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patchun · 3 years ago

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KIRBY STAR ALLIES: UNNECESSARILY DETAILED DEFINITIVE ARENA VIABILITY TIER LIST

After reading the title you may have a few questions. The first of which may be: why should I care what you think? Haha, well, reader who has likely never even played this game...

I have invested just a little bit of time into this game. More, lately, as I recently spent about 30 hours playing this game to decide once and for all who the strongest and weakest characters are. Now, you say, patchun... you invested 30 hours into a game that's like four years old, wasn't that well reviewed, and has completely faded from relevance... all so you could make a tier list no one will care about? And I tell you. Yes. Yes I fucking did. With that out of the way, let's dive in.

The criterion I used to determine viability were damage output, safety, and versatility. Some characters, when played skillfully, can have crazy unexpected DPS. Some characters have fantastic air dodges or blocks that drastically increase their safety. Some characters absolutely destroy Whispy Woods, but then struggle against literally anyone else. All of this has been taken into account to make the following tier list.

Before we start I want to make a few notes: if playing with friends, a few positions change. When playing with friends, Rock, Gooey, and Painter move up to SSS tier. Painting rocks is legit one of the most fun and strongest ways to clear the true arena. Also, Meta Knight, when playing with friends, is in S tier. He has some very high damage output if he is safe, but can struggle to stay safe. I will be using the terms "decent, good, great, and insane" very deliberately.

In order of goodness in all rows.

F Tier:

Those in F tier have pretty much nothing going for them.

Suplex is weak and constantly makes itself vulnerable.

Kirby is arguably the most skillful character in the game, but has decent damage when played well.

Fighter just has no good moves, its kit is a weak disaster.

Painter is slow and the minions it creates are weak and not versatile. Statue (down up B) is its best move by far, but the slow startup and inability to move during really hinders the move.

Bird has great mobility and lots of i-frames, but super low damage. I-frames don't matter when you're fighting the bosses for hours.

ESP, in order to do any good damage whatsoever, needs to charge it's ball of energy to max, and then manage to hit the enemy without touching anything else first. If you can do that, it's solid. But it's pretty rare that you can do that, and you're very vulnerable while charging.

Chef honestly should have gone at the top of F tier. It's dash midair B is strong and so is its spatula, though a bit boring. However, Chef has a large hurtbox and you can't play as Kirby instead.

D Tier:

D Tier clears are manageable but require almost perfect play. These characters have something going for them, but it usually isn't much and they're heavily outclassed in some way by other characters.

Beam is strong, but struggles due to lack of mobility. All of its attacks are good, but just good.

Staff is held back by the fact that its dash attack is immobile and has very few i-frames. Down-up B and Pole Vault into B are both good, but are outclassed.

Water has a strong attack in its down-up B, which creates a rainbow and does good damage. It also has a projectile that it can stay relatively safe while using. However, the projectile falls to the ground, meaning Water really struggles against enemies that stay high in the air. Anything out of reach of its rainbow attack will be quite a hassle to kill.

Sweep - I somehow cleared true arena with solo sweep, so maybe it's better than I was able to figure out? I tried for a while. It's hold and release B move, which sweeps and then flicks the broom, does good damage. Additionally, its dash attack is decent.

Fire has one decent move - its midair down B, which causes it to roll into an invincible ball of fire. If you use this near the ground, you'll then roll. If used on a big enemy, it can do good damage, but most of the time you won't be doing much damage at all. Barely makes D tier.

C Tier:

These characters are okay. They generally require a very patient and careful playstyle, but can do decent damage.

Rock can do damage. It has invincibility. It even has an up B in this game that is strong! But... well, unless you're playing with friends, you are going to be waiting around in rock form A LOT while playing this character. Waiting as two Bugsys hover around you, waiting for that perfect opportunity... to unrock, and then rock right back up. It's boring. But you can win with it.

Beetle can be strong, but it needs to be very careful about the opportunities it takes to attack, as many leave it vulnerable in end lag.

Hammer is the only copy ability here where you're better off playing as Kirby. Bonkers' hurtbox is big, why not just use Dedede?

Yoyo is like a better Bird. It has lots of mobility and i-frames, but only does decent damage (rather than Bird who does none). Its down up B is good damage on large enemies, but leaves it vulnerable.

B Tier:

Clearing the true arena with these characters will be a challenge, but keep at it and you can succeed for sure! These characters have at least something that is actually GOOD, without drawbacks.

Bomb is safe and does a surprising amount of damage. Simple, but effective, and you can aim which is a perk. Wind and ice weapons are great on this one.

Whip is what Yoyo and Staff want to be. Though it's dash B isn't as mobile as Yoyo's, it does a lot of damage, and has much more i-frames than Staff's. Its down up move does great damage and does not leave it uncomfortably airborne like Yoyo. And like Yoyo, it can grab and throw stars and enemies.

Spider is very safe and fun. All of its moves do good damage, and you can kite enemies and spam your dashing midair B. Webbed enemies that you hit into others will do a lot of damage, and jumping off of webs is a great way to deal with airborne bosses such as Kracko and Void. Spider works well as a teammate when playing with friends for this reason, as your webs can basically function as shields against some attacks. Also particularly noteworthy is that spider has a damage-immune shield (damage-immune shields can still be sucked, blown, and tornado'd) that can be used midair.

Parasol does insane damage with its down B attack, which also grants i-frames. This can be spammed to absolutely decimate health bars, and you can move during it to reposition. Parasol also has great mobility in it's dash B, midair dash B, and midair down B, all three giving i-frames - as well as a decently powerful throw. Parasol struggles most against Hyness, who rarely goes to the ground and as such does not present many opportunities to down B.

Sword has a good dash attack, and a great up B down B combo that can really put in work against larger bosses. It is vulnerable, however, at the end of the combo, and is not great at dealing with midbosses and smaller enemies. It's midair dash B is also good, but not nearly as good as a certain other character. Wind can help Sword by increasing it's mobility.

Plasma is a great ability so long as you don't mind destroying your thumbs! For those who don't know, Plasma in this game works like this: as you move the joystick, Plasma will build up static electricity. This has three levels, and when it's fully charged, it can be fired out as a powerful circular bolt. Until it is used, the static buildup also functions as a shield, and will allow Plasma to warp instead of dodge up to three times. Plasma is good at dealing with Kracko, Void, and Hyness thanks to it's up B, which sends the circular bolt upwards, and is safe against other enemies. But yeah, you have to kill your thumbs. Mine hurt right now.

Cutter is good, but not as good as bomb.

Gooey is just slightly better rock. Most of Gooey's moves don't do much damage. Gooey's rock can be painted. Gooey also has a damage-immune shield, but it doesn't really matter because you might as well rock up.

A Tier

These characters are legitimately good, but there is a lot of variety in exactly how the characters in this category are good. It is organized by how likely you are to be able to clear with them. Now that I'm getting into good characters: I played every character in this category with every single element to deduce which element goes best with each one. I technically have them all tiered, too, but I figured that was too much for anyone to read.

Adeleine's down B's minions do a surprising amount of damage (great), and are quite versatile, even being able to hit airborne enemies such as Kracko and Void. She also has the best shield in the game, completey invincible and unable to be hit by anything to my knowledge (possibly Morpho Knight tornado), and a good air attack option thanks to Ribbon. She doesn't have any i-frames, so she may require a bit of waiting - like Rock, but that's only if you put yourself in that situation.

Susie (Ice) has shots that drop large balls of ice at the end. She easily destroys most bosses with these. Business Suit has i-frames at the beginning of its spin and a very powerful midair down B, also reducing damage and preventing negative status effects. Susie will likely get hit because of her massive hurtbox in Business Suit mode, but it won't matter as much thanks to the damage reduction.

Dark Meta Knight (Fire) has two great moves in his charge Bs. Fire was chosen as the best element for him because it expands the radius of his charge B. His dash and aerial attacks are great, especially if you can land his dash combo. Dark Meta Knight also has a damage-immune shield.

Chilly is surprising in its placement, but its midair B does insane damage and it has a solid kit to boot. Instead of normal dash B, Chilly needs to use dash down B for an briefly invincible and mobile ice ball. Chilly also has a damage-immune shield.

Daroach has a lot of options and all of them are great. Fire bombs destroy Whispy and Kracko, Ice Laser easily clears midbosses and does great damage to everyone else, Squeaks are second only to Adeleine's minions in their effectiveness, and the Triple Star is a great tool for staying safe while dealing good damage. Daroach doesn't have a special shield, but he does have a three-use, chainable warp as opposed to an air dodge, which if used correctly should be able to save you from any bad situation.

Bandana Dee (Ice) is stronger than any other Bandana Dee variant (you may notice a pattern like that...). Bandana Dee's dashing midair b can be spammed and does great damage, like a machine gun, but is held back by the fact that you inevitably touch the ground after 4-6 spears. Bandana Dee's strongest move is probably its down B, which can also serve nicely as a dash attack, as it has great mobility and i-frames. Bandana Dee (Wind) has a good charge B, but wonky throwing spears and lackluster damage output when compared to Ice overall.

Ninja (Ice) has potentially the most DPS in the game. By being near an enemy and pressing and holding B briefly, you do a double slashing move that creates an ice pillar that constantly damages an enemy. You can beat Whispy with this in under 20 seconds! Shurikens are good for hitting faraway enemies, and Ninja is also able to use Substitute Jutsu if it block before getting hit. The reason Ninja is not S tier is because it struggles against airborne enemies and is not able to utilize its full potential unless it catches an enemy standing still. High skill cap, but high reward.

Meta Knight has insane DPS with his dashing midair B spam. Ice and Wind are best, depending on who you're struggling with. Meta Knight can struggle to do damage while also keeping himself safe, and for that reason is best when playing with friends. His down up B, condor dive, grants i-frames and is usable in the air. His counter also does great damage.

Dedede (Shock) has great damage in his kit and a lot of i-frames, including his dash B and iconic down up B. However, he is hindered by his slow movement and large hurtbox.

S Tier

These characters will have no problem clearing if you play them right, but are they broken? Considering what is to come... nahhhh.

Marx (Ice, Wind, Water) has two great moves in his black hole which can do insane damage and is invincible, and his dive which can do great damage and is invincible. Marx pretty much always wants to stay in the air, and his midair B has a lot of variety depending on your element, but it is most notably a very safe move. Marx has a one time warp in the air that can be chained but has to be timed perfectly in order to retain invincibility, and his main drawback is that all of his powerful, i-frame granting moves tend to be pretty vulnerable with end lag. For that reason, Marx needs to be played patiently.

Rick & Kine & Coo have the best dash attacks in the game, both midair and grounded. Rick (grounded) will turn into a mobile rock, completely invincible, dealing a lot of damage, and also able to move, while Kine (midair) has a long spin attack with plenty of i-frames. Rick conveniently also bounces off the top of the heads of enemies, Kine has a projectile that can travel a fair distance but is weak, Rick can melt ice with his fire, Coo can cleanse dirty food with his flop. These guys also have a damage-immune shield.

Taranza is a case where all of his moves are great, but none of them are insane. Put them together, though, and you'll clear bosses safely. Taranza can kind of do several things at once, and I'd recommend down up B + dash B + up B. Utilizing all of this damage at once will destroy bosses quickly. When you don't feel you're safe as Taranza, midair up B and midair down B can give you control and hit from a distance.

SS Tier

Magolor's down up B is insane. He summons a giant sword that takes up the entire screen, then slashes it and hits everything for insane damage while being invincible, then can cancel that sword into itself. He has an invincible dash move, by far the best air dodge in the game, a black hole that he can summon just like Marx, and a powerful fire projectile that can melt ice. And that's not even everything - so how is this not the most broken character in the game?

SSS Tier

Somehow, dear reader, you have made it this far. The best character in Star Allies, even better than Magalor, are the Three Mage Sisters is ZAN MOTHERFUCKING PARTIZANNE. Zan does not care what you can throw at her, she has something to handle it, and chances are she doesn't need to use it. Because Zan's down up B is a giant piercing laser that covers the entire screen, grants i-frames, can be cancelled into itself, does insane damage, and can be moved during. There are just no enemies that can even pose a challenge to this character. There are no enemies that can even damage her. My highest score in Star Allies was me goofing around and playing solo Three Mage Sisters and just repeatedly spamming this move over and over again! The funny thing is, her other moves are good too, and so are her sisters to an extent! But Zan is great because she also has really fast movement as well as a warp similar to Marx and Daroach's. In a pinch she can relocate incredibly quickly, and she has no need for a shield because her warp, when you're used to it, is probably the easiest to chain into itself.

So yeah this was my Star Allies tier list. If you've read this far I'm actually amazed. Thanks. Star Allies is at its most fun, I feel, when playing with friends. If you'd like me to talk in more detail (but not as much as this post) about some friend strategies and which ones are best, such as painting rocks, let me know, I guess.

#will literally be amazed if anyone reads this LOL #but hey #it was fun to make #kirby star allies #kirby #text #long post

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fresh-bag-of-ham · 3 years ago

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ok let’s talk SUNSCREEN

SO the UV filters available in the US can at this point be considered truly terrible. One of the main reasons you’re supposed to reapply sunscreen every two hours is that many of the filters we use are destroyed by the very UV radiation they are designed to block. Killed in the line of duty, thank you for your sacrifice, etc. Counterpoint: sunscreen is gross and reapplying it every two hours is the worst. I am not doing that. Fortunately, Europe and Japan/Korea have been much quicker to approve newly developed more stable UV filters for use and at this point they have some really good ones. They also have much better UVA protection, both because of the better filters available and better labeling regulations.

A quick simplified summary: UVB causes sunburns, is directly absorbed by DNA strands which causes the mutations that lead to skin cancer, SPF measures protection against this only. UVA does more generic damage, creates free radicals associated with aging, wrinkles, collagen loss, pigmentation, etc. etc., but can also contribute to immunosuppression and therefore skin cancer. It’s more complex than this obviously but that’s not really the point of this post.

My sunscreen criteria: I hate wearing sunscreen. However, Accutane + sun = an extremely bad time. My ideal sunscreen is something that doesn’t feel disgusting to wear so I will wear it regularly in the first place (i.e. dry-touch), something I ideally don’t have to reapply super often under normal daily use (i.e. photostable UV filters, water-resistant when necessary), and has maximum protection. As long as I’m wearing it, I also want as much UVA protection as I can find, without compromising the former criteria.

Note: The sunscreens I tried are almost all chemical UV filters and several are loaded with alcohol, so if that upsets your skin then proceed with caution/ask me for a specific rec!

Note 2: All of these are SPF50+ (the highest rating allowed in the EU (meaning they tested at at least SPF60) unless otherwise specified *cough*Supergoop*cough*)

Best Face: Kao Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence (x)

Best feel, best protection, best price point. This gets recommended everywhere for a reason. Bit of a silicone feel on the face. No white cast. Smells like alcohol at first. Really, really quality daily face sunscreen. Water resistant. Caveat that because of the alcohol I would make sure to throw a layer of moisturizer on beforehand to make sure I’m not totally drying myself out.

Also make sure you get the name exactly right, there’s a blah blah Watery Gel that’s totally different consistency, totally different filters, etc. etc. It has to be Watery Essence.

Best Body: Eucerin Sun Sensitive Protect Dry Touch Sun Gel-Cream (x)

This was a sleeper hit, so shout-out to Eucerin for the greatest body sunscreen I’ve ever tried. This stuff is SO protective and dries SO. DAMN. DRY. Zero grease somehow, feels like nothing. It’s even water resistant. I tried a couple LRP body sunscreens but they honestly aren’t worth mentioning. Eucerin or bust babey!

More Face Sunscreens:

I’ve also tried all top five sunscreens from this Stylevana listicle of Asian face SPF (x). The thing about face sunscreens that they’ve started doing is loading them up with silicones and acrylate polymers, which leaves a silicone-y feel on your skin like a makeup primer. As far as I can tell from poking through various patents, these polymers are doing a few things in the formula: a) emulsifying/stabilizing the newer/bigger UV filter molecules, and creating an occlusive layer over the UV filter molecules on the skin to a) improve water resistance and b) reduce eye stingy-ness. At first I thought I wanted to avoid these seemingly unnecessary additives but considering their function, these are all features I want/need in a face sunscreen so we’re living with them.

1. Shiseido - Anessa Perfect UV Sunscreen Skincare Milk: really good, sliiight white cast but absolutely no streaks, more like a foundation just a hair too light for my skin tone. However I can’t imagine buying this because #2 on the list is better and 1/3 the price. Medium silicone feel. Something I’d probably only break out for when I went to an outdoor summer wedding.

2. Kao - Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence: I have already sung its praises.

3. MISSHA - All Around Safe Block Essence Sun Milk: closest to a US milky/greasy sunscreen experience here, though very fluid and still absorbs nicely. No silicone feel. Not a bad choice but nothing special.

4. Canmake - Mermaid Skin Gel UV: probably second favorite after Biore. Similar, bit less of a silicone feel. I’ve gotten red a couple times using this though, possibly because less silicone feel = no layer of protection against sweat/physically rubbing off? I bet this would be perfect under makeup though, it’s super light.

5. COSRX - Aloe Soothing Sun Cream: SO moisturizing, almost a dewy feel that sits on your skin and never dries. I wanted to love her, but unfortunately she is so loaded with the aforementioned polymers that when you reapply/put the appropriate amount on to begin with, it completely gums up and pills and you lose all protection. Also definitely not water resistant. Probably my top pick for a winter daily face sunscreen that I wouldn’t ever be worrying about reapplying though.

Other Contenders:

La Roche-Posay Anthelios Invisible Fluid (x) and Bioderma Photoderm Max Milk (x)

These two bad boys have the highest rated UVA protection currently on the market, 46 PPD for La Roche-Posay and 42 PPD for Bioderma. The LRP is extremely watery (technically alcohol-y) and comes in a teeny bottle(though same size as a lot of these I guess) but it is The Best UVA protection money can buy. The texture is really nice too, and feels super water resistant. If I’m outside sweating or on the water in the summer, this is going on my face. I've also seen it on sale multiple times since I’ve started researching sunscreens (because it’s extremely popular) so you can definitely find it in the $0.30/mL-or-less tier if you keep an eye out.

This Bioderma is cheaper and also extremely protective (thanks Helena @bronyraurmp3 for the rec!) but unfortunately it stung both my and Mr T’s eyes like a BITCH. Extremely unpleasant experiences for both of us. TBH if I’m out in midday sun, swimming or kayaking or something, I’m gonna be wearing a long-sleeved UPF rashguard to protect my arms and upper body and not worrying too much about whatever cheap greasy sunscreen I put on my legs. This Bioderma stuff would be going on my neck, ears, and hands though bc it’s super water resistant.

Eucerin Sun Sensitive Protect Mattifying Fluid : bit of a white cast, really slippy texture going on and nice dry touch texture when it dried down, but drying down took foreeever. Probably really nice if you’re sensitive and pale.

Eucerin Sun Oil Control Gel-Cream Dry Touch : VERY matte and dry-touch, would have loved it if I hadn’t gotten burned using it (doesn’t have all the newest most stable UV filters). Approaching the expensive end of things too, but would be a lovely option if you really prioritize non-greasiness and don’t need the premium protection? Mr T really liked using it on his bald head lol.

Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen SPF40 (US): This is recommended many places but it has to be a joke that people are actually paying Shiseido Anessa prices for old American UV filter selection, only SPF 40, and no UVA rating to speak of, right??? (ok they do have a PA+++ rating meaning a PPD of 8-16, so. this is acceptable.) I did not test this one but damn wtf. The texture is probably nice though and it looks perfectly sheer in the photos on their website, so maybe as a last resort for darker skintones that show a white cast with everything else? At that price tho... you do you but damn.

Jigott Snail UV Sun Block : This had good reviews on Yesstyle but it sucked. White streaks, bad.

La Roche-Posay Anthelios Ultra-Light Tinted Mineral Sunscreen SPF60 (US): Another in the outdoor-wedding only price range. There’s a tinted and a non-tinted mineral version and I ended up mixing them together to get a shade that looked pretty good on me, but needing two bottles for that puts it in the extremely ridiculous price category. Really slippy nice texture that takes a bit to dry but dries down perfectly matte. I guess the person who wants to shell out for a high end all-mineral tinted sunscreen exists somewhere out there but I would bet there are many nice cheaper mineral options out there that I haven’t tried.

