#loreposting lol

[ketavinsky]

silly little post to augment my oc project tag here huehuehuehue

here’s my earth protagonist, minuet! buncha stuff under the cut!

pinterest stuff:

excerpt from a passage i wrote a while ago about minuet reflecting on her childhood! im not super fond of the tone of this so i definitely need to rework it, but here it is for now!

and a couple of little notes on her tattoos

LORE DUMP:

so the nocturne (minuet and scherzo) were created as part of an elaborate courtship ritual - scherzo (a flirtatious, light dance) fashioned in dawns likeness to impress him, and minuet (a stately, more intimate ballroom piece) formed from an ember astray to entertain night. part of the reason why night dotes on scherzo so much is because of the nocturne - he misses dawn, the mouthfeel of him - but dawn, who ends up completely horrified by the others' actions, sees the nocturne as this huge symbol of everything that is wrong with the world and himself. 

im still figuring out the exact timeline but in perihelion + daybreak, minuets birth coincides with when dawns empire is demolished. she of course does not directly do this, but her destructive nature and status as catalyst of the end leads to her being labelled a bad omen, a sour hearth, etc. 

in reality this is because these gods are more or less forbidden to create (energy and matter are supposed to be conserved, not created or destroyed) but their  choosing to do so anyway dooms them all either way, minuet gets most of the flack for it and is repeatedly scorned for it and convinced of her own hazard. 

after dawn leaves the sect, he really struggles to engage with her - because she is a symbol of his past self, the doveheart despot, yes, but because he is aware that he's failed her as a father and he just does not know how to rectify that at all. dawn did not make minuet into what she is - but he discarded her, and watched idly as the world transformed her, as it transformed him. 

the most he can bring himself to do is impart upon her the same ideals he himself employs: resurrection via flame, as does the phoenix - as he does himself to cleanse his body and soul before retreating to the human world. this is why minuet is so careless for her life - she knows she is going to burn up and die a fiery death, and then she will be new and clean and fresh. may as well get her hands dirty now, while she can. as a result, minuet is an adrenalin junkie and a thrillseeker whose extreme hedonistic tendencies intermingle w passive suicidal ideation and also the glorification of suicide! think of dawn's seeded cult - cockhead and the dire doctrine of the aphelion vulture, and how passionately they glorify death. they worship the end! - in ofluxes Eden, this translates not as the cosmic cataclysm, but ego death and dissolution of the self. this was dawns work, as is minuet, who has an identity, yeah, but has been so weathered down by prophecy and function that she:

a) unwittingly perpetuates the cycle of abuse in interaction with her sister ("how dare you fucking complain! how dare you stand there and fucking act like you're suffering, like you dont want this life, this face, you were given." and then yunque goes "sorry being a pawn my whole miserable rotting un-life fills me with contempt!! bitch!" and then minuet explodes with the ol' AND YOU THINK I DONT KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE TO BE A PAWN OF MY FUCKING FATHER - not ours, but mine, because minuet is dawns only trueborn child and thus raised uniquely) and 

b) transforms herself into an Atlas, bearer of all burdens, saviour of her loved ones, just to feel good - to feel like shes capable of doing good. minuet is so angry and the anger will live in her forever!

and in the end:

dawn did that to her. minuet will forever be the protector, cursed by her fathers love, her fathers creating touch, always fighting to prove that shes worthy. dawn did that to her. minuet will always be reaching for something unattainable - to simultaneously fulfil her function and do something good with herself. 

dawn did that to her. 

minuet is dawns only daughter that he actually sat down and created and he infected her with his relentless yearning and his chronic discontent and his endless bleached ennui. (one of the images associated w dawn being a lush wildflower field - bordering a bone -white, barren beach) and, of course, he let courtesans and nobility and soothsayers carve maledictions and curses into minuet's flesh (her tattoos) to temper her 'purpose' - when he was the one who gave her all of that to carry. as a result, when jeunzi becomes aware of sublimes existence and goes to dawns last temple - she begs for his help. 

and dawn, knowing that sublimes been imprisoned for a reason, knowing that everything will go wrong Again Anyways, gives her a flaming knife with minuets prophecy engraved into it. so when jeunzi cuts sublime free with the knife, sublime will recognise it, and he will thank minuet - something that will benefit her centuries into the future when the sons of night start quarrelling again see, he does this to try help her build alliances because he knows shes more of a lone wolf type - but even that is just another burden for her to shoulder, another thing to fulfil. dawn does love her. hes learnt to, and he didnt love her for a long, long time. 

but he knows what he's done to his child more than any of the others because he alone broke the cycle of divinity. he knows the enormity of the consequences, from a very human perspective but he just . 

he just cant apologize. he just cant reach out to her. shes nothing but his eldest daughter. his greatest failure and most violent triumph.

okay to balance all that out this is literally her:

i am really excited to give her a really fucked up girlfriend and a really fucked up arc where she realises she can never forgive dawn OR night ! she’s my judas and she is awesome.

[fernsnailz]

collection of tiny shadows

[twlvie]

POV: you are on the pakled ship that found him

[elliewiltarwyn]

Mia Longhart

tagged by @ubejamjar, thank you! I did one for Ellie already, so I figured I might as well take the opportunity to /showleft Mia a little...

B A S I C S

Name: Mia Longhart, formerly Maia jen Asina. Adopted the name when she arrived in Eorzea to hide her Garlean origins with the surname being adopted from a Chinese Yanxian word for dragon. Nicknames: Not exactly a nickname, but for near the entirety of their early careers in the Scions, she gets along so poorly with Elilgeim that the latter only refers to her as Longhart even when explicitly requested otherwise, only letting up after Livia's raid on the Waking Sands. Otherwise, very difficult to make any nicknames for such a short name, but her partners come up with Mimi eventually. Age: 22 at the beginning of ARR, headcanoning that it's 4 years to the end of 6.0 and then another year for the patches, which would make her 27 now Nameday: Fourteenth Sun of the Fourth Umbral Moon (August 14th) (which, as far as I can tell, was the Friday after patch 5.3 dropped: I originally made her to see what the revised ARR quests were like and then Oops New Main Character in my Lore) Race: Highlander Hyur, Garlean specifically Gender: Female Orientation: Demi-bisexual, does not figure this out until she starts developing crushes on Lyse and Ellie and has no idea what that means Profession: Pre-ARR, gladiator of the bloodsands. Eventually Scion of the Seventh Dawn, then one of the three Warriors of Light. Post-6.0, she helps coordinate aid and reconstruction efforts for Garlemald alongside the Ilsabard contingent and the twins.

P H Y S I C A L   A S P E C T S

Hair: Cobalt blue, usually tied into a ponytail or braided around her crown, always combed as smooth and straight as possible. Eyes: Emerald green Skin: Olive Tattoos/Scars: as many as is typical for the Warrior of Light. In addition, the one on her cheek is dealt by Zenos at Rhalgr's Reach. When battling Zodiark, she overextends herself using Passage of Arms against his ultimate attack and gets her left arm horribly burned; she's healed quickly afterwards thanks to Y'shtola and Ellie's healing magicks and the Loporrits' aid, but it leaves behind permanent burn scarring along her left arm and it becomes too sensitive/uncomfortable for her to wield shields anymore, so she drops them.

F A M I L Y

Parents: Aulus mal Asina, praefectus medicorum and secret magitek research & development engineer, and Carmilla lux Asina, primus medicus. It's their legacy in particular she's spurning when she leaves Garlemald. yes canonically Aulus died at 36 so he can't exactly be the father of a 24-year-old but shush. he's older in my canon. i can do that. Siblings: None directly; however, she grew up next to Jullus pyr Norbanus and his siblings, and spent enough time with them to have considered them her younger siblings. Grandparents: None notable, just proud Garlean citizens. In-laws and Other: In the long period between 6.0 and 6.1, gets married to Ellie and Lily; with the sole exception of Ellie's mother (and even then very distantly, as Ellie herself is still processing how she feels about her), none of their family members are close enough (or... too dead) to count. Pets: Fat cat and possibly Rudy the Starlight yeti, as with Ellie. She has a tendency to semi-adopt stray cats as well -- not actually take them home, but at least check in on and feed them whenever she can.

