#rune's rambles

[rune-rambles-art]

Okay I have to yell about Koleda Belobog Zenless Zone Zero because I feel like I love her in a very specific way that I haven’t seen a lot of people talk about. More under the cut because I have,,, so many thoughts.

Koleda is such a good portrayal of someone who struggles with their perception as an adult. A pretty easy conclusion to make with the first thing she usually says on the character select screen being “Hey, don’t look down on me!”, but it definitely goes a lot deeper the more you spend time with her. Specifically, she seems to struggle in her perception of herself as someone much more mature than her younger peers, but still not on the same level as the adults in similar positions of power as her. I kinda. Hate zenless for not explicitly stating how old she is, but given she rose to her position at Belobog “when she came of age” (which honestly, I still can’t give a concrete answer to what hoyo means by this? Some searches I found claimed the working age to be 16 in China, I’ve seen others online claim 18 but that’s not reliable. Hoyo I'm begging you put official ages on your characters it's a cool and based practice), she waited for a significant amount of time before taking up her role as president. She is an adult from what the game implies, and a core part of her character is fighting against the constant infantilization she faces due to how she looks.

Let’s start with her love of desserts (and a honestly this is the reason I started writing this). It’s her most highlighted character trait (it is also the first known attribute in her trust rank profile when you unlock her), and most of her trust events on 6th street revolves around them. Initially, she hesitates in proclaiming her love for them, likely to avoid being perceived as childish.

Her rank 4 trust special event is, admittedly, my favorite, but it’s one of the best breakdowns of this.

In order to maintain her image as a mature adult, she uses her position as company president to get around having to request a special dessert drink by name (in her defense, "Sweet Girl Fluffy Marshmallow Lambkin Milk" is an insane mouthful of a product name). At the end of the event she admits that saying its name “wasn’t as bad as she thought”, but her initial kneejerk reaction was a complete rejection of even entertaining the idea of doing something that could put the image she worked so hard to create and maintain at risk. Despite this, she still refuses desserts that aren't tooth-rottingly sweet, even if they are seen as the more mature or "refined" option. It's only around people that she really trusts does she allow this part of herself to be known, because she knows they wouldn't misconstrue this behavior as childish.

I also think her perception on the differences between kids and adults is interesting ("thank you agent story quest" we all say in unison). She doesn't ever feel like she fits in with other kids, probably due to all the responsibility she had to take on as the eventual heir to her father's company. But she also holds a vocal distain for many of her adult peers. Her declaration of "When I was younger, I thought the whole world was rotten, trying to make people just as rotten when they grow up." is a reflection of how she struggled to find her place in the world as she was forced to suddenly transition into adulthood, while still trying to understand the actions of the adults around her.

Her relationship with her father becoming strained contributed significantly to her world outlook as well, and may have caused such a specific distinction of what she deems "the world of adults". I don't want to dive too specifically into that because spoilers and the game is only a few weeks old so. Pin that for another time maybe? It definitely matters in the sense that the loss of her father is the catalyst for the loss of her childhood, but a lot of the specifics in how that affected her are speculative (and I don't wanna get too headcanon-y in this particular post) and she explicitly chooses not to discuss it too in-depth with the proxy (which, girl. Valid). But she's slowly learning to cope with that loss, at least it seems that way by the end of chapter 3. Honestly I could probably find more to add about the agent story in particular, but I would have to replay it to get a better idea.

To me, Koleda Belobog is very solid representation for women who had to grow up too fast, struggle with the perception of being seen as an adult, and hold guilt about indulging in acts that can be perceived as childish by their peers because they never fully got the chance to just be a kid. It truly did resonate with me, and it feels like such a specific "if you know, you know" kind of experience that I don't feel is talked about as much in media, especially with people who identify as female during their youth.

Also, also! I hope they dive in a bit more on how she got/has so much hollow corruption at a young age. Because they imply that she is so short as a result of this hollow corruption. Like that's so damn interesting conceptually and I know they delved on it more in Rina's agent story but. It was more of a mental affliction than a physical one.

