#hl advisor

[internetskiff]

[blacktobackmesa]

Thinking about Combine Advisors lately

[louhinks]

entropy zero 2 was very good and you should play it

[knoxic]

How to be a High Lady?

Eris Vanserra x Mate!Reader (f)

Summary: Reader's first meeting as a HL, Rhysand makes some comments and reader chews him out, then smut🤭

wc: 2,8k

warnings: oral sex (f receiving), unprotected p in v, Rhysand slander, might be some ??shit there sorry I wrote this instead of sleeping

part 2

How they met

Her expectations for her first meeting as High Lady weren't very high, obviously there would be judgment and doubt given who her High Lord is, surely there would be some snarky remarks.

༄

Eris had spent the last couple of day trying to remind her that she deserved the title, that she was already proving herself to be a good High Lady, that their court could already see it. Perhaps him being her mate had dulled the effect his words would have on her had it been someone's.

As soon as she accepted the mating bond Eris had took it upon himself to spoil her, never wanting to see her as low as she was when they first met, it was his personal mission to make sure she knew were she belonged, and that was right beside him, sitting in her throne wearing a golden crown made specially for her. He'd never let her doubt herself ever again, for he knew what she was capable of.

"That's a little questionable, coming from you," she ran her fingers through his hair, tucking a few strands behind his pointy ear, "But thank you, you always know what to say." She had received a pout and what seemed to be the best try at puppy eyes his fierce ones could manage.

༄

The rational part of her brain knew that being High Lady wouldn't be an easy feat, never mind being one in Autumn Court, but there'd been some noticeable change already. Bakers in the village she had visited days before greeting her with smiles and free pastries, farmers thanking her for being the reason Beron was dead and now they could receive a decent salary. Somehow, they respected her.

Almost a century ago, when Eris first brought up the idea of making her High Lady, she had laughed at how absurd if was, imagine, a High Lady in Autumn? Yeah, right. But he was serious, so serious he spent the whole night stressing on it, by the time the sun had risen she had decided to at least know more about what it took to rule a court. After days of researching in any library she could find in Autum, she realized a good part of what she'd "learned" were things she already knew but hadn't really thought about, others were hard concepts that she supposed would go to Eris when they became High Lord and Lady of Autumn.

She doesn't remember how nor when she agreed, but she did.

༄

As soon as they stepped foot in Day, their hands entwined, she felt some glances being thrown her way, whispers catching her ears when she sat beside Eris. His hand squeezing hers made her lock eyes with him, those amber eyes comforting any doubts she might had been feeling before.

"Hi! I don't think we've been introduced before, I'm Viviane." She had heard things about the female, how she took care of Winter when Kallias was stuck Under the Mountain, that surely wasn't easy, if someone deserved being High Lady it was her.

Viviane sat beside her, after pleasantries were exchanged conversations just flowed, their mates watching their interaction silently. It appeared that, as usual, the Night Court would be making their dramatic appearance being late to the meeting, and as everyone waited for them, the rest of the High Lords were simply talking between themselves or watching the others interact.

"It'll be nice to have another female here, there's too many males here." Viviane giggled.

"Meetings with Autumn's advisors already give me headaches, I can only imagine your suffering." They laughed a little before the room fell utterly silent. Night Court had arrived.

"We should do this again some time soon, just us." Viviane whispered and gave her a wink before straightening up in her chair and taking Kallias hand between hers.

Now it starts. She felt Eris tense beside her but didn't say anything, knew the image he still sell, instead, she watched Rhysand and Feyre marching towards their chairs, their hands clasped together, the Shadowsinger and the Lord of Bloodshed right behind them, and in the midst of them was... Morrigan.

As Rhysand sat, his eyes locked onto mine, a smirk dancing in his lips, glancing between Eris and me I could see the thoughts running in his head.

"Oh, Eris... Is that, the precious mate of yours?" His voice in a sickly tone of amusement, "I thought you'd hide her forever." He knew the game he was playing, his words were a simple attempt to test Eris, to paint an image that he'd lock me up like Beron did to his mother.

"Whatch your tongue, Rhysand, before I burn it to ash." Eris didn't falter, his tone still cocky as ever. He took great pleasure in showing her off. "But to answer your question, yes, she is my precious mate."

She could see that Rhysand had a bitter comment on the tip of his tongue but was cut off by Helion, who asked something she did not pay attention to, violet eyes still challenging her to look away first, perhaps he was trying to test her or for him it was simply fun to intimidate others. His mate made him break the staring, Eris' hand squeezed mine as soon as he did, I looked at him and the different between his and Rhysand's eyes was outstanding. Eris looked at her as if saying 'say the word and we'll leave' as he did everytime they were in public.

The rest of the meeting went by in a blur, so far she hadn't heard anything that required her to say something, so she was quiet, until Autumn was brought into conversation and Eris let out that she was now High Lady. Rhysand had laughed, laughed as if Eris had told him a joke.

