#and the problem has NEVER been some of us just being unwilling to let people have their headcanons

[coolshadowtwins]

Scum Villain au where Shen Jiu finds out about what happened to YQY some other way than just being told by the man himself.

How? Not important. Maybe he pressured MQF and SQH until they both gave the pieces they knew and put this together. Maybe he found paperwork about it. Maybe YQY did tell him, but he was drunk or drugged or something and so he doesn’t remember telling.

The point of this post is I think it would be funny if SJ, mostly having forgiven YQY but still angry that he just didn’t tell him the truth for years, let’s YQY suffer for a little long. He wasn’t necessarily overly mean to him anymore, but he does now just say things to see what YQY would do.

Like, if it was between me or LQG, who would you choose? Hm? What if I murdered someone hmmm? What if I spent all your money, hmmmmmm?

What SJ was trying to do was stress YQY out (ok, part of it was him seeing where he stood now but shh), but YQY only gets a little stressed at the problems his answers would cause SJ. Because he totally would chose SJ over anyone! But that would make people angry at SJ. He would help cover up a murder, but SJ could be sent to jail! He would give SJ any money he wanted, but the sect might not be happy with either of them?

SJ learns very quickly how high up he still is in YQY’s eyes. It makes him feel powerful. He also learns very quickly that if he really, really wanted something, all he had to do is call YQY Qi-Ge and YQY folds immediately.

He uses that one a lot, when others couldn’t see. He still has a reputation to uphold after all.

YQY, meanwhile, has no idea what’s happening. He has no idea why SJ is suddenly being so nice to him. There’s no way that he has forgiven him, after all, so it has to be something else?

He starts to think that SJ is either about to leave the sect or dying. Both terrify him. YQY drags a very unwilling SJ to MQF immediately.

When it’s clear that he isn’t dying, YQY thinks that SJ is about to leave the sect. He panics, and does the first thing he could think of- Ask SJ if YQY could leave the sect with him. (He asks this in front of MQF, who does not want to be an audience for this.)

SJ is flattered that YQY would leave the sect with him. He takes it as a wedding proposal. (He has forgotten that YQY never knew that SJ knew about the caves and the sword)

YQY doesn’t know when they got engaged, or why a wedding was happening, but he is not complaining. The night before the wedding, YQY breaks down and tells SJ about everything. SJ panics, and not wanting YQY to know that he has know for at least a year at this point and had just been messing with him, acts like this is entirely new information! Wow, YQY, that sure was awful! I am so angry about this information that I’ve never heard of before.

LQG thinks that SJ had tricked YQY into marrying him. Or that YQY had very bad taste.

#this is just me rambling #this is so stupid lol #svsss #shen qingqiu #shen jiu #yue qingyuan #qijiu

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for cooking non-kosher food on purpose so that my Jewish roommate can't eat any of it?

For reference we're all in our 20s, and all some level of neurodivergent.

So I live with a few other people, and for the most part it's been chill so far. The only real problem I've had is with one of my roommates, we'll call them C. C was very sheltered as a kid, and we helped him move in with us mostly so that we could help him get out of a bad situation. The trouble is that because of the aforementioned sheltering he has a very bad habit of stepping on people's toes. He's loud when other people are sleeping, he spent the better part of our first year living together trying to avoid paying for rent or utilities, and he tends to dominate a conversation whenever he joins by doing the typical "wait for you to finish so I can say what I care about" shtick.

Well, we've had a recurring problem with C being grabby about other people's food. When we first moved in together he was constantly taking other people's groceries and using them for himself without asking, and not just small stuff, but like using my noodles, my sauce, and my meat to make spaghetti or something of the like. We all buy groceries separately except for a few core things that we all use like milk, eggs, flour, etc, so he was basically taking this stuff for free.

None of us are wealthy, we're all working retail and food service jobs, so it's not like it was a small blow to be losing food like that.

Well we discussed that and he's stopped, thankfully, but now he tries to like...beg for scraps? If you cook ANYTHING or are even in the kitchen, he'll come around and ask if it's "just for you, or for everyone". Understandably, this gets very annoying. My thing is that if you want to eat food I've made, you should contribute. Either by helping pay for ingredients or doing the dishes, or something like that. Basically, if you want to eat, help out. C never wants to help out or contribute to ingredients. Plus, if you tell him no, he'll whine about it? Like if you say that he can't have some of whatever you're cooking he'll be like "That food smells so good, even though you won't let me have any."

On the other hand, I know that C doesn't have a lot of money, and I would never want anyone to go hungry. But he won't use the communal stuff to cook himself anything, he'll just complain about not having a lot of money. I've tried to yelp him get more hours at the job we share, but he's unwilling to work certain shifts so there's a limit on how much I can do.

Anyways, to get to the point, sometimes I make dishes specifically with pork or other non-kosher ingredients so that he won't be able to constantly ask for some. I would never intentionally let him eat anything non kosher, and label all the foods I make for everyone so that he can check the ingredients and see if it's something he can have. I just don't want to be a jerk I guess, because I know that the economy is god-awful and believe strongly in helping your fellow man.

So, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[xxlovelynovaxx]

Saw a post saying basically not to abuse medical professionals and like.

Medical professionals have extreme power over their patients. They literally hold people's lives in their hands. Is what you're calling "abuse" actually abuse, or is it self-defense against your abuse of a vulnerable marginalized person?

Well, this is the profession that exists primarily to gatekeep medical care and knowledge (at least under our current legal and political systems, given that if you have the knowledge but lack the paperwork you can face criminal charges for practicing medicine), which has a culture of hero-god worship built up around it and treats any criticism of extreme violations of patient autonomy and medical abuse as heretical and hysterical anti-science ravings.

This is them saying "don't expect us to help you do the most basic aspect of our jobs if you 'mistreat' us, we're not martyrs".

You signed up to deal with people in extreme pain, who are dying, who are in survival mode and like drowning people may accidentally hurt others no matter how badly they wouldn't normally want to, and you claim that if they "really can't help it" that's one thing, but these are the same people claiming that people are either too quiet or too dramatic to be in pain, that let people die because they don't take very serious symptoms seriously until it's too late because they think their judgment is infallible and patients don't know shit about their own bodies, and so on.

Doctors are just fucking medical cops. All I can see when a doctor says this shit (or a nurse or most other medical workers, though I'll admit that there are exceptions) is people accusing my (impoverished disabled neurodivergent queer) ass of abusing my abusive (middle class not queer abled neurotypical) mother. All I can think of is how an abused child or a battered spouse is called abusive the one time they hit back, or even say something mean, or even fucking disobey whoever is considered the "authority" in a given situation.

While this is vague-ing a post, it isn't really at anyone in particular. I'm making my own post about this on my own blog because I have medical trauma* as a result of deeply ingrained systemic abuse, primarily perpetrated by medical professionals.

*If you think trauma makes people LESS reliable narrators on the oppression that caused it, you've bought into sanist psychiatric bullshit and need to check yourself/ves. You might also consider that if the vast vast majority of a marginalized group of people share similar stories of the same type of trauma, the problem isn't actually the fucking "insanity of trauma" and that the problem is actually that fucking bad.

Abuse arises out of hierarchical power imbalances. Patients may be able to hurt medical professionals - especially physically. And I'm not saying there are never entitled people seeking medical care that treat people in general like shit. Some patients may even be able to do lasting harm. But in the vast majority of cases, patients are categorically incapable of abusing medical professionals. If you think otherwise, especially as a medical professional, it's most likely because you're unwilling to examine your own power, privilege, role in upholding deeply harmful ableist systems, the harm you've already done, your own limitations, biases, flaws, fallibility, and bigotry, and the way your own ego gets in the way of acknowledging your complicity in structural ableism.

And you know what? You've been taught at every turn to reinforce and reify those things. It's still your responsibility to deconstruct those and stop hurting vulnerable people, though.

So anyway, don't worry, you're not abusing medical professionals. Even you acting in self defense being called "abuse" is just classic victim blaming. It's the exact same thing that happens to all victims of abuse - while I have complicated feelings about this mnemonic, it is basically DARVO, and sometimes it's also the bullshit concept of "reactive abuse" being weaponized against victims, if they have the bare minimum decency of recognizing the abuses of medical professionals as such.

Don't abuse patients. Don't abuse disabled people. Get over yourself and recognize that you did sign up for a job that is sometimes dangerous, that sick, injured, and dying people don't owe you worshipful gratitude for often failing to do the bare minimum of your damned jobs, and that any actual abuse you face is not from fucking patients, but from your bosses/jobs. Organize, form unions, and actually use them to get better working conditions instead of just to cover your asses while you play Malpractice: The Game, but as a patient who has only been made sicker and had my quality of life ripped from me by 99 percent of you, stop fucking crying "abuse".

You're half a step from calling it "reverse ableism".

#vent post #anti phys

[goddessofroyalty]

Summary: Aemond and Lucerys drink too much one night and reveal some hidden truths in both their branches of the family tree.

