#reunification of the split

[champagnepodiums]

Could you explain the merge of CART and IndyCar?

OKAY so reunification of CART and INDYCAR (I'm going to just be operating under the thought that we know why CART and IRL split in the first place). I'm going to keep it as straightforward as possible but it's messy lol

So after the Split, CART was in a better position -- it had the cars, the sponsorships, the big names etc. CART saw an increase in annual revenue from $38M in 1995 to $68M in 1999. But it was not even because oval attendance was tanking. Television ratings were terrible and the revenue from TV was abysmal (all season CART would make $5M which was less than what some singular NASCAR races made). They also did a public stock offering, selling 35% of the company, raising $100M.

In 1999, young star Greg Moore and emerging talent Gonzalo Rodriguez were killed in two separate racing incidents, two months apart from each other and that started raising safety questions.

In 2000, CEO Andrew Craig was forced by the car owners to resign. He was replaced with Bobby Rahal (yes, Graham's dad lol).

While oval attendance was declining, street course attendance was healthy and CART decided to focus on that as well as oversea ovals which angered some of the more traditional owners and sponsors.

In 2000, Chip Ganassi's team returned to the Indy 500 (and won).

In 2001, CART released a very ambitious schedule -- 22 races in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, the UK, Germany and Australia. One of the races added was the Texas oval which had put on an exciting IRL race the year further.

But the season went like this: Brazil was cancelled when promoters didn't pay, Texas had to be cancelled because the drivers were sustaining too many G-Forces and blacking out in the corners and it was a PR nightmare essentially.

The three manufactures of CART at the time were Honda, Ford and Toyota. Honda and Ford had developed a turbo pop off valve (I don't know what it is lol) and Toyota complained so when CART mandated a change to equalize things, Honda obtained an injunction allowing them to use it which pissed everrrrrybody off. Toyota announced it was going to IRL in 2003.

The German 500 happened the Saturday after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The teams were unable to leave because airspace was shut down so they decided to go ahead with the race and that pissed people off... including ESPN who refused to air the race live. Alex Zanardi lost both legs in an accident at the German 500 so like we're just shoveling the bad PR on at this point.

To make matters even worse for CART, ABC/ESPN which had been airing their races signed an exclusivity deal with IRL (to keep the Indy 500 rights) so CART went to the SPEED channel and they bought time on CBS but really, this is just the straw that breaks the camel's back because without the exposure from ABC/ESPN, sponsors don't stick around etc.

And remember how they put 35% of the company up for public offer? This comes back into play because they allowed teams to disinvest and sell their stocks which meant new voices were coming in and there was just instability and turmoil.

In 2002, Honda announced it was going to IRL so Ford would be the only manufacturer left which further tanked the stocks and at this point, most everybody has already or are going to jump ship to IRL.

CART declared bankruptcy in 2003 and rebranded to Champ Car and was able to keep themselves afloat. I want to leave Champ Car there for a hot second.

The Split killed a lot of interest in American Open-Wheel racing and allowed NASCAR to become the most popular motorsport series in the US. So even though IRL had the ABC/ESPN deal and had the top teams and manufacturers jumping ship to join them, interest is waning (and that is bad because sponsorship, attendance etc etc). And also, the die hard IRL fans are getting mad because they feel like their sport is getting overtaken by CART again -- it doesn't help when the 2005 IRL schedule includes 2 road course races, ending the 7 seasons of oval only.

Manufacturers withdrew support starting in 2006 and that caused major issues for IRL because teams were struggling financially and teams had to cut back or quit full time racing altogether.

By January 2008, both Champ and IRL were starting to worry that they wouldn't have enough cars on the grid to maintain their contract minimums so Tony George offered a merger deal with IRL buying all of Champ Car's assets basically. They kept racing under the IRL banner until 2011.

In 2012 it was rebranded as INDYCAR and that is when they dug out the Astor Cup from the depths of IMS and reunification was complete.

That turned into a much longer essay than I planned. Please, any clarification questions (or just general questions) are so welcome. I love talking about this stuff and no question is stupid, I want people to know and understand motorsport history so please feel free!! I cannot stress that enough lol

[bidisastersanji]

Was talking with @anniilaugh about would be the funniest/stupidest reality tv shows for Sanji and Zoro to meet at so here’s a few ideas and please feel free to add your own lol

The Bachelor: hopeless romantic Sanji as the bachelor being courted by Gin, Pudding, Ace, Pedro, Violet, Katakuri, etc (all the other ships) as well as a debt-ridden Zoro who was pushed by Nami to sign up to try and get prize money (in this instance you can get a lot of prize money if you’re chosen by the bachelor and leave, or you split with him if you stay or something?) the ANGST as Zoro gets a very bad first impression but fights to stay on (for the money) and tries to charm his way into Sanji’s heart, only to start falling for him too . Sanji would struggle SO much deciding who to give roses to lol. pudding would be sweet and kind to him but calculating/ manufacturing drama behind the scenes.

Survivor- now you’ll tell me how dare you put Sanji on an island to starve again and to that I say- this time he’s prepared and he’ll forage and fish and is doing it to prove to himself he can/that he’s over his trauma . He and Zoro are on opposing teams at first and then get to know each other at reunification

A baking/cooking show for non-professionals, with Zoro as a contestant and Sanji as a chef judge . Alternatively, Sanji as a contestant on a pro one and Zoro is a celebrity guest with the difficult palate they need to please

Fort Boyard: Sanji freaking out with the bugs and spiders, the team losing their mind because all the instructions they scream at Zoro through the door are being carried out in the exact opposite manner, both parties impressing the other with their feats. Fort boyard is a show for half-famous people so it could be fun if they’d heard of each other before/are each others celebrity crushes

Mister Universe- mister France and mister Japan meet and fall in love Ehehe

The bi life/any dating by the pool type dating show: Sanji is a hopeless romantic and Zoro got signed up by Perona. They butt heads at first

The Amazing Race: established relationship ZSZ , fan favourites, always arguing and getting lost because of Zoro, the underdogs

Love on the spectrum: Zoro, swords and sword fighting special interest guy meets Sanji, romcoms and cooking special interests guy

Too hot to handle : Demi!Zoro signs up thinking it’ll be a piece of cake since there’s no way he’ll develop feelings for superficial people like the ones that usually come into that show, he’ll manage to stay celibate no problem and get away with the prize money easy . Enter Sanji, and all his plans go to hell

Queer eye: zoro is the « hero of the week » and Sanji is the food and wine expert, need i say more?

L’amour est dans le pré(love is in the field)/Farmer wants a wife husband: farmer zoro and city boy Sanji

Naked attraction: this would actually be super hilarious if for some reason one of them didn’t fully read or understand the concept of the show being full frontal nudity as the basis for selecting a partner

My mind is going wild with the possibilities but you get it lol- what shows did I miss ??

[olympeline]

An intriguing historical Hetalia question is what happens when a country is temporarily “split” into two or more new parts/nations. If they stay split it’s obvious, but what about when the parts eventually go back to being one?

There’s plenty of examples but I’m mainly thinking of France in WW2. Was there very briefly a Vichy France nation alongside normal (Free) France? Or was France just a prisoner of Germany because a new national personification is only “born” after a certain amount of time when it becomes clear this is the new status quo and the word accepts it?

See also: America during their civil war. Union America vs. his newly created twin brother Confederate America?

And if these new nation people exist, what happens to them when reunification takes place? Do they die? Fade away? Are they reabsorbed into their other half? If it’s the last option, does the original nation get all their memories?

Interesting, interesting thoughts 🤔

[redroomreflections]

Hair Love

Wanda Maximoff x Natasha Romanoff x teen!reader

Summary: Wanda learns how to do Bunny’s hair

The full completed story is on my A03

Wanda had always wondered what it would be like to be a parent. Since she was a child she always knew she wanted to be like her mother. Caring, kind, loving. She imagined a child that would look similar to her features. She thought of the best life, the best care, everything different than her childhood. Somewhere along the way she lost that vision. She gave up on what could have been and redirected. Then she met Natasha and the fantasy reared its head again. Wanda imagined her child. She knew the imaginary being like the back of her hand. Whatever image she created in her head was no comparison to the real thing.

Bunny is fifteen. She’s quiet. Sullen. Secretive. Wanda wouldn’t describe those as bad but she doesn’t know what to do. The child she imagined in her mind was nothing but an image. The one right in front of her is the real deal. Nothing she imagined but everything she needed and wanted in her life.

Wanda knows she shouldn’t get too carried away. It’s only been a few weeks. Bunny’s only here temporarily. Until her biological mother can carry through with her case plan. Wanda doesn’t want to think about it. Her duty as a foster parent is to fight for reunification. That’s what the foster system is and sometimes what it should be. She questions every day if she wants that.

Wanda doesn’t know how long Bunny has been sitting on the front porch. She happened across her after going to bring laundry up to the bedrooms. The front door was open slightly, allowing the screen door a perfect visual of her turned back, as she sat all alone. Wanda approached the door, wondering if she should talk, and fighting with herself on what to say. In Wanda’s fantasy, she knew everything. Here in the present day, she knows nothing. She doesn’t know how to make things better. She doesn’t know what makes the young girl tick. She only knows what she’s been given and then some.

