#AND NOW IN THE YEAR OLD OUR LORD 2021 THEY ARE | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

holyprincenerd · 11 months

Text

yes yes rigged this cha cha that but please let’s not ignore this right now:

https://www.aftonbladet.se/podcasts/ab/episode/355975 Swedish “eurovision expert” Tobbe Ek (for those of you who aren’t Swedish, this is the same guy who accused Måneskin of doing coke on live tv back in 2021) and his posse of minions decided that it was time to spread some absolutely hateful rhetoric against the people of Finland by calling them shitty, idiotic, telling them they should be ashamed of not voting for Sweden (??? literally what???) etc etc, while also dragging in other contestants like Lord of the Lost and insulting them as a means of questioning why the Finnish public voted for them but not for Sweden. (You know. Because it totally doesn’t make any sense at all that a country known for having the most metal bands per capita in the world would vote for Lord of the Lost. Not at all.)

As the cherry on top of this xenophobic shit cake, they started to go on about how “There’s no way there were ten contestants who were better than Sweden this year.” (Again. Not only disrespecting the other contestants, but them pretending not to grasp the concept of a country known for preferring heavier music choosing to vote mostly for bands this year... Yeah... Couldn’t be their preferences...)

Again, this man is considered a Eurovision expert here in Sweden, yet this is the type of behaviour he and his coworkers display over a nonissue like the Finnish public not voting for Sweden this year. If there’s something shameful here, it’s this.

To reiterate: These are three grown-ass well past 40-year old people having a genuine meltdown over one (1) singular country not voting for them.

Why are we giving Tobbe Ek (and his irrelevant coworkers) a platform, again?

EDIT:

Hoo boy, there’s more. Because of course there is.

ALRIGHT here’s an article from one of our tabloids using quite suspiciously colonialistic sounding rhetoric about Finland being “the kingdom’s previous eastern half”.

https://www.expressen.se/noje/finska-sveket-mot-sverige-gav-noll-poang-efter-uppmaningen-rosta-taktiskt/

The specific quote in Swedish: “Tv-tittarna i tidigare östra rikshalvan gav nämligen Sverige noll(!) poäng under Eurovisionfinalen på lördagen.”

Translation: “TV viewers in [our] kingdom’s previous eastern half gave namely zero(!) points to Sweden during the Eurovision finale on Saturday.”

Yeah, Johan Bratell (the writer of the article) is technically not wrong about Finland having been a part of Sweden. But why bring this up now? This was so clearly meant as a condescending insult.

The article also talks about a throwaway comment that the Finnish commentator Mikko Silvennoinen made about tactical voting (or more specifically, an anonymous comment he read out loud about tactical voting). From my understanding this was a joke reference to the previous elections which took place recently in Finland and forced a portion of the Finnish public to vote tactically as an attempt to block a far-right party from getting into the parliament. It’s embarrassing how much these people are reaching.

And even if they were voting tactically, so what? Sweden won. Why are we so focused on the public vote of one (1) country, Jesus Christ this is embarrassing.

EDIT 2: WHY THIS MATTERS. A LOT.

For those of you who are not in the know about Swedish politics, these statements are reflecting some far-right political views that have their roots all the way back in the times when Sweden ruled over Finland. In recent memory, our far-right political party Sverigedemokraterna claimed that the Swedish minority group Tornedalians are not Swedish, because they may speak local dialects that blend Finnish into Swedish, or speak the minority language Meänkieli. Coincidentally, Meänkieli just so happens to be a minority language that blends Finnish and Swedish, as it is mostly spoken by people who live by the Torneå river, i.e. the Finnish-Swedish border. Here’s an article about this controversy (however you may not be able to read it unless you’re subscribed to said newspaper): https://www.dn.se/asikt/orimligt-att-tornedalingar-inte-skulle-vara-svenskar/?fbclid=IwAR33K_UVRhXlJhyPd3gY7GDXN_lotUdrtM1AeL-nRzWE26Tmq5BFE0lIUzw

Sverigedemokraterna also believe that the Swedish minority group of Sweden Finns should essentially cut their ties to their Finnish roots and that they should not be able to be citizens of both Finland and Sweden. https://aip.nu/sverigedemokraterna-och-de-dubbla-medborgarskapen/

This sort of rhetoric is ridiculously common here, and in situations like the ones that have occurred in light of the ESC, they almost never get called out. Because it’s common. Because it’s okay to call Finnish people names and to use colonial rhetoric against all Finns, both those who live in Finland and those who live in Sweden. Because this is “friendly banter.” Mind you, as someone who technically belongs to both of the aforementioned minority groups I’m completely fine with the actually friendly banter and piss taking that we usually partake in, because it is just that. Friendly. But this is not it. This is actually harmful. I have never seen so many Swedish people attacking Finns on social media as I’ve seen these past few days. The usual colonialistic and fennophobic insults have started to rear their ugly heads: People have started to insult the Finnish language (a fennophobic sentiment that goes way back to the days when Finland was under Swedish rule and the Swedish tried to get rid of the language), they have started to insult the way Finns look (goes back to fennophobic rhetoric of Finns essentially not being “white enough”), etcetera. For more information on how the Swedish government treated the Sweden Finns and Tornedalians (the fact that they tried to abolish both the Meänkieli language and the Finnish language from Sweden and have even done skull measurements as an attempt to prove that these minority groups are not equal to Swedes), here’s another article: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/norrbotten/regeringen-tillsatter-sanningskommission

For those of you who speak Finnish and are interested in the topic, the book Kansankodin pimeämpi puoli by Tapio Tamminen goes into both issues, with photographic evidence of skull measurement incidents among other things. Meanwhile, the Finnish media is mostly just reporting on the tomfoolery of these “journalists.” Sure, there are a lot of Finns who are acting out as well and spreading hateful rhetoric against Swedes, but the difference here is that one group is punching up, while the other is punching down.

Whether Tobbe Ek, Jenny Ågren, Markus Larsson and Johan Bratell meant to cause this does not matter. They’ve still done it, in the case of the former group, they’ve even dragged other Europeans (and Australians!) into this mess.

They’ve gone ahead and spread fennophobic rhetoric on huge platforms: Sweden’s biggest national tabloids. They should be held accountable for this.

To reiterate: ALL THIS OVER THE FINNISH PUBLIC “NOT VOTING FOR SWEDEN” DURING THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST OF 2023.

Edit 3: Just in case we need a bit of clarification:

I know this whole post may come across quite negatively. So let me make this clear: There is an issue with the Swedish culture and its normalisation of fennophobia, however, that doesn’t mean every Swede is maliciously fennophobic. It’s literally just so normalised here, that sometimes people don’t even notice when they’re partaking in it, and because of said normalisation, for many these fennophobic and colonialist insults have become a sort of knee jerk reaction to when there’s “actual beef” with Finland. (Which, obviously, is a fucking problem, because look who has to bear the brunt of that.)

Moreover, many Swedes aren’t even familiar with their shared history with Finland, and the discrimination Finland was put through during the Swedish rule (not to mention the discrimination the Sweden Finns and Tornedalians have had to face and still face). That part of our shared history simply isn’t taught in schools here, so a regular person would have to know to go out and look for the information. Heck, the only reason I’m aware of this is because at the end of the day, despite having been born and raised in Sweden, I am ethnically Finnish, and grew up by the border with very strong ties to the Finnish culture because of it. But less about me, and more about this issue. Most Swedes (and Swedish journalists who have any sort of sense in them and who work for respectable publications) have expressed their dissatisfaction with this years results as well. There’s a reason Cha Cha Cha is charting so well on Swedish Spotify. There’s a reason for why the Swedish jury and the public gave Finland 12 points.

So, Tl;dr:

1. Swedish tabloids are trash.

2. We have an undeniable problem with how normalised fennophobia is here, and it’s absolutely bizarre that this is how it’s getting exposed.

3. Most regular Swedes aren’t happy with this either, and are in fact not Finland’s and the Finnish people’s greatest haters in the world.

4. Tobbe Ek should get fired. At the bare minimun, he and his coworkers should probably issue some sort of apology for spreading this, seeing how it is actually hurting a lot of people.

Anyway, please don’t hate on the Swedes because of this lol, think about what Jere from Vantaa would think about that. 💚

2K notes · View notes

doctorofmagic · 30 days

Text

Doctor Strange's disability: a (much needed) chronological review

In view of recent ableism and drama on the other social hellsite involving Doctor Strange's disability, here's my response, based on *CANON* material. (link to the thread on said hellsite here)

Stephen disability is established since 1963, back in Strange Tales #115. The story is focused on a flashback which portrays his journey from the decay of his medical career because of a car accident to his path towards the mystic arts.

Note that, in this very same issue, the Ancient One never says he would heal Stephen's *hands*, but perhaps Stephen would find the cure within. In other words, Stephen was supposed to heal his heart and soul from arrogance and egoism through magic, not a physical cure.

Also note that there are limitations within every aspect of comic books' universes. In this case, we're talking about magic. Magic is not a miracle thing. It demands training and, most recently as established by v4, a cost (Doctor Strange v4 #4).

Another clue that "magic can heal anything because it's fantasy" is not a valid argument within Marvel's magic world, as seen in The Oath. Stephen had access to the Otkid's Elixir, which could heal any disease, but the formula was lost in order to save Wong's life.

One last example comes from Spider-Man Family #5 (2007), featuring Morbius and Spidey. It establishes that healing demands the exact same price when it comes to magic.

Long story short, it's clear that the magic side of Marvel does not offer a solution to diseases through magical miracles. So this argument is totally invalid ~within~ this established universe.

Now back to Doctor Strange... No, he isn't using magic to heal his hands unlike some misleading accounts are claiming. In fact, there are several panels which show that he's actually in constant pain. Here's some examples:

- Doctor Strange - Sorcerer Supreme #48 (1992).

- Captain Marvel v10 #6 (2019)

- Doctor Strange v4 #1 (2015)

He also struggles to hold a pen and write, relying on magic to do so, as seen in the Book of the Vishanti.

Then comes the stupid argument I saw.

"Oh, but Google says his hands are healed!" is not a gotcha moment you think it is. We had FOUR MAIN BOOKS after that (Surgeon Supreme, DODS, Strange v3 and current v6). Allow me to clarify the details in chronological order.

Stephen indeed made a "magic" gamble and healed his hands. That much is correct. But it's not all (panels from Doctor Strange v5 #19 - 2019).

Waid continued this storyline in a new book called Dr. Strange (Surgeon Supreme), which would portray Stephen's duality as the Sorcerer Supreme and a brilliant surgeon. Except the book was cancelled at issue #6 (2020), leaving the character in a kind of limbo. Now enter MacKay.

MacKay kept a little bit of the former storyline as seen in Death of the Doctor Strange #1 (2021). On top of that, his hands appeared healed. However, that lasted only until Kaecilius murdered Stephen and stole his hands.

Stephen's temporal duplicate used a regenerative spell to bring original Stephen back through Kaecilius' body and the stolen hands. In here, we can see that his hands are scarred just like after the car accident (DODS #5 - 2022). OG Stephen died a second time with scars as well.

Stephen is indeed seen writing in v6 but it's not clear if he's using magic or not. Besides, he's not working as a surgeon anymore. Moreover, MacKay considers Stephen disabled as seen in this recent issue of v6 (#7 - 2023): "My own connection to the aether, the magic of the world, the power of the Vishanti, the power of the Sorcerer Supreme... Gone. Without all of that? I am just an old man with useless hands and a blade in his stomach."

In conclusion,

As of CURRENT DOCTOR STRANGE RUN by Jed MacKay and Pasqual Ferry, in the year of our lord Vishanti, 2024, Stephen Strange is a disabled character and no magic or ableism will erase that. Thank you very much.

#doctor strange #stephen strange #tw: ableism #marvel comics #character analysis #meta

152 notes · View notes

soaked-ghost · 21 days

Note

lack of soul in undertale being read as a akin to disability makes too much sense to me, as a disabled person.

