#why would you when it would mean abandoning your homeland?

[plussizefantasia]

The Surprise

Flufftober Day 20: Hiking

Thorin Oakenshield x reader

Word Count: 2.1k

AN: Day 20! Wow, if I'm totally honest I didn't think that I'd make it this far. Feedback and Reblogs mean a lot. I'll see y'all tomorrow.

divider credit: @royallaesthetics

“You’ve not been yourself for quite a while my love. Tell me what troubles you.” Thorin had been more irritable than normal lately. He had taken to sparring more than normal and had been extremely short with some of the more resistant members of his council.

“It is nothing Ghivashel, do not worry your precious head about me.”

“I’ll always worry about you Thorin, that is what being your wife means.” You pulled him into your arms and looked into his eyes. “You are my heart, and when you hurt, I hurt. So let me lift your burdens.”

“Do you miss it?” Was his questioning response. 

“Miss what, Thorin?”

“Being free. The adventures that we had before we reclaimed the mountain. Slaying beasts and journeying with our closest friends.” He was wistful when he spoke of these things. His voice was soft and his eyes were glazed over. 

“Of course I miss it my love, but who is to say that it has to be over?”

His eyes met yours. “I have far too much to do. I cannot just leave the mountain to go on an adventure, not while things are still so fragile.”

“Well, yes. You cannot go on another year-long journey to reclaim our homeland. But you can take the weekend. The council is at an impasse as it is and Bard and Thranduil are not due to return for negotiations for another month.” You kissed his head. “Thorin you have done enough that I know the mountain will not fall apart if you were to leave for a short while.”

“But what kind of King would I be if I abandoned my people?”

“My love, you are not abandoning them, you are taking care of yourself. You are letting yourself blow off some steam so that when you come back you will be an even better King than you are now.”

“It is just not possible Ghivasel. I must put these thoughts far from my mind.”

“If that is what you think is best.” You sighed. Your husband was not one to be easily swayed, even by you. 

Your thoughts began to race though, thinking of all the ways that you could improve your lover’s mood and what would need to be taken care of before that could happen.

The next few days passed similarly to the ones before your conversation with Thorin. He was up before you were and returned to your shared chambers after you had already gotten ready for sleep. His mood only got worse and you decided that something needed to give. Which is why the next morning after you had awoken, once again to your husband’s side of the bed already cold, you had sought out Balin for a discussion during breakfast.

You had found him in the royal library, where he usually resided in the early morning. Nursing a cup of tea and flipping through pages of an old tome. 

“Balin, I need to discuss something with you old friend.”

“Anything, for my Queen.”

“I was your friend long before I was your Queen” You pointed out.

“Perhaps but, I knew you’d be Queen before even Thorin did.”

“That is precisely who I’m here to speak to you about.” Balin put his book down on the table next to him, turning his aging body towards yours fully, and gestured for you to take a seat. “Thorin is troubled. He misses the journey and the freedom that came with it. I do not doubt that he loves being King, but he needs to be just Thorin sometimes too.”

“I have noticed that Thorin has been more easily angered as of late. What do you have in mind?” 

“I’m so glad you asked.” You detailed your plan to Balin and bounced ideas of the old dwarf until the sun had reached its peak in the sky. Both of you had accidentally neglected your duties of the morning and spent the rest of the day playing catch-up. Any dwarf that saw the two of you in passing though, could only describe the two of you as possibly giddy.

Two weeks passed before the plan could finally be put into motion. Two weeks of sneaking around behind Thorin’s back, wrapping up loose ends, and ensuring that the mountain would in fact, not implode during your weekend away. It was hard work, and by the end of it, you were very much aware of why Thorin had been so tense lately. It just made you want to surprise him with your gift even more.

The morning of the surprise you intentionally woke up extremely early. Early enough that you were up and ready before Throin was. You pulled together your outfit and his and ensured that both of your packs were properly stocked.

When he finally woke, the confusion on his face quickly morphed into alertness and concern. He practically launched himself out of the bed before his eyes landed on your body and he instantly relaxed.

“What in Mahal’s name are you doing up?” His morning voice was rough and insanely attractive, you had to remind yourself that you were on a schedule before you acted upon the thoughts that came rushing to you at his words.

“I have a surprise for you, and I needed to be awake before you to stop you from leaving before it was ready.”

“Ghivashel,” his tone was apologetic, “today is much too busy for any kind of surprise.”

“Except, my love, it is not. I have already taken care of your duties for the day, and have canceled the meeting you had with the miners guild this weekend in favor of a crafter’s summit later this month where all of the workers in the mountain will be able to discuss their dilemmas together.” 

“You, what?” He was baffled, truly baffled. How had you possibly done all this without him noticing?”

“The summit was Balin’s idea, he insisted that it would work and I hope he was right. Nevertheless, your schedule and mine are clear for the next three days and I have planned a surprise for you. Your clothes are laid out for you and I have already packed for the both of us. Breakfast is in the kitchen, meet me in the stables when you are ready. I still have a few things to prepare before it is time.” You instructed him. 

“Time for what?” He grabbed your wrist as you began to walk out past the wooden doors of your chamber. 

“Time for your surprise, my darling.” You kissed him soundly and continued your exit. Leaving a confused but hesitantly excited Thorin behind. 

While Thorin was getting ready, you headed to the kitchen yourself. To grab the basket full of the feast you had called upon the kitchen to prepare. A long with some dried bread and cheese to put in your sack. Then you made your way to the other hall of royal chambers to ensure that the princes were awake and getting ready. Those two could sleep through an orc attack if they were given the chance, and today you would not be giving them the chance. 

“If you mess this up. I will shave your mustache in your sleep Fili I mean it.” You had threatened the eldest. You found that it only ever took a threat to the eldest to make sure that the youngest also followed through. Kili was sure that whatever was done to Fili would be done to him twofold. And he wasn’t really wrong.

Once you had made sure that you had everything you would need you made your way to the stables. Hoping that you’d beat Thorin there, or that he actually would show up and not just insist that he needs to work anyway.

You didn’t see him when you arrived but it was still early so you didn’t feel the need to send out a search party. It was only a few moments later when you heard him turning the corner. In the time you had been there alone, you had managed to set up both your horse and Thorin’s. Packs laid across their back and saddled properly placed and laced up. 

“Ghivashel, what is this surprise you’ve planned for me? And why did we need to meet here to start.”

“I think I can tell you now, as long as you promise to not leave when you find out.”

“I promise my love, just tell me I beg you.”

“Remember my love, how a few weeks ago you had confided in me that you missed the journey. That you missed being free. Well, I spoke to Balin and we put together a plan that would let you be free, if only for a little while. We are going on a mini journey.”

“Love, This is… Thank you.” You’d never really seen Thorin be speechless before, he had always been a man of few words, but you don’t think you’ve ever seen him without any.

“I just want you to be happy, Thorin. You’ve been so stressed lately that I wanted to help you feel better.”

He pulled you into his arms and fiercely placed his lips upon yours. You melted into his kiss. His lips moved on yours in a passion, relaying all the thoughts that seemed to be trapped inside of his mind. He kissed you like he would never be able to kiss you again. When you finally broke apart you took a big breath and tried to control the dopey smile that was threatening to cross your face. 

“We have to get going. I have a plan and if you keep kissing me like that I’ll never be able to follow through.” You pulled away from him reluctantly and made your way towards your horse.

“After you.” 

The two of you rode for about an hour before the riding trail cleared and the pathway became too treacherous for the horses. 

“This is where we leave them. The rest of the way is one foot.”

Thorin and you dismounted and you let the horses off lead so that they could make their way back to the mountain without you. The two of you continued on foot with Thorin occasionally leading you through some rough terrain. You spent the entire day together, looking at wildlife and speaking about things that had nothing to do with the mountain or kingly duties.

You reminisced about the first journey, about Bofur’s ability to make a joke out of everything. Of Bilbo’s incessant fretting and how amusing it was to watch. You swapped stories and recounted battles the whole way. Only when you recognized where you were and that the final part of the surprise was almost there did you grab Thorin’s arm and stop him from going any further.

“Okay, we’re almost there. But I need to put this on you before we go any further. You pulled a long thin strip of black cloth from your pack.

“A blindfold? Ghivashel…”

“I know, I know but it won’t be long I promise.”

He sighed deeply and heavily but acquiesced. You tied the blindfold around his eyes and grabbed his hand. Leading him through the last of the few hurdles until you made it to the clearing where the last bit of the plan was waiting. 

“Surprise!” A yell called out around you and Thorin reached up to pull his blindfold off. The sight that awaited him was the entire rest of the company. All spread out across the clearing. Bombur was stirring a pot that was piked above the fire. Fili held Kili in a headlock and Kili struggled to escape. Dori, Nori, and Ori were all sat around some logs and were smiling at him.

Thorin turned to you and in his eyes, you could read adoration and thankfulness. He briefly left a kiss on your cheek before he let a smile cover the entirety of his face and started towards his friends. 

You stood behind watching your husband be the happiest he’s been in a very long time. His eyes were light and his shoulders were straight. For a few short moments, he was allowed to be Thorin Oakensheild, not King under the mountain. 