Bunny is a nuanced human who lived an entire life before her. The young girl may see her as nothing more than a roadblock to her freedom. Wanda can’t tell as much. The few conversations they’d had gave Wanda more than she needed to know and even then she didn’t know everything. She wishes she could. Maybe then she could ease some of the hurt that’s always present in those big, brown eyes. There’s a story behind them. One she would like to know if Bunny would let her in.

Wanda stands at the door, laundry basket balanced on her hip, another hand hesitantly reaching for the door. Bunny isn’t aware of her presence. If she is she doesn’t make it known. Wanda notices a pattern in her behavior. The way the young girl tenses whenever one of them moves around her. The way she sits up straighter after she’s done her chores. It’s as if she’s afraid one of them will tell her she’s done wrong. Bunny never misses her duties. She cleans, tidies, and makes it as if she’s not there. She hides in her room in the daytime and only comes out at night. Her homework is already done before they check it.

Wanda always noticed the girl would sit with her head down and her head in her hands whenever they did speak to her. Natasha is the one to coax her out with cookies and milk. It’s one of the things Wanda loves about her wife. The ability to get anyone to warm up to her. Wanda on the other hand struggles a bit more. She’s not a very open person herself. She doesn’t have years of communications training to fake it either. Sure, she can talk. She can stand up for herself when needed. Making friends? That’s never been easy for her.

She knows she has to put in the effort. She’s the foster parent. She’s supposed to be the one to help. It was just a couple of weeks ago Bunny came into their home. She supposes she could have some leeway.

There’s a split second that Bunny turns her head. Not enough to be looking at her. Wanda would have missed it if she wasn’t already looking. She places the basket next to the front door and takes a deep breath. It’s now or never. She could do this. She could be supportive. She would use her training. She could be there for her.

“Hi,” Wanda says a bit too enthusiastically as she steps out onto the porch. Bunny looks up at her.

“Hi,” She mutters back. “I’m only out here for a little. My homework’s already done.” She adds as if to keep herself out of trouble. Wanda takes note of it.

“No, you’re fine,” Wanda assures her. “Do you mind if I sit?”

“It’s your house,” Bunny wants to say but she doesn’t. Her lips remain clamped shut. She nods. Instead of sitting on the porch swing or one of the chairs, Wanda comes and sits right next to her. Bunny freezes. She breathes through her nose. She closes her legs tight, wrapping her arms around her knees, before letting them hang loosely.

“What are you doing out here?” Wanda asks after a moment of silence.

“Looking at the houses,” Bunny shrugs. “They’re all so big. It’s crazy that people live here.” Her gaze sweeps over the row of houses once again.

“I agree.” Wanda nods. “Where I’m from we didn't see things like this.”

“Me either,” Bunny agrees.

“Which one is your favorite?” Wanda asks.

Bunny seriously considers the question. Her nose wrinkles, her brows furrowing, and her lips pursed as she thinks. She raises her finger to point behind her.

“I think yours is the best,” She begins. “I don’t know. It looks lived in. You have flowers in the garden and I don’t know. It feels homey. Lived in.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Wanda says. Bunny nods again. There’s another silence. “Great job, Wanda. You’re doing wonderful.” The redhead thinks to herself.

“Natasha should be home soon,” She finds herself saying. Bunny looks at her curiously. “She’s bringing pizza. I hope that’s fine. We eat takeout a lot.”

“I’ve noticed,” Bunny comments. She seems to realize her comment may come across as rude so she changes her tune. “There’s nothing wrong with it. I like pizza.”

“Yeah?” Wanda tilts her head. “What else do you like? Natasha’s told me somethings but I’d like to know for myself.”

“Why?” Bunny frowns.

“I’m interested in you,” Wanda shrugs. She leans back against her hands, tilting her head up toward the sky before she looks over to curious brown ones.

“I like drawing,” Bunny says quietly. “I played piano when I was younger. I stopped.”

“Wow? Really,” Wanda is truly interested in what she has to say.

“Yeah, it was just a lot going on,” Bunny breathes. “I want to learn guitar. It would be nice.”

“Is that what you want to do for college? Music?”

“I don’t think I’m going to college,” Bunny shakes her head. “I don’t know how I would pay for it or if I’d get in anywhere.” She picks at the bracelet on her wrist. The one she got from her friend whom they have yet to meet. “I figured once I get a job though. Maybe I could afford some things.”

“I think you’re really intelligent and that if college is what you want,” Wanda encourages.

“For people like me it doesn’t happen,” Bunny drops her hands. “My sisters went. They’re super smart though. Faith especially.”

“You’re just as smart,” Wanda says firmly. Bunny doesn't argue this time.

“Look,” Bunny shakes her head. She doesn’t speak for a while. “I don’t want you to sell me a dream. I know it’s kind of your job being my foster parent but none of that will matter when I get home. The most I have to worry about there is not getting pregnant and not ending up in jail or something. Finishing high school is all I want.” Bunny doesn’t know if she believes the last part. She wants more. She wants so much more than life has afforded her.

“You must want more for yourself?” Wanda says and apparently, this is the wrong thing to say.

“It is,” Bunny says with such finality Wanda doesn’t attempt to continue the conversation. “I just have a few more years and then I can get a job and move into my apartment. Somewhere I’m safe.” Bunny’s voice fades at the last part. “Maybe somewhere like here.” She glances at Wanda.

Wanda can see the desperate attempt at a subject change. She understands how it must feel to be in Bunny’s shoes. Ripped from the only life and the family you know. Wanda studies the side of her face for a moment. She notices the tiny freckles, just a few, above her cheekbones. The holes in her ears were where the jewelry may have been once upon a time. The wild, tangled mess of curls, usually flowing down the girl's back is tied back into somewhat of a ponytail.

“Your hair,” Wanda says. Bunny’s eyes flashed to hers.

“Is it bad?” Bunny says with a bit more vulnerability than Wanda’s used to seeing. She reaches her hands up to pat it. “I didn’t fix it today because I wasn’t going anywhere. I’m also out of hair products so…” Her voice trails off. Suddenly she needs Wanda’s approval.

“No, no, it’s not bad,” Wanda isn’t lying. Bunny’s hair doesn’t look terrible. Just a bit unkempt. “I was messaging a friend. Monica Rambeau.” Wanda drops the name as if Bunny will know her. She doesn’t. “She told me of some things we could get. The store is still open.”

“You already bought me clothes,” Bunny says. Her brand new black and white All-Star Chuck Taylors on her feet are an indication of that.

“I want to,” Wanda presses. Bunny deflates. She wouldn’t protest.

************************

The beauty supply store is a brand-new venture for Wanda. There are so many products, so many brands, and so little time to explore all of them. She has an old-fashioned pen and pad that she carries around. She figured before coming here she would allow Bunny to take the lead but the teen seems just as lost as her.

“My mom stopped doing my hair when I got to middle school,” Bunny explains. She doesn’t seem the least bit phased by it. For her it's normal. “She never really showed me how to do it. It was kind of a thing she didn’t have the patience to teach. I usually just keep it in a ponytail.” Bunny trails her fingers along the bottles of shampoo.

“Well, we could try a few things, and if they don’t work try again?” Wanda suggests and Bunny nods. She’s fine with that. “She also suggested you go to a salon every once in a while. Would you be open to that?”

“Yeah,” Bunny nods. She hasn’t been to a salon in years.

“Okay, we’re going to try the Mielle Organics,” Wanda grabs a few bottles to place in the small red basket she’s been carrying.

“I need a big comb too,” Bunny notes grabbing one from the shelf. “And a bonnet.” She points to one on a higher shelf that Wanda reaches for.

“Is there anything else you need?” Wanda double-checks her list.

Bunny shrugs. She doesn’t know. These seemed like good products to begin with.

“Great,” Wanda could work with this. “Do we need any of these?” She touches a small pack of human hair. It’s a shade too bright and not even remotely the same texture as Bunny’s hair.

“That’s a weave,” Bunny grins in amusement. “I don’t need it right now. Sometimes if I get braids or a wig or something.”

“How long does something like that take?”

“A couple of hours,” Bunny says casually. “Could be two or five.”

“Five hours?” Wanda’s eyes widen. “Does it hurt?

“Depends on who does it,” Bunny laughs at Wanda’s innocent nature. Seems she’s teaching her something. “My sister Faith used to braid my hair. She was pretty cool.”

“Maybe I could learn? I already know how to braid a little,” Wanda looks at Bunny’s head as if she’s trying to asses just how much she could do.

“Yeah, maybe,” Bunny grins. She thinks it would be funny if she tried. They get to the register where everything is handed to the cashier. The woman does a double-take but says nothing.

“The total is $45.94,” She reads from the register. “Will you or Mom be paying?” Her question isn’t supposed to throw Bunny off, but it does. For a second, she falters, but Wanda steps right in. She passes the clerk her credit card to swipe before she tucks it back into her wallet.

