#there isn't any goal to be seek in this abandoned world

[little-lanterns]

I really need to re read girls' last tour...

[gaywarcriminals]

YQY getting hit with truth serum so he has to confess The Secret to SJ is definitely a thing, because jesus fucking christ ANYTHING to make that man talk, but I think the potential for an even larger audience is fantastic.

A scenario like SQQ's trial. Things are dug up. Other things are implied or even fabricated. YQY is on trial. He's presented with some kind of truth serum. He refuses to take it until it's clarified that it won't compel him to speak, just prevent him from lying. He takes it.

They were lying. It absolutely does compel him to answer any questions asked of him. And the results are completely unhinged.

The Xuan Su thing doesn't even come up. It doesn't need to. In an attempt to paint him as scheming and ambitious, he's asked why he became sect leader.

"So I can give Xiao Jiu whatever he wants."

The assembled crowd: ?????

Is this Xiao Jiu a....mistreess? A son? What the hell. Questioning continues, and Yue Qingyuan's insanity is put on full display.

"What if 'Xiao Jiu' wanted to be the sect leader?"

"I would make him the sect leader."

"Surely the other peak lords of Cang Qiong would object. What would you do, then?"

"Whatever I had to."

Whatever they were originally asking about gets seriously derailed as they realize that this guy, arguably the most powerful cultivator in the world, is singularly obsessed with a person he calls 'Xiao Jiu.' Why did he seek power? Xiao Jiu. What is his ultimate goal? Xiao Jiu.

It's also starting to seem like maybe Xiao Jiu isn't exactly a willing participant.

"What does Xiao Jiu ask you for?"

"To leave him alone."

Okay. So his attentions are unwanted. Yikes.

Further questioning reveals that this mysterious person seems to hate Yue Qingyuan, but is regularly subject to his attentions anyway.

The one question he won't answer is 'who is Xiao Jiu.' He's bleeding from the mouth and eyes, but he just shakes his head or says, "He told me not to call him that."

In the audience, no one noticed Shen Qingqiu's total bluescreen, because honestly? All of the peak lords are feeling pretty lost for words right now.

I dunno, I just think it's specifically interesting to a) have a public reveal that this man is a lunatic, and b) have SQQ find out the depths of YQY's devotion without being able to get the answer he wants most.

This would drive SJ absolutely insane. On the one hand he’s happy that YQY isn’t spilling every little detail of their past for these vultures to pick through, on the other hands where the fuck is this coming from??? What sense do these answers make in the mouth of the man who abandoned him? If it was anyone else saying these things he’d be wildly uncomfortable, but this is just confusing (if he were to really sit with his feelings, he might realize that any immediate sense of revolution was swept away by a long-dormant sense of possessiveness). He intends to grab YQY and shake him as soon as YQY stops giving the OPM grounds to charge him with stalking or harassment or something, and YQY will just give him guilty eyes because he things SJ is mad about every he said on the stand 😔. Actually scratch that for qijiu’s benefit the potion should still be in effect, so the moment they’re behind doors SJ can furiously ask why, if YQY doesn’t despise him, he saw fit to abandon him back then and every day since their reunion. YQY can try to hold himself back from speaking to the point of coughing up blood again, which only enrages SJ further, and eventually YQY is forced to speak his explanation through his rough and bloodied throat. SJ is have every single emotion today and has a 50/50 chance of learning what YQY’s blood tastes like (for normal kissing reasons. Normaler than usual).

On a different note, I felt palatable anxiety reading the first part of the ask because I thought you were going to say that YQY confessed about Xuan Su in public, his greatest weakness and a questionable/unnatural feat of cultivation that he could well be criticized for. I legit think that if that happened SJ would consider killing everyone else in the room to stop the secret from getting out— he doesn’t have time to process all the complicated emotions from what YQY just told him, he only knows that’s it’s intolerable for YQY to be this vulnerable in front of people SJ distrusts or despises.

[writingwithcolor]

Afro-Latine Jewish woman maintaining cultural connection in an isekai comic

Anonymous asked:

Hello! Mixed Latin American nonbinary Jew here. I'm working on a, relatively light-hearted, isekai-style fantasy comic concept of an afro-latine Jewish lady who gets sent through a portal to a colorful scifi/fantasy land, inhabitated by various imaginary creatures sorta like in Alice in Wonderland. She gains magic powers and goes on adventures, working as a scientist researching the land's magical energy. (some of the local creatures she befriends are entirely original species, and some are inspired by my local folklore, but otherwise I try to avoid culturally coding the creatures since they're mostly nonhuman looking). The story isn't supposed to touch any heavy topics like antisemitism or racism, but I've read about the cultural problems in ""normie protagonist finds a new home in a funky fantasy world"" stories, f.ex. how Harry Potter's narrative basically implies that Muggleborns have to abandon their original cultures in order to successfully integrate into the very prejudiced but ""cooler"" Wizarding World. My original goal was to break the mold that escapism fantasy usually revolves around white protagonists adventuring in heavily Western-inspired fantasy worlds, and poc-coded characters are usually nonhuman creatures or racial stereotypes. However the protagonist girl in my story comes from a loving, latine-jewish human family, and while she regularly visits them on Earth instead of just staying in the fantasy land 24/7, I'm afraid that making her story be about being happy adventuring in a separate imaginary land filled with nonhuman characters might turn into an ""abandon your family and culture"" narrative. Are there any ways how I could avoid this? Maybe making the fantasy land's worldbuilding and designs more Latin American or Jewish inspired and thus resonate more with her cultural background, or making it clear that the land is not ""perfect"" and she still loves her family?

One of the first things that stands out to me is that you haven’t set her up to need to abandon her culture in order to make a life in another place. She has the ability to go home and visit her family, but I also don’t see any reason why, if she lives primarily in the fantasy land, she couldn’t be portrayed as practicing Judaism actively in her new home. It’s true that Judaism isn’t solely defined by religious/cultural practices, but it’s also true that religious/cultural practices are one of the most recognizable and most uniting elements of Jewish identity.

I think it might help in this case to think about Jewish practices in terms of communal versus personal: that is, what are practices she would need to seek out a Jewish community for, and what are practices she can do independently?

Does she control when she is able to visit her family? If so, visiting for Jewish holidays so that she can be at a family meal or holiday services seems like a way to highlight that she is just as connected to her family as someone who moved to a different city might be. If she experiences/has experienced the death of a family member or partner, going home to be with a Jewish community for shiva or to say kaddish on a yahrzeit is another touch (for readers who may be unfamiliar, Jewish mourning practices are intensely communal and are intentional about bringing the mourner into an active support system and slowly reintroducing them to the world, and as such a mourner is likely to spend this time somewhere where they can access and be supported by a Jewish community).

As far as practices she can engage with on her own in the fantasy setting, it would be nice to see her observing Shabbat, either in a traditional way by refraining from adventuring and instead engaging in hospitality and prayer between dusk Friday and sundown Saturday, or in a less-halakhic way if she comes from a Reform or comparatively-assimilated background, by marking Friday sunset with candles, blessings, and a good meal, even if she is intending to continue her research through the next day. She would hardly be the first Jewish person to live in a place without an established Jewish community, and a festive meal can be shared just as happily with non-Jewish friends if they’re griffons and fauns as if they’re Christians and Muslims.

Here’s one idea that I think would be hugely meaningful as a way of establishing both that she intends to make her home long-term in Fantasy World and that she intends to carry Jewish traditions with her into her new life: hang a mezuzah.

Think about it: a mezuzah is the visual marker of a Jewish home, as much to the resident as to a guest. When she is home from her adventures, in her garden cottage or enchanted tower or wherever she returns to between adventures to record and categorize her research, simply showing a mezuzah in the background instantly makes the point both that she is intending to stay, and that this is a Jewish space. If as time goes on she adds other Judaica items to her space, it can add to the sense that her Jewishness is present and alive in this world, simply because she is present and alive in it.

If she doesn’t have a settled space or if you’re not planning on setting any scenes there, having Jewish visual markers on and around her can help, too. For low-hanging fruit, maybe she has a silver Jewish Star or chai necklace that catches the light now and then, but since you’re going for a light, fun vibe, maybe she’s packing her adventuring supplies in a bright-blue vinyl backpack emblazoned with “Temple Shaarei Tzedek Junior Youth Retreat 1998” (am I old? I’m pretty sure there are adults reading this who were in Junior Youth groups in 2003, but I’m willing to bet retreat swag hasn’t changed that much).

I do like the idea of including Latin American and Jewish elements in the worldbuilding, especially as an intentional way to combat the cultural dominance of Western European folklore over fantasy writing, but because your character is from and has access to our world, you have the beautiful opportunity to carry real-world markers of Jewishness with her as well.

-Meir

I adore Meir’s answer, but then, I’m the kind of person to whom “enchanted tower with a mezuzah” as an aesthetic is so near and dear to my heart that I wrote a whole fantasy series about it. Couple of random suggestions: one thing I really enjoy is exposing my gentile friends to Jewish food—I love watching the absolute shock of delirium hit someone’s face the first time they taste my charoseth. Imagine this little bowl of chopped apples and walnuts, looking vaguely dirty because they’re soaked in cinnamon-infused wine, so it’s basically dingy beige slop….so that first bite of sensuous, deep sweetness is a huge surprise. Pick your favorite equivalent and imagine the first time a centaur or a winged princess or whatever other fantasy character tries it at your MC’s behest! (Feeding brisket to dragons would make a great name for…something…)

I don’t think you’re likely to do this anyway but since these are public answers: “fantasy world fun, Jewish upbringing a chore” is a narrative I would not feel at home in or care to read. But that’s a rather predictable remark from me anyway ;)

And of course I support the “the secondary fantasy world is actually Jewish” solution too, having one of my own.