"Really, a High Lady? In Autumn?" His right eyebrow lifted, "What are you playing, Eris? Do you think your court would like you more if you pretend she's in command? Come on..."

"Why did you make Feyre a High Lady?" Eris bit back but his voice remained cocky.

"Do not bring my mate into this."

"You bring mine, I bring yours." Eris tilted his head as if taunting him. "It's a fair question, she's a child–"

"Watch your next words, Eris," Azriel spoke for the first time, "One of them might get stuck in your throat."

"Why do you care, Rhysand? Why does it matter for you if I'm High Lady or not?" Her voice was low and calculated, if she raised it then the Shadowsinger would turn to her and Eris would lose his temper.

"It doesn't matter to me. Though I must say, only a fool would believe he made you High Lady for pure reasons–"

"Don't you think I'm a High Lady because I can be a High Lady?"

"Perhaps not. What do you have of so special you think you can be one?"

"My mate is a High Lord, according to you that should be enough," she continued before he could say anything, "But unlike Feyre I didn't turn High Lady overnight. Maybe I don't have anything special, I just spent decades learning what it takes to be a High Lord, studying the behavior of one and I must say yours is controversial, as was Beron but that's another history."

"What do you mean?" Rhysand had risen from his chair by now, the Illyrians behind him seething.

"Being a High Lord– or High Lady, means you take care or your court, therefore you take care of your people. Velaris is known for being a beautiful place but what of the rest of your court? Hewn City has been in shambles for centuries and you've been High Lord for almost 500 years, what have you done in that time to help them? Rhetorical question, nothing, at least nothing that matters anyway. About the Illyrian camps, the females now are able to learn how to fight but is it even worth it if you don't even have a safe home to go? So many things are begging for help but instead of helping, you just brag about your powers."

"What do you know about my court?" She could swear the room had turned a tad darker.

"Enough to know that, in spite of your judgement, we are doing a far better job at ruling than you are."

"You dare talk about my court and now you criticize the way I rule my own court?" The room was definitely darker, and colder, her left hand felt warmer than the rest of her body, courtesy of Eris. "Who do you think you are?"

"A High Lady."

The room fell silent for a moment, maybe her choice of words was too much for someone so new at this meetings. Rhysand still glared at her with those violet eyes promising death, two other pair of eyes shined behind him, calling for her to look, she didn't look away from Rhysand until a voice spoke up.

"She has a point. A great point of view, proves you're apt for ruling and wants what's best for Autumn, it'll be nice to see such a beautiful place grow." Helion voice was soft, albeit hesitant, and he seemed honest when his lips turned into a gentle smile, which she reciprocated easily. Mornings spent trying new pastries with Eris mother had them talking about her mysterious past lover who she'd then come to learn was Day's High Lord, perhaps that was why he looked forward to seeing Autumn grow, he was looking forward to the day she'd feel free. "I also believe the meeting is over, we should all get some rest for tomorrow, you're all welcome to stay here."

Eris stood up still holding her hand, a sign for her to follow, as they started walking towards the door his hand found place in her lower back, a small demonstration of protectiveness. She'd have to reward him later for being so patient today, not letting his temper get the best of him, at least for her first meeting.

༄

"You did so good today, my love." Eris told her as soon as they walked into their bedroom, his arms finding their way around her waist, holding her from the back, his straight nose nuzzled her neck the way he knew she loved.

"You think? Maybe I said too much..."

"Why, think they'll find out? Listen," he pulled back so she could turn in his arms but still held her waist, "Let them, you'll gain their respect a way or another, Helion already likes you, he'd be delighted to have a witch as smart as you to talk to about spells, the rest will follow suit."

"You know what I meant."

"I know, you did nothing wrong, your power gave you the knowledge for a reason, you used it to tell Rhysand how he's failing his own court, if anyone should apologize is him to his own people, not you." To make a point he gave her nose a small kiss, "But... I don't think he'll do anything at all."

"Yeah... He had many chances and time to change things, and he hasn't." She leaned her body against his, his hands moved behind her back and she felt her dress loosen up, "Thank you for behaving today, I guess you deserve a reward." She pulled back to smile at him, trying to appear innocent.

"Stop that," he laughed, "I wouldn't be opposed to that, but, I think I'd rather reward you. For standing up for yourself and your court, for not being intimidated so easily, you held you own and I'm proud of you."

Eris started pressing gentle kisses on her cheek and all the way down her neck while his hands slipped to her shoulders, pulling the fabric from her body and letting if fall to the floor. Her hands made quick work to unbutton his vest, wanting to have less clothing separating them.

His hands squeezed her bottom before slipping down her thighs and pulling her up, walking towards the bed while still kissing and nipping at her neck. One of her hands found place at the back of his head while the other found his cheek, a sign for him to kiss her lips.