S K I L L S

Abilities: Diplomacy: Next to Minfilia and Alphinaud, she is probably the most skilled at politicking, and has a keen sense for what everyone in the room wants and how to extract what she or her allies need from the people across the table. First Aid: The jen in her old Garlean name refers to the training she received from a yearlong course to become certified as a medicus; with a kit, she would be able to act as the Eorzean equivalent of an EMT rapid responder. Free Paladin: the whole gladiator and paladin storyline is canon for her, and she's not very happy about it :V Though as a Garlean she can't manipulate aether, she uses a combination of magitek equipment and experimental implants from the Ironworks to help create reasonable facsimiles of paladin abilities and magic. However, after the events of Shadowbringers and what Emet-Selch does to her regarding the pieces of her soul... she becomes capable of a little more rudimentary control over her aether, by dint of her own soul-merging, much like Ellie does with Ardbert... Voidbound Reaper: after the events of 6.0, Ellie gives up the reaper arts, but is unable to properly sever her pact, and eventually her former avatar comes knocking. Mia, finally accepting that there are parts of Garlemald's history that aren't tainted by the touch of Ascians, steps in with her Garlean physiology and intimate knowledge of the avatar's former partner to form a new pact. Despite having been the platonic ideal of paladin all the way through saving the universe, she's going into Dawntrail with the scary-looking lost arts of her people instead.

Hobbies: Reading fiction, usually adventure or thrillers. Can play the violin and piano at a beginner-to-intermediate level. Decently skilled at leatherwork and botany, and begins to get into gardening once she has a home (and a private island lol) of her own.

T R A I T S

Most Positive Trait: Of the three Warriors of Light and even among all the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, she has the strongest moral compass and sense of right and wrong, which makes her capable of being a stabilizing or grounding force when her comrades begin having doubts about their missions, the one who's most certain that the path she's taking is the one that's just. (Encountering Emet-Selch and learning about the Ascians' truth kneecaps this severely.) Most Negative Trait: She wears her heart on her sleeve, which means as good as she is at reading people she is just as easy to read - and emotionally manipulate or derail, crippling her with doubt and anxieties.

L I K E S

Colors: The navy blue of her armor, the gold of its trim, the green of the jewelry she likes to wear but is self-conscious about, the deep red of Ellie's hair Smells: Freshly-brewed tea, lavender soaps (her preferred I've-just-spent-several-days-in-armor-and-need-to-smell-like-anything-else go-to), the crisp air of autumn Textures: the bound covers of a new hardcover book, the soft cotton of the freshly-laundered clothes she prefers to steel armor, the crunch of autumn leaves, the sensation of grass brushing against bare feet Drinks: Teas ranging from spicy chai to citrusy bergamot, coffee with cream, the occasional red wine

OTHER DETAILS

Smokes: No, she is embarrassingly straight-edged and slightly self-conscious about it. Drinks: As noted above, the occasional red wine, usually an easy merlot, or champagne at important functions. Her tolerance isn't the best and she knows it, so she keeps herself well-moderated and only lets herself get fully sloshed among those she trusts most (so Ellie and Lily). Drugs: Again, nope, feels embarrassingly straight-edged about it but is not judgmental about friends who choose to recreationally. Mount Issuance: Named her company-issued chocobo Pom, after pomegranates, for some reason she couldn't fathom at the time. (it's persephone reasons. i'm not being subtle.) Surprisingly finds herself kind of a fan of the Ironworks' single-pilot flight machines like manacutters and the Falcon -- and of the three Warriors of Light, she's the one entrusted with the Regalia Type-G, as the experimental vehicle needs to be handled with a great deal of care and she's known as the most responsible. Been Arrested: Nearly -- when her father discovered the correspondence she was keeping with someone from Ala Mhigo, he "granted" her the chance to leave and never return before he summoned the lictors. When she came to Eorzea, she was so paranoid about being discovered that she acted the picture of morality -- and indeed was frequently the one posting bail for some of the more unscrupulous members of the Gladiators' Guild.

----------------------------------

more people to tag uhhhh i'm having difficulties remembering who's done this yet, so sorry in advance, if you have done this already or just don't feel like it then consider this a boop: @sasslett @bnuuywol @sylaurin @mythandral @vasheden, and as always, you if you're interested!

[night-dark-woods]

Yet she had also decided that she felt a strange kinship and sympathy for it, this cornered, desperate god, making infinite sacrifices out of its people.

I'm on a "rereading Forsaken loretabs" kick and I'm rotating this line in my head. Mara constantly sacrificing herself and her people to protect the solar system as a whole. Her sense of duty. Determined and deadset on saving everyone and the thing is she does she DOES save everyone!!! But does that make it worth it does that make it right!!!

What got me started again was the last line on the loretab of this year's Dawning ship (Hiera Hodos - which also... thats the Sacred Way from Athens to Eleusis, as in the Eleusinian Mysteries that Mara's throneworld is named for...):

And Mara walks alone, between the City and the dark outside.

Which made me think about this part of the Savin loretab (Title is also from this loretab):

Perhaps the Earth would be better off if the Traveler vanished or was destroyed, she thought. Even in the Reef, she felt as if she were living next to a torch held up in a dark wilderness, calling out across the galaxy to hungry things with too many eyes.

And so now I'm down the "Mara and her god complex" rabbithole again. Under a readmore because it's long:

If you have grace, then see our sorrows, but swallow back your tears. We were made to pay this price. I led us to our fate. (Archiloquy)

She feels this absolute guilt from the very beginning because she saw deeper meaning in a freak accident:

Because I asked us to leave, Mara thinks. Because something came out of deep space and killed the man next to me, and I saw the omen, and I said we should go. And now I feel like a coward. (Cosmogyre II)

And then you combine that personal guilt with her mother and Alis Li telling her she's responsible for what others think of her and that she is capable of more than those around her:

"It is one thing to have a particular power over people, Mara. But it is another to deny that you are using it." ... "Mara, you are an Auturge, a volunteer. I cannot order you to stop, and your work is exemplary. Are you putting anyone else in danger with your… art projects?" "No," Mara says. "Just myself." "False!" Li barks. "That is a selfish answer. You are now a symbol to my crew, a house god. If you were to die, they would lose something important, something Human that they have created out of loneliness and void. It would be an unforgettable reminder of the hostile nothingness that surrounds us. When you endanger yourself, you endanger that symbol. You are part of this mission's behavioral armor, Mara." Mara is thunderstruck. She's never thought about it this way. "All I did was take some captures. I didn't ask to be anyone's… mascot." "You presented yourself as a conduit to secret knowledge," Captain Li counters. "People made something out of you, Mara. Please take this from a starship captain: What people make of you, what they create of you—even without your consent—becomes a kind of responsibility. If the Mara they see when they look at you is good for them, then you have some duty to be that Mara." (Brephos III)

And you put all of that on the shoulders of an already self-important and borderline suicidal 19 year old who is convinced she's seeing secret meanings in things (and she is!!! Is the thing!!!) You cannot tell me she's not, given that her favorite enrichment activity is going on EVAs and taking off her suit in order to experience this:

The void boiled the water off her skin. Her body swelled with unchecked pressure until her undersuit forced it to stop. Alarmed cytogel crawled down her throat, hissing emergency oxygen: not enough. Her skin blued with cyanosis. She was bathed in the most profound emptiness. She recorded all of it at the neural level. The exquisite darkness. The sense of fatal independence from all things. There are those who will give anything to feel that void. (Brephos II)

And then after they are in the Distributary she keeps her idea of the duty of the Awoken to herself for so so so fucking long and plays such a long game and sacrifices her own people in that game to keep the Awoken from being truly comfortable in the Distributary:

"I have worked for many hundreds of years to arrange this outcome," Mara says, forthrightly, but without the courage to look Alis Li right in the eyes. "I have nurtured and tended the Eccaleist belief so that there will always be Awoken who feel uncomfortable in paradise. Guilty for the gift of existence in the Distributary. People who'll come with me." (Nigh I)

And all for the sake of her eventual goal of returning to the real world and saving the solar system that she is absolutely completely incapable of abandoning, regardless of the cost:

"Do you understand what you've done? Have you reckoned the full cost?" She has convinced tens of thousands of Awoken to abandon their immortality. She has deprived the Distributary an infinite quantity of joy, companionship, labor, and discovery: all the works that might be accomplished by all the people who will join her in her mission to another world. When she lies awake at night, seized by anxiety, she tries to tally up the loss in her head, but it is too huge, and it becomes a formless thing that stalks her down the pathways of her bones like the creak of a gravity wave. "Some infinities are larger than others," she tells her old captain. "I believe… we are here for a reason, and this is the way to fulfill that purpose." "And how much would you sacrifice? Your mother? Your brother? Are the Awoken real to you at all?" Alis leans across her pinned hand, viper-fierce, striking. "Do you think my people were made to die for you? "Not for me. For our purpose. For our fate." (Nigh II)

And she is so so so deeply aware of that cost, in Fideicide II Alis Li knows that "Mara knows the unthinkable value of even a single Awoken life," and she is so deeply deeply guilty about that. Like when she does tell Alis (and Sjur, eventually) we get to see her the most fucking vulnerable we ever do and GOD.

