#I know this is not a thing that affects...I think basically any of you but you're following me so you get to hear me bitch about it

[autumngracy]

In my original fiction I have a situation with a character that I think is a novel approach to this issue? (Without spoilers)

Basically the character *is* born "special" in a sense, but their existence is an accident and so are any interesting or beneficial attributes their "specialness" gives them. No one (including themselves) is aware that they're different for almost the entire series, and their "special" attributes go unnoticed until the very end.

While it could be argued that their "specialness" secretly affects the plot along the way and "helps" the character, there isn't really anything pointing to the character being unique in a way that benefits them. In fact, the few hints they get along the story that they *may* be different in some way only serve to give them an existential crisis and additional ptsd fodder.

There are actually several characters in the series like this that aren't aware of having a unique trait for a very long time, and when they finally learn of it, it mostly just serves to freak them out. There isn't really any sense of "fate" or "being a chosen one"; there aren't any gods or prophecies or anything. There's only random accidents that happen to propel the story along. If there is any semblance of "fate" in the series, it's really just chance occurrences being exploited by someone.

So, I don't know, does this counter the trope or play into it? A "special" protag whose specialness doesn't help them in any obvious way, and isn't known for most of the story?

Like, "you're special, but only incidentally. The plot may or may not have been able to happen if you *weren't* special, but we'll never really know. The specialness will devastate you mentally and emotionally. It will also effect you physically, but the jury's out on whether that's a good or a bad thing. Have fun dealing with the consequences. lol"

The inciting incidents of the plot also stem from a character being accidentally different in a way that complicates their life both positively and negatively, so I guess a lot of it is "making the best of the random hand you've been dealt".

The specialness of the characters isn't really what makes them into "cool heroes". (Many of them are, arguably, uncool and unheroic quite a lot of the time.) It's what they choose to do with their lives that counts.

rudolph the red nosed reindeer

[cosmiclily]

.ᐟ track one: can you see me using everything to hold back?

wc: 1k

cw: talk about death of parents (literally one sentence)

the first time we met, the first thing I noticed about vi was her ridiculous haircut and how she had the most beautiful blue eyes i had ever seen (which wasn’t saying much, considering I was only 10). i instantly wanted to be her friend. but my mom had told me that she and powder were still adjusting and their situation was a little delicate since they had just lost their parents. so, i held myself back as much as I could.

three weeks later, when the adoption papers were signed by vander and they officially became his daughters, i was given the mission of helping the girls feel at home. they were very shy at first, but ekko and i helped them, and in no time, vander’s house had become their home. from then on, vi and I became the best of friends. i covered for her when she got into fights at school, we studied together, played together, we were basically inseparable.

i remember one afternoon not long after the adoption. vi was sitting on the roof, kicking her legs idly and staring at the stars. she looked lost in thought. I hesitated for a moment, not sure if i should bother her, but eventually, i walked over and sat beside her.

“what’re you doing out here all by yourself?” i asked, trying to sound casual.

“just thinking,” she said, her voice quiet. she didn’t look at me, but her hands fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. “it’s weird, you know? having a new home.”

i didn’t know what to say to that, so i just nodded. “yeah, I guess it would be.”

she finally looked at me, her gaze piercing but soft “do you think it’ll get easier?”

i smiled, trying to reassure her even though I wasn’t sure myself. “yeah, i think so. you’ve got vander now. and powder. and… me.”

she smiled for the first time that day. “you’re not too bad, I guess.”

i laughed. “not too bad? wow, thanks for the compliment.”

──────────────────────

life couldn’t have been better—until we got to high school and vi had a growth spurt and became insufferable. not only did she get taller and figure out how to manage her hair, but she also developed a sense of style and made it her mission to break every heart in zaun. Suddenly, every hallway we walked down was filled with girls trying to catch her attention, and she seemed to enjoy it.

one day, as we walked home together, i couldn’t help but tease her about it.

“you know, you’ve got a fan club now,” i said, smirking.

vi raised an eyebrow. “a fan club? what are you talking about?”

i gestured back towards the school. “those girls who basically tripped over themselves trying to say hi to you. pretty sure one of them nearly fainted when you smiled at her.”

she laughed, a confident sound that only made her more infuriating. “can i help it if people think i’m charming?”

i rolled my eyes. “charming, not so sure. annoying? definitely.”

she bumped her shoulder against mine, her grin widening. “admit it, you’d miss me if i wasn’t around.”

i looked away, trying to hide the flush on my cheeks. “yeah, right. you’re just my backup for when ekko’s busy.”

“liar,” she said, laughing again.

i shouldn’t have cared about any of that, but my brain decided it would be a fantastic idea to fall in love with her. so, every time she had a girl around—whether it was someone new she was flirting with or a girlfriend she brought home—i had to pretend life was great and that it didn’t affect me at all.

it got harder as time went on. every stolen glance at her became more unbearable, every casual touch felt like torture, and every time i saw her with someone else, it felt like a reminder that she’d never look at me the way I wanted her to. but i couldn’t show it, couldn’t let her or anyone else know how I felt. i was scared our friendship would suffer the consequences of my feelings, so i buried it deep, pretending that everything was fine.

which it was, it actually became second nature by the time we moved in together for college.

our apartment was small but comfortable, and vi's personality seemed to fill every corner. she had insisted on hanging a crooked poster of a rock band that jinx had gifted her—a band she loved—in the living room, despite all my protests.

“it’s not crooked,” she argued, stepping back and tilting her head. “it’s artistic.”

“it’s crooked,” i said, crossing my arms. “fix it or i’m taking it out.”

vi grinned at me. “if i fix it, where’s the fun in watching you suffer?”

“you’re impossible.”

“you love me,” she said casually, turning to grab her drink from the counter. my heart stuttered, and I quickly looked away before she could see my face.

“unfortunately” i said, but it came out without the bite intended.

──────────────────────

late one night, we were sitting on the balcony, watching the city lights. vi leaned back in her chair, her legs propped up on the railing, as she stared up at the sky.

“do you ever think about what’s next?” she asked suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence.

