent medical condition, that is not the time to begin creating assumptions or premature judgment because when enough doctors begin to view enough of the same negative things in patients of similar backgrounds through a pessimistic lens, people begin to slip through the cracks. Doctors may unknowingly begin to dismiss what a patient feels or doubt how much pain they are truly in because they are desensitized to their humane existence due to the creation of racist or all around negative idealizations. The empathy gap creates a culture of dismissive attitudes and unfair treatment from doctors because they will not take certain cases as seriously if they do not empathize with the patient. This is why it is beyond important for doctors to equally assess, understand, listen to, and treat every patient the same way. Allowing for stereotypes and pessimistic views about a certain group of people only creates a space for those people to suffer. These stereotypes hold no real truth in society and cannot offer any real medical answer to assist a doctor in treating a patient. Empathy is a required skill when people’s lives are at risk. 

     Black mothers and babies have a disproportionately high mortality rate because of the way that society dehumanizes and downplays their existence. There are several reasons as to why and how the mortality rate became what it is, but the main reason is centered around the fact that there is a specific disadvantage placed so harshly onto black women, that it stunts their growth and progression away from phenomenons that should have already been understood and solved due to the updated society that exists in today’s world. These problems still exist because there are people that exist in today’s world, but live and acknowledge the world with the views of someone living seventy years ago. The age old stereotypes, jokes, idealizations, theories, and customs must come to an end in order for black women, mothers, and children to be able progress past the impact racial bias has already made on them. Discrimination on every level plays a part in as to why this mortality rate has been so popularly perpetuated.

  Works Cited

“America Is Failing Its Black Mothers.” Harvard Public Health Magazine, 21 Dec. 2018,                        SSSCCwww.hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magazine_article/america-is-failing-its-black-motRRRRRhers/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf.

Brown, DeNeen L. “'You've Got Bad Blood': The Horror of the Tuskegee Syphilis  RRRRRExperiment.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 16 May 2017, RRRRRwww.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/05/16/youve-got-bad-blood-thRRRRRe-horror-of-the-tuskegee-syphilis-experiment/.

Fauci, Cara A.” RACISM AND HEALTH CARE IN AMERICA: LEGAL RESPONSES RRRRRTO RACIAL DISPARITIES IN THE ALLOCATION OF KIDNEYS, RRRRRwww.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/law/lawreviews/journals/bctwj/21_1/02_TRRRRRXT.htm.

“Healthy Living.” OMama, www.omama.com/en/pre-pregnancy/healthy-living.asp.

Howard, Jacqueline. “Childbirth Is Killing Black Women, and Here's Why.” CNN, Cable RRRRRNews Network, 15 Nov. 2017, RRRRRwww.cnn.com/2017/11/15/health/black-women-maternal-mortality/index.html?utRRRRRRm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf.

Silverstein, Jason. “Why White People Don't Feel Black People's Pain.” Slate Magazine, RRRRRSlate, 27 June 2013, RRRRRslate.com/technology/2013/06/racial-empathy-gap-people-dont-perceive-pain-in-otRRRRRher-races.html.

Villarosa, Linda. “Why America's Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death RRRRRCrisis.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Apr. 2018, RRRRRwww.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/magazine/black-mothers-babies-death-maternal-moRRRRRrtality.html?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf.

[lairofsentinel]

Talking about the smidgens we saw of Gale, the wizard of Waterdeep.

[Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access Spoilers]

Updated, AGAIN, because the hell of new aspects we saw when some bugs were sorted out. Warning:  all this analysis was done for game versions 4.1.83 and 4.1.84

Well, I had to rewrite all this because the explorations of dialogue options and the bugs being, somehow, solved, allowed me to see small details from Gale that stand out or end up being more than curious to me. I'll list his main features to make things short (hopefully), and useful for... eventual fics:

Gale is a char who approves any good treatment to animals (and creatures in general). He has a cat, a Library, and writes poetry sometimes.

He doesn't like gratuitous murdering which is implied in the anecdote he told us about how he stopped a massacre in a Waterdeep city inn just by buying a round to everyone. It is also implied in his approval in most situations; even in the one with the ogres having sex.

He gives you disapproval most of the time if you use violence and intimidation as your first approach in solving a situation. He prefers eloquence, diplomacy, and negotiation. However, he is flexible enough to approve a performance-intimidation in front of goblins to avoid bloodshed. Point (2) is primary. So... he truly is a pragmatic char. It's not white and black: “never use intimidation/lie” or that kind of over-simplistic view.

He likes logical and reasonable conversations. An action that earned his disapproval can be undone if the main char (MC) talks to him and explains their reasons. You can disagree with him without having approval penalties most of the time. You can question many situations and, as long as it remains a mental exercise, there are no penalties. That surprised me a lot. Most characters disapprove you if you wonder about a potential situation, but Gale no. He is the scholar, he will allow a safe space to think around things without being too judgemental. We will see if this attitude lasts in the full game. No wonder some players see in him “the Teacher” archetype. Quite so.

He was an Arch wizard while being Mystra's Chosen One, and fell from grace when she put him aside. What is hard for me to grasp is if he remained Chosen One and therefore able to cast silver-fire during that intermediate period when he stopped having Mystra's whispers and his folly with the netherese taint. We know that in that moment Mystra removed herself from his life completely. But before, she has only stopped whispering and sleeping with him. So far I understand, being her Chosen One doesn't imply sleeping with her, most of the time.

He was a teacher (not surprising, since his over-explanation vices and details such as the pronunciation of “Trashj” make us suspect it), and had some students that he could not keep longer since their ineptitudes irked him. 

Unlike the stereotypical “scholar” type, he knows how to cook, since he has been doing stews for the party in the camp. He also loves baths. A bit siding with the stereotypical “scholar” type, but a nice change for a “standard adventurer” type, in which most of the time it is implied that they are stinky with “animalistic” scents and uglier descriptors. No, Gale likes his lavender-scented baths. Good. 

He is an over-thinker strategist. And also a char who takes responsibility for his own mistakes to the point that, when he dies for the first time, a programmed image is activated to help anyone to revive him. Despite the fact that he is dead and can give a shit about that, he is still responsible of the catastrophe that may happen if that weird magic orb stuck in his chest erupts.

He is also forcing me to check the dictionary like no other game has done in a while... the fucker uses uncommon words a lot of the time. Smidges? really? Gale is a hard char for a non native English speaker.

We can assume that during his teenage time, he was a pretty prideful peacock to the point to be blind at the reality (well, yeah, he romanced a goddess; if that doesn't give you a hell of a ego boost...) He remembers his young self's pride with a thick level of regret. He is now a mature scholar that, for a change, does not patronise you or thinks of himself better than anyone. Sure, he over-explains a lot, but that's something that most scholars/teachers do when they are worried that, maybe, they won't be understood.

He is confident in his years of study (for that reason he is a capable wizard despite having lost Mystra's favours), but he acknowledges his limits. Which is a nice change to see in the “scholar” archetype, the typical know-it-all. He knows a lot, he knows that he knows (it would be ridiculous to hide his knowledge), but he is human, and like he says: “humans are fallible”. However, it’s more than obvious that he has a big ego for everything he does, which makes sense since he follows a motto in his life: “try to excel at everything”. High accomplished scholar lifestyle, indeed.

If you don't share the Weave with him, he will state that nights are lonesome. It seems he truly is looking for some connection with a keen fellow mind. Probably it's this loneliness which triggers his urge to see Mystra's face during the night. We also know he, in general, lives in constant fear due to the Netherese taint in his chest. So, very lonely, and very scared. 

I don't know if this is his poet side unable to be switched-off or it's another implication of how he sees sexual encounters: he never says sex (at least in my many runs, he never did it). He always gets around the word: love-making, art of the body, intimacy. For a scholar who is so prone to use the technical word for everything, and has already stated he is not coy at all, the use of these metaphors make me wonder if it's because he always conceives sex as something more than mere physical pleasure. For him, it seems to come with a more emotional connection (which makes sense if we think he will only sleep with those who connected to him through the Weave). Another small detail that may confirm this is when he asks the MC if the “other night” was wonderful. If MC claims it was “fun”, Gale shows a certain degree of uneasiness by that word choice, making us infer that he certainly doesn’t see sex as “fun” but as something else, deeper. 

His tadpole dreams are about Mystra (rather obvious). His most desperate desire is forgiveness. Mystra's forgiveness.

Mystra was his first love. The affair did not last long. And since soon after her abandonment he looked for the Primal Weave book and was infested by it; one could assume he has been focused on solving his problem for the rest of his life than putting some energy in romance, especially if we think about (13). It's hard to say with certainty (especially with banters like these), but since he is a char that you can only sleep with if you share a mind-connection through the Weave, it seems less plausible that he could encourage into casual relationships during all this period of his life looking for a solution to the Netherese orb. If he got previous relationships, they may have been meaningful, but clearly not enough to win over the goddess’ and his urges to see her, lol.

He did not mind Mystra having many other lovers besides him. It seems to be the same with the MC, since he will insist in sleeping with them even after the party and even after the MC slept with someone else (however, that only occurs if the romantic connection through the Weave happened.) This fact combined with (13) and (15) make me wonder if he certainly wants to be with the MC too badly, even in an open relationship. We need to see the rest of his romance to be sure.

Since he looks for forgiveness so desperately, he is a char who will forgive most mistakes made by the MC if they acknowledge them.

He is a char who knows how grey and complex situations can be. This is inferred by the way he speaks of the tiefling girl who tried to steal the idol in the Grove: “She is not innocent, but that doesn't mean she is guilty.” (of course there is a lot of self projection there). This is also implied in his (surprising) approval of raising Mayrina's husband and giving her the control wand to search for a solution in Neverwinter. That shows that he can accept the fuckest weirdest situations, recognising that “sometimes we can’t choose situations but we can try to do our best, not always having the best results”. Also self-projection.

