#(i also think he loves earth and its people but his loyalties are to /his/ people and THEIR safety at the end of the day)

[magnusmodig]

||. it's 2AM and I'm thinking yet again about my headcanons about Thor taking the throne and rebuilding for his people post!EG because thank you but I refuse marvel's canon and I will substitute it for my own. My notes are under the cut:

Earth's Asgardian settlement is called ASGARDIA and while it does function as a pretty solid Asgard-Meets-Earth destination for the sake of interacting and sharing knowledge with humans, it is a temporary dwelling place. This is decidedly intentional on Thor's part. He loves Earth. He has no intention of having his people live on another species' planet.

That said: he would endeavor for Asgardia something of a Safe Haven not just for Asgardians but for other alien species that need assistance across the Nine Realms and beyond. It would remain as such even after Thor and his people relocate to a new planet.

Speaking of new planets (even though it's hardly the point): "New Asgard" (though usually just named 'asgard') is the future planet Thor will find that has as many features as the og!Asgard as possible. (waterways, waterfalls, rivers, seas, timeless dimension, primarily spring-like temperatures, etc.) The Avengers didn't let Thor just recreate his home planet for no good reason so he'll just find a new one.

The "palace" of Asgardia is called the Royal Hall of Bilskirnir (Bilskirnir = lightning crack; it's Thor's hall in norse mythos).

Bilskirnir + Asgardia looks like this concept art. I'd imagine it mixes Earth's resources with Vanir resources, specifically, which is how they're able to reproduce such advanced technology so quickly.

Asgardia is not a part of Norway and abides by its own rules.

Asgardia typically stays tucked away and remains something of an isolationist country. Exceptions include: working closely with the Norweigan government, S.H.I.E.L.D., and occasionally foraying with Wakanda and the U.N. ... but typically only when it has to. Otherwise, the Asgardians want to be left alone.

Asgardia is heavily guarded and fortified, even if it is friendly to the native humans surrounding them. They do not want trouble, and they don't want to cause a fuss. But they've also been through too much, and their people's survival comes first.

Bilskirnir serves as the people's primary shelter in the case of war or calamity. As such, it is the most fortified location in the entirety of Asgardia. It is fortified by a golden energy shield and features plenty of evacuation tunnels. The entrances to these tunnels are only known to the Asgardians who live there.

Bilkskirnir itself is kept secure by the newly reformed Einherjar (which Thor would want spearheaded by Sif and Brunnhilde respectively, assuming that they would accept the positions.) The Einherjar ensure that not just anyone can get into the Hall.

Most of Asgardia's income on Earth is through trade routes and bartered goods. Crops and seafood namely. Never Asgardian weapons, sciences, etc. Part of that is because they need to reconstruct everything from the ground up and so quite a bit of information was lost. The other part is the last thing Asgardians need is the threat of S.H.I.E.L.D. or other nosy human government agencies to come knocking at their doors trying to get their technology. Especially given the humans' penchant for war and destruction. It probably wasn't a sole Thor decision, but he also wouldn't disagree. (I don't think he trusts humans to not be xenophobic.)

Asgardians occasionally might offer sell-sword practices. Personal guards, hunters, trackers, fighters, etc. They're the sort you call in when someone gets hurt or goes missing while cave exploring. What they will not do is join any militaristic efforts. I'd imagine even Thor chooses to stay away from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers as a whole unless it's a cataclysmic event.

While Asgardia does have a small tourist hall for people who would like to know the basics of Asgardian culture, it is not the selling point that the Asgardians push for themselves. They absolutely do not turn Asgardia into a tourist trap. Tourism would be kept to specific days and months of the year. Asgardians are a people, not aquarium fish.

If tourism were to become popular, it would be of its own merit, and never exploited. Likely, Asgardia's charm would come from its natural scenery, "medieval/fantasy themeing" and general mystique.

Overall, Asgardia could be considered relatively quiet for the most part. Thor would focus his efforts on stabilizing his people and providing for them as much as he can, while keeping their values, customs, technology and culture as intact as he possibly can.

[etaleah]

I’ve been thinking a lot about Shadow’s characterizations in the Project: Shadow fan film, SA2, Archie, Heroes, ‘06, Prime, and Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog and why they’re all considered among the best. And I’ve been thinking about his characterizations in IDW and Boom, how they’re considered among the worst, and how much they clash with the other portrayals. I think I’ve hit upon the number one quality that Shadow needs to have to be written well.

Loyalty.

I’ll explain below the cut.

The best Shadow is one who is loyal to someone or something. Maybe he’s not always loyal to the right someone or something, but he is loyal nonetheless. It’s a core part of his character. He is ride or die to the very end for whatever friend or cause he cares about. Shadow is always ready to kill or be killed for whatever or whoever matters to him most; it’s what sets him apart from the others. The others have limits on their loyalty. Sonic will help you out, but he’s not gonna kill a man for you. Shadow will. He doesn’t have that limit. If you are Shadow’s friend and you need him to kill for you, he will do it. Period.

Here’s a recap of Shadow’s loyalty:

In SA2 and the fan film, it’s to Maria, and to a lesser extent, Gerald.

In Heroes and ‘06, it’s to Team Dark.

In Archie, it’s to Team Dark, Hope Kintobor, and Commander Tower. Sometimes it’s even to his own values like when he goes against Rouge to help Blaze in Treasure Team Tango.

In Sonic X, it’s to Maria and later Molly. Maybe even to the universe, given that he’s ready to kill Cosmo to save it.

In Prime, it’s to Green Hill. And later on, Shadow is also loyal to Sonic despite the latter driving him crazy.

In Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, it’s to Amy.

And in his own game, Shadow can be loyal to Maria, Sonic and friends, Eggman (up to a point), Black Doom, or even Earth itself. Not all of those folks are worth his loyalty, but the fact is that Shadow still cares about fighting by their side. That key element of his personality remains.

And that’s what’s missing in Boom and IDW. Because in those, he isn’t loyal to anything. He isn’t ride or die for anyone. At least, not that we can tell. When you remove Shadow’s faithfulness to those he loves, you remove a lot of what makes him who he is and all that’s left is an edgy aesthetic that soon wears out its welcome because there isn’t anything to supplement it. And this is made worse by the fact that they’re never allowed to bring up or expand his backstory, so they can’t ever talk about why he’s like this.

I guess you could make the argument that Shadow is loyal to the world in IDW since he helps save it a few times, but he’s so mean and heartless to everyone in the world that it feels less like he’s fighting to protect other people and more like he’s just trying to save his own house so he still has a place to live. I mean, if he won’t help Rouge when she’s been kidnapped by Starline and he won’t help Omega when the latter has been smashed to bits and he won’t help the Chao get out of their cage and he actually has to be talked into saving a village from an avalanche and he seems to really dislike/be annoyed by everyone he comes into contact with…what exactly is he saving the Earth for?? It can’t be for the people living in it. He hates them. He doesn’t care if they need his help. So the only conclusion I can draw is that he’s just doing it to save his own skin. The only person Shadow shows even the slightest bit of loyalty to is himself.

And that makes him unrecognizable from the Shadow we know and love.

His loyalty is his greatest virtue, even when it’s misguided. Let him keep it.

[forgotn1]

I've been watching the Expanse for the first time over the last couple of weeks. Just finished episode three of season six and holy shit, it's so good. Easily one of the best sci-fi series ever produced. I'm just disappointed they didn't do the last three books and truncated the sixth season. One of this show's strengths was its pacing and how it was able to tell a compelling story while also doing incredibly deep and brilliant worldbuilding.

