#thought having her in his dominion might be interesting

[delusional-mushroom]

Platonic Hazbin Hotel x Autism creature reader

Part i | Part ii

Child.

You are everyone’s baby. The only exceptions to that are people younger than you, in which case the sibling certificate is signed and framed on their wall.

For simplicity’s sake, you’re an angel. Maybe an Seraphim or another heaven-born like a throne or a dominion.

You have wings on the sides of you head, and whenever visual sensory gets too stimulating, you can make them cover your eyes.

You used to run into things a lot because of this, until you were a given a service animal in the form of a lil snakey-snake.

His name is Speckle and his sight is linked with yours.

Social cues? What are those? Never heard of them

You and Emily are best friends

Istg Sera low-key can’t keep up with you two

You followed Adam around like a lost puppy one time, and then once he finally turned around to confront you, you only muttered “I wonder if you would be able to fly with frogs instead of your wings” with a faraway look in your eyes

You listen to his music sometimes

Lute thinks you’re strange. But like a funny strange

Emily and Adam are your figit-dealers

You mostly info dump about your special interest to Adam. Lute always brings snacks when she knows you’re coming over because you always make it sound like your voicing over a documentary.

You zone out a lot when your with Sera. If you ever disassociate around her she’ll try to calmly ground you back. I have a feeling she might act a bit ableist without realising tho 😔

Saint Peter also likes hearing about your special interests. Might be a bit judgey tho.

When Charlie and Vaggie came for the meeting, you were Emily’s hypeman through the whole tour.

Sera and Vaggie could not keep up with you three

When the court meeting started, you got yourself a carton of apple juice, believing nothing could go wrong.

When the news of the extermination dropped, you spat out your apple juice and choked on it.

Speckle hissed cuz the juice got on him

You just shut down after that

disassociation here you come!

You only came back when Charlie and Vaggie were already sent back through the portal thingy.

You parroted All of Emily’s questions with an added “yeah, why is that?”

You were questioning everything

“‘Don’t question’ my ass” is what you would have liked to say, if it wasn’t for the fact that your tongue went limp and your head was ringing as you sifting through all of your memories with a new outlook on how fucked up everything was.

You had a breakdown when you got home.

Speckle could feel your pulse rising and tried to soothing you with soft hisses but you were having none of it.

You went behind everyone’s backs and started looking for ways to help Charlie.

Apparantly you weren’t as discreet as you thought because one day, a hole opened up in the cloudy ground, swallowing you whole

The last thing you could hear was Speckle’s distressed hisses in your ear as you fell down towards the smokey, red pits below.

Bro i know this sucked but I’m about to go to sleep and really wanted to write this for some reason. See you all whenever I decide to make part 2.

[azakal]

Hey. Uh, that's literally my first ever post on tumblr, "long time listener first time caller" kind of situation. So, hum, hi I guess ? Anyway.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned on here is the fact that I believe Grimor is the first Witch so far to refer to Wren as "Grandma Wren", all of the others always used her name only (unless I missed something). I feel like it is too endearing of a term for the Witch of the Wild Hunt to use, even as a mark of respect. Is there some special relationship here ? That'd be interesting given how it's established that the two weren't in the same "alliance" (huge quotation marks here).

Also, if I had to guess, I'd wager that Grimor is the youngest and / or most recently appointed Witch among the Coven, excluding Ame ofc. She's definitely more unruly than the others - which to be fair is definitely a staple of her station - but it's also the fact that that she's the one helping and taking care of Hacaea, who seems to be the oldest of the crew. At first I thought that the two might have had a stronger bond given how related their dominions are, but we now know that they're not in the same "triad" as mentioned by Brennan, and they clearly disagreed on the whole "getting rid of the World's Heart" situation. So, to me, taking care of Hacaea might be more of a task that you would assign to a younger member maybe ? Don't know if that's anything.

So those were two random thoughts. That's pretty much what this website is about, I think ? Did I do that right ?

[lightandfellowship]

An aspect of Hoder's death that I find pretty compelling outside of just the effect her death had on the cast + the events of the game is the fact that her brother and friends seem to just be guessing at what she would have wanted or what she would have done in their shoes. And quite possibly guessing incorrectly. Which highlights one of the many tragic elements of death apart from the death itself: the dead not being able to speak for themselves.

Vidar turns to Kingdom Hearts because it might save Hoder's brother and he thinks that's what she would want. After all, her brother is someone precious to her who she's willing to protect with her life, as she demonstrated in Enchanted Dominion when she sacrificed herself to save him. But saving her brother via Kingdom Hearts means potentially harming the worlds, their residents, and the entire universe in general, and considering Hoder chose to confront a super powerful fairy all by herself to try and save Aurora, a random stranger she had only just met, endangering innocents for personal reasons sounds like the kind of thing she might seriously disapprove of. But it seems like Vidar, Vala, and Vali never considered that possibility, assuming that it was just a given that Hoder would risk the entire world for her brother.

And while Baldr's motivations are kinda complex and can be interpreted in a number of ways, it wouldn't susprise me if part of the reason why he wanted to purge the world and kill the upperclassmen was for the sake of getting revenge on Hoder's behalf. We know he blames the upperclassmen for not saving her, and it was the evil of the world that drew Hoder to the castle and got her killed in the first place. (There's also the element of "Baldr blames himself for her death but he can't handle the guilt so he's going to blame everyone else instead as a coping mechanism.") Once again, someone close to Hoder is risking the lives of countless others for her sake, ostensibly (though I'm sure Baldr is just telling himself that he's doing it for her when really he's mostly doing it for himself, unleashing his grief and wrath upon the world that wronged him.) And it's not just strangers at risk this time, her friends are getting killed one by one, all because her brother thought they deserved it for failing to save her. I don't think it's a stretch to say that Hoder didn't blame her friends at all for what happened to her and had no interest in getting "revenge" on them.

What makes Hoder's situation interesting/unique though is that she technically does get several opportunities to speak for herself after she dies, unlike most characters who die suddenly and prematurely. Once in the Underworld after her spirit gets temporarily brought back to meet with Xehanort and Eraqus, and several times after that when she's hiding in Xehanort's heart. But for most of these scenes she chooses not to speak, and when she does finally reveal herself and speak, it's during a scene where all of her dialog was potentially just a ruse to get closer to Baldr in order to take him out, and thus it's hard to say exactly how genuine her words were. Even when given the rare and precious opportunity to express her true feelings and desires post-death, she remains quiet, or chooses to speak but potentially with ulterior motives. Which actually fits how she acted in life as well. So maybe dying was never the problem, maybe part of her tragedy is that she never would have made her feelings clear even if she were alive. Which I think is a pretty interesting character trait for her, a character who values actions over words, a character who doesn't seem to be too concerned about explaining herself or being understood by others, a character who would rather just take matters into her own hands instead of clarifying her wishes to others who could act on her behalf...and the tragic accidents + miscommunication that occurs because of those secretive, proactive, and independent aspects of her personality.

Anyway, I have to imagine she kinda resents seeing her loved ones do these really terrible things in her name. Especially since she probably thought that her sacrifice was going to be the only one, no blood on her hands except for her own, only for that death to cause ten others. And as I've seen other people speculate, this probably contributed to her choice at the end to intervene. All of this tragedy happened because of her, because of her reckless actions and because of her friends and brother's love for her, and she needed to take responsibility for it.

"Dying was the worst decision I ever made." <- Hoder, probably

[ailendolin]

More (general) thoughts after watching Jurassic World Chaos Theory:

I love that trauma is one of the main themes of it. Those kids have been through a lot and instead of it getting swept under the rug, we see Kenji having a panic attack, Yaz going to therapy (and finding a way to help other people like her deal with dinosaur-related trauma), Sammy sort of ignoring what happened and trying to carry on as usual, Darius becoming reclusive up to the point where Kenji talks more to his mom than he does and Ben going down the conspiracy theory hole. They all responded differently to what happened and we see the aftermath of that - which includes all of them growing apart as they try come to terms with what happened to them - and it was so well done

one thing that irked me about Ben and Darius road trip was how Darius got annoyed at Ben for not keeping quiet while he was trying to sleep. For all we know Ben has been driving for hours, maybe even days at that point - first to Darius's place, then to Sammy's - so I think he can be excused for giving off so much nervous energy. Also Darius, maybe offer to drive next time instead of getting annoyed at your friend who just saved your life

speaking if these two - I know many people ship them and while I personally am a Ben/Kenji shipper, I can't be the only one who thought the whole Darius/Kenji/Brooklynn triangle is the perfect set up for Darius and Kenji realising they can be happy together without Brooklynn, right?

on that not, let me talk about Benji real quick. Those two didn't have many scenes together but boy am I here for them co-parenting Bumpy's egg and Kenji comforting Ben and helping him after he got hurt

Yaz casually bringing up Ben's pterosaur-related trauma was interesting. It implies they've reached a point where they can all joke about it but I'm not so sure that's the case. Ben's trauma has always been played down a little and I wonder if he might not just be very good at hiding it from his friends. Also, after getting traumatised by air (flying/falling), he can now add trauma by water (drowning) to the growing list. So what's next? Earth (getting buried alive)?

I'm still not a fan of the Jurassic World Allosaurus design. Big Al my beloved I miss you and your beautiful looks.

Also speaking of things I'm not a fan of in the franchise: where the hell are all these dinosaurs coming from? There are whole herds roaming across the US, hundreds of dinosaurs being sold world-wide, creepy people training raptors to perfection, species that weren't on InGen or Masrani's lists cropping up left and right - and I'm supposed to believe all that happened in a few years? This is not JWCT's fault (mainly Dominion's) but omg I hate how it just makes no sense. Especially considering how relatively easy it should have been to neutralise the large dinosaurs after they escaped Lockwood Manor. It's the small ones like the Compsognathus that are the true problem in this scenario. But no, somehow dinosaurs have overrun the US and we can't get them under control. Sure.

Brooklynn faking her death is going to cause so much pain when the truth comes out and given how great the show has handled trauma, grief and betrayal so far, I'm so here for it

speaking of faking deaths - there's a possibility Kenji's dad is not dead, right? That this was staged as well? Because if he turns out to be alive too, then Kenji's in for a very rough ride

Creepy raptor lady is a very cool villain. I love how ruthless and emotionless she seems the whole time until we get a crack in the facade when her Atrociraptors get hurt. Makes her way more interesting than if she'd just been, for lack of a better word, a robot

My Ben-specific post about the first season is here.

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV Trailer (me losing my freaking marbles - YOLO) Pt2

I'm just going frame by frame thru AMC'S BEAUTIFUL new IWTV trailer. But I had to split this into 2 parts cuz Tumblr won't let me post 30+ pics. 🙄

They transition from Louis telling Claudia "It's you and me," to BB!Dan being "disrespectful"--yelling at Louis wanting him to make him a vamp, like we heard in S01E01.

And they immediately cut to the clip we've seen before of Louis crying & being dragged off by some old dude (if that's a vampire I feel bad for him, LOL). This might be Claudia/Madeleine's execution, rather than the Trial itself, cuz Louis was wearing a different outfit. (And Claudia's wearing the YELLOW DRESS! Imma be sick! 😭)

So I wonder when the "best outfit" Jam Reiderson said Claudia wears is gonna take place--which I'm assuming is the red Flamenco dress from the posters.

