#kill the people who did this to us. for me. and zero might not ever. we don't know. we dont know if there will be ''justice''

[seithr]

these 2 lines from HH really make this damn scene. i’ll never stop thinking about it

#katana zero #kz #headhunter #piecing it together. zero was NULL too. there were other survivors. but he doesn't remember. #that even if HH won this fight--even if HH wrested the Chronos out of Zero's blood to live another day and fought for his revenge too-- #zero doesn't even know them. maybe they were friends in that war. maybe they werent but an aquaintence is all thats left #and it's too LATE now to recognize zero as part of the vengeance she's fighting in the name of. because him here and now #is just the next. maybe last. hit of chronos there is. rabid dogs killing each other to survive #you suffered too. you were left abandoned. your--OUR tragedy is why i fight. and i have to kill you too to continue it #and then HH doesn't. like she says--the fight is one of will. it would repeat for eternity if they both had the will to continue this way. #and she doesn't. and her last breath--her dying agony that will be repeated for eternity because of her withdrawal--she begs Zero #kill the people who did this to us. for me. and zero might not ever. we don't know. we dont know if there will be ''justice'' #if they even deserve it. zero backed out of killing anyone else after this. children adults police-- #what's the extent that zero will care for that path of vengeance the same way HH did? #all i can do is wait for that damn dlc. and think about Headhunter's dying wish for even a semblance of justice with help of her own killer #i care headhunter so fucking much this character is so good dude. bah #armour clanking

[dragon-watcher03]

Mk1 x Milf! Reader

3/3

Intro dialogues

Ft: Scorpion (Kuai Liang), Sub-Zero (Bi-han), Smoke (Tomas Vrbara), Reptile (Syzoth), Johnny Cage.

D/n= Daughters name

Note: you have a 15 year old daughter. You are not human, you are of a species that can reproduce asexually. There will also be some dialogue with the daughter as well. (so the daughter is basically a clone of you physically so just imagine her looking like how you did when you were 15-) And I'm making the daughter have my personality so if you don't like it, too bad.

Scorpion: Your species' ability to reproduce is quite fascinating... Y/n: Are you upset I have no need for a mate, Kuai?

Scorpion: Are you sure you aren't looking for a husband? Y/n: I'm sure I can make an exception for you, little flame.

Scorpion: You truly are a Goddess, dearest. Y/n: Oh stop, you're making me blush!

Y/n: D/n seems to be warming up to you, little flame. (pun intended-) Scorpion: I hope she is, I truly wish to bond with her.

Y/n: I appreciate you trying to bond with D/n, Kuai. Scorpion: I don't only do it for you, but for her as well.

Y/n: Are you going to propose anytime soon or must I do it? Scorpion: I... I will get to that, my dearest.

Sub-Zero: I will prove that I am a worthy husband for you, lovely. Y/n: Oh? Then you better make it worthwhile.

Sub-Zero: A woman such as yourself deserves a strong and honorable man to love. Y/n: Might you be that man, little wolf?

Sub-Zero: D/n has been teasing a lot recently... Y/n: That's just how she treats the people she likes, Bi-han.

Y/n: I see you've been spending more time with D/n. Any particular reason why? Sub-Zero: If I'm going to marry you one day, I need to earn your daughter's trust and acceptance first.

Y/n: Behind that cold exterior is a man I deem worthy of love. Sub-Zero: Only if that love is from you and D/n... (platonically ofc-)

Y/n: It was you who killed him, wasn't it? Sub-Zero: That bastard deserved it for thinking he could have you...

Smoke: You don't mind if me and D/n head to Madam Bo's, do you? Y/n: sigh Just make sure she doesn't start any fights, okay?

Smoke: The fact you don't even need a male to reproduce is just... awesome. Y/n: Yes, although we can reproduce the fun way as well...

Smoke: You looked stunning in that dress last night, Dove. Y/n: Why thank you, angel.

Y/n: D/n seems to really like you, Tomas. Smoke: Really? Oh, thank God! I was worried she didn't!

Y/n: giggles You're so cute when you're nervous, angel. Smoke: groans Please dove, don't tease me like that...

Y/n: No words can express how much I care for you, Tomas. Smoke: I...wow, I'm really a lucky guy, aren't I?

Reptile: So you're telling me you're a virgin with a daughter? Man, I hit the jackpot. Y/n: You truly have no filter, Syzoth. But I like that in a man so you get a pass.

Reptile: Goddamn... Y/n: Something caught your eye, sweetheart?

Reptile: You have too many admirers... Y/n: But my heart only belongs to you, sweetheart.

Y/n: The idea of a mate is rather intriguing... Reptile: chuckles Is that your way of telling me you want me?

Y/n: You and D/n are a dangerous duo... Reptile: What can I say? Like father, like future daughter.

Y/n: Your bond with D/n is truly like a father and daughter. Reptile: Just as it should be, my mate.

Johnny: Woah, you're a total milf if I've ever seen one! Y/n: A... what?

Johnny: C'mon sweetcheeks, we'd make the perfect couple! Y/n: Sorry love, but you need D/n's approval as well.

Johnny: The grey hairs, the eyes, the body, you are literally the work of Gods. Y/n: Well, you surely know how to make a woman feel good.

Y/n: D/n is making awful puns now because of you! Johnny: Awful? Those things are a work of art!

Y/n: Well hello there handsome. Johnny: Now that, that is something I won't get used to. But I'm not complaining.

Y/n: Wow, you actually got D/n to like you. Johnny: Yep, now I got a hot milf girlfriend and an awesome daughter.

D/n: So you wanna marry my mom? I don't blame you. Scorpion: Who wouldn't want to marry a woman like her.

D/n: Tell me, do you prefer Dad or Pa? Scorpion: I... I haven't even asked Y/n to marry me yet.

Scorpion: Let's see how well Y/n trained you. D/n: Maybe one day, you could teach me a thing or two.

D/n: in an Australian accent Ello there Frosty! Sub-Zero: For the love of God, please stop doing that!

D/n: You wanna go chill at Madam Bo's after this? Sub-Zero: sigh Yeah sure...

Sub-Zero: I told you to dispose of the body quickly, now she knows we killed him! D/n: Alright, calm down Dad.

D/n: So what did she say? Smoke: She said we can go, but no fights!

D/n: Say...Do my puns annoy you? Smoke: What? No! Who told you they were annoying?!

Smoke: I think Y/n is starting to catch on... D/n: Don't worry, I'll make sure she doesn't find out about the proposal!

D/n: Dude, I just found out I can also shape-shift. Reptile: Oh, the power we both hold right now.

D/n: Wouldn't it be cool if we swapped places for a day as a prank? Reptile: Oh. My. Gosh. That's the most brilliant idea I've ever heard.

Reptile: I'm not offended that you called me Dad earlier, D/n. D/n: I know... But it was in front of everyone though!

D/n: She said my puns are horrible!?! Johnny: I know! The nerve of that woman!

D/n: I don't know John... Me? In a movie? I'm just a kid... Johnny: C'mon! You'll have the crowd's heart in seconds!

Johnny: Hah, now I have two people calling me- D/n: Finish that sentence and your "Dad card" is revoked.

#mk1 #mortal kombat #mk1 x reader #sub zero x reader #scorpion x reader #smoke x reader #reptile x reader #johnny x reader #kuai liang #bi han #tomas vrbada #johnny cage

[hannigramislife]

"Oh, the abuse cycle in bsd–"

Yes, let's talk about the abuse cycle in Bsd. Let's talk about what people don't seem to mention, ever.

Mori. Dazai. Akutagawa. Kyouka.

Though nothing is certain about what the relationship between Mori and Dazai was really like, there is a clear difference between these relationships.

Mori is appreciative of Dazai. Much as he is scared of him, Mori would take Dazai back to the Mafia in a heartbeat. From the flashbacks, we could see that Dazai and Mori had relatively easy talks, Mori confided in him, was always honest, and 15 year old Dazai seemed to talk freely with him. The abuse is, far as we know, emotional manipulation on a great scale.

Akutagawa was probably violent with Kyouka, just as Dazai was with him, though I suppose at a lesser scale (i don't think he ever shot bullets at her, for example). One thing that we do notice, though, is that Akutagawa never talks down to her? He acknowledged her strength and gave her the same reason to live that he believed in himself. Then, he also acknowledges her growth, is actually happy for her happiness, and in Dead Apple, even suggests for her to kill him when he's at his weakest. There's also a lack of emotional dependence— unlike his own case, Akutagawa did not mold her to depend on his approval. And when she sees him, she has a less severe reaction than she did when she saw Mori, for example.

And then, you have Akutagawa and Dazai. And this is what really pisses me off. Because not only is Dazai both emotionally and physically abusive to Akutagawa, he continues to keep his hold on Akutagawa even after he has become a "good guy." He keeps Akutagawa tethered to him, manipulates him in dangerous situations Akutagawa has no business being in, and purposely plays into the boy's trauma bond to him to use him. All while giving everything to a random orphan he met on the streets that - objectively speaking - is no better than Akutagawa?

