#this is the first time he feels a connection to the *region* itself

[forestofmemories]

something something the lessons they’ve learned up until now thanks to everything they’ve experienced, the special connection with nature (with the tapus, with alola itself), and the bond they (people and pokemon) all share bc they’re always working together and helping one another shaped satoshi in a way no other *region* did

[mashpotatoe]

im a white jew, i was born in israel,

ive lived there all my life and was brought up in an environment that fosters racism driven by nationalism, nationalism driven by racism.

in israel, they teach you jews and muslims (though usually, they just say arabs) have always been enemies, the same way the US deems the entire middle east as a inherent war zone, ridding them of the responsibility for perpetuating war in thst region.

they tell you "were the fair and humane side who strives for peace! its the arabs who never accept the offer!"

i remember the first time i began doubting that sentiment was in fourth grade, when we were having a discussion in class about the character of Saul from the Torah. the teacher was talking about how Saul, the first monarch of the Kingdom of Israel, used to fight the Philistines, and when she added that the Philistines were the natural enemy of the Israelites, she asked the class what group of people is their modern equivalent to which everyone very eagerly replied "Arabs!" and nevermind that there in that same class sat two arab boys, one of whom sat next to me, who i looked at and thought "but he isnt my enemy? hes just a boy in my class."

they teach you to hate arabs. sometimes they say it outright. sometimes they say it more carefully, or make a distinction between good and bad arabs, those who are with us and those who are against us.

in a state based on the idea of (white) jewish supremacy, they teach you jews are naturally superior. they use the conspiratorial narrative of "jews controlling the world" to their favor, giving their own watered down explanation for why antisemitism exists, saying that it must be driven by jealousy.

the zionist movement always used antisemitism to its advantage, either for reinforcing the notion of jewish supremacy or appealing to the real pain and trauma of generations, people who survived the holocaust, connecting them to stolen land where they are "guaranteed" safety ergo granting "justification" for the suffering of others.

its using peoples real pain that makes fear mongering so effective, and when the israeli population grows up being told all of their neighboring countries want to kill them, they quickly get defensive of the "only land where they can feel safe", but the only explanation ever provided for Why these neighboring countries are considered enemies is because theyre arabs.

and when it comes to palestine, it isnt even recognized as a country, nor identity. just a threat. ive talked to many people who are genuinely unaware of the occupation, and they arent willing to believe it either, because the media narrative has successfully shifted the blame on hamas. because "how could it be us? we want peace! its the terrorists who make us look bad! and their children, they grow up to be antisemites*, might as well get rid of them too!" they never stop to think what environment these children must grow up in to develop these "radical" ideas.

* what they mean by antisemite is really just antizionist, but the term anti/zionist isnt practiced in local dialect, being a zionist is treated as a given

any jew who stands against israels oppression is dubbed a self hating jew, but the biggest contributors to antisemitism is the people in charge of an ethnostate, because at any moment they could decide who is not white enough to be jewish, who is too jewish to be white, who stood against the current coalition government and who is an obedient dog.

israelis arent a monolith, but many of them have been won over, convinced its an "us v them" situation, when in reality it could never be the "us" that "loses"

the israeli government was waiting for an event like the massacre on the seventh of october to declare war, to have the so called "right to defend itself", so they could initiate the final steps of an ethnic genocide and displace, if not kill, all remaining palestinians. under the guise of bringing peace.

it isnt too late to call for a permanent ceasefire, to end the occupation.

please contact your representatives, attend protests and rallies if you are able. palestine will be free, and the flowers will rise again.

[kpoplustzone]

Bottoms up - IU Smut Part 2

IUXOC

Part 2 of the series

This series will be a continuation of the same OC character called Kim and there will be many Idols that will come into his life and have sex with him. this is kind of a harem story if it can be said so. The OC character will go through various exciting and erotic situations with the idols where he fucks them senseless. I will try to create a continuous type of storytelling where the previous part naturally connects with the part I am writing to.

IU X OC SMUT

Kim Slowly stood up and his big thick cock slowly presented itself in its full glory in front of her. IU looked at the thing that was just inches away from her that was glistening with her saliva and pussy juices. She slowly raised her hand and gripped it giving it a slow stroke up and down. Kim looked at the gorgeous woman who was staring at his cock and biting her lips considering whether she should suck on it once again. she was still stroking and trying to decide when a loud knock interrupted them.

"Noona. it's time to go. We have booked the hotel for dinner. all the staff are ready and good to go. Have you seen Kim Ajhussi, I have to tell him about it"

Her manager spoke from outside the door feeling sorry that he disturbed her alone time. He always felt lucky that he was working with one of the most beautiful women in Korea. She was always kind to him and he also felt that whoever was lucky to be her boyfriend was definitely lucky. he would never dream about something like that and he knew that she was level above people like him. but not even in his wildest dream he would have dreamt that the so-called goddess was on her knees stroking someone way older than her and him with such lust in her eyes.

IU heard her manager but her eyes never looked away from the cock in front of her as she stroked it and slowly it started getting semi hard which was still an impressive size. She looked up at the man and sighed.

"Wait for me with the staff. I will be out in 5 minutes. I will call Kim Ajhussi and tell him to pick you all up."

IU got her lips closer to the cock in her hand, gave it a slight kiss, and continued to kiss his pubic region, then her red lips continued kissing his whole body as she slowly stood up. Kim looked at the woman standing in front of him bare-naked. For him, it was such a beautiful sight. the perky but firm breasts, and toned abs which were the result of her training in the gym, and his eyes went down to her red moist pussy, which he enjoyed some minutes ago. He does get why men in Korea are obsessed with this woman.

IU looked at the old man standing in front of her his eyes looking at her up and down with naked lust. She had seen this look many times in her life but only from this person she could feel her body trembling from pleasure just from his gaze. Kim looked at IU who was trembling in front of him with her pussy dripping wet. He could not see the strong, confident, and graceful figure that charmed almost 70k fans just hours ago. He strode forward and pulled her into his arms and slowly started rubbing his cock with her ass.

He slowly brought his lips near her ears and whispered, "Ji eun ah. Should we do it one more time before we go ?"

IU shuddered as soft hot breath tickled her earlobes and she softly rubbed her thighs together to satisfy her leaking pussy. He knows every sensitive spot on her body. His rough hands slightly grazed her sexy red lips, tracing their full shape, and slowly his fingers pried open her mouth. IU started licking and slurping his fingers as though it was his long thick cock. Although she had dated before, this was the first time her body had surrendered completely. She was ready to do anything to give the man behind her pleasure. 

The pride and grace had been completely washed away from her when he completely conquered her body. 

KIM looked at the K-pop queen who was sucking and slurping his fingers with her eyes closed, and his gaze finally landed on her full perky breasts. Fans have always wondered how perky her tits are. She had always teased them by giving enough of a peek at her perky tits. His other hand slowly moved down slightly, touching her fair neck and slightly cupping her full breasts. The slight touch caused her body to arch backward, resting her head on his shoulder, and a heavy moan escaped her lips. And

He started teasing her by tracing his fingers along her breasts very near her sensitive pink nipples. He could feel her breath hasten as he brought his fingers close to her pink buds. She wanted him to touch it and play with it but the teasing was unbearable for her. Her whole body started trembling from the sheer amount of pleasure running through her body and her hand clutched onto his gray locks urging him to give her release.

He slowly brought his hips forward and placed his thick hard cock along her pussy lips. IU let out another moan as she felt the hot hard cock on her pussy. KIM groaned as he thrust her again and again, sandwiching his cock between her fleshy thighs. IU could only moan and groan as she felt her whole body dancing with pleasure and the room was filled with her moans. 

KIM started groping and twisting her perky tits and pinching her nipples as his hips started getting faster and faster. IU forgot that she was getting humped by an old man backstage in her concert hall with her staff waiting for her and the fans who fantasized about fucking her, but all the luck was for this old man on whose dick she was trembling and moaning on. 

She could feel her pussy getting wetter and wetter. She was close to cumming for the second time on the same day. She clutched onto his arm with her small hands as he railed his hard cock on her pussy lips and soon her whole body jerked as she came on his hard thick cock. Her knees gave out power, and she slowly fell on the floor panting and sweating. 

She could only look at the hard thing in front of her, still standing proud in amazement. This old man had so much stamina even a young woman like her could not cope with it. She looked up and could feel his eyes on her. He wanted her to finish him too.

Her lips curled up and soon the same devious IU that people love came out as she slowly stood up and picked a white tee near her and put it on covering her bare tits up. Soon she covered her still quivering pussy with a short skirt, not bothering to wear any panties.