“This was a fine idea, My Queen.” You looked down to the left of you. Balin stood similarly to you, arms behind his back with a gentle smile across his face. 

“It was a great plan, Balin. I thank you for your help.”

“Anything for you, and for Thorin. He’s lucky to have you.”

“I’m lucky to have him.”

#plus size reader #plus size!reader #fanfic #fluff #x reader #drabble #flufftober #thorin oakenshield x reader #thorin x reader #thorin oakenshield #the hobbit thorin #the hobbit #thorin and company #the hobbit fanfiction #thorin x plus size reader #thorin oakensheild x plus size reader #thorin oakensheild fluff #thorin drabble #thorin oneshot #thorin

[mono-dot-jpeg]

listening - stellaron hunters

summary; you cannot see the reality in front of you but you can hear it. and yet it sounds so painful.

genre/extra tags; headcanons, angst ig?, hurt/comfort (questionably executed), reader has torchwick's (rwby) cane weapon thing but not really, reader has the hunt path and lighting as combat type, i'm seeing in 4d right now with how im setting this specific reader up rn, actual lore executed badly

[platonic] [teen reader] [gender neutral]

[warnings; mentions of eye injuries, insecurities/doubts about one's self, weapons mentioned quite a bit]

[buy me a kofi]

a/n; sorry this took me almost a month (maybe longer depending on when i finish this work). got distracted very quickly by other things and then i got writer's block for a while. whatever so. i'll describe reader's weapon in the headcanons, don't worry. hope you enjoy.

you were an unexpected addition to the hunters. i mean you're so young compared to everyone else, what makes you so adamant on joining this group

i guess we'll never know /ref

but like all the hunters, you hold power just as heavy as the rest.

of course it wasn't for free. you worked hard in your homeland and you earned your path and power.

but you wanted to find something. something was missing.

you didn't know what.

but then you found the stellaron hunters.

you heard about the stellaron and you wanted to know more. you wanted to see it.

and somehow, elio had accepted you.

and you were now a hunter.

before you lost your sight, you were very skilled with tech like silver wolf. you loved making weapons or machinery

you worked behind the scenes and on the stage, so to speak

your preferred weapon was a sniper. and occasionally if you felt lazy, you would have a small turret by your side that would do the work for you

but imagine the absolute devastation you felt when you lost your eyesight in the middle of a mission. or more like during the mission

with your power, it was powerful but unstable

you could kill one enemy with ease but that would require high control with your lightning and careful aim with your sniper

unfortunately you have to control the lightning through your hands on onto the sniper so when you aim down the sights (i dont know how to describe it other than in gamer terms) that lightning has a chance to backfire and hit your eye

through that you managed to lose your sight overtime but this mission accelerated it

and you never felt so devastated

your power betrayed you and on top of that, it was in the middle of a battle and the enemies took an opportunity to take you down quickly.

blade and kafka were there to help clean up at least

but they couldn't handle the lost mess you were

"why can't i see anymore? why?" was the only mutters they heard from you

when you were taken back to base, you were attended to, much to your dismay and fear.

your usually hard headed behavior crumbled within 10 mins after you lost your vision

you felt weak

you felt helpless

you didn't feel strong anymore

your eyes were no longer functional, there's an irregular pattern that traces over your eyes and there's faint marks over the eye area you used the most for sniping.

blade describes the pattern as an angry lightning storm that doesn't end

and when you're done being cared for, you don't leave your room

when you do, you're dragged by kafka or silverwolf (occasionally blade but he just carries you roughly)

you feel like a burden every time you sit at the meeting table

you can hear everything with your vision gone

and you hate it

you want to see again but you know you won't

eventually you find your courage to start to navigate the base on your own

you find yourself in your abandoned lab with blade by your side

"stop frowning like that"

"that's a lot coming from you"

"you're really going to let this eye sight stop you?"

"well i can't exactly wield metal anymore. and i can't use my sniper rifle cane, what do you think i should do, boy genius?"

you feel him open your hand to show your palm and you feel a cold metal touch your hand. you start feeling it properly.

"this is my sniper rifle, blade."

"well, maybe it doesn't have to serve as a sniper. you don't need to take the first shot to kill."

and with that in mind, you become like a follow-up attacker

you train endlessly to improve yourself as much as possible.

you ask silver wolf to help you modify your weapon to work for you (you kind of backseated her about it despite being unable to see what she was doing)

and you now have a multi-functioning cane.

it functions as a gun, a mobility cane to help you walk and "see", and a melee weapon if you hit someone hard enough (which isn't really hard since it's made of a lightweight metal)

and of course if worse comes to worse and you need to deal with a bunch of enemies at once, it can release a powerful strike of lightning (similar to jingyuan ult). you have to let go of your cane so you don't get hurt but ehh small price to pay to save your ass, you know?

i think that since you're a teen in this, the hunters don't really pay attention to your feelings as well as they should

none of them really know how to comfort a teen. which makes sense.

blade and silver wolf are blunt in their own ways

kafka is very avoidant or she speaks so confusingly that you dont even bother

but when they really see you visit your unused lab everyday, they slowly start to understand that you had a part of you taken and you won't ever live your life the way you want to

but surely this is the work of elio. elio knew this was coming, and he knew you would be fine.

it takes a while for the others to tell you that you're not the burden you think you are. they try their best to comfort you even if it's really awkward bc they don't know how to comfort you properly yet

but you appreciated it.

#honkai star rail x reader #honkai x reader #honkai star rail #hsr x reader #honkai blade x reader #honkai star rail blade x reader #honkai star rail blade #hsr blade #honkai kafka #kafka x reader #hsr kafka #kafka honkai star rail #hsr silver wolf #silver wolf x reader #silver wolf

[imaginesbymonika]

The look.

Pairing: Soldier Boy x Reader

Plot: Billy see it again. Under odd circumstances.

Warnings: a few f bombs, mentions of murder, reader being an orphan, but no big spoilers

You had no idea how you became a part of Butcher's inner circle- his little suicidal friends group. To be completely honest, you didn't have a clue how you slipped into this kind of life in the first place.

All you knew was that Butcher could smell when someone was fueled by revenge and hatred towards a Supe. He was like a shark and you just happened to be a drop of blood in the ocean.

So once Homelander murdered your parents, it was sealed fate that your paths would eventually cross. Billy just didn't know why he felt this distinctive way about you- it wasn't comparable to the way he felt about Hughie or Frenchie. When he looked at you it felt like he looked at his daughter. Which was something he tried to suppress for months- even years. He loathed the idea of being that close to someone.

He didn't even care about himself, so why the fuck would he care about another human that wasn't Becca.

Becca. His sweet Becca. He can still remember the way he used to look at her- with so much devotion that it nearly suffocated him. Maybe that's why losing her hurt that much- he wasn't used to breathing any more.

But it was something Billy could recognize everywhere- that look. It was in the way he used to stare at Becca when they first met and now he could see it in the way Soldier Boy looked at you. It made him sick to his stomach.

"Whats your deal with that homelander guy?"

You looked up from your spot on the couch: "What?" He chuckled and you couldn't help but mimic him, even if it sounded a bit awkward. "That Homelander guy, tell me. Why do you want him dead?"

For a moment you stare at him before you put your book down. "Well.", you begin and clear your throat: "Long story short he killed my parents." The bearded man in front of you slowly nods his head: "I see. And the long version?"

"After my parents got sliced in half because Homelander 'missed' his actual target, I got put into a home. From that moment on it was one family after another.", you take a deep breath: "No one wanted to put up with a traumatized child, I guess." A silence falls upon the room.

Soldier Boy takes a deep breath. "Whenever I stayed with a family for more than a month I thought "maybe this is it, maybe I finally found a family"- but I just got abandoned again eventually. Sorry, this sounds super depressing."

The man in front of you chuckles again: "Don't worry, I know a thing or two about what its like to be left behind. Sucks." He leans back on the bed. "Yeah, it does."

At the sound of the keys, your heads turn. "Everything all right in here?", Billy inquires and even if that question is said to the both of you, you know he means only you- and when you nod in his direction you see how his shoulders drop. Even if it's only a bit.

His eyes roam the room and when he glances over at Ben, he can see it. That look. "Yeah.", Ben lets out and licks his lips: "We are just getting to know each other better."

