#the layer being violence too...the violence of humanity...the violence of creating something just to create more violence with it....

[thermodynamic-comedian]

ultrakill lore enthusiasts (me) when the small machine destroys the very big machine

[cryptid-catnip]

My Interpretation of ULTRAKILL's Story So Far (Mainly Focusing on God and Mankind)

(I didn't know how to insert this into the mythology-esque writing style I have with this post, but it's my theory that blood is the soul in Ultrakill. Demons and Angels both having it despite having no physiological needs and the Prime Souls' circulatory system being the only part of their human forms that remain are the biggest reasons I think this. Also the existence of the Tree of Life stuff)

God's first creation was that of the Archangels, made to serve Him and His will. He gave the Archangels free will. At present, we only know of two of the Archangels, Lucifer and Gabriel. But He was unsatisfied with the angels, and He wanted something made in His image. And so, He made mankind. At this time, He began making more angels, as He needed more servants for His cosmic design. But these newer angels weren't given free will, so better to serve Him.

However, He soon realized that man needed somewhere to go after death. So, He let virtuous and kind souls enter Heaven with Him and His angelic legions. And when He realized that wicked souls had to go somewhere too, He created Hell.

However, Lucifer, brightest of the angels, asked Him why man must be made to suffer eternally for ultimately fleeting misdeeds. In His insecurity for the fact that he could not find an answer, He cast Lucifer into the depths of Hell. He regretted this almost immediately, as he cared deeply for Lucifer. He tried to destroy Hell, but realized that He was a creator, and only a creator, who could not unmake what He made.

He began to seek into the depths of despair.

Around this time, humanity began creating machines powered by blood. God saw this as revolting, with His creations making weapons of war that are fueled by the very souls of those killed.

But He soon discovered that He was a creator, and only a creator. He was unable to unmake what He has already made, furthering His deep despair.

And then, the Supreme Machines were created.

The 1000-THR Earthmover, a war machine made to level entire cities with a single attack and serve and mobile military base and was able to purge intruders by flooding itself with blood.

The Father, even though He knew He could not destroy the Earthmovers, He performed an act of divine intervention. He cast the first Earthmovers into the Violence layer of Hell, in the circle dedicated to violence against Him.

However, egged on by the Hell Exploration Project and the influence of Hell, man continued.

God, seeing that His efforts to stop it were in vain, He made the decision that He would let mankind destroy themselves and begin again.

And it appears that is exactly what happened. God has abandoned Earth, the Angels, Hell, and Mankind, and I believe that he essentially just fucked off to another planet to start fresh.

[akirathedramaqueen]

How would you write a multiverse story into Helluva Boss? Not talking crossovers with other cartoons or other Vivziepop stuff like Hellaverse meets Zoophobia, but just a classic, “Characters meeting different versions of themselves that are radically different.” I’ve always thought it’d be neat to see a potentially evil, yandere version of Stolas meet the main cast, especially Blitzø and Stolas, and just how appalled they’d be at how depraved and insane this other Stolas from another world is. Be a fun way to explore what Stolas was originally going to be before changes were made to the actual Helluva Boss show cause in the pilot, Stolas was setup to be the villain.

Oh hello again! :) Wow, your ideas are flowing!

We would need the premise for the story. How that villanous Stolas would appear in our world? What his goal would be? What would encountering him teach the main cast? Would there be moral at all, or growth, or does it hold an entertaining purpose?

Guessing by your idea that they have to be repulsed by that version of Stolas, I'd say it has to have some moral . . . huh.

How about this? The main characters aren't our canon Stolas and Blitz. The main character is a villanous Stolas.

The Premise

We know that higher demons have their own sigils so that humans with affiliation to demonology could summon them and ask for favors in exchange for, more often than not, a soul (or cake, in case of our regular Stolas).

So, let's say Stolas gets a request from a politician to deal with toxic waste landfills somewhere in California, and he is adamant that it has to go out of existence, not just dump it in the ocean or something. Stolas wants another soul for his grimoire, so he agrees, and comes up with a plan to dump that toxic waste in another universe. He knows that time is no more than infinite amount of worlds which collide and destroy and new ones get created depending on how different versions of future unveil (someone decided to brush their teeth - boom, two new universes, one being the teeth were brushed and the other teeth were left dirty). So, lots of room for someone's waste. But the solution is unconventional and he tries a very complicated, multi-layered spell for the first time.

He fails. Partially. He teleports the toxic waste out to another verse, but also, he is getting dragged by the portal too.

He isn't quick enough to pick his grimoire, so he finds himself in a pile of toxic waste somewhere in the Pride Ring of our universe, without a way to bring himself back.

How exactly that Stolas is different?

He isn't that different from Stolas we know. But, instead of holding onto his soft side, he chose violence, and he'd lost the faith goodness will take you anywhere long time ago.

So he only cares about his own needs. His daughter is silent and getting mistreated. She went through the same hell Stolas once did, with absent parents, staff in place of them, and her only worth in Stolas's eyes is how much she can do with her magic or if she can be a part of some elaborate politics game. His wife, even though she is that same Stella, that same bitch which tortured our Stolas, is fucking dreading him. Blitz from that world puts up with him, but doesn't hide his hatred toward him, and Stolas often uses his assassin skills for his own plans, either in Hell or in Earth, in order to level up his stance.

On the other hand, he strives in that world, unlike our Stolas. He's a well-respectable royal with a good grasp on the court, and means to take Paimon's place one day. He wants to make him suffer.

How would the story go?

Stolas finds himself in the Imp City, and let's say Katie Killjoy was quick enough to make fucking news out of it. Blitz sees the news, and, scared, rushes there, finds a villanous Stolas but gets confused because Stolas acts nothing like his Stolas.

They quickly find out there are two Stolases now, and that new Stolas is infuriated to see how pitiful he is in that other life.

They kind of work together to send a villanous Stolas back to his place, but along the way, a villanous Stolas often impersonates our Stolas, wrecks havoc, creates problems, but also, helps in some cases - let's say, his assertive dominance would help greatly against Stella during divorce proceedings or something.

And with time, during all these adventures, a villanous Stolas might even grow a little. From his perspective, we could explore just how sad he really is in that infitinitely high tower he'd built and lets no one on board, that while everyone respects him and fears him, nobody really likes him. And, as he (reluctantly) helps our Stolas sort out some of his business - just because he hates seeing himself so miserable - he could find himself jealous seeing just how easy it is for our Stolas to get happy, embraced by Blitz and by Octavia, maybe given a pat on the back by Loona or even M&M's.

Finally, they find a way to conjure a portal to a villanous Stolas's home, but even if he whined and complained the whole time about how he wanted to finally get back, he suddently isn't looking forward to it. And on that note, we could leave that story, or, if we'd like a more positive ending, make the crew appreciate his help despite how much of an asshole he was throughout the whole thing, and make him a bit more hopeful about that he probably can make some changes to the people he might feel he cares about. But not every villain deserves redemption, so that's disputable.

So, there's that. I hope it answers your question. Speaking of a villanous Stolas, there's the version of a 'Just Look My Way' song which was written before the Ozzie's episode came out, and it contains much darker Stolas. This is an OG version btw. :) You could check it out to pick up vibes of that Stolas, but tune it to be even more evil.

P.S.: there is a good fic which explores Blitz switching places with his other self, Blitzo, from the world where the fire never happened. I think you might like this if you're into multiverse stories!

[soleilceirinen]

MITO (DPR Ian x Reader) - Part 1

Summary: Ian crossed the threshold that separated our world from the other side and let the blueberry monster in. You are the only person he trusts to help him stop it. What you don't know is that in addition to the monster, he brought Mito with him.

Warnings: suicide attempt and a bit of violence (against the monster mostly).

Note: this story is inspired by the DPR Ian album Moodswings In This Order. This sets in al alternative universe. English is not my first language so sorry for any mistake!

MASTERLIST - PEAKY BLINDERS MASTERLIST

Forests are scary.

Unlike a desert, where nothing surrounds you, when entering a forest you’ll find yourself encircled by a web of branches and leaves creating a barrier between where you are and the rest of the world. As you move on and get into the deep end, it seems that you are crossing the threshold which takes you to another place. The branches are moved by the gentle breeze and from time to time, they let the faint rays of sun pass through. 

Ian entered the forest located on the outskirts of Tower Mills in the middle of the night and immediately he found himself covered by the most absolute darkness. That night there was a full moon but its light barely filtered through the thick foliage of the trees. Not that he cared, he had gone there to be alone, with the intention of ending his life. 

He walked for a few minutes although hours could have passed. Everything seemed the same, the same trees, the same stones and the same grooves on the ground. So he decided to stop, he gripped the gun in his hand until his knuckles turned white. Did he really want to do it? He thought of y/n, who might be sleeping in her small apartment. At the thought of her he felt his eyes filling up with tears, she was the only good thing in his life. Yes, it was the only solution, although maybe…

He wasn’t alone in the forest.

Ian blinked rapidly in order to clear his vision, the tears making everything look as if it were being seen through a layer of water. He heard something creaking somewhere at his right, or had it been at his left? It was impossible to assure it and be completely certain.

