#((and it shouldn't have to come at the cost of them either a) dying or b) becoming human!))

[theheadlessgroom]

@beatingheart-bride

"Sounds like Dorian alright," Randall chuckled; even as a boy, his best friend seemed to take any and all opportunities he found to try and throw a party, and although these attempts didn't always pan out, he still tried. Even as a child, Randall knew it wasn't because Dorian enjoyed being the center of these parties (unlike what some suspected), it was simply because he wanted everyone to have a good time drinking, dancing, playing party games, and just overall having fun, and that especially went for Randall, who got to enjoy some of these lavish get-togethers through Dorian, who always insisted his best friend and his mother get to join in.

(And who knew-maybe that'd still be the case once they made it to California; Dorian throwing parties. They'd probably be scaled down from the wildly over-the-tip ones held at Gracey Manor, of course, but he could see his dear friend still putting quite a few on for even the most minute of celebrations.)

"I wish I could see these dresses too," he smiled, brightening at the idea of making him and Emily matching outfits, and especially giving his all when it came to his bride's dresses; he'd never do anything by half when it came to her. It was a shame she couldn't have brought them back with her from the future, he really would've liked to see them (and see if he'd any gotten better post-mortem-Lord knew he had all the time in the world to practice and improve!)

"Did you, uh, have a favorite that I made, for a particular party, I mean?"

#((i don't agree with it either; it totally feels like a HUGE cop-out! monsters deserve love and happiness too)) #((and it shouldn't have to come at the cost of them either a) dying or b) becoming human!)) #((and they really are oftentimes a lot more interesting/engaging than the human cast!)) #((that's why the third 'black lagoon' movie; 'the creature walks among us' INFURIATED me as a kid)) #((because the gill-man is my favorite monster; and the original 'black lagoon' is my favorite horror movie!)) #((but then the sequel has scientists take away his gills; reducing him to looking like an ugly piece of wax)) #((robbing him of his uniqueness and that gorgeous makeup design by millicent patrick!)) #((he's still sympathetic of course but every other character around is as flat as cardboard)) #((and the whole plot of them trying to make him more human is stupid and frustrating!)) #((plus he dies in the end; unless he can regrow his gills; he drowns at sea since they removed both his gills)) #((and the second set of lungs he has that allows him to breathe underwater! it's SO stupid and annoying!)) #((let my favorite fish man live happily ever after with a nice girl back in his lagoon!)) #((sorry for that wall of text; i just have a LOT of feelings about monsters being happy)) #((and still being allowed to be monsters!)) #outofhatboxes #beatingheart-bride #V:Days of Future Past

[rainystarters]

๋࣭ ⭑𓆩✧𓆪🗡ྀ࿔ 〖 stories and songs . . . 〗 a collection of sentence starters inspired by various codex entries from the dragon age rpg series. some prompts usfw. adjust details as necessary.

the wind that stirs their shallow graves carries their song.

heed our words, hear our cry.

oh, fair damsel of the garden!

surely your work is far too vital to be interrupted by one like me.

i was a fool to pluck that flower.

you are not a man known for your honor.

you allowed me to live once, and so now i do the same for you.

i am humbled by your words.

but some things cannot be repent.

there is something in here with us.

death is certain, either way.

you have been my rock and my shield.

strike true, do not waver. and let not your prey suffer.

as the sapling bends, so must you.

you are lost, and soon you will fade.

go forth and claim the empty throne of heaven.

you have brought doom upon the world.

magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him.

they shall find no rest in this world or beyond.

there is but one truth.

all things in this world are finite.

each night in dreams you may always remember me.

the light shall lead you safely.

i am but your faithful servant.

if blood must be shed and used, so be it.

step away from this folly, before it consumes us all.

i long to dance with you beneath the moonlight.

do not despair. for it is not you, it is of me.

my most heartfelt apologies for the ripped bodice.

such depravity i have never been forced to suffer!

let them hunt, and dread finding me.

truth will hold you for that is what truth does.

i shouldn't have doubted your resolve.

please accept my humble apologies.

in truth, it is i who has been most vulnerable.

the seals are already weakening.

it must be protected at all costs.

of unknown metal and magic keen, a finer blade there's never been.

any army is only as good as its equipment.

blessed by the vine in spring, i shall not fear the winter's sting.

only fools ignore the history of the ground they walk and the people they meet.

i could use an extra pair of eyes to keep watch at night.

i hope they found peace.

blessed are they who stand before the corrupt and the wicked and do not falter.

in blood, my will is written.

we are forever in your graces.

the oath you have taken is all but broken.

can you be forgiven when the cold grave has come?

once we raised up our chalice in victory.

why change the past when you can own this day?

the wolves are our allies.

always keep an eye out for the noble owl.

nothing burns like the first cup.

gallows master, hold they hand. hold it back awhile.

look away, look into the sun.

you know we all are dying.

alas, i cannot stay.

we'll beat down the bastard, and then we'll get plastered!

what of the old secrets the burn in our hearts?

now we pray for a dawn that will never arrive.

but it is our blood he seeks.

you will realize the smiles are false, and behind them lies revenge.

for all your fancy intrigue, you have spent your life creating nothing of worth.

it moves on without you, uncaring.

who could bear the weight of a people destroyed by his hand?

what was your vision of our purpose?

so buy the lads a round.

i'm ashore for the night and seeking company.

i'd still rather die.

why be what i am when i can be more?

have you threatened to cut out anyone's tongue today?

for have i not grown in skill and measure?

binding a demon of higher power is dangerous...

let it be my choice to have served and died.

i'm not staying to watch you die like a fool.

the undead you have been fighting are people i killed with my own hands.

here is my soul, trapped in a cage of bone.

turn around, face the shadows. don't blink.

just going to lie here for a while.

chopping off their heads should do the trick.

i am empty, filled with nothing.

arrogance becomes our end.

i'm here to die. but i won't go quietly.

i don't want to die like this.

cry for the past; only there does glory dwell.

so the forest grows, a reflection of our might.

mourn the past and all that was left there.

mastery of the self is mastery of the world.

suffering is choice and we can refuse it.

pride disguises itself in its surety.

#rp meme #fantasy rp meme #action rp memes #sentence starters #rp sentence starters #rp prompts #rp sentence meme #rp starters

[rowaelinsdaughter]

𝕴 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖘𝖊 (𝕮𝖆𝖘𝖘𝖎𝖆𝖓 𝖝 𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗)

First post (well, second post. i also have the feysands wedding, but that is not what i want to write. or yes, anyway), as i was saying, first post of the account, and im SUPER EXCITED. i want to dedicate this first post to @danikamariewrites , she is the nicest person ive ever talked to, and she has helped me with this. so this is for her and for everyone who loves Cass, like me.

WARNINGS: mentions of blood and death, angst with a happy ending.

WORD COUNT: 904

In another life…

You were dying. It was the only thing he could think about. His couple. His soulmate, his entire life, was fading in front of him and there was nothing he could do about it.

The war was over. A war that had lasted 100 years, generation after generation fighting for a free country, but at what cost? How many lives had to be sacrificed to have that freedom?... and you were the last of it.

You were the greatest warrior the world had ever seen. Known throughout the world for your exploits. Ballads were sung in your honor and stories were told by the bonfire. But you were dying. And Cassian knew that he shouldn't have left you alone, he knew that he should have been by your side.

He was the one who found you with a sword stuck in your belly, he was the one who took you to the camp and now he would be the one who would see you die.

You opened your eyes and next to you was Cassian with his head bowed, you heard a murmur coming from his lips and just by the position you knew that he was praying and they could only mean two things: either you were dying or you were going to recover.

Cassian noticed your gaze and raised his head. You were dying then. They say that the eyes are the reflection of the soul and Cassian's soul was dying.

“Cassian…” a thin voice left your lips.

A tear ran down his cheek and you felt his hand caressing your cheek, but you almost didn't feel anything anymore, you were so weak that you couldn't grab his hands, feel them for the last time between yours.

You looked away and scanned the room. You see your sisters, your friends and your most faithful companions. Tears ran down everyone's cheeks, the smell of salt filled the room, and the bond between you and Cassian was fading. You looked back at Cassian, and with your last strength you made him a promise:

“Cassian… I promise you that we will meet again in another life… I promise you that I will not stop looking for you… I will travel through the sky and sea to find you… I will fight until my last breath… and if in that life I have not found you yet… I will look for you in the following…"

You closed your eyes and with your last breath you murmured: “I love you…”

And with that last I love you, Cassian burst into tears.

On a street in Velaris…

You left the store with two more daggers for your collection. Your family never understood your love for daggers, they said that daggers were not for women. And every night, you dreamed of the same thing: you were running through a green meadow, you were laughing, and it was a happy laugh. And then you heard it. A humorous laugh, full of happiness and when you turned to see his face, you woke up. And some nights you dreamed that you were fighting. Surrounded by faceless people and back to back with someone tall and muscular. And his voice... was serious, like the laughter of the dream of the meadow. And when you wanted to see your companion's face, you woke up.

