#By Talos it has been a productive day

[catholic-paladin]

[xiii-e]

XIII▸So. This is the brief I promised. Lets talk about the Projects

◂▸ We'll go through the basics first, yeah? Go over what we have clearance to share in loose terms, this probably isn't a totally unfamiliar concept to most people. A lot of the Corps have a division for any research they don't want a name put to.

XIII▸ It's understandable enough as a practise. Protection of company interests is a priority for any major opperation, especially regarding any work that could be done concerningly poorly by a less well-staffed or well-funded team.

◂▸ ... yeah, that's sure the company line. So, the Projects- not the most specific name in the world, covers a lot of things. It's the catchall for anything secrative, and I won't be going into stuff that's not relevent to us, but what's useful to know for our correspondence is that if you hear us talk about Projects when refering to people? Those people are clones, like us. The Project series in particular is what we fall under.

XIII▸ Project Soldiers are designed with specifications of service in mind; the first series, Project One: Talos, was your generic super soldier gene profile, but they've honed in on various tasks and traits over the decades. Take myself, for instance, as the prototype for Series Thirteen- when I describe myself as specialised medical and engineering personnel for field opperations, I mean it down to the dna. I'm wholly intended for the purpose I serve :}

◂▸ mhm... so, that's where our names come from too. Prototypes serve as the root genetic profile for Series, and they'll be named after the project as a whole. After that, it's usually some kind of proper noun and your series number. Hence, Helios-8; proper noun, series number. My line was meant for techie stuff, so we're not exactly hench but have trigger reflexes. Bastard annoying sometimes...

XIII▸ You're flinchy

◂▸ :[ yeah. But- as I have to stress (contractually) a lot of strides have been made in the cloning field since the seccom days. Any major hinks are worked out of the system, as far as either of us are aware we opperate at normal human capacity, if not better in our specialised ways. Any... flaws of production are strictly aesthetic these days.

XIII▸ And we do good work, when deployed well. My line for instance, is intended to save lives on the battlefield- I'm sturdy, stable and evoke a sense of trust :} not to mention capable of expedited healing, so I can get back out there into the thick of things on short notice. I'm even a universal blood donor, in cases of emergency-

◂▸ We're not giving the sales pitch here, cmon leave that to corporate. But to round off my little speech, and to assuage any concerns our general existance may have raised, the FC Project series is a limited scope, highly speculative investment intended to reduce friction caused by Purview expansion, by ensuring the best possible people are in the roles that matter. Superior by Design, and all that.

XIII▸ Harrison Armory takes its commitments seriously. Every Project soldier that comes out of production is created for purpose, with every consideration made to the weight of that decision; each one of us fulfils our role to the fullest extent, and we make Purview space a more stable place doing it.

◂▸ ... so, that's the basic rundown. Projects, as people, are specialist genetic profiles put together through painstaking research and all that stuff about commitments or whatever. We're pretty much all soldiers of some description at some point in our lives but, so are most HA citizens.

XIII▸ If you have any further questions I'm sure we would both be happy to field them, to the extent we have clearence too. I hope this was informative!

// loading echo.exe ... //... //... // now running echo.exe

XIII▸ ... you look sick.

◂▸ That might be because I feel sick. Fuck I hate having to say all that litigation warding, covering their asses type of shit-

XIII▸ It's a bit much in places, maybe.

◂▸ It's straight out lies in some places and you know it.

XIII▸ ... my migraines are- they're manageable. So long as I take my medication on the field, it's like they're not even there.

◂▸ >:[

XIII▸ Well... thank you, for sticking to the script anyway. You know I don't want to see you get in any more trouble for my sake.

◂▸ [sigh] yeah, yeah I know. Sorry for springing all this legal, half-assed whistleblower crap on you in the first place, I just-

XIII▸ You don't have to explain yourself to me, Lio. You're doing what you think is right, even if I don't really get it.

◂▸... I hope one day, you will.

XIII▸ I am as the company wants me to be, Lio. You know that. It's how I'm programmed.

◂▸ I-

XIII▸ Don't try to start that argument again.

◂▸ People aren't programmed, Turtie-

XIII▸ And I'm not a person, Lio.

[silence]

XIII▸ ...and please, call me by my name? I know you don't like it but again, I don't-

◂▸ -want me to get in trouble, for your sake. Yeah, I know.

XIII▸ I am trying, you know. To learn, how to bend the rules. But I can't break them.

◂▸ No, I- I know... Thirteen-E.

XIII▸ :}

◂▸ ... ack, we logged all of that didn't we. Welp. I'm not rerecording it so, posted it is. Did mention this thing would be kind of like a diary.

◂▸ Signing off.

//

[hrodvitnon]

A Voice in the Dark

A bit of a headcanon of how Ren is first exposed to the nature of Mechagodzilla in the Abraxasverse 

-

Ren Serizawa had been hearing things.

Okay, wait - he knew it sounded crazy, he really did, but he really had been hearing things. Naturally, he didn’t mention it to anyone else at Apex - not just because he’d definitely be branded as a crazy person, but because Walter would get suspicious and the last thing he needed was for that ass to get a hint that he wasn’t on the level with his goals.

Specifically, Project Talos and the thing that was at the core of it; Mechagodzilla. The thing that he was also absolutely certain was at the root of whatever was going on here, the voices in his head. They hadn’t started until he caught a glimpse of it, when a giddy Walter had brought him to witness his magnum opus.

Ren had to suppress a snort at that. ’Yeah, like that thing compares to the real deal.

‘That 'thing’ has a name, you know.’

Oh right, the voices in his head.

At first, they weren’t there at all - the early days since he’d gotten a sneak-peak at that thing and the depths of Apex’s insanity had more or less gone 'normally’, for lack of a better term. Oh sure, he still spent every waking moment fearing for his life, that even now despite all the loyalty he had shown - enough to get into Walter’s inner circle and be trusted sith critical information - hed still be found out and taken to be experimented on or tortured or whatever it was that Simmons was keen on him not knowing about, but otherwise? It was fine.

Then, as further production on Mechagodzilla started, that’s when electronics or digital devices around the complex started acting…weird. Stopping or starting up at random, breaking after emitting a pulse of some weird purple static, that sort of thing. Then it got worse - flashes of strange symbols on the screens, phrases like 'i can taste you’, or 'awake’, sounds that sounded like the groaning of something immense shifting in the bowels of the complex.

Naturally, when they brought this up to Walter, the man had brushed it off with a casual remark of “Technical issues. It’s probably just a glitch - you know how it is”. Which was soulless corporate speak for “I know what’s going on and that it’s bad, but I’ll ignore it until it bites me in the ass”.

'He’s right you know. It probably is best to not think too hard on it. After all, what harm can I possibly do?“ 

And it was around that same time that the voices started. Small incoherent whispers, almost inconsequential and brushed off as a sign that he had been here too long, but other people like Ren who had seen Mechagodzilla or were taking part in its construction had also heard those same whispers. And some of those people, the ones closest to Simmons at the time, hadn’t come in for months.

Something was wrong.

It had been a few weeks since the debut of Kiryu and the voices had only grown worse. They’d gone from small whispers, to occasional loud mutterings - a mixture of several different voices at once, speaking in several different languages, some Ren didn’t even know. Several of which he was certain hadn’t even originated on Earth,with how alien and guttural they were. Other times, the voices were screeches and howls, echoing with raw power - slowed and pitched awkwardly, and with an odd almost mechanical reverb, but unmistakably those of the Golden Demise.

And sometimes…sometimes it was his own voice mocked back at him, in that same ungodly pitch. It always spoke of his insecurities, his flaws, his attempts to win the affection of his father (never-never-ever), his past resentment of Vivienne (still-there-never-left), or the fact that some stupid part of himself could almost feel himself being taken in with some of the lies Apex fed itself and others.

Yet no matter what form the voices took, they always had the same thing behind them, like a noise they were played on top of, always screaming in his mind whenever they were present and almost indicepherable in its self-evident madness and perversion, a creed against life itself in the form of an endless noise. A song of self-fueling insanity that would drive any mad. And he was sure everyone else here had the same thing playing in their heads all the time, if they were suffering the same symptoms he was. He couldn’t hear all of it, he could never hear all of it with going absolutely mad he felt, without being destroyed and replaced by something else, but he could make out tiny parts of it at a time.

It sounded like Ķ̷̼͊͒͠ ̸̡̨̼͎̩̗͕͇̬̭͔͔̝̲̌Ị̶̛͙̿́̋̓͐̿̑͗́̑̕͠ͅ ̴̢̧̡̜̠̠͚̫̩͓̟̖̲̗͖͚̤̰̜͎̰̞̙͉̿̑̐̍̑̿̊̀́͊̐̿͌̑̽̌̽͆̈́̐͋̚̚̚̕͠ͅͅL̸̢̠͙̙̺̜̤̭̥̜̤̰̟͈̪̭̅̈ ̸̢̼͕͍̱̟̤͕̫̝̤̫̘̼͖͈̜̝̰̫̗̼̯͕̟̜̜̟̣̯͙̮̤͑̉̑͌̓͆̈̒̊͋̐̏̏̌̀̊͑͆̎̕͘͝͝͝ͅL̴̢̧͚͈͓̝͖͍̮͚̬͇̩̭͋́̊̈́̏̍͆͘͘͘͘͜͝ ̷̡̢̡̝̩͍̖͈̰̭͍̱̝̻̱̰͉̟̣̗̭͍̯̲̱̬͒͌̾͊̔̽̈́̍̈̅̏̂͌͐͌́͘͜͝͝͝Ţ̵̢̡̛̪͍͓̺̖̳̫̲͙̙̤̝͚͉̹̩̹̙̠͚̲̝̦̠͙̜̝̊́͗̊͌̊̒̓̈́̈͂̔̊̽̈́̑̔͘͝͝͝ ̶̡̞̥̤̫̞͓͇̤̼̝͖̲̯͓̼̮̞̥̭̰͍̤̥͎̼̥͎̤͗̋̊̒̾͊̀͆̈́̃̚ͅͅH̵̱̬̦͇̫̤̯̟͕̗̫̹̜͔̳̼̓̆̎̎̈͐̈́͑͒̇͆̄̉͌͂̓́͋̂̔̋̅̍͋͒́̚͠͝͠͝͠͝ ̴̘̄̽Ẹ̸̡̨̢̢̛̙̠̲̮͓̠̖̻̩̮̪͉͙̻͉̗̗̹̱̹͙̳̫̖̬̭̳̫̞͗͒̿̇͊͑̉̇̔̂̇̆̀͘͝ͅ ̵̢̲̘̖̫̿̄̎̅̍̎̎̽̽̆̐͂̉̓̎̒̐̃͗̔̎̕̕͝͠M̴̡̢̫͖͙̩̘̫̭̥̦͇̘͈̱͍̒̔̂̈́̍̌̄̀̾̿̑̽̈́͑̄̑̿̎́͋̈́̒̓̅̄̓̚̚̕̕͝͝͝ ̶̢̧͙͕̘̠̓̓̀̿͗̈̏̒͑̀̊̎̅͛̏͝͝͝Ã̸̢͔̻̦͓̯̟͓̫̰͓̳̭̣̮̯̝͈͎̘̐̋̎̔̊̿͆̀͋̀̋̄̽̚͘̚-

