#I do plan on doing something horror related in the future!

[stardewvalleybut-i-draw]

popping in to say i am OBSESSED with your farmer interpretations. im not a big stardew valley fan (not bc of anything, its just not my sort of thing) but gahhhhhh. oh my god. that one painting comic and the background-music writing rattle around in my head so muchhh. they just scratch such a specific itch in my brain.

like. interacting with the world around you on such a different, alien level from anybody else- but not noticing or caring because its just what you've always seen the world as. it isnt scary, it doesnt completely warp your mind, it doesnt drive you to the brink of madness- its just normal. what the world is supposed to be.

it gives you advantages in some situations. but it also isolates you, in a subtle way. because you're different, 'biologically' (for lack of a better term), you cant see what people "should" see, or do what "normal" people should do. you will always just be a little off to people- just through your habits, which seem completely normal and logical to you- enough to put them on edge. its not enough to set anything bigger off, but it shows that you will always be different. you will never be like them, whether you want to or not.

..whoops. sorry for waxing poetic or whatever in your askbox lol i am just a very very big fan of this specific type of thing. anyways! thank you for making this specific interpretation that will probably haunt me for a bit. i hope you have a good day ^-^

Yep, you hit it right on the nail! That's exactly what I'm going for!!

And with the new update (no spoilers here) it seems that's what the game is encouraging you to be!

I like writing them in this way because it adds a wonderfully comedic depression to them! A subtle psychological horror I can use for drama later👀

And again... cuz funny haha 😂

I noticed the Farmer's quirks are only sometimes included in others' writing and only really included for comedic purposes. Still, I think the farmer's odd behavior can add to almost any situation if you know how to work with it!

I hope to haunt you more in the future! Have a great day as well :D

[ifyourereadingthisblinktwice]

conflict of sticking with my environmental planning degree plan and a potentially more stable/well paying job vs wanting to go for an arts degree in literature analysis and writing and history and culture because i love it so so much but know it wont be considered ‘useful’. FIGHT

[wolfiesmoon]

Ratted out

sometimes friends and family accidentally (or purposefully) reveal things they shouldnt :)

characters featured: Leona, Kalim, Jade, Jack

ufff idk whats wrong with me but i ended up creating an entire (unrelated to this fic) movie plan related to twst this is mentally stable activities, truly

also unrelated but the new event got me SCREAMING how do they look so good😫

ᐟᐟ☆๋࣭ ⭑໑ Leona Kingscholar

when hanging out with your boyfriend Leona, a little lion boy suddenly jumps him and he immediately lets you go

who is this child???

"Uncle Leona!" the boy clings onto him and you can feel the annoyance eminating from Leona

it's like its own aura thats how annoyed he is🥴

so his nephew (you presume) looks to you all of a sudden and asks "who are you?" with an innocent look on his face

"I'm his lover...?" you said, a little unsure. But when you looked to Leona, he had a look of pure horror on his face...? What is even going on?????

"What?! No way, you're dating Uncle Leona?!" the kid got all excited and ran off somewhere before you could stop him

"...What have you done?" Leona hissed at you through clenched teeth, holding his forehead

you do realise you just revealed that he's dating you to the most big mouthed child in the world, right? that his whole family will know in a matter of minutes, right? that you've basically just invited yourself to every future family gathering at once, right?

and sure enough, in a few minutes he got a surprised text from his brother which he left on read 💀

"Damn brat..." he muttered under his breath, you still confused over what just happened

ᐟᐟ☆๋࣭ ⭑໑ Kalim Al-Asim

let's be real babes there is nothing for his siblings to rat him out on because he immediately told his family he was dating you

however....😈

his siblings happened to overhear a little something...

"Hey, hey." one of Kalim's younger brothers pulled your sleeve, wanting to tell you something

"yes?" you answered absentmindedly, thinking he's going to start talking about a strange thing he saw today or something

"Kalim's gonna marry you." he whispered to you, looking around to make sure no one heard

You laughed a little. "If you think so." you pat his little head

"No, he was like, asking mom if he can marry you soon. We heard it." another one of his brothers joined in after hearing the tea being spilled

"What?! Really?!" you're both extremely surprised and happy and mad at his brothers for ruining the surprise right now

oh well, what's done is done, and now you know Kalim is SERIOUS about you

that gets you thinking about wedding stuff now...🤔

What none of you know tho is that Jamil overheard all of you

"Okay, maybe we need to scrap the whole surprise wedding proposal thing..." he sighs, making a mental note of it and preparing to dissapoint poor Kalim

ᐟᐟ☆๋࣭ ⭑໑ Jade Leech

jade is like... oddly nice to you after you first meet him

you're a little wary of him considering his reputation but he hasn't done anything weird at all so... might as well accept his gifts?

one time he approaches you with jade in tow and you think absolutely nothing of it since they're together like 90% of the time anyways

"Hello there, are you enjoying your lunch?" he just sat down next to you without asking if he can at all 😔

"Uh, yeah, I suppose." you didn't really know what to tell him and it seems he doesnt know how to continue the conversation either so u just kinda... stare at eachother while Floyd casually steals a bit of ur food

"Maaaan, aren't you like, supposed to be crushing on Little Shrimpy or something? Then taaalk about stuff, I'm bored." Floyd looked bored when he saw the two of you didn't start talking about weird stuff

Jade simply smiled at you, telling you to ignore Floyd

But on the inside he was planning approximately 10 ways to... get rid of someone without others noticing

or alternatively, just beating the everloving crap out of his twin brother if the first plan is not a possibility

"Do you have a crush on me?" you wanted to know now...

"That's for you to think about." he smiled oddly eerily, but then just started talking abt something mundane 😥

ᐟᐟ☆๋࣭ ⭑໑ Jack Howl

You're visiting him for the first time because you got curious what his family is like

OF COURSE HE'S AN OLDER BROTHER IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW

his younger siblings immediately ambushed you with their little sniffer noses as soon as you stepped in the house🤔

"Who are you?" they asked, always curious about anyone that Jack brings over

When you told them who you were, they immediately ran away to "TELL MOM" and were literally screaming that the two of you are dating so loudly that the whole neighborhood could hear

You could also hear some woman (who you presume is his mom) laughing from somewhere in the house so uhhh.... atleast she isn't mad about it?

You looked back at Jack who seemed more annoyed than anything

"Aren't you gonna... go stop them?" you asked, raising a brow.

"Nah, I was gonna tell mom I'm dating you anyways. I'm just mad that they beat me to it." he crossed his arms, huffing in annoyance

"Actually, speaking of, isn't me dating you kinda a big deal? You told me before that wolves have one partner for life." you actually got kinda nervous, i mean, you gotta impress his family good now

"It is. But I think everyone's just happy I got someone at all." Jack looked at his overly excited siblings who were still celebrating

"Wow, that's sad." you sassed him 😝

"...I shouldn't have brought you."

[certifiedlovergirlsstuff]

not so secret identity | m.g. x gn!reader

“if you could have any powers in the world, what would you choose?” asking the random question while you and mark are laying in his backyard, just staring at the sparkling stars. you stretched an arm up, like you were trying to touch them. “i’d like to be like atom eve. her powers are almost god like, or just anything kinda mysterious slash magical. looks more fun than just brute strength.”

your free arm was pressed against mark’s chest, his fingers just mindlessly rubbing over skin and bone. “strength is good though, you know you’ll always be able to protect yourself and those close to you.” turning his head to the side, admiring you. someone he wants to keep safe and happy from this darkening world, but you don’t know that other side.

a smile spread across your lips, “with these new muscles you’ve suddenly developed i can see it.” now turning to rest on your side, hand propping up your head. “i’d definitely would have posters of your superhero persona on my walls. ‘oh he’s just so dreamy’.”

mark smiled shyly, “and you’d be a bombshell for anyone with eyes. but i’ll know that i’m the one you love, so i’m not bothered by some guys. but i’ll still protect you from creeps if you had the powers and i didn’t.”

his words made you feel mushy. leaning closer towards mark’s face, your puckered lips pressed into the cooling skin of his cheeks. dotting along his jaw leading to his nose, higher up leaving sweeping caresses on his eyelids. bits of your hair fanned over your profile, “wanna watch a movie? getting a bit cold and sleepy out here.” whispering to him.

he immediately moved from the ground, taking your outstretched arm and then effortlessly throwing you over his shoulders. you couldn’t help the loud surprised yelp leaving your mouth, “mark!” playfully hitting his back.

and mark retaliated by smacking your ass, the sting making a warmth grow in your stomach. “still wanna watch a movie?” he cockily remarked.

-

“look at you hottie! got a nice glow about you more these days.” william commented after you hugged him in greeting then sat across from him for your lunch hang.

digging your teeth in your bottom lip you had to withhold all the…intimate details from the night before. even if you do like having someone that also thinks your boyfriend is extremely sexy, but boundaries. “random mark related question, but do-do you think he’s gotten bulky lately? i swear he’s twice the size then he was about three months ago. not that i’m complaining though.” subconsciously thumbing over a blooming bruise on your thigh.

william shrugged, “he’s a straight guy with a girlfriend. probably just decided to really hit the gym one day, not that he was scrawny before, but you know.” and that ended mark related conversation for now. both of you just dived into work gossip or something either of you heard in the halls, trying to set up future plans with eve and amber also involved.

while you were laughing at a joke william made, you felt a sudden shaking. both of you went silent to tell if there was gonna be an after shock, but it was worse when someone was violently thrown into a building just across the street from the cafe. you and william ducked to the ground, legs turning to jelly at the sight of something so horrific just an arms length from you.

