#but is manifesting his own destiny haha

[mrehkka]

Have a zadr gif 💕 featuring lover boy Zim and Dib freaking out about it- and a sudden realization that maybe.... he wouldn't hate it actually???

[hanzajesthanza]

a lot of the “haha geralt is so annoyed by his friends!!” talk reduces the relationship of geralt & co. to the events of baptism of fire—baptism of fire geralt is very enjoyable to read, but lady of the lake geralt is the final evolution of a beautiful development of character. we really ought to talk more often about how his relationship with his company developed over the next two books and how by the end of it, he felt entirely responsible for their fates.

it can’t really be said that the hanza didn’t mean a lot to geralt and he would have chosen ciri & yen over them no problem. by the end of it he really valued their friendship and company. he literally identified himself as their leader, embraced his role as their leader. only with their company, he was finally able to fully ascended to what he is at heart and who he was meant to be, what his character was created to be: a hero.

he never liked to play sacrificial games. the entire reason he shunned (the majority of) the company (sorry cahir, he took extra issue with you) was that it was too dangerous of an undertaking, and he did not want to risk the lives of anyone else for his personal matters, sticking their necks out for him. it wasn’t just because he’s an old grump and sourpuss—he literally tells this to dandelion and milva multiple times, that he doesn’t want them dying because of him.

he decided against anything that would have put milva in danger when she was pregnant, refusing to risk her life or her unborn child’s life—remaining adamant that he would not sacrifice her child’s life for his own. and similarly when codringher presented him the hypothetical of pawning a decoy girl off on emhyr, he was disgusted at the thought of trampling the life of some innocent girl for the safety of his own.

virtuous to a fault, geralt abhors stepping on another to lift himself up. he won’t even kill innocent creatures to make a quick buck—they have to be real dangers—which, of course, makes him not only poorer and hungrier, but fighting, you guessed it, more dangers. this makes geralt unlike many of the other characters we’re presented with, who, even though they may not want to, agree to make sacrifices for their personal interests or the greater good (though, what’s the difference—the lodge and emhyr called their personal interests the greater good. that’s a big point of how the decisions of those in power is deconstructed in the saga).

i don’t think geralt would have sacrificed his company, given a choice.

but he did choose, of course, despite not being given a choice. it was a necessary sacrifice, though geralt, being the man he is, would never have made such a choice given the option (like the trolley problem—he’s impossible, he would continue to insist that neither of these choices are good and he doesn’t want to choose). i don’t want to kill either shrike or stregobor, i don’t want to take a side in the war, i don’t want to ride to cintra and claim my destiny. the whole saga is about how no matter if you decide to choose or not to choose, destiny still makes you choose. even if you think you can deny and avoid the choice. and after such denial, it stops asking you nicely. death dogs his footsteps, but death couldn’t catch up with him (for a while, at least), so it had to settle for others… the hanza are another, perhaps a final, manifestation of this lesson—calanthe and cintra being the first victims.

he and cahir dragged milva’s dead and bleeding body to safety, risking their own lives in the hail of arrows which rose again once she had fallen. his noble and virtuous heart still looked for cahir and angoulême in the corridor after the fighting had ceased, waiting for them to come out of the empty hall, before ciri shook her head to tell him no one would be coming down it. his scream rung in the air with regis’ as regis was being torn apart. and he, in pain and exhausted, remembered him, to yennefer when she asked, as a friend, and managed to utter some beautifully kind words in his memory.

i don’t think someone like geralt (feeling responsible for deaths of innocents whether they’re even his fault or not) would ever truly get over the loss of his company. after having, with ciri, buried them, by the foot of stygga castle, having to drag the bodies out one by one, close their glassy eyes, mound the wet and cold earth over them. and regretfully glance back at the melted stone column he cannot bury. he was woefully dreary after stygga, and kept returning to their memory as they retraced their steps into the sansretour valley. reminding himself about the sword of destiny with two edges… and again at rivia mourning them with the dwarven company.

we can at least sigh with relief that destiny allowed him to keep dandelion. it had to, because he is just, after all “like a burr on a dog’s tail”—destiny did not quite manage to slip its noose around his neck, for he did not touch destiny, but instead tagged alongside it. (plus, the cameraman never dies). if dandelion died, it would have broken geralt well and truly. it was the longest and deepest connection he ever had. the same goes for the reverse, of course 😬

[myaoiboy]

Death Stranding gender talk you say? Count me in.

Oh, I'm so glad someone asked about MPreg: A Hideo Kojima Game :3c

I'm going to put a quick CW in here for a medical-setting image of an umbilical cord. It's pretty mild, but I think doing side-by-side images will be helpful for illustrating what I'm talking about. Also, big spoilers for anyone that hasn't finished the game, obviously

Literally everything in Death Stranding is so very tied to parenthood and especially the pregnancy and birth parts. Yes it's technically a metaphor for the creative process but also it's, uh, incredibly visceral. So I'm gonna start here with Sam, but damn everyone in this game has some gender going on.

Can we talk about how Bridget chose the same name for both her other half/fictional daughter AND for her adopted son? I feel like not enough people mention the fact that "Amelie's" "real" name is Samantha America Strand, and everyone just calls her Amelie. Maybe because it's fucking weird to have two kids named Sam and Samantha?

The fact is too, that the two Sams aren't the only ones with gender-ambiguous names in the game...we don't know Lou's gender until the very end! The use of gender-ambiguous names for the only two main characters that you as the player can actually interact with feels hella meaningful.

In fact, the game intentionally lets us think that Lou/BB is a boy for most of the game! Cliff refers to his BB as "him" in one of the first cutscenes we see of him, very early on. The game also lets us believe, for some time at least, that there's a chance that the memories are BB/Lou's, and that Lou is Cliff's baby. We don't know this isn't true until near the end of the game! Why didn't any of the characters point out this contradiction before then? I'm not sure, at least not yet. Very open to thoughts on this. It doesn't feel like the MO of the game to have a gender reveal at the end for shock value.

Anyways, let's get in on point one obvious: like I already said, this is an mpreg game. There's...there's no way around it. A dudes carry a fetus attached to them by an umbilical cord (which they make VERY viscerally look like a real umbilical cord btw, between the color/texture/the additional cable along the outside).

I feel like "haha it's the mpreg game" has probably been done to death but I love it so much specifically because of the implications that it makes and the puns that it plays on.

Sam is a delivery man. He's called "The Great Deliverer" or "The Man Who Delivers." And the last scene of the game, the last line before we flash-back for the postgame, is...?

Literally childbirth! It's...delivery. It's Sam delivering his own child, after making a trek by foot across the continental US carrying a difficult pregnancy. "The Man Who Delivers" is a double entendre throughout the game, just like "strand" is ('strand' like rope or hair, 'strand' as in a portion of a larger network, 'strand' as in stranding, like the beach, etc).

So like, what the fuck, right? Why do we have Mpreg: Hiking Simulator? What the HELL is going on in there?

So. America, right?

If there's anything Kojima really loves to talk about, it's America. American identity, imperialism, national myth, etc. Death Stranding is just the most recent and blatant of these. And, of course, one of the most popular American Myths are the story of the founding fathers, right up there with manifest destiny.

So we have this game where Sam is both literally becoming a father after carrying a surrogate pregnancy, and also metaphorically becoming a father by re-founding America. In that way we can see, through his experience of pregnancy, the trials of (re-)founding America.

Okay, great, cool, Sam is a male mom, wonderful, so glad that technology has progressed to this point, we stan. Maybe we don't stan the use of American nationalism as a tool so much but look at the healthy baby glow <3.

But I also want to contrast this with the only other BB we really see in the game. Yeah, baby, it's Higgs time!!! And I am going to make a comparison that is going to seem batshit insane. Bear with me:

I was skeptical myself when I first saw this comparison, but I've been converted into a believer for a few reasons.

The visual. While imo it wouldn't be enough on its own to make a case, I have to admit that his hood is similar to some popular depictions of Mary

Higgs is literally a male prophet of a goddess of extinction. He essentially considers himself her messenger,

While Sam gets his BB from another person, and it's also a live fetus, Higgs gets his from Amelie, as how god gives mary jesus immaculately

Much like Amelie's reveal that her "soul is a lie," the "baby" that she gives higgs is a twisted effigy. He carries his god(dess)'s physical form, but as she is a goddess of extinction with no remaining soul of her own, it will never grow.

i'm willing to believe higgs is a virgin, for the bit.

Okay okay I gotta stop for now because it's 1 AM but like, consider it, mayhaps.