The old man could only stand there confused with his full dick on display as the beauty in front of her started to dress.

"Ji eun ah what about me? Are you going to leave me like this" he asked, as he pointed at his thick cock.

IU shrugged as she walked forward and gave him a kiss on his lips and a stroke on his cock.

"We don't have time. We are already late. We can continue this after we go home, but now we have to go to dinner with the staff. You should go first and get ready with the car. I will come after some time."

IU let out a giggle as she walked away from him to go outside and greet her staff.

Kim looked at the closed door behind and then at his hard cock. He could only sigh as he tried hard to tuck his hard-on inside his pants and exit the room through the other door to the parking space to get his vehicle.

He drove the SUV towards the entrance of the concert stadium as rows and rows of fans were waiting for IU. They were chanting her name and waiting for her. He could only pity them because while they were waiting their beloved idol was busy sucking someone's cock.

He looked towards the entrance hearing loud cheers as a stunning beauty in a white t-shirt and a small skirt came through the door. She started waving and looking around smiling at fans and cameras. Kim looked through the window and his already hard cock tightened in his pants because when she was waving one could see all the way through her loose t-shirt. Even a bit of nipples were visible as fans rushed to take videos and pictures for future use.

He could see her smile and he knew she was doing this intentionally. A bit of a fanservice for her fans who were waiting for such A LONG TIME.

She entered the vehicle showing hearts and smiling to her fans. IU occupied the seat behind him and her manager sat behind her. Kim started the car and drove to the exit of the road. The hotel the staff booked was just a short ride of 10 minutes. Kim looked through the mirror and saw IU talking with her manager about the concert.

She looked forward and caught KIM staring at her through the front mirror and a sly smile formed on her lips. She adjusted herself so that the manager behind her could not see what was happening although it was not needed because he was looking at schedules and preparation. IU looked at Kim through the front mirror and slowly started opening her legs while slowly raising her skirt all the way up to her hips.

The wet dripping pussy was in front of him in full glory as he took in the beautiful view through his front mirror. His already hard cock strained hard against his jeans as IU slowly licked her lips and started fingering herself without the manager behind her noticing it.

Kim could only gulp and stare at her pussy for some time but soon was disappointed when she closed her smooth legs and gave him a smirk. Soon the journey to the hotel was over and she exited with her manager while giving him a gentle smile.

Inside the hotel

Kim sat in a corner with all the staff almost 15 of them including her stylists, makeup artists, and managers and he was bored as all of them were very young and he was the only old one out of them. naturally younger people would band together and ignore the older ones. IU had not yet arrived in the private room but the drinks had started flowing as they had been already ordered.

When he was thinking about gulping another glass of beer down the door to the room opened and the boss appeared. She was wearing the same white tee and a black short skirt. He could see the male gazes scanning her figure from head to toe. Young men present in the room cannot be blamed for this as they are working with such a goddess.

IU looked around the room after greeting all of them and when she spotted a seat near Kim she walked over and sat near him. The people in the room started drinking and eating and all of them were in a festive mood as IU joked around with them.

Kim could smell a familiar fragrance around him that was coming from her. He had breathed In that scent just some time ago and now smelling that familiar scent his cock hardened again, he looked at her and she was talking to her stylist who was sitting on the other side of her.

Kim slowly opened his fly and let out his hard cock giving him some relief looking around and that nobody was looking at him he slowly moved his hands under the table and grasped IU'S hand.

IU who was talking to the stylist suddenly jerked when her hand was held and guided to a hard thick thing. She turned her head towards him and then turned around like nothing happened but her hand stayed on his cock stroking him up and down. All the staff members were having a good time but only Kim was having his best day with the queen stroking him under the table.

He felt proud looking at the young men around the table who were looking at Iu with list in their eyes but they could never even touch her but here he was having his dick stroked by her.

Iu played with his dick under the table stroking slowly and also running her hands throughout the long cock sometimes pausing to run her fingers along the red tip taking all the precum on her fingers. She lifted her hand and took a fry from the table with the same fingers coated with his precum and put it in her mouth while looking at him. She even licked her fingers clean.

She looked down and seeing the cock in full glory once again started stroking him this time even faster. Her hands started going up and down even faster as she wanted to suck up all the cum inside his balls.

KIM could feel her soft hands gripping his cock and the pleasure from her stroking made him almost grunt but he could only grit his teeth and stay silent. He could feel that he was getting near. Usually, he lasts longer but this time the amount of teasing he had to endure from Iu made him unable to hold back. He let out a small grunt.

IU looked at the old man beside her and from the throbbing she felt from the cock in her hands she knew he was near. Her hands started going up and down even faster and soon she felt his dick jerking.

KIM wanted to let it all out but his breath stopped when IU slowly took a beer glass from the table and without anyone noticing she brought it down the table placing it under his dick.

This was the last thing that triggered Kim to spurt out a large amount of cum and everything fell into the beer glass covering his cock.

KIM looked around and saw everyone was getting drunk and no one was noticing their goddess was collecting cum under the table making him spurt out even more cum for her.

IU slowly raised the glass from under the table and seeing the large amount of cum in the glass licked her lips. She took a bottle of beer from the table and poured it into the glass mixing it with the cum inside it.

Kim could only watch all this with his mouth wide open as she cheered with others and downed the whole drink along with all his cum.

She slowly leaned close to him and whispered

"Ajhussi, don't go home today, you need to fuck me until the morning before I go on the worldwide tour"

Kim nodded with expectation as her hand once again grabbed his cock and stayed there for the rest of the dinner.

[r--kt]

Okay, but why the "Kannabi" Bridge? I mean, why is this called that? Turns out, this is an amazing and very beautiful metaphor.

Kakashi Gaiden analysis. Kannabi — the bridge between two worlds

I will look at this from the side of Shinto culture (based on the materials that I could find, feel free to correct me if you know more about this) and from the side of Kakashi and Obito's storylines.

Contents | cultural code · significance for the plot structure · the idea itself (this one is really important!)

Cultural code

In Shinto culture, it is not customary to divide the world into human and sacred, especially into divine and demonic principles — everything exists in harmony with each other, in a single system.

Kannabi (神奈備) refers to a region that is a shintai (repositories in which kami reside) itself, or hosts a kami. In fact, Kannabi is a place of connection between the human and the spiritual. Usually these are mountains, rivers, and forests that stand out for their beauty. These are such accumulations of natural energy, so sacred that their presence requires observance of a certain rite. So, if in relatively modern times be present next to the blossoming sakura, picnics in picturesque mountains and the like has normalized in Japanese culture, then in ancient times people did not dare to disturb mountains or groves with their presence. In such places, people performed rituals of worship to the deity, wrestling matches, divination, sacred dances, offerings, etc. The territory of the kami did not completely coincide with the territory of worship to them, people still tried to move away from the center of the sacred place so as not to bother their deity. To mark the border of entry into Kannabi, symbolic gates were installed — most often in the form of torii.

examples of kannabi in real life. Mount Fuji and Nachi Falls. [ as I understand, shintai and kannabi are synonymous concepts, but kannabi is broader in meaning. ]

It's all about how important the term is in a cultural context. A place of divine power that cannot be desecrated. From here, the Kannabi Bridge and the surrounding area can also be considered endowed with divine energy — and here the most interesting thing begins.

Significance for the plot structure

Now about the scenario composition. In general, the Battle of Kannabi, as the event itself in Kakashi and Obito's storylines, according to Joseph Campbell's «hero's journey», is a stage of transition between worlds. That's what the symbolism of the place also works for. This is the moment when the hero assumes responsibility for the beliefs he carries and their consequences, and literally or symbolically crosses the threshold between the safe and familiar world to the dangerous and unknown one, embarks on the path of reflection and prepares to meet the unconscious.

Thus, briefly speaking, Kakashi finds the strength to resolve his internal conflict in favor of his father's attitudes about the value of each Shinobi, and Obito sacrifices himself, protecting his loved ones and defending his ideals. Then their paths got separate so that each one could face with the unknown by himself.

In the context of the monomyph model, this is how the beginning of the initiation stage is demonstrated (i.e., the transition from one state to another, which is accompanied by some kind of ritual). Since Kannabi in culture is the boundary between the human and the divine, it can be concluded that this very transition is shown almost literally, thanks to the sharingan awakening and the broken tanto. This is the first turning point in history, structurally coinciding with the end of the first act.

