#amongst roses

[peaceinthestorm]

Charles Courtney Curran (1861-1942, American) ~ The Perfume of Roses, 1902

[Source: americanart.si.edu]

[kittykatninja321]

Inspired by @laufire to add Eddie to my dream comic book team up which essentially just makes it "Rose Wilson at the center of the world's most chaotic polycule"

[strqyr]

something must have happened for raven to go from attempted friendly banter with summer to thinking that just sounding like summer is a crime deserving of a fireball in the face.

like this doesn't feel like a simple 'witnessed your friend die a horrible death and now you're traumatized', this feels personal on some level, and my mind keeps going back to war, a song about friendship and betrayal, 'turned from family to full-on despised', 'put my trust in you right from the start' -> "if i do this right, there's nothing to worry about. trust me." etc.

there's also, like, the fact that the whole 'they never said summer was dead' thing still applies. i really don't see her actually being dead. missing an eye? sure. dead or even fully grimmified like the hound? nah.

kinda starting to think that this isn't just a qrow thing, either, but encompasses all of strq, actually:

clover: we don't have to fight, friend. qrow: you don't know my friends. that's how it always goes.

[nacrelysis]

wanderer as nahida's right-hand is perfect. they both have a history of abandonment, neglect, and exploitation, plus for similar reasons.

nahida was imprisoned in the sanctuary of surasthana for centuries, left to wither as a failed god her people chased the shadow of a 'better' ideal: greater lord rukkhadevata.

wanderer was abandoned by his mother in shakkei pavilion because he was the failed prototype for her ideal ruler of eternity: a puppet who could execute the lightning's will without regret, whom she intended to create after having makoto die in her arms.

the people involved in wanderer and nahida's pasts - both, in a sense, have convinced themselves that their actions were for the greater good. the sages don't even see nahida is a god, much less a human - to them, all she is is the reminder of what sumeru once had and never could again.

raiden ei abandoned kunikuzushi because she saw him cry, and, knowing he could never be the shogun she needed, left him to his own devices. it's been stated in canon that ei believed she was setting kunikuzushi free. and maybe she was, during those dark days after inazuma's first archon died. but, perhaps, what drove kunikuzushi to assign her actions as 'abandonment' was the fact that he was, in a sense, a lesser god. that he was created for reasons he didn't know. the first thing kunikuzushi did upon creation was cry - in the same way that a baby's first instinct is to cry, because their first impulse is to seek help. from this perspective, the thing kunikuzushi needed the most was guidance and acceptance from his creator (because he knew he was created by someone), while the thing ei thought he needed the most was solitude. miscommunication in the delivery room, am i right.

raiden ei's motives were not the same as the sages - you could argue that she really did believe she was doing it for kuni's benefit. i think she did. but what stands is that both these acts feature a theme of abandonment and neglect. they were carried out by people in the aftermath of grief, executed as neglect upon the people they were done to. and these acts catalyzed nahida and wanderer's development into the characters they are now.

they are not the same as the other archons.

venti's arc is focused around mending the wounds of the past, though it could be implied that he is re-assessing what "freedom" means for his nation. zhongli stepped back as yanwang dijun to allow liyue to move forward on its own while he could re-integrate as one of their common folk. ei is brought forward to re-evaluate her decisions as inazuma's absentee god.

good or bad, they all have experience with being a god.

nahida doesn't. she was intentionally kept from fulfilling her duties as archon for hundreds of years. anything she learns now, once free, is the first time she's learning it as kusanali.

wanderer can't. he tried. he took the electro gnosis and tried to transplant it into his own body - but, at the moment as we know it, gods technically can't be artificially created. the closest dottore could get was a mimicry.

so you have this unique circumstance, where nahida and wanderer both have no idea of what being a god really entails. but they don't need to know what being a god is like, do they? they just need to know how to be an archon: how to protect, how to decide, how to execute.

nahida is very forgiving. in my opinion, she's too forgiving (only because i hate the sages and would've called cps on them if i could). she sees the best in humanity. she works to engage with her people. she tries to listen to their hopes and dreams while moving towards a collective vision for the nation.

wanderer is cynical. he's been betrayed three times, in his words, and been taken advantage of far more than thrice. wanderer has seen the worst of humanity, and he continues to carry this critical eye. he's not afraid to do what nahida can't do (go undercover + beat up people) and he's not afraid to confront people when their motives stray towards the worse.

wanderer can demonstrate the things that define the worst of humans, while nahida can show wanderer the things that make humanity worth preserving. wanderer can execute orders with precision and make decisions on the fly (ha), but nahida is here to level his head and point out clues, motives, or implications that perhaps were not considered before.

and, isn't it a fitting conclusion to the sumeru archon quests? two former puppets, both alike in dignity, in sumeru where we lay our scene. together, they can reconcile the pains of their past - and together, they can build a better, kinder future together...the kind that both must have, at their worst, dreamed of living.

