#DARK THEMES ARE EVERYTHING

[uhhh-hi-there-i-am-nervous]

How sleep well (by me).

Lights? One or two small.

Sound minimum for most things

If people in house put sign on door to tell them to be quiet and leave you alone.

Any drink? Water.

A DARK THEME ON EVERYTHING.

Screens? Low screen brightness (below half. If possible below quarter.) for awhile before sleep.

Put on the spotify playlist "Sleep" a hour or so before trying to sleep so relaxed when try sleep.

Hope this helps sleep well. If not, that's to bad. Might add more later.

[hajihiko]

[ominouspuff]

Gift-piece for @ghosts-of-rishi for some ideas we were playing around with. Fives discovering Echo is alive but possibly even more cursed than they already were.

They say there’s no good that can come from making deals with the Piper, but what Jango’s after is hardly what most people’d call ‘good’.

(Featuring Cursed!Jango, who went looking for a son in the wrong places, made a deal with a sea-god, double-crossed said sea-god, and now has three million cursed children.)

“Flesh and blood, you said,” the sea-witch taunted, gloated, condemned. And they are, they are — Jango’s split up, every bit of him, flesh and blood he never even had, divided between every blessed child — but no amount of clever carving of meat can account for a soul, and that’s the real curse. It is not Jango, not Jango alone, who is caged within the unnatural ribs and skull and pounding veins. “Watch them grow, fool; nurture them.” The sea-witch sentenced, and Jango does, he does; silently screaming, unable to separate himself from a single one, unable to sleep even when they sleep, too split up in too many inhuman ways to speak or think beyond wishing it was over… but they know he’s there, and speak to him sometimes. He can hear them cursing, over three million souls better left dead at the bottom of the seas, plucked and borrowed and wiped clean with new flesh sewn together. Why didn’t you leave us be? One is sobbing because he knows he should be dead and they say that’s as good as being at peace, and he is neither of those things.

His children are his spitting image, but they have old, old eyes and no memories of how they came to be that way, and there are three million of them — and not a soul that ever knew Jango Fett before — before — before — can explain it. He watches them all try through six million eyes.

[sluttypatrickstar]

[randomalistic]

I watched Transformers One and it was SO GOOD WHAT THE FUCK??????? It was easily digestible even without previous knowledge of the series, (i just had to rewatch the intro to make sure I understood lol) but OH MY GOD IT DID NOT HOLD BACK THE ADULT THEMES LIKE ITS FUCKING BRUTAL IN SOME SPOTS. OOOHAHHAAHHAHHEEEHEHEE !!!!!!! VERY GOOD VERY FUN

You should watch it NOW‼️‼️ if you are a fan of Great Writing, Really cool worldbuilding , fucking stellar animation / character designs

and. Whatever is going on here 🫡

WARNING - to my toontown mutuals they say Cog in this movie a lot

[raayllum]

Kpp'Ar and Rayla

Originally I wanted to do an update of sorts on TDP's thing with trolley problems since I hadn't done one since post-S4, but since I've discussed S5's trolley problems ad nauseam (to the degree there's nothing really more to say about Amaya's choice to put their people's future over Janai's life as she'd want, Viren eventually refusing to sacrifice Sir Sparklepuff or anyone else to save himself, and Callum's willingness to sacrifice himself and others in order to save Rayla that I haven't said already) and the update would mostly be an excuse to talk about S6 Rayla and Kpp'Ar... I'm just gonna talk about Rayla and Kpp'Ar.

If you are interested in 5x08 thoughts I'd rec these metas (X, X, X, X) as well as this tag. Now let's get to the good stuff.

Dark Mages and Assassins

I've talked for around 3 years now about the parallels between dark mage mindsets and assassination mindsets. "I don't want to do this, but I have to" / "I did what I had to do" / "There's only one way to release" / "It's horrific, Viren." "There is no other way." The dehumanization of yourself and your victim, that your nor anyone else's emotions should matter, the increasing emphasis on sacrifice, "I am already dead" and dark magic making you smell like death, Runaan and Viren being driven to deep regret over the things they put over their children and trying to come back from it, etc.

Therefore, characters like Rayla and our three prominent dark mage characters (Viren, Claudia, and Kpp'Ar) are characters who more likely to 1) start in similar places and 2) develop similar mindsets. What does it matter if Claudia and Rayla destroy themselves if it's for the people they love / what they believe in? Of course Viren and Rayla can both be arrested and surrounded by guards summoned by Opeli in the High Mage office for perceived or literal treason!

