#the only thing that really bothers her is the material reality of it and how people treat her

[possamble]

do you have any particular thoughts regarding marcille being a half-elf? its interesting to me considering the fact that she seems self-conscious about being a half-elf, but denies it when its brought up

i remember marcille looking visibly uncomfortable over laios simply asking her how old she is, which i think the only reason she might feel nervous about this is because it might reveal her as a half-elf to him.

she's never corrected anybody whose called her an elf either.

never mind the circumstances of the reveal, in which thistle goes on about how half-elves are inferior and accusing her of wanting to become full blooded elf, she seemed particularly upset like he struck a nerve-

i wish the half-elf thing was built upon more. also, underrated marcille line:

okay so i revisited this sequence just to make sure I could back myself up and it's just... man. there's a lot going on.

the first reaction we get from Marcille is this huge panel that takes up half of the page

she is viscerally affected. flushing to the tips of her ears with the intensity of it. and we see it again, a few pages later

so it might seem like she's embarrassed about it and lying to herself, but... I really think it's just that Thistle is accidentally hitting sore spots. If you really look at what he says to get these reactions

"you'll live out your entire life [...] and die that way too"

"a hundred years from now, nobody will be there"

Hear me out. I think, if he stuck to harping on about her inferiority without bringing up how terrifyingly long-lived she is, she wouldn't have been as bothered. But right now, Thistle is accidentally hitting all the marks on Marcille's deepest fears-- and this is after the Winged Lion promised her that her dreams could come true in an extremely vulnerable moment, so it also hits her slightly guilty conscience as well.

I do truly believe that Marcille isn't bothered about being a half-elf the way that people assume she'd be bothered by it. To her, the biggest problem with being a half-elf is that it's isolating.

On one hand, it's not hard to imagine why she'd distance herself from elves in the west. A lot of them can clock her as a half-elf on sight, unlike other races, and therefore she's always branded with this weird stigma of being Othered -- I would even say that she considers herself lucky for being born outside of elven culture instead of having to grow up in it. I mean, just... look at the way elves talk about her.

Skipping past the uncomfortable implication of what 'not tolerating the existence' of half-elves would actually entail, this is incredibly fucking annoying. You can see why she wouldn't want to be around elves much. You see a lot of Marcille reacting badly here, but honestly, almost all of it can be attributed to her freaking out that her bluff completely failed. She's honestly more paying attention to Izutsumi's footsteps and trying to coordinate an opportunity to escape.

And in the end, you see her built-up frustration at being asked if she wants to be a full-blooded elf like 2-3 times in a row.

Yeah, yeah, "the lady doth protest too much," and all. But we know Marcille. We know that she's a lot more embarrassed and horrendously unconvincing when she's being prodded about something she's actually self-conscious about.

Moving onto the flipside of things, it might seem weird that she "pretends" to be a full elf around other races, but it's not really that strange if you think about it. Again, people are weird about her being infertile or whatever, and a lots of them don't even know much about what sets half-elves apart from everyone else. I mean, look at how uncomfortable Laios is just asking her about it

and look at how exasperated and resigned she looks

And like... she's right. Where would that come up in normal conversation? Why would she go out of her way to tell them? She's functionally a normal elf to other races anyway -- got the ears, the abnormally long "childhood", and the huge mana capacity. Unless it's directly relevant or important for people to know, I don't think it's all that strange or indicative of insecurity that she prefers not to bother with it.

(This combined with her sense of being an "outsider" to elf culture also explains why she thinks elf superiority is embarrassing. She sees the way elves treat short-lived races from the "outsider" perspective nonetheless, and thinks it's obnoxious; especially more so because she usually has to play the elf around short-lived races and deal with the reputation of arrogance that elves have built up.)

The sad thing is, this all means that... she doesn't actually fit in anywhere. She doesn't like going out West much because of how elves treat her. But she's also an outsider in the continents she was born in, treated like this exotic long-lived alien choosing to live among short-lived races for some reason. She is always an outsider, the Other, no matter where she goes. Add in the fact that she'll live longer than literally anyone she knows, and it's honestly kind of heartbreaking.

And I think that's the crux of it. Marcille really doesn't act like she's at all self-conscious about being a half-elf because of any feelings of inferiority or being half-made or whatever. She considers herself a perfectly legitimate being and might even, in some ways, consider herself superior to normal elves because she's not blind with elf supremacy or whatever. (And whatever "elven biases" she displays, all of them are born more out of the fact that she's kind of bad at conceptualizing how other races age and mature compared to herself, not that she actually considers herself better or more mature simply for being an elf.)

I think that whatever self-consciousness Marcille has about being a half-elf is, instead, related to terror and loneliness. The reminder that it ensures she'll never truly belong anywhere for the rest of her very long life. The reminder that, in truth, even she's not actually sure how old she is by other races' standards (hence the discomfort when asked how old she is). She doesn't want to not be a half elf, or be a full elf or full tall-man-- in her ideal world, she's still a half-elf. She just gets to live out her life at the same pace with the people she loves and doesn't have to say goodbye again and again and again until she dies.

and one last very important panel, right after Mithrun tells her that all her desires would be devoured

In her ideal world, she's still a half-elf and reality magically starts marching at her pace. But failing that, the second best thing is that she's still a half-elf-- but one who is able to accept reality and let go of her fear.

(But the rest of the story pans out the way it does because, to Marcille, taking reality apart and reshaping it was less scary than simply and fully reconciling with it.)

#asks #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #marcille donato #manga panel analysis #this is probably riddled with typos sorry #readmore cut bc it got long lmao #i ended up babbling about it bc it's such an important character detail to me #bc like... wow. she's so normal about it. she's literally just chilling. #the only thing that really bothers her is the material reality of it and how people treat her #the stereotypes the stigma etc. etc. #otherwise it just.. #literally doesn't factor into her criteria for self-worth at all #the basic truth is that marcille likes herself on a fundamental level #she's not plagued by a deep and festering self-loathing the way a lot of characters in her archetype are #she likes herself and is proud of her successes and accomplishments #its just that shes terrified of failure and can have *episodes* of self-loathing when she fucks up #but who doesn't yknow #i know its a very slight nuance that makes very little difference in how her 'overachiever' problems manifest but its there #the sword of abandonment issues that hangs over her head has nothing to do with her self-worth or self-esteem or meeting her own standards #it has to do with the fear of not living up to *other* people's expectations and not being useful enough to be worth keeping around #she's good enough for herself but she's always so so so scared that she's not good enough for other people #i wont say much about what ryoko kui is saying using this as an allegory for real world racial biases but #dungeon meshi's treatment of marcille's relationship with her being half-elf is so incredibly important to me because it gets it so right. #a trauma about inferiority or being a half-being isn't inherent to the experience of being 'of two worlds' at all #that's something that's unfairly drilled into people by their environment #the *inherent* anguish is the loneliness. the constant longing. the fact that you are always homesick no matter where you are #always just a little bit of an outsider and never fully at home #and dungeon meshi gets that. #edit: cleaned it up a little

[trumanbluee]

an encounter - matty healy

minors dni !! this is 17+ nsfw material !!!

content; you meet a stranger in the bar after your breakup ;)

word count: 3271

warnings: somewhat dubious consent (reader is intoxicated), unsafe sex (wrap it b4 you tap it!!) dom/sub undertones, degradation, teasing. lmk if i missed anything! <3

a/n: hi !!! this is the first fic i'm ever posting!! eek! i dont know how many people are going to see this but please tell me if you like it!!!

It’s not often she spilt her entire life story to a stranger at the bar, but this stranger, with his head of ringlets upon ringlets of messy, dark curls, plush light-pink lips, and deep, chocolate brown eyes, was particularly inviting; charismatic to a fault. It made her want to give him everything, and absentmindedly, in her alcohol-riddled mind, she’d thought he would be a good scammer, or serial killer, whichever he prefers really. 

But it's not entirely his fault; she’s stress drinking, downing too many shots in too little a time frame, and the alcohol’s already hit her system ten-fold. 

She’s there because she’d broken up with her boyfriend the night before. They’d been dating just short of a year. He was required to travel a lot, mostly in Europe, as per his job, and she let him go each time without qualms - love them, let them go, right? 

Wrong. He’d been cheating on her since he went to Australia — four months, now — with a pretty little Sheila that he wanted to marry.

She was furious when he told her, of course, it’s fucking insanity for him to marry someone he’s known for four months, but she began seeing all the differences between her and the woman he cheated on her with: she, a perfect homemaker, her, a distressed professional he saw maybe once a month. 

“Hey, hey, don’t beat yourself up,” The soft english voice of the man across the bar cut through the buzz of her hazy, drunken brain, bringing her back to reality. “Cause he’s a right dickhead. For cheating on you like that.”

The man had entered the bar hours after she did, housing a simple drink or two and absently watching the soccer game on the TV above the bar, before she’d drunkenly inched closer to him, desperate to rant her dilemma to just about anyone who’d listen. He bit, and here she was now.  

She peered up at the man, inspecting him. He’s gorgeous, definitely, but she can’t tell if she actually thinks that, or her foggy, not-been-fucked-for-months mind just wants him to rail her into next week. 

No matter, she thought, downing another shot. It burned the back of her throat sweetly, fire trailing down her insides. “M’not beating myself up,” she protested weakly, “jus’ — m’just… wondering if her cunt was - so much better than mine,” 

He laughed, boisterously, the kind of laugh you hear rumble out from a close friend while you detail every wrongdoing or shameful memory in your life: he’s comfortable right now, as is she.

“Well,” he inched closer, large hand setting itself on her thigh and slowly inching upwards, “if it bothers you that much, why not prove it? That your pussy’s as good as you think.” 

This wasn’t the first of his attempts to flirt with her: firstly he’d tucked a stray hair away from her face, later he swiped a drop of her Sex On The Beach off her lip, then he’d clutched her by the waist, pulling her close to him when someone squeezed past her in the crowded bar. His brisk touch wasn’t unfamiliar by any means, but it did suggest more than the other ones, especially coupled with the lustful words he was purring in her ear. 

Then, there’s a gap in her memory. One too many shots, a stranger toying with the hem of the skirt she’d donned for the bar, and his sweet voice in her ear was too much for her dizzy head, and the only thing she remembers is this: one moment, he’s getting braver, rough fingers ghosting the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, and the next, she’s pressed against a bathroom stall wall, the handsome stranger’s knee knocking her quivering legs apart. 

They’re trading wet, sloppy kisses, and his hands are sneakily climbing up her shirt till they reach her chest. There’s a sharp intake of breath from him: “Fuck, sweetheart, no bra? You really were looking for someone to prove you right,” he cooed, touching her breasts needily.

He’s kneading her softly, fingers pawing at her flesh like he’d never felt something so soft, so plump. Her back arches as he does this; she’s practically putty in his hands. 

It doesn’t slip past her that she’s being felt up in a bar bathroom by a gorgeous stranger whom she doesn’t know the name of, but she doesn't care. “Please,” she begs, his name coming up completely blank on her tongue, “please.”

“‘Please’ what, honey?” The stranger says huskily, hot breath against her ear as one of his hands moves from her breasts up to her jaw, pushing it to the side to gain access to her neck. “Please kiss me? Finger me? Fuck me?”

She’s too drunk - and fucking horny - to deal with his theatrics, so she whines instead of answering, her weak fingers carding through his dark curls. 

“God,” he says, “How long has it been since you’ve been properly fucked? Just some touching and you’re already too fucking dumb to speak.”

His words make her cheeks burn with shame, but it also makes her core throb. The oh-so sweet stranger who listened to her problems all night telling her she’s just a dumb horny bitch is such a juxtaposition it's got her all hot and bothered. 

“Please,” she begs again, more desperate than before, “I need you.”

The man let out an incredulous chuckle, head cocking back. “Baby, don’t tell me you like it like that. God, you’re such a fucking whore,” he said, before undoing his belt buckle and fly. 

He had noticed how her legs clenched around his knee, how her breathing got sharper as soon as the words “dumb” and “whore” slipped out of his pretty mouth, how her fingers trailed his back needily, desperate for any kind of touch. 

