#the way that this one just did

[blackjackkent]

Minsc's camp dialogue tree, we learned during Hector's run, is um. Large. I didn't send Rakha down every single path because some of them she just didn't care about, but there were a few moments that were quite resonant for her. Long post - but some very critical conversations for Rakha as it turns out. :O

-----

"You're quite quick to call me friend."

"Of course, my friend! Or - are we not friends?"

Rakha doesn't really know what to say to that. She rarely uses the word even among the people she's known the longest in the party; it's almost always 'companion' if it's anything. So Minsc's comfort with the word is definitely a major difference between them.

I think, perhaps, this is the first moment when Rakha realizes that she wants to take Minsc as a role model. She has already identified the things that are similar about them - their unstable tendencies that could be called madness, their inclination to violence, and (of course) the worm in their heads. But something about Minsc is different, given Jaheira's opinion of him; he is a good man, though Rakha is still picking out the distinctions that make him so.

He is proof that her violence and her madness do not preclude her from being good, the kind of person Wyll and Jaheira would approve of. And one aspect of that seems to be this open-heartedness that comes so naturally to him, and not at all to her.

So she makes an attempt. "Of course we're friends," she says cautiously, "friend."

Minsc beams excitedly at her. "Then you have a sword at your side and a hamster at hand, whenever you need them." He tilts his head thoughtfully. "Unless I die. Or you die. Or you do anything at all to upset Boo."

Rakha thinks that seems reasonable.

-----

"Answer me honestly. What's with the hamster?"

"Well, Boo? Explain yourself," Minsc says promptly, followed by a chorus of chittering squeaks from his pocket. This goes on for several seconds, and then he raises his eyebrows at Rakha calmly. "Clear enough?"

Rakha squints at him for a long time, trying to discern if he is making fun of her. But if he is, his deadpan is even more solid than her own, because he seems to be being completely sincere. "...Perfectly," she finally says slowly.

Again that broad, contented smile. "Boo has a way with words that we lack," he agrees. "All that space in the cheeks, I am thinking."

-----

"Do you remember why you were meeting with the Zhentarim?"

"So dark an alliance sealed with Zhentish contracts, cultish vows, and a dragon's shining hoard? You think Minsc could forget?" Minsc says. A slight pause. "You are correct. I have no idea what any of that was about. But we shall simply- GAH!"

He breaks off with a startled noise, rapidly fumbling Boo out of his trousers. "Boo, why do you gnaw at my soft parts? I am trying to--"

Boo: *urgent squeaking*

Minsc's head tips to the side; again his expression takes on that air of intense concentration. "Once again?" he asks helplessly. "In smaller words?"

Boo: *SQUEAK*

There's a longish pause after Boo finishes his second attempt. "I see." He looks at Rakha intently. "This truth you seek. Boo believes that Minsc is knowing more than Minsc knows. But it is a difficult thing." He frowns, shifts his weight awkwardly from one foot to the other.

Boo: *supportive squeaking*

Minsc draws a slow breath. "There are memories of this time that Minsc does not remember. And Boo suggests that, just as he helps with tricksome itches in awkward places... You must reach what Minsc cannot." He gestures at his temple with a frown. "The parasite. You can use it to tickle free whatever truth you seek."

Rakha considers this for a moment with some surprise. Generally speaking, her companions have been wary at best of allowing her to poke directly into their heads - but Minsc is offering explicitly. It's a trust gesture, and a significant one. And yet...

"You sound reluctant," she says cautiously.

Minsc smiles ruefully. "The worm has already whipped me around the city like a slack-backed pony," he mutters. "I have no wish to saddle myself a second time. But..." He meets her eyes steadily. "If it cannot be Boo who pops inside my skull for a rummage, then I trust you." A miniscule pause, then: "Or Jaheira - but she is currently possessed of an empty head."

