#EVERYONE IS CAPABLE OF BOTH GOOD AND EVIL BUT THEIR CHOICES MATTER

[annemarieyeretzian]

asmodeus hissing “you think that you are a man of true belief. who is the most proud man here? these ones who thought they would fly a city, or the man who thought he would teach me a lesson? the only difference between you and the dawnfather is that the dawnfather is a little more humble. now I'll tell you why I spit on your forgiveness. I'll tell you why I loathe your redemption. to reach a hand down to somebody, they need to be beneath you! and I'm beneath nobody. you wanted to understand me. then you should have accepted that I was right!”

#incredible #EVERYONE IS CAPABLE OF GOOD BUT NOT EVERYONE IS GOOD #EVERYONE IS CAPABLE OF BOTH GOOD AND EVIL BUT THEIR CHOICES MATTER #THIS BETRAYER GOD CHOOSES ENDLESS TORMENT WITHOUT DEATH #HIS ENTIRE VISION IS PAIN AND PUNISHMENT FOR IMAGINED SLIGHTS #BELIEVING EVERYONE IS INDEFINITELY REDEEMABLE IS ALSO HUBRIS #god I'm so tired #everyone in this fandom 'disappointed' that asmodeus 'turned out to be evil' can stay the fuck away from me #it's not a tired trope #some beings #and especially a fucking betrayer god #are beyond redemption #and not made more interesting by their anger and hatred #even if you think they're hot #annemarie watches critical role #critical role #asmodeus #exandria unlimited: calamity #exandria unlimited calamity #exandria unlimited #exu: calamity #exu calamity #exu #calamity #fire and ruin

[utilitycaster]

To elaborate on this post specifically with regards to Worlds Beyond Number, well, Suvi says it all, really:

They love being on my tab, they love having fun, they love being protected by me, but they never listen to me and they don't care.

Because here is the thing. Suvi is of the Citadel, which is part of the Empire. We do not have a full understanding of the geopolitical system but as a rule an empire is participating in conquest; sometimes two empires both exist and attack each other and so the exact scenario gets very gray and complicated but I think we do all agree the Empire is not great.

Suvi is of the Citadel. She holds a position of great privilege within the Citadel. This is in part because her parents were, as far as we know, betrayed and murdered by an enemy of the Citadel (having themselves been, again, based on what we know, reformers and rule-breakers as well as extremely capable spies) and she was adopted by one of their closest friends, who became the Sword of the Citadel.

She is not the Citadel. She is a 20-year old who was primarily raised within it, with all of the above complications of her parents. She is not single-handedly responsible for every action the citadel takes. She is not personally trying to stop Ame or Eursulon, only saying that there will be consequences if they leave. Consequences that she has experienced after Ame ran into the kudzu and Eursulon went after Naram and they all attempted to break Ame's curse; consequences she knows will become more and more dire if she continues to disobey Steel, particularly a direct order; consequences that already resulted in Ame being in a coma for a month. (The court-martial, I will say, is entirely on Suvi; the rest is not).

And in all of those situations: Ame and Eursulon were, as Suvi says, happy to have Suvi's purse pay for room and board, and her wizard's staff open doors, and to be put up and fed at the Chantry, and take the skyships, and train at the Citadel and have a marvelous time there. It's been several days and they could have left sooner, and they didn't. It's very "no ethical consumption under capitalism, which means that I can do whatever I want" rather than like, attempting to make slightly less harmful choices from Ame and Eursulon. Their choices aren't coming from a principled stance against the Citadel and Empire; they are coming from a "well, thanks for all the fun and the safe place to stay and the resources for research but you told me not to do something I wanted to do and I won't wait an hour to try and see if we can come to a solution that works for everyone."

For that matter, they're making these choices in part because of what a wizard of the citadel is saying to them; and yet Suvi's presence was said by that very wizard to be crucial to Ame's survival, and they're still not waiting.

[stepping outside of all of the above and the below: I think all the actions being taken, as a listener, are fucking great because this is D&D and conflict is fun and also all of these characters are like, the equivalent of 20 years old and level 2; this is not me saying Suvi is right and Ame and Eursulon are wrong. Rather, Suvi is no less right or wrong than the others, and she is extremely justified in feeling hurt and angry and that her friends are willing to take and not give.]

Something I've found in a lot of sf stories but especially actual play is a pretty strong and frankly, weird bias within the fandom of exactly this nature, as the linked post said. Someone affiliated with an empire or a power is somehow, as an individual, responsible for every harmful action that power commits. They're brainwashed. They're evil. They don't get it. They just need to come around to the right mentality. And that right mentality is, of course, that of the good rural person with nature magic. They are a leader within their small community and hold an immense amount of power over them - and perhaps beyond - but don't worry, they use it correctly. They're wise and they're right about everything.

Except they're not. They are frequently either idealistic to the point of ignoring the realities of the situation, or very limited in their viewpoint, or do not realize the immense privilege of being in their position as both a person in nigh absolute benevolent power within a small domain and also the only person with that power. Those wise, provincial, nature-based characters rarely understand that to exist within a complex and yes, extremely flawed and even ill-intentioned system like the Citadel is to be, even as a person with privilege within that hierarchy, a cog.

Suvi cannot just leave. She exists within a vast system and she is not stupid or brainwashed for acknowledging the realities of it. I think that yes, a very possible path forward for her is one in which she grows to question the Citadel's practices. I also think that to treat her as the embodiment of this entire empire, or to expect that her only way to be a good person is via a sudden about-face at the cost of everything she has, when she is a level 2 apprentic, is not just overly simplistic but flat-out incorrect. And I think that to assume Ame is objectively correct for not waiting a very brief amount of time for Steel (when, in fact, one could argue she should have left immediately upon being contacted; she had been absent from her duties for months already) is similarly oversimplifying to the point where one's conclusions are no longer useful.

Recall that witches' familiars are said to embody the traits within them that, to be an effective steward of their position, they often must set aside. Ame has been letting hers lead her.

#ngl this fandom mentality sets off some admittedly hair-trigger Yikes tendencies tingling re adulation of the good rural people. #anyway. this post is also secretly about every cr campaign and also a little about midst and also a little bit the wheel of time #worlds beyond number #wbn spoilers #wbn

[alostlittleriverlotus]

Oh yeah make sure neglected people get love until that neglected person is a fucking narcissist. Cause all narcissists are bad. Everything I do is intentionally manipulative or maybe they'll say I'm not actually a narcissist and are just confused or supporting them cause I've been made to feel guilty. I've been on both sides. People will believe I'm a narcissist and so therefore I'm abusive or people will not believe I'm a narcissist cause I'm too nice and just getting caught up in narcissists manipulating me to support them.

I hate the idea that my self image is not by my choice. I will always be what OTHERS perceive me as. I have always been that and it will continue to be that. People will either see someone that can't do any wrong or someone that can only do wrong. Like stfu I am a person! I can do good and bad! I have a past of being toxic and harmful esp as a teenager cause I was a fucking mentally fucked teen still in an abusive situation.

I just. I dunno. Im waiting on food so I'm very like just ranty about everything and anything. But like. Stfu. Stfu stfu stfu stfu stfu. If anyone else is needy and needs attention or reassurance then it's fine. But I have had it demonized since my fucking childhood and had my fucking meltdowns demonized as being intentionally manipulative!!! I WAS A FIVE YEAR OLD AUTISTIC CHILD STFU!!!!!

And people praising empathy as being good piss me off. Cause you know what else can also have hypoempathy? AUTISM. Low empathy is not just an "evil" personality disorder thing. Anyone can be anywhere on the scale of empathy. And it doesn't fucking matter. And anyone can be capable of good or bad. It has literally nothing to do with narcissism or any disorder.

Like wtf are anti narcissists gonna fucking do when they realize theyve done harm??? Cause you know what being someone believing in narc abuse did to me?! It made me believe that i was justified as a victim of narcissists so therefore I couldn't be wrong in my trauma responses.

Yeah. Accepting im a narcissist did way more for helping my relationships by allowing me to understand and communicate my needs than believing in narc abuse and calling my parents narcissists ever fucking did. Wtf are they gonna do when they're told about the harm they've done??? Not even related to narc abuse. I would have horrible episodes and defended myself cause I wasn't like my abusive "narcissistic" parents. And all it did was lead to more fights and more episodes and my friend couldn't help cause they were dealing with trauma responses too (people pleasing, believing it was okay what I did or that she deserved it even when I told her not to say or believe that, it's a very lengthy explanation required thing.)

Anyone and everyone is capable of good and bad and is capable of harming others. Whether it's full on abuse, even worse things, or just being insensitive and thoughtless. Focusing so much on the big bad narcissists will only continue to focus on this "us vs them" mentality that completely negates any sort of nuance and ignores the fact that harmful people, abusers, and even the worst of humanity is ALLOWED by society. It isn't a prevalence of narcissists, it is fucking bigotry. And it is everywhere. And it allows abuse to be normalized.

Big list of things I been thinking on. Fuck fuck fuck. I'm already fucking stressed and my parents won't stfu so I can think and type. Disorganized speech, semiverbal, can't thinky think.

#actually narcissistic #actually traumatized #narcissistic #narcissism #surviving narcissism #narcissistic abuse #narcissistic personality disorder #ableism #npd stigma #narc abuse isn't real #narc abuse #cluster b safe #rant #semiverbal #disorganized speech #actually autistic

[twin-wings]

Vash and Knives' dynamic in the manga is extremely compelling to me. I really like how their conflict isn't a matter of innate temperaments, but the different ways in which they react to their experiences.

When they were kids, Knives was the one with the strongest desire to connect with humans. He had so much hope – and fear of rejection – that he literally started crying when he felt accepted by Conrad, the second person after Rem to learn about the twins' existence. And it's important that it was Knives, and not Vash, to say something like this:

I've always found it so interesting that between the two of them, Vash was the more cautious one. He was more reserved, quieter, and less emotional compared to Knives. And most importantly, he had fewer expectations about humans and whether or not they could become friends with them.

Vash has never been naive. He's very aware of how difficult it is for people to come to a mutual understanding – and how two beings as powerful as them will likely be seen with suspicion and fear by humans – but this doesn't mean that trying isn't worth it, not matter how many times it might fail.

