#which is banned in official play

[nyupuun]

29 cards for around 1 dollar!? KONAMI ought to step it up!!!

By the way, the set its trying to fake is Stardust Overdrive from 2009! Something I also find interesting is that the translations all seem to be from the OCG / Japanese Naming (For example, Reptiless Viper is its OCG name, while it would be Reptilianne Viper in English.)

Does anyone know if this card is legit? I got it from a seller near a school

[drakonovisny]

steam why are you like this

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Lina Khan’s future is the future of the Democratic Party — and America

On OCTOBER 23 at 7PM, I'll be in DECATUR, presenting my novel THE BEZZLE at EAGLE EYE BOOKS.

On the one hand, the anti-monopoly movement has a future no matter who wins the 2024 election – that's true even if Kamala Harris wins but heeds the calls from billionaire donors to fire Lina Khan and her fellow trustbusters.

In part, that's because US antitrust laws have broad "private rights of action" that allow individuals and companies to sue one another for monopolistic conduct, even if top government officials are turning a blind eye. It's true that from the Reagan era to the Biden era, these private suits were few and far between, and the cases that were brought often died in a federal courtroom. But the past four years has seen a resurgence of antitrust rage that runs from left to right, and from individuals to the C-suites of big companies, driving a wave of private cases that are prevailing in the courts, upending the pro-monopoly precedents that billionaires procured by offering free "continuing education" antitrust training to 40% of the Federal judiciary:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/13/post-bork-era/#manne-down

It's amazing to see the DoJ racking up huge wins against Google's monopolistic conduct, sure, but first blood went to Epic, who won a historic victory over Google in federal court six months before the DoJ's win, which led to the court ordering Google to open up its app store:

https://www.theverge.com/policy/2024/10/7/24243316/epic-google-permanent-injunction-ruling-third-party-stores

Google's 30% App Tax is a giant drag on all kinds of sectors, as is its veto over which software Android users get to see, so Epic's win is going to dramatically alter the situation for all kinds of activities, from beleaguered indie game devs:

https://antiidlereborn.com/news/

To the entire news sector:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/06/save-news-we-must-open-app-stores

Private antitrust cases have attracted some very surprising plaintiffs, like Michael Jordan, whose long policy of apoliticism crumbled once he bought a NASCAR team and lived through the monopoly abuses of sports leagues as an owner, not a player:

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/michael-jordan-anti-monopolist

A much weirder and more unlikely antitrust plaintiff than Michael Jordan is Google, the perennial antitrust defendant. Google has brought a complaint against Microsoft in the EU, based on Microsoft's extremely ugly monopolistic cloud business:

https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-files-complaint-eu-over-microsoft-cloud-practices-2024-09-25/

Google's choice of venue here highlights another reason to think that the antitrust surge will continue irrespective of US politics: antitrust is global. Antitrust fervor has seized governments from the UK to the EU to South Korea to Japan. All of those countries have extremely similar antitrust laws, because they all had their statute books overhauled by US technocrats as part of the Marshall Plan, so they have the same statutory tools as the American trustbusters who dismantled Standard Oil and AT&T, and who are making ready to shatter Google into several competing businesses:

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/8/24265832/google-search-antitrust-remedies-framework-android-chrome-play

Antitrust fever has spread to Canada, Australia, and even China, where the Cyberspace Directive bans Chinese tech giants from breaking interoperability to freeze out Chinese startups. Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops, and the cost of 40 years of pro-monopoly can't be ignored. Monopolies make the whole world more brittle, even as the cost of that brittleness mounts. It's hard to pretend monopolies are fine when a single hurricane can wipe out the entire country's supply of IV fluid – again:

https://prospect.org/health/2024-10-11-cant-believe-im-writing-about-iv-fluid-again/

What's more, the conduct of global monopolists is the same in every country where they have taken hold, which means that trustbusters in the EU can use the UK Digital Markets Unit's report on the mobile app market as a roadmap for their enforcement actions against Apple:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63f61bc0d3bf7f62e8c34a02/Mobile_Ecosystems_Final_Report_amended_2.pdf

And then the South Korean and Japanese trustbusters can translate the court documents from the EU's enforcement action and use them to score victories over Apple in their own courts:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/10/an-injury-to-one/#is-an-injury-to-all

So on the one hand, the trustbusting wave will continue erode the foundations of global monopolies, no matter what happens after this election. But on the other hand, if Harris wins and then fires Biden's top trustbusters to appease her billionaire donors, things are going to get ugly.

A new, excellent long-form Bloomberg article by Josh Eidelson and Max Chafkin gives a sense of the battle raging just below the surface of the Democratic Power, built around a superb interview with Khan herself:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-10-09/lina-khan-on-a-second-ftc-term-ai-price-gouging-data-privacy

The article begins with a litany of tech billionaires who've gone an all-out, public assault on Khan's leadership – billionaires who stand to personally lose hundreds of millions of dollars from her agency's principled, vital antitrust work, but who cloak their objection to Khan in rhetoric about defending the American economy. In public, some of these billionaires are icily polite, but many of them degenerate into frothing, toddler-grade name-calling, like IAB's Barry Diller, who called her a "dope" and Musk lickspittle Jason Calacanis, who called her an all-caps COMMUNIST and a LUNATIC.

The overall vibe from these wreckers? "How dare the FTC do things?!"

And you know, they have a point. For decades, the FTC was – in the quoted words of Tim Wu – "a very hardworking agency that did nothing." This was the period when the FTC targeted low-level scammers while turning a blind eye to the monsters that were devouring the US economy. In part, that was because the FTC had been starved of budget, trapping them in a cycle of racking up easy, largely pointless "wins" against penny-ante grifters to justify their existence, but never to the extent that Congress would apportion them the funds to tackle the really serious cases (if this sounds familiar, it's also the what happened during the long period when the IRS chased middle class taxpayers over minor filing errors, while ignoring the billionaires and giant corporations that engaged in 7- and 8-figure tax scams).

But the FTC wasn't merely underfunded: it was timid. The FTC has extremely broad enforcement and rulemaking powers, which most sat dormant during the neoliberal era:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/10/the-courage-to-govern/#whos-in-charge

The Biden administration didn't merely increase the FTC's funding: in choosing Khan to helm the organization, they brought onboard a skilled technician, who was both well-versed in the extensive but unused powers of the agency and determined to use them:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/18/administrative-competence/#i-know-stuff

But Khan's didn't just rely on technical chops and resources to begin the de-olicharchification of the US economy: she built a three-legged stool, whose third leg is narrative. Khan's signature is her in-person and remote "listening tours," where workers who've been harmed by corporate power get to tell their stories. Bloomberg recounts the story of Deborah Brantley, who was sexually harassed and threatened by her bosses at Kavasutra North Palm Beach. Brantley's bosses touched her inappropriately and "joked" about drugging her and raping her so she "won’t be such a bitch and then maybe people would like you more."

When Brantley finally quit and took a job bartending at a different business, Kavasutra sued her over her noncompete clause, alleging an "irreparable injury" sustained by having one of their former employees working at another business, seeking damages and fees.

The vast majority of the 30 million American workers who labor under noncompetes are like Brantley, low-waged service workers, especially at fast-food restaurants (so Wendy's franchisees can stop minimum wage cashiers from earning $0.25/hour more flipping burgers at a nearby McDonald's). The donor-class indenturers who defend noncompetes claim that noncompetes are necessary to protect "innovative" businesses from losing their "IP." But of course, the one state where no workers are subject to noncompetes is California, which bans them outright – the state that is also home to Silicon Valley, an IP-heave industry that the same billionaires laud for its innovations.