–Shira

[mareastrorum]

Some scattered thoughts on Critical Role's Assassin's Creed one shot. This contains minor spoilers about the AC universe, but nothing that isn't covered within the first few missions of the first game.

Basic AC Background: Assassins are a secret society of warriors who seek to preserve freedom across the world. Opposed to the Assassins are Templars (yes, the Templars from the Crusades), who are also a secret society but instead attempt to control and decide the future of humankind. The war between these two groups has gone on for millenia, and while the Assassins are nearly wiped out in modern days, the fight isn't over. The AC games cover the history of this conflict across numerous continents and time periods. The upcoming Shadows game will feature a story set in Sengoku period Japan, during Oda Nobunaga's push to unite the country under one banner.

One shot setting: We follow 4 unaligned warriors in Sakai, an independent city in Japan with robust trade with European ships. Of course, conflict breaks out, and the PCs have to sort out what is happening and what they should do. This is a fairly standard introduction into an AC game; half of the AC protagonists are initially ignorant to the Assassin/Templar conflict and get caught up in a mess. Most end up siding with the Assassins, but a few recent games include Templar protagonists. The games use a mix of open world exploration and scripted missions, so Matt's cutscene-like events in the one shot did a great job of matching that feeling of seeing a cinematic between each mission phase.

Historical "accuracy": The AC games, in general, are known for their meticulous efforts to be accurate regarding historical locations, weaponry, and languages--specifically so that deviations stick out as plot points. It's not an exaggeration to say that people living in featured cities like Paris, London, and New York have been able to navigate historical neighborhoods based on IRL knowledge. There's always a handful of errors, but a good rule of thumb is that if they deviate from commonly-accepted history, there's a reason for it. Matt did a pretty good job of incorporating this spirit through his use of historical weaponry, his description of the setting, and practiced pronunciation of any Japanese terms. The fact that each of the 4 PCs stick out like a sore thumb doesn't much work against them; this is a setting where they would attract attention, but not to the level that they don't make sense in this specific city.

Religion: Without giving too much away, religion is a primarily encountered in AC games as a tool used by the Templars to control populations and by the Assassins to hide their members or infiltrate the Templars. The games' incorporation of religion is not really meant as a commentary on theology or organized practice; it's that any and all social structures that can be used to further their goals are used, and because religion transcends class and nationality, it comes up a lot. In the one shot, Matt briefly introduces a Jesuit missionary NPC who delivers a pitch perfect evangelical speech, then Matt notes to Rufino (who had been abandoned by missionaries) that this guy seems like a useful scapegoat. That matches the tone and themes of the games perfectly, without forcing Rufino into either the Assassins' or the Templars' camp.

"Push the Advantage" mechanic: The one shot uses a "push the advantage" option to allow PCs to attack or take multiple actions on their turn, though each subsequent roll uses a smaller hit die. Each subsequent roll has a reduced chance of success, but a higher crit chance. That seemed like a great way to balance AC's real-time combo attacks in a TTRPG that uses turn-based combat. It's also fun for players to be able to gamble in combat. However, if a pushed attack misses, the enemy gets to retaliate with an attack, which nicely reflects AC enemies' ability to interrupt combos. Notably, this mechanic also extends to RP skills like deception, climbing, etc., which works well with the fact that AC combat allows for PCs to flee, hide, and then ambush pursuers. (Poor Robbie really tried to get an assassination in... alas.)

"Adrenaline" mechanic: In the AC games, Adrenaline is a separate resource generated by attacking, dodging, or parrying and then used for Special Abilities (usually chosen with a talent tree). In the CR one shot, adrenaline is tracked like points for the same purpose, with each PC using unique abilities tied to their weapons (e.g., Umi attacking with her wakizashi's Rapid Strike, Rufino's Double Combo that allows him to add on to someone else's attack). That's probably as close to a 1:1 analogy as anyone could get with this mechanic.

Territory disputes: Many of the AC games involve attacking enemy-controlled areas to claim strategic points in a city. Often, the player must defeat a miniboss while other enemies continuously spawn, then the remainder flee. Seizing new territory provides the player with allies, merchants, and resources in that area. Matt mimicked this with the fight at the Shinto shrine and noted to the players that shrines usually aren't picked out for destruction; the survivors turn out to be trustworthy and willing to offer help to the injured PCs.

Altogether, Matt clearly put a lot of effort into designing this one shot system to emulate AC mechanics and attitudes. It was very fun to watch from that standpoint.

[shakesthewizard]

Hi please explain about fabianxadaine???

Okay since you asked so nicely here's the fucking thing about Fabadaine

First, some background info

Before we dive in, you should know a couple things. For one, I'm a firm bad kid polycule truther. You could truly pitch me any pairing/grouping of those kiddos and I could find a really ineresting and/or sweet dynamic to eat the drywall about

You should also know that I'm gonna most likely remember some details during this analysis - if you spot them, please let me know by putting them in a bottle and throwing them into the ocean.

Second, some character meta

Adaine O'Shaughnessey is a girl with a lot of courage. It's sort of her defining character trait. The idea of "a wizard with an anxiety disorder" brings to mind someone pretty timid, who's afraid of speaking their mind. But from her first appearance, we see clearly that to Adaine, her disorder is pretty explicitly medical. On her first day of freshman year, she's already talking back to her horrible parents and trying to stand up for herself. Long before she gets access to medication, her disorder hinders her the way an asthma attack might; it has no bearing on her willingness to do the courageous thing.

Relatedly, Adaine thrives under adversity. Not abuse or mistreatment, mind - what I mean is that she likes it when people push back at her a little, so that she has opportunities to test her ideas and opinions against dissent. Look at her dynamic with Aelwyn in season three. Those two bicker and banter; they poke at each other, but it's how they're expressing things like concern or pride.

You could argue, probably well, that this is a product of sisterhood, and a product of their history in particular. But I think there's more to it than that. We see throughout the show that Adaine is a person who cares about exceeding; about learning and growing and achieving great things. It's classic wizard.

Adaine is the child of the wealthy and the important, and that shapes everything about her. It influences her struggles; her abandonment issues in particular. But it also shapes her goals, her values, and her attitudes. She seeks recognition for her skills and her labor, and she wants the people she loves to challenge her so that she can grow and make them proud.

Fabian Seacaster is the son of a famous man and a natural talent. His showmanship is clear and evident from the first moments we see him, and it's reflected in his character build from the start. He's a Champion Fighter, after all.

This showmanship is, frankly, a testament to Lou Wilson's masterful understanding of characters. That single trait can be picked apart to help us understand everything about him.

Fabian is a showman because he was raised as the scion of an up-and-coming house; given every tool he needed to learn his parents' skills, and to prepare him to take the Seacaster name when the time comes.

Fabian is a showman because he believes wholeheartedly in his own greatness. His whole life, he's been surrounded by tutors whose whole job it has been to mold him into the perfect son, and they were paid enough to care about doing it right.

Fabian is a showman because he knows he's earned his own arrogance; wealth or not, pampered lifestyle or not, we see him scold his fencing teacher when he goes easy on him. Fabian isn't blinded by his privilege (or at least not entirely) - he genuinely cares about being the best, and he'll give up the luxury if it means greatness.

Fabian is a showman because he's deeply anxious. Bill and Hallariel clearly love their son, but being the only child of a world-famous pirate, tasked with being their emissary to Solace for future generations, is an unbelievable amount of pressure. Fabian has to be perfect to the world outside. He can't just be good; he can't just be great; he has to be Fabian Aramais Seacaster, Son of the Famous Bill Seacaster!

Fabian is a showman because he has to figure out who he is, somehow. Who is he, outside of his father? He certainly doesn't know, but suddenly he realizes he has to know, for his own sake. So he does what any kid does when they're trying to figure out their identity - they act out.

Finally, what I understand about Fabadaine that nobody else does

Fabian Seacaster and Adaine O'Shaughnessey are the children of the wealthy; the important. They're both second generation Solesians, sent out to represent their families. They're both ambitious people who are trying to achieve great things outside the expectations of their parents. They're both proud and straightforward, prioritizing their values over social niceties.

Adaine and Fabian both carry the swords of their dead fathers.

To put it simply - Fabian and Adaine are really good foils for each other, and I dislike when their dynamic is reduced to classic highschool boyfriend/girlfriend tropes.

As an example, a number of fics I've read have Fabian pursuing Adaine, and that simply doesn't hold up. Let's be honest here - Fabian has terrible taste in women, and has a bad track record of making the more self-destructive choice whenever romance is on the table. I have no doubt he likes Adaine, but he would also know that she'd hold him accountable and challenge him when he makes stupid choices. No, Adaine is the one initiating here.

The thing that really draws me to this pair is because both of them need and want to be challenged, but each of them has a different attitude towards challenging others, and it makes for an active dynamic that can evolve in a lot of interesting ways.

You know what, check back later. I need to write fic about this.

[cosmicjoke]

Levi and the Dictates of Conscience:

One thing I think is interesting to think about is how Levi's actions really exhibit this unique aspect of his character, which is his refusal to do anything which goes against his moral conscience, which, as I've spoken about before, is how Levi practices his philosophy of no regrets. I think Levi is really the character that’s meant to demonstrate to both the audience and the story’s other characters the importance of staying true to oneself, staying true to one’s heart. And indeed Levi’s refusal to act against his conscience sits in sharp contrast to so many of the other characters in the story, many of whom we witness succumbing to deep feelings of guilt, remorse, self-loathing and bitterness for having betrayed their own moral conscience in the name some abstract goal or mission. AoT is showing us, through this contrast, why it’s so vital never to betray our inner conscience.

