#but like... must we blow up the tl like that

[akkivee]

Intensely Spicy Curry Training: Hypmic Curry Drama Track TL

Kuukou: Y’all sure took your sweet time getting here! I’ve already got everything prepared!

Jyushi: But didn’t you tell us to meet you at the temple?

Hitoya: If we’re making curry, why the hell are we way out in the mountains to do it?

Kuukou: Because I just had a great idea. Check this out!

Jyushi: Ooooh, look at all this meat! So, we’re going to be using all of this in our curry?

Hitoya: Beef and chicken, huh? I guess it would make sense not cook these while inside your temple.

Kuukou: You’re half right, and half wrong.

Jyushi: What do you mean?

Kuukou: I don’t plan to make just any ol’ curry. Now it’s time for the both of y’all to mince the hell out of this meat!!

Hitoya: I didn’t know whether to expect if a corrupt little monk such as yourself knew how to cook, but I’m surprised. Instead of using something pre-made, if we pound and mince the meat ourselves, we’d get a far more superior product. Is that what you were thinking?

Jyushi: Oh, I see! That’s amazing, Kuukou-san!

Hitoya: So, where’d you put the food processor?

Kuukou: Ah?? The hell are you on? You’re grinding this meat with your bare hands.

Jyushi: …Eh?

Kuukou: Jyushi, you’re on beef! Hitoya, you’re taking the chicken! Punch it with everything you’ve got and make minced meat out of it!! This is a new training session I thought up!

Hitoya: What the hell is this fool saying??

Jyushi: B-But there’s so much meat!! Grinding it by hand is impossible!!

Kuukou: I don’t want to hear any complaints!! You don’t know that unless you try!

Jyushi & Hitoya: *reluctantly pounds the meat by hand*

Jyushi: *tearfully* …My body’s going to become minced meat before the actual beef!

Hitoya: Damn it, I can’t believe I let my guard down like this…! I shouldn’t have expected we’d simply make curry…!

Kuukou: You can’t expect to get anywhere with a weak spirit behind weak fists like that!! Lemme show you how it’s done!

Kuukou: *starts punching*

Hitoya: You bastard, those are vegetables!!

Jyushi: E-Even I could mince a tomato by hand!

Kuukou: It doesn’t matter either way!! Whether it’s vegetables or meat, all that matters is the heart you’re putting behind it!!

Jyushi: T-That doesn’t make any sense…!!

Kuukou: “Enlightenment can be attained through one thousand fists!” Don’t just keep yapping and put some energy into your hips and legs too!

Hitoya: Tch, I don’t see any way out of this… Then, I might as well get it over with…!! UWOOOOOOOOOAAAARRRRGHHHH!!!!!!!! *maximum effort punching*

Jyushi: H-Hitoya-san??

Kuukou: Hyahaha! There’s the effort I wanna see!

Jyushi: Guh… Because My God has unshackled the chains binding his true power, I, too, must unlock mine to continue alongside him…! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!! *maximum effort punching*

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

Jyushi: I-I can’t move another inch…

Hitoya: Ugh… I can’t even take the cap off my water bottle…

Kuukou: *sighs* It’s pretty pathetic to be that exhausted just from cooking.

Hitoya: You…!!!

Jyushi: But, I think it would be really nice if our training efforts could be felt by those eating our curry…!

Hitoya: …Well, I don’t think I’d say it like that, but I agree with the sentiment.

*the trees rustle and the birds chirp and there is peace*

Kuukou: The fuck are y’all talking about? There’s no point to this if the people who eating aren’t going through training too.

Jyushi: Eh?

Kuukou: Training can only be felt when you grow from the trials you’ve experienced yourself. Hopping off from other people’s efforts won’t mean shit.

Jyushi: B-but I mean, we’ll still be serving the curry to others once it’s finished cooking, right?

Kuukou: Yup. Which is why I’ve got…!

Hitoya: UWAH!! MY EYES!! IT’S IN MY EYES!!

Jyushi: That powder…!!

Hitoya: It’s red chili pepper!! Jyushi, run!! Move upwind so it doesn’t blow and stick to your mucous membrane!!

Jyushi: Eeek!!! *runs away sobbing*

Kuukou: HYAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Hitoya: Kuukou, you bastard, what are you doing? Are you trying to ruin everything we worked on??

Kuukou: I’m not ruining a damn thing! This curry will be spicy so I can provide a remote kind of training!

Hitoya: Stop fucking around!! There’s gotta be a limit!!

Jyushi: *runs back over* I think there’s more chili pepper powder than ingredients now…!!

Kuukou: Then it’s just right! Now try it.

Jyushi: NO!! I will not be eating!! I absolutely refuse!! Don’t even try me!!

Kuukou: Hey stupid, watch it, that’s dangerous!! Stop fighting me and just—Ahh??

Jyushi: T-The inside of the pot is pitch black……!!

Hitoya: Obviously. Chili peppers burn easily. Haah… Let’s just remake the curry.

Jyushi: But doesn’t that mean we’ll have to mince more meat??

Kuukou: Whatever, I was thinking our “Intensely Spicy Curry Training” was made too halfheartedly anyway!! Time to give it all I got and win this championship!!

#kuko harai #jyushi aimono #hitoya amaguni #bad ass temple #hypmic #hypnosis mic #til that you can make a meat paste at the very least by using a mortar and pestle LOL #the curry pissed me tf off lmao it was so spicy but underneath all that spice was a ridiculously flavourful curry #it's spicy enough that i can tell it's comfortably spicy for people used to eating spice tho!! #habenero is the worst experience with spice i ever had and it wasn't that bad lol but i got the sense it could have been #so i assume jyushi and hitoya talked kuukou down lmao or we didn't want a repeat burnt product lol #i decided to tone down how i usually write bat to try and not show my very obvious bias lol hopefully it worked #i remember slug mentioning sometimes a tl will come off vague in order to not get in the way of future developments #and i actually felt that tling this lmao like when hitoya was telling kuukou there's a limit for everything #i had to choose whether to make this about kuukou and training or kuukou and the chili peppers #the statement itself was a vague warning so my own interpretations of bat were getting in the way probably lol #statements without a clear subject usually default to the person speaking so kuukou saying give it everything and win the championship #is me assuming he's talking about himself and again i'm a little worried my own interpretations of bat are getting in the way #since kuukou's self reliance is blatant but also not if you're casually looking at bat SO IDK LOL I THINK TLING IS HARD #curry tl

[feelo-fick]

GUYS

guys. guys. THIBK OF the happy fits (its a band! look em up their songs bang) music with moomins. you wont regret it (tl;dr - songs written in bold, side notes written in bold italics, lyrics written in italics) for instance, some examples of snufmin songs from them : - too late (THIS SONG IS LITERALLY THE REASON WHY I MADE THIS POST) "(...) Winter's gone, and so has your reason! Daisies bloom, and so will your desire, keep your cool and blow out the fire!" - so alright, cool, whatever "After you leave, I'll be so alright it's true! It's not like I've got something GRAND to say to you ..." - she wants me to be loved (you've probably heard this one before on account of some animatics) "Things are so close to what I want to be - I've known you so long and maybe too well" "All of the boys, you kiss-and-tell! Though, I'll never be them. See, I'm just a good friend. Though it's not quite bliss, I don't want this to end..!" "I'll do your dishes and ask for no kisses! So, I'll tell you what I want, if you tell me what you want is! QUIT MOVING! QUIT DANCING-! Why can't you love me here tonight?" - relimerence "Yes she cares, (when you walk!) yes she stares, (when you talk!) BUT YOU KNOW SHE'LL NEVER LOVE YOU!" "As she moves, far away, you will dream, of the day, that she'll hold you so close like she loves you!" + much more WE ALSO HAVE JUST GENERAL CHARACTER SONGS LIKE : - dirty imbecile (snufkin. holy shit. oh my god. burnt out golden kid song, repressing emotions, parental issues.... holy fuck. you dont understand. oh my god.) "(...) When my heart starts beating, lungs stop breathing, all my fibers say to run away" "I come complete and invincible! But hide my dirty imbecile." "Am I good? Is all I could enough for you?" - in the lobby (fuckin. sniff??? ITS LIKE. MONEY IDK this one if a stretch) "There you go again tal-kin' shit! Helter-skelter politic - Hide under the shade of green! I could be a Kardashian!" - cold turkey (snufkin again cause oh my god.) "It's gonna take some time and space, honey - So when you go, leave me alone" "I'm so alone, all of your words like sticks and stones - I must confess, life without you is such a mess" also, i will NOT believe you if you say little one isnt the entire vibe of the moomins in general "There's a place in the sky said to have all that we need... that emotional right to belong" "We're alone on the face of the earth, we're just floating in space with the millions like us, dear, you belong" ANYWAYS SO THIS IS YOUR SIGN TO GO LISTEN TO THE HAPPY FITS SO I CAN SCREAM ABOUT THEIR SONGS TO YOU BYE BYE HAVE A GREAT DAY

#the moomins #moominvalley #moomin #snufmin #snufkin #moomintroll #snusmumriken #i know most of these are a bit of a stretch but hear me out #moomins #little my #snorkmaiden #DO GO LISTEN TO THEM IF THIS HASNT CONVINCED YOU IDK WHAT WILL #join me besties #long post #music #this is a lot of tags but ITS IMPORTANT OK

[stardate44002point3]

Star Trek and the problem of political salience

So, I've been thinking a lot about the Shaw/Seven deadnaming controversy and I think much of what has happened in terms of the level of outrage about it - which probably wasn't entirely what the writers were going for - is the ongoing problem of Star Trek using contemporary political issues to signal things about character and, in this case, having it backfire on them, just a little.

To explain, first what I think the writers were going for was a quick shorthand way of signaling that Shaw was a bit of a dick, but a redeemable one (hence he was always going to call Seven, Seven by the end of his character arc). However, two things got in the way of that and has resulted, at least in the Tumblr and Twittersphere, of a not insubstantial number of Trek fans celebrating his death (because deadnaming someone is clearly death-worthy) and harassing people who openly either like Shaw or, even worse, ship Shaw/Seven.

Why did this go somewhat awry? I think there are two reasons.

The first is that they just didn't think it through when they wrote it. Not only do people openly call Seven, Hansen (without any blow back from her) in earlier seasons of Picard (and not just in the fascist S2 version of the UFP), but now that she is in Starfleet, she must have a name on file. I've said this before. Either that name is Annika Hansen, in which case it is on her to change it, and neither Shaw (nor the rest of the crew) can really use another name for her because the computer won't recognize it. Unless we're expecting them all to shift between names depending on whether they are talking to her or referring to her with the onboard computer.

