#story: prophecy squad

[wordsgood]

couldn't stop thinking about tracyjat on the way home....... jat lives the most miserable violent bloodsoaked life and has visions of a girl bathed in light......... tracy is privileged and angry and gay and bored and has nightmares of a girl with a wolf's face and bloody claws......... and in a way they're seeing each other but also theyre seeing themselves as they truly are. jat is a killer who's done unspeakable things but she still has so much love and light to give if she ever had the freedom and ability to do it. tracy is beautiful and kind in her own cold kind of way but she's so ferocious and aching for some way to be necessary. and they find each other and it's weird and uncertain but tracy insists that jat doesn't need anyone's forgiveness to do and be better and to heal from what others have done to her throughout her whole life, she forgives jat for crimes she doesn't even understand and protects jat from anyone who wants to punish her, and jat who has only known untrustworthiness and violence from everyone (except doli lin, but he has ties to the people jat hurt) is able to stop running and fighting and just let someone else do the fighting for her. tracy looks like a prep-jock version of taylor swift and her nails are pure sharpened diamond and the butcher of harrana, probably like 180 pounds of ridiculously op killing machine, nestles in tracy's lap like a very tired german shepherd and makes fart jokes because she knows that makes tracy laugh.

[thisisnotthenerd]

great episode; some big story reveals tonight.

cassandra was possessed by some sort of rage spirit that caused her to mutate

that then spread around the mall, rampantly possessing wizards and making them buff

sidenote: the martial squad (fabian, gorgug, riz) did so well in this combat

fig's ancestral curse is from gilear; when she gives inspiration, profound bad luck happens either to her or her environment, accompanied by a sauce stain on her shirt. it is somehow related to the armor of pride that gilear used in the nightmare forest; maybe the curses melded? instead of dying when she gets too proud, fig tries to encourage others and is punished with bad luck.

the 'shatter-stars' are related to an unknown divinity that is somehow tied to the entity that lydia barkrock keeps trapped in her chest.

cassandra thought this entity was dead, and when she died in the time loop, she was 'summoned back to their side'. cassandra may be inaccessible for kristen if she's trapped by this entity.

we know galicaea and cassandra were sister goddesses that presided over the night (the moon, werewolves, patron of elves vs. mystery, night, doubt). perhaps the bbeg this season is an entity that presided over them?

it would tie into the night yorb; maybe the night yorb was a lesser being that gained power from cults in its name?

i could see the naming mechanic e.g. speak not of the night yorb if this was a dead god of some sort that transitioned into another state of being and then was brought back as a god.

the bad kids threw one hell of a party

the fact that aguefort is off on a jaunt means that all of the 'adventurous behavior' is being punished

also adaine doesn't have a job anymore if the synod is destroyed. girl's got to start getting all those elves from fallinel to pay for their prophecies.

[furious-blueberry0]

Are there people out there that really think that Star Wars is too political? And say that as if it is a flaw?

Like, I’m sorry, but did people seriously look at a saga literally named Star WARS and manage to complain about the fact that it has politics? Did these people watch the movies and only saw the lightsabers, the cool music and the pew pews? Is that all their brain could comprehend?

I’m not saying that you can’t do that, if you want to look at the fun side of the saga only than good for you, but using the argument of “too much politics” and make it the flaw of the story is so stupid.

Like that’s the point, THAT’S THE WHOLE FUCKING POINT.

George Lucas didn’t just make a story of a good guy vs a bad guy, he made a story where a Republic, a just system that has become corrupted to its core, finds itself into a devastating war and is pushed to its limit by a slimy and disgusting scheming bastard (inspired by George Bush), who then uses its weakness to take control of it and transform it, from a free system to a fascist dictatorship (inspired by Nazi Germany and the USA of the Vietnam war) and whose one of the first things he does is a literal genocide and ethnical cleansing of a religious order.

And this is only the Prequels, because in the OT the story is about how this Empire, whose head and right hand are literally the most powerful beings in the galaxy, gets utterly destroyed not by other powerful beings, not by superpowers, not by mystical forces that the human mind can’t comprehend.

But by people, normal people, the average person, who can’t fly, who can’t use mystical objects, who cannot move things with the mind or other tricks.

The heroes of these movies are the rebels, who are not fighting because of some ancient prophecy, or because of a quest given by mystical beings, or because they have to restore the fabric of the Universe, they fight because it’s the right thing to do, because this is what happens when you take away freedom from people, when you destroy their homes, when you kill their loved ones, when you obliterate everything they have ever known and loved.

Treat people like animals and they’ll react like animals, by biting the hand that carries the stick and then ripping it into shreds.

And yes, Luke is the hero that saves the day by killing Sidious and Vader, but he would have never, and I say NEVER have arrived at that point without the help of the Rebellion, it’s something that no one could have ever done alone, a single individual against an entire Empire is a suicide, no matter how powerful you are.

And I love it. I don’t even know how to put it into words, I love how this ancient and meticulous plan gets annihilated by normal people, who just wanted to be free.

THIS is Star Wars: a fight against tyranny.

And it makes me sad how people forget and ignore it. With the Rebellion it’s not just the special people who can be heroes, everyone can! And they don’t even need to do the heroic actions described in the stories and the myths.

A Hero says “No” when the Stormtroopers ask if they saw the young and scared boy who ran and hid behind the bins near their home.

A Hero gives extra blankets and food to the neighbor that is hiding refugees.

A Hero “accidentally” blocks the way of a squad of Stormtroopers, to give others the time to escape.

A Hero hides the weapons of the rebels in their well while the Stormtroopers raid all the houses.

A Hero runs through the streets and into the woods to go find the rebels that are hiding there, to tell them it’s time to run

A Hero talks loudly about the atrocities that the Empire is committing, forcing those who are silent to listen.

A Hero comforts the mother who lost all her children to the Empire.