"No," Mara says, with her heart in her throat, with trepidation bubbling in her gut. You cannot keep a secret buried like a vintage for so many centuries, and then unbottle it without any ceremony. "The boon I ask is your forgiveness." Then she explains the truth. She tells Alis Li what she did: about the choice Alis Li would have made, if Mara had not made her own first. It's only an extension of what Alis has already deduced. When she's finished, her ancient captain's jaw trembles. Her hands shake. A keen slips between her clamped teeth. The oldest woman in the world conjures up all the grief she has ever felt, and still it is not enough to match Mara's crime. "You're the devil," Alis Li whispers. "I remember… in one of the old tongues, Mara means death. Oh, that's too perfect. That's too much." She laughs for a while. Mara closes her eyes and waits. "You realize," Alis Li says, breathing hard, "that this is the worst thing ever done. Worse than stealing a few thousand people from heaven. Worse than that thing we fled, before we were Awoken—" "Please," Mara begs. "Please don't say that." Alis Li rises from her chair. "I'll support your fleet," she says. "I'll use every favor and connection I have to get your Hulls completed and through the gateway—and I will do it so that I can hasten your departure from this world. I will do it out of hate for you; I will do it so that every good and great thing we achieve here will ever after be denied to you, you snake. No forgiveness. Do you understand me? It is unforgivable. Go. Go!" "I'd be very glad if you didn't tell my mother," Mara says. (Nigh II)

The last line there fucking kills me. "I'd be very glad if you didn't tell my mother." God. And then when she is brave enough to tell Sjur, to try again after last time backfired so fucking spectacularly, Sjur forgives her:

"I was first," Mara says. And she explains the missing half, the first half of the sentence: I made the rules and initial conditions that deceived her into believing she herself had decided It ends like that, where the rest picks up. Sjur Eido looks at her in expressionless silence. Sjur Eido's hands stroke the seam between Mara's skinsuit and the glassy petals of her helmet. Long ago, this woman betrayed her oath and went to serve the Diasyrm, a woman who cried out in anguish at the curse of physicality and the possibility of suffering. Long ago, this woman threw away her whole life to punish the highest crime she could imagine: the denial of transcendent divinity to those who might have claimed it. "You're the devil," Sjur says. "You're the lone power who made death. You allowed the possibility of evil. You might be responsible for more preventable suffering than anything that has ever existed." Mara cannot shake her head or even nod. "Well," Sjur says, "if you hadn't, none of us would be here. I guess I don't see what else you could've done, if you cared about those we left behind. If you wanted us to be able to go back and help in the fight." She leans forward and very gently kisses the inside of her helmet, where it meets Mara's: in her mind, in that place that is bound to all other Awoken, Mara feels the touch of gentle lips. (Tyrannocide III)

And like, those chapters also make me lose my mind because of the twofold meaning of the title- Tyrannocide because she is killing Oryx, yes, but also because she herself is dying. The self-appointed (and only ever real) Queen of the Awoken:

We are risen from man and fallen from heaven. We are made again in the fall. What was once us will not ever again be us. I am the uncrowned ever-Queen and my only diadem will be the event horizon of the universe, which is my dominion. By falling, I will rise. (Palingenesis II)

&

"Mara, with all my respect, all my genuine gratitude for bringing us here," Esila sighs, "who died and made you Queen?" Mara says nothing. But she thinks: Everyone, Esila. All of us died and made me Queen. (Revanche II)

&

On the day the Fallen struck, Mara was proclaimed Queen. It happened swiftly, though after no little debate among the people, for everyone was afraid of a monarch who could speak to their thoughts. Yet they feared more to deny her power and sovereignty, for they had come between worlds in her name. To refuse her would be to refuse their choice. (Revanche V)

And the thing is that she is their queen in such a real and tangible way like she made them she made their fate she can sense every single one of them and feels their deaths and at the same time as she is sacrificing them for The Greater Good she would do anything to save them:

Mara crawls through compartments choked with vaporized coolant. She keeps low and clutches the breather to her face. All she can think of is Kelda Wadj's last message and the data attached. "Mara. The paracausal effects are strongest around you. Whatever's happened to us, you are the locus. I cannot overstate how subtle and how important this discovery might be. Mara, when we use radioactive decay as a trigger for simulated bombs—bombs that could harm Awoken—the trigger atoms are a thousandfold less likely to decay near you. People are literally safer when you are around." She has to get into the riot. She has to protect her people. A horrible groan vibrates through the habitat structure, and then, with an apocalyptic shudder, something tears off the Reef. A ship. A ship is leaving. Mara has failed. ... She rolls onto her back and stares up into the swirling vortices of coolant, seeing faces, futures, the lives she has just lost, the lives she might yet lose. She brought her people here to die in the sense that she brought them into mortality—but she never wanted it to happen quickly. (Revanche IV)

And she keeps losing people and losing people and losing people. So many of the Distributary Awoken defect and go to Earth:

Nasan purses her lips. "I want them to understand that you are—that you—that you are good. That you aren't what they think." Seeing Sjur bristle, she holds up her hand. To her relief, Mara makes a slight warding gesture as well. "And if they know that and still wish to live apart from us on Earth, that's fine. That's their choice." "I don't need them to understand that," Mara says softly. There is the faintest husk of grief in her steady voice. (Chords of Meaning)

And then she loses Nasan too and she comes back as Orin and the Traveler has taken yet another of her people from her (and brought them back wrong!):

"Woof," Sjur Eido says when she sees Orin for the first time, "Mara's gonna hate this." She crosses the detainment cell to get a better look at Gol. "Figured this might happen eventually, but I'd always hoped…" She pulls at the nape of her neck, then gives a little half-shrug: well, what can you do. (Queenslaw)

And then she loses Sjur when she is taken/killed by the Nine:

"This was on her body, Your Grace." A strange coin lay at the center of Abra's outstretched palm. Mara took it between thumb and forefinger and held up it to the cosmos with dainty contempt. Weregild, she thought. Powerful grief filled her chest, as thick and caustic and heavy as unset concrete. (Oathkeeper)

And she turns to Orin for assistance with that and then because of that (!!!) loses Orin again as well:

On the day that Sjur Eido dies, she receives a call from Mara Sov. "I would ask for my boon," the queen says with shaking voice. It is the first time she dares to trust a Guardian. It will not be the last. (Debt)

&

On the day she leaves to find the Nine, the Techeuns name her Orin the Lost. (Synesthesia)

And then she answers the question Alis Li asked her so long ago about whether she is willing to sacrifice her brother (a resounding, grieving, determined yes):

Mara will begin the end of that Queen's brother today. She knows what that means for the fate of her own. An eye for an eye. She must think now of the fate of entire cosmos—and of her tender, half-assembled answer to the cold sword logic of the Hive. She must not grieve. She must not fear. (Tyrannocide IV)

And then at the Battle of Saturn all of this loss she has been dreading and yet causing for millenia finally comes to fruition and she then will have a good long time just sitting with that in Oryx's throne world:

This is the moment of absolute sacrifice, the incarnation of Awoken doom: to give up their lives in defense of the world they once abandoned. The sense of their great dying rips at Mara like a sob. (Tyrannocide V)

It's just like. Such a classic and compelling and well-executed examination of do the ends justify the means? (Seth Dickinson at it again! In so many ways Baru is Mara is Baru is Mara!!!) Every one of her actions led to this point, to defeating Oryx, and was that not worth it? And yet how could it ever be worth it?

