#what fucking progress are you TALKING ABOUT???

[oro-junestar]

oh so you're just a weirdo who makes up all these insane stereotypes about trans people to invalidate our existence and bully us, got it

the "getting mad when lesbians refusing to sleep with them" shit is untrue, plenty of lesbians are willing and even if they aren't, we don't throw a hissy fit over it

"teenagers who want to be special" literally just trans teens? teens who are genuinely happy with their chosen identity and not seeking attention for it??

"heterosexual males who insist they are lesbians" who even the hell are you talking about? trans women? because those are not men.

"females who think they have to be men or nonbinary to achieve humanity" so this is literally just your own delusion that you pulled out of your ass because i've literally never seen this. 'achieve humanity' what the fuck do you mean by that?? fucking weirdo

"buy into the concept of gender" bro everyone has 'bought into the concept of gender' for thousands of years, that's why straight people have their weird gender norms and rules. being trans is all about breaking bullshit gender norms just so we can be ourselves and be happy.

LGB is less about fighting for gay rights and more about dehumanizing trans people. the LGBTQ+ are the ones trying to make progress and stop straight people from killing you guys.

it's clear that you've never actually talked to a trans person before because all you want to do is spout the same old tired stereotypes. it's so fucking boring talking to you morons, you're like bots. by trapping yourself in this hateful echo chamber, you rot into a bitter, boring, unlikeable person. please cut the bullshit, for your own sake.

By cutting out the TQ+, you also cut out:

-Intersex people

-Two-spirit gays and other culturally connected gays

-Gender nonconforming people

-Those who are questioning their sexuality

-Gays, lesbians, and bi's who are supportive of trans people

-Millions of kind, loving, supportive humans who have gone through indescribable, traumatic abuse and wish to build a safe, welcoming community

Why are you so eager to exclude and belittle people? Why do you tell them they 'don't know what real struggle looks like' when their healthcare, their future, and their lives are under attack? Do you truly value 'love', or do you just want to swat away as many people as possible? Why do you continue to hide under a rock and dig yourself deeper into festering hatred, when you can simply come out and support people who can help you?

Wouldn't it be easier to unite with our trans and nonbinary friends to help defeat the growing threat of genuine fascism in our country? Those conservative Christian nationalists and white supremacists who tell you you're "one of the good ones" would gladly turn around and shoot you in a heartbeat, because when they say they're fighting the 'woke gender ideology', they'll mutter in the same breath that you gays are 'degenerates', 'sodomites', and 'animals'. Why would you side with the villains, who see you the same way they see us?

We cannot let oppression continue in any form. We will all be on the winning side of history as we step closer to ending the cycle of hatred and bullying. Open your hearts and minds and you'll find that the everyone around you is just as human as you, and are more similar to you than you'd think. Trans people are people, just like you, and we need your help and support just as much as you need ours.

Isn't it neat how people who are supportive of all LGBTQ+ identities are also kinder, more loving, more empathetic, and more caring towards their friends and loved ones? Just something to think about.

Love wins. Trans rights are human rights.

[moonstruckme]

Tumblr disappeared the request (I'm going to tear my hair out) but this is a silly little thawing out drabble! Read the series here

request: okay thawing out scenario!! only if you want to but something with talks of their relationship on social media? not smau but either an interview or them reading tweets or theories people are cooking up and laughing about it??

cw: modern au, some allusion to non-hetero relationships not being the default

poly!wolfstar x fem!reader ♡ 1.1k words

“They’ve caught on!” 

Sirius wastes no time with a greeting as he marches into Remus’ flat. Neither you nor Remus do more than look up from where you’re sitting together on his bed; you’re both used enough to this sort of behavior to defer overreaction. 

“Also,” he goes on in the same tone of urgency, “it’s fucking freezing out there. Scoot.” 

“Hi.” You laugh as Sirius takes off his shoes and crawls onto the bed with you, immediately tucking his feet under your bum. Remus is grateful his own arse is too bony to be selected for this purpose (much), but you bear it complaisantly. “What have they caught onto?” 

Remus loves how comfortable you both are here. His flat has become the unofficial rendezvous point for the three of you, despite having no furniture yet other than a large bed and an armchair one of his neighbors was trying to throw out when he moved in. He presumes this is only because it’s situated nearly equidistant to your apartment and Sirius’, but it makes things marvelously easy for him; most mornings after practice you all simply come here, and Remus doesn’t ever need to go far looking for love when it’s always knocking at his door. 

