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miquella-everywhere · 2 months

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also (cuz im scrolling down ur blog and tossing in my own two cents lmao) wrt the shadow beasts, theres a lot of interesting dynamics going on with how gender plays into being an empyrean, bare with me here (only rly discussing vanilla lore implications here)

shadow beasts are given to empyreans to serve their will and attend to their needs and generally tend to form a familial bond with their empyreans. all seen shadow beasts are male, and MOST of the empyreans are female (miquella is going to come up later)

theres a subtle gender dynamic wrt how the greater will encourages/enforces agency in those it allows to be in power. marika for the most part takes a passive role, giving guidance and blessings while her (male) consort takes active action. this is also mirrored with ranni, where before she uses the fingerslaying blade, she relies on predominently masculine agents to enact her will. in this way the greater will enforces a role of feminine passivity vs male activity that is also seen in the shadow beasts. blaidd is rannis right hand man for most of her life, and similarly maliketh is the one who defeats the godskins and slays the gloam eyed queen and seals destined death. ranni first distances herself from this dynamic with the night of black knives, using ambigously gendered (as in universe the black knives are only *rumored* to be female where we can take it as Word Of God) assassins to slay the male godwyn, who participated in the war against the ancient dragons, and to free herself of her empyrean (female) flesh. this dynamic is mirrored again with radagon and renalla where radagon has the active agency of choosing his wife, who herself being a carian was an active agent instead of a passive blessing+guidance giver. this changes once caria is incorporated into the golden order, as radagons absence breaks renalla and leaves her passive.

radagon is marikas masculine alter and hes the one who has active agency, choosing to return to the erdtree, choosing to unite with marika, participating in the war against caria before marrying renalla, and then actively creating new incantations with miquella

miquella and malenia are themselves a kind of inversion of this. malenia is a female empyrean but rejects her godhood by suppressing the scarlet rot. miquella is a male empyrean but takes a very backseat passive role, guiding and instructing and providing blessing, but its malenia who enacts his will as she herself calls herself the blade of miquella. in this way malenia acts as the masculine shadow beast to miquellas feminine empyrean, where st trina is a female alter who has masculine agency as st trina is the one actively going around the lands between to give people the relief of sleep. its no coincidence that shes described as androgynous looking and shes the one who gets a hypothetical older form on st trinas torch

the two fingers, and by extension the greater will, probably saw no need to monitor the twins themselves, as the rot god was a competitor and threat to them, and malenias suppression of it to deny her empyrean nature suited them. otherwise id imagine theyd be right on that, as malenias rune is supposed to be the greatest of all if it wasnt infested with rot. furthermore, though inverted, miquella and malenia still reproduce the gendered dynamic the greater will tries to enforce over and over again, passivity vs agency, masculine vs feminine, and thus even if the haligtree succeeded, unalloyed gold is still gold. miquellas plans were most likely not considered a threat to the greater will overall, merely a threat to marikas golden order, but the greater will (who was already a part of the crucible) most likely didnt mind the order changing so long as it was still present in some fashion.

ranni is such a threat because she desires the agency of what should rightly belong to the consort she rejects having, she desires to restore the tradition of her family which did not invoke those gendered dynamics until the golden order invaded into it through radagon, and the two fingers are the tools through which that dynamic is enforced.

this is also seen in the nox, enemies specifically of the greater will, where society is led by the female night maidens and swordstresses, and the male monks take a more passive servant role, and the greater will sent *astel* to get THEIR asses

anyways thanks for reading this long ass essay, elden ring and gender and empyreans are rly interesting to me especially cuz the last active thing marika does is shatter the elden ring and shes crucified for it whereas radagon is allowed to drop down and fight you before being turned into a Literal Tool to be used (interesting commentary in this light where it implies that even the veneer of agency granted to a masculine alter or consort is itself a tool the greater will uses to enforce itself on the lands between, rannis right you have to tear the whole thing down)

👏

Tho I will have to say that it is very funny to me that the lore hammers in that Caria is a Matron style royal family and how that is apparently very "unusual" when Leyndell, and the rest of the world apparently, is lead by an eternal God Queen who is the most Female Maternal figure of all time ever lol

also it's not that the two fingers wouldn't see the need to monitor the twins as much as it is truthfully fromsoft having not idea how to write in the twins fingers and shadow bound beasts.

#girls really do rule the world in ER lol #fantastic essay anon thank you for sharing 👏#uri answers

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genshinnrambles · 2 years

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[3.5 analysis] The Uncanny, Fate, and the Machine

In Genshin Impact, machines and automatons matter. They are everywhere in the world, from small devices and gadgets to hulking, imposing mountains of metal created for the purpose of war. I wanted to know what happens when we look at these machines through the lens of the uncanny in hopes of better understanding their narrative purpose. It turns out, machines tell us a lot about the plot's direction, from smaller stories like Karkata, Benben, and Tamimi’s relationship to humans, to the larger story of the twins landing in this strange world. This theory will deal with the larger story by applying the uncanny to the Akasha, Irminsul, and the Loom of Fate.

SPOILERS: Caribert (and all Sumeru Archon Quests preceding it, basically), Inversion of Genesis, Aranyaka (Aranara world quest), Alhaitham’s Story Quest (like two screenshots), two of Faruzan’s hangout endings, and one out of context screenshot from 3.5’s Windblume.

DISCLAIMER:

A part 0 to this can be found here, which was produced along the way to writing this theory. It is not absolutely necessary to understand the points in this post, but might be of interest if you liked the psychoanalysis bits and want to take a closer look at the meaning and significance of dreams.

All external sources will be listed at the bottom! If digital, they are linked. If print, the title and author are given.

The Uncanny 101

To be clear, this theory won’t be overly reliant on the psychoanalytic perspective of the uncanny, but I think Freud is a good place to start in order to get to where we need to go. If you’ll indulge me for a moment…

In his essay Das Unheimliche (1919) [The Uncanny], Freud proposes the psychoanalytic significance of the uncanny by first examining its linguistic meaning and then by applying it to literature. In order to fully understand the uncanny (unheimlich), Freud argues that we must first understand heimlich. We will follow suit. Heimlich has two common meanings, and we will start with its first meaning.

Heimlich’s most common meaning denotes familiarity, “belonging to the home,” homely, tame, and intimate. The literal translation of heimlich to English is also “of the home/house.” Seems simple enough. It is something pleasant and familiar.

But, heimlich's second meaning complicates this definition. Heimlich in this second context is “concealed, kept from sight, so that others do not get to know about it, withheld from others.” Secret. Private:

“To do something heimlich, i.e. behind someone’s back; to steal away heimlich; heimlich meetings and appointments; to look on with heimlich pleasure at someone’s discomfiture….to behave heimlich, as though there was something to conceal; heimlich love, love-affair, sin; heimlich places (which good manners oblige us to conceal)” (Freud, 3).

I like to think about heimlich's two meanings as a matter of perspective. Imagine that you are in a house in the middle of an unfamiliar place with your loved ones. The feeling of being together in this familiar, intimate setting puts you at ease. This is the first meaning of heimlich. As the days go by, you settle into the monotony of your routine within the house's walls and begin to wonder about what is outside of the house, concealed from your sight. This is the second meaning of heimlich.

The reason this difference in meaning is interesting to us is because unheimlich has only one use and meaning, and that is strange, unsettling, eerie:

“‘Unheimlich’ is the name for everything that ought to have remained . . . hidden and secret and has become visible,” (Freud, 4).

In other words, unheimlich means the opposite of the first definition for heimlich, but it is synonymous with the second meaning. In this way, what is heimlich is also unheimlich. What is familiar is also strange. What is of the home is also outside of the home. But how can that be?

Dainsleif: My memories are quite foggy, but my subconscious and instincts both assert that something once happened here.

Central to Freudian psychoanalysis is the notion that both traumatic and non-traumatic memories and thoughts we experience throughout life, but especially those experienced as children, are forgotten and repressed in the unconscious, censored from the ego's perception. Freud thought that even if we cannot immediately recall these things, they do not simply disappear from the psyche.

The process of repression, which relegates these formerly conscious or “preconscious” thoughts to the unconscious, makes something that was once familiar to us, in this case a thought or belief, feel strange and unfamiliar upon its resurfacing. Freud argued that this is the true nature of the uncanny. It is why uncanny feelings are characterized by dread and anxiety - because the object or story or phenomenon triggering the memory's resurfacing reminds us of something we once knew intimately, but that has become unfamiliar through repression and distortion.

Alhaitham: However, these memories aren’t truly lost, but merely sealed away. They can be restored with the appropriate stimulus.

The uncanny, then, is characterized by a return of the repressed, a recursion or repetition if you will. This was quite long-winded, but the most important takeaway here is that the boundary between the uncanny and the familiar, the unheimlich and heimlich, would seem impermeable on the surface but is in fact fluid and changeable. With time, things that were once familiar and pleasant can become strange and unsettling.

An example might help here. Let’s take a line from A Drunkard’s Tale, an in-game fictional book (credits to Tuna for this example, which I would not have thought to analyze with the uncanny without having read their observation thread on Caribert):

“What you humans call wine, we wolves call the Abyss.”

There is a sentence in Freud’s essay that has a very similar structure to this one, printed here:

“We call it unheimlich; you call it heimlich” (Freud, 3)

Or, to more closely mirror the structure of the quote from A Drunkard’s Tale:

“You call it heimlich; we call it unheimlich.”

So, let’s break this up and analyze it in parts:

“What you humans call wine/You call it heimlich.” Wine is a “known” thing, it is a product from an ordered world with rules. We know how it’s made and what effects it has when consumed. It “belongs to the home,” the “home” being an abstraction of all that is familiar.

“We wolves call the Abyss/we call it unheimlich.” Unheimlich is something strange and unfamiliar, a feeling of dread, but it is synonymous with the second meaning of heimlich, a word most commonly denoting what is familiar. The Abyss is "beyond this world," it is everything that exists outside of the boundaries of “Teyvat.” So how can the Abyss even be compared to wine? Maybe because there isn’t as big of a difference between them as we would initially think. The quote is asking this question: how can the Abyss be something beyond this world/outside of it (unheimlich) when it’s right here in your very human/Teyvat things (heimlich)?

Or, if you’ve ever experienced the sensation of déjà vu, that’s also an uncanny feeling. Speaking of déjà vu…

Recursion, Repetition, Samsara

“We think we are creating the system for our own purposes. We believe we are making it in our own image... But the computer is not really like us. It is a projection of a very slim part of ourselves: that portion devoted to logic, order, rule, and clarity.” -Ellen Ullman, Close to the Machine: Technophilia and its Discontents

One of the many machines we became acquainted with in the Sumeru Archon Quest was the Akasha. The Akasha was advertised as an access point to knowledge from Irminsul, but in reality it was a dream-harvesting machine unevenly distributing “bundles of human wisdom” to the terminal-wearing Sumeru populace in exchange for their dreamless sleep.

We know how the story goes: Nahida leads us to the truth of the samsara in Act II by having us make associations about our strange environment ourselves - a process that takes inspiration from Freud’s method for dream interpretation, free association (more on that here). She does this because delivering the truth to us without having made these connections ourselves would “blow our minds,” permanently confusing our sense of reality and dream. Basically, she has us do the opposite of repression - we take information from our strange environment, associate it with things we are familiar with, and arrive at the answers on our own. This exercise helps us understand the hidden truth of the Akasha, a secret concealed by the Akademiya’s sages.

To take our understanding of this a step further and connect it to another angle of the uncanny, I want to turn our attention back to the first meaning of heimlich, specifically how it describes things “belonging to the home.” Another English word for this would be domestic, things pertaining to the house and running the household. Familiar things. All other things outside of the house, like the wilderness, the foreign, would be unheimlich. As we’ve established earlier, the line between these two categories is changeable. Things previously regarded as domestic, belonging to the home, can become unfamiliar with time.