She bit her lip, watching the stranger through bleary, hooded eyes. He’d pulled his pants down just enough for his boxer shorts to be visible, before he grabbed her by the waist and turned her to press her face against the wall. 

One of his arms then draped across her shoulders, pinning her down and arching her back, hard, making her ass press flush against the large tent in his underwear. She let out a small gasp at the feeling, and she could practically see the smirk curling slyly on his face

He can’t be that big, right? It was just her drunk mind, making him feel bigger than she thought through his shorts. Plus, she hadn’t been fucked in over a month — she was probably just not used to it. . 

Because, that’d be totally unfair - he’s beautiful, charming, an amazing kisser, and has a huge cock? No fucking way — if he was all that, he’s definitely a secret terrorist, or something.

 However, these days, she’d learned that she didn't have the best intuition. First, with her boyfriend, then again, with the man who just pulled out his thick cock, stroking it gently. 

“Oh, fuck,” she cursed, head straining to look at him behind her. Unconsciously, she shyly closed her legs at the sight of him. 

“Ah, ah, ah,” the man crooned, his other hand sliding between her legs and spreading them apart once more. “No take backs, honey. You did say you wanted me, did you not?”

Completely flush against each other, she could feel his hard length resting between her legs. Just that, just him between her, already had her trembling in anticipation.

“Then fuck me already,” she bit back, feigning confidence. In actuality, she was thinking: how was all that supposed to fit? And, of all people, her, who hadn’t been stretched out to fit any cock at all, not since last month, when her boyfriend made his routine visit. She was a loyal girl, alright, and her fingers never went as deep as any cock could.

But the moment for her to reveal her worries passed, and he simpered. “So fucking eager.”

Then, his large hands smoothed down the swell of her ass, following the curve, before he lifted his hand up and came down on her cheek, making a loud noise reverberate throughout the empty bathroom.

Her breath caught in her throat, a choked gasp mixed with a tense moan coming out instead, and she flushed. Thank god she was pressed against the cold bathroom stall wall, for it provided a miniscule relief to her burning face.

He’d spanked her, and she’d fucking moaned.

“So you do like it dirty.” he cooed, fingers returning and hooking into the waistband of her panties.

“I bet,” he said, dragging the thin fabric down extremely slow, “that you didn’t come to the bar tonight to just drink,” he pressed closer against her, her folds now sitting right above his thick length, “you came, with no bra and a slutty skirt on, looking to get fucked senseless, didn’t you?”

He slowly slid in and out against her folds, his cock just barely grazing her clit, and she swore she could have screamed. The way he was teasing her was absolutely delectable and, in the same vein, incredibly torturous.

“Answer me, honey.” he hummed, free hand rubbing light circles on the skin of her hip.

She let out an exasperated groan. “I - I came here tonight, to - ah!” she squeaked when the fat tip of the man’s cock poked her tight hole.

“You came here tonight to… what?” He said, nonchalant, as if he wasn’t slowly driving his large dick into her.

“I came here to…” she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ground her thoughts, and squarely not think about how mouthwateringly good the handsome strangers cock felt, “to get—“

Then, the loudest keen she’d ever heard tore out of her, her eyes rolling into the back of her head, when he suddenly shoved all of his length into her soaking cunt.

He bottomed out with a breathy laugh, watching her knees buckle and mouth hang wide open. Then, once more, his calloused hand came down on her ass, a large crack sounding out within the bathroom. 

“Shut the fuck up, whore. Someone’ll hear.” The stranger said, as if he hadn’t just made a loud noise spanking her like that.

But the way he insulted, complimented, mocked and teased all in a few sentences had her shuddering; never in her life did she think such dirty words could make her so wet.

She barely kept in another whine, waves of pleasure ebbing throughout her body. The burning pain of the spank in combination to how her walls squeezed around his cock had her barely coherent, face taut with pleasure.

“Fuck, baby, you’re dripping all over my cock,” he whispered, leaning down for her to hear. As he did so, however, his dick pressed further into her, and another helpless groan rolled off her tongue.

“But you’re too goddamn loud.” The stranger growled, and the arm of the hand that was pressing her against the wall shifted, now covering her mouth.

Before she could protest, he slid out, then snapped into her. Immediately, she saw stars, and a muffled mewl slipped past her lips.

“Jesus christ,” he murmured, “your little pussy’s taking me so well.” He began to slide in and out at a fast, rhythmic pace, so fast she could barely comprehend the ecstasy she was feeling.

“Oh my god,” she barely stuttered out past his large hand. He was pounding in and out of her relentlessly, selfishly, no regard for her moans or helpless whines, merely focussed on thrusting his fat cock into her sweet cunt.

Then, the two heard the bathroom door open, and she froze. The handsome stranger moved quickly, grabbing her by the waist and planting her on his lap as he sat down on the toilet. His other hand, still trained on her mouth, gripped tighter than ever when he felt the groan bubble up from her throat: this new position of her on his lap had his long length pressed right against her cervix.

“Now you really gotta be quiet, baby,” he whispered, pressing his face into her neck. She shut her eyes helplessly, a dejected whimper exiting her mouth.

“Just be fucking quiet. You don’t want everyone in this bar to know what a dirty slut you are, spreading your legs for a fucking stranger in the bathroom, right?” He said, words foul and like poison, but actions completely stark to it: he was pressing sweet, chaste kisses on her shoulder, laying his head on her back.

The man in the other stall was taking so fucking long to finish, and, despite the stranger’s words, he began to slowly rut into her, his large hands coming to rest on her hips and help her slide up and down on his cock.

Her eyes widened. “What are- ah, wh— what are you doing?” she said, a stuttered, hesitant moan leaving her mouth, but she was completely without the motivation to actually stop him: the pleasure she felt earlier had increased immensely in this slower, riskier pace he took on.

“Shh,” was all she saw him say, as she strained her neck to look at him. He looked the epitome of smug, lips curled, cheeks flushed attractively, strands of hair falling down onto his forehead.

Without his hand to muffle her groans, she muffled them herself, biting down on her tongue. One hand of hers gripped onto the stranger's thigh to keep her balance, and her other hand sneakily travelled down to her wet, hot mound, fingers beginning to rub at her clit.

He noticed this, however, hand gripping at her wrist and pulling her back to pin her arm behind her. “Only I get to touch you,” he snarled, “because this fuckin’ pussy’s all mine. Gonna be all mine.”

She let out a shaky exhale at his words, but she found her cunt more flexible than before, the soft slapping of her skin between each other sounding easier, wetter. Jesus, did she really get more turned on by what he’d said?

Finally, the person who had wandered in and entered the stall beside the one the two of them occupied, exited the bathroom entirely, and she belted out a sharp moan with how the stranger swiftly picked her up and pressed her against the wall once more, this time facing him.

He plunged his big cock into her like nothing before, animalistically, nails digging so hard into her hips she swore he drew blood. His pace was stuttered, desperate, like nothing could distract him from pounding into her, not even a fucking meteor. 

She, on the other hand, was arching, the pleasure taking her body over completely. Her hands carded through his brown hair, tugging when he hit that particularly spongy spot into her. He groaned, a rough and stuttered thing, feeling himself brush against that spot every time.

Her tight cunt was stretching and contracting around his dick, like she was made with his fat length in mind, and it drove her up the fucking wall: the pain in her hip, the cold linoleum wall, his cock thrusting in and out — it was all so much, and her orgasm began to spill out from under her. It was slow, like water coming out of an overfilled glass.

“You — god, you’re fucking coming, aren’t you,” the stranger said knowingly. Her cunt had gotten tenser, stickier, trying to grip at him like she was afraid he’d never come back to her.

She nodded rapidly, opting to do so in fear an unintelligible string of groans would come out instead of  words.

He grinned, and lifted her legs to wrap around his waist, allowing his cock deeper access into her. Her toes curled, the new angle like being impaled, his dick easily slipping past her slick folds.

One of his hands lifted off her hip and trailed across her lower stomach, “Can you feel that, baby? Its my fucking cock, so deep m’gonna shoot my come right in your womb,” he purred, pressing the bulge.

Both were affected, a breathy grunt slipping past his lips, and her a feverish mewl. She couldn’t believe how big he was, large enough for him to be fucking visible on her from the outside.

Suddenly, she remembered the man’s name: he’d said it, offhand, to the bartender before she had dragged him to the bathroom. He asked the bartender to put her drinks on his tab, under the name Matty.

Her face grew taut, her orgasm suddenly switching from a slow, sneaky drip to a hard smack, right across her face. “Matty! Matty, please,” she moaned at last, his name sounding right at home on her tongue.

“Fuck, honey, you remembered? God, that’s so hot,” He whispered sweetly, then dragged her through her orgasm, thick cock pounding in and out of her throbbing core. 

It was like all the pleasure had steadily built up within her insides, all up into a big ball, then had suddenly burst, flowing throughout her entire body like she wasn’t already being fucked relentlessly.

“Such a - fuck - tight and pretty pussy,” he said, leaning in to rest his head against her chest. She was weak, sensitively riding out her high, but she knew Matty wasn’t quite as close.

His thrusts began getting sloppier, harsher and focussed merely on feeling her walls against every inch of him. Her head rested beside his own, eyes practically crossing with the overstimulation.

Despite her orgasm, her cunt was still soaking, definitely dripping and marking a wet patch on both her skirt and his pants. It made her tremble, thinking of them both tiredly exiting the bathroom, dishevelled and having to cover the other up.

At this point, she didn’t know what kind of filthy fucking noises were exiting her mouth, with Matty’s grunts and groans covering up her whines completely.

“M’gonna come,” he said a few long moments later, almost inaudible. “Say my name, say who owns this tight fucking pussy.”

“You do! Matty does!” She exclaimed, his cock ripping in and out of her quicker and more jolted. “Matty owns this pussy!”

Matty grinned weakly, and with one final, harried thrust, he let go deep within her. He clenched his jaw, brown eyes shutting tight and losing himself within the warm and wet feeling of her cunt squeezing him for every drop.

You was so fucking full, and even when Matty pulled his softening cock out of her — which, was still huge despite its idleness — she felt stuffed to the brim.

His come dripped down her leg, and he promptly pulled her panties up, patting her worn out cunt as he did so. “You’re taking all my fucking come, so good baby.” he said, pressing a hungry kiss to her neck. “You were right: this cunt’s better than whoever your shit ex cheated on you with.”

“Told you so.” She gazed up at him through heavy-lidded, gleeful eyes. He was an absolute darling sweetheart, it seemed, switching from degradingly fucking her to romantically praising you. “Are you… up for round two?” you said, as he slipped his hand within her own, clasping tightly. She didn’t really mean round two - though, she wouldn’t protest it, especially with his delectable way of fucking her - she actually just wanted to go home with him… see where this relationship could lead her.

“Sweetheart, you don’t have to ask. You’re comin’ home with me tonight,” he saw through her cheekily, pulling her close to him.

So, she did go home with him, and in the morning she laid beside him in the ruffled white sheets, studying the beauty of his face whilst he slept. After that, they made frequent visits to that pub, specifically to the final stall on the left in the mens bathroom.

#i hope you guys like this aaaaaah #god hes so hot! #matty healy #matty healy x oc #matty healy x reader #matty healy fanfiction #matty healy fanfic #matty healy x you #matty healy x y/n #the 1975 #the 1975 fanfic #matty healy smut #the 1975 smut #matty healy imagine #the 1975 imagine #matty healy one shots #the 1975 one shots #the 1975 matty #the 1975 preference #matty healy preference #the 1975 one shot #matty healy one shot #matty healy fic #the 1975 fic #matty healy x oc fic #matty healy x reader fic #matty healy x you fic

[stan-rabelais-et-diderot]

Small thoughts on the Netflix Three Body Problem adaptation

"We are making it international" they say. They replaced all the international collaboration of world leaders that we see throughout the books with... two British dudes, deciding, alone.

They actually managed to make it less international than the book. They perverted the very themes Liu Cixin brings to his books, about group mentality & collaboration versus the individuals by completely removing all group mentality.

They made Ye Wenjie a unrecognizable shell of herself. Her back is not held up straight. See an old Ye Wenjie cursing, sloushing, moving to England. Is it really Ye Wenjie? It bothers me so much.

