#that makes so much more sense than dis-cowing

[hppjmxrgosg]

my dyslexic fucking ass has been pronouncing "discowing" wrong for years. YEARS.

it's disco. wing.

not fucking /dis-cow-ing/. ughhhhhhh.

[langfield]

do you think vinh was actually in love with safi? i know he starts doubting that he ever was in chapter 5, but if he wasn’t actually in love what do you think his true feelings for her were? emotional attachment maybe? on safi’s side, i think it’s interesting how even after knowing about vinh’s statement about maya she still decides to hook up with him for a time (only to eventually stop sometime prior to the game?? maybe they had another falling out idk). their relationship in general is just very fascinating to me lmao.

god, the safi-vinh dynamic is certainly one filled with intrigue because of all the intense emotions attached to the people within it ; aimed at each other and also at the bystanders whom haunted around their not so defined relationship. there’s just so much baggage attached to them, you know? mostly painful things and a general sense of betrayal or regret, creating a potion of this general wishy washy bullshit that’s hard to parse through … more so in safi’s case than vinh’s, but i’ll touch upon that later! as for your question about vinh and his true feelings, well.

maybe he was in love with safi once upon a time. maybe the fact he believed that he was in love with her is really all that matters. i suppose it depends on what your definition of romantic love and utter devotion is. it’s undeniable he cared fiercely for safi, enough so to become jealous of max ( safi’s object of obsession ), swear off serious relationships in hope she’d want him back, and to engage in a general meddling within her life to make sure she comes out of situations as unscathed as possible. i mean, he schemes to steal a cow skull and then proceeds to throw it through her windshield in an attempt to save yasmin’s and safi’s relationship … it is very extra of him to do, in fact it’s a literal crime, and the game has both max and safi acknowledge the intensity of said action in episode four. we see the memory of the hedgehog he proudly displays on his desk, the carelessness in which safi treats it, her ‘i’ll buy you another one if it breaks’, and how vinh simpers beneath that offer because he doen’t want a new one, he wants this one, the one safi gave him : a gift that was likely unprompted, some sort of surprise maybe, given to him on a whim and cherished better than any other possession he owns. we also see how he breaks it when she dies. then there’s photos upon photos of safi on his phone and it’s implied he takes pictures after they sleep together and -- that isn’t even touching upon how he practically gives up on himself after her death. the mask drops, he starts trying to branch out and find acting gigs elsewhere, wanting to leave caledon forever, and there’s a sense of raw anger and loneliness he feels when she’s gone. he stops hooking up and pushes everyone away besides max, whom he clings to, and it’s a lot, right? there’s love there. obsession, probably. in many ways he’s still the ‘puppy’ following safi around like gwen said, only without maya this time. he waits and stews and he wants, certainly, for her to love him … but was it purely romantic love? who’s to say!

i think vinh wanted safi as his girlfriend before, maybe when things weren’t so tense, and he still believed that fiercely even when he stopped wanting it. i don’t think he knew where his feelings started to dwindle into something less excited and more resigned, or when he started looking for someone else. his priority remained with safi and with yasmin and thus there wasn’t a lot of time to dissect his heart, a rather vulnerable act he already struggles with anyway. he’s a repressive sort of man. he doesn’t do a lot of introspection because he has an act to maintain, a reputation to follow. but i do believe that by the time double exposure takes place, vinh’s love for safi has indeed shifted because his attraction to max veers on something that isn’t purely sexual. there is an undeniable interest, both in dead and living world, that he’s either embracing or squirming away from … i do not think vinh had many crushes at all when he was in love with safi. i don’t think he allowed himself that luxury, because he didn’t want to move on from her, or put himself off the market in case she wanted him again, in bed or in some profound, loving sense. lots of waiting. lots of surrendering, ‘she’ll come around, we’ll make up’, and hoping despite himself. so his romance with max proves to me that vinh is somewhat right in saying ‘or i thought i was’ when talking about safi and being in love with her, because he was before, but he isn’t exactly in love with her now, if that makes sense? i’d say an emotional attachment is a good title for what they have by the time of the games events.

( i do not wish to diminish vinh’s feelings, but i also think there’s a case to be made that he was rather desperate when he thought himself in love with safi ; there was a lot of insecurity within him back when he was a student, weighed down by the fact he was poor and not your standard run-of-the-mill white man … as an adult he scoffs at his acting abilities and wields his power as head of abraxas with a rather tight fist, as though it’s the only control he’s ever had before. it’s rather clear his only two friends were safi and maya and that vinh hasn’t had any since them -- was desperate to stay on their heels despite the fact he was never really apart of whatever they had. it’s not a stretch to speculate that vinh was, perhaps, a cocktail mix of loneliness and desperation rather than strictly in love with safi. maybe confused his all-consuming need to be around her as desire, or maybe just enjoyed feeling wanted by safi enough to mix his wires. after all, why was it safi he was in love with and not maya? vinh also uses sex as a means of coping, as seen by his rather active sex life in game via hookup apps and reggie, so maybe his sex with safi was just that. coping. in it’s own way. regardless, he did love her, or so he thinks so, and to me i think that’s enough, speculation aside )

safiya’s side of things is much more difficult than vinh’s, who is more obvious about his feelings towards her than he thinks he is. there are some brief contradictions, like how it’s stated that safi doesn’t care for vinh ( which is true ) and yet she also acknowledges that when she split apart and lost herself, all that was left of her was moses, lucas, gwen, and vinh. we know that moses and gwen matter to safi, or mattered, and that at one point safi might’ve admired lucas … so where does that leave vinh? if she doesn’t hate him like gwen or lucas now, and if she doesn’t cherish him like moses or max, why is he still apart of her? what does that mean? is it just a metaphor for their times with maya, and how safi will always be connected to that past with vinh because of her love for the caledon’s personal dead girl? was her sleeping with vinh about maya too? or did she actually care for vinh once, albeit weakly and casually, and did that fleeting moment of affection count when she vanished into everyone who’s ever thoroughly affected her life? and, as you said, it’s so fascinating that she hooks up with vinh at all post maya death … it feels strange and odd and unlike her. even in their intimate picture together after fooling around she is nothing but angry, disinterested, her underwear and bra are already back on ( if they were ever off at all? ) and while that’s on account of safi just hating photos, i also think it’s a testament to how irritable she finds vinh’s presence when stuck in it. it’s not a happy photo really, even vinh’s expression is a little red-eyed, forced, like he was likely wasted the night prior. i wouldn’t be surprised if safi was only able to be with vinh if she was … you know … literally out of her mind drunk or high or what have you.

though, that’s just speculation of course. my vague take on things is that safi went to vinh whenever she was partied out or if she was feeling particularly destructive that day ; choked with self loathing over her mom or maya and so sex with vinh was a means for her to feel even worse. some sort of self harm, some sort of outlet where she could be particularly cruel and evil without consequence, because vinh would take it and roll over -- could even be her way of controlling things too, like vinh with abraxas, because we know vinh has no issues with being led around in the bedroom, so that’s some food for thought. i don’t think she thinks about it after or remembers it much … she really doesn’t think about vinh unless it suits her or if she needs to. i always notice how, in episode four, safiya immediately knows what max is talking about when she asks if safi’s ever transformed into amanda, gwen, or lucas. she owns up immediately, confesses, and understands intimately what situation max is referring to. but when max asks about vinh and the phone, there is a brief moment where safi just stares blankly at her -- like she’s thinking about it, like she doesn’t even remember, before it finally clicks after a beat. either she wears vinh’s metaphorical skin a lot ( which, to be fair, she does pretend to be vinh a lot in game ) or she literally thinks of him so little she’ll forget everything about him in minutes. both are likely! she doesn’t even recall what type of alcohol he likes, calling it bougie japanese brandy ‘or whatever’ … and can’t be assed to remember his phone’s pin number exactly, only vague details about a magician scientist that she clearly thought was boring and lame when vinh told her said story, if her hostility and complete forgetfulness is anything to go by. for me, it’s easy to get caught up in a ‘safi did care! she had to!’ angle about vinh, although the game repeatedly shows you over and over again that she does not. she doesn’t even care that max kissed him really, if anything, she’s more jealous of vinh being with max given some of her remarks :

