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wolfsong-the-bloody-beast · 1 day ago

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I'm kind of obsessed with Blackwall's idealized ideas about the Wardens. He was once picked up by a Warden and lulled by the promise of atoning for his crimes and turning his life around, only for that opportunity to slip away when the Warden not only saved him, but sacrificed his own life to do it. This whole experience makes our Blackwall become a Warden in heart, if not in blood, but with his own ideas of what a Grey Warden should be - noble, brave, inspiring, heroic, self-sacrificial. Everything he now wants to embody. He knows well that he's not there, but he wants nothing more than to start from scratch and be that.

In his beliefs, he reminds me a bit of Wynne in Origins who tells the Warden at some point that the Grey Wardens are supposed to be more than killing machines and weapons against the blight.

“There’s more to being a Grey Warden than killing darkspawn and saving the world from the Blight. Ultimately, being a Grey Warden is about serving others, about serving all people, whether elves or dwarves or men. As a Grey Warden, you are a guardian of men. And you guard them because their continued existence is more important than you are.”

However, we know that's not exactly how it works. That's what they want the Wardens to be. The light against darkness. The shield against monsters.

Although it's not entirely wrong, either, I suppose, all things considered. The more darkspawn they obliterate and push back, the more people are protected from them. Of course, sacrificing their lives to fight literal monsters, which means those same monsters don't eat everybody's kids, ultimately is heroic, and it's something that must have been born out of the need to protect the world and its inhabitants (from the Blight). But to have idealized opinions of the Wardens to this degree, you have to ignore all the other shady stuff and the mentality we, as players, also know the Wardens for. The fact that the Wardens are primarily weapons to slay darkspawn, prevent and end Blights, by any means necessary. The last part is important. After all, they are the Grey Wardens, not the White Wardens. They recruit from all walks of life and are famous for taking in criminals. Not to redeem themselves and get a second chance at life, but because they usually have nowhere to go and nothing left to lose. It's not a coincidence that each of the Origins gets chosen by Duncan, not only because he sees them as capable, but also because they are in a situation they can't escape from. Either they join the Wardens, or they're done for.

We know the Wardens from a few games now, but does the public in the setting even know? Does the average person have any idea how far the Wardens are willing to go? Besides grand stories of slaying monsters in the dark and preventing the end of the world? Probably not. The order is very secretive. And it explains a lot. The Wardens end up sounding almost romantic, when being a Warden is anything but. Is it ignorance talking out of these characters? Perhaps.

It once again shows us this aspect of Dragon Age where you can't take everything a character says as a fact, because the setting is full of people who have no idea what they're talking about, but who are absolutely convinced that they do.

And yet, I can't help but also like Wynne's and Blackwall's romantic ideas about what the Wardens are or should be, almost knights in shining armour and all that. They're fairy tales, but they're beautiful fairy tales. And I can't fault the characters for wanting to believe it or even live it. Especially in case of Blackwall, who sees it as a way to make up for the crimes he committed, somewhat. In the end, this might actually be a bigger draw to join the Wardens than, "Got nowhere to go? Come suffer horribly and probably die gruesomely with us!" It all sounds great on paper, though. I can't fault Davrin for trying to find purpose in life by becoming a monster hunter, either.

And maybe a little bit of idealism doesn't hurt. Not only it's good motivation, but in the end, doing things by "any means necessary" doesn't always pay off, either. It led the Wardens into all kinds of trouble, like getting tricked into employing dangerous forms of blood magic and demon summoning, basically into doing their enemy's work for them. In their determination to win at any cost, they helped trigger a cataclysmic event. Maybe having some principles isn't so bad after all.

In the end, I can appreciate that we get to see the clash of the old and new blood in Veilguard, where there's hope for the order to transform into an organization that's less secretive, less exclusive, and hopefully less prone to letting corruption spread through its ranks and make other devastating mistakes. Duncan once said that letting people join the Wardens isn't an "act of charity", and I like how Evka and Antoine go, "Yeah, you know what? Fuck that." And that likely inspires more loyalty. I imagine Blackwall would like that.

#Dragon Age #Dragon Age: Inquisition #DAI #Dragon Age: The Veilguard #DATV #Veilguard #Blackwall #Thom Rainier #don't mind me #just a stream of consciousness that got out of hand #classic case of ''I want to write a paragraph about this aspect of a character that I find interesting''#''okay a few paragraphs''#''let's include a quote that is relevant''#''okay maybe several paragraphs''#(goes on a tangent)#''what's even the point of this post any more?''#''fuck''#at least it didn't end up like that recent Lucanis text post of mine haha #anyway #the Grey Wardens have always been one of my favourite factions #if not my absolute favourite #I both like their messiness but also that they're not portrayed as a monolith #and I like how some characters have very strong feelings about them and the stark difference between myth and reality #hell I didn't even include Alistair because the post is long enough as it is #either way I'm glad we get to play them again in Veilguard

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manosoutaweek · 1 day ago

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Manosouta Week 2025

Welcome to Manosouta Week 2025! We’re hosting a week-long event to celebrate the relationship between Bronco Knight and Simeon Saint (or Horace Knightley and Simon Keyes, if you prefer the fan translation names). The event will run from February 8 to February 14 and include daily prompts to choose from. We accept late submissions, so don’t worry if you don’t finish your work exactly on time.

