#i know that this is par for the course it just feels like they've really upped the ante

[podcastwizard]

this is a good season

[howmanyholesinswisscheese]

More Sherlock & Co Headcanons

Because y'all like the first ones so much.

Mariana is one of those heathens who eats the kernels at the bottom of the popcorn bowl and enjoys it.

John and Sherlock have a rotating cast of answers to the age old client question, "So are you two...?" which only serve to confuse the asker even more. It's an incredibly enjoyable sport. Sherlock often just plays dumb, to John's enormous amusement. It's their favorite inside joke.

When he does actually eat it, Sherlock's go-to breakfast food is a boiled egg and soldiers. Fight me. I will not stand for boiled eggs and soldiers slander they are amazing and Sherlock knows it.

John keeps a collection of bloopers/funny moments he's recorded during cases in a folder on his computer. When he's feeling down, he puts in his earplugs and listens to them. He never fails to get a laugh out of it.

Speaking of language headcanons in the last post, Sherlock speaks fluent Spanish (because of course he does). Sometimes he and Mariana have innocuous conversations in Spanish just to mess with John. He finally gets what it's like to be a stranger watching them all converse in BSL.

Sherlock has a strong appreciation for the musical arts. Once, after a particularly sour case, John took Sherlock to the orchestra to lighten his mood. Sherlock didn't express much outward enjoyment, still drained from the previous week's labor, but the next day the pieces they'd heard rang out through the flat as Sherlock's touch brought them to life from memory on his violin. John found this version infinitely more beautiful than any orchestra. and he even glimpsed the ghost of a smile as Sherlock lost himself in the music.

You know how everyone has a different little doodle they do when they're bored and they've got a pen and a bit of paper around? Well, Sherlock does mandalas and circle scribbles, John does little smiley faces and zig zags, and Mariana writes peoples names in calligraphy.

@obsessed-sketches and I both agree Sherlock wears a really heavy, well-worn coat for the deep-pressure stimulation. And a scarf, because those are absolutely splendid to play/fiddle with and being all wrapped up just adds a whole nother dimension to it all.

John uses Microsoft Edge as his default browser. Mariana's exasperated protests have been completely futile in convincing him to switch and to be honest, who knows if there's any hope left for him anymore.

Speaking of browsers, Sherlock would be such a boss at the 2048 game.

Someday I'm gonna have to write a dance lesson fic, because the idea of Sherlock teaching John to dance for a case lives in my head rent free for literally every SH rendition but these two especially. Sherlock freely infodumping about the history of each song he plays as he shows John how to waltz, John filling the silence with nervous rambling, that rapport setting in and them just falling into step after a few minutes and forgetting time is even passing... I know I mostly HC them as a QPR but dear god the intimacy in that may kill me.

Mariana once introduced Sherlock to the National Day Calendar. National Cellophane Tape Day, National Life Insurance Day, National Raspberry Popover Day, and the likes are now slipped happily into conversations at 221B under Sherlock's firm belief that each one is on par with Christmas in terms of their significance in the public eye. Slay, Sherlock. National Days are awesome.

John makes the cutest sleep noises.

Yk how i said Sherlock likes rainbow sour straps. If you've ever eaten sour straps, you'll know there are two ways to eat them: whole, or by tearing the colours into strips. Clearly, as a civilised human being, Sherlock does the latter.

SHERLOCK WOULD TOTALLY WRITE AWESOME POETRY AND READ IT OUT AND JOHN AND MARIANA WOULD BE STUNNED INTO AWESTRUCK SILENCE

Mariana wears those really big hoop earrings. You know the ones.

AAAAH i should stop before this becomes a mammoth block of text. Maybe I'll make a part three.

Thank you kindly for being unwillingly subjected to my opinions coming to my TED talk.

[utilitycaster]

What is the d20 meltdown about? 👀 If you don't mind getting into it

I literally don't know other than vague shit because I'm semi-avoiding spoilers. I'm making this nonrebloggable because we're in pure speculation country.

From what I have gathered, people are mad because I think the Bad Kids kill the Rat Grinders (another adventuring group that's been set up as their bitter, jealous rivals from the start) and they want...redemption or some shit? This is absurd to me like this party was set up as The Enemy from the start.

I am 4 episodes behind so I can't speak to this, and also I admittedly have a rather low opinion of the D20 fandom at large for a number of reasons despite being a big fan of D20 shows, but: I just by chance watched the scene that I would say counts as a point of no return for at least some the Rat Grinders. Like, actually some of the most villainous shit I've seen on this show amplified by how petty and small and purely fueled by jealousy the motivation is.

My guess as to why the D20 fandom is, per whispers on the wind/texting my brother who is caught up/talking to friends not avoiding spoilers, having a meltdown about it is because people have this idea of Brennan Lee Mulligan always making capitalism the BBEG, or occasionally religion or politics.

That is untrue. He does hate capitalism, and that is a theme in the (real-world-ish set) Unsleeping City, but ultimately the thing Brennan sees as the villain is a willingness to hurt, exploit, and dehumanize others for your own goals and benefit. Capitalism and religious corruption are two major examples of this, but in the end, the worst thing you can do is kill people out of a desire for power, or attention, or spite. What Brennan truly hates is what we on Tumblr call a tar pit.

Now. My much more pointed analysis? Kipperlily (and presumably the other Rat Grinders) are deeply entitled people jealous of the Bad Kids, who aren't as academically strong at times but who have leveled up through saving the world at least three times. How many people does killing rats so much that you hit the high levels of D&D save? or even help? Like congrats, you're level 14 from killing rats real good. These guys stopped the fucking Night Yorb. Of course they get the fame and glory, you entitled, self-absorbed little brats. Do you not understand how this fucking works? This is underscored by the fact that they've definitely murdered at least one of their own and almost certainly two (and a teacher to boot) at least in part to get at the Bad Kids.

And herein lies my feeling as to why the D20 fandom is really melting down. Because the loudest and most unpleasant contingent (which is probably why the server is, ultimately, shutting down all discussion channels) have always struck me as entitled self-absorbed little brats who demand precisely what they want when they want it (and also have the literary analysis skills on par with the 3/4ths of a stick of Monterey Jack cheese currently in my fridge) and they're seeing, in real time, that in this story, they're the villain.

But: I haven't seen the next 4 episodes and I could be getting the details of the plot wrong (not the first 15 episodes though, and I do not think the Rat Grinders are going to make the world's best Heel-Face turn in 3-4 episodes, and at this point they're so clearly the villains that to deny it is to admit truly earth-shattering levels of stupidity) and so: nonrebloggable. I'm hoping to catch up this weekend though on both the show and the hot goss, and if I'm right this will become rebloggable.

