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butwhatifidothis · 9 months

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What gets me about GW defenders saying that "Claude siding with Edelgard shows how far he's willing to go to get what he wants, he'll use anyone to further his goals" is that, even if that were accurate to his character... that's not what he does in GW. At all.

Which one of Claude's goals are ever progressed once he sides with Edelgard? And how does siding with Edelgard, specifically, accomplish said goal?

Maybe... killing Rhea? But all of the reasons he says he wants her gone in this game are either completely unproven or blatantly incorrect - there's no proof of the Church forcing arranged marriages, Crests do not force obligations onto those that have them (which Claude himself literally proves), and the Church is helping Dimitri restore Duscur - a foreign nation - meaning they are actively willing to help fulfill Claude's main goal that he came to the officer's academy to achieve.

And... that's it! That is the only possible thing that even POTENTIALLY helps Claude's dreams, and taking a five-second look at it shows that it actually does nothing at all to help anything. But in the meantime? Claude weakens Faerghus through agitating Sreng and invading it himself, forcing Dimitri to fight a three front war; he actively helps Edelgard get herself out of a messy situation, even though not helping her and letting her die would have actually helped him and would have actually been him using her like people keep saying he's trying to do; he and Holst even admit that by the end of the war Edelgard is going to make a vassal state of Leicester after taking the lion's share of Faerghus' territory for themselves, which Leicester can't do anything about because of Adrestia's far stronger military. He is the one saying that! He is the one pointing out that that is going to happen! And yet he just keeps going anyway!

He is the one getting used. Very blatantly, and very extensively. Claude walked himself into a trap and lied to himself into thinking he's the one with the upper hand, which somehow managed to convince a large portion of the fanbase too. There's no gray morality here, there's no cunning being showcased, Claude is just an evil stupid tool

#clyde discourse #doing a read over for what i have for the GW rewrite and just. man.#like. it's hard to even like Clyde as a villain because he is just so incomprehensively incompetent in literally everything he does #once Part 2 hits #like imagine if he helped EdeckyWecky up to the point where she'd ACTUALLY die without his help... and he doesn't give it #he lets her die and lets the Empire crumble without leadership #but Dimitri can't take advantage of that because he still has to deal with Sreng and the Alliance #meanwhile Clyde is sneaking in more and more Almyran forces through Nader manipulating Mr. King of Almyra #until he has enough to take on the weakened Kingdom and force it under submission through the constant pressure he's forcing it under #not through brute force but just through wearing them down to the point where they just can't keep going #and in his zeal to conquer Fodlan he fails to recognize that he's just become Shahid; someone who wants to become king no matter the cost #like imagine it's never said outright but that THIS is how power corrupts once genuinely good people #they're so focused on getting to the end point that they gradually care less and less about how red their path to that end point is #until oops everyone is either dead; too scared/unable to fight back; or are also swept up in the mindset of By Any Means Necessary #THAT'D BE A NEAT VILLAIN. even if it's not *Claude* at all that is a villain i could get behind!#but people keep insisting that 1) Clyde isn't a villain (he is) that 2) he's doing the right thing (he's not)#and that 3) he's in any way compelling (he's just brown Eddy Geddy but stupid)

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pa-pa-plasma · 2 years

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bro you are on the FANDOM WEBSITE why are you NOT supporting your fandom creators????? do you WANT us to stop??? do you want there to be no more art & fic?? because that’s what happens when you don’t reblog our stuff. this isn’t a threat, this is a reality. if there is no one here wanting to see our stuff we won’t post it. I’m not trying to guilt trip here, none of us are, we’re literally just saying that if there is no motivation to spend 10+ hours making fanart or 5 years writing a multichapter fic for free then we won’t fucking do it

^this shit? ridiculous. I LOVE EVERYONE WHO REBLOGGED & INTERACTED WITH MY ART! I LOVE EVERYONE WHO ASKED QUESTIONS & COMMENTED!! but so many of these people just liked it & left. this has been getting worse over the years, too. the reblogs to likes ratio has been getting crazier. I create because I love it, but if I have no reason to post, I won’t. fandoms dry up because of this. creators quit because of this.

we just need to stop acting like this is instagram, or that anyone cares what your blog looks like. people don’t see your likes, they see your reblogs. you want that favourite content creator to post more art? you want that writer to post the next chapter of your fav fic?? reblog it. share it. show them you care, because otherwise they won’t. this is a hobby we do for free. you consume our stuff for free. you aren’t entitled to it, so please just reblog, it isn’t hard.