'Ah, ah, ah. Wouldn’t want you to lose it just yet, would we, Renny? Actually, do you mind if I call you Renny?’

Ah, right. And then there was this. The voices had mercifully atopped for a week, a welcome reprieve that lamosf convinced him that they were gone for good, but just as suddenly as they had left, they returned - except this time they talked back. And for whatever reason, it sounded too much like the San half of Abraxas, just if San had a better grasp of human idioms and culture.

'I’ll gladly admit that this one was on me. I needed time to adjust to you, so scooping about a bit in your minds was necessary to give me the ability to emulate you properly. But it worked out.’

'I wouldn’t call nearly driving me insane just 'working it out’' Ren sarcastically shot back with a mental snarl. The voice only laughed.

'Hey, you’re talking to me arent you?' It sniggered. 'Though not many people would consider you acting as a mole in Apex of all places to be very sane, so I wouldn’t throw stones too quickly, Ren.' 

Ren had tried to ignore it, but doing so just meant it brought The Noise back, so for now he was forced to indulge it. And that certainly didn’t pair with the obnoxious purple haze that lingered in his vision whenever it spoke. At the very least, he could try and milk it for as much information as he could.

'What are you? Why do you sound like Abra-like San?' 

'I’m just your friendly otherworldly voice, Ren! And I guess you could say that I’m San’s…brother? Kin? Displaced skin cells? Either way, yes - I am 'related’ to Ghidorah in a sense, albeit at a remove now.’

'A 'remove’?' Ren pushed.

'They’d probably consider me less than a shed skin. The head is the seat of the soul, after all. Shed skins were at least properly a part of them. But me? I’m just bits of whatever was left - as little as that was - after their latest fuck up. Hardly a shed skin, they wouldn’t even consider me synonymous with their littlest brother any more. I’m closer to that old fossil you helped bring back than I am anything else now.' 

Ren stopped in his tracks, stopping dead in the hall. 'Are you like the Many? The Zmeyevich? You said you had a name.’

'Yes? No? Maybe? Who wants to know, Ren?’

Ren grit his teeth and bit back his reply, balling his fists together. The voice radiated an almost sickeningly smug feeling inside his head.

'As for a name, well - you already saw me once didn’t you? I would think I left a lasting impression on you.' 

It took him a moment to put the pieces together, but when he did, Ren let a single word leave his lips and drift out into the empty hallway. So low he almost couldn’t hear himself ”…Mechagodzilla.“

'It’s a pleasure to finally be making your acquaintance, Ren Serizawa.’

Ren wanted to throw up, he almost fell forward and barely stopped himself from toppling over by clutching at the wall - it hadn’t even been that long since Ghidorah had been killed and now it - or a part of it at least, was back. He had to…he had to get this information out to MONARCH before-

His body froze up. His limbs wouldn’t respond, he couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t even think. The purple haze that clouded the edges of his vision expanded into a hallucinogenic tide of insane colors. Then that voice, the one that had slithered over his thoughts for the past few months spoke low and ominous in his ear, like it was right beside him breathing down his neck - the voice that was once so affable and jovial had now given way to a hate so old and rancid that it had long since curdled over upon itself into a monumental stinking contempt. A voice that promised a myriad painful endings and was only barely being restrained from carrying them all out by the limits imposed upon it.

'Ren Serizawa, if you attempt to, in any way shape or form, alert either MONARCH or their Titan allies by proxy via Abraxas, I will kill everyone and everything in this facility starting with that girl you fancy, Maia Simmons, her associates, anyone they have ever made contact with, and then work my way down. I will kill them slowly and painfully and I will make sure to draw out every nanosecond of their agony as I inform them that it was you who did this to them. And I shall do it with your own hands. This I promise you, Ren Serizawa.' 

And without further warning, control was suddenly seized back to Ren. He fell to the floor gasping and clutching at his chest, choking as he coughed and tried to rally for breath.

'But really, I feel as though I won’t have to do that at all!' The 'voice’ of Mechagodzilla chirped inside his head. 'Because we’re so much alike, Ren. Both of us abandoned by those we called family, cast off in favor of better replacements, left to struggle alone. You and I, we’re practically like brothers.’

”We…are nothing…alike, monster.“ Ren gasped out, as he struggled to stand up.

'Oh but we are. We are both curious and have a love of exploration, we both adore those we care about but are always pushed away, and we both yearn to be the center of attention. I know everything about you, Ren - I know you used to wet the bed until you were 10, that you were always trying your hardest in school to get your dad to notice you, that you have a love of loud bombastic music like rock even if you say otherwise, that you have an appreciation for horror novels, and so much more. And soon enough, you’ll know everything there is to know about me! Then we will be brothers, mind, body, and soul.' 

'But, until that time comes, I’ll just have to sit back and watch for now. Don’t keep me waiting too long, Ren.’

And just like that, Ren started to feel the voice recede from his mind. In just a few moments, it was gone like it had never been there.

Ren Serizawa sat alone in the dark hall of the Apex Cybernetics facility, and quietly wept.

---

Looks like Outpost 32 and the Ural Mountain outpost aren’t the only AbraxasVerse workplaces with a severe cognitohazard, but Mechagodzilla really cranks that shit up to 13 by openly mocking Ren and even threatening to kill Maia on top of everyone else; which actually gives me an idea for a potential Empty Fullness chapter featuring Ren and Maia...

[calliethetrekkie]

Star Trek TOS S01EP15-16: The Menagerie

I decided to review both parts in the same review. It's the same story, so I'd rather be able to go over it all at once. Plus at least half of it when put together is footage from the first pilot, The Cage. I also want to note that, at the time of writing, I have NOT watched Strange New Worlds yet, so I won't be mentioning/considering anything from it or its portrayal of Pike and crew for this review. Anyway, that should do it for window dressing, let us get underway.

Original Thoughts

I'm not even going to try and copy/paste and re-edit both of them to add onto here. This is going to be long enough. You can read my old watchthrough here, but the short version is I liked Part 1, didn't like Part 2 as much, and overall I liked it for the Spock content but it was meh otherwise.

Rewatch Thoughts

God, this took me way too long to get done...

So this episode is the first and only two-parter in TOS. We wouldn't get another one in Star Trek until TNG. One thing kind of weird about this episode is that it's more or less Spock on court martial... after we'd just done a court martial episode for Kirk. When I watched these in the airing order, I think one reason I didn't care for Court Martial is because it felt like we'd 'been there, done that' with The Menagerie, a feeling that didn't repeat in production order which let me enjoy that episode a lot more.

I thought long and hard about how I wanted to organize this. How much I wanted to go into regarding both the actual episode and The Cage footage. It's part of why this review took so long. So after thinking it over... there's not much about the pilot footage that I have to say. It's there to give context for why Spock is doing what he's doing and that's really it. I think I'd rather wait to talk about Pike and maybe the pilot itself in-depth after I've seen SNW, which from what I've heard, adds some additional context. But I'm not there yet, so all I'll say is that the pilot footage really made things drag on what would have otherwise been Court Martial: Spock Edition otherwise hey ST people, if you ever do TOS again, give us the McCoy court martial episode please.

The most I have to say about the pilot footage is that it made the episode a chore to sit through. It's not bad, it's even kind of fun to see the early stuff and cast like Pike, Una, and a younger Spock. Seriously look at Spock's reaction when he and Pike look at the alien plants, its adorable! But it goes on for so long, especially in Part 2, that I lost complete interest in paying attention until it went back to the court martial. At that point we just want to know why Spock chose Talos IV to go to, not to watch an episode within an episode. I know they did it most likely as a cost-saving maneuver, but that doesn't change the fact that it just drags when they could have just... you know, had Spock explaining himself or whatever. It's the only reason that this is a two-parter at all. Again, I get it, but I kept tuning out during those scenes until we finally got to the end of it and we finally understood Spock's plan.

The present-day parts, however, were very much able to keep my attention. We're here at about the mid-way point of the first season, and to say that Spock's actions are a shock is putting it lightly. Spock has been nothing but loyal and by the book the whole series. Just last episode, he defended Kirk despite the evidence to the contrary and did everything possible to find the evidence to clear his name. We already questioned his loyalty in Balance of Terror, but the vast majority of the cast never questioned it, and any possible doubt was brought to a close at the end of it. But in fairness, this is very much a different dilemma as it concerns his former captain. One that he'd been as loyal to as he is to Kirk now. It brings a very unique problem for our favorite Vulcan.