ETA: I am caught up making this rebloggable but I'm actually more confused, because as my posts indicated this was not even like, edgy. Like I assumed maybe there was a twist where the Rat Grinders appeared to regret their actions or something but failed to do anything about it, making this a little bittersweet? but no there literally was nothing, they went into the final battle still like hell yeah we're going to be the living worst.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What do you think about theory that Lila is Manon from future?

I am vaguely aware that this is a thing, but I'm also assuming that it's a joke and not a serious theory because that would be one of the most asinine things that I've ever seen. This fan theory is even worse than the pigeon feather thing in terms of absurdity. It should be reserved for crack fic and nothing else. However, this show never fails to impress me with its poor-quality writing choices, so let's take a quick moment to talk about why this wouldn't be a good twist.

The issue isn't the time travel thing. Lila being from the future is perfectly in line with the sort of crazy stuff that Miraculous does to the point where I wouldn't be shocked if Lila is from the future! Maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir "wronged" her and so she came back in time to try to stop them from being a thing or something like that? It fits her characters. Lila has been shown to be incredibly petty and, whatever is going on, it's clear that she came to Paris with an agenda otherwise why go the multiple identities and parents route?

However, if this from-the-future twist ends up being a thing, then Manon would be the worst choice for Lila's true identity because Manon is a well established character who shares no obvious traits with Lila. The only things that the two characters have in common are their hair and eye colors (or, at least, the hair and eye colors that Lila now has). Nothing else ties them together.

Yes, Manon does her baby-doll-eye manipulation thing, but that's not a sign that she's secretly a master manipulator or a compulsive liar! It's just a thing that little kids do. Boundary pushing is par for the course at that age.

For Manon to be a good baby Lila, we'd need to see Manon doing some actual quality manipulation tactics that trick people instead of just standard little kid pouting and boundary-pushing techniques. There's no point at which Manon is successfully lying to get what she wants. Her requests are always rather blatant and no one but Marinette falls for her "manipulations" because everyone else knows how to deal with little kids as we see in these two exchanges from Puppeteer:

Nadja: Alright, now give the doll back to Marinette. Manon: NO! I wanna keep it! Marinette: She can if she wants. I told her she could borrow it. Nadja: And that's sweet of you, Marinette, but Manon already has so many toys at home, I wouldn't even know where to put it.

Marinette: Manon! What are you- Manon: I left my bag here! Can I have Ladybug? Marinette: You heard what your mom said. Manon: She wouldn't know if I hide it!

Not exactly gold star manipulation tactics here. They'd fail if Marinette had a backbone.

Could you really picture Lila acting like this? I can't and that's the problem. Because Manon is an existing and well-established character, they have had time to make her into baby Lila. Time to set up the twist. But they haven't. They've just written your standard boundary-pushing little kid. Her behavior is really not all that different from Ella and Etta's (Alya's little sisters), so why would Manon be Lila and not one of them?

That's another problem. If you're going to have a big twist like this, then Manon needs to feel different from the other kid characters and she doesn't. Really think about this for a minute! As far as the kid characters' behavior goes, what's the difference between Puppeteer and Sapotis? I'd argue that there isn't one. In both episodes you see little kids pushing boundaries, leading to them being punished, leading to them getting akumatized.

In Puppeteer we get this:

Manon: But, Marinette wanted me to have it! Nadja: You disobeyed me. I told you the dolls were to stay at her house. You won't be needing these anymore. Manon: NO! Mommy, please don't! Nadja: I'm not happy about this. Wait for me here.

In Sapotis we get this:

Ella and Etta: It's not us! It's the—! Alya: That's it! (picks up the twins) Ella and Etta: Come on, Alya! We won't do it again! Alya: Yeah? Well, it's too late! (takes off both twins' propeller hats) We'll all go to the park when you can behave, some other day! Now go to sleep!

Extremely similar scenes with extremely similar outcomes.

Another similarity is Manon, Ella, and Etta's behavior in Simpleman. They're basically interchangeable in that episode, further killing this theory.

If this twist was going to be a thing, then I'd also expect us to see Lila and Manon interact at least once since we do let Lila talk to the kids on a few occasions. And if we didn't get that, then I'd definitely expect us to see a moment between Lila and Nadja or even a moment where Lila avoids Nadja. Anything to establish some sort of tie between Lila and this little family that she was once a part of. As-is, canon has done diddly squat to tie them together so I don't understand why the fandom is making this tie. Do people just really dislike Manon and want her to be evil?

In summary, Lila is - at most - a decade older than Manon, so we should see seeds of Lila already starting to form, but we don't. Lila holds grudges, Manon doesn't. Lila lies left and right, Manon doesn't. Lila plots, Manon doesn't. Lila hates Ladybug and Chat Noir, Manon adores them. In other words, nothing in the text backs up the idea that Manon would become Lila in a few short years, so where did this theory even come from?

[stil-lindigo]

i’ve got a question about red and wolf that you may or may not have an answer to, so feel free to ignore: what made red start watching wolf in the first place? like, red’s an immortal personification of an abstract concept, so what got her interested in this one, specific, human? like wolf hadn’t even killed her husband or gotten all wolf-y yet, but clearly something caught red’s attention. its all from wolf’s pov and she only notices red after red’s already noticed her—red’s literally ‘the woman who watched me’. idk i guess it just seems like we only really have half of the story, and i was wondering if you knew what the other half was

So like - although Red is immortal, she isn't a static being. The closest comparison I can make to it is like in Dr Who, where there have been different versions of the Doctor during this one character's existence with different personalities and appearances, but they're all still the Doctor. In the same way, Red goes through 'lives', which end only whenever the current version of Red decides they've had enough. As a being who is supposed to personify passion and rage and lust as well as a whole lot of other...intense things, it wouldn't do for them to ever be bored of their existence - reforming into a clean slate every now and then helps keeps things interesting for them.

The current Red we know, Wolf's Red, isn't terribly interested in being wrathful - so much so that she surrenders part of it (in the form of Ash) out of love for Wolf. I'd call her one of the more mellow versions of Red (which is a little funny, considering she still has her fair share of blood on her hands but that's par for the course). But I'm getting off track.

Red was in love with Wolf's potential more than anything else. She continues to be in love with Wolf, because she met that expectation and surpassed it by leaps and bounds. And whenever Wolf dies, Red will feel that loss implicitly.