This is my personal view on their relationships, and I haven't read any light novels but Beast, so there might be information I'm missing.

But no amount of context can change the fact - and I mean fact - that Dazai had absolutely zero excuse to do what he did to Akutagawa. While in the Mafia or after it. Because the guy with an IQ of a billion, who was himself saved and shown kindness by another in his darkest times should have fucking known better.

#bsd #bungo stray dogs #bsd abuse cycle #bsd dazai #bsd akutagawa #bsd kyouka #bsd mori #dazai osamu #akutagawa ryuunosuke #kyouka izumi #mori ougai #atsushi nakajima #i have so many thoughts #and feeling #about this #every time i see someone use “abused becomes the abuser” thing #i feel like they're not thinking about it in terms of the circumstances these ppl were in #idk might be just me #but while you can't compare abuse and pain #you can certainly tell the difference here #one of these things is NOT like the others

[sleepyspoonie]

the unwanted guest spoilers:

i have an incoherent theory i've developed after reading tug that i dont know whether it has much consequence but would make a lot of sense if im on the right track

so the big focus of tug is the permeability of the soul and how exposure to other souls causes an interplay and intermingling between the two that causes shared memories, habits, etc.

my thought is this: what if this is why people are always quoting hamlet and the bible and fucking 21st century memes and pop culture and shit?

hear me out hear me out.

the 200 dead children from the ninth haunt harrow because they were used for her creation (abigail points out that harrow is MEGA haunted during one of the dream bubble sequences. additionally when harrow relates the story of her conception to john, he straight up specifically describes it as a RESURRECTION in htn).

compare this to john, who resurrected the original 10,000 (i think. dont quote me on this specific number.), caused the great resurrection, using the earth itself as a battery to do so. he was in a perfect lyctorhood with the soul of the earth (and thus intermingled with HER based on that same idea of permeation) when he did it.

now, we'll get to john specifically, but imo, it makes total sense that the interplay of humans living and dying on earth for thousands upon thousands of years would permeate alecto's soul and vice versa. alecto even when she had total amnesia as nona knew what an alligator was and drew it during school. but also, if that wasn't enough, look at JOHN.

because what do we know about john? mr none house left grief likes spitting dumb millennial memes and went to catholic school and thinks he's hot shit for knowing shakespeare (he named his first corpse kids titania and ulysses for fucks sake), and therefore may well be like. patient zero of all the nonsense that comes out of peoples' mouths around here.

TLDR. what im thinking is that the resurrection through alecto and john's lyctorhood and the interplay between the souls of john and the earth has caused a link between john and/or the people of the 21st century and the people of the houses who are descended from the people of the resurrection.

if it's john, i also have this afterthought of a tangent built upon the above - i think it makes MUCH jucier the idea that john believes he can kill everyone/wipe everyone's memories clean and start over as many times as it takes when his own memories and habits and feelings might be intrinsically interwoven into the souls of the people he does this to ("empty's just another word for clean?" you're not going to empty or clean much when your soul is intermingled with everyone your necromancy has ever come in contact with and your memories and your rage and your grief are a gaping wound bleeding into every human you ever touch)

#the locked tomb #nona the ninth #the unwanted guest #john gaius #alecto the ninth #the unwanted guest spoilers

[lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks]

when I took a month off work I was lowkey worried I'd come back and find everyone had been fine without me and I wasn't needed at all (because being terrible at every previous job I've had did some ✨damage✨ to my self confidence)

but that is not what happened

I have never encountered someone so fucking happy to see me as my boss' wife was on my first day back, her face lit up like it was christmas, she was practically jumping for joy because now that I'm back she doesn't have to do the ops team's fucking timesheets anymore

I have been told by one of the ops guys that my leave of absence had caused a genuine rift in the boss' marriage because his wife hated doing my job so much they were actively fighting about it

to be clear, his wife is lovely, she doesn't usually throw a shit fit about just anything, it was just that my job is just so fucking annoying that she hated every second of it, and that was the most validating shit I have ever experienced in my LIFE

and the reason she was pissed off at my boss/her husband about it is because he's too soft on his crew and doesn't make them all report their hours for the week

which, as you can imagine, makes building their timesheets extremely fucking difficult

it basically turns the whole process into a puzzle that I have to solve using roughly three different sources of information, one of which is the boss himself who isn't always easy to get ahold of when he's on a site

this puzzle is made even more difficult by the fact that a glitch in our form system keeps messing up the dates on the timecards, so I have to cross reference the time cards from the two (2) ops team members, who actually DO fill out their forms, with the roster, but my boss often changes the roster at the last minute without telling me or noting it down, so then I have to cross reference with the reports they have to submit for certain ongoing jobs because they'll have correct dates and also a list of who was present (if they were doing one off smalltime jobs that week I'll have no physical records and will rely entirely on the boss' memory to confirm dates and staff numbers, unless I can get ahold of one of the ops team members themselves and there's only one who will reliably communicate with me but only when he's not currently on a site)

I tried to explain this process to boss' wife before I left and, looking horrified, she asked me 'is there no way to streamline this?' I replied 'this is streamlined'

as far as I'm aware, as long as I've worked there, there has only been a handful of times people were paid incorrectly, and it was because I was not given correct information by the boss, in the time I was gone, his wife told me that she had incorrectly logged several pays because of this broken ass system

so, as you could imagine, my ego is through the fucking roof right now, I am GOOD at this bullshit job, I took an impossible system and made it work, I am playing on hard mode and killing it, in a field I had zero experience in before taking this job other than a natural inclination for organising and scheduling

and to be clear, I love this job, the boss is too soft on his staff but he's a good guy, he makes us all feel valued and appreciated, he paid me above my award rate, he's absurdly accommodating, and I have an insane amount of freedom to do what I want with company files

I may be working with a bullshit system but I can take naps in the office whenever I want and tell my boss off when he's being too soft (one time his wife literally started clapping when I told him off for sending clients their reports before they'd paid for them) and I get to control when I work, and whether I work from home or the office (which is GREAT when my back flares up)

I might not get many hours (only 16 hours per week) because the company is so small and I run out of things to do because I've streamlined everything (boss literally called me TOO EFFICIENT), but he'll give me those 16 even if I spend half of it playing solitaire and watching youtube

so just, yeah, it feels so good to be confident in my work, to feel valued and appreciated and like I'm actually successful at something after being handed dud jobs for years that I wasn't cut out for, and now knowing that what I'm doing is actually genuinely hard but I've been doing it anyway without fail, makes me feel good!

so tldr; taking a month off work taught me I have phenomenal job security because if my boss ever fires me his wife might actually fucking kill him

#lula's life #I have genuinely hit a point in my life I never thought I'd reach #I'm happy with my job #I'm not in constant pain #and I am living very comfortably with a friend I love dearly #I don't make a lot of money and still rely on government benefits but that's okay because I make enough to be comfortable #life is actually good I can't believe I made it

[wannaeatramyeon]

you absolutely killed my last ask (unlike gun with those poor people)!! to make up for the toxicity, i feel like sammy should be allowed to relax/be spoiled by his partner. not his regular 'the most expensive brands i can find', but sleep in, breakfast in bed, back rub, and diy face masks vibe. i don't think he's ever experienced it, and would love to see his confusion🌺

I am but a weak little person, especially after reading @lookismfanfics soft Samuel here. Sorry for the delay and thank you for this ask my sweet flower anon! There is pretty much ZERO toxicity here, and just a whole lotta love!

Samuel Seo x Reader: Spoiling Sammy

3 very fluffy, very indulgent scenes: back rub, bath, birthday

Samuel is surprisingly easy to fluster.

He's not used to tender touches or calm caresses. At least without giving anything in return.

The first time you lay your hands on his shoulders, giving him a massage and rebuffing his advances, he eyes you with suspicion. All the suspicion. Why are you touching him if you didn't expect any pleasure for yourself?

"Just relax," you instruct. And he tries. He really tries.

Little by little, tension leaves Samuel's body. This is... nice. Shoulders no longer stiff with stress, and a weight lifted. Before long, he is groaning as you continue to work out the knots and rub his back.

The noises slipping from his lips is what snaps him out of his daze. Why the hell is he moaning and feeling vulnerable from this simple gesture.

Hiding his blush, Samuel bats your hand away with some excuse of needing to make a call.

.

.

Workers is full of idiots and bullshitters, and no-one can ever convince Samuel otherwise.

He slams the front door, wishing that it was Eugene's head trapped there. Samuel could do his job a thousand times better, a million. How dare he-

"Sammy?" you poke your head out of the bathroom at his angry mutterings - another standard day in the office then, "Come here!"

Fuck, what a shit day.

