#I don't know what scenario would make this feasible

[max1461]

I've said this before, but: many political discussions are heavily informed by who the person speaking identifies as the relevant agent in some situation. For instance, consider this dialogue:

Person 1: The US needs to institute policy X.

Person 2: That's impossible, all the Republicans in congress would just vote against it. What we really need is for the Democrats to push for policy Y, which they might be able to get bipartisan agreement on.

Person 3: That's not possible either, the Democrats are too beholden to corporate interests to support policy Y. What we really need is for the president to institute executive order Z.

Person 2: Oh come on, the president would never issue execute order Z, policy Y is much more feasible than that.

And so on and so forth ad nauseam.

I don't think these people are really arguing about politics, and I don't know if they even have any substantive disagreement with each other.

In general, when people talk about "what should be done", they are always implicitly thinking of some agent, they are speaking of "what should be done by someone". And of course when we speak about different agents, we will come to different conclusions about what they should do. This is not least because different agents have different options in front of them. For instance, if you were to give me suggestions about what I could do to make the world better, they would probably not be the same as the suggestions you would give to Bill Gates about what he could do to make the world better, or the suggestions you would give to Vladimir Putin.

Normative claims presuppose an agent, and the content of normative claims will vary by the agent that is supposed. It would be useless to suggest to me "end the war in Ukraine", or to suggest to Putin "be more selective about the discourse posts you reblog", or whatever.

The problem is that when we are discussing politics, there are many different agents that we can identify with and whose behavior we can present normative claims about, and we often do not specify which one we are referring to. Furthermore, political agents can be institutions instead of just individuals, making possible the existence of sub-agents with varying agendas, and so on. Individuals might conceivably be modeled as having these too, but that's a philosophical can of worms I won't open.

Anyway, this imprecision about what agents we are prescribing actions to leads to scenarios like the discourse above, where people who substantively disagree about very little might argue vociferously against each other because in truth they are prescribing behavior for different agents altogether. Person 1 is prescribing behavior for the US government as a whole, Person 2 for the Democratic party, and Person 3 for the president. They only disagree in that each imagines the other's agent as an object of nature governed by mechanistic processes and their own agent as possessing (practically speaking) free will. None of them are really per se correct or incorrect, I don't think.

My suggested solution to this is: specify clearly the agent you are referring to, and admit that for normative discussion to make sense at all you must model that agent as "being able to choose its action" even if deeper analysis of its internal processes reveals it to in fact be deterministic. When in doubt, recall that the only agent whose actions you can really chose (if you can choose any actions at all) are your own, and thus in a certain sense any discussion of what an agent other than you yourself should do is idle philosophizing.

Ethics (I claim) are in and of themselves only a system for selecting your own actions; their use in evaluating the actions of others is secondary at best.

#society #navel gazing

[starbylers]

Mike ‘rejecting but accepting’ Will cannot co-exist with Will getting a happy ending

Even when I try to genuinely picture a scenario in which we get an ‘I accept you’ ending to Byler (it’s not happening this is just a thought exercise lol) I just…can’t? It's impossible to do without sounding like someone who's never read or written a story in their life:

Mike says 'You'll always be my best friend but I'm straight and I love my girlfriend sorry' and then what? They just never talk about it again? Ignore the elephant in the room every time they're together? Mike can't do anything to help Will with this, other than distance himself to make it easier but it's practically confirmed they will be a team next season so that's not happening. Will is not a robot, he won't just stop loving Mike because Mike says he's straight. Will already believes Mike is straight and in love with El, and yet his feelings are strong as ever. They won't just disappear, it would take time and active effort.

So if this 'rejection' happens early in the season (giving Will actual time to feasibly move on), if his arc was really to 'get over Mike', is he just going to hang around the rest of the season feeling sad but trying to forget about it? So it's just another season of Will being in unnecessary emotional turmoil...and then one day he just kind of does forget about it and the storyline fizzles out? What even is that. Like try and picture how this would actually play out on screen, it's ridiculous to even consider.

The only solid place Will's acceptance story could go after confessing to Mike is coming out to his family (and hopefully the party) which we obviously all want for him and I hope they get a really beautiful scene, but the problem is the audience knows everyone will love Will no matter what (he might not know, but we do and we are the target audience here) so there's no stakes. The only real stakes in Will's coming out from a storytelling perspective is how Mike will react (it’s the only uncertain variable), and if we get this very early on in the season (giving Will time for a believable 'moving on' arc) his storyline would be incredibly anti-climactic, it would have peaked and have nowhere else to go. It's not like he's going to date someone else.

And if we don't get the 'rejection' early on, Will won't have time to feasibly get over it (especially since we already established that being rejected and moving on would not be an automatic process for someone as unconditionally in love as Will is with Mike), and he would inevitably end the season unhappy. But we know that's not happening so...

And no him getting over it during the time-skip is still not logical or good storytelling, it would be a cop-out and an unsatisfying plot device. Like Will confesses and is rejected by the boy he loves then it’s the next episode and he just doesn’t care anymore and the whole storyline is dropped? If it was an early season time-skip, then he’d have no real personal arc for the rest of (majority of) the season. If it was a mid-late season time skip, we’d still have him either pining or trying to move on (which is a painful and hard process for anyone) for the whole pre-skip, depending on when exactly the rejection occurs.

It's not that Bylers think Will couldn’t ever be happy without Mike but it's that the narrative as it's set up is not going to accomodate that whilst also adhering to basic storytelling principles (and without the writers letting a gay character constantly suffer with no pay off). He will either end up with Mike, spend the season hurting/pining/struggling again but by the end it just sort of fades into nothing (‘moving on’), OR they will drag his unrequited love to the final episodes guaranteeing his unhappy ending. Anything else would be nonsensical and unrealistic aka him just being fine and happy and completely over it right after he's rejected. Or them completely forgetting about the build up of this storyline with the excuse of a time jump, cutting short his personal arc and leaving the character with nowhere to go. These are literally the only options for the end of Will's story, and the only one that is happy and is objectively the better-written story is Byler.

#byler #I wrote this during an exam help

[martinsharmony]

Thank you for your RPF post. I agree. I wake up thinking of scenarios for DT/MS. They're just there, in my head, being in love and content. And I need them there. I need to know that even middle aged queers can find love, that lives adapt, that finding new love doesn't mean abandoning established love.

I need to see happy, older queers thriving in our bigoted, hateful world. Because I don't get to have that happy ending myself. And because young questioning queers need to see it, know they have a chance. To know that not everyone finds their someone(s) in high school or college. To know that everyone's path and timeline are different.

And MS and DT are such lovely people, inside and out, truly kind and giving and they deserve happiness in whatever shape that takes. It warms my poor, injured heart to see them gazing at one another adoringly, their softness for each other plain on their faces. To see them choose to be in each other's lives over and over. Like, how wonderful! How can someone hate on that? They're little bright spots in my cloudy world.

My shipping them with never affect them. I don't know them, I'm not in their circles, they will never know I exist. If any of them are seeking out the RPF fics, then they are reading them intentionally because they want to. (I'm sure MS has written and submitted some himself based on various interviews over the years.) They aren't fighting allegations of a relationship, they continuously fuel them, even. Something I don't think they'd do if they felt it was harmful to their careers, untrue, or as queerbaiting. They're allies at a minimum, they wouldn't cheapen the lived experiences of other queers for a couple of extra asses in seats at a show.