A Hero organizes the funeral of that same mother, after she tried to take her revenge.

A Hero doesn’t let the Empire enter their head, they don’t let it change their being.

It’s all about the small acts of insurrection that pushes the line forward.

[marshiemonarch]

Hmmm... I see...

How interesting

WELL

What about the "Fun Gang"?

Susie Kris Ralsei, and also Noelle and Burghley (I refuse to say his name correctly)

What're you thoughts on them?

Uh actually it's the [$#!%] Squad lmao

Anyway I love them so much they are my babies. I could go on about them for hours. I already did a whole post about Kris earlier, but I can ramble about the others for now.

Susie is probably my favorite out of the entire group. Her character development was so good in Chapter 1 and she's so silly in Chapter 2. Fun fact I actually hated her when I first played Chapter 1, up until her redemption and then she became my favorite character.

I'm really excited to learn more about her character in future chapters. One thing I fear though is if/when it's revealed that we've been controlling Kris that she'll have a negative reaction. I'll literally cry like a baby if her and Kris's friendship gets ruined because of it.

Ralsei used to be my favorite out of all of them. I think it was cuz I loved Asriel when I was younger so of course I loved Ralsei. I still love Ralsei (I'm literally sitting with a plushie of him rn)

I feel like he's hiding stuff from us. I think he's aware of what's going on but doesn't wanna say anything. I also feel like he altered the prophecy slightly. Idk man that "prince from the dark" thing feels a little self-inserty (says the player who is literally a self-insert)

Noelle is precious. There was a moment where I didn't really like her but she's grown a lot on me recently. Also all the fanart I've seen of her is top tier. I don't think it's possible to draw her in a way that I don't like. She's just so cute and pretty.

I'm super curious on how she fits into the story. Toby has made it kinda clear that she has an important role in some way. Maybe it's related to Dess?

I love Berdly so much. He's kinda an annoying asshole at times but he's so funny and kinda relatable. I think we all hate him cuz we are him but we don't want to admit it.

I'm curious how the story will play out in future chapters considering the ending of Snowgrave. What if he comes back?? Gamers don't die, they respawn obviously.

[jq37]

So, the Princess' Crusade is more of a cosmic suicide pact. That's disappointing. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop for a while though. Drosselmyer's prophecy from ep 2 never got out of my head: ''Many will offer answers. I would trust your heart and the heart of your companions alone". There's no Big Good that will lighten the load and make things easy, our heroes are gonna have to figure this out themselves.

Man I have been WAITING for their plan to come out this entire time. I admit, I wasn't thinking about Dross's prophecy exactly because it was a while ago--good on you for remembering it from all the way back--but knowing stories and knowing how Brennan tells stories specifically, I was sure there was no way the conflict was as simple as princesses good, fairies bad. Information on what exactly they wanted has been so vague and our heroes haven't been asking for specifics when they had the chance. I had a feeling Brennan was setting up some youthful zealotry leading to Bad Decisions and now, here we are.

This whole situation is really wild for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the princess squad are saying they're against the concept of these narratives and the power they hold over their lives, but what about the power they themselves will be wielding over everyone else by doing this? They're talking like they're doing a hard thing that's best for everyone though they won't be understood by the common folk and to that I say bicth(es) what? Who are you to decide that life isn't worth living in this form? No one gets to decide but you because you're the main characters? What kind of Divine Right Of Kings BS is that? As someone else pointed out in another post of mine, I think Alphonse the Mule would be pretty put out if he heard the plan was "Let's End It All" while all he wants is to munch some grass. 

And like, they don't even have it bad! How mad would you be if you were like, a witch or a giant or a monster whose fate in every Once Upon a Time is to lose and be hated and be killed and you learn that the people who were trying to take down the ship with all of you in it are the people whose job it is to suffer a bit sure but then be beloved, rich, beautiful, and happy forever with the men of their dreams? Like I GET why the Stepmother is like burn it all. Why is CInderella on that same train?

Speaking of why is this person on this train, what's up with Elody? Cinderella is like 18-20, right? I've been a dumb 18 year old girl. I understand that 18 year old girls can be very dramatic and fatalistic and rash. Elody is like 35, right? Does she know the plan? If so, is she COOL with it? (Sidenote: Is there another Elody running around in this version of the world or is she maybe dead?) There are like 3 options here. 

(1) She knows and she's fine with it. Which wouldn't really mesh with what we know about her so far but maybe with Ger dead she was like OK screw it. Team Let's End It.

(2) She doesn't know because the princesses knew she wouldn't go along with it if she knew the real plan. Def a possibility but I don't want to pretend like she's uncoruptable. Anyone can subscribe to a bad take at a low time in their life. 

(3) She DOES know but she's stringing them along for her own purposes. Listen, if MY useless husband that I loved died trying to do something brave for once in his life, mayhaps I would consider joining up with some overly-zealous suicidal princesses to find the power they wanted to use to end the world to bring back said useless but beloved husband. 

I guess we'll see how it ends up shaking out. And likely soon. I have a feeling this might be an Escape The Castle situation happening soon enough. 

Oh, one more thing. It kinda blows my mind that the princesses have learned of a book not touched by the Authors--Tim's Book--and are not  like oh my gosh that changes everything! They're still fully committed to this nuke all stories plans it seems. Guys please. Have just...a moment of thought about this. A sliver of perspective. A crumb of self-awareness.

[shitpostingkats]

I humbly request a Team Ragnarok essay please

Team Ragnarok: Diversity win! Even side characters can suffer from main character syndrome!

Okay so I just finished season 4 last night, which is why I didn’t get to this ask earlier, but BOY OH BOY yeah these anime men are very fun and THANK YOU for requesting a full essay on them. Because I wouldn’t have normally made a full ramble for minor antagonists like them, but now that I have the excuse to go off, let me say:

This beloved team of Scandinavians, no matter how trope savvy they appear to be, clearly haven’t been watching the show. If they had, they would know the biggest mistake a 5Ds villain can make: profiling Yusei & co.