He remained utterly still, in silence, trying to hear it again but all he could hear was his own heart beating loudly in his ears. Perhaps it was nothing, some nocturnal animal. After all, he was in the middle of a forest and everybody knows that woods are alive. 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was not his intention to leave this world so agitated. Ian knelt down by some ferns and put the gun in his mouth but just before pulling the trigger he heard it again. 

This time it sounded closer, almost as if whatever that caused the sound were getting slowly closer until stopping behind him. Definitely, he wasn’t alone. Ian could feel the gaze of someone or something fixed on him. The warm breeze ruffled his hair, bristling the soft hairs at the nape of his neck. It was too hot, almost like the breath of something alive. He opened his eyes but couldn’t see anything, he could barely see the tree trunks surrounding him.

Slowly, he took the gun out of his mouth and without loosening the strength with which he held it, turned around and pointed the weapon. 

What he saw left him paralyzed, it was the worst than anything that came out of his worst nightmares. Ian felt the urge to throw up, his mouth filled with bile and without thinking twice he pulled the trigger repeatedly. That seemed to do little damage to the creature, who got even closer, this time letting itself be seen completely. 

Despite the darkness, Ian distinguished a dark figure, too tall to be a human, with long arms which ended in sharp claws. The way it moved didn’t look human either, as if the scene were being seen through a sequence of photograms. 

The creature reached out with one of its arms and grabbed Ian by the shoulder, digging its clawed fingers into his flesh. The sudden pain made him react, he felt a thick darkness taking over him, and all of a sudden he wasn’t capable of controlling his own body. Ian saw how his own arm grabbed the creature along with a strong smell of sulfur and how the creature moved back. It seemed as if Ian had hurt it with his touch. But he was no longer Ian. 

His new self fought against that strange being with a strength never experienced before, as if something were leading him to do it. Without knowing it, that night Ian crossed a threshold, he entered another place from where he returned changed. He could feel the change deep inside his bones, how the darkness had taken over his body and never left, as well as the terrifying creatures that lived in the woods of Tower Mills.

[bestworstcase]

a ribbon of something that popped into my head: when the Tree/Smith is telling the story of the Brothers & says that "balance is not two forces eternally fighting, it's an ecosystem" could that be taken as the narrative actively judging the Brothers for the role they ended up taking on in Remnant? by that I mean, being judged for viewing themselves as above all the other things on Remnant, for isolating themselves from the societies they created and not being A Part of Things. they weren't a part of remnant's ecosystem. never seeing themselves as owing these people anything. this adds a whole new layer to Dark being happy that someone was worshipping him. It wasn't Dark's choice to be that way. It was Light's. this was a fight they'd been having for eons. perhaps Dark obliterated humanity because he was tiring of that battle. imagine how exhausting it would be to have empathy for thousands, millions, and have someone in your ear telling you that they're worthless? if I had to listen to that for an innumerable amount of years I'd probably want them gone eventually too. just so I didn't have to suffer the pain. but he didn't destroy the Grimm. his creations. only the thing he and Light made together.

whatever new world the brothers went to next, I hope Dark's okay. this feels more and more like familial abuse on a cosmic scale by the day.

hey you know what’s really great and also hysterical. about ‘balance is an ecosystem.’

‘the two brothers’ describes the god of darkness as the creator of:

1. the moon.

2. mountains.

3. deserts.

4. storms.

5. volcanoes.

6. earthquakes.

7. the continents as they exist today (he breaks his brother’s supercontinent apart.)

light is vexed by all of this because he considers these things to be ruinous—he accuses dark of spoiling their creation.

but

it means

that the god of darkness created the tides. plate tectonics. weather. eco-diversity. ALL ESSENTIAL NATURAL PROCESSES WITHOUT WHICH LIFE AS WE KNOW IT LIKELY COULD NOT EXIST.

dark is the reason remnant is habitable, not by divine fiat but genuinely a habitable planet. if the mythical division of responsibility is accurate (and i’m inclined to think it is, because it’s written so strongly in light’s favor and if light saw any value in these things he would absolutely have claimed credit for them regardless of whether that was true), then that implies the god of darkness Deliberately redesigned remnant into a world that could survive and thrive without divine intervention.

the god of light made a world by fiat—a world like the ever after, which needed divine agents to tend it—and the god of darkness “spoiled” it. by remaking it into a world that DIDN’T NEED THEM. a world that could only exist in its natural equilibrium, not balanced by force or calculation.

dark understood the assignment. the tree guided the brothers to an empty canvas to learn the true meaning of balance. an ecosystem. a living breathing thing that cannot be planned, only found. light doesn’t get it—light still conceives of himself as the designer, the ruler, the arbiter of balance, and he hates his brother because his brother proved the lie.

what happens to afterans when they lose sight of their purpose? they go home. they ascend. they are renewed and become themselves anew. the tree left the door open for the brothers to return when they were ready.

dark made a world that did not need gods. he made humans and yearned for their attention; in ‘the two brothers’ humans are said to be dark’s favorite creation. he delights in them. and in the lost fable we see that desire playing out through his empathy for salem, his desire to reciprocate, and his cruel retaliation when light convinces him that she lied. and then that cruelty escalates far beyond what either brother could have imagined. dark slaughters humanity—the same tyrannical violence he refused to countenance for eons, destroying the creation he loved best.

does it not naturally follow that he would go home? return to the tree, reflect on his mistakes, and come back as something new? something closer to what he wanted to be when he was still himself, before he let his brother’s warped perspective twist his own?

something, perhaps, less powerful but a little closer to human?

in ‘the two brothers’ a lonely dragon divides himself into two warring halves. we now have hard confirmation that this is only myth, not the true origin of the brothers, and its relevancy to the narrative is purely symbolic.

there are also four very humanlike spirits chained up in those relics, and of the two we’ve met both of them palpably LOATHE ozma but delight in the ingenuity of other humans. and the grimm are drawn to the relics (“something to do with their origins”).

and the spirit of knowledge strains so hard against ozpin’s framing of the narrative that salem’s rightness shines through it like a goddamned lighthouse.

(also ‘gather these magical artifacts and combine them together to bring my dead loved one back to life’ is a pretty fucking standard fantasy grief-gone-wrong trope; if dark ascended and left light behind… like eternal conflict or no, they’re brothers. twins. they have always been together and—because destruction came first—light has never known existence without dark. what would it DO to him if dark ascended and he could not?)

[beewithknee]

of fear and isolation

day 11 of redactober 2023 !

darlin/asher/david (unrequited love)

Darlin’ hung back. A ghost on the wall that always managed to disappear. Never heard, rarely seen. Overlooked.

They enjoyed it that way. Forming limited connections meant less heartbreak further down the road when they decided to leave. People always left.

Watching the two people you were hopelessly in love fawn all over the other made it a little less easy to not care. Apathy was something Darlin’ had spent their whole life in the company of.

Through their parents, their friends, Quinn. None of it had ever really mattered, just adding complexity to their grey life.

However watching David and Asher be David and Asher, now that created reds and blues. It caused dark greens and pale yellows. It wasn’t fair. Why had these two had such an affect on their life that no one had managed to before? Why the two mates who were so sickeningly in love, that it was apparent to everyone?

The Alpha and the Beta were every happy-ending given true form. They’d survived Gabe’s passing, Quinn, the inversion, and come out all the better for it.

Those events… they’d simply chipped further and further away at Darlin’s humanity. Left them scarred, broken, shattered. They would never recover from any of those moments in time. That was the simple truth of it all.

Milo had once begged them to tell his best friends about their secretly harboured feelings. That was met with a resounding no and a promise of violence if he ever told anyone.

So there they were, glued to the back wall like a parasite. They didn’t move, didn’t speak, as David gave his speech to his pack. All of whom were watching with great awe. David certainly wasn’t his father, but Darlin’ thought that might’ve just been a good thing. He bought so much more that Gabe (Bless his soul) had ever been able to.

After Liliana’s passing, Gabe had been broken. He’d attempted to keep the peace with his pack and himself, but Darlin’ saw. Kindred spirits and all that.

There was something familiar, even to their adolescent mind, in the way Gabe’s cracks seeped through into his everyday life. Maybe that’s why they’d felt such a close bond with the former Alpha.

Fiddling with their ring, they kept their gaze firmly on their mutilated hands while their ears remained tracked to every word that fell from between those sweet lips.

At one point they glanced up, feeling a gaze on them. Asher. Even from behind their sunglasses, they were positive he caught the way their eyes widened.

‘David’s speaking, why is he looking at me?’ They questioned silently, internally panicking at every out-of-place area on their body. 13. That’s how many they counted just with a quick mental scan.

Fuck.

‘Wait after. Please?’ Asher signed discreetly, nodding in their direction to confirm that he was speaking to them. Limbs paralysed and anxiety crippling their every survival instinct, they nodded and moved their unseeing gaze back to the Alpha.

In their peripheral, they watched as Asher kept looking at them for a few moments before turning back to his mate.