He drops his jacket carelessly on the floor, and yanks his tie off as he makes his way towards you. Samuel just needs to decompress tonight, he doesn't have it in him to do anything else. Some peace and quiet. A bath, and a glass of-

"Whiskey?" you offer, handing him his favourite readily poured into a crystal tumbler.

Candles are lit, soft music drifts out, steam fills the air. The bathtub is full. And are those rose petals floating in the water?

"Is... is this for me?" he asks, and you nod enthusiastically.

You really didn't need to do this. You really shouldn't have done this. Now Samuel finds a lump in his throat and a tightness in his chest.

He thinks you might be his favourite person.

.

.

Samuel awakens to the faint whiff of burning, and commotion coming from somewhere in his penthouse.

The initial annoyance, as he plods barefoot into the kitchen, is soon replaced with bafflement at the utter chaos you have created. It's not even 10am on a Saturday. At what unholy hours did you have to get up to cause all this?!

On the counter sits the ugliest cake he has ever seen.

Lopsided and tilting. Uneven frosting. A frankly obscene amount of sprinkles. Some scribbles that could read 'Sammy' if he removes his glasses and squints.

He suspects it might even be poisoned.

The rest of the kitchen fares no better. It looks like a bomb had gone off.

You stand there, undeterred, like the cat who got the cream. Flour in your hair, a smile on your face.

"Happy birthday, Sammy!"

Oh.

He doesn't recall the last time he celebrated his birthday, nevermind ever having received a homemade cake.

Damn you and damn the way you have bulldozed your way into his heart.

Samuel finds himself completely head over heels.

#lookism #lookism webtoon #lookism manhwa #lookism x reader #lookism hc #lookism fic #samuel seo x reader #samuel seo #seo seongeun x reader #seo seongeun #wannaeatramyeon

[demeterdefence]

i want so badly to like this scene because on the surface it has so many elements that could have and might have worked if they were implemented any differently but god it's still such a surface level display of a plot that's been hanging around since season one.

like yeah, she would be! persephone has not seen her rapist since he threatened to expose the photos he took of her during the assault, and it caused her to break down and run away. she knows he's manipulative, she's seen first hand how apollo has warped and twisted so many people to hide his crime, she knows he's powerful and dangerous. even surrounded by so many other people, the nineteen year old girl who was asleep in her bed is still terrified of apollo.

i have zero issue with this part - in fact, i really sympathized with persephone here. the idea of not only having to play nice with your abuser, to pretend to give them an ounce of respect or kindness they do not deserve, but knowing they are not sorry for what they did, knowing they want still to hurt you in some way? you can be queen of the underworld or the mortal realm or of all the gods, and that is still a horrifying prospect.

but then we run into this:

and it's not a bad sequence, or a problematic one; the issue is that persephone has not done any of the work to get to this point.

and by work, i'm talking about therapy, about sitting down and talking to someone about this on her own terms. she had one therapy session where her assault was tacked into the last five to ten minutes of the session; there is no indication she's ever gone back. she's been confronted on her assault - hades, hera, artemis, eros, and hermes have all found out about it without persephone telling them, or wanting to tell them, and hephaestus is aware (which it seems persephone does not know) because he deleted the photos of her assault. hera and hephaestus literally saw her assault in those photos. all of those people and instances are outside of persephone's control; she has never, not once, told any of her friends or her husband of what happened to her of her own choice. in at least three of those instances, she had to comfort the other person who is finding out about her trauma.

and that leads to another issue, which is that persephone has categorically refused to bring apollo to justice. in the past, when apollo had leverage over her, and she was still coming to terms with what happened to her, it was understandable that persephone didn't want anyone to know what happened. the problem is that in the time between her rape and current time, apollo has tried to kill one of her close friends, brought demeter to zeus in exchange for persephone's hand, attempted to kill the king of the gods, and is now weaponizing the deadly winter to become king. at least three members of the olympians know persephone was assaulted, including the queen of the gods. persephone has witnesses and backup and power, and she is still not using it to put apollo away.

so this promise to protect herself, to protect the nineteen year old girl who was alone with a monster - it rings a little too hollow for me. because persephone isn't protecting herself, she's running from herself. she's running from who she used to be and what she once was and what led her to that point. and as so many abuse victims can attest to, running often feels like the easiest thing, and the most protective thing. but at some point, you have to stop running, because it isn't protecting you - it's wearing you down.

persephone doesn't need to run anymore, and as much as i like to trounce this comic and all the narrative choices, i say this with a lot of compassion and remorse: this isn't protecting herself, and i want better for her.

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #abuse ment / #assault ment / #i recognize this issue hits differently for everyone #and there are likely people who do not agree and i fully 1000% understand #this is arguably a more personal take than most of my other posts so i ask respectfully that comments / tags show kindness to everyone #this plot obviously has a LOT of elements and issues i hate and scream problematic #but honestly this scene just made me really sad #like girl ... why are you alone when you call him :( #and to depict apollo as half dressed in some kind of weird sultry vibe #like they're on equal flirtatious ground #man ...

[starrysnowdrop]

Aymeric de Borel Headcanons

This is a list of the important headcanons that I personally hold for Aymeric and I have these in mind as I write him in my fics. I am not entirely certain how “popular” of an interpretation that I have of him, and quite frankly, I’m not here to have the “popular” interpretation, or to say that this is the “right” one either. This is simply how I have always seen him and I felt the need to share with you all.

If you hold a different view of Aymeric than myself, feel free to share your thoughts with me, but please be respectful of my views and those of others that you might see in the replies. I was inspired to write this post up because of @miqomischief, so thank you for sharing your thoughts!! Now, onto the headcanons!

Content warning: discussion of sensitive and potentially triggering topics, such as religious trauma, violence, and torture. Will also include discussion of mental health issues, such as clinical depression and PTSD. Under the cut below:

First, I must start with Aymeric’s birth. As of now in canon, we have zero knowledge about Aymeric’s mother, even the lorebooks have nothing to say about her. It also seems as though he was adopted right after he was born by the Borels. That all being said, it’s highly likely that Aymeric’s mother was a lowborn woman who either died in childbirth, or heaven forbid, Thordan and/or the church might’ve had her killed and the chirurgeons were able to save her baby but not her.

Either way, it must be hard on Aymeric to finally have the confirmation of who his birth father was, and must deal with everything his father had done, but still don’t know about his birth mother. I wonder if later on he will try to investigate the mystery and find out the truth about his mother. If we never get the canon account, I might expand on this in the future and come up with something myself.

I imagine the Borels were incredibly loving parents, always loving and treating Aymeric as their own child, and he never questioned how much his adoptive parents loved him. And yet they couldn’t shelter Aymeric from the constant bullying by other children about the rumors of him being the Archbishop’s bastard son.

Though I like to think that Aymeric got his insanely good looks from his mother, it’s still very noticeable that Thordan is his father, especially in the scene where Aymeric confronts Thordan, as Aymeric’s ice blue eyes are the same as Thordan’s. So even though Aymeric couldn’t prove his true lineage until that moment, everyone around him whispered that he was a bastard of the Archbishop, and he was scorned for this his whole life.

Because of this, Aymeric has struggled with his self-esteem, and he never had that many close friends. I imagine that outside of his family and their few servants whom the Borels treated like their family, Aymeric must’ve been pretty lonely, especially with finding friends his own age.

Another pressure on him was the fact that his loving adoptive parents, the only parents he has ever known, were elderly, and they would pass away long before others’ parents would. He would have to face adulthood and find his own place in the world without them, and that must’ve been devastating for him when they did pass away.

I assume that the Borels both died long before we meet Aymeric in the MSQ, so I think that it must’ve happened after Aymeric comes of age and joins the Temple Knights. This is because Aymeric is still using the bow and arrow when he meets Estinien in the short story Through Fire and Blood, but he was gifted Naegling, the Borel family sword, obviously before we meet him. So, sometime between the events of the short story and when Aymeric is promoted to Lord Commander of the Temple Knights, is likely when the Borels died.

I imagine that Aymeric joins the Temple Knights for multiple reasons, one being the obvious one of him wanting to protect his homeland and the Ishgardian people, but I think that he also wants to be included in something larger than himself, something that he will feel included, where he can be recognized and respected. The Temple Knights are where he can rise through the ranks and gain a better reputation, and not just be known for his suspected parentage.

I think that Aymeric did want the position of Lord Commander of the Temple Knights, as he had finally found a place where he felt he belonged; he would also be able to make a difference in the war effort and bring about change in Ishgard. But he had no plans on being the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords, and had to be talked into it, as is suggested in the ending scenes of Heavensward.

Stemming from the bullying in his childhood, as I mentioned before, I believe Aymeric has several mental health issues, including low self-esteem and bouts of self-loathing, clinical depression, and more recently PTSD due to the effects of the Dragonsong War, his time imprisoned in the Vault when he was tortured, and then his attempted assassination.