I'm not sure if it's intentional or not, but there's a very strong 'disabled' sub context and coding with Ink's character now that i think about it. the whole thing about character has a specific condition that limits certain things in their life, and needs to take a specific 'item' in order to regulate themselfs' seems a very obvious disability coding to me at least (talking and his lack of souland vials)

Ink's also often translated as disabled in works too, sometimes positively but other times negatively (like that one drama in 2021 when autistic people in the fandom pointed out how??ableist the fandom tends to be with Ink's character, and oh boy. A lot of people got involved, even Jakei did. It was a shame since people became even more ableist and harrased those people and bullying them off of the fandom..)

anyways..

hellooooo I know I'm responding way to fast but I could care less your ask is wonderful :]

When I can confidently say that soullessness in undertale was intentionally written to be a metaphor for disability, I can't say the same for ink because comyet doesn't even seem to understand what soullessness is like in undertale with how many things don't line up with ink's soullessness and flowey's soullessness -_-

Buuuut. but but. I can totally say that you SHOULD see ink being soulless as him being disabled because that's literally what he is. it's not even a metaphor with ink it's just textual.

Ink has to take his vials (medication) or else he can't function properly and he also often 'shuts down'

And the thing with people being incredibly ableist with ink is still a thing that's happening IN MASS even in the year of our lord 2024

People just genuinely CANNOT let go from the idea that ink being a bad person is not related to his disability. and they CANNOT understand that his soullessness affects *ink* the most than anyone else

But ink being evil just because he has low empathy isn't the only ableist thing about how people talk about him

They also can't seem to understand that ink is a full grown adult for some reason! and comyet (somewhat) encouraged that?! as I remember seeing a post from them a while back saying that ink has the mental capabilities of a 7 year old (if I have to explain why that's bad I don't things you understand what I'm saying at all)

Ink is always regressed to just a 'gremlin' and nothing else! Sometimes other characters literally treat him like an animal like what the fuck!!! That's a GROWN PERSON what is wrong with you all!!!!!!!!!

He's also constantly child coded too! Not only is he always drawn ridiculously small and thin to the point where he resembles an actual kid, but he also sometimes genuinely acts like a toddler and can't seem to grasp basic concepts as if autistic people are just adult sized babies like what!!!! the hell!!!!

#ink sans #mail

43 notes · View notes

ruiniel · 10 months

Note

hello <3 I saw you’re doing requests and I wondered if you could perhaps do CarmillaxFem! friends to reluctant lovers? Thank you and much love!

Thank you for the ask! I promised I'd do this even with closed requests, so here it is - part I! There was a brief scene in the series where we had a peek into Carmilla's origin story. I went back there. Pre-council of sisters era.

Spirit wild, To suffer brief

Fandom: Castlevania series (2017-2021)

Pairing: Carmilla of Styria x F!Reader

Count: 0.8k

Rating: M

Tags/CW: heavy angst, emotional, strangers to lovers, dark themes, drama you are warned, wlw, AFAB reader, mutual pining, unresolved sexual tension, angst again, unresolved emotional tension, confessions, eventual smut, but not in this part

Summary: She's succeeded, taken everything for her own. She is not weak, she will never be weak again. Carmilla now rules over lands as far as the eye can see across the frosted peaks of Styria. A deep and ancient vale is hers, and this will be her seat. The emptiness, she never dwells on. Until one day.

All characters depicted are 18+

Also on AO3

I. Why

“What on earth is that?”

The voice has you lifting your head, peeking upward at the figure standing before you. The heavy scent of lilies fills your nostrils, but you daren’t hold the ice in that gaze for long before you place your forehead against the cold tiles; startled in your resignation.

Where is… he?

One of the guards flanking your prostrated figure scratches their head. “From the village at the base of the mountain.”

You tremble, the cold seeping through your flesh, into your bones as silence falls, a leaden weight ready to break your back.

“...and why is it here?” The voice follows, a tint of exasperation to it now. It seems to belong to a woman, but…

“... for the lord.”

Footsteps near, light as tinsel; the scent of lilies envelops you.

“Get up, girl.” You know an order when you hear one, and so muster all the vigor left in your wearied knees, the impulses crackling in your joints as you rise to full height. “What is that you were mumbling?”

You open your mouth to speak, hesitate. “I am… every year, our community sends an offering,” Your voice chokes on your heartbeat; nausea roils in your stomach. “To the lord of the castle.”

Silence.

“Do they, now? Why?”

Cold, hungering, and even more confused, you raise your gaze to see the woman better.

She is…

You look down, absently studying the stained rug beneath your feet. “Every year, if a sacrifice is presented, he… he leaves us be; he does not hunt us, it was a… a pact. I do not know more, it was done before I came to be.”

She snorts, starts pacing. “Of course, just like the disgusting old fool to …” she keeps rambling as you watch with bleary eyes, humming and murmuring as though she’d forgotten you’re there.

Your stomach aches with the hunger it nurses like a wound; you fold your arms around yourself, miserable, finally understanding what those men felt as they approached the gallows during the few executions you’d witnessed.

Suddenly, a cold grip like the kiss of winter’s breath grabs you by the chin, and you’re staring closely into eyes of blue and lips of red — crimson, like…

She smiles; you try to draw back, but her grip holds firm. “The lord of this castle is gone.” Her lashes are long, shadowing her barely-tinted irises like tender hoarfrost. “I am its master now, and whatever schemes that lecher had in place interest me not at all. This fantastically idiotic covenant ends now, with you,” she spews, and you finally understand this is actually happening, that the thread of your life is to be snipped after nary a handful of years, before you’d had a true chance of doing more than cast shadow upon the earth.

But then…

“... and I have no interest to feed,” the woman, the vampire continues. “So tell me, then, girl, what use have I for you, save for feeding you to my guards?”

“None,” you murmur, eyes closing against the sting of tears marring your filthy cheek.

The stony grip loosens, and she steps back, an eyebrow raised and sounding almost disappointed as she crosses her pale arms at her chest. “Well, that’s the worst attempt at groveling to beg for one’s life that I’ve ever heard.”

“It makes no difference,” you add as an afterthought before you can think better of it. Might these be the last words you speak? Mocking banter at the gates of the undead?

“Why did they send you, then?” she asks, and what follow are questions accompanied by a strange smile. So sharp, a most primeval fear coils deep in your center. “Did they coerce you to do it? Did they cast you out of town?”

You fiddle with the worn material of your cloak. “No, I came of my own will.”

“How stupid,” the words are blunt, but you’ve had your share of scorn — what’s a little more? And then, something unexpected happens: she dismisses the guards with a gesture, before leaning against the stone column in the tallest chamber you have ever seen.

“Maybe so, but it was the most practical choice.”

“Ah yes,” the vampire runs a slender hand through her sleek, moon-kissed hair. They said a vicious monster dwelled here, settled into this abode centuries past. They knew little else, and still, you chose to come. “Humans do have a penchant for it… being ‘practical,’ that is.” She tilts her head, like a nightbird watching the scuttling of small beating hearts in the wilds. “Don’t toy with me. I’m already bored of this game, so for the last time I put to you: why?”

You swallow and part your lips to speak. Your hunger is sharper now, stabbing you inside as fatigue has you lurching over for a minute. She moves not at all.

“Because… because I am dying.”

TBC

MASTERLIST: CASTLEVANIA SERIES x READER

More of my work is on AO3

BLOG MASTERPOST (all you need to know)

Likes/comments/reblogs always and forever appreciated

#carmilla x reader #carmilla castlevania #carmilla x you #castlevania x you #carmilla of styria #wlw #sapphic #x reader #afab reader #sapphic fanfiction #vampire x oc #vampire x reader #ruiniel:fanfiction #wlw fanfiction #carmilla x fem!reader #carmilla x afab reader

92 notes · View notes

rpgsandbox · 3 months

Text

The 10 Most Anticipated TTRPGs For 2024!

EN World's annual vote on the most anticipated titles of the coming year, and yes, some games have appeared on this list in previous years.

10 Tales of the Valiant (Kobold Press)

1st appearance Kobold Press joins the 'alternate 5E' club with this rewritten, non-OGL version of the game! A million dollar Kickstarter last year, and a new one for the GM's book going on right now, Kobold Press announced this as 'Project Black Flag' during the OGL crisis of 2023, but being unable to trademark that name opted for Tales of the Valiant instead. The system, however, is still called the Black Flag Roleplaying System.

9. Mothership 1E (Tuesday Night Games)

3rd appearance On this list three years running, the boxed Mothership 1E game should be coming out this year! This is sci-fi horror at its best -- you can play scientists, teamsters, androids, and marines using the d100 'Panic Engine'. Yep, it's Alien(s), pretty much.

8. Monty Python's Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Program (Exalted Funeral)

2nd Appearance Exalted Funeral made quite a splash when they announced this game last year, which went on to make neary $2M on Kickstarter. And how could they not? It's Monty Python fergoodnessake! A rules-lite gaming system, spam, a minigame with catapults, spam, coconut dice rollers, spam, and an irrepressible Python-eque sense of humour. Did I mention the spam? It was at #10 on this list last year, but it's claimed to #8 this year.

7. Daggerheart (Darrington Press)

1st appearance From the Critical Role folks, Daggerheart is a new fantasy TTRPG with its own original system coming out this year with "A fresh take on fantasy RPGs, designed for long-term campaign play and rich character progression."

6. Cohors Cthulhu (Modiphius)

1st appearance It's Ancient Rome. It's Cthulhu. It uses Modiphius' in-house 2d20 System. You can be a gladiator, a centurion, or a Germanic hero. Did I mention Cthulhu?

5. Dolmenwood (Necrotic Gnome)

1st appearance The British Isles, a ton of folklore, and a giant Kickstarter--Dolmenwood is a dark, whimsical fantasy TTRPG drawing from fairy tales and lets you "journey through tangled woods and mossy bowers, forage for magical mushrooms and herbs, discover rune-carved standing stones and hidden fairy roads, venture into fungal grottoes and forsaken ruins, battle oozing monstrosities, haggle with goblin merchants, and drink tea with fairies."

4. Pendragon 6E (Chaosium)

4th appearance Last year's winner was on this list waaaaay back in 425 AD, and it's still here! Well, maybe not that far back, but it's shown up in 2021 at #4, 2022 at #3, 2023 at #1, and now 2024 at #4! What can we say? People are clearly anticipating it... still.

3. 13th Age 2nd Edition (Pelgrane Press)

2nd appearance 13th Age is over a decade old now, and was our most anticipated game way back in 2013. Now the new edition is coming! It's compatible with the original, but revised and with a ton more... stuff! 13th Age 2E was #3 in last year's list!

2. The Electric State Roleplaying Game (Free League)

1st appearance Free League is always on these lists, and for good reason. This gorgeous looking game is described as "A road trip on the verge of reality in visual artist and author Simon Stålenhag's vision of an apocalyptic alternate 1990s".

1. Shadow of the Weird Wizard (Schwalb Entertainment)

3rd appearance First announced by Rob Schwalb a couple of years ago, this is a more family-friendly version of his acclaimed RPG, Shadow of the Demon Lord. SHADOW OF THE WEIRD WIZARD is a fantasy roleplaying game in which you and your friends assume the roles of characters who explore the borderlands and make them safe for the refugees escaping the doom that has befallen the old country. Unsafe are these lands: the Weird Wizard released monsters to roam the countryside, cruel faeries haunt the shadows, undead drag themselves free from their tombs, and old, ancient evils stir once more. If the displaced people would rebuild their lives, they need heroes to protect them. Finally at the top of the list after being #7 in 2022, and #6 in 2023!

#RPG #Tales of the Valiant #Mothership #Monty Python #Daggerheart #Cohors Cthulhu #Dolmenwood #Pendragon #13th Age #The Electric State #Shadow of the Weird Wizard

27 notes · View notes

ghostoftheyear · 1 year

Text

What is DRAMAtical Murder?

I’m actually a little surprised to be writing this myself, in the year of our lord 2023, but why not? I didn’t know about it myself until recently, and now that it’s available with an official English translation, it’s a lot more accessible.