You sighed, starting to walk towards the bridge, thinking about the times you tried to see his face, but it was an impossible mission.

You were halfway across the bridge when you suddenly felt a chill that ran down your entire spine. And then you heard it. That laugh. The one you had been listening to for so many centuries, night after night, dream after dream trying to see his face. Discover if his laugh was as beautiful as his face.

With your heart racing you decided to turn around... You saw it. And he was the most beautiful man you had ever seen in your life. Illyrian. You recognized him by his wings. Long hair collected in a bun that left the features of her face visible.

Cassian noticed your gaze and turned, as soon as his eyes met yours, the distant memory of a room flooded your mind and there he was. Holding your hand on your deathbed, tears flooded his cheeks, softening his face. The echo of a promise of eternal love. And the mating bond began to shine like a star in the sky.

From one moment to the next, you both started running and merged into a hug full of love and longing. Your feet touched the ground and his hands ran down your body until they reached your cheeks. His thumbs caressed your cheekbones so tenderly that you began to cry. Cassian rested his forehead against yours. His voice sounded full of love and emotion when he said:

“You're here” he kissed your forehead. “You are here, with me” he kissed your nose and cheeks. “You don't know how long I've been waiting for you, how long I've longed to feel you in my arms again.”

“Yes Cassian, I'm here” you moved closer to his mouth, and when there were only a few centimeters left between your lips. “And I won't leave again.”

After decades, centuries. After waiting entire lifetimes trying to find each other, you sealed your lips, this time promising not to separate again.

𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅 ©𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒚 / 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌. 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆.

#acotar #cassian #cassian x reader #cassianmylove #fanfic #writing #acotar fanfiction #acotar fandom #acotar reader imagine #acotar reader fic #cassian x you #cassian x y/n #cassian fanfic #angst with a happy ending

[tempenensis]

If you have time, do you mind helping me with some character analysis? Gojo is very hard to write because he's a very internalized person who doesn't actually show his inner thoughts very often. The times we get them, he is much more serious and analytical than his frivolous personality is meant to show.

Gojo is popular for the same reason that people hate him: truthfully we don't know much about *him* when it comes to the kinds of details which can be used to figure out where someone's personality came from. He comes from a privileged background, so there's lots of people who assume that he never really went through any troubles - that he never had moments of self-doubt or needed to find his place in the world, that his powers likely came easy to him because he's a prodigy, that his family "spoiling" him meant that he was never subjected to the cruel or intense training we know some of the nobles have set up in their family homes. He's also always been special, and it's unlikely that he ever had a desire to be a total non-sorcerer. He could walk away any time he wanted, like Yuki, and it's not like anyone could stop him either.

And Gege never truly refutes this. Gojo's personality is also so good at pretending nothing ever touches him (thematic!) that from the surface it could seem true. He is not the kind of person to be filled with self-pity so we never get panels of him hashing out his situation with the other characters (not that he can because no one is his equal enough to do this...). He's so busy he literally doesn't have time to dwell. He has been shown spending time with his friends, but no one wants to talk about the shit job they all do during down time, they unwind and talk about regular stuff, like regular people, and simply enjoy the company.

But deduction also tells us that people who grew up normal and well adjusted don't behave the way he's behaving. (Nobara and Yuuji had the most normal sounding childhoods of all the students and it shows, even behind the typical shonen characterization).

Clearly, the flashback arc is shown because in a way that is the origin story of the current conflict, and the origin of Gojo's current personality (Geto had a lot of positive influence on him).

Gojo turns against the sorcerer system because it cost him Geto, not because of anything that may or may not have happened to him. He was doing every mission the higher-ups could possibly have sent him on after Riko died. He wasn't rebelling against the system, he was trying to solve it by becoming the single solution all on his own. Again, not the response of a well-adjusted person.

He was not originally the kind of person to take revenge or turn against a system for personal issues, although he later becomes a little like this when he starts taking young sorcerer's under his wing.

There's a lot of fandom speculation that has hints that these things could to be true:

He was spoiled by his family, but they were emotionally distant in the way of all sorcerer families, praising the technique and seeing the technique instead of the child who was wielding it. It's possible he doesn't associate closely with his clan apart from very structured social patterns because he realizes that being "special" never meant he didn't deserve being treated like a child or taught how to behave. He's perfectly aware he has a "bad personality" and knows that this is in part because of how he was raised.

He projects emotionally onto the students in his care, and acknowledges that something about the way he was treated (mostly as a fine commodity) was deeply unfair, but he hasn't actually found another way except to acknowledge at the end of the day that this job gives you trauma and it's usually not worth dying for unless that's your thing (I mean how he throws the students into situations where they think they're going to die and his concession is to place himself as the safety net), and that you shouldn't miss age-appropriate events just because some grown up tells you to become a better little cog.

A lot of the fandom likes to assume that using Six-Eyes is overstimulating or possibly painful for him right away because at least then there's a cost to his using his power, and once again the sorcerer system doesn't care about the cost to its workers (I'm not sure about the right away part. we know that if he doesn't cover his eyes he gets tired, but Gege doesn't want to give gojo any weaknesses so who knows how long it takes).

Gojo is maybe not "afraid" of getting truly close to people but he keeps people at arm's length. No one at this point could bear the burden he does, and that's what he believes it means to be his equal. It's possible but unlikely that if someone reached out to him first, he would let him. We know touching Infinity can feel like you're touching him from the first vs.Jogo fight, and it's likely he truly does keep it on all the time, leaving him physically and psychologically prepared to keep anyone from touching him at all times, even if they don't realize it...

(Overall, it's very funny to me that Gege's friends apparently think his personality is like Gojo's. It makes it more understandable why he wouldn't want to talk about his character, or be annoyed that the person who is a secondary became too popular, but also the cat is a troll and is the kind of person to laugh and walk away if you try to ask them a question -_-. However, if you take the answers we do have literally, it sounds like Gege accidentally made a character with a lot of depth, but he doesn't want to deal with it…)

But we have no answers to the truth of these presumptions in a lot of cases, and I could keep going but I'm running out of steam and I'm already sorry to put so much in your inbox….

I know you don't give headcanons because your blog is more textual analysis blog, so I won't ask for them! Part of me is not even sure what to ask, because we simply have no answers, and I don't think anyone is going to give them to us. That's fine because fandom wants and needs space to do its own interpretations of the character, but when you want an answer that isn't there, it can truly feel like diving off a cliff to make that choice all on your own and run with it (cries because that means there are literally infinite choices to make and each of them alters the story a little).

Maybe what I'm really asking is, if you have time, would you pick apart my characterization of Gojo above? I'm a bit curious about what you agree with and what you disagree with because you're so good with finding the text evidence! I already appreciate you reading if you've gotten this far, and I appreciate all the work you do in the fandom. I won't feel bad if you refuse (not that you will, but I just want to make it clear I have no expectations!!) Thank you again so much for all you do and for letting us play in the space with you!

Hi, anon!

If you're asking about my opinion, I must say, this is pretty solid read. I agree with almost everything that you said, and can't really add much to this. Gege had said before that he "has no personality", I think that means he doesn't think too much about Gojou's character, unlike for example Yuuji or Nanami. This makes us learns more about him by crumbles dropped here and then - and not a lot actually told explicitly in the manga. ((it sounds like Gege accidentally made a character with a lot of depth, but he doesn't want to deal with it)) is actually a good point lol, fans' interest in Gojou is definitely deeper than Gege himself.

One of the most interesting thing about him is that despite his vocal opposing of the current jujutsu system, he still does his duty to this very system that he opposes. Even if he messes around sometimes, Gojou is the only special-grade sorcerer who actually goes to missions assigned to him and has been mentioned to clean other sorcerers' messes - which is why he is so busy all the time. This speaks more about him knowing that his priority lies in saving other's lives. I think for him, he is an actual proper jujutsushi who has lived as one since he was born because of the techniques he inherited - maybe the point of being a jujutsu sorcerer and what he has to do has been driven to him since he can handle his own technique. So all he knows is to be a jujutsushi first - and his desire to change the system only comes later, after he saw what this system does to people around him, especially Riko and Getou. Even then, he tries to change it from inside, as jujutsushi who is one under the very system he want to change. All he knows is how to live as a jujutsushi and he doesn't seem to want to stop being one, even if it means he can destroy the system from outside. He wants jujutsushi to continue, but with a better system, not to stop or destroy all of them entirely.

#le-ask #jujutsu kaisen #jjk manga spoilers #gojou satoru #jjk meta #a very good analysis anon kudos to you!