#we aren't asking for money we're asking for you to hit a button #stop being a little bitch #this is tumblr. no one gives a shit about your ''aesthetic'' or whatever #no one even looks at who reblogs what on here #i'm sick of seeing people not sharing works out of spite & acting like wanting attention for our labour is bad #I SPEND 15 HOURS DRAWING YOU BETTER FUCKING REBLOG IT. I'M POSTING IT SO I CAN FEEL BETTER #AFTER SPENDING 15 HOURS HUNCHED IN A SHITTY CHAIR WITH MY WRIST ALL FUCKED UP & MY LAPTOP TRYING TO KILL ITSELF & ME #im not asking to be PAID im asking for you to share artist's & writers' works. we are 99% of the fandom's content #you want more content? fucking motivate us to make it. you are getting it for free. stop being an asshole & fucking reblog it #i'm so fucking tired of people with their cold ass takes #if i EVER like anyone's art & don't reblog it THAT WAS A MISTAKE. I MEANT TO REBLOG BUT TUMBLR GLITCHED OR I RAN OUT OF REBLOGS #i KNOW how hard it is to spend hours days YEARS on something & for no one to care #i am literally just asking for everyone to have some sympathy #like imagine if your employer started complaining about how selfish it is you work for free? that's this #you'd quit that job #YOU CAN'T COME TO THE FANDOM WEBSITE & COMPLAIN THAT FANDOM CREATORS WANT ATTENTION FOR THEIR WORK #EVERYONE WANTS ATTENTION YOU STUPID MANTHING IT CAME FREE WITH YOUR FUCKING HUMAN BRAIN

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simstoyourdismay · 17 days

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life's hard when you're soft you've got our love

#ts4 #sims 4 #the sims 4 #s4 #simblr #ts4 simblr #i love this song so much but i can't stop relating it to theo and his mom and it's making me ill #this picture very eerily resembles the 'inbred' cover do you see it.. i think it's the dead stares into the camera #anyways if i was taking family pictures of everyone else you know i had to include these fuckers too. sigh #not berating the kids of course. my babies i love them. notice how the one smiling is literally the worst person there..#that one elliott smith lyric that's like 'i wanna hurt him i wanna give him pain' yeah that's me right now to sarah #there is something gravely wrong with the hadley bloodline. let me post a family tree cause hadley and hadley-coy are different.. kind of..#oh god these tags make it seem like i'm alluding to.. yk.. for clarification I'M NOT!!! they're fucked up in a different way #oc: theodore #oc: alice #oc: benjamin #oc: peter #oc: sarah #equi/cholia: screenies

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lgbtlunaverse · 10 months

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Could someone tell me where the interpretation that, in book canon, the promotion Nie Mingjue gives Meng Yao made Meng Yao's life worse than it was before, came from?

I have seen that claim made multiple times now and I've looked at the text over and over trying to see where the basis for it is and I. Can't find it? Don't get me wrong, it absolutely spells out that it does not and cannot fix everything for Meng Yao, but the idea that it was actively bad for him?

Lacking other evidence, I kind of have to assume that it comes from cql canon being sort of projected backwards onto book canon. In cql canon, meng yao is suffering active and explicit bullying and abuse from the captain while under the nie, and does so because the capain believes he has risen above his station via nmj's promotion of him. (In book canon this... isn't happening. It happens with the captain in Langya instead) However, in cql canon he has also been with the nie for years and is openly close to both Nie Mingjue and Nie Huasiang, whereas in book canon he has only been working with nie mingjue for a few months (though has, in that time, apparently become close enough to him for Lan Xichen to explicitly state Meng Yao is able to calm nmj down in ways no one else can? Ofc he does this... Right after that stops being true. But. Food for thought. Not what this post is about tho.) So, if you project the much more explicit abuse from the nie sect captain in cql back on novel jgy who has a presumably much less stable position in the sect overall you get... a meng yao for whom the promotion only means a bigger target on his back and virtually no protection from nmj, who we must assume he can't trust to talk to his about because he never mentions it. (This also explicitly violates book canon when it comes to meng yao's general behaviour, we'll talk about that in a sec)

And look. We all do frankencanon in this house. I get it. And for fanfiction that is very fun. But for a serious reading of the character, his situation, and the actions that lead from that this... doesn't make much sense, in my opinion.

So. Why is that? Why did I say this was out of character for the novel? Because Meng yao spoke up about the jin captain mistreating him. Multiple times! It's just that none of it mattered because no one cared to listen to him. This is a pretty important line for his character because it flatly shows that meng yao is not and has never seen murder as something trivial. He's not trigger happy. He will only do it if he sees no other way out that doesn't end in himself being seriously harmed. (Whether he's right or justified in these cases is not the point of this post.)

