#tagging the most egregious offenders:

[eclecticelectriceccentric]

why is NOBODY capable of being normal about neal caffrey. he's everybody's blorbo

[idkfitememate]

So we have tiger creator and deer creator

So a present

Sumpter beast creator

This thing

Like we have a killer cat in the city

But imagine this giant in the city

Just chilling

Dori Encounter

૮꒰˶ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ˶꒱ა Pairings : GN! Sumpter Beast Reader x Dori

૮꒰ྀི∩´ ᵕ `∩꒱ྀིა W.K. : 538

໒꒰ྀིᵔ ᵕ ᵔ ꒱ྀི১ Tags/CW&TW : Fluff, Dori gets protective

The Palace of Alcazarzaray had a new resident. A resident that no one would have ever thought Lord Sangemah Bay would even allow.

That resident, you ask?

You! A Sumpter Beast.

People of The Palace had not been expecting to see their Lord riding atop your shaggy form. You had a large hawdaj on your back that could accommodate three people of Dori’s size - which meant only one full grown person could fit. And by full grown, you mean a shorter full grown person.

Golden hoops shined on your ears and your fur was shined and brushed throughly. You looked better taken care of than the majority of the people of Sumeru.

You quietly walked into the pavilion and sat down, allowing the girl to climb down. Taking about few packs and bags off your back and began setting up shop.

People walking past watched in wonder as you helped unroll rugs and place merchandise. You were exceptionally gentle with everything.

And when everything was set up, you settled down on a rug. Dori was quick to follow, sitting in front of you and laying her head on your side.

She even slipped some greens your way which you happily munched on.

“Um.. Lord Sangemah Bay?” A passing merchant who had witnessed all of this hesitantly took a step towards the girl, making her look up.

“Yeah?” She asked, flicking a single mora between her fingers. Feeing her attention wasn’t fully on him, he sighed before steeling his nerves.

“… Why would you keep a most likely flee ridden beast such as-“ He couldn’t even finish his sentence before the most offended gasp he had ever heard left the small girl before him.

His words were apparently so egregious that she had dropped the more she had been playing with.

That was not a good sign.

She stood up in a huff, Electro swirling around her. You didn’t even bother looking up, choosing to continue munching on your plants.

She stalked over to the now shivering merchant, before stoping in front of him. The amount of Electro swirling off her provided a blinding purple light the engulfed to surrounding area.

“The only “flee ridden beast” I see around here is you. Now SCRAM! YOU’RE BANNED FROM TRADING WITH ME EVER. AGAIN!” She slammed her foot on the ground, causing a strike of Electro energy to zap right next to the man, causing him to squeal like a pig before running out. She made sure to actually zap him on the ass as he left, making him scream like a little girl.

She grunted before turning to the others who were watching in fear.

“Anyone ELSE got a PROBLEM with my new partner?” She asked. And was immediately met with echos of ‘no’ and ‘absolutely not’.

“Good.” She mused before walking back over to you, calming her Electro so as to not shock you. Sitting back down she leaned into your form and was met with a low rumble from your form.

She ran a hand through your fur and sighed, calming down.

“What would I do without you, صانع المال أول’ الكبير.” She sighed into your side before sitting up straight, ready to make her daily quota.

໒꒰ྀི˶˙Ⱉ˙˶꒱ྀིა Author’s note : Just a bid ole’ guy who wants to live peacefully. And with Dori’s help, they can! Imagine all the nice soft stuff she can buy… or the self care products… hehe getting pampered by Dori sounds so nice right now…

* my big ole’ money maker - Dori to You

[legallyacceptibleurl]

of the blogs that i keep track of, there’s definitely obvious cliques. all of them have posts circulate to all parts eventually, but one thing i’ve noticed is a clear divide between the american liberal zionist bloggers and the israeli zionist bloggers in that space. the american liberal bloggers are more concerned about respectability and here and there might even push back when someone says something more egregiously islamophobic or racist (rarely tho). this is not the case at all for the israeli bloggers, they will just say shit like “all palestinians are nazis and should be wiped out” with their whole chest and then move on with no repercussions

there’s a handful of bridging blogs which keep the flow of posts between the two cliques circulating, but they rarely ever touch the more genocidal posts or reblogs

that’s where i come in I guess, i am working on posting some of the more shocking screenshots and connecting them to the people who reblog from them

i love posting examples, let’s use this one

ID: screenshot of a post that @shofarsogood reblogged from @stupid-jewishwhiteboy

@some-israeli-guy: “I want to take a few minutes to talk about my connection to Israel, as a Jew. I want to do that because some people desperately need to understand this, and also I'm procrastinating on uni homework.”

the rest of the post is cut off by me. End ID.

i often use these two because it’s by far the most infuriating example. shofarsogood is a very popular blog on here and is mutuals both with people who would be incredibly offended at being called zionists, and also just fully unapologetic zionists. meanwhile, some-israeli-guy is someone who will just straight up say “kill all palestinians”, and it’s fucking horrible but from a purely practical perspective i can appreciate the honesty because it makes my job easier. it’s like a touchstone for the level of hate speech these people will tolerate as long as it’s on their side

ID: screenshot of a reblog by @some-israeli-guy:

“Beautiful! Kill them all and erase Palestine from history!” End ID.

so, how does a post travel from the “kill them all” side of tumblr to the “we just want peace in gaza but conveniently all pro-palestine advocacy is antisemitic” side of tumblr? very easily it turns out

it starts with this

ID: a screenshot showing @homochadensistm reblogging from @some-israeli-guy. End ID.

here’s what kind of blog we’re dealing with at this point

ID: screenshot of a reblog by @homochadensistm:

“1. This poll is from the west bank, or do you think thats a place in gaza?

2. BBC reports Gazans are fed up with hamas: uuuuch WhErE dA BidEO eViDEncE

Some rando with a tumblr posts about 5 gorillion children dying in a nuclear explosion in Khan younis:”

under the text is an image of the wojak meme called “Two Soyjaks Pointing”

@homochadensistm’s tags: “#gazans will be freed of the bronze age islamists who took over them via a coup #whether u like it or not <3”

End ID.

next is this

ID: a screenshot showing @stupidjewishwhiteboy reblogged from @homochadensistm. End ID.

ID: screenshot of a post reblogged by @stupidjewishwhiteboy.

@not-antisemitic-receipts: “"Genocide Denier"

Yes, I "deny" accusations of genocide levied against Jews by antisemites, be they from Jihadist Islamofascists claiming "Palestine Genocide" or Nazi Fascists claiming "White Genocide."

"Denial" of conspiracy theories is simply common sense, Period.”

End ID.

and then it’s… wait that’s it?

ID: a screenshot showing @shofarsogood reblogging from @stupidjewishwhiteboy. End ID.

huh. i’m sure that doesn’t mean anything

oh but i’m going to be fair to everyone involved. at the time he posted that post that went around, he hadn’t yet said “kill all palestinians”. how cruel of me to expect these people to see into the future

except you don’t have to be raven fucking symoné to see that it was only a matter of time

here is @some-israeli-guy three days before his post about his connection to israel

ID: a reblog by @some-israeli-guy:

“As someone with a relative who fought in the Warsaw ghetto uprising, my first reaction was being infuriated.

My second emotion though? Hope. Same as how everything hamas and the pro hamas crowd blame Israel of, they've done themselves, everything they wish for us, they will receive. The Israeli people love life. We celebrate life in spite of everyone trying to kill us. Palestine, on the other hand, is a death cult. They worship death and find no meaning in life other than sacrificing it. Palestinian society is based on hate and death, and a society like that will never win.

The nazis lost. The nazis always lose, and my relative survived and came to Israel.