OR her name is Seven in the system. But narratively that's not going to work, because then Shaw would HAVE to call her Seven or, again the computer wouldn't recognize her. Since he refers to her as Hansen when talking to the computer we have to assume that is her name in the Starfleet HR system. If she has a problem with it, she needs to change it, I can't imagine Starfleet cares what people want to call themselves, nor make it difficult for people to change their names in the system.

So that's just careless writing, they were trying to make a point, and didn't really think through the whole process, relying on the contemporary political zeitgeist to do the work for them.

Which brings us to the second issue. Picard S3 was written in 2020/2021 and largely filmed in 2021. At that time, while deadnaming was something that was talked about and recognized, and understood to be a very bad thing, we were only at the start of the culture wars shifting to Republicans focusing on attacking trans rights (because up until last summer they still had abortion as their go-to wedge issue). Since the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme court ruling, and the relatively buoyant performance of the Democrats in the 2022 Midterm elections, Republicans have gone all out at the local, state and national level on attacking every aspect of the trans community's existence - from the ability to legal change names to the process of transition itself, to the ability of trans people to exist in society without harassment.

And not unexpectedly, there has been a huge surge in support for the trans community, which means that any indication of disrespect is now a much more politically charged issue than it was even this time last year. So what the writers intended to be throw away signifier of tension between captain and XO, has become a huge red flag of abuse.

Using a contemporary issue in this way is much more fraught than it used to be because, for a variety of reasons, the political zeitgeist changes much more rapidly in the 21st century than it ever did before.

So tl;dr; I don't think Shaw was ever meant to be an irredeemable asshole, I just think the writers did a piss poor job trying to demonstrate friction between him and Seven and the political situation has changed in such a way that the issue they chose has become so much more salient in the last year.

#liam shaw thoughts #liam shaw #seven of nine #abuse will be deleted and blocked

[versegm]

Also ⭐⭐⭐

Let's go for some fire emblem I never talk about fe fics over here

So first of all the base concept for Fever Confessions was based on convoluted and incomprehensible discord convos with a friend, where the tl;dr is "if Grima forced people to drink his blood to make them immortal and then tortured them for fun, would it be fucked up or what." I wrote a couple fics about it in our convos, and like, I had to store them somewhere right. I figured it would make no sense without context, but people apparently kind of like it? But hey, good for them!

Selena is canonically an isekai protagonist from another world (she hails from a completely different game in fact) so I thought it'd be cool if her biology was also a bit different than that of the humans in fe fates. Reacts differently to poisons, different sense of taste, ect.

in fe Fates, the royals (whomst Camilla is a part of) kinda suck, they're violent warmongers who conquer everyone around them ect ect, but they have a lot of dialogues along the lines of "despite everything we must be honorable" and stuff like that, so I really like the idea of them like... thinking they know war, but only really knowing "battle." They're ultimately sheltered royalties. They don't know jack shit about starvation or torture or the truly awful stuff that gets a war going. They think it's only exchanging blows. Idk man I think it would fuck if the guys known for unbriddled violence could still find themselves truly horrified by some shit.

As stated previously: the base premise was "Grima forcefed her his own blood to get to keep torturing her," hence why while she's hallucinating she tries to "give that blood back."

I love. Writing deities. I love going ham on themes and symbolisms. I love Grima the breath of ruin the wings of despair <3

A trope? I suppose that I really like is like. When the monster (literal or metaphorical) turns out to have been a perfectly regular bloke. And you have to grasps with the fact that this could have been you. That this was someone normal. That something truly horrible happened to twist them into something like this. I'm thinking about werewolves typing this but this is also what I meant with this specific fic.

#characteroulette #ask

[elizabethplaid]

March 25, 2023 - finished “The Body Keeps Score”

I first borrowed “The Body Keeps Score” back in November 2021. After some long breaks between chapters, I finally finished it last week. Like others have said, the beginning is very triggering, especially the first chapter. (It took me 3 months before I could pick it up again.) If you can return, it’s worth finishing.

Page 351 of the paperback edition mentions the Xhosa word and principal of Ubuntu. Van Der Kolk paraphrases it as, “My humanity is inextricably bound up in yours.” He says, “Ubuntu recognizes that true healing is impossible without recognition of our common humanity and our common destiny.”

Trauma and its aftermath are about our disconnect from the world around us, as well as from ourselves. To “recover”, we think we must reconnect with the world. But really, reconnecting to ourselves must also happen. Oh god is it scary to think about. It scares me, yet I’m already doing it. I’m lucky that my dad’s friends have reached out to me and have become friends of my own.

TL;DR: I def recommend the book. It’s better to have social-support while reading, maybe read along with a friend. Don’t rush reading, either. Put it down and wait; come back to later, whenever you’re ready.

More blather below the cut.

I always feel disconnected when books discuss treatment plans, like the anecdotes about theater groups and yoga. This one wasn’t as bad, because they discussed peoples’ individual experiences. A first-hand review is more appealing than a fancy overview, especially if people mention their struggles and overcoming those hurdles.

Hearing that one person had trouble with the Happy Baby yoga pose (page 274, paperback) made me consider what body positions scare me. Being able to recognize and not shy away from how fear feels in my body is tough. Still trying to pinpoint when and how it happens.

Two notes stood out to me near the end. One, the teens’ theater group practicing trust exercises. (page 339, paperback) Specifically, one person was blindfolded, and another led them around the room. It started in small increments, then went longer. Not only was the blindfolded person put to the test, but the person leading them was also tested.  Trusting someone when you’re weak is tough, but allowing someone to put their trust in you can also be a challenge.

Second, the note about how some calming techniques can be simplified for kids.

“Kids as young as three can blow soap bubbles and learn that when they slow down their breathing to six breaths per minute and focus on the out breath as it flows over their upper lip, they will feel more calm and focused.” (page 356, paperback)

I hate how long that sentence is, but it’s such a brilliant revelation. Lots of kids love blowing bubbles; it’s such an accessible method for kids to learn. Hell, it’s appealing to adults, too, I bet. ----------------

It took nearly a year-and-a-half to read, and it was worth all the time it took. I might not have returned to it, if I hadn’t borrowed it from my counselor. That was part of the motivation to finish reading it.

I almost wish I read it along with a friend, where we could talk about each section as we went. My counselor is great, but talking with another person going through the same thing is more reassuring sometimes. Plus, I search my thoughts better/more when talking with another person. And it’s a chance to learn from their experience and share my own learning with them.

Shout-out to @firespirited, who helped me decide to finally read this book. She also spoke with me about it, from time to time. It’s def a defining book for me, highlighting a lot of things I knew and couldn’t put words to. It’s also helped with my writing - discussing characters that are also going through and recovering from trauma.

#daily notes #picture of me #the body keeps score #bessel van der kolk

[aureutr]

What’s going on in the dinluke fandom? I heard about people being upset about Luke being feminine in the pairing and… chopped it up to “oh, just curate what content you see-“ but I keep seeing people bring up racism and xenophobia and I’m so lost… it’s like I log out for a day or two and the world explodes

Oh, anon. You don’t even want to know. Just pick out the people you want to follow and block the others (even if I’m one of them). But I’ll try to sum up the issue as fairly as I can, though I have my own opinions and this will hardly be unbiased.

And I’ll also say up top that, if y’all don’t want to listen to what I have to say (I guess understandable because I’m One of the Bads, apparently), then at least read this post (not mine) about fandom in general. There are so many babies being thrown out right now.

First, a tl;dr, with admittedly less “fairness” than I’ll expand upon later because I’m mixing opinions in here

Some people think that Pedro Pascal being Latine/Latinx automatically makes him a person of color despite him being very white and also vocally identifying as such

Some people feel that this makes any “bad guy” alternate interpretations of Din Djarin inherently racist

Some people think that tagging is poorly done or purposefully ignored to “trick” people into reading content they are uncomfortable with

Some people feel that Luke being the common fandom bottom and sometimes being depicted in dresses or other gender non-conforming ways is problematic and/or feel uncomfortable with said portrayal

Some people think that the correct way to “drive away” creators whose content they dislike (or whom associate with people whose content they dislike) is to be “loud and mean” to “get rid of them”

So let’s break that down further (again, as fairly as I possibly can). I will be referring to specific people here and there, but none by name. And admittedly, I talk a lot about my own opinions and actions (though I don’t know what else I could do?). Also this is LONG.

First, a disclaimer. I’m a mod in the Star Dads Dinluke Discord server. This does NOT give me a position of authority in fandom, and the opinions stated in here are solely my own. This topic is welcome to be discussed in said server (though, admittedly, we did push the most recent Tumblr blow-up into a thread so those who don’t want to engage can easily avoid it). The one thing that isn’t allowed is active disparagement of individuals.

We’ve put a lot of work into building up a community the last few months, and learned a lot of lessons from the previous Boots & Beskar server in ways to proactively manage content to make things as comfortable for as many people as possible. That’s beyond the scope of this post to detail, however. We also do not consider ourselves “THE Dinluke Server”, just one of them.

Racism/Xenophobia

This hinges upon the idea that Pedro Pascal is a person of color. Therefore, if Din does something bad or evil, like act as the aggressor in a noncon story, the action is inherently racist. This ends up painting a lot of actions with a very broad brush. It is easy to go “I don’t like this portrayal of someone whose actor I feel is a person of color therefore it must be inherently racist to portray them as such.”

And it’s very easy to go “oh, this is racist? I don’t want to be racist, so I should be against it!” Especially on Tumblr, the home of quickly reblogging things without full context. Most people are good and want to treat people with kindness. If those of us in the US have learned anything over… our country’s entire history, it’s not enough to just be “not racist” but we need to be actively anti-racist.

That being said, I disagree that “dark” portrayals of Din are inherently racist in the first place. That does not come from nowhere. As I mentioned in another post, my response the first time I saw this perspective was to find as many Latine/Latinx voices as I could and listen to them. I know that it is not possible to be “just not racist” in an inherently racist society, and that to be anti-racist is to listen and learn when you hear that something may be hurtful. Some of these voices were anonymous individuals reaching out to me, some are people whose names I know but will not be sharing. Some enjoyed “dark” content, some could not stand it and thought it was revolting.