Sweat welled up along their hairline, a physical manifestation of their rapidly-increasing anxiety. Leaving now would draw too much suspicion, as well as alerting their friend Beta. The doors were far too loud to be moved without gathering unwanted attention.

They remained frozen, heart galloping in their chest for the duration of the pack meeting. Pack meeting. Honestly they weren’t even sure why they’d shown up; they certainly weren’t ‘pack’. Others had made that abundantly clear.

Oh god. A lightbulb flicked in their mind. David and Asher were kicking them out. They’d spotted Chrissy whispering to Ash not moments before the meeting began.

Fuck.

They were being kicked out. A loner. A rouge. Granted, majority of the time they felt like that anyway; but at least they still had the layer of being a Shaw on their back.

After this they’d be naked. Vulnerable. Totally alone.

Shit.

Noise finally penetrated their ears, seeping in around the buzzing. Clapping. The meeting had adjourned.

With the confirmation of their impending doom in their mind, Darlin’ did the one thing they knew their boys… their Alpha and Beta would hate the most.

They turned tail and ran.

[nightcolorz]

Hello, could you elaborate on your thoughts about how sex was treated in the show? If you are comfortable with it, obviously! I love your blog and your answers btw

Of course! I love answering these asks. For me this is more of a nitpick then a criticism, bcus I don’t think there’s anything technically worse about how the show handles sex over the books, but it just doesn’t appeal as much to my preferences.

In the books sex is very interesting bcus of how encoded it is into the narrative. Sexual desire is thematically extremely important in tvc, it informs basically every character dynamic. Sex isn’t something the vampires literally can do, but they are very sexual in nature, or “sensual”as Anne Rice loves to say, and their actions and dynamics r very psycho-sexually motivated. I think this makes for a very unique dynamic that the narrative has with sex. Tvc vampires can’t have sex but almost every form of pleasure they experience from killing to looking at art is felt as strongly as sexual pleasure, they have intimate relationships with each other that transcend human romance, almost every two characters have sexual impulses over each other. It’s weird and fucked up and interesting and there’s a lot going on there. Sex is symbolically the same as blood drinking and killing and hunting r sexual, and I love that bcus it gives the vampires this element of other that’s really compelling. I love the concept that their ways of feeling and experiencing human pleasures and emotions and relationships we’re familiar with r fundamentally changed in a way that r almost beyond our understanding bcus of vampirism. They r very alien but also very human, bcus at their core they just experience things the way we do but heightened to a freakish extreme. I like to think that tvc vampires experience a reality were the type of frenzied daze we experience when horny is what they experience nearly all the time. It’s so weird! And yeah, cool. The way romance works bcus of this is so interesting too, bcus an element of romance and sex comes with pretty much every vampire dynamic, and it creates these crazy fucked up dynamics that u wouldn’t get in any other book series.

and then well, there’s the show. Not much to say there is the problem. I don’t really have an issue with the vampires being able to have literal sex, but it’s the way sex and sexual subtext in general r handled that bothers me. Bcus..I mean it’s boring. Like, Louis and Lestat have crazy hate sex, but it’s not anything we haven’t seen before in television, minus how they’re an interracial couple and two men I suppose. Sex has the same implications as it does for humans, like the whole Antoinette cheating story line is just ur average cheating storyline but with blood and violence, you’d never get something that mundane and clean cut in the books. And like, I love some weird gay vampire sex scenes as much as the next guy, but how does floating vampire sex compare to the weirdness I rambled about above? There’s not that layer of complexity and strangeness I find so interesting. Like, it’s fantastical and vampire specific, they drink each others blood and float and stuff, but not in the dense way it is in the books. I believe that this has the potential to change, I think the tense scenes with Rashid, like the honey and pineapple scene, felt weird and bizarre in a way that reminded me of the books. But, I’ve been disappointed before. So for now I’m dissatisfied.

thanks for sending me the ask and thank you sm!!! You r so sweet <3 I love that u love my blog. As always feel free to send me asks guys I love them !

[neokingghidorah]

Ultrakill Theory: The Third Prime Soul

(Disclaimer: I only have a passing knowledge of The Divine Comedy and Greek myth. This is mostly based on observations of Ultrakill itself.)

So I know there's a meme that the third prime soul in Ultrakill is going to be Jesus Prime, but I started seriously thinking about it and remembering some other theories people threw out there. And I have a working theory that Act 3's secret boss is going to be Daedalus Prime. Here are my detailed thoughts on why:

The other two prime souls, Sisyphus Prime and Minos Prime, have a few things in common. Most importantly to me, they're both from Greek myth and they're both alluded to in the one of the layers of their respective acts. They were also both killed by Gabriel, but that's unrelated to my theory here. If Hakita keeps to these similarities for the third one (Which to be fair, he might not), that means we have a good foundation for what to expect.

Obviously, there are a lot of figures in Greek myth to pull from, so we should look to additions to the lore of Ultrakill from Violence, the first layer of Act 3, for clues. As far as I'm concerned, there's one obvious mystery person/hanging thread alluded to in layer 7: whoever it was that created the Minotaur. In the lore entry for the Minotaur, it's stated that the beast was created by someone whose name was redacted, as a gift for Minos to establish rapport. Minos reacted to the sculpted thing with horror, and banished it to the Garden of Forking Paths, the first level of Violence. This mysterious creator, whoever it is, seems to be a pretty good candidate for expanding upon in something like a Prime Sanctum.

Now, why do I think this creator is Daedalus? Well, in Greek myth, Daedalus created the Labyrinth that housed the Minotaur for Minos. Ultrakill plays pretty fast and loose with ideas from both the Divine Comedy and Greek myth, so it's not too much of a stretch to make him the creator of the Minotaur itself in this lore. And once I thought that, it got me thinking about some elements of Violence, and how they might support Daedalus being the culprit even more.

As the first boss of Violence, the Minotaur is an artificial being created by someone in hell that knows only blind fury and carnage. This ties in very well thematically with the majority of the enemies found swarming layer 7: the machines. They are themselves, artificial beings created by humans that only know war. You could absolutely consider the Minotaur and its creator a sort of progenitor or dark reflection of Ultrakill's blood-fueled machines, and the people who created them.

Furthermore, another thematic throughline in Violence is artistry and creation. The interiors of the layer are often finely decorated, the levels littered with human architecture, statues, and clockwork. The first book you pick up in 7-1 tells you the world is a canvas, and that you should paint it (red). Daedalus is known primarily as a genius craftsman and architect in the stories he features in. It wouldn't be wrong to call him an artist. Specifically, he's a great sculptor. And a living sculpture is exactly what the Minotaur is described as in its terminal entry.

All of this leads me to believe that Act 3's Prime Sanctum will contain Daedalus Prime as the boss fight. I could be wrong: the identity of the Minotaur's creator may well be revealed in Fraud instead, or just be left a mystery. The prime soul may well be a character alluded to in Layer 8 or even 9. Also, it strikes me that it may be difficult to craft a boss fight out of a character like Daedalus that sticks to the general feel and format of Minos and Sisyphus (fast-moving hard hitting humanoids), as he doesn't strike me as the physically capable and imposing type. And then there's the fact that Gabriel does not yet appear to have anything to do with whoever is being alluded to in layer 7. All of this will of course be answered when Ultrakill is finally finished, and I'm even more excited now than ever to see what Hakita cooks with the full release!

[raintouchedstars]

The Window At The End of the Road

Summary: Years of survival and fighting for freedom, for a life of her own and all she was left was this. This place, this window, her curse...and him.

Author's Note: An enemies to lovers short piece from a story that I had long since abandoned, but wanted to post it anyway. The characters in this are both immortal adults, 10 years apart but well into their 100s. Though there is nothing too explicit in this story, reader discretion is still advised, mentions of war, trauma, violence, and survival.

The clouds rolled over the city, drenching it in rain that made the buildings look shiny and new. Liana pressed her forehead against the thick floor to ceiling windows of the penthouse, looking down at the blurry lights far below. It should be beautiful, watching the cars move, creating colors like smears on a canvas. Not for her though. The war, the days spend slaughtering one crazed monster after another, the nights spent shivering in terror, unable to sleep for fear of being found. Vulnerable. Unprepared.

Thunder screamed across the sky, and Liana felt like crying with it. There was only one battle left. One fight, against the demon that started it all. The sun would rise tomorrow, and the humans would have no idea of the rage that would be unleashed with it. Would not even know that their entire existence hangs in the balance.

And here she was. She had run away from her family, her friends, all so that could follow him. He would be there at the battle tomorrow. He would not fight on either side. But no matter the victor, she knew he would walk away with prizes no one else would even consider.

He would come back here soon, to this penthouse, that he most likely stole. She wondered whom this house belonged to, and how he had tricked people into giving it to him. The receptionist on the first floor acted as though she knew Liana, and gave her a spare key, no questions asked.

He was waiting for her.

She thought about the last time she had willingly come to him. It had been raining that night too. She had remembered their shared past, and the pain of the truth had made her run to him, demanding to understand why he had chosen to be who he was.

How funny.

She understood it all now. It was so easy to fall below the ice once that barrier was cracked. She was no better than he was now. A monster.