Anyhow, thank you for your well thought out post and for making me feel seen, even as I hide behind an anonymous ask.

Thank you so, so much for writing this. My apologies in taking so long to respond.

And thank you for saying that my post made you feel seen. I truly appreciate that. RP shippers are the red headed step children in the fandom world. You saying you felt seen by my writing made ME feel seen by your appreciation, and truly by receiving this ask as well.

I agree with you. I have never seen anything so wholesome in my life as the way Michael and David are with each other. They just exude love. It's so pure. I really don't understand the vitriol against it. I mean the majority of our "fuel" comes from them in the 1st place. Plus it's evident when you watch them interact.

I just chalk up the hate to it saying more about them than us.

And yes, of course people can find love at any age and regardless of what state their current relationships are already in. Why should we think they are not with each other because they are each already in relationships? Because they are famous? Because they have kids? That makes no sense. People do it every day.

Yeah no way they are doing this for any kind of "marketing" or whatever, except to provide some kind of narrative that would allow them to hide in plain sight. That way they can be just about as "free" to be themselves and show as much affection toward one another as reasonably feasible. I wish they could feel 100% free to be out in the open with it, but I also realize they probably prefer privacy as well.

I look to them as relationship goals. I hope to someday find someone that I feel as at home with as I believe they feel with each other.

#shennant #sheenant #ineffable lovers #michael loves david #david loves michael #rps #real person shipping #michael x david #david x michael #ask #SlashWhore

[exhausted-archivist]

Concept Art Moments and Ideas: What I Wish Was Kept

Pretty sure we've all been there. Seen some of the concept art and thought how cool it was and how much you wish it had made it in the final game. These are some of mine, I won't go too much into why they're not in the game, the answer is usually either one of the following or a combination of: they needed to narrow the scope of the project, frostbite was a new engine they were struggling to make do what they needed, time, they didn't feel it had enough narrative weight or purpose, or it would make the world states branch out far too much.

I'm not really wanting to discuss whether or not I agree with cutting them either. I just really think these are neat concept, ones I've thought out how they would fold in, possible ways they could have played out, and some that personally I have worked into my fic just to fully explore the ideas.

Most of the images that don't have a source link came from either the art book or the BioWare Stories and Secrets From 25 Years of Game Development (B25) book.

Now lets start with the most common one:

[Source]

I'm know others have said this, but I really wish that it had been feasible for you to become Divine. Though, honestly this only would have really worked as decision at the end of the series. While personally in my canon world state I don't have anyone I would want to put in that role. I do have an OC who I did design for that and would have been nice to see it play out. Especially come Trespasser.

These are story boards from the art book of the prologue walk through Haven. The voice lines for this are still in the game files even though they're cut. Something I always wanted in the prologue was something to actually motivate me. There is no real sense of danger, and the walk through Haven hold no real weight. It's mostly telling and no showing, it feels hollow after your first play-through where you aren't curious and uncertain. It honestly would have been interesting to me if this was in there and if there were non-standard ending option outside of combat. Provoking the scared survivors to where they mob you, a timer on the mark instead of just the one check point. If it started draining your health the longer you took to get to the Breach. Things that could easily be removed if you decreased the difficulty level and wouldn't impact the game overly much.

[Left Dragon Age Art Book, Right World of Thedas vol. 2 p. 245]

To continue on with my desire for the steaks in Inquisition to be more intense, for you to actually feel some type of risk or hostility from the world. These two are more of an expansion on the attack on Haven. I wish Corypheus was given a more dramatic entrance than being seen on the hill with his Commander. That when he arrived to scoop you up, that it was more ominous and threatening. Something to illustrate as him having this overwhelming presence and force.

In Hushed Whispers had the concept art of King Alistair going with you and honestly, I feel like it is a missed opportunity. Not only would it make sense but there is a sort of thematic element with Alistair once again having to save Redcliffe from a mage. I think this also could have worked if he was king or warden. If he was a warden, it would have been a very nice way to tie in the Warden plot for Alistair and even Loghain. Would have really given the Inquisitor a reason to care about choosing between them or Hawke in the Fade.

[Source]

Matt Rhodes labeled this as Anders in the tags, and I am really intrigued by this prospect. We know by the end of DA2 if he's alive he doesn't have many friends with the displaced mages of Kirkwall after awhile. It would have been nice for him to come back in that Warden role they were considering for the cancelled Exalted March DLC. But what really makes me curious, is why he's out in what we might think is the Western Approach/Hissing Wastes and what happened to his missing right arm.

Alternatively, another scenario I would have liked to see with Anders comes from the B25 book. We see they explored the idea of Anders, as a Grey Warden in the cancelled Exalted March DLC. Honestly, I feel as if he would return regardless of if you killed him or not because we know that Justice can and has prevented fatal injuries from killing Anders before. This could have been an interesting thread to not only pull his story to an end in dai, but also introduce the Warden contact instead of the ones we had. Because he was on the run and the Wardens would offer a degree of protection so he would be unwillingly forced to return, couple that with him knowing of Corypheus - which would likely be the thing that forced the Wardens to keep him alive once they found his prison empty.

[Source]

This is Western Approach concept art, specifically this was suppose to be Adamant. Matt Rhodes describes that it was suppose to be a monastery, self-sustaining, and a place where they could cultivate their own food, weave their own fabrics. It would have been interesting to be able to see it like this, to see the game use this to not only explore how the Wardens survived out here but also how they recovered the fortress after it was wrecked in Asunder. It would have tied in nicely with exploring the fact that the reversal of Tranquility was found here, a fact known to everyone in game at this point (they just didn't know the Seekers hid it from the Chantry and mages). It would have been an excellent way to fold in Rhys, Evangeline, flesh out Cole's backstory and personal quest, and even show another side of the mages - the ones who didn't want to be involved in the war and fled to the Wardens.

Two Words: Giant. Scorpion.

Look how massive that is. I love mega fauna so much. I want something massive to be living in the Hissing Wastes and I want this to be fighting dragons. It would have been amazing. Look at the boards they put out.

[Source]

I want to believe this is for the Western Approach given the ground type and the smoke in the background. If this thing was guarding the sulfur fields by Griffon Keep? It would have been epic. Or even if we saw it fighting the Abyssal dragon. Honestly, I think more areas should have had a competing predator for the dragons to be fighting. It would have been cooler if they kept great bears (previously known as Dragon Bears) at their massive size to fight a dragon in the Emerald Graves too.

[Source]

That said, this scorpion concept gets even better when you see the concept art for smaller versions being Venatori mounts.

How do you not get stabbed bud? How do you domesticate/train this? What is the intelligence of this little critter? I can just picture a play on the scorpion and the frog happening here. This would have been really cool as mini-bosses or something of that nature. Particularly around the ruins, Venatori operations, or raids against the keeps.

Another piece from B25, we see new concept art of the Inquisitor leaving Skyhold with the Inquisition as Skyhold is destroyed in the background. We learned from David Gaider that at one point Skyhold was actually suppose to be attacked by Corypheus, but it ended up being cut due to time/scope. This is something I wish they kept, having your second base attack, you home at the point where you felt the strongest and potentially after a recent victory.

