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morethansky · 5 months

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***TBB FINALE SPOILERS***

"The Cavalry Has Arrived" aka MY OTP IS CANON NOW

A truly absurd amount of meta and thoughts and screaming under the cut:

Overall

• I...loved it????? This is the biggest plot twist of all for me. Like I've said incessantly, I've had so many issues with the writing choices for this show, and I'm so grateful the brainrot set in so I could start watching it through a fandom lens and have way more fun with it than through a media critic lens and being a hater. But like...that was actually really satisfying to me within the parameters of where the show had led to in the last four episodes??

• As everyone on the planet probably knows by now, I would've been much happier if this show had led to the Batch choosing to do the right thing and joining the clone resistance, and if we never get another clone series, I will continue to be unbearable and salty about the lost potential of telling that story. But after Echo left and we stopped following his story, I gave that hope up. And ofc nothing about my criticism of this season is invalidated. But given the pieces on the board, I'd pretty wholeheartedly give the finale my stamp of approval!

• I'm ultimately glad that this show ended on a "We don't leave our own behind" note, because that's the clone energy and general Star Wars energy I'm looking for, and they did a great job of applying that theme to every non-villain in this episode, minor and unnamed characters included—but it's still so darkly funny for them to have continued to push this idea even though the first season is literally about them leaving their own behind and moving on. And then Crosshair calls them out on it. And then he just...leaves himself behind. Even in their first appearance in TCW, the Batch's entire vibe is that they keep trying to convince Rex to leave his own behind lmao. I just feel like the show wanted this adage to tie everything together, but then forgot to keep applying it somewhere along the way. But hurrah for this abundant use of it!

• My overall biggest criticism was that even within this one episode we got back on the rescue/captured/rescue/captured treadmill. It's the biggest plot crutch of the show. It's so goofy that Omega and Echo rescued both the children and the imprisoned clones by themselves. The setup made it so that by going to rescue Omega, Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair actually put her in more danger. And because they were there, more clones died, wtf!! But I do like the narrative flip—Echo and Omega were both saved by the Batch in their introductions in this era, and here are they are being the ones to save them in return. Omega and Echo also are the characters in the main cast who deserve the rescuer plotline the most, since they have been consistently portrayed as helping those in need no matter what.

• Hilariously, one of the most pivotal roles that the Forest Trio plays in regards to the GFFA at large is that they were essentially Rampart's rideshare drivers, thus enabling him to be there and force Nala Se not to hesitate to destroy Project Necromancer.

Rampart and Nala Se

• Hemlock saying his work makes him indispensable is fantastic dialogue; it just seems like some dickish thing he would say to shit on Rampart, but it ends up giving Rampart the idea to try to leverage his work to become indispensable himself, and in saying that line, Hemlock ushers his own ruin!!! This is the kind of script work I've been begging for.

• Also I was so right about Rampart being like a Kallus foil! That infamous shot of him in his sad, sterile room after Bahryn is mirrored here with Rampart sitting in pretty much the same position, except his path is the opposite from Kallus's.

• They did an EXCELLENT job with Rampart's fate. I was worried they were neutering him these last couple eps, even if the comedy was gold, but this was very well done. Everything that happens leading up to his death makes complete sense for his character, and it accomplishes the very key plot point of destroying Tantiss. At the start of the season I couldn't figure out how and why the Batch was going to end up delaying Project Necromancer for like thirty years, so I feel validated that they pretty much don't. Very typical of this show to not have the protagonists do the heroic work, but fuck it, I like this instance.

• The humanizing of Nala Se in this show has always been a bit of an interesting choice given that this is feels like such a direct successor to TCW and she was so clearly a villain there. But although they don't quite redeem her, her motivations and her fate were also artfully executed here. Her conversation with Omega pretty much takes into account every Nala Se scene in this show, which is a great way to wrap her character up. And I really like the mirror of Nala Se giving Omega her datapad in the season premiere, and Omega giving Nala Se a datapad here. Both times, Nala Se is determined to set Omega free.

• And I'm so glad there was a follow-up to the destruction of Kamino as well! Nala Se getting a bit of revenge against one of the beings responsible for the genocide of her people and destruction of her homeworld is not something I expected at all, and I love it. And the setup of Nala Se picking up the detonator and Rampart picking up the blaster is just fantastic, because you know from just those two shots that Rampart is willing to kill to gain Palpatine's favor for himself, and Nala Se is willing to die to make sure the being she loves will be free.

Echo and Omega supremacy

• Give me an Echo-led rebel show where he convinces all sorts of people in the Empire and the underworld to defect/help them, please!!! He's so good at it, completing Emerie's turn so efficiently! We have to assume Rex is also good at it given his cell and that he has clone spies and even undercover agents, but every time he sees Hunter he has tried and failed to recruit him lmao. Also REX'S NAMEDROP but him not showing up surely means...we'll see a continuation of his story soon after this...right??? Also this means Howzer still lives, oh, thank god.

• "Because it's exactly what I would do." Strategist Echo comeback yessss!! A nice little callback to the Techno Union arc that kicked this story off as well. And HELL YEAH Omega's relationship with Echo is my favorite out of all of her connections, and I'm living for their spotlight together this ep. I'm extremely invested in found family stories not relying on nuclear family narratives, and I love that you see throughout the show that Echo doesn't "raise" Omega like a kid—he trains her like a cadet. Like someone who he intends to be his equal, which is a nice and very appreciated contrast to others treating her like a precious sheltered baby.

• Their goodbye scene in "Truth and Consequences" is one of my favorites in the show, and I just adore that when Omega is upset, Echo doesn't coddle her—he reminds her of her duty to watch over the others, giving her a purpose and a reason to stand tall. When he conveys that he was worried about her and thinking of her while she was captured, he gifts her a weapon he designed and made for her during that time, so that she won't have to be defenseless after being defenseless for so long in captivity. It's so clone trooper, and I love it and the glimpses these details give us about clone culture and how the older clones cared for the shinies and the cadets and showed their love for each other.

• I also liked that Omega couldn't have escaped without Tech's training, since slicing was so vital. And all her stealthy stabbing is of course reminiscent of Hunter. And finally some emotional payoff for the ongoing bit about Wrecker being afraid of heights! I'm weak for inspirational Star Wars quotes, and this show hasn't had many, but "Just stay focused on what's ahead, not what's below," is a lovely one.

Forest conversations, my beloved

• The Kiners scored the fuck out of this episode!!! So many clever, thoughtful reprises. This is the first reappearance of Crosshair's theme that's played on the synths since he began healing! And then it segues into a soft violin tremolo version that makes me cry, and then it intertwines with "The Sacrifice" from Tech's death, ouchhhh. I have a lot of meta I need to write out about the tracks "The Reunion" and "They Always Work It Out" and how they say so much about Hunter and Crosshair, but I can't believe how well my analysis paid off in the cues in this scene! More on that in another post.

• Gosh, Wrecker's injury scared the shit out of me. But I love him so much and I'm glad he got at least a little moment, even if he didn't really have a story arc here. Or you know, in the entire damn show. And I ultimately liked that the purpose of it wasn't just to freak us out but to give them a plausible disadvantage and to give Crosshair someone to fuss over the whole time and act more recklessly because of it, thus reiterating this key character trait of his.

• I love Crosshair being worried about Wrecker and Hunter and them being worried about Crosshair. That's the squad content I crave and have been missing!! Unfortunate that it specifically has been happening when Omega is out of the picture. Writers, I swear to you, you can do both.

• Can't believe it took another half season for someone to say something about Tech's death, and it was Crosshair, who wasn't even there?? Cool line and sentiment, but man, so frustrating. I like this callback to his conversation with Rampart, though. "Depends on who's giving them" and in this first act he keeps trying to give those orders himself. Thinking of Rex on Umbara: "We're not programmed. You have to learn to make your own decisions."

• God the forest conversations in this ep and the previous one fed me so much. Hunter saying, "And so do those clones" had me literally jumping out of my seat and cheering. Baby boy, it took you so goddamn long, but thank you for finally actually giving a shit before the conclusion of your story. And "It's what I deserve," hnghhh that's the good shit, and it hearkens back perfectly to "I belong in here." And Hunter immediately telling Crosshair hell no made me very happy. And then later Hunter saying "Crosshair—" when he's worried Crosshair is still going to sacrifice himself, but Crosshair reassures him that he'll be right behind them... My heart! What a Crosshunt feast we got in this ep!!!

• Can't believe we also got so many Crosswrecker moments from the get-go and they kept coming! And my three precious little Techwrecker crumbs: the way Crosshair specifically chooses Wrecker to say the cutting remark about Tech to; the way Wrecker bows his head because that was right on target; and Wrecker being the one to watch Tech fall and to scream, "Don't do it, Tech!" in "Plan 99" yet the one to say with such conviction here, "We've always known the risks. And so did Tech." That's just so...finally accepting your beloved is gone ;_; Not really deserved by the text, which kept all but a total of like maybe one total minute of mourning off screen for some fucking reason, but.

Clone X, more like Clone Sexy

• There aren't nearly as many Clone X dudes as I expected?? I guess Crosshair's situation wasn't that rare after all? Or do they just run through them super quickly because Rex's team keeps taking them down?? Regardless, god, THEY ARE ALL SO SEXY. The way they animated their movements was so creepy and hot. And them not speaking was so eerie, I loved it. And then the moment that CX-2 did was so effective and terrifying!!! But remembering that those were clones in there is so, so heartbreaking.

• I really like that Echo really felt like both a clone trooper AND the resistance agent he is now this whole episode, and Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair actually briefly got to feel like commandos. The slick stealth and silent communication was also very sexy.

• MY GOD, I loved these action scenes. They were lit and choreographed so cool, they were super intense and had real consequences and close brushes with death, and the logic of the fight flow was really good, too. A character being incapacitated because they went to try to help an ally is always a wonderful driving force for action and gives it that crucial character-driven element that raises the stakes, and is great for making sure the main characters aren't too OP, and there was a ton of that here.

• Hunter and Wrecker getting shot by laser cannons and Hunter pushing Wrecker away from the blast made me shriek in terror AND THEN CROSSHAIR SHOOTING THE PILOT DEAD ON NO HESITATION NO ANXIETY NO TREMOR BECAUSE HOW DARE YOU HURT MY HUSBAND I'M FUCKING LIVINGGG. And then Wrecker stumbling over to Hunter and lifting the debris like he does in TCW. Boom, three pivotal character-driven action scenes in a row that divulge a key characteristic of each character! Excellently written and directed.

• Also I am SO SO SO HAPPY that we're getting to see this protective Crosshair come out in full force!!! This is the Crosshair who risked his life to try to save Mayday, who shouted hysterically when Hunter fell into the ice and was so desperate to get him out, who worried over Omega on Teth. I also really like this contrast with how he was about Echo—"Echo's on it." He knows Echo will get the job done and be safe and that's despite his former prejudice against regs. He's worried about Hunter and Wrecker and that's despite previously spending time trying to hunt them down. And when he suffers consequences, it's because of him worrying about them, and that's so delicious.

• Finally got to hear Crosshair screaming! And Hunter was already the screamer in this show, but goddamn does he get to scream in this episode. Thank you, directors, for this whump material! My man Steward Lee never lets me down.

• THE WAY THAT WHEN CROSSHAIR IS TRYING TO SAVE WRECKER HE REACHES FOR A DC-17 OMG!!!! I feel so validated! And just like with Mayday, he's incapacitated afterward...

