#I think it's a form of coping

[a-jar-of-beetles]

[soadscrawl]

i know keith being into cryptids and ufos and stuff is an old joke in the fanbase and while idk if i think he actually believed that stuff (i think hed be like me where he finds it rlly interesting and researches it but doesnt necessarily believe its real) i want it to be canon because imagine ur obsessed with aliens and ufos and area 51 and then you get functionally abducted by aliens, have to fight evil aliens, and also you ARE aliens. that fucking hilarious

[an-eldritch-peredhel]

I’d love to hear your thoughts on what Eldritch peredhel entail

-@@outofangband

Sorry this took so long @outofangband and thank you for asking this I am! Delighted! And am preemptively putting a read more down because I cannot shut up about they <3

alright I'm just gonna put stuff and headcanons down as they occur to me so expect low-moderate levels of coherency

shapeshifting is an obvious one (gets weaker down the generations) but because my brain is Like This I have caveats!

thanks to my whole peredhil things=gender allegory that my brain spit out without my permission I've long struggled against my inherent feeling that while they can shapeshift they don't like it

but because I'm now aware of my brain's reasoning I can say it's because of ✨fantasy dysphoria✨

that's oversimplifying, obviously, but peredhil already have so much issues with working through who and what they are and compromising between body and mind and spirit that actively choosing to change into/present as something/someone who They Are Not is. Not usually their cup of tea.

As a whole they tend to have specific forms that they prefer as being closer to themselves, and distinct enough that it doesn't feel like they're faking something they're not

(changing to look like a different person, or a edited version of themself is Very Very not fun unless either explicitly for disguise or shenanigans)

(the exception to this is that Luthien can make herself look almost perfectly human without any real issue. she doesn't do it often but especially as she ages she likes to catch glimpses of her reflection and get both excited and sappy. this is in contrast to making herself look almost perfectly like an elf which makes her feel like her skin is on fire.)

(Also I'm pretty sure all of them can flip their agab presentation while only feeling varying degrees of off, and even then it's a different feeling than the shapeshifting dysphoria. Dior and Elwing are the two who I think mind it the most)

They all have the (agonizing to write) trait of feeling very distinct relationships to their species in their body vs soul/mind vs spirit/fea and they all feel it very differently! This isn't exclusive to Luthien's line but the maia blood does make it worse.

Oh! This is a new headcanon of mine actually but!

They all have faces that are very very hard to capture in image. They are the bane of portrait artists (and, to a degree, sculptors) everywhere because the art never looks accurate to life

It's not blatantly off it's just. missing something? Or something was added? maybe it's a little too wide, or narrow, or long, or short, in one place or another

It's not unrecognizable but if you've ever seen the subject in real life you can just tell

It's especially bad with Luthien (and Daeron) and Dior (to a lesser extent) because everyone literally sees them differently, as in their features will be slightly different depending on what each person finds attractive/aesthetically appealing and beautiful

(not a lot, again, it's not unrecognizable, but there has never and will never be any accurate depiction of Luthien as she was as a person)

(as a concept, though, as the most beautiful creature to have ever existed in Arda, a little of her image exists in every portrait lovingly made of a beloved spouse, every child's drawing of their family, in biological sketches of songbirds and field mice, in a sculpture of a stranger's face. Daeron remembers his sister perfectly, but he collects these regardless)

(Arwen, Luthien come again, isn't described as such by her grandparents. Galadriel and Celeborn both knew Luthien, and while Arwen and her father both look as closely to her as genetically possible, to those who actually know them both it's nothing more than uncanny family resemblance. Luthien was to most a concept personified, Arwen is a person with concepts imposed on her.)

The list of people who have seen Luthien how she actually, physically, defaultly is, essentially consists of Melian, Daeron, Beren, and Dior

Beren doesn't see her as she is right away because he doesn't know her right away, but they learn about each other and she shows herself and he sees her and by the time she rescues him from Tol-im-Gaurhoth there are no echoes on her face

(He's always a little bit haunted that he nearly died without realizing he'd never quite seen the truth of her before)

Neither Thingol or Beren can quite see their own features on their children's faces. They clearly take after their mothers, after all!

(This leads to much affectionate eye-rolling on Melian and Luthien's part)

Hair stuff!

It's alive! kinda! it's definitely not normal hair!

It moves a lot on its own. Sometimes like a breeze is blowing where there isn't one. Sometimes more like tentacles. It depends on its mood.