( i know, technically, safi’s ‘come again?’ is more nervous than jealous per se … but there is a certain air to it, especially given the ‘i can be your new boyfriend’ comment as seen above lol. if she loves max and doesn’t care for vinh, i can only imagine how she’d feel about their romance in particular! )

and, of course, there’s that part in episode four where safi can disguise herself as vinh in order to tear lucas a new one. i enjoy that part for many reasons! seeing how safi feels so much more comfortable in someone else’s skin than her own is fascinating and makes for good foreshadowing … but there is also the reveal of her opinions on vinh, unabashed and shameless, when she is finally giving him an ounce of thought :

it’s interesting! she doesn’t care for him, really, doesn’t loathe him like lucas or gwen or her own mother, but there’s a level of vitriol regardless. she thinks him fake. she thinks him a coward. she thinks he’s scared of facing consequences and that he only acts in his own self interest and she hates every bit of that. while safi can confess to doing maya wrong and hating herself for it, she never allows vinh that same courtesy. even says as much to max, claiming that only she had the humanity to regret her choice while vinh apparently didn’t. and yet … she doesn’t hate him? doesn’t feel strongly towards him? he’s still apart of her, a large part, and she can get along with him fine on crosstalk if she so pleases and she can hate his guts but, when the raw truth is revealed, she apparently feels nothing towards him at all? it is fascinating to think about is all. how she doesn’t wish him dead but doesn’t care if he’s alive either despite everything they’ve been through, even though she hates gwen and lucas and her mother more. it’s rather mean, though that’s what makes it so complex and interesting. it shows that safi only ever cares ( and oh, does she care fiercely, obsessively ) for a very slim group of people, and that when push comes to shove, everyone else can fend for themselves for all she cares. she would protect moses and max in a heartbeat, without thought, and the piece of her within them tries valiantly to keep them safe by locking them away from the world ( another thing to dissect, certainly! ), but she doesn’t really extend such empathy towards the innocents caught in her crossfire. she may be tormenting lucas and gwen specifically, but everyone else was going to be collateral damage and safi was fine with that. at least a little bit. vinh falls in that category of inevitable damage, i think, despite their closeness and despite their history, and you can tell that’s what really wounds him at the end of things. safi couldn’t even torment him, didn’t have the want or energy to do so, he was valiantly apart of her and safi didn’t even care about that. very interesting! it’s also heartbreaking in many ways to see two people who should’ve been able to lean on each other, who should’ve loved one another, be nothing but strangers at the end of things. an example of how tragedy doesn’t always bring people closer. sometimes it drives you worlds apart from the one you should be grieving with, which can be seen in other life is strange games, most notably with chloe and joyce, i think.

anyway! tldr : it’s complicated and worth exploring. there are many ways you can interpret their relationship and i highly encourage everyone to find what angle is most interesting to them! and i don’t blame you for finding their dynamic fascinating because it’s easily one of my favorites in double exposure … i don’t think of it often, but it’s always lingering in the back of my mind. regardless, i hope this word vomit is helpful! if i brought up more questions than answers, i do apologize. but thank you so much for such a fun question <3 it was an absolute blast, and tickled my brain enough to pump this out asap.

[amorremanet]

For Fandom confession ask game: I think jiang cheng loved Wei wuxian in a more than brotherly or platonic way but didn't have the emotional knowledge to recognize it and that's why it hurt him so bad when Wei wuxian defected from the jiang sect and later went off lan wangji because Wei wuxian was supposed to be his person and he left him behind

Y E A H

YEAH

And this isn't even me being amatonormative about it, because it doesn't even have to be romantic or sexual to be an intensity that is beyond what is typical of siblings or best friends or sworn confidantes. I posted once about how Jiang Cheng embodies Jo March's reaction to John Brooke asking to court Meg in Little Women:

“Of course not. It would be idiotic! I knew there was mischief brewing. I felt it, and now it’s worse than I imagined. I just wish I could marry Meg myself, and keep her safe in the family.“

IF ONLY HE COULD MARRY WEI WUXIAN HIMSELF AND KEEP HIM SAFE IN THE FAMILY!!

Of course, if you are interpreting this in a romantic/sexual context, there is SO MUCH to unpack there, especially re: his resentment towards Wangji, and it is outrageous to me that it's not one of the top Jiang Cheng ships.

[theloganator101]

The Great BNHA Review: Potential

So I'm actually gonna be splitting this into four parts and then one more wrapping up how I feel about the ending and the overall series. The topics I'm going to talk about are the following.

The potential the characters had and how Hori squandered them.

The world they live in and how things are done in society, only for nothing to really change in the end and for things to not make sense.

The morals and messages it tries to convey.

And then (REDACTED).

Anyways, let's get going with Potential.

With a cast of characters as interesting looking as they were and the glimpses of personality we saw, like Jiro thinking she has to choose between being a hero or a musician, or Shoji and mutant discrimination. You would think that with how interesting the class looks, that they would get some role in the story or their own respective arcs to expand on their characters.

Except that's not what happened.

The main focus most of the time either falls on Izuku, Bakugou, Shoto, and sometimes Ochako. So that's four out of twenty students that gets the spotlight while everyone else is regulated to minor characters who are only brought in to fights.

Which is honestly kind of disappointing because many of them look to have stories waiting to be told and can be good characters! Because I wanna learn more about Sero, I wanna learn more about Hagakure, I wanna learn more about Shoji. But now that the manga's over, that's not gonna be possible.

This is especially terrible since in the final war arc half of the fight is just fucking flashbacks to expand on some of the characters fighting when it should've been something covered earlier in the manga instead of hyping Bakugou up. It all just feels too little too late and makes things cluttered and unorganized.

And then we have the villains.

They were kind of cool when they got introduced and had a lot of potential to challenge the heroes. To really make them open their eyes to how flawed their society is and why it needs to change. They could each have an upbringing that brought them to where they are now and why they wanna join to make a difference. They could be some compelling and intriguing antagonists for the heroes to face.

... Except we don't get any of that.

What really hurts the villains in this series is how Hori tends to flip flop between making them sympathetic and their heroic counterparts wanting to save them, and making them so cartoonishly evil that the villains from the POWERPUFF GIRLS comes off as more compelling compared to them!

And it's like... pick one or the other Hori! Either they're victims of society or they're just irredeemable! And what sucks the most about this is that they HAD something going on! They could've rise from losing AFO and promise to make a change for the better! The My Villain Academia part shows how this was possible!

But instead they ended not in a bang... but a whimper. they all pretty much died in the end or confirmed to the very society that hurt them so what was the point of trying to redeeming them?

Then finally... we have the main character himself. Izuku Midoriya.

Oh how Hori utterly failed you...

You started off so promising in the first two episodes, You could've been a quirkless hero to make the message of anyone can be a hero really have an impact. You could've rose from your pain and suffering and show everyone what you can really do.

But sadly that's not what happened. You were given a quirk that hurts you, nobody really helps you with it, you're forced to work with your bully and never grow out of the mindset that he's awesome, every adult you associate with has failed you in some way, you're forced to distance yourself from your friends so Hori can have his Cash Cow Triplets, you're never really challenged in any unique way other than "just punch your problems away", and ultimate... you just became a watered down version of what you started off as with no introspection whatsoever.

I have never seen a character so stagnate in their arc and development in such a series before, only beaten recently by Vaggie in terms of just never growing or learning anything else.

Izuku really deserves to be in a story with an author that can utilize his potential to the fullest and give him the love and attention he deserves, because this series and Hori just wasn't it.

As for the Pro Heroes, they really were nothing in the end. All they can summed up as them just saying.

"Our society is bad, it's up to the next generation to make things better in the future. We need these teenagers to fight in wars because only they stand a chance compared to us bumbling adults!"

That's all that I get from them.

Stay tuned for next post where we'll look into society and how it's flawed, and what the characters do to change (not really) any of it.

[northwest-cryptid]

Wait a second... does Mabinogi's ecosystem even make logical sense?

Okay listen, I know that technically speaking "nothing dies in Erinn" but you and I both know that's a load of shit. Animals "knocked unconscious" literally drop meat. We see foxes hunting chickens, we see wolves hunting sheep. I understand that a lot of this violence is explained through the lore of Fomors and such. However that being said it doesn't make sense. If animals were just becoming aggressive why don't they attack anything else?

Now you could say that it's as simple as the fact that other things aren't around. If we're looking purely at Tir that much is true, there are only Chicken near the Foxes, there's only Sheep and Dogs near the Wolves. Though if we look at Dunbarton we see an array of wildlife from Wisps, Bears, and even Imps, to Chicken, Rats, Cows, and Foxes. Yet the food chain seems to be completely undisturbed by this. We don't see the Spiders hunting the Sheep, we don't see the Wolves hunting the Cows, we don't see anything fighting the Bears or vice versa. These animals may be aggressive due to plot reasons but I think that logic is faulty. I think they're pulling a fast one on us, because we can actually examine a very specific food chain in action here.

By that same token, if we do look at how Mabinogi's ecosystem actually works, does it make any sense? Sure on the surface it absolutely does. Foxes hunting Chickens? That's true to life, and we could say the same for Wolves and Sheep. That being said however, we need to consider an important aspect of any ecosystem; that being that there's an established balance.