And that’s it! For EU sunscreens, I was able to order them on caretobeauty.com, and Japanese/Korean ones from yesstyle.com or stylevana.com, though I had to go to eBay for the Biore and Anessa. I ordered some Biore from a seller on Amazon but they shipped from Japan and I think they got taken by customs because the last known location on the tracking info is Chicago, so finding a seller in the US that has already imported them seems like a good idea (vendor lullabellabeauty on eBay worked great for me, fwiw, I will definitely order my Biore from there in the future).

If you have specific questions about any of these, or if you have any recs you think I should try, hmu! You will be shocked I’m sure to hear I have a whole sunscreen database at this point.

#skincare

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thedykeprincess · 4 years ago

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So you were disappointed in Throne of Glass...

(DISCLAIMER: This post does not intend to offend anyone who loves ToG. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and likes and dislikes and is allowed to express that. This post is meant to share books that have similar qualities to ToG for people who were disappointed in the series, like myself, but anyone who does like ToG can absolutely find great recs here! However, if you don’t want to hear anything ToG critical I recommend skipping over this post. Thank you!)

So last week I finally got rid of all my ToG books. I was mostly relieved that I now have more room on my bookshelf but I also felt a little sad. It was a series I really enjoyed when I first read it two years ago, and on some level it will always have a special place for me. It was one of the many books that got me back into reading after a five year slump, it’s the reason I became friends with the wonderful Nicole (@/rainbowbooktheif on Instagram) who was the first person irl to make me feel less alone as a bookish nerd, and it, unintentionally, helped me hone my critical reading skills. However, I slowly began to care less and less for the story and characters as the series progressed and ended up not reading the last two books because I just stopped caring. I wondered why a series that I loved so much in the beginning went down hill so fast for me, but in the process of falling out of love with ToG I realized I wasn’t the only one who felt this way about the series! The lack of diversity (and misrepresentation/mistreatment of diverse characters when they were there), sexism, lazy editing and lackluster world building, among other things, came up many times for me and other former ToG fans when discussing why we became disappointed in the series. But the pitch for the book (badass morally gray assassin taking down a tyrant king for her freedom, so cool!) and some of the elements (romance, female friendships, magic, trials) sounded so amazing even though in the end it was executed poorly. So, I decided to compile a list of books that I have read and loved that have some elements and themes of ToG. This list is by no means exhaustive and is limited by the books that I have read (which is not many when you look at how many books exist in the world) so I would love to see your recommendations! Please feel free to add onto this post any recs that you have! Now onto the list!

1) Graceling by Kristin Cashore

I read this book the summer before I started ToG and completely loved it. It was one of the early books that got me back into reading and it was honestly the perfect book for that. It was exciting and I couldn’t put it down. It follows an assassin for a tyrannical king who begins to realize her own gifts for killing are more then she ever thought they could be. Cashore does a fantastic job developing the lead character Katsa and the ways that she dolls out information to the readers slowly is impeccable. While this book is technically the first in a trilogy of books taking place in the Graceling world, it can be read as a standalone fantasy (which I feel like are very rare). Another part of this book that I really loved was the romance. I usually don’t read very many straight romances (due to the sexist/problematic aspects many of the ones that I’ve read have) but the relationship between Katsa and Po is honestly a breath of fresh air when you’re used to a lot of toxicity and sexism with cishet romances in books. The two take care of each other and their relationship is very balanced. There are no gender roles pushed on either of them and they truly grow to become a team throughout the story and it’s wonderful to see! I would consider Katsa and Po, while canonically cis (there isn’t any explicit queer rep in this book), both quite androgynous characters who often express themselves in a fluid manner which I really appreciate. Over all this is an amazing classic YA fantasy that everyone should check out!

Synopsis: “Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po.

She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.”

2) Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

This book is the first in a five book series about three royal sisters raised to battle it out for the throne. I must admit the first book in the series is a little lackluster due to the fact that it’s setting up a lot but the second book just blows everything out of the water in a fantastic way. This series is dark and bloody and intriguing. I got completely hooked on this series and it brought out a lot of emotion to the point where I was gasping and shouting and throwing my book around as I was reading it (I got very invested)! I think that’s one of the things SJM can do well is get you hooked on her characters and Kendare can do the same (if not better). I love the dynamic between the sisters, this book does a great job at exploring the darker side of familial and female/female relationships (mostly platonic.. there isn’t very much queer rep unfortunately) that I really appreciate. The magic system and wolrdbuliding are also something that I enjoyed and I though was quite well done. Kendare does a good job at weaving in worldbuilding and magic system seamlessly into the story and I love that so much. Three Dark Crowns is just a fun and exciting series that I think anyone who loves fantasy YA should check out!

Synopsis: “ In every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born—three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins.

The last queen standing gets the crown. “

3) The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

So a little disclaimer, this book is one of my favorite fantasy books of all time. I read it over the span of a few months last summer (its a long one guys...800+ pages) and it was one of the greatest, most well thought out fantasy books I’d ever had the pleasure of reading. I loved the characters, the world, the plot, the magic system etc. I loved everything! There’s some great political intrigue, dragon riders, epic battles, prophecies, weddings, funerals, romance and just general badassery and kickassery happening. Shannon clearly put so much time and effort into this book and it shows. That kind of dedication that shows is something that I really appreciate in a book, especially a fantasy book. Another aspect that I loved so so much is the diversity in this book. It came so naturally and didn’t at all feel like tokenism. The characters, with their differing genders, ethnicities, sexualities, ages, and nationalities etc, and their relationships with each other are truly what made the story. This book also has one of the BEST f/f romances I’ve ever read (as a queer woman I really loved that representation so much and felt very connected to both of those characters). Priory is a long one but if you have the time I highly recommend it.

Synopsis: “ A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep. “

4) Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

As a queer woman, I’m always a little on edge when someone mentions f/f friendship in a book. This is entirely because of the erasure many many f/f romances experience when they are just brushed off as friendships (we’ve all heard the term “gal pals”). It’s frustrating and even though I love a good f/f friendship when the f/f romances get erased and replaced by friendships it gets exhausting. However, Truthwitch is a true f/f friendship that I can fully get behind! Dennard is an author that I had been following for writing tips for a while before I finally picked up her book. I knew that she’s someone who is invested in making her series diverse, even if she herself doesn’t fit into those categories, and accepts criticism because she want’s to do her characters justice. That’s something I really appreciate seeing from white cishet authors and is one of the reasons I picked up Truthwitch. It’s so much fun and the heart of the story truly is the relationship between the two leads Safi and Iseult. Their friendship reminds me a lot of my relationship with my friends. Books about f/f relationships (romantic or otherwise) are few and far between so I really love that this book exists. Strong platonic relationships are so often pushed aside for cishet romantic ones so it’s SO refreshing to see a series where the book would not exist without Safi and Iseult’s bond. They are truly soulmates and their relationship with each other is the most important one in their lives and that is just beautiful. Not to mention this book has got an awesome magic system and is building up to an amazing fantasy series! There’s pirates, priestesses, princes and, of course, witches! It’s loads of fun all around!

Synopsis: “ Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.

In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch. “

5) Monstress by Marjorie Liu (Writer) and Sana Takeda (Illustrator)

Another disclaimer! This book is my favorite graphic novel, period. There is really nothing like Monstress out there and I think that it’s criminally underrated. Liu and Takeda are the perfect combo of writer/artist to make this GN come together. I’m constantly in awe of the world, characters, and story Liu built and the frankly stunning art Takeda creates to go along with it. It’s steampunk and dark and dirty and beautiful. The lead character, Maika, is one of the few truly morally gray characters that I’ve read. Her decisions will make you question if you’re a good person because you still love her despite the fact that she just killed that guy... and that guy... and those other guys. This graphic novel series is very reflective of the dark animes (like Tokyo Ghoul and Castlevania) that we are seeing more recently and I personally believe Monstress would make a fantastic animated series if it were ever to get an adaption. This book has also some great representation of queer women (Maika herself is a queer, disabled, WoC). It’s totally the norm for the world and all of the lead female characters are queer, which I just love. This story has amazing woldbulding, magic, characters etc. It’ll give you everything from giant dead gods, to talking cats with multiple tails, to demonically possessed teenage girls who need to eat people. It’s honestly amazing. (I would give a major trigger warning for blood/gore so as long as you know you can handle that I think you should check it out!)

Synopsis: “ Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers. “

6) The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen

I never thought I would love a cishet romance as much as I love this one but here I am. The Bridge Kingdom is not really the kind of book I would normally pick up but it was on sale on kindle so I thought “why not!” And I was not disappointed. This story follows the assassin princess, Lara, who was raised to be married off to her fathers rival kingdom and kill the king. However, things get sticky when she begins to actually fall for the king and starts to realize that her father isn’t exactly who he says he is. Not only was this romance steamy as hell (this is an ADULT book folks so there are some explicit sex scenes, beware) but the world is super cool. The political intrigue was something I really enjoyed and I loved to see the world unfold from Lara’s eyes. I also totally loved Lara’s character. She’s complicated and cutthroat but ultimately want’s to do what’s right and is a character made to change and develop. I usually don’t go for that character trope that Lara fits into (beautiful and badass and despite being the MCs they somehow end up being very bland...) but Jensen managed to create a very mature and ever changing version of the YA trope that I ended up loving completely. If you love steamy fantasy romances with cool worlds and intriguing characters this is absolutely the book for you!

Synopsis: “ Lara has only one thought for her husband on their wedding day: I will bring your kingdom to its knees. A princess trained from childhood to be a lethal spy, Lara knows that the Bridge Kingdom represents both legendary evil - and legendary promise. The only route through a storm-ravaged world, the Bridge Kingdom controls all trade and travel between lands, allowing its ruler to enrich himself and deprive his enemies, including Lara's homeland. So when she is sent as a bride under the guise of fulfilling a treaty of peace, Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture the defenses of the impenetrable Bridge Kingdom.

But as she infiltrates her new home - a lush paradise surrounded by tempest seas - and comes to know her new husband, Aren, Lara begins to question where the true evil resides. Around her, she sees a kingdom fighting for survival, and in Aren, a man fiercely protective of his people. As her mission drives her to deeper understanding of the fight to possess the bridge, Lara finds the simmering attraction between her and Aren impossible to ignore. Her goal nearly within reach, Lara will have to decide her own fate: Will she be the destroyer of a king or the savior of her people? “

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disneydreamlights · 3 years ago

Note

for the game ask - 8, 9, 15, 16, 17, 19

AU where I don't forget I saw this late last night and actually do it when I get home from work. Anyways:

8: Best soundtrack?

If you expected me to say Kingdom Hearts, for once, you're incorrect. Shimomura is a goddess but not a day goes by that some Persona song doesn't live rent free in my brain.

9: A game you turn your volume off every time you play it?

Special shout out to Undertale genocide because whenever I hear the "And nobody came" song I get hit with heavy anxiety but no. There's this one Sonic RPG I played when I was a kid and it has the worst soundtrack possible. I mean the game itself isn't great but it is very nostalgic so I love playing it but listening to its soundtrack at all? Absolutely not. No.

15: Which two games do you think would make an awesome crossover?

I am restricting myself from using KH x SPM (because I explored it) and Persona x FE (because a game already exists with that concept) but honestly I think Pokemon and Animal Crossing would be a real cute combination that should exist.

16: Character you’ve hated most? From what game?

(I am actively ignoring characters who are made to be as unlikable as possible. So characters like the palace holders from P5, for example, are not on this list.)

When actively playing the game? The amount of pure animosity I felt towards Kubo when playing Neo TWEWY is absolutely well warranted and I definitely do not like Lorenz and think hating on him is hilarious.

I really do have to, however, give a special shout out to those characters who the fanbase has absolutely ruined for me beyond repair either because they were everywhere when I just didn't really care about them before that and I got/am so tired of seeing their faces (you can probably guess) or because I got so tired of the woobification towards these characters that I am literally sick of seeing their faces and my once fondness towards them has been permanently tainted and destroyed (You can probably guess) because they absolutely deserve this shout out space more than anybody else. I just will not name any characters in this category because I don't want to die.

17: What game do you never tell people you play?

I mean do you think I have shame? It's more I just don't talk about the game than anything else really. Like I still go back to Rugrats Royal Ransom and Disney Party for example. I'm not really embarrassed by it I just never think to mention it. I guess I was pretty ashamed of DMMD for a while but too many people knew about that one for me to be hiding it.

19: Which game do you think deserves a revival?

In the interest of fairness I will not be talking about PMD or Paper Mario, both of which are still alive series, even if the things I actually love about them are no longer around.

So anyways I can't default to TWEWY since we had a sequel this year so like can we just talk about how much I love Coliseum and XD and would love it if Nintendo released more Pokemon games where I get to catch corrupted shadow Pokemon to rescue because those games were great and I love them.

Also never play XD in a way where you only purify all your Pokemon sans Shadow Lugia by hand there are way to many Shadow Pokemon for that it's a rewarding decision but such a tedious one.

#Heather Answers #lup-laguz

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ginmo · 5 years ago

Text

...This response took me a million years, because there’s so much textbook abuse and mislabeling that I was like where do I even fucking start and how do I come at this. I’m still not happy with my approach but here we go. Sorry. This is going to be long.

Why do people abuse?

Domestic violence and abuse stem from a desire to gain and maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Abusive people believe they have the right to control and restrict their partners, and they may enjoy the feeling that exerting power gives them. They often believe that their own feelings and needs should be the priority in their relationships, so they use abusive tactics to dismantle equality and make their partners feel less valuable and deserving of respect in the relationship. [x]

Abuse is habitual. Everyone on the planet has either intentionally or unintentionally done an abusive act, emotionally or physically, in one of their relationships at some point in their life, but that doesn’t mean that relationship was abusive or that the pair was mutually abusive.

It’s also not uncommon for an abusive relationship to have a degree of abuse from both parties involved. Many victims will unconsciously do something abusive as an attempt to bring balance to the relationship and gain some control, but those incidents are isolated and not “habitual,” which puts them in the overall victim category.

In this abusive relationship:

Jaime is the main victim. Cersei is the main abuser. There’s nothing “mutual” about it.

“lmaoooo Jaime CHOSE to be in this relationship”

I’m aware that GRRM probably intended Jaime to totally jump in 100% by his choice, but that doesn’t change the fact that literally every person in an abusive relationship appears to have chosen to remain in that relationship. Hell, I knew my abuser was abusive before I even got into a relationship with him, but I did it anyway because, man, he was charming and persuasive. He unconsciously used that charm, manipulation, and seduction to keep me hooked while chipping away at my identity. Victims of abuse all have a choice, in theory, but the reality of it is messy, because there’s manipulation at play and a great degree of delusion.

Cersei is guilty of narcissistic abuse.

It’s perfectly valid to view Cersei as a narcissist. She obviously isn’t diagnosed with anything, but I’m reading her as a textbook narcissist so… let’s play. Before I dive into all the abuse, I’m going to dig into Cersei’s narcissism, because it plays into the interpretation of their dynamic.

“You can argue, well, does she genuinely love her children, or does she just love them because they’re her children? There’s certainly a great level of narcissism in Cersei. She has an almost sociopathic view of the world and civilization.” (Also look up: malignant narcissism and sociopathy)

GRRM then immediately makes a comparison to Jaime, contrasting their abilities to love.

“At the same time, what Jaime did is interesting.”

He goes on to describe Jaime’s action of pushing Bran, implying he did it out of genuine love for others (since he used the word genuinely for Cersei and then compared). [x]

“LMAO BUT JAIME IS A NARCISSIST TOO”

No lmfao. Someone can appear narcissistic at times and swing on that spectrum, but that doesn’t make them a narcissist or show they have “a great level of narcissism.” One of the main defining characteristics of a narcissist is a lack of empathy. I’m not even going to dig up all of the empathy examples, because the above comparison from GRRM should be enough to tell you he isn’t writing Jaime as a narcissist and going that route would take this way off topic. Just… read his chapters lol. You don’t even have to get far into his POVs to see empathy and how his thought process is intentionally written to be different than Cersei’s.

Anyway, my level of sympathy for Cersei is entirely wrapped around her narcissism. To me, what’s sad here is the idea she can’t experience true intimacy and is completely unaware of it. She loves Jaime, and I truly believe she believes she loves Jaime, but in reality it’s only at the capacity that narcissism allows.

Narcissistic Abuse:

“Narcissists don’t really love themselves. Actually, they’re driven by shame. It’s the idealized image of themselves, which they convince themselves they embody, that they admire. But deep down, narcissists feel the gap between the façade they show the world and their shame-based self. They work hard to avoid feeling that shame.

Many of the narcissist’s coping mechanisms are abusive — hence the term, “narcissistic abuse.” [x]

I mean… that’s kinda sad? I feel for her in that sense, but, as the article says, “Abuse is abuse, no matter the abuser’s diagnosis.”

Needs to Look Like Her

There are several examples of Cersei commenting on his changed appearance and how she doesn’t like it. That isn’t too weird, since people have their own personal preferences and hey, maybe she just doesn't like beards? But no. That’s not the case. She doesn’t like the changes, because it means he looks less like her. It 100% is about Jaime being male Cersei - an extension of herself.

“Nor did Jaime help her mood when he turned up all in white and still unshaven, to tell her how he meant to keep her son from being poisoned. - AFFC

“his face was thinner, with hollows under his eyes and lines he did not remember. I don’t look as much like Cersei this way. She’ll hate that.” - ASOS

(and lol so tempted to go into how Jaime’s facial hair is symbolic of his identity shift and how that relates to the separation with his twin).

“Jaime likes looking like Cersei too”

Oh does he? If that’s still so then why isn’t he shaving his beard for her?

Has he ever been disgusted by her looks? Does he ever look at siblings and get irritated if he thinks they look more alike? When he noticed his change in appearance did he think, “I hate that we look different” or did he think, “Cersei will hate that”...? (Also, when he thinks that he would be Cersei in fucking ASOS - *pre-handchop which is pre-arc-* that’s a laughably obvious set up for the identity aspect of his arc with that belief being destroy, you dense- ...*deep breath* moving on)

I’m sure he romanticized the looks to an extent, but it’s been made clear that it’s far more important to Cersei than it is to him, since she often makes note of his change in appearance. This is even shown in a scene where Cersei is observing Loras and Margaery and getting annoyed that they look more like twins than she and Jaime do.

For some context, Cersei was watching them dance.

“They could be twins, Cersei thought as she watched them. Ser Loras was a year older than his sister, but they had the same big brown eyes, the same thick brown hair falling in lazy ringlets to their shoulders, the same smooth unblemished skin. A ripe crop of pimples would teach them some humility. Loras was taller and had a few wisps of soft brown fuzz on his face, and Margaery had a woman’s shape, but elsewise they were more alike than she and Jaime.

That annoyed her too. -AFFC”

Narcissistic abuse includes emotional and physical and is used as an umbrella term for the two when they’re done by a narcissist, therefore slightly changing the context of the abuse.

I’m not going to pretend that GRRM sat down with a sexual narcissist checklist, created from the hours of research through his dinosaur computer, BUT he clearly is aware of basic narcissistic and abusive dynamics. It’s… really not that hard. And even if you don’t think he consciously did it, her behaviors are still aligned.

“LmAo CeRsEi’S ‘EvIL VaGiNa’ - MiSoGyNiStS!”

…manipulation through sex is an actual fucking thing that’s genderless.

Right lmfao this is going to be long.

“A sexual narcissist is a person who uses sex as a tool to emotionally manipulate their victims to get what they want.”

People admit that she uses sex as a tool to get stuff done, claiming its her form of power in the patriarchy. What they fail to consider is that Cersei does this frequently to Jaime - a person who is meant to be her lover - which… makes him a victim of narcissistic abuse. Don’t believe me?

