#And they can choose to take that but it takes influence.

[astrolook]

👩‍❤️‍👨Composite Observations - 1 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

Note: These are all my personal observations and patterns I've noticed over the years. Take what resonates with you more and leave the rest. Lemme know in the comments if it hits home!

Venus conjunct Mars in the composite makes the couple highly attracted to each other and can have breeding kink or might get married really soon and can have a child within a year of their marriage. One or both of them can fall in love at first sight.

Power couple indicators: Sun in the 1st/ 7th/ 10th, Mercury/ Venus/ Mars in the 1st/ 5th/ 7th/ 10th/ 11th, Saturn in the 10th/ 11th, 10th house sign in Leo/ Capricorn/ Gemini. 1st or 7th lord in 1st/ 5th/ 7th/ 10th.

Sun in the 9th house couple can live far away from their birthplace after marriage.

Venus in the 9th house couple can collect a lot of artifacts and antique items throughout their life.

Venus in the 1st/ 5th/ 7th/ 10th house couple can attract jealousy from others, as these couples are open to PDA.

Jupiter in the 2nd house couple can start a business together, and their children would inherit their money and properties.

Uranus in the 2nd house couple can earn through unconventional means like filmmaking, internet, tech services, activism, NGO, etc.

Jupiter in the 9th house couple might choose to have a destination wedding or can have two weddings.

Saturn in the 1st house couple would be seen as a stable couple on the outside and but both of them can face pressure to appear stable and can feel restricted in love/ married life.

Pluto in the 1st house couple are either loved or hated to the core by others. People won't expect them to be together. Others gossip behind their backs.

A 6th house stellium in the composite can make the relationship feel like a duty/ chore rather than real love over time. In some cases, "dead bedroom."

An 8th house stellium in the composite can indicate a relationship based on gaining something from each other, either financially or sexually. Common in business partnerships, parent-child relationships, sugar daddy/mommy situationships, marrying for money relationships, short-lived affairs, friends with benefits, and close friendships.

A 5th house stellium in the composite can mean a couple whose major focus is on children and their development. Can go on a lot of dates. Fun and child-like couple. On the flip side, staying for the kids if Saturn is in the 5th.

A 3rd house stellium in the composite can lead to arguments due to the involvement of others in their life. Others can sabotage their love/married life. One or both of them might over-share about their life to others and can be influenced by others' opinions. Family and friends' involvement.

Types of couples in the composite:

-> 1st and 7th lord in conjunction - Lovebugs that are inseparable. Yin and Yang. Romeo and Juliet. Cupid and Arrow.

-> 1st and 7th lord in trine - Peanut butter and Jelly. Made for each other. Salt and Pepper. Milk and Cookies.

-> 1st and 7th lord in sextile - Barbie and Ken. Mickey and Minnie. Aladdin and Jasmine. French fries and Ketchup.

-> 1st and 7th lord in square - Sweet and Sour. Beauty and the Beast. Shaggy and Scooby. Tarzan and Jane.

-> 1st and 7th lord in opposition - Sun and Moon. Light and Shadow. Sunshine and Storm. Sunny and Moody. Sugar and Spice.

✨🔍Wanna dive deeper into your chart's layers? 🌙💬 Check out my pinned post for pricing and more info 💫💸

[rivereverie]

I also think that fundamentally, the concept of "fixing someone" disregards their own autonomy and the (sometimes very hard) choices they make. No matter how much love and support you give someone, they're not going to change unless they choose to. And you cannot make that choice for them. This is what Astarion's story is all about. The PC influences his choices in that they show him that there is another way than the one he has lived for 200 years; they don't tell him what to do or counsel him. They stand there by his side during the hardest moment of his life and say I'm here, there is another way, and you can be something more. You can't change someone, and it's not your place to, no matter how well-meaning. All you can do is point out a better path, offer your hand, and walk with them into that brighter future. But they are the only one who can take each step. Astarion chooses to take your hand, time and again. Every time he's vulnerable. Every time he cares about another person. When he refuses Ascension. When he frees all those spawn. He stumbles and second-guesses all the time, looking longingly into the darkness behind him, but he keeps taking the next step. Always the next. Just as likely is a story where you give someone all the love and support in the world and they just... continue in their toxic ways. I'm sure we all know someone like that in real life. But Astarion is different because, like OP said, a part of him already cares, to a degree. He can be reached. If no part of him wanted to be better, then no amount of kindness would change his mind. When Astarion is given a safe place to exist, the softer sides of him come out naturally, and he reaches out on his own. I love how Astarion's spawn ending doesn't show him becoming a completely different person, even if everything has changed. He's not a soft, harmless kitten. He still has fangs, so to speak, and he's only just begun his healing journey. What the PC does in this story is offer Astarion a safe place beside them, support, and understanding. It's patience as a form of love, and I adore how their story is told. We as people do influence one another, and love does often change people, but there is no such thing as "fixing" someone, in my opinion. People like the idea that you can, because it soothes a wound within themselves. Wanting that doesn't make you a bad person (I've been there), but it's never going to actually help either of you heal. It's just another way of seeking validation in others. It is natural and good to want to help others and see them become better and thrive, but you need to understand the boundaries of what you are and are not responsible for. Making someone your pet project, intentionally or otherwise, will only end up disrespecting and hurting you both. Sorry for the ramble but this very concept has annoyed me for years and it's especially irksome when people imply it of Astarion of all people.