As he kneeled on the bed and laid her down, he leaned back to pull off his vest and linen shirt, her undergarments following right after. Their kissed turned more more heated, his hands roamed through her whole body, gripping her tightly. When they pulled back to breath, his cheeks were a bright shade of red, as they always were around her.

Instead of going back to her lips, his mouth went to her stomach, kissing and licking, going up to her breasts and down her hipbone, his hands pulling her thighs up to rest on his shoulders while his mouth made delicate work of kissing her cunt. Pressing kisses and gentle kitten licks on her clit down to her entrance, teasing it with his tongue and going back to her clit, sucking harshly and soothing it with kitten licks again. When he deemed her wet enough, his fingers joined, middle and ring finger, clad with his wedding band, thrusting slowly and curving upwards while his mouth resumed licking and sucking her clit.

His unoccupied hand, which previously remained clasped tightly around the flesh of her tight, now brushed his fingers around her stomach, lightly running his fingernails through her skin making her erupt with goosebumps, his fingers thrusting into her quickening, her walls were squeezing him and he knew she wouldn't last long. Sucking specially hard on her clit and curving his fingers how he knew she liked, she came with a whimper, thighs shaking around his shoulders, he stills his fingers as to not overwhelm her but his tongue still licked her cunt, precisely avoiding her clit.

When she calmed down he pulled his fingers back and licked her clean of her cum, careful to not go so fast, when he was done he pulled back and leaned her body on hers so they could kiss, making her taste herself on his lips. Her hands roamed the expanse of his scarred back, up to the back of his neck and down to the waistband of his trousers, which she pushed as low as she could reach, a sign he took to get rid of them.

Him standing up gave her a full view of his body, he was lean and yet full of muscles, scars here and there that didn't compare to the ones in his back. General Eris Vanserra was handsome, High Lord Eris was still handsome but he was also elegant and charming. The Eris she had when they were in the intimacy of their bedroom was beautiful, a beautiful male and even beautiful mate and husband, he was a broken male that managed to stitch himself back together and remain good and he was beautiful.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He was kneeling back on the bed, his hands caressing her legs.

"Because I love you, and you deserve to be admired, Eris." She could swear his cheeks had turned a tad darker, even his ears were tinged pink.

Eris didn't say anything back, just leaned over to capture her lips, gentle this time, slowly parting them with his own and brushing his tongue with hers, licking and sucking on the tip of her tongue. When his hips touched hers she snuck a hand down their bodies to align his cock with her entrance, he gave a few small thrusts to tease her before fully thrusting himself inside her, when they did they moaned in unison. Together they were far from the people they were moments ago, together they didn't have titles or expectations to live up to, together they could just be and they didn't even have to say anything, their movements were unhurried and their sounds were quiet, all heavy breathing and small noises.

Eris' thrusts faltered every now and then, followed by a whimper of his own, one of his hands was tangled in her hair while the other held her face gently, stroking her cheek with his thumb while they kissed. Her legs kept to his sides, caressing him in any way she could, her kept changing between holding his arms and holding his shoulder or hair.

Their bodies had a thin layer of sweat, her cunt throbbing made Eris lose his rhythm, when he found he started thrusting faster, his hand is her hair tightened and they could barely focus on kissing, their mouths just hanging open with heavy breaths and the occasional stroking of tongues was they could manage. Their moans were getting louder, his hips meeting hers harder, their bodies slipping with sweat, his forehead met hers when they tipped over the edge, groans and whimpers mingling together through the bedroom. His seed hot inside her doing wonders to soothe her want for him.

When they calmed down enough to move, Eris rolled beside her and pulled to his sweaty chest, usually they'd bathe but they were both too spent to do anything else, at least for a while.

[narklos]

Half-Lore #3: 66 HL Facts!

Make your 'counting to three' jokes in the tags please. Back with another instalment, this is one I've been looking forward to! 66 random facts spanning the entire Half-Life franchise (bc I couldn't fit 100 in one post due to numbered list character limits...) If you have any suggestions for other instalments of Half-Lore, please let me know.

Have a peep under the cut, and enjoy!

Gordon can speak, as confirmed in a series of letters that were included in HL1's box. They mention that L.M and him had a telephone call prior to Gordon's arrival.

Speaking of L.M, he was the original administrator for Black Mesa. L.M was the G-Man, though his full name is never revealed.

Barney and Breen were both meant to appear in Half-Life: Alyx, but were cut due to a hard reset on the game's development.

Gordon is apparently very clumsy. Eli jokes about it in a series of cut voicelines.

Prior to his appointment at Black Mesa, Gordon was stationed at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.

Russell's complaint about being told to apply a year later after his interview at Black Mesa is a real-life hiring process that Valve uses.

Marc Laidlaw mentioned that the baby photo in Gordon's locker is probably a nephew, making Gordon an uncle!