Notes:

Still don’t go here but gods this fandom has such potential to talk about blood lines and inherency and duty.

Pairings: Aemond/Lucerys, Aemond/Helena (only for child conception purposes)

Warnings: incest (uncle/nephew; sibling/sibling), secret-children-having

---------------

“What I don’t get,” Lucerys new husband says, with probably more alcohol on his breathe than is necessarily smart for them to be alone together considering their families are still at odds, “is why your father, not your true father, the one that we all pretend is your father, even claimed you in the first place. He of all people must have known you were not his.”

“He was our father,” Lucerys corrects because no matter what the matter of blood says Laenor was still his father. “And we were his children.”

“And if we were not,” Lucerys adds quietly, revealing a secret that even the night cannot hear, “it is not my mother’s fault.”

Aemond gives a hum at it, swigging down another mouthful of the wine they had taken back to their room with them after the feast. “Was he unable or unwilling?”

“I-“ Lucerys had been aware of the talk about his father as much as he was the talk about his mother but never had put as bluntly around him. He steals the cup from Aemond’s hands to take a drink of his own only to have it snatched back as soon as it leaves his lips.

“I asked my mother about why he claimed us back when this was all set,” Lucerys says with a gesture around the room. It was back when he was confirmed as Lord of Driftmark he had snuck into her bed that night and confessed all his fears of not being deserving of it and questioned whether his father would have even wanted him to take it. “She said that they had tried together and nothing had come from it.”

His mother had confessed that they possibly had not tried as hard as they could before turning to the alternative solution. Aemond doesn’t need to know those details though.

“An heir was still needed for them both and the arrangement worked for all involved. So we are his and he wanted us to inherit as such,” Lucerys finishes, looking over at his husband only to see that Aemond hardly seems to be listening anymore. Instead staring off over the wine cup into the distance. “Is that a problem for you?”

Aemond glances at him out of the side of his good eye before looking back away.

“My brother suffers from a similar shortcoming,” he says, after a moment. Just as quietly as Lucerys had started. “Which I suppose we should be grateful for or else we would be dealing with silver-haired bustards all through King’s Landing.”

It is clear he is not finished so Lucerys lets him have his time to find the words.

“There was also the requirement of an heir for him as well.”

“Did he not perform?” Lucerys has a feeling he knows where this is going.

“He tried. Many times. And the more it failed the more he drank, and Helena, she hated the whole thing.”

“So the children-“ Are Aemonds. Not that Lucerys dares finishing that question from the glare Aemond gives him for even starting it.

Aemond drinks what remains in the cup before getting up and taking it over to the window, staring out. “Perhaps if my uncle had been around the situation would have been neater for you as well.”

“Perhaps.” Lucerys can’t help but be glad his step-father wasn’t around. It is not that he dislikes him, he is as fond of Daemon. But he still misses Harwin, as foolish as that is.

#Lucemond #lucerys velaryon #aemond x lucerys #aemond targaryen #GOT #HOTD #I accidently a ficlet #House of the Dragon #For those of you who wish I would stop writing GOT and write some more Arcane #I'll hopefully have something for you tomorrow #And for those of you who wish I would return to DC comics #you may get something this week #Oh and I can't tag this with trigger warnings because then it hides it from the pairing tags #I'm so sorry #I really don't expect to write any/much more #but just to be safe feel free to blacklist HOTD to not see it

[vampire-sugar]

Reading QOTD post! I’ve only got two chapters left to finish this thing… the story has picked back up again and I’ll probably finish today but had some things I wanted to post about. In sum it’s gotten interesting again but also Anne says some very wild things about the global south that takes me out of the story.

Thoughts and spoilers under the cut.

Cw: mentions of rape

Finished the story of the twins conclusion chapter…

The story picked back up again!! Khayman keeps proving himself a horrible character!! And Anne should never write about non-Western countries ever!! Let the book speak for itself…

Quotes that made me write ??? in the margins:

Lestat, reading the mind of one of the men he’s about to kill.

“And a savage hatred of the women rose out of him, replete with images of rape and retribution that made me smile, and yet I understood. Rather completely I understood. So easy to feel that contempt for them, to be outraged that they had dared to become the enemy, (…) they, the women!”

Khayman when the King and Queen are getting attacked by villagers + spirits, who at this point supposedly hates them for making him rape the twins:

“It was Khayman, loyal steward to the King and Queen, who snatched up a torch and went to the aid of his master and mistress.”

Lestat, about the indigenous Haitians meeting European colonizers:

“Not a single blood descendant remains of those peaceful beings who had breathed this balmy air, (…), and thought their visitors gods perhaps, who could not but return their kindness.”

Lestat, talking about how Akasha would need the help of other vamps to fulfill her vision:

“How can you begin without them? I mean really begin, not with these backward villages, I mean in the cities where the people will fight.”

And again:

“…those poor villages we’ve conquered, they are the same as they’ve been for thousands of years.”

Those poor villages are hopeless and unimportant, got it, thanks Lestat/Anne.

Maharet talking about Mekare being in South America:

“Centuries perhaps before man had penetrated the southern reaches of the jungle continent, Mekare had come ashore there (…). How long had she wandered among birds and beasts before she’d seen a human face? Had it been centuries, or millennia, this inconceivable isolation? Or had she found mortals at once to comfort her, or run from her in terror?”

Included that last part in the quote bc it’s as if Maharet hadn’t just said that first part of how, according to her, South America was uninhabited for centuries after the time of the twins.

Anyway, I did like the part where Maharet tells them all about The Great Family, and all the vamps are moved. It is moving, to see that after all the Twins and their people have been through, their family survived. (Let us forget about the marrying within the families part).

The Story of the Twins Conclusion chapter ends with Lestat arriving at the house, meaning that the Queen is probably also there.

They are going to try and reason with the Queen to convince her that what she’s doing is bad or whatever (which obviously it is, she’s bringing more death and destruction to places already riddled with it in order to create an empire of her own) in a way that Lestat was unable to articulate. Obviously it is clear at this point that she doesn’t actually care about ridding the world of oppression etc but I don’t like how the “moral of the story” for lack of better term is going to be like “this is why we should not interfere with human problems” or what Lestat pretty much said already, that the poor and war torn countries have always been that way and there’s nothing to do to change it, it’s just how the world works. When actually what Akasha says is so true —>

Lestat thinks that all the tragedies that Haiti has faced is “their destiny; their world; they who are human”. And Akasha replies:

“And what are we? Are we useless? How do we justify what we are! How do we stand back and watch what we are unwilling to alter?”

But Akasha is evil and a liar so… I doubt there will be a VC character who thinks this and actually believes it unfortunately…

Anyway, very excited to be done with this one and move on to the next. I am so determined to get to at least TVA before May 12th but given the pace at which I have read this book… i might be delusional lol.

Bonus prediction:

This might be like obvious at this point but I think the way they are going to kill Akasha without killing themselves is by having Amel transfer to Lestat. Is this why he’s like for real called the prince later? Probably.



#queen of the damned #vampire chronicles #qotd #interview with the vampire #iwtv

[pockavas]

Halsin - trusting you fears, Part 2

Walking back to the camp, her dirty clothes close at hand, Ross never looked back, unwilling to show weakness and pity. Halsin was right about himself and she understood that completely, he had really vital issues to deal with, and he had never said anything outright to her, just veiled sweet words that were used to flirt, but nothing direct.

And just how influential was this druid. There were other attractive men in the camp, Astarion, Gale, Wyll, but their obvious and direct attempts to gain her attention proved unsuccessful. She could have been with any of them, but she didn't want to. The temptation that Halsin represented was as great as himself. Without making too much of an effort, without being vulgar, or obvious, like fog drifting down a river. It's just that at some point you find yourself immersed in it and you can't see anything else.

Preoccupied with her thoughts, she did not realize when she reached the camp, the fire was burning, someone had put meat to roast, and judging by the pleasant smell, it was marinated with herbs. No doubt the handiwork of Gale, who had more than once boasted of his culinary skills.

Ross let out a sharp sigh, determined to put aside the meeting by the river and let events flow.

…

Days have passed, the group was making good progress towards the Shadowlands, but the journey has been incredibly fraught with dangers along the way. They often came across groups of fanatics calling on the name of the Absolute.

One encounter stood out from the rest when the enemy had captured civilians, ordinary people in the wrong place at the wrong time. In such situations, one could not just storm the camp and start the slaughter, but think more about the strategy to get the captives out alive. The battle was fierce as always, bloody, but the mission was accomplished.

There was no way there wouldn't be blood spilled among the group, a few more scratches, cuts here and there.

Ross had also decided not to be distracted, to make no mistakes, to follow Halsin's path. Yet he always sat in the corner of her mind, a nagging but sweet thought of a sweet temptation waiting to be tasted. She wondered if that was the case with him. Their relationship continued normally, with pleasant conversations around the campfire, sometimes light casual banter. At times, she caught him staring at her, and she was sure it happened the rest of the time.

