#a wild tangent

[asheanon]

So, uh... I stated over on the Xitter how I wanted to go on a Dissidia (personal story/fanfic - yes, it includes OCs and original material. This is Ashe writing this, after all) tangent so badly, but hate fighting with text limitations with these sorts of things, so here I am, hopping over to Tumblr to go on said tangent. 🕺

(Tangent placed beneath a cut. Proceed with caution! Maybe.)

⚠️ Disclaimer for those who have played the game: I'm still experiencing the game. I'm not going to know everything. I just can't help but feel the inspiration blaze through me at certain points throughout the Dissidia OO experience, which compels my mind to take off with thoughts galore (whether or not I want it to. I can't control this brain of mine; it's like a wild animal sometimes, trust me!) I am inspired af, but please keep in mind I could be incorrect about certain bits of lore and still have a lot to experience - and I am fully aware of that even in writing this out.

Also, no spoilers. NONE. Furnish me with the informations only if I ask. If I'm wrong about something, I promise I'll concede that when I later find out about it. For now, this is just me having fun. Let me have fun. I'm just getting all these thoughts out of my head before they drive me crazy...! Hahaha!

Anyway, sorry. That disclaimer may or may not be longer than the tangent itself. Onto the actual tangent!

💭

So...! 🤔 Given how there's a tiny bit of "wibbly wobbly timey whimey" stuff going on with how characters are brought in, if you will, I can't help but to think about some wacky situations that may make for some neat story potential…

I'm going to start with the more "conservative" thoughts. Thoughts on characters from the same world being pulled in from different parts of their own respective timeline, so you have different sections of experiences and memories to play with.

Particularly (spoilers): Sal experienced the deaths of some particular characters who are not only alive, but they were brought in from a time where they had not died. She has a lot of memories about them that they have yet to experience.

When all of this is over, she's going to return to a world where they're no longer alive. And she has that good ol' fun time looming over her. : )

Which, as tragic as that is, I do dig that kind of narrative - I mean, to boot: I dig it, but I started realizing that it was one I'd worked with before, even... it was one she experienced in The Anomaly (FFVII x Original fanfic.) Of course, the moment I realized that, I was like "how original, Ashe. Good. Guess we'll do this song and dance again because you can't resist it, clearly." Haha!

BUT... it was then that I had the less "conservative" thoughts... Namely: since all this "wibbly wobbly timey whimey" stuff is happening anyway, what if... I didn't just inject Starlight (FFIX x Original) material in this, but also injected The Anomaly material? What if both of those stories were allowed some agency in this?

And by extension, what if the Sal (the Sal, you read that correctly) that is brought in has only experienced one of those stories (Starlight, because I'm biased at this time) while the characters from the other story (The Anomaly) experienced a different version of her than what is present? They met her (some rendition of her.) She never met them (that version of her never did.)

Again, reminder: Sal is a world hopper. For her to be part of any given FF world in this type of FF scenario is really just a matter of chance. Technically speaking, she has experienced at least two of those worlds - in different timelines, but given that there is only one Sal present... I was utterly delighted by the oddity of just picking one rendition of her to have amidst the wild and random chance that the renditions of the FFIX and FFVII worlds/characters have characters that both experienced her and didn't.

🤔

It's so weird and self indulgent on my part, I know. I get it. (It's also my own little Dissidia-esque excuse for being able to include some FFVII OCs and story beats from various perspectives, haha!) I literally cannot resist thinking about it in all of its weird and self indulgent glory, though. I cannot be stopped. 🥴

Even if I don't use the idea, I'm still going to think about it, you know? And talk about it too, apparently. Haha!

All of that being said, though, I have entertained the thought of Sal's actual "world" (the original one - not just her inclusion in fanfics) being included in Dissidia as well. This would include characters like Nat, Tsuniah and, well, Vance. This guy.

I'd talk more about what makes the inclusion of Vance and different timelines + funky memory loss stuff going on especially fascinating (to me) here, but it really... wouldn't make sense to the rest of you. It's all original stuff; story I know and have yet to tell the rest of the world, so... yeah. 🥲 But there's potential in that too that I'd love to play around with!

In that respect, between the Dissidia shenanigans and Fall To The Moon ones, should I ever actually manage to write out some story stuff for them, I may yet instill some intrigue in regards to who he is along with these other OCs of mine. Create my own Dissidia effect - basically, compel people to want to get to know them outside of AUs and fanfics (because Dissidia OO makes me want to get to know characters I have yet to get to know, let me tell you. Haha!)

Anyway... Lawdy, I'd say that's a good ol' tangent right there. That'll do it, for now. To anyone and everyone who stopped by to read this... madness... thank you. I hope it was entertaining, otherwise, sorry I wasted your time...! 😅

Until next time.