“what do you mean?” i asked, sipping my coffee.

“like… after college. what we’re gonna do. where we’ll end up.” she looked at me then, her expression softer than usual. “do you think we’ll still be close?”

the question caught me off guard, and I had to force myself to answer without hesitating. “of course. Why wouldn’t we be?”

she shrugged, her gaze drifting back to the stars. “i don’t know. life happens. people drift apart.”

“not us,” i said firmly, surprising even myself. “we’ve been through too much. you’re stuck with me, violet.”

she smiled, her eyes catching the faint glow of the streetlights. “good. i like having you around.”

my chest tightened, and I looked away before she could see the way her words affected me. “someone’s gotta keep you out of trouble.”

“hey, I’m a model citizen,” she teased, laughing. “you’re the bad influence here.”

i laughed too, even though the ache in my heart lingered. she had no idea the effect she had on me.

──────────────────────

album - track 2

notes: chapter one heehee, english isn’t my first language so i’m sorry for any mistakes!! this is basically just an introduction for the characters not much plot going on but i hope you guys enjoyed either way !!

[scurvyboy]

Not to beat a dead horse or whatever, but you don’t see fiddlestan being healthy at any point? I feel like your version of them would have most of their issues figured out by the time they’re old and stuff. Can you talk about their dynamic a bit more pretty please? (I know you just had an ask about this so sorry to keep bringing it up aha 🤪. I’m obsessed with them, and I love your art/au and want to understand them.)

the basis of why i like the fiddlestan ship is strictly because it doesn't work and is doomed to fail. it's a relationship between two extremely damaged people that are only together for transactional reasons.

the way i see it starting: fiddleford comes back to gravity falls after being kicked out by emma may in hopes that he can patch things up with ford. he finds stan there instead and decides to help him fix the portal despite his crushing anxiety about it because he has nowhere else to go. they're both stuck alone in this situation and urges become apparent. things are awkward for a while before they start banging fuck nasty brokeback mountain style.

fiddleford wants stan because he's delusional and still in love with ford. sure he grows to appreciate differences between them and has a separate chemistry with stan, but he is also completely out of touch with reality and rebounding off of his failed marriage with a man who looks just like the one he cheated on his wife with. working on the portal triggers intense panic attacks, which makes him use the memory gun more, which makes him less and less stable.

stan is working himself to death trying to get ford back and just needs affection. the sexual aspect of their relationship helps him blow off steam, but fiddleford also treats him like a person with a brain and allows him to be emotionally vulnerable for the first time in a long while. having someone finally break down his walls is equal parts frightening and addictive for him; he wants to be loved so badly but knows deep down that fiddleford doesn't actually love him, just the person he represents. he's just second best again.

things start to fall apart when it becomes clear that fixing the portal will be impossible without the other journals. fiddleford basically gives up trying to do the work in earnest and just lives in a domestic fantasy world. stan starts to get more and more impatient about the lack of work getting done and the stress makes him a lot more irritated and volatile. the two enter a vicious cycle of violent fights and honeymoon phases until things boil over: stan confronts fiddleford about the memory gun and kicks him out after he tries to use it on him.

post break up fiddleford, now with his cult and savior complex, murder suicides the portal and their affair from both of their memories. however, stan gets his portal memories back being at the shack and goes on to do what he does in canon.

the whole relationship takes place over the course of a few weeks and is as canon compliant as i could manage. i think it's a really fun concept and i think about it all the time.

to be real, i really dislike the idea that all relationships in media have to be healthy and resolved in order to be compelling. the idea that characters NEED to end the story happy and together is just plain unrealistic. i prefer when stories go outside of the limits of "and then they got together and everything was great after that", especially if being in a relationship isn't necessary to a characters arc.

i do think that them getting together when they're older could work and be very nice. however, i also don't think it's entirely necessary, especially since i did make their relationship rotted gutted awful bad. it is cute though, they can kiss and watch tv and marry for taxt purposes i guess.

[pangaeaseas]

The Problem of Religion in Harry Potter (or, what is Wizard God?)

tl; dr: I wish more hp fics did something with religion and the wizarding world

so to state my credentials up front: I've read a lot of hp fanfiction, a little on the Reformation and religious history--like, I have probably more background knowledge than the average person but I am very emphatically not an expert and have never actually taken a class specifically on any kind of religious history, and I'm an ex-Catholic who did ten ish years of religion classes. There are probably a LOT more people more qualified to talk about this than me but whatever I've never actually seen very much meta written out on this specific issue so I'm giving it a try. (if you have written or read such meta, please send me recs)

ahh the Problem of Religion one of the great unsolved mysteries of the hp world building (similar issues include What the Fuck is Going on with Ireland, How Does the Ministry Actually Work, What is the Population, etc) and I call it 'unsolved' because the fandom has no massively popular solution (like Lordships for the Problem of the Wizengamot) and in general tends to just not think about it, much like JKR originally did. Now IMO she probably intended most wizards to be, like, generically Church of England or whatever without much investment--basically copying the Muggle equivalent whenever it isn't spelled out how the two worlds differ, which is I think a lot of her un-filled-out world building is meant to be. Which. OK. You can do that, but, you know, religion is a very very important aspect of worldbuilding and in my opinion ignoring it and expecting it to be just the same as 1990s Muggle Britain is uninteresting and lazy.

This (wizards are meant to be some kind of Christian and probably Church of England just for simplicity's sake) is evidenced by things like Hogwarts having Christmas and Easter breaks, James and Lily having a Bible quote picked out by Dumbledore on their tombstone, and Draco Malfoy, most emblematically wizard of wizard characters who can be taken as a potential baseline, automatically saying things like 'Good God'. Which, you know, implies that the idea of a single God, and probably the Judaeo-Christian God because that's the same cultural background as the rest of Britain, is taken for granted by wizarding society. It doesn't necessarily imply anything about Draco's or even the Malfoys' personal beliefs, and of course you have other characters saying things like 'Oh my Merlin' and "Morgana" and things like that. Which in my opinion wasn't meant to be indications of some kind of Merlin or Morgana worship but more quirky and fun flavor things of the kind jkr loves to include without thinking out the implications. But you absolutely can take those statements that way--this post is absolutely not meant to dictate how people want to headcanon and I am absolutely here for giving wizards a well thought out pagan or Non-Christian religion, I just don't think that was the author's intent. There's also plenty of other things that imply Wizarding cultural Christianity that I'm not remembering off the top of my head.