[orphiclovers]

Despite my jokes that Secretive Plotter watches streams all day while pining and doesn't talk to anyone other than himself, he...does actually do a lot off-screen and has a pretty wide social circle, it just has very little overlap with Kim Dokja's.

For example, he's pretty chummy with the Wenny King here. WK talks to the Secretive Plotter in a very friendly way, says "why didn't you just ask us for help" and freely speculates on SP's feelings and motivations. It sounds like he's trying to ingratiate himself and get on SP's good side actually - lots of lowkey sucking up. "I wanted to see what kind of person would even YOU would like/sacrifice fingers for" "no matter your identity" - as if he's obviously a big deal. Grumbling and laughing - it's giving a coworker who tries way too hard to be friendly to get a promotion.

SP is sort of cold and standoffish but that's not out of the ordinary. He still responds so he can't be that bothered by the overfamiliarity.

Then, he's also passing notes with Metatron. Metatron doesn't seem to like him a lot but he's relying on him for information about the future - they have some sort of deal here and probably meet regularly.

It's not clear if they've talked before but Sakyamuni knows his identity and takes his actions into account for his plans. Actually, and this is really funny, Sakyamuni sicced the hounds on SP once, so maybe they have some sort of beef.

These two are one scene apart. Coincidence? ...Maybe.

So, he talks to people not from N'gai forest, they're just the highest of the higher ups - the Wenny King, current leader of Eden Metatron and possiblt owner of reincarnation island Sakyamuni - probably because they know about the 'end' before anyone else (even if they're trying to get even more out of SP, as in Metatron's case) and are also uhh powerful enough to survive an encounter with an Outer God.

Mostly they interact for shady deals and plots with hidden motives on all sides, but for beings as powerful as them I think that's par for course. Doesn't mean they're not friendly to each other sometimes, even if they're not 'friends'.

Also, all Outer Gods know of him generally, like Devourer of Dreams who tells Kim Dokja info about him for the first time. He has a lot of faith in SP and tells Kim Dokja to trust him.

Normal incarnations like the Recorders of Fear did an interview (??) with SP once, no idea how they arranged it, maybe he was bored that day. They did not make it out of it in one piece because Secretive Plotter's presence drove them crazy.

So! That's a short look in all the people SP talks to that aren't widely discussed. Maybe I've forgotten some, lmk. He's not as much of a hermit as it seems lol.

[tgmsunmontue]

Caring, Keeping and Collecting Transformers - A Guide 7/?

Maverick is unknowingly surrounded by Transformers. He knows something is up though. Just not quite what it is exactly.

Bradley and Jake, having never met, are embarking on their own journeys and will have to learn to deal with the fact that they've both been adopted by Transformers.

Despite having years more experience, Maverick is no help at all.

ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX

SEVEN

                Jake hasn’t been this amused in years, watching a guy he barely knows reem out a sulking Transformer who could probably kill him if he had half a mind to. Except the Bronco is looking suitably chastised, but even his clear remorse hasn’t stopped Bradley’s rant. Guy has some lungs on him and Jake doesn’t want to get on his bad side. Although he is kind of hot when he’s angry. Hmm. Interesting. He’ll consider that more later. In private.

                Jake has to admit he’s impressed with Starscream’s restraint and he sidles up to him, wants to ask why he didn’t just bop the smaller blue car on the nose and lay him flat, because he’s sure that the much larger Transformer is more than capable of holding his own if it came down to a fist fight.

                “I promised I’d remain neutral,” Starscream states, lips twisting in distaste and Jake raises his eyebrows at that.

                “Even if the little blue-truck-that-could managed to take a swipe at you?”

                “He can certainly try…”

                Jake grins at the dry tone and he likes Starscream’s attitude, wonders if it’s weird that he considers a robot a friend after only a few days.

                “The tall one, is he important?”

                “Admiral Kazansky? Yeah… I guess. He’s definitely the highest rank here, and he already knew about you guys existing, so he’s probably got quite high security clearance… oh shit. I’m going to need to be briefed or get told secret shit. They better not stop me from flying.”

                “I can always fly you.”

                “No! I want to fly my own damn plane,” Jake snaps.

                “Then we can fly together,” Starscream states and Jake’s jaw drops open.

                “Holy shit. We could. That would be cool. You said Jetfire was a plane as well. We can all fly together…”

                “That is my hope.”

…            …            …

                “I really need a fucking drink,” Bradley mumbles to himself, and he has no clue where he’s even going to be sleeping tonight, but he’s sent his car to the other end of the runway to cool off and have some time out and think about whether he can play nicely with the others. As he runs that thought through his head again he feels the early onset of a headache, new appreciation for his parents and also both Mav and Ice. He searches Ice out to find him on the phone and also rubbing his temple like he’s also warding off an impending headache.

                “You okay?” Bradley ask and Jake startles a little and blinks, like his mind was somewhere else.

                “Yeah, I’m good. Just been a very long couple of days and I don’t think the next few days are going to get any easier.”

                “You’ve probably got a point. At least we have Ice to deal with the brass. It’s not like they can put a gag order on us or take the Transformers away from us. Not if it’s us they want to be with…”

                He’s hit then with the realization that Bronco chooses to be with him, and he suddenly views all the times he’s had Bronco there, ready to pick him up. The music. The lack of buying gas. The loyalty. Of course there are also the times he’s refused to start for anyone and everyone else, but if he considers Bronco as a younger Transformer maybe that’s on par with a toddler’s temper tantrum, or teenage sulkiness. Regardless Bronco wants him and okay, Bradley can deal with that. Slaps Jake on the shoulder and heads off down the runway for yet another talk, and also, this time, an apology.

…            …            …

                Tom looks at Hound, and then Bronco off at the far end of the runway where Bradley has sent him to have a weird sort of time-out. Then he looks at the Kawasaki which is currently taller than Mav and is crouched beside him and discussing something about one of the normal bikes and he blinks, realizes that the only mode of transport available to them right now that isn’t a Transformer is a large slightly delipidated horse truck with maybe three seats. Maybe.

                He has strict orders to bring in all the humans tomorrow morning at ten-hundred, and then the further expectation to bring everyone out here. He’s lucky they’ve been given that much time, but he knows they’ll be mad scrambling on the other end, drawing up paperwork and flying in others that will no doubt want to grill them all. They’ll be separated and interviewed, and he needs to prepare them all for it. Weirdly he trusts that Bradley and Seresin will be fine, they have nothing to cover up. Maverick on the other hand is going to be a potential problem. The higher ups are definitely going to have an issue with him suddenly being in the know, despite the fact he has a small army of Transformers at his disposal and apparently has a natural gift for working on them.