#israel #jumbIr #palestine is a death cult #i/p #palestine”

there were also a couple tags in hebrew that i cannot copy paste. End ID.

hell, let’s take a look at the tail end of the post that got reblogged by everyone and their fucking mom

ID: “To anyone who call us "colonizers": These "ancient" Israelites don't just share a religion with us, they ARE us. We were expelled from our homeland, but we kept our identity, we refused to let go, we kept wishing to come back home. We were always indigenous to Israel. We don't belong anywhere but here.

And now they're are trying to tell us that some people with a name invented by Rome to erase Judea and Israel, with a religion and language from Arabia, who didn't have a distinct cultural identity other than "Arab" until a few decades ago, belong here more than we do? I don't think so.”

End ID.

[cantsayidont]

Seventh in a series of modern no-homo variations in Popular Media (for which I should probably make a tag):

faux-mo: Where the presentation of canonically LGBT characters is burdened by obvious discomfort at depicting any substantive romantic or sexual interaction between those characters. This is conceptually adjacent to where-homo (described in my first post on this subject), but rather than outright outright denying the LGBT characters any romantic or sexual relationships, faux-mo instead seeks to keep those relationships as chaste as possible so as not to squick the actors or the (presumptively cishet) audience.

One of the more egregious offenders in this category is the 2010 film THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, directed and co-written by Lisa Cholodenko, which stars Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as married lesbians with two teenage children whose already rocky relationship is sorely tested when the Julianne Moore character has an affair with their kids' hunky sperm donor, played by Mark Ruffalo. This is a lesbian movie written and directed by a lesbian, and yet most of its numerous sex scenes are between Moore and Ruffalo, and there's little more than prickly resentment between the lesbian main characters, who are of course played by straight women.

This is lampshaded in the film's most memorable scene, where one of the main characters' kids accidentally stumbles upon some of his mothers' porn collection and expresses surprise that they don't have any lesbian porn. The Moore character explains, "Well … usually in these movies, they hire two straight women to pretend, and the inauthenticity is just unbearable."

There's nothing inherently wrong with gay characters being played by straight actors; gay actors have been playing straight characters for as long as drama has existed, and it's not in anyone's interest to limit LGB roles to out LGB actors. (Trans characters being played by cis actors is another matter, but that's because it causes significant real-world harm.) However, as LGBT characters become more common in popular media, we see more and more stories with same-gender couples who share little if any real intimacy beyond the occasional awkward closed-mouth kiss between hetero actors who are visibly uneasy at having to pretend to do gay shit on stage or screen.

[digitalcockroach]

Hang on hang on your tags on "reverse queerbaiting" are excellent, please if you have the energy go into more detail on them doing "fanfic" romance tropes vs true romance tropes bc I think that's Exactly what I haven't been able to put into words

for context: POST: “I feel like we're almost in an era of like, reverse queerbaiting. Used to be that you'd be tricked into watching a show because the story implied there'd be gay rep, but now they're using gay rep to trick you into thinking there'll be a story.” TAGS: #tbh :/ #all the gay shows are pandering to like not even regular romance tropes but FANFIC tropes #and it's hollow af

Ok let me see if I can get my thoughts into some kind of order on this lol 

I mean to use the most egregious offender as an example, let’s talk about Good Omens s2. Like we come from s1 and the book which operate on a huge scale of time and across the globe with world ending stakes, even when it’s focused on Tadfield or London. There is a whole cast of characters outside of Aziraphael and Crowly with their own motives and agendas that intersect with each other and you can imagine existing before and after the story being told. Then we enter s2 and they’re all gone. God is gone. It’s Aziraphael and Crowley, Gabriel (and Beelzebub), and their neighbors who exist purely to be a Functional Couple oppose A+Cs dysfunctionality. This is kind of the first sin of fanfiction in this case, the world gets smaller and shallower and so do the characters within it. It’s all just feels like props and dressing to get two characters together. The whole Gabe and Beelzebub thing? The only reason I didn’t “see it coming�� is because I thought there was no way they would just rip straight from the crackships of AO3 because I have READ THAT PLOT BETWEEN THESE CHARACTERS TWENTY TIMES JUST LIKE THIS. 

Gomens s2 and also the other big recent Gay Shows, Our Flag Means Death and What We Do In The Shadows, really fuckin abuse fanfic tropes to death in more specific ways too though like - a sassy lesbian couple to set the oblivious gays straight, a will-they-wont-they with completely forgone conclusion, everyone is a shy sensitive guy even when they’re ruthless killers everyone is kind of stupid and woobie and seconds from crying all over their soft little love interest, everyone talking in this self actualized therapy speak - SO much very direct TELLING and the SHOWING is just eyecandy, fanservice. The second sin the formulaic predictability and the third is prioritizing fanservice/shipping over storytelling. 

Because that’s the main thing I think? These shows - which I wanna be clear I liked at least at some point but have gotten really disappointed by as they continue - feel like they don’t have a story to tell. They’re just vehicles to get a Gay Couple together, regardless of character consistency or the way more interesting things implied going on in the world around them, and they just shed more and more detail and quality and idk variety? as the main ship’s relationship progresses and the world narrows further and further. It becomes boring, one-note. 

And to cover my bases here I don’t want to be misconstrued as believing these things can’t be or aren’t also true of straight romance shows (or movies, books, whatever) because I think we’ve all seen plenty of Boring Straight Romance, and I am being somewhat generalizing for the sake of what brevity I can accomplish here. But I think the noticeable thing with specifically these new queer romance shows is that they are being aimed at and HEAVILY pandering to yknow 18 - 30 year old chronically online fandom queers because people like Niel Gaiman and Taika Waititi and whathaveyou have witnessed first hand (and made a lot of money from) the absolute frenzy this AO3 donating demographic with go into over this exact kind of content. 

In short, people figured out you can make more money off of really dedicated weirdos with bad taste than you can writing something with depth and substance.

Not everything can be as good as Homestuck I guess!

[copiousloverofcopia]

Here is the next chapter of angst and romance for Primo and Sister to be Guinevere!

Thank you as always for your patience and I hope you all like it, especially you @the-cardinale lol

(PLEASE SEE TAGS)

Potpourri

During his retirement, Papa Primo Emeritus falls in love with a new Sister of Sin who has suffered a tragic loss. While the new sister settles into the Abbey, Primo can't help but grow more infatuated with her. Promising to give her everything she desires, but can he win her affections when she still can't let go of the past?

Chapter 3: The Ties That Bind

Also available HERE on AO3! Needing to start from the beginning, click HERE.

The feel of the pillow, pressed gently against her cheek, was the most welcomed feeling she’d had in a long time. Tears were steadily rolling over her cheeks as Gwen curled up on the bed. Her mascara, staining the white cotton—a beautiful and melancholic pattern that spoke the pain inside her soul. It was over.

She was left empty. The attempt at mending her wounded soul, had left her just as barren and barely stitched together as she was before. Would there be no mercy? No return for things lost. 

Gwen sobbed, holding tight to that damn pillow, as if it held what was left of hope within its threads. Her child was truly gone forever to the infinite nothing. Gone without her ever having known them. She clenched her teeth, the tears coming faster and faster. 

She felt lied to. Was she really asking for too much? What had she done to deserve such an egregious thing? God was long dead, and now her hope for Lucifer’s blessings fell short of its promises. Promises she had already known, somewhere deep down, were too good to be true. 

Her heart felt as if it may burst in her chest. The ache that comes from a loss that cannot be described in words—only feelings. A true bittersweet feeling of having something so precious and losing it before it could be held. She knew now she was never going to have what she wanted and there was absolutely nothing she could do. 