It is SO incredible that we're actually gonna see The Trial, and LESTAT BEING THERE, and seeing Madeleine & Armand & Santiago.

It's interesting that they cut from Armand saying it wasn't SanFran where he failed Louis but Paris, and jump to hallucination!Lestat mocking Armand, yelling "HA!" Is Louis' outfit the same as the one where the old dude dragged him out crying? It kinda looks the same. So is Louis imagining Lestat being FURIOUS with Armand for what's about to happen to Claudia? I wonder why Les is in THAT suit, cuz it looks like the same one he wore in S1E03 the night he kicked Jelly Roll Morton out of town & ragged on Louis about not wanting to kill humans.

Good lord, here we go. #GoneTooSoonMadeleine. U_U And I LIKE THE IMAGERY of the joint/shared transformation, nodding to Claudia desperately wanting Louis to be her (blood) spouse, as they make Madeleine together.

Jfc Louis really did almost kill BB!Daniel. O_O He shattered all that plaster--that's brain damage for sure--no wonder he can't remember the interview, LOL. (I still think Armand used the Mind Gift to make him forget everything.)

A lot of paintings and canvases--art heist Armand?! Are we finally gonna see how he made all that money, going around stealing priceless treasures!? (You can see Armand's feet floating, LOL.) Or is the inside of that chateau his coven raided, "we own dominion!"?

Daniel asking Louis: "YOU BUY THAT?"

AMC thinks they're FUNNY! Cuz they cut right from Armand stealing art he didn't BUY, to lovebomber!Lestat laughing in the townhouse and Louis yelling in what looks like a train station? So he's freaking TF out in public (just like Paul).

Ooooo--then they have Lelio!WolfKiller!Lestat about to attack someone (Magnus? Nope, I double-checked it's Armand cuz ofc it is), looking like the freaking BEAST in his red cape--

--right before we get Lestat's POV of Louis and him fighting in Ep5.

Cuz yeah, Lestat had snapped, and was beating Louis like he was a DOG, like he wasn't even seeing a PERSON, let alone someone he was supposed to be protecting from vampires/monsters LIKE HIM--and OMFG Louis was in blue just like Belle was during the wolf attack--I hate this show.

And they immediately jump from Louis getting beat by Lestat to what I assume is Louis getting jumped by the Theatre--trapped in the coffin they were gonna bury him alive in.

What on earth is Claudia throwing? I swear I think these are bombed/blown-up body parts--pieces of someone's life gone cuz of the WAR. (And immediately cut to Loustat fighting.)

"Who are you, Louis? If there was no ME, if there was no HIM." So yes, the fan theory that Louis WANTS those pieces gone are correct. Or rather--Louis THOUGHT that having those pieces removed would help him. He thought he could recover the lost parts of himself if he wiped his mind of the painful memories. But something must've triggered him--likely finding Claudia's diaries after the 1970s--we are SOOOOO deep in Merrick territory. Cuz Louis wants those memories BACK now--with a vengeance.

*squints* Are they really GOING THERE with Lesmand!? O_O That's not Nickistat, right? Cuz the very next clip is Armand--using telekinesis on Louis (or Daniel?) WTF?!

And then we see the familiar clip of Armand using the Fire Gift when he first meets Louis. Just paralleling how much Armand openly flaunts his many gifts in front of Louis, while Lestat tried to hide everything he could do to not scare Louis away--until Ep5 ofc.

Doomed "happy" "family." YELLOW DRESS ALERT ☝️. The calm b4 ish hits the fan. They immediately cut to Claudia being "welcomed" by the Theatre and Santiago zooming thru the tunnel--

--DEATH to all of them! "F**k these vampires"--Claudia never lied!

Louis, you are just too dang pretty--GTFO off my dang screen. 😍

Another YELLOW dress--these images are cursed.

Loustat reunion at the Trial, if that's the same outfit Lestat wore here.

Give him hell, Armand! 😈 He wanted to be the Devil's Minion so bad--here you go! Look at all that glass shattering around him; no wonder Daniel's scared for his life, LOL! (If this is actually Louis throwing a fit I will DIE.)

Louis finna GO OFF on this BUFFOON! So THAT'S why Armand was mad! XD Louis (or Claudia?) was about to rip Santiago's whole jaw off! XDDDD

The sound of Louis just crying has me in a STATE. AMC is doing something SO freaking different from the film & the books. Louis is actively trying to make sense of things, as we see this poor man just suffering with PTSD and mental illness; with no one to HELP him but some crotchety old man who borderline hates him, and an old AF vampire who'd loves him so much that he'd rather have Louis forget everything cuz ignorance is bliss. 😩

Louis WANTS to remember everything. Armand does NOT want the interview. And Daniel is scared.

Holy freaking goodness, what an incredible trailer. 👏 May 12th can't get here fast enough!

[greenchlorine]

Spoiler thoughts on Medicine Girl

So I have been thinking a lot about Kihel's presence in the game lately. Thoughts under the cut.

My opinion is that we see suspiciously much of her for it to be just a random thing, throughout the story unfolding.

The first time we ever see her on screen, she's in Kostnice, in the Dhalmekian Republic, peddling medicines on the streets, and she approaches Jill. We see Jill stops and summarily refuses her with a sorry, and then Kihel immediately leaves, disappointed.

The second time we see her, she's on The Crystal Road, walking towards the Crystalline Dominion. She sees Joshua is hurting and quickly goes to his side to offer him a tonic. Joshua treats her warmly, thanking her and telling her that he'll be fine, and that she should save her medicines for those who truly need them. She replies: "Oh, if you're sure." and then leaves.

The third time we see her, she's in the Sanbrequois camp near the Crystalline Dominion, trying to sell her salves and potions to a random soldier, who shouts at her before we move to Dion's tent, so she is in the vicinity of where Dion and Joshua meet.

The 4th time we see her is when she saves Dion in Twinside, and takes him to the slums to patch him up. This is also the first time she isn't refused her healing, since Dion is KO lol.

(Not going to screenshot this since this scene is the longest)

She quickly brings him fresh water and they have a nice heartfelt moment before Dion leaves. He's very grateful for her help and she wants to see him again. When he exits her abode, a gust of wind ruffles his hair and he looks up at the moon, remarking how he owes Joshua his wings.

I think it's very interesting how she interacts with Jill, Joshua and Dion in particular, and how her interactions with each of them become more meaningful every time.

How is she such a proficient healer at such a young age? How does she find clean, drinkable water in the slums? How come she's seemingly so attracted to Dominants, that she's able to find them repeatedly?

I have a nagging feeling that she's tied to Leviathan, maybe even is Leviathan's Dominant who has yet to awaken, because of her connection to water and her healing prowess.

And I think the main characters she interacts with are important, if we are to see future content for the game. I believe Jill to a lesser extent, but in particular Joshua and Dion will be tied into it. Why them two? Because Kihel is in their vicinity twice, if we add her presence in the military camp.

This might be a huge reach, btw, and I could just be overthinking it, but it is very interesting to me to think about.

Edit: Well things just got a lot more interesting:

https://twitter.com/mssaifox/status/1681537453516296193?s=46&t=44odRqVxFzgrQaqdEPYmwg

[malicious-fisheeves]

Thoughts and Issues with the DLC

So I've made no secret I've issues with the DLC but in an effort to stop whinging and be less upset I've written up something a little more formal. To state first: if you enjoyed the DLC, by all means, I am glad. I'd much rather have people be happy than feel the way I do/did after beating the final DLC boss. And in talking w some people who did like the DLC story, I was softened a little bit in some regards.

However. Below the cut is ~3k words on my thoughts. I attempted some formatting but it might be a little disorganized. Needless to say, big dlc spoilers.

Marika:

I simultaneously appreciate Marika getting some much needed nuance back. Marika is complicated for a number of reasons. Her regime is oppressive and unrelentingly cruel, the Erdtree and its wars were incredibly brutal, and yet the DLC calls to mind that this is the outcome of her own people’s oppression, eg in that Marika was incapable of growing beyond the limited worldview transferred to her by living in a world wherein failed saints and ‘criminals’ were turned into meat goo. Cycle of violence and so on, but therein also lies some critique. Generally speaking, irl, such a thing is… basically impossible example wise, to think of off the top of my head. I suppose broadly one could perhaps liken it to the original Roman persecution of early Christians but that’s a fraught comparison for a number of reasons – wildly overblown for theological reasons, for one, and also makes an exemplar vs Roman generally crushing and enslaving ‘savages’. Also the current and historical violence committed via christian can by no means be rooted to mistreatment by Romans. So. It’s something I find interesting while also not jiving with 100%. Especially relating to what she’d end up doing to the Omen.

I think one can possibly point to a general corruption of goals, for Marika, by virtue of her godhood—once granted absolute power, she lost sight of her original goals of building a better world than the one she was born into. An empire of ruin built on top of a pile of corpses. Marika herself seems to come to this understanding and so sets in motion the events of the game—sending the Tarnished off, and shattering the ring—possibly incentivized by the death of Godwyn, or at least the understand of that her dominion was faulty.

Miquella:

Oh Miquella. Here’s the thing; I am by no means shocked or surprised that the question of Miquella’s charm/compulsion abilities would come into play for the DLC. I had a feeling that the NPC crew would be under Miq’s influence and that would be a source of conflict. I was not someone who thought ‘yay miq’s going to become god and fix everything.’ But the way in which this was accomplished felt not only like a dropping of the ball but a deliberate spiking of it at the ground.

In the base game, though we only rarely get information about Miquella, we have an understanding that he very much wants to do good. To create a new order not revolving around the oppression and subjugation of the masses. Miquella’s plans were already doomed in the sense his grand plans involved ‘what if I made my own Erdtree, but cooler’ and the fact the implications of certain items (the haligtree soldier ashes, the bewitching branches) indicate he has some ability to influence/control others, but this ability remained nebulous. St. Trina and sleep, the other half of his, again spoke to some interesting if troubling aspects, but also again spoke to a sort of attempted lighter touch in his approach. Someone confined to sleep forever can’t hurt you anymore, even if you basically doom them without killing them. When the DLC began with him shedding his flesh, his strength, his Great Rune and therefore ability to charm, I was very interested in how this all related. Except then he…. Becomes a God anyway? I’m still confused by this. Narratively, the game points towards him shedding these things to become a Perfect God, uninfluenced by things like love (which again, confuses me when he says that the new age will be guided by compassion, but I think the point here was to make the confusion The Point eg Miquella you can’t do both those things, sir) that might blind him or bias him. But Ranni also cast aside her Empyrean flesh… specifically so she could not become a God.

This wouldn’t bother me as much were it not for other issues, I think.

Miquella in the base game is defined by his compassion, outright bordering on naivety (hand in hand with his curse). He waters his new tree with his own blood rather than the blood of others. Elphael and the haligtree are specifically home to the unwanted and oppressed (namely misbegotten and alibnaurics)--he literally builds a secret treehouse. He forges the unalloyed Gold needle to save Malenia’s life. Of course there is a paradox here. To build his new order based on compassion, he has to betray the old. In the base game, originally I viewed this as a sort of corruption of his own goals ala Marika’s, by sending Malenia out to do this for him. She takes her army and conquers most of the continent save Leyndell and the Academy before getting defeat-by-tie’d with Radahn. Miquella does not want to do this but feels he has to, one might surmise. Given Malenia’s apparently reverence for him, we are led to believe that she did so because she really, really, believed in him, even if in doing so was at great personal cost.