There is a lot we can do with this, but let’s focus on its applications to the Akasha first. Aranaga actually takes a very similar approach when explaining its function in Agnihotra Sutra:

Aranaga: Here, Aranaga's remembrance, is this flower. Cannot blow him away, the Ad Oblivione; cannot destroy him, the device that takes away dreams.

Traveler: The thing that takes away dreams...?

Aranaga: The living memory of nature, dream. Man-made dead thing, mechanism. Taking away living memory, grinding and crushing to extract its juice, like a grinder, for dominion and domestication... Don't like this, Aranara.

Paimon: Eh... Why?

Aranaga: Because the garden of freedom, the source of power, dreams and memories, not only for Aranara, but also for Nara. But Nara don't know. Not good action... extraction, grinding.

Aranaga: Memories and dreams are gone, reason for action is gone, strength is also gone.

Domestication is the process by which things “outside of the home” are brought “inside.” In human history, we can observe this process through the domestication of crops, livestock animals, dogs, and so on. What was once wild and outside the realm of human control is tamed and cultivated within the boundaries of the city center. Domestication has a greater purpose: to extend civilization’s power and control over what is “outside” by controlling its reproduction.

It’s an apt description for the Akasha under the control of the previous sages - it was a Dream Domestication Machine, bringing a “source of power” within the Akademiya’s control in order to populate the Akasha’s records with knowledge. Eventually, it would also be used to attempt to create their own mechanical God, in hopes of bringing a sliver of divinity within human control. In essence, the sages made the strange (dreams) into the familiar (a power source). Domestication, then, is the inversion of repression and the uncanny.

We can see this in the Akasha’s predictive capabilities as well. Given enough information, the Akasha can use behavioral logic to predict (though not dictate) the movements of a person, but only to a certain point. Its ideal subject was someone like Cyno before the Archon Quest - a “decisive and principled person,” someone who prefers to operate independently of other people and their behavioral logic, which can muddy and change our own. Cyno’s behavior was once predictable and familiar to the Akasha’s algorithms, but by changing his behavior he became unreadable, unfamiliar, and strange, if temporarily.

“A Flower Not Of This World”

Considering the Akasha was made by the Dendro archon, whose origins lie in Irminsul, and the copious foreshadowing in Act II’s samsara for the resolution of Inversion of Genesis, it is not outlandish to view the Akasha as an analog to Irminsul. Though they may not function exactly the same way, we can already observe that Irminsul behaves more like a machine than something biological, what with Nahida functioning as a sort of system administrator to it (with limited privileges, it would seem…), its use of system permissions, its virus vulnerability (forbidden knowledge), its strictly literal interpretation of commands executed to its database...you get the picture.

So what is the purpose of this arboreal machine? And what are the rules?

While the intimate details of Irminsul are still murky, including who all can control it and who made it, we do know a few important things about it:

It contains a record of everything that has happened in Teyvat in the form of collective memories. It acquires memories through the Ley Line network, which stretches all over Teyvat, and records information as it happens. It also seems to acquire the memories of those who pass away - it is repeatedly stated in Aranyaka that everyone “returns to Sarva” when they pass.

It can alter memories of the past when edits are made to its database. We have two known instances of this so far, both of which are deletions: the removal of the memory of Rukkhadevata, and the removal of the identities “Kabukimono” and “Balladeer.”

The Traveler's memories are not affected by edits to Irminsul because they are not of this world. This is because of the truth hidden by Irminsul’s records - it contains no records of “descenders,” because to do so would be to admit that the sky is fake.

Deleted memories are not lost forever if necessary precautions are taken. While non-fiction books, quest dialogue, domain descriptions, and other quest items are altered by Irminsul edits, fiction is outside of its reach. Nahida understood this intimately, so she hid the true history of the Wanderer in a fairy tale story, which was her own unique form of distortion independent of Irminsul’s distortion. This allowed her to freely associate the elements of the fairy tale back to the truth, just like what we did in Act II to arrive at the truth of the samsara, and just like what Freud had his patients do to interpret their dreams. Through this, she resurfaced her memory of the truth.

Returning to the idea of the uncanny and the familiar, what happens when we think of Teyvat as a “home,” and everything considered separate from it (like descenders, the abyss, or forbidden knowledge) is the uncanny, outside of this world? The utility of Irminsul becomes clear: it delineates the boundaries of “Teyvat” so as to maintain a closed system of memory production in its inhabitants.

Another way to look at Irminsul, then, is as a Memory Domestication Machine. This analogy requires us to stretch the definition of domestication as not only involving something under human control, but it still functions the same way.

It’s important that we understand the rules of this machine and familiarize ourselves with its boundaries - only then can we understand its limitations and exploit them:

Alhaitham: You may find it hard to believe, but for those people, everything the Akasha transmits to them is nothing short of absolute truth.

Alhaitham: Imagine if you've been using a device like the Akasha since the day you were born. And this device has always supported you during times of need...

Alhaitham: After all that time, what do you think you'd become?

Paimon: Uh... A fool? A machine?

Alhaitham: A slave to orders. And that's why rules are so important. In addition, those who understand the rules can delineate boundaries, and identify gray areas.

Paimon: Hmm... but why would you need to identify the gray areas?

Alhaitham: You could say that those kinds of ambiguous zones can be very interesting. One might even say they're advantageous in the right hands…

Dottore: And now, it seems they can no longer hold back their sheer adoration..

Under the dominion of the Akasha, the line between human and machine was blurred. The same can be said for Irminsul – even alterations to its records produce the same fates with different recollected details, further calling into question the notion of free will under Teyvat’s laws. In the real world, we use the Turing test to measure a machine's ability to imitate a human, but the Akasha and Irminsul turn this idea on its head - are humans, in fact, the machines here?

If free will is an illusion, then one perspective might posit that human lives in Teyvat are no better than programs running to completion. It’s part of the irony that the remnants of Khaenri’ah’s technology are humanoid automatons (“Machines of war built in man’s image”). Whether or not that perspective is correct is for you to decide.

Alhaitham: One way to stabilize a collective consciousness is to remove the test subjects’ humanity altogether.

(look, I’m not saying Irminsul is a machine with an Overmind using it to create a collective unconscious, but that is also what I am saying).

Although it can change how the past is remembered, Irminsul has to abide by fate. Considering that the Akasha had predictive capabilities and is an analog to Irminsul, we might be tempted to ascribe predictive capabilities to Irminsul as well. It’s not outside of the realm of possibility. But, I think what is more likely at this stage is that Irminsul and the Ley Lines are just parts of a greater system of machines delineating Teyvat's boundaries, and one of those machines has dominion over fate.

One last piece of information we gained from the Sumeru Archon Quest was that the Traveler’s sibling is recorded in Irminsul. The Wanderer states that “[the sibling] only came to this world because the heavens responded to the summoning,” that Khaenri’ah was their first destination upon arriving sometime before the Cataclysm, and after which they traveled the Seven nations before their fate became “deliberately obfuscated” by “someone.” Now, they are running the Abyss Order.

At the end of "Akasha Pulses, the Kalpa Flame Rises," Nahida told us this:

Nahida: There's only one possible explanation: [they] belong to this world.”

But Nahida’s wording here is very important. It reminds me of Sucrose’s philosophizing about the prophecy Collei found in this year's Windblume:

Sucrose: I was thinking about the flower that is "not of this world." It could mean a human-cultivated variety that doesn't occur in nature... But that's basically claiming that it doesn't come from this world in the first place, when actually it's just a variant of an existing breed.

Sucrose: So the initial question is: Can the flower's origins be traced back to a natural organism? If so, it cannot be correctly described as "not of this world."

Sucrose: But then... supposing we identified something outside of that category, whose job would it be to decide whether it belongs in this world or not? Then the question becomes: Do "of this world" and "from this world" mean the same thing... or is it deeper than that?

The heimlich and unheimlich are divided by a permeable, fluid boundary. While there is absolutely still room for more plot twists regarding the Abyss Sibling’s origins, for now I think the additional information we have about their arrival to Teyvat simultaneously contradicts and supports Nahida’s initial hypothesis. The Abyss Sibling may indeed not be from Teyvat, just like the Traveler, but that does not preclude them from being brought into the boundaries of Teyvat through an unknown method of tampering with Irminsul, so that they now belong to Teyvat and are “of this world.” I mean to suggest that the Abyss Sibling was domesticated into Irminsul’s memory, and therefore into the boundaries that delineate Teyvat. How exactly, by who, and for what exact purpose is currently unclear. But if I were to guess….

The Uncanny and the Abyss

Chlothar: To us, you were the Abyss…a wondrous mystery far beyond our imagination and comprehension…and the one who controls the Abyss can control everything!

So like…we need to talk about Caribert.

In Chlothar’s despair at having failed to recover Caribert’s consciousness, the Abyss called out to him and opened a strange domain near Sumeru’s entrance to the Chasm. Once there, he and the Abyss Sibling discover a mysterious hanging crystal which whispers about a power the bowing Hilichurls and Chlothar covet. This power, which Chlothar understands as the Abyss, does indeed resurface Caribert’s consciousness, but it comes with a price. Chlothar’s obsession with the crystal steers his attention away from his son, who in child-like wonder gazed upon his maskless reflection in a hand mirror, only to discover the horror of reality: this is not a fairytale world like his father said, he has really become a Hilichurl, his home has been obliterated, and there is no going back to life as he once knew it.

So, he rejects his fate and removes his mask one final time, unleashing a dark power that engulfs his body. Though the player passes out at this moment, Chlothar later says something cryptic regarding his son, who has now vanished from sight:

Chlothar: You saw it too, didn't you? Unmistakable... The power inside Caribert and the power of the one you call a "Sinner," it was one and the same...

Chlothar: I am positive now... it's the power of the Abyss, isn't it?

Chlothar: At long last, I have seen it with my own eyes...

Traveler: I didn't see clearly...

Traveler: What happened to Caribert?

Chlothar: That is no business of yours!

Chlothar: A sinner... Yes, salvation for a sinner can only come from a sinner...

Chlothar: Caribert did not deserve his fate, but now... It's wonderful — he will be able to weave his own destiny anew.

Chlothar: Born into abject sorrow, he shall now become... "The Loom of Fate."

There is a LOT in this dialogue to unpack. First, let’s talk about what happened to Caribert. Though we do not see it ourselves, Chlothar says “salvation for a sinner can only come from a sinner,” and that now Caribert can weave his own destiny anew. He also states that he has never seen the power of the Abyss before now, but I also wonder if he is saying he has never seen the Loom of Fate’s power with his own eyes before. To me, this suggests that Caribert fused with the Abyss, or even with the Loom of Fate (assuming these two are separate things to begin with).

Then, Chlothar says more strange things about the Abyss Sibling:

Chlothar: ...Sinister? ...Dangerous?

Chlothar: I never imagined that you, of all people, would deny the Abyss... How ridiculous!

Chlothar: We once believed that you would bring new strength and hope to Khaenri'ah.

Chlothar: To us, you were the Abyss... A wondrous mystery far beyond our imagination and comprehension...

Chlothar: ...And the one who controls the Abyss can control everything!

Chlothar: We yearned for that future. We looked to you to take us there.

Chlothar: But what did you bring us instead?

Chlothar: O Prince... of Khaenri'ah?

Remember how in Inversion of Genesis, Wanderer told us that the only reason that the sibling was able to come to Teyvat was because “the heavens responded to the summoning?”, and the Traveler immediately suspected that Khaenri’ah had to do with the sibling’s appearance in Irminsul’s records? Yeah, well. I'm not exactly saying they summoned the twins, but they clearly were up to no good once they encountered the sibling.