[kohakhearts]

hey that pokemon 2000 gifset + your jn dub analysis made me think about the pokemon 2000 dub - I've only seen it subbed once (compared to the hundred times I watched it dubbed as a child) so I could be misremembering, but didn't the dub completely change the themes of the movie with the chosen one ash thing?

i actually haven’t watched the sub nearly as many as times as the dub either :p but i have read extensively about this topic bc it’s personally my favourite pokemon movie and yes! the first and second pokemon movies are both victim to this (like mewtwo’s epic speech we all love so much at the end of the first movie…being a complete fabrication by the dub team :p you gotta give those writers credit - they were VERY good at what they did), largely i’m guessing due to cultural values and expectations. since they were trying to sell the anime to an american audience, not a japanese one.

tangentially, i will say i also think that’s the root of this like…subtle distinction some people have between the characters “ash” and “satoshi.” i don’t differentiate them in any big way myself because fundamentally they still are very much the same, but it is true that in japanese, ash has somewhat different mannerisms and responds differently to events at times, especially in the early anime when it was so much easier to get away with making big changes for…a big assortment of reasons haha.

in THIS movie in particular, some of those things are like…well. the prophecy is probably the most obvious change. the dub team rewrote it to include the chosen one reference, which works great because of the word play on ash’s name. in japanese, it just says “an exceptional trainer will appear to help calm the wrath of the gods.” ash’s response to this is more mild trepidation than outright fear. he doesn’t hesitate like he does in the dub. and tbh? both reactions make perfect sense for his character in my opinion.

in japanese, his concern is more "do you really think i can fit that role?" this...tracks pretty well with his character development by this point. like yeah he said he could win the indigo league, but he's also thinking about dropping out after gary loses; it's that little grain of insecurity he has, which he's normally good at covering up with arrogance (a lot of which is also very genuine, don't get me wrong). but he sees the opportunity to help and he takes it. that's just...what ash does.

in english, though, the prophecy is pretty clearly about him. there's no one else it could be. it has to be him. and he...doesn't like that? that scares him. which, fair. anyone would be terrified by being singled out like that. it's also so much...not ash's thing, even at this point in the series. his character development is about embracing having to work hard to do well. to keep trying until you get it right, no matter how many times you get it wrong. the idea of being a "chosen one" completely robs him of his ability to be so single-minded about what he wants his destiny to be that it manifests as pre-determined; it just...pre-determines it for him, if that makes sense. lol.

the thesis of the japanese version of the film is that no one person or pokemon can stand on their own. everyone needs help. it's about harmonizing with each other and with nature. about letting others help you, and helping them in turn. the english version rewrites that into a story about power and destiny. the title alone says it all, right? it's called "the power of one" - no reference to lugia, no reference to the birds. in japan, the title is about the revelation (or "birth") of lugia.

westerners love a good chosen one story, so this was a really good choice by the dub team in that respect. i mean, it's a narrative that's stuck really well. fandom loves chosen one ash! in general, western fanbases are really into this narrative. it's everywhere. and there's a lot that goes into that, culturally, and especially religiously, historically, etc. so at the end of the day, i don't think the change is so much about conflicting ideas about collectivism and individualism. it's more about goals and ideals, on a personal level.

let me say again for the 273456784th time, i love that they resolved ash's story by having him realize that the goal he's really been striving for all this time is to meet and befriend pokemon. to learn from them. to earn their trust. it's like...he did the thing that everyone else thought represented his goal, maybe even himself included, only to realize that his dream was never about the end of it anyway. it was about everything he learnt and everyone he met along the way. (i also suspect nobody writing in 1997 knew that that would be the ultimate resolution, either. but it makes sense in the entire context. it's kind of a nice irony, even. to only figure it out after writing the story :p)

and i think this little distinction is important to that goal! it's his whole character! which is why even though i too love chosen one characters, i don't necessarily think of ash as one. because even if he is, his whole Thing is that he wants to try. a lot of the chosen one narrative is about characters being reluctant to be used for a "greater good," or about them collapsing under that pressure. ash doesn't really have that. he does what he thinks is right because he...thinks it's right. sometimes, sure, others have to push him into it a bit, but usually they're actually pushing the other way - it's too dangerous, you're going to get hurt, etc. and to me, i don't know - thinking of times he's died, or nearly died, and some legendary or mythical pokemon has saved him at the last minute...i don't think that has to mean he's special in a cosmic sort of way. i think it just means he's special to them. that he did something for them, or for someone else they had come to care for (thinking manaphy responding to may's emotions, not just to the fact that ash was drowning, or in mpm ash convincing latios to trust him because of their mutual desire to save latias, etc.), and so they want to help him. which is completely opposite to the typical chosen one narrative, i think? because he doesn't do those things out of obligation...he does them because he thinks he can become a better trainer by doing them, and he wants to do that. and well. he did do that.

anyway my tl;dr here is YES they changed the theme a lot haha, but i find it fun that they also changed the characters’ responses to that theme. funnily that’s…kind of also what fanfiction writers do all the time, lmao, but that’s a whole other conversation.

[myfavouritelunatic]

The Blacksmith

Apologies for the delay, life keeps getting in the way of editing haha. Thank you for your patience! ❤️

A quick thing to note, I did my best to research what Pelargir might look like in the Second Age, and there doesn’t seem to be too much published about it during this time period (unless I just missed it). So if you’re reading this after Season 2 of TROP comes out and the descriptions here don’t match the visuals in the show, then that is why! 😊

Pairing: Halbrand/Sauron x Female Reader

Word Count: 3k

Warnings: None

Links to Chapters One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen, Fifteen, Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty, Twenty-One, Twenty-Two, Twenty-Three, Twenty-Four, and Twenty-Five!

Chapter Twenty-Six

The speed with which you rode was unlike anything you'd experienced up until this point. It seemed that the few days rest your horse had received had done wonders. He galloped so quickly and so gracefully that it seemed almost implausible, like he was fuelled by a power that could not be quantified. Somehow your steed understood the importance of the task at hand. It wouldn't be much longer now at all before Pelargir was reached.

The sight you had seen in your sleep kept replaying over and over in your mind. Your soul was stricken with it. Galadriel had never appeared to you while you dreamt, and you were so confused as to how you should feel about her presence now. There were however two things you were sure of, that it was indeed a warning, and that Halbrand had not planted it. You remembered what he had told you about your mother and the unknown power her spirit seemed to possess. How she had tried to save you from Sauron. You wondered now if she knew of Halbrand's path to redemption and the reasons why you cannot leave him. This suddenly made you question your certainty. Was her warning a message to run from Galadriel? Or was there something else to her silent gesture? Was she trying to warn you not to go south? A sharp pain emanated from your stomach as you remembered the feeling of the she-elf's weapon inside you. This was enough to convince you that your instincts to flee were right.

There was also something else about Galadriel in this vision that filled you with unshakeable confusion. It seems a desire for her had been brewing within, unbeknownst to your conscious thought. Casting your mind back to how taken you were with her upon your first meeting, this revelation wasn't exactly shocking. However you did not expect any feelings for her to ever manifest. You loved Halbrand, you craved his touch. You only ever wanted his body twined with your own. And yet...

Within hours of leaving the inn and your companions behind, the horizon changed, giving way to a view that seemed to cleanse your heart in relief: Pelargir. You had finally arrived. Giving Halbrand a loving squeeze, you couldn't help but call out, "We made it!" Your love laughed happily at you, unable to contain his joy either it seemed. After all this time, the tragedy, the struggle, you had both reached your sanctuary. It would be here where the beginning of something great would take place. Your chance to truly start anew, to fulfil your destiny, and remain bathed in the light. However, the time for rejoicing might have come too soon, for your arrival couldn't help but be a test, a moment of truth. Were you too late? Did words travel faster than the hooves of your horse?

As you reached the city limits, Halbrand slowed the pace of your steed to a walk, not desiring to draw too many eyes. He let one of his hands come to rest over your own, fingers interlocking. This place was just as you remembered it, it had not changed in the years since your last fateful stay. It was not as resplendent as Eregion or as spectacular as Armenelos, though in it's own humble way it was mighty. There were many examples of Númenor's exemplary architecture, just on a smaller scale, the buildings a mixture of stone and wood, some streets were paved, and some were of dirt. The further into the citadel you moved, the Anduin river showed itself, reminding you of when last you sailed up it, and just how much had changed in the weeks since.

"We must find Bronwyn," announced Halbrand, "Surely there is a great hall of some kind she might be housed in. Given her status amongst the Southlanders." You thought on his words a moment, and decided you disagreed. "No. We must find the healing house. I have no doubt that is where Bronwyn will be. Although, I cannot remember where it is." Halbrand wasted no time, immediately grabbing the attention of a pair of men who were sat on the side of the road, one of whom was smoking a pipe. "Excuse me, sirs. May we ask the location of your healers?" The two men stared up at you both on the horse, their mouths slowly becoming agape. One of them spoke, unable to contain the shock and excitement in his voice. "K-king Halbrand? I cannot believe it! We all thought you dead!"

It seems you had been fortunate enough to stumble upon two Southlanders. And the fortune did not stop there. Not only was it clear that Halbrand's people did not know the truth of his identity, nor about the foul deeds you had both committed, but in fact they had received no word of anything at all. Halbrand looked at you from over his shoulder, grinning, his eyes filled with hope. "I am very glad to prove to you otherwise." he said, gazing back down at his subjects.

  "Why do you need a healer though? Are you alright, my lord?" spoke up the man with the pipe, smoke billowing from his mouth. "We only seek a meeting with Bronwyn, and my lady here believes that is where we will find her." "Right you are, my lady, right you are! She's there more than her own home, she is. Please, let us take you." "Thank you." you acknowledged, pleased with yourself, before dismounting your horse, the two of you thankful for the stretching of legs. Your escorts lead the way, with you following close behind. Halbrand held with one hand the reins of the horse, and your hand with the other. The further along you walked, the more people began to recognise their king. It seems many of the surviving Southlanders had settled in Pelargir, and soon a crowd began to follow you along the path to the healing house. You could hear many of them explaining passionately to the clueless residents exactly who you both were, and exclaiming things like  "He's alive!" "Our king has returned!" "And with our queen too!" and "Now we have a chance!"