Anyway I've been working on this for like 2 days now but that's all I have in terms of like. A canon-compliant character analysis.

TLDR; Koleda is such a perfect example of "God forbid short women exist" and I love her for that. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

[runekirikjartan]

Last Line Challenge

I got tagged by @whiskygoldwings who's an absolutely amazing human being pls go check out their stuff!!

For my last line written:

“No!” Fox repeated, a little more harshly and wet than he would’ve liked. He scrubbed a hand across his face and hated that the back of it came away wet. “You didn’t care before when it mattered.”

From the WIP of chapter 2 of the long road home on AO3.

Taglist: @yellowisharo @eyayah-oya @voices-of-my-brothers @ithillia @mamuzzy-creates-stuff / @mamuzzy

I can't wait to see what y'all put out

[justsleepyrune]

my supervisor let me go early (and still be paid) after a really rough day and m so excited to go home and sleep

maybe write. probably write.

[runekirikjartan]

replying to this for question # 7 bc i've currently been obsessed with my current star wars/oc project and I wanted to include my art in the reply:

this is Inar'an'oklaio.

He's a Chiss bounty hunter who has had like a decade long crush on Cad Bane and they finally get a hold of their feelings to confess to one another during 18BBY after the empire takes over - they've had a very long past together.

He's possibly one of my most fleshed out non-clone trooper original character (don't get me started on the clones i write too many fics about them) but yeah! Inar'an'oklaio (Rano for short) is kinda like a pride & joy situation? I love him sm and have been working on his fic arc with cad bane since like 2021

I have fics of them on ao3 too!

Temporary question post prob.

Tbh Idk how many people will see it, but If you're interested in talking to me, like those guys on the kitchen in the middle of the night: you're welcome with any topic or questions (In DM or comment section or whatever)

While I'm working on heavy arts, want to entertain myself with conversations (without any obligations or judgment, please!)

Here I have some questions, which were occupying my mind and personally wanted to discuss, but again, see the first paragraph:

Never watched Andor (shame on me). Why the hate and why it was 'forced'?

Do you think that Jango Fett genuinely was freaking out, when he saw the first clone of himself?

Do you think there where any 'defective' clones other than 99? I mean... Probably, it should take a lot of time and tries to make 'perfect defective clone'. So, maybe there's somewhere in the Galaxy (or whenever) another TBB, but the one that was a failure.

Still, 'cloneshipping' thingie. Can we consider it as a bad term and part of the fandom, or we don't care about that? Is that happening because Internet community became too soft and sensitive or this fenomen was having hate for all times? (And can we consider cloneshipping as relative-relationships? Or is that self-relationships? )

To the previous question. Is that okay to sexualize clones that look like 30 y.o. man but in reality they're like... Twelve??? (Am I going to jail because of pixel?)

How bunch of Jedi (we remember that some races are more sensitive to the force than others) never saw Palpatine coming? No argument 'for plot', only wrong answers

Do you have Star Wars OC? Show me. Tell me. I need to know.

I'm done! If you want - you want to talk with me about that.

If you don't, well, I'll do my schizophrenia job

[doublebarrelbrothers]

saw a samdean edit on tiktok and the comments were like "before i save, is this a wincest edit?"

babes if you can't tell the difference, maybe the wincesties have a point

[redwitchrune]

had some time to think and watch people watch the minecraft movie trailer, and i think I've realized my main gripe with it. out of all the directions they could have chosen, why did they go with the one they did???

like. okay. i watched both phil and mumbo watch the trailer who had very different and opposite thoughts. i think mumbo was right in that it seems like it's trying to be an absurd, camp, and silly movie that makes fun of itself. the style (how ever mismatched) leans into that and the humor seems to go in that direction. and I think for what it's trying to be (camp, absurd, making fun of itself), it will probably be an okay movie! the focus won't be on minecraft, it will be on the minecraft world, if that makes sense. the look and mechanics over the feel and vibe.