No demographic is a monolith and no individual can speak for the entirety of their own. But the vast majority of people I have listened to and spoken with on this specific issue have come away with “White Latine/Latinx people have an extremely different lived experience than those of color.” Pedro Pascal has taken great pains to explicitly state that he fully identifies as a white Latino, and to dismiss his personal racial and ethnic identity because of one’s personal discomfort with fandom is… pretty fucking gross, I’m not going to lie!

I’m not going to sit here and argue that there is never racism in fandom. There often is, especially amongst fans, but the frenzy whipped up because a handful of people have Declared This is Racist is solving and will solve nothing.

I believe that the majority of people taking a stand “against racism in Dinluke” have good hearts and good intentions. I think that it is difficult to effect change out in meatspace, and so it becomes tempting to try to make waves where you think you will be heard. But when this is done based on little evidence (and at least a little shouting over top of Latine/Latinx voices, as we saw this past weekend), then we’re not effecting good change. This is also an approach that extremely centers US people and our sensibilities about racism.

But I also know that there are a few people out there, not many, who are just latching onto the “racist” label because they don’t enjoy one thing or another and want to tear it down. They are disingenuous and move the goalposts or change the topic entirely when confronted with even the softest suggestion that they might not be entirely in the right. They know how easy it is to get people on their side by making a claim of racism, and whether they do it on purpose or not, that’s fandom poison.

Tagging

The short summation of this issue is that there are tags some feel are “code tags” for dark content and that tagging is sometimes inaccurate. The implication is that creators do this on purpose to trick people into reading things that will upset them. In light of this, there was a post this weekend that was “definitely not a call out post even though [they] named names” that was, purportedly aimed at helping people identify dark content.

I’m not going to pretend tagging is perfect. It’s not, and it will never be because humans are imperfect. While tagging is a courtesy, it’s a common courtesy the way not spitting on the sidewalk is a common courtesy. Therefore I think that, as a creator, it’s important to be willing to listen to and accept polite requests for additional tags. I spend a lot of time carefully considering tags and additional warnings in my works (even and especially the ones that are not “dark”), but sometimes even that’s not enough. Personally, I’m always willing to update tags if I missed something obscure. We’re only human.

However, that only goes to polite requests for tagging. I’ve seen a lot of noise about tags that “should be” innocuous like “Cinnamon Roll Luke Skywalker” (which, as of this writing, there are precisely 32 Dinluke fics with that tag, hardly the purported “flood”) being “code tags” and like… that’s not even a thing. Authors want to tag accurately not only to help protect readers but so that their intended audience can find their work! I have no way to know this, but it feels to me like a group chat got carried away with the concept of “code tags” to the point where they fully convinced themselves that it was a thing.

Tags are a tool for you to use to curate your experiences. I think it’s a horrible event if a creator misses one and that results in someone being triggered, but it doesn’t make the act malicious. It makes it a mistake, an oversight, one that can be corrected by coming together in a constructive way. I have made this point many times before.

I will also say that I deeply resent the way the tagging topic is playing out, not because there’s not a problem (we can make it smaller but, again, not perfect) but because it groups everyone who has ever participated in dark content into a strange monolith. Like, the argument about “Dead Dove Do Not Eat” not being enough on its own has some merit, sure. But it is another sign to be on your guard. And only one person ever has made the argument otherwise (though I think they were responding quickly and with more forethought would have said something different). And yet, every time this comes up now, every single person who has ever participated in dark content is accused of holding this opinion. Or that we’re intentionally leaving stuff untagged to trick people. 

This generalization is flat out not true, and as someone who takes triggers very seriously and works hard to accommodate people as well as I can, frankly, it’s hurtful. I know that was the goal of some people and, well, mission accomplished, I guess.

In the end, no single tag can exist in a vacuum. You, as a reader, are responsible for reading and considering every tag (and author’s notes, as authors sometimes expand on potential triggers that only apply to single chapters instead of the whole work) in order to keep yourself safe. I, and honestly just about everyone, are more than happy to expand on our list of “default tags” when someone points out something new. We’ll touch on that again in a bit.

I have also had a conversation with someone complaining about “neutral” tags being mixed in with dark ones and like…that’s what the Exclude Tags option is for. Their response was “I shouldn’t have to do that.”

Yes. You should. You are not entitled to a uniquely curated experience with no work on your part. You can reach out for help to make it better, sure, but you have to put in some effort.

Feminine Luke

This got brought up in response to my post I mentioned above in a roundabout way. The short version (as I understand it) is that some people, especially queer men, dislike the feminization of men in MLM fanworks. At least one person has decided Dinluke is not for them based on this discomfort.

I have said before, and will continue to say, that no one is wrong for feeling a certain way, only for how they act on it.

This didn’t sit well with me, but I’m not a queer man so I said nothing for a long while. It was not until I spoke to other queer men, nonbinary people, and trans men on the issue that I made up my mind. Disavowing feminized fictional men entirely and dogpiling on people who enjoy it isn’t an answer (and to be clear, the person I mentioned above who disliked the tropes is not dogpiling on anyone). That runs the risk of veering hard into cisnormativity if not outright transphobia. There are a million ways to handle gender identity, some of which will make some uncomfortable while at the same time affirming and lifting up others. There is not a correct way to do gender.

But what we can do is identify it better (tags, again!). I, personally, am determined to tag any content that has Luke in a dress or something similar with “gender non-conforming/gnc Luke Skywalker” (or “gender non-conforming/gnc Din Djain” but that’s nowhere near as common). Here and on AO3. And, hey, if people really enjoy those takes then that will make them easier to find, too.

I don’t think that’s the end of the issue, but it’s what I could think of to do to make people more comfortable. I’m not really sure what else to say about the point that isn’t covered in the first post I linked at the beginning — who gets to decide who Is and Isn’t allowed to write about certain things? Where’s the line?

This Past Weekend and What Can We Do?

(TW: DESCRIPTIONS OF DEATH THREATS IN FIRST TWO PARAGRAPHS, YES REALLY)

Regardless of intentions, there was a post last weekend that kicked off an intense round of hatred and bullying. I do not use those words lightly. Before I went scorched earth, I saw active calls to get meaner and meaner, and literal wishes/threats of physical harm. Most of the latter were in tags, including “I wish all dark content creators would drop dead”, “I hope [Specific Creator] chokes”, and my absolute favorite “If you put Luke in a dress I will kill you.”

I’m not going to get into a blow-by-blow because, frankly, I blocked everyone even tangentially related to the issue and stopped following along after that last threat. I’m sure I caught some people in blocks unfairly, and I might reconsider those, but when we get to making threats to real people over fictional characters, that’s when I drop out.

There were also a lot of disingenuous arguments or points that were meant well but not articulated fairly, to the point where it felt pointless to even start to say anything back. I made one untagged post on my own blog, got one vaguely bad faith anon ask about it, then a bunch of actual anon hate before I turned off anon for a few days. I don’t even want to know how bad it would have been if I hadn’t done that. So, there hasn’t been a lot from the “other side.” I guess that’s what this post is, but to be honest, I really don’t want to be a voice for a given argument. I want to make fanworks, prop up a community (Star Dads), and give a heads up (tags) so that people can avoid my stuff if they want. But it also feels shitty not to say anything directly.

I have lost so much respect for people whose work I used to enjoy and that makes me sad. There has never been what I can consider a good faith hand reaching out for a dialogue. The closest I have ever had was in a round of DMs months back with someone I thought was kind and a friend. We laid out our sides (mine was that supporting better tagging was all that was reasonable because otherwise where does one draw the line?), had what I thought was a very amicable conversation, and then a week later, I was blocked. I later found out they were claiming that they tried to start a dialogue but no one wanted to. I think that interaction is the one that hurt the most. And I’m aware I’ve centered myself pretty hard in the last couple of paragraphs, but it seems relevant.

So, how does a fandom move forward from something like this? Some will say that the only way is for anyone who likes “dark” stuff to disappear from it, but that’s just not going to happen. Even if everyone who currently writes it gives up and goes away, there will be others.

Dark content is an inherent part of fandom because it is an inherent part of fiction. People explore their their trauma, the taboo, and the just plain weird in all sorts of ways. No one has to enjoy any of it, and while it is kind to tag hard sometimes things slip through. That doesn’t make anyone’s hurt over a missing tag any less important, but it should make it more understandable.

(TW brief mention of DV in next paragraph)

Personally, I put a lot of things I’m uncomfortable with in my work. I don’t like choking, sexual or otherwise, due to past DV but I’ve written a bad guy choking a good guy nearly to the point of passing out. It was awful to write, painful to edit, but the correct choice for the scene. I think the story is better for it. I bring it up because it’s a relatively “innocent” form of trauma. You would have never known I was assaulted if I had not just told you, and frankly, I resent that I felt the need to share it publicly at all.

No one should have to perform their trauma for you before being allowed to write about it. No one. Nor is trauma the only valid reason to write about something. I have mentioned elsewhere that my primary (though not only) interest in dark sexual content is my interest in BDSM, which I won’t go over in detail again here.

Again, What Can We Do?

The best that can be done, in my opinion, is constructive conversations around tagging (instead of the bizarre blame game that happened last weekend). I think underage content is disgusting and would never read it, but I think that teens should be allowed to write high school AUs that include first times. I don’t ship Vader/Luke or Luke/Leia, but since it’s fictional, I really don’t care if others do. I don’t read hyper-violent torture fics, but the idea that they exist doesn’t bother me.

I sometimes wonder if Dinluke is people’s literal first fandom because a lot of this is stuff that’s been argued about ad nauseum for literal decades. Our tools have gotten better (AO3), but there’s always someone who wants everyone to follow their personal sensibilities. Sometimes, they have somewhat of a point and we can adjust around it, most of the time the purported line is arbitrary. I do not get to decide what is Acceptable or Unacceptable, and neither do you. All we can do is mark it to help each other navigate the content.

We should all be capable of admitting that not everything is for us, and sometimes we have to do some legwork to find things that are.

And while you should always take accusations of racism seriously (even if they’re worded cruelly), not every accusation is accurate even if it is well-meant. Center the voices of people actually affected by a given issue instead of your own if you are not in the relevant demographic (even if you are a visible minority in another sense).

If you want to take an ACTUAL stand against racism, consider donating to a local mutual aid fund. Local action is the most effective in combating real world inequity. If you cannot afford to donate money, consider donating your time instead. Or, if you are a content creator, consider a charity commission slot where the proceeds go somewhere worthwhile. I leave it to you to decide what mission you find worthwhile.