“To us, you were the Abyss.” The Twins are external to the laws of Teyvat, making them unknown, strange, and unfamiliar to this world. Chlothar’s dialogue suggests to me that Khaenri’ah has been seeking a power from beyond for a long time now. My speculation is that Khaenri’ah has known for a while about this “Loom of Fate,” but could never prove its existence. The Loom of Fate is likely what materializes fate into reality, if it does not also dictate fate, and it seems to be located in the Abyss itself. A loom is a wooden machine of sorts, used to hold thread or yarn taut as the user weaves them into cloth or tapestries. This is the machine I suspect Irminsul is working with as a system. Whether the Loom of Fate is a “Fate Domesticating Machine” is unknowable for now, but surely we can conclude that the Loom of Fate Operation is a fate domesticating mission. Perhaps they sought to control the Loom of Fate through the sibling. Perhaps they hoped to do so in order to change their own fate, as ignorant beings ruled by a cruel order imposed by the heavens above.

One final, somewhat tangential remark I’d like to make is about the name of the Hilichurl curse, the “curse of the wilderness.” This again gestures toward the idea of a home place and a wild place, what belongs to the home and what is outside of it. Something tells me from the last quest with Dainsleif in the Chasm that Hilichurls do not go to Sarva when they die, they disintegrate into the dark mud of forbidden knowledge. The curse casts them “outside” of the cycle of life and death, outside of the memory production system, and outside of fate. Though they are still from this world, in a sense they no longer belong to it either.

A Companion Machine Manifesto?

Faruzan: As for me…I want to stay with Tamimi for a bit longer. Just a bit.

I don’t want to get too into it now since this post is already too long, but it would be normal to wonder after all of this what to do with these boundaries at the center of Genshin’s world structure and conflict. We can’t just get rid of them all – King Deshret already tried that, and it didn’t work out so well for him. For now, when I think of the answer to this question, I can’t help but think of Karkata, Benben, and Tamimi, and their unique relationships to humans.

To be honest, they are what originally got me thinking about domestication as a way of reading Genshin’s worldbuilding. They participate in mutualistic relationships with the humans around them, living together in what feminist scholar Donna Haraway calls a relationship of “significant otherness.” As automatons that belong to lines of machines designed for war, their difference seems significant. I don’t have the precise language for this yet, but when I think of these care-full relationships they share with Tighnari, Jeht, and Faruzan, I can’t help but feel hopeful that things can change.

If you’ve made it this far, I truly from the bottom of my heart thank you so much for reading <3 Until next time!

External Sources/Further Reading

Das Unheimliche by Sigmund Freud, translated by Alix Strachey.

Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States by James C. Scott.

The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness by Donna Haraway.

“The Uncanny Familiar: Can We Ever Really Know a Cat?” by David Wood (this is amazing btw).

…Okay but the wild part is this is the second post I’ve made about the uncanny since this idea was born in September and I STILL HAVEN’T WRITTEN THE POST I WANT TO WRITE YET. When I get back from my thesis hiatus, we are talking about the ‘bots. And I mean ALL of them. And Dottore. And the Golden Slumber!!

edit 6.16.23: cleaned the post up! edited sentences for clarity, added to some unfinished thoughts, and re-formatted a few things that got lost between gdocs and tumblr. also grammar is hard :[

#genshin impact #genshin lore #genshin impact lore #genshin meta #caribert #chlothar alberich #dainsleif #irminsul #loom of fate #faruzan #theory #I will stop writing about machines when the sun explodes

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howlonomy · 6 months

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Here it is:

Alright, the Lore Shit: After killing Zenith Martlet and absorbing Asgore's SOUL, Clover decided to kill literally everyone in the Underground (minus the Ruins since they can't get back there) to make sure that any humans to fall in the future can't be killed by them (their ass was NOT listening to Flowey about how the Barrier works). So the constant release of ambient magic from the killed monsters plus them having Asgore's SOUL started to, slowly but surely, turn them into a Monster (and because of how slow it was, they didn't have any balance issues with the tail). Unknown to them, Asgore's SOUL had been collecting that magic, which is what caused them to change. They don't even realize that they've transformed since, as Sans states, they have distanced themself so much by having a LOVE of 20 that they don't even really seem to be there (also they have not looked in a mirror, no "It's you"s to be seen here)

For some reason I thought of this too, but their theme would either be straight up Enemy Retreating or a remixed All's Fair (which I have decided to call "Is It Fair?")

Stats: Same as always for the same reason, it just makes sense here.

Check: DOUBLE MEANING ALERT! DOUBLE MEANING ALERT! WEEWOO WEEWOO!

Sorry, but yeah. Traitor in the sense of "You killed everyone who cares for me" and "You killed all* the monsters while also being a monster" (a "You have become the very thing you swore to destroy" moment if ever there were). And "Justice" because killing people is never justice (unless it's the death penalty and ruled by a court of law but eh, semantics)

FLAVOR TEXT BECAUSE I HAVE THOUGHT THIS OUT WAY TOO MUCH:

Clover seems hesitant.

Clover can't seem to attack!

Are they... crying?

Because this fight is from the POV of a Pacifist Ending Clover (most likely in between exploring Ceroba's house and meeting up with Martlet on top off UG Apartments, again I have thought this out way too much) that means that nmm!Clover is fighting a human, which they really don't want to do, especially since that human is themself, so they hesitate and sometimes just straight up don't attack (I thought about including Familiarity again, but decided against it just so that I could have new material, it would absolutely fit, though)

Also, fun little fact I guess, but this is a complete inversion of the dt!Clover vs. nm!Clover fight! A murderous monster Clover fighting a pacifistic human Clover, and BOTH don't want to fight this time!

I realize that this may be a bit much considering this IS your au, but I can't help it when my brain starts thinking of this stuff, and it's so cool that I can't NOT draw it and share it.

ANYWAYS now I only have like one idea left. I am so close, but I will probably gain like seven others as soon as it's done, oh well. Enjoy!

WHAAAAATTT ALL OF THIS IS SO FUN???? the concept of slowly turning into the thing you swore to destroy is SOOO EVERYTHING…. and the play on alls fair??!??!? literally insane i am obsessed with it being called is it fair. because its not but i imagine nmm!clover being so distraught about being turned into a creature they hate and having to fight themselves. but its almost like penance for what they did.

AND THE INVERSE IS SO FUNNNN so many interesting new dynamics there; like if this fight took place before the final ceroba fight, clover wouldnt be nearly as close with everyone. sure, theyre angry at nmm!clover but also. they get it. im sure they would understand where they were coming from.

AARUGHHH THIS IS SO FUN I LOVE THIS LITTLE IDEA!!! ITS SO RICH IN CHARACTER AND LITTLE FLAVOR TEXTS

#asked and answered #monster clover au #mcau au #DIES. I LOVE THE LITTLE THINGS…. IT ALWAYS PULLS IT TOGETHER #the theme name. the flavor text. the stats. SIGHS!!!!!!

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aortaobservatory · 10 months

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can i get your take on the hope aspect? your thoughts about rage got some gears turning, and like you said in your post about life, it helps to understand the opposite aspect in relation :)

Absolutely! It's my opinion that the Hope Aspect, like a few other aspects and what they're named after, is fairly misunderstood because of the connotations the word "hope" has. The Hope Aspect is also one I gained a better understanding of by comparing it alongside its inverse.

The word "hope" has some pretty positive connotations to it. Dreams, longing, yearning for something better, holding on, so on and so forth. These aren't wrong when thinking of the Hopebound, but they're certainly not the full picture of what the Hope Aspect has to offer. And, like the other 11 aspects, the Hope Aspect isn't necessarily good or bad; it is inherently neutral, with the potential to be either good or bad.

From The Extended Zodiac, I pulled these keywords from the Hope Aspect description. These would be the "canon" traits; they are what I adhere to when analyzing, but it should also be understood that this concept encompasses much more to do with than these keywords. Its "vibe", if you will, is much more than what is written.

TEZ Hope Keywords: Conviction, justice, aid, black and white thinking, imagination, dreams, better future, positive, caring, warm, (narrow-minded, selfish)

What really caught my attention in the canon description for the Hope Aspect was the descriptor "narrow-minded". It painted an interesting picture; that someone can be narrow-minded at their worst when their drive is towards that of a better future.

My chosen words for the Hope Aspect are "Conviction, Ideology, Commitment, Justice". I felt that the drive for many Hopebound is their sense of justice; they believe the things they do because they have a sense of justice. However, it's also important to keep in mind that one person's idea of justice is not always another person's idea of justice. (The Death Penalty debate is a good example of what I mean, but there are a lot of other good examples out there too).

The other word I chose for the Hope Aspect that didn't come from the TEZ was "ideology", which I felt encompassed many of the words on the list and off the list. Ideology is what a person believes; this can be religion, one's moral compass, true (or false) education, government systems, propaganda, so on and so forth. Ideology focuses on the system of beliefs a person has, and so the Hope Aspect also focuses on both personal beliefs, and systems in general (the government system, the education system, etc). This is perhaps why Ragebound tend to be anarchists and punks. Since the Hope Aspect is about beliefs, these beliefs can be anything. There's a lot of room in the Hope Aspect to look like other aspects if someone's ideology happens to match up with, say, the Life Aspect, or the Light Aspect, or any of the other aspects. There's a lot of wiggle room, but ultimately, the Hopebound do what they do because they hold fast to their beliefs and adhere to the systems that are in place which support their beliefs.

Like with Gamzee and Kurloz, the Hope Aspect doesn't get a full spotlight with Eridan (Prince of Hope) and Cronus (Bard of Hope) representing it, as the destroyer classes tend to skew the understanding of an aspect. However, for what Eridan's classpect was, he certainly was written up to it; the Prince uses hope to destroy hope, because he cannot grasp it or control it despite its abundance around him. His connection to the Hope aspect is fairly apparent in his Pesterquest route, actually, with how he talks about gender roles and his desire to be gender non-conforming and supportive of it, but he just can't grasp that for himself despite believing in it (ironically, because he's a shitty person via actively destroying the Hope of others). He also, in the next breath, proceeds to spout some pro-hemospectrum system bullshit, which I feel really does represent how narrow-minded he can be on certain subjects. Cronus is written flatly, but as a Bard of Hope, he has too much control over Hope, and that actually scares him. He allows Hope to deteriorate by actively enhancing Rage in others; this might be why he comes off as a playboy and a coward, and why so many people don't like being around him.

Meanwhile, I don't recall if Jake (Page of Hope) ever fully realizes his classpect within canon (and I am not counting being forced by Aranea), but Jake's arc has a lot to do with going out and forging his own ideology and set of beliefs; his attachment to adventures really shines through for his Page class. He has commitment problems with Dirk, which is a fault of the Page class and something he has to learn to work through to master Hope. He's got a fledgling sense of justice, and has to work through his meekness and shyness to hold fast to his convictions.

#classpecting #eridan ampora #cronus ampora #jake english #homestuck #hope classpects #classpect analysis #homestuck aspects #ao classpecting #Sorry I made it about Eridan do you guys still like me. /j #I just happen to be a big fan of the character development his Pesterquest route did for him...

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fourswords · 23 days

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/New q!! Four Swords Links Meet:::

How would someone tell them apart visually other than age and height?

Ooooh interesting question! So, my thoughts:

Let me actually start with Knight first—I think he's gotten tall enough that he'd probably gotten fitted for armor at some point or another (have you seen how tall some 15 year olds get these days. what are they putting in the milk in school cafeterias....), but I sincerely doubt he would be in full plate whenever he was magically thrust into this situation where he's meeting four other wielders of the Four Sword. I'd say he's probably got on a layer of chain mail in a similar manner to the Links from Twilight Princess/Skyward Sword/Hyrule Warriors, a pretty standard green tunic, white pants, brown boots, what have you. Unfortunately he's the most basic person ever because his game just doesn't give the players any information about him at all other than the fact that he's Zelda's childhood friend, but one thing I do think one thing he has is a pair of expensive-looking arm guards for archery, probably with some detailed flourish to it as well. My reasoning for this is the fact that his official Four Swords art has both his Green Link & Blue Link wielding the bow and arrow:

And I have to give him something, so a proficiency and a preference for archery it is. (This makes him an interesting contrast to Light, who—given Vio's ability to just Pick Up A Bow And Start Shooting in the FSA manga—is also apparently very skilled at archery, but not a single one of his official artworks for Four Swords Adventures includes the bow.) He also has those three-fingered gloves used for archery. I think he ditched the cap after a while, though, so no cap for him. He could've grown his hair out some as well and keeps it pulled back a single straight braid so it doesn't bother him while he's training/fighting/etc.

