#i would listen to this and to parallels by big thief like back to back? for no reason other than i did it once so i did it twice and then

[maddy-ferguson]

you wouldn't get it...

[sybaritick]

On Repeat Playlist Tag Game

thanks for the tag @nullcanary! it's Music Time! i listen to so much music. nothing particularly unique here just typical indie singer-songwriter stuff i enjoy, mostly by women.

rules: shuffle your repeat playlist 10 times and tag 10 people.

Parallels - 2023 Remaster by Big Thief and I'll step right in and cocoon 'til I'm born and I can't say that I'll miss my human form much

Baby Blues by Lucia Zambetti but I'm getting older and my gaze is getting colder I never fixed my tooth a testament to truth

Good God by Daffo my belief in a good God is ruined now I can say whatever I want like I was relieved when the family dog died i eat in bed, the crumbs dig in my side

My Girl 2020 by Valley Boy big brown eyes like Bambi thighs on thighs in the back seat shiver like a slaughterhouse freezer sweating out a 104 fever

u caught me at a bad time by Gilanares you saved my life but I couldn't save yours had you down on all fours you died by the blade of your own sword it's pathetic (of your own sword) it's pathetic how you beg for more

Sofia I'm Sorry by Jesse Detor tell Sofia that I'm sorry but I get what I want 'cause I might hate what I am, at least I don't hate what I'm not and I can take it, I can take it, til I'm taking it off 'cause I would beg you to stay if I thought about it too hard

Sun Bleached Flies by Ethel Cain God loves you, but not enough to save you.

Dawncolored Horse by Fenne Lily so it's alright-- I can be a shoulder I can be a way out of it all and it's alright if you wanna remember that nothing's forever after all

To The Bone by Sammy Copley (augh did i have to get this very sappy one revealed to the public on here? It's a good song though. I'll admit that.) though I can't return the favor that the mermaid lent the sailor oh, my dear, you've been my savior and every second spent with you is worth the tears.

BLONDE by Raffaella turn the light on I can't sleep 'til my hair's all bleached now all I need to keep me clean's peroxide and falsе lashes and a house in Calabasas whatever gets me there the fastest

this was so fun i encourage anyone who sees and is interested to participate!! :3 (and/or lmk if you also like any of these artists or songs!)

[cosettepontmercys]

Hi Cossette! I've been spending the last few days gathering some 2024 media releases that I hope to check out this year and I'm looking forward to (to name a few!):

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal

The Mars House by Natasha Pulley

The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

and ooh! I'm also very intrigued about Allison Saft's upcoming adult debut!! I hope it will be good 🙏

I also prefer standalones! While there are times where I'd love to revisit my favourite worlduilding + characters, I tend to find the storytelling & character development more properly fleshed out within a standalone (comparing to books within a long series).

That's totally valid! It certainly took me some time to get into Alix E Harrow's writing - not that's it's poorly written (it's very artfully written), but it's pretty dense and the story pacing is on the slow side. Also as much as I enjoy taking notes / annotating beautifully written prose, I feel you effort required to analyse the writing 😅

Speaking of The Starless Sea, the aesthetic / vibes of the book reminds me of Taylor Swift's Midnights - very atmospheric and with a strong focus on storytelling. I've been meaning to make something showcasing parallels between songs from Midnights & sections of The Starless Sea since late 2022 (this was pushed back for various reasons), so I was very happy to post the edit today :D

If you could assign your favourite books as music albums (based on thematic / aesthetic similarities), how would you pair them up?

P.S. Yes!! I love the album & vinyl artwork for Kali Uchis' new album and I hope you have the chance to listen to Orquideas later this year! (and I hope you all the best with the 365 albums challenge 💖)

hi jennifer!!! i have an arc of a tempest of tea, but i don't know if i'll get around to it before publication date 😭 i'm really intrigued by the premise, but struggled a bit with the fantasy in we hunt the flame (i struggle a lot with fantasy/have to be in a very specific mood for it)! i haven't read any of katherine arden's stuff, but have seen a lot of it on the internet over the years; maybe i'll check it out!

i feel like a common question i see on bookstagram is "what's your favorite series" and i always struggle to answer this because i am just not a series girlie! i think the few favorite series that i love (that aren't duologies) are probably either the raven cycle, or series of romance books that are set in the same universe but follow different characters so they essentially operate as standalones! i wish i was a series girlie, but i just ... am not one. i actually just put alix harrow's ten thousand doors of january on hold on libby — it might work better for me as an audiobook! sometimes i do better with fantasy via audiobook than physically reading it, for some reason.

i saw your starless sea/midnights gifset and am obsessed. i know i've told you this before but i loveeeee your gifsets so much, especially the ones where you find parallels between things!

oh this is so hard! i feel like it's easier to assign specific songs for me, rather than entire albums to books, but here goes:

beach read: honorable mention to emails i can't send by sabrina carpenter (title track) for january's relationship with her father, but unsure of what album would fit january/gus best!

normal people: i think either sam fender's seventeen going under, or noah kahan's stick season? i think both albums have a similar theme of being homesick and also home sick, which i feel like plays a big role in the plot of normal people!

honey girl: i feel like paint my bedroom black by holly humberstone? like the themes of growing up / moving away / being lonely / figuring out your life?

the starless sea: maybeeeee evermore but this does not feel like a good fit to me still!

les miserables: ... going to cheat here and say the les mis cast recording

i'm still stuck on portrait of a thief, and book lovers though! what about you? what book/album pairings do you have in mind?

[the-vault-apprentice]

Tags from @sky-sogira

*cracks knuckles*

Alright. Let's get into this. My faith may not be as strong as it once was, but my knowledge is unshakable.

Disclaimer: I am not a scholar, I am not a theologist, I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I LOVE Sky.

Second disclaimer: I am not trying to preach to anyone, just put in my perspective as someone who grew up in Christianity.

So! The easy one. Lucifer was actually NOT really the devil's name first- Lucifer was the name of a minor Roman god. The god of the morning star, which shines very brightly. The name "Lucifer" MEANS "Bringer of light" and is the base for the names of the chemicals that make fireflies glow- Lucifern and Lucifrase? I probably spelled them wrong. When the Bible was being standardized, they took this name to show that Satan had once been both powerful and beloved, at least.... That's how my father told it. He was wrong about a LOT of things, so take that with a grain of salt. What IS certain fact is that Lucifer means "bringer of light" and WAS a Roman god of the morning star. This I am sure of.

Sky takes design elements from MANY sources, but the story is undoubtedly biblical. And that really shouldn't be a surprise, given that the bible is really freaking old and has quite a lot of stuff in it! Like.... A LOT of stuff and some of it doesn't make any sense at all. I mean, there was a law about if a thief got away before the sunrise, it was their stuff now or something? It's been a while since I read those particular verses, forgive my casualness but it's 7 am and I'm doing this off the top of my head while getting ready for the day.

Okay. Take a breath. You still with me? Good. Because I'm about to basically speedrun not only the bible, but my church's scripture as well- The Book of Morm-n.

I am censoring it because I have the name blacklisted after seeing so much hate and ignorance and straight-up MALICE on this website, so if you reblog this, PLEASE don't actually spell it out or I will not be able to view the post. Thank you.

So God (by whatever name you'd like) has his "chosen people". He helps and strengthens them and shows them miracles, yes? And as long as they listen to Him, they are blessed. Seems like a good deal to ME, but you know how it is with humans. Give them too much success and they get cocky. Turn their backs on God and start giving THEMSELVES the credit- Which.... Doesn't sit too well. Consequently, they lose His favor and his help until they humble themselves and realize it WAS thanks to Him they were able to get this far. Rinse and repeat for a few thousand years or so.

Basically, God is HAPPY to help out as long as you don't forget He IS helping. But humans are forgetful and they eventually fall away and need to learn they need His help. We call it the Pride Cycle in my church, and it IS a cycle. You see it over and over again.

Now, if we draw parallels and look at Megabird as "God" and perhaps Resh as "Satan", more things click.

Whatever happened in Eden was BIG. Like major ultimate, plain apocalyptic. And now the cycle of the spirits returning to Megabird can't continue because SOMEBODY had to mess it up with something more powerful than simple indifference. This wasn't just the ancestors turning their backs on Megabird, this was them PHYSICALLY UNABLE to return to the light because of the darkness.

And that's why Skykids were created. To do what they no longer could.

Now, then, if- As I believe- Resh is the king and Alef is the prince and they are not the same, then it also seems likely that Alef was the FIRST Skykid. Like an olive branch from Megabird- "I want you to come back. Please don't go further. There IS a way back, and I will give it to you."

To continue the comparison, it would be appropriate to compare Alef to Christ in this sense- The sense of being "firstborn", of being a PRINCE rather than a king.

And all the other Skykids ALSO fit this comparison because of the fact we lose our light and life so the spirits can go home.

But UNLIKE what is taught in Christianity, it is not a PERMANENT saving, evidenced by the fact that the spirits- and the Skykids- RETURN to the world. It is also possible that Alef was sent BEFORE the fall of Eden as a warning almost- Telling Resh all was not yet lost and he could STOP and be forgiven still.

But Satan's crime was pride and I believe it is the same with Resh. They want the power and the glory and the credit that rightly belongs to another- The being which MADE them. So of course he would not have stopped.

Of course, the Ark, Eden's name... There are other parallels to be made, and this is all just speculation from me based on what I think.

[galacticlamps]

im sorry im sorry im sorry i know it’s been well over a year but i accidentally thought about Short Trips: Deleted Scenes (again) and it’s killing me (again) so i think im just gonna go ahead and post all these stupid thoughts that have been plaguing me about it since i first heard it & maybe that’ll help clear up some space in my head for like, real life things.

Spoilers I guess? It’s like a year and a half old but also high key the most recent 2nd doctor content i believe we’ve gotten which is like, the only negative thing I can say about it

The TLDR version is this:

I literally cant believe how sweet it is? Painful, but sweet. Like. I don’t honestly know what’s more likely - did they set out to write Jamie a nice little straight love interest and just fail miserably at it by constantly likening her to the Doctor AND paralleling the Doctor’s perspective with her ex’s AND putting Jamie’s relationships with both of them in direct tension with each other while constantly letting his with the Doctor win out?

OR - did they do a very 1960s thing and say hey we’re gonna write what’s essentially a story about how much Jamie and the Doctor love each other and release it on Valentine’s Day thinly disguised as a one-off romance with a french lady?

Now, as a general rule, my attitude toward questions like that is usually “don’t know, don’t care, doesn’t matter” - and while I 100% stand by that, I also have to admit that this particular audio seems to pay enough attention to detail that I’d kind of think I was selling it short if I assumed too many of these things were just meaningless coincidences, you know?

Anyway, that’s the most coherent/overarching thought. And here’s a disorganized list of things I absolutely cannot get over about it (they don’t form any kind of argument, mind, they just all happen to live rent free in my head):

- Celine is first taken in by Jamie being an idiot (specifically him claiming not to speak French, in perfect French); likewise, her entrance in the scene where they actually kiss is marked with a little anecdote about her hat getting stuck on a doornail and her scolding it as she attempts to fix her un-tameable appearance, and the narration says Celine “would often clown for Jamie like this” - all of which, while undeniably adorable, don’t exactly strike me as entirely original traits to have been assigned to Jamie’s love-interest (but also Celine is so cool and her perspective on film/media/time is an excellent addition to the long list of dr who characters)

- When they’re in the present, describing Jamie’s relationship with Celine in 1908, they call him her “companion” and highlight his going nearly everywhere with her, which earns a laugh from the 4th doctor (and me as well, though probably for slightly different reasons - but like, is that really all it takes to have a fling with someone in 60′s era who? bc if so...)

- Celine’s ex-fiance is still in love with her and is jealously watching when she kisses Jamie ... and then the Doctor appears beside him, evidently doing the exact. same. thing. They have the following conversation:

“You know, it’s not prudent to spy on people. But then, people in pain can’t be expected to act prudently.”

“Pain, monsieur? You mistake me.”