I realize that sounds very “kumbaya let’s all come together” but there is really no other way to co-exist. And refusing to do so and trying to chase people out will never work long-term. I’ll continue to do my best to tag and indicate where my work might be upsetting, dark or not (btw, on Tumblr I try to do individual tags but all of my dark content is tagged with “tw dark content” filter once and it’s gone). I know several others who will do the same. I will not bow to outside pressure to stop writing because others dislike it, they don’t have to read it and I've put a lot of effort into making sure they can't accidentally stumble on it. I’ll keep propping up the community I volunteer my time to because I enjoy it and I think it’s a net positive.

What about a Dialogue?

I wish we could have one. I hope we can, in the future. But right now there’s no way. Not until things die down and people decide to come at this with calmer heads. I’m turning off replies on this post and, once again, turning off my anon ask box. If my relatively innocuous opinions in my last post about this got a bunch of hate, I can only imagine how bad this one will be.

I don’t like thinking that. I want to believe the best of people. But I was proven extremely wrong recently, and I’m not ready to trust again. All I ask is that, especially if you have disagreed with me in the past or personally dislike me, try to keep an open mind. Even if you don’t change your mind in the end, entertain the concept at least in private.

But What Can We Do Right Now?

Make more of what you want to see. Seriously. If you're self conscious about your abilities, I get it, but make it shitty on purpose. The next draft can improve it. There are so many unfilled niches in Dinluke, find yours and fill it.

You just might find out that you have a blast with it and make some new friends.

#dinluke #skydalorian #also I didn't get into this but Dinluke is hella vanilla #if what goes on here bothers you I advise you never to branch out into another fandom ever #there are dark shapes lurking beneath the waves #I hope that answers your question anon #I don't plan on talking about it again until this wave goes away and sensible heads return

[sleepy-achilles]

Request asks and I have no choice but to deliver.

For hbtaker you could do a scenario where they meet for the first time, and instantly know they’re gonna end up together down the line

(even when shawn was a slut and taker was an antisocial zombie 🥰)

And maybe for family of destruction you could write about how all the fam would react to big evil taker being buried alive/dying again.

Can’t remember if this would fit the tl of leon and cassie being old enough to understand it, but it’s a thought? 😅

Luckily for us the og family of destruction timeline has Leon being 3 when takers buried alive. And even luckier for us, I have the ability to fuck with timelines and make them fit. Welcome to 5 year old cassie and 10 year old Leon. But first, hbtaker.

Hbtaker- Forever.

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

Shawn blows a bubble at vince in annoyance. "Im serious Shawn." Vince sighs. Shawn rolls his eyes. "Sure thing boss" "You should try making some friends." Vince tells Shawn. Shawn just pouts and leans back in his chair. "Why would I need friends? I'm here to perform, as long as I can do that I'll be fine" Shawn states. Vince just chuckles and shakes his head. "That view will change one day michaels, you'll realise you need people, now get going" vince tells him. Shawn sighs and stands up. "As if." Shawn states. "Youll fall in love one day Shawn. For real that time aswell." Vince states. Shawn looks at the older man. "Im the heartbreak kid! Love is a fools game" Shawn smirks before walking out. "Sure it is" vince hums with a knowing look on his face as shawn pauses in the doorway.

Shawns eyes widen as a tall man with red hair walks down the hall. He stops infront of Shawn and looks down at him. "Uh um hi, I...I'm shawn" Shawn states. Undertaker examines him and tilts his head. Shawns eyes widen as his heart races. "Cmon taker boy what's the wait!" A high voice shrills. Shawn looks as the short fat man appears. "Oh. Michaels.." he chuckles, shawn didnt know who this man was. He saw the taller mans debue and this wasn't his handler. At least not out there. "You gonna let my next meeting in Shawn?" Vince asks from behind him. Shawns cheeks heat up. "Oh! Yes um sorry" Shawn chokes stepping to the side. The fatter man walks in after vince smirks at shawn and goes back in. Taker stops next to shawn and looks back at him. He sends him a small smile and shawn gasps quietly as the man walks into the office and the door shuts. Shawn can't help the blush and small smile as he skips off down the halls.

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

The Family of Destruction- Diggin Graves

I've done shawns reaction to the famous vince vs aba!taker buried alive match. Its the kids turn

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

Leon could sense something was wrong the moment they stepped foot in the arena. It was a pay per view meaning both their parents were in work on the same day, meaning him and his baby sister had to be there.

At first he thought his papas match was what he could sense, but as he stands with him in the medical bay he can still sense it. "Daddy" cassie whines tugging Leon's arm. Leon glances at his little sister before back at their papa. "Go on baby. Goto the gorilla and watch daddy's match" Shawn tells him. Leon looks at him with concerned eyes. "Ill be fine. I promise." Shawn reassures him. Leon looks as Steve walks in. "Look, Steve's here now so it's fine" Shawn states. Steve looks at the kids. "Oh yeah, I'll look after your papa, don't worry. Go have fun, John cena is in the gorilla." Steve tells them. "Johnny!" Cassie cheers pulling Leon's arm.

Leon frowns but forces himself to walk her out. "Is he okay?" Steve asks. "Hes been like it since we entered the arena...he must feel like something is wrong." Shawn shrugs.

---

Leon stands by himself as he watches the tv. Cassie quickly accepting John's arms to rest in.

Leon isn't phased by the blood on his father. He already knows its not his. Its the way the hairs on the back of his neck stands. Something isn't right.

"Daddy!" Cassie yells. Leon's eyes widen as the digger explodes on their father. Leon's breathing picks up as their uncle stares down at their father with a massive evil smile. "Whats uncle kane doing?" Cassie asks. John glances at hunter and Stephanie who are also confused. Leon closes his eyes.

'Daddy?'

'Leon...my baby boy'

Leon immediately panics. His eyes snapping open as takers thrown into the grave. He ain't been able to communicate with his dad like that since he became human again. Leon can't breath.

He falls to his knees as the dirt begins to fall. "Leon? Leon!" Stephanie gasps rushing to Leon's side. "Ill go grab shawn" hunter states before rushing off. "Leon? I need you to breathe" Stephanie instructs. Leon looks up at the tv screen with watery eyes. He lets out a choked whimper at the sight of the dirt falling. "Baby? Baby breathe" Stephanie instructs. Leon gasps before letting out a shakey breath.

"Cassie it's okay, it's okay" John tries comforting the girl. "W-why is uncle kane doing this?" Cassie cries. John looks at Stephanie who's still trying to comfort the small boy. The small boy who's crying hard, his eyes glowing a deep purple. His eyes then snap up to a in shock Shawn. A urn clasped tightly in his hands, Steve and goldust behind him.

"NO!" Leon cries slamming his small fists onto the ground. He can't sense him. He can't sense his father.

Cassie flinches as the urn hits the floor, she hides her face against John's shoulder as she whimpers. John doesn't think she truly understands like Shawn and Leon, he believes she's more upset about the idea of her daddy being stuck somewhere.

Leon's purple eyes turn to the urn. A sudden rage burning through him. A sudden rage no ten year old should have.

"Enough for tonight." Shawn's voice is rough, hand heavy on Leon's shoulder. "No more." Shawn whispers as Leon's eyes fade back to normal. His Papa looks rough. Scared. Leon glances at cassie who's crying.

That's the day Leon vowed his family will never suffer another loss again.

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

"We have reports that son of the undertaker and Shawn Michaels has been rushed to hosptial on his sixteenth birthday. Father and son duo, the undertaker and Leon Michaels were supposed to be performing tonight for the raw live show when the accident happened backstage. We haven't been given many details just that there's a lot of blood and that the officials are not sure what condition the young boy is in. We will try to find out more and inform you as soon as poss-"

"Critical condition." The high voice chuckles.

#wwe #shawn michaels #the undertaker #wwf #hbtaker #undertaker x shawn michaels #shawn x undertaker #triple h #stephanie mcmahon #vince mcmahon #stone cold steve austin #goldust #john cena #kane #paul bearer #oc characters #leon michaels #cassidy michaels #the family of destruction fics #the family of destruction

[cuddyclothes]

Okay, these are some of my thoughts after my 3rd rewatch of 6 & 7. My first two watches were screaming crying throwing up.

This is a long ass post! TL; DR

WARNING: As much as I adore this show, and spent a lot of time after watching being in screaming crying throwing up mode, this is criticism. MY OPINION ONLY!! Please don't pile on! If you adored these eps, I'm not trying to change your mind.

1) The romance of Ed and Stede was botched. You can only do the breakup once to have it have impact. This breakup felt unearned. It would have been SO much more interesting if they went for the thruline of Ed and Stede fighting because of their identity switch! It reminds me of sitcoms where they had contrived breakups to create tension. It doesn't! This is one of the few shows where the "will they won't they" didn't need a breakup. Ed deflates like a balloon with the air going out of it. It needed conflict! Ed's backbone is gone. I get that he's freaked out but c'mon. Every other interaction was *chef's kiss*. The morning after was so sweet I nearly passed out. And the wall shove! OH MY GOD! Ed protecting Stede!

2) Olu and Jim spend a season exploring their feelings for each other and it's true love, one of the few in S1. Then S2 blows it out of the water for no conceivable reason. I mean, Olu falls for Zheng? Jim's cool with it? What happened to Jim? One of the strongest characters in the show is sidelined and has a boat-mance with Archie, a completely unnecessary and badly written character who takes up valuable screen time which could be given to the characters we love. Archie is shoehorned in because S1 was a sausage factory. Again, I'd rather have more Spanish Jackie, and Zheng is a great character. And Auntie!

3) Ep 6 was rushed and wasn't able to give time to important plot points. Ned Low shows up, is a villain, is mutinee'd after Stede is nice to one crew member. 2 minutes of tension from what could be a great villain. Where was Wee John during the final party? I loved Stede going from moping to mega-horny. Pete and Lucius could have been cut, the screen time given to other characters. But I adored the party and WEE JOHN AS CALYPSO! (Why wasn't he in the last party scene? Must have been a scheduling conflict.)

4) Ep 7 was wonderful, except for the breakup as mentioned above and the crew wanting to leave the Revenge. ?? The morning after was so sweet. Ed making breakfast was so lovely and the callback to last season was so good I almost passed out Going to the cafe and running away, Spanish Jackie's and Frenchie's grift, and Zheng's ships blowing up were all great. The Prince announcing the end of piracy to his troops was too much like the B-plot of S1, even though I liked everything being destroyed.

5) I love Izzy's growth. It makes me worry something's going to happen to my sweet little daddy.

