#a different sort of weapon

[wingedblooms]

More precious than soldiers, than any weapon.

@silverlinedeyes’s post reminded me of one of my favorite revelations in tod. I discussed it in the witch series a while ago, but I’m talking about it again because the language is strikingly similar and could be relevant for Elain’s role in acotar. When Yrene and Chaol visit the Oasis, we learn this:

Yrene turned in place, surveying the pillars, the carvings. No caves—none at all. “Nousha knew the location, though,” she mused. “It must have been important—the site. To the Torre.”

“But its importance was forgotten over time, or warped. So that only the name, the sense of its importance remained.”

“Healers were always drawn to this realm, you know,” Yrene said distantly, running a hand over a column. “The land just … blessed them with the magic. More than any other kind. As if this were some breeding ground for healing.”

“Why?”

She traced a carving on a column longer than most ships. “Why does anything thrive? Plants grow best in certain conditions—those most advantageous to them.”

This land was important, but the reason why it important was warped or forgotten over time. Healers were drawn to it and the land blessed them with healing magic more than any kind. We know there is a deep connection between the magic in the land and the magic of those who inhabit and care for it across the Maasverse (and that was likely emphasized in hofas because it has implications for acotar). This description of the southern continent reminds me of the healing land in the Night Court, with its slumbering heart and its full history and purpose forgotten. The peaks like green hands cupping healing waters.

As their exploration continues in tod, Chaol begins to suspect that the Fae settled on the southern continent to hide something, a treasure of a different sort.

Chaol said, “I thought only one group of Fae ever left Doranelle—to establish Terrasen with Brannon.”

“Maybe another settled here during whatever this war was.” The first war. The first demon war, before Elena and Gavin were born, before Terrasen.

Chaol studied Yrene. Her bloodless face. “Or maybe they wanted to hide something.”

Yrene frowned at the ground as if she could see to the tombs beneath. “A treasure?”

“Of a different sort.”

She met his eyes at his tone—his stillness. And fear, cool and sharp, slid into his heart. Yrene said softly, “I don’t understand.”

“Fae magic is passed down through their bloodlines. It doesn’t appear at random. Perhaps these people came here. And then were forgotten by the world, forces good and evil. Perhaps they knew this place was far away enough to remain untouched. That wars would be waged elsewhere. By them.” He jerked his chin to a carving of a Valg soldier. “While the southern continent remained mostly mortal-held. While the seeds planted here by the Fae were bred into the human bloodlines and grew into a people gifted and prone to healing magic.”

“An interesting theory,” she said hoarsely, “but you don’t know if it could stand to reason.”

“If you wanted to hide something precious, wouldn’t you conceal it in plain sight? In a place where you were willing to bet a powerful force would spring up to defend it? Like an empire. Several of them. Whose walls had not been breached by outside conquerors for the entirety of its history. Who would see the value of its healers and think their gift was for one thing, but never know that it might be a treasure waiting to be used at another time. A weapon.”

“We do not kill.”

A treasure of a different sort. Or what one might call a different kind of strength.

Later, when Yrene and Chaol confront the Valg princess beneath the Torre, their suspicions are confirmed:

“Why are you here,” Yrene breathed. “What do you want?”

“You.”

Chaol’s heart stumbled at the word. Duva straightened. “The Dark King heard whispers. Whispers that a healer blessed with Silba’s gifts had entered the Torre. And it made him so very, very wary.”

“Because I can wipe you all out like the parasites you are?”

Chaol shot Yrene a warning glance.

But Duva plucked the dagger off her womb and studied the blade. “Why do you think Maeve has hoarded her healers, never allowing them to leave her patrolled borders? She knew we would return. She wanted to be ready—to protect herself. Her prized favorites, those Doranelle healers. Her secret army.” Duva hummed, motioning with the dagger to the necropolis. “How clever those Fae were, who escaped her clutches after the last war. They ran all the way here—the healers who knew their queen would keep them penned up like animals. And then they bred the magic into the land, into its people. Encouraged the right powers to rise up, to ensure this land would always be strong, defended. And then they vanished, taking their treasures and histories beneath the earth. Ensuring they were forgotten below, while their little garden was planted above.”

“Why,” was all Chaol said.

“To give those Maeve did not consider important a fighting chance should Erawan return.” Duva clicked her tongue. “So noble, those renegade Fae. And thus the Torre grew—and His Dark Majesty indeed rose again, and then fell, and then slept. And even he forgot what someone with the right gifts might do. But then he awoke once more. And he remembered the healers. So he made sure to purge the gifted ones from the northern lands.” A smile at Yrene, hateful and cold. “But it seems a little healer slipped the butcher’s block. And made it all the way to this city, with an empire to guard her.”

Yrene’s breathing was ragged. He saw the guilt and dread settle in. That in coming here, she had brought this upon them. Tumelun, Duva, the Torre, the khaganate.

But what Yrene did not realize, Chaol instead saw it for her. Saw it with the weight of a continent, a world, upon him. Saw what had terrified Erawan enough to dispatch one of his agents.

Because Yrene, ripe with power and facing down that preening Valg demon…

Hope.