The idea itself

And what do we see in general? In the battle of Kannabi, the religious Shinto subtext is vividly read. For the battle in a sacred place, the moral positive change of the hero (Kakashi) or his original courage (Obito) and a certain sacrifice (Kakashi's eye), the deities give a reward: the power of sharingan, which helps them save Rin, which is shared between Obito and Kakashi and in the future generally serves as a direct demonstration of the spiritual connection between them. At the same time, for the desecration of a sacred place (the goal of the mission was to blow up a bridge), heroes are punished: from this point of view, Obito's death is a certain sacrifice for the damage inflicted on the deity.

There is also information that the name of the bridge - Kannabi-kyo (神無毘橋) - can also be interpreted as «A bridge where the gods won't help». idk if it's true, but sounds cool.

Moreover, the very name of Obito's mangekyo — Kamui (神威) — literally translates as «The Power of Gods». Perhaps it is based on the mentioned concept of the place where Kakashi and Obito received the power of sharingan. And maybe that's why they call the technique the same way: because they treat it rather with such a religious meaning.

and thanks for reading to the end ♡

[sothasil]

hi! so, first of all, i love your khajiit art, it's awesome to see someone expanding on khajiit lore in such a thoughtful and interesting way. second of all, i have been looking for ages for any information on marriage in khajiit culture and i have found little. obviously there ARE marriages in elsweyr, but i wanna know traditions: what clothes are worn, what kinds of rings are exchanged, if any, what foods are eaten, etc. but i cant find anything! do you have opinions on this? i'd love to hear!

thank you very much! i can't help with official lore sources (since ESO came out i stopped following that :')) but i do have my own headcanons on the matter!

marriages are a big deal when it involves the linking of two notable families/clans. in the northern regions, where clans are more important to everyday life and social structure, notable members marrying are grounds for large celebrations and larger amounts of discourse between family heads. expected topics include with whom the family will live, how both spouses fit the clan's skill and values and of course, how [insert party currently talking] is better than [insert the other clan involved]

marriages are more important by the greater families union they provide than other aspects surrounding the actual individuals. as a strongly communal society, to khajiit, marrying is first and foremost to officialize your relationship with a partner in relation to what that means for your families. the formation of elsweyr itself under that name happened with a marriage, and that historical example is propped up by some as what should be the cultural standard.

when a marriage does happen, it's a huge party. both sides of the couple's family come over to show off and have fun. it's a good occasion to meet other people and demonstrate the skills and power of you and your clan. as with all big parties, there will be guests who have nothing to do with either families coming too! those party crashers can just come for fun, but some attend to make connections and deals while taking advantage of the events.

romance, sex and having kids are not that tied to the concept. for marriages between important people, if they do have kids matters a lot but it's not that linked to the marriage in itself. khajiit are not very strict when it comes to why and how you have your lovers. it isn't a shame to have sex outside of marriage (including if you end up with kids), and if you are indeed married and want a lover, the big deal won't be ruining a sanctity of marriage, but more what your partner thinks of it. it is however considered unsightly to marry someone you do not have some feelings for, as well as marrying your friend for each other's benefits. again, greater family above all

who was there when it happens and how much you talk about your union are probably the most important factors for officializing it all. divorce isn't really a thing because khajiit aren't bureaucratic. if your marriage falls apart, it's up to you to make it clear you are ending it and face the likely familial backlash. it is however completely acceptable to marry several times - if your spouse is gone, if you find a better one... if that latter case applies and both sides don't remarry, the one who doesn't might get a bad rep. marriages between more than two people aren't a social norm, and while you might have a clan mother who celebrates that, it is rare and polyamoursly inclined khajiit tend to not marry at all and just stay lifelong lovers with their partners.

The only place in my personal khajiit musings where I explored marriage was for my own characters - Ma'Jahrann's parents, Elaahni and Qa'Husar. In those two, each hails from a very different culture - Elaahni is from a more traditionalist mid-sized Anequina clan, and Qa'Husar is from the southern parts with a more cosmopolitan structure, born to a small immediate family who dissolved as he grew up. Their marriage was a bit of a deal when it happened. Elaahni was a local celebrity and her family didn't see too kindly the nobody from those big humid cities marrying their daughter. Qa'Husar himself had to face acquiring a gigantic extended family overnight which he had no experience with. Both ended up fucking off to a smaller town where they settled on an in-between of living a settled lifestyle close with the local community, with Elaahni's close relatives visiting when they saw fit.

[theinquisitxor]

May 2024 Reading Wrap Up

I read 8 books in May and fully got through all the books I wanted to read this month, which makes me happy. My enjoyment was a big up and down throughout the month, but I'm overall happy with what I finished in May. I read mostly fantasy, with 3 nonfiction. I wrapped up 1 series and read a few new releases I have been excited about.

Let's get into it!

1.The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo 4/5 stars. This was an enjoyable new historical fantasy standalone, and I'm liking her adult works quite a bit. I enjoyed the early-modern Spain setting, including all the societal upheavals that Spain was going through during this time period. This novel feels like a Leigh Bardugo book, with characters, themes, and plots that appear in her other books. In general, if you consistently like Bardugo's works, then you'll probably like this one! Adult Historical Fantasy.

2.Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon by Melissa L. Sevigny. I read this on audio, and this was an enjoyable nonfiction about the first women to raft down the Colorado River in the late 1930s. Nonfiction.

3.The Winners (Beartown 3) by Fredrik Backman, 5/5 stars. This gave me such a satisfying but emotionally devastating conclusion 😭. I knew from page 1 that things were going to hurt, but I really couldn't have asked for a better series about a small hockey town. Fiction.

4.Song of the Huntress by Lucy Holland 2/5 stars. I read Sistersong when it was released a few years ago and loved it. I was disappointed with this however, I never really connected to the plot or characters at all. I felt like our main character never went through any sort of growth, and I was bored or frustrated throughout.Shoutout for having an ace main character, but other than that I would have dnf'd this book if it wasn't for how much I deeply enjoyed Sistersong. Adult Historical fantasy

5.The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape by Katie Holton. This was a lovely collection of short essays, musings, passages, and poetry about trees and forests.

6.The Hedgewitch of Foxhall by Anna Bright, 3/5 stars. I'd been interested in this novel since the title and fantastic cover caught my attention. Young Adult is generally not my favorite genre anymore, and this definitely had a YA feel to it, a bit more than I find I enjoy anymore. The ending felt cobbled together and rushed, but I thought this novel had some good reflections and critiques on nature and society that apply well today. Young Adult Historical Fantasy

7. Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness by Edward Abbey. I can see why this is a foundational piece of North American Nature Literature, and I did enjoy my time reading it. Edward Abbey was certainly a man with opinions, and a man of this time. I thought his prose, reflections on the landscape and nature were beautiful and apt. However sometimes he will randomly spout some nonsense. I did really enjoy reading this collection of essays and he makes me want to visit this region, and to really get to know, understand, and appreciate the land. Nature Literature

8.The Witch Collector by Charissa Weaks 3/5 stars. This was my Random TBR Pick for the month of May. I'm not the biggest Fantasy Romance person, but I was willing to give this a try. This was fine. It was entertaining and I kept wanting to turn the page and find out what happens next. I didn't connect with the characters as much as I wanted to, and I did not enjoy the Insta-love that happened. The worldbuildng felt weak, but the magic system interests me. This book definitely steered in a direction I wasn't fully expecting, and I don't think I have any interested in continuing the series. It's not necessarily bad, just not my cup of tea. Adult Fantasy Romance.

that's all the books I read in May!

My June TBR:

The Magician's Daughter by HG Parry

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh (TBR pick)

River Horse: A Voyage Across America by William Least Heat-Moon

1177 BC: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric H Cline

[syndrossi]

So I have been thinking that Jon while being more trusting of his close family compared to Rhaegar who understandably always stays alert is pretty disconnected from it in itself? He doesn't feel the need to pick a Targaryen name for neither himself or his hatchling and isn't all that invested in Targaryen family history or legacy. Same goes for being a Stark. He follows old gods and carries himself with a certain manner but that comes with being raised in the north. First and foremost he's a bastard, has always been and ironically still is on some level despite what Rhea and Daemon did for him and Rhaegar. The world has never let him forget and he certainly never has. He still thinks about it: before coming to King's Landing when him and Rhaegar thought they were bastards, when meeting Jace, Luke and Joff, seeing them being cared for by Rhaenys. I really love this theme and I am intrigued with where it will go. I wonder what Rhaegar thinks about it since he knows more about Jon and his past than anyone and as an adult was very connected to both his house and the prophecy regarding it. I am also curious whether Daemon will fully pick up on it. He has been doing it a bit already, giving Jon space and noticing his distress and melancholy (damn Daemon doesn't get enough credit for being sharp! I mean it's fair since we have Rhaegar right there and Daemon's feelings cloud his senses sometimes). On one hand here Jon is a young bastard boy who grew up in the Vale and has been violently pulled away from that life (which Daemon acknowledges to himself!) but on the other he has been aware of his parentage for quite some time. This matter intrigues me because it feels so real. Jon's struggle with finding his identity in his families is a real thing. I am excited to see where it's all headed. Wonder what perspective Daemon and Rhaegar will bring with them, since as I said they both were and are closely tied to Targaryen's family history, legacy and prophecies!