• God the way CX-2 waits to be tossed the vibrosword and then leans down with it while Crosshair is already incapacitated is SO brutal, like this is not a battle injury. It's straight up what Anakin fucking Skywalker does to Count Dooku just before he becomes a Sith Lord, like holy shit, dude. This scene is so cool and I've watched it 10,000 times over the past 24 hours, but also why did he do that lol, is he just supposed to be particularly cruel?? Obsessed with tormenting Crosshair for some reason?? Also, these vibroswords are exactly how I've pictured Ahsoka's being in A Future for Us :D

• At this point I was like, uhhh, the messaging of Crosshair struggling with this psychomatic hand tremor since the first episode of the season and then the symptom literally being taken out of his........hands sure is a Choice, especially coupled with how they've treated Echo (or you know, not). When they showed him still with the symptoms later, I was very relieved, AND THEN HUNTER LITERALLY CURES CROSSHAIR THROUGH THE POWER OF THE LOVE AND FAITH AND TRUST HE HAS FOR HIM IS THERE ANYTHING MORE BEAUTIFUL IN THE WORLD???? But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Echo is the GOAT

• "You were helping us, Dr. Karr?" / "I am." I love this subtle line and how Emerie acknowledges that she wasn't sure of her loyalties before but is certain now. And I love that she says such a clone trooper thing, "You have my word," and then doing the clone shoulder pat, especially in direct contrast to the natborn kids hugging Omega just before.

• "Hey, kids. ...And other kids." is just so fucking 501st, I can't explain it. I'm just so ecstatic that they did Echo such justice in the end, giving a nod to everything about his character, even his dorkass cadet personality. And it wasn't just so he could die, thank god!!!

• Like Echo even got a DARTH VADER homage??? That's his mass-murdering general (affectionate). More on this here!

• Also is there anything more Big Dick Energy in the world than Echo eviscerating Rampart—who either the clones would recognize as a former vice admiral or at least see his captain rank plaque—with what may not be a theme this show really earned but is ABSOLUTELY a theme that Echo deserves and has shouldered for over two seasons...and then just straight up shoving him out of the way so that he can talk to his brothers???? And with his stormtrooper helmet—which is like Echo refusing to dirty his hands (including his new, long-awaited one) by touching Rampart oh my god??? Sexiest man alive.

• So the answer is no, there isn't. Fives is hollering from the afterlife. Half those clones immediately developed a crush on him in that moment. That one clone later placing a blaster in Echo's arms so gently confirmed this for me (remember the symbolism of Echo making the energy crossbow for Omega? He even gives her his borrowed blaster in this scene), but it's so sad that he died because of it, whyyy.

• Also I love the "Clones don't leave our brothers behind" riff on the "We don't leave our own behind" adage. It's very fitting that Hunter would put it that way because he only means his squad (+/-1), whereas Echo would see it as meaning his people.

• And I love how when Rampart first shoves Echo, the clone in front that Echo's been talking to prickles and makes brief eye contact with him, to be like, "Should we take him? I've got your back." I felt that girls (gender neutral) in the bathroom energy so hard.

• The clones helping each other out of their cells made me so emotional. And it's the same way that Hunter and Crosshair do later...

• Echo asking for volunteers, just like Rex did on Umbara..................

• I think this post is breaking and I'm still only two-thirds of the way through my rewatch, oops. And yesterday I stayed up until 8 a.m. after I put it on again after watching it for the first time... I'm so normal about this show. More tomorrow!

• Part 2!

#the bad batch spoilers #tbb spoilers #this ended up being 3k of me gushing about echo sorry not sorry #love of my life #amph talks #the bad batch #star wars

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tamrielic · 5 months

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pairing – kaeya alberich × gn!reader

fandom | media – genshin impact

word count – 3,919・AO3・sequel

summary – y’all know that trope when a character gets injured in some way and it inevitably leads to someone, if not both of them, fully realizing and basically confessing their undying love to each other? this is that

The sudden shock of silence following the defeat of the camp of hilichurls that Jean had sent you and the Cavalry Captain to clear out almost made your ears ring. Gasping for air, your sword arm trembled as you lowered it and your eyes frantically flit around the area, finally settling on a white tuft of fur that could only be the part of Kaeya’s cape visible around the side of a rocky outcrop that he’d undoubtedly ducked behind for cover. Your feet were moving before you even realized it, and suddenly you were kneeling right beside him.

“Kaeya?” Your voice sounded more wrecked than you thought it would, but at the moment you really couldn’t bring yourself to care. He let out a soft groan, slightly glazed eyes slowly fluttering open only to immediately focus on your face.

“Not exactly the fun and excitement that I had planned for today.” He joked, the left corner of his mouth turning up as he reached a hand up to feel the damage to his head.

Gently slapping his hand away, you chided. “Don’t touch it, you’re bleeding.” After grabbing your bag and rifling around in it for a moment you produced a clean rag and your trusty waterskin, quickly wetting the rag slightly before beginning to delicately wipe away the blood that was close to dripping down into his uncovered eye. Flinching, he grumbled again but remained focused on you as you worked to make him presentable.

“It’s not deep at all so you’ll be fine, but it’s a head wound so it bleeds a lot. I’ll do what I can for it and then we’ll head back and get you looked at by someone with legitimate medical experience.” You rambled, shaken up from seeing him get hit in the head with the blunt end of a polearm. He made a non-committal grunt as you finished up, and you quickly reached for your healing salve and smeared a small amount over the gash on his temple.

Completing your job of cleaning him up, you folded up the bloodied rag and shoved it and the salve back into your bag without giving them a second thought. Reaching for his arm, you slowly coaxed him up to a standing position. He sighed, nodding his head at you once he was steady on his feet.

“Thank you, Traveler — I’m so lucky to have my own personal healer.” He joked.

“I’m glad your sense of humor is still in tact, at least.” You replied with a worried smile, glancing up at him. Blinking slowly in what appeared to be confusion, he reached his hand up and smoothed away the crease that had been between your brows that you hadn’t even realized was there and then his hand dropped and caught something wet on your cheek.

“Tears? What, were you truly worried about me that much?” He teased in what was undoubtedly an attempt to deflect from his visible discomfort, lips turning up into that ridiculous smirk that never failed to simultaneously make you very irritated and uncomfortably flustered — albeit it was a fake and strained version of it. Huffing in embarrassment at having been caught crying without even having been aware of it, you reached up and grabbed his hand in one of your own.

“I always worry about you, especially when you throw yourself in harm’s way to protect me from a blow that I would’ve easily countered.” You snapped, unknowingly grasping his hand a little tighter.

His expression froze and unfocused for a brief moment, and if you hadn’t been working alongside him for months you would have missed it entirely, because then it was gone — his gaze suddenly intently focused on your own.

“Oh? Far be it from me to ensure that Teyvat’s beloved and revered Traveler doesn’t perish due to an unsuspecting blow from a mighty hilichurl.”

Scowling at him, you rebuked. “I can take care of myself you know, and I’d much rather I get hurt than you — you’re the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius after all. I’m just some random person from another world who’s lost and is, unfortunately, a pushover and cares for people and helps them however I can—” you stopped, aware that you were starting to ramble again.

Sighing, he dislodged his hand from your own and crossed his arms, returning your scowl at your long-winded explanation.

“Believe me, I’m fully aware of those insufferable traits of yours. You have acquired some fancy titles yourself, you know, and should try just a bit harder to not get killed.”

Mirroring his pose, you remarked. “Pot, kettle.”

Shrugging his shoulders and exhaling heavily, he dropped his arms to his sides, glancing to the side and grumbling. “Touché.”

Blinking in surprise, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Wow, that hit must have affected your head more than I thought if you’re giving up arguing with me already. You’re usually much more stubborn and opinionated than this.”

“What can I say, I—” He started to reply while turning to begin walking away, but suddenly stumbled a bit and threw his hand out and caught himself against a tree.

You were suddenly struck by the realization that your joking words may have been more truthful than you’d wanted them to be, and you ran over and wrapped your arm around his waist to help hold him up. “Kaeya!”

His eyes were closed tightly as he fought to regain his balance, slumped against the tree. “I’m fine, Mondstadt isn’t too far from here — I can make it.”

“Stop being so damned stubborn and let me help you, you ridiculous man.” You argued, gently pulling him to lean into you as soon as he felt steady enough to do so.

He didn’t reply, just kept his eyes focused on the ground in front of him as you both slowly but surely made your way back towards the city.

The next afternoon you leaned against the wall outside of Kaeya’s office, anxiously biting your lip and waiting for Jean and the doctor she had called to check on him to be finished. Suddenly the door opened and the aforementioned persons stepped out, closing the door behind them as the doctor turned to give both you and Jean a nod before heading out. Jean sighed and gave you a meaningful look that you weren’t sure how to interpret.

“He’s being difficult, of course, refusing to rest and claiming it isn’t serious even though he still has a headache and is obviously tired. Maybe you can talk some sense into him, he has a soft spot for you.” She said, smiling knowingly and turning to walk back to her office before you could reply.

Shaking your head, you wondered at what she’d said — you weren’t so sure about his supposed “soft spot” but it was worth a shot, at least. Sighing in frustration, you turned and knocked once before opening the door to his office, quickly stepping in and shutting it behind you.

Kaeya glanced up with a blank expression, doing a double-take once he realized it was you. “Oh? To what do I owe the pleasure of our Honorary Knight visiting me?” He joked, attention immediately going back down to the papers he was reading — though you couldn’t help but to notice that his expression seemed rather drained and his voice sounded a bit strained as well. You also noted that he wasn’t dressed as fancy or as much as usual, having decided to forgo his jacket, vest, and cape — leaving him in just his billowy low-cut white shirt and corset; his regular gloves, pants, and boots remaining the same.

“I was worried about you.” You spoke softly before summoning your courage and walking over to stand in front of his desk, trying but failing to keep your eyes focused on his face and not on his exposed collarbone or on the gorgeous skin of the sinful bit of his pectorals that were peeking out of his shirt.

He briefly glanced back up at your face, but you noticed he hadn’t yet made any actual eye contact with you. “I’m fine, no need to be concerned.”

“Kaeya. I know you’re a busy man, but you can’t just ignore the fact that you suffered from a legitimate head wound not even twenty-four hours ago.”

He snorted softly, then unexpectedly stood up and strode over to stare out the window behind his desk. “Aren’t you supposed to be heading out to Liyue Harbor today? Something about needing to assist a certain Mister Zhongli with something or other?”

You stared at the back of his head in disbelief. He wasn’t wrong, but Zhongli would understand — you never gave him a specific time or day you’d arrive anyways, just that it’d be at the end of the week.

Frowning and abruptly becoming filled with an intense surge of frustration, you stormed over to him and grasped both of his arms, sharply turning him to face you.

Gasping softly and staring at you in bewilderment, Kaeya opened his mouth to undoubtedly call you out on your rash behavior, but before he could get a sound out you allowed the strong emotions flooding your mind to guide yourself to let go of him and instead you threw your arms around him, yanking him into you and grasping at the back of his shirt like it was a lifeline.

Inhaling shakily, not used to being this impulsive, you noted that he smelled faintly of dandelions, parchment, and something else, something hard to describe — crisp like the smell of the cold air in mid-winter, almost sharp and bitter like the smell of freshly picked mint. Which made sense, actually, considering he had a cryo vision. You couldn’t help but take another deep breath, trying to memorize his scent.