He appreciates his privacy to the point to leave the MC if the abuse of the tadpole power continues. However, and honouring (4), you can abuse of these powers and convince him with reasons: if you don't lie to him and explain that you have a responsibility with the group to know what happens with his secret, he will understand, and despite disapproving the MC actions, will remain without major troubles.

Certainly, as long as you give him reasons and logical concepts, he can almost understand everything with no disapproval or at least little one.

Consent and negotiation are vital to him, apparently. However, this aspect reaches a flaw. He was too angry with Nettie when she almost killed the MC, and he made a short speech about how nobody has the right to decide your options for you. Yet, in his romance scene, we see that he deliberately hid his true relationship with Mystra and his bomb-condition in order to sleep with the MC. In fact, during the party, if the MC tells him that doubts if he is the one they want, Gale will drop a curious argument: “That’s because you’ve yet to find out what your’re missing” (implying that he himself is what you need), followed by his most curious “Doubt is a spoilsport. Cast it aside”. That coming from a scholar is rotten, lol. He tries every convincing argument to sleep with the MC (if they shared the moment of the Weave, of course)

This happens in every variation of the path: whether the MC sleeps with him in the party, or afterwards, Gale will always wait for sharing a night with the MC before speaking the truth. It's hard to read this aspect since, he is a char who, apparently, needs a mind-connection with his partner for intimacy (see (12) and (13)); so this terrible strategy is like his way of trying to guarantee that the MC will not abandon him. I guess there is something along those line, specially if we keep in mind the book he explained: a book which is not only about the art of the body and the night and sex, but of other things such as conversation, exploration, and acceptance of oneself and the other. He is expecting with this night to reach the MC to a certain degree of intimacy in which, despite the raw truth, the acceptance will prevail. Remembering (16), he truly wants to sleep with the MC, baaaadly. And somehow everything feels like he wants to push things in a subtle way to a certain degree of commitment. Following the concept in (12), I think he has been alone for too long, and desperately needs someone in his lonesome nights and in helping him to deal with his burden. Finding someone who connected to him through the Weave (such a personal experience for him as it is) made him a bit desperate or eager. We know his emotion for the MC may have grown over those days since the connection with the Weave. In two occasions he or the MC can ask if both of them think about that moment. Gale says yes with such enthusiasm, that it may imply...that maybe, he has been thinking about that more times than he truly wants to tell the MC. The Weave moment had such a strong effect on Gale that, if the MC spent the night with another companion and rejects Gale’s proposition later, he will trail off a sentence that implies he was convinced that the MC and he were heading into something serious and deep.

Of course, once he sleeps with the MC, he confesses the truth right afterwards, accepting--without approval penalties--the harshest responses that the MC can give. He clearly knows that such manoeuvre was truly disloyal, especially contrasting it with all his speech of consent and rights to know about the true situation one is in. In the next morning, he acknowledges it was a rotten thing to do and apologies. But this shows that his principles can be bend and even be broken when it comes to emotions. I'm still a bit wary of his emotional stability, what can I say.

Mystra is more than an ex-lover for him, it’s magic. And Magic is everything for him, even more than life. I wonder if, given the opportunity, Mystra forgives him and asks him to return to her side, would he accept it without second thoughts leaving the romanced MC? It's true he also acknowledges that all that fascination he had with the goddess was a product of his youth; he knows he was a plaything in her hands. But I don't see he got over with it. He still idealises her, as such a good poet does. Idealisation, especially when a Goddess is involved, is a terrible thing to fight against for the next partner. No matter what speech of loyalties and consent he states during the whole game, the MC knows that magic and Mystra are Gale's Achilles’ heel, and factors in which they  can’t predict his behaviour.

We also know that, because his bomb-condition, he tries to take all the opportunities to enjoy the little things of life that make him human.

Gale is a straightforward and honest (mostly, let's say) char. But we can see that he prefers to be honest in most situations, except in his Achille’s heel. Even when he wanted to hide all the stuff about the bomb in his chest, he did it by explicitly warning us that he was hiding something he did not want to talk about. Which is an honest approach considering the hardcore burden he carries and the immediate rejection it can mean if the truth unfolds too quickly among strangers.

When it comes to concepts, Gale has the symbol of the storm attached to him. So far, we see he talks comparing things with storms or storm elements: his lack of knowledge to explain why they are not Mind Flayers yet: the silence before the storm; the fear that rushes into his body when the Weave orb asks him for magic to consume: the thunder of a storm reverberating in his soul, the day it will erupt: the lightning striking, the consumption of magic: water running through a sore throat, Life itself: a tempest. When he asked the player if they were a wizard, he explains that he needs an Arch wizard and compares them with a Tempest. If we see the main image of Baldur's gate 3, it's clear that his main element is electricity/storm... so... full witch-bolt-guy here.

[updated later] The Weave moment is important to romance Gale. Leaving the moment in ambiguity will give the MC another opportunity to make their intentions clear during the scene of the Loss. However, remaining vague will lock Gale into a friendship path. What happens during this scene may suggest that the ambiguity in the Weave was enough to keep Gale thinking about the romantic possibility, but he will not engage into it by his own, which confirms (15). Unless the opportunity presents itself clearly before him, he will not pursue the MC. Further details [here].

Last moment detail: Gale says “I cherish you” when he explains he will await death alone if the Netherese orb goes out of control. I was not sure if that meant something more or less than love or like (I can’t not overlook the subtle meaning of the words coming from Gale’s mouth, he is a poet and his word choices matter). Checking the dictionary I found that “cherish” (in a relationship) is defined as to hold or to treat as dear, to feel love for and to care for someone deeply and tenderly. This man went straight into a commitment relationship without thinking it twice, and without (I believe) the MC knowing it either xD. 

Let's see how these characteristics shift or develop deeper once the full game is out there. Now we have to wait a lot :(

To see videos where all this stuff is inferred or explicitly said, you can check [here]

More videos added later [here] and [here]

More content of bg3 in general [here]

[ficsnroses]

Friends With Benefits - Keanu Reeves x Reader

Chapter 1 ~ The Beginning 

Word Count : 1939

Warnings : Swearing, NSFW, Smut (this is my first time writing a little smut, I kinda just tested the waters honestly, but the upcoming chapters will have more) 18+ readers.

Summary : What happens when two, lonely friends start seeing each other for sex? A tricky FWB love story, when feelings get in the way.

notes : hi everyone, here it *finally* is. A Friends with benefits to lovers fic with Keanu.

I’m sorry it took so long for me to write this, I had been putting it off because the response to this idea was so good that I didn’t want to disappoint. I’ve tweaked this so many times, but I’ve decided I just need to release it and better myself as the story continues.

•

It’s a quite night on the West Coast. The month of November has always been a period of serenity in the city, as the holiday season peers around the corner. The holidays are nice, the city lights up each and every corner, decorated, gleaming and radiating a heavenly glow, much like a new bride. You’d always been an admirer of the Christmas season. Back home, Christmas brought the entire family together during the jolly time of the year. It was an absolute ball, however, you hadn’t been able to be home for the holidays in a while. Your move out to the city for work had came with some rather undesirable factors, such as constantly being away from home. To make things grimmer, you hadn’t pledged yourself to the social circle of the city yet. Sure, you had an acquaintance or two, maybe a few ladies you might go out with for a round of sangrias and bellinis once in a blue moon, but you didn’t really have a concrete set of people you admired and could call friends.

It felt real lonely in the city. Your day normally consisted of work, followed by an evening alone at home, perhaps binging the newest additions to the Netflix catalogue, or re watching an old, favourite sitcom. They reminded you of home, and simpler, better times.

Tonight had been no different. Dressing yourself in a cozy, white plush bathrobe and your favourite kitten slippers, you prepared for a relaxing evening. The week had been extremely draining, allowing you to crave indulgence in a pampering night in. Perhaps a face mask or two, maybe a glass of red accompanied with a cheese spread for one, with a nice holiday movie. Yeah, that sounded real tempting.

Propping your legs up on the jet black coffee table, you draped your beloved fleece blanket over your figure, phone in hand, ready to browse a movie to cast to the tv.

However, seems like someone else had other plans in mind tonight.

           “Hey Y/N, you home?”

The blue light channelled into your eyes from the device.  It was Keanu, supposedly asking about your whereabouts. You knew what he wanted right away, and you weren’t sure if you were up for it tonight.

Keanu and you had met around a year and a half ago, at a work event. You worked as a prop designer on movie sets, and he was staring in your project at the time. You became friends, slowly, but eventually. He was a nice, caring, wonderful gentlemen to be around, an absolute treat to indulge in, as an escape from the rest of the crowd you normally had to endure. You hung out a few time here and there, just as friends. Sometimes at a coffee date, to catch up on work and all things in daily endurance, or maybe you’d catch the newest flick that graced your local neighbourhood cinema. You both loved the world of film so passionately, it was nice to splurge in each others thoughts.

All that changed however, one pivotal evening. Sometimes you wish you could take that evening back, change the way things turned out. But they had already made themselves history, and as true as night turns to day. Those things defined you now, and set course for the remainder of your relationship.

On a somber evening, you had invited Keanu over for a movie night in, paired with a drink or two. Keanu wasn’t one to socialize with the mass of the crowds, he preferred to keep to himself, making company with a few selected individuals. You felt honoured to be brought into this pact of his. You reciprocated the feeling just as much.

However, as soon as Keanu entered your apartment that evening, you knew something was off. He shared a few broken laughs here and there, but he wasn’t fully engaged in convo as he normally was. He wasn’t his normal, sprightly self. You knew of Keanu’s sorrow filled, subdued past, and you knew he had his days where his demons got the best of him. You couldn’t help but relate to him sometimes, even if not on the completely same level. Truth be told, you were both lonely. You knew that, perhaps that’s why things happen the way they did.