#soldier boy #soldier boy x reader #soldier boy x y/n #the boys #the boys x reader #billy butcher #billy butcher x reader #billy butcher imagine #imagine #the boys imagine

[verawhisk]

i dont know dick or shit about dnd or baldur's gate but i looooove how much minsc's line "in my homeland we hid young wizard boys away so mystra wouldn’t take them” reveals so much about the gender roles in certain civilizations… like imagine a culture in which girls are bred to be rulers and leaders but the boys are forced to practice in silence and secrecy because of this predatory goddess… if gale grew up in that sort of climate it would totally explain why hes like that. he's super clingy and emotionally attached after knowing you for like a second and how can you blame him when he's been essentially trapped in a tower his whole life (a la rapunzel) and you're this daring dashing leader gently guiding him towards his destiny (a la flynn rider) -- ESPECIALLY if you're a female tav because for all he knows WOMEN are the rulers and leaders of this world. of course he thinks you're the sun and the moon and the stars. he barely has the faintest concept of male supremacy and sees himself as like this plaything at your disposal but sees you as a being with greater purpose and meaning in this world. he also has this yearning to be equal to mystra much like a woman yearns to be equal to a man… IT'S SO…. RRGJUHRGGHFJGFGFGH!!!!!!! GALE!!!!! I LOVE YOU POOKIE BEAR!!!!!!!

gale is once again reminding me that my favourite character trope/trait/characteristic is just "man experiences misogyny" LIKE THAT'S MY FAVOURITE OF ALL TIME SERIOUSLY LMFAO. a male character being systemically feminized and oppressed really makes him ten times more interesting to me. AND I MIGHT BE VERY VERY DELULU HERE but i think it informs even the little things about his character in the game… like how he's always the one in camp cooking meals and wearing the most modest pjs and sporting multiple brands of his goddess all over his body with his earring, tattoo, even the vaguely spiderish vein below his eye that looks like it might be attached to his tattoo acts as an indrect brand of mystra… OOH OOH and the way he always introduces himself as "gale of waterdeep" instead of "gale dekarios", the same way a woman takes her husband's last name and abandons her maiden name -- as if he sees himself as more valuable when associated with his home and not standing by himself…. definitely not by choice mind you but because it's just an innate belief drilled into his head from childhood… LOL IM SERIOUSLY FUCKING DELULU HERE but idk idk i just love this weird trope of male-misogyny that i just absolutely eat up and see in everything i play/watch because i'm insane. idk. gale is just so girl-coded, like he's such a girl to me. only the girlies understand him fr. like almost every man and about half of the women i've seen talk about the game HATE gale but you know what? the REAL ones will get him. TRUST.

#long post

[papermonkeyism]

Finished my first re-read of this book in twenty years. (original name Homeland, this is the Finnish edition.)

And yup, this sure is a thirty year old book. I don't know why I feel kinda disappointed, I knew exactly what I was getting into. It was somehow both not as bad as I remembered while also being in a way worse than I expected.

But nah, they're just evil. Grinning maliciously and taking unholy pleasure in being evil.

It's kinda frustrating read, to be honest. The story in itself isn't all that bad, I'd say, but it's hindered pretty bad by being based entirely on DnD mechanics, specifically the alignment system. Like, the story in itself makes sense, it tells about dark elves, who basically live in a cult, and the protagonist who's born into it, but will eventually abandon it and leave.

But instead of actually examining what living in a cult would be like, they're just evil. Maybe it's just my perspective, being someone who's been on the internet for a couple decades. I know people who come from abusive bacgrounds, and I've heard stories from people who've survived actual cults, and it would make perfect sense to treat the drow as a cult, except with their god being actually real and actively meddling with their lives to make the brain washing just that much worse. There's a lot of potential in there!

Like the main character is raised from the very start being indoctrinated in the spider cult, there's even a scene where he gets whipped (with a multi-headed magic whip made of living snakes) at the age of four or five for daring to look happily at a woman while being a child of inferior sex, yet he never acts like this kind of raising left any marks in the way he behaves. No trauma at all, what so ever. He keeps being openly surprised by his people not being nice to each other despite the book telling how he was raised to know his place. The guy has no self-preservation at all, he keeps wondering out loud at people with the power to hurt him and I just keep wincing so bad.

He somehow just speed runs his thirty years of life in life lessons in the last few days of the book. Like, you were raised into this your whole life, yet you're only learning all of it now?

(and why do you keep calling it "unholy" all the time, it's the only religion you've ever known. Also that one time he openly gasped about the unholiness at his sister, who's an entire priestess, and her reaction was along the lines of "yeah, but she's the goddess of our people", like why are you agreeing with him about the unholyness?!)

Honestly, you could very easily just rewrite the whole book, keep all the story beats as is, and take out the "always evil by default" racial setting without losing pretty much anything. You'd probably still need to keep the gods as real, physical entities the way they are, but it'd still make it a lot more beliveable.

I have much gripe about the tone of this book, apparently.

I mean, I do like some of the tropes it has, not gonna lie. More prominently in the later books, but still. There's a reason Drizzt was the favourite character of teenage me twenty years ago, and it's been so weird revisiting this story after all this time. I'm still having many mixed feelings here. Multiple emotions even. I don't even know what they are, but they sure are many.

Though, you know what's the worst thing? I am notoriously bad when it comes to names, I have some serious trouble learning and remembering even people I live with for extended periods of time. I can't name most of my old classmates despite them being people I spent 3+ years with, and it once took me over three months to learn the name Paula despite being such a simple and common belonging to one of my closest friends at the time. I'm bad with names. So why is it that I can still remember things like fucking Daermon N'a'shezbaernon, that's an absolute monster of a name, and I haven't thought about it for a single second in the past two decades, why the fuck do I still remember that one???!?

Anyway, onwards to the next book!

#shut up paper #Fun fact I just found out the character of Drizzt is as old as I am #Had to google the english name of the book and apparently the character was created in 1987

[royal-ruin]

other genshin fic recs here personal favorites are starred, by the way. everything is complete unless stated otherwise.

yae miko / ei | raiden ei fic recs

nevermore by bluu (~1.5k)

[“Zhongli says a country directly reflects the state of mind of its Archon.” Yae reaches up with her hand and tucks a lock of hair behind Baal’s ear. “Are you lonely, Ei?”

“I am the Raiden Shogun,” Baal replies lowly.

“I know that.” Then, with teeth, she says, “I made you.”]

*My love, look at me once more by seultoki (~10k)

Miko had begged her to come out of the Plane of Euthymia so many times, but Ei had refused to give in just as many times. She only listened when it was already too late, when both her nation and her lover had been taken by war.

Or: Ei and Miko are trapped in a vicious cycle of life and death, where each time, Miko doesn’t remember who she is but seems to remember what she has done wrong.

this absolutely obliterated my heart.

*the transience of cherry blossoms and their perpetuity by skywardharp (~6k)

Ei meets Yae under the shade of a cherry blossom tree, and for the first time, something stirs.

*exile (you’re not my homeland anymore) by goldfinchex (~9k)

[“though I occasionally get a little weary of the sight of it — I can’t exactly avoid seeing it at the Grand Narukami Shrine, after all — my fate is intimately intertwined with the Sacred Sakura.”]

A love that would eat you up from the inside, devour your very lungs until all you breathe are the remnants of your longing.

an Eimiko hanahaki fic.

she sets my freezing soul on fire by raideneis (~3k)

[“…I will prove it to you in hundreds of ways why you should choose me over anyone else in this world if I have to. Choose me.”

Miko’s heart stopped. Like it is covered in ice. When it beat again, it felt like it is on flames.]

feat. jealousy and kokomi.

a sakura's memory by Sephirron (~8k)

The Sacred Sakura is injured and memories of the land come like a mist, where Ei is forced to relive the painful moments of the past she tried so desperately to escape.

On her path to put her ghosts to rest and pursue a new meaning of eternity, from the Sacred Sakura, she witnesses other memories during the great tragedy and her time in seclusion in the Plane of Euthymia.

Yae Miko’s memories, in all her anger and pain, that leaves the Raiden Shogun with revelations about how foolish a goddess can be.

*stay (do not go where I cannot follow) by cafe_au_late (~7k)

[If there was anything that Yae Miko hated, it was things that were out of her control. And it wasn’t that she wanted to control Ei. What she wanted was for Ei to stop running. Ei had been avoiding her, she knew this much.

But Ei is a coward when it comes to things like this.

So Yae remains there, hand still outstretched for the ghost of someone who had just left and been long gone all at the same time.

Stay. She had wanted to say.

Do not go.

Stay.

But Ei had fled back to the Tenshukaku, back to the Plane of Euthymia, back to the very place that Yae could never go.

Do not go where I cannot follow.]

(The conversations Ei and Yae have following Ei's return from the Plane of Euthymia)

i love fics that go into how yae miko deals with ei’s return after her abandonment.

*In Present, Transient; In Memory, Eternal by LogosMinusPity (~6k)

[“Of all that I have possessed in my life, my memories are the only things remaining to me. Indeed, I believe that memories are the only real treasure any human can hope to hold always.”]

*Long May She Reign by thebetterbina (~4k)

[“Hello.”

Makoto is easy to find on the palace grounds. The servants were more than happy to tell Miko that their princess enjoys walking the length of the garden. Where the sakura blossoms fall, and the sound of the shishi-odoshi’s bamboo arm striking rock breaks the stillness. The koi fish swim listless rounds in the calm water.

Miko smiles from the end of the guzei, hands folded together neatly in her sleeves as she gives a polite bow, her head dipping with the movement. “My name is Yae Miko.”]

The princess is dead, long live the princess.

#Genshin #genshin impact #genshin fic rec #yae miko #ei #ei x miko #ei x yae #yae miko x ei #yae miko x raiden shogun #raiden shogun #raiden ei #fic rec #fic rec list #f/f fanfic #f/f fic rec list

[impossiblycolorfulpanda]

Azulaang - dignity

ATLA AU where Azula captures the avatar and all of Ba Sing Se.

Aang was in a fire nation room almost similar to the one where he was captured by Zhao. His wrists were chained but on the floor this time.

Mai walked in with a plate of food.