After sending the civilians to safety, they all returned to camp, fussed over their health conditions, nothing fatal, and headed for their tents.

Ross, however, was in no condition to lie down. Adrenaline still held her, and sleep was a very distant mirage. A mischievous idea crossed her mind, one related to Astarion's stock of wine and sweet liquor. Nimble and deft, she stole a bottle of fruit liqueur, with the color of blood and the aroma of sweet raspberries.

Holding the bottle in her hand, she walked away from the camp to a small clearing overlooking the forest, the camp behind her. She uncorked the bottle and sipped from the pint of liquid that burned down her throat and all the way to her stomach.

After a few minutes the effects of the battle began to wear off, her head felt light, her body began to ache, especially a burning sensation around her right ribs. What was wrong?

As she fumbled with her armor to get to the problem, she heard soft and heavy footsteps behind her, familiar, she knew who it was.

"-You finally decided to share a drink with me?" - she asked without turning around. Halsin was already standing beside her, illuminated by the moonlight, his expression a mixture of concern, softness, and warmth.

"-I saw you didn't go back to your tent, I thought I'd check if you're okay. I'm glad I came, you smell too much of blood, something's wrong. Let me check."

Ross grimaced in annoyance, the alcohol must have been taking its toll because there was no way Halsin was going to annoy her in any way.

"-Of course, go ahead, I'm all yours!" she exclaimed, raising her hands to the sides as if surrendering.

Halsin stood in front of her and knelt, their eyes locked. Without asking her permission further, Halsin began to unfasten her armor.

He himself was still covered in spatters of blood that had dried long ago, and yet his characteristic musky scent wafted from him, carrying promises of forest, of strength, of masculinity.

If she indulged in the musk, Ross would be out of control, especially with her head dizzy from the liquor. She was aware of that. Ross took another big gulp, frowning at the burning sensation in her throat. She was standing with her head turned away, right now she couldn't look at him and not be affected.

Halsin had already removed the armor, found the cause of his alarm. A scratch from an arrow, medium deep, tore skin and very little muscle, but looked terrible.

"-You should have stayed at the camp so I could take care of your wound in time. Something smells in here."- saying this Halsin tore the garment further to better reveal the wound, leaning forward trying to smell the tear.

Ross's head spun even more, to be so close to her after this hard day, to touch her, caress her gently with his big hands. Ross drank again, whether for courage or oblivion, she closed her eyes.

Halsin could fully see Ross' agitation, but he was too preoccupied with the appearance of the strange wound. He always enjoyed her presence no matter where they were or what they were doing.

Halsin tried to clean the dried blood around the cut with his fingers. His touch, gentle and caring, made the hairs on Ross's neck stand on end. Apparently the alcohol wasn't enough to intoxicate her completely and to be able to shrug off its influence.

Halsin was lost in his preoccupation, he closed his eyes and muttered a silent prayer, a soft light shining from his palm, directed at the wound. The skin there began to glow, a tickling sensation running up Ross's ribcage up her spine, making her gasp and forget to exhale, eyes wide.

After a few moments the ritual was over, the light was gone, but the tear was not completely gone.

"-Hmm, it should have been completely erased..."- Halsin frowned in surprise and irritation and began to feel the place -"How does it feel? Does it hurt, is it numb? How would you describe the feeling here?"- he continued to touch, gently patting the place with his left hand and placed his right on her shoulder.

How does it feel? Every touch of his was warm, wanted, and not enough, because she knew it purpose, and wanted it to be something else. Her pulse quickened, she could no longer control herself, she was breathing heavily. She turned her head to Halsin, her gaze as thirsty as it was insanely drunk, with a hint of anger.

"- What do I feel, Halsin? "-she took his hand that was on her shoulder and put it between her breasts, on her heart-" I feel that my heart is racing, rushing, beating madly, the veins in my neck will burst, my temples protest against the pressure, my head is spinning. See for yourself, feel for yourself! You are a healer, Halsin, tell me what's wrong with me?"

Of course Halsin sensed all this, he was not blind to the blush on her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes. He knew it wasn't from the alcohol, because he had seen her get a lot of people drunk in the camp and get up and carry on as if it hadn't happened.

Her whole body was on fire. A flame that Halsin wanted to absorb, to burn him until he was nothing but ashes. With his palm still over her heart, Halsin leaned into Ross, forehead resting against hers, his left hand gripping a strand of hair between his fingers.

Then he pulled from his waist bag the jar of perfumed oil he had retrieved weeks ago from the stream.

"- The other day you forgot it, I took it away, but I was waiting for an opportune moment to return it to you. Even when it was closed, I could smell the scent that reminded me of you during the nights."

"-It's been with you the whole time? I thought I'd lost it." - a small gesture that meant a lot to her, but she suspected he kept it for somewhat selfish reasons, "to remind him of her at night."

"- I don't know whether to be grateful that you are returning it to me, flattered that you like it or angry because I could have been with you instead of it!"- anger rose in her chest, her heart beat even faster, the world again turned around.

"-I know, I should have returned it to you earlier, but you know how much I love honey, and you... You're like honey...I couldn't part with the vessel."- Halsin took a deep breath, his broad strong chest puffed out, and exhaled loudly. His feelings for her had not diminished, on the contrary, they grew stronger every day, the desires too, often Ross was present in his dreams, alongside the nightmares of the Shadow Curse. It was not yet the time to be distracted, to indulge in his dreams.

The gust of warm air from Halsin "hit" Ross on the neck, the heat running through her entire body and her reaction was lightning fast.

Before Halsin could react, Ross grabbed both of his wrists, and using all of her remaining strength, managed to knock him onto the grass onto his back, an effort that took a lot, considering Halsin's size and strength. Still holding him, Ross straddled him, burying her face in his powerful neck, breathing in his masculine scent of forest, of sweat, of strength, of bear.

"-I'm going crazy... You're driving me crazy... I lose control just when you're next to me, and I know I shouldn't. I don't lose control! Not anymore, I learned a long time ago to keep my composure, not to give in, and you.. .. It's just You! With all your presence...."

"-Ross, I told you that now I must think of nothing but the curse, but obviously nature has her plans... Which sooner or later will come to fruition, and until then... It's not easy, I know, to fight against what is thrust into you, I do it every day..."

Ross had let go of his wrists, standing predator-like over her still-living prey, a mouth full of sharp teeth resting against his neck. She was unable to stay still, grunting and slashing, almost sinking her teeth into the muscles of his neck. Her mind and consciousness rebelled and fought with each other, why did it have to be so complicated, good so hard to come by, even though right now "good" was right below her, between her legs and, next to her face.

Halsin could feel how tense she was, every part of her body, like a spring, ready to take a bite out of him. He made a huge effort to remain the more sensible of the two, to resist her voiceless call, placing his hands on her waist. His palms so wide, enough to encircle her almost entirely.

Ross writhed and howled between them, breathing it in, he could see that her years in the wild had made her more animalistic, more primal, like a cat, and how he wanted to go wild with her...

"-Halsin, I...I'll try...I'm trying to be self-aware...I'm going to catch our breakfast...Don't try to follow me!"- saying this, Ross nimbly jumped away from Halsin, ran towards the forest and quickly sank into it. Halsin lay like that in the grass for a moment, then sat up, staring in her direction and wondering what he had unleashed, he hadn't seen her like this. What was she going to do alone in the forest, was she safe? He buried his face in his palms, they smelled of her, he inhaled and exhaled, still could feel her, sitting on top of him, her young tense body. Shivers ran down his spine, a sweet smile on his face that was replaced by concern for Ross and the strange wound that didn't heal right away. He knew there was no point in going after her, not because she had told him so, but because he knew enough of her skills, to disappear without a trace, to sink into the shadows like a predator.

#halsin baldur's gate 3 #halsin bg3 #halsin #halsin romance #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate 3

[yasmindifference]

if ur still doing the title meme, "suffer with my ghost." make me cry plz

Okay anon, from the title+request for tears, I assume you were hoping for some character death here. Unfortunately that's not the way I roll, so instead I offer a different kind of angst:

A scenario where Jason is working with the Bats on...let's say friendlyish terms. They're a long way from BFF and he is very quick to shoot down any kind of indication from Bruce or Dick that they consider him family, but they're cooperating for the sake of Gotham.

Only thing is, Tim doesn't seem willing to play.

He never speaks out against Jason working with them. He even seems to indirectly support it; he'll turn up some piece of intel that might be relevant and mention that someone should pass it on to Red Hood, or he'll reference Jason having something covered when they're splitting up work, or whatever. But despite these regular shows of trust(?), Tim will not actually work with Jason himself.

Oh, he's subtle about it. There's always a really good reason he speaks up and assigns himself somewhere far away from Jason whenever Batman's passing out team-up assignments. It's not like he says or even hints that he's unwilling to partner up with Jason.

It's just that they're a bunch of frickin detectives, so yeah, everyone picks up what he's carefully not laying down. Tim is not willing to play nice.