I’m going to be using this article to break apart sexual narcissism. If you want more just research. They all pretty much say the same thing, but I chose this one because I prefer the structure. The article breaks examples into categories:

Sex is used to manipulate/persuade

Excessive focus on physical over emotional

You Exist to Serve the Narcissist’s Needs

Constantly Puts You Down

Reacts Negatively When You Don’t Give Them What They Want

Treats You Poorly / Neglects You After Sex

Infidelity, Violence, and Sexual Addiction

This whole post has been a nightmare to organize. Tbh most of the examples I’ll use fall under MULTIPLE categories. The scenes are like fucking Russian dolls of abuse. Or like… Abuse Inception. Abuse within abuse within abuse, so I had to just pick and choose which ones to put where.

Charming and Romantic – But with a Catch

��Many sexual narcissists can come across as alluring and attractive, especially during the initial stages of a relationship, when they’re trying to win you over. Like a master salesperson, they use charisma to get your attention, flattery to make you feel special, seduction (flirting, gifts, dinners, get-aways, etc.) to lift you off your feet, and persuasion to get you to give them what they want. Some sexual narcissists are very good in bed (at least they think they are), for sex is used as a tool to impress, entrap, and manipulate.

While there’s absolutely nothing wrong inherently with being charming, romantic, and a good lover, the narcissist crafts these traits in order to use others. He or she is not really interested in you, but only what he wants to extract from you (often to fulfill an inner emptiness due to the inability to create true intimacy).”

You can even find some meta that almost word for word says what’s described above, but they erase her doing this to Jaime - her partner- and frame these actions as feminist lol.

Eel Alley.

“But,” Jaime said, “there’s Casterly Rock …”

“Is it a rock you want? Or me?”

She then starts to seduce him to show him what he can have, to have the scale weigh in her favor. Manipulation through sex.

“He remembered that night as if it were yesterday. They spent it in an old inn on Eel Alley, well away from watchful eyes. Cersei had come to him dressed as a simple serving wench, which somehow excited him all the more. Jaime had never seen her more passionate. Every time he went to sleep, she woke him again. By morning Casterly Rock seemed a small price to pay to be near her always. He gave his consent, and Cersei promised to do the rest.” - AFFC

There's no indication whatsoever that Jaime had any intent to NOT wed and be Lord of Casterly Rock. He wasn’t really into Lysa but he never straight up refused to take on the role he was born into. In fact, he even kinda fancied Catelyn lol.

“Lord Hoster kept me for a fortnight whilst mulling his reply, and sat me beside his daughter Lysa at every meal.”

“Small wonder you took the white. I’d have done the same.”

“Oh, Lysa was not so fearsome as all that.” She had been a pretty girl, in truth; dimpled and delicate, with long auburn hair. Timid, though. Prone to tongue-tied silences and fits of giggles, with none of Cersei’s fire. Her older sister had seemed more interesting, though Catelyn was promised to some northern boy, the heir of Winterfell …”

And lol

“but at that age, no girl interested Jaime half so much as Hoster’s famous brother, who had won renown fighting the Ninepenny Kings upon the Stepstones.” - AFFC

He doesn’t even say, “but at that age, no girl interested Jaime so much as Cersei.” No. The Blackfish. Had Catelyn been unbetrothed, it’s not a stretch to think that Jaime would have been entertained by the idea of their betrothal. This was before Cersei seduced him at Eel Alley.

“hE GaVe HiS ConSenT”

Yeah, after she manipulated him through sex LOL. IT’S RIGHT THERE.

“Jaime always wanted to join the KG!”

“He had joined the Kingsguard for love, of course”.-ASOS

(HEY! Just like that tall, blonde, “beauty” he’s been hanging out with HHMM)

He wasn’t going to join the KG before Cersei gave him “love,” which is why he was asking about Casterly Rock and talking about Tywin, as if this was an idea he hadn’t thought of before. (Knight and KG are not synonymous). He joined “for love” AFTER she gave him intimacy, showing him what he could have if he agreed to stay by her side forever.

She even murdered Melara -HER FRIEND- for saying she wanted to marry Jaime one day. She kept trying to rob Jaime of a life outside of her, and yes I use the word “rob,” because it was through narcissistic abuse. She literally turned up the passion and kept waking him up with sex until he gave his consent.

And “by morning” Casterly Rock was “a small price to pay.” A SMALL PRICE TO PAY. That means it was worth something of value to him and then “by morning,” after she woke him up over and over and over until he agreed, it became a “small price.”

Also keep in mind that when Cersei was begging Jaime to join the KG to be close to her, she was legitimately crushing hard on Rhaegar not long before... she’s allowed to fantasize about marriage with Rhaegar, but Jaime isn’t allowed to fit his role and marry?

“once she had drawn a picture of herself flying behind Rhaegar on a dragon, her arms wrapped tight about his chest. When Jaime had discovered it she told him it was Queen Alysanne and King Jaehaerys. [...] By night the prince played his silver harp and made her weep. When she had been presented to him, Cersei had almost drowned in the depths of his sad purple eyes. He has been wounded, she recalled thinking, but I will mend his hurt when we are wed. Next to Rhaegar, even her beautiful Jaime had seemed no more than a callow boy. The prince is going to be my husband, she had thought, giddy with excitement, and when the old king dies I’ll be the queen.” -AFFC

Like… fuck…

Later on, when Jaime is developing into his own being and becoming aware of the bs, the Eel Alley scene is brought up again.

“Cersei.” He spoke slowly, like a man waking from a dream, still wondering where he was. “What hour is it?”

“The hour of the wolf.” His sister lowered her hood, and made a face. “The drowned wolf, perhaps.” She smiled for him, so sweetly.”

There’s the use of charm. Normally you could argue that she was honestly happy to see him. But what does she say next and what does he associate with that encounter?

“Do you remember the first time I came to you like this? It was some dismal inn off Weasel Alley, and I put on servant’s garb to get past Father’s guards.”

“I remember. It was Eel Alley.” She wants something of me. “Why are you here, at this hour? What would you have of me?” His last word echoed up and down the sept, mememememememememememe, fading to a whisper. For a moment he dared to hope that all she wanted was the comfort of his arms.”

And he wasn’t wrong. She did want something from him. So no. It’s not in his head.

“Jaime, Kevan has refused me. He will not serve as Hand [...] “You must be Tommen’s Hand.” -AFFC

This time he realizes what she’s doing. Using her outfit, she’s causing a recall to a past manipulative event that worked, exposing her intent, which is why Jaime immediately recognizes it as something she wants from him. This also implies that he now views their encounter at Eel Alley as Cersei wanting something of him since the two encounters were directly associated.

Here’s another moment of manipulation by a sexual narcissist.

“My sister wanted the girl to lose a hand. The old penalty, for striking one of the blood royal. Robert told her she was cruel and mad. They fought for half the night … well, Cersei fought, and Robert drank. Past midnight, the queen summoned me inside.”

Failing to get Robert to side with her and do something, she then summoned Jaime to give him the attention she knows he wants. You see where I’m going here?

“The king was passed out snoring on the Myrish carpet. I asked my sister if she wanted me to carry him to bed. She told me I should carry her to bed, and shrugged out of her robe. I took her on Raymun Darry’s bed after stepping over Robert. If His Grace had woken I would have killed him there and then. He would not have been the first king to die upon my sword … but you know that story, don’t you?” He slashed at a tree branch, shearing it in half. “As I was fucking her, Cersei cried, ‘I want.’ I thought that she meant me, but it was the Stark girl that she wanted, maimed or dead.” The things I do for love. - AFFC

This isn’t Jaime interpreting the incident incorrectly. This is character growth.

GRRM is speaking through Jaime by destroying the illusion and becoming aware of the reality he has been living. Because the lights are turning on for him, the things I do for love can take on a new meaning here. It’s more like the things I do to earn intimacy. He’s jogging down memory lane and realizing that every time (shown or told about in the books) she approached him she was trying to get something from him or trying to get him to agree with her. There was always a motive apart from a genuine desire to give and receive love, no strings attached.

Excessive Focus on Physical Over Emotional

“The sexual narcissist’s style of love-making is often focused on appearance and image, with a keen dislike for flaws and weaknesses from oneself or the partner. The love-making is less about two human beings connecting, and more about measuring up to idealized expectations. Try as the sexual narcissist might at physical grandiosity, there’s inevitably something missing in their performance: genuine human emotions.”

Mm yes.Going back to this as an example:

“his face was thinner, with hollows under his eyes and lines he did not remember. I don’t look as much like Cersei this way. She’ll hate that.” - ASOS

“The Targaryens wed brother to sister for three hundred years, to keep the bloodlines pure. And Jaime and I are more than brother and sister. We are one person in two bodies. We shared a womb together. He came into this world holding my foot, our old maester said. When he is in me, I feel … whole.” - AGOT

“I need you. I need my other half.” He could hear the rain pattering against the windows high above. “You are me, I am you. I need you with me. In me. Please, Jaime. Please.” - AFFC

People use Cersei’s romanticized twin comments as evidence to show that she genuinely loves Jaime. This also can connect to the GRRM quote mentioned above about her genuine love capabilities which can be argued as “lol no”.

She does not have “genuine human emotions,” because her words and feelings are from a narcissistic desire to be whole through the idea that Jaime is an extension of herself. So… yeah, if she thinks Jaime is herself as a male (“you are me, I am you”), then she’s missing half of her until he’s inside her, making her whole. Her, her, her, her.

Also, that’s a move to try to strip him of his own identity, his own person, and is a fucking massive red flag that this is how the relationship began. Does he ever try to persuade her to do shit by reminding her that they’re the same person? Like ffs.

She does this while trying to manipulate him using sex. He’s not listening to her, so she begs him to be inside her. Hey, why not? We’ve seen this work before.

“Every time he went to sleep, she woke him again. By morning Casterly Rock seemed a small price to pay to be near her always. He gave his consent, and Cersei promised to do the rest.” - ASOS

You Exist to Serve the Narcissist’s Needs.

“After the initial courtship period during which he or she tries to impress and please, a sexual narcissist may begin to demand that you cater primarily to his own selfish needs. He may expect you to be “on call”

Okay I bolded that “on call” bit, because she does go to him when she wants something, and then gets hella mad when he refuses. But I know some people will use this to be like BuT JaImE TaKeS hEr WhEn He WaNts and like.. Yeah, fair enough, you can make that argument, but… that’s leaving out context. He goes to her because she’s withholding intimacy and only initiates when she wants something from him. I’m going to play devil’s advocate and say it does fit. Remember what I said in the beginning that it’s not uncommon for victims to act in ways that are problematic (hate that word) to try to get back some control? Yeah. Apply this here. His unhealthy response is a reaction to her using intimacy as a tool.

“and satisfy sexual desires at his pleasure, require you to engage in sexual acts which only he enjoys [doesn’t really apply], or demand that you limit your other activities to be more available. Rather than being an individual with your own thoughts, feelings and priorities. The sexual narcissist expects you to exist merely as an extension of his or her wishes. ”

Cersei resents Jaime for disagreeing with her and thinking on his own. Literally the “you are me” bs and how she gets really angry when he begins to challenge her and goes against her wishes. She views him as someone who needs to cater to her, All he’s doing for her to slap and throw nasty words and cups at him is just... not doing what she asks him to do... his existence in Cersei’s life is simply to cater to her.

Constantly Puts You Down

“In order to put up a facade of superiority, and disguise hidden insecurity and inadequacy, some narcissists will constantly put other people down, to boost their own desirability and acceptability. In a sexual relationship, some (but not all) narcissists may also target their partners for ridicule, blame, shame, sarcasm, and overall marginalization. By subjecting the partner to an inferior psychological position, the narcissist is able to exercise a greater degree of dominance and manipulation.”

I mean… Do I really need to provide examples here? This is actually similar to the next one, so I’m going to put my examples there.

Reacts Negatively When You Don’t Give Them What They Want

“Since many sexual narcissists can't stand disappointment or rejection, they will frequently react negatively when you don’t give them what they want, in the way they want it. Some of the common responses include:

Anger – Tantrum. Negative judgment. Personal attacks. Ridicule.

Passive-Aggression – The cold shoulder. The silent treatment. Withhold of love and affection [which ties in to withholding intimacy examples I provided above]. Sarcasm. Calculated separation.

Emotional Coercion – Blame. Guilt trip. Calling the partner ungrateful. Threaten to withhold love and intimacy (such as it is). Pretend narcissistic victimhood.

None of these responses are those of a mature, reasonable adult. The sexual narcissist, by acting like a petulant child or a bully, hopes the drama and manipulation will hook you back in, so you’ll once again “belong” to him or her.”

Some of this is physical abuse too, so I’m sticking those under here. And yes, slapping counts as physical abuse and it doesn’t matter who the hell does it.

“Rule? I said naught of ruling. I shall rule until my son comes of age.”

“I don’t know who I pity more,” her brother said. “Tommen, or the Seven Kingdoms.” She slapped him. Jaime’s arm rose to catch the blow, cat-quick … but this cat had a cripple’s stump in place of a right hand. Her fingers left red marks on his cheek. - AFFC

Keep in mind that every time Jaime’s reflex goes to his face to block a blow it’s a sign that this is a behavior he’s used to. Sometimes people use the, “I don’t know who I pity more” line as well for “mutual abuse.” Context and… where’s the lie? Lmao.

Most of the time he’s being straight with her. Snarky ass? Sure. Abusive? No. Intent is key. She puts him down to shame him and attempts to decrease his self-worth. This is a control move, because she throws cruel words at him when she is unsuccessful in getting what she wants. He sometimes calls her a fool and one time asks if she’s drunk or stupid, because she’s legit spiraling into a paranoia and he’s going wtf lol. He’s not trying to make her dependent on him through the use of his poor language.

Anyway, back to physical.

Jaime felt his anger rising. “True, Loras does not leer at your teats the way Ser Osmund does, but I hardly think—”

“Think about this.” Cersei slapped his face. Jaime made no attempt to block the blow.

“I see I need a thicker beard, to cushion me against my queen’s caresses.” He wanted to rip her gown off and turn her blows to kisses. He’d done it before, back when he had two good hands.”

People love to use this against Jaime. Ffs. He’s literally trying to fucking defend himself from physical abuse by trying to diffuse the situation through sex, turning “blows to kisses.” This is one of those messy situations where it’s a victim trying to gain back control in an unhealthy, arguably abusive way. Does that make them anywhere near “mutually” abusive as if they’re 50/50? LMFAO no.

“Would Your Grace honor her white knight with a dance?” She gave him a withering look. “And have you fumbling at me with that stump? No. I will let you fill my wine cup for me, though. If you think you can manage it without spilling.” - AFFC

She turns him down with her disgust over his missing hand and then allows him to fill her cup I-

“Get out, I said. I am sick of looking at that ugly stump of yours. Get out!” To speed him on his way, she heaved her wine cup at his head. She missed, but Jaime took the hint.” - AFFC

Alright this big one…

WST:

“You mustn’t let Father take him from me. Jaime, please.

“I can talk to him, but he will not listen …”

“He will if you agree to leave the Kingsguard.”

“I’m not leaving the Kingsguard.” His sister fought back tears.

“Jaime, you’re my shining knight. You cannot abandon me when I need you most! He is stealing my son, sending me away … and unless you stop him, Father is going to force me to wed again!”

Guilt tripping and playing up the loving language.

Also, off topic, but I just want to point out that it’s funny Cersei came to him in Eel Alley to persuade him to join the KG to be with her. Jaime said they can’t get Tywin’s approval, so then she fucks him all night and he agrees. They played as lovers before that moment, but that was the night that sealed their affair to one another, to remove himself off the market and stay by her side forever. In this scene, she’s coming to him to ask him to LEAVE the KG, knowing Tywin would approve, and when he’s questioning the idea she tries to have sex with him, BUT he refuses her so her plan doesn’t work, making this moment the solid beginning of their downfall lmao. The opposite of Eel Alley.

“It makes no matter who they wed me to, I want you at my side, I want you in my bed, I want you inside me. Nothing has changed between us.”

Increasing the level of manipulation through intimacy since her previous persuasive strategy wasn’t working.

“Let me prove it to you.” She pushed up his tunic and began to fumble with the laces of his breeches. Jaime felt himself responding.

“No,” he said, “not here.” They had never done it in White Sword Tower, much less in the Lord Commander’s chambers. “Cersei, this is not the place.”

“You took me in the sept. This is no different.”

She drew out his cock and bent her head over it. Jaime pushed her away with the stump of his right hand. “No. Not here, I said.” He forced himself to stand. For an instant he could see confusion in her bright green eyes, and fear as well. Then rage replaced it.

Angry reaction due to refusal of sex. Childish reaction from not getting what she wants which quickly turns into bullying.

Cersei gathered herself together, got to her feet, straightened her skirts. “Was it your hand they hacked off in Harrenhal, or your manhood?” As she shook her head, her hair tumbled around her bare white shoulders. “I was a fool to come. You lacked the courage to avenge Joffrey, why would I think that you’d protect Tommen? Tell me, if the Imp had killed all three of your children, would that have made you wroth?”

Lol people thinking she was there to hang out with him. She admits to only being in there to ask something of him. “I was a fool to come.” Don’t miss out on the angry, nasty response because she was rejected and couldn’t use her favorite go-to manipulation tactic.

“You great golden fool. He’s lied to you a thousand times, and so have I.” [...]

“You had best go, Cersei. You’re making me angry.”

“Oh, an angry cripple. How terrifying.” She laughed. “A pity Lord Tywin Lannister never had a son. I could have been what he wanted, but I lacked the cock. And speaking of such, best tuck yours away, brother. It looks rather sad and small, hanging from your breeches like that.”

She’s trying to establish superiority by attempting to break him down, using his disability against him and attacking his manhood.

More?

“Gold? Or silver?” Cersei plucked a hair from beneath his chin and held it up. It was grey. “All the color is draining out of you, brother. You’ve become a ghost of what you were, a pale crippled thing. And so bloodless, always in white.” She flicked the hair away. “I prefer you garbed in crimson and gold.” - AFFC

I mean…I think that’s enough.

lol jk

“Tell him what has happened, and write … write …”

“Yes, Your Grace?” She licked her lips, shivering. “Come at once. Help me. Save me. I need you now as I have never needed you before. I love you. I love you. I love you. Come at once.”

“As you command. ‘I love you’ thrice?”

“Thrice.” She had to reach him. “He will come. I know he will. He must. Jaime is my only hope.”

“My queen,” said Qyburn, “have you … forgotten? Ser Jaime has no sword hand. If he should champion you and lose …”

We will leave this world together, as we once came into it. “He will not lose. Not Jaime. Not with my life at stake.” - AFFC

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SHE

FUCKING

THOUGHT

ABOUT

HOW TO WORD IT

TO GET HIM TO COME BACK

SHE CONSCIOUSLY, FORMULATED A PLAN TO WRITE “I LOVE YOU”

SPECIFICALLY THREE TIMES

TO “REACH HIM.”

SHE. LITERALLY. ADMITS. TO MANIPULATING HIM. THROUGH EMOTIONS.

“Come at once,” she said. “Help me. Save me. I need you now as I have never needed you before. I love you. I love you. I love you. Come at once.”

Vyman was hovering by the door, waiting, and Jaime sensed that Peck was watching too. “Does my lord wish to answer?” the maester asked, after a long silence. A snowflake landed on the letter. As it melted, the ink began to blur. Jaime rolled the parchment up again, as tight as one hand would allow, and handed it to Peck.

“No,” he said. “Put this in the fire.”-AFFC

And Jaime had so much character growth by that point that IT DIDN’T FUCKING WORK LMAO. Her game isn’t working anymore. And not only is she trying to manipulate him through loving words, she’s also NOT GIVING A FUCK ABOUT HIS LIFE OUTSIDE OF HERSELF, because she’s acknowledging that if she’s going down then she’s taking him with her. T

he loving thing to do would be, “Jaime, I won’t allow you to be my champion. You’re missing your good hand and can’t win. I don’t want to be the one to cause your death.” But Cersei never gave a shit about his life outside of her so... not a shocker. (Also I just lmao that around the same time Cersei is trying to get Jaime to come back for his death sentence, Brienne is out there willing to literally hang by a noose to save him. Great contrast.)