Mai: "(unenthused) Here's some stuff to fatten you up. Hope you enjoy it."

Aang took a deep breath and exhaled, which sent a huge gust of wind at her, covering Mai in the food. This infuriated Mai, she charged at him and raised up her fist.

Mai: "Why you little-"

Azula quickly grabbed Mai's forearm.

Azula: "What seems to be the problem?"

Mai: "I tried feeding this punk but then pulled a stunt and made a mess!"

Azula: "(To Aang) Now why would you go and do that for?"

Aang: "I'm not giving you people the satisfaction of giving up what's left of my dignity!"

Azula: "(To Mai) Leave us."

Mai gave Aang a quick death glare and complied. Aang and Azula's faces were 10 inches away from each other.

Azula: "We both know that Miss Peasant quickly used a water vial to revive you from my lightning only to abandon you when she realized you were dead weight."

Aang: "You used that same line before, and I already told you she'd never do that. Katara and the others will come back for me."

Azula: "Be that as it may, you were given a second chance, and I could've taken it way in an instant, but I didn't. I even allowed you to get patched up and healed. That doesn't mean I can't still end you at any time. As of now, your life is in my hands, so you'd be wise to appreciate my generosity."

Aang: "You kill me, then I'll just be reborn, and you'll have to search for the avatar all over again."

Azula: "If I had to take a guess, you'd be born at one of the water tribes. I understand that the South tribe isn't doing so well, and its best warriors have all gone away. Wiping them out would be easy. I understand that the north is much more resilient but not when our comet returns."

Aang: "You might as well finish me off now because when the comet does arrive, you're just gonna take out the remaining nations and destroy the cycle anyway. But wouldn't you be surprised to know that, in doing so, you'll just unleash a dark and chaotic force from the spirit world that'll wipe your nation from existence next."

Aang noticed a mild flicker of concern in her bright eyes, her eyebrows were raised slightly, and her arrogant smug vanished. This is due to the fact she can tell he's not lying, and she knows of the news about the avatar summoning a giant fish-like creature that killed Zhao and most of his entire fleet. Aang started focusing on every inch of her face. He found her cute and attractive, in a dangerous warrior kind of way. He began to let go of his anger and defiance and started to feel empathetic towards her.

Aang: "I know you love your nation. It's in grave danger and the only way to save it is to end this pointless war before it's too late."

She closed her eyes for a second and retreated to her usual aloof expressions. She placed her pointy-fingered hand on Aang's face.

Azula: "If you want to be treated with respect and dignity and have no harm inflicted on you, then you must do what I say and when I say it, no questions asked. You can start by keeping that nonsense to yourself."

Aang realized he wasn't gonna get through to her so easily. His best options were to cooperate and get to know her and her motives, at least until he's rescued by the team during day of black sun.

Azula: "Now, as my special prisoner, you'll constantly be bound and supervised but I will allow you to be in more comfortable environments, maybe even give you a tour around the homeland at some point, so long as you behave yourself and accept our offerings for any of your needs. Can you do that?"

Aang: "Yes."

Azula nodded her head with approval removed her hand.

Aang: "My name is Aang by the way."

Azula: "Hmph. Good to know."

#atla #azaang #azulaang #aangzula #sort of #its more of a tease

[lucky-berry]

No, you cannot just fucking say you represent everyone of a certain group. Especially with a multi-decades long religion with branches upon branches of belief.

No, a religious state has no place in the modern world. Religion and state should stay seperate lest we want another pope war situation.

No, hurting people for the simple fact of not wanting their livelihoods to go poof is bad. You wouldn't want that either now would you?

No, I do not care for the ones that are neutral. Their opinions don't matter to me as I will stay firm even if they try to convince me otherwise.

No, how are you so dumb to think carpet bombing is a good idea?

Yes, it is rather similar to the blitzkrieg isn't it?

No, I do not want Judaism to die, I want your hate to die and for you to realize your faults.

Yes, I hate politics with a burning passion because I have learned no one in the current political power could care any fucking less about the people that helped them gain the power that they have.

No, again, I do not want a religious state. It is a stupid idea. Like how is that bs gonna work in this current society?

For fucks sake, is it that hard to not want to hurt people that are different from you?

No it doesn't matter what happened in the past when you are currently doing something as bad and even, dare I say, worse than what happened.

I think Hitler would be jealous of how more effective you guys are at killing the opposition. That is not a good thing to those of you who didn't get it.

No, you cannot condemn someone for their perceived sins. You are not God. You are a human with a God complex.

No, I will not change my opinion.

Yes, it is an inevitable tragedy when people die in a battle regardless of which side, but that doesn't mean I can't grieve for the lives lost and be angered about it.

Yes, I do believe that war is a stupid dumb dick measuring contest by greedy people.

No, I do not understand why people insist on sending defense armies out to fight a threat that's not in their own homeland. That is aggression, not defense.

Yes, the world is fucked.

No, I will not give up on it.

Yes, I want to give a chance to Israeli people. Continuing the hateful cycle will only repeat this whole boffunery all over again.

No, I don't want to. They are hateful.

Yes, I still will try. For the sake of a better world I want to give love a try.

If that does not reach them, then may the devil find your company more pleasant then I have.

Yes, pirating is good in this economy. Give it a shot.

Yes, I think celebs should not say their political opinion. They've opened a can of worms and are surprised that it is a can of worms.

Yes, the world will be a better place if grudges are handled by world leaders duking it with fists boxing style. No need for sending people into battle and no need for civilian casualties.

Yes, I hate war.

Yes, I hate guns that go kill this fucker.

Yes, I love history about war.

No, I would not like a repeat of war.

It is only February but many people of the world has given us a reason to believe God truly has abandoned us.

#free palestine #palestine #free gaza #gaza #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #fuck israel #end the genocide #freepalastine🇵🇸 #pirating

[zazzander]

More On Why Halbrand is Sauron

SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 6

“I am not the hero you seek.” – Halbrand, episode 3

Everything Halbrand tells us about himself paints him as someone who was one Evil and now wants to be Good.

He’s not someone who starts the story as Good and is corrupted by Evil. We see him manipulating the situation from the moment he shows on screen.

He freely abandons people. First off, the people on the raft. And then the people of the Southlands.

[Halbrand] “The Southlands will still be there in three days. [Galadriel] “But will it’s people?” [Halbrand] “Look around you. This is a paradise ripe with opportunity. You really expect me to leap with you back into the furnace?”

He doesn’t care about the people who are suffering back in his supposed ‘homeland’. If he was Good, wouldn’t he at least pretend to care? It would make sense if he didn’t see a way to help them before – and now cautiously embraces the chance. But that’s not what happened.

This exchange really stuck out to me in episode 4, when he even gives Galadriel a lesson on manipulation:  

[Halbrand] “In an instance like this, it seems to me that you’d do well to identify what it is that your opponent most fears.” [Galadriel] “And exploit it?” [Halbrand] “No. Give them a means of mastering it. So that you can master them.”

I believe this is exactly what he’s trying to do with Galadriel. He’s trying to get the know her – and what she most fears. Galadriel, on the surface, fears that Evil is not defeated (personally I think she fears what it means for her if Evil is gone… who does she fight then?). And Halbrand is using that. He offers her a means of fighting Evil. He directs her attention on the Southlands. He gives her a way to master it.

Halbrand also refers to being longer lived than his appearance shows:

[Halbrand] “I have been searching for my peace longer than you know. Please for both our sakes let me keep it. Perhaps some peace will do you good as well.” – Halbrand, episode 3

The character of Halbrand is running away from a past full of conflict. This line of dialogue tells us so much without giving us anything concrete.

Long than you know: If Halbrand is Sauron, he’s very old. And much of that life has been spend in conflict much like Galadriel.

Please for both our sakes, let me keep it: Leaving Halbrand to his peace would be good for both of them (or so Sauron believes).

Perhaps some peace will do you good as well: If they both led down their arms, the war between their sides is suddenly a lot less potent. And knows it. He longs for it. Unfortunately, he’s yet to realise that Galadriel cannot stop.

In episode 5, we get even more of this Evil-turned-Repentant narrative:

[Galadriel] “And together lets us fight them." [Halbrand] “Not so long ago men like me were fighting alongside them.” [Galadriel] “Men like you. Not you yourself.” [Halbrand] (angry) “You’re wrong. You don’t know what I did before I ended up on that raft.”

It sounds as if Halbrand is admitting to fighting alongside the Orcs. Even though that would have happened long before his lifetime (if he were truly a Man).  

[Halbrand] “You don’t know what I survived. How we all survived. When these people discover it, they will cast me out. So will you.” [Galadriel] “Sometimes to find the light we must first touch the darkness.” [Halbrand] “What do you know of darkness?”

Halbrand was EVIL. And he knows it. He knows that if his true identity was revealed, Galadriel and the others would hate him. They would reject him. And so he lies.

Galadriel tries to console him, offering him hope that he can be Good once more. But he doesn’t believe her, not really, because she doesn’t understand just how Evil he is.

[Halbrand] ] Then what is it? Why do you keep fighting? You’re asking me to go to the one place I swore never to return. The least you can do is tell me why. Why do you keep fighting?