  Now we have a chance.

After a few minutes, you reached your destination with what felt like the entire city behind you. Halbrand fastened the horse next to a row of others, all different shades of brown in colour, giving him a quick pat before you both followed your guides inside. The crowd did not want to miss this moment, with as many of them as possible filing into the building behind you. The elation in the air was palpable and contagious, you could not wipe the smile off your face. The two men sprinted off ahead as fast as they could given they were not so young, beds of the ill lining their path, calling furiously for Bronwyn as they did so. You turned to Halbrand then, wishing to take in the look on his face, to grasp how he was feeling. He was not grinning now as you were, but you could see a glimmer of happiness in his eyes. You believed he was attempting to portray a sense of regality, perhaps waiting until after meeting with Bronwyn to let himself feel it all more authentically. You gave his hand a squeeze, causing his eyes to lock with your own. Then stopping you both in your tracks, he placed a lingering and loving kiss on your lips, which caused a few of the people around you to rejoice.

The air of the healing house was soon filled with chatter, though the loud footsteps of the men as they ran back to you could be heard over the tumult. Breaking through the crowd, and out of breath they announced, "King Halbrand... may we present to you... our lady Bronwyn." Barely a second later, she came into view, the crowd parting for her as she drew closer. Bronwyn stood before you both now, a stunned look etched across her face, quickly followed by her beloved Arondir. "I am lost for words." she spoke, breaking into a smile, a laugh of disbelief overcoming her. "It is wonderful to see you well, Lord Halbrand, and you too my lady." She and the elf bowed their heads, and you returned the gesture in kind. "I am pleased to see the healing powers of my race at work." stated Arondir, offering his arm in greeting to Halbrand, which he received without hesitation. 

"As am I. Lady Bronwyn, how many of our people live?" "Our numbers are not many, but the citizens here have welcomed us better than expected. We are one people now." "That's wonderful to hear." you spoke, beaming at her. "All we need now is our king and queen." Hearing Bronwyn speak these words filled you with such a sense of purpose, of belonging, a certainty of the path you and Halbrand had taken being the correct one. You and your love exchanged knowing glances, smiling. Just then, another familiar face appeared. It was the young boy from the Númenórean camp, the one you had seen with Galadriel's sword, who had lead the chant amongst the survivors. "We must have a coronation!" he exclaimed. Bronwyn wrapped a loving arm around him, smiling warmly. She carried the same spark in her eyes as the boy, which meant they could only be mother and son. "You're absolutely right, Theo. We must make it official. A celebration for the start of a new era for our people."

The rapturous cheering that broke out amongst the crowd signified it was what your people wanted, what they wished for. Halbrand turned you to face him, taking both your hands within his own. Staring deeply into your eyes, a small smile crept onto his visage as a realisation seemed to dawn on him. "No... not a coronation. A wedding." You smiled so broadly your cheeks began to ache. Halbrand continued, "I want you to be more than just my queen. I want you to be my wife. And I want all of our people to bear witness... and know just how much I love you." The happiness overflowed from within you, into the tears that were spilling forth from your eyes. "How do you feel about th-" You refused to let Halbrand finish his question, crashing your lips into his, not caring at all about how many pairs of eyes were upon you. He was the only one you truly saw. He was your world. Everything else was inconsequential. Words could not adequately express this, only the feeling of your lips against his.

The cheering grew instantly in volume at your action, everyone screaming and clapping, the joy that rushed through all of you was a magic all its own, a power all its own. And as you passionately kissed the love of your life, for the first time ever you felt invincible. It felt just as Halbrand had said, "...once my people are behind me, there will be nothing we cannot do." When the kiss finally ended, your love took you in his arms in the sweetest of embraces. The roar of the room started to subside, but not enough to prevent Bronwyn from having to yell above the commotion. "It's settled then! A wedding it will be for our King and Queen!" More cries echoed out upon her words. You couldn't believe this was happening. You had approached Pelargir expecting the worst of scenarios, with even part of you feeling you deserved the retribution you were certainly owed. But this... this was the furthest thing from your mind. It was almost too good to be true.

And if that wasn't enough, following what happened next, you had to check if you were awake or dreaming. You could hear two men shouting your name in the distance, a distance that shrank as their calls grew louder. The voices were familiar but you were convinced you were imagining them. No... surely not, you thought, I have lost what remains of my mind. It wasn't until they came into view that you started to believe in what you were hearing, what you were now seeing. Your two older brothers had pushed their way through the crowd, which had now started to disperse, and were standing before you, the biggest of grins on both their faces. "Azrahin! Târikun!" you screamed, jumping straight into their arms instantly. The three of you hugged each other so tightly, you were afraid that if you let go they might vanish from sight.

  Breathing in their scents, your head was suddenly swimming with thoughts of home. Closing your eyes, it was almost as if you were back there, a child again, completely clueless to the darkness around you, and ahead. The image of your father appeared, and the bliss you had been feeling started to fade. You knew that he had died, but could you tell them? Could you tell them that it was by the hand of the being stood barely three feet away? The being you were now to marry?

You didn't wish to lie to them, but you decided it best approached one truth at a time. Plus knowing Azrahin, he'd figure it out sooner rather than later. Releasing them, you took a step back, unable to conceal the grave expression etched on your face. "I... I know... about father. I am sorry I was not there." Târikun bowed his head, the grief still somewhat fresh. "It's alright. We found him not long after we discovered you had left Númenor... in fact that was the reason we..." His voice trailed off, but he needed not finish his thought. "But how do you know?"

You sighed, your heart heavy. "When the time is right, I will explain everything." Remembering Halbrand, and feeling his eyes on the back of your head, you smiled at your kin as you held your hand out for your love to take. As he joined you at your side, you lived a moment you thought you would never experience. "Brothers, this is Halbrand. My king and now my soon to be husband." you spoke, your voice brimming with pride as the gentlemen clasped hands politely. "Halbrand, these are my two older brothers, Azrahin and Târikun." "This is an honour." spoke your love humbly. "No the honour is truly ours!" admitted Azrahin. "We had begun to lose all hope that our sister would ever find a husband!" "Oi!" you chastised him, landing a playful tap on his arm. "It is true, you know." chimed in Târikun, turning to your love. "Lord Halbrand, we owe you a great debt." His words caused Azrahin to snicker loudly. "You men should be thankful your wives are not here." you said, glaring at them. Halbrand chuckled, amused at the sight before him. "Speaking of people who are not here... where is our baby brother? And why are the two of you here?" you questioned them, desperate to change the subject before your cheeks reddened any further.

"Well, speaking of our wives, Zimra is looking after that rascal. We thought it best he should stay at home, given what is unfolding in the lands not too far from here." spoke Azrahin. "We came to Middle-earth upon the burial of father. We came to find you." His words threatened your tears to appear once more, but instead you let go of Halbrand's hand, falling back into the arms of your family. You had convinced yourself that your brothers had chosen to stay away from you, but perhaps it was father that they had chosen to be parted from. Though the three of you had certainly drifted in recent years, now you felt incredible relief as the knowledge of their concern for you sunk in your mind. They cared for you after all.

"I don't know about you, little sister, but I am starving!" announced Târikun, the embrace ending. "We're staying at the old inn we used to as kids. And their food is still as tasty as ever. Come join us!" You genuinely hesitated a moment. They were housed in the same building where your mother had experienced her last slumber, her last dreams. You weren't sure if you would be able to go back there, confused as to why your brothers thought nothing of it, seeing only the childhood nostalgia of a journey long ago. Looking at Halbrand, you sighed. "Shall we go?"

Brownyn interjected then. "Actually, I was wondering if I might have a word with Lord Halbrand regarding the ceremonies. The sooner they commence, the better." "Why do you say that?" you asked, puzzled. Arondir breathed in deeply, his expression grim. "Orcs have been sighted not too far from Pelargir's borders. We need to be ready for a fight." "Perhaps we should wait, my love, just in case?" you suggested, taking Halbrand's hand again, giving it a squeeze. Your king however was resolute, his mind unphased by the potential for catastrophe. "No, it has to be now. While we have the chance. We cannot let any threat stand in our way. I will not have it."

You disagreed with him a little, but decided not to show it, because as much as the people should be prepared in case of an attack, he wasn't exactly wrong. We shouldn't not live just because we might die. We must love in the face of fear, and thrive in spite of it. Nodding, you gave Halbrand a small smile, which he returned. "Go and be with your family. I'll find you later." "Don't be too long." you urged him, letting your lips meet his. Then the two of you turned to face the people needing your attention, and you parted ways, hands breaking contact at the last possible second.

Tagging; @starlady66 @denzit @restless-tides @heronamedhawks @coraleethroughthelookingglass @hikarielizabethbloom @vaguelyvibin @pursuitseternal @michon-ne @gil-galadhwen 

[iwoszareba]

🌼🍕🍀 for Aqil!

🌼  - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

He is 26 at the start of wotr. His age was decided by me aiming for university graduate vibes.

His general timeline goes:

his sorcerer magic manifests at 5

becomes an oracle at 15

goes to study in Absalom at 19

finishes his studies at 25

then around a year long Areelu induced memory gap and starts game at 26

🍕  - What is their favorite food?