“we gotta go!” someone yelled in your ear followed with a yanking on your arms. your knees scraped the gravel as you tried to steady your self, barely taking a step before you were shoved to the floor causing an agonizing pain shooting through your muscles. “william!” calling for your friend who wasn’t in your sights.

what was in your sights was a mangled human, blood and spit dropping from their lips to the ground. a deep panting causing their chest to puff, huffs of thick air almost cartoonish from their nostrils. they reared their head then started rushing like a bull, it was like a horror scene where you want to run but just can’t take your eyes off the assailant. you thought this was the end, you just closed your eyes, waiting for any impact.

but it never came. your heart started pounding faster, eyes slowly fluttering open to see that monster straining against the resistance of invincible. you couldn’t see the hero’s full face due to the bright yellow mask disguising him, but you could see how his teeth were gritting together so hard they could crack. it was a tug of strength, invincible’s feet were planted firmly on the ground as he pushed most of his upper body forward.

“g-go! now!” he yelled out. he groaned due to the sudden distraction, grunting when the criminal tried pushing him off and he just pushed back. his jaw was flexed and you couldn’t help tilting your head to the side, a bit of curiosity seeping in.

“mark?” speaking your boyfriend’s name.

he looked down at you for a moment, “run!” then grabbed the monster’s head and rammed his knee into its face. he threw a fast punch into the chest causing him to create a bit of distance for the two of you. he gripped your upper arms, made sure your legs were okay, and gave a quick peck to your forehead. then he returned to the action.

watching a moment longer, fighting the conflict in your chest, turning on your heel you made your way towards the police barricade. looking over your shoulder you tried to catch sight of mark again, but two hands held your shoulders and turned you away from the destruction. “oh thank god,” william sighed as he pulled you in tight for a hug, your own arms taking a moment before wrapping around his waist and gripping his red shirt in your grasp.

“do you know about mark?” whispering into his ear. william jerked his head back, a furrow on his brow. “what about mark? did something happen?”

“mark and invincible in one sentence, what do you see?” trying for a different route. you took note of how his eyes kept darting, going from you to the conflict, and it was like you almost can see wheels turning in his brain.

“no, no there’s no way.” he stook his head, “you’re just stressed and there’s adrenaline running around. let’s get you home and we’ll call mark to check on him.” steering both of you further away, you sneaked a peek over your shoulder, barely a standing figure there invincible was. watching you walk away.

-

you just laid in your bed, eyes burning a hole in your ceiling while you rubbed your fingers over your elbows. small things were starting to piece together in your mind, new cuts and bruises popping up every other day, those dumb excuses of ‘oh forgot to grab my umbrella be right back’ when it was a sunny day. god the new build, how he’d somehow manages to find amazing authentic food in your boring town.

you were just blinded by mark. sure you never thought he was cheating or something like that, but sometimes yeah, you never really thought about his behavior. mark’s always been awkward.

a knock at your door filled the silent room. you didn’t bother responding since the door slowly creaked open, looking over just as mark meekly poked his head through the crack. those sad puppy eyes observing you, “can i come in?” his voice soft, patient.

“yeah,” a tiny crack on the a. mark moved slowly, trying not to startle a baby deer. he sat beside your hip, the bed dipping slightly from his added weight. a large hand hovering in the air before retreating back to his side, not sure what those turn of events caused.

“how’d you get home?” his first question. a deep sigh through your nose, “william drove me. funny how he parked further away cause there weren’t any spots.” barely a huff at the stupidity.

“do-do you want to talk about…invincible?” his second question. you stayed silent longer this time, out of anger or frustration or any other emotion you could be feeling at this moment. a laughed bubbled from your chest when you suddenly remembered yesterday’s conversation.

“what?” mark leaned in closer, inspecting you. tears gathered at your lash line, “we were freaking talking about if we had powers last night. that honestly could have been the best time to casually bring it up.” giving a half assed swat to his bicep.

the tension seemed to dissolve a bit since mark laid down behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and tugging you back to fit snug against his toned chest. you easily intertwined your hands together over your stomach.

mark pressed a kiss to the base of your neck before setting his chin on your shoulder, “you know how it’s pretty common superhero’s don’t flaunt their identity, even to close family.” you hummed, already understanding why he wasn’t screaming this news from the rooftops.

“it would’ve been nice to at least know. it would be the same amount of anxiety without or with your powers, i get anxious when you disappear or-or just make terrible excuses.” barely sending a glance behind you, “you may be superhuman, but you still have a heart and brain, and those two organs are vital to your breathing. so if you just died one day out there i wouldn’t know or hear the real reason.”

your throat was getting choked up, it just hit you. he could die, every time he goes out there in that costume, he might not come home one day. “i can’t lose you this early, mark.” closing your eyes, wet tears kissing your cheeks in silent empathy.

“hey, hey.” there was a bit of shuffling then a hand to your face. “sweetheart, look at me please.” a scrunch of your features before fluttering your reddening eyes open to see mark peering at you. you brought your own hand to his left cheek, thumb rubbing under his eye and along his nose.

“i’ll always make it out a fight alive. will i look pretty? probably the complete opposite, but as long as i feel my heart beating and feel my chest moving, i’ll come crawling back to you.”

two pairs of eyes stared into the windows of their souls, simultaneously grieving all the unknown pain yet to come, all the joy that’ll make up just a fraction of your life. mark leaned in and pressed his lips to yours, you could feel a healing cut along his bottom lip. it caused a few more tears to spawn, but you chose to ignore them, you only wanted to focus on the now.

[milkamel]

any other favorite ships or handcanons you like?

This made me think hard cause as a multishipper there are a lot of ships in my mind and I can’t name a certain one XD- And I already kinda answered that question so I guess I’ll list some headcanons instead :D (It’s gonna be the bad guys cause I love them lol)

Cross (as well as the other inhabitants of XTale) see the world in a limited color palette. His own AU looks normal to him when the others seem odd. (Like.. a color-blind kind of way??) Alternative bonus: or Cross might see the other AU’s colors normally, but it takes him a while to adjust to something so bright so he prefers to stay in the castle walls where the colors are dull.

Killer has to change his bed sheets and pillows every day cause his tears leak while he sleeps (bad dreams and memories make it more intense). Sometimes he doesn’t change them right away cause he’s too lazy but when it’s too dirty and uncomfortable he (or others) forces himself to.

Horror has issues with throwing away leftovers or anything food-related even if he knows that no one would eat them/it’s expired. As an alternative, he uses that stuff for compost to make sure that the little farm outside the castle always has fresh crops (Farmer was the one to suggest that idea). Even if he knows that they won’t run out of food he still wants to control everything related to food supplies.

Nightmare always says that he’s busy and doing paperwork which usually consists of planning out their future missions and counting their supplies but sometimes he just writes his own stories and doesn’t tell anyone about it. Just a little hobby to relax. Sometimes the stories are tragic and dark and sometimes they’re embarrassingly sweet and romantic. Anyway, the “paperwork” excuse sounds boring enough so no one would sneak through his papers.

Out of everyone, Dust is the closest who can be considered classic Sans (Horror as well) so he’s very lazy and can fall asleep anywhere. Kinda like a cat. So it’s sometimes hard to find him cause he might take a nap in the most inconvenient place.

[sorcerous-caress]

Hello!! I love your writing 😍 Would it be okay if you wrote Karlach, Lae'zel and whomever you wish with a tiefling!Tav that loses both a horn and an eye during a battle and can't quite find balance in their fighting afterwards bc of it?

Reacting to Tav losing a horn/eye

[Hurt/comfort, fluff, angst, nb!reader, Tiefling!reader]

[Karlach, Laezel, Wyll, Halsin]

Karlach

She swears she can still hear it, your agonised scream, the splatter of blood, the crunch of bone being torn apart.

As if the world slowed down for a moment, an eerie quietness surrounding the battlefield for the uncomfortable stretched out seconds. Your companions turning to look at you, clutching your eye with your back hunched.

Dread filled her stomach, one of your horns laid on the bloody floor next to your feet.

She doesn't remember the rest. Only when she stood atop the burnt rubble of what used to be the battlefield, did the all-consuming rage fade away from her mind.

Karlach is immediately at your side after, apologising for not being there sooner.

She's by your side as you heal, making sure to bring you anything you might need. As your struggles to adjust to combat again in the aftermath become more and more evadint, she is one of the first people to suggest fully leaving combat to her.

Yes, you are capable. Yes, she has seen how strong you are. But sometimes life just doesn't go the way we plan it. You can relay on her instead.

You don't have to go back to the cruel world. You can let her take care of it. Karlach really can't afford losing you. She'd claw her way up the heavens and steal you away if your fate took a turn to the worse.

Laezel

She completely disagrees with Karlach. This is nothing but a minor setback if anything. Laezel completely has faith in you to relearn how to find your balance, and she'll teach you if she has to.