"I count my blessings every day," Jaheira puts in dryly from her tent.(*)

Rakha nods slowly. She might think this was merely Minsc's simple friendliness in making the offer - but she has already seen enough to know that his mentioning Jaheira specifically means that this trust offering is a tremendous compliment to Rakha. So she does him the respect of accepting it.

[ILLITHID] Reach out for his mind.

Narrator: At first there is nothing. His mind is empty as a still expanse of open country. But then...

Minsc's head snaps back and he cries out in sudden pain.

Narrator: Your face - the Stone Lord's face - mirrored in bloodied steel. In the heat of burning buildings, you hold your blade high above pale, frightened faces.

Minsc goes still, his eyes widening with alarm and dismay. "No. That is not right," he says hoarsely. "I slew only monsters. The voice said that they were monsters!"

(A/N: Oh, buddy. :( I didn't do this conversation with Hec cos Hec didn't want to use the worm, but this is so upsetting. :( Poor Minsc.)

Narrator: A whisper - the Absolute's voice, twisting the petty Guild Thieves before you into snarling, savage beasts, feeding on the weak of your city.

Rakha comes back to herself abruptly and realizes that she has a hand clenched tightly against her head. The images of blood and death - the death of masked innocents - have woken the beast in her skull and the hunger is roaring inside her with no available target. It throbs in her temple like a drumbeat.

Minsc's lip curls in rage; he is seemingly oblivious to Rakha's distress, far too focused on the images that have just been uncovered. "The Guild," he mutters. "The Stone Lord hunted them, peeled away their rotten ranks one by one to lay bare their corrupt heart - Nine-Fingers Keene. That is what the Absolute bought black Zhentish steel to do - to kill the Guildmaster!"

He looks remarkably angry but his tone is strange; as much of that rage seems directed at Keene as at those who sent him after her. Rakha squints, trying to parse the dynamics at play. "So the Zhentarim overthrow the Guild," she says slowly. "What then? What do the cult get?"

Minsc shrugs. "What does it matter?" he cries. "Cultish thinking has occupied Minsc's mind for long enough. Now it is time for doing!" He paces a few steps restlessly side to side, agitated. "And this talk of evil overthrowing evil - pah! Like a many-headed hydra biting at its own throat." He thumps a fist against his chest. "Bring forth the hydra, says Boo - more faces for the punching! First we pop the Zhentarim plot, then we show Nine-Fingers the five-fingers of Minsc, yes?!"

Rakha hesitates. That sounds pretty good to her - quite a lot of targets to attack with purpose, if Minsc believes it to be so. On the other hand - Jaheira clearly knew Nine-Fingers, and Rakha is not so confident that she would want the Guildmaster dead.

"As simple as that?" she asks uncertainly.

"Yes...?" Minsc says - and for a moment his own voice falters in answer, and he looks down towards Boo in his pocket for confirmation. "Yes," he adds hastily, more firmly, lifting his eyes again and squaring his shoulders.

-----

"We ought to discuss the tadpole." Rakha has had this conversation with every other tadpoled memory of their company thus far; it's Minsc's turn.

"As you wish," Minsc hisses. "But quietly. It. Is. Listening."

"We need its power," Rakha explains soberly. "The Emperor can help us control it, if we're careful."

Minsc blinks, then scowls. "No!" he snaps at once. "There is a very ancient and very wise saying that Minsc lives by. He who would try to control evil must beware lest evil tricks him, steals his clothes, and kicks his backside with his own boots. I read it on the privy wall in the Blushing Mermaid many years ago."

Evil. He is using that word to refer to the Emperor itself. Rakha frowns, for a moment uncertain. "You don't understand," she explains firmly. "The Emperor is the only reason we were able to save you." Though it didn't want to, she thinks bitterly. The tension of that argument still stings in the back of her mind.

To her surprise, Minsc shows neither surprise nor interest. Instead, his scowl only deepens.

"Oh, Minsc knows all about this Emperor. It has tried to introduce itself to me already. Minsc does not trust it."

