#and i think they're very (very) zealous about making it up

[expertfool]

i’m addicted to your forthur posting and im curious, if everyone survived MH how do you think their relationship would continue from MH onwards?

aah, thank you very much! i'm glad ppl like reading my posts!

i think this is a bit difficult for me to answer for a couple reasons: i haven't read 'and another thing' or 'the salmon of doubt' yet, and i think my answer would change depending on the stories in them. i've heard 'and another thing' is considered controversial among fans bc it has a different author and the characterization is weird, but i still think it might make a difference about what i think.

it's also difficult bc when i think of anything post-mostly harmless i get very 'starry-eyed romantic' and want a world where ford and arthur settle down together or go on adventures. realistically, this seems unlikely. they've reached a point in their relationship by mostly harmless where they seem unable to communicate well with one another. i'm pulling this from the limited information at the end of so long and thanks for all the fish where douglas adams skips over the part where ford splits up from arthur and fenchurch. we know ford went back to earth for arthur since this is covered in the beginning of the book, but when arthur tries to ask ford at the end of the book ford very blatantly brushes arthur off. it almost seems like ford is jealous that arthur so quickly found someone else to replace him (fenchurch). i don't mean this in an entirely romantic way if that isn't your persuasion, but i think that ford feels jealous (in the way that friends do when they think they've been replaced) that arthur is now choosing to the see the galaxy with fenchurch when in book one ford had said he wanted to travel the galaxy with arthur. so, to summarize this point, ford goes back to earth for arthur, finds arthur has someone else to travel the galaxy with, and ford dips out the moment he gets a chance.

by the time they reunite in mostly harmless i think it's been about ten years. the last ford knew, arthur had been gallivanting across the universe with fenchurch. the last arthur knew, everyone had abandoned him to rot on some backwater planet. so, ten years no communication and no longer on the same page by the time they meet again they immediately get into a verbal spat bc arthur is fed up. but they also immediately fall back into old habits. the problem i see here is that they have the argument but fall back into old habits with no communication about either of their frustrations. it's like they wanted the emotional gratification of released anger without having to sacrifice the comfort of their dynamic and without any vulnerability. ford is happy to show off and look out for arthur bc it makes ford feel good, and arthur is happy to have someone finally looking out for him again, but neither wants to address how badly they're both on separate pages of their friendship.

post-mostly harmless, i think this dynamic would persist. it would give way to more arguments with equal amounts of codependency if they stuck together. if—and that's a big if—they could communicate, i like to imagine they'd help raise random along with trillian (and zaphod?) either on a ship suitable for long-term living or find a planet to settle on, but in order for that to happen i do think they'd still have a long stint of arguing and codependency to get through before the happy ending. i also like to think that arthur tries out cooking for a hobby—since he'd already been getting into it on lamuella—and that ford takes random on work trips (like a 'bring your kid to work day' bit), and random grows up to be a writer like ford.

[saltymongoose]

Hi coming in with another silly idea Imagine that the Player is in early Nevada, and around the time Nexus is supposed to fall they fall into a type of coma. Jeb goes through with his plan (painfully without the player by his side), Hofnarr turns into Tricky with his last thoughts begging for the Player to come back. Phobos' fight being much more easy due to the fact he thinks his god abandoned him. Then the Player comes back like "hey sorry about that" and Jeb starts wailing while Tricky goes YIPPEE and runs around them like an excited dog.

Why is everything you draw so cute omg 😭, everyone is so adorable here. It's honestly a little weird to see the Employers look so huggable, I love it.

To actually get into the scenario though, my thoughts on this are far too long to make it into a normal ask response, so you're getting some sort of unofficial hcs instead lol. Enjoy!

<The Player Falls into a Coma before the Fall> ft. Jebus, Hofnarr/Tricky, the Employers & Phobos

(TW: Yandere)

There was no warning for your sudden coma whatsoever. At most, you felt a tad more exhausted than usual at the end of the day, but this can be attributed to many different things, so of course you wouldn't worry about it. Neither would anyone else either, for that matter.

You had absolutely no idea that when you slowly fell asleep that night, you wouldn't be waking up again for a very long time.

It certainly wouldn’t take long for those you know to find out about your condition either. For one, Hofnarr and Jeb would want to recap their plan with you before going through with it, so naturally they stopped by for that. However, they find you unconscious and completely unresponsive to their every attempt to wake you. To make matters worse, there isn't a sign that you'd been awake at all in the past few days; the buildup of dust on your furniture and the letters in your mailbox shows as much.

Despite their worry, they’d eventually have to leave your side, if only to get more medical supplies and other things to help you. This opens up a window for the others in your life to finally take action, those being the Employers.

The shadowy figures had been keeping tabs on you all the time, so when you just didn't wake up, they would probably be the first to know - even if their actions came second to the Nexus Scientist's.

(You didn’t send the Deliberator a “good morning” text and he started panicking. What could possibly be so bad that you didn't speak to him? A cursory call to the worried AAHW agents the Auditor had sent to tail you was proof enough that you'd deviated from your usual schedule, and you weren't the type to ever be late.)

They were quick to take you from your home and to a more secret place, so that they could keep close observation over you.

Honestly, despite how much the Employers might brag about knowing you better than anyone else (a privilege they gained from being the first to realize your existence), they truly know little about your anatomy. However, they can tell that sleeping for full days isn't normal at all, judging by your previous behavior.

They're also far too stubborn to ask any other mortals for help as well, so they simply resigned to try to help you themselves while keeping you safe with them. They couldn't do much else, so hopefully you'd understand that once you awoke in a strange place.

Nevada rots without your guidance and the grunts you were close to were left reeling by this (unintentional) abandonment you committed.

Phobos loses much of his drive due to his own emotional frailty as he grappled with his uncharacteristic self-doubt and questioning. As it happens, this also makes him more zealous as well. In his last moments, he has a second wind, believing that if he just fights hard enough, you might decide to come back and help him in his battle against Christoff. (But you don't. You couldn't.)

Jebus' feelings are surprisingly parallel to the Director's in terms of worship and near zealotry. Except, he believes it might be his fault that you left, which only increases the fervor he has to complete his plans. It will be painful without you there, but this agony is his repentance for the sins which he has wronged you with. It is only through this that he believes you might show your presence once more, even if it’s not now.

Unfortunately, Hofnarr's transformation into Tricky was just as painful as it would be otherwise, and the pain of abandonment just makes it worse. Funny, how the pictures taken of you with him and Christoff were miraculously unscathed within Hofnarr's lab even after Tricky came to be. The zombified clown must have found some value in them, even if he couldn’t remember the complete reason why he felt so warm when he looked at them.

Of course, you did actually awaken eventually. You had no idea how much time had passed when you woke up, so seeing the Employers look so uncharacteristically worried when you woke up was really odd. You honestly think they’d be weepy if they had the ability to cry.

You really didn’t know how to react to the news that you’d essentially been in a coma for thirty years. Your first course of action is to find Jeb and Tricky to find out what actually happened since you feared your early appearance might’ve had an impact on the timeline regarding Nevada’s fall. This leads to very different reactions.

Jeb isn't one to typically show much vulnerability, but seeing you again completely shatters those walls he's kept up for so long. At first, he thinks you're just a hallucination; the culmination of all the longing he has for you finally taking its toll on his broken mind as almost a cruel joke. 

The first words he speaks to you after thirty years is a short, "You're not real", said as more of an insistence to himself than anything. But when he comes closer and you don’t disappear, and he reaches out a trembling hand to rest lightly on your shoulder, and you stay, he just breaks. The warmth of your form washes over him like it used to, and suddenly he feels an uncomfortable tightness well up in his throat as tears gather in his eyes.

You reach up to hold his taller form closer to you, sinking to the ground with him as he buries his face into your neck and sobs. His hold on you is soft, and his hands are still shaky; he's holding you like he's scared of shattering you, and he only gets weaker when you whisper soothing words and apologies to him.

Compared to Jebus, your meeting with Tricky was a lot more upbeat. It’s probably because he was spared much of the reflection and sorrow that Jeb went through due to his rather unstable mental state, but that didn’t stop him from somehow recognizing you. It’s almost like a switch flipped in his mind, and he went from violently slamming his sign into some poor grunt's face to freezing at the sight of your face.

He then tosses the sign away and almost launches himself at you to envelop you in a tight bear hug, screaming excitedly while you grin back rather tiredly. (You hope your eardrums will be okay after this.) But in the next second, he's whirling away from you, flailing his hands as he continues to talk.

It’s like being greeted by your dog after being away for months; he never stops moving or asking hurried questions about where you’ve been, intermittent with little words about how much he’s missed you.

Both Jeb and Tricky are very clingy after this. Even if they don't get along now, they're not willing to let you leave their sides after this, especially not when you go to sleep. (What if you fall into a coma again? Someone has to be there to take care of you.)

Deep down, they also have a striking suspicion that someone was behind your coma. They didn't know who exactly, but there was no other explanation to them than this. How else would you, Nevada's most powerful being, fall into such a state?