on the other hand. i hate that they chose this direction. minecraft is such a game of stories, of the hidden stories, of what you make of the mysterious and wonderful world around you. you have the end poem. you have the music. you ha e the ruins. you have new expiernces and wonder and fear. yes it's a big world, but it also feels small. it's just you! in this abandoned and recovering world. and it loves you.

it just feels like that whole aspect of the game doesn't matter here. it's just the surface level appearance, mechanics, and look of the game. it honestly feels more like minecraft legends than normal minecraft, but even then it's missing the whimsy of legends.

yes it looks bad. yes it has like four different art styles. I think for what they're trying to do it will be Okay at best. but what it could've been. that's the real loss. It could've been about nostalgia. about love. about the universe. about making your own world with your own hands. about the quiet emptiness left behind you now have to live in. those raw experiences that won't be considered. whatever

[tinykittengotclaws]

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚─ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Seeing the little applications and stuff always makes me feel icky. Wouldn't you rather a friend you have made in this community with a relationship bulit over time instead of a random person who immediately fills the role of little/cg? Idk just feels off and like it's a commodification, then a true caring on either parties part

That's just me tho

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚─ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

[that-random-nerd]

Ralsei, Dark Prince and Resident Fluffy Boi

Twin Runes Ralsei model/avatar are completed!

They have 5 different facial expressions, as well as physbones in his ears, front hair fluff and scarf!

You can grab him directly from this link here

Or you can visit my world to grab him, and other characters, here! Twin Runes AU by @akanemnon

[akanemnon]

I just wanna say your doing awesome

I absolutely love reading your comic and it's very much an inspiration to me to continue growing as an artist and a storyteller

I very much admire your dedication and I usually read through the entirety of the comic whenever you take a break from it so I can appreciate the amazing story you've been weaving

I'm very sorry some people have been so rude, you don't deserve that when you've been sharing your story with us so kindly and consistently

Hope you have a great day today ^^

Thanks, guys! It really means a lot that you enjoy this comic so much! Must mean that I'm doing at least something right haha

I've been trying my best to have a steady upload schedule, and it's been going surprisingly well. I haven't missed a single upload outside of any announced breaks I took.

Sometimes, I keep forgetting how much work this ACTUALLY is. When I look at Twin Roomies and how Alpha tries to emulate the look of the main comic, I'm hit with the realization that this is HARD! It's become such a routine at this point that I don't think too deeply about the amount of work I'm actually putting out.

Is this what Stockholm syndrome is like? /j

[loustica-lucia]

DAA — Qwydion wasn't kidding

I've been rewatching Dragon Age Absolution for funsies while working on commissions and got distracted XD Qwydion wasn't kidding when she said that list out loud lmao

But I do wonder why it was written in elven if she lied saying her master gave her the list to get those items? Also "kw"? Short for Quwydion, maybe? OR I got the letters wrong?

DA Elven Alphabet: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1N5c-1eql5stHFsMKbNLqxHBkoqbsqMNV

[good-beansdraws]

They made Alien Stage merch of the singers being treated inhumanely in Anakt Garden? ;__;

Milgram

I'm still reeling that they released such intense art as merch.... At the same time it's not like I'm complaining -- wanting to draw this with 0 hesitation only proved I am also not immune to "Let's put those guys in situations 👁👁"

Small descriptions of these scenes under the cut, then some overall au thoughts because this got my brain going...

Mahiru is always speaking of romance and her heart racing -- the aliens want to test just how fast she can go before "overheating."

Amane always enjoyed singing as part of a choir, but the aliens hope to isolate just her voice, and every piece of it, no matter how long she must stand and sing for them.

Kotoko is quick at improvisation in both her music and in a fight, so they wish to find out exactly what makes her tick in these different areas.