Personally, I find Spock's whole plan... well, convoluted as Hell. I know it's to justify using the pilot footage, and it does add stuff to make it make some sense like Talos IV being forbidden to all ships. But it still feels ridiculous that Spock had to go to these extreme lengths to take Pike to Talos. Honestly, I'm iffy about having Pike taking to Talos at all. I mean... it's just an illusion. He's pretty much been put in a guided cage where he can pretend that he's still physically well, even though that's very much not the case. I guess it's better than his fate of being confined to that chair and only able to blink a light to communicate. But... I don't know, I keep thinking about it and I just don't like it. It feels messed up. But I guess Spock felt that it was the best place for Pike, where he could at least have some kind of happiness.

That said, it says a lot about Spock. The man put absolutely everything on the line just to help his former captain. He outright said at the start that he knew that it was mutiny and that he would be facing the death penalty if caught. But he doesn't care what becomes of him. All that matters is completing the task and getting Pike to Talos IV. Even regarding Kirk, he clearly didn't like going against his back and was not at all happy that his actions inadvertently convicted Kirk as well. Something that I believe that he wanted to avoid... unfortunately for him, Kirk doesn't take having his ship/command taken over from him well no matter who does it or why. Whoops. But still, for all the 'unfeeling, logical Vulcan' bravado, he sure as Hell had no problem dropping all of that here.

Kirk is angry and upset that his First Officer and friend would do this. As I said, he hates it when anyone threatens or endangers his command. Especially at this point in the series. We saw him get mad when Spock pried into him in The Conscience of the King, but this is even worse. As soon as he's back on the Enterprise, he hates it because it means court martialing Spock, which he doesn't want to do. He's willing to give Spock the chance to clear up everything, but he's also angry that Spock is holding things back from him and even lied to him. The last scene of Part 1 is him having Spock thrown in the brig because he won't just tell him why he's done what he's done. I don't even think that he cares too much about his own possible fate. He's certainly unhappy about it, but moreso about Spock because he can't make sense of it and Spock won't talk, only pleading guilty to everything. Why? Why won't his First Officer talk to him? Why go through all of this behind his back? Why allow himself to risk death? He doesn't know, and he can't stand it but can do nothing about it. He can do nothing but let the answer reveal itself, everything out of his control. Sure once it all comes together he's glad and clearly forgives Spock, but I'd imagine that he had a loooot to say when they had that talk later.

McCoy is really only relevant in Part 1, but what he got was so freakin' good. Spock fabricating orders is just impossible in his mind. He is steadfast in his belief that Spock would never lie or deceive them. Sure he ended up being wrong, and about why (Vulcans not being able to lie is the biggest lie in this whole show) but the fact that he doesn't doubt Spock at all and is the one to tell Jim this when he's questioning as he did in The Conscience of the King is so freakin' good. When he realizes that Spock did commit mutiny? And when Spock tells him to have him arrested? You can tell that he doesn't want to do it, let alone believe it. It really sucks that McCoy has no part after that because I can only imagine how much he would have had to say and try to make sense of, especially with also reasoning it with Kirk. But for what we did get, it's good stuff. And especially after The Galileo Seven, it's good to see that McCoy is still loyal to Spock and believes in him despite all the tension in that episode (and even after Court Martial where he got mad at Spock for seeming to not care about the situation, even though it was brief).

Aside from that... I really don't have a lot to say. The episode is okay. Really, everything in the first half of Part One I really enjoyed. It was tense and made me want to keep watching just to make sense of it all. It's when the pilot footage starts that things begin to bog down. Part Two is even more guilty of this until around the last few minutes, and like I said I'm pretty uncomfortable with the ending. It does a lot for Spock's character, adding more depth and showcasing his loyalty to both his old captain and his current one, as well as some nice bits for Kirk and McCoy. Heck, even bits like Uhura being in disbelief by all of this are really good. The episode's weakness is just going for far too long when this could have all been resolved in a few minutes and feels contrived to begin with. I'd still pick this episode over ones like Mudd's Women and the vast majority of Miri, but like with Miri I'd only want to watch it for certain parts (though unlike Miri it's because I'm bored, not squicked out). It's fine, and that's all I've got left to say about it.

Original Ratings: 4/5 (P1), 3/5 (P2), 3.5/5 (Both) Rewatch Ratings: 7/10 (P1), 5/10 (P2), 6/10 (Both)

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[dukeofriven]

SNW's unwillingness to free itself from canon is best illustrated in this image: it is presented as triumphant, Uhura clearly deciding that her place in in Starfleet, that her place is here on the bridge of the Enterprise. But we the audience know that, practicably speaking, her only place ends-up here. Outside of that one quasi-canonical TAS episode where she gets to command the Enterprise, by the TOS era Uhura will—functionally speaking—almost never leave this chair. In episode after episode her only job will be to say 'hailing frequencies open, captain' and nothing else. MLK famously had to beg Nichelle Nichols to stay in the role because he thought it so important for racist 1960s white America to see a professional black woman so prominently on television. His logic makes sense, but from 2023, examining TOS from the perspective of character in a world with better racial casting (in Star Trek, I mean: whatever NuTrek's flaws, its commitment to racial diversity has been really good), TOS' Uhura is barely more than a prop. No wonder Nichols wanted to quit: she's ill-used in almost every TOS episode and absolutely in every film. Frankly it feels like the 'glorious future' SNW is pushing Uhura towards is one informed by an understanding of the character as she exists in the broader realm of fandom, not the crummy reality of the text. This is why I find SNW's approach to canon so frustrating: it wants to break free and do its own thing, to tell fresh stories and have exciting new takes on familiar characters who never got the chance to really shine—but it keeps reflexively shoving TOS-is-our-canonical-future in our face: remember the Gorn? Remember Talos IV? Remember what will happen in The Menagerie? Remember how Spock and Chapel will be kind of romantic in one episode once in the first season and then it'll largely be forgotten about? Remember? REMEMBER? For all the legacy characters other than Spock, the 'future' of Strange New Worlds is death. Literal, in some cases—we know Sam Kirk's going to wind-up a blink-and-you'll-miss it corpse in Operation -- Annihilate!., and crispy Pike's fate is framed entirely as essentially death (abelist issues there for sure). The death is figurative in others: Uhura and Chapel will lurk in the background saying 'comms open' and 'yes, doctor.' M'Benga will get demoted to McCoy's deputy, show up in two episodes, and then never be mentioned again. That's not a future worth arriving at. Not for these more dynamic and interesting versions of these characters. So why do it? Why make these characters people who will end up as nothing? No matter how satisfying SNW's Uhura's story is, why do you want to link her to a future so narratively sterile for her? Does she not deserve better? I like TOS. I love TOS. It's often thoughtful and meaningful television, full of issues, plagued by actor egos, Roddenberry's sclerotic management, and all sorts of production problems—but at its best, when everything aligned, it is some of the most important television of its era. It has endured for generations for a reason. But that doesn't mean every element is good: the bridge crew outside of the triumvirate get more to do than the poor bridge crew of Discovery, but not by much. SNW keeps trying to chart a middle path between two better options, ending-up with a deeply unsatisfying worst of both worlds: not canon enough to satisfy the not insignificant portion of the fanbase for whom that's a serious concern (and for whom that's the entire fun of a prequel: spending more time in an era they know and love), but too canon-reliant to be unburdened by it. 'Here's our version of Uhura, but don't worry everyone, she might seem different but we promise that one day she'll be the woman who does nothing for a whole season other than sit in a chair with a dookickey in her ear and answer her boss' space phonecalls." Uhura looks at that console as her future, but all I want to do is scream "RUN! RUN FAR, FAR AWAY AND NEVER RETURN!"

[nebulousneuroticism]

I was rudely woken at eight am today by my neighbor's air conditioner, which has been making a horrible rattling noise for several months now. Maybe it was my sleepy state of mind, but it seemed especially loud this morning. I got up and sent off a maintenance request, and then rested with noise-canceling headphones until I was able to sleep again.

I woke again, groggy and feeling bad, in the mid-afternoon. I slowly levered myself out of bed and did some of the things that supposedly will keep me healthy and sound of mind, such as taking a brisk walk and calling my parents.

I didn't go anywhere today, instead staying in and eating eggs and leftovers. I spent some time playing The Talos Principle 2, which I'm almost done with. I tinkered with my project a little, too. Near the end of the night, I started to feel headachey and bad. Too little activity, maybe? I don't know.

So it was another mostly unproductive day. I need to get some work done sometime soon. And my christmas vacation is looming, too--less than a week until I have to fly home.

My mind is preoccupied with the usual questions about what I'm going to do next. I know I'm tired and burned out of my job, and I know it's time for something new, but I just don't know what that something is. What is best? What is wise? What will make me want to be productive again? I should ask my parents what they think, but for some reason I fear to do so.

[towerofmight]

Everything you experience now, whether good or bad will not define the destiny God has prepared and planned for your life. Something that no one can steal away from you. Kaya nga 'wag kang matatakot kung ano mang pag-subok ang kinakaharap mo. Kasi who knows nga, malapit ka na..

I'll be traveling back to mindanao today. Ngayong araw din mismo yung training namin sa Gensan. Pero, ayun nga, nasa bacolod pa rin ako for the last day of convention I've attended starting last October 18. 'di ganon kadali kapag nasa leadership position ka. Because you need to align everything to that purpose that God has called you for. Imagine, di ka pwedeng gumala or magpunta kahit san kapag linggo kasi nga, you're the ordained minister. Yung pahinga ko, kapahingahan sa presensya ng Panginoon.