(In the near future, when you come across Hank and the others, let's just say that your scientists won't be deterred from leaving your side quite so easily. You'd been gone for thirty years, so you should only expect their companionship to remain more permanent for the coming years.)

[orcboxer]

thinkin about tumblr

it's been fascinating to watch tumblr culture develop over the years, where it was 99% fandom shit to begin with, and I feel like maybe the social justice side of tumblr started developing around the brony discourse era? not sure if that was the first, it's been a minute. but like it was technically a fandom thing, but it was about politics in fandoms, and with all these political posts circulating we started seeing entire blogs dedicated to politics in fandoms, leading to the absolutely foundational "your fave is problematic" era, which I think really set the tone for tumblr politics forever. single out a person, decide they're Bad, look through everything they've ever said and let confirmation bias guide you to something politically Bad or Close Enough To Bad For You To Assume It Is, then call it out and guilt trip anyone who doesn't circulate your very impassioned rant. maybe call them out too. and as with all communities, we start developing our own jargon as bloggers with academic backgrounds use important-sounding words that capture an Idea As Seen By Tumblr At A Specific Time, terms which eventually fall out of fashion and must be replaced by new terms and new ways of identifying things and people as Ontologically Bad. and in order to justify it, you gotta use the most superlative language possible, you have to draw a connection between the person and tumblr's current Worst Things Imaginable.

there can be no defense, no two-way discussion, no neutrality, the Bad Thing must be loudly denounced at every opportunity, whenever it comes up. if someone previously Good is suddenly called out as Bad, then they were always Bad to begin with, they were never truly Good. it was always obvious they were actually Bad, and you guys just didn't notice because you don't care how their Bad affects other people (guilt trip). distorted comparisons are made until every Bad thing becomes Maximally Bad, so that all Bad things are equivalent.

a whole community of politics built on this attitude that it is better to condemn the innocent than support the guilty. rage is a virtue and if you're just zealous enough you'll prove your status as a Good person. nuance is just a silencing tactic, not a safety mechanism. everything is obvious and everyone Good agrees with me. and on top of that somebody is gonna try to make it about fandoms again.

[buddiebeginz]

it's funny because aside from the crazies the normal BT fans don't like the scene because it's confirming this relationship is very much just extremely casual and about just sex. this situationship is gonna end in s8 for sure. oliver knows this as well which is why he doeosn't touch this shit wiht a ten foot pole also the way they harass him and ryan in his dm's and attack ryan and they're shocked oliver blocks their asses when they attack one of his best friends whom btw both oliver and ryan are already captains of a ship which pisses them off i'm sure.

I honestly can't wait to see that nothing of a ship go down in flames. That fandom has been insufferable to deal with and not just for the Buddie fandom but like you pointed out some of them have harassed Oliver and Ryan and even journalists. They've also spammed the 911 accounts with B*mmy comments and they message Tim all the time.

I have no problem with people who ship something different than me but I really can't wait for T*mmy to be gone because ever since that ship became a thing the entire 911 fandom has been worse off.

I blame Lou and his cameos for some of this though because if he hadn't been feeding into their delusions and giving them attention some of the more zealous ones might not have gotten as out of hand as they have. I also think without the cameos those fans might have had a more realistic picture of where things were headed. Instead some of them firmly believe that s7 was setting up T*mmy to be Buck's endgame love interest.

I get being hopeful and rooting for your ship but they completely ignore what's actually being shown on screen while somehow also acting like canon is the only thing that matters. Make it make sense. 🤦‍♀️Like they attack people simply for celebrating Eddie as a queer character because they haven't said he's queer on the show so that's not allowed. Nevermind the fact that no one said Buck was queer before season 7 but he still is and has been. They call us delusional for still shipping Buddie and wanting to see them together yet Buddie had way more screen time than B/T. And what screen time they did have was also some of the most important Eddie and Buck had all season. Their relationship came out of s7 deeper than it has ever been.

Mostly I just hope that they're not going to attack Oliver and Ryan when that ship inevitably ends. Because Buddie or no Buddie I 100% don't see B*mmy lasting beyond s8. I know they'll blame us but I don't want to see Oliver disappear from social media when a portion of them get smacked in the face with the reality that this was never meant to be a long term ship. I wish they'd realize this is why he's not promoting that ship. He knows to some degree where this storyline is heading and he doesn't want to get peoples hopes up.

[mcgnagallsarmy]

Spuffy style Reading Challenge - #28: Alphabet Soup Challenge #2

A:

At Ease by The Danish Bird [NC-17]

Even with her eyes closed, Buffy would recognise this place in a second, and for a moment she wondered if she truly had ended up in a hell dimension this time. One that had doomed her to an eternity of Doublemeat Palace workdays. Buffy felt her lips moving, heard her own voice speaking, and as she opened her eyes she decided that a hell dimension definitely wasn’t ruled out just yet. “Welcome to the Doublemeat Palace, how may I help – “ She stared into Riley’s scarred face as she completed her sentence. “– you.” Her mom, Sunnydale, her home, Spike – There are many things Buffy misses in her life, but if she had gotten the choice to revisit a day that had already passed, this would so not be it!

B:

The Bad Penny by OffYourBird [R]

Six years ago, Buffy made a home in a new dimension with a Spike who defied every rule to be by her side. Now it’s time to put to rest unfinished business in her original dimension. However, a visit there quickly turns apocalyptic, and at the heart of it is the two vampires who set Buffy's original journey in motion, and both of them have a lot of explaining to do.

C:

Christmas Date by bewildered [NC-17]

Christmas Eve in Cleveland, 2004. Holiday request from Dark. Squeaking it in for the end of the Christmas Season. (It's only the 9th day of Christmas! That counts!)

D:

Drive by Holly [NC-17]

Freshly turned and very grumpy about it, Buffy finds herself in a weird place. One where her friends smell like food, her former mortal enemy smells like heaven, and the so-called love of her life has made it clear that killing her is on his to-do list. Throw in some overly zealous army guys and this is not Buffy's idea of a party. So she and Spike decide to hit the road at least long enough to figure out why neither of them can hit anything else. And since they're both single and free, well, Buffy wouldn't say no to a distraction from the never-ending laugh riot that is her life. And Spike can be very, very distracting. Good thing soulless vampires can't fall in love or she might be in trouble.

E:

Embers by Dusty [NC-17]

Spike's the best boyfriend. He fulfills all of Buffy's fantasies. All of them.

F:

Favor by EllieRose101 [NC-17]

Spike asks an impossible thing of Buffy––and is stunned when she says yes. Could he really have gone up in her estimation?

G:

Golden Hour by kennedynoelle [R]

Response to a challenge set by emilise: Spike never came to Sunnydale during the first few seasons. The first time Buffy sees him is during The Harsh Light of Day, sunbathing on campus adorned with the Gem of Amara. Oh no, she thinks, the pit of her stomach dropping and sending tinglies all over, he's hot. They start dating, Buffy unaware that her new boyfriend is a member of the undead. Of course, she has to find out eventually…

H:

The Halloween Series by spike_spetslayer [NC-17]

Buffy and Spike make an unbreakable pact during their first real confrontation in Season 2. Story includes spoilers from season 2 through season 7.

I:

If I Loved You Less by MillennialCryBaby [NC-17]

How long had Spike been gone? 147 days. 148 at midnight. Except maybe today won't count?

J:

Just to Reach You by Sunalso [R]

Post-Series. Spike and Buffy have been a couple for almost two years. The honeymoon is over and together they're discovering they still have a lot to learn about themselves, each other, and how this whole "normal" relationship thing works.

K:

Kaleidoscope by Lirazel [PG-13]

"Can you tell me, is this love that I'm seeing?" One by one, the people in Buffy and Spike's lives try to add up the obvious.

L:

Let it Burn! by Axell [Adult Only]

Her eyes followed the blood. Summers blood. She counted the drops. Ten. Then it stopped. If Dawn dies, I’m through. I don’t want to live in a world if these are the choices. Slowly, her head rose up. Their eyes met. Green and amber. A look passed between them then a nod. Her own voice echoed into her mind. I’m counting on you. To avenge her. Us. He made a promise. Until dusk will swallow them all.

M:

Melting Fire by Freecat [R]

Set right after Dead Things. The night after, all he wants is talk. The night after, there’s nothing she wants less than talking. And suddenly they find themselves in another dimension; one that Buffy can’t leave. There’s only one way to get her out. A way with consequences.

N:

Night Swimming by Geliot99 [R]

An unexpected heatwave in mid-March is reason enough for an impromptu pool party for the Scoobies. But when Richard takes a second stab* at winning Buffy's affections, Spike is all too keen to show her how much fun night swimming with a vampire can really be… *see what I did there? Set between 'Older and Far Away' and 'As You Were'

O:

One Step Away by violettathepiratequeen [PG]

Spike knows the way she dances. Not even Faith in Buffy's body can fool him.

P:

Pardon My French by Girlytek [R]

In retrospect, it was probably a bad idea to let Buffy perform a spell in French. Begins at No Place Like Home.

