#he sold to slavery is another thing i don't get

[ystrike1]

The Bondservant - By Jezz (8/10)

Finding solace in dependency isn't ideal, but I can't judge this particular couple for their choices this time. A slave and an unwanted daughter. What a toxic combination. When that slave returns with blond hair and a title I'm sure you can guess what happens.

Sioanna is a failure, and she doesn't understand why. Her mother died in childbirth, and apparently she was excellent. Everyone loved her. She was a legendary beauty, even though she was of low rank. Her modest match of a husband was handsome, and loving. Better than any boorish rich man. She bore a handsome son, but her perfect life was ruined by the specter of pregnancy.

Sioanna really isn't like her mother. She has a stammer. She's a loner. She comes from a countryside family with money, so she can't really buy her way into popularity. Her father and brother are both cold to her, so she lives in isolation. She lives trying to please them, so maybe one day she will get the chance to live glamorously like her mother.

She doesn't even seem to genuinely love either of them.

Her fruitless cute act is just that.

Both men are itching to marry her off.

Martha, the nanny, does what she has to do to help Sioanna survive. Her brother is a bit of a sadist. Martha gently encourages Sioanna to join him. To take part in the bullying. To be arrogant. To be the lady of the house any way she can. I don't think Martha is evil for doing this. Sioanna can't fight back. She's a woman, and even noble ladies have it rough.

Sioanna's brother likes to gamble. He likes to hit people, and he's extremely insecure. Men have it hard too. Being a countryside man makes marriage and money harder, and money is literally the only thing he cares about. He torments the servants because...gasp...Sioanna isn't a failure! They both are. Sioanna with her stammer. The great Heir Eli, with his anger issues and his gambling addiction.

Twaine resents them both. He wishes he had better children, but he's been dealt a dumb hand. He ponders about how he will use his children, when they're so weak.

Sioanna wants his love.

That's a mistake.

Cruelty gives Sioanna a drop of courage. Martha encourages her to be less submissive. She's only 16, but she has to do something. The clock is ticking. At this rate she will be sold into an unfavorable marriage. Twaine cannot be won over with love. Eli is a lost cause, who has been kicking his sister around the hallway since she was a toddler.

We meet Étienne.

Twaine brings him home. He claims the slave is a gift for both of his children. A friend. A sparring partner.

Twaine tries to drop a couple hints. He practically winks and says the truth out loud.

"Doesn't Étienne look like nobility?"

Sioanna is too scared to notice this hint.

Eli is too focused on beating the boy to a pulp to notice.

Twaine sighs. Étienne is clearly some kind of lost noble, who was sold into slavery for unknown reasons. Twaine found him by coincidence, but he recognized Étienne. Twaine is not the kind of man who would save another person, for any reason.

Étienne is money, or power. Possibly both, but Sioanna is completely unaware. She's dumb because she has been taught nothing, and she is constantly haunted by her brother.

Eli bullies Étienne IMMEDIATELY, and he does it hard. Sioanna joins in to entertain Eli. She believes it will make him less violent. She is trying to help Étienne....but she's also trying to help herself.

It backfires.

Eli orders her to beat him, hard.

Sioanna doesn't enjoy playing the part of the cruel lady. She hates looking at Étienne while he suffers, but it's him or her. Eli will beat both of them if she doesn't....do it.

It's not a shock when they become friends.

Sioanna is kind and beautiful under her stutter and her cruel lies. Étienne says he will be whatever she needs him to be. He looks at her like she is everything.

They do fight.

Their mutual obsession becomes hard to handle.

Étienne leaves, but he returns to take her as his bride, with the same obsession in his eyes.

#yandere #male yandere #yandere male #yandere boy #recommendations #recs #rec #recommended #webtoon #The Bondservant

[pinnithin]

enver gortash fascinates me from the perspective of his relationship with the dark urge because like, as far as i know his alliance with them is one of the very few he didn’t actively despise. the guy was sold into slavery by his own parents (who tried to justify it by saying their child was a hateful monster and anyone would have done the same) and spent his formative years employed by a devil who gets off on gratuitous levels of suffering and manipulation. and then once he's escaped that and built himself up so he can never be used and enslaved again he meets this bhaalspawn who also had to adapt and survive a violent and manipulative environment for years by becoming the monsters who raised them.

gortash sees how the dark urge has risen to command armies and slaughter hundreds in the same way he outfoxed raphael and ruthlessly controls the people in his employ, and after earning and owning his reputation as a tyrant heres another person who might actually have like, a shared lived experience. not exactly a friend, because people like them can't afford to have friends, but someone who at least understands. and he willingly works with them on this plan to enslave the sword coast and agrees to share power with them.

and then orin lobotomizes them, puts a tadpole in their head, and leaves them for dead at moonrise.

like, can you imagine. youre working with the first person you see eye to eye with and prooooobably arent plotting to actively sabotage (or, at least would hesitate to do so) and the rug just gets yanked out from under them by their own sister, and now you're stuck with her because the plan still has to move along. and as the days go by a group of adventurers start to screw up your plot right when baldur's gate is within your grasp, and you learn that among them is your old almost-friend who you actually liked and respected - and they have no memory of you whatsoever. oh, and on top of that they're rolling with people you've actively fucked over and want to kick your ass.

did it hurt for him to learn this? did he ever think about how things could have been different? did he think, you were supposed to be my ally, my friend, someone who actually understands that becoming a monster is the only way to keep yourself safe and in control. we were going to rule together. and now you're ride or die with this squad of people you've only known for a few weeks at best, and you want me dead. you don't even remember me. you don't even remember yourself.

#thinking about it from my durge's perspective hurts kinda #because losing their memory is the only thing that freed them enough to trust the people around them #and after meeting gortash and learning their history - and how they used to be friends #they probably thought a lot about how things could have been different if there wasnt a literal elder brain under his enslavement #like man if you werent actively in the way of saving the literal world maybe we could have talked about this #if i can overcome a lifetime of senseless slaughter and learn to love i wonder if you can too #but we'll never know #bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #the dark urge #enver gortash #im sure someone has talked about this already but ive just been thinking about it a lot ig #the what-if-ness of it all #long post #pin talks #bg3 gortash

[understandableparadox]

Bottom of the barrel isekai reviews:

Todays title: Welcome to demon school iruma

hi, im back, tell a friend.

Anyways we will be looking over something populer, and only a few images this time. I want this to be a nice slide back into the mix while I get ready to boil myself alive by reading shitty isekais.

"b-b-b-b-but dox!" you say, your form emaciated and ghoulish from months of little to no attention "how is it an isekai?"

Normally an isekai requires some form of passage into another world through death, but again, we are going to consider any and all portal fantasies to be on-par with isekais. as death and jumping through a funky portal are really kinda the same thing if you think about it.

so! plot synopsis, we open on the titular character iruma! they are being sold to a demon, don't worry this action will be the literal best thing that has ever happened to them. Also, added treat, slavery is not a running theme in this manga! HURRAY! WE HAVE FOUND OVERCOME THE BARE FUCKING MINIMUM! HUZZAH FOR MEDIOCRITY! MY DESIRE TO RUN MY HEAD THROUGH A ARC OF GONGS UNTIL THE SOUND WAVES LIQUIDATE MY BRAIN MATTER HAS LESSENED!

anyways we get to know some important plot points between the buyer and the product! (our mc)

iruma is a 14 year old yes man. They say yes to everything, even yes to the idea of breaking child labor laws! as their parents are frivolous unimportant freaks that spend way too much money then bolt, leaving him to work off the debt. Anyways, that's how this happened. they wanted dosh, and our buyer, we will call him grandpa!

Why is he so interested in buying a child? simple! He is rich and wants to have a grandson, unfortunately, he does not have a dick due to war injuries... ok thats a lie, he just wants a grand kid.

Anyways this is a very interesting title in the fact that it is still in a way, a power fantasy, but the power in that fantasy is separated towards other things.

It is a story in which you have the power to be helped. The adults in this manga are actual competent adults, they are there for the protection of the children, they are there to guide, nurture, train and help them grow. Despite differences or annoyances some may have, those are secondary to the ferocity they show when it comes to ensuring the protection of their students.

Iruma does have a lot of “i am the chosen one” but it is not something that automatically aids him in most situations, in fact it is the triad of facts of “I am a human”, “I want to help”, “I am determined” that allow him to rise both in power and social standing. The might makes right idealism of the underworld forced to reckon with people that stop to drag someone across the finish line. 

