#threat vs reward

[astaroth1357]

Devildom "Marriage/Proposal"

Again. Probably not too Christian-coded in Hell.

Contents: Satanic themes, possessive behavior mentioned

~♡♡♡~

First off, there's a big difference between a demon bonding with another demon vs. binding to a human. There's a lot more equal ground in the former, but the power dynamics are inherently different in the latter.

Traditionally, a demon "marrying" a human is usually used as the highest form of reward to an incredibly loyal follower. It's basically a way for a demon to point them out and make it clear, "This one is my favorite!"

Demons binding themselves to humans out a genuine connection is not unheard of, of course, but it's frightfully rare. Only handful may every do this at a time and not even Solomon has managed to pull it off despite the number of pacts under his belt.

It's this rare because to reform the new pact, the demon has to give up their grimoire (the books that more or less act as substitute for a demon's heart and soul) to their partner. It's like handing away the essence of their very being to another.

When demons bind with each other, the grimoire exchange is mutual. However, since humans don't have grimoire, binding to a human is seen as an act of extreme sacrifice and humility on the demon's part. It's truly the only kind of pact they have where the risks lie mostly with them.

Possessing a demon's grimoire is like literally owning the blueprint to their bodies. All of their powers, history, thoughts, and fears are detailed out within them. Every single weakness or spell to control them hides inside as well...

Because of this, demons take this decision very, VERY seriously. If your relationship falls apart, you don't want something that important left in the hands of your ex. A vast majority of demons never even show their grimoires, much less give them away.

A demon will only ever have one grimoire to share, so they can only ever be bound to one individual at a time. A human can technically be bound to multiple demons and having a binding pact does not erase lesser pacts, but again, it would be rare.

When an individual is in possession of a demon's grimoire, they will always be able to materialize it with just a slight flick of the wrist. Having it on their person will also be enough for them to summon the owner at will, barely a whisper necessary.

A demon will already show up stronger than usual if they're summoned by their grimoire, but using any added enchantments inside will only increase their power tenfold. A good caster can turn their partner into supercharged war machine with minimal effort.

There's a certain oneness between the pair that comes from binding that goes far beyond your average pact. The demon and their partner get the heightened ability to "read" each other. It's not full on telepathy, but they gain a preternatural sense for just how the other is feeling. An entire conversation can be held in the span of seconds with merely few glances and a shrug between them.

Demons are also EXTREMELY protective of their bound partners, which kind of makes sense considering what they're carrying around. They're not very good at hiding it either. We're talking full fangs out and deep, guttural growls at even the most minor of threats.

The offer of the grimoire is technically seen as the "proposal" and acceptance commences the "marriage." It's a big deal with when high-ranking demons decide to do this, so it's often celebrated by a public wedding ceremony.

The Grimores

Lucifer's grimoire has a real gothic flare to it. The whole thing is jet black leather with blood red rubies fixed to the spine and fine layer of gold leaf pressed into the corners. No matter where it's being kept, cover will always feel a bit cold to the touch... The pages are thick and textured, with every word inside written inside done in a careful, nearly mechanical hand. Perfectly legible. Technically flawless. Though certain pages are written with some hesitation, particularly the ones that go over his past...

Mammon's grimoire is, arguably, the most beautiful of the bunch. It's snow white with brilliant gold accents on the spine and along the edges. His personal sigil, painted in shimmering light, takes up most of the front cover and mesmerizes any eye that catches its shine. It's a little on the slim side, though, due in part to how thin pages are inside. Reading it can be a bit messy because the caster can always see whatever words have been scrawled out on the back of the page...

Leviathan's grimoire looks like something straight out of a sunken treasure chest. The brownish-violet leather used to bind it feels real, and it is, though it couldn't have come from any mortal creature on land. The edges are worn down and cracking from neglect, giving the whole thing a certain fragility over the rest... The pages are yellowed and hard from water damaged, yet the words inside still survive... even if parts of them are a tad smudged.

Satan's grimoire could probably pass for 18th century notebook. It too is leather bound, but it doesn’t have the same flare as his older brothers'. If anything, it has a very DIY feel to it, where the cover has a little glue in places it shouldn't and the rough-feeling pages don't all fit quite right. It feels more like a field journal than a demonic tome, perhaps adding to the distinct aura of rebellion radiating off of it... The script inside seems to change from page to page with some part written neatly and other parts apparently scrawled out in a rage. Legibility may vary.

Asmodeus' grimoire looks more like a decorative art piece than a book at times... The wine red cover is smooth and shiny with polished gems affixed like a spider's web on the front. Asmo's grimore is unique in that it is the only one that comes with a lock on it, one that can only be lifted by a spell only he knows. The penmanship inside is naturally beautiful, though sometimes the added flare of loops and flourishes gets in the way keeping everything readable.

Beelzebub's grimoire is deceptively simple looking compared to the others. It looks like your standard leather-bound book and aside from its surprising thickness, not much stands out about it. Even the engraving of his sigil on the cover doesn't have any extra color or shadow to it. But when it's open, the most gorgeous words lie inside as if penned by a master calligrapher. Every bit of space is used appropriately and each letter is clean, clear, and fluidly handled. It's not only legible, it's breathtaking and obviously done with a lot of time and care.

Belphegor's grimoire looks like a void in the space around it. It goes beyond the jet black of Lucifer's cover to an almost true black from cover to pages. You wouldn't even know that it's made of leather unless you felt it because it reflects no light and it betrays no design. Running a hand across it, though, does reveal the ridges of Belphie's sigil craved into the front and back cover. The black pages all have words are written in a bright, silvery, and iridescent ink. Parts of the pages also look seem to contain spilled stardust ready to fly off into the air. The penmanship is a little simple, compared to the rest, but nothing that can't be skimmed at a glance if need be.

Diavolo's grimoire could kill a man from its weight alone. The book is far too big for any shelf and thick with heavily textured, papyrus-like paper. No matter who has it, it will always feel as if a supernatural force is trying to pull it from their hands... Seeing much past its burgundy, black, and gold cover is more or less impossible but what's there truly befits royalty. Every aspect of the design is flawless, with polished onyx as black as night embedded in the spine and ancient symbols peppered between golden spindle-like filigree. One can only imagine what exactly is so forbidden on the inside though...

Barbatos' (true) grimoire is an honest to god mystery... No one has ever seen it and Solomon theorizes that he keeps it in a particularly empty timeline. If asked what it looks like, Barbatos will share that it's simply "a green book," but not elaborate much farther before changing the subject... One has to assume, though, it's probably as thick as a tree trunk with all the history within those pages and for the cover...? He's had all of the time in the world to make it something truly special.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #shall-we-date-obey-me #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me headcanons #obey me worldbuilding #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos

[ac3may]

" the wag diaries "

How You Met

~ Leah Williamson ~

~~~~~~~~~~

if being called up to play in England’s 2022 Euros wasn’t rewarding enough

it was also what led you to meet Leah

outside of a rival environment at least

despite playing in the WSL from 16-yrs-old and junior England squads from even younger, the nerves for your first senior call-up were real

having your older sister, Millie, and her vast experience, accompanying you should have been comforting

but the moment she teased you over your stuttered introduction to the skipper you were questioning whether that was true

you’d known each other less than a day before Leah was helping you through a panic attack

and another 48 hours later and you were pulling her out of her own stress spiral 

a moment that happened to lead to a movie playing on her laptop and her head on your chest as she napped

but you accepted that a crush on the England captain was probably not a recommended thing to act on

unfortunately Rachel and Millie (aka your honorary pains in the ass) wouldn’t let it go quite so swiftly

with their encouragement, you found yourself in for some harsh rejection

Leah didn’t feel mid-competition was the right time to begin a relationship 

particularly not with a fellow teammate

despite it being expected, it hurt

as quiet as you tried to keep it the news spread

your camp mums (Lucy, Mary & Jill) finding out particularly fast

the mother hen in them all jumped out, leading Leah to receiving a stern talking to

and maybe some threats

hearing the message loud and clear Leah spent days asking to speak to you

not intending to hurt you, she had just done what she thought was best for both of you

after some incredible, slightly mortifying, begging you finally let her explain

in doing so you realised just how much you’d missed her

enjoying falling into the routine of laughing with and teasing the older blonde

but when Leah let it slip she did feel the same, you have to make a bet

“Oh, so you do like me back, Miss Williamson? Hmmm. That’s not what you said before”

*splutters in response at the cockiness*

“Well in that case how about we make a deal? If we win the Euros you have to take me out. And then we can reconsider this whole girlfriend thing?”

Leah had never found herself so speechless

she was usually the one making bold claims not the other way around 

she liked it

she had to agree

and low and behold you won the euros 

unfortunately the mass introduction of media to both of you following the Euro’s was not healthy for your relationship 

nor was the league rivalry of Arsenal vs. Chelsea when you were both as passionate for your teams as you were

you didn’t even make it to Christmas

but of course that wasn’t the end of your story

as passionate as you were about football you were about each other too

it came down to figuring out a balance 

the realisation came first to Leah when she got injured and the one thing she longed for more than anything was to have you at her side

two weeks later you were playing your dream match-up

a Champions League semi-final, away at Camp Nou

what wasn’t a part of the dream was the part where your sister limped off the pitch, an injury in her knee

and even less dreamlike was the moment where you got barged roughly, mid-save

the shove causing you to land uncomfortably on your shoulder, excruciating pain immediately shooting through your body 

after being rushed to the hospital, you’re told later that evening you had severely torn your rotator cuff

worse than that, you were out of the Champions League

you were out of the game for at least six months according to the doctors

joining the ranks of the England injury gang you spent even more time with Millie

who had happened to be spending a lot more time with Beth Mead

who was of course spending time recovering with Leah

Millie knowing she was likely to be back in time for the World Cup forced you into outings with the Arsenal players

she thought it’d help you process your injury and loss

it only made you hurt more, seeing how distraught Leah was 

and not being able to help

you had more time for these big competitions

even the last one still felt like a fluke to you!

slowly though you returned to the roots of your friendship with Leah

supporting each other when you needed it most

taking it slow this time you worked to build a healthier relationship

you developed good communication and set plans in place for when you were stressed

or competing against each other 

~~~~~~~~~~

If any of you have ever read my Wattled story Amorousness about Leah, this is essentially an amalgamation of all the ideas I had for that. So spoiler alert ig?? But also I don't know if I'll ever finish the full fic so I'm glad it'll exist somewhere!