First of all, DRAMAtical Murder (or DMMd for short) is a visual novel that came out in 2012 in Japan. It was published by Nitro+CHIRAL, features art by Honyarara, and has some amazing music as well (the theme song is by Goatbed, with ending songs by them, Itou Kanako, VERTUEUX, and Seizi Kimura). It is a boys’ love or BL visual novel, probably the softest of the Nitro+CHIRAL titles; since its publication, it has received several additional pieces of media: a fandisk (Re:Connect), a sanitized version for the PSVita (Re:Code), and even an anime which... is certainly one way to get into it.

In 2021, Jast Blue made an official translation which was released both on Steam (censored) and their own website (uncensored). A patch is available on their website to restore the uncensored content for those who purchased it on Steam, which still allows the player to receive all the achievements. There was also a fan translation lovingly created many years ago, and the controversy over which version is better rages on. I won’t comment about it here; just know that whichever version you prefer, that is your right.

But what is DMMd about? Well... this is gonna get long, so let’s buckle in.

DMMd is set in a near-future cyberpunk setting, generally positive and colorful rather than dystopian. The story takes place on an island off the coast of Japan, Midorijima (literally “green island”), where many of the residents have been forced off the island due to the building of a gigantic sort of adult playground, Platinum Jail, where the rich and elite party like there’s no tomorrow. The remaining residents of the island live in what’s left of the city, though the owner of Platinum Jail, Tatsuo Toue, seems to be trying to grasp the remaining land as well for his own purposes.

Some of the residents have taken to forming gangs called Ribstiez, which control different parts of the Residential District. Others play a virtual game called Rhyme that takes place entirely within the players’ minds. This is facilitated through the use of Allmates, small robotic creatures that can look like anything the user desires and have multiple functions -- some manage social media, some help their owners with their daily schedules, etc.

Our protagonist is the young man known as Aoba Seragaki.

Aoba, 23 years old and single at the start of the game, works at Heibon Junk Shop. He is demonstrated to have an unusually persuasive voice when he chooses to, but -- aside from that, and his hair having sensation in it -- he seems to be an ordinary young man just trying to live a simple life. He lives with his grandmother, Tae, as his parents left Midorijima when he was young, and he has an Allmate: a small, fluffy, blue dog resembling a Japanese Spitz, named Ren.

Aoba has four potential love interests (plus a secret one whose route is unlocked as you play through the others’ routes).

First up is Koujaku.

Koujaku is an old childhood friend of Aoba’s. He had to leave the island when they were young, but came back around three years prior to the start of the story. He leads the Ribstiez gang known as Beni-Shigure and has a red sparrow Allmate named Beni. To supplement his income, he works as a wandering hairdresser and sets up on the street to cut hair. He and Aoba have a comfortable friendship that gets tested in his route.

Next, we have Clear.

Clear is a mysterious stranger who literally falls out of the sky the first time he and Aoba meet. He refers to Aoba as “Master” and refuses to take his gas mask off under any circumstances. To say any more about him would spoil literally his entire route.

Next up is Noiz:

Noiz appears first when he challenges Aoba to a match in Rhyme, insisting that Aoba is an old player of the game despite the fact that Aoba doesn’t remember ever having played Rhyme in the past. Noiz is part of a Rhyme gang known as the Ruff Rabbitz, and his Allmate is a small black-and-green cube called Usagimodoki. It’s entirely possible he has several of them, since they can be seen hanging in chains from his belt. Noiz works as an information broker to earn an income on Midorijima, but he’s not originally from there, as we learn on his route.

Finally, we have Mink.

Mink is a complicated character, as he doesn’t speak too much and when he does, it tends to be in riddles. He’s also not originally from Midorijima; while it’s not specified, his aesthetic is very much Native American. He has a pink cockatoo Allmate who is not named during the main game. Mink runs a Rib gang called Scratch made up of escaped convicts. His reasons for wanting Aoba on his side are his own, only revealed far into his route. His is the darkest of the routes, and I would say a trigger warning is in order for this one.

As for the final love interest, I won’t talk about it here. More fun to find out for yourself, right? Just remember: there’s some weird shit in this game.

Lest I forget, I must mention some other important characters. First up, Aoba’s friend Mizuki.

Mizuki runs the largest Ribstiez gang on Midorijima, Dry Juice. He’s a tattoo artist and owns a combination tattoo parlor and bar, the Black Needle.

There’s also Virus and Trip.

Virus and Trip (who are emphatically not twins) are a pair of yakuza who seem to show up a lot around Aoba. They claim to be his biggest fans.

Of course, there’s also Tae, as well as Aoba’s boss Haga (who has a robotic Allmate named Junker), Yoshie (who runs a courier service and owns a sleek dog Allmate, Clara), and a trio of young siblings who torment Aoba at his work - Mio, Nao, and Kio. In addition, one of the most corrupt cops on the island, Akushima, regularly pops up to bother the characters.

As the common route progresses, Aoba learns more about himself and his past -- and realizes he has to stop what’s happening before it’s too late. He eventually heads into Platinum Jail no matter which love interest’s route is chosen; the events that unfold change depending on which route you’re on, but playing through all of them and unlocking the secret route will finally reveal the truth of it all.

Re:Connect, as befits a fandisk, explores more with each of the love interest routes after their good endings (and also a bit more of the bad endings). It also has a route specifically to fill in Aoba’s backstory and youth. Re:Code is basically the same game, but sanitized -- all of the sex scenes were removed and given “cleaner” CGs. It did add a route for Mizuki, which involved more of Aoba’s backstory. Finally, the anime was passable, though it compressed all the love interests’ stories into an episode each and went with the secret route for the ending. It is absolutely unwatchable in dub, except for laughs and memes. Re:Connect can be found and played with the fan translation online, and is absolutely worth locating. Re:Code, unfortunately, is still only available to play on the PSVita and has not been translated at all.

Oh, and there was also a stage play! Remarkably, they produced a butai in 2019, well after the games had come out, with the different love interest routes portrayed on alternate days. I would be happy to make a post babbling about that if there’s interest. Apparently the original run did well enough that a new production was announced earlier this year, which will be happening at the end of April. A new route was added for Virus and Trip, and the whole thing is supposed to be a “supercharged” version, not just a retread of the original.

OH I FORGOT there are also drama CDs that continued all of the love interests’ stories and had even more new music, as well as some other fun things like a special drama CD for the anime release, an April Fool’s game that basically parodied Mother (Earthbound), and manga. And there’s a webtoon now. And lots of merch. And figures. Basically there’s just a lot of fun stuff to find.

And that’s DMMd! I obviously love it quite a bit, but I certainly acknowledge that it has its flaws and difficult scenes. I’d still recommend it, though. I think the writing is very well handled and the sex scenes are hot as fuck.

#dramatical murder #dmmd #visual novel #i tried not to go into too much detail #but i probably still got carried away #can't help it #i love this vn so much #hey look pride i did the thing

76 notes · View notes

suchagallabitch · 5 months

Text

🫵weekly wednesday tag 🫵

omg I (simple old me?) have been bestowed upon the honour of coming up with these questions??? i would like to thank the academy for this most sacred honour 😋

1. if you could switch bodies with anybody for only one hour who would it be and what would you do? I think I gotta say taylor swift OBVI. first off im gonna dropping ME! acoustic version. Then I’m gonna hope lover deluxe is already recorded, drop that. If not i will make sure to text Jack and tell him that we need to record it so that i get it either way 😼. Then I would find out the definite truth of what happened between her and Karlie Kloss. I’d wire myself (as in me- me) a few million dollars, pet the cats and then post something really random on her instagram story. Literally want to make the public go absolutely bananas trying to figure out why taylor posted a random twitter meme. I have a lot of faith to believe this could all happen in an hour but I would try. SO hard.

2. whats your most trivial / dumbest hot take?I don’t think we should still be discovering animals. like what do you mean in the year of our lord 2023 we are STILL finding animals?? no they should all be discovered and if they havent been then i think they should stay undiscovered.

3. if you had to teach a college course what would it be in? I feel like we’re all expecting me to say something Taylor related but honestly I could teach a masterclass on the psychology of Ryan Murphy. I hate that man and i have so much to say about him and his productions

4. season 12 of shameless is suddenly happen and youve been put in charge! what plot point(s) are you gonna make happen? I cant think of anything substantial to actually contribute but i want Carl Gallagher to have a fruity little vape. I also want to see him quit the force and flourish in a new job!

5. who would be your godly parent? (can be any mythology). I’m gonna go with greeks as a Percy Jackson stan. I asked my bsf who is an expert in greek mythology. She said: “you’re a Aphrodite child cuz you’re a hopeless romantic and you appreciate beauty. You’re very particular in how you’re viewed and how everything you produce is viewed (what you write, how your feed looks like, etc.)” - I’m gonna have to agree with her on Aphrodite

6. what’s something you love about yourself? I think i’m so very very funny

7. describe your day in 5 emojis: 😴👁️👩‍💻✈️☕️

8. what shameless character do you think you could beat in a fight? Realistically i think the ONLY person i could beat in a fight is Liam and honest to god im not even sure i could.

9. tell us 2 truths and a lie, we’ll try to guess the lie!

- I’m double jointed

- I sleep on the left side of the bed

- I’ve never had pumpkin pie

10. do you have a pet(s). if so how did they get their name? I do! my son (cat) is named Chidi after the good place!

11. show us a meme (or picture) that captures your essence

self explanatory.

12. whats your typical coffee / tea / beverage order? see i gotta have a special lil drinky drink everyday and i mean my little drinky drinks are free so i am likw 80% gingerbread chai at any given time. Alternatively, an iced chestnut praline latte w/ praline cold foam.

13. use a song to describe the last 5 years of your life?

2019- its nice to have a friend- taylor swift

2020- ribs - lorde

2021- nothing new - taylor swift

2022- first love / late spring- mitski OR orlando- leith ross

2023- true blue - boygenuis OR now that we don’t talk - taylor swift.

Thank you friends thats all i got :)

I Tag: @deedala @darlingian @michellemisfit @mybrainismelted @too-schoolforcool @gallawitchxx @gardenerian @sam-loves-seb @thisdivorce @xninetiestrendx @scarcrosseduntouched @juliakayyy @y0itsbri @grumble-fish @grumpymickmilk @transmickey @surviving-maybe @metalheadmickey @heymrspatel @auds-and-evens @deathclassic @flamingbluepanda @crossmydna @sleepyfacetoughguy @vintagelacerosette @depressedstressedlemonzest @thepupperino @squidyyy23 @energievie 🫶🫶

#im on a plane rn #zoom zoom in the sky #elle does tags

30 notes · View notes

toyhouse-code-hell · 2 months

Note

Screw it- Ask #2 because I'm bored. Can you tell me about your OCs? I like hearing about random people's OCs because alot of people like to rant about them and the excitement and pure effort put into making them makes me feel profuctive too!

There's so much. There's so so so so much. Nobody that I didn't already know has ever asked me about my ocs. They're all mostly D&D characters, or are in a D&D-esque setting I'll talk about some of my favorites, but there needs to be context.

None of the LORE is on any of their fucking toyhouse pages because I literally work on toyhouse stuff, get so motivated, I work on things for three days. Then I stop everything for six months. This is a continuous cycle. I suffer daily. I also over-explain and over-share A LOT. This is the first time anyone has asked about my ocs on a public platform. IT'S GOING TO BE A LOT. I'M SORRY. (And hell this might be a masterpost for all the little blurbs about my Little Guys?? idk!!) And ofc the art is old-ish.

Hamond :)

He's an aasimar fiend warlock (1)/ champion fighter (11), son of duke of a small homebrewed country, warlock of Graz'zt. Was sent to handle an owlbear in the woods due to it fucking with locals livestock. Was ambushed by said owlbear, it almost killed him, and this very kind demon lord took the opportunity to offer this young son of a duke a second chance to not be killed. Hamond agreed, got a nice new necklace, and killed the owlbear. He does the little things his patron wants in secret, which are thankfully just small things. His father sent him away due to his country going to war (contingency so royalty stays alive), where he met an astral elf twink who is now his fucked up little boyfriend.

Used him in a Heliana's oneshot before where this happened.