Though all of us Aymeric fans love to gush about how insanely gorgeous the man is, I doubt that Aymeric himself feels that he is that physically attractive. Perhaps he is aware that others find him attractive, but he probably thinks it’s due to his pretty face and nothing else.

Why is this? Well, I have always imagined that Aymeric has many scars on his body, from not only his years of fighting on the battlefield, but also the torture he endured while imprisoned in the Vault, and he also has a large stab wound from the attempted assassination. I think he must have marks around his neck, wrists, and ankles from being shackled, and potentially many cuts and burns all over his torso, especially if someone like Charibert was the one who was torturing him for information. I don’t believe Aymeric is going to find his body attractive after all of this has happened to him.

Without going into too much detail about the torture, Aymeric was imprisoned and Thordan had told the Heavens’ Ward to “question him thoroughly”. Then we see Aymeric limping as he attempts to talk Thordan out of his plans. He clearly has suffered physically and mentally due to his imprisonment. As Aymeric himself says, “Some scars do not heal.” That’s all the evidence we have of what happened in the Vault from the MSQ, and the rest I have inferred from reading about Charibert’s background.

Another factor that has affected Aymeric greatly is the Ishgardian Orthodox Church, and it’s strict teachings. The religious trauma he has experienced just adds another layer onto him trying to gain a better reputation for himself. In doing so, I surmise that Aymeric has made sure not to have any casual sexual relationships, as he would want to properly court a partner in accordance with Ishgardian tradition. On that note, I personally see Aymeric as demisexual/demiromantic and can be attracted to any gender.

To elaborate on my last point, I do not think Aymeric would ever have a casual sexual encounter. This is not only because of the church’s teachings that he would’ve grown up with, but because he is a bastard and has been shunned his whole life because of what his parents did, so I don’t think he would ever put himself in a position for such a situation to happen again, regardless of the gender of his partner. I think he would just take his time in getting to know someone and not jump into bed with someone without a serious commitment, and he would want to court a partner properly.

Overall, I think that Aymeric tries his best to make himself seem perfect, and though he truly is kind, compassionate, brave, and dutiful, that is certainly not an act, but I do think he is much less confident than he lets on. He is good at looking calm, collected, and seemingly put together. Aymeric has true leadership qualities that make him have the image of the perfect leader that Ishgard needs, but deep inside, I believe he is very hard on himself and doesn’t see himself how others do.

I also believe Aymeric is really lonely. He still seems to not have many friends, and he longs for companionship, which is evident when he asks after his friend Estinien and whenever he sees the Warrior of Light. He drops his Lord Commander mask and he genuinely smiles and even seems giddy when he’s around the Warrior of Light.

The dinner with Aymeric is also evidence that he wants more in his life than just his duty, as he seems to genuinely be interested in the Warrior of Light and their adventures—he is extremely happy if you invite him to come with you on an adventure sometime. No, Aymeric would never shirk his duty just to run away with the WoL, I can never see him ever doing such a thing. However, he clearly is lonely and some part of him likely wants to go adventuring when his duties as Lord Speaker are complete.

Overall, I do think Aymeric has the background and the qualities that could make him a great villain—savvy at politics, manipulating people to get them onto his side, persuading others to do as he bids, all of which he seems to do when he’s Lord Commander and Lord Speaker. But he only has good intentions, and he uses his abilities as a force for good in the world, and not for personal gain. And that is what makes all of the difference. He is a hero because he chooses to be, and he chooses to rise above the circumstances of his birth and what Thordan had wanted for him. That’s why Aymeric is a hero.

Well, that’s about it! Thank you very much for taking your time to read through all of this! Let me know if this lines up with what your headcanons for Aymeric are, if you wish to of course.

#ffxiv headcanons #ffxiv heavensward #aymeric de borel #ser aymeric #this took me much longer than expected #mainly because I can’t shut up about him #i love this man too much #anyway hope yall enjoy the read!

[smigglescultture]

(THIS IS SUPER CRAZY LONG BTW SRRY) I was thinking about it a lot last night and here's the thing:

I don't like random acts of violence. Obviously, I have some sort of fixation on mass shootings but typically I don't like people such as TJ Lane or Nikolas Cruz and especially Salvador Ramos. People who kill just for the thrill of it. I do not like them. That's why I do not like serial killers or their cases.

And look, I'm sure if I got into the nitty gritty of each case, I would understand the perpetrators more. In fact, I know by all angles I might look like Im a hardcore AL stan or whatever, but it never started like that. And still isn't. I think he was an incredibly smart, and funny boy who seriously could've become something in his life, but what he did was utterly disgusting and I will never be able to just put that past him, even if I do agree and maybe even look up to some aspects of him. I'm not a nihilist in the belief that everyone deserves to die. And especially not young children.

However, when it comes to Columbine specifically, its almost like every moral inside me is just pushed into the back of my mind. And maybe that's because I relate so deeply to these two assholes, or whatever, but I have to admit that I feel very guilty for the way I think about this case. And it wasnt an instant thing, I knew I felt eaten up with guilt from the second I joined this community.

It started with Zero Day, I made a tik tok account (DONT EVER DO THAT, TRUST) and suddenly I see all these people who at the time I considered freaks, have mass killers as profile pictures. I started to just block all of them, I used to repeat to myself how awful it was, replay in my head what those people did, and how their victims felt. It was like a compulsion to combat the obsession I was falling into which was the fact that, I was sickly interested in the whole thing. I dont even remember what kick started it, when I became what I considered a "degenerate", but, oh, did it happen.

I would be angry, furious, sick and disgusted with myself for even thinking of D&E. But the more you start to worry about the intrusive thoughts inside your head, the more they come. So the more swallowed up by guilt I felt. The more shame I was consumed by. I thought I had hit a rock fucking bottom. I remember the first time I ever saw that library picture of E&D, and I had never felt such shock and surprise in my life. I was so shocked at what I saw, I briefly mentioned (AND SHOWED?? DONT DO THIS BTW IM DUMB) it to my friends...and my parents. Who all just brushed it off, "yeah, theirs some sickos in the world". Which was easy for them to say, they weren't the ones becoming "sick".

All of that to say that, that picture was the nail on the coffin. The way I look at it now it was like I was on a rope desperately trying not to fall into the water, the community, but my arms couldn't take it anymore and I gave in. Slowly but surely those thoughts about E&D weren't painful and shocking to me anymore, I read Dylans journal and that was really a point of no return. I felt seen, the more I read it, the more time that has went on, it's like reading pages of my own life. I remember writing in my own journal that, even still I was ashamed for reading it, to relating to it.

I mean obviously, this fixation consumed me. I tried to put it into anything I could. Dinner table politics? Boom, mass shooting. My speech and debate script? Boom, mass shootings. My essay for school? Mass shooting. Art work for school? Mass shootings. And none of this has gone away or even flickered, and most times I'm completely okay with that.

But I am sometimes still constantly shameful. I think to myself, "if there ever is a mass shooting, you will sacrifice yourself first to repent for your little obsession" Even though I've lived in America all of my life, I have now become so obsessed about thinking where a shooter could be, especially at school. Not paying attention? Im probably thinking of a way to escape a shooting. Not just casually either, like, vivid imagery type shit. The worst part is that me and my brother go to the same school. I still feel guilty about my "fixation" with guns and mass shootings. I fear that as punishment for this, he would be the one to die in a shooting, not me. And he's my world, he's my best friend, he's the one who told me to stay away from here, and he's the one who still loves me anyway.

That's why I stray away from info posts about the Columbine victims. You'd think maybe it would be some compulsion to make up for my constant thinking of the killers, to learn about the killed, but no. It makes me feel even worse. I do care about those kids. I think it was a tragedy. Nobody should've died, they were all victim's to life and America and God himself maybe.

But what breaks my heart the most, the thing I will never get out of my head, is that one of the boys who died that day, shares a name with my brother. The first time I ever learned that, (which I do hold strong opinions about why certain victims get more "fame" and why that pisses me the hell off, but different post) I could've just fucking puked. I don't want to outright say his name because god forbid my brother ever stumble onto tumblr, but the reason why they killed him, the awful things they said, it makes me so angry. That poor fucking kid, he didn't do anything, nothing, not even indirectly. It makes you forget the empathy you held for E&D cause why would they have said those things or done that. They knew damn well he would've never, ever, not once, been someone who caused them pain. But this isn't a deep dive into why they did this shit.

All of this to say, I really hope you don't see me as just another edgelord, alpha male (yeah right, sure that was going through all your heads) "kill em all" kind of dude. Yeah, I don't care for humanity. Yeah, I am obsessed with gun violence. And no, I don't focus much on victims online. I relate too much to two goons who thought that everyone was against them. That's why I repost so much about them, cause I see them in me more than anything else. I do not "like" random acts of violence, I just like the comfort of knowing I'm not so out of my mind.