#wag diaries #ace writes stuff #lionesses #woso x reader #woso blurb #leah williamson x reader #leah Williamson blurb #arsenal women

[carrymelikeimcute]

I'm in my feels again so lets talk about Izzy Hands and violence.

I read a novel ages ago, where an older guy takes a young orphan boy under his wing and teaches him a trade - it's medieval times and said boy becomes a young adult and wants a sword, but his pseudo-father/boss/friend tells him he can't have one, because if he has one, he'll draw it and if he draws it, he could be killed. The safest thing is, paradoxically, to carry no weapons. To learn control of one's temper and control over your surroundings.

The scenes of Izzy and Stede in ep.7 at Jackie's reminded me of that novel.

Obviously Izzy has weapons, tends to put his hand on his sword during arguments and we do see him fighting and killing people. HOWEVER, I think it's really interesting that, given how often we talk about Izzy being repressed (emotionally/sexually/gender-ly) and how controlled he attempts to be, we don't often talk about his controlled approach to violence.

A lot of fic characterises him as someone who is hot tempered and violent, but looking at s1 with fresh eyes, between him and Ed, he's definitely not just the cooler head when it comes to instigating violence, but the one who takes less interest in violence for its own sake as a performance - e.g. Ed's very creative instructions with the tiny fork, the toe thing etc vs Izzy just stabbing Stede. It's a means to an end.

Don't think I'm not saying he has a fucking temper and a half, because he obviously does, but that seems to mostly be vented non-violently through yelling - not yelling at strangers either, but at people he knows and can (usually) judge where the line is.

Until he puts a toe over that line and...oops.

On first meeting Stede, Izzy cuts up his shirt without actually hurting him. It's a threat, but he hasn't drawn blood, hasn't started anything violent...yet. It's almost a display intended to dissuade actual fighting, by showing your potential opponent that they're probably going to lose.

I think one of the reasons Izzy's so annoyed about their losses in the battle with the Spanish is that it's not their fight. They didn't get anything from it - it was pointless (to him, not to Ed obvs). He wants to avoid facing the Spanish again in the following episode, because they stand to lose more than they will gain.

Even when he's actively calling for Ed to kill Stede, he isn't fussy about how. (And he uses manipulation to keep his hands clean - something he does again when selling Ed out to the navy.) Stede needs to be gone, and this is the easiest way to do that. And when he does finally lose it he doesn't just attack Stede without warning - it's within the controlled setting of a duel, which, when Stede starts improvising, breaks down Izzy's control and leads to him becoming emotional, making a mistake and getting his sword broken.

In s2 the pointlessness of the raids is obviously getting to him, disrupting a wedding for no real gain. Losing Ivan for nothing. I don't think the violence is what bothers him, he's a very active participant, but the fact that it's not for anything - it's not enough of a reward in and of itself. (It's like not really caring one way or the other about being a barista, it's just what you do and it's fine, but then suddenly you're not being paid and also your boss keeps burning you with the steam wand on purpose and you just sort of wish you could just get on with your job and make rent like before.)

S1 Izzy seems to lack the whimsy and imagination that Ed/Stede bring to piracy and to violence, but that doesn't make him stupid. They're playing some kind of made-up game that only they know the rules for, and he's trying to play chess with everyone, even when the rules are only a burden to him.

When we see him training, he's being a dramatic candlelit bitch, but he's also measuring his movements, focusing intently and not just hacking away at everything. Even the candles are interesting to me in this context - we see him playing with candles several times in S1/2 and while yes, there is a certain amount of 'Izzy likes pain' in there to unpick, it's also kind of a metaphor for control - fire is one of the most dangerous things to have on a 'wooden vessel' but a candle is like a tiny pet fire that you control - so long as you're careful and respectful. It's all about risk management, respecting dangerous forces and being aware.

When Stede kills Ned, Izzy looks impressed, even seems to smile for a second, but then he looks more subdued and tells Ed that the first kill is a head-fuck. It's like he's proud of Stede being ABLE to kill, but regretful that Stede CHOSE to kill in a situation where it wasn't necessary at all.

I don't think for a moment that Izzy regrets killing most of the people he kills as part of pirate life, but I think he would regret killing someone he didn't have to. Most people wouldn't want to carry that around with them.

We see in ep7. that Izzy is well respected at Jackie's. He tells bigger guys than him to fuck off and just takes people's chairs. He gets called 'Mr. Hands' instead of by his first name. There's a lot of respect there and I think some of it comes from his reputation with Ed, but also, from people knowing that he's not insane - he can be treated respectfully and everything will be fine for all involved. He's not some menace that's going to stab you as likely as pat you on the back.

For all that people are afraid of Blackbeard (and maybe slightly in awe of Stede as of the Ned thing) for their unpredictable natures and occasional violent outbursts, people are still attacking them or pandering to them, actual respect is something else entirely.

Later, Izzy doesn't pull a weapon and tries to discourage Stede from doing so, even tries to get him to leave to prevent a fight from starting. In the fight, he smashes a stool over someone and doesn't just start killing people - it's an appropriate level of violence for the situation, not an escalation.

It feels like Izzy is very much in that place of controlling himself, being aware and knowing when and how to use force practically, proportionally and effectively. This might be age related, but it's also a big part of his personality. I think that's also why he looks impressed by what Zheng does to Steak Knife (rip) because it's so precise, bloodless and quick. She's basically the best captain for him - she's efficient and controlled.

It's easy to confuse 'is willing to kill' with 'is eager to kill'. I don't think Izzy necessarily loathes that part of his job, he seems ambivalent, but it is still a job to him. It's what pirates do, much as the crew of the Revenge do still kill people, it's just part of their life and not some kind of performance or fun activity. It's work, and it's hard and it's unpleasant and if something can be done an easier way - a smarter way - then that's probably the best way.

#ofmd #ofmd spoilers #izzy hands #israel hands #ofmd meta #izzy hands is a character and a half #character discussion #long post

[msfbgraves]

Work vs Jobs

What I'm going to say is not in any way new - you can read Marx, Chomsky, Graeber, Bregman if you want to ponder it at length, but in the offline world it is still seen as a radical idea.

When reading about the sandwich- to- minimum wage- ratio, I saw all these Tumlblr comments basically going: (sobbing) 'fuck you, I'm not gonna buy that (sobbing some more').

So then I thought: if so many of us are cutting back on things like sammies because who indeed would pay €8 for a döner or $10 for a sandwich, how can this not cause a recession?

And then I remembered a Jon Stewart interview with some banking hotshot, saying that yes, because of the pandemic there were fewer laborers around, and yes, we absolutely had to force them to take jobs with bad pay, because supply and demand doesn't go for multinationals, so yes, they had to raise interest and prices artificially to force a recession, cannot be helped, how else would anyone work?

There's so many people who share that view, that if you didn't force people to take jobs, they wouldn't do any work, especially unpleasant work. A uni friend of mine who supports the German Green Party had argued vehemently against a basic income for that reason, because who would deign to clean the streets if they weren't forced to by threat of starvation, homelessness and having their children taken away?

And I need you all to know that experiments with basic income have proven that this is utter, and I mean utter bullshit. Even The Atlantic is seeing now, that there are people for whom working wasn't worth it because of the abysmal conditions, have begun working when the pay was high enough to justify the cost of work - in time or commute or rent.

There's this protestant view of the human spirit that suffering is somehow good for the soul, and this medieval catholic idea that the concept of "work" and "doing penance" is somehow one and the same, and therefore it is morally just to make others and yourself suffer through work, possibly to get a pat on the head from God, whose existence is taken as a given. And that has bled into the idea that jobs are

-morally just

-supposed to be awful, because good for the soul. The more intrinsically rewarding a job, the lower the wages, that's why caring for your own family is unpaid work the world over (both important and intrinsically rewarding)

-something you have to force sinful people into against their will

And both research and experience have proven time and time again that this isn't good, neither for people nor human society at large.