She knew the moment he stepped into the penthouse. There was no grand entrance, no door rattling as the keys were turned. Nothing. Except the pressure of his presence. And his scent.

He always smelled like the clear sky after a rainstorm. How a man that dark would always smell that clean was a mystery to her.

She didn't turn. She saw his reflection in the window glass. A pleased smirk spread across his face.

"Well, well." He shed the outer layer of his suit, revealing the white dress shirt underneath. "I was wondering how long it would take before you came to find me."

Liana turned. Her heart was screaming, her mind did not agree with her eyes and ears, but there he was. Tall, relaxed, an easy smile hiding the cruelty behind his beautiful green eyes.

"I killed you," she whispered.

He pulled his hands out of his pockets, his smile fading, his steps relaxed and slow as he moved toward her.

"I wrung your neck. I can still feel the snapping in my hands. You were dead for three years! You can't be real!"

He came close, till his body pressed against hers, pinning her between himself and the window. "Do I not feel real?"

Liana sunk her claws into his shirt, ripping the white fabric, staining it with red.

So he was real.

"Then explain, Isak."

She hissed, curling her fingers, drawing more blood. He narrowed his eyes.

"Explain why I remember something that didn't happen. Did you make me think I murdered you in cold blood? Is that it? Did you want to make me into a monster just like you? To prove some kind of sick point? I was nothing like you! I never took pleasure in killing! I did what I had to-to survive! Did you put memories of me wanting to destroy and main in head? Did-" Her lungs seized, not letting her continue. Breathing burned as she tried to suck in air through the rising panic.

Looking up, into a set of calm, green eyes, the one physical attribute they shared, she tried to search for some form of confession.

Isak he grabbed her wrist, and pulled her claws out of his chest, the wounds already closing. He held her hands in his, pulling them over her head, looking down at her from between his own arms.

"It's flattering that you think I'm powerful enough to change someone's memories, but no. I did nothing to your mind, except put you back together after you escaped from Narcius the first time."

Isak squeezed Liana's hands. All the years she'd spent, running and hiding in the Second Plane, the world that existed alongside the human world, ran through her mind. He was telling the truth. And it did nothing to ease her pain.

"Why would I want you to believe you had killed me?"

He let go of her hands, and they feel limply to her sides.

"I have nothing to gain from it. But Narcius does. And now, I can see why."

She couldn't hold herself up anymore. She would have crumbled to the floor, if Isak hadn't wrapped his arms around her ribs. He held her up, her feet floating in the air.

Liana slammed her fists down on his shoulders and back. "I don't care why he did it! I was never cruel before that lie! I'm tainted now!"

"That's exactly what he wants. Cruelty makes the curse spread. Killing me wasn't what you were afraid of. You're afraid of becoming a monster like me. He reached into your darkest fears and made you believe the one thing that would push you over the edge."

Liana felt hollow. If Isak held her tight enough, she might just shatter like glass. All the people she had killed, it had been a game. Stuck in a nightmare world, in a war, where the only person she had known kindness from was the same man she despised, it had been so easy to rationalize her cruelty. She was once a Priestess of the Spring. And now...

"Well, Narcius won." Tears ran down her face now. "Before this, I killed only to protect myself and others, and never without the goddess' blessing. Look at me now."

She pulled down her shirt, revealing part of her chest. Her skin was as black as ink, as though oil ran through her veins instead of blood.

Isak cursed. He reached down with one hand and pulled her blouse over her head. From her heart, black thorns spread outward, covering part of her breasts, her ribcage.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you leave." He pressed a hand to her skin. The black patches were cold. "But you resented staying with me. So I let you go. I never would have let you free if I knew he could still reach your mind, spread the curse further."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Liana sobbed. "The corruption won't stop. Not after everything I've done. I don't deserve to go back to my family. I have nothing."

Isak wiped away a tear. "So why did you come here? What were you looking for?"

"The truth."

"Even if it causes you pain?"

"Maybe that's what I deserve."

He pressed a finger to her temple. "Do you want to forget? Should I lock away that which pains you?"

"I thought you said you couldn't do that."

He smiled. "Do you think I can't find a way to do it?"

"Even if you did, it wouldn't erase everything I've done."

"You're right. It won't."

"How do you live with yourself? How do you keep going, knowing what you've done to people?"

Isak tilted his head to the side. "You're asking the wrong person. I quite enjoy what I do." He leaned forward, his nose brushing against hers. "I can't heal a broken spirit. Or a broken heart."

"Like I expected you to bother trying." She turned her head to the side, away from his eyes.

"But I can cleanse the darkness."

Liana closed her eyes, not believing him, her body shaking in silent despair. She had already lost her family, her principles, and soon she herself would disappear, turned into a raging monster once the poison in her blood covered her completely. She had nothing left to lose, no shame in letting him hold her close now. Better than being alone, then being cold. Nothing concerned her anymore.

Until Isak's lips pressed gently into the curve of her neck. Liana wriggled, trying to pull back from him. There was no sly smile on his lips this time, no smirk remark.

"You hate me, I know. I like to tease you, pester your family, manipulate information to better suit my wishes, but there are lines even I won't cross without your permission."

Isak's palm was hot, and Liana couldn't help pressing her cheek into that warmth as he tilted her head back.

"Only one of us truly deserves to be corrupted," he said against her lips. "Let me gather up the darkness inside you. Let me fill you will pleasure instead."

Liana could see her frightened expression in his eyes. Her entire body trembled as his offer sank in. Thoughts came to a halt as her heart began hammering in her chest.

"Should I let you go?"

Liana panicked, throwing her arms around his shoulders. The only thing that was keeping her from the numbing freeze was his hot body against her own. "No."

"What do you want then?"

"I don't want to be cold anymore."

He pressed his forehead against hers. Lightning flashed for a moment, and he didn't even blink or flinch from it, eyes as intense as the first day she had met him.

"There is no going back if I cross this line," he warned. "I've spent decades longing for you. If you demand that I leave, I will, but if you give me permission to continue, I won't go back to waiting for the day that you'd be mine."

Liana closed her eyes, and pressed her lips to his. What did it matter if she resisted him anymore? She was going to fade away soon. Her body would still exist, but her mind, her spirit, her consciousness would fade away into nothing but rage and bloodlust. Now was all the time she had, now was all the time that mattered.

He crushed her to him, squeezing her between himself and the glass, waking her heart, bringing heat to her cheeks. His tongue slid over hers, kissing her deep. Electricity zipped along her skin, making her feel as though her limps were turned into putty. When he pulled away, she was breathless.

Yet some part of her mind awoke and rebelled, reminding her of all the times she had resisted his touch in the past. This was not the same boy that she had loved as a child.

"You'll burn me."

"You're right. I will." He leaned in so close, that his chest crushed hers, and his breath puffed against her ear. "I'm not gentle, I'm not soft, and once won't be enough."

His tongue traced the outer rim of her ear. Liana cried out.

"Mmm, what a beautiful sound." Isak slid his leg between hers. "So what will be?"

Liana's mind was dangerously close to shutting down, and letting nothing but touch take over. She had to press a hand to his chest, to ground herself.

"If I change my mind midway through, if I wake up from this dream you put me in-"

"I'll give you a word. Say it and I stop, no matter what I'm doing."

He moved lower, his tongue tracing from her ear to her neck, where he bit down gently, nibbling lightly on her skin. "I need an answer."

"Yes."

"Good."

Isak looped his hands under her thighs, lifting her, positioning her legs around his waist.

"W-wait. Here? Against the glass?"

"Shush." He trailed kisses down to her collarbone, stopping just above her heart. "Relax now. Let me guide you through the fire."

[meltotheany]

Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N | Blackwell’s | Bookshop i keep putting off this review, because i know whatever i type will just not do this book justice. this really is a masterpiece in every way, and for sure one of the best books i’ve ever read, but it also felt physically painful to read while being an american right now. (i mean, always, but just… extra heavy right now.) but, i will try my best. “This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever fallen in love with a culture that was devouring their own.” a memory called empire follows mahit dzmar, who is from a very small mining space station, and this story begins as soon as she lands in the center of the multi-system, the teixcalaanli empire, where she will be the newest ambassador. she has been raised learning everything about teixcalaan, in hopes of one day being able to work in the heart of the empire she has loved her whole life, but when the last ambassador goes missing, mahit is able to make that dream come true bigger than she ever imagined. in this world, there is implant technology that manhit’s people have, called imagos. and basically, as long as the people are compatible, they can share a chain of actual human life memory, that they can keep passing down, essentially sharing a body, at least your current body when the years of memories of the person’s implant that is implanted in you. yskandr, the previous ambassador, has been missing for three months, and they do not have this implant of the last twenty years, but they have an out of date imago of his first five years in teixcalaan, and that is what mahit has with her while she is embarking on this new job and new journey. when she arrives, she realizes really quickly that maybe this empire wasn’t very worthy of her dedication. the people of teixcalaan remind her that she never will truly be one of them throughout this book. she also is experiencing riots and uprising from resistance groups, while also seeing people in power using war as a source of profit for themselves. mahit getting very intertwined with the emperor and learns lot about what yskandr was doing during the fifteen years he was not checking in with lsel station. there is also a sapphic situation going on with mahit’s cultural liaison, three seagrass, who she meets when arriving to the empire, and who is supposed to kind of bridge the two cultures more easily for mahit, and assist her with anything she needs or does not understand. And they really make a connection of poetry, which is a big part of this world and story, and i just really loved reading about them – even though i know there is a lot of layers to this and it’s really complicated (which is also probably why i enjoyed reading it). this is a space opera, this is a murder mystery, this is a romance, this is about connecting and learning and loving other cultures that are not your own, this is about imperialism and the forever more and more and more colonization that comes from it. arkady martine really has created something powerful, and important, and real, yet also very beautiful and filled with empathy. this duology really deserves all the awards it has received, and a memory called empire really is one of the best books i’ve ever read. (also, it is my favorite book title of all time, i think, too!) trigger + content warnings: colonization, colonialism, use of the word barbarians talking about people who are others, death, panic attacks, mention of consuming ashes of someone, blood, bombings / explosions, talk of child birth, assault (unwanted touching), poisoning, wound descriptions, surgery, needles, riots, fetishization, grief, war, seizures, violence, loss of a loved one (friend), self harm (to get blood for an oath), suicide / sacrifice, and a lot of xenophobia goodreads | instagram | youtube | kofi | spotify | amazon | wishlist