If anything remotely similar was happening in the Nie sect, he would have said so. Cql Meng Yao doesn't do this because cql Meng Yao is a different character, and also the plot wouldn't work if he did. Cql Nie Mingjue, by extension, comes off as a fundamentally less trustworthy figure in cql Meng Yao's life because apparently for whatever reason, he cannot be trusted with the information that the deputy he has already publicly defended is still being harassed, and doesn't notice even when it is really blatant. The assumtpion the audience is given is that, like a middle schooler getting the principal involved when being bullied, it would only make the harassment more viscious.

This... actually has a somewhat solid basis in the book. Because after nmj yells at the bullies in question Wei Wuxian says this.

And it is important to keep in mind that this is Wei Wuxian saying this. Not Meng Yao, not an omniscient narrator. Wei wuxian is drawing on his own experiences, likely from the Jiang family, to conclude that if someone is angry at you and thwarted by someone defending you, this generally does not make them less angry at you.

This is leaving out two crucial things, though.

Firstly, this worry isn't about the promotion at all.

The promotion hasn't even been brought up. In the novel it doesn't ctually happen immediately, it takes another few battles where meng yao continues to do his job well and nie mingjue continues praising him for him to eventually go "yeah, you deserve a raise."

This is another aspect that is being projected from cql canon onto book canon I presume, because it does happen quite quickly there, and it's a throwaway line in the books so it's easy to miss. I can't be mad about anyone forgetting the difference, but it is important to mention for this particular analysis.

Which is the second point: change in status

Wei Wuxian couldn't exactly change status within the Jiang family. (And if he could, that would just fuel rumours that he was jfm's bastard even more and make madam yu even angrier at him, etc etc.)

This isn't comparable to Meng Yao. The worry Wei Wuxian is talking about is explitly about Nie Mingjue's initial very loud defense of him. Before he has any idea Nie Mingjue is going to promote him.

Promoting him would likely decrease his chances of cultivators coming after him because now he was in a higher standing in the sect than they were. If applied to that earlier metaphor of middle school bullying it's like if the bullied kid suddenly got hired as a teacher. Which. Doesn't work with the metaphor at all. Touché. But what I am trying to say is that any payback they would have planned for him relied on the fact that they could make sure that Nie Mingjue wasn't going to be within very convenient earshot a second time, and as a random disciple Meng Yao couldn't just go complain to him every time.

But as his right hand man? Who spends most of his time working directly alongside him? Lmao. Good luck. Oh, sure, it is very likely that they feel offended a son of a whore has been raised in status above them, and many will continue to do so as jgy rises through cultivation society (in fact, Wei Wuxian's observations are absolutely on point for how Madam Jin will be treating jgy later on). But as we can also see from the way jgy is treated and how he treats others throughout the story: you can be upset all you want, but if that person is higher than you in status there's jack shit you can do about it.

If I am correct and Wei Wuxian is basing this on his experiences with the Jiang family, it makes sense why he'd miss this. Madam Yu gets to be way angrier at Jiang Fengmian as his wife than some random disciples can be at Nie Mingjue. Insulting Meng Yao, suggesting that he didn't deserve his promotion or that he earned it through less than proper means (you know who is mother is) is also an insult to Nie Mingjue and the way he chooses to run his sect. They can't do that.

Another thing I see brought up in this regard would be the tea scene. There may be no explicit harassment like in the show, but cultivators still don't respect him! The disrespect is just quieter and more subtle.

Tiny detail: these are actually not Nie cultivators

They're cultivators Lan Xichen is escorting with him, making a pitstop in heijan.

The book confirms this by basically outright stating that this is the first time they see his face, and recognize him as Jin Guangshan's bastard son.

Now, just because there is no proof that it happened doesn't mean it definitely never happened. Mdzs is a novel that often leaves stuff out or up to interpretation. Similar stuff to the tea situtation could very well be happening in the background. But I do think it is pretty significant that there is no mention whatsoever of Meng Yao having any negative treatment from Nie cultivators betwen him and Nie Mingjue meeting and him executing them while spying for Wen Ruohan, and the most we get is Wei Wuxian's personal speculation, after which he immediately goes to wax poetic about how surprised he is that Meng Yao and Nie Mingjue are getting along super well.

And, again, novel Meng Yao would have said something. He doesn't say anything about the tea scene. - Or? Does he? Notably 3zun have some very long in depth conversations that Wei Wuxian zones out from because he's busy thinking about Lan Zhan again. But let's not rely on what-ifs. Let's say that neither he nor Lan Xichen find it worth bringing up. Major reasons for that would be that a) these are not nie cultivators, nie mingjue wouldn't really have the authority to scold them. Especially because b) it's such a subtle offense it could easily be handwaved as coincidence. "They just always brush their cups clean like that!! It's wartime you know, and they were traveling! They're used to drinking from vessels that aren't thoroughly washed everytime! It's just a habit!" And would therefore not be worth reporting.