“Ah, do I? Good, because I rather thought you’d lost something.”

“What would you know about loss monsieur?”

- I’m sorry doc but who do you think you are, saying stuff like that and smiling sadly at the floor to boot? I 100% had to pause it here the first time I listened, just to not throw my laptop across the room. 

- Then when I recovered continued, the Doctor closes the door so they can’t watch anymore and explains “Possessing things comes so terribly easily to some men that losing them can feel cruel, intolerably cruel. In my experience, only the very best of men cannot be tempted to answer that cruelty with more - I do sincerely hope that you are the best of men.” (guess who gets described as the best of men by the end of the audio?)

- Jamie and the Doctor apparently develop a habit of walking along the river in Paris in silence

- During one such walk, Jamie suggests Celine come with them since she already figured out about the Tardis - and when the Doctor’s worried by this, he says he only allowed Jamie & Celine to grow closer “because of Victoria.” Jamie takes offense at the ‘allowing it’ comment and also refuses to admit he knows what the Doctor means about Victoria, which leads the Doctor to say that he knows how fond Jamie was of her - he was too, of course, but with him, “it was different, wasn’t it?” Jamie only says maybe that’s true and maybe that’s not, but his voice catches until he changes the subject

- Jamie doesn’t see Celine for days both times that she’s recovering from the shock and depression of her work being destroyed. In contrast, when the Doctor’s not well, Jamie’s "afraid” and “guilty” and hardly seems to leave his side at all, if his being there “rushing to embrace him” the second he wakes up - after a period Jamie describes as “at least a week” - is anything to go by, anyway. so either bf writers need to learn how to write a committed straight relationship or admit that’s not what they ever intended in the first place

- Oh yeah, and the Doctor spends that week "asleep” in Jamie’s bedroom - no, there’s no explanation as to if that’s where he was when he first collapsed or if it’s where Jamie decided to take him bc why would they feel the need to explain him being there? why was it even relevant to tell us it was Jamie’s room in the first place?

- The Doctor somehow manages to control the Tardis enough to take Celine on one trip to an alien planet and then return to the correct time & place for her to use the footage she recorded there in her new film - and while the audio doesn’t do very much to explain how that was possible, it does treat this as A Pretty Big Deal, and immediately afterward the Doctor has to spend a week communing with his past self (and/or the Tardis?) debating how likely it is that the Time Lords could use this to trace him. When he decides it’s not worth the risk and they have to stop the film from ever being shown to the public, Jamie asks why he agreed to it in the first place, and all he can say is “Because, Jamie, you asked me to!” earning awkward stares from the crowd.

- Oh, but, lest we forget, that little outburst is also immediately followed by him putting his arm around Jamie’s shoulders, and, shockingly, apparently beginning to actually explain the truth about the danger from the Time Lords - until they’re interrupted, of course idk why exactly but the idea of a 60s dr wanting to come clean with a companion but not being allowed to bc the show demands the war games be something of a reveal hurts me in a very good way

- The mental image of “the Doctor and Jamie, resplendent in borrowed evening wear”

- The audio admitting that Jamie’s not very good at subterfuge, and the Doctor asking if he’s going to be alright with them having to steal the film back from Celine - and Jamie’s little “Aye, Doctor” as he feels a ‘glass arrow piercing his chest’ glad to see bf is reading all my letters about exactly how i feel any time something sad happens to james robert mccrimmon

- The Doctor’s anxious to get out of there for obvious reasons, but he hangs around bc Jamie wants to see Celine again - which doesn’t happen, because of her aforementioned shock & depression, but she does leave Jamie a note that ends “you and that Doctor of yours - look after him Jamie, he loves you dearly, as do I.” yeah, if you didn’t want people to draw a parallel there, you could’ve picked, like, any other wording in the world.

- In case you weren’t fully convinced I’ve been reading too much into this whole audio already, consider this: Celine dies in Long Island in 1968, three days before her birthday - 1968 is when this story would’ve taken place in the show’s history (between Fury & Wheel), and dying three days before/after a birthday in America seems a bit... well I had some deja vu from it, anyway

- Four of all people being the one to bring back the film - I know he does it bc Sarah Jane makes him, but personally, I often feel like despite the length of his run, 4 is the Doctor with which we might’ve gotten the fewest glimpses into his interiority, so the fact that it’s him and not one of the more overtly sentimental Doctors makes it feel like it carries even more weight somehow, to me anyway. I think I wrote a post saying roughly the same thing about 4 & Fate of Krelos/Return to Telos but maybe I only did that inside my own head lol. Still, I’m all for any opportunities for Jamie to be one of the few characters to draw some noticeable emotion out of Four, but in fairness I haven’t touched too much of his EU stuff to really be able to compare the frequency with which this happens with other past companions

- Is Four referring to Two or Jamie when he says he got the film from “an old family friend”? Two did the actual stealing, but he probably means Jamie’s involvement - either way, it’s an interesting way of describing old companions - or selves?

- When Jemima goes to call Jamie a thief, Four is “roused” to defend him: “he really was the very best of men” again, any time four freely shows he cares about someone, im over the moon about it

- Oh ha ha, there’s an audio called “Deleted Scenes” featuring the Doctor who’s most affected by junked episodes. And at the end of it, a character who’s spent her life researching and lecturing about a lost film gets to watch it be ‘rediscovered’ after it’s gone unseen for decades. I feel marginally less stupid for reading into the other details of a story like this when it ends up deciding to be to be clever & slightly meta like that

But yeah

all in all, it’s kind of amazing to me that this genuinely reads like they sat down and said okay boys it’s valentines day, let’s write an audio where jamie kisses a girl, since that hasn’t happened except as a plot device in one story in 1967 - but then when they got down to business they accidentally(?) wrote a story all about how important his bond with the Doctor is and how easily that can be compared to a legitimate love interest (even if the love interest in question is a one off character & the extent of the relationship appears to be like one kiss & then having Jamie spend most of his time around the Doctor instead)

I realize there’s something slightly illogical about writing the words “shipping aside” after a post like this but seriously - no matter how many categories you’re able to see two & jamie’s relationship fitting into, this is 40 minutes of big finish just hitting you over the head with how powerful/special/important that relationship is, and with them being two of my favorite characters, i really haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since

[theolympusfiles]

rereading the PJO and HoO - part one: the lightning thief

before i start, all italicized parts are from the lightning thief by rick riordan. they're not my words and these are not my characters. my thoughts are the only thing that are mine :)

• "mom, you're coming too." her face was pale, her eyes as sad as when she looked at the ocean. "no!" i shouted, you are coming with me. help me carry grover". - the first(ish) appearance of percy's fatal flaw! i love the early establisment, especially because it helps foreshadow to the sea of monsters when fatal flaws are formally introduced.

• "that's -" "pasiphae's son," my mother said. "i wish i'd known how badly they wanted to kill you." - sally is underappreciated. she's smart as hell and clearly took the time to research demigods. yes, she was a little bit selfish with keeping percy out of the loop and not sending him to camp. but can you blame her? she lost all of her family and if she sent percy to CHB at an early age, that most nearly means she won't see him often (he'll attract monsters because he's aware of his status as a demigod and will most likely be at camp full-time). but sally ensured that she knew enough about the demigod world to protect percy because she knew that her selfishness would come with consequences. best mom.

• i was crying, calling for my mother, but i held on to grover - i wasn't going to let him go. - percy's first loss as a demigod and i am broken. honestly, so sad to think of, especially knowing all the losses he'll face in the future books. this line is also his fatal flaw showing once again (refer to first bulletpoint)

• "it (america) is the great power of the west. and so olympus is here. and we are here." - if olympus follows the west, where would the next location be? obviously, america is still a big powerhouse in terms of western civilization but that's not going to last. my bet is south korea but who knows? would love a fanfic on this tbh

• "the truth is, i can't be dead. you see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. i could continue the work i loved. i could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. i gained so much from that wish... and i gave up so much. but i'm still here, so i can only assume i'm still needed." - how will it be decided that he's not needed? honestly, can't imagine CHB without him but chiron also deserves retirement

• i started to understand luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, hermes so okay, maybe gods had important things to do. but couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder or something? - percy has always showed some hesitance when accepting the demigod world, so i wasn't really surprised to see doubts like this pop up, especially with luke's influence. i'd think most demigods feel this way, luke and percy are just the ones who exhibit it the most in the series. i'm really interested in the parallels between the two and i'm looking forward to reading more and examining them

• "during the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, zeus and poseidon had an argument. the usual nonsense: 'mother rhea always liked you best', 'air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters', etc. - despite the fact that the gods are all-powerful beings, i appreciate the petty sibling spats that are mentioned briefly

• "so let me get this straight," i said. "i'm supposed to go to the underworld and confront the world of the dead." "check," chiron said. "find the most powerful weapon in the universe." "check." "and get it back to olympus before the summer solstice in ten days." "that's about right." i looked at grover, who gulped down the ace of heaers. "did i mention that maine is very nice this time of year?" he asked weakly. - this would be perfect for those 30 second trailers

• "gee," i said feigning surprise. "who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a q uest like this?" the air shimmered behind chiron. annabeth became visible, stuffing her yankees cap into her back pocket. - the way he knows her pretty well already, i-

• the truth was, i didn't care about retrieving zeus' lightning bolt, or saving the world, or even helping my father out of trouble. - early on, we see from the get go that percy has a dislike for the gods. it's small mentions like this that really gets me thinking. he never really showed any dislike of the gods when he first arrived at camp (understandable) but he was hopeful for his father. it wasn't until luke planted the seed into his head that these thoughts came to light. i love this little detail, especially as we know that towards the end, luke does seem to think he can turn percy against the gods. his plan backfired a little bit on him in the end but like i said before, the parallels between luke and percy are so glaring. riordan definitely thought it out extensively

• do not be a pawn of the olympians, my dear. you would be better off as a statue - this is said to percy by medusa and again, feeds into his dislike of the gods. i wonder if monsters have some opinion on this. most would probably hate the gods but i wonder what their stance is on demigods. we know that they work with them (see kronos' army). the real enemy for monsters are the gods, the demigods killing them are just pawns to the gods so maybe that's how some monsters see them

• "so, what's your status?" luke asked me. "chiron will be sorry he missed you." i told him pretty much everything, including my dreams. it felt so good to see him, to feel like i was back at camp even for a few minutes, that i didn't even realize how long i had talked to him until the beeper went off on the spray machine. - there's no doubt that percy really considered luke a friend. he wasn't hesitant to tell luke about his dreams, something that he didn't share with annabeth or grover until later on the book. luke was a sort of mentor to percy and it was conveyed pretty well through their interactions, which makes his betrayal even more heartbreaking

• "you think you'll ever try living with your dad again?" she wouldn't meet my eyes. "please. i'm not into self-inflicted pain." - my heart breaks for annabeth and her relationship with her father. i've read most of the riordanverse books and the growth in annabeth's relationship with her family is definitely something i'm looking forward to watch grow as i make my way through the books again

• i looked over at the desk and saw a girl sitting there, also wearing a straitjacket - so i never paid the dreams any mind but now that i think about it, they're really good for analysis. for example, the straitjacket could mean something like the gods are keeping them restrained. maybe i'm overthinking it or have been analyzing text too much in AP english but i think that the dreams are worth some deeper thinking

• i pretended not to see annabeth wipe a tear from her cheek as she listened to the mournful keening of cerberus in the distance, longing for his new friend - i need to see annabeth play with cerberus again D:

• i turned and faced my mother. i desperately wanted to sacrifice myself and the last pearl on her, but i knew what she would say. she would never allow it. i had to get the bolt back to olympus and tell zeus the truth. i had to stop the war. - percy's growth as a character really shines through here. the lightning thief is a pretty short book and the journey they took was less than 2 weeks but despite that percy's grown immensely as a character. his goal was always to save his mother but in the end, he sacrificed her because he knew it was his duty to save olympus and i respect that

• "you have made an enemy, godling," he told me. "you have sealed your fate. every time you raise your blade in battle, everytime you hope for success, you will feel my curse. beware, perseus jackson. beware." - ares cursed percy to be unsuccesful in battle but does his curse ever take effect? i don't recall any mention of this curse later on the series. obviously, percy is the main character and a really good swordfighter but the curse might have affected some battles right? but then again riordan has a lot of plotholes so i wouldn't put too much thought in it

• i knew dionysus must've filled it out, because he stubbornly insisted on getting my name wrong. - i've always accepted the fact that dionysus called the demigods by their wrong name for humor. but what if it's deeper? what if it's a way to put some space between him and the demigods, just as an extra precaution so he won't get attached. or it could be a ploy to showcase that he's more powerful than them and that they are beneath him, which is why he doesn't need to know their name. i like the former headcanon more though :P

• i opened my eyes. i was propped up in bed in the sickroom of the big house, my right hand bandaged like a club. argus stood guard in the corner. annabeth sat next to me, holding my nectar glass and dabbing a washcloth on my forehead. "here we are again," i said. - the parallel

well, that's everything i had notes on. overall, i liked rereading it. i really do miss this series and i'm finding my love for it be rekindled by rereading. i miss the humor of the early books (i could literally make a whole post of underrated lines). the last time i read the series in its whole was when i was 7 and now that i'm 16, i have more thoughts and can analyze the story better. also loved seeing baby percabeth as they're my OTP. i'm excited to continue with the series. to the sea of monsters!