They've got some very pretty traditional cosmic horror vibes swirling around on their heads. It's very sparkly and colorful but in a Forbidden Shrimp Colors that your brain is unable to comprehend way so it reads as iridescent black mostly, or holographic white, where applicable

Luthien's hair actually is a glimpse into space, Daeron's is a glance at a star

(Luthien's magic hair cloak survives, I think, into the 4th age and beyond, though if anyone/anything has found it they certainly don't know the origins of the beautifully intricate living star map. It has seen the reign of countless north stars, yet the lines always point to the same coordinates- where the ancient, sunken, ruined remains of what once was Tol-im-Gaurhoth lay)

Speed round!

Fangs and talons and horns oh my! Are they tooth and keratin and bone, or are they petrified wood and gem and stone? Yes!

They all smell a little like ozone and a lot like petrichor, flowers, and Green. If you've smelled green you know what I'm talking about. Also, unfortunately, like bird. Birds don't smell great, especially wet bird.

Weird Foresight Powers++

(Most of them don't have actual foresight, but all of them are more in-tune with the Song than is natural for an incarnate)

Their eyes glow, most notably in the dark, unless the irises turn black as they sometimes do. They are also all unnaturally bright versions of the less-spooky parent's- Dior's are gold, Elwing's are blue-green like a tropical sea (Elured and Elurin split the color between them- ultramarine and emerald), Elrond and Elros have pale star-gold, Elladan, Elrohir, and Arwen all have silver.

(Daeron and Luthien being the exception again, because I decided they have Melian's eyes before I decided this, and I don't know what color eyes Thingol has. Watsonianly: Melian's spooky genes overwrite a lot. Luthien's genotype is probably much closer to his than her magically overwritten phenotype)

Their sclerae turn black and their pupils white, on occasion, usually when using powers

They don't bleed right. It's a little too red for an elf, a little too light for a human, and it shines strange as it beads like quicksilver on the skin

They have very shiny, cool skin. Luthien looked like her's was silver plate under a stretched stocking, the rest toned it down from there but it's still noticeable.

The Song is. Attached to them. They are all very much Main Characters. Their lives have a clear story arc with symbolism and narrative parallels. They are all subconsciously aware that their lives are a fairytale, whether tragic or no, and yes this has many Implications and affects. They are not the only ones like this, but they are the only ones who, to some level, know they are in a story.

This is the fundamental separation between them and everyone else.

The difference in how they perceive themselves between heart soul and spirit is very difficult to explain and understand, but not impossible to someone who knows them and is willing to put in the work.

The life-long knowledge that they are Important to the Song and their every choice and event they experience and their mere existence serves a greater purpose in a way that most other people simply do not- that's very, very isolating.

No one else can understand how they see the world. Very very few people are willing to try, and even fewer in a way that's not frustrating. There is a reason most of them find only one person to latch on to outside of their family, and a reason they hold on through hell and high water.

(This is about being neurodivergent)

[sysig]

Finally made a Parapluesch OC, introducing Mama Oz ♥ (Patreon)

[doloneia]

teucer is such a snarky bastard and i love him for it… like in his arguments with menelaus and agamemnon in ajax hes just like “ohoho its the CLOWN POLICE here to tell me WHAT TO DO well GUESS WHAT? go fuck yourself” and the entire time i am cheering and clapping on the sidelines

[serenit-teas]

I need to see more hater behavior between Alfonse and Líf, I need these two at one another’s throats!! They have beef and unresolved issues due to MANY reasons, but one of the funniest things is just?? One being faced with the others attitude and being constantly reminded ‘Man I hate this guy, this guy is the worst.’ (<- Was once this guy(Líf)/ Has the capacity to become this guy(Alfonse). It’s like a cat seeing itself in the mirror and NOT enjoying what’s reflected. I want these two to hash it out and it just be the ugliest fight Zenith has ever seen!!! This is my steel chair wrestle mania cage death match!!

[zsagu]

ok so ........ morningstar everybody. we love insane lil guys here

and this uh???????? bitch he (kinda forcefully) pulled by being weird ig. theyre so toxic doomed relationship goals

[hermitw]

Usually I forgive gege/sukuna for his crimes bc gege gives us so many beautiful images of true form sukuna and it takes me an hour to read a chapter bc I just. Keep looking at him. And he's one of my favorite characters.

But he's in time out rn!! Both sukuna and gege ughhhhh that was........ No.....

It can't be Chosover.

[myebix]

consider! what if jax wound up in the digital circus when he was 14, and his avatar reflected that? there's so much potential here...