Q:

Quake by Holly [NC-17]

Following Tutor. Riley's kiss did nothing for her, which clearly means her night with Spike didn't take. But since the world is probably ending, Buffy decides one more lesson couldn't hurt.

R:

Rock Solid by Passion4Spike [NC-17]

Buffy comes to some realizations about herself, the nature of her love, and her feelings for Spike on the eve of the biggest fight of her life, but will it be too little, too late? Spoiler Alert: No, it won’t.

S:

Something Blue's Clues by cawthraven [PG-13]

Willow is just fed up with the way Buffy and Spike act around each other. What are they, five?

T:

Timelines,Schmimelines by bookishy [NC-17]

When Buffy’s sent back to her first year of college to retrieve an artifact for the future, she ends up on the day of the first inaugural Christmas Party at Casa del Xander. Or, time travel meets its greatest match, and that match is alcohol.

U:

Under The Influence by NautiBitz [NC-17]

A few nights after their engagement spell, Buffy has to watch Spike. Problem is, a psychedelic demon may have just spritzed her with a mind-altering substance. Will Spike seize the moment? Or will they just end up naked? HMMM.

V:

Vampire In Charcoal by Geliot99 [NC-17]

Hiring out her mother's art gallery for classes had been a stroke of genius, but when the life model for the upcoming class comes down with the flu and an extremely unsuitable replacement is found last minute, Buffy is faced with a lot more of her nemesis than she was ever anticipating.

W:

where the shadow ends by disco-tea [R]

For 147 days, Spike and Dawn grieve Buffy. This is a story of a vampire and a Key who try to cope with the loss of the one person who meant the most to them…and how they became a family along the way.

X:

Xerox by Holly [R]

Spike and Buffy leave Angel a parting gift.

Y:

You Learn by bramcrackers [Adult Only]

When Buffy learns about Angel’s history with Drusilla, she can’t ignore how he seems to keep everything about his past to himself unless forced. How can she love someone she doesn’t even know? A trip to a local mage later, she’s plunged headfirst into Angel’s entire sordid history in a series of visions. And dealing with all of that would have been a hell of a lot easier if Spike hadn’t somehow been pulled into it, happy to add the color commentary.

Z:

Zero by kantayra [NC-17]

Trapped together in an icy prison, Buffy and Spike find one way to turn up the heat.

[yellowocaballero]

going ape crazy over the latest installment in the roleswap au holy SHIT. love this akatsuki. rin with her zealous conviction and manipulative kindness. the horror of her smothering and reviving shisui for no reason. she's SO GOOD. kakashi being fully aware that what they're doing is fucked but just using it as a club to beat himself w/ rather than doing anything about it. yahiko trying to make therapy no jutsu a thing. god fucking bless

THANK YOU I LOVE THEM ALL.

Rin was really difficult to write - I think I need to write out a short story featuring her as a kid. Having a mental idea of herself when she was good is an important anchor to her life when she's bad. She has utter conviction in her team and her village, and boundless kindness for everybody around her. I think this grows warped into utter conviction in herself, and boundless kindness for those who she decides deserves it. I think she can be really interesting and unique as a villain, and I really hope to do more with her. Her convictions, ideals, goals, and dreams are very important to her - human life is not. She was idly killing and reviving Shisui for no reason at all.

Very accurate summary of Kakashi, haha. He's permanently in his Hound era and I'd say his depression is drowning him. He has no interest in improving his or anybody else's lives. The only things he still finds important are loyalty and love, but in many ways he's only loyal to the ghosts of two dead children. In Kakashi typical manner, he'd rather hate himself than help anybody.

It's almost strange - while writing it, I was thinking of him as the member of the Akatsuki with the clearest moral compass (yes, including Yahiko). But while writing I found myself genuinely asking myself the same question he was asking himself. I don't think I decided on a single clear answer. I think Rin has greater capacity for genuine goodness, while Kakashi is more likely to turn away from the Akatsuki without Naruto intervention.

Yahiko is a beautiful beam of sunshine who deserves his god complex and adoration of the masses. He's my little cutie-pie and all of his atrocities are for a good cause. Unproblematic king, the Akatsuki ARE a peace organization, never let Kakashi tell you anythhing different!

Regardless, the love that Rin and Kakashi have for Obito is very real. They're still very devoted to him. Or...like, the concept/memory/idea of him...same thing...right...

I definitely want to write more. Something weird that keeps tripping me up is the question, 'What's more interesting: outside POV of Tobi or inside POV?'. Seems like a simple question but it's actually being a big roadblock for a lot of decisions. I haven't done any writing in a long time for way too many reasons, but I have a miraculously clear weekend so I hope I'll be able to finally get something written.

[pierrotwrites-hc]

soo... luca consistently refers to the lady in his pov chapters. his people's religion/spiritual beliefs/tendency towards human sacrifice seems to play a big part in branding them less than human by their enemies. i'm wondering whether luca somehow resisted being brainwashed out of the religion he grew up with, or did they just... introduce him to ganymene and called it a day, without bothering to figure out what exactly he might already believe in? it sticks out as very noteworthy considering how thoroughly most of his culture was taken from him. i always thought luca's little patchwork belief system was interesting (the lady as the true goddess in his mind who would not help him and ganymene as the guy painted on the wall of the training house who's probably more inclined to listen to his prayers... at least that's what it read like to me) and i wonder whether we'll get more insight into it. i've always assumed that he came to the conclusion that the lady abandoned him on his own, but maybe that's what he was told and it just... didn't stop him believing in her? then again, solasans don't seem to know about her to begin with and probably wouldn't care to. i've been thinking about this for a while, haha - have a nice day!

oh, I love this question.

so, the Solasan empire has no interest in religious conversion. there isn't even an official religious infrastructure within Solas, because Roland the Conqueror liquidated it in order to fund his wars abroad.

Toby and Tybalt discuss this in Part II Ch17:

“Well, my great-grandfather Roland got rid of all the priests, you see. And took their property and gave it to the Midland lords, and melted down all their gold and gave it to the lords of Lyonesse. And the priests had been around for positively ages. Much longer than three hundred years. But when Roland got rid of them the common people stood about amazed and said to each other, oh, what a thing, now we don’t need to give all our money to the temples, we can give it to the Crown instead.”

Tybalt looked like he was struggling with several responses to this. He settled on “Some commoners do still make offerings at the remaining temples, you know, even if there aren’t any priests to bless them for it.”

Toby waved this away.

“Silly peasant superstition. Anyway, my brothers say that people of quality don’t give the old rituals the least bit of consideration.

as usual, Toby doesn't get it quite right. the Midland lords were given property previously held by the temples in order to ensure their fealty and cooperation; ditto the lords of Lyonesse with the fungible assets. of course, a lot of that gold went into building up the army and navy and equipping and provisioning them during the takeover of Kel -- a massive one-time cash infusion that future kings would never be able to match (though they've tried by raising taxes at an ever-increasing rate, leading to a corresponding increase in poverty, debt slavery, and general resentment of the crown).

since priesthood as a caste was abolished, religion in Solas has become completely decentralized. the few temples which remain are run by the devout. belief in the gods remains widespread, however, particularly among the lower classes.

so that's Solas. let's talk about Kel. you're absolutely right that their zealous religiosity and practices like human sacrifice are perceived as primitive and even subhuman in Solas. at the same time, Solasans just don't care about converting the barbarians. it isn't part of their imperial project for the simple reason that they get nothing out of it. Solas isn't really interested in "civilizing" the barbarians, in part because they see the barbarians as inherently and irreparably uncivilized. they're just interested in exploiting barbarian land and labor. sure, the Solasan occupiers outlawed some traditional practices, but they aren't motivated by religious or humanitarian concerns. they just want to weaken group identity and, in the case of human sacrifice, prevent the deaths of potentially productive members of the workforce.

this is all to say that there has never been a concerted effort on the part of Luca's captors to stamp out his faith in the Lady. he can have whatever silly little beliefs he likes as long as they don't impede his usefulness.

at the same time, Luca's own experience of his faith has been shifted and reshaped by trauma. he believes in the Lady, but also thinks himself no longer worthy of her attention or protection. the Kel have a warrior culture; the Lady is a warrior goddess. Luca's entire existence in Solas is defined by conditions of defeat and subjugation. the Lady is still the goddess, but she can no longer be his goddess. Ganymene fills that gap. he's a more immediate, accessible divine presence, and having himself been mortal and victimized, he can understand Luca, accept him, and watch out for him. the Lady is all-powerful, but remote; Ganymene is local, amicable, and welcoming. Luca worships both because each offers something he badly needs (Ganymene, acceptance and hope in the present; the Lady, connection to his past and his people). it's a highly syncretic belief system that has helped keep him alive.