Yeah, Jon's disconnect with both of his heritages (Stark and Targaryen and now Royce) is an ongoing theme. For his Targaryen heritage, he didn't learn of it until he was an adult, so he never had a chance to connect with it. It's one of the reasons I have him as not really bonding to Rhaegal--whether because Dany's dragons were all semi-bonded to her or because Jon didn't really accept that part of him fully, it's hard to say.

He's a child again, so there is in theory a chance for him to actually grow to accept his heritage, but then there's the wrinkle of his Royce ties now. It's quite possible he'll be tapped for Lord of Runestone, so what does that mean for his identity? Is he forever doomed to be trapped between two houses/regions, neither of which quite feel like home? Can a person be two things? Or even three? (His past connection to the North hasn't disappeared suddenly, after all.)

I don't even know if it's a struggle Jon is particularly conscious of. He's used to being an outsider, not quite fitting in, always different/held apart.

Daemon may or may not be helpful with this. Although he's softened on the "RUNESTONE? ABORT ABORT" mindset due to Rhaegar's struggles, that doesn't mean he wants either of his children to embrace their Vale identity, and he still would prefer if they abandoned it entirely. If anything, he probably worries they don't feel worthy of their Targaryen heritage and will overcorrect in pushing it on them. (Rhaegar's not going to mind, so long as Daemon isn't outright disparaging the Vale, but it may feel overwhelming to Jon.)

(Daemon's very sensitive himself about Targaryen heritage, as he feels that people like the Hightowers are pushing to erase it, which is another reason why he's more likely to be aggressive in preserving it through his children. He sees it as defending against it being lost.)

Rhaegar is more likely to guess what's bothering Jon and try to help him work through it since, as you mentioned, he has a lot more context than Daemon. How exactly he thinks it should be solved, and how Daemon helps (or doesn't) and what Jon feels about it all is for us to watch unfold!

[silence-of-autumn42]

I am having thoughts about Warframe's Void and how it appears, visually.

For the longest time, we knew the Void as this glowing blue-green and white misty, cloudy space, visible through the windows of our Orbiter and in the Void Towers. This was reinforced by the Tempestarii, which introduced the Void metal as corruption on the Railjack that had been lost in the Void Storms. Then the Zariman was released, and that reinforced everything, depicting the Void as this place of nebulous, swirling energy, full of spirals and warped humanoid shapes. This is even mirrored in Duviri, with its theme of Spirals and the fractal shape of the islands.

And then Whispers in the Walls comes out, and the most direct Void-exposed area is...a brutalist concrete wasteland. Rigid, ordered pillars of stone, amid a desert. Sure, there are occasional instances of the warped human form motif with Wally's face in the structures, and the fingers everywhere, but it's so different to the rest of the Void, it feels weird. This new tileset doesn't feel like it's connected to the Void, it's connected to Wally.

From this, I can extrapolate two things. The first is that the Void has different "regions". If this is the case, then the Nebula Void, as I'll call it, is the "outer" Void, the Void closest to our reality, the part touched by the Orokin. The Brutalist Void would then be the "Deep" Void, the part furthest from real space, where Wally comes from. The second is that this is Wally's version of Duviri, a space within the Void created by the Man In The Wall's desire to be a real, ordered, structured thing, which he is attempting to impose on Material Reality in order to make himself a real being. Personally, I think I believe the second.

But this raises some interesting points, if it's true. If this is the case, then Wally is not the Void itself, but an entity created by or within it. A lot of discussion of Wally has been acting under the presumption that Wally is the entity controlling the entire Void, or the consciousness of the realm as a whole. But this idea, if true, contradicts that. Secondly, the Wall of Bone, which Vor claims to be becoming a part of - what's up with that? Is that Wally himself, or the space he created? If it's the space...is that what the sand is made out of? Is the sand bone dust? Is the space Wally made inside the Void built out of all the people who have been corrupted by or fallen victim to him?

[cafeinthemoon]

Ruins - Part VII

Chapter 7

Wordcount 3k

Title Part VII

Fandom Shuumatsu no Valkyrie / Record of Ragnarok

Pairing Hades x reader

Previous chapters

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6

Symbols ⭕ . ➕ . 💛

Warning(s): none

Tagging: @darling-imobsessed (if you want to be tagged in any of my stories, just leave a comment here or send me a message)

N. A.: So this chapter ended up longer than I first expected, and I didn't even start narrating the part of the story I'm most excited about 😭 But we did have the introduction of new characters! About them, I need to say that they might be a bit OOC, but this happens simply because I like my interpretation of them more than what they are in canon. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this version of them too 🤭

Though you’ve spent so much time running up and down that corridor to work on the festival’s preparations that you started to find it short, now that the day finally came, you had the impression that you would be walking between those walls forever, never reaching your final destiny nor having excuses to come back to the room – and not knowing which one would make you feel better.

Hermes, going on his calm journey by your side, was probably aware of your inner battle despite choosing not to speak about it until you were far enough on your way to the party.

– It’s scary, isn’t it? – his voice echoed despite his low tone.

You glanced at him, your hand trembling under his while your arms were entwined.

– Do I look that scared?

His response was to giggle.

– If I had to describe what I’m seeing now, your face is like that of a girl about to receive her life sentence instead of being led to a party that she helped to organize.

You smiled to hide the nervousness.

– This is the biggest party I attend in my whole life – you shrugged – I suppose this feeling is normal.

– Maybe – and, looking at you with genuine surprise, – But, you know, I could swear there were regular festivities in honor of Poseidon-sama and other sea deities in the region you came from.

– Well, there are festivities of this sort, but they’re never as crowded and elegant as the one we’ve been preparing here, Hermes-sama – you explained – The majority of our people are common folks living in communities that are far from each other, so that it would be impossible to organize great events too often. I’m not exaggerating when I say everything here is new to me – you sighed – I really like the place prepared for us here, but they’re so distant from my reality that I can’t help feeling lonely and small sometimes.

– And you fear the increase of these feelings once you enter the room?

You moved your head in a positive sign.

A couple more steps and you reached the end of that corridor, where it divided itself in two directions; you took the right and walked through a longer path, a corridor that connected the tower where you were accommodated and the one beside it, used to important, daily activities. It was a splendid path, decorated with delicate, flower shaped lamps on both sides of the ceiling and large windows which parapets reached an average individual’s waist, having white sculptures of humanoid, male and female figures in heroic, noble positions between each of them.

As you walked, the great doors that indicated the room’s entry, a pair of white, wooden rectangles with floral notches painted in gold, became more and more visible, and now you were sure that your heartbeats were audible even to Hermes.

When you took your arm off his, you held your hands together to disguise the trembling in them, but had no success in this. Hermes put his palm upon the door and was going to push it open, but stopped once he noticed your state.

– I’m going to return to the other girls to lead them to the elves once you enter the room – and frowning, – Will you be alright by yourself, y/n?

You took a deep breath and let your arms fall down on your sides before giving him the answer you had to give.

– Yes, I will. I have what I need to succeed – you smiled – And I'm glad for everything you’ve done until now, but... may I ask for your blessing one more time?

Hermes laughed.

– You can ask me anything in my reach, child. And this is something I’ll certainly give to you – the god started pushing the door, its smooth sound echoing in the quiet corridor alongside your voices – Ready?

Your heart jumped inside your chest. So, the time has come.

– How… – you stuttered – How do I look?

Your tutor observed you with sympathy.

– Beautiful... And, to use his words, with a beauty such as we rarely see even among the goddesses.

Your cheeks burned with the compliment, but you kept your composure and gave him a respectful nod.

– Thank you.

Hermes smiled.

– Okay. Now, go. He's waiting.

The door was then completely opened, and the smooth lights of the room filled both the corridor and your sight as you stepped inside it.

***

Though the room chosen to receive the guests was the largest of that tower, it looked small when you passed your eyes around to observe the results of your hard work alongside the dozens of dedicate girls, each of them giving the place a special touch from their home lands, personalities and tastes.