Next is Vihan! I'll keep it short with him because there is. A lot. (Glitch & Worm idk if you will ever see this, but this is spoilers)

They're a sentient sword, from a set of 8 weapons that embody schools of magic. Vihan is a shortsword that lets their wielder cast evocation spells for free, given to priest-kings of a long-lots city (of Mezro, the chosen of Ub'Tao are called barae). I gave him to my part at 12th level, since one in the party had made contact with his stupid fuckup son (Ras Nsi, not canon to actual FR lore), but Ub'tao chatted with the wizard like "hey. help me?" and our wizard went "K". I was thinking they would have him be a sword for a majority of the time but nooooo they fell in love with him. >:/ He was also broken when they met, to which I gave wild magic rolls when he cast things iirc (this was in 2021 its hazy). They fixed him up though.

(GLITCH AND WORM THE SPOILERS START HERE)

His former wielder was killed in a coup by another one of the chosen, in a plan to kill them all, usurp their god, and bring about an end to the world, but LORD that's another story.

But back to Vihan.

He's a real living person, kidnapped about 4oo years prior to the party getting them, had a bunch of experiments done on him, core implanted, renamed, all that. And given to a firbolg native to Chult who worked hard to be a barae, Epoch, leaving his 2 sons to be raised by his hometown. (and bc he was murdered and nobody was giving them answers, they became closed off from the bigger holy cities) And those kids got older, had communal kids, too, and one of those kids was the barbarian pc. The new barae of evocation was the wizard that said "K" to helping a god.

His name is actually Viktor, had an identical brother named Vacek (both changelings), and he robbed tourists in order for his brother to stay in a care home (their country of origin is corrupted capitalist hellscape island where if you can't produce for society, you have no use aside from being fertilizer, unless you can afford otherwise). When Viktor was kidnapped, Vacek was thrown onto the streets 10 minutes after payment was due, and he managed to climb on a boat as a stowaway during a storm and get the fuck out of there. While he was still chronically ill, getting off of pollution island was very beneficial for his health. He made it to another country and managed to live out his days and even had a family. He never went back to find his brother, assuming his thieving finally got him killed. (Their single mother was also murdered, and retrieving her body cost the two twelve year olds money they didn't have. She was meant to leave the country while pregnant with them, to be with their father who had already left, but port guards robbed her and kicked her back into the city. When her husband came back to make a stink, he was silenced permanently.)

Yes I was VERY into xenoblade 2 when I had this idea.

Vihan is a little bit fucked up.

I think I'll be done for now. I'll rb with more if I want to later.

#I ALMOST FORGOT TO TURN OF DATA COLLECTION FOR THIS BLOG BEFORE POSTING MY ART SUCK MY DICK MIDJ0URNEY #assume my ocs are cisn't unless otherwise stated #clay's guys #clay yapping session

7 notes · View notes

pegasusgemini · 5 months

Text

<Lord of The Mysteries> Multi-Character Audio Drama - Special Episode: -Spoiler Title-

<SPOILERS AHEAD> For the end of LotM Book 1

Special Episode: Klein's Niece (Translated by u/windvally) on Reddit

Release Date: May 28th, 2021

Platform: Himalaya Audio Book APP

Re-post: Feel free to post this on Reddit etc., so the script can be read by others.

---

Klein's Niece POV:

Today, I greeted Mr.Fool~

I told Dakye about this, but he didn’t believe me. (TL note: The name sound like “Dakye” [达克耶], no script to see the actual Chinese word used for the name, so I can only guess. Seems like an alias used by Leonard)

I wasn’t lying to him though. ヽ(ಠ_ಠ) ノ

Ah!

That’s right!

At the time, why did I not tell him what Mr.Fool looked like?

He has......scribbling noise

He......has.....scribbling noise

Eh? The ink ran out? scribbling noise

Huh, it’s working again~ (^.^)

scribbling noise

Anyways, Dakye is a big dummy!

All he does is reciting weird poem lines.

The book he lent me last time, <The World’s World>, was not enjoyable to read in the slightest!

disappointed humpfh

Forget it! I will listen to auntie, from now on I will never bring this up with someone else again, that I’ve met Mr.Fool.

Today’s dinner, we are having Mr.Fool’s holy meal. (TL note: I know there’s words like Sacrament/Communion/Mass etc., but those are christian terms. I will just use holy meal for the sake of simplicity.)

That’s what father said: “This is a holy meal.”

But aren’t these type of food what we normally have in our family anyways?

Ummh......

Lamb boiled with soft tofu.

Beef soup.

Mashed potato.

Fried Tussock fish.

Stewed rhubarb.

giggles There’s also sweet ice tea!

Sweet ice tea taste so delicious~ ԅ(♡﹃♡ԅ)

Mmh......After we finished the holy meal, my father was once again busy discussing about curly baboons. He won’t play with me.

Uhm......That’s why, I am not telling him ~

~ that I had ice cream this morning!

Mmh, the little big brother who gifted me ice cream was really nice. (TL note: Basically, probably Will. She calls him “little big brother”, a Chinese term used for a boy/male older than you but within the same developmental stage as you. And often not used on people past 40 years old. It’s not used for family members or friends, only for neighbors and strangers that you have good impressions of)

Mmh~~~ hiccup

Mmh...I am really full.

Auntie said, if I pray to Mr.Fool before I go to sleep, there will be angels descending into my dream world and giving me good dreams.

Mmh, Mr.Fool is so great! I have decided to give this a try.

scribbling noise

It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr.Fool.

Have a good night!

closing diary noise

<end>

#lotm spoilers #lotm #lord of the mysteries #lord of mysteries #klein moretti #Mr. Fool #Praise be to Mr. Fool #leonard mitchell #Will Auceptin

11 notes · View notes

inu-mothership · 1 year

Text

Inu-Mothership Spotlight Saturday Encore: March 11, 2023: MirSan!

Hi everyone! We here at @inu-mothership are pleased to revisit one of our very first fic rec lists that we ever did: MirSan!

In honor of MirSan Days 3/5 and 3/6 having just passed, we wanted to look back at some of the wonderful stories that have been posted since our original post in Oct. 2021. As always, stories are listed below the cut, in alphabetical order, with ratings and current status listed. We hope you find some new classics among them!

Barren (Series; E/M; ongoing) by @skyelara

Buried Past (T; complete) by Griddlebone (Ao3)

After a harrowing experience, Sango shares a secret from her past with Miroku.

Clandestine (E; ongoing) by @skyelara and @violetasteria

“I have decided to take you up on your proposition. I have a few ground rules, though.”

Miroku’s body stilled, staring up at her with disbelief. “Wait, are you serious? You really want to do this?”

“You scratch my back and I scratch yours. First ground rule. This is just to help each other out. No falling in love with each other, got it?”

He snorted. “Sango, I’ve been doing this for years. Trust me when I say, that won’t be an issue for me.”

The cold never bothered me anyway (M; complete) by streamsofstoriesandcolour (Ao3)/ @shade-without-color

Miroku and Sango, over a family dinner, recount their first meeting together on a blustery cold day.

The Cruelest Winter (M; ongoing) by AM78 (Ao3)

Two years after Kagome's return to the Feudal era, the inhabitants of her village are facing hard times, as a harsh winter has left them desperately short of needed supplies. At their most dire moment, Sango receives an offer from an old acquaintance. An offer so lucrative and dangerous that it could ensure the town's prospects for survival...if it doesn't eliminate her own.

The Distance Between Duty and Desire (M; complete) by annperkinsface (Ao3)

Somewhere in the distance between duty and desire Sango and Miroku exist in stolen moments, stolen breaths, but for all Miroku's thievery he has never stolen anything as precious as this, Sango straddling him with her eyes dark and intent, her hands curled around the back of his neck like a promise.

Failure to Communicate (T; complete) by @fawn-eyed-girl

When Sango misinterprets something she sees at a party, she refuses to talk to Miroku again, in order to save herself a broken heart. But when Miroku keeps texting her, can she really stay away?

Or: five times that Sango ignores Miroku's texts. And one time that she answers.

Games of Money & Matrimony (M, ongoing) by @violetasteria

The social season has fallen upon the ton, and Sango must finally find a husband this social season to restore her family's fortune and ensure her brother's future. She has her sights set on the rich and handsome Marquess of Asago, Lord Kuranosuke Takeda, but will her favor sway when a mysterious gentleman with deep blue eyes sweeps her off her feet?

It’s Nice to Have a Friend (T; complete) by @skyelara

Sango meets Miroku in first grade as a shy, new student to their school. A friendship starts that quickly turns into something stronger. However, Sango refuses to admit her feelings, especially when Miroku becomes known as something as a ladies man in High School. She's sure he only sees her as a best friend, a sister. But there's more than meets the eye when it comes to his feelings.

(Like) A Happy Dream (T; complete) by MadHatterLilith (Ao3)

Miroku always had some doubts about how their journey would end, but now he's living a life happier than the one he dreamed of.

My Children’s Childhood (G; complete) by @heynikkiyousofine

“How much farther?” Tiny legs struggled to keep up with his father’s as they walked the rocky path, a steep climb to a distant temple.

“Not too much longer, son.” He chuckled, holding out his free hand for him to take.

One Moment in Time: Chapter 6: Strength, and Chapter 7: Weakness (T; complete) by @jeremymarsh

One moment in time in our characters’ lives that could change them forever – or maybe not.

Sense and Sensibility, An Inuyasha Retelling (T; ongoing) by @kalcia and @ruddcatha

When their father dies, the Higurashi sisters Sango and Kagome suddenly find their fortunes changed overnight. The sisters begin to find their own paths, as one learns to step away from the practical to learn to dream with the help of the dashing Miroku, and the other sees the importance of stability in a world of fancy with the steadfast Inuyasha. An adaptation of the Jane Austen Novel Sense and Sensibility.

Sins Week 2022: Chapter 7: Lust/Blue (M; complete) by @lavendertwilight89

Small Bites: Chapter 14: Root Canals and Yoga (T; complete) by @neutronstarchild

Sango needed a root canal, and it was going to cost an arm and a leg. Miroku offered help, by marrying her. It’s stupid, but so is tooth pain. And it’s simple. That is, until Sango walks in on Miroku’s morning routine. Has he… always been so bendy?

Sweet Surrender (T; complete) by @violetasteria

Every night when her friends weren’t looking, the hardest thoughts overtook her. Each morning, she continued on as if the darkness was not churning within her. As if she was not slowly dying inside at the mere thought of failing their group’s seemingly hopeless mission.

And it was working. She had them all fooled into thinking she was just fine, or so she thought.

To Fall in Love with Strangers (T; complete) by @witchygirl99

There are armed men attacking them, after a top secret program that Miroku’s only got written in his head. He’s spent the last few days being nearly killed at every opportunity, only alive because of the fiery, violent woman at his side. Miroku has thought, at least five times a day, that he’d like her to try and choke him with those thighs.

He’s probably losing far too much blood. Shit.

Undertow (T; complete) by @violetasteria

A talented swindler in a sleepy port city passes his days conning and scheming, but his whole world changes when his mark turns out to be a pirate.

What I Feel When Your Smile Shows (T; complete) by miss_coverly (Ao3)/ @lesbian-kyoru

“Oh. Right, my Valentine’s chocolates! What about them?”

If Kirara wouldn’t fly her away, Sango could always just run for the hills. Dive into the nearest river and swim away? Or maybe her Hiraikotsu could bear weight, and carry her past the horizon. The thing with the Hiraikotsu, though, was the fact that it was a boomerang.

And no matter what, boomerangs always brought you back to exactly where you started.

Sango asks about Valentine's Day chocolates. Kagome does what she does best: matchmaking.

Would You (G; complete) by Pipistrellus (Ao3)

#inu-mothership #inu mothership spotlight saturday #spotlight saturday encore #march 11 2023 #mirsan #miroku x sango #inuyasha fanfiction

25 notes · View notes

mattsboldyy · 2 years

Text

the day when the real work begun | the umich hockey team

find part one of this series here !!

summary - you had your work cut out for you.

words - 629

warnings - fem!reader

authors note - eee!! this series is making me so happy. big shout out to @hockeyboysarehot for giving me this amazing series idea. <3 i love y’all a ton, enjoy this :)

—————————

“we select from the university of michigan, y/n l/n

“no way.” you gasp, jumping up and hugging all your friends and family.