Rakha blinks. This is a stronger reaction than she expected. "Care to elaborate?" she asks cautiously.

"No," Minsc says curtly. A pause, a low squeak from his pocket. "I do not think our new friend wishes to see me blubbering, Boo," he mutters.

That takes Rakha by mild surprise. "I'm listening,"(**) she says.

Minsc sighs, folding his arms. "Minsc is normally the strong and violent type, but if you insist on hearing a sad tale, he can tell it," he says.

A long pause, while he considers his words before going on, "This Emperor played a very cruel trick - it made me believe that something lost had been found. It came to me in dreams, wearing a face I never thought to see again. Dynaheir. A witch of my homeland."

Rakha does not ask who this Dynaheir is - but she does not need to. Minsc is lost in memory now, a small and sad smile touching his lips. "She was to be the greatest of them, and I her protector. It was not easy. She was a fierce and independent cub - she did not think she needed mother-bear Minsc to protect her!" He chuckles. "And she was right. The elders sent us out into the world, thinking it would teach her to bow a little. But it was the world that bowed to Dynaheir, wherever she went, and Minsc blundered along behind."

The smile fades, and his eyes drop to the ground. "And in the end, it was she who died - protecting me."

Rakha has gone very still, listening to this; she can tell she has trod into ground she is not equipped to speak about. But she is puzzled too. The Emperor never appeared to her as a face she knew - but then again, she didn't know any when it first appeared in her dreams. But to Minsc, it appeared as a friend, and not only a friend but a dead friend.

Why would it do this?

"Did the Emperor make you relive her death?" she asks unsteadily.

Again that sad, weary smile that seems so out of place on Minsc's face. "No, my friend," he says quietly. "It is not the past I saw. But Dynaheir as she would have been. Should have been. Hearing her voice again, for a moment Minsc almost believed it."

He trails off into silence for a moment, then sets his jaw. "But then the Emperor made a mistake - it did the one thing that Dynaheir would never, ever do."

He fixes her eyes with his, suddenly intent. "It told Minsc exactly what he wanted to hear," he growls. "Dynaheir, hers was more the habit of teaching Minsc many new ways to say the word 'fool.'"

Rakha says nothing. She's aware that on some level, if she truly trusts the Emperor and its guidance, she should refute this. The Emperor does not tell her exactly what she wants to hear. It tells her how to survive. It silences the other voices in her head. It guides her in places where she does not know where to step.

And yet this man - so like her in so many ways - saw it for nothing more than manipulation, and rejected it accordingly.

If Minsc realizes the stunning blow he has dealt her with these words, he doesn't stop to capitalize on this advantage. "Bah," he mutters to himself, crossing his arms with an air of frustration. "I think on what she would say to Minsc now, cowering from a creature in his own skull."

He grimaces, then gives Rakha a sharp nod. "Fine! If you say this tadpole is a weapon, then let us wield it. So long as it is still our hearts that guide us, yes? Or better yet, my hamster."

This should be a victory, but Rakha doesn't answer at all.

-----

"You traveled with Bhaalspawn before, didn't you?" Rakha asks - very carefully. She assumes Jaheira has already explained to Minsc the salient details of the situation, but she's also learned that it is a sore subject for others as well as herself. "What do you know of them?"

"Ah." Minsc nods sagely. "Boo has an inkling that this is not the question you *mean* to ask. I saw some hint of things when our minds mushed together - but Jaheira confirmed it for me. You are of the same blood as our old friend - a Bhaalspawn, and as close to Minsc as if they were his own kin."

(A/N: B'aw. Caden would be glad to hear himself described so. :) )

Minsc pauses, and then smiles from ear to ear. "That makes Minsc your uncle!" he says brightly.

Rakha blinks, then blinks again. Is that how it works? She isn't entirely sure if he's joking; Minsc is harder to read than most in this regard. "What manner of relation does that make Boo?" she asks, unsure if she is joking either.