The Belter society is amazing, especially the Belter Creole they speak. Which was invented and fleshed out specifically for this show. I love how it parallels the poor and working class here in our world and the exploitation they face. It's brilliant how they give us so many different versions of what their fight for recognition and independence looks like, each with its own unique benefits and flaws.

I think Camina Drummer is my favorite character. I love her strength and fierce loyalty. Her and Naomi definitely dated while she was on the Behemoth. Amos is another fave. I get really strong autistic vibes from him, but a lot of it could also be how he deals with the immense trauma from his childhood. Which is also one of the most interesting and heartbreaking backstories in the show.

There's so much more I could get into to that makes it so great. Like everything that is Chrisjen Avasarala. Or Bobbie's escape on Earth and how it showed Earth wasn't all rich people day drinking. Or the freaking protomolecule! But I think I've rambled enough. lol

[quitealotofsodapop]

Sin embargo a pesar de la obvia diferencia entre el reino de Shihua y el de Wukong hay que destacar que Wukong logo surgir su reino desde las cenizas del fuego verdadero, y tambien el gran reconociemto de que logro que Alolai fuera una nacion por derecho propio mientras que los demas demonios solo son meros terratenientes con su terrenito...

Mande una pregunta dando mas detalle sobre el reinado de Wukong pero parece quer se ahogo con muchas otras mas ;v;

translation via google;

"However, despite the obvious difference between Shihua's kingdom and Wukong's, it should be noted that Wukong managed to raise his kingdom from the ashes of the true fire, and also the great recognition that he managed to make Alolai a nation in its own right while the other demons are just mere landowners with their little plot of land… I sent a question giving more detail about Wukong's reign but it seems that it drowned with many more ;v;"

+ relevant anon ask;

I found the ask you mentioned! Apologies if it's taken a while.

I can imagine after a day or two of just living in the alternate world's Flower Fruit Mountain, the Matriarch notices Wukong acting very sullen and asks about it.

Wukong, distracted by the sights: "I'll admit, seeing the Mountain how it is now makes me feel inferior about my own." Shihua: "Why is that?" Wukong, face painted with guilt: "When I found the Stone Palace, I had just been a cub. Someone completely unaware of how vast it's history spanned before the Flood separated me from it. And when I angered Heaven, Samadhi Fire rained down from above, destroying much of the wildlife. When I returned after my imprisonment, I discovered that my people were decimated by hunger and poachers. It was only through many years of labour that I was able to get even the most basic needs of my people met once more." Shihua: "Even without knowing who you are, even when our island damaged by flood, fires and famine... you still rebuilt our kingdom?" Wukong: (*almost shy look on his face*) "Yes?" Shihua, adoring smile: "By the Earth Mother, you are my child. Anyone else would have abandoned our kingdom after such losses, but you did not." (*places hand upon shoulder*) "You should be proud of your reign, as I am." Wukong, tearing up again: "T-thanks ma- Matriarch." Shihua: "Of course, my gem."

Wukong will not go a single day without his alternate family telling him how much they think of him and what he's managed to accomplish without them. They also give thanks to his Stalwarts for their undying loyalty.

And surprisingly... Macaque;

Macaque: "Why are you thanking me?" Ye Lin: "If what he says is true, one of his leading motivations in life was to ensure you would never want for anything. He speaks highly of you, even if not in words." Luzhen: "It is really sappy. He calls you his Moon and everything." Macaque: (*blush creeps over his face as realises Wukong has been talking about him through poetic terms, as he did around the Brotherhood when they were young loves so that the Six Ears could not tell who he was referring to.*) Macaque: "Tch. Dumb peaches."

[bruciemilf]

ohemgee that Krypton Clark arriving to an established Justice League AU is perfection!

I imagine he tries to wear down Bruce in his courtship by stepping up a little because surely if The Bat were to consider him then the man needs reassurance Clark will always be present and there for him, like he once overheard ((from miles away on the farm of course, because his soon-to-be mate was hiding , what a shy, lovely creature he is!)) Bruce offhandedly mention some space meteorite and potential dangers so Clark is thinking I am going to show him I am willing to protect him and our this planet by destroying it and bringing him a piece to prove my loyalty and commitment! And when he lends a hand to the league in the watchtower or out in the city, he will slowly come up to Batman and always pick up where left off My dear this game of tag of yours is very endearing, I almost didn't catch you! More proof of how you are such a trained and skilled fighter. Together we make a good team and I can see us being most agreeable pair of mates... and Bruce is a mess. He may even rope Hal into the convo for an out because he's so flustered. What if it results in him doing a amongus/Clint Barton move and vents his way out and leading to the Zeta-tube. I've strayed off but the hold this has on me is immense.

What I love about this is that neither of them can flirt like normal people. Lois desperately tries to show Clark earth appropriate dating customs and he's just confused. " But that's so slow and inefficient. And so needlessly complicated. Besides, Bruce likes when I bring him rocks."

"Yeah, rocks! Not the freezing corpses of alien enemies!"

Clark is currently holding a lifeless body of an alien who planned to abduct the bat. Its just easier and cleaner if Bruce doesn't know. Poor darling already has so much stress. " This one's still warm."

Also; I couldn't agree more with Kryptonians being more alien like. Bruce usually has little problems with harsh rejection, but if it's Clark...He simply asks Hal to drop an arm over his shoulder.

"Can I squeeze a boob? I just feel like it'll be more realistic if I squeeze a boob. "

" No."

Oliver side eyes, " You're a grown man. Call them milkies."

Clark comes in, solar sweep smile radiating, except there's nothing friendly about the way his fangs glare. He pulls Bruce in, and his face just...Does a thing. There's tentacles and screeching involved and Hal is frozen in place.

Clark is back to normal in less than a minute.

" Please don't do that! If Bruce chooses you as the better mate, that's fine, but you can't interrupt my ritual. It's rude!" And then he happily flies away with a curious and blushing Bruce.

"... You ok, Jordan?"

" Ring; dipers."

[oneslimybastard]

Ghetsis facts:

>At least two grunts are scared of him (musharna being able to spook them off with visions of being scolded by Ghetsis)

>His speeches does in fact convince some people to release their pokémon or at least second-guess their view on the trainer-pokémon relationship

>Tells the grunts to give Bianca's Munna back

>Persuasive enough to essentially wiggle some of his Guys out of arrest in Driftveil, even if Clay does it reluctantly

>Knows Reshiram and Zekrom would not fuck with him so he picks up a miracle child from the forest to do it for him instead. Raises said child kind of like his own but also kind of not, there's a deliberate distance put between them

>Did make this wonderchild who can speak to pokémon and are clearly very empathetic towards them hang out with pokémon who had been mistreated for the purpose of instilling an ideology in him.

>Randomly has 3 ninjas who are just ride or die until the end of time for some reason

>Lots of team plasma is ride or die for him actually, otherwise Neo Team Plasma wouldn't have been a thing

>He rubs the death of Alder's partner pokémon in the mans face. All cheeky beaky like. Because he can.

>He will tell the teenager his Adopted I Swear Not Related Promise son is fixated on as a rival all about how he basically groomed say son into doing all of this dragon bullshit while having them cornered on a bridge. Then just casually walks off. His ninjas are there too.

>Will also happily tell said teenager they probably aren't that special or chosen or whatever, lol lmao, seems like ur dragon haven't woken up yet, dw maybe it will, lol.