It would have reminded the player that Corypheus and his commander, Calpernia or Samson, were a real and active threat. Something missing from Inquisition honestly. It would have been interesting to see if we had to find a new base of operations or if we had to rebuild. When first settling in Skyhold everyone mentions being able to see the enemy coming, about not retreating from Skyhold. They really built up an expectation that at the very least a scare of an attack would happen.

There would have been a sort of poetic sense to Skyhold being leveled. Considering it is of Fereldan make, built on top of a leveled elven site. To have the site once again leveled, the history brought back to its foundations. It would have been a thematic foreshadowing to what Solas plans to do as well.

These are clearly just things I found interesting, things I feel would have really added to the game, and some others might not agree with. There are other things I wish they hadn't cut, but I didn't want to include anything that has been post-humorously mentioned by the devs because I wanted to focus more on the concept art aspect. A lot of decisions were shaped by circumstances we'll never really know the full scope of, and sometimes I wonder if they had gotten more than the 3-4 years they had for Inquisition and maybe on an engine that wasn't so fickle and worked better for the style of game how different it would have been.

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #dai #dragon age concept art #cw insect #cw scorpion #cw blood #wishlist of my heart #what could have been #long post #archi is yelling into the void

[hellcatsandcars]

long post! milex inspired rambling!! you have been warned!!!

not to be That Guy but i am asking everyone who - just like myself - likes to speculate about miles and alex and their personal lives (very much far away from them so that our speculations don't make anyone uncomfortable, thank you very much) to stop for a second.

there's been a trend lately of people kind of... piling up heartbrokenness (?) on miles, and portraying a sort of break-up situation between the two of them after the end of the eycte tour. that's fair enough! lyrics interpretation can definitely be used to back those ideas, go off!

but also, since a lot of people have used the "alex was not ready to come out, they fell out as a consequence of this" trope (which again, fair enough, whatever waters your crops) i am asking you to actually stop and consider what this means with a bit of empathy.

a large part of the fanbase is queer, in whichever direction that may be. a lot of us have gone through the five stages of gay grief when we found out because, despite the bubble we create for ourselves on the internet, there are a lot of real life issues connected to queerness that we will simply have to learn to deal with. that being said, i find it sort of... mean, i guess, the way that people are using the very real issue of being torn between coming out (and the many, many consequences that follow) and maintaining a "secret" relationship, which as far as we know might have been secret only to the public. especially given the added weight of fame, i would also be very hesitant to have a relationship exposed for everyone to see, comment on, judge, or discuss like it's just another segment in the news.

alex is beyond private, as is his right. we as fans grow to have a sort of parasocial expectation of him to share facts about himself (since we may feel that we are "owed" that intimate knowledge) and we gossip about him endlessly and we pick apart every single interaction or relationship he has. if we do all this in private, and bearing in mind that it's not something we are actually in any way involved in ourselves, it's okay. i'm not dictating what people do on the internet because that'd be beyond pointless.

but please, especially if you're queer yourself: how would it feel to have a part of your life ruthlessly exposed for the world to see, slipping entirely out of your control? how would it feel to be the villain simply because you don't want to come out, or don't want to divulge private information?

this is not to say that you can't write or imagine these scenarios, but maybe try to have a bit of empathy when you do. sometimes coming out really isn't a feasible option, and there's nothing evil or cowardly about that.

#alex turner #arctic monkeys #tlsp #the last shadow puppets #miles kane #milex

[makapatag]

so hear me out right (and this is by no means a smart blog post thing, im just rambling at 2am)

a lot of combat heavy ttrpgs (D&D4e, PF2e, ICON, Lancer, Panic! At The Dojo) rely a lot on keywording and mechanical definitions to create this interlocking (and hopefully well-oiled) combat engine that rewards good tactical choices and forward thinking. 4e needs you to know that Ranged Attacks Provoke Opportunity Attacks, and so you need to move away first to avoid that (often by spending their Move action to Shift). this goes for other games as well. ICON needs you to know that if an Ability does not have the "Attack" tag then its explicitly not an attack, even if it deals damage. This is important because some classes and abilities benefit from not attacking, such as the Demon Slayer

the far end of this is PF2e, where almost everything is Keyworded. Classes, Races, even Feats have keywords, and some keywords have Keywords in them. this is not bad design in my opinion: mastery of this keywording can create for some really cool effects (and you can feasibly design something very BotW which also depends on a lot of interactions between elements).

now consider that so much of tactics trpgs (that is, Traditional/Tabletop Role-Playing Games) rely on so much of that interaction to create fulfilling scenarios. most of the time this is because tactics rpgs also depend on build-crafting. there are a lot of tactics trpgs that don't really care about build crafting or has less of a focus on it to focus instead on the grid combat: games like Rune, Valiant Quest, maybe even Blood Neon, so im explicitly talking about the variety of tactics trpgs that are build-centered: basically anything that comes from the vein of Fourth Edition Dungeons and Dragons

one of my favorite parts about TTRPGs is that you can play them based off of the fiction. writing Gubat Banwa, I understand that sometimes you have to create that fiction, especially if its not one thats well-represented. the created fiction or genre is the blueprint from which the play-fiction arises during the game: that's the fire-like collective imagination that arises from play.

There's a design and play philosophy (common among OSR, PbtA, and FitD) known as Fiction-First. This means that you follow what happens in the fiction first before the mechanics or anything else. Not to preserve the integrity of a "narrative" but rather, to preserve the integrity of the fiction.

What would a Fiction-First Tactics TRPG look like? This is something I tried to set out to do with Gubat Banwa. I haven't really succeeded, as of 1e.3.

so i've been thinking lately. What if a game was Fiction-First? It would work similarly to the Keywording of PF2e, but more open-ended in its interpretation.

Look at the Panabas from PF2e (a weapon present in SEAsia! From the Malay Archipelago all the way to the Philippine Archipelago). It has the Forceful (your second attack on your turn gains +X (X = damage dice, third up gets +2X.), Sweep (+1 to attack if youve alr targeted a separate character), and Two-Hand d10 (roll a d10 when you wield with both hands) tags.

I'm not going to be translating these one for one, but let's use the fiction-first style of writing and mechanics i'm concocting:

Panabas. A heavy blade. Using this, you strike with Bravery. The forward-curving blade can chop through tree, bone, and bramble.

Heavy Blade is a weapon type, so this is classic keywording. The text afterwards is also keywording: striking with Bravery means you roll your Bravery stat when making attacks with it. All well and good: there's always going to be some classical keywording in there as necessity (its this entanglement of mechanic and fiction that's made me love PbtA anyway).

The later text is more important, because say then I made an enemy like:

Walking Tree. A tree that uproots itself, and whistles to kill victims. Made of wood, so they lose 1 Stamina when they suffer chopping attacks. If they're struck by flame, they start burning. [Insert other combat-important stats here].

Now the fact that the panabas can chop through trees interacts with the description of the walking tree being vulnerable to chopping attacks.

Now these really aren't too different from the concept of keywording (really they're in the same concept park), the different thing is two things:

You can now apply that chopping quality to anything in the fiction. Find some brambles on your way, maybe even brambles as hindering terrain? Then spend a Beat to attack it to remove it! That's fiction first after all

It's easier to understand just at first glance with just natural language.