This ragnarock-and-roll boyband might just be my new favorite example of the “they’re just like us fr” opposing team trope (For my other favorite example, see Leverage: The Two Live Crew Job.) As I mentioned in previous posts, Team Ragnarok is a trio of dudes who are essentially the most qualified people to be main characters, and they know that. They’ve got the prophecy proclaiming them to be the Heroes, they’ve got magic eyeballs and god cards like the king of games himself, and interestingly enough, each of the members uses a parallel color scheme to one of the Satellite bois.

And like I said, they know  this. They are all deeply aware of the trope space they’re playing in, due to basing their own importance on stories and legends. They know how this is supposed to go. From their perspective, Team 5Ds is the scrappy, backwater team with good enough motivations who nonetheless aren’t qualified for the Sake-Of-The-World battle that’s about to ensue, and as such they must beat. (You know. Like Team 5Ds did to Team Taiyo just an episode ago.) Their narrative self-confidence is even supported by their theme: In the Eddas, Odin was told the prophecies of the end of days and knew going into it how everything would play out. So everything about narrative rules says this scrappy team of city slickers is their last hurdle to clear before facing The Final Boss. The penultimate fight basically every anime tournament pulls at least once: Fight Your Double. 

The trope wherein every member of the squad has to face off against their evil/thematically opposed counterpart. The Doppelganger Squad. If you’ve seen a kids show, you know this trope. Our heroes encounter a team of antagonists with the exact same powers and abilities, to a ridiculously parodying degree. And it’s also likely you know the stereotypical plot this episode often follows: The Opponent Switch. The team heavy is wearing himself ragged against an opponent of identical physical prowess. The team ranged fighter is unable to gain ground against their rival because they both keep shooting each others projectiles out of the air. The team tech geniuses are stuck in a standoff of hacking each others robots back and forth.

Usually, this episode plot is resolved by an Opponent Switch. The hero team realizes they can’t beat their doppelganger because they’re too evenly matched, so they swap. The tech whiz distracts the ranged fighter so one of their robots can sneak close and deliver an attack. The ranger can take out the fighter from a distance without getting within reach of their overpowered punches. The fighter has nothing to hack, they just charge forward and attack the (usually fairly wimpy) computer nerd. 

Team Ragnarok knows the narrative. They understand the power of tropes. So, they decide to cut right to the chase, and pull an Opponent Switch preemptively.

The funny thing is, they completely misjudge whose counterpart is who.

Jack is the silver colored, egotistical eldest, the king with glitz and glamor and years of experience under his belt. Dramatic and with a hint of villainous flair when it comes to mocking his opponents in battle. He must be the Odin, the de facto leader and calculating strategist. 

Crow is black and gold and bold as brass, with a tendency for letting his emotions get the better of him and charging into fights whenever he gets the opportunity. Obviously, he’s the Thor, the powerhouse.

And Yusei, he’s got Loki’s red hair and cunning. No natural powers to his name, he gets by through his enemies underestimating him and his quick wits. 

So, to avoid an even match, Team Ragnarok sends the fighter to overpower the strategist, the rogue to bamboozle the fighter, and the strategist to out-think the rogue. 

Perfect, they’ve avoided any possible fights against their opposites. Right?

Whoops.

So yeah, not only are Jack and Crow not actually foils of the Ragnarok bois who share their color schemes, they’ve managed to blunder into the exact match ups where everyone is forced to battle their doppelganger. And not only that, also defying the expected cliche, Jack and Crow do eek out a draw in each of their duels, but only by last minute burn damage dealt by Dragan and Broder. In a regular duel? They’d have just won, outright.

They’re better.

And they’re better without thinking they’re destined to be so.

When Halldor starts to describe his childhood to Yusei, he tells of his grand birthright and growing up to uphold the legacy of his family. Of traveling the world to grow into a Protagonist. To see, in his own words:

Yusei and the team never got that opportunity. But boy howdy do they know about the majesty as well as the desolation. They didn’t need to leave their birthplace to find it.

Halldor initially dismisses Yusei because of his lineage, because in his eyes, a bloodline is predetermination. And Yusei tells him “No. It’s not.” 

Yusei has nothing to do with his father. He never even met the guy. Yes, a great deal of his burden is dealing with the actions his parents took, the survivors guilt of living where his family’s actions killed so many others, but it’s never really been personal. It’s like he said in the dark signers arc: Reverse Zero was the direct result of his father’s work. And it was a tragedy. One that shouldn’t have happened. 

But it also gave Yusei Satellite.

And Satellite influences Yusei a lot.

And that’s why Team Ragnarok evaluated so comically incorrectly. Because yes, in a vacuum, the brothers were probably destined to grow up in those color-coded roles of their reflections. Jack, the eldest brother with an inflated ego and the most favor by the gods, was all set up to be their leader. But Satellite wore him down to anger. Thanks to his time on the mainland, he knows firsthand the difference between arcane power and authority, and is thoroughly unimpressed with both.

Crow is a hothead, a himbo with a heart of gold. That’s prime territory for the team powerhouse. But by sheer quirk of being a resident of Satellite, he could never afford to be a radical. To fight in the open. Crow learned to be stealthy and fight in the shadows, simply because endangering his own life would also mean endangering the kids left failed by the city. He learned to be a trickster, because Satellite denied him the privilege to be anything else.

And Yusei. My darling son. Gifted with all the potential to be the party rogue. The youngest, the third brother in the fairy tale, the one gifted with words and tricks and secondhand objects. The rogue fills in all the cracks in the party skillset, relying on the other members for things like magic and raw power.