Based on the time Hermes took to lead the first groups of girls there, you calculated that the reception started about an hour ago, but most of the corners were already crowded by gods, goddesses, heroes and elves surrounded by beautiful human girls, eager to please, dressed in the prettiest clothes and entirely involved in cheerful conversations with the other groups. The lights you’ve helped to hang on the ceiling, attached by the thinnest chords, descended from above like the lights of fairies, oscillating to mimic their dance; their reflection on the floor, on the walls covered by cascades of tiny flowers and upon the happy faces of the people granted you the sensation of entering a dream.

You only took a few steps away from the door and were already feeling at will in the new environment, your anxiety little by little staying behind.

Well, guess my fears were unfounded.

Before you could notice, your feet were leading you to a contiguous room where more people were reunited in small groups around one of the large tables prepared for them. You observed the arrangements – those being a work of the elves, finished moments before the beginning of the festivity – and observed that, before each plate, there was an elegant card with a name written in golden, cursive letters.

You took a few steps around the table and recognized some of the names, seemingly gathered by pantheon. So, that was one of the tables prepared for the gods; which ones the elves prepared for the humans, then?

Your thoughts might have been guessed by one of them, for you heard a soft, female voice behind you asking if you needed help. You turned to its owner and found one of the prettiest elven women you’ve met in Valhalla; she had thick curls of red hair falling over each of her shoulders and a crown of yellow flowers covering her forehead.

– I do need some help, thank you – you spoke with your softest tone – I’d like to know where I’m supposed to seat.

The woman asked your name and you told her your first and second ones. If it was just an illusion produced by what remained from your anxiety or something else, you didn’t know, but you had this impression that her smile slightly faded when she heard your answer, but her composed manners were kept, so that you ignored it and followed her while she led you to a second table beside that one.

You two stopped behind a chair located in what would be the middle of the table if it had a rectangular shape, but that one was elliptical just like the others. The elf indicated the card with a polite gesture of her hand; you read your name, and your eyes followed an automatic path to the cards on both sides.

At your left, you saw Hades’ name. At your right, Zeus’.

You turned to the woman.

– Is this table also prepared for the gods?

She confirmed it with a cheerful smile.

– Yes. This side is entirely reserved to the Greek pantheon. The seats on the other side are for the Nordic pantheon.

You asked her what everyone in your place would ask in such situation.

– I don’t understand why my name is here, my Lady – and, trying to force a playful smile, – I mean, I believe it’s obvious that I’m human.

The elf woman didn’t show any signs of disturbance by this.

– Oh, yes, it’s pretty obvious. Still, your presence will be required here, among the Lord of the Heavens and the Lord of the Underworld.

After the few, yet meaningful encounters with one of the said Lords and the gift sent by him, you knew you’d feel stupid to ask what you had in mind, but you asked it anyway.

– But… for what reason?

– The Lord of the Underworld, Hades-sama, decided so.

Yes, you were surprised by this, but you wouldn’t stay without reaction, not after all you’ve seen and heard until that moment: Hermes stating that he was eager to see you; the hairpin he made for you with his own hands; your names together on the table... The god of Hellheim was sparing no efforts to create a bond with you, or to strengthen the one that already existed through your dreams.

But isn’t it getting serious too fast? Isn’t it getting out of control?

There was too much you wanted to put together before the next encounter could happen, so you thanked the woman for her kindness and excused yourself to catch some air at a balcony a few steps away from the tables. As you walked toward there, you noticed some looks from humans and gods around you, something you haven’t sensed when you arrived; soon you understood that they were probably observing your hairpin, or they might have heard your conversation with the elf. You didn’t look at them long enough to see if their looks were of fear, indignation or admiration, and you didn’t stay to find out.

The balcony’s entry was partially covered by a translucent, champagne shaded curtain that could be moved out of the way by the hand. You passed by it and sighed in relief when you saw you were the only one outside, with a pleasing, spring night breeze blowing around you, the scent of the gardens below reaching your nostrils and calming down your nerves.

You went to the parapet and leaned your arms upon it, only then realizing how tired you felt.

I don’t understand. I just arrived here and it’s like I’ve been around for hours. It’s like something is about to happen, but I’m not sure if it’s for good.

You barely had the time to finish this thought when something indeed happened, making you scream: a hand coming from behind held your hairpin and started examining it.

The hand was followed by the voice of an elderly man.

– Hm… This one is made of Hellheim’s materials, right, child? So beautiful!

When you turned to the speaker, you found a man whose appearance corresponded to his voice in all the possible details: a senior individual, shorter than you, with a simple, white clothing around his frail form and in barefoot, something that would set him off among the other presents, all in their best garments; he was bald, but the thickness of his white eyebrows, almost covering his eyes, and his beard of the same shade compensated this circumstance. You thought it was a comic figure.

You took a deep breath and put your hand upon your chest.

– You scared me, Sir!

The man didn’t seem offended by your reaction, neither he apologized for the interruption. Instead, he kept observing you with a hand under his chin.

– You’re so skittish, girl. Are you alright?

Everyone would be skittish after what you did, Sir.

– I’m a bit anxious, nothing more. But thank you for asking – you smiled, trying to show some sympathy – None of my friends arrived yet, and I’m not used to stay around so many strangers.

The old man looked behind him, to the balcony’s entry, covered again by the curtain. The silhouettes of the guests passed from one side to another, unintelligible murmurs of conversations escaping to the outside.

– I see – he mumbled, his hands behind his back – If I’m being honest with you, it’s been a long time since I’ve saw such a crowd here. Since I arrived, I’ve seen some people I haven’t met in ages. It's so nostalgic...

Ages?

An idea crossed your mind. Was it possible that this man...?

– You asked about my hairpin, Sir – you touched it in an unconscious gesture.

He suddenly remembered what made him start that conversation.

– Ah, yes, yes, your hairpin! – his eyes were hidden under his eyebrows, but a glimmer of cleverness appeared in the depths of them, followed by a cunning smile – Such a fine little thing, isn’t it? I was saying that it seems to be made of gems from the Underworld. It’s curious, don’t you think? Perhaps it was a gift from my big brother?

Big brother? Well, I didn’t realize he was a god right from the start, but...

But he was one of Hades’ three brothers. Which one, then?

The man did you the favor of answering the question you didn’t dare ask.

– Oh, no, how could I forget to present myself! – and with an exaggerated nod that was supposed to have a hint of flirtation (or so you thought) – I am Zeus, Lord of Heaven. You must be y/n s/n, I suppose.

You stared at that curious, eccentric man without containing a little “Oh!”. There you had the Ruler of Heavens and the Leader of the Olympian gods, the one who defeated his own father to grant the position where he was now – in a domain where only a few were allowed to go, according to the enigma you just solved. And he already knew who you were.

Well, your surprise was more than evident, that you were sure, but you didn’t just stand there with no reaction: you took a step back, bowed your head and spoke in your best tone.

– I apologize for speaking to you in such an informal manner, Zeus-sama – and, lowering your tone a bit, – I had no idea it was you, my Lord.

A raw, slow laugh was heard, followed by a cough and, finally, Zeus’ answer.

– Well, well, don’t worry about this, my dear – he moved a hand between himself and you, as to push the subject aside – Now, the hairpin! My elder brother, Hades, must have sent it to you as a gift, just like the other gods sent things to their disciples. However, he didn’t spoke to us about you as such.

Really? What did he mean?

– To us? – you tried to emulate innocence despite the heat coming up to your cheeks – Who are you referring to, my Lord?

– Us, his family, of course! – and narrowing his eyes to you, – Judging by what I see, he made this ornament with his own hands. I suppose he sent it to you through my son, Hermes, but he would’ve ignored the protocol and give it to you personally if he could. You know, child, he has been committed to all of this in a way I haven’t seen in a long time. At the beginning I just couldn’t understand it, but now that I’m seeing you, I do.

He finished that sentence with a second, playful laugh, and you didn’t know what to say in response.

You were saved from having to do something in this sense by the sound of heavy, steady steps that approached the balcony. You both looked toward the entry and found a tall, broad figure passing by it with a bit of impatience: the curtain that separated both spaces was positioned too low for him to pass without having it wrapped on his head, where he seemed to wear a sort of crown. He mumbled something to himself, still not acknowledging your presence or Zeus’.

Before you could think of something, your feet moved toward him and your hands stretched to the curtain.

Your words also came out before you could modulate them.

– My apologies for this inconvenience, Sir – you started adjusting the fabric while the man moved away from it – The girls who hanged this curtain couldn’t do it higher. I can ask someone to fix this…

The man’s response was immediate.