The important part here is natural language. In Play, a lot of the time, my players love picking up on little things about lore-bites of the items and techniques they have and seeing how that can apply to the fiction. So this is more of that: weapons, items, techniques, armor all become things that establish fiction. When two fictions interact, a new fiction arises!

Burning: A status effect. While you're burning, lose 1 Stamina when you start your Break. You lose burning when you're doused by water or you take time to remove it. Improvise: (A basic action). Do anything that does not inherently harm, as long as it makes sense in the fiction, and doesn't take more than 4 seconds to do (Beats take up 4 seconds). You can use this to stop drop and roll to get rid of Burning. Deep Water. -1 Elevation. Water reaches up to your shoulders. Moving into deep water costs +1 Speed.

Of course there's still going to be mechanical descriptions there, we're not going for FKR full just fiction thing. We're just blending fiction into the game part. Even PbtA still has stats and rolling and mechanics to further support their fiction.

I wanted to write this so that techniques and other widgets can be written with fictional wording in mind, and that wording would affect how its used in tactical grid combat. A technique that says: "You are surrounded by a barrier of tornado-force winds. Any attack from outside your adjacency is swept away, unless it cannot be buffeted by winds." Becomes a mechanical thing: perhaps a spell of concentrated curses pierces through this, but not arrows or weak fireballs?

The Arbiter

The last piece of the puzzle will almost always be: who arbitrates the fiction? There almost always needs to be a final word. For GuBa, this is the Umalagad, not so impartial arbiter. For Solo Play, this is still the Umalagad, but as the oracle: they ask a question, ie, "Would this area of effect attack be buffeted by the wind barrier if the origin point starts from outside?" and they would roll a d10. On a 6+, the answer is no, the target would not be buffeted because the flames overwhelm. On a 5-, the answer would be yes, it is buffeted because the target is not the brunt of the attack. And the final answer becomes the ruling for the rest of that scene.

Last last thing is this particular rule that sets things down that I might put into Gubat Banwa:

The Law of Phenomenon Pay close attention to the words that you have. These words will decide whether your blade can chop down a tree, or your abaka weave blunts edged strikes, but susceptible to piercing spears. These words will decide whether your dazzling spell can daze opponents, or if the opponent you fight ignores it due to them not depending on their senses to fight. The words establish the fiction. The fiction is the world in which your characters live: follow it always.

#gamedev #ohhh fiction first gaming #how i love you #but idk if this is actually fiction first gaming or just natural language keywording #either way its so cool to me argh

[ashesandhackles]

Yeah, I also struggle to imagine Severus and Remus becoming friends in canon. Remus is extremely passive aggressive and way too loyal to James, while Severus is very open about his disdain for certain people, including Remus and especially James. If I were Severus I would also find it extremely hard to trust Remus given their history. Remus is also the kind of person who’s willing to do anything to fit in and be liked, while Sev is comfortable with his own company. Both make sense given their circumstances. Contrary to popular belief, Sev did NOT hate Remus because he was a werewolf - he hated him because he was and quite frankly remained one of his bullies. Yet at the same time, I love both characters and I’m fascinated by their dynamic. I do think there is a version of reality where under different circumstances, they could have gotten along. Now, I’m wondering, do you think there’s any version of reality where Severus and Sirius could have been friends?

I have answered this somewhere before - but I am going to quote my friend @dragonlordette on this and explain why they are incompatible:

"Snape is unafraid to be himself to the point of being bullied and disliked his whole life, while Lupin is avoidant. These two characteristics don't lend themselves to complementing each other, they just lead to Snape disrespecting Lupin. As an alternative example of a more "complementary" case of opposites attract, Tonks is sociable while Lupin is avoidant. This means she can help him out his shell, but she is not so committed to "staying true to herself" that she would find lupins tendency not to speak up to his friends weak (like snape would). It's a more complementary strength.

I just feel like nearly every trait of Lupin and snape is mutually exclusive, rather than complementary. "

My own take is that, "Remus enjoys being around people who are aspirational - someone whose life he can live vicariously through (James, teen Sirius, Tonks) or someone he can look up to (Dumbledore). Severus is aspirational in a way that won't speak to Remus."

In canon, from the way I read it, Snape is on backfoot by what he considers is Remus' dishonest civility. He cannot effectively argue with Remus when Remus is polite but inwardly hostile/oppositional - see, here: Verbal Fencing Between Snape and Remus , Neither Likes Nor Dislikes Severus

He tries to avoid Remus the best he can, because one, there is genuine fear there from the teenage brush off of the Whomping Willow incident and he is constantly wary and hypervigilant. My reading of Remus is harsher than a lot of the fandom, but I really don't see a scenario of them getting along. (I'm sure other interpretations may make that feasible, but it's not my vision of who these two characters are)

Also, it's clear to me that Remus, while acknowledging that his friend's behaviour with Snape wasn't great, isn't too fond of him himself. (he will try to lighten how James' behaviour looks - see end of POA, OOTP chapter post SWM). He disapproves of Snape as an authority figure - as demonstrated by the Boggart lesson (Snape's jibe about Neville pissed him off - he raises his eyebrows at him, which in Remus language, is "ticked off"), and the fact that while he agrees with Snape that Harry shouldn't be in Hogsmeade, he will not let Harry be in Snape's power to deal with.

Sirius, on the other hand, as hot take it might be - but as my friend @saintsenara pointed out, Snape enjoys baiting him ("how is the cleaning going?"), engaging with him because Sirius is upfront (the entire kitchen scene). Snape knows how to deal with that kind of language, it's batting in a language he knows, whereas with Remus, he is never sure of what he is getting.

Sirius and Snape are narrative mirrors, explicitly in canon. Sirius and Remus are narrative stand-ins for when James is important for Harry's development, while Snape's story becomes more important when Lily is important to Harry's development:

They have much in common:

- people who lost their best friends and the most damaged by it.

- Sirius punishes himself for James' death by staying in Azkaban for 12 years, Snape atones for his own guilt by being a spy.

- Snape and Sirius both live in their childhood homes, and they both act as prison. For Sirius, it is imposed on him, for Snape - it seems to be self inflicted.

- anger issues, to put it lightly.

- intensely loyal, and very very brave. But great capacity for cruelty.

- Snape spent his teenage years running away from his Muggle roots, Sirius spends his teenage years running away from aristocratic pureblood house

As my co-writer and friend @thedreamermusing pointed out: "Also: Snape has father issues; Sirius has Mommy issues. Their lives run parallel more or less- Sirius and Snape both form a formative best friend friendship in their childhood, are both drawn sorted in their houses in an effort to cement their own family complexes (Snape and his mom, Sirius and his family), both base their identities om the basis of belonging to a community (Snape-DEs, Sirius- Marauders), both form their moral complexes by becoming the opposite of their roots (Snape loves the dark arts and blood supremacy, Sirius hates the dark arts and hangs muggle posters), both have a cruel sense of humour (Snape thinking dark magic is just a laugh, Sirius thinking feeding Remus Snape a la Carte being a joke), both of them joining a group to further themselves away from their roots after school, both of them risking their lives to protect their bestfriends, both of them making a terrible mistake by trusting the wrong person that leads to their best friend dying, both of them punishing themselves for the next 12 years to atone, both of them using the memory of their bffs as the one shining light in their miserable lives to keep going on, both of them forced in their childhood homes in the last part of their lives, both of them finally dying for Harry."