Fuuta's big mouth is what makes him stand out in Alien Stage -- they consider straightening his crooked teeth to make him more marketable before deciding on a fang.

Haruka has always been deceptively strong to the smaller members of Anakt Garden, so the aliens only analyze him in a state of weakness.

Mikoto struggles daily with the breathing and circulation issues from the lab, only allowing himself to break when the cameras are down.

I chose the assignments based on the pics themselves, and only afterwards started looking into the overall au -- compared to typical Milgram assignments, I feel like these made for some really interesting dynamics:

Mahiru meets the prodigy Amane in Anakt Garden and takes her under her wing. She obsesses over romance as a general idea, but it's mainly the vision of a complete, happy family that she's dreaming of. Therefore she's optimistic for a tie, and that the two can become a family at the end of Alien Stage -- until Round 1 stops all her dreams short.

Amane had always spoken of god and the universe, and the others find themselves finally listening only after she’s gone. (It mainly affects Mahiru, but I like the fact that Fuuta can still call her his god.) Mahiru reflects on their time together -- though Amane had a big heart, spending time with her caretakers often left her quiet and stoic. Mahiru remembers meeting her in her perfect, doll-frilled dress and vowing to take care of her.

Someone as strong-willed and rebellious as Kotoko has always hated how 03060809 play along with Alien Stage -- she is their self appointed enemy for aiding the aliens in killing other humans. Deep down, though, Mahiru’s shining light has given her hope. She can hardly admit to herself what strong feelings she's developed for Mahiru, much less tell her outright. She focuses all her efforts to fight aliens and corrupt humans til the end. She isn't afraid to smash guitars and throw some punches along the way.

At the same time, Kotoko has never noticed the person idolizing her in silence: Fuuta. Even when she lashes out at him, he's inspired by her strength and intensity. He can tell she doesn't feel the same toward him, so he keeps his growing, touchstarved crush a secret. He's also willing to fight the whole way, even finding a flaming escape opportunity for them as kids (to which Kotoko argues she isn't a coward, and needs to stay and fight.) It isn't until he sees his idol lose her fire that he finally stops and hands the win over. He gets in one violent, rash show of love before it's all extinguished in the rain.

Alongside them, Mikoto becomes a fan favorite to the public. The asthmatic with a gentle side and violently self-preserving one is a huge hit. (Something about Mikoto’s mvs being the most popular for a while.) He earns win after win, no matter the health and memory issues that haunt him. Any time a performance gets too risky, John takes matters into his own hands to make sure they come out on top.

Though it's harder for him to physically evoke Amane's relationship with Mahiru in round 5, he knows how to play into right lyrics: "make me your god, I can give you everything." It's easier for him to act as Fuuta, giving Kotoko a Deep Cover moment of guilt that she'd gotten him killed by fighting for the wrong things. In a twist of irony from canon, Kotoko says her final words in Mahiru’s arms, and Mahiru is the one left feeling responsible for the loss...

Back in their childhood, Haruka and Mikoto had found themselves outcasts together. Haruka was always afraid of Mikoto after witnessing his violence against the other children (I think it'd be weird to switch around victims so maybe it was both of their faults that Haruka’s suster died.) But at the same time, a part of him kept coming back and seeking Mikoto's attention because he admired him so much.

After being rescued from a disastrous Alien Stage round, the others in the resistance were taken in by Haruka’s innocent shyness. Regardless of his protests at poor public speaking, his heart earned him the spot of leader. He is willing throw himself in the path of danger to protect the people he cares about -- an admired trait until it actually does get him killed.

(And a bonus Yuno for Bones :D)

[rune-rambles-art]

Koleda (and other Belobog Heavy Industries) headcanons bc I am so very normal™️ about her

Her favorite food is cake (pretty obvious) with her favorite flavor being chocolate. She also really likes brown sugar flavored teamilks, and Ben will bring one back for her without fail every time he goes to pick some up for the higher ups.