It was hope that stood beside him, hidden and protected these years in this city, and in the years before it, spirited across the earth by the gods themselves, concealed from the forces poised to destroy her.

A kernel of hope.

The most dangerous of all weapons against Erawan, against the Valg’s ancient darkness.

What he had been brought here to retrieve for his homeland, his people. What he had been brought here to protect. More precious than soldiers, than any weapon. Their only shot at salvation.

Hope.

The ancient Fae planted a weapon of a different sort—healing magic—in plain sight so that it could be used to protect the most vulnerable from the Valg. They made sure the right powers would rise up and thrive under the right conditions, like plants in a little garden. It could be a coincidence, but we’ve only heard that phrase used elsewhere in reference to Elain:

The little garden beneath the window was hers: every bloom and shrub had been picked and planted by her hand; she would allow no one else to care for it. Even the weeding and watering she did on her own. (acotar)

"Why?" Elain demanded. "Shall I tend to my little garden forever?" When Nesta flinched, Elain said, "You can't have it both ways. You cannot resent my decision to lead a small, quiet life while also refusing to let me do anything greater." (acosf)

It’s a dismissive phrase meant to belittle the efforts of both the ancient healers and Elain. But in tod, Chaol sees the importance of those efforts and what they ultimately represent for the future: Hope. Hope is more precious than soldiers, than any weapon. And in tod, Hope took the form of healing magic (and is generally connected to healing across the Maasverse). Yrene didn’t need extensive warrior training or to wield a sword; her raw healing power—a weapon of a different kind—was the sword.

Which ultimately brings me back to the questions Sarah planted in acosf. Why, exactly, were all of the Archeron sisters reforged with mighty powers? Why have they been brought to the most powerful court, surrounded by the most powerful warriors? What are they still meant to accomplish together?

We cannot answer those questions without understanding the mysterious gifts of the third sister. Elain has a different sort of strength than her sisters and for some reason, she was given such powers by Wyrd. Maybe her powers are a different kind of weapon that are needed now to address an ancient and familiar enemy. One that buried its secrets beneath the earth and warped the magic of the land to their benefit.

[quirinah]

i! ro! ha! (six years edition)

[cosmicheartz]

messy goat concept

will be working on a better ref for em soon

Basic notes

any pronouns but uses They/Them the most

their bio name is Judith but started going by Judas after their family was killed for anonymity reasons? ( tbh they weren't very smart with it bc both names have the first 3 letters but you get the idea ). They're mainly referred to as Judas by their cult and " Judy " by Naenia/Their Narinder ( quick note some info on that is most likely outdated )

actually has a decent/positive relationship with Naenia ( granted it wasnt like that at first especially because they were planning to betray Naenia after slaying the bishops but at the end they couldn't bring themselves to kill her so they spared her )

less hung up abt being a cult leader compared to Solange but prefers to use " Herd " instead of cult ( sounds better to them personally )

speaking of their cult during vesselhood it was kind of a shitshow due to them not knowing how to properly keep the faith up so there were a shit ton of dissenters ( didn't help that they were pretty aggressive to their followers too. ) postgame They got the hang of running their cult/herd and is less aggressive to their followers ( it helps that Naenia is sort of the secondary leader in a way )

They train their followers to fight so returning to missionaries alive is greatly increased

as i mentioned before in Solange's universe ( which i'll dub the lambverse ) Judith/Judas also existed and was close with Solange but ended up getting killed by heretics sometime before Solange's execution ( stabbed multiple time in the stomach )

on the flipside in Judas' universe the Solange there was also close to them and unfortunately got killed by heretics(?) sometime before Judas' death ( throat was slit )

as a result Judas (Goatverse) and Solange (Lambverse) had an instant connection and bonded fast.

there is angst related to the fact that they aren't exactly the same as their alternate universe counteparts ( the ones that died )

Judas often hangs around Solange's cult and helps her with training her followers to fight

[alopecoiddaydream]

I have my gripes with ai art but I don’t like it when people try to prove ai arts illegitimacy through the lack of effort put into it. It has this weird implication that “real art REQUIRES suffering and struggling” which is the same mentality that stopped me from just using those damn stabilizers when doing digital art.

[ask-misfits-of-war]

Ooooo that's what a paranoid person would say!~

And eh, I'm a wizard, and wizards are magic, I think that should settle things on how I'm not dead. One of your soldiers threw me pretty far and an enemy soldier used me as target practice, so that should explain the damage :)

And I believe that sword's name is Damascus Parastin? Pretty weird guy, got a detachable head and all that stuff. That's the guy who threw me by the way. And augmented weapons? Ehh buddy I've seen plenty of them in other countries, pretty surprised you guys dont have any. Why don't you have any by the way? Don't you want the war to end? Like robots could work, cyborgs even if you can't like program AI for them :3

*the fact he's saying all of this in a horribly cheery voice, like this is all one big joke to them, makes this sound even worse.*

"I should—did you say a detachable head? He’s a relic’kin?! He’d have to be…"

"Find me information on this “Damascus Parastin” and have scouts sent out and generals notified. It is of the utmost importance we have everyone left from that disastrous battle at least questioned, and we cannot afford to lose what could be a relic’kin sword if what this insolent 'messenger' says is true..."