“hey love bug, how are you feeling?” matty beniers said through the phone, “oh lord. i’m so nervous. how about you though?” you laughed, standing in the kitchen of your michigan home. “i’m all good.” matty said, laughing back. “i bet. yeah mom i’m coming! sorry matty, i gotta go. good luck today!” you said before hanging up the phone and heading over to the living room.

your whole family was basically there. all packed into your childhood home, where all of your dreams and hopes of playing hockey were born and came true. never in a million years did you ever think of being even eligible for the nhl draft. most guys nhl draft eligible always want to be up there in draft picks but it was completely different for you. you didn’t care if you were last. all that mattered to you was that you were becoming a role model for all those little girls out there who thought it was never possible for a girl to join the nhl. it gave them hope that maybe their dreams will come true one day, and they will be draft eligible.

“you got this baby.” your dad said, taking your hand in his. “yeah.” you said, taking a deep breath as the nhl draft was just about to start. after all of the introductions were over with, buffalo was on the clock. “on behalf of the buffalo sabres and all out great fans, we are proud to select from the university of michigan, owen power.” a smile immediately erupted on your face. owen deserved it he really did. you were so happy for him. he was one of your best friends this year and helped you a ton with everything. “aww owen!” you laughed, seeing him hug his family and friends. ‘i’m so proud of u, o.’ you texted him, before putting your phone away while seattle was on the clock.

next pick - seattle

“on behalf of our passionate fans, i am proud to make the historical first ever amateur draft selection for our team by choosing, from the university of michigan, matty beniers.”

next pick - anaheim

“the anaheim ducks are proud to select mason mctavish”

“…luke hughes”

“…kent johnson”

“…simon edvinsson”

you sat there patiently, waiting for the chance of your name to get called. smiling each time one of your teammates gets selected.

you had started zoning out around the 13th pick which belonged to calgary.

“buffalo is now on the clock for their second pick of the 2021 draft.”

“the buffalo sabres are pleased to select, making history, from the university of michigan, y/n l/n”

your eyes widened and your mouth dropped. “did they just say my name?” you mumbled, as your family started jumping up and down, crowding you with hugs and congratulations. “lets go baby!!” you high fived your old teammates while laughing.

later

“OWEN!” you yelled through facetime, smiling. “SMALLS!” he yelled back, laughing while running his hand through his hair. “ya know this whole professional nhl thing is going to be a lot easier now that i know i’ll have someone i’m close with along side me.” owen said, holding his phone. “yeah? i’m glad i have you too owen.” you said.

- draft interview -

“hey y/n. congratulations to you and your family on this historic moment. describe today in your own words.”

“the day when the real work began.”

—————————

tagging some friends!

@1-800-iluvhockey @owenpowersglasses @hockey-lover86 @bitchinbarzal @pierrelucduboiis

168 notes · View notes

wartakes · 9 months

Text

Counterinsurgency: The Impossible War? (OLD ESSAY)

This essay was originally posted on May 5th, 2021.

Written after President Biden announced that the United States and its allies would be withdrawing the last of its troops from Afghanistan that year (but before the infamous collapse that would happen some months later), this is where I started to lay out my theory on the nature of insurgencies and attempts to counter them.

(Full essay below the cut).

The time has finally come, apparently. After almost twenty years of turning many purported corners towards victory, the United States and its allies have decided to withdraw their combined military forces from Afghanistan. President Joe Biden announced this move on April 14th, 2021, with the intent of completing the withdrawal by September 11th, 2021 (a weird choice as that date that holds no symbolic significance insofar as I can remember). This withdrawal has already begun in earnest at the time of writing this essay and is due to pick up in the coming months.

I for one, am all in favor of this withdrawal – assuming we actually follow through on it. Lord knows that an entire army of think tank personalities, politicians and both current and former government and military officials have been mobilizing since the announcement was made in order to offer every reason under the sun why withdrawing from Afghanistan would be a tragic and horrible mistake. If you can imagine a reason to stay forever, someone has probably written an op-ed about it by now in one of the broadsheet newspapers or for one of the major news networks.

But if we actually do leave, I think its way past time. Don’t get me wrong, I am by no means indifferent to the fate and plight of the Afghan people once we do leave. I’m not blind to what will probably happen to the fragile Afghan state and military in the face of the Taliban and other armed groups once Western forces are no longer propping them up, and I dread the thought of what will happen to ordinary Afghans in the face of what will likely be unleashed upon them after the withdrawal is complete. What is almost certainly going to happen is horrible and tragic – that is one thing I agree with all the talking heads on in this situation.

That is about the only thing I agree with them on, however. The fact that the Afghan state will almost certainly collapse after we leave is indicative of the fact that twenty years of U.S. and NATO counterinsurgency (COIN) operations in Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban and other armed groups have been an abject failure – as have any related measures in the realm of nation-building. Our being there hasn’t helped anything, but has only made things worse through our own ineptitude or callousness (or sometimes both). While things will very likely get worse for Afghanistan in the near-term – and that is awful – our being there will only be worse for their country and our own in the long-run. It is arguable whether we even had to be there in the first place to accomplish our original reason for going in. It is time to leave, end of story.

Now, we could have a long, in-depth political discussion about why we stayed in Afghanistan for so long and underlying reasons for why we choose to go in to begin with – aside from going after Osama bin Laden (who was a fucking horrible person by the way, make no mistake; rest in piss, Osama). But that’s not what I want to focus on in this essay. Sorry if you’re disappointed.

Instead, I feel the withdrawal from Afghanistan is an excellent opportunity to talk about another obvious question: why the United States and its allies couldn’t “win” the war in Afghanistan after twenty years occupying it, thousands upon thousands of lives lost and people maimed, and billions of dollars spent. This in turn opens up a wider discussion about whether or not you can actually win what has been dubbed “counterinsurgency” to begin with, especially when you draw a long line through the myriad of other attempted COIN campaigns throughout recent history.

Strap yourselves in. This is gonna be (another) long one, people. Another heads up, I’m obviously will work to back my historical claims with some evidence, but a lot of my general musings on insurgency as a form of warfare are basically just my own mental vomit in text form. I haven’t served in uniform, and my experience as a defense profession has focused on conventional war. I’m just trying to offer my perspective looking in after growing up in the shadow of these wars, trying to point out what seems obvious to me after twenty something years.

Chasing the COIN Dragon

When I titled this essay, I was very careful to put a question mark after “the impossible war” because as an analyst, I try to avoid absolute certainties and black and white reads of a situation. A truly successful COIN campaign may be achievable, but I feel like the number of circumstances that would have to line up to make such a victory possible would be so unique and specific to any given situation (as well as rare) as to be unrepeatable and un-useful as a template. So, while I leave myself open to that possibility, such a war – even if feasible – would be the exception, not the rule. With that in mind, whenever I say that COIN is “impossible”, why don’t’ you just assume I mean “next-to-impossible” or “practically impossible” in reality.

But all that being said, I started writing this piece in late 2020 and in that time, I’ve tried to think of some actual “wins” in COIN. By win, I mean where the COIN side of the conflict actually won the war wholesale, completely defeating the insurgent adversary. I consider myself a fairly astute student of modern military history, and as I searched my mental databank of 20th and 21st century insurgencies, I couldn’t think of a single goddamn one where the COIN force actually won. Oh, I can think of at least a handful of insurgencies that eventually grew to the point they successfully overthrew the government they were fighting: Cuba, Vietnam, There still aren’t a ton of instances where the insurgents fully win either – something I’ll touch on later – but there’s still more of those instances I can think than ones where COIN forces won.

I expect someone may disagree with me here and try and offer up their favorite COIN campaign as proof I’m wrong. One potential COIN “victory” that may get brought up is the Malayan Emergency where the British supposedly helped wage a successful COIN campaign against Malayan communists. Well, two problems for me with that campaign: 1.) the success was only fleeting, as within a decade or so of it ending a fresh insurgency had cropped up, going on for decades until ending with a peace accord in 1989; and 2.) it required some methods that quite frankly would be war crimes today (and arguably would have been that even at the time), and I think the moment you need to resort to war crimes to be “successful” in any war you’ve lost the plot completely.

There may be other conflicts someone might bring up to say “the government won this civil war here, so ha ha.” The thing is that a civil war and an insurgency are not necessarily the same thing to me. Most insurgencies are civil wars, but you can have an insurgency that isn’t a civil war – when its solely against a foreign occupying power. You can also have a civil war that is mostly conventional in nature, with both sides fighting in open warfare. An insurgency can grow into a full-scale civil war or rebellion, but that is not guaranteed to happen and depends on a lot of factors – another thing I’ll touch on in a bit. Since I harp on about definitions a lot, the definition of insurgency I’m using is the Merriam-Webster definition of “a condition of revolt against a government that is less than an organized revolution and that is not recognized as belligerency.”

So, now that we know what we’re talking about with insurgencies, why is it that there doesn’t seem to be any real COIN victories? That is a question I feel the U.S. military hasn’t asked enough – if at all. They’ve focused so much on trying to find a “theory of victory” for COIN I don’t think they ever stopped to really consider why they haven’t been able to win already if they’re supposedly doing all the “right” things. The U.S. military establishment has put a lot of time, money, and effort into devising ways to try and prosecute COIN, including a whole-ass manual written by everyone’s favorite four-star philander General David Petraeus (Ret.) along with Trump’s formerly favorite Marine General James “Chaos”/”Mad Dog”/”Warrior Monk” Mattis (Ret.) back in 2006.

This approach really illustrates the heart of the matter, which is a lot of times people who think about COIN think about it purely in the sense of fighting a war in the tactical sense, focusing on killing hostiles and what have you – even if they pay lip service to hearts and mind. I bet a lot of the “successful” COIN campaigns some people would offer to me in rebuttal would be ones where the COIN force showed some success at least in finding and kill insurgents or temporarily disrupting their operations at a tactical level – but still failed to bring the conflict to a conclusion. What these approaches miss is that insurgency is inherently a political issue, not purely a military one, and therefore cannot be solved by military means on their own.

And so, we reach the main point of my article (half-way in): COIN is almost impossible to win because at the end of the day, the only way you can make it stop permanently is by offering some kind of political concession to the insurgents – which inherently involves admitting defeat in the conflict to some degree.

But why is that the case? Again, I’m not a COIN expert by profession (arguably, no one is), but the best way I can figure an insurgency or any kind of rebellion or armed uprising or civil war usually begins because there is a group of people within a territory with certain demands or needs that are not being met by the power in control – whether that be a government or an occupier. The group feels that any other avenue through which change could feasibly be achieved has been closed off to them or rendered ineffectual, and that they have been left with no other recourse than to resort to armed conflict in order to try and force those in power to answer their grievances – whether those be a limited set of policies or actions or the removal of the authorities themselves from power and their replacement with new leaders.

It’s important to note before we go any further that these demands or needs don’t necessarily have to be legitimate or reasonable or altruistic or even potentially based on reality, but they have to be ones that the group feels strongly enough about to go to war over for whatever reasons. It’s also important to note that none of this is assuming the insurgents are going to be the “good guys” by default. I can think of more than a few insurgent groups from history that started out with good intentions only to become as bad as or worse than the governments they were fighting – or insurgent groups that started out bad and had bad opinions from the get-go only to get even worse over time. However, we’re not debating the justness of insurgencies here. What we’re looking at is the mechanics of why winning them is next to impossible.

“We’ve Always Been at War With East Insurgentia”

Getting back on track: in an ideal world, you either would have everyone’s needs met, or if they weren’t, the people would at least feel they had other mechanisms through which to enact change short of armed violence. Of course, we live in a less than ideal world. States are often not only deaf to the requests or pleas of their citizens, but also often react to those pleas with violence as a punishment for ever questioning their authority in the first place. This is to say nothing of how an occupying power may react. When people feel that the system is broken – or there is no system for them to work through in the first place – it’s no wonder why rebellions and insurgencies so often occur. What is more surprising is why governments and their supporters or backers are often so surprised that they can’t seem to end an insurgency when the cause and the solution to their problem has been in front of their face the entire time.