[tricewithaz]

I saw your post about Kaz and Nikolai and I agree. I think they would be amazing friends. Do you have headcannons about that?

thanks pal ive been DYING to ramble about this

When first meeting, Kaz develops some sort of respect for Nikolai cause A_man developed an entire alter ego for literally no reason and B_He was completely honest with him. He also seems to work by his own rules and Kaz relates to that.

Nikolai also respects Kaz, he can see hes a very intelligent young man (i mean he read him like an open book). He was quite impressed cause up till that point no one read thru him like that.

He also has the time of his life seeing all of kaz's plan unfold, he didnt know any of it (though he suspected something wouldnt go as planned). Everything was chaos and all he could do was look in amazement and try to figure out what his thought process was

While going back to ravka he IMPLORES nina to tell him everything about the heist and the auction and hes just amazed at A-the absolute CHAOS, B-the adventure (there where you see him hes quite an adventure and mistery novels fan) and C the fact that he managed to get that damn money.

But hey kaz isnt the only one who can read people, Nikolai can see that theres many gears working within Kaz, and sort of feels sympathy for him, not too sure why not like theyre literal parallel characters or anything but the gloves are a dead giveaway

Nikolai also feels sort lf protective over him for no reason. He feels the same way about Nina.

Listen, Kaz somehow enters in Nikolais bedchambers at the embassy. he has like maximum security. However, he doesnt calculate well enough so while hes still there, Zoya and Nikolai enter (i mean, i dont think theyd have a fixed schedule while in kerch at the time, considering the circumstances). Zoya suggests hes imprisoned and even killed for stealthing into the kings chambers and "possibly attempting regicide" but Nikolai is just impressed he kind of needs to ask him how he managed to enter.

And thats the story of how kaz taught nikolai lantsov king of ravka grand duke of udova how to open any kind of lock.

Kaz finds himself trustung Nikolai. He knows he shouldnt and he knows most of it is Political Charm™ but still

Nikolai reads him like a book and most of it is cause he can see himself in Kaz. Hes not called the King of Scars for nothing ad he can tell Kaz has some too

Oh and he confronts him about it, real big brother shit or whatever

(similarly to how he told alina to stop bitching and either get over mal or do something about him which is still iconic)

weirdly enough kaz listens to him 😶 character desvelopment yall special thanks to inej ghafa and nikolai lantsov king of ravka you know the rest

Kaz asks him about inejs parents pretty much as if asking a favour from a friend, its cute and extrangely vulnerable. Nikolai tells him that "he has a ton of money, he certainly can try"

Kaz is all scary and black clothes and sharp bone structure but to nikolai hes just a boy in need of a good time and hes very fond of him

They totally get drinks in kerch, as payment for teaching nikolai his Thief Secrets™. Its a good time, Nikolai talks a lot and Kaz listens to his stories and plans and opinions. Its good info and quite fun.

THE BANTER, they bounce off each other so well.

Kaz admires Nikolais ability to charm anyone. Not like he cant be charismatic himself, but the kings ways to make himself respected and not necessarily scary seem very useful to him.

Kaz picks up the "improbable" line

they have the same scheming face. I like to think zoya and jesper are quite freaked out about it. So is nina.

When nikolai goes back to ravka, they write to each other. It starts with the whole thing about inej's parents but it quickly becomes routine. Not too often, but at least once every three months.

Nik buys stocks at the Crow Club. When hes in ketterdam he likes to have a couple of drinks there and chat with kaz and some other people.

He like to joke with Kaz about hiring him to make his dads life impossible. and not gonns lie hes this 👌close to actually doing it.

Theres kind of an unspoken rule between them to not ask too much, but kaz is dying to know about the whole sturmhond stuff.

Oh Nikolai has definetely offered kaz a job in os alta but he refused

he also often offers him actual haircuts 😶

they have good laughs, i mean, its what hating the exact same kinds of people does to a relationship

Overall good partners in crime with a strangely fraternal bond

[fandom-sheep]

Fundy 21 APR 21

OSMP Dr*g Lab Part 1/1

The boy is doing disasters!

And now he’s got his new computer! Hooray!

Let’s see if the stream functions. I doubt it but it’ll be funny.

I’m typing this and attempting to fill out digital paper work for my college. Let’s see how this goes.

Hooray cat! We love Boots. Look at that pretty kitty laying on her pillow! I need to do more art for Boots. I’ve done some in the past.

Fundy gets to annoy people with his appearance. Everyone in chat shouting no. I think it’d be funny.

I don’t want to do my work. I just want to watch the chaotic fox boy.

We’ve hit problem two. Woo.

The people demand an Ad.

Oh we get facecam! Oh never mind he’s stuck again.

Ah yes. The temporary facecam.

My stream quality is going to drop just cause it can. I’m calling it.

Poor Fundy wants his mic not to cut out, but its become a thing and we all love it. “Twitch Pr”

He’s trying to break the mic for us. LOL.

Oh things sound Funky.

Echo, echo, echo

Oh no. My poor head.

He’s just laughing at us now.

He’s wondering how he didn’t lose all his viewers, we’re loyal, sadly.

Fox with his lovely base. It always looks so cool.

Ah we’ve been abandoned.

Bless your soulza

Yuck. Normal Minecraft. Yuck Spiders.

Dodge those skeleton shots! Do it!

Enslave Berry Foxes!

He has become a slow airplane.

Posture check. I am laying on my back I have no posture.

The boy eats the valued things.

I almost want to dual wield streams and watch Phil’s reactions to all this, but also not seeing the reactions is funny.

Puns. I love them. RUN FOX RUN!

Fundy Just causing problems on purpose. We love our chaos boy.

Ha ha. Karma.

Fox go YOINK.

Boots? Pet the cat. I wish we could see the cat. Boots is being banished downstairs.

Aww. He’s trying to be helpful. but the zombies just going to burn. Oh he realized before he burned the zombie. Good.

What is crow father doing? Just kelping? Is Phil just ignoring him?

Oh Phil just watching Fundy save the slab.

And giving him a reward. I am seeing parallels between this and what I do with troublesome campers.

I wonder how the crows have been reacting to Fundy being a problem on purpose?

Wealth goes in the mouth.

Sadness. Zombie friend despawned.

I love how Fundy can go from “I am tough” to “I am weak” to “I am tough” its always funny to me.

Something happened with sticky keys but I’m not sure because I was making a hot pocket.

Not crash is typically a goal of driving.

no reusing jokes. Boo someone throw a tomato.

“R” well alright then.

Don’t put wealth in the mouth. Got it.

Chat goes zoom? He’s oh noing.

“I don’t have a phone” as you text on your phone.

Wat. Some donos make negative amounts of sense.

I’d listen to him play that in the background while I work.

Look at the crowfather making his achievements.

Why would a fox have gold nuggets?

Foxes will look at Fundy and go “ah big fox. He is our leader now”

Ooo another video? A game show?

Don’t mind me. Just nearly drowning drinking water because a skeleton dropped on the small fox.

Humans designed bananas. Natural bananas are tiny and seedy. I know, Ive tried one. It was nasty.

Are star fruit rounded?

Foxes are dogs with a cat attitude. Who steal. The thief animals.

Digsirton. Dogson. Dogust. III. What an interesting name.

He was a fox. Because.

Fundy in the ring.

BRB gotta go cover plants so they don’t die during the cold snap.

Plants have been covered.

I know you guys attempted to surf the void and failed and that’s about it.

Now the Fox is chatting with the inchling.

Oops. Didn’t time it right.

He is a spring.

How does everyone have so many diamond things.

Nice. Enderman one shot.

Guilt free trident.

Woosh! With a trident the fox can fly!

And he didn’t thief it. Proud of him.

I love how close everyone stayed near spawn.

Poor lil fox.

Someone get the fox a trident!

Oh Phil’s view was probably great.

We’re looking scuffed again.

Phil witnessing the murder of 1 (one) fox.

Sneeg is a bullet.

Poor Fundy wants to become stacked, but he doesn’t hunt for anything.

Ah the bee. And there he goes.

Secret chest. Lovely.

Storage Unit Fox. Infinite mouth.

Sizzle Fox

Sneeg and Fundy work well together.

I’m betting on “no” for his next death being burning. Someone’s going to stab em or something.

Rats. Oh well. It was just 10 points

Quality entertainment.

Up he goes. He made it! Mitsakes are made (error intended)

Fundy one shotting everything is so great.

Aren’t ghast sounds cat sounds made weird? Or is that just something I heard once?

I’m voting no again. I’ll probably be wrong but again it’s 10 channel points.

No sizzle fox please. He will, but I’m saying no.

He one shot the ghast, but he did sizzle.

All this fox knows is sizzle. Ooo that give me an art idea.

Oh no he’s going to feel bad about the people who donated multiple times when it was paused.

Hi 5up.

Wow calling his “lover” short. How rude. Lol.

Du du du du

The tortles were released. Poor Niki.

I hate the mouth sound effect so much.

Training Arc with the pounce.

I hoard channel points like some people hoard money.

Oopsy.

Because he coldn’t help it? Poor boy.

I’m not involved in the prediction but these people have no hope in our boy.

Bee boy!

Oopsy. He is dead. The predictors were correct.

Bye bee boy.

Bee boy is back!

Ender boy is here! It’s a party now!

Fox just wants a skull.

Also yeah chat no spamming VC. Have good etiquette. We don’t do that’s here.

Prediction once again was right to not believe in the fox.

Drug corner looking nice. We can officially drugs now!

Oh no. He said chat. He does that when he’s ending.

Ah we are ending. That was productive.

Shaders! Gorgeous!

Oh it’s night. I never know if it’s night or not with the fox.

A pretty fox hole.

Phil over there Fox proofing his house.

Ah were attacking Phil. Nice.

The Fundy raid is here!

Tubbo! Really? Oh well. At least there is the mouth.

Anyway. I’m off. Good luck out there everyone!

I’m back to say that Fundy attempting to jump and get Tubbo was great.

Come on Fundy! Get him!

Ah. There goes the low heart boy.

Ah and the bullet appears.

I’m going to chill until Fundy gets Tubbo.

“C’mere” -Fundy

We’re used to watching our streamer get murdered Phil. This happens a lot.

Oooooooooo

He did it!

Go Fundy! Put the Wealth in the Mouth!

Oh no. Tubbo hired the bullet.

The bullet strikes again.

Oh he mouthed the zombie head.

Proud of our streamer.

No Fundy. Quit making problems.

Bees and foxes. Natural enemies.

Oh others can always hear the fox.

Anyway. That settles that. I’m heading off for real.

[twilightknight17]

We’re at the end of the road, folks.