           That evening was the first time it happened, and that first time ended up converging into multiple. You were both isolated, unaccompanied, maybe that’s why things took the turn they did.

           You both needed someone that night, needed to feel something that night. You don’t remember who made the first move, seemed as if both of you wanted that mutuality, that connection just as much. But the film never played that evening, and you found yourself legs wrapped around Keanu’s waist, him carrying you to your bed, hungry kisses placed on the corners of your mouth, asking entrance to dance your tongues together. His colossal hands gripping onto the delicate skin of your waist, lightly lifting the seams of your shirt in the process. They threatened to tattoo their way in, leaving behind red hand marks.

           “Is this okay?” he breathily whispered into your ear, cautionary flare evident in his words.

He was positioned on top of you, both laid connected on your bed. His stocky fingers grazed the skin of your hip, lifting just enough of the fabric of your shirt to ask permission. His breath on your skin and the weight of his body on yours only made you crave him more, the yearn for his body to become with yours greater by the instance.

You nodded frantically, pulling him down by a wrap of arms around his neck, gently ruffling his long, raven hair on the back of his head.

You slightly raised your hips to allow him access to remove both your jeans and underwear. You tugged at his belt, feeling the long scar line he had on his stomach under his shirt in the process.

Once both your bottoms had been peeled off each other, Keanu pulled the covers over your bodies and turned the bedside light off. Placing a few more kisses to your lips, he snaked his hand down to touch your heat, preparing you to take him.

You almost couldn’t believe it in that moment, you felt it was wrong, like you were breaking a rule. Here he was, a man you completely admired and called one of your few friends, touching you in the most intimate place.

But you couldn’t stop it; your hazy mind fogged with lust, needing his touch more and more by the second. You need more though, and it seemed your desire for him to take you overtaking every other sense.

           “I need you, now Keanu.” Your raspy voice echoed in his ears, undoubtedly providing him the assurance he needed to move ahead. He needed you as well, so much, but likewise, he couldn’t shake the feeling of doing something wrong. Using his friend.

You reach down and pump him a few times, your touch emitting a course groan escaping his mouth. With a searing kiss, you guide him into you, feeling yourself stretch around him, pulsating.

With each thrust, he buries himself deeper and deeper in you, you find yourself letting out silent wails into the crook of his neck as his hands are placed on either side of you on the bed, gripping the sheets with the sheerest of force.

You felt his cock twitch within you, letting you know he was close. In the heat of the moment, you hadn’t used protection. Needless to say, neither of you had any regardless. Perhaps, neither of you would have ever dreamed this turn of events.

The sound of skin slapping skin, and both your quiet moans and grunts filled the four walls of the shadowy, dainty room.

           “Fuck, I’m close Y/N” he thrusts deeper, more meaningful, pouring himself into you.

Rolling your hips along with his thrusts, you feel your nerves pulling at your insides, your end nearing. With a particularly hard thrust, you reach your climax, tightening around him with a whimper, clawing at his back unknowingly.

You’d had sex before with other men, but nothing like this. Keanu was damn good, and his girth fit and filled you so fucking well, you swore butterflies.

He lets out a gaspy moan, muffled with praises for you. Pulling out of you near his end, Keanu jerks himself a few times before he releases himself into his hand. It was a shitty way to come, but you couldn’t risk a pregnancy, and you weren’t on the pill at the time.

You spent the remainder of the evening making love to each other, although, you didn’t think you had the right to call it that. It was just sex, unfortunately. Greif filled, draining, guilt ensuing sex. The type of sex you have when you need human connection. The next morning when the sun channeled over the horizon, you found yourself feeling sin filled, like you had completely ruined your relationship, used him for your needs. Keanu felt the same, as if he had took your vulnerability and used it to fill his own void. His own affection craving, heartsore, miserable void.

With awkward goodbyes, you went your separate ways that morning. It killed you both a little to have soiled your relationship, over something as stupid as faulty sex.

But that evening spent together sparked a new chapter in your friendship, if you even had the right to call it that anymore.

You didn’t know how, and you couldn’t justify why you found yourself at Keanu’s doorstep later that week. You almost felt ashamed, and feared what he would think. Although neither of you had said it, you assumed that evening together at your place would be the first and last time you had sex.

           But it definitely wasn’t.

You were both falling too far down the rabbit hole, too obsessed with the feeling someone so fucking close. It was intimacy you both craved so much, and you were happy to find it in each other, or at least you thought.

That “first” time turned into a pathological necessity almost. You found yourselves inviting each other over to each other’s houses on evenings you need a release. Keanu would call you on set to his trailer during take breaks sometimes, for a quick rumble. You would call him to your studio for the same, just a quickie to get out the stress of the day.

You weren’t sure if Keanu took other lovers as well besides you, you really had no right to ask or be jealous. After all, your relationship wasn’t the same anymore. You were friends with benefits, after all.

You hadn’t been with anyone else other than him for the entire year you’d been meeting each other for sex. You weren’t sure you could have someone other than him. He knew so well what you wanted so well, and he genuinely cared for you as a person. He didn’t treat you like an object, and always made sure you were comfortable. An added bonus, he was dreamy, so handsome you felt yourself melt each time you saw him.

You were honored to get to connect with him on such a personal, intimate level. Maybe you wanted more. But hope was too far gone. There’s no way he wants more, why would anyone want more with their friends with benefits?

            With a sigh, and slight contemplation, you typed the response.

           “Yeah. What’s up?” – Y/N

           “Come over?” – Keanu

           “Sure. Gimmie 20.” – Y/N

➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴➶ ➴

>>Chapter 2 >>

[ciaran2020]

is it okay to ask for you to elaborate / talk more about your last post?

assuming you mean this one? yeah, sure.

under the cut: discussions of child sexuality, csa/abuse, and sexual shame.

one thing i want to clearly lay out at the start is that i firmly believe that having access to your own sexuality and being able to explore it is a human need, and it’s one that is systemically denied to children under the guise of ‘protecting’ them but - protecting them from what? predators? we’re not doing a good job of that anyway. insisting that children aren’t capable of sexuality is wrong. that doesn’t mean they should have sexual interactions with adults, or even with other children. we all develop at different rates, and as such have different needs. some of us don’t feel the need to explore sex and kink, but those of us that do should have the resources to do so safely.

i’m drawing on my own experiences here. i discovered other people’s sexuality at the age of about 8, and began exploring my own soon after. without going into much detail - the fact is that my sexuality did not develop along ‘normal’ lines or in ‘normal’ directions, and that was a source of shame for me for a long time. but i was also shielded from the worst of the shame by a confluence of factors like parents that were apathetic about my internet usage, a certain natural tendency to resent being shamed, and an inclination to furiously hide these parts of myself.

there’s no doubt in my mind that seeing other people’s reactions to the things i was into would have ruined me emotionally and probably led to me being abused. the fact is that it didn’t happen like that, and i developed my own sense of my sexual preferences and boundaries all by myself by the time i was 15 or 16 - which is when i entered fandom spaces as more than an observer, and was immediately hit with other people’s baggage about minors being sexual (even on our own terms). that baggage caused me more harm than anything else.

i’m using this to illustrate a point; we deny children this natural growth / evolution / self-discovery, and in doing so handicap us for life. sexuality doesn’t magically appear at the age of 18 (or 21). it’s always there in some form or another. denying its existence and forcing children with sexual thoughts into deep closets of shame and self-loathing ensures that

1. they will latch onto the first person/place that gives them an outlet 2. the only people willing to engage sexually with children are people already willing to commit unethical acts, and therefore more likely to be predators 3. they will have nowhere to go after this happens except further into shame and victim-blaming.

and we can keep saying ‘okay but it’s not the job of adults in nsfw spaces who tag their shit to take care of children on the internet - parents/schools should do it instead’ but homes and schools are the primary institutions of child abuse. this in itself is an enormously compelling reason to stop retreating to the lazy argument of ‘parents need to watch what their children are doing online’ like yeah sure you can want that if you want kids dead. like it’s not Your Responsibility but the eagerness with which people wash their hands of it is fucking depressing. no one has to have the conversation but people get mad when anyone does, and it’s honestly a mess. 

and yeah, the internet’s a bad place to get your learning from, but that’s not a permanent state of affairs. the internet is a much more level playing field. everyone has access to the same moderation tools, even if most of those tools suck (newsflash! they don’t have to suck!) and though power imbalances exist online as they do in real life, they’re not quite so unavoidable as, for example, someone who can control whether you go to the bathroom.

the discussion of how to create better moderation tools online benefits all of us, not just children. it’s a good one to have, and it would be nice if we [as people who care about not censoring fiction] didn’t go to such lengths to censor actual children speaking about problems which affect them. you don’t have to listen to antis. there are plenty of pro-ship minors, who are regularly fucked over by the adultism running rampant in pro-shipping spaces.

but this discussion will go nowhere if we don’t respect the right of children to have some say in what they can and can’t handle seeing. there are some boundaries you can set, but ultimately you can’t control everything, and it feels like high time to loop minors into the conversation of how to deal with censorship because this is an issue that affects them perhaps more than anyone.

i am leaving a lot of things out because it’s late and i should sleep and it was hard enough to gather my thoughts to this degree, but i hope this clarified my point somewhat!