After that listening tour, Khan's FTC banned noncompetes nationwide:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/25/capri-v-tapestry/#aiming-at-dollars-not-men

Only to have a federal judge in Texas throw out their ban, a move that will see $300b/year transfered from workers to shareholders, and block the formation of 8,500 new US businesses every year:

https://www.npr.org/2024/08/21/g-s1-18376/federal-judge-tosses-ftc-noncompetes-ban

Notwithstanding court victories like Epic v Google and DoJ v Google, America's oligarchs have the courts on their side, thanks to decades of court-packing planned by the Federalist Society and executed by Senate Republicans and Reagan, Bush I, Bush II, and Trump. Khan understands this; she told Bloomberg that she's a "close student" of the tactics Reagan used to transform American society, admiring his effectiveness while hating his results. Like other transformative presidents, good and bad, Reagan had to fight the judiciary and entrenched institutions (as did FDR and Lincoln). Erasing Reagan's legacy is a long-term project, a battle of inches that will involve mustering broad political support for the cause of a freer, more equal America.

Neither Biden nor Khan are responsible for the groundswell of US – and global – movement to euthanize our rentier overlords. This is a moment whose time has come; a fact demonstrated by the tens of thousands of working Americans who filled the FTC's noncompete docket with outraged comments. People understand that corporate looters – not "the economy" or "the forces of history" – are the reason that the businesses where they worked and shopped were destroyed by private equity goons who amassed intergenerational, dynastic fortunes by strip-mining the real economy and leaving behind rubble.

Like the billionaires publicly demanding that Harris fire Khan, private equity bosses can't stop making tone-deaf, guillotine-conjuring pronouncements about their own virtue and the righteousness of their businesses. They don't just want to destroy the world - they want to be praised for it:/p>

"Private equity’s been a great thing for America" -Stephen Pagliuca, co-chairman of Bain Capital;

"We are taught to judge the success of a society by how it deals with the least able, most vulnerable members of that society. Shouldn’t we judge a society by how they treat the most successful? Do we vilify, tax, expropriate and condemn those who have succeeded, or do we celebrate economic success as the engine that propels our society toward greater collective well-being?" -Marc Rowan, CEO of Apollo

"Achieve life-changing money and power," -Sachin Khajuria, former partner at Apollo

Meanwhile, the "buy, strip and flip" model continues to chew its way through America. When PE buys up all the treatment centers for kids with behavioral problems, they hack away at staffing and oversight, turning them into nightmares where kids are routinely abused, raped and murdered:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/they-told-me-it-was-going-be-good-place-allega-tions-n987176

When PE buys up nursing homes, the same thing happens, with elderly residents left to sit in their own excrement and then die:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/12/24/nursing-homes-private-equity-fraud-00132001

Writing in The Guardian, Alex Blasdel lays out the case for private equity as a kind of virus that infects economies, parasitically draining them of not just the capacity to provide goods and services, but also of the ability to govern themselves, as politicians and regulators are captured by the unfathomable sums that PE flushes into the political process:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/10/slash-and-burn-is-private-equity-out-of-control

Now, the average worker who's just lost their job may not understand "divi recaps" or "2-and-20" or "carried interest tax loopholes," but they do understand that something is deeply rotten in the world today.

What happens to that understanding is a matter of politics. The Republicans – firmly affiliated with, and beloved of, the wreckers – have chosen an easy path to capitalizing on the rising rage. All they need to do is convince the public that the system is irredeemably corrupt and that the government can't possibly fix anything (hence Reagan's asinine "joke": "the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help'").

This is a very canny strategy. If you are the party of "governments are intrinsically corrupt and incompetent," then governing corruptly and incompetently proves your point. The GOP strategy is to create a nation of enraged nihilists who don't even imagine that the government could do something to hold their bosses to account – not for labor abuses, not for pollution, not for wage theft or bribery.

The fact that successive neoliberal governments – including Democratic administrations – acted time and again to bear out this hypothesis makes it easy for this kind of nihilism to take hold.

Far-right conspiracies about pharma bosses colluding with corrupt FDA officials to poison us with vaccines for profit owe their success to the lived experience of millions of Americans who lost loved ones to a conspiracy between pharma bosses and corrupt officials to poison us with opioids.

Unhinged beliefs that "they" caused the hurricanes tearing through Florida and Georgia and that Kamala Harris is capping compensation to people who lost their homes are only credible because of murderous Republican fumble during Katrina; and the larcenous collusion of Democrats to help banks steal Americans' homes during the foreclosure crisis, when Obama took Tim Geithner's advice to "foam the runway" with the mortgages of everyday Americans who'd been cheated by their banks:

https://www.salon.com/2014/05/14/this_man_made_millions_suffer_tim_geithners_sorry_legacy_on_housing/

If Harris gives in to billionaire donors and fires Khan and her fellow trustbusters, paving the way for more looting and scamming, the result will be more nihilism, which is to say, more electoral victories for the GOP. The "government can't do anything" party already exists. There are no votes to be gained by billing yourself as the "we also think governments can't do anything" party.

In other words, a world where Khan doesn't run the FTC is a world where antitrust continues to gain ground, but without taking Democrats with it. It's a world where nihilism wins.

There's factions of the Democratic Party who understand this. AOC warned party leaders that, "Anyone goes near Lina Khan and there will be an out and out brawl":

https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1844034727935988155

And Bernie Sanders called her "the best FTC Chair in modern history":

https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1843733298960576652

In other words: Lina Khan as a posse.

Tor Books as just published two new, free LITTLE BROTHER stories: VIGILANT, about creepy surveillance in distance education; and SPILL, about oil pipelines and indigenous landback.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/11/democracys-antitrust-paradox/#there-will-be-an-out-and-out-brawl

[thefunkfactory]

The Orders

Wyatt and his boyfriend Tate were watching the 2020 election results on TV as they cuddled together on the couch. They both believed that the election would be a landslide for the Democrats but after they had dozed off they had heard a loud announcement from the news anchor waking them both up, “It’s official! Donald Trump will continue serving this country as President of the United States of America!”. A sense of dread came over the two, “How could this have happened?” Wyatt sorrowfully asked, Tate just sat there in silence and held Wyatt closer.

Over the next few months life stayed practically the same even though Trump was acting like a dictator, all news channels were banned minus FoxNews and other right wing stations, Trump forcibly created the 28th Amendment which repealed the 22nd Amendment making it so that term limits vanished, and he had somehow managed to make it so that one of his children would take the Presidency if he ever stepped down or died. One day as the boyfriends were making dinner together the TV, which was playing the news for some background noise, ran a segment that sent chills down their backs. “Trump just declared that homosexuality is now criminalized in the United States of America. All homosexuals must go to their nearest police station and turn themselves in, immediately”. Hearing this they knew that they had to flee the country as soon as they could. Running to the bedroom Wyatt began packing up a suitcase for both him and Tate. While his boyfriend was rushing to pack in the bedroom Tate heard a knock at the door, he looked through the peephole and saw police officers standing on the other side of the door. “wyatt! what do we do? there are police at our front door!” Tate whispered to Wyatt after he ran to the bedroom. “ummm uhhhh I dont know!” Wyatt said fearfully as he heard a louder and more aggressive knock at their door. The two boys decided to hide in their own apartment and wait until the police hopefully leave.

