#paths diverged but running in parallel

[potato-on-your-head]

you. you get it

characters going “we were lovers once”: eh, it’s okay i guess. it’s nice enough

characters going “we were friends once”: absolutely devastating. one hit knockout i’m gone

[atrophiedemotion]

escapism vs reality in alien stage

in this post (elaborated greatly by geo's tags as well) i mentioned a big sua/till parallel i noticed (but didn't go into much detail because i didn't want to derail the post lol), and i wanted to go into more detail on that and the overall reality vs fantasy theme alnst has going.

sua & till both use their love for mizi as a form of escapism. sua's love for mizi and the weight of her knowledge of their universe causes her to create a safe (fake) bubble for her and mizi to exist in & makes it as perfect as it can be before they're out of time. till uses his love & admiration for mizi as a beacon of hope, as motivation to go on despite how horribly he's treated in day to day life. mizi is the brightness in both of their dull lives.

this view of mizi as a hopeful, optimistic sort-of deity sheds light onto an entire theme of alien stage, escapism vs reality. it also shows that mizi & ivan, in this specific instance, are antitheses of each other.

mizi, as a character, symbolizes hope and escapism. she is the only character out of the main four that didn't understand the exact conditions of their world due to how she was raised. she does not fully grasp how horrifying the alnst universe is until she watches sua die, which is the inciting incident for the entire series. escapism isn't possible anymore, but hope is still there when she gets rescued by hyuna and joins the rebellion.

ivan, on the other hand, literally symbolizes truth and the reality of their world. since he was born he understood the cruelty the segyein are capable of and knows exactly where he stands in the world. he is seen to be fatalistic and even nihilistic. his death, which he sees as an inevitability, is the second inciting incident (the one where everything goes to shit chaos afterward). it is a brutal reminder of the truth of alien stage to both the characters and the audience.

sua & till actively seek out mizi as solace in their pain, and they both actively avoid ivan (in their own ways) and the connections he has to reality.

sua avoids ivan because, well, he's mean to her, but mostly because he's not even trying to be mean, he's just objectively right and she doesn't want to hear it. he is a reminder not only of the cruel world they live in but her own 'twistedness'. he reminds her that she is not solely the fantasy she's created with mizi, but someone with unavoidable knowledge of the inevitable (as well as someone who is willfully keeping this information from an unknowing mizi).

till avoids confronting his feelings for ivan and confronting ivan in general because ivan confuses him. his feelings for ivan aren't cut and dry in the way his feelings for mizi are, because ivan is and always will be tied to pain and suffering for till (their first meeting in the auction shop, their miscommunication/strange relationship, the fact that ivan is the only one who sees him at his most vulnerable, etc). ivan's death forces him to confront these feelings (for ivan & about their world in general) but even then he's repressing them until he physically can't anymore.

mizi is escapism & hope, literally realized because she escapes. ivan is reality & a representation of the fate of alnst contestants, literally realized through his death.

it doesn't end there, though. sua & till are escapists running from reality (with diverging paths that are both narratively important in their own ways), while mizi represents escapism & ivan represents reality. along similar lines, but going a step further, hyuna & luka showcase these exact themes.

hyuna is the legitimate showcase of hope, of freedom. she is a free human (as free as you can get in the alnst universe) and the leader of a human rebellion focused on uprising as a race against the segyein.

luka is the perfect example of compliance within reality. he is now a two time alien stage champion and the definition of a pet, no matter how he actually feels.

hyuna & luka are similar to, but a step beyond, mizi & ivan. mizi symbolizes escapism, but she is faced with reality and must grapple it, while hyuna is freedom personified (albeit with demons of her own). ivan symbolizes reality, but he still yearns for something he thinks he'll never have, while luka completely shuts off those emotions because he knows they will only jeopardize his chances of survival.

the characters of alien stage perfectly embody one of the core themes of alien stage, the discrepancy between fantasy and truth, and the way those can coincide in a world.

[on-repeat-again]

Something about the parallels between Dan Heng and Sunday are really getting to me rn

Like, they both have a past self they are trying to run away from, and an image they want to leave behind

They've both spent time in prison and are currently avoiding the law from their respective planets (mostly bc it's awkward for them more than that they'd be arrested)

They have had expectations of leadership following them for their whole lives, and because of that are naturally very serious and responsible

But despite their histories weighing them down they're both determined to improve themselves, make up for the harm they've done to the people they love, and also expand their horizons by exploring new worlds!

Their only real divergence is their philosophy around their introspection

Sunday was groomed into choosing his path and following the Order and now has to unlearn all the things he thinks he knows. Whereas Dan Heng has no memories of his past life so he has to do his best to learn more about himself in order to confront the parts of himself that made the mistakes.

One in the pursuit of complete reconstruction of himself and the other in pursuit of complete deconstruction, but with the same ultimate end goal

[trikruismybitch]

Clexa Fanfics

Hey guys these are all the Clexa fanfics that i love and wanted to share!

None of these are mine and all of the fics i added are completed works unless stated otherwise

Clexa

A Different Landing by RhinoMouse ****

The drop ship was always going to have problems coming down. Unfortunately for the 100 they ended up in Ice Nation territory where the locals were far less forgiving. With all the wristbands gone and the survivors unable to contact the ark, the ark never came down. Now four years later the surviving members of the 100 have been assimilated into Nia's army. When Lexa calls for the armies of the coalition to march on the mountain Clarke finds herself leading the Ice Nation forces.

[probably one of my favorite Clexa fanfics. The writing, world building, just everything is so well written and interesting. Highly recommend]

Runners From Azgeda by ellaaa25

Clarke and Raven are sisters only one month apart in age. The day before Clarkes 9th birthday, Jaha drops a block of the ship filled with 40 people to save oxygen with no warning. Clarke and Raven are in a pod and land in Azgeda and are taken to Nia. They are beaten, tortured and broken before being trained in the fighting pits of Azgeda to win their freedom as a pair. At age 16, the sisters are still searching for freedom

The Shadow by Clexa1205

Clarke leaves Camp Jaha and ends up getting captured by Azgeda where she comes face to face with Queen Nia and an unexpected enemy. Two years later, after being blackmailed, tortured, and trained, Clarke is forged into the ultimate weapon: an assassin known as the Shadow.

