#; wipes sweat from brow

[ultbot]

sometimes the most heartwarming group of people are two weird little freaks and the third who thinks he's better than that but really isn't.

XTRA!

[urmomsfavelesbian]

*checks notes* step on me

[druidgroves]

*plays with their genetics like sims*

ft. old man shaun

[bybloods]

*  ♔  ◟     (   kit  harington,   thirty,   cis  man,   he/him   )     the  capital  of  king’s  landing  welcomes  domeric  of  house  tully,  the  lord  of  riverrun.  news  borne  by  raven  sends  word  that  they  are  reputed  to  be  resolute,  but  with  the  eyes  of  court  watching  their  every  move,  they  might  prove  to  be  nihilistic.  when  songs  are  sung,  their  verses  speak  of  river  water  dripping  from  anointed  curls  like  teardrop  -  shaped  jewels,  callused  hands  that  bumble  in  every  task  other  than  bloodshed,  the  suffocating  feeling  of  others'  perception  that  descends  with  daybreak,  and  the  knowledge  that  love  is  the  deathplace  of  duty.  whispers  throughout  the  seven  kingdoms  claim  that  their  allegiance  lies  with  themselves,  where  they  conspire  to  leave  the  grey  of  the  riverlands  behind  for  once  and  for  all.  but  in  the  end,  fealty  means  little  when  you  play  the  game  of  thrones.

⋆ BASIC INFORMATION .

full name:  domeric tully.  nickname:  dom, to family.  official title:  lord of riverrun.   moniker(s):  the leech, formerly the sweet.  age:   thirty.   date of birth:  the third day of the seventh moon, 71 ac. gender & pronouns:  cis man, he/him.    allegiance:  house tully, but selfishness is often his pitfall. spoken languages:  common tongue. religion:  raised in the faith of the seven, but privately believes in no gods.

⋆ PHYSICAL TRAITS .

eyes:  dark brown, almost black.  hair:  dark and thick, a trait he shares with his eldest sister. curly, worn long, almost to his shoulders and rarely properly tamed.  dominant hand:  left, but he has long been ambidextrous when it comes to weaponry.   height:  five foot ten.  build:   stocky, well - muscled, unfortunate posture.   notable features:  his left arm is slightly crooked from a dislocated elbow that didn't quite heal right.

⋆ PERSONALITY TRAITS .

positive:  resolute, empathetic, dogged, watchful.  negative:  nihilistic, unforgiving, embittered, feckless, selfish.  moral alignment:  chaotic neutral.   favoured weapon:  a steel bastard sword called duty, inherited from his mother's grandfather.  interests:   hunting, swordsmanship, forging (though he isn't any good at it).   fears:  being disavowed by his family, murky waters.

⋆ FAMILY TIES .

father:  lord oscar tully (d. 6 months ago).  mother:  lady arwyn tully née tba (d. 21 years ago).  siblings:  ruling lord eris tully, lady rosemund tully, lady olynna tully, lady tba tully.   birth order:  third born, second in line for riverrun.  status:   unmarried, unbetrothed.   children:  none.

⋆ BACK STORY .