Here I go again, venting about the whole "I can fix him" thing that all spawn Astarion fans get accused of. But seriously—what the hell are we even talking about?

First of all, having a moral compass is not a flaw. It’s a good thing. It means you’re not a sociopath. Let’s stop promoting the idea that being a piece of shit is somehow okay—because in real life, it’s not. In the game, sure, do whatever you like and enjoy it—but that doesn’t mean it’s justifiable in the real world.

Secondly, Astarion is not some one-dimensional monster whose sole purpose is to gain wealth and power at any cost. His goal is to be safe. Period. If you didn’t get that, then you missed the entire point of the game and the character. And safety doesn’t come in just one form.

Most importantly: Astarion contains both light and darkness. It’s up to the player to bring out one or the other. This isn’t about fixing him. It’s about recognizing and valuing the qualities that are already in him, for fuck’s sake. There’s no way you could talk him out of the Ascension if he weren’t already having doubts about it! He’s meant to be ambivalent—designed that way to let different players make different choices and enjoy the journey.

And let me say this again, because it’s a hard myth to kill: rolling the dice to convince Astarion not to ascend isn’t making the decision for him. It’s cutting through the bloodlust and fear clouding his mind and saying, “Hey, babe, have you considered this, this, and that?” Nothing more, nothing less.

The person who convinces him not to ascend doesn’t change him—they reassure him. They show him a different possibility.

So no, it’s not “I can fix him.” It’s I see you.

And for the record, if you choose the spawn ending, Astarion stays exactly who he was—just with a new perspective on the world and the people in it. So what the hell was “fixed”? Nothing. He has to fix himself from that point on, using the tools he’s chosen to reclaim: connection, friendship, and—yes—some level of morality (he’s still an antihero and a vampire with needs, after all).

The Ascension literally changes him—turns him into something he’s not, into a type of unnatural vampire that didn’t even exist before. And it’s in that exact moment that he becomes a true monster with no chance of redemption—because he chooses to go from victim to predator. Once again, something he wasn’t before.

And who pays the price? Not enemies—mostly innocent people, including children who will be damned to hell for all eternity.

And for what? The gain (which, honestly, is highly questionable—and for me, not worth it) of one person. A person who, again, gains things he didn’t originally have—wealth, power, sunlight, no more hunger, etc.

So isn’t that what trying to “change” or “fix” him really looks like? Making him different? The excuse that “he was always just a piece of shit with no hope” doesn’t hold up—even if it helps someone sleep at night.

And let me be clear—I don’t give a fuck what people prefer or how they play the game. I ascend Astarion too, in some of my runs, when and how I feel like it. But seriously, this whole “fixing him” narrative? It needs to die—especially when tied to morality.

Shocking news: everyone should have a moral compass and use it. It’s not about “conforming.” It’s about the fact that without it, the world—which is already falling apart—would be completely doomed.

And by the way: the only reason some people get to ignore morality is because most of the idiots on this planet do follow it. Otherwise, it’d be absolute chaos.

[ekebolou]

There are (at least) two layers to humanities research.

[There probably should be at least two to scientific research in the same vein, but I don't want to talk out my ass about stuff I don't do - so, humanities it is!]

This is part of why it takes so long to train humanities researchers. Honestly, it's such a massive return on the extremely cheap investment to train humanities scholars, it's insane. But that's a point for another day.

The first layer is what you spend basically the entirety of schooling (I suppose I should say in European/Western-influenced education systems) up until college/university-level education doing. That is learning to read things written for you to read.

Granted a fair amount of this time is spent on just the 'learning to read' part, but by at least teenage years you ought to be on to the 'understanding things written for you to read' part. A huge amount of this is learning to suss out fiction and non-fiction; learning to interpret imagery, metaphor, allusion - all that good stuff that happens in both fiction and non-fiction because language be like that; learning how to take apart and [VERY VITAL] put together language to achieve A Purpose whether that be to Understand or to Convey Understanding (and perhaps even just EVOKE).

It's not easy. That's why it takes a long time. A lot of it is Boring and Hard unless you're lucky and it's Your Thing so it's not Boring and Hard. On the words-reading website it's probably good to acknowledge that yeah, it's Boring and Hard when it's not Your Thing and you've still got to deal with it all the time, as opposed to like, advanced math, which you can kind of avoid, I guess (but don't! Advanced Math is actually Cool and Everywhere, too).

It is critical to understand that this first layer is a skill, in need of honing in its own right, and worth training everyone in. It should be obvious but very frequently is not that even when a thing is written specifically for you to read, there's a lot going on under the hood.

When you get to college/university level education (should you choose to, and you don't need to if you don't want to), this is going to be more or less lumped under secondary source research.

Maybe this is language more specific to history than other disciplines, but in general you might see 'literature review' or 'state of field' or 'preliminary research' (in history, it's often 'historiography') - but it's all broadly secondary source work.