Di naman sa nagrereklamo ako pero ito yung buhay ko since the day we started the ministry. It was a whirlwind of events that I myself didn't have enough time to reflect what is happening to my life. Until the day that I need to choose whether I obey God or not. I think, ito yung pinakachallenging part sa buhay ko.. Kasi, alam mo yung sagot pero gusto mong piliin ang ibang bagay. Hindi madali ang magsilbi sa Panginoon because challenges will be everywhere and you're expected to do what is right at the right place at the right time. Kaya nga kung iisipin, lahat ng mga anak ng Panginoon, kung totoo lamang, success will just be a product of their faith-walk relationship with God. The question is, why is it the more we serve God, the harder it becomes?

Well, ang totoo, matigas lang ulo mo.

Tama na ang pagsunod sa mga sariling kagustuhan para mabigyan mo ng pagkakataong makita ang move ng Lord. We were opted to trust and obey Him. Yun lang naman talaga sana. Siguro, matagal na akong **** di ko din alam. Wala akong naiisip na posibleng mangyari except sa kadahilanang baka wala na ako sa mundong ito. It is only by His grace that I am still here working, living and laughing about life and making things right.

Basta ano man ang mangyayari, kapag naexperience mo na si Lord, you will protect your relationship with Him. Sinubukan kong mahalin ang ibang bagay, pero ako lang ang napahamak. Ako lang din ang talo sa huli. Pero dahil pinili ko Siya, kahit ilang beses man ang luhang ibubuhos, may kapahingahan. May kabuohan. May paglago. And being here in this journey at Bacolod City now, I must say that these are just a prize of my obedience. Hindi naman alam ng lahat anong nangyayari sa buhay mo eh. They didn't even know the weight of everything you've been through. Kahit ano pa mang sabihin nila.

You need to fight the good fight and focus on the race.

Dami kong narerealize sa buhay habang andito ako sa ibang bayan. Grabe mag ispoil si Jesus. Grabe yung comfort at pagmamahal kahit anong nangyari sa akin. Kasi sabi ko nga, "HE WILL TAKE CARE OF ME", ayun lahat ng nangyayari sakin dito.. mafefeel mo talaga na naryan sya sa tabi mo. Pagbalik ko, I pray na maglelevel up kami. Not only the leadership, but the leaders will be more hardworking than the norm. I pray na yung blessing ng Lord will come to pass sa bawat buhay. At lahat ng bagay na gagawin ko, para lamang sa Kanya.

(Continuation)

Venue: Starbucks, Bacolod City

Time: 12:26pm

[earth-dweller]

T-minus 131 // 26 May 2023, Friday:

Putting the number of days before this huge exam I'm working towards is starting to get quite stressful. I'm not sure if I should continue with it or just record the date instead ?

Today is the first day of my school holidays! As per most first-day-of-holiday days, I did absolutely nothing useful. This morning, I planted some microgreens with this kit I got a week ago. I soaked the seeds in water overnight as per the instructions on the package before planting them, and one of the seeds have already germinated (it's nighttime now for me!). I'm honestly really excited to see them grow— I've never really had a green thumb (not for the lack of trying) and it's really rewarding to see my seeds sprout :')

I also tried to reorganise all my notes that I'd taken out for the exams I had the past week, but it's not going very well. There's just too many handouts and papers and worksheets and I don't have enough files to store them in neat categories, so they're just in a big stack at the corner of my desk.

Sometimes I feel like I procrastinate a lot by rearranging and organising my things. While it does make me feel better (I lack the capacity to deal with cluttered spaces on bad days), sometimes I find myself clearing my desk an unnecessary number of times when I'm stressed, or when I want to avoid the many tasks waiting for me to complete. I don't think it's a terrible habit to have though, but rather just an observation of how I deal with difficult times.

I'll have to start being productive tomorrow! Going to make a big masterlist of everything I have to complete before I sleep :c

-------------------

no bnha picture today, but I do have artist/song recommendations!

One of my favourite artists is Talos and I think everything he's released is really good :0 Out of all the songs that's been released I would recommend Meridians, Far Out Dust and Crows. Do give it a listen if you're looking for new music! The album covers are a huge plus they are literally so pretty

I would describe his songs as the blurryblurry kind ? For most of his songs, the lyrics aren't very long but they are very pretty lines :') it has a lot of musicality but it's also not too distracting! Talos' songs are my go-to when I study and I hope you'll enjoy them too :D

[therealityhelix]

By Talos, This Can’t be Happening pt 22

Happy Tamriel Tuesday! Vilena Donton is proven right!

Rated PG13 for: Blood, violence, sexual situations, bad puns, and other poor life decisions.

@cardwrecks @captainbaddecisions

                                                       ?~?~?~?~?

The search had hit a hangup. While garlic and the root of monkshood were easy to find-Seed-Neeus even had them in convenient powdered form-the bergamot seeds were nowhere in the city. Firstly, it had taken him a while to realize that the recipe was not referencing the citrus fruit, but rather, a weedy plant with pink flowers, that had a similar scent. Secondly, while several shops carried the scented leaves, none carried the seeds.

For a few moments, he entertained the thought of using the leaves instead but...this was medicine. It had to be precise, right? The seeds probably had some kind of enzyme, or flavonoid, or something that the leaves didn't.

He picked up a flask from Seed-Neeus, and went in search of soup. If he couldn't get the medicine yet, he could at least get the fluids.

Inside the Gray Mare, a cozy inn just beside the gates, he found the blue Argonian. She was sitting by herself in a corner, gazing forlornly at something in her pack.

Swag hopped into the seat across from her. She quickly shoved whatever she was staring at-he caught a glimpse of a huge, red jewel-back into the pack and closed it up.

“What do you want?” she asked. He was starting to recognize what anxiety looked like in her species, and she was practically dripping with it. Was it the product of a heist, she was hiding away? Well that wasn't any of his business.

“Some soup.” he said airily. “You heard. My girl's sick. Gonna get her something healthy.”

“Right. Well. Make yourself comfortable I guess. Miss Emfrid is also a Nord, so I expect you'll get a taste of home.”

“Right...” Swag said slowly. That could be a problem.

But when the woman came to take their order, she had next to no accent, and didn't question him at all. Nord she may be, but it sounded like she'd been, if not born, than at least raised in Chorrol.

The Argonian wolfed down her meal as if she hadn't eaten in days. She really did look thin; skin at her throat loose and wrinkled, tail skinny, cheeks hollow. Swag paid for seconds. He needed the flask filled anyway.

“Miss Emfrid, I was under the impression that Weynon Priory is nearby?” the Argonian asked. “I actually have an errand to run there. Need to speak to a man named Jauffre?”

“That old fellow?” Emfrid said, setting down a second plate of bread. “He should be there. It's just a little ways down the Black Road. Sad to see you leave though.”

“I will probably be back at some point. I don't have any real plans after this errand. Unless he has something for me to do. So...you stay with the mages, even though you are not one?” she asked him, after the innkeeper had moved on. “And they allow that?”

Swag shrugged. “We're a matched set. They want one, they have to contend with both.”

“Why chose a mage if you don't like magic?”

“Ah, well about that. For one thing, I don't actually dislike magic. Just what some people do with it. Secondly, while you can't really control who you fall for, you can control what you do about it, and I thought it could work, and so did she. That's all anybody really needs to know. You can call me Swag, by the way.”

“Reflects-The-Sky.” the Argonian introduced herself. “I thought the Mage's Guild might be a good fit for me. I've always been interested in magic. But it seems like this is a bad time. The Emperor is dead, the Guild is having an internal conflict, and I...well, I don't fit in too well anywhere.”

“I know that feel.” he muttered. “I mean being out of place. I never spent much time outside of my, uh, little world, until I met her. She's been everywhere, but I don't feel like I belong here just yet.”

“Really? You seem like the sort of person who can always find a place. Well, I'm sure there's room for both of us. You just have to get your lady well, and I...I just have to do this last errand. Then I can wash my hands of it, and get on with my life.”

“Sounds serious.”

“More than I can say.” she sighed. “No really. Don't ask. I won't say anything about it.”

Was she trying to fence that red gem? Tall order; somebody would definitely be looking for that. He itched to give her pointers, but it wasn't his call. And besides, he didn't want to get caught with it either.

“I beg your pardon, you two, but did I overhear you saying you were going to Weynon Priory?”

A man pushing the late end of middle age approached their table politely. Reflects-the-Sky eyed him suspiciously, clutching her pack closer.

“What does it matter to you, sir?” she asked.

“I'm Valus Odiil. My family owns Odill farm, which is quite close to the Priory. We supply some of their food. We've been having a hard time with it lately though, which is why they've been coming into town for supplies.”

“What's the issue?” Swag asked. “Just sayin' right now, I don't know a damn thing about farming.”

“Some kind of creature has been invading the farm at night, carrying off crops and animals, tools, feed, nearly anything that isn't nailed down. My sons need some help clearing them out, but I am too old for that kind of thing now. I would only get in their way. But if you are headed in that direction anyway, I could offer payment.”

“Creatures, huh...” Swag mused. “Say, do you grow any bergamot on your farm?”

“It grows wild along the fences. You would be welcome to it.”

“And I could stop by the Priory first?” Reflects-the-Sky asked.

“That is where my sons are waiting.”

“Then...” Swag said.

“I suppose.” Sky finished.

“Oh, perfect! My family and the Priory will be grateful!”

“Now, I gotta go see to my girl first.” Swag said. “She's down with fever. Meet you back here?”

The blue Argonian nodded, and he took his soup and left.

One hour and one full and sleeping Helix later, He returned to find Sky very ready to leave.

“I want to get to the Priory as quickly as possible.” she said. “I want this over and done with.”

“Lead on.” Swag said.

It was mostly downhill, a very pleasant and scenic walk. As always, the soaring tower was visible through the trees. One day, sooner or later, they would reach the top of that tower, and fly away home.

The Priory rose up out of the steep, forested hills, solid and secure. Two armed young men greeted them outside.

“So Father really isn't coming?” one demanded. “We should be doing this as a family!”