He asks this question twice, because I believe he’s realised that he truly doesn’t understand Galadriel’s motivations here. He thought he knew – but he was wrong. And if he’s wrong about her, then how can he control the situation?

[Halbrand] I’m sorry. For your brother. For all of it. I’m sorry. [Galadriel] Your sorrow cannot ease my pain. And nor will a hammer and tongs ease yours. There is no peace to be found for you here. And nor for me.

I swear Halbrand all but admits to being Sauron in this scene! While he doesn’t say “I apologise for your brother’s death” – he does sound pretty damn guilty.

And I think that’s why he’s swayed by Galadriel when she tells him there is no peace in Numenor. For either of them.

In episode 6, Halbrand and Galadriel have another heart-to-heart.

[Galadriel] Thank you, for pulling me back. [Halbrand] It was you who pulled me back first. [Galadriel] Whatever it was he did to you and whatever it was you did… be free of it. [Halbrand] I never believed I could be… Until today.

In this scene, we see Halbrand confess that he believes he’s made a step towards redemption. That why choosing to forgo revenge, he’s getting closer to Goodness once more. And it’s Galadriel that is pulling him towards that.

This is a reflection of Galadriel’s own turmoil regarding “becoming the Evil that she is hunting”.

This arc towards Good will likely continue – until there is a reversal and Halbrand is revealed to be Sauron. Making them enemies once more.  

#halbrand is sauron #halbrand #rings of power #the rings of power

[emblematicemblazer]

World building and theories of Engage

Pale Sands

Where is Pale Sands?

Pale Sands is described as a secluded realm based in Solm. Kagetsu and Pale Sands are a nod to Engage's writers homeland of Japan. If you take a look at the map of Elyso, Pale Sands is located next to Tullah Desert and is surrounded by a mountain range. The geographical barrier is why the nation is described as secluded and has managed to keep a unique culture. When you are exploring Tullah Desert after battle Kagetsu remarks that;

"We are, as it happens, quite close to where I am from. But I am afraid I cannot return there."

On the map Pale Sands has noticeably lighter sand than the rest of the queendom. 

Kagetsu and his homeland. 

Kagetsu is a royal heir to the throne of Pale Sands. He chose to abandon his title because he desires to see the rest of the continent. as the heir of a secluded kingdom he wouldn't have had the opportunity. The abandonment of his duty means that he cannot return home because he has brought shame upon his family. While learning about other cultures he is happy to share details of his homeland. 

The conversation with Diamant - He challenges Diamant to a battle but rejects the duel because of his honour when he learns that Diamant has already undertaken a rigorous workout routine. After a thrilling battle Kagetsu remarks that the sword is a ‘reflection of the soul ‘. He then offers Diamant onigiri.

The Conversation with Alear - They discuss how Pale Sands has a unique and vibrant culture but is secluded. He mentions that he cannot return home because he has abandoned his responsibility.

The Conversation with Framme - Kagetsu writes a letter to his family but rather receiving no reply he fears that they have disowned him. 

The Conversation with Boucheron - Kagetsu mentions that he must earn honours and glory so that his family would understand why he left. Kagetsu tell him about his homeland;

 “My home has something we call “wa.” People are calm, wise. The fish and rice are delicious. “

“My royal father has great swordsmanship. My priestess mother has mysterious powers. “

The Conversation with Jade - Jade is willing to fight with him if he talks about himself. 

“My clothing, for a start. It must seem different to your eye. Our architecture as well. You will not see finer woodworking anywhere. “

“We also worship differently. We do not revere Divine or Fell Dragons. We have other dragons. They are long and lithe. I have not seen them in other countries. “

The Conversation with Bunet - He agrees to teach Bunet about his nation's culinary traditions after they become friends.

Let me summarise what is learnt about Pale Sands through Kagetsu's support conversations:

Honour is very important. A fair fight is an honourable fight whereas a fight when an opponent is disadvantaged is dishonourable

To abandon one's homeland and responsibilities is dishonourable. It is possible to regain honour through glory and achievements.

The King is a great swordmaster and it seems sword skills are inherited

The Queen is a priestess with foresight powers.

Pale Sands has unique clothing, architecture and food.

The food is often based on rice and seafood. The

Swords reflect the soul of their user.

Dragons are worshipped in Pale Sands and they are described as long and lithe. 

Pale Sands has a unique language.

The people are considered calm and wise.

Kagetsu gives Alear a hair hand made out of silk from Pale Sands as a symbol of love. I wonder if it is a hachimaki. A hachimaki is wore as a symbol of courage and to keep sweat off one's face. 

Normally people from Solm are named after Italian desserts, a nod to the Sicily inspiration, Kagetsu is an exception. I believe his name is used to demonstrate how different is culture is from the rest of Solm.

Pale Sands name

Pale Sands is named after the pale white sands of beaches like Aharen and Sunayama where the sand glistened in the sun. 

Isolation

The isolation of Pale Sands could be inspired by sakoku, or ‘locked country’ which was an isolationist foreign policy enacted by the Tokugawa Shogunate in the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. In this period trade was limited, foreigners were prohibited from entering the country and the Japanese people were prohibited from leaving. 

Freedom?

Pale Sands is allowed to exist as a self governing nation with their unique language, culture and religion within the borders of Solm, this is a demonstration of the acceptance and freedom of the people of Solm. People and even nations are accepted as different and allowed to live as they please. 

Kagetsu embodies the spirit of freedom of Solm. He has the freedom to roam where he pleases and discover Elyso through dining, combat and conversation. 

#fire emblem engage #fe engage #fe kagetsu

[noelevangilinecarson]

Rewatched ep2 of The Gilded Age last night, and when they get to the Russells', Anne says "so this is what Dido felt when she was about to throw herself onto the flaming pyre."

Either Anne (or Fellowes) isn't that clever, or I'm not understanding Dido's story.

Dido, first of all, stabs herself (idk if the pyre's already burning by then or not). So that's one thing. Secondly, she's doing so because she has been abandoned. Who has abandoned Anne? Patrick? (Babe, he's holding your hand.)

The only way I can figure it is that Anne is basically saying she's only doing this because she loves him. But also, that's an imperfect metaphor.

I assume it's meant to be foreshadowing, but it's sloppy, right? Patrick's the one who kills himself, and sure, he abandons Anne to pick up the pieces. But does that suggest that she, too, will commit (more suicidey) suicide in s2 (which I expect not bc she's too tenacious for that)?

The most it tells us is that Anne is a literature/mythology/opera girlie. And that this dinner is gonna kill somebody.

Or, if we're gonna put the queer reading on it, it possibly foreshadows, not Patrick's death, but Aurora's betrayal. Aurora agrees to bring Bertha into society, and abandons Anne ("you'll deny it but you will"). Does Anne then fulfill the story of Dido and destroy herself? Or does she live to see the vision at the end of Berlioz' Les Troyens come to pass? That the old city will be defeated by the immortal new.

Again, I can see similarities, but I think the line is wasted. Because again, Anne is referring to committing social suicide, but without having first been abandoned. It doesn't follow.

Because I don't think Anne is dumb. I think she is incredibly adept at operating within the rules of NY society. I mean, she sits next to Mrs. Astor at luncheon. It's just that the Russells have so much money, they are capable of breaking the game. There's no playbook for her here, and Patrick never tells her why he needs her to get cozy with Bertha.

So why would she make a reference that makes no sense?

She should be referencing Joan of Arc. Being burned for the crime of defending her homeland from the invaders (she def called the Russells invaders). The profound injustice, the political overtones, her firm conviction that she is correct. It fits much better.

#the gilded age #the gilded age (hbo) #anne morris #this is a long post and it's extremely late #i apologize if it's too rambly to make sense of #suicide mention #suicide

[cantillat-moved]

anonymous: I know you haven’t been on that profile in a month but I love your Big Bad Wolf page (Bigby) I’d love to know more about him and write with him. do you write big bad wolf here? I always loved that blog when I found it. I’d love to know more about him and learn about his history.

Wow, that’s certainly a blast from the past. It has been… 5 years since that blog I believe ? And honestly, I do miss writing the chainsmoker scruffy wolf at times but the Fables rpc was never too big and the TWAU turned into something that left a bad taste in my mouth. I’m forever grateful for meeting people like Kay (another Bigby rper whom is a wonderful writer and an amazing person) and actually talk to some of the people involved in the comic adaptation of TWAU. Maybe I should pick him up again, he was so much fun to write – and, of course, have him open to all sorts of fairy tales and his modern verse.

Bigby comes from a comic book series called Fables, part of the Vertigo printing line that belongs to DC Comics, the same that published Sandman and Constantine originally. The comic series got many accolades throughout the years, winning fourteen Eisner Awards (with best new series in 2003 and serialized stories in 2003, 2005 and 2006) and was also nominated for three Hugo Awards for Best Graphic Story. Eventually it got a video game prequel by Telltale Games (the same as the Walking Dead and Minecraft Story Mode) called The Wolf Among Us. It also got a novel, 3 spin-offs and some graphic novels along the way. Fun fact : at the time there was a lowkey talk about the ABC's series Once Upon a Time plagiarizing Fables but it was never confirmed or denied, it was just speculation as they are very similar in some aspects and the timing certainly feel suspicious.