They "simplified" the science to a point where nothing is explained, nothing can make it through any kind of analysis of the logic of the things shown & the actions taken.

The futurist headsets we are shown imply that either

1° the Trisolarians are able to send sizable physical objects [which they can't, they can & have sent us two protons].

2° the Trisolarians shared schematics of advanced techs to the ETO for them to develop the headsets, but that's is the one thing they would never do, as their entire plan rely on humans having less advanced tech than they do & not being able to advance it any further.

I thought it was gonna be lesser than the Tencent show. I didn't expect it to be so utterly lacking on all front. "The" boat" scene, the one they spent a 25% of the budget on in the Tencent show, happened in episode 5 & because we know the budget difference between the Netflix show & the Tencent show, we know Netflix didn't use their budget right.

The misguided belief that somehow an American show could show the cultural revolution better to an American audience than a Chinese show can, because of the censorship in China (that though real they clearly do not understand the function & scope of), when they didn't feature a fifth of the storyline the Tencent show did, just in term of the events that took place. What they showed was midly violent & shocking to be sure, but not very accurate to the content of the book. The narration was all wrong. I'll just give small examples:

on the stage when they condemn Ye Wenjie's father (with microphones in front of a huge audience???) they keep saying "lies", which makes no sense, that's not the logic, the charge is propaging western propaganda, upholding Western values, capitalist way of thinking, not lying (I wrote a end of page note to explain that point).

they call Ye Wenjie comrade during her time at the Red Coast (in the book & in the Tencent show her status as a political dissident & therefore NOT a comrade is emphasized).

Ye Wenjie says, "how awesome would it be if China was the first [country to make contact with aliens]" unironically, not in front of the political commissioner asking for something, just enthousiastically. Before she sells out the planets to the Trisolarians.

The inconsistencies are not only baffling deviations from the source materials that display a complete lack of comprehension of Ye Wenjie as a character, as well as an astonishing disregard for the accuracy of the ideology of (Mao-area) communism & the history of Maoist China. They didn't show a lot of content, they could have avoided making such basis mistakes. Given that they kept saying they would not shy away from it, they could have done a better job showing how it was. The Tencent show did a very good job showing how bad it was, in a accurate way. What really pisses me off is that I keep seeing press pieces saying that the Netflix version won't censor "the part of the story taking place during the Cultural Revolution" like the Chinese one like it's such a plus, a reason to watch the American version, by implying to the readers the Tencent version is heavily censored, when in reality the Tencent version spend a lot more than on it than the Netflix one.

Disclaimer, I'm not Chinese, it's not my culture, I don't know the history beyond what a French anarchist who had grounds to dislike French Maoist knows about Maoism, but you don't have to know much to know there is no viewing that time positively, I know how horrrible & damaging the Cultural Revolution was,

And the Tencent show showed that quite well! The political rhetoric fallacies, the bureaucracy, the hypocrisy, how miserable everything is, is shown very well: it's very close to the book.

Censorship does exist & what we know of the shadow-y rules of NRTA is that they wouldn't allow a lot of graphic violence, nudity, sex, ghosts (or BL since 2021...) et caetera, but it's dishonest to pretend that the topic of Cultural Revolution is a taboo that cannot be spoken about, as if the current administration has a positive view on it & would therefore not allow it to be criticized.

The politics of the Cultural Revolution are clearly presented negatively, at length, in the Tencent show, more broadly & accurately than whatever nonsense Netflix did, even if they didn't show one piece of it, a very graphic violent scence which is instead visually & auditorily implied in a short flashback.

NB: "Lies, all lies!". This was so weird to hear for me. Because in French activism we know the ideologies from communism to socialism, going to marxist-leninism & trotskysm to maoism. We still disagree & use the same rhetorics & the same arguments, the culture has changed very little. So my best guess it that "Lying is bad" is a cultural value that the creators cramed it without realizing that it's really not universal, becausee they don't understand communism on any level (they didn't have to make up anything, they just had to keep to the content of the book...)

I don't know if "lying" is a big deal in China, but I know it's not a big deal in my culture & in a Marxist/communist political context, lying is just not "a thing".

They are a lot of charges you can get in a political tribunal (the one I've been party were just verbal affairs). For example, indivualist behavior, liberalism/imperialistic thinking, deceiving the masses with xx propaganda [so they don't revolt when they would if they knew the truth], aspiring to bourgeois comfort [that can mean profiting of other people's labour, not doing enough or not wanting to sacrifice your life for the cause], the worse ones is obviously treason or being counterrevolutionary (working against the revolution). Maoism famously had the three principles one of which being lack of self-criticism (self-reflection so you can do better).

Lying, on this other hand, is not a political charge. It sounds ridiculous.

#three body problem #3 body problem #三体 #三體 #liu cixin #cultural revolution #science fiction

[thv-jk97]

Sharing my thoughts about the negative take from that H*BE stylist about LWA because I need to put them somewhere, so forgive me for this post. For context, the stylist said that the MV is using disabilities and those who face discrimination as inspirational material and that they’re “romanticizing disabilities”, and while I can genuinely understand what they were trying to advocate for, their take also completely ignores massive elements of the MV as a whole, whilst also making grand assumptions about the artists (Tae and IU) that they cannot possibly know.

Listen, everyone has the right to interpret any piece of content how they see it and they’re also entitled to feel how they feel and share their opinions, but it becomes problematic when they start making baseless assumptions along with the point they’re trying to make. Claiming that IU and Tae are rich cishets with no disabilities(implying that they are privileged and not discriminated against) is such a WILD assumption to make (let’s not forget that IU does actually have a hearing impairment).

I do think that there should be conversations about who should be able to tell what stories or portray what character, especially in huge projects in mainstream media, but there has to be room for flexibility. Are we going to require people to reveal everything single thing about themselves in order to prove that they can represent a specific demographic fairly? That’s a completely unreasonable expectation, and in some circumstances, it could literally be unsafe. And their assumptions do not contribute to a constructive dialogue about this topic at all.

Not only that, but their critique sort of implies that the MV equates having disabilities to being a victim, but that isn’t what I personally got from the MV. Their characters literally fight until the very end, in their blind and deaf/mute states, and are never actually shown as weak. And it’s just another assumption that the “love filter” takes away their disabilities, when in reality, IU still uses sign language even when Tae is looking at her through the camcorder – what is shown is a world where they don’t have their injuries anymore (injuries that were sustained in this dystopian world) and their lives are more than just fear and running. The concept of “love wins all” is that they made it to the very end of the world together and are ultimately taken out by the shittiness of this world that they’re living in – not by their disabilities.

The stylist also goes on to imply that the ambiguity of the MV is an issue because they end up wearing traditional hetero outfits (since when is sexuality linked to pieces of clothing?), and if it were meant to mean something to the queer community, they wouldn’t have included that. Which makes no sense because that’s the beauty of art – it’s meant to be interpreted however the viewer sees it, and so many people in the queer community did actually take comfort in the symbolism they interpreted from the MV.

To be honest, I can’t help but question the motive of their rant, because from where I’m standing, this person works for a billion dollar company that literally capitalizes on using the queer community for good sales (fanservice, etc)(mind you, this is only one of H*BE’s many offenses) so their issues with this metaphorical MV seem to be a bit selective (aka taking issue with things that don’t affect their livelihood). Also gonna add that they literally have posts supporting Zionists (who raised money specifically for the IDF), so it really seems like selective activism atp.

Tae and IU have both consistently shown that they are massive advocates of inclusivity and equality, so to be accused of exploiting minorities and their struggles is actually so upsetting. People can label it whatever they want, but IU’s decision to change the title of the song was not about “saving face”, it was showing empathy for a minority when she learned that they were bothered by the original title. And for this person to insinuate that Tae and IU are tone deaf and clueless to the strife of those who have been discriminated against is just plain disrespectful and such a projection based on their own personal interpretation and assumptions.

Anyway, sorry for this long-winded post. There’s never a day of peace and I am siiiiick of it.

#rambling thoughts #love wins all #mv discourse

[chernayawidow]

DATING ADA WONG HEADCANNONS — SFW

PAIRING: Ada Wong x GN!Reader

A/N: I’ve probably done a terrible job of characterising Ada, but she’s just so hot and cool (and there’s like no material on her) that I had to do something for her. Let me know if you’re interested in me doing more for her!

Being in a relationship with Ada Wong is by no means an easy feat. This woman is an enigma, and a relationship with her is no different.

The most you could get out of her is potentially an on-and-off type of deal. But if you’re willing to put in the work, then you’ll just have to cope with occasional long distance.

Her love language is along the lines of acts of service. Maybe not in the traditional sense of 'doing the laundry for you', but as we see in her interactions with Leon, she swoops in to save and assist him very often. It's her own kind of affection—it's how we know she cares. So naturally, that would carry across to you.

She has the ability to make you feel like the only person in the world. This is because when Ada does something for you, it’s not out of the kindness of her heart. This woman is a a spy who has and will work for very bad people. So anything that she says, gives or does, is because she wants to—because she cares.

At first, her intense eyes and sultry voice were an intimidating factor about her. But they eventually became some of her most comforting traits.

Ada doesn't use many pet names for you because a good majority of them make her cringe.

However, in an ironic way, she'll address you as 'Sweetheart', 'Kitten', or 'Lover'. In spite of her saying these names out of wry, her voice makes them sound cute. (Referring to VA’s; Sally Cahill, Jolene Anderson, Courtenay Taylor)

If you’re normal—as in you’re not a spy or an agent of any sort—then it’ll essentially be a "living a double life" scenario.

Ada was upfront with you from the beginning about how “busy” her schedule would be. She simply told you that she moves around for work, that the company she works for has strict confidentiality rules, and that thats all you need to know.

While it stings you to know that there's a whole portion of her life that you're absent from, you couldn’t fault her for something she was upfront about.

Getting Ada to open up to you will take time, that’s just a no brainer. As a spy, it goes against her very instincts. So when you first started seeing her, lots of what she told you about herself was fabrication woven with hints of truth.

Ada is the type of person who makes you feel as if she’s opening up to you, when in reality, questions about her background are met with vague responses.

Yet she speaks so charismatically that it makes you believe that she’s sharing more then what she really is.

She’s blunt and outspoken, so if you’re acting jealous then she’ll call you out on it immediately.

While on the jealousy topic, Ada doesn’t really get hit with these feelings. She’s confident in herself and your relationship, which clears up any potential insecurity that could give way to try one feelings. She trusts you enough to believe you wouldn’t do anything like that.

That’s not to say that she’s immune to jealousy, because there are definitely times where she can’t help but feel it swell in her gut.

And if you’re wanting to spice things up in your NSFW life with the presence of others, then she’s happy to discuss it. (Let me know if you want headcannons dedicated to NSFW)

She’s not someone who runs from arguments or conflict, she faces it head on. If there’s any tension in your relationship, you best believe she’ll address it.

If you’re being cold and distant, she’ll force you to sit down and talk to her about what’s bothering you. And when I say force, I mean by any means necessary.

Ada is very protective over you. So if she finds out that somebody’s hurt you? Then she will find out who it was, and she will eliminate them—as well as whoever else she needs to—in order to bring her own brand of justice. Zero fucks given.

If your relationship stands the test of time, there will be a point where she realises that may end up being a permanent fixture in her relatively unstable life.

This will potentially lead to Ada coming clean about who she really is and opening up to you. A very big step for her. One that only comes if you’re in a serious enough relationship.

#ada wong #resident evil ada wong #resident evil #re2 #resident evil 2 remake #ada wong x reader #ada wong x GN!reader #ada wong headcannons #resident evil headcannons #gender neutral reader #resident evil 6 #jolene andersen #sally Cahill #courtenay taylor

[talenlee]

Can a Bird Love A Falcon

Since last year’s Locked Tomb readings got me nostalgic and retrospective, it was only a matter of time before I retreated back to earliest media of my post-cult life, the stuff that stands tall in my mind as some of my first lessons in how to be normal. So I picked the thing with a bunch of PTSD and existential horror.

Let’s talk about the Rachel/Tobias ship.