Aha! Isn't that a tell - that they're called secondary sources?

It should be.

Your average popular historical product that does any research at all - podcasts, YouTube videos, TikToks, popular history books, documentaries, newspaper articles or special interest magazines, etc - is doing this kind of research. Secondary Source Research. It's reading stuff written for you to read.

It's very, very important.

It's about half of what all that time, labour, blood, sweat, and tears that go into a humanities degree is about. It's why it takes forever and your friends drop off the face of the earth and become book hermits that cry when a restaurant menu is too descriptive (and also because they make no money - they should make more money, but that's another issue).

But it's only half. The function that this half serves, however, is making the other half possible. Laying the groundwork. If it were, say, fifty to eighty years ago, I would confidently say that the purpose of that layer of the research was to read, as much as is possible, everything written on a given subject of study so that the researcher was able to properly process the next half of the research. Used to be that even included bodies of work in a few other languages. These days, that's simply not possible for most subjects. There's too much been written specifically for you to read. You still ought to have at least two other languages under your belt, but you're not always reading scholarship extensively in more than one. There's too much to read in one language, and that goes for a whole lot of languages.

So nowadays, you're typically reading a selection of really influential secondary sources (stuff written for you to read) and a decent swath of the 'modern' conversation (within the last twenty-five years or so), and a deep selection of whatever your very deliberately outlined specific subject of study is. It's still a lot. It's necessary.

Because the second layer of research is reading stuff that was not written for you to read. Maybe it was written for some audience to read - a letter to a friend is for a friend, a circular for a society is for society members, a broadsheet is for whoever happened to be walking by that wall at that given time - but that audience is not you. It was written for them. You're somebody else, living somewhere else, and some-when else. Not for you.

Some of it isn't for anybody to read. Or wasn't meant to say anything in particular. Or wasn't even deliberately created in the first place. It's just there. A ledger. A calling card. A particular winding or color of thread. A broken bit of pipe. A thousand trade beads. The thumb-shaped worn spot on a rock or blackened stone of a wall by a stairway. The kind of paper of a torn note.

This second layer of research is why people who say they have 'done their own research' are very often not worth taking seriously. It's a trick of the word 'research', that it really means several things at once, one of which is very different from the other, despite appearing to be superficially the same. It can be hard not to take it personally, when you're excited and have done a lot of work and put your whole heart in learning about a thing to have that effort derided as 'not real research'.

It isn't, though. Not in that thorough-going meaning of both layers. It's one layer. A very intensive and difficult layer, but not both. To be an expert - to have expertise - is to do both. You can think of it like doing a practical skill versus reading about it. You can read a lot about how sailing ships work, you might even be a skilled model builder, whose experience can contribute to our understanding of ship construction, but you're not a ship-builder or a sailor. You don't have to be those things, it's not like you have nothing to contribute to those things, but you're not those things.

Likewise, until you do primary source research - read things not written for you to read - you're an expert in what people have said about a thing, not about the thing itself. It's very easy to be misled when confronted with a thing not written for you to read, when all you've done is read what people have said, which is why you don't go from doing all your secondary source research straight into publishing books. There's a long (fuckin' loooooooong) period of a kind of 'apprenticeship', where you join the conversation and get a lot of feedback (and fuck some of that feedback, what assholes are out there! but some is great) before you put something out there on your subject officially for someone else to read.

Hell, it's super easy to do all that and still be shit at actually interpreting the primary sources. Or you could be presenting something entirely new and different, and so everyone treats you like a crank until some more stuff comes forward, in years, decades not unusually being the timeline required. Sometimes it's hard to tell which way the needle will jump, which is why its so important for authoritatively written work to be as transparent as possible with the wheres and hows and whys of its logic and argument.

(Which is another big thing you'll notice - something based on secondary source research will often have minimal or no evidence of where it got its information. Citations. Citations are real important for the credibility of an interpretation. you should be able to find exactly the sources the argument relies upon just in case you want to make your own evaluation.)

But transparency is not clarity. Ideally, clarity is there, but if it feels like something is incredibly dense and hard to read and its supposed to be an authoritative source written for you to read - well, it has to be transparent, not necessarily clear (oh, language! How wonderful you are).

So that's how it stacks up. That's why when you get to those college/university-level courses, they seem to be asking you for entirely different outputs - they are! They're trying to get you to practice different skills. That's why you'll see an uncomfortable look on an academic's face sometimes, or a 'fun fact' being passed around encouragingly online will get a rock thrown its window from time to time (I fuckin' hope it does, anyway). That's why a "special interest" isn't the same as "expertise," despite how fun it can be to talk about our encyclopedic infodumping foibles. That's why "the SECRET that THEY never wanted to know," "a HIDDEN HISTORY," "the UNCOVERED/RECOVERED/UNEARTHED/UNSILENCEDetc story," are better signs of marketing than reality, rigor, or even truth (they are the "EXPERTS hate PERSON for THIS ONE SIMPLE TRICK" of non-fiction marketing).