He froze in your arms, breath stuttering and eyes wide and staring down at the top of your head. He held his hands up behind you, not sure whether to pull you off of him or to give in and wrap himself around your smaller and softer form.

Sighing, you leaned your head back enough so that you could finally make eye contact with him - still clinging to the back of his shirt, hands fisted in the material. You unintentionally wet your lips briefly before beginning to say something, but you ended up inhaling sharply as his attention immediately zeroed in on your mouth, Adam’s apple bobbing with his throat as he swallowed. His eye quickly darted back to your own, wide with apprehension.

You gazed at each other for what felt like ages but was likely only one minute. Eventually, you sighed once more and reluctantly released his shirt from one hand, reaching up to delicately cup the side of his face in your hand, your thumb softly caressing his cheekbone.

“I have grown to care for you far more than you’re aware, Kaeya. I knew it before yesterday happened, but seeing you genuinely hurt seems to have flipped a switch in me. I can’t help but worry about your well-being. I… I can’t lose you.” Your eyes grew wet with unshed tears as you continued to stare into his uncovered eye.

“I have to find my brother, yes, and it’s almost inevitable that I will have to leave this world behind eventually, but you… Kaeya, you are… magnificent.” You breathed the last word, becoming overwhelmed with the strength of your emotions.

He released a shuddering breath, closing what little distance was between you and resting his forehead against your own, his face turning softer and his eye heavy-lidded. “I normally take pride in my quick wit… at the moment I don’t know what to say but… thank you.” He whispered hoarsely, the tip of his nose nuzzling against yours and his breath warm against your lips as he followed up his statement with a faint smile and a chuckle that you could feel from where your chest was still pressed against his.

“No need to thank me, Captain. Archon’s know you need somebody to help keep you in line, and I’m honored for it to be me.” You murmured, eyes and mouth smiling as you allowed yourself to continue to be impetuous and rocked upwards to kiss his jawline softly as your hand slid up so you could tangle your fingers in the soft hair at the top of his neck.

He hummed in response, chuckling again and finally, finally giving in and wrapping his arms around you, pulling you even closer to him so that his lips rested against your hairline. Threading his fingers in your hair, he breathed deeply while he let himself indulge in being close to someone for the first time in… well, much longer than he’d like to admit.

Both of you remained embracing each other and breathing each other in, neither one wanting to pull away out of fear that it would break this fragile moment.

Unfortunately, privacy is a rarity in the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius, and the door to Kaeya’s office was suddenly thrown open as Klee burst in. “Captain Kaeya, can I—” She stopped, eyes widening as she witnessed you practically fling yourself away from Kaeya, hurriedly turning to face the bookshelves to hide your burning face. His arms remained outstretched towards you for a moment, his mind — still somewhat slow and damaged from his injury — not understanding why you were no longer close to him before he abruptly came to his senses and sighed and turned to Klee, crossing his arms with a raised eyebrow.

Her pointed ears twitched, eyes flickering between you both, her mouth hanging open and the bag of little bombs she had almost falling off of her shoulder in her silent confusion.

“Klee! Get back here, if Master Jean catches you trying to blast the fish in the lake again you’ll be in even bigger trouble than you already are!” You could hear Amber hissing loudly, running into the office and setting her hand on top of Klee’s head.

Klee nodded, still staring almost cluelessly at both you and Kaeya. Amber seemed to sense that they had interrupted something, eyes gaining a faintly smug look to them as she hurriedly ushered Klee and her bulging sack of fish bombs out the door.

“Sorry, sorry — kids these days, you know?” She remarked, grinning and not so subtly winking at you as she backed out of the room and the door shut once again with a click.

Flustered and embarrassed, you whimpered quietly as your hands tried to cover your face that felt like it was flaming from how flushed you were.

Kaeya quickly stepped over to the door and twisted the lock, immediately turning back to face you. He observed you as you continued to try and hide your face for a brief moment and then laughed, a genuine one that was light and happy and it had you instantly jerking your head towards him to see that he was smiling widely, his face slightly flushed just as yours was. Seeing and hearing him be so purely full of joy had your heart feeling like it was going to burst out of your chest.

“Perks of being one of Klee’s favorite people, I suppose.” He chuckled, sauntering over and setting a hand on the bookshelf above your head and leaning over you with a lopsided smirk, effectively commanding the entirety of your attention once again with the intensity of emotions swirling in his uncovered eye. “Now, where were we?”

You fiddled with your fingers and giggled, but unfortunately it came out sounding shaky and nervous due to your flustered emotions following the harsh interruption and his sudden flirty disposition — not that it was something you’d never witnessed before, it just hadn’t ever been directed so blatantly at you — and close proximity.

Noticing your anxious response, his smirk vanished and his eye seemed to shutter, and he immediately took a small step back from you. “I’m sorry, was that too much?” He asked, shifting as if to move even further away.

Your heart lurched at his reaction and you lunged forward, hands flying up to grasp his sleeves and pull him back to you — unfortunately, he hadn’t been expecting that at all and staggered into you from the force of your grasp, causing you to stumble as well and fall back into the bookshelf.

Luckily Kaeya’s reflexes were sharp enough for him to have grabbed the back of your head before it had the chance to bash into the shelving, and you both stared at each other for a moment, incredulous.

You snorted, reaching up and covering the bottom half of your face with your hands in mortification at the loud sound but unable to stop laughing. Kaeya’s face lit up once again and his genuine laughter joined yours for a moment before his smile grew soft and features grew serious again as his hand pulled your own down and away from your face.

“Don’t ever hide from me, please.” He chided, his face and intense eye contact imploring you to listen to him.

Slowly settling down from your mirth, you playfully grumbled and shook your head with a smirk. “You’re one to talk, Captain.”

“That’s true enough, but… I’d like that to change. With you, if you’ll allow me.” He murmured, nudging his nose against yours just like he had earlier.

You inhaled sharply, suddenly unable to focus on anything but his mouth, watching the corner of his lips twitch upwards as he noticed your distraction.

“May I?” He breathed, his tone bordering on pleading as he leaned even closer still.

Words completely abandoned you as you stared at him, his absurdly handsome face so near to your own that you could see that he had a very faint smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose. His eyebrow quirked up as you remained silent, head tilting ever so slightly to the side in question.

Finally fully realizing what he wanted, you breathed shakily and reached up to grasp the back of his neck as you suddenly pulled his face down to meet his lips with yours, breaths mingling as he hummed into the kiss, lips twitching up into a soft smile.

Your heart felt like it was going to burst once again, but out of the depth of emotion you felt for this beautiful, wonderful man rather than out of shock and dismay. Your eyes again grew wet with tears as you processed just how much you desperately cared for him, how much you loved him, this man you’d only known for a few months but had felt inexplicably drawn to since the moment you first met.

His long fingers tangled in your hair and he protested with a soft growl when you pulled away only for it to turn into a very faint whimper when you leaned up and began kissing the various features of his face. You let your lips softly caress the corners of his mouth, the tip of his nose, the eyelid of his closed eye, the surface of his eyepatch, the small bandage covering the wound at his hairline. He let out a shaky breath and his hands dropped to your hips, fingers gently kneading the soft flesh there as he basked in your affections.

You finally returned to his lips, becoming bold enough to run the tip of your tongue along his bottom lip in your need to taste him. Groaning and grasping at your hips a bit harder, he took the initiative and his tongue slid along yours while you whimpered and trembled in response.

He tasted like the sparkling dandelion wine he favored so much, and it was completely intoxicating.

Eventually, you both broke away to gasp for air, your eyes fluttering open and witnessing Kaeya’s one visible eye already focused on you intently and having darkened with a feeling you knew but were too flustered to name — you couldn’t help but be totally bewitched by his appearance and the depth of emotion you could see in his face as you both caught your breath.

“I feel like this escalated rather quickly…” You breathed, voice husky from the intense kiss.

Kaeya’s eye darkened even more at the sound of your voice, eyes glancing down to your lips again before his brain processed what you’d said.

“Ah, yes. We should probably… slow down.” He admitted, his voice also hoarse and low, a bashful crooked smirk making one of his dimples stand out. You reached up and poked at it with a huge lovesick grin, causing him to chuckle and grab your hand to place a quick kiss on the inside of your wrist before intertwining your fingers with his.

“We should take things slow, but can we… stay close like this? For just a little while longer?” You asked, trying not to sound like you were begging… even though you kind of were.

Kaeya pretended to be deep in thought in response to your question before he turned and pulled you along until he was in front of the cushioned window seat between bookshelves. Sitting down, he waggled his eyebrows at you as he patted his lap in suggestion, faintly wincing when the movement of his facial muscles made his head wound twinge in mild discomfort.

Your eyebrows rose in surprise, a short awkward laugh escaping you. You shifted on your feet self-consciously, biting your lip. “I’m not exactly the lightest—” Kaeya rolled his eyes and put his hands on your waist, pulling you down onto his lap as you let out a small shriek and quickly situated your knees on either side of his hips so as not to crush him.

“None of that now, my dearest darling requested more cuddles and what kind of man would I be if I refused them?” He scolded, wrapping his arms around your waist and pressing your bodies together as he dropped a quick kiss on your forehead.

Blushing, you hid your face in the crook of his neck and grumbled at him as his hands caressed your back and he leaned back into the pillows that were piled on the window seat.

“So I’m your ‘dearest darling’ now?” You teased once you finally managed to calm down your fluttering heart. Kaeya smiled against your forehead and hummed, “Is that acceptable?”

You kissed his neck and reached to wrap your arms around it in response, your bodies pressed as close as possible. “If I’m being honest… I’ve been yours since the second I laid eyes on you, Kaeya Alberich.”

He seemed to cling to you then, hands fisting themselves in your shirt and his heart pounding — you could feel it from how close you were, and yours was beating in time with his.

“As I’ve been yours.” He whispered, fists unclenching and his hands smoothing your shirt before one tangled itself in your hair to hold your face to him and the other went back to grasping your hip.

You smiled and closed your eyes that were tearing up again, and once you both snuggled into each other and got more comfortable you were both content to lay there and hold each other.

The rest of the world and all of your problems and promises could wait, right now you both needed this — relaxing in the arms of the one you love and allowing yourself to feel and accept all of the strong emotions that come with that.

#𖹭 – kayleigh.writes #genshin impact #genshin #kaeya #kaeya alberich #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #kaeya x reader #kaeya alberich x reader #gn!reader #gender neutral reader #genshin impact x gn!reader #genshin x gn!reader #genshin impact x gender neutral reader #genshin x gender neutral reader #kaeya x gn!reader #kaeya alberich x gn!reader #kaeya x gender neutral reader #kaeya alberich x gender neutral reader

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whencyclopedia · 5 months

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Battle of Thymbra

The Battle of Thymbra (547 BCE) was the decisive engagement between Cyrus II (the Great, r. c. 550-530 BCE) of Persia and Croesus (r. 560-546 BCE), King of Lydia. The Persian victory ended the Kingdom of Lydia, which was then absorbed into the Persian empire, and enabled Cyrus to expand his territories and fully establish the Achaemenid Empire.

Croesus had arranged the marriage of his sister, Aryenis, to the king of the Medes, Astyages (r. 585-550 BCE), and maintained a cordial relationship with the Median kingdom, agreeing on the Halys River as the border between their territories. When Cyrus overthrew Astyages in c. 550 BCE, Croesus saw an opportunity to enrich himself while protecting his kingdom against possible Persian aggression and so launched a military campaign across the Halys.