The knocking continued until eventually they heard an officer yell at the other police officers “Alright thats it!” Thinking this meant the coast was clear Tate got out from under the bed even though Wyatt begged him not to. “Babe it’s fine they are leaving, didn’t you hear them?” Tate said to calm down his worried boyfriend. Tate walked out of the bedroom and into the living room when suddenly the front door was kicked in, “OH SHIT” Tate yelled out. Tate tried to flee but he heard a voice from the front door yell “THERE’S ONE! GET HIM!”. Before Tate could take more than two steps, 3 police officers ran in and took him down to the ground. Two held down his arms flat on the ground and one officer who was especially buff held down Tates legs. Tate heard someone slowly stepping into the apartment. He watched as this big, masculine police officer, obviously the leader of this mission, stepped over Tate’s restrained body. “What do you wan-?” Tate was cut off as the officer began to monologue, “Know what I hate? I’ll tell you what I hate, I hate people who bring down this beautiful country we have. It’s a shame that you were able to be such a stain on this great nation for so long, but now that Trump has given the orders, you and your…friendsss” the officer made a disgusted face as he said that last part “Well you all won't be a problem anymore”. “FUCK YOU!” Tate proclaimed with fire in his eyes. “Hahah awwww it’s cute when they have this much fire in ‘em it makes it so much more fun to see it drainnnnnn out” The 3 other police officers all laughed in sync, the same monotone laugh. The officer standing over Tate looked annoyed “We’re still working out their old personalities, these ones were fixed early this morning as soon as we got the order. Whoever made them “better” didn’t do the procedure right so we had to wipe their minds and start fresh.” The officer rolled his eyes. Tate was puzzled and asked “What do you mean “fixed”?”. “Huhuhuh oh buddy you really don’t know do ya? Police and Military across the nation have been given these” The officer held up a baggie with a bunch of red pills that looked like M&M’s and shook it, “to get rid of the gayness plaguing this nation. Some of my officers gave them to your “friends” this morning but they came out…wrong” As he said that he placed his right palm down on one the officer’s head who was holding down Tate’s arm. “This dumbass and the idiot behind me used to be a gross married couple. Good thing my men got to them before they could indoctrinate some kid or something” Said the officer standing above Tate. “No…no what did you do to them?!” Tate cried, “Oh don’t worry my dumb little gay boy, you’ll see”

Wyatt, with his hands clasped around his mouth, watched as the officer above Tate pulled a little red pill out of the baggie he held up earlier. He squatted down and pulled apart Tate’s clenched mouth and forced him to swallow the red pill. Wyatt watched as his boyfriend began to seize on the floor as the 3 other officers continued to hold him down. Wyatt was forced to watch as his boyfriend’s hair became shorter, thinner, and lighter, his fluffy brown hair had just dissolved into the dirty blonde mop now on his head. Wyatt watched as his boyfriend’s face gained some softer features, a rounded nose, a soft round jaw, but his brow bone became more prominent and his lips grew thinner. His boyfriend stopped shaking and calmed down but was now making animalistic grunts every few seconds. It was obvious he was trying to resist whatever was going on in his head. The officer looked down at Tate and saw that no progress had been made past his head, “Tsk I hate having to do this, you should just give into the right side”. The officer untied his boot and took it off, he gave it a whiff and recoiled his head “Oooof huhuh you’re in for it now!” the officer swatted over Tate and placed the boot right over his nose and mouth. Wyatt heard his boyfriend’s animalistic grunts get louder as the boot approached but as soon as it covered his face the grunts died down, becoming sparser than they were before the boot was lowered. This is when the real changes happened, Tate’s arms began to bulk up and his already hairless armpits stayed that way but still being able to proudly pump out pungent B.O., his chest grew two soft pillows as his pecs exploded with muscle. Tate’s stomach stayed lean while gaining some muscle and his thighs began to get girthier and girthier. Tate began to grunt loudly as he tried to push off the mindless officers holding him down, the officer who had been in charge of all of this removed the shoe and mockingly said “Awww you were doing soooo good.” He grabbed another red pill and forced it down Tate’s throat.

Tate quieted down quickly as his body continued transforming. Tate felt his ass twitch and tingle when suddenly it ballooned up like a life raft and was now a nice soft cushion. His legs grew a nice layer of hair that spread to his newly minted ass cheeks. Lastly Tate’s feet began to expand, “Ooooo this is the best part!” the officer in charge proclaimed. Tate’s feet grew bigger and meatier, a soft wafting stink began to float off of them which quickly evolved into a rotten smell of pungent cheese. Wyatt watched as his sweet sensitive boyfriend was left a sweaty and smelly mess on the ground. The officer said to himself, “Time to clear out his block, gotta make sure we get all that homo stuff out”. The officer bent down and placed his hand into his own armpit and then proceeded to place his hand right under Tate’s car, “Yea…smell that manly stink. Thats what you smell like now. You are a stinky, straight jock; nothing more, nothing less.” Tate began to grunt even more animalistic now but it wasn’t him trying to escape…Tate was moaning… Tate was thrusting the air and flip flopping between moaning and grunting as the officer continued his speech about Tate’s new form. Tate kept going and going until a wet spot appeared in the sweatpants Tate was wearing.

He was gone, sweet, innocent Tate, the guy who would always go along with the love of his life, Wyatt, the guy who accepted everyone, the guy who was a proud gay guy, all of that was now just a damp stain in his sweatpants, right in the crotch region. The officers turned the TV station to an obscure channel no-one would flop to on their own, it was just a looping video of a hypnotic spiral. It taught important truths about how evil gay people are and how much better it is to be straight as an arrow, and now Tate’s mushy, brain-drained mind was being forced to watch it. The officers stayed in the apartment for an hour as Tate was indoctrinated into the Republican party, the entire time Wyatt kept hidden under the bed. Once the officers left, Wyatt emerged and saw Tate still staring at the spiral and drooling, the officers had left him to sit through the spiral even longer than he needed to. As drool dribbled down his chin, Wyatt couldn’t help but feel awful for the smelly himbo that used to be his boyfriend. He grabbed a tissue and went up to the brainless giant to wipe away the drool when suddenly Tate looked at his and said “What do you think YOU are doing GAY BOY?!” his breath reeked something awful and Wyatt tried to back away. “Nah come here bro!” Tate lifted his armpit and grabbed Wyatts head and forced him deep into his noxious B.O. factory…

To Be Continued…

[fangdokja]

MASTERPOST

Jesus Appreciation + Male Yanderes + Dead Dove + Psychological

♡ Side Blog - Devil's Antagonist

♡ Current Polls.

Guess My Type! 🤔✨ (And no, I won’t confirm if you’re right.)

"Which unhinged fictional menace am I most like? 💀✨"

Who did I accidentally marry in my Wattpad fanfic arc? 📚💔

Preface

♡ Dedication. I love Jesus Christ. Without Him, and my husband, I would’ve longed killed myself. I dedicate my everything to my God, including my blog, books, etc.

♡ Dark Content. Yeah, I write dark content; but it’s because it makes me cherish the light more since I know darkness intimately. Just shows that I need Jesus and my husband all the more. In fact, I wouldn’t be able to write any of this or do anything without God and my husband. So, this isn’t just my work alone. If you want to learn more on why I write dead dove content, read here.

♡ Disclaimer. And just because I write this doesn't mean I condone such behavior. I genuinely enjoy writing dark fudged up shiz. It's therapeutic for me. As weird as it is, I can NEVER relate to "happy" stories, fluff and slice-of-life seems like a fantasy to me.

♡ I love my husband. I love spending time with my God and my husband. I'm hardcore simp, lol. Whenever I write, I always think of my husband for example, it helps me write a lot.

♡ BEFORE entering, please read this. GENERAL RULES + REQUEST RULES

♡ Dead Dove + Mature Content. Due to the nature of my content, please read responsibly (with a mature mindset)! Welcome and please enjoy my blog! God bless!

♡ Favorite Bible Book. Lamentations 3:1-2 : “I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the LORD’s wrath. He had driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light;”

All 10 Masterlists:

♡ IMPORTANT. I'm honestly unsure what Tumblr bans when it comes to sexual content and gore in writing. So, just in case, please follow or save the sites: the author's official website or Ao3, so the content you read doesn't get banned nor lost.

♡ A Letter to my Readers. To my readers, especially if you're the weird one who actually reads God's Protagonist,

♡ 🎁. Available for Reader Requests. Make sure to read the RULES! If you made a request and want to see if it was approved / current status, please look HERE. ♡ 🔞. NSFW / extremely explicit themes (non-con, sexual torture, dangerous edge play, degradation, humiliation, BDSM, etc.) ♡ Blog Design Tips. Want to learn graphic design for your blogs and fics? HERE.