[nyneisen]

Oh, to be Charley, Rose, Clara or Yaz and having the hottest incarnations of the Doctor obsessed with me, completely at my mercy... I’d simply be insufferably smug. Their range.

[illyaoakheart]

There is a stir in the flower-scented walls of Highgarden. The morning air is crisp, and dewy.  But there is a boy who disturbs the tranquil peace — his face is flush as a red rose, a smile dimpling his cheeks and sparkling his eyes. His breath comes in fast pants as he tears through the gilded halls, feet slapping against marble. His heart races, and joy bursts from his lungs. “Ring the bells,” he cries, his voice elated, “ring the bells!” 

Servants, pages, guards, and nobles alike lean out of rooms and parlors, eyebrows raising. They stop their breakfasts, their work to ponder the scene. Whispers begin — what has stirred him to such excitement? Such exhilaration? The halls fill with more and more as he races by, arms waving back and forth. “Ring the bells!” 

“What is it, boy?” A lord asks, stepping into his path to stop his celebratory laps through the castle. The boy’s grin is wide, but he darts around him, still shouting. 

The boy turns around, running backwards, to call back to the perplexed crowd that gathers. “Ring the bells! Her Grace is expecting,” he turns away, and his shout is laughter filled as it echoes behind him. “King Cedric’s heir is on his way!”

It does not take long for the ringing to start — from Highgarden to Oldtown, from Oldoak to Brightwater Keep, bells and heralds begin to repeat the boy’s cries of joy. By the time the sun peaks in the noon sky, a Royal Proclamation has been read to a crowd amassed in the main courtyard of the castle: 

The Royal House Tyrell is pleased to announce that Her Majesty, Queen Illya and His Majesty Cedric Tyrell, King of the Reach, are expecting their first child. Like the blooming of a rare and wondrous flower, this pregnancy is a gift of joy and anticipation for The Reach. The union between His and Her Majesty — whose happiness was sealed just a short time ago — has now been blessed with the promise of new life. Just as the Reach is renowned for nurturing the most splendid gardens and flourishing fields, let the realm pray to The Mother that the pregnancy of Her Grace be blessed with health, happiness, and an abundance of love.

THE ROSES OF HOUSE TYRELL CONTINUE TO BLOOM, GROWING STRONG.

@visxionaries

( ooc: Illya has been pregnant for some time now, having conceived with Cedric in the first few weeks of their marriage. Lucrezia was the first to know. After, Illya kept the news from Cedric until she was absolutely sure — until she knew she could no longer hide the beginnings of the changes in her body from him. Illya finally shared the news with her husband during one of their nightly dinners. After, the Queen and King kept the pregnancy between themselves and those closest to them until Illya was past the time for concern, and the swell of her stomach can no longer be concealed. Illya’s quickness in becoming pregnant has been said to be a blessing, the gods rewarding the Thorn King’s victory in a bloody civil war. IC, Illya will give birth only a few months after Lucrezia and Omer’s first, and OOC baby Tyrell goes live in November! )

[eggmeralda]

just woke up from the best film I've ever watched in my life only to realise it was a dream

[prosebushpatch]

Listen, i don’t care if it’s romantic/platonic/barely put up with, but in totk, Link and Zelda share that bed. I didn’t spend all those rupees so Link could sleep on the floor, Nintendo. You couldn’t even give him a bed under the stairs? WHERE’S THE SIGN THAT SAYS “LINK’S HOUSE” NINTENDO. COMMIT TO THE SHIP OR AT LEAST PUT TWO FRICKING BEDS IN THE HOUSE THIS IS MALARKEY

[mogai-sunflowers]

fallen angels are so gender y’all. i seriously can’t get over how gender they are

[calamity-talvi]

[rosecreates]

Me putting the True Love's Caress and True Love's Embrace rings on Sylve and Astarion: Hehehehehehehe

[songcfmuses-a]

Casual Reminder

Cailan Theirin cheated on Anora Mac Tir almost their entire marriage, and not once fathered a child. 