#ofmd s2 #ofmd spoilers #6 & 7

[thornescratch]

Desert Solitaire for the ask/fic meme, because I don't know SW but I love Edward Abbey :)

Sorry I'm so slow with this, I currently only have the time/mental bandwidth to answer one or two a day and I didn't want to flood anyone's TL with my dumbass fic answers. I suspect by the time I finish writing that, the title will no longer fit, but I do love me some Edward Abbey also. ANYWAY.

That's a story I started on the Bobadinluke discord server for one of the weekly prompts (blue milk? I think. It gets mentioned like once and then it's all about an Luke as a desperate baby gay who wants to climb Cobb like a tree, and who could blame him. And then, the inevitable meetup ten or so years down the road when Luke's had his glow-up and is also possibly sleeping with the dude who helped Cobb blow up a krayt dragon) and then, as per usual, it grew into something longer. Mainly because I think there's a disappointing lack of CobbLuke and DinLukeCobb in general in the world. We must fill voids where we can.

There's not really a ton of plot to it; it's mainly an excuse for figuring out fucking logistics in a threesome where one person can't take off their helmet and make heavy handed desert metaphors.

Cobb considers himself a simple man: he's found most problems can be solved by shooting or fucking, and since shooting is definitely off the table in this situation, Cobb promptly switches right over to fucking. Or the prelude to fucking, anyway. There are rules in the desert. Hospitality comes first, no matter what.

He does most of his talking and business as Marshal in the cantina; personal affairs deserve a more private setting. Cobb rarely has enough company in his home to warrant owning more than two chairs, let alone having three of them in his small living area, but he gives the couch to his guests, and drags one of the kitchen chairs in to sit across from them, planting the spotchka bottle on the small table between them.

Skywalker—Luke—sits next to him, hands folded almost primly in his lap. Out of the cloak, he's slighter than the impression he gives off. Maybe an inch or so taller than the last time Cobb had him pressed up against an alley wall behind a cantina, but not much more. Cobb remembers his hair being lighter and longer, bleached by Tatooine sunlight instead of the darker gold it shades to now. Like sand dunes in the evening, instead of high morning. There are a few faint scars scattered on his face—a mark below the right corner of his lip, a small diagonal scar on his right cheek, and another on his chin, but it's still a youthful face that probably still prompts age checks at cantinas more often than it doesn't.

His eyes, though. That's where the years are hiding. They're the same startling blue as Cobb remembers, and only a few lines at the corners, but they're nowhere near as naïve and unexperienced as before. They follow every move Cobb makes, but the jumpiness is gone. He's almost as still as Mando; despite their physical differences, they make for an interesting matched pair.

Speaking of whom.

Mando hasn't said too much since the unexpected reunion, despite the fact Cobb had had the distinct impression it was his business that brought him back here to Mos Pelgo. He does tilt his head slightly at the bottle, and then back at Cobb.

"Weequay sent a straw for you, Mando. No excuses this time," Cobb says, and cracks open the bottle to pour.

Mando makes a non-committal noise. "I have things to discuss with you," he says.

"Hospitality first," Cobb says, and tips the last of the spotchka into the third glass before plunking the straw in it with aplomb. "And there we go. Spotchka follows the rule of three, and here we are, three of us. Must be fate."

"How's that work," Mando says flatly.

"Well," Cobb says, "To start, there's about three full glasses of spotchka per bottle, and one glass'll do you just fine in terms of feeling good. You got four people, well, then you might not get drunk enough. And with two people, you might get too drunk."

He picks up the glass with a straw in his right hand and another glass in his left, proffering them to Mando and Luke respectively. When Luke takes his, their fingertips touch, and Cobb smiles at him. Luke's gaze flicks up to meet his for a heartbeat before dropping down again, looking at his glass while one corner of his mouth curls up.

Mando doesn't take his yet. "I don't remember any rule of three the first time you offered me spotchka," he says.

"Of course not." Cobb says. "You walked into the cantina looking all fit and ready to kill. I figured I'd try to get you drinking so if it came to a fight, I'd have an advantage. That's just being sensible, Mando."

Next to him, Luke makes a quiet huff of laughter but he's still looking down. Mando tilts his head incrementally again, but eventually he reaches out and takes the glass. Cobb sits down and picks up his own glass.

"And anyway. Three people makes for more interesting conversations all around, and with a third person, you got someone who can tiebreak or peace-make if you get into an argument," Cobb says. He raises the glass and takes a sip, licks his lips and raises one brow. "Or do other things."

"I'll bet," Mando says, voice dryer than the Dune Sea.

#meme #fanfiction #Star Wars #The Mandalorian #Cobb Vanth #Luke Skywalker #Din Djarin #writing

[grumpycakes]

i was looking at your heishin art and i remembered this thing and i thought i'd share. do u ever think about the fact that in the dub, heiji/harley just inexplicably knows who gin + vodka are (and seems to maybe realize the effect the alcohol he gives shinichi will have on him)? like i know this is probably just a weird dub fuckup but omg THE IMPLICATIONS

oh my god anon

i ranted about this on a stream where we watched this episode like a month or two ago

you have, just opened a can of worms i love to yell about rofl

I DO NOT. UNDERSTAND. WHY. THEY DID THIS. You COULLLDDD read it as him not knowing Jim is Conan. If he was still operating under the assumption Jimmy was watching everything and or that Conan told him everything, then Jimmy knowing about the alcohol can be handwaved away. It's weird and omniscient but hey

but THE FUCKING GIN AND VODKA SHIT MAKES ME WANT TO SCREAM. HOW DOES HEIJI KNOW??? HAS HE RUN INTO THE "BLACK ORG" BEFORE??? DID HE OVERHEAR THEM TALKING ABOUT JIMMY??? DID HE FIND OUT FROM HIS DAD???

Like the BEST assumption for this is that Heiji obsessed with Jimjam was like researching why he's been missing and found something about/from Gin and Vodka searching for confirmation of death or idk waht.

I cannot understand why they did that, it makes no sense and makes everything more confusing, especially with the second ep where Heiji FIGURES OUT CONAN IS SHIN.

[Wikipedia says that it was presumably changed so they could have Jimmy know the codenames in the next few eps w the game company murder case. The problem here might just be that they did animated versions of book cases out of order and Japan was like WHATEVER and america was like MUST FIX]

ADDITIONALLY if they needed Jimmy/Shin to have found out what their names are, WHY DID THEY CHANGE THE BULLET TRAIN EP. FROM IT BEING GIN AND VODKA TRYING TO BLOW UP THAT TRAIN. AND SAYING THEIR NAMES. TO LOOK ALIKES WHO ARE JUST BLOWING UP THE TRAIN CAUSE THEY CAN

WHY WAS THAT DECISION MADE???? WERE THEY TRYING TO CHANGE THE STORY LINE??? THEY ANIMATED THEM AS NOT GIN AND VODKA, SO IT'S NOT EVEN A DUBBING ISSUE

WHAT. THE. F U C K

ANYWAY tl;dr the americans were like, MAKE IT MAKE SENSE, and made Heiji accidentally omniscient and then stupid in his next appearance

#dcmk #heiji hattori #hattori heiji #case closed #case closed anime #WHY THO #irl shit #mel babbles #mel bitches #mel has weird indepth specific knowledge #mel has opinions #aaaaaaaaa

[aeoki]

Ghostic: Exorcism - Chapter 2

p>Location: ES Halloween Stage (fine) Characters: Touri, Keito, Eichi, Wataru & Tatsumi

TL Note:

The Japanese word for “angel” is “天使 / tenshi” which letters are also included in Eichi’s surname: Tenshouin.

Keito: You're both holding torches, right?

Tatsumi: Yes. I’m all prepared.

Touri: Yup. I’ve got mine too.

The lights in the inner rooms are still under construction, right? I’m scared of ghosts but a dark room is even scarier…

Tatsumi: If that’s the case, would you like to hold hands?

It must be scary walking into darkness because your body senses there is danger around you. Perhaps with a familiar presence next to you, you’ll feel somewhat at ease.

Touri: Y-Yeah. Thanks.

Be careful you don’t trip too, Kazehaya-senpai. You hurt your leg, right?

Tatsumi: No, I’m quite all right. It’s an injury from a long time ago. It doesn’t particularly hurt now so please don’t hesitate to rely on me.

Touri: Fufufu. You’re really nice, Kazehaya-senpai. No wonder you’re so respected at Reimei Academy ♪

Then, I guess I’ll hold your hand…♪

Keito: All right. Looks like we’re all ready. Let’s follow the path then.

Once this door opens, we’ll reach the haunted house area immediately. Be on your guard.

Keito: …It really is dark. Let’s use the torch.

Hm. There is barely any light. Are the walls built out of some sort of light-absorbing material…?

Tatsumi: You’re right. I cannot make out the path, but it seems there are bits of luminescent paint here and there. Shall we use those as a signpost and follow them for now?

Touri: Uuu, I’m getting chills! I wanna escape already!

Uuu, it’s so cold…! I can’t help but rub my arms…!

Tatsumi: It seems they’ve lowered the temperature. Among the old furniture fitting for a mansion, it gives off the perfect atmosphere where ghosts might jump out at any minute.

Keito: Maybe it’s because it’s a haunted house built specifically for Halloween this year, but it’s oddly elaborate.

That Eichi… He really went all out even though it’s just Halloween.

It might be difficult to move about, but let’s be cautious and keep going.

Touri: O-Okay…!

H-Huh? Kazehaya-senpai’s hand feels bigger than normal…

Tatsumi: Hm? Touri-san, you let go of my hand because you felt cold, didn’t you? We haven’t been holding hands since…

Touri: What? Then whose hand–

UWAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Eichi: Fufufu. It seems Touri is the first to be baptised by the “ES Haunted House” ♪

They do say if you love your child, send him out into the world, after all. It’s reassuring to see Touri overcome his fears.

Wataru: It’s still early to say he has completely overcome his fears, though. He is giving it a go with a positive mindset for Mr Butler’s sake as well.

However, even if it is to monitor what’s going on, no one could ever imagine they would be watched by cameras set up in various places. You truly are a demon, Eichi.

Eichi: Oh? That’s rather unexpected.

I’m Eichi Tenshouin – The word “angel” is incorporated into my name[*], you know? Maybe I’m even crueller than a demon ♪

Wataru: Fufufu. I suppose you are an angel rather than a demon. You’re about the only person who would have the audacity to blow on his trumpet and cause the downfall of humanity, Eichi.

In whichever case, this should lessen the burden on Mr Butler’s shoulders. Perhaps he will be able to focus on the live performance once he has recovered his health.