#wow sorry for the book I just released #i really appreciate it if you read all that #someone sedate smiggles

[egcdeath]

a bundle of nerves

pairing: joel miller x reader (technically part of the soccer parents au, but can 100% be read as a stand alone)

summary: when anxiety paralyzes you in the morning, joel lends you a helping hand.

word count: 1.1k

warnings: au: no apocalypse, kinda hurt/comfort, mostly comfort, fluff, joel is a big softie, kinda body worship later on, reader is very anxious and stressed, run on sentences, established relationship, no use of y/n

author’s note: i can’t believe i’m finally breaking my hiatus!! huge shoutout to @pedges who has listened to the 1000000 thoughts i’ve had over the past few days.

You were so stressed that you thought your heart might burst—but really, that was your fault. Because as stressed as you were, as much as your heart pounded so hard you could feel it in your throat, or how your hands were sweating so hard you had practically created a waterfall—you were still laying in bed, nowhere near ready to take on the day.

Joel had volunteered to take care of the majority of your shared morning duties; waking up early to make breakfast for the kids, bringing them to school, he even packed your work bag so you had one less thing to worry about that morning.

Yet, the head start he’d given you had essentially amounted to zero, as from the time he pressed a kiss to your forehead and wished you good luck, and now, as he came back into the room to grab his watch before dropping the girls off at school, you still laid in bed—wildly sprawled out across the mattress, forehead damp with sweat forcing your undone hair to stick to spots of it, and still in last night’s pajamas.

“Honey, what’s going on?” Joel asked, clearly concerned with your lack of movement and general disarray. Thinking back on your relationship, you weren’t sure that he’d ever seen you stressed to the point of you being strung out.

“I don’t think I can do it,” you confessed, barely budging from where you were laid out, not even shifting your eyes from the ceiling to your boyfriend.

“Yes, you can,” his voice changed a little bit as he sat down next to you. You finally looked over at Joel, into his soft and sympathetic eyes, and felt just a smidge of your stress fade away. “What’s got you feeling this way?”

“I don’t know…” you trailed off, finally managing to sit up so that you could lean against Joel’s steady body. “I’m scared that I’ll fuck up in front of everybody. All of my peers… all of my superiors. After everything I’ve done to get here, I don’t know if I can handle that kind of humiliation.”

Joel wrapped an arm around you as you confessed your fears to him, which only made you feel more secure in telling him your predicament. He obviously cared about what you were worried about, and seemed dead set on genuinely listening to your fears and making you feel heard.

“It’s normal to be scared, honey. But you’ve practiced in front of me more times than I can remember, and you’ve fuckin’ killed it every time,” Joel attempted to console you, giving you a gentle, yet reassuring squeeze.

“But that’s different. I’m comfortable with you, and you probably only said I was good because you have to say I’m good.”

“No, I’d be honest with you if you weren’t. I just didn’t have to be, because you impressed me every time,” he gently nudged you in a way that forced you to look him right in the eye. “You are a force to be reckoned with. They wouldn’t have asked you to do this presentation if you weren’t. You’re one of the smartest, strongest, and most charismatic people I know. You’re gonna go out there, and blow off everyone’s socks, the same way you blew off mine. Now can I help you get ready so you can look as good as you’re gonna do?”

You weren’t even sure how to respond to the praise, so you opted into awkwardly half-chuckling instead. Joel did seem to have a point though, and he said all of the right things with just enough conviction to convince you that maybe getting ready was the right thing to do.

Finally getting out of bed, you freshened yourself up in the bathroom while Joel picked out your freshly dry cleaned skirtsuit from the closet. Once he’d finally found the piece, he’d found you at the vanity, now working on touching up your hair as fast as you could. Being the sweetheart he was, Joel helped you put on your clothes while you multitasked in getting yourself more presentable.

He pressed soft kisses to your ribcage as he helped you get a bra on, peppered kisses on your neck while buttoning your blouse, and trailed his fingers on your thighs while helping you into your skirt. Not only did he make you feel good about your appearance, but made you feel thoroughly loved in the process of doing so.

With your teamwork and multitasking, you had managed to pull yourself together surprisingly quickly, with Joel on his knees helping you slip into heels to complete your outfit just as the sound of his truck’s horn honking began to ring out, a sure sign that the girls were ready to go and tired of waiting for Joel to come down.

“You’re gonna kill it today, honey. And when you get home, we’ll all do something to celebrate, yeah?” he suggested, pressing one last kiss to your knee before standing up.

“Sounds good,” you smiled to yourself, still feeling nervous about your presentation and the risks associated with messing it all up, but feeling infinitely better after Joel helped to prepare you for it, both physically and mentally. “Thank you, Joel. I don’t know if you realized the actual miracle you performed on me this morning, but I really appreciate it. I appreciate you.”

He simply smiled and bashfully shrugged, never a fan of receiving praise for the work he did. He grabbed your hand, and you followed his lead as he took you downstairs, then into the garage where he prepared to say farewell.

What you weren’t expecting was for Joel to pull you into a tight hug, pressing one last kiss into your hair as he held you.

“You’re gonna do great. Just remember that you are the fucking best. I love you,” he informed you, as if he hadn’t made it abundantly clear in every single way that morning.

“Thank you, Joel. I love you too. As much as I would love to stand here and have you tell me how great I’m gonna do, if we don’t get out of here soon, the girls are gonna be late and so will I,” you laughed softly, a warm feeling of love and adoration running through your veins.

“You have a point there,” he chuckled, finally and reluctantly pulling away from you. “Go crush it, honey.”

With him bidding you farewell, and a quick wave to the girls in the backseat of Joel’s truck, you were off to work. While your nerves were still there, you couldn’t deny that Joel’s little routine had made a huge difference on your outlook on the day.

With a smile on your face as you practiced your speech aloud to yourself in the rearview mirror, and far-less shaky hands gripping your steering wheel, you realized that maybe Joel was right.

You were going to do great.

#joel miller x f!reader #joel miller x reader #joel miller fluff #joel miller imagine #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller x you #joel miller x y/n #joel miller #the last of us fanfiction #the last of us fic

[mycadences]

Notice that Lucien gave Elain credit for the pivotal role she played in killing the King of Hybern:

Elain fell into step beside me, peering at Lucien. He noticed it. “I heard you made the killing blow,” he said.

Elain studied the trees ahead. “Nesta did. I just stabbed him.”

Notice also that Azriel did not:

“We defeated Hybern,” Azriel confirmed. A glance toward Truth-Teller at his side. Then at Nesta. “Nesta beheaded the King of Hybern herself.”

Nesta severed the King of Hybern's head with Truth-teller. Azriel was looking at the knife not because it reminded him of Elain, but because it was literally the weapon used to behead said king. If I were SJM and I wanted to hint at an Elriel endgame without it being blatantly obvious, I would have rewritten the scene like this:

“We defeated Hybern,” Azriel confirmed. A glance toward Truth-Teller at his side. Then at Nesta. “Nesta and her sister beheaded the King of Hybern." [This is NOT WHAT WE GOT. THIS IS NOT CANON BTW. Just including this line because you never know what people will run away with lol.]

There. A simple addition like that would have made a huge difference while still keeping the love triangles vague. Instead, SJM was careful not to bring up Elain anywhere except one time (and Gwyn was also mentioned alongside her, and might I add, first although I admit it's probably not an important point lol) in HOFAS and Azriel's bonus chapter. One might argue the same for Gwyn's lack of appearance in HOFAS but I have written a post tying both Gwyn and Gwydion together (and Gwyn's name did appear several times... in Gwydion). I mean, technically.

And in the same bonus chapter, SJM chose to include a song called "Stone Mother", literally the most Gwynriel-coded name ever. This post by @gwyns-shadowsinger is a lovely summary of all the parallels between the song title, description and Gwyn.

Finally, since I started this post with Elucien, I'll also end it with them. In ACOSF, during Nesta and Elain's argument, Nesta made it a point to bring up their father and how Elain possibly felt guilty over not being able to save him.

Elain stiffened, but refused to balk from whatever she beheld in Nesta’s gaze. “You think I’m to blame for his death?” Challenge filled each word. Challenge—from Elain, of all people. “No one but the King of Hybern is to blame for that.” The quaver in her voice belied her firm words.

Azriel hasn't met Papa Archeron. He has zero involvement in this. You know who has, though? Who spent the most time with Papa Archeron in the last few weeks of his life?

Lucien.

He called Papa Archeron "ever the negotiator", suggesting a degree of familiarity. I think he will be the key to Elain's unresolved guilt (and whatever else may be lying beneath the surface) toward her father, perhaps by truly letting it sink in for her how much her father loved her and her sisters by sharing parts of their journey, and that he never would have blamed her for his death.