The Ursa & The Heda by SweeTarts151

Spirits are a large part of grounder culture, when Clarke switches places with Finn to spare him his life and get the alliance, something happens that changes her. Changes the way the grounders and her own people look at her. (Warning torture in first chapter)

When a Fallen Star Finds a Home on the ground by LMS (LMS180)

Torn between the hate Clarke felt for this betrayer and old feelings she wished could be forgotten, Clarke made a choice. And before she could live with the consequences of her actions, life pulled her down an unforeseen path. Today the Skai princess’s story is nothing but a distant memory. One long replaced by curious whispers surrounding Azgeda’s mysterious new Heir, Klark. With a new enemy threatening the Coalition’s Western borders, the Commander had no choice but to summon the 13 clans together. As the clans begin to assemble for the upcoming war, many eagerly await the arrival of Azgeda's mysterious Winter Wolf

(my) Destruction Within Your Mouth by KL_Morgan

Clarke loses: her head, her voice, her heart.

Survivals a Fools Errand by Ebozay

Clarke is spared the same fate as her father by being sent to Earth in a drop pod, a metaphorical canary in a coal mine. All in the name of saving what is left of the human race. To her surprise and short lived excitement she finds that the ground is survivable, that she won't burn as soon as the air touches her. But the scarred and brutal people she encounters? Maybe she's a fool to think she could survive life on the ground after all

Where Green Meets Blue by Clexaisbae

Clarke left Camp Jaha, leaving behind a very confused Bellamy. She stumbles through the forest, lost and unsure of what to do but a pair of green eyes pushed her on. At night, after a close encounter with a panther, Clarke was captured by the Ice Nation and now she has to fight her way out, with only a pair of green eyes to guide her out

The White Queen Running by KL_Morgan

Clarke wakes up wearing the tattoos of the Ice Nation.

(OR: Soulmates, parallel worlds, and Ice Queen Clarke; oh my. Canon divergent from 2x16.)

Clexa Alternative Universes

Blood (Must have Blood) by LexAlexAU

Hunger Games AU

(Just a) Little of Your Love by M_E_Scribbles

Clarke Griffins back in her hometown and working her dream job, as a detective and the leader of Polis Police Department's Search and Rescue. Then she's told to take the SAR to a local kindergarten class for a safety program.

That's where she meets an interesting young girl who takes to her immediately. When adorable handmade cards start appearing at her desk. She goes to the school to thank the girl and runs into a gorgeous woman who begins to invade her thoughts.

Of Sharp Talons and Sharper Eyes by AlexielMN

Daemon AU & Azgeda!Clarke

A Day In The Life of a Demigod by soshy (Sosh_022)

Demigod AU

[thisisevenharderthannamingablog]

A couple weeks ago I was thinking about how the KimChay argument after the club was parallel to Kinn and Porsche's situation in E5 and therefore, if there had ever been a S2, KimChay should have gotten their own version of the forest episode.

The resulting fic is here; rambling about why I wrote it this way under the cut.

The Nature of the Problem

My starting point with this whole thing is that from a writerly POV, E6 is a problem-solving episode. The characters have been backed into a corner; they need a dramatic change.

For K/P, the episode is about redressing the power imbalance and control issues. The first part highlights Kinn's need to project power due to his position in the family. We saw in E5 how badly that position conflicts with his ability to be in a relationship with Porsche. The challenges they face and the conversations they have are shaped to provide a path to fixing that dynamic, giving space for their genuine attraction to one another to grow into a real connection. That path culminates in Kinn nulling their boss/employee relationship and giving up control (as symbolized by the handcuff), allowing them to start over as lovers.

If I was going to arrogate to myself the task of putting that same idea through a KimChay filter, what was the central problem to address? Kim does have some control issues, but in a very different way than Kinn does. Kim doesn't have a position of power, doesn't have a personal army, doesn't even carry a gun in daily life as far as we know. What he does have is an apparently long-standing habit (per that scene with Khun) of spying on his own family.

I keep coming back to the scene in Korn's office. There is nothing else in the season like it. Kinn has moments of disagreement with Korn but never displays anything other than implicit trust in his motives. Khun can stake out an opposite position to their father in family discussions (like with the one about Tawan), but there's no suggestion of a poor relationship between the two of them.

By sharp contrast, one of the very few Kim-centric scenes we got was completely devoted to showing us how he approaches his dad: fabricate an excuse for being there, search the room, ask a few lightly probing questions, get the fuck out. (I am legit obsessed with Kim's body language in this scene.) The icing on the dramatic cake being that the distrust goes both ways. Korn knows--or at least suspects--that Kim was there for some reason other than filial affection. We'll never know why.

(I still think a likely explanation is that Kim is a good enough observer to have picked up on some of Korn's manipulation techniques at work over the years, and that's why "get out of the house" was such a priority. This theory informs most of my Kim-related stories.)

That's a long-winded way to say that I think the fundamental problem with the KimChay dynamic is Kim's inability to trust people. He's a very isolated character; his introductory scene implies that this is the price of the life he wanted, that he knows it.

However. Kim wants to be with Chay. That will lead to him spending all that time with Chay, as long as the truth is comfortably far off, and finally to that lunge at the studio. As soon as reality hits, though, when it looks like the relationship is going to demand something beyond a surface connection, Kim doesn't merely run from it but tries to deny even to himself that this was something he wanted in the first place--and then regrets that, because the theme of the entire show is that connections with other people are the thing that will get you through life.

Parallels & Divergence

Kinn can't keep his power over Porsche and also have a relationship with him. Kim can't keep his defensive isolation and also connect with Chay. These are very different challenges.

What did that mean for the fic? The central conceit of removing the characters from their usual landscape, a change of context that requires cooperation and disrupts bad habits, holds up fine with both pairs. The symbolic washing away of the past, likewise. They all need a way to remember that they like each other to begin with, and genuine communication.

The handcuff thing was not relevant to KimChay, though. Kim does not need to learn how to let go of what he loves, but the opposite (the point of a B-plot is to either echo or contrast with the main plot). Rock-paper-scissors likewise is not useful to this couple. It's an equalizing game, one where Kinn's advantages of power, status, and money can't affect the outcome, but that's not a problem for Kim. Nor is it an issue of physical reliability. They needed something information-based, a way for him to inch into the space of trusting Chay with who he is.

Chay

Kim is not the only person in this story. Chay also has things to learn at this point--mainly that he can't chase Kim into a relationship. Kim is the cat in this pair (possibly the cheetah with anxiety who needs a companion dog). Chay has to figure out how to metaphorically or maybe literally just exist quietly near Kim until he relaxes, and not to assume that they're on the same page always, because Kim's entire life has been not normal. I don't think it's far-fetched for Chay to realize this eventually. Chay can hold the door open, but Kim has to walk through it on his own.