On to Jaime…

I did a bit of research to see why the fuck people think Jaime is abusive towards Cersei. Almost all of the examples involve their type of sex play, his thoughts (WHAT LMAO), and… not understanding the difference between toxicity and abuse. Abuse is always toxic, but toxicity isn’t always abusive.

I’ve been in both an abusive and toxic relationship and the difference was that my partner in the toxic one wasn’t trying to establish constant control through various different methods. He wasn’t using me for his own gain or trying to make me feel like garbage about myself. He didn’t become physical when I went against him. In my non-abuse toxic one, we were like each other’s “drug.” Extreme highs and lows, propping each other up on a pedestal, losing ourselves within the relationship by wrapping our happiness around the other. The twins are definitely toxic, mutually, but some of Jaime’s unhealthy behaviors are confused with abuse and, ironically, his more questionable actions stem from Cersei’s abuse on him.

Quoting this again since it’s like a million pages up:

Why do people abuse?

There is a difference between UNHEALTHY/TOXIC and ABUSIVE.

Don’t come at me about the patriarchy being the reason why Cersei can’t be abusive towards Jaime (yes… I’ve actually seen that hot take). Within their own personal dynamic, Cersei has power over Jaime just by the nature of him being in the KG. She literally uses her position to tell him where to go and what to do, and even oversteps her boundaries sometimes by giving orders for him.

As stated above, she manipulated him into joining the KG with implied promises of being together always. She then had affairs behind his back, used intimacy to persuade him, and cruelly put him down when he didn’t want to do the things she asked of him. That’s Cersei trying to maintain control of their dynamic. This is a “pattern of behavior” that dates back to at least Eel Alley.

Unhealthy/Toxic

There isn’t a clear line when a relationship becomes unhealthy or abusive. This means it might be hard to figure out what kind of relationship you’re in. Remember that abuse is all about power and control. An unhealthy relationship might involve a power imbalance, being mean, ignoring boundaries [x]

Unhealthy behaviors can appear to be abusive behaviors, and certain toxic acts can turn into abusive over time, but they’re not the same thing.

For Jaime’s side of the “abuse,” he falls more often into the “unhealthy” category. I’m going to respond to a meta I came across recently.

“Jaime has channelled all his sexual desire into Cersei for most of his life (even thinking “I’ve been too long away from Cersei” when he experiences some arousal upon seeing Brienne naked), and that is not something one partner should put upon another. He judges the attractiveness of other women in reference to Cersei: Brienne, once, and Hildy the sex worker in ADWD. Cersei is a person, not a standard of idealised beauty.”

People twist the entire context to make him appear to be somehow abusive in a situation that actually…. sounds like a victim. Cersei wants that level of devotion from Jaime (and so do some of her stans), which is literally exactly why they don’t think Jaime and Brienne are a love story and why Cersei is like LMAO HER? Jaime would never leave me for that creature! SHE’S UGLY.

She lived her whole life knowing that Jaime only had eyes for her, and the irony of “not a standard of idealised beauty” is that Cersei wants to be the standard of idealised beauty. He’s not “putting” anything on her. He’s reflecting what she wants and what has been reinforced since childhood.

Besides that, I don’t see why it’s so wrong for Jaime to think Cersei is the most beautiful woman on the planet lol. And way to miss the entire fucking point, because the point is that YEAH, their entire relationship is superficial. Superficiality is unhealthy to an extent, but it’s not “abusive.” Jaime has only been with one woman his entire life and now he’s finally starting to encounter women away from his sister, so of course he’s going to compare. It’s like if you never left your town but one day decided to venture out into the world outside of it. You’re going to compare the buildings, the culture, etc because your mind is going to be expanding.

“ Until late in ASoS, he does not value his Kingsguard vows except as they allow him to be close to her. (Again, mutually abusive relationship; Cersei’s actions were vital in getting him into this position where he has nothing but her.)”

HOW IS THIS ABUSIVE ON JAIME’S END? And I already discussed how she manipulated him into that situation with Casterly Rock being something of value to him.

“Cersei has no meaningful relationships with anyone or anything outside of Jaime and her children. This is bad for both of them. So much of their emotional energy goes into each other, fostering the sense that they are not independent, whole people, and reinforcing the sense that the relationship is the only thing of value in their lives.”

Yeah! It is! And since Jaime is in the KG because Cersei convinced him to join, and she literally murdered her friend because the girl expressed wanting to marry Jaime, I WONDER WHY JAIME HAS NO FUCKING LIFE OUTSIDE OF CERSEI? As for Cersei, she CHOOSES to limit herself to Lannisters. Jaime isn’t forcing her to not have friends what the actual fuck. Cersei murders her friends lmfao.

This is unhealthy, not abusive, on Jaime’s end. HE isn’t the one “fostering the sense that they are not independent, whole people.” As explained above, CERSEI is the one repeating this over and over, using it to convince him, to control, to attempt to rob him of his identity when he tries to stray. So on Cersei’s end, yeah, that’s abuse.

“For all his idealisation of her and their relationship, Jaime’s trust in Cersei is also a very brittle thing. When Tyrion tells Jaime “she’s been fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy for all I know,” while still believing Cersei’s declaration that Tyrion has “lied to you a thousand times, and so have I” was “a clumsy attempt to hurt him,” he doesn’t do what someone in a healthy relationship would do, and ask her. Whatever trust he has in her vanishes in two sentences, one about Cersei’s honesty, one about her fidelity.”

And… his… lack of trust was justified anyway? LMAO. He even thinks at some point that Tyrion IS lying. And when he’s away from Cersei in ASOS, he doesn’t imagine her fucking other people while he’s gone, because he trusted her. He genuinely believes that she’s faithful to him (which is precisely why he felt so betrayed). But he also trusts Tyrion, so he went back and forth, wondering wtf was the truth.

AND HOW THE FUCK IS LACK OF TRUST ABUSIVE? This is another case of IT’S UNHEALTHY to have little to no trust in your relationship. Not abusive ffs (!!!)

“Jaime is abusive because he coerces her into sex”

BTW, a person who laughed at me and said this also is a huge twincest shipper which… why… do you… romanticize it and claim their love to be True.. If… you think… he does that?!

Pretty much everyone brings up “sexual coercion.” And you know what? Fair.

But... Jaime and Cersei are drawn to a messy push-pull sex play. She says no and then “weakley” pushes him away.

There were soft, wet sounds. Bran realized they were kissing. He watched, wide-eyed and frightened, his breath tight in his throat. The man had a hand down between her legs, and he must have been hurting her there, because the woman started to moan, low in her throat. “Stop it,” she said, “stop it, stop it. Oh, please …” But her voice was low and weak, and she did not push him away. Her hands buried themselves in his hair, his tangled golden hair, and pulled his face down to her breast. -AGOT

This is GRRM trying to clarify that this is their messy sex dynamic. I mean, he has a fucking little kid observe this all “oh hey but she isn’t pushing him away guys! It’s all good, guys! That’s just them!” Like he’s taking down notes. The 4th wall being broken here is almost jarring.

This sounds a lot like the scene at WF.

“No,” she said weakly when his lips moved down her neck, “not here. The septons …”

“The Others can take the septons.” He kissed her again, kissed her silent, kissed her until she moaned. Then he knocked the candles aside and lifted her up onto the Mother’s altar, pushing up her skirts and the silken shift beneath. She pounded on his chest with feeble fists, murmuring about the risk, the danger, about their father, about the septons, about the wrath of gods. He never heard her. He undid his breeches and climbed up and pushed her bare white legs apart. One hand slid up her thigh and underneath her smallclothes. When he tore them away, he saw that her moon’s blood was on her, but it made no difference. “Hurry,” she was whispering now, “quickly, quickly, now, do it now, do me now. Jaime Jaime Jaime.” Her hands helped guide him. “Yes,” Cersei said as he thrust, “my brother, sweet brother, yes, like that, yes, I have you, you’re home now, you’re home now, you’re home.” She kissed his ear and stroked his short bristly hair. Jaime lost himself in her flesh. He could feel Cersei’s heart beating in time with his own, and the wetness of blood and seed where they were joined. - ASOS

In both scenes she’s weakly protesting which implies it’s a form of their sex play, and she’s being turned on by him “taking” her. This depiction of sex was actually really trendy in the media not too long ago, so honestly the sex scenes for this “edgey couple” just exposes his age. That push-pull, yes/no, “he can’t resist me” wasn’t nearly as controversial as it is now. He was literally writing what used to be seen as hot. It obviously did not age well.

And GRRM never meant for Jaime to be interpreted as a rapist.

"If the show had retained some of Cersei's dialogue from the books, it might have left a somewhat different impression – but that dialogue was very much shaped by the circumstances of the books, delivered by a woman who is seeing her lover again for the first time after a long while apart during which she feared he was dead. I am not sure it would have worked with the new timeline. That's really all I can say on this issue. The scene was always intended to be disturbing … but I do regret if it has disturbed people for the wrong reasons." [x]

“Jaime thinks of her as a whore”

WHY IS THERE A THOUGHT POLICE? How is it abuse that he thinks a word with zero abusive action attached to it?? And like fuck LMAO Cersei is the one that goes off with the word “whore” quite often, in a misogynistic way.

What’s even stupider is when Jaime thinks of her as a “whore,” he’s just reciting what Tyrion told him, word for word. The words came from Tyrion, so Tyrion’s words are playing out in his mind.

“Cersei is a lying whore, she’s been fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and probably Moon Boy for all I know. And I am the monster they all say I am. Yes, I killed your vile son.” - AFFC

Oh, how Tyrion was sniggering.… a lying whore … fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack … - AFFC

And he even removes the whore bit.

“If so, we might have coaxed the truth from them.” … she’s been fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy for all I know … - AFFC

Ser Osmund Kettleblack paced beside them in his white enamel plate and white wool cloak. “… she been fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy for all I know …” - AFFC

Jaime could feel his phantom fingers itching at the sight of him.… fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy for all I know … - AFFC

Strong and vigorous and handsome, Jaime thought.… she’s been fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy for all I know … - AFFC

He wanted to kiss her, carry her to her bedchamber, throw her on the bed … she’s been fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy … - AFFC

That only made her laugh. “We all have secrets, brother,” she replied. … she’s been fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and Moon Boy for all I know … - AFFC

Now there’s this time where he says,

Jaime gave a shrug. “My apologies if I mistook you for something you’re not. My little brother has known a hundred whores, I’m sure, but I’ve only ever bedded one.” -ADWD

OMG EVERYONE STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING NOW IT’S TIME TO OFFICIALLY STAMP HIM AS A MISOGYNIST AND THIS AS MUTUAL ABUSE towards someone who isn’t even fucking there and for bitterly thinking of his cheating partner as a whore in a world that throws that word around like it’s candy at a parade.

Since “whore” in Westeros is more loosely thrown around than it is in our world, the incredibly hurt and angry Jaime thinking she’s a whore for sleeping with multiple people behind his back is not that fucking wild. Do I think that's sexist? Yeah. Do I think it’s healthy? No. Do I think it’s a realistic response that a very hurt person would think, especially in a world where it’s a common term? Absolutely.

“He dreams about hurting her though so lol he’s clearly violent against her”

(yes I’ve unfortunately seen this a lot)

Hey all... I have a confession to make...

I dreamed about pushing a certain politician in front of a bus and bashing D&D’s teeth in. I also had a dream where I kicked my sister because she ate my last piece of cheesecake. I’m so sorry. Please lock me up and throw away the key until it’s time for me to be executed.

Last night he dreamed he’d found her fucking Moon Boy. He’d killed the fool and smashed his sister’s teeth to splinters with his golden hand, just as Gregor Clegane had done to poor Pia. -AFFC

… he DREAMED it.

PEOPLE ARE FUCKING USING THIS AS EVIDENCE FOR MUTUAL ABUSE BECAUSE HE DREAMED IT.

You know partly why? Because they THINK he’s going to murder her or harm her, so they’re prematurely calling him abusive and removing literally all the context because... IT HASN’T HAPPENED. They’re essentially accusing a man of doing something before he even does it without even knowing FOR SURE if he’s even going to do it, USING THIS DREAM TO ACCUSE HIM LOL.

god THIS FUCKING FANDOM I-

DREAMS. ARE NOT. ABUSE

I’mcryingwhydoIhavetosaythat

Not only is it in a dream, but like, idk, why do you think he’s having those violent dreams? Did she do something to really hurt him so his pain is manifesting in his subconscious as violence? IDK just a wild guess! Maybe he specifically thought about smashing her teeth in, because just previously they were speaking about how Ser Gregor did the same thing to Pia. You know... kinda like me dreaming about angrily pushing my cheating ex down the stairs after I watched a murder mystery documentary where someone was pushed down a flight of stairs. (Oh but my ex was a man, so it’s just viewed as a dream).

… the cringe of the thought police...

Yeah. I’m done. I didn’t even dig up all of Cersei’s instances of abuse and this thing is like fucking 20 pages long. So even IF you view Jaime’s thoughts (!!!!) as abusive and IF you believe he was full on coercing or raping her, they still aren’t nearly MUTUALLY abusive, as in 50/50 abuse, and I’m just going to circle back around to what I said in the beginning about the main victims reacting in problematic ways.

Anyway. I always start these as calm and cool and then end with all caps and a glass of wine to chill me out. All I have left to say about whatever that “mutually abusive” meta was is

#longest one I've ever done heads up LOL #jaime lannister #asoiaf #probably have a million mistakes and a thousand regrettable things but I'm tired and want this done #but honestly thanks anon #I was legit wanting to write about this for a long time #abuse

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ftcoye · 4 years ago

Note

For 2k/200, I think the Naruto fandom deserves more Karin/Hinata, and you're one of the few that ever writes content for them. I keep going feral over the sheer potential they'd make as a power couple. Like, Karin would definitely help Hinata find a way to eradicate the Caged Bird Seal. And chakra chains plus lion fist/gentle fist? Deadly.

[Ao3 Link.]

“Do you think you can do it?” Hinata asks. Her voice is hushed – barely a breath, even though the two of them are alone in Karin’s apartment. There’s enough seals plastered everywhere to keep out even Naruto, if Karin so wished it, but it doesn’t change the tension that hangs in the air, the frightening details that lay between them on the table.

Karin presses her lips together. “Maybe,” she says. Medical seals are her specialty – everything to do with biology. She picked up a lot, some reluctant some not, from Orochimaru. This, ironically enough, does fall under that category. Despite what it’s used for, it is a medical seal. It affects the wearer’s biology, is hooked up directly to their neural pathways and possibly their chakra ones as well, and that means it’s something that Karin can maybe, maybe deal with.

She looks up from the papers and meets Hinata’s eyes square on. “It won’t be pleasant,” she warns. “I’ll need a test subject, and it might be painful.”

Hinata hesitates. “Would it… would it be deadly?”

Karin scoffs at that, shaking her head and wrinkling her nose. “What do you take me for, some amateur? Painful, sure, but never deadly. I’m no Orochimaru.”

Hinata pales. “I didn’t- I didn’t mean-“

“I know,” Karin interrupts, not wanting to hear whatever apology she’s stuttering out. Mostly because it’ll take forever. “I didn’t take it like that. But don’t worry, seriously, whoever plays test subject won’t be in that kind of harm.” She’s not a monster, geeze.

After a moment, Hinata nods. “I think… Neji-nii will be okay helping,” she says quietly.

Good. Perfect. “Can you activate the seals?” she asks.

Hinata looks startled. “What?”

“Can you activate the seals?” Karin gestures at the rough sketch on the table before them, and Hinata somehow looks even more nervous.

“Um, I can…” she says, which is great.

“Perfect,” says Karin, and Hinata stares at her like she’s insane. Except like, polite about it? It’s weird. “I’ll need your help, too. I need to see how it works.”

Hinata stares at Karin for a long moment. “That’s… what you mean by painful,” she whispers.

Karin nods. “Among other things. You still in?”

She waits, only semi-patient, while Hinata seems to mull it over. “If… if Neji-nii agrees,” she says, not quite meeting Karin’s eyes. “Then I’ll help.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

---

Neji agrees.

---

“Explain it… again, please,” Hinata says, almost begging Karin. Despite the weariness she feels in her bones, she can see the terror on the other girl’s face, and she sighs.

“Neji’s got a diagnosis seal on him,” Karin says – and indeed, the longsuffering boy has a paper seal stuck to his cheek. “I want you to activate the Caged Bird Seal, just for a little, so I can get a proper look at how it’s affecting him and where it has its hooks in.”

Hinata nods, very slowly. “You can do that with the seal?”

Karin waves a hand. “And I can sense his chakra fluctuations. It’s fine, trust me.”

“Neji-nii?” she asks softly.

He meets her eyes. “Hinata,” he says, simply. “I’d rather just have it be done.”

Karin can’t exactly blame him – she’s not sure how painful it is, or even if Neji has had to endure it before, but it’s apparently bad enough to terrify Hinata and make her shake, and make Neji tense and ready. But that solidifies it for Hinata, because they both agreed and they’ll have to do it no matter what, so she might as well do it. There’s no use prolonging it.

She nods, and opens her mouth.

Neji screams. It’s horrifying. That kind of scream would be horrifying from literally anyone, but somehow it’s even worse than it would be because it’s coming from Neji.

He screams, tears springing to his eyes as he clutches his head and falls to his knees and it’s over with in less than a minute, maybe 30 seconds of it at most but Karin thinks she’s going to hear that ringing in her ears for the rest of her life, see the way his chakra ripples every time she closes her eyes.

Hinata runs to her cousin, pressing hands to his shoulders as she calls his name, frantic with worry, and Karin tries to pull herself together.

She’s seen awful things. Experienced awful things. Hell, she’s done awful things to many of the strays that Orochimaru brought home, things she doesn’t want to remember she’s done because they’ll make her stomach turn.

But she’s never quite heard anyone scream like that.

Karin refuses to show weakness, breathing in and out and then dropping to her knees as well. She pulls the seal paper off of his face, rolls up her sleeve and shoves her arm in his face. “Bite,” she orders, and shaking, he does.

---

Fortunately, the data is enough.

Karin can see where the seal has sunk its claws in – can tell what neural pathways its hooked in, see how it destroys them.

(It would take maybe ten minutes of the seal, and you could completely destroy someone’s mind. It’s a really good thing she’s never met Hinata’s father because she’s very positive she would just start swinging on sight.)

Unfortunately, she doesn’t think she’ll be able to take the seal off. It’s sunk deep enough in, burned its way into Neji’s mind, and attempting to remove it could cause major damage. That’s the case with most seals like this, so she can’t exactly say she’s surprised.

What she can do, however, is negate it. Slap another seal on top to stop any possible damage. Even if it’s activated, make it so it does absolutely nothing – that’s doable. That’s something Karin is sure she can do.

The issue here, though, is test subjects.

Karin can’t test this on people. Not that she has… qualms about it, honestly, because she’s done a lot of shit throughout the years, but she can’t exactly go testing this on random Hyuugas and possible cause them to go accidentally braindead or something like that.

One, she’s like, extremely positive that’s illegal here in Konoha. Two, it will definitely attract a ton of attention and the Hyuuga head will find out what they’re doing and put a massive stop to it, probably by rendering Neji braindead. Three, it’ll make Hinata sad as all hell and that’s something definitely to be avoided.

So Karin reverse engineers the Caged Bird Seal until she can apply it on her own and key it into her own chakra signature and promptly tests it on animals.

Wild ones, of course – Konoha has a plethora of nin animals and summons so she always has to be careful whenever she catches one, but fortunately her chakra sensing comes into super huge handy. Nin animals and summons always feel different to her, so she makes sure she’s only getting wild ones. Squirrels and birds and other things, where she can apply the Caged Bird Seal and then apply her own work-in-progress seal as well as a diagnosis one, to test and check and see how everything’s going.

That’s where Hinata finds her, one day.

Or night, actually – it fell into darkness at some point, and Karin had been so absorbed in her notes and testing that she hadn’t even noticed. She’s muttering to herself, jotting down notes in her notebook, dead bird by her foot, when Hinata walks up.