And, of course, much better writers than me have extensively discussed all the Christian themes in HP. Of course, themes don't need to affect how people worldbuild in fanfic.

So: with HP canon, we are looking at a society that is probably culturally Christian and probably (key word) intended to be Church of England. But, because JKR wasn't putting much thought into it and basically just took a Chrisitian bedrock of society for granted, the implications of this are not really explored at all. So what I'm interested in is how fandom deals with it.

Mostly, that is...not at all, either taking cultural Christianity in the Wizarding World for granted the way JKR does or by ind of handwaving that wizards have evolved beyond the need for religion and that's just how it is. And that's perfectly fine! Not everyone wants to come up with a full, working, wizard society, and even if they are trying to worldbuild some aspects of wizarding society religion is often ignored, because people don't want to deal with it for often valid reasons (religious trauma, just disinterest, grew up agnostic, not Christian but thinks wizards probably are etc, etc, etc, ) Personally I wish more fics delved into what wizarding religious belief actually is, but to put it bluntly, that's just me. And I have never dealt with religion in my own fics. So don't takethis as judgement at all.

But there are interesting headcanons when people do choose to try and worldbuild religion in HP.

Fom what I've seen, one of the major ways to deal with religion in HP (aside from not dealing with it at all) is to give wizards, often pureblood wizards, some kind of pagan, often Celtic-inspired, religion. And this is quite defensible! Sometimes this is badly executed and/or turned into Death Eater apologia, but the idea of wizards having a different religion is really interesting and a good deal more interesting (IMO of course) than just not mentioning religion at all. Most fics that I've seen don't delve too deeply into, like the actual history and theology of these religions, but there are definitely some that do. (Also if you know any PLEASE send me recs). So if handled well, this is a great way to add some religion worldbuilding in the world of Harry Potter.

However, my personal favorite set of possibilities--obviously I have some personal bias as a history nerd with a long standing if never as deeply researched as I would like to interest in the history of Christianity and as an ex-Catholic--is that, well, we know the statute of secrecy started..when, exactly? 1690. So this much is obviously a result of JKR's Hollywood understanding of witch hunts (a subject for another time and someone far more qualified). For interested wrodlbuilders, we can take this as a guideline at best, as personally I think it would have taken a good deal longer than one year to agree on and implement something like the Statute and I tend to take 1690 as an end date, not a start. I also tend to take the Statue as a largely European phenomenon, at least at first. But, uh, what was happening in Britain at the time..oh, right...the Glorious Revolution....what was happening that created the conditions for the Glorious Revolution...oh, the English Civil War...which was because of...oh yeah, and what was also happening on the continent, maybe it involved, wait, thirty years..oooh, the Thirty Years War...wait weren't there a whole bunch of massive social shifts happening in Europe at this point in time isn't that funny but surely the stature of secrecy could be considered a part of these massive social shifts...all of which was heavily influenced by...you guessed it, the Protestant Reformation.

Wait. So. Maybe, the separation of Wizards from Muggles, at least in Britain, wasn't actually about Muggles hating wizards or wizards hating Muggles. Maybe it was about religion. Now personally I find this ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING. The possibilities, the possibilities...

Wizards had a massive religious civil war that created the blood status system in its modern form? Particular families have wildly different denominations? Excellent. Religion both in terms of level of religiosity and in terms of denomination is a blood status marker? Excellent. Purebloods are all Catholic (what does this do to both Catholic and not Muggleborns?) Excellent. Purebloods are all Puritans? Weird, but if you can pull it off excellent. Purebloods are all one of the wacky new denominations that sprung up after the Reformation and then either died out or conquered the world? Excellent. Pure bloods are all Lutherans who really hated Henry VIII? Excellent. One of my favoirite ways to create a wizarding religion was someone who had most pure bloods follow a denomination that split off from Catholicism in the Great Schism and then a small minority being Catholic, with the worlds splitting around the Reformation. Even the paganism headcanons can be incorporated: the Reformation could conceivably have made it much more difficult to keep practicing wizard paganism causing separation of the worlds.

Personally I would love to see a world that used the history of the Protestant Reformation super well, but it's not the only way to relate a Wizarding religion or a Wizarding religious history. I just wish more people tried to do that at all. Let wizards be religious! Or let them be irreligious but have thought about it, instead of just ignoring religion at all as something that might conceivably have influenced human societies. Maybe Wizarding Britain has state sponsored atheism. Just say that outright!

Another thing I'd like to see more fic doing is theology: how does having magic impact people's religious doctrine? Does every major religion essentially have a wizarding branch with its own theology because magic impacts their view of the world so much, or do most wizards simply follow the majority Muggle religion in their country with no modifications? if so, why? Do some wizards disagree, potentially violently, over how to incorporate magic into their religion? Do some people refuse to use magic because they think it goes against their religion? Etc etc etc you could go on forever. I've seen fic, which randomly enough was about Regulus Black, do this pretty well (or I thought so as a non-Jew) for Judaism, and I'd love it if done with other religions.

Anyway. Now I have to figure out how the hell religion works in the Wizarding Britain of my own headcanon.