[cinema-hallucinations]

Prompt: Angelo has an habit of ending in the most outlandish situation imaginable when he goes on group outings with his friends, so they had him RFID tagged and can track him on their cell phone. When Angelo predictable vanishes again, his friends track the signal, only to find what appears to be Angelo's severed hand. Write a movie concept based on this premise.

Title: Tag, You're Dead

Tagline: At least they know where some of him is.

Logline: Angelo, a walking disaster magnet, vanishes during a group camping trip. His friends, used to his antics, track his RFID chip only to find a severed hand - his hand. Now, a hilarious and horrifying chase for the truth begins, with Angelo's life (and remaining limbs) hanging in the balance.

Characters:

Angelo (30s): A charmingly hapless man with a knack for finding trouble. He's the glue that holds his quirky friend group together, even if it means they have to tag him for his own safety.

Brenda (30s): Angelo's level-headed best friend and the unofficial leader of the group. She's the one who spearheaded the RFID tagging system after one too many "Angelo disappearances."

Mark (30s): The conspiracy theorist of the group. He believes the severed hand is a sign of something sinister, much to the others' amusement (at first).

Stacy (30s): The sarcastic voice of reason. She's skeptical of Mark's theories but deeply concerned about Angelo's well-being.

Troy (30s): The clueless optimist of the group. He maintains a positive attitude even as the situation gets increasingly dire.

Plot Summary:

Angelo, notorious for disappearing during group outings, joins his friends on a weekend camping trip. This time, they've taken the precaution of implanting an RFID chip in his arm, allowing them to track his location via their phones. Of course, disaster strikes when Angelo's signal goes dark.

Using the tracker, Brenda leads the group to a clearing in the woods. There, they find a horrifying sight – a severed hand, and the chip is embedded in it. It's Angelo's hand. Panic sets in, but Mark, the conspiracy theorist, throws a wrench into the situation. He insists this is the work of a sinister organization, not a random act of violence.

Initially skeptical, the group soon finds evidence to support Mark's theory. Strange symbols appear near the campsite, and cryptic messages arrive on their phones. They realize Angelo's severed hand is just the beginning.

As they delve deeper into the mystery, they uncover a secret government program experimenting with human teleportation. Angelo, it seems, stumbled upon their hidden facility and became an unwilling test subject.

The climax involves a desperate rescue mission. The friends, armed with whatever they can find in the woods, infiltrate the hidden facility. They face booby traps, security guards, and the ever-present threat of Angelo being teleported to who-knows-where. Hilarity ensues as their lack of training clashes with the high-tech environment.

Themes:

The power of friendship and the lengths we go to for our loved ones.

The blurry lines between paranoia and real conspiracy.

Facing your fears, even when they are incredibly absurd.

Humor:

The film blends dark humor with slapstick comedy. The contrast between the friends' bumbling attempts and the serious situation creates comedic tension. Mark's outlandish theories provide comic relief, while Angelo's (hopefully not severed) voice on the phone, offering sarcastic commentary, adds another layer of humor.

Ending:

The friends manage to free Angelo, who (hopefully) hasn't been teleported into a million pieces. The ending leaves room for a sequel as they grapple with the consequences of their experience and the knowledge of the secret government program. Perhaps they'll need to use their newfound skills to help other victims, or maybe, just maybe, Angelo will finally learn to stay out of trouble (doubtful!).

[xaracosmia]

ꕥ — WELCOME TO NEFE COSMIA, KANON HISUI. 🌓

ꕥ  — OOC INFORMATION;

name / alias: artemis age: 25 pronouns: they / she ooc contact: smearedcanvases @ twt / forgedsplendor @ tumblr other characters in xc: suguru getou

ꕥ  — IC INFORMATION;

name: kanon hisui age: 18 pronouns: she / her series: ranger reject canon point: chapter 137 ( latest chapter as of writing ) app triggers: familial death, violence, imagery of / references to throat injury

personality:

kanon hisui is an animal.

kanon hisui is a feral, furious, violent animal.

what else can she be? who else can she be? her ordinary life was shattered a long, long time ago— taken alongside her innocence. she is like a kitten taken from its mother, in the midst of her weaning, tossed into the streets and forced to survive.

the fire in her heart is all that's kept her warm. the instincts in her bones is all that's kept her alive. she is an animal, guided by these two alone, and she growls and she bites at the hand that comes near.

she hates. oh, she hates. she writhes and she bites and she sinks her teeth into the flesh of her enemies. there is no logic to it. it is the pure, white-hot, bloody revenge of a cornered animal— one whose learned the face of the one who's taken everything from her and she will do all she can, blood rushing through her ears and vision blinded by red and white, to defy and hurt.

she was born to fight.

something your muse struggles with: hisui, under everything... is just a broken young girl. she's cocooned herself under so many layers it's practically impossible to find that person now, though.

your muse’s greatest strength: she loves her family. all the ones she's had: from her biological family that she lost at eight, the green battalion she lost years ago, to the new one she's found with chidori, angel, and fighter d.

history / background:

kanon hisui was only eight years old when her world was shattered.

even she is more than familiar with the irony of her own existence. there is no difference between her and any other girl her age; she was simply dealt an unlucky hand, and as punishment she was broken— like a twig snapped in two, splinters flying everywhere, now only ever capable of hurt.

and so she joined the rangers. and at ten years old, she became the youngest to ever graduate from bailong's nest.

it was always going to be the green batallion. she was always going to hunt down every single one of the executives and tear out their throats. yet even in their hunt she'd found her new pack— her new family. chidori. wakaba. tokiwa...

( she should've known. she always should've known. )

history repeats itself. another executive. another family, snatched from her hands. and kanon is left, all alone, to...

well. it is what it is.

she knows the hand she was dealt with. she simply forgot her place.

she puts on her mouth guard and continues to fight.

( ... )

( ... the little footsoldier. angel usukubo. )

( ... fine, sure. she'll take them in, too. )

powers / abilities: none. she's just a human! inherent abilities: none. stronger and more agile than the average human due to training, but nothing supernaturally exceptional. items / weapons: MOUTH GUARD. a divine tool replica. divine tools are weapons created by the human army a year into the war with the invaders; hisui's mouth guard is one of twenty-five replicas, and with its incantation to , ukemochi no kami, can basically "consume" incoming strong attacks. ... literally. chidori "burps" after comsuming one and kanon says "gochisousama" herself. on that note they can get "full" if there are too many strong attacks; kanon mentions being unable to take another bite after one.

starting ability: n/a starting item: mouth guard

would you like this character to be housed upon arrival?: yes!

extra: 

yeah she's from the power rangers anime... i know...

okay i actually have no idea what her age could be. because her family died from invaders when she was eight... which you would assume happened in the first year of the war, but that was thirteen years ago, making her twenty-one. but it also isn't entirely impossible for it to have happened sometime after that first year, as we know executives have killed plenty of people in between... there's also the fact that she also wears a school uniform and her dynamic with d and chidori is very younger sister. but its not like we know their ages either and chidori is absoltuely 30+ so her also being early 20s isn't unreasonable. BUT WHO KNOWS. so i'm going for 18 until we get confirmed ages.

discord id: ukemochinokami

[l0verseyes]

YAYYYYYY SINTA LORE DUMP

Where does she get water from?

the lust layer. if V1 turns the water off for 2-S she fixes it no problem. the power washer has the same properties as the one you get in 7-S. i like to think that hell "borrowed" her arsenal for that secret lvl

Does she venture to other layers often or just stick around in Lust

she ventures to other layers to chase V1 wherever it is and she can actually follow it. she doesn't try following it if it's against tough enemies (she still has a meager sense of self-preservation). she also visits greed a lot which is weird because she hates the heat but it seems that she has a friend there...