The shopping trip is over.

*******************************

When they get home, Wanda passes the bags to Bunny.

“I was thinking I could help you tonight,” Wandda stops Bunny in her tracks. “Natasha won’t be home for another few hours. We could probably have it washed by then. If you want.”

“You’re going to get into the shower with me?” Bunny’s perplexed expression makes Wanda crack a smile. She’s not sure how that would work.

“No, silly, the kitchen sink,” Wanda gestures.

“Oh, yeah,” Bunny kicks herself mentally for not realizing.”If you want.” She tries to appear calm about the situation. Wanda notices it’s one of her tells when she’s excited. Maybe in an attempt not to scare her off.

“Let’s go,” Wanda leads her to the kitchen. She begins to set up with a pillow for her neck. Bunny stands, watching her with a guarded expression, before she sits in the chair Wanda appoints to her. She’s tense for the first few seconds. She’s not used to having someone so near. Wanda’s warmth is welcoming and inviting. So she closes her eyes and relaxes. She hopes she can trust her. Wanda begins washing Bunny’s hair with the advice given to her. She rinses first, shampoos, detangles from the tip to the root and then repeats. There are times when she visibly blanches at the tangles in Bunny’s hair but she quickly covers up her expression. “My mama used to do this for me back in Sokovia. For me and Pietro.”

“Pietro?” Bunny cracks open an eye. “Is that the man in the pictures?”She refers to the pictures all over the wall. “The Avenger too?”

“My brother,” Wanda hums. “He lives at the tower. He comes to visit sometimes.”

“He hasn’t since I’ve been here,” Bunny observes.

“That’s true,” Wanda confirms.

“I’m not scared or anything,” Bunny shakes her head. “I don’t want to keep you from your family.”

“You’re not keeping us from anything,” Wanda takes the bottle of conditioner and applies a small amount to her hand. “We decided that when you’re ready, you could meet the team.”

Bunny bites her lip. “Would they like me? Are they nice?”

“Oh, they would love you,” Wanda smiles gently. “Pietro especially.”

“Cool,” Bunny doesn’t ask any further questions. “If I get to stay here long enough maybe I can meet them.”

“I would love that,” Wanda says. She finishes Bunny’s hair in no time, already noticing the visible shine, as she helps her braid it in two dutch braids. The scope of Wanda’s abilities. Bunny sits up finally, running her fingers across her fresh braids.

“Maybe we can do my hair like this more?” Bunny seems hopeful. “I mean if you want. It could be our thing. With Natasha, we have Russian and baking. With you, it could be this and gardening and movies maybe?”

“I think we can make it our thing,” Wanda says. “Just like with me and my mom.”

Bunny falters a little. “Yeah,” she nods.

Being here wasn’t so bad.

That night, Bunny leaves another one of her letters on the kitchen counter. It’s her way of saying thanks and expressing how she felt in the moment. She loves it here.

[eriexplosion]

ngl, I also believe Omega's staying (and that it'll be a conscious, deliberate choice on her part; not just the way the cards end up falling). it'd be an interesting precursor-parallel to Grogu's situation with Luke and Din, imo? (choosing to stay with your family, a little at odds with the Old Jedi Way or w/e). crossing my fingers that we get a "family's all together" holo at the end; I'm intrigued to know that it wasn't just me who thought that it was a significant item/moment, all the way back in s1?

I am SO hoping for a new holo based on that shot all the way back in Aftermath. They've brought so many little details forward into the new season and I think it would be absolutely perfect for everyone to be together (TECH INCLUDED) and retake the picture. I'm still stuck on how they even left space for her in the photo composition.

I want the finale to include a redo of this picture so bad but they're all in civilian clothes and Omega is right there where she belongs next to Tech, I want that SO bad.

But yeah, with Ventress i think that it's being introduced both to confirm Omega's force sensitivity (because dedicating a whole episode to your not force sensitive character... not being force sensitive. Would be silly.) and to show Omega kind of an alternate path. She just needs to see the path and know that she has choices for an ending where she stays with her family to really pack a full punch. Also because I do think that all of them, especially Hunter, do need to be able to let her go, if that's her choice, but that doing so is what will make her choose to stay, ultimately.

I just don't think we spent this long trying to reunite the family just to break it apart again! Same reason I don't think Tech is dead and don't think Echo will be with Rex permanently, if they wanted to split up the party for good in the end they would have tied up the family reunification thread last season and then shown it falling back apart.

[sistervirtue]

my itemswap ishizu! i decided to indulge myself and bring back "naomi"-- i definitely wasnt the first person to come up with a yami ishizu, but when i was 12 i decided to call her naomi because of the one yugioh game that called her that, and she proceeded to live in my head rent free for a couple of years

story + design run down below cut

naomi is the product of itemswap ishizu using the rod on herself to chisel off inconvenient emotions (see: how the rod can be used to split mariks soul across hosts and rip ka monsters out of people by set) like guilt or pity or indignation in order to protect her brother and the pharaoh (ie using the ability to control minds in heinous ways). eventually all these little scraps are Not So Little and form something akin to a consciousness of her own. im not entirely sure how/when to do the emergence but unlike yami malik or the ghosts she takes a name of her own as an act of self-determination and wants to assert herself as a person through a variety of means ranging from claiming the tombkeepers birthright because shes the eldest (ishizus envy of marik) to turning on tkb (resentment of duty) while similar to ymarik in that she can be a bit of a loose cannon, i think the circumstances of her existence greatly soften the blow in the sense that she also carries ishizus sympathy for others and altruistic willingness to die for those she loves. that being said, she can also be a lot more contradictory and conniving than he is.

naomi is not responsible for their fathers death. she wasnt "born" yet. ishizu did that after he took the last piece of the puzzle from marik after he defied his punishment of odion, in order to retrieve it and give it to him. the guilt and conflicting feelings about it are what ishizu first scrapes off her own brain like burnt cheese on a stove that begins forming the basis for naomi

design wise her outfit takes elements from canon + priest set (since isis now takes that role) and the hair looking like wings 1) resembles the rod 2) resembles obelisk 3) resembles wings a la the myth of isis the goddess bc i want to tinker with isis / osiris / anubis symbolism w the ishtars she took off the hair bangles as a way of lashing out at the past and being forced to assume the role of her mother. lots of tradition conflicts in this one. hence also why she assumes the kohl of the heir-- asserting her birthright as the eldest

her fixation on personhood comes from "you cant just make me and treat me like scraps when i never even asked to be alive" & a desire to prove she doesnt need someone else to give her the right to live. which of course correlates to. well. coughs abd looks at the panel abt ishizus birth jungian shadow ahit

and unlike ymarik who was destroyed as a representation of letting go of the burden of anger and hatred the conclusion to their little arc is about reunification and acceptance but thats wip

[raayllum]

TDP has always been a show with a lot of emphasis on strength vs weakness, supplemented by a theme of genuine strength together and limited strength in isolation, and how that falls along Human-Xadian relation lines, i.e. Xadia is far more isolationist and so are the villainous humans who have wanted to destroy them. There's exceptions of course (Viren's original and Kasef's legitimate plan was strong arming the Pentarchy to be allied forces) but that is generally where we see that divide fall (reinforced by Rayla and Amaya's scene later, as far as teaching/passing on lessons goes).

Which like okay, great - but why the fuck am I bringing up all that here? Well... Karim's views Togetherness as a sign of weakness, and we see isolationist fracturing more within our Xadian families than otherwise. We've seen far more elven families willingly tear themselves apart (Karim and Janai turning on each other, Lain and Tiadrin leaving Rayla, Rayla splitting off from Runaan and even Runaan fighting Rayla) with far less interpersonal angst displayed than say, compared to the Viren-Claudia-Soren mess, or how hard Callum works to keep him, Ez, and Rayla together in particular. This is reinforced by Karim ultimately thinking that Janai is weak and uncertain precisely because of her love of Amaya extending to other humans living in New Aurea as well, and of course, it's something that Finnegrin comments on as well: All that talk about how love makes you Stronger, but the second you see that elf girl in pain [and it makes you Weak]. (Which also informs the hostage deal Karim sets up later, because he knows Amaya as well as he knows Janai, which is basically not at all, anymore.) And adds another layer to Karim's statement that dark magic (evil) is tethered to weakness/powerlessness, and being driven to it was what led to their expulsion.

Which ties together Karim's second statement, that what Viren (who was the biggest believer in "weak choices" equalling "bad choices" in 1x06) wanted in terms of humans returning to Xadia has begun to happen, just due to the movement that opposed him and not by his own means.

So weakness led to dark magic - the expulsion of the humans in the past and the corruption of the sun forge in the more recent premise and then wrapped back around to reunification. (Looking meaningfully at Aaravos rn -- after all, what is Darkness/dark magic if not the absence of Light - Aaravos - and primal magic?)

