#we just happen to be from the same source

[gallows-into-oblivion]

rotating rotating rotating. the following is how i am currently making sense of this.

Dios Apate was initially a plan to uncover information. Mercymorn and Augustine looked at the Tomb and they said: we need two things. we need God's blood, and we need a necromancer.

Wake knew the part of the plan that involved God's blood. she didn't need to know the other part. as far as she was concerned, the only thing that she needed to open the Tomb was the kid. it's possible but unlikely that Mercy and Augustine would have assumed that the child would be a necromancer - they would have wanted a contingency plan. enter the Ninth.

Priamhark and Pelleamena knew the part of the plan that involved the necromancer. either they didn't know about the blood wards, or they weren't even told why a necromancer was needed - just that one was. given their reaction to Harrow opening the Tomb, it's most likely that they had no idea why they were anonymously contacted and told that the Emperor needed an extra-strong necromancer on the Ninth specifically.

add to this the already pressing timeline of them needing an heir. pretty sure it's in the text that they'd been trying for a baby for years and Pelleamena kept miscarrying. as we see in GtN, she's not the only necromancer this has happened to - Abigail and Magnus have given up the idea of having a biological heir. the necromantic bloodlines of most of the Houses are running dry. see: the Sixth.

i don't know that the Reverend Parents would have been creative enough on their own to genocide effectively their whole House to conceive a child. but if God (presumably) needed a powerful necromancer, who were they to question? and they never told Harrow this part of it because they never heard from that anonymous source again - because Mercy and Augustine had assumed that the plan had failed. because the Tomb did not open, and even when it did, no one emerged.

because the other part of this, of course, is that opening the Tomb was never enough. Alecto's chains needed to be broken as well. i'm not sure any of the people involved knew this - i don't think any of the original Lyctors ever saw the Tomb's construction. (i'm not counting Anastasia as a Lyctor here because she wasn't one.) i think Mercy and Augustine would have thought through the blood wards and the necromantic protections and said, yeah, that sounds like it'd hold Alecto. they don't know she's a Resurrection Beast. they're trying to find out what she is in the first place.

i think they hinted to Cytherea that they were trying to get some information, and she went, oh, cool, let me know how that goes for you. i think that's why she's unsurprised by Gideon's eyes. i don't think she knew any part of the plan in any detail - i also think her lack of surprise is part of her characteristic blasé attitude toward existence in general.

one more thing: Reverend Parents were also deeply religious. Harrow inherited that trait from them. they knew their daughter - they trusted that she wouldn't lie to them about having opened the Tomb. (they were not aware of her psychosis, because it only started in earnest after she opened the Tomb). sure, Gideon told them first, but they questioned Harrow afterward (and hanged themselves in front of her, expecting her to do the same). why would they check? to have the worst possible thing that could ever happen to them confirmed? they would rather die without seeing it. to them, their *daughter* opening the Tomb - the daughter who they created, so they thought, on request from God - is the ultimate betrayal.

anyway, just some thoughts!

Hey, anyone else think it's super duper suspicious that the Reverend Parents kicked off their abominable baby scheme pretty much simultaneously to Gideon Nav, key to the Tomb, landing on the Ninth? Gideon's more than a year but less than two years older than Harrow. So give it nine months gestation, a few months for prep and planning, and Gideon's arrival lands at exactly the place on the timeline you'd look for an inciting event to the creche massacre

And like, the Revs didn't seem shocked when they heard Harrow had opened the Tomb. They listened solemnly to Gideon spill the beans and then quietly shuffled themselves off the mortal coil, intending to take their pint sized single-serving generation with them. As far as we know they never pressured Harrow to continue the Ninth, either. They checked to make sure she was a powerful necromancer, and that was it. It's almost like they'd been waiting for this.

It's just a hell of a lot of coincidences piling up. Makes me wonder what they knew, who they'd been talking to. How much didn't they tell Harrow?

[karemandohan1999]

If you believe in humanity, don't ignore what I'm going to say 🤚

We are being starved and genocided in various ways. Everything here has become hell!! Oh hey have you heard this a lot? Have you heard it a week ago, a month ago, a year ago or more?

What have you done so far? Do you just feel temporarily sad and then go on with your day? But you have to know that sadness here has been going on for more than a year.

If you are asking yourself now what is happening in Gaza Or what do I do for them??

- A bomb was dropped on 1/5/2025 in northern Gaza, causing an earthquake on the Richter scale 2, 950 km away.

- Drones are being used to make the sound of children crying to get people out into the street and then they are being sniped at.

- The import of necessary medicines that help prevent the spread of the disease is prohibited.

- All educational, health and municipal facilities were destroyed to spread ignorance and disease.

- It is planned to forcibly displace all the residents of Gaza to more than 50 countries.

What should you do, How can you help my Palestinian family? or how do you help a person who needs you now in the most urgent period of your life in need of awakening your conscience?

You can donate to us to strengthen our resilience or share this post with those who can help🇵🇸✊

My name is Kareman, a mother to my little boy Hamoud and a wife to my dear husband Ayman. Life has been unimaginably hard for us. We lost our home, our sense of safety, and everything we had. Now, my dreams are no longer big—they are simple: to provide shelter for my family and food for my little boy

I am a teacher, and I used to inspire children to believe in a brighter future and to hold on to hope. But today, I find myself searching for that same hope in the kind hearts of those around me. My heart aches for Hamoud, for his health, and for the life I desperately want to give him.

I share my story with a heavy heart—not to complain, but to ask for your prayers and support. Every small act of kindness, every message, and every thought you send our way reminds me that we are not alone. Thank you for being a source of strength when I feel weak and for giving me hope when I struggle to find it. ❤️

My campaing vetted by/ @90-ghost here @gaza-evacuation-funds here.