But Yusei’s family left him. And he had to learn how to do everything else, too.

He’s a strategist and a knight and a scoundrel and a fighter. He doesn’t fit neatly into one archetype because up until recently he’s had to do it all alone, and while he’s mostly taken over as the brains of the operation, (by simple virtue of Jack and Crow having exactly one braincell between them) he can do pretty much anything in a pinch. 

Yes, if nothing had gone wrong, they would be the perfect tropey reflections of Team Ragnarok.

But something did go wrong. And now, all the roles are jumbled together. This tale isn’t going by the book because the author’s switched. And Yusei’s tired of letting other people write his story.

That is the difference between Team 5Ds and Team Ragnarok. They’re qualified to be the heroes because the gods put runes in their eyes. 

Yusei’s rune on his eye was put there by his oppressors. He stole the symbol on his arm from someone who didn’t deserve it. 

Team Ragnarok is good because they need to stop Zero Reverse. 

Team 5Ds is better because they’ve already had to live through it.

And then, acknowledging that personal power, the fact that this is their city, that they are made more qualified to save the world by the very fact that the world hurt them back, Team Ragnarok immediately backs off and becomes a friendly gang of Amicable Scandinavian Himbos.

Which we can all agree, is the best possible outcome.

[n3ooo]

Apprentice Mordred AU

I've seen a lot on the apprentice mordred au and i really like it so here are some headcanons i have from it: - after the beginning of the end episode, arthur couldnt contact the druids and has no choice to take mordred back to camelot. and merlin immediately decides hes going to chance the prophecy and takes mordred in with gaius. - merlin would teach mordred how to control his magic - gaius taking a liking to mordred and because of how bad he feels for mordred, gives some of his portion of meals to him - merlin giving up his bed to mordred despite protests because hes used to sleeping on the floor and wants mordred to get a good nights worth of sleep - merlin having to take mordred with him when hes working for arthur and gaius isnt available to look after mordred - arthur taking quite the liking to mordred - merlin and arthur coming up with the story that mordred is merlins little brother and their mum cant afford to look after him anymore so he came to camelot - morgana wanting to watch mordred and she would also play with mordred when merlins working - merlin teaching mordred by candlelight each night - mordred and merlin would 100% do midnight raids in the kitchens for snacks when working - merlin and mordred speaking telepathically to eachother about how much of a idiot arthur is - p r a n k s - mordred admitting that he wants to be a knight and arthur giving him personal combat lessons - soft arthur. just imagine it. - and literally all the knights just wanting to watch this random child - mordred protection squad?! - leon showing his dad side, watching mordred, making sure hes safe and help look after him when hes sick

[danwhobrowses]

God of War: Ragnarok - Review

No secrets on how I felt about it given the gif, and to tell you the truth I still have some Berserkers, Muspelheim trials and one very feisty Valkyrie Queen to deal with, but I've dealt with the main story and if I keep delaying it (having to wait over a month to get it because people were nagging me for birthday ideas) I'll end up not doing it, so here's a more in-depth review of the game

Spoilers for the game

So yeah, I really enjoyed the game, probably a little more than the first of the Norse saga, there's plenty it excels at but at the same time there are elements I found were not as good as the previous. We'll get the negatives out the way.

What I didn't like as much Perhaps my bigger gripe (which is an actual gripe) is the combat. The invincibility frames, and lack thereof, are frustrating especially against Elite and Boss fights, you can take a ton of damage when you're doing a Runic attack or you can hit an attack that should stun an enemy and then the enemy will no-sell it and land a stronger blow. With bosses I also didn't like that you couldn't tell between a dodgeable red attack and a red attack where you need to attack them to stagger them, so it can get annoying. Personally I also preferred when summoning the axe was a simple triangle, using the D-Pad does slow my rhythm.

In addition, the Amulet of Yggdrasil is a bit of a downgrade to the equipment slots, there are less customization options as well which makes it harder to get a decent armor build, in the end I stuck with the Survival gear because it had the best stats - which makes you wonder why do you bother with the other sets? I also felt sad that we lost out on some skills and runics, Ivaldi's Anvil thankfully stuck around but all the other Runic attacks I used before didn't transition to the sequel. It would've also been nice for the companion armor to have some stat modifications too.

While it was good to visit all the realms, the time you spend in each realm isn't so well spread out, Vanaheim is beautiful but I lost my senses with how long I was in there, Day/Night based missions with respawning flora catching me out, we spent so much time there and yet Jotunheim, Asgard, Niflheim and Helheim used very sparingly. This transitions into my least critical gripe that we could've spent more time in the main story; take the Atreus quests (or Loki Sennas as I sometimes call them), Ironwood was just one whole chunk and you only get 3 Asgard chapters, which does reduce our time spent with characters like Skjoldr, Thrúd, Thor, Sif, and Angrbroda, I also feel like we could've spent more time with Freyr's rebel squad a bit more, Birgyr's sacrifice may've been undercut by surviving but the act of his sacrifice would've landed much harder if we had spent more time with his character. On lighter sides, I do also wish we had some more creative special bosses, particularly Bitter Squirrel I wanted to smack that rodent around, fighting the Norns would've been interesting - and I do wish we could go back just to show them that we survived anyway - and got to visit more prophecy cabinets' secret rooms just to learn more of the world.

And finally, when we talk about characters, Thor. Now I loved what we did with Thor because he was in many ways a mirror of Kratos, who also found a sense of peace by bettering himself from his brutal, genocidal and bloody past, and while I understand that Odin killing Thor is a big moment, it also sucked that we robbed Thor of the chance to better himself by having him die the first moment of agency he has against his father. While it does represent the continuation of the cycle Kratos tried to avoid by killing Baldur in the previous game (Parent killing Child/Child killing Parent) I felt there could've been more stock in Thor getting the chance to be good, especially with a potential sequel, we could've also done more with Gryla.