Bigby is the Big Bad Wolf of the fairy tales, the rut of the litter between a she-wolf and the North Wind, meaning that he is half-elemental and that’s why he was so unusual. His father abandoned his mother and his older brothers were bullies, so he swore to get a larger prey every day until he became the biggest and strongest beast of all the lands. “Bigby” was supposed to be an ironic name given to him by his brothers. All the evil wolves from fairy tales ? Yes, that was him. The one from the Three Little Pigs ? The one from Red Riding Hood ? That’s all him.

The fairy tale world … Think of something similar to Kingdom Hearts: there are many interconnected worlds that they call Homelands. Each Homelands are separated, but it is possible to travel along them if you know how to pull that off. And despite all the monsters and evil witches everything was more or less “chill” until a tyrant known as “The Adversary” started conquering all the lands and ravaging every simple place that tried to rise against them. In order to escape The Adversary and his forces, the inhabitants of the Homelands found a world without magic – our world. So they traveled across to our world and settled in New York City back when it was first funded and they live in a hub they call “Fabletown”, trying to blend in with human society. When they were trying to escape, Bigby was actually attacking the camps of the Adversary’s troops and rescuing the prisoners, taking them to the portals. One of the people that he helped was Snow White. Eventually he too was overwhelmed by the army and had to flee, hiding in a Carpathian forest for a while (and chilling with Dracula) when Snow came to him and invited him to join the other exiled people. Of course that a 5-7 foot tall wolf isn’t exactly “discreet” and she brought a cursed dagger that turns men into wolves so maybe the reverse would work ? And it did. Because he was very strong and heal very fast he became the “sheriff” and the one who had to keep everybody safe. Of course a lot happens during the series, we learn for example that he trained Cinderella to be pretty much a female James Bond to go around the world in missions; that he went to WWII to maul a few Nazis (and he also fought Frankenstein’s creature. In his own words “it was epic”) and many other things. He is also in love with Snow White but wouldn’t tell her (although I also ship him with the Little Mermaid that appears in the game).

They recently confirmed the Season 2 of The Wolf Among Us after so many years and it was postponed. I wish the best for the team, I don't mind it being delayed if that means they'll have a good time making it. There was also the god-awful spin-off Bigby vs Batman that belongs in the trash (with certain Fables storylines that I'm not going to go into detail) and there is a new volume that started... In 2021 I think ?

tl;dr I still love the grumpy wolf and I'd love to write him again sometime. Maybe I should revive him here.

If anyone is curious, the url was @bigbybxdwolf

#anonymous

[quaddistributedpersona]

Okay so starting with my first D&D character: Odgerel Muunokhoi.

A bit of an odd step forward for me getting into the 5e system, I decided to make a Lawful Evil character. Okay now don’t come at me with torches and pitchforks already, I haven’t even explained why- 

So I was no stranger to TTRPGs or written RP by any means, having previous experience with Runequest and other more freeform systems, but I never dared to touch D&D-lites. I remember being very against the idea of playing class-based systems but then I joined a new group full of CR fans. We picked up Hoard of the Dragon Queen as a starting module not knowing that it sucked balls; however, the selling point was that we had to stop a cult from establishing the final connection with their goddess and that was good enough for me to start thinking about a concept.

The idea of Odgerel proceeded from a mix of samurai warrior combined with mongolian pillagers, and the culture of her homeland was one obsessed with conquest and plunder. The people of Odgerel’s city were devout to the god of control, Menahirin (which honestly now that I think about it, it might have been a homebrew god since I haven’t read about them in the canon). She came from the bond of an elven Menahirin priestess and a lowly human peasant, who decided to give in to their romance and sacrifice the lives they had at the city and escaped to somewhere safer.

In her youth, Odgerel was obviously confused by the decision to abandon the city and then decided to go back there searching for a good enough response. In her investigation she managed to find out that the High Priest of Menahirin had her same last name, turning out to be her grandfather. Her grandfather looked at her in disgust, knowing the story behind her, and promptly revoked Odgerel of her previous last name. Her new last name was Muunokhoi (Wild/Violent Dog, in a despective manner), and claimed that if she was to try and reclaim her heritage, she would have to give cult to Menahirin in a most peculiar way.

“He covets acts, not words- Take this dagger and rust its blade with the blood of our foes... When the rust grows the blade to that of a sword, your name will be as valuable as the one you were born.“

#original character #oc #d&d #dungeons and dragons #samurai #half-elf #yes I can't get into digital art #deal with it #storytime

[starkidlabs]

I just wanted to write down my thoughts on Hughies arc this season. I really loved it at the start, I thought we were going to get full corruption arc with Hughie stooping as low as Butcher, i.e, not caring how many people he hurt as long as Homelander dies. But we didn’t. And well that would’ve been fine if the arc Hughie got was anywhere near as good.

First thing is that I don’t understand why they went with the toxic masculinity angle with Hughie it didn’t make sense for the context or the character. Firstly I think we have plenty of toxic male characters. Like Butcher, Soldier Boy, Homelander and even the Deep all exhibit toxic masculinity. And we’ve had a lot of good storylines with Annie fighting back against some of that toxic masculinity and the general patriarchy. While that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have more story’s based around it, it wasn’t something that they absolutely needed to bring up with Hughie

Secondly it doesn’t really make sense for Hughie to be the one going through a toxic masculinity arc because he hasn’t exhibited toxic masculinity before and has explicitly said his and Annie’s power imbalance doesn’t bother him. Of course toxic masculinity isn’t always on display but their explanation for Hughie is literally oh actually I’ve always been insecure, I just lied. I mean they could’ve made the storyline believable if they highlighted how Hughie is always called kid or small and that he is always made fun of by almost everyone for being weak and had the toxic masculinity form from there. Not just ‘oh no my girlfriend is stronger than me.’

Thirdly, the toxic masculinity storyline really doesn’t make sense in this setting. It’d be believable toxic masculinity if Hughie felt inferior to Neuman for working below her or if we were in a non-supe world and Annie was just physically stronger than him. Yet in this scenario Hughie wanting to be stronger and protect his girlfriend makes a lot of sense in a way that isn’t toxic masculinity. While Annie can fight her own battles Hughie essentially believed she couldn’t win against Homelander which is true?? I mean when Hughie was taking the V Homelander had her in a metaphorical choke hold, forcing her to be in a relationship with him. Annie couldn’t physically fight back when alone (which she was most of the time when at vought) because she knew she would lose and that Homelander would kill her, he killed Black Noir so he could definitely kill Annie. Contextually it would make sense that Hughie would want to take the V to help save her even if she claimed she didn’t want saving. (As Annie saved Hughie even though he didn’t want saving) And I don’t think that inherently has anything to do with Toxic masculinity. I mean first of all he was powerless to save Robin so he probably had deep rooted trauma. Secondly if you were in a situation where a man is actively trying to kill you and your partner, and while your partner is strong they’re not strong enough to defeat them, wouldn’t you try and grow stronger to protect yourself and your partner, especially if your partner has to carry the burden of having to protect you? Like I see what they’re trying to do with the toxic masculinity arc but contextually it didn’t make sense as in this situation most would try to grow stronger in a similar way to Hughie as Annie could literally have died by Homelanders hand at any second.

Anyway onto the second issue, the way the storyline ended. I wanted Hughie to go batshit and fall off the deep end. A corruption arc is always fun. But that’s besides the point. While I actually really did like Hughie choosing to help Annie instead of using the V it made 0 sense how he got there and why he changed sides. Did he essentially abandon this whole thing of whatever it takes to kill Homelander because Butcher abandoned him? That doesn’t make sense because Hughie still cared about Butcher and recognised he saved his life. Maybe he abbandoned taking the V because it was killing him? Well he was ready to take it as soon as he saw his friends in danger and he had taken V knowing it could have dangerous side effects. Did he change his mind because innocent people were In danger? Well that was always Hughies issue working with soldier boy but he still continued to work with him even after herogasm and he could likely have evacuated most people if Butcher had just stalled Homelander. Like Hughies realisation that he’s not actually weak despite not being physically strong makes sense, the scene of him helping Annie instead of taking the V was amazing but how he got there and got to that realisation was almost absent from the plot. He basically did a 180 on his beliefs without any sufficient reason.

Also what annoyed me about the end was that we never got a discussion with Hughie about Vs side effects. I think that scene was cut? Like the thing is is that it’s with 3-5 doses you are dead Hughie still took 4. He could still be dying. But we as a viewer don’t know this and the fact that the scene is cut means it won’t likely be addressed in season 4. Also we never got anything else with Hughie being stronger now (ie taking off that jar lid easily that they have reminded us about in ‘previously on’). It’s like as soon as Hughie changed his mind we were meant to forget about the whole V stuff?

So yeah anyway I’m pretty annoyed about Hughies season arc it just felt pointless and out of place and didn’t even have proper payoff. It would’ve been so much better if they went from the angle of Hughie having given up on the ‘good way’ while Annie hadn’t. Ie that Hughie now views his actions as a means to an end and Annie believed that sacrificing any innocent life should never be a means. And had conflict that way. Yet we didn’t get that and it’s so frustrating.

#the boys #Hughie Campbell #spoilers

[basicsofislam]

THE COMPANIONS OF THE PROPHET (PBUH) : Jafar bin Abi Talib (r.a.)