[rg11]

Do u think Karkat and Jade share some sense of loneliness? With both of them not really being able to connect with other people for the first 13 years of their lives because of outsides forces (Being a mutant in Alternia and living in an island alone)

yea

i like to imagine they connect like that, just a small detail. its nice and really depressing, they turned out very differently.

though yes jades isolation is a bit more important (plot wise-ish) than karkats, but its still a very interesting parallel

With both of them not really being able to connect with other people for the first 13 years of their lives

i mean for karkat it was probably a nightmare, not being able to connect with anybody physically for years and just having to deal with yourself and just... with self loathing a part of it? yeah probably really lonely. though karkats life pre-sgrub is a bit more vague than jades, its kind of obvious that he didnt have any physical interactions (other than crabdad) due to the fact that he needed to be protected by well, alternias whole.. everything system. i think about karkats life pre-sgrub a lot, actually

and jade? loneliest girl on earth. she didnt really have anybody (except for her grandpa but .. You know. Dead. taxidermized. or after she was a toddler. i say 2 years old) and she was left on prospit wondering and the only time she was with another person was with a sleeping john in the other tower. and all the prospitians. but that was her main physical interactions (were not using bec because .. Dog. woof bark woof bark)

because of outsides forces (Being a mutant in Alternia and living in an island alone)

and thats the saddest part, it really isnt either of their faults for any form of isolation.

anyways sorry if i got anything incorrect or just kind of got things straight up wrong. its 1:20 am (as im currently re-vising) and i am too tired to correct myself

now i know this is more of a fully canon analysis. but i do want to give my opinions on how it would effect them after the game

using the fact in the credits that they do live together (with d*ve. why am i even censoring his name? because its funny) i think they would prefer to be close to each other. for karkat its more of the fact that i think he still would feel a bit sorry (not in the sense that he didnt feel all that sorry during the game when he was harassing jade, but i mean that the feeling still lingers from time to time) and would try to just stay near her to make sure shes alright

and jade would be near karkat because of the fact of their relationship during the game. i feel like after she did forgive him during the game she did get more curious. like the reactions he had with the passwords. probably just wanting to have someone around that was talking to her for so long and was bothering her while she was still alone, just the concept of someone who was bullying you for maybe.. MONTHS (i.e "CG: HI AGAIN, IDIOT.") (emphasis on again) .. YEARS?? (or on her part) is just.. near you. physically. it brings an awkwardness between them. from how they were isolated and bothering each other and now just... together ??? physically?? it probably is so strange to them . strange to me mostly but it is a strange concept in itself

but i digress this part, i just started rambling about it

[chirpsythismorning]

Mike being closed off, annoyed, defensive, and borderline irate a majority of the time throughout the series, is a defense mechanism.

It's because, if no one knows who Mike truly is at his core, then they cant judge or hurt who he truly is. It's a mask. They can hate him, but it's not even really him so... Jokes on them, right?

But Will. Will makes Mike feel like he's better for being different...

Mike evidently see's Will as someone that knows Mike at his core and still wants to be around him in part for those very qualities. This is the only person Mike has been able to consistently show a more vulnerable side of himself to, and it's because Will himself embodies those qualities that Mike is scared to reveal, out of fear that he will be judged for who he truly is.

All Mike's most vulnerable scenes? I can guarantee you will was present for almost all of them (definitely all of the major ones).

Mike is just not as honest in showing others how he is feeling quite like he is with Will. At the most he might lash out and hope it gets the people around him to leave him alone so that he can be honest with himself in the privacy of a moment with his own thoughts...

However, get Mike around Will and he's head in hands, literally the most vulnerable we ever see him.

Like WTF even is this???? How did we move on?

[snekdood]

bitches be like. i hate vegans so much that i’ve decided i like killing animals and its fine and i dont feel bad and animals dont have feelings and its fine and im cool subversive and different and edgy and like to post fucked up stuff to make vegans uncomfortable bc im just so cool

[beesechurgerzz]

dan thoughts!!

since a lot of people headcanon one of danny’s obsessions to be space driven, i think it would be cool if dan’s secondary obsession was the complete opposite: the ocean

space is a thing of dreams. it’s beautiful, bright, colorful, and people look at it with awe, admiration and respect, there’s reverence in the way people look at the starry night sky, and to some it brings them joy to think “the stars i gaze at tonight are the same my ancestors did as well”. it connects the past to the present, the memories of the living to the dead.

the ocean is terrifying. it remains mostly unexplored, and the dark depths hide horrid creatures, disfigured predators. there’s no light in the lower zones, only eternal darkness interrupted by whatever luminescence the creatures down there give off. the ocean invokes fear, fear of the unknown, fear of nature’s might. to brave the open seas is to welcome danger and defy death. numerous tragedies took place at sea, and to many, that’s enough to deter them from ever getting too close.