Yes we do actually see the Chicken and Sheep and Dogs fighting back against their predators. However that only accounts for mainly the natural animal life. If we expand that to Wisps, Imps, Kobolds, Skeletons, Trolls, Ogres, and various other overworld life forms who venture up out of dungeons or even just live on the surface of Erinn. How are these populations kept in check? They don't have any natural predators... other than... no wait- it can't be.

Were we summoned here to keep balance?

No I'm serious, there are no natural predators for most of the life that could be considered a "monster" by conventional means. With even most of the more "monstrous" animal life having no real competition in the food chain. Bears, Snakes, Spiders, Coyotes, etc; they don't get attacked randomly. The only natural means of keeping them in check would be either a lack of food or their prey animals killing them off.

We have heard stories, and even see in some cases that the humanoid races of Erinn do fight these creatures. Whether venturing into dungeons or simply defending the overworld. We don't get to see this naturally happen, but we hear about it and see it in quests and during the main storyline. I feel like it's safe to say that people in this world do fight these creatures, BUT only defensively. In most if not all cases of this it's a defensive measure; the sole exception I can think of being during dungeon runs. There's no natural predator of these monsters. Nothing that outright aggressively hunts them for food or sustainable material reason. Which means when these populations aren't wildly out of control and these creatures aren't being pushed out of their natural habitat and fighting for space on the overworld; they're not having their numbers kept in balance.

Though, there's good reason for this, these people are mortals; not all of them are strong enough. Not all of them have a knack for picking up new skills, learning and improving quickly; becoming strong enough to reliably and efficiently fight these beings. The Milletian is actually renown for these traits, held in high regard for not just our combat prowess, but our ability to pick up new skills and techniques quickly; and master them seemingly overnight without much issue.

Were we in fact really brought here to simply uphold the balance? Taught to fight and kill so that we could become the natural predator of the monsters that roam the world? Were we conditioned by not only the gods, but the people of Erinn to become a natural part of the ecosystem in order to stop the rampant over population of monsters?! ARE WE NOTHING BUT PAWNS IN A LARGER SCHEME?! IS THE TRUE WAR BEING FOUGHT VIA ECOLOGICAL WARFARE?!

Sorry I got a little carried away there. Seriously though I think we were brought to Erinn to become an apex predator with no rival; only when we did too good of a job the gods realized we could surpass even them. This prompted Morrighan to need us dead because we became so good at what we do, we became a predator to the very thing that felt otherwise untouchable. This is why the gods continue to challenge us, some of them wish to hone our skills through the tribulations thrown our way; others wish us dead for the threat we now pose to them. There are those among them who believe we need to become stronger, to bring balance to the ecosystem of the gods; the predator at the very top of the food chain. Meanwhile there are those who fear what would happen if we attain that power; and we have shown numerous times to already have that power without needing to become a god to obtain it.

On even a more mundane scale, consider how we're basically conditioned by the people of Erinn to partake in the life skills. Everything from weaving to blacksmithing has us traveling into dangerous areas that surround us with these monsters. A lot of the materials we need are dropped directly by these monsters, we've been given an incentive to fight; to kill without regard for population numbers or ecological impact. We don't think of it as anything more than gathering the materials we need to craft- what exactly is it we're crafting again? Oh that's right... weapons, armor; tools meant to make us better at killing.

So what happens when a predator is out of control and can't be stopped? Well if we look at a simulated situation in which we have a natural ecosystem and introduce an apex predator with no superior in the food chain; we will find that eventually they will kill off every other living thing until going extinct themselves due to having no natural food source left. Of course the gods want us dead, we're an invasive species that grew far too quickly and is out of control; Morrighan specifically likely feels personally responsible. She loves human and thinks they're special, right; and it makes sense that she would bring us to Erinn to fight for them. The problem is, looking back at that simulation, we could easily observe a situation in which entire populations go extinct due to demand outpacing population growth. If more and more Milletians come through the soulstream and begin hunting the foxes, wolves, bears, and spiders for materials, experience, drops, etc. At what point does Tir lose it's natural life? At what point does the sheep, dog, and chicken population grow out of hand because we upset the ecosystem. Does the price of chicken and eggs drop due to the over production? Do we stop breeding sheep dogs to protect our herd since there are no longer wolves? Does this effect the grazing habits of the sheep who would grow in number to the point they could turn the grassy hills of Northern Tir Chonaill into barren dirt mounds? At what point does Tir become a failing town. Would they have to migrate south to Dunbarton? Would people lose their jobs? Would the economy be in shambles because of the changes in the ecosystem?

If we think about just how powerful the Milletian really is, even in the early game; we begin to see an interesting pattern. The biggest contribution to Mabinogi's ecosystem, the one thing keeping it in check; the one thing that ACTUALLY keeps the balance?

Boredom.

We can see a sort of bell curve in the interaction between specific animal and monster species and the Milletian as they go along their journey. Early on the Milletian may wipe out fields of foxes, wolves, and spiders; but once they become powerful enough to begin fighting Bears and Wisps most of the other lifeforms are safe; they're simply not worth it. The Milletian would likely find it boring or even pointless to expend the effort to fight a wolf or spider that isn't outright attacking them, again going back to acting on self defense rather than predatory hunting. This could be said about almost every creature that exists outside of the dungeons, but even specifically for those that exist almost exclusively within dungeons.

As we examine a power increase in the Milletian, pushing them higher up on the food chain; we also see that they ignore the life that falls too far below them. No longer concerned about the creatures who couldn't put a dent in their armor, or would only take a single blow from their weapon of choice. There comes a point when spending the energy, durability, ammo, or even just time; on fighting something becomes a cost that isn't worth whatever the Milletian would gain. It's why the Milletian seeks out bigger and tougher prey animals/monsters. It's why they inevitably will end up hunting the gods, and it's exactly why the gods want us dead.

[news4dzhozhar]

Boston Marathon bombing victims rip Tsarnaev’s latest legal appeal

**So due process and the right to appeal is a "cash cow" now? This whole attitude is why some of the appeals are being filed in the first place. There SHOULD have been a change of venue, Judge O’Toole SHOULD 100% be removed, 2 of the jurors lied in their pretrial screenings so the penalty phase SHOULD be retried. **

BOSTON — Boston Marathon bombing victims say Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s attempt to get his old legal team back together is a waste of taxpayers’ money.

Tsarnaev, locked up in a Colorado Supermax, has an Aug. 21 court date in Boston where his lawyers will begin to try to keep him out of the electric chair.

That status conference is before federal Judge George A. O’Toole Jr.

“Who’s paying for this?” said Liz Norden. “He blew up innocent people and we’re told it’s no one’s business to know how much his lawyers cost? It makes no sense.”

The Department of Justice has denied a Herald public records request for Tsarnaev’s legal bill while his case drags on in the courts.

Norden has attempted to make every hearing in a solemn show of support for the victims of the bombing, including her two boys who lost their right legs that terrible day on Boylston Street on April 15, 2013.

Marc Fucarile, woke up in a hospital with his right leg mostly gone and his left one possibly next, said Monday the seemingly never-ending case against the bomber is an insult to the city.

“Stop wasting taxpayers’ dollars just for greedy lawyers,” he said of Tsarnaev’s appeal of his death penalty sentence. “He was already judged by his peers. There should be no question he deserves the death penalty.

“Let’s just cut off this cash cow,” he added.

The bomber has questioned the bias of two jurors in his 2015 death penalty trial and won a partial victory in the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

The appeals court stated “the district court’s investigation fell short of what was constitutionally required” over this one issue. If bias is shown, the court adds, Tsarnaev will be “entitled to a new penalty-phase proceeding.”

The alleged bias is over social media postings about the bombing made by two jurors.

The appeals court has added “regardless of the outcome, (Tsarnaev) will spend the rest of his life in prison.”

Now the bomber is moving quickly to assemble his legal team, with Boston attorney William Fick filing an appeal to return to the case now that he is in private practice.

Tsarnaev is “legally indigent,” Fick writes, and the courts should allow him back on the case “in order to serve the interests of justice, judicial economy, continuity in representation.”

His motion also states attorneys Daniel Habib, Deirdre von Dornum, and Mia Eisner-Grynberg from the Federal Defenders of New York, are on his side of the bench. It’s not clear if all the lawyers are working pro bono or submitting a bill.

The New York group does offer free help to “persons charged with federal crimes who cannot afford to hire an attorney.”

The case remains in the Seaport federal court before the same judge as the alleged bias of two jurors is re-examined, the court announced Monday. Still, Tsarnaev does have a chance to avoid death.

The bombing killed Martin Richard, 8; Krystle Campbell, 29; and Lu Lingzi, 23. More than 260 people were injured and maimed. MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, 27, was shot execution-style days later by Tsarnaev and his brother Tamerlan, killed hours later in a firefight in Watertown.

Boston Police Officer Dennis Simmonds, 28, injured in the Watertown shootout, died in April 2014.

Tsarnaev is locked up in the Federal Correctional Complex Florence in Colorado — a Supermax called the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.”