(I initially started the fic with Chay's POV and then decided I was taking the easy way out with that. Kim's opacity, the little we can even deduce about him from canon let alone actually know, is part of what makes him interesting to me, but is also a challenge for me to write. We don't know much about Chay either, but he's a lot more open and straightforward.)

The Ending

For K/P, the fight at the end of E6 not only precipitates the main plot in the back half of the season, but serves as a critical relaunch point for the K/P relationship. It closely reprises the scene of their first meeting, with one big difference: Porsche knows who Kinn is now, the good and the bad. There's no external pressure on his decision. He knows what he's getting into by coming back, and he chooses to do so. I wanted to use that thematic parallel for KimChay in this rather than echo the episode with an action scene. The initial context for their meeting was the open house, Chay's encyclopedic knowledge of the public side of Kim, and asking for tutoring.

(Also, fighting side by side is not a part of the K/C dynamic the way it is for K/P, who from their introduction straight through to the bullet-time tango are clearly a Battle Couple. KimChay started off their relationship with a duet. And anyway, I wrote two other stories where Kim takes a bullet for Chay.)

I did start writing a kind of 6.5-esque coda scene, but it was mostly "Kim tries to process trauma with an inadequate toolkit" and was depressing me, so I haven't finished it.

[daydreamingoncloud9]

Nagi Seishiro: A Divergent Path

Spoilers for Chapters 1, 2, 117, 147, 254, 280, 281, 295, 298, 299 & 300 of Blue Lock and Chapters 2, 3 & 4 of Blue Lock: Episode Nagi.

Similar to my last post on Nagi & Reo, this post is also not necessarily a shipping post, but because I do ship nagireo, it might colour my analysis on them, so fair warning. »»————- ⳮⷤ ── ⲇ ── ⳮⷤ ————-««

With the release of the new chapters, I wanted to bring up an interesting parallel I noticed that helps strengthen the theory that Nagi and Reo's journey together will not end here. In fact, I think this parallel just helps to cement that they will continue to diverge from the rest, even with this recent failure.

To start, I think it is beneficial to establish that Nagi and Isagi are meant to be foils in the story and they often have scenes that parallel each other in key ways.

Many others have already pointed these parallels out before, but for argument's sake, I will list some of them down regardless.

Isagi's ego flaring after he shoots on his own vs Nagi's ego flaring after he sees Reo

2. Isagi being the first to enter Blue Lock vs Nagi (& Reo) being the last

3. isagi scoring the final goal of the U-20 match vs Nagi scoring the first goal

4. Isagi being classified as a "world-style" talented learner vs Nagi who is classified as a "self-style" genius

5. And most recently, Isagi who was at the top of the winners' bracket vs Nagi who was at the top of the losers' bracket

Even their designs are meant to be foils of each other wherein Isagi is short (relatively), has a weaker physical build and a darker colour palette vs Nagi's who's tall, has a stronger physical build and a lighter colour palette.

There are surely plenty more parallels you can find throughout the series, but with this, I hope that I manage to successfully establish that there is a pattern going on and this makes the next parallel I'm going to draw up quite interesting.

So!

Going back to the Blue Lock Entrance Test, I want to zoom in on what Ego considers to be "the egotism of a striker".

The idea that in this instance, a striker is someone who "tries to defeat someone stronger than themselves", "goes after the strongest one" and has an "obsession with their own victory which can't be swayed by others' common sense" is fascinating because it describes both Bachira and Isagi, yes, but it also describes someone who ended up losing despite following that doctrine: Nameoka Ryo.

In these few pages alone, we can see that Nameoka fulfills all the criteria of the "striker" that Ego is looking for. Not only is he purposefully going after the people who he perceives as the strongest, he is doing so despite it being seen as rather illogical because of the risk that he is willingly undertaking by focusing on no one else but Nagi and Reo.

Now you can argue that this definition of a striker's "egoism" is rather shallow because the idea has evolved and expanded over the course of the story, and yes I agree. But in the context of these specific scenes, we are being told that this way of playing is the "correct" way because of how it aligns with Ego's words (whose words are often law). Therefore, Nameoka, in these scenes, is considered the "ideal striker".

So what does it mean when the "ideal striker" loses?

In my opinion, having Nameoka lose, and making it so that Nagi is the one that causes him to lose is a purposeful narrative decision to help support the idea that ultimately, despite being in opposition to Isagi's route and therefore against Ego's ideals, Nagi's (and Reo's) path is valid.

Even the fact that Reo was saved by Nagi here is relevant because of how it supports the validity of their divergent path.

Circling back to Kira's elimination for a second, we see that Ego condemns Kira because when the ball hit him, he "gave up and accepted his defeat" and in his eyes, this is what it means to "run away" from the egotism of a striker and that is why he lost.

And what is interesting here is Kira's acceptance of defeat parallels Reo's acceptance of defeat. Notice that just like Kira, Reo was prematurely thinking about his defeat under the hands of another player (Zantetsu) and was blind to the options that he had after being hit.

This is why the "5 seconds" timer was placed behind Reo as it illustrates how he had turned his back on other options except defeat even though there was plenty of time for him to think of a back-up plan, especially considering how Reo had significantly more time than Kira did (1 second vs 5 seconds).

If we were to follow the original scenario, this would have been the end of Reo and consequently, the end of Nagi and Reo's joint path, but Nagi literally interrupts this narrative and denies its unfolding.

And not only does he deny it, he also manuevers The Egoist's plot device (the ball) to eliminate Ego's "ideal striker", cementing the fact that their path, while divergent from Ego's, is a valid path to take because it succeeds.

I think we have to question why Kaneshiro-sensei and Nomura-sensei felt that it was important for Nameoka (again, the "ideal striker) to be eliminated after Nagi reaffirms his determination to stay with Reo (and therefore reaffirming their partnership) and after Reo is shown to have run away from a striker's egoism.

I truly believe it is to showcase that Nagi and Reo's partnership and joint path, despite all the ups and downs, will prevail and even succeed in usurping the "ideal" egoists in the end.

It's just a matter of looking at all the options and not admitting defeat.