I've written pretty extensively on how Levi's choice to let Erwin die was one rooted in humanity and compassion, in Levi's refusal to abandon his humanity, or to let Erwin lose his own, even when faced with the pressure of the Survey Corps' stated mission, when faced with the general belief from his comrades that Erwin was the right choice, not Armin. I've spoken plenty already about how I think Armin was always the right choice, and how Levi believed that, too, so I won't go into it again. But still, Levi faced plenty of pressure from various sides to ignore his own conscience here and pick Erwin. But he didn't. It's why Levi says, near the end, that he has no regrets about not choosing Erwin. Because it was a choice made in accordance with his moral values, with his conscience. We see something similar play out, but on a smaller scale, during the SC's visit to Marley, when Levi rescues Ramzi from an angry mob. Once more, this is Levi refusing to betray his own moral conscience, refusing to let a child die or be hurt when there was something he could do to prevent it. The same as he refused to let Erwin continue to suffer when there was something he could do to prevent that. The same as Levi going outside the parameters of his mission and orders to help the people of Trost, because there was something he could do for them, too. Or again in Levi's willingness to let his comrades die in service to the Survey Corps' mission, even as it goes against his own, deep desire to save their lives. Because it's what he believes will save more lives, in the end, and also it's what they've chosen for themselves, to dedicate their lives to creating a world without Titans, and Levi's conscience dictates that other people have a right to choose for themselves. He isn't going to betray that by trying to stop them, even if he doesn't agree with their choice. Instead, he chooses to honor them and prove their lives worth by fighting to make the dream they've died for a reality. Whenever there's any chance that Levi can do something to help someone, he's going to do it, because, again, it's what his conscience dictates. And this really is where Levi differs from almost everybody else. In that he always, always leads from the heart and never goes against what it tells him he should do.

People often talk about how the reason Levi doesn't hold a grudge against Annie or seek revenge on her is because he understands where she was coming from. That Levi himself would have done the same in her position. And this is true, but with one, important difference between them. That difference is that Levi never would have done what Annie did for selfish reasons. Levi's guiding, moral principles are rooted, ultimately, in his selflessness. He puts other people's well-being above his own, he values their well-being above his own, which is why we see him talking about how he's willing to do bad things, to take on the weight of that burden, as long as it means saving others from having to do the same. He's willing to "become a lunatic" if it means others don't have to. Every action Levi takes is, at its core, an action taken for the benefit of someone other than himself. Famously, Levi is the only character in the series without any, personal dream or goal to motivate him. Levi's guiding moral principles, his conscience, is dictated by his empathy, his ability to feel and understand the needs and wants of others, to understand their feelings, an ability which exists at an exceptional level within Levi, even among the rest of the story's cast. And, again, he always acts in accordance with his conscience. That's really, at its core, the reason Levi doesn't seek revenge on Annie, because, yes, he understands where she was coming from, even as Levi's own, moral conscience would always have been too strong to allow him to act as she did, for the reasons she did. And this is also why and how Levi is able to live "without regrets", because he never goes against what his empathy dictates he do, whether that's killing to save lives, or allowing his comrades to die in service of their dream. It's Levi's exceptional empathic ability that makes him so selfless, and that selflessness which ultimately governs and defines his moral principles, which in turn lays the foundations for every one of his decisions. He's always going to make the choice that he believes will help others, even at his own, personal expense.

Annie, by contrast, ends up ignoring her empathy, indeed, denying she feels any empathy at all, in pursuit of a personal and selfish goal, which is to make it back to her father, no matter the cost. By doing this, Annie very much did betray her moral conscience when she killed all of those soldiers in the forest. Because Annie knew and felt that what she was doing was wrong, that it wasn't justified, that her mission wasn't noble or altruistic or for the benefit of others. Further, she understood that the propaganda she'd been raised to believe, about the Eldian's from Paradis being "devils", was all untrue. She knew those soldiers weren't really hers or anyone else's enemy. And yet, she killed those soldiers anyway, she betrayed her own conscience in service of a selfish goal, and it later comes back to haunt her in the form of crushing guilt. This plays out again and again with other characters. During the scene on the rooftop between Reiner, Bertolt, Annie and Marco, we see the three of them take Marco's gear from him and leave him to be eaten by a Titan, all to keep their cover from being blown. We see the horrendous crisis of conscience this causes within them, with Reiner in particular later suffering from a kind of split in his personality in an attempt to cope with the overwhelming guilt of his actions. And again, it's because, by that point, all three of them knew and understood their mission had no justifiable foundation, that it didn't align with what they, personally, felt was right. They understood by then that the Eldian's from Paradis weren't, in fact, monsters, or devils, but just regular people fighting to survive. And yet, for selfish gain, they continued to act in accordance with their mission's completion, Annie to reunite with her father, as already stated, Reiner because he wanted to be seen as a hero by his people, and Bertolt because he held no genuine, personal belief in anything, simply wanting to be told by others what to do. This later drives Reiner to attempted suicide, and his breakdown with Eren before the attack on Liberio, begging him to kill him. It's also what compels Eren to compare Reiner to himself, to say they're both "half-hearted pieces of shit", because in Reiner, Eren sees himself. Someone willing to go against their own, moral conscience in order to advance their personal cause. Eren too breaks down multiple times over the guilt of his willingness to do so, first with Ramzi, and then later, with Armin.

You see this with Erwin, too, with his willingness to utilize his talent for inspiration to convince people to join the Survey Corps, even as he knows, deep down, it isn't for the altruistic and noble cause of humanity's salvation that he sells to himself and others, but rather for a personal dream which he knows isn't worth people's lives. And this, too, is where Erwin's guilt comes from. In this betrayal of his own conscience through his actions. We see it happen with Historia, in her agreement to cover up Eren's horrific plans to save her own life. We see it happen with Armin, in his initial refusal to admit Eren has betrayed them, even as he and Mikasa have grown increasingly aware of Eren pulling away from them and acting in ways which objectively and intentionally endanger innocent lives. We see it with Mikasa all throughout her relationship with Eren, similar to Armin, in her refusal to confront herself over Eren's selfishness and cruelty. We see it happen with Connie, with him nearly feeding Falco to his mother, only being stopped by Armin. We see it happen with Jean, nearly giving in to the Yeagerists' coup until Hange snaps him out of it. We even see it happen with Hange themselves, in their revenge-fueled desire to torture Sannes, and later in wanting to run and hide from what's happening, until Levi reminds them it isn't an option.

It truly marks Levi out as a unique character, and is also part of what makes him the truest hero of the series, that he never betrays his conscience, never is even in danger of doing so.

It's also what makes it particularly amusing when people try to claim that Levi would have supported the Rumbling if Erwin had done so. It's just such a fundamentally wrong reading of Levi's character, on so many levels, not the least of which because it pushes this absurd idea that Levi's moral principles only exist in relation to Erwin, which makes no sense when Erwin's own morality is something he struggles so mightily to adhere to, and which he does, in fact, betray, and when practically Levi's entire character is predicated on his moral consistency and strength. He never falters in that regard. He never betrays himself or what he believes in, from beginning to end, and as I said before, and demonstrated through some of the various choices Levi makes throughout the story, if there's something Levi can do to help people, he's going to do it.

Levi believes in the sanctity of life above all else, values life and people's right to it completely, again, because of his exceptional empathy and how it makes him completely selfless. And so, within the context of Levi's moral consistency, and his unwavering adherence to his moral conscience, everyone should understand that Levi would never, no matter what, support genocide. They should understand that he would do everything within his power to prevent it, which is exactly what he did, the same as he did everything within in his power to help people throughout the story in smaller, but no less significant ways.

[bugcatcherkit]

do you have shou mom hc or anything like that? I was looking at the bingo cards and wondered about your thoughts

kind of YES! I'm making another list. I don't know if you mean the entire Broad Range of what a HC is, or something specific. So these will be random thoughts I think about her.

This isn't really a HC and more explaining and/or expanding her canon personality traits. But alongside her headstrongness, I think she can be impulsive. Like, rushes into things she shouldn't but she becomes wholeheartedly committed anyway. Which isn't to say she's naive -- she knows exactly what she's getting into, she just thinks she can handle more than she actually can. Like someone else I know..

Also anybody else notice her strong need to make a huge impact on somebody else's life. She chose the Worst Guy ever with full intent that she alone could Fix Him (didn't even wait to see if she could). I think she wants the validation that her words, efforts, and convictions alone can make the world (and other people) a little better overall. It's just interesting that she could possibly seek a Big Goal through relationships themselves instead of at the expense of them.

Does anybody else think about how she was the only person outside of Claw who knew about it. Her ex literally got someone murdered and she couldn't do anything about it or go to anyone (because who's going to believe that? Especially when she doesn't have any evidence). And she had to live with it for years. Probably isolating as hell !!!! Especially because we don't know what her support system outside of her family was, if she even had an extensive one.

I imagine she tends to feel bad about things very easily, specifically her own actions/inaction, and how that effects other people. Like a responsibility thing, even though most things are out of her control. Her knowing when she needs to quit doesn't quite stop her feeling bad for doing so (and also I don't think she learned her own limits until That Argument, so she's like "what if I did More". It's part of I think she's always asking about Toichiro and planned to visit him with Shou -- she wanted to try again. This is Alongside her concern for him).