“Karin?” she asks softly, and Karin’s so absorbed in her work she almost jumps. “Have you been here all day?”

It’s when Karin has to squint slightly at her to see her in the dying light that she realizes what time it is. “Oh,” she says. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Hinata’s brow creases in concern. “You shouldn’t work yourself this hard,” she says softly. “When is the last time you had… had a good night’s sleep?”

Karin is fully aware she doesn’t look the best. She will admit it! It’s been awhile since she’s had a good night’s sleep, but how can she rest when there’s a massive group of people who could literally have their brains destroyed at any moment? God, that scream…

She has morals! Maybe not a lot, but she still has some!

“I need to get this done,” Karin tells Hinata frankly, because surely the other girl is on the same page and understands why this is so important to get done as soon as possible.

Hinata doesn’t waver. “Come on,” she says, and she holds out a hand. Karin stares at it blankly, and Hinata repeats herself. “Come on,” she says again. “We’re going to the bathhouse, and then you’re going home and sleeping.”

“But-“ Karin protests, even as she takes the hand and lets Hinata pull her up.

“No,” she says, firm. “My father won’t do anything different in a single day that he hasn’t done so many times over. If… If you don’t rest, you’ll make mistakes.”

The dead bird can attest to that. Karin grimaces, and caves. “Fine,” she says, and Hinata doesn’t let go of her hand.

---

“Do you trust me?” Karin asks.

Hinata doesn’t hesitate. “Yes,” she says.

When his cousin has replied, Neji gives a nod as well. “Yes,” he says. “If you are positive this will work, let us try.”

“Right,” Karin says, very carefully not letting her voice shake at all.

She paints her seal over Neji’s forehead – definitely doesn’t tattoo it, not yet and not when she’s not super accomplished in something like that. It’ll work, or it won’t, painted or not. If it does work, then she’s got it. She’s finished, she’s done, and they can figure out what to do from there. If it doesn’t work, then Neji’s going to be in pain very soon and it’s back to the drawing board and god, Karin does not want to hear him scream again.

His forehead looks strange – Karin’s black paint over the lines of his permanent seal, marking it and messing it, but Neji meets her eyes steadily. “If it works,” he says, “Then… we will be forever in your debt.”

He’s very serious. Karin snorts. “I don’t do debts,” she says. “Treat me to lunch or something.” With that, she glances at Hinata. “Ready,” she says. “Do it.”

Hinata breathes in and breathes out. Meets her cousin’s eyes, and she speaks.

Nothing happens.

There’s no screaming. No pain, no screaming, just the slightest chakra fluctuation at his forehead that Neji doesn’t even appear to feel. When nothing happens, Hinata speaks again.

“Nothing,” says Neji. “I don’t… feel anything,” he says, and his eyes are damp.

Hinata stares at him, and then her gaze drags over. Karin is fully aware she’s grinning like a lunatic (or like her cousin – actually, that’s basically the same thing, let’s be honest here), but can’t bring herself to care because holy shit she did it, she actually fucking did it-

And all of a sudden Hinata is kissing her.

It’s open-mouthed and desperate and overwhelming and it’s done way too quickly before Hinata is pulling back, cheeks dark and not meeting her gaze. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I shouldn’t have- I-“

Karin is gaping, she realizes, her mouth hanging open as she stares at the other girl. “Don’t you dare fucking apologize for that,” Karin says, and she grabs her for another kiss.

It’s so much and what she’s been craving for far longer than she’d ever admit to herself, and quite honestly Karin could suck her face for literally forever but Neji coughs after a little bit. “I’m still here,” he says, but he sounds amused, and Hinata pulls back with an embarrassed squeak.

Karin laughs a little. “Right,” she says, but she doesn’t apologize because that would be a big fat lie. “Rain check, Hinata? We’ve got a hell of a lot of Hyuuga to mark up.”

Hinata takes a deep breath, cherry pink, but manages a nod. “Rain check,” she says, soft but smiling, and yeah, okay, all three of them are grinning like lunatic cousins. “Let’s… do this.”

Hell yeah.

#hinata hyuuga #karin uzumaki #neji hyuuga #hinakarin #karinhina #naruto #mexicancat-girl #not sure this is QUITE what you were asking for but???

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ritualpurposes · 4 years ago

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Why History is Important

This week has been a week of terrible takes on History, Politics and how the two intersect. From the appalling article in the Telegraph on how the “woke masses” are trying to sabotage Britain’s history (I won’t give this the dignity of a link, but it is easy enough to find), the continued harassment and vilification of Dr Corinne Fowler for her work on the Colonial Countryside Project, to the release of the utterly disgusting 1776 commission in the US and as always, the plethora of ‘hot takes’ on Tumblr, I am seething with rage.

This is a long one, apologies. I won’t go into Tumblrs approach to history, that has been better covered by others here, and here and honestly this rant is long enough as is.

Archaeology and history are inherently political, that is an inescapable fact. People are quick to turn up their noses at the subject of the past and say it has no bearing on the present, but that is a simplistic fantasy. The present is always built of the back of the past, our attitudes, our justifications, our worldviews are all artifacts of what has come before. And when our understanding of what came before is, shall we charitably say, flawed, that is dangerous. The links between the alt. right, white supremacy and fake, white –washed, hyper masculine ideas of the past are well documented. Many of these people justify their actions using versions of the past which to them are very real, ideas of a white ethno-state where the men were Men™. It should be noted, this isn’t a modern phenomenon, I’m pretty sure anyone who has had to sit through intro to archaeology has had to listen to at least once lecture on how Hitler used pseudo archaeology to justify his actions. And while academics can point out that Roman Britain was not white, or that the Vikings traded and intermarried with people from North Africa, these attempts are hindered, both by popular perceptions of the past, and by this idea that the left are attempting to rewrite history.

I find that last point difficult really to deal with, because it combines two opposing ideas, that historians want to make the past more ‘politically correct’ but also downplay the ‘greatness’ of whatever nation they are talking about by talking about the distinctly not political correct bits of history (colonialism and slavery). There is this overwhelming idea that adding any sort of nuance is the result of massive bias. And that any history that doesn’t make your nation look 100% the Heroic Good Guys is part of some sort of plot to undermine national pride and patriotism. The Tories are terrified we might remove statues of slavers, but in the same breath attack the National Trust for trying to talk about the Colonial legacies of their properties.

I think at this point it’s also worth discussing the difference between history and commemoration. I am 100% in support of removing statues, and of renaming streets etc. These things are not history, they are commemoration. History is found in museums, in books, in scholarship. History is knowledge, it is not objects but the context that surrounds them. The removal of a statue does not equal rewriting history, a statue, while an archaeologically interesting artifact, does not in and of itself tell us much. Its context is far more revealing. There is an idea in archaeology called object biography, that looks at how items change in meaning and use throughout their ‘lives’. Items are not static, just like ideas are not static. In the 19th century that statue meant something very different to the people who are around today. What we commemorate, and what commemorations we destroy tell us about society. If the history of Edward Coulston is so important (a man, who I had never heard of before the statue was thrown into the river, so clearly not a priority in English history), then put the statue in a museum with an information board. And if you are really worried about the destruction of history? Why don’t you spend your time and money instead ensuring archaeological work gets done ahead of development or making sure history departments are adequately funded. Interesting, the Torries, while very concerned about statues, are actively fighting those two measures. I know less about the Republican agenda, but looking at the 1776 project, I’m pretty sure that any concern they have for history is less about the past and more about preserving the status quo.

I grew up in America. I took AP US history, and I remember having to write papers about how the Civil War was absolutely not about Slavery. I guess that doesn’t seem that harmful in and of itself, but let’s trace this bit of revisionism through shall we. The Civil war was over States rights, that doesn’t sound too bad. I mean I may not agree with the South, but is it really a moral issue to say that the Federal Government shouldn’t be able to override what individual States want? After all States are very different, what is good for New York might not be so good for Georgia. Ok, so using that logic I don’t really see what’s wrong with flying a confederate flag, I mean it can’t possibly be a symbol of oppression, because the Civil War *wasn’t* about Slavery. So I don’t see why people are getting all upset, it is simply a statement that States Rights are important.

Add to this the general romanticized picture of the Confederate South in the media and you suddenly are looking at a very different picture of the past, supported by, of all things, the fucking AP US History curriculum. The Confederates are seen as tragic heroes, on the wrong side of history perhaps, but with a point, fighting for a way of life. And from there it doesn’t seem too far a leap to what happened on January 6 does it? I’m not saying all media should demonize the South, but I think removing Slavery from the Civil war is dangerous and false representation of History, and one that directly plays into the Civil Unrest we are seeing at the Moment.

So that brings me back to the 1776 commission. It was published as a direct response to the 1619 Project. The 1619 Project sought to center slavery and its effects on American history. This is hugely important, and a weirdly contentious issue. The echos of slavery are still present in the USA, in the form of institutionalized racism, voter suppression, and increased levels of police brutality among other things. It is, at best impossibly naive and at worst actively malicious, to try and consider US history without dealing with the brutal legacy of slavery. And yet, this project was deemed to be ‘UnAmerican’ and ‘revisionist’. How dare any history of America undermine the idea that America is, and has always been, A noble nation that has never done anything wrong ever. To return briefly to my own experiences with AP US History, our textbook said we didn’t lose Vietnam (My father who was a war correspondent in Vietnam had some things to say about that comment). The myth of American Exceptionalism runs deep. The 1776 commission, which I have not brought myself to read in its entirety, is a horrific example of it. It justifies slavery, it states that “as a question of practical politics, no durable union could have been formed without a compromise among the states on the issue of slavery.”, states racism ended in 1964, and that Christianity is the reason we have secular law.

Why does this scare the shit out of me? Why do I care what people believe happened 200 years ago? Because if people truly believe that America can do no wrong, that patriotism means never questioning that we really will live in Trump’s America. Because if Slavery was justified, and racism doesn’t exist anymore than clearly we don’t have to do better, and any complaints are communist plot. Because if Empire really did make England Great then why should we not continue in the same vain? History is grand! Let us live in the Good Ol’ Days!

History is messy. History is unpleasant. History doesn’t fit into simple narratives of good and bad, because people don’t fit into those categories. And while I agree it is impossible to teach history without some bias (interpretation being a key part), we need to accept our past. If we want a brighter future we need to confront where we come from. We need to fight the false narratives prevalent in our culture, be they the idea that Game of Thrones is a good picture of Medieval England or that the Civil War was over a simple ideological difference and not the lives of thousands of enslaved peoples. The best bit of advice on history I ever got was from my high school teacher “If you want to live in the past you haven’t been paying attention”, I think about that statement a lot. The past has power, let us not pretend otherwise.

#History #Archaeology #America #England #1619 project #1776 project #psudoarchaeoloy #archaology #current events #Culture wars #Personal I guess

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internethistoriananalysis · 4 years ago

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The Transformed Public Sphere in Relation to ‘Internet Historian’

The Transformed Public Sphere

In the previous essay I argued that the public sphere had been transformed by the advent of the digital era, but that the change was for the negative. Despite there being significant technological improvements that would naturally bring about a healthier public sphere, the vertical relationships described by Habermas (1989) in the public sphere between corporation and consumer had persisted in the transition from old to new media. This is because ultimately corporations such as Alphabet Inc., which have a history of buying up small companies by the bucket load (Hartmans and Meisenzahl, 2020); still impose vague terms of service that allow for absolutely control over the website’s content and algorithms that appeal to the reptilian reward centre of the brain.

Recontextualisation for the Internet Historian

As with the posts on Goffman’s presentation of the self. It was important to fit the theory into the digital context so Harold and the Internet Historian can be best understood through the idea of the transformed public sphere. This is why he is only being mentioned now.

I discussed in a previous post that Harold is an anonymous figure. He consists entirely of what is best describes as an ‘online persona’, or social front. This means when looking at his place within the public sphere it is difficult to assign him a ‘class’ value, which has been key in determining the health and nature of the public sphere. He is an entertainer, and not in a real position of power as we might associate with the corporate directors and publishers of the 20th century. This indeterminate nature of his character and class status is interesting within the recontextualised ideas of Habermas’ public sphere as anonymity would typically signal that you don’t have much of a vested interest in the affairs of public concern.

Due to the advent of the ‘adpocalypse’ on YouTube (Alexander, 2019), many YouTube content creators have taken to making in-video sponsorships that do not require the approval of the YouTube monetisation system. This cuts out the middle man and allows creators to make more money without the fear of having their videos demonetised or a loss of revenue from a false copyright claim.

On the downside, in-video sponsorships are rather exclusive and are not available to creators with a small following in return for pocket change. This however, is not an issue for Harold as a very successful online persona with 2.74 million subscribers on his primary channel as of January 2021 and it is something that he makes use of in all of his videos.

Habermas describes advertisement as an example of the vertical relationship in the public sphere; the king talking to his subject. A dictation of what is, essentially. This is an easy relationship to establish with an example of traditional advertising, as seen below:

(Brylcreem, N.d.)

This piece of traditional advertising for the hair cream popular in the 1950′s is typical of advertisement from that time. This particular piece was likely found in a newspaper or magazine. It doesn’t use humour in any way, it contains a title, text and an image of a rather joyous man who is clearly a user of this product. The piece exists simply to preach to the quality of Brylcreem and extoll the many virtues of its users. The public sphere relationship is between the advertiser and the consumer; it is an absolute truth being dictated to the consumer and this is the vertical relationship that is not healthy for the public sphere’s benefit.

Unlike traditional advertisement, Internet Historian takes a radically different approach. Most interestingly, he takes the in-video advertisements and incorporates them into the style and humour of the video. For example, in the video below Harold is providing an advertisement for the wireless earphone company RayCon.

youtube

(Internet Historian, 2020:11min 48)

In the video advertisement, Harold creates a fictional character called ‘Ray Con Man’ and gives him a backstory about how his father was killed after being beheaded by wired earphones caught on a tree’s twig, (the joke lies in the fact Ray Con earphones are wireless) and that this spurred him on a mission to destroy all wires.

There is a great difference between traditional advertisement and the form of advertisement seen here. "Critics have blamed advertising for for manipulating people, creating and instilling false needs and values, promoting materialism, perpetuating stereotypes, and presenting a world of consumption sheltered from social problems” (Sandikci, 2004). This could definitely be said about traditional advertising, but is it true of the advertisement within Harold’s videos?

The case isn’t very strong, on the contrary, the advertising seen in Harold’s videos is one that is laden with irony and it could be argued as being an attempt to humorously parody mainstream advertisement in a way that will fit in with the overall comedy of the video; the ultimate goal being to entertain his audience.

References

Alexander, J. (2019) The Golden Age of YouTube is Over. The Verge. [Online] [Accessed 4th January 2021] https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/5/18287318/youtube-logan-paul-pewdiepie-demonetization-adpocalypse-premium-influencers-creators#:~:text=The%20attention%20Kjellberg%20brought%20to,from%20halting%20their%20ad%20spending.

Habermas, J. (1989) The structural transformation of the public sphere : an inquiry into a category of bourgeois society. Cambridge: MIT Press

Hartmans, A. and Meisenzahl, M., (2020) All the companies and divisions under Google's parent company, Alphabet, which just made yet another shake-up to its structure. Business Insider. [Online] [Accessed 5th January 2020] https://www.businessinsider.com/alphabet-google-company-list-2017-4?r=US&IR=T

Sandikci, O., (2004) ‘Advertising and the Public Sphere.’ Advances in Consumer Research, 31 pp. 174-175.

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bondsmagii · 4 years ago

Note

2, 8, 26, 37, 38, 57, 72, 91, 94, 100

> questions to ask at 4:02am meme 🌕🌃

thank you!

2: Do you mourn for a place or person you’ve never known?

yes 😩 I can’t even adequately describe what’s going on here, but there’s a lot of people and a lot of places that feel familiar even if I don’t know them, if that makes sense? and there’s also a lot of people I could have become, and a lot of places I could have been, and I do have moments where I kind of mourn them even though I have no proof that they would have even existed in that specific way. I do think this is normal to an extent, but also I do this a lot, lol.

on a slightly less philosophical level, I of course mourn my older brother, who’s quite literally a person I never got the chance to know.

8: Do you think you can put love into categories (family, platonic, romantic, etc.) or is it just one general sensation?

oh man definitely. the love you feel for your friends isn’t the same love you feel for your spouse or your parents, and so on and so forth. there’s lots of different kinds of love, and lots of different levels within those types, and you’re also more than capable of feeling several different types and levels towards the same person, in my opinion. I don’t know if I would try and categorise everything, because something like love doesn’t really suit being shoved into boxes, but there are different types of love and I find it’s constantly shifting and changing along with you and the object of your love, which is cool.

I should add that I don’t find any one type of love more or less important than the others. seriously, destroy the idea that romantic love is the One True Love, and all other forms are somehow lesser. that’s just garbage.

26: What’s the most life-changing choice you’ve made so far?

this is kind of embarrassing but the truth often is: almost eight years ago I decided to make a sideblog on here that has... something to do with writing, let’s say, and something to do with... a certain character... and anyway that decision led to me meeting a certain person and going from awkward messages on Tumblr to awkward messages on Skype, to eighteen hour conversations and constant texting, to living in a car together for three months on a roadtrip and then living in a car together for many more months while homeless (and a million other places in between), to moving in together and then holy shit we got married.

so I guess that one impulsive decision to make a shitpost sideblog at stupid o’clock in the morning when I was bored one summer has been the single most life-changing choice I’ve ever made.

37: Do opposites attract?

eh. I mean, yeah, sometimes? but similarities attract, too. I think for any kind of relationship to be successful you’ve kind of got to have an element of both, and I think that “opposites” usually refers to something very specific. for example, I don’t mind cleaning the bathroom and you hate it. that’s a useful kind of opposite, because it means a compromise neither of us feel cheated by. you’re unshakable when it comes to slogging through bureaucratic minutiae, and I’m a beast in high-stress quick-thinking scenarios. together we make a pretty unstoppable team, for being opposites in that regard. I think that’s kind of what’s meant by this saying, but unfortunately it seems to have been appropriated to mean “yes honey, I know you work 10 hour shifts and come home to find your partner hasn’t cleaned the house or done anything to help, but opposites attract!” or “my partner supports Trump and genuinely believes that vaccines and masks are a government conspiracy to control us all, and I am a normal human being, but opposites attract so I guess I’ll have to put up with it”. like no, kings and queens. that isn’t what it means. dump them.

38: Is your life what you expected it would be five years ago?

lmao no. not in the slightest. five years ago it would have been... just into 2016, and yeah, no. there is not a single thing about me right now that I would have predicted, aside from the general stuff that’s never changed about me. I had different ideas about what I would be doing for work, about what I’d be working towards; I had completely different levels of commitment and discipline to various tasks, and I certainly wasn’t planning an international move. I can at least say that I’m happier with my current plan than the one I used to have (it wasn’t a bad plan, it just no longer suits me) but there’s no way I would have expected this.

and of course, there’s the whole issue with the pandemic. five years ago I had no idea I would be living through a global natural disaster, and if you’d told me, I would have thought it would be something like a supervolcano eruption or a nuclear winter. like, I’m glad it’s not, but also “you have to stay in your house for over a year” still kind of sucks.

57: Do you thinks humans are obsessed with escapism (books, video games, movies, etc.)? Are you looking for an escape? Do you think that’s a bad thing?

I think we are sometimes, when things are tough and there’s a need to wish to escape (see how many books I read over quarantine in March, for example). most of the time, however, I think humans just like stories. I don’t think it’s any deeper than the fact that humans love stories, we’ve always loved stories, we’ve always loved telling and hearing stories, before we had books and archives we passed our stories down orally and we drew them on cave walls with our own fingers, and this love for the story has never changed or altered in the hundreds of thousands of years since. I think that’s the major driving force here.

right now I’m looking for an escape 24/7, because I’m sick to death of the real world. I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all. without books, without the fictional things I love, without reading and writing and music, I would have gone absolutely bonkers in 2020. being able to fall into a book or play around in the worlds I’ve created, both my own and things I’ve co-written with you, has literally saved my ass over the past eight months. escapism is never a bad thing. like anything, it only becomes troubling when it starts creating problems. but I do not think there’s any shame in occasionally saying “fuck it” and going to worry about someone else’s fictional problems for a while.