And god damn, I feel so validated by my Sojiro characterization. Wow. Thanks for basically making me canon for ten more seconds, Atlus. XDDD

So when last we left our intrepid heroes, they were laying at the bottom of the Jail of the Abyss, because Ichinose is an asshole. So we had to fight our way back up, carrying Sophia’s unconscious body. Which wasn’t that bad; the Jail isn’t very big. We left Sophia at the door to keep her safe, and then charged back into the hall of the Ark to hack Ichinose’s exploding crystal box thing.

Ichinose doesn’t understand why we came back.

So, yeah. I guess like... bizarro-world Maruki? Maruki wanted to alleviate suffering by granting everyone’s wishes. EMMA’s going to make it so that people can’t wish for anything.

After a kick-ass hacking battle set to the new version of Rivers in the Desert, Ichinose yells at us about our right to judge. Why should humanity keep this painful world, just because WE’RE strong? Just because we’ve never screwed up or suffered?

Which, clearly she has no idea who the fuck she’s talking to.

We’ve worked too hard to listen to that kind of bullshit.

Ichinose proclaims that “humans don’t need hearts” and charges up the laser crystal to blast us again, and Sophia steps in to block the attack. She’s still fighting Ichinose’s control even though Ichinose insists that she’s just a faulty prototype.

Apparently Ichinose created Sophia in the first place because she spent a lifetime being called a heartless doll, so she made an AI to help her learn about the heart.

I think you’re the problem, but not for the reasons everyone else is saying.

But she got angry when Sophia started asking questions of her own and basically tossed her aside, until EMMA found her and dropped her into the Shibuya Jail.

And Sophia, unlike her creator, has learned and grown, and is tired of being given orders. She’s ready to make her own choices.

That is certainly a persona.

I gotta admit, they got me. I was wondering why Sophia didn’t have her arcana yet, but for some reason, I also wasn’t expecting her to get a proper persona. I’m now wondering about the implications of someone being able to code an AI capable of developing a soul that can summon a persona. There’s a zero percent chance that Ichinose had any access to plumes of dusk, which are the reason that Aigis and Labrys gained enough consciousness to have personas. So Sophia is legitimately a miracle piece of technology.

Pandora is an interesting choice, but I dunno if I can articulate that beyond a surface-level, “Oh, because she’s Hope, and Hope was still in the box.”

I swear to god, every major villain in this game is trying to be Goro Akechi. For the last goddamn time, we don’t kill people. Get up, Ichinose. We’re leaving.

Ryuji literally grabs her by the arm and drags her out, because she’s trying to stay behind. Which just confirms for me that if Goro hadn’t put up that bulkhead door, we’d have dragged his stupid ass out of the Ship, too. XD

Back to the real world, and Tokyo is blacking out, and the Tower is losing its shit.

The metaverse is fusing with reality, the Tower is becoming the Tree of Knowledge, and hell yes we are climbing this tower after all!

Morgana points out that this is the same thing that happened last year, and Zenkichi freaks out a little bit.

You’re lucky you moved to Kyoto, sir. You missed quite a bit.

I love these kids, though. They’ve got so much black humor about this whole god thing.

The metaverse encroaching on reality means that everyone has to cram into the bus in their thief gear. Zenkichi, please. Your hat. Sir.

I love climbing this tower. I’ve been here, too! Also they have butter. XD

I was expecting the Mementos version of the lower observation deck, and instead I got some weird amalgam between Mementos and Azathoth’s boss chamber.

We had to fight Metatron as the guardian of the last elevator, which is another parallel to Yaldabaoth’s archangels. And then it’s up to what I guess used to be the high observation deck to fight the big box.

EMMA insists that all humanity wants is to let it give them all the answers, and it throws them into some sort of alternate fog world full of the voices of the public.

The Thieves are all separated, trapped in the fog. Each of them has to find their way out, and they realize that the fog of the Desires is protecting EMMA. EMMA knows exactly how calling cards work, so they won’t work on her. Instead, the Thieves decide that they need to send the calling card to the public, so that they’ll become aware of their desires again and the desires will crystalize.

...oh come on, Atlus. We’re right in the endgame.

One last hacker battle to break into EMMA’s server room in the tower, and Futaba and Ichinose manage to hack EMMA itself to deliver a calling card to everyone at once.

Love you, Zenkichi. We’ve taken out two gods already. We’re good.

Confronting the Ark again reveals a bunch of freaky tentacle arms grabbing the desires, and then the box turns into some sort of massive figure that looks sort of like Yaldabaoth, except less robot and more seraphim. It literally names itself the Demiurge, so I feel like EMMA may be drawing something from the lingering dregs of Yald’s influence? It’s cool.

Clearly no one told you what happened to the last false god that thought it knew what was best for humanity. ;) “Hope binds humanity to misery” is bullshit.

After a... not very difficult first phase, the Demiurge reveals its true form, and we split into three teams to take out its support orbs (modeled after the sephirot) and the main body.

I really liked the setup for the last boss. The teams were the first instance where it was really apparent that the whole team was fighting together. Each of the three battles was happening concurrently, and destroying the orbs has a concrete effect on the main fight. I wish we’d gotten to do things like this more often, especially during the Shadow Thieves fight.

That said, the main body was actually the easiest part of the fight? All the attacks were really telegraphed, and not particularly hard to avoid. Except for the spear jab.

But it finished off with a full-team all-out attack, and that was awesome.

The desires began to return to their owners, and we get to bask in a job well done once again.

Upon returning to the real world, it’s the next morning. Sophia’s happy that she got to be a hero, Zenkichi’s heading off to properly arrest Owada, and the rest of us need to head home, because we were supposed to be home last night. Zenkichi can’t figure out why we consider him a phantom thief, since he “only joined [us] to use [us]”. Which is silly. The Phantom Thieves are built on the bonds of friendship and stalking! It’s too late, Zenkichi. You and Akane have been adopted.

I’m a little disappointed we didn’t get to tell Akane the truth. That would have been great.

Atlus personally reaches out and pats me on the head, because Sojiro has the absolute perfect reaction to his kids coming home after a nationwide manhunt for them.

I feel so valid making him serve Lavenza coffee and be completely nonplussed about a guy marrying Death. I love him. We’re so lucky to have Sojiro. XDDDD

The next day, the kids have a celebration party for their victory, and learn that Akira is going home the next day. This kid needs to catch a break. He can’t even have a few days to relax with his friends. X’‘‘D

Everyone goes to see off Akira, though we detour to Shibuya to meet Ichinose. A news report shows that Owada was successfully arrested, and apparently Ichinose tried to turn herself in to the police, and they didn’t believe a word of it.

This is just highlighting my issues with Maruki. Even if he doesn’t think he did anything wrong to society as a whole, he never apologizes to them for what he put them through. Especially Akira. Ichinose turns around and helps them stop the final boss, and her last scene is her apologizing to the Thieves and trying to make amends for her actions. Maruki’s last scene is... “If things get bad, you can start over like me! Now we’re even!” We are not.

Sophia leaves to help Ichinose learn about the heart, Akira promises to come back for winter break, the Phantom Thieves go their separate ways once again, and the credits roll.

I’m gonna leave my final impressions in a different post, because this one is long enough already. So... look forward to that?

[autumnblogs]

Day 71: Strategy Session

https://homestuck.com/story/7521

It really entertains me that Vriska seems determined to pick extremely boring nicknames for these characters - and especially that she doesn’t use the nicknames that the characters already have.

I feel like there’s an element of pride in it, Vriska being the Thief of Light that she is - she wouldn’t want somebody else to be able to take credit for naming the enemies. Bec Noir and Jack English were the most popular nicknames for those two characters if memory serves, leading up to the publication of this part of Homestuck, and Spades Slick of course already has a name.

More after the br8k.

https://homestuck.com/story/7522

I feel like it should be clear from Vriska’s self-aggrandizing ways and generally discouraging barbs, that in terms of her net emotional effect on the crew, she’s basically a wash; but her presence is necessary - for want of a nail, I suppose.

https://homestuck.com/story/7532

Lalondes versus Condesce.

I’ve already laid out the number of parallels between Roxy and Rose and Her Imperious Condescension; and while I by no means think that Her Imperious Condescension is deserving of sympathy, it’s still sad that people like her exist in the Homestuck universe. Rose could have easily been a Handmaid in another life. In her own way, Roxy was.

There’s a kind of sisterhood in that shared victimhood at the hands of English’s cruelty, and the specific way he twists women into weapons - I think I’m reminded of the Children of Thanos, and Gamorrah and Nebula in particular. What a waste of a life the Condesce has lead.

https://homestuck.com/story/7536

Vriska is effectively blind to Karkat’s usefulness, because of the fact that she views utility through the lens of capacity for violence; Echidna knows what Karkat’s good for though.

https://homestuck.com/story/7542

Without the same experiences (Vriska) enjoyed/suffered, Vriska is basically the same troll she was before her big self-critical realization, so it should be no surprise that she’s up to the same old tricks.

https://homestuck.com/story/7584

Parallels between Jane and Vriska at long last to further establish Jane’s similarity with the other two troublemakers - visually similar to when John punched out Vriska’s lights, and the language of extravagant bitch as well.

https://homestuck.com/story/7587

Jane’s relief is palpable - her experience seems to have had a deeply humbling experience on her; Jane spends a lot of time talking, and she has quite a flourish for the dramatic, but here, she just does a lot of listening. I’d like to believe that her experience as a Crockertier has helped her to reassess her priorities.

https://homestuck.com/story/7614

For the Dead Cherub, as with all people in Homestuck, Violence and Community are, I think, ultimately incompatible. It’s why Vriska and Meenah ultimately must go off together to fight Lord English  - and why only the Mayor, gentle, and uncomfortable with bloodshed, can lead the new earth - and also why Echidna singles out Karkat to lead Trollkind in the new world in a few pages.

Violence, and Heroism - the lifestyle of violence - creates loners. Every act of bloodshed estranges the one who does it from the rest of the community of the living, perhaps in ways which are irreparable - it certainly seems that way for Vriska, who only in another life, rendered irrelevant completely, is able to find love again at the end of all things.

And if we are to believe the Dead Cherub, it seems that estrangement is a necessary ingredient to transform one’self into a weapon capable of committing the acts of violence one deems necessary to secure the good of all existence.

I’m not sure if I believe it. I am perhaps a bit too much of a chump with my tendency toward compassion. I would like to believe there is hope even for people like Vriska to have their life change, and to be able to turn their back on the vanity of hurting and killing others to have one’s way.

I may be misreading Homestuck’s conclusion concerning it, but if I am right, it is a troubling one.

https://homestuck.com/story/7620

Choosing the path of community and non-violence is equated with choosing to live here very clearly.

https://homestuck.com/story/7634

We’ll pick up with Karkat and Kanaya tomorrow. We’re in the endgame now - only a handful of days to go in this whole thing.

I’ll save my farewells for then, but I can feel the relief of being near the end. Homestuck is enjoyable, but I think this’ll probably be the last time I read it through, for a number of reasons, which I won’t lay out here.

For now, Cam signing off, alive and not alone.

[youngdreamer3214]

Too Late

Disclaimer- I don't own anything.

Jason is former thief, Red X (because I like the thought of Jason being the anti-hero).

The story is set in the future.

It was drizzling ever so lightly, raindrops rested like dew on blades of grass and new washed leaves. Light winds were blowing and the day gave a comforting vibe. The huge glass dome built by Cyborg kept the rain out but gave the view of the beautiful scenery around them.

A hero formerly known as Robin, now Nightwing was adjusting his bow tie and fidgeting in his seat. "Dude, stop fidgeting, it is becoming annoying." Beastboy groaned from sitting right next to him. Nightwing sighed and stilled.

His unmasked eyes held sadness; he looked ahead and saw a handsome man, with broad shoulders and lean body standing in a black tuxedo and an amethyst bow tie and a white boutonniere. His sea green eyes complemented his tanned features. His jet black hair with a lock of white was combed back and the white of his hair made him look a little dangerous, he was Nightwing's adoptive brother, Jason.