[itsclydebitches]

(1/?) I'm curious as to your thoughts: was there a good way to write Ironwood as CRWBY intended him, 'fundamentally good person shows signs of instability and a worrying commitment to the idea that everyone should be willing to make a sacrifice as long as he is, takes this to unacceptable extremes when a great sacrifice is called for'? I've been reading all these posts that actually make it seem like a coherent character arc, and I don't consider myself a 'bootlicker' or someone who

Always happy to explain my thoughts! Though Ironwood’s situation is incredibly complicated and I’m tired as hell right now, so apologies if this attempt at working through things is more than a little messy… 

You’re right that Salem herself fundamentally changes the heart of the “well-meaning but ultimately misguided general” setup. Meaning, normally when we see a character like Ironwood, someone military-minded and driven by pragmatism, whoever it is they’re fighting against is us. It’s a war against other humans, or at least another intelligent (and sympathetic) form of life. Ironwood’s attempted archetype here relies heavily on the assumption that he’s taking things too far when there are better, more peaceful options open to him. No, general, don’t nuke all those people even though we’re at war with them because they’re still people. No, general, don’t blow up the alien ship even though you perceive them as a threat because they feel just like we do and I, the protagonist, believe that I can make peace with them. Though RWBY doesn’t have quite that same conflict—everyone agrees that Salem needs to go—it’s nevertheless worth acknowledging that his archetype is built on a history of unsympathetic characters… who are unsympathetic because they’re choosing to harm others for needless reasons. The hardened military general is an antagonist because he takes the violent route either due to greed or a lust for power. He makes sacrifices not because they are truly necessary, but because they’re easier or better for him. He believes that this violence/sacrifice is the only answer when the audience can clearly see another, better route. Think characters like Miles Quaritch from Avatar whose goal is, ultimately, to force a peaceful people out of their home/outright kill them in order to gain access to a natural resource on their world. Even if there is, broadly speaking, a “good” reason for doing this (humanity needs that resource to solve their energy crisis) there’s no confusion that his reasons are far from justified and that he’s taken things way too far. Not only because gaining resources is, you know, not a reason to kill people, but also because Jake Sully, our hero, provides him with alternative routes that he then rejects. These people are peaceful. We can negotiate with them… but Quaritch says no. 

So this is, broadly speaking, the archetype Ironwood and Team RWBY are thrust into. He’s the general supposedly taking things too far and they’re the heroes standing in his way. Problem is, RWBY’s enemy isn’t a sympathetic, potential victim. The grimm are literally mindless beasts and Salem is a classic Big Bad. She might have a tragic backstory now, but that hasn’t impacted how we read her as a threat. She isn’t another group of humans we should be making peace with. She’s not an alien race who we just have to extend a hand to. Defeating her—in a literal way—is thus far the only possible route and that undermines the archetype Rooster Teeth wants to chuck Ironwood into. He can’t be the cold-hearted military man choosing violence over peace when peace is simply not an option.

So we have a setup where every single one of Ironwood’s decisions is automatically both sane and justified because there is an immortal grimm queen trying to kill them. And she cannot be reasoned with. Extra security? No duh you want that. Suspicious of others? No shit Beacon fell precisely because it was infiltrated. Making sacrifices? What else is there to do except roll over and let Salem win? The options presented to him were “make sacrifice” or “everyone absolutely dies” so no, in this case the sacrifice is not deemed “unnecessary” and therefore something that we can criticize him for. Ironwood is not fighting a powerful but also potentially sympathetic enemy, inviting a perspective that his actions may be too severe in the face of that threat. Salem isn’t a Darth Vader who is going to turn back to the light when she sees her child. She isn’t a Sauron with a convenient Achille’s heel (as of yet anyway) thereby inviting an easy solution that doesn’t risk too many lives. The grimm are not the Klingons who, if you just take the time to know their culture, you can find common ground with. They and Salem are more akin to the Borg: a relentless, unreachable, immortal force that seeks only to destroy everything. She is RWBY’s devil and thus by default any question along the lines of, “But should Ironwood really have..?” is answered with an emphatic “Yes.” Because the only other option is total annihilation for the entire world, not just the one city you’re worried about. RWBY’s villain is such a massive, unarguable threat that the setup doesn’t allow debate in regards to what’s going “too far.” By having Team RWBY and Oscar parrot those views from other stories they just come off as sounding naive, foolish, and arrogant. Salem is not an enemy that you just need to try really hard to beat in battle. She is currently immortal. She is not someone you just need to talk down. She will annihilate you and laugh while doing it. “Unnecessary sacrifice” only exists in a world where you have a chance of taking another route with success. RWBY hasn’t provided that route yet. 

Thus, most military archetypes don’t have to face the level of threat that Ironwood does. In fact, their status as antagonists largely relies on the belief that the threat isn’t severe enough to warrant whatever horrific order they’re giving. Rooster Teeth has written a character based on tropes that do not work within the scenario they’ve set up… and a good chunk of the fandom aren’t critical enough viewers to see the disconnect. They just watch that collection of tropes and characteristics and fill in the blank based on what they know from the rest of popular culture. Like a really messed up Mad Lib. “Ah! I recognize this character! He’s a military man. He’s strict at times. He’s taking control of a situation and achieving that with an army. This is all a Bad Thing and I know that because I’ve seen it a thousand times before in a thousand different stories. The powerful military man is the antagonist and the heroes are the ones who fight for the marginalized!” And thus the viewer is encouraged to prioritize that assumed reading over the actual context of this particular story. Few are willing to admit that “Leaving marginalized people behind because otherwise we will all be slaughtered” is not the same situation as something like “Outright attacking a marginalized people because I want something from them. Or abandoning them because I just don’t care.” They see the basic, surface characteristics and think they know the answer to this story. Team RWBY = good and Ironwood = bad. 

That’s only the tip of the problem though. It’s a big problem, but literally every step of the way Rooster Teeth would need to change things if they actually wanted to give Ironwood this arc in a way that made any sense: 

They would need to change how they portray Mantle going all the way back to Volume 4 because we knew straight out of the Fall that Mantle has had a lot of problems for a very long time. That’s not all on Ironwood—it’s not possible for it all to be on Ironwood—and thus it’s neither correct nor fair to paint Mantle’s dystopian-like state as his doing, as we saw at the beginning of Volume 7. 

They would need to convince us that Ironwood is actually paranoid/being overly cautious, rather than what we actually have which is… completely logical safety measures against everything that has done them in up until now. Everything Ironwood implements is in direct response to something that killed people or felled a school. 

The story would need to give Ironwood better solutions that he then rejects. Obviously this is crucial for the leaving Mantle situation. As I’ve said numerous times before, you can’t paint Ironwood as a horrific person for following the only plan they had. “Stay to die” is not a plan. If they wanted him to read as in the wrong for leaving, Team RWBY needed to give him a good reason to stay, one that doesn’t automatically equal everyone dying, especially when Ironwood’s own solution is “save at least some.” However, this also needed to happen in regards to Amity. The fandom keeps pointing out that Ironwood took resources from Mantle, painting it as this cruel and awful thing… without acknowledging the necessity of that. Or that our heroes likewise demanded that he finish. Ruby is equally responsible for taking those resources. Again, if they want to paint Ironwood as unhinged and cruel in his decision, they need to provide him with alternatives: “Hey, general! Why don’t we just use these other resources instead?” “No. They must come from Mantle.” or “Hey, general! We’re just going to let you know that finishing Amity is fundamentally useless because you can’t defeat Salem with a giant army. Maybe stop taking resources now.” “No. I don’t believe you. I’m going to forge ahead with my own plans, ignoring this new information.” Neither of these things happened. We weren’t told that there was another way to build Amity and Ironwood wasn’t told that his plan was flawed… making his decision both necessary and justified, given what he knew. To my mind, Team RWBY is far more responsible for Mantle’s state since they encouraged that drain on the resources while knowing the use of those resources wouldn’t achieve what Ironwood assumed it would. Which, while failing to paint them as heroic, likewise undermines Ironwood’s supposed villainy. Why do we hate him for this again…. when Ruby is doing the exact same thing…? 

They would need to have established, all the way back in Volume 2 and onward, a personality that allows for him to go to certain extremes, such as shooting Oscar. I don’t have the energy to dive into this one in great detail right now, but suffice to say the fandom has decided to horrendously miss-characterize Ironwood in an effort to justify an illogical action based on what we know about him. I’ve seen the “He once said he would shoot Qrow!” so often I’m literally astounded by the reach there, but I’m also seeing a lot of “Ironwood has never shown any sympathy towards children!” Which… okay. The absence of interaction is not proof of hatred. Meaning, having watched seven volumes in which Ironwood doesn’t interact with kids only tells us we don’t know how he feels about kids, not that he obviously despises them. A lack of scenes wherein Ironwood expresses his adoration for everyone under the age of twenty is not evidence for dislike, nor more than making a claim like, “Well Ruby obviously hates pears” would be. Why would she hate pears? Because we’ve never once, ever, heard her say that she likes them. She’s never spoken positively about them. Never stood up for them! So clearly they’re her least favorite food. Sound ridiculous? Same situation here. To say nothing of the fact that we do see Ironwood interacting positively with kids, if we define “kids” as “characters significantly younger than him.” We watched him desperately protect large groups of students at Beacon. Stand up for Weiss at the party despite how much that threatened his political situation with Jacques (as seen in Volume 7). Send Yang an expensive new arm purely because he knows what it’s like to lose a limb. The narrative has gone out of its way to demonstrate how kind and compassionate Ironwood is, all of which would need to be changed—if not outright erased—to give us someone capable of shooting Oscar like that. 

The fact that the fandom chooses to ignore characterization doesn’t mean it’s not there and that characterization, at its core, fundamentally hinders the “military man goes off the deep end” archetype. Because Ironwood is nothing like his parallels in popular culture. His situation is not one that he can resolve peacefully. He was not given better options that he then rejected. He has never been a cold, manipulative, cruel person. Honestly, if they wanted to write this arc then they needed someone other than James Ironwood living in the world of RWBY. We’d need a different kind of war and a different character introduced all those volumes ago. Because as it is, the story Rooster Teeth wanted to tell simply isn’t a story fit for the Ironwood and the Remnant they created. 