[stra-tek]

Big List of Universes in Star Trek:

Prime

Where most of Trek takes place. TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT, DSC, LWD, PRO, PIC, SNW etc. Gets a bit complicated in that the Temporal Wars from Enterprise have explicitly rewritten some events but for the most part it's all one enormous continuity. Just don't ask about the Eugenics Wars

Kelvin

Where the rebooted movies take place, essentially Prime until the day of Jim Kirk's birth, when a Romulan from the Prime future appears and begins wreaking havok, sending events on a familiar but different path with more running and explosions

Mirror

The morally inverted version of the Prime universe. Often the same people in the same place at the same time as Prime except under radically different circumstances. The Kelvin timeline has it's own mirror universe and the Coda books imply they're different sides of the same coin so perhaps every universe has it's mirror. Everyone dresses very slutty and all the women are at the very least bi. Almost as if it was written by men to appeal to teenage boys.

The First Splinter

Where the entire Star Trek novelverse takes place. Essentially Prime up until First Contact, although many events after that tie into ones hundreds of years before so it's all a bit complicated. Hundreds of stories exist here, as varied and amazing and sometimes awful as the TV shows and movies. Erased from history in 2387 but everyone you've loved and read about for years die horrible, horrible deaths first

Megas Tu

Accessed through a portal at the centre of our galaxy, a universe where magic is real and the source of many Earth myths and legends. Lucien is Satan but he's actually a pretty cool guy. Kirk and Spock learned to use magic there.

Parallels

300,000 universes converge, ranging from ones where Worf has a different painting in his quarters to him banging Troi to the Borg having conquered the Federation

Reverse

Black stars on a white void, ships fly backwards, at warp 36, the elderly grow young and live backwards and I'm afraid to ask how this reverse life ends

Second History

From the novel Killing Time. Super gay and angsty. Romulans alter history, leading to Spock being captain and Jim Kirk being a drug addict ensign on the V.S.S. ShiKahr

Renegades

A bootleg version of Star Trek in a fan film universe, altered on day two of filming after the Axanar drama began. It's Star Trek with the serial numbers just barely filed off. The Confederation instead of the Federation, Sector 6 instead of Section 31, Kovok instead of Tuvok, Jemison instead of Uhura, Rigillians instead of Romulans and so on. 2 novels were released which try to differentiate the universes more clearly, and the last Renegades film Ominara re-reboots the whole thing and features an Uhura-ish character and the Star Trek ish sets, but otherwise everything else is different.

Fascistverse

Created by Q to test Jean-Luc and friends in season 2 of Picard, this was along the lines of the Mirror universe but with a divergence point in 2024, if Trump wins the election if Picard's ancestor Renee goes into space or not.

Musical

A crossover with this universe in SNW "Subspace Rhapsody" leads to the quadrant singing uncontrollably, accompanied by music and with full choreography.

[transdimensional-void]

I have seen posts about how Dany and Paul(Dune) are similar. Not as hero but characters who are doomed.

omg is it my birthday? i get to talk about dune/asoiaf parallels??? *rubs hands together*

okay, so, the thing about grrm is that when he comes across a juicy idea, he doesn't just use it once. this man loves to put a character in a situation and then put a slightly different character in a slightly different situation and then run the simulation to see how each turns out. so while dæny and paul 100% have parallels, so do multiple characters within the series.

i would say dany and jon are the two with the most paul parallels, but there are also clear parallels with rhaegar, robb (the young wolf), daeron i (the young dragon), aegon (young griff)... let's stick with the dany and jon parallels for this post, though:

after the downfall of his family, paul takes refuge among the fremen. after the downfall of her family, dany joins the dothraki. after the downfall of the starks, jon finds himself among the free folk.

once among the fremen, paul almost immediately begins a romantic relationship with a fremen girl, chani. dany joins the dothraki by marrying one of them, khal drogo. jon is safe among the free folk partially due to the romantic entanglement he has with ygritte.

slowly they adapt to the new culture and begin embracing its ways...and this is where the paths diverge.

during his time with the fremen, paul experiences two symbolic deaths and rebirths, first his death as "paul atreides" and rebirth as "muad'dib" and second his drinking of the water of life which transforms his consciousness permanently. during her time with the dothraki, dany experiences a symbolic death and rebirth when she enters the funeral pyre as the widow of a khal and mother of a stillborn son and re-emerges unburnt as the "bride of fire" and the "mother of dragons." jon is assassinated and might experience a literal or symbolic resurrection afterward.

paul fulfills the lisan al-ghaib prophecy of the fremen. dany fulfills the stallion who mounts the world prophecy of the dothraki. jon...doesn't seem to be tied to any prophecy of the free folk's, though he does seem to be tied to other prophecies.

paul becomes the leader of the fremen. dany takes over the remnants of drogo's khalasar and might become the leader of all of the dothraki in twow. jon is reluctant to lead the free folk but ultimately decides to make use of them to retake winterfell and free "arya."

paul leads the fremen to victory over the harkonnen, freeing them from their long-time oppressors. dany defeats the slavers of slavers bay and frees various slaves. jon allows the free folk through the wall and to safety.

paul highjacks fremen culture to achieve his own ends of gaining vengeance for his family's downfall and power for himself. dany might end up using the dothraki and unsullied in westeros to take vengeance for her family's downfall and gain power for herself. jon planned to use the free folk to retake winterfell but was assassinated before he could. he might still use them for this purpose in twow.

paul assumes the golden lion throne. dany plans to take the iron throne. jon rejects leadership of the fremen and lordship of winterfell, but could still end up as a ruler of some type.

paul's highjacking of the fremen culture ultimately leads to its destruction. in the tv show, dany's leadership of the dothraki leads to their destruction. jon and the free folk's future is yet to be determined.

it's notable that while all three of these characters begin on a similar path, jon's path quickly diverges while dany's and paul's remain closely paralleled. you'll notice that the biggest point of divergence is who each of them is to the foreign culture they have joined.

paul and dany are messiah figures to the fremen and dothraki respectively. paul rises to become the ruler of the fremen. dany becomes the ruler of meereen. jon...is no one special to the free folk, is offered a position of leadership among them not due to his perceived supernatural origin but due to his very human capabilities. and then he rejects that position of leadership.

paul can only be seen as a hero if you stop reading at the end of the first book (and even then, there are a variety of clues that he is not meant to be viewed as heroic). if you read on, though, you learn that he ends his life in opposition to the very power structure he created and is ultimately killed by his own priests. other characters with parallels to paul have faced early ends, such as rhaegar, robb, and the young dragon. we don't yet know how dany's and jon's stories will end, but up until the current point, dany has been following in paul's footsteps much more closely than jon, perhaps more closely than any other character in the entire series. that is the reason why many people analyzing her parallels with paul atreides predict her ultimate downfall.

thanks for the ask! and anyone else with opinions, feel free to chime in!