[warsofasoiaf]

Post Cold War there was some desire to keep Germany split (I think Margaret Thatcher quipped once that she loves Germany so much she wants there to be two of them). Could europe have kept Germany from uniting and how would this have impacted the EU and NATO expansion?

That was actually Andreotti, the Italian Prine Minister. Maggie Thatcher was, however, a vehement opponent of German reunification. She much preferred the idea of a democratic, capitalist, but split Germany. France also opposed German reunification, with the added wrinkle that Germany would become a larger economic power than France.

Ultimately, no, I don't think Europe could have stopped German reintegration, though they may have been able to slow it down. Strong American support, plus Helmut Kohl's charisma and drive for reunification, proved too difficult for Europe to overcome.

As for NATO expansion, I also don't think that was possible. For a combination of idealistic, pragmatic, and nakedly self-serving reasons, Eastern Europe was always going to try and push for integration into Europe and inclusion into NATO.

Thanks for the question, Cle-Guy.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[apollos-olives]

Hi, I appreciate your effort on spreading the words about Palestine on this website that's been suppressing Palestine content so much these days. I've been posting about Palestine and got shadowbanned on my other account. I just want to say something.

Regarding the last ask about white queers, I as an Asian (Vietnamese) queer can definitely tell that the queer liberals are very unproductive. I can tell from many people even my friends, who are staunchly against the West, lumping queerness with Western value (despite our culture is rich of drag queens and homosexuality has always been there) and therefore very queerphobic. Queer liberals cannot and must not stand with the oppressor bc the oppressed are homophobic, which yes so many times the homophobia from the oppressed comes from the oppressor. A lot of queer spaces being this reactionary makes me don't want to join a lot of queer spaces.

I also feel like the conversation around why people support Palestine has been very strange. People using various amounts of idealistic reasoning, but the number one reason that I and pretty much 80% of the world would agree on is that it's the fight of the oppressed against the oppressor, and 80% of the world had been in the place of the oppressed. I was lucky to not live in those times in history, but I was taught and told to never forget our oppressed history, of more than 127 years fighting the colonialists and imperialists. Our hospital was also bombed, our cities destroyed, villagers massacred. When I saw the Palestinian doctors said they will stay here for Palestine, it reminds me of my grandma who said the exact same about Vietnam. Palestinians arguably had it significantly worse than us Vietnamese during our war time with that total blockade, so I as a Vietnamese wants to share the struggle with them too.

Also Idk why an one-state Palestine solution is so hard to imagine to people. We Vietnamese also had been subjected to a two-state solution as well, and what happened after reunification is very simple. Most of the people just stayed and became citizens of the new united Vietnam, some fleed to other countries. If Palestine unification happens it would be similar imo. A lot of arguments against the one-state solution comes from just pure projection bc Israel afraid of what they're doing to Palestinians will be done to them

Anyway that's just my two cent about Palestine from a Vietnamese perspective. Free Palestine now and forever.

hi and yes i'm doing as much as i can to try to spread what's going on. i'm not typically afraid of getting shadowbanned right now, but i understand how much that hurts and affects other people who are also trying to spread awareness.

you're right about the way that queerness is often grouped up with the concept of the west and white majority countries. and that (white lib) queers would happily side with the oppressor out of the fear that they would be further oppressed by the other group that is being oppressed itself. this is just one of the many ways that propaganda twist the narrative and tries to split up minorities, and this entire belief of "us and them" is only going to hurt everyone in the end. we, as oppressed minorities, need to stand together against the oppressor, not be against each other.

i'm not gonna add much onto what you said about vietnam, since you already said pretty much everything, but it is saddening to see how so many people can relate to what's going on in palestine because of how much colonization has impacted their life and own culture and country. it genuinely is so unfortunate, and no one deserves to go through the horrors of colonization and being horrifically oppressed. i wouldn't wish that on even the zionists (and i fucking HATE those guys).

you're right about the one state solution thing. the only reason people fear it is because they are scared that the palestinians will do to them the same thing they did to us. it's a sad delusion.

thank you for speaking up though, free palestine 🇵🇸

[itstokkii]

Over the past decade, and especially since 2020, Korea has seen an astronomic rise in soft power, including an almost unprecedented breakthrough into the American market (we are notoriously insular, but have very much embraced Korean media). Korea's also showing a lot of initiative trying to break into the big boys club in the arms dealing market, with some in the US even calling for us to buy warships from Korea despite it being highly against policy for us to buy warships from abroad. NATO is just absolutely eating up Korean equipment. And we can't forget Korea finally getting the US to agree to expanding the partnership to include more nuclear coordination! How do you think this has affected their relationship?

yeah, we're very proud of our soft power reaching everywhere! it's a source of national pride lol

regarding military deals and arms...id say a lot of it has to do with the current presidential administration. they are very staunchly pro-us and anti-nk and are furthering militarization in korea. so even though a lot of countries including the superpower us wants to buy our equipment...it's not the win you think it is.

inter-korea relations are polarizing, with the north removing structures that previously stood as hope for reunification. as much as it could be said that the us and south korea are closer than ever, and that it's good for us-sk relations, it's not particularly healthy for the peninsula, as tensions grow on both sides. the situation since the split has always been bound to be unstable, and id say now it could be getting worse. furthermore, given the power the us has in east asian geopolitics and especially military power over korea through the many bases, it's important to remember that their relationship will always have that power dynamic of a superpower and hegemon over a state/sphere of influence. it's a dynamic I try my best to incorporate in amekor.

my previous posts have all been a lighthearted characterization and review of relationships south korea has with america and japan with only a tiny bit referenced off of current relations, so I feel like trying to put this in a hetalia context is inappropriate. especially given how recent this polarization is.

[thezeldapagan]

Bring Peace to the World: The Triforce as a Practical Framework for Spiritual Growth

What exactly does it mean to be a Zelda pagan? What is the path and what is the ultimate destination? What are the core tenants and what does a daily practice based on them look like?

For me, the primary driving force functioning as a signpost of my practice is the Triforce and its composite parts. The goal is to live a life that keeps courage, power, and wisdom in relative balance, developing those aspects where they are lacking and tempering over-development of any one with the others. Courage, for example, is a wonderful trait, but not if wisdom is not applied in certain scenarios to allow for balance between the two. Skydiving may be a courageous act, but lacking the wisdom to take along a parachute will certainly land you in trouble. Likewise, applying power without wisdom can lead to precisely the sort of tyrannical entitlement demonstrated by Ganondorf across the franchise.

In her essay “Triforce Heroes and Heroines: Transcending the Opposites Through the Golden Power” from The Psychology of Zelda, Angie Branham Mullins discusses the balancing of the Triforce as representative of Jungian individuation, but it can also be applied to a spiritual practice:

"The Triforce is at the core of many Legend of Zelda games. Generally, the goal of characters in the series is to reunite the Triforce’s three fragemented pieces in order to restore the form and function of this otherworldy item, because when it is whole, the Triforce represents balance and peace in the kingdom of Hyrule. But in order to mend the Triforce and wield the complete relic, the hero must themselves first possess balance between the three qualities the Triforce’s pieces represent: Wisdom, Power, and Courage" (191).

To even possess the complete Triforce, one must achieve personal development that warrants them as a worthy wielder. As we have seen in the games, simply touching the Triforce before one has properly prepared and developed oneself causes the Triforce to split. Without an internal balance, possession is simply not attainable.

That is just one part of the goal, however. As Millins notes above, achieving the inner balance needed to possess the Triforce is followed by spreading that balance outward. The peace wrought by the reunification of the Triforce is the gift of the hero to society at large, not merely to himself.

This goal is seen on a microcosmic level in both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, when after granting Link either a heart or stamina container, the various village Hylia statues tell him, “Go, and bring peace to Hyrule/the world…” The hero receives a boon, and then is directed by the goddess herself to use it on his quest to better the world around him.

These containers are not merely handed out, but must be earned by completing shrines in each game. Link must remain engaged in smaller, incremental acts of self-improvement in order to slowly build his health and his strength and take on progressively more difficult challenges. As Mullins explains, so is it too with the Triforce:

"The pursuit of the Triforce’s reunification serves as a catalyst for Link and the other characters’ growth—their development into their destined roles—and the fulfillment of their purpose" (193).

That ultimate purpose, as dictated by the goddess Hylia herself, is to bring peace not just to oneself, but to society at large.

And that is, ultimately, the goal of a Zelda pagan. Make yourself into a better version of you, using the elements of the Triforce as a framework, in order to be in a better position to improve the world around you.

Ultimately, the journey of self-improvement can be walked in whatever way feels best to an individual practitioner. For me, I prefer to give each of the elements due attention before moving on to the next. It is for that reason that I divide the year up into different “seasons” for each of the Golden Goddesses and their respective pieces of the Triforce. This most closely mirrors Link’s journeys in games, moving methodically around the map, overcoming specific challenges in a set order, and not being able to move on until certain criteria have been met and relics acquired. In this way, the pieces of the Triforce also serve as gates of initiation.

It is also perfectly acceptable, however, to continuously work on all three aspects of the Triforce at once on a daily or weekly basis. For some, it makes more sense to aim for improvement of these features every day than keep them fragmented across months.