“They know about me and Remus,” Sirius says, tapping at his phone. 

Remus feels his brows furrow. “Who knows?” 

“The press!” 

You lean over to look at his screen, and a snort escapes you. “The press. Tabloids are not the press.” 

“They have a picture of us at the grocery, someone must have taken it very sneakily.” Sirius is positively glowing as he delivers news of his stalker victim-hood. “We’re holding hands and everything, it’s very scandalous. I have to say, I’m a bit impressed with how progressive they are to discover us before one of us and y/n,” he scrolls downward, “though there are a few comments about you stealing me away from her…” 

Remus can’t help a small smile. Sirius is so clearly delighted with his new celebrity status, he’s unlikely to shake the swagger from his step for the rest of the week. 

“Unfortunately, they aren’t quite that progressive,” he says. “I saw a photo of y/n and I last week.” 

“What?” 

Sirius’ head whips up so fast Remus worries for his neck. If he thinks for a moment to look to you to laugh at your ridiculous boyfriend with him, Remus is mistaken; you turn to him with a similar expression, shock mingled with dismay. 

“What?” you ask. “Why didn’t you say?” 

“Yeah! Why didn’t you?” Sirius agrees fervently. 

Remus shrugs. “I didn’t think any of us would care.” That’s a lie; he knew Sirius would care, but he would care too much, and at ten in the evening when Remus saw the photo he simply didn’t fancy the prospect of staying up all night. 

“I want to see.” You’re pulling out your phone now, too, looking up your names online. “What were we doing? Did I look okay?” 

Sirius scoffs. “Gorgeous, don’t make me laugh.” 

Remus hums his agreement, wrapping an arm around your neck and kissing your head. 

“Now that I’m looking…” Sirius continues scrolling. “There are people talking about your pictures in the comments, too. Some people say you’re keeping Remus from me.” 

Remus muses aloud, “I wonder how long it will take for someone to actually consider that none of us is keeping any of us from anyone.” 

Sirius’ eyes flash. “Care to make a bet?” 

“No,” you mumble reflexively, still hunting down your paparazzi photo. Remus, however, is considering it. “It could be argued that I’m keeping both of you away from the general population, anyway.” 

“Awe,” Sirius coos. He dips his head to mush a kiss to the underside of your jaw. Though your expression doesn’t change as you stare at your phone, Remus is willing to bet that your skin has warmed a few degrees. “Thanks, baby.” 

“Oh god.” Remus can tell the moment you find the photo, because your tapping stops all at once, brows stitching together in distress. “Why would they catch us then, of all times?”

“Let me see.” Sirius practically clambers into your lap, despite the fact that he could easily have looked from his spot beside you, to view your screen. 

“I look like death.” Sirius usually monopolizes the drama department in your relationship, but you sound properly horrified. “Is that what I really how my posture is?” 

“I didn’t think it was that bad a photo,” says Remus. He leans over to see. “Dove, you look fine.” Behind your back, a skinny finger snakes around to jab Remus’ side. “You look lovely, you always do.” 

The photo was taken at your usual coffee shop, likely in the early hours before practice. Ordinarily the three of you would go together, but Remus remembers this particular morning because it was only you two. Sirius had come down with a nasty cold, and you had asked Remus to come to the rink with you anyway to oversee some of your moves for the new routine you were working on. He’d known as soon as he’d seen you that Sirius’ illness had passed on to you; his bright-eyed early riser was droopy and out of it, your smile appearing only at intervals and seemingly with some effort. Remus had played along with your usual morning routine until the warm drinks were in your hands, and then he’d shepherded you back to your apartment and to bed. 

“My dark circles are so bad I look like a cartoon skull.” You press the pads of your fingers underneath your eyes concernedly. 

“They weren’t that bad,” Remus assures you, rubbing your shoulder. “And I’ve only seen your posture look like that when you’re sick and it’s four in the morning. Don’t worry over it.” 

“I think you look cute.” Sirius smiles at the picture. It’s the soft, unaffected kind that makes Remus’ heart thump painfully. “You two do look very couple-y, though, I can see how they drew conclusions.” 

“Wonder why,” Remus mutters. 

“So, a wager? I say a month until they put it together.” 