he was such a sweet child — a phrase that haunts tea rooms and ladies' prayer circles. domeric tully was brought forth from his mother's womb a screaming miracle. it was thought that lady arwyn would bear no further children  — none, at least, that would come to her in blood and sweat. the lady was just as pleased with her son as she had been with two children prior, doting upon him as she had them, funnelling her motherly devotion into her baby son so that he might grow to be kind, well - mannered, and good above all. DEATH OF A PARENT TW: curly - headed and pink - cheeked, domeric had set out to do just that. he was tender - hearted and soft — the kind of boy who would never see battle for he could not stand to stomach it. time hardened him as it does all people, yes, but it was his mother's death that began his shift in disposition. it was if he lost his reflection — the person that he'd looked to to decipher right from wrong. he grew sullen and quiet, a smile never eked onto his features without great effort. lessons of past war that had previously disquieted him now elicited no reaction. he put his toys aside one evening, and that evening stretched into forever. he threw himself into his lessons, into making up for the combat training that he'd put off the first few years he was deemed old enough by riverrun's maester. in front of the eyes of his family, domeric the sweet left said moniker behind. DROWNING TW: the day he fell into the river had been a grey one — of course, all days in the riverlands were grey since war had tamped down its lush greenness in earnest. the water had been opaque with brown silt, dirt rushing into his eyes, mouth and nose as he tumbled in the current. one second, he had been stood on lichen - smothered rocks on the riverbed, and the next he'd been in the water, elbow burning from being knocked into rocks. he'd always known how to swim — it was a prerequisite of being born to the riverlands. but the red fork was merciless that day, and by the time he'd pulled himself one - armed from the water, he'd decided that he held no love for the place he'd been born. embittered, sporting a wounded pride bolstered by the moniker that'd spread throughout the riverlands like wyldfyre, domeric was only held to riverrun by his enduring love for his siblings. their people called him the leech, a product of his former moniker misheard in the din of a tavern alongside the tumblestone. as he began to draw blood in battle on the borders of the riverlands, the misnomer stuck. for years now, he has brooded in riverrun, haunting the keep like a malevolent ghost. he wishes to leave, but cannot bear to do so without his siblings. marriage scarcely an escape tactic available to a man so sullen and scathing, he's begun to consider joining the night's watch — the wall's grey a preferable shade to the one that covers the riverlands. but the decision is a hard one, and domeric is not so unfeeling as the river people claim in drunken tales and song.

[tyzfol]

much better than like 50

[asfodeltide]

[artbyfuji]

lumberjack summer request for @basicallytravus 🤗 part of the ongoing @rwbygotcha4gaza event so be sure to check it out!

[astystole]

so, a vengeful heart-eater and an all-seeing witch walk into a bar wearing @sentate's spite collection...

[sco07ut]

as a general rule of thumb, making a furry au of my current interest is usually only a matter of time

[worstloki]

MCU shouldn’t have gone with a ‘you’re stronger than you realized’ type plot for Loki that’s rubbish instead they should have gone for the ‘yeah no sorry I don’t know what I’m capable of you may wonder why but it’s because I’ve been exhausted this whole time yeah just not functioning right between the sleep issues the torture and the making sure Thor stays alive and that last ones been going on for a long time now’

[glimborgus]

quick n rough sketches of joker from fighter’s destiny

[mattodore]

matthias's face card is so insane here i almost didn't notice that his hair got chewed up by gshade

[mwebber]

MARTIAN'S MATCHING PORSCHE 911 GT2 RS CARS: A MASTERPOST

are you ready to feel parasocial about a pair of matching porsches, one of which may or may not even exist? you've come to the right place!

SECTIONS:

what is the 2010 Porsche 911 GT2 RS?

what's been said about the matching cars

timeline

unanswered questions and speculation

WHAT IS THE 2010 PORSCHE 911 GT2 RS?

well, it's her (source in watermark)

though she's been upstaged by her counterparts in the last decade, at the time, the gt2 rs was the most powerful road car porsche had ever built. only 500 were made. one of which, as we all know, came into the paws of one mark webber--another, presumably, found a home in sebastian vettel's garage. why do i say presumably? well..

WHAT'S BEEN SAID ABOUT THE MATCHING CARS

rather than making you squint at a bunch of screencaps, i'm just going to copy and paste the quotes that are out there..

“[The 911 GTS RS] is a beast! It’s got biblical power – the amount of torque is phenomenal. Sebastian [Vettel] bought one as well back in the day, we bought one together pretty much and I think he’s had a few tricky moments in his! They’re proper machines, those things. I think the engine’s probably a little bit big for the body, but in the right hands she’s a machine!” Red Bull. july 28, 2016.

Webber said he shopped for a new ride with teammate Sebastian Vettel and both agreed that the Porsche made the most sense. He's extremely happy with the GT2's performance, comfort and race car-like driving dynamics. Auto123, date unknown. the video in question

“I think it was around Monaco Grand Prix time, [Red Bull teammate] Sebastian Vettel and I were looking at some cars,” Webber said. “I’m not big on my road cars, to be honest, but when we started talking about this one it was a no-brainer.” But instead of pulling any strings using his formula one fame, Webber reportedly strolled into a UK Porsche dealer to order his new wheels personally. Drive. October 7, 2016.