What is the deepest layer she's ventured to?

(since the game's only at violence for now) 7-3. she doesnt spawn on the earthmover bc she'd die lol

Does she just try and help protect other machines or does she protect the husks/demons too? What about angels?

she dgaf about anything else but V1. she'd kill for fuel but not excessively and she usually goes for husks. since she only has a power washer, she's very weak offensively but her feedbacker packs a PUNCH when she can utilize it (similar power to V1's, she can create red explosions when +PARRY) nonetheless she mostly avoids fights

How does she feel about other Streetcleaners' urges to commit arson?

she can be quite hostile towards the common streetcleaner bc she hates the heat. since streetcleaners die when underwater, if waterlogged enough they can die and that's something sinta can do

Does she target other Streetcleaners for a particular reason given her water gun is specifically called out as a way to combat them?

she wont start the fight but she can end it. they just need to not test her patience

Did she spend time on the surface at all or was she designed for the hell expeditions exclusively?

she spent time on the surface and moved to hell like all the other machines when fuel ran low

If she was on the surface, was her surface world purpose related to damage control around Streetcleaners as they were doing clean up to make things habitable again or was she for something else?

she's a streetcleaner at core so she definitely was made for the same purpose as them, i.e. cleaning up the earth after the war. she kept a bit of that code close to her since she did not take up flamethrowing as a hobby

What was her purpose in the hell expeditions?

Was she sent as a middle to later batch scout? Or was she sent with early expeditions?

she was actually not used for the hell expedition. she was kept on the surface until humanity died and she found an entrance to hell

Was she intended specifically as a V1 assistant machine or any machine can be paired as a primary objective to protect? Does it have to be a machine?

nope she's just a regular streetcleaner that gained more freedom once humanity died and she had to fend for herself in hell. she was bronze colored like all the others but once she settled in lust she started modifying her appearance. outside of her stalker tendencies, sinta is carefree and easygoing. also i want to clarify that she doesn't protect V1, she just wants to chase V1 for fun. she's not gonna use herself as a shield or parry incoming attacks away from V1. she may parry attacks away from V1 but that's bc it would have hit her instead. she knows V1 can handle itself and she's not presumptuous to think otherwise. basically if she were in game she's literally just there splashing you with water. she may do something helpful once in a while but thats just luck

No seriously where does she keep getting her water from, I am dead curious about your idea about how the worldbuilding works to support it not because I don't think it can, but rather because I'd love to know the logic. Is it as simple as there being water sources in the city of Lust? What if she's out scouting other areas or layers and needs to refill? You said Hell finds her funny, Is it Hell itself supplying her water for entertainment? Do the terminals help provide her care packages of it if she can make it to them?

ultrakill logic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ why is the power washer in 7-S infinite? whatever answer to that question would be mine lol. all i know is that it's from lust.

hell does find her funny. because it knows theres like a 0.1% chance V1 will reciprocate and theres a 99% chance she'd get killed in a room by complete accident by V1 (the player). sinta is built defensively enough that she will not die by friendly fire but solely bc of V1's strong arsenal. she cannot parry hitscan weapons or direct hits (a punch or a hit from the alt shotgun). also a bit related:

Does all the water in the Wrath layer put her at ease?

yes she likes the cool environment. she does not like seeing the ocean of husks though

If it does, how does she think/interact with the Ferrymen since they're also neutral beings (when given payment and following the traditional rules)?

she thinks they're cool. their boats one of the few comfortable places to stay in hell and she likes that

ultrakill oc. hell finds her one-sided obsession w/ V1 funny. and a bit relatable

[jmaceofspades]

A reflective essay about the article: "How I Broke, and Botched, the Brandon Teena Story" by DONNA MINKOWITZ

Not my best work but it doesn't mean I didn't give it my all when writing this essay because it clearly needs some work.

Trigger Warning: Mentions of murder and violence

…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..…..….…..…..…..…..…..

After reading through Donna Minkowitz’s essay, “How I Broke, and Botched, the Brandon Teena Story,” a fire of emotions lit up aggressively. No one should ever go through such experiences, he was too young to die just yet, a story left unfinished that will never unfold, all because he could not fit into the mold created by society. Even so, this is the ugly truth that many transgender people face; the hate crimes, the legal challenges, as well as violence. The case shed light on the rise of murder cases and hate crimes against trans people, including how the law does not protect them from various crimes targeted at them.

It’s already a known fact that the discrimination towards the LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) was much more rampant during those previous years compared to the present day. In various countries including the different states of the United States, same-sex marriage were still banned at that time. The oppression that many people from the LGBTQIA+ community faced during those times were very severe especially with how there was no law to protect them from experiencing such injustices. One of the crimes that fueled the fire to fight for their rights even more was the murder of Brandon Teena. He was one of the many individuals who are part of the community that deserved justice. Brandon Teena’s case exposed the many crimes and discrimination that transgender face in their life, the ugly truth of our society.

Donna Minkowitz, the author of the article that I've read, is an American writer and journalist known for her coverage of gay and lesbian politics and culture. This was not the first article she wrote about Brandon Teena’s case, her previous one was problematic which led her to create a second report addressing her regret. It’s good to know that the author of the article realized her mistake in her previous report. In response to her old report, she delved deeper into these topics, exposing the ignorances, misunderstandings, and the prejudice surrounding the issues concerning transgender people during the 1990’s. With that said, it is evident that there is an ongoing need in spreading awareness, while also challenging the stereotypes that are prevalent in our society. As a cisgender woman, Donna Minkowitz essay adds another layer of depth into it because of the limited knowledge she possesses which she had admitted and how her perception of transgender people are not authentic. However, she soon recognized the fluidity of gender identity, with how gender is not something rigid instead it is a spectrum with various expressions and such.

The case and the article showcased that there is still a lack of understanding towards the differences of gender and sex, how something  as simple as being transgender, which does not fit into what society deems as normal, led to murders of many innocent people. How the law including its enforcers view them as some kind of object rather than a person who just exists, stripping them from having the right to be protected as well as their right as a human being.

[wickedsrest-rp]

NAME: The Raven

LOCATION: Nightfall Grove

Owned by local spellcaster Morrigan Skinner, this sleek speakeasy was named for the raven mural just outside. If you want the entrance to appear, as if from the shadows, you’ll have to “greet” the raven – any greeting will do. The Raven is both a bar and an eatery, with a full kitchen and house cocktails unlike anything you’ve ever had before. To add an additional layer of “mystery,” both the cocktail and food items change at least once nightly, making it impossible to know what you might want before you arrive at the scene. The stone walls and dim lights further set the atmosphere, creating a comfortable place for the primarily supernatural clientele to hold meetings and gatherings. While putting away a cocktail or two.

Morrigan does not permit violence in her establishment and has been known to personally become involved if that rule is broken. If the werewolves want to gather here without any vampires present, they’d better rent the place out. Otherwise, they’re dealing with some magic if they pick a fight, and they’re not going to like losing all their fur.

Spellcasters in particular often use the Raven as a “meeting spot” to catch up or make plans. Morrigan actively encourages this, and offers a discreet discount to anyone who can definitively prove they’re a spellcaster.

While most regulars are supernaturals, especially given how clandestine the bar’s entrance is, sometimes regular humans learn about how to make the entrance appear and wander in. Morrigan doesn’t mind this, and she makes no effort to conceal the magic and monsters within, which has provoked some opinions from others – particularly hunters.

Many of the menu items are infused with magic, often experimental. Morrigan tends to use her customers as guinea pigs to test out potions or spells she’s playing with. On at least one occasion, this ended with a tourist being transformed into an actual guinea pig who now lives behind the bar. Morrigan tries to keep these “special” meals limited to the tourists, human or not, in order to keep from hurting repeat business opportunities.

There is a large cauldron in the center of the restaurant. No one is entirely sure if this is simply for show, or if there is something brewing inside. Local teens often dare each other to climb it to find out, but they’re always stopped before making it too far.

Though it’s advertised as changing nightly, sometimes the menu might shift more often than that. It has been known to change even while a customer is looking at it trying to decide on what to eat. Looking away from the page for a moment or even blinking may find you staring down at an entirely different selection of meals and cocktails seconds later.

[c-is-for-circinate]

As promised: let's talk Hades, and how acts of abuse can create toxic environments for everyone around them, and also how people react to those environments--and to them being disrupted.

(For reference, I have just kicked Theseus's ass for the first time, it was exactly as satisfying as it was intended to be, and then I got predictably slaughtered a couple of chambers into Styx. Spoilers for everything through that point, but please no spoilers in reblogs/comments for anything after that!) Also, TW for a whole lot of discussion of abuse, particularly verbal and emotional abuse, and abusive familyworkplace dynamics.