“A month?” No way is anyone going to guess polyamory in a month; not when they’re just starting to fight about who’s stealing who from whom. “Sure, I’ll take that.” 

“He’ll only stack the odds by being obvious in public,” you say, finally putting down your phone with a slight sulk. “I, for one, don’t fancy being kissed with ulterior motive.” 

Sirius snuggles up to you, cooing. “I would never kiss you with ulterior motive, my love.” 

“Forget it, then,” Remus says hastily. 

“No, no, wait. What if I promised not to stack the odds?” 

You look at Sirius, interested. “That would mean no public displays of affection until the bet was finished,” you say, slowly. 

Sirius’ mouth pinches with displeasure, but he says, “Fine. Two weeks.” 

“You think you can make it two weeks, Pads?” Remus teases. 

“I’ll have you know I can exercise extraordinary restraint, when I want to. Shake on it.” 

“Alright, I’ll take your money.”

[caitlynkirammansrifle]

Ch. 31: Epilogue "Heart Made of Glass, My Mind of Stone" CaitVi FanFic

Vi walked through the City of Progress, the cool Piltovan breeze blowing gently through her hair. It was a beautiful, late summer night as the light of the moon glinted off of the gold and white marble stone that decorated the arched buildings of Piltover. She passed several Enforcers, but as she caught the eye of a few of them, they gave her a respectful bow of their head and carried on with their patrols. Still not used to that, Vi thought as she approached a familiar area. She shook off the old, ever-burning embers of anger at seeing those uniforms. Even after a year of getting used to the idea that she was now part of the upper echelons of Piltover, she doesn’t think she’ll ever truly get over the resentment she held for its law enforcement officers. Especially after tonight, came a bitter thought.

Heart Made of Glass, My Mind of Stone - Chapter 31 - Phoenix314 - Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021) [Archive of Our Own]

One year later...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We fucking did it, everyone. 31 chapters, 180,00 words written in a month and a half, and we have finished "Heart Made of Glass, My Mind of Stone."

I talk about it in the end notes of this chapter, but thank you again for everyone who has followed this story. Whether you commented, left a kudos or even just read it and liked it, I am so thankful for you all and that so many people seemed to enjoy it. It's crazy to me that what started as just a funny little joke I thought of about Cassandra chastising Vi for checking out her daughter when Vi was supposed to be working turned into this. I never imagined I would actually ever finish a fic of this magnitude before. It's been so fun and you are all just the best.

See you in the sequel! 💙💙

[narcissisticpdcultureis]

Vent//

Healing/recovering Npd culture is trying to warn your friends of the way you think, admit to your fears about treating people poorly, telling them you have low empathy so they absolutely have to tell you something is wrong as bluntly as possible... and then finding out your entire group of friends has hated you and been avoiding you for the last six months because you aren't empathetic and couldn't understand that what you did wasn't resolved and get told you need to take accountability but if you didn't know how were you supposed to even try? And now you're friendless and have been in a crash for over a month and it's amazing you haven't offed yourself because that mask is shattered and you want to hurt those still around you and build it back up but you can't because you're trying to be better. So you're isolated and alone and want to lash out and your therapist's stupid grounding exercises aren't doing anything for you, but hey classes are starting again and you look fly as fuck so who cares if you loose all your fucking progress?

All the symptoms they were complaining about were things that are also autism symptoms. But they don't hate their autistic and self centered friend. So maybe it's just personality disorder stigma? But it could also be that voicing your fears became a self fulfilling prophecy, but if you can't talk about your symptoms then how the fuck are you supposed to acknowledge them and get better? Getting better is stupid. I'm what matters, and I deserve to be comfortable. God will prove that I am the better person.

.

[lizardbytheriver]