Bullsquids have a 'hungry' mode. If they find a dead headcrab, and they're in hungry mode, they'll eat it. Otherwise, they'll play a sniffing animation and walk away.

In HL2, you can bonk NPCs on the head during a cutscene to make them teleport. This is because the game thinks that the character is trapped by a physics prop, and will teleport them to the next segment in the cutscene to free them.

On Kleiner's clipboard during his first cutscene, what he's saying about the HEV suit is actually written on the paper word-for-word.

Barney has a girlfriend called Lauren, and a picture of her in his locker. The woman in question was a real-life girlfriend of one of the devs.

In one of the OP4 skyboxes, a dev has written the note "Hack hack hack all day long. Hack hack hack while I sing this song."

The mysterious artefact Alyx brings back to Black Mesa East is the head of a Cremator, which was a cut enemy.

HL2 was originally meant to take place in New York.

Headcrabs don't turn Gordon into a zombie because he apparently never lets them get close to his face.

Colette gets a kick out of violence.

Gordon was employee of the month when the Resonance Cascade happened.

A special rebel outpost along Route Kanal will start playing ambient windchimes if you hang around long enough.

Breen was meant to wear a pair of glasses, but Marc Laidlaw went against it, citing that they made Breen look 'vaguely homosexual'.

Russell was originally meant to be Laszlo, the finest mind of his generation. His computer's password is actually 'Laszlo' too!

There are props clipping through Russell's ceiling intentionally- objects will phase through each other during portal storms, the likes of which ravage City 17.

The Citadel wasn't built on Earth, per se- it was teleported in chunk by chunk like the world's biggest IKEA assembly.

G-Man cannot understand the Vort's language, and the Vorts use by-words when discussing him and the Advisors to avoid detection.

Combine Advisors cannot breathe Earth's atmosphere, hence the breathing apparatus they wear.

There was meant to be a fourth day of HL2's plot, but it was shortened to three. Players would have fought through a museum.

Eli lost his leg to a bullsquid when he was helping Kleiner into City 17.

Kleiner and Barney were meant to die in a bus crash in HL2's opening sequence. Marc Laidlaw wrote a short story discussing their deaths in rather graphic detail.

In Decay, there was a cut sequence where players witnessed Gordon getting killed if they didn't scare away the soldiers in time.

Despite 20 years having passed in reality, only around two weeks have passed for Gordon due to being in stasis.

For HLA, developers scanned in a $10,000 Nordstrom suit to use for G-Man's textures.

Level designer David Casali, who has worked on every single mainline HL game, was too tall for a lot of the levels in HLA's Vault sequence. This lead to a lot of upside-down sections being cut for accessibility.

G-Man was meant to be an unwilling prisoner in the Vault, as revealed in a storyboard in The Final Hours.

The Nihilanth is inspired by Gabe Newell's fears of fatherhood, as he'd just had his son at the time.

Nothing is native to Xen. Every alien animal present on Xen is running away from The Combine's invasion of their homeworlds.

During Opposing Force, players can find a gear and a valve inside of a cardboard box- a very clear nod to Gearbox and Valve!

Barney's model changes subtly from HL2 to Episode 1- he's shown more dishevelled, with his hair unkempt and a series of cuts on his cheeks.

G-Man's face is hidden in the Xenian crystal at Black Mesa East.

Alyx was found by the G-Man, sitting beside her dead mother and clutching her mother's wedding ring.

Child labour was meant to appear, with models and animations of the children working in Cremator factories made. This, understandably, were cut, and the lack of children explained away with the suppression field.

G-Man's crow friend is nicknamed 'Crowley'.

During the tactical map section of Surface Tension, you don't have to use the drone strike to destroy the doors leading to the next level- you can actually break it with a fully-charged Tau Cannon shot.

Typing 'haiku' in the game's console will generate a random haiku for you.

Imprisoning the G-Man in HLA was referred to as putting 'God in a Box' by developers.

HL2 on PC and HL2 on Xbox 360 sound wildly different! Due to advanced sound chips, developers were able to push the audio of HL2 to be more immersive and sound more realistic than on PC.

Grigori's shotgun is called Annabelle.

A model of Eli naked exists. This was meant to be used in the section we see him in the Combine pods.

An illustration of G-Man holding a gun to his head can be found on the back of a sign in HLA.

Similarly, in the Index HLA home environment, his eyes are used as part of an advertisement for 'vision enhancement'.

You can find a minifigure of the Scout in HLA.

The textures for some of HLA's cans actually use a recoloured metal effect from HL1's orange poster.

Grigori has cut crosses into the backs of his hands.

Inside G-Man's briefcase is pencils, ID, paper, and a gun.

The shadowy woman in HLA is called Hahn/The Contractor, and according to Erik Wolpaw, they 'have plans' for her.

A cut enemy called Mr. Friendly was meant to literally SA the player and knock Gordon's glasses off, blurring the screen. Apparently, the idea was to play on a gamer's subconscious (or conscious...) homophobia and make them freak out. This enemy was actually designed by a teenager, and was predictably scrapped.