🌌 😎👆👉

-Moonwalks back into The Twilight Zone.-

[journen]

Simon encounters a creature

[hypewinter]

Diana is immediately on guard when Circe appears carrying a strange bundle. That is until the sorceress shoves said bundle into her arms and leaves as quickly as she appeared. All the while muttering about finally repaying her debt. Diana cautiously peers into the bundle, only to find a baby, giggling up at her.

[dlartistanon]

Someday we’ll be okay

[bulshittingmywaythroughexistence]

The carcar dynamic is so compelling to me bcs why is the man who is famously known for being the embodiment of a standing man emoji, who had to have his heartbeat monitored bcs ppl thought he had no emotions just so bothered by this one guy. The cherry on the cake being that the guy is his teammates friend, like what.

[aoxizu]

i have another 2.1 character dynamic post in the recesses of my brain but i need to get this out first

star rail's 2.1 update main plotline leans a lot more into existentialism and absurdism than i thought it would which is a really nice surprise

like i thought before 2.0 that at most it was just going to be some "oh no capitalism bad ipc bad cults also bad" thing but honestly what we got is so much more interesting. the spoilers start now

also massive disclaimer i am not a philosophist and actually i really don't like philosophy because it makes my brain hurt and i would much rather just look at logical nice things like math and plants so. if i get anything wrong please correct me

acheron's past and how she became an emanator of nihility reminds me somewhat of the absurdist theme of how people always look for meaning when there isn't any, until they finally realize that the universe is meaningless

and the entire path of nihility basically is a road towards that realization that people tread on, and the difference between the real world and star rail is that in the real world here we have people who will see that and then go write a book about a guy not crying at his mother's funeral, whereas in star rail it seems that just accepting that the universe is meaningless turns you into a pathstrider or even emanator of the nihility (not sure if i remember the details, correct me if i'm wrong)

and then aventurine's whole motivation is trying to understand why the universe is so cruel to him, and to find meaning when you have everything except freedom, both of which are absurdist themes

the leap of faith argument often attributed to søren kierkegaard claims that even though there is no rational logic for believing in god, you should do it anyway because the alternatives are madness, suicide, and ignorance. this was one solution to the problem of confronting the universe's meaninglessness: choosing to believe in a higher being regardless

later world wars i and ii both contributed heavily to the rise of absurdism as people returned from the war, having seen so many others die around them, and then just going back to a normal society with none of what they as individual soldiers had contributed seemingly doing anything. and then it happened again, but on a much greater scale with even more deaths. both wars and the destruction they brought led many people to start questioning why a supposedly moral god could allow this suffering, and this is where camus comes in and says that actually religion and nationalism both aren't good solutions, and instead we should just accept meaninglessness and keep living despite the absurdity

and i think dr ratio's scroll thing kind of relates to that

he tells aventurine to open it when he's about to die, or when he's completely out of answers for the question of how to confront absurdity

and dr ratio's answer for aventurine is to just tell him to keep living, good luck

which is. yeah

it's the argument that there are more answers to nihilism than just 1) going insane, 2) pretending like it doesn't exist, and 3) dying

it's the bold claim that despite everything, you can still choose to live

sure nothing makes sense but that does not detract from your life. it doesn't need to make sense at all

and with the understanding that things do not need to fit our human definition of meaning, we can continue on knowing our true place in the universe

and with that aventurine walks into the very big black hole like look at that thing you cannot tell me there is no symbolism there

let's go back to acheron.

in the part where you get a snippet of acheron's conversation with some guy just before this cutscene, the other party states that "[IX] leave[s] woven strands of fate for humans to walk, and together THEY weave a great shadow...And this shadow silently envelops them."

which to me sounds like a statement on how people across time and space have again and again come to the same question, what is the meaning of life?

and acheron's whole color thing seems to mean that she is one of the few who, after walking so far on the path of nihility, somehow have not died yet, be it from madness or something else

like it seems implied that many many more have seen the meaninglessness of the universe and have not reacted as well as acheron has

ok i have more to say about the elation and how it in turn relates to the nihility but that will have to come later but there is. a lot of interesting things there to explore

once again disclaimer: I Am Not A Philosophist And Do Not Know What The Correct Definitions Of These Words I'm Throwing Around Are. thank you for coming to my ted talk that was more of a longwinded ramble

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

I always thought that handcuffs were kinda stupid. As a little kid I would watch movies where the bad guys were hauled away in cuffs and I'd always think "alright, I guess that's inconvenient for them?" but I never really understood why they didn't just... take them off and escape

This curiosity heightened when I saw that my aunt had real metal handcuffs that locked with a real key and I quickly, before any adult could see what I was doing, shackled both my wrists with the cuffs as tight as they could go.