And so the compulsion comes back into play in the DLC—just bend everyone else’s wills to your own as a God, is at least what I believe we’re supposed to take away. But this bothers me thematically in that why did Miquella not do this earlier? We kill Radahn and Mohg and suddenly game over, because Miquella brain-beams us into submission and we all prance around in perfect unending submissive euphoria. Why are we not only around long enough to stop it, but even able to? We (the Tarnished) have no influence on whether or not Miquella achieves godhood, unlike with the other ending options wherein we have quests to have NPCs fail or achieve their means by which they either create a mending ring or, in Ranni’s case, finally kill Marika for good and thereby have No Gods in the Lands Between. Even getting his great rune is just optional—if you don’t get grabbed twice, you don’t need to worry about the instant kill. So it all just feels a bit like a wet fart, especially given what happens after you kill him and Radahn. Which is a memory of when Miquella, pre godhood, asking Radahn to be his consort so that Miquella can achieve godhood and make the world better. You can’t even get ontop of the divine gate. It just feels so…. Nothing, in the end. We kill Miquella, and then that’s it, nothing. Nothing changes, no means by which to maybe try to make the world better. Annsbach tells us to be a lord of men and not gods but there’s no means by which to do so. Ranni’s ending takes us to the stars, the other endings have us become Lord Consort in various flavors, or we burn everything down. Elden Ring, to me, defined itself in some ways from Dark Souls and Bloodborne by having a certain hope where the others could be rather bleak. The DLC, giving you no means by which to make the world better, in any way, mostly going around just killing everyone and thing, and then returning to the sliding scale of ambiguously-good-ambiguously-bad-extremely-bad base-game endings. It’s just… it is something.

I also have more meta-textual critiques, which leads me to…

Mohg, Malenia, Radahn, or Incest et al.,

Mohg in the base game is defined by his evil. He bears on-its-face evil satanic imagery, growling and gurgling at you during his fight. He kidnaps and tortures war surgeons, the only one of which who survives relatively in-tact, Varre, is cast aside. Varre dies, begging for Mohg’s help, and Mohg could not care less, because Mohg is the self styled leader of a cult. He kidnaps Miquella with the hopes of raising him to godhood so he can establish his own dynasty. Albinaurics who come to him seeking assistance/shelter are also tortured. It speaks to a great evil. However, we also come to understand that Mohg is the opposite side of the coin as Morgott. Both were omen children of Marika, given the relative ‘mercy’ of not having their horns cut off and abandoned to their fate in the sewers beneath Leyndell. Morgott spends his whole life desperately wishing to be loved by the Erdtree and gets jack shit. Mohg abandons it, rightfully, but is violated by the Formless Mother and has his blood set on fire. Mohg’s tragedy actually serves better to illustrate how suffering makes no one a good person than Marika’s story in the DLC, in some ways, given that Mohg literally replaces the austere and thinly veiled cruelty of Marika and her Order with just outright violence and terror. And then the DLC goes ‘actually, Mohg was manipulated into being evil by Miquella for his elaborate plans for godhood!’

When I read this, I almost felt insulted.

Not only does it strip Mohg of his agency, making his evil the fault of someone else, it also completely demeans the original tragedy of the kidnapping. Miquella, trapped in a state of suspended animation, forever sleeping and therefore failing Everything he set out to do, because he was kidnapped by someone who he would’ve wanted to help? Mohg, kidnapping and abusing a person who abhors what was done to him and his people? This tragedy again spoke to the themes of Elden Ring. Having it so that someone who, while flawed, is shot in the foot by someone warped and corrupted by a life time of abuse suffered first by their mother and then by a greater cosmic deity? That the violence put upon by Mohg resulted in yet more needless suffering? Heart breaking.

Instead, the DLC makes it so Mohg is abused yet again, and this time it is far less meaningful.

Radahn’s story also frustrated me greatly. I am biased, as someone who went insane trying to piece together his motivations for the past 2 yrs and writing nearly 200,000 words about it, but during that time I came to the conclusion that the explicit point of his lack of motivation spoke to a sort of glory seeking that is why, while he had some apparently good personal qualities, also made him a war lord. In the base game, Radahn’s established as someone who cares about having a ‘good death’, who stopped the stars for Reasons, and learned gravity magic in-part to ride his favorite horse forever. However he also is the General of a large army, who at the very least in his absence have taken to stringing up corpses and setting people on fire. Grant it, it might be due to the Super Plague, but it’s just vague and unsaid enough it is entirely probably it was not Just That (nor makes it less horrific, burning plague victims caused by the Stupidest Fight Ever). He admires Godfrey, who served Marika in her genocidal wars. He tries to take Leyndell for reasons not known to the player, but one can surmise either A. he was trying to help Rykard (Rykard, who’s war in the Shattering was considered one of if not the Worst) B. he was just doing it for a laff (eg conquering for conquering sake, morally vacant and also abhorrent, but speaks to a glory hunting that says Something) and/or something to do with Godfrey. It speaks to, if nothing else, a Giant Ego.

So it felt really weird and out of left field to go. Yeah he and Miquella made a vow that Radahn would become his consort so he could ascend to godhood and establish the kindness brigade. Like, huh? Nowhere in the base game does Radahn, at any point, seem to especially care about being kind or helping the oppressed. There are certain elements that indicate he might not have sucked As Much, but by no means does that make him a good person (especially since he seems to hold some relationship with Rykard and Rykard is Extremely Awful to the albinaurics). Not only that, but again if we are to believe Mohg was not at fault for any of the evils he committed because Miquella forced him to be evil, then we cannot believe that anything about Radahn and Miquella’s relationship was consensual (not that any incestuous relationship can be but it adds another layer of coercion).

So they make this vow and Radahn later reneges. Maybe he realizes he’s been charmed and breaks it, somehow, but we don’t actually know. And so Miquella sic’s Malenia on him like a dog, dooming Caelid. Firstly, overall it just makes Radahn less compelling as someone who could’ve potentially been better but decided he loved war too much, doomed by the world he was born into to want something that destroyed him and everything he loved. Secondly, it just really hurts the construction of Miquella’s character as someone perhaps jaded and optimism crushed by a shitty world built by his mom (and also Malenia’s). But thirdly, and most importantly to me, it completely decimates one of the most powerful narratives themes to me in Elden ring.

The deliberate obfuscation of Why Radahn and Malenia fought in the first place was one of the most important pieces of the narrative to me. It spoke greatly to Elden Ring’s themes about war and violence. That there are no real winners, that it leads only to death and destruction. That whatever reason why they fought was not important enough to result in all the devastation. The point was that it was pointless. It spoke to both Malenia and Radahn’s weaknesses and showed how even great people (even people with good qualities) have those qualities ruined by war. The fight dooms both of them; Radahn becomes a zombie, Caelid is turned into a rotten hell hole. Malenia has to be dragged back to the Haligtree and without her brother, she basically just Waits To Die, now aimless. It is, again, tragic.

And again, in comes the DLC. It is now just a punishment for not wanting to marry your half brother. It turns Miquella into a childish abuser, and Malenia into basically just a dog Miquella can send out on other people, his original enforcer/tool to be discarded once she was at her usefulness's end before he even stripped himself of his love for godhood. It also becomes Extremely dark if you consider that Malenia knew of Miquella and Radahn’s vow and decided to go and kill Radahn anyway, but there’s also no way to say for certain. Speaking to Malenia and Miquella’s relationship, there is a part of me that wonders if she was originally supposed to be in Radahn’s shoes. It would still create issues, but others would at least be partly remedied. It would be bad and fucked up, but it'd feel way more cogent and meaningful. Their toxic and codependent relationship resulting in them both being at their worst would actually fucking say something. Giving Malenia and non-rot afflicted body, even if it means doing something incredibly fucked up to someone he already victimized? the sort of ruthless goal seeking that better speaks to how Miquella is flawed even as a god, because it’s impossible to be a Perfect or Good God?

Meta-textually it’s also just troubling to, yet again, only depict mlm relationships through coercion and incest. Fromsoft does not traffic in good or healthy relationships but the unhealthy heterosexual relationships are given much more depth and apparent care to its members at least somewhat. Marika and Radagon have a Whole Thing going on but its clear they’re equal players in their one million year psychic battle against one another. Radagon and Rennala had a loving relationship (though there are misogynistic elements of Rennala being So Crushed after Radagon left her, she at least was powerful and active at one time). Marika and Godfrey’s relationship is somewhat vague, but we do know Godfrey believed in her vision enough to give up many aspects of himself. Not healthy, but again Godfrey and Marika are both active agents in their relationship (and he does come back for her, even if either by feeling because he Has To or for other reasons it still says something about His character). Tanith and Rykard are on some Insane Shit but they are insane for each other in a mutual sense. Even the incestuous elements in both Miquella and Malenia’s relationship, and Lorian and Lothric’s in ds3, correctly points to incest arising from unhealthy family dynamics/life situations. Now we’ve re-contextualized Miquella’s kidnapping so that it edges dangerous close on 'victim of incest lying, actually, was manipulating everyone, should die.’ Like What Are We Doing Here, man.

By comparison, Mohg is completely stripped of almost all the elements of his narrative that made him interesting and compelling and Radahn is weirdly pigeon holed into being the victim of Miquella’s violence and coercion. Radahn is dragged back from the dead after an end to his suffering, and turned into Miquella’s new enforcer. Freyja says something to the effect that it’s ‘what Radahn would have wanted’ but given how the rest of Fromosft’s entire library of work operates I do not take the word of a single NPC as gospel. And then we kill him, and Miquella. Mohg’s body gets desecrated, the end.

To some points, one might say that Miquella viewed all these evils as a means to an end, and I can’t say you’d be wrong. To me, though, it feels like many of these actions needlessly muddle the narrative, speak to the worst impulses society has around coercion/abuse, and ruin a lot of the interesting character narratives of the base game. Cards on the table, I felt utterly crushed by the DLC, and am still feeling really raw. Partly because the flaws of the demigods being products of Marika and co., were fascinating and impactful. The changes made, to me, cheapen a lot and feel somewhat like Fromsoft was sort of spitting in my face for attempting to piece together all the item descriptions, dialog snippets, and environmental storytelling elements to make a hazy image of a group of people we don’t exactly get to know, or rather only get to know by their actions and the outcomes of such. I’m less upset than I was, but ultimately I still feel so sour.

[alexanderlightweight]

hi!!! if you haven't done it yet and are interested, i would love to see undertow magnus having tell ragnor and cat how he accidentally acquired a mate and their reactions

here we go! i hope you enjoy

<3 lumine

—

It isn’t until Magnus is brushing a sleeping Alexander’s hair that he realizes the sudden problem he has.

Alexander fuses sleepily, snuffling the pillow and shifting closer to Magnus. There are creases from the sheets on his cheek and he looks both young and timeless.

Alexander thinks that Magnus has been wooing him towards exclusively, and while most courtships allow for casual sex during, Magnus doesn’t think Alexander is the sharing type.

Magnus isn’t either. Not with this.

So if this is going to work. Then no one that Magnus has slept with during the period of their courtship can continue to live.

Not if Magnus wants this new relationship safe.