[maestro04yayyy]

https://www.tumblr.com/maestro04yayyy/756257787180433408/sorry-had-to-share-this-with-someone-even-though-i?source=share

So, I ended up musing on this idea a little more & wanted to share some thoughts, given you seemed to like the premise >:3c

Firstly, I am thinking the statement which causes Chloe's brain to switch Juleka from "Attractive girl threatening me" to "Matches my freak, I must have her" would be something like:

Chloe: How trite, such zealous devotion wasted on someone who won't even look your way. Juleka: (Looms more intensely, nails screeching as she scratched the wall) You would never understand the lengths someone would go for love, unrequited or not.

But Chloe did understand, she understood all to well.

Juleka nearly stepped back on instict as Chloe lolled forward, somehting strange in her smile that was no longer quiet as cruel and her eyes shimmering.

"But I do know. I know the endless toil and bottomless depths the quest for love sends one to."

Chloe stepped forward and pressed against her, meeting Juleka's stunned gaze as she slowly started to rise, whispering.

"I know how it burns when the target was too high to so much as touch, to even see the one steeped in their shadow..."

There was a dizzying, confounding moment where Juleka thought Chloe was going to try and kiss her. But the blonde stopped, rolling back on her feet, she added.

"Don't worry, I won't take that kiss from you. But in time, you'll want me to and until then, I'll leave your little rose be."

With that, the girl pivoted and strode away, stopping at the door to send her w winsome smirk, "See you in lass, Juleka~" her name rolled off the blonde's lips with a strangely sultry lilt before the door closed.

There were frankly, far too many thoughts circling Juleka's head in that moment, pride at having spoken with such strength, relief that Rose would be insulated from Chloe's cruelty. Dizzying confusion at the blonde seemingly... Flirting... With her!?!

But somehow what stood out was the fact, this was the first time Chloe had ever used her first name.

_________________________________

Beyond that, I low key imagine Chloe making a very Chloe like apology to Rose. Mostly so she can be around Juleka without tension.

Which basically means badgering ALi's assistant into letting him stay longer & inviting both he & Rose as his plus one to some event. Passing the tickets onto Rose with a sort of, "Clearly my critical eye erred to not see the wuality of your letter."

Which mostly leaves Rose ??? Cos is that an apology, a concession, a what? But she takes the tickets & has a grand time so she guesses they're chill now. Weirdly Chloe almost seems to want to hang out even?

Juleka has no way to explain why she thinks this came about. Where to even begin?

Also she patches things up with Adrien, for a given value of needing to.

She also wants his advice on pursuing intense, dark haired girls who seem both shy but capable of incredible violence but who aren't into them.

Adrien: How did you figure out I'm Chat Noir? Chloe: (Play it cool, play it cool, play it cool!)

Not sure if that's "canon" but I do find the idea funny XD Also she's pursuing Juleka as intensely as she is in part cos of the "Matches my freak" aspect. But also cos she's like... Super duper gay. Like compare & contrast her rather minimal efforts to flirt with Adrien VS how she throws herself at Ladybug. She's definitely going higher with Juleka than she would with Adrien at the very least XD

Ok first of all thanks for sharing this with!!!!

Second of all, I love everything about it!!!!

Also I love chloe being all dramatic and theatrical, she grew up with adrien and felix, now I just wonder who was the one eho influenced the others.

And yep I cam imagine everyone being confues as hell but I think rose would just accept it, maybe she will think she power of friendship and love finally reached her, or that voodo ritual she did with a unicorn plushies actually worked and juleka doesn't say anything about ehat hapoened because she is half sure it was an hallucination the first time, I kinfa imagine juleka being is almost denial, thinking an akuma took Chloe's place because she can't be in love woth juleka(it would just be funny but likely to last very shortly).

Also yeah, chloe is the gayest person ever, she has fallen hard, juleka is a hot goth girl after all.

And god adrien!!!!!! I imagined plagg face palmed and cursed a lot, that or laughed loufly and came out so he could help chloe(god if those two meet it is going to be hell)

[starleska]

I just saw on YouTube that MatPat has made a GTLive about Welcome Home.

I’m honestly conflicted. On the one hand, I am genuinely happy that a big YouTuber like MatPat has noticed Welcome Home, as I do love his theories on occasion.

But I’m also worried. After everything Clown has been through with the sudden rush of a massive following, and also me knowing how MatPat’s very large fan base can be VERY zealous, I’m genuinely worried for Clown. I know they’re going through a lot and are currently on a well deserved hiatus, but I do have the sudden thought that the prospect of MatPat’s fan base getting too zealous may end up doing harm in the long term for them. They have done that before on other things.

And that’s not even getting into MatPat potentially making a theory video about Welcome Home when the project hasn’t yet left the Prologue Stage of its story, which may end up again doing harm.

I wonder what your opinion on all of this may be. What do you think of MatPat covering this potentially as a theory and do you worry about his fan base becoming zealous for Welcome Home?

hello sweetheart! thank you so much for sending in this ask, and for putting your thoughts down in such a respectful manner - very well articulated 💖 i'm going to pop my response under a read more, as i feel it deserves a good chunk of text for a reply.

and if you're a new Welcome Home fan - welcome to the fandom! 🥰 here's a simple guide i wrote which explains what Welcome Home is, where the story is taking place, and how you can support the creator.

okay, here we go! ✨

first of all, i understand why you're concerned. this explosive growth has been tough for Clown - and having caught the edge of the tidal wave of attention just for Welcome Home fanworks, i don't blame them for being so stressed! no one could've predicted Welcome Home would blow up so much, although it is a testament to Clown's artistic talent and skill 🔥

here's the thing: fandom isn't something you can control. i feel that even though this concern comes from a good place, we may be sliding a little too close to gatekeeping territory, and that isn't fair. i totally get what you're saying about the overzealous part, but i don't believe there's anything inherent about being a fan of MatPat's content which would cause someone to behave in a disrespectful, boundary-overstepping manner. let's be clear: we are not inherently more deserving of enjoying Welcome Home just because we discovered it earlier, or any other trait that would separate the earlier fandom from a new influx of fans from MatPat.

again, i sympathise with your perspective. i was an old MatPat fan myself: a real creepypasta-obsessed teen who discovered all sorts of cool fandoms through him and other channels! but i don't think Welcome Home being covered by MatPat means there's a higher risk of harm, or that those fans in particular are more likely to exhibit inappropriate behaviour. i worry about fandoms which, when trying to make sure everyone is being respectful, end up creating an us vs. them mentality...and there's nothing i dislike more than fans who believe they're more entitled to enjoy media more for artificial reasons, like if they discovered it earlier, or know more about the property, or engage in fandom the 'correct' way (whatever that means) 😕

i think that just because Clown is (very understandably!) stressed and needs time to adjust, doesn't mean we should try and halt the popularity of Welcome Home - which would be both unfair and impossible. there's no criteria for whether or not someone can be a fan - all that is to be expected is that they are respectful and kind. we should continue as always: being respectful, and echoing Clown's wishes. i think we should welcome all these new fans and show them a great time! and if a fan does do something harmful, we shouldn't attack them; instead, we should let them know why that's not okay, and not assume everyone is out to do harm. ignorance isn't always out of malice, and many of us discussing this issue have the luxury of being older, and having had our younger years in fandom under much less scrutiny. perhaps there's this lingering anxiety due to the claims of fans doxxing/hacking, which Clown has since debunked as being odd fandom rumours.

ultimately, Clown put Welcome Home out into the world for other people to enjoy. MatPat is allowed to make theories on Welcome Home, and his fans are allowed to enjoy it too. this is the same as an unknown video game being covered by Markiplier, or a similar property being picked up by the nerdcore music community. yes, it's likely MatPat's fans may be on the younger side, and perhaps inexperienced with fandom etiquette or boundaries. however, this is a generalisation! i feel perhaps this anxiety with new fans coming in has something to do with our own overzealousness, and how in the early days we began making fanworks/interacting with Clown's content in ways which he's since stated he's not comfortable with 💖

at the end of the day: whether we're 13 or 55; whether we compile large documents full of information about the Welcome Home story or write gushing posts about how cute Wally Darling is; whether we've known Clown's work for years or are just discovering it today - we're all fans, and we all deserve to be here. being zealous is what fandom is all about! the best thing we can do is just keep on putting out positive energy, and encouraging all of that lovely, budding excitement. let's keep helping new fans learn about the amazing story of Welcome Home, and making them feel welcome too 🥰

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Personally, I've been curious about your eldritch au you've mentioned once or twice... but that might be because I'm a Duckett for that kind of stuff lol

Ah, no worries! I don't mind answering any questions you have!

So, for the 👾Eldritch AU, let's pick X-Men Evolution as the chosen media. The adults are way older than the kids, for one thing. Victor and Logan would be the oldest, but instead of being about 200 years old like in canon, in this they would be closer to something 200,000,000 years old. The other adults would likely range between 160,000,000 to 20,000,000 years old. Very old, older than most countries, and definitely older than the kids combined.