But anything worse than that? A "price tens or hundreds of times greater" like wwx mentions? He'd report it! I do understand that "well if it was happening why didn't he say something?" would, in real life, be victim blaming. This is not real life, and I am not talking about this in a matter of blame. If Meng Yao was being mistreated in the Nie and stayed silent about it, it would still not be his fault. I am talking about this in a manner of character consistency.

His admission of seeking help in the Jin sect shows that at that time and prior to it (a very good argument can be made that he loses faith in this idea) he believes that if he is being mistreated and someone with the authority to say something about it takes his side, things can improve. If Nie Mingjue standing up for him in Qinghe only made things worse, he would not have tried to ask for help in an even more hostile environment. You can call Meng Yao many things, but naïve isn't one of them.

Meng yao's later habit of completely isolating himself and lying to everyone around him comes from the fact that revealing his suffering would mean explaining several horrible things he's become complicit in and he does not feel safe admitting to that. But he's done nothing wrong here!

The reading where he says nothing would imply an either correct or incorrect belief in Meng Yao's eyes that Nie Mingjue did not much care for his wellbeing or safety. Oh sure he defended him once but doing so again multiple times would be such a bother. This also contradicts his later behaviour, where he banks solely on Nie Mingjue's protective instincts to seal his qi and escape during the confrontation in Langya. After having been caught murdering a man, he is still convinced Nie Mingjue will immediately try to help him when he is in serious danger.

And even if you very badly want to characterize Nie Mingjue as a blundering idiot who is apparently less trustworthy in Meng Yao's eyes than the jin cultivators who had already resoundly rejected him by the time he tries to ask for help with the langya captain. He doesn't say anything to Xichen either! Lan Xichen, who has explicitly and exhaustively been portrayed as kind and understanding to Meng Yao's circumstances and very willing to talk to Mingjue if Meng Yao wants something from him he doesn't otherwise think he'd get. The conversation Mingjue overhears where Meng Yao's new position in the Nie is explictly brought up would be kind of the perfect time to go "yeah I've been promoted but I'm not treated well by other soldiers" aaaand. Nothing. So unless you come to the conclusion that Meng Yao trusted the Jin he told about the captain's abuse more than Lan Xichen you kind of have to conclude that Meng Yao's treatment after his promotion improved significantly. And that even if people still disliked him they could not openly do anything about it because he was high enough in status for that to be socially inappropiate. Which is, explicitly, one of his main motivators over the entire course of the story: Avoiding mistreatment by getting high enough on the social ladder it doesn't matter what people think of him, they can't hurt him.

And I'm not sure how to reconcile that character journey with the idea that he would, at any point, have preferred to keep his head down and stay where he was. When he was so desperate to crawl his way out.

#the main tragedy of his character- of course- being that he keeps achieving that status and it is never enough #he achieves standing with the nie and the favor of a major sect leader and it's not enough for his father to even give him the time of day #he kills wrh amd becomes a war hero and gets acknowledged by his father!!#and all it gets him is nmj's constant distrust abuse at the hands of his stepmother and complicity in mass murder by his father's orders #he gets to the HIGHEST POSITION SOCIETY HAS. LITERAL CHIEF CULTIVATOR. And the moment he stumbles everyone turns on him immediately #like they were all just waiting for him to get low enough again that they could kick him further down #it's a rise-fall-rise-fall-rise-fall journey with every step up being a desperate fight and every tumble down being way too quick and easy #but! that rise still needs to be there!! for the story to work!!#the tragedy of qinghe for meng yao is how easily he loses nmj's fsvor. NOT that having it was bad in the first place #I understand that this reading is mainly done to put nmj in a bad light but I do genuinely think it does jgy a disservice #people more often apply this to him becoming jin guangyao which does in a lot of ways doom and trap him #and yes fuck jgs fuck that guy all the way to hell #but the key is that meng yao can't just get a happy ending by refusing power #he's not power hungry. what he wants is in fact reasonable- he's just willing to do a lot more than most to get it #'things would've been better if nmj didn't promote him/didn't send him to langya'#feels as reductive to me as the 'why can't he just be xichen's house boyfriend and join the lan instead' takes.#mdzs #meng yao #jin guangyao #mdzs meta #? sorta #feels too ranty to call meta #this is what i was talking about in my past post about how frustrating it is to base metas around disagreeing with others #makes analysis feel like discourse when that is NOT what i am trying to do #long post with long tags

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talentforlying · 2 months

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LET ME ASSIGN YOU AN AESTHETIC WORD.