Early advertisements for HL1 featured babies and children with lambdas replacing their eyes.

HL1 is intended to be an allegory for fighting your own inner hopelessness.

Valve's offices have a wall built to resemble the moving walls of the Citadel.

G-Man has had a total of 11 different models throughout HL's history.

Breaking the army crates in the Dreamcast port of HL1 will reveal copies of Sonic Adventure inside.

Gordon is from Seattle, Washington.

HL2 was delayed a lot during its development. At the time, many swore never to buy from Valve again due to their broken promises.

HL2's E3 demonstrations were staged.

Colette was employed by G-Man, but Gina died.

During a Reddit AMA, a dev responded that we shouldn't keep making Gordon feel bad about his outdated hairstyle choices, when asked about where his ponytail went.

A metrocop's hideaway can be found in the level after the zoo in HLA. Due to the amount of conspiracy theory paraphanelia, the room is theorised to be Barney's.

The act of covering your mouth to stop the fumes of Xenian flora from affecting you in HLA was implemented after playtesters instictively covered their mouths when sprayed.

Thanks for reading to the bottom! Here's some top notch BREENWAVE for you.

[anishake]

Neris headcanons:

Eris teaches Nesta to control her flames and how to winnow

They get married in a traditional autumn court wedding ceremony with a very small circle of people present

Eris gives Nesta a hound puppy as a wedding present

Nesta helps him take down Beron

When Eris becomes HL he appoints Nesta as his first and only advisor. She is the first person he comes for advice on court matters

Nesta makes sure the children and women of AC are living in free and equal environment

She is very loved by the AC people

Their favorite pasttime is reading together and dancing

Eris often organizes dance balls for Nesta

LOA adores Nesta and they have a very close mother-daughter bond

@nerisweek

[litnerdwrites]

Cassian thinks Prythian would blessed to have Feysand as High King and Queen yet the dude can’t even govern his own territory properly. If he can neglect and disregard two thirds territory and justify it without complaint, from the ic, then he has no business taking over more territories for any reason! Do you know what would happen if he did?

It’s safe to assume that Winter, Summer and Day would receive preferential treatment. Mostly due to Mor and Amren’s ties to Vivienne and Varian, but also because of how valuable Helion is with his libraries and skills. However, it's likely they'd be extremely weary of him at the same time, for those exact reasons. Maybe they'd even convince Nesta to dance with him as a form of manipulation?

Meanwhile, he’d probably be indifferent to dawn, though their aerial legions may be forced to join with the Illyrians so they’re be able to fight cohesively together. It would also mean they'd be able to keep an eye on the Peregryns that way, with the Illyrians keeping an eye on them to prevent revolt, if Rhysand has any fear of that.

It's been mentioned that Thesan only has a 'small legion' of them, and while small doesn't necessarily mean fewer than, given that Rhysand's armies seem to be made up of darkbringers and Illyrians, with no indications of anyone else. And after what Amarantha did to them, along with how pregnancy is really rare for fae, it's reasonable to assume that their numbers have thinned even more, meaning that the Illyrians likely outnumber them by a decent amount.

Meanwhile The Spring and Autumn courts will be the new Illyria and HC. Or they’d serve the same fundamental purpose at least. They'd be the ones who suffer and are stuck with the role of monsters just to promote Rhysand as a hero/saviour/victim/whatever else he needs to appear as that week. It's likely that Tamlin, Beron and Eris would be forced to give up their titles and authority, along with whatever wealth they have, if not imprisoned all together for whatever crimes the IC accuse them of. They likely wouldn't even acknowledge the abuse of Eris and his brothers, simply chalking it up to him being just as bad as Beron and straight up killing them.

Plus, there’s no telling how the land would react and what would happen to the symbol or station of High Lord. If they are no longer leaders, are the ambassadors to the high king? Will that become an inherited position? I mean, given the kind of power the HLs have, letting them remain private citizens is unwise, while giving them power as aristocracy makes Rhysand seem like somewhat of a figurehead, bringing whatever authority he claims into question. Meanwhile, having the jobs of ambassadors or advisors be inherited positions based on who the land choses to give power to as opposed to skill, and ability seems just as dangerous and foolish.

All it would do is prove that Rhysand is every bit, if not more, the monster that they made him out to be. There's no way they'd agree to it, so Rhysand would have to use force. It would mean a period of civil war, before any semblance of order or peace was regained.

They'd have to Force Nesta and Elain into another war, even if they don't end up wanting anything to do with one, given that it's through their, or even mostly Nesta's, powers that Rhysand is to take his supposed to take this throne.

Would Varian still be able to have feelings for Amren, knowing that she put this idea into Rhysand's head, encouraging him to do it? How would Vivian look at Mor and still consider her a friend after such a betrayal? Would Rhysand and Feyre even care about the innocents that died during that war? No. To all of the above, no.