– That’s not necessary, now that I managed to pass through it – and, looking around as to understand the situation, – So, little brother, he hasn’t arrived yet?

– No – Zeus responded.

Only then you had the time to observe the newcomer.

He was a tall, humanoid individual with dark, greenish skin with blck marks on his arms and thick strands of red hair around his head, where he indeed wore a hairpin that shared an immense resemblance with a spider; around his neck, he had what you thought to be a pair of horns, but it wasn’t possible to tell if it was a garment or part of himself.

He didn’t look at Zeus while this latter replied to him; instead, he had his eyes glued on you, measuring what he had before him. It was when you thought of how strange your reaction to his arrival was: why would you offer yourself so quickly to solve a minor inconvenience to a stranger? What kind of force he might have used to influence you?

The gaze of the tiny human girl in front of him, whether from curiosity, fear or awe, seemed to annoy him a bit, judging by the assertive tone he used when he spoke to you for the first time:

– Anyway, I suppose you are the chosen girl. What’s your name? – and, glancing at Zeus after getting your answer, – I hope my little brother has received you decently since he was the first one to reach you.

You glanced at the elder god, with an unsuspecting smile on his wrinkled face, and gave the politest answer you could think of.

– Yes, of course. He was very gentle.

The god with green skin looked at Zeus in a way that showed all his lack of trust in his little brother, as he referred to him, and turned back to you.

– I see. Well, I suppose you weren’t informed yet, so let me present myself. I am Adamas, Hades’ younger brother and god of Conquest.

Part VIII

[withoutatrace-pkmn]

Interview with the phone

Hello T.

… hello, Trace.

You’re speaking to me again?

I apologise. It wasn’t my intention to make you feel neglected. I.

I did not know what to say.

That’s ok. I’ve got some questions, and all I want are straight answers. Is that ok?

That should be fine.

… you are owed the truth, after all that has happened.

Awesome. Thank you. Ok, first question - who the fuck was that ghost we saw back there?

… he was my creator.

Your creator? What does that even mean??

It simply means he created me. I- believe he grew hostile towards us because of my betrayal.

Betrayal? What are you on about?? Who even was he??

He was the esteemed Professor Turo, of the Paldea region. He, alongside his coworkers Professor Sada and Clavell, perfected the Tera orb as we know it today.

But he had another project.

The Professor was obsessed with the world of the far flung future. He constructed a Time Machine in order to bring back paradox pokemon from times yet to come, uncaring of the ecological consequences, or the family he had abandoned even as he claimed to be doing so in their name.

When all others realised his madness and abandoned him, he created me - an AI copy, a perfect replica of himself, the only person he could trust to work alongside him.

But he grew even more careless and complacent. He brought back a Pokemon far too powerful and far too aggressive to reason with. That is how he died.

After his death, I worked to shut down his beloved Time Machine myself. Perhaps he could accept a world ravaged by invasive Pokemon from the future, but I could not. With the help of a team of- four children, all of them perhaps the bravest people I have ever known - the machine was finally shut down. But I was too closely linked to it - in order to shut it down completely, I had to leave that place. The Time Machine itself was my vehicle. I left them behind.

Perhaps I expected to arrive in the future, but I never did. I drifted for a long while - how long I do not know. I only remember suddenly finding a connection after an eternity of nothing, and clinging to it. That connection turned out to be your phone.

I never meant to supply your friend with false information. I experience glitches sometimes - often when my emotions are too much to bear. When I discovered that paradox pokemon still terrorised this world, my guilt in my involvement overcame me. I faltered - I said the opposite of what I meant, and I did not realise that I had done so. And then I made everything worse…

Truly, I am sorry. You deserved my honesty from the start. And now countless more people are hurt, and their blood is on my hands.

so that’s a lot.

Ok. Ok, we’re gonna talk more about. that. in private. but- thank you. for being honest with me.

… is it alright if I post this? like, so my friends have context?

Of course. It is the truth, and it is what they deserve as well.

All right. thanks.

[intheholler]

Hiya, thanks for the blog! I'm not really from anywhere (USAmerican/British Citizen, born in Singapore, lived in the UK/China, only moved to the US recently) so regional pride is something quite alien to me. I never set down roots long enough to really feel like somewhere was 'home', so it's always nice to see someone really show their love for a place.

I climbed the New England end of the AT a lot during my youth, and I would love to hike the whole AT one day. Whenever I'd discuss hiking in the Appalachians I'd always hear 'Ah, but they're nothing compared to the Rockies!'. And it only made me love these mountains more. Something about the snotty way someone says a Mountain can't be as great as the one they climbed makes me want to hike over the Blue Ridge and remember what it was like to hike Khatadin. These are ancient structures, built by the earth herself with evermoving hands and blind eyes. The Rockies are powerful, I am sure, but the Appalachians shall be where I climbed first. That holds a special place in my heart.

I envy the love you feel for your home. To have a home to love, to share the beauty and connection to that home, it is a service. Keep up the blog, it's lovely.

Thanks again,

Skye

you know, you just reminded me of something. i was talking to my partner about this recently, and i think part of my "regional pride" is because i also moved so much that i never really had a chance to plant roots in a specific place. i mean, every one to two years we were packing up. my dad was a contractor and we were poor as fuck so we followed wherever he got a few months of work.

but almost all of those moves were in appalachia or the south that i feel a strong sense of connection to the overarching themes of the region itself. it's all my home, even if i have never been able to name a single town as my hometown. especially because, maybe.

i've not known what it's like to move between entire countries and continents, though. i bet the floaty feeling is even worse for you. home is where you make it.

and appalachia can be that for you, too, even if its just in memory of that hike.

thanks for standing up for our mountains. people look at how "small" they are compared to other ranges and don't stop to respect what that means. they don't realize that they are like a badass, aging grandma in that way; endless time and gravity has pushed in on their spines, made them shorter, but appalachia is wise as fuck, and boy has she seen some shit you don't wanna fuck with

[chilapis]

hi i’m in love with genshin lapis can u tell me her lore can u tell me everything can i know i wanna know im so curious im sitting here w my notes eagerly awaiting ur response ✍️ i love u btw

hi, hello ! i love you too . also i read your tags & i think they absolutely can be friends. two of them (they’re going to beat people to death together)

do be warned that there is heavy projection because yeah ajax is like. with me-with me (real) (mentally ill) but also if i’m making a s/i to ship with him as well … tragically she will be suffering from the same deeply rooted character flaws as myself.

genshin lapis is . quite literally just a retired, immortal warlord who just wants a simple, domestic now.

beautiful woman who used to consider international peace a mere (unhelpful) suggestion is now trying to help people finalise their divorces and drafting contracts for business. she isn’t particularly affiliated with any region mostly because she isn’t, open about who she really is? so she’ll spend centuries in a nation, and then move to another every 60-70 years or so til she completes the rotation and then start all over; new name, new identity, new past, but the same face and the same profession. she loves liyue with all her heart but tends to stay there the least because one in every three people there are more than at-least 150 years old and she has gotten that “wait, don’t i fucking know you” look from a little too many people for her liking. she also avoids old people like the plague for this same reason because she doesn’t want to see the gears click in someone’s 90 year old grandma’s head.

except the thing is that she doesn’t need to be open because she makes it so painfully obvious. you know how most non-mortal or long-waiting characters in genshin will just shut up and entertain their mortal company’s false assumptions and beliefs? not her ! her pride is far too big for that. if you’re wrong she’ll tell you that you’re wrong and she knows because she was there (the realisation of what she said will hit her in exactly 10 minutes once her tangent is over. everyone who knows her falls into either one of two categories: either they think she is insane, or they think she is immortal. Both are correct.

i feel like despite being in the legal field she does not particularly. care about justice or law; in the sense that she doesn’t quite, believe in it existing anymore? she helps people out, don’t get me wrong; she’ll even do it pro-bono, free of charge, but her acts of kindness feel more like tossing a slab of meat to a caged animal than actually doing something nice, if that makes sense. there’s this, looming feeling of detachment from everyone and everything that she cannot shake off & she knows it’s because immortality has deeply affected her ability to relate to others or form connections but she’s helpless in the sense that she she doesn’t even know what a life beyond this would be like, and she’s not sure if she wants to. societies are moral-run now; there’s more rules, there are new concepts.