I think especially the outside perspectives from Earthborn Awoken & Guardians are really interesting on that front because while they still have the connection to Mara - "However, there was always in their souls an itch, a vector pointing to a distant place in the Asteroid Belt, where their Queen still dwelt." (Revanche V) - they did not choose to follow her and they do not have the same loyalty:

Zavala:

"She was a charlatan," Zavala says, quietly. "Fighting a war that existed only in her mind. Dragging you all behind her. Any of you who will admit that are welcome in my City. But I will not take in whatever conspiracies she left unfinished. If you come to us, you come to join the City." (Refusal)

Arach Jalaal:

She speaks. "Earthborn. Did you mourn for her?" He thinks she will know if he lies. "I respected her, yes, but I despised the way she seemed… entitled… to us all. I never regret choosing the path I did. I was Awoken to continue the search we started long ago. The quest for worlds worthy of our lives." (Fleet)

Master Rahool:

We long feared that if it were intercepted by her Majesty your Queen, it would be denied or manipulated to serve some need of her own. (Of Earth and the Reef)

Mara is just such an incredibly compelling and complex and interesting character and she is so stubborn and full of herself and self-righteous and she saved the solar system and she doomed her people to mortality and she's always right because she has to be and because she makes it so and she keeps secrets from everyone and has lost more people than many people ever meet and she has felt every single one of their deaths. She is everything to me.

[lucabite]

Finally finished up some outfits and names for the other half of the New Orphidian Wrestling Federation. They might be the biggest wrestling org in the country, but damn if it's not a small country.

General plotline thoughts and gimmicks under the cut

NOWF (not the best acronym) is the national wrestling federation for New Orphidian, which is a tiny little island nation. A tax-haven of an island nation, mind you, so it does have some stars, but it's nowhere near the biggest league around. It's got a decent budget, but is sufficiently gimmick-heavy.

The current major storyline features relative newcomer, Chromium Mono, styled as The False Idol. He was a massive get, and is effectively playing a fictionalised version of himself. It'd be hard not to, given his prior celebrity.

He came in swinging as a heel, doing a Dr Jekyll-Mr Hyde style bit, where he is a malevolence overtaking the sweet and corporate pop musician he was previously known as. What helps supremely with this, is that his real-life husband, Tabitha Boss has been folded into the story too, being quite literally his old manager-- And, a relative of the skeevy owner of NOWF, Casper Jr.

(Guys who didn't make it onto the picture vvv. Lightning strike is long retired after a... legal scandal.)

Playing the part of an evil corporate overlord, Tabitha mostly just stands there and looks scary. In Kayfabe, Chrome was literally manufactured as part of their schemes, and his lab-grown nature is what has lead to his eeeevil side.

He is presently involved in the 'brainwashing' of several other wrestlers, and must be stopped before the whole establishment loses their free will...

Next up, an even more recent newcomer (who is not long for the business), is Weapon M. Scouted out by Chrome himself, they were quickly snapped up by the establishment after demonstrating honest-to-god super-strength. Kid can bend a steel pipe without breaking a sweat.

They're a bit of a clumsy liability, being rather untrained, but they fit in perfectly with the whole supersolider narrative they're starting to build, so a rather generic costume was quickly altered to fit them and into the ring they were tossed.

Now, as for more established wrestlers...

Baron Prince, a guy who is so averse to breaking Kayfabe, it's honestly unclear if they are even doing it. This might just be the way they act for real.

Speaking and acting like 18th century nobility, Baron is not really a Heel, moreso just the kind of coward who always tries to pick the winning side. Obviously, this means they get their comeuppance for their treacherous nature quite frequently, and is a great guy to love to hate, even if sometimes. they're on the 'good' side.

Now, poor Bunnyhop is just a regular ol' face. They just also happen to be a jobber, given their skittish demeanor and lanky frame. You always feel bad watching them get thrown around-- and quite often, betrayed by Baron-- but they do a really good job selling it.

The Fence was once a heel, being as imposing as they are-- but sometimes a guy is so lovable outside the ring, it bleeds into their image. They, along with Miracle, are the most prolific in terms of charitable acts and appearances.

In the ring, their actual moveset hasn't changed much since their heel days, still acting as an immovable slab of raw muscle and fat. They aren't all too much taller than their opponents-- in fact, being shorter than bunnyhop and several others-- but their presence is overwhelming. Much like their name would imply, they act as a barrier, stopping anyone from getting past.

Miracle Okami, however, is The Big One. He's the face of the company, and if he didn't have such upstanding moral fibre, would've been snapped up by bigger and better circuits long ago.

Beloved by children across the nation, Miracle too never drops kayfabe-- Since he's just that cool in real life too. The only thing that really changes are his soft jelly-plastic shades being swapped out for real ones.

He is practically a superhero, and has obviously won many a major tournament, only ever tapping out to give someone else a well-deserved win. He even has superpowers, often being allowed to "control electricity" and "create sparks from his hands" via use of light pyrotechnics and lights shows.

He's just impossible to hate (unless you're an edgy teenager, of course, but that's more on them than him).

5-tonne and Bug-squasher are, traditionally, a tag team, albeit one with slightly unaligned goals. 5-tonne is a rude little man, who isn't opposed to fighting dirty, where Bugsquasher is a brute with a heart of gold.

She is, however, often allowed to bring the severed plane tail fin into the ring to use as a weapon.

Allegedly, 5-tonne is similarly a pain backstage, too, and is thus not super good friends with the rest of the performers-- a spot that would otherwise be taken by Baron Prince. Even Bug-squasher, who has been partners with him since the local leagues, has started to take umbridge with him, though she's keeping it civil.

Harley "Heartstopper" Sorell is yet another face, though she's very much the scary kind. A bringer of justice, she's probably best described as being a cop. It helps that she hangs out with them in real-life too, which is, uhhhhh. She rides motorcycles okay.

She's obviously a bit of a fan favourite, as people love cops who Take Justice Into Their Own Hands, but backstage she's seen as a major narc, and will be the first one to tattle on you to management if you start badmouthing them. She's a suckup, but unfortunately she's also one of the few in the federation who comes from an MMA background, rather than theatre, making her a force to be reckoned with.

Diamond-eye Jack is presently here on loan from halfway across the world. A bit of a peace offering between corporations, y'know.

He's the butchest woman in a 500 mile radius, and plays a traditional western cowboy. Very exotic for New Orphidian-- They don't have those here. He can even use a lasso! How exciting.

He is however, acting as an excellent foil for Chrome right now. Pop music vs Country is a classic little culture war, and Jack's cool, calm and suave demeanor plays great against Chrome's ruthless posturing.

They've also got a kind of, cowboy-ninja thing going on with Miracle. A beautiful alliance between cultures. Love wins.

Selene Dulcibel is not yet in the ring, but will be soon. One of Chrome's genuine ex-girlfriends from back in his 20s, the two had a viciously public breakup that was the talk of tabloids for months.

They were also, however, both deeply traumatised people. While Chrome has gotten over it by becoming numb to the whole ordeal, Selene is still very, very hurt. She knows, logically, now, that none of it was his fault-- But-- Well--

A good friend of The Fence outside the ring, when she found out Chrome was back in the country and had become her bestie's co-worker, she kind of, maybe, suggested the storyline.

The Fence thought it was a bad idea (it is), since Selene isn't in a great place mentally, but Casper Jr. LOVED the idea. You can't manufacture bitterness this real and true. She'll be making her debut soon, and it's probably not going to go well for anybody.

The Mad Doctor is not really a wrestler, but is allowed to be gently picked up and thrown around by Chrome. It's all in good fun.

They aren't really canon, being, under the mask, Ali Alighieri. A character who only exists in Purrgatorio. In this continuity however, they are basically Chrome and Tabitha's weird adopted teenager that they found, and so they play a supplementary character to their acts-- The Mad Scientist who 'created' Chrome in the first place.

(The Mad Doctor and Weapon M are effectively mutually exclusive, Chrome only has the capacity to mentor one nonbinary teenager per timeline, oops.)

... Mostly though, Casper's writing quality tends to come out a bit like a guy smacking action figures together, so the circuit isn't held in much high regard by international fans. Everybody loves Miracle, though.