Donate through the campaign

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[ranchstoryblog]

Fandom Memories: HMFarm

Hmmm. So, nearly a quarter of you whippersnappers wanna hear about the good ol' days, huh? Well, back in the day, you wouldn't just hang out on one or two big websites to try to find people who shared your niche interests among a million random users. Everything had its own dedicated site, with its own special pack of weirdos that you probably wouldn't find anywhere else. Home grown fandom, sprouting from the cement sidewalks of the freshly paved internet like so many weeds with pretty little flowers on top. So, let's take a little stroll down memory lane and visit one of the oldest fan sites with Archive.org's "Wayback Machine."

Ahh, just like I remember it. This here is "Harvest Moon Farm." 'course, we just called it HMFarm, like the URL did. This used to be the place to be. The prime progenitor of all farmin' fansites in the English speaking community. Maybe not the literal first, but up until around 2005, this was where you would go if you wanted to know anythin' about digital farmin'. It truly was a magical place to visit.

This screenshot isn't the oldest design, but it's the one I fondly remember. The majority of my time using the site was during the lead-up to A Wonderful Life, which was probably also when it was the most active as an information source. Seeing the screenshots, checking the forums, speculatin', wonderin', dreamin'... It's a warm feeling. I can't really describe how it felt to look at these shots for the first time. Granted, they were mostly sourced from various places like IGN or Newtechnix, but who wanted to go to THOSE messy sites when all the info I wanted was right here? IGN wasn't telling me how to revive the Vineyard in Harvest Moon 64 while I was waiting for AWL news either.

Our first look at the character we would come to know as Muffy, the sheer novelty of being able to go into the townsfolk's glorious, 3D-rendered rooms, the apparent misidentification of flowering tomatoes... The webmaster, Gamergirl87, would caption each one as well. Some of the captions of those screenshots ended up not being exactly true, but it was the closest thing to on-going coverage we really had. Who else was there to trust?

It's a little off topic, but I think at one point after learning about the GBA connectivity, I must have dreamed about this very gallery and seeing a screenshot of a Gamecube-ized Popuri with the caption that Mineral Town villagers would visit after connecting the GC and GBA together. At least, I'm pretty sure it was a dream. I've met some people who claim they saw the same thing, but none of us have been able to find that screenshot or comment again.

The one that would most catch my attention was the one on the left here. I didn't have a PlayStation 2, so I was coming fresh off of the GameBoy and Nintendo 64 when going into A Wonderful Life. The pond, the mysterious glowing plants, the mood and ambiance of their lighting, the little tree on the door... Naturally, I mirrored it on my first day the remake was available.

It's a real shame that the message boards are poorly preserved, since it doesn't look like there was a news post about the pre-order plush cow. I was hoping to find the name of whoever it was that convinced me to commit my first ever preorder. I still have the receipt, but without the forum post it's really only tangentially related to HM Farm.

'course, just learning about existing games and upcoming games wasn't the only good thing HM Farm was for. As I alluded to, there was a whole community here! While it's a shame that the message boards aren't well preserved by the Wayback Machine, you know what is?

The "ideas" list! This incredible time capsule was one of the first "interactive" parts of the site, starting in the year 2000. It's kind of fun to see how many of these ideas actually happened. Obviously, new characters and personalities were probably expected, but Animal Parade would eventually feature a honeymoon, several games have clothing and other customization, a mall, city, and pig would be added as soon as GBC 3, a goat would be in A Wonderful Life... It's actually amazing how prescient a lot of the suggestions are.

I'd share the whole thing, but the amount of e-mail addresses involved gives me pause. Still, there's a couple I wanna highlight:

Considering how often I still hear about people wanting to marry the moms and people attributing it to just "the fans getting older," it's funny to see Laserion lay out that, no, we've always been like this. Right down to using Manna's unhappy marriage and Lillia's husband never returning as valid reasons they should be available.

Tuan145, on the other hand, I just find extremely amusing because of the specific "2002 Escalade" part. Yes, this is clearly the ideal vehicle for all farmers in the Story of Seasons universe. This is now accepted headcanon. The boat was added in GBC 3 too, so obviously a 2002 Escalade is going to be added any day now.

Another thing that's amazingly well preserved is the site's fan art section. There's a few missing images here and there, but for the most part the entire thing is open to explore. People of basically all ages and skill levels happily submitted their creations, including original characters, digital art, traditional art, crossovers with popular series like Sailor Moon, a liiittle bit of drug use... Y'know, all the kinds of things you'd expect to see in a fan art gallery of the day.

Even better, some of the artists are still doing art today! Looking around, I quickly discovered one of my favorites, Rina Cat, is now on Blue Sky. I made sure to ask for permission to repost their art before including it here. Reaching out to everyone would be a bit much though, so I'll just encourage you to just browse the gallery using the Wayback Machine yourself. There's poetry and fanfics too!

There's a lot more to the site, including useful bits of history like keeping track of release dates for games, pre-release screenshots, and information that was only available on Japanese websites at the time, but I'll leave it at that for now.

Unfortunately, though the site continued to be updated until 2010 and stayed online until 2021, it's no longer available on the regular internet and the URL doesn't seem safe to access anymore. I wanted to include an interview with the former webmaster as well, but all their readily available contact information was tied to the website and I haven't had any luck so far in finding other means of contact. If I have any success, I'll be sure to make a follow-up! If you have any memories of HMFarm, or other fan sites, I'd be happy to hear about it.

[katerinaaqu]

Hi! Love your takes and all! What do you think of people talking about Penelope being all buff and strong physically as she was "Spartan?" or that she find Odysseus more attractive with blood plaster on his body as she is "Spartan" or such?. Is it true in the Epics? I read something about a Lykurgus or something..I just want to have a nuanced answer to that, also sorry for the silly question.