The Abbey had felt more alive than it had in years. The halls were spry with excitement and more than the usual buzzing, in the weeks after the group's arrival. The vigor and eagerness the novitiate and seminarians brought with them, had revitalized even Secondo’s cold and standoffish demeanor. The Abbey, and its inhabitants, had already incorporated them all seamlessly into daily life. It was as if they had been there all along. 

It had lived up to its promise for most, giving them a life that could be lived deliciously. Truly a place where even the blackest of sheep would be welcomed into the flock. Things were going so well for everyone and in a few short days, each and every fledgling would take their ceremonial "fall from heaven" and land in the bosom of Satan. All of them, taking their vows and performing their rituals to become wholly siblings of sin. 

It would be a time to remember. It was said, rumors spreading like wildfire through the Abbey, that Papa Copia would be returning for a few days to help with the officiation of their siblinghood. All of them beaming with excitement and nerves as they waited for any sign he had returned. First however would be confession, a moment for them to unburden their souls before entering their new lives. 

As with any confession, no one would “know” who was on either end of the partition. The Papas, all taking turns throughout the day to listen to them. In and out the siblings went. Some were crying, however wearing a smile spread across their faces, as they left the booth. Feeling the heavy weight of the life lead before, fading away as they began anew. 

Other’s smiled both in and out. Though some were in carnal satisfaction—considered to be well spent time in confession. The offending Papa, looking just as stupid-faced and dewy cheeked with pleasure, with their shared sin. Sister Imperator was amazed with both Secondo and Terzo’s appetites, that anything was getting done. 

When it came for Primo’s to take his turn, he was humbled. Ever grateful for his position within the church, he adjusted his chasuble before entering. The first Emeritus son, taking pride in his robes more than any other Papa before or after him. His connection with the realm beyond, and his appreciation for the old ways, giving him a closer tie than anyone to the Unholy Father.

He lowered himself down onto the chair, running his hands over the fabric to flatten the wrinkles and taking a deep breath in. The scent of incense and sweat, hitting him full force has he inhaled. Primo scoffed, muttering to himself in Italian at his annoyance with his brothers. “They could at least wipe things down and spray something.” Primo said as he heard the booth door open. 

“Papa?” A voice came from the other side of the screen, Primo knew instantly who it was. It had been weeks since the dinner, his answer to Gwen’s questions leading her back to her dorm in devastation. Primo had avoided being too close to her since. Worried that talking with him, even in passing, may reignite her sadness. But it seemed it didn’t matter. 

From that day on she had continued as usual. Returning to the refectory the next morning as if nothing had happened. He watched her, grabbing her food and sitting among the others. Selling the facade of being alright and like nothing had changed. Her performance so well, he was sure that she'd fooled all the others. Primo could tell though, her aura, still pale and just barely noticeable giving her away.

Ever since he saw her that first day, he was captivated by her. Primo, longing still to get to know her—even if just to listen to her speak. To hear what she thought of everything. Though things had not gone well so far, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking about her. Desiring to be close to her, even after learning about her past.

“Please, my child. Unburden yourself.” Primo said softly. Gwen sat down on the small stool within the booth, hands trembling and her heart beating fast inside her chest. 

“Papa, I have something I wish to…” Gwen sighed, clearly struggling to find her next words. Primo couldn’t help but smile. Her voice was still ever so sweet and kind. Though he could hear beneath it, the hints of sadness. Like the gentle trickling of piano keys or the glide of a violin’s bow–played in melodic minor.

He was invested in whatever it was she would confess. Ready to be there to help her through it all, imagining himself by her side. He felt surprised, as the thoughts washed over him. It had been so long since he’d heard her sweet voice. He knew in that moment that he had already begun to develop feelings for her. His heart, fluttering as she began to speak once more.  

“I want to apologize for wasting the Ministry's time.” she confessed, Primo, sitting up straight in his chair at her words. Confused and worried at their implication. 

“I’m sorry?” 

“No…I’m sorry…you see I came here under false pretenses.” she confessed. Primo was ready to go to her. To meet her on the other side of the booth. Taking her in his arms and telling her that everything would be ok. He could hear her struggling to hold back tears. Her voice, cracking a bit between words as she continued on.

“Please child go on.” he said, battling his instinct to retrieve her. 

“I didn’t come here because I wanted to worship Lucifer or so that I might live a life true to my nature in sin. I came because I wanted something. Something that I now know I will never get, and I fear I have wasted all of your time and for that I apologize. I will be leaving soon, before the rituals and I wanted someone to know. I wasn’t sure how to go about it any other way.” she explained sniffling back as Primo took his turn to speak. 

“You can still find happiness here.” he told her, listening to her laugh—one Primo was sure was accompanied by tears. 

“N othing here is worth staying for.”  

“Nothing? What about you…aren't you worth it?”

“No.” Gwen replied, the tears escaping her eyes and flowing freely. 

“Remember dolce, he fell so that we might be burned in the rivers of eternal flame. So that we all might know the truth of ourselves, unabashed by the will of God. So that we can all be happy…even you.” Primo explained, hoping in vain that his words would change her mind. Worried that she’d follow through and leave—only after he was beginning to understand his feelings for her. His cosmic draw to forever by her side. 

“I appreciate that, but I will be taking my leave. Please forgive me Papa…Nema.” Gwen finished, standing up and exiting the booth. Primo moved faster than he had in years, flinging open the door and revealing himself to her. Their eyes, locked together outside the confession booth.

“Papa Primo?” she asked, wiping quickly at her eyes to hide the tears that had fallen.

“Si…I need to confess something to you as well.” he told her. Gwen stared at him, waiting to hear what he had to say. Allowing him to speak his peace before she left, knowing she intended to never return. 

“I’m sorry—”

“Guinevere…I know.”

“Know what Papa?” Gwen asked him. She waited, hoping her gut instinct was wrong. That he didn't know what was eating away at her inside. When Primo’s own eyes began to fill with tears, it only served to confirm he knew before speaking the words.  

“I know about the baby.” he admitted, watching the color drain from Gwen’s face. He could tell she was fighting hard not to cry again. Resisting the overwhelming desire to fall apart before him. Frightened with the need to be held by him—a man she barely knew. 

“I need to go now.” was all Gwen could say, turning away from Primo and starting down the nave. Primo reached out quickly, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to face him. Both of them for a moment wondering if they’d share a kiss. A kiss that didn’t come, only more tears to shed between them. 

“The cost of these small desires is great, and I know you've paid a heavy price. I am sorry that I didn’t know before we spoke at your arrival dinner. My answer and my brother's comments may have been less harsh had we known.

“It’s not your fault Papa. Now if you will excuse me, I need to go.” Gwen said, pulling back hard from Primo’s grasp and briskly taking off. He watched her disappear from the chapel as he slumped against the door of the booth. His heart, heavy and his mind fixed on his affections for her. 

The rest of the day was quiet. Primo spent the rest of afternoon in confession, though his mind stayed on Guinevere. By the time supper rolled around, he was ravenous for the evening's bounty. The stress increasing his hunger as he listened to the sounds of his stomach growling.

As Primo took his seat at the front of the refectory, he felt more at ease.  Everyone was eating peacefully, all gathered together as they did every night. The hum of shared community and conversation, floating in the air. Primo, who was normally an active participant in the debates and pleasantries at mealtimes, chose now to say quiet in his chair. His lack of quick-witted commentary and polite suggestions did not go unnoticed. 

“What's got you all glum?” Terzo asked, his voice breaking through Primo's inner thoughts. He looked up from his plate, setting down his fork and dapping the corners of his mouth with his napkin before speaking.