                Fan-fucking-tastic.

…            …            …

                Admiral Kazansky has shared the news with them that they’re all expected to report tomorrow and Jake balks a little. He’s on leave, he didn’t bring uniform with him. This is not how he expected his leave to go. Not that he was hoping for anything exciting, but he’d sort of hoped he wouldn’t be bored and now he’s wondering if he maybe somehow jinxed himself. They’re now trying to work out the logistics of reporting to base tomorrow and Bradley has his gear in the back of Bronco, ready to go.

                “You could stay in the truck with me,” Jake offers, and he knows he’s pulling a face. Because it smells of horses and hay if he’s being generous, and if he’s going to share a sleeping space with a good looking guy he’d like it to not be the back of a horse truck. Even if he has no chance he can still dream. And he hasn’t forgotten about how good Bradley looks when he’s angry.

                “There’s a trailer in the hangar,” Captain Mitchell offers, like it’s a competition and Jake frowns, immediately wants to somehow sweeten the offer of the horse truck, but offering a handjob probably wouldn’t go over so well.

                “Stop being ridiculous. We’ll stay at the house.”

                “Oh.”

                “Yeah. That makes sense.”

                Just like that there is no further argument, and Jake has to say a proper bed and hot shower do sound really good. Even a cold shower would be welcome right now, given how dirty he’s feeling. Admiral Kazansky is looking at Starscream like he’s trying to figure out what to do with him and it makes his skin prickle with unease, but then Sally is letting out a deep sigh.

                “He can stay. If you take Hound and Bronco with you things will settle. Or I will make them settle,” she says and Admiral Kazansky nods appreciatively. Jake is reminded that while Sally may give off old matriarch vibes, old matriarchs get old for reasons like being very difficult to kill and also generally ruling the people under them with an iron fist. Admiral Kazansky then moves to sit in the driver’s seat of the army jeep and he doesn’t look overly happy about it. About as happy as Bronco is about having Jake riding with him, although he at least seems glad to be leaving Starscream behind.

                “I will see you tomorrow,” Starscream says, and he holds his fist out and Jake looks at it, looks up at Starscream and then reaches out and gives him a fist bump.

…            …            …

                He knew Pete would be the most problematic, and what irks him is that he’s not even trying to be annoying. It just comes so easily to him, taking to effort at all to put Tom’s brain into a tailspin.

                “Oh, I’m bringing Dustdrift home with me.”

                “You’re not taking a Hoover on the back of your bike!” Tom snaps and Maverick grins.

                “I don’t need to. Dustdrift can just fly after me!” Mav says and he’s almost vibrating with excitement and Tom wonders if he should seriously consider retirement. But who would get Mav out the messes he either creates or finds himself in? Sli only keeps tabs on Mav for the entertainment value, not for any altruistic reason.

                “Fine. Just… don’t get seen I guess?”

                “I think Dustdrift has superior camouflage capabilities.”

                “Of course they do,” Tom mutters

…            …            …

                He remembers the way to Ice’s house, and he’s glad he doesn’t need to concentrate on driving, that Bronco would no doubt find the way there without him paying attention anyway. He hasn’t had time to process everything, the fact that Mav only pulled his papers because his mom asked. He doesn’t like it, but he also knows that when Mav gives someone his word he holds fast to it. It’s just shit that Bradley’s dream of going to USNA was collateral damage, especially as he’s never giving up flying. Mav can’t stop him, and the United States Navy isn’t about to stop him either. They’ve sunk too much money into his training to let him go. He’s not stupid.

                He takes his shoes off and lines them up carefully, making a face at Jake who follows his example with a raised eyebrow. It’s just that way it is in Ice’s house. He hikes his duffle offer his shoulder, knows he’s going to have to iron his uniform tonight. Jake has an overnight bag in his hands, no sign of his uniform, and Bradley wonders exactly how Ice and Mav are going to handle this.

                “I have two guest rooms…” Ice states, waving a hand towards the stairs and Bradley knows he means for Jake to take one and Bradley the other, his mind clearly focused on meeting a range of Transformers rather than the fact that he’s meant to be keeping his relationship with Maverick a secret as well. What a tangled web we weave springs to mind, a poem his mom used to recite, a fact he finds incredibly ironic right now.

                “Uh, Bradley and I can share a room sir.”

                Bradley crosses his arms and looks between Mav and Ice, still not ready to just forgive the years of hurt. He understands Bronco’s loyalty more now, his anger on Bradley’s behalf. He could make all the awkwardness go away, but this is their bed, literally, and they can fucking lie in it. Or not, as the case may be.

                “Thank you Lieutenant, that’s appreciated,” Ice says, and there’s a twitch in his jaw and Bradley wonders if he should give them some time to hide all the incriminating evidence of his and Mav’s relationship.

                “We’ll take the room at the back with the ensuite,” Bradley says, throwing them a bone, because it’s the bedroom furthest from theirs, and with an ensuite they’re less likely to bump into each other in the middle of the night and have to explain… well, anything. “Come on Jake.”

                “I’ll order some food. You boys alright with Thai?” Mav calls out and he reminds himself that Mav isn’t deliberately trying to annoy him by calling him a boy. It’s just a turn of phrase no matter how annoying he finds it. Bradley calls out in the affirmative, and Jake follows him, although he adds a thank you sir which he guesses is respectful at least.

                “So… Was that weird? It felt weird,” Jake says, and Bradley lets out a sharp huff, annoyed and amused in equal measure.

                “What about today hasn’t been weird?”

                “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”

EIGHT

[fangs-claws-paws]

Space Marines and my Thoughts

Alright fuck it, exploration of my thoughts on space marines and what I think of their meaning. Even though I know that I'm prolly gonna get mocked for this, this is my blog and I get to become emotionally attached to the super freaks and claim there's a deeper meaning to them even though it isn't well discussed in the few books I've read.

Under a read more cuz this is going to be a long one.

Space marines are just as much victims of the system as the average citizen

Space marines are children who were taken at a young age and were repeatedly exposed to extremely traumatic events to develop the right type of PTSD for ascension to space marines. Created intentionally by the emperor to make a mass-produced super soldier, which he also likely planned to completely execute once that phase of his plan was finished, so consideration for actually making functional people wasn't really considered. Even after their ascension to space marine they still are just as much meat in the grinder as every other human, just cuz they can survive better than an average human doesn't mean there aren't bigger things that can completely mulch them.