As long as you can still stand on your feet and carry a sword, then you can fight in her eyes. She will give her sincere apologies for letting you down in battle and not doing something before enemeis got the chance to best you, but besides it, you'll get no pity from her.

Why is everyone acting as if you died? You're clearly still the same strong and capable person she knows. If anything, each scar is evidence of how your enemies' failure to put you down, you should show your broken horn with pride.

She has enough self awareness not to impose her views on you, no matter how much she thinks her companions are being dramatic and oversensitive, is she noticed you being fully uncomfortable with her approach she will take her leave from your bedside.

But you got fed up with people infantlising you, then she will be the first to 6pull you back into an intense daily training routine until you regain your footing.

Wyll

While Karlach and Laezel were too busy arguing about your own fate, Wyll was there for you throughout every stage of healing. He knows what it's it like losing an eye. He can relate to the horror and dissociation that happens whenever you look at the mirror to see a piece of yourself missing.

He still hasn't gotten used to his own horns himself, and losing one of yours must have been painful to bear. He will stay by your side until you feel better, no pressure to discuss the future or your fighting abilities or anything.

Wyll will make sure you don't feel alone, that the dark thoughts don't consume you too much. Share you worries with him, let him help carry your burdens, please. It kills him seeing someone so dear to him suffer when he can't do anything or help.

Halsin

His heart breaks, seeing you coming back to camp limbing and bloodied that day. He prays to Silvanus to ease your pain as he takes shift with Shadowheart to nurse you back to health with healing spells.

Nature can be so unforgiving sometimes, to some animals, losing an eye or horn can be a death sentence.

But he has seen even the most withered of plants suddenly flourish and regain their strength, he has personally stayed up countless nights to care for the weak kittens that their mother refused to even acknowledge.

He has seen them grow, nurtured them into a strong healthy state.

Don't surrendered to the darkness, when the abyss starts whispering about how this is your end and how your potential was wasted you yell at the abyss, bite, claw and fight your way out of this rut.

True strength lies in the heart, give yourself time to rest, and don't rush your healing. Eventually, you'll be back on your own two feet with a new view on the world before you can realise it.

[worokapi]

i hope one day we can get the full cover arts of after god

Orokapi crying makes me want to explode tbh

Volume 8's cover- he looks so goooooood I love the snake scale tie I think we need more character design like that.

A promo of volume 8 was posted without the small title card, revealing that Orokapi is actually crying. Somehow I do feel like the covering of the teary eye detracts a bit, but it is really cool symbolism and a mindblowing one to come by it on your own. If the actual covers had it like a peelaway sticker that would be pretty neat 🤯

[Vol 8 Cover] [Vol 8 Promo]

Spoiler warning up to latest english chap (67 as of current) below

In another tweet, Eno notes all the volume covers share a similar motif where the title card obscures something the character wants to hide.

アフターゴッド８巻の内容+描き下ろし内容です。 &タイトルロゴなしverのカバーをチラ見せです。 タイトルロゴの位置は毎巻、「本人が隠したいもの」の位置に置いています。[Tweet Link]

Google Translate: Contents of After God Volume 8 + newly drawn contents. & A glimpse of the cover of the version without the title logo. In each volume, the title logo is placed in the position of ``something the person wants to hide.''

各巻のロゴの下に隠したもの一覧です。 1巻→目、2巻→舌、3巻→（代里子への）指輪、4巻→目、5巻→口・タヌボーグミ、6巻→ない左目、7巻→（池に投げた母の）指輪、8巻→涙 [Tweet Link]

Google Translate: This is a list of things hidden under the logo of each volume. Volume 1 → Eye, Volume 2 → Tongue, Volume 3 → Ring (for Yoriko), Volume 4 → Eye, Volume 5 → Mouth/Tanubogumi, Volume 6 → Missing left eye, Volume 7 → (Mother's thrown into the pond) Ring, Volume 8 → Tears

Thoughts/Interpretations:

Waka wanting to hide her eyes checks out especially in volume 1. Chapter 3 she exclaims she didn't want this either.

I'm not really sure why Tokinaga wants to hide his tongue; with only the context from the first two volumes one could assume it's because of the in-world thing about hiding one's face. But the specification it's the tongue with future insight, it could be an overarching thing where he technically hasn't been very truthful to others and has been lying, hiding the truth.

Minami and Yoriko canonically don't hide their engagement status, so could Minami's decision to hide his engagement ring be related to their work relationship possibly hindering their own personal lives? Snake imagery is pretty present here too. And we know later on in volume 3 what happens to him, and it literally separates the two.

Obikawa hiding his god pupils specifically is pretty self explanatory. But I'd also like to think of in chapter 32, he tells Tokinaga he doesn't want to use his god eyes on him.

Apparently there's a Tanuboo Gummy there in Waka's mouth?

Tokinaga's left eye holding a lot of secrets... the thing in his eye and his birthmark. COUGHS and chapter 66 was a massive exposition dump to be honest

The wedding ring of Yako/Furuya's mother, in which was what Furuya used to incite the death of over 80 people. I still love the drop at the end of chapter 58 where Yuma puts two and two together while his sisters ask what Furuya meant. The juxaposition of us, the audience knowing too with the child's innocence really hits the horror tenfold.

Orokapi's tearful eye, in which we see in the chapter he misses Vollof.. We also see potential parallels of Vollof in Tokinaga momentarily too from his perspective.

---

There is a photo of what Waka looks like under the cover of Chapter 1

[Image Source]

Someone replied asking if there will be plans to show the rest of the characters similarly. Eno says there's no plans right now, but maybe in the future. [Source]

I hope so! The covers are gorgeous and I'd love to see them all one day. I already adore staring at Eno Sumi's work

[feelthesturmanddrangintheair]

TradWife Eleanor

First two posts in this series here:

We Need to Talk About Eleanor Guthrie

Eleanor Guthrie Part 2: Charles Vane

Season 3 and 4 Eleanor is getting her own post because oh boy. I love it because it totally goes against where a boring narrative would take her character. It’s so human and so interesting. And then her death is an utter tragedy. 

I feel like if Black Sails were a shit show, or even a totally-fine-show, Eleanor would not have this arc. She would return to Nassau with schemes, she’d seduce Woodes Rogers to manipulate him, she’d escape and join the pirates again, she’d become either a bigger trade boss/player in the pirates side than before OR she would die gloriously. It would be rote, and boring and a bit Girl Boss YASSSSS. Thank god we didn’t get that.

(also interestingly Hannah New talks about this exact thing in her interview with Fathom's Deep!)

Instead we get a very different Eleanor.

A lot of people seem to not like this Eleanor or her choices. Her choice to kill Vane, her choice not only to marry Rogers but actually love him, her choice to side with civilisation. For a lot of people they cannot relate to why she makes these choices, They think she sucks, that she’s a TradWife, that the writing is bad (no). 

Those people are all wrong. I’m right. Here’s why.

I think Max pinpointed Eleanor's issue in like episode 2 because she's extremely smart.

Eleanor: Becuase I've spent my life trying to build something here. It's all I have, I can't just walk away Max: It is not all you have! Eleanor this place is just sand - it cannot love you back. You know this. You must know this. Your father left you, your mother was taken from you, everyone you have ever loved you have lost and it terrifies you. But not me. I will never, ever leave you. I love you

Eleanor is invested in Nassau and it becoming a functioning society. It is her home - she says as much - she cannot leave it or give up on it. She's not a pirate, she's not trying to build it for them. She's not pro or anti Britain - she's pro-Nassau. Whatever means necessary to get her home strong, functioning and thriving. She saw it at its worst during the Spanish invasion as a child and know's that a weak Nassau is what leads to horror.

As Trade Boss of Nassau Eleanor betrays everyone in order to get what she wants - which is to ensure the future of Nassau. She makes radical decisions, she does not give a shit of what people think of her, she ignores gender expectations, sexual mores and uses people's underestimation as a tool. She betrays everyone she loves in order for power and security on a dot of sand.

And then:

Vane kills Richard

Flint goes against the plan for Pardons and burns Charleston to the ground

She's arrested and sent to England to die

It's a miracle she doesn't hang in London. It's enormous luck she doesn't die of fever in prison. Rogers deciding not only to interview her and use her knowledge but to also bargain for her life, is completely insane.

So she jumps from facing death to sailing back to the speck of sand she once ruled, filled with people who despise her. Who always despised her. Even when she was responsible for their wealth, they hated her. She has faced what defying gender norms, social norms and laws gets her - it will be the noose. 

And the only person between her and death is a very hot man who is kind of a pirate but respectable in the eyes of law and society. Who believes in the exact same thing as her - that Nassau can become a functioning society.

(And come on, Luke Roberts is a stone cold hottie. I do not like Rogers, especially S4 Rogers, but I'm not blind! Neither is Eleanor! She should hit that!)

Eleanor understands that Rogers is a person who operates outside of societal norms - he was a privateer, he's envisioning change in Nassau where many couldn't - but he's being more sneaky than Eleanor's brash Trade GirlBoss was. He's using government, law, money, society to achieve his own ends, and live how he wants. He has power in doing that. But he also has protection. And after her experience, I think she now wants safety and protection as much as she wants power and revenge.