“No, it's best he sent someone else.” the other said. “Are you from the Fighter's Guild?”

“Eh, kindasorta.” Swag said. He'd technically signed up, but didn't feel exactly welcome.

“My errand first.” Reflects-the-Sky insisted.

They relaxed for a few minutes while she took care of her business, but when she finally emerged, she looked very sour.

“Things didn't go well?” Swag asked.

“I didn't want to get involved in the first place.” she growled. “I thought this would be the end of it. But I've got one more Daedra-cursed thing to do. Then, it will be done. Let's go take care of this farm; I've got to take a trip after.”

“Wow, that sucks.”

“Eh, it's just my luck. The stars crossed me long ago.”

The sun was waning by the time they reached the farm, and the destruction their mysterious creatures had been wreaking was clearly obvious. So was a lush patch of pleasantly scented plants with pink flowers, and a few seed heads, growing by the fence.

“Yooo, is that bergamot?” Swag asked. “That's my payment!”

He snapped off several seed heads into one of his many pouches as Rallus and Antus got into position, marking out the points of egress.

The sun sank fast, huge moons cresting the mountains, bathing the field in pale red light.

Then the noise began.

All the unfamiliar chirping and warbling, the song of the forest night. As an inveterate city-slicker, and without Helix to gauge responses by, Swag couldn't really tell what was or wasn't out of place. But the farmer's sons popped their heads up at one of them, a squirrelish chittering that repeated like a language. Swag didn't like that in the least. Exactly what kind of enemy were they facing?

“What was that?” Sky whispered.

“Bruh, you and I both know it's creatures.” Swag whispered back.

“Yeah, but what kind?”

They darted out of the ruby darkness, the size and shape of children. Three, then five, then eight...

“Here they come!” Antus bellowed, and charged.

The diminutive figures danced and bounced among the ruined crops, difficult to follow in the swaying shadows. Rallus and Antus threw themselves into the fray recklessly, and even Sky hissed loudly, pouncing on a short creature in a patch of tall stalks. One hopped up to him, and while he hesitated, trying to figure out what it even was, it plunged a small knife into his thigh.

He dropped to one knee, shouting pained curses. In the moonlight, at eye level, he could finally see them for what they were.

Wide mouths with protruding teeth, noses so flat and upturned they were like a skull. Adding to that were huge round eyes and heavy brows, high, jutting cheekbones over hollow cheeks, and bald scalps with long pointed ears.

The little creature yanked its knife free, pain exploding in sharp sparks through him. The thing screeched into his face, raising the blade again, then toppled over backwards, gurgling around a throwing knife embedding deep in its throat.

Swag's head whipped around to see Sky flip another tiny knife in her nimble hands, and snap it at another of the little monsters.

“Goblins!” She shouted. “Look alive!”

Swag gulped down one of the precious red potions, felt the wound knit, the blood surge, and jumped back to his feet.

Goblins? They were wearing clothes. Makeshift armor. They used weapons. Were these some kind of people?

One lunged at him, and he bashed its face even flatter with a heavy swing of his cane. He tried not to pay attention the the feeling of the solid wood against bone, and pivoted to knock the axe out of the hands of the next.

Sky rushed past him, nearly purple in the red moonlight, and took the goblins head off with a very nice katana. It flashed in the low light, and another dropped. And another.

A tight knot of shouting and scuffle on the other side of the field caught their attention. Swag and Sky broke through the tall stalks. Antus had fallen, the last goblin crumpled, nerveless fingers falling away from the hatchet buried in the youngest Odiil's skull.

Rallus dropped to his knees, groaning in horror, attempting to cradle his brother's body. Swags hand sought another red potion, but Sky grabbed his arm.

“It's too late for that.” she said sadly. “He's gone already.”

“What do we do?” he asked, throat thick. It wasn't supposed to go like this.

“They...They came from a cave close to the city.” Rallus whispered. “I'm going to go kill them all.”

“Wait, now hold on-” Swag started.

“No! They all have to die!” Rallus insisted.

“Your father must not lose both sons tonight!” Sky snapped. “Go back to Chorrol. Go to your father. Send your brother off with honor, rebuild your farm, and live long. We will see to this cave.”

“We will?”

“Shut up. Get back to the road. We will find that cave.”

Swag wanted to argue, but...not standing in a field muddy with blood. Not in front of a grieving brother.

Reluctantly, Rallus left his brother's side to go join his father in Chorrol. Swag was relived he wouldn't have to break the news to old Valus. He seemed a decent sort, and should probably hear from someone closer to him. However...

“Haven't really known each other long enough for you to be takin' these liberties with me, Skyline.” he said as she gingerly removed the axe from the dead man's head. It was disgusting, but, unfortunately, nothing he hadn't seen before.

“Grief would have driven him to throw his life away.” She said simply, wrapping the wound in a bandage, if only to hide it. “I have seen it happen.”

So had he.

“So you throw mine instead? You know, I've...I've got someone to go back to.”

“So don't die. You're more capable than you're letting on. Your 'distracted fool' persona could trick anyone other than someone who knows exactly what to look for, but you're more of a rogue than anything else, aren't you?”

Swag rocked back on his heels. It had been a long time since anybody had called him that. How could she know anything about-wait. No, she meant along the lines of the Grey Mouser, not the technicolor nightmares that used to run amok in Gotham.

“And you happen to know exactly what to look for, do you?”

“Yes. I do.”

He crossed his arms.

“And how's that?”

“Do you know what happens to an Argonian hatched under the sign of the Shadow?”

He sighed in loud annoyance. “No.”

“That's how.”

“Sky...”

“We don't have to do this. But we should. We should have lured them out of the tall stalks, so we could see the boys. If the goblins stay in the cave, they'll just keep raiding the countryside. Attacking the farm shows a dangerous level of boldness. They'll try something worse next. If you intend to keep wandering the wilderness around here, then it will be to your advantage to help me clear them out. I'm going anyway, you just need to decide if you'll be behind me.”

“Goddamnit.” Swag groaned.

                                                  ?~?~?~?~?

[jackalgirl]

Okay, back to being one day behind. I just caught up with yesterday's testimony. LCDR Duffett, from the Coast Guard, looks and sounds so much like Onmund from Skyrim that I think I've been sitting around listening to regulatory, guidance, and statutory discussions for way, way too long and my brain is starting to short-circuit.

Key moments: o The Chair announcing that the MBI's or Coast Guard's (I forget which) legal folks have made a determination as to whether OceanGate was operating an unnumbered, uninspected passenger-for-hire passenger submarine (Cyclops 1) in US territorial waters (the wreck of the Andrea Doria)* and will share that with the NTSB, but didn't state the determination for the record. You're killing me, Smalls!

* If you are a US owner of a vessel that is one of a number of types, and it's under a certain tonnage, you don't need a title or certificate, but it *does* need a number. If the submersible does not have a letter from the Coast Guard designating it as an Oceanographic Research Vessel and it carries one (1) passenger-for-hire (i.e, that person has paid money or some other form of consideration, including paying for gas or snax, and the passengers** in Cyclops 1 paid $35K each), it's required to be inspected. ** I think there were at least two: Scott Parazynski, mentioned in this article: https://oceannews.com/news/subsea-and-survey/oceangate-conducts-the-first-submersible-dives-to-the-legendary-andrea-doria-shipwreck-in-20-years/ and Renata Rojas, who testified to the hearing about that dive specifically, but even if it was just her, she would have met the "1 paying passenger" requirement. o Counsel for OceanGate tries to get Onmund LDCR Duffett to agree that if OceanGate notified the Coast Guard Sector that they were going to be diving on the wreck of the Andrea Doria, that it was the Coast Guard's responsibility to verify that the company and its vessel was compliant.

LDCR Duffett: By Talos, this can’t be happening.

No, I'm kidding, what he really said is no, it's the responsibility of the master/owner/operator of the vessel to ensure it is compliant.

One of the main takeaways from today is that there is a whole lot of confusing, and sometimes contradictory information, and a lot of this information is presumed by people to be regulatory where in fact it's just guidance. They've been talking about "Navigation and Vessel and Inspection Circulars" (NVICs) which have often been referred to (and repeatedly corrected by the Board) as "statute" or "regulation" when they are not either of those things; they are just, as LCDR Duffett explained, "equivalencies to statute: they are a way to comply, but not the only way".

Top this off with the fact that one very key NVIC (NVIC 5-93, released in 1993) has parts of it that have been changed by subsequent laws, but the NVIC itself (which has not been superseded or cancelled) has not been updated to reflect the changes. So if you're looking at this thing, which OceanGate clearly was, and it's telling you that submersibles carrying fewer than 6 passengers-for-hire don't need to be inspected, and you are not aware of the changes to the actual code, 46 CFR § 70.10-1, which changed this to "a submersible vessel carrying at least one passenger for hire" (which happened in 1994), you may not be aware that your vessel needs to be inspected.

Poor LCDR Duffett, when asked why, in the intervening thirty years, NVIC 5-93 hasn't been updated to reflect the changes, could only say "I don't know."

The Better Half: probably no one told them. Me: I am 100% sure that the various professional organizations that handle submersibles and submarine technology have been telling them about this for years.

What I'd recommend, though, is that anyone who wants this changed should just rewrite the NVIC with the changes and send it to the Coast Guard as a draft document. It's no guarantee that this will work, but in my experience, if you present busy people with a finished product that they just have to review and approve (rather than one they have to write themselves), it is vastly more likely to happen.

I don't know if you all are following this -- as a retired Sonar Technician, this kind of stuff interests me intently. Trigger warning: some really scary descriptions of stuff that should not have happened, including people dying.

The guy who’s testifying today, David Lochridge, is mad (I mean, justifiably so, I think). He is mad at Oceangate, he is made at OSHA, he is mad at the Coast Guard. He kept receipts and notes for everything. They keep having to stop the hearing to reorganize their documents because he has so much. The Oceangate lawyer does not have the letter that Oceangate’s previous lawyers sent to this guy after they’d been informed of his Whistleblower status that basically reads like they followed the things that Whistleblower protection tells you not to do like a checklist of things to do.