[fluffypotatey]

I MISSED THE LIVESTREAM PLEASE TELL ME EVERYTHING will it ever get posted in full!?!?!?!

i sense the answer will be “no repost of the live stream” since he hasn’t reposted the others

HOWEVER!!!!! THE MUSIC IS UP NOW :DDDD

BOTH THE THUNDER SAGA AND THE RE-EDITIONS OF TROY & CYCLIPS SAGA

bur omfg bro the livestream

JORGE FUCKUNG SMILED WHEN POLITES DIED I WILL NEVER FOGIVE

THE ANIMATIC FOR SURVIVE THO!!!!! THAT ANIMATIC WAS SO GOOD AND BRUTAL

THE RENEWED EDITIONS OF TROY AND CYCLOPS SAGAS ADE SO GOOD (imo Cyclops saga sounds sO much better)

HE FUCKING CHANGED FHE TEMPO OF SURVIVE TO MAKE IT SOUND MORE TRAGIC

EUYLOCHUS DID OPEN THE BAD OF WINDS AND I FUCKING CALLED IT

The opening of Act 2 was so fuckung cool, but it makes you believe Ody is dreaming and then you think “wait, what if this is a flashback” and then WAIT NO ITS SIRENS!!!!

Ody was so sexy in Different Beast. idk something about him giving into his ruthlessness™️ and letting go of inhibitions (FEEL THE RAIN ON YOUR SKIN), being unapologetic about it is just….🥵 i mean…no yeah i did mean that

Scylla 😍 idk who voices her but it’s so fucking gorgeous. and the animatic with her killing Ody’s six sacrificial men was just 😍 idk i might have a problem

MUTINYYYYYYYY

HEART WAS TORN INTO SHREDS

never have i ever felt like I was screaming at ghosts more than when Eurylochus, starved and parched and on the ropes of desperation, slit the throat of the blessed cows of Helios

and then Zeus coming in to nail the coffin by giving Ody a “choice” on who to punish. something something the Greek gods’ exception to the rules are when they deem it fun to play with mortals. something something Ody refusing to be Athena’s tool merely made him a tool for any god to play with since his champion status was revoked (what, who said that?)

ANS THEN HE ENDED IT WITH THE TRAILER

tTHE THUNDER SAGA TRAILER WAS THE ENDING ALL ALONG

ANS FHEN JOGE GOES “and there ya go!” WITH A CHEERY SMILE AS IF HE DIDN’T JUST STRIKE PSYCHIC DAMAGE ON ALL OF US

he’s lucky he’s a cutie pie :T

also the ending melody of Thunder Bringer reminds me of understale. this just a random thought but one that popped into my head while listening

[munsons-maiden]

hi there!! I read through all your theories and thoughts about eddie in st5 and I loved them, idk if u still think Eddie will be back or not (I hope he is) there is a pic going around :

The word on Twitter is that this is after the time skip, so this means that the gang cleared Eddie name (?) idk but it slims the chances of him being back ig...i would love to know your thoughts on this <33

Hi! I'm so happy you liked them! 😊🖤

And yes, I'm still absolutely convinced that Eddie will be back - for real, not in a dream or flashback or anything. The memorial - if it's an actual leak and not a fake (I think it's real but you never know) - doesn't change any of the hints Netflix and the Duffers have been dropping ever since the finale of season 4, there's just too many of these hints to not bring him back. There's two ways the memorial with Eddie's name could fit into the picture:

Eddie hates Hawkins. It's become even more evident in the book how much he hates that place and the small-minded people living there, and his greates wish is to leave it all behind. That was two years before season 4 - before they started their witch hunt on him. I don't think that, even with his name cleared and even if they'd celebrate him like the hero he is, he would want to stay in a town that was more than happy to turn on him (and has always hated him even before that). It would make sense for him to decide to "stay dead" and leave it all behind, start over somewhere new.

If he truly died in season 4 and won't be brought back in season 5, he'll get his own spinoff series, the way Loki did in the MCU. I don't know whether you read my thoughts on that, but the Duffers originally planned one spinoff series but decided to add a second one during the filming of ST4. It makes sense for that to be Eddie - we know the Duffers fell in love as Eddie as much as the rest of us because of how Joe portrayed him, and adding to that, he's THE fan favourite. Which is another interesting factor for Netflix because he's a cash cow. They knew that and gave him his own novel, I highly doubt they'll leave it at that. If there's one thing Netflix is interested about, it's money, and Eddie means money.

In short - yes, I still believe he'll be back 😁🖤

[cryptvokeeper]

So Lauren, what’s that tag you keep filling with shitposts and cow videos?

So a short forever ago @reverseblackholeofwords said they wanted more info about godherd, my current original story idea that has completely taken over my life, and i figured i really should try to explain it cuz like, if i cant that probably means I should rework the story to make a bit more sense to someone outside my orbit of brainrot.

So for the elevator pitch: Godherd follows the journey of Peck, the newest caretaker of a gigantic, colossus-sized Bull known as the Aurochs, revered in a bronze age-inspired world as a god, but that is slowly weakening as civilization establishes itself.

If that sounds interesting and you wanna see the full explanation, or some very very good art I commissioned from the incredible soggedupfrog and comfymoth, see below!

What is Godherd?

The easiest way to start is that the name Godherd is very literal. There are Gods, theyre being herded. The Gods are all roughly based off of animals that early humans formed relationships with, whether they be domesticated, hunted, or otherwise used for resources. And theyre all big. Like, really big. Like more mega than megafauna big. Like shadow of the colossus big. They're animals not only big enough to ride on, but to live on.

One such god is The Aurochs, a giant bull. And living on it is the Oxpecker, the Aurochs' priest of a sort; one part caretaker, one part herdsman, one part human representative of the God to mankind. Each of the different god has their own 'priest' that lives nomadically with it, guiding and protecting it as it travels the world. The story begins when the previous Oxpecker dies, and the Aurochs chooses a new Oxpecker, who goes by Peck for short.

Peck

This is Peck! She has no idea what she's doing!

Peck is the newest Oxpecker, and she is really feeling how big the shoes she's filling are. The Aurochs chose her? Not a wise sage or a priest who's trained at a temple for years, but her, some common kid just barely into adulthood? And sure, she was a cowherd with her family, but those were normal, non-diefic cows, not giant god cows that dont even listen to her half the time! Needless to say she was already gonna be stressed, and that's all without the plot nipping at her heels.

^tfw God is real and right in front of you but is as inscrutable as ever and you’re just trying to keep it alive but it seems determined to just walk into the most stressful situations possible and you are barely an adult (teens, but the life expectancy is like 30 here).

The Plot Shrike

This is Shrike! However bad Peck is doing, she’s doing worse, emotionally speaking.

Practically speaking she’s not doing too bad actually. As the self proclaimed priest for a pack of dieties called the Direwolves, she leads this group of giant wolfdogs into towns and settlements, taking food and killing livestock, and generally just draining the area of resources through overhunting before moving onto the next one. Which like, sucks for them, but she’s doing just fine! Really. It’s fine. She is totally fine and normal and not deeply afraid of her Gods waning in power as they become more domesticated and less wild and lashing out in an effort to grow belief through fear, of course not. Look, she just hunted down and killed a God for hers to devour that’s how normal she is. AND they’re actively hunting down another one, would a not fine person do that???

Wren

Picture to come eventually but… Wren! The most sacrificial lamb of them all.

Yeah so uh, that god Shrike and the Direwolves killed and devoured? That was hers. A mega Megaloceros aka Irish Elk. Very early on Peck comes across her and the Megaloceros’ corpse and it rattles her pretty bad. Really sets the tone for the incoming ‘twilight of the Gods’ that is happening. Wren doesn’t actually do much in the story past that point but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a deep love for her as the one metaphorically haunting the narrative. I mean, she’s been a priestess of the Megaloceros longer than Peck’s even known what one is, she’d trained and studied for it her whole life, and now it’s dead. She did everything right and her god still died. And if it can happen to her, what chance has Peck got?

Finch Fisher

Kingfisher! (Do not listen to Peck his names not Finch. It’s the language barrier.)

Caretaker for the Sailfish and another priest for a God Peck and Aurochs come across in their journey. Like Wren, he’s been doing this much longer than Peck has. Unlike Wren, who probably would’ve been very happy to meet a less experienced priest and give some friendly advice, Fisher is generally annoyed by Peck. Not in a mean way, just in a kinda unimpressed by her way. He does respect her at the end of the day though, and helps her out a bit when they cross paths.