Now, for the teens and Reader, they are, well... pretty close to baby eldritch beings. They still appear mostly human, but for the teens, they are more in-tune with their powers, and have the adults to protect them and raise them (the adults view them as very young. Wouldn't leave them anywhere near humans unless those humans are their cults, followers, or harmless/powerless to them. You can bet that Logan and Ororo are Team Dad and Mom, with Xavier as kindly Grandfather and Hank as the polite, secretly fun Uncle/Dad. Magneto and Mystique are better parents in this au, but are very, very protective. Victor is still mostly himself, but has a soft spot for some of the kids...

Now, about the Reader: They aren't aware they are a baby elder god. They weren't aware those were real, or that there would even be others... They know they are... odd..., but they figure it is just an illness. A hallucination. Their dreams are even stranger, of things they've never seen before and beings that border between human and beast and element and who knows what else, whispers of things they never remember when they wake up. Yet one day, they end up moved into a small town, between New York and Canada, and realize this town they're in is... weird. Unsettling levels of weird. People act strange... sharp grins, manic eyes, and strange beliefs of local monsters and spirits, it seems...

It doesn't take long for the adults to realize that the new human isn't a human at all. It's a baby of their kind. And they're quite pleased. One thing they've done is send dreams and visions to any eldritch beings out there, a beacon to bring them closer to their home... It acts as a way of drawing in the baby eldritches, so the adults can offer protection (and a town full of over-protective and over-zealous humans, to act as guards and sometimes food/sacrifices, if needed/wanted). Of course, trying to get Reader to one of their altars, somewhere they can make their claim over them, is easier said than done. They're a rather skittish kid, and anything pertaining to what they are or the horrors of the town are like repellant to them. Yet, their kids are determined... They have wanted a new friend (and maybe sibling), for awhile, and the Reader looks like a good fit to them. A new personality, and someone they have to work for to keep. And Reader slowly befriends them, albeit thinking they are a little odd... but, the teens aren't anywhere near as creepy or stilted as anyone else in that sleepy town, so if for once someone wants to be their friend, they'll try...

When one of the adults is finally able to draw Reader out to one of their altars (by a dream/hallucination that has them not realizing where they're going), they're ready to introduce themselves properly this time. They have met before, in their human guise, but never as they truly are... And it's about time to explain what they are, and what Reader is... The moment Reader realizes they are in the woods in the dead of night, they're freaked out. Only for something, something they've only ever seen in their dreams, to appear... Then they promptly run.

The adult/s is/are able to stop them, but not after chasing them half-way back to the Reader's house by the edge of the woods and town... Being able to finally slow them down leaves their newest kid a trembling mess, one who really does look like the young eldritch child they are... Explaining what they are doesn't take too much effort, and Reader is now gifted answers, some they definitely didn't want. When they try to leave, asking if things can go back to normal, well... they are met with a big NO. The adult/s want to make a claim, to have Reader as THEIR kid... and they are unswerving in that goal...

So now Reader has to deal with the knowledge of what the town truly is, that their friends and their parents/guardians are something beyond comprehension, and that they're not able to leave, no matter what they do... The adult/s do go about settling them in, yet have to more times than not ... sedate... their newest child. They're gentle, but they also realize this one kid in particular is stubborn about not staying, of being scared of them, of the safe haven they've made... But, it isn't much issue to keep them close... Some love and care will do them good, along with whatever powers they can use to calm them...

It is what any parent would do for their baby...

(The teens and Reader do still get along, agreeing that the adults can be over-protective. However, the teens are okay with their parents/guardians for the most part and having Reader with them, while Reader is... not okay with it. Cuddling between the adults and kids happens. Whether in human form or eldritch deity form...)

(I hope you enjoyed this! Ask anymore questions you want, and have an awesome day!💛😊)

[autisticsupervillain]

It's Fictional Throwdown Friday!

This Week's Fighters...

The Terrarian vs Paper Mario!

Conditions:

Mario has absolutely everything except for the Pure Hearts. Terrarian has everything. Speed Equalized.

Scenario:

The Terrarian intends to steal the Crystal Stars to use them to make a new weapons set. Mario stands in his way.

Analysis: The Terrarian

The land of Terraria, despite it's unassuming exterior, is a chaotic and dangerous one. The universe was created as an experiment by the Gods, a test to see if some form of cosmic balance could be maintained. However this balance was threatened by the dread god Cthulhu, who sought to bring all of Terraria under his domain. Luckily, the ancient race known as the Dryiads were able to overpower the dark lord, fighting it to the very last man and crippling him irreversibly. This forced Cthulhu to retreat to the dark side of the moon, where it would attempt yo regain its strength to one day attempt to conquer the world once more.

That day was soon to be fast approaching as a cult arose, seeking to revive Cthulhu and bring his horrible reign down upon all. That is when our hero enters this story: The Terrarian themselves. They were a simple nobody of unknown origins until the mysterious guide appeared before them one day and sent them off on their quest to prevent Cthulhu's return.

And luckily for all of us, The Terrarian has many.... many.... many tools on hand to help them fight the forces of darkness. This dude has more armors than Tony fucking Stark, each of which designed to help them combat that numerous beasts infesting Terraria.

Every armor and weapon at their disposal bolsters their already superhuman strength to some degree, which says a lot when they're capable of killing ghosts and blasting zombies into big meaty chunks with just their bare hands. Many of their armors, as well as their healing items such as potions, campfires, and statues, can speed up their regeneration, which is already good enough to help them recover from having their face ripped off. On top of that, many of their armors allow them to duplicate ammunition, allowing them to mow you down with their variety of gattling guns and magical crossbows with complete impunity. And if that wasn't bad enough, their most powerful armors can increase their capacity to summon minions as well as allow them to turn invisible.

On the topic of said summons, they're completely intangible, unable to be harmed even by those who can kill ghosts and effect souls. This is especially problematic when you have to deal with all the other things the Terrarian's magic can do. They can make it rain damaging blood from the sky, bring down small meteors just by swinging their sword, can freely teleport just about anywhere is sight or teleport all the way back to their base, and even nullify your ability to heal from it all. Their ranged weapons are equally deadly, capable of shooting poisonous projectiles, intangible projects (that go straight through everything that isn't you), giant fucking lasers, the works. Really it'd be easier to list all the ways the Terrarian can't kill you.

I don't think that the Terrarian wouldn't be willing to use this on you either. They can be shockingly ruthless in the pursuit of their goals. For example, they were perfectly willingly to permanently sacrifice their Guide's life to get a shot at killing the Wall of Flesh, unleashing the spirits of Light and Dark and causing untold chaos in the process. Hell, they even helped hasten Cthulhu's return just so they could kill it themselves and solve the problem for good. So you can fully expect some ruthless tactics out of them. Magically enducing confusion in you to get an opening? Check. Sucking out your very life force until you're nothing but a dead and empty husk? Sure thing. Spraying you with a weapon that corrupts you into a mindless servant of the all consuming Crimson, omnicidal Corruption, or over zealous Hallow right down to your very soul? Yes, they'd do that.

And good fucking luck retaliating properly, even assuming you could hit someone who can fly, teleport, and turn invisible at whim, their numerous charms and armors grant them resistances to poison, mind control, fire, ice, and many, many more. Hell, they can even resist your ability yo nullify said resistances with the right gear. And if that's not good enough, they can even transform themselves at will into a form that gives them a better advantage, such as a merfolk who can breath underwater or a werewolf with increased strength at night.

Even with all this at their disposal, the Terrarian does have some considerable weaknesses. That being that a lot of their stuff relies on their gear. If you take that away, you'd be left with an incredibly experienced and skilled fighter... but that's about it.

Having said that, they're still an underdog ehen compared to their competition. The Terrarian builds nearly all their gear themselves and has used it to slaughter entire armies and even outright gods in the span of a single night. For example, the Celestial Towers that sealed away the Moon Lord (Cthulhu), are powerful enough to pull the moon closer to the Earth in the span of seconds. The kinetic energy generated would measure out to 152.98 Ninatons of tnt, or 9x more than the energy needed to destroy the Dwarf Star OTS 44.

Source:

And keep in mind, this isn't even the Terrarian at their peak. They would later fight against the same Mokn Lord who was stated to be capable of destroying the entire realm of Terraria.

The loot they got from beating the Moon Lord is even stronger still. When you're powerful enough to beat gods who can destroy stars, you're powerful enough to do damn near anything. The Terrarian is far more than a simple Minecraft clone. They're in a league all of their own.

Analysis: Paper Mario

Mario "Jumpman" Mario. You know who he is and what he does. Even if you've never touched one of his games, you probably know everything about Mr. Video Game. This humble plumber has risen high ever since his humble days chasing after Donkey Kong Sr. Being basically the only competent form of security that the peaceful Mushroom Kingdom has, Mario has rescued its resudents and princess from the clutches of the nefarious Bowser countless times. But some of his adventures are a bit.... craftier than others.

For the sake of this analysis specifically, I'm treating Mario and Paper Mario has two distinct entities. While Nintendo has gone a bit back and forth in the past as to whether or not Mario and Paper Mario are the same guy, with several games in both series referencing the events of each other's games as canon while at other times treating the two as completely distinct entities, so really, you're fair to read them either way. Mario has about as much continuity as Tom and Jerry most days anyways, so for the sake of fairness, I'll be limiting Mr. Jumpman to his arts and crafts arsenal today. Even when treated distinctly, Mario and Paper Mario should powerscale off each other in stats regardless, because Paper Jam is a game that exists.