[gaiatheorist]

A little knowledge...

I keep starting this, and then deleting it, that’s either an indication that I’m trying to process as fully as i can, or that I’m being avoidant, and slipping into another depressive episode, I’ll keep an eye on it.

I have an untidy heap of paperwork at the side of my desk, it’s not ‘on’ the desk yet, because I’m not quite ready to fill it in. There’s no deadline on it, so it’s ‘floating’, rather than ‘fixed’, and the formatting of it is doing my head in. It’s the end-of-course review and coping plan for the Trauma Stabilisation Group I finished last week. I told my son a few days ago that the ‘mentals’ write their own coping plans, and he was incredulous, I’m relatively good at planning, and taking all factors into consideration, but the new medication, and the appeal against the denial of my disability benefit, and, well, 2020 are taking a toll on me, I’m slipping.

‘Introduction to Trauma Stabilisation Class’, three 90-minute sessions, delivered via Microsoft ‘Teams’, on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re too unwell to be left to our own devices, so the online group was the least-bad option. It’s free, I know a fair few people who have had to pay for their own therapy, because they can’t access NHS treatment, and I know I’m part of a very small, but fortunate number, to still be on NHS lists. Groups of people with mental health issues are always a bit of a gamble, there’s the waiting-room-contagion factor, where some people will exchange symptoms and ‘unhelpful coping mechanisms’, and the weird mix of characters that are inevitable. This was either my third or fourth ‘Introduction to...’ group, and the online format was differently stressful to the in-the-flesh ones. I know ‘most’ of my group-dynamic bad habits, and there’s always a little bit of my cognitive functioning occupied with telling myself *don’t* do this, or that. In a nutshell, I’m a watchful show-off, the ‘feeling small and vulnerable’ part of my C-PTSD would, historically, lead me to muck about, or attempt to dominate groups, throw in my autistic ‘organising’, my professional desire to help, and the fatigue and over-stimulus from the brain injuries, and I *could* be a nightmare in groups. 

I was honest with the triage staff right from the beginning, it’ll be in my notes that I acknowledge my tendencies to ‘take charge’, as a means of coping with so much in my life that’s been beyond my control, it’s not all deliberate, and it’s sometimes really useful. I’m a sheep-dog, which is productive when I’m rounding up stragglers, and pointing them in the right direction, less-so when I’m distracted by a squirrel outside the window. 

Being what I am, and knowing what I know from my previous career is a double-edged sword. I know the fancy words for the theories and processes, so can be mildly irritated when the language has to be dumbed-down to the lowest common denominator. It does have to be, though, on the previous course, we had a couple of participants who couldn’t read the text on the worksheets (formatting issue, too much text crammed onto each page, to save on photocopying costs, they strained my eyes a bit) I can’t do my (TM) Autistic thing of assuming that, if I ‘know’ a thing, everyone else in the room does too. I can do my helpful thing of re-explaining something the facilitator has said if the group don’t seem to ‘get’ it, or clarifying something a participant has said if the facilitators misconstrue it. (One of the staff on the previous course was an absolute horror for that, she wasn’t listening actively, just barrelling on with what she thought had been said, people stop volunteering information when that happens.) I’m not there to ‘help’, or to ‘lead’, though. One of the participants in this last group threw a bit of a tantrum, she’d dominated most of the speaking in the previous session, and flipped when I was given air-time to explain something. That was hard to deal with, because I automatically switched to Mentor-mode, and very nearly lost track of the content trying to think of a way to alert one of the facilitators to check in on her, and try to bring her down from her agitated state before she hurt herself. 

I’m dabbling with the slightly paranoid theory that some participants, or even facilitators might think I’m a Mystery Shopper sort of thing. My ‘old’ practices and processes made a lot of people ask “How do you DO that?”, the ‘Matilda’-thing, I just do, I’m exceptional at a lot of very difficult things sometimes, but I can’t use oven-gloves, and, especially recently, I’ve been forgetting a lot of words. Other participants might think I’m a smart-arse, I am, it doesn’t matter, I imagine I frustrate the facilitators because I can give theoretically correct answers, but can’t consistently apply the theories in my own life. I’m not there to make friends, we all have to sign contracts of expectations saying we won’t form relationships, I understand that, an elective empathy with other high-end mental health cases is never going to be a good thing. My curious combination of conditions makes me a bit of a distance-er anyway, I stick as firmly as I can to the procedural pathways, it’s a process-with-purpose, not a popularity contest.

I’m struggling with the ‘be kind to yourself’ angle again. It’s not in my nature, I don’t know how. That bumps heads with the ‘normalising nice things’, even at this level of mental health intervention, we’re encouraged to ‘savour the taste of your favourite food’- food is just fuel, I don’t have a favourite, and, when people start banging on about chocolate, or cake, or whatever, I don’t get it. Visit a favourite place, phone/meet up with a friend, listen to uplifting music, go for a walk, buy yourself flowers, have a haircut, all of the ‘normal’ nice-things leave me cold, I don’t really have hobbies or interests, very few things spark my oxytocin or dopamine responses, I’m not a joyful type, that’s my baseline-normal, not a press-the-panic-button indicator that I’m depressed. 

“You’re just not trying!” Luckily, nobody ‘medical’ has trotted that one out, but it’s been the backing track to my life pretty much forever. I am trying, I’m trying very hard, especially since the brain injuries. There’s been a slow realisation that I have to pick my battles wisely, though. I’ve long maintained that anyone who’s ‘always’ happy must have a flap in their back where the batteries go, I’m not advocating living in a constant state of ‘Eeyore’ gloom, but constant joy must be bloody exhausting. I’m not always moody or maudlin, I’m just sort of ‘flat’, not particularly animated or enthusiastic about much, but I can engage for short periods when I need to. “Smile, love, it might never happen!” can get right in the bin, and, as the internet pointed out the other day, telling someone to ‘just think positive’ as a cure-all is ridiculous. Well-meaning, but oblivious people will chip in with their intrusive-insensitive opinions of how a bit of yoga, or more vegetables are all we need to be all-better, and it’s a challenge to not point out that some of us are a bit beyond ‘just snapping out of it’. 

That’s not defeatist. I’m autistic, my brain runs on a non-standard Operating System, the updates don’t always load, and I have to make a hell of a lot of work-around adaptations. Sometimes life’s like walking everywhere with my shoes on the wrong feet, and sometimes it’s like my appliances have come with the wrong plug, and I have to stick a spoon-handle in the Earth socket to make them work. On top of the autism, I had a succession of adverse experiences through the course of my life, which have left me with C-PTSD. I have a telephone-directory of medical conditions, and the icing on the cake was the brain haemorrhage  five years ago, I have brain injuries, bits of metal plugging up aneurysms, and one area of ‘risky’ defects on my brain-stem. Those are facts, I have a file of medical paperwork about two inches thick, but the UK disability benefit departments have decided to latch onto the fact that I’m not on any medication for mental health issues. (I’ve tried lots, none of them worked long-term, and now we know we’re dealing with a neurodevelopmental disorder, and physical brain damage, I don’t think a bit of Prozac is going to help.)

Knowing that my brain is physically and chemically different to ‘most’ people’s is not a get-out-of-jail-free-card. These are reasons, not excuses, and I’m doing what I can to work within and around my limitations. I’m not unique, or a special unicorn, I’m disabled, and damaged, and trying to work with the fragmented NHS. One of the issues with the trauma course was the assumptions. I absolutely don’t blame the facilitators, they’re working with pre-prepared material, and a ‘difficult’ cohort. I did gently correct the course-leader, when she started listing ‘normal’ coping mechanisms, the walk-in-the-park, cup-of-tea-with-friends type ones. Some of those ‘simple’ activities are incredibly difficult for some of us, that’s why we’re at this level of intervention, if we could have ‘just’ joined a knitting circle, or taken up photography, we’d already have done it. I explained the need for pacing, the other two participants had limited impulse control, so giving the ‘shopping list’ of strategies was a bit risky, I know I have a tendency to over-reach, so need to be careful with myself. None of us had mentioned nightmares or flashbacks, but they’re on the standard list of indicators for PTSD. There was an assumption that we all had them, in the same way as one of the other triage practitioners, ages ago, told me “It’s not PTSD, because you don’t have nightmares.” I have auditory and olfactory flashbacks and hallucinations. 

The doctors that didn’t make further investigations for the mutated migraines before the aneurysm ruptured. The gyneacologist that told my HUSBAND “There’s nothing physically wrong with her.”, the Occupational Health doctor who told me “It’s not vertigo, because that’s spinning.” and “It wasn’t a stroke, because you don’t have one-sided weakness.” I know they have to have lists of diagnostic criteria to start from, but Little-Miss-Autistic here spent far too long just-trying-to-cope because I didn’t fit neatly into their matrices. (Don’t get me started on DWP/PIP ignoring reams of evidence, and just picking out that I turned up to the assessment with my trousers on the right way around...) 

I know too much about some things, and not enough about others. My ‘flat’ presentation gives the impression that I’m calm when I’m not, and coping more than I am. The review for the trauma class isn’t until September, and I genuinely don’t know what the next step will be. I’m already on the waiting list for the ‘Compassion’ course, and the very long waiting list for the Specialist Neurodevelopmental Service in the city, to see if there’s anything ‘else’ I haven’t already tried to work within and around the autism. I’ve slipped through a million holes in a million nets, because I know enough to give the answers I ‘should’, the biggest irony is that when I answer “I don’t know.”, the assumption is that I’m being defensive or difficult. A little knowledge is indeed a dangerous thing.   