She likes to be on schedule. If something in her usual routine changes, her fuse is a lot shorter when dealing with trivial tasks

Koleda has a teddy bear that she loves very dearly and sleeps with every night. It was a gift from Grace after her dad disappeared

Grace does Koleda’s hair every morning. If she needs a touch up during the day, she usually asks Grace for help. In the case that she can’t find Grace, Ben and Anton are capable of fixing it up instead (Grace taught them how)

She does wear her eyepatch for a reason. When she was young, she wandered into a hollow and was injured by an ethereal. It became permanently corrupted and as a result, she has severe light sensitivity in that eye. It does look pretty cool though.

She and Anton create training regimens together pretty regularly. The 100 Bangoo single-handed pushup idea came from an off-handed joke Koleda made, but Anton took it literally.

When out at cafes together, Grace and Koleda usually order for each other. Koleda started it as an opportunity to order more “sophisticated” sweets and coffees, but it eventually developed into a game of seeing if they could pick out and surprise each other with dishes the other would enjoy.

Ben attempts to tutor Koleda with math by letting her calculate the totals in his finance reports. He calls her over with the excuse of “double checking his work”, letting her try to work it out, and then showing her how he got his total on a separate sheet of paper. She has not been correct a single time, but she appreciates his consideration.

Grace won’t let Koleda have a cat at home, but in exchange she allows Koleda to name every single one of her machines (keeping up the tradition Khors started).

If both are working on site that day, Anton and Koleda start the morning off with a footrace between the two of them (and most of the company spectate it). The tradition began after Anton asserted he was the fastest runner in all of Belobog to a group of his subordinates, which earned a scoff from the president who just happened to be passing by. After a short back and forth, the duo decide to settle it with a race the next morning. Word spread through the company fast, and there was a sizable crowd waiting for them near the storage area the following morning. Bets were placed (the pool was pretty even, but skewed in the president’s favor just slightly), and the two took the starting line. After a shot from Grace’s nailgun, they began their three laps around the work area. Koleda pulls ahead at a frightening speed, and finishes a full fifteen seconds before Anton. He demands a rematch every day, and the board they used for the firing (nail) gun keeps score of how many times they’ve raced to this day. They’re up to the 4th board full of nails now, and only new hires bet against Koleda. None of the employees considers a work day truly “beginning” until their race finishes.

[runekirikjartan]

Nothing feels better when revisiting an old hyperfixation than it becoming your longest running fanfic at over 100k words while you rewrite it from scratch to pick out any inconsistencies.

[justsleepyrune]

i was walking to class today and a lady was sitting on a bench by the sidewalk and she looked up and went "you look absolutely stunning" and i'm just. rotating that compliment in my mind now.

compliments from random strangers are so utterly lovely.

[runicwhim]

kissing along the scattered constellations of viktor's moles ; he's not quite used to such paroxysm of adoration when it's inflicted onto him , but over time , he beings to melt into it . he's molten molasses , heated glass : easily melding into whatever shape his lover desires when they're in bed together . breathy laughter , shy whispers of amor , tender affliction of affection that tints his cheeks pink and softens the score of his ochre eyes . viktor giggles with each featherlight press of lips against his skin & jokes that his lover must be a cartographer given each time they've mapped his skin with their mouth & tongue & teeth .

[spoonietimelordy]

People have no idea the amount of notes I take during seminars which have for sol purpose to help me build a doctor who headcanon.

For exemple: did you know that medieval germanic runes were mainly not used for communication but to show people's social rank? Only rich people knew how to write and read runes. So it's why there is tool from this era that have been found with just their name carved into it. Like a knife with "knife" written on it. And because of this there were also people who tried to pass as richer than they were and were carving fake runes on stuff.

Anyway, all of this to say that in my mind, it's how circular gallifreyan works. It's why they write on everything. They're showing their social status by carving "chair" on all of their chairs. And then there is Rassilon, who writes his name on everything, which is like a whole other level of ego.