It's not because people hate fun (though some them do, the spoilsports), but because "research" and "research" aren't the same, and blurring the line between them is really, profoundly unhelpful. The idea that we can continue to have our fun pop-history posts and takes without the fun pop-history books is a minor scale of delusion compared to the idea that we can continue to have fun pop-history books without understanding the need to continue to training, fostering, and supporting the immense amount of work that goes into producing regular ol' (boring, hard) expertise. The new stuff comes from the person that looks at the ledger of a plantation and sees people in the numbers, and understands what those numbers are trying to do - and that's not obvious, or easy to work with.

So, I guess, I just wanted to point out that there's at least two layers (two layers, at least) - and I think understanding that can help make sense of things. Or at least I hope so.

[4kozy]

manon as ur monster gf hcs

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manon is a phantom, so she can control her tangibility at will. it makes for a very interesting life together…

phantom manz tends to slip through objects when she’s relaxed. it takes a lot of concentration to keep herself solid, so if she’s asleep, or you’re making her comfy, there’s a great chance she’ll fall straight to the bottom of the apartment building.

phantom manz is incredibly cold and not in the way normal undead typically are. she genuinely drops the temperature around her a good 15 degrees, let alone her body temperature… 😞 you can’t explain it–manon just carries the cold with her, probably a side effect of being a phantom. she doesn’t like to touch you for this reason, not wanting to sap the heat from your body. you have to convince her you’ll be fine for hours before she does, fighting back shivers so she’ll be happy. you never mind too much.

phantom manz has a glow around her! it’s cute during the holidays, NOT when it’s 11:00 at night and she’s snoring. you buy a lot of eye masks… especially because she likes to steal yours.

phantom manz has a couple stab wounds on her ghastly form. she doesn’t hide it from you either, she’ll talk about how she died everytime she thinks you’re curious. she was stabbed to death and seriously doesn’t remember anything from her past life. it would’ve bothered anyone else, but manon likes to live in the moment🙏

phantom manz has a tendency to unintentionally possess you… every time she shares too much contact, she starts melting into your skin, and mixing her spirit with yours. it’s a really intimate experience, feeling more like a way to share your attraction to each other rather body snatching. she always gives your body back.

phantom manz can pull your spirit out of your body! it doesn’t happen often, and definitely doesn’t happen unless you want it to. the first time, she mentioned it offhandedly and you wanted to try… needless to say it didn’t go very well, her having to pick you up the whole time lest you fall into the underworld. with a lot more practice though, you’re able to float no problem😼 she likes to say you were born to be a ghost.

phantom manz can’t eat unless she takes your body, so going out gets a bit awkward. you two are banned from 3 fine dining establishments for freaking out the customers. ( apparently it’s not normal for someone to talk to themselves like that… or convulse like that… or contort like– )

phantom manz’s favorite dates are the ones where you take her to paint or make other types of art. she’s a really creative individual, choosing to put her everything into, her words, “the beauty of the world.” she can’t really do anything extreme because she’ll phase right through it. ( it took weeks to get her used to riding in a car. )

speaking of art, phantom manz takes love letters extremely serious, seeing them as a lost art on its own. expect to come home to them every single day–each one about an entirely different about you that she adores.

phantom manz likes when you guys share intimacy a lot. it’s kinda hard, seeing as kissing her is like kissing a wet glass in antarctica, and kissing you is like kissing a heater full blast in death valley, but you find a way to make it work. you like to describe it as universe’s most evil joke, but she chooses to think of you two like mercury’s light and dark sides.

phantom manz’s best friends are her pen and the tv remote… she’s always watching really bad reality television and then rewriting it to her liking; love island stood no chance. you read every rewrite and tease her about them.

phantom manz will pull your soul to influence your decisions sometimes–ONLY for small things, like when you both can’t decide on dinner for the night.

with your okay, phantom manz will write her intials on your skin, making it so cold that it burns. by the time it heals, you’ve got an “MB” on your neck.

phantom manz isn’t possessive or even jealous really. she trusts you with her life, or what’s left of it, and even if she didn’t–she could check if she wanted to. your soul can’t lie.

phantom manz is your number one hype man for EVERYTHING… sometimes it gets to be a little much, like that time you slipped on your shit in the bedroom and sprained your tailbone and she cheered all the way to the hospital.

you and phantom manz always take at least an hour out of y’all’s day to spend alone. it helps you connect more while together, but also be your own people🙏

phantom manz doesn’t like to argue for long! you guys always find a way to talk it out. she’s a firm believer in not going to sleep angry at each other.

phantom manz puts her hand through your stomach when she’s mad at you. it freaks you out even when you already know it’s coming.

your first meeting with phantom manz almost never happened 😭 you couldn’t see her due to the sunlight making her almost invisible, leading to your collision seconds later. unfortunately, manon is more like a rock than an intangible being when she puts her back into it. she helps you onto your feet, apologizing for knocking you over and offers to buy you coffee even though you ran into her. the next morning, she’s already in the shop with a smile and drinks in hand, introducing herself. you guys have a really good conversation until you noticed her untouched cup, and she sheepishly admits that she’d need to possess you to drink it. in the end, both cups are empty, and coming to, there’s a new contact in your phone.