Light himself is funny to think about because I do think FSA Link would incorporate all four colors that represented Green, Red, Blue & Vio somewhere into his outfit some time after the manga, but I don't think he'd do it in a super over-the-top way because he's more about Going Out And Kicking Ass than fussing over what he wants to look like (and also Shadow would laugh at him). Maybe Zelda did some multi-colored embroidery on his belt or something? Or his belt is just split-dyed all four colors or something in addition to the embroidery. Also, the manga is extremely wishy-washy on the color of his undershirt, but it seems like he wears a black undershirt (and they were just colored in with a metric fuckton of green highlights), and that's something I always liked given that Shadow wore a white undershirt, so it was like an inverse sort of thing. Given that Light specifically only comes like six months after the end of that adventure, I don't think his outfit would differ too much at all from the manga, so he is a bit stuck in the "plain" box with Knight. Hilarious considering their nicknames rhyme, I know.

Four is also funny to think about because never once in the LOZ series were we given a picture of the Hero of the Four Sword. We got his legend written out in the FS manual & the FSA game prologue and a brief excerpt in Hyrule Historia and that was IT. But given that his whole thing was "show up out of nowhere, kick Vaati's ass and seal him away, and then disappear into the woods never to be seen again", I like to think that he wears greens and browns to blend in with the forest, and I'll say that he doesn't have a cap either because it's too easy to get snagged on a tree branch and lost or something. I think he inherited a little of Smithy's messy hair; it's not quite the level of "total rat's nest" that Smithy's is, but it definitely looks like it could use a brushing. Or four (ha!). Nothing too heavy for him, though—I'd imagine his clothes are actually a bit threadbare or even obviously patched-up in places because he's just sort of a free spirit traveling wherever he pleases. The type to let his boots wear down until you can see his toes every time he takes a step because there's nothing holding anything together and only THEN will he go to a nearby market and buy a new pair. You know how the original Link from 1986 was drawn with a BUNCH of shit on his back? Like, his entire inventory? Four is the opposite—considering the manual says that he appeared with "little more than a sword at his back", I think he could just be a really minimalistic type of dude. He's got the tiniest pack in existence with a spare bit of food and a waterskin and a pouch with some rupees and that's about it. He'll work out anything else.

When it comes to Smithy, I'm biased towards having him wear the Roc's Cape from the game because I think having it helps him out with fighting (the Minish Cap strategy of jumping directly over Darknuts with the Roc's Cape and hitting them from behind before they can hit you), but also I'd imagine that a cape that can magically catch the wind like it does has to be decently thick to maintain that gliding in the air, so it helps him keep warm, too. He still has the cap that Ezlo gave him, of course, and he's just happy that he hasn't outgrown it yet. Under that cap, of course, is the messiest head of hair in the franchise, like Ezlo loved to rag on him for. He's the one that sticks out the most just because he wears the Roc's Cape all the time, and also given his funny-as-hell expression in his official art while using the Mole Mitts, I'm sure he loves to whip those out at any given opportunity like a little madman, too. He's the one who still carries the Four Sword, of course, and since he was the one who collected and infused all the elements into the sword itself, I like to think that he's the one who gets the fun little color-changing eyes that you sometimes see in other fanworks of different Links wielding the Four Sword. I think his eyes only change color when he's actually wielding the Four Sword, though—they're just his regular blue otherwise. Other than that, I doubt his outfit under the cape has changed much either.

#this got long but i hope it answered your question well enough! :)#asks #my silly au

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fandomfluffandfuck · 10 months

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S!! i just reread Cant Explain All The Ways You Get Me High and i’m here to give you double the kudos bc god it’s fantastic 🔥 Honestly that one and I’d Fuck Me are some of my favorites—guess I have a soft spot for your solo scenes! Would you ever explore the inverse, with sub!bucky or seb taking care of themselves? What are the differences there between how steve/chris do it?

Can't Explain All The Ways You Get Me High

I'd Fuck Me

You know, I genuinely never noticed that among those solo, jerk off, fantasy scenes, I've only included the tops and/or doms. Huh. That's interesting. I mean, literally, there's also a scene in my "For Beginners" series with Chris fantasizing about Seb subbing for him...

Chapter One of Accept It

Maybe it'd because I'm a dom? So that sort of fantasizing is closer to my heart? Maybe it's just a coincidence, lol. Who knows 🤷🏻‍♂️

Anyway--

I think it would be pretty similar, I mean, the thoughts going on would be different, of course, but very much that same heady, frantic headspace as they barrel toward orgasm.

I'm not taking requests at this time, but sometimes I can't help myself...

Immediately, I had something in mind for Sebastian:

It's been a while for Sebastian--a while since he's gotten off with all of the work he's been doing (what feels like 15 different projects all that once, he swears) and the resulting exhaustion, and it's been a while since he's seen Chris with the way their careers stretches them apart all too often. So... orgasming hasn't exactly been his top priority. However, he's got the afternoon off. Somehow, after the early morning and late nights and their dedication, his director has decided they all need an early end for this Friday.

Thank. god.

And, with his time off, his thoughts unbusied, it's the tiniest thing that sets him off.

With their dynamic and how Sebastian gets, Chris will regularly send him orders when they're apart. It helps keep Sebastian from being overwhelmed with the need to submit here and now and being unable to, shutting down instead. Order this for dinner. Wear that pair of boxer briefs today. Chose this for the premier. Prep your meals for a week. Send me a photo of you when you have a minute. Sebastian eagerly fumbles to do as Chris says, especially eager the longer they've been apart. Craving a moment of calm, both-feet-on-the-ground steadiness that comes with Chris' pride. His approval. Even if it's just a text--

Good boy.

--or if it's more of a treat like a FaceTime call or rumbling voice memo.

"You're such a good boy, Sebastian."

that leaves Sebastian with chills, head to toe, and a helpless erection.

This time, what sets him off is Chris' reminder that he needs to have real food for, at least, one meal today. He's off set, so he should find something other than what he could get at crafty. Some protiens and healthy fats. Then, when Sebastian sends him a snap of his finished plate, Chris sends him another order as if he can feel that Seb needs to occupy his mind, playing into their push pull.

Make sure to clean it up properly.

Sebastian hand washes the fucking plate, silverware, and glass, despite the equally avaliable and usable dishwasher in his rented apartment nearby to the location they're filming at.

Done!

Sebastian texts him back.

Perfect.

It's one word. And yet...

It hits Sebastian like kick to the chest. He stares at the word, biting his lip. He doesn't expect more. He knows Chris is still working himself. It's more than enough that he's even able to send him a few words back and forth. He's not looking for a follow-up. He's just staring at the word.

Perfect.

Sebastian can hear Chris' voice sliding over the syllables in his head. It echoes through him, leaving his toes curling against the kitchen tile while his eyes slide shut, vividly imagining himself at home with his dom. He's just finished preparing dinner for Chris, home cooked--something simple that he can manage without too much thought, but enough that Chris knows he put effort into it--he set the table, he served Chris his food, then he sat at the table with Chris, watched Chris eat with Chris savoring each bite with smooth swallows and heartfelt moans of approval at the taste, he let (what a hardship) Chris hand feed him bites when he so desired, and he cleaned up their dishes and table, hand washing everything. He wants to. And, now...

Sebastian feels a wobble in his knees, so he lets his phone clatter onto the countertop and grasps it tightly instead.

Now, in his mind, Chris is stalking up behind him and Sebastian's heart is in his throat, ready and waiting for Chris to crowd him against the counter and cabinets and put those big, heavy, commanding hands all over his body. Pawing at him. He wants it. He aches for Chris to bend him over the sink and fill him up, fuck him hard and fast and dirty, while he tells him that he's good. He did good. He served him so well. He takes care of him so perfectly, now he's gonna take care of his perfect sub--gonna take him and use him like he craves.

Chris doesn't.

Not even Sebastian's imaginary Chris bends to his will. He's in charge. He will do what he pleases, and Sebastian will obey his word.

Submit.

Imaginary Chris bypasses him and goes to the fridge instead, bending over--oh, Lord, that's a sight--to reach the bottom shelf on the door where the beer lives, happily awaiting to be drank.

Sebastian dries his hands from the dishes... imagined and real. Imagined, he wants to turn and watch Chris' skillful, beautiful hands crack open the bottle. He doesn't. Real, he stands in place, letting his imagination pull him away, deeper, with how imaginary Chris walks right past him again, this time sparing one hand just to proprietorily draaaag his palm against the small of the back, "join me in the living room."

It's not a question, seeking company, maybe. If you like. But, hopefully. Join me? It's a command.

Everything in Sebastian wants to follow. The gravity makes his muscles weak.

Sebastian follows.

He follows Chris like a lovesick puppy, trailing after him and panting when he arranges himself on the sofa. Always so alluring that it's unfair. How is Sebastian supposed to do anything when his lover exists in such a state? Lounging about, casually, but perfect enough to have come straight out of a photoshoot. Thick, strong thighs spread wide, giving himself room, one arm over the back of the furniture, draped and taking up all the space he likes, commanding all of the suddenly humid air in the room with a heavy, dark look in his eyes.

Sebastian swallows, saliva flooding his mouth.

Meanwhile, Chris' other hand, having come to rest on his knee before, now mimes a gesture or two that's irresistible.

Kneel.

Come here.

Sebastian's eyes fly open, shattering the delicious fantasy his mind is painting. The image so real, so much ink, that it's spilling into his real life. He can't. Sebastian whimpers out loud.

Jesus Christ.

Even in the cold light of his real, afternoon kitchen, there's that pull inside him, forcing him from his comfortable center of gravity. Like missing a step on the stairs. Exhilarating. Heart hammering.

He needs.

The ache is now terrible inside him.

More than he needs anything else, he needs to be between Chris' thighs. That's where he belongs. His vision starts to go a little hazy and useless around the corners at just the thought. Chris towering over him. Powerful and authoritative. It's been too long.

And now Seb can feel the phantom heat of Chris' knees pressing against his shoulders and the weight of Chris' hand on his head, his blunt fingernails scratching his scalp, running through his hair and messing it up. He can feel the friction of denim jeans or cotton sweats or mesh basketball shorts against his cheek, muzzling into Chris where he's packed into whatever the fuck he's wearing but shouldn't be. He should never be clothed. He should--

Fuck me.

He should be between Chris' legs.

Sebastian blinks harshly a few times, trying to clear his vision and push away the raw throb that has begun to spread from deep in his gut to the base of his cock.

Impulsively, he snatches one of his hands away from his white-knuckle hold on the counter, intending to press the heel of his palm up against himself, but--

He whines again.

Here?

He looks around, taking inventory of his current situation, Sebastian gets distracted as his eyes land on his phone, and he recalls that damn text.

Perfect.

Glittering pleasure of praise from his dominant crackles through Sebastian like a lightning strike. All over again. Suddenly, he is back between Chris' thighs. Warm and crowded and so close to falling forward and mouthing at the bulge of his hardening cock in his sweats. Overcome by hunger. He can smell his arousal. Jesus. Seb wants to melt. He wants--

He can't fucking jerk off in the kitchen of a rental.

Can he?

Sebastian whimpers to the empty room. It offers him no comfort. Not a sound.

No.

Not here.

Quickly, Sebastian snatches his phone and dashes on clumsy legs to the bedroom. He's intending on texting Chris, asking him if it's possible for him to steal a few moments away. Sebastian just wants to hear his voice. For a minute. He wants it gruff and pressed right up against his ear, telling him he's perfect and good, and, and tell him--

Sebastian flushes hot, just thinking it. Admitting it to himself for the hundredth time. No matter, it always makes him squirm.

He wants Chris to tell him he's pretty.