[mcytegg]

lifesteal double life au ^-^ !! basically what it says on the tin:

i put all of the lsers into a randomizer wheel and paired them off. in my mind its kind of just a one off event that takes place during s6, its like its own little arc that goes for at least two weeks, possibly a bit longer tho!!! and i have removed certain players simply bc i cannot realistically imagine them logging in even for day 1 of the event LMFAO.

ls mechanics are the same— you kill you (and ur soulmate) gain a heart, you die and you (and ur soulmate) lose a heart. ADDITIONALLY, i heavily fw the idea that if ur soulmate is banned, you Also get banned ^-^ even if ur on 20, your hearts simply drop on the ground after u die if ur banned bc it makes things ✨️interesting✨️ tho thats all i have so if anyone has any other ideas or disagrees w me then pls feel free to tell me all abt it bc im just saying shit LOL

anyways! soulmates will be under the cut :D

[the people who have been excluded are leo, mrcube, redd, spep, terry, and vortex @_@ im sorry to fans of them i just can nawt imagine them participating for even a day]

and. dear fucking LORD do we have some crazy match ups oh my god?? 😭😭 the balancing is fucking insane bc to me hearts are NOT given or taken away for any sort of balancing purposes, they have what they had before the event started yk? so soulmates taking care of each other and communicating is even MORE important than anything

and like theoretically people are still in the teams they had before the event, theres technically no rules saying u Need to dedicate urself to your soulmate but considering the type of server ls is, keeping ur soulmate close to u is very likely life or death. like esp for a pair like say...planet and minute bc anyone who has a bone to pick w minute could so easily farm a planetlord over it nd ban them both from the server so being able to protect ur soulmate is just as important as staying safe yourself yk?

its crazy bc u have teams that are definitely just fucking cooked like planet & minute (current 7 heart chungus) or like pangi & jepexx, but u also have teams that are hella fucking cracked in Theory like mapicc & subz bc theyre both cracked at pvp but i actually just dont know how well theyd work as a pair or if theyd EVEN work together or if theyd just do their own thing and expect the other to not die LMFAO.

like, its just so interesting to think abt soulmate dynamics and how this event would affect each preexisting teams. how loyal people would feel towards their soulmates & whether this would change things after the event in regards to Team loyalty and who would grow attached to their soulmates after the fact......or who would hate their soulmates, and who would become enemies bc of this event LOL

[writing-zelda-brainrots]

yandere chain with return by death reader It would be something... interesting

Like at that point there's no way that they don't know how insane the Links are. Probably saw them kill someone more than once.

You'd think that RbD could help them come up with and execute an escape plan, but that's harder than you'd think. They keep a much closer eye on you (because your mental health is not the greatest even without their own brand of insanity affecting you) and have taken away anything that could result in you getting hurt. Even giving you a knife to cut vegetables is a 'maybe' at best.

Also I think that Fierce would absolutely tell Time about Return by Death. And that would reduce your chances of getting away from very slim to nonexistant. Say goodbye to your freedom at that point.

Depending on how mentally worn out/broken that RbD![Name] is, I would be willing to bet that they decide to give up on this whole adventure and settle down somewhere in Hyrule for the rest of their days (something that the Chain is more than happy with). Basically I'm thinking of the Sloth IF story. But much like the Sloth IF, once RbD![Name] dies of old age, they are sent back to their last save point, aka right before they admited to the others that they're giving up and running away, making them lose everything they built over the years.

I think what makes things more interesting is if in the yanverse, it was Dink who pulled [Name] into Hyrule and gave them Return by Death. In any other version, I think it would either be Satella or Hylia who did it (because if Dink wanted to get rid of the heroes, why would he give them the key to defeating him). But in yanverse, I feel like he'd be so obssesed with making sure that [Name] survives that he could manipulate them into thinking that it was "for your own good" and that he knows better.

[celestial-encounters]

Hello? Who's there?

This is an ask blog for Celestial Encounters, an AU made by @sainteclectic that you can find extra information about here. Basically, HMS and all the other albums are deities, while Whole (Harmonia) is just some guy who works at a corner store. HMS (or Pathos, Logos, and Psyche) are the primary gods, and they created or formed the other gods as offshoots of themselves, representing aspects of their power or performing duties for them.

Asks are preferably directed at someone specific, but you can also just shout into the void and see who answers. blog rules and further information about the characters are below the cut, but here's the short list:

Pathos (he/she/they) is the god of the moon, emotions, and justice. Under her are Castor (CiD; he/him), the god and entropy and injustice, and Phoebe (Fine I'm Fine; any), god of celebration and euphoria.

Logos (she/her) is the god of the sun, logic, and progress. Under her are Pollux (The Before; she/her), god of apathy and downward spirals, and Theseus (...you know; he/they), god of perseverance and change.

Psyche (it/they/rarely she) is the god of the stars, the soul, and the underworld. Under it are Charon (Handsome Devil; he/they/it), god of judgement and passing on, and Lethe (Forest for the Trees; he/it), god of mania and overgrowth.

Aaand Harmonia (he/she), a normal mortal who doesn't know what he's doing here either.

Rules

I honestly don't really have anything except for being generally respectful of the blog owner and not getting too rowdy. {suggestive stuff is fine, use your best judgement on that kind of thing} go wild go crazy

Longer bios

pathos is the god of the moon, emotion, and justice. she gives humans their feelings, compassion, and drive to do what they feel is just. he has a strong sense of justice himself, though that sense might seem intense and destructive at times. despite his seemingly righteous goals, he's often blinded by them and is reckless as a result. she's driven purely by emotions, being a conduit for the feelings of humanity, and often doesn't think things through. logos despises their perceived immaturity, believing her to be too rash and emotional to know what's best for mortals.

logos is the god of the sun, logic, and progress. she grants humanity reasoning skills and technological advancements. she enjoys seeing them develop, but she's grown to dislike mortals for all their flaws and failures. still, she's devoted to giving humanity a flawless future - but she doesn't take their feelings about that into account, only what's "objectively" best for them. she approaches things from a purely practical perspective, not caring much for the emotions of the mortals who will be affected. this constantly puts her at odds with pathos, who thinks her methods are ruthless and cruel.

psyche is the god of the stars, the soul, and the underworld. they represent the spark of life in all things, the driving force that makes them unique. in return for giving humanity their sentience, it sacrificed its own personal identity, instead becoming a vessel for the wayward and damned souls that stay trapped behind their mask. it's exhausted from its duties of managing living and dead souls, as well as keeping logos and pathos from destroying humanity with their constant bickering. they like to go and watch the humans when it gets stressed out. it makes them happy to see mortals living their lives, using the gift of free will they granted them.