Space marines are viewed by regular humans as either ethereal angels of destruction or as barely acceptable mutants, both leading to isolation from those around them

In the first/second chapter of Horus Rising (if I remember the title right) we see through the eyes of a rembrancer that she sees space marines as mutants that are only respectable because they are working for the emperor. While likely the view of space marines as mutants has fallen out of popular opinion, the view of them as angels of death both still end up with the dehumanization of space marines. Despite their human origin and still frankly just being extremely emotionally traumatized humans with modifications, they aren't considered human. Which can lead to frustrations in communication, this can lead to either just avoiding humans alltogether to avoid being objectified, or leaning into that stereotype either to just stop fighting it or perhaps a way to live as an individual by justifying choices under their dehumanization.

Space marines fall under just as much scrutiny from the inquisition as the average human, if not moreso depending on the inquisitor

We see in the Ahriman Omnibus that an entire chapter is wiped out on the command of one inquisitor with the backing of a Grey Knight. While most inquisitors may not have the desire to poke the bear as it were, I feel many put space marines under a microscope because they don't follow certain pieces of the Imperial Cult (e.g. don't believe the Emperor is a god). This can lead to increased suspicion and further isolate space marines from the general human population. Which can lead to lashing out and turning renegade/traitor, becoming extremely insular in hopes of avoiding judgement for chapter belief, or this scrutiny becomes reflected towards other members in hopes of placating the wolves by sacrificing their own.

The extreme trauma they faced both during ascension and their service isn't expressed in healthy ways, which further alienates them but help forge bonds between other space marines due to shared traumas.

Their trauma is something they simply have to bury, or treat as par for the course, and thus deal with the psychological repercussions on their own. This can lead to childish behavior, violent outbursts, emotional withdrawal, etc. Which is well documented in the real world when people suffer traumatic events and don't get the help they need in processing it. They form close bonds with other space marines due to a potential subconscious acknowledgement that the other understands what they've went through, and can find safety in what to them is extreme vulnerability. This bond can definitely be formed between them and a guardsmen, but what a space marine may view as vulnerability might not be seen as such by a regular human.

[isogenderskitty]

thoughts on nibbly & steph

"you wanted [to win] the most. you were the hungriest. nibbly is a creature of hunger; of desire, passion. that's what makes you taste so sweet to him. the sweetest woman in hatchetfield."

^ this is from the nightmare time episode "honey queen" and it's said to the person who gets sacrificed to nibblenephim. (not saying who the sacrifice is, or who says it to her, for people who haven't seen honey queen because teehee it's a spoiler)

i just wanted to find this exact quote because it's fucking me up that nibbly specifically singled out steph to comment on her being tasty (simply "stephanie, yum yum!") in npmd

out of the 3 of them steph does not really immediately strike me as the most passionate or the most hungry for anything really??? in fact i feel like. pete literally has an "i want" song and grace has... what could i Guess be described as an "i want" song if you want to count a sexy daydream as that idk lmao it's a bit more off to the side of the trope than pete's song but it's still an expression of a desire

pete is earnest about what he wants, and grace is viciously in denial about what she wants, but they both seem to want Something very strongly and it's kind of worn on their sleeves

steph though…? sure, she has goals. she wants to raise her grades in the earlier parts of the show, and she loves pete. (and like all of them she wants to escape this fucked up circumstance they've found themselves in and not get arrested or killed but that's kind of par for the course.) but like… idk. she doesnt seem nearly as openly passionate as the other two to me

it's possible that they just picked her for that line because pete was already singled out by tinky and grace was already singled out by blinky so Someone had to mention steph but. idk

it keeps rotating in my brain like why the fuck does nibbly Specifically want to eat steph???

they couldve found some way to get wiggly or pokey to single steph out but they chose nibbly and i want to know the thought behind that so badly

[tired-reader-writer]

Chapter 131 Rapid-Fire Reaction

I feel like I'm gonna be skipping over some stuff but here we go!

@innerchorus' reaction post here

Very happy to spot you, bud!

This was really cute. Jaswant on babysitting duty loooool.

This panel evoked similar feelings in me as Bodin's death scene. It's just this visceral, horrifying, and harrowing sort of feel that creeps up your spine. The contorted limbs. The blood-stained grass. Every aspect of it is just... yeah.

Considering how Andragoras' court was filled with corruption, the Temple a cesspit, and the person who tried to fix both issues essentially got chased out even if he left of his own volition... yeah. It's definitely self-flattery and delusion on Andragoras' part— Pars' capital and politics were rotten with a shiny veneer/mask on top. He did not care. He has no right lecturing Arslan on being “a strong King”.

This is definitely the first (and only) time Tahamenay initiated touch with Andragoras, just look at the shock in his eye. But it's— well.

I'm glad this change was made in the manga— it gives Tahamenay some measure of catharsis and closure, even if it's still painful in the end, she would never reunite with her child. But still. She got revenge. She got revenge for her homeland. At least there's that. Looking at this scene, I can't help but think this is a fitting end for a man like Andragoras. My brain is a bit fried so I can't put it eloquently but it's just. It fits. She even throws his words back at this situation. A farce.

Reordering the scenes a bit, at first I wondered if the manga was trying to hint at something with this panel (Tahamenay's talking about Estelle here) and I know I'm not the only one— but ultimately I don't think Arakawa will go this way. Their palettes are too different even if they're equally light-haired and light-eyed in this black-and-white manga form, and even outside of that... There was no indication or hint that Estelle was adopted (they were in the anime, but there's nothing about that in both the manga and the novels) and if Arakawa wanted to hint at Estelle being the lost daughter, I'd think she would've planted the seeds for this early on.

Rather, I believe this is like closing a door for Tahamenay, coming to terms with the fact that she'll likely never see her daughter again. Either this realization was what allowed her to kill Andragoras, or she's coming to terms with this after she'd killed him.

She looks so tired and sad.

Alfarīd is someone who inspires other people and lights a fire in them— Estelle needed this. This is where her priorities should be. The civilians. The innocents. I do believe that Alfarīd is in the know about how Arslan asked the three merchant boys to keep them safe— but whether she knew or not there's an element of uncertainty here, it's a gambit. They could've still died but she has to find something, anything, to snap Estelle out of this guilt spiral and redirect her emotions. And at first it seems like the gambit didn't pay off but no, no! It did! They're all safe! Estelle is rewarded for their efforts.

Estelle struggles with guilt of having been the one that escaped, the one that lived, the one that was always late to save people, and I'm so glad that the streak has finally been broken. They've been through a lot.

I can't form a coherent thought on this but I think there's smth about their growth and Arslan's kindness and how things pay off buuuut my brain is not cooperating.