>Cannot take an L to save his fucking life. Will lash out at everything and everyone around him and build a stupid airship with a stupid laser powered by the crinkly old grandpa of the dragon trio and do a terrorism before taking an L

>Refers to himself as being PERFECT while inhaling massive amounts of copium

>Needs a cane in bw2 and is only ever seen using one of his hands, so probably physically disabled to some degree

>Strong enough to jam the butt of that cane into the solid frozen earth of a cave. Probably just kind of a visual metaphor for him being threatening but also Hear Me Out What If He's Fucking Built-

>N is ride or die for him enough to still try and get through to him during the bw2 climax despite having been utilized as a silly little pawn yet again. This does not work, because as previously mentioned, man just cannot take that L

>When faced with literally no other option but to take an L, he passes out. His ninja squad punctuates this with him probably not being a threat anymore.

Ghetsis interpertation:

I think all of these things weave together into just a very fascinating person when you look at them a little deeper. Someone who's clearly charismatic enough to acquire that much loyalty, love, and fear — but also not equipped to handle the shame of failure in the god damn slightest. When threatened he devolves from a calculated cult leader above it all to a snarling animal fighting for its life, because he's probably rotted away behind a mask of perfectionism for years rather than done any significant growth as a person. He's clearly intelligent, probably highly emotionally intelligent because if he wasn't he wouldn't be able to pull this shit, but all of that shatters and breaks and splinters with one (1) crucial failure. He tries to recuperate but can't, the survival instinct is breathing down his neck because to him the shame of being a human like the rest of them rather than the perfect ideal he's been forging is scarier than anything that could actually physically kill him. He blames N, he blames MC, Colress, just about anyone and anything that doesn't end up pointing back to his own shortcomings.

And still! N probably loves him! And it's probably genuine! He wants to connect with him and breach that gap and give him ibuprofen because even if he's shown himself to be cringe, that's still his father, which is something he values enough to try and hold on to. And the ninja guys remain ride or die, so there's clearly something to him other than schemes and trickery, something genuine and beautiful that might not in practice be worth fighting for but it sure feels like it.

A beautiful man who's warped himself into a demon because he couldn't stand his own humanity because he's probably autistic and traumatized from his undefined childhood, and when he's beat down, rather than taking that L at long last, he'll curl up in his little cage, continue to snarl and tell himself over and over that this is what he is. What he will always be. He couldn't become god so he resigns to dying a devil. Because even still, that is preferable to him over taking that L, admitting to himself he is just a little guy like other little guys with problems he couldn't cope with, and that it caused hurt and destruction.

Devils don't feel regret or shame, humans do. And he'd have a loooot of that to chug through if he decided to face it. So he won't.

which is just very sexy and milfy and babygirl of him i think. this is my "why ghetsis is like so sexy actually" manifesto, without even tapping into the juice that is him going "nuh-uh" over his own dang disabilities but that too ties into how he can't cope with his own imperfect humanity so u know. Also that he's just kinda sassy and petty. Amazing. 10/10 best written character not in the games but in my brain.

[theresthespark]

Okay Lestat is canonically a Scorpio and Louis a Libra which are both painfully accurate. I wanted to play Estelle and share my astrology headcanons

Claudia:

Leo rising – the hair, the general slayage, her association with yellow aka the sun

Aries sun – she’s so bold plus libra and Aries are sister signs so they share traits that present different which feels right for Louis and her’s kinship

Taurus moon – not prone enough to over emotionality to be a water sign but not overly practical in the way the other earth signs are. Very stubborn and does canonically enjoy beauty and luxury. Also if you know a Taurus I feel like it just makes sense

Madeleine:

Virgo Rising – She just gives demure when we first meet her and yet no bullshit either. Virgos just seems very put together almost unassuming which is funny since every Virgo I know is crazy lol

Aquarius sun – the decisions she’s made in her life feel the best suited for an Aquarian. Also her talking to Armand? That woman stopped giving a fuck about what everyone else is doing years ago

Cancer moon – Almost did Scorpio here but her loyalty and intensity didn’t feel suited there. Cancer still has some of Scorpio’s snap but its homey and soft too. I also can’t see Claudia gravitating towards someone similar to Lestat at all lol

(Bonus: suspected Aries Venus. The intensity of her!! Her directness when she cares! How she chases life and joy!)

Armand:

Pisces Rising – those big ole eyes are a big marker for this one. Also Pisces have big baby energy despite being the oldest sign which feels perfect for him

Gemini Sun – Please what else could he be? There’s the 27 different faces but more so, the love for technology and knowledge, the urge to always strategize. The near inability to ground into his emotions. The perpetual anxiety. Also Geminis are so funny without even trying but that’s just me

Capricorn Moon – Caps are ruled by Saturn which is in short a struggle bus placement. Fits well with the forever 27 thing (stuck in perpetual Saturn return) and his tendency to self flagellate. Also it being represent by the devil card in tarot. Iykyk

Daniel:

Capricorn rising – When you first meet him he comes off quite no bullshit in a way that only makes sense for Capricorn to me. Also fits for the workaholic tendencies (our risings tend to be a truest to self energy aka us at our best). Also feel that may be what draws Armand to him hehehe

Sagittarius sun – If you look up famous Sags all of them are silly goobers (and lowkey problematic 💀). Like him being a Sag makes SO much sense to me for San Francisco. Only a Sag would make that many dumb decisions just bc it was a vibe lmaoo

Aries moon – Thinking about Eric’s comment about Daniel not taking kindly to bullies. Also how similar him and Claudia feel to me I feel they’d share some major signage too

(Bonus: Gemini Mercury bc his got the gift of the gab, the quick wit)

Louis: (i couldn’t resist finishing their big three)

Libra rising – Ruled by Venus, Helen of Troy, Malena coded. What else could he be really?

Libra sun – Painfully canon

Scorpio moon – With how he talks about himself and his life versus how he moves through the world it makes perfect sense to me. So much emotion but also a lot of passion all bottled unless in the right company. Also he would loooove SZA (plus plus you’re more likely to become heavily attached to people who’s sun is your moon)

Lestat:

Aquarius rising – Leo’s sister sign (perfect for him and Claudia’s dynamic). She’s a rebel she does her own thing she does not give a flying fuck about the rest of yall. Only an Aquarius could be responsible for the events in Queen of the Damned

Scorpio sun – Again debilitatingly canon

Leo moon – Do I even need to explain it? Pull any TVL passage if you want an explanation lmaooo

I hope you enjoyed my analyzes I love astrology and would kill to get a proper birth chart for these characters. The house placements! The Aspects! The CHIRONS!! I need to chill

[pharmaciacatholica]

Someone once told me that suicide isnt like a "you're going to hell rn" situation because its often done under extreme stress/altered mental states and people aren't always in full control of themselves. I am sure the "instant hell" sentiment is probably a protestant thing but do you happen to know more on this?

I actually have a post in my drafts about this but is a subject that I do not love to speak on because it is inherently sensitive and it can often be difficult to express hardline truths without coming off as callous.

The cool part about being Catholic is that I often do not need to wade into the waters on my own. For the most part, I am able to point to the words or a far more learned and pious man than myself. In this case, I have the written words of Pope Saint John Paul II:

Suicide is always as morally objectionable as murder. The Church's tradition has always rejected it as a gravely evil choice.(x)(x) Even though a certain psychological, cultural and social conditioning may induce a person to carry out an action which so radically contradicts the innate inclination to life, thus lessening or removing subjective responsibility, suicide, when viewed objectively, is a gravely immoral act. In fact, it involves the rejection of love of self and the renunciation of the obligation of justice and charity towards one's neighbour, towards the communities to which one belongs, and towards society as a whole.(x)(x) In its deepest reality, suicide represents a rejection of God's absolute sovereignty over life and death, as proclaimed in the prayer of the ancient sage of Israel: "You have power over life and death; you lead men down to the gates of Hades and back again" (Wis 16:13; cf. Tob 13:2).