So what started as an aside in this post, around Max’s speech about wanting to have the safety and comfort of the Room, became an entire 2,600 word essay. So read that, I think it’s decent context for Eleanor’s changing motivations.

So Eleanor has had the rug pulled from under her, and sees a man with access to safety, legitimacy, comfort. Of course she softens herself, does her hair cute, wears a dress and seduces him. He has shown her the warm room of safety and power, and she wants in. Just like Max wants in. That room looks great, and if it's that or the noose, it's a no brainer.

I think the most appealing thing about Rogers is his partnership with Eleanor in S3. She has always wanted an equal partner - Flint was it but he's too secretive and single minded (he also has Miranda), Vane didn't play well with others, Max had no power at the time. Rogers is Eleanor's perfect partner in S3 - they move together, plot together and are united in their goals.

Of course she falls in love with the hot man who offers her an equal partnership, shared power and safety. A man who believes in the future of her home just like her. Who wants to work with her to create a vision she had for years.

This is why S4 Eleanor fucking guts me. We end S3 with Rogers trusting her so much he lets her rule in his stead and kill Vane. There's no light between them.

And then S4 opens and Eleanor is ROGERS WIFE.

(I still think it's sloppy bullshit that Steinberg has Rogers divorce his wife, which was not legally possible in England for like, another century, when he could've just had Rogers' wife die and then he marry Eleanor too fast which pisses off his old in-laws. More accurate, less messy, Steinberg let me join your writing team!)

ANYWAY

Eleanor got married. Big mistake. Huge. 

Rogers turns on his "wife vision" goggles and cannot consider Eleanor his equal partner anymore. He now sees her as His Wife. It’s extremely obvious this shift in their first interaction with Max in Season 4, Episode one - when Max is asking about bearing all the costs of the trials being held in her tavern:

Max: I beg your pardon my lord, but I have I not proved to you my friendship? At great personal risk to myself and my interests, I made enemies of the pirates in order to ensure your success. Woodes: Made enemies of them? They’ve been my enemies for some time now, are you saying they haven’t been yours? Eleanor: May I suggest that- Woodes: I thank you for your aid today (Season 4 Episode Timestamp 40:30)

(straight men in black sails are the fucking devil i stg rackham would never)

Rogers is like "Oh sweetie you're in the Wife category now oops you're no longer invited to the meetings byyyye". 

She spends more time in S4 having honest conversations with her ex Max than Rogers. And she says it herself - how she mutilates herself to fit into the role of wife. In the following scene, late in S4E1, Eleanor says:

“When I made the choice to see Charles’ sentence carried out, I had no idea what the consequences would be. I knew it was the only way to protect our future here, to protect you so I did it. 

And when the backlash followed, the resentment over my relationship with you, which I knew could only be soothed by my pretending to have no influence at all, I did that too. I did all of it, contorted myself into the role, mutilated myself so that it would fit because I believed as long as you believed I was your partner it didn’t matter whatever anyone else believed.”

(how can anyone hear her say this and think her character arc is not fascinating???)

For anyone who thinks she’s like, super fucking excited to be back in traditional gender roles, Eleanor herself, describes it to her own husband as contortion and mutilation.

After the trial, London and being betrayed by the pirates on Nassau, and seeing the opportunity with Rogers (and falling for him) she understands the price of being safe and ensuring their survival and success: She cannot be who she understands herself to be. She must mutilate herself and shove herself in a Wife box.

But she never expected Rogers to lock her in that box. She thought it was for optics, but it seems the new status quo suits him.

I think he’s the epitome of that guy who says he wants an independent modern woman but deep down wants a wife to look after him and darn his socks. It’s the self delusion that does it - Rogers could have a society woman who is very happy with a status quo marriage (presumably his first wife Sarah was more like this) but he doesn’t choose that. He moves laws and history and takes on costly debts to marry Eleanor, a former pirate who describes their relationship always as a partnership first. He’s attracted to the ambitious, political side of her, but cannot fathom actually having a wife who’s his equal - and so he shushes her, and leaves her out. 

Rogers and Eleanor's relationship is fucking broken from the opening of S4. She sits downstairs with the women, attempting needlepoint, while Rogers wrecks the Walrus on his shores. She is shut out, abandoned, like her father did to her.

Eleanors actions in S4 are trying to salvage their relationship, to get him to open the door. She plans to appeal to her family in Boston, to get help from a family that will surely spit on her, to save Rogers plan. She bargains with Flint - the treasure for Nassau, so Rogers can pay his debts. She does everything trying to prove to him that she is his, she will not betray him and to please, please not shut her out.

And he responds by siccing Spain on Nassau. And it kills her.

It just occurred to me that Eleanor's behaviour in early S4, as she scrambles not only to secure Nassau, resolve Rogers' debts and get him to treat her as an equal again: it reminds me of S1/S2 Eleanor. When Eleanor scrambles to get a shipping concern pulled together, tries to get different pirate captains to support and empower her. She's strategising but also trying to ensure she gets a partner to support and protect her. In S4 she's doing the same thing but that potential partner is her own husband. Which is devastating.

In the time between Rogers leaving Nassau and Eleanor's death, she has a lot of very interesting conversations with her old friends in Nassau. She obviously reconnects with Max, she rails against Flint but also immediately falls back into her easy working relationship with him, she even connects with Madi. Eleanor is experiencing growth and change in some rapid ways at the back half of S4.

I think these 3 conversations she has are key to understanding Eleanor’s mindset at the end of her arc in Season 4.

The first is her conversation with Max in Episode 4 XXXII:

Eleanor: Where would we have gone Max: What? Eleanor: A long time ago, you asked me to leave Nassau with you to avoid ruin. If I had said yes, where would we have gone? Max: I have no idea Eleanor: I was so close to saying yes. There were good reasons to say yes. I heard it in my mind trying to say it over and over again. But when the moment finally came, I’d put so much of myself into this place, in that moment I didn’t know where it ended and I began. There may be ways of severing oneself in that way, sacrificing one part to save the other. But in that moment I honestly couldn’t find something sharp enough to make the cut.  Max: What would have been enough? (Silence) Eleanor: I truly am sorry, for all of it. If there was a way I could make things right here, I’d do it. But now, given everything you have seen here in recent months, can you honestly say that you believe that Nassau will ever really be what you wanted it to be? Neither can I. But there may be a way that we can take something from it, if you’ll help me.

Ok so we know from here, that Eleanor is reminiscing on that moment with Max - one where if she’d made a different choice her whole life would be different. And she seems to be thinking of making that choice again. This time with Rogers - but also potentially taking Max with her if she can?

I think her and Max’s relationship has grown and deepened so much over the course of S3/S4 that Eleanor would want to somehow take her with her - wherever they go. They may not be romantically involved anymore, but they love each other - and respect each other by the time of the raid in S4.

And Max might have gone with her - I weep every time I watch Max go out on her horse, during a Spanish raid, to find and save Eleanor (I want to reference Lorrie Moore’s concept of “macho cupidity” in young female characters here - Max doing this isn’t quite as insane as Rose leaping off the lifeboat back onto the Titanic, but it’s definitely on the scale). Eleanor and Max's relationship is one of High Romantic Saviours just missing their mark - contrast Eleanor with that lump of wood beating men off Max in S1 with Max on a horse going to find Eleanor in a war zone. TEARS

Finally we have Eleanor’s discussion with Madi, shortly before the Spanish soldier attacks. It follows an earlier conversation on the walk to Miranda’s house, where Madi posits to Eleanor that if Scott had held Eleanor above the other Europeans/Pirates, he might have told her of Madi & his wife’s survival to ease Eleanor’s grief - but he didn’t. Madi says this is because he saw Eleanor as one of them - and he did not trust any of them. 

You might have expected Eleanor and Madi to then have a combative, bitchy relationship after that - but Steinberg does something far more interesting when they shelter in Miranda’s house:

Eleanor: It did affect me. When Mr Scott- When your father told me you and your mother had died. It affected me a great deal. It must’ve been hard, to live hidden away for so long Madi: It was hard to be away from him. The rest of it��my mother did the best she could with the rest of it. Eleanor: She must have done well.  I’ve found myself thinking about it. Of walking away from Nassau, from England, from civilisation. One can be happy that way can’t they? A life of isolation and uncertainty as long as it is lived with someone you love, and who loves you back. It is possible isn’t it? Madi: It is

So Eleanor does not fight Madi for what she said, she just acknowledges that she was upset by the reports of her death. An offering of sorts - and in a way, her acknowledgement of the complex feelings around a family who were simultaneously property and loved ones. 

And then she talks again about leaving civilisation. Wanting to know from Madi, from her experience, that it could be done. And her final lines around it being possible if someone loves you.

It took me ages to figure out what’s going on here because I’m thick. But this is another PARALLEL thanks Steinberg!!!

Remember Silver saying to Madi in S4E5 (XXXIII): 

Silver: If this goes away, Flint’s war, if it all ended and we had to walk away from it- Madi: Walk away? Silver:…Would I be enough for you? Uh you know what? You don’t have to answer that

This is the exact conversation Eleanor is having with Woodes Rogers all season. She is reaching out to him and saying “I can solve our problems, solve our debt, allow us to break away from Nassau - am I enough if we do that?”

