#a powerful lineage

[theancientwise]

The dynasty of the Karlingians and the Normans('Vikings' version)

My ideal cast for an hypothetical series about the Franks and the Normans (yep, i'm obsessed with this idea xD!):

Alexander Wüst as Emperor Charlemagne

Keira Knightley as Empress Hildegard, Charlemagne's wife

Viggo Mortensen as Emperor Louis I the Pious

Liv Tyler as Empress Judith, Louis the Pious' wife

Ed Stoppard as Emperor Charles II the Bald

Olivia Ross as Empress Frederuna, Charles the Bald's wife (yes, i know it should be Ermentrude of Orléans, but by the messy Vikings' timeline it is so).

and the irreplaceable

Clive Standen as Rollo, I Duke of Normandy

Morgane Polawski as princess Gisla, Rollo's wife.

[whitejays-galaxy]

That one episode in TCW

[jedi-starbird]

Time Travel is my favourite trope and I think we need more fics where both Obi-Wan AND Qui-Gon time travel together because no matter when they get sent it's chaos. They're saving the galaxy and being physic flash-bangs to everyone around them.

like before Bandomeer?

The entire council is baffled to watch as Qui-Gon 'never taking a padawan again' Jinn has suddenly cut off his post-Xanatos depression tour to return to the temple and beeline to the creche with a frantic energy. His wild eyes immediately single out a fluffy, red-haired initiate.

"You." he exhales with a pointed finger, slightly ominous as he towers over the child. Said child starts vibrating with delight. "Me." he agrees, launching himself at the man. Qui-Gon drops to his knees with a thud that cannot be healthy. Obi-Wan's attempts to clamber into Qui-Gon's robes and maybe onto his shoulders is thwarted by the fact that Qui-Gon's massive hands are cupping Obi-Wan's tiny squishy cheeks. He stares at the initiate for a few minutes with an intensity that is starting to worry people.

Finally, "You're so small." Qui-Gon sounds like he might cry.

'What the fuck?' Plo Koon projects at Mace.

"I'm 9! That tends to be the case!" the child chirps back.

"You're nine." Oh. Ah. Qui-Gon's eyes are distinctively misty. He squishes the boy in a hug so hard he squeaks. Mace makes a series of gestures that imply the need for a head-scan. Depa obligingly drifts off towards the halls. Qui-Gon scoops the child up onto his hip and claims him as his padawan on the spot. The assorted council members and creche-masters burst into noise. Mace tells Depa to bring some space ibuprofen as well.

after Naboo?

Anakin is a little apprehensive of his place in both the order and Obi-Wan's life, but then one day Obi-Wan wakes up and is suddenly a lot less sad in the force?? In fact, if Anakin didn't know better he'd say he was almost giddy, but he's watched Obi-Wan try to pretend his world hasn't fallen apart for the past few months so it can't be that, right? And um, Miss Bant? He knows grief is a funny thing that affects people differently but he's pretty sure 'massive mood swing' and 'having full conversations with invisible people' is not...great? and you said to tell you if Obi-Wan got really weird in any way.

Anyway after a lot of medical exams, intense consultation with the archives, and a couple exorcisms, Anakin ends up being raised by his 'real' master and his ghost master. He is far more well adjusted emotionally and far less well adjusted for what counts as normal people behavior(not talking to thin air). When questioned on this, all he ever says is that he's talking to Qui-Gon. Isn't he...dead? Well, yes. Wait, he's a ghost? Ghosts are real? ...Well this ghost is real.

This starts a great number of existential crises among non-force sensitives and incredibly heated theological arguments amongst the Jedi. Whenever Obi-Wan is questioned on this, all he ever says is some variation of "the force got to know him for 5 seconds and kicked him back out." Mace backs him up on this even though that reasoning is technically blasphemous. Qui-Gon is having the time of his un-life. He's ascended to his final form, his sheer existence is a heresy, this is truly all he has ever aspired towards.

the Clone Wars?