What I really liked Of course we can choose 'everything else', because this game is a lot of fun with equal parts of frustrating - unsurprising that previous annoyers like Wulvers and Revenants come back just to join new annoyers like the Dreki and Bifrost users (like seriously that Bifrost Berserker...) - with stunning visuals and music to boot.

Its crown jewel is of course the character building; each character undergoes a compelling journey, most compelling is Thor with how his character is subverted from his stories into a sympathetic grieving character and Kratos' journey to try and find a way to live knowing that Atreus will soon seek his own path. We also got new characters such as college bro Freyr, Angrboda (who exposes Atreus' inability to flirt), rough and tough aspiring valkyrie Thrúd and 'face in the dictionary' bastard Heimdall who made strong impressions without overshadowing the current characters. Odin's role as chief villain as well is great because of how unlike God of War it is, his villainy isn't some hulking muscle sponge for Kratos to skewer like it's a washboard, he's cunning, sly and manipulative, having influenced Atreus throughout the whole story by posing as Tyr (I did wonder why he was caged in such an unguarded area), which leads us into the tragedy of losing Brok. The dwarves' 'chaperoning' did provide some good comedy, and as we built to Brok being without part of his soul we slowly didn't clock onto his death, which hurts even more given how he was both correct to suspect 'Tyr' and we had recently come back from a deep scene of him blessing the Draupnir Spear. Admittedly I didn't like the blipping out animation because it always feels like a bug, but Sindri's grief is a heartbreakingly tragic part of the story necessary to bring us to our lowest point, while the grief will linger with Sindri, I felt that Sindri being the one to 'kill' Odin was justified.

Initially, I wasn't sure I'd like the Draupnir Spear; as a ranged weapon I worried it wouldn't fit with the more hack n slash style, but I was greatly wrong in that department. The Spear is great, I use it a ton especially against the Drakes, Wights and Phantoms since it's good for stunning and longer range. The expansion of allowing Atreus to fight alone with his own unique skill tree is also a lot of fun, having his own variation of 'Spartan Rage' in shapeshifting, as is getting to have Freya as a companion to fight alongside too by being able to use her Valkyrie powers. Dialogue also remains fun and witty, expanding on elements of the speaking character, particularly Mimir and his past, but it was also surprising to see Kratos open up on his past a lot, not only to Atreus and Mimir but to Freya too (who engage in a lot of 'hate flirting' and just general flirting) even mentioning his wife and child and also Deimos - existing only in PSP side games.

While we spend A LOT of time in Vanaheim, all of the realms are good to explore, Jotunheim is particularly breathtaking and both Vanaheim and Svartalfheim has some fantastic scenery, Asgard itself is good to look at too, very Nordic in its aesthetic of longhouses and taverns, each realm feeling different for the other. And then the crescendo of Ragnarok did set up a big and dramatic ending.

The ending too is bittersweet, but it fully encapsulates the themes of God of War; choosing ones path in spite of prophecy, letting go and embracing the unknown - which Odin couldn't comprehend doing, and not responding to grief by sinking into old ways, it is a perfect end to the Norse saga while leaning but not fully copying aspects to how Ragnarok and other aspects of Norse myth - such as the origin of Loki's 'children' - went down (though I would not have minded Fenrir just popping up and swallowing Odin whole much like he does in Norse Ragnarok). And yet, then there is still a wealth of post-game still to achieve, which does benefit in extending the play time.

So yeah, everything else.

The Norse Saga ends, but what next? I know that Barlog has said that the Norse saga is over, and that they're eyeing Egyptian and Maya mythology, but part of me does feel like part of the Norse saga is still unfinished.

If it were me at least, I would look towards perhaps working on a multi-pronged assault. Odin is dead but that doesn't mean his religion is all gone; he was worshipped by Saxons and other Germanic faith too, which could invite British folklore to come to try and avenge Odin and perhaps even trigger the Wild Hunt - which Odin sometimes leads. We could also use Odin's oft-forgotten brothers Ville and Vé and refashion them into leaders of other pantheons in other lands, seeking to avenge their brother in the same way. While that is happening too we can have Sindri's descent, acting upon rage and the path of revenge since killing Odin didn't give him the satisfaction he had hoped, in that aspect Sindri could be Atreus' enemy but one Kratos can eventually talk down after he gets clarity over the damage he has caused - probably through association with another, for instance Vidyar, son of Odin and god of Vengeance, or by creating Tyrfing the cursed sword that kills whenever it was drawn to rival the Leviathan axe out of grief and anger, knowing that to get to Atreus he'd need to distract Kratos. Finally I feel like we should also consider bringing Athena back as a manipulator in the shadows, looking once more for a chance to drop the hammer on Kratos at his most vulnerable, she could also be associated with the mask, since they both bore an ethereal green light and she did find a way to avoid death in a higher plane of existence.

With that we could also get Atreus seeking other lands for more Jotnar who established themselves as other deities from other pantheons, while maybe also inheriting his mother's axe in the end while Kratos seeks to fulfill Faye's new vision for him by protecting the lands that home his allies and family, therefore bridging out to other pantheons that way without having to kill off or discard all of the Norse saga's groundwork.

Regardless, and I have cut a lot short just so it didn't get too long such as gushing about Fay, all the doggos, the Tortoise with a mini tree growing out of its back etc., Ragnarok leaves me fulfilled with my playing experience and yet equally eager and anticipating for more, so I hope to see what Santa Monica has for us next.