Typing all of this out, makes it seem like Feysand becoming HK/Q would result in the Nc basically becoming Panem. They even have a mock Hunger Games through the blood right, while Velaris is basically The Capital. Anyone who's watched/read THG can tell you how that ended.

[fenrysmoonbeamswife]

Day 3 of ACOTAR Games: This or That

Here is a respite after the harrowing recollection of Cassian’s wrongs.

Who should be deposed from their position in Night Court?

Morrigan: Third-in-Command to High Lord

Feyre: High Lady

[Rhysand would be in the running if magic hadn’t chosen him and he could be dethroned.]

You may recruit your tribe in your crusade if it pleases you. Your contenders: @litnerdwrites @gwandas @positivelyruined @hrizantemy @yaralulu @kataraavatara @umthisistheonlyusernamenottaken And, our very first penalty goes to @achaotichuman!

Thank you for your response. Short live our unbeloved king of abuse!

I actually had to think about this one because Mor is basically useless but Feyre as HL is just a mascot for #feminist king Rhysand to look good

Now I don't think Feyre right now should be high lady, she wasn't actually chosen in a magical sense, the only purpose it serves is to make Rhysand look good, she literally just learned to read, she doesn't know anything about the Court she's ruling, she has lost all of the empathy and spirit that she had in the beginning, and it is all effecting her ruling or lack of. Rhysand doesn't even "let" her rule and everyone looks to him to confirm her "orders" so it's a title only, there's no actual weight to it. That being said I think if by some miracle Rhysand kicked the bucket and Feyre was finally free of his shackles she has the potential to be a truly great ruler, especially if she could get her shit together and take on people like Nesta and Lucien who would be amazing advisors

As for Mor, I'm not sure if this includes her being like basically in charge of Hewn City or not because that's the point that's really cutting these two close for me. I'm going to assume it does because that's her role as the third in command so this is based on that assumption. Even though it makes it harder to decide😭 So Mor is pretty much useless at being responsible for the CoN, she is extremely biased (rightfully) so why she was even put in that role is beyond me. She has extremely limited empathy, she has absolutely no concept of the fact that the other women and children that are there are victims too. She seems to believe she's the only one, even though she herself mentioned the other women in her family. She is literally in charge of this place, she holds so much power that she could use to make change yet she does...nothing. She villainizes all of them, she doesn't even consider for one second that anyone else but her could be an innocent. The things she could accomplish if she acted as an advocate instead of an oppressor is such a missed opportunity. There's so much potential for her to do good

So moral of the story is they're both pretty much useless but could do great things in each role. But I think I'm going to depose Mor. I think Feyre has the potential to be a good ruler, it also doesn't really harm people for her to be HL because right now anything that happens under her rule would happen under Rhysand regardless if she's there or not. I think Mor has the potential to do amazing things for the women and children of the CoN but right now she won't and she is actively doing harm. There is also an alternative, the Valkyries seem to be going in the direction of helping the Illyrian women and the women in the library so who's to say that couldn't include the CoN women too? So while I actually took a minute to decide, I chose Mor because ultimately she is causing harm and there is another option if she is deposed but Feyre isn't causing any harm that wouldn't happen either way, with or without her. Even if Feyre was deposed, Rhysand would still be harming those around him/his court, if Mor is deposed there is some chance that the CoN women could be helped or at the very least not be villainized by the one woman who could help them

[californiastatelibrary]

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Sign up for the Braille and Talking Book Library here: https://www.library.ca.gov/btbl/apply/

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[saltypepps]

Yapping about thematic parallels in HL because I feel like it:

Breen and Eli are narrative foils. They are both leaders in a sense, but are not the primary driving forces behind their respective factions (Eli established the Resistance but cannot do much actively due to his injuries; Breen is strongly implied to be little more than a puppet leader and figurehead for the Combine). Eli represents humanity’s boundless hope: who would ally with the Vortigaunts, invaders at Black Mesa, if not one who is hopeful that they would join humanity’s cause against the Combine? Who would keep fighting even after the Seven Hour War if not one who is hopeful that in spite of everything things might get better? Who would be willing to believe that Gordon Freeman, a man who was last seen diving into a portal to a hostile alien world, would return after 20 years of being presumed dead, if not one who is powerfully, viscerally hopeful? Breen, on the other hand, represents hopelessness, despair, resignation to his fate. What I find fascinating about Breen is that he seems to embody every stage of grief at once: to the outside world, he presents denial, trying to convince humanity (and, perhaps, himself) that the Combine invasion was a good thing after all. However, when the Combine demand his consciousness be transferred into a host body, he is outraged; he is not like Cave Johnson, who wanted immortality just to prove he could achieve it, the idea of losing what little humanity he has left sickens him, but he’s willing to do it if only to preserve his own life. He bargains desperately with the Combine constantly; his original position as Administrator was earned through a desperate bargain, and the only reason he keeps Gordon and Eli alive in the Citadel at all is to use them to negotiate with the Combine. Ultimately, he consider’s Eli’s attempts at resistance utterly futile, and this is simultaneously his depression and his acceptance.