What this moment conveys is not naive idealism, but an impossibly strong determination. Vash does believe that humans and plants can coexist peacefully, but he also knows it's an uphill road to get there.

Obviously Knives doesn't share the same hope. All the hope he had about humanity was crushed when he found out about Tesla. That was the day his innocence was irreparably lost.

But Knives wasn't the only one who was affected by that discovery. Vash's reaction was just as strong: we see him adamantly refusing food, trying to kill himself because he couldn't stand to be in a ship full of humans. We see him lashing out, angry and scared and unable to trust humans at all, not even Rem.

The whole flashback adds a lot of nuance to Vash's character: he knows humans are capable of terrible things, he doesn't just blindly trust them and doesn't see the world through rose-tinted glasses. But he still chooses empathy and forgiveness instead of resentment and vengeance again and again, because he knows humans are also capable of good, of changing and learning from their mistakes. Rem herself was proof of that: how she did all she could to prevent the tragedy of Tesla from happening again; how she gave her own life for everyone else, to grant everyone a ticket to the future. It was Rem who convinced Vash to have hope and gave him a reason to keep living, and it's her legacy that Vash tries to protect with his life.

Knives, on the other hand, bottled up his emotions, refusing to share his pain with Vash and Rem and using it to fuel his hatred. Knives was afraid of humans as much as Vash was, but instead of facing that fear head-on and overcoming it, he decided to eradicate the source.

The main conflict in Trigun isn't just about two brothers' ideological divergences, nor is it simply about stopping the "bad guy": it's about how good and evil coexist in human nature. Vash and Knives were bound to discover the dark side of humanity sooner or later, and they were bound to make a choice. While Knives only sees the evil that humans have done and refuses to give them a chance, Vash chooses to believe in people's potential for goodness.

They are two sides of the same coin. Both are incredibly powerful beings with the ability to exterminate humanity if they so wanted, but the way they choose to use their immense powers is completely opposite.

#trigun #trigun maximum #vash the stampede #millions knives #trigun meta #trigun spoilers #my post

[artbyblastweave]

There are a lot of ways in which Bonesaw seems to be in conversation with Harley Quinn. They’re both blonde, perky minions with an exaggerated affect and an affinity for black comedy, the girl-fridays to their respective society-dwelling chaotic-evil middle-aged masterminds. Both of them have sympathetic backstories in which they were brought to their current sorry state through deft and continual emotional abuse and/or torture. Both of them are painted as arguably more competent and creative than their respective bosses, and both of them ultimately receive redemptive arcs in which they rediscover their sense of personal agency and get out from under the thumb of their abuser. And neither of them has a valid license to practice medicine.

One thing I don’t see brought up a lot, though, is that Harley Quinn as she’s currently written and marketed is already subverting and deconstructing a character archetype- namely, that of Harley Quinn. She was originally introduced as a relatively flat and uncomplicated minion of The Joker, for a gendered sight gag they didn’t even go through with in the final cut of the episode. She verged on being a stock character. I’ve always parsed Mad Love, the comic/episode that fleshed out her backstory, as the writers subsequently sitting down and seriously considering the whole moll archetype; asking themselves how someone ends up the sidekick of someone like The Joker, and how dysfunctional that relationship would be behind closed doors. Harley Quinn is already thoroughly subverting Harley Quinn, to the extent that it’s now possible to go your whole life without consuming any Batman media that contains the original dynamic being subverted.

So what Bonesaw is doing is that she takes that subversion and cranks it up a notch. Bonesaw is a version of Harley Quinn who, in my opinion, is vastly more sympathetic than Harley herself, but she also (very reasonably!) gets handed much less of a pass by the narrative despite this.

Harley was a grown woman with a doctorate. Bonesaw was Six. Harley breached professional ethics by becoming involved with her patient. Bonesaw was Six. Harley (I think @zoobus brought this up recently and got me thinking about this) was, as the Joker’s doctor, and thus at least initially was the more powerful party in regards to the power imbalance. Bonesaw was six. 

But! Despite the fact that Bonesaw was six, and was dealt an unabashedly terrible hand, the redemption arc is significantly more uphill because she, you know, she did torture and murder scores and scores of people in the most horrifying ways possible! And at a certain point issues of culpability have to take a back-seat to questions like “Are we physically capable of stopping her if she changes her mind and starts doing this again?” Pound-for-Pound I’m pretty sure she’s much worse in terms of raw bodycount than Harley Quinn, regardless of how much choice they each had in the matter. No real way to elide that. No marketing-based impetus for the author to do so.

Her redemption arc doesn’t happen because people within the setting idealistically recognize her as an abused child who’s deserving of a second chance on principle; instead they get her in their custody, they need something from her, and extend her the courtesy of not killing her because that’s the only way to get what they need. They never trust her; they never will trust her, (I personally don’t feel like they’re under any obligation to ever trust her) and her readmission to society is so knifes-edge conditional that from her perspective it was only barely worth it to return to the fold. She is not happier for her decision. There’s no just-so story about how doing good makes everyone forgive you and become your friend, or at least become cautiously indifferent to you. This is, like, the most cynical, harsh and bitter redemption arc possible. And in spite of all this, there’s also a level on which Bonesaw is lucky, because her “redemption arc” is so mechanistic; so dependent on timing and circumstance, on people needing something from her instead of just killing her, on being young enough that “she never had a chance to be anything else” is an argument that lands with people despite being also reasonably true for a lot of adult supervillains who got fucked over as early and as hard as she did. 

This has been sitting in my drafts long enough that I don’t have a good sense of what the final takeaway should be, so I’ll just end with this- Bonesaw’s situation, as melancholy and cynical as it makes me feel, is definitely in line with one of the big recurring beats of the book- that regardless of questions of what one deserves, you get away with a lot if you have something to offer and if you play ball. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Taylor’s visit to Sophia in prison comes right on the tail of the Bonesaw sequence; Shadow Stalker could have gotten better, if anyone had cared enough to put in the legwork, and probably could have done so with much less work than Bonesaw. But nobody entertained that idea, because at a certain point she stopped being worth it. And Taylor, who probably did do a lot more harm to a lot more people just because she was running free for longer, gets a seat at the table because she made herself useful, and a charitable assessment from the fandom because we live in her head. And after a sufficiently long bout of fruitless plate-spinning and sin-weighing, kindness and mercy and the extension of second chances inevitably come out in the wash, as a knot-cutting measure if nothing else.

#bonesaw #worm #wildbow #parahumans #thoughts #worm thoughts #worm web serial #meta

[tayyemon]

You Should Check Out: The Silent Kingdom

Hello readers, let me tell you about ‘The Silent Kingdom’, a up and coming Indie Dark Fantasy Otome as well as an Adventure RPG !

Let me start by saying that one of the things I adore as a long-time fan of the Dating Simulator genre (Alternatively known as Otome Games) is the variety of the stories, the portability, and premises of the games themselves, and the ability to truly make any standalone genre into a dating simulator as well as how the heroine is as a character.

Which takes us here! On one lone day I had seen this game on the Steam equivalent of a “For you Page” and I became enamored by the beautiful art, and especially so of the main heroine, Princess Erinys. Looking further into the page, this games’ premise also hooked me in, a dark fantasy story with a morally gray heroine who is molded into whatever you make of her, whether it be for good or for evil? SIGN ME UP! I genuinely see and hear the market for Dark Fantasy Otome games in both a studio and an indie developer, with a small, yet loud community of Otome gamers on various website forums asking for and dreaming of darker and more mature Otome games, I can confidently say that based off of what I have seen so far in-game, I am able to confidently say that ‘The Silent Kingdom’ is more than capable of being an answer to the market demand.

Though what is this game about? In short, Princess Erinys’ kingdom has fallen to a curse, completely ruining what used to be her world. It is our, the players, job as Princess to save our kingdom from the curse or fall to the curse in this emotional, choose you own adventure RPG with choices that determine the fate of everyone, even yourself. With a planned release suggested to be in 2024, I look very much forward to playing ‘The Silent Kingdom’ , which you, the reader, can do… RIGHT NOW!

Linked below is a demo (available on both Steam and Itch.io), which contains the prologue of the game, which is approximately one (1)  hour and twenty (20) minutes.  

The game itself is currently playable in both English as well as Spanish-Spain with releases planned for both Windows via Steam, and Nintendo Switch (portability…YAY!) . Also linked is the Kickstarter page as well as the twitter page for the game developer herself, Lucky Cat.

https://twitter.com/LuckyCatOtome

#The Silent Kingdom #otome game #otome #dating simulator #indie games #anime #shoujo #rpg maker #action adventure games #you should check out

[null40410]

Am I a God?

It’s a question that’s plagued me for as long as I can remember. I write these words not for anyone else, but for myself, to make sense of the thoughts that circle endlessly in my mind. Perhaps putting them on paper will help me find some clarity.

Over the years, I’ve been called many names. You can call me Elias for now. Names are transient, as fleeting as the people who bestow them upon me. They come and go, like whispers in the wind, leaving behind only faint echoes.

For reasons beyond my understanding, people have always seen something in me. They’ve called me divine, praised me, worshipped me. They’ve looked to me for guidance, for miracles, for salvation. And why? Because I’ve lived longer than any man should, because I’ve survived where others have not? Because I’ve seemed unchanging while the world around me crumbles and rebuilds itself?

In truth, I am as human as anyone. I feel pain, sorrow, joy, and love. I make mistakes. I’ve lied and cheated, shown kindness and cruelty. I’ve walked the same earth, breathed the same air, and faced the same struggles as everyone else. Yet, the perception persists. Am I more than human because others believe it so? Does their belief make me a god?

I’ve seen people bend their knees and bow their heads, offering prayers and sacrifices in my name. They’ve built temples, written scriptures, and sung hymns. All for me, or rather, for the idea of me. The notion that I am something greater, something divine. It’s a heavy burden to bear, one that I never asked for and certainly don’t deserve.

The irony is that despite all this, I am profoundly ordinary. I don’t possess supernatural powers. I can’t perform miracles. I age, albeit slowly, and I am susceptible to the same flaws and weaknesses as any other person.