I talked about his attitude towards food recently.

If asked for his favourite he would mention a cook lady who has worked for his family since he was a kid so anything prepared by her tastes like home. Now that I think about it he probably keeps a little notebook with her recipes but to his own dismay he can never get them quite right (or maybe they just taste different when you are surrounded by your family).

I also looked up wotr foods and he would get extra buffs from curse pilaff and spicy pastry.

🍀  - What originally inspired the OC?

In his case it was my usual organic and long-winded method of developing ocs haha. 

If only possible I try to use things I haven't done before so the first thing I decided was a kitsune oracle combo. 

Initially I wanted to go for lone strider subclass bc it has desert in the description and that made me think of making a fennec kitsune. So the very first character iteration was an eccentric hermit who instead of being grouchy is actually really excited about meeting people again.

But I was really struggling trying to pick an oracle mystery that would speak to me until I looked up backgrounds and realised that Osirion historian and ancestor mystery go hand in hand and both fit the desert theme I wanted. 

So the second character iteration was an archaeologist who while exploring an ancient tomb gets possessed by a bunch of spirits. Then spirits were changed to getting awakened to your previous lives but I ultimately dropped that because Pillars of Eternity already had reincarnation shenanigans and I didn't want to do it again. Also the more I thought about having lots and lots of memories stretching back into the past the less I liked it in the context of Sosiel romance. I wanted someone who would still match Soso's young energy.

So!!! I took both ideas and reworked them into what Meru is now. They are ancestor spirits and the whole becoming the next Meru has a bit of that reincarnation vibe while still keeping Aqil his own person.

I'm not entirely sure why I picked Nethys. I think I just met that priest guy in Kingmaker and was fascinated by the idea of a god who does not speak with his faithful as a rule. Like what does that do to your worship in the fantasy universe context. And Nethys is a big deal in Osirion so that also worked for me.

The family stuff started as a reverse of my previous character, the aasimar guy I made for bg3. His deal was that his religious family considered him to be a god's chosen while he did not vibe with that at all and ultimately bailed on his supposed destiny. So when making Aqil it was 'okay let's do that story again but now the character completely accepts being chosen as his identity, what that could look like'.

I added sorcerer initially bc charisma caster combo and the idea of someone double juiced with innate magic is both interesting and funny to me. Also arcane bloodline gets you a familiar and I was DYING to give him a jerboa for my desert theme haha. Also it worked out as a convenient reason for why he in particular was meant for being the chosen of the god of magic.

I think that covers all the major aspects of his character. Oh! Blackened curse because by making it an arm and a leg instead of both hands it becomes an instant visual connection to Nethys.

[pizzapasta23045]

So I just rewatched the archon quest again and I'm just gonna put down what I think? If that's okay. To help me like, gather my thoughts now that I've rewatched it and could take it all in better. I'm just theorizing and Idk if I should make my own post but I get embarrassed when I make posts related to fan things I like ahsjdjd, or posts at all. Anywho. So I'm thinking carebert was somehow cured of the curse and turned human again based on how chlothar says "he will be able to weave his own destiny anew" (idk how the loom of fate fits into it tbh, and I forgot what it even IS, but maybe the loom of fate is a thing that doesn't have to be one single person) and he can grow up and live a normal life? Dunno if he could still be immortal or not in his human form but I'll just say no rn since I believe he grew up to have a family and eventually kaeya is his descendant. And I guess maybe generational trauma. And also regarding how chlothar dies. Someone had to have buried him and I assume it was caribert considering the sill scarf. Unless... (Unlikely theory incoming) That IS carebert and chlothar is still immortal somewhere and because carebert ages normally now he dies eventually when he gets old and chlothar buried his son next to his mother? And chlothar never actually found a way to cure himself. Hmm... also! I'm guessing that maybe only mixed blood khaenrians only turn into monsters and not like say carebert mother who was purely from mondstadt? Based on how he says "those whose ancestry belonged to the domains of other gods". Well no nevermind I guess that could be wrong since she would ofc have ancestry in mondstadt so she still counts. But wait would the skeleton buried not appear human then? If she died while she was a monster? Because clearly she dies before that memory. Seeing as he presumably used her body to make the fertilizer for the red mushrooms... And he was dodgey when asked what happened to her and how we weren't allowed to see how he made it due to him sending us to get the water. Think I've gone off rail lol. So, I wonder if the alberichs really inherited the title of abyss leader or if abyss sibling took over or was given the title when chlothar disappeared? And the alberichs were doing something else? Or helped in a different way besides directly leading? Also I have question regarding abyss sibling too but that can be separate since I've rambled on far enough as is haha. I might as well come off anon at this point hahssj hi I'm 🐝 anon lol

Well! There is a lot to speculate about the Alberich and I'm hoping they talk about it more in an interlude quest. (Manifesting 3.7/8 abyss order quest man, manifesting so hard)

I'm assuming the mother died like before the curse, or like, (suicide mention beware) ended up killing herself at the beginnings of it, since it seems non-fullblooded Khaenri'ahns don't get immortality on them.

Also yeah I guess he did use his wife as fertilizer, never thought of it tbh but it is... Probably what happened lmao... Oh god that just got a lot more messed up. (I did have an half formed hc of Khaenri'ahns using corpses for nefarious purposes or the 'first come First serve' rule as i likes to call it... And that's.... Fun)

And also I have a theory on what the Alberich did before the fall lmao. And it's base on this tidbit in Hilichurl culture.

And yeah. Hilichurls, which are Khaenri'ahns slowly going insane, call the Lawa their leaders despite them not actually leading anything. Now in Khaenri'ah the sages seem to rule, but also they work under a king and possibly the Alberich??? Which is weird and I want explained.

Especially with the whole thing with king Irmin, I'm not sure if you've come across on my post but it's this whole thing...

[flockofdoves]

just rewatched ravenous and going on a post movie i like watching tag search for gifs and stuff and just like the first time getting so so annoyed with the way people are approaching it.

like yes it is homoerotic and yes it has cannibalism but im so aggravatedwith all the shoehorning of it into like cannibalism as a metaphor for romance or w/e. in this case cannibalism is just so explicitly a metaphor for colonialism in a way that makes it feel really really uncomfortable to try to reinterpret it like that. not even to mention the ‘haha my silly guy who did nothing wrong’ treatment of a white us soldier gleefully furthering colonialism for his own benefit who is there to represent the monstruousness of the ideology behind manifest destiny. sometimes you maybe should just enjoy a movie for what it is without doing all that

but god anyway. one of the top movie soundtracks of all time for me

[aerois]

Zuko (in the comics): Dad, how were you able to do it? How did you deal with all the pressures of being Fire Lord and still stay sane?

Ozai:

Ozai:

Ozai:

Ozai: Well son,

[picnokinesis]

new mathematique chapter is out and rush and eli finally contact sheppard! but what really made me gasp is a brief manifestation of young appearing to rush out of nowhere for a few seconds???? obviously it’s source must be the same alien interference as that time he was hearing gloria but also “wild dark curls” and fraying uniform cuffs? pretty sure young’s hair grew out only after he was held up in custody……so what up w that.

I KNOW AND I YELLED and I mean....uh, me personally? I would not say it's obviously the same Ancient related thing that's been messing with Rush throughout the fic that's been making him hear Gloria. Instead, I am thinking a LOT about my FoD ascended!Young theory (which, for those who don't know, it's that when Rush sees Young during At All Angles in FoD, it's actually ascended Young coming back down the timeline). And yes I know that is probably me being far too hopeful HAHA but here is my rationale:

1. With the Ancient stuff, it's only been aural hallucinations (or not) thus far. Nothing visual

2. Young is described as wearing black fatigues. In canon, at the SGC, it's extremely rare that we see characters in black fatigues. It's usually blue or green, unless they're at a different base (see: Icarus) or they're going on some secret covert mission. So whilst Young is described in recent chapters to be wearing fatigues whilst at the SGC, I'm willing to bet they're green, not black

3. The cuffs of his jacket are described as 'frayed'. Young hasn't notably frayed the cuffs of his jacket thus far in Mathématique. But in FoD? Pretty sure he ruined his jacket in chapter 8 when he used the cuffs of his jacket to protect his hands when he abseiled down the rockface on the obelisk planet...and then dropped several metres multiple times when the obelisk activated. And even if he DIDN'T, he's been wearing that thing for over two years, the cuff are probably frayed. So, much more likely to be FoD Young than Math Young (then again, would ascended!Young's jacket not be restored and not have frayed cuffs? Or is it too intrinsic to his mental image of himself? No idea. Maybe he likes the vibes)

4. His hair - which, as you said, could definitely be grown out from when he was in custody...but could ALSO be from being on Destiny for ages. Also, just as you said, the last time Rush saw him, his hair would have been short, because Young went into custody after Rush got kidnapped

5. The fact he APPEARS AND DISAPPEARS screams "ascended being vibes"

6. At the end of FoD, Rush says that a) their d-brane is torn and b) he is somewhat untethered from the d-brane. IN ADDITION, the epilogue tells us that Rush dreams of the multiverse, and flips "through permutations of his own fate, of Young's..." etc. and YOUNG CAN SEE THESE DREAMS...so I think fod!ascended!Young paying math!Rush a visit is definitely not outside the realms of possibility

7. I, personally, would be unreasonably chuffed to be right

Another explanation, of course, would be that Rush and Young follow a similar path in Math to FoD and also ascend post-Destiny (if they ever go there) and thus this is the math d-brane's Young saying hello to Rush. However....we know that's not the case because cwr confirmed ages ago that Math and DCWT are in the same d-brane....and Rush and Young (we assume) both have a cameo in that, suggesting they did not ascend in this verse.