Spoiler Warning: If you’re ever planning on reading the Animorphs story, this article is going to spoil some events that happen in the last half of it. And since this is about Animorphs I guess Content Warning for war death trauma body integrity horror uh mind control uh cannibalism uh what’s the term for beating someone to death with one of your own severed limbs, that.

That.

Animorphs is a lot.

There’s not a lot of romantic material in Animorphs, but it’s there. It’s almost expertly defined in negative space – the way that actual teenagers consider and tease at the idea of boyfriend-girlfriend-joyfriend stuff without saying it, without any of it being explicit. Like nobody sits down and makes a list of reasons to want to date someone, it’s often just about emotional reactions to momentary stimuli, things that imprint on the brain and are being tested out bit by bit. It’s hard to grapple with for me to get in the right mind space, but remembering the Animorphs characters are, like, fourteen and not Anime-Fourteen but fourteen fourteen is pretty big in explaining how and why they react to things.

In that space, though, there’s the sorta-maybe-hey-thinking-about-it-do-they-kiss romance of Rachel and Tobias. Rachel is a girl repeatedly described as being hot, by her cousin, a tall, blonde girl who also is hiding the instincts of a violent warrior, a girl thrown into a war and commanded to be an adult, and she actually takes to it well. Like, in a different framing device, Rachel is the antagonist of a teen serial killer story. Tobias, by contrast, is what you might these days consider something of a droopy sadboy – floppy hair, skinny, no friends, unappreciated, bounced between abusive carers that aren’t properly parents, and then at the end of the very first story he turns into a hawk, never* to turn back again.

Oh and he’s also secretly an alien prince, but don’t worry, nobody ever tells him that.

It’s not even like it’s a complicated ship, in a lot of ways. As a loser of a boy, it was really just the shape of the most standard fantasy possible: What if there was the hottest girl in the world, who for reasons beyond both your control, had reason to hang out with you, become emotionally invested in you, and then from there, ha ha, you got ’em! You’re basically married at that point as long as no circumstances change the status quo where you get to hang around her regularly!

And then, thanks to you trying too hard and being too awesome, you have to leave your old life behind, embracing a new life, a new reality where none of your responsibilities persisted, your bad family were gone, and you have a reason to be socially connected with four extremely cool people who were probably not really your friends to start with. Oh and one of them is really hot and can kill everyone who bothers you. I mean beats up everyone. I mean she can protect you with her big, strong arms that are also fuzzy because she is a bear, and when she’s not a bear she’s basically Genius Barbie.

From her perspective, she can pick who she likes but instead of a boy who has Conventional Interests and connects to her life, she gets a boyfriend who is a secret. Also, he’s paradoxically, dangerous and very safe; they’re not sexually compatible in terms of their bodies, it’s very hard to argue that Tobias is interested in her because of her body and how their bodies relate. As a romantic partner, Tobias has to be interested in her for herself. At the same time, he’s a goddamn hawk, and hawks are really cool and badass and scary, and she can have him cruising around on her shoulder like she’s a pirate.

I obviously liked this ship as a kid because both of the halves were hot. It wasn’t just that Rachel was gorgeous but also that Tobias looked really good for kissing, and that meant they’d both have a fun time kissing, right? Obviously? This is a very straight way to consider ships, especially ships where I both wanted to be and kiss Tobias. Because again, he was hot. Right?

The canon of Animorphs actually deep-sixes the ship, early and late. There’s a middle period where the ship can happen, but there’s an after and a before, and the before is ‘when Tobias and Rachel barely know each other.’ They do eventually get a chance to do more conventional ship stuff – like holding hands and kissing – but that’s See, and I know you might not remember this: Rachel dies. Her last book is her relating her story, in her dying moments, to a god-figure, and there we get one of the enduring quotes of the series:

“You were brave, you were strong, you were good. You mattered.”

And before that quote, Rachel, reflecting on that moment, says that Tobias would not have let her get into the position where she was dying. He wouldn’t, because he loved her. And that’s some nice ship material but it would be nicer if it wasn’t happening as a character is dying.

Now you might think, hang on, this is a het ship. That’s not what I normally talk about around here! And you might be surprised, but consider this. This is a woman, and the lover who she cannot touch, who she cannot embrace, because there is a wrongness to it. The body of that lover does not properly align with their identity. The girl is positioned forever stand at a love that expresses itself through mostly, not expressing itself.

An eagle and a girl, is that not, itself, yuri?

Okay, I know it’s not. Personally, I have very little patience for ‘ah, two unrelated things is yuri’ jokes because it’s a wheelie everyone pops but also because, like, yeah, maybe it’s great to capture all the metaphorical ways we’ve suppressed women’s relatoinships but also maybe you could have them like hold hands and say they’re interested in one another. Like, that’s an option. Imagine if more yuri felt they could do that, even. What a world.

But anyway, thing is, Tobias, as a character, is a figure Important To The 90s Trans community, along with other such icons as Bugs Bunny and Ranma Saotome. There’s a fairly common thread through Tobias’ narrated books where he reflects on a determined tragedy (who he has been told he has to be) and the freedom of change (as being able to freely choose an identity and presentation through morphing). Applegate has been pretty clear that whatever vision of the characters’ sexuality and gender relationships work for you are effectively canon – they’re characters shared through the experience of reading and all that.

I’m not saying every nonbinary or trans kid from the 90s will respond to ‘Thermals’ and ‘Cinnabunzzzzz’ but a bunch will and it’s a trend worth noting.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Animorphs #Media

[rude-harmonixer]

I was originally going to write on Twitter but character limits are too much of a bother so here I am. This will probably be very messy but I'm dealing with media that probably 10 people are familiar with, so... Whatever!

I've recently found this site: https://nervetower.neocities.org/analysis.html

It has a bunch of translations and essays on the game Baroque, originally released on the Sega Saturn.

This specific bit of info has made me OBSESSED with thinking about the game.

Sure the game was literally written in burst of inspiration by drawing tarot cards because the writers had a deadline and writer's block at the same time, and the protagonist being canonically trans was only in a draft for the prequel material, but the game is surprisingly consistent with its themes and the symbolism can still be read through a trans lens.

And because it's not confirmed and ambiguous, the protagonist can be read through multiple gender povs.

But like, why is this such a big deal? Well, Baroque and its prequel material just so happens to have one of the most incredible anti-bigotry narratives I've ever seen in a game. Specifically anti-ableism and anti-eugenics, among probably some questioning of organized religion and how corporations use it to further alienate the public into a cycle of oppression towards marginalized people. etc.

The protagonist is mass produced and manipulated by the Archangel to "purify" whatever he deems should be "purified", using guilt (the Christians/Catholics favorite thing) to do so as the protagonist is made to not remember anything besides their immense guilt over something.

For the game to progress the protag must regain their memories and find out they're a copy of who knows how many other copies, a human made into a product basically, made to feel special because they won't be distorted by their desperate delusions to escape a world destroyed by corporate greed like all the rest and have the power to "purify" things, when in reality they're just emotionally and genetically manipulated into being that.

A perfect pawn.

Now where is the trans symbolism? Well, aside from how little bodily autonomy the protagonist has, here's where things really get interesting:

In Baroque, God is presented as a woman. Before the Great Heat (aka apocalypse), God's Sense Spheres (her omnipresence, transferring data like the world is a body) assured that no great distortion would come to the reality humanity lived in, God would feel pain and know there was a wound to heal. Then the Archangel, who's really just some scientist, started fucking with the population's mental health on purpose because he wanted to kill God and create his own perfect little world. That's the short summary anyway.

At one point, with a lot of brainwashing using God's screams of pain, he created the Order of Malkuth to help him. But later the members woke up from the brainwashing and organized a desperate attempt to stop the Archangel: they would fuse Koriel number 12 (presented as a boy) with God so she could communicate in data that humans could understand. What they didn't expect however is that Koriel 12 had their own problems, and with Archangel interrupting the fusion, those problems were very amplified.

Koriel 12's guilt over being alive and God's suffering made shit hit the fan for good with the Great Heat.

And that's how the protagonist becomes mute and receives the power of God and anim- I mean, "purification".

The game begins and despite Koriel and God being now two parts of the same being, the Archangel tells Koriel to go to the bottom of the Nerve Tower, where the "Mad God" is basically imprisoned, and "purify" her with a rifle (with ammo made from the embodiment of her pain hormones).

The Archangel is literally making Koriel kill a part of themselves that's already literally buried deep into a mind tower that goes down instead of up but still has the image of a tower instead of a hole. He's basically forcing Koriel to bury the closet with them inside it because the closet isn't enough apparently.

Koriel also can't speak for themselves anymore but their thoughts can be read by the Horned Woman, which she just says out loud without explaining anything and unless you're thinking about it you won't even recognize those are "your" thoughts being spoken by another person.

Jumping ahead, when Koriel gets to the bottom of the tower, you can either do what the Archangel tells you or can just walk towards God and unite with her.

When you do this after some dying and finding out, you'll receive the true ending, in which it is made clear that while it is in a state at which it's harming everyone, the "distortion" is actually the natural way of the world, everyone needs to cope at least a little to survive, the Archangel's eugenicist campaign was the greater problem here, not the people "distorted" into representations of their suffering and coping mechanisms by his actions.

This is primarily focused on ableism and particularly the stigma around mental health.

With a trans reading, it forms a bridge so it can also just mean bigotry in general too.

Why? Well, since the 70s or something, trans people basically have to be diagnosed with a disorder to be granted legal access to transition, that's even truer for Japan, which literally puts it on paper as a disorder. And overall, transphobia and ableism go very hand in hand.

This game is now the closest I've come across to finding a game that's secretly about trans people too like The Matrix.

And this has greatly developed the brain worms 👍

#baroque game #my gaming ramblings #if you're insane enough please try the game #not the ps2 or wii versions tho they're terrible and even if you don't care about most changes you'll most likely care about- #it more than doubling the amount of floors from the psx version which already was bigger than the original and like #please don't do that to yourself the game is already not that fun don't subject yourself to those versions #spoilers i guess but really who even cares #it's not like the surprise really does anything in-game really #you'd just be very confused playing it 100% blind trust me #also there's a whole lot I didn't talk about this is just an incoherent rambling which some might decipher maybe #if you've read all this you're very based and I'm so sorry ahsbsjenzbx

[taranida]

Schrödinger's Cabin or Who wrote the eruption

Continuing on answering the points I left out in the theory about what really happened in the 70s. Yet another long read.

the Bird Leg Cabin and the Diver’s Isle, that might or might not been retroactively removed by the eruption under the Cauldron Lake.

The question that bothered me with all this eruption: what did the cabin and isle do to deserve such treatment? Thomas was knowledgeable enough to understand, that it’s the lake that brought the nightmare, not the isle or the cabin, why take them down as well? The isle, even after he “wrote himself out of reality” still bears the name it got from his hobby, not like if it would stay where it was, anything would change. And not like there are no other places on the Cauldron Lake’s shores; the Cauldron Lake Lodge is one of them, but there are also the rental cabins. Removing the isle and cabin had only grim consequences: 32 miners died as a result of flooding and seismic activity. I doubt that Thomas didn’t know how close the mines and the lake are; and I’d love to believe he’s not the type of a person who will be a-okay with mass murdering people. What we hear of him throughout the game is that he was considerate and caring enough to leave shoeboxes and charge Cynthia with helping whomever will be the next victim of the Dark Presence. The situation, when he made a decision, was dire, of course, he could not think about all the links between eruptions, earthquakes and mines, but Thomas knew one thing for sure: the Dark Presence will twist everything to its evil needs. Better write nothing, then hope your work will not be used to cause harm. Also, in every source that gives us information on 18th July 1970 we have nothing about the eruption:

This House of Dreams: “And he took his girlfriend for one last dive. Together they sank down into the depths, far deeper than he had ever dived before.”

The Poet and The Muse: “And vowed them both to silence deep beneath the lake”

Manuscript page: “He put on the suit, untied the monster from the chair. The thing in his arms thrashed weakly, but he held fast. He stepped outside, off the pier, and into the dark water, a sinking pinprick of light, descending toward a bottom that never came.”

Cynthia Weaver: “He tried to undo it, wrote himself, her, everything he’d ever written out of the world.”