[deltaruminations]

Notes on potential layers to the Scary Number wrt Gaster

(I'm getting tired of typing Gaster's stupid name over and over so I'm calling him G lol)

It's well known that G is closely associated with the number 6, particularly the number of the Beast (666):

The typer value in Deltarune's Introduction (Survey) is 666

Fun Event 66 leads to spr_mysteryman, whose unused battle stats are all repetitions of sixes, and all of the Gaster Followers are found through fun values in the 60s

The typer value used in ENTRY NUMBER SEVENTEEN is also 666

It isn't news to players that UT/DR uses the visual and emotional language of secularized Christian symbols, as well as of the esoteric and occult, to a variety of ends. The use of the Scary Number as a direct reference to Gaster in particular may very well have such layers. Here are some very rough thoughts on that lol

Layer 1 - It Spooky lol

Even to a broad, secular audience, the number 666 is well-associated with the supernatural and occult, and therefore to both fascination and discomfort with the unfamiliar and unknown. It furthers the sense of mystery around G and stokes feelings of unease and mistrust toward him (feelings that may be intended in part to obfuscate his nuance, but also may not be unwarranted in themselves).

It's worth noting that making mysteryman's battle stats so "high" presents G as being mythically, impossibly powerful. Even Flowey X and Asriel only have 9950 HP and 9999 HP respectively. We could also read into those stats as signs of corruption (in a digital sense), as if each value has expanded arbitrarily to fill the maximum characters available to it. This suggests a power that is both impossible, even broken, and lacking any comprehensible meaning or purpose.

Layer 2 - Roles in Conspiracy

The surface associations of 666 with horror themes largely comes as a result of its role in Apocalypticist and syncretic conspiracy theorizing. In the former case, it is often interpreted as the sign of the Antichrist ("one who opposes Christ"); in the latter, it's often believed to be in some way prophetic or indicative of a more secular evil.

Thematically, conspiracy can be taken be taken as a mistrust of information, a dissatisfaction with "canon" answers, and an insatiable drive to find alternative conclusions. The idea that a pursuit of knowledge in itself could be just as (if not more) dangerous dangerous than any truths it seeks to discover is consistent with themes in eldritch and cosmic horror.

From a metanarrative perspective, piecing together G's lore very obviously feels like becoming involved in conspiracy, because in many ways it is. The ambiguity of information demands identifying auspicious symbols and triangulating possibilities between them, while rarely (if ever) having enough information to truly confirm anything beyond doubt. We often find ourselves wondering if it's even a good idea to piece together that lore in the first place -- what is G capable of doing if we do put him together?

We can't know just yet what, if any, significance the idea of conspiracy could have from G's perspective, but we may be able to take some swings. I'll discuss one idea in the speculation section, after layer 3.

Layer 3 - The Beast(s) of Revelation

There's a good chance I'm reading in too deep at this point, but I think it's interesting and worth throwing out there regardless. I should also note that I'm an ex-Catholic who was always very apathetic about the whole Religion Thing so I'm in no way an expert on this lol

The actual Biblical significance of 666 is its association to the Beast of Revelation, specifically as its "mark." However, there are apparently two beasts it could be referring to.

From Wikipedia:

The first beast comes "out of the sea" and is given authority and power by the dragon. This first beast is initially mentioned in Revelation 11:7 as coming out of the abyss.

The second beast comes "out of the earth" and directs all peoples of the earth to worship the first beast. The second beast is associated with Revelation 13:11–18 the false prophet.

"Out of the sea" is obviously a red flag if we consider that whole thing with Onionsan and the music they keep hearing. We may also have reasons to consider "ocean" and "abyss" to be interchangeable in a video game metanarrative context.

"Out of the earth" is less clear -- should we take it as literally coming from underground (ex. from the bunker) or below reality (ex. a Dark World), or as being something that is "of the world," formed out of its material, such as a Lightner? Perhaps such as the Knight?

There's also that stuff about the dragon which idk??? Maybe something there??? is jockington the devil

Again, I think it's hasty to draw any firm conclusions from this. I'll leave my thoughts for the speculative section that follows.

Speculation

These ideas both build upon my thinking that G, before "shattering," was a Lightner in Deltarune and may have been opening Dark Fountains and/or driving sad little men mad with his dastardly charms. This is the part where you're free to just peace out if you think that idea is too bonkers lol I don't blame you

G may have been vulnerable to conspiracy and/or manipulation

Conspiracies tend to take hold because they prey on inherent vulnerabilities in the human (and monster) condition -- our need to adapt to hardship despite having imperfect knowledge -- and not necessarily because believers are malicious in intent or incapable of rationality. Conspiracies are also key tactics of recruitment & control among high-control groups, who prey on those vulnerabilities by claiming to have answers. Note the common trope of cults in Lovecraftian horror.

We have reason to think that G may have tendencies toward excessive, potentially dangerous rationality and may have been vulnerable (at one time) to offers of truth (as well as, possibly, offers of things like personal connection).

We know that G's scientific work -- his pursuit of knowledge -- had dangerous potential. At the very least, it seems to have resulted in the loss of his physical form, if not also whatever happened to the "followers." There's also some stuff about his leitmotif that I think indicates a prone-ness to fruitless rumination (actual music writeup coming eventually. hopefully. maybe. i got a lotta shit to say on that topic ok)

The stuff about connection -- I mean he definitely seeks "connection" now but it's a professional relationship on paper, and he's also been a disembodied consciousness for years so it's no wonder if needs a buddy. But i do (very personally) believe it's pretty reasonable to think that an overanalytical perfectionist with a tendency to speak and behave strangely (ENTRY NUMBER SEVENTEEN indicates that he was weird even before going ghost) and maybe kind of a strange face might have ongoing issues with forming meaningful relationships lmao

G may have been manipulated by the "first beast" into doing whatever doomed the world

G may have, in experimenting with Dark Worlds, uncovered some kind of entity from the "abyss." This entity may have convinced G by Some Means to open further Fountains and share the entity's "truths" (perhaps in the form of shadow crystals). In this way, "666" could be seen as describing G as the false prophet.

ALSO If we believe that he wrote Raslei's prophecy, and consider that it may be itself a flawed reaction to those earlier mistakes (we don't actually know yet whether closing the fountains and amassing all the darkners is a good idea either), then Ralsei is now a false prophet, instated by a beast from the "abyss" (incorporeal romhacker G) to listen to him. so either way the "Dragon" still ends up rising. oh and also G is now sort of abstractly the Antichrist (Antiknight?) working in opposition of "Christ's" (the entity's? the Knight's?) goals. hoo boy are you having fun yet. i sure as shit am

Something that really tickles me about this idea is that for all the stuff we've seen leading us to think of G as an eldritch entity it turns out there actually Could Be some kind of terrible horror with unspeakable intent wreaking havoc but that thing isn't G, G is just the guy who empowered it (and set in motion the destruction of the world/himself in the process)

also just to be clear: the manipulation idea isn't just me jumping through hoops to absolve G of any crimes. we all acknowledge that asgore still stole children's SOULs even though he had sympathetic reasons to do so lol

in hindsight i'm realizing maybe all of the real significance of this could just come down to the whole "antichrist" thing which is very clearly supported in Deltarune (the Knight wants fountains open. G doesn't.) but in the spirit of conspiracy theorizing and false prophecy i'll leave the rest of this up. it's only fitting right

[guzmapkmn-archive]

I just remembered I have mattwald lore written in a journal that I don't think I've ever talked abt

[jils-things]

irene constantine lore post :33

general lore:

irene - the only daughter of the constantine aristocrats. she is recognized as a socialite in the upper class society. socialites are defined as women of rich status who make it a part of their lives to socialize and participate in social activities among women of similar statuses. usually, she would be lucky to be where she is right now - but is she really?

truth be told, she was never a constantine to begin with, her bloodline truly belonged to the lower class - she was an orphan. but due to the inability of lady constantine to have a child, she resorted to adopting little irene - and from that point did her life change for what would supposedly be, for the better.