“Non è niente, per favore non me ne vogliate.” he replied. Mr. Saltarian now watching his reaction to the question. Noticing the minor changes in his behavior—something was indeed bothering him. Sister Imperator interrupted. A trait Primo found most distasteful, but so very much a common occurrence for her. 

“Papa, I did notice you’ve been a bit distracted tonight. Worried about the rituals tomorrow?” she laughed teasing him. Primo gave an insincere smile back. She was contemptible in her disregard to the Papacy. Choosing to act as if she were on their level. Primo, allowing it only to keep the peace between her and Papa Nihil. His father, who now was nothing more than spirit of unrest that resided in Imperator's wing of the Abbey. 

“Of course, not Sister.” he replied, feeling the hand resting on his shoulder. Primo gave a glance back to see Saltarian taking a seat beside him. “I am just ready for Copia to be home, I have missed him so much these last few weeks.”

“Oh, then the rumors are true?” delighted a sibling from another table, the whole room taking notice. Primo smiled at Sister Imperator, watching her face fill with subtle irritation. It was to be her announcement at dinner. Two can play at this game , he thought to himself, stealing the moment from her. 

“Well now that the cat is out of the bag…” Sister Imperator said, addressing the siblings and the others. Allowing Primo and Saltarian a moment to speak. 

“So, tell me know amico…what has actually got you in so deep in your own head?” he asked. Primo adjusted in his chair, collecting his thoughts before answering him. He wasn’t sure if he should tell him about the interaction at all, let alone his feelings for Gwen. It was only today that Primo had truly began to understand them.  

“Honestly Salare…it's Guinevere.” Of course, it was and Saltarian already knew. Still however he wanted to hear it from Primo’s own mouth. Primo chewed on his bottom lip a bit more before continuing. “I spoke with her at confession today.”

“I see and I assume she told you the truth during it?” Mr. Saltarian asked him.

“Actually, she told me that she made a mistake coming here…” Primo explained before Saltarian interrupted him.

“What do you mean?”

“She said she wasn’t worth it and nothing else here was either. That she was sorry she wasted our time. There is something else…” Primo mentioned, taking in a deep breath as he prepared to confess his feelings to his best friend when suddenly Saltarian stood up from the table, catching the eyes of all three Emeritus brothers and some of the Papal ghouls. 

“She said those words?!” Saltarian asked, commanding an answer. Extremely bold for him, as Primo was Papa, but the implications of his disregard for position sent an icy chill down Primo’s spine. He shot up out his chair too, now realizing that Gwen was nowhere in the refectory. Suddenly it all made sense. She was not just planning on leaving the Abbey.

“Sweet Lucifer!” Primo said as he and Saltarian left the table—Secondo, Terzo, and a few ghouls trailing quickly behind them. Only Primo and Saltarian knew what was going on, making their way as fast as they could to the pledge dormitory

When they reached the dorms, Secondo and Terzo got a feeling they knew what might be happening. There was a moment, during their race to the sibling wing, when the shaky conversation between Primo and Saltarian tipped them off. Though they knew not the details, they knew that a sibling was missing from dinner and with the look on their brother and Mr. Saltarian’s face, they had a pretty good idea as to the reason why.

It wasn’t the first time a tragedy had taken place at the Abbey. This time it felt personal, the two of them watching as Primo’s face filled with pain and panic. There was more to this story than anyone was letting on.  When they arrived at the dorm, they let themselves inside. There was no one there, just a pair of empty beds to greet them. Then suddenly one of the ghouls took a deep inhale, his nose twitching away as he spoke. 

“Is that…blood?” he asked, Primo’s pupils widening as he was now able to smell it himself. The scent emanating from behind the closed door of the bathroom.  

“Oh cazzo, no!” he yelled, breaking down the door with the help of the ghouls. The broken wood, quickly, revealing Gwen laying in a bathtub tinted red with blood. Her wrists were slit, down the center of her forearms. Her face, stained with tears. 

Primo rushed inside, pulling her limp body out of the tub. The water spilling over the sides and onto the floor around them. She was unconscious but still, barely, alive. The shallow breathing, just barely noticeable as she was quickly slipping away.

“She's lost so much blood.” Terzo stammered, taking in the horror and shock of the scene before him.

“Quick, get me…. me some ribbon and the black and red bottle from the top shelf of my storage closet in the greenhouse…NOW!” Primo ordered. His voice, a tone none had ever heard before—one that sent the ghouls running off at an unimaginable pace. Ready to fetch all that was asked of them. 

“Fratello she’s too far gone.” Secondo reasoned, Primo would hear none of it, holding Gwen close to his chest, both of them drenched in bath water and blood. Primo began to weep, he would do anything to bring her back. It was not her time, he knew it. If she only knew she could be happy again. 

“No! I will not let her go.” Primo hissed, rocking her in his arms. The ghouls returned in record time, with the ribbon and the bottle. Primo quickly worked to pour the liquid from inside it over her wounds. Tying the ribbon around her wrists and then, his own.

“You can’t be serious?” Secondo growled, knowing now exactly what his brother planned to do. 

“I am.”

“Are you willing to die with her when she chooses this again?” he yelled, angry with Primo.

“She won’t.” Primo assured him, pulling tight the tie around his own wrist with his teeth. Primo grabbed a knife from his pocket, slicing open his palm. He winced as he squeezed his hand over Gwen’s wrists and holding them steady. Mixing her blood with his as he began to chant. 

“Rinuncio all'autonomia della mia vita per tenere ancora una volta la tua anima con il vaso. Ti do una seconda possibilità con un sacrificio del sangue che scorre nelle mie vene. Guarisci il tuo vaso in modo che tu ed io possiamo essere uno per sempre nella sua vita. Ciò che è sopra, lascia che sia così sotto.” he spoke with intention. His words methodically and carefully pronounced as they left his lips. 

The room filled with silence a moment before the old floorboards began to shake beneath them. The ghouls and brothers, staggering backward as they caught themselves on various things within the room. Primo still with Gwen on the floor, tears of blood beginning to pour from his eyes as he wept for Guinevere. The ribbon tied between them began to tighten—pulsing with energy before it disappeared into both of their skin. The supple flesh of Gwen’s arm slowly returning to return to her—leaving only a small scar in its wake. The blush of color had returned to her cheeks, her pulse no longer thready, and the blood that surrounded them gone. No trace of any of it had been left behind—as if it never happened.

Primo stood up, slowly lifting Gwen into his arms. He was not a young man, but a strong one nonetheless. Though he cursed, under his breath, the age that had taken hold in his knees. He continued on carrying Gwen within his embrace towards the door.

Secondo stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder to remind him he was there. Everyone else in the room, including Terzo, too stunned to speak. Primo was indeed powerful and it was this night, only like any before it that he had proved it to them. “Fratello?” Secondo asked, as Primo turned to facing both his brothers. A sense of relief finally filling him. 

“She will make it; I have made sure of that. I will bring her back to my suite so that I may keep close watch on her.” he started, watching as the need to speak, yanked hard on Secondo’s mouth. “...and I will hear nothing from any of you.” Primo told them as he carried her off to his rooms. Gwen, still unconscious and unaware of anything that had happened, loose in Primo’s loving arms.  

“It’s alright amore. I will walk with you through this…this life…and the next.” Primo whispered, kissing the top of her head as they entered his rooms.

Notes:

Non è niente, per favore non me ne vogliate.- It is nothing, please don’t mind me.

Amico- friend

Salare- salt

oh cazzo, no!- oh fuck, no!

Rinuncio all'autonomia della mia vita per tenere ancora una volta la tua anima con il vaso. Ti do una seconda possibilità con un sacrificio del sangue che scorre nelle mie vene. Guarisci il tuo vaso in modo che tu ed io possiamo essere uno per sempre nella sua vita. Ciò che è sopra, lascia che sia così sotto.. I give you a second chance with a sacrifice of the blood that runs through my veins. Heal your vessel so that you and I can be one forever in his life. What is above, let it be so below.