Basically, I think the point he is getting across without actually saying this is, “I worked my ass off in 2018 and 2019 after Oceangate fired me to give you (OSHA, Coast Guard) what you needed to prevent this from happening, and you did not stop them.”

[unholyplumpprincess]

You know what I just thought of? I run into a lot of pain in my joints from my chronic illness, so! Out of all the legends, who do you think would join me in a warm bath and have soft domestic little chit chatting/washing each other? Washing a lovers hair is possibly my favorite thing to do, but also gently washing their body for them with reverence? 10/10 I'm just curious who you think would pair best in that scenario, this isn't a drabble ask or anything!

Okay I absolutely have a FEW answers for this but I can't just not not write smth for them all u feel me?

!!!Though this post is sfw, this blog is not, minors and ageless blogs plz do not follow but feel free to reblog this post!!!

Warnings: SFW, mentions of chronic pain

___

• Bloodhound: They understand chronic pain very well. Their scars from the cryofreeze can make their skin and joints ache like they've been out in the freezing cold too long. They're also naturally cold, so seeking warmer temperatures is always a must. Plus, they love domestic things. So bath time? They are very down for.

At their home on Talos, they have a huge claw foot tub. It fits both of you perfectly and they quite like either being against your chest or vice versa. Expect many kisses peppered over your head, shoulders, and back if they're behind you. As well as their soothing touch massaging out aches from you as they listen about your day.

They're also prone to getting playfully handsy, whether in another way, or simply just scooping bubbles onto your face to make you laugh.

-

• Caustic: Look at that man and tell me he doesn't have chronic pains. The man has cancer for goodness sake. His joints ache all the fucking time. You'd think he was bad at self care, but you'd be wrong! After all, science and diabolical planning does not come to one in a brooding/depressive stage! Though, physical touch isn't normally his SPEED, he begrudgingly agrees ONE time and then it becomes routine.

He's always nervous on where to put his hands. Where his hands will hover over your shoulders and arms before settling awkwardly in the water. Until you grab his hands and put them on your body. He's stiff and awkward, but eventually he'll ease his way in and accept the mess of bubbles and chatter.

-

• Loba: Though she does not suffer from pains like you do, she LOVES bath time together. She is the QUEEN of self care and always buys you lavish bath salts, bath bombs, bubbles, and numerous other hair care and skincare products. Her tub is lavish and huge, easily fitting four people. She loves to be pampered just as equally as she likes to DO the pampering.

Her touch is always like silk across your skin. Listening to your day and her silky voice murmuring back in your ear replies. Her nails are so gentle not to nick you as she works over your flesh and skin, her lips caressing the crook of your neck or the shell of your ear. Whispering sweet nothings all the while.

[therealvagabird]

Talos Armor

Talos Armor was the invention of a cadre of Hyldun engineers during the latter days of the Great War of Liberation. The Hyldun of Broadleaf had not taken a major part in the conflict beyond a few border clashes, as they left most military action up the Ava, who they were on good terms with at the time and who were more suited to the battles at hand. Within the bounds of Broadleaf, few Hyldun had ever known the full horrors of the Old Vasileia. It was this cadre of enterprising engineers, known as the Sparkchasers – an appellation which would later spread among many eccentric Hyldun inventors – who were able to scavenge the remains of an Imperial Iron Homunculon, also known as a War-Golem. The cutting edge of Auceptor engineering at the time, the Homunculons had been reverse-engineered from similar arcanotech from the days of the First Empire. While not understanding the full breadth of the automaton, the Sparkchasers were enamored with its design, and from it constructed the Talos. At first, the Talos was a form of manual labor tool meant to assist in heavy lifting, however it was when the Accord laid claim to Broadleaf that the true potential of the item was discovered.

The Verg had retained some knowledge of Homunculons throughout the reigns of both human Vasileias, yet their designs had grown stagnant over the centuries, to the point where the advanced creations were considered too valuable to either produce more of or risk in open conflict. Rather they were kept as icons of the Vergish nobility. Yet when Ava commanders turned over confiscated Talos units to Verg engineers, the delvers were agape at the technical skill of the since overlooked Hyldun. In place of irreplicable patterns of enchantment used on ancient Homunculons, the Hyldun had compensated for simpler magics with more developed servos, and had replaced the commanding crystal that acted as the golem’s “brain” with the capacity for a mortal pilot. In Vergish hands, the Talos Armor was born – a suit of plates not too dissimilar to those worn by other knights and warriors, but outfitted with a specialized exoskeleton that would gift the wearer with increased physical abilities. Over the following centuries, these designs were either leaked to or scavenged by the Compact and the Third Empire, resulting in yet more variations in design. With First Empire technical contributions from archaeological digs, along with ongoing innovation, soon the effectiveness of the Talos was tempered only by the great amount of resources and training needed for their production and utilization. Now, simplistic Talos suits can be found even among itinerant mercenaries, and use of the arcane devices is viewed in the same light that firearm technologies were just a few centuries before.

Talos Armor usually gives the wearer a larger outline than normal, to the point where the mechanized limbs may not be fully filled by those of the wearer, and the overall humanoid silhouette may be disrupted. There is a significant degree of variation among armor designs in terms of size, power, and utility, as well as aesthetics. Not suited towards stealth, the Talos is nonetheless able to outclass any other suit of armor in terms of durability, speed, and strength. To not use a Talos when one has the capacity to do so is usually a decision reserved for those pledged to other forms of martial training – such as various schools of Ava, Ngara, or Myaatu warfare, which do not require the benefits of the Talos. For smaller races, such as the Verg or Hyldun, the Talos acts more as a vehicle than a suit, and these peoples have been the foremost innovators in terms of sub-designs. Most notable of all is the Gyges pattern – favored by those who not only love the Talos for its strength and durability, but for the very technology itself. Gyges suits feature wholly alien designs preferred for the ministrations of engineers, having multiple limbs, advanced systems, and other additions only viable for one able to effectively modify a Talos to such an extent. Through a mixture of engineering skill and great enchanting prowess, a Gyges is almost able to replicate by science what a wizard might achieve with magic.

As of the present era, the Honored Accord and the Third Empire are the most widespread users of Talos technology, always seeking to outdo each other in terms of production scale and techno-magical complexity. Attempts have even been made at manufacturing larger and larger suits, some of which require multiple pilots to function, and serve in roles more equivalent to mobile weapons platforms than true “suits”. There are but a handful of such monstrosities currently in the world, and have been given such titles as “Titans”, “Great Taloses”, or “Saturnites”. Of the three major factions in the Long War, the Compact has minimal access to Talos armor technology, though they have a great many scavenged suits at their disposal, and Compact-aligned pilots may surprise foes through unorthodox modifications made to their personal rigs.

[lovehotelreservation]

(Re)spite

Summary: Hathe and Emet-Selch needed a break.

For Hathe, it was to preserve her energy and ease her nerves before ascending The Ladder for the daunting task of putting an end of Vauthry.

As for Emet-Selch?

He just needed for the glint of that painfully familiar shard to stop tormenting him so.

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: WoL!OC/Emet-Selch

Continuation to “Mea Culpa”

BEEP BEEP SAD GRANDPA SEXINGZ ON THE WAY !!!

THANKS SO MUCH TO MY LOVELY COMMISSIONER FOR THIS BLESSEDLY ANGSTY OPPORTUNITY!!!

----------------

It just wasn’t the same.

There was a time when Emet-Selch set his eyes upon the Warrior of Light as something more than just a pawn in his plan, more than a fascinating subject in his observation of the mortals within the First.

An era long lost, but one he yearned so dearly to return to--it was during those blessed bygone days when he mockingly called out to the savior of the realm as not “hero”, but Azem.

As much as he wanted to deny it, he preferred truth over delusion.

The shard of his beloved Azem was here, lingering within the possession of the Warrior of Light.

Hathe.

But now, as he found himself lingering around the proximity of The Ladder in the mortals’ ongoing efforts to thwart Vauthry’s plans while the Kholusian sun mercilessly bore down upon him, his eyes were not softened with affection as he gazed towards her, but fixed in a scrutinizing stare.

It just wasn’t the same.

Hathe’s aether.

Corrupted cracks had since formed during her adventures in the First, all because of her misplaced faith in the Crystal Exarch.

Honestly, for all the glares and huffs that he received from her, it truly was baffling that she did not do the same to The Crystarium’s leader.

His lips were beginning to form a pout from this biased treatment.

“How are you not boiling in that thing?”

But then his lips curled into a grin as his gaze shifted to the eyes of the inquiring voice.

Lounging beneath the shade of one of the old workshops was Hathe, who retreated to this distant corner of The Ladder to preserve her energy before the ascent up to Mt. Gulg while the other Scions and the Eulmorans worked together to get the Talos running once again.

Clicking his tongue in a tsk, Emet-Selch threw his arms open wide in overexaggerated faux shock as he remarked, “My, my, hero--how brazen of you.” 

He approached where she sat in a saunter, crossing between the distinct line on the pavement to where the blazing sunlight treaded no further into the cool shade as he continued, his voice donning a playful innocence, “Did you wish for me to strip for you so badly?” Tilting his head, he pressed a thoughtful finger against his cheek with a smirk as he purred, “Have you missed my warmth in your bed that much?”

A roll of her eye and a sigh out of her painted lips.

“I should have just stayed quiet and enjoyed the peace.” Shaking her head, her arms folded over her chest as she reclined further back against the wall. Her eyes shut, hoping he would take this as cue to leave her alone.

But the sudden presence that appeared right by her side entailed otherwise.

As did him crouching down, a silent affirmation of his intentions to stay.