[bardic-tales]

Thirsty Thursday: Issue 1: Backstory Mirrors

For this Thirsty Thursday, I am going to share a few articles for this. The first one is a 'backstory mirror' dive that @prehistoric-creatures once asked me to come up with. I never shared it since I forgotten about it, but as I was working on their relationship, I found it again. Sorry Prehistoric. There are 10, but I'm just going to share a few.

The ones I am going to share just were happy coincidences. But it's always amusing when that happens. Some of this is based upon my own character analysis of Sephiroth's character, observation of my family and friends who were in the military, study of psychology, and my own headcanons that I formed over 27 years.

Tragic Origins and Parental Betrayal.

Both Bianca and Sephiroth are born out of complex, unconventional unions: Bianca from a forced union between an archangel and a primordial demon and Sephiroth from a scientific experiment where his mother, Lucrecia, was deprived of raising him by Hojo. Like Lucrecia, Seraphine never got to hold Bianca as she made the choice of saving her child from Asmodeus' machinations. Bia's birth and future were overshadowed by her parents identities, her birth in a human vessel, and her celestial-demonic lineage while Sephiroth's birth was manipulated, making him a project of Jenova's cells and Hojo's experiment.

Both faced a deep betrayal by a parental figure: their fathers. Bianca was targeted and attacked by her father, Asmodeus, who seeks to control or destroy her all in the name of prophecy, and Sephiroth, who became aware of Hojo's inhumane treatment, which disregarded his well being for scientific game.

Upheaval in Childhood.

Bianca's early life is disrupted when the cult devoted to Asmodeus kills her adoptive mother, forcing her and her adoptive father, David, into a life on the run. This transient existence robs Bianca of stability and safety, fostering isolation and fear. She has trouble with her emotions because of this.

Similarly, Sephiroth, while not being chased by a cult, is shaped by the SOLDIER program and Hojo's cruel conditioning. This isolates him from a typical childhood and indoctrinates him into a rigid, miliatry existence. His exposure to violence and the lack of nurturing relationships parallels Bianca's feeling of disconnect.

First Love and Betrayal

Bianca's experience with Krista is a painful tale of shattered trust. Her first love turned out to be a member of the cult sent to manipulate and ultimately betray her, forcing Bianca to take Krista's life in self-defense, a trauma that strips her of her innocence and has marked her emotionally. She believes that closeness with others can lead to betrayal and loss. She was 16.

Spoilers for Ever Crisis' First SOLDIER.

Sephiroth's early relationships also carries a sense of betrayal, particularly the incident with Team Glenn during his mission in Rhadore. This mission, where he is misunderstood by his teammates, leaves him disillusioned and teaches him that closeness with others can lead to betrayal and loss. He was also 15-16, at the time. I need to check the dates.

Transformation through Trauma

At 20, Bianca's true powers are awakened in the wake of a brutal assault by Asmodeus, which takes almost takes her life (and she doesn't know about her reincarnation until after the final battle with Cloud at the North Crater) and scars her emotionally. This moment is a catalyst for Bianca's transformation, pushing her from a place of fear into one of empowerment as she learns to wield her powers.

Sephiroth undergoes a similar transformation, though much slower, as he grows stronger through rigorous and often painful conditioning by Hojo and Shinra. The isolation and trauma of battle missions, coupled with his genetic heritage, lead to a shift in his self-perception, guiding him towards a path that diverges from traditional morality, much like Bianca's path is guiding her.

Mentor Relationships Ending in Self Sacrifice

Bianca's relationship with Mordecai, her mentor and husband, mirrors Sephiroth's bond with Angeal. Both are anchored by these mentors who offer them a sense of direction and grounding. However, both Mordecai and Angeal ultimately die, leaving Bianca and Sephiroth with deeper scars and a heightened sense of purpose mingled with loss.

For Bianca, Mordecai's sacrifice becomes a driving force for her growth and determination, also leading her to fall in love with Sephiroth through trauma bonding. Similarly, Sephiroth's loss of trust in his mentors and friends -- culminating in Angeal and Genesis' betrayal - deepens his resolve but also his disillusionment with humanity until it snaps when he learns about his origins.

A Dark Legacy and Search for Identity

As mentioned above, they both struggle under the weight of their complicated heritage. Bianca's celestial-demonic bloodlines places her in constant conflict with forces pulling at her from either side: Asmodeus and Seraphine (who is in her conscious talking with and guiding her). Sephiroth's Jenova-enhanced origins lead him to question humanity and ultimately set him on a quest for answers about his true nature that culminated in a psychotic break fueled by his lack of sleep, hunger, grief over his friends, and, ultimately, Jenova's influence, herself. I remember reading a headcanon where Sephiroth was basically a corpse at this point fueled by the circumstances and betrayal around him, and I tend to agree with that assessment, especially when everything was pulled out from under him and told to him by his closest friend, no less.

This shared experience of grappling with identity is a powerful undercurrent in their relationship, making them kindred spirits in a search for purpose beyond the pain.

tagging some fellow mutuals: @themaradwrites @littleshopofchaos @serenofroses @megandaisy9 @watermeezer

@nightingaleflow @prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen @chickensarentcheap @glbettwrites

@seastarblue

[warsamongthestars]

The thing about Echo, is that he's a contrast / parallel. The difference is, he isn't a contrast / parallel to The Clone Trooper's Clone Trooper, Captain Rex.

And he isn't the Contrast Parallel to Fives.

( And he sure as fuck isn't the contrast / parallel to Darth Vader, or whatever the hell TBBshow tries to claim )

... He's the Contrast / Parallel to Darth Maul.

We're talking Two Brilliant Tacticians who run on Loyalty, who were placed through straights that resulted in the loss of limb (specifically the lower body), who are the trail blazers of their brother duo (Maul with Savage, Echo with Fives) for whom they are in the lead of, and inevidably lose to Sidious (Fives indirectly, Savage very directly), who are well read in their respective philosophies (Echo with clone regulations, Maul with sith doctrine)...

( Both have a terrible neurotic tendency of getting into everything, impulsively, and acting like they were meant to be there all along--they're like Tookas, I swear. )

"Resurrected" with a purpose, and each wear a Crown after their respective "deaths", with only their skin up their bones as a cost to surviving.