[borreloadsavagedragon]

11, 16, and 20

oh god, I’ll do my best!!!

11. number of fandom-related words you've filtered

3! And they are all names for the same one ship bc this community loves to make new names out of nowhere for everything omg

I’ve mentioned this one in particular before vaguely in character ask games but I don’t wanna always bring it up, the tag and filtering system does all it has to for me and ygo is one of the few communities that actually does tag accordingly usually, Twitter is the raging exception but Twitter rewards witty captions versus tags and I love obstacle courses 

I’ve gotten vagued about and subtweeted enough for sharing the ships I do like, I’d hate to be someone who bashes something of value to someone else and make them feel insecure about their favorite things by subtweeting them because I do know many who do love the pair 

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

I had to think on this one bc the only things I could honest to god think of were a handful of ships and I really don’t wanna go that route dbshhsjs

I will literally read anything that isn’t like… too much into dead dove territory 

BUT

Some Fanon inside jokes can be annoying once they’re super overdone, ygo jokes I come across aren’t too bad outside of the TCG (ygo players reading jokes and draw good card memes are so bad, stop making them 733627472738 times) but like… even in our small franchise corner, some of them are overplayed

Like Yusei drank milk once and now his figure has to have a glass of milk, we did that

NSFW for literally ten seconds but

(also stop making the stereotypical rival characters into domineering or nasty tops, it’s weird)

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

oh my god ok, here it is, the one question I can go full hater on

Ok so I LOVE protags usually, I'm rarely a protag hater, but I hate when shows go out of their way to make protags solve EVERYTHING even when it’s really not appropriately theirs, like shows that need to find reasons to keep protagonists in the episode or in the frame, or to remind us that it’s the protag’s world and the cast is just all living in it

Like it’s definitely my fault being so involved with Shonen shows that I don’t get to see the latter happen a lot since Shonen is like the BIGGEST offender of this trope but I still wanna complain!!!!!!

God I lowkey wanna talk abt Arc V for this but we’re just gonna… *brushes show off of desk into a lock drawer* 

That’s a can I cannot open

So let's talk Zexal II, aka the part where I get to talk about the worst duel in the entire franchise because I can’t even rewatch these episodes for my analysis without wanting to slap my computer shut, it makes me that angry 

Uh

Some Spoilers since I know you're still watching

😭😭😭

Like this comes from a place of someone who fights off Yuma hate in the TCG community regularly

But in my whole ass I feel like Heartland and Kaito’s duel is an actual disaster

It's also honestly a little bit of character assassination as a treat for no reason but we'll touch that in detail in the paper

And letting Yuma and Astral take this duel over is just an egregious slap in the face lmfao

Especially how the show chooses to handle Kaito passing out and everything following when he finally returns to consciousness that just makes him essentially a step up from background character

Yet people deadass have the nerve to say Kaito has the most favoritism, bitch where lol

Extremely unsatisfying to watch someone who's been an established threat for the ENTIRE show not be able to dismantle the last standing figure in their life who’s been a source of great pain to them and someone who has never dueled up until this point at that! And not only does he NOT get to take the dub, it's literally his second last duel in the entire show and while the last duel is INCREDIBLE, making this a moment of glory for the protags is weird!

Idk, I stand firmly that this part is unwatchable, just a very badly done way to backseat Kaito to shift the focus onto the original duo, and that in theory is cool, but there are so many better ways to do it

But shonen isn't shonen without some dramatic hero comeback

Shonen is such a love/hate relationship

[sigmalied]

Fallout 76: RIP to my Explosive Gatling Plasma c.2019 - Jan. 24, 2023

Legacy weapons were nuked in today’s update. Or, more specifically, any weapon with the legendary explosive effect applied to non-bullet projectiles. Energy weapons disproportionately benefitted from the explosive effect. The most egregious offender was the Gatling Plasma, which became a peerless death machine upon attaching a beam splitter weapon mod. The beam splitter multiplied the explosive effect into discrete explosions with massive cumulative damage and splash AOE.

Bethesda addressed the balance issue years ago by removing explosive energy weapons (and other unintentional or disruptive legendary effect combinations, but today we’re focusing on the explosive energy flavor) from the loot pool, but people who had already obtained them were able to keep them. Thus was born the term “Legacy Weapon” in the context of Fallout 76. Due to their scarcity and immense power, many players began duping them for trade/profit using various exploits. And, naturally, selling them online for real money in direct violation of the EULA.

How one came into my possession, I’ll never tell/snitch, but I used mine (affectionately dubbed Slime Time after the puddles of green goo it reduced my enemies to) extensively. I also tried to utilize it as politely as I could, because the Fallout 76 playerbase have long disparaged the widespread use of Legacies for several reasons:

1) Legacy weapon TTK (time to kill) is near zero seconds, preventing players from tagging enemies to obtain XP credit. Common enemies and bosses alike could be shredded before other players even load into the area.

2) The explosive effect is loud and brighter than the sun when witnessed in close proximity.

3) Feelings of futility from newer players who missed the window of legitimately obtaining Legacy weapons, burdened with the knowledge that their character build will never compete with their extreme advantages.

Retiring this class of weapons will likely usher in a new meta populated by chainsaws, Railway Rifles, and heavy explosives galore. As a devoted patron and agent of in-game chaos I’m sad to see them go, but it’s also an overdue fix that I understand and, honestly, welcome.

Counted among the casualties from this update is the Thirst Zapper grenade glitch.

When equipping this squirt gun introduced to Fallout 76 by the recent Nuka World on Tour update, any equipped throwable item would become infinite. For weeks the playerbase either enjoyed or suffered spectacular laser shows and blinding Armageddon on our screens at popular public events.

[writer59january13]

Easter as interpreted by one...

rebated, rebelled, rebirthed, rebooted, and rebuked courtesy one ill shod Unitarian atheist, who means NOT to affect

any sacrilegious fallout nor offend devoutly religious man, woman, or child, when the most important Christian holiday notated, a veritable “movable feast” occurs Sunday, March 31, 2024.

Though avast percentage

of stonehenge temple piloted ghosts,

harking back millennia

constantly zip unseen thru aerospace, easily being mistaken for led zeppelin,

they unwittingly espy

woolly sheep hush fleeced herd

profoundly religious village peep pull

plodding fast as their

cleft hoofs take them

along well worn path

of former crusaders analogous to Riders on the Storm.

Among acquiescent, concupiscent fervescent, juvenescent obmutescent (äbmyəˈtesᵊn(t)s), and unreminiscent church going subjects

versus one self repentant

quest diagnostic shunning skeptic poet

suffers interminable emotional flagellation

employing righteous indignation

against his own iniquitous misdeeds

sullying the sacrosanct marital covenant.

Unpardonable egregious transgressions

committed (well nigh

dirty deeds done dirt cheap more'n a dozen orbitz ago)

think adulterous flagrante delicto

constituted consummating rutting

sabotaging high fidelity.

Passionate intercourse incorporating

communicating non verbal

vernacular animal needs

spoken on behalf of laity

comprising unlearned, nevertheless

superstitious population

indulged verboten fruit appetite,

yet adroit oral (tongue in cheek)

spread courtesy word of mouth.