[monsterfucker-lisa-swallows]

i keep hoping that one day i’ll meet an autistic person who wasn’t abused or neglected by their parents. i hope that magical person exists. because so often i’ll meet someone and they’ll be like “well my parents didn’t punish me for stimming and weren’t violent like yours so they’re pretty good but at the same time they relentlessly mocked me and were passive aggressive toward me and made me feel terrible about my limitations and even though i’m an adult i’m not allowed to make decisions for myself because it’s assumed i’m too naive to know what i want or what i can handle”

like i don’t know which autistic person needs to hear this, but you don’t deserve to be treated that way. the problem isn’t you, it’s them. for some reason, parents get ideas into their heads of what they want you to be even before you’re born and it is NOT your responsibility to live up to those expectations. your purpose in life is to live your best life, not theirs. just because your parents never hit you doesn’t mean they didn’t stunt your growth. i don’t want any of you to have to find your best selves the way i did (i had to completely cut off an abusive family), but i firmly believe that our abilities may not be as high as our parents expect them to be or as low as they think they are when they switch to infantilization mode - but rather in between. the key is to find our comfort zone and limitations and carve out a space for ourselves. you don’t have to be someone else’s version of “perfect” in order to deserve autonomous decision making. your opinions are valuable, your viewpoints matter, and you don’t deserve to be talked down to for expressing a differing opinion. (seriously, the amount of autistics i talk to who have had parents accuse them of being radicalized by the internet when they say just like normal regular liberal things is astounding. we obviously can’t have our own opinions, we muuuust be easily influenced and preyed upon.)

your feelings also matter, by the way. too many of us are told we’re overreacting when we’re perfectly justified to be upset. why do parents think it’s okay to mock our facial expressions or stims (especially in arguments)? wouldn’t they be upset if we mocked their facial expressions? why do parents think it’s okay to openly and constantly tell us we’re annoying or boring or that the thing we like is stupid, then turn around and act confused about why we’re depressed? people act like we’re the ones who have trouble filtering things but then they can talk about us however they want like we’re not even in the room with no repercussions. if we defend ourselves then we’re the ones in trouble for it.

a lot of us are in positions where we don’t even have a stable sense of self because we’ve been punished for expressions of our authentic self so we end up waiting for cues from others about how we should think or act. obviously our opinions aren’t valid and can’t be expressed until we know other people also share them.

i’m just especially frustrated by this whole “high-functioning” thing. oh so we’re not all savants so now you’re annoyed at us? all autistic people deserve access to care. if we’re “high functioning” you use us to put down nonverbal autistics (which is fucked up, like seriously stop doing that), then turn around and get mad at us because we’re supposed to be geniuses? nts spend half their time raising the bar higher and being like “come on, reach it, if you reach it then we’ll start being nice to you” and then the other half of the time they’re like “fuck’s sake, this one’s a moron, he shouldn’t be allowed to vote and is a drain on the system”. there’s this weird in between place nts put us too where they’re like “you’re faking it, you seem fine, go to work for the capitalist system that makes you literally have breakdowns”. in case you’re not autistic and haven’t experienced this, everyone i’ve talked to has had all these experiences, sometimes in the same day from the same people. one moment, you’re a 24 year old child who can’t decide for herself then the next moment you’re being put out in the workforce. (it’s why the “mental age” thing is so damaging, it doesn’t cover the full range of skill level. it would be much more accurate to measure skill level like a video game character imo.)

i’m just frustrated. i’m out of the situation now because i had no choice, but i know it stunted my growth for years. i couldn’t cook for myself and i thought i’d basically die if i had to live on my own. now i can sort of cook for myself and sort of do basic tasks to live on my own. sure i can’t really hold down a job and there are a lot of “easy” things i’ll never be able to do, but i know my limits now and i accept them. a lot of autistic people never get the opportunity to find out their limits because nobody ever takes the time to explain how to do things. (nts love to just be like “figure it out” then get mad at you when you didn’t understand their directions.) obviously i don’t want anyone to go through what i did, because it’s inherently traumatizing to be forced to survive on your own with a disability. i just know that so many people i know have a low self worth literally because their parents put crushing expectations on them then kicked their feet out from under them.

[atopearth]

The Legend of Dragoon Part 4 - Moon and Fate

It's the final chapter!! It's definitely going to be a blast like the others, I'm kinda sad it's going to end😭 Woww, I can't believe Miranda hit Rose, that was so rude. She didn't need to take what Rose said so personally honestly, because it's obvious that Rose is heartbroken, confused and doesn't know what to do right now. I'm sure she's the one that wants to lash out the most yet she's holding it in! What right does Miranda have to hit her? Anyway, Death Frontier is such a nice place to train! I don't even need to run around for monsters because they jump on you instead! Now I can take everyone to Dragoon level 5~🥰 Death Frontier is a pretty annoying place though, I'm glad I just used a map online lol. Anyway, so the Ulara Wingly Forest are the ones who made a choker for Rose that made her time stand still for all these years in order to fulfill her mission.. Honestly though, I think if the Black Monster was someone Dart didn't know, I'm not sure if he would be able to come to terms with it so fast, but I guess it's a good thing that it was Rose because it made him understand her burdens better and how much it hurt her to have to do it for so many years just to protect this world. Ohh, so Charle Frahma who made the choker for Rose is the older sister of Melbu who was the leader of the Winglies. Zieg killed Melbu during the Dragon Campaign, but apparently there is another person named Faust who led the Winglies too. This name was mentioned somewhere else for a side quest I think? Hmm, even though Faust was Melbu's right hand man, he was wary of him due to his enormous magical power and how he was able to make an apparition of himself that had similar powers, so he somehow made(?) a Vanishing Stone that could make the apparition disappear just in case he ever needed it. Faust controlled the Tower of Flanvel that killed other species hmm, but it was shot down by a human contraption, the Spear Shooter, so now it's under the glacier huh? And I assume if they think he was dead after that, it probably either means he's still alive hiding there or his apparition still remains there to this day... So, even though there used to be five towers of Signet Spheres to be broken, now there are only three and that's why Zieg needed three Divine Moon Objects to break them and get access to the Moon That Never Sets. Ohhh, so that weird place in the Crystal Palace at Deningrad was actually a Signet Sphere! It was broken by the Divine Dragon! Guess it was meant to be... But I guess the Divine Moon Objects really are as simple as they are, they really are just items with enough amount of magical power to break the Signets. I see, Melbu and Charle both wanted different things, he wanted to rule and dominate whereas Charle wanted everyone to be free and at peace. She made the Signet Spheres to restrain the power of the Crystal Sphere, but Melbu realised her plan and so made the Divine Moon Objects to counteract them. So, Rose and Dart did resolve their "differences" with a fight at Death Frontier before coming to Ulara. She accepted death, but Dart told her that the Black Monster was dead, and that they were only left with a companion that was going on the same road as them. That was really kind of him to say tbh. I'm happy he told her that she's no longer alone and has companions now. Rose can rely on others now without carrying the weight of everything by herself🥺 I think it's kinda interesting how for a city that makes anything and anyone inside it immortal, there are so less...facilities, but there is a bar. They understand how immortality brings unhappiness and so they have a bar for Winglies to drink away the pain of immortality and yet no one chooses to step outside of this place to live a limited but possibly happier life. It's just... interesting to think about tbh. It was nice to stay the night in Ulara and look for our party. It's been a long time since we got to really interact with them considering how most of it has just been plot stuff, so it was nice to be reminded of all their respective reasons for going on this journey and for continuing it to the end.

After treading through the Home of Gigantos back to the Twin Castle of Fletz, it was nice to just be able to ride the ship to Rouge (Haschel's hometown) haha. On another note, we finally get to know who Princess Lisa has been admiring with her telescope all this time!! I should have known I guess, because just like Princess Lisa, Nello was the first one I talked to and I was so happy for him because he's finally succeeded in growing greens on barren land, so he hopes to be able to make the whole Barrens into a place of green. It's still hilarious that Princess Lisa was stalking Nello with a telescope this whole time though hahaha. It was also nice to take Albert to Princess Emille so he can have a proper farewell with her. I think it was really sweet how he shared his fears with her and she accepted it wholeheartedly and wished for his safety. It was sad that she couldn't find it within her to send him off because she knew she would plead for him to stay if she did, so it's understandable. I hope they get a happy ending later on. Wow, there were so many Wingly cities and they were so organised about everything?! They had the birth city where they only allowed selected babies with strong magical power to live, they had the death city for where all the "deaths" went, the magical city to research magic and the law city to like govern and rule with their justice system in a sense. Lmao at the Mayor of Rouge's description of a random stick in the water, I honestly thought it was a stick but it's literally a tower hahahaha. It's definitely one of the cities with a Signet hahaha. On another note, I see, Martel was gathering stardust to save her daughter and to wish for happiness for her after her coma. I think it was really sweet how the stardust we gathered for her made her daughter wake up, but the daughter told her that having her mum and baby brother with her was happiness already, so she didn't understand why some lady told her she would be granted happiness in her dream hahaha. She's a wonderful daughter. Omg though, to think that the last prize of the stardust would be the Vanishing Stone! Isn't that the thing that will make Faust's apparition disappear? I guess this is important for a side quest then... Ohh wow, it was so cool when the sea split and a path was made to the Magical City of Aglis! I guess someone has been there all these years?? It's kinda amazing how Savan has been here by himself for thousands of years just waiting for Rose. Initially, he researched magic hoping to revive a world where Winglies ruled, but after watching over the world through his mirror, he realised that wasn't needed. But, when Rose appeared, he found a new meaning to his research in saving the world etc by seeing her courage and endurance, he then made the Psychedelic Bomb and Moot, where the former has lots of magical power and the latter can probably seal the Moon That Never Sets? I like the individual challenges of courage each character had to go through in order to activate the Psychedelic Bomb and make it more powerful. Seeing Kongol face head on with Emperor Doel and believe in his friends now was really nice, he isn't estranged by his past where he was alone fighting for the dream of every species being equal through violence, he is now fighting for it with his friends and the people that helped them come here to save the world. I think Albert's one was really fitting. Like, it was obvious that he needed to stay here and prioritise his duties as a Dragoon before a king, but I think it was something hard for him to choose, because as a king, he has to carry the responsibility that he is on this journey and not protecting Serdio. I think it was nice to see how much Bardel's little sister's death actually weighed on Meru, but also how she needed to overcome that to have the courage to continue on this journey to save the world. I also liked Haschel's one where he needed to accept the past that he wasn't able to stop Claire from leaving. It's hard to face, but it's true. I think Rose not needing a choice was perfect for her. She has already come to terms with what she must do to continue her journey and will not waver, so it was unnecessary for her to even hesitate, and I really liked that. And, as expected, Dart's one was related to choosing to save Shana no matter what. Courage to love but also to save the world, from the moment he went on his journey, he already possessed such courage (as expected of the protagonist haha). It's kinda cool how the Psychedelic Bomb is actually an item you can use in battle! It's also repeatable, nice! As expected, Zieg was able to manipulate the Last Kraken (guardian of the Moot) and I guess now our hope of sealing the Moon That Never Sets is gone... I feel so bad that Savan ended up dying alongside the Signet Sphere and Moot... I didn't think the Dragoons could create such a reaction against the Signet Sphere... It was nice that the magical creatures and Savan prepared for Dart and them to be teleported to Zenebatos before they died. They may have perished but at least they did their best for the future they believed in... Anyway, now that we have Coolon, the wings that Savan provided for us to fly back to previous cities, it's a bit easier to access side quests! Still have to run through annoying places midway zzzz but I guess it's a tiny bit more convenient lol.