As long as the original grievances that were bad enough to cause an insurgency to exist continue to do so, and the system to address grievances remains broken or non-existent, and the grievances go unanswered, an insurgency will likely continue. It doesn’t matter how many insurgents are killed, weapons caches seized, hearts and minds attempted to be won – as long as that original cause is still there the fighting can linger on for decades. After all, when people are willing to take up arms for a cause, chances are they’re willing to die for it or hold out until they see some results. There may be pauses or lulls, but at the end of the day they are only that: pauses. So, the only way you will ever conclusively end the fighting is to either give the insurgents what they want or reach some kind of compromise that they find amenable and fair and in which you are giving up something that is acceptable to you and you are willing to part with in negotiations.

This is why you can’t “win” a counterinsurgency in the same way you can defeat an invading army or other conventional aggressor. You can avoid flat-out losing in COIN indefinitely, but because an ultimate end to an insurgency requires some kind of appeasement to insurgent demands, total victory is impossible. If you are not willing to concede and accept a loss, or compromise and accept some form of a draw, the best-case scenario is to be locked in a forever war that maybe you can maybe keep locked down from expending a vast number of lives and resources – if you’re lucky. Even then, the best you can hope for is to essentially keep a house fire limited to one corner of one room, with the ever-constant threat hanging over you that it may suddenly flare up again and having to keep expensive firefighting equipment on standby at all times to manage the fire and be prepared for a spread.

This is also the reason that while I consider a counterinsurgency unwinnable, I do not think the same of a more conventional civil war. This speaks to a paradox or irony of insurgency I’ve noticed when it comes to the insurgent side. When your rebellion remains limited to an insurgency, disparate and spread out in small disconnect groups, it’s really hard for you to lose but – much like the COIN guys have a hard time winning – it’s also hard for you to win if your goal is overthrowing the government or throwing out the occupier. With a foreign occupier, you may still be able to win as a low level insurgency if you’re just willing to sit tight and wait it out for a few decades until they finally realize it’s not worth it and withdraw. But, if you’re also fighting your own government, they may hang on harder because they stand to lose more if you’re seeking to kick them out or hold them to account or lop off a sizeable chunk of their territory and secede as your own country.

This is why Mao Tse-Tung (who I’m not a fan of but does understand this subject fairly well) divided guerilla warfare into three different phases, as detailed in his own book on the subject, translated by the U.S. Marines. The first phase consists of organizing, training, equipping, and consolidating your forces out of harm’s way, before escalating to insurgency in the second phase. It was only in the third and final phase when the guerilla force reached critical mass and the enemy was weakened that the insurgency would cease to be an insurgency and shift into a conventional war of maneuver against the enemy forces.

Therein lies the paradox that, by increasing your forces and shifting your strategy to focus on conventional warfare, while your chances of victory increase, so do your chances of defeat. It’s a lot easier for your army to be defeated when you have to maneuver in the open, massing your formerly disparate forces where they can be spotted and hit with artillery and airstrikes if you don’t remain dynamic and flexible as a commander. That’s why, while there are arguably no cases where a COIN force outright defeated an insurgency, there are still more than a handful of cases where the government or governing power in a conventional civil war defeated the rebel force. Escalating to that level carries obvious risks to the insurgent force if done at the wrong time or under the wrong circumstances and maybe that’s why many insurgencies appear to stay as insurgencies indefinitely.

This brings up an interesting point that, while its ultimately easier for an insurgent force to win an insurgency than a COIN force to win a counter-insurgency, it’s still damn hard for the insurgents to win. More often than not, it seems insurgencies just drag on indefinitely, only occasionally resulting in a definite conclusion. Otherwise, what you get are what we now know as “forever wars”, with the death and destruction and senseless waste crawling on across decades to the point you have entire generations who have only ever known the war.

The unwinnable nature of counterinsurgency is especially obvious when you consider the core reasons why counterinsurgency efforts to preserve colonial empires ultimately failed. The French were never going to win in Algeria or Vietnam, nor the Portuguese in Angola and Mozambique, or the Dutch in Indonesia, and so on and so on. The original grievance of the local people was the very fact that those foreign colonial empires had control of their lands, and the only way it was ever going to end was with the imperial powers leaving.

Even some of the counterinsurgency “victories” among this era of the final gasps of colonialism that someone might bring up to challenge my argument aren’t really victories when you look closer. We already saw this with the Malayan Emergency, but it can be found in another British example from that period in Africa. The British “defeated” the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya – after spending £55 million in 1950s money and the largest wartime use of capital punishment in the history of the British Empire – only to turn around and give Kenya independence some three years after the uprising had supposedly ended. Who really won there in the end?

This brings us back to Afghanistan, the muse for this piece. However bad the Taliban and al Qaeda are – and they are in fact very bad – at the end of the day, we invaded Afghanistan. We were never invited in with the consent of its people to help them to push back an invader or to undertake some other altruistic task. While military planners and think tank ghouls scratch their hands and agonize over how their various COIN tactics and strategies haven’t panned out, the point flies over their head. They ignore or forget that the key reason why the Taliban still attracts support and is able to fight back against us is because ultimately, more than enough Afghans do not want us there and will not stop until Western militaries are no longer in that country.

This is by no means an apologia for the Taliban or al-Qaeda or Islamic State or any of the other groups that brutalize and oppress Afghans – let me be crystal clear, fuck those guys. But at the end of the day, other ideology aside, enough Afghans oppose a U.S. military presence in Afghanistan and the government that we established after the invasion that until we are gone, and changes are made to the way that Afghanistan is governed, conflict there will never end. It’s that simple. If COIN is already extraordinarily difficult to win as a state fighting its own population, it must be truly impossible as an imperial power that has assumed control of an area – especially when you consider how many empires have tried and failed to conquer Afghanistan in particular, earning it its moniker of the “Graveyard of Empires.”

“The only winning move is not to play”

Ok, so counterinsurgency is practically unwinnable. I could walk away just at that and call it an essay. But I feel it’s worth trying to end this with something actionable here instead of just dealing with this purely in a “not even once” negative message.

If COIN is unwinnable, the real “winning” strategy is a preemptive one. (i.e., ensuring that you create the conditions that would prevent an insurgency from breaking out in the first place). Having a political system that is truly free, democratic, just, transparent and responsive to any grievances from its citizens seems like a good and obvious starting point – so they have avenues to go down to try and change things that are actually working and available and have a shot of success. Likewise, working to create a system where the basic needs of your citizens are provided for seems like it would stop a lot of people from having serious grievances to begin with, let alone resorting to taking up arms to seek redress. Granted, I am a pie-in-the-sky lefty, so what the fuck do I know, right? This would never make it in a McKinsey slide deck.

But even when the will to do this is present, there’s the question of “but what good does this do for a country like Afghanistan?” Fair point, honestly. It’s easy to say all this living in a developed, Western country – even with all the many, many problems those have these days. All I can say to that is, even if other countries are willing and able to offer the assistance to try and make that happen, at the end of the day the people of that country also have to want a different system and be willing to take action to make that happen. It’s not something that can be forced upon them, nor should it be forced upon them (this is part of the reason I am very much opposed to regime change by outside forces, something I want to write about in another essay, so stay tuned). It is up to the people in a given polity to decide when enough is enough. It may be hard to watch people suffering from the outside in – I know it is for me when I look at the world today – but ultimately that choice is theirs and theirs alone. Decades of sunk costs in Afghanistan should be proof of that. A people have to decide for themselves when it’s time for a change, not foreign entities. All you can do in the meantime from the outside is do what you can to help them survive until they make that choice themselves.

The flip side to this may be “what about when a foreign power or entity is supporting an insurgency”, artificially inflating its power and capabilities and influence when it otherwise may not have that much or even exist to begin with. That’s another valid question and to be honest I don’t have a good answer to that. This is part of why I put a question mark after “unwinnable” in the title of this essay. There’s a lot of uncertainty. I don’t pretend to have all the answers here, and this is something that is worth some additional study. What happens when a foreign power is supporting an insurgency with malintent? I’d probably argue to an extent that the ability to be able to create an insurgency or inflate the powers of one still shows there is some kind of underlying grievance or issue in the country at hand, but that still may not be the case depending on the motivations of the intervening powers or powers supporting the insurgency. All I can say to that is, this is an idea I want to stick a pin in and think of later, because it is something that could become an issue in the future for new democratic socialist governments across the world that come to power and are faced with hostile forces unwilling to let them govern by any means available to them.

This admission by me in a way shows how little supposed defense analysts like myself understand about insurgency, despite the fact it has seemingly become the most common form of armed conflict in the world. Many so-called experts have knowingly or unknowingly misunderstood or misinterpreted the underlying issues of insurgency for decades now. As we finally, hopefully withdraw from Afghanistan after spending the majority of my life so-far fighting a fruitless and bloody war there, I can only hope that this leads to an awakening in understanding the reasons for why insurgencies begin in the first place, the pointlessness in trying to win them militarily, initiatives to try and remove the conditions that cause them to start in the first place.

Being the cynical bastard that I am, I don’t hold out a lot of hope that these concepts will sink in anytime soon. But maybe someday. You have to hold out hope for something these days, right?

6 notes · View notes

arzuera · 1 year

Text

I posted 358 times in 2022

That's 120 more posts than 2021!

47 posts created (13%)

311 posts reblogged (87%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@rainbowchibbit

@dandelion-witch

@dokudoki

@im-totally-not-an-alien-2

@captain-krow-drozdov

I tagged 132 of my posts in 2022

#dp x dc - 83 posts

#danny phantom - 69 posts

#danny phantom crossover - 32 posts

#damian wayne - 29 posts

#arzuera - 24 posts

#dc x dp - 18 posts

#batman - 16 posts

#tim drake - 15 posts

#danny fenton - 15 posts

#jason todd - 14 posts

Longest Tag: 85 characters

#what if the lazarus pit has the same effects as a very concentrated eatable on ghosts

My Top Posts in 2022:

Happy DP x DC WEEK!

195 notes - Posted November 15, 2022

Reality hits Jason when he realized he’s gonna be a king (of the gz) because he’s with Danny who is laughing in a corner.

It had begun with small things.

With the newly made connection that Jason made with Danny, he was able to see ghosts that couldn’t be seen before. It wasn’t like when Danny went invisible, these ghosts just didn’t have enough power to be seen by the mortal eye. The halfa had warned that there may be some changes with his liminality when they decided to take their relationship to the next stage. This new ability was unnerving but it wasn’t too bad.

Patrols would get easier because of random ghosts coming up to him and giving him hints about the rats scurrying around in Gotham’s underbelly. With that information, Red Hood had started making a name for himself, and crime in Crime alley was at an all-time low. They didn’t know how he found out about the many secretive things lurking in the dark but he had busted enough deals, drug rings, and prostitution rings that people were starting to rethink what they were doing with their lives. However, those instances didn’t just stay when Jason was in costume.

Ghosts began approaching him while he would walk about town or do mundane chores. Some ask for help, others stop by just to say hi. It didn’t happen too often at first but kept growing as time went on and the weirdest thing about it was… they all bowed to him.

Without fail.

During every ghostly interaction, Jason was either greeted with a curtsy or a bow before the conversation began. Older ghosts started referring to him as ‘my lord’ and if it wasn’t for the fact that he was used to Alfred calling him ‘master’ all of the time, Jason would have probably gone off on the undead people. He just didn’t understand where it was coming from. Jason wasn’t a lord. He wasn’t some sort of royalty. He was just an undead sap who was engaged to the Ghost King… wait.

No.

No way.

There was no way in hell (literally) that this was a thing.

“Hey, babe.”

Did that mean… did that mean he would become a royal? A king no less?!

“Baaaabe.”

The king title wasn’t a guarantee. Danny was the king. Can there be two kings? Does that make him a prince consort? What the fuck, was he a prince?

“You hunkalicious tank of a man, notice me.”

What did that mean for him? If he was a king of the Ghost Zone, did that mean he had to go to galas and such? It was bad enough when Bruce tried to rope him into those things but now he might be obligated too. There was no way that he would leave his fiancee hanging.