So, what makes a god? Is it the power to shape reality, to command the elements and defy natural laws? Or is it the belief, the faith of those who follow, that elevates a person to divinity? If it’s the latter, then perhaps I am a god, not by my own merit, but by the will of those who believe in me.

Yet, I find it hard to accept. How can I be a god when I am so fundamentally human? I have loved and lost, felt the sting of betrayal and the warmth of friendship. I have wandered the earth, seeking meaning, just like everyone else. My actions have been driven by the same fears, desires, and uncertainties that define the human experience.

In the end, the question remains unanswered. Am I a God? I am a man, flawed and fallible, capable of both great good and great evil. The essence of who I am lies not in the titles others bestow upon me, but in the choices I make, the actions I take, and the humanity I cannot escape.

In my eyes, divinity is a matter of perspective, shaped by belief and faith. To some, I may seem god-like, a figure of reverence and awe. To others, I am an enigma, a curiosity. And to myself, I am simply Elias—a man caught in the endless flow of time, pondering the nature of existence.

Am I a God? Well… it’s not really up to me.

#story #short story #fiction #journal #am i a god? #creative writing #writing #writers on tumblr

[araelinn]

Y'know, the phrase "knowledge is a curse" is one I've often thought about. Not in the "I now know horrors and can't unsee them" kind of way. (Though that one is also true)

But more in a "The world was once black and white and now I can't unsee the shades of grey" kind of way.

Because knowledge, knowing more, learning the complexity of the world. Let's you see the nuance, and let me tell you nuance is fucking annoying.

Because here's the thing, everyone is capable of achieving some understanding of nuance. The thing is, not everyone wants to, or has a need to. For some people nuance is just making their lives more complicated for no practical returns. Some people live in situations where nuance is useless or even detrimental to their survival. Being in the position where you can take mental energy to consider the nuance of a situation is a fucking privilege unfortunately.

Having the knowledge and mental energy leftover from your day to day to find the nuance of situations is understanding the contradictory paradox that is human nature.

Knowing that there's exceptions that prove the rules and what those exceptions are, both good and bad. Is knowing the depravity of people and the fascinating selflessness of others. Its knowing two things can be true at once and saying they can't because unfortunately they make your argument less strong, and most people don't care or focus on the majority over the exceptions. And is knowing and understanding the reason behind that focus, the benefits of it, yet still feeling frustrated nonetheless.

Because the world isn't perfect, wasn't perfect in the good ol times, and will not be perfect in the future. Because the only thing we can do is reduce harm as much as possible. Because no ideology is flawless and we just need to find the one that works for us best and roll from there, then change it again when it stops working enough.

Because our minds literally are not built for change, not this quickly. But is surprisingly adaptable when it doesn't have a choice. Because sometimes beliefs are so ingrained that only a complete burning of the status quo can make a significant change and we know that, yet our morality, which helped us understand the problem, stops us because we know the cost is not pretty either.

It is knowing an agressor can be a a past victim yet still is an agressor and has to be dealt with accordingly. It is knowing that evil people have people that love them and still wanting them to pay even if it bleeds over to them. It is also regretting those same thoughts moments later.

It's accepting humanity with all its imperfections, hating it and loving it at the same time because what other options do we have.

It's knowing we live in an uncaring universe where justice is not a universal force but a concept created by our minds because we care too much.

It's both wishing we were like most animals or other living species on this planet because "at least their lives are simple". But also "no fuck you I like to be able to ponder all of this and make connections, and not have to worry about survival every single day"

It's too much and too little, and why I completely agree why Albert Camus the french philosopher argued that pressing the 'End game' on life is the most basic philosophical question. Because "Why am I still alive" is more important to our existence than "Who am I". Because those moments when nuance doesn't matter is because that first question has a very clear answer, fuck everything else.

It is knowing that this same pondering has happened a thousand times before, by both brighter and duller minds, yet still having it anyway because it's still frustratingly fascinating.

Man, do I love to hate, and hate to love, and love to love, and hate to hate, humanity.

#philosophy #current events #just life #rant #3am thoughts #morality #nuance #privilege

[inanekomimi]

Ambivalence - a friend

私にとって、

The mark of a true opinion on something is someone that can address the weaknesses within their own point.

As you approach being able to speak the truth, the real way that something is, the further you are from one story, or one perspective on the matter. Because the truth will remain that way no matter how you or someone else looks at it.

Truths also lie within the context of situations, and those situations can define how applicable or relevant that truth even is to begin with.

Not to say that you should embrace facts and "alternative facts" there are things that are just untrue, vaccinations work and that is undisputable, but they do not work for everyone as people have allergies and other immune responses that I am not sure of because I am not a doctor.

All I'm trying to say is that people are often steadfast in their views and beliefs of what things are and how they should be. Which is fine because this is quite literally the filter through which we experience the world, but sometimes I wish people could be a bit more giving with being able to work with others to gain a new perspective.

I think something I see very often is overconfident younger/ middle-aged men and their view of the world in one way. This is not only a man issue more so about personal pride of knowledge, but surely the phenomenon of mansplaining, or I like to call it just bullshitting w/ copium stems from somewhere?

Men, I think are privileged in how they experience the world and how the things they say are taken. I think this makes for a very close minded view of how the world can be and what it should be. Just to put this out there no men are not evil, they are people. People are made by the societies that they live in, but we have the choice to act how we do as adults.

In my case I honestly discount many things men say because men like to show off, to show how capable a hunter and analyst they are. Maybe It's because I have mansplained many things I don't know much about, but honestly I was just trying to make a dialogue.

I think a lot goes into this, I know when I talk to people their actual presence, appearance, demeanor, size, ect certainly affects what I can say back. Someone with very pressing and powerful body language is very difficult to have a dialogue in, but someone that takes the time to really listen and think within them about the topic, now that's a conversation.

Basically I think many men are just not very good listeners because they are the ones always being heard. But honestly if you talk with the people listening (usually women), and there is a loud person that constantly needs to be heard. Yeah, they are getting shit talked because everyone can see that you are being a dickhead.

I think it's good to be knowledgeable and certainly with the internet It's good to try to share knowledge, but if you really haven't read the source material, taken a class on, or done research or extensively analyzed the subject, maybe phrasing your words with much more give can allow for a much more dynamic and interesting conversation.

Too many a time have I seen men and women both just talk at people, just wanting to hear themselves talk, but not actually engage with the other's view.

Not to say this is the only truth about why people act this way, this is purely just my view on the matter. I also think I used a lot of sexist language in this and certainly there are men who are good listeners. I am just thinking aloud on why things may be the way that I see them, and I hope others have things to say as well.

Thanks for being a good reader

ゐなより

_____________________________________________________________

Inanisms:

Copium - Mental gymnastics that make one feel better.

Inanism - something I say because the normal words are too boring.

_____________________________________________________________

[sagaofstardustmkg]

monachopsis || bo || 4.6 || re: amon, everyone kind of

Somehow, Bo has managed to keep his grip on Amon’s sleeve. Well, not somehow. It’s more like he isn’t sure that he physically can let go, regardless of whether that’s a good thing or not. So it’s Amon’s gesturing that pulls Bo back out of his silent spiraling. His brow furrows slightly at the other man’s words. 

“I-I didn’t know. She didn’t tell me anything about it—I didn’t know until I saw it and then I was—it was too—”

He had panicked, basically. Bo looks like he’s on the verge of tears again, but quietly swallows that brewing storm. There would be time later for that. He and Amon would have time. Mari likely won’t. He’d already failed to give her any more time once… but Bo is nothing if not stubborn. If Amon needs something to work with, Bo can at least give him that much.

“H-hypothetically… there are several outcomes to this trial. First, we vote for Mari, and Mari is… killed. That’s the established norm that we’ve come to expect. We can be sure that it’s safe for the rest of us, because it has been three previous times.”

Bo swallows hard, trying to force his aching head back into a mode of thinking that focuses on facts. Maps out possibilities. Analyses the risks and benefits of which move to make next. It isn’t easy given his current mental state, but navigating life through a series of careful chess moves has made it nearly second nature.

“The second outcome… is that we vote incorrectly, whether that’s for ourselves or simply one person who isn’t Mari. The results of that are entirely unknown, therefore i-it’s not safe at all for the rest of us. One of us could die in her place… or worse.”

He’s not really sure what could be worse, nor does he want to consider it at the moment. So he pushes on.

“However… if Sasha is telling the truth—which I do realize is a big fucking ‘if’—then he’ll reward a successful killer with a wish. We know that he’s capable of it magically-speaking, so it’s more a matter of whether or not he keeps his word."

"Additionally, if that wish is given to Mari, it would have to be done with the same sort of trust that she would use it in the way that she’s claimed. Provided that both of those conditions are met, the wish could be used to force the potential negative results of a mistrial onto solely Mari. It’d be safe for the rest of us… but, again, that’s only in theory.” 

Bo reaches up as though he’s going to pinch the bridge of his nose, but stops part way, distracted by his bandaged hand. Brief terror crosses his face, but he continues.

“Currently, we don’t know what the results of a mistrial are. Before now, the only way to find out has been through potentially risking all of the innocents, which I think we can all agree is unacceptable. This time, we have a method of gaining that information, and hypothetically it would not pose further risk to someone innocent."

"I-I’m not particularly hopeful that it would be anything less than awful—but I don’t know that. None of us do. And if there’s a chance that choosing wrong doesn’t outright kill the person then… then isn’t that worth learning? I-isn’t it worth no one else having to die today?”

Bo can feel the pressure building behind his eye as he fights to hold back his tears. He doesn’t want to see any more of his classmates die. He doesn’t want to see anyone else hurt at all, but if it’s a choice between the two, then to him there’s a clear lesser evil. He takes a small, shaky breath to compose himself.

“I’m not going to… pretend that I have any right to ask anything of the rest of you. Not for your trust in Mari, certainly not your trust in Sasha, nor for you to risk your own safety or that of those you care about—those are all purely your own decision. It’s also not one that anyone here should make for you, s-so I wouldn’t propose to do anything without agreement from everyone.”

This whole trial, Bo has avoided looking at the others directly. He’s not sure that his head would be able to handle seeing anyone's emotions. Now, however, he very slowly raises his stare, looking around the table much the same way he had the very first time they’d been here. He keeps his gaze low and carefully meets everyone’s eyes, lingering for a moment on the empty seats in turn. 