You are very kind Anon and I am glad you find them useful

Okay for starters I think this whole thing is a massive stereotype in regards to Sparta that "they are all sexually aroused by blood and violence". I mean yes Sparta as we know had an extreme military outline but it is not like they all just killed around to have fun like a twisted version of Asterix village or something. They valued war and the strength in war of course and they took pride to their warfare and all but yeah I think the whole thing of "oh gosh! Blood! Foreplay for Spartans" is just a joke that goes too far sometimes (although we DO have some exaggerated sources about the Spartans but, surprise surprise, they come from their main rival, Athens so yeah one needs to consider that too. So yeah although the Spartans were strictly military I do not think it is actually realistic to say that they all went like:

lol XD

Two this "Sparta" that they mostly mention is at least 100 years if not more away than the "Sparta" mentioned in the epic cycle. You see the Epic Cycle might have been synthesized at the 8th century BC but the events taking place in it, reflect on the Bronze Age or the Mycenean kingdoms which existed before. These "Spartans" everyone speaks about is usually referring to the Doriean Spartans. The Dorieans were a Greek set of tribes with their own dialect that came down from the north at the year around 1100 BC, around 100 years after the estimated date of the events of the Trojan war and they got to remain to the areas such as Macedonia or Lacedaimona aka Sparta thus we have Macedonians and Spartans speak Doric Greek dialect while Atheneans speak Attic Greek dialect and the Asia Minor greek cities speak Ionian etc Either way as I said the events of the Trojan war happened around 100 years before this Doric Tribe descend much less till the strictly military spartan system to be fully crystallized. So we need to think of that. And even then it is not like the Spartan women were some sort of body-builders who didn't have any sort of binary roles to their society or being active warriors in armies etc (don't mistake them for Amazons guys! Hahahaha!). They did actively excersize more than most Greek cities at that time and they did take part in athletic events more than let's say Athens (Athenean women by n large seemed to participate in sports such as running and those were exclusively for Hera's celebrations) so we can imagine they would be more athletic than the average Greek lady but that doesn't mean they were soldier-trained or anything. The military training was for boys at the city of Sparta. And women still had their own binary roles in their respected society, they just had some more freedom as compared to their Athenean counterparts.

So even if Myceneans DID have a more military form of society or at least based on the findings they did focus on warfare to their art and such and the building of their walls and all they still wouldn't be the same as the doric Sparta that were exclusively military. Could perhaps mycenean Sparta have the basis for the future doric Sparta? Perhaps but I doubt we have sufficient evidence to say they are identical.

Three. I believe that people who wanna desperately depict Penelope as some buff lady, misses the concept of Penelope's strength in the Odyssey. Penelope was not strong because she could fight with the sword. She was strong because she was mentally steadfast, clever and resourceful and enduring and she managed to hold the kingdom of Ithaca steadfast by herself for 20 years. It wasn't about her being buff lady. Homer does seem to imply she was tall and stoutly buillt; see my other post where I mention her physical description in Homer:

but not buff as "I'm gonna kick your ass" buff and all. Homer doesn't mention that any of the Spartan princesses have some specific training (Helen Clytemnestra or Penelope) but later literature implies that they have basic knowledge on weaponry (for example in later 5th century dramas and above Clytemnestra not only is seen wielding a weapon but knowing some basics as to how it was made) but it needs to be said that the posthomeric sources were also influenced by their contemporary Sparta aka the doric military Sparta. Homer doesn't imply that this strict military doric way of life was part of his lore but he does imply that Sparta relies more to its military (as compared to Ithaca or Pylos for example) so maybe he attempts to create the illusion of historical continuation but either way no this whole "300s-like" Sparta was not crystalized yet to the times that Homer synthesized his poems much less to the time of Bronze Age.

And there is no hint that Penelope goes "WOW BLOOD!" that seems to me one of the overused jokes on the internet, again emanating by the whole series of Sparta stereotypes used for comedy. It was in fact Euryclea the one to almost welp in happiness seeing Odysseus covered in blood and that was because Odysseus had killed the men she hated. Penelope doesn't show such a thing. Odysseus also washes himself up to be presentable to her. And even in posthomeric sources Penelope was not linked to physical strength but rather with the strength of her mind and the purity of her intentions (well...except maybe from Parthenius narrative if I recall correctly. There Penelope is pictured as scheming in jealousy against one of the sons Odysseus ellegedly produced and manipulated her husband to kill his illegitimate son)

As for the last part I am not sure what you are referring to? Are you referring to Lycurgus that is mentioned in some later sources as king? I did find for example the reference of Plutarch (who lives much much later) that he implies that Lycurgus lives at the same time as Homer or possibly had met him personally but is that what you are referring to? Either way I assume you refer to the historical person rather than some mythical figure because in homeric realm we do have rulers such as Tyndareus (the king of Sparta father to Helen and Clytemnestra) and Icarius (father to Penelope). It seems that Homer with the mention of the two rulers, even if not directly mentioning it, seems to be winking at the later but still ancient custom of doric Sparta to have two kings but I am not sure if that truly was his objective (and therefore creating an anachronism most likely)

I hope that answers your questions a bit

[zolo-san]

I know I just rambled in the tag, but if you took the time to read all that, might I direct you to this post & my ramblings there as well~

Something about Zoro being one of the most misunderstood and mischaracterized characters in One Piece is funny (not haha funny, funny sad) to me because?? That’s literally how his introduction starts?? With people misunderstanding him and thinking he’s some big, monstrous demon who kills with cause and cannot be trusted or tamed.

Meanwhile the actual Zoro is a driven guy who is often both literally and figuratively directionless in life and found his goals in life through good people (first Kuina and then Luffy). He's tied up in the Marine base not due to those actual crimes he commuted (well not inherently anyway) but because he ‘disrespected’ a Captain's son and stood up for a little girl. He accepts the challenge they present to him and because Zoro himself is a guy that puts his money where his mouth is he assumes the Marines will uphold their end of the deal and let him go (note the actual shock when Koby tells him the truth)

He joins Luffy's crew but also outright says he’s not gonna let his goal take second place to Luffy or anyone else's for that matter, he bears the weight of two people's dreams, his heart isn’t going to be swayed by some pirate.