harmonia is a normal human living in a semi modern setting. the setting is sort of mixed with a bit of fantasy, because they still know gods exist and worship them and all that, which basically just means there's temples to them instead of churches. he's a minimum wage worker, painfully average, depressed, and barely presentable. she doesn't interact with many people outside of coworkers and customers, and she's certainly never interacted with literal deities before... until now.

phoebe is a god of celebration and euphoria, especially after hard times. she represents the kind of overjoyed catharsis you get when you're finally free from your problems. he's worshipped in dances and song, and though they're more of an underground worship god than mainstream one these days (and she prefers it that way), many celebrations like graduations or weddings still include a toast to phoebe as part of their tradition.

theseus is an interesting case. he was a human who strived to attain godhood by replacing his body with animal parts, hoping to be inhuman enough to ascend to godhood. logos respected the grind but hubris is still a crime, so they should probably punish his soul post death. pathos got into a debate over the fact logos is the most hubris person ever, of course she'd say that, and psyche allowed him to be a minor god of persistence and change as a compromise. he's more like a patron saint than a god in his own right, people pray to him for minor things these days, like personal growth or doing good on a test.

castor is the god of entropy and injustice. despite this, he's not generally a misanthropic god. instead, he's the god you turn to when you need strength in the face of an uncaring universe. fighting an oppressive system, getting vengeance for your suffering, seeing the beauty in decay, that kind of thing. he's representative of pathos' domain in justice and the cruel world that requires it! the emotional motivation to do better is nothing without the logical understanding of how to do it, though.

his twin pollux is the misanthropic one, representing apathy and downward spirals. she's the embodiment of the kind of nothingness you feel while trapped in depression. despite this seeming like an emotional thing, it's instead symbolic for the pit you can fall into when you can't feel emotions healthily. so she serves under logos because, while logos represents progress, that doesn't mean anything without the emotional drive to move forward.

charon is a chthonic god, specifically of judgment and passage into the underworld! charon is under psyche, who's The god of the underworld {taking care of souls and all that}, and he's basically a collector of souls that try to escape them - think thanatos trying to take sisyphus, who refused to die naturally. but it often gets into trouble with psyche because it likes to "play with his food" before taking them to it. they appreciate a good game of cat and mouse, and they respect those particularly crafty mortals that successfully elude them. meanwhile psyche just wants him to do his fucking job.

lethe is a nature god, but in the same way early nature deities like pan also represented madness. he's a god of doomed journeys, mania, and overgrowth. he's the voice in your head that tells you to leave the well-trod path and lose yourself in the gnarled branches and twisted pathways. legend says you might enter his domain if you get lost in the woods, and if you do, you might never escape... used as a cautionary tale to keep kids from wandering off, but people also make offerings to it before going traveling or hiking as a way to avoid their journey ending poorly.

[muddyorbsblr]

relinquish the crown: under one condition pt1

Series Masterlist See my full list of works here!

Placement: Season 1, Episode 14; immediately after 'what could be done'

Summary: With Prince Damien's proposal looming over like a dark omen, Loki rushes to do what must be done to save you from a life of misery in Alfheim

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Word Count: 2.4k

Warning/s: themes of incest (he's adopted but still); Odin

Things to be aware of: stressed Loki hours; this is basically 'terms of surrender' (Prologue, Part 1) in Loki's POV

There were too many emotions, too many thoughts, coursing through Loki's entire system right at this moment.

Anger. Over how seemingly excited Odin sounded over the idea of finally getting to enact the bloody tradition that he'd agreed to, so that his own father, the former Allfather Bor, would approve of his marriage to Frigga. To determine his 'rightful' heir meant to have all eligible individuals engage in a battle. Where it could only end with death or surrender.

A somber acceptance, that if he were not here right at this moment, making known the decision that would change the very course of not just his life, but yours as well? Had he not just announced that he wished to relinquish his claim to the throne? If he were to engage in the barbaric tradition, then he would have to come to terms with the knowledge that that duel with his brother would be the day he met his demise. And he would leave you behind, vulnerable to any lecherous suitor that might win Odin's favor and approval for your hand.

Fear of what could and would happen had that duel come to fruition.

But overpowering them all by a wide margin…fear of what was to come next. Out of this conversation. Out of his surrender and his terms for it.

The god would leave this room with everyone in his life, including you, thinking differently of him than when he entered. They would all know, you would know, of the affection that he'd been harboring for you for well over a decade, ever since that first encounter within the palace halls where you put your dagger to his throat.

Norns, she might very well do it again after today, he thought to himself. And you would very well be in your right to after your mind completes a lecherous image and all your memories with Loki would be painted with a starkly different brush. He was quite certain that earlier today, in the library, had been the last time he would ever hear you utter the words "I love you" towards him. Now that you knew the true weight of the sentiment when it came from him.

And still he knew, with every fiber of his being, that the only right thing for him to do was to stay this course. Even if it meant shattering what relationship he had with you in the process, even if it meant you resenting him for making you his wife. For it meant that at least you would be able to resent him in the safety of your home. It meant you would be free to live your life the way you saw fit.

He could be content with this reality. And he would simply love you enough for the both of you.

"My son, I beg your pardon?" Odin spoke, visibly perturbed at the words he'd just heard the god of mischief utter, brows knitting together and the wrinkles on his forehead becoming more prominent with the action.

"There will be no need for a ceremony to determine your heir, Father," Loki repeated, speaking slower than he did when he entered the war room. He had no intentions to be misunderstood from speaking in a rush. Not in a moment as crucial as this. "Because I choose to surrender my claim to the throne. I relinquish my status as an eligible heir."

"Brother, are you certain of your decision?"

He looked at Thor from across the table, a mixture of concern and relief coloring the blond god's expression. For as long as they had known each other, Thor had always known him to be calculating and careful even when his actions seemed far from it. Even when others believed him to be impulsive. And this particular move, to an untrained eye, would seem like the rash thing to do in such a situation. To commit an irreversible action in the name of avoiding the showdown that would yield even more permanent and irreversible consequences.