And, okay. Jason has an attitude problem, they've all experienced it. And yes, he's crossed a lot of lines in the past. But he's working with them now, he's playing nice, and Tim's refusal to meet in the middle is hindering their effectiveness and also risking their alliance, because it's not like Jason's missed that Tim is very carefully avoiding him.

So Bruce starts trying to put his foot down and force Tim to partner with Jason, because this is never gonna get settled if Tim keeps weaseling his way out of even being in the same room as Jason. Unfortunately, Tim is a world-class weasel-er and keeps managing to slip off to other, totally legitimate and very important work before Bruce can get a word in. Tim's tricky that way.

It gets to the point that Bruce and Dick are honestly annoyed by Tim's unwillingness to cooperate. Working with people you don't like is honestly just part of life and Tim is being downright childish; it's extremely frustrating.

So the next time there's a team-up, no one gives Tim a chance to speak. Dick physically covers his mouth while Bruce jumps right into saying "Tim, you'll be partnered with Jason" before even telling anyone what the plan they're teaming up to enact is. He's counting on Tim, who's thus far been very subtle about avoiding Jason, being unwilling to make a scene with Jason right there.

....But he's counting incorrectly, because when Dick lets Tim go, Tim flat-out refuses. It's not happening.

Jason's offended by this frankly rude rejection, and says so. Bruce is annoyed at Tim's disobedience, and snaps at him. And Dick is at his wits' end with everyone in this clusterfuck of a family, so he brings up the 'childish' argument.

Tim waits until they're done, then very coldly points out that the issue du jour is that Scarecrow is out of Arkham. Scarecrow. AKA the guy who frequently exposes people to chemicals that make them hallucinate their worst fears. It's therefore tactically unsound for Tim to work with Jason, because he won't be able to tell the difference between Jason and any potential hallucinations.

The implication there is that Jason is one of Tim's worst fears. To a degree that he expects to see him when exposed to fear toxin.

Everyone is horrified, Jason most of all. They're also shocked, and Tim is openly disdainful about this.

Jason, as he reminds them, has tried to kill him more than once. Jason openly hates him. Jason regularly insults him using the same terminology he applied before the murder attempts. Jason has all the height, weight, and training advantages. Tim has never beaten Jason in a real fight.

Of course Tim is terrified of Jason. He'd be a moron not to be.

His piece said, Tim slips away to go fight Scarecrow not at the side of a man he's likely to hallucinate under the effects of fear toxin. It takes Bruce and Dick quite a while to follow.

Jason doesn't go out that night. He's a little busy hating himself.

#anon response #meme response #yasmin's adventures in writing #jaytim #ish #did it work anon? did i make you cry?

[dadumtss]

Hybrids are they a thing? and not meaning "the once human cryptids", but do they allow cross breeding. maybe with the help of magic? or is it banned from cryptids society.

AND what if it was some kind of beautiful angelic looking creature doing it all.👁👁

And the slender brothers witnessed it happening, creations of hybrids of cryptids & animals that were never possible before. how'd the brothers react?

i think the angelic creature would be aware that it's being watched, but "acts oblivious" to it.

In the case of your Angelic OC in my AU:

Bureaucracy gets them before the Slender Brothers ever stumble upon the creature doing the act.

_______________________________________________________

Slenderman

Slenderman hears about it from talk around the office and doesn't think too much about it. He'll know if the rumors are true if the investigative teams return with a report of someone practicing untested, unlicensed and unauthorized magic involving life essence.

Sure enough, the report is delivered to his desk shortly after.

The person has been detained, evidence continues to be gathered and they're moving forward with the charges. In addition, the resulting hybrids as well as the people on which the magic was practiced are being rounded up for study to ensure their health and safety as well as the safety of others.

Slenderman sighs. He spares little thought about the angelic creature beyond the work it's causing.

Offenderman

Offender hears rumors and mentally raises an eyebrow. He's not the most studied on magic, but even he knows that messing around with magic surrounding life essences and souls is more reckless than even he's willing to be. And all for birthing some crotch-goblins?

He doesn't get it.

But whatever, it's not his problem. Let his brother and his government cronies deal with that. He's got better things to do.

Trenderman

Trender hears the rumors and doesn't initially believe them, though they leave a sinking feeling in his stomach. He knows enough about magic to know the potential dangers of using untested magic involving life essence.

He asks Slender about the rumors as soon as he can and is surprised to hear that they're indeed true and the person involved was detained.

What on earth is this person thinking? Hopefully this 'angelic creature' is just some naïve cryptid who thinks they're a good Samaritan for helping incompatible couples have children and not someone with destructive goals.

He makes a note to ask for all of the details the next time the brothers get together. Even if he has to make them get together.

Splendorman

Splendor hears a few whispers here and there but even though he knows the danger of such magic very well he doesn't pay them much mind.

Until, of course, he gets a call from the division of magical research asking him to come in to help study the methods that was used to create Hybrids from magic involving life essences as well as to help in researching possible effects those magics have on the parents and resulting offspring.

He's stunned.

The fact that the rumors were true and someone was dealing with such dangerous magics unsupervised absolutely flummoxes him. He almost refuses to help, unwilling to be dealing with such dangerous magics himself. 

But he takes a moment. They wouldn’t be calling him if they thought they didn’t need help and the safety of others came before his own discomfort. So he agrees. 

After days of research and study he finally meets the “angelic creature” responsible in order to question it on its methods and theories in order to better understand the potential effects of the magic. He’s perfectly polite and friendly but he can’t help but to worry about the type of person willing to play around with magic like that.

__________________________________________________________ 

Explanation & General Thoughts

(The above headcanons are based on my AU and have a lot of references to the brothers’ jobs. A detailed explanation of their jobs can be found here.)

Hybrid cryptids are a thing in the AU! I even wrote a post about them here.

Hybrids are a well-known phenomena but are still pretty rare since finding two naturally compatible cryptid species is difficult. But there's no rules against 'naturally' conceiving a hybrid.

When there's magic involved things get a bit more dicey. If you're using magic as supportive care to ensure the mother's or fetus's health or using magic to up your personal fertility then few see a problem with that. If you're, say, using magic to Frankenstein the essence of two people of different species together into a hybrid child with unknown capabilities, needs, or fuctionings then you're going to have a problem.

Lots of people may flock to someone willing to do that so they can finally birth a child with their partner but most people would be put off and the Cryptid Government certainly wouldn't like it.

Magic dealing with souls or other life essences is dangerous and highly regulated. Think of all the things can go wrong with just the above 'Frankenstein' scenario:

The parents may die or otherwise be magically damaged or altered

The magic can go wrong causing explosions or other harm to others or the natural or magical environment.

The child could be born physically or magically unstable and live a life of suffering.

A magical union could produce a child that is a danger to cryptid society and can not be controlled.

and more!

So to answer your question more directly, all of the Slender Brothers would report anyone they saw using that type of magic without the proper safeguards and permissions.  

#creepypasta #creepypasta au #creepypasta headcanon #creepypasta headcanons #slenderverse #slenderverse headcanons #slenderverse headcanon #slenderverse au #slender brothers #creepypasta scenarios #slenderman oc #slenderman ocs #slenderman headcanons #slenderman #slenderman au #offenderman headcanon #offenderman #offenderman headcanons #trenderman #trenderman headcanons #trenderman headcanon #splendorman #splendorman headcanons #splendorman headcanon #slender family

[henrysglock]

no but this is so real. yes, Henry is absolutely deranged and clearly has no problem killing/ enjoys it to some degree/ has fun with his little horror visions.

but it was Always impersonal. he picked all his victims when psychically browsing the trauma isles he sees all over Hawkins and chose the one's he could work with most. we see him do this. then he torments them for a while but ends up killing them in only a few seconds - he doesn't draw anything out. and he doesn't have a personal vendetta against the people he kills, they simply fit into his worldview of conformity and humanity sucking and just happen to be vulnerable enough for him to use for opening the gates.

we see him start to be a bit more purposefully mean to Max on her second go, where it's become slightly personal after she tried to hurt him, ran, and then thought she could trick him. he's always direct but here he's a bit more brutal in word choice than with other victims before. not just telling them their issues and that they're lost causes but going out of his way to compare her to Billy and also corrupting her happy place, the snowball, in front of her eyes.

but that was only because Max got away the first time. that small act of defiance was Enough to make him react with MUCH more purposeful torment. because Henry is unforgiving, vengeful, and clearly ready to hold any deemed "wrong doing" against a person forever, as we've seen with his family.

the 4 victims we see in s4 are technically replaceable. just the most vulnerable people he has access too. Lucas even suggests that there are more victims already cursed he could go after if he somehow failed to kill one of the 4 victims he was actively pursuing. Vecna could just pick someone else if any of them proved too difficult to kill, or left town. it was never about the people but their Trauma.

so that leaves the question of what would happen if he was presented with a person he would actually Profit from having out of the picture?

and if that person wasn't someone like El who could try and fight back with her incredibly strong psychic powers, and not someone like Will he clearly wants alive beyond all else. then what? we've seen Henry act cruel even without any incentive given to spark a personal grudge. what the HELL would it look like if he Actually wanted to hurt you personally?

and sure, Mike got in the way of plans a lot before. he's clearly been assigned the party leader role for a reason, taking charge, coming up with the base concepts for all of the big plans to fight back etc. but the thing Mike Truly shines in when messing things up for Henry is Will. he knew Will well enough to realize he was leading the soldiers into a trap and convinced Joyce to sedate him. he was the only one of the kids going into the shed with Will with powerful enough memories to bring him back a bit. he keeps looking for Will when he goes missing, even when he just bikes home after an argument. Mike is clearly unwilling to let anything happen to Will at any cost.

but the thing he truly stands out in is the Trust Will places in him. Mike was the ONLY ONE Will felt comfortable telling about the Shadow Monster and his Now-Memories. and similar to that, at the end of s4 Will doesn't tell everyone about Vecna being alive. he tells Mike one on one, and only him. and in typical Mike fashion he grabs Will reassuringly and tells him they'll do this together. that he's there for him. once again showing that he is the person Will feels comfortable to confide him the most.