I could be wildy wrong here. BUT ALSO THIS IS THE FIRST PIECE OF SOLID EVIDENCE FOR THIS THEORY I'VE HAD IN YEARS SO I AM LOSING IT A LITTLE

[hanzajesthanza]

I saw your “thoughts on ______” post and I quite like reading your thoughts on witcher lore (especially your thoughts on Geralt’s hansa), but I was wondering what are your thoughts on Ciri in the witcher 3? Specifically her personality if you think it aligns with the books at all.

Thank you for your all of your posts on the witcher!

okay looong post haha :D

tldr: tw3 ciri and books ciri are very different characters.

i would say that the ciri of the books and the ciri of tw3 are both reflections of their respective mediums; ciri is the books and ciri is the game; or at least, she should be...

the witcher books are a narrative saga with a predefined story, and a tragic one at that; the witcher 3 is a game with storytelling, yes, but it changes based upon player interaction and choice. but there is no choice with ciri of the books. her destiny, and the destinies of all the other characters, have already been decided by fate, destiny, the hand of a great demiurge... conveyed via the divine medium called sapkowski's computer keyboard. ciri, like all the other characters, are bound by the same fate and doomed... they lose, in the end, having lost everything, they still lose... but in the witcher 3, fate rests in your hands as geralt. you choose the destiny, your decisions towards ciri affect the ending she has and who her character becomes.

both ciris have the opportunity to become witchers. but the books and tw3 treat the concept of a witcher very differently. for books ciri, she is given the entire series to meditate on the meaning of witcherhood. geralt teaches her the sword in self-defense, but the ability to kill consumes her.

ciri is beaten down, over and over again, from the slaughter of cintra to losing geralt and yennefer and landing in the korath desert and suffering utter humilating circumstances, hiding out as a criminal with the rats... in many ways she is like every other war orphan, but her princess side never leaves her, her dignity demands more, and for this reason she rages.

originally, she wants justice for the slaughter of cintra, and later, she wants justice for the torture and other wrongs done unto her, to repay evil... and she is well-beyond justified in her anger. however - her arc is about the extent which revenge and violence can take, because engaging in an excess bloodbath continues the cycle which she may never escape from. the sword has meaning and consequences in her hands. we get to see what it looks like when she has no control. when she kills and bullies and threatens indsicriminately, not to only the evil, but to the innocent as well, out of her own pain, misery, and contempt. the worst of everything that can hide in a person emerged from her, wickedness and cruelty... and soon, as a result of that, we see an even worse manifestation of evil following her footsteps, tracking her down - bonhart.

at the end of tower of the swallow, she's become a witcher again - she slaughters the mercenaries at dun dare, but she shows restraint on tarn mira and does not kill skellen, although he wounded her. but this is her revelation and personal philosophy that "witchers kill monsters". it's quite nice, actually, come to think of it, because as soon as geralt stops being a witcher (sometime in early october, his medallion melts away in the fire of the druids' wicker hag) ciri becomes one (at dun dare on saovine, the end of october). she is still considered "evil" though, and only stops being "evil" when she descends the marble staircase with geralt and yennefer at castle stygga; then, she becomes something else, which she doesn't know. but i think, from chapters 1 and 12 of lady of the lake, that she simply becomes a witcher girl, and that sailor of an archipelago of places and times that she is described as being in ch 7; a lone wanderer, eliminating darkness in her path... the new kind of witcher that the world needs, which geralt describes in rivia before his death.

this is a magnificent story. especially since it was well-written. it has all the virtues of what a seven-book series should be. but it wouldn't be as much of a good video game. its virtues as writing do not directly translate to the virtues of a game. and neither do the virtues of its characters.

because ciri's story (as it is in the books) is remarkably dark, exceptionally horrifying in many cases. it makes me weep, it makes me feel. and there's no happy ending. as nimue and condwiramurs say, "it's so... frighteningly realistic." it reminds me of my own life and growth and pain and an uncertain future. of my own past lives lost and my own bitter defeats and who i've had to take out on a boat on loch eskalott...

but would any of this be fun to play as a character in a game? when i first played the witcher 3, i was surprised at some of the darker storytelling elements (e.g., the bloody baron, carnal sins, the empress ending... which i won't touch on the empress ending for ciri because... apologies, but it's bullshit if we're considering the books canon, it's practically netflix's interpretation of the series... it's just so wrong i can't even start to explain why or how much retconning it involved)

but when i read the books? the books make the witcher 3 look like children's daytime tv programming. at least when it comes to ciri's story and character. this is necessary in order to make the witcher 3 game fun to play and not a horrifying endless nightmare of suffering and s*xual assault, which the books can sometimes end up being! at least in the ciri parts... but the witcher 3 is virtuous as a video game because it is fun to play. it treats being a witcher much more simply...

i think this summarizes it: you know in blood and wine when regis asks geralt, if you were reborn, would you choose to be a witcher again, or would you want to be something else? the first time i played the witcher 3 (and was new to the franchise) i was so confused why he would ask this. of COURSE i like being a witcher, i bought this game for like $25 on steam with DLC included and i've been having the fucking time of my life doing all these quests and riding around on roach. (i play on the 'just the story' mode :))... but after i read the books, and then replayed the witcher 3, and got to this part? geralt, would you want to be a witcher? there was only one answer in my (geralt's) heart - NO! god, please no... being a witcher canonically sucks, but the witcher 3 does such a good job at being fun that it makes you forget how terrible of a life it is. it's a game, it's not intended to feel real... but the books tell a very realistic story.

ciri in the witcher 3 is not so much a justified in her rage, fallen from grace, vengeful and spiteful victim, as she is... a spunky girl on the run from some baddies. don't get me wrong, she suffers much loss over the course of the game... but she suffers nowhere near as much as ciri in the books and has nothing to grow from or react to.

one such example is of her scar, her iconic scar. (well, first off, it's not even really in the right place in vanilla tw3...) ciri's scar in the books is the epitome of her loss of childhood, the horror and pain of it, and the later shame of it and need to conceal her trauma. she's marred, she thinks the scar is ugly, and she cries when she sees her reflection. she weeps for the death of her childhood. the unscarred child who she'll never be again. ... whereas witcher 3 ciri... uhhh... "avallac'h made me some ointments to make it better :D!" good for her...! the scar for her has little impact and little depth, unlike stefan skellen's orion, but much like she has on us as the audience.

it doesn't help that she's not the main character of the game, unlike in the books, where so much in the later saga is told from her point of view. game ciri simply doesn't get the screentime or narrative importance to be the center of attention. i mean, the part of the witcher 3 that always makes me cry is the isle of mists quest, where she finally is the center of attention and the themes of the books come in - the loss, the grief, the reunion... they play the scene from something more, to make a point...

so because of this, ciri in the witcher 3... is kind of bland. she does what the player wants, because the player's decisions are her. she, like many video game characters, lacks agency of her own (when compared to a character from a book) because her writing is dependant on the player. i'm not trying to hate on witcher 3 ciri, i think i'm being objective - but what does ciri in the witcher 3 have to learn from, what hard lessons does she encounter, what suffering does she endure, what is she wrong about and how does she suffer for her mistakes and imperfections?

it has been a while since i played the game's main quest, forgive me, but i can't remember any significant storybeats that ultimately defined her character asides from vesemir's death, maybe fighting the crones, and entering the tower at the end. and i still can't really picture what she learned from these storybeats, other than it being emotional and having to deal with a difficulty and move on. she doesn't change, and that's what makes her less of a character with agency and more of a static object that geralt and yennefer are tracking down. (i also don't wish to explain these differences away with "well, she's older, since the games take place later..." characters should not get more boring with age or timeskips)

witcher 3 ciri's personality is mild compared to books ciri. yes, she has her emotional moments, is a daredevil and sure of herself, but has none of that terrible teenage rage that books ciri carries, that determination and frightening bloodthirst, as well as her ultimate vulnerability, sorrow, grief, and childlike tendencies. books ciri has flaws, human imperfections, is sure of herself to the point of arrogance, feeling deserved, being hot-tempered, and she suffers for all of it. witcher 3 ciri... certainly... has a sword!

can y'all send some asks that are like “thoughts on __” (ask meme)

[fisherrprince]

ask dump (big long)

1) ABDBHTDND YEAH THEY DID UM, they did the ”no THANK you..! etc etc BUT IM WEAK” song too! Wild how that is now. points at them hey I know those guys

2) OHHH….. THIS HITS……….. I like missio sometimes but this is a nice chorus also: Vanitas… yeah I, like, always love music recs. they can be hit or miss but it’s only fair with how much music I find and then immediately go what if I showed everyone

3) how many does he have in there now, eleven? Twelve??? He signed up for one mouse and he got eleven human children or at least nine to ten human children, two young adults, and two regular adults who aren’t going to be helpful—