Speaking of Kuina, her impact and influence on Zoro's life isn’t talked about enough for my liking. She was Zoro's first friend, his first rival, his first goal. He looked up to her so much and his reaction to her passing cracks my heart in half every time because you can seem him just..go numb. Kuina, dead? Kuina, the strongest person he knows, gone? Kuina, who swore to him just yesterday they’d race to the top of the world together, doesn’t exist anymore. His blank face only cracking within the privacy of his sensei before he begs. He begs on his knees, tears streaming down his face please please please let me take Kuina's sword with me. Let me take our dream to a high neither of us could imagine. I won’t let her name die here.

On top of gaining the Wado Ichimonji that day Zoro also gained…fear. Not of death, well at the very least not his own, he gained his fear of not being enough. Kuina kicked his ass every way a person could and still died, what could someone like him do? So he trains…and trains…and trains some more. Overly, obsessively, constantly telling himself he’s not enough, he’s weak, he can’t protect anyone like this and everyone's death would be on him.

As for Zoro being cold and stoic that’s just…not completely true? He’s not stone, he can be excited or sad or angry just as much as most characters he just sucks at showing it canonically (Kuina thinks he hates her before their final fight after all). Sure he’s not as forthcoming about it as some of the other Strawhats but Zoro's more of an action guy anyway, he'll show his love with his protection and unwavering faith.

In conclusion, Zoro is a ridiculously stubborn, incredibly loyal, mildly emotionally constipated, do what you say/say what you mean kinda guy.

(Also that whole ‘Zoro would kill the whole crew if Luffy asked him to’ thing? Top ten stupidest things I’ve ever heard from the fandom and that’s saying a lot. He’s loyal not brainless and heartless guys if Luffy asked him to do that, he would never but I digress, Zoro would square the fuck up with him so fast. DPMO.)

[dragqueenstarscream]

In relation to your Starop Library au post:

-Starscream suddenly starts going to the library more often, asking for assistance finding books all the way at the other end of the library despite already knowing where they are whenever Optimus is on staff.

-Star starts sitting near Optimus' desk, occasionally staring at him and taking care of his appearance even more than usual. (He'll deny it to the end of the Earth though)

-In some places (*cough cough* Amarica *cough cough*) the average salary of a librarian can be pretty low compared to living costs so if Starscream finds out Optimus has trouble with living costs he mysteriously gets a raise.

-Whenever Op has trouble finding someplace in the city due to being from the country, Starscream would immediately assist him. Trying to find a good coffee shop or bookstore? Need a ride home since it's dark outside? He'll jump at the opportunity to be near Optimus longer, although he'll probably act annoyed about it.

-If Optimus is in collage on scholarship (or highschool based on how old they are) and needs an expensive textbook(s), brand new copies of them are mysteriously donated the the library by an anonymous source, or Star would let him borrow his if he had it.

Sorry if these are out of character, I just like sharing my StarOp brainrot

-💌 anon

see you get it!! you see the vision!!

as for the out of character worry, remember that, in some iterations, starscream was actually a very different person before the main war happens, like in skybound. since this is an au where nothing goes horribly horribly wrong and nobody dies, i think we can play with that possibility here. anyway!

- he would. he absolutely would. he'll ask for the same book several times even when he should know where it is by now. he thinks he's so sly, but optimus caught onto what starscream was doing a while ago. he just plays along because he thinks it's cute.

- i could definitely see starscream switching his usual study sessions from his dorm to the library so he can be near optimus. it's no coincidence that he also wears nicer outfits and fixes up his hair on his study days. maybe he'll throw on some jewelry if he's feeling especially fancy.

- i imagine in this au, optimus is working at the library to help with paying tuition while the rest of his money goes to food and rent. starscream comes from a family rich enough to afford the full ride, so he's a little shocked. cue a "mysterious donor" paying rent for optimus and his roommates. i wonder who that could be!

- starscream knows a good opportunity when he sees one. if optimus is looking for a nice place to treat himself with his christmas bonus, starscream has a recommendation. new movie out that optimus wants to see? starscream knows the best theater and can pay for the best seats. optimus needs a ride back to his apartment because his pickup truck is in the shop? starscream drives him in his rolls royce. he acts annoyed, but really he's just emotionally constipated.

- college textbooks are ridiculously expensive, so if optimus is having trouble affording the pricey physics textbooks he needs... oh, wow! someone donated a bunch of physics textbooks to the library! how kind! definitely without any ulterior motives of any sort!

also, what would their names be in this au? i imagine optimus' would be orson ryan pax, but he always goes by ryan or orion because he sees orson as an old man's name. what about starscream? something fancy and british probably

[lucianalight]

What do you think would happen if Agatha fought a witch who had the same power as her? If they blasted each other, would they just end up passing the power back and forth in an infinite loop?

The visual is honestly hilarious. 😂

😂😂😂 Yes that’s a hilarious picture. But this is actually a very good question about her power. And the problem is canon never really explained how her power works. So let's analyze what we have about it:

1. How It Activates

Agatha said she won't be able to steal someone's magic unless they blast her with it. But if it only activates by someone blasting her with magic, why could she use it on Wanda without Wanda attacking her? I’m thinking of that scene when Wanda shielded her family against Agatha and yet Agatha absorbed her power.

The other witches we saw she was killing when Nicky was alive didn’t start attacking her with magic from the start either. Like that coven who invited her in, when Nicky was a newborn. No one started attacking her but as soon as she walked in the protective circle the witches started screaming.

Then there is that scene with Alice. Alice blasted Agatha with her magic, but it wasn’t supposed to be offensive to Agatha. It was supposed to protect her from her ghost mom possessing her body.

We also have that What If episode in which Agatha could absorb the power of Eternals and Celestials through spells, so her power absorption isn’t limited to magic. She can absorb any kind of power and use it.