I do think Biden would have lost WORSE than Kamala Harris. But it is truly funny that the Biden Staffers that Kamala ignored, had a better grasp on the moment. Than Harris did. There were former Biden Campaign Advisors who were saying, "Kamala needs to run on an economic populist message & agenda". And when the Biden Administration's biggest achievements were anti-trust, Lina Khan, FTC, NLRB, and the Infrastructure Spending. A populist economic campaign, embracing unions & infrastructure investment... is not a bad strategy. That is literally the Biden Administration's strength. Kamala did not run on this. HER FUCKING BIGGEST SURROGATE, MARK CUBAN, TALKED ABOUT WANTING TO GET RID OF LINA KHAN!!!!!!!! Even if the genocide was not occurring. The Harris Campaign had a fundamentally bad strategy. In part tho, it is still Biden's fault. Harris was not a successor. Harris was put in place to placate certain demographics, who were tired of old white men governing all of politics. And what did the Biden administration allow Kamala to take credit for? They gave her the border!!! Which Democrats could execute every migrant that crosses that border. Republicans would still call them "soft". There is no way Democrats can make the border a winning issue for them, unless they invest heavily in counter messaging (which they did not do)!!! I honestly, I am a piece of shit. But if I was in Kamala's shoes. I would have leaned on stereotypical gender stuff. You have a great Paid Family Leave Policy. Talk about it. You have a desire to bring back the Child Tax Credit. Talk about it. Instead we got "I love small business. I come from a small business. We all love small businesses." Yeah, get the Hitler-particle vote. Schumer intentionally abandoned rural Democrat voters, and now we're surprised that the rural areas are blood red. Kamala intentionally abandoned urban Democrat voters too. All the time & energy was invested into getting Republicans, Ex-Republicans, Small Business Owners, and the Suburbs!!! These are demographics that were never going to vote for a Black Woman. These are Hitler. "Well the Cheneys did not actually hurt Kamala's chances." You teamed up with Hitler!!! You tried to get a new voting base of Hitlers! And then you were surprised your liberal & progressive voting base fell out. Even without the genocide. This campaign was a failure. A FAILURE. IF THERE WAS NO GENOCIDE. THESE PEOPLE STILL WOULD HAVE LOST.

[moltengoldveins]

OK SO MY INCOHERENT THOUGHTS-

in case you didn’t know, humans have this interesting mental capacity we call the Uncanny Valley. Basically, once something hits a certain threshold of Close To Looking Human, instead of going “oh! That’s a human!” Our brains instinctively panic. They classify that thing as So Evil. Ultimate Evil, Actually. You Should Kill It Or Run.

This is not the case in most animals! which is why I call it a capacity. Once something looks generally like an animal? Said animals tend to accept it as another animal and move on.

The theory, and I cannot find where I read this unfortunately so I can’t quote it, but the THEORY, is that the reason we developed this was to be able to recognize when something was Off about people because they had rabies. If something is aaaaaalmost human, but Wrong? It’s not human! It’s a human with rabies.

Another theory I read is that we developed this ability to distinguish between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. These are both really interesting theories, but they’re also not what I was talking about in the above post.

Now, I’m gonna tackle the parasite thing first because it’s shorter. It’s a well known and documented phenomenon that diseases, especially diseases classified as parasites, get worse during the full moon. This is why moon madness is a thing. This is why hospice centers have a sort of mini lockdown during full moons.

Completely unrelated: did you know the herb Wolfsbane is one of the most commonly used herbal treatments for parasites? Yeah. Wild.

ANYWAY NOW FOR PRION DISEASES -

According to Wikipedia (not the best source, no, but this is a tumblr post fuck off) “Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies(TSEs), also known as prion diseases,[1] are a group of progressive, incurable, and fatal conditions…According to the most widespread hypothesis, they are transmitted by prions, though some other data suggest an involvement of a Spiroplasma infection.[2]Mental and physical abilities deteriorate and many tiny holes appear in the cortex causing it to appear like a sponge when brain tissue obtained at autopsy is examined under a microscope. The disorders cause impairment of brain function which may result in memory loss, personality changes, and abnormal or impaired movement which worsen over time.[3]”

prions are misfolded proteins that enter into a cell and start causing other proteins to misfold, leading to a cascading effect where every protein in the body is gradually replaced by a nearly identical protein that is entirely unusable. It’s not completely jumbled, either! It’s just…. Not quite right. It’s almost usable, but not. Almost human, but not.

This is the cause of chronic wasting disease in deer! The human equivalent is called Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and it’s basically always fatal. It’s largely localized in the nervous system - twitching, delusions, pain, spasming, all from the slowly forming web of tiny holes in your brain tissue and nerves as the cells die of starvation. Deer with CWD are…. Deeply wrong. Uncanny, you could say. They wander around in circles, they act aggressively or irrationally. It’s very similar to rabies.