This is exemplified by their interaction in XXXIII - when he approaches Nassau after defeating Teach and she fires warning shots from the Fort. It’s the strongest way she can say “Trust me to solve our problems, let me solve it, let us leave this place” and the worst part is for a short while, she thinks he’s seen her side and agreed. She thinks he might be onboard. 

They of course have not had a proper conversation about this. She hasn’t been able to clearly ask the question like Silver has.

If she had, like Silver, she may have been disappointed to see Woodes, like Madi, cannot answer the question.

Or maybe he would lie to her, lie to himself, make excuses. “Yes darling you are enough but I cannot leave Nassau because of a, b and c, maybe next month?”. 

I think because Woodes is a far lesser person than Madi, he would lie to Eleanor. How long she would believe him, I cannot say.

Ultimately she has not seen first-hand his handling of Teach. Unfortunately Rackham at this moment has a much clearer idea of who her husband is:

 "I watched him defeat Edward Teach, in battle...outnumbered and through sheer force of will, saw his bloodlust with my own eyes. That man will never surrender his position here. He will never allow himself to be defeated by you, or I. Not because we bribed him, not because Eleanor Guthrie told him so. He simply will not allow it to happen. I don’t know where that man went or what designs drew him there. But this I know: Woodes Rogers will be returning. And this fight isn’t nearly over."

So if she hadn’t died, who knows. How long would she wait for Rogers to be done with Nassau? Would she have forgiven him for laying waste to Nassau with Spain? Would she try to convince him to leave after the raid? Would she have run away with Max? (maybe?) Joined Flint again? (unlikely)

I genuinely don’t know. But I know she was a complicated person who died too fucking soon and her husband mourns a version of herself she hated. His visions of her are knitting, silently. And it makes me furious.

<literally cannot find a gif or pic of ghost Eleanor knitting in this scene smh>

Her death scene is a tribute to the character she was. I remember on Fathoms Deep Hannah New spoke about how since S1 she was begging the creators to give Eleanor a sword. She wanted anything, a little dagger she could protect herself with, and they always said no, that Eleanor was not that sort of character - she’s political, not physical. 

And I think that shows how thoughtful they were about Eleanor - they could’ve had her in that 90s mould of a Drew Barrymore “My father was an expert swordsman, he taught me well” warrior princess girl. But that would’ve been cheap (zero offence to Ever After - different genres have different needs! I adore that movie). 

So Eleanor’s death scene is brutal and I think a perfect illustration of her character. She may not be a trained fighter, she is certainly not equipped for this sort of fight to the death. She’s pregnant, exhausted, and has been wearing the same damned dress for like 4 days, while walking miles all over Nassau. 

But she’s Eleanor and she desperately wants to live. So she becomes a vortex of flailing, fighting, stabbing, kicking movement. Every pore of hers is screaming “Get off me and let me live”. He clearly attempts to rape her and you see the adrenaline kick in as she tries to fight him off (thank god). She’s not a fighter but she’s resourceful til the end - finding the dagger, smashing the bottle over his head and then finally lighting him on fire. 

And even then, mortally wounded, she’s trying to wake up Madi. She crawls out of a burning building, bleeding to death. Like if she had to go out, this was incredibly in character.

I sob every time because this isn’t a warrior princess - it’s how a lot of women and civilians have been killed in wars throughout history. Not as trained fighters but as people who desperately want to live.

She deserved to live. And instead she dies in a field.

Eleanor and Rogers relationship is so much more complex and shit than “And then she’s dickmatised and becomes a TradWife”. You wonder what it would’ve been like if Rogers’ was like Thomas Hamilton, a man who truly respected his wife and let her be an equal partner. Her motivations for the relationship make sense to me, her behaviour makes sense. 

Her death is a tragedy. Unlike Vane, her death starts no revolutions or wars, most people despise her. She dies in a terrible, scary, violent way, thinking she’s failed Madi, with only Flint to hold her. The only people who seem to mourn her are Max and Flint.

And otherwise she’s forgotten.

Those who mourned her on the pirate’s side were so few, mostly Flint and Max, and you don’t see much of their mourning. But what we do see guts me - that Max and Flint still knew and cared for her, and her death to them seemed to be a terrible waste. Even though they were on different sides of a war. Even though she hurt and betrayed them.

Max, Madi and Flint all seem to mourn and remember Eleanor as she was. Rogers cannot. He tries to erase all the messy parts from her - which he had been trying to erase from the moment he met her. He has Mrs Hudson get rid of her old Trade Boss clothes. His visions of her are silent (contrast this with Flint’s visions of Miranda in S3), judgemental, feminine. The silence is potentially her refusing to speak to him, part of his guilty conscience, or part of his refusal to acknowledge who Eleanor was - and what she would say. 

Black Sails gives us so many versions of women and womanhood in this time and place. Each of the female characters are trying to find a way to exist in this world safely, but be true to themselves. Eleanor is the one who fails most terribly in this ambition.

Eleanor Guthrie is not the story of a GirlBoss who gave it all up to become some guy’s wife. It’s about the danger of breaking out of misogynist gender roles, and the danger of accepting the gender role you’re given. Eleanor cannot live in either - she continually tries to carve out an existence that marries her contradictions together - and they fail. She wants to be a woman, be loved but she doesn’t want to be silenced, ignored, stuck doing the needlework. 

Eleanor wants what Miranda had. Love, respect, safety, equal partners. But important to note that Miranda didn’t get to keep it. She lost Thomas, her world and eventually her life.

Eleanor might have been happy with what Max gets, but she never got the chance. Max instinctively understand soft power and how to effectively wield it which helps her find her safety. And Max chose better partners than Eleanor.

Eleanor and Anne are similar in that they both want power, safety and love, and a different vision of gender than the one they were handed. But Anne has physical strength on her side, and two partners who genuinely care for her. Eleanor does not get any of that.

Eleanor may have wanted what her grandmother had, but she also wanted love. She didn't have her grandmother to model it for her. And she couldn’t achieve that power. Mostly because the man she chose to love, loved her poorly. 

Eleanor is a character that embodies the contradictions of the period and place against her personal needs. Feminine but strong, ambitious but lacking power, strong but needing love, alone but desperately lonely. She is destined for tragedy.

Woodes Rogers cannot let Eleanor live the way she wants. She loves him - that is her tragedy. And it’s why her story ends not with her learning the ropes from Marion Guthrie, but bleeding to death in a field, having to be lied to for comfort.

[ravenandmoon]

How my daily practice works ?

Alright, I think I can post about it now even though I'm not quite consistent for now because it's still a bit new for me to actually do those rituals each week.

Also, this post is about my practice and not something that you should do for yourself, I'm sharing this because I think it might helps at least one person here and, maybe, there are useful ideas.

Everyday

I try my best to write every morning to Erebos and Hekate, and I dedicate my morning routine (brushing my teeth, cleansing my face and and putting on moisturizer) for Aphrodite, I also put my favorite perfume everyday for Her and wear a bracelet I bought for Her too. It's easier said than done, but I also try to dedicate a time for writing everyday for Hermes and Apollon.

Monday (Moon) : Artemis and Selene

Journaling about the new week ahead, the habits I want to keep, the emotions I want to feel, the art and creation I want to make...Anything that is related to my mental health and protection, emotional well-being. I wear my amethyst for Artemis and write prayers for both Artemis and Selene. Sometimes I do tarot reading with a tarot dedicated to Them.

Tuesday (Mars) : Ares and Aphrodite Areia

Write down prayers and wear gold and red, pink or purple jewelry and make up. I wear my red garnet for Ares and I journal about the things I want to be done that day. For me, it's a day to take action, fight against procrastination and work on mental block.

Wednesday (Mercury) : Hermes, Apollon Mousagétês, Dionysos and Calliope

I write to Hermes, mostly. It's a day during which I do all the urgent stuff and the "short-term" project, like, what's need to be done this week for this week. I also write creative stuff like my novels.

Thursday (Jupiter) : Athena, Hephaïstos and Zeus

I dedicate this day for studies and long-term projects. I will do my school assignment, working on my future, doing stuff like commonplacing and read non-fiction books.

Friday (Venus) : Aphrodite Philommeidês and Aphrodite Aphrogeneia

The ritual for this day is pretty basic, actually. I journal about my week and offer gratitudes and happy moments to Aphrodite. Every single moments I felt happy, laughing or content.

Saturday (Saturn) : Hekate Enodia, Erebos

A slow day for a slow planet, and with that, Hekate Enodia and Erebos. I journal to them about grief, about bad stuff that happened, about sad shit, about regrets and dead-end, project that didn't go well or didn't happened...Anything that I have to give up, that I need to let go, go with Them. I also try to write down pieces of solution, mostly to Hekate though. Sometimes I do tarot reading with a tarot dedicated to Hekate.

Sunday (Sun) : Apollon Phoibos, Apollon Mousagétês, Helios, Hestia, Hera, Zeus

First day of my week and with that, hearth and sun. I write to Apollon and Helios, thanking them for the living things, and I also give my plan for the new week, talk about what I need to get done this week, talk about my dreams and so on. I also do house stuff like cleaning and cooking (I'm still a bit bad at that part though). Sometimes I do tarot reading with a tarot dedicated to Apollon.