[quigonswife8]

Healing: Derek Hale x reader

Derek heals you to save your life, even if it would cost him his own.

Warnings: Blood, nearly dying, Derek nearly dying.

Will probably do a part 2 in the next day

-

The blood is the first thing you see. The dark red liquid staining your very nice white shirt. Then, it's the pain, that makes you grit your teeth.

"I see you!"

with barely enough time to react, you throw yourself behind a nearby tree, the rain nearly making you slip over. Bullet piercing bark- the hunter yelling in frustration. What did I do to them? though it's beacon hills, what do you expect?

You peek around to get a quick look. The hunter is reloading his gun, but he's having some trouble. Good.

You had been simply going on a walk, when you'd been ambushed by this guy. Nearly took your head off when you ran into him. Thankfully the rain had given you the advantage to hide where you are now.

Now, though, if this was any other time you would attack, but you are hurt and there are a lot more hunters. You'll die, or just get taken somewhere to be tortured; either way, not good options.

Sucking in a sharp breath you ready yourself. The hunter, nearly finished- sucking in another sharp breath you count down from five- then you're running off through the woods, running on pure adrenaline, running home.

----

The rain has settled down a bit, but Derek still can't get a lock on your scent, or focus in on you.

He's been pacing- pacing up and down the hallway- which is something he does when he's stressed. "they should be back by now." though he knows he shouldn't be worrying this much. Every night you go on a walk, nothing has changed- nothing bad has happened.

Still there's that feeling that makes him think otherwise...

"Come on.". Derek mutters. "...stop worrying. They're fine..."

The alpha rubs his temple, and then turns on his heel hopefully to get his mind off this. He has to, or he'll go from worrying, to panicking. Besides he trusts you, he doesn't need to be with you 24/7, he knows you're alright and fine...

-

You have lost a lot of blood by the time you've returned home. It's hard to stay up, but you force yourself to. As hard as it actually is. Pulling out your key [derek had given you an extra one], you unlock and push the door open.

The door closes with a *click*. Breathing deeply you press your body against the now closed door. Looking around you note how Derek isn't nearby but since you're home he'd be there...

"Derek...?"

Voice shaky, quiet- but Derek can hear you speak. He appears from behind the wall, looking at you, relieved that you're there...

The relief disappears when he smells it- the blood- your blood- and even through the darkness he can see how weak you are. To be expected.

"Shit."

He snaps out of the shock, and runs over to you. An arm wrapping around your shoulder, and you lean into his side.

"...what happened?"

"...hunter shot me."

Derek helps you over to the couch; gently sitting you down but you still grit your teeth in pain.

"...i'll be okay."

"You're dying..."

Derek has to pause a moment. 'you're dying' he'd said it so quickly without even having to think about it. That, yes, you're dying- you're dying.

"...I..."

your boyfriend kneels down in front of you.

"...I need to heal you-"

"No."

With one of your hands you grab his.

"...you'll be too weak. You could die-“

"And you're actually dying."

And you're right. He could die by healing you, but it's a risk he's willing to take. He can't let you die, not when so many people he's cared about have already died, and he wasn't able to save them.

"...I need to heal you, okay?"

He takes his hand out of yours, and moves it to rest on where you were shot. The bullet still in your side; he'll deal with that later. Then without giving you another chance to try and get him to stop, he starts the healing.

A burning sensation runs up the right side of your body- you close your eyes shut, but the pain is too much. For something able to stop the pain all you can feel is pain. "Derek." Derek, who's fighting back the weakness that's already starting to take over, but he pushes through it.

"It will be okay."

When you're able to open your eyes again you notice how the color has begun to drain from his face. His hands- shaking. he's dying. That as much as you heal, he inches closer to death- his eyes glow bright red, but the pain on his face sends your stomach to drop even further.

"Derek..."

grabbing his other hand, you squeeze it as a sign to 'stop' but he doesn't. He's so persitant.

"Derek, stop."

"I...can't..."

"You're dying!"

"I...don't..."

He growls, his eyes closing.

"...care..."

Oh god

He’s not going to stop, as much as you beg him to. He cares this much about you, he doesn't care if he dies, and you can't let him do that.

Looking around the room for something you can use to, hopefully, knock him out, your eyes fall on a bat. One that you'd picked up a few weeks ago- it's not wood, it's aluminum- good.

The healing has stopped the pain enough to allow you to reach over.

While Derek is distracted you grab the bat, taking a deep breath, before swinging it over and hitting Derek over the head. He's not fast enough and ends up not being able to stop the bat from hitting him.

The healing, stops, but because he'd healed you enough, you'll be alright. Derek's body slides to the floor, his eyes closed- but he breathes- he's alright- he's...alive. What matters most.

Standing up, you kneel down next to him. "I need to move him" cause if you just leave him there he'll be very uncomfortable when he wakes.

Hooking arms underneath his, you slowly stand up. It's hard to move him, but you are able to move him onto the couch. Letting out a sigh of relief you sit back on the couch- carefully, not wanting to hurt yourself- then you lean back.

Your eyes flick back to Derek, and a sigh falls from your lips.

He'll be okay but you need to still stay there until he wakes up. Then you can explain everything to him. For now you get more settled into the couch, not really helping when you drift off.

-----

#teen wolf #derek hale #derek hale x reader #tyler hoechlin

[griseldagimpel]

Cytherea’s Cancer

A post about Cytherea’s cancer and why it took her thousands of years to turn against John.

I want to acknowledge at the start that characters in The Locked Tomb sometimes make statements that are true from their perspective but not necessarily objectively true. Like, Mercymorn insists that no one liked Alecto, but then Pyrrha speaks up and says that hey, she liked Alecto. But if there's not a contradictory statement, I'm going to hazily accept character statements as more or less true. Getting too far down the path of, "Well the character is probably lying." can get an analysis on shaky grounds.

The other thing I want to acknowledge is that writers are imperfect humans. For a series, one book gets written at a time, and even within a book, the author may come up with Problem X and not see Solution Y, even if it seems obvious to the reader. (I certainly have spent enough time wracking my brains trying to figure out if I missed something obvious!)

Alright, I do tend to think that John could have healed Cytherea’s cancer because healing cancer is one of those things that's within the realm of Things John Can Do, as opposed to, say, mind reading, which is not. John is depicted as extremely powerful, but not in all aspects.

However, John healing Cytherea’s cancer wouldn't have stopped her from dying. It would have just stopped her from dying right then of her cancer. If Cytherea wanted to Not Die, she needed to become a Lyctor.

The Nine Houses is a setting where the afterlife is confirmed to exist, their ruling deity can resurrect the dead, and people still die.

And I don't think John is terrible for this, for letting death happen even though he could stop it. With a lot of the Houses being space installations, either the Nine Houses can be a place with a static population that never dies but no children are born OR people can live out their natural lives. Cancer sucks lemons, but it's a natural cause.

And from that perspective, it gives Cytherea’s decision to pursue Lyctorhood a lot of autonomy. Se wanted to Not Die - cancer makes one very aware of one's own mortality - and so she took action to achieve it.

That's why she didn't turn on John right away when Lyctorhood wasn't all it was cracked up to. Maybe Palamedes was wrong, and Cytherea’s cancer really did give her a power boost she thought worth the cost. Maybe she got Mercymorn to turn off some of the pain pathways going to her brain and has been in less pain over the Myriad than Palamedes thought.

Regardless, Cytherea feels that, even if Lyctorhood had unforseen costs, that this is her decision and not something she blames John for. Hence John saying that Cytherea never indicated anything was wrong.

But it does weigh on Cythera, and three hundred years before the first book, she begins toying with the idea of Ending It All.

And then there's a call for new Lyctors, and that's what makes Cytherea act.

When she's asked why she hates John, she denies it. She says she loved him. That's why John shouldn't have asked her or anyone else to become a Lyctor: because their love for their emperor would make them agree to something they should have said no to.

The Locked Tomb is a series about the horrors of love.

#the locked tomb #Meta #John Gaius #Cytherea the first #cytherea loveday #Cw death #Cw cancer

[twentyseven-evil-bunnies]

I stand with Palestine because I stand with humanity.

The argument is easily made that if you support Palestine then you are against the Jewish. The situation is never as black and white as people make it seem. There is no room for an either/or. People are dying. On both sides. But 8000 Palestinians dead in 3 weeks, with most being children, I would be ashamed if I do not stand against the unfortunate and complete annihilation of life in Gaza.

Sadly enough, it has been some time since neither Hamas nor the Zionists now seem to want to achieve what they set out to. An independent Islamic state in Palestine stood on the bloods of the Jewish has equally no valence as the Zionists' shamelessly zealous massacre of Palestinians. The paradoxically unanimous solution we have come to is—hate before/because the other hates. But at what cost? I ask: what will be left of Palestine to be home to either?