72: Should people be prosecuted for crimes that weren’t considered crimes at the time?

this is a tough one. on the one hand I want to say no, because it could easily be abused. some asshole could get into power and make something illegal, and then round up all the people who have committed that now-crime and lock them up, and oh, would you look at that! all the people who have committed the now-crime just so happen to be the dictator’s biggest critics and threats, how convenient.

at the same time, dictators are going to wipe out their enemies no matter how legal it is, and I also have to consider the fact that before WWII, for example, words like “genocide” and “crimes against humanity” didn’t exist. how could we decide that these things are crimes, but then not try those who literally gave cause for the crime to be acknowledged? we can hardly say “alright, genocide is now a crime against humanity, but because these guys did it before this was law they can’t be tried”. that’s just... not really a great precedent to set, you know?

so I suppose a tentative yes? I think it would probably depend entirely on the severity of the crime. for example, if they found out that... I don’t know, some normal everyday substance was something that people could suddenly get high off, and they declared it a drug, I don’t think everyone who’s ever sold it or used it should be rounded up and jailed. but like, if the act of cannibalism itself became a crime (and not just murder or desecration of a corpse, which is what “cannibalism” usually falls under in terms of legality) we should probably go round up all the people who are stealing human legs to eat, yanno?

91: Is hate as strong as love? Who do you hate?

sick totheark reference bro. anyway yeah, hate is as strong as love, though it appears and reacts in different ways. hate and love are two sides of the same coin, if you ask me. the deeper you love somebody, the harder you hate them if things go wrong. hate is betrayed love. something something, a tree’s branches cannot reach to heaven unless its roots reach to hell, and all that. something so powerful is going to leave a lot of damage if it goes wrong.

I hate a few people. I don’t want to go into detail as to their specific identities, because I’m sure that if you know me well, you’ll know who they are. both of them were people whom I loved very deeply, and who betrayed that love in ferociously cruel ways. both people taught me very difficult lessons about the nature of love, and how sometimes it really cannot conquer everything, but while this would be a nasty lesson to learn it’s compounded by the fact that I learned this not out of any kind of extraneous circumstance, but rather through their cruelty and their refusal to work with me, listen to me, or love me in the way I deserved to be loved. my hatred for these people will never go away, even though it certainly doesn’t dominate my life. it is there, though, and I can easily draw on it whenever I need it. should I get the opportunity, I have no doubt in my mind that I have the capacity to be very cruel to these people in my own right, and I won’t feel bad about it.

94: How would you describe yourself when you love? Do you love forcefully, unconditionally, gently, quietly, desperately?

oh damn. forcefully, conditionally, stubbornly, and probably slightly possessively.

I don’t show love in conventional means. I’m one of those stereotypes, I guess. I don’t like declarations of love, I don’t really go in for physical affection, and I’m not sappy at all. my love language is more subtle, but it’s there. I like to do things for people, I like to create things for/with people, I like to have adventures with people. that’s how I love, and I can be pretty forceful about it. I also want people to improve themselves as much as possible -- I think the greatest thing I can witness someone I love doing is becoming the best version of themselves, and I will support them 100% in this effort -- also very forcefully. I don’t think there are many people who could put up with that level of intensity for so long, if I’m honest. I demand a lot of the ones I love, but I also like to think I give a lot, too.

my love is never unconditional. while I believe unconditional love exists, I have never seen it. my love always comes with conditions -- conditions about how I expect to be treated, about ideology, about worldview. these are all huge deal breakers, of course -- my conditions aren’t vague, or petty, or small in any way. but there is nobody on earth, nor will there ever be, who I will not walk away from if I feel the relationship is harmful in any way. I might not stop loving them, but I sure as hell will not assume that my love for them will protect me from them.

at the same time I’m a very stubborn person when it comes to love. people will do things they think must break one of my conditions, but I’ll see something else in it and I’ll stick around even if we both think it’s useless. I’m never wrong, so I suppose I have that going for me. but I am very, very stubborn when it comes to love. I have a high level of endurance and I know how to nurture love; how to stop pessimism from setting in. I’m also slightly possessive, so I don’t let go of anything easily -- and this includes the people I love. I’ll never stifle a person, but I’ll definitely fight for them, and something something everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it.

100: What belief do you have that isn’t logically grounded, but you still firmly believe in?

I suppose something like this could never be logically grounded because there’s no logical proof at all, and “I Just Know” is apparently not a scientific argument (it should be), but I know I’ve had past lives. I just do. I have no solid proof for this, only gut feelings and Just Knowing and weird memories and some crazy shit that I can’t explain -- like being able to find my way around a strange city because I remembered it from a past life, for example -- but I just know I’ve had many different lives before and I will have many more to come. this is just an unshakable belief and it always has been.

#4:02am meme #long post #about me #vestriis #asks

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zmwisethepoet · 4 years ago

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Eradicating Chaos, Inviting Duende

Published as the Cover Letter in Harbinger Asylum: Fall 2020 Issue

It is no secret that we have entered another dark chapter of earthly hell this year. I have yet to meet a soul who claims that 2020 was not that terrible. I thank goodness that this conversation has not transpired, because if it did, I would be rendered speechless and walk as far away as my feet could carry me. Sheer optimism alone will not cloak the prominence of our two main invisible enemies: COVID-19 and racial injustice, the latter of which has been occurring since time immemorial. While we as humans try with every fiber of our being to do what is necessary to protect our species, it does not always pan out in our favor. As history shows, it rarely seems to bode well that way. One too many have fallen at the hands of others. To this day, why we willingly degrade, exile, inflict physical and mental trauma, corrupt, and kill our own kind based on what we deem as inferior, whether it be gender, race, orientation, religion, or other factors still baffles me beyond all belief. It pains my heart to see certain peaceful protests and demonstrations of equality turn riotous because of the ‘authority strike of fire’ on an innocent. It makes me question the very nature of our collective existence. Perhaps this makes me ignorant or unmindful. Perhaps it leads me to believe that there is no hope for humanity whatsoever. As much of a neutralist [or cynical realist] as I am, I refuse to believe that we are headed straight for oblivion. While we are infants in comparison to other species on this planet, we have much to learn and we are still attempting to do so.

The late comedian George Carlin once said that our species had our chance and we squandered it. I agree with him to an extent. This is part of the reason why I am neutral on the prospect of our species colonizing on Mars. Why is it, however, that the many groups of people who attempt to preserve our sapphire and emerald home, as well as its inhabitants, are overshadowed by the amount of parasites that form into one gargantuan maelstrom? It is fascinating how a great deal of us choose to focus on the negative and leave the positive to be feasted on by mental scavengers. Let us not forget the alarming amount of natural disasters, a gory political battle, and a certain species of hornet with a menacing moniker.

The aforementioned virus has been the cruelest teacher that this planet could ask for, save certain actions that should have been taken in its preliminary stages. It has taught us what we can accomplish as a collective as long as we cooperate with the necessary precautions. It has tested our mental limits and patience, provoking us to lose our craniums and step out into the warzone as if our lives are still perfectly normal. It has separated us into two categories: the paranoid and the reckless. The tragically hilarious part is that both sides believe that their actions are correct and the other side is being moronic in some form or fashion. I do my absolute best to remain in the middle. I am not going to subject myself to any small or large variations of a high-risk environment with high-risk individuals while protecting myself and the people I love, but I am by no means going to board myself in my home until this umpteenth wave of chaos has ceased to be. It has attempted to rewire our thinking and survival tactics. I am torn between shaking my head at those who freely choose to remove their masks in public and congregate in larger crowds, save a few noble causes, and feeling a massive amount of pity for those who have lost the willpower to remain isolated from those they love and the social activities that were suddenly stripped from them. Our species was not wired for prolonged isolation and quarantine. Many introverts have converted to extroverts who wish to splurge their social juices. Nevertheless, such actions have caused medical staff members and frontline workers around the globe to put themselves at higher risk than anyone else. They are more heroic than people seem to realize. I lost my mind within the first couple of months of this pandemic and I have yet to reclaim it, but I am not going to risk everything and everyone I hold dear to me just for the possibility of losing health as well. John Lydon once said, “Life is precious and not a thing to be destroyed,” though he was speaking on the subject of Kurt Cobain’s sudden passing. Such a statement relates to our present situation.

If you have read this far in the ink words of such unintentional vitriol, I salute you. After all, as author Madeleine D’Engle once said, “Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.” Where does chaos end and where does duende begin? For those of you who do not know the latter word’s definition, that is quite all right. I am not speaking of the Latin American mythological creature of the same name. Duende is one of many ‘incredamazing’ words that cannot be translated into English, but contains a powerful definition. Duende is described as ‘a work of art’s mysterious power to deeply move someone’. For centuries, many creators and their chosen crafts (or the crafts that chose them) have spread a trillion and eight possibilities, unless they carried a sole intention. During a fraction of this time, the element of self-expression came into play through the creation itself. Most of the time, it has been used to evoke thoughts from the masses. It is also during this time that the arts have placed our minds at ease amidst the chaos, whether through aural pleasures, the written word, the visual and suspended, the visual and in motion, or kinetic and tangible. We have relied on the arts to keep us relatively sane, centered, and balanced. A personal philosophy of mine, especially during the accursed year of 2020, is that as long as you do not inflict harm upon others or yourself, sanity is overrated. At this point, if you are not at least a tad bit cuckoo or peculiar, I may not trust you. For me as an individual, the arts, whether appreciating or creating, is a lustful craving, akin to fitness, meditation, and other various pleasures. What is more relevant is that it contains the power to grant us hope and to aid us in not losing that hope, even if at this point, hope is a thin, sliver-shaped shrapnel piece. Despite the number of life-threatening cases that seem to continue piling on, we cannot lose this shrapnel of hope. Many of the word wielders in this issue of Harbinger Asylum exhibit this intention through their poetry and prose, as well as the captors of photographic serenity. I am thankful to have played a major role in the development of this journal and Transcendent Zero Press in this manner, as well as the manner of diversity in our pages. Each issue and each manuscript we release is like a basket of potpourri delights, some containing mysterious elements and the other with raucous neon gods.

We are not out of the woods quite yet, my dearest fellow peoploids. However, we will make it through this seemingly apocalyptic Tartarus. We must make it through, for the sake of our health and the universal love we cling to day in and day out. I would personally like to dedicate the Fall Edition of Harbinger Asylum to the fallen victims of 2020, whether through the violent brutalities of racial injustice, those whose bodies succumbed to the virus, and those we have lost due to Madre Terra’s disasters, as well as the disasters we created ourselves. To your families, every medical staff member, frontline worker, and to everyone reading this journal, I say, “Pax vobiscum. Poetry lives. Long live the arts.” …and dare I add, “Long live love.”

#essay #cnf #creative nonfiction #essayist #2020 #pandemic #pandemic2020 #covid #covid19 #writing #writer #essay writing #books #amwriting amreading amediting NationalPoetryMonth poetrymonth poetryday #amreading amwriting amediting NationalPoetryMonth poetrymonth #amreadingpoetry amediting amwritingpoetry NationalPoetryMonth poetrymonth #creative writing

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safestsephiroth · 4 years ago

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Nioh 2: A Preliminary, Incomplete Weapon Analysis

I’ve been playing Nioh 2 since its release on PC Friday (48 hours logged), and while I haven’t beaten the base game yet, I’ve finally done 3 of the 4 weapon skill tier unlocking missions. (The 4th tier is unique per-weapon, the first 3 are generalized.)

I’ve been going a bit of an underpowered generalist build to get a feel for every weapon type, with a focus on the newer ones. However, I have not completed this objective by and large. There’s too many weapons, and my stats are split too wide, so the weapons that HEAVILY focus on one stat (Axe, Dual Swords) are suffering for it.

That said, I’ve got a decent feel for multiple weapons.

I’m halfway through Chapter 4 at the time of this writing.

The list of weapons, my thoughts on each, and what I’ve discovered of note so far below:

SPECIAL NOTE: Blessed/Yokai weapons are categories that are in every single weapon tree, and it seems there’s several of each per weapon.

Blessed weapons are a fucking phenomenal answer to every Yokai threat, they’re incredible. A++. They’re a free fast-stacking status effect that makes getting Chaos damage buff extremely easy as long as you have a spell of an element the target is weak to, and they make shattering Yokai ki gauges super, super easy. I very highly value them, but they’re somewhat hard to actually get ahold of in my experience.

Yokai weapons are extremely good against human targets, and have a gauge that fills a little bit every time you land an attack. When it’s full, the weapon “awakens”, has a cool voice line, and then you can go to town and do a big burst of damage. Personally, while this is good, I find you can’t really rely on it and about half-and-half it pops when I don’t need it anymore (last attack in a fight, etc.) That said, it’s a very good tool for when you get your ass beat by a boss and want to redo the fight a few times - you can make the others practice runs and have the fight where the weapon pops off be the “real” attempt. It makes learning strategies a lot easier to pull off.

General points to keep in mind: Weapon types that are ki-dependent feel much improved in Nioh 2, because ki regeneration on the whole is easier.

Also, I’ve invested significantly (24-ish points, which, for a generalist save is pretty significant) into both ninjitsu and onmyo, so that’s being factored in to some of these.

Also also, I cannot recommend enough getting the skills which let you restore ki with a dodge ASAP. They’re all vital.

One final note: I plan to do multiple save files where I specialize on two weapons per save file, and at most two hyper-specific builds, along with my primary (respecced to focus on my “favorite” weapons) save. I’ll be doing this for multiple clears of the base game’s base difficulty so I can decide which to push into NG+ and beyond with. And I’ll be looking guides up after I beat the game.

Now, the proper weapon categories:

Sword: I find Sword boring. However, I’ve learned that iai builds are much easier to put together in Nioh 2, so I’ll be trying to do that. Maybe that’ll change my mind. Sword has everything you need, and none of the stances are trash, but I have little to say about it besides this. Seems equally good against everything.

Dual Swords: they feel good, it feels like the animations were cleaned a little bit to feel even better in Nioh 2. I haven’t done much because they require lots of Skill and that’s my second-lowest stat. (Har har.) Seems fine against everything, but better at shredding larger targets with elemental damage.

Spears: I like Spears WAY MORE in Nioh 2 than I did in the first Nioh. Fatal Thrust (the spear’s charge) feels WAY better than in Nioh 1, and way more worth it. Piercing Rain (high stance multi-hit) is a great status applicator, and the root of Spear’s theme seems to be zone control. Your ability to knock people around and to hit both far and close is really good, but I find myself whiffing basic high stance combos more often than not. Mid stance is really the place to be with Spear. Plus, there’s a TON of mobility built into the kit, and the ability to knock back enemies when doing a ki pulse is really solid for the super aggro fist weapon revenants.

Seems best against large targets, though it absolutely destroys humanoid targets with lower ki, much moreso than most weapons.

Axe: I’ve barely touched Axe. My impression is that it’s for tanky builds that don’t care about dodging and want to smash things. That’s about all I’ve got. It’s good if you want to specialize hard into it, I think.

Kusarigama: The first weapon on this list I LOVE. It’s got some insane mobility with Serpent Strike (blade hook-yourself-or-them-in). If you need to duel an AI and can only win through cheese, this is the weapon and combo of choice. You can chain stuns if the initial attack hits for as long as your ki holds out, and you can safely dodge away once it does.

You have great options for breaking horns in every single high stance guard ability, you have excellent control with the mid-stance AOE light attack ability “whirlwind”, you have excellent mobility using your hook skills and phenomenal range from it as well. Biggest weaknesses are how exposed you’re left if you whiff a hook and, sometimes, stamina costs. Well worth it.

Kusarigama is great against everything, but it shines as a killer of ranged bosses (dodge AOEs with gap closers!) and single human-types.

Odachi: Odachi feels like it’s got a significant upgrade. Its greatest weakness once was its speed, and Twin Moons (high stance ability that allows for a quick triple-hit) fixes that RIGHT up. Mid stance heavy attacks continue to be excellent ranged tools for dealing with short-range matchups, but I haven’t used it a ton so that’s about all I have for insights. Odachi’s pretty good against everything, though anything with breakable horns will really suffer against it.

Tonfa: Every single goddamned Tonfa move feels incredible. There are no bad moves in the kit, and nothing breaks ki as well as Tonfa. A blessed one makes it possible to smash ki on yokai even more effective, and it needs no help doing so to human targets that can’t spontaneously decide to break out of a stun chain. Demon Dance: Heaven (rapid attack spam out of a ki pulse) is so absurdly strong for breaking guards it makes a joke out of all revenants within seconds. You cannot lose a duel if you properly use this tool, excepting special NPC bosses, and even then you’re incredible effective against them. The ability to just dodge through them with ki pulses that then chain into a counterattack is so obscene!

Tonfa are amazing against everything, and make Revenants a joke. Anything where ki breakage is a priority, the Tonfa are a go-to.

Hatchets: First of the new weapons, and, in my eyes, least. I’ve barely used them for being too reliant on Skill to do meaningful damage. I’ll have a more comprehensive view later. As-is, with trash stats and basic skills, they’re awful. But I’m confident that changes later on.

Switchglaive: What if you had the ki-shattering power of Tonfa, with the longest range of any weapon that isn’t slow, and the combo-chain potential of Fists, all in the most edgelord package of the game? Switchglaive is possibly my favorite weapon. It’s not great early, but unlocking the ability to chain between stances makes clear the core identity of this weapon. You can mix things up however you need. Start in mid stance and chain low so you can get off a heavy attack before dodging out after a short exchange. Go low to high for a low-commitment start on a heavy damage chain you can easily break ki with. For high stance, light light heavy to use Mortal Retribution is an incredible combo for taking out ki on human targets, and I find it almost always can break guard on anything I use it on. It’s less perfect for larger yokai, given it leaves you vulnerable during the last part of it, but you can just use three mid lights into the stance-swap high heavy for Yokai and do absurd damage with fantastic ki damage potential, ESPECIALLY with a blessed Switchglaive.

Switchglaive is great against everything. It has everything you want. Range, mobility, chain attacks, and it doesn’t cost an obscene amount of Ki to use either.

Splitstaff: Poke poke poke poke poke poke poke poke. But seriously, Splitstaff has a lot of potential, I just don’t use it that much. The ability to take short fights is really powerful, and its range is not to be underestimated. The ability to extend ANY attack by holding is really strong, and Fill the Void is a great space-making high attack that does meaningful damage on top of that. Against bosses, you can dodge damned near anything you need with that while still getting hits in, and nothing smaller than a miniboss-type at least can handle it.

Splitstaff is really good, but I don’t use it much because I find it too costly on ki and I also find its amazing AOE potential still doesn’t actually hurt that much and leaves you too immobile to do things unpunished.

Fists: The be-all end-all. The reason, more than any other, that I wanted this game. Fists are amazing at all points in the game. Fists of Reckoning is a great high stance combo chain early for punishing stunned yokai. High stance in general is fantastic. When leveling Fists, focus on abilities which are “at end of combo” skills. Every single first attack is a good engage, and every follow-up is even better. You have the ability to knock human-types into the sky, you have the ability to do insane parries, you can do running moonsaults (and dodge SO MUCH in the process), you can falling attack enemies with moonsaults.

You can chain counter-spam if that’s your thing. You can do an absolutely insane combo in the form of Beyond Infinity once you unlock it. You can use a mobile backdash-charge to dodge a ton of attacks that feels better than functionally the same move in Devil May Cry 5. You have everything you could ever want. Fists are the best. Fists are great against everything*.

And that’s it. That’s my incomplete impressions of every weapon so far.

*Note: Fists struggle against matchups where range is non-negotiable. Don’t fight enemies that take to the sky with your bare fists. They’re insane against revenants, almost as good as Tonfa at that. I highly recommend them, if nothing else, as a secondary weapon to followup on stunned Yokai. You won’t be disappointed with the results if you do it right.

