#but OTOH she has the wolf symbolism going on

[ryttu3k]

Okay! Thoughts on The Legend of Ruby Sunday!

Note to self: some time this week, watch Pyramids of Mars.

Since it's a penultimate season finale, let's do this as some questions:

The anagrams. The Doctor says it was an anagram, just not the right one, ie. Sue Tech = Sutekh. Except that's not an actual anagram - there's no K in 'Susan Triad Technology', and 'S Triad' is still an anagram of TARDIS. So yes, Susan was a symbol of Sutekh's return, but could she be something else as well? Maybe not necessarily Susan, the Doctor's granddaughter, but someone trying to warn the Doctor about what's happening, maybe? Or is she Sutekh messing with the Doctor by seeding a Mystery Woman all through time and space, like a living Bad Wolf message, just to lure him back to UNIT?

What's going on with Mrs Flood? All we get is her being menacing towards poor Cherry and warning about a storm! Clearly something, yes, but what?

What's going on with Carla? She's the one who names the distortion as 'the Beast' before anyone else.

What's going on with Ruby's mother? She just… faded away from the recording. Is the figure Ruby's mother? We know she took baby Ruby to the church, but does that necessarily mean she's the one who gave birth to her or has anything to do with Ruby's origins? Was she pointing at the Doctor, or was she pointing at Sutekh manifesting behind him? Who actually is Ruby? Is she connected with Sutekh in some way, or another part of the Pantheon? Maybe a child or grandchild of Sutekh? Does she have something to do with the distortion?

Relatedly, why was the image of the TARDIS surrounded by the distortion in the recording? Time is all weird at the church, does the Doctor end up having to go back (or hell, Sutekh hijacking the TARDIS for its own purposes) and, I don't know, breaking time, thus allowing Sutekh into the world? Is Ruby's whole mystery also linked with the Bad Wolf-style luring the Doctor back, maybe by trying to get him to open the Time Window?

Why did the TARDIS grumble when Rogue came in? Was it just that she was already in the process of being possessed and it was an ongoing thing, or is he tied to it too?

Staffing changes at UNIT: where did Shirley go? :( (Oh, apparently she's currently stationed in Geneva, okay.) Who dressed that poor kid? Glad that Donna is confirmed to work at UNIT, but isn't Rose (hi sweetie! You're doing great!) only sixteen? OTOH, Morris is only thirteen… and who the hell let someone named H Arbringer into a UNIT control room, seriously? XD;;

No, seriously, how did they instantaneously catch 'S TRIAD' = 'TARDIS' but didn't get warning signs from literally H Arbringer?

The Trickster was explicitly described as the God of Traps, and Morris kept mentioning the possibility of it being a trap rising. Any connection?

But really, the whole Susan Triad thing? "There's always a twist in the end!" But legit if Susan Triad isn't related to Susan the Doctor's granddaughter, that's goddamn hilarious. There's always a twist at the end! Susan, played by Susan Twist! Susan was mentioned, she must be coming back! Even the Doctor thinks so! NOPE. WOE, SUTEKH BE UPON YE.

Mavity?

[alteredphoenix]

WoW x ToLuminaria

Featuring two of the armor tier sets from the Sepulcher of the First Ones raid on Mythic difficulty

Celia is wearing the Godstalker’s Battlegear (hunter set) and Michelle is wearing the Theurgic Starspeaker’s Regalia (shaman set).

[elfyourmother]

I need to write about Mari and Fenris re: tattoos because it’s one of those ideas that’s been on the back burner forever

but it’s another weird way they relate to each other, having something in common that expresses itself in contrasts

Mari’s tats are mostly a gift from her father, done out of sentimental affection. The stargazer lilies on her neck in particular, because those he did when he was dying. those were a physical prayer on his part that the Maker would watch over her and she would be ok after he was gone (they’re a symbol of prosperity).

Fenris’ otoh...yeah.