-First of all suffering doesn't make you a good person, ask Art Spiegelman, writer of MAUS, when talking about his father;

-Miserable workers do worse work, ask, well, any labour board in any country

-People actually choose to work for wages when the benefits outweigh the costs, ask the Finnish Government's minimum wage pilot, and the Mincome project.

If you guarantee people housing and a livable income whether or not they choose to work for wages, a few things happen:

People who couldn't afford to work less than fulltime because the cost of care would outstrip the benefit of wages, now choose to take on smaller jobs, stimulating both their wellbeing and the economy;

An increase in informal care makes sure that so many fewer people get sick (excluding antivaxxing tradwives, goodness knows what they're about....), costing the economy billions less

A greatly reduced crime rate, and far fewer incarcerations.

The reason why we're mostly not in a recession that several people who weren't working before, because of high wages, actually ARE working now and nobody needs to bully somebody out of their small business to become a barista at an understaffed Starbucks instead.

What people have been doing, however, is quitting pointless jobs that were actually killing them and keeping them away from their families.

And sure, corporations do not like that.

They need people tired and absolutely miserable so they spend their meagre disposable wages on immediate relief: overpriced food and alcohol, forcing them to clock back in until they die.

If a few employees die, that is absolutely fine. Cost of doing business. We need a critical mass of employees to replace them. You can replace a dead person with a former small business owner, no biggie.

If people get sick, they do not carry any - and I mean not any - of that cost. Society does, but they're not in society, they're in business. Money is not the means to an end, money is the entire end, no matter the cost.

They need to extract as much 'value' out of people as they can, then discard them. Again, it's not about making the employees do good work, it's about having their labour be of very short term gain, and having enough surplus people to be able to work employed people to death.

For that, they need to create poverty where, by rights, there isn't any.

And even they understand that people do not hold with that. So they conflate the idea of "labor", i.e. activity to sustain to make something new, sustain something or improve something, with the idea of a "job" - a position where you, potentially, are used to get a few shareholders richer with no regards for your wellbeing or that of your community, and if you want to get an increase in wages, you have to accept that your time spent there will be increasingly miserable. There are good jobs and bad jobs - indeed some jobs need you functioning at a minimum level of physical health, or are indeed fun, but even they will make you artificially miserable, either by forced poverty (you are a teacher! That is so rewarding! Of course you make nothing!), or moral injury (not only are you not doing anything useful, you are actively making people's lives worse). And they tell you this is necessary, like that episode in Black Mirror where someone has to kill three people or the world will come to an end. People have to be employed, otherwise the economy will tank, making everybody's lives super duper awful and nobody will ever even bother to come out of bed anymore.

There's is useful work done in jobs, but they are not the same thing.

If you guarantee people food, housing, and healthcare, they take better care of themselves, their loved ones, their environment, choose work that suits them, be it about the amount of hours or the kind of work, commit fewer crimes, spend more on fun, make more art, raise more children (their own or others), have fewer addictions. Exploitation is only in the interest of like 5 big companies in the world right now, and they exploit people so they neglect other people who also then have no other choice to get exploited until they die. So please let no one ever tell you that, because there is obviously a lot of work to be done, people have to be forced into jobs. Work is a necessary activity, a job is a place where work may or may not be done under artificially miserable conditions (or what economists think are miserable conditions. Dentists get paid so well because everybody thinks it is a horrible job; meanwhile, I've known a fair few, and those who choose it enjoy it well enough! And yes, every office has a Dwight, but those people truly are outliers).

The person who says "no one wants to work anymore" or "without jobs no work will get done" and especially "without us the economy would tank" are lying through their teeth! Especially those people who say that about "tanking the economy". They're trying to artificially tank it right now! To make people stop doing work they deem necessary and start doing jobs that benefit only the corporations!

Work is necessary, and people will always want to work, and work for wages too. Jobs are designed to be prisons under the current conditions. They will only be opportunities if you can freely choose to leave them at any time, with no risk to your wellbeing.

#wage slavery #capitalism

[doberbutts]

Hi, I recently came across a post of yours that said

"The only thing men have to lose from supporting feminism is misogyny. Feminism is not about tearing men down. It is about lifting women up."

I disagree with this assertion. Well, the first one at least, I absolutely agree with the second one.

I think men, materially speaking, do have things to lose from supporting feminism, aside from just misogyny.

Men would lose the ability to take advantage of women's labor. Either for free in the form of labor around the house, or for cheap by paying them less compared to men (this usually being achieved by relegating the majority of women in the workforce to positions that have been devalued as a result of being associated with womanhood, like teachers or nannies or housekeepers and so on).

I don't believe it's dangerous to acknowledge that oppressors dont have material reasons to cease their oppression, because after all if they they would've stopped a long time ago. Misogyny is pervasive not because of some pure ideological effort, but rather because it's a convenient excuse for the people in power to take advantage of a quite large subset of the world population (and as consequence spread as an ideology).

Of course I do think that quite a lot of men, once they understand this reality, would choose to reject the privilege being offered to them as they recognize accepting it would mean taking part in and upholding the system, but in doing so they're clearly not only giving up misogyny, but a tangible advantage in life that would make their lives easier (not to mention that, even if they did want to do this, the system is nonetheless pervasive and inescapable in its current form, so they would still benefit regardless of their intention. That's male privilege, after all)

I also do believe that men of all sorts suffer from living under the system. I reject the idea that all men equally benefit from it and that none ever feel its aftereffects. That being said, I do still think it's relevant to acknowledge that even men whose manhood is questioned by the system (either rejected or seen as a threat or any other way in which it doesn't fit the perfect idea of a wealthy abled cishet white man) and suffer as a result are rewarded for being men in the first place, even if they can't take full advantage of the benefits reserved for the ideal male archetype.

(I'm largely leaving my thoughts on how trans men fit in all this because I believe that to be a fairly complicated discussion)

I hope I don't come across as picking a fight or arguing in bad faith, and I'm open to hearing counterpoints if you feel differently from me (of course, if you even care to engage at all. Feel free to ignore this if that's not the case)

I mean I don't think you're picking a fight I just think you're dramatically misunderstanding what I'm saying, partially to the point where you're saying you disagree while repeating my logic back at me.

Men have nothing to lose from supporting feminism except misogyny. Taking advantage of women's labor is, in fact, misogyny.

Feminism is not about tearing men down but about lifting women up. Yes, by losing male privilege, one could I suppose argue that there are a lot of losses that come with that. To me, that is not a material loss, because the only thing we'd be removing is the entitlement to that privilege.

When I say feminism is not about tearing men down but about lifting women up, what I mean is this:

There is a fairly well documented pay gap, with men of most demographics being paid higher (even if marginally so) than women of equal demographic. Fixing the pay gap isn't lowering men's salaries. It's raising women's. What they have stays the same. What they lose is the ability to pay women less- the misogyny.

There is a fairly well documented disparity regarding women in the workplace vs men, especially in physical labor and in STEM. Fixing this issue does not remove jobs for men- it judges job candidates on their actual ability instead of sex or gender.

This is also what I mean when I say this contributes to a net positive for both sides: don't hire a shitty welder just because he's the only man applying. Hire any number of the experienced and proven welders that are women who also applied. Return to teaching welding in schools, get any kid interested in the trade the knowledge they need to start. This will not only improve the quality of the trade skills your specific employer has to offer, but it will also improve the quality of trade skills for the future generation that will replace you when you retire or die. Literally the only thing men have to lose in this situation is misogyny- the misogyny of keeping women out of the workforce, and the misogyny of keeping women from learning the trade in the first place. They get more qualified people working and all for the low low cost of not being a jerk to women.

Misogyny, like most oppression, is about control. It is not about making things better for just one demographic, because often time that very same demographic does suffer under that oppressive system while simultaneously benefitting from it. As said in my previous example, continuing to hire shitty welders just because they're dudes while deliberately passing up good welders just because they're women just makes things worse for everyone.

Not accepting college applicants just because they're women while taking substandard men who can't get in without daddy's money just makes things worse for everyone.

Continuously questioning the credentials of accomplished and professional women traching a class while nodding along in agreement to some jerk-off man's half-assed non-researched opinion on twitter just makes things worse for everyone.

Voting for Old White Man #736194 because his opponents with politics that align more closely with what the country wants- and needs- are women just makes things worse for everyone.

Ditch the misogyny. That's all. Level the playing field by actually bringing women up to the standard we've set for men. Feminism is about lifting women up.

[mellifexfarm]

do you think people would get mad at me if i dyed a chicken pink with cochineal. do you think it would get me death threats. im trying to determine risk vs reward

[doodlegirl1998]

In your opinion in regards to the Sports Festival, which arc would you say had the most disappointing/ abysmal conclusion or just ?

Looking back through them, in my opinion, I personally do think the Sports Festival takes the cake imo.

It started out strongly enough. Yes, so many readers have brought to attention the flaws the whole concept of the Sports Festival, but it also was a good starting point to introduce us more of Izuku’s classmates and flesh them out.

We see a setup for Todoroki and we get to know more about him and his story, as well as setting up for a rivalry between him and Midoriya.

We get to see more of Uraraka, such as what drives her (having a sustainable job to help her parents back), and showcasing it’s great to rely on friends, but sometimes there’s battles you’ll have to learn to fight on your own.