Time for side quests! It's kinda silly but it took me until we got to Vellweb to realise that Shirley was the White Silver Dragoon from the Dragon Campaign that we saw in Rose's memories. To be fair, Shirley as a ghost doesn't look as radiant as before so it took me a while okay?! Haha, anyway, I'm glad that even though Shirley isn't able to take the other four Dragoons to rest, she at least had the time to ask Rose to help them. I see, the reason why Syuveil (Jade Dragoon) can't rest is because after researching life and death his whole life, he realised the darkness of the world where death lies and fears going there... I guess ignorance really is bliss... Rose's words giving Syuveil hope that life is just a great wheel where you cycle through life and death may give him the hope that he can experience the warmth of life again, and I hope he does. But whatever is awaiting him, he may be able to face it better now. Omgg, Damia (Sea Dragoon) was only 15 when she died!! That's so terrible... I mean, sure she had special powers due to being half human and half mermaid, but in the end, the fact that she stayed here all this time because she didn't want to go to the after world alone really shows how much of a kid she still was and how scared she must have been... I guess it's nice that at least the other Dragoons will join her... Ooh yeah, Belzac (Golden Dragoon) was the one who was trying his best to protect Shirley but they both ended up dying... It's pretty sad though, it's kinda like how Zieg did his best to protect Rose, and at least he succeeded... It was kind of unexpected that Kanzas (Violet Dragoon) was a man that killed many and kinda had memento dolls for every kill, yet somehow Shirley's nobleness was what attracted him into joining the Dragon Campaign and hoping to find a "brighter place" by fighting with them instead of just killing without any other meaning to his life. I guess Shirley really must have been a beautiful soul to attract so many people haha. It's rather saddening to see Rose's memories when she goes to Fort Magrad, because the Zieg there says that even if one of them dies, their affection will last forever. For Rose, it really did, but for Zieg, is that really true? Otherwise, it's nice to see the place where Diaz rallied up the humans and the the Dragoons to win back their freedom from the Winglies. The Polter Armour was much easier than the Dragoons though! You just need a Talisman to keep things less annoying and then just heal as needed lol. The Dragoons did much crazier damage and their skill animations took so long haha. As for the Magician Faust, I'm pretty glad I got the Legend Casque (I spent a lot of time farming those robots for money with Miranda loll) for my team because his magic counters and his amount of turns are pretty dangerous lol, he would have done so much damage if I didn't have them! I would have had to heal every turn I think lol. Otherwise, it's kinda crazy that he's been plotting world domination in this hole for 10,000 years, like, does it take that long to try and mobilise his Flanvel Tower again? 

Anyway, Zenebatos is an interesting place. I found it funny how you can change the law! And lol, I checked out getting arrested and being sent to the prison for fun, and lolll, Kongol saves Dart and them because he was too heavy for them to teleport him straight to the prison hahaha. It was annoying how you had to do the whole process again to go to the Death City Mayfil though😭 The Wingly battle music gets so repetitive btw lolll. Anyway, Mayfil is a very interesting place, because it keeps a lot of the dead and those who haven't "completely died" because of their respective reasons for wanting to stay in this world. It was interesting to see the Dragon Spirits like the Divine Dragon who couldn't die properly because it was so prideful and couldn't accept its death, but at the same time, it was sad to see Lavitz. I didn't expect to see Lavitz, and I didn't expect to see him manipulated in his death, so I'm glad we freed him, because it seems that he wasn't able to die properly because he was so worried about Dart and his journey.. Why is he such a bro?! T_T So, I'm really glad that even if it was in death, he was able to see Dart and Albert one last time and be able to show them where the Signet Sphere was. It was really heartwarming to see them all together again even if it was brief. Dart's right though, Lavitz lives on in their hearts. Anyway, as expected, the last Signet Sphere is broken as well, but nothing deters Dart since he's not going to give up until it's really the end! The Divine Tree is kinda creepy, like just thinking about how species came from these fruits and how if the God of Destruction were to be born, it would be through one of these fruits too. Soa really is playing with them by dictating everything as if all the species are his pawns. 

Omgg the individual battles! I know they're not too hard, but I still remember being so surprised with them as a kid that it's made me paranoid into levelling every character at least a bit now in every game I play lmao. Anyway, it was nice to finally see a bit more background to Miranda's story. As a child, she was so hurt and broken over her mother leaving her, it changed her into becoming a strong and independent person, but as she became strong, she couldn't shake off the loneliness of the abandonment and the lack of love. She always focused on the fact that she was abandoned and never wanted to understand why it was such a difficult decision for her mother to leave her (since the father was terrible and always took her money to drink etc). I'm glad that even if it took a long time, Miranda has finally come to terms with the pain of her childhood and can maybe believe in love and friendship more now. Haschel facing the Claire that couldn't bear the burden of his strict discipline from a young age was quite disheartening to see, but I'm glad that after going on this journey with everyone and having time to think about it himself, he was able to realise that what was important wasn't his ancestral art or the amazing latent potential of Claire, but instead Claire herself. It’s just sad that he’ll never really get to see her again... It was really nice to see Kongol's first meeting with Doel. No wonder why Kongol admired Doel so much, he met him when he was a child after all his clan had perished. He found a new reason to live with Doel. It was cool to see a more wholesome battle this time around. Kongol has always been a good guy, so it was nice that he just needed to overcome his admiration for his brother's strength in order to feel that he's really strong enough to help Dart. It was sad to see that not only did Rose have to kill the Darkness Dragon to get the Dragoon Spirit to fight in the war against the Winglies, but she also ended up having to kill the baby Darkness Dragon she raised because it got out of control. She's killed so many people and creatures because she always prioritised the people and world above all else, and it honestly hurts to see her be hurt by all that. I'm glad that Doel killing Albert's father was addressed again, it was somewhat brief though since you're not really sure whether to believe in Doel or Albert's memories, but Albert is right, even if it was true that Carlo wasn't a great king, Doel didn't have to kill him like that and then reign in the way he did after. His reign was consumed with the idea that power dominates and it definitely killed and hurt a lot of people just as it saved some. But I also think that if Albert didn't go on this journey with Dart, he might not have necessarily been a great king either, so I think this was a good experience for him to learn through Doel that power isn't everything, and that he needs to rely on others and not just himself like Doel did. I really liked Meru's ordeal. Although Meru isn't exactly prideful as a Wingly, I'm sure she was at least a little worried about going to the outside world herself when she's never met humans before, so I think it's nice that she met Dart and them and understood that there wasn't any need at all for Winglies and humans to segregate each other, because everyone is equal and should be the same. Btw I love the wacky room with the static and then the moon showing up, it's such a cool room!

Melbu Frahma possessing Zieg by transmigrating his soul to Zieg's body was something I kinda remembered along the way, but it's kinda saddening to see Rose and Dart have to face this. They solidified their resolve to defeat one of the most important people in their lives and it turns out that he was being controlled all this time... I knew it was about time for Lloyd to appear again, just because he needed to give the Divine Dragoon Spirit to Dart, but I'm so annoyed that he appeared just to be killed for that, it makes me so sad because even though he killed lots of people, he dreamed of a utopia for this world. I hate that he just died like that... Otherwise, I love that Meru never really expected anything from this journey when she first followed Dart, but now that she's experienced how awesome this world is, she wants to protect it and I think that's really cool. I have to admit, after farming the 00parts for my Legend Casque and Armour of Legend, it really makes the last boss battles really easy lol. Not complaining though since the last battle still took so long lmao. The Divine Dragoon Cannon was a pretty cool skill, but yeah wow, Dart looked pretty cool and monstrous as the Divine Dragoon haha. Anyway, I guess it was to be expected, but Rose and Zieg killing Melbu Frahma and sacrificing themselves to make sure of that was understandable, I mean that's where everything started so killing him again should be where everything ends. It's sad that Zieg never got to properly talk to Dart, I mean I had questions too, but seeing Rose and Zieg finally get to be together forever made me happy for them even if it's in death. I guess they can reunite with all their friends now. As for the rest of party, Haschel and Kongol staying in Rouge to teach children was really cute. I'm also really glad to see Princess Lisa get to finally talk with Nello lmao. Meru and Guaraha going around Lohan and just enjoying themselves was hilarious but wholesome. Miranda staying with her sisters and the Queen was expected, but it's nice to see her have a brighter disposition. Albert marrying Princess Emille was a great moment, since he's finally back to being king and taking care of his people haha. Dart and Shana rebuilding their home in Seles was such a heartwarming moment though, he's finally able to prioritise what's most important to him as Lavitz told him to, and is making a happy family. It was so nice to see.