However, a notable exception to the Eli/Breen hope/hopelessness dichotomy does appear in one moment of the franchise, and it’s the very end of Episode 2, right before Eli’s (not anymore) death. When Alyx passes on the G-Man’s message, Eli is so horrified at the thought of another Resonance-Cascade-level disaster that he wants nothing to do with the technology aboard the Borealis, wishing to destroy it instead. For a man willing to routinely face the unknown, this is an understandable but still startling moment of fear. The consequences (heh) of this wish are demonstrated full force in Epistle 3, which I have a veritable boatload of issues with and also do not consider an actual potential HL3 plot because it contradicts every theme in the franchise but bear with me for a second. Because, much like we have a moment of hopelessness from Eli with potentially massive repercussions in non-canon material produced by Marc Laidlaw, we do also have a moment of hope from Breen in another piece of such material: the Breengrub tweets.

Not everyone is familiar with the tweets in question as they’re a pretty obscure piece of non-canon HL media, here’s a video that explains them better than I ever could because honestly this ask’s already getting very long. The long and short of it is, Breen, turned into an Advisor by the Combine, is sending desperate messages out into the void of the multiverse containing exposition about the Shu’ulathoi, the Advisors’ original race, hoping this information helps anyone fighting back against the Combine. Had this idea been canon, I would have found it extremely narratively interesting for the Resistance to have found these messages and found them useful in the battle against the Combine, possibly by making contact with the possible group of rogue Shu’ulathoi mentioned in the tweets. In this scenario, Eli, who in life was a beacon of hope, in death leaves behind nothing but fear and hopelessness in relation to potentially life-saving technology of humanity, while Breen, puppet of hopelessness in life, in ‘death’ leaves behind hope, not only for humanity but for the very unknowns he had learned to fear. Half-Life to me has always been a series that subverts the fear of the unknown omnipresent in cosmic horror stories and science fiction stories with cosmic horror elements: humanity is not insignificant and ‘the right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world’; though the situation seems hopeless, the ruthless otherworldly invaders are visibly not invincible and do have weaknesses; the G-Man, the closest thing HL seems to have to the archetypical ‘Incomprehensible Higher Being’, has nebulous motives but is not malevolent (my thoughts on him can be their own, even longer essay). I think it’s important for a story like this one, that looks at a genre full of stories that cry ‘the unknown is cold, uncaring and frightening’ and says ‘yes, the unknown can be frightening, but it can also be kind, and only in facing the unknown can we be truly free’, to explore the idea that even the most hopeful people can lose hope in moments of desperation, but conversely even the most hopeless people can find hope to believe in and fight for.

Neat!!! I haven’t played past HL1 yet but I’ll keep this in mind as I play through it ✨

[internetskiff]

I've seen a lot of people say this specific Advisor from Episode 2 is actually Dr. Breen's new Host Body, citing how it seems to be testing it's psychic abilities as if it's a newborn and how it stares at Gordon with very clear hatred. While an interesting theory, and yeah - Breen does end up in an Advisor according to Epistle 3, I don't think it's the same one as the Barn Advisor. It wouldn't even make sense - if all Breen wants is to die like in Epistle 3, why would he try to mindfuck Gordon instead of immediately asking him to put a cap in his disgusting maggot body?

Honestly everything I'm about to say is a bit obvious, hell it really feels like it's very clearly communicated in the Barn Advisor's scene. I'm not even really sure why anyone decided the Barn Advisor is Breen - is it the recording from the Citadel? That recording is specifically from the perspective of the Advisor he spoke to - hell, I feel it's more likely that this specific Advisor was actually the one Breen was consulting with the whole time since even before the events of Half Life 2.

It does very clearly act as if newly born, crushing a barrel as if testing it's strength and then prodding at a dead Rebel. I'm not sure if true, but I've heard Advisors specifically use their tongue to consume not only the brain itself but also the knowledge it contains. If it had a prior hatred of Gordon, why did it go for the Rebel first?

I think when it consumed the Rebel's knowledge (if that's what it did), it immediately felt a rush of knowledge specifically about Gordon - his escapades, his messianic reputation amongst the Resistance, and his role in taking down the Combine. That's when it turns to face Gordon. It's not prior hatred - it's recognition, seeing the man from the Rebel's memories right in front of it and seeing an immediate opportunity to stifle the Resistance in one swift blow. I believe it might also be the same Advisor responsible for coordinating the assault on White Forest and the one behind the ambush on Eli - it might have also consumed knowledge of the leader of the Resistance from that Rebel and the importance he holds. It seems to be very deliberately hunting Gordon down ever since the encounter at the barn.