He wants Chris to tell him he wants to put him on display and show everyone how good and pretty and perfect and odient he is. And--

Sebastian ends up distracted. His phone ends up on the bed, where he intends to also be. Lying back, relaxing, shoving a hand haphazardly down his pants to let Chris talk him off while he incoherently whines and moans and begs, the closest they can get when so, so far apart, but... he doesn't make it.

He doesn't even make it that far.

Instead, Sebastian gasps to himself, embarrassment making his cock pulse, thinking about how Chris would answer the phone and peel the mortifying words out of his mouth, make him admit how needy he is, then tell him he'a such a good boy for admitting it and he bet he looks so pretty, flushed and horny, and... Sebastian stumbles.

He ends up on his knees.

And.

He can't get back up. Aching. He's on his knees in his rented bedroom, near to the bed, but also too far away for it to be worth it to move again when he's so fucking hard.

The back of his eyelids are painted with the sights and sounds and sensations of their living room. Hardwood floors bite sweetly into his knees. Chris' cologne and laundry detergent clinging to his clothes, fading and turned darker the closer Sebastian leans into him, sweat and musk and arousal. Chris' hands on him. Holding his shoulders. Entwinted in his hair. On his throat or the nape of his neck, squeezing. Holding. Chris' voice rumbling through him, leaving him aching. Aching. Sebastian wants--

He wants Chris' cock out of his pants and in his mouth.

He wants to stare up at Chris' face, contorted obscenely into an expression of heat and pleasure, flushed and slack, as the weight and taste of his thick cock fills Sebastian's mouth. Heavy on his tongue. Coating his throat with the taste. Stretching his lips. Chris' hips pressed against his face, forcing him down his throat and making it hard to breathe in the most incredible way. Sebastian doesn't need to breathe. He needs to taste, to suck, to lick, to kiss, to gag and choke and cry.

He wants to cry on his cock.

He wants Chris to stare down at him over the handsome line of his nose and smirk. He wants Chris to tell him he's got such a good fucking mouth through a drawn-out groan. He wants to hear Chris moan through gritted teeth. He wants to have Chris cum down his throat and make Sebastian swallow, then lick him clean, then keep him warm while he finally drinks the beer he brought into the living room with him, watching the game, and keeping his needy submissive busy all at the same time. Multitasking.

Sebastian wants--

He wants--

Frantically, Seb shoves his hand into his sweatpants and cups his himself against his body, hissing with the temperature difference between his fingers and his heated, engorged dick.

In his mind, he's prolonging the moment of Chris' orgasm. The pornographic expression on his gorgeous face. Suspended in pleasure. The intense, incredible twitches and jerks of his cock as he pumps release onto Seb's tongue. The taste. The feeling. The way, oh, God, when Chris is really, really feeling himself, he'll reach down and recklessly plug Sebastian's nose as he shoves into his tight, wet, heat deeply. And Sebastian will spin. Sebastian will get dizzy. Sebastian will fly. His lungs aching to choke and sputter but not being able to. It all makes Seb so fucking hard. He's not in control. Chris knows what's good for him. Chris knows he's good. He's good.

He's so good!

Sebastian can't help but start to actually fist himself now. He's leaking enough to go faster. Faster. The friction is wearing his nerves down to raw wire, sparking and spitting electricity throughout his whole body. He's, oh, oh, he's--

It's so fucking intense, the images flashing through his mind. Now Chris has finished with him and Sebastian's chest is heaving, his lips buzzing, his mouth still stuffed full, tears and snot and spit running down his face, a complete mess, yet still pretty and perfect to Chris--for Chris. Sebastian helplessly cries out and loses his balance, his mind going haywire, imagining sucking Chris' still half-hard cock after he's finished, and grinding against his shin, feeling, feeling--

Good.

Obedient.

Sebastian falls forward, barely bracing himself against his now outstretched hand--the hand not wrapped around his cock--rather than faceplanting on the floor. His heart pounds in his chest. Lust rushes through him. Overpowering the fear. Pleasure rising and rising and--

"Gonna show me how pretty you are, baby? You gonna cum humping me with your mouth all full, jus' like you need, sweet boy?"

In his mind, in his fantasy, Sebastian cums with a muffled moan around Chris' dick. But, in his rented apartment, crumbling onto the floor next to his bed as if he might've been praying before he drifted off to sleep, he moans embarrassingly loudly. It's nearly a wail. It's like he's been hit over the back of the head. It hits him so fucking hard.

He's demolished as the pleasure crashes over him.

White-hot and ruining. Pumping wet, messy release into his hand and the inside of his boxer briefs. Humiliating and so, so good that he doesn't give a fuck.

"Atta, boy," Sebastian hears inside his own head, Chris' voice, as he achingly shakes through the last dregs of pleasure with a whine.

Oh, God.

But, (bratty) sub Bucky is pretty distinctive, too:

Steve's on a stupid fucking mission and he took his stupid fucking super dick with him (like an asshole) but, somehow, he didn't manage to take his stupid nuclear-level sex drive with him, too. Of all the things he has to leave behind! Fucking bastard.

He knows Bucky can't cope! And somehow, he still goes out there and fights the good fight despite being retired. Newsflash, Rogers, that ain't retired.

"Ugh," Bucky half groans, half moans, caught up in his thoughts, but also caught up in the physical sensations he's dealing with. Coping.

Steve's really left Bucky with no choice now. Not with his super libido bleeding over into Bucky, like, like--Bucky shivers, stifling a moan based on principle--bleeding into him like the hot, wet feeling of Steve fucking him with too much lube and then cumming inside him with his hurricane-like super-swimmers, pumping and pumping until Bucky swears he can see it stretching out his abs like he went too hard at dinner. Too much. Those goddamn swollen, heavy balls and...

"Guh." There's no stifling a dumb noise like that. It is what it is.

What is Bucky supposed to do but order via priority shipping and shove the biggest vibrating dildo he can up his ass?

This, this--

Bucky pants, his chest heaving, practically presenting his high, tight pecs and his begging-to-be-touched nipples. If someone was here to touch them! Bucky can't fight back a whimper, thinking about Steve's serum-hot, fever-hot body against his. His fingers--cruel and mean, plucking and twisting and pinching his nipples until they're puffy and raw, and Bucky is painting his belly white again. His mouth. Those lips. Plush, hot, and slick. Always just the tiniest bite of teeth that has Bucky shouting high in the back of his throat.

His cock jumps. Aching.

Fucking Steve.

This started out of spite. Bucky was bouncing on his fake cock, growling to himself, bratty and motivated. But it's devolved into something messy and pathetic and wet.

There are tears tracking shiny, salty paths down his cheeks when they're not being smeared into the sheets. It's really into a pillowcase. Not sheets. Steve's pillow. It still smells like him, and it's perfect for muffling the sniffling, howling moans that Bucky is pulling out of himself. He misses Steve's cock so much. He misses the rest of him, too. He misses the way he holds him down and pounds into him until Bucky is sure he'll finally fucking split into two. Hammering into him. Growling and grabbing him, throwing him around and making him take it. Bruising his hips and ass. Biting his shoulders, pulling his long hair until he's arched into a weak u-shape, every noise that Bucky has enough air to make fucked out of his wet, open mouth, "uh, uh, uh--"

Bucky aches for going dumb on Steve's cock.

He doesn't want to think! He wants to be able to do absolutely nothing. Fucked dumb.

He wants Steeeeeve!

Bucky whines to himself, his thighs quivering.

He's trying to replicate the magical ability Steve has to melt his brain out of his ears by giving himself as many orgasms as he can with the thick, heavy, vibrating toy shoved deep inside him. It's beginning to hurt. There's a puddle underneath him. Overflowing with pleasure. Yet, lust is still racing under his skin. It makes him whimper and squeeze the sheets in his fists.

He can hear Steve in his head, growling at him, smacking him around, goading him into another orgasm. The only one who can take Bucky; the only one who can hold him down and make him take it.

"C'mon, baby, I know that isn't all you got. You can take it. A cockslut like you? You can always take more. There's still spunk comin' outta'ya. I want you cummin' dry, darlin'. Then, then, I'll think about being done with you."

Instinctively, Bucky wants to do it. He wants to give it all to Steve. He has to. There's no other option.

So, he arches his back deeper. Blooming. His muscles complain, hurting with the stretch despite his daily yoga routine. He just can't--he's been at this for hours. He misses his fella bad.

He can't fucking be bothered, he's too frantically horny and too much of a spoiled pillow princess, to reach back and fuck his hot, puffy, wet hole with the vibrating toy. The closest he gets is jacking his cock. Even that's not normal, normally he has Steve to do that for him. Or, if Steve's not doing it for him because he's working too hard at working his cunt out--stringing him out until he's incoherent and stupid--Bucky is grinding against the bed, the couch, the floor, or whatever Steve has bent him over, unable to wait a minute longer. Right now, jerking off, he's so wet. His dick is swollen, and he can feel his pulse throbbing through it. He keens. Arching and spreading.

He feels fucked out and open but he knows he could be more. He could be hotter, he could be puffier, he could be wetter. If he pulled the dildo out of his hungry hole, he would be gaping. He could be gaping more if Steve had his way with him. Fucking him with that thick, thick cock, then getting frisky and sticking in his thumbs in alongside his dick. Prying him open. Wider and wider. Holding his hole open and feeling his own slick shaft thrusting in and pulling out as he ruins him.

He's thinking about Steve ruining him. He's thinking about Steve fucking him until he passes out--it ain't a true Rogers event until that happens, after all. He's thinking about Steve's strong fingers, scratching down his back, shamelessly groping his ass, and opening his hole. He's thinking about that fucking cock. He's thinking about--

Bucky doesn't want to think!

He wants to be ruined.

With an overwhelmed sob, Bucky collapses facefirst into his man's pillow and cums. Again. Crying out and jerking, soaking the bed.

The minute Steve gets home, he's demanding to be fucked within an inch of his life. Please. He'll get on his knees and beg. He'll break out the puppy-dog eyes and pout and beg. He'll offer to do whatever the hell, bendy painful (not hot, definitely, definitely. not. hot.) position his dog of a boyfriend wants. Anything. He neeeeeeeeds that dick.

#enjoy lol #asks #fandomfluffandfuck #stucky #steve rogers #bucky barnes #evanstan #sebastian stan #chris evans #rpf #real person fanfiction #sub bucky #dom steve #dom chris #sub seb #subastian #sub sebastian

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lost-semicolon · 1 year

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how do procedural animations workj in games? stuff like slugcat animations in rain world for example

Nearly all procedural animations are based upon one mathematical process known as Inverse Kinematics and the use of common game physics.

Now what is kinematics? Kinematics in this case refers to kinematic chains, a subset of kinematics. A Kinematic Chain is a series of connected rigid objects (objects with no flex or give), these objects are connected by series of joints. For reference, you can imagine the human body as a kinematic chain, our bones connected by joints

A kinematic chain is branching, where there usually is one central bone, from where all other bones branch out. The branching results in kinematic relationships between the bones, where a bone can have a parent and several children. It's important to note that a bone can only ever have 1 parent but can have multiple children. Parenting in bones like functions with a few rules:

Children always copies the parent rotation

Parents never copy a child rotation

You'll find that these rules also apply in real life. Moving your upper arm moves your lower arm, but moving your lower arm doesn't move your upper arm. That's the basics of kinematics, move a parent and the children have to move as well. But this comes with a unique challenge, if you want to move your hand to a certain position, your whole arm needs to move along. This is where Inverse Kinematics come in. Inverse Kinematics, are quite simply, kinematics in reverse. IK Mathematics are quite complex, so I'll spare you the details, but simply put, IK figures out how your upper arm should rotate if you want your hand at a certain position, instead of attempting to calculate how to rotate your upper arm to get there.

The advantage of IK is that it greatly simplifies the process of animating a character at runtime (Runtime means while a program is running).

In Rain World, IK is used heavily for character animation, like the little feet of the titular Slug Cat character. This way, the developer just needs to give their animations system the position of the next footstep, and the animation system will take care of moving the character bones.