“Ancients, you are beautiful but why must you have such a thick skull? BAAABE!”

Wait, what responsibilities would he have? Jason didn’t know anything about politics in the Ghost Zone other than you can rule it by beating the previous king in trial by combat. What would he be in charge of? Sure, he helped ghosts when they asked but only when it was within his power. There was only so much that he could do.

“JASON SEXY ASS TODD! LOOK AT ME!”

Jason threw the person that had touched his shoulder across the room. A man with black hair and blue eyes sailed, a little too easily, over the kitchen counter and lightly smacked into the corner wall. The twenty-four-year-old man slid to the floor while looking at Jason with eyes full of surprise. There was a brief awkward pause before Danny smirked from his spot on the floor and said, “Does this count as spousal abus-”

“AM I A KING NOW?!” Jason blurted out before his fiancee could finish. He had to know or else the thoughts were going to plague his mind.

Danny blinked at him owlishly before a wicked grin made its home on his face. “Um… yes? Well, king is a part of the title. I’m the king but you’ll be my king consort or queen consort if you prefer. If you don’t want to use gender-specific terms we could go with royal consort. Why are you so surprised…” the halfa’s grin grew wolfish as Jason turned red from embarrassment. “Wait… are you just now realizing this?”

“YES!” Jason exclaimed as he threw his hands into the air. “It’s not like you told me?!” Danny absolutely loses it. The halfa clutches his sides from laughter as Jason’s expression just continues to become more flustered. “Stop it! This isn’t funny!”

“You’re right! It’s hilarious! You yeeted me into the kitchen wall!” Danny yelled right back, amusement dancing behind his icy blue eyes as his shoulders continued to shake from laughter. “Because that big brain of yours just NOW figured out that marrying a king makes you royalty! We’ve been together for three years!”

“I have read enough period novels to know how the right of succession and all of that works! I just didn’t expect to actually become one! I mean look at me!” Jason gestured to his entire body, black tank top, boxers, and all, to Danny. “Do I look like king material to you?!”

Danny gives his lover an appreciative once over and smirked. “You’re right, king’s consort probably won’t work. How about being the king’s treasure instead?”

The anti-hero’s mind stopped for a moment until his face was as bright as a tomato. “That’s it. We’re over. I’m not yours anymore, take the ring back.” Jason grumbled and made a show of taking the engagement ring off but not actually trying.

“But making you mine would be my second crowning achievement,” Danny whined, making his way over to Jason and draping himself across the strong man’s shoulders.

“Okay, we really are done now.”

The halfa chuckled and nuzzled into Jason’s neck, placing a kiss at the spot where the shoulder connected with a small hum. His hand moved to cover Jason’s ringed one. “I know you are a bit freaked out… and that it’s a lot. I won’t lie that it will probably be a bit overwhelming but… you don’t have to learn everything right away and you aren’t alone. You have me, Jazz, Sam, tucker, your siblings, Alfred, and as much as you don’t want to admit it, Bruce. All joking aside, I think you would make a wonderful king. You are just and fair and when someone goes too far, you aren’t afraid to put your foot down to protect those who need it. You won’t let someone use you or walk over you and I need someone by my side who will help rein me back in if I go too far. With all of those things considered… you are actually overqualified.”

See the full post

256 notes - Posted October 21, 2022

Hey i got the funniest, cutest mental image for Robin's Egg that I had to immediately share with you. Once Danny gets out of his core he is very, very protective of Damian for the first few days because Damian took such good care of him, he needs to return the favor. However when they are suddenly surrounded by people that Damian claims are friendly but Danny doesn't actually know, he turns his legs into a tail and basically coils himself around Damian. Danny is full on circling him and constantly looking between Bats and Birds to try to keep everyone in view so he's basically curled around Damian's neck and looped all over his body in a clearly Extremely Protective Way as Damian simply talks to his family like there is a stranger coiled around him and threatening to bite Dick when he got to close.

That is a hilarious image. I had to make this at work XD

306 notes - Posted September 7, 2022

Danny thought his most bizarre experience is being summoned by cultists as the Ghost King. Turns out his current predicament beats it by flying colors as he is currently bound as sacrifice for his own summoning circle.

He knew that his luck was bad but he didn’t think that it would be THIS bad. Dozens of cultists circled the raised ritual table and he was beginning to wonder if there would be an opportunity to free himself or not. Was it possible to die in his own summoning circle? Or would it just create some sort of endless paradox of life and death as he arose in his ghost form only to be sacrificed in his human one? This was something that had never been encountered before. There was no one to ask. Clockwork might know the outcome but unless it horrendously affected the time stream, odds are the ancient wasn’t going to interfere. So that left Danny with only one option. He had to get out of this himself.

But how was he going to do that without outing his alternate identity?

Just as he was pondering on using some of his ghostliness to freeze everyone in place, there was a loud explosion that shook the entire room. Several of the cultists scattered but the core ones remained in their spots so that the ritual wasn’t broken. The circle had begun to glow an ominous green as the ritual began to enter its beginning stages. Shouts and flashing lights followed as the newcomers stormed their way up the stairs toward the summoning. Danny sighed to himself in relief.

Maybe he wouldn’t have to do anything after all.

“Alright, you bloody show ponies. Step away from the circle and no one gets… Oh, bloody hell.” A familiar blonde man in a trench coat knocked anyone who tried to stop him out of his way. Only to stop when he saw the circle and the sacrifice who rested upon it. “Don’t you think this is a bit much? If you wanted to get my attention you have my fucking cellphone number for Christ's sake.”

Danny gave the man a wicked grin. His eyes lit up at the newest arrival. “But you know I have a flair for the dramatics, Constantine. Someone has to shake things up once in a while.” This was too good. The halfa flopped his head back against the table and wiggled in his restraints. “Please, save me! I am just a poor innocent young lad about to have his life cut short too soon to bring upon the end of the world.”

Constantine rolled his eyes at the theatrics. “Only one of those things is true and here I was calling these guys the show ponies. Hang on, your majesty. I’ll get you out in a minute.”

“Your majesty?” One of the cultists in the circle looked at the magician as he spoke. Only to be blasted off the circle by a fireball.

“Yep. I was told someone was trying to do something stupid and when I get here I find that they are trying to sacrifice someone stupid.” The magician sent several more of the cultists sprawling out of their positions with the lights of the summoning circle began to dim. “How did this even happen?!”

Danny hummed to himself as lights of magic flashed around him with the screams of cultists following soon after. “Well, it’s kind of a funny story actually. You see I was on a field trip to one of those ancient catacombs… you know… the ones where they have the bodies in the mass graves under the city?”

Another cultist was knocked out of place and the circle’s power diminished further. “Yeah, the Catacombs de Paris? Didn’t know that they did field trips to places like that.” Constantine walked up to Danny and waved his hand over the restraints. The ropes loosened and the teen sat up rubbing the spots where the skin was rubbed raw.

“Yeah, that place! And what did you expect from a school trip for Amity Park students? Our town is literally a portal to hell at this point. Why not see what other creepy places have to offer? We gotta broaden our horizons somehow.” Danny said and wiggled his toes. He ducked his head when a cultist went to grab him and Constantine sent another fireball sending them flying.

“Okay, and how does that lead you to become a sacrifice for your own circle?” Constantine asked once the last cultist was no longer within earshot. He grabbed the kid and started chanting a teleportation spell to get them to a nearby safe haven.

Danny allowed himself to rag doll in the adult's grip with a chuckle. “Oh! Well, apparently I give off a massive death aura when I come into contact with sites that contain a lot of death and tragedy. Some of the culty guys here were able to pick up on that and long story short… I’m posing pretty for you on a cool Gothic table.”

With a brilliant flash of light, the two were transported to the roof of a nearby hotel. Constantine released the boy, who fell to the ground with an ‘uff’, to pull out a cigarette and take a long drag from it. “Do you have any idea what could have happened to you if they had succeeded?”

“Honestly? No. In all of the Infinite Realm's history, there has never been a halfa as king. So there has never been an instance of mistaken identity like this before. However, thanks for the save. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of that without revealing who I was and it’s not like I could kill them.” Danny gave a small smile as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. That was a lie. He could kill them easily. But that was a line that he wouldn’t cross if he couldn’t help it.

Constantine remained quiet for a moment. Just allowing himself to finish his cigarette before speaking again. “So do you need me to bring you back to your class or…?”

“Oh no! No no! I don’t think the teachers even noticed I’m gone. So I’ll just pop back into my hotel room.” Twin rings of light washed over Danny as he spoke and he gave the magician a bright smile. “And don’t worry, now that I know this can happen, I’ll have a plan to escape for next time. C’ya later, Constantine!” Turning invisible, Phantom flew off using the GPS in his phone to take him back to his hotel.

Sam and Tuck were going to be so mad about this.

646 notes - Posted November 6, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Conner isn't a clone of Luther and Superman,but Danny phantom and Superman.

Phantom looked at the monitor in the med bay dumbstruck. Several other leaguers were in the same situation. How could this have happened? WHEN did it happen? Sure during the early years of crime fighting, Danny hadn’t been the best at keeping his blood in his body but he had grown by leaps and bounds since then. With GIW and his parents trying to figure out how to take him out, it had become instinctual to make sure that he didn’t leave much of a trace wherever he went. Yet, somehow it had been leaked.

And to Lex Luthor no less.

“I don’t understand. Phantom wasn’t even a part of the league when the Cadmus project was in operation. So how could this be?!” Flash stated as his eyes scanned the results over and over but they remained the same.

“I’m… I’m just as confused as you are.” Danny admitted still feeling overwhelmed by this new information. When Cadmus was in operation he had finally appointed as the King of the Infinite Realms at the age of 21. He didn’t join the Justice League until a little over a year later when some idiotic cultists had thought it was a good idea to try and merge the death realm with the living. Now, going into his second year with the League, Danny was finding out he had been cloned.

Again.

Batman grunted as he leaned back in his chair. “The results don’t lie. I’ve run them about ten times and it has all come up the same. The records on Cadmus had stated that Superman and Lex Luthor were the donors in creating Connor. However, Phantom’s DNA is a perfect match.”

The halfa looked to the teenager who was lying on a bed in the other room unconscious. While out on a mission, Superboy had taken several nasty hits and was severely injured. He had needed a blood transfusion and the poor kid had a horrible reaction when Manhunter tried to use an IV of Luthor’s blood which was supposed to have been a match. (Superman donated his blood as needed. It's not that he didn’t want to help but it was really hard for him to give blood with his body the way it was. Most needles just bent out of shape when they tried to pierce the skin.) It was touch and go but it appeared that Danny’s was a perfect match in more ways than one. Phantom pulled out his cell phone and started texting Jazz. She was not going to believe this.

“Phantom, what are you doing?” Batman asked when he saw him pull the device out.

“Texting my sister.”

Flash, finally, peeled his eyes away from the monitor. “Why?”

“Because, apparently, I have a long lost son who I didn’t even know about and she is going to flip that Superboy is her nephew,” Danny responded with a smirk. He wished he could have delivered the news in person. Oh! He also needed to get a hold of his other sister. Dani was going to be so excited to learn that she was no longer the only clone in the family.

Thoughts were swirling inside of his head. Conner currently lived at the base of the Young Justice team. Mainly because he didn’t have anywhere to go. Would the boy mind if he took him home with him? His castle in the Ghost Zone was massive and a lot of the rooms were unoccupied. Conner could pick as many of the rooms as he wanted for all he cared. So long as he was happy. Danny’s apartment was a lot smaller but he could probably upgrade so that Conner could have his own space. Money wasn’t really an issue anymore. It would probably do wonders for the teen’s mindset if he had a proper home to come back to instead of the reminder that the one person who was supposed to care about him didn’t.

“You are taking this awfully well,” Batman said as a statement but Danny could feel the questioning gaze of the bat when he put his phone away. “I would have thought you would be mad.”