if danny is like the universe, seemingly infinite, full of wonder and ethereal otherness, a symbol of progress and comfort and the creation of life, then dan must be like the ocean, regarded with caution, associated with fear, capable of immeasurable destruction with its volatile will, depicted as an incomprehensible horror synonymous to death-

that despite all odds, harbors life even in its harshest conditions.

i like to think that dan’s creation was a symptom of grief, a consequence of losing yourself, of drowning, and that his redemption could only happen through love, through having something to hold onto, through someone who won’t let you sink.

[ruskayas]

bledyshka -> ruskayas

[asleepinawell]

this little quest chain was one of my favorites in ew because of the perspective it gave into the ancients, a very different one from what little we get from emet and hermes. there’s pretty ample proof that their society was not in any way perfect and was actually really deeply flawed to the core, but this is a look at people, individuals, and ones outside of the main bunch we talk to

put in a read more to spare your dashes

they go to speed up the aether dispersal of some creations (animals) that were killed and they call the deaths distressing and want to find a way to pay respects to the fallen and bring peace to their souls. at the wol’s suggestion they gather flowers for the dead. and they say what amounts to a prayer over the bodies. it’s so very very different from how hermes believes everyone feels and how hythlodaeus spoke of ‘returning to the star’ being beautiful (though even hythlodaeus said a brief prayer for the first boss in ktisis hyberboreia)

and yes, they still talk about life and death in terms of ‘purpose’ and this is no way refutes the callousness towards other lives we’ve seen some of the ancients display in elpis, but my personal take is that it shows that some of them at least understood on some level that there were important things missing in their culture that they needed. even if they didn’t fully grasp why, they were searching for these missing pieces. in this case, a way to process grief and acknowledge the worth of a life, even a non-human life. and they also actively ask for the new ideas the wol presents and talk about incorporating them into their lives and duties

there’s also a ton of little side quests in elpis that involve one person asking you to find or check on another person, or to carry a message to them. there’s so many people who care about each other and are just absolutely godawful at expressing it in person and need the poor wol to act as an intermediary (this happens in present day as well but it was just every 5 seconds in elpis)

there’s one striking one where one person asks you to bring a second person a message about how that second person’s concept was approved and succeeding (I forget the exact details) in the hopes that it would dissuade them from returning to the star. it didn’t dissuade them and the first person accepted that pretty calmly, but the thought was there. there was this hope that they could keep someone they cared about around longer even if the argument they tried to use to persuade them came back to that grim ideology about ‘purpose’. they lacked the framework to think about it another way, but they still tried

it’s definitely a stark contrast from the shade amaurotines we saw in shb (assuming for the sake of argument that they were accurate depictions and not biased by emet which is a big assumption), especially the ones who turned the topic of ‘should we save the lives of others on the planet or just focus on ourselves’ into a casual debate topic as a pastime. there are really terrible ways of thinking about the world that have been ingrained into the population presumably from birth. that’s not something that can easily be changed. but it could be changed. the potential was there

at a societal level the ancient world was terrible in so many ways, and ultimately doomed if it couldn’t change, but at an individual level the people had so much potential and at least some of them were trying their best to make sense of the things their society denied them and adapt their lives

my personal takeaway from all this (which is just a headcanon aka an opinion and i’m not trying to sell as canon), was that if their society could have been changed then the ancients had the potential to have produced people who could have faced meteion. i’m leaving aside the questions of the timeframe and zodiark tempering everyone because that’s not my point. my point is that the ancients weren’t inherently unable to be who was needed to save their world. the density of their aether making them unable to interact with dynamis is highly symbolic of the flaws of their society, of course, but that shouldn’t have stopped them from talking to meteion, from showing compassion and understanding and hope in the face of despair

i’m not trying to take any jabs about any characters’ decisions in the story because the actual situation they were in was extremely complicated (like hey zodiark tempering people!) and that would also miss my point. mostly i’m just saying this makes the fate of their people even more depressing. they were an entire race of people who had all the potential that the sundered humans do despite being stuck in a shit society that happened to be shit in the exact way that made dealing with meteion and the final days a seemingly insurmountable task. their near-immortality and creation powers made it even harder for them to really understand the problem, but not impossible. they had the raw potential and lacked the tools to use it to save themselves. it’s just really damned sad

[minscofrashemen]

Putting Wyll in autism diagnosis