“As a young guy, growing up in Australia, the Porsche 911 was definitive. I remember talking to Sebastian Vettel when the GT2 came out, about the power, the way it looked. He said, ‘what do you reckon?’ I said, ‘we should both get one’, so we did. If you take a 911 to a track day it’s the car that’s running around out there still working, with its brakes still working, at the end of the day. It’s a Porsche. You know that. We all know that. Brakes are important, you know." Top Gear Malaysia. date unknown, but since the headline is "mark webber has retired from racing," i'm going to pin it at sometime around november, 2016

“… Monte Carlo Grand Prix, 2010. I was sitting with Sebastian Vettel, and we were looking at the new 997 GT2 RS. And he said, ‘Shit, we need to buy one of those, you know?’ And I said, ‘yeah, we need—both of us.’ So I think that night, Monaco, after qualifying, we, uh. I didn’t outqualify Seb often, but that day, lucky, I kicked his ass, I was on pole position and he was not qualifying that well. And I said, ‘you still gonna buy the 911?’ And he said, ‘yeah, we should buy it.’ So he got a black one, I got a white one...” fan video from the weekend of oct 2-3, 2021.

and though nothing was mentioned about matching cars, they're driving the same model (DEFINITELY different car though, one purchased by the red bull ring) in the now-famous martian taxi drivers instagram post, where mark says, “At the end of the day we even drove each other for a few laps. That’s the biggest bloody endorsement a street car can have, F1 drivers wanting to do more laps for the own pleasure😉👌🏽” april 24, 2020. this is the only allusion to the car i can find that is not only from 2010, but also shows that seb so much as touched a 2010 porsche 911 gt2 rs.

now, you may ask, why are you being so cagey about seb and his porsche?

well, the thing is. sebastian vettel has not so much as breathed a WORD to the media about owning a porsche 911, much less matching one with mark. as far as i can tell from the numerous searches i've done, anyway. everything we know about their matching porsches has come from mark.

TIMELINE

so with that, let's piece it together:

some point on thurs/fri of the monaco gp (may 13 or 14, 2010): martian see the 911 and they're like. hot damn. seb says what do u think. mark says let's get one each.

saturday (may 15): mark beats seb in qualifying, then gloatingly asks if seb is still in the mood to buy the porsche. and because seb is insane, he says yes.

some unidentified point in the future, likely in the break between monaco and turkey because i sincerely doubt mark was in the mood to go car shopping with seb after that (may 16-26): they buy the porsches. mark buys a white one, seb buys a black one.

2016: they don't speak about this to anyone in the media until mark retires from racing for good. when questioned about his favourite porsche cars, only THEN does he even mention that this car matching business took place at all. and, unprompted, repeats this story to multiple news outlets when asked about the 911.

we're faced with several years of silence until 2021, when the story pops up again.

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS AND SPECULATION

have you ever thought it weird that something as clinically insane as matching cars with your rival was never given more media attention than a passing few lines in some articles? somehow, either nobody has asked about the fact that Thee most fractious relationship in contemporary f1 bought matching cars, or they DID ask and were effectively muzzled, which is telling in and of itself. and check the dates: 2016. 2016. 2016. 2020. 2021. they did not only keep this under wraps until mark retired and became a full time porsche #influencer. one of them is either STILL KEEPING IT UNDER WRAPS...