We are introduced to interesting characters like Kendo, Testsutestsu, Monoma, and the rest of 1-B.

We also see more moments of the rest of 1-A like Ashido, Yaoyorozu, Iida, Ojiro, and of course Tokoyami, who seems to be the new, mysterious powerhouse.

We also see Midoriya on his absolute A-Game, relying on his wits alone to get through the obstacle courses! This was peak Midoriya in my opinion. Not just in him being successful in the festival, but him being human to the other competitors, particularly with Shinsou and Todoroki.

SO many characters with great potential and plot points to consider, and it got me to thinking, “Who’s actually going to win this?”

Oh, and Bakugou is just acting like an absolute dip**** throughout the arc, but who cares about that, right?

Well, apparently HORIKOSHI cared.

Bakugou had no impactful or actual significance to the story, just kept insisting“I’m gonna win! I’m gonna win!” And all of a sudden he wins the entire thing. All the while being an asshole to everyone around him. So the childish idiot gets his way instead of letting other more interesting characters to shine and Bakugou instead learns something from LOSING to someone other than Deku.

And I recall the first I got finished watching the arc, I thought, “…really? That’s how we’re finishing this? All these characters to focus or benefit from being in the spotlight or at least winning the tournament, and Hori decides to reward HIM? That’s pathetic.”

Anyway, back to my question, do you have an arc where you felt like this the most?

Hi @khonaker 👋,

The most disappointing arc to me was of course the Izuku Solo arc concluding with 1A vs Izuku and Bakugou's apology.

The solo arc seemed to be taking a tonal shift, seemed to be perfect opportunity to focus on Izuku again, seemed to be building up AFO again as an actual threat via Nagant explosion and hinting at DFO in places ("It's your turn," and "This path you have chosen is a thorny one.")

Then 1A vs Izuku, Bkg's joke of an apology and taking him back to U.A crapped all over it. I feel like I haven't gotten as excited over MHA since. Most of the recent arcs are a bunch of empty hype then a huge let down.

I'd also like to give my opinion on the Sports Festival arc specifically since you mentioned this one.

I also found it a huge let down with how it concluded by the very notes of how Shoto's quirk works he should have been able to stomp Bkg with just his ice. ❄️ But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Like you mentioned it fleshed out Izuku's classmates well. It set up a rival class in Class 1B and introduced Shinsou (personally I'd change a few things about him such as have him train prior to Aizawa's mentorship, have him actually be bullied in his backstory and narrowly miss out on entering the hero course by a couple of points.)

I'd change a few things with the one on one battles too because I feel like the Sports Festival would work better with a few shake ups.

Round One

First, Bakugou vs Shinsou and have Shinsou win. This would be Bakugou's pride getting the best of him because he would refuse advice from an 'extra' like Ojiro and pay the price for it.

I'd have Aoyama vs Midoriya. With Midoriya winning. This is to hint at the traitor reveal earlier, to build their bond earlier with their similar self harming quirks.

I'd have Mina vs Momo, just because I feel like they'd be an interesting match up. Momo is versatile and intelligent and Mina is, quite frankly an under used powerhouse and has a quirk that would counter creation. I feel like Momo should win and show off her smarts by creating something to counter Mina's acid. Plus it would build their friendship earlier.

I'd keep Kiri vs Tetsutetsu as it was in canon just because I liked that battle and their friendship that came from it. 🤣

I'd have Tokoyami vs Ibraha and have Tokoyami win.

And I'd keep Mei vs Iida as canon because I found that fight funny.

Then Sero vs Uraraka because that could also link into her growth with wanting to learn to fight hand to hand through failing to win against a more nimble Sero and a poor quirk match up. So Sero would win this.

I'd have Kaminari vs Todoroki with Todoroki winning because I feel like they would be an interesting match up. And Todoroki could similarly stomp him with his ice just like he did with Sero.

Round Two

Shinsou vs Midoriya with Midoriya winning, like how Midoriya's canon first battle went but in round 2 this time so it's more realistic that Shinsou impressed Aizawa and Midoriya being BAMF more - yes please.

Momo vs Sero with Momo winning, I feel like Momo would have to make lots and quickly against someone like Sero who is able to quickly restrain her. It would make for a good battle.

Todoroki vs Iida like canon, Iida gets far into the battle but loses against Todoroki.

Tokoyami vs Kirishima with Tokoyami winning and Kirishima being manly about it. I can see Dark Shadow and Kiri getting along and this would be a good opportunity for them to meet.

Round 3

Midoriya vs Todoroki and the famous "It's your power" moment, I'd have happen here. Along with Midoriya losing, and Todoroki winning

Momo vs Tokoyami, here I would build the foundation for Momo's confidence issues despite her intelligence. I'd have the battle be harder than canon for Tokoyami, but have her make a 'flash bomb' then falter under the pressure of the crowds watching her (maybe insecurity about the amount of skin she had to show, discomfort from the crowds leers) which enables Tokoyami to take her out of the ring. Here Tokoyami would win.

Final round.

I'd have Tokoyami vs Todoroki. Here, this would make sense to have Todoroki lose to a powerhouse like Tokoyami with his weakness being light - not cold. Here it would be realistic that Todoroki's hesitancy to use his fire - to create that light that Tokoyami is weak to - would cost him the match. Plus Tokoyami and Dark I could see being much more concerned for Todoroki than Bakugou was when he passed out.

Therefore in this version of events, Tokoyami (and Dark Shadow) accepting the gold medal with pride, Todoroki being pensive with silver and re-evaulating himself (he can't win every battle with just his mum's ice) and Momo being third (Midoriya breaking himself too much to fight her for third place.)

Let me know what you think of my thoughts and shake up in pairings :)

#mha critical #bnha critical #Anti Shinsou Hitoshi #anti bakugou katsuki #Anti Bakugou

[sadhorsegirl]

@ all the people who dislike how big of a role moiraine played in season 1 of wot on prime.......i feel so disconnected from u i think we might actually be living on different planets lol

expanding and focusing on moiraine's perspective is the best (if not ONLY) way to adapt the early parts of the story in a new medium that doesn't allow for alternating pov the way chapters in a book can. on its face, the initial elevator pitch for wheel of time is a somewhat generic chosen one narrative. as the story progresses it becomes increasingly complex and unique, particularly in how it discusses the nature of prophecy vs interpretation/individual will and rand vs philosophy/religious themes. all of which are ideas that make the series so good in the first place but are also impossible to really capture fully upon initial introduction. this is a series that builds, its rewards are found the longer you stick with it and realize just how much of a falling dominoes situation rj has carefully lined up. and don't forget rand might be The Chosen One™ but you also need to find a way to introduce and set up the rest of the ef5

how do you make that beginning more engaging and give it a better hook? how do you adequately communicate the scale of the threat facing the world and what the dragon reborn even means? how do you make sure everyone in the ef5 is given an adequate amount of screen time? don't focus on the chosen one, focus on THE SEEKER!!!

moiraine can handle world building and exposition a bit better than the rest of the cast, given that she has literally been alive longer and seen more of the world aka can potentially answer audience questions as they come up. she also functions as both insider (aes sedai vs ef5) and outsider (ef5+moiraine vs white tower) as the story progresses, an interesting shift for her character and a cool way to mimic rj's whole thing about showing how easily characters can end up in over their heads. ALSO from a craft perspective, some of the strongest material to come out of the books, and arguably one of rj's greater talents as a writer, can be found in how much characterization is laid out in how characters see/perceive other characters. if you make moiraine the guiding force of the start of the narrative, you can translate this strength rather well to television -- you get to see how she sees the Edmonds field kids.

also. would you deny her the gift of receiving head bc they decided to confirm and expand on her gay little backstory. would u really go as far as to say she doesn't deserve a little (gay) head for all her trouble + suffering

#like i get it i have my i love moiraine goggles but come on lol #she brings so much more focus to the narrative??? without her it would just kind of be?? a split pov mess i feel? #television is different from books idk if anyone knows this #and i say this as a rand girly!!!! it wouldnt have worked to focus too much on him in s1 bc the cast is too large!!! #making moiraine the primary audience guide lets everyone else be introduced more naturally #its like the ppl who dont like rosamund bc shes not short like bro. we literally got an oscar nominated actress who is HOT and u r all #arguing about how they should have had a this tall to ride sign at auditions...be serious.... #wot on prime #wheel of time #moiraine damodred #meta

[whitehotharlots]

On Israel-Palestine, the left's own discourse prevents them from winning

Identity politics are infinitely elastic. The purveyors of identity politics seek not to adjudicate claims regarding truth or morality, nor to weigh the costs vs. benefits of any potential beliefs or actions. The solitary goal of these politics is the establishment of a hierarchy wherein some are broadly deemed "good" according to their identity markers and others are deemed "bad." The Good Ones are always correct, always wise, and always moral. Even their most heinous actions must be understood within an identity context and forgiven as a consequence of uncontrollable social forces. The Bad Ones, meanwhile, are always suspect, typically tainted, and even if they happen to agree with the proper cause their opinions are never fully correct by virtue of emanating from someone who is bad.