The Prophet carried out the duty of conveying the message of Islam to people secretly at first; he also worshipped secretly. For this reason, the way of Islam’s worshipping had not been known very well. Once, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was performing a prayer with Hz. Ali. Jafar, Hz. Ali’s brother, saw them and wondered. Then, he found Hz. Ali and asked him what they were doing. Hz. Ali said that this was worshipping Allah Almighty. He gave Jafar some information about Islam. Jafar liked his words very much and immediately became a Muslim by uttering kalima ash-shahada.

At that time, there were very few Muslims and they were not very strong. Therefore, Jafar suffered incredible inflictions and tortures of the polytheists. However, he did not make concessions about his belief.

These inhumane tortures inflicted by the polytheists upon the Muslims distressed the Prophet and made him think. Finally, it was decided for a group of Muslims to migrate to Abyssinia under the leadership of Hz. Jafar. Consequently, 92 muhajirs left their homeland and migrated to Abyssinia.

However, the polytheists did not leave them alone. They prepared valuable gifts for the Negus of Abyssinia and his notable statesmen. They sent Amr bin As and Abdullah bin Abi Rabia to Abyssinia. When they arrived in Abyssinia, they first gave many gifts to the statesmen and made sure that they would support them. Then, they entered into the presence of the Negus and gave him many gifts. They spoke as follows in order to influence the king:

“O King! We warn you about these men, who emerged from us and disturbed our affairs, and who now try to destroy your religion, nation and people. They are some foolish fellows from our people. They abandoned our religion and they did not accept your religion either. They emerged with a new religion that we and you did not know. They do not recognize Jesus, the Son of Mary, as god. They do not prostrate before they enter into your presence. Give them back to us; we will punish them.”

The notables of the people of Abyssinia, who had received gifts from them, confirmed them. "They are telling the truth. They definitely know their fellow people better than others do."

However, the Negus, the Abyssinian ruler, was a prudent man. He was not fooled by their words. He wanted to search and know the issue. He invited the muhajirs to his presence. The Muslims chose Jafar as their representative. They asked him to give answers to the questions of the Negus; they soon entered into his presence. They greeted the Negus but they did not prostrate before him.

The king asked them why they had come to his country and asked for information about the Prophet. He also asked them why they did not prostrate. Hz. Jafar was a clever person. His rhetoric was very good. He asked the Negus to allow only one of the polytheists to speak as their representative. Then he asked the polytheists the following questions:

"Are we slaves who escaped from their masters? Did we shed someone else's blood unjustly since they want us? Did we borrow any goods and we did not pay? Are we in debt?"

Amr bin As, who took over the duty of answering Jafar’s questions, said that they were not slaves and that they were free, that they did not shed anyone’s blood and that they did not owe any money to anyone. He said, "We demand them because they left our religion and accepted Muhammad's religion."

Upon this answer, Hz. Jafar took the floor and made the following eloquent speech, which convinced and satisfied the Negus and which became a means of his accepting Islam:

“O King! We were ignorant people worshipping idols. We used to eat the flesh of dead animals and commit all sorts of evil deeds. We used to break off our relationships with our relatives and wrong our neighbors. The strong ones among us used to wrong the weak ones. We were in such a situation. Almighty Allah sent us from among us a prophet whose ancestors, honesty, reliability chastity and cleanliness we knew. He invited us to believe in Allah and His unity, to worship Him, and to leave the idols that we and our ancestors had been worshipping. He commanded us to be honest, to return the things entrusted to us, to get along well with neighbors, to avoid committing sins and shedding blood. He prohibited us from all kinds of immorality, telling lies, appropriating the goods of orphans and slandering chaste women.”

After this speech, which contained the ethical principles of a society, Hz. Jafar explained why they did not prostrate when they entered into the presence of the Negus as follows: "We seek refuge in Allah from prostrating before anyone except Allah."

After this conversation, the Negus asked Jafar, "Do you have anything that came from Allah with you?" Thereupon, Jafar read a few verses from the chapter of Maryam. The sun of guidance of rose in the heart of the Negus after these verses. He could not help speaking as follows:

"I would like to congratulate you and the person you mention. I bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allah. By Allah, if he were in my country, I would carry his shoes and wash his feet."

The Negus later said that he did not need the gifts the polytheists brought as bribery and ordered them to be returned.

The muhajirs lived peacefully in Abyssinia after the Negus became a Muslim and protected them by saying, "I will not agree if one of you is harmed even if I am offered to have gold as big as a mountain. Go and live in my country in peace and security." They tried to spread Islam in Abyssinia. After a while, they migrated to Madinah.

When the muhajirs returned, the mujahids had conquered Khaybar. The Prophet became very happy when they, especially Jafar, returned. He embraced him, hugged him, kissed his forehead and expressed his joy as follows:

"I do not know to be happy for which one: the conquest of Khaybar, or Jafar's arrival.” (  Sirah, 1: 356.  )

The Companion who resembled the Prophet in terms of ethics and body structure was, Jafar, Ali's brother. He had a different place in the eye of the Prophet. Hz. Jafar was called “the father of the poor”. Jafar protected all of the poor but he protected and met the needs of especially Ashab as-Suffa, the Muslims who were busy with learning knowledge and service of belief. The following statement of Abu Hurayra, who was a prominent figure of Ashab as-Suffa, expresses this very well:

"We addressed Jafar bin Abu Talib as 'the father of the poor'. Whenever we went to him, he would treat us what was ready. Many people say to me, 'You narrate too many hadiths.' I always found it enough to have some food and be together with the Messenger of Allah all the time. I never wanted to find delicious food or new clothes.   I would not want anyone to serve me. I sometimes tied a stone on my stomach to suppress my hunger. Jafar bin Abu Talib, who was the person who helped the poor the most, would often pick us up, take us to his house and treat us food." (  Tabaqat, 4: 34; Tirmidhi, Manaqib: 30.  )

Hz. Jafar was not only a good orator and a philanthropist who protected the poor but also a heroic mujahid in the way of Allah. His heroism in the Battle of Muta against the Byzantines was recorded as a golden page in history. After Zayd bin Haritha was martyred, he held the standard upon the instruction of the Messenger of Allah. However, his soul was trying to show him the world lovable and the world ugly. Hz. Jafar silenced the voice of his soul by saying, "You want me to love the world but now it is time to strengthen the belief in the hearts of the believers."

He attacked the ranks of the enemy heroically. He continued swinging his sword around though he knew that he was going to be martyred. On the one hand, he was swinging his sword and on the other hand, he was encouraging the mujahids by saying, "Paradise is good and approaching Paradise is also good. Its sherbets are sweet and cold." Hz. Zayd's martyrdom demoralized the mujahids and demotivated them a bit. However, thanks to the courage and heroism of Jafar, they became strong again. They started to attack again like eagles.

However, the hostile eyes were constantly on Jafar and looking for ways of martyring him. Finally, a soldier approaching him slyly cut off his hand with his sword. He started to hold the standard with his left hand at once. When his left hand was also cut off, he held the standard with his amputated arms. He did not drop the standard until he was martyred. Finally, he became a martyr.

Abdullah bin Umar stated that there were more than 90 wounds of sword and spear on Jafar’s body.

While the Battle of Mute was taking place, the Prophet (pbuh) was giving advice to the believers on the pulpit in Madinah. Allah Almighty showed him scene of the battle exactly. He informed his Companions that Jafar had also been martyred along with the other commanders. He said, "Allah gave him two wings in return for his two hands that had been cut off. He flew to Paradise with them." (  Usdul-Ghaba, 1: 358.  ) After this, Hz. Jafar, was mentioned as "Dhuljanahayn (the one having two wings)" and "Tayyar (flier)" among the Companions.

May Allah be pleased with him!

#Allah #god #islam #quran #muslim #revert #revert islam #convert #convert islam #converthelp #reverthelp #revert help #revert help team #help #islam help #salah #dua #prayer #pray #reminder #religion #mohammad #muslimah #hjab #new muslim #new revert #new convert #how to convert to islam #convert to islam

[maguro13-2]

The Dark Picture ~ Origins of the Ink Demon : Operation Drawcia Pt.1 ~

"When the world was in a dark state known as the Dark Picture, a there was the lonely Mr. Bucket who sits all alone in the darkness, fretting with despair and as it abandoned hope and prayed for a new beginning."

"However, a great big rainbow appeared in the dark sky as the bucket was filled with it's magical droplets to make it as a symbol for all of the world's hope that one day the lonely bucket will never sit alone in the darkness anymore."

"It became very happy as the world's first bucket to bring all of the rainbows' colors to bring happiness and glee."

"And it was stay calm and cheerful in it's days, only to have those hearts that are filled with hope and happiness."

"And that person who filled the rainbows' droplets with hope, is a special someone...that has a heart filled with pure love."

"But lucky for me, I will be the one to fill the Rainbow inside my heart as well as the other who's heart is filled with light. The one's heart filled with hope is me and one's heart who's filled with light...is my only sunshine."

"Somewhere In Eruka's Past..."