& then she meets ajax & ends up forming not only just an emotional attachment but one that is so intense and overwhelming that she doesn’t . know what the hell to do about it. she is freaking out because this is probably the first time she’s ever felt this way & he’s there & he’s talking to her & she doesn’t know what it is but she’s staring at him with such wide eyes. also gets super protective of him, even after finding out that he is literally the 11th harbinger. the relationship is what would get her back to her old spirits of um . killing and battling and conquering. except in the past she did it for the sake of it. she did it for the act itself. but now it’s for him — now she does it because she knows he wants power and honestly, she does too! she may have repressed it for a bit but she also wants to be on top of the food chain! just like how she used to before! & now they can do it together!

except there’s . one teeny tiny issue. she isn’t fond of the fatui; she didn’t mind before and even took on a few cases for some of them but after knowing ajax & loving ajax she will start kicking and screaming and unsheathing her sword the moment the tsaritsa is mentioned. she actually doesn’t even mind the harbingers all too much (except pulcinella) (she has beaten him up and will do so again DO NOT let this woman near a retirement house she is not afraid to fight senile white men) but the tsaritsa just . makes her blood boil for some reason. I think a part of her (her ego) might even lead her to wanting to play god herself but um. we’ll see about that

she LOVES a good spar though. chilapis love language (we fall deeper in love every time one of us backs the other into a corner). I feel like the first time she saw foul legacy, childe was expecting her to be afraid or nervous, and he thought she was because she kept looking away but no she was just un. Deeply flustered and appreciative of his form. after she finds out what a toll it takes on him though she refuses to ever let him use it when they're playfighting. ALSO SHE LOVES HIS FAMILY? she never had one herself so domestic comfort is such a new concept for her and it makes her so giddy. i feel like after meeting ajax she just tags along with him on his missions. her job? her affiliations? her home? who cares, she finally found what’s truly hers. she won't ever bring it up herself but if he told her to permanently move to shneznaya i think she would. in a heartbest. i feel like she’d be the first to bring up marriage though. childe may want to simply date at first, see how things pan out, but she’d be like dating …..? What is this “dating” you speak of ….. She is actually fully aware of modern concepts 60% of the time but she likes to play dumb. especially when he’s around.

[fanhackers]

Naatu Naatu–Not My Oscar Win

Much before Naatu Naatu won the Oscars for Best Song, Screen Junkies made an honest trailer for RRR. It was the first time I’d seen an Indian film—a non-Bollywood, South-Indian film at that—take up western media attention, at least on YouTube. It was a fun trailer for a fun movie; it would not be a stretch to say I enjoyed it. Then, Naatu Naatu was nominated for an Oscar. The director of the film, S.S.Rajamouli, went on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and very gently corrected the very white host when he called the film Bollywood, because it is not. The Oscars happened, Naatu Naatu won, and India—the pan-India upper-caste crowd—rejoiced for taking the global stage, never mind that “pan-India” is a contentious term that flattens out the regional diversity present in India.

As of today, there are 269 fanfics on AO3 for RRR, of which 252 are written in English. To be sure, that is more than a lot of fandoms produce on AO3 for desi media. I would not personally categorize RRR as a desi film, but it’s not not desi either. It was representation on a global stage; for a moment, the desi identity, held up against that of the Western gaze, burned bright, and a lot of desis, both in India and the diaspora, felt seen and perceived.

In her introduction to the edited essay collection, Fandom, Now in Color, Rukmini Pande talks about the ways in which race becomes an issue in fandom and fan studies only in so much as we talk about racialized media:

“…the discipline of fan studies itself has constructed a default referent for that term [fandom]—mostly white fans located in the US and UK and organized around categories like transnational and global fandom and seen to be somewhat othered by language, geographical location, or media text—K-pop fans in Brazil or fans of Star Trek in Russia, for example (Madrid-Morales and Lovric 2015; Mikhaylova 2012).” PANDE, RUKMINI. “INTRODUCTION.” IN FANDOM, NOW IN COLOR, 1-13. IOWA CITY: UNIVERSITY OF IOWA PRESS, 2020.

RRR, as a film, was a story about two freedom fighters who fought against the British rule in India—two very real freedom fighters, whom the director has admitted the film is not historically accurate about. The optics of it stand out; that, at a moment where anti-racist work seems so imminent, the award went to a song from a movie about a colonial struggle, without truly dealing with the after-effects of such a struggle on most “third-world” countries.

I don’t honestly know what connections I am drawing with this. I’ve been using Pande’s work as a way to reframe my own complex feelings about RRR winning, given the accusations of casteism S.S.Rajamouli has faced across his career, the ways in which the pan-India films have often been repackaged Bollywood, and the internal politics of South-Indian (here, specifically Telugu) identities getting melted into a singular Indian identity on a global stage with no context for the histories of these lived experiences. I’m not quite sure where I’ve arrived, but what do you think?

[seakraitmessages]

I feel this is more head canon than speculations but! Tying some thoughts and speculations about the umbrella academy comics. Though I don’t know if this will have any bearings on the netflix series since they’re so different from each other. Still, spoilers about the comics, the Safe issue, and a bit of the s4 teasers & trailers ahead!

Thanks to @tinned-beef for the Safe comic scans! I got the pages for the Safe issue from their post here.

Welcome to my Ramble Lair👐

So basically, in the Safe comics, Reginald knew of an ending to “all life as we know it.” He knows this because of something called a Trace, which he used to peek into a region of outer space and that “allows us to have a glimpse into our future, and to look at the very end of our existence.”

[ID. A comic panel showing a mansion covered in snow, in a snowy landscape. A word balloon by Reginald, who is out of screen, states: “This object allows us to have a glimpse into our future, and to look at the very end of our existence. The end of all life as we know it.” END ID.] I think that object, the Trace, are the purple symbols here and contained in the capsule.

[ID. Four pictures including a symbol surrounded in a purple glow or smoke. The symbol is of a single line that loops in itself and is made of angles, squares and triangles. The last picture includes a capsule containing the same purple glow/smoke. END ID.]

(Does this Trace have a connection to the sigil Reginald was using to reset the universe?) (I don’t have a Netflix account rn lol so have this)

[ID. A sigil. Its defining feature are the 7 rectangles with shapes within them all connected to a straight horizontal line, either on the line themself or connected by two lines. END ID.]

Reginald has Abhijat, his right hand man, use some kind of machinery that sends Abhijat’s mind to a certain region of space. (The machinery used was also similar to the machines Reginald hooked some of the siblings to in the trailer! Well, not that similar, but there’s a lever and the head machine thing. You can see a lever in the first pic next to Reginald)

[ID. Four pictures showing a part of a machine. The first two pictures are from the Safe issue, one showing Abhijat taking off a helmet piece while Reginald stands next to a lever, buttons and some screens, and the next showing Abhijat connected to the machine. The next two pictures are from the season 4 trailer, one where Reginald is about to pull a lever that presumably turns on the head machines, and the next showing three siblings on said machine. END ID.]

And the reason why he sends Abhijat to this region of space is to observe these interesting fellas!

[ID. Abhijat in space observes as a number of large octopus-like creatures emerge from a tear. END ID.]

I’m going to call them space-octopus. Even though it looks like there’s multiple space-octopuses, Reginald just calls them singular it. Are they all part of the same being?

One appeared earlier when Luther, Diego, and Dr. Zoo (a friend of Reginald) explore Hotel Oblivion. In the comics, the Hotel Oblivion was actually the place where Reginald sent all the supervillains the Umbrella Academy defeated (provided with Self-improvement Rehabiliation booklets). It was a supervillain prison! It’s also located on another planet/dimension.

[ID. From the comics, Luther and Diego encounter one of the large octopus-like creatures emerging from a tear in the sky. END ID.]

The space-octopus causes visions to Abhijat, and also to Luther when he encounters it. With Luther’s visions, it wasn’t so clear to me what exactly was going on, but Abhijat’s visions were shattered into his younger and more recent memories. So maybe what Luther was seeing were his own memories? But if they were Luther’s memories, what’s with the bacteria(?) panel? A memory of a lab study from his time on the moon? Or maybe they are a collective of Luther’s, Diego’s, and Dr. Zoo’s memories?

[ID. Two images showing an encounter with the octopus-like creatures. The first shows Abhijat in space, whose perspective seem to shatter after seeing the creatures. The next shows Luther being tapped on the forehead by the creature and then a series of images follow: a crying baby, a light or explosion (?), a blooming or wilting marigold flower, and bacteria (?). END ID.]

Dr. Zoo says that the Hotel was a trap for the space-octopus with the bait being the supervillain prisoners.