but even still, irene never felt like she really fitted with the high society. she always felt more connected to the classes lower than her. she always liked to leave her house just to visit the old village of ragged citizens near her house. they are struggling, yes - but they seemed to have so much more freedom than what she has right now - they could run around, sing, dance, and sleep anywhere. it just seemed so fun... unlike her - constantly being taught how to be the "perfect lady". being forced to learn instruments she wasn't interested in, being forced to wear the most uncomfortable of dresses and to walk in heels. it all felt ... so restraining. she only wanted to drink tea and learn every flower and their coded meaning. she wanted to indulge on her personal interests, but they were deemed as "unnecessary". she liked chamomile tea, because it was just as pretty as it is delicious as tea.

it was hard to tell if she's being spoiled or not - wanting to escape her incredibly privileged life. shouldn't she be happy that she's basically saved from a difficult childhood? that was her biggest debate growing up.

but her struggles weren't just that - being a rich, young lady was basically the perfect time to wed, and to extend family wealth among other families. the worst part, she couldn't even choose who she wanted to love - it was still forced. it's almost like an unfair trade, she gets to live comfortably but in exchange - will be treated like a doll who can be controlled by her owners as they please.

and now, the carpet has paved a way for her to marry an unknown man, just to keep the family wealth strong. at this point, she nearly given up trying to fight for her desire and freedom because there's really no one to make her mind but herself, and maybe she was really just too selfish.

that would all change when she meets that miner. a simple stroll to destress from her thoughts of an arranged marriage would land her on a poor man who had nothing, but her whole attention on him

would she risk her happiness and joy for an unknown man for the pride her family, or call herself selfish and abandon what makes her a noble, to love a poor miner who had nothing?

~ ~

close relations

emma and irene are very close to each other - perhaps it was due to their common interest in flowers. emma is a gardener, so she'd have much access and familiarity to plants of any kind. irene has an interest in tea - they would absolutely bond over trying out delicious tea flavors together and would decorate each other's hair in flowers. emma would gift her baskets of flowers if she could

while their connections are unknown at the moment, naib cares for irene very deeply - irene somewhat innocent and gleeful - not aware of danger sometimes. but perhaps that's something that naib thinks is worth protecting. as a mercenary, he has seen many things that are nothing but an agonizing display of life. irene was still young and fruitful, and she still has much time to prosper and enjoy her life as a young lady. he has a hard time verbally expressing his care to her, so he mostly watches over her when he can.

the miner that stole her heart, irene truly cared for norton since day one. she has witnessed his hard efforts to make up for his difficult life - yet gets disregarded like a piece of paper by his fellow miners. she wanted him to know that someone was out there, constantly rooting for his perseverance. she always found ways to give him what he was robbed of. money, food, water, clothes - anything to replace what taken away from him. but norton was hard to please at first - he had a bitter taste towards rich people like her, and assumed that she was trying to manipulate him. but she kept going, just to let him know that she wanted the best for him. he eventually warmed up to her and got along with her nicely. they both started to like each other by then. by the time the explosion has occured, she did everything to let him recover and admitted she cared for him, much more than she anticipated. norton felt compelled to do something to reciprocate how much he cared for her as well.

along the way of their relationship, many complications has risen as time went on, especially with irene's supposed arranged marriage - but that will be for another time :3 but trust me, things will get better from there 💚 i also want to remind that i try to stay away from the canonical plot where everyone goes to the manor - i have a separate universe for that but it's probably not going to be very major unlike this one. basically this universe is "what if the oletus invitation letter never appeared anyway" 🔥🔥

extra facts on irene!

- her survivor title is "socialite"

- i still don't have an idea on her "game kit" since im focused on her story

- her blue color scheme will be considered as a skin alternative (since the game has a lot of skin recolors.) it would also match norton's cordierite skin :3

- her arranged husband is still anonymous - i don't have plans to design him (at least for now)

- if fool's gold was present in an alternative timeline, she's still accepting of him because he's still the same person she cared about before the explosion

header: @/hyelita

[crimson-catalyst]