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in conclusion phantom manon ily u should caress me with those cold fingers 😍 ( AND YES IK THATS SARAH SCREAMS.. i couldn’t find good operetta ones )

[agentnatesewell]

What is something that others find silly but Suri is extremely passionate about (I'd ask if she hates anything but she's THE lovergirl ™️ of all time 💕)

Hello my wonderful, darling friend! This is such a fantastic question, and I have had fun thinking about it.

The thing that others might find silly that she takes very seriously/passionately (and some people might find silly themselves!) is:

The Great British Bake Off (or wayhaven world equivalent)

This competition is Suri’s March Madness, her professional sports playoffs, her championship showcase. Every year, when that cheery, chipper music plays, she’s ready to go!

When the list of contestants is released, she starts doing her research. Spreadsheets, write-ups from the information given regarding their histories and baking experiences, and she pulls out her trusty whiteboard for the weekly contestant tracker (who gets first place in the technical, who gets star baker, who goes home). Surina makes her prediction who win at the beginning of the season, and puts their name at the top of the whiteboard

Every year, she sends out a Fantasy Baker Off form to her friends such as Haley, Tina, Verda, Eric, and even Captain Sung and Bobby. Douglas is always offered, but always neglects to fill out the form. The winner picks the charity the money goes to, plus a custom cake from Haley (and if Haley wins, she can choose what she wants). Each week, they have to fill out who they predict will win star baker and who will go home. Surina takes their participation very seriously!

The finale is hosted at Haley’s, and various treats featured throughout the season are offered as treats. That is when the Fantasy Baker Off Winner is announced, as well. The community is allowed to join, but they have to register in advance

Now, is Suri a baker? No. She is passionate about baked goods, and italian wedding cake is her favorite food. She can tell you anything about a victoria sponge, petit four, what a tight crumb, and a crème diplomat is, but she cannot make it herself. She does have one chocolate chip cookie recipe she reveres. She’ll drop by Haley’s to discuss the next season’s special, representing what she knows the people will want (and usually influenced by the season’s bakes)

There are talks to put together a baking competition at the next Wayhaven Town Faire (not a pie contest or cake walk, they need to make it there, etc). But with busy she is lately, that might need to be tabled

Now. Of course. Adam fills the Paul role, Nate fills the Mary/Prue role, Morgan fills the Mel or Sue/Noel role, and Farah fills the Mel or Sue/Ashley role. What are they judging? Nothing, only Nate and maybe Farah will indulge and try bakes. But it’s fun for her to think about. One year, Adam gets just as into the competition as she does, and their favorites both make it to the finale. Nate thinks they’re all winners. Farah likes the imaginative bakes. Morgan doesn’t care but can usually pick out the winner

And one thing! Beyond the season, Suri has a collection of contestant cookbooks when they come out

-

Thank you for asking!! This was so fun to think about!

[i-write-what-i-want-when-i-want]

Wishing Stone

Pre-Twilight x female reader ft. the rest of the chain

Little blurb bc the fic is not fic-ing so why not take a break to write something else while still indulging in my horribly pathetic down bad-edness on any and all versions of twilight princess link

.

In which Twilight wishes for Midna. Instead, he gets you.

.

When the chain stumbles upon a dungeon in yet another time period none of them can claim as their own, they find an artifact waiting for them at the end. An inconspicuous little stone for all that its accompanying inscriptions claim its ability to grant its wielder its truest desire.

It takes a bit of wrangling of the more optimistic members but they all eventually agree that no one is to touch the artifact until both Hyrule and Legend can inspect it for any foul magic or malicious influence.

With bated breath, they all wait until both boys tentatively agree that they don't detect anything bad, dark or vile from the stone. With a grin, Wind snatches the stone from it's pedestal and it immediately starts to glow in his hands. Once more, they all hold their breaths, waiting, hands on their weapons as the glow slowly fades and...

Nothing happens.

Wind scrunches up his face in confusion.

"Ha? What does it mean my wish will be granted in due time? Just have patience?"

Wild takes the stone from him and just like before, the stone glows briefly before it fades and again, nothing happens. All that's left is a complicated look on Wild's face.

"What did it say, cub?" Twilight asks tentatively. Wild takes a shuddering, wet breath before shutting his eyes.

"It said I'll be given a chance to right the world as it could have been but she won't be mine to cherish, that I'd have to choose between..."

Twilight places a hand on the younger boy's shoulder, squeezing firmly to which the latter can only give a fragile smile in return. Time carefully takes the stone from Wild and yet again, nothing happens when its glow fades. Something soft passes in their leader's face, bringing a small smile to his face before he holds the stone to Twilight.

"Not even gonna tell us what it said to you, old man?" Legend asks, an eyebrow raised, hand on hip and curiosity clear in his eyes. The rest of the boys are carefully looking away from Wild who was still trying to compose himself.

Time simply hums. "That's for me to know and you to guess at. Now, how about you give it a try, pup?"

Twilight takes the stone and immediately he feels his heart race, blood pulsing in time with the flood of thoughts of a woman with hair as fiery as her spirit and a visage as beautiful as her soul. If he could see her again, even if just one last time...

Hm. I see. This one perhaps, we can do something about.

