#and he's interesting in his own right

[fallloverfic]

Do you have any theories on the Foreign God’s deal in Ennead?

I'm not sure what you mean by deal exactly? If you mean FG's contract with Maat, we know a bit about it.

In S02E49, FG states that he came to help Isis fight Seth because he heard that Egypt was a powerful nation. Maat explains this is not the case: the desert is the only thing keeping out foreign invaders. FG is intrigued by this, and considers the situation a "gold mine". Maat says, "You have your own destiny, don't you?" FG is aware of this, and surprised Maat is. Maat then offers to make FG, "the one who carries irrefutable fate, an offer. If you cancel your contract with Isis and retreat, I will guide you toward the path of your heart's desire." (S02E49). She says that FG has to go to the moon temple (Thoth's temple), and deliver a scroll she gives FG to the high priest there.

Maat notes that FG wants power and influence, and "wants to be recognized as a strong male through force." (S02E09). Maat promises "to tell him how to gain power", which is seemingly that offer she gives him (S02E09).

When Seth informs FG that the moon god is Thoth, FG gets distracted by the idea of Thoth being an attractive goddess. But getting back to the temple (with Seth in tow and safe from FG's rivals) is his primary goal.

Back in September 2023, Mojito (manhwa author) talked a bit about FG (the context being readers complaining about FG's existence in various ways).

Mojito said that FG was not originally allowed to intervene in Egypt's affairs. FG gets around this by pretending to be a part of the caravan, particularly so he can get closer to Seth. Mojito also notes that FG has done a lot for Seth. We know from the trial that he was at least in lust with Seth, and seemingly wanted to sleep with him or something. Assuming he's Greek or Roman, that kind of fits a lot of them: being led by their libido.

But if you mean like... generally what his goals are outside the contract...

As FG gets closer to Seth, he seemingly gets more curious about Seth as a person, or at least as a war god... but he still just really wants to fuck Seth (e.g., S02E48). Like that is the end goal, and most everything he does is in pursuit of that goal. He thinks of Seth as a sleeping buddy to be owned. Regardless of whether buying Seth as a slave was just a ploy given the circumstances (S02E77), FG truly thinks he can buy his way into Seth's affections or at least into keeping Seth as his forever.

FG is rich: he buys Seth, still has enough funds to start a war as he pleases, and seemingly runs an entire caravan of his own (S02E47-49).

Seth is also the apparently first "one" (conquest/partner, who knows) FG has gone to such lengths for (S02E46). What that means exactly when it comes to his motivations, whether he's just really horny or somewhat emotional about it, who knows? He seems to genuinely enjoy being around Seth and listening to Seth planning. I think he also enjoys how gullible Seth is when Seth is weak and truly out of his depth. He seems to find Seth generally intriguing. He does seem varyingly worried about Seth when Seth is injured. Whether this is because he genuinely cares for Seth on some level or doesn't like damage to his property, who knows? He's also territorial, and doesn't like Horus trying to make moves on Seth (S02E77).

FG is physically strong. The outcome of his battle with Anubis is unclear (other than both participants survived), but he didn't seem too badly injured. He hasn't been badly injured by just about any of Horus' attacks. Relatively speaking though, his opponents thus far have been two demigods and a new, brainwashed god, so it's hard to tell exactly how strong he is. His eyes, which are usually brown, turn gold at certain points, maybe when he's using his power. He most often shows his power when people stand up to him/potentially endanger something he cares about (e.g., Seth after FG buys him, Horus' bird spy, Anubis attacking Seth).

He seemingly wanted to take some of Isis' medicine back to his homeland for some reason (S02E46). Maybe to study it or use it on someone there.

He's playful and does a lot by not saying things or telling half-truths, but he can also just outright lie about things (e.g., when he explained why he didn't want Seth to go back to Heliopolis, because FG didn't want to be attacked for stealing the medicine). Despite his laid back personality, he's curious and also ambitious and will do whatever it takes to get what he wants. He's cocky, too, and has a low opinion of most of the gods he's met in Egypt (they're the same, so it's not abnormal).

He's relatively kinky. He likes biting, body worship, spanking, and teasing.