Minsc grunts. "Better not to ask," he answers. "He has many dozen cousins, and not all are so open-minded about we who walk on our hind legs as he." He prods a finger in Rakha's direction, an unusually keen expression in his eyes. "There is a lesson in this. We are born into a bloodline, yes - but we need not be bound by it."

He thumps a fist against his chest again. "Take Minsc," he goes on. "He does not have a clear memory of the face of his father, but he does remember tugging on the thick red whiskers that sprang from his chin. A beard for the ages! Boo could have nested there happily through even the harshest of Rashemen winters."

He leans his head closer to Rakha, turns it one way, then the other. "Now - look closely at Minsc. And what do you see?"

Rakha narrows her eyes. "You don't have a beard," she says, the slightest upturn of a question on the end of the words.

"Correct!" Minsc cries jubilantly, and claps her on the shoulder hard enough to stagger her slightly to one side. "There are more whiskers on Boo's tiny face than on the mighty chin of Minsc!" Again that keen gaze, just for a moment seeming to stare past her blank featureless eyes and into her soul. "If Minsc did not inherit the flaming red hair of his mother, or the bushy red beard of his father, why would the spawn of Bhaal inherit His wickedness?"

Rakha says nothing for a long, long time. Once again, Minsc has caught her utterly by surprise. The sentiment is so unexpected, so matter-of-fact, so completely guileless almost in her own manner, that she doesn't know how to answer it.

No one hears of her bloodline - not even Jaheira, not even Wyll - with such equanimity and trust. No one.

Except Minsc.

"Thank you," she hears herself say, remarkably unsteadily. "It's nice not having to justify myself for once."

Minsc smiles. "Minsc is not here to judge," he says. "That is a thing for hamsters and hathrans alone."

-----

(*) This is a line that actually only plays in game if you're having this conversation while on the road with her also in the party. But I like it so I'm squishing it back in here. XD

(**) In-game line is "I'm a good listener," which I'm not sure Rakha could really say honestly. :P

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[batcavescolony]

Katniss is such an unreliable narrator. She says "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me" girl you deliver strawberries to the Mayor, you hunt and trade for the district, when you fell at Prim being chosen someone caught you, when you went to Prim people parted for you, when you volunteered EVERYONE stopped. Idk how to tell you but I think you're a pillar of the community.

[symphonyofsilence]

Let the poor man rest.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

Of the 19 hijackers who carried out the Sept 11 attacks:

15 were from Saudi Arabia (a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

2 were from the United Arab Emirates (also a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

1 was from Egypt, 1 from Lebanon.

None of the hijackers were from Iraq.

None of the Sept 11 hijackers were Iraqi.

None of the 9/11 hijackers were from Iraq.

[inkskinned]

having good & true friends will literally save and protect you in a million unfathomable ways. like okay we have written so many times about lovers. but the way a platonic friend laughs and cries with you. the way they hold your hand at 14 years old and at 34. the way they keep a little silver tie to you, touching base over and over and over. how you can go years without talking, only to re-meet and discover: oh shit! you're still cool!

there are people who have been in my life for more than half of it, and i have loved every version of them. do you know how fucking beautiful that is. yeah love will save the world. but the way friends love you is gonna save the you.

[hinamie]

surprise it's yuri!!!in 2024

[stemmmm]

the scene people keep screaming about from chapter 5 of theseus' guide

[egophiliac]

still rolling around on the ground over the contrast between Jack and Mal. it's so...🤌🤌🤌

[o0kawaii0o]

no mercy 😭

[vulpinesaint]

quiz enjoyers! i am now inviting you to come create something in my workshop❕

[joshuamj]

Hero.