CAFUNÉ. cafuné means running your fingers through someone's- perhaps a lover, hair. it's such an intimate, affectionate way of showing love. if you got this result, you're a romantic at heart; very sweet, delicate, precious wandering soul. aren't you scared of your heart being too big for your body? somehow, you remind me of that pretty coral pink that bleeds into a soft indigo when the sun is slowly setting.

what i'd like to tell you is that we can't save everyone, and that's okay. you're doing your best, and it's enough.

tagged by: @danversiism!! <3 tagging: you!!

#there's literally a post at the top of my drafts Right Now talking about how much of a romantic he actually is #under all the sarcasm and bullshit he's a genuine fucking softie. he Craves love. he gives it away freely.#cafuné specifically makes me think of when he first got back together with kit ryan #and one of the first things they did as a couple was stay in bed together for 3 days. didn't leave the flat #just had nothing more important in the world than being with each other and that's how he is in MOST relationships motherfuckers!!!#justice league dark's womanizing dickhead has rotted people's brains!! commitment issues my ass this man WANTS to settle down!!!!#anyway. VERY passionate about this if you can't already tell #( character study. ) A WALKING PLAGUE OF A MAN.#( dash games. ) ALRIGHT YOU OVERGROWN LARPERS! HERE!#idk it's always 'wrecked-looking husk of a man' THIS and 'wall-licking little cryptid' THAT and 'where's that gif of matt ryan in leather'#NAH MAN. bring me the guy who spent almost a full fucking day at the shops trying to find kit the perfect christmas present!!#bring me the guy who took a depressed god out to share a coffee bc the god just looked Too Fucking Sad to leave alone!!#bring me the guy who started singing the beatles in the bar & got everyone else to join in just bc someone seemed to need a leg up!!#where is the man who took abby arcane out dancing!! tucked her in!! bought her breakfast in the morning!! all because she seemed lonely!!#that's this motherfucker!!!!!!#and yeah he is ALSO a wrecked-looking husk of a cryptid who ROCKS a bit of leather but that other guy is still in there too!!!!!#idk. IDK. i feel many things about constantine's softness always being cut away by the sharp edges of his tongue and his suffering #40th birthday party constantine lives rent-free in my skull forever and you can never take him away from me

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reddiamondyeet · 8 months

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#red rants #I'm literally so depressed that I'm past the point of wanting to kms #I'm so fucking tired I don't even consider it. Even that is too much work.#I'm so tired all the time. Too tired to live. Too tired to die. Too tired to express myself. Too tired to keep it all bottled up.#Too tired to care. Too tired to let it slip.#I feel emotion for 15 minutes maximum and then I just fall back into exhaustion #everything I need to do. want to do. takes more effort than I can possibly give right now.#I'm sorry I can't support you but I can hardly fucking support myself right now okay. Plus all my instincts keep screaming at me to isolate #I'm so much happier with other people but I don't have the energy to upkeep connections with them.#I'm too tired. maybe I should just lay in bed and rot away #I know no one will see this. no one ever sees it when I'm upset. I'm half convinced that everyone has my vent tag blocked #but if anyone does see this. I don't know. talk to me maybe? I'm too tired to think of what would help but that usually works so #just please talk to me. i guess #tw suicidal thoughts #eh maybe

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dnangelic · 3 months

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@espectres : "daisuke being a loser is so important" TSUN PLEASE AJSGAJSGJSVSHSVZFS