This is by definition and design. There is no way around it. And it applies 100% equally to the identity politics we associate with the right wing as it does to those we associate with the left wing.

The trouble is, identity politics do not exist in a vacuum. They are embedded in much larger social and institutional systems in which some people already have power and others do not. These empowered people will not countenance any real threats to their power, and this fact will inevitably be reflected in the design of the identity hierarchies.

Again, this is a very basic observation, and it's why the broad American left spent several decades promoting the ideal of racial blindness: if people succeed or fail not by virtue of their actions or the content of their characters but according the presence or absence of arbitrary markers, people who belong to privileged groups will inevitably succeed, and those on the outside will inevitably fail. The only fair way to run a society is to strive to provide a baseline of comfort and dignity to everyone. Accepting the fact that material wealth will never be distributed fully equitably, we should at least make an earnest attempt to ensure every human has their needs fulfilled, and establish a system for allocating comforts according to objective baselines that reward decency and competence regardless of uncontrollable identity factors.

This paradigm did not result immediate equality, however, and therefore it was evil. Reactionary elements among the identitiarian left began to insist that the idealization of de-racialization was the primary or even sole cause of the existence of racial disparities. We made a horrible mistake in abandoning a system in which comfort is unfairly allocated according to identity. Instead, we should embrace an even more extreme version of such a system, only with the identity poles inverted. Th--that'll fix everything.

While this approach to racist anti-racism has only entered the mainstream in the last several years, it's been percolating among the dumbest factions of the left for decades. One of its stupidest manifestations is found in an analytical frame called "Settler Colonialism," popularized by a book by J. Sakai (a mysterious figure who is almost certainly a fictional creation of some malignant government agency). It's called Settlers, and is summarized by Wikipedia thusly:

Settlers argues that the class system in the United States is built upon the genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of Africans and that the white working class in the United States constitutes a privileged labor aristocracy that lacks proletarian consciousness. Arguing that the white working class possesses a petit-bourgeois and reformist consciousness, Sakai posits that the colonized peoples of the United States constitutes its proletariat.

Awesome, great. Real big brain shit.

Now, of course, First Nations Americans were horrifically displaced, and many Black Americans were horrifically enslaved, and these undeniable facts should have a prominent place in any honest reading of American history. But that's not what Settlers seeks to achieve. The point of the book, and the project it spawned, is to bifurcate the American people into those who are always good by virtue of the (largely imagined and/or inapplicable) historical implications of their identity markers, and those who are always bad according those same implications. It's almost as idiotically dualistic as Ibram Kendi's work, only with some superficial Marxian lingo sprinkled throughout.

The Settlers frame leaves us with two choices, 1) you can recognize that human history is rife with violent conflict, that the present-day locations of all people are a consequence of immeasurably complex struggles dating back millennia, and then work toward a relatively equitable society with the goal of ensuring that no person suffers unduly because of events that occurred years or even centuries before they were born. Or, 2) you can arbitrarily declare some people as the rightful inhabitants of certain areas and others inherently immoral and violent occupiers of those areas. If you choose option 2, the moral calculus remains the same regardless of whether your sympathies lie with the winners or the losers of past conflicts. The framing is reactionary, which is why it's gotten so popular so quickly.

Option 2 might appear to have some material grounding, but in practice it always, without exception, redounds to paper-thin claims of ancestral righteousness. Take, for example, the following cartoon, which I have seen posted sincerely in dozens of venues:

Now, of course, it's fair to say that the wealth of the United States and EU has been built largely via the exploitation of the global south. I'm not denying that. But what is being suggested by this cartoon? East Asia apparently does not exist. Spain and Portugal--two of the most brutal imperial powers of the last millennium--are exempted from the stains of colonial spoils, presumably due to the left's very recent decision that Spanish and Portuguese-speaking people no longer count as white. South America, a continent containing 400 million speakers of Spanish and Portuguese that is 90% Christian, is inscrutably neutral... and so is California for some reason. And, of course, the entire African people have always existed as one cohesive entity, not quite human beings but resources to be mined, their existence bereft of the conflicts, massacres, enslavements, and displacements that have been perpetrated and suffered by every other group throughout the whole of human history.

My point is that didactic manichaeism inevitably results in a very stupid understanding of world events. And the stupidity of this framing is very, very easy to exploit.

The left is fine with this framing when it's exploited by their own--hence the widespread tolerance of white ladies who have gained influential positions within academe by pretending to be Native American or Hispanic. Since the late 1960's, the primary goal of the American left has been to lower the bar of access to the Professional and Managerial class for members of their preferred identity groups. Childish morality plays serve this function excellently. But when it comes to matters of international affairs, the reactionary nature of this frame is impossible to overcome.

Here is the American Jewish Community's online whitepaper about how Jewish people are the rightful inhabitants of Palestine, due to vague claims of being colonized. Here is a midwit actor from Stranger Things proclaiming his support for Israel's genocide of Palestinians by telling American viewers they are the real settlers. Here is a pre-10/7 piece in the Jerusalem Post about how it's terrorism for people to not want to lose their homes to annexation, because Israelis have an ancestral claim to them. Here is a story from the Times of Israel about the purported discovery of a 2000-year-old coin that proves Palestine was always the land of Zion.

All of these pieces come to the same general conclusion, and all are taken from the playbook of the identitarian left.

Feel free to scoff at any of these. Your response does not matter. These claims can be made freely and loudly and effectively because they are being made by empowered people who are playing within the bounds of discourse that you have for designed them. So far as the official narrative is concerned, they are the good guys. Everything they say is correct, by virtue of them being the good guys. And there's nothing you can do to contradict or complicate their claims without casting yourselves among the bad guys.

You have abandoned principles. You have forbidden all considerations of context. You demanded everyone understand the world as good vs. evil. You think you won, and in some narrow areas you have, but it turns out you're not always gonna be the one who gets to makes the designations.

[nayatarot777]

* masterlist - pac readings

last updated: sunday 23rd july 2023

What Do They Find Attractive About You? ~ pac

💗 how do you make them feel? 💗 ~ pac

✨ what does your inner bad bitch have to say? ✨

💌✨ what do you need to know about yourself? ✨💌 ~ pac

what do you need to admire yourself for? ~ pac

🧚🏾‍♀️ Daily Messages 🧚🏾‍♀️ ~ pac

what do you have to be grateful for? ~ pac

🌸 Daily Messages 🌸 ~ pac

🌞 daily messages 🌞 16 oct 2022 ~ pac

✨ what do you need to know right now? + random messages ✨ ~ pac

what do you need to know about your life right now? 🧚🏾‍♀️💌 ~ pac

👀🪃💢how is your return-to-sender hitting? 💢🪃👀

how to deal with the toxic person in your life ~ pac

why are people intimidated by you? - pac

what’s this person’s problem?

what do you need to know right now? ~ messages from your guides 💌

🤍 What Do You Need To Know Right Now? 💌 mini messages

Advice For Your Self Employment

*Spirit The Bounty Hunter* What Karma Do Your Spirit Guides Hand Out To Your Enemies? 🤺🧿🚑

what are the most endearing aspects of your personality?

who do you need protection from?

shadow work messages ~ part one

what would your sexual energy like to tell you? 💌

how do you come across to others (first impressions)?

what about you is a threat to other people? why do people try to tear you down?

what do you need to love yourself for?

how do people view you in public?

who’s mad at you + why?

how to connect to your intuition better

how do they truly feel about you?

how these mfs have you fucked up

{what would your person say to you if they didn’t filter themself?} - oracle pac

{karma for your abusive father}

{what do you need to know right now?} ~ oracle pac

{karma for your abusive mother} ~ oracle pac

what valuable lessons + wisdom do you bless other people with? • oracle pac

{what do they find attractive about you?} • pac

yes or no? • quick reading 💨

{what your inner child would like to tell you 👧🏾🧒🏼💞} • pac

{who’s secretly trying to compete with you?} • pac

what you need to know right now ~ messages from your guides

{your next blessings ✨💫} • pac

how can you find success + happiness in your dating life? • pac {patreon preview}

what does your “sneaky link” think of you? 😏🔗• {patreon preview} pac (18+)

how can you co-create with the universe to attract fortune to yourself? 🪡🎨 • pac 🎴

what conditionings are you stripping away?

{what red flags 🚩 do you need to be aware of in the people that you attract?} • pac

how do men vs women view you? • pac reading

what wishes are you being granted? what will you be celebrating soon? 🥳🎉

do they still think of you? • pac

what do you need to know right now?

what do they adore about you? • love pac

how are your guides rewarding you for your efforts?

what strengths do you have that are not acknowledged by you?

what should you be focusing on right now?

messages from saturn 🪐 • one

who’s talking shit? • pac

messages from the moon • one

divine masculine check in • pac • week one {patreon exclusive}

divine feminine check in • pac • week one {patreon exclusive}

how can you feed your spirit? • pac

what you need to know right now

how does your family view you? • pick-a-card

the positive karma that you have coming in 2024

how do they view you? • love/crush pick-a-card

do you view this person clearly? (preview to extended patreon reading)

who’s sending you evil-eye?

messages from deceased loved ones

the best traits of your future lover 💘💓

first impressions that your future lover has of you 🥰💓

a love letter from you to you 💓

What Does Your Inner-Child Think Of You? • Pick-a-Card

What Do You Need To Know Right Now?