And much as Loki would often jokingly refer to his brother as an 'oaf', he had his moments. This seemed well on its way to becoming one of them, with the just slightly elder god undoubtedly coming to the realization that no…Loki did not impulsively come to this decision just moments ago. He knew exactly what he was giving up and he was determined to stay this course regardless. His question of whether he was certain was simply to avoid misconstruction from any parties.

Loki simply nodded at his brother slowly, already dreading the next few moments as he would begin to be questioned of his motivations.

The Allfather spoke next. "Loki, this is not a decision to be made lightly. You cannot rescind your offer once I have accepted it. Do you understand, my son?"

He tried to picture another way to somehow liberate you from your inevitable betrothal to the wretched elven prince of Alfheim. One that didn't involve him potentially shattering your perception of him irreparably. Short of helping you outright flee the realm to escape Damien, there truly was nothing. And even if somehow you succeeded in fleeing, there was the risk of you being charged with treason for betraying or neglecting your duties to the Realm.

His mother was right. This was the only way.

"I understand perfectly, Father," he answered, taking every ounce of his strength to not allow his tone to waver or tremble as he spoke. "I will hereby relinquish my claim to the throne of Asgard." The raven-haired god clenched his fist under the table, his nail digging in to the skin of his palm as he took a deep breath before uttering the words that would seal his fate. The ones that would turn him into the lech that he'd been rumored to be for eons. "If my terms are accepted."

The next words that Thor spoke worsened at the constricting of his heart. Made even harsher with his relieved and jovial tone. "I will agree to whatever terms you state, Brother, if it means I do not have to face losing you in battle," he stated, so quickly it was as if the words were racing to come out of his mouth. "Name your terms.

You will regret your words in a few short moments, Brother. I swear it. I can only hope you can try to see from where my intentions truly lay, Loki thought to himself. It didn't take long for him to launch into the speech he prepared to present his case, bracing himself for the incoming derision. The seething judgment. The hatred.

"I wish to return our family's reign to its former glory. I've traversed the Nine Realms and the consensus is definite: They think our power weak ever since Father rose to the throne. At least those generations that had been around to witness its former glory for themselves. The people not only feared us, but they respected us." He turned to face Odin, a mixture of concern and displeasure evident in the elder god's eye. "Now they question your leadership since you were so willing to break an age old practice. They question my claim as legitimate due to my Jotun blood. I wish to dispel any qualms about future generations."

"Loki," his father spoke, caution rife in his voice. As if he were warning him to choose his next words very carefully. "What are you implying?"

Is it not obvious, Father? All these centuries of believing me capable of such mischief and depravity and you choose this moment to feign ignorance? To strive to see me as anything more than the title you thrust upon me? he thought to himself sardonically. Very well then, if you must insist on keeping to this facade, then you've left me with no other choice than to lean in. Become the depraved lech you allowed the Realms to believe that I am.

"Surely you do not mean to say that--"

"Y/N," he cut his father off, digging his nail further into the palm of his hand as he darted a glance at his brother and saw the utter  heartbreak and betrayal in his expression. Keep going, the rational, calculating voice in his head urged him. They may all despise you at the end of this, but remember what you are doing this for. Remember who you are doing this for. For her. For your fated. Keep her safe. No matter the cost. "Wed her to me, so that we may restore our family's reign's integrity and show the people that we know when to break, and when to keep, tradition. That we have the wisdom to do so."

"Brother there was a reason for that tradition to be abolished. So that Father and future generations may choose who to wed out of love." Thor's response tore at him further, forcing the god to fight back tears as he held on tight to the secret that he'd held for years. Wanting nothing more than to hold back the very words he swore to himself he would never utter aloud in the presence of anyone.

"Isn't that exactly what I'm doing?" He couldn't look at anyone in the eye. So he chose to instead look past them, focusing on the wall to keep his expression as invariable as he could manage. "I am choosing who to wed…out of love?" He took another breath, now looking his brother straight in the eye and feeling his heart sink at the blazing rage he saw in the now icy blue orbs, his fists laid on the table as his entire body shook from processing the words. "You said to name my terms. That no price is too steep," Loki kept on, holding on to hope that somehow this plan of his and his mother's would succeed and at the very least burning this bridge would not have been for nothing.

If this is the price for your safety, little Princess, then it is a price I will readily pay.

"I will relinquish my claim to ascend Father's throne after he passes, in exchange for Y/N as my wife," he finished, praying to the Norns that he would hear anything other than a resounding 'no' from either god.

"So that you may ascend the throne with her and become King when I die?" Thor fumed, visibly looking as if it took all his strength not to lunge across the table and strangle his brother with his bare hands.

You both would wish it could be this simple, wouldn't you? Loki mulled over silently. Somberly. If only it were.

"I will not be King," he declared, more than ready to put his words into writing if need be. "I will be her consort. She will rule when you pass, unchallenged and with my unconditional support. As her husband."

Thor took a moment to carefully look at his brother's features and right then there was a glimmer of an epiphany in his rageful eyes. Finally you see it, Brother. I would not have jeopardized my life and my relationship with all of you so flippantly. This is not for power or cowardice or lust. This is just as I have said in its purest form. This is relinquishment. This is surrender. This is sacrifice.

"I did not want to lose you in battle, Brother. And I still do not wish to." Loki could finally breathe a touch easier knowing that, at least for now, his brother still wished to see him live. "But Y/N will not understand any of this. That this was once our ancestry's tradition."

He felt a soft smile gracing his face, his mind wandering to fonder memories with you as he said his next words. "She's more brilliant than you give her credit for, dear Brother." It truly took him by surprise that he'd been allowed to present his case for this long, and he cautiously took that as a sign that perhaps this plan truly could work. That his claim to the throne was enough to trade for your hand. In the name of your safety. One last push. Just to finish your case, he told himself. "She's quite intelligent. I can guarantee you that our children will be a beautiful mix of your strength, Sif's ferocity, and our combined wits and wisdom. You've said it many times before: No man will ever be good enough for her, and you've also said that I am the best man you know in all the Nine Realms, I--" His breath caught as he uttered his next confession. "I am not good enough for Y/N, on that we can both agree. But wouldn't you also agree that among all the men in the Realms, I'll come closest?"