Now, prion diseases and rabies aren’t necessarily related, except for the fact that they’re both transmitted from animal to animal and that they’re difficult or impossible to cure, but the sensation that accompanies seeing a rabies victim or seeing a deer infected with chronic wasting disease is the same. It’s the Uncanny Valley. It’s that sense deep in your subconscious that something is wrong. That is not a deer. That is not a dog.

That is not a person.

I thought about that, and I realized I think that’s what vampirism is. It’s when you look at something and you realize that - though it looks human - creeping through its blood, through its nerves, is a misfiring of code. There is something wrong. That is not a person, that is a walking transmission of Other, of Bad Data, a shambling glitch self-generating outward into infinity until the host is dead and the pattern spins itself out. It ties into the nature of vampirism as something that freezes you in place: humans are capable of growth, of change, of life. A vampire is just… a repeating pattern that’s Wrong.

I’m fascinated by the fact that a prion is simply a misfolded protein. It’s literally not even alive. It’s not hostile. It’s not broken or aggressive it’s… just a mistranslation. If said misfolded protein were somehow fold itself in such a way as to be not beneficial, but not fatal to the body either, the disease would no longer be an unfortunate tragedy. It would be transformative. It would rewrite. It would wiggle itself down to the very smallest bits of you, would change them from the bottom up, would infect others through a very similar manner as a classic a vampire or werewolf. Saliva. Blood.

How much does one’s DNA affect one’s personhood? You can’t attribute every human flaw and failing to genetics, but I just found out I have a genetic condition that prevents my body from metabolizing a vital amino acid. The code doesn’t match. The acid can’t transform properly. I have to take it artificially, and now that I am, I am a shockingly different person to be around, but I can’t tell. I literally cannot perceive that I am a different person now, except for the moments when I see other people’s reactions to me shift in real time, and I realize that I’ve been doing something deeply ‘out of character’ for unmedicated me.

If someone were to have every cell in their body replaced, one by one, with a cell whose DNA was translated into a completely different genetic ‘language,’ despite said cells fulfilling the same purpose and holding the same memories…. Would they be a person? Ship of Theseus this shit, is that the person they were or is it something Else? What if those cells CAN fulfill the same function, but they’re also stronger, faster, smarter, more capable of growth and development? Are they still a human? Are they still the same human?

As someone who believes that humans have souls, I want to say that that wouldn’t matter, that they would still be the same person. But I ALSO believe that the nature of the soul and the nature of the body are intertwined. If the body changes into something inhuman, do you still have a human soul? Or is it a different kind of soul? Has the soul left the now foreign environment, leaving only a facsimile to puppet itself around in its absence?

In ‘conclusion,’ um. I’m. I’m face blind. I cannot properly perceive human faces, and because of that, I am, when with others, at all times experiencing the sensation of uncanny valley. It’s unpleasant, sure, but the real kicker? When I look in the mirror and see Not Human Bad Evil Run Hide staring back at me for a split second. It never gets easier. It never becomes normal. There’s always this uneasy sense around mirrors, that they’re off, that what I’m seeing isn’t real. That, one day, I might walk into a bathroom… and my reflection won’t walk in with me.

me, minding my business at work: boy I love making UV scanner bodies!

my brain: both lycanthropy and vampirism are prion diseases.

me:……………… holy fuck wait-

[abubblingcandle]

⭐ for the director’s cut thing. Anything slow horses you’ve wanted to talk about and/or share?

Thank you my lovely!! All these asks have been brill to keep me writing these past couple of days :)

⭐- Send a star and I'll talk about a WIP

Fleuve

So this one is chugging along nicely with Chapter 1 and 2 making good progress and the fic all planned out! For those of you who don't know, this is my more lighter Les Arbres River fic where the Slow Horses (S3 version) have been sent by David Cartwright to retrieve an asset from France. River is in over his head and gets himself kidnapped by idiots who think he is MI5.

So yeah originally I was going to have them start the road trip with River playing along but then thought "well River that would make River look far too confident and be less ... well ... River" so instead I've just changed it that he accidentally reveals himself in Ch1 but then it begins a complicated comedy of errors because the Slow Horses have to get him back to London and like everyone is trying to stop them, including River himself for a while.