I don’t believe Thomas was the one to write the eruption. But we have one person, who could do it, was in a proper state of mind to not care about chain reactions and would love to solve the problem the easiest way.

As we hear in the Alice’s call with Heartman, Alan’s way to solve the problem is to pretend it doesn’t exist:

How to solve Alice’s death? Write the very place she drowned at out of existence. If there was no cabin, if there was no pier, there would be no way for her to drown, right?

Well, sort of.

This theory has a couple of evidence to support it: the radio and the coffee thermos that we can find in the cabin.

In the guide we even know the people who placed the radio there, and how the signal is not so good because of the caldera rim.

And here’s one of the beloved thermoses with a little note of someone in-universe.

They, of course, could be taken with a grain of salt. We do not know when Sam and David lived (or I might’ve missed them somewhere in games or other materials; there are hints that they are active KBF-FM engineers in 2010), yet it’s doubtful that the radios they left in various places were exactly there for 40 years, tuned to KBF-FM and look just as every other radio in 2010. The thermos… well, sadly the person, collecting them, meets a grim fate, probably being stuck in the Dark Place. Yet, the items are there, and the first time the eruption is mentioned is after Alan escapes from the Dark Presence. Let’s not forget also how he escapes: he just walks the bridge and gets into the car as if he was not in the Dark Place this whole time, there is no transition between worlds. And the moment he starts the car, the cabin just dissipates in a black smoke: is it the writing starting to shape reality?

There is a peculiar manuscript, that might hint on the cabin still existing at the time Alan and Alice arrived:

It’s talking about Cauldron Lake, surely; this is the place of power for the Dark Presence, we know this for a fact. So why would the weak and at the time hurt by this trip to the dinner Dark Presence even consider an effort of conjuring the Bird Leg Cabin? How would it even muster this trick with no art involved, with no artist to feed on? Unless the cabin was there at the time.

After all, the entire isle and the cabin are in tip-top shape. In the first game we see the Dark Presence launch multiple objects out from the lake, but all of them keep the damage, look old and rusty.

On the isle, however, even the vegetation is green and alive. And as far as I know the Dark Presence is not a good gardener: in Control the very presence of The Third Thing (formerly known as that arsehole Emil Hartman) was killing the plants, that we had to save with light. In the second game the manuscripts that were washed ashore even leave a dark goo on their place.

The cabin and the isle show no signs of Dark Presence’s touch.

Were there other options? For sure!

Here! Cabins for rent near Cauldron Lake. This is so much easier to pull off: take the key of one of them, make instructions how to get there and give them to the writer. No need to do the impossible and raise an entire isle in the middle of the lake.

Yet, instead, we have the Bird Leg Cabin on the Diver’s Isle, apparently collected from the bits and pieces they should’ve turned into in the eruption, with rejuvenated vegetation and no sign of any damage; all created by the Dark Presence so weak, it’s “not real enough to properly exist”:

That is… if this wasn’t the first loop Alan went through. As Tom the Filmmaker said in the second game:

Remember, the Dark Place works in loops and rituals. If the waves keep pushing you away, you just need to find another way in.

Or out — in this case.

But I will leave the loops of the first game for another time.

For now I also suggest to think about this little thing:

Time is a story, after all.

#alan wake 2 #alan wake #thomas zane #alan wake ii #alan wake remastered #alan wake game #remedy connected universe #RCU theory #remedy entertainment #remedy games #tom zane #cauldron lake

[animebw]

Re: oshi no ko fans,

What'd they do?

Yeah, I guess I should probably give some context to that statement.

So, for those not keeping up with Oshi no Ko, last week's episode featured a plotline where a character on a reality dating show is swarmed with cyberbullying after a minor dust-up, and it escalates so badly that she tries to commit suicide. It's a brutally effective episode that really captures the horror of online abuse, the almost addictive masochism of scrolling through comment after comment calling for your death and dragging your name through the mud. It's easily the best Oshi no Ko has been, and I will stand by that opinion despite how messy things are going to get in the rest of this post.

See, this plotline doesn't just a wholly fictional exploration of online abuse; it has a very direct real life inspiration. Shortly after the manga started publishing, Japanese wrestler Hana Kimura committed suicide following a chain of events very much like this. She was on a reality show, she had a minor altercation with a fellow contender, and she was bombarded with online abuse until she took her own life. It's likely Akasaka already had the general idea for this plotline sketched out before this event, but the connections are so specific that it's pretty clear this real-life event influenced how it played out in the story. And in the anime at least, some of the mean comments the character gets are lifted wholesale from comments Kimura received during her harassment. So clearly, Oshi no Ko is pulling on this real life tragedy to further its themes of darkness in the entertainment industry and how it affects people.

The problem is, Kimura's mom isn't happy about it.

See, apparently no one- nobody working on the manga or the anime- thought to ask Kimura's family if it was okay to use their tragic circumstances as part of their narrative. Nobody bothered to check if it maybe might be a little insensitive to drag out the corpse of a dead girl for an edgy reincarnation revenge idol drama without asking that girl's parents if they were okay with it. So the mom did an interview where she expressed her anger at the whole thing, and how her daughter was essentially being used as "free source material," which, yeah, seriously, how the fuck did nobody check with her before this went to air? I don't care how good your intentions are or how excellent the finished product turned out, you do not use the real words and comments that drove a girl to suicide without getting the go-ahead from her family first. She even mentioned that a friend of hers watched the episode without knowing its content beforehand and it basically triggered all those traumatic memories all over again. It's just really fucking ugly all around.

Now, the whole point of the episode in question is about how terrible online harassment is and how you should never toss mean words around online so thoughtlessly, because you could be hurting people in ways you can't possibly understand. So you'd think that Oshi no Ko fans, being faced with this very understandable anger from someone with more stake in this mess than any of them either well, would take the situation with grace and try to reach an understanding. You'd think they'd try to have the kind of compassion in discussing this difficult subject that Kimura and the character inspired by her never got.

If only.

Now, to be clear, it's not like the entire Oshi no Ko fanbase ganged up on Kimura's mother. Plenty of people took the situation in stride and treated it fairly. But even just on the English speaking side of the internet, I've already seen way too many people becoming exactly the kind of mindless hate mob the show portrayed in that critical episode. And while I can't speak for the Japanese side, people who keep up with Japanese online spaces have confirmed there's harassment going on over there too. People saying she's only doing this for attention (gee it's almost like HER DAUGHTER'S DEATH IS BEING USED WITHOUT HER CONSENT), she shouldn't complain because it's raising awareness about cyberbullying (which totally justifies cyberbullying her in response, naturally), even claiming the arc totally wasn't inspired by Kimura's circumstances and it was just a coincidence the storyline released around the same time. Which is funny, because I distinctly remember when the episode first came out I saw tons of people praising how it took inspiration from Kimura's circumstances and how it was totally speaking to real life events so you had to take it seriously. But now Kimura's mother comes out saying she's upset with how it was handled, and suddenly those same people are going "Uuuuuuh actually it's just a coincidence, if you think it's intentional you're stupid."

I mean, if I didn't know better, I'd say it's almost like they never actually cared about the message. Like they only wanted to use the shiny coat of real-life tragedy to massage their own egos for liking Good(tm), Serious(tm) works of fiction that talk about Real(tm) Issues(tm), only to discard that talking point when it no longer suited their narrative. I might even call them a bunch of worthless cunts who care about protecting themselves from even the mildest emotional discomfort and moral uncertainty more than they give a damn about anyone else's genuine struggles with actual issues far beyond what any of these fuckweasels will ever have to face. Hell, if I was feeling particularly spicy, I might even connect this bullshittery to my criticisms of Oshi no Ko as a whole and point out how despite its thin veneer of deep societal criticism, this show really is the kind of vapid, pandering edge-masquerading-as-depth spectacle that presents just enough illusion of substance for people to feel smart for watching it without actually challenging them to leave their comfort zone of an "edgy" male antihero saving the day and making all the cute girls fall for him, thus attracting the exact same kind of insincere, cowardly fanbase that reacts to the slightest real challenge to their sense of self-righteousness by become the exact kind of monster the story they supposedly adore was trying to warn them against.

But that's probably unfair to all the normal, perfectly well-adjusted Oshi no Ko fans who don't deserve to be lumped in with this vocal minority of losers. So I'll call it a day here. Bottom line, ask before you use a real person's misery for Content(tm), don't be a dick when people criticize the fiction you enjoy, and online harassers can go suck on an exhaust pipe.

#anime #tabw #tabw q+a #the anime binge watcher #oshi no ko #cw: suicide #cw: cyberbullying

[lurkingshan]

The Night/Day issue was pretty glossed over as well, no real acknowledgment or apology to each other. I fear ep 9 was the last good episode, that ending was so strong. The remaining episodes seems like its going to pale in comparison. Even if the eye donation doesn't work, (which i think it wont) it seems like a redundant plot arc. Day has already accepted his blindness, so why do we need to see him and everyone else cry again when the procedure doesn't work? Im guessing they are just doing it for forced cheap drama, which is unfortunate. We could have had more Mhok devoted episodes because his life isnt perfect, its like they made him too much of a green flag with Day and are scared to show his struggles and flaws at all now. Sigh.

You know, the Night and Day scene didn't bother me on initial watch, because it do be like that sometimes with siblings. You can fight and torment each other for weeks or months or years and then one day just decide to stop and carry on like it never happened. And it's rare for siblings to get deep into the muck on apologies; it's a different kind of relationship that allows you to gloss over some of that work.

That said, when taking it as part of the whole and the many other things this show is glossing over, it is definitely part of the broader pattern. And you're not wrong about the redundant nature of the eye donation plot. We just saw Day arrive at acceptance so beautifully at the end of episode 9, so to bring this back around only an episode later kind of undercuts what the show accomplished with that arc. I suspect that the surgery (hopefully) failing will be more about pushing Day's mom to accept reality than it will be about Day, but I was not at all impressed with how they handled her material this ep so I can't say I'm really looking forward to more next week.

#last twilight #last twilight the series #thai bl #shan answers

[the-oc-lass]

Nimona OC - Charlotte Swiftheart/Corova

Hello from my house! I'm spending the weekend at home but still wanted to post about my dearest girl (I'm having a fun time, yes indeed).

It's also because I won't be able to watch Nimona again this weekend for the first time in 3-4 weeks, so I'm the slightest bit bitter.

TW: Mention of (assumed) su*cide and of assault

First, Previous, Next

The Happy Months (and the end of Knight Charlotte):

After Charlotte reveals that she's Ambrosius's sister to Ambrosius himself and Ballister, they have a few good months with each other before everything goes right to shit

During this period, the trio sneaks down to the lower/poorer part of the city under the guise of something for Ballister. In reality, Ambrosius wants to meet Charlotte's mom (Ballister already has a handful of times). They get caught up in a rain storm and have to stay the night

Ambrosius finds Charlotte and Minara's (that's her mother's name, in case you've forgotten) home very cozy and homey despite it not being the nicest place (or very nice at all, for that matter). Charlotte goes off to shower at one point, and Ambrosius and Ballister are left with her mom. She quickly catches on to the fact that they know, and she sighs a bit. "She told you?" she asks. Ambrosius tries to play dumb, but it all eventually comes out because, as Minara says, "Lying isn't your strongest skill, Ambrosius". She just shakes her head at first, but she isn't really upset. She warns Ambrosius that this could put his family in a very poor light if it gets out, and he assures her that it won't, that neither they nor Charlotte has told anyone else (not even her girlfriend).

Eventually, the trio falls asleep in a bit of a pile on the very small sofa. It's very cute. Minara takes a picture, and I'd draw it if I had the skills

Upon arriving back to the Institute, the Director masks her frustration with a veil of concern, stating that "something awful could've happened to you!"