As for the plot, it goes along a few separate arcs; there is a very clear progression of time as Iruma gets older. Mostly split into two parts. Irumas social life, in which we get to see him become better and better friends with the students and faculty at this school. Showing both the give and take as they both show how far they are willing to go for each other. 

The second half is the mystery and political intrigue of the demonic society at large. The idea of a demon king has gone missing, disciples of which are eager to try and resurrect him as they see no one who is more suitable for the role, opposing forces trying to groom the top students at various schools into the role of king in a contest of disciples. 

I think you should give it a read, its cute, the designs are fun and the power system while simple is still enough to give the action that is there a lot of meat. It's also satisfying thing to read if you just got done with a shounen and you are wondering “where the fuck are the adults? Why are these children doing everything?”

Draw backs. Not a lot but some of the students are essentially drawn as adults and there are parts where you will feel slightly skived out by.

#anime #bottom of the barral #isekai #mairimashita! iruma kun

[kickingitwithkirk]

Winchester’s Folly

Summary: When Dean gets into trouble John decides to hide the truth for his family

Word Count: 984

*Dark! Fic-don't continue if you are disturbed by the subject matter.

Warnings: A/B/O, dystopian au, non/con, dub/con, incest, subjugation, pandemic, mentions of nudity, physical/mental abuse, mention of collaring/leashed, sexual/slavery, rut/heat, physical altercation, death/murder conviction, show level violence, parental dominance, trafficking, branding

*Additional warnings will be added

Square filled: @spnaubingo true mates

A/N: Still working on reigning myself in, keeping each part reader-friendly length, and have no clue how many parts this will end up being.

A/N II: a few notes about designations in A/O sub-genders for this story.

Alphas-Dominant (head of the pack/family) Subordinate (obey Dominant) Breeders (rare & highly coveted by the government. Can challenge Dominant for pack/family leadership)

Omegas -Domestic (mostly wiped out by plague, few natural born left) Feral (government-supplied breeders sold commonly called O's) House O’s (3rd generation+ Feral/Dominant breed. Used as servants/sex workers) Pack (rare & highly coveted by the government)

*Divider by @firefly-graphics

*No Beta-all mistakes are mine

PART V

Dean angrily stomped down the hallway and burst into the exam room, yelling, “Do you have any idea how fucking backasswards this state is, Dad!”

John blinked in surprise. Dean rarely spoke like this towards him as a Subordinate Alpha, which meant something was very off. Sam's ignored inquiry was another red flag. “Dean, what happened?”

“Do you know what they mandate done to prove ownership of O’s?” John was about to respond when the doctor reappeared, clearly unnerved by the angry scent rolling off Dean. “I need to speak to you privately, Mr. Winchester.” John doesn’t answer them back. “Dean, you got all the paperwork squared away?”

Dean acknowledged it was complicated, shifted his focus to the doctor, staring oddly at Sam, and barked, “You’re not his type, Doc!”  John ignored Dean's outburst and ordered them to wait outside the O’s room. They walked to another exam room, shutting the door. The doctor handed him a file. “This is the reason I asked to speak privately. It concerns your sons and the O.”

John read the first page. “The O’s file is flagged in the database? It was part of a lot taken during the bust of an illegal Pack distributor, and federal law requires spaying before resale?” The doctor interrupted, “Since I just examined it, I can attest this O is still fully intact. Heaven knows how Helms got hold of it.”

Anger crossed John’s handsome features, and snarled, “That son of a bitch! Her original purchaser accused Helms of selling them misrepresented goods. No wonder that Alpha sold her so cheaply.” He flipped to the next page and continued reading.

The next thing John was aware of was that he was seated on the floor. He knew most people would find this situation impossible, but he had had too much personal experience with the unbelievable to doubt it. “Mary’s obstetrician never said anything about us having twins!”

The doctor rolled a stool over and sat down before the big Alpha. “Was her physician at a government clinic?” John affirms the question, which makes the doctor sigh. “I bet she had an amniocentesis performed.” At John's expression, they said, “Some of their OBs order testing even if the ultrasound or blood work doesn’t show anything concerning.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Money. They use it to determine the sub-gender and designation because there are those among the elite wanting specific types of newborns. And twins with designations of Pack Omega and Breeder Alpha? It would’ve created a bidding war.”

John felt his lips moving, unable to vocalize the questions spinning in his mind. He did not want to believe the information when the doctor gestured to the results in his hands.

“I’m not lying about Sam and the Omega being twins.” John shook his head. “But I saw the ultrasounds. I would have known if I had a daughter!”

“With the older equipment, they could have already loaded someone else’s tape in the machine to fool you. And were you present during delivery?” John responded negatively.

“They drugged your mate, so she won’t remember the birth to smuggle the newborns out of the hospital directly. Something must have gone wrong since they only got your daughter, but it doesn’t explain how she ended up with that illegal distributor.”

John flashes back to seeing Mary and remembers how out of it she seemed after having Sam. Later, a shorter man appeared out of nowhere when he took Dean to the nursery, holding him up to see his new brother through its large window. He doesn’t remember their conversation, but Dean’s comment about not letting the man with the spooky eyes get Sammy stuck with him.

John's voice is hoarse. “How can she be a Pack Omega? And Sam a Breeder? They don’t exist anymore!”

“We might have evolved into civilized beings but still carry our ancestors' genetic makeup.” The doctor tapped a finger against their lips, “There was a theory that the reintroduction of Wild Pack DNA could reactivate Breeder genes within certain bloodlines, which would explain why the twin turned out a Pack Omega. She is your son's true mate.”

The doctor's words, certain bloodlines-true mate, pounded like a drumbeat, repeating in his keen mind and boarding on deafening when it hit him.

All this has something to do with Mary's death too.

“As that character in Jurassic Park said, life finds a way.” The doctor looked pained. “I must report all these results to the federal authorities by law. They will request a local retainer immediately and take them into custody. But since you have a court date,” the doctor calculated by wall clock, “In roughly thirty hours. I won’t send the results until then.”

John grew suspicious. “Why delay it?”

“I may participate in this system, but I’m not heartless. I have pups myself, and I’ve just dropped a metaphorical bomb on you. If these weren’t extenuating circumstances, you’d have legal recourse against Helms.”

John nodded in acknowledgment. “Thank you. Are you obligated to tell all my pups about these findings?” The doctor replied yes but gave a pointed look, “Your party has left before I could notify them.” They paused to ponder a moment.

“Perhaps this is an unexpected blessing. The judge must accept these test results, negating your son’s conviction because now they’ve been brought together, their wolves won’t allow them to be separated easily.”

John left the office but slipped out of the clinic's rear entrance instead of returning to the exam room. He walked out of the security cameras' range and pulled out his phone, dialing a number he swore never to use again. It rang twice before answering.

“I told you to lose this number, you son of a bitch!”

“It’s about my pups.” There was silence, then, “I’m listening.” John released his held breath, “Bobby, I need your help, or I’m gonna lose them all.”

Part VI

SPN TAGS: @donnaintx @lyarr24 @flamencodiva @lassie-bird @nancymcl @spnbaby-67 @leigh70

Dean/Jensen: @thoughts-and-funnies @stoneyggirl2 @beabutterfly987 @smoothdogsgirl

Sam/Jared: @idreamofplaid

WF: @slamminmine @ladysparkles78 @deans-spinster-witch @ilovetaquitosmmmm @strawblueberrys @mishkatelwarriorgoddess

#winchester's folly #dean winchester #sam winchester #john winchester #dean x reader x sam #dean x reader #sam x reader #a/b/o #a/b/o dynamics #dystopia #alpha dean winchester #alpha dean x reader #alpha sam winchester #alpha sam x omega reader #alpha john winchester #supernatural #spn au #supernatural reader insert #supernatural fanfic #spnaubingo

[theodysseyofhomer]

this is not to single anyone out, but i have a lot of new followers, and i would just love for you all to know... the search function on my blog is operational. if you search for epic the musical, you will find that i have dabbled in it. it is slightly annoying to be asked over and over whether i've heard of it, even by lovely, enthusiastic, friendly people.

i have another reason for not answering those questions, which is that when someone is being enthusiastic and friendly to me, i don't want to be mean to them. but if i'm going to speak from my heart as an odyssey lover, i don't think epic the musical is that good. it doesn't especially interest me as a standalone piece, but i also don't find it provides much insight on, or compelling points of comparison with, homer's odyssey. i'm glad you're all having a good time! please stop asking me about it.

bullet point review below the cut, for those who are more curious about my opinions.