So her power isn’t activated just by blasting her, but by using any kind of magic/power on her or when her own magic touches the source of another’s magic/power.

2. How It Stops

So far we haven’t seen anyone being able to stop Agatha without her stopping the absorption herself. Not even Death(Loki might be able to stop Agatha by stopping time). So we can assume for now that it's an unstoppable force.

3. When It Kills

Absorbing someone's power doesn't necessary kill them. Mordo could take a sorcerer's magic without killing them. Sorcerers take power from an outside source. Eternals didn't die when Agatha took their power but celestials did. Wanda and Billy have chaos magic which is probably infinite power since it comes from an infinity stone and Wanda didn't die in her fight with Agatha eithet. America would have died if her power was taken from her. But Agatha herself didn't die when Wanda took all of her power.

It seems to me that power absorption only kills when the power is an inborn power not a learned/given ability. And if the inborn power is infinite then the person becomes weak but doesn't die. Agatha's power is absorption. But to use her purple she needs to take power from another source.

An unstoppable absorbing power reminds me more than anything of a blackhole. And I think Agatha's power is like a blackhole with an on/off switch that she can’t always control. The thing about blackholes is that almost nothing can escape them, even another blackhole. If two blackholes get too close to each other, they merge and make a bigger blackhole.

So I think just like the Gemini twins in Legacies(TVD), in case another witch with the same absorption power attacks Agatha, the stronger witch absorbs the powers of the other witch, including the absorption itself, and therefore kills them in the process.

And we actually see it happen on the show. Rio's power is really similar to Agatha. She as the original green witch gives life and as Death only takes and takes. In a way death is a blackhole no one can escape.

[the-iron-queen]

So. Listen.

What this scene gave to me is that what happened totally ran out of Bison's control.

At first glance, yes, it makes sense that someone threatened to be shot will take their chances by jumping into the water. However.

Bison knows Kant as someone who always has an answer to everything, even if half of them are lies.

Bison at least somewhat knows Kant as an instinctual survivor, even if Kant doesn't directly show that side of himself to Bison.

Bison is at this point very sure he knows how Kant will react in a given moment, simply because his knee-jerk mode is always the same. He always has an answer, he always tries to appease, he will in any case reassure Bison of his own feelings for him, no matter the situation.

So all of this put together, for Bison it was 100% to be expected that Kant would reassure him, and even more important react to him beyond a "please calm down".

I know people have slightly different interpretations of why Kant was checked out so hard, so I am going on my own interpretation here. I know from personal experience what having a deep-sitting trauma being triggered feels like - and i don't even know how bad it must be with flashbacks triggered, which Kant seemed to experience as well. To me, that's what I saw happening with Kant. His mind was so consumed by his trauma and fear at that moment that he wasn't able to deal with Bison, or the gun, or the questions.

And while Bison probably used his knowledge of Kant generally being afraid of the ocean to put more pressure on him while holding him at gunpoint and questioning him, he pretty sure didn't expect to have the situation go out of hand so easily. Overall he set the situation up to be able so that he would be able to interrogate Kant (even if it was only about his feelings, but he might have pressed for motives etc if he actually had gotten any answers). But Kant only asked him for Bison to please take him away from the situation at hand, and beyond that he didn't get any answers, he didn't get any reactions beyond Kant being scared to death - but the primary source of that fear was pretty obviously not himself.

Bison being already incredibly frustrated and hurt and betrayed and probably incredibly conflicted over what to do with Kant and especially the situation defaulted to threats, because that is probably how he usually gets answers.

Kant meanwhile had most of his mind being eaten by the incredible despair of being faced with the full force of his (most likely completely untreated) trauma, and in such moments it's hard to even grasp a proper thought, or follow your usual instincts. And when faced with a command at gunpoint by the person he both loves and betrayed so badly, it was probably the easiest to relent, to give in and take that step to just have things end somehow. Standing up to being shot would probably have needed resolve that he didn't have anymore at that moment. So he jumped.

I am 100% sure that Bison didn't expect that, based on every way he knows Kant. And we know that Bison is a person who needs control. This situation though that by all means should have been completely under his control spiraled out of said control so fast that Bison wasn't able to stop it.

I honestly wouldn't be the tiniest bit surprised if the first thing that Bison will do next episode is throw away the gun, dive after Kant and try to rescue him while asking him why he jumped, why he didn't fight back over and over and over.

Khaotung Thanawat as Bison (The Heart Killers, 2024-2025)

[dumblr-account]

Orange Side Theory

So I’ve been trying to think about what this Side can represent that no other Side has quite embodied. I knew it couldn’t be Anger; a, that’s more of a feeling than a personality aspect, and b, we’ve seen plenty of other Sides get angry (i.e. Roman, Janus, obv Logan)!

Then I thought it could relate to Thomas’ feelings for Nico, since that arc and the Orange buildup arc has been quite intertwined thus far! So I tried to think of aspects that could relate to those things: Desire, Jealousy, Lust. But none of these quite fit either, since Roman has been a common source for such feelings for Thomas in the past! Someone on YouTube even suggested that this new Side might be Irrationality, but that is also a part of Roman’s package as the ego!

Then it hit me. Out of everything we seen from the Sides thus far, we never really seen a Side that blames others. Most of the Light Sides blame either Thomas himself for issues (Logan reprimanding him for not making a schedule, Patton and Virgil accusing him of wanting to do Remus’ ideas) or blame some other Side(s) (Roman is especially guilty of this habit). Even Janus and Remus, who act like they don’t care about other people, are sooner to point fingers at the other Sides for their repression than at external factors! The closest we get is Janus criticizing the concept of society, but he seemed more like he was attacking the system rather than the individuals participating in it!