Goldenheart and Wiseheart (Charlotte Swiftheart x Alieza Wiseman) go on some double dates disguised as hangouts during this time. Rumors go around, the main one being that Alieza and Ambrosius are a thing and Charlotte and Ballister are a thing (no one suspects anything homo lol), but they don't let it bother them

Someone finds out about Charlotte's heritage as a "half blood," but don't release who she's related to (they're hoping to use it as blackmail material). This information is leaked to the public, and suddenly, people are turning on Charlotte left and right. Classmates that used to be friendly to her suddenly begin taunting her, whispering behind her back, and some (such as Todd) even begin to pick fights and hit her

Ambrosius finds her on the platform over the Glorodom one day, sitting quietly and trying not to cry. He cautiously sits next to her and asks if she wants to talk about it. Her hands ball into fists, and she rants about how upset, angry, and sad she is (purposefully leaving out the physical aspects of whats been happening to her). He asks what she needs, and she kind of trembles as she fights back tears. "To punch something," she says, before quietly adding, "or a hug." Ambrosius pulls her into a hug and says that they'll figure it out

Charlotte goes to the Director for help, tells her about what the other cadets have been doing to her. The Director is the opposite of helpful. "I'm sorry, Charlotte, but my hands are tied. The people have turned on you. Punishing the cadets tormenting you will only cause further public outrage...I can only imagine what would happen to Ambrosius if it got out that its his family you're related to," she says. Charlotte pales, blood running cold. She's absolutely shaken that the Director knows, and as apathetic eyes land on her, she realizes that she's being threatened. "It will all go away if you go home, Charlotte. The Goldenloin name and legacy will be safe, and so will Ambrosius. That's what you want, isn't it?" Charlotte swallows, looking down with tears stinging her eyes. "Yes, Director." Slowly, the Director continues. "You know, I've already heard whispers that people think it's Ambrosius you're related to. With how close you've been over the past six years, you can't really blame them." A beat. "You have until the end of the week to decide what to do. After that, I'm afraid the rumors will have to be addressed, and whatever happens next will be thanks to you."

After struggling with the decision, Charlotte ultimately decides that she has to protect Ambrosius. She agrees to leave the Institute. She has to sign some papers to officially mark it as her decision (rather than being expelled/kicked out of the Institute). Once the papers are signed, the Director files them away. Just as Charlotte is leaving to go pack her things, the Director calmly remarks, "Oh, and Charlotte. My condolences." Charlotte freezes, looking back at her. "I'm sorry?" She's met with an apathetic face that tells her "I heard about your mother."

The story that Charlotte hears is that her mother couldn't take the backlash of it being revealed that she'd not only given birth to a bastard child, but also one of a noble person. It's said that she hung herself. In reality, no one is entirely sure if that's what happened. Charlotte was told there was a note, but she was never allowed to look at it. It is extremely likely that the Director actually had Minara killed

Charlotte breaks things off with Aleiza before leaving, and she has a very rough goodbye with Ambrosius and Ballister. She tells them about her mother, and they promise to do what they can to be there for her. This promise doesn't last long (more on that in my next post)

Lovely tagged people:

@ammonitetheseaserpent @perfectkittystranger @derellenbogen

#nimona #nimona oc #nimona 2023 #nimona movie #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister x ambrosius #goldenheart #oc: charlotte swiftheart/corova

[misscammiedawn]

50 Days of HypnoKink - Day 43: Hypnotic Theory

Alignment: Ambivalent or Top. I know there are resources on learning how to Bottom. But have you considered I prefer private instruction?

Jokes aside. I love hypnotic theory. I always have.

My earliest days online I remember reading up on subliminal advertising techniques and going down a rabbit hole of "Painted Ice Cubes" and other such things which seemed too weird to be true.

From there I ended up reading Subliminal Seduction in my late teens out of curiosity and was kind of fascinated by the concepts at play. I was already well and truly fascinated with hypnosis but hypnosis was this magical spell that was cast by magicians. This psuedo-science of advertising execs promising that glimpses of sharks and phallus' would unlock the secrets to sales was my first and unfortunate step into understanding the theory behind it all.

Next step was of course M.K Ultra which is 100% a meme in today's hypnokink community and at best an aesthetic for serious torture-brainwashing play which is at a much higher level of anything than I'm really capable of. But it cited itself. Which got me looking into the history of Mesmer and Braid and then onto a bloke named Milton Erickson...

Archive.org had a lot of his stuff. In fact all of his stuff.

Between Erickson in my textbooks and Derren Brown on my television, right at the start of his career when the fascination of mentalism was still tied heavily to hypnosis (and early Derren Brown was a Fae and a bit of an ass XD) my earliest teachers were pretty bad at consent. Which lead to certain expectations of hypnosis which lead to me picking bad partners at the start of my career.

But Erickson's stuff compelled me.

Early 20s Camden used a lot of Ericksonian speech patterns in her play. Though back then she was only really hypnotizing people under compulsion and usually while hypnotized to channel or outright become a character.

The fact I read medical journals is the moment I knew this fascination had evolved into a life altering obsession. That this was my One Thing.

It was the studies of Erickson working on participants with amputated limbs to study the phantom limb theory that really got me to sit up and pay attention to the science behind it.

At this point of my life I'd been studying on surgeries being performed with hypnosis (a terrifying concept. When I have my surgery I will be hypnotized to go under for the anesthesia like a good girl) and I had seen EKG readings that proved that hypnosis changes the way that the brain scans.

Every step of my life I have leaned on evidence and proof and every step of my study into hypnosis taught me it was not fantasy. It was reality and the more I accepted that the better I was at both hypnotizing, free of doubt and insecurity, and being hypnotized, trusting it works.

I still struggle with that. A lot. Thinking I am just acting or following along. But the more I read the better I feel.

I got my certification at the age of 23. I am not a fan of George Kappas (his work is misogynistic to my eyes) but his school taught me for a year (one of my classmates and the person I studied with for my finals is actually another high profile member of the online hypnosis community) and taught me the most important lesson any school has ever taught me:

I ALREADY KNOW THIS.

I was 23 years old and knew as much as the instructors. That was a good feeling.

Also my classmate and I are still friends. We're not super close, but she and I are in contact. I spent some time with them at a recent hypnosis event. It means a lot to me that even though my name and gender changed, they still remember me.

In my 30s I moved on from academic hypnosis materials to community driven information. I have read Lee & Pynch's book on Amnesia, sleepingirl's Brainwashing and NLP books and of course Wiseguy's Mind Play. I've also taken Wiseguy's class, though didn't bother taking my final. Which was a good use of $1,200.

Every now and again Sleepyhead will show up and just put a book in my hand. I think her copy of The Encyclopedia of Stage Hypnotism has graduated into my copy of The Encyclopedia of Stage Hypnotism (Sleepy, you can have your books back at any time).

These days I am lazy and can't really read much. I'm studying therapy more than anything with my latest obsessions being Janina Fischer and Melissa Tiers; Tiers herself being a world class hypnotist that many of our top community members have spent big bucks to train under.

In fact, here's an exert from a moment that I first started reading her Anxiety Toolkit.

Thing is I'm a really bad study. I read these things and absorb them, they change how I think and how I approach things, but after I move on to the next book I forget what was in the last one. The ways my style changes remain but I am just horrible at internalizing rote facts and learning.

People say I'm clever. Goddess even told me once that she thinks I know more about hypnosis than her, which is a compliment I cannot accept. I know my shit. I practice.

I just don't feel good at this.

I never really finished school. I got pulled out at 16. I was an average student at best who was trying her hardest. I remember seeing that one Simpsons episode where Bart breaks down in tears over studying for a test and failing and feeling seen. Teen me wanted to go to college, wanted to be Smart because at the time I thought Smart was strong.

I get really weird about my perceived intelligence because I cannot believe myself to be smart... but somewhere along the way I tricked people into never really seeing me as the dumbass I feel myself as. I guess the thing I'd say here is, I have massive amounts of curiosity and I enjoy learning.

I just suck at memorization. I should be nicer to myself for that. Theory brings me joy. I should be proud of that.

---

Day 42: Gradual Descents

FULL SCHEDULE MASTER POST

Day 44: Fluttering Eyelids

#camden posting #hypnosis #hypnokink #50 days of fetishes

[ethicallysourcedhumanmeat]

god. so my current crochet class was miss-advertised and I've got a class of folks who have mostly never touched a hook before

and that on it's own is like frustrating but its fine. I have tutorials I have personally made, I sourced and purchased beginner level patterns, I took 2 classes to go over terms and stitches sent them home with materials to practice. I explained in class what to buy where to buy all of that.

basically I adapted, and supplied as many learning resources as I could and devoted 2 classes to beginner instruction while actively informing everyone multiple times that this is a project based class, you will pick a project and work on it.

I've also been clear that anyone who needs extra in person instruction can come to my drop in session on fridays for free. I'm also available on socials and by email for extra help, I'm willing to video call or make extra tutorials. I'm very clear on this, I get paid and extra 90mins a week just cover this availability.

But the class WAS STILL advertised as a project based class. where you pick a pattern and spend the classes working on it with me to instruct and help as you go. people have registered for this who do know a little or have taken a class from me and its really unfair to them to have me spending the entire class with the same people every week like???

and at the end of last week's class I stated clearly that this week we'll start projects, buy materials if you want to make a larger project. I explained how to read a yarn lable, how to read the material list on a pattern.

guys the emails

here's the thing, crochet feels awkward when you start, a lot of the issues people have can only be solved by doing it more. getting comfortable with the movements, getting your tension better it all comes with practice. crochet is forgiving but you have to actually start.

every time i teach i tell my students if you start with a square just finish it, dont keep restarting trying to figure out where you went wrong, make the whole square, then look at it. I say this because often there is nothing wrong but its new and it looks weird bc you're new, but the shape will cone about only if you keep going.

this is the first time I've gotten to the 4th hour of classes and none of the first timers will finish a square. and they can do it is the thing that bothers me. they hand me round 1 of a granny square and say "i just do not know what is going wrong" and i tug the stitches so its square, (showing them that that is all Im doing) tell them, "no its fine you're doing great!" they take it from me, unwind it and have me explain it again.

one woman is having tension issues, so I show her where on the hook to tighten the yarn, explain that even tho it feels like you should dont tighten the chain as you pull it off your hook or after you've pulled it off. I offer her a larger hook, the hook she brought is very small, i use that size on lace weight yarn. she refuses the larger hook, i watch her tighten the yarn after its off her hook. i explain again that these things are the problem. I get her a larger hook. she didnt use it.

like there are people there that make me feel like I'm on a reality show or a bad sitcom. I was begging them to just continue. To stop restarting to just have faith in themselves to set their goals to completion not perfection because its not going to be perfect the first time but it can get done. And again all these people CAN do it, I'm seeing them do it, anc telling them theyre doing it and they just literally tell me theyre not and restart whatever practice thing they tried.

I got an email response today from a lady that started last week and was 100% making perfectly good single crochet stitches by the end of class (2 hours), saying she didn't even know where to start and maybe she'll use the in class yarn and make granny squares because patterns will be too hard, maybe this class is too advanced.

this woman could crochet by the end of her first 2 hour class. i communicated that to her then like???

so i sent her a yarn label and explained (again) how to read it, told her that most of the patterns I provided last class were beginning friendly and like i said in my reminder email if she wants to start with a granny square project I can help her design it in class but she should by her own yarn and she won't really learn anything if she doesn't have a project goal.

i just genuinely do not understand how these people thought they were going to learn? if you want to learn to make something you have to start making the thing.

#like i get as adults #trying knew things #feels like more pressure to get it right #but also they paid to be there #they read the description #like you can't learn to crochet if you aren't crocheting something? #and i get the frustration #like I am going to school and having to do things #I've never done musically before #I get it #learning is hard #but I also need people who want to learn from me #to like grasp that #yeah i did it fast and mine is neater than yours #because I have 30 years of experience doing it #if you never finish a single granny square #you wont learn shit from me #I'm running out of nice ways to say it

[sidleyparkhermit]

@stellerssong I think I should do these separately since the first one is already getting long and is basically just complaining. XD

8. Is there a story idea in your mental vault that you’ve never been brave enough to try writing? Is this the year? Can you tell us about it?

Hmm. In terms of fanfic and not origfic — the only story ideas I can think of that I would say I didn’t feel “brave” enough to write are certain MCU plotbunnies that I found personally compelling but that would have no audience and cause me to get lots of hate messages from MCU Leftists.

I’m thinking specifically of two that sprang from my mind trying to somehow approach the very conspicuous and poisonously incoherent politics of TFATWS, and three years down the line I can still remember a quick plot capsule for both.