things i like about epic:

astyanax's murder doesn't get brought up a lot in stories that are sympathetic to odysseus. it's optional when adapting the odyssey or the iliad, but i am definitely of the opinion that odysseus did it, and even if he didn't, he convinced the other greek leaders that it needed to be done.

the athena/odysseus duets.

i found the reframing of polyphemus' blinding compelling, where he's doing the same thing he does in the odyssey for a different reason. i also liked that the audience doesn't learn his name until he reveals it to polyphemus. that's a neat touch.

earwormy as hell.

the fanart! i saw odysseus fanart maybe 3 times a year before the troy saga dropped. i'll take that trade (for my sanity when i try to navigate the tags).

jorge seems to be invested in odysseus/penelope, which is like the bare minimum to hold my attention, but still.

anyhow jorge seems charming; all his videos and interactions with fans seem nothing but excited about what everyone can contribute. commissioning wolfy to animate a trailer? widely regarded as a great move.

things i don't like about epic:

as gutsy as i think it is to start with astyanax's murder, the main thing to me is not whether his hands physically threw the baby, but whether he is in some way responsible for it. more than that, astyanax's death isn't divinely mandated: it's a ruthlessly pragmatic preemptive strike against vengeance that the greek leaders are afraid of. it's 100% human. so framing it around zeus, known troy stan, forcing odysseus to do it and he feels so so bad about it ????????

baffling to me to start with a moral conflict about infanticide, and after committing it, odysseus is still like... maybe kindness is brave? maybe i'm not a ruthless person? please be serious. you murdered that baby.

(been talking to @littlesparklight about this but you could have started out with some version of sophocles' ajax, a death caused by the gods that odysseus actually is complicit in when he didn't necessarily want it to happen. i digress.)

don't like the way the fandom talks about astyanax, specifically, as if odysseus raising a kidnapped trojan boy whose people were destroyed and whose mother was sold into slavery in another land is ever going to be a fluffy au and meanwhile odysseus did very much murder that baby, so!

the songs are not... good. like i said, they're earwormy, but that's also because they're repetitive and predictable. the lyrics are distractingly bad at times, not only from a character perspective, but in the sense of using words wrongly or awkwardly to try to fit them into a rhyme scheme.

i like the reframing of the polyphemus episode. not so much the aeolus one. at that point, you have odysseus doing the opposite of what he did in the odyssey for opposite reasons, which makes him a character bearing no resemblance to odysseus at all.

and this happens while other characters (mostly gods) try to drag him kicking and screaming into his actual homeric characterization.

like, odysseus is haunted by the war in the odyssey, but not because he regrets what he's done as a moral injury. he chose violence on purpose. the gods did not force him to be this person. it's a narrative throughline that serves only as a bid to make odysseus more sympathetic.

... and in doing so, strips away his agency — in sacking a city, in lying and obscuring the truth with his crew (his lies are more than a quirk that endears him to athena, they have consequences!) — some might say his personality. i do have sympathy for odysseus, even at his worst moments morally, because i find his character as a whole compelling. you don't need to try to absolve him of these things! they tell you about what kind of person he is! they are evocative (and provocative) already! take them away and he is boring, because he is not choosing to do anything.

the new wave of odysseus fans seem unable to handle homeric odysseus' complicated aspects and character traits, and to a degree i blame this on the musical characterization. it's allowed to be its own thing, certainly, but now i regularly get people arguing about whether he's a good person when all they know is something epic made up and that was never the fucking point, anyway.

are we really going to pretend he didn't have sex with circe and calypso at all

#anna.txt #a tag for bitching

[everydayyoulovemeless]

Hello! I hope you're well, if you don't mind, could I get some brotherly headcanons for Arcade, Hancock, Fawkes and Gob with an 18 yr old female or gender neutral reader (your choice really for gender)? Perhaps they could help the reader through the early stages of adulthood?

Thank you so much, have a good day/night/evening!

Brother!Arcade, Hancock, Fawkes, and Gob With a Teen!Reader

➼ Word Count » 0.7k ➼ Warnings » None ➼ Genre » Platonic

Arcade gets more and more stressed with every passing day. You're getting older, and he's dreading the day you ask to travel on your own. He's got to let go at some point, sure, but he doesn't think he'll ever get over the fear that you'll be injured, or worse, sold into slavery. The first thing he's going to do is drill medical advice into your head, that way you'll be prepared for just about every occasion. God, it's hot out here. Is he sweating? He just can't seem to get over you becoming independent. As long as you're careful. He wants to go with you but doesn't want to come off as overbearing. You have to do your own thing at some point, autonomy is important and he needs to learn to let go. At the end of his mini freak out, he'll hug you, hand you a bag full of stimpaks, and make you promise to not get involved with anyone who could be considered even slightly dangerous or untrusting.

Hancock is the least responsible compared to the others. He's reckless, violent, and an addict, but that doesn't mean he's hopeless. He gives you tons of freedom for self-discovery. Wanna try jet? Sure, here you are. Wanna learn to shoot a gun? Let him grab Kleo. He'll never be one to prevent you from trying something out. That being said, he'd rather you leave anything more... 'hands-on' to him. You haven't seen the Commonwealth like he has, and he'd prefer to keep it that way. You don't need to see the darker parts of the world. Another benefit of being as close as you are with Hancock is that everyone in Goodneighbor treats you like the little sibling they've never had. Of course, some are resentful (Bobbi), but most will gladly break a few bones if they ever need to. When facing adulthood, Hancock just tells you to stay as free as you can. Pave your own paths and whatnot. Growing up is different for everyone, but you shouldn't let that deter you. Just live as you want, do a bit of community service here and there, and you should be fine.

Fawkes thinks it's admirable that someone so young is surviving out in the waste, however, he'll quickly put an end to you traveling on your own. You're far too young to be facing everything on your own and he is much too willing to fill in for the missing guardian role. He'd be so ready to die for you, shielding you from anything hostile that comes your way. It's rare for someone your age to still be alive and he'd never take that for granted. Anytime he can, he'll ensure you're safe and relatively unharmed. Adulthood's a weird transition, and he'll gladly be there to hold your hand every step of the way so you feel ready and prepared for when you have to face it on your own. You shouldn't be afraid of the unknowns in your life, although, he isn't all too worried you'll have any problems at all. You're strong and quick to adapt, just look at how well you handled leaving the Vault for the first time. If you still feel a bit uncertain, he's always glad to help you through everything.

The first thing Gob would try to teach you is to never get caught up in debt and never to go near Moritarity's. He's so scared that his boss will find a way to trap you into his business like he did to Gob and he'd rather you didn't lose so many years of your life doing something so mundane. Every time Nova tells him she spotted you enter Megaton, he'll quickly leave his post behind the bar and gently tell you to return to the Underworld where it's safe. Carol and Greta will care for you, so go back there, won't you? He feels bad. He wants to travel with you and try to help you navigate your life in the wasteland, but he can't afford to be beaten again, so he opts to try and finish his debt quickly. That way he can be out there with you and make sure you're doing alright. He might be a nervous wreck at the best of times, but he cares for you just as much as he does anyone in his makeshift family.

#fallout #fallout new vegas #fallout 4 #fallout 3 #fnv #fo4 #fo3 #arcade gannon #arcade fnv #fnv arcade #courier six #john hancock #hancock fo4 #fo4 hancock #sole survivor #fawkes #fawkes fo3 #fo3 fawkes #lone wanderer #lone wanderer fo3 #sole survivor fo4 #courier 6 #platonic headcanons #platonic fallout #coming of age

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Hi,

Can I ask your opinion? There is one YouTuber who is lives Spain and USA and he sounds quite basic. Thing that makes me think is that he says that ottoman and Arab slavers weren't as bad as Atlantic slave trade. Reason for that was because slaves can earn their freedom and their children weren't slaves and after they get free they lived part of society etc. He says that best way to find information treatment of slaves is people who own them. What is your opinion of this? Like I know how Balkans they tattooed girls to keep the safe and captured young boys were convert to islam and rise soldiers.

"that best way to find information treatment of slaves is people who own them." oh, really? Let's go read old WASP's accounts of their Black slaves. I'm sure they will be very reflective of the truth, right? 😂😂 It's all "please look at the perspective of the slaves!" until the slaves are European, apparently.