#nioh 2 #weapon impressions #I love this fucking game so much

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earthnashes · 5 years ago

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FnF Lore: Spirits

After all the recent questions I got regarding the Spirits from my FnF project, here's a worldbuilding post focused on them! I did this earlier before, but this one includes a lot of updated lore and stuff, and will eventually include some artwork in the future. Please keep note though that this is still in the process of being developed and is subject to some changes/additions! <:

So given how long it got I’ll be putting the rest of the info below the “keep reading” tab. As a quick summary, this goes into detail about a Spirit’s appearance, how their magic and Tethers work, snippets of their culture and society, some fun facts, and so on! If you have any questions about them afterward feel free to ask, but otherwise I hope it makes for a fun read! <:

Intro:

Spirits are a supernatural race that are native to an alternate but connected realm (appropriately named the Spirit Realm) in the universe of Feathers and Flowers. While exposure to them varies widely throughout the world, it’s universal knowledge that they exist and are very much real.

Magic and Tethers:

-As a supernatural race, Spirits are inherently magical beings that have soul-bindingly deep connections to the Mortal realm. These connections are part of their core existence and what allows them such fantastical abilities, but it also serves as a great weakness that, should it be exploited, can heavily compromise a Spirit. This will be explained a little later in the "lifespan" section.

-In the meantime: these connections Spirits have to the Mortal realm are called "Tethers". While what a Spirit is connected to and their specific nuance is unique to the individual, every Spirit has only 3 specific Tethers: 1 animal, 1 element, 1 domain (sometimes interchanged with biome). Each category of Tether has subcategories that a Spirit typically falls into. These categories are generally simplified into what follows:

Animals:

-Birds, Fish, Reptiles, Mammals, Amphibians, Invertebrates

Elements:

-Water, Fire, Geo, Flora, Air

Domain/Biome:

-Sky, Forest, Aquatic, Desert, Grassland, Tundra

A Spirit's Tethers will often correlate with one another. For example: A Spirit's Tethers being Fish, element Water, and their biome Pond. Another example with more nuance: animal Jaguar, element Flora, biome Rainforest.

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Lifespan and Death:

- Spirits are a long-living race, and while documented to live upwards to several hundred years, it's assumed they may have the capacity to be "ageless". This is thought to be the case due to the existence of Cryptids. Cryptids (otherwise known as Greater Spirits) are spirits who have existed for vast extended periods of time, sometimes even transcending the invention of written documentation. There are few Cryptids in existence however, and that's because no Spirit is immune to death despite their seeming agelessness.

The very same thing that gives them their otherworldly magical properties is also a core source to their weakness. Being Tethered to the Mortal Realm means Spirits are extremely vulnerable to the changes of said realm. For example, a Spirit tethered to a lake will become ill if their lake is polluted and often will not recover from the illness until the pollution is mostly, if not entirely, eradicated. Using the same example, if that Spirit's lake is gutted and overall destroyed beyond healing, their Tether to that lake will be broken, and that will leave a Spirit permanently damaged.

A broken Tether can be likened to losing a limb, or an organ, and while a Spirit may be able to survive one broken Tether it's unheard of for a Spirit to survive two. When two or more Tethers are broken, this generally means a fate worse than death: they become Lost.

A Lost is a Spirit who have had their tethers broken and, as a result, become empty, ghostly husks of themselves. The unstable magic within them burn away their skin and eyes, leaving behind a ghostly glow in the cracks and sockets, and they have a consistent, ethereal smoke wafting from their bodies as they move; they were documented to smell like burning ozone. Basically a spirit version of a zombie, they wander across both realms and are extremely dangerous to anyone, driven by instinct and the mindless insatiable hunger to fill the void in the wake of their broken Tethers. They are likely the source of soul-devouring myths in this world.

Lost are, thankfully, extremely rare occurrences, especially in the current time, and the few that remain are remnants of an old bygone era.

Outside of that, a Spirit can succumb to illness and wounds should they be serious enough. It is a common practice (expected even) in Spirit culture to cremate the dead.

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Appearance and Biology:

Spirits vary widely in appearance, which is largely due to the influence their Tethers have on them. Generally, the Tether that influences their appearance the most is the Animal Tether, which usually determines any extra-ordinary features they may have, including but not limited to: fur, scales, spikes, wings, tail, even as far as extra pairs of arms (most amount documented is 3 pairs), so on. But overall, all Spirits have a few common characteristics throughout the entirety of their race. All Spirits are humanoid in appearance, anatomy, and stature, and all Spirits on average are over 8ft tall; they can be likened to being real living "giants" so to speak. Another factor that all Spirits harbor are horns; the appearance of the horn and how many may vary (two is the most common, but there's been documents of one horn or upwards to six) but it's a guaranteed attribute.

Another common attribute that is unique to Spirits are their flanging voices, which essentially means they have "two voices". Spirits speak as if they’re using two separate voices, one clear and the other quieter, almost “growly” or rumbling and echoing behind the clear voice's words, sometimes not even fully forming the words in question; it’s often described as quiet thunder rolling. The flange carries into any language the Spirit speaks, so they sound strange even when speaking a human language.

Despite their overall similar anatomy to humans, Spirits don't have the capacity to reproduce. It's an overall mystery how Spirits come to be, even to themselves, and there are many theories made to try and answer that question, but the only absolutely known and documented fact either side has is Spirits seem to originate and are "birthed" from what is known as "The Heart of the World". A Leyline that sits in what’s considered the center of the Spirit Realm, all newborn Spirits originate from this sacred location, materializing into the world as a very young child.

Spirit children have longer childhoods than mortal children and can take upwards to 40-60 years to fully mature into young adults, but once puberty is over their physical aging begins to slow to a crawl.

Given their longevity, Spirits often look much younger than what their age intel, however Spirits can become elderly. Reaching old age is a sign of wisdom, strength, and adaptivity, and the elderly are highly respected and valued members of Spirit culture, especially given how long it'd take to reach old age and managing to survive long enough to do so.

Every Cryptid in existence is outright ancient in every sense of the word, considered very old even to the long-living Spirits, so much so that they are almost seen like demigods to both the Spirit and Mortal realm.

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Culture and Society:

-Spirits are largely known to be generally peaceful as a race. There have been strong tensions between humans and Spirits in the long-forgotten past, specifically the Witch Hunt period, but even if that left the Spirits with a more cautious mindset toward humans, they both coexist peacefully in modern times.

-With how deeply bonded they are with the Mortal realm, Spirits are generally seen as guardians of nature; it's very common for Spirits to take frequent voyages to the mortal realm in order to visit the subjects of their Tethers to ensure its well-being.

-Spirits have their own native language, which is entirely unique to them and incredibly difficult for humans to speak due to the flange in their voices. Spirits are, however, encouraged to learn human languages, specifically the language of which their Biome tether is native to.

-Given the inability to reproduce, a Spirit's meaning of "family" is different in comparison to mortals. Spirits consider the near entirety of their race a form of extended family, and as such they often refer to each other, even strangers, as "kin".

The Heart of the World, the location in which Spirit children are "born", is a highly sacred location; no visiting mortal is allowed to enter nor know of its location, despite knowing of its existence, while ordinary Spirits are allowed to know of its location however must be granted special permission to enter. It is consistently guarded and tended to throughout all hours of the day, and when a child is "born" they are taken care of within the temple (known as the Nursery) before they are brought to a community to be given permanent guardians. The adoptive parent question is often chosen in collaboration between the priests of the Heart and the heads of the clan.

While spirit children are given officially named guardians, it's common for the community to band together in raising them. They in turn tend to have large families, consisting of multiple mothers and fathers, many siblings and cousins, several uncles and aunts. It's rare for a spirit to be isolated or without some form of family.

-Due to the density of magic in the Spirit realm and their inhabitants' reliance on it, technology is something more primitive in comparison to mortal technology. That said, the magic in this realm more than compensates for the slow advancement, easily able to fit the needs of the Spirits.

-While the Spirit Realm has no true central or over-ruling government to speak of, their societal structure remains relatively the same throughout. Large community groups are often formed as Clans or Tribes, and they generally hold the same hierarchy in each:

The entire tribe is typically under the loose leadership of a Jarl, and while the entire community is seen as the Jarl's "advisers" they a handful of community chosen individuals to act as their council. Each separate clan has similar cultural beats that they share, but overall each clan is unique with their own ways of life and beliefs.

The only form of central authority over the entirety of the Spirit Realm is the Heart of the World. Not only does it house the birthplace of all Spirits, it is the home of the clan that protects the area. The clan consists of no Jarls and instead is under the leadership of 6 Elder Spirits, all of which are considered a Cryptid. The remaining members of the clan are all priests/priestesses that tend to the Nursery, and while they are the smallest clan in the Spirit Realm they are by far the most well respected and seen with the highest regard. If at any point the other clans want to meet on true neutral grounds, they ask the Heart for temporary residence upon the sacred lands they guard.

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Additional funfacts:

-All Spirits can transform into a huge animalistic monster. This "monster" form's appearance and size is mostly influenced by the Tethers the Spirit has and, as such, widely varies. However, they all share the common similarity that they retain their horns despite transformation, and their monster form holds some sort of bone motif in its appearance.

-The importance on hair is seen throughout all of Spirit culture. Hair is generally seen as more than just something that grows on your head, but is instead a significant part of the body, though how that significance translates may differ between the tribes. Haircare rituals are an integral part of everyday life and is often done in the privacy of the home. Unless given explicit permission from both the child and named guardian, the hair of children tended to only by their parent(s) until the beginnings of puberty, in which case they are given the responsibility to do so themselves. Touching another's hair, including the act of caring for the hair, is an act of intimacy and a deep show of trust, and is often performed between those who are close to one another, such as family, friends, or partners.

-Given their deep connection to the mortal realm and their peaceful coexistence, it’s very common for humans to revere Spirits and welcome them with open arms. This goes by way of offering gifts or, in some cases, building monuments and shrines in their honor. Nowadays, one of the many ways humans patronize Spirits is, indeed, in way of stores and services specifically tailored to them. This includes:

-Communal bathhouses and spas dedicated to helping Spirits relax and replenish

-Clothing stores that specialize in outfits for Spirits, especially important since its common for a Spirit to be over 8ft tall in their human form (they’re semi-giant in this form)

-Mana/Sorcerer shops that specialize in alchemy (scientific magic) that could aid Spirits’ various needs, including medicines and charms

-Leylines are the term used for the seams in which the Mortal realm and the Spirit realm connect and overlap. A sort of "inbetween", think of it as the space in which holds the two realms together. While humans can't cross into the Spirit realm without assistance or guidance, a Spirit use these without issue and utilize them as their means to travel to the mortal realm. There are a few known Leyline systems that are named and have built a sort of economy around it, including the likes of towns, rest stops, hotels, restaurants, and so forth, most of which is usually catered to fulfilling the needs of a Spirit in travel. Other lesser known Leyline systems may only have a small shrine built near to house offerings for any Spirit that come across them, and then there are several Leyline networks that are generally unknown about.

-Many of the creatures in human folklore can be safely assumed to had been a Spirit, back when before their existence became common knowledge. In fact, the term "Cryptid" is a human word the spirits simply began using to describe the oldest Spirits in known existence. One such example is the Loch Ness Monster: she is one of the largest and oldest Spirits known, and she frequents the Loch Ness so much because it's her biome Tether. She is a survivor of a broken Tether as well, having been connected to the long extinct dinosaurs. Tourists come far and wide in hopes of seeing not just Nessie, but others of these "myths", and as such frequently visit spaces of which they're thought to roam.

-While this doesn't happen often, it has been documented that Spirit with a broken Tether form another bond in its place with something similar. The bond isn't something that a Spirit can force and only happens if their magic adapts itself to do so, but the new bond forged in the broken one's place won't nearly be as strong. In contrast, some Spirits who've experienced a broken Tether may feel their other two more acutely; this is due to the magic connected to the lost Tether adapting to repurpose itself into the remain two. That said, neither adaption is guaranteed to happen, and all spirits with a broken tether report feeling something similar to phantom pains and being acutely aware of the loss regardless.

-Despite the frequent visits and extended stays in the Mortal realm, it isn't common for Spirits to actively live in the mortal realm.

-Animals are the only mortal creatures that are able to travel between realms without aid, unlike humans who must be guided in and out. This feeds into the belief that animals have a supernatural connection to the world, in which case is only somewhat true in this universe.

-Witches are mortals with magical abilities like that of Spirits, and as such feel a sense of kinship. Unlike Spirits however, Witches typically only have one Tether (most often an element or an animal, never a biome), and their magic is generally much weaker than that of a Spirit's. As such, aside from basic magic casting, Witches often require a conduit to channel their magic properly, however what that conduit is depends entirely on the Witch.

#feathers and flowers #fnf #worldbuilding #fnf canon #concept development

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ngame989 · 5 years ago

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Starco Fic Recs

Disclaimer: This list is largely curated to my own personal preferences (minimal feelings angst, minimal AUs, character development >>> plot) and has a fairly high bar for quality in characterization, etc. There will likely be many popular/beloved fics that I really don’t think highly of at all and therefore don’t make the cut. Feel free to DM me things you think I should consider adding, but I make no promises.

And of course I’d be flattered if you gave my own works a chance - stop by my About Me section for links! Thus far I’m particularly proud of the post-canon series I just started in collaboration with an awesome team, The Greatest Gift.

(Updated 9/26 - I decided to redo the list since people might appreciate seeing it in the tags again. To anyone whose own work is featured here that I haven’t personally responded to - I’m a tough critic with a lot of strong personal preferences so PLEASE do not take my gripes as condemnations of your skills - if they make the list at all, I think they’re worth a read!)

See below for the very thorough list!

Bolded titles indicate must-read.

Italicized titles indicate work is incomplete (in the case of continuous stories).

Asterisks indicate new additions from last update (3 for brand new, 1 for status update).

I’ve VERY loosely organized the categories by personal priority order this time around, but read the descriptions and decide for yourself!

Must-Reads

Forevermore - A Starco wedding story (with a bit of Jantom as well). Simply one of the best fics I’ve read in the fandom. I have no meaningful criticism to give it, and that’s the highest praise I can possibly give something.

Monarchs of Mewni (+ Traditionally Lovingly Yours) - A series of chronologically disconnected oneshots set years after the show. The backstory is very dated given how long ago it started (Jarco was kinda serious for a few years, Tomstar v2 never happened, etc) but overall it’s lovely. Has a bit of plot, a bit of Jantom, a lot of other character interactions, and a boatload of Starco - plus a Starco kid who is a decently developed character but also doesn’t just take over and crowd out Star and Marco themselves! That alone deserves merit.

Ruined - Aftermath of a hypothetical return of Monster Arm. Angst with a happy ending (and one of the few angsty fics that gets my seal of approval), so read this extra early if that’s more your schtick than mine.

study buddies - Y’know what, fuck it, I’m putting this here. It’s a short ball of Starco fluff but it’s one of the sweetest and fluffiest fluffballs I’ve seen in a long time and it’s very emotionally immersive and y’all needa read it.

*When Two Worlds Collide - One of my favorite postcanon series thus far. I admit I’m really not big on “magic returns!” plots in postcanon (which this has), and the sections that focus on that are hit or miss for me, but overall it has some of the funnest and cutest characterization and gags I’ve seen in any SVTFOE fic, ever. Absolutely worth following (and it has a fair amount of art to go along with it!)

***Star Chef - Oneshot (two chapters, so twoshot technically?) set in the same universe as Starlight Justiciar (see below) and is just a day in the life of Star and Marco. Goes absolutely above and beyond at emotional immersion and little nuances and details to bring the world and characters to life, which elevates it to something special to me.

Light of the Sun and Stars - (Promoted to Must-Read!) One of the few heavily divergent AU fics I care for. Marco is an orphan raised by monsters, and meets Star after running away. Just finished its “first season” and I've loved the recent chapters, am very excited to see where it goes.

*Don’t You Let Me Go - Wonderfully fluffy post-Cleaved Starco, one of my favorite oneshot “epilogues”.

i want to tell you (but i don’t know how) - Post season 3 fic detailing the growth of Star and Marco’s relationship. It’s spectacular writing and shows off a lot of the true depth of Starco beyond just being cute.

Adult - NSFW warning, non-explicit (aged-up characters). It’s a story about the journey towards Star and Marco’s first step into adulthood together - it’s not graphic and way more focused on the emotions involved, but it still is definitely more explicit than your average FFnet rated-T fic. If sexual themes ain’t your thing, I totally respect that, but this is a charming and funny piece of writing.

Lawchan’s various oneshots - There isn’t a great compilation for them right now so the best I can do is give you her tag for it and you can comb through it yourself. I like some more than others here, but they’re all very well-written - my only gripes with some of them are my own tastes in subject matter, so have fun perusing this on your own.

I Will Always Be There For You - A really pure and wholesome Starco oneshot. Very well-written.

Post-Canon Series to Follow

I figured with the show being over, and so many people starting their own series, I should include a lot of them here even if I’m personally not the biggest fan just to help gather them up so people can decide for themselves. Little bit looser on judgment here.

*Life on Earthni A to Z - Non-chronological postcanon slice of life oneshots, Starco and some Globclipsa and Jantom. Overall really good so far, one of my favorites in terms of direction.

*When Dimensions Cleave (sequel - Unforgettable Getaway) - Another postcanon series hellbent on bringing back magic queen lore, but it has some solid Starco fluff still. Credit where it’s due, the “Star constantly freaking out over what a horrible person she was” bit that I called preachy in the prior rec post gets somewhat less preachy and does end up actually going somewhere as part of character development, but I’m left scratching my head at how they all act sometimes. The good parts are certainly good, though, and in terms of quantity of lovey dovey Starco, it really can’t be beat (especially the sequel) and that’s worth something by itself.

We’re a Miracle - Extra adorkable postcanon fluff. Lighter on the “but ACKSHUALLY MAGIC IS BACK” stuff compared to the others, but it’s there, like almost every postcanon fic in existence.

Star vs the Sands of Time - Heavy politic/lore postcanon fic, not my fav but if that’s more your thing then great. Has some casual Starco too.

Goodbye Isn’t Forever - More POV dives into Cleaved.

Fake Proposal - Some decent jokey but cute fluff

The Stars Above - Some exploration of Earthni

New World - A bit over-the-top meta, but fun fluff

The Starlight Justiciar - Four years after canon, some social change plot stuff and some decent Starco. Not the biggest fan of some of the plot stuff but check it out for yourself!

Starco vs the Forces of Evil - Another collab fic/art thing. Fair warning, I really am not personally a huge fan of a lot of the characterization and plot decisions here (see my notes on Sign of the Moon waaaay down below) but decide for yourself, don’t let my pickiness dictate your own preferences!

Ready For The Future - Technically a oneshot (with some Starco) but sets up some Mina plot, if you’re interested in more give it a follow/review.

Worlds Together - Some Starco and exploration of Earthni.

Epilogue - Some Starco and exploration of Earthni.

***A Dark Horse - Has a few really nice lovey dovey Starco bits but also lots of superdrama with politics stuff. There’s a lot of fics here that I honestly just windowshop the scene I like for a quick fix of dopamine every now and then and skim at most otherwise, and this is one.

Revolution - end of canon AU where Moon is as anti-monster as Mina, dark as fuck. Only putting it here cuz some of y’all angstlords might like it.

Shorter Works/Oneshot Collections

I’ll Carry Your World - Big ole’ ball of wonderful Starco fluff with an important moment between them (written before end of show so a bit divergent).

***LoveIsTheStrongestKindOfMagic - Very short and basic fluff.

Starco Week 5 (Hugs Included) - Some of it is postcanon Earthni oneshots and others are from the Light of the Sun and Stars AU (see above). Great author, fun as hell writing style.

Fragile - Star worries about keeping her boyfriend Marco safe.

Complete - An older Star reflects on her past and present. Short and sweet.

Knighthood - Simple fluff piece on if Star and Marco got together after Storm the Castle.

Too Hot to Move - Star and Marco try to survive a heat wave on Earthni. Also funny fluff.

Marco Make-out Mayhem - Star really likes kissing Marco. Funny fluff.

Cleaved Together - NSFW warning, non-explicit (aged up) - Star and Marco’s first time. Very very overly focused on the whole purity/sacredness of first time thing, but still pretty cute.