The important thing is an eventual sense of balance; without any one piece of the Triforce getting an equal share of development within the self, the whole thing will crumble. As Mullins states,

"To bring the Triforce to its original composition is a balancing act. The Triforces of Courage and Wisdom create the bridge needed to stabilize the third, top triangle, the Triforce of Power. Then the pieces are put in proper relationship to one another, the Triforce is able to experience wholeness; balance is achieved. The wish can be granted" (215).

The best visual representation of the Triforce journey is also in BotW and TotK, specifically at the Temple of Time. From the roof, one can easily see a route up the hill into the Temple:

Here can be seen a set of staircases, starting in front of the fountain plaza toward the upper center, veering (from this view) to just above Link’s head, up another set of stairs to the far right of Link here, then up to the center just in front of the Temple itself. Along this route are smaller temples dedicated to the three Golden Goddesses, in order of Farore, Nayru, and finally Din, thus creating a walkable representation of the Triforce. The small temples are in varying states of disrepair, but they each include the goddess’ symbols on the floors. These can be very difficult to see due to the overall deterioration of the area, but the symbols do peep through:

From Din’s temple are two sets of stairs on either side going up to the entrance to the Temple of Time. Interestingly, on the floor in front of the large Hylia statue within the Temple is the complete Triforce.

The implication here (at least, in my own head-canon) is that worship of Hylia also inherently included first paying respects to each of the three Golden Goddesses, and worshippers perhaps needed to account for the three parts of the Triforce before they were adequately prepared to engage with Hylia, obviously now the primary goddess. It should also be remembered from Skyward Sword that Hylia was charged with protecting the Triforce, and the layout of the Temple of Time and the smaller goddess temples, plus that seal in front of the Hylia statue, is a nice physical and visual throwback to that aspect of her power and responsibility.

Is it required that one arrange their practice in the order laid out around the Temple of Time? I would argue that is up to the individual practitioner. For me, with the arrangement of the Triforce elements across the year, the order is more reliant on the reality of which months best correlate to each element. I am starting the season of Farore now, which will be followed by the season of Din through the summer and early fall (as the hottest and then most colorful months, correlating with fire), and then finally the season of Nayru for late fall through winter (time to withdraw to focus on internal wisdom, as well as a focus on water in its various forms). Obviously not the “correct” order as demonstrated above. However, there are ways to integrate this order into specific ceremonies, or if a daily/weekly routine is utilized that offers more freedom to organize as you see fit. The important part is simply to ensure the different aspects of the Triforce are given equal attention so that they can work together without any one being more or less developed than the others. Through this balance comes personal spiritual completion, from which one can work to enact positive change around themselves.

[sunriseverse]

soooo about the dmbj sunrise au I read your iron triangle fic about it and the concept has me by the throat I would like to know more about the sunrise verse 👀 anything you feel like sharing

okay, let's see if i can do this in a manner that in any way makes sense, is organised, and is reasonably useful.

for starters, i'll toss over this introductory post, if you want a tl;dr that i made a bit ago (it is very abbreviated, and doesn't cover a majority of the verse beyond the barebones): sunrise at a glance.

i've been attempting to figure out a way to explain sunrise, and i think the best way to do it would probably be chronologically, starting from the effective beginning of history, as it pertains to rosemary and thyme. then i'll go a bit deeper into some world specifics, such as the martial sects, upgrading, and the politics of the zhang sect as it stands prior to the end of the sha hai parallel era. finally, i'll talk about some inspirations, both aesthetically and thematically.

PART ONE: the history

while technically the sunrise canon runs more or less parallel to real-world history up until slightly after the establishment of the mongol empire (565 before zhang reunification, abbreviated henceforth to BZ; real world equivalent somewhat varying depending on when you consider the mongol empire as having conquered china), once it diverges, it diverges rapidly. the yuan dynasty is founded in 448 BZ, and by 458 BZ, the first prototype silk-weaving machine is created, and rapidly thereafter (420 BZ) the first textiles factory is founded in chang'an (modern-day xi'an).

in 425 BZ, a pair of twins named zhang yihai and zhang yishan are born. due to their family's impoverishment, they're left at a daoist nunnery not long afterwards. they were trained in cultivation techniques from a young age, but were not considered remarkable enough to become disciples of any particular local master, and instead became wandering disciples, training sporadically under various independent masters in return for services rendered.

however, while they didn't become remarkable in this period of time, they were educated to a respectable level, both in cultivation techniques and scholarly arts. then, in 400 BZ, while travelling, they discovered a vase that was able to increase the abilities of anyone who held it. realising the potential of this artefact, they rendered it into an ink to create tattoos with, binding its abilities to their own bodies, and shortly after, created the zhang sect, the tattoos becoming the marker of the sect. unbeknownst to either twin, the vase was an artefact that had slipped into their world from a different world, and if they hadn't rendered it into an ink and bound it to themselves, carrying it would have aroused the attention of its original owners, the entity known as the hive. this binding also gave the zhang an innate ability to better resist hive-madness, ie brain damage caused by exposure to a humanly incomprehensible world and

for about five years, the zhang sect slowly rose in prominence, with zhang yihai and zhang yishan acting as co-leaders of the sect, known by a variety of titles (the most character-relevant being zyh's title of 锷女士 [e nvshi, lady of the blade/master above], and zys' title of 馥郁君 [fuyu-jun, lord of fragrant flowers]) . however, as time passed, the two siblings began to differ on what they wanted the role of their sect to be in the world—zhang yihai wanted the sect to be more martially-focused, aiding the people in a more immediate way, while zhang yishan felt the sect should be more scholarly, aiding the people by collecting and preserving knowledge, with the sect splitting roughly in half with which disciples sided with which sibling. In 400 BZ, tensions between the two siblings reached a boiling point, and the two came to blows—a fight which led to zhang yihai killing zhang yishan (partially due to the fact, which she didn't know at the time, that she was qilin-blooded and thus functionally immortal).

after realising what she'd done, zhang yihai took on the title of zhang qiling, as she was the only remaining member of her family, and carried her brother's body and performed his final rites. from that point on, she withdrew into seclusion, excepting for a brief period where she bore a child to continue the family lineage. without firm leadership, the zhang sect stagnated, faltering in its previous rise to prominence, and faded to a mostly unremarkable status, with its members split hereditarily from that point on either into hai or shan subjects, depending on which sibling their ancestors had aligned with.

in 360 BZ, the xie and hong families emerge. in 340 BZ, industrialisation accelerates, and the first steam engines are produced to power factory equipment. in 330 BZ the remaining jiumen families emerge, and align with the zhang sect.

in 300 BZ, wang zanghai compiles research on the zhang, and comes to believe that a hive artefact is responsible for their immortality. he artificially creates a rift in changbaishan in order to steal a hiveside artefact, but is killed in the process, with the artefact becoming lost.

in 200 BZ, the first steam engine train is created to allow for an efficient long-distance means of transporting goods. the first telephone is invented in the same year. in this window of time, the first people to find wang zanghai's notes on the zhang form the wang clan, vowing to bring the hive into the world, as they believe that this will allow immortality to be granted to all who come in contact with it. as the zhang are believed to be the enemy, they begin to infiltrate the jiumen.

in 120 BZ, the first automobile is invented. zhang ruitong, future leader of the zhang sect is born in 100 BZ. in 0 AZ, the ming dynasty is founded, and zhang ruitong succeeds in reuniting the zhang sect, as well as raising its status to that of foremost martial sect. in 85 AZ, xiaoge is born in tibet, and two years later in 87 AZ, hei xiazi is born in the chimkent (şymkent) area, a politically fraught region which will come under the control of the kazakh khanate, founded in 97 AZ.

in 95 AZ, an earthquake disturbs the hiveside artefact that wang zanghai stole, bringing it to the hive's attention, and the changbaishan rift begins to expand. as part of an agreement between the jiumen and the zhang sect, the xie heir is sent to fight the hive behind the rift. when the xie heir fails to return in the winter of 105 AZ, the jiumen renege on their agreement with the zhang, not wanting to lose any further heirs. the wang, embedded within the jiumen, begin to purposely open rifts, beginning the hive incursion. with zhang ruitong's death, xiaoge becoming sect leader, as well as the first zhang to undergo upgrading to become a ranger, and in spring of 105 AZ, the zhang elders form the first board to govern the sect, arguing that xiaoge is too inexperienced and busy with his responsibilities as a ranger to govern properly.

in 109 AZ, the first non-zhang sect, the gongsun sect, hosts a zhang ranger as the ranger programme expands. in 152 AZ, much of the lao jiumen are killed when qiu dekao trades the names of families with histories of grave-robbing to the government, as well as accusing them of wartime profiteering through the black-market sale of artefacts retrieved from hive-tainted areas. those that survive flee to beijing, where the jiumen become the jiumen association.