If used correctly this makes the character animation look more alive, fluid and dynamic rather than hand animated walk cycles and attack animations.

Furthermore, Rain World features a lot of secondary motion, like tail flopping and messy fur. This is not using IK, rather just using ordinary kinematics with some basic physics, this is because the secondary motion doesn't need to hit a specific position, allowing for much simpler math.

This simpler math is also seen in the popular game Celeste, where the main character features long hair that moves around as you play.

This is utilizing the very same technique as the secondary motion in Rain World.

The only drawback with using IK and procedural animation is the risk of "weirdness". Such is life with any procedurally generated content at runtime.

Sometimes bones have to stretch a bit to reach a goal, this will cause things to look a little weird, and on occasion the math just can't figure out what to do, making some bone flip out totally. This can mostly be mitigated by setting reasonable bone rotation limits and accounting for a little bone stretch.

Thank you for the super interesting ask Anon! Hope this'll be an interesting read :)

#rain world #game dev #slug cat #development #mathematics #answered #celeste game #madeline celeste

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ghooostbaby · 4 months

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i've always really enjoyed movies, tv, and novels of the vikings and one thing that seems to run through all of them is this idea of valhalla (valhol?) as where the “good Vikings” go, who die holding a sword showing honour and bravery in battle, and the rest go to Hel. this seems to cement the perception of a viking worldview that values a good healthy committment to violence and brutality. in contrast to Christianity, where this is opposite – the meek go to heaven and the ones driven by desire and violence go to hell. It feels like the Vikings are both glorified and demonized. they lived during a hard time and a hard place, so a social ethic that values the will to fight makes sense. But it’s good thing now we can be civilized and reasonable. but since watching vinland saga I’ve been looking a bit more into the easily available research of the actual history/mythology of old norse culture, and the first thing i found was that the underworld for them wasn't this binary that seems to have come from mapping Christianity over old norse beliefs. they didn't have a concept of valhalla as 'viking heaven' where you go if you die valiantly, and if you don't you're doomed to a different, more pitiful afterlife, hel. there were actually many afterlifes in norse belief, different gods had their own halls where they would host the dead. depending on how you died might determine where you went, there was a hall for people who died at sea, or from sickness, or in battle. what I found really interesting was that the goddess hel, who rules over the afterlife also named hel where the supposed unvaliant are consigned to … in the stories i read about her she seemed to have a deep respect and compassion for the dead. she is one of loki's children, who all have monstrous forms of some kind, and half her face/body is like dead flesh, and the other half is living. in the neil gaiman norse myths adaptation she talks about feeling more at home with dead with the living, which i'm not entirely sure if he took some poetic liberties with but it seems in line with what historians describing her as written in the records of the myths say on youtube xP it doesn't seem like this is at all like the christian hell where people who didn't live well are punished for it in the afterlife, or that anyone was punished in the afterlife. it does seem like there are certain dead who live so well they are given special treatment or brought to specific places, but i've come across nothing so far that suggests anyone is damned like in christian belief. I think this is one way a lot of viking stories depicts the vikings as monstrous and repulsive – that suggests morality is backwards in norse culture, or the inverse of the christian one. The valued people are the most bloodthirsty, and the disgraced ones are the weak, when in christianity the valued are the kind peacekeepers, and the disgraced ones are violent, selfish, etc (in theory). I think stories like the Last Kingdom kind of glorify Vikings, and stories like vinland saga criticize it, but they're each modern projections onto old norse culture to tell a story about modernity that doesn't seem to have to do with what is known about vikings. And personally the actual old norse perception of death and the afterlife that isn't so binaried is so much more interesting to me for the alternative possible ways of seeing the world it imagines than the focus on christianity. And I especially have a bone to pick with Vinland Saga for what it seems to present as the supposed moral option in contrast to the viking way of life.

One thing I always loved about viking culture in all these stories was the way that they lived their lives with a foregrounded consciousness of death. In all these adaptations the viking characters think forward to their death and plan to make sure they go to their death as impressively as possible, with almost an eagerness. Death is a part of their lives and they are not afraid of it but kind of attend to it all their lives as an important act they need to prepare for. They don't seem to fear it or want to avoid it, at least when it is inevitable, I'm sure they're not trying to die sooner than they have to, but they all know they will die and think of how they want to die to make a good show for the gods and please them with their courage. Christians are also concerned with their death but in a different way, where death is the beginning of your possible eternal torment or eternal peace and reprieve from the torment of life (based on my Christian childhood). Humility and submission seems like the dominant approaches in Christianity, and they seem essentially afraid of the world and themselves, hoping they don’t do anything sinful as they wait to die so they can be rewarded in heaven and escape hell. There’s this disassociation from the world they are living in, as they wait, straining toward heaven. Their bodies are the source of sin and it’s like they’re afraid of their own flesh. While for the Vikings through their bodies and their active violence they have power and agency over their experience on the earth and are able to earn a valued place in the afterlife

There’s the part in Vinland Saga I was puzzling over for a long time. The Christian prince Canute of a viking, mostly-pagan but gradually converting to christianity country at this point in the story was travelling kidnapped by a rival viking army. Canute has spent most of his time praying and avoiding warriors but after a sudden series of events declares that he renounces God, and that he will dedicate himself to creating a paradise on Earth. The Vikings and the prince's priest for a few episodes before this had been having a back and forth about Christianity and love. The priest had told the Vikings at one point that what he sought in Christianity that he couldn’t find anywhere else was “love itself”, and the conversations develops from the warriors trying to figure out what he means by “love itself”, love of battle, love of ale and meat, love of a woman, love of your brothers? The priest said that the feeling for all of those things is not real love. A few episodes forward, when the prince is grieving losing someone, the priest told him that even that love he had had with that person was not love. Canute asks him what is love then, and the priest points toward a dead body lying on the ground and says that is love, and cryptically that "death is the completion of a human being". When Canute says that he will make a paradise on earth he makes a speech as he looks at the beauty of the winter landscape around them and mourns the incongruity of all the dead bodies around them, and says something about the cruelty that the beauty of the natural world doesn’t exist in the souls of human beings and that if god won’t allow human beings to have paradise on earth, he will turn away from god and build paradise on earth himself. I think he’s mourning the disconnection of human beings from the cycles of earth, nature, and the seasons in the world they live in but can't really be a part of, that they seem to be disconnected from the beautiful winter landscape while the land and plants and animals around them have their own processes in rhythm with the seasons and the earth. but human beings are constantly killing each other to try and get the resources they need to survive. If god created the world how can human beings be so out of sync with it? And I think that is what the priest is seeing – death is a natural part of this cycle that humans avoid but that essentially is what winter is that the rest of nature gives itself to. the dead body decaying into the earth, becoming a part of the cycle of creation and death, part of nature, a part of a process that they are meant to be in as a part of the natural world, is what we are meant for, is what is sacred.

The main idea of the series is that Thorfinn, the main character of vinland saga, a viking warrior who saw his father murdered by a group of vikings he swore revenge on and spent his entire childhood doing nothing but fighting and killing in order to get that, supposedly learns to heal from a life spent pursuing a dead end revenge, violence on top of more violence, when he is forced into a life of farming where he learns to be at peace while working with the land … but the first thing he does for that is spending a whole lot of time ripping up trees from the earth. To me it was just as violent, and just as much a disassociation of human being from the land they live in to forcibly extract resources out of it, dominating it to survive a little longer. The fandom for vinland saga seems to enthusiastically accept this as proof of turning away from revenge and learning to farm as wholesome and healing, but how does it not hurt to watch them rip the trees out of the earth after everything the characters have said about their disconnection from the nature? I honestly couldn't believe what i was watching after all these philosophical epiphanies they were having on the battlefield... it was absurd. "ah yes, i can begin my life of peace and healing, just after I kill an entire forest..." (not to say thorfinn is saying this, and i know his context for doing that is he was forced to follow orders, but the story and the fans definitely seem to position his farming era and nothing but pure goodness and healing, as this act of ripping the trees out as a non-issue..)

Having read a bit about norse culture there’s a LOT of stuff about how they deforested the lands they colonised and a lot of this happened after they were converted to Christianity as well. And this was generally the M.O. of Europeans colonising the world as well and has then permeated to North American culture which was than applied to North American imperialism and globalization and capitalism... Vinland Saga's moral attitude doesn’t feel entirely Christian exactly but if Thorfinn’s journey into Christian-adjacent territory and extractive relationship to land through the kind of farming is his redemption … I just don’t accept that. This type of farming just seems like a different way of expressing the same extractive, violent worldview. (I just read something about how feudal farming, with a land owners and tons of peasants/slaves constantly farming on it is really bad for the soil and causes a lot of environmental damage, btw.)

In pre-christian norse culture I'm learning about ... there seems to be a bit more of a reciprocal relationship to the land? Cultural practices I've read about seems to suggest more of a give and take with the land than seem to be suggested in this anime at least? Of course the norse themselves at varying stages of Christian conversion seemed to go toward completely extractive approach to the land. And there is only records of their life from the time the society was converted to Christianity and writing about the pagan past for fellow Christians so its impossible to say for sure if this is just romanticizing and a longing for a time Western culture wasn't so disassociated from their environment and reality itself... But agh. It makes me sad and I don't think we can just stamp "YAY FARMING!" and consider it all to be fine now.

#vikings #old norse mythology #i just started reading about old norse culture so hopefully there's nothing too off here #vinland saga #the last kingdom

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ficretus · 3 months

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I've seen many interpretations on what Cinder's left arm could look like post theoretical redemption.

No arm option is probably my least favorite. Yeah, there is an interesting symbolism of it being permanent reminder of Cinder's past, how not everything can be restored way it was. However, I feel like a missing eye and scars already do that. Missing arm would also severely hinder her combat abilities (being both dual wielder and archer), which clashes with my idea of Cinder actually helping the good guys as part of her redemption arc.

Mechanical arm is fairly common option. It's a go to option for characters with missing limbs in the show, so it's a safe option to bet on. However, I feel like mechanical limb has negative connotations in the context of Cinder. Combination of her being enslaved by Atlas as a child and her previous limb not belonging to her. So I'm not sure Cinder would accept Atlesian prosthetic limb.

Glass arm is cool option. It symbolizes Cinder both using her powers in non destructive way and her taking control of her own destiny. However, to me glass arm is way too impractical even with "rule of cool" factored in. Glass is neither elastic enough to mirror joints, nor is it good idea for your limb to be so brittle (magic or not, Cinder's glass creations break way too often). Glass eye on the other hand, I can see that happening.

Option I'm leaning the most these days is Aura limb. I like it as both inversion of Grimm arm and because I like the prospect of Jaune being the one to redeem Cinder. Instead of it being soulless and intrusive foreign object, it would symbolize Cinder opening up and her broken self being mended. I imagine it functioning similarly to Grimm arm, being able to reform out of Cinder's Aura if necessary. However, instead of draining Aura, it could carry the piece of Jaune's Semblance and allow Cinder to give her Aura to other people.

#cinder fall #rwby cinder fall #knightfall #rwby knightfall

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kerubimcrepin · 8 months

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Episode 17 - Toothache

These look like various different armours. Interesting.

One of the very, very rare times Kerubim says "Jojo", and not "Joris" or "my Jojo".

Considering how fast he came, chances are he was outside, listening in to Kerubim searching for the tooth. He is so real for that.

Joris gets a pass for not being normal about Kerubim and his stories because he's 7. I won't make fun of him. He's baby.

(Kerubim doesn't get a pass for not being normal about Joris because he's like 60-80, and should go to therapy, instead of compensating for his fail orphanage childhood and divorce. It's equality. To me.)

Yes, his spine always hurts. Yes, he's also still very good at acrobatics and parkour, as all adventurers should be. He contains multitudes.

Peace and love in the World of Twelve. Also, Kerubim's fruity stance here...

He loves sharing things that make him happy with Joris. It's very cute. But also Joris is like 7, so I don't know what he's expecting.