Evangelium Vitae (paragraph 66)

So you are partially correct and partially incorrect in your assessment. For some people, and I’ve seen this before, to go around telling those who have had a loved one commit suicide that they are burning in hell is completely insane and unjustifiable. It is also extremely dangerous to play off suicide as something that isn’t a grave sin or that every time it happens the person isn’t culpable for their actions. Suicide is one of the sins that landed Judas in hell, because he chose despair over repentance and mercy. I also think G.K. Chesterton spoke very poetically on the subject here:

Not only is suicide a sin, it is the sin. It is the ultimate and absolute evil, the refusal to take an interest in existence; the refusal to take the oath of loyalty to life. The man who kills a man, kills a man. The man who kills himself, kills all men; as far as he is concerned he wipes out the world. His act is worse than any rape or dynamite outrage. For it destroys all buildings: it insults all women. The thief is satisfied with diamonds; but the suicide is not: that is his crime. He cannot be bribed, even by the blazing stones of the Celestial City. The thief compliments the things he steals, if not the owner of them. But the suicide insults everything on earth by not stealing it. He defiles every flower by refusing to live for its sake. There is not a tiny creature in the cosmos at whom his death is not a sneer. When a man hangs himself on a tree, the leaves might fall off in anger and the birds fly away in fury: for each has received a personal affront. Of course there may be pathetic emotional excuses for the act. There often are for rape, and there almost always are for dynamite. But if it comes to clear ideas and the intelligent meaning of things, then there is much more rational and philosophic truth in the burial at the cross-roads and the stake driven through the body, than in Mr. Archer's suicidal automatic machines. There is a meaning in burying the suicide apart. The man's crime is different from other crimes - for it makes even crimes impossible.

Orthodoxy

This is just the writing of an overrated layman poet, but it really drives home the point.

[conundrumoftime]

Galadriel and Celeborn in earlier drafts of LOTR (part 2)

Previous: here

Starting off with a passage that exists in LOTR but not in the earlier drafts, because I think it's really interesting in the context of even later developments. This is the section where Galadriel is telling Celeborn off for snapping at Gimli:

Do not repent of your welcome to the Dwarf. If our folk had been exiled long and far from Lothlorien, who of the Galadhrim, even Celeborn the Wise, would pass nigh and would not wish to look upon their ancient home, thought it had become an abode of dragons?

Because Tolkien changed Galadriel and Celeborn's story and particularly Celeborn's origin so much (thoughts and prayers for Christopher dealing with that when you can practically hear the sighs in his editorial notes), I don't know whether Tolkien was thinking of him as the Sindar prince-of-Doriath Celeborn that he became later. But if he was - and even if he wasn't, just viewing this in the light of that version of Celeborn - this feels like quite a surprising thing for Galadriel to say, since his folk have been exiled long and far from their kingdom and his ancient home is now ruins beneath the sea.

From one of the Unfinished Tales 'History of Galadriel and Celeborn' versions:

In Doriath she met Celeborn, grandson of Elmo the brother of Thingol. For love of Celeborn, who would not leave Middle-earth (and probably with some pride of her own, for she had been one of those eager to adventure there), she did not go West at the Downfall of Melkor, but crossed Ered Lindon with Celeborn and came into Eriador. [...] Celeborn and Galadriel therefore went eastwards, about the year 700 or so of the Second Age, and established the (primarily but by no means solely) Noldorin region of Eregion. It may be that Galadriel chose it because she knew of the Dwarves of Khazad-Dûm (Moria). [...] Celeborn had no liking for Dwarves of any race (as he showed to Gimli in Lothlorien), and never forgave them for their part in the destruction of Doriath; but it was only the host of Nogrod that took part in that assault [...] In any case, Galadriel was more far-sighted in this than Celeborn; and she perceived from the beginning that Middle-earth could not be saved from 'the residue of evil' that Morgoth had left behind him save by a union of all the peoples who were in their way and in their measure opposed to him. She looked upon the Dwarves also with the eyes of a commander, seeing in them the finest warriors to pit against the orcs.

There's a brief addition to this in The War of the Jewels where Tolkien goes even further on that to say that in blaming the Dwarves, Celeborn was 'passing over Morgoth's part in this (by angering of Húrin), and Thingol's own faults'. Not mentioned, but definitely also prominent in the list of People Who Have Wronged Doriath: Galadriel's own cousins, who invaded and burnt it and murdered a lot of its people. Blaming unrelated dwarves by association when your Noldor wife is standing right there is well goodness quite an approach; but I'm also intrigued by the suggestion that he refused to blame any of it on Thingol.

Anyway my point for this post is that with Celeborn's Dwarf Issues being very firmly placed (definitely later on if not at the time Tolkien was writing FOTR) as because of Doriath, then it's an interesting choice on her part to ask him to empathise with dwarves wanting to return to their once-glorious kingdom that had fallen into ruin just to look upon it once again. (This is something I've played around with in fic before, the idea that while Galadriel is torn between 'home' as Valinor where she grew up and 'home' as Middle-earth where she spent most of her life, Celeborn can't ever go home to the place where he grew up - it's as gone as Númenor is.

Anyway! Back to the early LOTR draft, and Galadriel tempting the Fellowship/testing their loyalty/whatever you want to see her as doing here:

She looked at each in turn, but none blenched. Only Sam blushed and hung his head before the Lady's glance left him. I felt as if I hadn't got nothing on,' he explained afterwards. 'I didn't like it - she seemed to be looking inside me, and asking me whether I would like to fly back to the Shire.' Each of them had a similar experience, and had felt as if he had been presented with a choice between death and something which he desired greatly, peace, ease [written above: freedom], wealth, or lordship. "I suppose it was just a test," said Boromir. "It felt almost like a temptation."

LOTR version:

And with that word she held them with her eyes, and in silence looked searchingly at each of them in turn. None save Legolas and Aragorn could long endure her glance. Sam quickly bushed and turned away. [...] "What did you blush for, Sam?" said Pippin. "You soon broke down. Anyone would have thought you had a guilty conscience. I hope it was nothing worse than a wicked plot to steal one of my blankets." "I never thought no such thing," answered Sam, in no mood for jest. "If you want to know, I felt as though I hadn't got nothing on, and I didn't like it. She seemed to be looking inside me and asking me what I would do if she gave me the choice of flying back home to the Shire to a nice little hole with - with a bit of garden of my own." All of them, it seemed, had fared alike; each had felt that he was offered a choice between a shadow full of fear that lay ahead, and something that he greatly desired: clear before his mind it lay, and to get it he had only to turn aside from the road and leave the Quest and the war against Sauron to others. [...] "To me it seemed exceedingly strange," said Boromir. "Maybe it was only a test, and she thought to read our thoughts for her own good purpose; but almost I should have said that she was tempting us, and offering what she pretended to have the power to give."

Gardens as Sam's temptation is also what the One Ring offers him, although that temptation is about Samwise the Great with a whole realm of gardens.

Which brings me to Nenya and the Three Rings for the Elven-kings.