I think a lot of people will agree but the main reason I want a Half Life 3 to happen is to have the opportunity to fight an Advisor. It's psychic abilities could make for some really sick physics-based gameplay methinks. Plus it'd be so so so cathartic to finally put a bullet in the same freaks that seemed practically untouchable and have been hunting you down for most of the Half Life games. It would've been great.

[theladyofbloodshed]

Why make Cassian play courtier when he’s clearly out of his depth, doesn’t enjoy it, and is good at fighting?

This.

+ Azriel overworking and is doing job meant for 10 people means one thing from my pov.

Rhys court is understaff. I meant it. Rhys family member alone are not enough to run the 3 seperated court in Rhys Night Court. They got hewn city, illyria, Velaris to cover. 7 is not enough.

And as for me, this show just how much people avoiding working directly under Rhys. Like come one, if you are a good leader, strong and charismatic people will flock to you to work under you. You sjm, want to tell me that Velaris that loved their HL are not trusted enough to work directly under their HL? The HL that whore his live to protect one single city? 1/3 of his court???

That is sus to me. I have seen bad leadership and good leadership. People run from leader like Beron and is chasing after good leader to work under their command.

+ Keir avoiding Rhys, Illyrian camp master avoiding and disobeying Rhys.

This is all are evidence to Rhys weakness in ruling. He only knew to sat in throne, getting aroused w his mate. And now he is underestimating the power of a good team in ruling. Rhys seems to think, his power, his wing, his daemati, his 6 IC member is ebough is enough to rule 3/3 of his court. 500 years living and it is proven he is weak at ruling. Even tamlin have a good reputation among his court. We see in Acotar 1 and 2, Tamlin have a lot of friends and connection.Every known ruler have a good team and loyal. Even hitler have.

I wanna laugh at rhys. Then turn to Cassian and laugh more at him

It makes no sense that this small number of people would all rule the night court. i think there is a part where rhys said his father's advisors left when the appointed the illyrians to the council.

I also think its because sjm is lazy and couldn't be bothered to come up with an actual council where democratic decisions are made because rhys is omnipotent and can do what he wants so we don't need to bog down the descriptions of how good he is in bed with actual plot detail about him ruling.

[splinters-for-you]

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I'm sorry, I do not know them very much so this may not be accurate or filled out fully.

Names + Nicknames Charlie, Crit/Cr1t, Charles, Zero Age 30 Gender + Presentation masculine aligned Pronouns He/Him H3/H1m Sexuality + Orientation straightgay Roles Advisor, Advocate, Anchor introject, Age Constant, Archivist, BAHtroject, Buffer, Comfortive, Debater, Destressor, Exfrag, Factian, Factive, Frameject, Fulltive, Genderenvygenic, Homesickness, Introject, InfoFiller, Infoject, Intaglio, Intrutive, Negotiator, Observegenic, Processor, Protector Species Human, Therian identity Source Factive MoistCritical Likes + Dislikes I'm sorry I cannot do that, anon. :{ front triggers Source content, Source discussion. Disorders ADHD, OCPD, PTSD Disabilities scoliosis, joint pain TransIDs transhigherpitchedvoice transtaller translessfamous transindiemovieproducer transraver Hobbies Reading, debating either online or insys, editing of any kind, writing. :) Emoji combos 🏴‍☠️☣🔊💻♠🧼⚖🎥🎞��📄 Aesthetics alt, cutesy alt,

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https://www.tumblr.com/urfavisananimegirl/771212235037097984/moistcritikal?source=share (Joke banner idea.)

I'm sorry but I had to delete things I was unable to fill out.

[skaruresonic]

I have a hunch Valve is going to invent some third party at the last minute to act as G-Man's employers instead of abiding by the conservation of narrative detail and confirming they're the Combine. Logically, his employers should be the Combine - at the very least, there's no strong reason for them not to be - but at the same time I have the feeling Valve are going to try and subvert our expectations as though this is 2008 and they're still releasing these games in episodic format.

At this point in the narrative, we really shouldn't be introduced to new characters unless they've already been hinted at. The only party which fulfills both criteria are the Combine. We have yet to see the master race, and some of G-Man's dialogue in HLA about his employers' beliefs appears to align with the Combine's interests. It would, for example, go some way to explain why removing them from Earth is "too large" a nudge for the G-Man, given "the interests of [his] employers."

But also like. I kinda don't trust Valve like that anymore. I don't like the implications floating around that the mystery woman berating the Advisor in HLA may be its superior and perhaps G-Man's employer.

I can't shake this nagging feeling in the back of my mind saying that if Episode 3 dropped, Valve are gonna be like "G-Man works for a hitherto unseen super-secret race of alien beings with a grudge against the Combine" and it's just gonna add all kinds of unnecessary new kinks to the Gordian knot of HL lore. and I ain't talking the sexy kind

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