The minute they get dropped back Qui-Gon immediately goes and haunts the shit out of Dooku. They have a signed terms of surrender and promise of info on the Sith Lord within the year. Only half of it is because Qui-Gon's giving Dooku complexes that are only perceptible to shrimp, the other half is because they now have a ghost spy that is not bound by the laws of physics nor spacetime.

Obi-Wan only nominally pays attention to this as he immediately goes and implements his 19 step seduction plan with Cody (he had to focus on something on Tatooine to pass the time). It fails. Spectacularly. Publicly. Ah right. Tatooine was not exactly the height of his sanity. Everyone in the GAR and temple is now riveted by High General and Councilor Obi-Wan Kenobi's attempts to go on a date with his Commander, who bats him away him like a particularly annoying stray and seems one bouquet of cactus away from committing mutiny. Anakin is worrying if it means his master knows about his secret marriage and this is some sort of really weird power play. (It is, but not in the way he thinks)

The next time Dooku goes after Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon spends a good few months appearing tear-stained at the edge of Dooku's perception and only communicating in terrible wails and discordant mutterings of 'padawan. my padawan. my little one.' 24/7.

"Wait, you're annoying Dooku into surrendering?"

"Oh no Anakin, we're crushing his psyche like a bug. :)"

[phoenixcatch7]

Okay so I saw this post about dark percy (really him reaching his Limit and fighting full strength with everything he had) and I was imagining the potential fallout of that. Pretty bad, as you can guess.

The thing is a lot of percys strongest moments happen out of view of the olympians, especially in hoo. The hurricane atop the glacier in alaska, the poison scene in tartarus, bending the depression river and the one in the palace of nyx.

Stuff like the St Helens eruption got him washed up on an inescapable island literally removed from reality until calypso gave him the OK, the achillies curse he got tricked into losing by hera. Smaller moments, the minotaur, fighting ares, the stolen pirate ship, walking on water vs hyperion, freshwater sources, him knowing both Latin and Greek, they're more easily brushed off or at least mostly due to cunning, sword skills and sheer luck and grit.

But basically the olympians don't actually know the full extent of percys strength and divine power. They have hints - percy standing on the throne, winning against ares, his many victories - but what they aren't willing to brush aside in the heat of (an important) battle there have been pretty strong consequences for.

Heck, just look at Frank, he's no prodigy with weapons, he's polite and respectful, but his distant relation to two olympians letting him inherit shapeshifting earned him direct divine meddling and his life force tied to a hunk of half toasted firewood. Man is a honey bear with lactose intolerance and he was punished with a mythical death curse for being too strong.

If Percy's true strength came out, he would risk losing everything. His freedom, most certainly. If he wasn't straight up executed he might wind up in a Greek myth style imprisonment, the way of atlas, prometheus, calypso, or something like the myriad of ways Greek heroes met their end. Good scenario he survives a dozen curses and gets on with life with a dozen new disabilities, best case scenario he's stripped of every inch of divine power and dropped back to the mortal world, not even clear sighted. Total separation from the Greeks and Romans. Oh, annabeth would marry him either way, and his friends would hardly abandon him despite the gods wishes, but they'd hardly be able to see him, and no long range contact without the ability to IM him or vice versa.

All of that to say Percy is hiding his true strength from the gods themselves - maybe not consciously, and it's not even power he particularly wants - but if they ever find out?

It's game over.

But why is he so strong? I don't know. What I do know is that the half bloods of the books are so much stronger than the ones of myth. Used to be that divine blood would get you divine favour and a great fate whether you liked it or not. Maybe some cunning and bow skills. A spot of spell casting if you were really lucky. Achillies got his curse after he was born, Perseus had a dozen magic artifacts, orpheus had something going on but hercules is to my knowledge an outlier. Now? Everyone in camp has some special power. Flight, fire, necromancy, hypnotism, dream walking etc. However it's happening, half bloods are slowly but surely getting a lot, lot stronger every century that passes. Meta? I mean I guess. But.

What no one has done before is something that their godly parent couldn't.

Except.

Except Percy.

Except Percy, in tartarus, at his mental, emotional and physical limit, controlling poison with his mind, overpowering the goddess of poison in her home, making misery choke on misery. Feeling something in his chest crack. Doing something poseidon could not, and doing it better than the person who could.