And Magnus finds himself suddenly feeling very protective.

—

He calls Cat before his third stop, because the warlock he’s about to take care of is a mutual acquaintance. 

And a healer.

Which means that Cat might enjoy access to her library, since Selene has always been famously stingy with her books.

Cat gives him a look that Magnus hardly thinks is deserved when she portals in across from him.

“I thought we agreed to avoid Selene after Ragnor lost that book to her during the whale migration bet. Solidarity and all that.”

“Yes, well Ragnor also wants that book back and it is nearly his birthday.” 

Magnus doesn’t actually remember Ragnor’s birthday but he’s fairly certain neither does Ragnor so it’s fine. 

They tend to assign each other the closest season as a birthday and that’s worked well enough for all of them.

Cat raises an eyebrow and huffs at him and Magnus sighs.

“You’re better with bloodstains and this could be a bit—“ Magnus wrinkles his nose. “Messy.”

Cat blinks at him incredulously and then she sighs, shaking her head. 

“Ragnor’s book doesn’t warrant her demise, no matter how much Ragnor complains.” Cat adds the last part quickly, already knowing Magnus’ response.

Magnus opens his mouth for a moment to bullshit and then stops.

He’s hardly ashamed of his new lover and while Cat might judge his lack of awareness, she also works better knowing the full picture.

It’s with a slightly haughty expression that Magnus explains and he glowers at her when Catarina starts laughing.

It’s belly deep, her head thrown back as she laughs and it’s only because of how dear she is that Magnus ignores the rather obnoxious display of mirth.

— Magnus very specifically always forgets all the times he’s laughed at her in turn — 

“Oh Magnus,” Cat finally gets out, wiping at her eyes and nose. “Oh only you. Once you tell him, Ragnor is going to create a list of all the  possible clues you’ve missed and spend decades going over it with you.”

Magnus sighs but allows it with good humor. Joy can be a rare thing in their world and Magnus can't begrudge the humor and laughter of one of his dearest friends… even if it is at his own expense.

“Is he part of the queen's court? Or the unseelie king’s?” Cat asks and Magnus shakes his head lightly.

“No, he has no allegiance to any sovereign before me. Alexander—'' Magnus takes a moment, trying to figure out how to explain. “The lake I took him from had claimed him as a protector of sorts. There’s a very powerful, nearly sentient, kind of magic, all through the lake. Different from dominion magic, or from the magic in the seelie realms. It’s what keeps it from being found I think. It created a self contained pocket dimension. A kind of magical ecosystem that used Alexander as a boost and an anchor.” 

“Powerful enough to be an anchor but with no allegiance lines, that’s very odd Magnus. How did he manage to stay unknown to any of the courts?”

Magnus sighs and then finally looks at Cat directly.

“He’s half-nephilim, Cat. I’m pretty sure that he was dumped near the lake when his other heritage came out. The memories are blurry, he doesn’t think he was supposed to survive. He remembers them trying to take his runes and fighting back until he got to the lake.

“The magic there lured him and his pursuers in and then the magic and he boosted each other. A symbiotic relationship I suppose. However accidentally, he accepted the wild magics protection and consecrated his vow to it with angelic blood. 

“Since then he’s stayed in pretty strict isolation there; especially because he can’t portal. He knows the world, he just hasn’t experienced it.”

Cat looks worried now and she looks over Magnus with careful, protective consideration.

“Poor kid, but Magnus. If he needs someone to get him out of there and set him up, there are plenty of warlocks I know who could help.” That she’d force to help if necessary. “You don’t need to continue the relationship unless you want to.” 

Magnus grins at that, because he suddenly knows what Cat’s worried about.

“Ah, I forgot to mention how long Alexander thinks I’ve been courting him. And also the reason why I need to clean things up. Alexander and the magic have tangled so deeply that he’s able to leave the lake and still anchor the dimension. The reason he never leaves is because I was courting him.” Magnus can’t help the wistful sighs he lets out, “he’s waited for me for decades, Cat.”

Cat is watching him carefully, contemplating Magnus’ words as he waves his hands in emphasis. 

“I’m also positive that Alexander has very discerning tastes despite his isolation, because he’s killed every other person who found the lake before me.” Magnus can’t help the fact that he’s preening,  “And he killed everyone who found it after. Apparently, I am the only person who Alexander has ever registered as ‘suitor’ instead of ‘prey’. He also—“ and here Magnus chuckles, something dark and content in the noise and Cat’s eyes soften at the sound. 

“He considered everyone who came after me to be prey still, but he was worried about what I’d think. That I’d consider them suitors, that I’d think he allowed himself to be courted by others. So he killed every one of them even when he wasn’t hungry or interested. And then because he noticed I wear a lot of jewelry, he carved me pendants from their bones. So I could show off that he was faithful and he waited.”

Magnus can’t help the pleased hum he lets out at the memory. 

“He waited for four decades, Cat. For me.”

Cat is smiling at him, her eyes shiny with unshed tears and she wraps him in a hug. Her strong arms that have saved countless lives wrap around him, delicate in their tenderness. 

“I’m so very pleased for you.” Cat murmurs close to his ear and then she lets him go, presses a kiss to his brow and then she turns on the warded cottage with a raised brow.

“Were you waiting for an invitation? Because she did cheat during that bet and steal Ragnor’s favorite book.” Cat says, snapping her clothes into something more… forgiving to blood. “I only let her get away with it because Ragnor forgot to bring me scones from Lady Gray's.”

“Every book is Ragnor’s favorite.” Magnus laughs out, and he’s grinning wildly and laughing because Cat will always have his back. 

And so will Ragnor. After he stops complaining about the inevitable blood stains on his new books. 

Cat cuts into the wards with the precision of a scalpel and Magnus follows her, cauterizing the wards once they’re through. 

There will be no healing here tonight.

—

Cat accepts a cup of tea with a small smile as Magnus laughs and Ragnor’s scolding gets increasingly louder.

“They were a perfectly lovely invention!” Ragnor is saying. “They should never have gone out of fashion!”

He’s said the same thing three times. Increasingly louder, as if it will eventually shut Magnus up. 

Cat sips her —perfect as always— tea and summons a box of biscuits.

Normally Ragnor offers them himself, but Cat will allow the discrepancy. They did find him quite indisposed.

Magnus is still laughing, holding his belly as though it might burst as he slumps into one of Ragnor’s large armchairs.

Ragnor seems to have given up and is grumpily sipping his own tea as he gives Magnus a snotty look.

When Magnus has finally, finally stopped laughing, Cat gives a silent sigh of relief.

And then Ragnor opens his mouth, dooming them all.

“If you must know.” He says with an aggrieved sniff, “it helps keep my horns from rubbing against the headboard. It’s quite annoying to have to polish them so often. Valois mentioned they were looking a little worn at the last gathering.”

And Magnus loses it again.

Ragnor had been napping on an armchair when they’d portaled in. Small round glasses perched on his snoring nose, a long flowing nightgown and a nightcap that hasn’t been used in several hundred years. 

It was only several lifetimes spent practicing self control that ensured Cat didn’t burst into laughter herself. 

She makes a note to order and send several bonnets to Ragnor, they’re much nicer than the undoubtedly musty nightcap Ragnor probably dug out of a moth-infested dresser in some half-abandoned cottage he forgot about.

Ragnor huffs and gulps half of his cup before Cat has pity and offers him a digestive. 

“The cheek on this lad.” Ragnor grumbles, “and what kind of present is this! At least it was well taken care of in that witch Selene’s library. If not tragically undervalued, so why is there blood on my bloody book?”

Magnus is going to give himself a hernia at this rate and Cat is both off duty and not inclined to be nice so she sends him a little zap and gives Ragnor the most mischievous smile she can.

Ragnor immediately catches on and good humor replaces his glower.

“Oh? What’s this? Cat, love! Don’t hold out on me. What’s ducky done now?”

“Guess who has to do a little spring cleaning, because he accidentally courted an un-declared kelpie.” Cat says in a rush, fingers snapping her biscuit in her eagerness to share.

Magnus gives a mock groan, “yes yes, laugh at my hubris. But trust me, a little bit of cleanup is well worth my Alexander.”

Magnus has one of his arms flung over his eyes and doesn’t see the quick, tight look Ragnor shares with Cat. Nor the brief joy when Cat simply smiles and nods, giving her assurance that Ragnor won’t need to make too many contingencies.

“And what does this time of new life and purging entail?” Ragnor asks and this time it’s Cat who laughs as Magnus gives them both a sheepish smirk.

“Ah, Alexander may be under the impression that I have been courting him… exclusively.” Magnus winces, “For the last four decades.”

Ragnor fights desperately not to gawp, and to not ruin his tea with incredulous laughter. 

And then he realizes the problem and his laughter fades.

“But you didn’t know.”

Magnus shakes his head, something bitter and angry in his eyes that Ragnor will worry over later. 

With sherry and Cat as backup. 

“That’s quite a bit of cleanup.” Ragnor murmurs quietly. Because Magnus takes fidelity seriously when it’s offered, “better take it to the last five decades, just to be safe. Don’t forget that orgy you told me about, the one in Dubai that you talked about for weeks in the 70’s. Don’t just do memory wipes, make it clean.” 

Magnus nods and Cat sighs despairingly as he summons a notebook and jots it down. 

“My, dear overachieving boys. Magnus should just use a ritual. If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it properly. So we need to be thorough. We’ll have to add some element of a geas to the secret, Magnus can use one of his loose ends to power it. We can’t just murder all of them outright, it’s too conspicuous. Are there any spells that the Council needs done that require past lovers?” Cat looks at both of them sternly, “see how much we can brush under the Council’s cauldron and go from there.” 

“There, there ducky.” Ragnor tuts and sends over a cup and saucer to a groaning Magnus. “There’s not as many as you think. It’s a much smaller mess than if this happened when you were younger and off sowing your oats.”

‘Sowing my oats?’ Magnus mouths incredulously across his cup at Cat and she bites her lip to hide a chuckle. 

“Ah and Camille will need to finally be dealt with.” Ragnor says, so very obvious in how hard he’s trying to be nonchalant. Ragnor is always looking for a reason Magnus can accept and Cat is always hoping it works.

And for once, Magnus doesn’t even notice. 

“You know what, you’re right.” And Ragnor’s gaze snaps to Magnus with a relieved but disbelieving look as Magnus continues.

“She would definitely use any opportunity to get between us.” Magnus looks angry now, instead of the bitter pain that Camille normally brings out. “Putting a geas on her and sealing her won’t be enough.” And then Magnus pauses and there’s a dangerous, confident gleam to his eyes that Cat has mourned the lack of.

“Alexander does look divine in jewelry, and after everything he’s made for me, I should return the gesture. So I’ll need to commission him some.” And Magnus gives a soft, pleased smile. Like some deep wound has finally been healed, “and I have always wondered what the color of Camille’s soul is.”

Ragnor gives a content, pleased smile and nods sharply. “If need be we’ll say you’re cleaning up your court. Camille is a perfect and public example of a traitor being dealt with. There’s always an enemy if you look hard enough.”

[vidavalor]

I have two questions for you:What do you think the Trailer for season 3 of Good Omens will be like,and will there be narration in season 3?