OKAY I am going to rant about the abandonment thing again because I keep seeing it still. Grabs everyone by the shoulders. There are so many reasons that she did not take Shou with her. Since (in the context of the argument) her leaving seems like a split-second decision, she probably did not have the proper resources to support him immediately after she left. By the time she got something figured she literally couldn’t get custody. AND I hope nobody forgot that Toichiro used Shou as leverage against her and that was why he cut contact between them entirely (or he thought he did). But they stayed in contact anyway!!!!!!!! They called and visited!!!! People get so distracted with the "abandonment" part that they overlook any potential complicated feelings that probably exist on both sides. Because those are very normal to have with a situation like that!!! For example, her leaving did not have the effect she thought it would (make Toichiro see his mistakes), and she has to consider that! But, at the time, she had run out of things to do or say, and it wouldn't have mattered anyway because the whole point was that Toichiro refused to listen to her or consider her feelings or Accept Change at all. Can anybody hear me??? So sorry to put this rant here when all you wanted was some headcanons

FUCK THAT GOT LONG. That's not even HC that's just character analysis I think? I don’t know anything. I'm actually bad at HCs guys. IDK what characters do in their spare time I just hyper-analyze their thoughts and motivations and ideals. Here's some actual HC maybe?

post-divorce she doesn't get her own place for a while (she is Unsure of what her next steps are and has a LOT to consider) but when she does it's quite small and cozy. Though, it only develops a Homely feel when Shou starts visiting. It becomes more personalized after that, I guess? Does that make sense.

She seems like the type to have a collection of trinkets that are One specific animal. She's got like 50 little porcelain bears sitting on a shelf somewhere or something.

she has one of those ugly little dogs with the crusty eyes. And she saw him at the shelter and he was so old and sad that she almost cried, so she had to take him home.

She is big on manners. Constantly scolding Shou for his lack of them when he moves in with her finally

also she's got the same bluntness and genuineness that Tsubomi has, I think. Actually she has a lot in common with Tsubomi. They are shaking hands. Committed to the people they care about but don't sacrifice their true selves for anything. Etc.

LET HER HAVE A LITTLE GARDEN!!!!!!! She'd love it. She'd talk to her plants to help them grow.

I want to give her a name but I haven't been able to settle on one. Very sad. Hopefully soon?

this feels like me saying a whole lot of nothing. I guess I couldn't get too deep into things because at that point it would feel like I'm inventing a totally different character (because she does not exist in the narrative outside of Narrative Device). Maybe she needs it though. but I fear i cannot do Mob Psycho like ONE can....

[yourtoradorasextendedwarranty]

Your countries are being invaded and your too blinded by accusations of "Bigotry" and "Racism" to actually do anything about it. What am I talking about?

-

Let me explain something to the left and any moderate that might have an issue with my framing. These are not people seeking asylum because of persecution. These are economic migrants trying to extract from our countries while their first act in flooding here is economic instability and eventual collapse. It has nothing to do with cultural dislike, or racism of any kind.

Fact is most people in most places hate how their governments are run. The US Gov I can actually weigh in on, because we have sent billions in tax dollars to Ukraine and foreign interests. We have spent millions if not billions on homelessness yet still have a huge homeless issue in places that claim to care about it more than anywhere else.

But what's the issue. 80%-90% of the people coming are military age men. In some cases that percentage is north of 98%. Meaning there are almost never any women or children coming here. And at least in the US they are coming here with their fist act as breaking US law. I live in Texas. This state is heavily affected by illegal immigration. Hard part is, most people don't tend to see the effects until it's too late. The more people that flood your country, the worse the economy in your country will be. Slow trickle can be handled. What we are experiencing can't be. Why?

So not to be the "THER TAKN OUR JUBS", but in reality they are. They will work for lower wages. They don't care if they get healthcare. And the employer does not have to care about the red tape hiring them. They get the profit with almost none of the other complexities that come from hiring a legal citizen. What's more, we barely have enough jobs for the people that live here and yet we flood millions in through the southern border every single year. Functionally, this is an issue. We might be a melting pot, but what happens when our cultures are deleted outright because the flood gets too big?

And this is a real risk. Cultural decimation. These people don't care about their own countries. What makes you think they care about yours? They will extract. Destroy. And they will move on. They don't realize they are doing it have the time but consider the fact that the UN has not helped in this at all. Consider the fact that the WEF has not at all helped in this. The US can hold the population of the world sure, but fact of the matter is that should not be our goal. There are too many cultures, and there are too many offset forms of belief.

We can barely keep our own country working properly and inflation is the worst it's been in almost ever. We can't take care of our own and yet the bleeding heart class in the US just expects us to take in everyone from everywhere at all times. Economically we can't handle this. Socially and culturally we can't handle this. People need to go to countries through the proper sources. They need to do it legally. But what's more, these countries are losing their working age and military age men. IN THE THOUSANDS and MILLIONS. What is the result to the country these people are leaving? What of the women and children left behind?

No one wants to have this conversation because they are scared of being called a xenophobe or a racist. But having love for your country and wanting it to continue to function, and not have your culture crushed under the weight of actual invaders, isn't either of those things. And before you go, "Oh well how dare you call them invaders ~" here is the definition for you.

Look at the second listing. I understand the idea behind wanting others to be happy. I understand the idea behind wanting people from other places to not suffer. But these people are leaving their countries, rather than fighting for them. They have abandoned their mothers, daughters, wives, sisters, aunts, and grandmothers in most cases.

Most of you need to face the reality that the real world is not a fair place. But if you want your country to thrive and survive there needs to be a process in which it functions. These people are ignoring that entire process. If Italy can't deport the people that just arrived on that ship, outnumbering the entire population of the island they just landed on, there will be consequences. And they will not be good. The language will start to shift. The religions in the area will change. The entire culture will change. Then at some point, they will decide, "This is our land now, and it's always been ours". It's objectively conquest by sheer numbers. And while they might not individually have any ill intent. That won't matter in the long term.

This isn't a conspiracy. It's not bigotry. Open a history book and read. I'm pro immigration. 100% I'm for it. But how long are the lines for the people coming here legally? How many people have been denied citizenship over BS reasons? And not only are we allowing illegals in at a more than alarming rate (specifically in the US), but we are spending tax dollars on giving them roofs over their heads, and handouts, and in some places they are even getting monthly allowances.

Explain to me how we are doing this for people with no respect for the country, or it's laws, and yet you can't solve homelessness? You can't make a VA that actually functions properly? You can't get out out of inflation? So to the people cheering on illegal immigration, you are voting for your own demise. And every penny spent on them, is not one spent on a legal immigrant. Every penny spent on them is not spend helping the homeless. Every penny spent on them is not spent on healthcare.

This might be a controversial post and some people may even block, mute or unfollow me for it and that's fine. But history speaks for itself. And every country that has dealt with this for too long has collapsed over time. Pretty much every single time.

You should be concerned. Before you end up as the one who's displaced, and is fleeing.

[dragon-communion]

I'm gonna sit here and ponder my characterization for St. Trina, considering a couple spoilers I've gotten. I crave character study fanfic about her.

Miquella, as a character, is incredibly driven and what he can't achieve by intellect he achieves by charisma. I don't think that charisma is independent of him- it didn't split off into Trina, I think she has it too, which implies to me that both of them still maintain his Empyrean curse. So then what did become Trina?

Assuming the way they divide is similar to Marika and Radagon, there's a combination of alchemical philosophy and something that I would recognize as the start of a dissociative disorder. Marika seems to be trying to reject the Golden Order; Radagon tries to keep it whole. Maybe Marika intentionally split off Radagon, maybe she didn't, but he nonetheless served the Golden Order by playing the long game to bring Rennala to heel. And then, after that, Marika herself. They split, purified, achieved xanthosis, and then there was some point of critical failure right before rubedo likely rooted in an inability to truly compromise their own desires. Godfrey never got the chance to truly attempt rubedo with Marika, I think, but he's definitely hit xanthosis by the time we truly fight him, and manages a kind of rubedo with Serosh.

The easy answer for Miquella/Trina is that Miquella is a workaholic, which is how he expresses love for others, while Trina isn't because she represents self-care and by extension self-love. She distinctly represents pleasure, oblivion, and repose, while Miquella is very focused on freedom and knowledge and action. Very much his sister's twin. Both of them at their core have love, I think, but to some extent Miquella's evolves into a very performative thing.

His goals go from wanting a better world for his sister, and by extension all maligned creatures in the Lands Between, to simply seeking a better world at any cost. Perhaps that's his Empyrean nature kicking in; a god can want for the sake of wanting, because they embody what they are. In becoming a god he forgets his personhood, abandoning true agency for becoming a core support beam of the world. Eerily similar to Radagon, actually. Marika was a person, and that's why she had to die. By extension, Trina was also a person, which is why she was abandoned to winnow Miquella down into a god.

So where does that leave Trina?

I think Miquella was the origin of the twain, for lack of better terminology, and Trina is conceptually his Radagon, embodying a certain ideal or methodology that he rejected but ultimately found useful, to a point. Maybe he intentionally created her, maybe he didn't, but she formed along a preexisting fault line in his psyche: just as Radagon embodies the Golden Order, Trina is the Cradlesong. That could be familial love, it could be self love, it could be love in general. I've compared Miquella to Gideon before- sometimes the pursuit of knowledge, and especially perfection, requires cruelty that violates morality.

I think Trina cared about people, and there's a reason Sleep and Frenzy are so entwined and opposed. I think she'd agree with Melina and argue against nihilism, but I also think she had her own hedonistic branch of it, a selfishness that could match Miquella's underneath the apparent selflessness. Miquella actively hunts his peace, for better or for worse, while Trina invites it. She's the opiate to his stimulant.

I think she may have had just enough in common with the Formless Mother to be intensely curious about her, and may or may not have had dealings with her. I think all of the outer gods utilize love, in their own way, but something about blood in particular is very close to Miquella's own alignment. Trina might have also been connected to Miquella's twisted relationship with his eternal childhood- he wanted to be an adult in a way she didn't really need, possibly, and which neither of them could truly achieve.