Down there, hidden away from the gods, he evolved. For that brief moment, he did something, was something new.

And that was how the gods overthrew the titans.

And that's why they must never find out.

[yume-fanfare]

angels

[theancientwise]

Now, If William the Conqueror doesn't wear a similar crown after conquering England, I'll be so rioting!

normans + the crown of ceasar

[prideprejudce]

AU Reds Poster: Alicent joins Rhaenrya as her advisor and wife after escaping her father's influence.

She escapes Kings Landing with Helaena and her grandchildren just in time. Unfortunately, her father has already sunk his teeth into her two sons who are ready to fight for their right to the iron throne. How will Alicent choose between her family and her beloved Rhaenyra when the time comes?

[zeb-z]

I will say it is really funny in RoP that Elrond swears an oath and then is immediately put in insane circumstances to put it to the test. like that’s some Feanorian bullshit if I’ve ever seen it

[smeraldo-heart]

“Cal adopts Kata as his daughter” is OUT.

“Cal adopts Kata as his little sister” is IN.

Today I’m thinking about this disaster family and what could have been.

The most doomed siblings ever.

(Alternatively the traffic light siblings, after Trilla’s red cloak, Cal’s orange hair and Kata’s green jumpsuit)

If I had a nickel for everytime Cal had a dark haired sister with a two syllable name that ends with A, who had experience being betrayed/not prioritised by a parent/guardian and had a complicated relationship with Cal, I’d have two nickels. Which is strange that it happened twice and also Kata Trilla parallels drive me insane!

I do like to wonder what it would have been like if Trilla had lived and redeemed herself. I think she and Cal would have a very chaotic relationship with A LOT of bickering, but ultimately she could help with a lot of the dark side struggles Cal faces.

And her and Kata? Well. I think Trilla would see a lot of herself in her.

Add Trilla “mother issues” Suduri, Kata “father issues” Akuna and Cal “I never had parents and hence have all the issues” Kestis together and you have a very fun lineage that totally isn’t doomed to suffer or anything. Ignore the gaping hole in Trilla’s chest. Never mind that.

[miraluking-respectfully]

TIL THAT "SHAN" IS APPARENTLY A VERY COMMON CORUSCANTI SURNAME AND LIKE. I CANNOT FUCKING TAKE IT THAT SHIT IS TOO FUNNY. THERON SMITH. BASTILA JOHNSON. HELP

[acourtofquestions]

"Would you let me do it, if I were Yrene? If I were carrying our child?"

He failed to block out the image of that dream—of Aelin, heavily pregnant, their children around her.

Prince Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius, consort, husband, and mate of the Queen of Terrasen, knew he was dreaming. He knew it, because he could see her. Slowly, she turned to him. It was her face—or it would be in a few years. When she Settled. But it wasn't the slightly older features that knocked the breath from him. It was the hand on her rounded belly. She stared toward him, hair still flowing. Behind her, four small figures emerged. Rowan fell to his knees. Children, His children. Their children. With another mere weeks from being born. His family. The family he might have, the future he might have. The most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Aelin.

A dream. That same dream.

She was happy for Yrene-for them both. Chaol deserved that joy, perhaps more than anyone. As much as her own mate. Aelin didn't let the thoughts travel further.

"I don't let you do anything." She waved a hand. "You know what I mean."

He took a moment to answer. "No. Even if the world ended because of it, I couldn't bear it."

[wheregoodthingsthrive]

dont you have any new walter hcs?:)

I do! Oh, how wonderful it is for you to ask <3 I've been thinking a lot about this guy since classes have started but these trains of thought are often broken into two categories: canon-related and self-indulgence. So, I'll try to break those into the two categories here as well <3

Canon-related

Walter's skills in gun smithing is mostly self-taught and a skill he picked up after the War as it gave him something to do, especially in the 'slow season' for vampire hunting.

He has three spaces that are truly 'his': the butler's pantry, the gun shop, and his in-house room.