Essentially, they have a capacity for understanding each other in a way because there is an intense projection involved in how they interact with each other. I have answered bits of that dynamic here and how their dialogue flows, where they throw words back at each other whereas the one with Remus involves Remus taking the rug from under his feet. So yeah, basically I don't see it with Severus and Remus - but like I pointed out, the way I envision the two characters might not align with others :)

#asks

[lakesbian]

How do you think Alec and Blake would get along? Your choice of the circumstances of their meeting, whether it's Alec being subjected to The Horrors or Blake being subjected to whatever the fuck Bet has going on

okay i know blake well enough to answer this now. if we tossed him in bet there's no feasible way to force him to interact w/ alec so the significantly more fun option is going with the premise of: - alec is teleported into pact around blake's arrival at hillsglade house. he does not get to keep his power :( no tripping people allowed - the above facts aren't actually distressing or confusing to anyone, but other than that everything about alec's history & personality remains identical to in worm - everyone involved is aware that alec is on team blake & rose and he will be treated as such

anyway some really freaky awful shit would happen and alec would just be totally unperturbed about it while blake is shaking sniveling crying so blake and rose would conspiratorially whisper to each other like Okay There's Definitely Something Up With That Boy. Keep An Eye On That Strange Little Teenager. meanwhile alec is cross-legged on the couch cheerfully + obliviously sipping his hot cocoa (unlike blake he is not above powdered cocoa and tapwater in a house where the only other options are oatmeal, beans, or a sad moldy grilled cheese), nose-deep in a book about demons, infrequently sharing what he thinks are Cool Educational Helpful Fun Facts with them (it is the most nightmarish shit they have ever heard. ever).

furthermore it would not take very long for him to think well, i guess i should be a Pragmatic and Communicative Team Player by bringing up the demons so we can all get on the same page. surely, alec vasil says to himself, i can grasp the finer points of the ethical connotations of the matter and open convincing dialogue on this subject! which he would express to blake and rose suchly: "now, hear me out before you guys bite my head off, but would using the demons really be so bad? it's not like people aren't already dying every day, right? the world already sucks, we probably couldn't make it that much worse."

and then he would nod in satisfaction with himself like he just said something intelligent and quite patently true.

which blake and rose would, very understandably, interpret as meaning that there is something deeply wrong with him and if they don't intervene he will rapidly make it literally everyone else's problem. blake would 100% refuse to stop pressing him to swear that he Won't Use The Fucking Demons.

to which alec--a boy severely traumatized by being forced to do horrible things to other people against his will, who would Immediately imagine a Conquest scenario in vivid detail upon being asked to swear off demons--would promptly think "FUCK no, that's Asking For It." but then he would also be like. "even though they're being Dumb and Stupid. i, alec, will bravely nobly and humbly compromise in the interest of keeping the peace and indicating that i don't actually intend to use the demons i was just floating the idea like a totally regular person would." and his genius idea for a compromise to indicate that he didn't really intend to use the demons would be promising not to use the demons [insert alec calculating the maximum amount of time he thinks it can safely be assumed that they won't be forced by some circumstance or other to use the demons here] In The Next Week.

which would result in blake being like SO YOU WANT TO USE THE DEMONS RIGHT AFTER THE WEEK ENDS??? and you get the gist it would be an absolute comedy of alec being a freak and blake and rose furiously trying to keep the freak on a leash. the funniest part is that he really wouldn't use the demons unless there was no other option, he's already tied his own leash to a nearby fence, he's just entirely cavalier about the Idea and subsequently keeps giving blake persistent heart attacks over (relatively) nothing. he would realize pretty quickly that he's coming off wrong and genuinely attempt to course correct so that they'll quit fucking bothering him but he has zero frame of reference for how to make that course correction happen and would thus just be weird in a different direction. i could go on. in fact i Will. this will be an extended posting saga.

#ask #pact time #worm spoilers

[imaginethezeldaverse]

Ok I don't know how Gordon's have kids but could I ask for a cute scenario with yunobo and a pregnant reader? He's so sweet and I feel like he would make a great dad

Technically they reproduce asexually - though I've always been of the opinion that they can either bud children or like...they get a blessing from the goddess and boom - a rock child. For the sake of our fanfiction scenario, let's slide into the headcanon that Gorons can feasibly mate with Hylians, shall we? I'm also gonna set this just maybe like a few years post-ToTK.

Honestly though, this really is such a cute idea aefwa okay:

Some spoilery mentions for Tears of the Kingdom below, just an fyi.

"Sweetheart...you alright?"

You were snapped out of your dissociation, realizing you were rubbing your lower back. A habit you developed only two months into your pregnancy that affected you greatly now that you were in your sixth, especially when you'd been on your feet for too long. Yunobo, your beloved of a few years now, kissed your temple before taking your hand to drape over his sizeable fingers. He sat you down next to him, engulfing you in his arm and against the wide expanse of his chest. "Is your back bothering you again? You know I can help with that, goro," he offered gently. Leaning into him, you hummed, "Would you, Yuno? I guess I didn't think about how long I'd been standing up for while making breakfast this morning."

"'Course, precious. Here," his hand held to the length of your spine. With his sage awakening, his command over fire would only grow more refined. He was able to manipulate flame to his hands rather easily these days, let alone do severe damage with weaponry. The warmth that emanated from his palm and fingertips coated your back, a sigh of relief escaping you. Yunobo was always thoughtful with you being the gentle giant that he was, but being that you were carrying now - he was extra careful.

You remembered the day you told him you were expecting. After the wave of overwhelmingly delighted tears, he immediately shifted into the protective partner role, constantly trying to carry you so you didn't have to be on your feet. Thankfully with some coaxing he eased back into letting you be independent, but would offer instead to rub your feet or any part of you that was sore from your body gradually changing. Today would be no different - as soon as you felt yourself relax, Yunobo's thumbs pleasantly pressed into your flesh, kneading the muscles into complete softness. He'd taken some tips from Pyle and Tray over at the Rollin' Inn on what was best for your specific aches and pains; you personally could not have asked for a more heaven-sent Goron. You must've whimpered at one point, because he leaned over your shoulder, a slightly worried look donned, "Am I hurting you, goro?"

Struggling to keep your eyes open, you sighed out a no, "Quite the opposite...you never fail to be so good at that..." referring to his delicate manipulation on your body. His laughter is light on your ears, "It's the least I can do," he says as you feel him shift behind you a bit. His large fingers ghost over the roundness of your belly, a touch that fills you with adoration. There's warmth and a hint of timidity in his voice, "I want to make sure you're taken care of."

His sentiment hits your heart with a pang of amorous appreciation. You find yourself snuggling further into his embrace, and he moves to wrap both of his arms around you as you do. Closing your eyes fully this time, you can't help but smile when you whisper to him, "You're going to make a great dad, Yuno."

Yunobo tucks his chin to the top of your head, absorbing the reality of your words. Fatherhood made him nervous, he had so much to learn in life himself and knowing he was bringing in a life he helped create had him triple checking he and you had everything you needed. Yet when he looked at you, glowing so beautifully and taking each day as it came with a smile on your face...you made it so easy for him to fall for you every single day. So easy to want to be by your side and be the partner you deserved and the father your child would love. He could never imagine what you personally were going through, but he would be at your side through it all.

A smile curled onto his lips, "I think we'll both be incredible parents, my love."