Twilight almost startles at the sudden emergence of a voice in his head, his anticipation climbing in response to its words but then the glow fades and again, nothing happens.

"Okay, I've had it with its stupid magic trick," Legend grumbles as he goes to inspect the inscriptions once more. Four and Warriors join him, combing over the other stone tablets with the veteran.

"Maybe we're missing something?" Hyrule asks, looking around the chamber from top to bottom.

"Oh, there's a smaller, kinda faded writing on this one, near the bottom edge," Four announces. "It says, the wish can only be granted within the constraints of the laws of the world."

Just as he finishes reading, the floor rumbles as the whole chamber starts to shake, stirring up dust and rubble.

"Din's tits! I thought you said it was safe, Ledge?!" Wars yells out, voice clear above the din of the others' shouts of surprise, a hand clenched in Hyrule's collar, keeping the younger boy upright.

"Head to the exit!" Time's voice bellows out. Everyone rushes to the stone archway just as the rumbling intensifies and then there's a burst of blinding white light enveloping the whole room.

When the light dies down, the room looks just as it did before the rumbling began—undisturbed and empty, not a single sign of life.

.

Your lungs burn with each breath you take but you know you can't stop, not now, not when the minions of that shadow creature are right at your heels. But your body can't take much more, the fatigue having long surpassed your limits and you can feel yourself slowing against your will.

Then a bright light starts to glow not too far ahead of you and perhaps you were running to your death but if that light consumed you, it would still be a better way to die than at the hands of beasts who'll tear you apart piece by piece. After all, there was a chance this was a mercy from the goddess and you'd gladly give yourself into her embrace than die in violence.

But then the glow fades and leaves in its wake nine men armed to the teeth, all with looks of bewilderment in their eyes as they look around themselves. You see the moment one of them catches sight of you and quickly shouts at his companions all while he readies a bow. The others are quick to unsheathe their swords and race towards you.

One of them catches you just as your legs give out, tossing you up into his arms as if you weighed no more than a single feather, making you yelp and wrap your arms around his neck instinctively, your arms brushing against the pelt he wore on his shoulders.

"Pardon me, miss," he says as he carries you away from where the other men are fighting off the monsters, effectively cutting off their pursuit of you.

He carefully puts you down to sit, letting you rest your back against the rocky wall of a cliff face before joining into the fray. You take this chance to catch your breath, letting your gaze pass over the strangers skillfully beating back the monsters that have been chasing you for hours.

Faintly, you wonder if this was, perhaps, a blessing from Hylia herself, that you be saved by her soldiers. Whatever the case, you're just glad for the reprieve. Glad that all your efforts will not have been for nothing, lost to the world as a corpse forever silenced.

Several breaths pass before the sounds of battle fade and you hear footsteps nearing you.

"Miss?" the same voice from before calls out. "Are you okay?"

When you open your eyes again, you find several handsome faces looking at you in concern. Heat rushes to your cheeks just as a part of you shivers in delight at the rasp in the man's voice.

"Miss?" another one asks, this one with a blue scarf wrapped around his neck. He reaches out a hand to you, pretty face inching closer and closer and your heart starts to race, beating faster than you'd been running from the monsters even.

Before you could so much as make a sound, your vision blurs, darkens and then you know no more.

.

Well... what was supposed to be reader angst where 'you figure out a way to travel to the twilight realm and offer to reunite twi w/ midna even if you love twi bc you want him happy even if its not with you' became this instead because my brain said no, bich, you need to write the context first so here we are

but now that i think abt it, there's potential to make it a reader x other members of the chain... hmmmmmmmmmm

but anyway, throws my lame writing into the void in hopes of someone joining me in my "shamelessly indulging on my crush on link" agenda

[spatteringstars]

I had a thought (Absolute Essay below sorry yall)

purely because of happenstance timing of watching OSP's detail diatribes about the first phase of the MCU and Captain America and the winter soldier respectively and watching Thunderbolts all within like, a week and a half of each other, I had the thought that people are more onto something than they think they are when they say "The MCU is sooo back" in response to what Thunderbolts did. I'm not going to get into anything nitty gritty about the movie because that takes time to sit down and rewatch the movie while taking notes because no way in FUCK am I picking up on more complex theming on the first watch through when the only characters I really recognize are Yelena and Alexei.

Anyways my point- As stated and explained wonderfully by Red & Blue over at Overly Sarcastic Productions (you should go watch those two most recent videos they're great) the whole appeal of the first phase of the MCU was like- these people and heroes work well independently. They can kick ass and be great independently and then they get together and they are still good and great and working together to kick evil ass. They are connected both in story and as characters in a way that we as an audience can find extremely compelling.

It falls into the pit trap of like, ugh edginess no way all of these highly competent individuals could get along so easily, so like yeah, these people are really disagreeable with each other at first but they're also all incredibly traumatized in a way that makes it difficult for them to seek out human connection so I can forgive that. And in a way I feel like it makes the crux of my ultimate point in this more compelling. Because somehow THE WRITERS MANAGED TO BRING IT BACK!!! The parts we loved about the first phase where these characters felt like they could be independent and rich on their own but become even more so when you see their reflections in each other and how they choose to interact. We loose a little bit of that sense of superhero-ness because god forbid corporate let us embrace our comic book origins lest we remember this shit used to be for geeks, but we've finally come back a little bit to what the Avengers was supposed to be about. These misfits (because lets face it even the first group of avengers were freaks. you have to be a weirdo to actually become a superhero... Tony) come together and find comraderie and strength and family in each other. Not to power of friendship literally everything but like.... its the fucking power of friendship I don't know what you want from me. And personally, I think the power of friendship is beautiful.