Hello, my dear. Hope you're having a great weekend! 💕

1. Ineffable and

2. That is a *really* interesting question... I responded to someone recently with thoughts about how I think we had The Voice of God in S1 to set up the GO universe for us and give us information we needed to know to understand the story but that God becoming a character in Aziraphale's story in S2 is part of the point because it's about writing your own story. When Gabriel asks in S2: "What's author?", it's both a silly moment that gets a laugh and also kind of the whole show in a sentence. What God wants is for the characters to give less of a fuck about what She wants and do what they feel is right. They have dominion over their universe, not Her.

I can't imagine S3 not having God in some capacity and I'm really interested to know how-- I actually wouldn't mind the narration back, at least a bit, if only to bookend it with S1, but I also think that might undercut the idea that Aziraphale is writing his own path. I really am not sure what they'll end up doing but I'm sure whatever they do will fit well with the story. What do you all think they'll end up doing?

[renstears]

Nightbringer theories (Obey Me; SPOILERS!)

Alrighty so I decided to play Nightbringer after being scared of it for the past few weeks; so far, I have some questions and theories in mind. I’m still on Lesson 8 so I’m not sure if most of my theories here are gonna be right or just straight up wrong.

Questions & Theories:

- Since Solomon came with us to the past (or more like came to the past to come aid for our ass), wouldn’t there be a chance the Solomon from THAT timeline/past meet the present Solomon we know of? Wouldn’t this create a whole time paradox….?

- Lilith’s body got disappeared by Diavolo so that she can get reincarnated as a human; would there be a chance we get to see her reincarnated form at least if we don’t see her angel form? Also, reminder that Lucifer is the only brother who knows she got reincarnated, so most likely the other 6 brothers will have a huge fucking melt down like last time in the previous Obey Me game.

- When the game first started, we hear Solomon narrating a bit about Barbatos and this human Barbatos went to. Solomon used they/them pronouns for the human, at first, I thought it might be us/MC—but then it occurred to me, why would the devs only now reveal our/MC’s appearance and the timeline that Barbatos met this human must’ve been a very very long time. Either 1. They used they/them pronouns for the human to keep their identity hidden until revealed later on 2. The human is either one of our ancestors/related to Lilith’s reincarnated form or 3. This human might be a Biblical figure from the Bible; if you go to the official Obey Me Instagram; they illustrated Barbatos controlling a puppet that looks like a king (some speculated the king is David as he is the father of Solomon).

- In another illustration made by the official Obey Me cast on Instagram, it shows Diavolo gesturing to a red apple. Either this is indicating he was the one that lured Eve to eat the apple and regretted that decision which is the reason why he decided to improve his behaviors later in life.

- Man when I heard Raphael’s voice during Asmo’s arc I thought it was Adam, but nvm, it wasn’t. We may see Adam in the story though, like I mentioned in one of my previous posts, Adam was Lilith’s ex husband, so I don’t doubt that the devs would add an element of it to the story.

- There isn’t much information about Barbatos in demonology and from mythologies, but it's ironic that from said mythologies, Barbatos has the ability to reconcile arguments between friends/rulers but he seems to have this heavy dislike towards Solomon and refuses to speak about it. I seriously wonder what Solomon did bc this man fucking forgot what he even did to the butler.

- While I was doing research on Barbatos, I stumbled upon this (credits to Myths and Folklore wiki editors!) according to the The Infernal Dictionary (a book of demonology). This is stated about Barbatos:

"Barbatos, great and powerful demon, count-duke in the underworld, a type of Robin Hood; he is shown in the form of an archer or a hunter; He is found in forests. Four kings sound the horn in front of him. He's acquired the knowledge to divine the speaking of birds, the roar of bulls, dogs barking and screaming various animals. He knows the locations of buried treasures, say magicians. He reconciles quarreled friends. This demon, who was once of the order of Virtues of Heaven or that of dominions, is reduced today to commanding thirty hellish legions. He knows the past and the future."

I personally don't think in the game, Barbatos is an angel (or maybe he is an angel but man's disappeared for so long everyone forgot him and my guy turned into a demon afterwards/hj). It'll be interesting to see his lore and how the devs wrote his backstory. In mythologies, he's illustrated looking like Robin Hood, so maybe Barbatos (in the game) went to the human to give them justice??? Take my theories with a pinch of salt.

And that's all I can think of, I'll make more theories as I continue playing in my free time.

[azazelsazaleas]

I finished watching through DS9 a few weeks ago and I’ve been meaning to do a rundown of my thoughts on it. Here goes:

- Oh my god that was fantastic. I really wish it’s given it a fair shake back when it was on the air; I was a dumb teenager who resented it for not being TNG and was going through a weird self-loathing phase where I didn’t want to admit to myself that I was the massive nerd that I am. This seriously lived up to the hype. I may have to do a TNG rewatch because this might just have upstaged it as my favorite 90s Trek.

- Andrew Robinson should’ve been made a full cast member. Ditto Max Grodenchik and Aaron Eisenberg.

- Damar’s transmission at the end of The Changing Face of Evil lives rent-free in my head. I cheered out loud at that.

- One thing the show did fantastically that a lot of other SF/fantasy properties don’t quite get right is that it lands a pitch-perfect balance of “these characters are major, important figures in the larger multinational conflict” and “this conflict is absolutely massive and not everything revolves around the same small group of people.” The fact that Sisko, Worf, Kira, Odo, et al are so important is entirely plausible and it never feels like the writers are trying to gratuitously bring everything back to them.

- That said, I kind of love that Admiral Ross’s leadership approach during the Dominion War eventually consists of doing whatever the hell Sisko tells him to do.

- God, the acting was incredible. Andrew Robinson, Armin Shimerman, Nana Visitor, Marc Alaimo, and Louise Fletcher were real standouts, but everyone was just so damned good.

- Actually, I really need to give special mention to Shimerman. The man went above and beyond to make Quark be something more than a joke character, despite how obvious it was that basically the entire production team wanted him to just be cartoonish comic relief. He worked harder to flesh out his character and show his race as a race of *people* (not just caricatures) than just about any actor playing an alien on Star Trek before him except for maybe Nimoy. Give the man a goddamn Emmy. Don’t believe me? Go rewatch the iconic root beer scene from The Way of the Warrior.

That said: I do have a few criticisms:

- Pretty much all of the (canon) romantic subplots were just…yikes. The only major exception I can think of Sisko/Yates, where they actually seemed to have a healthy dynamic, fall legitimately in love with each other, and generally treat each other like adults in a serious relationship, not bickering teenagers.

- Seriously, Worf/Jadzia got so hard to watch and then the fallout with Ezri was just ugggghhhhhhhhh stop please for the love of god

- Why did the writers need to try to romantically pair off all the female characters? Just, why?

- Kira had more sexual tension with that Romulan lady in half an episode than she did with any of her bucket-of-paint boyfriends over the course of seven years.

- I totally get the behind-the-seasons reasons why things panned out the way they did, but (hot take) I think Dax’s whole arc would’ve worked better if they had killed Jadzia off after the first season or two and brought in Ezri earlier. Jadzia was fun, but she was just too perfect to get many interesting stories and her relationship with Worf felt too much like manufactured drama. Having a trill who didn’t want to be joined, agreed to in a life or death emergency situation, and now has to reckon not only with taking on this symbiotic relationship with no preparation whatsoever but also succeeding this beloved person in the eyes of her loved ones is such a better setup for a character and it’s a pity we didn’t get to see that play out properly.

- Sisko deserved a better conclusion to his story. Give the man his damned house on Bajor and let him raise his kid with Kasidy. He’s more than earned it.

- Next time I rewatch the series, I’m skipping the mirror universe episodes and the ones with the genetically enhanced walking-90s-neurodivergent-stereotypes.

Other random thoughts:

- Dukat’s storyline should’ve ended with him getting killed at the end of Waltz. Either by Sisko, or by deluding himself so thoroughly that he does something suicidal. The pah-wraiths subplot felt like a lazy afterthought (except for the episode where he pretends to be Bajoran and starts fucking Kai Winn) and as much as I liked watching Marc Alaimo act, his story arc was basically over at the end of Sacrifice of Angels….which, incidentally is when Damar actually starts to get interesting.

- I loved the O’Brien must suffer episodes but I thought Hard Time was kind of overrated. Mostly for the plot line with the cellmate; I think I’m a little burned out on seeing stories that have a moral of “deep inside us is a line between humanity and savagery and when pushed to the limit, even the best of us would turn to murder.” It’s been done to death, and it’s really not truthful, at least for many people.

- I think I may have a little bit of a crush on Major Kira. It would never work out if I met someone like that in real life, though. I’m a laid-back, atheist, creative type; she’s a deeply devout former insurgent. Given certain real-life crushes I’ve had recently; maybe I’m just into strong women with big, expressive eyes who wear their hearts on their sleeve and have a spine made of fuckin’ steel. I have no idea what this says about me.

- MORN

- Favorite Episodes: In the Pale Moonlight, The Visitor, Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast, In Purgatory’s Shadow/By Inferno’s Light, In the Cards, Duet, The Wire, Civil Defense, The Magnificent Ferengi, basically the entire Dominion War arc.

[bigsoftmarshmallow]

How would the Ganondorfs (Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Hyrule Warriors, and Tears of the Kingdom) & Demise react to the Greek Gods and Goddesses?

Would they approve of some myths? Would they hate one or admire another?

Ganondorf and Demise, as powerful figures with vast egos and ambitions, would have distinct reactions to the Greek gods and goddesses. Each of these villains has a complex relationship with power, destiny, and divinity, making their reactions to specific Greek myths and deities quite interesting. Let’s explore how they might react to the pantheon and some specific gods.

Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf

Reaction: Respect for Zeus, Disdain for the Pantheon's Disorder

Thoughts: This Ganondorf, who values power, control, and strategic rule, would respect Zeus for his strength and leadership of the Olympian gods. However, he would view the disorganization and chaos among the Greek gods with disdain, especially the constant infighting and betrayal. He might admire Athena for her wisdom in battle but would ultimately see the gods as flawed in their lack of unity.

Scene: Ganondorf reads about Zeus and the battles for supremacy among the gods. “A king who rules the heavens but can’t control his family,” he murmurs with a smirk. “Power should be absolute, not undermined by those who would betray you.” He closes the book, his golden eyes gleaming. “Perhaps Zeus understands what it means to rule... but he lacks the strength to maintain true order.”

Wind Waker Ganondorf

Reaction: Admiration for Poseidon, Disdain for Apollo’s Youth

Thoughts: Wind Waker Ganondorf, who has a deep connection with the seas, would admire Poseidon, god of the ocean. His respect for the sea would make him resonate with the god’s dominion over water, seeing a kindred spirit in Poseidon’s temper and vast power. On the other hand, he would dislike Apollo, the youthful god of light and music, as Ganondorf is more focused on darker, heavier things.

Scene: Ganondorf’s eyes flicker as he reads about Poseidon. “A god with the power of the oceans, unyielding, relentless. Perhaps this one understands the weight of his domain.” He looks out at the sea, his expression pensive. “The seas are not to be tamed by any mortal, much like myself.” He frowns as he reads about Apollo. “A god of light... how trivial.”