Look at that! I think Isfan's smiling! That lil fang! He's happy for Arslan!

This panel is particularly ominous even without featuring Shapur (which it does, I just cropped him out) because like. Isfan was shown smiling in literally the previous panel. But here the speech bubble obscures his face, there's a tension to it here, and the sense that something is incredibly wrong.

Which, of course, is entirely correct because there's an undead Shapur literally looming in the back.

To map out the absolute journey my brain took upon seeing that last page:

Not Registering That It's Shapur → Oh Hey It's Shapur! → Wait Why Is He Here He's Dead → Realize His Eyes Are Different → OH NO HEART ATTACK in the span of like five seconds 😭 Like, it did NOT intellectually register at first and then the dawning horror catches up.

[navree]

Do you have any headcanons for our golden boi sunfyre ? 🥺

Sunfyre my beloved I'm so sorry all this happened to you in my perfect world absolutely nothing goes wrong with him whatsoever and he gets to live a long and happy life being the prettiest boy in all of Planetos.

I think it's, like, basically canon but technically not confirmed, that Sunfyre is a hatchling from Dreamfyre, given the name similarities and the fact that Dreamfyre is much older (my pet theory is that Sunfyre's egg is Thee Egg that Rhaenyra chose for Baby Baelon and that Daemon subsequently stole).

Sunfyre was not a cradle hatchling. It appears that none of the (on screen) Hightower-Targaryen children had cradle hatchlings (given that Helaena claimed an already old dragon between episodes 6 and 7 and Aemond of course claimed the oldest dragon), either because none of their eggs hatched or Alicent just wasn't placing eggs in their cradles for it. Around when Aegon was two or three, still very young, he somehow got his hands on Sunfyre's egg, and soon after Sunfyre hatched. Sunfyre has never known a life without Aegon in it, and Aegon barely remembers a time where he didn't have Sunfyre. They practically grew up together, though Sunfyre at a much quicker rate.

Seeing as dragons are meant to have an intelligence level on par with humans (even tho ASOIAF and all related media kinda seems to forget that and has relegated them to the role of "cats" but with nukes attached), Sunfyre is aware that he is The Hot Girl. Sunfyre is ridiculously vain, any time he's flying with Aegon on him to command him, he's primping and preening and deliberately flying into as much sun exposure as he can so everyone can see the glint of gold off his scales.

Sunfyre and Aegon are ridiculously close. Far closer than any other dragon and their rider that we've seen in the entire franchise. Yes, even closer than Dany and her children (Dany would have won out but being the first person to raise dragons in over a century means that she clearly doesn't have the right tools for it which is why the kids get rascally in ADWD in a way we didn't see at the Targaryen peak). Like, however close you think they are because of the canon stuff (Aegon's grief when he died, Sunfyre literally dragging his broken body to Dragonstone because he sensed Aegon was there and needed him, all that horrible stuff), that's the tip of the iceberg. They're close not just emotionally but honestly to the point where it's almost like they have a psychic bond. It's rare that Aegon even needs to speak commands verbally, he and Sunfyre know each other incredibly well, almost as if they can literally just sense what's in each other's heads, feel each other's emotions incredibly keenly (that thing dragons and dragonriders have where they can physically feel each other's pain, but multiply it by one thousand). It's borderline mystical, especially when factoring in that both Aegon and Sunfyre only seem to start really recovering from their respective Rook's Rest wounds after they've been reunited on Dragonstone, as if they literally needed each other's presence in order to heal.

Stolen from Twitter (can't remember which account but I saw it and I wept like a baby): Aegon sings to Sunfyre sometimes. Sunfyre really, really likes it. Like, basically turns into a huge overgrown kitten when that happens, tries to get all cuddly even though he knows that Aegon's too small for it now that he's gotten big.

Sunfyre does have a certain amount of affection that extends to other members of Aegon's family, his mother and siblings in particular, and even to their dragons. Yes, even Vhagar. Doesn't matter that she's ancient and bigger and dragon mee-maw, he'll still go into attack mode if someone attempts to fuck her up. Also, a bit cracky considering we don't technically know the full mental faculties of dragons, but he's closest to Tessarion, given that they're closer in age and also Daeron's apparently a natural sweetheart and that temperament might extend to Tessarion as well. (Addendum to this: Sunfyre spent a lot of time flying with Aemond and Vhagar when Aemond was recovering. Not even just when Aegon was babysitting and making sure Aemond wasn't at risk, but literally just if he was out around the same time as Aemond and Vhagar, he hovered a lot, just to be sure. Aemond has never talked about it but he thinks of it sometimes, when he sees Aegon drunk and wet eyed and feels that twinge of disgust and envy that he tries to push down, when he remembers there's more to Aegon than seen by the naked eye)

This is less about Sunfyre himself and more about his relationship with Aegon, but the bond Sunfyre and Aegon have was Aegon's first real taste of feeling unconditional and requited love. The bond with Sunfyre was the first time in his life Aegon felt that the love he was giving out was being returned to him, and that he wasn't at risk of losing it, the way he's afraid he's done with his siblings and with Alicent. It's why, even above everything else they share, Sunfyre is so important to him, and why he's gutted and griefstricken to the point of kinslaying when Sunfyre dies.

Aegon calls Sunfyre almost primarily by pet names, even when giving verbal commands. And like, really intimate pet names, the kind of pet names you save for, like, your kids. He calls him "sweetling" and "my darling" and "golden boy" and things of that sort all.the.time. Why do I think this? Because my brain spat "Sunfyre sniffs at the blood in the air. Aegon knows now is when he says the word, the fateful word, but he cannot speak through his heart pounding in his throat. Kill her, beloved, he thinks. Kill her for what her ambition did to us. To you. Even to me. Sunfyre shifts, and a keening growl rumbles low in his ruined chest." out at me and I have not known peace since.

When Sunfyre was still small enough and Aegon's siblings and Hell, even the Strong kids were still little, they all adored Sunfyre. They coddled him relentlessly and basically cooed over him 24/7, and both Aegon and Sunfyre were absolutely thrilled with it. Even when down in the Dragonpit with them, before shit started going sideways when some people had dragons and others didn't and the bullying and all, Sunfyre would still put on a bit of a show (as I said, vain) before Aegon would make him behave, which was Aegon's own version of his own show in displaying the bond and mastery he and Sunfyre have with each other.

Aegon had Sunfyre's skull prepped to line the walls of the throne room in accordance to House Targaryen traditions. Aegon III did take it down eventually (obviously, given the memory association), but he only took it down after Alicent Hightower had died and that last shredding of her children's legacy wouldn't hurt her anymore.