You too, Eichi. Preparing for Halloween and the ES negotiations all seemed to be quite difficult work, so all that’s left is to work hard in the lessons for our new song.

Eichi: Fufu. I can’t relax just yet, unfortunately. There are areas that are still under construction in this haunted house, you see.

Wataru: Oh? Is that so?

Eichi: Yeah. You saw the course for the haunted house, right? Maybe it’s because I had it urgently repaired, but it seems the electrical system isn’t working properly.

I gave them directions to connect the electricity from the ES grounds, but because of that, there was a temporary blackout at Seisou Hall.

It was as if the haunted house had caused a psychic phenomenon.

Wataru: Ahh, so that’s why you told them to bring a torch.

Perhaps I should have gone with them. I could have used my magic to illuminate the mansion…!

Eichi: Fufu. The ghosts might run away after seeing you all dazzled and sparkling, Wataru. 

In any case, there is a mountain of work to do, but they’re all being gradually resolved. Just like how things are going well right now, I also hope Yuzuru returns in full spirits.

Halloween only comes once a year. It may be fast and sloppy but I shall try and do as much as I humanly can until the big performance.

Ahh, there are far too many things I still want to do. It’s a pity to even stop time.

Life is short. That’s why we must live without regrets…♪

← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

#ghostic

[sheryllsblog]

Here’s Why Batman Could Never Get Life Insurance

If you regularly browse the Internet or have looked at children’s room décor, you’ve probably seen the saying “Always be yourself, unless you can be Batman, then always be Batman,” on some product or another.

While we can all pretty much agree that Batman is cool, his lifestyle choices are quite risky. It’s a good thing that Batman’s secret identity is *spoiler alert* American billionaire Bruce Wayne because Batman would never be able to qualify for life insurance to protect his future family.

Bruce Wayne is a businessman. He owns Wayne Enterprises. On paper, Bruce Wayne is actually a great candidate for permanent life insurance because he could definitely use the tax benefits and it would help fund a buy-sell agreement for his company. However, if Mr. Wayne were to be honest on his life insurance application, he’d never get approved.

Life insurance companies need to know your occupation and if you participate in any risky hobbies. Their underwriters evaluate applicants and determine coverage amounts and premiums based upon the company’s specific underwriting guidelines. These guidelines have been created based on risk evaluated by actuaries.

TL;DR: The more physical risks you make in your life, the higher your insurance premiums will be.

Why Batman’s Gadgets Will Be His Downfall…

Bruce Wayne is a businessman by day and a crime-fighting superhero by night. Unlike other superheroes such as Superman, in which bullets bounce off of him, and Wolverine, whom can heal himself in seconds, Batman is a normal human who uses his intellect, martial arts skills, and vast wealth to keep Gotham safe. But his hand-to-hand combat fighting is the least of his worries!

Let’s take a look at some of the dangerous gadgets Batman uses when handing out justice.

Grappling Gun

One of Batman’s most frequently used gadgets is his grappling gun. It allows him to repel down and shoot up buildings with the greatest of ease, but one slip off a too-angled roof and boom. Batman’s dead.

Life insurance underwriters would compare this “hobby” to rock climbing. Underwriters will typically evaluate the application of rock climbing enthusiasts by taking into consideration how often they climb and by using the Yosemite Decimal System (YDS).

This three-part system is used to rate the difficulty of walks, hikes, and climbs. The system is divided into five classes. The higher the class, the riskier the climb, and the higher the life insurance premiums will be.

Explosive Gel and Bat-Bombs

When Batman is chasing a bad guy and said bad guy runs into a building and barricades the door, guess what? Batman just pulls out his explosive gel gun or Bat-Bomb and boom. No more walls.

Well, cool, but what happens if Batman can’t run back in time before they blow? Also, technology isn’t fool-proof. Batman is running around with these bombs attached to his belt! One wrong move and bye-bye Batman.

Life insurance underwriters would compare this to the risk that members of the SWAT team or bomb squad go through. If you put yourself in harm’s way on a daily basis for work, the life insurance underwriters are going to be a little hesitant about approving you for a standard policy. Definitely take advantage of any group life insurance policies your employer offers just in case you are denied an individual life insurance policy based on your occupation.

Batmobile and Batpod

I suppose these all-terrain vehicles aren’t gadgets but, anyway, they can get up to insane speeds and are equipped with all sorts of dangerous weapons.

While Batman doesn’t believe in killing people, which is nice of him, he does use these weapons to blow up obstacles in his way and uses the afterburners, a.k.a. rocket boosters, for bursts of speed which can propel him long distances and over large gaps… like buildings.

Batman’s car insurance premiums must be through the roof. Also, with those afterburners, speeding tickets are probably common.

Just as car insurance providers penalize you for speeding violations, life insurance companies don’t appreciate them either. They associate too much speeding with someone who enjoys living life a little on the wild/careless side. And because speeding can cause accidents which can cause death, life insurance underwriters are going to penalize you by means of higher premiums if your driving record is mediocre at best.

Batglider and Memory Cloth Cape

Both the Batglider and his high-tech memory cloth cape have one main purpose: to allow Batman to fly through the sky like a bat. Nothing could ever go wrong with that, right?

Batman may be against killing, but the bad guys he chases aren’t. A villain could easily shoot at Batman’s glider or cape, causing Batman to plummet to the street.

Also, technology has hiccups sometimes. What happens if Batman jumps off the side of a building pressing his “eject wings” button and the wings don’t eject? Bye-bye Batman.

Life insurance underwriters would compare Batman’s flying gadgets to hang gliding. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, your chances of dying while skydiving is 1 in 101,083. Your chances of dying while hang gliding, however, are 1 in 560. You can see why life insurance carriers don’t welcome hang gliders with open arms.

Credits to: Natasha Cornelius

Date Posted: Mar 9, 2022

Source: https://www.quotacy.com/heres-why-batman-could-never-get-life-insurance/

#areteautomation #lifehealthadvisors #knowledge #foryou #mindpower

[digitaluvr]

why is it that whenever i decide to check twitter the fandom is somehow fighting amongst themselves over something stupid they caused in the first place

#this time apparently someone got rj to say a filo curse word and tbh..... idc #hell whenever i say im filo people always tell me to teach them swears or go ‘puta ina mo’ or whatever #i dont rly see the big deal other than it was stupid to do??? #i guess it tarnishes his ‘innocent’ image??? but like hes also 20 #and from what im seeing apparently he was tricked into doing it?? which likely isnt ok let a man know if ur gonna make him swear #but like... must we blow up the tl like that #and if yall were gonna be angry why would you do it in the first place #istg...... filo kpoppies pls chill and go chismis somewhere else omg #dont u guys have smth better to do than to make people swear unknowingly on the internet??? #cait speaks

[dreamologisth2o]

Why I Believe Endersmile Is Canon

Because I’m on a bit of an Endersmile binge--

This is all gonna be very messy and just me putting my thoughts together and I’ll probably not be going through the VODs for exact timestamps or anything because that’s exhausting and I applaud the people who do, but here are my thoughts on Endersmile and why I’m 100% convinced it’s canon. They’re besties your honor.

/rp Any names mentioned are referring to their dsmp characters and not the streamers themselves unless specified

First off: The Disc. Dream trusts Ranboo, a lot. He trusts him so much that he literally gave Ranboo one of the two discs he needed to pull off his big plan at the finale. He trusted Ranboo, so much that Ranboo deciding to give the disc back to Tommy or Tubbo wasn’t an option, even though Ranboo was friends with both, which he knew. I don’t know why he gave Ranboo the disc, or how he got the disc from Skeppy in the first place, and I’m sure he did have a hundred and one back up plans for if Ranboo did decide to give Tommy the disc, but asking Ranboo to hold onto the disc in the first place means Dream trusted him to a degree, and that’s big coming from Mr. “Reserved”.

Second: Knowing Dream’s Voice. Ranboo knows/remembers Dream’s voice well enough that he hears it whenever he’s in the panic room, that his subconscious uses Dream’s voice to force Ranboo to confront his fears. For a guy who hasn’t had any one on one time or conversations with Dream in VC on stream, he sure does a really good job imagining his voice. /s 

Basically, they must have spoken, a lot. They must have spent time together outside planning for things or exchanging items or whatever. So much time, in fact, that Dream and Ranboo both end up sharing the same ideology of “People not sides” of “One big happy family” of “Being the person that stops conflicts” of “Being on all sides” of “Mediating between those sides” of “Choosing the side they think is right”. 

During Ranboo’s prison visit dream/nightmare, the Voice tells Ranboo that the only reason Ranboo hasn’t been hearing it lately, is because he hasn’t been speaking with Dream as often. That Ranboo and Dream had talked with each other nearly everyday. And I’m inclined to believe that because the mere existence of the voice proves he’s heard Dream’s voice a lot, or he has a very good memory of Dream’s voice, which, considering his memory problems probably isn’t the case. This is further supported by how ever since Dream’s been in prison, ever since Ranboo banned himself from the prison, he hasn’t heard even a hint of Dream’s voice, not even as he’s remembering more and more.

Third: The Disc War Finale. During the disc war finale, we have in universe proof and out of character confirmation from both cc!Dream and cc!Ranboo that the characters had been staring at each other during the entire thing. Some friends on a discord server have also pointed out how Ranboo appeared to be avoiding Tommy’s gaze unless Tommy’s distracted. And during the entire thing Ranboo’s the only one not holding out a weapon, instead he’s got a book and quill in his hand. We’ve now also got confirmation that Ranboo was Enderwalking during the Disc War Finale, which makes all the strange behaviors make sense because if they’re friends, if they’re allies, then Ranboo didn’t show up to fight Dream. Then Dream might’ve been trying to convey something to Ranboo, like perhaps trying to keep Ranboo from doing something stupid and revealing their alliance. Especially if he planned on being put in Pandora, he really doesn’t need his friend to try and “save” him and ruin the whole plan.

Fourth: The Voice. I am inclined to believe the things the voice says. Why? Because everything the voice is talking about are all the things Ranboo doesn’t want to confront, doesn’t want to see, doesn’t want to remember. The voice isn’t malicious. It’s not even Dream, it’s just using Dream’s voice to make Ranboo listen. And Ranboo knows it’s just himself. (also out of character confirmation from the cc!s that the voice is NOT Dream and never has been, it’s just a manifestation of all the shit Ranboo’s repressed coming up and slapping him in the face) Everything the voice does, all the things it says, is trying to get Ranboo to remember the “bad” things he’s done, to remember that he was on Dream’s side. To force him to face that side of himself that might be capable of doing bad things, if there’s a good enough reason. It exaggerates things, it makes them out to be worse than they actually are, but that’s how it’s able to get Ranboo’s attention, that’s how it’s able to force him to think about those things. Ranboo won’t do anything until he’s forced to face the problem, the Voice is just trying to get Ranboo to do that.