Maybe he's trying to raise him with a love for selling things to people, so that one day he will continue the family business.

Bad news: Joris's main interest as an adult, while manning the store, is Bullying The Customers. Bullying them until they start to cry or call him slurs.

And are these... "assistants" in the room with us, right now?

Also: Kerubim knits, as can be gauged from the yarn balls with the knitting needles in them. At least he is putting that yarn ball addiction that has been alluded in the first episodes (before Simone cleaned up) and which will be fully revealed in episode 49, The Jellivision, to a good use.

I just know that before coming out, they had a talk that went something like:

"And then, when I clap, my Jojo, you will jump onto the counter, with milk! Imagine how happy it would make the customer."

"Yay papycha!"

Yet again, everyone in this household loves to jump onto tables. This will not change in even 600 years. Manlets. Littlefellas. Shortguys.

Joris is more won-over by Keke's customer tactics than the customer. A likely thing for Joris to be.

I want to point out that, at literally no point during the series, except for the racing episode, do we see Kerubim actually go to Brakmar, or really explore the Sidimote Moors.

I wonder if he has something to hide.

(Atcham. I am yet again talking about Atcham.)

Despite wanting to act like he's cool and lucky, Kerubim does actually put in the time to research what waits him where he's going. Especially when he knows it's going to be dangerous. It's an interesting contrast to the way he was in the Unikron episode.

I suppose it's very likely that that story happened before this one, and he's matured.

(Though it doesn't mean he isn't wrong about things sometimes.)

Truly, he is the male version of Lina Inverse.

Food moment: I am not describing all of them, but man, those sure are fruits and veggies.

This implies that Kerubim has used the tooth for cleaning before, either cleaning the house, or cleaning himself. No wonder he's so beautiful.

I will be real, if I was Kerubim I would like. Do unspeakable evils upon Simone. I would make her tea with salt for a week. He is more patient than all of us.

Dead.

Yeah, not even being the best and the prettiest can save this. It's over.

#ep17 #wakfu #dofus #krosmoz #ro liveblogs dofus

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anthurak · 19 days

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So recently reading an interesting/disturbing post/article on the Franklin Expedition and rewatching the Helluva Boss shorts have combined to produce this random little brain fart of an idea:

Who do you think wins a fight between the racist, xenophobic murder penguins from Mission: Antarctica, and the fucked-up monster polar bear from that one book/show about ‘What if the Franklin expedition had a fucked-up monster polar bear?’

Personally my money’s on the penguins. If for nothing else than by sheer weight of numbers.

Heck, while we’re at it let’s expand these matchups:

How well do the bunch of unhinged, murderous xenophobes fair against the unhinged, murderous xenophobes who happen to be penguins?

I.M.P. vs Fucked-Up Monster Polar Bear?

And finally; three imps vs. two ships worth of British dudes high off their asses on lead-poisoning.

Well for round one I’d say the Franklineers don’t even last long enough to start their Donner party. Like I imagine the penguins take one look at those Englishmen and are immediately infuriated that anyone else would DARE try to be more racist and xenophobic than them and massacre the lot on sight. Heck, maybe the penguins then try and get the ships free of the ice so they can sail out onto the open sea and make war on the English.

As for I.M.P. vs F.U.M.P.B., while it’s not an easy fight by any estimation I do think our imps come out on top. Maybe they need to call in Loona for some extra muscle/rip-and-tear. Like yeah, that bear is tough, but it also has to contend with armor-piercing sniper rounds from Moxxie, shotgun blasts from Blitzo, AND a Millie likely in full feral-murder-gremlin mode going all stab-happy on it with a knife.

Alternatively, maybe Loona in full-on berserker-mode 1v1’s the thing? This one is entirely due to my bias of wanting to see Loona do cool shit :D

Finally we have our imp trio vs. the two ships of loony, cannibal-happy british dudes, AKA; I.M.P. getting a bulk order with the promise a very nice payday.

The funny thing about this matchup is that I feel like each side has an entirely different perspective as to what’s going on.

For the Frankliners, this is (more of) a horror story as they are gradually being picked off one by one in brutal fashion by a mysterious, unseen killer who appears suddenly to brutally slaughter one or two of them, then just as quickly vanishes without a trace.

Meanwhile, while Blitzo, Moxxie and Millie might LIKE to go all inverse-doomslayer on the hapless would-be colonizers, there is the little problem of it being REALLY FUCKING COLD. So they instead decide to take it easy on this one, using their Asmodean crystal to just pop in and take out one or three guys before popping back to the comfort of Hell for a few hours/days, rinse and repeat.

And the best part is that when our heroes pop in to take out a couple guy only to find that they’ve already been whacked by a third guy who also seem to be trying to eat them for some weird reason, our imps realize these humans will just kill themselves for them! Now they just need to pop in every other day or so, whack one or two dudes, and the rest will do their job for them.

Admittedly, after a few days the remaining humans are looking pretty gross and possibly a bit undead, so Blitzo, Moxxie and even Millie start taking out their targets from a distance. Thankfully at this point they don’t really even need to be killing them directly. Like one of them just saw Moxxie perched on the mast, screamed about demons and angels, then immediately stabbed one of his mates to death and started eating him.

So by the last few days, Blitzo, Moxxie and Millie are just popping in to go ‘OOGA-BOOGA’ a few times and letting the job take care of itself.

#helluva boss #helluva rambling #strange rambling #helluva blitzo #helluva moxxie #helluva millie #helluva loona #helluva penguins #weird crossovers #one of the more random things i've come up with

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penncilkid · 1 year

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Hi hey hello, it’s PK! Back with another non-canon ship paired with far too many words. Welcome to one of my fic-adjacent ramble sessions! I mentioned it the last time I did one of these, but today, we’re discussing Sam/David— Or Lunar Healing (Yes, I gave them a ship name. I like to have fun /lh). This post will be going over the main timeline I’ve envisioned for these two. However, I have dozens of general ship headcanons as well so if anyone would be interested in seeing those, let me know and I’ll make a sequel post. (Also special shoutout to @cashandprizes, they certainly had some sort of part to play in the creation of this post /lh /pos). Now then, let’s get into this!

Pairing: Sam/David*

Word Count: 3.8 K [Note: If you wanna skip the Inversion stuff near the end, then it’s only 2.5 K]

Content Tags/Warnings: Inversion will be brought up/discussed near the end of this (Specific heads up for mention of blood) // I’ll also be using my listeners’ names at points (Who’s who will be indicated for clarity purposes)

*Maia, my version of Darlin’, is mentioned in this. Additionally, in this version of events, she is dating Milo and Nirav, my version of Sweetheart. (They’re not the focus though)

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Some quick stats for my version of David and Sam: David is 6’0” and Latino (specifically Colombian) // Sam is 6’3” and Black [Added in case you wanted to know a bit more about my vision]

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My vision for this pair begins with Fred and Bright’s turning. As mentioned in the timeline, canonically speaking, David inquires about the two newest additions to the Solaire clan. I imagine this plays out in a vaguely similar way as Sam/Darlin’s first canonical meeting. Sam’s doing the whole “get off of our property / who the hell do you think you are?” routine, though he’s internally cursing himself when David introduces who he is. Upon realizing he’s speaking with the Shaw pack alpha, he becomes very formal with David: calling him Mr. Shaw and such, asking if he wants to speak with his clan leader, etc. David explains that he was coming to speak to William himself and that Sam doesn’t need to do anything.

David asks for Sam’s name. Upon realizing who he is, David has to fight the urge to ask more about what happened on Halloween night directly. He’d heard some of the details and assumes William will disclose more, but there’s a part of him that wants to hear it firsthand. Instead, David tells Sam that if he ever needs any assistance given everything going on, he should reach out. David remembers how difficult it was after Gabe passed, and while this is a different situation, he knows how damaging isolation can be. Sam thanks him (out of politeness) before David heads off to meet with Will.

Sam doesn’t take David up on the offer— At least for a while. The main reason why is because from his perspective, he doesn’t want to bother “Mr. Shaw” if he could handle it. He’s been a vampire for well-over a decade, he figures he’ll be fine once the dust settles. But after a particularly rough night looking after Fred and Bright, Sam bites the bullet and calls David. The two end up meeting somewhere with food because David figures food is the easiest way to get people to relax (and because he was hungry). Sam is still guarded when it comes to his venting, not wanting to share too much or put too much of a burden on David. But as the two talk and David offers what reassurance he can, Sam finds it a bit easier to spend time around the alpha.The two of them having one more of these meet ups before they go back to their respective lives, Sam viewing this as nothing more than a “one-off” thing.

Enter: Maia. Now, as mentioned, her timeline leads to a relationship with Milo and Nirav (Sweetheart) rather than with Sam. If she followed canon, she would have gone to Wonderworld in search of Quinn, met Sam, and then reached out to him for healing help after the vampire fight. The way canon diverges here is instead, she goes to Wonderworld looking for Quinn but doesn’t disclose her name or explain why she was searching for him after finding out he’s not there. When she gets into the fight with the vampires, she knows she’s in bad shape and needs help. She bites the bullet and instead shows up on Milo’s doorstep, asking if his partner can heal her while begging him not to tell David she’s back in Dahlia. Milo agrees to hide her return from David only if she explains everything to him and Nirav instead.

Realizing it’s probably not the safest idea to stay at her own place, she begins crashing with Milo and Nirav while continuing her search for Quinn. As she tries to track him down, she ends up reaching back out to Sam, wanting to know what he knows while looking to work together to a certain degree. At this point, the two are acquaintances who have a mutual aversion to the same vamp.

David begins to suspect that Maia is back based on things he’s hearing around Dahlia— Though, he can’t simply confirm based on rumors alone. When he hears that a shifter’s been spotted around Wonderworld a handful of times, David decides to reach out and asks to meet with Sam. It’s been quite some time since the two saw each other one-on-one, but because of the base level of mutual respect (and trust, arguably), David invites Sam to his house for this meeting. Initially, Sam isn’t sure what David is looking to discuss but agrees nonetheless. Upon arriving, Sam finds himself getting distracted by David’s presence. Sure, they’ve seen each other before, talked for hours. But there’s something about being this close to the shifter after so long— David’s hair being a bit messier since he was relaxing at home. The way David’s biceps look on display thanks to the tank top he’s wearing. Or the way the scar on his lip— “Collins?” “Sorry, what were you saying, David?”

David asks Sam if he’s been interacting with a shifter in the recent weeks. When Sam says yes, David begins listing a series of physical traits out— “Do those descriptors apply to the shifter in question?” Sam bites his tongue, cursing inside because he can tell that there’s no good way of answering this. But that hesitation tells David everything he needs to know. He asks Sam if Maia seems safe (relatively speaking as Maia’s definition of safe is far “looser” than David would like). Sam says that he doesn’t know much about what she’s got going on when she’s not around him, but that she seems like she’s doing alright when they speak. David takes this information in before explaining to Sam that he’s not going to interfere— Not yet at least. He wants to wait and see if Maia will disclose her return naturally. In the meantime, Sam should continue doing whatever he sees fit.

After David finishes discussing Maia, Sam gets ready to leave as he figured that was all David wanted— But David stops him. “Sam, I wouldn’t invite you all the way out here for a ten minute conversation. At the very least, I should feed you or something.” Sam tells David that’s not necessary but it takes David insisting once for Sam to fold. As David cooks for Sam, the two strike up a conversation. They talk about various things— How Fred and Bright are doing, how the pack’s doing, personal life updates and such— and it feels reminiscent of those times they spoke with each other months prior. Sam ends up staying for at least another hour or two as they talk. When it’s time for him to go, David tells Sam that he wouldn’t mind making a habit of these talks if Sam is interested. Sam grins and tells David he likes the sound of that.