#loz: totk #legend of zelda #legend of zelda: tears of the kingdom #tears of the kingdom #yunobo #totk yunobo #yunobo x reader #yunobo imagines #tears of the kingdom fanfiction #totk fanfic #pregnant!reader #fluff #comfort #fluff and comfort #established relationship #zelda imagines #legend of zelda imagines #zelda fanfiction

[elfcow]

Combat shouldn’t take more than an hour? How quick are your players taking their turns? 🤔 (But for real any tips on how to speed up combat would be welcome lmao)

Sometimes combat can run longer! Two hours is feasible in a home game but pretty fatiguing tho, so as a DM I'm always aiming for like 1 - 1.5 hours at most.

Here are some tips for DMs and Players of every experience lvl on how to make combat run faster:

DMs:

- KNOW YOUR MOVES

Have stat blocks up for your little guys. Know how you want to play them. If you're opening, pre-roll your openers. If you know your villain is going to cast a big complicated spell in the middle of combat, pre-roll attack rolls and dmg to save time. Don't be too rigid, just be able to adapt and announce what your guys do right away

- SIMPLICITY

You don't need to make a module that any dm could run from just looking at your notes. You just need what you need.

Simple npc stat blocks, simple monster turns, etc

- SWIFT RESOLUTION

If you can't look up a rule in under 30 secs, make your ruling with the info you have and move forward

If you have npcs vs npcs, resolve it beforehand or resolve it with a single roll in combat. No one wants to watch you do non-critical play against yourself for an hour. If it's rolling to see whether a beloved NPC is able to wrestle out of the grip of your big bad or die, sure resolve that in full. If it's just a companion npc smiting a skeleton? At most 1 roll or they just do it

- BE CONFIDENT

This should be called act confident. It doesn't matter if you feel unsure or not, if you act confident your players will buy into your scenario

- PLAYER ENGAGEMENT

Keep track of initiative, have it publicly displayed, remind your players when they're on deck. Give each player multiple avenues of success so they don't get stuck

The most rewarding thing about running fun combat as a DM is there's more room for fun narration and cool character moments when mechanics are no longer a slog.

PLAYERS:

- KNOW YOUR ACTION ECONOMY

Keep all of your action economy and miscellaneous all in a little sheet where you can see it at a glance. Knowing your resources will allow you to be more fluid than a flowchart or a battle plan that falls apart at the first arrow.

- HAVE YOUR TURN READY

Be attentive during other players turns! They will inform your actions, and they may be depending upon your attentive reaction to save them! Even if your whole plan gets upended right before your turn, deliver your goals clearly and quickly to the dm right away. It's ok to hustle for info first, just be efficient and be ready

- TRACK YOUR OWN SHIT

Track your resources, your health, your concentration checks, statuses, everything. The less your dm has to micromanage you the better they can dm! If you're a new player and you're unsure, ask for help!

These are some basic things but just some stuff that I've found helpful! If I can think of more when my brain isn't exploding I'll add on!

#Dnd #D&d #Dnd 5e #Dming #Ttrpgs

[lancerious]

Blab about Lancer

Ah yes, always a grand idea :D!

I'm gonna try and keep what I say here reasonably fresh as I don't feel like repeating what I've said about the bounciest boi in the past, though if anyone wants me to repeat myself lemme know because I'll definitely do it hehe :>.

I just wanna gush about Rouxls Kaard in terms of Lancer for a bit, firstly because I haven't done this much to begin with, and secondly because I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THESE TWO. Rouxls I don't care how much you complain about Lancer it's obvious you care for the kid's well being and you SHOULD because said kid is a pure precious cinnamon roll who couldn't hurt a mosquito. Every time I see fanart depicting Rouxls as being a parental guardian of sorts for Lancer it makes me melt because it's so PRECIOUS, honestly keeping an eye on Lancer is one of the only things Rouxls Kaard is good--or at least decent--at. And you can't tell me the "Lesser Dad" nickname isn't adorable, if you don't find that adorable then you have issues. I don't know if I've ever brought up this "surrogate guardian" sort of thing going on between these characters but I am now! 10/10, both Rouxls Kaard & Lancer are too beloved for this world, 'nuff said. (<- I still prefer Spade King as an overall parent/guardian don't worry lol.)

Speaking of Spade King though, I really like the situation he & Lancer are currently in father/son relationship-wise. It is pretty depressing at the moment, but that's honestly what makes it work. I love seeing new family dynamics in Deltarune, something fresh y'know? It's an entirely different scenario with more recent characters. I know how beloved the Dreemurr family are in the UT/DR community, and they're amazing characters for sure, but I really prefer Spade King & Lancer's dynamic. It feels more REAL. The events themselves aren't that realistic ofc, but the emotions & reactions both sides have feel more reasonable. I'm not sure if this is even making sense and I'm going on a tangent anyway.

But yeah, back to Spade King & Lancer. I love how we're actively going to SEE both characters (hopefully) work out their differences and begin to mend that relationship. And we also will likely see how each side's current situation affects them, likely in more ways than one. Sure, both Lancer & Spade King are mostly hiding such things behind a facade, but you KNOW it's there. And THAT is what makes it so impactful. You know both characters are going through such inner turmoil, especially Lancer. His father literally hates the only friends he's ever had, and that puts poor ol' Lancer smack in the middle of everything. It's like that feeling you get when two close friends are fighting and you're the mutual third party, but multiplied SO many times. Honestly, I've said it before, and I will say it again; a breakdown of SOME sort HAS to happen to Lancer at some point. I doubt Spade King will have such a moment because Spade King, but he'll still feel it inwardly I'm sure. There is no feasible way a literal CHILD can carry on the burden of so much without crumbling under the pressure.

Which brings me to something that I admittedly have mentioned before, but I just have to bring it up again. Lancer has gone through SO MUCH for a child his age. It's doesn't matter what age you headcannon Lancer as: What he has and is currently going through are things NO child should experience, EVER. I'm not even talking about only the Spade King situation anymore, I'm talking about EVERYTHING. What makes all Lancer has been through that much worse is the fact of him being AWARE of it all. He's not oblivious, and he's not clueless either. He's ASTONISHINGLY observant, ESPECIALLY for his age. I would even argue Lancer is one of the most observant Deltarune characters so far, even if he never announces it. He certainly hints at it here and there, like when he told Kris, Susie, & Ralsei that the other Darkners aren't major fans of him.

This entire thing makes me think of a line Lancer said during his battle alongside Susie with Kris & Ralsei. The first time you, as the player, tell Ralsei to "give the final blow of kindness" to Lancer, Susie blocks it off so Lancer can't hear. And Lancer says he's "blissfully ignorant". Call me crazy, but I don't think that specific phrase was an accident. Of course, Deltarune is only a game after all, so it was Toby Fox who put that line in. But if we think about this through the perspective of Lancer himself, I see him stating what he WISHES he was. He WISHES he was "blissfully ignorant" from everything around him: knowing the fact of the other Darkners not liking him to dealing with an impossibly complex parenting situation and everything in between.

See, I think there's a very unique tragedy with Lancer. One that most characters Toby Fox has created haven't been able to replicate. Think of Asriel from Undertale for a minute. Asriel had loving PARENTS, plural, and he even got a sibling in the form of Chara for a time. Asriel's entire family was well-respected and loved by the other monsters, and for the longest time, Asriel didn't have a lot of burdens to bear. It was only at the short time leading up to & including his own DEATH, & what came after, where things started to go downhill. Asriel essentially had it all while he was alive, then lost it upon death.