An inconclusive battle was fought between the armies of Croesus and Cyrus at Pteria, and Croesus then retreated to his capital city of Sardis where he disbanded much of his army for the winter season, as was customary, and expected Cyrus to do the same. According to Xenophon (l. 430-c. 354 BCE), Cyrus was advised to follow suit by his advisers but chose instead to press on to an attack, marching on Sardis and meeting Croesus on the field of Thymbra.

Cyrus dispersed the Lydian cavalry by placing camels at the front of his army, which frightened the Lydians’ horses, and then drove his own cavalry through the breaks in the ranks, defeating Croesus and driving him back into the city. After a fourteen-day siege, Sardis fell, and Croesus was captured.

The battle is often cited as one of the most important in history as it put an end to Lydia, previously the richest and most powerful kingdom in Asia Minor, which was allied with Babylon. Once Lydia was conquered, Cyrus was able to take Babylon by 539 BCE, bringing Mesopotamia under Persian control, and founding the Achaemenid Empire.

Sources & Strengths

The main sources on the battle are the Greek writers Herodotus (l. c. 484-425/413 BCE) and Xenophon though the fall of Sardis under Croesus is also addressed by Ctesias (l. 5th century BCE). Herodotus’ account in his Histories I.79-81 and I.84 is considered accurate while Xenophon’s, from his Cyropaedia (The Education of Cyrus, 2.1.6 and 7.1.23-28) is understood as a semi-fictionalized account based on earlier works. Xenophon’s account is still recognized as reliable at points although the numbers he gives for the armies have been challenged.

According to Xenophon, Cyrus was vastly outnumbered at Thymbra, leading 200,000 men against Croesus’ army of 420,000. It is more likely that Cyrus had between 20,000-50,000 and Croesus, even though he had sent home his mercenaries, twice that number, possibly over 100,000.

The Persian army was made up primarily of Persians with mercenaries from Armenia, Arabia, and Media and included infantry, cavalry, camel cavalry (seemingly a last-minute decision on Cyrus’ part), archers, slingers, 300 war chariots, and at least five siege towers. The Lydian army consisted of Lydian cavalry as well as infantry mercenaries from Babylon, Cappadocia, Egypt, and Phrygia. Croesus also had archers, slingers, and around 300 war chariots.

#History #BattleofThymbra #Cyrus #Croesus #WHE #[#]

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bell4lan · 1 year

Text

Masterlist

*Here are the rules if you want to request something

- Genshin Impact -

Albedo

Loving Albedo (smut)

- (Top Male Reader x Bottom Trans Albedo)

How to Seduce Your Roommate (smut)

- (Top Male Reader x Bottom Trans Albedo)

Comfort (angst + comfort, fluff)

- (Albedo x Trans Male Reader)

Kaeya

The Cavalry Captain Goes for a Ride (smut)

- (Giving GN Reader x Receiving Trans Kaeya)

First Date (fluff)

- (Kaeya x Male Reader)

Car Sex (smut) this post includes multiple characters

- (Top Male Reader x Bottom Kaeya)

Affectionate Kaeya (Fluff)

- (Kaeya x Male Reader)

Zhongli

Mornings w/ Zhongli (fluff)

- (Zhongli x Male Reader)

Childe

Eager To Please (smut)

- (Giving Childe x Receiving Male Reader)

Pumpkin Patch (fluff)

- (Childe x Male Reader)

Lord Harbinger (smut)

- (Switch Trans Childe x Switch Trans Male Reader)

Kamisato Ayato

Don't Lose a Bet To Kamisato Ayato (smut)

- (Top Ayato x Bottom Male Reader)

Tighnari

Good Things Come in 3s (smut)

- (Top Male Reader x Bottom Trans Tighnari and Bottom Trans Cyno)

Quality Time (fluff, silly)

- (Tighnari x GN Reader)

Car sex (smut) this post includes multiple characters

- (Top Male Reader x Bottom Tighnari)

In The Forest (smut)

- (Top Tighnari x Bottom Male Reader)

Desperate (smut, minor fluff)

- (Top Trans Male Reader x Bottom Trans Tighnari)

Cyno

Good Things Come in 3s (smut)

- (Top Male Reader x Bottom Trans Tighnari and Botton Trans Cyno)

Christmas w/ Cyno (fluff, minor smut)

- (Cyno x Male Reader)

Kaedehara Kazuha

Locked Out Of Heaven (smut)

- (Giving GN Reader x Receiving Kazuha)

Getting Steamy (fluffy smut)

- (Top Male Reader x Bottom Kazuha)

Diluc

Late Nights (fluff)

- (Diluc x Male Reader)

Workaholic (smut)

- (Switch Diluc x Switch Male Reader)

Shikanoin Heizou

A Day at the Office (smut)

- (Top GN Reader with AMAB genetalia x Bottom Heizou)

Gorou

Thank You for the Meal! (smut)

- (Giving Gorou x Receiving Trans Male Reader)

Thoma

Car sex (smut) this post includes multiple characters

- (Top Male Reader x Bottom Trans Thoma)

Man On Film (smut)

- (Solo Trans Thoma)

Alhaitham

Car Sex (smut) this post includes multiple characters

- (Top Alhaitham x Bottom Male Reader)

"wanna join?" (smut + fluff)

- (Top Male Reader x Top Alhaitham x Bottom Trans Kaveh)

Baizhu

Reward (smut)

- (Top Trans Baizhu x Bottom Trans Male Reader)

Kaveh

"wanna join?" (smut + fluff)

- (Top Male Reader x Top Alhaitham x Bottom Trans Kaveh)

Dottore

The Doctor (smut)

- (Top Dottore x Bottom Trans Male Reader)

Wriothesley

Nightclub (smut)

- (Top Wriothesley x Bottom Trans Male Reader)

Neuvillette

Sick Days (fluff)

- (Neuvillette x Male Reader)

Scaramouche

Friends (smut)

- (Top Trans Male Reader x Bottom Trans Male Scaramouche)

Temptation series

pt1 (smut, minor angst)

pt2 (minor smut, heavy angst)

pt3 (minor smut, fluff, very little bit of angst)

- (Top Zhongli x Bottom Trans Male Reader) + (Childe x Trans Male Reader)

Replaced series

pt1 (Angst)

pt2 (Fluff)

- (Zhongli x Male Adeptus Reader) + (Ayato x Male Adeptus Reader)

"Why You?" series

pt1 (Angst)

pt2 (Angst + Fluff)

pt3 (Fluff)

- (Kazuha x Male Reader)

- Bungou Stray Dogs -

Dazai Osamu

Fears (angst, fluff)

- (Dazai Osamu x Male Reader)

Mischievous (smut)

- (Top Dazai Osamu x Bottom Male Reader)

Haunt Me (Angst + Some Comfort, vent post)

- (Dazai and Male Reader)

Edgar Allan Poe

Release (fluffy smut)

- (Switch Male Reader x Switch Poe)

Brother's Best Friend Series

Pt.1 (smut)

- (Top Chuuya Nakahara x Bottom Trans Male Reader)

Pt.2 (smut)

- (Top Chuuya Nakahara x Bottom Trans Male Reader)

- Honkai Star Rail -

Coming soon...

Note: the characters on this list are not the only ones I do, they're just the ones I already have fanfics of. I can write for other male characters too if I write for their media :)

#genshin impact x male reader #genshin x male reader #bsd x male reader #genshin x gn reader #bungou stray dogs x male reader #bsd x gn reader #honkai star rail x gender neutral reader #honkai star rail x male reader #hsr x male reader

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xxgoblin-dumplingxx · 2 years

Note

The kids and Batmom! on social media?

"Hey Y/N?" Steph asked from behind her phone, filming you as you put jars into the dishwasher to get them ready for canning, "Whatcha doin'?"

"My best," you sigh, wiping sweat off your forehead.

And Bruce's lips twitched, just slightly. He's been watching the kids' videos of you. Watching the way they captured your humor and your love. Everything from reacting to their report cards to cheerfully threatening to force feed them cookies. You adored them and they adored you.

"That guy hasn't seen a vagina since he came out of one," Babs observed.

"Pretty sure he was removed. Like a Tumor." And then the camera zoomed in on your face. The disgust and the nose crinkle that had become a meme.

And he chuckled. For all that he couldn't get you to give an interview, if the kids stuck a camera in your face you'd answer. And it was the only online presence you had. But now? He was glad he had this. The catalog of all these little moments. Little memories.

"Father?"

Bruce looked up from the laptop and smiled a little, "What is it, Damian?"

"Has there been any word?"

"Dr. Tompkins has her stabilized," he said softly. "She's not quite out of the woods but-"

"What are you watching?" he asked when he heard your voice. The Screaming about something silly that you did to break the tension in a room.

"Just... videoes people took. Little clips."

"Father I- I didn't mean to-"

"Damian, it's not your fault," Bruce said, standing slowly to walk around the desk. He knelt down and squeezed his shoulder, meeting his eyes, "Cavalry knew the risks. She's always known. And I know that if she had to make the choice again she'd do the same thing."

"But why?" Damian asked, feeling stupid. "She should hate me."

"She doesn't hate you Damian," Bruce said, stroking his hair. "She never did- it's just... it's complicated. But she doesn't hate you."

"I don't want her to die," Damian said, his voice soft.

"I don't think she's done with us yet, Damian," Bruce said, kissing the top of his head. "We just have to hold on."

#Bruce Wayne #Bruce Wayne x reader #ask answered #minors dni #batmom!reader

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aimeedaisies · 3 months

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The Princess Royal’s Official Engagements in June 2024

04/06 As Master of the Corporation of Trinity House, attended the Trinitytide Anniversary Annual Court Meeting, Church Service and Luncheon. 💼⛪️🍽️

As Colonel-in-Chief, The Royal Corps of Signals, this afternoon inspected The Queen’s Gurkha Signals Regiment on public duties at St James’s Palace. 🫡

As Chairman of the International Olympic Committee Members Election Commission, held a Members Election Commission Meeting at St James’s Palace. 💼

05/06 With Sir Tim As Colonel-In-Chief of The Royal Regina Rifles, unveiled a statue and attended a Reception at 10 Place des Canadiens, Thue et Mue, Bretteville. 🇬🇧🇫🇷🇨🇦

With Sir Tim Attended a service of commemoration and reception to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings at Bayeux War Cemetery. 🪦🪖

With Sir Tim As President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, attended the Annual Service in Bayeux Cathedral to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings. ⛪️

With Sir Tim As President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, attended a service to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings at Bayeux War Cemetery. 🪦🕯️

06/06 With Sir Tim Attended the Annual Founder’s Day Parade at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. 💂

As Colonel of The Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons), attended a Household Cavalry Council Meeting at Hyde Park Barracks. 🐎

07/06 Opened Forest of Dean Community Hospital. 🏥

Visited Ruskin Mill Trust in Nailsworth. 🏫

09/06 Attended the Bramham International Horse Trials Prize Giving, on its 50th anniversary. 🏇🏼

11/06 Opened Mercator Media Limited’s 25th Anniversary Seawork Marine Exhibition in Southampton. ⛴️

As Patron of the British Nutrition Foundation, visited the British Armed Forces Nutrition Programme at The Royal Logistic Corps Regimental Museum in Winchester. 🍏🍊

As Patron of Farms for City Children, and Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Butchers, attended a Festival of Learning at Butchers’ Hall. 🥩🥓🍖

Unofficial Sir Tim attended a reception at the King Edward VII Hospital and unveiled a plaque dedicated to Sir Jameson Boyd Adams. 🍾