This point in writing LOTR is also where Tolkien starts sketching out an origin for the Rings of Power and Sauron's connection to them. Origin stories considered include this one in which the elves made them but under Sauron's guidance:

In Ancient Days Sauron the Great contrived many things of wonder. For a time his purpose was not turned wholly to evil, or was concealed; and he went much among the Elves of Middle-earth and knew their secret counsels [...] [T]he Rings of Power were made by Elven-smiths, but Sauron was present at their making: his was the thought and theirs the skill

And this one in which Fëanor made them

In Ancient Days, the Rings of Power were made long ago in the lands beyond the Sea. It is said that they were first contrived by Fëanor, the greatest of all the makers among the Elves. His purpose was not evil, yet in it was the Great Enemy But they were stolen by the Great Enemy and brought to Middle-earth.

Christopher describes this as his father 'revolving the mode by which he should withdraw the Three Rings of the Elves from inherent evil and derivation from the Enemy', and talks about this in connection with this line of Boromir's from the first version of an earlier chapter:

"The Three Rings remain still. They have conferred great power on the Elves, but they have never yet availed themselves in their strife with Sauron. For they came from Sauron himself, and can give no skill or knowledge that he did not already possess."

But then back to Lothlorien, and a quickly drafted version of Galadriel's words to Frodo in which she says the Three were not made by Sauron:

Frodo offers Galadriel the Ring. She laughs. Says he is revenged for her temptation. Confesses that the thought had occurred to her. But she will only retain the unsullied Ring. Too much evil lay in the Ruling Ring. It is not permitted to use anything that Sauron has made.

OK I'm going to leave this one at that for now. Next time: Mirror, 'Many Partings', and the epilogue.

[justcallmesakira]

WHO DO I SHIP MY MUTUALS WITH?

i have been seeing this all over my tumblr page so ummm HERE YA GO!!! also this will be where i mention all my moots because i cannot for the fathom of fyodor copy that posts link

@saelique- cinna x 15! dazai song- Tek it by cafune

two friends who secretly run on daffodil fields in the middle of the night and is always comfortable with each other

@atlasnessie- atlas x jouno song- stereo hearts

that one couple who N O O N E predicted would get together but somehow he still carries you on his back as you pint to childrens bumper car

@silverbladexyz- silvie x beast!chuuya song- Step on me

Your the only one who can calm him down, or so everyone says but can you? because with the way hes gone in a rampage it seems hes loyalty lies somewhere else...

@typcallysid14- siddie x nikolai song- fuckin` boyfriend

Oh god, its a mess your just so in love with him and so is he! You cant stop taking pictures and his stuff and so cant he!

@tojifile mo x geto song-somewhere only we know

The pair who never happened even when both of you acted so fruity with each other all the time,,,good things never last

@rusmii= mii x chuuya song- BABYDOLL by ari abdul

That one funky and crazy couple of the mafia. After all who will save you when your telling the enemies that their dad went to buy milk and their mom went with him and cursing every single second.

@biscuits-spooky-corner- my pookie cookie x highschool dazai song- Moonlight by kali uchis

OMG its that one crackhead couple who ate the dog before the dog can eat their homework!

@elizais x eli x tachihara song- something about you by eyedress

You two may look like best buddies who blow vandalize peoples cars but in all serious you two are very genuine with each other espceilly since gaining tachis trust is something really award worthy <3

@atzuhi- x atsushi song- we fell in love in october by Girl in red

I am not shipping u two bcs of ur names but i just think your personality would fit atsushi and you two would go sticker cutting together :D

@riiwrites- x dazai song- FVN! by LVL1

crackhead who send each other instagram reels 24/7 and roleplay as jack/alpha/dont mess with me/ 24/emo/superstrong/ playboy wolf and emily/dont mess with mwy swenpai/ ywndere/ uwu girl/ secret darkside and bully kids on roblox <3

@chuuyasboner x 18 chuuya song- see you again by tyler the creator

Tho u threatened him to a relationship he still takes out to the arcade and occasionally feeds you when you threaten ask him!

@ruanais- rua x beast!dazai song- cigarettes out the window

You know hes going to leave one day,yet you still yearn to be in the warmth of his lap, Can he really hold you throughout the heavens and earth though?

@heartsfourdazai x ME SINGLE MOTHERTFAKAS BCS I CAN

Jkjk

Rue x atsushi song- lovers rock by TV girl

I personally think you twi would be opposite attract bcs of your style, but even so as you run to buy more gothy type clothes and he goes to buy some soft matching pjs for you two, he will always be by your side

@tsuunara- tsu x techhou song- Until i found you

No because you two would make such a cute n sweet couple (get it because of ur theme?). Just don't let him pour salt on your vanila cake though!

@kurolumiis x loading...

Who do you guys ship me with with? :3

[thegradus2]

Im having modern day au alver x ogcale thoughts :,)

The setting is sort of like a earth 1’s korea except the catalysm happened waaaaay before like decades before, so fighting the monsters is way easier and more normal tho its still considered really hard and dangerous work (barely any deaths anymore but injuries are p common)

The soos all work at the company together. Cale (22 yrs old) is estranged from his family and also works at the company (hes happy to watch his little brother and little sister succeed from afar). Cale and kim rok soo constantly get compared bc theyre both serious and hard workers who tell people all the time that they wanna quit/slack off (they will never actually quit or slack off). Bc cale isnt actually in his familys life anymore he doesnt need to pretend to be trash and hes smiley like when hes krs in canon

Bc kim rok soo isnt as traumatized as in canon from losing his only friends he manages to make more friends (taylor sten, cage, eruhaben, he obvs manages to find his kids, choi han is also here and not as traumatized he just got kidnapped by monsters for like 10 years and is back home now, the whale tribe the wolf tribe the jungle queen the- you get the point. Kim rok soo is basically the companys information network at this point)

Idk if i should make krs and the other soos 36 etc still or if i should make them younger? (Like in late twenties, just a little older than when the soos minus krs died in the og timeline). In any case somehow its still cale nagging krs abt staying healthy and eating well and exercising, not the other way around

Maybe cale still has his adopted niece (aka reincarnated mom but ig he doesnt know that in this au)??

Alver (27 yrs old) has inherited his fathers trillion won company and is a repressed workaholic CEO (or maybe his father has a rlly succesful company and alver has become rlly succesful in politics instead?? Tho what ive seen the rlly succesful companies’ heirs in korea are lowkey treated with the same importance as a politician so it doesnt rlly matter)

Tasha pressures alver into taking 1 single day off. He obliges and almost gets assassinated by the mob (the white stars gang, and yes they do have powers). They decide to hire alver a specialized bodyguard. Cue the company: cale gets chosen as a guard while a few others (including kim rok soo) work on figuring out how to take out the white stars little group

Idk what power to give cale yet 👀 i wanna say either smth to do with time or smth to do with plants BUT i can also just give him both?? Or a power that combines the two?? I will look up symbolism to decide later lol

ANYWAY smiley bodyguard cale x repressed ceo alver. Cale falls first alver falls harder. Cale surprising alver with loyalty and cunning and with how he goes out of his way to take hits meant for alver. Alver being perfect and cale doing his best to goad alver into letting go of that mask every moment theyre alone

Multiple specific scenes im thinking:

- alver is goaded into taking a day off by tasha again a few months after the assassination attempt, this time with cale. They go to a café and have cutesy talks together (cale is just constantly being glib trying to trip alver up while alver is annoyed and into it)

- alver has to go to a high-end event. Cale comes with as his bodyguard/date (the date part is just a cover but they both wish it was real). They meet basen who is in complete and utter shock trying to hide it (he will do a full report back to the henituse family later)

- i need the company to go to a karaoke bar every friday bc i love karaoke. Cale sort of likes it and puts up minimal resistance every time. Kim rok soo does NOT want to go but he ends up napping the whole time every friday so its not that bad. During his bodyguard job with alver cale has to decline a few times. The company manages to wrangle cale into just bringing alver with him to karaoke (the repressed ceo of a trillion won company going to a shitty karaoke bar with a bunch of rowdy office workers/sort-of-soldiers is funny to me)

- at some point it gets serious and cale takes a bullet or otherwise rlly damaging attack that was meant for alver. He has to go to the hospital and alver realizes that oh shit its not a good idea to develop feelings for someone whos job it is to take bullets for you. And then he realizes of shit i developed feelings wtf??? And then he thinks i should stop feeling this way. And then he looks at cale again, whos passed out in the hospital bed and hes like im not gonna be able to stop feeling this way, am i. Fuck. Shit. Damnit

- they have a summer wedding 🥰

- neither of them are even involved w the white star mob. They just suddenly get a call from krs like “hi. I did the job. The others want me to tell you that im in the hospital btw.” Cale and alver visit him in the hospital and cale comforts krs by saying “dw, one day youll have your farm with the other two idiots. One day. Maybe.”