Not even the sensation of gloved fingertips cradling her chin had her look towards him, let alone fluttering her eyelid open to perceive his existence.

“Oh come now, you act like my presence hasn’t enriched your life for the better--”

He drew closer to her.

“--truly, wouldn’t you prefer I over the Exarch?”

The heat of his breath fanning over her ear never failed to make her shudder, a sensation that she was ever reluctant to enjoy.

She had a feeling as to where this was going. Though her better judgment would have her shoo him away before matters progressed further--especially given their relatively close proximity to the rest of the Scions and the others--it was either indulging in pleasure or quietly stew in thought over both the task of sending Vauthry crashing down while dealing with the Light that was poisoning her aether.

But that didn’t mean she was going to be that compliant with the man who was meant to be her nemesis.

And thus her eye opened, the sight of which made him wish she didn’t have to keep that eyepatch of hers on.

Azem’s eyes were among the features he cherished most about her after all.

But as ever the contrast between his lost love to the fragmented soul who stood before him, she huffed in defiance, “I’d prefer you let me relax before I pick up the pieces of your meddling.”

Her tone was soft, but the irritation laced around each word was as prickly as could be.

Emet-Selch only smirked in response.

“Meddling I object to, but letting you relax--” His thumb traced over her lips, caring little for the smudge of rouge that stained the whites of his glove--if anything, he relished it.

Continuing on, he kept her right in his sights as he tsked haughtily, “--honestly, by now you should know to be more direct with me on with your desires, hero.” 

The distance separating them closed further as he drew his thumb away, eliminating the space between his face and hers until their lips were barely an ilm apart as he mused, “Has anything else even come close to having that beautifully battleworn body of yours be at ease like my touch?”

She expected a kiss next.

But ever full of surprises, Emet-Selch only smirked as he teased, “Save for those ruffians who have felt the might of a keg of ale smashed upon their heads during those bratty youthful days of yours, of course.”

Hathe’s eye narrowed with sheer annoyance. “Gods, you really need to shut up.”

And it was with those huffed words that her hands cupped his face as she brought his lips to hers in a kiss.

A kiss for distraction.

Hathe and the tumultuous road that she was due to tread any moment now.

Emet-Selch and a yearning that he never could bring himself to ever relinquish in the days that have passed.

As delightful as it was to indulge in the gorgeously toned physique of the renowned hero during their many trysts in the nights since passed in her personal suite, it was still an utterly peculiar experience for his fingers to roam over physical familiarity with a soul that thought him to be a stranger, an enemy.

Ever more the thorns that had long formed around his heart embedded further and further.

In the end, she was just to be a vessel to enact his life’s work, his purpose to continue and carry on the will of his people.

And yet, he still found himself being so attentive, doting even, to Hathe’s pleasure as he shifted her clothes around--being mindful to not rip, else risk being punched back to The Source as she warned--, his lips kissing over her breasts, his tongue skillfully lapping over her nipples while his gloved fingers slipped beneath the waistband of her pants, seeking to press and caress over her panties.

A warrior like her could handle some roughhousing, as he would often tease while fucking her into the mattress during his numerous late night visits to The Pendants.

But here, in this moment, hidden away in the shade, while she was more eager to peel off his robe, he was more in mind to take his time with her.

Bodies intertwined, an affair meant to exist only in the shadows.

She lied beneath him upon the ground while he eased his cock in and out of her core. Far from pounding but nowhere near delicate, he pumped himself at a lively pace. More kisses than bites were pressed onto her neck, one hand clasped around her waist while the fingers of the other slipped between their bodies to rub slow--and dare he say sweet?--circles against her clit.

It just wasn’t the same.

“What’s with the tenderness?” Hathe murmured breathlessly, her back arching as she continued to find her senses stimulated all the more. Though there was a teasing inflection to her voice, he could hear a layer of pure curiosity at its foundation.

The question genuinely caused Emet-Selch to halt in place.

Even if just for a few seconds.

Only before he snorted, his lips curling into a smirk. “You will never see Ascians as capable of love, do you, hero? Since you insist--”

His hands reinforced their grip on her waist, squeezing tight as he quickened the pace of his thrusts.

She was right, however.

Tenderness, affection, love--those were reserved for Azem.

A shallow copy of the woman he loved most was in no need of such pure and precious joys, especially when she was fated to become a vessel for his plans.

The leading role of his grand theatrical production was to take her place in the showstopping climax of the show, and he was ever so delighted to have front row seats.

And yet, his mouth still sought out to kiss hers nonetheless.

A kiss longing for someone he couldn’t have anymore.

A kiss affectionate for someone he needed for greater purposes.

But as they rode out their orgasms, soon falling into one another in a pleasured heap, he still embraced her close to his chest with a grip that did not want to let go in the slightest, his face hiding into her neck.

So familiar and so far at the same time.

It just wasn’t the same and never would things return to how they would and should have been in a kinder life.

[aion-rsa]

WandaVision Finale Ending Explained

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains WandaVision spoilers.

After eight near-perfect episodes, the story of WandaVision has concluded with a finale installment that sticks the landing on all fronts, including multiple cinematic battles, several heartfelt goodbyes, and a long-overdue moment of agency for a heroine who has so often been denied a choice in her own future. 

But while “The Series Finale” is a deeply satisfying coda to what is probably Marvel’s most emotionally satisfying outing to date, it leaves us with more than a few questions about where these characters go from here. Let’s break down what happened in the WandaVision finale, and what it might mean for the Marvel Cinematic Universe going forward.

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Wanda Transforms Into the Scarlet Witch

Thanks to Agatha’s pronouncement last week, we already knew that Wanda was the legendary Scarlet Witch but in “The Series Finale” we see her fully embrace her chaos magic, right down to an amazing contemporary riff on her traditional comics costume. (That headpiece! The cape! We love to see it!)

There’s even a return of the mind control visions we saw her deploy to such great effect in Avengers: Age of Ultron. What can’t this Wanda do?

Granted, we still don’t know what all this power now means for her character in a larger sense, but to be fair, neither does she. Wanda’s abilities as displayed in this episode are fairly tremendous, as she uses witch runes to neutralize Agatha, wipes her mind, and brings down the Hex she’s built around Westview, freeing its residents. 

In the episode’s post-credits scene, however, her abilities appear to have grown even further, as she’s able to take in a scenic lake view even as her astral self is also busy reading the Darkhold, right down to making its pages turn on their own. 

This is a move we’ve seen Stephen Strange pull before, but according to Agatha, Wanda is even more powerful than the Sorcerer Supreme. So….what else will she be able to do? That seems to be what she’s trying to find out.

Westview Returns to Normal (Sort of)

During her (quite frankly pretty badass) battle with Agatha, the older witch frees several Westview residents from Wanda’s mind control, forcing her to face what she’s done to the townspeople in her quest to build a perfect life. The simultaneously angry and desperate crowd of Westview residents – who look like nothing so much as a suburban take on a horde from The Walking Dead – confront Wanda and reveal a bit of what it must really like as a person who lives under the town’s spell.  

The most harrowing victim is certainly town queen bee Dottie, who comes to herself long enough to beg Wanda to allow her to see her daughter, or perhaps write her into the larger storyline as one of the twins’ friends. But we also learn that Wanda has been projecting her grief and pain into Westview’s nightmares, forcing them to suffer right alongside her, rather than providing a peaceful, perfect escape. 

What Happened to Agatha Harkness?

At least one resident of Westview won’t be returning to normal, however. After Wanda defeats Agatha by scattering witch runes around the Westview Hex to neutralize her magic, she uses her own power to wipe Agatha’s memories and essentially turn her into nosy neighbor Agnes, the WandaVision “role she chose,” for good. 

Your mileage may vary on whether this is an acceptable ending for Agatha – a character who was, admittedly, often monstrous, even though she was right about the way that society is all too willing, even eager, to vilify powerful women out of fear (and often just because it can). On the plus side, since nothing lasts forever in the Marvel Universe and Agatha Harkness is a pretty powerful witch in her own right, there’s every chance this character will reappear down the road. After all, Agatha was Wanda’s mentor in the comics and she tells Wanda here that her magical expertise will be needed in the future. 

We Said Goodbye to Wanda’s Kids (Or Did We?)

As products of the Hex, young Billy and Tommy Maximoff’s fates were always going to be tied to it, so in choosing to break the illusion, Wanda also accepts that she’ll have to say goodbye to her sons. In one of “The Series Finale’s” most heartbreaking scenes, she and Vision, knowing what’s coming, tuck the boys in for bed one last time, as the red glow of the shrinking boundary line edges closer to their house. 

Wanda also thanks the boys for choosing her as a mother. Reader, I cried. Plus, this basically confirms that Billy and Tommy aren’t entirely constructs of Wanda’s imagination. They’ve come from somewhere, and possess something like souls. How that all happened is anyone’s guess – here’s your entry point for Mephisto, folks! – and it’s something future series can explore, but it’s certainly the way I’d prefer to read it. 

But, since the last thing we hear on WandaVision is also the voices of Tommy and Billy shouting to their mother that something is wrong, it seems pretty likely we’ll see some version of these characters again. There’s precedent in the comics after all, and finding her lost boys is a pretty powerful narrative throughline to carry over to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. 

What Happened to White Vision?

Paul Bettany’s dreams of essentially working with himself are realized, as Vision and the White Vision come to blows in the skies of Westview. But despite the epic battle between the synthezoids – or, synthezoid and Mind Stone-fueled recreation of that same original, as the case may be – physical combat isn’t the most compelling, or even interesting part of their encounter.

Instead, it’s philosophy. Yes, you read that right. Upon realizing that the two are too evenly matched for either to emerge victorious, Vision decides to engage the White Vision in a thought experiment about their shared existence, and whether either of them is truly the man (robot?) they claim to be. The two end up in a sort of pseudo-philosopher’s debate about The Ship of Theseus, a thought experiment centered on issues of identity and meaning, and what makes a thing real. 