That's the truest parallel.

The contrast is that Echo never Broke. Born into a system that would use him and his brothers, seeing far too much death, and experiencing it himself-- Echo bounces back from his experiences.

Just because the system wasn't loyal to him, doesn't mean that he compromises himself or goes on a war path (though I can imagine he would want to--but not without just cause, and that means not sacrificing your brothers for it).

Just because he can no longer fit with his brothers, doesn't mean he stops caring about them.

He remains solid because he is truest to himself, and the self he gives is the kind that remains a loyal steadfast soldier, who understands that he is likely going to give his life to a bigger galaxy, but that's no reason to destroy the people around you or yourself.

Maul is the opposite. He broke. He had all the opportunity to walk away, and instead, he went on the warpath. He could have walked away and learned to dettach himself from the darkside, and instead, he spent 20 years on Divergence, Vengeance, Vengeance, and destroyed everyone near him for it. Eventually, the only way to stop him, was that an aspect of the bigger Story, Obi-wan Kenobi, finally encountered him and made him stop.

Thanks to Rebels, there is implication that Echo's story is not going to end with him living.

( But TBBShow has told me "Fuck you" before too, and its never been in a good surprising way... )

And like how Rex brought Echo back into the fight, Echo's death will likely be Why Rex leaves the Fight.

This would complete the parallel. That the bigger good would stop Maul... and the bigger Evil, will stop Echo.

[cleo-serotonin]

I can’t believe I never noticed this parallel before!!

So Emma is obviously mirroring young Ms. Chatham here. They share the same power, and are thematic counterparts. However, she stops before running into her, whereas the past self goes straight through/into Louise. This is symbolic of how Cleo, Emma and Rikki’s story is different from the og trio. This episode is the exact point where their stories diverge from eachother. The fight Louise, Gracie & Julia have is exactly the same as the modern trio, their words echo each other; “you’re underestimating him, the obnoxious stuff is an act most of the time” “friends don’t give each other ultimatums”. In the end, Karl betrays Julia, and the three end up drifting apart. Zane is clearly given the perfect opportunity to betray Rikki. He could prove to everyone he’s not crazy, earn his fathers approval/respect, become famous etc. yet he chooses not to.

Young Ms. Chatham walking into her current self is symbolic of the weight she still carries from that day. She will never get closure from her friends who have now passed, or from knowing why they were chosen to become mermaids. It’s an open wound with an ache she has made peace with over time. Emma will never have to experience that. In this scene, Ms. Chatham may be a metaphor for the older version of Emma. Since Emma stops short, it’s a visual representation of the differences between their stories, and the path Emma will not take.

Another small but notable difference- young Louise is walking away from her friends. Emma is walking with them. She even looks back towards them for support after Ms. Chatham asks about the locket. This contrast speaks volumes on their relationships.

Additionally, this is why I know the girls would not have split up, as m*ko m*rmaids attempts to make canon. But according to the ORIGINAL h2o lore, they would stay friends.

[astral-schools]

“Wizard,” Dasein began, prompting Aedan to look up from the book in his hands.

In all honesty, he hadn’t been paying much attention to the words on the page before him-- more getting lost in the feeling of Dasein’s hands running through his hair, the soft rumbling from his chest. (He swore up and down it wasn’t a purr, but Aedan swore just as vehemently that he’d heard the very same noise from Copy Qhat before. Perhaps a habit picked up from borrowing her form?) “I have been thinking lately.”

“Alright. About what?”

“About the concept of soulmates.” Aedan set his book aside. This seemed like the sort of thing that would require his full attention. “I know it is not a notion with any basis in reality, that is, there are no predetermined connections between people which dictate their compatibility. But, in a greater sense. More general. The idea of a bond between two people which is more significant than what they share with others, unique in its depth.”

Aedan turned around to wrap his arms around Dasein’s midsection, chin resting on his chest. “Have you just been thinking about the concept in general? Or is there something specific?”

“Well,” and Dasein sounded flustered, of all things, “I suppose I’ve been thinking about it in the context of you and I.”

And now Aedan was the flustered one. “Ah. I see.” 

“I don’t mean to presume anything,” Dasein said, awkwardly, like they weren’t sprawled out on the futon in Aedan’s apartment, legs tangled together and close enough that Aedan could hear his own heartbeat echoed through Dasein’s form. 

(The great part about the Arcanum being not-really-a-place meant that Dasein could visit without being beholden to the same restrictions about his ability to travel past Novus’s borders, but likewise without sacrificing any of his physicality. Aedan would never get enough of being able to hug him whenever he wanted, no matter how much time passed.)

“It’s not as though there’s anyone else I’d consider for it,” Aedan’s tone was bemused as he pushed himself up onto his hands to trail kisses up the curve of Dasein’s cheek. Dasein leaned into the contact immediately. (Perhaps he would have a hard time getting enough of it, too.) “Putting names to things isn’t something I often consider necessary. But, if it would make you happy to consider us such... Then I can say with certainty that if soulmates do exist in any measurable capacity, that if there is a part of my heart which belongs to anyone but me, then it lies with you.” 

“Oh,” Dasein mumbled. He freed his hands from the tangle of Aedan’s hair to instead wrap them around his shoulders, hefting him up enough that he could bury his face in the crook of Aedan’s neck. “I will never be able to clearly state how much I care about you.”

“I love you, too,” Aedan replied easily. “Was that all you wanted to ask about?”

“...Perhaps.”

“But, perhaps not?”

Dasein leaned back, and Aedan shuffled upright, still half-splayed over Dasein but no longer pinned on his front so ingloriously. 

“Tell me; have you ever heard of a concept known as the multiverse theory? The Old One was quite fond of it.” When Aedan only gave a confused shake of his head, Dasein continued; “the theory states that there are a theoretically infinite number of possible universes out there. Timelines parallel to our own, identical except for certain branching paths based on varied decisions across each different reality. That for every choice which can be made, there is another universe to coincide with the outcome of it. Then new choices are made from that initial one, and each of those choices creates a universe with each diverging conclusion, and so on. Into infinity.”

“I... get it,” Aedan said. Then paused. “Mostly.”

“I understand this is quite an unwieldy concept. Don’t worry. All you need to retain for the purpose of my question is that there are infinite universes out there which are built from the choices we make, and all other possible choices we could have made.” He looked down at Aedan. “My question is; do you think we’re soulmates in every universe?” 