Unlike doubting thomas here sitting on his rumpled stilted skin most pious markedly take as gospel Jesus Christ as Superstar

every word in religious tomes

their collective soul asylum polestar,

and doth decree important doctrines

with especial accord courtesy the cars

equal insignificance applied toward

Judeo-Christian holidays

across the chessboard of life,

thus Easter ranks as no exception

to the golden rule,

where Santa Claus

didst dodge Duesenberg reached an accord following auspicious signs

alit in the night sky

shaped like a drinking gourd

perhaps amassing plentiful harvests

upon hamlets strewn

across then scantily populated Earth

asper cornucopia exhibited secret hoard

sharing plentiful Horn (and Hard art lesson learned) to stave off barrenness, ignored

going forward seeding nascent

March Madness with swift help from Lord

and Taylor as midwife hoot

tended Ville Nova moored by striking Wildcat fanatics,

who unbelievably

espied heavens cleft asunder

and golden rays poured

while collective spectators

loudly deafeningly screamed while housed within the soundgarden

analogous to ferocious stray cats,

who hissed and roared

witnessed history scored earning players knighted

with Excalibur sword, thence entire team handed

Taj Mahal shaped award, which aforementioned

ass hide lacks moxie, cuz zit

happens tubby April Fool's joke,

thus above iterated

verses somehow needs just a little bit of relevance to yoke thine admitted ambivalent

reaction to sports, yea aye pay figurative toke

hen to Rabbinic, quixotic

iconic, Hebraic, generic,

fanatic, ecstatic primal

tribal village people wu clan destine woke,

and swinging focus of this poem

back toward Religious

perp ported berth,

when (sans antiquity) donjon we now donning gay apparel trumpet signaled

thus, any superstitions

blew away dearth when distant shofar heard in every home and hearth anticipating rabbit arrival

of the Easter Bunny, who brings eggs sited mirth and hoi polloi doth hop poly

distribute sweet treats, which blessed children

of the korn as grown adults, no matter necessity

for teeth to be removed the sugary over indulgence wool worth

today thee American Dental Association

chastises candy manufacturers bandying more weight

gaining deadly, debauched,

and decadent, trait

then adultery - verboten fruit to sate

hash-tagged (vamoose skat

dad dulled) reprobate.

[collymore]

Kate Middleton and Co. projecting their own woes onto an ebullient, happily married Meghan!

By Stanley Collymore

My essentially natural theory evinced from several years of personally observing and similarly analysing the actions of others is that this sick phenomenon of inexcusably and quite unwarrantedly denigrating other people, and most categorically also those whom the offenders don't actually know as well as invariably have never met, actually and quite basically stems from issues that in actuality undoubtedly pertains to those very individuals involved in such behaviour own lack of basic self-esteem, insecurities which they distinctively find obviously hard or impossible to contend with and, as well, outright jealousy of the individual that they have malevolently targeted!

Kate Middleton became part, ostensibly, of the British monarchical family literally after a series of concerted stalking and actually gold digger activities on her part, and that  ranged over a decade with her ultimately in the process of doing what she consciously and conspicuously embarked on distinctly managed to rope in the dope and basically the evidently Philip Schofield closet Queer William, whom she exuberantly married at the instigation of his grandmother and the then incumbent monarch Liz Windsor, this individual essentially categorically stating that Kate had all the attributes of distinctly being the typical Stepford Wife and simply essentially brood mare. Not as a crucially,  excellent wife and mother: something that Liz Windsor throughout her lavishly clearly richly indulgent and self-entitled life never was; but on Kate's part a rather necessary and quite relevant contributory element to the Windsors Mafia organisational they all vaingloriously refer to as the Firm. Literally in other words, ensuring that this effective state grifting mafia outfit could essentially carry on uninterruptedly milking the stupid British taxpayers for every essential pound and penny they could screw out of them!

Thus Kate Middleton was accepted as very much a safe pair of hands that wouldn't in any sense distinctly unsettle this bountiful gravy train. And true to form she provided the expected heir and additionally also two spares. But not every Queer is undoubtedly a Philip Schofield figure who conscionably thinks that he should quite unquestionably come clean and obviously then effectively does so; and as happens William is clearly not in this honourable class of Queers, but like numerous other across the UK and as well ensconced in the Establishment give the impression publicly that they are really heterosexual, when most undoubtedly they are not, and additionally have husbands or wives of the opposite sex  in the very false portrayal of what they unquestionably, are not!

All well as good this Stepford wife thing as you become a distinctly expensive clothes horse, but it's simply actually no substitute for sex!  And when basically compounded by the fact that the legitimate spare Harry, who you asininely expected to consistently tag along and effectively never get married himself, basically does the exact opposite, and moreover with a woman that has very reciprocally also, fallen deeply in love with him; and to add insult to injury in your sick and twisted mind Kate Middleton, this very woman is unquestionably evidently African American; exceedingly also, very academic and naturally bright, and similarly qualified in the utmost sense with a very specifically remarkable work ethic, attributes that very obviously are completely alien to you Kate, it's generally predictable with your odiously and naturally evilly; actually thoroughly vile, and undeniably toxically verminous and as well malignantly egregious sort that rather swiftly you quickly resort, to being what, in effect, you abhorrently and fundamentally unquestionably are! Effectively white trash!

Meghan, very instinctively rather perceived by you Kate as inferior to yourself and also others who look like, and similarly think as you do; this despite Meghan's significantly and undeniably far better academic status to your own - History of Art, the effectively so Mickey Mouse university degree clearly for dullards that you got at St. Andrew's - a situation on Meghan's part complemented by an ability, deeply steeped in a distinctly and likewise irrefutably constructive work ethic; someone who never brags about her genuine achievements or herself; or never ever sought to put you down, Kate; when, as a normal human being, she could quite easily and understandably have done so!

While essentially, in marked contrast, and basically from the very outset of Meghan's actual appearance you Kate Middleton, it's quite honest and truthful to say, have been most unrelentingly envious of and actually thoroughly sickeningly odious in your own and equally encouraged through both your Palace flunked and media sycophants that you handsomely bribe to evilly castigate in every conceivable and most ongoingly so, the woman you endemically hate because you envy her, very evident in the conscious awareness that you can never be like her in a million years!

And in truth Meghan has done nothing to actually deserve any of this! And it's rather obviously so, to anyone with a functioning brain in their head and who knows how to properly use it, that your sick sociopathic behaviour Kate is your undoing, and quite clearly will have no meaningful impact on Meghan, who unlike you Kate Middleton, will carry on being happily married to her very reciprocally loving husband Harry!

The wider world will in time come to know that William has actually dumped you Kate and all this banal shit about your laughable and mysterious operation is just that. Just for once tell the truth that this sociopathic psychopath Queer who knocks you about is really the distinct cause of your serious problems! Not Meghan, Harry or their, as you perceive them to be "nigger" kids!

(C) Stanley V. Collymore 10 March 2024.