4) aaaaaaaaa thank you!!! 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

5) MMM I haven’t thought extensively about cowboys for a while… it’s been mostly space up here for now, haha. I like my space murder. But that’s not to say I haven’t given them some fond passing thoughts! Two bros sitting in a river 5 feet apart cos they’re covered in mud and smell awful and one of them is very loudly blaming the other for the plan that involved hiding behind a barn (actually the last thing I wrote in my notes is a mini totally unfinished drabble of hiding in Lea’s bar but the “great hiding place” Lea has is in his floor)

6) gosh I Have to wonder if it’s a case of destiny/universal “the nature of humanity is that every so often someone invents homestuck again” or if we just, like, had common knowledge of the book of prophecies. Or not even the Book, maybe, I have to assume that knowledge/observance of the Foretellers phased out pretty quickly, but prophecies left unfulfilled would linger for generations probably. Or maybe they’re even old stories, a tale of seven masters of the past drawn in to a chess game, or the game based on the old fairytales, or the numbers 7 and 13 are ingrained in local culture … see, because obviously Xehanort implies that this prophecy/old masters stuff ISNT common knowledge, but Eraqus CERTAINLY knows about it and it’s in all the architecture/local myths… ok but then also, if we’re to take the opening chess game as more than just clever symbolic narrative bookends, everyone’s symbols ARE right there. I just kind of registered that’s probably what you were talking about. In which case our questions are still there, how much did the common populace know and how much did eraqus know? Did he like, end up with three apprentices who had very distinct chess symbols as keychains and go uh oh john or what—

hey why’d you do this to me. I’m a tired college student in scala on my sixth response paper about the prophetic legitimacy of foreordained keybearers versus the self-imposed creation of destiny as following common legend and I’m arguing with some guy named Einar about how you can’t just fake a prophetic fulfillment by claiming to be the Crown piece in chess. You can’t just KIN A CHESSPIECE, Einar.

7) ABGDJGD TY..!!! To be honest they also live in my head rent-free! Some of them need to start paying rent because I’m supposed to be in school getting Better at storyboarding—

8) hard same hey thats just bc magnet is uhhhh. The best spell? Aside from mine spells

9) SEE AGAIN I DONT KNOW bc for one Sora obviously isn’t ENTIRELY unique, if he’s able to be diagnosed so quickly, but this “holding your nobody and two to four other people in there” kind of thing probably has never been seen before. But for another, Roxas and Xion have copied a keyblade. Just like — a keyblade? Copied entirely? Wild.

anyways keyblade manifestation is a mystery to me and I’d love to see it explored because what we know the Lore is, is this: they were fashioned after the likeness of the x-blade. They can be bequeathed to others (shown to not necessarily mean that exact keyblade is passed down, probably this means the ability to wield can be bequeathed). They can be WILLFULLY given. They come from the heart, they are not welded out of steel. They are…. questionably sentient, or maybe just sapient, or somehow are picky about who holds them. Side note khwiki is telling me things I Did not know about the whereabouts of Ven’s heart during 358 and also the ability to wield two which requires more than one heart obvi but which is named synch blade??? always question the wiki but these have sources. Anyways. Keychains can swap their forms so they have a Base and Custom Skins mode. There are three kinds, Light (common), Darkness (Michael mouse??? Not his bbs one the rod one which I GUESS is a counterpa Iiiiii am getting off trackaaaaa), and Heart (which I’m guessing is just the x-blade, maybe the gayblade, and the kh1 keyblade of heart??). Um. What was my point here. OH yeah I was just gonna say Bro Wild. This is completely a mystery to me. Does every keykid’s base form keyblade look different, and we were all just given cool keychains? Are there some kids who melded unique keychains? If I were connecting dots wildly and with reckless abandon I’d say yeah and also you cannot just suddenly one day wield one, you HAVE to be bequeathed, but as soon as that happens it sparks the creation of your own personal heart sword. Every keyblade is manifested independently — those wielding a family keyblade have the ability to summon their own, if necessary, but the family sword is taking up that space in their heart and theyd have to get used to making their own. since, it seems, keyblades (summoned) will die and solidify if their bearer dies, but keyblades (unsummoned) will either disappear or summon themselves somewhere else and retain a small piece of your… essence. A legacy keyblade, I feel, would be a little something like feeling every past Avatar and you are the avatar, but you can’t talk to them. They’re there tho. Also I think that having an exceptionally strong heart would be not only a moral requirement for ensuring the keyblade’s duty is upheld, but also a physical requirement! youre carving out a bit of your heart to make room for a sword. Weak hearts should not do that even if they want to.

aye… how was that longer than the scala answer? You got me on tangents again in these essays I

10 (submission from licilou22)

NGDBFDBFSHGDHFDHGDA 😎👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼 WHEEZING

[strawberry1212]

Kdrama Sexist/Toxic Male Lead Tropes

(originally made this post as part of another post about Run On but it got to be so long I just thought I’d made this list it’s own post)

-Possessive and easily jealous, and this is often played off as romantic. For a large portion of kdrama watchers who are younger, and for the majority of us who aren’t chased all the time by hot men, this toxic trait can easily be sold to us as an exciting and flattering trait. But this is in fact not respectful of the female lead’s autonomy. I enjoy the little humorous jealousy moments, (I am reminded of Crash Landing on You) but too often this leads to the classic “two male leads each grab the innocently wide eyed female lead and glare at each other” trope. Women are not ropes to play tug of war with! If jealousy over the instances like the girl simply having a conversation with another guy rupture into real problems in the relationship it is not romantic, but possessiveness is often mistakenly portrayed as an expression of love, when really possessiveness is just that: possessiveness over an object.

-Uses violence to solve problems. This is another thing that can be easily seen as flattering--someone is willing to go to great lengths to protect you/defend your honor/whatever the reason is for the male lead to use violence. This trope was deconstructed in the American movie 500 Days of Summer, where the male lead punches a guy “to defend the honor” of the female lead, but she when she is upset and embarrassed at the situation, he gets angry at her for not being excited over his violent sacrifice.

-The typical “tsundere” narrative of abusive language, but paired with romantic gestures, usually the Grand Romantic Gesture trope. I see this all the time, where the guy berates the girl, sometimes to point of just full on bullying, but then he throws his jacket at her when she’s cold, holds the umbrella over her while he gets wet, etc., In other words he may be verbally abusive but it doesn’t matter because he Truly Loves her. And that she should accept that and understand that about him and not expect him to be polite and respectful.

-He treats everyone but the female lead like trash. Well...he often treats the female lead like trash at first too, but this quality is also marketed as flattering. He treats everyone badly but you’re different! In reality this is super toxic. In fact, it is essential that a person treats *everyone* with decency if they are to meet the baseline requirements of being a person capable of giving and receiving love in a healthy relationship.

-He chases her one sidedly. Oftentimes he chases her even when she rejects him, which shows that dominating, male persistence is a behavior to be rewarded. Again, this is a fantasy easily marketable when many of us aren’t chased around by hot men. It is flattering for a person to be so interested in us that they are incredibly persistent, but this fantasy had very unhealthy, and even harmful real life connotations. There is a very important line between friendliness/respectful attention/flirting, and creepy and domineering. I think it is also equally important to note that in this toxic trope, it is important to teach both men and women that no means no and yes means yes. Not that you can’t have playful/teasing banter, but playing hard to get when you really want to be gotten, is an unhealthy coping mechanism for cowardice in relationships.

I think for this one as with other tropes on this list, it appeals to our childish, insecure, and relationship-immature side of ourselves that would rather have everything fall into place than be honest, vulnerable, and have agency in our romantic interactions. What I mean is, the fantasy of a hot male lead persistently pursuing us after a destiny meet cute is a fantasy where we don’t ever have to put ourselves out there. Where don’t have to consciously try to meet new people, express interest in others, set boundaries, i.e. do the hard work of negotiating our place within other people’s lives.

The hallmark of a bad drama for me is when the give and take between the male and female lead is: the female lead has to put up with the meanness and constant mistakes of the male lead as he hurts her (usually in tangent with the Noble Idiocy trope, where he breaks up with her and steps all over her “for her own good” for some bs reason), but in return she gets the Grand Romantic Gesture, and the male lead does most of the chasing. In a healthy relationship, there aren’t constant hurtful arguments, and both do an equal share of the “chasing,” or a better term would be meeting each other halfway in expressing interest in the other.

-Power imbalance. It really disturbs me how Kdramas fetishize power imbalances between male and female characters to create the helpless/incompetent/somehow indebted but also plucky/cheerful/abuse-taking female lead. This can manifest itself very overtly in the many Kdramas between CEOs and secretaries, which I still cannot believe are popular in 2021. Secretary Kim did a better spin on the usual trope--the secretary holds the power of being very good at her job, and therefore indispensable and respected in her own right, but it remains a mystery to me why these super narcissistic and childish CEOs are played off as “adorable manchilds” that always need a little soothing of their ego. But to return to the power imbalance, besides obvious power imbalances of wealth/power/etc., oftentimes the guy has supernatural powers, or by nature of his job has abilities that render him the “protector” in the relationship (My love from another star, descendants of the sun), or the girl is infantilized in some way to need to protection from the male lead (legend of the blue sea, she is a mermaid and therefore dependent on the male lead for guidance in the human world, bring it on ghost as well). I think these latter power imbalances are constructed into the setting of the story because more overt forms of power imbalances are frowned upon now, but they serve the same patriarchal purpose. 