Aedan hummed.

“I don’t know,” he said, softly, not wanting to interrupt the apartment’s peaceful ambiance. “I would like to think so, at least. Nothing is ever certain. Futures twist and change, and things are bound to be different in a world where we’d made different choices. I can’t make any promises. But, I also can’t imagine a life without you in it.”

Gently, he reached up to tangle one hand in Dasein’s tendrils, and they immediately curled around his fingers in return. One came to rest on his pulse point. (That small proof of Aedan’s continued existence was very dear to him, wasn’t it?)

“I think,” he continued, “that we must be soulmates in every universe where we are us. That I would not be who I am without you.”

“And I can say with absolute surety that I would not be anything resembling myself without your presence in my life,” Dasein agreed. “Unequivocally. Unquestionably. Had you not shown reality to me as you did, I would have no notion of existence. Not only would I not be me, I would not be. I would not know there was anything I could be. You are the reason I am here. You are-- my definition.”

Some part of Aedan thought they should maybe make it clear that they were separate people. That they each had their own fulfilling lives, and that their senses of self weren’t necessarily intrinsically tied to one another.

But at the same time, another (much louder) part of him asked; why bother? Who did they need to defend themselves to, here in the privacy of their own home? What notion of propriety did they need to conform to? They were a contradiction of the very idea of something, and an intersection point of two Magics which were, by their very nature, unable to coexist. Neither of them fit their bounds. Neither of them made sense, to any reasonable point of view. Why should they try to follow rules about something as paltry as their relationship status when they’d already broken so many rules regarding the laws of magic and nature?

So yes, they were separate people, but also they weren’t, and it was fine. 

“In every universe where I am me,” Aedan said, definitively, “you are there.”

“And I would not be me in any universe without you.” Dasein concluded. He nodded assuredly. “I am far from an expert on the subject, but that does sound like soulmates to me.”

Aedan laughed, and leaned forward to kiss him again. “I suppose it does.”

[seagull-energy]

Fics I Want to Read But Not Write List

I got tagged in this new meme by @malkaleh and decided to contribute my wishlist :D With the caveat that I probably will get around to a lot of these at some point, but currently they Scare me, so I guess it's not so much a list of "things I don't want to write" as a list of "things I wish would be easy to write but definitely will not be" also prepare yourselves for a complete hodgepodge of fandoms XD

Stonynat: the one where they all get together. listen relationship logistics are HARD and love confessions are something I hate writing (because idk how to make such things sound natural)

what if... natasha never left the red room? I think a version of CA:TWS where nat was still a red room agent would be SO INTERESTING!! you could dive into the red room's connections to hydra... and her and bucky's comic dynamic a little bit... and it could be COOL. Would be super complicated though and I do NOT currently have the brain space to think about it in detail

the kiradax little shop of horrors/coffee shop AU that's lived in my brain for like four years at this point. alas that the voices of star trek characters do not at all come to me easily!

VLD: the keith and lotor dynamic explored. basically I would just like all the Themes and Parallels I see to come out of my head as an engaging fic instead of a red string-esque ramble XD

what happened when elladan and elrohir went to scout the fellowship's path?

book!wicked canon divergence where glinda finds elphie right after fiyero dies and this changes a lot of things. This one is putting me off because it's pretty much a kidfic and I don't really do those...

That's all the ones that come to mind for now, If anyone has ideas about any these feel free to message/ask/add on to this post about them. I would LOVE to spitball back and forth. Also if one of these inspires you feel free to just take it and run with it :)

If you see this and feel like sharing your fic wishlist, consider yourself tagged to do so!!! :DDD

[probablyaseamonster]

I just saw the trailer for the next Cult of the Lamb update and I'm having fuuuun/devious glee.

Sidenote but it'll be coming out a few days before my b-day so that's great! (I totally didn't need anymore signs from the gods that I need irl friends before I snap hehooo)

So, regarding the alternate universe vessel character.

(so far I've seen like 5 names that I love to death but I have a feeling I know the one in particular that is gonna settle before the others get considered. I could make a list if anyone wants to debate 'cause fandoms can settle Fast and I think there's some potential for layered contrast and just settling for the easy option would be disappointing. But I'm not the biggest fan anyway so maybe I shouldn't be so arrogant about it.)

I noticed how they were wearing purple robes and were often in purple lighting, obviously, the way everyone else did, but something might be wrong with my eyes cuz their crown colour seemed like, straight-up blue to me? I do have an eye injury atm so maybe that's legit. Seemed kinda glaring tho/pos

So now I've got two diverging paths I'm *scrawling* over/pos:

1- AU where Shamura is the one bound in chains (and Narinder the role of think no evil) and the player character serves the god of War instead of Death.

Look, the animatics just write themselves. Any God of War scene? You can warp and adapt. Also, the "Warrior of the Mind" animatic for anyone who got obsessed with Fate: the Musical recently. It's just potential!

I also like the idea of instead of the dynamic being black cat x deceptively wholesome shepherd, it's intellectual spider x scruffy goat with a knife.

On the OTHER hand, hear me out,

2- Kallamar & Narinder roleswap AU. This could have the personalities swap version (something something scaredy-cat), or a fun to imagine scenario where Kallamar became jaded enough to the point of nearly paralleling Narinder in formidable vengefulness while also having been just as much of a coward in the past. Basically he grew some courage but at what cost?

This would probably mean that Narinder stayed however he was before the betrayal and imprisonment, probably being the one to lose his ears, and maybe taking the role in the narrative as the sibling to run from the Goat after the two younger gods got taken out and the middle child realized he was next? I can't imagine Narinder throwing Shamura under the bus like that, maybe it was more like a "you can't kill me, it'll fuck everything up! You have to spare me or the last fight will take place in an even more fucked-up apocalyptic hellscape!").

If Narinder was still the one to first express discontent with Death, wonder how Sickness being restrained in the afterlife affected Narinder's situation... Or what if Narinder was like Shamura, and the two were conspirators, instead of Death by War it was Death by Plague? And Death stayed free but went deaf or insane? What would Kallamar have to gain from the idea of breaking past his cosmic role, thinking "okay but what if, immortality was an option?" remixed to be uh, maybe something to do with health? Immunity? Something bordering Frankenstein as an affront to nature?