Henry has Reasons to go after Mike. he's been in the way a lot already. but if Henry actually wanted to get to Will next season he would physically HAVE to get through Mike first - it's not even a question of how everyone reacts to the news of Vecna's survival, since Mike already Knows AND told Will they'd kill him. he's GOING to be in the way of Henry getting to Will and the ending of s4 went out of it's way to already set that up (him also standing alongside Will in the final shot hammers that point of 'being there for him' home even further)

there's SO many occasions from previous seasons alone that would justify Henry taking a bit more joy from taking Mike out than any of the previous 4 victims. but given that he's going to be an Active hindrance next season with being Will's biggest source of comfort and belonging? which now gives Henry an actual Incentive to get Mike out of the way specifically?

yeah those visions are going to be NASTY

god you are SO right for this anon you took the words right out of my brain!!

He's already cruel at just being hindered by a victim. but Mike? The Mike Wheeler? "Crazy together" Mike Wheeler? "We will, we will." Mike Wheeler? Mike Wheeler who goes batshit over Will (and El) being in danger, who figures out all Henry's plans and destroys them??

He's fucked, man. Henry's pulling out all the stops, he's gonna hit Mike where it hurts because you know he's got a massive personal grudge. He's going to hurt Mike because he wants to and because he can. It's going to be brutal.

Can't wait to see how Will is going to react to the love of his life being tortured by his abuser...

#asks #mike gets vecna'd #mike wheeler #henry/vecna/001 #byler

[tellywoodtrash]

hi TT! can I ask you for some advice? I'm a teenager who is really insecure about how i look. i don't really think there's anything wrong with my appearance per se, but everyone around me does. my dad keeps recommending me fairness creams (even though he is dark skinned himself) and my mom keeps telling me to lose weight (even though she is fat too). i have been dealing with some health issues for the past couple years that have led to a LOT of weight gain. i now have stretch marks all over my body and my friends always comment on it and make fun of me for them. it makes me wanna never show even an inch of skin again. what do I do?

Hello love,

First of all, big hugs. 🤗🤗🤗 People (who are supposed to love you regardless of how you look) are being shitty to you and you absolutely do not deserve that crap. I'm here to tell you they're wrong. You are good the way you have been, are right now, and however you will be in the future.

i don't really think there's anything wrong with my appearance per se, but everyone around me does.

I'm glad you have accepted the way you look. You realise that the problem is with the people around you. Good. That's a massive step 1 already sorted. Because so often, we start believing what people tell us, and it becomes the "truth", when it's absolutely not.

Tbh, I'm a rudeass bitch and I'd let off verbal zingers at everyone, including parents. idgaf about politeness when someone's coming for me like that. But perhaps you're a much better person than me, lol. So maybe when your dad tries to push fairness creams on you, you just reply with a curt but polite "No, thank you!" and end the conversation right there. Walk away. With your mom and the weight loss, ask her if she's willing to take on a "get healthy plan" with you, where you both eat better and exercise TOGETHER. If she's unwilling, then ask her why she has expectations of you that she's not willing to subscribe to personally. Again, walk away. Don't let them think they can just say these things to you and you'll sit and listen like a good bachcha. And boy oh boy, your friends. To them, I say be straight up rude. Like, call them out. Say "What makes you think you can talk to me like this about my body? Why are you so obsessed with the way I look? How does this affect your life in any way????" coz literallyyyyyy; friendship doesn't mean a free pass to talk any shit, that too such superficial garbage. Everyone's body has something or the other wrong with it. EVERYONE. (Another thing almost everyone has???? Stretch marks. I've had them since fucking puberty, still do in my 30s. They're as much a natural part of your body as body hair.) That is just the nature of the flesh prison we reside in. This is just a pile of fucking electrified meat that holds our brain and soul, which is what really matter. To have someone who calls themselves a FRIEND talk to you unkindly like this should make them ashamed, and honestly, make you reconsider if you even wanna be friends with that person if this is how they choose to behave.

This is the outside stuff. Now for the inside stuff - the internal work you do. First, make sure you watch and subscribe to media of people who look like you, and make you feel "hey, they look just like me and they're so pretty, so that means *I'm* beautiful they way i am too!" I'm telling you as someone who grew up in the pre-social media age; I had zero representation of ppl with my body shape/size and hair texture. It wrecked my self esteem. I spent hours poring over magazines and looking at airbrushed models thinking "why don't i look like that too????" even though I KNEW they were digitally altered images. It just got into my head SO MUCH. One good thing about social media being in the hands of EVERYONE is the ability to see such a range of people from all over the world, looking amazing in their own ways. Follow a diverse looking set of people and see the beauty in them, and thus yourself. Second, do some minor work to alleviate your health issues if you can. Be regular with your meds if you take any, do some daily movement to the extent you can, eat mostly healthy and stay hydrated well, etc. It won't change the way you LOOK, but it will make you FEEL better about your body, and how you are doing your part in taking care of it like it needs. Third, only if you choose to, feel free to beautify the flesh prison as you see fit. Wear whatever you like. Colour your hair. Get a piercing or tattoo. (Obv. wait till you're a legal adult!!!!!! Also, never get names of people or something that is just a ~~phase or trend you're into at the time. Aesthetics come and go. Body modifications like these are forever. Choose wisely. Very very prudently.) Do things that make you feel like "this is MY BODY, and *I* GET TO CHOOSE what kind of pretty it is". Take agency and make your choices and be proud in them, and fuck literally everyone else's opinion. They're LOOKS. The least interesting thing about you. They don't matter in the larger scheme of things, and they'll keep changing as you go through life. Just do whatever makes you feel good to be in this body at the time!!!!!!!!

I love you lots baby sibling. 👩🏽‍🧒🏾👩🏽‍🧒🏾👩🏽‍🧒🏾💗💗💗💗 I am threatening everyone shitty around you with angry laser eyes as I protectively wrap an arm around you.

#tt answers #big sister tt gives life advice

[psyga315]

Robyn's fatal flaw is that she always assumes the worst in everyone and never allows them to fully explain their case. The extra irony is that she has a Semblance that allows her to seek out the truth and she even explains how this sort of power is what pushed others away from her:

"When people are worried you’re gonna sniff out their secrets, they tend to push you away."

So she doubles down and instead just decides for herself without ever deciding to trust others or even her own Semblance.

If you want some key examples:

Her introduction has her halt a truck carrying resources and trying to get answers out of Clover. While this would be normal and all, the fact that she had her teammates stealthed and readied for an ambush implied that she was unwilling to hear Clover's reasons and just attack.

Rather than hear Penny, Ruby, or Marrow out, she instead tries to kill Penny and assumes that she had tried to kill her despite Penny saying otherwise. She doesn't even bother to quell the ensuing riot despite earlier condemning it. To be fair on her behalf, though, there was an attempt on her life (with Fiona grievously injured and several of her supporters either wounded or dead) and Penny was a likely suspect but like before, she assumed the worst and went ahead with that gut feeling instead of just trusting.

Next episode, she assumes the worst out of Blake and Yang, even after Blake insists she just wanted to talk (to be fair on Robyn's behalf again, Blake attacked her before saying she wanted to talk). Only when she is cornered, when she is told that Ironwood was constructing a communications tower, something that she acknowledges doesn't make sense (which implies she couldn't comprehend Ironwood doing anything other than evil things, i.e. being the worst) that she decides to use her Semblance for the first time in the show... To finally trust.

Though... It's not enough for her.

Because she immediately distrusts them when they couldn't disclose anything else and her next appearance has her siding with the people trying to depose Ironwood, including her rival Jacques. Despite knowing what Ironwood is planning and why he couldn't afford to let these secrets out, she goes all in on trying to get Ironwood's secrets out in the open...

And this actually something I just noticed. Robyn doesn't use her Semblance as a sign of trusting others, but rather as a demand of trust from others. Like "take my hand or I won't trust you". It's only when Weiss barges in and practically derails the debate by accusing Jacques does Ironwood get out of hot water, though there she finds out that Watts was behind framing Ironwood.