Okay, so. To start out with, Hades is an abusive parent. He engages in innumerable acts of verbal and emotional abuse towards his son, because yep, that's what you call it when a parent constantly berates and belittles their kid for every perceived failure, including the ones the parent themselves could have prevented. Sometimes especially the ones the parent could have prevented. Zagreus failed at his office clerk job because Hades refused to teach him how to do it and then blamed him for not already knowing how. Cerberus tore up the lounge because Hades, who was actually there, chose not to stop him. Hades created, possibly deliberately, and then took full advantage of every opportunity he saw to insult and demean his kid, and the clerk job flashback shows us that he was doing so even before the escape attempts started. I'm pretty sure we're all on the same page here, but: yep, that all constitutes abuse, even if they're gods. Even if Hades has reasons for Being Like That. Even if you think Zagreus seems okay and unharmed by it (which: repeatedly throwing yourself into a gauntlet of violence that inevitably ends in your own pain and death because you're so desperate to escape home, not actually an indicator of someone who's okay). We all good on that?

Cool. Because I'm not really here to talk about how Hades' abuse directly impacts Zagreus right now (although there's for sure an essay in that too). I'm thinking about how it impacts everybody else.

Hades isn't as obviously unreasonable with anybody else in his kingdom the way he is with his kid. When we see him lecture somebody else, it's usually for an actual failure to do their job: Hypnos for literally falling asleep on the job and not doing anything that was assigned to him, Megaera for letting us past her so many time, Orpheus for being a court bard who refuses to sing. His attitude is super confrontational and unpleasant, but on the surface it doesn't necessarily look as fucked-up. Thing is, though, whether any individual act of aggression towards an employee/family member is justified or not (I would generally argue 'not', because aggression towards employees/family members is, y'know, not justifiable)--it's not about the individual acts. It's about the entire cultivated atmosphere of toxicity and abuse.

One of the very first things Meg ever says to us is, "I'd rather be on your bad side than his." Up until that point, we've got no reason to believe Meg has any history whatsoever of fucking up at her job. In fact, we've got plenty of reason to believe she's good at it. She's fiercely proud of it, she's frequently Employee Of The [Time Period], and we've apparently never even met her sisters because she handles her shit herself. But she's still scared of Hades. Dusa, who is an anxious wreck at all times because oh god what if she gets fired what if she gets fired what if she gets fired, in spite of apparently being absolutely exemplary at her job, is scared of Hades. Every single shade in the Hall is clearly terrified of Hades, and it's not because of what he's done to each of them. It's what they've seen him do to other people.

Which is how toxic environments work, whether they're work environments or families. The Court of Hades is of course both, always, with the bonus hell layer of you can't quit even if you DIE. An abuser in authority doesn't have to target you in order to make you feel scared, cowed, and desperate to please them. Humans (and gods who are basically extra-powerful humans) are good at learning by example. The residents of the Court get the picture.

So this Court is a minefield--and everyone except Zagreus is very good at tiptoeing around mines. We see it in Meg, so desperate to do her job well. We see that Hypnos very clearly does not give a shit about anything, but he still makes sure to have a list of excuses ready if/when Hades ever confronts him about failure to do his job, just in case. We see it when Achilles tells us that my ability to help you is constrained by the authority your father gives me, or whatever the line was sixty runs ago when he couldn't let me into locked chambers. The system, such as it is, works, and if Nyx talks to Hades as little as possible, if Thanatos avoids the Court entirely, if Achilles treads very carefully and knows how to keep his head down--well that's just the system, right? That's just how things are.

Even Zagreus seems to have had a role in that system as the court fuckup. He's the kid who didn't have a real job or purpose. He could take the focus of Hades' generalized, day-to-day ire off of everyone else, without triggering some of the more direct and violent ire because the work he was doing didn't really matter (a LOT of Hades' rage-triggers seem to be related to job performance, which means that the people with real jobs are of course the most at risk). And he could do so "safely" (big emphasis on the quotation marks there) because he alone of the court is Hades' actual kid, who's Prince of the Underworld no matter how much he fucks up. If one of Nyx's other kids gets something really really wrong, she might be able to protect them from some consequences, but Hades doesn't have any layer of supposed parental affection holding him back from getting violently furious about it. Zagreus gets a nice bedroom and the abuse is limited to words rather than divine power, and Hades is a dick to everyone but he only occasionally condemns people to eternities of torture, and only for good reasons like refusing to sing when your job is to be court bard, so it's fine, everybody's fine, everything's totally fine, right?

Except it's not fine when everybody is so clearly worried about anything going wrong. And it's especially not fine for Zagreus, who's the person to finally say no. He's leaving, for his own sake, because he deserves better and he's finally convinced he can have it. And that turns the whole system into disarray.

I am endlessly fascinated by the ways this game portrays different characters reacting to this upheaval in their carefully-mapped minefield. It's different for authority figures and peers and servants, different based on how people are positioned in the house under Hades' rule, and it's so spot-on and I love it.

Nyx, for instance, is absolutely calm about the whole thing, because Nyx has power. Hades can't hurt her. Hades can't even really do much against her children, not when Hypnos and Thanatos are gods in their own right. Yes, Hades rules the kingdom, but Nyx owns the land, and she gives no shits about his rages. And it's interesting, too, to see the lines she doesn't draw. The deal seems to be that Hades doesn't fuck with her, and doesn't outright threaten her kids (because Hypnos is bad at his job, demonstrably so, and Hades hasn't ruined him yet), and she doesn't interfere with the way he treats the people around him. She gives Zagreus advice and support and the mirror, but she also doesn't take a direct stand against Hades. He can't hurt her, but he could make life...difficult. She's protected, her position in the minefield is more of a safe viewing platform than slogging through the middle of it, but the mines are still there.

And then we have Achilles, who is one of my favorite characters in the whole game because of how he reacts to this whole situation. Achilles, like Nyx, is so supportive. Every single time you see him he has something encouraging to say. He gives us his Codex, secretly finds us weapons, trained us for years, clearly wants us to succeed. And still he's limited, not necessarily out of fear for himself (though he has to be scared for himself, he knows what Hades does to people who anger him), but out of concern that if he gives Zagreus too much help in one way, he won't be able to provide help at all later. He's still so careful.

Achilles and Nyx are so fucking important to this story because they're the only authority figures Zagreus really has in his life except for his father, and they are so supportive. They're what keep this story from being a nightmare of psychological horror and depression. They can't stop the pressure from Hades and this life in his house being miserable for Zag, but they can give us hope, remind us that Zagreus is still loved. And they have such an incredibly important role when it comes to guilt, which is one of the biggest ways toxic systems maintain themselves.

If Zagreus leaves, what happens to everybody else? Who takes Hades' wrath then? Who becomes court scapegoat if he's not there, and also, who gets punished for his escape? These questions matter, and we see him worry about it! He asks Nyx and Achilles both, is it going to be okay that you're helping me, are you going to be alright, will my father hurt you for this? And they are both so firm about telling him no. No, I will be fine. See, here's the list of reasons about why I'm going to be fine, why my position in this minefield is secure. They make a point of telling us that it's fine, that we do not need to hold ourself back from getting out of this abusive situation for their sake. That is instrumental in Zagreus's ability to keep making these escape attempts without feeling too guilty and worried and selfish to go on. (Another thing that's actually really important in setting up that dynamic--we see that Hades cares about Cerberus, even if he's using him as a pawn against us, and Cerberus seems to be the one figure in court who Hades doesn't get mad at. The dog isn't at risk, and that is really essential in keeping the story from getting too grim.) These people who we care about refuse to let themselves be held hostage to secure our good behavior.

It's also really useful for raising the stakes later in the story--we see Hades arguing with Nyx once or twice, and we see Zagreus feeling guilty about it, but it's also a sign that we're making enough progress to piss him off. After I finally made it out of Elysium on my last run, I came home to find him furious with Achilles in a way that actually makes me nervous, because Achilles does not have nearly as much security in his position as he says he does. (Achilles is such a good teacher/authority figure, because he knows goddamn well what Hades could do to him, and still refuses to let fear for his own situation stop him from helping the abused kid under his care escape his. And no, not everybody has the capacity to do that, but it matters so much coming from the guy who helped raise us. It matters so much. I do not even have the words for how much.)

It's also no mistake that many of the people we find supporting us along our journey are either the people with the most power in their immediate environment, or the least. Sisyphus helps us because what more could they do to me than this? Orpheus is a little wild around the eyes and somewhat disconnected from reality, and he wishes us the best because someone should get what they want and also he no longer gives a single fuck what happens to him. Eurydice has her own cozy little corner of Asphodel, as safe from Hades' rage as anybody anywhere in his realm because she's tucked in such an out-of-the-way middle place she's outside his notice. Dusa is so scared of everything anyway that, crush aside, she isn't any more threatened by us escaping than she is just by her everyday life here. Charon is unfathomable and unstoppable; Skelly literally exists to be a punching bag, and yet he also seems basically immune to pain, no matter what we do to him. There's no threat from Hades there.

So the people most at risk when I flip the world on its ear are the ones who have so much standing that they have something to lose, but not enough to protect them from losing it. Which of course brings us to Than and Meg--who are, of course, the two people who also seem by far the most upset by my attempts to leave.