in 160 AZ, zhang qishan, better known as fo ye, heads the gutongjing research projects, an attempt to try and find a way to give immunity to hive-madness to zhang rangers through the study of a hive-touched species of snake, the heimaoshe. the project fails, but fo ye becomes aware of the wang, and trades zhang sect secrets in return for a reduction of rifts in the vicinity of his family, the somewhat estranged southern zhang. by 165 AZ, the zhang sect's influence is comparable to our world's mid-level nobility. by 170 AZ, the iron triangle have all been born (pangzi in 161 AZ, and wu xie in 169 AZ). the internet is invented in 169 AZ, and in 170 AZ, conscription of all qilin-blooded zhang sect members begins as the number of volunteers had dropped sharply in recent years. the same year, the zhang main board implements the first "kill switches" in upgrading procedures, allowing them to remotely terminate rangers if they are deemed a danger due to rift-madness. in 186 AZ, conscription is expanded again, this time to any zhang sect members of lower status whose positions are deemed non-essential.

in 190 AZ, the iron triangle meet. between 190 AZ and 195 AZ, the events of rosemary and thyme take place, and in 195 AZ, due to the discovery of anchoring as a method to make rangers' jobs no longer a death sentence, the draft is expanded again to include all adult zhang sect members, excluding those who hold high-level positions. in 197 AZ, xiaoge takes wu xie's place behind the rift in changbaishan. over the next ten years, a parallel to dmbj's ten year plan/sha hai takes place. unlike in dmbj canon, the reason wu xie kidnaps li cu is in order to find the lost wang hive artefact, which is drawn to innocence—something that wu xie, by this point, firmly lacks. in 206 AZ, the sha hai plan comes to a head, with the majority of the wang being destroyed. in the spring of 207 AZ, wu xie returns the artefact wang zanghai stole to the changbaishan rift, after which point the remaining rifts begin to naturally close as the hive is satisfied. in august of 207 AZ, xiaoge returns from hiveside, the iron triangle is reunited, and the hive incursion officially ends, ending zhang conscription, and xiaoge disolves the zhang boards, ending the sect's massive sociopolitical reign.

PART TWO: world specifics

part i: the zhang board, and sunrise as a dystopia

in the era of rosemary and thyme, ie the final years of the hive incursion, the zhang sect is not only incredibly powerful martially, but also politically. since the first hive incursion and the creation of the ranger programme, the zhang have been able to gain an unparalleled control over the martial world specifically, and the general populace more broadly. this is largely due to a number of facts: firstly, the zhang, as the only sect who produce rangers, are viewed as, and actively work to reinforce the view of themselves as, protectors of the empire. secondly, as areas become hive-poisoned after a rift is opened, the common people are encouraged to relocate to zhang-affiliated martial sect territories/compounds, as hive-poisoned areas remain dangerous for a long period after the rift is closed. the zhang-affiliated sects, aside from hosting rangers, also host subsets of the main zhang board, known collectively as "the zhang boards", comprised half of zhang, one quarter of the host sect, and one quarter of scientific and medical specialists, who are in charge of the ranger(s) each affiliated sect hosts.

in return for protection, those living in zhang-controlled areas must adhere to a number of zhang sect regulations. this includes the restriction of access to media that is labelled by the zhang main board as "anti-cause", including anything that criticises the zhang sect's power. this has led to the highly-lucrative, but also highly-dangerous, black-market for media such as film and literature, periodicals, the creation of pirate radio, and so forth. depending on the severity of what someone is reported as possessing, they can either be demoted and given restrictions, or they are given a hearing to determine a sentence, or, in extreme cases (such as being found to be actively associated with anti-zhang groups), exiled from the sect compound either for a set period of time or indefinitely.

zhang sect members are under stricter watch than the average zhang-affiliated person. rangers specifically are heavily monitored, especially in their access of non-sect created materials, and they are discouraged and punished for possessing any materials that may be interpreted as criticising the zhang main board, its marriage and reproductive policies, and its treatment of potential and active-duty rangers, especially any materials that may suggest the draft should not exist, or that the rangers and their families should be compensated for what is essentially a suicide job. for more "mid-level" crimes, forced confessions, similar to those of the 60s/70s in our world's china, are used as a way to reify the confessors of their position within the social and legal order, reinforce to others within the collective that they will be discovered and punished if they do not comply with zhang sect regulations, and communicate that noncompliance is harmful to the collective, ie the zhang sect as a whole.

in regards to marriage and reproductive policies, the zhang sect is incredibly strict within the sect. all of-age sect members are paired based on a number of factors, such as qilin blood status, place within the sect hierarchy, and history, both personal and familial, with compliance to the main board's policies. the aim of these pairings is to produce as many children as possible in order to maintain the ranger system, and thus the zhang board's power. while non-heterosexuality is not explicitly penalised, any sect member who shows resistance to marrying and producing offspring will face both social and legal pressure, and, in extreme cases, punishment in an effort to continue the zhang bloodlines. the only reason that xiaoge is allowed to maintain his relationship with the iron triangle is due to the fact that he is the first ranger and, at least in name, the leader of the sect, and the main board would risk losing power if they attempted to treat him in such a way, and, in this specific case, they would prefer for his family line to die out, since he survived the upgrading procedure all those decades ago despite their hopes, leaving them no possible rivals for control of the sect—and, even then, he faces unspoken pressure to minimise the nature of their relationship as much as possible.

part ii: upgrading, and the precarious position of living weapons

upgrading is the colloquial term used to describe the process which the zhang undergo in order to become rangers. during the process, the body is torn apart and replaced with an average of 60% tech, or "mechanics", a number which varies depending on the "generation" of rangers (xiaoge, and the first batch, would have been about 70%, while newer rangers hover around 55% as improvements in tech optimise the mechanics). this is all done without anaesthetic, as anaesthetic runs the risk of causing the body to be unable to integrate the mechanics properly. generally*, the zhang are the only ones with the training necessary to survive upgrading.

however, even the zhang are human, and their minds are not meant to be able to comprehend input from non-organic systems, even with a large portion of modern zhang training going towards trying to equip potential rangers to deal with this input. in an attempt to solve this problem, especially that of a ranger potentially risking not being able to interpret a warning from their mechanics of a failure, interfaces were created. this allows the ranger to pull up a number of systems, such as diagnostics and recommended courses of action, and in newer generations of rangers, interfaces even allow rangers to access predictions of results of a course of action based on damage/injury levels, control nanotech particles to disperse them to mitigate any critical injuries until a fight is completed, and so forth. the interface in a proper upgrade is implanted in the cerebral cortex. included within newer generations of interface implants are hard-coded the ability to receive a specific command from the zhang boards that allow them to remotely "put down" a ranger if they're deemed a threat—usually due to rift madness aggression, but there have been a number of times where the reason was more muddy; more than one ranger in only the early stages of rift madness was "put down" not long after they began to question the zhang board.

part iii: the exception to the rule

while generally only zhang are able to survive upgrading, there is one notable exception: that is, hei xiazi. however, as the only official method of upgrading is through procedures administered by the zhang. hei xiazi, though, realised early on that the money was quickly drying up in grave robbing and instead booming in the trade of hiveside artefacts, and, already cursed due to a previous tomb excursion, opted to undergo a black-market upgrade.

however, due to the fact that it was black-market, it was essentially a one-of-a-kind event, and one that was largely done with an understanding of zhang upgrades obtained through extrapolation of zhang abilities, and a small amount of study of rangers' corpses which had not been recovered by the sect in the early days due to physical distance. as such, hei xiazi's systems are......................unique, to put it lightly. his mechanics are exposed to the elements rather than being hidden beneath synthetic skin, and a lot of the more specialised pieces are often not what they should be, but rather the closest substitute—something that is a persistent issue, as demonstrated in whatever was left. especially of issue is his interface system—half the time it doesn't work, and it often displays errors for minor issues, or mislabels critical issues as minor ones, and generally is an annoyance. while zhang rangers' interfaces are designed to seamlessly integrate with their personal usage style, hei xiazi's interface is akin to a video game tutorial pop-up—bright red, and almost impossible to dismiss. an amusing issue hei xiazi deals with is that while zhang rangers' interfaces run on their own, specialised frequency, his runs on a separate one—one that, in some areas, is also used by niche pirate radio broadcasters, meaning he has to manually disable his interface entirely or suffer listening to whatever is being broadcast directly in his head. also, unlike zhang rangers, his systems whirr audibly—not loud enough to not fade into the background, but noticeable enough if you pay attention. he also tends to run hot.

part iv: zhang ranger duties, and power-plays of the boards

zhang rangers are assigned to specific sects, and the area that falls under that sect's control is what they are responsible for. if a rift opens in their host sect's territory, they are the ones dispatched to fight the hive and seal the rift. in some cases where a rift is larger than usual, rangers from nearby areas may be deployed to help in the effort, in which case they will use sense-sharing to synchronise their attacks. i wrote a more in-depth post on sensesharing, and therefore anchoring, here: a beginner's guide to anchoring. once a rift is closed, a ranger is summoned back to their host sect, where they are hooked up to a system that projects a recording of the fight for the sect's board to review their conduct, which also forces them to relive the memories as if they are happening again. while it's justified as searching for early signs of rift madness, it's also a thinly-veiled means of asserting board control over the rangers, and if the rangers are found in error, they can be disciplined or given restrictions. while ostensibly rangers are highly-respected warriors, honoured for their sacrifices for the people, the boards, and the zhang elders, see them as potential threats to their power.

part v: sha hai, the bronze gate, and wu xie's honed ruthlessness

as noted, wu xie chooses li cu specifically because of his innocence. while earlier in the ten year period, wu xie may have been able to find the wang zanghai artefact, due to the events of 205 BZ, this became an impossibility. in 205 BZ, in order to contain the rift in changbaishan, wu xie created the plans for the bronze gate, and contracted a team to construct it. once it was completed, in order to minimise the possibility of anyone discovering a weakness in the gate, and thus its abilities to contain the changbaishan rift and the hive, therefore creating a possibility for xiaoge to have to go behind the rift once more, wu xie not only destroyed the plans he had created for it, but also killed the entire team.