After that, Robyn is basically treated as... a background. Even after she makes a big fuss about how Jacques was an accessory to murder, the other councilmen ignore her existence and discuss the problems Watts could cause. She had to actively remind Ironwood and the others that she's still around to get their attention.

But in doing so, she helps get through to Ironwood and gets him to finally open up. And, for the actual first time in the show, Robyn uses her Semblance as a means of consensual trust, not coerced trust. And she uses it to verify Ironwood is telling the truth, to verify his trust to the people of Atlas and Mantle. To, finally, assume the best out of him.

Had this been the climax of Volume 7, that would have been a good conclusion to her character arc... But, it was time for Robyn to have her Heisenberg regression moment:

Once she heard Ruby's ramblings, she once more assumed the worst out of Ironwood and not once wanted to listen to anyone's reasonings (or even think he's being framed again) aside from the serial killer she just helped arrest and who she'd risk freeing by starting a fight inside the airplane they were in. And it seems like this may be intentional, given how this regression after she finally learned how to trust in people is what lead to her heaviest consequence:

Not only did the plane crash but the results led to Clover dying and her and Qrow getting arrested, leading to a chain of events that led to her getting into a similar situation where, again, she assumes the worst out of Harriet and Vine, unaware that Vine was talking Harriet out of detonating the bomb and crashing their plane into theirs, resulting in Harriet to double down and leading to the chain of events that led to Vine's death.

This also means that Qrow and Robyn are the only members of Ruby's faction who are locked out of the evacuation operation loop that are still trapped in the remains of Solitas, meaning we don't know how their stories will lead them either in Volume 9, 10, or whatever Volume we pick their story up from...

Whatever happens though, this could be the wake-up call Robyn needs to realize that it wasn't the people pushing her away because of her semblance... It was her pushing people away because of her trust issues...

#RWBY #Robyn Hill #anaylsis

[zazu75]

So @colbypuppythebaker went "What if Darius sold Therion to the Obsidian Parlor? And then Alfyn stumbles across him?" And this was born:

So my Idea is:

Therion has his will beaten out of him

and drugged out of him

he resists if unchained, just out of sheer instinct at this point, but if chained, he's docile

he gets used by whoever enters the room

but he's usually drugged out of his mind. he doesn't notice

until primrose comes along

she kills the crow there, and the establishment grinds to a halt

people are running, escaping

alfyn is with primrose. most of the group is.

but in the chaos, some get separated

alfyn gets separated

he's looking for ophilia, who's also lost

and he comes across a locked door

so he uses his axe to break it down, in case someone is locked in there

and he finds Therion on the bed

eyes staring ahead, unseeing, having been drugged earlier that night, so he could remain docile

and some people are really into him being practically unresponsive past soft moans and weak reactions

like the person who was paying that night

Alfyn cant help himself. he looks him over, sees him so out of it. he sees the chain and knows this is a prisoner

and comes to the conclusion that they drugged him this much, that this one doesn't want to be here

and he can see scars from beatings…. recent bruises…

he breaks the chain and picks him up, unwilling to leave him behind

he bridal carries him out of the room, the shackle end of the chain around his wrist

and he bumps into Ophilia soon after

and they find primrose and leave

primrose doesnt want to take this one with her. especially so badly dressed

so alfyn takes off his winter clothes and wraps it around him

they get back to the inn. alfyn lays him in a bed and tries to rouse him... but Therion is out of it

so he waits

him and ophilia check him over and he waits while ophilia goes to bed

it's a few hours later that Therion moves. he's still out of it, still under the drugs, and the shackle is still on his wrist

he moves under the conditioning beaten into him

much to alfyn's surprise, trying to climb into his lap and smiling seductively

and alfyn has to work very hard to make therion let go

to make him stop

all the while blushing wildly and having a problem in his pants lmao

he gives therion a sleeping tonic at the end, to sleep it off

bad idea, but this guy is set on getting into his pants and alfyn does not think thats the right thing to do, especially with how drugged he is

he falls asleep after therion does, and he wakes in the morning just as therion is waking up

therion is on edge, angry, guarded

"who are you? where the hell am i?" "im alfyn, an apothecary" "…damn, what did they owe you, to sell me to you?" "what? no!!!"

and alfyn tells his tale. therion listens, not beleiving it, but it makes sense

"So i'm free to go?" "if you want to! but lemme at least check you over?" "why?" "shucks, it's my job, i help out whoever needs help."

and Therion relucantly lets him. and alfyn feels so bad for him. he's obviously been underfed. he looks so weak and tired…

"lemme get ya somethin' to eat and some clothes."

and alfyn leaves. he fully expects therion to try and ambush him when he comes back into the room, because that man is angry and wary and on edge

but he comes back to find him shivering.

and not from the cold. their inn room is warm from the fire

"You alright?" "F-fine--" except he's not

his eyes look hollow and wild and he's looking around for something

and it hits alfyn

drug withdrawal

"what was the name of the drug they gave ya?" "Fuck n-no! I never want to--to take it a-aagain!" "I understand, but I need to know. with some drugs, the withdrawal symptoms might kill ya."

and Therion looks at him desperately. he doesnt cave in, not for a few hours, until he can no longer stand it

and alfyn sits by him the entire time, holding his hand and trying to encourage him to speak

and in the end, therion breaks, mumbles the name of the drug. alfyn doesnt have any of it on hand, but he knows that therion needs some or he will suffer

"i'll be right back." he promises and goes off to find primrose. he asks her and the others to get the drug. this upsets primrose greatly, because she doesnt want to go back there, but alfyn explains the situation

and tells her to go see how bad it is if she doenst believe him

so she does

and therion is so small, sitting in the corner of the bed, shaking like a leaf, his eyes growing more wild and hollow by the second

she acquiesces. ophilia tries to help, but her healing magic does very little.

she goes to get the drug, with the others in tow. alfyn returns to therion's side, who's now mumbling under his breath

alfyn cant make out much, except a name--darius--and nonstop begging

and it takes him a while, but he realizes therion is begging this darius not to get rid of him. making promises to a ghost that's no longer there

and it breaks his heart

he's relieved when primrose comes back with the drug and he administers a small dose to therion, enough to calm him down

except as soon as that drug takes effect, therion keeps trying to climb into his lap and kiss him and press close

so another sleep tonic is administered and therion finally sleeps

next day, therion wakes, he eats, the withdrawal symptoms kick in, and alfyn prepares the medicine

but therion refuses to take it and accuses alfyn of wanting to have his way with him

and alfyn swears up and down that no, he would never do that! the only thing he had ever done was coax him to take the sleeping tonic

"i swear on my life, i'd never do that to ya while you're drugged!"

therion doenst believe him and sits there, suffering withdrawal, while alfyn holds his hands and talks gently to him through it

talking about clearbrook, about places without snow, about flowers and friends and his traveling companions

anything that comes to mind

but in the end, therion becomes too weary to keep suffering, and he has to accept the drug, and alfyn immediately gives him the sleeping tonic with it

and its like that for days

slowly weaning therion off the drug after the man forces himself to suffer through the withdrawal symptoms

it breaks alfyns heart when therion softly asks one time if this is what dying feels like

primrose and the others are antsy, they want to leave. the death at the parlor is sensational news and everyone is looking for the murderer

theyre uneasy, but they stay because alfyn stays and he wont leave therion to suffer alone

until finally, many weeks later, that therion can go the entire day with minimal withdrawal symptoms

he still shakes, but he isnt immobilized by it

therion regains more and more of his personality

quiet, gaurded, likes to be away from people

hates being touched

but he lets alfyn hold his hand whever he starts to shake and it helps

the others meet him, he's especially wary of primrose and olberic

but he's nice enough to them

they slowly get to know him more, and he gets to know them more, but he keeps them at a distance

until one day "i think you can manage on your own, from now on," alfyn tells him with a smile

"you're all better and dont need me anymore"

and therion looks bewildered before he looks afraid

alfyn catches it before therion can hide it

"whatever"

"do you know what you wanna do?" alfyn asks gently

therion doesnt say anything, but after a while, he shakes his head

"i dont have anywhere to go" "the… ladies who worked at the parlor, they're figurin' stuff out--" "--i dont want anything to do with them" therion cuts him off with such an angry tone that alfyn knows theres a story there. he doesnt pry, though

"do you wanna come with us?" he asks instead, "it's safer to travel in numbers"

"treatment and escort? and what do i pay for all of this?" "nothin'! shucks, i would never ask for payment" alfyn smiles. "i just wanted to help you" "why?" "do i need a reason?"