I think the disturbing visage of adult Trina on her torch might've been Miquella's dream, which is why that depiction is so rare.

I think they were both dreamers, and where they diverged is what they dreamed about.

[mdhwrites]

Blade and the Joy of an Edgelord

What makes a good edgelord? It's a very real question, especially since for many, a good one can become one of their most beloved characters ever. Heck, for the longest time, the games industry acted like edgy, tortured, teen heart throbs were the only thing any woman ever wanted so there is definitely some sort of big appeal. What makes them work though when so many are mocked? Well, fairly mocked because plenty mock for stupid reasons too.

For me, I think it's the difference between angst and wangst. Angst is drama. It's these elements to the character that motivates them, drives them and concerns them but we can also see them trying to deal with these problems. It's Batman brooding on top of a gargoyle because he's not just brooding, he's also patrolling to help make sure the same tragedy that happened to him doesn't happen to another person. Now, give Batman there a "Fuck them and their problems" attitude and you'd get much closer to wangsting. At the point where all the character does is bitch about their baggage, they stop being a character. They are only the EEEEEEEEEDGE and that's not interesting.

Blade on the other hand is VERY interesting, despite the fact that he is at face value about as edgy as you can get. Obsessed with death, brooding, quiet, wants to die, whines about other people getting the right to go to 'that paradise' which is just dying. Not even Heaven, just dying in general. You want to make a dark, brooding character, making him all about death is a great place to start. Except... Blade isn't.

He's about life and that's why he's likable.

Okay so stay with me for a little bit because that statement might sound odd to some but it has to do with the fact that Blade wants to die but he doesn't use that to dismiss reality. He is not just waiting to die, nor does he only want to die because existence is misery or some other nihislistic bullshit like that. He would be entirely fine going out quietly but that's because he REALLY needs to die. Like no if and or buts, he just NEEDS to die and when he angsts about the past or gets a murder boner for his ex-boyfriend, it's because of what caused it to be so very, VERY important that he die.

Because he's an Emanator of the Abundance. He is in fact EXACTLY what killed one of his best friends. If he ever loses his mind to Mara, he will become literally the thing that killed his friend, who's attempted resurrection made him this way. If he does that, he will become everything that he despised at one point. That all of the Quintet despised and fought. What they died against. And that sort of agony... Yeah, that's pretty fucking shitty.

It gets worse though. Blade was a short life species before that. He turned into a long life species, facilitating a change in perspective that is hard to even fathom. The idea that he struggles with Mara more than Jing Yuan is hardly surprising because he had the immediacy of only having a hundred years to live then extend to multiple times beyond that. His body and mind aren't equipped for a passage of time like that and so the memories weigh on him...

But he does not give in, nor does he abandon them, or that around him. He seeks treatment, he seeks a cure (albeit through death), and seeks for vengeance. He is still entirely in the moment, whether that be dealing with the quirkiness of the other Stellaron Hunters, fighting Dan Heng or dealing with his memories, he is always still doing things. Trying to push forward in some sort of personal goal rather than just saying that the world sucks. He isn't happy but he's dealing with the hand that fate has given him.

And if it seems like I sometimes describe his stuff in a silly way, that's on purpose. See, I've focused mostly on the dramatic angle at this point. The idea that all of this angsting makes for great melodrama that you can eat by the spoonful. It also can be REALLY FUNNY, either sincerely or ironically. Like calling death a 'paradise' absolutely made Silver Wolf laugh so hard she almost cried the first time she heard it. It's over the top and easily can come across as just as bizarre as it does cool. Either way though, it's entertaining and you can actually enjoy it for both for even with the right presentation. Like Shadow going "I'm the ultimate life form," your immediate response might be, "That's badass," before going "THAT'S A FUCKING HEDGEHOG!" and you have just gotten vastly more enjoyment from this edgy little shit than if he actually played the role of cool badass more purely.

And that's why there's such a joy to edgelords. A well done one is so fun and entertaining to watch that it's hard to not have them as a favorite. Not when they're just such a ball to watch. Blade is admittedly not my favorite of the Stellaron Hunters, let alone the entire game, but I blame that on not being cringe enough, which is entirely a fault of my own.

I can certainly appreciate him though which I think many critics would easily overlook just because he fits the title of edgelord. I don't believe that's a bug though. It's a feature. See you next tale.

======+++++======

Was this inspired by someone with E6 Blade as their pfp following me? Aaaabsolutely.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[quartxio]

DOODLE WORLD: STARFALL WORLDBUILDING POST!!!!!

i haven't been able to focus on making DW Starfall art due to uni, so here's some worldbuilding about the AU and info about its main cast under the cut in the meantime

to recap: Doodle World: Starfall is a fantasy-futuristic AU where humanity discovers magic in the cosmos, after their technological advent into space. so far, all of humanity can only use basic magics, and each individual is limited to only one type. however, across the planets are 'Artifacts' (which replace the Keys) which are said to be able to break the mold and ascend someone into mastery of magics. the protagonist is replaced with an OC - Rose Aurelius, a sorcerer and archivist who came from another world to learn about this one, but gets herself wrapped up in the mystery of the Artifacts.

DoodleCo owns several planets which are in close proximity with each other - each planet houses a different district of cities, and transportation to each planet is done by public spaceships.

Earth remains as the main planet, where the main DoodleCo headquarters has been built. however, the story begins on the smallest planet of the 5 that are owned by DoodleCo - Eria.

the Adventurer Unit becomes the Explorers Unit, who are tasked with discovering new planets across the galaxy.

DoodleCo is still ran by the same canon characters

as for the main cast, most of them maintain their canon personalities, with some tweaks.

TJ is a tamer who joins the Explorers Unit in hopes of making a great discovery. he wants to find the Artifacts, since he's well practiced in magic, and wants to expand his skills in it. however, he isn't the best at Doodle battling, though he aims to improve. he's got a knack for finding his way through places, even if he hasn't been there before

Quincy, son of DoodleCo's CEO, Charles, is one of the few humans who lack the ability to conjure magic, and it haunts him. he makes up for it with his excellent Doodle battling strategies, and one thick wall of ego (tinged with shame) to seal his only insecurity away.

Portia is the daughter of the (still-living) Rebecca, second founder of DoodleCo. she's confident and ready to jump into any action anytime, but occasionally fears she will not live up to her mother's feats. she is obsessed with aliens

Suzie is a bit of a loner who drowns herself in biology studies to distract herself from the fact that she cannot taste (and by extent, smell) anything. she fears it has cost her a lot of what would've been cheerful childhood memories. hence, she works herself to the bone for a cure

fun fact: Portia and Suzie are together

Mr. Riffraff was the third founder of DoodleCo, and the one that was constantly pushing towards technological advancements through ethical means. when he found out that DoodleCo was using Somniere and Verdrok's power to fuel their magitech (magic + technology), he left in anger, and vowed to free the both of them.

Teneson is the right hand of Charles, and seeks order. he despises Riffraff for abandoning DoodleCo for the reason he did. Teneson believes that sacrifices must be made for the greater good, and aims to stop Riffraff from freeing the two.

bonus:

Junjie, the subway guy, is hired by DoodleCo and becomes the head of all public spaceships. he's an open and outgoing guy that occasionally goes behind DoodleCo's back for the sake of the people. people over power is his belief and he is loyal to that

finally, the main protagonist... Rose Aurelius. a cosmic sorcerer, and the Avatar of the Constellation, Lynx, who archives the flora and fauna of different worlds. she takes on a humanoid guise during her time on DoodleCo's planets, and originally only aimed to be an observer to the events of the Artifact Hunt. however, she met Riffraff, who constantly got in her way of archiving, and was intrigued by his goal of freeing Somniere and Verdrok, and decided to help him a little... only to end up becoming more than involved in the whole ordeal.

she's an old cranky and sassy woman who minds her own business most of the time. she does display care, albeit in a tougher way. she becomes the guardian of the main cast after constant encounters with this group of rambunctious kids, and the amount of times she's protected them from fantastical dangers and lectured them has led her to feel responsible for them. Rose cares a lot for them, but her tough exterior makes it difficult for them to see that

Rose and Riffraff are also a couple because i LOVE enemies to lovers and i love old people romance but that's a post for another time

[val-of-the-north]

OKAY IMPORTANT UPDATE SO Crow convinced me that the more appropriate Type Of A Guy group is Allant, Gwyn, Aldia, Aldrich, Micolash and Shabriri, and it was actually Laurence who I unofficial 7th member because his portrayal and being pair item with Micolash is very speculative even if reasonable. As we in Russia say, пока запишем карандашом. I'd now ask you to write something funny and cringey for new super cool updated cast thanks to that CHICKEN, but this will just come across as me barely concealing my simping -_-" So I'll just ask for YOU to rate The Guys. You need to speak your opinions more, it is always good shit

Noooooo now I have to ramble about characters I hate that, fuck you. I hate rating people lol. But fineeeee:

Number 6 - Micolash lmaoripbozo

-

Ok ok, that's not actually true... I think my actual number 6 for the time being might be Shabriri. That doesn't mean I hate the guy, but he is simply a fucking dick. Like, so far he's the only one with not a droplet of cohesive motivation, and ending the suffering of everyone seems like a front for his true desire of seeing chaos consume reality. I like myself a seemingly pure evil baddie, but if I have to rate him with all the other dudes, he sorta pales in comparison. Maybe the DLC will expand on his philosophy and what he did before he had the Nomads entombed and decided to set the world ablaze with chaos. He IS very fun though, I will give him that lmao.

-

At number 5 I'd probably put Allant, though he might be subject to change whenever I get to play Demon's Souls. As was stated a bunch, he is a more depressed Shabriri, which makes him more genuine. His desire to end the suffering of mankind is true, unlike the previous prick, even if his methods of attaining that are fucked beyond compare. And that's the problem with him lol.