And when I say tight, I mean tight. I had reaaaaal skinny wrists and I was a child wearing adult handcuffs, so you'd think the cuffs would be loose but nope. Those things weren't circular anymore, they'd folded in so much that they looked more like the shape a cat's pupils turn when they're mad.

And what they don't tell you about real handcuffs? Those suckers are sharp. The inside edges are almost bladed, I guess to discourage exactly what I was trying to do but that certainly didn't stop my curious lil neurodivergent brain, oh no no.

Anyway, after about five minutes of pulling, straining, huffing and puffing, I finally went to find the adult with the key.

I was so disappointed.

And so, so hopelessly confused.

Course, no one questioned why I had locked my aunt's handcuffs and why I needed them unlocked. And, of course, I didn't communicate my confusion in any way.

So it wasn't until way later in life, when I had quickly shimmied out of one of those indestructible water park wristbands and saw the horrified eyes of my friends watching me with morbid glee, that I discovered that, apparently, most people can't dislocate their thumbs at will.

The moral of the story here is that neurodivergent children have no concept of typical versus atypical and that I cannot be contained by your petty mortal means.

[hazelkjt]

Glamtober 16- "____punk"

"I've once heard the setting of Monster Hunter described as Cavepunk, and I think that's right on the money." -ABItorial: Monster Hunter, A Culture Of Danger

Yeah I'm just taking this statement and running with it, since I agree lmao. Have fun with my attempt at a Monster Hunter inspired set in FFXIV! Tried to go for a default Hunter Armor set similar to how it was in World.

Glam List-

Riversbreath Faussar

Linen Turban (Mole Brown)

Auri Gown (Soot Black & Mole Brown)

Nomad's Armguards of Fending

Legacy Warrior's Breeches (Mole Brown & Soot Black)

Berserker's Leg Guards

Palaka Earrings of Fending

Zormor Necklace of Fending

[silver-tangent]

Breath of the Wild is 7 years old.

People turning 18 in 2024 were 11 when Breath of the Wild came out

People turning 20 in 2024 were 13 when Breath of the Wild came out.

We’re about to hear adults saying they grew up playing Breath of the Wild

[edens-trinkets]

how could u ever think of shipping gru with anyone else when LUCY WILDE IS RIGHT THERE.

[do-not-consume]

Sanders Sides predictions!! (On my burner account just in case anyone takes this too seriously) this is just for fun, don't sue me. (Includes all characters... Uhh in some form, there is no violence except threatened and I do realize at least some of it could never happen due to being too complicated to film in an apartment.) It starts very vague and then gets to dialogue for the really good part. DLDR

The video starts with Thomas. He's really struggling to put together a video. Logan immediately jumps to the opportunity to talk about the healthy schedule he proposed. Patton is summoned pretty early (pops up for a pun) but after he stays uncharacteristically quiet. When he's pushed, he admits he'd rather be quiet than wrong.

Logan assumes it's an anxiety problem then and summons Virgil. Who, for some reason, is avoiding Thomas like the plague. He tells them he has nothing to do with it, which immediately calls up Janus. Virgil leaves asap. Janus explains that, actually, he's not here because of Virgil, he's here to watch what Remus is about to do. Turns out Remus has been walking around all excited about this new change in process that's supposed to happen today and since he wasn't in his room, Janus figured he would find him up here. But there's no Remus.

Janus also looks confused as to why nobody went to get Roman. Logan admits he still doesn't like him very much and would have preferred if he stayed out of the picture for what is clearly a Patton related problem, because Patton is very soft spoken right now and Roman would just talk over him like he always does (and he had plenty screentime in the last video anyway). Both Thomas and Patton feel too bad about last time to talk to him first. But alright, if it will help the case, we'll summon him... Exept he doesn't show up. Thomas isn't scared, he's got complete creative block.

Roman must've ducked out.

They decide pretty quickly that they should go to his room (at least once Janus reminds everyone that they don't know where Remus is and what he could do if he's alone with Roman)

So they get into his room.. but it's dark. There are torches on the walls, beautiful paintings of Prince Roman, slaying the Dragon Witch, slaying on the stage, royal portraits of him and Mrs Snuffles. A single painting of two young boys, playing together in the garden, one dressed in black and one dressed in white.. And there's a throne.

"Well well, look who decided to finally show up." A man gets up from the throne. His voice sounds ice cold. And as he steps down into the light of the torches, they turn green. And they see a man with a big crown, worthy of a king, with a white streak in his hair and a sword by his side.

Janus looks like he'd just seen a ghost. "We have to leave. Right now. This isn't safe for any of us"

"Awwwh, Janus," the man before them slips into a Remus-like voice, walking closer and closer"don't spoil the fun." His voice turns cold once again. "You know.. I've been thinking about what you said to me last time we met. That I'm just the same as my brother. That we're both evil and cruel.. and it hurt me. It hurt me very very deeply," he grabs Janus by the cape. Others try to help him but he dismisses them. "I never wanted to leave my room again, how much it hurt. I couldn't believe you would say something like that... Something so.. true. I was too blind to see it before, but you were right. I am just as bad, as my brother is. And if I'm just as bad.. there's no reason to stay split apart."