"They’ve been slow to build and make more viable…we do not need nor want junk on the battlefield; we’d lose far more than we’d gain in resources that way—the last thing we need is our weapons spontaneously and frequently catching fire. Recently however, they’ve made quite the breakthrough with how reliable they are. It’s just a bit…slow to scale as it currently stands, unfortunately. I’ve gotten word we’ve begun sending more out towards the front lines however, which should bode quite well for us."

"Regardless…guards, arrest this impudent “wizard.” I want them out of my sight."

[paste1cqke]

Haven't posted anything cookie run related in a while lol.

[divinekangaroo]

One thing I adore about PB is Tommy's approach towards modernity. Straddling the non-industrial past and the industrial/modern present; constantly positioning himself on the cutting edge, if not quite bleeding edge, of period/era technology. Cars, manufacturing, shipping, phones, typewriters. Medicine, psychology, and even bringing in incredibly modern concepts into politics in that era. He is constantly grabbing at the future. It's this striking characteristic in him, all the way from S1 when they install the phone in the Garrison - ~if only we knew someone else with a phone, we could call them~ - through to S6's final episode when he even wangles a seat on an airplane to get to Canada without wasting time. So uncommon at the time, but he just went: I need to get there with least time lost, and matched requirement to a borderline experimental non-consumer-available insider technology to do so.

(Sidestep: Such an interesting juxtaposition of all that, with the constant representation of the pre-industrial-era Romani threads in S6, too: Esme, the hills, the horse, the curse, the mythology, the vardo, all that slamming up against an actual cutting edge submachinegun, so ‘contemporary’ it’s actually anachronistic by a few years (if my research was right, it’s a WWII weapon that submachinegun, not to get on the symbolism, but). Arguably, Ruby in hospital having the most contemporary medical treatment available while Tommy goes walkabout to lift a curse is another notable juxtaposition.

There’s also an interesting slant of his modernity balanced against what I call his hoarding habit — the most cutting edge piece of tech or modernity in 1923 he’s still hanging onto in 1933. But yeah, even with that the juxtapositions are interesting because they can only happen if the forward reaching/modernity focus is there)

So, when I see contemporary-modern!AU takes of Tommy that are like, representing him as a relatively humdrum part of the capitalist consumer status quo, or even as a luddite who can't and won't use an Iphone, I scratch my head. I do think he’s *not* much of an innovator, but he is absolutely a considered first-gen adopter and recognises (and takes) opportunity regarding tech innovation with little concern for risk.

I have contemplated would rich modern!AU Tommy with disposable income finance startups if they pitched well: probably yes, because he takes gambles; with a personally vested interest in the innovators in the same way he had that vested interest in Bonnie. Startups as horses or boxers on a diff playing field, win some, lose some, etc.

[girlbob-boypants]

Can't speak for the game as a whole but at least for the parts I've played I think if the game had leaned more into two external forces trying to sway your feelings instead of a bunch of options for paths you can choose to take it'd probably have compelled me personally a little more?

[inkedmoth]

plotting's going well 😂

(its for Aragorn/Arwen)

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

sorry to get all depressing on you but like. god i think so much about how so many young YouTubers and streamers we know have been victimised in some manner- some who have spoken about it publically, others that have the evidence used to demonise them- yet there’s never a drop of empathy towards them. people constantly blame them for not acting mature about being predated on as a child. there’s nothing progressive about using traumatised children's pain as a way to paint them as evil and that’s something I see all too much. it’s not funny you just hate victims. like i'm talking about actual confirmed fucking crimes here it’s wild the amount i've seen those be used to cruelly mock and demonise people like.

[quirinah]

aether/earth

[four-white-trees]

shishido beastman thoughts...

[cryptvokeeper]

I think haunted museums are an underutilized concept

you take so many personal objects from peoples final resting places, at least SOME of that shit is gonna be haunted or cursed.

Night at the museum is the closest we as a society have come to a museum horror story and that’s a damn shame

[moe-broey]

LIKE........ @ the prev post about armor flexibility.... Is That Why They Look Like That??????? 👁️👁️

Something else fascinating I found actually when I was comparing the Askr trio (knowing Alfonse and Sharena largely match, just a few differences here and there), wanting to get a better look at Anna...

SHE HAS BIG ASS BOOTS?!????? I. COMPLETELY FORGOR ....... it gives her a real sturdy look though. Hm.... (Thinking about what this means for characterization/how I'd draw her, esp w my initial impressions kind of. Being the opposite of this LMFAOOO oops 😥)

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

Karlach is very very nice tree and I am a squirrel heh

If you need help with the game just ask because before BG3 I had no idea about the playstyle either-

god yeah me too, i want to climb onto Karlach's back and hang from her shoulders she is my favorite and i love her

thank you!!! i'm very slowly getting the hang of it (not that i'm good by any stretch), but i'm having fun!!

[kaloetsubaki]

Would you guys wanna make a Lobcorp OC with me? 👉👈