Children shouldn't have to be writing their wills at 5, they shouldn't have to get used to airstrikes, they shouldn't have to be punished for crimes they did not committ. The IDF's unforgiving attack on Palestinians seems no longer targeted at Hamas but at all Palestinian Muslims and I ask again, at what cost?

Israeli leaders and Zionists who bring up history to defend such atrocities should remember that they too are now writing history—history that will remember Israel as a state of absolute and preposterous intolerance towards "the other," and Zionists' surprise at the world rightfully condemning them for their heinous actions is unfortunate and surprising in itself. How else should one react when hospitals, schools, access points to humanitarian aid are being bombed every moment? Moreover, to see some people in Israel celebrate this on social media claiming this as "deserved punishment" is all at once disgusting and inhumane.

We can not stand neutral at this juncture because there is no neutrality, atleast not in the bloody and rubble filled streets of Gaza, not in the memories of the survivors, not in the UN conference rooms where lots of 'important people' make 'important' speeches to end with a meek "This is very sad. RIP."

I hope the people with much powerful voices mine can perhaps do more. Do more. Please.

#palestine #gaza #free gaza #free palestine #gaza ceasefire

[someidiotwithalaptop]

So these lines from the intro, "Clasping tight onto memories I know / They'll be overrun / (By a girl)" And right on "overrun" we get this shot of (probably) Alyx literally overshadowing Ruby.

Which is uhh. Unsettling. Especially since throughout the intro we keep getting both Ruby and Neo shifting into Alyx or back again!

So if I really jam my tinfoil hat on, they might both be falling victim to the same weird magic curse type thing, getting "overrun" by Alyx.

Then there's the fact that Blake mentioned the Rusted Knight! Meaning he's a character in the book! So if Jaune is the knight we saw in the intro, and it really seems like he is, then either something went very funky with time and, plot twist, Jaune was technically way more famous than Pyrrha back in Beacon (which would be very funny), or… He slotted into the role of the Rusted Knight, because he didn't have a Purpose in the Ever After. And if you don't have a purpose, a role in the story, then you'll get one.

They're following the path Alyx did in the book. They're doing all the same things she did, and like… this is a story. So there's absolutely no way that's going to keep working, right? Blake can't already know the answer to every problem they face, that would wreck the stakes completely.

Except… what if she does? What if every time, Blake knows exactly how to deal with the situation, has an answer they can follow that will solve the problem. A magic* solution. But the more they use it, the more like Alyx they become. So they have to find their own answers, solve things a different way, if they want to stay themselves.

(*For extra tinfoil hat points, Oscar was the first person to bring up The Girl Who Fell Through the World, literally in the same conversation as he told Ozpin that every time they use magic, he can feel them merging faster.)

And considering the headspace Ruby's in, where she desperately wants to stop having to be the person making the decisions because she's exhausted and it always goes wrong and she's just absolutely drowning in survivor's guilt and despair… I can see her reaching for the easy solution, because, well. If all it costs is who she is, well then that's not really much of a price to pay, now is it? Especially if the alternative is trying to do things our way and risking another friend dying like Penny did. Why shouldn't she just keep on asking Blake, "What did Alyx do next?"

All this to say: Ruby might be about to cheat at a board game next episode.

I'm not worried Ruby is going to fully disappear (though she might come close) because, you know, main protagonist, but damn does all this make me fear for Neo considering Alyx apparently "Lied and cheated" her way through the book (while just "trying to survive"), and Roman's last words were "Lie, steal, cheat, and survi—"

#rwby #rwby volume 9 #rwby spoilers #ruby rose #neopolitan rwby #alyx rwby #the girl who fell through the world #tinfoil hat time

[drwernicke]

I started writing about Miles' feelings in this one-sided camerashipping AU where he's living with the Parks, but then I decided to explore Waylon's side of things as well, and it turned into something like a fic. So uh. I'll just put it down here?

_______________________________________ Miles feels like… what the fuck even is he anymore? Undead? He's a monster, certainly, and that monstrosity is useful, but he feels like a strange warped, mockery of his former self. There's a power in hosting the Walrider, but it comes at the cost of his humanity and he knows he's frightening to Waylon. He's always told himself he doesn't need anyone else, and bringing down Murkoff is what matters, but now that's what he's been locked into, there are no other options /at all/. It's what he's wanted, isn't it? He does want it. But he's also been through something he can't even begin to process, and being the Walrider's host is deeply violating on even the cellular level. But he's not allowed to process that either, because where does that lead? He can't stop it. He shouldn't even want to stop it. He's always been fine alone, he shouldn't want company now.

But still human or not, trauma is a powerful neurochemical. Waylon is the only other man who's been through the same hell, and he's also risked everything he has to bring down Murkoff. They're aligned in their goals and were both willing to risk everything. And Waylon's still human, he has a family who loves him. Miles isn't jealous, but it also drives home how definitively, unchangeably isolated he is now. He's never really been able to connect even with any of the men he'd dated in the past, simply because they weren't ever 100% politically aligned with him, or he found something about them offputting, they were too superficial, etc. Maybe he was making excuses because life was easier alone, and nobody would care about the world like he does. About the things he fucking gives a shit about, like children in third world countries not dying of dehydration. Too bad fucking Brad wanted to talk forever about the shitty coffee at 7/11 instead.

Miles knows he should be grateful for what he's become. But there's so much he misses, now that he can't have it ever -- and he supposes that at least shows he still has a human mind in some way, weak and stupid and flawed. If he's never wanted it, why does he mourn it now? Why does it feel like every time Waylon is kind to him, that his sanity is teetering on the edge of some awful precipice overlooking some awful abyss, at the bottom of which rests a beast known as resentment and violence?

Maybe he's taking everything he can't have, can no longer have, and projecting it on Waylon as a symbol for it all. But there had been a few moments in hell itself, perhaps in the administration block, when he'd wondered what their lives would be like if they survived this nightmare together. There's things you can't go through without it changing you fundamentally from the ground up, and then whether you want it or not, you're entangled with whoever else went through the meat grinder with you, like quantum states. Waylon has more commitment to setting right what he can of the world than any man Miles had ever been with. But Waylon Park is fucking alive, and Miles Upshur is a rotting corpse of a man held upright by a murderous nanohazard.

And the fucking punchline to the whole shitshow: Waylon Park has a wife, and two kids, and there was something comical in that the first crack in Miles' sense of self would be to latch onto a married man. He can tell Waylon's kindness is strained. And why the fuck wouldn't it be? He has a dead man living in his house, and that dead man is a weapon. You show kindness to the weapon, because you don't know if it'll kill you, or worse, make you feel guilty for indirectly killing what it was in the first place.

Most nights, Miles drinks enough coffee it would give him a heart attack if he still had a working heart, because he doesn't trust himself with REM sleep. _______________________________________

Not everyone goes through hell and brings the devil home.

It's not a kind thought, and Waylon hates it, but there's always a kernel of truth at the core of the operating system. Or something like that. Miles Upshur is great company, and most days, Waylon doesn't even think about the fact he's living with the Parks for their own protection. That feels reductive; Miles is far more than that. If it weren't for Miles, Waylon would have never returned to Lisa's arms, bloodied and broken, but whole. But this isn't just about what Miles has done for him, or what he can do for them. If it weren't for Waylon, Miles would have never ended up in Mount Massive. If it weren't for Waylon, Miles would still have his fingers. He does complain about it so often, always in the tones of gallows humor, but Waylon knows there's a deep hurt behind it.

If it weren't for Waylon, Miles would have never become the host.

But this isn't about gratitude or guilt. Miles is genuinely great to have around; he cooks breakfast sometimes. He walks around singing along badly to Madonna, the B-52's. He gets along great with the kids. He's shit at Mario Kart, but so is Waylon. When he, Waylon, and Lisa work together, compile notes and liaise and network with other anti-Murkoff operatives, Miles is efficient and determined on a level that inspires Waylon. He cracks jokes, he rips people to shreds, and it makes Waylon and Lisa laugh. He makes Waylon type up the reports because it takes him forever, and Waylon does so, guilt heavy in his heart.

But this isn't all about guilt.

Miles encourages him through his rehabilitation, as Waylon slowly gains sensation and stability in his leg. Miles likes shitty beer, and Waylon's learned not to complain too much about it. Sometimes--many sometimes--Miles screams in his sleep. The boys have learned to expect it. There's nothing conventional about their childhood, not anymore.

Waylon has learned not to look at Miles through the night vision of a camera.

When Simon Peacock emails them warnings of potential intruders, Miles stays watch like a guard hound, sipping another one of his shitty Pabst Blue Ribbons. On one of those nights, there are terrible screams, but they're not from Miles.

In his dreams, Waylon hears Lisa screaming, his boys, and finally, himself.