- that one scene in adventure time with bonnie and marcy and bonnie leans against marcy and closes her eyes and is like “wake me up in like 20 minutes.” Them. Them. Them. Them-

- cale slowly connecting with his family after him and alver met basen at that one event. First its deruth just calling (most painful and awkward phone call in the world where deruth very obviously avoids talking abt anything important and cale is just too confused abt why hes calling to pick up on any of it.) Then basen and lily start texting him. Then lily just shows up at his house to visit. It all snowballs from there with just little awkward moments of the family trying to rebuild a bridge with cale and cale just being confused abt what they want from him and why theyd wanna see him (its bc they love him bc hes family and theyre worried abt him)

- eventually deruth visits his house in person. This is also the moment where they finally actually have The Emotions and deruth acknowledges the abandonment and emotional neglect and cale confesses it was all an act but that he also actually thought they really didnt want him and that he thought he was ruining his fathers perfect new family with his presence and that he got rid of himself bc he thought it would make them happier

- cale goes to therapy.png. The family rejoices. The company also rejoices. The company stops rejoicing when he starts badgering everyone else to also get therapy (they really really all need it)

- the confession happens after cale isnt alvers bodyguards anymore. Cale has managed to talk alver into meeting every week at alvers place and just talking or playing chess or whatever they feel like doing. Theyre just doing their weekly catching up and cale is being especially wonderful talking abt his kid and alver being especially sleepdeprived just kisses him right on the mouth. He immediately backtracks and tries to be glib abt it like “im so sorry i dont know what came over me-“ but cale just kisses him back and then the next scene they wake up no clothes in bed together. They have been pining for at least a year by this point they deserve this

- alver goes to therapy after they officially get together bc cale pushed him to. It actually helps a little??? He is absolute shit abt opening up but the therapist has some generic tips abt managing his overworking problem

- most of the groomsmen/bridesmaids (or groomsmaids??) are part of the company. Tasha is alvers maid of honor. Basen is cales groomsman or honor or however the hell thats called lol. Cales niece is the flower girl and raon is the ringbearer. Cales family is there and robbit and his wife are there too + obvs alvers maternal family.

- summer wedding

Ok this is all for now

[storm-saturn]

incoming: another fucking voltron rant because i watched a langst edit and now i wanna cry😭😭

they did not take time. they did not slow that show down for a little bit. especially for lance. cause he did not getting a fucking moment to find himself again after he FUCKING DIED. we saw him homesick, we saw him missing his family, we saw him insecure about his position on the team, we saw him insecure about himself, but we never actually saw him go anywhere else but being sad. he really did get barely any character development.

and tbh i feel like in a way just all the characters didnt have a moment to slow down. and i know, i know, its a kids show, its about fucking robots for fucks sake, theyre in the middle of a war. which, yeah. youre right. but there couldve been so much more, for him, for all of them. what about them? as people, with feelings. where are there emotions. why is it only sadness and happiness and not the enitre confusing spectrum of emotion between. does pidge not feel lost after she finds her brother? yeah, hes back, but i bet she didnt imagine she would be fighting an intergalactic war, and now matt is too. she imagined family dinner, brother barging into her room, dad making corny jokes, house happier and full of life.

hunks family was put in a fucking work camp. he had seen this across the galaxy, zarkons army imprisoning people, making them work, killing them. did he imagine that for earth ? did he imagine that for his family? how the fuck did he cope fighting a war, anxious as he is? how did he cope at all?

shiro isnt even in his fucking original body. thats fucking weird. im not saying that in a rude way bc like yeah, organ transplants are a thing irl, and a major life saving thing they are ! but like, how odd it must be to have someone elses kidney or heart in your body. nevermind to have your entire soul and conciousness put into another body, you but not really you.

keiths life,,, dude probably just doesnt even give anything a second fucking thought anymore. but like, could they not have shown him showing some more emotion. fair enough if he doesnt always cry in the moment but rather late on, but you'd think seeing allura die, they wouldve at least put some tears in his eyes. he had fucking no one before he had voltron. only shiro, and even then he was alone for so long when shiro had been on his mission. you cant tell me he didnt want to think of voltron as his family. they bonded :(

and lance, gosh lance. i feel like, if we looks at this as it is, lance would be the character that people think back on and go "oh yeah, he helped me accept my emotions, he helped me become the best version of me and gain confidence in who i am". in the fandom hes seen as someone with big emotions that he wears on his sleeve, but also someone who will put everyone else and their needs before himself.

he's a story of self-sacrifice, quite literally. he's the story of sincere love, of casual admiration. he's the story of the most wonderful friend, of loyalty, of no, I'll step down because there's a cause bigger than me, and im not the one for the job when there's people like my friends and you on the team.

and no one wanted to explore that? no one wanted to see him do more than just, what? flirt and literally die and fall in love and barely find his place on team voltron? that was it for him. it shouldn't have been, but it was.

[lesharl-eclair]

ferwis fic recs

rarepair for the ages.

this is a list of *the* literature to read if you are even vaguely intrigued by their differently flavoured toxicity :)

all fics below the cut; if you enjoyed these fics, please show the authors comment and kudo love; should you be the author of a fic that's here, and don't want to be here, please reach out to me and your wish is my command :)

Amen by sirius (M, 9.1k)

Spygate. Reimagined. With sex.

& (Amen) by sirius (M, 6.6k)

Retirement. Reimagined. With sex.

OK so this is basically what i think about every waking hour. every single minute. Amen was written 2 0 1 5 and it's so damn incredible i have only found a few other pieces that match it in terms of voicing and structure and literary genius. the toxicity is left to ferment and it is gorgeous. literally ahead of its time. look:

"Old Testament, he thinks. Fernando is an Old Testament God, piled high with fury and jealousy and fire and brimstone and needing someone to beg mercy just so that he can refuse them. 

A god so good that there's nobody else you'd need to worship."

THIS IN 2015. so so so incredible.

the sequel (?) is even richer, more nuanced, more developed. lewis and loyalty and fernando and lots and lots of questioning. the author has the voices down to a tee in both pieces and the dialogue especially is mindblowing. i come back to this so often because it's their story, and it's told so richly and lavishly.

***

In Search of the Traveling Nude by Anonymous (M, 4.5k)

Fernando didn't like sharing. He was not going to let a nude of Lewis get out of his grasp when he'd spent millions on the first three. If that means threatening someone and traveling for most of his winter break in search of it, so be it. Unfortunately for him, Lewis's final nude has to go through many people before he can finally get it.

kinkmeme prompt fill. possessive fernando alonso is a story for the ages. look:

"Fernando was a selfish man. He didn’t like others having what was his.