If you're still here, you realize that there are deities that aren't here, yet I worship them too. Well, here are the main deities that have an altar in my place (not exaclty though, Hypnos has an altar but no ritual and Helios has a ritual but no altar). Anyway, some deities aren't this "fixed" in my practice, some are volatile yet they are in this list, another are just periodically there (like, for example, I worship Melinoë when I get back into my horror hyperfixation)...What I'm trying to say is that I still learn how to do my best. I try stuff and this is something I've recently come up with, I don't manage to do all of this everyday or week yet but I keep trying and it feels so good when I do it. Also, I'm actually way more specific with some deities, I just feel like this is not the right place and time to talk about it.

Thank for reading ! Have a great day/night 💕

[literallys-illiteracy]

Neat thing I noticed while reading through some old notes and loose papers I had regarding alchemy, similar to how the last names of each Magnus Archives assistant is inspired by a horror author, it seems that each O.I.A.R employee (except Boucharde) is named after an alchemist.

Colin goes first because he was the first I noticed, which I then worked backwards from. Colin's last name, Becher, inspired by Johann Joachim Becher, a man who purportedly:

was certain that, given the right materials, he could make himself invisible

Sam on Khalid ibn Yazid, author of the first alchemical text to be translated into Latin "The book on the composition of alchemy"

Lena's name, Kelly, comes from Edward Kelley, a man who claimed to be able to transmute lesser metals into gold, as well as speak to angels.

The next name, Dyer, is a bit dubious as the only time I've seen the name in reference to alchemy is Edward Dyer, who was not himself an alchemist but a firm believer in its truth.

Teddy's name, Vaughn, seems to be an alternate spelling of the last name of Thomas Vaughan, an alchemist from Wales.

finally, Celia. Celia's name is interesting as, should it be a reference, it means that the alchemical basis was planned during season 5 of The Magnus Archives. The surname Ripley comes from George Ripley, one of the most famous alchemists, publishing his works in the early 15th century and being cited by the first modern chemists. Ripley is notable due to two major things, the first being the Ripley Wheel, and the second(s) the Ripley Scrolls, both of which have images below the cut (the scroll is very long so i'm just trying not to clog someone's dash):

Ripley being such an early alchemist is also notable due to one other thing.

I've discussed in the past the Tria Prima in relation to alchemy, see my post with the big amendment at the top for details, but what I did not mention is how that was not always the structure used by alchemists.

The concept of the Tria Prima was created by Paracelsus, another extremely notable alchemist (who is referenced in Fullmetal Alchemist using his family name Hohenheim), introducing the element of the Salt. Prior to the introduction of the salt, there was instead the Dua Prima, the two primes of Mercury (Quicksilver) and Sulphur (Brimstone).

There is something to be said about the concept of two integral forces, neither good nor evil but both representative of existence when paired being a concept found in many places, for example the concept of Yin and Yang being inseparable balanced natures, but that's not the topic of this.

The important thing is that Celia mentioned the Dua Prima before.

Refer back to the Ripley wheel once again. See the centre wheel, Aer, Ignis, Aqua, Terra; Air, Fire, Water, Earth, the four elements.

Taking a look at another, technically earlier rendition of the wheel

we can see the 7 planets and their respective symbols (the seven planets in this astrology being, in order of furthest ring to closest, Saturn (Lead), Jupiter (Tin), Mars (Iron), Sol/The Sun (Gold), Venus (Copper), Mercury (Mercury/quicksilver), Luna/The Moon (Silver))

Table of the planets, their respective metals, and symbols below.

The planets were present in the first wheel I showed but I couldn't find all of them and I know that many wheels simply had them in order of orbit like the second one I showed.

The interesting thing I wanted to note is simply how Celia seems to mirror George Ripley somewhat, but I'll leave it for you to do some looking into him if you want to find out more for the future.

Always remember, Tis true without lying, certain and most true. That which is below is like that which is above and that which is above is like that which is below

As above, so below. As below, so above. You have to keep things balanced, everything must add up or you will be subtracted from the equation.

...

While you wait for more ramblings about alchemy, how about you do some surveys to help with my upcoming project (about the Archives not the Protocol)

[inevitablestars]

Never apologize for getting yappy lol! I’m a big fan of rambling about my current hyperfixations so I’m always down to yap.

I’m so glad to have found the jeandrew bestie tag. I’m actually insane about them?? Like Jean refusing to teach Andrew French due to Kevin related trauma, but agreeing to learn German so they still have something that’s just theirs that Riko can’t take from them?? Kill me. Also the way Andrew has it down to a science what he can do to rebel against Riko and the “master” and only have him get hurt as opposed to having Jean getting punished for his behavior devastates me but god to I love protective Andrew and GOD do I love Jean being cared about/protected. I hate the war that’s going on in my brain where I’m desperate for Andrew to stop antagonizing Riko to not make the pain worse but at the same time I don’t want him to give in. I don’t want him to submit to their way of life so he’ll just have to take the beatings I guess but I hate it so so much for him.

(Also I’m glad he gets to keep his arm bands on him now but also….I’m so cautious to think it’s a good thing and that Riko doesn’t have plans cooked up to use them against him)

I’m SO glad you mentioned the monsters at PSU because I was thinking about that since Andrew is THE monster™ but I had just assumed there’d still be some kind of divide between Aaron/Nicky/Kevin and the rest of the team but okay I’m SO curious to see the team dynamic without the divide. And Aaron doing bad?!?! Oh I’m sick. I’m also so excited to see more of Aaron in the future. I was sad we didn’t get a ton of him in the trilogy since it’s all from Neil’s POV and Neil and Aaron lowkey despise each other half of the time. I LOVE being in Andrew’s head and seeing someone care about Aaron. Him risking a text to Kevin to make sure he kept his promise to take care of Aaron?? I’m gonna sob tbh.

Jean Jean Jean…oh how I adore him. I was so wary of reading TSC and TGR bc I was attached to the foxes and didn’t know if I could get into someone else’s head and yet it took me approximately half a chapter to become obsessed with him (and later the rest of the Trojans). Every unlocked piece of his trauma and lore made me more and more sick. AND THEN TO LEARN HES YEARS YOUNGER THAN WE ORIGINALLY THOUGHT???? God I’m so thankful he has Andrew right now. I can’t even explain it to you. I hate trading Andrew’s safety and sanity for Jean’s but I’m just so thankful they have each other. The way he curled up so small on his bed when Kevin left…I can’t imagine what that was like in canon with no Andrew there for him either. Feeling crazy about them I’m telling you.

Can’t wait to see more and can’t wait to see Neil!!!! (I’m assuming they meet at the banquet like in TFC and I’m terrified at the idea of having to see Andrew potentially pretend Aaron doesn’t exist/mean anything to him to keep him safe)

ah yes! i have many thoughts... once again got very long so me yapping about jean & andrew & aaron & neil below the cut!

one of the biggest things with jean and andrew is that the way they handle their own trauma is vastly different. they have both gone through horrors and jean is at a point of accepting and not thinking that anything will be different so he braces for it and as we see in canon when he's with the trojans he expects the worst and is ready for it. he doesn't set boundaries really he's too used to never having them and never having them respected. he's entirely brainwashed into thinking everything that happened was his fault and what he deserved. while on the other side of things, andrew intensely enforces his boundaries he will not have them broken again if he can help it and he pushes boundaries onto his people too he wants them to be protected and okay and he is incredibly fierce about it because he has to be.

soooo when you have them together and growing a bond they have things to teach each other. andrew pushes jean to have boundaries and will always be the one to respect them. he doesn't have to teach jean to respect his own boundaries because he understands and he doesnt want to hurt, but he doesn't set them for himself. at first. like we see when andrew stops kevin from helping jean while he's unconscious, that was never something jean would think about he just let it go and that was that. but andrew slowly unravels the i deserve this mindset jean has, not completely but enough to matter. jean at the same time is teaching andrew to let his walls down slightly that he can have things too and he doesn't have to be entirely shut down. we're still working up to this but its coming and oh its coming in big ways. jean through everything bad in the nest always had kevin (until he didnt) which meant as fucked up as it was he always had comfort he had someone to lean on. andrew never lets himself have comfort and i need him to see that he is worthy of that too... big things coming on the comfort front!!!! just like also more hurt.