“Oh, I’m livid all right.” Phantom replied and what he said was true. “I just found out today that I have a son because the boy was put into the hospital due to the severity of his injuries and he had existed for at least two years in this world without my knowledge. Two years that were filled with an unprecedented amount of physical, emotional, and mental trauma as he tries to figure himself out and separate his identity from the man who is supposed to be his other father and mentor. Only for that man to have treated him as an abomination for existing in the first place.” The room temperature dropped to the point that the breath of the other Leaguers showed. “To be honest, I had already low-key adopted him because of that fact but now that I know I’m related there are going to be some changes.”

Flash and Batman exchanged a look seeing the green eyes of the ghost king flare for a few moments before settling into a soft pulse. Both were thankful that Superman was off-world, at the moment. Clark would have probably said something that would have set the man off if he had been there for the startling revelation. Superman cared about Conner. He did but he was having a hard time overlooking the fact that he was cloned without his consent. So Conner’s life was basically denied by the one person he wanted to be acknowledged the most.

Superman would have to be told before he came back so that he would be prepared for when Phantom was going to come at him. Hopefully, enough time will have passed so that Phantom will have calmed down and had a chance to figure out what he wanted to say. Regardless, it wasn’t going to be a fun conversation. For now, Batman nodded to the halfa and turned back to the monitor. “Why don’t you go check on Conner? He should be waking up soon and this news might be what he needs to hear.”

“Maybe he won’t see himself as a villain anymore because he shared DNA with one.” Danny nodded and flew into the teen’s room trying to think of a good way to tell him. How was he going to react? What was he going to say? Would he accept Danny as a father? It didn’t have to be a father role right away, maybe even a cousin or brother. Whatever the boy felt most comfortable with. After all, it didn’t matter what Conner picked in the end because he was family.

And he would never be fighting through things alone again.

1,036 notes - Posted October 16, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

21 notes · View notes

breesays · 5 months

Text

rest in peace, my bad muse

Sometimes, instead of starting a new chapter or working on a new blog, I'll go back into a draft to add details. Or edit. Last night, I opened up the section about PJ, which is the second-longest essay next to Tim's. Moreover, I don't think PJ ever lived in or even near California. We met in Florida, flirted in SoCal - but only when work (a tour) brought him to town - Yellowcard, Anti-Flag, The Get Up Kids. I was involved with PJ from 2003 to 2013, when I changed my phone number and severed a bunch of contacts. I say involved with but I really mean in contact with. The height of our situationship was from 2003-2005, and yes, I am loathe to list dates because lord only knows how many other girls he was "dating" at the exact same time. I know of three at least. He wasn't a stand-up guy. I've spent plenty of time cursing him.

Last night when I Googled his name, I found an obituary. PJ is dead. He passed away in January of 2021, at 36 years old. I watched a 23-minute memorial montage set to "Ocean Avenue." Then I cried. No, I wailed. Are we allowed to grieve for people who weren't awesome? What's the protocol?

I didn't want him dead, I just wanted him to be a better person.

When the band fired him, I was told to cut off contact. I did, for awhile. I liked how reactive he made feel - like a live wire - a bad muse, maybe - is there a word for that? ("Is there a word for 'bad miracle'" -Fall Out Boy)

I was with PJ when I found out about Asexuality, about AVEN. I was 24 years old and for the first time I wanted to want to have sex. Read that again. I (cerebrally) wanted to experience want (physically). Instead, I had a panic attack in the bathroom of a Motel 6 in Ventura. He was very kind about it, which was weird, because he was, in general, unkind about plenty of other things.

The first time I wanted to want to is actually significantly more crucial to my personal timeline than the time I actually DID IT.

Since he was a compulsive liar (the only personality disorder I can confirm by my own account), I'm sure he rewrote that story in his head. Now we'll never know.

Did he become a better person? I know he got married, and divorced. The obit didn't mention a bio kid, even though I know he has one out there.

How do we grieve for the unsavory sort?

One time he told me he had abdominal cancer. He did not.

He is the first person I exchanged "I love you"s with, even if I was super skeptical about it. We actually had a few fights about how he believed I loved him, but did not believe I was IN LOVE with him. I think I said something to the effect of, "This is as good as it gets with me, man." That tracks, right?

Also, is it worth mentioning that he was 19? I mean, I know guys who've just NOT been shitty their whole lives, sure. He had time to grow out of it.

Did he?

Would it be less sad if we knew he was still lying for sport?

In 2004, I flew him out to OC for a few days to hang out. It was a total disaster, of course and after I got home from dropping him off at LAX, I burst into tears. My mom said, "Oh, do you love him?" I said No, I was sad because I didn't have my computer to write about it, about him. Which was the truth.

My bad muse.

One time I told him I was writing and book and he was in it. "You can't do that" he texted. "It's illegal." I laughed.

There has never been much info about him online. Our fling was pre-social media, thus his thriving un-network of girlfriends all over the US of A.

So, is the pain less permanent for the undeserving?

Listen, no one liked him. He was a liar, a cheater, and just really bad with people. All of his girlfriends in the aughts were of the secret variety, including me. I didn't, at any point, try to defend his character. Of the few people I texted to see if they'd heard (it happened nearly 3 years ago, after all) I half expected an "I know, because I murdered him" reply.

How do we mourn the bad guy?

Rest in peace, PJ Oxenfeldt.

You were my first love, even if you didn't deserve it.

#pj oxenfeldt #rip #breesays

2 notes · View notes

calliethetrekkie · 7 months

Text

Star Trek TOS S01E05: The Man Trap

Original Thoughts

"Didn't like it when I tried it when I was 15, to the point that I deemed the show boring and after trying another episode or two didn't pursue it any further. Not as bad trying it again at age 28, but still not to write home about. I can't put my finger on why, but I just do not care for it. But every show's gotta start somewhere, I guess..."

(I didn't do a watchthrough post on it, so that's me digging up my memory of how I felt)

Rewatch Thoughts

Oh Callie, you silly, silly girl...

You want proof that an episode order, even in a show that isn't continuity driven, can be important? This. As a first episode, this episode is a bad choice. You're just thrust into it first thing in an episode that doesn't quite convey the purpose of the series as well as say... The Corbomite Maneuver or even The Cage pilot. This is an episode where you really have to empathize with one of the main characters despite us not knowing or having any connection to him yet and with how it's done here, it didn't work on me.

Now admittedly my 15-year-old self was more concerned with classical/historical animation at this point in time and I only tried it because my dad told me there was a series before TNG. Because I was too stupid to realize that a show titled 'Next Generation' had something before it. I wasn't interested in the franchise in general and I think I used this as an excuse to convince myself that it wasn't worth it. You'd think as someone who had enjoyed researching animation history as a teenager, I would have been, but I wasn't.

But that was then, this is now. On the rewatch in 2021, I felt pretty much the same after it and the other two episodes from before (Charlie X and like... half of Where No Man Has Gone Before), but I decided to keep going. And I'm glad that I did since I fell in love with the show and McCoy became my favorite character. So when I watched it again sometime after finishing the TOS era, my opinion did a complete 180. Especially because I knew and could feel for McCoy so much more that time around.

So, with all that said, how did I feel this time? Oh Lord where do I even start?!

IDK the reasons why they pushed this over The Corbomite Manuever unless there was some late-game production issue, but I can kind of see why of the first batch they had to replace it with, they picked this one. Next to it, this is probably the one that establishes the main cast best, even allowing more for Uhura and Sulu than the others so far have. It also at least has an engaging plot that one can get sucked into, even if due to the events this one doesn't present the purpose the best. A show that starts with them having to kill an alien, the last of its species no less, in a show about exploration and diversity may feel a little out of left field compared to others, is what I'm saying. I can see why this was probably deemed the next best thing, however.

Despite my initial reaction both times I first watched this, I can now happily say that my opinion is FAR more favorable. There is so, so much that I want to talk about it that will cause this review to get WAAAAY too long. I'll post more on my main blog and I already did once here, but I'll do my best to convey it onto here.

Plot-wise, this is an intense one. We've already dealt with being tested by aliens, space criminals, and transporter malfunctions. Now we have something killing crew members, and this time it feels much more personal. Not only because we've now grown accustomed to these characters, but because of McCoy in particular. This is one where you really have to care and worry about him. Not just because of the tension regarding if our heroes will survive, but because of our concern for McCoy and how this is going to affect him. Kind of like how you had to feel for Kirk last episode, and next episode you're asked to do the same for Spock. This is where we are connecting to these characters and where we want them to be okay. IDK if they planned it that way, but it's certainly how I read it.

Speaking of McCoy, let's talk more about him. This is the first episode where we get some backstory, though sadly a LOT of it like about his wife and him having a daughter have still never made it into the show aside from the daughter being mentioned in the animated series. I think enough people know about it, and it's appeared in side material enough that it's considered canon, but his relationship with Nancy is still the best that we get. It starts really cute with him anxious and Kirk clearly enjoying every second of it while teasing him ain't helping him. But it gets a lot more sad the more we realize that Nancy isn't Nancy and the creature use those feelings to manipulate him. The creature outright says that it feels his much more strongly than from Crater, and ain't that just perfect for McCoy? He just feels so much and so strongly, and that made him an easy target.

A lot of credit REALLY goes to DeForest Kelley. The man did not, and imo still hasn't gotten enough credit for how freakin' amazing he was as McCoy. In this episode he's given a LOT to do, not only as McCoy, but at one point as the creature pretending to be McCoy. He portrays so much in the characterization, having that grumpiness we know and love but also this sense of... fragility, I guess is the best word? For as gruff and volatile as McCoy can be at timed, there's also this sense that he's so much more fragile and sad than he lets on. If you know more about his backstory with his divorce and about his father, it makes perfect sense. So him seeing the woman who he almost ended up with likely after the divorce, that one second chance he almost had but still lost, had to be a lot. But then everything else happens, and he finds out that not only was she dead, but from his POV he had to kill her all over again in order to save Kirk, someone he also cares a great deal about. That'll go in another post, but all that fear, sadness, anxiety, infatuation... De portrayed it all perfectly.

And while he wasn't fake!McCoy for long, he also portrays it with much more insecurity and is more withdrawn and quiet. In the conference room scene, as he as the creature acting as McCoy tries to explain how it's just trying to survive, and they shouldn't kill it and is clearly getting more and more worried as it realizes that it's running out of time. It's also really the only time we get to hear from the creature itself, showing some level of intelligence and desperation to survive. It's not just some mindless monster, it knows what it's doing, which makes it even scarier. The scene almost makes me wish we could have just had De doing Fake McCoy the whole episode, but that wasn't to be. The man was such an excellent actor, and he put his all into it in this episode especially. He did more than make McCoy feel like a character, he made him feel like a person.

We get more from other characters as well. Seriously, Uhura, Rand, and Sulu are utterly adorable in this episode and I love them. We have moments like Uhura attempting to flirt with Spock, Sulu and Rand with the plants, Kirk's utter glee at getting to hear more about McCoy's love life (his reaction when he learned about 'plum' is just beautiful). There are a LOT of good moments. Even the monster costume here looked pretty damn good, considering the show's budget. We even get a bit of a darker side of Kirk as he has no problem killing the creature, albeit only because it's killing his men, and he is NOT going to allow that under any circumstances. If that means breaking some moral codes, so be it. We have Spock realizing that McCoy is fake despite so far their longest interaction being them arguing last episode, which still says a lot if Spock could tell even at this point that something wasn't right. Really, I could ramble forever. But I guess I better try to keep this from going much longer.

It's funny thinking back to my teenaged self now. If I told her that she was going to love this episode and these characters and get sucked into the franchise she's avoided for years, she'd probably look at me like I was crazy. She was in a different place than I am now, and that's okay. It took time, but I grew to love this episode. IDK if I'd rank it as a top tier episode or anything, but it's still a good one. A tense plot, good character moments, and if you're a McCoy fan then there is so much to read into. It's just a shame that because this aired first a lot of that got lost. But if you watch it in production order or even just go back after going through more, I promise that it will be a lot better. Or you liked it from the get-go, I can only vouch for myself XD

Original Rating: 2/5

Rewatch Ranking: 7/10

[My TOS Reviews]

[TOS S1 Reviews]

[Previous Review] / [Next Review]

#star trek #star trek tos #st reviews #the man trap #tos s1 reviews #tos s1 #tos reviews

3 notes · View notes