Lark

Lark my beloved. If Fisher and Wren act as foils for Peck, Lark is a foil for Shrike, and they never even meet until the act 2 I havent fully developed yet. Another caretaker for a group of deities rather than an individual, this time a herd of Giant Bison, or Bison latifrons, and another caretaker by choice rather than by duty. But where Shrike is...Shrike, about all that, Lark is very carefree about it. He loves his fuckin job, dude. He is so thrilled to be doing what hes doing and is having a great time doing it. Peck will meet him later in the story and, without spoiling too much, he will give a much-needed perspective about the relationships between the Gods and their civilizations. If this story didn't depend on Peck being mostly solo and never staying in one place very long, she and Lark would probably be best friends.

G█████ E████

Don't worry about it! I'm still figuring out this part!

Sedge

Sedge! I literally came up with him two days ago! I have no idea where he'll go in the story yet but he has a giant bee god and they have the weirdest fuckin relationship out of any of the gods/priests, no I will not elaborate. Also fun fact, Sedge is the only title not based on a bird!

The World

The world of Godherd takes inspiration from various prehistoric and bronze age cultures. Mainly ancient Mesopotamia and Sumer, but also alot more, which you can probably already see in Shrike. It's a world still in its infancy, with civilization still developing, and that's a big part of the themes of the story.

The Themes

Again, trying not to spoil too much on a project I am still outlining, but major themes I want to focus on include religion/faith, the relationship between humans and nature, and the way cultures develop and change. As I mentioned, the Gods of Godherd are all representations of animals humans have some sort of relationship with. Cattle and Dogs, Fish, Deer and Bison. These animals have been culturally significant, or we have depended on them in some way to provide food, shelter, protection, etc. This reliance on them gave them a sort of sacred status in the world of Godherd, and they never lose that reliance, but through the process of civilization forming that aspect becomes controlled. Animals get penned in, hunted down, domesticated. What happens when you domesticate your deity?

And I cannot stress enough that none of it is out of malice or cruelty on the part of humans, this is not a story about 'humans and industrialization bad domesticating animals is slavery'. This is done out of love. Shrike's fear of the Direwolves weakening isn't because people stopped believing in/worshipping them. The worship itself is what's weakening them. Their love and care sands down those sharp edges and turns something wild and uncontrollable into something tame and known.

And the Direwolves aren't the only ones feeling the effects, they're just the ones who have been affected the longest. We've had domesticated dogs for 30,000 years after all, compared to that domestic cattle are practically new.

There's only one Aurochs. Where's the rest of the herd?

The Vibes/Inspo

Here are some things that i've been drawing inspiration from in terms of storytelling/themes;

Shadow of the Colossus (kinda obvious)

Ghibli films, specifically princess mononoke and Kiki's delivery service, and a teensy bit spirited away

This one specific moringmark comic which kinda kicked off the entire concept tbh

Scavengers Reign

Legend of Zelda BOTW

and WOWIE that got very long and somehow I could STILL talk more abt it thats how passionate I am about this. I want to write a book or a comic script for this eventually but again, im still outlining right now. Hey, maybe i'll finish in time for NaNoWriMo, who knows! Either way I'll update this with any more art I commission (cuz i do plan on commissioning more) and ya know if you ever have questions or wanna know more about my bird blorbos and their giant animal friends i would love to talk about them so... 👉👈

[mizusswordtip]

Down The Rabbit Hole ⚝ Killian Jones x Reader (18)

find the story on wattpad

summary: Alice's plan to overthrow the Queen of Hearts is thwarted by a dashing pirate with a hook. Years later, after the curse is broken, they reunite once again.

masterlist

We'd been walking for what feels like hours when Hook, who's been leading us, calls out over his shoulder.

"Up ahead. We'll find the compass just over the ridge." I give him a nod to continue walking which he returns. Emma and Snow catch up to me.

"Do you get the feeling he's leading us exactly where Cora wants us? That this whole thing's a trap?" Snow whispers conspiratorially. I purse my lips, having been wondering the same thing the whole time. If she'd asked me yesterday, I would've jumped on that bandwagon without hesitation but... it doesn't make much sense.

"It's defiantly a trap." Emma concurs without hesitation.

"I'm not so sure." I murmer over my shoulder. Emma looks at me in disbelief.

"What? Don't tell me you trust him?" She asks, brows furrowed. Before I can answer she fires off another question. "How do you even know him?"

"He was in Wonderland. Cora forced him to blackmail me into leaving Wonderland." I explain shortly, not having time to get into the nitty gritty of the details.

"So why should we trust him?" Emma asks rhetorically with a suggestive raise of her brow.

"We shouldn't. But... I have a feeling that he's not loyal to Cora." I explain. Despite my own gripes with Hook (selfish, killer, pirate, thief) he doesn't strike me as someone who'd willingly align himself with Cora unless backed into a corner. Or maybe I'm just trying to see the good in him when there may be none. "But keep your guard up regardless." Hook comes to a stop at the tree line. I walk up to stand beside him and let out a heavy sigh at the sight in front of me. A giant beanstalk that reaches up to the clouds.

"Let me guess. The compass is up there?" I ask with a knowing look at Hook.

"Oh yeah." He answers, sending a sly smirk in my direction.

"So we climb?" I ask through an accepting sigh.

"It's not the climb you need to worry about. It's the giant at the top." He informs. I look at the others who look at the beanstalk with differing levels of concern. I take one last deep breath.

"Let's go then."

It only takes us another five minutes to reach the base of the beanstalk. Somehow, it looks even more daunting up close. I shield my eyes with my hand from the sun as I look up.

"It's a little freakier than I remember from the story." Emma comments.

"Reminds me of death." Mulan mutters to herself. My brows furrow.

"Encouraging." Snow snarks.

"A beanstalk reminds you of death?" I can't help but ask. Hook looks to all of us with a sarcastic smile.

"Well, your compass awaits. Shall we?" He asks with a wave of his arm.

"Wait. If these beans create...portals, why not just pick one and go home? Why the compass?" Emma asks.

"I imagine if there were beans, Cora would have used one already." I surmise with a shrug. Hook looks at me and smirks.

"Right you are love, there are no more. Whatever story you think you know is most certainly wrong." He tells Emma.

"There was a guy named Jack and a cow and something about evil giants with treasure and a golden goose." She explains poorly. What does a golden goose have to do with giants? Is the goose a gold color or is it literally gold? "Or harp." She mutters under her breath.

"Sounds like a lovely tale. But the truth's a little more gruesome. The giants grew the beans, but rather than use them for good, they used them to plunder all the lands. Jack and his men fought a terrible war, defeating all but one of the evil giants. The beans were destroyed by the giants as they died. If they couldn't have the magic, then nobody could. Certainly very bad form." Hook says. As he explains, the more this story sounds familiar to me. My father used to tell it to me when I was a little girl. I remember calling the giants 'villains' and my father correcting me. Told me that the victors get to tell the story, not necessarily the heros.

"Why doesn't anyone just go up and grow some more?" Emma asks.

"Because one giant survived. One that even Jack couldn't slay." I repeat my father's words. Hook nods at me in confirmation.

"And we'll have to get past him to..." He starts.

"The magic compass." I finish.

"Indeed. The treasure remains, and amongst it is the compass. Now it will guide us to your land. Cora has the means to open a portal with the wardrobe ashes, but she can't find your land without the compass. Once we get it, we steal the ashes from her, then we're on our way." I almost laugh. He makes it sound so easy. As if we can simply pickpocket the ashes off Cora.

"How do we know you're not just using us to get the compass for Cora?" Mulan asks suspiciously. He looks at her for a moment before turning his gaze to me.

"I already told you why." Comes his answer. His gaze is so intense, hard to look away from. There's something unspoken in his gaze that I can't read. I turn away from him to face the beanstalk.

"Then we better start climbing." I say, starting to head for the beanstalk when Hook's voice stops me.

"Right, so, I failed to mention that the giant enchanted the beanstalk to repel intruders." I stop and clench my jaw. I turn to look at him over my shoulder with an unimpressed look.

"So are we meant to fly up?" I ask sarcastically. He gives me an amused smile.

"No love. I've got a counter spell from Cora." He says, pointing to the cuff on his wrists before holding his bound hands out. "If you'd be so kind." I walk up to him with a sigh, taking the dagger out of my boot. I grab the ropes and cut them with little trouble. I make the mistake of looking up and seeing the soft expression on his face that I'm pretty sure I wasn't meant to see. "Thank you." He says, sounding genuine. What the hell is going on? It's hard to believe he's being genuine after what he's done to me and who he's working with. Could he actually be genuine? I turn away with a swift nod of my head. "I've got one more of these. Alice and one other can come along." My head snaps in his direction, breaking me out of my wandering thoughts.

"I thought you said you only had one other?" I ask. He points down to my sword.

"Yes but that sword you're holding wards off all magic so you don't need a fancy cuff." He explains. I sigh and then look to the others.

"You guys need to decide who then." I tell them with a sigh before turning my attention to the sky.

"Go on, fight it out. Don't be afraid to, you know, really get into it." Hook says sarcastically before turning his attention to me. "Afraid of heights?"