He’s not the same person he’d been in that first trial, of course… but none of them are. Much like everyone standing here and everyone absent, he’s been broken in new and horrible ways. Twisted and stretched past limits he'd never have wanted to cross. Despite that, his voice carries the same seriousness in its tone as it had all those months ago. Maybe a touch quieter, and little bit hoarse from sobbing, but it remains steady nonetheless.

“I won’t ask anything of you all, but I’d be stupid not to at least point out that this is an opportunity we will likely never have again. Especially when we know it’s extremely likely we will be back here. Sooner or later.”

#ch4 #trial #bo

[principledstarfish]

"Mom," Billy asked, "why did that lady want to take us?"

It has taken a few hours to get the house back in order. A boundary spell was keeping everyone away for the time being: she would lift it in the morning. Her phone was ringing nonstop, and pretty soon the reporters would be camped outside, now that word had gotten out that one of the Avengers had, the official story went, been placed under mind control and used to wipe out the leaders of multiple teams of heroes. The secret of the Illuminati was out, now that they were destroyed, and the X-men, the Avengers, the Inhumans, the Fantastic Four, and others were already doing damage control. Scott had already called to ask if Erik had contacted her - he had, but she let it go to voicemail. She wouldn't let Magneto get anywhere near her kids. She's offered Scott her condolences and congratulated him on his new title as leader of the X-men.

Her boys were tucked into her bed. Usually they sought comfort from each other when they had nightmares; climbing into her bed meant it was a nasty one. She anticipated more of those in the coming nights, so she suggested they all sleep together tonight.

She sat down on the bed between them and placed a hand on each of their heads - for her own peace of mind as much as their.

"She wanted you because she lost you," she explained. "They lady was a version of me, from another universe."

"But Mom, you would never do stuff like that," Tommy objected. Billy nodded in agreement. She was touched by their defense of her.

"Boys, everyone is capable of good, and if evil," she explained. "She lost you, she lost your dad, she lost Uncle Pietro, and Baka and Djed, and it made her very sad, and very angry."

Billy looked horrified. "But Mom, you lost Dad and Uncle Pietro and Baka and Djed, too. Does this mean if someone happens to us you'd be bad?"

She smiled sadly. Trust Billy to ask the hardest question to answer.

"The other me made a choice," she explained, "and that's what destiny is, is our choices. Boys, that's why it's important to learn to use your powers responsibly. Your magic," she looked at Billy, "and your speed," she turned to Tommy. "Because every time you use your powers selfishly, it gets a little bit easier, and a little bit easier, and a little bit easier, until you wake up one day and realize you can't call yourself a good guy anymore."

They stared at her, awestruck. She looked at the clock in the because table.

"Now," she said, more businesslike, "it's way past your bedtime, and certain little boys need to go to sleep.

This pronouncement would normally invite protests and objections and negotiations that were atomized down to the second, especially with Tommy. Tonight however, all they asked was

"Can you stay with us?" Tommy asked.

She smiled at both of them. "Of course," she said, and she kissed both of them on the forehead.

"Goodnight, boys," she said, and turned off the light. Her phone vibrated on the table - Janet wanted something. She picked out up and turned it off. Tomorrow she would deal with the fallout from her multiversal visitor. Tonight, Billy and Tommy were safe in bed, and nothing else mattered.

#wanda maximoff #scarlet witch #doctor strange #doctor strange in the multiverse of madness #Billy Kaplan #wiccan #Tommy shepherd #speed #fanfic #avengers #x men #Inhumans #fantastic 4 #illuminati #the darkhold

[rivendellsstuff]

𝐀𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 ━━━ 𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐈 𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍

𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮 | ❝In despair, he condemns his desires. Regretted, he know the consequences would be eternal and all he wanted was you. Your fiery personality, bright lips and soft skin.❞

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2310;

Genre: friends to lovers;

𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫: Mentions of canon-typical violence. The first chapter is set before the events of the first season. Friends with benefits — so, it'll be eventual smut (like, a lot!)

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: English isn't my natives language, so if you spot a misspelled word or anything else, feel free to let me know.

━━━━ 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑

Some men's whish the glory, others crawl like snakes by power and there is those who live like rats in the system. However, there is a exception — and his names is Levi Ackerman. Emerged from the underground, by dust and blood, forged as a weapon at an early age and steeped in pride, he raised as humanity's strongest soldier. He carries a doctrine, imbedded in his bones: he serves to humanity, the balance and the freedom of mankind. If there is a threat, he is the man who can fight against it, ranging from cruel people to evil titans.

He was born in cruel times and did his best to survive in the Underground. He found a glory he wasn't looking for. Something many wish to through their lives, but which, for him, was irrelevant. They all bleed, they all are stuck on the Walls and share the same ended chapter: the death. The final outcome is not defined by possessions, achievements or privileges in life. The only difference was that could get death any easier and painless. Levi was not a hypocrite: he would rather a peaceful death, lying on his bed, instead of being eaten by a titan.

He rather — and is all what it is. It wasn't like if he had any choice. The Ackerman's family were designed to protect the people and to fight. They were cursed with a power. Some people could say it is a miracle in dark times. Others would argue that mans were corrupted, cruel and too ambitious to deal with that awakened power. Well, Levi knows, that no everyone were worthy to possess such ability — Kenny, that asshole, was one of them.

However, there was kind strange situation. An only exception, an affliction that hung over through the heart and maddened his mind: you.

Desire wasn't a word enough to define how he feels close to you, a fearless female warrior, who destroy each barrier he has built over the years, causing delirium with the thought of you hurt. Levi knew he would have taken a checkmate just by desiring you.

But when it all starts? He couldn't say with sure. Maybe, when he, Farlan and Isabel were recruited by the Survey Corps, and you were the only one who spoke to them without undriveable mock and trial. You, besides Erwin, didn't seem to care where they came from. As deeply loyal as you were to your comrades, you didn't depend on your interactions with them for take a direction — you were content to follow your own passions and desires without input from anyone else.

Maybe it started when he saw you in battle or an a argue with a member of Military Police Regiment. Fear is not in yours's vocabulary when you are on the battlefield or when you are speaking her mind to others.

As their partnership grew, he'd find some similarities between you, but also many differences.

You, just like him, has little patience for any form of prose or riddles when you are communicating with others. You speak bluntly and without pretense, and expects others to do the same, prefers to get to the point and doesn’t seek to romanticize your expectations or intentions. You also are focused on the present issues and what role you can play in protecting the people that you love, what can prevent you from seeing the future results of your present actions and, unlike him, does result in some impulsive and risky — yet brave— actions.

All these little things over the years, made him fall in love with you, and Levi had ways to say it without saying "I love you".

Like that night.

He wasn't hiding his disgust face when handed you a cup full of that steaming, black liquid; the simply smelling coffee could make your stomach turn, but still, he prepares a cup for you every night.

As the second in the command, you have spent several evenings together conducting the next advances of the squadron. So, there you are, sitting next to him, eyes focused on the paper, turning the pen between your fingers and... biting your lower lip.

Occasionally, almost instinctively Levi raises his eyes to you. Being so close of you was it's a unique feeling. The smell of your perfume as stunning, and his throat closes around the words he would like to say. The tension that has been brought in was too dangerous for someone like him.

Fucking woman, fucking lips. Fuck you!

''Is there a problem?'', you inquired making eye contact for the first time that night. He couldn't say if there was perversion when you wet your own lips, but Levi felt his muscles become tense and contracted when you made it.

Levi responded with a faint whimper before observed: ''You shouldn't be drinking so much coffee at this time. You look like shit when don't get sleep''.

Lie. Fucking hell, you're always beautiful, but no way he'd say what he thought.

You rolled your eyes. ''It's you who did'', you put forth.

''I wasn't in the mood to put up with a brat attitude from you.''

''Brat? You know that we have about the same age, don't you?'', your gaze traveled from the figure sat in front of you to the window, confused as to why you would be embarrassed about his presence. You took in a breath before adding: ''Anyway, don't want sleep.''

There was a pause for a few seconds. You and he eyed each other.

''Why?'', he asks, authoritative one.

You shrugged and shook your head firmly. ''It doesn't matter.''

''If it doesn't matter, why would I have asked that?''

"Cause you're snooper”, you smirked.

''I'm not a snooper, brat."

He felt his heart begin to quicken when you carried the pen to your lips and start biting.

"Yes, you are a horrible snooper old man, bossy and with an astonishing mania for cleanliness."

"Old? You know we have about the same age”; he repeats. His eyes drifted back to your face, noticing your gaze had shifted again to the woods beyond the window. "And you're avoiding the question", he softly says (at least as softy as he could be), interrupting your rampant thoughts. "Are you alright?"

Levi watches in silence as you'd shoulders slump.

"I can't sleep. My mind has the scary capability of being evil, although I always thought that one day it'd get better", you're voice was low and flat, quiet and a little sad as you spoke to Levi, who seemed to know what are you exactly referred to and only nodded at your words. "I feel guilty. All the time."

Even in the darkness the room held, your eyes find his greys one like the starlight's.

''Are you afraid of your dreams, too?'', you asked, never expecting the humanity strongest soldier to have any fears.

'Yes'', he said quietly.

You nodded with hesitation, his words repainting in your head as you struggled to forma a sentence to answered.

Levi was used to such sadness, he had month's — no, years — to griever over the deaths of his mother and friends. Death was not uncommon thing in his life. His childhood who should be carefree, playing in the sun, was like a living nightmare, learning to fight in the darkness of Underground. Later, when he left the place to join the Survey Corps, he accepted to live in that never ending tragedy that people had sadly grown used to. Death was more common in that job than anything else, and he knows how badly it fuck with his mind.

“I’m beginning to think we’re a lot alike… you and me. We’re both strange cast, who’ve learned to fight when we’re backed into a corner'', you began weakly.

''Well, we’re backed into a corner now. Two fucking insomniacs”, he shook his head, thinking about your words. He didn't seem to like the way your voice sounded sadder. You raised your eyes to him again as he slowly spoke: ''You're not alone''

You answered a tiny smile onto your lips. Levi felt his cheeks burn and opposite glanced to your empty coffee cup, thinking that he'll able to always tolerate your strange addiction.