PART THREE: inspirations, acdemic reading i've done, and other mischellanea and closing remarks

it will come as no surprise that sunrise is inspired by the 2013 film pacific rim (dir. gdt). for a long time, i've wanted to create something that gave me the same amount of passion as that film gave me in 2018-2020, and the idea of drifting, in specific, is one that's always fascinated me. sunrise was intended to be a one-off, pacific rim-inspired, fanfic—and, since then, it's grown into something far larger, as evidenced by the fact that my reply to this ask is over 3k. it is no longer merely daomu biji with pacific rim added as a topping, but its own thing, which i spend a not insignificant amount of time thinking about, speculating on, and adding to not only weekly, but even daily. however, aside from pacific rim, there's a number of other pieces of media that have inspired me when it comes to sunrise—his dark materials by phillip pulman, bad and crazy (2021), and the ascendant trilogy by k arsenault rivera are all works that have, in one way or another, shaped me, both as a child and now, as an adult, and impacted my writing. more generally, science fiction as a genre and explorations of dystopian fiction have heavily informed me in creation and in writing sunrise.

my tagline for the verse on ao3 is simple: the blade that cuts your chains still cuts another’s neck. sunrise is meant to be not just one story, but rather a world in which stories exist—stories which impact both the characters, and the others in the world they live in. things that seem like victories at first turn out to be tragedies for others—anchoring saves xiaoge's life, and the lives of other rangers, but also causes the expansion of the ranger's draft, putting countless other, previously-safe, sect members at risk. wu xie's construction of the bronze gate ensures the hive will remain contained—but it costs the lives of the entire team of builders to ensure that safety. the good of the many does not outweigh the good of the few; sunrise is not a world of black and white, but rather shades of grey.

besides media influences, sunrise has also benefited greatly from my own delving into academic texts. i'm lucky enough to now have access to an almost unmatched library of texts on chinese history, and historical society, culture, and a thousand other things, at least in the united states. while the texts i've read may not have had obvious impacts upon the world of sunrise, they've allowed me to better build the world of sunrise into a living, breathing thing in my mind. of the texts i've read, i've most appreciated food and environment in early and medieval china (e. n. anderson) and sexuality in china: histories of power and pleasure (howard chiang). i'm on break at the moment and also plan on reading the development of chinese martial arts fiction in order to solidify my portrayal of wuxia in sunrise.

sunrise has also allowed me to experiment with narrative in ways i had not done previously—both in terms of linearality, and in terms of perspective. all sunrise instalments so far are told in a non-linear format, and the next instalment i am (very slowly) working on includes both third and second person povs.

there is a large amount of miscellanea included in my lore notes, but it's largely specific to pairings rather than the overall world of sunrise, and so has therefore been committed. hopefully, this has been a decent exploration and explanation of the 'verse. however, i am always open to further questions, so if you have something specific you want to ask, please, feel free! and thank you, once again, @child-of-the-fairy-folk for asking me about sunrise :)

[steveharringtonisntrealjenn]

i won't ask you to wait (if you don't ask me to stay)

Steve was determined to stay in Hawkins until all of the kids had graduated and moved on. 

Eddie stayed with Steve the summer of 86 while he recovered, but once he was able to, he bailed. He had heard rumblings about the scene in Seattle so he headed west as soon as he was well enough. He had the feeling that 87 was going to be his year. 

He didn’t want to leave Steve and the rest of The Party, but Hawkins is pure toxic for people like him and he had to get out before it was too late. Before something or someone kept him there. 

He promised Henderson and Harrington that he’d keep in touch. 

He kept that promise. 

Every year he came back to see Wayne for Thanksgiving. He always went by and took a pie to the Henderson’s and caught Dustin up on what he had been up to in Seattle. He and Steve always met up at Skull Rock after. They never made eye contact over the Henderson’s dining room table, both of them afraid that if they lingered a little too long that Dustin would pick up on the tension.

They never labeled it, this thing they did year after year. They wouldn’t have known what to label it if they wanted to. It’s not like they were together, not even for a night. They had never even kissed. Not really. They just sat in the dark, staring up at the sky, watching each other’s breath steam up the air in front of them. 

They talked, quiet whispers, all the things they wanted to tell each other since their last meeting. They lay there for hours, until they ran out of ‘this made me think of you’s’. 

They really only had two unspoken, but highly regarded rules: Steve wouldn’t ask Eddie to stay, and Eddie wouldn’t ask Steve to wait for him. 

Time moved on, as it does and one by one the last of the party graduated from Hawkins High, and moved on to college.

Without anything holding him there Steve left for good. He went to find Eddie, because in the back of his mind that was always the plan. He found him, he had always known exactly where he was. 

They tried to make it work, they tried to evolve that connection that started in the upside down, that was nurtured in the woods, but it just isn’t there. There was too much trauma and unspoken words between them. 

Steve left Eddie behind and went to New York to split an apartment with Robin. She had been waiting for him even longer than Eddie. 

Eddie stayed on the west coast, living between LA and Seattle. He eventually made a name for himself as a studio musician, and even stepped in for some of his favorite bands on tour from time to time. He found his footing and before long also found himself traveling the world. Over the years he’s had a few high profile affairs, but nothing ever serious enough to put a label on. All the love songs he pens speak of a relationship that never was. 

Eddie keeps in touch with everyone, Dustin and Max especially, but he and Robin have developed quite the connection too over the years. He occasionally crosses paths with Steve when he’s on the east coast and visits Dustin and Robin. 

He even makes sure to get Steve backstage passes if he’s on tour, even if the others can’t join. Those nights are the longest, those shows are the hardest to get through. Because he knows after the show he’ll meet up with Steve and they always end up in the same place as the summer of 86. As all of those Thanksgiving visits. In the dark, breathing each other’s air, whispering to each other, but never crossing the line. 

While Eddie was following his dream on the west coast, Steve had stayed in New York and finally found his own. After a few years of bumming around with odd jobs and taking night classes he got certified as a trauma counselor and took over management of a group home for children. 

His favorite days were the ones when he could help piece a broken family back together. 

But because he’s Steve Harrington, and always the eternal babysitter, he took over guardianship of some of the children in his care, when reunification isn’t in the cards. He looked up one day and noticed that he finally had the family he always wanted. The kids part, anyway. He’s had a few serious relationships, but something was always missing and they never lasted more than a few years. 

The kids have all grown up, his own and The Party. Some of them even have kids of their own now. 

The years have been kind to them all, the darkness of Hawkins only a distant memory that occasionally creeps into their nightmares after a stressful day. Before they know it, it feels like another lifetime. 

Suddenly it’s 2015 and Nancy and Jonathan are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. 

It’s the perfect excuse to get the whole gang back together. Between Robin, Dustin and Steve they manage to wrangle everyone to New York and they all crowd into Dustin’s condo on a Saturday night in late November. 

The drinks are flowing, the music a quiet murmur in the background and they’re all together for the first time in years. Steve can’t remember the last time he was this happy. 

He looks around the giant living room, at everyone cuddled together on the insanely comfortable couches that Dustin has all around the room and he feels something in his chest release. He spots Eddie, across the room squatting down in front of Erica and Max telling a story that must be extremely dramatic because he’s gesturing so wildly that he’s almost tipping over. Max catches Steve’s eye and smirks, rolling her eyes. Eddie must notice, because he whips his head around and he and Steve make eye contact and Eddie trails off. 

Max and Erica both let out a snort and turn away from Eddie, starting their own conversation and Eddie straightens up with a wince. Those knees are not as spry as they used to be. He raises his eyebrows at Steve in question and Steve raises his eyes to the ceiling, or the roof rather. It only takes Eddie a few beats before he gets it and then they’re both exiting the room quietly. 

They don’t attract much attention, at least that they notice as they make their way out of the room and the condo. They head down the hall to the stairwell, making their way up to the roof. As Steve opens the door, he stands aside to let Eddie out before him and the other man slaps his hands together and rubs them furiously to ward off the instant shock of cold. 