As you can see I'm putting thoughts and curiosity into both ideas, the only thing I kinda hope becomes mainstream fanon is that the Goat is a bit like Lamb's opposite - wheras one is welcoming and soft but capable of horrors at night, and of course being a badass monster fighter - contrasted with an equally small and powerful but ig more unhinged-seeming up close for the first couple interactions (probably recruited individuals with a pitch like "look I'm the one with the weapon here, so you're gonna wanna get behind me even if you don't trust me with access to things") but then shows glimpses of a heart of gold that makes followers feel safe enough to stay. As well as a sense of responsibility and like, actual leadership skills lol.

Just, Sheep / Goat religious allegories make me very sad and I think this silly little game would make me feel better about things.

I can't WAIT to see how Bamsara handles this update. We gettin' the multiverse canon? Hopefully it doesn't get too crazy, and we stick with just the two purple/blue and red characters for a little while.

I wonder what other satanic animals could be vessels? Wolf, definitely, donkey makes sense also, and pig is usually ascribed with gluttony but there's something that could be done with cleanliness or intelligence but percieved otherwise... I also think there's something that could be done with birds though, like I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that the Mourning Dove is angel coded, much like the Lamb. Could just be the Dove also, though I was kinda hoping that the Symbol of World Peace wouldn't be a drect Christian symbol, which was a wishful hope.

Um... yeah! Just wanted to get my thoughts out! And there's a certain other goatlike character who's been occupying my thoughts recently, dw, I'll get to that soon. I'll explain then.

um. I don't know if this is a function so I'm not even gonna try lol but I hope I remember to come back to see Bamsara's initial reaction to the alternate universe implicated update! Oh yeah and a daycare centre, that's a relief for everyone involved whoof! Hope there's an NPC willing to take up the job, and who would of course enjoy being around kids.

[lokittystuckinatree]

The False God and the Devil They Know: Wishful Overthinking about Religious Overtones in Post-Timeless-Child-Arc Thoschei

Disclaimer: my knowledge on anything other than all 13 + seasons of New Who is limited, but not overly lacking, and I wasn’t raised religious but do have enough of an Italian Catholic background to notice good old fashioned Christian parallels

The Doctor

The Doctor as the unwitting “creator god” of the time lords

Abrahamic religions starting out polytheistic, the Doctor as a god amongst other more powerful gods

The Doctor as a wrathful God; God technically committed genocide against humanity, leaving Noah to make his arc with two of every species

Objectively a coincidence but guess which two idiots survived the time war

The Doctor as a god who chooses a life of service to mortals and “rejecting” godhood aka power. Very Jesus of them.

The real possibility that the timeless child is not a chosen one but a victim of circumstance, a typical example of their kind from the other universe

The Doctor is just like us. (If you are autistic and have ADHD and abandonment issues lol)

The Doctor and unconditional love and forgiveness at the cost of their moral stability, especially for the Master, their original sin and greatest exception

The Master

The Master as the fallen angel, golden child of god who desired power/attention for themself who turned to evil

Missy, the Lumiat, and returning to “the light”

Rogue child of god who didn’t fit the mold, questioned the authority of the one true god

Satan and the Master as a figure of lesser power and status rising in prominence to rival the influence of the God that created them

Power corrupting someone who just wanted to be important

A seductive figure that tricks and tempts the Good Guys and engages their dark side

The Master, Cyber Time Lords, and “Satan cannot create as God does, only warp their creations” (Tolkien has entered the chat)

Best Enemies, Worst Soulmates

We all know the Jesus/Judas thing, but what about Jesus/Antichrist, or God/Satan

The Antichrist as a foil for Jesus and Satan as a foil for God

The deal with Death and how the Doctor could have become the Master and vice verse, even should have been before he intervened in their fates

Theta’s first sins, murder and deception and betrayal, revolved around Koschei

Anti soulmate trope: Linked by fate, destined to battle forever, could have been happy together under different circumstances, soulmates are made not found

Regeneration and the inherent holiness of transformation and being trans (not relevant but trans rights!)

They are THE narrative foils and power couple above everyone else in the Whoniverse come onnnn

In a tragically ironic sense, they’re the only ones who can fully relate to and comprehend each other, even after how much their paths have diverged.

The Doctor humbles the Master, the Master keeps the Doctor grounded to their Gallifreyan roots.

Good Always Wins, love is redeeming. The Doctor helps the Master see beauty and love in the world through their unconditional love for them.

I hope, in the distant future, the show ends with a more morally gray Doctor and a domesticated Master happily in love, running away to the stars together, never to be seen again.

They’re totally endgame guys trust me (I’m delusional.)

Feel free to add! I’d love to hear what other parallels people find. And what glaringly obvious things I missed…

[poetic-child-of-night]

Papa,

I never had a cognition of such before but today when i looked in the mirror i felt as if i was seeking something. maybe something profound i can write about, maybe something pretentious i can brag about, maybe i was looking for my own faults or maybe i was looking at a bleak 20 year old chap looking for meaning from nothing.

Amidst all these maybes i saw a reflection not entirely my own. It met my gaze with kinder eyes steeped in wisdom. It was a warm soul yet a cold exterior, a bold authoritarian with tenderness of a nurturing forest - a paradox, one might say.

It was reflection of days yet to come and yet of days that have gone by, much like the timeless rhythms of the river. Inside the mirror stood a man - blurry to my vision yet unmistakably clear to my heart. It embraced my blue with his somber simple arms. A perpetual radiant smile evermore brushed around as if his face were a canvas upon which the bold strokes of vibrant colors danced, like a meadow painted with the hues of lotus.

The man in the mirror bathed with the grace of moonlight, glowing even in the darkest hours. Someone with Shiva’s unwavering resolve interwoven with Vishnu’s playful innocence in his soul.

I looked at the man, we were moulded of the same mud and blood. I looked at the man long enough till tears swelled up. I beheld you, dear Father, with an intensity that brought tears to my eyes, tears of reverence, much like the sacred rain of Indra. I beheld the man who bore the weight of responsibilities and, in the same breath, offered solutions with unwavering resolve,

And yet, despite being etched from the same fabric, I knew our threads would forever weave tapestries distinct. Our tapestries, though similar in hue, would hold unique patterns, intricate designs born from the tapestry of experiences we called life. I may never fully grasp the tapestry you have woven, the struggles you have faced, the joys you have savored.

Our thoughts, though born from the same wellspring, might never converge, mirroring the paths we walk, ever diverging even as they run parallel.

But Father, know this, even if I cannot walk in your shoes, I see the footprints you have left behind

I looked at you just like you did for your father before. I looked at you just like you did for your father before.