"No. I was imagining what it'd be like to fly." I say before looking over at him. My words are only half a lie. I'm not afraid of heights and I was thinking about what it'd be like to fly. My concern is over whether or not my body can handle the climb. Despite feeling a lot better than before, I'm still malnourished enough that passing out is a possibility. He looks like he wants to push further but simply nods his head, accepting.

"Ladies, in this world we are slaves to time, and ours is running out. In other words, tick tok." Hook says to the others. I look over to see Emma approaching, which doesn't surprise me. I give her a small smile that she returns as Hook places the cuff on her arm.

"I'm glad you're coming along." She tells me.

"Why's that?" I ask with a little laugh.

"Well if I trust anyone to kill a giant, it's the dragon slayer." She says with a raised brow and a smile.

"Actually, it's called a Jabberwocky." Hook corrects lightheartedly.

"That's not- not this time." I stumble over my words but he understands what I'm saying if his raised brows are anything to go by. I smile smugly before starting the climb up the beanstalk.

[whatiwishfanfiction]

Chapter Five is up!

Preview:

It’s rare that a fantasy comes true just as you’re fantasizing about it, but that’s just what happened when Once-ler’s wagon rolled over the next hill. Not only did the scene happen to be extraordinary, but it came at such a coincidental time of desperate wishfulness that Once-ler was ripped straight from his daydreams and his eyes filled with tears immediately.

PEACE! FREEDOM! INSPIRATION! it screamed all at once.

Such a heavy feeling of serenity and joy descended upon his soul that he knew immediately he was where he was meant to be. It took less than a second to decide this was home, and he would never change his mind for the rest of his days. A smile spread across his face, the kind that was so big it hurt.

The valley he overlooked was a forest, but not like the forest at home. He’d never dreamed a forest could be so different. Where the one behind his farm was small, dry, and gray, the one below stretched beyond the horizon, filled with the brightest green grass and dark blue water full of lily pads, duckweed, and cattails.

Wispy trees and bushes bloomed with pink, yellow, and orange silken foliage that filled his nose with sugary sweetness. Instead of being empty and boring, as if animals would rather be anywhere less desolate, it buzzed with bees, butterflies, frogs, and fish he could see even from his vantage atop the highest hill. A sense of adventure and endless discovery pierced his heart as Once-ler's wagon rolled deeper down into Heaven.

So this was how forests were supposed to be. Every choice he’d made up to that point had been right after all, if it had led him to this. When the wagon reached the bottom of the hill, the yodels died on his lips, and he threw his guitar in the back. “Come on, Melvin,” he said, leading the mule along. The forest only became more interesting from there.

Ho-li-ah Ho-le-rah-hi-hi-ah Ho-le-rah-cuckoo Fol-de-rol, laddie right Toor-a-lie-addy

“Wait, who’s singing? Oh, wow!” Once-ler stood in awe as he watched a trio of fat yellow and orange fish dancing atop a rock, using their fins as legs. They held hands, spinning with their eyes closed, occasionally kicking out their fins or breaking away to do an Irish jig.

“Bizarre,” he said, checking over his shoulder just in case it was some kind of trick. “Does anyone else even know this exists?”

A yellow butterfly soared past with wings the size of book pages. The dark spots on its wings looked like a cow's. It landed on a flower where a frog strolled by on its hind legs and started milking it into an acorn cap.

"Oh my goodness!" Once-ler hopped up and down. "I think I just stumbled upon a completely undiscovered habitat!" After his life at home, he'd begun to think there was no such thing as anything new or exciting.

"Magnificent," he said, tears filling his eyes as a swarm of orange swans flew over his head under sun-tinted clouds. They soared, then dipped, taking a dive alongside a waterfall that roared ominously.

~*~

Follow me for the rest of the rewrite! (I'm going to post new chapters every week).

I can't wait to get to the part about the Lorax. I'm going to write him so much differently than the movie that made him a useless smart aleck. I always thought he should be more mysterious and fae-like. Gonna try to make it like something Tolkien or Holly Black would write. This story is really fun to write!

[legacygirlingreen]

May 1889 // Farmer Sebastian Sallow x Reader (part 1)

The prologue.

Warnings: parent death

Word count: 800

Masterlist here

Life is emotionally abusive… 

When their widowed mother dragged her and her younger siblings from the only home she had ever known, she was angry. Kicking and screaming, she fought the decision all the way to the United Kingdom.  Their mother brought the remainder of their broken family to the Scottish highlands, where she’d grown up to move in with the kids' dying grandmother. Having spent her childhood rarely visiting the small hamlet of Feldcroft, it hardly felt like home, but instead a strange land in which she was dragged a handful of times. 

The rugged countryside with its cold winters and windy coastline were a far cry from the ever stretching fields of lavender on the Mediterranean she had grown up with. The way the sun cast the lovely bronze on her skin, despite its more fair nature - thanks to her mother’s northern roots unfortunately - always made her feel alive. Moving to a place that hardly experienced a summer at all, instead of the many months of warmth, only further added to the cold and isolating feelings she bore at the loss of her father.

Her father, the ever charming and playful man, had met her mother while visiting London for work. The two, having made such a profound connection in only a matter of days, lead to him whisking her away from the UK to marry and live with him in the south of France. Their whirlwind romance had always been an epic tale of love, devotion and laughter, told over the dinner table and as a bedtime story. 

His passing had been so sudden. The man unfortunately had been killed for his research on magical plants, by a traveling rogue wizard. Later apprehended in Wales, the British ministry reached out to offer condolences. Pairing that with a pain existing in a place without her love, it made sense to her why her mother had left France, despite how much it hurt her and her siblings. 

As they finally arrived via the floo flame in Feldcroft on a late May evening, they were greeted by the sight of their very old, sickly looking grandmother. Their grandfather passed away a few years back, and they’d revived the owl. Their mother left for the funeral alone, before she returned to take care of them. 

Standing in the brisk May air with her siblings, and a simple suitcase housing all her possessions she tried not to grimace. Rickety looking houses, ruins of a castle nearby, cows just simply walking around unattended. The place looked… interesting. 

As her Scottish grandmother made her way down the line reuniting with her younger siblings and mother before making the way in front of her. Reaching out, sensing the panic and fear rolling off her in waves, her grandmother simply offered a small hand, allowing her to take it instead of forcing affections on to her. A fact she appreciated. 

Allowing her grandmother to cup her palm in her old hands, she leaned up to kiss the old woman on the cheek in greeting, before continuing to scan the area. At the house next door she could see broken fences as well as a man grumbling around trying to force sheep back inside. Distracted, she stared until her grandmother broke her out of a trance.  

“That’s Solomon Sallow, former auror. He’s an… interesting man I admit. Has a set of twins in his care a few years older than you, but they are off to Hogwarts this time of year. Their parents died a few years ago, poor things. Anyways, come along dear, you’ll have the loft entirely to yourself” her grandmother said with a small smile and a comforting squeeze before dropping her hand. She tore her eyes away from the gentleman having successfully used his wand to repair the broken fence around his sheep. 

“Did you say former auror?” Her mother, Evelyn, asked her Gran, as the old woman nodded. 

“Yes. He’s a bit grumpy, but it’s nice to know someone who can put dark magic in its place is nearby” Gran said, hoping to ease the tension. 

“Well… that’s comforting to know. Did you hear that y/n? She said that he takes care of twins not much older than you. Perhaps you could make a friend or two” her mother offered and she shrugged, wanting to curl up in bed and sleep. The fatigue of missing her father daily still weighed heavily and after traveling she just wanted to rest. 

In hindsight, she wished she had paid more attention to the conversation between her mother and grandmother as they ushered the family inside, as it told all about the boy next door…

[noonmutter]

Blow

DWC Feb 2024

Day 3: Bargain/Myth

As the conversation got less animated and Terry became more antsy to be on his way, Rumpole brought out one final set of papers. The lazy farmboy in him groaned, but outwardly, all Terry said was, "Seriously, I don't know any other plots. Th' closer y' get t' th' cities, th' less I even visited, let alone--"

"No, no, we're quite done with that, don't worry! I just had one other thing to bring to your attention before you got on your way. The Queen is refreshingly forward-thinking, as you've no doubt noticed by now, and as our beloved country is a touch low on…well, almost every resource…"

"Rumpole. I'm very tired, and I've already missed my deadline. Please."

"Oh, all right, but you're really spoiling the fun." With a small huff, the lawyer handed Terry another of those fancy papers bearing the royal seal, and he cracked it open to read. This one was a full-length scroll that hung down somewhere near his ankles, and it was absolutely covered in writing. Disgustingly dense fine print, on first glance, but once he found a few strange images, resembling nothing so much as a series of blank templates, he went back to the beginning to actually absorb what he was reading.