Butler's pantry: his office and main 'headquarters' when he's on the clock but not in direct need. It is spick and span, being the place Alucard frequents as he is not often allowed in the other two spaces. Gun shop: connected to the Hellsing military compound, the gun shop is spotless, covered in tools and half complete guns perfectly stored away. Walter runs the shop exclusively but will sometimes employ the help of Hellsing ballistic team and eventually Seras is welcomed into the shop to learn the upkeep of her own precious artillery. The shop is huge, leading to the Hellsing hangar, and is rarely dirty. Should it be, it is a tell-tale sign he's been at work for more than a few hours. In-house: Walter could have moved off-site and away from the Hellsing Estate after he graduated university but Arthur wouldn't see it. As an active member of both Hellsing's house function and vampiric division, having Walter away and not on a 24/7 function would be detrimental to the service, on both ends. His room is a chambre de bonne, hidden at the top of the estate below the attics and is the one of four staff living quarters left in the building's infrastructure. It is sparse, articulate, and has many a war decorations, uniforms, pictures, awards, degrees, and trinkets of life hidden in various spots.

Arthur has tried to get this man married a lot, failing each time.

His discovery of his ability to puppeteer people was a 'crime of passion' moment in his development of skill. Arthur was not particularly pleased about this skill and asked Walter to never use it again unless in great duress. He would hone this ability in private and refuses to disclose how.

Atop puppeteering, the wires have a broad array of funciton once he mastered them. He can pick up objects, throw things, abseiling/rappelling, climb up things, 'Spiderman' his way around, build shields, lay tripwires/traps, sew/temporarily stitch, and can be used to sense things around him when devoid of sight (vibrations).

He and Integra's favorite activity is doing Sudoku. They'd often do as many puzzles as they could while Arthur was in meetings or at Conference breakfasts.

Self-Indulgence

Walter is maternally a Seward, giving him connections to the Crew of Light and thus the van Helsing name. His mother is Seward's only daughter. It is his 'Seward blood' that allows him to command the Monofilament Wires

The Monofilament Wires were developed by both the Sewards and the van Helsings in the Amsterdam, Netherlands. The secret of their usage is maintained by the Seward line, being a sworn generation passed trick of the vampire hunting trade.

Hellsing was much smaller an organization in the 50s-60s, making Walter and Alucard the sole operatives save for a few footmen/military command and a cleanup crew - because of this, Walter had a multitude of jobs regarding Hellsing's underbelly save for just hunting.

Killing was of course Walter's primary Hellsing non-domestic function, this is a given. His other functions included forms of espionage, diplomacy errands on behalf of Arthur, and surveillance. His extracurricular activities for Hellsing were mostly to quell his boredom following the intense decrease in direct violence following WWII and the political climate of the Cold War (please ask me about my Hellsing x Cold War thoughts). His work in espionage was mostly limited to his career from 1950 to 1965, ranging from straight spying (on vampiric forces AND humans), information collection, extortion, blackmail, and collection of dirt. He'd attend parties, rub elbows with wealthy daughters or diplomats, and protect the Hellsing image by any means necessary on a political field.

He has two favorite guns from his career: the Leiden and the Pandora. Both of which he has either made or modified. Leiden is a 1948 Jungle Carbine No. 5 Mk I, dyed and buffed a matte black. Pandora is a 1968 Ruger M77 MK II .270 WIN, modified with a longer barrel and a weighted stock. He doesn't always use guns, but he tenderly loves his rifles, especially bolt action.

Thanks for tuning in to the yap session, I like this guy a lot.

[riptidesblog]

Do you ever think how Wu had two candidates for the role of the green ninja and both of them were the ones that didn't get their powers from FSM?

[rawliverandgoronspice]

behold: my second least favorite string of words in the entirety of Tears of the Kingdom.

(it's a little less transparent why this time so I'll explain my thoughts under the cut)

So why do I not like this?

In so many words: because if you remove it, the scene still works, but you lose the moral certainty of what is going on.

This single sentence does so much legwork for the entire game (the kind I dislike), to the point where I'm about 60% sure it's the product of a rework that realized how ambiguous Rauru's position was as the Good Rightful King and needed to nervously reassure the players that Ganondorf Is and Always Was the Invader, Actually.