#gwynriel #pro gwynriel #elucien #pro elucien #antielriel #acotar musings #hofas spoilers

[kin-the-muffin]

i currently have a half-baked theory about alastor…

ok so in the finale, he said that he wants freedom, meaning he has been restricted in some way. but as far as we’ve seen and can tell, he is basically free to do as he wishes. and of course there’s the theory with lilith being the one owning his soul, which he might have traded away to gain such insane amounts of power. but what has he ever done that didn’t seem to be in his best interest?

charlie.

yea, yea, i hear you and your sassy clips of him saying he’s helping the hotel simply for boredom’s sake and that he enjoys watching people try to do something meaningful but then fail in the process but! that would imply that he’d done so before, but we have never, not once, ever heard that he even dabbled in such a thing. (and don’t you dare try to tell me that he actually cares about charlie, the man is the most manipulative, sadistic little mf i’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something because i’ve seen miraculous ladybug and hate liela rossi as much as anyone else.) the only things we know about his past is that he appeared in hell very suddenly with lots of power, he toppled countless overlords overnight, and his radio podcast killed tons of demons. nothing of this has to do with other beings in hell trying to make it better (as i highly doubt any of those overlords had good intentions since they were, well, overlords). but he doesn’t seem the type to do things meaninglessly, he always has ulterior motives.

but then if his excuses of entertainment are as flimsy as i’m making them out to be then why would he ever help charlie? well, i think that brings us back to lilith. it’s far from a rarely-noticed detail that the length of alastor and her’s disappearances were for the same amount of time and while we know that lilith spent that time in heaven (if that even is lilith, but idk enough about that theory so i’m just gonna assume that it’s her and that she’s been in heaven the whole time), we don’t have a smack-dab CLUE as to what alastor was up to during his vacay. then he just shows up out of nowhere, at the idealistic princess of hell’s doorstep of all places.

well, i’ve had a sneaking suspicion for a while that lilith’s deal (at least part of it), in exchange for his power, was to help charlie in some way. i’m thinking that’s why he seemed so torn-up about how he almost ‘died for his friends’. he doesn’t care for any of them (except maybe nifty but i think that’s just bonding over shared mania (i think rosie (and maybe zestial) is the only one he truly, honestly cares about, but i get the feeling that even that relationship is pretty business-based)).

we have no idea what lilith is like, we have absolutely zero characterization of her except for what charlie explains about her in episode 1, that she’s passionate and hardworking and stubborn and independent—qualities that charlie mostly has in abundance. so i would say that she’s cared about charlie this whole time but due to whatever is keeping her in heaven, she can’t help her, except that lilith seems a little too malevolent to care about charlie’s hotel. why would she? she fell in love with a dreamer who shared her rebellious heart and for this, she was the first human soul cast into hell. she has never had any kind of reason as to why she would ever want to go to heaven, or anyone else for that matter (as she did work to make hell into the semi-civil place it is now). and we have no idea how close she and charlie were before she left (i suspect we’ll learn more about that in season 2), so we can’t assume that she’ll just support charlie, whatever her aspirations may be. so i honestly have no idea as to why lilith would enlist alastor to help charlie, but i am fairly convinced that this is the case of what’s happened.

thoughts?

#kin’s rambles #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel theory #hazbin hotel thoughts #hazbin hotel alastor #alastor #hazbin hotel lilith #lilith morningstar #hazbin hotel charlie #charlie morningstar #also the fact that husk never noted his seven-year absence is…suspicous to say the least #he never made a quip like ‘dangit i thought youd finally died’ or anything that implied he’d known #maybe alastor was just keeping a low profile but needed to continue business and thus kept contact with a few of his contracted souls? #then again mimzy never mentioned his absence either… and i dont think rosie did #idk whats up with this man but dangit i hope we get answers

[likecanyoujustnot]

Cardan’s letters pov

Part 4: ridiculous

A/n: currently typing this on my iPad that is so old it’s lost 10 percent in 10 minutes. But I won’t write much i want to know if my Hawke-is-actually-casteel theory is correct. Anyway. Enjoy

Part 3. Part 5

36 days.

36 days and no Jude. I’d never not seen her for this long, even when we hated each other.

I was getting desperate. And desperate people do foolish things.

Like go to their families graves.

They were buried outside, in the woods.

Dain.

Elowyn.

Caelia.

Rhyia.

Eldred.

I stared at the stones that marked their final resting place. So simple, the prince, princess and high king, reduced to a small headstone that would be overgrown in a few decades.

I may have despised my brother and father, but no one wants to have their entire family massacred.

I don’t know what happened to Dain’s mother’s. Balekin probably gave her body to her sister, or other unspeakables.

After Jude had been exiled, I went to the courtyard where she had killed him. Said to the guards to do with him as they wished. Dig a shallow grave, feed him to some rabid creature, dump him in the ocean, sell his organs, I really didn’t care.

I wouldn’t be king if it weren’t for him.

I’d be enjoying a life of zero responsibilities and be able to drink and lust over Jude to my hearts content.

Balekin wouldn’t have killed me at the coup, he didn’t know of Oak’s lineage, and thought I was the only one able to crown him.

But I was grateful for Jude taking me away. Who knows how long I would’ve stayed under that table for.

Plus it had ended with us kissing, which was a massive bonus.

What I wouldn’t give for one more kiss from her lips. One more skeptical look as I did something she disapproved of. One more second, so I could tell her what was truely in my heart.

The bomb had been right when she’d said I loved Jude.

I’d loved Jude since we’d gone to school together. I’d seen her beauty, so different to the perfectness of the other women I’d been with, more rugged, raw. Seen the way she didn’t let her inability to do what the fae could hold her back, she was fierce when standing up for herself, when showing the fae- showing me- that she was not one to be underestimated.

And I’d taken all of it, the beauty, the ferociousness, the strength, the moments she let her guard down, for granted.

If she ever came back, I would tell her how I felt, how I loved her, how my every thought was consumed with her.

I placed the flowers on the graves of my sisters. I missed them. Even if I didn’t see them that often and they liked to pretend I didn’t exist.

I spat on my father’s grave as I left the clearing, not even acknowledging Dain’s.

“Mother.”

I stood in the doorway to the kitchen, watching her rummage through the cupboards for food. Multiple family reunions in one day. Lucky me.

She made a sound of recognition.

“What are you doing?”

“You’re not very smart are you? It’s quite clear I’m looking for food.”

Lady Asha was many things, a sympathetic mother was not one.

“There are rumours around court.”

I folded my arms and lent against the door. “That’s not new, they always talk.”

She looks at me and there is a cruel smile on her face. One I recognise as being so similar to my own. “Yes but now there are the most scandalous stories about you and your dear seneschal.” I raise a brow and she continues. “They’re saying you and her were involved in a physical relationship.” I keep my face blank. “Some state you stole her from Locke, and in desperation he married her sister. Others say you exiled her because she’s pregnant with your child, and you would rather abandon her than father a half-human child.”

I rolled my eyes. “She’s not pregnant, I exiled her for killing my brother.”

“That won’t stop them.”

She straightened and walked over to the bench. I noted the absence of food in her hands. “I’m surprised you haven’t brought her back. Might be something you and your father have in common. Abandon your lovers.”

“I am nothing like my father. And this conversation is wasting my time.”

She smirked as I left.

I don’t know why I continued to deal with her presence. She didn’t care about me when she ignored me as a child, a baby who had to find his own way to survive.

If I ever had children I would make sure they never went a day without knowing I loved and cared for them.

And of course that line of thinking brought me back to Jude.

Did she want kids?

We’d both had thoroughly messed up childhoods. Her parents had been murdered by the man she now considered her father. My father probably would have been glad if I’d just died.

We had Oak if she didn’t want them.

I sighed and sat back on my bed. I’d spent so long in here the past month. Wishing for nothing more than Jude to be beside me.

But she wasn’t.

So I would do the only thing I could think of.

I wrote another letter.

Jude,

I love you, and I miss you so much it hurts.

No, the first time I told her I loved her would be in person. Not over a freaking letter.

Jude,

Not even responding to my missives is ridiculous and beneath you and I hate it.

Cardan

I stared at the words.

At the words I didn’t say.

Tags:

@magicstrengthandcourage

#cardans letters pov #the cruel prince #the queen of nothing #queen of nothing #cardan greenbriar fanart #jude duarte #jurdan #jurdan fanfic #jude x cardan #the folk of the air #folk of the air

[starmist]

Theory: The Real Reason Jin Mu Hid Cho Yeong

This bit of information is never actually explained and it drives me nuts, like it makes zero sense why he would do such a thing. If the point of killing the Cho Family (and in such a cruel way as well) was to “torture” Jang Gang, why didn’t he also just kill Yeong as well? Cho Chung slashed plenty of people that night, it wouldn’t raise any questions if he’d killed her and said he’d found the body wherever. This would also hurt Jang Gang quite a bit, that because of him his best friend and the entirety of that family, including such a young girl (that he probably knew as well) had been killed by her own father.