wrote my july 2022 neph prompt, "meaningful belongings" featuring Darius and @synoicus' Kira!!!!! enjoy im very proud of this one!

~~~~~

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you," one of the designers for this season's show wanders up to Darius' station, "where did you get your jacket? Is it custom? I love it."

"I-" Darius fights back the initial panic that surged when they gestured at his shoulders, trying to steady his voice to respond properly…

--

His phone rang, startling Darius from his reverie of staring blankly at whatever was on TV. Grasping blindly for his phone, he fumbled with the screen, eventually successfully swiping the ‘answer’ badge.

"H-"

"DUDE," Darius tipped the phone away from his ear as Kira's enthusiasm blew out the mic on her own.

"there's this TOTALLY SICK BAND THROWDOWN tonight at that club up on thirty-second!!!! Cold Brewing Storm and Zap Attack'll be there!!!! You're coming right??? Wanna ride together with me?? Toby said 'no' like a WEENIE cos he 'wants to get sleep tonight' or whatever."

"I…" Darius hesitated in the opening Kira finally afforded him. He'd have loved to. Of course he would've. But…

"I can't. sorry," he mumbled, pathetically. It felt bad. He could feel Kira's confusion in the silence.

"...that's the third time this week, dude." her voice was markedly softer, concern plain as day across the line, "You've been real down all of a sudden. Did something happen?"

"No."

Kira’s response was simply a contemplative pause, but of course that didn’t last for long.

"I'm coming over."

"Kira no yo-"

The call ended with a click and Darius snarled at the air as he lowered the phone from ear range. He furiously texted her instead: kira, dont. go to the show itll be great. kira. kira!!!! kira im fine!

She didn't deign to so much as leave him a read receipt. S'pose he should've known better; when Kira's mind was made up, there was little chance of stopping her. He sighed angrily, tugging at the unfamiliar t-shirt tight around his neck. He'd just have to stomach chatting with her long enough til she was satisfied and went home. At least she was easy to distract.

Ears flat back, annoyed with himself for even thinking this way about Kira, of all nephs, he shook himself to his feet and surveyed his immediate surroundings. It was pretty clear he’d had little energy to do much other than lay around on the couch feeling sorry for himself. He'd have to clean up at least a bit or she'd never believe his claims.

There was a knock on the door just as Darius put the last dry dish back in the cabinet. Flinging the towel across the back of a chair and slapping the trash shut - he'd have to take it out another time - he scampered to the door before Kira took his dallying as her cue to make more noise than the neighbors would appreciate.

He opened it just a crack, peering into the hall. "Kira I'm-"

"I BROUGHT SOUP," she barged the rest of the way past the door, past Darius, and into his apartment. "ITS GETTING COLD COME GET SOME!"

"Kira!" he helplessly trailed after her, the door falling lamely shut in her wake. "I'm okay this isn't necessary!"

"Nonsense," she yelled from the kitchen, her big, tinfoil-covered pot clanging onto the stovetop. "Where are your spoons?"

"In there -" he pointed reflexively before he realized he was enabling her, "but for real; you're gonna miss out on the show! You LOVE Zap Attack!"

"And Zap Attack," Kira muttered as she rustled around in his drawer, "PALES in comparison to how much I love my HOMIES!" she declared, brandishing a ladle. "So THERE."

Darius rolled his eyes, "please, I'm fine."

"I may love you but, full offense, you look like you rolled out of bed and right back into it a few days in a row, bud."

He grimaced. She wasn't wrong.

"And you're wearing a shirt. There's no way you're fine," she jabbed him playfully with the ladle. "ya nudist."

"It's! Comfy," he lied.

“Sure.” Kira rolled her eyes in return, turning back to the stove and tearing the foil off her soup to give it a stir. The little flames of the gas stove flickered tauntingly underneath the pot’s copper base and Darius felt queasy.

“You don’t have to tell me exactly what’s going on, man, but I know you; you’re stronger than this. You can own up to it when you’re having a rough time.” She drew the ladle back out of the pot, tipping her glasses to her forehead so they wouldn’t steam up as she sampled the soup. “Oh, good, it’s still toasty.”

Darius could practically feel his frustration building. “I’m an adult, Kira, I can handle it myself.”

“oh-HOH!” Kira whirled around and pointed at him again with the now-wet ladle, much to Darius’ chagrin. “So you ADMIT you’re feeling it!”

“I-” his cheeks burned and he grit his teeth, desperately trying to keep his boiling emotions in and incriminating himself in the same silence.

“Darius,” her voice soft again, Kira stepped down from the stove and closer to him. “I can’t help you if you aren’t willing to let me.”

"I"m FINE," he snapped, growling deep in his throat, but his mane prickled and crawled and he knew his game was up as a burst of flame crackled through his t-shirt.

Kira's ears flattened and she recoiled at the sudden heat. Upon opening her eyes again Darius had completely deflated, head in his hands beneath sagging shoulders and tail limp on the ground as fire leaped from his fur.

"Clearly," she remarked, insatiable need for snark getting the better of her.

"What happened?" she added more gently, "you can talk to me about it."

"I can't," Darius groaned, finally lifting his head and fixing her with a baleful stare through lidded eyes.

She poked him with the ladle, making a wet stain on the rags of his shirt. "Sure you can, this is a no-judgement zone."

He dragged his paws down his face. "No, Kira, its under NDA I actually can't."

"You got cursed on air-"

"mrmgmh NO I JUST--" Darius flailed wildly before freezing mid-gesture, and took a deep breath.

"I-" he looked around, strained, picking his words carefully "I… misused my magic."

"It wasn't during shooting and I don't think anyone knows it was me but I. It'll…" he growled in ‘legal bullshit’ frustration, "...it'll affect the season."

"Darius…"

"I KNOW. I know," he moaned, "I fucked up! It's a miracle I haven't been fired and it's only a matter of time before they find out. It's constant, Kira; the smoke, I- I had to take the batteries out of the alarm. And it smells like campfire in here, I'll never get it out-" he paused for breath, his thoughts finally gushing out in a panicked stream, and Kira padded around to sit beside him on the tile floor.

"And I'm-" the word caught in his throat, "I'm cursed. It's not like it'll go away; everyone - everyone - will know forever that I did it. That I-” his voice petered out into a whine, and he looked up at the badly-stuccoed ceiling, willing the tears he felt welling in his eyes to drain away.

Kira sighed. She knew he hailed from a conservative Nephfeist hometown, but this doom-and-gloom was so uncharacteristic for her normally overconfident friend that it was throwing her a bit off her groove.

“I know it must feel like it but it’s not gonna be the end of the world, dude.” she poked her own nubby sea-devil horns. “Mine’s a little different, but speaking from experience, I promise it won’t change you. Sure some assholes are gonna look at you funny but that’s their problem; and it’s their problem with spinx, not you, and they don’t deserve your time if they’re gonna be like that.”

“Gods,” he grimaced, “I can’t even stomach the idea of the looks I’ll get.”

“...and so you haven’t left your apartment all week?”

Darius glowered at her.

“I’d call you a weenie too but like… I get it, man. It’s not something you can overpower in your brain in just a day.” She patted his fluffy chest in lieu of his still-flaming shoulders. “I know you’ve got it in you but maybe let’s start simple today.”

Kira got to her feet and walked over to the chair she had draped her jacket across, the dishtowel underneath slipping down to the seat as she lifted it off.

“There’s no way this’ll fit you,” she remarked as she brought it back to the much larger Darius, “but if being seen is the problem-”

Darius winced as she threw it over the scraps of his unquestionably ruined t-shirt, waiting for the flames to blister through the leather - but instead to his relief felt them finally die back to smoke underneath. Kira bumped his chin up with a claw and drew the collar tight in front of him, letting the far-too-small sleeves hang limp over his sides.

“There,” she declared, triumphant. “Maybe it’s only a bandaid for now, but bandaids are the first step to healing: No smoke. No weird looks. No guilt.”

“Definitely some guilt,” Darius almost managed a smirk.

“Okay, fine, some guilt, but private guilt,” Kira’s eyes glittered happily hearing the smile in his voice again. “Baby steps.”

“...thanks, Kira,” Darius finally acquiesced, “sorry I couldn’t- didn’t say anything. It’s… a lot.”

A huge, goofy grin broke across Kira's face. “It’s okay, dude. That’s what friends are for, to force you into letting em care about you.” She put her arm around his back comfortingly, tugging again on the jacket collar with her other paw. “I’ll bring you a real one tomorrow, okay? But first: SOUP.”

--

Darius shook his head quickly to clear it, masking it as a part of conversation.

“Sorry, it was a gift from a friend,” he shrugs with his paws. “I’m not sure where she got it.”

“Drat,” the centicorn designer smiles good-naturedly despite their disappointment. “I’d have loved to see more of the line. Patterning tailored shoulders on spinx is a feat but that jacket looks great on you.”

“Well, thanks,” he smiles back unbidden, tugging on the lapels, and adds with a snicker, “It'd better, this one means a lot to me.”

[elderdragonapologist]

How do you feel about the characterization given to the elder dragons with the gen 3 leggys? They have such unique world views and I can see how each one of them got twisted into being more agressive. Like Zhi just wanting to help people not be afraid of death by ripping off the band-aid so to speak

So far I'm really enjoying the content we're getting for the elder dragons. I'll fully admit I was a dinosaur/dragon kid and as an adult nothing has changed and in game any snippet we got for the dragons as characters over force of nature had me raring to develop it further and think about who they are and what they could have been. I'm going to snip the..absolute essay I've typed continuing this for peoples dash's sake lol.

I've been pretty pleasently surprised that every drop has either aligned closely to my + my friend-slash-rp-and-worldbuilding-buddy's interpretations of them or has shed light to aspects we hadn't considered but made a lot of sense with what we already had. Zhaitan being our first drop and giving us a side that we never got to see (both because elder dragons be elder dragons and GW2's stories evolved in leaps and bounds since the personal storyline from 10 yrs back!) was so exciting cause Zhaitan is probably the dragon I leant into characterising first because his death always felt so tragic to me. I'm biased as a dragon-lover who hates any dragon dying but I think about the corner he was in and the urge to round him out was immense and he's kinda become one of my favourites. How I read the descriptons I can't help but see a theme/connection between Zhaitan and Trahearne in a way. That Zhaitan, in his own way, was trying to make something of Orr, admired the beauty of something long dead, in a similar fashion to Trahearnes love, he dedicated his life to studying it after all. Mordremoth was also wild to me because gonna be honest I found it VERY hard to decide who he was. The legendary text gave me a lot to see his angle with the Sylvari and whilst I see him as being the most similar in nature to the Mordy we meet in the canon, I understand his reasons so much better. (He's still probably up there for hardest dragon for me to write as other than Jormag, though in Jormags case its I'm not as good at being so chatty whilst also keeping so much close to chest.) My interpretation, headcanon (is it headcanon if this is basically what the canon says?) I guess, about what we see in the weapons and the hints of character is that... ultimately the dragons were doomed to what they became. That they were individuals with unique personalities which coloured their personal form of 'corruption' as such but that their purpose of handling the worlds magic would inevitibly steal away who they were, void poisoning I guess you could call it. That doesn't excuse the harm all of them have caused the world of course. But it sure as hell makes me feel very deeply for this messed up family who never really had a chance of turning out any better. I am both excited and terrified to see how they handle Primos weapons after seeing Jormags. I feel like it may help enlighten some of Jormags descriptions because I go back and forth with how I'm reading Jormags flavortext at the moment. (Then of course in future we'll get Soo-Won, who we got a decent amount of speaking time with but I would LOVE to hear more from Momma Dragon herself)