Now, we don't have much on Kpp'Ar given that he's in 2-3 scenes thus far, and one of those is already pretty warped by Viren's own mind in 5x02. That said, we do have some clues that Kpp'Ar may have some similarities to Rayla.

Like Rayla (and many other characters), Kpp'Ar is tied to themes of inheritance, being trained by the previous high mage before occupying the position itself and inheriting the Staff of Ziard. This is not unlike Rayla following in her parents' footsteps with being both an assassin and a Dragonguard, particularly trying to make up for Lain and Tiadrin's perceived failure in their duty to protect Zym (arc 1), similarly to how Kpp'Ar is now trying to safeguard the Staff of Ziard, for whatever reason.

Kpp'Ar also seems to be a grouchier, less emotional character on the surface, which is how Rayla attempts to portray herself. While she can be quite grumpy, Rayla is a crier and deeply emotional person / bleeding heart, though she's learned to temper some of that in arc 2.

Like Kpp'Ar, Rayla is a puzzle in her own right: secretive, private, often hard to understand, creating distance but also desperate to be known and understood and loved. To create a puzzle is to keep people out, yes, but it also very much expresses a desire for someone—the right person / people—to be smart or patient enough to solve it, and know you by extension.

With this basis of dark mage and assassin, Rayla and Kpp'Ar have a strange amount of similarities, namely speaking because they are

The Reformer

As we know from the Puzzle House (graphic novel) and 6x06, Kpp'Ar gives up the use of magic / dark magic, and Rayla decides not to be an assassin anymore as of S2, even if she drifts back in and out of it in arc 2. They are regretful looking back at their former actions, with Rayla trying to protect Harrow ("Say the word and I'll go back into that tower with you") and the princes throughout the show, and Kpp'Ar seemingly trying to end the cycle by not passing on the staff or whatever he'd done to his arm, as Viren doesn't seem familiar with the practice either.

One of my many mistakes. (5x02)

It was the same problem every time. Hesitation, sympathy, distraction… all just weakness in a different mask. (Chasing Shadows, part 2)

This change in path, though, is not without its lingering consequences from their old pathways, and it follows them onwards in terms of the ongoing physical harm to their bodies.

We could get into the weeds of Rayla and Runaan, as apprentice and master, being an inversion of Kpp'Ar and Viren (who end up paralleling Viren and Claudia's dynamic, in the 'child/student' being the one who stays on said dark path whereas the master/adult is the one who ends up breaking away). However, I think there's more to be said for Rayla with Callum and Kpp'Ar and Viren when it comes to

Trust and Guidance

I touched on it more when arc 1 was airing, but for lack of a better option throughout most of their journey, Rayla more or less serves as Callum's magical mentor throughout the first three seasons. Although other characters also contribute—he steals and learns from Claudia, Lujanne explains what an arcanum is, Villads the wind, Harrow wards him away from dark magic, Sarai helps him unlock the sky, Ibis shows him the wings spell—Rayla is the character that serves the mentor-esque role the most while balancing that of peer. She's the one discussing magic with him, she's the one explaining the primal sources to him and finishing his spells, and it's their relationship and how it causes Callum to grow that allows him to unlock manus pluma volantis and the Ocean arcanum.

She's the one who believes in him, regardless of whether he has or can do magic or not.

We see some of this lingering loyalty and acceptance with Kpp'Ar. While he's personally given up dark magic and his position at court, he's pleased and receptive that Viren has taken on the role, and presumably subsequently unbothered that Viren will continue to be a dark mage. However, when it comes to Callum or Viren wanting to do something the other perceives as dangerous, then things are a bit different:

We also see them be more composed when Callum and Viren are pushing for something—even, in Rayla's case, something that'd directly benefit her—because Rayla and Kpp'Ar perceive it as something that could put things at risk more than it's worth it, even if it means losing people or keeping families apart. The fact that in asking for the staff, Viren is actually asking for the quasar diamond within the staff without knowing it is just the cherry on top to me.

And when Kpp'Ar and Rayla reaffirm their viewpoints, their high mages can get a little testy.

We also see Kpp'Ar holds trust and his relationship with King Atticus, as he states "King Atticus trusts me. Just a word from me is all it will take" which is similar to the devotion that Rayla shows others, even strangers: "Just say the word and I'll go back into that tower with you" and her own dynamics with others, particularly Callum: "It means I trust her, unconditionally."