There is no obvious reason to have kept her alive. I’m also going to dismiss that Jin Mu wanted to use her to kill his enemies/soul shifters. It’s unlikely since Jang Gang had the ice stone and sealed it way after the massacre. Jin Mu was only able to perform the alchemy of souls around ten years later after Jin Bu Yeon found it.

Also, I know Jin Mu is absolutely insane but who looks at a five(ish) year old and go “imma turn her into a killer”. Especially since there seems to have been nothing special about her unlike Jang Uk and Jin Buyeon, I mean he himself states that he had never expected her to become as powerful as she did. I’m not entirely sure he even meant for her to survive.

For the same reasons I don’t think he ever meant to actually use her against the four families either, so why? Why would he go into all that effort to kidnap her, hide her, travel into the mountains to provide (the bare minimum of) supplies along with the resources to become a mage? So much effort and for what? What could he possibly gain from this? What benefit did he see in keeping this girl alive?

The answer is: a lot.

We see that Jang Gang abandons Jang Uk shortly after he’s born, but we also know that Cho family massacre, an event he was present for, happened sometime after that day, though we don’t have an actual timeline. Kim Dojoo also mentions in episode 8 that there was a time (before Jang Uk was conceived) that Jang Gang would hole up at Cheonbugwan for days at a time.

It’s not a stretch to believe he did the same prior to the massacre.

Kim Dojoo also tells Master Lee that the real reason Jang Gang left was in hopes that he could find his best friend’s daughter.

So what am I getting at here? What does this have to do with anything? Well, there was no body that means both that Jang Gang had some semblance of hope that Yeong was alive and was willing to do a lot to find her.

To leave the fortress for years and years, to search almost endlessly for her. Because she was his best friend’s daughter, the daughter of the family died because Jang Gang brought the alchemy of souls back into the world, the one and only person from that family the could maybe, possibly be alive!

She was his one chance at redemption, the one person he could save, make it up in some small way to his friend; a way that he hadn’t destroyed everything.

(It’s also not unreasonable to assume that he had personally known Yeong. I mean, if he left to look for her that means he felt that he would be able to recognize her. We also know that she frequented Cheonbugwan with her father and is even implied to have visited the Jang household as well therefore there were plenty of opportunities for them to meet)

Jin Mu, as Jang Gang’s servant and pupil, would know and understand these things. So he makes her disappear and Jang Gang goes looking for her.

In the mean time, with the Gwanju gone, Jin Mu gained power, became Bu-Gwanju, found the ice stone, even created an entire, insanely loyal secret society and put Shaman Choi on the throne. By the time the show opens, the King is looking for a way to make Jin Mu the Gwanju in full! All because Jang Gang was gone!! He had so so much to gain by hiding her away and sending his master on a wild goose chase with the slightest hope that she might be alive.

Also, lets say by chance, Jang Gang did come back. Well, Jin Mu had bred so much hate into Naksu and she trained to become a mage as well. He could easily have sent her after him, not really expecting her to win but to bait Jang Gang. Have him figure out her identity, have him be tortured by her hate or even by Jang Gang unknowingly hurting/killing her.

There are just so many more was to torture Jang Gang by keeping her alive, so much to gain, how could Jin Mu not? Yeong surviving was an absolute golden opportunity for him.

#alchemy of souls #been on my mind for awhile but ive been too lazy to articulate #mudeok

[theintrovertbean]

My statement about the drama

Hello!

This post will be about the whole Rai drama that they orchestrated against @asrabounding. But first, I would kindly ask anyone who hasn't read the post by @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia, aka brainrot, to do so. It can be quite triggering, so please, be mindful of that and make sure to put yourself first. The same warning applies to my own post.

First, I want to apologize. I did bad stuff, and I've been doing my best to mend my mistakes. I'm very sorry about the things I've done, but especially about the things I could have prevented. My friends got hurt because of something I was a part of and could have avoided if I wasn't scared to stand up for others and myself.

This is going to be a long post. Sorry about that too, but this whole drama was simply a lot.

Brainrot's part perfectly sums up what happened, but since I was there from the beginning of the drama, it would be fair to add some things from my own POV. It isn't nearly as professional as brainrot's statement, and it's more about my personal experience, which I think shows how this drama affected the well-being of the people involved. Again, this is my experience, but we all share the feelings.

The first time I posted from this account on Tumblr was in July 2022, and Rai reached out to me on November 1. Apparently, I was too intimidating, but as it turns out, Rai just needed me (and other people) for their plans. They specifically wanted to involve mainly Nadia fans, so it was only a matter of time before they messaged me.

Why Nadia fans, you might ask? Well, we could sit here all night and take guesses because no one knows for certain. Rai only pretended to like Nadia (because wanting to kill her is enough proof that they didn't like her), so their reason must have been something psychological. But again, we can't know for certain. Sadly, their actions put us Nadia fans in a bad light, and their friendship was never genuine.

I have a guess that Rai had been stalking a few bigger creators for a while and just waiting for one of them to make a mistake. Asrabounding (AB from now on) happened to be the unlucky one.

Honestly, I didn't know AB at all. We never interacted, and the first time I ever heard about him was through Rai. At the beginning of December 2022, Rai told our server about AB and how he and his girlfriend were harassing their "boi," Panda, who was completely incapable of taking care of himself, at least according to Rai.

I spoke to Panda a few times during the drama; he is nothing like Rai described, which You can tell by the screenshots as well. He is overly friendly and tends to overshare, and I would say he is pure evil, but that adjective would be far too generous in his case. I also have to add that there is no evidence of Rai and Panda being two different people. I've looked through my DMs, and a few servers that Rai is/was in and found zero traces of them ever having a conversation. I also asked around, and no one has ever seen these two interact with each other. Once, we even asked Rai to invite Panda to their server because we all wanted to get to know him, but they immediately refused, saying he is too soft and all kinds of weird things to say about one's partner. I suppose it would be hard to text from two accounts simultaneously.

The private server that Rai created was made in November, around the time when the drama began. It's crucial to mention that none of us knew AB. This allowed Rai to portray AB however they wanted.

There are screenshots in the pdf from the DMs between Rai and me. They told me quite a few things but purposefully left out important details. The screenshots Rai sent me were always sent in a way that would make AB seem like the worst person to ever exist. I (and the server) also received altered versions of AB's art, which were edited in a way to make it seem like AB was making Asra whiter or orange. Additionally, Rai maliciously gathered personal information about AB and his loved ones, which is both legally and morally wrong.

The call-out blog happened and didn't gain much attention, which was quite disappointing to Rai, but failure didn't stop them. They recruited more people for the sole purpose of hurting AB. We retreated to Rai's server until the previous drama, where Rai popped up every once in a while to stir up our anger and disturb our conversations.

Then we arrive at the latest drama. Rai's efforts paid off. One of our friends did a call-out post, and things went crazy. I don't have to describe what happened because it's in brainrot's statement, but there is one thing that I really want to highlight. Rai did nothing. Everything we did was because of them and their "boi," and they just watched us all get burned.

At some point, brainrot presented us with an opportunity to make peace with AB. Two of us even volunteered to talk to him, myself included. Rai didn't even react while everyone else was looking forward to ending the drama. Actually, Rai was unusually quiet. They gave us an excuse for being less active and just left us to deal with their mess.

When brainrot left, I almost immediately reached out to him for two reasons. 1. He is my friend. I was concerned about his well-being and wanted to make sure he was alright. 2. I was physically and mentally sick of the drama and considered leaving the server myself. There were days when I could barely function because of the anxiety I felt. I was a mess. Everyone was, but never Rai. I felt like I was in the middle of a battlefield, watching my friends get slaughtered while the person behind it all, Rai, was having the time of their life far away in a luxury tent. I desperately wanted to end that.

On multiple occasions, I muted the server for hours and sometimes even days because I could not deal with Rai. There was a clear hierarchy, and Rai would constantly try to compete with us and bring us down. Everyone else was behaving like normal human beings, and then Rai would randomly show up to pollute the air with their "hee hoos" and disturbing stories they claimed were true.

The same person who said they were gathering courage for months to text me never showed any care, remorse, or fear during our nine months of "friendship." Also, the very same person would go around texting random people on Tumblr, checking how intelligent and "mentally stimulating" (they said that, not me) they are, and trying to figure out if they hate Dorian and/or Asrabounding. They were also looking for people in a more vulnerable position, such as those who were new to the fandom and/or lonely. When everything on the list was ticked off, Rai invited them to their server. For privacy reasons, I'm not going to say an exact number, but about ten of us were "recruited."

Brainrot and I talked a bit, we both vented, and we eventually reached the point where I said that I would talk to AB just to end this madness. And so I did with brainrot's help, even though it horrified me, but I knew I had to do it for others. I expected AB to be just as Rai presented him to us, but he wasn't. The AB I was talking to was kind, understanding, cooperative, and tired of everything that had been going on. It often made me wish I met AB sooner than Rai. Our conversations with AB were and still are civil and friendly, and I am nothing but thankful to him. We compared our notes, then brainrot and I went back to DMs for a while to discuss everything.