They are mutinous dreams. But more mutinous is the waking thought that Miles sometimes lingers in his presence. He always looks away when Waylon looks, and it makes Waylon wonders if he's accidentally fostering something far worse than a monster. But Waylon knows he has his own trauma to work though; he sees attraction where there is none, and wouldn't it make sense to fear something that already elicits fear in most?

Someone. Not something.

There was the time his eldest had cut his hand playing, and Waylon had been so afraid of what in the air could seep into his blood.

He worries himself sick about Lisa. All those phantom pregnancies.

In the early morning, Miles is painstakingly typing away on his laptop, seated at the breakfast table. The sun's rising, warm golden light streaming in through the windows, and Waylon has no doubt Miles has been up all night; the scent of coffee hangs heavy in the air. Waylon wonders if Miles needs, or even wants, to sleep anymore.

Waylon doesn't know what Miles is, aside from on a purely codified level. He doesn't know what Miles wants, aside from on a purely ideological level.

He pours himself a cup of coffee, and wonders what he's breathing in.

#miles upshur #waylon park #camerashipping #outlast #outlast whistleblower #my writing #whatever it's not canon

[aquadestinyswriting]

For https://www.tumblr.com/aquadestinyswriting/743860231901249536/fanfic-writers-directors-cut?source=share

⭐stars⭐

~@duckingwriting

Hey thanks for the ask.

I have a bunch of WIPs on the go at the moment, but the one I'm dying to talk about most right now is probably one I'm still outlining.

I've made no secret that my writing is based on an old D&D campaign and the WIP I'm outlining is based on events that took place in it. It's the one about the attempted assassination/kidnapping at the Plot Hook, during drinks to celebrate the genesis of what will later become known as the Special Recondite Unit (or SRU). I've been having a lot of thoughts about what Selene's thoughts were at the time, because in the actual session she was seemingly quite calm about the whole thing and really only started getting upset when she was essentially placed under house arrest for her own safety.

Having listened back to the recording though, I'm starting to realise that Selene was utterly terrified the whole time. It's not the first time there's been an attempt on her life; she made a lot of enemies that she wasn't allowed to track down and take care of once she became the Grand Magus of Toreguarde. However, the fact that they're not just after her, but Elowyn (her adopted niece) as well... That's not on.

There's also the little issue that due to having had a case of Burnout not that long ago in the timeline, Selene can still cast her most powerful spells, but that comes at the cost of causing herself quite a bit of pain while doing so right now (something I only recently decided would be a thing, so as far as the game canon goes, she just does a remarkable job of hiding it until she's alone).

So, picture this: you're an extremely powerful wizard who is terrified for her own life and that of the only family you currently have left (because almost everyone else either up and left and/or died, and your partner's not due back for another 2-3 days). You can't just fireball the assassins to death like you want to because that would probably destroy the pub and catch your niece and her friends in the blast as well, so you use a couple of utility spells to help instead. Besides, your niece and her friends are winning anyway, so no big deal. Unfortunately you have to cast a Dominate Person because the lead assassin is being an ass and not giving up despite losing. It takes, things calm down and you help to get all the bad guys down to the nearest police station using a Teleport spell. Casting at least two or three high level spells, which shouldn't be a huge deal considering how powerful a wizard you are, has left you feeling very tired, a little ill and with extremely sore fingers. You are doing your very best to not outwardly show any of this to avoid worrying anyone, especially your niece. Then you realise that said niece, who's life you probably saved with that Dominate spell, is pissed at you for using it. Then she has the gall to unilaterally decide that, for your own safety, you need to be confined to your office for an indeterminate amount of time with eyes on you at all times despite her also being included in the contracts the assassins had to kill you both... Well, one included your death and the Domination of your niece; presumably so the bad guys could use her to kill you if the assassins didn't manage it, which, frankly, is way worse, and probably gives you ptsd flashbacks to a very similar situation that happened a couple of years prior.

Given all of the above, I think Selene's a little entitled to lose her rag a bit. However, she manages to shove her anger, fear, pain etc way, way down and complies. But not before getting into Elowyn's face and outright dead-naming her while telling her the two of them will have 'a little chat' later. Then she Teleports out because Gods forbid she lets on about having issues casting by *le gasp* walking back to her office.

Needless to say, this is one of those WIPs that is at once going to be a tonne of fun to write, but so damn stressful at the same time. D&D; giving both players and the GMs trauma and strong feelings* about fictional arguments and scenarios for 60 years!

*Only if the GM and players get extremely invested in the world and characters, which we did.

#writeblr asks #aqua rambles #ttrpg stories #writing meta #I have to wonder what the neighbours thought was going on when we had stressful/heated sessions #some of them got pretty loud

[aknolan]

I think part of the discourse here really stems more from what kind of interpretation of RWBY's story you take away from the whole thing.

Your viewpoint is predicated on the idea that RWBY must completely prove the gods wrong, or it would be a disservice to the story's themes.

To me, however, a large part of the story is kind of a complicated mix, in that the villains and antagonists are PARTIALLY correct, but the issue is how they twist a kernel of truth into a means of abuse and control over domains that they don't really have any right to claim control over.

The Gods ARE correct that Life and Death shouldn't be treated carelessly, but they are consistently shown to be hypocrites who use it as a means to enforce their power over others.

Adam and Sienna WERE correct about the state of Faunus, but the former twisted the cause into satiating his own bloodlust and petty egotism.

Ironwood WAS correct that Salem needed to be known as a villain publicly in order to better combat her, but he refused to acknowledge that he wasn't that important and was twisted by Atlas' pro-conformity and fascistic culture into believing that he knew what was best for the world, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Jacques WAS correct that Ironwood was becoming as much of a danger to his country, but that was fueled out of self-serving greed and his own gain.

The recurring point that RWBY tends to follow is that the Villains are not people without a point, but that they use the point as a means to enforce unjust control and power over others.

But it doesn't make them completely wrong.

And the honest reality is; I think Penny not coming back is not inherently an incorrect or thematically wrong way of doing things, because ultimately she already PROVED that the Gods are full of shit.

She came back to life TWICE despite being killed.

The Gods have already been proven WRONG.

Her final death is just proof of something else; that even when you do everything right, even when you do manage to defy the expectations and possibilities laid out before you, bad shit can still happen anyways. It's literally what happened with Ozma dying from illness after he and Salem got together.

What happened to her last life was not the result of the story going against it's themes; it was just simply the result of poor choices on Penny's part and plain bad luck. That's it.

And Choices are just as much of a theme in the story, and poor choices or lack of choices are too.

The key is not in proving the Gods completely wrong, but in wresting control away from them so that THEY can't be the ones to dictate terms. They are NOT the arbiters of everything despite what the God of Light believes.

But that doesn't mean life and death will cease to matter. It'll still exist as the tragedy in someone's life.

I don't really disagree with you on like, 95% of this honestly.

I think it's helpful to recognize though, the wider context of the argument. In the simplest form, the fact that I am in that post responding to someone making the claim that Salem was at fault for what happened with the gods. So yeah, my argument there is about how she wasn't wrong for trying to get Ozma back, and Ruby wouldn't be wrong either for trying to get Penny back.

And yeah, life and death shouldn't be treated carelessly, but that's why it's important that this happens in Fairytale Bullshit Land, where Penny's Magic Aura Bullshit Body may have landed. These are very unique circumstances! This isn't gonna end up being a repeatable situation. They are incapable of treating life and death carelessly, and I'm sure that if they manage to bring Penny back with them, there will be a cost.

And the point of the gods has not been refuted yet. Not on screen.

Penny's revival happened off screen, and on the technicality that she wasn't actually dead. She was still on Remnant. Her core was intact, and that's why she could come back. Had she been completely destroyed, she would have been truly very dead.

And the situation with Ambrosius? She wasn't dead.

I consider this cheating death, rather than really being a proper "brought back from dying". Even disregarding that though... it's our protagonists who need to refute the villains.

Pietro revived Penny, team rwby cheated with the staff of creation. But Ruby making the active choice to bring Penny back would be a very clear message that she understands Salem. No moral high ground to keep there, on Salem's original problem with the gods. And when you have an unkillable enemy, that is desperately needed.

I also don't think Penny needs to die to drive home the message you put in bold. Plenty of things went wrong already, like losing both of the relics, and the "one way trip to Vacuo".

Lastly though, as long as the comparison between ruby/penny and salem/ozma exists, the elephant in the room remains as well.

If the comparison holds up... it's reasonable to interpret Ruby and Penny as romantically in love with each other, and then we get back to the writers wanting to avoid playing into the bury your gays trope.