I think it even does a pretty decent job on the front of connecting its villains into the context of the world the story is existing in. Valentina feels like the kind of asshole who would get pulled up in this political climate post Hydra sabotaging the world to get to project insight, she feel like the kind of person who would fall for that same trap that Fury did of "Prevention of Disaster is more important than the ethics of freedom and choice that I allegelly subscribe to as a resident and representative of the United States" but fell for it harder, thus creating Sentry, after the disaster of the Blip. That could just be my wishful thinking since Thunderbolts is the only thing I've ever seen her in, but as far as villains go I feel like she makes sense even if she's a bit uuuuuhh..... morally inconsistent (?) I guess is a way I could phrase it. Whereas shit like Thanos was entertaining and was integrated into the lore of the MCU but felt a bit out of place in the context of the themes of previous movies and I'm not even touching whatever the fuck is going on w the multiverse nonsense.

Thunderbolts cared about its characters being together. It made a point to be like "literally any separation of this team trying to deal with a problem this big will fail. You all need the unique influences and skills that everyone on this team has to offer in order to actually fix what Valentina has done (and thank GOD they're solving someone else's problem instead of their own for once *cough cough* ultron *cough cough* civil war. again OSP has much more realized thoughts on this) so get in your fucking get along shirt and learn to love each other like a family" AND I LOVE THE WRITERS FOR THAT SO MUCH. THANK YOU FOR GETTING THESE DYSFUNCTIONAL FUCKS TO LOVE EACH OTHER BOB MEANS SO MUCH TO ME

And like- obviously the movie has flaws even in this context. I can see the whole "rivalry with the *other* avengers team" going really wrong and completely trampling over everything that I (and OSP I cannot tell you how much more you will get my point if you watch their phase one detail diatribe) love about what they did with Thunderbolts. I think Ghost could have been better developed in the movie or in Ant-Man and The Wasp but I understand they had to prioritize getting us on board with Bob first. They could've done a better job expanding on the themes of mental illness in the movie and I would have loved to see it better integrated with chracters previous appearances (although again I haven't watched *all* of the new shit so I could be missing something and maybe it is better integrated, but I shouldn't have to do that much fucking homework to watch a movie but thats a separate issue I'm talking about THEMES HERE). But overall, I feel like this group of writers at least looked at what made the first phase of the MCU so good and tried to learn from it and put it into their script for Thunderbolts. And that trying, especially with all of the surrounding bullshit they have to peripherially deal with, is so valuable to me. If they keep what this movie has going, we might actually "be so back" with the MCU for a whlie until the mouse machine ruins it again.

[goldendastuff]

⚠️TW/CW: Existential Horror, Cult Like Behavior And Religious Themes!⚠️

Okay This Is Going To Be A Long Post.

But Anyways!

The Figure Of Revenge Y/N'S Design Is Taking Me Forever To Make TvT Sooo

This Is What Their Followers Look Like And You Can Make Your Own Follower Oc :3

I'm Calling Them "Whispers Of Revenge"

This Is What One Of The Followers Would Look Like:

Their Cookies Who Agreed With Y/N Containing The Beasts For Eternity With Existential Horrors.

All The Followers Have A Black Marking On Their Legs And The Masks That End At The Neck. Their Mask Colors Are The Beasts Main Color But Their Means Are Reversed :>

Mostly So The Beasts Don't Influence Them At All And Out Of Spite :)

Blue Means Honesty

Pale Yellow Means Interest

Red Means Preservation

Pink Means Ambition

Purple Means Communication

If You Want To Make An OC For The Whispers Go All Out :3

Here Are Just Some Ground Rules/Bases To Help:

1. Noses Aren't Stuck To A Certain Color

For Example You Can Have A Pointed Nose With A Purple Mask

2. Flat Faces Can Have Circle Noses If You Want Them Too :3

(I Didn't Draw The Facial Expressions You're Oc Could Have Please Forgive Me TvT)

But In All Honesty You Can Go Bananas On The Facial Expressions :3

These Are Cloaks Your Oc Could Were It Doesn't Matter With One You Choose :3

But The Hoods(? That's What I'm Calling Them Correct Me If I'm Wrong) Are Color Coded To The Mask

Thank You All For Reading I Hope You All Enjoy ^⁠w^

If You Got Anymore Questions About This Or The Au My Inbox Is Open :>

Bonus: These Outfits Are Based By Yugo Limbo's Video "HI, YOU PEACH"

[voicesunified]

ㅤ"If his words are true as they appear to be, Michael. What exactly are we supposed to do about it?" Uriel asked, pulling down the box of cookies from his cupboard and placing them gently on the counter. They contained an array of all different flavors, from Uriel's favorite bakery on Earth. He only ever got them when he went down himself, which was quite rare. Uriel's role in Heaven while not… overly important, was to teach love and what it means to love without the influence of lust. Because there was a difference, and that was something Uriel wanted people to understand. Earth didn't necessarily listen to those teachings as easily as angels did, which made him want to visit Earth less and less as the generations changed.