A few second later you both went back to work, and Levi was left with words stuck, temptation planted in the mind and a sure thing for him: the insomniac nights would become better by you.

【 ━━ 】

Inside Wall Sheena, guests were arriving, among them five members of the Scout Regiment - consisting mostly of commanders - walked through the gates, exuding self-confidence, bitter to participate in that boring and stupid meeting.

Little lies, little social sacrifices to feed what kept the Scout Regiment going: funding.

It was not necessary to be an expert in politics to see beyond the traditional veil of those events, to perceive the intentions of certain parliamentarians, very sadistic. Knowing it was part of your job to relate to these kinds of people annoyed you.

For one minute, you saw out of the corner of your eyes, the first on your command. The man of grey eyes used a black suit that fits perfectly. Be present in an event with so many politics didn't seem to his liking. Was kind of hard for all of you play nice one with all this tension in the air.

You've never felt the feeling of fear and tension like that inside the Walls before.

''Stop frowning before you break your face''

'It would be so sad, and you would cry for being depriving of that beautiful face''

''Oh, fuck yourself'', he says, angrily.

''If you watch''

You smirched at his expression as he looks up to you, after seeing your face, he turns away.

''Watch your words, brat''

''Or what, old man? What will you do to me?''

He looks back up at you.

''I could break you habit of drinking coffee, put you to clean all the HQ or even to help Hange with the experiments. The three together seems good, by the way''

You roll your eyes.

''You're mean''

'You're annoying'', he replied. ''And you know, if you keep rolling your eyes one day their going to get stuck like that''

''Are you trying to be funny?''

His little grin showed up making you roll eyes into a smile. He was terribly bossy and annoying, but you like that about him.

You took the glass of wine to your lips and raised your eyes to hit his. Levi hovered over you, making you felt that flame into your heart once more. Your eyes tailed down to Levi's lips then back to his eyes. You could feel your heart beating recklessly.

Fucking grey eyes, fucking black suit. Fuck you!

You felt a thumb on your cheeks, making them burn.

''You look...'', he started whispered and slightly caress your cheeks. Your body started to get hot under his soft touch. ''... beautiful. You look beautiful''

You were speechless.

You liked the sudden ardor, of the dangerous attraction, of folly and frivolous with provocative sins. Liked and thought how the taste of his lips would be: the indomitable, the irresistible, the powerful and sin.

He slowly dragged his hand down to my thorax wrapping his hands around it. A soft gasp escaped of your lips.

''You know... If you want dance, it'll not rude to ask'', you try to say. ''The song is awful, but I'm not a demanding partner''

''Only if you don’t step on my foot''

His prepotency make you smile.

''Don’t be a bad partner and there will be no mistakes'', you retorted, making him raised one of the eyebrows. ''That's how a men should behave next to a woman''

He took you in his arms, abruptly, making the bodies collide with intensity. You gasped, very close to Levi's ears, who felt the hairs stand on the back of his neck. Leading you through music, in no second was the look averted, in a battle for unknown control.

You and Levi explored a unique experience.

He stares burned deep into your body. His touch on your skin made your body tingle.

Fuck, control yourself. Don't get turned on by him!

He didn't say anything, just left you hold into him. You could feel your body burning around him. What was he doing to you? It felt like a spell. The effect of sin, of desire. You should get rid of that, all you needed least were distractions in the workplace and ruin the friendship, trust and partnership that you two took so long to build.

However, both keep looking to each other longer than friends should. Longer than friends should...

He could saw you lost inside your mind. Slowly, he pulled down his fingers, lazily touching the skin of your exposed back by the dress. Levi's vision was blinded by the desire his image represented. The surroundings smelled wine and fruits, intoxicating his sense. The ears, doomed to hear the political bullshit. His tact could burn by touching you. His taste? It was dangerous, because wanted to discover the taste of your lips and body.

But not now, not here.

You are his friend — the only who was left. In despair, he condemns his desires. Regretted, he knew the consequences would be eternal and all he wanted was you. Your fiery personality, bright lips and soft skin.

To hell all of that. When you both got back, he'll fucked you, every way that he can thinking off. He wants to pound into you, slammed into you and give the best night that you ever have. He wants to kiss every inch of your skin.

''Good girl'', he whispers next to your ears. ''But I'll show you how true men should behave next to a woman when we get back''

#aot x reader #attack on titan imagine #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman imagine #levi x you #levi smut #levi ackerman series #attack on titan fanfiction

[redorich]

For the canyon au, what would happen if one of the hermits got hurt during a scout? Like, if etho is out scouting, something happens, and he’s unable to message the hermits or get help. Would he be willing to be seen? Would any smpers besides Puffy help him?

Zedaph didn't mean to leave the canyon, honest! He was just looking for a sheep of his own for a completely ethical experiment involving pistons and a perfectly reasonable quantity of peanut butter, thank you very much. He wasn’t about to steal a sheep from someone else’s farm, and for some reason sheep don’t tend to spawn at bedrock level. So really, he had no choice!

Zedaph is rethinking a lot of his decisions. He’s also wondering if he left the jump-powered stove on. Then he remembers that it’s jump-powered, and as he is not currently jumping on it, it is most likely unpowered. Unfortunately, it seems as though Zedaph is going to be eating a lot of cold food for a while if he makes it out of this alive, because he’s not going to be jumping on anything with a broken leg.

Despite his punishment for trying to take a cross-section of something that he now knows is probably sentient (oops), he can’t help but want to go back, to learn more. What is the rate of growth of those red vines? Are they all from the same plant? Are they actually sentient, or is the crimson kudzu in possession of an automatic response to attempted harm? Did the vine know it was hitting him off a ledge which would break his leg, or did it just know “whack human away from vine”? Would the vines taste good in soup? Are they flammable? Could Zedaph theoretically knit a fashionable sweater out of them, and if so would the sweater be capable of independent movement?

He is torn from his musings of a wriggly evil sweater by another thrum of pain. He hisses. There’s... more blood than is advisable. Outside of his leg, that is. Inside his leg is likely less than the advisable amount of blood, and come to think of it, his head’s probably a bit empty as well, seeing as how he’s having so much trouble thinking straight-- well, straight for him. His jumps in logic are incomprehensible to most on a good day, but right now even he can’t follow his own thought process. What was he thinking about again?

Ah yes. The overwhelming pain from being yeeted off a ledge. Come to think of it, the ledge he fell off-- the one he’s sitting leaned against-- is shaped awfully unusually. It must be manmade. Whoever made this is not a good terraformer. Zedaph should bake Scar some cookies. Is Scar allergic to peanuts? Ow. Ow. Ow. Zedaph will need to borrow Impulse’s oven-- or he could set up his own oven with an armor stand that jumps for him?

“Hey there, who are you?” says a female voice. Zedaph looks up. He doesn’t have to look very far up.

Standing in front of him is a woman with a cool pirate-looking coat (red, of course; all self-respecting pirates wear red), with long fluffy hair like white wool and rainbow fringe! Oh, and she’s, like, half sheep or something. That’s cool too.

Wait. There’s something about sheep he’s forgetting... How could he have been so stupid?! He came to the surface in the first place in search of a sheep, and now he’s (kind of) found one!

The cool pirate lady says something, but Zedaph-- well, he does hear it, but it doesn’t process. Words are just mouth-sounds. He is in pain.

“Found a sheep,” he mumbles, “Come back to the canyon?”

“You’re hurt, man,” the sheep-pirate-lady says. She has pretty rainbow hair, and the white parts look like clouds.

She laughs. “Thanks.”

Clearly, this woman is a mind-reader! As well as a sheep. Really, two for the price of one. Zedaph isn’t quite sure what to do with a mind-reader, but his head will be much clearer and therefore able to dream up wacky hypotheses once he respawns--

He gasps, jerking forward and choking on his own breath when he remembers the cold truth. Xisuma won’t be able to respawn him, not for several days. Zedaph doesn’t want to spend that long in the void.

“Woah!” the woman exclaims, rushing to steady him. “You look pretty bad, dude. Let’s get you home or something. Where do you live?”

“Canyon,” Zedaph rasps. “I’m not supposed to tell you that, I don’t think. Can’t remember why.”

The nice woman goes very still. “Hey. My name’s Puffy. I’m gonna take you to the canyon. Do you think you can stand if I help you?”

“Puffy..?” Zedaph squints off into the middle distance, trying to remember something. “She’s the person who keeps coming back to that barrel, isn’t she?”

Puffy pulls Zedaph’s arm over her shoulder and gently pulls him up to his feet. “She is,” Puffy says softly.

“I hope she liked the enchanted diamond shears,” he mumbles.

“She did,” Puffy says softly. “She didn’t even know diamond shears were a thing.”

“I was going to make an emerald flint and steel,” Zedaph rambles, “but it turns out that items made of flint and steel aren’t conducive to being made of not-flint and not-steel."

"Who would have thought?" Puffy laughs, then trips over a vine. Zedaph makes a pained noise at the jostle to his leg, which is dragging a bit on the ground because Puffy is so much shorter than him. She notices this, and rethinks her strategy.

"At this rate, we'll never get back to the canyon," she gripes. "Climb on my back instead, I'll carry you."

Zedaph obliges, but warns, "Tango says I'm heavy.”

“I’m stronger than Tango, I’ll bet.”

The Hermit is actually a bit heavy, but this is a matter of pride now. And also, quite possibly a matter of urgency. The Hermit isn’t responding anymore. He’s still holding on, so he isn’t dead or completely unconscious; still, he’s not in a good state.

As soon as the elevator down to the bottom of the canyon comes into view, Puffy books it. Surely, in the canyon base, the Hermit will have healing potions? He (They? Multiple Hermits?) gave her a whole beacon, so obviously he/they are late-game enough to have plenty of potions.

Stepping into the elevator, Puffy presses the button, then puts her hand on the Hermit’s neck. It’s a bit of an awkward position, since his chin is hanging over her shoulder, but it makes her feel better to have a hand on his pulse. He makes a pitiful noise as the elevator descends.

“Easy there,” Puffy says, “you’re almost home.”