and its so sudden

the shift in therion's demeanor

from guarded and stoic to sadness and tears

he sobs quietly, and alfyn captiously gets closer to try and comfort him

he's surprised as everything when therion lets him, leans into him, and cries

alfyn comforts him as best as he can, with soft touches and gentle words

he doenst ask why or how. he knows therion wont answer

so he waits until therion pulls away by himself and wipes his own tears away

"i dont have any skills that would help, on the road" "that's alright, we can teach you" "i cant repay that" "we dont want you to. we just wanna help, is all" "you wanna help, but them?" "they wanna help too" "how do you know?" "they stayed. they could have left without me, but they stayed. and they came to see ya, to try and get to know ya. they care, even if they cant help" "…I'm tired," therion replies

and he falls asleep quickly after

the next day, alfyn makes sure therion is bundled up well. tressa makes sure the new shoes can handle snow. they set out and take breaks often for him. he has no stamina for moving so much

ophilia keeps providing him fruit, cyrus offers to teach him to read and write, olberic offers to teach him to wield a sword

haanit gives him the first bowl of every meal and refills it until he cant eat anymore, even if it means she doenst eat

primrose, he's distant with, until she approaches him and they talk in hushed tones for a while, then hes more comfortable with her

she makes sure his eyes dont trail on shiny things too long, dont get stuck staring at dark shapes that dont exist.

and when hes too tired, when he's shaking all over from the traces of withdrawal, when hes too overwhelmed, he walks close to alfyn and holds his hand like its a lifeline

he's grateful, he's scared and overwhelmed often and very quiet

his footsteps are light and he reacts badly to crude jokes and flinches when hands get too close

but he slowly comes out of his shell. they learn he likes purple. tressa haggles clothes he likes when he points them out for her. they learn hes good with his hands and he loves apples and he picks up information quickly

and alfyn learns that therion likes to hear him talk, especially when theyre alone. alfyn learns that therion doesnt like the quiet and hates small rooms

and alfyn learns what its like to see him smile genuinely and what its like to see him why. and what its like to feel him leaning close, relaxed against his side

and alfyn learns what its like to fall in love with therion, and what it's like for therion to love him back

and they both learn what it's like to kiss someone you really love. and therion learns how much nicer it is to do that than what he went to before.

he's still flighty and hesitant and alfyn needs to go slow, but therion learns just how patient alfyn is, how understanding he is, how gentle he is

and with alfyn's help, he learns how to get past his trauma. it's slow, it's painful, and theres steps backwards almost as much as there are steps forward

but it's worth it, to see alfyn unravel under him, to see him look at him with adoration and love, to feel the same way towards alfyn

it's slow, and alfyn is patient, and the others teach him many things and get the shackle off, and he's happy

he's alive and free and in love and happy

(he never sees darius again, but years later, primrose mails him a very familiar green cloak, stained with blood, and he knows what she did. he buries the cloak under his favorite tree. he's thankful, but he's sad all the same and extra clingy towards his husband for the next few days)

---- end

#zazu writes #headcanons #hcs #fanfiction #octopath traveler #alfion #drugs tw

[ju-ji]

wait i've been watching thai dramas in my own bubble completely isolated from anyone else's thoughts and opinions so... why were people so mad about the end of Last Twilight?? 😵‍💫 like i have my own ideas .. a guess or two .. but im nosy as hell so please let me in on the drama 😬🙏🫣

I did not see this!! I get so few asks that I guess tumblr gave up notifying me lmao

A LOT of people were very disappointed by the last 2-3 episodes but some ppl thought it was ok, the poor reception was due to:

1. Day got a successful cornea transplant after the failed one so we were kinda like ?? There is a lot of debate about this but it makes me think ok well what was the message of the story then? I have a whole post about it that got a hell of a lot more notes than I am used to lol

2. The way they handled the breakup was really… just bad. At first I was super pissed that they had them break up at all but that wasn’t the problem so much as how they went about doing it. They really made day out to be like unwilling to do any emotional labor and really kinda used mhok’s trauma against him the ONE time he decided to actually be vulnerable and open about it. It did not have to be this way, they could have broken up (or at least separated) mutually and maturely bc they realized they needed to grow individually but this completely did not happen.

3. The reduction of mhok to a plot device essentially with no motivation or thoughts other than day. They broke up and went 3 years with no contact, a break up which should have been extremely hard for mhok (given how day abandoned him for being vulnerable), but literally within seconds of seeing day again mhok is flirting and seems to have forgotten that day ripped his heart out and stomped on it…. My brother in Christ WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!

4. The inconsistency of day’s character- he forgave his mom and august super easily even tho they hurt him really badly but, well, see points 2 and 3 above lmao. It was so bad that I questioned whether day (and the whole show!!) was actually ever good or did I just want him (/it) to be and was fooled by the beautiful presentation.

5. Related to above, and this is sort of a minor gripe, I thought it really showed day’s true? character when he forgave night. He shouldn’t have forgiven him, he should have reassured him that he never did anything wrong and it was not his fault. Even tho night knows there are no hard feelings, he still has to live with the guilt of having caused his brother to go blind.

I have NUMEROUS posts elaborating on all of this as eloquently and coherently as I could manage at the time (so to say maybe not so eloquently and coherently lmao) tagged under last twilight, you can search them if you want but I don’t really recommend it 😅 it’s mostly just angry 3 am rambling lmao.

Honestly, last twilight was the bamboozlement of the century and now I am afraid to blind watch 23.5 even though I’ve been waiting for it desperately since the original pilot trailer in 2022 😭😭

#how do u even tag asks I don’t know. I’ve gotten less than 10 probably. since I started this blog 10 years ago lmao.

[afaeae23]

Expose Guo Wengui's "Happy Payment" scam

Everyone knows Guo Wengui's current situation, but if you think he will stop lying and stop lying, then you are wrong. Not long ago, a group of Guo Wengui's younger brothers outside the account were helping him promote a thing called "Xi Pay" everywhere, and even invited the infamous Hao Dapao couple to the platform. Of course, people with normal intelligence will not appear. So, what exactly is this' Happy Pay 'thing? Let's take a look!

Guo Wengui previously caught up with the trend by creating so-called digital currencies such as "Xi US dollars" and "Xi coins", boasting of surpassing other well-known cryptocurrencies and building a trillion dollar currency empire. At that time, some netizens who did not know the truth invested and became the ants of Guo Wengui. As for whether there was any profit, it is estimated that only they themselves knew. Now, "Xi Pay" has been launched, continuing to deceive, claiming that it can be directly used for transaction payments of "Xi US dollars" and "Xi coins" to buy tangible goods. This logic may not sound like a big problem, but the core thing is that everyone should be careful. Since its launch, "Xi US dollars" and "Xi coins" have never been listed on a formal large virtual currency exchange. In other words, the value of these coins has not been recognized at all, and what people exchange for with real gold and silver is a pile of garbage, with no return. On this issue, institutions such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the New Zealand Financial Market Authority, and the Bahamas Securities Commission have repeatedly issued warnings and reminders. If your head is iron, please continue.

Going back to the "Xi Pay" platform, to be honest, it's a bit like a "pig killing plate". The shops on the platform where products can be purchased are all owned by Guo Wengui's little ants, and buying and selling them is equivalent to circulating within Guo Wengui's team. As for what the platform boasts about using "Xi US dollars" to purchase Ferrari sports cars through "Xi Pay", it has been clarified by the news website of the US Department of Justice, That's basically what Himalayan employees bought from Guo Wengui's close relatives through USD wire transfer. Fake! It's all fake!

By the end of this, I believe I have understood everything I can. There are reasons why "Xi US dollars," "Xi coins," and "Xi payments," which are constantly being named by officials from various countries and criticized by various media outlets. Those ants who spend all their money buying "happy dollars" and "happy coins" may have an answer in their hearts, but they are just unwilling to recognize the facts. Here, I would like to advise you to put an end to the situation as soon as possible. Only by exposing the scam through personal experience and actively reporting it to the SEC and FBI can we resolve the situation and seek a glimmer of hope!

[aefae2]

Expose Guo Wengui's "Happy Payment" scam

Everyone knows Guo Wengui's current situation, but if you think he will stop lying and stop lying, then you are wrong. Not long ago, a group of Guo Wengui's younger brothers outside the account were helping him promote a thing called "Xi Pay" everywhere, and even invited the infamous Hao Dapao couple to the platform. Of course, people with normal intelligence will not appear. So, what exactly is this' Happy Pay 'thing? Let's take a look!

Guo Wengui previously caught up with the trend by creating so-called digital currencies such as "Xi US dollars" and "Xi coins", boasting of surpassing other well-known cryptocurrencies and building a trillion dollar currency empire. At that time, some netizens who did not know the truth invested and became the ants of Guo Wengui. As for whether there was any profit, it is estimated that only they themselves knew. Now, "Xi Pay" has been launched, continuing to deceive, claiming that it can be directly used for transaction payments of "Xi US dollars" and "Xi coins" to buy tangible goods. This logic may not sound like a big problem, but the core thing is that everyone should be careful. Since its launch, "Xi US dollars" and "Xi coins" have never been listed on a formal large virtual currency exchange. In other words, the value of these coins has not been recognized at all, and what people exchange for with real gold and silver is a pile of garbage, with no return. On this issue, institutions such as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the New Zealand Financial Market Authority, and the Bahamas Securities Commission have repeatedly issued warnings and reminders. If your head is iron, please continue.