This power imbalance inevitably leads to the female lead putting up with some abuse from the male lead because she “needs” him for some other end, and him holding his power over as a way to keep her close. It fits very well into the enemies to lovers trope in this way, especially some contractual enemies to lovers, where due to the power imbalance he is able to exploit/use her in some way, and keeps her close, and she hates him but has to put up with it for her own survival in some way, but they slowly fall in love. It’s super toxic and not at all romantic because they didn’t choose each other at all, they just were pushed together by circumstance, but again it buys into our fantasy of falling in love due to circumstance, rather than our own agency.

-Overly protective (OP) vs respectfully supportive. (RS) Essentially I can divide Kdramas into these two categories, OP and RS. OP romances can commonly be found in love triangles (where jealousy flourishes) and high school romances (where characters usually have less of a personality lol), and RS relationships are more common in working adult romances, where each character is pursuing their career/dreams and they support each other in those dreams. OP relationships infantilize the female character, render her as just an object in need of saving, and power dynamic between the leads is usually he constantly needs to save her, and in return she “softens”/“heals” him which, under deeper analysis, reveals itself to be quite an insidious and harmful stereotype, the kind of psychology that keeps women in domestic violence relationships. RS relationships are also better in that the leads have something going on outside of their romance, and are motivated beyond just ending up together. My favorite of RS relationships are Miss Hammurabi (two judges that work together to confront injustices in the judicial system), Run On (two leads from v different career fields, but they take interest and support each other throughout career ups and downs), and Hello My Twenties (probably my favorite example of an RS male lead--Sungmin supports Song as she uncovers her past traumas and stands up to an abuser, but does so following her lead and not doing her work for her, but rather simply staying by her side supportively).

Conclusion

This is not all the toxicity in the kdrama world--this is just what I can come up with off the top of my head as my least favorite tropes that disempower women and glorify toxic men and toxic relationships. And of course this is not a problem unique to Korea, and is by no means a condemnation of Korean culture, etc., but I simply happen to enjoy the aesthetics and innocence (compared to American shows haha) of Kdramas, so that is the entertainment world I am familiar with, and feel able to comment on.

[lisinfleur]

The request:

Author’s Notes | It took me some time, but here it is! I hope you like it!

Info | Viking Age AU, requested by @nyx-daughterofchaos98​, Part I

Words | 1530

⁑ Warnings: Some cursing

She'd learned from him more than he really wanted to deliver. And yet, it was almost anything in face of what she had said to him. Ivar heard of lands he never dreamed about, people he never thought could exist. Colored people, different people, women with beauty unknown to his eyes, men with a strength he had never seen before, and different techniques to fight the wars he knew would reach his lands someday. That woman, Y/N, she was almost able to make him think his crown was really nothing at all. She was almost able to make Ivar think releasing himself from the weight of the metal piece in his head and break the bonds with his lands forever to explore the world by her side was something more desirable than the throne under his butt.

But she was clear with her words, as always.

"Where I go, I go. No one goes with me and I walk beside the wind. I have no partners, son of Odin. If you want to make the world your path and the knowledge your journey, you may do it by yourself."

It wasn't that attractive without her.

Somehow, that woman had taken Ivar's attention in such a deepness that it was starting to pull him away from the obligations as a king. Everything was being delivered to Hvitserk under him so he could spend more time learning, teaching, speaking to that amazing visitor he didn't know for sure when would leave his lands to never come back into his life.

It was one chance he couldn't lose.

But his absence was bothering Hvitserk - especially when the full work of a king was over his shoulders but no benefit from the crown was being ceded to him.

"And what is this that you do that's so more important than your obligation towards the people you fought so hard to conquer, uh, brother?" Hvitserk said, annoyed. "Since that woman came into our lands, you spend whole days with her, sometimes I noticed you spend even nights awake, speaking all sorts of secret subjects nobody is allowed to participate. Who's this woman after all? Will you make her your queen?"

Ivar didn't have to answer when Y/N entered the room right on time to listen to his brother's mischievous questions.

"I have no interest in occupying this place, young prince," she said.

That kinda bothered Ivar a little. It was stated that she wasn't interested in any carnal conjunction or relationships other than understanding the whole world around her, but it was annoying that she would say so explicitly that she didn't want him or he couldn't attract her in any way as she was able to do to him.

However, Ivar knew pretty well others had tried to make her theirs and they failed before. And as she said, others would try and would fail as well... She was a woman, but not a woman at the same time. It was complicated.

But easy to understand she wouldn't belong to him at all.

What would console him was to think she wouldn't belong to anyone else as well.

"And what is it that you want then?" Hvitserk turned his questions towards her and Ivar then sat; a malicious grin on his lips. He knew pretty well those questions wouldn't bother her.

It would be fun to see his brother's reaction to what had bothered him so long ago.

"She says she wants to learn. I'm teaching her," he said, catching Hvitserk's eyes for a moment before the older brother would frown, annoyed. "And she's teaching me too."

"Speak clearly!" Hvitserk charged. "Our men complain of your absence, our people ask about their king, some are even wondering if they're under you or under me, brother. Is this what you want? To cede me the crown and go learn or teach our new pet?"

"I'm no one's pet, young prince," the woman manifested again, short and calm, in that tone that was so annoying for Hvitserk as it was for Ivar when he first heard that impassivity.

"Then who the heck are you, woman?"

Ivar almost broke a rib not to laugh at his brother's annoyance, remembering his own irritation when he'd just met Y/N after that sick fight of hers against his men.

There she was, once again, sliding her fingers through the runes she liked so much to learn about, carved in the pillars of his halls, ignoring his brother's anger as much as she had ignored his own.

"A learner, I've said before," she answered, calmly.

"Then find yourself a teacher who has less to do than ruling a kingdom, for the gods' sake!" Hvitserk exploded, fully annoyed. "Or you find someone else to work for you like this, Ivar. I'm not your damn slave!"

She rose her eyes towards the prince. Ivar glared at her, paying attention to her reactions. With time, he understood her glances would speak pretty more than her mouth. She was alert.

Hvitserk was acting like a threat and she would treat him like that.

"I suggest you calm down, Hvitserk," Ivar warned, with nothing but the intention to tease his older brother into the flames he could see into his eyes.

"Fuck you, Ivar!" Hvitserk lost his mind, infuriated. "I have been doing your gods damn work all this time as you're here playing house with this woman as if you had nothing more important to do! What is it that a wanderer has to teach you that's so amazing after all?"

"There is always something to be learned, always something to teach," Y/N said, catching Hvitserk's angry eyes towards her.

"Well guess what, stranger, you're wrong! I don't believe there is anything you can teach to a grown man like me. All you do here is just to occupy my brother's time and throw services that aren't mine over my shoulders!" he grunted back, fully harsh.

But Y/N just walked closer to him with that same cold expression Ivar learned was something natural for her. Out of nowhere, she lowered herself down in a quick movement, swirling around herself with one of her legs stretched, making a circle with her foot around her own body, passing through Hvitserk's legs in the way.

Ivar's eyes watched fully impressed as his brother's feet were lifted up from the ground almost at the same time she lifted herself up, swirling in the opposite direction and using the weight of the movement to hit her stretched leg against Hvitserk's chest, throwing his brother's back against the ground with a loud noise.

Two seconds and Hvitserk was laid flat over his back, with all his experience as a warrior beaten by an unarmed wanderer, as he'd called her himself. His eyes were large in surprise: he was barely able to see that coming or reach for his sword or any kind of protection. She could've killed him without a single effort.

"What is this woman... These are the words your head is searching for, brother," Ivar mocked, giggling at his brother's impressed expression.

But Y/N was looking at Hvitserk with the same blank expression from before.

"As I said, there is always something to learn and something to be taught. You've just learned this, which is something new in your life. And by the expression on your face, I believe my techniques are also something you just discovered I can teach you and you want to learn. Here is the time you wanted, young prince. I may take a part of my days to let King Ivar be what he has to be and do what a king shall do. While this, I shall follow you into your training camps and you may teach me how do you handle your swords and axes. In exchange, I shall teach you what you've seen today. Sounds like a fair deal for you?" she said, offering her hand to Hvitserk who accepted the firm grip to get up from the ground still impressed.

"Who are you, woman?" Hvitserk asked.

And Ivar smiled as she repeated words he'd heard from her mouth before.

"I'm Y/N, I’m a daughter of nobody, I came from nowhere, my destiny is the next step, and whatever the gods have prepared for me into it. I follow no god; I believe in all of them. I saw all lands; I belong to none of them. My home is the world, the roads, the dust. I'm a learner, young prince. That's what I am. But I can also be a teacher. And from now on, I think, we can teach each other."

"Go with her, Hvitserk. She'll teach you amazing things. But learn wisely. She won't stay forever," Ivar advised.

As his brother went away with the woman behind him, Ivar sighed. He would lose some of his precious time with her so she could teach Hvitserk her ways to fight. But if she had to teach someone else in his lands, then maybe she would stay a little longer.

It was a win/win game in the end.

And if there was something Ivar liked to do was winning...

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[theoptia]

What's an archetype in symbolism? I'm not sure I understand psychology terms haha.