As for which god he is, I assume he's either Greek or Roman, given his god outfit and the ships his army came in on. I kind of bounce between Apollo or Ares (personality and ability-wise; Apollo is a god of medicine and a sun god, which matches his gold eyes, which Ra also has; Ares is a god of war, and that seems to match FG's outfit and ability set), but Zeus is an idea, too (when Isis uses lightning, FG is very interested in it, and Zeus is known to seek out conquests in disguise). And whichever of those he might be, all could change what his "destiny" is. If he's Apollo (or Ares), maybe he wants more power and influence back home. If he's Ares, maybe he needs more help winning a war. If he's Zeus, maybe he wants help beating the titans. It's really unclear.

Narratively speaking, he's one of the four designated tops for Seth in the story (alongside Horus, Osiris, and Anubis) based on Mojito's pillars story construction. He's not the designated endgame love interest, though (that's Horus). My assumption is we'll learn his name as he heads back to wherever he came from. He's also one of the main reasons Seth is trying to fix Egypt (e.g., he was a big part of Seth being able to destroy much of the caravan initially, and his presence as a potential enemy for Egypt is giving Seth a desire to return to his duties as god of war to protect Egypt), and I find that neat, because I like Seth having goals other than self-destruction, particularly given Seth isn't defining himself by Osiris in the doing. He's also a big reminder for Seth why going it alone isn't a good idea, because Seth currently lacks strength.

He's got a lot of facets to him. Right now, his primary goals are: fulfill his contract with Maat, potentially as it relates to his "destiny", whatever that is, and get more power to accomplish that destiny, and keep Seth as his own. He generally takes things as they come, though. So long as he gets Seth in the end, I don't think he cares about much else.

[josephsaturn]

I think that “Anakin was a slave child who was groomed by Palpatine and raised by someone who wasn’t ready to take on a child, thereby leaving him in a social limbo state where he’s surrounded by people but only has a few close confidants, with the one he trusts the most actively trying to take advantage of him”

and

“Anakin was taught right from wrong from a young age, first by his mother and then by Kenobi, but any time he was presented with a choice, actively CHOSE WRONG EVERY SINGLE TIME”

are two sentences that can, should, and MUST coexist to fully understand Anakin Skywalker as a character

Edit: PART 2 of this post here

[rookanisstuff]

The Dellamortes

[shepscapades]

X isn’t big on hugs, but Doc does what he can. It’s the little things that help.

[pinacoladamatata]

blink and you'll miss it moments around skyhold....

[lizhly-writes]

hi, i'm here to cross-examine liushen for a couple minutes. i'm SURE i can write a compelling liushen fic if i tried. it's not like shen qingqiu and liu qingge are uninteresting, so this should work. i should totally be able to do this.

first thought is perhaps a roleswap of some kind...? maybe if you switch the transmigrator roles between them? but i'm leery getting rid of shen yuan's transmigrator role, because that's a pretty big part of what makes him shen yuan... (though this does lead to a possibly interesting liujiu case where shen jiu is the transmigrator also and maybe they both want to kill lbh?)

wait! WAIT! what if we kill shen qingqiu.

liu qingge kills shen qingqiu during his qi deviation. shen qingqiu manages to save liu qingge and snap him out of it, but at the cost of his own life. liu qingge wakes up perfectly sane and with a body at his feet in lingxi caves. he is wracked with horror and guilt. he might not have particularly liked sqq, but that didn't mean he wanted the guy dead. after the demon invasion thing, he confesses to shen qingqiu's death, and everyone's like 1) well you were out of your mind 2) he probably tried killing you first 3) we didn't like him that much anyway, it is finnnne. yue qingyuan pardons lqg. yue qingyuan, by the way, is having a terrible fucking time right now, but pshaww we don't care about him.

anyway. liu qingge. he's having a shitty shit shit time too. he goes to sleep and has terrible nightmares -- memories of what really happened in the lingxi caves, of sqq trying to help him, of killing sqq over and over and over --

someone shakes him awake.

liu qingge startles and instantly draws his sword, because hey, bai zhan war god, it ain't the best idea to startle the guy if you want to stay alive.

of course this isn't really a consideration if you're already dead.

liu qingge wakes up to shen qingqiu's slightly-transparent face looking down at him.

that's right. this is a story in which liu qingge drags around shen qingqiu's ghost!

[thenamesapollo]

state of deltarune theories is so so bad cuz they all try to connect back to the theme of escapism without noticing that that theme isn't even in deltarune.

[shiremwa]

horror movie night with jacob!!!! ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!