Going back to the "Xi Pay" platform, to be honest, it's a bit like a "pig killing plate". The shops on the platform where products can be purchased are all owned by Guo Wengui's little ants, and buying and selling them is equivalent to circulating within Guo Wengui's team. As for what the platform boasts about using "Xi US dollars" to purchase Ferrari sports cars through "Xi Pay", it has been clarified by the news website of the US Department of Justice, That's basically what Himalayan employees bought from Guo Wengui's close relatives through USD wire transfer. Fake! It's all fake!

By the end of this, I believe I have understood everything I can. There are reasons why "Xi US dollars," "Xi coins," and "Xi payments," which are constantly being named by officials from various countries and criticized by various media outlets. Those ants who spend all their money buying "happy dollars" and "happy coins" may have an answer in their hearts, but they are just unwilling to recognize the facts. Here, I would like to advise you to put an end to the situation as soon as possible. Only by exposing the scam through personal experience and actively reporting it to the SEC and FBI can we resolve the situation and seek a glimmer of hope!

[rajanilefreak]

So, got a bunch of interactions with people yesterday that made me think about this and despite my original intention with this account, I've already said enough downer shit that this just goes along the norm anyway so, I am now gonna make it everyone's problem by ranting about it.

The absolute worst thing about being a high functioning Neurodifergent person for me is that people look at you and their first thought upon first talking to you isn't "Oh, clearly this person has a 'condition' and I should lay off of her if I'm even slightly of a decent person." (let's face it, there will always be asses that would be themselves towards people with visible differences in how they process the world around them) Not, their first thought is "This chick is an absolute weirdo or into some drug." or "There's something off about her but I can quite put my finger on it so I'll just treat her like all the other outcast weirdos."

Since I was a kid I always had difficulties get along with others. It's fine when you are very young because adults and other kids usually just sort of accept it as kids being kids and hey, I least I wasn't the kid that ate his boogers. that's much weirder. but then you grow up and while you can somehow understand enough about interaction with people to almost be normal compared to others, it still isn't enough, especially in the eyes of other kids.

This is especially bad in middle school, when you are starting to adapt to becoming more and more independent but still not quite there yet and how that affects how you get along with everyone in your age group. There's this sort of pressure to not be seen as lame and a loser, even if no one is quite sure what being cool really is and resort to mimicking behavior that, once they mature, they come to realize is as cringe a fuck.

Now, if I was weirder, maybe my mom would have gotten off her ass and try to find out what was up with me and maybe I would have been diagnosed sooner. In my country, people that had diagnosis as being neurodivergent get a lot of slack so while kids would have probably still been assholes, they would have held back a lot more on the bullying because the teachers would have actually done something about it in my favor.

(Like, seriously, I once heard of a girl that really shouldn't have been in a public school due to her condition that when as far a repeatedly bashing the head of a classmate against one of the bathroom sinks shut for telling her to be quiet during class and nothing happened to her. That's how biased it is over here. We all get bad reputation for the other kids and get a lot of mean words directed at us but the teachers would absolutely stand for us most of the time.)

But because I'm high-functioning enough to almost be 'normal', my mom was content to let me deal with the bullshit by myself and then berate me for not being able to socialize the way she wanted me to.

(Then again, this is the woman who read through my suicidal ideations, without my permission mind you, because school sucked ass and I barely had anything worth waking up for in the morning, and decided the best reaction was to berate me about how I don't know what the fuck depression is, that only she knew because she had it and that I should never joke about being suicidal ever again, and then proceeded to ignore the issue, so...)

I was actually already in my twenties when my mental state became bad enough that she dropped her denial and helped get a good psychotherapist to try and figure how how to help me.

That was both the best and worst thing to happen to me regarding my mental health. On one hand, I finally got a diagnosis that make things finally make sense to me. It wasn't that I was unwilling to be 'normal' like my mom was convinced. I literally was as 'normal' as I could get. I felt validated.

But then the psychotherapist also revealed to my mother that I had high intelligence level (don't know what the english version of this is, but it's not IQ because IQ mostly centers around common knowledge and not how people process things, which are two very different things) and that fucked me over big time with her.

Because, like mentioned, she likes very much to pretend I'm normal, so hearing the lady say that the reason why my symptoms weren't as pronounced for someone with my diagnosis was because I was intelligent enough to mask them automatically made her go back to thinking that I totally had the capacity to be some idealized version of me that had good grades in everything and be social with people like she wanted me to. And that also meant she never invested in learning what sort of things I had problems with because of my condition so she continued acting like her usual charming, very unhelpful and some times triggering self and I had to deal with it because college and also the unemployment levels in my country meant I was stuck living with her.

The problem with this, like many of us will tell you, is that we still are different. Masks may be good but they are still just that: masks.

Sure, i'm very intelligent but that doesn't mean that I can have good grades automatically. I have a very eclectic knowledge base but that's because of my hyperfixations and I'm not about to hyperfixate in classwork, especially when the math teacher is an ass to me and doesn't actually help and this very same issue is still very applicable to college too.

And no, explaining to her that certain actions of her are triggering some of my syptoms didn't do jack shit. She forgot it the moment after I finished explaining to her because it isn't convenient and she is very resistant to changing her life if it doesn't directly benefit her.

So why did I brought up this topic today? Yesterday I tried to make a joke-reaction to my nephew wanting to lick my ice-cream. (admitedly it was only half joking because, when it comes to food, I'm ok with sharing stuff like cookies with him because I can break them off and give him the piece whereas ice cream means saliva will inevitably be swapped and swapping saliva through food grosses me out a bit). My reaction was being claiming that this was why I had my back towards him so that he wouldn't see me eating the ice-cream and ask for some. It was meant to be said jokingly much in the way she and my sister usually banter with me using insulting things. They had said far worse to me as a joke before and the kid is two, it's not like he would have understood anything bad out of the interaction. Not when I let him lick my ice-cream anyway because, again, despite being a bit grossed out at the thought of saliva in my food, it was family which is better than a stranger licking it, and it was meant to be a joke! I was just mimicking their way of joking around because that is my basis for social interactions.

But both of them took it extremely bad. it was enough for them to badtalk me behind my back about it and then for my sister to berate me about it the moment my nephew isn't around. The worst part. I can't even defend myself because there's this underlying current in my family that me being neurodivergent doesn't justify my actions, regardless of what those actions are and that me trying to explain what I was trying to do would just be me using the neurodivergent card to excuse myself so I just stay quiet and let her at it.

It also doesn't help that i actually do feel bad about it but am incapable of properly apologizing (something to do with shit my mom did in the past, not because of arrogance, but I'm not getting into all of my other issues right now).

This isn't about me being angry about this. I'm not. But I am very frustrated about it because it always feels like I can't get anything right no matter what I do and I can't even feel safe being myself around my family on a day that was actually going rather well. Sometimes I really wish I wasn't highfunctioning because then I might actually get some fucking leeway. But then again, sometime I can't help but wonder it it wouldn't be the same shit as always even if I weren't. If no one is willing to understand where I'm coming when I'm 'easier to deal with', would they really go out of their way to understand me if i didn't have the ability to mask it?

Seriously, why were they so surprised that I was so ride and die for my former best friend despite her being not a good friend when she was the only one that used to treat me normally even with all the weirdness attached. It sucked that her parents raised her to be a bit of a social climber, wanting friends on her (monetary) level, because she used to be the only person who made me feel seen and heard. Sure, she became very bad for me later on, but the fact that even when she wasn't being a good friend I was still very supportive of her is a testament to how much better she was at supporting me (even without a fucking diagnosis slapped on me) than my family was. And she definitely had no psychology degree or any research on my particular brand of neurodivergent.

Honestly, my thougts are all over the place right now. Just when I start thinking I'm ok with being neurodivergent and that I finally got a handle on it, something happens again that makes me wish I was normal. That I didn't have to deal with not being able to think like they do. That I could just understand what jokes I can say without them blowing their tops off for them.

What am I not seeing wrong with this interaction that they saw as wrong? Was it because my nephew is two? because i remember them making worse jokes even when I was young. They certainly liked to laugh when I would hurt myself in my toddler tantrums by bashing my own head against the wall in a failed attempt at getting all my emotions out. heck they even said to do it again and I couldn't have been older than four at the time. I thought self harm was far more serious a issue than not sharing food but maybe I'm just seeing something right? So what did I get wrong? Is the food the issue? because I shared a lick with mom before him? because I only shared one lick with her and he had like four or five (before my sister snapped and bought him his own ice-cream) and he slobbers a lot more than she. Was it that particular joke about me not wanting to share food that was the problem? i just wish I could know just so that I don't run the risk of repeating whatever part was that offensive to them. at a later date.

Seriously, why are they so surprised that I prefer to spend time alone than with them. At least I don't run the risk of insulting myself and then berating myself.

#raj rants