(Even the summaries are probably incomprehensible, as the Venn diagram of people who have some fucking idea how a government on planet Earth actually in any way works and people who watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier all the way to the end is maybe just me. But, you know. The action sequences were super good and I really wanted to see if Bucky was gonna be okay. [Spoiler: Bucky is okay.])

Bucky’s long-suffering therapist Dr. Raynor, who is also a military veteran, slowly unravels the truth behind the character that is, I swear to god, named “Government Official” and appears to be a U.S. senator, a representative to the Fake UN That Is Also The One-World Fascist Government, the head of the CIA, the head of the Smithsonian Institution, and who knows what else. (He's also the guy that Sam Wilson literally says the sentence "You control the banks" to while lecturing him not to refer to the people trying to kill all the civilians at the UN as "terrorists.") Anyway, my explanation for him is that during The Snap, a faction of Hydra used the mass breakdown in communications to establish little pockets of shadow-government, aided by specialists like Government Official who have a mild level of genetic mind-control powers that helps induce people to accept “ah yes, that is a Government Official” and just kinda do what they say. Post-Blip, they continue to be treated like they have the authority that they usurped, even though it makes no sense; as Robert Anton Wilson said, reality is what you can get away with. But with a tip-off from Bucky in his goodbye card, Dr. Raynor begins to see through the fog...

John Walker, in his final confrontation with Flag-Smasher, gets ahold of himself enough to really listen to what she is saying for a moment, and then starts asking her to explain what the fuck she is actually talking about, seeing as she seems to think, among other things, that the Not-UN vaccine distribution program that she’s been bombing is run by “the corporations.” As he listens to everything bounce off her incomprehensible ideology, two things happen: 1) He starts to realize this terrorist leader is like 17 years old and 2) the actual combat is stalled long enough for Spider-Man to show up and web everyone and save the day. Spider-Man hauls John away and webs him to a rooftop someplace, where he has an imagined talk with the memory of Lemar Hoskins, who helps him ponder how and why this random teenage terrorist got all the power she has access to, leading him to have a lightbulb moment about the Power Broker's identity. (Don't get me started about the Power Broker's identity, but it's canon, so I'd make use of it as best I could.)

I guess really those kinds of ideas aren't so much a matter of "not brave enough to write" as "not masochistic enough to bother." But the fic ideas I have that are in the "artistically ambitious" vein of bravery are all things that I've actually written a ton of material for. It's the finishing that gets to me.

#obviously I am not tagging this. #but now I've got those plot summaries off my chest so it turns out this *was* the year. I'm free they can't bother me anymore

[simp4aegon]

GOLDEN HOUR

Aemond Targaryen x Morningstar!Oc /reader

Chapter One : The Angel, Her Misery, His Lover.

Warnings: Violence, Blood, NSFW, Romantic shit.

You can imagine yourself as Lilith well she is you and your time travel has gone right, or better for your happiness that you can’t find in the modern world where you lived. This is a crossover between Lucifer and HOTD.

Legends said that angels are made to protect God's creations, that they are god's favorite children.

You see them as the most beautiful thing, for they are the first one to live, The witness of his creations.

Wings, pair that symbolize power and freedom, soft to the touch but as sharp as blades that protected them.

Some chose to continue serving their God, those who stayed in light, some chose to go join the other side, known as the fallen and the neutral ones, those who chose life, who chose to love.

They have the power of light but one has the power of time and reality, and that angel is special to her kind.

Victoria was made up by a dude,

girl you wouldn't believe she's an old man who lives in Ohio,

I know victoria's secret, cashing in body issues.

In the modern day of 2022 Princess Lilith, Daughter of Lucifer Morningstar remembers how she argued with her father two days ago.

While she sings on stage as an internationally famous pop star, she realizes that her father wasn't there, to support her or to watch, her getting ready for later's event.

Wanting to prove her father wrong about her grandfather's creations; humans, Her life as a princess in the modern world of Los Angeles doesn't really please her.

“Daddy, You never paid attention to me! You never listened, you only listened to them to... to Trixie and Chloe, this is unfair, I am your blood, your flesh, Am I not?”

Lilith yelled as she threw her arms in frustration, as she walks towards her father in his throne of darkness. she then walks back and forth with her Dark Brown hair flowing in wind.

Lucifer's army, Knights of hell watched as she yelled at her father, something only she can do, or else those who try will suffer a fate worst that dying in the lake of lava.

Like what the princess called.

“Enough of this nonsense Lilith! There is no love for us, Love makes us vulnerable to anything, Do your things find a man to play with, Travel and stop bothering me for there are more important things that I have to do.”

Lucifer then looked at his daughter’s reaction.

"Important? Wedding plans? You're a hypocrite, you're a fucking hypocrite dad! you don't want me to find love but here you are marrying a damn mortal, admit it, I am the mistake you wish you never committed, you kept on telling me that I am not entitled of a man, a child, you rid me of the world, you rid me a chance of a family and now you're building one without me."

A reaction he never expected, He doesn’t understand why she craved love when she can have anything she wanted, He gave her everything she wanted.

"Didn't I gave you a career? You're a successful popstar! I gave you everything every material whims, give me a chance to find my happiness." He's selfish, egoistic fucker.

"What do you know about love dad?" Lilith whispers.

"What do you know? You're just a kid." Lucifer tried keeping his cool.

“You wouldn’t say that there is no love for me if I have my mom with me, you never searched for Mom, now you'll marry her! You promised it's you and me now her? HER? And her kid?.” With that Lilith roared louder.

Lucifer now understands his Dad, Lilith mirrored some parts of him that he now hated, That she became a rebel, but there are good parts, To Lucifer, she wanted to live.

That he was a hypocrite for denying his daughter and feeding her with information he now supports and wants.

"Lilith! I did not raise you, to talk like that toward Chloe! You'll refer to her as your mother and Trixie as your younger sister, Are we clear?. What I had for Chloe is genuine love." Lucifer slapped Lilith across the face and then harshly grabbed her shoulder.

"What about my mother? WHAT ABOUT ME?!" Lilith asked as she touches her right cheek.

That triggered something, it made those Fire opal eyes glow, something that shocked Lucifer.

"I'm sor-" Lucifer attempts as his eyes go soft.

"You did not raise me, grampa raised me, Not you not Chloe not anyone! You don't get to touch me like that!" Those fire opal eyes glowed while her selcra turned black, it scared Lucifer.

She once wants to find something he avoids to help him realize, Something that he's afraid of, Like what he does to Chloe, Chloe Decker.

She kinda regrets the fact that it it turns out the way she doesn't intended to.

But he's hypocrite, Now he's getting married, to her.

'Why does she wants to be a human? Or does she? She doesn’t need love, She needs me.' Lucifer thought to himself those words.

Lilith wasn’t spoiled, Lilith just understands what she wants and that is to love, Lilith can’t find love in the modern world where she lived for almost two billion years of her existence.

With no lust for the throne where she’s meant to torment people, Lilith figured out that needed a man, to love, to cherish as humans do. Lilith wanted a family, not temporary happiness her father calls a One Night Stand.

Wanting to prove that her father's a hypocrite, to tell him everyday.

She snaps from those thoughts, While singing her songs her tears slowly fell, she realized what she wanted. With those tears, in an instant, it rained with loud thunderstorms, a reason for her to leave with the guards protecting her.

Other people tried to take pictures with her but failed.

But a man gave her a white handkerchief, which she took but never got a glimpse of his face, due to bodyguard blocking her of the view.

"Thank you."

_

Lilith stood there with bitter laughing, drinking her fifth glass of wine and listening as people gave their wishes to Mr. and Mrs. Morningstar.

She felt so fucking alone in this world.

Lilith tried not to create a commotion with her emotions, she remembers she's higher that the angels in the reception area.

You're a fucking seraphim.

"You okay?" Her uncle Amanedee asked giving her a slice of lemon cake which she politely refuses, Same with Castiel and Gabriel who gave her foods.

"I hope you and mom a happy life together." Trixie smiled as she gives the microphone to her new step sister.

Lilith refuses but Maze gave her a nudge and a gentle smile. With that Lilith took the mic and went on stage holding her eight glass of wine.

"To the both of you, Congratulations, live your lives to the fullest starting this night without any problems or...." Lilith didn't finish, Amandiel was quick to pick up those cryptic message his niece left the moment she passed the mic to him then walked out of the reception.

God, her grandfather gave him a sad look, His first grandchild, feels sad, in exchange of his favorite son's happiness.

He can't read her, No one can, Just like his sister.

Lilith went back to her hotel, headed to her bathroom as she filled her gigantic tub with ice as she pointed her finger at the candles where it lits themselves. She stared at the tv screen which showed nothing but static.

Lilith wished to prove him wrong, that angels and demons are entitled to love just like humans, that she too is entitled like him to Chloe.

That it's not only about duty to protect her Grandfather's creation but to also love them.

“Sanguis animæ meæ suscipe me ad fata mea, sanguis cordis mei, salus mea et judicium meum.”

Lilith chanted those words while crying as she soak herself, and let the water consume her, to wash away her worries and to bring excitement to her journey.

Wanting to forget that she doesn't have a place here anymore, That her father has his new family, with new baby on the way with Chloe.

Her anger, her sadness, her pain, her grieve, her longing for a mother she never met.

A mother who's name she never knew.

The mother who left her the moment she was born.

The lights flicker and died but the fire from the candle remained still. Thunder roars at the sky as lightning strikes in the darkness.

Lilith doesn’t care if she needs to create a new world or travel with time or reality, or various timelines or even worlds, only to find her love.

'If Wanda Maximoff can make herself happy, so am I' Lilith smirks as she let the water consume her.

The water had it's tint of red violet color the moment she sank.

_

"Baby? Can we talk? I'm so sor-" Lucifer said behind the door but then felt that there's something wrong, he then kicked the door open.

The young girl vanished the moment the fire of her candles died, Comes her father when walked into her hotel's master bathroom, With no signs of the princess of hell.

It made him worry, he felt the guilt.

That made him sob to his friend Maze, To help him with his daughter whom he loved.

"She's missing, Maze she's missing, call Chloe, my daughter is missing," Lucifer yelled at his friend beside him, With visible worries written on his face.

"Where is she Lucifer, where did she go?" Maze responded as she kneels beside the bath tub and touched the water.

She can't sense anything, Lilith is not only prominent when it comes to using her angelic grace but also in her demonic ones that she uses when only in need.

They forgot that she was the mother of witches, Maze knew that Lilith wanted to empower women, so she gave them blessings against men who tried to violate them.

God was against it at first but agreed.

"I don't know, I think she performed a ritual, She went somewhere else, I yelled at her earlier, two or three days ago, slapped her accross the face and I didn't mean it, I wanted to say sorry but when I came inside her room she was missing." Lucifer facepalmed as he pinches his nose bridge.

"You do know that she has a concert this month right?" Eve took her to butt in.

"You're fucking concerned about the concert when she's missing?" Maze rolled her eyes.

"And she's missing, Great." Lilith is a popstar in 2022, A well-known popstar who's missing.

"And you slapped my granddaughter Samael? Did I raise you to be like that? I took your burden of raising her, the only thing I ask for is your love and compassion" God calmly placed a hand on his shoulder

"Stop putting the blaming only on me, only if you didn't lock her away, we could've raised her." God, their father was disappointed who walked away in search of his favorite granddaughter.

_

A warm peaceful day in King’s Landing was disturbed when King Viserys woke up in a good health, His illness was cured and when he stands up from the bed, He looked in the mirror and then at his hand and face, and hair.

By the Gods, His youth and strength were restored so that he doesn't need a cane to walk.

King Viserys thanked the Gods for it and prayed that this isn't a dream and this isn't temporary, That when he woke up the next day, He'll still be healthy and strong.

Even going to the extent of sacrificing a live animal as his form of thanking God or anyone who did that to him.

It shocked the maidens and his wife Queen Alicent who suggest that it was a result of witchery but King Viserys dismisses the vile rumors and sees it as a blessing by the Gods, he wanted to test the limits when he and Queen Alicent heard the news of a young woman found floating in the bodies of water by the fishermen.