Logan finally gets between him and Janus. He lets him go willingly. "Falsehood. You all have your own specific purposes in this system. So please, Roman-" a deep chuckle interrupts him

"Roman? Oh, haha, no. Roman's dead now. Me and my brother are one once again, no prince, no duke, but King. No Roman. No Remus. I am King Romulus, and you will address me as such. Now, get out of my room. Before I feed you to Mrs. Sniffles."

Behind the throne, a large plume of smoke emerges.

"Well, that ain't a cat" Patton is still quiet, staring down a giant silhouette of a dragon witch rising up.

[bagea]

gm sniper custom

[lymooniee]

I think it's crazy to me that people try to deny lesbianism when it comes to non-binary identities. It doesn't matter if they're amab or afab. What matters is who they are as a person and what they are internally. Lesbianism is fluid, that is the best way to describe it. This isn't to say you can't have preferences for things, but everyone does, but those preferences shouldn't restrict you from your attraction nor make you perceive someone any differently than who they are. I wish people could expand their mindset on this a bit more because attraction is different for everyone as well. But denying someone for who they are because of your preconceived thoughts of lesbianism or what a lesbian should be into in general (despite only lesbians being able to truly understand and define lesbianism) is so wacky to me

[flowerflamestars]

Effloresce snippet

Size did not matter. Her gaze came as though at great distance- the sun to a beetle, every tree in the forest to a single, bruised, blade of grass.

Amren. Not the, never the, but with all emphasis just the same. Amren, power of a different world, who'd watched Prythian so long she'd faded into folly and legend, length of a life too long even for fellow immortals to comprehend.

Elain dipped a deep curtsy, but she did not lower her head.

Look away, from that clear predator.

Lucien did not move at all.

"You," Amren said, flashing mother of pearl teeth, her gleaming eyes seeming far too other to be bothered by the hair she tossed out of her view, shifted on sea breeze. "Now you have a face."

Elain dimpled her way. Held, shoulders aching iron, neck prickled with a discomfort, a fear that was pure instinct, moving only when her smile- her grandmother's smile- was met head on in interest.

"Amren," Elain did not swallow, did not show her dry mouth, "We have a gift."

"We?"

A tip of the head. Lucien swept smoothly forward, low, to place the box before her. "Archeron."

"Not him?" Amren addressed only Elain, "Not a treat, a feast, little lost light? I've never tasted the sun and moon in one."

Not a shake, not a waver, Elain imagined Nesta's knife blade frown. The smile that was not a smile at all, gentry cut direct. "House Archeron does not sacrifice it's own."

A snort, gentle derision, melted all of Elain's fear in one blast. All the honor she'd ever had, burnt to nothing by her youngest sister.

Amren watched on, unblinkingly. Elain walked forward, respectful distance damned, and ripped open the lid. Did not flinch at the fresh scent of gore, the neat bed of the finest mortal lace soaking up blood.

[westwiiind]

“rahh they shouldn’t have sent the dragons away for their own safety! they were giving up and admitting defeat! they can easily take any threat!” first off, no they can’t, hiccup basically fell to his death like two seconds before sending the dragons away, and the year before that the fight over dragons cost him his father and berk its chief, not to mention how many homes were destroyed and how many ppl were hurt in both the second and third movies. drago’s bewilderbeast’s ice destroyed the village. grimmel burned it down a year later. that kind of perpetuity of violence is so irresponsible for a leader to allow to continue indefinitely???? just bc “we can win though probably!” ?????? things are different in the earlier movies and tv shows BC THEY SHOW THE PROGRESSION OF VIOLENCE. after the first battle, they’re not gonna give up trying. after the third battle, they’re not gonna give up trying. after six YEARS of trying to change the world for the better (and the TWENTY YEARS hiccup knows valka spent trying to do the same thing), only to find that his island of people and dragons is in just as much (or really, even more) danger than before? yeah, excuse them for maybe considering “giving up.” in the first two movies and the shows, they hadn’t lost enough for it all to amount to such a drastic decision. by the time of thw, they had lost so much, and u guys apparently can’t comprehend the toll that takes. hiccup’s goal was always to protect dragons. how is leaving them vulnerable protecting them???? how is letting them continuously battle for their lives protecting them??? do u guys think these ppl and dragons have an endless battery for war and violence?????? the point was that violence was unavoidable, and no good leader of humans or dragons would let that continue even if there’s a noble cause.

[deus-ex-mona]

i miss her…