And Lewis, inexplicably – even if Lewis didn’t know himself – was his."

it's not a stretch to imagine this premise, every single detail is so well-imagined and the people nando meets (?!), all the nuances in dynamics etc are handled with so much love and care. valtteri and seb is just perfection. lewis is also the most oblivious person to walk planet earth and i am living for it.

***

The Thirst Trap Curse by @seafoampearlygirl (no warnings, 1.9k)

Fernando realises the power of thirst traps in vanquishing his enemies, but the magic doesn't work quite the way he planned.

this fic is so so dear to me because it hooked me on nando fics. this verges on crackfic (actually it is, what am i talking about) and it is delightful. a tasty, unhinged little morsel. the title does the talking here i think!! but i just want to say that every single scene is so unexpectedly rich. there's so much packed into so little, so you get pleasant little surprises at every turn. also look at this dialogue. lOOK.

"Lewis was silent for a moment. Then he said 'How many thirst traps are we talking?'

'Thirty-five.'

'THIRTY-FIVE??' Lewis turned to Fernando, outraged. Fernando was impassive. "Man, I only have two nipples. They're not that exciting."

'They could be. I have some ideas.'"

***

it's more than i can bear: this interminable want, turning and turning. by Anonymous (m, 2k)

George laughs. It's an ugly sound. When Fernando looks over, his eyes are dry. “Were,” he says. “You were the exception.”

kinkmeme prompt fill. we close off this list with a fic that gives me chills every single time i read it. it's not even ferwis. just ferwis as a concept, and yet. i literally don't know how to coherently respond to this still. the last line still makes me fall apart every time i read it.

fernando and george, and the concept of lewis. and mind games. so much within 2k words that it's devastating to read.

***

enjoy ;)

[laura1633]

I have to start this by saying that I am primarily a Max fan but I really like and respect Charles as a racer. Also, these are random thoughts and I don’t have all the stats and stuff to back it up so if you are just going to angry and shout at me don’t bother, just block me or something - these are literally just my thoughts

But….. despite all that I’m still going to randomly shout into the internet because I have nowhere else to get these thoughts out of my head….. I'll put most of it below the cut.

I’ve not studied Charles’ race strategies etc but Ferrari really do seem to love to put him on some random tyre strategy. It’s like they are trying to make up for all the awful strategy calls of the past by trying to outsmart the other teams but just end up making more and more bizarre calls. I get that you can’t always get decisions right and when you don’t have the fastest car you have to take a chance but they seem to do it so often with Charles. Why can’t they just let him race?!!! He’s quick and talented but I feel like we don’t get to see his full potential in races because he’s always on some weird strategy that puts him wildly out of position 

Yes he has had lots of pole positions and often they don’t convert to wins. A lot of people see this as a negative rather than focusing on the fact that he is just able to get a lot out of the car in qualifying and often puts that car higher up than it should rightfully be. Would they just prefer him to qualify further down?! The car is not always capable of winning and there are a whole host of reasons why he hasn’t converted all those poles into wins and no its not because he isn’t good enough!

Maybe this is controversial and don’t come at me if you are a Carlos fan because this isn’t a rant against Carlos but I read so many comments from people saying Ferrari favour Charles. They didn’t even favour him when he was in the running for the championship so why on earth would they be favouring him now!! Even if they had have been favouring him (which I don’t think they have been) then I would understand it - he has shown that when the car is capable he can be in the running for the championship, he can drive a fast car really fast and Ferrari should be developing a car that can compete for the championship not fighting for runner up spots. I feel like Charles is the driver that could deliver them a WDC!

If I see one more person use pathetic nicknames like Charles Lecry I am going to scream!! If anyone should be crying about their team it is him but he doesn’t! From what I have seen he takes responsibility when he makes mistakes and is surprisingly calm given the amount of times Ferrari seem to screw him over. 

I don’t know what the point of this post was. I don’t know where else he could go at the moment and I know he is loyal to Ferrari so won’t want to move anyway but I feel like they aren’t showing him the same loyalty back. Ferrari have a young, super talented driver and they should be building a team around him for the future but instead they seem all over the place. I guess I just want him to be able to show his true potential, I am fed up of people saying he is overrated when we have seen what he is capable of with the right car. I just hate the idea of talent going to waste!!

I honestly doubt anyone has read this far but if you have thank you for listening! Like I said, I have no facts just feelings

Sorry for the rant

[lryghe]

MDZS as tarot cards

Word count: 1526

Reading time: 5 min 30 secs

I've seen some posts about lovely interpretations of MDZS characters as tarot cards, but I was so beyond shocked at some of the choices behind it. It appears that oftentimes, people are associating cards with their name, rather than their actual meaning, so, as a loser who has familial history surrounding tarot, I’ve come to propose my own renditions. 

To begin with, my interpretations will have a major arcana card, as well as a suit/minor arcana card. Keep in mind that these interpretations are INTERPRETATIONS. This is not concrete.

For clarification: “words, words” = upright meaning | “words, words, words” = reversed meaning

First up, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji!

Wei Wuxian

The Magician

“Willpower, desire, creation, manifestation” | “Trickery, illusions, out of touch”

After some serious deliberation over The Hanged Man or The Magician, I eventually ruled that the upright meaning of the card was something that is the very essence of Wei Wuxian’s character. Wei Wuxian is introduced to the reader (beyond his death) as an incredibly intelligent and intrinsically creative character. Throughout the story, his ingenuity in situations that need solving and his out-of-the-box thinking (the water ghoul in Cloud Recesses, the creation of talismans and flags, his use of demonic cultivation after losing his core, discovery and unveiling of Jin Guangyao) is something that drives the majority of his actions, and also places him in serious situations with serious (unintended) consequences. Yes, he’s a sacrificial fool (something that assigning The Hanged Man would have recognised), but I think his spark and general genius is something that is important as well. Key descriptions of The Magician revolve around one hand held to the heavens, and one pointed to the earth, with the rest of the arcane suits (wands, swords, cups, pentacles) placed nearby, symbolising the magicians inherent connection with every element. 

The placement of the arms is something that is very important to the card, but also its connection to Wei Wuxian. It appears to be saying that the earth is a reflection of the heavens, the heavens a reflection of the earth. Wei Wuxian is driven by loyalty and his own internal beliefs, that lead his entanglement with Lan Wangji, his protection of the Wens, his sacrifice of his golden core. Those higher ideals represent the hand in the heavens, and Wei Wuxian’s own anger (and perhaps arrogance) in the fact that the people of the world don't echo his morals. The hand towards the earth is like his eventual downfall, the growth that comes with recognising that not everyone can be like him, can have the same giant heart he does (and is something that we only get very subtly near the end). I think that the depiction of the suits is something that's pretty rudimentary to understand. Wei Wuxian is a genius, adept in everything he does (except naming things), so like The Magician, of course he is able to wield all suits (which represent the elements of fire, water, earth, and air). If we want to get real picky with it though, perhaps it’s also a representation of how Wei Wuxian’s genius and care for others translates across numerous sects. He is not bound to the one suit or clan, he is free to give his loyalty to whomever he pleases.