[pineapple-frenzy]

Book 2 au: sparring sessions and short hair katara

They like to have sparring sessions in order to keep their bending skills sharp. They allow themselves to go all out and not hold back at all cause they know if anyone got hurt, Katara could just heal them

But anyways, wouldn't it be kinda funny if Zuko accidentally burned Katara's hair tho? Aofkqldkkajfjd

The "I think we can save the hairloops" line is from @linnoya-writes thank you for that!! :>>

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

I love how on Tumblr, "media literacy" has become "Um, just because someone writes about this doesn't mean they're endorsing this. I hate all these media puritans ruining everything."

I'm sad to inform you that knowing when and whether an author is endorsing something, implying something, saying something, is also part of media literacy. Knowing when they are doing this and when they're not is part of media literacy. Assuming that no author has ever endorsed a bad thing is how you fall for proper gander. It's not media literacy to always assume that nobody ever has agreed with the morally reprehensible ideas in their work.

Sometimes, authors are endorsing something, and you need to be aware when that happens, and you also need to be aware when you're doing it as an author. All media isn't horny dubcon fanfic where you and the author know it's problematic IRL but you get off to it in the privacy of your brain. Sometimes very smart people can convince you of something that'll hurt others in the real world. Sometimes very dumb people will romanticize something without realizing they're doing it and you'll be caught up in it without realizing that you are.

Being aware of this is also media literacy. Being aware of the narrative tools used to affect your thinking is media literacy. Deciding on your own whether you agree with an author or not is media literacy. Enjoying characters doing bad things and allowing authors to create flawed or cruel characters for the sake of a story is perfectly fine, but it is not the same as being media literate. Being smug about how you never think an author has bad intentions tells me you're edgy, not that you're media literate. You can't use one rule to apply to all media. That's not how media literacy works. Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Aheem heem. Anyway.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

main take aways from Halloween (1978) rewatch:

michael myers is canonically 21??? this bitch should be at the club

*sees tiddies* ***MURDEROUS RAMPAGE NOISES***

that's it that's the movie

outside of the fact that everyone who has sex is murdered by the narrative, this is a surprisingly chill portrayal of female sexuality? these teen girls are horny and actively enjoying Getting It On with their boytoys. no pushy boyfriends sneaking in through their bedroom windows--these ladies are taking the initiative to sneak out and GET SOME. one of them gets laid and then immediately orders her boyfriend to get her a beer. (yes she gets Slashered soon afterward, but so does the boyfriend so honestly, gender equality.) yes the Final Girl is the only one not having sex, but she's not bullied for that, nor are her friends slut shamed except possibly by being murdered by the narrative

actually the only character who is shown being morally condemned on-screen is michael myers. specifically FOR his violent overreaction to other people's sex lives. (people he is spying on). metaphorically, the villain is American Puritanism sticking its judgy nose into other people's business.

aka Michael Myers Is A Republican

but actually the real villain is the doctor. guy's a judgemental, shaming, pathologizing asshole. and he's been in charge of michael's care since he was SIX YEARS OLD? kid never had a chance. i'd go on a killing spree too

also the parents. where are the parents? it's halloween night and all the teenage girls are home babysitting their younger siblings? come to think of it, michael's first victim was his own older sister, whom he killed while she was babysitting him. teen girls are really shouldering a labour burden here. maybe parentification is the true villain

side note: mike commits his first murder wearing a clown costume...which is never referenced again? his 'iconic' costume is a generic mask and wig and jumpsuit, when we coulda had a Killer Clown Michael Myers??? travesty

i like how the Final Girl and her friend casually smoke weed in her car. yeah she's an honor student and her friend is the sheriff's daughter. yeah they smoke weed. so what it's 1978

(to reiterate, mike is 21 and should be at the club. im not saying he shouldn't be rampaging, im saying it's sad that he broke out, tasted freedom for the first time in his life, and immediately snuck back into his childhood home to go rampaging. let's have a remake where he goes to a nightclub and has a few beers. maybe some slutty dancing. then rampage)

oh no he's hot

[paintedcrows]

Had a silly thought about hypothetical cat curse shenanigans with @dark-lord-of-awesomeness's How to Cat Burglar a Family ;)

Bonus doodle!!