I think this whole discussion of "Arab slavery wasn't that bad" is a way to minimize an extremely wide and despicable slave trade that lasted for more than A THOUSAND YEARS (and still hasn't ended). In comparison, slavery in America lasted from the 17th to the 19th century. (400 years if we are generous)

Also, I'm sure they would change their tune once they learned that "Brown" and "Black" people too were taken as slaves in this slave-trade. Especially "Black" people were taken a lot and in rural areas they were forced to work in the hardest of conditions, often not living more than 5 years.

I will link videos below that mention all the countries where slaves were taken from, reviewed by Black African women. But I will focus here on Europe because that's what USians have in mind when they say "it wasn't that bad".

Whole villages were taken. Villages. For centuries on end. The sheer amount of people who were taken is scary. We are talking about large populations that changed the genetic makeup of certain areas. And we have veeery few accounts of these people earning their freedom. Just because they legally could, it doesn't mean their "masters" let them.

Families were separated. They were killed when they were trying to escape. They could be beaten and lashed at any moment, for any minor inconvenience they created for their "lord". Yes, there were house slaves, too, like in transatlantic slavery, but they were also made to work under extreme conditions (e.g. extreme heat). They were working in plantations and in mining, things that the free people wouldn't do themselves.

They were castrated. They were raped and often carried the child of their rapists. Through these rapes, many children were born and mothers tried to hush this fact and hide it from future generations. Being seen as an "exotic commodity" isn't the flex these people think it is. Being a "white breeding mare" the pirates went all the way to Norway to capture, isn't a flex.

A White woman cost higher than a Black woman (racial discrimination against Black people that spread in other areas too) but that meant that European women were hunted down intensely and they had almost no chance of escaping captivity through ransom. It was more profitable to be sold, than to be returned with a ransom paid by their families or foreign countries. Arabs "preferred" non-Black slaves, and so many non-Black slaves were taken for many centuries. A double-edged sword, because you don't exactly want a slaver to "prefer" your "race" for any reason.

And if you think that highly sought enslaved women in the "entertainment" industry weren't frequently abused or raped, you can look at the abuse numbers of free women in the entertainment industry today...

People born from rape during slavery were much more than we think. Having to "ruin yourself" with tattoos (according to your tradition) and raise your child as another gender, speaks volumes of the lengths people went to avoid a very frequent phenomenon. The Greek revolution against the Ottomans clearly stated "we don't want to be taken as slaves anymore! We prefer one hour of freedom over 40 years of slavery!" In many cases, the slaves were outright called "chattel"!

Taking the male population as children is also looked by the outsiders as "good" because "they lived in good conditions and they were educated" but please go tell that to the mothers who never saw their children again. These children were also stripped of their culture and religion and language, and were often employed to oppress and kill their own people. Many Balkan countries have songs about this phenomenon.

This slave-trade was totally legal and acceptable within the Ottoman and Arab empires but it was also pirating activity that supplied the slave traders. It was mostly the Beber nations but many Africans, and West Asians and Arabs in the Arab peninsula benefited from it. They often took part in the "stealing people" operations. For example, the most exposure to Black people Greeks had was when they saw them as pirates in Arab ships. That's why the slur for a Black person in Greece historically is basically "Arab".

Europeans were building WALLS toward the sea to prevent these attacks. (Ironically, some were built by the same government that took their subjects as slaves) Thessaloniki had these walls, for example. Like, I'm not sure if the USians who often compare the slave trades ever thought of having a wall towards the sea as a normal thing. Some European nations still have sayings like "there are no Moors at the coast" as another way to say "all is safe". That's how much the trauma has stuck.

In the video linked below, there's also mentioned a revolt towards an Ottoman leader because "why won't you let us have slaves from Europe??" Does this conflict ring a bell, fellow US-ian friends? 😂

European nations and the US had created TREATIES with African states (which didn't stop the attacks in many cases) as an effort to basically say "ok, stop taking our people! we will pay you!" The amounts paid were extravagant but they were still small in comparison to how many people (and profit lol) would be lost otherwise.

There were a few cases where a slave could free themselves in the Arab slave trade but this was the case in the American slave trade too! Legally slaves in the Americas could be freed if their master wanted it, if they paid off their master, or if they were illegally enslaved. They could also have court cases to win their freedom, or serve in the military in exchange for freedom. Some were allowed to have side businesses and earn their own money (and eventually pay for their freedom).

We know there were such cases but, as I mentioned above, just because it is the law, it doesn't mean that it happened a lot.

An American would tell you "noo! Despite some legal protections it was still horrible!" and I'm asking, why don't you say this for the millions and millions of slaves in the Arab slave trade when it comes to laws VS actual treatment?

"their children (the children of slaves) weren't slaves". The recorded history shows that they usually were slaves, though. A minority, if lucky enough, could gain freedom while being born a slave. But slaves were often lumped together in certain areas so they had children with other slaves. And even children by free men often were considered slaves, unless the free male master decided to recognize them.

Just because it isn't Louisiana weather and just because the slaves (usually) didn't die on the way to their destination, it doesn't make it less atrocious. There was a reason our traditions speak of people killing themselves before they could get captured into slavery.

Like a gay Greek man said the other day "we are not supposed to be thankful just because you're not dragging us on the streets and stoning us". The laws saying "Provide shelter, and healthcare and don't mistreat your slaves" doesn't mean this was followed. "Shelter" could be a dirty shed. "Medical attention" could be splashing some water on the wounds from the lashing. "Don't overwork them" could be "I work them too much but not to death, so it doesn't count."

The video speaks more about the white slave-trade of US people but it's good to note how this looks "mild" (for lack of a better word) to what was happening in Europe. I'm not saying this as "these slaves had it better compared to the European ones". No. I'm simply saying that the danger and frequency were much larger for European people, mainly those who lived in coastal nations.

This video focuses on other areas, mainly in Africa, where slaves were frequently taken from.

#answered #slave trade #greek history #balkans #slavery #xenoi doing bs #arab slave trade

[bruciemilf]

Can you elaborate on that point (I agree btw) that female characters are disliked when they are sweet?

I feel like it's such a nuanced problem, but ESPECIALLY in the superhero medium.

I can't explain how intolerable people are to women when they're being snarky.

We can't really be the first ones in the room who can make a mean joke, or God forbid, simply have moments when we act like assholes. Which is one of the default human settings.

And I'm not trying to absorb consequence from assholeish behavior, either! Being mean doesn't make someone interesting, or funny, or slightly more unique than the next mean person.

Not if it's hallow meanness and that's their whole trait.

But with women? Being mean is, majorly to men, the worst thing you can possibly be. Being sweet and docile is what was expected of us. What was demanded of us, really.

And I feel like making our female characters, and making OURSELVES into the meanest version we can possibly be, started out as a sign of defiance. And defiance will never, ever, EVER be a bad thing.

But to me? The moment you villainize sweetness and kindness is the moment it becomes an issue. There's a very specific kind of hatred rooted in despising kindness within female characters.

" She's not interesting" " she's a dormant " " she's weak"

And then you look at that female character, and realize there's a complexity to her that no one wants to explore because she's " not mean enough."

It's especially jarring to me when we label a female character as weak simply for not...Acting like an asshole. There's also the misconception that the more brutal a female character gets, the more interesting she is.

I don't think that. If there's no foundation, there's nothing to build. You didn't make her interesting. You just made her violent.

Take Starfire for example. Bullied by her sister her whole life. Used as a political pawn by said sister who sold her into slavery. Home planet destroyed. Lost her family.

And what does she do with that? She chooses to stay kind.

Holy shit. Holy shit. The amount of strength it takes to protect your humanity. The amount of strength it takes to refuse to have your faith shaken. And she's powerful as fuck.

It's not only because she's a woman, but because we associate hardening yourself and abandoning kindness and warmth as strength. We associate brutality with power.

Is it a golden standard to expect from individuals with trauma? Of course not.

But it's also not an impossible standard to meet. Being sweet and decent isn't a golden goal. It's literally just the bear minimum.

I'll give Bruce as an example next. He deals with trauma in an unhealthy manner. He's violent. He's aggressive. He's judgemental. He's paranoid. He doesn't trust anyone.

And he's unbelievably kind.

He's literally DC's most compassionate character.

The world wanted him to be a hardened, pain fueled abuser who practices cruelty. And he told it no.

To me at least, that's always, always, ALWAYS going to be more meaningful and powerful than just creating another superpowered asshole.

Before you write superheroes, write people first.

#asks #meta #dc #dc meta #text #female characters #dc comics #i just think people glorify cruelty tbh #and especially ppl who are like ' we need more ruthless female characters who don't care abt anyone and anything' #like. i can tell you haven't been bullied by girls before lol #starfire #koriand'r #bruce wayne #bc he also fits

[tina-mairin-goldstein]

✏️"what are your current WIPs about?"