He only increased the world's suffering exponentially, because that's arguably what benefits the soul-hungry demons in the long run. He failed the one thing he wanted to do and probably doesn't even see it because he is too blinded by his own suffering and hatred of life. He is the reason his kingdom is run by corrupt officials, that his son gives up on life, and that most of his people have become food for unfeeling abominations. He is a weak leader. There's nothing wrong with being weak, but you are not supposed to drag the world down with you the way he decided to do...

-

Number 4 was hard to place since I am still not sure what I am rating them for... so far it seems to be the complexity of their motivations/actions and the way they went about them. I guess this spot could go to Micolash in this case. Most of his motivations (if they even are his, and not just those of the School of Mensis as a whole) are context-heavy, which isn't really good in terms of building a compelling case as to why he should be above someone like Allant... still, the amount of cut content centered around him points to him having had a much richer role than what meets the eye, which I believe boost the likelihood that his character is well-defined even in the full game.

(To be honest, even if we know very little of that version of him, I suspect I would have liked him more like that lmao.)

His pursuit of knowledge probably had a concrete goal before it spiraled into what we see in-game. Despite its horrible fuckups, the Healing Church did start out genuinely seeking ways to better humanity, but it distanced from it the more it continued. The Choir, where he and most of Mensis probably originates, already sought to abandon their human roots, and the school he was part of likely did so even more. But they wouldn't seek guidance from the Great Ones, they'd become on par with them.

And to rise above humanity they did unspeakable things... some of them didn't even make any sense. Why stitch together those horrible corpse beasts? Why switch the heads of two animals? Why cram all those human remains into one casket? Not to mention all the people that were kidnapped: half of them were strapped to chairs and the other half turned to stone and merged into the walls. Everything just to try and proceed with a deranged ritual that was only made possible by desecrating an infant and its mother.

And when you finally meet him he is just rambling to himself, all alone and surrounded only by corpse puppets, Edgar and the occasional attendant. He has been stuck between those halls for long enough that his body has been mummified, and doesn't seem to have made any significant progress. He has likely lost his mind, rendering whatever it was that he was seeking worthless. But hey, at least he was closer than anyone to finding out about Kos from outside the Hunter's Nightmare, so I guess we can give him that.

Also his cut dialogue is pretty emotional, and makes me wonder just how different he was before he lost his mind... I ultimately think I have a soft spot for him ahahah

-

Number 3 is Gwyn, but it was really close with Aldrich on this one, lol. I decided his goals were assuredly less complex/noble, even though his means weren't as grotesque. To be honest, I think he's a pretty maligned character, for good reasons mind you. He effectively screwed over everyone in an attempt to keep the status quo intact, and before that, he took several preventive measures that just made life miserable for people in the long run. All of this paints a rather unflattering picture of Gwyn, and I do not deny this. What I argue against is the reason why he did what he did... to me, Gwyn was genuinely afraid.

Kaathe says Gwyn "trembled at the Dark", he was surely afraid of what darkness and an age of men entailed, especially for his people and family. What he did feels less like something a power-hungry lord who seeks to keep his power intact would do and more like one desperate attempt to delay a force much greater than you. His was a sacrifice in the end, and while his legacy is and will inevitably be cinders in an empty world, what prompted him to do what he did was something understandable, and very human of him ironically enough...

As an aside, I'm actually not super convinced that Gwyn fits neatly into this group of guys either. Honestly, Dark Souls 1 might lack a character that embodies this vibe. Instead, it has several with only bits and pieces of it. I find it more fitting to group him with the likes of Marika and Laurence rather than these other dudes.

-

Number 2 is Aldrich as you could have probably guessed. He is an awful awful man, but his course of action is probably the most anyone had been doing before the Unkindled woke up to make DS3 happen lol. The world had reached a point of stagnation when nothing new was happening. The dark threatens the light, but then the flame is kindled again, rinse and repeat again and again and again... he was doing SOMETHING different and prompting change, even if it was in a way that could be considered disgusting, unpleasant and evil. The once beautiful Deep had been turned into a seedbed of filth because of the stagnant nature of reality and this seemingly endless cycle, and he alone saw salvation through a different kind of age. The start of a brand new, different thing.

The path was arduous, the means deranged, but he DID want something more than chaos for chaos' sake, unlike Shabriri. He wanted to change things, but not passively like Allant. He did not lose track of his goal the more he accomplished like Micolash did, and he did not wish to uphold the status quo but rather challenge it, unlike Gwyn. But I really, REALLY understand why everyone sees him and recoils in horror or thinks there's nothing more complex behind his actions than a simple hunger for power and flesh.

But you know Miyazaki, he likes to write characters who do some really awful things but still portrays them as courageous and heroic in their madness and skewed ways. I get the same vibe from Aldrich, but that doesn't mean he wasn't intentionally portrayed the way he was to inspire discomfort or hatred in most players ahahah. Both things can be true at the same time, and they are!

-

Lol number 1's Aldia. He's got everything Aldrich has except for his abhorrent mannerisms and vices. He is someone wholly dedicated to the pursuit of answers, and from what I can tell most of his test subjects were people who accepted his invitations to the keep, which was mostly other madmen with a similar desire to break the boundaries of reality. Of course, it wouldn't be a Soulsborne game without a good dose of war crimes, so he did do things to the giants who ended up as prisoners of war during the two conflicts his brother took part in, but he wasn't making chimeras out of them or wasting them in useless experiments at the very least. Heck, he pretty much turned one into a superior being who seems to be all chill.

All horrors he committed in his mansion were for a singular goal: breaking the curse and finding a way out of a played-out cycle, even by the time of DS2. And while the depths of this obsession show some pretty horrible results, he isn't at all the same as Aldrich, who relished in the suffering of his victims. One can find his experiments horrid, but the man himself not so much. He was simply devoted. So devoted in fact that he destroyed himself to the point he was left with nothing but an endlessly-smouldering body. And despite achieving a form that's arguably outside of the cycle, he still saw it as a failure, because it wasn't what he wanted for humanity.

I've heard him get called a fence-sitter because he promotes inaction, but to arrive at such a conclusion you have to ignore everything that led him to his current state, AND his words to the Bearer of the Curse. If anything, this dude probably did everything one could do in the hopes of changing things, I think he is allowed to feel disillusioned at the end of it all without being described as a fence-sitter. In what way is he one anyhow? Both potential ages suck. Any witless fool can just waltz in and burn themselves or let the flame die. Someone like him would literally have zero reasons to care about either outcome because all his work was meant to lead to something beyond it... but he failed and awaited someone else who would challenge the order of the world and succeed where he couldn't.

At the end of the day, I'm not saying he didn't do anything wrong lol, he still did some pretty weird shit... but I don't think it's insane to say that he is more respectable than basically everyone else on this list by virtue of actually being pretty selflessly motivated and for never losing the plot of why he was doing all those things in the first place.

-

I still don't know if I did good lmao, but yeah, this is what I think. If you noticed I get more verbose the deeper we go, that was intentional. It's not as if I don't have anything to say about Shabriri (you should know), it's just for the purposes of this "rating". Ultimately they are all prime characters.

[ficretus]

Theory: Speculating about Summer Maiden

So far Summer Maiden is the only Maiden we have no whereabouts of. Not even Vacuo novels provide anything about her or her Relic. I wanted to throw some thoughts around who I think will be Summer Maiden by the end of the Vacuo arc.

CURRENT SUMMER MAIDEN:

As I said, no idea. But let me get one thing out the way, I don't think Summer Rose is Summer Maiden or that she'll be at any point in the story. This might seem relatively weird considering so far characters with season in their name did eventually become Maiden of their respective season, but I don't think this is the case with Summer.

First of all, it would be bit random considering that power is tied to Vacuo and Summer herself doesn't have any Vacuo connections we know of. Second, it is somewhat implied that Summer is still alive, likely being Salem's Grimm experiment. If Summer was Summer Maiden and is under Salem's control, why would Salem bother with Cinder? Summer would be loyal subordinate that is second to none in combat. Why would you need to groom new subordinate of questionable loyalty and lesser combat ability? Third, in case she isn't Summer Maiden and is just one of Salem's thralls, I don't think she can inherit the power. Chronologically she'd be in late 30s or even 40s, making her too old to inherit the power.

For Summer to be Summer Maiden, it would mean she became one ages ago and isn't currently under Salem's control (because that kind of creates plot holes in Salem's plan). But I feel that both kind of damages her character (she becomes another Raven, abandoning her family for her own goals) and wastes implications Hound creates. I think her fate will be revealed during Vacuo arc, during summer portion of the story, if that makes sense.

I suspect we'll have another Amber or Fria situation with current Summer Maiden. As in, minimally established character that will give away their power to more important character narrative wise down the line.

GATHERING CLUES:

First place I looked into is The Four Maidens, in universe fairy tale about Maidens. For those uninitiated, it's a fairy tale about recluse Old Wizard being visited by girls representing Maidens. They visit him in sequence of Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall, each teaching him valuable lesson.

Maiden lessons are key part to focus on here. While in the story, they are something Old Wizard has to learn, in RWBY it's something Maidens themselves have to learn.

For example, Winter appears in front of Old Wizard's house, sitting in state of absolute tranquility. Wizard sits down and copies her example thinking about his own strange predicament. This somewhat matches Winter, who in her own moment of clarity realizes Ironwood is lost cause and turns against him.

Other two examples are much clearer parallels. Spring shows up and plants flowers all over Old Wizard's yard, turning a pile of dirt into beautiful garden. This implies Spring Maiden is all about fostering life. This matches well as a lesson Raven needs to learn as a Spring Maiden, someone who both abandoned her family and used her protege as a decoy.