Not that being two dimensional has made Mario's arsenal any less vast. The usual arrangement of hammers, fire flowers, and mushrooms with various effects are all here and accounted for. Paper Mario is just as capable of making big jumps as his three dimensional counterpart and has saved his version of Peach just about as often. And what's unique in Paper Mario's arsenal is often times uniquely devastating.

Mario's papery proportions allow him to move in unique ways. He can flip between 3-d and 2-d to avoid attacks and reach otherwise impossible areas and he's been "cursed" with all manor of shapeshifting abilities, from the power to turn into a paper plane and soar through the sky to the power to the ability to turn into a paper boat to crosd the sea! Mario can breath in the vacuum of space (except for when he can't) and survive space radiations completely unprotected.

Moreover, Mario's inventory is versatile and deadly. The mega star can make him grow absolutely gigantic and let him plow through everything in sight, while his Pixl allies give him a whole host of powers. Tippi analyzes his enemies for him, giving him advice and informing him of their stats, Barry creates, well, barriers to protect Mario from threats, Carrie turns into a floating platform to carry Mario and pals out of danger, and Thoreau lets him pick up and throw enemies and objects over twice his size, among many others.

Over the course of his first adventure, Mario would rescue the seven Star Spirits, allowing him to overcome Bowser's wish granting star rod and nullify his invincibility. Mamar sings a song to put enemies to sleep, Skolar rains down stars from the sky, Muskular decreases the enemy's strength, Misstar restores his health, Klevar stops time, and Kalmar transmutes the enemies into stars. The Crystal Stars can give many of the same abilities, on top of powers such as creating Earthquakes and sealing away beings as powerful as the Shadow Queen, who could cause earthquakes all over the world and covered the world in darkness.

Yet, despite all that variety, Mario's most powerful and arguably strangest ability comes in the form of things. Real life objects of incredible power that can be used to absorb and redirect poisons, melt entire mountains, and even spin the entire planet! Such a feat, if performed on Paper Mario's world, would generate a kinetic energy equivalent to 154 exatons of TNT. That's enough to shatter the moon!

Source:

And that's on top of being considered equal to his mainline counterpart. The same Mario whose power stars can create galaxies, who could survive the universe being reset, and defeated the Megabug, a dimensional instability that was going to destroy Mario's entire dimension.

2-d or 3-d, Mario is one of most powerful video game characters Nintendo has ever created. No matter what side series he hails from, Mario is the mascot for a reason.

Throwdown Theme:

Throwdown Breakdown:

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. This is a big one.

The arsenal on both of these combatants is absolutely massive. I don't think I even touched on half of it in either of their run downs. And both of them have ways of killing each other right out the gate. The Terrarian could always just corrupt Mario into a unicorn, but Mario can just as easily turn the Terrarian into stars. As video game characters controlled by the player, neither side really has a go to openinh move in combat, so determining who wins the quick draw is difficult. And that's on top of all the abilities that just counter out, like flight, because they both have several ways of doing it.

On one hand, Mario cannot destroy or guard against the Terrarian's summons, as even people who can punch ghosts to death bare handed can't touch them, meaning Mario's ability to fight Boos wouldn't help and he'd be getting harassed all fight. On the other hand, Mario's ability to shift between two and three dimensions would provide a similar level of Intangibility, as Terrarian has never shown to hit a foe who becomes incorporeal in such a manor. On the third hand, Terrarian has even more ranged options, with a huge plethore of guns, bows, and magic staffs, whereas Mario heavily relies on either massive Area of Effect attacks or attacks that are relatively close range.

Both of these combatants can either defeat beings who or are comparable to beings who can defeat people who can threaten to destroy the entire universe, so there's no considerable gap in power. Any attempts to buff or debuff stats would get swiftly countered out anyways by potions and power ups.

So what's the deciding factor here? Well, there's a few things that work in Mario's favor here.

1. Unpredictability. As vast as the Terrarian's arsenal is, all their weapons are at least things that look like weapons at first glance. Mario, meanwhile, can just summon a giant chicken or stop time with a stop watch, or spin the Earth with a fan and you don't know which until he does it.

2. Analysis. Tippi is going to be able to give Mario a tip that the Terrarian is very dangerous and very versatile, cluing him in to the fact that he should open up with a winning move first, while Terrarian is going in blind.

From there, Mario could just stop time or put Terrarian to sleep before turning them into stars. While Terrarian could just as easily open up with an instant win move, they both wouldn't know to do so and would have no way of predicting Mario's arsenal because of how out there it is.

As versatile as these two god killers are, Mario is just that little bit... craftier.

This Throwdown's Winner is....

Paper Mario!

[jq37]

So, the Princess' Crusade is more of a cosmic suicide pact. That's disappointing. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop for a while though. Drosselmyer's prophecy from ep 2 never got out of my head: ''Many will offer answers. I would trust your heart and the heart of your companions alone". There's no Big Good that will lighten the load and make things easy, our heroes are gonna have to figure this out themselves.

Man I have been WAITING for their plan to come out this entire time. I admit, I wasn't thinking about Dross's prophecy exactly because it was a while ago--good on you for remembering it from all the way back--but knowing stories and knowing how Brennan tells stories specifically, I was sure there was no way the conflict was as simple as princesses good, fairies bad. Information on what exactly they wanted has been so vague and our heroes haven't been asking for specifics when they had the chance. I had a feeling Brennan was setting up some youthful zealotry leading to Bad Decisions and now, here we are.

This whole situation is really wild for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the princess squad are saying they're against the concept of these narratives and the power they hold over their lives, but what about the power they themselves will be wielding over everyone else by doing this? They're talking like they're doing a hard thing that's best for everyone though they won't be understood by the common folk and to that I say bicth(es) what? Who are you to decide that life isn't worth living in this form? No one gets to decide but you because you're the main characters? What kind of Divine Right Of Kings BS is that? As someone else pointed out in another post of mine, I think Alphonse the Mule would be pretty put out if he heard the plan was "Let's End It All" while all he wants is to munch some grass. 

And like, they don't even have it bad! How mad would you be if you were like, a witch or a giant or a monster whose fate in every Once Upon a Time is to lose and be hated and be killed and you learn that the people who were trying to take down the ship with all of you in it are the people whose job it is to suffer a bit sure but then be beloved, rich, beautiful, and happy forever with the men of their dreams? Like I GET why the Stepmother is like burn it all. Why is CInderella on that same train?

Speaking of why is this person on this train, what's up with Elody? Cinderella is like 18-20, right? I've been a dumb 18 year old girl. I understand that 18 year old girls can be very dramatic and fatalistic and rash. Elody is like 35, right? Does she know the plan? If so, is she COOL with it? (Sidenote: Is there another Elody running around in this version of the world or is she maybe dead?) There are like 3 options here. 

(1) She knows and she's fine with it. Which wouldn't really mesh with what we know about her so far but maybe with Ger dead she was like OK screw it. Team Let's End It.

(2) She doesn't know because the princesses knew she wouldn't go along with it if she knew the real plan. Def a possibility but I don't want to pretend like she's uncoruptable. Anyone can subscribe to a bad take at a low time in their life. 

(3) She DOES know but she's stringing them along for her own purposes. Listen, if MY useless husband that I loved died trying to do something brave for once in his life, mayhaps I would consider joining up with some overly-zealous suicidal princesses to find the power they wanted to use to end the world to bring back said useless but beloved husband. 

I guess we'll see how it ends up shaking out. And likely soon. I have a feeling this might be an Escape The Castle situation happening soon enough. 

Oh, one more thing. It kinda blows my mind that the princesses have learned of a book not touched by the Authors--Tim's Book--and are not  like oh my gosh that changes everything! They're still fully committed to this nuke all stories plans it seems. Guys please. Have just...a moment of thought about this. A sliver of perspective. A crumb of self-awareness.

[bjfinn]

THE HORNED ONE

An origin story for the leader of the Knights Who Say "Ni", for @foxden-frontier & @honeydewtreacle -- thanks for the headcanons!

And now for something completely different ...

Neil fell to his knees and pitched forward, stopping his fall with his hands, fighting for breath, as the curse ripped through his body, breaking bones, twisting muscles, snapping ligaments and tendons. A ragged scream escaped him -- it was barely a whisper. He collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony, his clothing tattered ruins.

Tim the Enchanter laughed sadistically. "That'll teach you to steal my eggs!"

"I ... didn't ... know ..." Neil began.

"Ignorance is no defence!"

"No," Neil agreed. His voice was steadier now, the transformation almost complete. "No, it isn't." Slowly, he got to his feet. "But ... maybe you should keep your chickens in a bloody chicken coop -- instead of letting them run around the forest laying eggs anywhere they bloody WANT!!! "

Tim backed away in terror -- his spell had worked, but he hadn't planned on this. The being that stood before him was absolutely huge -- nearly twice the height of the man it had been.