This is why I believe Ranboo DID blow up the community house. Why he’s working with or has worked for Dream in the past. Why he willingly gave Dream his memory book, possibly to create a visible conflict between them and ensure no one would connect them as allies, like what Dream wanted to do with Punz. And also because the other things it’s said, such as Ranboo being given the Cat disc to hold onto, have been proven to be true. Nothing the Voice has said has been confirmed a lie. And many of the things it’s talked about aren’t things we or Ranboo can find the answer to unless he talks to Dream, which is until the dude’s rescued from the prison, isn’t happening. (cc!Dream where’s your Dream lore?!?!?!)

That said, if Ranboo was the one to blow up the community house, then Dream was covering for him during the Disc War Finale. He didn’t have to. He could’ve thrown Ranboo under the bus. But he chose to take on that blame, make himself look even worse in the eyes of everyone gathered there while he was at their mercy, to protect Ranboo from similar persecution. Doesn’t this remind you of anything? And Ranboo’s got a track record of making friends with those who help him.

Fifth: The Visits. Ranboo has visited Dream in prison multiple times. At the very least at least 2 times that we have direct confirmation of, and probably even more. His visits are consistent enough that just a few days after Ranboo bans himself from the prison, Dream notices and starts a strike, tells Sapnap that Ranboo’s stopped visiting, asks him, his best friend who literally threatened to perma-kill him if he were to ever leave his horrible situation, to send a message to Ranboo. (which, I guess Dream still kinda trusts Sapnap despite everything that’s happened, huh?) 

Why would Ranboo visit? Unless they’re friends, unless they’re allies? Because even Dream’s so called best friend only ever visited once. Even Bad who Dream claims to have been the nicest only ever visited once. And while Tommy and Quackity visited more than once, their multiple visits have very clear reasons behind them, while Ranboo’s just, don’t. 

And consider: How did Ranboo know about the things that were said during the Disc War Finale, word for word, line for line, that he wasn’t present for, unless someone’s told him? Unless he heard about it from Dream himself. Unless that was what they were talking about. Unless that’s part of the reason Ranboo kept visiting Dream. 

Sixth: The Lessons. I don’t know about you, but giving life lessons to someone sounds like something you’d do with a friend, and not just a “puppet”. The whole lessons book gives off really mentor mentee vibes, and considering how Ranboo’s following in Dream’s goal of stopping conflict and uniting the server, well. And the lessons aren’t even malicious, or designed to push Ranboo away from others. In fact, many of them, especially the last few ones we see, are designed to protect Ranboo! Unless Ranboo’s safety was a top priority for Dream, there’s not much reason to pass those lessons down. This lines up incredibly well with Dream taking the blame of the community house’s destruction during the Disc War Finale, as well as his protective streak at his own expense when it comes to his allies and the people he cares about. Which means Ranboo is someone he cares about, which means they’re friends! They’re besties your honor!

Seventh: Ranboo’s Vehement Denial. Ranboo is infamous for being an unreliable narrator, for being in incredible denial despite all evidence supporting otherwise. Which means his vehement denial that Dream can be anything but bad is a fairly obvious red flag that that’s not true, and that Ranboo has reason to believe it’s not true, but chooses to actively ignore or forget those reasons and attempts to reinforce the “everything’s Dream’s fault, he can never change and will always be bad” mentality, that sounds like something he stole from Tommy or c!Dream antis, because he doesn’t want to face the fact that he has reasons for believing the opposite. At this point, I am 100% on board with the idea that all these unprompted instances of Dream hate is just a blatant cover up of how that’s not true at all. (Which he touches on, ever so briefly, when he renovates the second stronghold room)

Aaaaand that’s it! For the most part. I could touch on how Enderboo is hoarding all the backbone in this relationship and that the dynamic between Enderboo and Ranboo is closer to that of someone waking up after a sugar high or going for three days straight without sleep than it is two completely separate people or someone who’s literally sleepwalking (and that “Enderboo” is his normal state and “Ranboo” is the sleep deprived not thinking straight state). But this post is already obscenely long and I should end it here. 

TL;DR: They’re besties, your honor.

Anyways, if you got this far, thanks for reading!

#my thoughts #my posts #character analysis #endersmile #c!ranboo #long post #dreblr friendly

[thefools-journey]

So. Some of you may be wondering why we haven’t written a whole ton about the secondaries or what have you. Here’s the reason: we were waiting for them to end before we really dug into the problems we were noticing. We felt that it was only fair to wait for the routes to finish so that we had an understanding of the writers’ vision. Who knew, we thought, maybe they would see the problems themselves and course correct, maybe they are building to something we can’t quite see yet and these issues will have actual payoff, maybe-

In light of Muriel and Lucio’s endings, and the general mess that has dominated Portia’s route for a year plus now, we are breaking our silence. We are actually going to talk about this shit show.

The fandom at large has talked about a bunch of issues with the secondaries but for me, the cardinal sin, the thing that really all the issues lead back to, is this: the writers lost sight of the tarot themes which so strongly defined and held together the primary routes. Let me explain.

The primary routes each center around three thematic cores:

The Love Interest’s Major Arcana and its Reversed/Upright meanings

The MC’s Fool’s Journey, both how it can go right and how it can go wrong

A question about the MC’s identity and their relationship to said identity

Asra’s route asks: Who was the MC? How does the MC navigate a past they cannot and will not remember? What do they owe a past they cannot remember? How do they handle the revelations of what Asra, Nadia, Julian, etc did? How do you right the past? Can you?

Nadia’s route asks: Who is the MC? The MC has no past. Are they the Fool only? Are they actually the same person they were? How can they tell? Who are they, really? Are they an imposter? No one can answer these questions for them.

Julian’s route asks: Who will the MC become? How does the MC see their future? Is there anything worth fighting for for that future? What will become of them and their loved ones? 

Now, if you notice, these themes are expertly woven throughout the primaries. Asra’s past dominates his route, Nadia is also missing memories and trying to construct her identity both with her family and with Vesuvia, and Julian’s fear of the future drives his flailing for control. Asra has to learn to take a broader view of his actions to get his Upright Ending, Nadia has to learn to trust herself and those around her for hers, and Julian has to learn how to let go for his. These lessons are the issues their cards stand for. The primaries are so dang elegant and delicate in their handlings of theme it is honestly awe-inspiring.

Thematically, the secondary routes have completely lost their hearts. First of all, the MC does not have strong, core questions which need to be answered. They just don’t. I suppose the writers did not want to retread old territory (which is weird considering how tightly bound the primaries are; it really tricks you into thinking you’re living the same events but from different angles depending on your route) but they did not replace the old with anything new. Muriel’s route is, on the surface, about discovering and owning his past, the good and the bad. Why not tie MC’s self-discovery to that story? Or they could have taken the angle that Muriel’s route is about convincing him to be present and active in the world while MC builds an identity for themself outside of Asra, the shop, and the memories they cannot retrieve. Why not tie the investigation themes running through Portia’s early route back to MC and their past? Portia has the unique angle of being as in the dark as MC about all of this, why not discover the past together? And for goodness’ sake, Lucio has no future when his route begins, why not tie that to his need for growth, responsibility, and MC’s own future between the Fool, the Devil, or something mortal and in between?

Secondly, the routes lost their tarot backbone. We have a primer on how to get specific endings for each LI and it still holds, but the writers did not follow through on the thematic coherence of each secondary. The Hermit is looking for something, be it perspective, insight, a solution to a problem, whatever. The key here is that the Hermit must find or learn what they are searching for, this thing must change their understanding of the world, and finally, they must bring this lesson back to the world from which they retreated. Can someone please enlighten me as what exactly Muriel learns then teaches the world around him? Nothing Muriel learns from Morga, MC, or even the Hermit ties back into anything. The Devil warns that you are out of control and exerting a lot of manipulative, destructive behavior on the world around you. It asks you to take responsibility for yourself and your actions. So can someone tell me why Lucio’s route actively avoids any interaction or reflection on two of Lucio’s biggest victims: Muriel and Julian? Why does the route only try to make amends with the “easier” of his victims in the cast? The Star is first and foremost the card of clarity, the light at the end of the tunnel. Perseverance, if you will. Yet Portia’s route has been the muddiest of the trio; the writers drop the investigation aspect of her route in favor just handing her and MC information they could have easily found and muddying the waters with Tasya (she blows up the palace but it��s all okay bc she has a secret daughter Julian never thought to bring up or mention) and the complete removal of the Devil as antagonist. 

So that leaves just the Fool’s Journey trying to hold this stool up with only one leg. And well...it doesn’t go well. At best, the secondary route books pay the barest surface level homage to the themes of the individual cards. At worst, they ignore the cards completely. Muriel's Moon book has nothing to do with illusions or delusions or lies or even an Alice in the Looking Glass upside down world. Portia's back half is a complete and utter mess, starting with her Temperance book being so badly mangled that Muriel's aftermath book does it better. Lucio's route too bungles the Tower and the Star. There just isn't enough here to carry the routes alone.

Add to the core loss the loss of intertextuality. The primary routes are very good, even great but they too do have their moments and mistakes. What helps strengthen them when the cores stumble is how the trio is woven together. Things you learn in Asra's route can inform the way you play Nadia's, for example. Julian's route informs what is going on in Asra's route and slots some missing puzzle pieces together. Nadia's route tells you of the power struggles she is facing and informs the other two routes' handling of Julian and his trial. On and on, the three routes support each other because they are built out of the same basic plot beats, just tackled in very different ways. Now, the writers are allowed to try and write whatever they want. They apparently wanted to be more experimental and less tied down to an overarching plot with the three secondaries. Okay, fine, they are allowed to do that. The problem is that they sacrificed one of the key strengths of the primary trio and didn't replace said strength with anything else. They also, on some level, harmed the very premise of the game, which is that only the player's choices and route selected change the overall plot. Instead of feeling like legitimate possibilities or offshoots of the same timeline/plot, the secondaries feel almost like Arcana AUs. The secondaries throw out all relations to the primaries and each other as quickly as possible and for what? 