A former thief and newly minted hero or for a better term- an ally of the heroes, all thanks to the bride.

Jason looked happy, a smile never leaving his face but his eyes also held a little bit of nervousness. Nightwing looked around and saw his mentor, but right now their father, Bruce Wayne also sitting in the front row with a content smile on his face, clearly happy for his son.

A few other members of the Justice league were also in attendance with all the Titan community present. Beastboy noticed his sad gaze and sighed "I know how you feel…but you know what happened…"

Nightwing sighed and nodded. After a couple of minutes the wedding band started to play and the bridesmaids walked with their respective escorts. Jinx and Bee were the bridesmaids sporting a mid thigh violet dress and a beautiful flower piece in their hair.

Soon after the maid of honor, Starfire walked in wearing the same dress but with different colored flowers in her hair, she was beaming, clearly happy for her best friend. They all took their respective positions near the end of the alter.

Jason and Nightwing's eyes were glued to the entrance; Jason looked happy and ecstatic with a tinge on nervousness in his eyes while Nightwing's eyes held regret. After a couple of moments the bride entered and everyone got up.

Raven looked absolutely stunning; she was wearing a beautiful white mermaid gown, which trailed after her as she walked, the dress was sleeveless and was covering her neck. Above her chest and till the beginning of her neck there was white lace. There was an intricate design decorating the gown. She was wearing emerald ear rings and her hair was curled and pulled up in a voluminous bun. A lock of hair was stylishly pulled out, which was framing her fore head. And a veil was drawn over her mid night blue hair. Lastly her face had a light blush on her cheeks and some make up to enhance her beautiful amethyst eyes. She was smiling brightly and that just made her look more beautiful.

Everything about her anatomy was breath taking; she was holding a blue and green bouquet of flowers while her big brother, Cyborg escorted her down the aisle.

Nightwing saw her wide smile and remembered the time when that smile was directed towards him and him only. And now it was for another man and the worst part was that, that man was his brother.

He saw her giving Cyborg a kiss on his cheek and then accepting Jason's out stretched hand and stood parallel to him, in front of the priest.

Nightwing zoned out and remembered his times with the empath. Them forming the team together in Jump City, him becoming her best friend, watching the sunrise together before everyone else woke up, sharing their fears with each other, their bond, saving her from Slade, learning the truth about her past, giving her hope, working with his nemesis at the end of the world, braving hell to find her and her hugging him in happiness.

And over the years they had only grown closer and had shared many moments together. When one day-

Robin had woken up early as usual and had headed to the roof. Every day without fail he and Raven had spent time together on the roof, talking about themselves or something that was disturbing them or sometimes they sat in comfortable silence just relishing each other's comforting presence.

Today as he opened the door, he was met with absence of the empath. This was weird; she always was the first one up and on the roof. He waited for a while but she didn't turn up, he panicked and headed towards her room, he knocked but was met with silence, and no other sound could be heard from the room.

His worry was increasing by the second, everyone else was still asleep. He tracked her communicator and found her on the edge of the Titan Island, sitting on a rock. He walked towards her and said calmly "Morning Rae."

Without turning around she said in her old monotone "Morning." He sat on a boulder near her and asked with concern "What's wrong Rae?"

She sighed sadly and said "What am I to you Richard?" this question caught him off guard and he looked at her with confusion and asked her "What does that mean? You are my best friend Raven."

She finally turned to look at him and said "Is that all I am to you after all this time and after all we have been through."

"What are you saying?" Raven took a deep breath and said "I like you Richard…a lot and more than a friend."

They were silent for a while, her confession hanging in the air between them. He looked at her and said "I can't believe it…and no matter what we cannot be in a relationship. It won't work out…this thing which we have between us is the only good thing in my life right now and I couldn't bear to lose this."

"You know what the sad part is." She said after a long pause, "That you won't even give it a chance."

He snapped out of his thoughts when the priest turned to Jason and said "Your vows."

Jason took Raven's hands in his and said with love radiating his entire being "Raven, I look at you and think that how can someone as beautiful, smart and compassionate as you could ever love me. You make me want to be a better person. I lived my life thinking that nobody wanted me…and then a few years ago I met you, you found my heart and I let you in…and that's where you'll stay. I vow to honor and defend you and yours above all others. I promise to love you faithfully, forsaking all others, through the good times and the bad, regardless of where life takes us. I will share in your joys and sorrows and comfort you in times of need. All that I have is yours and from this moment on I give you my heart, my love as I give you myself for as long as we both shall live."

A tear fell down from her eyes, and her smile just grew wider. Nightwing grimaced and prepared himself to listen to the girl of his dreams vow to love his brother forever.

The priest turned towards the empath and said "Raven, your vows."

Raven smiled warmly at the man in front of her and said "Jason, you make me feel loved and wanted. You are the most amazing person I have ever met. Every day with you is an adventure and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you…I pledge to bring you solace in time of need, to be your comfort, your sanctuary and to be your family. I promise to cherish you and uphold your hopes and dreams, to honor and respect you, to laugh and cry with you. I vow to love you, unconditionally. I give you my heart, my love as I give you myself for as long as we both shall live."

Her vows brought a tear of happiness in Jason's eyes and sadness in Nightwing's.

The priest said to Jason "Do you Jason Todd take this woman, Raven Roth to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health till death do you apart?"

Jason smiled widely and said without hesitation "I do,"

The priest then turned to the empath and said "Do you Raven Roth take this man, Jason Todd to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health till death do you apart?"

This was it, the moment where Raven would be taken away from his forever. In a couple of second Nightwing flashbacked again, he thought back to the time after Raven's confession.

Robin had started to date random fan girls and had changed his alias to Nightwing, to erase the thought of Raven from his mind. Not knowing the pain that he was causing her, he did everything he could to get his mind off the empath.

After a half a year Raven brought Jason with her to the tower, so that the team could meet him. They had been dating for three months then and she looked happy and really in love.

The team except their fearless leader really liked him and he genuinely seemed in love with the dark beauty, Nightwing confronted Raven about it. She just shrugged and said simply "I moved on Richard…and maybe you were right we wouldn't have worked out anyway."

In that moment he realized what he had lost and said to her "I am sorry Rae, please give me a chance. We-"

Raven interrupted him and said "I tried to give it a chance, but you were too stubborn…and do you know how much you hurt me in these past few months when you started dating other girls…we are perhaps best at just remaining friends."

As he saw her walking away, he realized that in these past few months the time he spent getting her out of his mind; she had been doing the same. The only difference was that she had succeeded even with the pain he had caused her.

But he was now haunted by her confession and his feelings for her. In these past few months she had drawn away from him and towards another man.

"I do" Raven said lovingly and that snapped Nightwing out of his thoughts. Jason beamed at her. The priest smiled and said "Then by the power vested in me…I now pronounce you man and wife *he looked at Jason* you may kiss the bride."

Jason lifted her veil, showing her beautiful smiling face. He caressed her face lightly before giving her a loving kiss. Every one cheered and clapped, a few wiped the wedding tears away and hooted for the newlywed couple.

A tiny voice inside Nightwing's head said as he watched the couple embrace "Too late."

They pulled away with huge smiles on their faces and walked out of the hall hand in hand towards their reception party.

At the party, Raven was having her first dance with her new husband. They both were glowing and there was closeness about them, which wasn't there even when they were dating.

They stole kisses from each other in between, after their first dance. Raven was approached by her new father-in-law to dance with her while Jason danced with Selina, Bruce Wayne's long time partner.

Nightwing couldn't take this anymore, he chugged down the drink in his hand and went to the balcony silently, hoping to get some time away from the party.

He leaned by the railing, thinking that if he maybe would have realized his feelings sooner then he would have been the one getting married to her today. This would have been their party then and she would be his.

After a while the balcony doors opened, Richard's highly alert senses caught this and he turned around, hoping that it would be the dark beauty who sought him out.

He turned and saw the stoic expression of his adoptive father, Bruce. Richard sighed and turned around, looking at the city again. Bruce stepped beside him and said to the young hero "You made your choice Richard; you have to let her go."

Of course he would know about his feelings for the dark beauty, he was not called the world's greatest detective for nothing, realizing that there was no point in hiding he said "I can't help but think that if I had realized my feelings sooner then maybe-"

Bruce interrupted him and said "Don't plague your mind with ifs, what is done is done…you cannot change it. So be happy for the couple."

Nightwing turned around and looked at the party through the glass doors, Raven had just giggled over something Jason had said to her in her ear. She turned to look at her husband and gave him a kiss.

He surprised his mentor when she said "She is good for him…after everything that happened to him, he deserves someone as amazing as Raven." Bruce followed his gaze and smiled softly at the couple and said nodding "Yeah, she is. And she gets along with the family also. She did make him a better man."

With that they made their way back to the party, the couple was just about to cut their extravagant wedding cake. The cut the cake and fed each other a piece happily, later they all were seated for dinner.

Nightwing knew that he had to talk to Raven once at least in private. He found her near the bar talking happily to Jinx while Jason was talking to the boys. After a couple of minutes Jinx left and Nightwing took this chance to speak to the empath.

Raven looked at him and smiled politely, she offered him a glass of strawberry champagne and said "Hey Richard."

He took the glass from her and said "Rae, I need to ask you something."

Raven nodded and urged him to continue, he took a deep breath and said "Are you happy with him?" Raven was taken aback with this question; her empathetic abilities sensed his feelings. She sighed and said "I thought we were over this, it's been two years."

"Just answer it one last time." He pleaded.

"…I love him more than anything, he makes me happy. The happiest I have ever been." Richard tried to smile and said "Then that's all I want, you to be happy…even if it's not with me."

At that moment Jason came up to them and kissed Raven on the cheek lovingly, he slid his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him. Richard was filled with sadness but he masked it well and smiled at the couple.

"Mon amour, it's time for us to leave." Jason said with a warm smile to Raven. She returned his smile and nodded.

Jason then noticed his adoptive brother standing in front him and said "Hey Grayson, having fun?"

Nightwing just forced a smile at his brother. Raven excused herself and went away, the two brothers watched her leave, both filled with love for the young lady. The difference being that one was happy while the other was regretful.

"She is an amazing lady Jason…keep her happy." Nightwing said seriously to the man in front of him.

Jason looked at Nightwing and studied him carefully; he knew everything that happened between him and Raven. He turned to the hero and said seriously "I promise that I will keep her happy."

Nightwing nodded, after a few more minutes Raven emerged she was wearing a white cocktail dress. Jason smiled and walked up to her, he kissed her temple and whispered to his wife "Let's get out of here…I am sick of sharing you with others." And he kissed her temple.

With that the couple headed outside, towards their black limousine. Raven's arm was interlaced with Jason's as they walked, his eyes watching her with love and happiness. Jason opened the car door for her, before getting in Raven tossed her bouquet backwards.

Much to everyone's amusement Wally caught the bouquet, he looked nervous while his girlfriend, Jinx looked happy. They all laughed a little, Raven just waved at her friends and got in the car with her husband.

They all cheered and wished them.

"Have the nice moon of the honey friends." Starfire shouted. "Safe travels." Bruce waved. "Have fun." Cyborg and Beastboy cheered.

Only Nightwing was silent, his mind chanting only one thing as he watched the girl of his dreams drive off with another man, the man she loves towards their future. You are too late.

[thecrenellations]

Return of the Thief Notes, Part Two: The Book of Pheris, Volume 2, Chapters 1-5

Notes from my first read, October 2020. (Part One | Part Three | TaT)

Contents: Me losing my mind in multiple ways each chapter, helpful links, nighttime garden cousins, an Irene pun, notes from my second read, “mwt is just like going for it,” and “this is so fucked up and heartwarming.”

Format: Page number. My thoughts (Context?)

Volume 2

Illustration

Book 2 bro

Now we’re caught up and changed forever by lots of things

What printer’s apprentice made this?

Elephants!