Here's a little bit from Ch1

“You lot better have your passports in date. We’ve got an op.” Louisa startled as Lamb yelled from the bottom of the stairs. “An op?” “An international op?” “Jackson, what on earth?” The ripple of confusion washed through the occupants of Slough House and Lousia was with them on that. She didn’t want to die at Slough House but had pretty much accepted her fate that she was here until The Park deemed her penance complete or she quit. Dreaming of the slow horses being given an op to prove herself on was setting herself up for failure. She had assumed that Roddy was lying or that Lamb had lied to Roddy but no, the slow horses had an op. “Brief in Ho’s room!” Everyone was downstairs the quickest that they had ever been. “An op? Us? The Slow Horses,” Shirley stammered, sliding in through the doors. “No, it’s for the Dogs of course it’s for fucking us or I wouldn’t be telling you shit stains about it,” Lamb huffed, gesturing to the screen. Roddy pulled up a map and a name. “The job is to go to this town,” Lamb jabbed his finger at the screen, “and retrieve an undercover. He’s going by Lance Young which is an old MI5 cold body alias. Hasn’t been used in any open ops since its creation.”

[area51-escapee]

“A little progress is better than none!!! Vote blue anyways <3!!!!!” I’m going to start beating these people with a baseball bat I swear to god

[tiredyke]

every time queer discourse surges on this site everyone is so quick to jump to “it was actually the evil lesbians who divided us” because y’all heard the term “political lesbian” and never bothered to figure out what that meant

[gingermintpepper]

Why did Apollo favor the trojans in the Illiad?

So, dear Anon, I've been thinking about how to answer this question since I got it a couple days ago and I think I kind of want to make something clear before I get into it.

The Iliad by itself as a poem only covers some of the events that occur in the final year of a long protracted conflict that had been brewing for at least two decades and was an active war for ten. Within the space of the Iliad itself, the motivations and affairs of the major players are often referenced but there are many, many parts of the story that are not there because they belong to a different story cycle that has been since lost or was never recorded with words. In the space of the Iliad Apollo's motivations are questioned a lot - his pride is questioned by Poseidon who thinks Apollo should be just as angry at the Trojans as he considering Apollo was treated equally as poorly by Laomedon while they worked together. His honour is questioned by Hera who chastises him for taking the Trojans' side when he'd proclaimed that Achilles would live a long life and prosper at Thetis and Peleus' wedding. His own sister calls him a coward for refusing to fight when Zeus gives permission for the gods to go wild on the battlefield. For all that there's this image of Apollo in the Iliad as some staunch and unwavering protector of the Trojans, believe it or not, I largely think of Apollo as neutral in the war.

Which, I suppose, comes back to the question - why did Apollo favour the Trojans? The truthful answer is that I don't know. The Iliad and all its connected stories isn't something I've done enough research on to have an answer or a reference to an answer off the top of my head. The reasoning I'm aware of is that Apollo was a Patron God of Troy and really a god doesn't need any reason besides that to protect his people but it's not like Apollo abandoned the Greeks either. Calchas is the biggest example of that I can point to - descended directly from a priest of Apollo and one who attributed his mantic power to the god, Calchas was pivotal in ensuring the Greeks even got to Troy in the first place.

From a personal perspective however, I think Apollo was more dedicated to the house of Priam than he was the city of Troy itself. Apollo's affection for that house and all its members ran deep - from his admiration of Hecuba and Hector to his love and attempted courtship of Cassandra to his blessings given to Helenus, Deiphobos, Cassandra, Troilus and even his partnership with Paris - Apollo loved the house of Priam. When you think about the times Apollo lashes out against the Greeks, it's generally because they've done some nonsense to earn his ire. The plague was caused by Agamemnon disrespecting his priest, his aid in the slaughter of Patroclus was because he didn't respect him, his minor grudge against Diomedes too was because he tried to test Apollo's mettle and well, the less said about Achilles the better. Apart from his obvious favouring of Hector in the skirmishes, Apollo doesn't really oppose the Greeks. He has a ton of reasons to by the time the Iliad rolls around, including avenging the death of two of his sons, but he remains mostly satisfied with conducting his father's business and overseeing the war from a somewhat professional perspective. To me, it's always been less about Apollo caring about the fate of Troy as a city itself and more about him just really wanting to protect the people in the city that he's come to love and respect.