Thanks for playing with me, @kaylinalexanderbooks!

I have several WIPS right now, so this could be interesting.

Caraval- A Hannibal (NBC) sort of crossover/rewrite of the book Caraval by Stephanie Garber. It's also omega verse, with Will being an omega, Hannibal an alpha, and so on for the various characters who appear. Will must play a magical game that plays tricks on the mind and involves magic to find his sister (Abigail) over the course of five nights, searching for clues so he can find her before the other players and win. Hannibal, who initially brings them to the island where Master Legend hosts Caraval, teams up with him. As they play, Will realizes the game is far darker than it appears and that it is a race against the clock to find Abigail, because it is far more than a game.

Long list, so the rest are under the cut.

2. For Remembrance- A post-fall Murder Husbands story for my collection, Words Are Not The Only Way, centering on my chosen flower (rosemary) and its meaning. Won't say too much, but there is amnesia and rosemary plays a part in trying to help the amnesiac person recover their memories.

3. All Night or a Hundred Years- A Fantastic Beasts story from the POV of Percival Graves, who has been locked up in the dungeons of Nurmengard for a long time. Leta, rather than dying, is secreted away by Grindelwald in the dungeon as well, and she is helping Percival remember what it is like to be human and giving him something he hasn't had in a long time: Hope. They are getting to know each other and trying to figure out if they can escape, and how. Percival is close to giving up, but Leta won't take it. This one is on hiatus, however, because writer's block is a bitch.

4. Untangled- A Fantastic Beasts version of the Disney movie Tangled, with Newt as Rapunzel, Tina as Flynn, Grindelwald as Mother Gothel, and Theseus as Maximus, along with a bunch of the other FB crew members taking roles. Currently paused in favor of Caraval. Things are switched up in this, because Tina has the case of beasts instead of Newt. It's cheerful and fun and I sort of don't want to finish it because of that, so I'm being slow.

5. The Third Day- A Hannibal (NBC) rewrite of the HBO show The Third Day. Will is getting divorced from Molly and is grieving Abigail, who died under mysterious circumstances several years earlier. He meets Mischa in the woods, where is trying to hang herself, and takes her back to the place she lives, where he becomes trapped for three days and nights. Hannibal, Alana, Jack, Bella, Margot, Mason, and several other characters star as the residents trying to either run Will off the island or keep him there as he uncovers mysteries tied to himself and Abigail's death, as well as all the weirdness on the island.

7. Beloved- This is being scrapped and will be rewritten as a sequel to another story, His Shadow Suspended On Dust. Initially, it was a thirty-years post-fall story about Hannibal getting sick and Will taking care of him and living through his last days with him. Some of the original will remain, but it will be heavily rewritten, and there will be another story, called When the Snake Slithers By, between it and HSSOD.

8. The Lone City- A Pokemon anime rewrite of a favorite book of mine, called The Jewel by Amy Ewing. Starring Mairin, it centered on girls being sold off into surrogate slavery for the ruling class of the island, who became so inbred they can no longer safely carry their own children. Sort of a magical Handmaid's Tale, but with Pokemon twists. It was going to lead to Mairin uncovering the truth, falling in love with Alain, and escaping and so forth, but it's been on hiatus due to computer trouble, and I don't think I'm ever going to actually go back to it since it 's been more than a year.

9. Han+SPN- Temporary title, an attempted Hannibal/Supernatural crossover co-written by @ sarcasticsciencefictionwriter. Sam and Dean are driving through Maryland one night and Dean hits Will, who is a ravenstag, with Baby. Will is pregnant and fleeing hunters who are coming after him and Hannibal, who is half ravenstag, for being cannibals and want to kill their baby as well. The Winchesters learn that ravenstags only take what they need and chose harmful people as their victims (i.e, the rude), and end up teaming up with Will to save Hannibal from the hunters after Bobby, who saved Will when he was a fawn, tells them to. Currently paused because I didn't come up with much an outline and Sarc can't work with that. I'm playing with idea that Sam and Dean might have to deliver the baby.

I believe that is all my WIPS, unless you want to count the to-be-written finale to my collection, the Price of Godhood, where Will is Persephone and Hannibal is Hades, which will be about Will going to the world above on the first day of spring and saying goodbye to husband for six months.

Thanks so much for the ask! I've never done this before and I was so much fun! Feel free to hit me up again!

#ask games #ask answered #willing to play again #my writing

[dabruzzy]

When I first watched Onyx Equinox I thought Yun's behavior was a bit inconsistent. He spent most of the first half of the season trying to get K'in and Izel to stop fighting and trying to keep K'in in check, but by the end of the season he was picking fights with everyone except Izel, even K'in. Now just because he's the heart of the group doesn't mean he can't have his disagreements with other characters, or that he should just be the peacekeeper and nothing else, but you'd think the guy who never held a grudge against the boy who broke his leg and almost killed him would be more understanding of Zyanya's situation, or that he would be more willing to give Xanastaku the benefit of the doubt, but he isn't. And after rewatching the show many times I think his problem is that he has trust issues and that they probably stem from Maak.

Putting the rest under a read more cause it got kinda long.

Yun straight up called him out in episode 3 about all the things he's hiding from them. Also "Honoch Maak" means "Old Man" in Yucatec Maya, and if I remember correctly Sofia Alexander said that's not his real name in the podcast, so that's another thing he's hiding from the twins. And then they find out that he sold children into slavery, and you can see that Yun was more affected by that than K'in. So because of this he's probably wary of people who keep secrets.

This is especially obvious with Xanastaku. He's had mixed feelings about her since they met. Every time they make one step forward something happens that makes him doubt her again. Even in episode 10 he's still suspicious of her despite saving Izel's life because she didn't tell them she had that power. Even when she's helpful he still has a problem with her because she's not being fully honest with them.

Now Zyanya is a bit different because she did betray them and almost got them killed, and that's reason enough to dislike someone even when you don't have trust issues. But like I said Izel almost killed him and he never even got mad at him, he worried more about Izel's wellbeing than his own. So I do think that the fact that he was willing to trust her and she broke that trust and that she hid so many things from them played a part in why he had such a hard time forgiving her, and even after he did he still didn't really acknowledge her or interact with her. Even in episode 8 Xanastaku told him "Trust us. Trust Izel", possibly implying that's something he struggles with.

And on the other hand this could be a reason why he and Izel mostly get along. Izel is an open book, he wears his heart on his sleeves and he never lied or kept secrets from the team.

#onyx equinox #yun #probably stating the obvious here #or maybe i'm pulling this out of my ass idk #maybe he just hates women /j #but i saw someone say he was being an asshole in ep 10 and that got me thinking #also if it's true it's a nice contrast with izel who is too trusting #and i also wonder how he would react if he found out that k'in knew about xana's power #and kept it a secret for like 5 minutes lmao #i mean he should know technically right? cause yaotl heard them so yun should've heard them too #and probably didn't have the time to process it cause things were constantly happening #anyways. many thoughts about these characters

[akiizayoi4869]

Why do you think so much of the ATLA fandom just violently hates Aang? It really confuses me how so many fans just seem to resent everything about him even to the point of making up reasons that don’t even exist to bash him and demonizing everything he does. I’ve never seen such an innocent and kind character get such a hateful reaction so it’s weird.

It's a lot of reasons honestly. One reason is because a lot of people in the fandom like Zutara, but since Bryke didn't want Zutara to happen and instead went for Kataang, that made a lot of fans angry. Another reason is because some things that Aang does in the show that should have gotten called out by the narrative never were. Also a lot of fans felt like he should have killed Ozai instead of taking his bending. But I think the main reason why a lot of the fandom just doesn't like him is because for most people he isn't relatable in the way that Zuko is. The show was made for a western audience, an audience who doesn't know what its like to lose your people to genocide, to have your entire culture stripped away just because another party thinks that their way is "better and civilized".