Overall, I really enjoyed the game! I think the last disc was a bit rushed compared to the rest and was a bit too “scripted” for me in some parts, but I still really liked it all. Like, even though it felt really scripted, I really enjoyed how each character had to get past their mental barriers to further strengthen their resolve, it's kinda corny but I really like those haha. I loved the variety of Additions, I feel like Rose could have had more but oh well, I spent the whole game levelling up everyone's Additions at my own pace and only really finished them all when I got to the Moon, which I'm glad of, because once I finished it, I got bored of them hahaha. Anyway, back to the story, I really enjoyed Dart and everyone as characters. I absolutely loved how well Haschel and Meru got along since they were both such big kids, but I also really loved how Dart and Shana developed their relationship. Lavitz was such a bro that I could never forget even though he only appeared in the first disc, but I think his existence really makes you realise how important it is to cherish the people next to you when you can. However, I think what I loved the most was Rose's story. You only get glimpses of it until near the end, but I think Rose as a character really grows on you, and makes you really feel for her circumstances once you realise that she was fighting alone for 10,000 years. So, I'm really glad that she got to be with the real Zieg in the end. Kongol is the wholesome and kind giant that I never knew I needed. He was such a cinnamon roll that I couldn't help but like him. I'm sorry young me called you ugly and never used you!! Young Lily was such a fickle girl lmao. But yeah, I really loved the whole journey because it was really fun to get to know about each character and their motivations alongside the plot, I still kinda wish we got to see more of Lloyd but oh well, I'm okay with it I guess haha. The Divine Dragoon was pretty monstrous looking btw haha, but otherwise 9/10! I loved the game! I'm glad that my childhood memory of loving this game still persists through adult me! Definitely one of my favourite classic JRPGs. Now, I really want to play Thousand Arms again lol.

[augustsaccharine-blog]

Understanding Rat Problem

Table of ContentsWhat are the costs for Rats In Loft From Next DoorHow to Fix Rat ProblemExpert solutions for Rat ProblemRats Coming From Neighbours House, What Do I DoUnderstanding Rats In Loft From Next DoorCheap Solution for Environmental Health Rats Methods to resolve Rat Problem

A rat requires 60 millilitres of water a day and so if you can minimize its accessibility in your garden, you are assisting to discourage them. A rat can access your residential or commercial property through a hole as little as two-centimetres and mouse just needs a pencil's width. It therefore makes good sense to examine all the access points to your facilities.

The fact is, rodents are tenacious and it is difficult to make a home 100% rodent-proof. They are, nevertheless, also opportunists and are searching for a simple life. If you use them a residential or commercial property with easy access to all the important things they want, they will capitalize. If you make life challenging for them, they will go and take a look at one of your neighbour's homes.

My Neighbour Has Mice What Can I Do Near Me

( 43 Posts) Sheridanflamingo Sat 23-Sep-17 14:42:56 Publishing here for traffic. In 2015 we had mice and rats. As quickly as i understood i went next door (terraced housing) to tell them and woman next door informed me 'yes we have had them considering that we moved in 3 years ago. Your never ever that far from them in London, I have some good potpourri due to the fact that I can't stand the smell of them dying so I simply ignore it'.

Honest solutions for Reporting Rats To The Council

Eventually we got rid of them in our home - they were can be found in from next door and now all points of entry blocked off and so on. For the last 3 months the same individuals next door have grown 5 foot weeds in their front garden - it's like a mini field.

I can't tell them what to do with their own garden and i could not care less if they have rodents in their home but can i report to the council and ask that they are told to preserve their property to stop drawing in mice and rats? I know what the rodents smell like we had it mildly in our home and when i went to speak with female next door the odor of them in her kitchen area was beyond overpowering - so i can only assume she is delighted to have them in her house.

Any suggestions? Anyone experienced comparable neighbour issue? user327854831 Sat 23-Sep-17 14:46:12 Talk With them about the garden and describe about the problems. If they won't do anything perhaps they will at least accept you applying weed killer or utilizing a strimmer on all of it then weed killer. If it's leased can you call their property owner? LoyaltyAndLobster Sat 23-Sep-17 14:46:48 Never Ever remained in the very same position but all I can suggest is that you get a cat, it will stop them from being available in.

Ways to fix Rats Council Responsibility

I saw her hubby loafing for ages recently with a pal looking at the weeds they were discussing gardening i think however absolutely nothing has actually been done so perhaps they like them or think they are flowers - no concept! Can't get a feline as we take a trip for work every week a minimum of 3 days so nobody to look after it.

GrimDamnFanjo Sat 23-Sep-17 14:57:46 We've just had this concern as balcony dwellers. NDNs got in touch with the council and they sent somebody round complimentary of charge to examine who then visited all your homes including ours. He looked for rats and provided advice. We have an electronic gadget which he said was working to deter them.

HaudYerWheeshtBawbag Sat 23-Sep-17 14:59:54 You can however the council can't implement it, we have a few renters neighbours like this and unfortunately it's simply a fight field. Sheridanflamingo Sat 23-Sep-17 15:09:41 oh god. You say renters - these unclean rat lovers with their pot pourri are long-term beside me.

5 action steps for Reporting Rats To The Council

All our other neighbours are lovely and everyone is ill to death of their absurd lax attitude. I in fact understand a few of individuals the other half works with and when I informed them about the rats release they weren't shocked?! Not exactly sure what to make from that LakieLady Sat 23-Sep-17 15:11:28 I'm not exactly sure if there's anything you can do about it, tbh.

They likewise put food out for the birds and foxes - I found a rat eating a half consumed tray of lasagne in their front garden a couple of weeks earlier. I have actually likewise seen one up on their bird table, delighting in a hearty meal. Like you, we obstructed up all the gain access to points (after Mrs Rat got under our cooking area flooring and used the space as a maternity unit), we also have steel mesh under the garden compost bin to stop them getting in it, our dustbin locks shut and we make sure that any food tins etc that go in the recycling are scrupulously tidy.

We have a terrier and she spends ages smelling in specific places and sometimes goes berserk attempting to get in a corner of the garage or someplace - report rats in neighbours garden. At one point, she was killing a minimum of one rat a week usually, and leaving them on the lawn, but she hasn't had one for ages now.

How to Resolve Reporting Rats To The Council

Proven tips for My Neighbour Has Mice What Can I Do

How to Resolve Rats Coming From Neighbours House

We have a corner of the garden that we leave thick for wildlife (we have a hedgehog, sloworms, a robin and a yellowhammer in house) but the pet dog isn't interested in it, so I don't believe that's a rat sanctuary. Sheridanflamingo Sat 23-Sep-17 15:14:21 intriguing - the home on opposite of next door have a jack Russell now and said he has actually captured a lot of rats - would love to get a pet or a feline anyhow no matter rat issue but can't at moment (environmental health rats).

DancingLedge Sat 23-Sep-17 15:22:40 As far as rats are concerned, what's the difference between a garden complete of weeds, and a garden filled with carefully tended plants? I wonder if your view of weeds is a red herring here?Stopping up every possible entry point to your house is excellent. Utilizing electronic pest deterrents, the ultrasound and electrical circuitry one inside your home, and battery ones in loft, sheds and possibly garden, will keep rodents from returning to your property.( Google electronic pest deterrents Primrose.) Sheridanflamingo Sat 23-Sep-17 15:25:37 the difference is 5 foot tall dense weeds offers a different level of cover than a carefully tended garden - where you can normally see something at ground level.

5 fixes for Rats Coming From Neighbours House

It's like a miniature field out there. DancingLedge Sat 23-Sep-17 15:33:39 I mean this in the gentlest way, however I think you seem to have a view of what a garden should resemble. I garden my plot thoroughly, however it's home design, and has wide spots of thoroughly tended plants and shrubs, some 5ft high, some 1-2 ft high, where you can't see the ground at all.

3 action steps for Rats Coming From Neighbours House

When one DC utilized not to be cautious enough keeping fishing bait, vermin. In previous home, open, low,' neat' garden, so might quickly see the rats running about. They were there because we had chickens, and even if you keep chicken food in metal container, chickens drop some on the ground.

It's the food source that's the tourist attraction. SisyphusHadItEasy Sat 23-Sep-17 15:37:48 It is unfortunate that the council can't enforce it. Where we live, there is a bylaw that states unkempt weeds or grasses (in excess of 45 cm high) are prohibited and the property occupant will get one warning. If the weeds are not eliminated in a specific duration (generally 7-10 days) then the council will do it and pursue the resident for the expense of remedying the concern.

Sheridanflamingo Sat 23-Sep-17 15:40:22 where do you live? I think that sounds dazzling. It's so infuriating needing to handle the entire thing Sheridanflamingo Sat 23-Sep-17 15:42:09 Ps we are in a suburban area in west London - one road where everyone gets pests and rodents since of one oblivious unclean home causing everyone else to join the invasions they cause.

7 action steps for Rats Coming From Neighbours House

Get thyself to Battersea, get a number of young felines, preferably females (these tend to be the finest hunters) utilize an animal caretaker to feed them once a day and voila!Cats get remarkable new house. Someone gets rewarding employmentRats need to work out RexitYou have family pets! JonSnowsWife Sat 23-Sep-17 15:45:34 I do not believe the council will do much.