[divineandmajesticinone]

25 Ji, Akasaka de (2024) I 1.04 "Wanna rehearse our kiss scene?"

[searchingforserendipity25]

further lawrence thoughts: the conclave is his trial, it's his test of character, his crucible and judgement. and, from a divine-will-as-narrative-force point of view, he's failed it!

and it was not because he was ambitious, in a small part of himself, that is not the sin itself. it is because he gives in to his despair, his narrow outlook, because he looks up at the last judgement and does not see the saints or eve or jesus or mary or god himself, his eyes are on the figure of the man descending into hell, entrapped and ensnared.

he let the win and make him something worse than what he could be. he wasn't able to look around him to one hundred + of his brothers and find a one of them to place his trust on.

the moment he places his faith in himself, despite himself, he is committing a sin. not of hubris or envy, even, but something more subtle and insidious and sadder.

from a purely divinely appointed narrative authorship, if he hadn't voted for himself, he might have ended up pope regardless. he might have been john the beloved, john the baptist, the one who makes new the church. he's steering the conclave beyond corruption; he's too busy dealing with human weakness.

mystery exists between certainties, but he has stopped searching for it. it is his obligation to focus on facts, reports, confessions, human failures; that is true, that is right and good. he is a faithful servant, the late pope's last faithful servant.

when he sits down with pen in hand, he's just looking for a way out and making the serpent's grip stronger with his struggle. he can't find his faith, he can't reach for guidance. from the start it is clear he is not able to find anything to lay his faith upon, much less himself.

the men who are dangerous are the ones who want it. it doesn't matter why they want it, why they reach out for it. envy, pride, lust, those are sins; but so is despair.

the moment he stepped forward holding a ballot with his own signature on it, ready to swear his is the righteous name that should be witnessed by god and counted down, he betrayed the conclave he was steering. and the old pope. and his own calling, by proposing himself in his heart and to the world as the best possible shepherd of the holy see. he made a false idol of his own name, and didn't even believe in it.

he betrayed himself. the whole conclave was a test, and again: he failed!

and the ground shapes, and the ceiling crumbles.

he's not worthy. the chalice passes on. some men aren't made to drink deep. they're the hand that holds it steady, the ones who fill it up with good wine. it is important work. someone has to do it, someone has to steer it on.

and the thing is. well the thing is, if there is a benevolent god in this narrative, it is in this: it cast him down before he could cast his ballot, it kept thomas lawrence from ruining himself entirely. the ground shakes. the ceiling crumbles. here is something for the doubtful to believe in.

[wortsandall]

jason isnt even angry at bruce for the way that he died, hes mad at bruce for everything after his death. so saying that jason's anger at bruce is misdirected anger at sheila is just wrong on so many fronts. because first of all-jason was never mad at sheila. yes she sold him out to the joker and got him and herself killed and jason knows that and tried to save her anyway. i think hes aware of where the blame falls but that again leads into the second thing wrong with saying that. jason is not mad about the circumstances of his death-hes mad at the lack of change his death caused. because if bruce had died, jason would've done whatever he could to avenge that. that's a part of jason's love language. so to have bruce basically do nothing and let joker continue to hurt others grates on jason. im not even mentioning the massive victim blaming that bruce does as well. but its the aftermath that jason has a problem with not the before.

so no, jason's anger towards bruce is NOT misdirected anger at sheila. again because jason's anger has nothing to do with the circumstances around his death but everything following it. which sheila had no part in due to y'know. also being dead.

[aroaceleovaldez]

Nico and Percy's dynamic through the series is eternally funny to me, because it's just. like.

Percy's having a constant mental struggle between his fatal flaw of loyalty with a promise he made to Bianca to protect Nico, versus his Big 3 kid desire to maim other Big 3 kids / Poseidon descendant urge to totally maim Nico specifically. He hates Nico so so much. He thinks Nico's annoying and weird at best, and creepy/sketchy when he's older. The only positive thoughts Percy has towards Nico are "He's Bianca's brother and Bianca was my friend and I owe her/He's Hazel's brother and Hazel is my friend and would kill me if I was mean to him," "He's a powerful asset and useful ally (if questionable)," and "He's kinda pathetic and I feel maybe a little bad about it." Percy has multiple occasions throughout the series where he strongly considers - and on one occasionally actually goes through with - throttling Nico.