(no matter that it leaves the gerudos in this awkward in-between state of both invaders and victims, while never dwelling in the specifics of their history and their own agency in the entire thing; brushed off as a sin they have to expiate through loyalty to the winners of that particular strife, but without explicitely blaming them either to avoid the implications of what that would have looked like)

If you remove it, not only do you lose a pretty clunky line that detracts from Ganondorf's intimidating presence (who is he even speaking to? who needs to hear this right now?) that honestly speaks for itself when it comes to his experience with warfare, but also you lose any tension and any mystery regarding why he is attacking in the first place.

You also... kind of rob Ganondorf's motivations of their meaning. "Hyrule will bow down before me" leads to asking... why? What does he want? What does he see in those lands? And what little we get with Rauru and then Link during the final fight begs more questions; why do you prefer hardship to peace? Why do you value strength? What leads you to want to rule a land devoid of survivors, become a king without a kingdom? I don't think we ever get satisfactory answers. If you remove this sentence, on the other hand... Subtextually, it becomes pretty clear that his motivations is that he felt threatened by Rauru's power, which is ripe with subtext and questions about whether this is a legitimate reaction, whether his "no survivor" stance is due to a feeling of betrayal when his own people turned against him post the Demon King shenanigans... I'm not saying it would fix the entire game's writing, far from it, but it would already do *so much more*.

(genuinely, I think he could have stayed completely silent during the Molduga Assault, speaking only in the Show of Fealty before going completely nuts after Sonia's murder, and it would have worked MUCH better in terms of characterization but anyway anyway

EDIT: ALSO!!! that way he wouldn't speak hylian to fellow gerudos, which is weird inherently)

Without this line, the core of the tension between the gerudos and Hyrule comes front in his conversation with Rauru; it allows the cause of his hostility to be Rauru's invitations, that he would have taken as a threat, and would have still made him warlike and domineering without making him cartoonishly flat, because, once again, Rauru is not acting in a particularly more legitimate way when Zelda arrives in Ancient Hyrule; and it would have been... fair to point that out. And make for better characterization for Rauru, and Sonia, and Mineru, and everybody. But the priority was for Hyrule to be pictured as unquestionably holy; always legitimate, always truthful, always beautiful, always just.

Also, and this is more of a nitpick but: why would Ganondorf want Hyrule, specifically, to bow down before him also? Was he at war with the rest of the disparate tribes before, and just carried on his ambitions to the very very newly-founded kingdom as they allied under a new banner? (though it seems to be implies the lands were crawling under monsters in a generic sense, and not Ganondorf's attacks in particular) Why would he even consider Hyrule a legitimate entity worth taking over then, if it is so new, born from the will of a powerful rival, founded by what is basically a stranger to these lands? Why would he covet something so young instead of destroying it and just calling the lands Gerudo Lands II or Grooseland or something?

I don't think any of that was even accounted for, because, beyond everything else: to me, this sentence is so clearly and painfully crammed in here to shield Hyrule from any potential blame and immediately characterize Ganondorf as Bad without having to remove any of the causes that could lead one to side-eye Rauru's little pet project as equally questionable.

Beyond the clumsiness, it is cowardly --and, I think, a little damning.

[brooklynisher]

Wait hold on I just realized there are two Babclocks in SPG lore.

Taggart had to be the guy in the big hat right

Idk why but I remember him having a big hat

But he might not even have a canonical appearance

But I swore I’ve seen it before

I mean there’s one doodle Bunny made in the mockup show intro that depicts Peter, Thadeus, and a guy in a large hat. I just assumed that guy was Babclock. But even BEFORE that I thought he was the guy in the big hat.

Guys we need to talk about the Babclocks please.

[melmedardasworld]

Ya'll Mel is all alone now.

Like the way Black Rose killed Elora.

She has no one. And she sure as hell can't go to her mother with all of this.... someone needs to be there FOR Mel this, time and comfort and protect her. Cause she's been doing all that for/to others, and I need it to be reciprocated. At this point, I don't care who it is. I KNOW she's strong, but it's also alright if she isn't and can just be vulnerable.