Chapter 1

175. me too, Costis, me too. I am so tired. (it’s hard to sleep when your brain and heart and everything are fizzing because you’re reading Return of the Thief for the first time and a new Queen’s Thief book for the last time) 

176. Klimun + Gerosthenes vibes [moon doodle]

Holes in documents. That’s cute

Gen!!! <3

Wtf Ansel was hoodwinked!

177. The Queen waited

They’re ridiculous

Hi Pheris

Wtf he stole her earrings for Melheret?!?

178. Excuse me??? What is this book (sleeveless leather tunic)

He still roams!!!

Tattoos!

179. a sentence I never fucking expected to read ever “The absence of tattoos…”

180. that’s interesting

Stacked like kindling wow oh dear

181. She wants him to move in lol

Lol sorry Ion

Did she just want them to leave the room?

182. I can’t with this… I can’t. Why is sex symbol Relius canon. (the play that featured him! It’s great, it’s great, it was just a lot to take in!)

Silver crown?

183. Cleon! Rude!

Did they call Costis to deck him?

Queen scene!! <3

184. This is an epic. Abt Costis. Dirty stranger

185. he’s “the high king”

Lol

187. prophet (Pheris sure makes Costis sound like one)

Shut up Piloxides

188. resources for war! (book launch foreshadowing part two! She talked a lot about this kind of thing as well, and recommended the book Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army)

189. “we”

What were you gonna say (Gen almost says something to Costis part one)

193. RIP The Magus Archives … it was not to be. Yet.

194. Melenze’s doorstep. Why? Bc Melenze is Ferria’s dog. (idk dude that line from ACoK has just never left me)

195. This is … a big war

196. Oh gen

Nighttime garden cousins.

Chapter 2

197. wtf did Relius think of that play

Also … not a peep from the sacred mountain huh

198. wtf will happen with Cleon

with Erondites

with THE MOUNTAIN

a lot going on

everyone was in that room but Kamet! So close!

199. Cute Fordad + Gen friendship (I never said these notes would make me look smart)

Same 2 T + R! :) It’s not them is it? (I NEVER SAID THESE NOTES WOULD MAKE ME LOOK SMART)

Poor Teleus

200. gdi Gen

Excuse me? Is he worried for Pheris??? (taking his tablet)

They trust each other! C’mon!

Sure he has reasons

202. oh dear. :( that’s … the worst cover story

Also falling

203. wow almost like a story huh

Ula’s altar :(

Why haven’t we had a Gen and Costis scene IN THREE BOOKS

205. I just … I don’t know if he’s just miserable or if it’s all a plan. I feel like I should know it’s all a plan. But he really feels like he has far to go. He’s just a mess and the same and so different. (having a small Gen meltdown)

205. he did give him the gun

Odd that he missed Quedue

206. he’s gonna bite them (buckle up! it’s abdication time!)

207. Power. Power. Power. Power.

Thx 4 the editorializing Pheris

208. Gen is making choices. That’s a choice.

209. There’s KoA down the drain

Aaaand he’s Eugenides

“Eugenides stared into the future”

The page of like 3 different tumblr posts: Trophy husband, Library, No! yes!

210. make sure he doesn’t leave lol

211. Pheris :(

Also fucked up timing for Irene

I love them

212. again with the birthday book

He’s still the king in the narration

Go on the roof! So close!

213. EUGENIDES IS ALWAYS APPROPRIATE my motto

Viper! Bastard!

Oh shit. I love them.

214. “our treaty” “our queen”

AAAH! Wedding night!

Asked her to leave!

Smash Erondites and peace out, literally

215. a frank talk

HE SAID IT.

216. The Bructs?

Wait is this his grandfather (taking a moment to remember all about Susa)

Also that’s Costis territory

217. who is this lion

218. #3 to Gen.

219. hmmm ring

There’s been a lot to unpack wow.

Did this happen, Pheris? Pheris?! 

220. Atté atté!

(Dear reader: for some strange reason, I completely forgot about taking notes on the final pages of this chapter. These notes are from when I reread those pages a few minutes later.)

Erondites full cup to brimming

The Pherises…

We must think of others before ourselves … occasionally

I do not like Orutus

Don’t fence Costis in! Does this count as prison? No (I had a square on my bingo board for “someone ends up in prison” ... but it turned out to be for someone else)

221. damn Costis

Aaah

Costis …

Irene… your jokes (I mean, it’s a joke, but also it is very real for her.)

SHE SAID IT!

My heart

222. where is Relius going?

SPYING

What you see and what you think it means (I love these instructions/this quote so much)

So are Susa + Erondites 2gether or what (listen ... proximity generates meaning in these books)

Also, like

What can

I say

WHAT CAN I SAY (Hell yeah! Never more glad to be wrong about the magus)

[page long list of doubles and parallels - from Cleons and Pherises and Ions to god-character and character-character connections]

Also the fact that in KoA and TaT Relius was like … oh … no … I just live a gentle life being friends with my king and queen and being scholarly. But no. He’s SPYING and TRAVELING MYSTERIOUSLY and has MANY LOVERS and also has been WITH TELEUS ALL ALONG and there is a PLAY written about him and he has a ~messenger~ network and PLAYS THE FLUTE and DOESN’T MAKE HIS BED and DISLIKES MATH and oh and he’s VERY HANDSOME! (Yes I was losing it, I hope my note from after the poem helps show some of the feelings behind this rant.)

Fucking … Wine shop. Should have known.

Chapter 3

224. ominous

Hello magus!

Sophos … babe (his impatience!)

225. Magus … cool your socks that’s your bff (he’s just describing Helen’s dead body! Fun!!!!)

In the van

That was good I love them

Why is it Couples Hour?

226. finally we’re out of the capital of Attolia

Ok they’re so cute

She was NEVER Helen in ACoK narration! 

Also – Pheris. This is all Pheris. (Pheris plus information others told him!)

227. Bringing each other up to date – that’s their thing. Talking forever

All this talk of shooting Therespides

228. EX FUCKING SCUSE ME (time to learn a lot about the country of Eddis)

He was 15! (or almost 15)

He didn’t know! Or did he!

The MoW!

All thru Pheris

Fuck you magus

When did he know

229. EXCUSE ME

The emeralds?

Assumed the worst?

That classic quote about little to do with winter but with “seducing other people’s lovers”

230. yeah Sophos that’s a lost cause (“spare me my blushes”)

Also she didn’t answer you

What are they laughing about (the generally nameless men we’re learning many things about this chapter)

233. Gen I think it’s fair to say that was a mistake

234. wtf Gen

GEN! he just. Had those. (the jewels!)

Her crown

I cannot

235. Gen!

237. Crash

Her CHANGES

238. THESE TWO

239. called annux

Yeah it’s like … a family meeting (the war council)

Bring your father to work day

241. Oh no.

Stenides! Boagus!!!!!!!

EDDIS!

Wolves! Lol

mwt is just like going for it

243. aww

Eddis > Boagus > Gen

244. Yeah I’m with her on this. (“if that doesn’t frighten you, it should”)

Chapter 4

245. Gen and Magus scene yes!

Two people affected by his long hair (Gen and the magus? I think?)

Pheris are you there?

Gen … you used to wish yourself out of existence

Wow

Hair vanity

Yeah also battlefield

Ion is a darling tbh

248. Is he. Is he going to fight all of them

Also they are all his cousins huh

AULUS! I liked you!

Same, Hilarion

Taking a page out of Costis’s book?

You have definitely seen it before. (I mistook his lie for truth!)

Will Costis hear about this? (please)

249. #4 to Gen!

Pheris where are you

Why doesn’t the Continent want to conquer them (do I get partial credit for this)

A tattoo!

250. “Do not offend the gods”

Honestly … too bad Helen DIDN’T do this

251. he said he’d give all he had

I’m sure there are rules

253. Just men? :( (let everybody fight him!)

Ornon is back! I mean, of course he is

Also yea they practice

HELLO ORNON

A house being built … or one knocked down. Nice

Is Teleus in on this?

254. Pheris called him my king!

255. I wanna know which guards though

:( he’d been faking

Kicked him in the head (ouch)

256. “when he fell”

I … don’t like this

He never gives up. The thieves don’t have limits. They have flash points.

Stepped on his hand

“Enough Gen” – what Irene said?

257. :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

The magus. I forgot he was there.

The magus said … nevermind …

The magus is probs very into this as a cultural thing. Also he was talking to the MoW

Pigeon. The sky. :( Like in TT (OH BOY, THE SKYYYY)

If there was a god, Pheris would see…

258. They’ve, they’ve been through a lot.

Oh god what’s next

259. I … no. not in his arms to the palace.

The palace where….

The stairs…

They are all 3 lookers. Basilisks and brass and lead

I hate this. But I love this.

I will someday see this differently.

Ah yes… the grunt. Approval.

260. Honestly, this is so fucked up and heartwarming. These books.

Lol don’t defend Hilarion, we know him

Eddis visits him.

Attolia watches him.

261.WTF Gen. I knew it. Why.

Crying or laughing? Crying? :(

How does this not undermine her now that he is her king?

But … what he wouldn’t do for her.

262. “he did fine”

This book is like… Reasons Gen Says Sorry

So, so… - Helen

GEN!

263. I am right. I am always right. It’s a curse.

Helen :( :( :(

The amount of times these people have seen him beaten.

He’s like … self destructive, but in a way that gives himself more power. Which he hates.

Gen, let them in. Let them in.

Chapter 5

264. honeycomb

OH NO. is it happening?

266. I’m just supposed to accept this?!! What does it mean?!

267. … a my king moment … important

But like … now can he fight?

Caryatid? [doodle after I looked it up]

268. Teleus!

C’mon Teleus. Everyone you love or respect loves him!

Honestly Pheris and Teleus … not a duo I expected

THESE TWO ARE SO DEDICATED TO TELLING HIM THAT! Ok I should chill. At least he said “may.” These are like … Pheris’s life lessons.

Honestly… I love that Teleus likes poetry, or at least likes it for Relius.

269. Lol Legarus. It’s been years! I mean, I guess that was a big deal for him… (almost being executed is a big deal for most people.)

Does he not love Gen because of Relius? Because Gen manipulated him? Because he keeps sending away his successor? Why on earth not! Hop on that train! (...)

It’s interesting that their relationship is the one that touches Pheris, not Gen and Irene. Hm.

Also … “Idiot.” The parallels.

“relatively gently” (it’s so good)

~Teleus here to talk about love~

This book is full of surprises.

270. That is NOT the bright side, Gen (“I could use my newfound authority to insist on going into battle”)

271. BUNNY! Wtf is a wineglass warrior

Very cute everyone, good job.

Still sad about Helen’s tears.

271. Gen. Don’t say these things. [volcano doodle]

272. SEE I was worried about this! The doubt!

I am not ok

This is TOO MANY Eddisian Revelations (Lader time)

Yeah. Wow.

273. Cleon x5

I … his grandfather

No.

Baby Helen begging

How did Pheris get this scene

Gen chose Cleon for his plan

275. IRENE WITH THE STATS!

276. lol Gen

My brother Sounis!

277. Missing Relius club.

Where is he though

Yes! Sophos Gen food fight!

Grapes!

“Wisdom”

He’s “the king” here and in KoA bc that’s the story but also that’s who he is to Pheris and Costis

278. So how did that Irene and MoW meeting go anyway?

How does Aulus know???

Thief short story! Probably terrible to reread, oh no

279. Are … are Aulus and Boagus together???! (“his slightly smaller partner”)

This feels … potentially traumatic … but fun? Idk

Fleece

280. This dang book. No rules!

The chandelier! So dramatic!

Mwt had … a lot to put into this one. A lot. A lot.

283. “not the Thief he was chasing”

284. The queens! The salute!

He can’t give this up.

Official Worries:

100,000 soldiers heading towards Kamet

Re: Lyopidus, Gen called Sophos his brother. Helen apparently might BE his sister. Temenus and Stenides are also going to a war where 9/10 will probably die.