HE'S MY FAVORITE LOSER. AND HE'S YOUR FAVORITE LOSER, TOO

#espectres #reply.#OGBAFJSKKLAKAJJKGLKJG #NO I'M SERIOUSSSSSS #TO ME ANIME LUCIFER BEING A FAILBOY IS SO REAL!!!!! JUST LIKE PARADISE LOST!!! CHRISTINE WASN'T A QUEEN EITHER #SHE WAS V CUTE BUT SOOO OVERWHELMED BY THE SHIT ERIK WAS MAKING HER DO!!!!#BUT DAISUKE'S KEY CHARA STRENGTH IS THE WAY HE FR DOESN'T COMPROMISE HIMSELF FOR DARK EITHER!!!!#HE'S A LOSER DARK TRIES TO DIG AT THE FACT THAT EVERYONE THINKS HE'S THE ONE THAT'S COOL #'RISA LIKES ME NOT YOU' AND DAISUKE HAS NO DEFENSE. IT'S TRUE. IT BREAKS HIS HEART. HE ALMOST GIVES UP #BUT HE DOESN'T!!!!#HE /IS/ THE MC BUT HE'S ALSO AN UNDERDOG NOT LIKE THE WAY TAIZE WAS #OSTRACIZED AND OUTCAST BY HIS OWN FAMILY BC HE WANTED TO REJECT HIS DESTINY #DAISUKE JUST STRUGGLES W ACCEPTING OR REJECTING HIMSELF BC HES A LOOOOSERRRRRRRR #only people who recognize how hard he ALWAYS TRIES RESPECT HIM!!! EVERYBODY ELSE SAYS HE'S NO GOOD AND LAUGHS AT HIIM!!#he's clumsy he's harsh on himself he takes WAY more responsibility than he should for things that literally aren't even his real own FAULT!#the part of him that can't stand dark the part of him that can't stand BEING dark #bc he says it 'doesn't suit him' or he feels not cut out for it. towa arc's fuckign insane line #'as if i could be dark...' AND IT'S DAISUKE'S DREAM!!!!! OR VOLUME FUCKING ONEEEEE #'I'M NO PHANTOM THIEF DARK CHANGE ME BACK' ITS ABT CONFIDENCEEEEE ITS ABT CHANGEEEE #IT'S SO IMPORTANT THAT HE'S A LOSER. ESP WHEN I HAVE A DUPE AROUND. BC HE CAN LOOK BACK #AND SEE HIMSELF AND TELL HIMSELF IT'S GONNA BE OKAY. HE'S GONNA GET TO AN OKAY PLACE.#EVERYTHING'S GOING TO WORK OUT AS LONG AS HE CONTINUES TO BE HIMSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!

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modern-inheritance · 28 days

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Debrief, Snippet #3 (no edits) (Back to Valaria)

“That is not an answer to my question, ma’am.” Arya’s eyes flashed and narrowed, only for the briefest of moments. It was time to light the fires again, remind these highborn fools who they dealt with. “And my rank is Major. I would appreciate that my accomplishments be properly acknowledged.”

The amusement vanished from Valaria’s face, cool frost replacing it in her voice. “No, Major. I do not seek to imply that you are, as you put it, a whore.”

“Then why this line of inquiry?” Arya flicked her gaze to Däthedr. “It has no relevance to the matters at hand. I raise a formal objection.”

Still. Still. Islanzadí did not look up from her notes. “Lady Valaria, your reasoning?” The queen scrawled something in the margins, shuffled the page to the back.

“It speaks to the Major’s state of mind during the mission, and the cohesion of the unit. If there were unrecognized or unclaimed relationships, physical or otherwise, between members of the guard and the Major, it stands to reason that it could have opened the door to jealousy and distraction.” Valaria casually swooped a fringe of her hair behind her ear, eyes flashing with the barest trace of triumph. “The Major has a…history, of acting rashly in some situations, most frequently when members of her guard or the…other members of her Varden squads were involved–”

The words left her mouth before Arya could stop them, sharp and hot and spitfire. “That sure sounds a lot like you’re implying I’ve whored my way through the Varden, Lady–”

“Major!” Däthedr’s staff cracked loud on the roots, his voice amplified to drown out whatever came next. “Restrain yourself.” Arya snapped her teeth shut with a harsh click, fully aware of the unfortunate timing of her slip. Bored her eyes through Valaria’s forehead and tried to ignore the smirk on the woman’s lips. “Lady Valaria, please continue.”

She bowed her head in the man’s direction. “Thank you, Lord Däthedr.” She returned her gaze to the young elf before them. “As I was saying, the Major has a long history of outbursts that frequently occur when it involves members of her guard or members of her Varden squads. It is no small stretch, then, to be concerned of the consequences such relations could have should they have been occurring during these courier missions. It should be known if they were a factor.”

Again, uneasy silence fell. Arya refused to look away from Valaria, that infuriatingly smug look glimmering through the mask. She heard Izlanzadí put aside her pen, a soft shuffle of something else being placed on the desk. Another moment of contemplation.

“Your reasoning is valid.” The queen’s voice was neutral. “Objection overruled.”

Arya glared up at the elf lord, for a handful of seconds dropping all pretense of polite and proper decorum her infuriating culture required. For that time she let Valaria see the fire in her eyes, the raise of her lip and the bared ancestral dragon’s teeth that replaced the dull canines and premolars that most elves sang forth instead of their natural weapons.

Let this woman see the face of defiance, of fury, that Durza saw.

Victory in defeat. Lady Valaria of House Teorann, lord of the city of Kirtan, took a minuscule step back from the wild child prodigal daughter of Du Weldenvarden before she could smother her reaction, her own eyes flaring wide for the briefest moment before she pulled down the mask again.