The moment the doors open, she ventures out into the village. The only safe place she knows is the barrel where she leaves her items for the Hermit(s), so she takes him there. Now that she’s looking, she spots shadows, eyes, movements, throughout the supposedly empty village. One such person comes out of the woodwork, sprinting.

“Zedaph!” exclaims a tall, musclebound man. His face is twisted in naked worry as he meets Puffy at the barrel, which she sets Zedaph down on.

The large man, who wears a black shirt with a creeper face on it (does that mean something, Puffy wonders?) scrutinizes the blond man on the barrel for a moment before springing into action, splashing potions and bits of lapis and-- holy shit, is that a Totem of Undying?! When the blond man, Zedaph, seems to come back to himself enough that he could reasonably eat a golden carrot with minimal choking hazard, the new man hands him one. Finally, he turns to Puffy.

“Thank you,” he says. The relief in his voice is tangible.

Puffy shifts awkwardly. “I was just doing the right thing. I noticed, uh, his bracelet.”

They both look to Zedaph’s wrist. It’s got a woven bracelet on it. The textile isn’t astounding, but the pattern on it is intricate. Puffy would know, she made it herself as a gift for the Hermit. As Puffy and the other Hermit look at each other, she realizes that he is also wearing something she made: a pair of fingerless gloves which are now stained with redstone dust.

He catches her staring. “We all have one-- oh, uh, my name’s Impulse, and this is Zedaph--”

“Impulse,” a new blond man hisses from behind the two. Puffy jumps. She didn’t hear him coming.

“Tango!” Impulse greets, suddenly nervous. Why a man as big as Impulse would be nervous when facing anyone, let alone a normal-looking guy like Tango, is beyond Puffy. Maybe Tango’s red eyes have some sort of significance?

“Impulse,” Tango repeats, looking around for anyone that isn’t a Hermit. “You’re not invisible.”

Impulse’s eyebrows draw together in a frown. “I had to see Zedaph.”

“Yeahhh,” Zedaph slurs.

“Besides, if we can trust any of the natives, it’s Puffy,” Impulse insists. He crosses his arms in what should be an intimidating display, but truthfully looks more like a pout.

“You know what Xisuma said,” Tango says. “I’m grateful to have Zedaph back, but...”

“Xisuma would agree with me,” Impulse says stubbornly.

Tango sighs explosively, full of nerves. “Alright, fine, can we at least get out of sight? Anyone could come wandering across the surface and spot us.”

“How many of you are there?” Puffy breathes. Everyone’s eyes snap to her.

“Twenty-four,” Zedaph says happily.

“Zedaph!” Tango admonishes.

Rolling his eyes, Impulse scoops Zedaph up off the barrel like he weighs nothing. He carries the dazed blond man down the path and into a cottage-style house. As Tango goes to follow, he catches Puffy’s eye.

“Sorry,” he says, “nothing personal. Just trying to avoid being explodificated, which means not being seen by the people who live on this server. You get it, yeah?”

He jogs off to catch up with Impulse, and Puffy hurriedly follows. Tango’s got a bracelet like Zedaph’s, but it’s one of the ones Puffy made out of different shades of red. She wonders if all the Hermits wear something she made.

The inside of the house is a bit cramped, but it’ll do. It’s got a bed, at least, so Zedaph’s got somewhere to keep his leg off the ground. This all feels surreal.

“So, uh...” Puffy says into the stuffy silence of the room. “How about that, uh, bedrock?”

Nobody has anything to say to that. Fuck.

Out of nowhere, yet another Hermit shows up. There’s a trapdoor in the wall that, now that she looks at it, Puffy realizes that Tango was hiding intentionally. That’s all gone to shit, though, because a man with white hair and a mask over his face peeks his head out from the hole in the wall.

“Hey guys, what--” The man takes a look around, spots Puffy, and freezes. “...On second thought, I’ll come back later.”

“Wait!” Impulse says to the man. “Get Xisuma, or at least tell him Puffy’s here if he can’t make the trip right now.”

“Karl thinks you’re Mothman,” Puffy blurts out to the white-haired man.

The man looks very self-satisfied for someone who’s only showing a quarter of his face. “Oh? Where does he live? For absolutely no reason, of course.”

“Etho...” Tango groans.

“Oh, alright, I’ll go get X.”

The man leaves. Oh boy, thinks Puffy, this is going to be interesting.

#mcyt #hc x dsmp #hermit canyon au #captain puffy #zedaph #zedaphplays #impulsesv #tango tek #xisuma #xisumavoid #ethoslab #me.cpp #me.txt

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 25 part two

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Jin Jerks Continued

Jin Furen is all judgy about Wei Wuxian, so it's hard to like her, since WWX is our protagonist and whatnot. But! Jin Furen is actually totally awesome. She adores Jiang Yanli and takes sides with her against her own son. She knows he likes Yanli and works her ass off to do all the courting for him, since he sucks at it, rather than picking a random wife for him and sticking him with her choice. She's always gentle with Yanli in her tone and body language. And Jin Zixuan had to get his good side from somebody.

Wei Wuxian politely tells Jin Furen that it's all over (again/still) between Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan, and cousin Jin Zixun rushes up to argue with him, saying he's being too proud and that he shouldn't talk to Jin Furen that way, since she is his senior. Wei Wuxian, still politely, explains the clan politics that underlie every one of these Zixuan-Yanli interactions. As a matter of clan pride, the Jiang Clan can't allow Yanli to be insulted.

Cousin Jin Zixun immediately goes all in on the clan rivalry, beefing with Wei Wuxian about how much prey he caught. Everybody forgets all about Yanli's situation while they talk about the hunt results instead.

The Jin cultivators--parroting what they heard from Jin Guangyao--say that Wei Wuxian has flute-walked 30 percent of the prey into nets by himself. Lan Wangji actually decides to react to something, saying "30 percent? and giving Wei Wuxian such a series of LOOKS, oh my god. 

This Wangxian moment is an important one, I think, because it shows where Lan Wangji's priorities are, and they're...wrong. He's continually telling Wei Wuxian "be good," in one way or another; trying to help him back to the correct way of being a cultivator.  Meanwhile the Lans are totally fine with the Jins being murderous shits who feel entitled to insult high-ranking ladies.

CJZX continues to snipe at Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji continues to judge WWX for being unsportsmanlike.

(more after the cut!)

Wei Wuxian says that he's just showing his capability, and CJZX tries to tell him both that 1. he's practicing evil cultivation and 2. he's just playing the flute. WWX offers him Chenqing and says "show me your capability" which I think is cultivator speak for "fight me, bitch." 

Cousin Jin Zixun moves the goalposts, saying that Wei Wuxian broke the rules, and starts in with class-based dogwhistling, saying "it's understandable that you don't know the rules," and citing examples of Wei Wuxian’s previous bad manners at cultivation events. 

Things escalate and pretty soon Wei Wuxian is yelling at everybody, threatening to tell them why he doesn't carry his sword, (which would actually clear up SO much) and saying he's going to beat them all using necromancy whatever is just this side of necromancy. 

Cousin Jin Zixun tosses his birth status at him, and then it's ON. Scary music, shaking fist, Chenqing booting up...

Lan Wangji, who has been singularly unhelpful since CJZX started talking, suddenly forgets his judginess as he's swept into motion by his constant fear of whatever is going to happen next time Wei Wuxian loses his temper. 

He rushes to Wei Wuxian’s side, grabs his wrist, says his name, and wills him to chill the fuck out. Jiang Yanli joins him, grabbing Wei Wuxian's other arm, and Wei Wuxian manages to get control of himself.

Queen Yanli

Yanli has had it, and she has Wei Wuxian stand behind her while she goes to politely reduce Cousin Jin Zixun to a heap of smoldering cinders.

First she recaps CJZX's accusations against Wei Wuxian; says she doesn't know a lot about the hunt, and apologizes formally on her brother’s behalf. WWX says "Shijie!" but she shakes her head at him and he shuts up.  

CJZX laughs and tells her, in a tone designed to infuriate Wei Wuxian even further, that Wei Wuxian doesn’t rate her apologizing on his behalf, and says that their clans are like family; reinforcing WWX's outsider status. I don't think CJZX is taking orders from Jin Guangyao, because he's way too big of a snob for that, but he's definitely helping JGY to move his agenda forward.

Even Lan Wangji is having trouble staying cool during this exchange; he is focused on keeping Wei Wuxian in check but he’s also angry himself, judging from what his neck is doing here, anyway. *Stares at his neck for way too long*

Wei Wuxian is super upset about Jiang Yanli apologizing, and he’s unable to hold back tears, even with Lan Wangji using the power of extreme staring to help him. 

Jiang Yangli is nowhere near finished, though and she turns around and proceeds to tell everyone that they suck, that it's not Wei Wuxian's fault if he's more talented than everybody else, and that they are just making up rules because they are a bunch of losers. 

Clan Leader Yao has the nerve to say that they know the rules "in their hearts" which is just another class-based dogwhistle. 

Yanli defends Wei Wuxian's cultivation method to everybody, saying it's something he worked at and put effort into--that it's different, not wrong. She's literally the only person who defends his cultivation style, even though they all have benefited from it.

Then she gets right up in Cousin Jin Zixun's face and tells him that it's not ok for him to insult WWX by calling him the son of a servant, and she wants CJZX to apologize. (full gifset here) All of the Jins and Captain Blowhard Clan Leader Yao are SHOCKED at this idea. Jin Furen tries to talk Yanli down but Yanli politely nopes her away, so JFR tells CJZX to apologize.

He's saved from having to actually do it by the arrival of Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen, who jump down off a box fly over to find out what's wrong.

Jin Furen yells at smiley, blinkey Jin Guangyao, telling him he should be able to figure out what's wrong, saying "aren't you good at judging the situation," i.e. aren't you a conniving little creep? She's bitchy but she's not wrong.

When the "30 percent" thing is explained again, Lan Xichen gives Wei Wuxian the same Lan Glare of Sportsmanship Disappointment that his brother did. 

Lan Xichen: It's fine for my boyfriend's obviously power-hungry family to insult my brother's war-hero best friend in a bid to reduce his social status, but him using magic powers in our magical creature hunt is super wrong.  

Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen explain that they're going to open up more area for the hunt, but it's too late to make Cousin Jin Zixun happy. He takes his ball and goes home. 

The Breaking of the Fellowship

The remaining group stroll slowly through the woods, Jin Furen and Jiang Yanli together, while Wei Wuxian walks at a bit of a distance and Jin Zixuan follows right behind his mother. His mother offers to beat him to make Jiang Yanli feel better. See? Perfect Mother-in-Law material.

Jiang Yanli tries to leave again, and is stopped again. This time Jin Furen tries to convince her to come back to the stands to sit with her and Jin Zixuan, and not to go with Wei Wuxian. First she tries saying that it's not appropriate for her and Wei Wuxian to be alone together. Yanli shuts that right down, saying that Wei Wuxian is her didi. Then Jin Furen says that Wei Wuxian has "strong wicked energy" and that he may do something evil. Like fighting back when he is ambushed on his way to a party.

Jiang Yanli repeats that Wei Wuxian is her didi, and says that she'll never leave him. JFR keeps trying but Wei Wuxian steps up and takes Yanli by the wrist and goes to lead her away. Jin Zixuan finally, FINALLY admits that he likes Jiang Yanli. 

He is embarrassed, Jiang Yanli is delighted, and Lan Xichen is amused. 

Jin Zixuan runs away and Jiang Yanli agrees to go back to Jinlintai with Jin Furen. Wei Wuxian is super immature unhappy about it....

....but he accepts her decision, in a nearly wordless exchange that we’ll see echoes of much later, between him and Lan Wangji. (Exceptionally cruel gifset here)

Wei Wuxian formally bows to Jin Furen, asking her to take care of his sister. Because he recognizes this for the parting that it is.

Jiang Yanli isn't wrong to make this choice. She deserves to be happy, and married women in this environment can't live with their original family. But she told Wei Wuxian, over and over, that the three of them have to stick together, only to change course and leave him behind with no warning. It’s not even five minutes since she said "I will never leave him."  Wei Wuxian isn’t the only person making impossible promises in these parts.  

Jiang Cheng and some Jiang cultivators show up, and everyone, including Wei Wuxian, tells Jiang Cheng that he missed an important scene, but nobody will tell him what actually happened. 

Wei Wuxian says he's going into town, and he leaves Jiang Cheng behind just as abruptly as Jiang Yanli left him.

Jiang Cheng asks Lan Xichen what happened, and Lan Xichen says "there was an argument but it's mostly smoothed over now; also, Jin Zixuan says he likes your sister."  Ha ha ha ha! Of course he does not say that, he says "You should ask your sister at the banquet" and Jin Guangyao says it wouldn't be appropriate for them, as outsiders, to comment.

I would like to see Jiang Cheng respond to this by beating the crap out of them with Zidian for being a couple of coy bitches, but he just furrows his brow. 

JGY hangs back from the group for a second to tell JC that WWX is sooooo great, before they all head back to Jinlintai.

Insecurest Boi

As everyone is walking Jiang Cheng hears Captain Blowhard saying that Lotus Pier made a strong impression today, and that they'll be able to recruit a whole lot of disciples. The cultivators are of two opinions about whether having Wei Wuxian is a good thing for a clan. 

Then a Jin cultivator says he heard that the Yin tiger amulet is made of the missing piece of Yin iron. He says he overheard it from Jin Guangyao. He says even if it's not for certain, the timing fits. Jiang Cheng reacts to this as if he 100% believes it, because Jiang Cheng is a dumbass sometimes. 

He should just frickin’ ask Wei Wuxian about the amulet. Lan Wangji asked where he got it and Wei Wuxian told him, and Jiang Cheng, while they have their issues, is officially on WWX's side, so there’s no reason for WWX not to tell him.

The Jin cultivator goes on to say that the Jiang Clan ain't shit, that all their deeds belong to Wei Wuxian.  Jiang Cheng takes all of this on board totally unfiltered. Literally everything that any Jin cultivator other than MianMian says is propaganda coming from Jin Guangyao, but Jiang Cheng thinks they're friends and doesn't know how to recognize manipulation. 

Jiang Cheng is hearing the exact same criticism that Jiang Yanli heard, but he's not equipped to handle it, and instead of fighting back he gets angry at Wei Wuxian. Despite all his recent growth, he is still crushingly insecure, and this is hitting him right in his tenderest spot. Jiang Fengmian has a lot to answer for.

Instant Replacement Sister

Wei Wuxian is off working through his own feelings; he's wandering the street in Lanling with a bottle of wine in hand. Wen Qing, in her red Wen robe and her hooded cloak, is wandering the street in the opposite direction. They pass each other without seeing, in a moment that's excruciating to watch the first time. 

But then some Jin cultivators obligingly push her to the ground, and Wei Wuxian, with his beautiful heart of fucking gold, hears someone who needs help and turns around.

For a moment he smiles in recognition, before the smile clouds over. Wen Qing, for her part, looks horrified; perhaps it’s everything she’s going through, but perhaps she can see that he, in his own way, is struggling nearly as much as she is. Meeting with her will galvanize him and give him the life direction he desperately needs.

A Day Late and a Tael Short

Lan Wangji wants to solve Wei Wuxian's problem, but he lacks imagination, so his best idea is to hide him in Cloud Recesses. 

Lan Xichen points out that Wei Wuxian might not be on board with that. This conversation is short, but it has some layers, once you know about their parents' relationship. Lan Wangji frowns but doesn't have a second idea.

#the untamed #the untamed gifs #wangxian #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #clan leader yao #canary3d-original #my gifs #restless rewatch the untamed

[hexpea]

Ch. 10 - Graduation

AN: A moment in here where SA is mentioned. It's just one sentence, but I just wanted to provide that TW. Other than that, it's good brother Gojo and the intro to the mini Geto arc. 😅

Graduation for Jujutsu High was always a small event made big by inviting the friends and families of the graduates as well as the underclassmen of both the Kyoto and Tokyo schools. Former graduates were also welcome to attend if they were interested. There were never more than five graduates at a time, your class only three. In order to stretch out the celebration, there would be the usual ceremony of receiving diplomas and then a small reception where the school paid for some fancy catering company to come out and make everyone dinner.

You had invited Kento to come weeks ago and continuously asked him until the day you last saw him. He gave the same answer each time of, "we'll see," which drove you insane. There was no reason for him to attend other than you. Naoya's presence also would complicate things. You had no idea what the outcome would be to his answer, knowing he wasn't sent out on a mission.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart," your mother leaned on the threshold of your bedroom and watched as you applied make-up. You wore one of your favorite dresses and a pair of ankle boots, perfect for the spring weather in Tokyo.

"Thanks," you grumbled while attempting to put on mascara, leaning into your mirror dresser to see the fine details.

"You getting all dolled up for your Naoya?" She continued prying, staring at you with dreamy eyes. "I remember how excited I was to marry your father." She sighed happily. She was the one who married into the Gojo family, quickly melting into their toxic ideals once Satoru was born. She was considered a prize, being able to produce the first child with both limitless and Six Eyes in four hundred years.

"Never in my life would I consider doing myself up for that asshole," you grumbled, pulling away and giving her a hostile look. Your mother was taken aback by your choice of words.

"Y/N," she started to scold, a slight gasp to her voice from how appalled she was at your behavior.

"What? Don't pretend like I'm not going to be raped after the ceremony on Saturday." You were dead serious. You already knew what Naoya was capable of. When he finally would have permission, you knew you were doomed. Good thing you had other plans one way or another.

"That's a despicable thing to say," she didn't know how to handle what you were saying, "I'll be speaking to your father about this."

"Why's it matter? I'm going to be married in three days. You're really going to ground me until then?" You rolled your eyes, no longer feeling threatened by your parents' authority. They probably felt helpless after Satoru went rogue and moved out.

"We're leaving in ten minutes," she grumbled, face a bit red from anger before, before leaving you alone.

You turned back to the mirror and finished getting ready.

When you first arrived on campus, Kento was no where to be seen. You managed to find your brother, Shoko, and Kiyotaka just fine - almost clinging to them instead of hanging around your parents after the tense car ride.  Your friends could quickly notice that something was wrong though you dismissed them. Your quiet demeanor was unlike you, at least when you were around those you enjoyed. Your eyes were too busy darting through the medium-sized crowd of friends and family members. You were obviously looking for Kento, but your gaze found someone more unfortunate. His evil grin headed straight in your direction.

"Don't look so excited to see me," Naoya greeted, his twisted grin even more gnarly close-up. Shoko and Kiyotaka took his presence as a means for their exit, awkwardly spinning away on their heels.

"I'm not," you answered his sarcasm literally as your brother stared down at your fiancé, trying to keep a neutral facial expression despite his own distaste.

"Just think of it, Y/N," he came to your side and wrapped around your shoulder tight. He gave you a side eye as he looked down at your frame next to his. His grasp on you was chilling and you regretted not using your infinity to keep him off. "Just days from now we'll be happily married and you'll be living at the Zenin estate."

"Lovely," you gave sarcasm of your own, keeping your gaze straight-forward as others casually mingled around you - waiting for the ceremony to officially start.

"Trust me, I'm sure it's much better than that preppy mansion you grew up in," he chuckled, finally releasing you. "And...if you behave yourself, I'll let you sleep in my chamber on our first night." The arrangement that you knew of was that you would have your own bedroom, only to be called to his for...the deed. To Naoya, this type of thing was a treat.

"Goodie," you narrowed your vision, clearly irritated by his presence. Naoya wanted to punish you right there for your attitude, but knew better with Satoru standing next to you and watching carefully.

After another few moments of mingling, the ceremony began and, as expected, was short. The ceremony itself was held outside considering the beautiful day, so the small crowd filed their way into the reception hall on campus - sitting at several round tables. There was no assigned seating so you were able to at least sit with Satoru, Shoko, and Kiyotaka. Naoya unfortunately also decided to have a seat next to you instead of with his clan's elders who happily kept their eye on the budding couple.

You gave one last, subtle attempt to see if you could spot Kento only to be disappointed.  You felt hot tears begin to form at the base of your eyes, but quickly stopped them when you realized how much trouble you'd be in for doing such a thing in Naoya's presence.