"Please!" Tim cried. "Please don't hurt me!"

"I should do," came the reply. "After all, you hurt me. But I've never believed in violence -- I'm a pacifist." He looked down at the Enchanter. "I ... I just have one question."

"O-of course," Tim said, nodding frantically. "What is it? What do you desire to know? If it is within my power to answer your --"

"What am I?" the giant asked. "What did you turn me into? And why am I so bloody tall? "

"Ermm ... that's two questions, actually." The monster took a shaky step toward him, and Tim fell, landing on his arse, and hurriedly scuttled backwards. "Of .. of course -- of course, they're related questions. Intimately related, one might say. Really, it's a two-part question -- and a very good question. Quite a reasonable thing to ask, if I may say --"

Neil glowered at the sorcerer.

"Where was I?" Tim said. "Ah, yes -- your question! Well, erm ... you're ... a faun."

"A faun?" The giant looked at Tim, perplexed. "Why would you turn me into a faun? I mean, there are so many much worse things you could have made me -- you could have turned me into a ..." He thought for a brief moment, and then a smile lit up his face. "A chicken! You could have turned me into one of your chickens to replace the eggs I stole. That would make much more sense than turning me into a faun! "

Tim nodded, frowning. "You're right," he said. "Why didn't I think of that? Ah, well ... it's too late now, I suppose. You're a faun, and a faun you shall remain."

"Right," Neil said. "Well, fair enough -- but that doesn't answer the other question."

"The ... other question?"

"Why am I so tall?"

"Ah," Tim said. "Yes, well ... erm ... I suppose ... I suppose I may have been a little too, erm ... zealous. Put a tad too much oomph into the spell, so to speak. Went a bit overboard, I'm afraid ..." He coughed, embarrassed. "Sorry about that, old chap."

"Can you ... shrink me down? Make me normal sized?"

Tim shook his head. "Erm ... I'm afraid not," he replied. "Once a spell is complete, it -- it can't be altered. Sorry," he said again.

"Ah. All right -- I suppose there's nothing for it, then. I suppose I'll just ... go live in the forest, shall I? Be one with nature, as they say." He clapped his hands together. "Right. Well, toodle-oo! Pip-pip and cheerio and all that!"

And with that, the giant faun that had once been a human turned and headed into the forest.

Tim watched him go, shaking his head. "I really should learn to be more careful," he said to himself, and started back home.

*****

Neil took a deep breath and looked around himself. "I suppose the first thing to do would be to find someplace to live."

Fortunately, he already knew the forest quite well. Being a peasant farmer had never really worked out for him -- he couldn't manage to grow anything worth eating, and he wasn't able to get his chickens to lay enough eggs, nor his cow to give enough milk. His only recourse had been foraging (no hunting -- he was a vegetarian), and he'd come to know the forest like the back of his hand.

He looked at the backs of his hand, flexing the fingers. "Well, that's not true any more," he said. "Just look at all this hair!" He looked down at his body -- a thick mat of light brown fur covered his previously hairless chest and trailed down his belly to meet up with the fur below his waist. His legs, which had always been strong, now were like those of an elk, covered in the same light brown fur and ending in black cloven hooves.

All in all, he wasn't entirely displeased with the transformation -- better a faun than a chicken. Or a ... a worm, or something.

"Right," he said. "Shelter first, then food, then ... Oh, I don't know. Do fauns wear clothes? I suppose I should have something for the winter, at least. But there's time enough for that."

He continued through the forest, his gait becoming steadier with every step.

*****

"This looks promising," he said to himself. He'd discovered what looked like a small cave half-hidden among the roots of an enormous oak -- the question was would he be able to fit? If he were still human-sized, it wouldn't be a problem, but ...

After a bit of twisting, he managed to crawl into the cave. Well, actually ... he fell in, when one of the roots gave way under his weight. He landed on his back, the breath knocked out of him, looking up through the hole at the dappled sunlight.

The cave was bigger than he'd thought it would be -- quite roomy, in fact. Half a dozen humans could easily fit inside, so it was nice and cosy for a single giant faun. "Yes," he said, "I think this'll do nicely." He stood up and banged his ... what was on his head???

"I really must get a look at myself," he muttered.

He climbed out of the cave and started in the direction of a small pond he had often visited.

In short order he reached the pond. Nervously, he took a deep breath and leaned over to see his reflection.

His face hadn't changed, at least -- the scruffy beard, the brown eyes, the perfectly shaped nose ... he was still a handsome devil. He smiled -- his teeth were unchanged, as well. Suddenly he gasped in shock.

Growing out of the top of his head was a pair of magnificent antlers -- gently curved, and with two large branches each.

He hadn't expected that!

Still, the more he looked at them, the more he was all right with the idea. They were quite elegant, after all. Even ... distinguished, one might say.

*****

By the end of the week, he'd become accustomed to his new existence. He'd gotten used to walking on hooves instead of feet, he'd learned to turn his head to avoid getting his antlers caught in the branches of the trees ... There was only one thing that bothered him, though -- he'd begun to forget his own name.

"I know it starts with N," he muttered. "Norris? Nigel? Newton?" He sighed dejectedly. "Well, whatever it is, it's not me any more, is it? I suppose there's nothing for it but to give myself a new name." He thought long and hard about what sort of name a giant faun might have, but it was no use -- he couldn't think of anything.

"Hmm ... I'm a bit peckish," he said. Since embarking on his new life, he'd begun talking to himself quite a bit to stave off the loneliness. "Maybe just a nibble ...

"That's it! Nibble! " He frowned and shook his head. "No, that's the sort of name you'd give to a cute little bunny rabbit -- not a ten-foot-tall faun. But maybe ... Nib? " He rolled the name around his mouth for a bit. "Nib. Nib. Hello, my name is Nib -- nice to meet you. Nib's the name, and frolicking's the game."

He nodded slowly. "I think that'll do nicely."

*****

As the greens of summer gave way to the reds and golds of autumn, the weather grew cooler and it started becoming harder to find food. Nib knew he'd have to begin stocking up for the winter.

He gathered as much as he could -- acorns and hazelnuts and other such things, but he also began visiting the nearby farms in the middle of the night to steal a few potatoes, turnips or pumpkins, or a bag of wheat, oats or barley. He knew it was wrong, and if he were caught he'd likely be killed without so much as a "by your leave" -- he was a monster, after all, and as such not entitled to due process in a court of law -- but he had no choice in the matter. It was either steal or starve. Besides, he only took a little from each farm. And he made a promise to himself that he would compensate them as soon as he was able to do.

*****

It wasn't long before the people of the surrounding communities noticed that some of their vegetables and bags of grain were going missing in the night, of course, and they set up a night watch to try and catch the thief. But when the reports started coming in about a giant with antlers on its head, they became afraid.

"It be one of the old gods," they whispered. "What's his name -- the Horned One. We've been neglecting him."

And so they began setting out a portion of the harvest each evening for their mysterious visitor.

That first night, the sight of the table piled high with food surprised Nib. He drew closer -- they'd put up a sign that read "For the Horned One of the Forest".

Nib's eyes welled up, and the tears spilled down his cheeks. These people were willing to let him have a portion of their harvest simply out of the goodness of their hearts.

That's when Nib knew that everything would be all right.

[fromafars]

( PRISCILLA QUINTANA. THIRTY TWO. CIS WOMAN. SHE / HER. ) since you aren’t aware of them yet… that’s ( GABRIELA LARREA ) wandering around in hollow creek! from what i know they’ve lived in hollow creek for ( TWELVE YEARS, ON AND OFF. ) i’m also aware of the fact that they work as a ( TRUST FUND BABY. ) in town! but if you were to ask me, what i see when i think about them are: ( RUST ON GOLD, A SONGBIRD TRAPPED IN A GOLDEN CAGE, TO BE LOVED IS TO BE SEEN, EVERY WORD COATED IN SARCASM, THE SOUND OF STILETTO HEELS ON MARBLE ) if anything, i feel like they could be ( PASSIONATE, ZEALOUS, VINDICTIVE & SELFISH. ) it’s really weird, though… because they seem to be hiding something that no one else knows. but i sure do! and that is ( CLOSED FILE … REDACTED. ). wild, huh? i know. they’re hoping no one will ever find out. and the very last thing that i’d say about them is that they’re mainly known to be ( THE FALLEN ANGEL. ) just keep a lookout! who knows if they’re putting on a facade!