Really though, a lot of what you say about complicated mixes of right and wrong are things I agree with. I also can absolutely see the sort of themes someone could go for with permadead Penny. But I take issue with it on several grounds, including that it feels a lot like fridging (except that the protagonist is also a woman this time, adding some bury your gays flavour). And, you know, I just like Penny and would like to think better of the writers than the fuck-up for her story that is the last three episodes of v8.

And that's just talking about the thematic stuff, not even the allusions or the things that don't add up.

#penny polendina #rwby #rwby spoilers #anon #ask #I gotta emphasize here though. you really do have good points! #and you're absolutely right that the difference in opinion is a matter of what kind of story you expect rwby to be #if penny's death is a satisfying story to you then more power to you #I can assure you though I am not easily swayed from my belief that she is returning #because there are many more reasons I believe this than what I have mentioned #and it'll take a lot of discussion to get through all those #the hardest one to convince me on though would have to be the nnd/ozlem parallels #and what that implies about the queerness of the situation and in turn the bury your gays #close second is that the maiden transfer had jaune's colours #which is really damn weird for a show where colour matters so much

[archemyre]

Arthwen stumbled against the cold stone, spatters of dripping blood hitting the uncaring slate. The duel with that damned vampire had cost him much. 

Too much.

He unclasped his helm, tossing it to the floor and breathing deeply of the old, musty air. Sweat dripped down his brow, joining the blood on the floor. How had it come to this?

He laughed, the bark turning into a cough halfway through.

Oh he knew. He had failed them.

His family, lost years ago to the apparition.

The Alliance that had crumbled to dust behind him as his party fled westward to this accursed tomb. How he had watched in terror as they all simply forgot what they were fighting for.

His friends, fallen to the Enemy on the way, becoming increasingly obsessed and deranged. He hadn't had the heart to cut them down.

And finally, as if it hadn't already been enough, that damned Vampire, the guardian of the tomb, had nearly cut him to ribbons on the way in.

And so it had come to this. He climbed to his feet, and steadied his stance.

He had to believe. The world, or what was left of it, rested solely upon his weary shoulders. The Prophecy's final statement had foretold of this. 

The Hero would enter the tomb, journey to the heart of the Elder God's power, and he would kill it. He would not return.

So be it.

Metal clanged and rattled on the old stone underfoot as he wandered further into the ancient complex. This place had held the abomination at bay for thousands of years, somehow. 

Looking around, it was a wonder it hadn't broken free sooner. This place was a ruin, and even the remaining ancient artifice looked ready to crumble into dust at the slightest touch. 

Finally he came to a great runed gateway, the shadow on the other side all but impenetrable. But not for him.

Limping, he waded in and watched the inky void part around him almost fearfully. 

His spirits rallied. He could do this. It was afraid of him. He would not let all the world's life flicker out like a dying candle in the dark. This was his finest hour.

And like a sign, the darkness gave way before him, revealing a small archway, into a chamber lit with eerie blue light.

And so, limping and pale, he crossed over the threshold. They were waiting for him.

Crowds of the faceless apparitions stood to either side, watching him silently as he limped further into the chamber. It almost felt as if they were mocking him.

The chamber was less of a room and more of an expanse, as if he had crossed over into some other world. In each direction the ruined stone blurred and gave way to a vast nothingness, tinged with iridescent clouds of blue and white.

It felt almost like he was underwater, the very concept of his being immediately under assault from all directions. Every step, the otherworldly pressure increased, but his soul flared bright, matching the conceptual parasite blow for blow.

But something was wrong. It shouldn't have been this powerful. The prophecy had been clear enough on this part. Should the final seal break, he had to reach the very core of the Elder One's being, where the blazing light of his soul would collapse it from within.

The faceless masses moved to surround him, blocking his path forward. Desperately he swung his blade, cleaving through them with ease as their forms fell and collapsed into mist. 

Were any of these faceless abominations his friends? His family?

Each sweeping blow thinned the horde by scores, and yet they were endless, and the pressure on his soul was increasing with each tired step.

He remembered their name. How could he not? The infected had spouted it constantly. Adolia. Adolia. Adolia. It had never held any sway over him, his soul inviolable, and so he had tried to empathise with those who had been consumed by it, to better understand his foe.

Parts of your mind, basic understandings and complex concepts alike, scooped out and replaced with that damnable name.

A figure, drifting in your memory, just waiting for you to stumble upon it so that it could spread further.

The dread as they found they could no longer remember who they once were, and then that terrible certainty, flashing in their eyes the moment before they were consumed.

It was the latter part that had truly terrified him.

He had seen it happen. That instant of terror, even in those who had completely lost all semblance of conscious thought.  When the horror gave way to that unknowable understanding, that brief instant before their form flickered and their face blurred over. What did they see?

It was as if they had been reduced to a grain of sand, and dropped into an ocean.

His sword clattered to the misty floor, and he fell to his knees. Too much blood loss. The pressure, almost unbearable.

They circled around him, waiting. All of them still but one, that glided forward within arms reach.

He looked into it's face. Adolia.

All he had to do was touch it; poison it with his light. It would be over.

His last surviving friend had begged him, when she had realized. He hadn't been able to do it. Was she here, now? Watching his soul shudder and crumple? 

Was she Adolia?

He thought back to the outside world, and knew immediately there was nothing left. The concept was gone from his mind.

....What was he here to kill again? 

A flash of certainty as the ocean approached. Of course.

Adolia.

#adolia #shadow of forbidden gods

[self-loving-vampire]

You're my favorite preservationist blog, so once again I wanted to hear your take on this:

I may not fully understand the situation here, so take this with a grain of salt,

but wasn't it a risky move for the Internet Archive to allow 'unlimited concurrent lending' indefinitely?

Yes, the pandemic still exists; yes it would be better if greedy publishing houses couldn't threaten the existence of petabytes of preserved data over the equivalent of a few bucks,

but as one of the last bastions against the relentless onslaught of IP law, in some cases literally the only thing preventing content from falling into lost media territory,

shouldn't they have stayed a little more within the rules on this, rather than risking legal exposure they can't afford?

Isn't it their duty as an archive to play it safe and act within the law so a loss like this doesn't mean everyone loses access to everything?

Is it worth fighting a costly legal battle to maintain a more ideal state of open access if it very well could mean the end of all they've worked for and media preservation as we know it?

All the commentary I've seen so far has been rightfully angry at the publishers for pursuing this, but if the IA goes down because they fought for the right to help the most people possible and lost, the resulting harm will be irreparable, and from an archivist's perspective that seems woefully irresponsible on their part.

I think their objective should be to preserve as much content and maintain as much access as possible, yes, but this feels like an all-or-nothing gambit that could have been avoided by just going back to how they operated pre-pandemic.

I'm afraid of what will happen if fighting the good fight means dying for the cause. Some loss of access, even if it's a change as drastic as going from unlimited to limited, doesn't seem like the hill to die on if it means total loss of access.

Please correct me if my understanding of the situation is factually inaccurate, but this is the conclusion I've come to given the information I currently have.

(Also thanks for hearing me out on this. It really means a lot that I have someone I can express my thoughts to, on this and in general.)

I am honored that you see this as a preservationist blog! While I think media preservation is an extremely important thing I saw myself as just a normal person with opinions and some resources to share rather than any kind of expert or activist.

As a result, my understanding of the laws and consequences involved is probably not more advanced than yours. In the best case scenario the archive survives and only the book lending service suffers, but even that seems like a catastrophic loss. In the worst case scenario, the lawsuit could cost them so much that it could impact other parts of the site. This ruling is definitely bad either way.

That's also saying nothing of the effect this could have on other digital libraries, which could begin to limit their own services to avoid similar lawsuits.

Due to that lack of understanding of the nuances of the law, I don't know how strong their legal case was and therefore can't really comment on whether providing this particular service was unusually reckless.

However, on a moral level I am proud to have financially supported them even if just in the small ways available to a random person on the internet, and will continue to stand by them throughout the appeal process.

One thing about preservation that is always worth keeping in mind is that it's not about just keeping the texts or putting them in some restricted archive or a museum. Ideally, I want as many people as possible to be able to acquire whatever information they wish with ease and become vessels for sharing it themselves.

That not only keeps the information more "alive" by letting people actually interact with it but also makes it more resilient. If the only copies of a work are kept in a museum then said work can easily be lost if something happens to said museum. However, if the work is downloaded and shared by thousands of people around the world then it becomes much more likely to endure.

Most of all I just wish for the end of copyright law and the very concept of intellectual property...

[michaelmilligan]

Endversetober Day 22: Redemption

(explanation post) (compilation post)

The world had narrowed down to a battle field, a sea of blood and fire and rage. Always such unspeakable rage.

Even as Michael tore the zombies limb from limb, fried them from the inside out, it didn't abide. If anything, it became stronger, building, cresting, until it drowned out everything and anything else.