The other closest to blaming others could be found in LOGAN of all people! In DWIT, while he concluded Virgil and Patton as the source of Thomas’ anguish, he also emphasized how Thomas’ childhood upbringing and religious education as the original reason why the split between the Creativitwins and the repression of Intrusive Thoughts happened in the first place! While this could arguably be critiquing a system rather than people, this felt more personal and specific compared to Janus’ “W E I N A S O C I E T Y” speech in SvS!

With all of this in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if this Orange Side will embody this “blaming others” aspect Thomas has been missing. After all, no matter how kind we think we are or try to be, every human feels angry with others every now and then. And it doesn’t help that Orange surfaced from Logan when Thomas started looking upset that Nico hasn’t texted back!

So what would be the name of this Side, if this is the case? My best guess is it would be Resentment. Other possible names are Judgement, Blame, Wrath, and Bitterness. If anyone else can think of other words that would fit this Side, by all means share down below!

I’m not sure if I’m even close to deducing what this Side would represent, but I just wanted to throw my two cents in before who knows when the finale will drop! That, and I’m low key tired of seeing the Anger theory.

Edit: I’m not saying Sides can’t encompass feelings! I’m aware Virgil embodies fear, and Patton is the core of many feelings! I just mean the feeling isn’t standardly the concept TITLE given to a Side! The closest we get is Virgil being called Anxiety, and even that feels more like a state of mind than just feeling anxious. Same with my Resentment Theory. I didn’t mean to antagonize anyone, emphasis on the “low key” part of my dislike for the Anger Theory. It just feels too on the nose for me, that’s all. I’m sorry for offending people.

[owl-it-here]

I need an AU happening during the founding era where Tobirama and Izuna are doing suspicious things™, but like in Phineas and Ferb, every time someone wants to tell about it to Madara and Hashirama, the problem in question magically disappears or is dismissed by them as nonsense (an extra plus if Hashirama and Madara themselves cannot tell each other about their suspicions concerning the other one's brother)

something along the lines of:

Hashirama: Madara, why did you never tell me that Izuna is friends with the emperor! Madara: …, because they are not in a friendly relationship? Hashirama, frowns slightly: Then how does Izuna know that the Emperor has stomach problems after eating pork? Madara, after hesitation: He once mentioned that he gets along well with the palace medic…. Hashirama, satisfied enough with his explanation: Oh a medic! That's fortunate because I wanted to send him 15kg as a gift. Madara, in disbelief: You wanted to send 15kg of pork as a gift to the emperor! We would have come out as such cheapskates…. - - - Madara: I'm pretty sure your brother is trying to create a zombie. Hashirama, without a second thought: Impossible, the last time he did it was after the death of our last brother and he promised not to try to revive them again. Madara, not allowing himself to be knocked off track: But I saw him in the graveyard mumbling strange things…. Hashirama, smiling: Tobira’ said something earlier about expanding cemetery space and burial rights! You never told me that the Uchiha burn their dead! Madara: How was I supposed to tell you that when we were at war!

both chatter enough that they are unable to return to the original problem

random shinobi: Hashirama-sama, Madara-sama, it's Tobirama-sama and Izuna-sama again! Hashirama and Madara, simultaneously: Did something happened to them! Are they fighting again? Random shinobi, in fear: Not this time! But Tobirama-sama said they were going hunting together! Hashirama, happy: But that's good, they're finally starting to get along better! Madara, scoffing: Stop it, as much as it pains me to admit it they have been getting along for a while now - they're just strangely very expressive…. which is something I didn't expect from Tobiram exactly random shinobi, with a slight disbelief that their leaders still do not understand the relationship between their younger brothers: But the problem here is not that they do it as a pair! Just what they're doing together! The companion of a random shinobi, also a shinobi: They were talking about heading to confront Kyubi! Madara, scowling: I'm sure they just wanted to scare you because they knew you were eavesdropping! Izuna has been doing that since he was two! Hashirama, excited: Izuna too! Tobira as well! Hashirama, directing the words to their shinobi: Tobirama promised not to fight any of the tailed beasts. You have nothing to worry about! *changing the scene to Tobirama and Izuna standing in front of Kyubi* Tobirama and Izuna, at the same time: so we wanted to ask… Izuna, interrupting: because we have a bet! Tobirama, focused: Which came first the tailed beasts or the chakra? Kurama, wondering why these two shinobi latched onto him without a fight and are asking strange questions: ??? *Tobirama and Izuna had simply considered the chicken and egg problem and wanted to know the answer from a trusted source*

[bizzaremageddon]

um uh err i love my boyfriend

[katerinaaqu]

Again I agree and as I said i can see where people come from but I am also dropping some more stuff on the table. I never said you did excuse it I only say that even for THAT culture certain things were considered assault. I mean in their actual legal books and such.

(Oh I won't hahaha I don't wanna get started either)

I know there is a lot of misconception in regards to that and indeed many toning down voices to say the very least but I am explaining how it was presented in many sources. And what you say "good" or "bad" is in the ears of the beholder even in antiquity. If you read Odysseus in Homer and if you read Odysseus in Euripides is like reading two different characters because clearly Euripedes wanted to depict him as much more rotten of a fellow, for once. So the "good" and "bad" is not something new here either which is interesting to think. I usually get furious when peolle use as you say fandom to characterize the figures of the sources