It wasn't that Terry couldn't follow legalese; he was in many respects a brilliant man, even if he'd never admit it or acknowledge it. He just really, really hated double-talk and wordplay this dry. It was at least fun to do that in poems and stuff. Doing it when you were talking about border disputes or who owned a cow was just infuriating. But as he read, he started to recognize certain phrases and terms from Rumpole's speech, which he'd also only partially listened to earlier in this meeting.

Much of it was what they'd already discussed about the dearth of citizenry remaining to lay claim to the various lands that lay barren and abandoned throughout the kingdom. What followed that was the rules for staking such claims, which were surprisingly thorough for all that they boiled down to 'If you're alive and have satisfactory proof of your identity, here you go.' There was follow-up regarding the payment of taxes, but that thankfully didn't appear to be retroactive. Their new queen had figured out right away that that would've been a civil war right out the gate, at least. In fact, it looked like there was a small stipend involved for the first year or so to help reestablish homesteads properly. Tess didn't seem to want people to grab the land and wander off. That, Terry approved of.

Once he got out of the homesteading stuff, things began to take a turn toward the matter of population, castes, and territories. The collapse of several houses due to the Northgate Rebellion and the fallout from the Shattering had been well-known in general, but this document appeared to be making it official. Even if it hadn't been from those events directly, it'd been over a decade since then; lots of the blue-bloods had scattered, died of old age, or just started over elsewhere. Those houses were gone, no scions remained to claim them, and with a heavy heart the Crown blah blah sure whatever dead nobles can't own anything so now the Crown's taking it back...makes sense. Still likely to be fighting about that, but less than there would've with a bunch of cousins and shit vying for scraps. Tess was already doing better than her great lump of a father at this, by his reckoning.

His reading slowed down significantly once he got to the next segment, where all those pictures sat in the middle of the paragraph. After a few seconds, his heart briefly stopped.

"Rumpole."

"Eh?"

"This is a proclamation o' th' establishment o' new houses."

"Ah, you've hit the nail squarely on the head!"

"I am not a noble, Rumpole!"

"That, my boy, is where you'd be wrong!" Reaching across the desk, the barrister plucked the scroll from Terry's stunned hands and rolled it back up. He didn't need to read it to talk about this part; he'd been warned well in advance that Terry Lias-Ambroce was going to be a bit touchy about it, and he'd come prepared.

"Like I said before, we've got a bit of a drought on almost every resource at present--and that includes nobility, wot? And as the Queen is a forward-thinking queen, she seems inclined to set things up before there's bunch of nasty squabbles while various up-and-comers try to do it themselves. Gilneas has had quite enough warring and destruction and we could all quite use a few years where we don't have more Gilnean deaths than births, eh?"

Terry made vague grasping motions at nothing with both hands, eyes wide. "I am not a noble!"

"Well, you're still technically correct, of course. No signatures, no change, eh?" Rumpole grinned, even while Terry barely reacted at all. "But you have gone and established yourself as a good candidate by the Crown's reckoning."

The lawyer began counting off on his fingers. "You have a strong military background with a nearly mythical reputation, good sir Lighthound. Did you really think that wouldn't reach the eyes of what remained of the court? Gilneas has precious few heroes, let alone living ones. Minor though you might think you are, you went and became one, eh?"

A second finger raised. "And, of course, you've the ability and the intent to lay claim to a not insignificant portion of land, here. And, if I'm not mistaken, you intend to take care of it properly, as a son of Gilneas ought."

The third finger went up as Rumpole fetched a specific sheet from the file he'd brought with him. "And then, of course, there's all these fascinating connections you've established. Both the Crusader-Lord and the Knight-Commander of the Argent Crusade; a retired Ironforge senator and patriarch of Clan Truthhammer and his wife, the High Priestess and Ambassador; Captain Sirenspawn and General Rutherford of the Grand Army of the Alliance... and those are just the direct ones. I've got records of you hobnobbing with Turalyon and Alleria, and attending the wedding of the First Arcanist Thalyssra and Regent Lord Lor'Themar..."

I told Dwyn I shouldn't have been there! Damn it!

"...and that's before I even touch on the indirect ones you have through your brother, and, of course, your wife."

"My w--"

"Well of course your wife, man!" Rumpole practically giggled at Terry's expression, situated somewhere right in the middle of furious and horrified. "You may not be a noble here, but through her, you're a noble there." He picked up another sheet from the file and gave it a little swat. "She went through all the picky nonsense to legitimize herself through the Doppelganger Decree of 28! Clever woman, that; lucky you, eh? And all clean and clear-cut on paper, that makes you the Baron of the Brightwood to your Baroness, eh?"

Of course Terry knew Shedwyn had been busy with all that. He'd been under the impression it was largely to spite all the jackass nobles who sneered down their noses at her, more than any real interest in the legitimacy of it all. Neither of them particularly wanted to be nobles, when nobles acted like that. He still wasn't sure what had been the tipping point: the third time somebody offered a tenth of the land's value to "take the burden off her pretty shoulders," or the one particularly offensive jackoff who'd commented that if she didn't have so much land, she might be able to deal with the "infestation" on it. He hadn't meant feral worgen.

Somehow, once Shedwyn had been formally and properly declared the Baroness of Brightwood Grove, Terry had still never truly connected himself to the thought that by marriage, he was therefore Baron.

Until now.

And he was pretty sure she'd done it to spite him, too.

It'd been three years.

She was never going to shut up about this one.

"The existing title isn't even a requirement for eligibility as far as the Queen is concerned, mind; it simply helps! A bit of borrowed legitimacy to add to your own impressive pile, eh? So. What do you say?"

"Come again?"

"Well, it's not something you have no say in, establishing your own house. Perhaps back in the day, when kings and queens tossed out titles like roses at a tournament, sure, but this is a very particular situation. Queen Greymane wants nobles who are Gilnean to their core; who are ready, willing, and able to do the work to bring our kingdom back to its former gloomy glory. And you, Sergeant, fit that bill, by my eyes and by the requirements she provided. But at the end of it all, it's your choice. If you are not willing, then the Crown is not interested in enslavement of any kind, even if it does come with prestige at the end of it. It's a choice, not an obligation, eh?"

A choice. One hell of a fucking choice. But this time, it actually felt like a choice; not a devil's bargain, where the alternative was objectively screwing him or someone he cared about. This had been a trap, to be certain, but not a literal one. It was the kind of trap where someone, somewhere, was laughing their ass off.

Terry Ambroce had always been a patriot. Even in his teens, when he was spitting acid about everything Genn Greymane said, did or would do, he did so for love of his country, not for himself. He'd intended to be part of the rebellion at Northgate, even, but everything had gone so wrong, so fast...

He'd learned since then that the fighting wasn't the hardest part. It was putting everything back together afterward. Fighting was easy. Battles had a beginning and an end; swords up, enough people died, swords down. Done. Reclamation, restoration, reconstruction... those went on for lifetimes. They required dedication, not eagerness. Building a nation was already hard enough; rebuilding one was a monumental effort. Holding it together, even harder still.

He'd spent half his life, now, insisting that Gilneas still lived. Even if he could never go home again, he knew he would've sworn on his deathbed that Gilneas still lived. And here, now, he had in front of him the opportunity to do what he'd wanted to do when he was a boy, and resuscitate it. He was already doing the math. Paper was the easy part, proclamations would be welcomed by many and growled about by few. Some of the growlers would inevitably start trying to cause trouble, test the viability of these new houses over and over. He could deal with skirmishers and bandits, but... politics?

---

Shu-fen was irritated. She'd gotten word from the Baron that morning that he'd been discharged, and that he would be picking up his children that afternoon. And yet, here she was, taking over that duty, since their normal escort had already been informed they could have the rest of the day off, and the Baron had failed to appear. It wasn't that escorting the Ambroce children was particularly difficult, as they behaved well for everyone except their parents; it was that she'd planned her day as well as the Baroness's around the exception, and now everything was out of order.

It came as no surprise to anyone, therefore, least of all Terry, when she punched him in the face as soon as he arrived. Part of that was because he'd surprised her, and it was really, really hard to do that, but still.

Once he'd gotten a moment to explain himself, she was willing to accept that perhaps he hadn't deserved to be punched in the face. And once he'd followed up with a suggestion, she actually apologized to him.

---

Shedwyn was worried. Shu-fen had dismissed some of the standard help, which wasn't anything to fret over, but then the Pandaren had received a notice, cursed, and excused herself. None of these things were particularly out of the ordinary--sometimes, shit just happened, after all; that was why she'd hired Shu-fen as an assistant in the first place. But, even after several years running of actual, honest-to-gods peace, she couldn't help but suspect more sinister things, given too much time to herself.

She was just about to go out looking for her when Shu-fen returned home. Her expression was a touch more wooden than usual, even with the tight little smile she was wearing, and that put Dwyn even more on edge.