[woodohwanedandproud]

@applestorms #yes yes absolutely #idk to some degree generally i try to approach stories on their own basis at least initially #e.g. focusing on DN in terms of characters rather than distinct questions of ethics like whether or not light is actually doing good etc #but. recently i think i’ve been questioning that a bit #it’s just hard to separate it out entirely even if unintentional y’know #also it drives me nuts when people do the ‘uhuhuhuh um acktually. 🤓👆light was right’ schtick #no he was fucking not!! #it is core to DN imo that light very rarely has to actually interact with his victims #to see them for their humanity or personal mindsets or lives #the ways in which they might’ve been pushed to crime one way or another through the circumstances of their lives #idk it just falls into that classic mindset of seeing criminals as ‘doing evil for evil’s sake’ #and refusing to see the very real human motivations that exist behind every crime #ultimately light is completely unwilling to engage with any moral quandaries because of the nature of his mindset surrounding KIRA in the #first place & the selfish motivations he personally holds #ironically he sees himself in the exact way he refuses to see any of the people he passes judgement on #sighh idk. is any of that coherent #again yeah it’s hard to piece this out fully w/o good context of the japanese justice system #but also like… i mean light is killing american criminals too. by proxy he is almost undoubtedly falling for the same racist bias inherent #to the american justice system #and any other biases racial or otherwise present in justice systems worldwide #or even outside of those justice systems i mean yeah he does some ‘research’ or whatever for most kills #and only tries to target the worst of the worst at least initially #but c’mon #they say it in series— the crime rate starts dropping incredibly once KIRA is well known to the world #how low do you think light ends up dropping his standards? esp once mikami gets involved #note that his reaction to mikami’s claims is never ‘that’s wrong’ but always ‘that’s too soon’ #he WAS planning on getting rid of all the so-called lazy and useless parts of society at some point #there are flaws inherent to light’s approach yes but he’s also kind of fucking terrible regardless #he does not respect or connect with the rest of humanity in the slightest #light sees himself as being above the rest of humanity, as the peak ideal that everyone should strive to be. once you start getting rid of the most egregious offenders, how soon does the mindset transform? when you start killing off everyone that isn’t like you? it’s a blessing, frankly, that light only reigned for 6 years. i cannot imagine what the world would’ve looked like if he had a full lifetime of that kind of power @moonlarked (OP) read your tags and you’re absolutely right! tbf death note is super fucking vague about what light “counts” as criminality…I dunno if he researched the American prison system or whatever when killing Americans but death note doesn’t seem to know either! like yeah he absolutely killed war criminals corrupt politicians evil rich people etc etc but i think the sense of dehumanization is really important here

yeah death note is very much not interested in breaking the status quo at all or meaningfully criticizing the police system for obvious reasons (it’s a crime thriller that has no interest in being anything but entertaining) but i think it’s interesting to expand on the implications of the characters with the ideas of totalitarianism and state sanctioned violence in a death of the author kind of way

(obviously i am coming from a western viewpoint, if anyone familiar with the japanese criminal justice system wants to go more in depth with this feel free to, I’ve definitely heard interesting ideas in that regard)

[princesssarcastia]

alright.  i’ll say it.  i feel like whenever people try to describe obi-wan as being shorter/slighter/smaller than the clones, its....kind of unsettling, if not quite racist.  the clones are all like 5′7″.  obi-wan is like 5′10″.  why do you feel the need to make them taller. 

and even beyond that its just jarring to read!  like i get that you’re going for some kind of woobyfying dynamic here where obi-wan is delicate and cherished or whatever.  i guess.  but it pulls me out of the story and I honestly respect it less when people do this.

[disneycritical]

Any thoughts on the #ShutUpGringo2022 controversy over at twitter about the japanese encanto fanartist ?? Like on one hand, I do believe it's important to call out skin lightening even in fanart, and the artist apologized and took the criticism in stride; on the other, as latine I understand why many latines feel stifled and annoyed about north americans getting offended on their behalf over and over again

I looked it up and I do have some thoughts...

White fandom's reactions and interactions to Encanto have been frustrating to say the least. And we know that when it comes to social justice, white allies in general have a bad habit of talking over people of color.

From the tag, I could see that most of the tweets were about how most Americans don't know the diversity of Latin America and assume all Latines are brown. Also the whole thing where people were complaining that Pepa is white/white-passing- not realizing that there are white Latines.

The tweets mainly critiqued this ignorance and how non-Latine Americans shouldn't speak about what they don't know and in the process diminishing the impact of Encanto on Latine audiences.

Here's the fanart in question:

I can see where people would mistake this as whitewashing, even though it's just a muted /pastel color palette Though I will say that Isabela, even with the color palette is lighter but I digress.

There were some conversations about Latines being fine with the fanart even if the artists lightened the characters or erased their ethic features. While this isn't the thoughts of everyone in the discussion, I will say that that is a bit of a slippery slope. But that's a conversation for another time.

I think this tweet really gets to the heart of the frustration felt by Latine fans:

-pink

TW: the upcoming image contains racial slurs as well as stereotypical depictions of race

While I agree and understand these comments, I had the misfortune to see this in the tag as well (TW: racial slurs):

Yeah... Unfortunately, the anti-blackness jumped out (I've since reported the tweet and blocked the account). There's really no reason for this type of imagery or language when black people weren't even the main ones making the accusations.

I bring this up because I think it really highlights how global antiblackness is and that non-black people will use any opportunity to throw black people under the bus. As I mentioned above, I do think that it is important to prioritize Latine voices in this conversation; however, we also need to be cognizant of the prejudice that still exists in Latine cultures.

It's also pretty egregious considering there are black Latines in the movie...

-pink

[powdermelonkeg]

Hello! I saw one of your fmab reblogs on my dash and in the tags you said that Zelda was a franchise guilty of the « our heroes are good bc they’re heroes » trope, esp ww, oot, botw, and tp. If that’s not a bother, could you elaborate on why these games make you think that? I’m not criticizing at all, I’m just genuinely curious as to what in these games brought you to that conclusion. Thought I would ask but you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. Have a nice day!

Without going on my "Hi the Hyrulean Royal Family is irresponsible at best" rant, I'm gonna give the really simple breakdown:

Twilight Princess is the least egregious offender, Wind Waker is the most.

Twilight Princess: Arbiter's Grounds is never addressed. We don't get told anything about it, but it's very clearly a Gerudo temple, a holy place, that's been converted into a torture prison. More on that here. There's also the fate of the Twili; we're told by Lanayru that the "dark interlopers" were banished, but Midna says the following line:

Not "descendant of the criminals."

Descendant of the tribe.

The interlopers' entire tribe was banished for what they did. A tribe includes old people. It includes children. Regardless of if it's a community as small as Ordon Village, or a whole race as big as the Gerudo, this specific line is pretty damning.

But it's brushed aside because the interlopers were after the Triforce, and the goddesses are good...right?

Ocarina of Time: First of all, the Hyrulean Royal family's influences are EVERYWHERE. How many dungeons need Zelda's Lullaby or the Song of Time to open?

They even control the water levels in the Zoras' own lake. That rubs me all the wrong ways, but hey, the Hyrulean royals are good, right? We love Zelda, and she'd never do anything bad here—it was probably instated by her parents or grandparents.

The fact that these are called, specifically, "temples" though? Yeah...

And then the Gerudo. Regardless of what you think their relationship with Hyrule was before the civil war, because Ganondorf is the bad guy, it's suddenly okay to infiltrate their village, shoot their guards, steal their stuff, then raid their temple. Link isn't just ignored for doing this, he's actually respected for it. (Yes, I know, the Gerudo locked up a handful of carpenters, and they're thieves. That's a whole different problem about how the Gerudo are handled)

Maybe if it was a case of Link going to the front gate and delivering a direct challenge, sure. And we really don't like to make Link into the bad guy, I know. But if this happened in any kind of real setting, do you think it'd fly?

No consequences.

Wind Waker: EVERYTHING. OKAY. EVERYTHING.

"Oh no, Ganon's back, we're going to DROWN HALF THE POPULATION AND DESTROY EVERYONE'S HOMES"

Daphnes orchestrated this. He's the "good guy" to the very end.

Where are the Gerudo? We get a passing mention of "rival pirates" that Tetra's fighting against, but we don't know who those are.

This happens right after OOT, too. The Gerudo's water source is a RAVINE. Do you really think they can swim?

What about the Zora? They were forced to FLEE THE WHOLE WATER SYSTEM. Or the Gorons, how many of THEM are left?

Where's the Sheikah? What about the forest the Kokiri called home—they had houses too! Where are the Deku Scrubs?

What about animals? Horses, cows, fish?

The entire world FLOODED. All that's left are MOUNTAIN VILLAGES. And Daphnes is the hero here?!