No but you said often women=bad and you brought up misogyny and again I contested that because as I said we have some amazing work that depicts women so again I simply slightly disagreed to that saying that the inequalities were indeed serious but it wasn't the same as to write "women=bad" in fact more men commit atrocities in Greek mythology than women. And I disagreed because again we keep ringing "misogynistic written by men" and then you have people even in the 19th century say "oh gosh women are depicted so well in this story! It must have been written by a woman!" Which actually shows how probably is us modern humans who are looking for misogyny "written by men" and we do not look at the complexity of the texts. Like is Clytemnestra a misogynistic character "written by men"? In my opinion no. Her drama is depicted in such a wah that you do not agree with her actions but you see her reasoning and Orestes calling her wicked? Like come on the kid was exiled because of her. Surely she wouldn't have had a positive description by her son. Is Helen a "misogynistic character written by men"? How? Because men speak badly about her in the texts? Especially in later tragedies? Doesn't that say more about the men than the woman herself? Or the Trojan women speak badly of her? How not to? The war happened in her name. They project their fury to a sacrificial lamb. That sounds more like human psychology to me than "misogyny written by men". Was Penelope misogynistic written by men? Penelope who held at bay 108 drunks with her seer will and brain? Why are we saying "misogynistic written by men" every time a woman is portrayed as antagonistic? Like Medea for example. For every Medea we also have a Helen or a Hecuba etc. Antagonists being female is just another form of writing antagonists to me. Like so many others. Both men and women are depicted as antagonists in greek mythology. If we speak "ha ha misogyny" every time we have a female antagonist then how is that equality or good? Quite frankly like I said we have more men being antagonists or violent or murderers than we have women (locrian Ajax, Thyestes, Atreus, Minus with his blood offering, Odysseus with the taking of Troy, Agamemnon with his behavior against Achilles and Chryses, Neoptolemus and the violent murder of Priam and Astyanax, Orestes and his violent killing of little Helen or the plotting of murder of Helen and the taking hostage of Hermione etc) why isn't anyone looking at those and say "ha! Misandry" but every time someone sees Medea or Clytemnestra they scream misogyny?

But I would agree on some aspects of ancient greek literature for example the acceptance of their husband or master etc even if they have no reason to (although I would argue we do see that in men as well but is more frequent in women) see for example Briseis being in cold acceptance of Achilles even if he killed her family. But then you have Euripides in Iphigenia in Aulis making Clytemnestra speak up and he even inserts a story of his own that Agamemnon killed her husband to claim her as his wife and she speaks out against him and accuses him so even for that we have amazing writing examples

Were some writers misogynistic writing some twisted versions of myths? Of course. The same way that there were misandrists too that write twisted versions of men in antiquity etc. Just food for thought. Was it a perfect society? Absolutely not. Are we perhaps looking way too hard to accuse the writing "of men" every time we disagree with a portrayal of a character? In my opinion yes. But that is just me. I usually look for individual examples rather than say "misogyny written by men" because honestly we have writers who are good and those who are bad those who are detailed with what they write and those who are not etc. And I do not see a consistent undermining of women in ancient greek literature to excuse the generalization of misogyny in the totality of Greek literature as many people say. No more than characterize misandry either.

I agree greek mythology has amazing characters in them of all types of modalities and thoughts so yeah. I absolutely agree.

Not at all. Homer is a valuable source and is great to look through him. But arguably Homer is one of the sources that REALLY knew how yo write female characters such as Helen with her brilliant mind and speaking up nature also Penelope and of course Circe a goddess living by herself making her own choices etc.

i’m so sick of the “odysseus cheated” debate… because it’s always “odysseus was loyal, circe and calypso assaulted him” vs “odysseus cheated because he slept with circe and calypso”. YOU CAN’T APPLY MODERN MORALS TO A STORY WRITTEN THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO…. what odysseus did with circe and calypso wasn’t considered assault OR cheating….he was loyal to penelope either way…..tell me you understand that

[seiwas]

for writing game, iwaizumi + assistance <3

hope this sparks some inspo and thank you in advancee

hi there!! thanks for sending in a prompt 🫶

contains: friends to lovers (ish), halloween parties, reader is dressed as catwoman, expletives, iwaizumi is thiiiiis 🤏 close to murdering seijoh4 (jk)

iwaizumi + assistance

this is a set-up.

iwaizumi knows he shouldn't have fucking believed anything the boys "promised" him back when they assigned him this costume.

the suit is fucking tight, spandex digging into his groins and all other crevices that definitely should be aired out after after a few hours. he's had to constantly readjust his stance almost every few minutes, the black fabric compressing his thighs and torso, significantly constricting the range of motion his shoulders and arms are typically used to. if anything else, it could double up as a back brace from how rigidly straight it's kept his posture all night.

he'll give it to makki though; he did outdo himself sourcing this year's costumes―this batman set looks pretty damn legit.

except for one tiny problem.

there's no fucking pee hole. it's a zip-up, zip-down one-piece situation. and that normally wouldn't be a problem, except that oikawa "accidentally" knocked over a cocktail straight into his pants, the sickeningly sweet liquid now seeping straight into the fabric and past his boxers―cold and sticky as it touches his skin.

and so, the problem: his pants are wet, it makes him want to fucking pee, and coincidentally, the only vacant bathroom is across the hall, at your apartment.

this is why he believes this is a set up. that, and the fact that you're dressed in an outfit strikingly similar―just with cat ears.

he's been asked five times in this party if you're in matching couple outfits.

it catches him off guard, flusters him because of how badly he wants to say yes. but, you're just friends, and he doesn't even think you like him that way (despite mattsun and oikawa practically begging him to confess. makki tells him he thinks you're going to do it first).

so he politely smiles and says no, but you look good, your costume clinging to you in all the right places. thank fucking god he has a cape because he's pretty sure he spent the first 30 minutes in the party hiding his boner.

"hajime, it's fine, i swear," you stand beside him in front of the conveniently locked bathroom in oikawa's apartment. from the other side of the door, he's pretty sure he hears mattsun and his girlfriend mumbling. maybe fucking? who knows. "you can just use the bathroom in my apartment."

he glances at you before closing his eyes, contemplating, before finally agreeing to you.

"okay."

if he's being honest with himself, friends is definitely an incomplete label to what you are. as oikawa's neighbor, you are conveniently around all the time; and oikawa being oikawa, the ever-social butterfly, he's somehow managed to carve a space for you in the friend group.

(never mind the fact that oikawa's sniffed him out from the moment he first introduced you.)

you were a crush, then a friend, and now you're someone he picks up from work and drives back home three times a week, because he "has to train oikawa." you don't question it, even when you both know he stays over for dinner way past the gym's open hours.