And now, think of Lancer. I would say Lancer is the exact opposite of Asriel in this way. First, Lancer's family is a crumbled mess. He barely knows his mother--Queen--has a biological father in the form of Spade King, who was (and certainly is) likely not a perfect parent, and that really only leaves Rouxls Kaard as a somewhat decent parental guardian. Already, we see a major difference. And once we broaden our view and see both kingdoms with their citizens, well, Asriel and Lancer could not possibly be more opposite. There was not ONE Darkner Lancer felt appreciated by, save for those above him in power & position, which is really only Spade King (ignoring the other Kings when they ruled). The ONLY time Lancer felt genuine connection with others was the day Kris & Susie first appeared in the Dark World. That is IT. Generally, in terms of how his current life has been so far, Lancer's is far from ideal. Hence, Lancer & Asriel are opposites in this case.

I think I've run out of things to say as far as this post goes lol, and it's already preeetty long. Though, let's end this post on a high note! Lancer has actual friends now, friends who will stand by for whatever support he may need. Heck, if Kris, Ralsei, & Susie--especially Susie--were all willing to respect Lancer's wishes and attempt to resolve everything peacefully with Spade King in Chapter 1, who KNOWS what's to come in future chapters! I for one can't wait to see where Lancer's story goes :)!

Anyway have a random Lancer fanart image :>.

#WHEW this was long #i enjoyed doing it though! i love doing long posts like these #going over various characters and just spewing out random stuff is rly fun :) #ask #mutualio #needlessly long #deltarune

[presidenthades]

I can see Aemond slightly tempted by the possibility of being king (consort), but the possibility of Aegon murdering him in his sleep is too high so he quickly dismisses it. And behind that hate-everything vibe, Aemond isn't a bad brother or uncle and I don't think he'll agree to be a part of something that will make Aegon and Jace's lives miserable.

But if they were to marry, then Aegon would definitely consider taking Luce as his wife just to fuck Aemond, but that would hurt Jace deeply and Aegon would rather be thrown to the wolves than hurt his pretty girl... so he goes for the third option: stealing the bride and taking her to Essos. Rhaenyra and Daemon can hunt them down but when they find them (if they do) then they'll be married, their marriage consummated, and Cheeseball on the way (they don't know it yet 🙃)

Whyyyy are you giving me so many good ideas for “What If” AUs 😭. Maybe one day I’ll write a spinoff where there’s a betrothal between Aemond and Jace but either a) Aegon does the kidnapping thing or b) the brothers pull a last-minute groom swap, whoopsie guess Jace is marrying Aegon. I have no idea how B would be feasible though 🧐.

Option A kidnapping scenario is most likely lol (and Aemond might even help Aegon do it).

#my writing #ask me anything #compromise and being compromised

[soracities]

hey there! how are you doing, lovely?? i wanted your take if that's okay with you: i'm in university studying literature, and i have the possibility of studying abroad for one semester! it's pretty competitive, but i have a high gpa so i feel like if i apply to it i could get it. but im so so scared lmao, i'm a family kind of person, i still live with my parents (im in my early twenties) and i feel like it'd be hard for me to be like 4 months in another country. but i also feel like it's an amazing opportunity! do you have any advice on this? what would you do? thank u lovely hope u have a great day!!<3

i think that, if financially you have the means, and if the fear is mainly because of how new and different this experience would be, then i would absolutely go for it lovely. it will be hard at first and it will be scary especially because it's something so far out of your comfort zone or what you've been used to so far, but that's not to say it won't become something very meaningful and worthwhile for you too. i'm the kind of person who thinks any new endeavour is worth pursuing, even if it turns out that you hate it because you will still gain something from that: if you decide to go, and love it--wonderful. if you decide to go and you hate it then at least that's a solid experience and knowledge about yourself that you've gained because you tried, and you will also have the comfort of knowing that you tried, that you did something different and stepped out of your comfort zone and that bravery and willingness always counts for something in my book.

the other scenario in this is that you don't go, and if this is the choice you make because you genuinely believe it would be too much for you and harmful to you in some way, or that you are simply not ready then that's perfectly okay--but if it's simply fear and worry over the unknown, then i think it may help to consider that, in not going, this option can instead leave you with a slightly worse unknown, in that you could come away wondering what if--if you do go for it, no matter how it pans out, at least you will have your answer to that question: i think at the end of the day the best thing is to ask yourself which scenario you would regret more. 4 months seems like a long time now, but it's a very brief time compared to the full length of your university degree, and if you enjoy your semester abroad this will fly by, and if you don't enjoy it, then again: it's only 4 months.

and there are so many things you can do to try to make the experience easier for yourself, also: if you're worried about missing your family then see how often you can schedule video calls, or catch-ups, or even virtual game nights (or anything else, it doesn't have to be games), if you can afford to, and if it's not too far away, you can set aside some money, and plan a trip back home for a weekend or have someone come to visit you (again if it's financially feasible) so, if settling in proves difficult or you simply miss them, you will have something familiar to look forward to in an unfamiliar place. it will also help to learn as much as you can about whatever city / country the semester abroad is based in and make a list of places you want to see and visit. and if you do decide to go and get a place, then you can begin to build a routine or a series of little rituals for yourself by finding a favourite park, or bakery, café, library, restaurant, whatever it may be, and build a small foundation for yourself from that so that the place seems less scary and unfamiliar to you.

i think fear is an important emotion, but sometimes it can be a hindrance, too, especially when our exact fears aren't clear to us: once you're able to name exactly what worries you and scares you they become a little more manageable because now you can begin to work out different solutions and find what works best. i hope some of this helps, anon, and i hope, too, that you're able to make the decision that is best for YOU, whatever it may be 💕

#ask #anonymous #notes from elsewhere

[applesauce42069]

i think a major challenge a lot of people are overlooking is housing. massive amounts of gaza's (already low quality) housing stock has been destroyed in the last two months, which forces people into even more crowded conditions. that's not a problem that's going to go away even once the current war is over. on top of that, there could be a lot more people migrating to palestine when peace is established. thirty million jews, palestinians, and immigrants are a lot of people and they presumably don't want to sleep four people to a room while paying through the nose for rent. honestly in terms of construction i think housing will have to be the top priority of a post-conflict state, above dismantling the walls and checkpoints, even. the future will need a whole lot of construction workers, which requires higher pay, which will increase the cost of housing; this pattern is happening in canada and i could very easily see it happening in palestine too.

this is a very important issue and one i have not given much thought to before today.

beyond israel's massive destruction of human life mostly in Gaza and to a certain extent, the west bank - people murdered by the thousands, entire families wiped off the face off the earth - there has been a massive destruction of already limited palestinian infrastructure. survivors will not have homes, neighbourhoods, schools, mosques/churches to return to. this is a massive issue that has the makings of yet another crisis.

i try to focus on ways we can end of the ongoing nightmare (and I don't have many realistic ideas for that one) because the truth is we don't know what the region or the world will look like and almost anything is possible.

in my opinion the only peaceful and just solutions include an end to the occupation and the creation of a functioning palestinian state, an end to the blockade, an end to IDF terrorism of palestinians, and a palestinian right of return, among other things. I think part of this also has to be reparations, which Israel should be responsible for, and this needs to include plans to restore destroyed infrastructure.

many people will point out here that Israel HAS given resources to Gaza and those resources have been weaponized against Israel, specifically Israeli civilians. this is true, so I must include that peaceful and just solutions, in my mind, also need to include safety and rights for Israelis of all ethnicities.

what you bring up about difficulties regarding migration in a hypothetical post-peace scenario is also very important and interesting. many things will have to be addressed and resolved. many israelis currently live on land that Palestinians were displaced from. decisions would have to be made about how to handle this.