Ocarina of Time Ganondorf

Reaction: Admiration for Hades, Contempt for Zeus

Thoughts: Ocarina of Time Ganondorf would likely admire Hades, ruler of the underworld, for his domain over death and his steady, controlled power. Ganondorf, who sought eternal domination, would see Hades as someone who embodies patience and authority over something as inevitable as death. He would hold Zeus in contempt, viewing his thunderous wrath and unpredictability as weaknesses.

Scene: Ganondorf sneers as he reads about Zeus. “A fool who cannot keep his house in order, relying on brute force and fear to maintain control.” But his expression softens slightly when he reads about Hades. “The lord of the underworld... patient, commanding, and wise. It is not always the throne above that holds the greatest power.”

Twilight Princess Ganondorf

Reaction: Admiration for Ares and Athena, Disdain for Aphrodite

Thoughts: Twilight Princess Ganondorf, with his warlike nature and thirst for battle, would have a deep respect for both Ares, god of war, and Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare. He would see them as complementary figures, representing the strategy and brute strength he so values. However, he would despise Aphrodite, viewing love as a weakness and distraction from his conquests.

Scene: Ganondorf’s eyes glint as he reads about Ares and Athena. “War and wisdom—this is the foundation of true power. Strength without strategy is meaningless, but strategy without strength is powerless.” His face twists in distaste when he sees mention of Aphrodite. “Love... a distraction for the weak. My heart has no room for such frivolities.”

Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf

Reaction: Respect for Hephaestus, Hatred for Hera’s Manipulations

Thoughts: Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf would likely respect Hephaestus, god of fire and craftsmanship. As someone who appreciates power in all its forms, including weapons and conquest, Ganondorf would admire Hephaestus’ ability to create tools of war and destruction. However, he would despise Hera for her constant scheming and manipulations, seeing her as weak for not taking matters into her own hands rather than resorting to cunning.

Scene: Ganondorf’s expression darkens as he reads about Hera. “A queen, yet she skulks in the shadows, manipulating others to do her bidding. Pathetic.” He turns the page, finding an account of Hephaestus. “Now here is one who shapes power with his own hands. Strength forged in fire... a true craftsman of destruction.”

Demise

Reaction: Admiration for Cronus, Hatred for Zeus

Thoughts: Demise, as the primordial embodiment of evil and destruction, would have a particular admiration for Cronus, the Titan who sought to overthrow the gods. He would see a kindred spirit in Cronus’ ambition and hatred for the Olympians. Zeus, however, as the one who overthrew Cronus, would earn Demise’s ire. He would see Zeus as the embodiment of everything he despises—order and stability. Demise would seek to destroy such a god.

Scene: Demise’s fiery gaze darkens as he reads about Cronus. “A god who sought to bring down the heavens themselves... worthy of admiration.” His fist tightens as he reads about Zeus overthrowing him. “But this... this usurper of power, a king who holds the throne by chance, not by might.” Demise’s voice rumbles with malice. “Were I in that world, Zeus would kneel before me or be obliterated.”

Summary of Reactions:

Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf: Respect for Zeus' power but disdain for the lack of control in the pantheon.

Wind Waker Ganondorf: Admiration for Poseidon due to their connection to the sea, and disinterest in Apollo's lighter domains.

Ocarina of Time Ganondorf: Respects Hades’ patient rule of the underworld but looks down on Zeus' chaotic rule.

Twilight Princess Ganondorf: Respects both Ares and Athena for representing his dual values of war and wisdom but dislikes Aphrodite.

Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf: Respects Hephaestus' craftsmanship but dislikes Hera for her manipulative nature.

Demise: Admiration for Cronus’ ambition and hatred for Zeus as the upholder of order and the destroyer of chaos.

Each of these conquerors and rulers finds something familiar in the darker or more warlike gods, while disdaining the gods they see as weak or too chaotic.

[wellthebardsdead]

Clockwork heart pt30

Part 29 here

———

*several days later*

Wyrm: *quietly sitting at a table in the four shields tavern, visibly exhausted after the groups almost restless travel from riverwood to there, the urgency of the trip made at nerevars request purely because of his evident distain for Delphine, and want to get her bidding over with as fast as possible* do we have to get up so early Ata Ryn?… we haven’t had a proper rest in almost a week, everyone’s crabby and on edge, even inigo…

Voryn: *seated across from him, looking visibly tired as well* I’ll talk to Neht, and try to change his mind… he wishes to get whatever Delphine is planning over with.

Wyrm: …He’s not happy with me agreeing to help her, is he?…

Voryn: he’s angry at her. Not you Hla Aka.

Wyrm: but he’s still not hap-

???: Excuse me? Wyrm Gro Shub I take it? I have a letter for you.

Wyrm: *blinks and looks up to see a courier approaching their table* oh yes- that’s me sir, thank you. *takes it and nods to him with a smile as the courier walks off*

Voryn: *glances at the letter* hm, such a fancy envelope. It wouldn’t be from the collage would it?

Wyrm: no papas envelopes are simple but if it was from him it’d be much bigger, he’d send his sugar cookies with it- *flips it over and pauses seeing the dominion seal, his stomach dropping thinking for a moment it could be about ancano, followed by immense panic as he recalls Delphine’s plan, worrying they’ve already been found out* …its… from the aldmeri dominion?… *opens the seal carefully before unfolding the letter and reading through it* …

Voryn: …Wyrm?…

Wyrm: I?… *looks up from the letter perplexed* someone named Caryalind Thallery wishes to meet me?

*glasses shattering*

Voryn: *instinctively jumps up to protect Wyrm only to see nerevar & Taliesin both standing there in shock, both having dropped the beverages they were bringing them in said shock*

Taliesin: THALL-

Nerevar: *slaps his hand over his mouth* SHHHH- *looks around* if someone of their name is here and knows about Wyrm they definitely have spies!!!

Wyrm: spies?

Kaidan: *walks over setting down more drinks after witnessing the two drop the others* haven’t clocked any spies, not here at least.

Voryn: You noticed spies?… where?…

Kaidan: Riverwood. After you suddenly appeared and cracked that perverts head like a melon. Spotted them as I looked back to make sure you were following us… Real… weird helms they were wearin…

Nerevar: weird hel-

Voryn: Redoran watchmen, at least. That’s what I first thought. Given skyrims close proximity to Solstheim I had hoped my fears were wrong and it was in fact just the council keeping tabs on our safety… but they… They definitely do not have our best interest at heart.

Kaidan: Aye. I thought so too. When I first saw em I thought it was a skeleton, then I saw the shape of the face guards, shaped like tentacles. White like bone.

Voryn: …Excuse me?

Kaidan: I?… we’re not… talking about the same thing?…

Everyone: *dead silence*

Wyrm: … *sighs and gets up shuffling to his room, too tired to even be bothered being afraid* I’m going to bed…

*a few minutes later*

Taliesin: *sighs walking into the room with his and Wyrms dinner to see the dunmer already snuggled in their bed for the night, and in his hands the dragon priest mask he’d collected on their way here after he and nerevar climbed a very large hill in hopes of getting a better advantage point, only to wake volsung from his grave* Darling- oh? You’re still awake- and… cleaning that thing?

Wyrm: *looks up at him with his one eye, his Pearl eye already on the bedside table with his arm* no, it’s clean now… *holds it up* it’ll fit you I think? I might need to refit it but it looks like it’ll fit comfortably.

Taliesin: I? Me?? Wear that- thing?! After it’s been glued to the face of a corpse for gods knows how long?!

Wyrm: *so tired his tone alone is enough to crack tears in the corner of his eye* I-it can help you pick me up- and breathe under water and-

Taliesin: no no no- *hurries to his side and sets the food down before gently taking the masks from his hand* I’m sorry I didn’t mean to upset you, I was just… being playful. *sighs setting the mask down* thank you darling… I’ll use it if I have to I just… *looks at Wyrm and sees the bags under his eyes, even his closed one* You’re exhausted…

Wyrm: … *reaches out gently placing his hand on his cheek* you are too… everyone is… and it’s my fault…

Taliesin: oh darling, my little silk moth n-

Wyrm: it is… *looks down as he pulls away and grips the wooden blanket covering his legs* d-Delphine said this Esbern person could help us, and that the thalmor knew where he was. She was so sure of it I… and I agreed to help her, but now I don’t know anymore, and nerevars angry, everyone’s angry, everyone’s tired and upset and it’s my fault… I just… I don’t know what other possible leads there are beyond the greybeards and-

Taliesin: *suddenly lays him back into the pillows quieting him with a kiss. Just soft enough he knows Wyrm can push away if he’s not okay with the action but firm enough to reassure him that he’s in fact, not angry with him*

Wyrm: *just moans softly and sweetly, his hand letting go of the blanket to take his in its grasp as his heart flutters from his partners touch* mm-

Taliesin: *pulls away slowly, smiling as he feels Wyrms lips chase after his, returning his want with soft, feathery little pecks before pulling back enough to admire his dragons tired, pretty face* None of this, is your fault love… we’re all here because we want to be here. And whether nerevar likes it or not. *picks up Wyrms dinner* We’re, All, sleeping in tomorrow.

Wyrm: but Neht wan- *gasps as Taliesin feeds him a mouthful of his meal before he can protest* Mm??

Taliesin: *feeds him another mouthful* mmhm~

*meanwhile*

Voryn: *watching Kaidan & inigo both have a drink at another table while nerevar mutters under his breath to himself, his ear only pricking up as he hears “3am”* We are not leaving at 3am. The sun won’t even be up by the time we reach solitude.

Nerevar: *blinks and immediately snaps to the defence, his tired mind making his tone short and sharp even towards his dreamer* but it’ll give us time to scope out the city, settle into the inn and find this thallery before Delphine’s contact turns u-

Voryn: Then go by yourself. *leans back in his chair meeting him with the exact same tone and sharpness, folding his arms knowing full well nerevar will buckle* Everyone is tired. Wyrm more so than all of us and he’s kicking himself because of your insistence we get this over with as fast as possible. I haven’t even had a bath yet and you expect me to get up in 7 hours from now to travel less than an hour on horseback to solitude?

Nerevar: *realising his anger towards Delphine and the collapse of the blades had gotten the better of him, and the solitary adventuring lifestyle he’d once grown used, get the job done as fast as possible and get paid, to wasn’t fit for the group.* I… *finally notices the heavy bags under voryns eyes* I suppose… we haven’t had a proper rest since we left morthal huh?…

Voryn: *huffs and looks away knowing his moon and star is close to cracking* Since we left Winterhold more like. *stares at him with all three eyes* I’m exhausted, Neht.

Nerevar: … *gets up and walks around the table, lifting him up into his arms bridal style* Then let’s get some rest… we can sleep in tomorrow. I-… I’m sorry my dreamer, my love…

Voryn: *looks away from his gaze for a moment more with a tired pout before finally turning to face him with a long, drawn out sigh* okay, you’re forgiven… *gently strokes his cheek before pulling him down for a kiss* My moon and star…

Nerevar: *smiles gladly returning the kiss* Voryn…

Voryn: …I still want a bath first.

*the next day*

Wyrm: *gripping onto taliesins arm in a state of overstimulation as they set foot into the marketplace of solitude, his mind overwhelmed by the crowds of people far beyond what he’d seen in whiterun or riften, yet still over all at peace, completely oblivious to the execution the rest of the group had witnessed as they entered the city, purely because they blocked it from his view* s-so many stalls, so many people!