However, here's where we get to what I think is the most interesting part of the Rayla and Kpp'Ar comparisons, which is namely where we see all these things intersect in

You Will Lose Everything

Rayla is... a cautious, private individual. She goes out on patrol (2x01), she struggles with sharing information (1x06, 5x01), and is usually the voice of reason (1x04, 1x05, 2x04, 4x05, 4x07) when Callum is not (although he's often the voice of reason when she isn't). We don't know enough of Kpp'Ar to say whether he's ordinarily cautious, though I'd wager on private, but we do see that the warning he gives to Viren is decidedly different.

For starters, there's the divide in We'll vs you, and the fact that he gives it as a warning for Viren decidedly not listening to him ("King Atticus trusts me"). Viren, rightfully, understands it as the threat it is, even if his response is extreme. Viren doesn't trust Kpp'Ar's warning or isn't willing to let those consequences stand, so he takes action to ensure it won't come to pass by coining Kpp'Ar. In trying to avoid those consequences, he makes the dominoes fall in exactly that order—Lissa calls him a monster because of what he did to Kpp'Ar and how it warped his appearance, this leads to her leaving and him blaming Soren, Claudia's eventual involvement with Aaravos, etc etc. And because Kpp'Ar is right, since Viren does end up losing everything: his wife, both of his children, his sense of self, the status as high mage he was determined to cling to, his certainty that he was doing the right thing, etc.

Then, for Rayla, she's thinking of their safety and of their mission, and how Zym could fall back into the wrong hands if Claudia and Soren aren't being truthful. While Rayla can be overtly independent, when it comes to the mission she does see it as a team effort ("we're in this together" / "you and Ezran should take Zym" + "I don't think I can do this without him" + "if I don't come back, you and Ezran can get Zym to Xadia") once she gets over her initial hurdle(s) in 1x06. Whatever consequence they'll face as a result of not trusting her gut, they'll face it together, and she and Callum both know it. So unlike with Viren and Kpp'Ar, Callum listens to her.

However, Rayla and Kpp'Ar's warnings — and indeed many of their other character traits we've talked about — come from one shared idea of priority:

Make the Sacrifice

When confronted with their trolley problems, Kpp'Ar and Rayla typically have the same solutions. If Rayla thinks she can solve the trolley problem by sacrificing herself, she will: see saving the dragon in 2x07 exclusively at perceived expense of herself ("It doesn't matter what happens to me"); hurtling off the Pinnacle ("last time I was here, I leapt to my certain death"); and of course in 6x03 most prominently, with "If you ever have to choose between me or the greater good, do the right thing. Make the sacrifice".

For the most part, this is different because Rayla is advocating to sacrifice herself versus somebody else (which is more of an 'you're an antagonist' thing to do in TDP), but it's not exclusively as we see in Arc 2 (even if one is at Callum's adamant request):

(We could also potentially count her sacrificing her parents... three times throughout arc 2 / putting them on the back burner, specifically in refusing Claudia's deal in 4x09, but she does also go after them so... maybe-minus?)

Now, this idea of one life vs the greater good comes back over and over again, from Harrow sacrificing himself in hopes his sons will break the cycle, to Rayla sparing Marcos but subsequently losing her troupe, to the infamous Magma Titan debacle or killing Zym.

We kill one monster to save a hundred thousand people. (You keep calling it a monster.) If you must choose, choose the egg over Soren.

You sacrifice one life for the greater good. You sacrifice one life, even of a child's, even of someone you love, because the stakes are much too high.

CLAUDIA: But Dad, Soren could've died! VIREN: That doesn't matter! I don't mean to be cruel, but we must be ready to sacrifice, even the things we love.

The show doesn't say this is an exclusively bad viewpoint (largely Amaya and Janai in 5x08 as the exception), but it does lean into 1) sacrificing yourself is better than advocating to sacrifice others and 2) if you're willing to sacrifice the people you love, you're usually making the wrong choice, which is why Viren's betrayal of Kpp'Ar and violation of Lissa for Soren's life — sacrificing one for the other rather than finding a way to honour all three and take the consequences/accountability on his own shoulders — is then atoned for by ultimately sacrificing himself entirely in Soren's stead, even if that means using the Staff of Ziard again. And even then, sacrificing yourself for others isn't exclusively good, either (just look at how it's destroyed Rayla's relationships in the past, or what it continues to do to Claudia).