The next few moments had Loki's heart thundering in his chest. First Odin gave Thor a single nod, as if telling him that ultimately this decision was to now fall in the thunder god's hands. He would defer the decision to your father. And then he saw the thoughts beginning to form in his brother's mind.

How he knew in his heart that your current suitor would have no qualms or concern about your happiness, and would most likely tear you away from the Realm to isolate you from those that loved you most. How Prince Damien would swear no form of fealty or fidelity to you and how this courtship was simply a play for the power that many coveted across the Realms.

And how despite the way it churned his stomach, the thought of being the one to sign away your privilege to marry for love, at least he would do it knowing that it would be to betroth you to someone that had historically cared for you when you yourself would forget to. Someone that came close to bridling your recklessness when he chose not to match it. Someone that did his best to cater to your needs.

Someone that would move the Realms themselves if that was what she asked of me, he swore to himself.

Finally he heard it. His brother's sigh as he weighed the options and made the decision that would set into motion the shattering of your relationship with not just him, but with quite possibly every person in this room.

"Fetch Lady Y/N," he told the guard. "Fetch my daughter."

A/N: Well I can't believe it…we're finally here. I finally got this series to get back to where it started…at Loki's surrender. I decided to split this into two parts since the chapter as a whole was nearly 6k words long, so the other half of 'under one condition' will be coming this weekend 🎉🎉

On the writing block at the moment is a chapter from 'one look and they'll know', so there's also that to look forward to, and then after that (hopefully) I'm finally starting 'back to you' after idek how long I've been teasing that one.

'everything' taglist: @simplyholl @loopsisloops @imalovernotahater @coldnique @loz-3 @huntress-artemiss @salempoe @vickie5446 @athalialaufeyson @lokiprompts @kats72 @kikster606 @asgards-princess-of-mischief @lokixryss @thomase1 @mischief2sarawr @lovingchoices14 @lunarnights95 @goblingirlsarah @iamlokisgloriouspurpose @creationsbyme @maple-seed @mjsthrillernp @ladyofthestayingpower @mygfloki @sititran @glitterylokislut @ozymdias @fictive-sl0th  @lokidbadguy @mochie85 @silverfire475 @joyful-enchantress @elizabethmidnight2017 @holdmytesseract @smolvenger @lokidokieokie

@superficialdomina @kmc1989 @november-rayne @goddessofwonderland @buttercupcookies-blog @peaky-marvel @lokiified @tom-hlover @dryyoursaltyoceantears @herdetectivetheorist @alexakeyloveloki @lulubelle814

[fluentisonus]

thinking about fantine and valjean again, and particularly how they both represent different aspects of this idea of being permanently alienated from society for small missteps & the effect that alienation has on people -- and how this parallel to each other is emphasized in the narrative repeatedly, especially via people placing 'convict' and 'prostitute' together, i.e. javert saying "'It’s a pretty sort of a place where convicts are magistrates, and where women of the town are cared for like countesses!'" or the curé deciding to give fantine a pauper's burial because "Who was concerned, after all? A convict and a woman of the town." It's basically repeatedly emphasized that convicts, and women who have had children out of wedlock, and prostitutes, are like classes of people where they are perceived by society as forever tainted by some moral "fall" & are this doomed to be forever on the peripheries & suffer for it. and both fantine and valjean are intimately aware of this, and in many ways cast together in it.

and that being said it's just so deeply tragic to me that despite paralleling each other in so many ways in this respect it's very much partially jean valjean's lack of understanding or thought into the unique ways that women can be affected by this alienation (and even I'd argue a deep & not entirely conscious sort of nervousness or fear around ideas of woman and sex -- to the point he does not visit the women personally much, which is a big failing!!: "But M. Madeleine had heard nothing of all this. ... M. Madeleine was in the habit of almost never entering the women’s workroom.") that a lot of this happens to fantine. he is deeply conscious of poverty and crime but fails to see the particular ways these might effect women & it's incredibly evident in this passage:

Any one who was hungry could present himself there, and was sure of finding employment and bread. Father Madeleine required of the men good will, of the women pure morals, and of all, probity. He had separated the work-rooms in order to separate the sexes, and so that the women and girls might remain discreet. On this point he was inflexible. It was the only thing in which he was in a manner intolerant. He was all the more firmly set on this severity, since M. sur M., being a garrison town, opportunities for corruption abounded. ... Father Madeleine gave employment to every one. He exacted but one thing: Be an honest man. Be an honest woman.

and as I said in the original post I do genuinely believe that this is from a misguided but genuine desire to protect the women & give them a 'good' work environment, but what a way to show he knows very little about the realities of women's lives outside of what he's heard or what he's read! and how terrible to be essentially complicit by way of ignorance to a narrative parallel of his suffering essentially the same way that he has, to essentially unintentionally help recreate this harm (i.e. an environment where someone can be permanently alienated from society like this) on someone who's narratively presented as his equivalent. idk idk

I think he does (horribly & sadly!) learn this lesson very clearly later, when he's actually interacting with fantine, and I think you could read into it that at that point he does very much recognize some of himself & his suffering in her. and I like to think he carries this particular understanding (although not others as I mentioned in the first post wrt cosette) with him & his approach into his later life but like. hh

still chewing this one over so hopefully this makes sense but one very minor running thing I feel like we get w jean valjean is that without disliking women or even believing that they're in any way unequal to him he. hm. for the most part doesn't have much normal contact with adult women after his sister (and presumably none for the 19 years he was in prison) which means that. not that he doesn't understand women so much as i feel like idk. he makes the mistake of unconsciously assuming men-are-from-mars-women-are-from-venus style that he doesn't understand them (being aware of that lack of contact & under the impression women are fairly different to men), and because he's a guy who wants to understand things & is largely self taught (often from books) especially wrt social niceties, he ends up being very credulous, in that presumed lack of understanding, of commonly held beliefs & traditional, societally reinforced ideas of gender rolls & gender characteristics, and this sometimes ends up ultimately hurting women around him despite his genuine good intentions