[hoshibait]

question in relation to blumiere/count bleck: how do you imagine he met the others? any specific headcanons or based off the game?

like many people, i imagine he met his team during his search for timpani.

i do love the theory that nastasia was saved as a bat stuck in a trap by blumiere. and later coming back to him and dedicating her devotion to him out of love and loyalty. reminds me of the first half of a japanese folktale i read back in middle school. crane's return of a favor i believe it’s called? i wouldn’t be surprised if that was intentional. except i guess it’s angsty for a different reason. that being unrequited love on nastasia’s end. also, weird parallel to blumi being saved by timpani and falling in love??? what is it with this game and someone almost fucking dying and falling in love with the person who saved them?

regardless, i believe he nursed her back to health and the two of them become close friends. hell i like the idea of blumiere considering nastasia a best friend.

as for o’chunks, i go along with the basic common agreed backstory that he used to be a general of an army from some faraway land. with one of his advisors sadly betraying him and thus causing the fall of his army to an enemy team. i do hc the fact that blumiere was a manipulate dickhead with o’chunks. i do find it disturbing that it’s implied that he preyed on his depression and helplessness to get him on the team. but hey honestly, it makes it more interesting, adds onto blumiere’ s character, and weirdly fits for him in my hc for him. you gotta remember all of bleck’s team is just a squad of mentally ill bozos relying on each other.

i sort of combine mimi’s theories altogether to make one backstory. i do remember someone proposing something interesting. isn’t it strange how francis built a “pixl” identical to tippi? that was basically a robot? she still has pixl qualities though. what if the witch mentioned in carson’s stories is related to francis in some way? i do believe the witch could’ve been experimenting making some sort of rogue pixl related to shape-shifting abilities. what about the robot part i mentioned though? maybe the witch was also into robotics??? look i’m trying my best here man.

regardless, i think mimi’s true origins is hard to fully decipher. i can imagine that even she doesn’t fully know or likes to talk about it due to horrible identity issues and lost sense of self. i’d like to think she ran away from her origin place, wherever that may be, with a dazed and disoriented mind. blumiere just happened to find her in a guarded off forest somewhere, and it just kind of took off from there. i wouldn’t say he preyed on her psychologically like he did with o’chunks, considering mimi just wanted a place to stay and have some sense of belonging somewhere.

oh, dimentio, i gotta actually talk about him on this blog now.

yeah this little shit just kinda came across the gang one day. i can imagine blumiere being like “erm okay what a creep” until he read in the dark prognosticus that there was a figure like him involved in the prophecy, so only until then was he let in. i like to imagine at some point dimentio put them in dimension D to show them what he could do, which just intrigued blumiere even more. (because seriously what exactly is dimension D and why does it deez /slap)

as for his origins, hoo boy.

so carson mentions how the magician that created the pixls had a family, right? and how he had a family and all? and they all succumbed to some sort of fate. except the son? i know it’s mildly implied that dimentio can be this mysterious character, or at the very least related to the magician SOMEHOW. i do find the obscurity of dimentio’s origins fun though. although i do agree that dimentio is somehow related to the pixls and the magician like many people do.

and we already know about mr.l in game, so i won’t talk about him

thanks for the ask! this was really fun to talk about!

[forgettingpetal]

Hiiii! i don't have an roleplay blog. I have been thinking about it though. I just wanted to say I have been reading your stuff, not just on Whisper, but Celios, Silver, Uno and Eclipse! I think it so freakin cool how you find a way to connect all of their lore together! Even with fancomic characters!! SO CREATIVE!!!!

My heart bleeds for Whisper especially. Since she is kinda already on that Infinite's hit list. Now she finds out her mom gave her as an offering to some INSANE GOD????

Poor girl. OH my god. If it's okay, I had some questions about that!

Did her mom know that Heephis is Corrupted?

What prompted her to give Whisper as an offering?

Did her mom ever love her? Or was she just an offering?

Did her sister know? What about her dad?

If Trois was the eldest, why did their mom chose Whisper and not Trois? Is it bacause Whisper is half wolf, half jackal?

Does Whisper have any close friends that will help her? Or is she on her own?

Finally, who are those ADORABLE kids that she's always with? The jackal, the porcupine and i thinkkkk the last one is a bat? THEY ARE ADORBS.

I am so sorry if this is too much. You don't have to answer any of this. I just wanted you to know I ADORE YOUR CREATIVITY!

-Alessia!

jiergjdfjndfkjdfjdfnjdfjkdf

Firstly, let me just say. This made my day. Words can not express how much this whole message means to me! Seriously. I work hard on the lore for all my muses. Especially my mains which are Celios, Eclipse, Silver and Whisper! (Uno is asleep right now. But he's coming back soon ish.)

To get so much love for them, makes me so happy. I would not be in the spot I am today, were it not for taking this step and writing/rping here. I first started writing back in 2018 (Tumblr wise. My teen years I was writing on G+ and other sites)! So to know my writing is reaching people even outside the rpc, means so damn much.

Out of my muses, Silver and Whisper are the only ones that are widely known. I typically take the characters that are forgotten or are backgrounds and give them a voice and story! Eclipse lays in the tombs of Archie, I am afraid. (Thanks, Penders). And Uno was just a random jackal that was apart of Infinite's squad.

I wrote Eclipse before Uno. But I had taken a break and thanks to drama, I was unsure if I would return. It was making Uno and joining a server that @sxnicthehedgehxg i had posted about, that made me write more.

And I have met so many friends that I consider family. In fact, it was through Uno and lore writing that I met my soulmate: @sourentropy ! Who writes the Infinite and Mephiles that you often see! (And the soon to be Heephis).

It was @somewhereinchaos that awoken my desire to write Eclipse again! Seiko is a gem! As for TMOM, it was @godofev that woke my love for that comic back up and encouraged me to try Celios! Wouldn't trade them for the world now.

-----------

Now for your questions! I will write a lore post today with more details, so keep an eye out!

Yes, sadly. Her mother knew he was probs Corrupted due to being a head priestess of his temple.

I mentioned before that Whisper's parents had died. Whisper's mother beforehand was apart of a village that was slowly dying off. She went to the temple and asked for help. And offered Lotus (Whisper) as a payment.