Also

the MoW could have been a king if he’d stolen Helen’s throne. A lot there.

why does this book have the vibe of the library post, my comic from 2010, the king and queen interactions here, and the military tactics dream

[bronanlynch]

weekly media round up, whatever day of the week this is edition

me: I should do this on the same day every week

also me: cannot keep to a consistent schedule for anything ever apparently

listening: My Grand Plan from the Lightning Thief musical, which played on the radio the other day and I was like, oh wow this is good I wanna listen to the whole show when I get home, and also if I heard this in high school it would’ve absolutely destroyed me. and then I started sobbing on the highway so maybe I’m not really that far from the person I was in high school after all. y’know. love to realize that you relate to Annabeth Chase just as much now as you did when you were twelve.

and I have a lot of thoughts and feelings specifically about these lines and like, the intersection between being condescended to because you’re (seen as) a girl and being condescended to because you’re not neurotypical so all you have are academic achievements but none of them ever seen to actually matter

reading: I backed an f/f scifi/fantasy anthology called Silk & Steel on kickstarter a while back and I got the pdf for it this week and it’s good!! it’s really fun!! I’m only reading a few stories at a time to like. fully savor it, y’know? so I’m only partway through. I think my fave so far is either the one about parallel worlds and anti-monarchism by Freya Marske, or the one about two trans girls running away together by Neon Yang, but I’ve really enjoyed all of them so far (I got it through the kickstarter but you can also just. buy it however you normally buy your ebooks)

also lots of articles abt labor laws and workers’ rights because my coworker and I were complaining about how we don’t get paid enough and he made an offhand comment about how he wasn’t gonna ask how much I make because that would be breach of contract and I was like. I know that’s not true but I don’t have the sources to back it up right now so I’m gonna do some research and then have this conversation again (it is, in fact, super illegal in the US for your employer to prevent you from sharing your salary with your coworkers except in a few specific instances which don’t apply here so)

watching: I’ve been watching The Magicians, unfortunately, because the whole destiel thing made me crave content that’s simultaneously gay and homophobic. I got through most of season 2 a few years ago and then uh. the school year ended and I moved away from the person I was watching it with, and my review is that end of season 2 is good, season 3 is pretty fun even though there are definitely some aspects and plotlines that could’ve been handled a lot more thoughtfully, and I would be enjoying season 4 so much if I didn’t know how it ended. one of the main characters is possessed by the big bad of the season and everyone else is somewhere along the spectrum of ‘trying to defeat the big bad’ and ‘trying to help the possessed friend’ and there’s some tasty drama. there’s an episode about a third of the way through that ends with 1) the Main main character definitively ending any association at all with his ex-girlfriend and 2) the revelation that the main character and his possessed friend have been in love with each other for a while now but couldn’t get together because of plot and also the friend being afraid of emotional intimacy. which sounds like a nice set up for, y’know, them getting together, you would think? you would be wrong. by the end of the season the main character gets back together with his ex and then dies. this is outdated fandom drama but I’m still gonna be mad about it.

you would think a line like that would have any sort of meaningful follow-up. you would be wrong (also apparently I can take screenshots on netflix on this laptop?? wild)

playing: nothing recently, I’ve been either busy or too beset by headaches to Game, but I did buy the rest of the Dishonored games because they were on sale so. once I get through the first game I can play Dishonored content that I haven’t already played. knife daughter time here we come

making: continuing to pick away at the same cosplay I’ve been vaguely working on since like May, now I’m actually cutting the pieces for the mock-up down to their new sizes so hopefully I’ll start assembling mock-up take 2 relatively soonish. the thing about no cons in the foreseeable future means I don’t have any sort of deadline for this at all

writing: wrote my first m/f fic in a very long time for Persona Rarepair Week because I love a good academic rivalry regardless of genders. I also signed up for Secret Samol (Friends at the Table fandom holiday exchange) and realized that some of the prompts I was asking for I things I wanted to write myself so. I’ve added Clem/Gucci fantasy AU to my ideas doc specifically so I can do a scene where Gucci puts the point of her sword under Clem’s chin because I am a simple person with simple needs

[iam93percentstardust]

tagged by @ad1thi 

//

do you make your bed? only when i have company over. i’ve tried in the past to get into the habit and i can manage it for about a week and then i’ll need to go somewhere early and don’t want to wake up earlier to make the bed so i’ll stop and then never do it again

what’s your favorite number? 12.01

what’s your job? i’m a grad student at a university that requires their grad students to work if they don’t want to pay their tuition so i wear many hats including teaching assistant, research assistant, textbook writer, and peer reviewer

can you parallel park? i could when i got my license but i haven’t needed to in the six years since then so i have no idea if i still could

a job you’ve had which would surprise people? i've had several jobs that all seem to surprise people, mostly because the jobs that i’ve held are because i wanted to work there and not because i thought it would help in my future education/career but the one that always seems to surprise the most people is me spending the 2015 holiday season as a Christmas Elf

do you think aliens are real? i don’t know. i want to say yes but at the same time, we’ve sent probes pretty far into space and come back with pretty much nothing

can you drive a manual? nope

what’s your guilty pleasure? depends on whether i’m talking to people in real life or here on tumblr. i’m not particularly ashamed of anything i like on tumblr but no one that i know in real life knows that i write fan fiction except for like three people

tattoos? i don’t have any though i want three but i’m also not willing to put in the effort or the money into finding a good tattoo artist

favorite color? pink!

things people do that drive you crazy? this is gonna sound super specific but it’s something that’s popped up a lot in my sphere of academia so i’m gonna mention it: superiority that turns into putting down other people. like last year, i had a professor who, at the end of my qualifying seminar that i’d spent months working on, called me “everything that was wrong with grad students.” i cried for a week

any phobias? i have two - big fucking things in the ocean (like i can’t watch the red sea scene from prince of egypt because the whale gives me panic attacks) and, oddly enough, butterflies

favorite childhood sport? i used to fence competitively. supposedly, i was pretty good at it and i’m still friends with a couple people who are now olympians but i never thought i was anything more than decent

do you talk to yourself? yep! i live alone and have a hyperactive imagination so yes, i talk to myself

what movies do you adore? a lot. i’m a big movie person, it was my family’s thing when i was younger - friday nights were pizza and movie nights. if i could only name a couple though: ocean’s 11 (with george clooney and brad pitt), penelope, stardust, the many adventures of winnie the pooh

do you like puzzles? yes! i’m very good at escape rooms and i like brain puzzles (i like physical puzzles too but i have a cat so i don’t keep those in the apartment - i’m already pushing my luck with the lego sets)

favorite kind of music? i hate to sound like a cliche but there are very few kinds of music that i don’t like. i guess maybe classical? that’s what i grew up listening to anyway

tea or coffee? tea

what’s the first thing you remember you wanted to be when you grew up? i wanted to be a thief

//

tagging: @firebrands @crownofstardustandbone @omg-just-peachy

[askmarietheapprentice]

Fan Theory Friday: Kasumi Yoshizawa is the adopted daughter of an Adult Ren Amamiya /Takuto Maruki from the future.

Let’s look at her thief outfit and weaponry first. It reminds me of Joker’s picaro variations of other people’s Personas. It’s taken from other people but modified to suit him/her. Like Echo she seems to be forced to only repeat other people’s outfits she even echo’s Carmen’s roses on her hip though instead of many red ones its one white one.

Kasumi is wearing her father’s jacket and gloves because she’s been raised on “memories of a roaming thief” as Colors Flying High puts it. (Her being a daddy’s girl would explain a lot about her.) That phrasing is awkward.  What if we change it to memoirs? Not only does it come from the French word for memories the second collection of Sherlock Holmes short stories is called The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (Perhaps I should do an analysis on this sometime later.)  Part of her idea rebel is Joker, the boy who will become her father. Perhaps she wants his power to change fate to make him(and by extension the people he loves) completely happy. It should be noted that her sleeves are long enough to at least partly obscure her gloves and thus her hands. (Her father is a pick pocket. He could have taught her slight of hand too. He’s an Magician now.) She added her card The Queen of Spades to the deck. (I might go it to detail later.)

She is wearing thigh high high heel boots and wields a rapier like Mitsuru Kirijio. This leads me to suspect that she’ll “awaken” to protect Joker just like Mitsuru did. I put awaken in quotations because not only does she not look as distressed as the other Thieves during theirs. Not saying I’m 100% she already awakened of screen I’m not. It just looks suspicious to me right now. It also looks like the Smash Trailer where Joker is summoning Arsene! 

Like Mitsuru resolved to carry out her father’s will. Kasumi is planning to make her father’s dreams a reality  which isn’t entirely the same thing.  Perhaps she should have read The Voyage of the Dawn Treader  it clearly illustrates the fact that some dreams become Hellish nightmares if made real and can become torturous for those trapped in a place where all dreams come true. 

Like Ryuji she wields a shotgun but a sawed off shotgun. She wants the responsibly and the power of being a second leader. She’ll be more subtle then Ryuji. I suspect not only will her first skill be protect but it won’t only extend to Joker but the rest of the Thieves too. (Her second skill will be endure.) She needs all of them alive for her plan to work. 

Which leads us to Goro Akechi and his alive status though it’s arguable if it’s real or just a dream made real. I think Ren may have adopted her because he saw Akechi (And Futaba. She has a few things in common with her like Takuto has similarities to Sojiro. )in her. He failed to save Akechi but he would make sure he saved her. It explains her interest in him. She sees herself in him and it’s insurance. Her gambit is a risky one. I think this song fits Kasumi and her plan but the singer is Nancy Sinatra, the famous Frank Sinatra’s daughter.

So let’s compare the roses. Carmen is a femme fatale so she’s carelessly shooting out romantic and sensual suggestions to everyone thus a bunch of red roses on her hips. Kasumi deeply admires and esteems Hell hero worships her dad. She recklessly breaks his heart and the hearts of his friends in trying to erase his scars and every regret.      

Her motives are likely to be less noble than just wanting to erase her father’s regrets. I think she feels that she lost his love. What better way to steal it back than by pulling a Marty McFly and making her George McFly’s life perfect through character development, time travel and direct involvement from her? Which means all that the Amamiyas had to do was talk about it and Persona 5 Royal would have either not happened or played out very differently. (Like George McFly I believe that if he became a dad he would be a good one for the most part but a big flaw drives a wedge between him and his daughter. I think he took on too many responsibilities and didn’t ask for help so his daughter ended up felling rejected and like she’s less important to him than she really is. Ooh that would be a nice parallel with Dojima & Nanako! And strengthens his existing ones with Wakaba.) 

I think Kasumi would refuse to see Takuto. She will refuse every time unless/until her heart is changed. She prefers to mold the boy Joker into her ideal dad than give him an other chance. Perhaps prefer isn’t the right word perhaps she has given up on him really changing. And she’s too hurt and mad to give him the time to really listen and understand her and her problem. She’s not just Akechi’s or Ren’s echo she’s her own person.  

 Hopefully Echo’s curse can be broken and Nacrissus can survive. That would be the golden ending.  They just need to figure out how to see their reflections without getting lost in them. The three of them are all Narcisssus Echo and Hera. Killing themselves,(By becoming a Phantom Thief Kasumi knows she’ll disappear before the end of the year. That’s probably why she’s crying.) cursing others and being unable to freely express themselves as themselves not until their curse is broken.

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 4x08 God Complex

Together with 4x07 Gimme Shelter, this is one of my top 5 episodes of season 4. What I’ve always loved most about season 4 is the way that having an unavoidable natural catastrophe as the Big Bad made it completely different than any other season of the show, and gave it that sense of desperation, bringing up the best and the worst in people. It’s the only season where I can really say that, most of the time, there were no good choices – characters were left to choose whatever they thought was the best of the two or more terrible options.

This episode was basically about three different approaches to the problem of Praimfaya – two attempts to find salvation: 1) through experiments with Nightblood, which could save everybody, but which led to some uncomfortable, morally ambiguous moments, and 2) through the search for the Second Dawn bunker that could not save everyone, but could certainly save quite a few people; while some people, like Jasper, were taking the third option of - not to trying to survive at all.