We don't know what Kpp'Ar knew about the staff, but we know it's been used many times without apparent, direct consequence of the usage itself > the harm the spells used for it brought. We can also assume that Rayla will inevitably not follow through on murdering her partner. Whatever Kpp'Ar knew or thought, though, it was something he thought was worth sacrificing Soren's life for without even telling Viren directly (maybe because he thought it was dangerous and wouldn't make a difference).

Since Viren is gone and reformed, and because Runaan seemingly regrets putting duty over love (6x09), I wonder if a post-released Kpp'Ar will step in to be the one to argue to make the sacrifice, same as Aaravos (5x09), same as Rayla (6x03) on either side of the coin for Callum and Rayla, only for them both to ultimate disagree. Maybe even Kpp'Ar will grow to disagree, seeing the man Soren has grown to become, and what dark magic has continued to take from Claudia.

If sacrificing yourself and others without hope of change is the language and core of dark magic and being an assassin ("I am already dead, and so are you"), then the preservation of others and allowing yourself to be saved from it is the truest form of rejection, after all.

[thedeafprophet]

Recent discussions has me wondering if it would be feasible for fallen london to apply content warnings to its stories. Horror is inherently a genre that has upsetting themes and is meant to make you uncomfortable, and I'm making no moral commentary on including themes - but for viewers it can be helpful and adjustable to have access to. They already have some warnings in game in certain places, like with Jack of smiles case, and in Evolution after feedback was sent in about the very intense body horror scenes.

But I think other things would be worth warning for. When cult themes are involved in Exceptional stories, or a prominent example, I think the very heavy nonconsent and forced pregnancy themes of Light Fingers *really* would benefit from a warning.

I fully understand that content warnings can't cover everything, and there's the matter of spoilers and when and where. Not to mention resources it would take with how many exceptional stories there is that are out. But I think having it as an optional viewing before playing something would be could for people to look at ahead of times. I know Black Tabby Games website has a seperate page on their website listing content warnings for their games, per chapter, which I found a very useful resource. Something like that could be advantageous

In the meantime, I do say my appreciation to fellow fans who take the time to warn for things.

[pinkd3mon]

I can respect the hater mentality

[kaevch]

" i wanted it to be a bl the whole time i was watching itttttt 😭😭😭" ITS A SHOW ABOUT THE VICTORIAN ERA AND A 13YO MAKING A DEAL W A DEMON TO TAKE REVENGE.

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

What if I say possesion storylines are secretly about domination and colonialism and the way in which the whims of the capital dictates every single aspect of social relations, and SA, which in turn is also about colonialism

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Type O Negative - Everything Dies

[lanaspnggarden]

More Instagram comments from my growing collection part two 🍀🍈⭐

[peaches2217]

ew what that anon said was really yucky wtf, I do have a mareach question if this cheers you up

If Peach and Mario do have a kid, what would the name be if it's a boy or if it's a girl?

I’m glad I’m not the only one weirded out by it, like 😭😭😭

Admittedly I’m… not the greatest with names. I’ve written how many stories about them being parents? and still haven’t actually elaborated on my fankid, much less what her name is, because she has a name and a reasoning behind it, but it’s Very Cringy.

But! The predominant two name themes I see in other’s fankids is 1.) traditional Italian names and 2.) fruit names (and sometimes the two mixed together), and I really like both of those 🥹 I think either one is really cute, and a fun continuation of either parent’s name theme!

[bigassbowlingballhead]

i'm going to try and finish margins today, I've only got three chapters left easy peasy. then i gotta decide which book i got yesterday i'm starting next.

[felixravinstills]

I broke, for reasons incomprehensible to most people, and made an ask Felix Ravinstill blog, @felix-ravinstill. Go ask him questions!

(But remember, you are under the eyes of the state...)

[itsyagurlchip]

*gasssssssp!!!*

swansea is a hypocrite.

sure, all of the things that he said during his final moments to jimmy were true, but he specifically jabs what he did to anya at him during that moment.

she told him. she told him and swansea didn't do anything about it. he even continues to belittle her (despite her keeping curly alive for 4 months if not more-) and is dismissive towards her.

so not only was he trying to "teach a youngster a lesson" before he died, he was making someone else feel guilty about something he could've prevented, or at the very least reported.

that counts 3 people in the room who need to take responsibility, curly, jimmy, and swansea. if we evaluate daisuke and anya as well (IN A CRITICAL WAY), they may be in the same situation.

(^^when anya says "you haven't even seen my worst moments" or smt like that, and when daisuke admits he's only here bc of his mom)

(do know that I only watched the gameplay last night so if any of my recalls make no sense/do not match up I apologise)