[skyfallscotland]

I love how far Remi and Violet have in terms of their relationship since the first fanfiction.

Do you think there will come a point where Violet is confronted with how much Remi does to protect her? Sometimes I feel like Violet is a bit clueless, as we’ve seen already with Remi’s depression.

I think she's known for a while the lengths Remi will—and does—go to for her, she just never liked or agreed with the means. What she didn't realise up until recently, was the toll it also took on Remi. In that regard yeah, she's been pretty clueless, which I think might actually be par for the course with Violet as a character 😂

They've definitely grown though and as the story moves you'll see her trying to flip the scales more and more. If you haven't been through a depression like that, I think a lot of the time you don't know what to do or say, hell even I don't know what to say to people most of the time. I know what it's like, but I can't help them. So I think she's doing what she can the way she knows how and that's by standing up for her sister, protecting her, and trying to make sure she's safe.

So there's not a single lightbulb moment for her, but it does become very apparent and unfortunately, she also knows no matter what she does, Remi won't stop. I hate to say it, but there's going to be some tough scenes coming up in the first half of this story, so you'll definitely see more of this in action 🖤

As an aside, too, because I love this relationship so much so I can't stop talking about it, clueless is definitely the best word for Violet. She copped a pretty bad rap from everyone during Fear & Flame, because we are reading from Remi's perspective, but she's not a bad person, or a bad sister.

It's really hard to be there for someone who's depressed and prone to angry outbursts and meltdowns—the way Remi hurts doesn't make her treatment of her sister in their younger years ok by any means. You can't really blame Violet for drawing away from that relationship. Now that they're older and she has more of an understanding though and she knows the lengths her sister has gone to for her, she's doing her best to be there 🖤

...and she's also dragon-bonded to a man who will enable her to hell and back to flip those scales 😂

“Angel…” Xaden murmurs, “maybe Violet’s right.” I roll my eyes. “She’s not right,” I stress, “her interests just align with yours.” 

[dykephan]

I get where you're coming from, but I don't think backtracking necessarily means that they're not still building up to a hard launch. That's kind of par for the course with dnp. I think they're very cautious people who don't like to jump into huge life changes headfirst. They dip their toes in and then pull back if the water's too cold, but eventually they'll slowly start to submerge themselves. The same thing happened when they were preparing to come out. Dan posted TTLMT and made that joke about sucking dick that he walked back when it became a little too real for him. I think that's a normal thing for someone to do when they're scared. I still think they're eventually going to hard launch. It might be a longer process than we think, with lots of backtracking, but I think that clearing the air is the first step. Watch me be totally wrong though and they hard launch next week lol

TRUEEE the dick sucking thing is actually a perfect example thank you for that reminder!! maybe it just feels weirder to me when the backtracking comes from phil? i would expect that from dan, but phil is usually so private, it's hard to get a gauge on how he's genuinely feeling. but then again he did say he's feeling a lot more emotional as he gets older so maybe part of that is wanting to let us into his personal life a little more, but i'm sure it's scary

from the outside it seemed like phil never had a preference on when he would come out, like he was just patiently waiting for dan to do it first. and maybe that's true? but it's just as likely that he did have his own opinions & struggles with not wanting to be in the closet but we just didn't know about it because he doesn't talk about those things the way dan has. i almost get the impression that they've flipped their roles and now dan seems more willing to hard launch than phil. but this is TOTAL speculation and i'm just thinking out loud at this point. i really don't know what the future holds but i'm curious to find out either way!! (and very very curious to see what the hell kind of show i paid $300 to go see if they're not hard launching beforehand lol)

[parkminijiminie]

I don't know how to feel either. I'm enjoying the show either way to be clear! But, yeah I do kinda feel like something is different. But with them its like micro-changes so its kind of hard to pinpoint because its not like either was mean or careless in any way towards the other, but it does feel like their is a little less tenderness than I remember from them in some moments. Like there were definitely a couple moments that made go hmm, that's different. But then as you said, we haven't see them interact much over the last year and a half outside of a few instances, so its hard to tell.

But on the other hand, physically they interacted almost more intensely than we normally see and beyond most people's boundaries for anything platonic. Like the play fighting that gets a little too intimate is pretty par for the course for what we see from them. Or even the way they kind of naturally fall into flirtation like jungkook about getting butterflies or wanting to taste jimin's blood.

I'm just learning to accept that I'll never know what's going with them LOL I don't think their relationship will ever make sense to me with what we see as fans, if they're just friends I have a ton of questions and if they're in a relationship, I'd still have questions. I'm just along for the ride at this point.

My explanation for the physical aspects is that this is how they simply are. I know this sounds crazy but I think for them, this is basically learned behavior. They have been like this for yearrrrs, so it's nothing special. They have seen each other naked (like all BTS members), they've probably showered together, and they've slept in the same room for years. This physical intimacy shouldn't suprise us, but it's nice to see that it's still there. Honestly, if they hadn't been shown being all touchy, this would have been really worrisome.

JK's comment about the butterflies was so out of nowhere for me. If this was really his long-term boyfriend, a gesture as small as this shouldn't affect him much, but for someone who has been deprived of someone he had (has) feelings for it would make sense.

Also, JMs response was sus. He simply said something along the lines of "interpret this however you wish," which was so?? Like, he didn't answer anything friendly or bro-like. He simply went with the romantic inclination of JKs statement.

This whole convo was definitely flirting to me, from both of them.

[onewomancitadel]

Okay if you guys are scared about RWBY renewal this is a collection of thoughts which may or may not be reassuring:

CR was never a good choice. Finding alternate funding opportunities is preferable e.g. ideally not cutting a deal with a streaming service which subsequently leads to cut episodes. Streaming services are conservative to the point that successful shows do not often get renewed as it is. There are other issues there like I don't think the CR audience was ever one to crossover enough with the RWBY one.

RT seems to be looking at more local funding opportunities (drawing in sponsorships for RVB; RVB renewal playing on drawing back fans in - I know I haven't watched it consistently since Season 13). They've cut back on RTX (major money drain - events such as these tend to just about break even, speaking generally, if not work at a loss) and this was likely a decision made at the beginning of the previous fiscal year, which was around when CR did not renew RWBY. They've explicitly said they're looking at getting more sponsorships lol. Raise your hand if you cancelled yours because you thought they didn't own RWBY anymore

From what I can see a lot of people are concerned about the silence regarding renewal and from my personal perspective is that there are NDA's involved (I know for a fact that Miles has this in his Tumblr description, or at least did at some point), the year-long exclusivity with CR, etc. as well as the fact that with this type of money that RWBY is throwing around now as what is effectively more of a serious production than it was six, seven years ago means that you can't really admit to too much weakness in public (speculative investors), nor can you speak strategy. I'm not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing, but just potentially par for the course, especially because I'd argue the closeness RT had with its audience did not end up being for the best for many different reasons.