With Sir Tim As Royal Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, attended The Prince Philip Fund Commemoration Dinner at Prince Philip House. 🍽️🍾

12/06 On behalf of The King, held an Investiture at Windsor Castle. 🎖️

As Chancellor of the University of London, attended the School of Advanced Study 30th Anniversary Reception at Senate House. 📚📖

As President of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conferences, attended a Dinner. 🍽️🗺️

13/06 As Patron of Transaid, visited the Multimodal 2024 Exhibition. 🛻

As Patron of the Townswomen’s Guilds, attended the Annual General Meeting. 💼

As Patron of the Foundation for Future London, attended the UK Cultural Exchange launch. 🇬🇧🗺️

With Sir Tim As President of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, attended a President’s Panel Discussion and Dinner. 🎤🍽️

14/06 Presided over a conference attended by the Colonels of the Regiments of the Household Division. 💂

Cavalry Regiments

Blues and Royals - Princess Anne

The Life Guards - Non - Royal

Footguards

Grenadier Guards - Queen Camilla

Coldstream Guards - Non - Royal

Scots Guards - Prince Edward

Irish Guards - Catherine, Princess of Wales

Welsh Guards - Prince William

Reserves

London Guards - Prince Edward

15/06 With Sir Tim Trooping the Colour

17/06 With Sir Tim Attended a chapter of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in the Throne Room, Windsor Castle. 🏰

With Sir Tim Attended a luncheon, hosted by the King, at Windsor Castle. 🍽️

With Sir Tim Attended an Installation Service was held in St George’s Chapel at which The Duchess of Gloucester was installed as a Lady of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. 🪽🎖️

18/06 unofficial Attended day one of Royal Ascot. 🏇🏼

19/06 unofficial Attended day two of Royal Ascot. 🏇🏼

20/06 unofficial With Sir Tim Attended day three (Ladies Day) of Royal Ascot. 🏇🏼

21/06 With Sir Tim Attended the RNLI Beating Retreat, Reception and Dinner at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. 🛟🥂🍽️

22/06 With Sir Tim As Patron of the Eric Liddell 100, attended a Service in St Giles’ Cathedral, followed by a Reception to commemorate 100 years since Eric Liddells Olympic gold medal win. 🥇

~ Engagements cancelled due to hospitalisation ~

Total official engagements for Anne in June:

2024 total so far:

Total official engagements accompanied by Tim in June:

2024 total so far:

FYI - due to certain royal family members being off ill/in recovery I won't be posting everyone's engagement counts out of respect, I am continuing to count them and release the totals at the end of the year.

#to say she hasn’t done any engagements for the last week in june she hasn’t done too bad this month 🥹#get well soon anne!!!#it will be so lovely to see you back again 🥰#princess anne #princess royal #june 2024 #aimees unofficial engagement count 2024

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yaeggravate · 8 months

Text

Unraveling Princess Fischl

So I recently finished studying Princess Fischl in a lab and the results I got were kinda crazy.

As a disclaimer, I do this just for fun. I like connecting dots and solving puzzles. But I'd rather you draw your own conclusions. In this post I will try to dissect the mysteries surrounding the Prinzessin. And you really can't talk about Fischl without including Kaeya. I've even got a surprise guest star for you.

WARNING: this post is VERY long, click on that Read More at your own risk, otherwise you'll be stuck scrolling forever.

For simplicity's sake Princess Fischl will be referred to as Fischl while playable Fischl will be demoted to F.

PART 1: MIDSUMMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Most of this will use the books Legend of the Shattered Halberd and Flowers for Princess Fischl as a source. These books are authored by someone named Mr. Nine. The books are published by Yae Publishing House. So keep in mind there's a non-zero percent chance Mr. Nine is actually just a certain Nine-Tailed Fox.

F's alternate outfit is called Immernachtstraum. This is a reference to Shakespeare's play Midsummer Night's Dream. In German the play is called Ein Sommernachtstraum. So you can see the similarities (Immernachtstraum means Eternal Night's Dream.)

Kaeya is in part based on the Indian changeling prince from the same play. The character Oberon, the Fairy King, is the french derivative of Alberich. The play itself is basically about people getting into Shenanigans so absurd it might as well be a dream. Oberon and his wife Titania are actually key players in quite a bit of different media… But as much as I want to delve into that, this isn't a Kaeya post.

Just remember for now that Titania is the Fairy Queen.

In the book Flowers for Princess Fischl, there is a mention of a Sommernachtgarten. It is described as a Domain possessed by someone highly skilled in the magical arts. Sommernachtgarten seems to have existed in Teyvat. The domain Midsummer Courtyard, which has the Thundering Fury set, tells us the Sommernachtgarten was buried underground.

The domain is located in Starfell Valley. It's nearby Starfell Lake and Starsnatch Cliff. Starfell Lake is said to have been formed by a fallen star.

Fischl is also equated to a star that fell down. Notably, in F's birthday letters, and in Legend of the Shattered Halberd.

Birthday Letter: Day of Destiny… On the day of a sacred star's descent from the depths of the night sky into this realm, I, the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, have asked Oz to cross the ocean and bring, me exotic treasure.

LotSH Vol. 1 The story was that an iron meteorite had fallen from the sky five or six years ago, and convention dictated that as nature's treasure it belonged to the imperial family.

Starsnatch Cliff is the only place where Cecilia flowers grow. These flowers have a triquetra shape, which is similar to Kaeya's passive talent Glacial Heart. Kaeya has been featured with these flowers in his birthday arts, and even invites the Traveler to go see the flowers with him.

Alice: With enough bombs placed in proper positions, even huge cliffs like Starsnatch would crumble into dust in a second. With flatter terrain, Mondstadt would surely look much nicer. But that unctuous Cavalry Captain rejected my proposal instantly. He even asked me to stay away from Starsnatch Cliff.

Furthermore, when Alice proposed to blow Starsnatch Cliff up, Kaeya denied her request and warned her to never go near there again… Starsnatch Cliff also overlooks the Nameless Island which is shrouded in mist and invisible on the map.

菲谢尔 = Fischer = Fischl

Fischl's name might be a reference to the Fisher King from Arthurian legends. One name of the Fisher King is Amfortas. In the game Anfortas is the name of the Knight Marshal of the Schwanenritter; he's thee Alberich who stepped up as Regent King when Irmin was indisposed.

Perhaps Fischl was the original "Fisher King" and the kings who came after her, like Irmin and Anfortas, fulfilled her role. …But this would imply Fischl was once the ruler of Khaenri'ah. That would be crazy, right? Right, guys?

PART 2: THE PRINCESS OF JUDGEMENT

When I was analyzing the 8-pointed star, I discovered these 8 points could actually correspond to the Guardians of the Eight Directions in Hinduism.

For some reason, ascension gem stones are named after Hindu gods (with the exception of Electro). This isn't the case in the original Chinese naming however.

Still, I tried to mix and match the gemstones to a direction.

North: Kubera, The God of Fortune -> GEO

South: Yama, The God of Justice and Death -> ???

East: Indra, The Lord of Heaven and God of the Weather, Sky, Rain, and Storms -> ELECTRO

West: Varuna, God of the Seas, Oceans, and Rain -> HYDRO

Northeast: Ishana, God of Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Time -> DENDRO

Southeast: Agni, God of Fire -> PYRO

Northwest: Vayu, God of the Winds and Air -> ANEMO

Southwest: Nirṛta, God of Death, Sorrow, and Decay -> CRYO

Hydro (Varunada), Pyro (Agnidus) and Anemo (Vayuda) gems already have the same names as the Hindu gods so that was easy. The Electro gemstone Vajrada is named after a sword but it belongs to Indra, God of Weather, Rain and Storms.

That just left me with Cryo (Shivada), Geo (Prithiva) and Dendro (Nagadus). Ishana is the God of Birth, so I'll assign him Dendro. Kubera is the God of Fortune which is Geo because Mora.

Now Cryo is a bit puzzling, because it's named after Shiva, who in Java and Bali Hinduism is actually the direction in the center. Some crazy implications here for our buddy the Tsaritsa because Shiva is the God of Destruction within the Trimurti, a trinity of deities. The other two are Brahma, God of Creation and Vishnu, God of Preservation.

In Java Hinduism, Brahma and Vishnu would correspond to the directions Zenith (South) and Nadir (North). Whether this is hinting at something about the nature of the Tsaritsa is unclear. When you see Three Deities you think Moon Sisters, right? However, we can't rule out the possibility that Genshin decided to mix these deities up. Let's just spare ourselves the headache for now and forget about this. This is a Fischl analysis after all.

So instead, let's have a look at the Cryo gemstone's original name in Chinese. The stone is simply called Grieving Ice.

哀叙冰玉: Grieving Ice

Since Nirriti is the God of Sorrow, I decided to assign them Cryo. Now we are left with one deity, Yama: The God of Justice and Death. Well, it can't be Hydro, because we already assigned them to a God. So it has to be someone else.

Fischl's title is the Prinzessin der Verurteilung. Which translates into Princess of Judgement. According to Legend of the Shattered Halberd and F's voicelines, Fischl's role was to act as a judge.

More About Fischl: I To condemn the guilty, to sanctify the just, and to draw all castaway dreams into the embrace of the infinite Immernachtreich. This is the birthright of the Prinzessin der Verurteilung, and her burden. None may gainsay it.

What's interesting is that Fischl uses magical arrows to shoot down the "enemies of fate".

About Us: Shooting Down the World Beast Should this world, like a beast prowling in the night, covet your dreams, then I, Prinzessin der Verurteilung, shall fell it with my ensorcelled arrows of judgment!

Feelings About Ascension: Intro My magic arrow cries out my holy name as it streaks through the night, praying that the violet lightning of retribution shall strike the enemies of fate down from the skies!

On the 8-pointed star, there's an arrow pointing upwards. Kaeya, Clothar and Halfdan's stars on their outfits and even F herself have the arrow pointing downwards.

The achievement you get when you find this door is called "Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here". Which is a reference to the entrance to Hell in Dante's Inferno.

The Immernachtreich is described as a place where all things will eventually flow into. Immernachtreich literally translates into Eternal Night Realm…

Flowers for Princess Fischl: Phantasmagoria Every good, bright and noble thing must eventually fall to inexorable entropic destruction, and the final destination of the universe is the realm-in-waiting of the Prinzessin, Immernachtreich. This is the fate of all worlds, of the universe, and all who live in it.

In the Immernachtreich Apokalypse, Leon calls Fischl the Soteria.

Soteria means salvation, preservation. It's used as an epithet for Persephone and Hecate. Persephone was forcibly made Queen of the Underworld, and Hecate is also known as the Goddess of the Underworld and Witchcraft…

Look, I don't want to claim Fischl was the secret 8th Archon or anything, because lest we forget Khaenri'ah was a godless nation who would've been Fischl's enemies. But why then would Khaenri'ah have this giant star referencing the 8 deities as their emblem in the first place? Seems a bit counterintuitive. I don't have the answers for now, and perhaps the 8th "archon" was simply Irmin. Or maybe it's not even representing a god but an element or a direction.

Regarding Oz, he is a not so subtle reference to Odin/Irmin but is also a reference to the Wizard of Oz. In the first book, it was revealed this wizard was literally just some guy pretending to be powerful. Eventually Oz starts working as an advisor for the true ruler of Oz, Princess Ozma, who is the inspiration behind Fischl. We'll get back to that later.

This Oz's full name is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs. OZ is actually short for Oscar Zoroaster. Zoroaster is referenced in Flowers for Princess Fischl.