This may be controversial, but I also think race has a lot to do with it. I remember seeing a post on here a while back and the op was saying they noticed something very interesting when they spoke to poc about Aang and the air nomad genocide and when they spoke to white people about it. The poc seemed to sympathize with Aang a lot more because to a degree they know what that feels like, to have your culture ripped away from you and to have your people wiped out thanks to genocide. Because their ancestors were victims of it. When the op spoke to white people about it, however, they said that they could not connect with Aang at all because they don't know what that feels like, so to them he wasn't all that special. To them Zuko was much more relatable, so that's the character that they latched on to. Me personally I absolutely agree with this and think that there is truth to it. I'm African American, so in a way I can relate to what Aang went through. Thanks to racism and slavery in this country, many black people were killed for no reason, they were ripped from their homes(although this can also be blamed on black people too seeing as we sold our own people to the Europeans, who then took it to a whole other level) and were told that their culture was meaningless and that they would learn to live like white people. They were stripped of their names and given new ones, they were forced to speak a different language, practice a different religion that they had never heard of before. Now based on what little I know about my family history, at least on my dads side, we go all the way back to Kenya I think. But that's all I know. I don't know what tribe we come from, if we have any family there, or what my native tongue is. That's all gone now. So when I was rewatching the show last year and I got up to the part where Aang went into the avatar state upon finding Gyatso's body and from that being forced to realize that his people and culture were entirely wiped out by the fire nation? I felt that. I literally felt a chill go through me, and I actually cried a little bit.

The fandom I noticed also seems to give Aang shit because he would talk about what the monks taught him every now and then, and a lot of fans found it to be annoying after a while. But you know what? Aang had every right to do that. He was literally the only human being alive that represented what was once the air nomads. So him repeating his teachings whenever he got the chance to was his one way to hold on to his culture, to make sure that the air nomads would not be forgotten.

Wow this got pretty long, lol. But yeah, that's what I think as to why Aang gets a lot of hate in the fandom.

#atla #Aang #air nomad genocide #asks #Aki answers things #icegoddessrukia

[valandhirwriter]

hello! I was sent your way by doandroidsdream because I was told you are a fellow Arnaghad Stan. I have even talked to one of the writers who helped write him (he even confirmed my theory that he is sorta like Lambert intensified). Is there any particular headcannons you happen to have for him and the Bears?

Hello there,

okay, my headcanon about Arnaghad is rather long, and not really Lambert-esque. But lets get started, all I write after this is my head-canon, even if I end up stating it like a fact. You are talking to my story brain atm. ;)

Arnaghad is Gemerrean. He was born in the red mountains of Gemerra, to one of the fierce warrior tribes of the region. Unfortunately his people's time was running short, when Emperor Hereward of Nilfgaard send two punitive expeditions into Gemerra, to curb their raiding. Most of Arnaghad's people were slaughtered, he lost most of his family this day. Captured as a child, he was sold into slavery, ending up in the grand arena of the golden city. From there he was sold to a mage, who looked for strong specimens for Cosimo's work.

Early in Witcher training Arnaghad had problems communicating, because he did not speak northern common. His friendship with Erland began, because Erland had picked up a little southern language, from his time on the ships. Arnaghad liked and was frightened of Erland, because he realised that Erland wasn't accepting that he too had been sold to the mages, and was fighting back every opportunity he got. Arnaghad also loved Erland for that.

Arnaghad in my head was one of the first six succesful transformations. (I know, in canon it's five, I have six, because I have a story about one that didn't work as planned).

Arnaghad and Erland became lovers as adults, and even after going their seperate ways, both never quite got over the other.

Arnaghad at heart is a survivor, strong, fierce and enduring. When it comes down to it, he throws all he has in surviving whatever shit he ended up in. Arnaghad has a fierce temper and a bigger heart than he dares to admit.

Arnaghad taught the bears to be strong, independent and survive no matter what. The whole "heartless bears, don't feel a thing" perception is a misconception in my brain. Bears are able to survive immense pain, push past any horror or trepidation and keep going. It doesn't mean they don't feel. They also are not disloyal to one another, but they also expect everyone in their school to be able to make it alone. Contrary to the wolves who have pack/group mentality, they fight alone. (The Lion fights alone, and so do I, to add a quote here.)

Arnaghad led his people to abandon their school when he learned a pogrom was under way. They did not leave because they did not care, but because it was the way to survive: why fight an angry mob, when you can evade them? Arnaghad told his people to split up, spread out, and let the world think the school of the bear was broken, while he secretly kept in contact with them, and eventually found a secret hideout for his people.

Arnaghad was saved from Ivar's betrayal by Erland, who gave Ivar the beating of his life for trying to murder Arnaghad. (Erland has a fierce dislike for the vipers because of that, and they are the only witchers he might not consider brothers, in my head)

Arnaghad is seven foot tall, with very wide shoulders, huge muscular arms, he's built like a damn brickhouse. He has a mane of brown hair, interwoven with braids. The braids symbolise his lost family, his people and all the battles he fought. Aside of him, only Erland remembers the names of Arnaghad's lost family, and is able to name them by the pattern in Arnaghad's family braid. Arnaghad has seven battle braids.

Arnaghad is a lot smarter than most people thing, though it took him a few decades to get into reading, and liking books. He is rubbish at alchemy, and surprisingly good with signs. Many people who fight him are surprised when he hits them with very strong and precise signs. (Side effect of too much time with Erland when they were young.)

Arnaghad is still alive during the events of the Witcher books, and thinks that the whole mess with Cirilla is an idiocy of massive proportions. He doesn't have much of a good opinion on the chain of events, and would give Vesemir a talking to, for letting his young wolves be so stupid. (If it were Erland, doing the same thing, he'd grumble that Erland thinks he's a fucking knight, and then follow him to make sure he survives this. So take his opinion with a grain of salt.)

Arnaghad has no love lost for Nilfgaard. "Torres and Fergus... they were never were the true heirs of Hereward's bloody legacy, Emhyr var Emreis is." Still Arnaghad would work for Emhyr if contracted, though he would make the Empire pay a very high price indeed.

Arnaghad likes the Griffins (secretly). On the outside he will grumble and growl about their code, their stupid ideas and what not, but when it comes down to it, he likes them quite well, and rescued more than a few from certain death at the hands of Leo Bonhart. Griffins are people where Arnaghad feels he can trust them (and was never disappointed).

Arnaghad did indeed killed his fellow Witcher Rhys, but it wasn't murder. He assisted Rhys suicide, when Rhys couldn't bear his existence any longer. Arnaghad does not expect anyone to understand that.

Arnaghad is afraid of chains, metaphirical chains, of being slave to someone. It is what made his relationship with Erland so complicated, as Arnaghad became afraid of the way he felt for Erland, feeling he could never say no to Erland, and unable to accept the emotional chains he felt tied him to Erland. Something he only worked out in his later years.

Arnaghad loves being outdoors, he was born in a tent and his happiest memories of his childhood is traversing the red mountains.

The bears: School of the Bear has no code. Because all rules get broken eventually, it's better to leave them out right away. Bears do what they do not because a code says they have, they do what they do because they decide to, because they can. Bears are much in the "because I can" department, when asked why they take the risks they do. Most bears would not be able to function without the thrill of a threat breathing down they necks, and they are entirely unable to exist in polite society.

Contrary to other schools bears rarely feel short-changed about their lives or feel unhappy as Witchers. Which is mostly because most of the schools candidates started off worse, than they had it in their school, and have little wish to live a more normal life. Their solitary path makes them happy, and the brothers they have are enough.

A bear might well save someone's skin and when there is no coin involved all he might want from the person he rescued is to be fucking left alone.

There is more, many small details that are hidden in my stories, that I cannot quite think of now. Are there details or ideas you are looking for? Aspects you wanted to ask about?

#headcanon #arnaghad #witcher

[huasahyo]

I finished reading Yuwu! (Spoilers ahead!)

OKAY, YUWU WAS PAINFULLY AMAZING. I still don't get the lack of content for this fandom??? In comparison to 2ha, Yuwu fandom seems way smaller and THAT'S UNFAIR. This story is so well written, the plot meticulously tied together and the characters are complex and very interesting. In a personal analysis, I liked the plot in Yuwu better than 2ha, cause I feel like in Yuwu, the main characters are closer to and are more affected by the plot? But 2ha stills pulls at my heartstrings more, in fact, every time I read the word Haitang in Yuwu, I GOT TRIGGERED, the trauma is real. AND THE FACT THAT MURONG CHUYI IS AN ACTUAL CHARACTER IN THIS??? At first, I thought that was simply kinda weird to have a character so similar to Chu Wanning in this (given that this is a prequel to 2ha, so couldn't be a reincarnation thing) but I changed my mind throughout the book and really enjoyed the reason for their similarities (the one stated at the end).