“Henderson’s done pretty well for himself. Penthouse condo with roof access? Long way from Hawkins, am I right?” Eddie asks with a small puff of air that could be a laugh. 

Steve smiles, nodding. All of the kids have done well for themselves, but Henderson has always been the stand out. 

“You’re one to talk, rockstar.” Steve says with a slight bow in the other man’s direction. 

“Oh come one, Harrington. I’m a name on the credits, not a rockstar. No one out of the industry knows who the Hell I am.” He said with a laugh, and one most people it would be a complaint but Steve knows Eddie likes the level of success he’s achieved. 

They stand around, looking out at the city for a bit, just enjoying the muffled sounds of the traffic below and being in each other’s space again. Steve breaks the standstill after a while, walking over to the edge of the roof, where there are sofas. He flops down, his eyes to the sky. It’s different here, of course. Too much light pollution to really see the stars, not like in Hawkins. But when he feels Eddie settle in on the sofa beside him, it feels like the last few decades never happened. 

They’re grown up now. 

They’ve healed. 

They’ve loved and learned what works and what doesn’t. They’ve learned their own worth and what they need to be happy. 

They’re both happy alone. They could both be happy alone for the rest of their lives, if it came down to that. 

But laying there on that sofa, on that rooftop that late November night Steve knew they didn’t have to be alone anymore. 

“Hey, Munson?” Steve asked, his voice a little rough. 

“Yeah, Harrington?” 

“Stay?” He asked, turning his head away from the sky and looking to the man next to him. 

“I thought you’d never ask.” Eddie responded, a smile sneaking across his face as he kept his eyes to the inky black sky. 

“I was getting around to it.” He snarked, reaching across the distance and sliding his hand into Eddie’s. 

[gretchensinister]

Dark Crystal Vampire AU Part 4: I GUESS THIS THING NEEDS A PLOT, HUH?

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Onto the Age of Resistance and the original movie:

The inciting incident is still AU Mira getting drained with a witness. AU Rian unfortunately is up against the general perception that vampires aren’t real. I’d set this part in the 1930s because if I go with the 966 eclipse for the split date, that means that the 1000 year anniversary is fast approaching. So let’s say Rian was able to take pictures but one of the issues is finding a place to have them developed that he’s sure won’t get back to the skeksis. The location of the AU skeksis castle I’m thinking of as Venice, I’m pretty sure they have a reasonable number of old palaces there that could accommodate a gaggle of rich old vampires.

On the subject of the 1000 year anniversary—Skeksis like SkekZok, and SkekTek separately, have concluded that the original ceremony didn’t grant them permanent immortality, and something needs to happen at the 1000 year mark to make them live forever. They don’t know what it is but they know they can’t do it if they’re arrested for murder.

Well. There is one big thing that could happen. SkekGra told them. But they DON’T need to reunify, they’re the superior parts of the URSKEKs, that’s horseshit, goodbye!

SkekGra and UrGoh are doing fine, by the way. They moved to Tangier, Morocco, at some point, and during this first phase of the AU story, that’s the International Zone or Interzone and being eccentric weirdos there is really working for them. They are having lots of kinky threesomes for blood and they’ve discovered that it really decreases the pain/thirst to live with and get along with your other half! Also pairs drinking each other’s blood drastically lowers the amount of external blood needed.

(SkekMal and UrVa know this last thing too, because UrVa at one point decided to harry SkekMal forever across the Earth, never letting him settle, and after one too many disrupted hunts SkekMal was like “then I’ll just drink from YOU” and it ended up being a very interesting night.)

SkekSa and UrSan are...somewhere...in the Mediterranean Sea.

UrLii ended up living in the Paris catacombs. It happens. Eventually SkekLi ended up there too.

I think Aughra has to be a book in this AU. Maybe another esoteric acronym, AUGHRA.

I haven’t thought out much plot mapping for the show as AU. Maybe the gelfling characters are the remnant/descendants of the original URSKEK cult members? And it’s kind of an underground/esoteric religion? Would help explain the emotional sway of the skeksis/not just calling the cops. The URSKEK underground religion is what the skeksis wipe out before “movie” events. I think the urRu still raise Jen. He’s still got to help with reunification, and so does Kira, but it’s something that takes more time and is more like real detective work/solving a mystery in this AU.

As for the ending...there is reunification but I’m not sure if would let them all just leave. They certainly don’t become the original URSKEK humans again. Something different has to happen. It’s 1966! Try something new!

And that’s the vampire AU!

[margindoodles2407]

Ear Headcanon

I know the title's a little weird but I have a headcanon so hear me out:

The shape of Hylian ears reflects the state of Hyrule.

In Skyward Sword, Hyrule hasn't even been established yet. Their ears are small, but sharply pointed because of their closeness to the goddess Hylia.

In Minish Cap and Four Swords, the Hylians are deeply connected with the Picori, and thus their ears take on a Minish shape- rounded and twitchy, like the ears of mice, but still long and jutting. (Reference my Minish Cap Link art to see what I mean- it's under the "minish cap" tag)

In Ocarina of Time, the kingdom has just suffered a civil war but is otherwise coming out of a golden age of prosperity. Thus, their ears are extremely long; however, due to the war the voices of the gods have been hushed and so the tips of their ears droop downwards.

*Time Split Occurs*

Child Timeline

Terminian ears look the same as Hylian ears, except that they are rounded at the ends instead of pointed.

In Twilight Princess, Hylian ears are the same shape as in the Era of Time, but they are shorter because the population of Hyrule has greatly decreased- the Sheikah are nowhere to be found, the Gerudo are all but extinct, the Kokiri have seemingly vanished, and the entire population of Hylians (with the exception of Link) seems to reside in Castle Town.

I have not even bothered to look into Four Swords Adventures quite yet, so for the time being, assume it follows the same rules as Twilight Princess.

Adult Timeline

In Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass, Hyrule has drowned. The remnants of the once-great kingdom exist solely in the form of small, scattered islands. The gods and legends have been all but forgotten, buried underneath thousands of fathoms of eerily silent water. The ears of the Hylians in the Era of Winds are therefore small and almost rounded, suggesting merely the hint of a point.

By the time that Spirit Tracks rolls around, New Hyrule has been established, but anything that might resemble the old legends has been completely removed from mind, replaced with the tales of the Lokomo and the stories of Tetra the Pirate Queen and her Sailor Knight, Sir Link. Thus, the Hylians in Spirit Tracks have the smallest and roundest ears in all of Hyrule's History (though the upper-class wear elegant ear jewelry to create the illusion of a point, in memory of Tetra and her crew).

Downfall Timeline

By the era of Darkness, Hyrule has been through some CRAP. However, the Castle still stands, and so all hope is not lost. Hylian ears in A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, and the Oracles are smaller than in the Era of Time but still pointed, and they jut straight out of the sides of their owners' heads. Labrynnan and Holodrumi ears look the same as Hylians', and Koholint Islander ears are rounded like Ordonian ears.

In A Link Between Worlds, so little time has passed since the Oracles concluded (three generations AT MOST) that the ears have had no time to evolve. Hytopian ears are rounded, but they have heard legends of Hylians with Pointed Ears.

Then, centuries later, a great evil that all thought dead resurfaces- Ganon, the Prince of Darkness, though any semblance of the cunning and intelligent mind of Ganondorf is long gone. He decimates Hyrule and the Triforce is split, and the Castle- the beacon of hope and light in the country of Hyrule- falls. Hylian ears droop pointed downwards, and they round out in mourning of the kingdom that once was- yet, they remain long, in the hopes that that kingdom could someday be restored. By the time of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Link and Zelda have started the kingdom's restoration and it seems that those hopes might come true.

Hyrule Warriors is not canon but I believe that if it was, it would take place in the downfall timeline immediately before the timeline reunification (and could, in fact, even be the reason for the timeline reunification, though that idea is merely a thought and you are willing to believe whatever you want). Hyrule's restoration is nearly complete and the Castle has been rebuilt, and so the ears of the Hylians are pointed once again. However, they are significantly shorter than they once were due to the meddlings of Cia and the war they cause.

*Timeline Reunification Occurs*

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom

Hyrule was in a 10-millenniums-long golden age when it fell to Calamity Ganon, and its devotion to the Goddess Hylia had been fervently rekindled. Even after the Calamity, not enough time has passed for ear shape to evolve dramatically, and so Hylian ears are long, straight, and pointed. Link's and Zelda's ears are slightly longer than those of modern-day Hylians, however.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CDi GAMES?!?

I guess they're so ridiculously long and floppy that they drag on the ground- because, My BoY, tHiS pEaCe Is WhAt AlL tRuE wArRiOrS sTrIvE fOr

I hope you enjoyed.

[cannibalcaprine]

So, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, the end of the cold war, that all happened in my lifetime I think starting sometime around the time I was in second or third grade.

Then I got to seventh grade and had a geography class, and the text books were a little old. Like making a big emphasis on the split between a capitalist "democratic" western Europe cultural group and a communist eastern Europe cultural group kind of old.

oh that's fuckin rough