#eragon #inheritance cycle #the cyclists #modern inheritance #the inheritance cycle #ket's modern inheritance cycle #the world of eragon #arya #arya drottningu #modern inheritance stories #mic wip #wip #debrief wip #look im loving this #i get to introduce so much formal elf culture for MIC #i get to make up names for ALL the houses #(i'm literally taking random words that describe their location/general job and translating them)#i get to show how DIFFERENT Arya is to everyone else #plus GLEN is so different as well when you see how these shitheads act #AND WE GET TO SEE ARYA MASK BACK INTO THAT BULLSHIT 'IM PROPER AND POLITE' THING SHE HATES #a reminder that Iz isn't speaking up because she can't on the record it would give way too much bias #and valaria is doing this because she's in charge of defense outside the warded areas of the forest #so durza and the urgals getting in? thats HER oopsie #she's trying to officially deflect blame

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cave-monkey · 2 months

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Monkey King 2009 Episode 3

Them having Stone Monkey (apparently purely on instinct) constantly scratching while being introduced to the troop was pretty cool, since that's a legitimate deescalation behavior in monkeys. Something about how revealing stress acts as a bonding behavior and makes it less likely they'll be attacked. Humans do it too, kind of, when they rub at their hands or shoulders or neck (etc. etc.) when nervous or overwhelmed. ("Empathize with me! I am very stressed!").

Also something-something instinctive behaviors aside Stone Monkey being excited/overwhelmed/maybe a little overstimulated and choosing "ESCALATION!!!" as his response to all of that. He thinks the troop being scared of him is hilarious. He's scratching the fur off his arms but he's also going to get right up in your face anyway. Cautiously join him in admiring his cool new rock? He is going to play-lunge and also scream. Absolutely amazing. The troop has no idea what to do with these mixed signals. This kid is a menace and I love him.

Six Ears even gets in on the scratching behavior occasionally in the background, which might be because Stone Monkey actively terrorizing literally everyone trying to be playful (because he has the social skills of a literal, actual rock) is stressing Six Ears right out or it could be an attempt to deescalate on Stone Monkey's behalf. Monkey version of following in his new friend's wake throwing apologetic grimace-smiles at everyone. Possibly it's both. Point is: They included these behaviors and it's very fun.

You can also tell it worked because in just the journey to the cave you watch the four generals' views on Stone Monkey go from "uncanny valley horror entity lurking in the forest probably to kill us all" to "what a rude little kid >:| Emphasis on RUDE."

And, okay, I admit, I have softened my stance on the four generals. Somewhat. They seem to actually be taking their jobs seriously now. Maybe Episode 1 was a wake-up call and they won't utterly fail to notice an incursion until it's in the heart of their territory again. I don't want to go too crazy, but maybe they'll even be able to even muster a coherent response! Good for them.

Should probably still not be managing children, though.

Speaking of, Six Ears's increasing despair watching the train wreck in motion that was the four generals fumbling hard in giving Stone Monkey his very first etiquette lesson after he finally settled down and seemed willing to hear them out is also very relatable and hilarious. He knows they failed the test. Stone Monkey is definitely never going to listen to them again. They blew it. RIP Flower Fruit Mountain.

Stone Monkey does check in with Six Ears when he decides the generals are useless about explaining though, and that's pretty cute. He trusts his friend :) He also definitely internalizes that thing about having to ask to leave the presence of the king, so at least they managed to teach him some manners. ONE manners. A single manner. (Spoiler: They immediately regret this.)

But hey! This time Six Ears is left entirely to his own devices and still manages to get caught smack in the middle of enemy action. Not the Generals' fault for once! Six Ears just attracts this kind of thing, I guess.

3/3 Six Ears is Damsel-ed, but only 2/3 it's the adults' fault. The tally develops.

#also not gonna lie I first thought stone monkey might have hella fleas. he still might to be honest. someone check up on that.#mhw09 personal #squinting at old monkey king pretending to be asleep this episode #my guy you were definitely ACTUALLY out of it in episode 1 don't you be acting like you weren't #you passed out in the middle of an invasion and almost got your kid killed #the fact you managed to make it to your seat BEFORE you passed out so you could pretend you were just too cool for the LITERAL INVASION #doesn't mean a dang thing. you're not fooling me.#also. stop that. you are giving the troop SEVERELY mixed signals #I am easing up a liiiittle more on the generals since it seems the old monkey king is actively hiding and obfuscating the severity of his #condition from the very people who are presumably meant to help him shoulder the burden of leading the troop #no wonder they don't take him fretting about his age seriously: he's turning it into a joke himself #considering episode 1 and then here and also how much more energetic he seemed in episode 2 #I'm headcanoning (if this isn't just straight up canon) that old monkey king has good days and bad days #but you can't tell which he's having because he uses his good days to turn all his bad day low energy behaviors #into games. it's all DELIBERATE guys. he's keeping you on your TOES. he isn't LITERALLY DYING-#hiding his weakness makes perfect sense on the *whole* in keeping his troop from panic and insecurity. maybe.#but it's not smart that he's even letting his generals believe it #they're still not off the hook for throwing a kid out to face the horror movie monster they were convinced was living in the woods though!#and it's no excuse for being THAT negligent in their duties and then their straight-up professional incompetence in episode 1 #they let themselves get rusty and put everyone in danger and that's on them #but not being as much of a help to their king as they should be maybe isn't so much their fault #if they're being lied to about how much the old monkey king can actually handle. BY the old monkey king.#I GUESS #dang this troop is a total mess. I love it.