Some of my favourite quotations on the archetype:

“The archetype—let us never forget this—is a psychic organ present in all of us.” —C.G. Jung, The Psychology of the Child Archetype

“Archetypes are, by definition, factors and motifs that arrange psychic elements into certain images, characterized as archetypal, but in such a way that they can be recognized only from the effects they produce. They exist preconsciously, and presumably they form the structural dominants of the psyche in general. They may be compared to the invisible presence of the crystal lattice in a saturated solution. As a priori conditioning factors they represent a special, psychological instance of the biological “pattern of behaviour,” which gives all human organisms their specific qualities. Just as the manifestations of this biological ground plan may change in the course of development, so also can those of the archetype. Empirically considered, however, the archetype did not ever come into existence as a phenomenon of organic life, but entered into the picture with life itself.” —C.G. Jung, A Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity 

“What we mean by “archetype” is in itself irrepresentable but has effects which make visualizations of it possible, namely, the archetypal images and ideas.” —C.G. Jung, On the Nature of the Psyche

“The deposit of man’s whole ancestral experience—so rich in emotional imagery —of father, mother, child, husband and wife, of the magic personality, of dangers to body and soul, has exalted this group of archetypes into the supreme regulating principles of religious and even political life, in unconscious recognition of their tremendous psychic power.” —C.G. Jung, The Structure of the Psyche  

“An archetype—so far as we can establish it empirically—is an image. An image, as the very term denotes, is a picture of something. An archetypal image is like the portrait of an unknown man in a gallery. His name, his biography, his existence in general are unknown, but we assume nevertheless that the picture portrays a once living subject, a whom who was real. We find numberless images of God, but we cannot produce the original. There is no doubt in my mind that there is an original behind our images but it is inaccessible.” —C.G. Jung, Jung and Religious Belief

“...there is a thinking in primordial images, in symbols which are older than the historical man, which are inborn in him from the earliest times, and, eternally living, outlasting all generations, still make up the groundwork of the human psyche. It is only possible to live the fullest life when we are in harmony with these symbols; wisdom is a return to them.” —C.G. Jung, The Stages of Life

“The impact of an archetype, whether it takes the form of immediate experience or is expressed through the spoken word, stirs up because it summons up a voice that is stronger than our own. Whoever speaks in primordial images speaks with a thousand voices; he enthralls and overpowers, while at the same time he lifts the idea he is seeking to express out of the occasional and the transitory into the realm of the ever-enduring. He transmutes our personal destiny into the destiny of mankind, and evokes in us all those beneficent forces that ever and anon have enabled humanity to find refuge in every peril and to outlive the longest night. —C.G. Jung, On the Relation of Analytical Psychology to Poetry

[dahniwitchoflight]

Candy 29-36

Things are finally happening with Alltie, ok cool

holy fuck Jane the words coming out of your mouth is a real nasty shock

but again I witnessed your descent this entire time so I can’t say I’m really that surprised

Gamzee here asking if she might sound a bit xenophobic is actually pretty cunning coming from him, and not the stupid comment it sounds like, he’s riling her up like he’s got her wrapped around his codpiece, which, he kinda does tbh

he’s actually doing a very good job of fanning the flames and honestly probably doing exactly what Dirk would have doing had he been in his position, minus boinking her of course

Oh she finally gets rid of him though, far too little too late though

Love how the last thing on Gamzee’s mind is just more selfish junk though

though if he’s not immediately killed by her security detail he’s just gonna go on his own murderous rampage again, that what he do after all

oof, oh boy here comes the genocide though

let’s see how Vriska isn’t coping with earth C tho yeah?

Oh wow John just nonchalantly putting brackets over Vriska like that lol

“JOHN: i got everything i wanted. everyone got what they—

JOHN: what i thought they wanted.”

BINGO! That’s what’s wrong, that’s what been wrong this whole time

John’s been unintentionally influencing the people around him to do what he thinks they want to do, not what they actually want to do, so they’ve all been slowly warped over time by John’s perceptions of them, and the more John’s react to their changes, the more changes happen to them and their personalities

like some kind of butterfly effect

Jane starts out neutral but says something ignorant about trolls, innocently even, john gets the thought “wow, that was kind of xenophobic, i wonder if she wants to dislike trolls?” and upon thinking that, instead of being an innocent ignorance that could have been cleared up, now it’s actually true because John thinks its true

and then just, that, over and over again, each time the warp and the contrast increasing until we get this basically, everyone just a horrendously skewed version of themselves with traits that John honed in and accepted about them from assumptions about them

so, yeah in a way, this is all kind of John’s fault just not the way he imagined

“JOHN: whatever i did, or didn’t do, just... destroyed reality’s ability to, like, substantiate itself, or whatever.

JOHN: like there’s a bug in the operating system of whatever force in this world that regulates cause and effect.”

Yeah that bug is probably called that house cursor thing, in a story, a bug in the system is called a plot hole, referring to it as a bug when referencing software probably makes sense since in the sburb game sense it probably IS just a cursor that “dropped” out of someone’s game window when it shouldn’t have, like a glitch

oh godammnit can someone just kill the clown? Vriska can you just kill Gamzee please

why all the weirdly specific wrestling moves though, I can’t even follow cuz I don’t even know what’s happening or what all these terms mean

oh.

uh..

no thanks, I’m retconning that from my brain if you please

oh wait, Candy is unhinged from truth pillar right

so varying levels of essentialness and relevance is Candy? hmm less so and less so over time

the way Rose is talking though, it makes it seem like the canon story of Homestuck just isn’t a happy one

and well, from her perspective it isn’t, Meat is technically so far the canon one to her

but remember This Rose could never see past the Candy or the Meat, she was blinded to everything else except it, even now she’s blind to anything outside of her current story, she can’t even tell things are fake anymore, John is unfortunately not so lucky

so a third route where things can be both satisfying and true is still possible, maybe not from here, not from now, but out there somewhere its still possible

So it’s not like we all have to give up on Homestuck quite yet

wow I really should have actually read these epilogues sooner, it’s really not as horrible as everyone was making it out to be, because it’s making it abundantly clear that it’s not a binary choice between Meat or Candy

it’s just that any other possible route simply doesn’t exist yet, and may not exist until something changes in canon itself (hint, probably pesterquest mc)

in it’s current state, all Homestuck has is Meat or Candy

but that doesn’t mean the story of Homestuck as it is now can’t change or be retconned further

I’m still ignoring all references to the clown from here on out

“candy-coated shithole of an approximation of what a paradise planet might look like to certain individuals.”

yeah that’s a good way to describe Earth C lol

“JAKE: Do you think ive ruined my whole entire life and all of my relationships and especially the most important relationship in ones life, the divine and unbreakable bond between a man and his son?

JOHN: haha.

JOHN: um.“

wow lol I think John is actually getting whiplash from the amount of “oh god why are all of my friends living out all of my emotional problems I never got closure for like some sort of sick puppet show”

“ John wonders if everything being out of his control would make him feel better. Even if he weren’t presently stuck sucking on this bitter cosmic red pill, he can’t imagine being particularly happy with this worldstate. Maybe it just would’ve made it all the more soul-crushing. “

It’s weird because like, the answer, yet again, to the question “Should I have control total control over everything or I should not have any control over anything” is always going to be “no, wrong question, both are wrong, the real answer is you should have some control to effects things, and not just YOU, everyone should have control over their own destinies”

we need to get the cursor juju, blend it into a milkshake and have everyone take part in a big old toast to it and then have them all come together and rewrite homestuck together

Get Ultimate John, Jade, Dave and Rose to all sit down and make a roadmap for their own story and have that be Homestuck 2.0 and live in that forever

and like, everyone get’s to decide what happens in their own stories and where’d theyd like to be except Lord English, he unquestioningly evil and can’t be convincingly “undone” I think because all of his shittyness has to come back to some person, and i think that’s likely to be Caliborn or Gamzee at the end of the day

heh, Caliborn and Gamzee = Calamzee, almost sounds like a corrupted word for Calamity

Anyway, yeah all it took at the end for John to finally dip into the illusion is a big old blast of HopeChange from Jake English

and so obviously I’m going to address the use of the word Change here in this context

it’s capitalized, and obviously used in Reference to Jake’s overall Classpect

which seems to be implying a connection to Witch as a Change Class

but Hope in it’s nature is already a natural catalyst of a Changing force itself, it was once the power to make fake things real in Homestuck proper, and of course one off hand word in connection to Witch is simply not enough to overthrow a larger pile of evidence in a different direction which is that Knight and Page are the obvious class pairing (looking at you “more magical Witch” Sylph, now you got a real competition! lol)

Now taken that with everything we know about “real” and “fake” when it comes to the epilogues

and that the idea of Canon has been associated with that white glow of satisfaction overall

Jake English is probably once again more key to what would be a satisfying canon story than anything else, same with the cursor Juju

maybe the Juju then doesn’t need to be key either, maybe the key is just everyone spreading their own powers over eachother and using that as the medium to write the story again

I’m getting really hung up on the idea of the characters themselves deciding to fix the problems in their existence by going back into canon and writing out their own personally satisfying arc conclusions overtop of their origin stories and having genuine conversation about things when their stories overlap with eachother and taking the time to respect and help manifest eachother’s wishes as well as their own, like a grand cosmic god version of just living life and being friends would have done in the first place, no canon adjusting powers needed

Anyway, Almost done with Candy now, just got a few more pages to go