"you know where it is," you open your apartment and urge him in.

"sorry again," he turns to face you.

"yeah, yeah, just pee!" you laugh, shoving him towards the bathroom door.

getting out of the suit is manageable, and he's able to wipe off a bit of the cocktail that's leaked to the suit and his boxers just to make sure it isn't gross and sticky when he gets home later. peeing is a big relief once he gets it over with, but it's when he has to suit up again that things become difficult.

stretching out the spandex one body part at a time is a workout in itself―the hardest task being when he has to pull it over his shoulders, adjusting it to fit properly over his arms and chest.

but then the zipper breaks.

and he truly thinks makki has fucked him over.

iwaizumi contemplates what to do next for a good, good while. he tries calling oikawa, only to no success every time; no way in hell is he calling mattsun in the middle of having sex. and calling makki isn't even an option; he'd never hear the end of it.

then you knock on the door, your voice soft and concerned as you ask, "hajime? you good in there?" you hit it spot on, too, "do you need help with your suit?"

iwaizumi presses his palms to his eyes. he's a rational man, straightforward and logical in thinking. there is literally no other option for him right now but to ask help from you. again.

fuck.

.

it's 30 minutes later when oikawa barges in your door, and the sight that greets him is iwaizumi in nothing but a hoodie (the hoodie you borrowed some time ago) and his boxers, with his hands on your waist as you hover your hairdryer over the crotch of his batman costume―cat headpiece off and all.

"you finally got together?!"

[memento-morri-writes]

I've been thinking a lot about how Rook's reunion with his former mentor, Zara, is going to go, and since I can't predict what the DM is going to have her do or say, I can only dwell on what I know is going to happen. Which happens to include taking off the illusion ring that's been hiding his injuries from her. So have a snippet of the description I have planned for that moment:

tw for description of (mostly healed) injuries

He hesitates, twisting a ring on his finger. Looking at it more closely, she can tell it’s very finely crafted, and must have been very expensive. A large emerald is set into the band. Rook sighs, and pulls the ring off his finger in one quick motion.  Immediately she’s struck by the difference in his appearance as the illusion melts away. He looks awful. His warm, healthy skin fades to a dull and sickly grey. There’s huge bags under his deeply sunken eyes, and his cheeks are hollowed, as though they have been carved out by an overeager sculptor. He looks like he’s recently risen from the grave.  While he was thin before, now she can see his ribs under the skin, and his collarbones are exaggeratedly pronounce. Thin white lines left by dozens upon dozens of recently healed cuts are scattered across his body. On top of that, faded bruises cover most of his visible skin, a mottled mosaic of purple and yellow. They’re clearly days, maybe weeks old, and she can only begin to imagine what they must have looked like when fresh. Bandages are barely visible under his shirt, wrapping around his back, hinting at even more injuries.

[prolibytherium]

Absolutely death gripped clenched trying not to comment on reductive posts on ancient greek homosexual relationships

[akhenaten-imhotep]

"Now that you mention it, I do indeed believe there is something tying them to this place. It probably is the device depicted in the drawings. Shit happens during times of mass death."

He carefully studied the drawings which showed the city's decline and descent into anarchy. Things weren't any different from what happened in other places during the Age of Strife, judging from the sources he had found during his expeditions.

His mind went to those who died.Having sympathy for them like was like looking for a needle in a haystack. The eye of terror was a dog eat dog world, in which the weak existed to be the toys of the strong. If they could not protect themselves, then they should get out of the way of those who can.

Those thoughts felt seductive, for they were familiar. Showing vulnerability, asking for help and admitting his own flaws were things he struggled with; even after having spent centuries not living the life of a chaos marine. He looked back, for looking forward scared him.

"Why would someone want a broken shell of a man unable to connect to others? The Geists should have left me to the tender mercies of the necromancers who brought me back from the dead."

He was so caught up in his own dissapointment in himself, that he did not notice he had spoken out loud. The marine turned around after hearing Ana's voice and noticed the train cars. Scans revealed they were sturdy enough to support him and Jenny.

"I just have to see if I can put them back in order." Normally, he would have used technological scans. But the train cars being so old made him feel it would be better to use his passive technomancy to get a better perception of things. He walked towards the vehicles until he was standing right in front of them.

The temperature dropped as he removed the gauntlet covering his organic hand and laid it on top of the train car closer to him. He lost track of time as he analyzed it in search of any flaws. His mind took note of any he could find before he moved on the next car to repeat the same process.

Once he was done, he put his glove back on and approached the generator wagon. Despite looking battered, the train was still functional. It took around 45 minutes, but eventually he was able to get the generator going. "Jenny, Ana, I managed to put the train back in order. Now, follow me inside the driver's train car. It will be easier to be safe if we are in one place."

The moment he was inside he immediately went to the control panel. The astartes recited the ritual incantations as he brought the train back to life. Slowly, the machine awakened with a groan, as if it had been caught in a deep sleep. For some reason Achilles felt energized. Maybe it was the fact he was succesful in awakening such an ancient machine.

☢️ (Achilles, he, Ana and Jenny are exploring dark age of technology ruins.)

The long dead hive soared high into the clouds before them. The colossal arcology’s geometric structure looked nothing like the titanic gothic edifices of Imperial hive cities but its design instead hinted at something far older, to a time long before even the Age of Strife.

Even from here Ana could see the vast gaping holes that now marred what must have once been a sleek exterior.

Wind and dust battered her form and she wrapped the scarf around her nose and mouth tighter. The glassy dust attempting entry into her eyes and lungs made her glad that she and Jenny had both worn goggles and face scarves among other things. Her duster jacket flapped in the wind behind her, revealing flak armor.

Jenny wore a weather-worn and Ogryn-sized jacket beneath heavy body armor. Over her shoulder was slung an intimidating looking Thunderstrike claw hammer instead of her usual ripper gun.