♡ For Reader-Inserts. I only write Male Yandere x Female (Fem.) Reader (heterosexual couple). No LGBTQ+:

♡ Masterlists Order. The following works are arranged by order of writing priority:

Light in the Abyss: A Jesus Journey

♡ Light in the Abyss. Want a break from all the dark content or even life in general? Here's some Jesus comfort from the One who loves you more than anyone or anything else ever will :))

🔞God's Protagonist

♡ God's Protagonist. If you want the most tragic, taboo, trauma-inducing, grimdark epic story. And, my #1 project, as I'm using all my current books to hone my skills and eventually polish and work on this extremely long epic.

🎁A Heart Devoured (AHD): A Dark Yandere Anthology

♡ A Heart Devoured. The middle ground of all the books, can be be a light or dark read, depending on what reader insert story you pick. Also available for original yandere (OC’s) requests.

Request Rules Fandom and Characters

🎁World Ablaze (WA): For You, I'd Burn the World.

♡ World Ablaze. The second lightest read in the blog featuring yandere anime, manga, manhwa, and video game characters; as well as, the ONLY book readers can make fanfiction requests to.

Request Rules Fandom and Characters

🔞Forbidden Fruits (FF): Intimate Obsessions, Unhinged Desires.

♡ Forbidden Fruits. If you want an erotic, taboo, dark Yandere series featuring anime, manhwa, video games, etc. characters.

🎁Whispers in the Dark (WITD): Subtle Devotion, Lingering Shadows.

♡ Whispers In The Dark. If you want the lightest read in the blog featuring short form content such as headcanons, drabbles, and snippets of light yandere content from both original and fandom yanderes.

Request Rules Fandom and Characters

Her Hell, His Heaven (4H): Pain is a Love Language.

♡ Her Hell, His Heaven. This is a canon-divergent fanfiction exclusively featuring Various! Yandere! Characters x Original Character. Characters included are those I have NEVER written for in any of my reader inserts and other books.

Ink & Insight (I&I): From Dead Dove to Daydreams.

♡ Ink & Insight. The writer's essential to fictional writing, no matter what genre you may be in. Though, if you're a dark content writer, then you're in for a treat.

Yandere Psychology: A Comprehensive Taxonomy of Obsessive and Possessive Love

♡ Yandere Psychology. For the extreme writers, analysts and yandere enthusiasts.

Zero-Triggers Library

♡ Zero-Triggers. If you want manhwa, manga, novel recommendations.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

Current January Schedule for New Content or Reblogs:

Sunday - World Ablaze

Monday - World Ablaze

Tuesday - A Heart Devoured

Wednesday - Whispers In The Dark

Thursday - A Heart Devoured

Friday - Forbidden Fruits

Saturday - Forbidden Fruits

♡ Whispers In The Dark. This book does not have a consistent or set schedule, because of its shorter form content. Usually, the author uses this as idea generation and non-con smut writing practice. Unlike, the usual works, this requires less planning for long form content. Thus, it can be updated DAILY compared to other works.

♡ Ink & Insight. This book does not have a consistent or set schedule, as it's similar to an author creating journal entries, alongside spearheading a continuous learning process for self-development of its readers.

♡ Favorite Yanderes to Write. Scar (WuWa), Granger (MLBB), Geshu Lin (WuWa), Isagi Yoichi (BL), Itoshi Sae (BL)

♡ Most challenging Yanderes for me to write. ANY ISTJ, Itto, maybe other dumb yanderes, anything criminal investigation (very fun but also challenging).

Additional Content: ♡ About Me Contact Me Art Gallery (Tumblr) ♡ Memes / Miscellaneous

Characters I relate to, but not limited to:

═════════════════

The author's works are only available in the following sites:

Official Website: https://dokjafang.wordpress.com/

Royal Road: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/99582/gods-protagonist

Tumblr: https://fangdokja.tumblr.com/

Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/385617969-god%27s-protagonist

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Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FangDokja

X Twitter: https://x.com/fangdokja?s=21

Traditional Publishing: (Future plans)

Official Art: (Future plans)

Manhwa / Manga: (Future plans)

Disclaimer: If it's not AI generated, most artwork does not belong to me. However, I'm the one incorporating edits and my own graphic designs into the images to fit the story.

[airybcby]

જ⁀♡⊹｡° no, nothing good starts

♡ a/n — for my new F1 x Bllk series !

♡ word count — 1k

♡ content — bachira meguru x fem! reader, PR manager! reader, F1 racer! bachira, no established relationship, bachira is crazy, mentions of a car crash, reader slowly liking bachira, mentions of drinking (kinda) , bachira is a menace and loves bothering reader

♡ synopsis — Meguru Bachira was known for one thing in the F1 world, his insanity. You just hoped you could hold onto your own when living with him.

Bachira Meguru was chaos wrapped in charm.

His driving style was infamous in the world of Formula 1—wild, unorthodox, and borderline dangerous. Where others played it safe, he took every risk imaginable. He was the kind of driver who kept engineers up at night, wringing their hands over the longevity of car parts. Fans loved him for his unpredictability, but team managers hated him for the same reason. And now, thanks to his growing reputation for off-track antics, you had been saddled with the impossible task of taming him.

Your official title was PR Manager, but your actual job was more like a glorified babysitter. You’d been assigned to Bachira after an incident involving an unauthorized rooftop party in Monaco, complete with fireworks, which ended with him being escorted out by police.

The FIA had been furious.

The team had been livid.

And you? You were just trying to survive.

You met him on a Thursday afternoon, standing outside the team’s garage. He greeted you with a grin so wide it made your cheeks hurt just looking at it.

“Ohhh, you must be [Name]!” he exclaimed, practically bouncing on his feet. “They told me I was getting a PR babysitter. You’re cuter than I expected.”

You gave him a tight-lipped smile, refusing to rise to his bait. “I’m here to make sure you don’t singlehandedly ruin this team’s reputation. Let’s keep the compliments to a minimum, shall we?”

He gasped, dramatically clutching his chest. “So cold! I like you already.”

You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. This was going to be a long season.

For the first week, he tested every boundary you set.

He snuck out of meetings, ignored curfews, and somehow managed to get himself banned from an entire bar in Barcelona after an incident involving a mechanical bull. You spent more time cleaning up his messes than actually managing his public image.

And then there were the nights.

Bachira was a nocturnal creature, disappearing after dinner only to resurface hours later with stories of his latest escapades. You’d find him perched on rooftops, wandering city streets, or, on one memorable occasion, attempting to start a drum circle with strangers in the park.

“You’re impossible,” you told him one night, dragging him back to the hotel after finding him trying to climb a lamppost.

He just laughed, throwing an arm around your shoulders. “And you love it.”

Race day in Spa-Francorchamps was a nightmare.

The infamous Belgian track was wet from an earlier rainstorm, the slick surface making the already dangerous circuit even more treacherous. Everyone was on edge—the drivers, the engineers, the fans.

Everyone except Bachira.

He was practically vibrating with excitement as he climbed into his car, flashing you a grin through the visor of his helmet. “Don’t worry, [Name],” he said over the radio. “I’ll put on a good show for you.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” you muttered, watching as he pulled out of the garage.

The race started smoothly enough, but it didn’t take long for things to spiral. Bachira’s car darted through the pack like a predator hunting prey, taking corners at impossible angles and threading the needle between rival cars.

Your heart was in your throat as you watched him move into P4, his sights clearly set on the three cars ahead of him.

“Meguru, slow down,” you said into the headset, your voice tight with worry. “The track’s dangerous, and you’re pushing too hard.”

“Pushing is the fun part,” he replied, his tone light and teasing.

“Meguru, I’m serious,” you pressed. “Wait for an opening. Don’t force it.”

But he wasn’t listening.

You watched in horror as he tried to squeeze his car into a gap that didn’t exist, the tires screeching as he fought for control. And then, in an instant, it all went wrong.

The back end of his car clipped another, sending him spinning off the track and into the gravel. The sound of crunching metal filled your ears, followed by static as the radio cut out.

Your heart stopped.

“Meguru?” you said, your voice shaking. “Are you okay?”

For a moment, there was nothing. Then, through the crackling static, you heard it: laughter.

“Meguru!” you snapped, equal parts furious and terrified. “Answer me!”