The whole Yue Family plot was really painful. In fact, one of the points I disliked is that my boy Yue Chenqing gets the Xue Meng part in the ending: he ends all "alone"! Like, can't Mo Xi send him a letter in secret or something... at least so he can know that everyone he cares about didn't die?

Also, why does everyone despises Jiang Yexue so much? Alright, him being sort of a villain caught me off guard but taking a look at the whole story, Yexue was a really good person until he infected by demonic qi. And remember, he got infected while saving Yue Chenqing (that at this point had unknowingly stolen everything from him). As Yexue fought the demonic qi, he was all alone, so he just stopped fighting... all of his actions after were probably inducted by the qi.

If there is someone really despicable in the story, that is Yue Juntian. A literal rapist who treated his children like mud. Terrible.

And also, the emperor Murong Chen was a great manipulator, props to him. In order to achieve the control of the whole world he was willing to fool everyone. I just thought his motivations were kinda weird, his ambition came sort of out of anger of being in the position of a ruler, seen as nothing more than that. I genuinely believed he wanted a better world in that scene where he plays the Xiao for the 70 thousand souls.

AND DAMN GIRL MURONG MENGZE... I wasn't expecting the last turn of events about her. At first I suspected her, then I thought she was a nice person and felt bad for suspecting her and at the end... lmao. But I enjoyed her character, she is a evolved version of her older brother. To be a knowledgeable ruler, she was willing to manipulate and kill, but also willing herself to go through some shit. Of course I was mad at her for putting our main characters through suffering but when she abolished slavery and shown herself to be an actually great ruler who cares about the country, I was sold. My girl (should I still use she/her pronouns on her? Idk!) is a baddie. (And poor Zhou He lmao I thought he was kinda hot, it's a pity he died)

And was not expecting another shizun fucker in this. Hua Po'an being the shizun fucker then... that was surprising. When he was first mentioned I was 100% on his side: A slave going against the country that enslaved them? Totally reasonable. The part that sucks it's that he used a lot of our poor Butterfly Boned Beauty Feasts to achieve his goals and that he was clearly a madman. But that 9 eyed qin was badass, when he uses it to conjure past general Gu... CHILLS, LITERAL CHILLS.

And poor Jiang Fuli... this was another surprising character, I thought he would be just a side character and a reference to Jiang Xi. I couldn't predict how involved he was in the plot, wow.

AH LET ME TALK ABOUT MURONG LIAN. In this blog we do not tolerate any hate towards our Wangshu-jun. He is definitely my favorite character out of everyone. At first I thought he would just be our regular annoying villain, and I was pretty angry at how he treated Gu Mang. But as the story progressed his presence made everything funnier (that one scene where he saves Gu Mang from having wine thrown at him LMAO) and when he tries to save Gu Mang from being taken by Zhou He LIKE HIS LIFE DEPENDED ON IT... I was like: okay that's suspicious.

I originally didn't like the plot of Gu Mang being actually a noble. But as we read we understand that this doesn't change the fact he lived most of his life as a slave.

The whole Ximang relationship was cute and painful. Seeing our (debatable) cold Mo Xi fall in love with someone he thinks doesn't love him back and then this person backstabs him. This person comes back and doesn't remember anything from the past. And then he discovers there's more to the backstabbing story! He has to endure watching said person struggle A LOT omg... I cried with him in a lot of moments.

Oh, and I really liked the spiritual weapons in this! Really cool! Tuntian was a very interesting twist and I liked how that explained Mo Xi being so strong.

THE PLOT TWIST ABOUT THE LITTLE SACHET (I have no idea what that thing is called in English, but you know what I am talking about) ???? THAT WAS... I was speechless.

About the ending, I actually thought it would be a reincarnation open ending and was kinda meh about it. But then, our savior (mysterious dude that kinda looks like Xie Lian??? Idk about yall but I was picturing him inside my head) appeared and gave us a miracle! Very cute ending <3

BY THE WAY, I finished Yuwu mid January and just finished writing this now, at the end of February lol

Hopefully I will draw some content to this fandom in the future, while trying to convince people to read it.

Also, as of now I have just finished the second volume of Qiang Jin Jiu and booooooy I have a lot to say about this masterpiece, just wait for my review. (Or no? No one reads these anyways lol).

#yuwu #nana rambles about novels #danmei #book review

[lesmiserablesabridged]

An Interlude

Narrator: *walks in, clearly drunk, followed by Les Amis, all of whom are also drunk, including Enjolras*

Marius: I am flabbergasted by this, Enjolras. I'd have expected this from others, but not you!

Enjolras: I couldn't *hic* handle *hic* Javert's stupidity. *hic*

Narrator: Neither could *hic* the rest of us.

Marius: That's it, you're all getting drinking therapy. It involves getting into your beds and sleeping for at least eight hours. After having a glass of water.

Combeferre: *hic* Excuse me *hic*, but me and Joly are the doctors around here. *hic*

Joly: *hic* It's true. *hic* We doctors know best. *hic*

Marius: *glaring* To beds. Now. All of you.

Narrator: We'd like to *hic* continue our *hic* little project.

Marius: You can't do it while you're drunk!

Enjolras: I am the leader. *hic* Therefore, what I say *hic* goes. And I say we *hic* continue.

Eponine: Marius!!! *hic* Love me! *hic*

Marius: Eponine. *sighs* I am married, and so are you.

Eponine: Heaven has *hic* unique marriage laws. For example, spouses don't have to be faithful. My husband *hic* understands that perfectly. *hic*

Enjolras: Indeed. Feuilly, Grantaire, Marie, let's go. *hic* It's time for our special hour. *hic*

*Grantaire, Feuilly and the Narrator follow Enjolras into the bedroom and close the door.*

Marius: Really?

Eponine: Yes. *hic* Now come along. *drags Marius to another room by the wrist*

Valjean: Right, so Marie had given me permission to act as temporary narrator for this episode, and all the duties that entails. *to the rest of Les Amis* And I am kicking you out of this gathering until you sober up.

Les Amis: Fine. *they leave*

Marius: *returns shortly after, having escaped from Eponine* Right, so we can continue?

Cosette: Yeah, we have this under control. May I suggest we bring in Javert so we can make fun of him?

Valjean: Good idea. *uses his temporary narrator powers to bring in Javert*

Javert: *is tied to a chair* Release me this instant!

Valjean: *ignoring him* So where did we leave off? *a note flutters by and Valjean takes it* Oh, yes, the dilemma.

Javert: *suddenly interested* That dilemma?

Cosette: Yup.

Valjean: So...the runaway cart...

Fauchelevent: *appears* I like this part!

Valjean: You like the fact you and your horse were crushed by a cart?

Fauchelevent: No, I like what happened next! It was a great example of family bonding!

Valjean: Right, so you appear onscreen and are promptly crushed by your own cart, along with your own horse.

Fauchelevent: The God punished me for being an asshole. I am grateful for him.

Marius: God? God doesn't exist. And if he does, he only like assholes. He is not punishing them. He is allowing them to win.

Cosette: *concerned* Marius, you're wrong, and...

Marius: *grabs her arm* Am I? Could we take a little break, father? I want to show everyone something.

Valjean: Sure. *presses the pause button and the screen freezes*

Marius: Thank you. *presses another button and a smaller screen descends from the ceiling.* "Now you're about to see what happened after you died."

Screen: *Shows Azelma and Thenardier on a ship heading to America. It takes them about ten days to get there, and once they disembark, Thenardier is shown carrying a large chest on his back, while Azelma is carrying a pouch of money strapped to her waist.*

Thenardier: See that man over there, daughter? Let's grab him!

Native American: *says 'hello' in Aztec language*

Thenardier: *grabs him with assistance from Azelma* "Now let's sell him for profit! I am sure that there are people who will buy him!

Azelma: Okay, father.

Thenardier: *later* And I've married the wife of a man I sold to slavery, and adopted their kids. Azelma needs playmates her age, after all.

Azelma: *has said kids strapped to a wheel* Now, play nice...or else.

Marius: *stops the video* If God were real, would he allow things like this to happen? Would he allow that villain to do this using my money?!

Valjean: All right. You've made your point. Now can we please continue?

Marius: I don't think my wife is feeling up for it.

Cosette: *is crying*

#les amis #jean valjean #enjolras #marius pontmercy #cosette #monsieur thenardier #azelma #javert #anti javert #les miserables abridged #sillyposting

[sheepdawgiearts]

Get ready for some cringe OC lore....