Like Us - Really nice, sweet casual reflection on her life with Marco from a future Star’s POV.Toothpaste Kisses - Short fluff about its title.

A Friend’s Memento - Starco fluff with some reflection on the results of destroying magic

Plum Pie - Some goofy antics and hurt/comfort.

Not Losing You - A little dive into Marco’s POV at the end of Cleaved. Also adds a kiss.

We Belong Together - More speculative slightly angsty comfort/fluff.

Enough - A nice study of the emotions and thoughts during the last scenes of Cleaved, adds some depth to it.

Heartless - A bit of angst over magic going away with some sweet Starco comfort.

Together - Post-Cleaved Starco megafluff.

My Prince - Starco fluff set in a world where they were together before Cornonation.

Dancing with a Star - Starco fluff from alt S4.

Love in the Time of Pancakes - Written hours after my last update of the list, another little ditty based on the pancake promo.

Pancakes - Fluffy S4-promo-based little oneshot.

Hers - Hurt/comfort/confession-y fic, has some really nice moments and shows off a lot of how much they care about each other. Nice to see after such a drought.

Someone to Stay - Another hurt/comfort fic, nice and simple.

A Viola, a Violin, and a Butterfly’s Sword - some nonlinear oneshots about Starco. Some kinda weird directions gone in with the “plot” but it’s pretty good overall.

Falling - One of many, many fics from throughout the fandom’s history about Star and Marco getting together. Short and sweet.

forget about white horses & once upon a time - Drabble collection of various moments scattered throughout Star and Marco’s lives. Cute fluff.

The One Where I Thought I Lost You - Post-BFM fic where Marco realizes his feelings for Star earlier. Very wholesome.

christmases when you were mine - Established relationship fluff.

lightning in your veins, thunder in your heart - Post-season 3 established relationship fluff (slightly divergent, written before 3B).

once upon a december - Established relationship fluff.

Flags - Alternate rendition of the episode “Flags” with Starco.

Spells and Hot Chocolate - Wintry fluff.

5 Ways to Say ‘I Love You’ - Post BFM with some events in Star and Marco’s lives.

You’re My Wish Come True - This is just indulgent Starco trash. I won’t even argue for the characterization/writing quality, this is just a straight-up guilty pleasure.

Wands and Nachos - ^

The Princess and the Safe Kid - ^

A Day in the Life of Starco - ^

A very Starco Xmas - ^

Could It Be -^

All the times Star wore Marco’s hoodie - ^

Protect Me, Squire - ^

Crushed - Star and Marco both get turned down by their respective crushes and find comfort in each other.

Stay - Cuddly fluff. There’s another Stay out there which I frankly can’t stand with will-they-won’t-they melodrama out the wazoo, so don’t get confused.

Longer Series

*The Inescapable Us - Really tropey miscommunication will-they-won’t-they type of thing. Not my fav, especially now that the show is over and finished that leg of Star and Marco’s story once and for all (I’m personally WAY less interested in things that redo something canon already did). However, where it’s at now has some really good Starco moments. Fully admitted that I hella skimmed most of it until the parts I enjoyed, but And if you’re more fine with that type of thing then you’ll probably really like it, it’s well-written otherwise.

Together We Fall - Throwback S2 AU fic where Star and Marco go to the dance together instead and Toffee makes moves earlier. Gets kinda dark but has a lot of nice Starco along the way.

Safer, Sorrier - A recent rewrite of an older fic, Better Safe Than Sorry, where Star has to leave early to become queen and Marco is alone for a few months before they reunite. A very dated premise (post season 1 ish) but quite good.

Sugar and Spice - NSFW warning, non-explicit (NOT aged-up characters). In this fic, Star and Marco have gotten together after BFM, and a spell gone wrong leads to Mewberty relapses with obvious consequences. This fic has adorable Starco moments, but what I love this for above all is the other character interactions (especially Glossaryck and Star’s parents). This is probably a controversial add-on to the list, but I stick by my decision - if the subject matter isn’t your thing, then by all means avoid it.

Beyond Dimensions - Plotfic + established Starco where some ancient sorceress has to trap Star to escape and try to take over Mewni. Maybe y'all are more into plot stuff than me but the Starco that’s there is quite good regardless.

Starfall - NSFW warning, explicit (aged-up characters). Probably the most popular one to make the cut. Star and Marco are forced apart and have to find their way back together. Very old fic, lot of dated stuff here, and the narration and plot itself can get kinda questionable sometimes, but it has a lot of good Starco and some interesting plot elements that make it, in my opinion, worth a read despite a lot of flaws. A few epilogue chapters contain rather explicit sexual content, so be wary of that (and the epilogue itself after Ep 6 kinda transitions into a nextgenverse, so maybe just skip that entirely).

The Star Butterfly Effect - The sole fic on the list that is purely plot-based, with very little actual Starco development whatsoever. I can’t even really explain it, just give it a shot and see what you think; I was rather engrossed by the plot, and that’s rare for me.

The Princess and her Knight, Return of the Empire The former fic in this series is way more character-based, while the latter is very heavy plot stuff. Pretty decent character writing with some fluff. There’s a third that I honestly can’t recommend because I completely dropped it because it was just a nonstop war story.

Experimental - REALLY heavy, dark AU where Star and Marco are tortured and corrupted. It’s pretty decent.

Blood Moon Blitz - Alt BFM fic of Marco going to fight Toffee with Star. unfortunately dropped without completing, but what’s there is pretty solid.

Read at Your Own Risk…

The Sign of the Moon, The Dance of the Stars - Starts post-3A, involves the growth of Star and Marco’s relationship as they take on foes in and out of the castle and learn more about the Blood Moon. This series is rather… melodramatic, and there were some chapters and character interactions I flat out did not enjoy reading. But some people aren’t as strict on character interpretations as I am and would love such a long plot-based Starco fic, so overall I still will at least list it and let you decide for yourself. There might be a third entry in this series now, but I dropped it before then.

Photos - I hesitate to include this one here because the “Tom is a perfect angel who must sacrifice his love for Star” thing pisses me off. But just skip all that (and ignore the random “a part of me will always love Tom” line) and it’s a really nice post-s3 confession fic.

#starco #svtfoe #star vs the forces of evil #fanfic #ngame

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fyrapartnersearch · 4 years ago

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[ as we proceed. ]

Hello! I go by Mars. Currently, I am in the Pacific Time Zone, but I’m fairly versatile with roleplaying alongside with others from different timezones. Twenty-nine years of age, and I have been roleplaying for over 14 years, so I have a good deal of experience in my humblest opinion. I figure that’s enough about myself; now to get to the main reason you’re all reading this, and that is because I have been looking for roleplayers with the coming of this new year, someone to keep my muse levels high and my writing always on point while I maintain having two jobs, as well as a burgeoning social life. Someone easygoing yet creative with a vivid imagination to bring ideas to form is highly desired in a writer.

This request is not for the faint of heart, and those who have considerable limits, hesitations, and triggers are likely not going to be a good match. Just fair warning.

WRITING

I am a multi-paragraph sort of writer, which means that frequently, my writing will exceed at least 600 words, and upward of 1000+ words. I love detail and description, and I am actively seeking someone of the same infamy. Once upon a time, I managed to keep up with a story that teetered around 3000+ per reply with someone, still maintaining the same detailed descriptive writing, and I definitely wouldn’t mind having that challenge once more.

GENRES / PAIRINGS / FACES

I exclusively play male characters in mxf pairings with any smut or romantic attachment, this is non-negotiable. I fully understand and respect roleplayers who are able to play both males and females and nonbinary characters in different pairings. I simply don’t have that versatility, as when I’ve played them in the past, there was an innate in-authenticity that I felt. On the other hand, I am a bit more versatile when it comes to genres and settings that I like to play in. Supernatural is my absolute bread and butter, especially urban and gothic fantasy. Anything to do with vampires, werewolves, demons, witches, shapeshifters, mutants, other urban creature of folklore, given some sort of modern day spun, is absolutely perfect for me. I also really love science fiction in its many forms. Primarily, I take my sci-fi craving inspirations from Star Wars, Mass Effect, and Destiny. I’ve also been slowly intrigued by zombie-less post-apocalyptic storylines, something where the cataclysm is not necessarily caused by rabid zombies (I’m not a big fan of the stereotypical zombies portrayed in The Walking Dead and stuff), but something with either a lethal virus, or a planetary disaster, like an extreme coronal mass ejection.

Another genre that I’ve slowly found interest in includes that of the superhero genre. I’m a big fan of both Marvel and DC fandom, and the concept of having superhumans, humans with abilities, anything of that short would be awesome to do. Against, these would be with original characters on my part. I’m not as fond of general real-life or general modern day genres and themes without a good, complex idea attached to it.

One thing I really love to employ in my roleplays would be face claims, faces, playbys, picture bases, however you call it nowadays. Like I said, I started out roleplaying on forums like proboards, and later, jcink and invisionfree, so face claims are quite prevalent for me. This would only be real-life pictures, and not anime or drawings. We can use the latter for reference points, but I would ideally like face claims to be involved. In terms of looks and stuff, I’ve generally gone for a variety of different guys for who I use to represent my characters. Two of my favorite faces are Tom Hardy and Charlie Hunnam: I can use them for anything. I’ve also had a penchant for guys like Richard Armitage, Marlon Teixeira, Chadwick Boseman, Jason Momoa, and Ed Skrein. For women, my characters playing against, I like to go for an even greater assortment of faces. From actresses like Natalie Dormer, Katie McGrath, Deborah Ann Woll, and Olivia Wilde, models like Adriana Lima and Candice Swanepoel, glamour models like Lucy Collett, Lucy Pinder, and Billie Faiers, alternative models like Sara Fabel and Kelly Eden, and even adult faces like Christy Mack and Nikki Benz – you name them, I’m probably interested in them. So the flexibility is highly wanted.

NOTE: This one is also big, as I have met previous partners who use anime or picture drawings, or have reservations about particular types of faces. I would prefer a partner to be rather versatile and potentially willing to try some of these faces and such. Bonus points if someone is comfortable using faces like Ellie Rayne and Cervena Fox and the like.

WORLD BUILDING

I want an active roleplayer in this category, without a doubt. i love to world-build, but I tend to lose interest when I am the only one who puts in the effort to world-build. Too often I find people gun-shy in this regard. If I feel that I’m carrying the weight of the world-building part with specific ideas, I will end the roleplay in a heartbeat. And consider that the world building is just the tip of the beginning, so from that, I’ll be able to see whether we’ll be a match or not. Because we’d be starting from scratch with whatever we do, it would be a big relief to have someone who doesn’t mind letting ideas flow to set up the universe that we will be roleplaying in. That way, I feel as though we would both be extremely immersed into the roleplay. Let’s create lively planets with vast underground criminal empires, ot a galaxy far, far away, or galaxies far, far away.

MATURE CONTENT

I enjoy writing smut, writing violence, plain and simple. I don’t hinder myself – or I try not to – in what I write, the exact extremeness and depth and detail, and I expect my partner to do the same. Maybe not extremeness in a total and complete smutfest (but really, I wouldn’t be opposed), but I do like a variety of things that can be incorporated along with a fascinating story. Some kinks I love include BDSM, incest, the unholy trinity (oral, anal, and such), dubious consent, hair-pulling, those sorts of things. A particularly darker kink that is not explored enough for me is pregnancy/impregnation/breeding. Also, since I love things like psychological trauma and experimentation (in science fiction and supernatural context), those are also highly desired. The manipulation of someone’s mind, body, and soul, combined with elements of corruption and body alteration/transformation – love. These lean more on this smuttier side of the roleplaying, which I like to fashion it as a coin; heads being the smut, tails being the story. I tend to think of them as two halves of a whole and complete experience, and you simply cannot have one without the other. Sometimes I'll ebb more on the smut side of things, sometimes I won't, but a partner who is more than comfortable in that regard is great.

NOTE: I should make this a bit clearer for any potential partners, but I am looking for roleplays on the darker, smuttier side of things, with little to no limits, and a great deal of my own interests would need to be met by any potential partners. If this part is glossed over in any fashion, I'll be able to pick up on that. I'll be particularly picky about this part. If you have any reservations or have major conditions about this, then it's likely that we won't mesh.

I’ve bulleted the major kinks/mature themes that I want to explore.

Psychological torment. Again, I really enjoy this sort of roleplaying, challenging the mind, characters in situations where they ultimately do not recover from it mentally, where their psychological profile is irrevocably changed.

The unholy trinity. Oral, anal, vaginal sex. Like I said, I enjoy my smut, I’m shameless, don’t care much for judging.

Corruption. Easily one of my favorite themes to explore, and it doesn’t have to just be as simple as sexual corruption, turning a poor innocent girl and debasing her to the point of no return. Something as simple as a hardened person, forged from the rigors of life, suddenly finding themselves in a position of finer things. Of wealth, of relaxation. That can sow the seeds into a slow descent into something illegal, lewd, or all of the above. And they can view it as the ultimate freedom from that hardship.

Drugs. The exploration of a person’s psyche that forces them to turn to recreational drugs to cope with whatever situations they have.

Vanity, body alterations. This can be through different genres and for different reasons. Imperfections are everywhere, and I love roleplaying themes where the characters will go through whatever means. Larger breasts and a more voluptuous curves in order to make money or ascend higher in the economic sphere. Modified abs, cosmetic surgery, all of those things would be included.

Taboo pairings. Specifically incest or interracial. I’ve not tried mother/son pairings, but i’d like to see if anyone is up for that. I’m also good with father/daughter and brother/sister pairings, but those would be primarily for science fiction and urban fantasy.

Gore. I don’t mind there being a little or a good deal. With urban fantasy, you can expect this, because I tend to play creatures as vicious, war-mongering, and unapologetic about tapping into their bestial natures.

Bad endings. What if happily ever after isn’t so happily after all? What if the main character doesn’t get the job done, what if there is no fairytale ending, and what results is heartache, pain, misery? Or delight, freedom, and inspiration?

Pregnancy. Impregnation. Breeding. Demons need to procreate to get their army, no? They need to find that special someone who can unearth their demonic spawn and destroy their adversaries. Or, for a more subversive notion, a simple one=night stand ends up being nine months of sheer interest and intrigue for the involved coupling. I lean toward the former, having had some basis in erotic roleplaying in the past, so the more odd themes of this are welcomed. But normal pregnancy with the right plot is also quite fun.

Again, I can’t stress this enough. These themes are going to be darker by nature. While I don’t believe in a purely smut or purely story-centered roleplay, the fact of the matter is that I’m looking for someone who can and has no problem with handling those themes. For me, I’m alright if you have any particular aversion to rape (I’ll never pressure anyone for this) and things like scat and watersports (I’m personally not okay with those latter two), but I’d like it if everything else was fair game. So BDSM, incest, the exploration of similar themes and such.

The only limits I have in this regard would include scat and watersports, those things of that nature. I generally do not mind non-consensual stories that start off that way initially, but over time change (and I know that that isn’t how non-consensual sex works in real life). However, I honestly do not mind it at all if that theme is not included at all since I know that it can be a particular trigger to some..

INSPIRATIONS / FANDOMS

I have many different inspirations when it comes to what I roleplay and how I generally approach a roleplay through my characters, the setting, and such. For urban fantasy roleplays, I’ll take different sets of lore for creatures and create my own, not following any specific script, to say the least. Things from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood, Vampires The Masquerade, for instance, would cater to my urban fantasy cravings. Bonus points for anyone familiar with video game franchises like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Destiny, Borderlands, Overwatch. Now, I don’t necessarily roleplay these fandoms to the tee, and I wouldn’t play any canon characters from it. I would, however, love to play opposite canon characters with my own original assembly of characters, as well as playing in scenes and settings reminiscent of these.

PARTICULAR CRAVINGS

Now that I’ve pretty much laid out what I’m about, I’d like to turn your attention to a few particular cravings that I’ve had as of late.

Supernaturally-themed plots are always going to be my bread and butter. I’ve had a craving for demons and demon hunters, this nigh eternal struggle between those that bring hellfire and corruption to humanity, and those tasked with defending humans from them. Or, a more self-serving alternative, these bounty hunters being skilled enough to take the unenviable task of capturing and/or killing demons for a hefty price. Maybe one, or a few demon hunters, get too big for their britches and take on a truly horrifying upper demon. We can play intense themes of carnal desires, corruption, underhanded tricks, contract obligations. [18+]

On the level of science fiction, you’ve seen me repeatedly mention Mass Effect. I love the crew idea, exploring the vast known and unknown reaches of space. Maybe they are a crew of bounty hunters looking for the next payday, or soldiers trying to stave off an alien threat. [18+]

Another science fiction, but with a more centralized main character. Called “The Traveler”, I would like to explore some sort of time-traveling person (not akin to Doctor Who, but the premise is the same). Someone with the advanced technological resources or metahuman abilities to traverse through time. What’s his purpose? What’s his motivation? Maybe instead of preventing things from happening that indicate bad results, maybe “The Traveler” IS the cause of these bad events. Maybe this Traveler has ambition to travel through significant events in history to manipulate them to his ultimate advantage, to gain more power. [18+]

Gotham will burn – Now, this one, is partly because of my interest in the show Gotham, but also from the Batman: Arkham series video games. I love a dark, gritty sort of cityscape with mobsters and criminals, and these rogue vigilantes trying to clean things up. I’ve also been inspired by the TV show Arrow, so this would be along those ideas. Maybe, for once, these supposed “heroes in the dark” can’t clean up the city and instead succumb to the corruptive pressures of an easier, more hedonistic lifestyle? [18+]

The “ambitious plot” – this is something I’ve coined myself, since it is pretty ambitious to bring to life. And this is one of my primary cravings, something of an all-inclusive episodic series, so to speak, which would feature just about everything I love in varying or limitless amounts. I thought of it as something akin to a Mass Effect inspired, Game of Thrones-esque establishment and episode structure, wherein there are different characters with different plot points, in different settings, but altogether would combine for some sort of universal roleplay. Naturally, this would also combine my other four cravings. [18+]

Each of these cravings would require us to play multiple characters off the bat, as well as adding characters either selectively to the storyline, or nondescriptly, because we think another character with a specific personality might add even more intrigue to it. These cravings are also going to vacillate highly between smut and story, depending on the particular facet we’d like to explore.To me, the ambitious plot is the one I’m really seeking, but it is a pretty time-consuming one, and something not for the faint of heart or for others that don’t have all that much time on their hands. As these cravings will be fairly demanding and require a good deal of OOC communication, I will require you to add in your own input AS you contact me. Which means, if you do decide to email me, specifically about those ideas, you must already have some ideas ready to throw at me.

MEDIUM

Medium-wise, I’ve done various forms of roleplaying before. When I started roleplaying, I was initially a site go-getter, loving the pretty graphics and the jcink and invisionfree (and to a lesser extent, proboards) communities. I’m not sure if I want to roleplay on that, for this particular request, as I don’t have it in me to go through the semantics and the time consummation of having to write up an application or a character sheet, so right now, forum roleplaying is off the table. Right now, my main preferences for roleplaying include email and Googledocs, with Googledocs being the main preference right now.

Hopefully I have not dissuaded too many people, but I will say that for the purposes of what I am looking for, I am going to be rather picky about who contacts me. So please, be as detailed in your email as I have been in my request, that’s all i ask. I don’t wish to have emails with the body of them being “Hey, i’m interested in everything you listed, so let’s roleplay” – that does nothing to inspire my confidence and excitement. Let me know what specifically wrapped you into contacting me.

CONTACT

If you are interested in potentially roleplaying with me, please contact me by email ONLY. I made this tumblr just to be able to send these kinds of request, but I otherwise do not use it and will not respond to messages made on it. I created the email specifically for roleplaying means – [email protected]. I’m open to communication and creating a general dialogue through Discord and Google Hangouts, but only after the initial email correspondence has been made. For contacting me, I would like your name/online alias, age (because I will only be accepting partners 18 and over), timezone, roleplaying availability, interests, kinks/limits, and – well, hell – include your favorite song lyric in the title of the email.

#independent roleplay #oc rp #multiple paragraph #para #short term #long term #email #forum #smut rp #submission

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