“That was awesome!” he said, his voice crackling through the headset. “Did you see that drift?”

Your knees nearly buckled with relief, but it was quickly replaced by anger. “Awesome?! You could’ve been seriously hurt, you idiot!”

“Eh, I’m fine,” he said, still laughing. “A little gravel never hurt anyone.”

You ripped off the headset, turning away from the pit wall as your hands shook. He was fine, but you weren’t sure you’d survive working with him.

Later that night, you found him sprawled on the couch in your shared hotel suite, completely unbothered.

“Hey, [Name],” he said, waving at you with a chip in hand. “Want some?”

You stared at him, your anger simmering just beneath the surface. “Do you have any idea how close you came to disaster today?”

He shrugged, popping another chip into his mouth. “Close, but not quite.”

“That’s not the point!” you snapped, storming over to him. “You scared the hell out of me, Meguru!”

His grin faltered for a moment, replaced by something softer. “You were scared for me?”

“Of course I was scared for you, you maniac!” you shouted, throwing your hands up. “You could’ve died out there, and you’re sitting here eating chips like it’s no big deal!”

He sat up, tilting his head as he studied you. “You’re cute when you’re worried, you know that?”

“Meguru, I’m serious!”

“I know,” he said, his voice softer now. “And I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

You sighed, sitting down beside him. “You can’t keep doing this, Meguru. One of these days, you’re not going to walk away from a crash, and then what?”

He leaned back, his grin returning. “Then I guess I’ll have to haunt you.”

You glared at him, but he just laughed, the sound warm and infectious. Despite your frustration, you couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re impossible,” you muttered, leaning back against the couch.

“And you love it,” he teased, nudging you with his elbow.

You rolled your eyes, but deep down, you knew he was right.

idk what happened recently but i hate everything i write, hope this was still good :)

likes, comments, and reblogs are appreciated!

[gods-favorite-autistic]

If the bad kids played Minecraft

Gorgug: redstone builder my guy loves making rollercoasters and security systems and anything redstone for the others, loves the enchantment table and fights monsters purely for xp, has a little farm of rainbow sheep and flowers, his workshop looks like a flower (Fabian may or may not have made it he just came to the joint world and found it there one day)

Fabian: achievement maniac he must prove that he is the best at the game, loves all the fortresses and like the raids and all of that, fights any monster he sees and brings the spoils back to Adaine for her building, hoards all the gold and diamonds he finds and refuses to share, once killed a piglin on accident and had to give all of his gold to Fig, main person who finds and downloads mods for everyone (he has the nicest computer after all), has a list of which person got one mod after everyone started fighting about who requested a shaders mod that just makes everything look really pretty but also insanely slows everyone’s fps (it was Gorgug he liked how it looked)

Fig: trying to make and collect everything she physically can and if she can’t she will find a way, has about a million mods installed because why not (her personal world is like 4 fps), “rules the nether” (Adaine turned a fortress into a castle for her and she only trades with piglins), has at least one cd playing at any time and tries to start a campaign for one of her songs to become an official cd (it almost works)

Riz: automates everything and anything he can, just does insane experiments for funsies, has a gang of iron golems and a village that he rules with an iron fist (is very offended that fig refuses to trade with his villagers, has waged war on the nether multiple times but Fabian (his “knight”) and Gorgug (Figs “knight”) refuse to fight each other), Kristen is banned because she keeps trying to start a rebellion

Adaine: the builderrr girlie likes her games on peaceful and her structures luxurious, she made a castle for all of her friends in her joint world (even if Fig and Riz usually sleep in their kingdoms), does not know how to fight in the slightest so she just enlists Fabian and Gorgug (Riz makes her pay to enlist Fabian in tnt no Adaine he is not making another nuke what are you talking about), genuinely a good archer but freaks out anytime she sees a monster and becomes instantly useless so she mainly uses it for hunting purposes

Kristen: loves mining, also has a million pets like if she can find a way to make it a pet she will (she once tamed a polar bear nobody knows how), her room in Adaine’s castle is in the basement with little mining carts that Gorgug made her that go throughout basically their whole world, runs as fast as she can away from any Warden chamber (she cannot fight), has an army of snowmen in a cage, technically has a fee for being the blacksmith of the group but forgets every time, has a White House built somewhere in the world after the school election

Bonus!

Ayda: Crafts books so she can write in them, lives in Figs castle in another room than Fig (for the drama, according to Fig)(“the fans will love it!” “My love who are you talking about nobody is watching us” “excuse you my tumble audience is very much enjoying our live-blogged tragic love” “my paramour we are literal blocks”), rotates between living there and living in the tallest tower in Adaine’s castle, is fascinated by Gorgugs inventions

Ragh: Fighter, insists on only using his bare fists, drinks any potion he finds, is the only person willing to go on raids with Fabian and Gorgug, figured out a way to play bloodrush in game, loves elytra’s, lives in a dirt hut that is big enough for him to stand in next to a bed and nothing else, Adaine built him a room (that looks like a gym) in her castle but he prefers dirt hut

Aelwyn: Only on there for the cats, steals Kristen’s cats any chance she gets, surprisingly really good at fighting but refuses to fight unless absolutely necessary, has one mod on for herself and it’s the shapeshifting mod (no clue if that’s a mod or part of a game mode) so she can prank Adaine anytime she wants, loves making tnt even if she doesn’t use it (“the goblin uses it in funny ways” “Aelwyn he is exploding a village” “like I said funny”), fucking hates goats and polar bears for no reason

[marikbentusi]

I wasn't interested much in the Gwenpool Fortnite collab (fingerless gloves are a cute tweak), but someone asked on Twitter about "evil future Gwenpool" being labelled "Dark Gwenpool" ingame (which is what I've been calling my fan character variant since 2020):

"Dark" is a very common prefix for evil alter egos, so even if people occasionally mistake my comics for official material, I was certain this was a coincidence. But then the person also casually pointed out that she's called "Dark GwenPool" on Wikipedia. Huh?

No sources cited as far as I can tell. One of the original Gwenpool creators even agreed that "Dark Gwenpool" was never official:

I hunted down the Wikipedia changelog where apparently someone injected all the Dark Gwenpool stuff on 8th of April this year (2024). So maybe someone on the Fortnite team checked Google/Wikipedia instead of making up the name from scratch.

I tried to hunt down the wiki editor for questioning only to find out they are banned for being a sockpuppet account. In fact, that user was such a prolific sockpuppeteer that they've got their own Wikipedia page listing all 164 suspected alts. One of them is called "Batrocfrogg", what kind of canonization assist from beyond the grave is this?!

Since that lead went cold, I looked at the sources the wiki edit gave when talking about the character more generally. Aside from the official comics where she isn't called Dark Gwenpool, we've got:

"Peter Parker & Miles Morales: Spider-Men Double Trouble #2" – evil Gwen just has a cosplay background cameo there, no name drop.

Marvel Duel, a niche F2P mobile card game, where she's an antagonist.

The person who first pointed out to me that "Dark Gwenpool" was also on Wikipedia dug around and found a screenshot that evil Gwen is indeed called "Dark Gwenpool" in Marvel Duel:

Obviously I assume the Marvel Duel devs just made that one up without knowing about my comics. Case closed on that lead! But I'm not sure if the Wiki edit was based on this.

Marvel Duel, if we can still trust its wiki page, only released in eight countries. They are mostly in the UTC+8 time zone. The edit was finished on ~22:00 UTC+0, which would be Tuesday 05:00 AM local time if the editor is from one of those countries themselves. Of course, maybe the person played an emulated/jailbroken version (the game does come in English), watched a foreign Let's Play, or is just a super night owl. None of these are stranger than having 146 sockpuppet accounts. But it also doesn't exactly help the edit's credibility like I had hoped.

I also don't know if Marvel Duel included the name variations "Dark GwenPool" and "Dark Gwen" that the Wiki editor used specifically (in the screencap above she's stylized differently). The editor also called her the "evil alternator future version" tho, so maybe they aren't a stickler for details.