I also considered the reversed meaning of every card I assigned, and felt that “trickery, wasted talent, illusion, deception” was a very accurate presentation of Sunshot Campaign/Yiling Laozu Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian’s incredible creativity was used to hide a lot of things during this time, including the actual removal of his golden core, which would fit the delusion and trickery aspect of the reversal. My favourite part of The Magicians reversal however, is the wasted talent. Because we as readers know that Wei Wuxian is anything but, but that's not how he’s viewed in the story. The very first chapter, everyone is shocked on how someone as renowned and gifted as Wei Wuxian ended up “where he is now”, which is to say, a heretical demonic cultivator who killed 3000 skilled cultivators in one day. That wasted talent is a key part of the context of the novel, and is so important to Wei Wuxian’s characterisation, the idea that he fell off after the events of the Sunshot Campaign, even though we know it was just a product of his ingenuity that no one else really cared about.

The Knight of Wands

“Action, adventure, fearlessness” | “Anger, impulsiveness, recklessness”

To begin with, Wands is associated with the element of fire, and represents passion, inspiration and willpower. The Knight of Wands depicts a knight atop a horse “reared and ready for action”. The upright meaning alongside the horse depicts the usual vibrancy of Wei Wuxian. He is always ready for adventure, he finds joy in the smallest of things, and is always confidently leading the way in situations that require it. I feel that the reversed meaning of the card also suits (yet again) Yiling Laozu Wei Wuxian. A reverse Knight of Wands can translate into a loss of power and needing to compensate for something one doesn’t have total control over. Doesn’t that sound familiar?

Lan Wangji

Temperance

“Middle path, patience, finding meaning” | “Extremes, excess, lack of balance”

I would like to begin this one with a very loud fuck you to the mischaracterisation in the MDZS fandom. I’ve seen first hand the love and tenderness held towards Lan Wangji’s character be watered down to caveman with no emotions and no respect. (Update: I wrote this post like 7 months ago, um wtf was my issue, i’m sorry)

Continuing onwards, Temperance was the card I eventually chose for Lan Wangji after way more deliberation than was probably needed. The upright and reversed meaning of this card is pivotal to Lan Wangji’s character in reference to pre and post timeskip. Lan Wangji at 16 years old is a menace, a stickler for rules, and someone who simply cannot see the other side of the coin. Yes, he’s honourable and stands up for what he believes in, but his flaw in this is that he forces that ideology onto others, unaware that other people have different life experiences and morals, and therefore cannot be like him. This leads to a sort of arrogance that drives him away from his peers, since they, as immature teenagers, don’t want to adhere to Lan Wangji’s immature teenager beliefs that everything he does is how everyone else should be doing it. 

The literal depiction of the card features an angel who is half in the water, half on land, mixing waters between two goblets. The angel is almost giving the advice to try all options before continuing, testing the water gradually before jumping into the deep end. Which sounds very much unlike Wangji in many places, but as a reminder to the unreliable narration of Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji is only ever a fool around him.

Time quite literally tempers Lan Wangji. At 16 he is an isolated loser with no friends, and by the time he’s thirty-something, he’s been worn down by a decade of grief and mourning. He’s calmer, sees all angles with his almost omnipotence, and is much calmer than before. While he was easily riled up as a teenager, older Lan Wangji is smart enough to either let it go (walking away from Jiang Cheng in the very beginning), or simply act without explaining (throwing around silencing spells like they're going out of fashion). He finds his place in the world and grows into the name he was titled, Hanguang-jun, the bearer of light, and is comfortable and secure enough to have found his path. Patience follows every one of his actions in the timeskip, and his meaning in life? Love and cherish the man he lost all those years ago. Romantic!

The Knight of Swords

“Direct, focused, perfectionist” | “Tactless, forceful, arrogant”

I genuinely enjoyed assigning a minor arcana card for characters because through this I can draw parallels between them. Notice how both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are Knight cards? An excellent reminder of the parallels between them both. The Knight of Swords depicts a young knight in armour riding atop a white horse in battle, the whiteness of the horse being a reference to the pure nature of the knight, his righteousness that drives him to raise his sword. The knight, despite having the background showing storm clouds and strong winds, charges onward regardless, displaying his forceful and arrogant nature, and Lan Wangji is mostly noted for his almost single minded determination to complete his goals. He will never sacrifice others for it (separating him from ruthless ambition), but he is almost arrogant in his actions as a Jade of Lan and darling of the cultivation world (the morals he keeps pushing onto others, telling Wei Wuxian to come back to Gusu with him, quite literally dragging him there (he enjoyed it though, I guess), and so on and so forth). 

All cards shown are from the Rider-Waite tarot deck.

[paintedwithwords]

Hey... it's me again. I hope things are going well for you. And if it isn't it's okay. You''ll get through it. I was just thinking... have you ever thought about the prison world scene in a different way? Like... Elena and Damon both died together and only Elena were able to come back. That's how Damon and Bonnie got stuck together, right? What if Elena also weren't able to come back? What if Luke stopped Liv's spell before Elena could get back? What if it was the 3 of them to get stuck in the prison world? Would Damon and Bonnie still had become best friends? Would damon and elena spending time together in a forced proximity for so long would have made them both realize that hot sexual chemistry alone is all they have and they are not meant for a long happily married life? Is this too stupid?

Okay, it's not a bad starting point for a long fic, it's just that it would imply I'd have to focus a lot on delena, and their shallow relationship to show its faults, and it would take time. Plus, I believe, because Bonnie is loyal to a fault she would self-eliminate from the equation, and would reject Damon's "friendship" because she'd feel guilty taking his attention away from Elena. She'd probably start by taking Elena's side even when she thinks she's wrong just because she's Elena, and he's Damon, then as she'd start to see through Damon more she'd feel guilty for not being blindly on Elena's side. Damon would not be able to admit to himself he's "switching loyalties" so he'd insist in trying to have things work with Elena, and Bonnie would pretend nothing has changed, and she can't stand Damon and Elena is the best thing since sliced bread. They would have to wait 'til they are back from the other side to realize that something's off, because that's the moment when they can actually choose, and they would start to realize they both can have their normalcy with Elena, but they want to be with the other person instead. Which would lead to Damon pestering Bonnie through excuses, Bonnie being scared of her own feelings, and both of them feeling like they are one step away from having an affair because Damon doesn't know yet how to tell himself (and Elena) that his epic love was nothing else but an empty illusion, and Bonnie cannot fathom the idea that with all the people on earth she's falling for her best friend's boyfriend. So they would probably deny it all until it exploded in their face, probably because of some sort of jealousy/frustration. Like Bonnie start seeing someone just so she can tell herself she feels nothing for Damon, and he's frustrated and jealous because she won't admit she cares for him (and what if she truly doesn't? isn't that his personal curse to love someone that can never love him back? She's even 100 times better and purer than Elena), and he would kiss her out of frustration and jealousy and she would not be able to deny him even if she wished she could, and they would end up breathing hard against a wall, looking straight in each other's eyes with this thing staring them directly in the face. They would put some space between them, perfectly aware of how easy it would be to just give in, but telling thimselves this was an accident when they both know they are doomed for good. They would avoid each other, but whenever they are left alone with each other the tension would be umbareable. Damon would act strange around Elena because he would now be more and more aware of what he feels for Bonnie, and doesn't feel for Elena, but he would know know what to do because he doesn't want to hurt her, and doesn't want Bonnie to get angry at him for hurting Elena, so he would try to stick around and pretend everything is fine. Bonnie would feel guilty, and would probalby cry the next time Damon tries to kiss her because she wants to give in but can't let herself. She'd lock him out of her doorm as he tried to explain his feelings (telling her he's dumped Elena so it is too late for her to push him away if she's her only reason to do that), but she would find him still there the day after, when she opened the door to go to lesson , and that what would make her cave into letting him kiss her again. And she wouldn't make it to class. To any of her classes for that day, or that week.

See? That's too long of a fanfiction to even try and write it.