Something I feel is important to Sam’s characterization is that he takes things slow when it comes to relationships. That’s not to say he doesn’t feel things sooner, but the way in which he acts on those feelings is paced. This in mind, I also 100% see David catching feelings first out of these two. As he and Sam begin regularly spending time with each other, David finds it easier to exist as someone other than the Shaw pack alpha. Meanwhile, Sam’s slowly realizing that David is “Mr. Shaw”— But he’s also “David”, who chastises him for not drinking enough blood or asks what he’s craving despite their shared awareness that Sam doesn’t have to eat. They start seeing new sides of each other as they grow closer, and it’s difficult for David to ignore his growing feelings. (Note: I imagine they spent the Sunbound Solstice together that year as an example. Mentioned because I intend to write a few headcanons about that day)

After this goes on for a while, Sam is eventually invited to a pack meeting. By this point, David has already confronted Maia about her being in Dahlia, what’s been going on with her and Quinn, etc. They’re holding a meeting discussing the situation, and David figures the Solaire Clan deserves to be kept in the loop. After all, Maia and Sam have some level of connection, and two of their own were turned by him. Sure, David could’ve set up another meeting with William to update the clan, but he thinks Sam is just as suitable an option. By this point, Sam and David have become a lot more relaxed with each other compared to the first time they met. But it’s not only in terms of formality (or rather, the lack thereof). There’s something in the way they interact with each other before and after the meeting. The way David watches how his pack interacts with Sam, taking in both the vamp and wolves’ body language. How his gaze softens ever so subtly when he’s speaking with Sam. The flickers of smiles or hushed laughs when they overhear something said by the other. It’s subtle yet impossible to miss.

At the end of the meeting as people are clearing out, Asher stays behind because Beta duties and whatnot. As he walks Sam out with David, he’s taking in their interactions up close. As soon as Sam’s gone, Ash turns to David with a knowing smile. “So. You and Collins, huh~?” David rolls his eyes, “It’s not a big deal.” “So you admit there’s something going on?” “Will you come on so we can get out of here already?” David walks off but Asher’s busy grinning at his best friend regardless.

As Sam continues to become more and more present in David’s life, he begins to internally confront his own feelings. He’s well aware the way he feels about David is far from casual, but he isn’t sure how to go about dealing with those. He feels like him and David have a good thing going, and he doesn’t want to mess that up somehow. For the time being, they continue doing what they’re doing, just without the official label of dating per say. That’s not to say their dynamic doesn’t evolve, though. In public, David still plays it a bit professional/formal with Sam, primarily because of Shaw Security and because he’s still considering how their relationship may be perceived at times. But at a pack meeting? Their attraction is palpable. As soon as he sees Sam arrive at the den and walks over, Sam’s pulling him into a hug tight enough to lift him off the ground a bit. And despite David saying “Alright, alright. That’s enough, Cowboy”, he always pulls Sam into a kiss with a smile that tells you they might as well be the only people in the room. There’s a sense of intimate comfort they share with each other, and it’s something that continues to surprise them both.

Around early December (aka right before Hot Boi Winter begins), David decides he wants to invite Sam to the cabins with the pack. The pack already expects Sam to be there— They’re all more than aware of how close the two are— but David doesn’t want this to just be about the cabins. Sam’s over at David’s place (a frequent occurrence by then) and as they’re laying together, David tells Sam he wants to ask him something. “If this is about the cabins, Asher’s already brought it up—” “Do you want to be my mate, Sam?” They both watch each other for a moment, and inside, David panics a bit. “Nevermind, forget I asked—” “Hey now, hold on a sec, David.” Sam stops David from leaving, holding the shifter’s hand. He apologizes for looking so shell shocked but assures David that it’s only because that wasn’t what he expected him to say. David starts to explain himself more, wanting to make it clear that he understands the question he’s asking. He talks about how much he enjoys any time spent with Sam. How it’s easy to get out of his head when Sam’s around. The way his mind seems to shut off when he feels Sam’s hands on him. All the nights they’ve spent together— Talking about their lives, sharing pieces of their past, comforting each other after difficult days, kissing and holding and loving on each other. “I’ve never had a mate before. I didn’t think that would be a possibility for me when I was appointed alpha. But I do know that being with you feels right. So I wanted to know if you wanted to be that to me too.”

The entire time while David is talking, Sam’s gaze is fixed on the shifter before him. At no point did he ever doubt his feelings for David and vice versa. But to hear David speak so candidly about the way he feels and what he wants is something he didn’t realize he needed. “Ask me again.” “...What?” “Just do it, David.” He can’t help but roll his eyes with a bit of a grin before looking at Sam. “Do you want to be my mate?” Sam kisses David before smiling at him, “It’d be my honor, Mr. Shaw.” David groans at the last part, which makes Sam laugh before they kiss again. When they’re up at the cabins, prior to Sam’s arrival, David mentions that him and Sam are officially mates. Asher swears before handing a very smug looking Milo twenty dollars.

///

To make up for the next section of the timeline, I’m gonna talk pet names real quick: Typically whenever I see speaker/speaker ships, I see people assign what would be the listener's nickname to the other speaker. Now I’ve got no issue with that whatsoever (/gen), it tends to hit. But when I was thinking about Lunar Healing, I was like “Hmm I’m not so sure that would be giving the vibes I need it to give.” As I was discussing this with Lexi, the lovely visionary they are, I was like “I like the idea of David using a Spanish term of endearment for Sam. I’m gonna go with ‘Querido’, but I still need something for Sam to call David.” It was at that moment that Lexi breathed into existence one of the best sentences I’ve ever heard: “Hear me out. I actually like Sam calling David Angel more”

When I picture the first time Sam uses it, David makes a face, brows furrowed. “What? You don't like it?” “It doesn't fit me.” “Now what makes you say that?” “Angels are too good for me to be one. They're sacred beings—” Sam pulls David close so their faces are an inch apart. In a low voice, “You're heaven on earth, David Shaw. You're sacred to me, and I want everyone to know that. That’s why I’m calling you ‘Angel’. Got it?” David has to take a moment to mentally recover and actually come up with a proper response (/pos)

I also like to imagine what outside reactions to the pet name would be like. Like David, Milo, Asher, and Maia are all hanging out to do something, Sam arriving late. When he gets there, he kisses David before saying “I'm sorry I'm late, Angel. Do you mind if I run to the bathroom real quick?” “Yeah, we'll wait for you to start.” And as soon as Sam is out of the room and David turns around, they're all like “So. That’s new~”

///

Alright. So. One thing you will quickly learn about me is that when I explore a Redacted rarepair, I almost always explore Inversion in tandem. This next section will be covering how I think things would play out for Sam/David, but if that’s not your thing (or you’re tired of reading), feel free to leave on a high note. Now then:

[Let’s talk Inversion]

As mentioned in the main timeline, David and Sam are officially together when the E&E games roll around. Sam’s been hearing all about the behind the scenes from David, and when Vincent mentions wanting to go for Ayl (Lovely), it’s a given that he’ll be going as well. Vincent enjoys teasing him despite inviting Sam because “Your boy toy’s working security~” “Keep it up and I’ll tell him you called him my ‘boy toy’ (/lh)”. Sam wanted to get DAMN earlier so he could see David beforehand, but the sun obviously had other plans. I’d like to think that because of this, Sam scans the game/ceremony feed so he can spot the moments where David’s shown on screen.

On David’s end, he’s admittedly excited knowing Sam will be there for the ceremony. With all the preparations and work, they hadn’t had much time to just soak up each other’s company. At least now, he’d be able to see his mate once this is over and appreciate him properly. At this point, we’re following how the ceremony canonically progresses up to when the rift opens and shades start spilling in. The same core moments play out: David making the call to bring the ward back down. Sam and Vincent trying to get to Lovely, ending up inside the ward before realizing it’s back up. They were both trapped inside the ward in canon, but now it means something entirely different.

When the shades start spilling in, Sam is freaking out. He wants to go find David but he also doesn’t want to leave Vincent alone. Ayl is still relatively new to the magical world, he’s not a shifter, he’s got more disadvantages in a situation like this. Vincent will go looking for his partner regardless, and Sam decides to go with him. Later on when he realizes the ward is back up, he’s torn between wanting David in there with him and wanting him outside, safe and away from all this mess. He sees shifters running around, but he’s never seen David shifted at this point. It’s near impossible for him to focus long enough to try and find his mate, and he knows that if he’s not careful, that could get someone hurt.

Initially, David is focused on the job at hand. He’s the one that made the call to trap all these people, he’ll be damned if he doesn’t try to help as much as possible. Realizing Asher was inside the ward stung in its own way because he wanted his best friend out of harm’s way, but he pushes that down for the time being because he trusts Asher to handle the crisis before them. However— The moment he realizes Sam is inside the ward as well? His stomach is in knots. Like with Asher, he has to push down those anxieties, silently hoping things will work out in the end. If Ash tries to ask David about it, David shuts the conversation down. He doesn’t have time to think about this when people’s lives are at stake.

As Inversion continues to play out, Sam is trying his best to focus on Vincent And Ayl as well as helping the people he can. There are moments where he swears he can feel David closeby, his head turning as he tries to spot him before telling himself to stay focused. Likewise, David is focusing his energy and attention on crisis response, ignoring his own exhaustion as he continues pushing forward. He keeps reminding himself that they’ll get out of this— That if he keeps going, eventually this nightmare will end and things will be alright.

What he doesn’t account for is Asher getting attacked by a shade. It’s an emotional breaking point for David—It was bad enough that his mate’s trapped in here with him, but now he was going to lose his best friend too. The way in which Sam’s name tears from David’s throat stops the vampire in his tracks. David’s been trying his best to stay calm and think rationally since the rift opened. But in that moment, all he can focus on is Asher in front of him, his hands slick with his best friend’s blood, Asher’s breath coming too fast and too shallow, his eyes closing, he’s not moving enough— “Angel— Angel, look at me.” There are tears streaming down David’s face as he looks at Sam. “Can you help him?” “I can try.” Sam is able to focus on healing Asher with David’s help, but it cuts deep seeing his mate in so much pain, even if emotional.

The rest of Inversion plays out as it did in canon up to the point where Milo brings the ward down. As soon as he sees that the shades are gone, David goes to find Asher again, part of him still terrified that he’s gonna wake up and Ash will be gone. As the two of them make their way back out, Malakhi (Babe) nearly crashes into the both of them, trying to check on them both because they’ve certainly seen better days. David lets go of Asher so him and Mal can have their moment together, not wanting to interrupt. David would do his best to mask it externally, but inside he’s panicking because he hasn’t seen Milo, he doesn’t know how much of his pack made it out alive, and Sam’s nowhere to be seen. He gets confirmation that Milo’s alright while he’s still near Asher, and it’s enough to make him cry again. While waiting for Milo to come find them, he sees Sam again. The vamp is much more relieved to see David alive and in one piece, kissing him and pulling him into a tight hug before quickly apologizing as David winces.

They don’t get much time to talk before David has to go address DUMP and such for his decisions. Sam recognizes the subtle shift when David takes on the role of alpha again, ignoring whatever’s going on in his own mind for the sake of responsibility. Sam asks David if he should stay, but David tells Sam that he’ll be fine and that he should go with Vincent/be with his clan for now. Sam is reluctant but agrees after promising to come back for David when DUMP’s done talking with him. It’s hours before Sam hears from David again, but as promised, he comes and picks him up once he’s been released. The drive home is silent, neither of them saying anything. It’s only when they make it inside and David sees his own reflection that he finally breaks, clinging to Sam as the weight of everything that happened hits him.

/// So yeah, this concludes another fic adjacent ramble (/lh)! As mentioned at the start, I have many headcanons for these two, so let me know if that would be of interest to anyone. This was a labor of love, and I really hope that it was enjoyable to read through. (And, once more, if you actually read through all of this, hi, thank you, you’re wild /lh /pos)

#redacted david #redacted sam #Lunar Healing #PK Fic Adjacents #Redacted Rambles #rarepair #redacted rarepairs #redacted asmr #redacted audio #redactedverse #WHO LET ME WRITE ALL OF THIS /LH #I was possessed /j #Not sure who I'll end up doing next #But this has given me a strange boost of confidence #So if I start writing fics you know why /hj

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