Is There Anyone Who You Need To Be Wary Of Right Now?

Karma For Your Toxic Ex-Friend

What Do You Need To Know Right Now?

#divination #pick a card #pick a photo #pick a picture #psychic readings #spirituality #tarot #pac #tarot reading #pac reading #daily tarot #tarotcommunity #tarot cards #tarot witch #taroteverydamnday #tarotscope #tarotdaily

[imthepunchlord]

What's your opinion about the temporary heroes?

I think they're VERY unnecessary,especially once the unification being introduced as literally as a way to use 2+ powers at the same time,not mixing the powers to create other one,some just have miraculous bc yes(half of them,actually),if there's going a actual miraculous i think it should be the top 5(7 at the end)to keep the things okay,season 2 baby,yk you are the best?

I do agree. Ultimately, they were pointless to do and were the wrong choice of direction.

A big part of it is that unification reveal, all those Miraculous Fu has could've been shared between Marinette and Adrien. Also, Hawk Moth is not a big enough threat to the heroes to warrant expanding the team. Why, the one time they did a "Miraculous Team" it fell apart in minutes. And it still came down to Marinette and Adrien to save the day.

By this narrative, there's no good reason to share Miraculous with others and do temp heroes as Marinette and Adrien are confirmed by the narrative is that they themselves are all they need. And a lot of the episodes with temp heroes getting focus, could be solved by the heroes doing a unify instead, like Pegabug could've appeared in... what Startrain? Marinette could've become Dragonbug to fight Hearthunter, there was no need for her to go out of her way to go get Kagami.

Also some temp heroes were pointless. You could cut Carapace out of Anansi and not miss much. He's also not the only solution to Anansi's web. A burning candle could've taken it out, or Chat could've Catacysmed the web. Ladybug's yo-yo could've been sharp enough to cut it.

Carapce wasn't really all that needed for Anansi.

From what I remember, Vesperia was also pretty pointless in her intro ep, especially as she got knocked out pretty quick. You take her out, only thing you miss is Chloe getting upset that someone else has the Bee, which isn't going to be exclusive to Zoe.

If they were to expand the team, they need to up the threat. And as HM himself doesn't cover that, that could've been done with Mayura.

The other factor is that, doing temp heroes, skips out on needed character growth, and skips out on kwamis being characters. Like, if Alya was a full time hero instead of temp, there's a lot you could do with that.

You can cover Alya struggling to juggle her now double life, cause she's living the dream as a hero! Why would she want to go back to the dull, drab civilian life? This could be a better way to work off Lila alienating Marinette at school cause Alya is living the dream as a hero and isn't paying attention to her civilian life too much. It could even explain her being dismissive of Marinette and her views of Lila cause she's not there enough to see the details.

You can also cover the risk vs reward of reveal vs secrecy, as both sides should have pros and cons to them. And it is a canon issue with Alya that she wants to unmask the heroes, and she's up for a reveal and share that she's a hero. If Marinette represents the pros and cons of secrecy, Alya can cover the pros and cons of a reveal.

And there are other aspects that canon has introduced to work off of. Like, Alya trying to pick the perfect hero name during an akuma attack, showing she's not taking things as seriously as she should. There's her eager for public attention. That being a hero is more for ego and glory, and she can learn that being a hero is a lot more serious and harder and to see if she has what it takes to step up to the plate.

And of course, what Miraculous and kwami she's paired with can influence how she could've grown.

Mindful, all Miraculous by default would work off that secrecy vs reveal, but Fox would specifically really cover that as it's tied to deception and secrecy. It's also set to be a struggle for Alya because she WANTS to be in the limelight, she aims for leadership and to be directly involved, and Fox isn't built for that, it's built to be in the background. Which can help her growth, but can also clash with where she wants to be.

Bee meanwhile has a good few similar appeals for Alya as it does for Chloe. Alya does have similar issues to Chloe in being literally pushy, taking over projections, pushing her agenda, aiming for leadership but not always being the best leader, and can be oblivious to others, their feelings, and any backlash she's causing. Bee ideally could help her learn to ease back, be a team player; and it has the bonus of allowing Alya to be where she wants to be, and can offer some leadership skills to develop, and work on communication and listening.

Over all, the temp heroes were a bad and pointless choice. The narrative doesn't warrant expanding the team as Marinette and Adrien hardly struggled against HM, and the s2 fianle actually discourages it. It skips out on needed character development and allowing kwamis to be characters. And, honestly, not all characters warrant getting a Miraculous.

Max I could get cause he did step up in Robustus. Juleka I can get cause she's set up to learn confidence, find her voice, and has a lot of bottled up emotions to let loose. I could even get Ivan as in Origins, everyone is kinda terrified of him because of his size, so there could've been an arc to change that view, someone who's feared to becoming a hero, become associated with safety instead.

But what's up with Alix to really warrant a Miraculous? Mylene didn't want one and yeah I don't think she really needed one. It's even more wild as I feel like the power to shrink down would just make her anxieties worse. What about Marc who's barely a character? Is the bar so low that you just have to be good at sports?

Yeah, temp heroes aren't worth it nor were they needed. They were a bad choice of direction.

#ask Punchie #ml salt

[wuucchoo]

‘The real reason why the binding vow penalty didnt trigger (yet)’

a theory. yes 212 is still living in my head rent free coz there is a lot that still needs explaining about that whole incident

First the binding vow

Sukuna spontaneously planned this binding vow after he got interested in Megumi, coz he’s real plan was letting Yuji die - since he has more fingers around. When sukuna first offered the binding vow, he only had two conditions: he will take over for a minute when he says ‘enchain’ and Yuji will forget the binding vow. I have a lot to say about how the second condition shouldn't even make sense, but that's not what this is about. It's about the third condition that he just added in there without much thought: ‘sukuna won't harm or kill anyone in that one minute’ and how sukuna broke that condition in chapter 212. Im sure that this has been said before but im just trying to get to something.

Chapter 212

When the moment came for sukuna to take his reward for reviving Yuji in chapter 11, the very first thing he does is break that damn vow. When he got control of Yuji, he first went to Hana/angel (the biggest threat around for him) and put her to sleep. Now, when you forcibly knock someone unconscious, that is harm and I will fight gege on this, i mean look at hana's face 😭. Let's say sukuna had a technique where the person getting knocked out won't feel pain and maybe Hana didn't feel pain, BUT putting someone to sleep like that involves tweaking around with their brain activities which causes harm to a person. Idk, I'm not a doctor. But it should be counted as harm. >:(

Then he goes and turns Yuji’s pinky into a cursed object and cuts it off.

It is the one thing he considers harm, so for sukuna ‘knocking someone out = not harm’ but ‘cutting off someone’s finger=harm’. He took that risk coz he was ready to die that day just to get inside Megumi, and he threw a party when no penalty was triggered. Of course sukuna is a smart bastard, he had to think of a reason why it didn't trigger. And ever since the beginning, he had always looked down on Yuji so the reason he thought of was ‘it didn't trigger because Yuji is a dumbass who didn't include himself in the people that shouldn't be harmed’.

Now, this is what sukuna thought happened, and we know he has been wrong before. He’s smart, but he isn't always right. He thought gojo made some sort of binding vow at the beginning of their fight coz the purple he threw was at 200% output. When in reality, the purple was as strong as it was because of a buff from a cursed technique sukuna doesn't have knowledge of. What I'm saying is, sukuna’s conclusion on why no penalty triggered shouldn't be trusted coz he doesnt know everything.

AND THEN he goes to Megumi, grabs his hands to stop the summon, grabs his jaw and just jams that cursed (cursed!) finger in there. Now THAT is undoubtedly harm. There's just no way that possessing somebody without their consent is not considered harm. Maybe I'm wrong about Yuji and hana, but what sukuna did to Megumi was harm. Sukuna friggin broke that vow in 212. he harmed every soul in that damned rooftop!

Why it didn't trigger

Sukuna's conclusion on why the penalty didn't trigger will immediately fall apart when it's very clear that he harmed Megumi in that 1min. MAYBE Yuji did not include himself in there, but even if he didnt - sukuna still harmed Megumi. The penalty should've triggered when sukuna shoved that finger down megumi’s throat. But it didn't, because of something we have been told in higuruma vs Yuji in the culling game.

Yuji’s guilt

In higuruma vs Yuji, we saw Yuji wholeheartedly admit to commiting mass murder even though everyone knows it was sukuna's fault. Yuta tells him ‘its not your fault’ and he just goes ‘you don't understand’. Higurama was shocked when Yuji pleaded guilty to a crime he didn't commit, and at the end of that trial Yuji was still ‘nah, it was my fault coz I'm weak’.  Megumi however knows what to say to Yuji and instead of telling him ‘its not your fault bestie’ Megumi just says ‘its our fault dummy <3’. Yuji’s guilt is a very huge part of his character, its what his whole culling game arc revolved in. And I think it is the reason why the penalty for the binding vow didn't trigger yet. 