like obviously firstly in montreuil-sur-mer where he wants the female workers to have "pure morals" and gives them a separate workroom to the men to "remain discreet" which I think he genuinely intended as a means of making it a good work environment for the workers -- women can have privacy & focus on work & nothing uncomfortable or untoward is being brought into the workplace etc -- but as we know this backfired horrendously because it essentially resulted in fantine being fired for having a child out of wedlock & everything she went through after. and given his reaction he doesn't seem to have ever considered this a potential effect of his rules -- like he doesn't seem to have understood how those sorts of rules end up ultimately punish the women involved more than anything

and the other main instance of course is with cosette and his assumption that essentially a woman has a father, & then she has a husband & having a husband no longer needs a father (this is strengthened a lot by his own feeling of his own taintedness -- it's not the main thing responsible for what happened by any means. but it's a part of it) & this assumption is incredibly hard on her!!! she obviously doesn't see it that way at all! but it never seems like it occurs to him not to think of it in that framework bc essentially society in general sees it that way

idk I guess what I find interesting abt this is that it's a big blind spot in a guy who's otherwise extremely willing to question social biases & generally likes to take people all on a level as just another sort of person like himself. again I think in his general behavior towards women interpersonally there's nothing bad & in fact there's a lot of genuine respect there & probably willingness to learn even (in fantine 's case), but it's like he just never worked out that these ideas about gender are about as true & helpful as ideas about class or criminality etc etc

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

if 9&10 were "dont wander off", and 11&12 were "the doctor lies", 13s rule #1 is "dont question me"

"have we not had a good time together" shes pointing yaz to the rule that yaz very well knows is there: we can travel if you dont ask me any difficult questions. yaz knows this is the rule - "because you ask too many questions", "this team structure isnt flat" - but she also was the one to invite the doctor into her home so im pretty sure she also knows shes not gonna kicked out that easily. she has some leeway. which she has been using between revolution and flux, which is why the doctor reminds her of the rules

i dont think she'd kick her out though. she wouldnt. i think it's just that the more you break the rule, the more unpleasant she becomes to be around, and eventually youre gonna walk out on your own. she doesnt want you to, she'd rather you stay and dont ask questions. but if youre gonna try to ask questions anyway, i think thats whats gonna happen

and yaz must think so too. because she does back off. because she doesnt want that to happen either. and it does anyway

[agabus]

the fact that ken came back today to watch us freak out about that update oh my god

[docholligay]

I don't know why the repro scene in the UK is so good, but man is it annoying that some of the very very most accurate reproduction vintage would cost me like 50 goddamn dollars in shipping and also would be royal mail so who knows if it would show.

And it's all "straight across." It's 90% straight-up, reproduction of shit that was made from the 1940s to the 1960s. Love that. Most of what we have in the US is a very twee, "pinup" take on the style. There is nothing wrong on god's green and verdant earth with wearing a fit and flare swing dress with a fuckin Fraggle Rock print, but that is not how I want to live my life. I want to look like I could have stepped onto the street in 1954 or some shit. (With some minor styling differences, I'm not a purist by any means, I'm just not into being CUTESY. I'm playing it straight.) And in the US, we just do NOT have the wide variety of options for that--we have shit like Modcloth, Unique Vintage, etc. Which in addition to being cheaply made, mostly, is all that twee stuff, or all fucking black.

I do not mind spending money on my clothes! The secret to my 'success' is I buy very few items of clothing a year and I spend MONEY on them. At this stage in my life, I am looking to refine my wardrobe, not build it. I am swapping out less nice pieces for better ones. But JESUS, does it make me choke to save up 90 bucks and then have 50 bucks in shipping on top of it.

And yeah, you actually can find the stuff I'm looking for at clothiers who do not specialize in reproduction. I got my Kitty Hepburn style pants and vest from Banana fucking Republic, really nice, thick 80% wool blend. Exactly what I wanted. But the trouble is *I* know the words I am looking for, but especially resellers DO NOT. I know what a dolman sleeve blouse is, but does Chaz in Boca Raton selling a silk blend top that I DO WANT? No! Not often!

And GOD, every time I look on ebay and see how AMAZINGLY CHEAP the resale market is on this stuff in the UK, I SCREAM. You are all so fucking spoiled cry cry cry.

[francisforever2014]

“i hate children but—“ is honestly such an annoying fucking way to start a sentence . even if it’s saying that you’re still kind to them etc etc it’s still so weird to me that people constantly have to express their hatred for a group of people that have no control over being “annoying” or whatever makes people “HATE” them. like that is just such an unnecessarily strong word to use against the most helpless people among us imo. you can dislike children you can think they’re a bit much sometimes you can not want to be around them bc they stress you out . its good for people to know their limits so they’re not in situations where their stress would harm children !!but to say you hate them is so??? like obnoxious to me idk. also maybe it’s just bc i was an observant kid and am around observant kids but i feel like if you profess that you hate children constantly but “act nice” around they probably feel that hate . bc children know when they’re not wanted and guess what . it fucks them up like why would you add to that even minutely. maybe work on not hating vulnerable small beings instead of being so proud of it . it’s just unnecessary and annoying to me like okay . good for you ig

[mars-ipan]

kinda funny when ur brain’s gut instinct is repression so you just kinda watch while your stress and emotions get bottled and corked and the whole time ur just like “that is going to bite me in the ass so bad later but i can’t seem to open the damn bottles without getting glass everywhere so! guess we’ll wait”

[unproduciblesmackdown]

also a special shoutout for real like wendy epic ableism moments when she stops talking directly to winston and expresses this is b/c he communicates too incorrectly (here too literally or whatever, once again whether he misinterpreted her or she misinterpreted him, it's put on him) and thus he doesn't deserve that

[majorshatterandhare]

Shout out to my fiddle/violin teacher for teaching me Shipping Up to Boston, because, as a result, most of what I hear when listening to No Happy Ending is “bosenberry strawberry strawberry, bosenberry strawberry pie, bosenberry strawberry strawberry, strawberry strawberry strawberry pie”