Of course, I encourage you to take my words with a big tablespoon of salt - like I said, I don't really know enough about the facts in particular to give a solid, confident answer but I can give you my interpretation of it. Maybe consult someone like @littlesparklight for a more comprehensive and grounded response 🤔

[randomnameless]

Do you think Edelgard perceives herself as a victim? I’ve been thinking and I can’t decide myself, on one hand she clearly hates the idea of people being victims or helpless, and constantly reframes the victims of the war as “necessary sacrifices” instead of, y’know, tragic causalities of a war she started. She plays up her sad backstory to try to get Byleth to join with her in WC, but then she does all these things to concentrate as much power as possible on herself. On the other (other) hand, she pushes the culpability of the war on everyone except herself, and has trouble taking accountability. She’s obsessed with controlling everything but she doesn’t want to be blamed for the problems she’s created. What do you think?

Oh!

(sorry for replying one literal month later lol)

I find Supreme Leader hard to write because of this, but in a way, I believe that yes, she does.

However, for all the flak Faerghus gets for "ToXiC mAsCuLiNiTy" and "Chivalry BaD", there's something very toxic with the way some Adrestian victims (often women... blame the writers I guess?) deal with their abuse.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on Doro because I already typed a lot about her, but while she still sees herself as a victim from what she endured and suffered in her childhood, she adopted the toxic mindset of "this suffering is a thing of the past and I grew from that/beyond that to become the person I am now" - which we can also see in Manu who suffered from, roughly, the same traumas.

Petra also follows this pattern, being a hostage and treated like shit, but she grow "beyond" her status of a victim to become the strong person she projects and believes she is - it's only out of House that she realises more accutely her status within the Empire, the reality of her situation and, in Houses, refuses vassalage to Adrestia to make her country independent without having to "ask the Emperor".

It's the same pattern : "I was a victim" but "I became strong" so "I am not a victim anymore, this is something of the past".

Applied to Supreme Leader...

Well, trying to ignore the Agarthans and her dad's own infuence on her character (which is kind of hard, since the games try their hardest to make Agarthans responsible for everything BaD and we're not clear on how much they had an influence on her), I think Supreme Leader believes she was a "victim" of abuse.

But - through further abuse and surviving said abuse - she became strong* enough to "not be a victim anymore".

Which is why her line of "if the weak remain weak it's their fault" feels like it echoes part of her mindset : she was a victim but became strong enough, maybe by hardening her own feelings to become "strong", so she is not the same helpless "victim" she once was.

If she managed to do that, then everyone can do the same.

As for the "necessary sacrifices", since early 2019 someone theorised that "the people" she pretends the fight for as seen as some general "concept", much like the "greater good". So if some people are sacrificed, it's for her ideals - the goal and aim of her newfound strength - , and it piles on her drive, she must realise them otherwise those people would have died (and she would have suffered) for nothing.

However, despite acknowledging her past self as a victim, and because she's now "strong", she's not above using her past trauma (but actually, still present! Remember the rat scene?) to reach her goals, because, at her core, Supreme Leader is soemone who is very determined. Maybe it's her only drive to grow beyond the trauma, or her own illusions, or a mix of everything, but AM made it clear, Supreme Leader is not above, well, using herself if it means seeing her goals come to fruition : unlike Lobotogard from AG, AM!Supreme Leader willingly transforms in Hegemongard.

This is the cost she's willing to pay, so while the memes about Lord Farqaad were on spot, I still think that Supreme Leader is ultimately willing to sacrifice** herself for her goal (but only when there's no other way to ensure her future will come to fruition, and in a way, I guess she thought she would survive the Hegemon transformation, jury's out on what she meant to do in AM's finale, but imo, she still tried, even beaten and battered as she was, to claim Dimi's head).

Ultimately I think everything's a bit muddled by the fact that, as @fantasyinvader pointed out, Supreme Leader is a liar and knows the importance of maintening good PR.

She lies and manipulates the truth to reach her goals (which again, is a red flag when CF claims to want to restore the "distorted history" of Fodlan!) and for all the flak I give them, the devs managed to scrap enough material to give us a peek in Adrestia's mindset (or at least its top nobles), they're not people who self reflect, they are salty because they aren't ruling the world anymore, and they feel like they are better than the rest of Fodlan.

Put everything in the mixer, and you indeed have Supreme Leader (but also her court, especially Ferdie in SB who dares to say, as he is invading and trouncing people who don't really like and accept the idea of being invaded, that the fear those people feel are only in their mind, or something like that? Like, dude, you're rolling over their people and country, of course they'll fear and hate you!) giving her weird rhetoric lines (why are people opposing me if they are going to die?), victim blaming (something Treehouse swallowed like honey, if their lolcalisation is anything to go by, remember, it's Rhea's fault for not offering her head on a platter that is the reason why the War continues in CF!) and so on.