And he thinks hers are beautiful while he hates his own and views them as hideous shackles for a long time. But he starts to make peace with them after a while, because of her influence. It helps that he slowly starts to associate them with sensations other than phantom pain, when they react to Mari’s magic in ways that don’t hurt him or remind him of terrible things. And Fenris almost gets this zealous urge to reclaim everything that was done to him, especially after they kill Danarius. Danarius intended him to be the perfect weapon/protector/bodyguard for a mage? Well, he’ll be one—for one of his choosing, who deserves it, who he takes joy and pleasure in protecting, and who doesn’t view him as a pet or an object that exists solely for these things.

His tats are a part of that, ofc, but from an aesthetic standpoint they were always intended to make him look simultaneously intimidating and striking, bc that bastard had a gross fixation on the idea of Fenris being this savage beast that he tamed (which is why in my ‘verse he can play the lute). They were meant to be frightening and alluring at the same time.

Mari learned p. quickly that Fen’s tats were a sore point and while she didn’t go on about them, they did talk about ink a lot (especially whenever she turned up with something new) and seeing the way she related to his went a long way toward helping him be at peace with it. Mari, at heart, is an artist—she expresses creativity through food, she makes crafty things, she dances, etc. And it‘s an artist’s appreciation she has for them, even as she acknowledges and empathizes with the horror they symbolize. Gisele said something in one of her diaries about Loghain, that when she met him at Ostagar he didn’t admire her like a predator looks at their prey, the way a certain Templar did in the tower. Fenris felt similarly about Mari wrt his tats—she never fetishized them (or him), or gloated about how badass they made him. The way she admired them was a total 180 from Assface. And it confused him and endeared her to him by turns. He literally started feeling more at ease in his own skin.

That whole thing is actually horrific to her—Mari views her own body as a canvas so to speak, to decorate as she chooses...her father never forced her or the twins to get their tats, they were all asked for. The pain is fleeting, momentary, and results in something beautiful. Danarius twisted everything. It’s one of the reasons why she quite happily set him on fire.

As a reminder, the most prominent tat Mari has is the giant back tattoo of interlocking stuff that symbolizes each of the companions. Aside from Beth and Carver (which the rest sprung out of), all of those were done in Kirkwall. The center of that design is essentially over her heart, and the biggest part of it is a Blade of Mercy, the very same one she gave Fenris, with “Love conquers all” written in Tevene. When Fenris saw it he was knocked on his ass. First off it was one of the last she got—not because she didn’t love him as much as Izzy or Seb, but because it took her literal years to settle on something for him. The crest of the House of Vael was an obvious choice. So was the Rivaini mermaid. But what, for him? A wolf would be offensive, and so would some sort of riff on his own tats. Mari wanted to get it right.

And Fenris fucking loves that blade. For what it means to his burgeoning (and borderline heretical) Andrastian faith, and the fact that it was Mari who gave it to him. Later on, when they retake Starkhaven, he makes it iconic and it’s a part of his legend. But mainly, it’s a symbol to him of the mercy he was shown, that he’s more than just a weapon to be wielded by a powerful hand. Mari gave it to him not out of pity, or obligation, but love. So that’s why she chose it as his symbol. It means that no matter their wildly disparate backgrounds, or the way they really shouldn’t fit together at all but somehow do, or the powerful ways they can and do hurt each other inadvertently, their bond is such that it transcends all of that. Love conquered a two bit slaver, a would be dictator, and at least a dozen eldritch horrors. And that was just Tuesday.

So Mari thought it was fitting. And Fenris was floored, because someone endured the pain of marking themselves on his account, having a symbol of him etched into her skin forever, for no other reason than she loved him and wanted everyone to know it. That someone thought he was worthy of that—especially Marisol, as clever and amazing and maddening and wonderful as she is? Holy shit. It’s one thing to hear it. It’s another to see tangible evidence of it, especially during the most intimate times, when he traces it with his fingers in disbelief. That’s when he realizes she’s not bullshitting him when she says he means everything to her.