At this point, he didn't even keep any alive to bring to Raphael. He just killed, aiming to purge the world of this evil entirely. If there were no more zombies, it wouldn't matter if there was a cure or not. If only he could rid this world of what he had let spread entirely, then, Michael thought, everything could be right again.

Or at least better than now. At least his anger, born by guilt, could subside.

But as time went on, as the battle went on in countless places all around the world, even Michael couldn't keep his powers from slipping. Though archangels had been created before Heaven, and shouldn't have been dependent on it for their grace, it was their strongest remaining connection to the glory of their Father.

Without it, Michael was growing weak, and, even worse, directionless.

So when a zombie scratched Michael's face and he couldn't immediately heal it – didn't even think of it as his vessel's face for a second, but his own – he knew something was wrong. But he kept going.

To stop would mean admitting defeat. To rest would make the bad thoughts come back again.

So, bloody vengeance it was, whatever the cost.

There was something in the back of his mind, like a scratching against a door, that Michael kept locked away together with all the other bad things. He didn't let himself think about what it was, didn't let himself think about anything but the next blow, the next kill.

Until Michael got thrown on the ground, momentarily losing his mental balance as well, and the door burst open.

Michael, Adam's voice called frantically, as Michael picked himself back up from the ground. There was about a split-second where he was surprised to hear Adam again, and wondered why he'd been so quiet for the last few days. Watch out!

The warning came too late – the zombie which had attacked them, the last of its little horde, tackled them, and they fell, both screaming, down a ledge.

As an archangel, this would have been a minor inconvenience. But with Michael's grace so low he would have been embarrassed to call himself angelic anymore, their impact on the ground was bone-shattering. Michael lost control of the vessel for a moment, his vision blackening out. When it returned, his eyes were unfocused, and he could feel blood in his mouth.

The zombie lay half on top of him, half beside him, its head bashed in on a rock.

Michael supposed he had been lucky. Then he noticed he couldn't move the vessel.

Everything hurt.

Michael, Adam said urgently. Can you get up? Can you heal us?

No, Michael replied, only mentally because even just breathing hurt.

Fuck, Adam whispered. Are we... are we dying?

Michael closed his vessel's eyes. I don't know.

He didn't know anything anymore. He wasn't anything anymore.

Regret swept over him, the way he'd feared it would, but it wasn't for humanity. It was for Adam.

I'm sorry, he said, feeling his senses slip again.

Adam was silent for a moment. Then he said: Are we going to Heaven?

I don't know. Michael wasn't human. But without his grace, he wasn't an archangel anymore either.

Basically, he was an abomination. Maybe he'd go to Purgatory.

Hopefully, Adam would get back into Heaven.

I'm sorry, he said again, suddenly realizing how cold the vessel felt. Its last strength was leaving it.

It's okay, Adam whispered. I wish you wouldn't have pushed me down those last few days, but I understand. You were so angry. He shuddered.

He'd been pushing Adam down? That must be why he hadn't talked to him. He'd probably tried to...

I failed you. And this world. I failed everyone, Michael lamented. He could never make up for that again, wouldn't have the time anyway, seeing as they seemed to be dying.

It's okay, Adam said softly. You thought you were doing the right thing. And I was already dead anyway. You let me see my mom, so I have no regrets. After a beat, he added: I forgive you.

As Michael's control slipped further, he didn't know if it was him or Adam who shed a tear.

Then, everything went dark.

#Endversetober #Midam #Quick writing

[navree]

https://twitter.com/AemondZafiro/status/1615852704525611009?t=6h3Fd91m0qfx8U56XieUXw&s=19

They would do this wouldnt they

They miiiiiiiiight but I just can't see what the point would be? Most of the changes beyond the fundamental backstory change between Rhaenyra and Alicent has mostly been about stuff that was considered "vague" in the Fire&Blood histories, and the battle of Rook's Rest was very well chronicled, seeing as it was a large battle with several important outcomes. This is also predicated on the idea that Rhaenys narratively needs to atone for not killing the Greens, which has never been suggested in either the writing or filmmaking, as well as the fact that Vhagar and Sunfyre being involved is seen as a sort of plothole(?) that this would solve. Not to mention, as someone who has had positive feelings for Rhaenyra and is trying to keep myself neutral on the Blacks even while being pro-Green, this wouldn't make Rhaenyra a more compelling protagonist, it just makes her look kinda dumb if she, a claimant queen and the only member of her faction with any legitimate claim to the throne, gets herself in trouble and needs rescuing by a lesser royal. There's a reason why when kings fought in wars in our world, they still had guards around them to make sure they never came to real harm, not to mention that this got phased out (in England, the last king to die in battle was Richard III in the 1480s, and Henry VIII had to be physically stopped from going into battle and potentially getting himself killed). If Rhaenyra does something stupid and reckless that costs her multiple allies and makes her seem like an idiot, that's not going to endear the audience to her.

(Not to mention, Aegon already has enough motivation to want his revenge on Rhaenyra? Her fight for the throne is what caused the entire war in the first place, which means that if she hadn't done it his brothers and his youngest son wouldn't have died and his beloved Sunfyre wouldn't have been so injured, and it was on Rhaenyra's authority that two thugs broke into his mother's chambers and physically assaulted her, before murdering his very young son in front of his sister/wife and his daughter, that alone is reason enough to want revenge on Rhaenyra and have a determination not just to see her dead but make sure she suffers)

But here's the thing I think the thing most people don't understand is that Rook's Rest shouldn't even really be about the battle itself. For one, it's a blaze of glory for Rhaenys, to show her as how she was meant to be, a battling warrior fighting for her cause, the Queen Who Never Was But Should Have Been. Considering how much the show has shown that everyone around Rhaenys, not just Rhaenys herself, knows she would have been a better ruler, this is the culmination of that, before she dies and gives her side an advantage in Aegon's injuries. For two, it's not about Greens vs Blacks. It needs to be about Aemond and Aegon.

Rook's Rest comes at the end of a period time that saw a) Aegon being the only member of the family to stand by Aemond and publicly support him after Storm's End and b) a serious tragedy being dealt to Aegon because of Aemond's actions. That's why I said here that I wanted Aegon's role in the battle to come as a shock to Aemond and Criston, if not the audience. It's the kind of thing he would do, he is in fact restless and more chaotic than Rhaenyra, and it needs to be a culmination of a severe up and down relationship that has seen Aegon and Aemond at their closest and then at their most distant as Aegon grieves, to say nothing of how he might end up blaming Aemond for Jahaerys's murder. The emotions from the aftermath of the battle should be about Rhaenys dying, because a major character is gone, and Aegon choosing to make the brother he knows is ambitious for the crown to be his regent, and Aemond not seizing that as an opportunity for power but using that to prove himself worthy of the task to the brother who supported him, the brother who blamed him, the brother who saved him. That's the core of it; it's not about Rhaenyra. It needs to be Rhaenys centric and Aegond centric or it's going to look bad and sloppy, and despite the shit I'll give these writers for when I think they've got it wrong, they're not stupid. They know what they're doing for the most part. They don't want to be writing a shallow show, and for the most part they're not, and if they make this change, they're turning what should be a hugely charged moment into something shallow.

And they've also got George as consultant, and they seem to be keeping him fairly involved in the process, so I doubt they'd make such a huge change unless he approved it, which I don't think he will otherwise he would have written it into the original book, which doesn't have Rhaenyra do any sort of fighting. So at the end of the day, yeah they could make that change, but even just looking at it from an objective writing standpoint, I don't see any reason why they would, or how that would better serve anyone except pro-Blacks redditors.

#personal #answered #anonymous #i didn't mean for this to turn into a 'here's why aegon and aemond's relationship needs to get all the emotions in s2' post #but if y'all want me to talk about rook's rest that's what you're getting #i literally have like a shot for shot view in my head of how i want it to go #honestly i can talk about these two all the livelong day but that's for another time #i'm not as into doomcasting re: greens and changes as some other members of our verdant squad #mostly because i'm of the opinion that while they did a lot of bad shit with the greens #they also clearly put so much more effort into developing all of them as characters #than they did with like half of the blacks #that does speak to a certain amount of care and desire to keep them fleshed out and real rather than caricatures #the issues arise mainly from the time jumps and how many they put in and how they chose to handle them #but that's also for another time #so i'm willing to give them leeway especially when it comes to stupid changes #cuz i don't think in the show they changed anything that was basically fact so far #except for aegon's coronation but as stupid as rhaenys was being and the amount of plotholes that put in #it's a good scene for what it does for alicent and aegon so i'm never completely mad at it

[simmonsized]

Hehe it’s okay, I expected that to happen since it just came out.

Anyway, wanna give us a Bro Strider relationship status update with people he has interacted with so far in this fic?

(WARNING FROM FUTURE ME: this post is VERY long. I'm SO sorry.)