...I have very strong feelings about Wind Waker. I adore that game for making Ganondorf more than just "haha evil man bad" but I never liked the KORL.

[banjjakbanjjak]

WIP WEDNESDAY

I know full well its Thursday 11am. Do I care? No. But thanks for the tags last night @amywaterwings @nick-eyre @xivz and @fight-surrender (unlike you, I’ve thrown accountability out the window, into the streets.)

What have I been working on? Nonsense at this point.

But a little snippet from the chapter coming today for Wayward Prince (personally one my favourite chapters):

Baz would admit, he was not the most egregious, but that wasn’t a fault of his, it’s just his personality. Maybe Snow and he were just fundamentally incompatible as people. Which would be fine, if Baz wasn’t mildly disappointed by the fact that this was first man his age that he had found attractive: Snow of all people.

Much like the reforms that decriminalised homosexuality that came out of nowhere from the Mage, this attraction he felt also came out of nowhere, and frankly, he had no idea what to do with it except act like a prick.

I also have a WIP I abandoned last night after being hit with inspiration for tomorrow’s prompt (Crack):

“You sent that poor sod bloody flying,” Snow says, “No human could have done that.”

“Snow, you’re seeing things,” I say as dismissively as possible, “took too many hits to the head?”

“I know what I saw,” Snow fires back, “It was like that baseball scene in Twilight.”

“I can assure you there I am nothing like anyone in Twilight.” Honestly, I am offended by the comparison.

“Yeah,” Snow huffs, “because it’s not Movie Magic Bullshit!”

I still have some shame left so I’m not going to tag anyone in this....

[homunculusrune]

➳ Permanent Starter Call | Relationship ad

So this is specifically for isola muses who would like to have meaningful or long-term relationship/arrangements with Prisoner! It’s not necessarily a Necessary Permission just to interact with Prisoner- I’m pretty much okay with interacting with anybody! This is more of an interest call for plotting out an interaction if they haven’t met yet. 

I’d ideally like to interact with a lot of people, because Prisoner at least at this point is pretty reactionary and survival oriented. He also has maybe a lot more issues than he’s had the time or environment to parse.

Prisoner is the nameless and voiceless (but highly opinionated) protagonist of the roguelike game Dead Cells, where he has been stuck in, more or less, a groundhog day loop in an ever-shifting setting populated with undead monsters. He’s been fighting for his survival, and dying a lot. His ethics are colorful in the name of survival, but his heart’s in the right place. 

cause his head’s not, geddit? ha ha.

➳ CONTENT WARNINGS

Prisoner comes from a rather dark and upsetting game. The world as he knows is an island ruled by a tyrant king who held a bloody inquisition and genocide against his own people in an attempt to curb the rising tide of a mutagenic, zombifying disease known as the Malaise. While egregious examples will be tagged accordingly, Prisoner’s experience- and elements of his trauma- come laden heavily with themes of incarceration, execution (especially by hanging), torture, illness, body horror, blood, violence, and the desecration and burning of the dead.

If these are greatly uncomfortable for you, it is entirely up to you if you’d rather we don’t interact, or would like to interact but ask that I keep one or more topics away from how he interacts with your muse specifically, please communicate this. 

➳ FRIENDS

This is easy to achieve but does not go very far. Prisoner is fairly wary of intentions for the environment he was used to living in, and, also, kinda losing his mind a bit in Spirale for there being more than seven living people who are not trying to kill or exploit him. Prisoner can be summarized as friendly but mistrustful so most people who hold a few conversations with him, or just stick around one way or another, will get on his good side, by virtue of watering the horrible wilting plant that is his sense that he’s a real person.

He may or may not unexpectedly drop some of said issues on you if you get into conversations with him, depending on his mood. The world he knows in general, and the specific path he’s beaten through it, are rather unkind and dark, so if you’d rather keep things light, this is just something to communicate on OOC. (see content warnings; while in-character these things might pop out of the blue, out of character is another story- I am more than happy to discuss and will pretty much always forewarn you if Prisoner’s mood is swinging for the morbid.)

He also has a soft spot towards small animals or children so if your muse is young, cute, or seems that way he will at least want you to be okay. (and, yes. this includes monsters. this is a guy who occasionally secures the company of large one-eyed carnivorous/bitey grubs... and puts little bows on them. His sense of cute is not everybody’s.)

Prisoner’s pretty willing to run small favors or hear out friends (is not opposed to quid pro quo arrangements either, even if they’re pretty loveless) but if the arrangement seems exploitative he may ditch on you. If you’re in trouble, he’s likely to help out, even if he doesn’t necessarily like or trust you that much- other survivors are rare where he comes from. 

➳ SPECIAL SLOT: HOUSEMATES!

Prisoner is in House 112! Mostly, I’ve operated on the idea that he has come and gone at odd hours at best and not dropped off any personal belongings- thus making it maybe a little hard to tell if he’s there at all except that someone may have poked around or swiped food- but if your muse lives in the same house in Fibonacci Ward, please let me know anytime if you want to interact on that front!

➳ ALLIES / TRUSTED

More selective than casual friendship; this is a situation where Prisoner’s actual loyalty rears its head and it generally comes down to that he genuinely believes that you aren’t going to use him. Being used is a major concern / fear of his; he has pretty good reason to believe his entire existence was meant to be a means to an end for another person, and then personally spent an uncertain amount of time working for someone who proved to be using him for selfish gain and then abandon him in the lurch.

Other people who are synthetic beings, or who have been exploited/used somehow may be quicker to earn his trust or at least his compassion. 

At this level you will almost definitely be privy to a lot of Prisoner’s exciting personal issues and he may even be willing to not pretend that he’s joking about them. 

To have Prisoner’s loyalty means that he will not only work very hard or risk injury to help your muse, he may actually be willing to die for it- as he’s used to a respawn system much like Isola’s, he is potentially willing to use his own death as a means to an end. 

➳  ENEMIES

This can range from the frivolous to genuinely serious. Prisoner is generally averse to authority, has a habit of viewing upsetting or macabre situations opportunistically, and can be plenty abrasive or flippant; if your muse takes things very seriously or is personally offended by his attitude I am absolutely game to play that out. It’s also worth noting as someone who lived much of his life at the hands and abuses of a criminal system, he is generally not a fan of persons of the law, though he can overcome that reflexive discomfort, his reflex is to be suspicious and wary first and foremost.

At the same time, he does hold himself to standards, and will also dislike or not get along with people who needlessly attack or bully innocent entities. 

Generally, if Prisoner is attacked or feels threatened, he’ll throw down at least as long as it takes him to get out of the situation. That said, most people Prisoner considers enemies, he will maybe avoid or argue with, but is unlikely to sabotage or want them to die.

The exception is...

➳ HUNTED

In his home canon Prisoner maintains a great deal of animosity for the King of the Island, a person who served as his “original host” and who he was created.. for? out of? in a way he is not himself totally clear on.

It’s a nice summary to say that Prisoner spent most of the initial run of the game actively trying to hunt the King down and kill him, and is not deterred slightly by the revelation that the King is, at the time, in a catatonic state.

Once you really earn Prisoner’s hatred, he is a very hard enemy to shake, and he will not mince words. A really great way to get into this category is to repeat previous trauma- basically, trick, trap, or persuade Prisoner into an exploitative arrangement, especially if this involves somehow tampering with or causing him to second-guess his memories. The Collector went from ‘someone Prisoner is decently fond of, or at least considers a friend’ immediately to ‘bro I would stab you in the parking lot of a White Castle’ once Prisoner realized he was being exploited by Collector, even for an ostensibly noble goal (making a cure for the plague)- he has zero tolerance or patience for this.