Hmm. She did love Whisper as her daughter, yes. And there were times it showed. However, the need to protect the village was deemed more important in her mind. (Mother of the Year: NOT).

Trois did not know. Thier father only knew cause he overheard. And got angry. But they were interrupted.

Yes and no! Being a hybrid of two completely different canines had a hand in it, yes. But there was also a prophecy of Lotus' birth and how she was the ideal servant for Heephis. (will go into detail about that in a drabble).

She has plenty! Celios is very determined to save her. And I have no doubt that Sky, and Wren will do anything they can! Along with Voidstar! @galaxofmuses @the-elemental-remnants

That trio of playful and goofy kids you see are: Xavier, Max and Pogo! They are a trio of orphans Whisper met and took in! Her children! (see more about them over at @mobiankaiju ! Break and I came up with it).

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

tysm for this again! <3

[heathfall]

HalfClan, Moons 13-18

Moon 13: A loner meets a patrol at the edge of the border, asking to join HalfClan. He's accepted and takes on the name Kelloggslight

Kelloggslight! He's a rather handsome former loner, for a man named after cereal. He's 102 moons. Cold and a good teacher. What a lad.

Mousedapple and Frogears both die from eating tainted prey. The Clan decides no cat is fit to be deputy in Mousedapple's stead. (I'm really sad about this. I was looking forward to Frogears x Marigoldfrost).

(I guess no one told Mousedapple that he died.)

Moon 14: No one is fit to be deputy. The Clan is really falling into turmoil without Mousedapple and Frogears. Everyone is spreading rumors about each other (there's literally only one positive relationship event this moon out of the nine, and it's Marigoldfrost telling a story to Cricketstar)

Patrol time! I'm sending out the Orange Squad (Cricketstar, Jasperstream, Marigoldfrost, and Kelloggslight). They come across a strong dog. Cricketstar, the strict leader that she is, demands that they attack it. Marigoldfrost, fierce as she is, agrees. They work as a team, pushing the creature away from the territory with no injury.

Moon 15: No one is fit to be deputy. Cricketstar loses a life to a QuietClan warrior (down to four). The Clan gets along better this moon.

Moon 16: No one is fit to be deputy. Brackentail is beginning to fight with Cricketstar over what she considers right. The Clan is fighting again (out of ten interactions, only one is positive, and it's the old ladies sharing prey with each other).

Patrol time! Sending out Brackentail, Jasperstream, Turtlerun, and Kelloggslight. Kelloggslight has had a StarClan dream, and talks to Brackentail over what it could mean for the Clan. Brackentail and Kelloggslight discuss this in detail and work to divine its meaning.

Moon 17: No cat is fit to be deputy. Alderfur earns a scar fighting a dog on Cricketstar's orders. Alderfur is 141 moons old (pushing 12 years old). She's been an elder since moon one.

(once again, I can't see her scar. she's just a silly old lady.)

Marigoldfrost has caught wind of Kelloggslight's vision, and now believes that she is part of the new prophecy: Snowfall will cover the struggles of the past and allow the Clan to become whole.

(Not super relevant, but I think it's kinda fun that she was recently chastised by the deputy. There is no deputy, but he WAS her mentor prior to his death.)

Moon 18: No cat is fit to be deputy. Cricketstar and Marigoldfrost interact again. Cricketstar grows frustrated with Marigoldfrost, now two years old, not taking warrior duties seriously. Nectarfoot and Jasperstream help Marigoldfrost work some difficult issues.

Patrol time! Sending out Marigoldfrost, Jasperstream, Kelloggslight, and Turtlerun. They go hunting and find success hiding their scent in a smelly bush. Sounds nasty, but if it works, it works.

Scene (Moon 16):

Nectarfoot laid in the late greenleaf sun, letting the warmth spread through her aching joints. The camp was quiet, and she allowed herself to feel an uneasy peace.

A nearby rustle caused her to open her eyes. Alderfur was returning, a squirrel hanging in her jaws.

"That looks good," she said. "Did you catch it yourself?"

"I did."

"I'm surprised you could run fast enough to catch a squirrel. I thought your shoulders would crumble into dust." Alderfur hmphed.

"I guess you don't want any, then." Nectarfoot twitched an ear.

"I didn't say that." Alderfur shuffled the squirrel closer.

"Well, take some," she said. "But move over and let me into the sun first." Nectarfoot obliged. They ate in silence for a while, making quick work of the squirrel.

"Why did you share?" Nectarfoot asked, when she had finished.

"I haven't always been nice to you," Alderfur said. "But with the way things are going in this Clan, I think we need to stick together. I'm too old to keep running."

[soleminisanction]

You have pitches for a Cassie Sandsmark story? Would you like to share?

A couple, some more refined than others. My favorite is a little out-there and goofy but I think it'd be fun:

Starts off with Cassie and some of her fem friends (Cissie for sure, maybe Anita, Rose, M'gann, Yara if she's got a status quo that would allow it, etc.) running a day camp for the children of a women's shelter run by Amazons and funded by Themsycira but located somewhere like Washington D.C. or Metropolis. They're having fun, running the kids through some games and field sports based on superhero stuff and Amazon training, when suddenly, oh no! Supernatural monster attack! Girl squad forms up and kicks ass, getting all the kids to safety... save for one.

Too late, Cassie realizes that one of the monsters, an amphisbaena (two-headed snake), has broken through their ranks and is going straight for a lone toddler who has managed to wander away from the rest of the group. Cassie leaps to defend the child, but in her heart knows that she's too late, bracing herself for tragedy as the serpent strikes...

...only for said toddler to suddenly seize the snake around both its necks and immediately bash it to death with super-strength Hercules-style, giggling and laughing the entire time.