ㅤThat didn't stop him from going down for his own self indulgence rather than work though.

ㅤMichael tilted his head over toward Uriel and watched him pop the lid off of the box, picking up his favorite loaded chocolate cookie and taking a small bite of it. "Then we return him, obviously. Creatures that are not a part of this path would throw the balance out of order. To disrupt the Heavenly Order is to ask for things to become difficult once again, if not outright dangerous. If he belongs somewhere else then it is our sworn duty to return him to where he came from. However one might actually do that."

ㅤ"While I understand your perspective on the matter," Uriel glanced over his shoulder allowing his own gaze to settle on Zadkiel. The young archangel was now sadly stirring the chocolate in the pot on the counter, lower lip poking out as he bit the inside of his own cheek to keep from speaking. "Isn't it proper that we give him a choice in the matter?" Turning back around Uriel pointed his half bitten cookie at Michael. "You would want a choice, wouldn't you?"

ㅤThe thing about the world though… Michael has learned it's drastically unfair and no one gets what they want. "In an ideal situation, Uriel, sure. Unfortunately, we don't always have the privilege of choice. The longer he's here, the more threads of fate we risk damaging. Unless you can prove to me his existence in the those lines isn't dangerous, the end goal will always be to return him."

ㅤ"Wouldn't that be a question for Azrael? It's his job to oversee fate with Raphael." He jabbed his cookie over at Lucid now, hearing Zadkiel turn the stove off behind him and start to pour the mugs. "Raise your opion with the Archangels. If Lucid chooses to leave or stay, let him argue it to the council."

Uriel’s words were in fact reassuring for Lucid to hear. And even in this short few hours of having met this alternate Heaven, he believed all of them. Call it his naivety or lack of judgment when it came to openly trusting. But things here were vastly different than the world the young seraphim had always known. To be told this Saint Michael disapproved of factional ideas went along with the display of his sword, but using it in a way that neither cut skin nor feathers. When a weapon was drawn, Lucid had only known them to either keep a threat back, or make its mark. There was never an in-between.

Pulled over to the table, Lucid settled beside Zadkiel, his eyes shining at the mention of hot chocolate. “I love hot chocolate! That would taste really nice. It is warm and comforting.” As the youngest archangel went about to make the calming drinks, the blue angel swung his feet back and forth beneath the chair.

Whether Lucid understood the others still found his words to believe, he certainly did not seem to push it beyond that one instance of insisting he was from another Heaven. The words simply came out as if recanting a story or matter of fact. He seemed calm at the moment, patiently waiting for Zadkiel or whatever was next to come.

[insaneillusionist]

Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani is an incredible movie and I recommend you all watch it, and they have the perfect usage of a sequin shirt.

[casualavocados]

You've never done that when I got close to you before. Why? None of your business. Tell me, or you can't leave.

KISEKI: DEAR TO ME Ep. 10

[forcedhesitation]

I'm actually rather surprised that not a single one of the boys made top three. but then again, I suppose the large number of straight men that play this game are not as visible in fan spaces as us lgbt. That is...a fortunate thing, though, I'd argue.

[orphiicheartd]

Bruh, I am prolly slow on the uptake, but I'm realizing that, considering their magic is heavily influenced by imagination, it's no WONDER Kalim's magic, especially his defensive magic, is so weak.

Because he's always had everything handed to him or done for him by others, especially Jamil, of course his imagination would never compare. Bc he's never HAD to long for anything, never had to think of anything for himself besides what he was told/given, outside certain circumstances!

Is it a wonder he was able to manifest his magic at an age when Jamil was attending another school away from him? When Kalim himself WANTED to and tried so HARD at something, likely for the first time in his life, to manifest his magic to be JUST LIKE Jamil?

Tbh, the best thing that ever happened to Kalim was not really Jamil. Bc incidentally, the way they were raised, it only served to limit Kalim both in life experiences and magic, having Jamil do everything for Kalim. He never needed to work on honing his magic when Jamil could take care of potions, when Jamil could defend him and take the brunt of the grunt work.

Thus, the best possible thing to have happened to Kalim really having to make his own friends outside of him at Night Raven. Like when he used Oasis Maker to entertain Crowley with excellent control and skill ( likely something he learned to do for shows with the Pop Music Club, I bet! ). Or how when he had to make a party without Jamil's help, Ruggie let him learn how to cook with only using magic and the food STILL turned out to be a hit despite it being Kalim's first shot at it! Or how he was able to surprise Jamil by making the river to bring Octavinelle, himself and Yuu'n Grim back to Scarabia after the boy'd dismissed his Signature Spell as useless.

[devildaisies]

i need to learn a trade. going to school for art while AI simultaneously takes off in a real and heinous way is so.

[skitskatdacat63]

Boy King Seb :D

[hunysckle]

chat i think i hate my mom