Fall Maiden urges Old Wizard to be thankful for what he has. This matches Cinder who needs to learn to be grateful for what she already has, instead of seeking out all other Maiden powers.

Summer Maiden convinces Old Wizard to step outside. Upon doing so, Old Wizard starts laughing at himself for even staying indoors all this time. So whoever becomes Summer Maiden needs to have a flaw that makes them distrustful of the world. Their character arc needs to be about opening themselves to the world.

______________________________________________________________

All three current Maidens also have personal connection to the members of Team RWBY. This is either set up for eventual transfer of power to respective members of Team RWBY or they simply exist as dark reflections of respective team members.

Raven is Yang's mother, Winter is Weiss' sister and Cinder is Ruby's nemesis. This mean, whoever will be Summer Maiden needs to have some kind of connection to Blake.

______________________________________________________________

Lastly, all three current Maidens were at some point of the story antagonists. Winter was an antagonist during the portion of Atlas arc as Ironwood's most loyal subordinate, Raven was antagonist throughout most of Mistral arc and Cinder is still major antagonist. So whoever becomes Summer Maiden had to have been antagonist at some point of the story.

CANDIDATES:

First candidate I have is Gillian Asturias, one of the main villains of Vacuo novels. She is leader of villainous Crown faction, who seek to restore Vacuoan monarchy with Gillian in charge. She believes she is descendant of legendary Vacuoan kings, albeit this claim is based on delusion her father convinced her of.

Why do I think she might become Summer Maiden? First of all, she is an antagonist. While at the end of the novel, she gets imprisoned... it's RWBY prison, nobody stays there. Her Semblance allows her to siphon Aura which theoretically means she could take the power all by herself (since all transfer methods we've seen so far were Aura based). She also has a motive to become a Maiden, what better way to show you are true heir to the throne then seizing divine power that allows you to control the elements.

She also fits with Summer Maiden lesson. She is extremely traditionalist, avoiding the use of both Dust and Scroll. Crown members are also xenophobic to some degree. Both of these traits make her good candidate for a lesson about opening yourself to the world.

Issue with her is that she has no connections to any member of Team RWBY. While it's not out the question they might eventually interact, I am doubtful writers will have her establish some really personal relationship with Blake. I think she might become Summer Maiden, but more of a interim Maiden like Penny was.

______________________________________________________________

My preferred choice so far is Ilia. She matches all the criteria I've set up earlier. First of all, she is a former antagonist. Second, she matches well with lesson of Summer Maiden. As an antagonist, she was member of more radical version of White Fang that was no longer about Faunus equality and more about their supremacy. This "us versus them" mentality symbolically parallels Old Wizard refusing to leave his house, closed off from everybody else.

Summer Maiden lesson can also be manifested in another way. If you think about it, it's almost inevitable White Fang will appear in Vacuo to assist the good guys. And who else will be there? Ace Ops. Ilia will be forced to work side by side with people who represent abuse she suffered as a child. This could create interesting dynamic of Ilia and White Fang refusing to cooperate with them, creating an issue for good guys cause (in fact you can have entire Volume 10 be about previously opposed sides coming to terms with each other for the greater good considering you'll have Ace Ops, Happy Huntresses, White Fang and potentially even Branwen tribe all working together). Her character arc would be about letting go of her hatred and trauma and opening herself to the world, fulfilling the Summer Maiden lesson.

Of course, Ilia is also personally connected to Blake. Yeah, she is "just" her friend, but when you think about it, that's the most personal relationship Blake has outside of her team. Unlike her other team members, she doesn't have a sister, her mother is too old to inherit the power and her nemesis was not only male... he is busy being dead. Ilia becoming a Maiden would also diversify the roster by giving us Faunus Maiden. After all, if all kingdoms are coming together why not also have that symbolically reflected in Maiden roster.

_____________________________________________________________

What are your thoughts? Do you have any other Maiden candidate you think is more likely? If you do, feel free to comment it.

[aclatural-tilt]

Book: BioShock & Philsophy Author: William Irwin Essay [2]; The Value of Art in BioShock. Ayn Rand, Emotion, & Choice [Page 15] 'Indeed, any project that doesn't account for emotion is doomed.' I would usually begin with the first and last line but for this essay, I think we could use the second section. The first introduces both BioShock and some background information about Ayn Rand. The actual purpose of the essay becomes clear... [Page 16] 'Society benefits most if everyone is free to act in their own mutual respect for ones peers.' Given the capitalist lens that you usually hear about in regards to this game, an essay focusing on mutual respect and the importance of emotion is surprising. What is there to say when you agree with something? It speaks for itself. Not respecting other people and thier personhood leads to breaking down their personhood. You own self-interest eentually sonsumeds eliminating any concern you might have for other people. And failing to account for your own emotions removes you from your own humanity. You may sacrificed so much of yourself that abandoning your ambition seems impossible. You need to have compromised yourself for a reason. Otherwise how would you reconcile with the choices you've made? Acting in an uncaring manner towards others will push them away leaving you only with who you've made yourself into. 'Art concretizes humanities' fundamental view of ourselves and our existence.' I can't help but notice this playing out today. There are many focused on the importance of story in this modern age (though it has always had an important role.) The stories that have been produced are dark and focus on bad people doing bad things only occasionally fort he right reason. That 'good' is nothing but naive.

And, right now, people are afraid of one another. Our visual focal points for society are built on shaky ground or have been behaving in less than worthy ways to be or remain cornerstones of society.

Illness is rampant and a lack of meaning is pervalent. People's view of themselves and others is dismal. And they are only being shown in what we call art today confirms that view of it all.

Art is also meant to say something. To challenge societal norms. The days, we are comfortable in our suffering. Even though it is suffering. [Page 17] 'contemplating artworks teaches us how to integrate our values. this coupled with the earlier statment, "Artists reproduce the qualities of man they think are essential to humankind."' What values have we been asked to integrate lately? There are some shows which value growth like 'The Good Place' whose lesson is, 'people improve when they get external love and support. How can we fault them when they don't?' And that, is an amazing value to stuff a show with. But the majority paint a grim picture and put the worst of what people are capable of up for all to see. Then they attempt to justify it as any other story with reasonable characters with good values and boring. Others beefore me have said that they wholly just aren't good at writing character with different motivations. As a result, we get cynics who haven't been shown how differently life could look. Where trust can benefit you. That love can be simple. It's unfortunate that you have to intentionally seek out stories that have a different message than 'whatever it takes to achieve my goals' type thing. And, 'whatever' means violence, lying, stealing, and often worse. [Page 18] 'the artist would not fear the censor, the scientist would not be bound by petty morality, and the great would not be constrained by the small.' And, 'the economy plummets, scientific progress halts, and the 'parasites' struggle and fail... the world comes tumbling down.' This was a long quote. - the scientist not bound by morality... it is known that those in stem do not have critical thinking skills. It isn't the focus. It is also known that the little bit of ethics classes that are required of them, are hated by them. The thing about that is we have very stark examples throughout history and the studies conducted in the past which drastically highlight a need for these teachings. Ayn Rand herself lived from 1905 to 1982. Worl War II particularly is unfortunately filled with many examples of thics missing their place in society. Do I really need to write more?

Then, for the second part - the world would crumble... how much of society would be willing to enter this utopia? People would be willing, sure but not all. And with the way regular folk are seen as 'parasites' I didn't think just anyone would be brought into the project.

I don't think society is as fragile as they are positing. I mean' vault-tech in Fallout thought, too, that humanity would be completely wiped out. And that's in nuclear wastelands.

Some artists and scientists leaving for this city wouldn't end things. - I assume some rich people would also vanish into this city. To that I say, good riddance, honestly.

'let great people be grate, because in the long run, it's better for everyone.' Often the people who believe themselves to be larger than life or gifted or see themselves as grand - are the people you don't want running things. They make choices that aren't in support of causes or foundations but themselves. And power. The people who want power, want it to be above consequences. I wish this weren't the case but it is - also access to what allows them to suppress the rest. Glaring opportunities due to connection or because of expendable income. Which begs the question, how do you know you are truly one of the greats? It is you who could be mediocre if we evened the playing field. What if another outpaced you? Horror Beneath the Waves [First Line] 'BioShock goes further by playing on emotional responses.' [Last Line] 'Right from the get-go, BioShock is focused no showing us what a horrific place Rapture has become.' Seems to focus on the basis that Ayn Rand's philosophy lacked emotion? And it does. It looks as though you communicate human values and emotions through the realizing of your ambition. But it is at no concern how to get there. How do you have values reflecting the human condition or emotions if your process does not consider them? Moral truth through reason... But rationalizations can become delusional if they are from the individualistic perspective Rand advocates for. ...We feel more due to the way the game is structured. And that emotional attachemtn due to the heightened horror causes and larger reation in us at the end? Is that it? [Page 20] 'Video games are the ultimate form of horror fiction, because they give players agency' Kind of what I was saying. 'Success - weaving survival-horror into the narrative and a criticism of an extreme ideology that's presented' The game looks at the role emotions play. So the game made you truly feel like Jack. It did as much as it could to make the two experiences similar - until it wasn't at all. This added to your emotional role and Jacks. Ryan was designed to be undone by emotion being unable to move ambition across the line Jack (you) presented. And Atlas crafted Jack (you) emotional experience. Emotions are the cause, crux, and experience that drives us forward to play through to the end. The horror, what place does it have? To feel accomplished as we believe, in some way, we are working to end it. [Page 21] 'emotional appeals (horror elements, Ryan's death)' -> Shows yu the outcome of Rand's philosophy as horrific. I'm not sure what point this part is trying to make. Navigating your emotional responses to confirm that Rapture failed. You conclude it as 'bad' ... maybe? Ryan's death can then show you how blind lacking and ignoring emotion can make you(?) While Fontaine (Atlas) teaches you that selfish (unenlightened) ambition sows terror and violence? Althout with the various endings tied to your moral choices, I suppose you decide whether to act compassionately (enlightened) or selfishly (unenlightened). But the point is to show how the ideology is flawed, this very nearly agrees with it. At least on this point. 'Much of the storytelling is explaining how and why thing went wrong.' I suppose this is where we find the criticism. With it being a video game, we ar edirectly shown the 'end result.' Uncovering the history as we see example after example of consequence - we are slowly let in on what was and how it was all brought down.