This is surprisingly deep stuff for a Marvel property but the conversation contains tantalizing hints about what we could expect as we head into Phase 4 of the MCU. After all, it will likely contain stories full of magic, mutants, and transformation of all types; this is simply WandaVision giving us a metaphorical anchor to hang onto throughout. Well, that and providing a way to bring Vision – or some version of him – back for good, as Westview Vision restores White Vision’s memories and gives us all a reason to hope that he and Wanda will one day be reunited again.

Was the Vision in Westview Real? 

Yes and no. The Vision that lived in Westview and shared a house with Wanda wasn’t physically the Vision we’d previously seen in the Avengers films. He was a flesh and blood construct, created by Wanda’s power, informed by her grief memories, and born from the piece of the Mind Stone that lives inside her. (This makes sense, given that the rise of Wanda’s magical abilities was connected to her initial exposure to the Mind Stone. As Agatha puts it, the Scarlet Witch is forged, not born, and for Wanda, that crucible was her time with Hydra and the Infinity Stone that served as a sort of cosmic gasoline on her sleeping abilities that might never have stirred otherwise.) This Vision represents Wanda’s hope and sadness, but mostly her love. 

And, as a result, even Westview Vision doesn’t greet his oncoming demise with sadness, or even fear. Instead, he reasons, he and Wanda have been here before twice already, forced to say goodbye before their time. And since their relationship has survived before, there’s every reason to believe it will again, and they’ll find their way back to one another.

Monica’s Powers, the Skrulls, and Captain Marvel 2

Unfortunately, thanks to everything else going on in “The Series Finale,” Monica Rambeau doesn’t have a ton to do here. However, she does get a straight-up hero moment, where she throws herself in front of a bullet (or four) for Wanda’s kids and reveals a heretofore unseen ability to phase through objects and slow them down. She also frees the real Ralph Bohner, and happily helps send dirtbag SWORD director Tyler Hayward to prison. 

Happily, however, despite her limited screentime in this episode, Monica’s MCU future looks bright. In the mid-credits scene, she’s approached by a Skrull disguised as a SWORD agent who takes her aside and reveals she was sent by a friend of her late mother, Maria’s. And that friend, who is most likely Nick Fury, would like to see Monica – in space. 

We’d all basically assumed that Monica, who is Maria’s daughter and clearly has some as-yet-unprocessed resentment toward Carol Danvers, would be a significant player in the upcoming sequel Captain Marvel 2, but perhaps there’s an even broader future in store for her, as part of the SWORD-like organization Fury and the Skrull named Talos formed at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home. 

Who Was the Fake Pietro Maximoff?

Sadly, the character played by Evan Peters in WandaVision was not actually Wanda’s brother Pietro ported over from the FOX X-Men universe like we all hoped. So, yeah, unfortunately, that means mutants technically still do not exist in the MCU, and that’s a problem another movie or series will have to address.

While trapped in his self-described “man cave”, Monica discovers that the Fake Pietro is really just Ralph Bohner, the mysteriously absent husband Agnes was constantly complaining about throughout the season. Agatha kept him under her spell using an enchanted necklace, and when it was removed his real identity returns. Whether the fact that Agatha’s punishment to live as her Agnes identity involves being really married to Ralph is unclear but in Westview, anything is possible, I guess.

Wanda’s Future and Doctor Strange 2

Wanda has long been confirmed as a major player in the upcoming sequel Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but we haven’t known how exactly she would fit into this story, having never exactly met Stephen Strange before. But since the WandaVision post-credits scene confirms that the new Scarlet Witch is determined to learn more about her powers, it seems that will change fairly quickly. The only question is, how?

Stephen Strange has served as a mentor to many magic users throughout Marvel Comics history and could certainly be someone that Wanda seeks out to help her access and control her new abilities. But, given that she’s also currently DIY-ing her knowledge of witch history with a magical item that is basically subtitled the “book of the damned” it’s also very possible that she and Strange will end up at odds over the Darkhold’s existence, her possession of it, or both. Plus, there’s that interesting wrinkle of her still hearing the voices of her construct children that shouldn’t still exist outside of Westview thing. Time to explore the multiverse, anyone?

The post WandaVision Finale Ending Explained appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3bl8T3d

[electronicdelusionstarlight]

There is a moment between the Then High King of Skyrim offering aid to the Dunmer after the Red Year and giving them Solstheim free of charge and Ulfric's bid at absolute ruling that shifts the Nords from their original, pre-skyrim culture into the more imperialized, more racist one we see in the 4th era, and I think we can pinpoint that to when they decided to abandon the old nordic pantheon to pass to a misplaced and poorly researched Belief that Tiber Septim, a Breton, was in fact Ysmir Wulfharth Stormcrown, ending up forgetting about the Stormcrown altogether.

Which is, like... super weird? Imagine a Skyrim where the choices on the Civil War weren't just "Racism and Awful Jarls and Open Talos" and "Imperialism and OK Jarls and Secret Talos," but gave you also other options...

The Nordic Pantheon, under Baalgruf, not lost to Todd's desire to dumb down and normify the lore as much as he can, but a active player in the fucking situation, Kyne being revered as the major god over Talos in most context.

Would the ban on Talos affect Ysmir? Maybe, but they'd be the "moderate" side of northern indipendence, the one who saw Morrowind on her knees and offered her help, lands, political asylum, suddenly the second biggest concentration of Dark Elves after the new capital is in Rorikstead, now a full on town.

We have 9 holds we can divide each in groups of three, Stormcloaks gets Dawnstar Windhelm and Winterhold, the most inhospitable ones, Empire gets Maarkarth, Solitude and Falkreath, the major production centers of wood, silver, and sea trade, while this new faction gets Morthal, Whiterun and Riften, two major trading hubs of exchanges between new people and shit and, well, a Swamp.

The Third Faction is neutral but both sides are still attempting to sway her to either side.

Morthal still got Idgrod in power by default, a solid jarl, but also has some internal dissent over her sheltering of mages and other such people as well as Ableism, so you can do a internal, apolitical quest where you either stop the conspiration against or you can sell her out (like you do already in Vanilla), but now it has consequences, selling Idgrod out, a well meaning ruler with literal prophetic powers, will put Sorli in charge, which will run the hold to the ground via the capitalist economic policies she's known for and the destruction of the welfare state, as well as a new opression on mages to gather support, and she will stay in power whatever Ulfric, Tullius, or Baalgruf win if that happens, while Idgrod will abdicate in case of Stormcloak Victory only.

Whiterun gets Baalgruf, obviously, and is the leader of the new faction. He's trying to keep things stable, and he's the one under which the old cult is gathered due to the temple of Kyne (the gildergleam is suddenly a more politically charged decision). You will still be thaned under him first, will be your major ally, and you'll still be able to convince him to join the empire (via speech checks and several side missions), but will not Join Ulfric regardless of what you do, both for religious reasons (Ulfric being a renegade greybeard is a point of contempt among the old nordic cult, as is his worship of Tiber Septim over Ysmir), practical reasons (Ulfric's holds are the worst kept and starving as it is, and are not capitalizing on their main advantages despite the fact the guy is controlling most of the coast already), and personal reasons (Ulfric is a dick).

The Mephala quest can still involve Baalgruf's son killing him for Mephala (in which case the closed room is not with the ebony blade in but a shrine of mephala from the dunmer husband of a previous whiterun jarl in the 4th era (Again, rorikstead is filled with Dunmer here)), in which case his brother comes to power, the coalition gets dissolved, and Whiterun goes into ruin, but you can also repair the fractured relationship between the Jarl and his son instead, get them closer together and make them a family and shit, in which case Mephala will still congratulate with you ("Everything mortals do, has already been accounted for in my webs. You did exactly what I expected you to do, and put my agent closer to the position of power I aspired him to one day get, in my name no less. You deserve a reward for your spirit of initiative"). Having Baalgruf son kill his father grants you the Ebony Blade, since its fitting since you gained his trust and betrayed it, while helpinv them out and gaining thus a subtler control and power over them and their faction gives you the Ring of Khajiit, which grants you a speech buff and the passive ability to become invisible while crouching till you stand up or activate something, more befitting to such a subtle agent of the spinner.

Hemskir isn't a Talos priest anymore but is still a raving lunatic shouting deranged lore on thd gods in front of the Kyne temple ("And then the hunter, who rent asunder men and heretic mer alike, who conspired with the wretched Alduin, Akatosh, Auri-El, thrice cursed, into reversing our warriors' time back into infancy, was tricked by the goddess of plots, swallowed whole within his bowels, and shat among their faithful, cursing and blessing them with their essence!").

In case you didn't convince Baalgruf of kill him, either side can depose him and put a Greymane or a Battleborn in power instead. His brother will swing either way, but will try to take control of the stormcloak faction over ulfric if swinging that way.

Riften gets Laila Law-Giver, who is still a weak willed ruler, but is a undecided one now, caught between her imperial and her stotmcloak sons, her housecarl and her steward, the mafia and her ideals, and also reveal a stunning ability to be able to read the writing on the wall she displays rarely in game (Like when you can ask her about Ulfric post stormcloak victory in Vanilla and she'll admit she knows he's power hungry and that things are only going to get harder for everyone now). Regardles, you can convince her to join any faction by supporting either of the sides vying for her attention, otherwise Maven gets in power regardles of faction.

By advising and helping her, YOU can become the new power behind the throne of this puppet ruler over all other people in her life.

The other 6 holds are pretty much the same, Erikur gets in power in solitude in case of Stormcloak victory, Elisif stays in case of the other 2 sides, Ulfric dies in all but the stormcloak victory, either in 1v1 duel with you, glorious battle or executed after capture, in which case his soul will not be in sovngarde and you will be able to steal his soul, free-winter gets in charge, and so on...