They wanted to see the young woman that they found.

Prince Aegon alongside his brother Prince Aemond watched as their people carried the said girl and wrapped her with towels, She was beautiful in his eyes.

She was worth the reason for him to stop training at the moment with Ser Criston Cole.

“Nice tits.” The prince whisperer when he earned a nudge from his brother who was younger than him, He saw how focused Aemond's eyes to her.

Aemond's eye inspected the beauty. "Bring her to Reds' keep, we’ll question her once she wakes up, That woman might be sent to cause damage to us," Aemond ordered Ser Criston Cole as they brought her to the Castle carried by the knight.

"Look at her breast brother, you can't lie that she doesn't arouse you." Aegon teased Aemond who swallows thickly.

She looked like a threat but deep inside he felt something different while watching her, She was wearing a white nightgown with her nipples visible due to being soaked.

“Someone’s lusting over the girl, Don't worry I do too, I can't wait for her to wake up, see what that cunt does.”

Aegon laughed as he followed the knight and Aemond followed him back, He admits he can’t wait to hear her whereabouts but was more excited about bedding her.

“I won’t fall for a witch.” Aemond defends himself, he swallowed again.

He admits she's beautiful with those porcelain-like skin, Red lips like blood, and hair as dark as ravens.

She reassembles the princess in their bedtime stories, Snow white with a thin waist and large breasts.

“Who says she’s a witch then? Maybe she was sent by the Gods to bring pleasure to us, can't wait to deflower her sweet cunt brother.” Aemond gave him a side eye, Annoyed with his brother's intentions.

“You won’t touch her, witch or not.” There he left his brother and walked faster, He somehow regret calling her a witch, for judging her.

Maybe she's just pretty.

He knows one thing; He won't let Aegon stip her honor.

_

Walking back and forth, King Viserys tries to think of a reason behind this, This is the first time they had a floating body of a woman in the Kings landing,

“Poor little girl, Who would do such a horrible thing.” Alicent pitied as she caresses the young girl's wet hair and used a dry towel to carefully dry its hair.

“Born between the light and darkness shall she choose the light. Love and affection is the desire, A shining beauty in the stars that glow to the darkness.”

Helaena whispers in the corner of Aemond’s chamber while playing with a butterfly with broken wings that made Alicent and Aemond look.

The Queen ordered her maids to dry and changed the girl's clothes, She’s still unconscious so they do not know things about her, who she is, or how she got there.

“I will order an execution for the one responsible for this poor girl's torment the moment I heard details of it.” King Viserys pitied the young girl as he sat beside her and gently caressed her hair.

He reminded her of when Rhaenyra, His favorite when was a young girl and decided that she is welcomed to their homeland.

“Mother, Aemond had a theory that it was a punishment, Killing such a beauty. That she’s a witch of their homeland or some whore.” Alicent looked at her son Aegon as she held the young girl’s hand which is cold, She ordered more wood for the fireplace to keep the girl warm.

“Aemond? You shouldn’t throw vile accusations without the truth, does this looks like a witch to you?” King Viserys showed his visible disappointment with his son Aemond.

Aegon then smirks at Aemond while he's drinking his wine.

“What makes you think of that Aemond?” Alicent asked.

“Her unnatural beautiful mother, I mean look at her face and body, witches have smaller waists or maybe she was sent by other kingdoms to do harm to us, To father.”

Aemond defended himself while looking at the sleeping lady, He took off his coat to wrap it around her.

“See Aemond, Do not judge a beautiful girl like her. If you feel an attraction, admit it, There’s no need to throw vile accusations, Just wait till she wakes up, you'll see what that mouth can do.” Aegon teased, as he keep on teasing his brother with dirty jokes.

Aegon too is enticed by her beauty.

Alicent gave his son Aegon a firm look, A glare, for speaking those words in the presence of the king. She knew what Aegon meant and his reason to defend the young girl is to bed her.

Dirty intentions.

“And she’s not a tool of your desire brother, I admit I did call her a witch but not a whore, I demand she stay here with me.” Aemond gave him a stern look again, He knows what he wants with the witch, and he won’t let that happen.

“I shall return to my throne, Aemond keep an eye on her, Alicent order the maids to prepare food once the girl wakes up, Aegon you’ll order other people of our kingdom about the girl, understand? Let your brother stay here alone. Helaena you're free to stay with the girl too if you'd like.” Aegon nodded at his King's father, He wanted to be the one to take care of the girl.

"Hmm," Aemond said in response.

King Viserys wanted to make sure that the girl feels welcome, To feel at home at least, it reminded him of when Rhaenyra was a young girl, she was pure and good, He didn’t want to accuse the girl of anything like his son Aemond and Aegon.

With his duties, Aemond chose to follow the king’s commands to watch the girl while everyone leaves.

"You are the fruit of light and darkness, New bringer of light to my-." Helaena smiled at her new friend and took off her emerald ring to place it on the sleeping girl's finger.

Aemond listened, as his sister kept on calling the girl 'Darkness'

"You look more pretty with the ring, wake up so we can be friends." Helaena hugged the sleeping girl.

"What do you mean by darkness?" Aemond had enough of the name-calling and decided what her riddles meant. "You don't know?" Helaena asked in surprise.

Before Aemond could reply Helaena left his chamber in a such rush that left him with the girl. Aemond locked the doors from his chamber, He then sat on the tool beside the bed.

The peach garment that belonged to Helaena suited her better with her dark hair, He held her hand which is ice cold, He placed a light kiss on it and whispered.

"I'm sorry for accusing you of being a witch my lady, maybe you are a siren, Because we found you on our lake." Aemond smiled to himself as he watches the girl sleep with her steady breathing.

He'll make her his wife one way or another.

"I promise to protect you, To be a loving husband to you and you only." He leaned closer to place a kiss on her cold lips and then forehead.

He can't deny the attraction, What caught his attention was the white and gold feather from her white nightgown that he kept.

It was a very sharp, blade-like feather that cut through his thumb that suddenly healed, He'll keep it as a lucky charm, some kind of a talisman.

"Witch or not, I'll do anything to be your love or be your sacrifice." He kissed her knuckles again.

(LISTEN TO INFINITY)

#aemond targaryen #hotd aemond

[bug-crimes]

stumbles in. i saw the addition to the character questionnaire thing while out and im glad u reblogged it so i remembered it. 1 2 and 5 for Lyric, 7 8 and 10 for Arvidus, 2 3 and 8 for Minna ovo?

!!! wiggles at you!! ty for the ask <33

ask game if anyone else wants to send some stuff my way wink wink wink wink

Lyric

What is the character’s go-to drink order?

Lyric is Not a fan of getting wasted, so if we're talking alcoholic, he's most likely to go for something light on the alcohol! His favourite would be a bit of rum in a black tea of your choice, mixed with some lemon or honey if it fits the flavour.

In general, tea is his go-to if he's feeling like something other than water. For a while, he'd usually just ask for whatever black tea was available (or cheapest), but he's been expanding his horizons lately! He's quite a fan of a raspberry tea Minna has concocted from her garden ^^

2) What is their grooming routine?

He keeps it pretty simple; a long time on the road has cemented the habit of doing the bare minimum, and being able to do it quickly. He used to use a knife for shaving, but after a particularly nasty nick on his neck, he gave in and bought a quality straight razor that he is very particular with caring for. He shaves whenever his stubble gets long enough to bother him (usually every few days) and bathes whenever he feels a bit too nasty to handle. This varies wildly depending on what he's getting up to at the time and how sweaty/bloody/dirty he is. Usually it's at least once a week, though.

His hair is uh... Well. He'll give it a quick comb every day so it doesn't get tangled, but it's only cut out of necessity and he refuses to let someone other than his own knife do the job. Part of his morning routine is putting his hair up in a short ponytail (or, if it's gotten long enough, a tight bun), and he doesn't take it down until he's settling down for the day.

Basically. The TL;DR is that he takes care of the necessities so he's not a complete mess, but he never really learned how to clean up proper, so anything he does know has been taught against his will in his adulthood.

5) What was the last time they cried, and under what circumstances?

This depends wildly on what point in his life we're talking about hsdfkj so like. I'm just gonna go with later in his life when he's got his shit more figured out bc I wanna talk about him and eloise hehe

The last time he cried was when they were arguing over a particularly risky move he took without consulting anyone on their latest commission, because even if things had worked out, it was at a great risk to his own life, and eventually, Eloise just. yells at him. That he's always trying to sacrifice himself like some idiot martyr, like he still has something to prove, and isn't it enough to live for us?

And he just. Freezes. Because oh, oh. He can't remember the last time he's tried to live. Something inside him just breaks, and suddenly he's crying, and there's a long, long conversation ahead of them once he gets it out of his system.

Arvidus

7) Describe the shoes they’re wearing.

Leather boots, baby! It's such a hardy material that they're pretty resistant to his powers, and he doesn't have to worry about replacing them all the time. Honestly, they've just gotten comfier with age, and he loves them. They're shorter boots, near his ankles and have thinner, flexible soles so he can feel the ground well. One of the joys of being a catperson is being able to climb things real easy and whatnot, so he likes to wear shoes good for the job!

8) Describe the place where they sleep.

Unless out on the rare adventure, Arvidus will usually sleep at his family's temple! Or, well, that's what he calls it, at least. In reality, it's one that was long abandoned, the grounds crumbling under a cliff eroded too far by the sea. He and a few other heretics make a home there, and have refurbished the place a bit. Though there was certainly enough space to have solo bedrooms if they so wished, the group was quite accustomed to all sleeping in the same room, so Arvidus most often will fall asleep to the sounds of others around him, though never the warmth of another body (he doesn't trust himself to touch others in his sleep). He doesn't really need warmth in all of his body, nor comfort, but he sleeps in a little nest of blankets nonetheless, tucked away in a cozy corner where he can see the room well in the moonlight.

10) What objects do they always carry around with them?

He usually has a small kit of maintenance tools for his prosthetics, as well as smaller scrap parts for quick repairs! They are, unfortunately, needed fairly often. He also will always carry his artifact just above his heart, small enough to wear as a necklace. It never comes off for anything, if he can help it.

Minna

2) What is their grooming routine?

She takes great pride in her hair, and has a lot of products for it! Conditioners, hair oil, various combs, etc etc; she tends to use products specifically made for snakepeople, since their skin can react Weird with stuff that's normally fine for others. She usually opts to style her hair in two braids, although she may opt for something more fancy or simple depending on how she's feeling. She braids her own hair, and really enjoys being able to zone out and focus on a bit of grooming! Her hair doesn't get greasy often, so she doesn't have to wash it very often.

She doesn't fully bathe often, as too much water can be bothersome for her scales. Instead, she washes the skin that needs washing and will spend some time enjoying the humidity of a nice bathhouse! She doesn't have a ton of scales, but the ones she does have are pretty much self-cleaning, as they shed about once a month. She haaates it because it's itchy as all fuck, and one may often catch her mindlessly picking at her scales during this time (and then having to soothe the inevitable irritation it causes).

Dressing herself is one of her favourite parts of the morning, and she likes to take her time with it! Picking out a cute dress for the day and accessories to match is the best therapy! Unfortunately, it's not something that can happen every day (it's gotten expensive trying to take care of bloodstains on her good fabric), but she takes great joy in the days when she can!

3) What was their most expensive purchase/where does their disposable income go?

Fabric, accessories, plants, and various weapons make up most of Minna's indulgent purchases! By far the most expensive one is her signature greatsword, as she went all out on getting a weapon that would hopefully last her a lifetime.

8) Describe the place where they sleep.

Depends on the day, as she has her own little home in town, but she also has a bedroom in the guild hall that she'll use whenever she has an early day of training new recruits ahead of her! Either way, she likes lots of blankets and pillows; if one sneaks in on her sleeping, she'll probably be bundled up with only her head peeking out just enough to get air. She likes things cozy and cute, and the softer the mattress, the better! Her own home has a bed large enough to comfortably fit two, and it's a small miracle that she ever manages to get up in the morning, it's so soft n comfy!

#oc: lyric #oc: arvidus #oc: minna #ask game #long post #ty again for the ask wahh!! this is so much fun <33