"Eruka's Homeland : Louisiana"

*THUNDER CRASHING+BOOMING*

Eruka : (humming to the tune of "You Are My Sunshine") ....(looks at the sign that says "Sorry we're closed) It's only a day for dark skies to be rain. The sorrow brings me pain in my heart, desperately, if it means that If hung my head and cry, it'll always be dry to have my tears go away. Darkness drowning my heart and soul, feeding it away. And I promise that I would never take my sunshine away. I always will look for those who is my sunshine. I can have hope filled in my heart, if only the rainbow would appear one day.

*raining*

Eruka : ...?

*Water Drop*

Eruka : !?

[The Garden of EDEN - Kevin Pelkin]

Eruka : Is that...(Sees the Great Rainbow appearing the starry sky) The Great Rainbow. My wish finally came true, after I came into a sudden fruition, all that is left for me is fill my heart with hope.

*rain stops*

Eruka : How did this happened? Nobody told me that the Great Rainbow appeared every year. I never thought it would be the sudden realization of bringing joy and happiness, but where does it leads me to? How can I find joy and happiness? I'm still begging to find the answers of bringing hope! But I don't seem to know where it's going? I always wanted to look at the great rainbow that appears in the starry sky, just to amazes me that fills hope in the hearts of all.

*Heartbeat*

Eruka : !? I...I can feel sudden heart beat...But where? And why? (stops at the tree) So where is this tree? I've seen it before, have I wondered into it to find someone to love me, who can I even trust to think that the Great Rainbow appeared in the Dark Picture?

*heartbeat echoing*

Eruka : (puts fist on heart) ! I can feel it! Somewhere that I can feel another! Is this...?

(someone approaches)

Eruka : Who goes there?

Free : Oi. So, you finally where that beating heart of yours is...well you finally come into the right place.

Eruka : Are you the one looking for me? I'm just a witch who is never been this lonely before? I've come to seek into glory to ever find myself wandering in the fields lately, but i'm glad that I finally found a special someone. My heart is beating, beating to find the one that I want to cherish. Do you feel like that I've ever known into something?

Free : Yes, there is.

Eruka : It's amazing that we manage to find ourselves wandering in the fields at night and papa would find out that I am outside the fields. Please, don't go ballistic on him, so I had let out myself and mama told that I would delcare someone to meet at the fields. That would be you, right?

Free : Of course, I am always like that. You haven't introduce me first.

Eruka : Okay, could you carry me to where the Rainbow is going?

Free : Why absolutely. (lifts Eruka up and carries) So tell me, witch? What's your name?

Eruka : It's...Eruka, I am witch of the wetlands and you are a man that hailed from another land. Do you have a name?

Free : I don't have one...But call me Free...Free the Wolfman.

Eruka : (giggles) Well, it's settled! Nice to meet you, Free! I'm Eruka of the Frog Family. (the two looks at the sun rising) It's morning! With the Great Rainbow going away, I'm still glad that you've become a gift from the sun. I'm glad that nobody will take us away, that's what we are. You are the only one who is always...my sunshine.

"On that day, Eruka and the Wolfman Free truly met at her homelands of Louisiana

"later in the present..."

[Eruka Frog Residence - Salem, MA]

Eruka : [snoring] ZZZZ...

[Alarm clock blaring]

Man on Radio : Good Morning, Witch Salem! It is the year 2005 and the Dreamcast era has officially made it's way to the end! But Nintendo Gamecube and Playstation 2, and Xbox eras, are still keeping it strong while the Dreamcast Era is reaching a new era for 2005, that's right, new things for good ol' America is coming it's way!

*radio buzzing*

News Anchor : (via radio) We interrupt this program to bring you this special morning news flash! This year in 2005, we gotta terrible news that the dreaded and monstrous Katrina is coming to the great lands of Louisiana next month. Humanity or the witches is unaware that the storms of natural disaster have once devastated the natural beauties of the world every year! back about two years ago, the 14-year old girl named Maka Albarn was taken into custody by the Hang Castle Security Force led by Mobian Death God Grim the Hedgehog after being mistaken as the hero of Soul World for her misdeeds against humans and witches, and the DWMA were on a...

Eruka : (yawning) Louisiana, being dragged by the storm, Natural disasters causes are greenhouses effect or even just the big picture, if Louisiana would still be in Jeopardy, then I'm okay that everything will be fine, I'm sure I put up a barrier that will my family history, tracing all the way back from Europe and Japan. I've seen some natural processes that claims to be the origins of Natural disasters, whether it was the Greenhouse effect or was it the planet that's been shaking things lately.

*DOORBELL Ringing*

Eruka : (sighs) Whatever it is, I'm not into New England strangers, but...That we will never know, great faces, beautiful places, smiling faces, it's not gonna be like it's no suggestion that I did once in Louisiana. I don't know why humanity has been devastated on earth to these natural conditions. Hello? Is anybody in there?

*door opening*

Eruka : Good morning, officers, sorry to be bothered by you guys and--Eh?

Mizune : Eruka! Long time no see!

[PigeonBlood BGM : Secret Premonition]

Eruka : M-Mizune? When did you come here so often?

Mizune : I usually walk down on the street, guys had to get me a lift on our brooms. Well, walking does kinda suck on the ground when it comes to no magic. So, I just came here to drop by at your new place, I heard that a monstrous storm named Katrina is heading to your homelands of Louisiana to be devastated next month. But despite a southern state being devastated by the natural disasters or greenhouse effects, we all come in some terms of whether the gods be appreciated of these climate conditions over to this planet.

Eruka : Oh, umm, yeah. I think Louisiana would be something great, that the wetlands of Louisiana would covered by the wash of this bad weather experience in 2005. Don't know how to say this, but why would a country like America be devastated with all these storms in the 21st century. Ah, yes, carelessness of humanity. That's what I highly recommend.

Mizune : You surely aware that we're all in this together. But, when do you come up with something being cool at your cool dream job?

Eruka : I joined Majo Detective Academy, I'm going to become a trainee! in my excellency of being a hero! Whether is that done, I'm coming to become a one and only sensation, I'm becoming an elite one day! Just you wait!

Mizune : Good. Hope you don't mind dropping you off at the academy, things are about to get a little hasty since we had to pull all of this drama from DWMA's secrets of the Kusakabe Legacy. Just don't forget who was he dealing with.

Eruka : Yeah, you're right. I understand that. But it's good thing that I brought someone in the house to live with me.

Mizune : Really? Who could that be? Your parents, your boyfriend, or even someone your guardian.

Eruka : Nope. Just a man who I first met back at my homelands of Louisiana. I had to protect the wild creatures of the swamp in Louisiana and Florida from humans that are so always hungry and arrogant to eat. Plus, I beat down a gator like five times in a row.

Mizune : Really? Last I wrestled a bear with my own muscles in the Appalachian Woods of Virginia, Oh wait, That's West Virginia, I wrestled a bear in the woods of the Virginias, two different states. Anyway, Who's at your place?

Free the Wolfman : That would be me.

Mizune : Eh? *blinking sound effect*

*DBZ/One Piece SFX : Boing*

Mizune : ....?

Eruka : ....?

Free the Wolfman : What? What made you two gone so quiet?

(Eruka and Mizune screams in horror)

Mizune : A NAKED MAN IN THE HOUSE! THERE'S A NAKED MAN IN THE HOUSE! OH MAN, I REALLY NEED TO GET MY EYES CHECKED!

Eruka : Free! You perv! WILL YOU PLEASE PUT ON SOME CLOTHES ALREADY!? *SMACK!*

"Yep, that's me. My name is Eruka Frog, better call me Frog Girl."

"I'm a witch born in the swampy wetlands of Louisiana, I'm clearly a descendant to all frogs and I forgot to tell you something important to me. I usually lived in the wetlands before I moved to states to become a detective. My dream was to be a hero that step towards the light. I'm on a request on saving humanity from the dislikes that we like to call it evil."

"Today, this is going to be an early start for me. Guess my career as a detective begins now. Hopefully, this will be lucky that I'm gonna get the job done. But somethings never noticed when I met this handsome man that hailed from another land, that man I fell in love was Free...Free the Wolfman."

"Some things never changed when it comes to a witch born in the Louisiana Bayou that was protected by the people of my ancestors. So me and Free, decided that we wound up living together in Kimial's hometown of Salem, Massachusetts. Where I am training of becoming an elite sensation of the force, so it's up to me that is going to save the world. This is how we roll and I'm on a tight schedule."

"So this is the real world that we must live in and I hope things are going to get a lot better this time."

"For realsies that's for sure. Let's see what the Post Dreamcast era has going to become a great big start for us, I bet those guys are coming back to Sonic's world from 50 years. But there is only one person that I will ever help to seek fortune of seeing the Dark Picture, a witch full of creative who could lead into a destination of paradise. The witch who seeks knowledge of making world art. Her name is...Drawcia".

(Drawcia laughs sinisterly)

"BEGINNING...OPERATION DRAWCIA."

Eruka : Let the Operation begin!

~ ORIGINS OF THE INK DEMON : Operation Drawcia ~

#super mario bros #super smash bros #warioware #kirby #kirby canvas curse #soul eater #fire force #nintendo #studio bones #square enix #crossover #drama #comedy #dark comedy #horror #mystery #thriller #supernatural #fantasy #dark fantasy #science fiction #action #adventure #psychological #romance