----

But yeah the TL;DR is that "Dark GwenPool" is currently the main name for evil Gwen on Wikipedia with no source cited. Marvel Duel calling her that as well was probably just coincidence. Maybe Fortnite also made it up, or they copied it from Wikipedia, or maybe they copied it from Marvel Duel itself.

I thought it was weird and funny enough to share. 164 sockpuppets. WTF.

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

Kaveh is like this close to committing a sin with Mehrak, like he's playing a really dangerous game. It's just a matter of time Mehrak gets even more sentient when it's already this far. I know Kaveh keeps it in check, but man... I hope they'll talk about this one day. Either that or Kaveh will always brush it off, as if he didn't get some ancient core to build it??? Also, I always love your thoughts, thanks for loving these two so much!

hiya! thank you for your ask! i'm so glad you enjoy my posts :") <3 Mehrak’s existence is so ??? funny to me. we have tighnari’s story quest detailing the akademiya’s ban on research into mechanical lifeforms, directly alongside kaveh building his own mechanical lifeform and parading it around, sending it on solo coffee retrieving missions whilst everyone in sumeru looks on smiling <3

Mehrak’s legality hasn’t been mentioned at all in-game as of now, and as it’s been used consistently, both in kaveh’s hangout, a parade of providence, and now nahida’s birthday event, with not one mention of legality or potential trespasses, makes it seem that that’s how things will stay - especially since Cyno has met/is aware of mehrak’s existence during the battle scene during a parade of providence (then again, cyno did meet the wanderer during this event, and yet in nahida’s birthday event it seems he’s only HEARD of the wanderer through sethos??) but even then, since Cyno trusts Tighnari with karkata’s continued existence, it’s likely not a stretch to say that to Cyno, Kaveh can be trusted with Mehrak’s existence (it’s all very iffy)

Mehrak’s existence, overall, has had little focus other than its usage in battle, its official introduction in a parade of providence, where kaveh stipulates it has low intelligence, and was built to assist him, as well as being incapable of talking back and giving him ‘attitude’ (implicitly comparing mehrak to alhaitham), and in kaveh’s hangout when he works on designing a building. It’s only in recent events, such as cyno’s second story quest, and now in nahida’s birthday event, that mehrak has gotten more mentions, and now a spotlight, which is all in relation to coffee, tying back to alhaitham and kaveh’s improved relationship (the coffee analysis will be in the updated essay finally!!). as of right now, overall, mehrak doesn’t appear to be a major focus

It might be strange for the game to mention now that mehrak has been an illegal creation all this time, unless it’s a significant plot point that has to be resolved, but if mehrak is further explored, like in the temple of silence for example (hoyoverse I am once again asking), then perhaps this collective ignoring of a crime occurring will be explained away, if mentioned at all? It’s interesting that tighnari says it might be possible that this ban is reversed in the future, but as for whether that will actually happen, and the implications of this, aren’t clear

Mehrak’s accepted existence in general poses so many questions. I’m interested in the specifics of the ban, like does it depend on the autonomy of the machine in question? Abattouy aimed to make Karkata essentially human, capable of individual thought, processing, emotion, and conversation, which definitively broaches on the intersection of mechanical and biological life which caused the Akademiya to ban this type of research in the first place. So if a machine is able to act on its own, irrespective of human interference, then this is what the akademiya would want to prevent

In mehrak’s case, it’s unclear as to what its limits are, but from what has been shown so far, it seems that mehrak can only act on kaveh’s commands and when held in battle – it’s uncertain rn whether mehrak can act independently of this, but as kaveh invented it to only assist in certain matters, it’s doubtful. But then again, we don’t have a great scope of whether it can experience emotions, as it has shown signs of being distressed in a parade of providence when kaveh states that it can’t talk back, and when being scolded by kaveh in nahida’s birthday event

if mehrak has limited intelligence, it's interesting to compare mehrak with karkata. abattouy was attempting to make karkata understand human language, and be able to respond in order to have conversation, which was proved impossible, whereas although mehrak only speaks in beeps, kaveh is shown to have a thorough understanding of what it’s saying? Mehrak can be programmed to recognise people’s voices, but seemingly also language, as mehrak can obey spoken command, which is what abattouy tried to accomplish but was unable to with modern technology.

Mehrak, on the other hand, understands kaveh’s basic requests – which is made even funnier in kaveh’s old sketchbook, where he says that more than anything he really wants mehrak to understand what he’s saying. he got his wish but at what cost???

Mehrak being made from ancient technology, belonging to that of king deshret’s civilisation, offers many interesting paths that could be explored in future events, as besides the primal constructs roaming around, the puzzles in the desert, and now the temple of silence, no technology really exists from that time. Someone commented that mehrak’s presence in nahida’s birthday event, in conjunction with the event being based around ancient technology with the wedjat eye, could be highlighting mehrak’s irregularity in modern day sumeru – potentially foreshadowing for a future event that could further expand upon mehrak? If this is the case, I am all for it, there are so many questions concerning kaveh’s little light <3

[ynnova]

( 🍓 ) y/n things every atiny should know !

──── a list of things that every atiny ( or yn-inator ) should know about y/n or random headcanons that i think you all should know.

you're fluent in three langauges; english, japanese, and korean.

you think that if you didn't become an idol, you would have gone into game development.

after you left sm ent., you stayed at a boarding house with four other girls (mostly college age). you lived in the house up until a few months before kq fellaz was officially announced, and then you had moved into the dorm.

you were involved in several clubs during middle school and high school.

you went to an all-girls high school and was able to get in because of your high exam scores. you were also popular among your peers, often getting letters and small gifts.

you have a total of six tattoos, the most out of all the members who have some.

your parents and childhood friends use to call you a "disney princess" because of how many times you could get wild animals (mainly cats) to come to you, especially when they wouldn't go to others.

this cares into how you accidentally brought home a small fox, thinking it was just a weird cat. your parents made you take it back to where you found it.

you like to joke that the small fox returned to you in the form of wooyoung.

you are close friends with several sm artists, but especially close with nct's yuta who fans have spotted you hanging out with several times.

you also have a yuta picket that you got from an nct 127 concert and can still be seen in the background of your room during some lives.

you're a big fan of gravity falls and have even done a cover of "disco girl" a song from the show on a live (which is a parody song based off the abba song "dancing queen"). alex hirsch, the creator of gravity falls, even retweeted a clip of you singing onto his twitter account.

you've rewatched gravity falls at least 56 times. you like to watch it when on tour, but also like watching it with the members. the member that has rewatched it with you the most is mingi.

the boys often call you their "fix it girl" because you are often fixing things around the dorms.

you once did a livestream where atiny watched you replace a light fixture in the kitchen.

you have a large trinket collection of different figurine brands and you often try to buy one whenever you go to a new place.

you love video games, especially indie games or ones with cool graphics or complex stories. you often try to update atiny on what games you've been playing, having it be a mix of indie and triple a games.

in 2019, you took up the hobby of journaling/bullet journals and always have a journal in your bag with you when you travel.

you also have a digital one on your ipad that you are often seen working on in the background of logbooks.

you were the third trainee at kq, joining about a week or so after yunho did.

you have the most random livestreams out of all the members; this is often because of the time you go live or what you are doing during your lives.

when hongjoong got his laptop stolen, you and jongho helped re-record all his vocal guides.

as a result of all the livestreams, kq once banned you from going live for about two month; however, that didn't last as you still went live behind their backs.

you revealed in an interview that the member you are the closest too is wooyoung.

you used to share a room with wooyoung and yeosang at ateez's first dorm, then you and mingi shared a room, and now you have your own room but share a dorm with yunho and yeosang.

during fireworks era, you wore several bob cut wigs and had basically the whole atiny fandom believing you actually cut your hair.

you have went viral several times because of your stage looks, often starting popular trends for other idols. you'll usually be cited wearing something or having a specific hair color and then a few months later, other idols will do the same thing.

you also tend to go viral for your airport fashion as well, many atiny and netizens in general always waiting to see what you are going to wear.

you were the voice actress for final fantasy vii remake character eileen for both the japanese and english releases of the game. you also came back for the 2024 release of rebirth. eileen is a made up character and not actually in the game.

you made your acting debut in 2021 with the thriller drama "gothel" that aired on netflix. the drama did exceptional well and your acting in it was so well received that atiny are hoping for you to act again.

there has been rumors recently going around that you are rumored to star in a sci-fi, psychological horror movie, but nothing has been confirmed.

in 2024, you were invited to new york fashion week by both sandy liang and selkie along with paris fashion week by vivienne westwood.