Taliesin: I know, it’s a lot to take in isn’t it? *pulls him in closer* shall we do some shopping while we’re here? As- quaint as the rest of skyrim is, they are lacking in adequate fashion choices or- speciality apparel makers.

Nerevar: we don’t have time, it’s nearly noon as we-

Voryn: *suddenly pinches him on the ass shutting him up* I think we’ve earned it. Neht and I will book us our stay at the inn first.

Kaidan: I’ll go check out the fletcher. Inigo?

Inigo: I’m right behind you- then maybe the alchemist? I need something for my fleas.

Kaidan: aye, I’ll need to grab an antidote there if we’re cutting back through that swamp. Especially if you’re going to chase me with a fungal pod again.

Inigo: hehehehehehe~

Taliesin: *glances down at wyrm* Wyrm? Is there anything you’d like to see here?

Wyrm: um?… maybe the bards collage if we have time but… Maybe somewhere I can get prepared for… tonight… *nervously grips onto him tighter*

Taliesin: *nods and gently pulls him in closer* we’ll get everything you need…

Voryn: *smiles reassuringly at Wyrm, easing his mind through their connection, knowing out of everyone here he needs to be the one keeping calm and level headed for his sake* Splendid. We’ll meet back at the inn in 2 hours, if you feel unsafe in any way though, or feel you’re being watched, return sooner.

Everyone: *nods and scatters off through the market, leaving the Hortator and councillor to themselves*

Nerevar: *finally speaks up again, voicing his displeasure* Voryn what are you thinking?! We don’t have time for thi-

Voryn: Wyrm is stressed and worried about tonight. Let them have a few hours to breathe… besides. *looks at the inn* I want to ensure this Caryalind fellow isn’t planning anything…

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 84

Taliesin makes a Bane "Ooooooohhh ..." sound and derails Matt's opening.

Wait, no ad? Oh wait ... they're doing a Speed style Sam advert ... keep reading, Riegel! We don't want to blow up! No! Don't do it, Marisha! You're still so young! It's not worth it!

I jest ... XD

Oh dear ... Marisha has almost been derailed as well after THAT ...

Laura: "We have merch!" She said that in the cutest way possible and I loved it. :3

Guess we'll just have to IMAGINE the Yasha based awesomeness ...

I really CANNOT get enough of those animated titles ... so good ...

Okay, here we go, back to Ruidus ...

So who is THIS then? They seem very cute ...

Friends of the Imperium? Yes? No? Good or bad ... hmmm ... Detect Thoughts? Smart ...

I think he might be getting confused ... hmmm ... Fearne, that seems like a very weird tangent you're going on ... oh, so there IS something going on with his chest? Hmmmm ...

Wait ... is this gonna be like one of those creepy Shadow parasites in Babylon 5?

Dono? Awwww ... "Don't know?" Oh good grief ...

Druidcraft flower ... wait, does he actually KNOW what that actually is?

Whoa ... extra arms? Oh, no ... oh, it's a PET? Some kind of strange Fay creature ... Kaniey? Okay ...

Pate? Oh dear ...

Dreamers? Huh?

Laudna produces her Jrusar theatre card for identification ... oh boy ...

So the Dreamers are just people from Exandria. Okay, makes sense. Cytaa? Hmmmm ... Bormodos. Oh, a symbiotic relationship? Intriguing.

They learned Common through THEIR dreams? Oh, so THEY dream the dreams of Exsandrians ... strange ... also beautiful ...

NSFW ... yeah ... O.O

Capital city? Kreviris? Okay ... centre of the Imperium? Hmmm ...

Entrapment? No ... don't put THAT idea in his head ... Chetney: "Are you a narc?" Oof ...

Wuukors and avadons ... so THOSE are the beasties ...

A dozen Imperium in the town ... on high alert ... pushing them to work harder lately ... yup ...

Elder Barthie? Sounds like the right choice ...

The Weave Mind? Masters of the Imperium ... connects them to THE ONE WHO SLEEPS ... yeah, that would be Predathos ...

Rezora is the town? Got it.

Turning back into clouds ... he's impressed. Cute ... and now he's EXCITED about what he's about? Oh boy ...

Following Dono through the town ... simple place, but it seems quite pleasant and homely too ...

Ah ... military types ... hmmm ... these would be the BAD GUYS, then ...

Know Your Enemy ... go Orym! So these guys are tough, but nothing SUPER major, at least ...

Wow ... Dono is a REALLY bad actor ...

A-ha ... here we go ... smoother than expected, at least ... and they're IN.

Oh, so is the Elder ALREADY onto them? Interesting ... oh, he seems quite sweet, actually ... oh yeah, he clearly knows what's going on ...

Oh boy ... Elder Barthie is basically Jeff Goldblum ... cute ... I love it ... XD

Oh gods, the head ... oh no, Chetney stop that ...

Ah ... yes, tea. This is clearly going to be ... SPECIAL tea ... O.O

He's 300? Okay ...

Oh, so they're a bit like Tolkien's dwarves, then? Cool.

Recent shake-ups? Hmmmmm ... here we go ... the arrival of the Dreamers has become a major disturbance ... interesting ...

Big fat LORE DUMP ...

The Beating Heart, the Dream Keeper ... Predathos by any other names ...

Orym starts growing Druidcraft flowers ... meanwhile Laudna pulls out her ball bearings ... hmmmm ... not sure where THAT'S gonna go ...

The Dominion? Tectus? Hmmmm ...

"Bonobos?" Oh dear ... do not mention the sex monkeys, that can ONLY end in ridiculousness ...

FCG: "We've asked you so many questions! We have a few more!"

Pastries? Oh boy ... here we go ... Chu? Awwwwwwwwww ... :3

Oh man, it TALKS?!!! Fantastic ... and it's SASSY too ...

Laura's dirty mind gets her in trouble, narratively ... XD

Chu calls Chetney "the bushy rat-man" and Ashton loves it.

Chu is a flat Earther ... oh boy ... FCG immediately approves ... clearly Matt is pandering ...

"Worm territory"? Oh dear ...

Willmaster Edmuda? Hmmmm ... apparently she's a nasty piece of work ... lovely ...

Ah, the Volition, yeah ... so they ARE a kind of resistance effort. Great. That's the ticket. Oh, and Bertie has a friend among them? Zhesh? Cool ...

The Treshi ball is still dark ... phew ...

Minor Illusion ... have they seen Ludinus or Otohan? From a distance, apparently ... but not lately ... now Ira ... not him, then. Okay ...

Something of Zhesh's? Oh, are they going to Scry on her? That might work.

Ah yes ... the Flares ... goodie ... the "Beat" of the Heart of the One Who Sleeps ... hmmmm ...

So Imogen wonders if these Flares might help Predathos gain control of the Ruidusborn ... potentially a danger to her and Fearne, then ... hmmmm ... Best watch out for that ...

Laudna: "Do you .. babies?" Oof ... O.O

Matt (As Barthie): "If I could ..." Half the group, together, singing: "TURN BACK TIME!!!" Matt is broken for a few moments ... XD

Good point, IS THERE somewhere to sleep? There's a kind of cellar in this abode. Okay, then.

Working out the next move ...

THERE IS Moon wood! Yay! But not a lot of it ... hmmmmm ... not good for Chetney, then ...

Imogen considers trying a Sending to Zhesh ... hmmmm ...

Someone's coming? On the far side of the village ... causing a bit of a hubbub ... is it a potential problem?

They send Dono to check it out ... okay ...

Imogen reaches out to Zhesh ... she's very subtle about it ... and it DOESN'T cause interference! That's interesting ... she gets a very non-committal answer, but at least she's definitely here.

Imogen mists up to accompany Barthie outside to "see what the commotion is" ... oh wait, someone's already here ...

Crap ... there's a Reiloran at the door. Somebody IMPORTANT, looks like ...

The Willmaster? Shit!

And it's time for a break? NOW?!!! Crap ... WHILE Imogen is transforming, too ... O.O

And we're back ... and proper PANICKING already! AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Are they visible? Are they rolling for Stealth? Crap ... Matt makes them do it ANYWAY ... it's s bit of a mess, looks like ...

Oh yeah, they're pretty much RUMBLED already ...

FCG just tries to bluff ... and casts Fast Friends? Oh fuck ...

Roll Initiative? Of course it is ... AAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Battlemap! Sweet! Cue Sam plugging Wizzkids!

Oh gods ... I have, like, THE WORST feeling about this ... this is probably going to go HORRIBLY ...

TWO MORE ROUNDS before Imogen can even HOPE to turn back to solid? Balls ...

So, do the run or do they FIGHT?!!!

Orym goes under rhe table then pulls Bait and Switch with the Elder, then just HOLDS ready ...

Laudna casts Hex on the Willmaster, then ... Marisha exclaims "SHIT!!!" several times ... then casts Fireball on her AND the Shrikes?! Oh dear fucking gods ... it's at FOURTH Level? Fuck ... 32 Fireball damage each, with 3 extra on the Willmaster ... ouch ...

Wow ... that causes SO MUCH chaos right out the gate ...

Holy fuck, most of the Vanguard just BREAK on the spot ... XD .. and now Laudna just literally EXALTED one of 'em ...

Shit, so that kid just UPGRADED on the spot and casts Telekinesis on her ... lifting her up OFF THE GROUND!!! Crap!

Chetney casts Blood Curse of Binding on the Willmaster ... which doesn't take! Balls... so he produces and activates Turmoil and casts Shatter on her instead, which she SPECTACULARLY fails to resist, inflicting 30 points of Thunder Damage on her AND others behind her ... oof ...

Ashton immediately RAGES!!! Goes monochrome, so increased gravity as he turns into a MINI BLACK HOLE!!! The Shrike that hrkd its action tries to attack him ... oh, this is going to be VERY interesting ... barely TWO points of damage ... so he casts a Teleportation Pad right under him to punt him right into the animal pen! "FUCK OFF!!!" Then attacks the knewly Exalted one and lands some more serious damage.

The Willmaster is IMMEDIATELY dragged towards Ashton, meanwhile instantly takes psychic control of EVERYONE in the village. Oof ... Jagged Dart? Oh hell ... tosses it at Ashton ... DEFINITELY hits ... 22 points of Force Damage! Argh ...

Fearne cats Charm Person on the Willmaster ... who FAILS to resist! Immediately beckons her back inside the hut, and IT WORKS?!!! Or maybe not? Deception check ... which Ashley completely tanks ... balls ... but at least she thinks SHE'S an ally ...

FCG shoots his grapple at the Willmaster ... 15? It hits? Wow ... damn it, one of the locals just JUMPS IN FRONT OF HER to take it instead! Crap ... so he just ducks up half the damage himself in sympathy ... but they're still hurt! Owwwww ... alive but VERY hurt ...

Orym casts Hex on the Willmaster before attacking for NON LETHAL damage! Nice ... oh, he is BATTERING her hard ... even WITH the Meat Shield? Hmmmm ... two get knocked out in the process ... great ... Action Surge to try and Grapple her head! Thanks to Silvery Barbs from Laudna IT WORKS!!! Sweet! Then an elbow to the face lands more Hex damage! Nice ... she's starting to look ROUGH ...

Sam's flask: "REMINDER! Come up Sith flask idea ..." Oh boy ...

Now Orym's taking attacks ... some of it REALLY HURTS ... then two of them just PHASE out of Ashton's sight ... hmmm ...