Why Randians should Celebrate BioShock [Page 21; First Line] 'BioShock depicts Ryan as an objectivist who wrongly dismisses emotions as being opposed to rationality." [Page 24; Last Line] 'It wasn't necessarily Ryan's objectivist views that doomed Rapture, but rather, his stubborn refusal to put people first - before his ideology.' In this ideology, if emotions aren't opposed to rationality then where do they fall? -> Emotions are a product of one's values and rational thought.

They do not motivate action but indicate an alignment with tose values. Indication of judements about the world. Passive awareness. Know what emotions are present but think through the. (Intellectualization - generally not a good long-term process). A good emotion = good alignment; bad emotion = misalignment with values or goals (ambition). Pursuit of values equates to positive emotion and alignment. Emotions informing moral judgements but intellectualized in rationsal principles. Ethical behaviour stems from rational understanding of one's self-interests.

-> I see some worrying problems in this way of thinking.

Rational does mean critical thinking but it is still tied to a single person's long-term goals.

Emotional play a supportive role. But, they are thought not felt. I see a pervasive issue of emotions being side-stepped in this thought bannk. They are acknowledged only to be dismissed. And values are shown through art. But as said before, this prmeval ambition is seen as an artiform. And a person's happiness would be dependent on the values or goals... and it is overly converned with the self with only some reminders to act in an 'enlightened' fashion.

Action determined by values -> you're acting in alignment with values by obtaining your goals. If you are happy, why would you question the morals involved? It doesn't serve what you wish to accomlish! And you are encouraged to rationalize your way out of 'enlightened' principles you may have started with which ask to consider your fellow human beings.

Ryan didn't make a good objectivist, but arguably, Fontaine / Atlas did. He acted ina ccordance with his goals and self-interested happiness.

[page 23] And allowing humans to live lives worth living is the point of Rand's entire philosophy.' Maybe tha tis the intention of her philosophy but it employs some thought processes which could easily be abused and twisted. But I've already given that spiel, so I'll leave that here.

[Page 24] 'BioShock isn't necessarily claiing that Randian objectivism will always ead to horror.' No, but the potential is built into it. One following the ideology would have to make a very pointed effort to be aware of their ethical impact. It also relies on the emotional current informing you of when you are doing wrong to others. Many people do not inherently have that internal reaction. Capitalism and an emphasis on productivity doesn't exactly support that kind of automatic compassion. It wants us to push ourselves well past our limitations. This andthe abandoning of those who are not 'great' kind of shows this inclination as well. These poeple want to be unlimited for their own futuare projection to be unencumbered by those umable to share in their 'goals' and ambition already showing a lack of connectivity with others.

[omgkalyppso]

18, 19, 20 in the rook questionnaire!

Thank you for the ask!

18: What would your Rook be doing if they weren’t recruited by Varric?

Okay, reminding myself I'm not answering for companion!Nadzen.

Nadzen "Rook" Mercar would be finding their way to their brother Temmerin. Having thrown away their reputation and professional influence with the Shadow Dragons after disobeying orders and having stayed longer than was necessary in Minrathous after Dworkin's protection no longer hinged on having various family members demonstrating signs of his presence across Thedas, Nadzen wouldn't have felt that they'd be able to pull together a life under the scrutiny of various Tevinter nobles.

So they'd return to family, where relationships would be strained but improving, and where their fascination with invention would be less relevant than that of more senior family members. They'd probably be spending a lot more time underground, protecting and expanding whatever mines were currently being favored by house Glavonak from thieves, competing vendors and Deep Roads hazards.

19: How do you think they’ll meet their end?

Spacebar dashing away from one enemy and into another. I hate this camera.

Overextending themself in a fight to the death. Not knowing their own limits, or choosing not to listen to them for the sake of others.

20: Would they side with Solas or fight him?

I have avoided most Solas spoilers I think, and have played very little of the game so far, but uh! Somehow I think Solas likes them far less than they do him at this point.

I used to think that tearing down the veil might have an apocalyptic side effect for the dwarves / children of the Stone / being associated with the Titans. Now I don't think the writing will go that way.

Nadzen wouldn't trust Solas as far as they could throw him, but currently they'd rather believe that there is a better solution to the-conundrum-of-him than fighting him.

From what I do know about datv Solas, I am disappointed. He can weep and cry and kill in inquisition about a single spirit being twisted from its purpose, but can sacrifice the purpose of countless spirits during a few short minutes of ritual in datv.

If datv were less than ten years since inquisition, and it was less implied that Solas had killed so many in pursuit of his goal, he would feel more capable of introspection and council - able to spend an hour or a year in council with those that would be most and least affected by his plans and how best to approach them; but it feels as though he will never be able to think of himself as ever being less than the smartest person in a room because of his perspective, and that he would not respect nor value counter-arguments the way that he values the hypothetical people (and spirits?) who will always be grateful for his brilliance and sacrifice.

I specifically didn't say "hypothetical people who will always thank him for his brilliance and sacrifice" because I also imagine that Solas thinks himself above needing thanks / as willing to accept any penance for "his mistakes" as long as he's permitted to make new ones able to restore this one, very critical, element of the world he feels responsible for.

The inquisitor in Nadzen's worldstate, Samaire, would side with Solas. Most of my other dragon age oc's would hate Samaire and that's always been really interesting to me. Samaire would be very easy for Solas to manipulate, and thus, I imagine, very easy for him to disrespect; and being raised as a surface dwarf where you're told the Stone and the Paragons revile you, and that the latest Paragon in this worldstate, the Warden, has apparently abandoned their role for the sake of seeking out a cure for the taint? Samaire isn't dissuaded by Solas' lack of empathy.

Nadzen and the Shadow Dragons have usurped and killed less ambitious "powerful mages," and Nadzen would seek to kill Solas (and Samaire! which would have been more interesting than only having the options of saving or stopping him) to halt his plans, or would be willing to die having set up knowledge or a direct avenue for another to stop him, the same as what Nadzen would be willing to do to stop the other two Evanuris.

[crowgreeds]

@curseyeds ( Selwyn ) said: of course they'd been originally tangled in bed together, but the summer heat renders selwyn too hot of a body to hold onto for much longer than just a few minutes. so he sleeps on his own (surprisingly peaceful for someone in his own space, awake when he is not) as kaz flips through their book. there will be a moment, though, where selwyn wakes and moves silently, his hands slinking up kaz's body (one to his forearm, tracing up a bicep, curious and wandering) as selwyn curls in close again like an animal seeking shelter. kaz's back is pressed to his chest as he coils in, and kaz will feel the way his heart beats: alive, alive, alive. selwyn presses the hot line of his mouth against the base of kaz's neck, right against the bump of bone that is the top of his spine. "my love," he murmurs, letting himself press his nose up against the underside of their jaw, just below their ear. "you don't need to study that textbook for that long, do you?"

         Kaz had told himself that morning that he would make an effort to spend a portion of his night studying his textbook before tomorrow's dawn brings back the bustle of school back into his life but.... well. Studying with their boyfriend present in the room has never been the easiest thing in the world.

     Even now when Selwyn is not conscious to knowingly distract them from their studies Kaz finds it difficult to focus on the task at hand. Selwyn isn't touching them at present - the thick summer air even with several fans blowing has made his presence against their body brief the past few weeks - but they are still acutely aware of him in the bed beside them. How his chest rises and falls with the gentle rhythm of sleep. There are moments when Kaz can't help but look over his shoulder at him, his eyes lingering upon the hard lines of his body before settling to stare at how his thick eyelashes brush the skin of his cheeks in his sleep and the way his lips slightly part - his hair splaying across the pillow in a temptingly beautiful mess of curls.

         It's the most peaceful Selwyn ever looks, these quiet moments in the middle of the night where he settles in with them rather than circling the campus looking for cysgodanedig to kill all night long. It steals Kaz's breath away every time. They can't help but wish that this peace would stay with him into his waking hours - it's what Selwyn deserves.

     They are attempting once more to continue reading their textbook, just one more chapter, when they feel the bed shift underneath them and then Selwyn is upon him once more. He curls in around them, his touch gentle and wandering as his hands wander over their body like it is his first time exploring them. There is a shiver that runs down their spine, but it is quickly calmed as Selwyn guides them to press against his chest and they can feel the steady beat of his heart against them alive and well. The textbook in his hands is already all but forgotten as Kaz leans back into Selwyn's wandering touch, letting out a sigh of contempt as his lips meet skin. He can't help it how he unravels underneath him and he turns his head to press into Selwyn's shoulder, nuzzling into whatever part of him they can reach affectionately.

        "Selwyn, my darling love." Kaz murmurs against him, allowing their lips to brush against his skin as they speak. One arm has abandoned its hold on his book to drag one of Selwyn's arms more securely around his middle. "I did tell you earlier I wanted to get a bit of studying done before class tomorrow. It isn't easy to focus when you are this distracting. I've hardly made any progress at all."

    Their voice is warm with affection as they speak and they smile against him as he noses at them just below their ear. "Is that your goal hm? To make me forget about the book entirely?" It's working.