"The Viscount of Keel to see you, madame."

Dwyn paused. "...The what of where? Hold on, that's not even on the schedule for today, is it?" In a brief, nearly panicked frenzy, she scrabbled through her papers to double-check.

Terry stepped into the doorway behind Shu-fen, who bowed respectfully and ducked outside to go have a good, loud cackle.

After a minute, Shedwyn finally thought to look up, and after another still, she parsed that this was indeed her husband, not some shadowy figure from her past (or his) back to haunt her yet again.

There was a pregnant pause.

"FUCKIN' WHAT?!"

( @daily-writing-challenge @shedwyn @sirdolraan @darbiebot @red-alynore )

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

I've got various TWDG head canons, some which are basically fluff, and some of which are pretty dark.

I wanna say my most lighthearted head canons are stuff like, I definitely think Duck dressed up as Robin the halloween before the apocalypse.

Also he hilariously thinks Lee is cooler than his dad. Considering in his game of detective he assigns Lee the role of Batman instead of his dad Kenny.

While my darkest head canons are stuff like, I'm 99% sure Jolene's daughter was traded to the St. Johns for Danny St. John to "enjoy" by the Save Lot Bandits in exchange for food or something else.

Maybe to really solidify their deal.

I mean. It's awful to think about, but it makes complete sense.

Danny St. John is implied to be a pedo with an interest in little girls, considering he wants to keep Clementine alive over anyone else in the group.

Danny specifically went out to the woods looking for Jolene in order to silence her. Even though there isn't really a reason for Danny to be doing so if he didn't have Jolene's daughter at some point.

I mean, if the St. Johns are scared of her spilling the beans on their deal with the bandits to the random survivors they're hunting, then why didn't they send the bandits after her?

She's an exile from the bandit's group, I feel like if their deal was what they were worried about protecting, the St. Johns would demand the bandits silence Jolene. The bandit's actions is what caused the problem, therefore it's their job to fix said problem.

Not to mention, why else would the bandits take Jolene's daughter in the first place?

She's heavily implied to be close to the same age as Clementine, as Jolene in her delusions thinks Clementine is her daughter.

Meaning that if she was given to the St. Johns, she wouldn't have been used for food, not right away anyways, and they definitely wouldn't have picked a kid over an adult.

It's the whole reason Andy shoots down Danny picking Clementine to be kept alive. Not enough meat on her body to make very much food.

So if the bandits were to the point of giving up one of their own to be eaten, I definitely think they would have given Jolene to the St. Johns.

Which only really leaves one other option. Trading Jolene's daughter away to the St. Johns, not to be eaten, but for some other nefarious purpose. Which can really only be one thing.

I mean, I guess it's possible the Save Lot Bandits just took Jolene's daughter out into the woods to kill her. But we're never even given the slightest hint of a reason as to why they'd do that.

Like there's no ranting from Jolene that they thought her daughter was unfairly using up resources and not contributing anything to the group, or that she'd gotten sick, or been bitten.

And in Jolene's rambles, she heavily implies that both she and her daughter had been sexually assaulted by the men in the Save Lot Bandits, or men closely associated with the Bandits, who could only really be the St. Johns if it's not referring to just the Bandits themselves.

But even if Jolene only knows of the abuse her daughter suffered at the hands of the bandits, that the bandits sexually abused her daughter, definitely means not a single one of them would feel an ounce of shame in trading the girl away to the St. Johns for bonus points.

Not to mention they're definitely cool with cannibalism, considering they're deal with the St. Johns. They can be in denial all they want, but it's obvious that the St. Johns don't have any more animals other than their one cow, and the deal is that the bandits heard people into the St. John's trap.

So yeah, I definitely think Jolene's daughter ended up in the possession of Danny St. John before she died, as horrible as that is.

[amaiguri]

I redesigned my Main Antagonist

Kivihk, the God of Blood and Beginnings, has slowly risen from "antagonist of one story arc" to "main antagonist" and thus, he needs a new design and personality to match.

What was I working with? He had this arrogant, abrasive, "I'm waaay better than you" sort of attitude before. Imagine like... stereotypical misogynist college bad boy who drinks and parties too much and stuff. And he wanted to take over the world because he was an entitled baby.

So. He was evil and boring.

And also, he wasn't wearing enough clothes and this made him LESS hot, imo. I mean, look at this mess...

So then, I fixed him.

Initially, I fixed his second-in-command, Vanya, and gave her an actual tragic arc and stuff. And she went from "boring, evil goon" to "realistic depiction of a trad wife being gaslit into thinking giving birth was her only value, only to be put down for doing the one thing they told her she should do." So, she's this EMOTIONAL MESS and she hates him but she loves him cuz she doesn't think she has options...

Except the Demonic/Eldritch horror version. So her body will eventually be consumed and taken over by him. And she has to just be happy about this... SEE? That's FUN! (And by "Fun", I mean, it's horrific.)

So, next, I thought "Maybe, I'll remove Kivihk from the story except as a force-of-nature villain, with Vanya as his face!" Especially since "God of Blood and Beginnings" sounds a lot like "birth" to me -- so making him more of a feminine villain just made sense. I even started doing some sketches for this potential change -- Below: Vanya as she is now and Vanya as she could be as the avatar of a dead God.

But then I thought about how much editing that would require and died inside...

So I went and fleshed out the last 2000 years of backstory. And lo and behold, my usual trick of "just imagine going through their backstory" gave me a lot more empathy for the kind of people these two would be... And for one: Kivihk would not ACT like an entitled little baby all the time. He would, in fact, be pretty gentle, patient, and nice. He's a God, after all. He's a God who is superior to all other mortals and he has forever to achieve his goals. As I described it to my Discord:

He doesn't hate humans... he just doesn't see them as people. Do you gloat at cows? No. You aren't insane. You DO still get mad at them if they break your fence or refuse to eat the food you give them, though...

So, with this in mind, I went and redrew him to give him that "JRPG Final Boss First Form" vibe. In his human disguise atm, he's got darker skin because the majority of humans in that area have dark skin. But most of my Demons have ashy-silver skin, so that's kinda what I'm going for with his "Godling" form.

To be clear, in his TRUE true form, he'd probably have like 5 more of those black "burned" arms, 6 more eyes, and like 3 flaming halos or something. I also think his God form would be more fishlike, since fish lay a lot of legs, and take a lot of influence from sea angels (since they're clear/white but have a red core and I think that's a great aesthetic for a God of Blood).

So yeah! That's a list of all the changes atm. I'm not even sure if this is the final destination of my changes so if you have questions or suggestions, I am open to them. Thanks for going on this journey with me! Now I just have to do a proper illustration to update this banner already... Hee hee!

[olympusfarm]

You open the well-worn journal. the cardboard front-cover is severely faded. the yellowed pages protest as you open it up. the first page is blank but the second page is filled with cramped cursive handwriting.

Winter 20, Year Two

I really don't know what to put in here. I found this journal in my mailbox this morning, with no real explanation.

So I guess I'll start at the beginning.

I came to Stardew Valley almost two years ago now. I guess I would say my life back in Zuzu city was a comfortable one. After graduating college with a bachelors degree in botany, I got a job as a bartender at a club near my apartment. my apartment was small, but I liked it enough.

It always felt like something was missing, though. When my grandfather Uranos died and left the farm in my name, I decided it was worth a shot. I might as well use my bachelors degree for something.

Life here is good. I quickly became friends with Linus and Rasmodius. Linus has always been nice to me, and I know Rasmodius cares, even though he doesn't show it much. I don't often have time to visit them anymore, but I try to visit them when I have time.

The farm is doing well, and the community center is slowly getting restored. The fish tank and bulletin board have been giving me some trouble though. I've made it to the bottom of the mines and am trying to get to level 25 of skull caverns for Qi. My animals are doing well, I have two chickens named Helen and Hypnos, a duck named Hector, a cow named Helios, and a goat named Pan. I don't worry about money for the most part and I redecorated my cabin recently. I like how it looks.

Other than Rasmodius and Linus, I've been getting closer with some of the townspeople. Abigail is slowly becoming one of my best friends along with Alex, I've come to learn that George is not as mean as he makes himself out to be, Pam really cares about the town when she's not drunk, Emily is very caring and kind, Leah is super talented, Harvey is shy, but cares a lot about the well being of everyone, and Maru is probably the smartest person out of everyone in town.

Shane is the only one I have yet to figure out. Even though I give him tons of gifts and he seems to like them, he still acts so mean to me. He doesn't make any sense. I know there's a sweet side of him down there somewhere.

Regardless, I feel more at home here than I have ever felt.

I think I can really make a life for myself here.

-D.O.

You close the journal delicately and place it in the backpack you brought. You could read more, but it's getting dark and you should head back to Pierre's, where you've been staying for the time being. You'll read more later.

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