In a distant causality, if the philosopher Zarathustra was not chosen, then the opera writer would have gained victory in the contest over the will of the world.

This does make you wonder if Irmin really was the true ruler of Khaenri'ah and if he even existed the way we believe he did. Perhaps Fischl got Irminsnapped and now everyone believes Irmin was always the One-Eyed King.

Of course this is all my personal speculation and I could be way off here.

Wait, before we move on to next section, I want to point out something that always gets ignored:

Kaeya and Mona, when they cast their bursts, summon the same 8-pointed star. This is unique to them alone. Could there be a connection between Khaenri'ah and witchcraft? Or is either Kaeya or Mona an outlier?

PART 3: HEXENZIRKEL

In the trailer Mage's Teaparty, there are eight witches shown. However, we only know the names of six witches, and there is a chair missing at the table.

There is a slideshow where the figures of the eight witches are shown, minus Andersdottir who is represented by the book The Boar Princess.

Observe the witch on the broom and the little witch. The design of the little witch is similar to the design of a famous fictional character who got pulled into another world: Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz books.

Dorothy is illustrated as having twin tails and wearing a farm girl dress. Dorothy's character was influenced by the character Alice, from the Wonderland books.

Originally I assumed Alice Genshin might be based on book Alice. However, it's the Narzissenkreuz quest that's based on the Wonderland books and Mary-Ann who takes the role of Alice.

With that in mind, could Alice Genshin actually be more of a Dorothy inspired character instead?

Now, Dorothy had a very good friend, called Princess Ozma. Ozma seems to be the inspiration behind Fischl.

So who is Ozma? I only have the Wiki to go on because I'm not about to read 40 books, but by the sound of it, Ozma is the current ruler of the realm of Oz. She is the daughter of a human king and a Fairy Queen. Her mother Lurline was the one who created Oz and turned it into a Fairy country.

Ozma took it one step further and separated Oz entirely from the outer realms making it invisible to outsiders. Everyone who enters Oz never ages.

If you're an F main I'm sure you know by now Fischl created another universe and founded paradise.

Now I want you to take a look at the witches portrayed in these circles. There are two witches holding a sphere. In F's cutscene from the Summertime Odyssey event, she is also holding a sphere which contains the Immernachtreich which you can see in the header image of this post and below.

You might think a glowing sphere represents a crystal ball to scry in, but that poses a problem since known prophet Barbeloth is probably represented by the witch holding a waterdrop, which is Hydromancy. So the glowing sphere might not necessarily mean a prophetess.

As for the identity of the other witch with the globe, I believe this could be Alice, since she was the one who created the domain/dreamscape of the Veluriyam Mirage. It could also be Rhinedottir who is creating something in a flask.

So Orb = Domain/Realm/Creation

Furthermore F's specialty food is Die Heilige Sinfonie, which has a Magic Hexagram painted on top… (Die Heilige Sinfonie translates into The Holy Symphony.) As mentioned before, the Sommernachtgarten could only be created by someone with great magical powers…

Magic Circles is Ceremonial or Arcane Magic, and according to a note left by Master Ruggiero in Bravais' study, Arcane Arts originated from a pre-Remurian civilization.

So someone must have taught humans magic. Might sound obvious, but it begs the question of WHO?

PART 4: FREYJA

To answer this question we need to dip our toes into Norse mythology. As you know, Odin is Irmin.

There was a war between two groups of gods: the Aesir and the Vanir.

Eventually they had enough and decided to exchange hostages as a peace offering. The goddess Freyja, originally part of the Vanir, joined the Aesir which would be Odin's group. As a sacrificial priestess, she was the one who taught the Aesir dark magic, which included seeing into the future. The implication here then is that Odin was taught black magic by Freyja.

This magic is known as seiðr. Seiðr is derived from *soi-to- which means rope/string. The distaff, a tool used for spinning wool, is associated with dark magic. There are images of women riding distaffs as a broom, similar to a witch riding a broomstick. To quote the Wiki: "In any case, the string relates to the "threads of fate", that the Nornir spin, measure, and cut. " Wait, that sounds familiar:

F, joining the party voice line: The threads of your fate lie in my hands!

Scholars suspect Freyja is the same person as Gullveig who was involved in the Aesir-Vanir war. Gullveig was attacked by the Aesir with spears; she died and was reborn three times. When Fischl tried to visit the Kingdom of Eternal Twilight she was also attacked by its people and "shed her blood on the sacred emblem" whatever that means. It was Oz who saved her, pledging his loyalty to her.

Freyja sometimes is conflated with another goddess named Frigg. There has been much debate whether or not these two goddesses stem from the same deity. Frigg is part of the Aesir and usually Odin's wife.

I mention this because in the book Hex and Hound, one of the characters is named after Frigg: Nottfrigga. This book is about two twin witches sharing the same body. In the book we find out that they were the daughters of a powerful witch, but witches are unable to keep more than one offspring of the same generation. This led to Nottfrigga's twin sister Magdalene eventually dying, and her using magic to sustain her sister inside a magic bracelet.

In Norse mythology, Nott is the personification of night. Nott's father is named Narfi. This really got my attention, because Fischl's full name is Fischl von Luftschloss Narfidort. (Fischl of the Castle in the Sky Narfidort.)

In the Hexenzirkel teaser, every witch is represented by a teacup (or in the case of Andersdottir, an inkbottle) but the saucer next to Nicole's teacup is empty. Since this saucer belongs to the same teaset this could mean one of the missing witches is Nicole's twin sister or a relative.

So what could Fischl's role be in all this? Perhaps she's one of the twin sisters, or their mother. Perhaps she's even an ancestor. ...Or completely unrelated to them and I'm full of shit.

PART 5: THE HARBINGERS

F's theme shares a leitmotief with the Fatui Harbingers theme.

F's theme: Sieh an, mein Sommernachtgarten! Signora's theme: Saltatio Favillae

Obviously this means Fischl is Capitano.

Composers don't do these things by accident. This is hinting at something. Either Fischl is connected to the Harbingers, was/is one of the Harbingers, or she is indeed the Tsaritsa.

Which is not as crazy as it sounds.

In Legend of the Shattered Halberd, Fischl possessed someone else's body. And if she is Freyja's equivalent, who died three times, then it's possible she could've been reborn as someone else. In the book, it was Mir who summoned Fischl into Weiyang's body and sacrificed his eye to appease her. Pierro is working for the Tsaritsa and has his right eye covered for reasons unknown. Having been a royal mage who would have had access to Khaenri'ah's restricted library, perhaps it was Pierro who summoned Fischl into the Tsaritsa's body.

The Tsaritsa is collecting the seven Gnoses, Fischl had to collect seven of the nine Ominous Swords to repair the Divine Halberd, which would be herself. She already had two of them in her possession… Could also be that the Tsaritsa is trying to revive her. This would imply Fischl is the Third Descender. Since she came from another world, this is not impossible.

The Fisher King, Fischl's possible namesake, was struck with a wound that could only be healed by a "pure fool" who would ask him the right question. ...Fatui is Latin for fools. If the Tsaritsa really is/is possessed by Fischl, then creating an organization of fools starts to make sense: the fools are her saviors.

This could also connect to the empty 10th seat within the Harbingers. The vacant spot could be a reference to the Siege Perilous, which was an empty seat reserved for the one successful in obtaining the Holy Grail by way of saving the Fisher King.

Usually this is accomplished by Percival, who later finds out his mother is the sister of the Fisher King. In the story, Percival keeps failing to return to the kingdom of the Holy Grail since it is an otherworldly place. Does that not remind you of Kaeya trying to find Khaenri'ah but failing halfway through?

Going back to Princess Ozma, an evil witch cast a spell on her that turned her into a little boy named Tippetarius. This was done to prevent Ozma from ascending to the throne. Tip was unaware of his true identity until he was transformed back into Ozma.

tippet /tĭp′ĭt/ noun A covering for the shoulders, as of fur, with long ends that hang in front.

As noted in The Marvelous Land of Oz, Chapter 23, Tip has brown colored skin.

…Kaeya, blink twice if you need help.

As a staunch hater of things that don't make sense, I highly doubt this means Kaeya is Fischl; the game would never go there. Perhaps being "Fischl" is simply hinting towards the fact that he will become one of the Fisher Kings.

That would certainly explain this random hangout ending.

Now, here's where things get really crazy.

Remember Anfortas? The Knight Marshal of the Schwanenritter who took over as regent after Irmin became indisposed? At the time of writing, Anfortas's fate remains unknown.

As said before, Anfortas is the name of the Fisher King in Arthurian legends. Fischl's name might've been a nod to that.

But it gets weirder.

T.S. Eliot's poem The Waste Land combines Arthurian legends with the legend of the Fisher King. In it, he associates the Fisher King with the tarot card Three of Staves.

The Man with Three Staves (an authentic member of the Tarot pack) I associate, quite arbitrarily, with the Fisher King himself.

…We have seen this symbol somewhere before. On the constellation wheel of the Fatui Harbingers. By process of elimination this constellation belongs to Il Capitano.

👏🏽👏🏽CONGRATULATIONS CAPITANO YOU ARE KAEYA'S NEXT TOP GRANDPA 🎉

Kidding of course, but I doubt this is a coincidence. This doesn't necessarily mean they are the same person, maybe Capitano simply mindmelded with Anfortas. It's a fantasy game, everything is possible at this point.

Wait a minute… three nails, three deaths… Uhhh maybe Fischl really did turn into Capitano.

👏🏽👏🏽CONGRATULATIONS CAPITANO YOU ARE PRINCESS DIANA'S NEXT REINCARNATION 👸🏼

PART 6: THE THIEF AND THE MAGE

Alright, for this section I want us to keep in mind the following things:

Fischl is a fallen star

Fischl may have been a mage

Fischl could be connected to Irmin and thus Khaenri'ah

The play of the Veluriyam Mirage is written by Zosimos. This play stars Kaeya as a Thief, Klee as a Mage and Idyia as a last minute heroine added to the story.

You see, Zosimos originally wanted to write a story based on rumors he'd heard about a thief and a mage. This means the play might not be entirely fictional. The problem is that Zosimos combined Idyia's backstory with the story of the Thief and the Mage, making it hard to tell which bits belong to Thief's story.

We know at least that Alice was the mage who helped Idyia. But what about the Mage who helped the Thief? Who was she? Could it have been Alice or someone else?

For that we need to consider the character Kaeya was playing. It's unknown who he is, but if Klee was playing her mom then it stands to reason Kaeya must've been playing someone connected to him. Before you get excited, this does not necessarily mean someone related to him by blood. Could also just be someone from Khaenri'ah. Heck, we don't even know the gender of the mage, for all we know they could've been a man.

Now, the soundtrack that plays during Kaeya's part is called Towers of Afrasiab. This name has come up before. In the play of Kaeya's hangout, the character he plays opposite of is called Frasiyav. The location of the Khaenri'ahn door is called Hangeh Afrasiyab.

I personally suspect Afrasiyab is either Irmin or the founder of Khaenri'ah.

Afrasiyab is a character from the Persian epic, the Shahnameh. Afrasiyab lived in an underground iron palace held up by hundreds of columns. (If you look at the architecture in Hangeh Afrasiyab, you'll see little reliefs of men holding up a ceiling above them.) Afrasiyab lacked the divine royal glory known as Khvarena and was obsessed with obtaining it. In the play they say Frasiyav lost because he lacked the blessing of god…

I mean it can't get any more obvious than that. So this could mean the dude from Kaeya's hangout was Irmin. Which does raise a bunch of questions, such as who is the identity of the Prince in this play? And why were they at war?