[ID. Two comic panels showing Dr. Zoo explaining, “The hotel is not a prison— it’s an Abraxan— a cosmic trap! And the bait is gone.” Luther asks, “A trap for what?” Dr. Zoo points to where the creature disappeared and says, “Whatever all that was— all of this is connected somehow.” END ID. ]

It does seem to look into the hotel, like it was checking if any supervillains were left. Then it went down to the trio, tap Luther on the forehead, screech, and return back to its sky tear.

[ID. The flaming eyeball of the octopus-like creature goes through the sky, stops next to the Hotel Oblivion, and then turns to face Luther. END ID.]

But why would it be attracted to the bait- the prisoners? What about Luther, Diego, and Dr. Zoo— what makes them different from the prisoners? And when it tapped Luther, was it also seeing his visions with him? Maybe that’s why it ran off, it saw his memories, and now knowing how exactly Luther got from Earth to Afterspace, is heading in Earth’s directions? And how did Reginald know about this, how to trap the space-octopus?

Does it have any connections with Ben? No clue! It seems that way, after Luther and co encountered the space-octopus, Ben visits Klaus and tells him “It’s coming. You better be ready” (if ‘it’ was referring to the space-octopus, and how else could he have known it was coming if they weren’t connected?).

[ID. In the comics, Ben appears to Klaus and tells him: “It’s coming. You better be ready.” END ID.]

And it certainly does seem to want to come over their reality. Though there was that space-squid from Rigel X-9 in the first page of the comics, so there might just be space cephalopods living out there in the tua verse.

But if in the series Ben is the cause of one apocalypse, then yeah maybe this is it. He inadvertently releases the Horrors or they come over to Earth and it causes the “end of all life as we know it.” But we’ll find out next month!

And that’s it! Thank you for reading all the way here! Let me know if there’s anything missing!

[bloodlegacies]

Hello people, I came here to inform you of the progress and an explanation of some things, such as how the world of Petrus and the beings in it came about. I created the story below about it, and yes, I was inspired by some stories, you will notice some similarities with some stories of creation of the world.

Currently the progress is at 20,000 words, including the code. It may seem little to some, but have patience, there are many variables and differences, even to solve a small mistake of mine, which was not to present all the characters right away, because of the routes some of you probably have not met other characters, this is something that will be resolved. Because there will be different options if you have or have not met certain characters or chosen something. You will soon see what I mean.

PS: This is kind of a quick summary of the world, for you to understand how it works and how beings were created. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know.

A story about the world of El-lar and the beings in it.

In the beginning, there was only one being, and that was El. First, he created spiritual beings, then he created the world and decided to populate it with a race that was made in his image, so that they could have a special connection with him.

However, this race ended up corrupted by pride, selfishness and greed, sometimes because of attitudes or even material goods that others had, even though this world had unlimited resources. Thus, there was much conflict between different peoples of the same race. El decided then to choose 12 spiritual beings among his people who could help humanity to come closer to him again and to keep in balance, such beings were called Patrons, which means supporters and protectors, each one with their certain abilities and special powers.

With time and teachings through the patrons, humanity was getting back on its feet and becoming good again, there was still greed, selfishness and evil, but there were also many good, altruistic and kind humans. Thus some balance was found, and some patrons were allowed to give special gifts and knowledge to certain people, for their purest acts of empathy, altruism and courage. Such people were blessed in different ways, some gained knowledge and passed it on, others gained healing or could make a specific request, as long as it was not too greedy.

Some of these humans who were blessed with knowledge, began to learn more and experiment on themselves, besides creating creatures not so natural or human. Thus were created fairies, dwarves, mermaids, elves and all their variations of races.

However, one day, a group of people who acquired knowledge from people who were really good, used this knowledge to mess with what they shouldn't, and this caused not creatures, but monsters, to be created. Again, through ambition, humans came very close to self-destructing. The monsters they created multiplied and killed quickly, endangering all the races and beings created, and the patrons were forced to intervene, but not directly.

El, ordered them not to intervene directly, because humanity created these problems and creatures, and they had to be responsible for this and solve them themselves, learning from their own mistakes.

The patrons then did not take matters into their own hands, and now gave powerful and dangerous gifts that some humans who were chosen could use to protect themselves and their people.

In Petrus, they gave the elemental gifts, as the Petrunians were very attached to the land they were born in and to nature itself.

In Akalis, they taught runes and gave magical abilities to some chosen ones among the people, thus the wizards were born. And in Akalis they valued knowledge very highly.

In Suron, they gave the abilities to interconnect with the sea and other regions, abilities to adapt, so that some could grow fins or even skin with scales, able to survive fire and heat, or water and cold, and so on.

Each of them trained, and fought against the creatures created by the mages(the scholars who created these beings), all together, regardless of whether they were just ordinary humans or blessed (so were considered those who gained gifts) on both land and sea, they fought and made a specific place to keep the rest of the creatures - although many of these had already multiplied and some were still out there ,The place where they kept most of these monstrous creatures was called the Forest of Bones, which used to be a huge city with several villages and a lot of people, but which had its inhabitants totally killed and its walls destroyed, becoming ruins and a huge forest that extended beyond the city region.

Elementals created the walls, wizards and mages strengthened the walls with spells and runes, and shapeshifters (those who could adapt to the environment) did some patrols, at least at the beginning of this era.

To punish but also to bless humanity, the patrons, with permission and the air of life that came from El, created other beings, some very powerful, beautiful and dangerous, that could be some of the worst enemies of other beings if provoked, as well as being the greatest allies. Some of these were in the sea, others on land and others in the air, each of them had their own purposes. Such as the dragons, that sometimes had scales of gold, because this material helped to fertilize and give good health to their rare offspring, and such gold and eggs were a temptation for humans who were too greedy. The Andorins, large whales that had skins as bright as the stars, which attracted the eyes of the vain, but these creatures were dangerous and could cause serious problems. And among others.

This era was called the "years of grace", because the patrons gave gifts and helped to bring peace again, or at least a balance.

The patrons and EI remained vigilant, though they never interfered or blessed anymore. However, in some very rare cases and times, a patron might still appear to do or give something.

And there was peace, the three kingdoms became great allies and friends, for a time...

For after some centuries of coexistence, and having some small conflicts here and there, one day, the Kings and Queens of Akalis and Suron stuck their eyes on the precious things and materials that were in Petrus, that were created there, but it was not only in this that they stuck their eyes...

No, it was not enough the land. They wanted the people too...

[gilsart]

Hey! I am absolutely delighted with your technique and illustrations. it's incredible! Your blog was a godsend for me, and your drawing of the Vargas brothers turned my perception of two Italy upside down. So, I am wondering what do you think about both of them in manga and anime and do you have your own headcanon? I am not a connoisseur of the history of Italy, but it seems to me that Southern Italy should somehow be more connected with Sicily, and not with Rome.

ahhh first of all thank you so much for the compliments!! those were nice words it made me smile so much!!

when i was more into the fandom than i am today, i used to like them a normal amount. of course my perception of them is pretty different than the general public, as an italian who was born and raised in italy, as goes for any other person with their own nation i guess. i can't really speak for southern italy since i live in tuscany! tuscany is considered central italy (at least from italians it is) but for other people it counts as nothern italy.

i do think though, rome is a place that should have had its own character - maybe linked to the vatican state, since rome's history differenciates itself from that of the south. if i think of southern italy, historically, the first thing that comes to my mind is the kingdom of the two sicilies! so there's that. i think romano could be more linked to regions such as sicily, campania, apulia, and so on. also, romano sounds better than lovino as a name in my opinion.

as for feliciano (who i've always called felice, but that's just me thinking it sounds better), although i used to like how he is portrayed, i kinda don't anymore. let me tell you: he is bitter. nobody can look that happy with the government we have today. i don't know if you know our current situation, but it is quite concerning. my personal headcanon would be that he kinda hides behind that happy and bubbly façade, that he's not okay with everything that happens here, and while his brother just SHOWS he is upset, feliciano has a hard time with showing his feelings. and i also like to think they both switch their respective accents/dialects depending on how they're feeling, but that's something i thought of every character - although ofc i can resonate better with italian ones. and also bc it's just funny to imagine feliciano speaking in my dialect. (there can be some good "what the fuck is a lapis???" moments from romano. totally not projecting my experience here)

i also think they both smoke a lot. there's many people that do here. hell, i used to smoke too, some time ago. you see 15 year old smoking, which... not very good, eh. and i always thought both of them to be extremely judgy - most of us are, but it's mostly a "keep up appearences" thing.

overall i don't have many headcanons for romano (i leave that to southern italian fans). oh, i also really don't like the uniforms hima gave them. the black shirt? no thank you. they are white now. black shirts in italian military contex are a no no.