It's probably very likely that based on the success or failure of the new RVB, RWBY will or won't be renewed. I'm not saying you are personally responsible for making RVB succeed. There's no responsibility of the fan here. But if we look at the avenues they've taken to draw in money: crossovers (comic book audience), manga, novels, anime (Beacon era nostalgia), the CrunchyRoll audience of honest otakus, etc. they've cycled through to trying to re-establish their RT fanbase to offset RWBY production. RWBY fans are good for RT and RT fans used to be good for RWBY. RWBY was made because Season 10 of RVB was very successful.

It's no coincidence that RT's relative decline in years (I stopped watching around 2015, if that's anything) has led to this. I'm kind of at the point where I wouldn't even say any of this is really RWBY's fault because it's a very weird production (I say this as a fan). There are plenty of influences I've failed to cover here because I'm trying to keep this contained to my honest assessment - there's obviously something not quite adding up with the numbers of how many RWBY fans there are vs. its renewal dangling in the balance. They struggled with monetising way back when during the adpocalypse on YouTube which led to episodes not being uploaded on there anymore. RWBY has been a cult sensation and it owes its success not just to a loyal fanbase but taking risks. RWBY itself was a risky endeavour. I'm not sure if people remember but by that point RT was doing pretty well, but not corporate money well, and its flagship show was a Halo machinima. They were doing crowdfunding/Patreon before it was a thing, they were doing podcasts before they were a thing (obviously radio existed, but you know what I mean). When Fullscreen acquired them I remember thinking 'hm this feels weird' and I was about right.

I don't have any conclusive remarks here but I would say that I would really start to doomer worry by the end of this year. I imagine that between the exclusivity of a year (and how much that does or doesn't influence contract negotiation with other funding sources) and RT currently overhauling its strategy we won't really know until six months from now, let's say optimistically. It probably does in part hinge on RVB and getting back that sponsor base, but I'm not sure I perfectly understand it because I would sign up for sponsor if I knew we'd be getting RWBY, or something specific to RWBY only on RT - which is seemingly not possible right now. I don't know the full ins-and-out.

Of what's going on behind the scenes, we know less than drop. It's six to one, half a dozen the other, but my overall summary would be that CR was always the wrong move and RT needed an overhaul in its approach to sponsorships and funding as well as establishing its brand and regaining audience trust/transparency. RWBY should have stayed on RT and other sources of revenue needed to be pursued. I couldn't even figure out how to buy DVD's of the show a few years ago because it was so hidden. (Am I even suggesting something like Patreon here? Hell, maybe). We're not going to see the result of their developed strategy for some time. This is my tentative speculation.

[deusexlachina]

Stemquisition Part 3 (In Hushed Whispers) - I violated the principle of causality and all I got was this lousy necklace

In which we have to go back...to the present!

Dorian, a much nicer mage from Tevinter, holds a secret meeting with me away from prying eyes, but right next to a small army of demons. He starts spouting magical technobabble about time travel that, frankly, does not sound scientific.

But he reassures me that he helped to develop this time magic, so he would know, and it makes as much sense as anything else at this point. To impress Alexius, I gather 25 Power doing the adventuring equivalent of filing paperwork, so he finally deigns to meet me. He tries to negotiate the terms under which he might loan out his army of disposable slaves future Tevinter citizens. I'm really more interested in the time travel. How did you do that.

He tries to have me executed, but Leliana remembers her adventures in Redcliffe, and she has her assassins go through a secret tunnel, which must have been a lot of fun. But it's not fun for Alexius' guards, and Alexius decides to erase me from time in a sickass green swirly portal.

He accidentally sends me into the future instead, but an entire year in my absence renders the world totally dominated by Corypheus. So, really, he's largely succeeded, entirely by accident. We scientists call that serendipity, which in Thedas is also the name of a transgender sex worker. She's a barrel of laughs and, despite living in the single deadliest city in Thedas, has not suffered violence like more than half of transgender sex workers. My point is that we should decriminalize sex work immediately, and also that Serendipity is not a good character.

Fortunately there's a much better trans character in my own army - Krem, along with his boss, The Iron Bull. Hey, how are those lovable rogues doing? My gang? My squad? My goons? My buddies? My pals? My sweet boyos? My chuckling chums?

...okay, I'm getting some "not so good"s.

Iron Bull is infected with red lyrium, as is Varric. That's especially bad because Varric hates red lyrium. Go on. Ask him why he hates red lyrium. Or not, he'll tell you anyway. There was this adventure in the Deep Roads...

We have to get back in time before Leliana kills Varric. With her thighs. I just learned she could do that, in a scene that would be pretty hot if it didn't immediately follow a year of grisly torture.

Despite being an accomplished spymaster who has every intention of sending me back in time, Leliana doesn't want to talk about what happened, but I've seen enough clues in my investigation of the future. She's been...experimented on...oh no.

They've used science...for EVIL! Which is admittedly pretty par for the course in Thedas. There aren't a whole lot of experiments whose subjects aren't "terrified prisoners" and whose methodology is more robust than "I WILL HAVE YOUR PATHETIC BLOOD!" What a shameful attitude. No wonder we're living in a medieval world despite it being common knowledge that there's a formula for gunpowder and that it is possible to make explosives that can level a city. I need to fix this, but first I need to get back...to the present!

Varric and The Iron Bull help Leliana hold off Corypheus' army while Dorian reverses the time magic and I...what am I doing to help? I'm not a mage, so...I guess I'm just there? Honestly I feel a bit bad about mostly standing around while my fabulous friendarinos give their lives to give me as much time as they have arrows.

Before I can determine the arrow-time conversion rate, Leliana dies as she lived: not having a good time. But me and Dorian escape just in time. And through time. It's time magic. Alexius surrenders, having played all two of his cards (easily-defeated guards and faulty time magic).

Later, I coerce Alexius into sharing the secrets of time magic. The ramifications could be world-changing! A mere glimpse into this field could revolutionize everything we think we know about reality! Against my allies' warnings, I authorize Alexius to continue this line of research.

The result is an amulet which makes my skills recharge a few seconds faster.