... or doesn't have the car at all.

does seb even own this porsche? why have we only heard of it from mark's mouth? there are so many articles on ~road cars f1 drivers own~ but none of them even mention seb having it. so what's the truth? did he never buy one and only tell mark he did? does it stay dusty under a cover in his garage, never to see the light of day? did he buy it and then immediately sell it/give it away after turkey? or because it was like, purposefully to match with mark, is it one of the things he's Sentimental about that he's viciously protective of and keeps out of the spotlight?

mark goes into detail and says that seb got a black porsche, so that must mean that it EXISTS? surely?? well, we take that for granted, but we may never actually know.

another thing: notice how in the Drive article, mark reportedly went to a uk dealership in person to order the car? if he and seb bought them together, does that mean they also went to the dealership... together? and if we take this to be true, does that then mean they physically went to a porsche dealership in the uk just weeks before they collided in turkey and their relationship tripped and fell off a cliff? or did they go separately in person, or did only mark go in person and seb order through connections?

yet another thing: in the "Mark Webber and his 911 GT2 RS" video linked above next to auto123, he drives a black 911 and seems to imply that the car is his: "i'm definitely not gonna be parting with this one." but the car is black. and he says he got a white one. WHAT? [EDIT: the one in the video may be the 2011 model and not the 2010 model he bought with seb]

AND ANOTHER THING TO NOTE: while the internet was surely a Widespread Phenomenon in 2010, there may very well have been printed news about the matching cars that never got digitally archived. unfortunately i do not have a time machine, so that's up in the air for now.

but that's it! that's everything we know about martian's matching porsches. i will be updating this post as more info comes to light, so if i've missed anything, pls let me know!

[nostalgia-tblr]

fancy thinking jewels and gowns don't work as symbols of authority. imagine not making the link between wealth and power. couldn't be me. couldn't be any number of monarchs displaying their authority on their bodies. look at this absurdly expensive frock my wife is wearing. it's worth as much as your house. kneel, peasant, and kiss the hem of her luxurious garment. you're lucky, the next sumptuary laws will ban you from being in the same room as crimson silk.

[yuelun]

This will one day be a much larger post (I've already started working on it) as thoughts and details settle, but I wanted to make some quick notes (who am I kidding, this won't be a short post) here so that you guys know where my thoughts are. Just as I personally also ascribe (though I do not assume people to do the same, of course!) to the theory of ZL being a Sun-King (and potential brother to) alongside King Deshret and then Remus and/or Decarabian for numerous reasons after personally researching it myself, I also am being faced with too many coincidences when it comes to Guizhong possibly being one of the three moon sisters (or at the very least, a Seelie), who I believe to be part of a 'Seven' alongside the aforementioned four Sun-kings. Which, if the returning and reinforced leaks of Guizhong's likelihood of playability is to even be roughly taken as a possibility, then there needs to be reason for it. There's a popular theory that the Moon Sisters were shades of the Primordial One alongside Istaroth, if that is true, there may be reason in there to bring her back (even for the Tsaritsa), considering I feel like a big endgame next to the arc of Khaenri'ah, is/will be a faceoff with Celestia. Any way, this is a little incoherent, but let me put down a little list of things I want to touch on, but just can't write the full post of yet. These are just my little (ha!) thoughts.

Edit: Nevermind, it got long, it's very long, but if you like your lore and you're interested in knowing how looney deep I went with this, keep on reading! I will however, be making more parts to this as I continue on and gather lore bits. I also like documenting my journey of meta, so I can see what I thought six months prior, you know? Enjoy!

The Chasm. I'll forever stay stuck on how this part of the 'Stories of Remote Antiquity' OST plays during Guizhong's death scene. Our beloved Hoyoverse doesn't do anything by coincidence, they never once have. If they wanted to do something tragic, there are other Liyue OSTs out there that will punch you in the gut equally as much if not more. But this? This is oddly intentional. Ever since, I've been trying to figure out any potential ties to it, and with the Chenyu Vale theory out and about, claiming Guizhong to be the unnamed god (female and ever kind) that the three adepti served, another tie may be created through the fact that the people from Chenyu Vale originate from the Chasm (there's numerous tidbits as to why people tie her to Chenyu; I'd suggest the video, it's easier for now!). I also think, on some level, that if she is tied to the origins of the Chasm in some way, that it was her "descension" (or 'fall') that led to its unique creation. I don't know how the dots connect, but I've identified the dots, kind of, maybe.