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: verbal abuse mention

𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒

full name: gabriela francesca larrea

nickname: gabby, gab, this bitch

date of birth: june 13, 1992

gender: cis woman

pronouns: she/her

occupation: trust fund baby

birthplace: manhattan, new york

sexuality: bisexual

height: 5'4″

fluent in: english, spanish

𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃

the family name larrea is so well-known because they're one of the richest families in new york city (has mostly to do with the entertainment industry & talent inquisition tbh but also because her mom's family is very much old money)

her family is all about one thing and one thing only: their image

they’re the picture perfect mix of old & new money kind of family that's like 'relatable' but still so out of reach but there’s so much that happens behind closed doors

she's the only child and her dad's a retired professional boxer and her mother was a professional ballerina who had to stop her career when she found out that she was pregnant with her

her mother does end up resenting gabby for 'ruining her life' but she'd never outwardly say it except in small backhanded compliments here and there

other than that, her mother forces her to be this picture perfect daughter, to make sure she gets to live vicariously through her daughter

growing up, gabby had to be the absolute best of the best at everything. she had to be the prettiest, the smartest, the most charming person in every room she found herself in. there were many times she's heard the saying "you're a larrea" as if that was the answer to everything

she was enrolled in every single class that you could think of, and while she enjoyed most of them, she didn't particularly care about any of them other than theater. she definitely wanted to be an actress

ballet was one of the first things she gave up on, mostly because she felt like her mother was absolutely smothering her. she would have enjoyed it if it wasn't for her mother tbh

she felt choked by all this pressure on her but there was nothing she could do while she was living under her mother's roof, the same mother who looks at her like her chance to live the life she wasn't able to get due to getting pregnant

ngl she does resent her mother quite a bit and her father is sometimes there, sometimes not like her family dynamic isn't the best tbh even with all their money

it doesn't help that her mother was so toxic too. calling gabby her 'pride and joy' one second and insulting her the next, making side comments about gabby's weight or her complexion. sometimes, it's not even side comments but full on verbal abuse, especially when her mother has been drinking

criticisms that were full on insults masked as backhanded compliments were a staple in that household ngl

as soon as she graduated high school, she basically ran away from her family home to get a business degree (as per her mother's request) and 'pursue acting' but in general, it was just her excuse to get away from her mother to do what she actually wanted to do -- which was basically everything her mom never allowed her to do

aka travel, going out, drinking, partying, sleeping around like of course, her reputation was still important to her, and she understands her family name holds a lot of importance, but she finally had her freedom and she's going to make the most of it

she doesn't even need to work like she's 10000% a trust fund baby

found herself in this small town which she actually oddly likes because it's weird and different and she's far away from her mother omg

she most definitely did rebel too, like once she eventually grew older, she was like ???? lol fuck you and became even more blatant about her actions, became more obvious with her resentment for her mother

she most definitely has mommy issues but we're not gonna talk about that

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐒

+ passionate, adventurous, brave

- selfish, vengeful, overly blunt

𝐅𝐔𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒

y'all know that very mindful, very demure meme? yeah she's the complete opposite of that

she's so not demure like she has no filter because now that she feels like she's free from her mother, she doesn't really need to think about every little thing like if she wants to be bitchy, then she's gonna be bitchy, so what

she's actually so talented but you'd never know it because after YEARS of having all those expectations and all those burdens on her shoulders, she just wants to like do nothing but the things she loves (and lbr who wants to work)

is a scaredy cat when it comes to love like she cannot do it

she physically cannot do it like she's a runner, she's a track star like once it gets super duper serious because she's always like !!!!!!!!!!!! if you love someone, you're giving them the power to hurt you !!!!!!!!!! and who tf wants to get hurt !!!!!!!!!!!

very much a dog person and is looking to adopt

is now very very very very very very unapologetic about her actions like unless she hurt someone, she's like lol it is what it is if you don't like it, piss off

idk why she's walking around this small town in high heels but she always looks good and everyone knows it

like she's really rich and really hot and everyone should know it

extremely protective of the people she loves because she knows they're few

doesn't open up much and barely talks about her past

likes to do boxing !!

but if she has to fight, will 10000% fight dirty

god bless you if you try to talk to her before she's had coffee

incredibly stubborn tbh like you'd have better luck talking to a wall

𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒

ride or die

close friends (limiting this to like 3)

unexpected friends

friends with benefits

ex-flings

gym bros

hateship

good / bad influence

fellow dog lovers

people from nyc

enemies

drinking buddies

[katatonicimpression]

8, 9, 17 and 20 for Exodus

8. Unpopular opinion about them

Oooh this is hard I'm not sure what is or isn't popular.

Maybe just something things that I've seen disagreement over:

He's not got a lot of internalised homophobia. I wrote about this before but I genuinely think he has not carried over the residual homophobia of his era into the modern day. And, like, guys. There are a whole bunch of interesting ways to characterise sexually repressed angst without going "oh no, but jesus says I shouldn't." Challenge yourselves.

He's a heretic. He's zealous, overly religious, but he's not actually a pious christian you guys he just makes up shit to suit him and is in complete denial over the fact that he does this.

Weird one but he drinks. Not like a lot or anything, but the idea that "good christian = sober" is an incredibly modern one. No way a 12th century frenchman believes that.

9. Scene that first made me love (or hate) the character

That man is pure cunt from his first appearence. Just the character design of the century my god.

Scene wise, theres this bit in one of his early appearences when he's talking to magneto doing his "i'm an evil gay-coded grand vizier/royal advisor type - watch me go!" schtick. And the art is so atmospheric and beautiful (it's all sweeping high arched ceilings like Mags lives in a cathedral - you know, how god is supposed to) and tropes aside, the way that Bennet is characterised is so resolute. This is a man who is lying, but has convinced himself he is not. This is man who has chosen another man as his god daddy and will bend his own perception of reality to fit this.

It's fucked up in just the most entrancing way.

17. Quotes, songs, poems, etc. that I associate with them

I think I named a fic after something from an Anthony and the Johnson's song (probably The Crying Light or Cut the World). That vibe suits him, very chorister very religious-sounding but also emotionally overwrought and tortured.

20. Scars

He has those forehead scars sometimes, and canonically they're from that whole shebang with apocalypse in Black Knight: Exodus.

Funny how they're only there sometimes. You could say they've disappeared because of resurrection resetting his body. But I think it could be fun if they're a decorative element that just recurs sometimes. Maybe they can be glittery, for a treat.

Otherwise, I think he literally can't have scars because of his powers/resurrections.

[lemonhemlock]

It's so weird seeing people complaining about the show whitewashing Aemond while arguing that he actually should've been portrayed as a psychopath or a villain from the get-go. That's hardly a better portrayal. He was just a child when he attempted to console Jace!! Is it so bad that he wasn't shown to be a complete lunatic at that age?h Also, the sexual trauma that happened to him when he was 13 years old doesn't exclude him from committing atrocities in the future nor having a future relationship of probable dubious consent with an older woman. In fact, I'd argue it's not inconceivable that book!Aemond lost his virginity at a similar age or was very young at least - whether or not book!Aegon had a part in it (tbh even in the show I don't think he did it with the intent to traumatize his younger brother like I've seen some people suggesting, no, he truly thought he was doing a good thing to him - but this is another discussion). While Daemon did not receive the best portrayal with him being the one to kill Rhea or choking his current wife I don't think the fandom as a whole hates him more than they would've hated the book version of him because of those two decisions, team black fans certainly don't and let's be honest, most green ones would've hated him regardless. As for Viserys, well, he was hated before the show too for being weak! Because he is and always will be!! Imho he's just ickier in the show because of the decision to age him up and age Alicent down, thus making the dynamic of their relationship really off-putting (and this still doesn't prevent some people from claiming that she seduced him). Aegon, well, he sure did receive the worst treatment from the writers but I truly don't think it was done at the behest of Aemond, to make him the better brother and so on. If anything, it was done to prop Rhaenyra up as the right choice, whose side we, as viewers, must take. Not to be a jerk but one must be really naive to think that the Aemondwives and even most normal Aemond fans will abandon him once he starts burning the Riverlands and latch onto Aegon as their next favorite character as a result of that. Everyone already knows he's only getting worse. The only thing that can make some of his fans jump off ship is if the writers make him rape Alys and/or be violent towards her but I doubt that will happen (and their relationship isn't very clear in the books either). Peasants are just that, peasants. No fangirl is going to be like "omggg Aemond was so evil for burning that village down!!! now I hope he dies!!". Now of course this isn't the view someone should have, but stans are gonna stan regardless.

Sorry for this getting so long but I truly think some people would be better off if they'd stop watching the show only to complain about what the writers changed. This is not to say we should simply approve of everything the writers are doing and never say anything against, but some complaints are truly silly. If you like the book more, then stick to it? Nothing wrong with that.

i think people are just bored at this point but maybe for some reason don't have the bandwidth to invest in another fandom / watch another show / read another book & they're just stuck arguing in circles about hotd. it's been the same main 10 topics of conversation over & over since the show ended that they keep coming back to

i also don't get why anyone would be against taking a one-note character from the books and fleshing them out more. if anything, aemond's characterization as a child and young man made a lot of sense & was integrated nicely, without resorting to moustache-twirling tropes like child psychopath. also agree that aegon's depiction came about a way to prop rhaenyra up, not aemond.

all things considered, you're probably right about the aemondwives being ride or die, but who can predict how zealous fans with such militant behaviour will react. even the snapewives engaged in some very weird mental gymnastics because they didn't agree with the plotline jkr assigned to their favourite character