Meanwhile, Nico is following around Percy like a lost puppy. He explicitly can never bring himself to even dislike anything about Percy no matter how hard he tries. He has a whole bit in BoO where he's mentally going "UGH he's so stupid BUT IT'S ENDEARING HOW DARE HE." He's totally smitten. He's making deals with his dad for Percy. He's making convoluted plans to help Percy stand a chance against Kronos. During the entirety of BoTL it's like he's playing tsundere - "I'm helping NOT PERCY SPECIFICALLY with this quest! Me helping Percy would be SILLY because I DEFINITELY HATE HIM." Then he proceeds to show up to Percy's birthday party to basically ask him on a weird date and spend the entire next book scrambling around trying to help him or protect him or impress him. And Percy could not give less of a shit.

Just. That dynamic is so funny to me. Percy is the founder of the Nico Protection Club in that he's the one they're all protecting Nico from and meanwhile Nico is throwing himself at Percy to the point where the literal god of gay love calls him out on it.

[knifetomeatu]

still devastated abt chop top but i LOVE bones so at least things worked out😭❤

[nerdy-hyperfixations]

Listen, I love Fiddlestan as much as the next guy, but where did we start getting the idea Ford was cold and dismissive towards Fidds during their time working on the portal???

I could totally be wrong because I haven't read every single GF related thing (hell, my journals aren't decoded because I'm a slacker), but like??? The first time he saw him, he bought him his favorite snacks *and* a whole ass banjo and said he'd make it his mission that Fiddleford would be comfortable in his home.

They go adventuring together and talk about things like fashion trends and the future and go stargazing.

Ford is *so* happy when Fiddleford returns that he hugs him immediately. Abd then he feels bad that Fiddleford feels bad about his failing marriage that he throws him a holiday party even though he doesn't celebrate and hates the holidays honestly. And he put on Fiddlefords favorite song (which he despises and honestly? ME TOO FORD. I HAVE BEEF WITH THAT SONG) and drank seemingly spiked eggnog with him despite not usually liking to drink. So that he could make Fiddleford feel better.

He also just openly adores everything Fiddleford does. Maybe it's only in his journals. You could argue he doesn't say it out loud but, like, he exclusively describes him as impressive all of the time-

And I get where it's coming from in like a "oh he's a workaholic who has the pressure of Bill breathing down his neck that he has to be working on the portal 24/7." And like yeah, but in the pages he's a workaholic he's a workaholic practically begging Fiddleford to stay up with him because he loves working along side him. Fiddleford and him work *together.*

Like the page where they're sorta fighting with each other because Ford wants to work more its not "leave me alone Fiddleford, I have to do this" it's "hey! How come you won't stay up with me! Ugh this is so unfair that you're going to bed even though you know I plan to continue working for another hour."

I'm just saying if Fiddleford wanted to cuddle, I imagine Ford's response would be "Oh! Awesome, I love spending time with him 🥰🥰🥰" but he'd just end up using Fidds' back as a table for his studies. Or they'd do that thing where one of them is working on a desk and they sit on one chair in each other's arms.

And, while we're here, realistically? Emotionally stunted, slapped by more women than He's dated, "I can't cry in front of people, and the only thing I'm good for is my fists." Stanley Pines??? He's not cuddling shit. He's got that toxic masculinity ingrained into him. It doesn't matter how incredibly touch starved he is, cuddling is too emotionally intimate and "girly" for him. Honestly if Fiddleford tried to cuddle him he'd probably throw him in a headlock because he's also been on the streets for years now with people constantly trying to attack him.

And I'm not saying this to diss on Fiddlestan. Again, I *like* Fiddlestan! But when I read "Ford could never appreciate him like Stan could" I don't understand it.

They so clearly bonded well together, and if Ford truly was being an asshole (or not an asshole, but just generally unpleasant even when he wasn't possessed) the whole time, I doubt Fiddleford would've stayed. Nostalgia and physical attraction can only get you so far, and Fidds is already facing the horrors in Gravity Falls, Stanford has to be a hell of an amazing person to make someone want to stay. Like, he's a grown adult. Sure he really wanted to impress Ford and allotted himself to be "the tech guy to Ford's smarts" but if he wanted to leave, he could've. And there didn't seem to much keeping him there. Especially when he was having doubts on the portal.

[mistress-riddle]

being in a relationship with tom is scary but not for the reason you think. he lures you in with his elegant and mysterious beauty and traps you only to absolutely yap your ear off, shattering any image you have perceived of him beforehand.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

Certain lines and scenes in seasons 1 and 2 take on a very different (largely tragic) lens after the reveal that Lu Guang dived to save Cheng Xiaoshi, but there is also something darkly comedic about this guy going back in time and planning everything out as perfectly as he can, only for him to have to frantically improv in several instances because the guy he’s trying to save won’t stop doing things