[witchyfoxelf]

today is an extremely bad day for the magic the gathering community.

if you don't play mtg, here's what you need to know: the most popular format by far is actually a fan-created format originally known as elder dragon highlander (edh), and later becoming enshrined as an official format under the name commander. despite its official recognition by wizards of the coast, the commander format was governed by an independent panel known as the rules committee. if my use of the term "was" sounds foreboding... it should.

on september 23rd, this independent rules committee announced the addition of four cards to the format's banned & restricted list. regardless of how you feel about these changes, they were aimed to do the one thing the rules committee cares about: keep the format fun & fair for all players. again, i must stress that this is their only motivation. that's something i'd like everyone to keep in mind before we move on to where we are today.

the rules committee was expecting the backlash to their decisions to be vitriolic. the cards they banned were popular among... a certain segment of players. and more importantly, they were cashcows for joyless collectors and the secondary market. the kinds of people who unironically refer to these little pieces of cardboard as "investments." and yeah, i'm being a little unfair here. i will acknowledge that. but i think it's pretty warranted considering what happened next.

what happened next were death threats. lots & lots of death threats. lots & lots of death threats, a disproportionate number of which were directed at the rules committee's only female member. yeah, shocking. ironically it turned out that she literally voted against the most unpopular changes to the banned & restricted list, not that she needs to have to make this entire thing reprehensible. but it's just... frustrating. all of it is very frustrating.

of course she isn't the only one who received these threats. the rest of the rules committee also received similar harassment, as did plenty of people who weren't even involved with this decision. it's just a very ugly moment for the community.

if you have ever considered sending someone actual, literal death threats over PIECES OF CARDBOARD, please reevaluate your entire life immediately.

and look, there are some extremely reasonable criticisms of the decision and how it was announced. i'm not denying that. and i will fully admit that i had a fairly positive view of the bans compared to the people who were angry. but regardless of how you feel about them, one thing is undeniable: they were made by people whose entire motivation is making the format more fun & fair. that was literally their only motivation. they were not beholden to shareholders or executives or any of the other machinery that makes Line Go Up. they just wanted the game to be as fun as possible.

today, wizards of the coast announced that the commander rules committee is officially handing over management of the format to wizards of the coast. a company who, ever since its aquisition by hasbro, has been nakedly motivated by profit above all else. a company who, even when it was more independent, would have ultimately had that motivation simply by virtue of being, you know, a company.

so tl;dr (too late), good job mtg community. you showed your entire ass to the world by harrassing people off of the internet over fucking pieces of cardboard, and now hasbro fully owns the game's most popular format. i hope you're fucking happy.

[our-queer-experience]

Just wish to share this, details deliberately scrubbed away.

In 2020 February, my home country Hungary banned being intersex and transgender. This caused a few local terf groups to cheer, then disappear with money and resurface later as anti-queer in general, getting their wish in the next two years by the government effectively banning all queerness.

The ban came with hefty fines if the police or a hastily thrown together authority sees it, from "having sex in their own homes and seen" to "dared looking vaguely queer". The Hungarian police refused to play along, citing that they are too busy with actual crimes.

I am an outspoken asexual, so in 2021, when that got banned, I was called in to a ministry, where an angry woman shouted at me and demanded that I "become normal or go to prison". The policeman told her that this is just a fineable offense and then this woman just groaned at me how I must sign an official paper that tells that i am not queer.

I asked why should me not wanting sex matter. It is literally the opposite of a crime. She told me that "everyone must produce kids! It is part of our duty for God and Hungary!". I shrugged that we got 8 billion people on the planet, to which she screamed a lot at me, repeating a lot of anti-queer rethoric, until i threw up my hands and claimed "you can't make water from a rock, but if you want to try, please get me some doctor to fix it, thanks." And was about to leave when she blew up and screamed how this is sexual assault.

The same officer told her that it is not, led me out of the building and asked for my pardon, because he "must be there and rather walk out too". I asked what was her name again, and the moment I was a corner away, checked the name. That woman was formerly a leader of a Hungarian terf group, now in that hastily thrown together anti-queer committee on some low level position.

I am still faking that i am "normal" here, but this story was etched into my brain. I was thinking on sharing it or not. Saw a post of yours, and I decided to share. Thanks for reading.

Happier new year for us.

🫂

so much of aphobia reaks so strongly of rape culture. that fucking sucks. im hoping and praying for a happier future for queers in hungary

[city-of-ladies]

Empress Kōken-Shōtoku (718–770) has long been burdened by an undeserved negative reputation. Far from being a weak woman, she was in fact the last great empress regnant of Japan.

The Crown Princess

Her father was Emperor Shōmu, and her mother, Empress Consort Kōmyō, wielded significant influence. In 727, Kōmyō gave birth to a son, but he tragically died shortly after. In 738, Kōken, then known as Princess Abe, was declared crown princess—a historic first, as no woman before her had been officially named heir apparent, despite Japan’s history of female rulers.

Her early education was overseen by her mother, followed by a renowned scholar who taught her Chinese classics and statecraft. In 749, she ascended the throne after her father’s abdication.

Her First Reign

The Great Buddha Hall at Tōdaiji Temple was completed during her reign. Like her parents, she was a fervent supporter of Buddhism. As a patron of the arts and a sponsor of sutra distribution, she played a key role in establishing Buddhism as a cornerstone of Japanese culture for centuries.

However, Kōken also faced challenges, particularly the growing influence of the powerful Fujiwara clan, to which her mother belonged. After her father’s death in 756, he had designated a successor for Kōken, but the strong-willed empress chose her own candidate. She abdicated in 758 to focus on religious matters.

Machinations and Revolts

Kōken was thus free from the constraints of court ceremonies and quickly became a focal point for opposition to the Fujiwara clan. During this period, she formed a close relationship with the monk Dōkyō, who healed her during an illness in 761.

Legend claims that Kōken once lamented to her attendants that while a male emperor could take multiple consorts, she was expected to remain single. Whether true or not, she was likely aware of the societal constraints imposed on her.

Meanwhile, her successor, Emperor Junnin, sought to wage war against the Korean kingdom of Silla. Kōken opposed him, asserting that matters of such importance—war, rewards for merit, and punishment for wrongdoing—were decisions only she, as a former empress, was qualified to make.

Junnin’s chief minister, Fujiwara no Nakamaro, plotted a revolt against Kōken, but she acted swiftly. Her forces defeated Nakamaro in a decisive battle, leading to his capture and execution. Kōken then deposed Junnin, exiling him and reclaiming the throne in 764 as Empress Shōtoku. By this point, her authority was unchallenged.

Return to Power

During her second reign, Kōken-Shōtoku consolidated her power. She prohibited unauthorized land claims and banned officials from keeping private weapons. She also worked to integrate Buddhist and Shinto beliefs. Her reign saw Japan’s first examples of woodblock printing, which she sponsored in 764.

Kōken-Shōtoku granted significant responsibilities to Dōkyō, though his roles appeared more religious than political. The question of succession remained unresolved. Tensions escalated in 769 when an oracle from the Usa Hachiman Shrine declared that Dōkyō should become emperor. This tentative from someone unrelated to the imperial lineage to usurp the throne caused a scandal. However, sources documenting this event were written later and likely by Kōken-Shōtoku’s detractors.