Anora and Cailan were engaged in 9:10, but still hadn’t been married by 9:23 when he was 18 years old. Meaning she wasn’t of age. Meaning she could not have been born before 9:06 Dragon, and she could not have been born after 9:09 Dragon as Loghain was taking her to court in 9:10.

They were married by 9:25 at the latest when he was crowned King, meaning - she was born either 9:06, or 9:07, making her either 24 or 23 during Origins, and either way - not an old barren woman who deserved to be put aside for the empress of Orlais, who if you didn’t know is a lesbian, and older than Anora and Cailan. After she just spent five years doing the royal duties he chose not to. 

The wiki states she’s been married five years, making her birth year of 9:07 more likely. 

Therefore, my Anora was born 9:07 Dragon, and by 23 Cailan had managed to convince her and the court she was infertile while he shirked duties and had affairs. Lovely husband, really. 

[bioswear]

I feel like we need a supplemental extra volume that goes into what the LunariGems did during their 10,000 years :(

Like the whole Bort and Dia brief interaction - like did they resolve ANYTHING? The last thing we saw was Dia being a bossy little snot and demanding that the Diamonds reconvene at some feast that night

Or Rutile and Padparadscha - we saw Rutile recovered enough from their own mental break to be a psychologist and therapist for others, so what happened?

And what about the Amethyst twins? They didn’t have much conflict (actually their change was the most positive out of the codependent relationships of the Gems) but I’d like to know what they were thinking when they reunited

[nacrelysis]

sometimes i do just think about sumeru archon quest...i can't remember any in genshin lore where so many characters played such a huge role in the storyline and so cleanly. and how well-built the power structures/institutions are.

screams and bashes my head against the wall...the way sumeru is literally structured upon the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom but it's become a bastardized theocracy because of the akademiya sages.

the way it's literally a council of conservatives who hate the idea of moving forward with 'lesser lord' kusanali because that would actually require them to relinquish power to their god. the way they corrupt rukkhadevata's name for their own purposes because, well, she doesn't exist anymore, does she? she can't object to what they do in her name, can she? the way they intentionally pit the common people against each other and frame academia as a competition and make the entire population dependent on a network instead of their own thought so that every new generation is either burning themselves out or throwing away their identity...as long as they aren't questioning what the sages want to accomplish.

but, like. the archon quest. the traveler pops back between sumeru city and the desert because it's crucial to the development of this sociopolitical commentary. we get to see the exploitation of the desert region first-hand.

and the supporting cast is so so good. cyno, general mahamatra, and al-haitham, the akademiya scribe, give up the prestige of their titles in favor of doing the right thing: freeing nahida. dehya and candace/kandake are fighting for recognition and proper treatment of their people (dehya's character teaser literally focusing on how she uses her mercenary money to fund education for orphans and children in the desert!!) and a life free of exploitation from people claiming themselves to be "scholars." nilou tying up her mini-arc in the archon quest about how the akademiya suppresses creative liberty and the arts in order to maintain their hierarchy, nilou being the face of the resistance, nilou using her art as a method of protest and being crucial to the rescue of nahida!!

and hoyo writers tying up the socio-political commentary after the main conflict is over...nahida working with the akademiya and deshret worshippers to reconcile the prejudices and systemic oppression of the desert villages! eremites and candace and dehya and even npcs like setaria (who plays a major part in introducing the whole deshret-rukkhadevata conflict) being a part of the resolution! random notion but i really liked setaria and i'm so glad she chose to resign from the akademiya because it wasn't staying true to her moral principles in order to help improve education in her desert home ;-;

every character plays a part and i love it. i was rooting for them so hard and i was so close to crying when nahida finally got to step outside for the first time in 500 years. like !!! sumeru's archon quest got you so attached to the characters in such a little amount of time...i'm big-eyed about it all...

(also al-haitham organizing the coup so he wouldn't have to have more responsibilities in the akademiya, only to be named acting grand sage because his coup literally deposed every other possible candidate, was really funny)

[aemoglobin]

all the lesbians i work with are service desk or cashier or in my sister department, which is fine but i don't get time to talk to them bc they're always so busy and i'm always so busy.... but when we DO have time to talk it's always gay shit and i love it.