For Yuji, sukuna's crimes are his crimes since it was all done using his body. So for Yuji, the one who harmed everyone in that 1 min in chapter 212 was him, not sukuna. and since sukuna's condition said "I wont harm or kill anyone", the penalty didnt trigger coz the binding vow does not recognize those acts as his as long as yuji feels guilty of it.

this whole binding vow business is just making me think a lot, and i just know we havent seen the last of it yet. it will come back and nerf sukuna i think. and since it has been established that no one knows the penalty of breaking a vow that's done between two sorcerers, then the penalty could be just about anything.

(if anyone actually sees and reads this, hello! |ʘ‿ʘ)╯and feel free to debunk it ✧ദ്ദി( ˶^ᗜ^˶ ))

#jjk theory #jjk thoughts #jjk spoilers #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen theory #jjk 212

[theworldvsyoshiko]

Anyway, thoughts on Anomaly, while it's still fresh in my head:

The main criticisms I've seen of the expansion are...

the reward for dealing with most of the entities is really low vs. the risk/effort. Like the cube, which gives you A Bit Of Gold at the end of like half a year of research, or the fleshmass heart, which is a days-long siege that gives you... basically nothing for defeating it, unless you count having another thing to research.

the Anomaly tech tree, and the entity stuff, is kinda a whole separate thing from the main game, and if you aren't trying to awaken the monolith, you don't have much to gain by getting into it.

For #1... yeah, kinda. On the other hand, I believe that for the most part they're scheduled like any other event. Which is to say you aren't just getting the Golden Cube event, you're getting a Golden Cube instead of a raid or something.

The entity stuff feels to me like a very deliberate attempt to add more varied threats to the game, beyond 'big pack of dangerous stuff that runs at your base.' You've got:

Metalhorrors making you hunt down the people who are infected (how well this works, I'll get into later)

The cube as a weird productivity threat

The labyrinth obelisk teleporting half your base away

Shamblers being a big pack of dangerous stuff that breach your walls along a dozen points instead of charging in through the first opening.

The fleshmass heart as more of a... pruning issue.

The weird game of hide-and-seek with the revenant.

Nociosphere my beloved

etc

Except for the Nociosphere and labyrinth stuff, most of these have very little in the way of rewards. Compared to an endgame raid, though, they mostly feel like less of an existential threat. And lbr, the looted weapons and stuff from a raid go from being a bonus to an active hazard if you're trying to manage your wealth level. There are a lot of situations where I'd rather see one of these pop up than a siege or mech cluster, I'll say that much.

For #2, again, yeah, kinda. Most of the new stuff requires bioferrite to take advantage of--psychic rituals burn through heaps of it, serums need it + meat from some of the entities, refueling the flame weapons uses it... If you want to go all-in on rituals or something, you need a decent amount of entities locked up. More powerful stuff like ghouls require shards, which are even rarer if you aren't awakening the monolith.

Most of it's pretty handy regardless though. I think it's generally well-known by now that ghouls are kinda amazing. The serums... I really should have used the serums, but by the time I got into the end game, it was too late to gear up for it. The flame weapons are nice, particularly the Hellcat rifle--the stat differences from an assault rifle are pretty small, and having fire on demand is useful.

I'm interested to try the new Ambient Horror setting where Anomaly stuff pops up without being a main focus, because I won't know for sure how I feel about it until I see how that works out.

Really, my big complaint would be that a lot of the entity stuff is janky. See:

that time the Unnatural Corpse vanished for like five days for no apparent reason, and only reappeared when it was ready to attack immediately. I downplayed it a bit at the time, but it took me like half a dozen save/reload cycles to find a way around that. The thing's designed to be practically unkillable if you let it get to that point, so it'd be nice if they made sure you had enough opportunity to prevent that. (seriously, the wiki's tips for fighting it are like 'well if you launch yourself to the arctic, naked, and then put on some clothes and do combat meth after the clone appears and outrun it while it freezes to death…')

Metalhorrors just kinda suck. They clearly expect you to play solitaire Among Us to deal with an infection, but there are enough transmission vectors, and the investigation takes long enough, that every single time the answer ended up being 'actually half the colony is infected, and the monsters got tired of waiting and popped out on their own.' Once you do have to fight them, they're tough as hell if you aren't in position to set them on fire, and even fire only helps so much against a swarm of fast melee enemies.

how damn tanky the Revenant is. This wasn't an issue the second time around, but that first one spent like two minutes wandering around the base with people shooting it before it dropped. If you got one early on/with a low-tech faction, that thing would be an existential threat, even once you could semi-reliably track it down.

I never talked about these at the time, but: one type of monster is called a Devourer, and they have the ability to leap about halfway across a screen and insta-swallow people, no save. The only way to get them out is to kill the Devourer before it digests them. Which is fairly doable, but these things also travel in packs, and they're tanky enough that it's hard to kill them all before they're in range. At one point about 3/4 of the colony got swallowed all at once. (Obviously I had to reload that time.)

They're manageable, but I'd definitely want a big balance pass before I ever tried to play this in hardcore mode or on a higher difficulty.

The ending... feels like a more frantic version of the spaceship raids. Instead of 1-2 raids a day for 15 days, you get a series of raids that feel like they're 2-3x size, crammed into what is probably 3-4 days unless you're a lot more confident than I was in your ability to wait it out.

It's probably the one that's been the most difficult for me, but that's partially because I got unlucky. That first wave of structures + attacks destroyed two of the main power generators and busted giant holes in the wall at the start. ... it's also partially because I was going 'well most of the entities that can spawn as generic enemies aren't that bad,' hugely underestimating the mob sizes I'd be dealing with. If I'd made preparations like making sure all the mechs were powered up beforehand, it would have made things a lot easier. I also absolutely should have scattered more lights around the far reaches of the map, but I'd assumed that the monsters would smash them if they had access.

Also for an expansion that tries to vary the threats beyond 'big pack of stuff that runs at your base,' the ending sure had a lot of big packs of stuff running at the base. The light thing was a fun complication, though.

#the world vs. ortiz

[starsfic]

Eagle Vs Snake

Peng has a minor grudge against Xiaoqing for throwing a shoe at their face.

A request from @twinklecupcake starring her OC Xiaoqing! Also can be found on AO3.

-_-

“Okay, I need you to understand this.”

“Yes?”

“Peng will eat you if they get the chance.”

Xiaoqing blinked. Sun Wukong stared at her steadily back, looking eerily serious. She blinked again, and the words finally sank in. Everyone was bustling around, but her mind was nothing but silence. “What… seriously?” She knew eagles ate snakes, but the dynamics of animals didn’t often reflect those of demons at least, when it came to who was the predator or who was the prey.

“Seriously.” Wukong nodded. “I’ve known the guy for centuries. I’m pretty sure the only people they didn’t try to eat were Azure and I.” He leaned forward. “I walked in on them trying to eat Macaque, although I’m still not sure if they were trying literally or metaphorically.”

“Okay,” Xiaoqing started, ignoring Macaque’s baffled “What?” as he grabbed his scarf. She shook her head to dispel the thoughts that were beginning to form. “I didn’t need that image in my head.”

“First off,” Macaque leaned against Wukong. Disgust twisted his face. “When did Peng try to eat me?” Wukong opened his mouth, and the dark-furred monkey clapped a hand over it. “Nope, never mind, I still have icky thoughts.” He leaned against Wukong harder, sending the golden monkey halfway to the floor. Xiaoqing took a step back. “And they did try to eat you after Azure gave you those flowers.” Macaque leaned over to hiss. “Someone threw quite a hissy fit at that.”

Xiaoqing blinked. She didn’t need to know this. Beyond the fact that Peng might try to eat her. “Why would Peng try to eat me specifically?”

 “Well, you did throw a shoe at him,” Tang said from behind, pressing a small dagger into her hand. Where he got it, Xiaoqing was unsure. Still, it was a nice dagger with a green handle shaped like a snake’s head. It fit comfortably in her hand. “I think that might be a problem.”

“Greetings, little girl.”

Xiaoqing wasn’t sure how to identify the emotions in her chest at the sight of the giant white eagle that flung Long Xiaojiao away like she barely weighed a thing. It was hissing and frantic, practically screaming get away, get away, get away. Xiaoqing had never felt like this before.

(The last time she did, her sister was gone in a flash.)

The world was suddenly in chaos. Sandy, Pigsy, and her Bófù were launching into an attack, only for the first to push the two out of the water. Xiaoqing screamed as the hammer slammed into Sandy. She couldn’t help the noise, especially at the crack she could hear deep in the river demon’s chest. “SANDY!” Xiaotian or Pigsy yelled, their voices mingling. Xiaoqing looked away at a gasp and shriek.

No.

The giant eagle’s claws dug into her uncle, pinning him down. She couldn’t smell iron yet, meaning blood hadn’t been drawn yet, but the threat was there. Faintly, she heard Xiaotian cry out, begging for Azure to stop this, but that ball of emotions was overwhelming her. She could barely see that gold flicker.

“If it isn’t the great monk, Tang Sanzang,” the eagle spoke, their voice like a blade being dragged across a wall. Her skin itched. There was a chuckle and Xiaoqing almost bent over with the urge to scream. Where the fuck was this fear coming from?! “You cannot imagine how I’ve longed for this moment.” There was a slam and the ground cracked under Tang.