It is probably the height of arrogance to suggest fixes for works whose behind the scenes I do not know. At the same time, some small, obvious changes could have salvaged Muriel and maybe Lucio's endings (rip Portia). Instead of having the Hermit appear as a disappointing cameo, why not have him say something cryptic to Muriel, then have MC start trying to seal the Devil. Then let Muriel use his forget me mark to cloak MC and hide them from the Devil's attacks. Protecting MC by hiding them from Lucio, keeping him focused on Muriel, seems to me a simple third solution between Muriel's desire to run and his desire to never fight again. It lets him stand up to Lucio and let him have it while holding onto who Muriel has become. The Reversed End would have MC try to draw Lucio's attention at some point, disrupting the sealing, and eventually leading to Muriel killing the Devil. With Lucio's Upright End, I just have to ask: why doesn't MC fully claim the power of the Fool instead of the Devil? We don't need the other Arcana involved in this fight; we have three routes that demonstrate that. Just have MC pull Scout into the conflict, then have Lucio tell MC he believes in them, then add his power to the mix. You got yourself a full Fool who leaves Scout guarding the realm until they and Lucio's mortal bodies fail and they return to the realm to be together forever. Boom, you're done, you can even add some ambiguous lines so that players can decide how happy their MC is with this arrangement, send me the check.

Here is the bottom line. Our group is full of aroace, and several combinations therein, individuals. We are the last group who should have gotten into a dating sim of all things. But the Arcana did something with the primaries that was special; they wrote a compelling plot with dazzling lore, complex characters, and strong themes wrapped up in a dating sim bow. The writers know better and we know they know better. I do not know what happened with the secondaries, especially around books 10-11, which is where minor issues slowly start spiraling into major ones, but it is clear that Nix Hydra needed some more planning before they released these routes. Hopefully they will learn.

TL;DR: Nix Hydra fired their tarot consultants about eighteen months ago and it has wrecked their secondary routes until they were just embarrassments. They never intended for the secondary routes to even exist and once they had to make them, they scrambled and threw out everything that made the primaries work.

- Mod Telos

#the arcana #The Arcana Game #arcana game #arcana game meta #arcana meta #arcana discourse #the arcana lucio #Lucio route #the arcana muriel #muriel route #the arcana portia #portia route #lucio morgasson #lucio montag #muriel #portia devorak #The Wheel Turns

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Hey! I love your meta’s, a little while ago you talked about The Order of the Phoenix as an organization could you talk about the Death Eaters?

The post anon is referencing.

TL;DR the Order is incompetently hilarious and Dumbledore is a man who trusts no one.

Oh, the Death Eaters, what to say about the Death Eaters...

In a World Without Voldemort, They'd Probably Be Arsonists

One of the things JKR implies in the series, and something fandom seems to take for granted, is that Tom Riddle is the ultimate corrupting influence.

Were it not for him, the Wizarding World would be a much better place, and people like Bellatrix LeStrange would be productive members of society.

As soon as he is killed, even, by Harry, the good guys win, their problems all presumably solved, and Harry tells his son Albus Severus that it's totally fine if he's put into Slytherin.

I don't believe that though.

To me, it's not so much that Tom Riddle corrupted these people, but that he gave them an organized cause. The people themselves, oh, they were itching for a fight.

In a world without Tom I think they'd be a loosely, poorly organized, group (probably with Bellatrix as the ring leader) where they commit acts of domestic terrorism probably involving burning offensive shops to the ground or attacking muggleborns, halfbloods, and blood traitors.

Voldemort, to me, is designed to pander to them (and not the other way around).

The Death Eaters' Beginnings

So, first off, I think Tom's goals are not what he says they are. What he represents to his followers is exactly what they want to hear, wrapped in a grandiose theatric bow that they just love.

But how did this all start?

First, I don't believe in the Knights of Walpurgis. Instead I think Tom came relatively out of nowhere in the 70's uses parseltongue to prove his heritage as the Heir of Slytherin and thus of purer blood than any of them.

He throws these exciting rallies/parties that the rebellious, angsty, teenage heirs all go to. There he says everything they wanted to hear in the most eloquent manner they've ever heard, promises them the action that their fathers have never delivered, promises them a role in the glorious revolution and a place in history, and probably offers them mounds of cocaine.

All the Death Eaters we see, or the core of them, appear to be in this age range where they'd be in Hogwarts or just out of it when Voldemort came knocking. I can imagine they're all whipped up with excitement, YEAH LET'S BLOW UP THE MUDBLOODS and for some that's great, for others... things don't go the way they expected.

October 31, 1981: It All Falls Apart

Regulus famously steals Tom's horcrux. I imagine it wasn't so much that he learned the error of his ways but that he saw what Tom Riddle was really after: the destruction of his very society.

Lucius is riding high until October 31, 1981 and he sees the complete destruction of the entire Black family. Lucius' priorities greatly shift and as he grows older he prays Voldemort never returns. Unfortunately, Tom does, and he charges interest.

Bellatrix absolutely loses her mind, refuses to accept reality, and tries to torture the Longbottoms for information they do not possess. She is imprisoned in Azkaban and never truly recovers from this.

Snape ends up the cause of death for Lily Evans and must forever live with the guilt and be tied to her prophesied son. He also becomes Dumbledore's lackey forever, which ultimately gets him killed.

Point being, no one's having a good time. Some because they figure out being a Death Eater wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and others because they had the Voldemort rug pulled out from under their feet when Tom Riddle disappears.

Pettigrew flees and lives as the Weasley rat for nearly fifteen years.

They're left making a mad scramble as they try to pick up the pieces of their lives.

Canon Catches Up

More than ten years go by and then suddenly, in a muggle graveyard, the surviving Death Eaters discover that they are bound to Voldemort for the rest of their lives.

Death cannot stop this man and he has branded them: there's no escape.

Some are still enthusiastic supporters of the cause: Bellatrix is vindicated that her lord has returned, he rescues her from hell on earth, and everything's finally coming up Bella. Barty is similar in actively working for Voldemort's resurrection.

Lucius, meanwhile, lives in constant terror. Karkaroff desperately flees the country and hopes Tom will not find him. Snape, is in fact, Dumbledore's agent. Pettigrew only returned in utter desperation and has now cut off his own hand.

They're not the young men they were, some of them have families, to some of the past ten years have been utterly miserable. They have to watch as their children make the same damn mistakes they did, be sucked into this same hell hole, and there's nothing they can do about it.

There is a notable reluctance for the cause, and yet, they have to try with the same vigor or this madman will kill them all.

And it's all worthless anyway: come 1998, Voldemort dies again (perhaps for real this time, who knows, Harry Potter seems to think so for whatever reason) and then they are imprisoned for their acts as Death Eaters.

And they just laugh, because how badly Lucius wishes he could go back in time and tell his eighteen-year-old self, "YOU DUMB FUCK, LEAVE NOW!"

But Do They Learn Anything?

No.

Just because we see some of them regret being Death Eaters doesn't mean they regret their beliefs. Their beliefs were fine, even blowing up people here and there, a bit gauche but fine.

But maybe following Voldemort blindly was a bad idea.

Are They More Competent Than the Order?

No.

Tom Riddle is terrifyingly competent in that he infiltrates the government with ease, has spies everywhere, and all but proclaims himself minister one day and nobody blinks.

He gains the full support of most of the wizarding world's wealthiest and prestigious families.

But he doesn't actually give these people anything to do. Because there's nothing for them to do, with them, Tom's won. He owns the Wizengamot, the Ministry, everything.

There's no need to fight. It's over, there never was a war. Society is primed to accept Tom Riddle as their ruler.

However, the likes of Bellatrix LeStrange thinks there's a glorious war on, so "uh, go out and blow up a few muggles, have fun." And the young Death Eaters (and the older ones), think they've committed this great, daring, brave, and very important act.

Tom only seems to hand out real assignments when in desperate straits or else when being particularly vindictive.

Lucius, after messing up with the diary, is told to retrieve a prophecy he is not allowed to touch in a department of the ministry he should have no access to. If he fails: Tom kills his entire family. When Lucius does fail, Tom assigns his son to assassinate an already dying Dumbledore. These aren't real tasks, though they do have the appearance of one, and consequences for failure.

Barty, Tom is forced to rely on, as he is trapped in this dying infant's body. And better Barty, someone who is truly loyal and seems fairly clever, than Peter Pettigrew who is a miserable scum bag who'd sell his grandmother for a bar of soap.

Barty, of course, fucks this up. Rather than just kidnap Harry Potter at any of the many easy points this could be done (Hogsmeade trip, lure Harry out to Hogsmeade with super secret serial information about Voldemort/Snape being a Death Eater, etc.), Barty is determined to make use of the Triwizard Tournament to destroy his father's legacy.

This means rather than a few weeks, it takes months to kidnap Harry, and even then they bring along an extra boy who then gets killed and provides some evidence that Tom Riddle has in fact returned. (Somebody murdered Cedric). It takes months and Barty actively ensuring Harry makes it through the tournament and does well, leaving open the possibility that he might get caught helping Harry cheat at any moment. And of course, Barty has to pretend to be Madeye Moody for months, keeping his man locked and drugged in his trunk.

Thankfully, Moody's such a paranoid wreck, no one even notices.

Quirrell, Tom is forced to rely on. Quirrell fucks up, though admittedly not as badly as Barty. Quirrell fails to steal the stone when it's in transit/in Gringotts. He fails to murder Harry Potter, an eleven year old boy in the world's most dangerous school. He rouses Snape's suspicion almost immediately. Then of course he doesn't get the stone. He at least gets to the room with the stone and nearly overpowers Harry and gets it had he not been mysteriously lit on fire by the power of love/Lily Evans.

The only one Tom ever really relies on by choice is Snape. Snape is charged with spying on Dumbledore and later running Hogwarts (which he fucks up).

There is only one competent man in Britain: Severus Snape. Which is, of course, why he's a double agent that Dumbledore and Tom both extensively rely on despite his being a double agent.

There's no one else.

Tom Riddle doesn't make use of the Death Eaters but given they prove themselves enthusiastically incompetent at every turn I don't blame him. Just pretend to give them something to do and hope it makes them feel important.

That's all I've got in general, you want anything else you'll have to ask for something more specific.

#harry potter #harry potter meta #harry potter headcanon #tom riddle #voldemort #the death eaters #lucius malfoy #bellatrix lestrange #regulus black #barty crouch jr #anti barty crouch jr #anti bellatrix lestrange #quirinus quirrell #anti quirinus quirrell #severus snape #peter pettigrew #anti peter pettigrew #draco malfoy #the wizarding world #albus dumbledore