Laudna casts Mirror Image on herself ... she's stuck hanging in the air, so unleashes a Ray of Frost on the Willmaster ... half speed now! Nice ... plus 15 Frost damage! ALSO nice ...

The new Exalted pulls Laudna out into the open, then hits her with Blight! Oof ... 33 points of Necrotic damage! Ouch ...

2 of them fire crossbows at Laudna, first misses, second hits! 9 points of piercing damage ... she crit fails her concentration, so she loses her Mirror Image.

Chetney wolfs out snd HEADBUTTS the Willmaster ... instead renders another innocent unconscious ... no more Meat Shield means next hit GETS THROUGH, so 9 points of damage! Phew ...

Ashton charges the Willmaster, Raging Recklessly, hits her with the hammer. 24 to hit! Boom! 22 points of damage and HE GETS THE HDYWTDT!!! POW!!! The Willmaster flues 15 feet and is DOWN!!! Orym rides her doen and lands on top.

Everyone INSTANTLY snaps out of the trance ... so they see the chaos and just SCATTER.

The Shrikes just pause and take a beat to check out their opponents.

Fearne casts Scorching Ray on the fleeing foes and one of yhe Shrikes, takes out the runner, inflicts 9 damage on the Shrike. Then she bamfs out Mister.

Imogen is now entirely MIST. She is now ENTIRELY INCAPABLE of any violence ...

FCG casts Calm Emotions on EVERYBODY he can ... BOTH the Shrikes fail to shake it off. He immediately tells them both to CHILL OUT ... which they do! Crazy ... this is good for a WHOLE MINUTE!!!

Orym turns to the Exalted and flings the Hex at him. Goading Attack! First hit misses, second hits! 19 damage and HE gets the HDYWTDT so the kid is KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT!!! Now he rushes one of the Shrikes and holds an attack, ready for next round ...

The Shrikes are now trying to run off with the unconscious Willmaster ... great ... Orym gets an attack of Opportunity, trips one and puts him on the floor ... Calm Emotions is GONE and now they're focused on him for next turn.

Laudna chucks some Eldritch Blasts at the Shrikes, first misses, other 2 HIT!!! 15 and 14 points altogether, and she just MERCS the first one on the spot! Oof ... HDYWTDT indeed ... he's just pancaked ... she attacks the other one, but all three shots miss him ... nuts ...

The beasts stampede out of their pen and folk ate now getting caught and trampled! Oof ...

Chetney just throws himself in their path and saves one local, then goes for the remaining Shrike and attacks him with Turmoil while he's still prone. Wow ... he just CRITS the poor bastard ... HDYWTDT!!! He just opens the guy RIGHT UP!!! Oof ...

Just the few runners left ... Ashton gets in front of the stampede instead and grabs some of the locals, pulls them out of the path of the herd.

Fearne casts Scorching Ray on the runners, Crits one and hits the other two. 10 on the Crit, then 9 each on the others. Oh dear ... yeah, one of them just gull blown COMBUSTS on the spot ...

Imogen floats up to check out what's going on beyond their immediate battlefield. It's just chaos, but more are coming.

FCG casts Stone Shape and creates a ramp over him and the local he's protecting sk they herd doesn't trample them.

Orym uses Seedling to grapple the remaining runner and knocks him out of the spot.

Everybody scatters out of yhe path of the stampede. Meanwhile Chetney just SUPLEXES one of them down snd starts EATING IT ALIVE on the spot ... dear gods ...

Looks like that's it ... time to clean up while they have a chance. Hiding bodies as quickly as they can ...

And that's it for the night ... phew ... that was chaos, but thank fuck it turned out all right ...

[nebulouscoffee]

7, 23, 27, and 33 for the Star Trek ask meme?

Thank you for the ask!

7. Who would make up your crew dream team?

You know, this is something I've thought about before (shoutout to @fancy-a-dance-brigadier for always asking the real questions lol) - but I could never quite find an answer I was satisfied with! Because I don't think taking all my favourites and smushing them together works, they just aren't as interesting together as mixups between characters who have bigger ideological differences. Like, he might be my fav captain but I don't want to choose Sisko over Janeway and Picard, I want to see him interact with Janeway and Picard, you know? So here's a sort of half-cooked, this-would-change-every-time-you-asked-me answer:

Captain: Ben Sisko First Officer: Michael Burnham (I wanna see them interact!!) Chief of Operations: Data Chief Xenoanthropologist: Chakotay (I know this is not an actual position in Star Trek but it should be!! The dude who makes sure dealings with alien cultures are being handled with respect, basically) Chief of Security: La'an Singh (trying to mix and match here) Chief Science Officer: Jadzia Dax (ft. Harry Kim always giving her ideas) Counsellor: Deanna Troi (ft. trainee Ezri Tigan) Chief Medical Officer: Julian Bashir (ft. Kes starting graphic and unhinged conversations about autopsies with him) Chief Engineer: Geordi La Forge (ft. B'Elanna on staff. Drama!!!) Helmsman: Ro Laren Communications: Hoshi Sato Also There: Kira Nerys (recurring character who works with them when it's relevant), Guinan (bartender), Admiral Picard (recurring character that makes Sisko do the iconic "Kai Winn is boarding the station" facepalm), Jake Sisko (son), Garak (local menace), and Admiral Janeway (temporal menace)

23. Favorite tropes?

Character's past comes back to haunt them. Character is forced to confront their inner demons in a way that blurs the line between imagination and reality. Member of an alien society seeks asylum. A peek into the world from the "outsider" character's eyes. Two people from opposite sides are forced to spend time together (and the guest character SLAPS). Captain is out of commission and the unlikeliest people are forced to step up. Oh no the holodeck isn't shutting down and the only way we can save everyone's life is to LARP through this thing fully committing to the bit. Here is a spacial anomaly that makes everyone act weird one by one (either revealing important hidden truths about the characters, or just letting the actors have too much fun). ALL of us have to go back in time together for some stupid reason (and it's amazing)

27. What do you wish they had handled differently?

SO many potential answers- but since it's always on my mind, I wish they'd followed through on the thread of Jem'Hadar dissent. In 'The Abandoned' we find out they're genetically engineered to (rapidly) grow very strong, be dependant on drugs, and loyal to the Founders while demanding no individual rights, which frames them as tragic victims. Then we get a Jem'Hadar character who not only broke free of the Dominion's hold on him, not only expresses but also acts on the dream of freeing his fellow soldiers- and a lead character (Julian) risks his career for him! Sisko tries to get through to them in 'Rocks and Shoals'. They're so clearly complex beings with unique thoughts & personalities & feelings & needs, and are constantly fighting this inhumanely imposed programming that tells them they're just killing machines who live to serve their masters. Even in lighthearted episodes like 'One Little Ship' we see conflict between the Gamma and Alpha Quadrant soldiers, for example. We could've had this be relevant to the Dominion War's resolution! We could've had a defector Jem'Hadar as a recurring character! We could've had Julian finally make that breakthrough & help start a Jem'Hadar revolt!! It could've been so much more interesting (and so much less racist)

33. Whose twitter feed would you most want to follow?

My first instinct was Dax, but I'm leaning more towards Jake Sisko- I feel like because he's the son of a Starfleet officer (but not in the service himself) he'd have absolutely zero fear of authority & he'd just post the most savage things about prominent Starfleet officers and blow up incredibly unflattering pics of all the admirals lol

[scotianostra]

Thomas, Lord Erskine was born January 10th 1750. During his lifetime he became Britain's foremost advocate, through his defence of people accused of treason and corruption.

His defence of Thomas Paine, accused of high treason for his work, The Rights of Man, cost him his position as Attorney General to the Prince of Wales. Later, Erskine totally alienated George IV by defending Queen Caroline against the king's attempt to deprive her of her rights and title.

Rather go into all the boring education, career stuff I will focus more on the man, the character, for I think Lord Erskine was a bit of a character, he had a favourite dog with him at all his consultations in Chambers a favourite a large Newfoundland dog called "Toss". He taught it to sit upon a chair in chambers with his paws placed before him on the table. Erskine would put an open book before him, a wig upon his head and one of his advocate's bands around his neck. What his clients thought of this exhibition we do not know, but it is unlikely that they would have forsaken him for another counsel.

He was obviously an animal lover a dog he kept by him was one he had rescued from some boys in the street when they were about to kill it. Later, on March 2, 1811, he sent a bitch to a fellow peer with a note to say that, "her name is Lucky and may all good luck attend your Lordship".

He also had a pet goose which followed him about in his grounds, a macaw and a great many other dumb friends. He even had two special leeches which he believed had saved his life when he was ill and which he called his "bottle conjurors". These he kept in a glass and, he said, he gave them fresh water every day and had formed a friendship with them. He would often argue the likely result of a case on how they swam or crawled.

Erskine said he was sure they both knew him and were grateful to him. They were called "Home" and "Cline" after two celebrated surgeons with quite different dispositions. He amassed the company at a party given at his villa in Hampstead, near "The Spaniard's Inn", by talking about his regard for animals and, in particular, those to whom he was attached. He then produced the leeches in their glass which he placed upon the table. It was impossible, however, wrote Samuel Romilly who was present, "without the vivacity, the tones, the details, and the gestures of Lord Erskine, to give an adequate idea of this singular scene".

He introduced into the Lords a Bill for the prevention of malicious and wanton cruelty to animals, saying that it was a subject very near to his heart. Disgusting outrages, which he said

"were too painful to describe, were being perpetrated upon animals whilst the law did nothing. This was because animals were considered only as property. They were entirely without protection from cruelty and they had no rights. Yet man's dominion over them was not given by God for their torture but as a moral trust.

Nature had provided the same organs and feelings for enjoyment and happiness to animals as to man -- seeing, hearing, feeling, thinking, the sensations of pain and pleasure, love, anger and sensibility to kindness. Such creatures might have been created for man's use but not for his abuse. Towards them, as in all other things, men's duties and interests were inseparable. Extending humanity to animals would have a most powerful effect on men's moral sense and upon their feelings and sympathies for each other."

When the speech was published as a pamphlet, its editor suggested in the Preface that it should be introduced to families and schools and deserved to be circulated "among the lower classes of society by the clergy, and by all moral and pious persons'.

When the Bill was in its Committee stage, Erskine pointed out that during his 30 years of Parliamentary life he had never before proposed any alteration in the law. He still had no wish, he said, to link a statute with his name; he had a better motive. If the Bill were enacted, it would not only be an honour to the country but would mark an era in the history of the world. In the event, the House of Commons proved not to be ready for animal rights and the Bill was defeated but eventually went through in 1809.

Lastly and briefly, perhaps our Lord Erskine was also a wee bit of a romantic, he survived his first wife, Frances, she passed away in 1805 after 35 years of marriage, on October 12, 1818 he married Sarah Buck in Gretna Green, he was 20 years her senior.

It is said he never missed a day in court and led a very healthy life but in 1823 Erskine set out by sea on a visit to Scotland with one of his sons, hoping to see his brother the Earl of Buchan. But he became ill with a chest infection on the journey and was put ashore at Scarborough.

He managed to travel to the home of his brother Henry's widow in Almondell in West Lothian, where they were joined by the earl. He died at Almondell on 17 November 1823 and was buried in the family burial-place at Uphall in present day West Lothian.