The entire time you kept your eye on the large double doors as if he'd walk in at any moment, barely touching your food while your friends tried to have a somewhat civil conversation with Naoya and his "big" personality. As the hours passed by, you slowly realized what Kento had decided. The most painful part of it was that the last time you saw him was that week and a half ago when you decided to proclaim your love for him - and stand like a stone, firm in your decision instead of taking it back. You were hoping his lack of response was a fluke, even trying to ignore his distant behavior, but it was clear that he was...done.

Toward the night's end, as folks began to leave, you could no longer put up the façade - excusing yourself to the restroom and exiting into a narrow hallway to where they were. You hadn't noticed, but Satoru got up and began to follow you.

"Y/N," he stopped you just as your hand was on the handle. You were trying to hide your face after having allowed the tears to pour over as soon as you were away from the public eye.

"Leave me alone," you muttered, breathing hitching as if you were a small child trying to calm down after a tantrum. "I don't need an 'I told ya' so' right now."

"I'm not here to do that," he placed a gentle hand on your shoulder. "I've been here, too." You turned to face him, realizing he was talking about Suguru.

"He...he said he'd be here," you whined, wiping a tear away, emotions skewing Kento's actual answer of "we'll see."

To Satoru, your current state reminded him of when you were kids...how no matter how much he teased you, he was always there to help when you scraped your knee. He remained quiet and simply pulled you into a tight hug, allowing you to sob into his button-up.

"I know," he hushed as he pet your hair.

"What am I supposed to do?" You looked up at him. He allowed you to pull away, giving a concerned look to your question. "I...have my bags packed. I wasn't planning on staying..."

"That's smart," he sighed, giving a flat-lipped smile, "I would have done the same." He paused for a moment as you stared up at him with puppy-dog eyes. "But did you really think you could run away with Kento? You really think he's someone who'd do that?"

"I...guess not," your voice shook as you wiped away more tears.

"You can...come with me and Megumi," he offered, trying to perk up his tone. You shook your head.

"They'd still drag me out to marry Naoya. I need to...get far away." You tried to be as generic as possible, not wanting to share information Satoru couldn't know.

"Well..." Satoru tried to think, looking upward from behind his lenses, "the Kyoto admins are here. You could always see about going there."

"Y-yeah," you accepted, just wanting to change the subject at this point. You couldn't control your power, what could the school want with someone they couldn't use?

"Listen," he quickly began again, "whatever happens...you've got this. Me and you? We're the strongest, whether you can control yourself or not." You blushed and felt more tears coming on, this time out of not knowing how to accept Satoru's kindness. "Now, get in there, calm down a bit, and then come back out here and enjoy yourself. Fuck Nanami."

"Thanks..." you answered hesitantly, realizing that leaving tonight would mean also betraying your brother.

"Don't mention it," he smiled, "you're my little sister, I'm supposed to be there for you." He lightly punched your shoulder before walking back out to the main room.

When you arrived home, you quickly shut yourself back in your bedroom to finish packing. Geto it is...you thought.  As you were packing, your phone began to vibrate loudly on your desk. You barely looked at the name on the front of the screen, seeing Kento's name light up. You debated picking up for a few seconds, but settled on answering.

"Hello?" You answered hesitantly, keeping a low voice to express your feeling.

"Hi," his voice was also low and somber on the other end. "I'm...sorry I didn't make it."

"I'm sorry, too," you mumbled, sitting on the edge of your bed - feeling your heart ache with his words. "I'm...leaving tonight."

"Leaving?" He asked, voice picking up slightly with concerned curiosity.

"I...I'm not marrying Naoya. I have a plan with where I'm going, so I'm safe...don't worry," you reassured him. "But I guess this is goodbye." As that word left your lips, your heart seethed with sadness and anger - remembering yet again that the last time you saw him was when you had declared your love.

The line was silent for a few seconds too long. "I guess it is," he finally answered, coolly. The tone was almost painful, like a knife plunging into your chest to finish the job. "Can I ask where you're going?"

"I can't say where...but I'm meeting with Geto." You replied, the line falling silent again.

"I see," he hummed hesitantly. "How does Gojo feel about that?"

"He doesn't know," you quickly answered.

"Will you tell him?"

"No."

Silence again.

"I love you," your voice was soft as the sadness crept in yet again.

"Goodbye, Y/N," he said cruelly, a hint of trembling in his voice. The line went dead after that, the buzzing tone haunting itself into your ear drums.

You sighed to yourself to try and regain composure. You also tried to reassure yourself that the pain of grief would pass over time, that the pain was temporary even though it didn't feel like it in the moment.

"Y/N..." Satoru slowly opened your door. He and your parents had got along enough for him to at least pay them a visit after the ceremony, the three of them hanging around in the living room after you shut yourself away.

"Oh...hi," you awkwardly brushed hair behind your ears, a feeling of being caught washing over you.

"Is what you said true?" He furrowed his brow into a mix of sadness, anger, and confusion.

"What?" Your eyes widened, realizing you truly had been caught. "What did I say?"

"That you're leaving for Geto." Silence had become a theme here, your hesitant answer of quiet telling Satoru all that he needed to know.

"Don't tell Mom and Dad," you begged quietly.

"I won't," he turned sadly to leave your room. You were surprised he wasn't putting up any sort of fight like he usually would. You supposed that Geto meant so much to him that he emotionally and mentally couldn't act as he usually would. It hurt you more to think that.

As he left, he pulled your door shut and the tears came back - hot against your cheek as they fell onto your lap. You were worried that you had just killed your relationship with damn near everyone in your life.

Suguru better be worth it...

#nanami kento #kento nanami #nanami kento x y/n #nanami kento x you #nanami kento x reader #nanami kento fluff #nanami kento smut #nanami kento lemon #kento nanami fluff #kento nanami smut #kento nanami lemon #kento nanami x y/n #kento nanami x you #kento nanami x reader #jjk #jujutsu kaisen

[stellocchia]

There has been a lot of discourse within the fandom about what should happen with c!Dream. I’ve seen anything from “he should get to go apeshit, he deserves it” to “just death” and there is a whole spectrum in between that has been explored and talked about. 

So, here are my general thoughts on the c!Dream situation.

As I said in the past I think the whole torture plot is a mistake. A whole big mess that was entirely useless aside from gathering sympathy for c!Dream in the cheapest possible way. I don’t know what they were thinking with it, but my best bet on it is that they wanted a way to humanize c!Dream and somehow thought that this was a good way for some reason. It wasn’t. Torture is physical abuse to an extreme, it doesn’t make people better or more humane, it just breaks them. It’s an awful and inhumane treatment that no one should go through, no matter how bad they are. 

That said, that happened now and they have to deal with it. How do you deal with it though? Because obviously, every single way will leave someone unsatisfied. 

If they just kill off c!Dream a lot of people will be let down because they made this character go through torture for nothing. It would all have been worthless and we would feel cheated of a storyline. That’s the problem of the “angst for angst” sake thing. You can do it, but it’s not the best execution. 

If c!Dream comes out and he’s suddenly a better person there are 2 problems that you incur. The first problem is the message it would send of “torture can fix people” which is obviously fucked up. Like, extremely fucked up. And the second problem is that it would put pressure on c!Dream’s victims to forgive him. And even if they avoid doing THAT in the story, the fandom will provide more than enough pressure and toxicity for real-life victims of abuse to feel unsafe (mostly looking at Twitter right now, but not only). 

Then there are people clamoring to have the Syndicate help c!Dream heal, which, aside from the fact that 2 of them have been his victims to varying degrees and should not have to deal with him at all, presents the problem that a healing arc is not the same as redemption (which sadly is a problem that we have with other arcs as well *cough* Niki *cough*). C!Dream healing from the torture would not mean him becoming a better person, not if he doesn’t start regretting everything he’s done before to hurt others and not if he doesn’t distance himself from the need for power and control. It also would feel incredibly unfair for him to be able to have a peaceful healing arc when his victims were never afforded one. A healing arc with no redemption is a cheap cop-out from having to deal with the heavy topics that they introduced. 

There is also the option of having c!Dream go far away from everyone else which simply has the same exact problem as the death option. It would cheat us out of a storyline that has had more build-up now than the whole of the butcher army thing in season 2. 

So the last option is unsurprisingly what I prefer...

Have c!Dream stay a piece of crap but have his experiences influence him. Have him flinch away from pain, have him try to find allies because he finally understands that he cannot achieve what he wants on his own, have him learn, but not become a better person because of it. 

Now, I know that there could be the problem of sending the message that “some people are simply irreparably evil” like this, but not if it’s handled well. If handled well they could do something similar to what they are doing with c!Wilbur. 

C!Wilbur didn’t suddenly become a good person after coming out of 13 years of isolation. He was not put in an environment that allowed that so it didn’t happen. He is arguably worse now. But that does work, it makes sense. 

If they handle this right the message would not be “some people simply can’t change”, the message would be “you need proper conditions and will to change for the better”. And that’s the thing, that’s why I want him to learn and change his behaviour according to his experiences. Show us that he is capable of change, that he is human, and that the horrific things he experienced did change him, but not for the better.

To help this more we could have some c!Dream backstory for his fall from grace. Showing him change from a chaotic but still ultimately neutral individual to the utter monster he was in season 2. That’s fine, it would do great to show that he wasn’t always necessarily evil, because he wasn’t. 

This way they could work with his and c!Wilbur’s arc in tandem. The two of them coming face to face with the other and seeing all the worst parts of themselves in the other. C!Dream seeing that c!Wilbur letting go of his own attachments to people through isolation brought him to self-destruct and c!Wilbur seeing what his desire for power can lead to, what kind of monster he could become if he let it consume him. Then it would be a conscious choice on both their parts on whether to continue down their path or not. It could be interesting to explore, even have it go 3 ways with some c!Quackity introspection in the mix to have the example of someone who doubles down on everything that led him to villainy.

#dream smp #dreamwastaken #c!dream #wilbur soot #c!wilbur #dream smp predictions #tw torture #tw abuse #long post #honestly this is what I really want #the more I think about it the more I think that it's the best option #of course I'm not saying that c!dream should remain irreparably evil in the long run here #just saying that he should not be better right off the bat