I don't have a lot of good answers for this but there are people who have put more thought into this than i have. See below:

Of course we are purely talking in hypotheticals here. There is no way of knowing how things will end, and for any peaceful scenario warmongers on both sides need to stop holding the kind of power they do right now. i simply do not know how this could feasibly happen. everything seems to be getting worse.

and most immediately we need to make sure that Israel stops murdering palestinian civilians

#i/p

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Hi sex witch. I'm an anon from November who sent you an ask about how long I can put off seeing a gynecologist, with the ideal answer being "forever". You probably don't actually need that information but at some point my brain decided you might want to know that I am finally going to attempt to do that? Idk. While every part of the process still sounds unbelievably horrific to me and just reading about it makes me cry, I am 26 and so I should probably stop delaying, but I…also have no idea how to find a gynecologist? I don't have a primary care doctor to ask about this (why is not really relevant except in that my general experience of doctors is that they have zero interest in helping me, which does not make me more enthusiastic about an invasive pelvic exam) and everything I've turned up in googling was super vague and useless. So I was hoping you might have some pointers on how to get started. Also how do I have a gynecological exam when just thinking about it makes me want to throw up, but like, I doubt anyone has advice on that since most people are, like, normal.

hey anon,

it seems like you're being a little harsh on yourself there at the end of that ask, and I don't care for that at all! if you've been around this blog for any length of time, you ought to know that many people have a hard time visiting the gyno for all kinds of reason. it's one of the most common types of questions I get here, and I've always tried to emphasize that I myself am one of those people! pap smears hurt like fucking hell for me, and I don't want to make any secret about that! as tempting as it can be to view yourself as some kind of anomaly when you're experiencing difficulty, it's very rarely the case.

put it this way: there are almost 8 billion people in the world, dude. even if only 1% of humanity wanted to throw up at the thought of a gyno exam, you'd still be in a club with about 79 million other people.

in terms of actually getting the damn thing done, I recently answered another ask with a very similar problem and raised the possibility of ultrasounds, a noninvasive way of conducting the same examination, which may be a great deal of help to you. in your search for a gynecologist I'd strongly recommend opening with questions about the possibility of conducting an ultrasound instead of a more conventional exam, stressing that it would be much better for your overall comfort and wellbeing.

in a scenario where that's not feasible, it's still a good idea to initiate the conversation to talk about what accommodations can be offered to make the experience as minimally awful as possible - for instance, will they let you bring a buddy for emotional support? can you stay in your own clothes if you'd feel more comfortable that way? fully just. don't get on a table or take your pants off until you've spoken with the person who will be doing your exam and make sure they understand your whole situation and how best to be accommodating for you.

#sex edventures 2023

[teenandbeyond]

I'm craving some Frieza x female!reader hurt/comfort (as feasibly possible with Frieza's personality 😂) recently and if it's okay I'd love to see your take on it. Specifically a scenario in which Frieza is either sick or hurt after a fight and the femreader tries to help him despite his protests. He'd be such a piss baby about it but it just seems like a fun scenario

Frieza x Fem. Reader Headcanons

Hc styleeeee

Want more from me? Masterlist 2

☆*: .｡. .｡.:*☆

❄Bandages❄

Warning(s): Fluff?

You make it your personal duty to take care of Frieza after he gets injured, too bad he has so much pride he could drown in it.

✨✨✨✨✨

When he met your eyes, you gasped as he collapsed in the doorway. Rushing over to him.

"Lord Frieza! What happened?!"

"Just a little spar, I'll be fine--Don't you dare help me!"

You ignored the plea as your eyes trailed over his cuts and bruises, before pausing on the big gash on his side.

"Stand up and give me your arm, you lost a lot of blood."

"No."

A glare was all it took for him to relent.

You took him to your room, your clinic.

Yes, Frieza was crushing on the healer.

Oh, that hadn't been mentioned yet?

Oops.

You sat him down on the examination bed, the instant you heard the impact of him sitting, you rushed to collect anything you needed.

"This isn't necessary. I'll be fine, nothing a little elastic bandage can't fix."

You slowly turned around, horrified, "No, wonder you have so many scars! You can't just slap bandages around and call it a day!"

After hearing that, you get back to him as soon as you can.

You grab an arm first, dipping a cotton swab into some alcohol and dabbing at a cut.

"Ow. That stings. Can't you just put on bandaids and get this over with?"

"Stop being so whiny."

"But it stings."

"Apparently The Mighty Frieza can't handle an alcohol swab. What a baby," you muttered.

"I am not!"

You're the only other person who can get away with saying such things...only because your face is so cute when you're irritated.

You finish with his arms and move to his side, cleaning it as well as you could with his flinching.

You pouted, "Yeah, I'll absolutely have to sew this closed."

You prepared and cleaned the needle before getting to work.

"Ow, ow, ow--"

"I wasn't even moving on that last one," you gave him an unimpressed stare.

"Needles hurt," he whined in defense.

"Yeah? You've had worse injuries, I think you'll be fine."

Once you finally got past that, you moved to the smaller cuts on his face.

You were too close.

He could feel your breath.

See all the little blemishes on your face he otherwise wouldn't have noticed.

And he did his best to not let his eyes flicker down, he promises he did.

The thing was, you didn't know about this little crush.

You didn't know that out of the main things that went through his mind the most, you always overtook them whenever you pleased.

You didn't think much of his protectiveness over you.

He literally killed a guy because he made you uncomfortable staring at you too long.

Or his favor toward you.

You weren't dense.

You just figured since you were his personal healer, he wanted to make you comfortable with him by using his charm. Making sure his authority was known and anyone that worked directly under him deserved respect.

Like when he invited you to some space gala as his plus one, buying you a pretty dress that you never wanted to know the price of.

Or when someone bumped into you and made you fall, scraping your arm. He promptly tossed them out of the ship.

Okay, maybe you were a little dense.

"Alright, all done, get out of here," you teased.

Maybe he just had to be straightforward instead of coming to you whenever he got hurt.

Just as you went to pull away, he grabbed the back of your head, pulling you closer.

You were centimeters away from a kiss.

Seriously, if either of you moved, your lips would brush together.

"L-Lord Fri--"

"Frieza is fine, I'd prefer that from you, darling."

Where most would have trembled at the intensity of his stare, you merely gave him one equally as intense.

He loved that about you, you could match him, despite the large gaps of power.

"...Frieza."

Yes, he quite liked that.

"I do wonder...How good a kisser you are."

"I--I wouldn't know, I've never..."

He smirked, "Well, we could always find out."

#frieza x reader #frieza dbz #freiza fluff #fluff #anime #frieza headcanons #dbz headcanons #hurt/comfort