[dyketubbo]

thinking on ctubbo again one thing that always irks me is when ppl will just straight up say that he didnt forgive cwilbur during one year later. sure wilbur had perceived it as tubbo Not forgiving him because to wilbur forgiveness and trusting someone again are intertwined but like. thats not true for tubbo and thats what we should process his statements during one year later as

tubbo is often very blunt and sure he lies a lot but like. he very plain and simple said he forgave wilbur, he just doesnt trust wilbur. to ctubbo, forgiveness and trusting again are not intertwined. he forgave but he didnt trust again. he still continues to forgive without trusting again. sure, did he end up being pissed at wilbur again? yeah! yeah in hitting on 16 when he heard wilbur was up to some shit again he was upset and even if it wasnt verbal he likely rescinded that forgiveness in that moment. and sure, even if theres gripes to be had about the second apology to tubbo stream and not addressing ho16 or ranboos permadeath, tubbo gave what wilbur could process as a fuller and more genuine statement of forgiveness.

but he still did forgive wilbur the first time. that wasnt like. a lie. regardless of if he took it back or meant it more the second time he still said he forgave wilbur and meant it the first time. its a minor thing to be irked by but it just feels like either a misinterpretation or just some sort of disconnect in understanding what ctubbo meant back then

[elliewiltarwyn]

Ellie and Ysayle

DANG got hit right out of the gate with an NPC Ellie definitely has thoughts and feelings about, but I haven't actually thought about it yet dshfaklfjgs so this is all off the cuff!!

(and ofc it got long so...)

---------------

Ellie did not easily settle into the role of Warrior of Light; it felt ill-fitting and sometimes wrong, especially as she grew in notoriety and renown and started having people worship the ground she walked on for supposedly worshipping and being "blessed" by Hydaelyn. Never did she feel she could bring it up with her friends, not even her co-Warriors of Light Lily and Mia.

But an enemy... She knew the truth, she thought, she knew primals are an existential threat and cannot be suffered to live... but the Lady Iceheart was the first person who was able to put words to the unease roiling within her. It's likely "we who gods and men have forsaken shall be the instruments of our own deliverance!" dominated her thoughts until the bloody banquet pushed them out. How much agency does she truly have as a Warrior of Light -- is she bound to Hydaelyn's will? To the Scions'? She (and Mia and Lily) are the ones here in this amphitheatre fighting for...what, if not their own ideals? The Empire was such an easier villain to abhor in contrast.

When Alphinaud suggested appealing to Iceheart, she leapt at the chance because it felt like something within her own power -- her own will. And as she grew to know Ysayle Dangoulain proper, she found common ground in the distrust of those who consider themselves superior, who believe they have the right to use their powers -- their blessings, their Echoes -- as their own political pawns.

Mia had made overtures since the bloody banquet, but Ysayle was the first person Ellie felt truly understood her. Especially since she couldn't well speak of the hypocrisy of harming innocents in her quest for justice, because Ellie had very much made the same mistakes battling the primals in Alliance lands, if not on so grand a scale.

And as a person in her own right... she admired how strong Ysayle and her convictions were, to the point she found herself doubting if her own could stand up (but she found great pleasure in discovering that armor could be chipped by Petting Fluffy Moogle). The more they spent time together on the journey to Hraesvelgr, the more moments of softness, vulnerability, and warmth she found in a woman supposedly made of ice, and the more she grew to admire her. She found herself drawn to Ysayle almost as she had been with Minfilia, for a similarly earnest heart below a masking exterior -- she might very well have fallen in love if she wasn't still so raw with grief from the bloody banquet.

It might be better that she hadn't, because the very same grief and pain she suffered from losing Minfilia struck her regardless as she witnessed Shiva's form dissipating and a lone blue-robed Elezen plummeting to her doom through the clouds, and she found herself cursing whatever higher powers steer their fates even more. It also instills an even deeper distrust of Hydaelyn -- what exactly is She demanding of Her servants, of people with warm hearts like Minfilia and Ysayle? Of people like her? That sort of distrust isn't well and truly dispersed until she meets Venat in Elpis -- and I think (way more than I used to) Ysayle's memory lingers in Ellie's mind the entire time.

...that was way more than I expected holy shit lol, thanks for the ask @ubejamjar!!

[nerice]

EVERY SINGLE TIME I TRY TO DRAFT AN ASK TUMBLR YEETS IT INTO THE AETHER I HATE IT HERE

[deltaruminations]

ok here's an extremely stripped-down summary of what i think could be the basic mechanisms & reasoning of Gaster Knight (& also a basic explanation of that stupid romhack metaphor i keep alluding to):

basic mechanisms:

Will = ability to change trajectory of universe (ability to make choices that "matter")

we'll say there are two actors: "The Man" and "WD." i have chosen these names for Reasons

The Man = incorporeal, out-of-universe Gaster who talks to us & facilitates the game. does not possess Will

WD = corporeal, in-universe Gaster. possesses Will

from The Man's perspective, WD is his past. from an in-universe perspective, WD is theoretically contemporary to the events of Deltarune the game, but from the in-universe perspective by the time of our entry into the game, he doesn't exist and has never existed.

Deltarune the universe is like a ROM with assets and programming. removing assets doesn't change its programming. the actions still execute, there's simply no asset to associate with them -- its space in memory (IF YOU WILL!!!) is empty. there's an indication of this "programming" mechanism in the fact that defeating a secret boss in one file will cause them to be defeated in the others from that point on. oh also that thing goner kid says about the world still functioning without you

WD "is" the unseen actor opening the fountains we've seen so far (not Kris's, obviously). all of his assets have been removed, which means no one can associate him with those actions, but those actions are still executing because he already programmed them into the universe (carved them into the Earth) with his Will. WHY he "is" doing this is unclear, but i think there might be indicators that he's at the very least unaware of the consequences.

In Deltarune the universe, only actors with Will (in-universe Lightners) can change the programming. neither The Player nor The Man can touch it directly.

The Man seemingly has some amount of control over assets, however, evidenced by his ability to create* a vessel (Possibly Among Other Things) and swap out dark world rooms to give teenagers eggs. The Man may have actually erased WD's assets himself.

how any of this shakes out from here (ex. how will Kris's fountain affect anything?) is anyone's guess and the vast majority of this game is still an absolute mystery but yeah. Gaster Knight maybe?

basic justifications:

the idea that it's the missing WD's choices resulting in the unseen Knight's Fountains is indicated by the seeming absence of knowledge about the Knight by darkners who supposedly interacted with them (they are "programmed" to know of/have met them but have no data to access). there MAY also be some subtle (well. maybe not always so subtle) cues in where Gaster's leitmotif is and isn't present in-universe. OH and also i almost forgot freaking entry seventeen/memoryhead what am i even doing

the justifications for why i think The Man may have removed WD's assets himself are harder to summarize. but basically: it seems like his intention is for the fountains to be closed, seemingly the opposite of the Knight's intentions, and we know that he wants a "NEW FUTURE". if WD is the Knight, then The Man is essentially looking to reverse his own past actions. this means that he regrets them and may be motivated in part by guilt/shame. he could have erased WD because he thought it'd erase the actions too (it didn't) or he may have erased him out of shame and/or maybe he needed that space in memory for something else.

i think the idea that he feels some amount of guilt/shame is bolstered by a certain amount of emotional storytelling that I Believe occurs in the scenes in which we interact with him (musical choices, closing the window/returning us to title after certain actions, possible symbolism of Egg). also memoryhead

if true, the narrative choice of Gaster Knight could be considered to contribute to/reflect various broader themes ex. Do Choice Matter/Maybe But Only With Help/Do We Influence With Kindness Or Violence, etc (when Gaster had choice, the choices he made caused pain, and now he can't change them except with assistance/through influence) & and Relationship Of Player To Options Available In Story (Gaster thinks Deltarune's (the universe's) ending sucks so he metaphorically "made a romhack" of it so he could write an ending he thinks is better)

oh also. just to put a finer point on it, "time and space" -> two instances of him (his consciousness and his Will) technically exist concurrently, even though one is also technically in his past + he "exists" both in and out of universe at the same time. also if we put any stock in the romhack metaphor, his "space" in "memory" has been altered (his assets were removed, and he may have used that space to "create" other things (characters, Egg), thereby shattering what would have been his "form" across the DR universe

experiment (dark fountains) went wrong (roaring) but this may not have itself caused "shattering." shattering may or may not have been intentional, we don't have the info yet to say imo

* whether or not he can actually "create" entirely new things (as in, open a new space in memory) or only swap out existing assets is its rabbit hole so let's just disregard that for right now. ok

[hubertbuisness101]

In case anybody was wondering who the pink Hubert clone is. That's Mubert! Ulthar made them for Liz :] Mubert works functionally similar to Spearmaster. In the fact they grow their own spears and throw them around. Mubert and Hubert would (functionally) work like a Spearmaster and Rivulett duo- meaning that Hubert holds Mubert and Mubert throws spears at everybody. They also have a "kid" of sorts. This kid being a Green Lantern Mouse that they both adopted. While Hubert is immune to DDL, Mubert and Sherbert (the lantern mouse) are not. Thus they usually stick close to home. As their home region knows not to hurt either of them (as Diseases communicates with the DDL of their region to not attack/harm Mubert or Sherbert)