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wongcarwhy · 7 months

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do u guys kno. just how much i screwed myself over

#BECAUSE I DONT KNOW HOW TO BE NORMAL?????#listen. listen. i could have just. asked to take two weeks off when i first got the job. but i was scared they wouldn't give me the job #if i told them right off the bat #and so i waited a decent amount of time to tell them. and then i was going to tell them. but i got scared thinking that they might fire me #or it would reflect badly on me and i haven't had the job for even 3 months yet and i have a performance review at the end of the 3 months #and the thing i am scared of most in the world is when people who are in positions of authority over me express disapproval #so i was just like. ok i guess i'm not going on this trip that's been planned for over a year and for my grandmas 80th #i will just be so sad and miserable about it and make it everyone else's problem #and then. and then. finally. 2 weeks left until everyone leaves for the trip and i finally bring it up to my coworkers being like #oh yea my whole entire family is going on a big trip without me and i'm rlly sad that i can't go #and they looked at me like. why cant u go? and i was like. what do u mean? cuz i'm new i don't have rights #and they were like. what is wrong with u #and i looked at them and said literally everything #listennnn there is a corporate heirarchy and i am at the bottom of the ladder #i know my place and i'm so used to groveling and begging oh my god i need to get a grip pls #am i normal #please tell me cuz i can't tell is. it normal to be this scared and frightened all the time #like. am i the only one who thinks this way.

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thedreadvampy · 11 months

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honestly I am big time upset about this holiday-Pride clash for some reason and I THINK. it's that I already feel like there's not enough time for me to just like. do fun things with my friends without thinking about work. and like work is the one thing that doesn't give. so any time I do Leisure Activities they get traded out against different leisure activities and I'm only ever missing out on stuff that's GOOD and that I WANT to do. I can't be like 'hmmm hmmmm work or hang out with friends?' it's only ever 'pick which friend to hang out with in the slivers of time you have around work'

like fuck me. goddamn. there's ONE WEEK I'm taking off work and suddenly THAT'S the time everyone's going to be in the same places doing fun stuff? when I'm not there? and the only way I could be there is to not do the other fun thing I'm excited about? FUCK YOU MAN. FUCK YOU. my life should contain more fun shit and less worrying about how to fit fun shit in. I don't need to be at work 39 hours a week and have that take precedence over everything else in my life!!!!! fuck off!!!!! fuck offffffff!!!!! I want to go to a party! I want to be on the beach with the leatherdyke meetup! I want to go on a rollercoaster! I want to have a nap! I want to tend my garden I want to get drunk I want to go to a barbeque I want to climb a hill I want to take mushrooms and lie in the grass I want to draw I want to make t-shirts I want to cook I want to go for coffee I want to drink wine and bitch I want to have difficult but important conversations I want time to travel and see friends I've not seen in years I want to look the fuck after myself and do things that nourish me and make me happy!!!!!! I don't want to choose!!!!!!!! I don't want to work!!!!!! I should get to choose between work and fun sometimes instead of between fun and fun! This sucks! This fucking sucks!!!!!!

#red said #NOBODY'S EVER AVAILABLE #why would everyone only be available when I'm not here why would they DO THAT TO ME PERSONALLY #<<knows that this was entirely my decision #but also that the only reason we MADE that decision was because sam couldn't get the July week we wanted off work #so again it comes down to #WORK FUCKS US #like fuck you man! fuck you! why does work always have to take precedence over the people we care about or the stuff we need?#why does someone have to be So Much More Worried about when work Can't Do Without Them than about what people in their life need?#literally who gives a shit if repairs or emails have to wait a week oh no the world will end will it?#who gives a fuck???? who cares????? it's not that important!!!!!#i refer to my past claims that all offices should have staggered summer closures. give us a fucking summer holiday you cunts.#it sucks SO HARD that the only time in the whole year you get an ACTUAL holiday where stress isn't just building up for you to come back to #is the middle of the winter when everything sucks anyway and nobody wants to do anything #like you know what the world will not end if we shutter for a week in June/July #and pay overtime to people who have to work through it

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