The biggest and most intense part of this episode was the drama in Becca’s lab, where a group of people were struggling with the issue of whether to conduct unwilling human experiments and potentially murder someone that way – knowing that the stakes were the survival of the human race and that, if they don’t find the solution through these experiments, everyone will die in less than two weeks. (Reminder: this is after Arkadia has been wrecked and cannot be used for shelter, and before Jaha manages to find the bunker. As far as the people in Becca’s lab knew, the Nightblood solution was the only way to prevent the extinction of the human race.)

This is a really serious and compelling moral dilemma. The characters present in Becca’s lab reacted in a number of different ways, and it’s hard to call any of them villainous or evil over it, as all the responses were understandable. However, in this case, there was one morally right choice: volunteer to be the test subject and risk your own life for the benefit of saving everybody. And just 1 (one) person did that: one Clarke Griffin. Which I could see coming when I watched this episode the first time, because this is what Clarke is like, ready to take responsibility and risk or potentially sacrifice her life, when saving everyone is at stake. The episode drags it out, hiding Clarke’s intentions till the last moment (though I’m sure she made her mind quite some time before she injected herself – around the time when she promised Murphy that Emori would be fine), but the fact that the “twist” was not a surprise to me, was not a bad thing at all: what matters is that characters act in character and that the story makes sense, and when you can predict it based on characterizations, it is actually satisfying to see the story unfold and stay true to who the characters are.

But this is also one of the examples of how much my outlook has changed since I first watched season 4 (even though that was less than a year ago) – because I have seen how it all turns out, and probably even more so, because of the way this episode has been referenced in season 6 (specifically, by Murphy). When I watched this the first time, Somehow, since the only references to what happens here were through Murphy’s weirdly selective memory, 4x08 has become all about how Clarke Griffin is such a baaad guy, ya all. Evil Clarke wanted to put Emori in the oven! Well, actually, a bunch of people (Clarke, Abby, Jackson, Miller, Roan, and Raven, who was complaining but not doing anything to stop it) were planning to put Emori in the oven, but just one (1) of them tried to take Emori’s place – yep, it was Clarke, after she listened to Murphy desperately pleading for Emori to be spared, and was moved by his love for her.

But, hey, details. Just like it’s a minor detail that Emori had previously (in 4x07) framed a random thief as a monster just to get him experimented on instead of her – and Murphy was very impressed by that as a “survivor’s move”. He likes to complain about evil Clarke treating people as “disposable”, but it only bothers him if it’s him or his girlfriend, while he himself treats people as disposable to a much higher degree – when it’s a random dude, rather than Murphy’s girlfriend.

Yes. I’m bitter and snarky about this, thanks to certain character behaviors in season 6 and certain fandom responses. I was sympathetic to Murphy and Emori in this episode, and to everyone involved, and the first time I watched this episode, I was mostly worried about Emori and scared that our protagonists, in particular Clarke – because she is my favorite character – would not go too far in their ruthlessness under the motto “End justifies the means”. Even though the end was, in this case, saving the human race from extinction that was coming in ten days. I was uncomfortable with the whole “oh, no – they are almost like the Mountain Men now!” parallel. Now I feel like rolling my eyes and pointing: no, they weren’t like the Mountain Men – because they were trying to save everyone, and if they didn’t find the solution, everyone, including Emori and Murphy, was going to die in ten days. (That’s what being in the fandom that takes moral grayness way too literally does to you. After seeing “there are no good guys, Clarke is as bad as the Mountain Men/Primes/Josephine” one too many times, I’ve had enough of the moral relativism and I prefer to point out that these parallels doesn’t mean that those completely different situations should be treated as the same.) The first time, I liked Raven pointing out the parallels, because I saw it as a warning: let’s try not to be the bad guys. But season 6 Raven has made me see season 4 Raven in a harsher light, too – now I can’t help but see it as one of the instances of her criticizing how immoral something is, while participating in it or not doing anything to stop it, and while not offering any other alternative options.

I was rooting for Clarke to do the right thing, and was happy when she did it, because of what it meant for her character. People kept telling her that she was the leader and had to make the tough decision. (Because everyone always keeps giving Clarke all the credit or all the blame, even though a bunch of people were involved in what was done. In this case, Roan was the most in favor and the first to suggest testing Emori, while Abby and Jackson were most directly conducting the experiments, and while Clarke was seen as the decision-maker, it’s not like she had the power on her own to force anyone to do this or that, if they had refused to. Actually, Miller and Roan were the ones physically restraining and forcing people – Emori, Luna, Murphy.) She told herself that “she bears it so they don’t have to”, But she interpreted that differently – not to mean deciding to risk or sacrifice others as “disposable”, but to risk or potentially sacrifice her own life. Which is really the old school, original view of what being a leader/ruler is: leaders and kings were originally those who led armies, fought on the frontlines, and, in some ancient cultures, were even literally sacrificed to the gods – before the of the ruler or leader changed to that of a person who remains safe and sends others to risk their lives to fight their battles.

…And then I was shocked by what Abby did right afterwards, smashing the machine, though I could understand why. When Abby told Clarke she couldn’t let her die, the camera focused on Emori, who was understandably thinking “So, you really thought the machine would kill me and you still wanted to test me?” But, to Abby’s defense, she freaked out because she had seen a vision of Clarke covered in radiation burns.

The first time I watched season 4, I still didn’t take Praimfaya as seriously. You keep waiting for some solution that would save most of the people – and things just got worse, all the solutions kept falling apart, except for the bunker – which presented a bunch of problems in itself. The first time, I was worried about Clarke losing so much of herself by focusing on the Big Picture. Now I like and relate to her even more than before, knowing how season 4 turns out – because if a natural disaster that’s about to wipe out the entire human race is not a reason to focus on the Big Picture, what is? Abby’s emotional reaction is human and understandable – similar to Murphy’s over Emori – but it is still a fact that the Nightblood solution worked, and that, if not everyone, than many more/most people could have been saved if they had tested Clarke  and found out that the solution worked. But that would have jettisoned the entire plot of the finale and season 5. No need for the bunker, or going into space, no Conclave, no Osleya or Blodreina, no Spacekru, no horrors of the bunker, no single mom Clarke all alone with Madi, etc. Everyone would have survived and settled in Eden. It’s a bit off how rarely people mention this – even now that hating on Abby is such a popular sport, no one mentions the fact that she basically doomed thousands of people to die because she was worried about her daughter dying. It’s odd that we never see Abby explicitly feeling guilty over that, instead of just conducting experiments or suggesting cannibalism.

Are the sins of doing ruthless but necessary things for the survival of the group considered less forgivable, at least when women are concerned, than the sins of dooming a lot of people to death by prioritizing your child? Abby certainly seems to think so. She repeated Kane’s old line: “First we survive, then we get our humanity back” to Raven, and then felt so guilty over the experiments she conducted, that she wanted to die in Praimfaya and asked Kane to leave her outside. But even in season 5, she was arguing to Clarke that throwing everyone under the bus for your daughter is right and reinforcing Clarke’s decision. And in season 6, she is convinced that saving Kane is worth doing inhumane things. As if she, since Jake’s death, has decided she would rather do horrible things to save her loved ones at the expense of other people, than risk/sacrifice her loved ones for the common good, which is what she, sort of, did with her husband.

There’s also the fact that, if Clarke had been more selfish and less willing to risk and sacrifice herself instead of others – if she had gone through with it and let Emori be tested, Abby wouldn’t have smashed the machine, they would have found out that the Nightblood solution worked, and saved everyone. But I don’t know how to feel about that, except to see it as a painful irony.

While the plot A found and then threw away a solution to save people, plot B came up with some hope as Jaha managed to find the real Second Dawn bunker, after hearing the lines from the Grounder prayer “From the ashes, we will rise” and recognizing the motto of the Second Dawn. Jaha was, in a way, uniquely qualified to realize that there is another bunker, and that the one they found was just a red herring to keep the real one from being overrun, since, by his admission, he figured it out because that’s what he himself would do. Jaha has never had a problem with treating people as disposable and focusing on the Big Picture while sacrificing some individual lives.

It should be noted that Jaha didn’t find the bunker on his own, but that Monty, Kane, Gaia and Indra played crucial roles as well. (So much for the argument that Jaha had the right to steal and keep the bunker in 4x10/11 because he found it. He was going to leave all of those other people outside.) Gaia helped compare and decipher the symbols, and Monty was the one who managed to find a way in, Kane used Roan’s symbol to get Azgeda warriors to let them through the temple where the bunker was in the first place (though Indra then shot them anyway), and Indra helped by ordering Trikru warriors to leave the tower to Azgeda and focus on defending the temple instead.

If there is a way to make any sense out of the Grounder culture and religion, it is through this major revelation about the role of the Second Dawn cult. It never made sense that these descendants of regular 21st century people from USA/Canada somehow forgot all technology (even with memories of a top scientist on a computer chip their leaders had in their heads), developed a pidgin language, a medieval-like warrior culture, a love of fake tans and a culture-appropriation-mishmash fashion sense, in less than a century. But if these people were descendants of members of a Doomsday cult whose members hated technology and wanted to cosplay Game of Thrones? Well, that explains a lot.

The C plot was about the group of people back in Arkadia who chose not to fight to survive Praimfaya, but to spend the last days before it having the party of their lives. (And to eventually kill themselves, going out on their own terms, before Praimfaya has a chance to kill them – but we only find that out in later episodes.) Aside from Jasper, that was also Harper, and Riley and Bree.

Harper’s depressed state and lack of will to live was becoming clear with the way she acted when Monty said goodbye to her. She even let out that she wasn’t expecting him to come back (saying “If you come back”) – maybe because she really didn’t think she was worth it?

Bellamy was worried about Jasper – who tried and eventually got him to join their party (with dancing, drinking, and drugs – aka jobi nuts), throwing Bellamy’s own line from early season 1 at him: “Whatever the hell we want… Really mean it this time”. Bellamy decided to relax and let go, and flirted with (and possibly had a one-night stand off-screen?) with Bree, his old friend with benefits from the threesome days of early season 1, after she had approached him and hit on him. (Judge for yourself if the hairstyling department intentionally gave Bree a similar haircut as Clarke’s, and if that was meant to mean something.) But this is a two-part plot that only gets resolved in the next episode, when Bellamy will change his attitude after learning that there is, after all, some salvation in the form of the bunker.

Timeline: This episode starts exactly where the previous left off, which means that it’s about two weeks since the start of season 4. But Clarke and Kane are now saying that the death wave is coming in 10 days. This means that, not only was ALIE’s initial calculation that the death wave was coming in 6 months wrong, but so is Raven’s calculation from 2x03 (which took place 10 days from the start of season 4) that the death wave would come in two months. There can’t be more than 4-5 days since 4x03, based on what was going on, so the new calculation must have been made in the meantime. This means that the death wave would actually come, according to these newest predictions, 20 days from the beginning of season 4/end of season 3. Unless it comes even faster… As far as I remember, episodes 4x09-4x13 happened over a short period of time.

Maybe the writers miscalculated how much season 4 would actually last and ended up writing everything happening much faster – just as it was in every other season. In any case, this means that the timeline of seasons 1-4 is even more compressed than I thought, because, as of 4x08, it’s been a little less than six months from the Pilot. I’ll do the full calculation when I get to 4x13.

Body count:

The thief from the Rock Line clan, aka fake “Baylis”, in the radiation chamber

An unknown number of people died from the black rain in Polis (this technically happened during the timeline of the previous episode)

A number of Azgeda warriors were shot by Indra (which is another instance where a major supporting character simply goes and murders a bunch of enemy warriors while they were not posing a danger, like Roan did to Trikru warriors in 4x04, but no one cares or has much of a problem with that, in the show or the fandom… What a contrast to Bellamy participating in something similar in season 3 and then feeling guilty forever and getting endlessly called “Genocide King” and whatnot in the fandom…)

A number of Azgeda and Trikru warriors probably died in the fighting outside the temple

Rating: 9/10