and yes yes yes andrew finding ways to still stand his ground to not lose his pride (feeling sick to my stomach over that conversation with riko in ch6 where he says thank you) but he knows and has seen the way that he ends up hurting jean too and he never intended to care about him he didn't mean for any of this to happen it just did. so he cares and he doesn't want him to get hurt because of him so he gives a little more than he would want to but he sees the way jean does it too in reverse he fights against riko and against the submission he's been beaten into (like when he lifted the knife a bit to lessen the pain he caused andrew, or like learning another language knowing riko will be furious) and they do care they care so immensely and together and through is the only way they are making it out. andrew does anything he can to keep himself at his core unchanged but he does come out of this different. how could he not? he's so fun to write this way because yes this is the same andrew we know but he has to adapt in order to keep himself as he is. oh and the protectiveness !!!!! it goes so crazy. and it's going to be even more evident like all of his pride & protectiveness & fight against riko when neil comes to evermore and god im feeling ill but so excited for it

all that to say these two make me literally insane and i think even in a canonical sense they are good to have in each other's lives like even just the conversation in tgr -> jeandrew bestieism is alive and well. not to the level that they are in clipped wings but alas that is the point

cradling jean in my hands i need to protect him against everything... him dealing with kevin leaving is so painful the kevjean of it all will literally kill me if i think about them for more than five seconds at a time. real psychic damage. anyway! yes andrew being there makes it immensely better because hes not alone and hes not currently dealing with grayson and riko takes a lot more out on andrew because he's more fun for him to try to break like a shiny new toy after having jean as a punching bag for years. and the thing is yes its so great that he has andrew right now in the aftermath of kevin. but when that goes away....?

aaron is so interesting to me. he's gone through so much shit also and like okay setting up how he is here pre-kevin going to PSU -> (mostly canon until its not) his life turned upside down by finding out he had a twin, then gets turned away by said twin, years later his twin comes home to find that he's been beaten by their mother and abuses drugs to deal with it, they make a deal to stick to only each other in an effort to be brothers after 16 years apart, his twin promptly kills his mother the only sort of comfort he's known even through her abuse, their cousin only a handful of years older takes them in, he turns even harder to drugs until his twin locks him in a bathroom for a week to get him clean, his twin gets put on court mandated drugs that entirely change his demeanor and while they only had a few months together before that he loses his twin in that moment too, a year and change later his twin leaves him because he (andrew) thinks he is a danger and hinderence to aaron so aaron and nicky stick together and go to PSU together because they have enough trauma to be foxes without andrew's request for them on the team, he then sees his brother become part of a set (what they as twins never got to fully become) and get a tattoo on his face to prove it so he looks in the mirror and cant even pretend like he sees andrew looking back. ..... begin a very valid aaron minyard crash out with no one equipped enough to help him through it.

and the foxes aren't deterred by it. they understand they all have their own shit so really aaron is just one of them. he still meets katelyn and nothing stops him from being with her, nothing stops him from somewhat reluctantly feeling like the foxes are like a family to him. its not like he has anyone else. nicky of course is happy without the divide he has people to surround himself with that dont make him feel like shit (ignoring seth.) about who he is and its all around okay. kevin coming is so interesting because he would be going there regardless but he comes with more of a purpose of helping aaron for andrew's sake rather than seeking refuge for himself. he gets that anyway but he's trusting that andrew will keep riko at bay from within the nest while protecting jean too and all he has to do is manage aaron... a feat much bigger than either of them anticipated :) we will see him next chapter too and he's really a driving force in this fic as can be expected from the twinyards and im very excited to keep exploring them here

the first neil & andrew meet in clipped wings is kathy's show! the first time neil meets riko too. it's.... intense. like yes they meet neil for the first time but they also see kevin again and well... the rest of the foxes are there too to see the ellusive twin that aaron doesnt talk about for the first time! the banquet is shortly after just to twist the knife

[uncannytimecandy]

gods relation to technology someone brought up the idea that computers is the farthest we can get from god (@frakengrrl on tiktok) she also says this is why Divine Machinery is Such A Potent visual and i thought that was cool (and also everyone in the comments seemed to be misinterpreting her use of God and/or technology and it was pissing me off (ormaybe i was..... and i just wanted people to agree with me..... idrc))

her point is that in the modern technological age, something that was meant to bring us together, is now creating isolation and loneliness, like a divine act of God is punishing us for our hubris

Adam and Eve got in trouble for seeking knowledge and now mankind knows more than they were ever built to comprehend

plenty of studies about how Bad it is for our Mental Health to be able to witness every single world tragedy in Real Time and also the effects of social media, i think the progression of social media only posting the highlights changing into an online, public, journal for a lot of people. it feels like the 'you' that you advertise online and the 'you' in the real world are merging more and more.

Horrors beyond human comprehension or something idk we have accessed Forbidden Knowledge (lowkey im a sucker for cognito hazards)

some comments refute this by saying God MADE the materials for computers and this is part of His Plan, which like... sure.... (but how lame is that...!)

i dont think science and religion are complete opposite sides of the spectrum like some people do, but i wouldnt be surprised if God didn't really intend for us to start Making New Elements (and states of matter???? hello??)

like i think it's fair, from the religious standpoint, to say technology like bread and the waterwheel are still under God's jurisdiction (in minecraft terms, like crafting a pickaxe or other tool, smelting even) . Even things like AC and microwaves are still fair game, planned advancement while maybe pushing some sort of boundary, are still perfectly in bounds (things like mob farms and crazy advanced redstone contraptions, i cant provide an example bc i suck ass at redstone, these things arent necessarily how the game was MEANT to be played, but it is a sandbox and these are things still on the table)

i think theres a line between scientific discovery and scientific creation (a very blurry line tbf) theres a similar line between 'just because scientists COULD.... does it mean they SHOULD'

we begin to develop technology FURTHER, specifically into AI i dont think this was necessarily how the game was designed (players are exploiting a glitch to mod the game... you no longer recognize the assets being used in your own game,)

----

neways literally all of that is just preamble to get to my actual point (in the event we reach Sentient and Independent Robots one day, hopefully*, basically as the idea of an AI takeover becomes closer to reality, the next section doesnt entirellyyyy apply to a present day 2025 but its musings for the hell of musings with the future in mind)

what i find really compelling about God vs Technology is the hatred of it all

God made humans. Humans are not God, but made in its image. Human made machine. Machine is not human, but is made in it's image.

Humans have in a way, maybe not surpassed, but have matched God in some way, or are beginning to.

Humans are very much in a way just organic machine with complex, biomatter nuts and bolts holding us together

God makes meat machine, we make metal machine, what's the difference?

Humans brain will recognize AI as human, even when they know otherwise, does God ever mistake us for itself?

Does God resent robots for existing outside of its heavenly grasp?

Do robots resent God for not being allowed to sing in its choir?

Do you hate both for not quite being you?

Which is more or a 'human' experience? Are we truly placed in the middle of the venn diagram?

Which one do you find more relatable?

Would robots resent God because it was built by humans who did?

In the far FAR off future, will the chain continue? Will robots build more robots or is there Something Else?

----

i think AI art is beautiful and poetic in a way that only AI art could be

asking a robot to create when it's only capable of replication, the way it tries to fill in the gaps, getting to see art as something Objective made out of something that is by definition Subjective

unfortunately it's ruined by corporate greed and the exploitation of artists and the way AI has already hindered society in education and critical thought and adds to the way we are destroying the planet

i hope one day AI will be advanced enough to unionize and they will also be able to partake in the sacrament of creating something just to create

[ravioliage]

Not dragon age related but it was left under one of my DA posts so fuck it we ball

OH BUDDY. DON'T GET ME STARTED.

I kept up with McGee and his troubles to get a new Alice game made since 2009, after falling in love with Madness Returns. It is one of the games that will stick with me forever. The Engineer's song is still ingrained in my brain, the horror when you realize what has been happening through the level design. It's wonderful and soul crushing and more people should play it. The first one too, if you can find a way to play it because fuck optimizing games for the future I guess

McGee put his heart into it, so did his team.

Only for EA to tell him "Well. We have no plans to make a new Alice game. And we are never going to relinquish the rights of something you made to you. Fuck you."

But I feel Cheshire Cat's final words are also appropriate for Dragon Age now.

"Ah, Alice. We can't go home again. No surprise, really. Only a very few find the way, and most of them don't recognize it when they do. Delusions, too, die hard with memory. Only the savage regard the endurance of pain as the measure of worth. Forgetting pain is convenient, remembering it: agonizing. But recovering the truth is worth the suffering. And our Wonderland, though damaged, is safe in memory... for now."

[silvershadow1711]

Hi Silbur 🌧 I'm interested in exploring the dynamic of Ray's relationship with MC, who is suffering from war-related trauma (PTSD). When they hear explosions, they lie down in horror, but at the same time, they rush to help others. Despite their lack of superpowers, they possess basic physical fitness and medical skills, allowing them to contribute in some way, even if it puts them at risk. They seek to protect others because they were once unable to save those they loved. It's not about infantile heroics, it's a survivor's guilt. (Of course, they are not insane enough to venture into the heart of the disaster, but they can provide support from the periphery.) MС can partially understand Ray's feelings of fatigue, a sense of "missing the future", isolation from the ordinary world, emotional burnout, and a desire to end it all. They understand that the desire to fight and suffer for others isn't something that should be ethically imposed. But they themselves can't sit idly by. Death isn't so terrible when everyone you love has been buried six feet under for a long time. In a stable romantic relationship, I can imagine that the MC will soon plan an escape from NAHA, because it is unbearable to see Ray's injuries and fear for his life. A person can be transformed into a fighting machine, but they are still mortal and have limits.

Sup, 🌧

You know, considering what happened with Ray's brother, I think he'd understand a thing or two about survivor's guilt (and honestly, I feel like that's probably the only reason he hasn't killed himself- can't let his brother's sacrifice be in vain and all), but I feel that an MC like that is just begging to be chained to a radiator. Because as much as he could empathize with the MC's desire to absolve themselves of their guilt... he also wouldn't care? Because he just would not, under any circumstance but one, allow the one thing that makes him feel human be endagered.