Subsequent investigation reveals that this little girl is the daughter of a woman who turned up at the shelter a few years ago, pregnant and in a state of severe traumatic shock, and who has been there in a state of heavy catatonia ever since. Moreover, it likewise quickly becomes clear that the mythological monsters were coming after this specific child, and they're not going to stop until whoever wants the kid dead is found and stopped.

Thus it falls to Cassie to become the child's babysitter, protector and surrogate big sister while she travels the country unraveling the mystery of who is...Wonder Tot?

---

There's also the one that'd be a spin on The New Titans where Cassie becomes the subject of a prophecy involving the Greek mythological succession cycle and has to bring together a team of literal "new Titans" to challenge the gods of Olympus. It'd be made up of a mix of new characters who're all demigods like her, and established friends of hers like Kon, Tim and Bart, each of whom has caught the attention/favor of one of the old Titans or one of the other non- or pre-Olympian Greek gods. That one's a little more vague and ambitious though.

[its-chelisey-stuff]

okay, first two eps of Cheer Up (a drama with an identity crisis I’m loving... for now lol)

I gotta say, I actually really really like it. while the first ep was a little bit messy and couldn’t get a good read on most characters besides the main girl Do HaeYi (who reminds me a bit of Danoh from Extraordinary You if she were not a manhwa character and a bit older) the second ep was better at setting the story up and establishing the male lead (and other male characters) a bit better

but what’s up with this murder mystery and creepy factor thing? I was prepared for it but it’s still bizarre. It takes a litte bit away from the story. One second I’m watching this cute coming of age story with this bright and hardworking girl at the center of it, and a bunch of college students doing things they want to and a cute romance slowly developing in the bg and the next second is all MURDER!! someone wil die blah blah the three prophecies!! TRAUMA! the curse of the cheering squad! BLOOD!!! 

like??????

[lannisterdaddyissues]

Hello my lovely 🥰

So, game of thrones icemav au...? 😌👀

HELLO I APOLOGIZE FOR TAKING 84 YEARS TO ANSWER THIS ASK, I HAVE ISSUES 🧎‍♀️

anyway YES i have an idea for an icemav game of thrones au!! i actually am a little obsessed with it i won’t lie. got is such a fun universe to headcanon for because every family has their own thing and i love sorting people like harry potter and the sorting hat LOL (which at risk of getting sniped i’m sure we’ve all thought of an icemav harry potter au too haven’t we)

but. icemav game of thrones au. so what i have so far is that mav is the supposed(?) bastard son of duke mitchell, the disgraced ex-lord of winterfell who was beheaded for slaying the king several decades ago. what no one knows is that duke mitchell actually saved the king’s life but well justice isn’t really everybody’s strong suit in game of thrones so he gets executed for it instead because they all think he killed the king 😐 only viper, jester(?), the hand of the king (whoever that is. stinger maybe lol) and the small council happen to know this. viper is currently the lord commander of the kingsguard

so mav gets saddled with this shit reputation of being kin to a kingslayer (which idk maybe he’d be stripped of his titles and name and forced to live as a bastard for that) and he aspires to become a knight to clear his father’s name. i haven’t yet decided exactly what the thrones equivalent of topgun would be because the highest order of knights are the kingsguard… and there can only be seven of them and they all serve for life so that’s out. but so far what im going with is that the last king literally just died or idk maybe a kingsguard or two died because there’s a war going on, so now a tournament is being held to decide who will be the new kingsguard. because fuck it i make my own rules to make this universe work

enter everyone else from top gun who are all knights and want to become the kingsguard. they all clash and stuff, ice and mav Do Not Like Each Other, goose ends up dying for some reason or other (maybe the current political instability leaves the throne open for attack and he dies in the fallout) and mav is Guilty about it. everyone probably blames him for it too so his reputation is now Even Worse.

still, he ends up being accepted into the kingsguard along with ice and he serves faithfully for many years until The Paper Pulling Incident with bradley. haven’t yet decided how this would translate but because of this, maverick gets kicked out of the kingsguard and stripped of his knighthood for acting dishonorably. he then goes to serve in the night’s watch at the wall and ends up becoming the lord commander there until the events of top gun: maverick.

by the time tgm happens ice has been elected to king (i guess??? because kings can be elected, and Everyone Loves Iceman) and ice finds out about the night king or idk whatever the main conflict of the story would be in this au, so he publicly pardons mav and orders him back to king’s landing to serve as his lord commander. maverick ends up training an entirely new squadron of elite knights (the dagger squad) to combat The Main Conflict (including bradley who was knighted anyway).

and uh. here’s where it gets sad. i think most of tgm would translate over well for the most part, but the part that’s really making my brain rot is like. u know. the azor ahai prophecy. that says he was reincarnated or whatever. yeah im thinking ice ends up contracting greyscale at some point and he’s slowly dying of it (rip to a real one) and like then the night king and everything happens and. i’m thinking about mav having to kill ice to create lightbringer (he’s already dying anyway) and ice’s soul like blessing his sword and becoming a part of it and I’M NOT OKAY ALRIGHT THE GAME OF THRONES AU IS SO GOOD ACTUALLY

[berryblu-soda]

If lloyd was my OC I'd let him into the heterochromia squad therapy room 100%, I don't care if canonically his eyes are solid green, he belongs in there lmaoo

For context, the heterochromia kids are ocs in different parts of my story that are incredibly powerful, but high energy levels usually mean they're in for one heck of a bad time, they tend to be hunted down the most by creatures, subject to prophecies, possessed, and being seen more as tools than people by 'allies' and enemies alike, etc etc... he'll fit right in adsgadfs

[asteralien]

thinking about my prophecy squad tma au ficlets and short story and how they’re some of my favorite things i’ve ever written and how shitty it is that no one will ever read them and they’ll just sit and rot in my google docs forever