Should be noted in the hangout's play, Frasiyav offered hostages as a peace offering. Kind of reminds me of the war between the Aesir and Vanir… Also, Kaeya's character Prince Qubad is based on Siyavash who eventually married into Afrasiyab's family…

Towers of Afrasiyab then could refer to Khaenri'ah. In the Veluriyam play, the Thief is also from a dark realm. I hesitate making the assumption that this guy is Irmin or Kaeya's pirate grandpa so I will refer to him as simply the Thief.

In the play, the Thief witnesses a shooting star falling from the sky and follows it. However, what he finds is not a star but a young woman. Well, we know Fischl was also a star that fell down. And we know Fischl visited the Kingdom of Eternal Twilight and got bodied for her efforts. Oz took her under his wings and saved her life.

If the Thief encountered the Mage this way it would explain why the Mage helped him as a way to repay him. Perhaps the Mage taught him Arcane arts or helped him protect the "Dark Realm", who knows?

If this Mage really was Fischl and the Thief someone connected or related to Kaeya it would explain why Fischl and Kaeya seem to be connected.

About Kaeya F: His nature is obscure, his fate a mystery, and his speech a vexing tapestry woven of both fact and fiction… Perhaps he and I share the burden of mystical sight…

About Fischl Kaeya: Hmm? You think Fischl having one eye covered is very fitting given her title of Prinzessin der Verurteilung. Hahaha, if that's the case, that must also make me a descendant of some kind of former royal lineage, no?

Furthermore, in Legend of the Shattered Halberd, Fischl's partner in crime, the man who summoned her, is named Mir. This is a reference to Mimir, the severed head from Norse mythology who acted as an advisor to Odin.

Mr. Nine states Fischl was attracted to Mir… and that Oz was more of a familiar of Fischl.

In Wagner's opera Der Ring des Nibelungen, Mimir is known as Mime, the brother of Alberich.

....😮‍💨

Well, I have to say, even after all of that, I am completely stumped. If anyone knows what's going on, let me know, because I for one would love to know WHAT'S GOING ON FOR ONCE. GIVE IT UP FOR KNOWING WHAT'S GOING ON

#genshin impact #princess fischl #kaeya alberich #lore bytes #.txt

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tbb-appreciation-week · 3 months

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The Bad Batch Appreciation Week 2024 is HERE!!!

The time for appreciating Clone Force 99 has arrived! Y'know, like the cavalry 😅 Don't mind my bad pun!

What I was saying? Oh, yeah! The prompts have been revealed HERE, so we must refresh the rules. They're the same as last year, but it doesn't hurt to review them again, right? So:

Event Info & Rules

TBB APPRECIATION WEEK is a week-long, prompt-based creation challenge to celebrate our love for the Batchers and the show. There are 7 groups of prompts—one for each day of the week—, which can be used, skipped, or combined in any way you’d like. They are meant to be an inspiration without being taken literally (i.e., you don’t have to include the exact wording of prompts in your work). Feel free to interpret them at your convenience. For example, if the prompt is “anooba”, you can create either something about the animal, use it as a name/mascot of a sports team in your modern-day AU, or as an analogy for someone with a voracious appetite. It’s up to you.

Each group contains a Theme (which is in and on itself a prompt), an AU/Trope, Dialogue, an extra character, NSFW, and a color palette). You can use them in combination or just pick one. The idea is to give everyone as much creative freedom as possible. The participants can create works in any media they choose, including but not limited to: writing, art, edits, gifs, videos, playlists, cosplays, etc. The only restriction is that it needs to be focused on The Bad Batch (can be on a particular Batcher alone).

Also, people can participate as little or as much as they want, meaning that they don’t have to do ALL the days if they can't/don’t want to.

Collaborations are welcome and even encouraged. For example, if an artist and a writer want to work together, or a writer and a podficcer, or two writers, go for it!

When uploading TBB Appreciation Week content to your Tumblr blog, be sure to mention this blog and add the following hashtags:

#tbbaw2024

#the theme of the day and/or #prompt(s) used

#medium (gifset, fic, podcast, fanart, etc.)

#trigger warnings, if applies. (Please do NOT to add “tw” in front or at the end but only use the word/trigger itself, because the way Tumblr tag blocker feature works, it makes it harder for people to block the right tag.) (List of trigger warnings)

#nsfw (only for NSFW content)

#any other relevant tags go here

PLEASE BE DILIGENT WITH YOUR TAGGING (both by mentioning the blog and putting the necessary tags). That'll ensure that your post will be reblogged on this blog.

I'll do my best to reblogged everyone's posts, but if it passes 2–3 days and I haven't posted yours, please let me know.

If you are posting NSFW fics or art on Tumblr, I ask that you use the Keep Reading break to hide the NSFW portion of your work; and please, give the proper warnings. On Ao3, please, use the correct rating and warnings as well.

If you want, you can also add your work to the Ao3 Collection (closed at the moment, but I'll open it in due time). (Use the tags TBB Appreciation Week 2024 and/or TBBAW 2024 when posting.)

There won't be censorship in this event, so everyone is free to create whatever they want. Participants are expected to hold judgment to themselves of others and their works, even if they don't agree with or find it repulsive. That means that harassment of anyone or anything that they post (even if said work is something you personally find morally reprehensible) WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. Anyone that breaks this rule will be banned from the event. Curate your own experience by blocking what upsets/squicks/triggers you, and leave everyone else alone. That's the importance of the correct tagging, as it says above.

Important!! Show support to other participants by liking, reblogging, AND commenting. If an author or artist has asked for constructive criticism (not the same as a comment, and with constructive being the keyword) you may give it. However, refrain to give any of the unsolicited kind, as it can be discouraging for the author or artist.

But most of all, HAVE FUN!!! This is meant to be a lay-back event to show love for our favorite characters.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you all come up with!

If you have questions, you can check out the F.A.Q post. But if you don't find there the answer you're looking for, send me a message to the ask box or a DM, either in this blog or my fandom blog @nimata-beroya.

Thanks for reading, and happy creating!

Mare 💜

#tbb appreciation week 2024 #tbbaw2024 #the bad batch appreciation week 2024 #event info #the bad batch #tbb #star wars

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ratsandfashion · 5 months

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@SHOFARSOGOOD SORRY TUMBLR WOULDN'T LET ME REBLOG???

BUT

OH MY GOD YOU HAVE OPENED THE FLOODGATES HNNNGH

Okay, so you're in France in the 1760s. Specifically, you're a peasant in the Gevaudan province.

AND SOMETHING IS KILLING THE SHIT OUT OF EVERYBODY

It's described as being "like a wolf, yet not a wolf" and these people, they're shepherds, they see wolves ALL THE TIME, so if they say this thing WASN'T a wolf, I trust them. But the problem is, we don't know WHAT it was. Descriptions vary a LOT, probably owing to the people who saw it being terrified and trying to get away, combined with a typical "game of telephone" deal where the thing got changed each time someone told someone else about it, combined with people just lying and SAYING they'd said it, combined with the fact that if it was an exotic animal (more on that later) people just had no idea what they were looking at. But some fairly consistent traits are that it's BIG, it's got a long tail with a tuft, and it's a reddish color with a black-striped back and white underbelly.

Sounds like a tiger, right? That's a common theory. A lot of nobles kept zoos of exotic animals that peasants would never have seen before and have no reference for, so the fact it's a big furry predator on four legs was probably enough to make it "like a wolf but not a wolf" if it wasn't a bear (and we don't think it was a bear because people also knew what bears looked like) Some good candidates are a tiger for the aforementioned reasons, a lion (tufted tail, some drawings have a mane), and a hyena (wolf-like, has the bite force necessary for decapitation, as many of the corpses had the head removed from their bodies, another unusual feature)

So this thing just fucking runs around the countryside savaging peasants. And they can't do much about it because it's illegal for peasants to have guns. If you ever have to make an argument for the right to bear arms, bring up the Beast of Gevaudan, gurantee no one will see that coming!

Some peasants made do with what they had though. A group of boys managed to save their friend with, iirc, sharpened sticks, though they did not escape unscathed. One had his cheek basically TORN OFF, and as a result the king funded his education for the rest of his life, which was a big deal for a peasant boy who wouldn't ordinarily receive it. And a girl, Marie-Jeanne Valet, successfully fended it off with a homemade spear (she described the beast as a large dog) A statue still stands in her honor today.

Speaking of the King, the news about all this was reaching him. So he started sending out hunters and dragoons (a type of cavalry that would dismount to fight) to get the wolf. But, to no avail! They couldn't seem to kill it. And when they DID finally get a great big wolf, as well as a female wolf with unusually large pups that had traits not normally seen in wolves (ex: double dew claws, which some large dog breeds have, indicating wolfdog hybrids) the killings stopped for awhile. . .and then started again.

This became one of the first international news stories; other countries thought it was HILARIOUS that the King of France and all his men couldn't handle one little WOLF!

Eventually, it was brought down for good by a local hunter named Jean Chastel. Legend sprang up that the beast, which was said to be immune to ordinary bullets, had been felled by a bullet which had been made by melting down a medallion of the Virgin Mary. At the time, the fact it was killed by a holy icon was what was significant, as some people thought it was a werewolf and those were seen as creatures of the Devil at that time (rather than innocent people afflicted by a disease/curse as in modern media) but the fact the medallion was silver may be the source of the modern "silver bullet" myth which isn't from any real werewolf folklore and seems to be an invention of Hollywood.

The royal notary examined the animal after death and recorded in what is known as "The Marin Report" that "This animal which seemed to us to be a wolf; But extraordinary and very different by its figure and its proportions from the wolves that one sees in this country." and details a "monstrous head", unusual body proportions, aberrant morphological characteristics, and unusual fur colors. The report also includes the dental formula (number of molars, number of canines, etc) of the animal, which does seem to indicate a canid of some type. The report is preserved in The French National Archives.

So, this wasn't an unsubstantiated cryptid. It was pretty darn meticulously documented.

Unfortunately, photos didn't exist then, and by the time the corpse was taken to Versailles, it was so rotten and badly decayed that no one wanted anything to do with it, and it was in all likelihood dumped somewhere like garbage. I reckon everyone was just happy to be done with it.

While the beast was dead (or at the least, the attacks ceased) the speculation never has. Some people think it was just a big wolf or wolves, but like I said, I think these people knew what a wolf looked like. Other people think it was a wolfdog hybrid or family of such, which would account for the large size, unusual features, and lack of fear of humans. This, I think, is the most likely option. The escaped exotic animal is the next most likely imo; I remember that there's no records of. . .it was either of any such zoos themselves at the time or of no escapees, but like, if I was a noble and my tiger got out and it was eating people, I don't think I'd say anything.

Then there's more fringe theories. The werewolf thing, of course, but also the idea it was a conspiracy against the king, or some big political plot, often involving Chastel (the hunter who shot it) or his son, or that it was a serial killer dressed in animal skins, or a serial killer that had trained a dog to hunt with him as his method of killing. I...kind that pretty unlikely, just because I've never heard of a serial killer doing anything like that, like using an animal is just not 'intimate' in the way serial killers seem to like to be? But I'm no expert.

My PERSONAL favorite Unlikely Fringe Theory is that it was a mesonychid. See, some descriptions of the Beast claimed it had hooves. And while no modern carnivore has hooves, there is a prehistoric class of carnivores called mesonychids who are often described as "wolves with hooves" and whose appearance---monstrous head, longer tail---do match up pretty well with a lot of accounts.