We realized that 1. Everything Rai said about AB was a lie, and Rai just wanted to hurt him. 2. Rai lied to us and used several manipulation tactics on us. 3. Our friends were unsafe.

To include a lie, once, Rai texted me to ask if I wanted to know their legal name. They told me that they were named after a character from an anime. Later, I found from a friend that Rai told her their name too. It was from the same anime but a different character's name. This was just one example.

So we made a plan, and we had to act fast. I quickly gathered a few screenshots from the server that we could use, then we texted everyone involved about the news. Thank gayness, everything instantly clicked for the vast majority of our friends. It was tough, exhausting, and very emotional. Being betrayed by someone we considered a friend was no joke. Honestly, have never felt so much anxiety in my life. It was suffocating.

Then, three of us deleted every channel in Rai's server (every member had maximum permissions). In the meantime, we made a server of our own, a safe place where we could heal together, continue our friendship, and discuss what we were going to do next.

And that's how we got to brainrot's post. I created a document and put in whatever screenshots I had from Rai's server and my DMs. Then I asked everyone to send me all the screenshots they wanted us to include, and I put those in too. That pdf is the fruit of multiple days of work and immeasurable disgust. Even putting it together almost made me throw up more than once. It was available to everyone involved (our friends and AB as well) from start to finish. They were all free to make edits, give suggestions, and add screenshots if they wanted. AB added the anons he received and a bunch of other screenshots. Brainrot wrote his statement, and I did the group's, which is one of the reasons I didn't want to make another one. In the meantime, we found out more about Rai, and it was not pretty; the screenshots prove it all.

This wasn't the first time Rai tried to take someone down, and they bragged about it multiple times. They were also quite proud of how they were able to manipulate people. I mean, just look at what they said about how they got together with their "boi." We know of two people in the fandom who were hurt by Rai. From what I know, unlike AB, they weren't content creators. My assumption is that doing the same thing over again wasn't giving Rai the same thrill anymore, so they wanted to target someone bigger. Bigger drama = more pleasure for Rai.

There was one person who got kicked from the server because they didn't hate Lucio. Rai provoked them to make them act out of character, which resulted in a kick and ban. There were others that Rai wanted to kick out but didn't because they were still needed for the drama.

The things Rai sometimes said about characters and the people who like them were sickening. They constantly described Lucio as a mass murderer and a r*pist and harassed anyone who didn't agree with their opinions. Rai also headcanoned that Lucio SAd Nadia during their marriage. And a lot of other things...

We had to tiptoe around Rai all the time because being kicked out of the server wouldn't have been a big deal, but being separated from our friends against our will was not something any of us wanted. That small but loving community we created for ourselves (Rai excluded) was why we stayed on that server in the first place.

But also, we were scared. Whenever Rai was present, they turned us into an angry mob. I don't know when we started to feel this way, but we were uncomfortable and wanted out. However, when we looked at each other, the angry mob was all we could see. Even when an individual was in doubt, the others still put on their angry mask, and that one person felt alone. I often felt like that too, but we all knew what Rai was capable of. We were already hurting, and we didn't want to unleash the angry mob against us. If Rai were to come after any of us, they would most definitely twist everything in a way to make themselves seem like the victim(s).

Soon after the server was gone and I was no longer talking to Rai, I realized that the hate I once felt wasn't my own.

Once again, I'm sorry about what happened. We all are. I apologize for the hurt I caused to everyone and take full responsibility for my actions. I never intended for things to escalate things this far, and I regret everything I've done. The things we did were not done with a clear mind. If it wasn't for Rai and their mind games, none of us would have done anything like this.

And Azi, I'm especially sorry to you. Despite everything we've done, you treated us with kindness and worked together with us to make the fandom a safer place. You have no idea how much this means. I'm thankful for the chance of getting to know the real you.

I also apologize to my followers for bringing drama onto my blog. While I'm open to questions about what happened, I would like to get back to writing my silly little headcanons like I did before. I'm an open book, but simping for Nadia is why I made this blog in the first place. The good thing is that now I'm able to do the things I've always wanted without Rai constantly reminding me why this and that is so bad. And who knows, maybe you'll see me bring some Nadia content to a different platform as well...

Our friend group, I apologize to you as well because I didn't protect you when I could have. Things would have been different if I wasn't so scared.

Azi, Brainrot, and friends. Thank you for everything. Your support and cooperation helped all of us through these hard times, and I hope we can continue to heal together.

I don't expect forgiveness from anyone because what happened is truly horrible. While countless lies and manipulation were involved, a simple apology won't undo the harm we caused. We have been doing our best to make up for our mistakes and will continue to do so in the future as well. However, please, please be careful. Rai is still a threat, so if you see them anywhere, just run. Protect yourselves and, if you can, others as well. Please, stay safe and learn from our horrible mistakes.

-Eszter

#the arcana #arcana #notaguyrai #rai drama #drama #the arcana game #arcana game #nadia satrinava #portia devorak #count lucio #julian devorak #muriel of the kokhuri #asra alnazar

[demadogs]

Do you know any good wlw movies/ TV shows on netflix? I've watched a few, I am not ok with this, Carol, duck butter, but im LESBIAN DEPRIVED!

~🌈

YOU AND ME BOTH GIRLY.

unfortunately almost all my favorite sapphic shows have been canceled especially the ones on netflix but i do still think theyre worth your time. but it might also kill you bc the story isnt finished. all these shows are also just amazing plots too. like i would love them just as much even if there wasnt wlw relationships.

heres what i got for shows but not all of these are on netflix.

the wilds. this is an AMAZING SHOW. its on amazon its about a staged plane crash where 8 girls are stuck on an island but they dont know that its all a fucked up social experiment. a lesbian relationship became established before it got canceled after s2.

cable girls. this is on netflix and it actually DIDNT GET CANCELED HALLELUJAH. its an amazing show but it actually doesnt really count as sapphic bc one of the characters in the wlw relationship ends up being trans. but its still a great queer love. this shows spanish and set in late 1920s madrid at a telephone company. its one of my favorite shows ever literally every season is better than the last plz watch it.

everything sucks. this is on netflix and it did get canceled but the lesbian relationship was mostly established before the end of the first season. its set in the 90s and its just a really cute show im mad it got canceled.

paper girls. this is on amazon and ngl this is one of the most painful sapphic show cancelations ive ever suffered through so if you dont wanna watch it just bc of that i dont blame you. its about these four young girls who accidentally time travel from the 80s to current day and meet their future selves. the gay girlies are heavily implied and foreshadowed but they dont get together before the end of the show :(

the last of us!!! not canceled its still going!! this show has an episode that shows a past sapphic relationship with the lesbian main character but the first season doesnt introduce a new relationship yet. the second season will tho. im sure youve heard about this or already watched it but its about a zombie-like pandemic from a deadly fungus and its total post apocalyptic. also AMAZING found family father/daughter trope. dare i say i actually think i like them more than el and hopper.

i really need to find more great sapphic movies.

my favorite lesbian movie of all time is portrait of a lady on fire. its a french period piece and its just beautiful and THERE ARE LIKE ZERO MEN IN THE WHOLE MOVIE. i think the only line a man has is “bonjour” and thats it. MY KINDA MOVIE!!!!! INSTANT 5 STARS!!!!! i love this movie. the initial premise is that a woman needs to be painted but she cant know that shes being painted so the other woman has to just study her while hanging out and then paint her from memory. it ends up being much more than that but gaaahhh if you only watch one of these make it this movie.

another iconic sapphic movie is but im a cheerleader. way different tone much less dramatic and more comedy but still never gets old.

you didnt mention books but im gonna give you book recs anyway.

seven husbands of evelyn hugo!!!!!!! im sure youve heard about this. i dont think its overrated at all it really was such a good book and dont let the title fool you its gay as hell. if youre really not a reader tho this is going to be a netflix movie soon.

an amazing duo book series is criers war. i LOVE scifi and fantasy and this is my favorite sapphic scifi story ive ever read/watched. i want this to be a movie or show so bad. its about a world where some people are people and some are what they refer to as “automa” which are essentially cyborgs but they look just like humans. crier is an automa and the daughter of a king and ayla is a poor human and she has a vendetta against crier bc her father was responsible for her familys murder but crier doesnt know this! so then ayla gets the job as her maid for the goal of killing her basically but of course it gets super gay instead. its such an interesting take on the enemies to lovers trope bc its one sided, cryer has no idea ayla considers her her enemy. also neither of them are white i think crier is brown and ayla is black.

i hope you like these! and if anybody else has lesbian story recs plz put it in the replies or rbs cuz i also need more lesbian content!!!

#people plz give me more recs im begging #every new gay shit that comes out is mlm and i still eat it up usually but god where are the gay girlies :(( #byler #bc a lot of you guys are lesbians #sapphic #lgbt movie #eden answers