They’re going to eat him.

Xiaoqing wasn’t sure why she thought of it. She simply pulled off her shoe, giving a mournful goodbye to a piece of her old life, and glared at the eagle. “QUIT THAT!”

They looked up and she threw it.

Her reward was a shriek of more surprise than pain. Peng stumbled back, holding their face, releasing Tang. Xiaojiao launched forward and pulled him closer to her. Xiaoqing launched forward to stand in front of the eagle, glaring at them. Her other shoe was all too easy to yank up and hold up.

“Stay the fuck back,” she hissed.

They released their face. There was no mark or anything, nothing to show how she had attacked, but there was fury in their eyes. “Ooh, you snake.”

She could question how they knew later. Xiaoqing simply hissed as she hefted up the shoe.

“Stay. Back.”

Peng hissed but stepped back. The look in their eyes said it wasn’t over, and Xiaoqing couldn’t help but hiss back.

“...Ah.”

“Don’t worry,” Wukong patted her shoulder. “If everything goes to plan, Peng won’t have time to bother you.”

Xiaoqing nodded and held up the dagger. “Better safe than sorry, right?”

“Right.”

-_-

Right, yeah… better safe than sorry…

The dagger spun away from Xiaoqing’s hands. Her back screamed at the weight on it.

The plus of the plan was that the chaos had divided the Camel Ridge Trio.

The downside was that she wasn’t with Tang and Pigsy and Sandy like planned. Instead, she was out here, with Macaque and Long Xiaojiao, and…

A voice full of poison bubbled with laughter.

“Hello again, little snake.”

No. This time, Xiaoqing refused to stay still. The claws dug in tight as Peng’s mouth opened, yet that didn’t dull the blaze inside her. Nor the pain in her jaw as her teeth shifted. Macaque was nowhere to be seen. She could see Xiaojiao running towards them, but still too far.

She needed to act.

Peng leaned forward, and their claws shifted on her flesh, like a hawk on a handler’s arm.

“Yellowtusk always thought I shouldn’t eat during battles. But he’s revealed himself to be nothing but a party ruiner. So, who cares?” Those claws shifted, and a hand grabbed her hair.

Now.

Xiaoqing allowed her body to shift, loosening Peng’s stance on her and allowing her to bite down on the meat of their lower arm.

That was a mistake. Not to defend herself, no, but the taste. Peng tasted like the ink of the scroll still clung to white feathers, which had an awful texture. Underneath that was the taste of iron and something sickly sweet. Before Xiaoqing could think of what it reminded her of, there was a shriek of “GET OFF!”

And then she was flying.

Xiaoqing screamed. Or hissed, as her body finished shrinking and twisting into her true form. The ground stretched wide below her. Xiaoqing clamped her eyes shut. She didn't know any flying spells even if she had time to shift back. She took a deep breath and prepared-

To hit a warm hand?

“Gotcha!” Xiaoqing opened her eyes in time to see Xiaojiao’s bright smile. Her vibrant green energy dragon shifted under her feet. “Don’t worry, Xiaoqing! I have you.”

Xiaoqing nodded back, unable to help a happy hiss.

“YOU BRAT!”

Peng hovered overhead, gripping their arm. This time, she had left a visible mark, one pulsing. Their eyes went wide before they let out a shriek.

“Hang on,” Xiaojiao tucked her into a pocket Xiaoqing hadn’t seen. From her position, the snake could see Xiaojiao adjust her grip on the sword. Overhead, purple magic began to spread, darkening the area. “Macaque’s ready to go. You?”

She hissed and Xiaojiao laughed.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Let’s give that chicken a taste of venom!”

#my writing #LMK #Monkie Kid #LEGO Monkie Kid #Golden-Winged Peng #Sun Wukong #Tang #Macaque

[thesherrinfordfacility]

(Sorry. Religion grad student) I think another reason why GO only works with Christianity is because the concept of Hell literally doesn't exist in Judaism. Fallen angels don't, either. Satan is an angel who's simply executing God's will by testing his followers. It also ENCOURAGES you to question both God and authority; he gave us free will because he wanted us to use it and think critically. Crowley would be a hero and I know Gaiman has talked about how heavily Jewish coded Crowley is- this is one of the major reasons why lmao.

It's fascinating how Christianity is so focused on the idea of punishment but both Judaism and Islam are rooted in hope. A lot of Christianity works through threats/fear of being "damned" and going to Hell when you die. Judaism says we all end up in the same place anyway so you should just live your best life and be kind. Because you CAN. Not because you don't want to get punished.

Judaism and Islam would argue that God counted on Crowley not killing anyone and Aziraphale helping him during Job.

you guys are keeping me FED✨ i was aware generally that free will is a more explored (if that's the right word) concept in judaism, and i think it does say something that the libertarianism vs determinism argument is becoming more and more opaque in GO...

but yk i never really thought to look at the 'hope' aspect... kant ideas on the presupposition of hope before faith seems especially appropriate - and oooh the concept of heaven as paradise being the ideal vs whether there could possibly exist a true utopia on earth??? gosh...

but yeah, the aspect of being good because you can, not because you have to be in order to earn reward... i kinda touched on it in a musing about pascal (here, if anyone wants to read), but i hadn't truly appreciated this from the viewpoint of judaism, which was rather short-sighted of me (given i lean into nietzsche a lot here too)✨

#good omens #ask #im loving this discussion???!!!! #edit: turns out i cant spell determinism lmao #also reading back its so glaringly obvious my ignorance on religion that i just immediately revert back to philosophy #and im sorry for that the two practically go hand in hand but my brain is just so biased to Not Realising That #im doing my best promise #the fall/the great war spec #ineffable plan spec #heaven theory

[k--havok]

I honestly think writing fanfic is really important for a writing journey.

I used (and still sometimes!) write fanfic. I wrote fanfic for years. From the age of 16-21/22. And yes, obviously writing and posting fanfic can help your writing chops in terms of keeping characters, well, in-character, stretching new ideas, and just help you polish up your writing in general.

But in general? Fanfic helped me get over sharing my writing with others and worrying about negative backlash to what I write.

I was someone usually in "problematic" spaces and ships. And I was there, Gandalf. I was there at the height of "an/tis" vs "pr/oshi/ppers" war here on tumblr.

I had callout posts written and shared about me. I had discord groups trash my writing and personhood. I got all manner of threats imaginable, including being told I was insane and I should kill myself. I got this both in the comment sections of my writing as well as in my ask box.

But I've also had interactions with people in fandom space that were just... weird. And not just people plagiarizing me. People who rewrote my fics in the comment section (why) people who wrote NEW fic in my comment section (okay...) people getting way too personal with me. People justifying to others why they're allowed to read it. People telling other people what my own life story is (they've never talked to me in their entire life?) and everything in between. I've had comments written like GoodReads reviews as if I'd never read it.

I say this because it seems like every day I see authors getting pissy at readers for negative reviews. Throwing fits online and going after said readers in weird and inappropriate ways.

Yeah. It sucks when people assume who you are. It sucks being told you're horrible for writing X, Y, or Z. It sucks when your work is bashed or when people clearly do not have reading comprehension, ironically, and you're wondering how the hell they interpreted your story so wrong. It sucks getting negative comments and reviews.

But that's just life whenever you publish your works for the wider world. Without the risk of putting your writing out there, you also do not get the reward of touching others with your writing and sharing your stories. You cannot have one without the other.

I'm not saying it was acceptable for people to be cruel to me online. I should not have been bullied, harassed, and threatened for writing my blorbos kissing in a Bad TM way. But being told why my writing was bad (whether or not I agreed) or people sharing what they did not like about my writing or why it failed for them (and not being able to delete said comments) was good for me. Sometimes it did help my writing. But honestly more than that it was exposure to what it will be like when I do decide to publish, whether its indie or trad.

The same dynamic happened when I took a creative writing class in college too. Even though the professor told us we had to be nice with our criticisms and also explain things we did like about others works, I still had a classmate tell me they hated everything about my writing and there was nothing redeeming about it. But at that time? I had already gone through all of the above.

So when I got that comment? I laughed. And the other classmates I had who read my story? Got so defensive for me regarding my work, calling that person out. It was nice, but overall not needed. Because I realized at that time that I had the tools to move on from scathing reviews and assumptions.

It's a skill. And an incredibly important skill to have now that its so easy to find spaces with readers talking about your work. And like all skills, its something you have to work on and exercise to get good at it.

Fanfic was the one who helped me develop such a skill. Not writing workshops and not my creative writing class. Because people aren't going to be so nice when they have internet anonymity on their side. That's just the way of the internet and sharing your work, and I do not see the landscape changing anytime soon. Nor should it; readers have the right to review works they do not like. Just as readers have the right to review works that they love.

It's scary. But what I've learned is that the reward I get from sharing my work, from knowing its out there, knowing that I've inspired other people or that many others have enjoyed my work is a far greater reward than any of the risk from negative backlash I've gotten.

#and that includes the threats btw but I'm a kinda chill person so its like. heh. ok scrub. when i see those comments #shutuplanx #personal #about me #long post #im so sorry this is rambly my kitten kept jumping on the keyboard and interrupting my already rambly flow