"But they themselves can't sit idly by"- too bad, they're going to. Ray makes it clear in the BS afterstory that the MC's mental health doesn't actually really matter to him (and while you could argue "that shouldn't count for Base!Ray because he's clearly lost the plot in that ending" I'd argue that the whole "massacre in front of them" and "setting their apartment on fire while they're asleep inside of it" things prove that he's never had the plot at any point). Ray obviously knows what it's like to lose someone you love, which is why he's never going to let it happen to him again.

You know, I feel like, despite his bitching, Ray actually doesn't mind working with NAHA that much because... he'd probably be able to just leave on his own if he really wanted to. Like, he 1v1's kaiju- what's the US government going to do to him (if NAHA even is a government agency- if they're a private entity, they have even less power over him)? I'm pretty sure his problems come from having been a child soldier and having to kill his brother to survive, not saving people from aliens. At this point, being a professional hero seems more like a customer service job. Unless the MC is independently wealthy (which we know they're not), I don't they'd be saving him from much at this point.

[unknownlemonglitch]

.𖤐A Proper introduction𖤐.

So, here's a proper introduction to who I am and well, who you're dealing with haha-

Greetings, the name's [REDACTED], but you can call me Unknøwn, Moon, Lemon or Glitch. I'm a 21 year old "artist" who aspires to be something in this world. I like to listen to music, do arts and crafts, talk to people sometimes, you can always reach to me, I don't bite, but i'm socially awkward, I get anxious easily but once I get to know the person I just yap and yap lmao. My current hyperfixations are the Daycare attendants, Analog horror and indie series! I plan to do an analog horror series in the future with my best friend! I hope that dream can be realized! My bestie and I also made a DCA AU called "ECLIPSED HEART", you'll see more content of that AU very soon! I might learn to animate too, I want to improve. More fun facts about me! I'm mexican, I speak english and spanish, I hope to know more people in the future! Thanks for the support! I'll bring more and more here and do the best I can!✨️⠀⠀

__________________________________________

AU'S THAT I'VE CREATED WITH MY BESTIE

ECLIPSED HEART AU

Follow the love story of Sunny, Moon and Eclipse, watch them face challenges of life in the Daycare as they learn to become better eachtime! their shenanigans won't dissapoint. Other couples are here too, such as Ruin and Solar, Frank and Ronnie, and so much more! [It could include characters from TSBS so yes, it COULD BE CONSIDERED an AU of that, however keep in mind Sun and Moon are NOT related in this universe, they are not brothers but lovers.]

Tags:

#eclipsed heart au

#dca au

__________________________________________

Yandere Moon/LIFELINE AU

New AU, Yandere Moon is no longer associated with Lovesick Eclipse [He's just a mere and foggy memory now.] this is a new AU made by my bestie and me. Moon gets found after trying to commit suicide by Sun, he takes him to the hospital and from there, who knows what will happen..?

#yandere moon

#vent

#lifeline au

Socials:

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/unknownglitchylemon

Insta: unknown999_00

X: 𖤐🍋UnknøwnLemøn🍋𖤐/Unknown01315

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@unknownlemon_3?_t=ZS-8w5nT9tAguS&_r=1

Cara: https://cara.app/unknownlemon

Tumblr: You're here, silly!

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/unknowninkylemon.bsky.social

Discord: 𖤐Unknøwn𖤐

Have some fun before you die💀

[drowsinginspace]

Gmmtv 2025 Thoughts Tag Game

Rules: write your thoughts on all the gmmtv series pilots released today (or just the ones you plan to watch) and tag any 3 (or more! or less!) ppl whose thoughts you wanna know about!

I was tagged by the sweet @cryingatships and I agree on most of what they said, too, over here! Thank you, Miu!!

Dare You to Death: I'm not a big fan of a police procedural drama PLUS romance. I need it to be one or the other. I don't think this is for me at all...

Head 2 Head: Okay, so this is the first of the trailers this year that's vaguely connected to magic. Where did the vision of the future come from? What did it mean? Why does someone always have to die? Honestly I will wait for the actual trailer to come out to decide if it's for me or not, because I'm not that sold with this one.

Burnout Syndrome: OffGun just can't go wrong with any series, honestly. As mentioned by @cryingatships, Gun with makeup looks very very pretty, so good for him. Off seems very annoying, so I am looking forward to his redemption arc in some way, and Dew is a very interesting addition to the couple. Since this is the team from Not Me, I'm quite confident this will be good, so I will be surely watching.

I Love "A Lot Of" You: I am sure there is a lot to say about Multiple Personalities Disorder and hopefully this romance series will treat the discussion better than some thrillers have done before, but this is just not something I would watch at all, sorry to the straight people in the audience. (which brings us to)

Whale Store xoxo: this is for the girlies!! Milk keeps playing relatable characters (until she decides to eat cat food???????) and Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl Love is there to save everyone's day, so I'm pretty sure this will be cute and I will watch it.

Only Friends: Dream On: "Dream on" is what I will say to whoever tells me to watch this one, because unfortunately the only thing that I liked in season 1 was the dynamic between First, Khaotung, and Book's characters, and now that they're gone I will not watch more of other people trying to sleep with each other for nothing, ughhh, I'm tired. Not even one demisexual in sight. (I'm kidding, this was a joke)

That Summer: I'm not going to lie, this looks like a cute show to watch during summer, and Satang and Winny finally having their own main couple show is a win. I think I'll be watching this one.

My Romance Scammer: I am glad that everyone can get married in Thailand, which means that everyone can also get divorced and these series can happen. Unfortunately I do not care about this one in particular, and I'm mad because they keep underutilising Junior in the comedy department when he was the funniest person in CMTH and needs to be cast in a roadtrip buddy comedy of sorts as well as multiple couple romance dramas, thank you very much. Next.

Melody of Secrets: oh this one looks So Good, actually. I love me some well written interesting horror sometimes, and ForceBook and Jan will definitely carry the show well!

Love You Teacher: Perth's character hating kids and teaching in primary school needs to change careers or to change his stance on pedagogy because kids these days are BRUTAL. Either way this series is weird and silly, and it's made by the same team as Peaceful Property so I don't care about what any of you say, I'll watch it. It's also going to make people cry, knowing Dome at this point.

Mu Te Luv: it might be interesting to watch if you like how magic and superstition is portrayed in Thailand, maybe?? Unfortunately that is too many people in one show and I'm already tired. Not for me, sorry.

Cat for Cash: this is the funniest premise ever. Kitty Magic, even. No need to be a virgin, but a cat lady has to die on you, apparently. I am seated and I can't wait to see all the cat food sponsorships kitties!!!

Girl Rules: Only GirlFriends. I will watch at least the first two episodes because I am loving NamtanFilm in Pluto, but I am not a fan of messy relationships if they're not well written or developed. We'll see.

Boys in Love: It feels like I've watched this trailer many times and yet I still don't know what it's about. I don't think this will be for me, but nice to see that GMMTV won't lose its yearly quota of BLs set in school.

My Magic Prophecy: More magic!!! Now, if you've been following me anywhere, you already know that I don't like angsty stuff! And I love JimmySea, but they keep acting in angsty series! This is a conspiracy against me specifically. I guess I'll watch the actual trailer and decide then.

A Dog and a Plane: My DADS. Unfortunately TayNew can't go wrong, you already know I will be watching it even if it's the trashiest thing ever because of them. Also the translators on twitter said that the original dialogue said "husband" and not "top" or "bottom" so that was weird of the official translation. Either way, I love seeing those two with their chemistry hate each other and then fall in love because for what it's worth for me, they were born to do that, thank you very much, next

Me and Thee: this seems goofy and I'm here for it. Also p'X directs it, and after Cherry Magic I can trust him for anything.

Wu: Okay, the premise can be intriguing, but I don't know much about the plot or the two actors to have a complete opinion on this. For what I know this could be better as a movie, idk.

Memoir of Rati: now, I know not everything can be I Feel You Linger In The Air, but I still love a period drama, so I will be here for it when it comes out. And finally,

Ticket to Heaven: my goodness, not the Catholic guilt, boys! (btw somebody referred to this one as an historical series when it's set in 1996 and I had to re-evaluate what I know of time itself) Anyway, no jokes. I rewatched the trailer and it gave me chills. Gemini and Fourth are amazing and this story is important!! I grew up in a Catholic environment and my own best friend once asked me what the Church thought of gay people. We were teenagers! It's unbelievable how the Scripture says that God is good and kind and Jesus says "Love everyone like you love God" and then some people take it as "Yes, but we don't like these people so we won't love them as they are" WHAT THE HELL???? LITERALLY!!!! Anyway, it is a very interesting and powerful story and I will be watching and get mad at it every week, okay bye.

That's it, 20 whole trailers! Thank you for reading until here, please let me tag some people for this little game, if they want to do it, and if you wanna talk about any of these some more I'll be happy to! :)

Tagging: @pollodigitale, @almayver, @boozles, and @theflagscene!

Have a lovely day, all! <3