I'm literally so embarrassed because I hate writing but what teh hell... (yes this is for oc x canon purposes sorry not sorry :P )

NAME: Nyx Tamaron GENDER: Female HEIGHT: 4'11 ft WEIGHT: 120 lbs AGE: 29 in human years BIRTHDAY: February 21st ZODIAC: Aquarius Pieces Cusp HOME PLANET: Vondem CLASS: Upper class background DIVISION: Science SPECIALITY: Planetary Geosciences RANK: Lieutenant Junior Grade

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

PERSONALITY: Ambitious, Opinionated, Whimsical, Blunt, Friendly, Cheerful, Polite, Perceptive, Relaxed, Neurotic, Short sighted, Gullible, Progressive

Nyx is a bubbly Orion who doesn't really fit in with others of her kind. Orions are known to be flirtatious and deceitful, a race that is always looking out for their best interest. Despite that she still possesses pragmatic views but is straightforward and honest with others even if people don't believe her. Nyx is quiet, closed off from her peers however she is eager when someone converses with her.  WHY SHE JOINED STARFLEET: Nyx was found during a raid on a Syndicate ship as cargo about to be sold into slavery. Feeling disillusioned by her people's culture and her interest in exploration she decided to enroll into the Starfleet Academy to broaden her horizon. ⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

FAMILY AND BACKGROUND: Nyx was born into a wealthy Orion family in which her father had 6 concubines and 9 other offspring, all half siblings. Nyx being the youngest she got very little attention from her father up until he decided to exchange her to a rival family in which she would become the eldest son’s concubine. She was closer to her mother and picked up her mothers emotional needs. She could tell her mother wanted so much more despite having needs be met. In her pre pubescent stage Nyx discovers her mother wanted to be an archaeologist, which made sense to Nyx considering her mothers obsession with old Orion culture and emphasis on their daily lives. As Nyx came of age and  dealing with the expectations that follow the typical Orion woman she knew she didn't want her mothers life, she didn't want the lives of any Orion woman. Going through the process of having her hormonal potency checked felt so objectifying to her she grew disdain for her culture's view on sexuality. The concubines would train her in the sexual arts, a thing she saw as the worst period of her life. She swore from that day forward she would strive to make her mothers dream real and become an archaeologist. However that changed when her father traded her for his financial gain, this would lead to her most traumatic experience she had ever gone through. Months being scrutinized by her captors mother and having to commit sexual acts on a man she found repulsive as well as partaking in their opulent parties where she would do traditional dances and accepting others advances despite her disdain for it all.  Once she couldn't take it she ran away aboard a ship, it didn't matter, she unknowingly became a stowaway on a Syndicate ship. When she was caught and found to have extremely potent pheromones they took her as a potential slave they could sell for a high price on another planet, Orion females were considered valuable due to their unique anatomy. Fearing for her life she was prepared to take it not wanting to go back to being used as a commodity however when the ship was reprimanded by Starfleet this gave her a reason to live. This was where her life changed for the better, after being saved by Starfleet and talking to officers who freed her she took an interest in the mention of a science division. This was her chance to live out her mothers dream, her dream, to have a life outside the hedonist lifestyle on Vondem. She insisted they not return her to Vondem and instead let her go through the process of becoming a Starfleet officer.  Adjusting to the outside world was difficult and she dealt with micro aggressions due to her background. Orions had gained a poor reputation across the galaxies. It was hard for her to make friends as her pheromones caused men to fawn over her and women to be irritable by her presence. She has developed a bit of a complex against her own species due to this factor as she wants to fit in with other human colleagues. She had a lot of trouble learning English and speaks formal yet her sentences are broken.  After graduating from Starfleet Academy Nyx joined the USS Sutherland and later the USS Enterprise. By the time she transferred she held the position as Lieutenant Junior Grade specializing in Planetary Geosciences. Nyx has a hard time controlling her pheromones especially when being the Soong type android, Data. Her feelings developed for the android during a mission in which they visited a deserted M class in which they were gathering information on the surrounding plant life. Not looking where she was going she almost fell off a cliff when Lieutenant Commander Data caught her, and when she locked eyes with him she knew there was something remarkably special about him. As time goes on and discovering her pheromones don't affect him like other organics this makes her feel safe around him, it was also a challenge, if he ended up liking her it was because of her and not her biological advances. In her free time she partakes in gardening.

#star trek ok #star trek #star trek next gen #star trek the next generation #star trek next generation #oc x canon #oc bio

[conjuremanj]

High John. & How To Contact Him.

Let talk a little about John. On my other post I spoke about the three johns. Today I want to speak on the spirit of John.

High John the Conqueror is a highly respected and elevated spirit within traditional southern Hoodoo, and yet he is still a very mysterious and undervalued spirit. There's not much written about him except the stories told in the south. I do knew his has many name he go by like Jack. (yes that's where we get the jack ball from) I think they name him High John because he resemble the same traits that the root have it gave him the balls to do what needed to be done. That's why the root looks like male balls.😅 When you look a southern calture the term high means someone in charge like a sheriff the man in charge and the other john roots are the deputies.

His stories show us that he is a spirit of black resistance, liberation, and joy - He is called a trickster, because he tricks the system, and his oppressors.

High John de Conquer (pronounced conker) who is said to have been an African prince sold into slavery in the Americas, but whose spirit was never broken. Another traditional story is John falls in love with the Devil's daughter; the Devil sets John a number of impossible tasks, but his daughter helps John by giving him magical tools to complete the tasks and also warns John that the Devil plans to kill him whether he succeeds or not. So John and daughter steal the Devil's horses; they're pursued but escape by shape shifting.

But High John the Conqueror is a spirit (and High John is the root) that has been worked with in various ways for protection, money, love, luck, victory over obstacles and hardships, and to enhance a male sexuality.

Most of these uses being added post enslavement as Hoodoo and the spirits within it adapt to the needs of it's people (because all and all High John is for his people and our needs).

Now there is alot of debate over the plant High John is derived from, and while that is important to know, what is also important is that the spirit of High John is been called into the root.

Now the High John roots are actually very powerful on it's own, you can use them with the assistance of you guardian Angel, spirit guide, deity etc.

Now the root it self is called Ipomoea Jalapa, which is a variety of morning glory plant manufactured in Veracruz, Mexico. Introduced to the United States.

Day of the week: High John's day is on a Thursday.

His main Color is Purple: given his royal nature. He eats traditional food, but if you divine you can go further and feed him other things as well.

Drink: he has a preference for rum or whiskey.

So you got the root, now what? Now you can set up a space for High John's spirit. When setting up his the altar give him his own space. You can add the root on the altar with his offerings. Add you candle, and oil, Don't put a photo because there isn't any real pics of him. You can write his name on the candle

If you cannot setup a space, remember you can always carry High John root on a necklace, in a small bag or into powder for a working or simply in your pocket with Johns blessings it. Now this is going to be without the spirit of John.

Once you have it prepared it to be used for your jack ball or mojo bag, etc you need to wake it up, spit or pour rum or whiskey over the root, and blow cigar smoke over it.

Say a prayer to god. Then ask John to come forward.

Fed: The roots should always be fed, prayed over, and being prepared with the spirit of High John. Feed the root with his oils, Florida water is good.

You can say a prayer inviting the spirit of High John into your home and life, ask High John to protect you and your home from any and all enemies and those who attempt to oppress you.

To contact High John Spirit to ask a question. Take you root wrap a string around it. Or you can make a jack ball to be use for divination.

First take your casa or chalk and draw a cross add 5 sold circles as seen in photo above the 5th circle in the center of the cross. Place the root in the center of the cross.

Starting from the top left. Under the circle Write N for no then to the right Y for yes. Then repeat at the bottom. Above the circle on the bottom left write Y for yes on the other side N for no.

Summonings His Spirit For Assistance: If you are summing his spirit start with creating a altar just for him (mentioned above) a shot of brown liquor and a candle. Bless it. Now once you do all that the root is now ready for High Johns spirit and you can use the root to call him.

Now do not turn root in to powder or break a piece off and use it as a regular root again he doesn't like that, if you do it like that it will become just a regular root a low deputy again and the spirit will leave the root won't work.

To ask questions. Take you rum or whisky or Florida water (small bottle) and put a dab on each circle as a offering. Take your root pick it up and tap it three times on the center of the cross. Then ask your question.

If you have any questions let me know.

#Hoodoo #John The Conqueror #Traditional Hoodoo #Southern magic #Southern root work #like and subscribe #like and/or reblog! #google search #send messages #Conjure magic #traditional rootwork #rootwork questions #southern rootwork #summoning ritual #high john root