Now, is it likely that a breeding population of huge prehistoric predators just...survived THAT long into the present and just NEVER got noticed by humans except this ONE time, and no other remains to indicate their survival have ever turned up? Yeah, no. But I really like the idea! That and the werewolf are my FAVORITE options, but in all likelihood it was a wolfdog(s) or escaped exotic.

#this is a pretty condensed version and mostly from memory #but I'd totally rec checking out youtube videos on it #there's some great ones with animation and puppets and stuff #but yeah its my fave historical mystery!#beast of gevaudan

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stevetonyweekly · 8 months

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SteveTony Weekly - January Podfic

New this year, I’ll be sharing a list of podfic I listened to throughout the previous month on the last day of the month. I’m a few days late this month, but here’s the fic I loved to listen to this month.

[Podfic] Nor An Evil Tongue Bewitch by M_Samro

The thing about kisses is that they always come at the end of the story.

Steve's life has had an awful lot of endings.

I wish I could explain the way I love this fic, how lyrical and lovely it is?? M_Samro does an amazing job with the podfic, highly recommend.

[Podfic] The Sound Silence Makes by seleneaurora

“We need exactly what we don’t have,” Tony observed, annoyed and tired. He started to giggle and couldn’t stop himself. “Power.”

He cast a glance back at the door, sealed shut behind him, and he didn’t foresee the cavalry charging through anytime soon with a generator and a bomb kit. Tony took a deep breath and asked, “How much reserve power does the suit have, J?”

“The suit is currently running on the arc reactor, sir. You have approximately one hour of power remaining before the reactor reaches critical levels.”

Team dynamics are everything, and the way that Tony is just--his usual self-sacrificial idiot self is perfection.

[Podfic] In All the World by kalakirya

In a world where Sentinels, people with five heightened senses, bond mentally and spiritually with Guides, people gifted with empathetic powers, Tony Stark has spent thirty-three years overwhelmed by the emotions of those around him and running from his own. Sentinel Steve Rogers wakes up sixty years out of his own time and struggles to deal with the massive amount of new sensory input while trying to find his footing in a New York very different from the one he knew. When they finally find each other, how will their bond change them?

I've never watched the media Sentinel AUs are based off of, but I adore them, and this one is excellent, and the podfic is just--perfect.

Hide Your Love Away, by Sineala, (podfic) by cookiemom6067

Tony has suspected for a long time that the soulmark on his chest matches Steve's -- but he's never told Steve about it. And then it's too late to tell Steve anything at all ever again. In the wake of Steve's death, the Skrull invasion, and Norman Osborn's rise to power, the identity of his soulmate is just one of the many things Tony cuts out of his memory forever.

When Tony returns to consciousness, he's forced to deal with the aftermath of a war he no longer remembers fighting, not to mention a Steve Rogers who can barely stand to be in the same room with him. Surely the last thing Tony could ever need in his life is more amnesia. But that's what he gets. And Tony's new missing memory just might be the key to finding out the truth of his soulmark... as well as his chance to make things right once and for all.

SOULMATE AU. One of my favorites, which is saying something. The narration for @sineala work is amazing.

[podfic] Degrees of Separation by plingo_kat, reena_jenkins

Oh god, what if Jarvis infected Dummy with, with emotions. Jesus Christ.

I honestly expected this to be fluffier than it was. And somehow I haven't actually read the fic? Which startled me. Oops.

[Podfic] Scars and Stitches by Cathalinareads (Cathalinaheart)

When Tony shows up to SHIELD to be fitted with the Iron Man armor, Steve, the original Iron Man, is there to help him out.

I have a huge soft spot for Bullet Points and this fic is just--so good. Iron Man Steve is so dear to me.

[Podfic] Straight on till Morning by Sineala by M_Samro

This is a podfic for the amazing masterpiece that is Sineala's "Straight on till Morning" which is summarized thusly:

Tony Stark resigned his commission in Starfleet five years ago, after a disastrous away mission, and he swore he'd never go back. He just wants to be left alone to build warp engines in peace. But the universe has more in store for him than that, as he discovers when Admiral Fury comes to him with an offer he could never have expected and cannot possibly refuse: first officer and chief engineer aboard the all-new USS Avenger, a starship of Tony's own design. What's more, the Avenger's captain is Steve Rogers, hero of the Earth-Romulan War. Believed dead for over a century, Steve is miraculously alive... and very, very attractive.

But nothing is ever easy for Tony. As he wrestles with his secret desire for his new captain and his not-so-dormant fears, another mission starts to go wrong, and Tony becomes aware that Steve has secrets of his own -- and the truth could change everything.

I'm gonna be honest. This is one of my favorite fics ever. Not just in the Stevetony fandom, like. Ever. As a fic, it's practically perfect (which is a feat considering my adoration for Star Trek) and the podfic somehow makes it even BETTER. The narration and production M_Samro brings to it is truly amazing, and I always cry through certain parts of the podfic. I chattered about the podfic on Twitter while I listened and the outpouring of love for this fic and podfic made me ridiculously happy.

#stevetony weekly #steve rogers #tony stark #stevetony #stony #iron man #captain america #stevetony fic #stony fic #fic rec

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tlaquetzqui · 1 month

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I just saw a thread attributing the cryogenic take that orcs are black people, to Warcraft.

Um.

Some of their dances are hiphop in WoW I guess? Occasionally some of their gag lines are hiphop-fan faux AAVE?

And…that’s it.

Everything else is still Asian steppe, from the Horde (Turkic ordu “HQ camp”) to the shamans (Tungus word for “priest”) to the single-edged cavalry swords and straight black hair.

Now trolls are black, specifically Caribbean, down to worshiping a real vodun loa, Bwonsamdi—phonetic transcription of Baron Samedi, the evil aspect of Papa Gede. (It would have been funny, but a bit politically risky, and confusing to many people, for that one ancient, scholarly troll nation, I wanna say Zandalari, to talk like Nigerians.)

And while Warcraft goblins actually are semi-Jewish, that’s actually for a relatively innocent reason: the sleazeball finance people that American media depicts, are often the same ethnicity as runs a lot of that industry here, good and bad. So their sleazeball accountants are Jews…just like a lot of the idealistic visionary artists whose dreams they crush for the bottom line. (“This Boston gangster is Irish, that’s racist!” That’s a wicked pissah insight, right there, ’cause so are his victims. Not a lot of Lepke Buchalters, in Winter Hill, ya retahd; not a lot of Warren Buffetts—he’s Anglo—running the business side of Hollywood.)

Also though? While most of the humans of Azeroth are English or German (because Warhammer Fantasy) and the dwarves are Scottish, the main Alliance elves? East Asian. Night elf shrines have fucking torii gates. And the draenei are like settled shamanic Asians, like Koreans or someone.

The European-coded (vaguely French-Italian) elves are the blood elves, the ones who joined the Horde…and enslaved a fucking angel to keep powering their white magic after their addiction to arcane spells turned them into amoral tweekers.

#things that ain't so #i guess this is discourse #salty amateur anthropologist #orc wise women must do a roaring trade in hair relaxer

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comicaurora · 2 years

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Hey, Red, I wanted to ask your insight on one thing about comic writing yet again

How do you write "serialized" media in comparison to traditional writing? Like, people often say that "your first draft will be bad, so you have to get back to it and revise at some point", but, like, for media released periodically, like webcomics, it's much harder to do, unless you write down the entire story beforehand in a lot of detail, and revise *that* instead, and only start drawing after like third or fourth edition of the script.

But, like, I assume that, beyond basic outline, some cool scenes in the middle, and the ending, there is only so much planning you can viably do. How do you handle it? Do you sometimes have to draw a page without knowing yet what will happen five pages later? How do you balance between leaving yourself the freedom to alter things (and also free time not spent on writing a novel before transforming it into a comic) and having a good written story, with themes and foreshadowing and stuff?

It's certainly different than traditional writing, because progress becomes a rolling, iterative thing rather than full draft passes.

What I have is a many-pronged approach that gets more detailed the farther in it goes:

The toolbox. This is a big pile of characters, subplot concepts and plothooks I add to whenever I think of something new and fun. When I'm building out a new arc from scratch, this is what I draw on.

The roadmap. This is a rough plan for the overall shape of the story - I know where the characters start and where they end, and I have a rough idea of waypoints they'll hit along the way. I have one of these for the story as a whole, with each "waypoint" basically being a rough-draft concept for the premise of a single arc. To give an idea of the level of specificity, the "waypoint" for this first arc was literally just "getting the gang together." It was the one thing I needed to have happen. On a smaller scale, individual sub-arcs have more detailed roadmaps of their own, but they mostly fit the format of "characters arrive in location A -> characters fight bossfight B" with the rest fleshed out in between.

The checklist. This is the specific list of "things I need to happen in this specific substory," aka the waypoints on the smaller-scale roadmaps. It gets fleshed out as the actual story gets closer to it and specific character arcs take turns I might not have been able to anticipate. This is close to a timeline, but it's more flexible, as at this stage it's okay to shuffle around the order of things - in fact I almost never make solid linear timelines of events, because sometimes I split the party and things happen at their own pace. In these cases I just set waypoints for when different sub-timelines will intersect - at what point in the conversation will the large flashy thing interrupt, at what stage in the fight will the cavalry arrive, etc. I just need to be sure to hit all the important parts. I'll know a story is ready to turn into a storyboard once I have every important detail nailed down - what specific sticking points will come up in the character conflict, what hidden threat is going to be in the environment they enter so I can set it up correctly, what conclusion will a character come to and how will they want to proceed, etc.

The solid storyboard. This is what I turn into finalized pages, and I work several chapters ahead to make sure I have the rhythm of the story. Once it's down on paper it generally doesn't change much, though specifics of dialogue can be reworked right up to the export. This is linear progress, and it usually happens in very discrete bursts. I don't storyboard something until I know exactly what is happening in this specific scene, where they're going, where it'll end and what it's setting up for later. Sometimes I get stuck on a single panel because I'm not sure which choice a character will make, and then when I come back to it I set down that panel and like five more pages flow out afterwards. Sometimes I'll just reread all my storyboards up to the current endpoint, take a nap, then wake up knowing exactly what to put on the next panel. Sometimes I'll do a reread and tweak the dialogue at several points because the first draft I wrote doesn't sound good to me anymore. This is where I do the bulk of the work that traditional media would do in the second draft.

In order to avoid rewrites - because in serialized media, rewrites are very bad - I frontload as much of that work as I can. I don't start the storyboard until I know all the relevant details of the scene's setup, so I don't end up retconning anything important. If there's a specific hidden enemy in the environment, I want to foreshadow it accurately, so before I draw the area it's in I want to know exactly what it looks like and where it could be hiding. If they're in a facility designed for a specific thing, I want to know exactly what that thing is so the clues and details line up. If I've reached the start of an argument, I want to know what is going to end it before I draw the first panel.

I don't need to know every detail of exactly everything that's going to happen, because the characters work better when I let them make their own choices on a panel-to-panel basis, but I need to know every detail of what they're reacting to and interacting with. In a way it's a lot like running a TTRPG. So there are many times where I draw a page and don't know what's going to happen five pages later - in fact I'd say that's the vast majority of my experience - but I always have a narrowed-down space of things I know will need to happen in the next sixty pages.

#asks #writing stuff #behind the curtain

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