The insane references to the night/moon. Her color scheme, the night sky in her sleeves, and the fact that she is inherently tied to the Glaze Lilies (which are known to bloom only at night). Furthermore, if you recognize and/or adhere to the fact that the Rite of Parting does not contain ingredients that befit Rex Lapis but instead seem to very much align with her, then there's also the Noctilucous Jade (I literally just realized that it's jade) which is known to glow at night. And then there's her inventions, which are all golden and sun-like in color scheme and I think of that line of lore about the Moon Sisters: "These three luminous moons shared but one love, the stars of daybreak." Daybreak, gold, golden, light, the sun. I'm losing my mind as I'm typing this. Any way, I digress, Noctilucous Jade is found underground, in caverns and more specifically, is rather abundant in the Chasm (my dearly detested). I've accepted that I just have an affinity to characters who seem to have either a direct or indirect tie to this place. I'll never escape it, I'll become one of its victims. /breathes, let me move onto the next point.

The Glaze Lilies. Now, while we know the Goddess of Flowers isn't a Moon Sister (this'll get tied in, I promise, please try to follow me here), the fact that she is a Seelie is important enough, for the three Moon Sisters were said to have lived alongside the race of the Seelies. This might mean some shared traits. Now even Seelies are noted to have an intricate tie to the moon, and a thing that the Goddess of Flowers was known for, was that when she danced, Padisarah flowers bloomed under her feet. 'But Sae, the Glaze Lilies didn't bloom when Guizhong danced', no no, I'll get there. It was specifically when she danced, or was around them. What I'm doing is tying these flowers to her more specifically, which is further enforced by the fact that after the Goddess of Flowers died, the Padisarahs dwindled in number until they became fully extinct. The ones you see today are not the real ones, they are replications created by Rukkhadevata herself in memory of her former friend. I note this, because a similar thing has occurred to the Glaze Lilies. In the aftermath of Guizhong's death, the Glaze Lilies that once populated the Guili Plains and Dihua Marsh have dwindled into extinction, and the only reason why they are found in Liyue today in some capacity, is because of Morax' direct influence (last few lines; and yes, I'm aware this is 'unreleased canon' at present, but none in this contradicts our current lore in any way, so I bear no qualms in making even loose use of it), but this seems to also insinuate that the Glaze Lilies that we see today, are not the real ones. So in essence, when the moment of the departure/death of the Goddess of Flowers came about, a specific flower associated with her came to perish as well. Is it a concept of, if the creator (one tied so intricately to the moon) is gone, do her creations wither away much in the same way? Now to mention one final thing, is the flower that most closely resembles the Glaze Lily: the Nilotpala Lotus. Not only do they share a color palette and very similar design, they share the peculiar behavior of blooming only at night, when subjected to the light of the moon itself. Now the most important thing to note here, is that the Nilotpala Lotuses were literally created and bloomed when the Moon Sisters stepped foot into Teyvat. One could, in essence, see the two flowers as 'lunar flowers'. Listen, I've never quite liked coincidences.

Dust. Now, this is a little more of a 'loose' connection and also me slightly rambling about something else that intrigues me to the moon and back (no pun intended), but it has my mind going insane nonetheless. Also, the very end is a reach, I'm aware, we know next to nothing about the Shades. Any way, Guizhong is inherently tied to two things: dust and alchemy. And these two become even more important when combined. Now, you'll have to strap in and wait for the little 'tie-in' at the end, because this can take a little bit. Her God name is 'Haagentus', which stems from Haagenti, one of the demons from the Ars Goetia. Within demonology, Haagenti is firmly tied to alchemy and transmutation, and while I'm not going to focus too much on specifics outside of the game, it is noted that 'he makes men wise by instructing them in every subject, transmutes all metals into gold, and changes wine into water and water into wine.' Sound fitting enough already, no? Now, outside of her name, let me hone in on some really clear alchemy references that you can find on and around her person. When you look at her design, Guizhong has numerous accessories that seem to be very closely resembling alchemy keys or symbols of some kind (this is not my area of expertise, but I will make it so if need be after this post, unless someone recognizes these symbols), primarily the 'pin' that holds the main portion of her hair back, a tattoo on her upper back, the 'petals' on her sleeves, and what has me most intrigued are the following two things: the symbols actively floating around her (and for clarity, see her cutscene, timestamped, shows them to be animated and coming from her and not the Cleansing Bell), and her anklet in a similar shape (which also seems to be a unique design in Genshin so far). Now, with alchemy established, let me hound on something that ties dust into alchemy, and what it means within Teyvat. Yes, I'm going to touch on its importance within the Art of Khemia, an advanced form of alchemy that is said to have been closely tied to Khaenri'ah (and might I note: Guizhong is noted to have numerous Ruin Guards, Khaenri'an technology, in her domain roughly 2000 years before they ever reached the surface of Teyvat's). Any way, this is where I need to touch on Albedo's character details, specifically the following:

"The universe is heaven reversed, and the earth is a dream lost to time. This is dust, the most basic form of complex life." As if to provide evidence for this claim, Albedo lifted the burnt ash of the flower that once grew atop a Dendro Slime's head. Seconds later, a Cecilia sprouted forth from the ash in his hand. "And this... is new birth."

And then from the caption in Collected Miscellany - "Albedo: Kreideprinz":

"Soil and chalk, the universe and earth, pure dust and the birth of human life... There is no mistaking it."

A little tie to the creation of life, interesting, indeed. Alright, now while it's not canon by any means, it is a popular enough theory that the Moon Sisters were three (out of four) of the Primordial One's Shades. And one of them is noted to have been in part responsible for the creation of life. Now I'm not tying this Shade into Guizhong, but I'm simply drawing the potential importance of her title of 'God of Dust' into the equation, or simply to reiterate the importance of dust within the existence of Teyvat as a whole as it stands today. And what it might mean if she was indeed, a Moon Sister (to tie into this, the 'Sun-Kings' are also firmly tied to the creation of life; I believe most of this 'generation' of gods would be). Anyway, continuing!

Now, there is a reference (which I do have to note is a legend and nothing more, but we'll take it to heart) that tells me that it's certain that at least two Moon Sisters are 'confirmed' dead, by account of there being only one moon left in Teyvat's sky, instead of three. The legend notes that two 'shattered into dust' (hello, dust) and subsequently disappeared which seems to be indicative of their death, and one secluded herself within the Lunar Palace and was never seen again. Now the tale of legends recounts that the moon we still see is tied to the corpse of a Moon Sister, but how has that one endured when the other two have not? There are no remains of the other two, why not? Unless the third Moon Sister didn't actually die, or 'fully' die. Bear with me, this is where it gets very hypothetical, but it makes enough sense in my head, I'm mostly just having issues putting all of this into proper words. The reference given above is from Moonpiercer, an Aranara weapon. These little green friends had seen the Moon Sisters descend into Teyvat multiple times (we know this, due to the much earlier referenced blooming of the Nilotpala Lotuses), and at one point no longer saw them come down. Whatever 'calamity' occurred during which the Moon Sisters were said to have died, the Aranara reference that they died, and noted the way in which they perished, but unless this information was given to them by the envoys between Teyvat and Celestia, the Seelies, this would have consisted of pure speculation and assumption. After all, everything returns to dust, even deities such as the Moon Sisters. What if that's exactly what happened with the third Moon Sister? What if her death never occurred, or, what if the death was more symbolical in a sense of, she strayed from that level of divinity, what if she fell from the Lunar Palace and landed in... the Chasm? The place that is said to have been created by a large impact to its region, and later on also was the location of the fall of the Solar Chariot?

In essence, yes, I'm making the argument that Haagentus might just be this specific Moon Sister. 'But Sae, she's dead now, isn't she?' Yes, but look at the condition that she's in upon her death: she is encased in stone, fully petrified (and who is the only one we know to wield such power?), and even the dust that abandoned her, is encased overhead (again, a power we see Zhongli wield during the final cutscene in Perilous Trail without barely lifting a finger). What if the only reason that the final moon has not gone out and dark over Teyvat, is because her remains have been tied to the lands by Zhongli himself, who if you ascribe to the theory of Sun-King Zhongli, has even more reason to not let her go?

/munches on a cookie as a little reward for myself for managing to finish all of this semi-coherently, and gives you a cookie for having gotten through all of this.

[decayedraven]

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