LFKSFJ:IJF:OWIJW:O THE WAY YOU HAVE WORDED THIS IS SO FUNNY

i honesty don't know where to start with this guy LOL ummmm i will be honest we could be here literally all day. it's kind of hard to get into the idea of explaining this without stating exactly how far we've come but it really has come from "my god if only i could be alone for five fucking years wow what a world" to "my god if only i could be alone for five fucking seconds jesus christ" SO. not that much of an improvement but. an improvement!

i'm going to do this in bullet points slap-dashed real quick and dirty like bc there are SO many of them (<- second note from future me this was my hubris talking) (ps i got bro meta all mixed up in there i'm so sorry)

PREFACE: i think a lot of what comes across as "gentle" early bro strider stems from like, well u know all the fucked up shit with his soul, kind of slowly reanimating from Machine to Human Again, Dirk Strider (Bro Strider) with a Purpose, a single-minded idea of how things Have to Be, to a place where "i shouldn't be here i was supposed to be done and now i'm not sure how to proceed"

not to quote my own fic but this is a lot of our starting point:

"Your technique was a major shit show.” “Yeah, I’m starting to realize that now.” “Kinda surprising you didn’t realize it sooner.” It’s not, really. “Yeah, I--” He cuts himself off and you tense up, watch the lines of his shoulders for movement. “I don’t know.”

The point here was never, "Bro Strider is an Irredeemable Monster", but it was also never going to be "Bro Strider feels bad about what he did" because to start, he most definitely fucking doesn't. LOL. I think he saw the way he raised Dave as a necessity, and that it was the most logical path to follow, and that it never mattered if either of them liked it (i don't think bro liked much of anything back then, except for puppets lmao) because it was the path of least resistance with the highest likelihood for success. (I will not get into the way homestuck sets us up like it's a master-apprentice anime joke only to shit on people about it later, because i already made that whole post abt bro and dave and shit u know.) I see him very much the way we see early Dirk Strider, before his disaster with Jake, back when he really thought that pushing his friends to be their "Best Selves" was doing them a favor. Take that as you will.

From here we see Bro change from Before (purpose) to After (lack of purpose, no sense of self) and this influenced a lot of the way i ended up writing him. Which! basically he starts defaulting to how he raised Dave before training because he has. Absolutely no fucking clue how to handle Dave now that they're not strifing anymore, now that there's no game to train for. (Bro would rather he was not anything, anymore but. we won't get into that.)

ANYWAY

Dave(no-longer-a-sprite): a lot of their relationships started as ultra guilt-based on both ends. not from the past, but really just centering the part both of them played in Bro's death. i know we don't have canon proof of bro dying for davesprite but it's my world and i say he did bc it rly does make a weird amount of sense and follows my Guardian's Obligation to Keep Their Player Alive at All Costs. yes even doomed offshoots of their kid. ANYWAY. the two of them have benefited (yikes) from Dave's struggle with depression and his desperation not to let Bro's death be his fault (even though obviously it wasn't) and just their mutually weird "i was supposed to die but now i'm here. what do i do?" Dave didn't have the same revelation as Dave about all his shit with Bro, and he never had an outlet. He just internalized. But this also leads to our first apology! wow so early on and yet there are 50+ chapters that trail after it. It's almost like I believe that saying sorry is the first step or something! Basically their relationship went from revolving around death and a lack of purpose to the first kind of tentative, actual attempt at something of a familial relationship. I can't call Dave a trial run, because that's not fair, nor is it accurate, but Dave(sprite) is a more forgiving figure due to his isolation, and is more likely (not good) to forgive Bro his slip-ups than the other Dave. Also Dave says some alarming ass shit to him and I think that was probably something of a wake-up call for him, like a call to arms or somethin'. Basically, they are trying their best. Or I think they are! :)

Dave (not a sprite and never has been, this is why we call them apple and orange fellas): His relationship takes more effort and more time. Dave has a relationship with Dirk now, that is more positive than whatever he had with Bro (obviously) and it's not like he doesn't NEED Bro, because fuckssake they're still kids (you left a good ask about this but i forgot to answer because i'm a mess) and they need guardians but they're like. These two are the EPITOME of the concept of "you can love someone and want a relationship with them even if they hurt you so bad you can never forgive them." That is their baseline. It permeates every interaction. Dave is almost never not thinking about who Bro used to be, versus the way he's changed. He's jealous of Dave(sprite, for simplicity), he's jealous of Dirk, he's jealous of Old Dave, but he doesn't know how to ask for... whatever it is he wants! Not to mention Dave now has his own personal experience with Bro dying right in front of him, or preventing his death (sort of twice, i s'pose) and having a direct hand in that gave him a weird kind of catharsis, some kind of choice he never got to make as a thirteen-year old (and wouldn't have, anyway, as he confesses at some point). They are genuinely working some shit out. I just think it'll take more time.

Mom: Wow! His best friend from a past life where he was cruel and awful but also at one point may have had feelings and emotions and could have been a person but never so much as he wanted to be, and he's definitely jealous of her, and he also knows that she is imperfect, the same way all guardians tend towards a lack of perfection, but they balance each other out. They are both what I would call "opposite sides of the extreme" if u know what I mean. He is the most comfortable with her because he does not have to pretend, and does not have to be gentle, and she will take his shit because she wants to, and he doesn't want her to, but he can sort of.... She is the first person Bro Strider trusts again, I think. Or he wants to. I think he's just now starting to realize that maybe it's not all bullshit, when people believe in him.

Nanna Egbert (and Hass I spose): Resentment for a life that he was always supposed to leave vs the first adult who ever showed him kindness vs growing up mean and crooked vs the way that she forgives, so so easily, too easily. But he wants her to be proud of him but no he doesn't but yes he does. He would probably bend over backwards for Nanna to make her smile. He would also let Hass put him in a chokehold but only as long as it would take to fucking suplex him into a table. He would never admit to these residual attachments because they are all mixed up in who he used to be, and he doesn't know yet how to separate them from who he is trying to be now.

Dirk: I am not getting into my dirk vs bro vs dirk meta but it went from: This is just me and he is not a real person because he's me so who cares what i say to him -> He is me but now i see that he is also a person who reflects who i used to be and i don't like that -> i'm embarrassed -> I understand him and he understands me to a point and i REALLY don't like that -> beginning to see Dirk as his own person mixed up with "sometimes he's Dirk, sometimes he's you". Dirk meta. we could go all day.

Rose: I already made a whole post about Bro and Rose LOL. Rose wants something from Bro. Bro feels obligated because she's related to Roxy, but it's also maybe the first outside relationship where someone knows who he is from the start and still... appears to want to know him?

Roxy: Mom Lalonde Jr. Feels weirdly comfortable with her. Or at least less likely to snap at her. Thinks she's funny. Doesn't really know how to deal with kids sometimes but he tries, with her. She's kind of the only one (outside of u know).

Alpha Rose: Absolutely Not.

The other Guardians: Amused but tolerant. Annoyed but intrigued. Willing to put up with their bullshit from a sense of obligation he cannot explain and that frustrates him (it's just because they remind him of Nanna and Hass, he swears)

Alpha Dave (flavor: Pacific Cooler): Wow. We could be here for LITERALLY all day. No one has asked for my Bro vs Alpha Dave meta. I'd rather not get into it but alpha Dave was built as a reflection of Dave's worst traits but also as more of a direct parallel to Bro. They understand each other. They don't want to understand each other. Bro has basically gone from "wow who the FUCK is this douchebag it has been so long since i have met another adult who would probably kill someone without blinking" to "i guess he's okay." That is where we are, and doesn't that speak a thousand words.

Hal: It is not Hal's fault that their first interaction went so poorly. I know we don't talk about Cal as a juju but man fucked up ARquiussprite was all mixed up in there right. What the fuck. ANYWAY i think he has reached exasperation on a Dirkesian level with Hal, but also perhaps the beginnings of "oh he's a kid" and thus we have. Gestures to all of the black text in the new chapter. Bro thinks of himself as so far removed from the identity of "Dirk Strider" that he sometimes makes decisions other people would find "bad" and "not very good". Still, Hal is a kid. He knows Hal is a kid. He can kind of tell he's a lonely kid, even if he won't admit it (because Bro was a lonely kid, once upon a time.) I think he thinks Hal is annoying. Has no qualms about blocking him without a second thought. But he won't stop him from pestering him, either! :)

THIS IS UM. TOO LONG?????????????????? This is all i can think of i am sure i am missing someone but fuck me what a cast am i right.

#not even my longest post i think #lmfao who am i missing ummmm #the run and go fic #spoilers i guess #glad we are all at peace with the decision i made for hal this chapter lmfao no one has shaken me about it #SPOILERS I GUESS #the daves are orange apple and pacific cooler yes those are their official titles