IDK if the devs wanted to bank that much on the Dany parallel with her "if I look back i am lost", but again, I don't know if her drive to make a "better Fodlan" is motivated by her trauma, Adrestian revanchism, Ionius telling her dumb things or Agarthans agarthaning, but her goal and vision are everything to Supreme Leader.

So she will do anythign to see them realised, even if it means sacrificing her people, starting a war, tweaking "the truth" or using her own trauma to motivate and recruit powerful people who might assist her with her goals.

To reply to your question, IMO she sees herself as someone who had once been a victim, but won't let that stop her from reaching her goals, even if it means creating thousands of "hers" in the process, because, in her mind, reaching her goal is more important than anything else.

*I know, she refutes Dimitri's claim that she is "strong" or laughs at it, but imo, it was more in the sense of "I was weak and became strong" so everyone can "become" strong.

**I don't think she wanted to throw away her life, but more something in the lines of "putting my life on the line" or sacrificing her precious (and to see how precious it is, just play CF lol) humanity.

[twn-pks-lis]

Listen…. I might not be a furry, but sometimes when the edible hits I start barking, so I get it

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

ppl forget that dream threw a hissy fit about a Mexican man stopping hanging out with him after he bought a trump flag as a “joke” spend over a week posting about how much he wanted to beat him up and liking art of them as real life people making out and then blamed his doxxing (which is obviously horrifying and wrong but that shit was going around since 2019 quackity didn’t even know he Existed when it started) on Quackity muting his ass bc he treated racism against him as a big joke, made comments about wanting to be violent towards him, and pushed romantic fanart after they’d stopped even being friends. like bro Quackity wasn’t reading your messages because he, quite rightly, assumed you were going to be an asshole to him bc you were talking about wanting to fight him in public and making up this whole feud bc you were pissy he didn’t quietly accept the YEARS of casual racism towards him from the dteam any longer like. it’s such blatant obvious racism dream was weaponising white tears bc his friends stopped hanging around his ass bc of his constant fucking casual bigotry. like his ass is not progressive people just apparently don’t recognise basic fucking white supremacy anymore. like. what the fuck.

[lightbulb-warning]

i used to freehand comics all the time as a child and since the part i liked was the drawing part i would just draw panel after panel because i didn't want to stop drawing to think about icky icky words, plus the story TOTALLY still made perfect sense! to me! and noone else, but 'whoooo caaaaares omgggg its not like comics and sequantial art are a communicative meeediummmm lmaoooooo'. i spent my entire childhood telling myself stuff like "oh pfft I know this story by heart- ill SIMPLY remember the dialogue and write it later" ...and. I can't help but admire baby maiora's (call that a minora ba tm tsk) fucking audacity? hubris? confident wrongness? kid couldn't even remember to finish the comics in the first place? INCREDIBLE levels of unearned self assurance, wish that were me, genuinely- what an icon!!! anyway i think i have forever cursed myself

[ahalliance]

how do i turn qantoine’s spontaneous marriage proposal to qetoiles into evidence of his early-days fear of qfrench drifing away and keeping secrets from one another

[lastoneout]

I'm genuinely convinced the thought process goes:

> people who abuse children are horrible, irredeemable monsters who deserve to have their human rights stripped away and burn in hell for all eternity, no good person would ever hurt a child

> *tons of scientific evidence comes out showing that hitting your kids is basically abuse and does immense harm with absolutely no good to balance it out and in the worst cases it leaves lasting psychological damage those kids carry for life*

> but wait...my parents spanked me as punishment, but they aren't horrible evil people who deserve to die! I love my parents and they loved me, they're good people and good people would never hurt a child, and I surely don't have issues as a result of being hit, so that must mean hitting your kids isn't abusive

> the cycle continues, nothing changes, kids keep getting hit

and like I get it, I get it, but I just want to grab these people and be like "welcome to the complex reality most actual abuse survivors have to contend with every single day of our lives, it sucks, but since I've been through it I can give you the answer I had to work out over years of therapy for free; you are still allowed to love--and even FORGIVE--people who hurt you"