Kōken-Shōtoku sent the courtier Wake no Kiyomaro to verify the oracle, and he returned with a new prophecy refuting the first. Furious, Dōkyō exiled Kiyomaro, further deepening court divisions. Kōken-Shōtoku withdrew with Dōkyō to Kawachi Province, ruling from there until her return to Nara in 770. She died later that year at age 52.

Following her death, women's roles at court changed and they were bared from ruling. It wasn’t until 1629, with Empress Meishō, and later Empress Go-Sakuramachi (1740–1813), that women once again sat on the throne, though their roles were largely symbolic.

The controversy surrounding Dōkyō tarnished Kōken's reputation. Before World War II, schoolchildren were taught that her so-called "feminine weakness" was why women shouldn’t rule.

Yet Kōken was far from a puppet ruler. She was a decisive leader with a will of her own. As the last great Japanese empress regnant, she deserves to be remembered for her accomplishments.

Enjoyed this post? You can support me on Ko-fi!

Japanese empresses regnant: Suiko, Kōgyōku-Saimei, Jitō, Genmei, Genshō

Further reading 

Brown Norton Louise, Block Printing & Book Illustration in Japan

“Kōken, histoire de la dernière grande impératrice japonaise”

Tsurumi Patricia E., “Japan’s early female emperors”

Aoki Michiko Y., “Jitō Tennō, the female sovereign”,in: Mulhern Chieko Irie (ed.), Heroic with grace legendary women of Japan

[small-birdie]

“Subtle,” Martyn comments.

He’s looking up at the Secret Keeper, the heels of his shoes digging into the soft ground. Grian is off to the left, adorning it with final mossy touches before he can declare the game season officially open.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says. He sounds genuine in that way only Grian knows how to, in that way you forget he can after a half-dozen played up suspicious dismissals over things that don’t matter. Martyn knows better than to believe him. Martyn tells himself he knows better than to believe him, anyway, and yet he keeps coming back.

“I just think, if you keep knocking on the devil’s doors…” he shrugs, trailing off into what he hopes is a meaningful silence. Grian still hasn’t glanced his way, arranging the greenery with loving hands (which will soon be killing hands again.)

“I think we’re a bit past that, now,” he says. “The devil started it. Barged in, made himself at home. Our turn.”

“Oh, so we’re inviting him in this time? Asking him to whisper secrets in our ear?”

Grian snorts.

“Don’t run the metaphor into the ground,” he says. “It’s a game, Martyn. We’re having fun.”

“Right.” Martyn kicks up flecks of dirt with his shoe, and fails to find vindication in the way they bounce off the side of the Secret Keeper. “Sorry, which “we” is this?”

“Don’t be like that,” Grian says. “I’m making it as painless as possible for everyone involved.”

“Right,” Martyn says, again, with about the same level of healthy scepticism. “Known for making things painless, you are.”

“Must you?”

“Who else?”

“Who else indeed,” Grian sighs. His fingers are green from the moss and covered in dust. He looks down at his left hand, plucking specks of green fuzz off it with his right. Martyn looks at the Secret Keeper, and the Secret Keeper looks back.

————

my mcyt sideblog got shadow banned and stuff doesn’t show up in the tags, so on my main it goes! i have not thought about secret life too deeply yet, but i’m already insane. also, follow me on @its-shells for more fun of the traffic variety!

[genshin-impact-updates]

Resolution Regarding the Recent Plug-In Usage in Genshin Impact

Dear Travelers,

It has come to our attention that some Travelers have been using plug-ins to tamper with game data and intentionally disrupt the gaming experience of other Travelers: In Co-Op Mode, they were found using plug-ins to remove items from other Travelers' open world, preventing them from playing under normal circumstances.

The relevant issues have been fixed on August 25. By August 26, our developers had fixed the accounts of the Travelers who encountered this error and contacted Customer Service for assistance. We have also notified Travelers regarding the status of the fix through Customer Service. We will continue to monitor this issue after it has been resolved. Currently, Co-Op Mode is working as intended and Travelers can continue to proceed as normal.

*Currently, some items in a small number of accounts may not be restored yet. This will not affect Travelers' normal game experience. This issue will be fully fixed in a future update, and we will notify affected Travelers via in-game mail.

If you have recently encountered a similar problem, you can report it to us via our Customer Service with the detailed location of the item in question. Upon verification that said problem is caused by a similar plug-in, our Customer Service will contact you as soon as possible.

Additionally, if you experience any other issues or notice any violations that involve the usage of third-party plug-ins or tools, you may also contact our official Customer Service (when reporting a violation, please attach the UID of the player violating the rules, the reason for the report or other relevant information), which will allow our developers to better locate the issue and correct it.

Using such plug-ins to remove items from other Travelers' open world via the tampering of game data has seriously affected their gameplay experience. To maintain fair play and protect the rights of Travelers, we have banned accounts using these plug-ins and will take legal action against developers, users, and disseminators of such plug-ins.

Currently, we have confirmed that developers and users of this plug-in are posting content in the community or on video sites disguising themselves as victims to confuse the public and incite panic. We will deal with such actions in accordance with the "Terms of Service," "Privacy Policy," and applicable laws and regulations.

Thank you for your continued support and accompaniment of Genshin Impact. We have always strived to maintain a healthy and fair gaming environment, and any attempt that jeopardizes the fairness of the game through improper means is strictly prohibited. At the same time, the development team would like to hereby declare that any game vulnerabilities have no relation to the design of the game, its plot, or characters. Please refrain from making unwarranted associations to negatively affect the experience of other Travelers. We hope that all Travelers can boycott plug-ins, third-party tools, and other unethical behavior to maintain a fair and friendly game environment together.

▌ Contact Genshin Impact Customer Service

Email address: genshin_cs@hoyoverse.com

[writing-heiress]

Rewritten Requests: Malleus Draconia

Requested by @nuitthegoddess (THE Malleus simp)

LORE

Malleus, born the son of Princess Maleanor and (unofficial) Prince Consort Raverne, is the Crown Prince of Briar Valley and its only heir. He was, unfortunately born centuries too late because of his mother's untimely demise, his father's disappearance, and his adoptive father Lilia's traveling first.

Once Malleus was finally born thanks to the love of Lilia, it was clear from day one that Malleus had imprinted on Lilia, recognizing him as his father. But the Senate, hating how the situation played out, still banned Lilia from the borders of the capital in an attempt to limit their connection.

However, that ultimately failed for them as Malleus would have a hard time with just about everyone in the Briar Castle, including his own grandmother due to the natural dragon hostility newborn dragons have towards those they don't recognize as family. Understanding that if this would continue then the entire castle would be in green flames before Malleus could even talk, Maleficia overturned the ban the Senate placed on Lilia and officially appointed him as Malleus' guardian, which finally calm things down.

A few years down the road, Lilia introduced Malleus to Silver when the former was still a child. Malleus quickly considered Silver as his little brother (mainly because Lilia said he would raise him like his own son, like he's had with Malleus).

But that being said, Malleus felt like he had no one to truly call a friend. Many of the noble kids were too scared to anger or upset him plus he grew up pretty isolated partly because his grandmother was worried for his safety and because Malleus' weather magic and intense emotions have been the cause of some of the destruction done throughout the country.

REDESIGN NOTES

make him more like a dragon

draconic scales on his body

dragon-like teeth

naturally sharp claws/nails (lowkey like Elphaba)

hates the Senate, but can't do shit about them yet

Lilia introduced him to boba and now he's in love with them

can grow/create flowers based on strong (positive) emotions mainly love

enjoys hanging out with the dorm heads and fellow juniors

is considered an honorary Ramshackle dorm member

as a dark fae, he is very much weak to iron, holy magic, and holy artifacts

Tagging - @adrianasunderworld @the-trinket-witch @the-weirdos-mind @liviavanrouge @yumeko2sevilla @yukii0nna @liviavanrouge @queen-of-twisted @abyssthing198 @tragedytells-tales @ice-cweam-sod4 @zexal-club @achy-boo @fair-night-starry-tears @mangacupcake @starry-night-rose @boopshoops