As authority figures, Nyx and Achilles are constantly reinforcing the message that it's Hades' fault, not ours, if they or anybody else get caught in the crossfire of his wrath. I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, and it's not my guilt to bear. From Megaera and Thanatos, we get the opposite message--I am fucking with things, I am hurting people, and I need to stop. Zagreus isn't just abandoning them, as a friend or brother or lover or all of the above they're Greek gods who even knows. He's betraying them. They were in this together, as friends or lovers or whatever, but now Zagreus is sending earthquakes through the minefield they both still have to stand in. He is about to capsize this boat in the middle of a thunderstorm, he is fucking with the system, and they're the ones who are going to get most hurt.

I'm so curious how this is going to work for Than, who out of everyone we meet holds the closest role to Nyx's in terms of being sheltered from Hades' wrath. He's the guy who gets to leave, after all, even though he always has to come back. I've seen the least of him out of anybody so far because it took forever for me to get to Elysium, but two things really stand out and I'm so interested to see where they go. One, he really genuinely does care about Zagreus. He wants us safe, he wants us unhurt, the accessory he gives us only grants its bonus if we clear a room without taking injury, he keeps showing up to help. And two, he wants us to give up and go back and recognize how good we had it. Which is SO fucking interesting, considering how miserable Zagreus so clearly was, and how legitimate his reasons for being miserable were.

It makes me wonder so much about Than's standards for comparison. Does he know something we don't about what's waiting for us on the surface, something that might theoretically hurt Zagreus even more than staying down below? Has his life, which apparently allows him more freedom than anybody else in the Court, sucked horribly in ways we haven't seen, and that's why he spends so little time there in the first place? Either of those things is plausible, both of those things are plausible, and yet either one leads to this sense of patronizing, because he refuses to simply tell us. If something terrible is awaiting us, don't give us vague warnings, tell us what it is and let us decide for ourself! If you're fucking jealous because we might get out entirely and you're still stuck coming back here, say so. If you're worried about your mom--and he does bring her up, how could Zagreus turn his back on her like that, does seem to worry for her--then let's have an actual conversation about how many times she has insisted I do this and also how much I love her.

And, right, it's clear that a lot of Thanatos being upset is simply, you were going to leave me without even saying goodbye, you want to leave ME, which is understandable! But, like, he is demonstrably the one god who gets to visit the surface. He's the one person we actually COULD expect to see again. And he is absolutely also upset because there's an Order To Things, and we're fucking it up. We used to be his careless callow reckless friend who could talk back to Hades and get away with it, and now we're not, and everything is changing and we might leave him altogether, and we might leave him alone in that court without us, and he hates it.

Is it a short-sighted, selfish fear on his part? Yes, absolutely. Even if he's not scared of Hades on his own behalf, he is still frightened by what happens if we upset this system--and maybe it's the sanctity of a much bigger system than the Underworld that he's worried about! Maybe it's the whole divine and cosmic order. Whatever system he wants so badly to protect is enabling the abuse Zagreus has been dealing with for however-long he's been alive. Whatever system he wants so badly to protect OUGHT to be overturned, or at least shaken up. But this is what toxic systems DO. They convince the people within them that they have to be maintained, that a broken system that hurts the people within it is far better than no system at all, that changing the world is too scary and too dangerous. And Thanatos wants his whatever-Zagreus-is-to-him to be there, because he loves him and also because that's how the world works, and those things are all tangled up in one another, and that is how relationships are in a messed-up family like this so therefore I love it.

And Meg. Meg, the best for last, my dear, beautiful, furious, bitter, scared angry tired girl. I adore her. I am absolutely never going to date her, because the thing Zagreus needs most in his life hurts her, more directly than anybody else in the story, and that sucks, and it's not Zag's fault but they still shouldn't be together. Meg has taken more injury from this situation than anyone, quite literally as well as metaphorically, and it's not her fault any more than it's ours, but oh boy it has made her lash out and it's awful and it's perfect.

Meg's place in the Court of Hades is unique because she's not dead, not a mortal, not anything other than a god--but she's also not family. Nyx is not her mother. She's very much part of this system, she and her two sisters belong to Hades-the-realm and therefore also Hades-the-king, she can't leave, but she also doesn't have that protection of Nyx watching out for her in the same way. She's not royalty. She and her sisters (if you ask Hesiod instead of Virgil, which seems to be the interpretation the game's going with here) sprang from the blood of maimed Uranus at the same time as Aphrodite, but fuck knows Aphrodite isn't claiming them as siblings. And she can't be fired, exactly, but she sure can be demoted, and she sure can be made miserable in her job. Meg is vulnerable in a way very few people in Hades' employ are. She's a lot harder to do away with than any one random shade, but she's also a lot harder to miss blending in with a crowd.

What's more, she's the one person in this whole mess who is specifically tasked with stopping us from leaving. Hypnos isn't ordered to put us to sleep and keep us in our room. Thanatos can't be compelled or punished if he doesn't hunt us down. Achilles isn't told to lock us up and keep the keys. Meg is the one stationed at the doorway to Tartarus to keep us in. Meg is the one who gets in trouble when we leave. Meg (who Hades knows goddamn well Zagreus cares for, or cared for, who he absolutely knows we used to date) is the one who has to fight us again and again and again. And she's the one who keeps dying.

Again, it's this incredibly fucked-up guilt/hostage situation deliberately designed to keep people from fleeing abusive situations. Meg's insistence on fighting us now puts Zagreus in the position of having to hurt her himself again and again. Now suddenly we're the ones sticking a sword in our ex-girlfriend. Now suddenly someone can point to our desire to leave, to flee, to escape, and say, how selfish. How cruel. How terrible of us to want to go, when we're even willing to hurt the people we love to do it.

Except, right: Hades is the one who demands Meg stand there and stop us. Hades is the one who puts both of us in that position. Meg is also in an abusive situation, and she's willing to hurt us to protect herself. "I'd rather be on your bad side than your father's." It's easy to blame her at the start for being complicit, for being a tool of our father's abuse, for being on his side. It gets harder as the game goes on. I've killed her so many times. There's no way for her to beat me. She knows at this point that she can't beat me. She still fights, every single time, still throws herself upon that spike, not because she thinks she has any chance of stopping me but because she is so damn scared of what will happen if she doesn't try.

In fact, Meg's the one person we have actually seen face consequences for our actions so far, instead of just facing the threat of them. Her sisters are here. Her sisters, who she clearly does not want here, who are wild and violent and who she does not want in her life or anywhere near her, let alone near the job she takes so much pride in. She gets to deal with them now. (Hades doesn't have to deal with them. They're still not allowed in his court. But Meg does.) She gets stabbed, and bludgeoned, and shot, and lightning-struck, and poisoned, and every other thing we do to her. Thanatos doesn't. Nyx and Achilles and Hypnos don't. Bug Meg? Oh yes. Meg pays.

And yes, ok, she is complicit in this system. Everybody is complicit in this system. Zagreus who's trying to escape on his own behalf instead of overthrowing his father for the sake of everyone he'd otherwise be leaving behind is complicit in this system. Pointing fingers and pulling strings of who's more at fault? and who do we blame for this? is exactly how this sort of system perpetuates itself. Your sister always talked back at the dinner table and put everyone in an even worse and more violent mood. Your coworker refuses to work more than forty hours a week so now you have to take overtime to pick up their slack. You're enabling your dad by asking your sister to shut up, you're enabling your employer by working as hard as you do so you don't get fired, everyone's at fault, everyone's to blame, everyone is--

It's not everyone. It's Hades. It's Hades at the root of everything, and probably something big and institutional and fucked-up even beyond him. But even if everyone down in this Underworld does have to be trapped here forever, even if he's trapped here forever, Hades is neither challenging the system that put them here nor trying to make that fate better for anyone else stuck with him. He's just created an entire kingdom of backbiting and misery and people who can either go along with his whims or suffer the consequences.

At this point in the game, Meg is so fucking tired. Every time we run into her in the lounge, hunched over a table, the venom in her voice when she tells us "Do I look like I have anything to say to you?" is so bitter and so exhausted. There was a system, and she knew her place in the system, and it was a system divinely ordered by the gods themselves, and sure it was cruel but that's the literal will of the universe as far as she knows it. She had a role, and her role was vengeance and punishment and violence against those who'd committed the most egregious of sins in life, and there was a point to it, she was the divine deterrent to convince people not to do those things, and that was just, and that was right. The GODS THEMSELVES said so. How do you argue with that? You can't possibly argue with that!

And Zagreus is arguing with that. In trying to leave, he's questioning the unbreakable rule that nothing in the Underworld ever gets to leave it. In disobeying his father to do so, he's questioning the unbreakable rule that what the gods say is LAW. He's breaking everything.

And of course he's not trying to do any of that. He's not trying to destabilize the system at all. He's just trying to get himself out of it, to a place where he feels like he belongs and maybe a parent who's slightly nicer to him than this one. But toxic systems like this one break when the people within them have access to another option. When the kids find a way to actually leave, and not answer the phone, and not come home for holidays, and not deal with it any more. When the employees have the economic freedom to quit. When opportunities granted by education, money, social support, etc etc etc, show up and give people a choice. Even if the option is only ever for Zagreus--he's demonstrating that an option exists. Which is, of course, the one thing the system cannot ever allow.

I really like this game.