The rules and prompts are listed below. Feel free to contact us if you have questions about the event!

RULES

The focus of all submitted works should be the relationship between Bronco Knight and Simeon Saint, whether it's romantic, one-sided, friendship, or something else.

Including side pairings and characters is okay, but the focus should remain on manosouta.

All types of fanworks are welcome, such as fanfic, fanart, meta, playlists, videos, etc.

All submissions must be SFW (safe for work). Some level of violence and suggestive themes is fine, but nothing explicit.

Both official translation names and fan translation names are welcome!

Please tag your work #manosoutaweek2025 if you want the account to promote your submissions. You can also tag the @manosoutaweek account. For AO3 users, there is a collection.

We don’t want to restrict headcanons to any specific prompt. That means that even though we have no prompts for trans headcanons, gender swap, mental health headcanons, etc., you’re welcome to include them in all the works you create and portray the characters the way you prefer.

Please tag your work and use content warnings if your work contains elements that might upset people, such as major character death.

You may interpret the prompts in any way you want and make your works as fluffy or tragic as you prefer.

You may participate on however many days you want and post multiple works a day if several of the prompts inspire you. Multiple works for the same prompt are fine. You may freely remix and combine prompts.

Late submissions are accepted, but this blog may not be able to promote new works in a timely fashion after February.

No harassment of other participants or bashing any ships, characters or content is allowed.

P.S. We also have a Twitter account!

#aai2 spoilers #manosouta #simon keyes #horace knightley #simeon saint #bronco knight #saintknight #manosoutaweek2025 #ace attorney #aai2 #ship week

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lightningqueen11 · 2 days ago

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Thoughts about Akechi because he's infected my brain

We really never see the "real akechi" in Persona 5 or even in Royal, I think. That's not to say there aren't honest moments and real emotions, but every moment we have with Akechi is him trying to get us to serve some greater goal of his. In vanilla that goal is obvious: he wants to get close to you to further his vengeance on Masayoshi Shido. In the third semester that goal is less obvious but I'd say he wants you to think he's an irredeemable monster and that you shouldn't care about him so you reject Maruki's deal. Third semester is slightly more honest with Akechi- his convictions and feelings are all real, but he portrays them in whatever way will get you to do what he wants while keeping you at an arm's distance.

I think the only moment in the whole game where Akechi isn't putting up some sort of mask is after you beat him in the engine room. Before he's kinda having a big feelings moment so while it's honest, it's an extreme. After? He has no more reason to act, he just has his one request: destroy Masayoshi Shido in his stead. And you do, for the last request of the boy you never really got to know.

So who is the real Akechi? I don't think Akechi knows himself, I think he's lived so many years with a mask as Shido's Assassin or the Detective Prince or a pleasant boy that he doesn't know which is real. I don't think we'll ever see the real Akechi, not in anything mainline, both because they better not be making another Persona 5 and because there is no 'real' Akechi without the masks, without the deception. His character is like Joker's, he's constantly tailoring himself to be what he needs to be because that's the only way a bastard child like himself can survive. It's why I like wildcard Akechi fics so much, because he's just as malleable as Joker. They're rivals, after all.

#persona 5 protagonist #goro akechi #persona 5 #persona 5 royal #p5 #p5r #character analysis #just my thoughts yk #don't take it as canon

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siggiedraws · 3 days ago

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As someone who considers Silver to be her favorite Sonic character, I had spent a good while wondering why I keep feeling frustrated with him in the IDW comics as compared to Archie and I think you might had put into words why. His lack of a backbone is kind of weakening him in hindsight. I still like him all around and there are parts of IDW that do justice to his character and even expand on it (I will never not be happy for his journey as a gardener cause that is both in line with his love of nature and very refreshing to see for a male character to have unabashedly, especially someone Silver's age). Though I will disagree with you saying that Archie had NO backbone. He was constantly in conflict with Sonic over finding out who the traitor to the Freedom Fighters that lead to his bleak future is and he consistently makes mistakes that make him come off as cocky and bratty, to the point that Sonic eventually grows to hate Silver and even disregard his warnings when he does discover the actual truth until it's too late (that truth of course being that Sally betrayed everyone unintentionally with her Robotinazation, something no one wants to be true until they have to face it after the fact). Archie Silver is still flawed, but he is closer to his game counterpart more than IDW Silver is, at least in my opinion he is.

Thank you for your sharing your opinion and being very polite about it! To clarify something, I did not mean to say Archie Silver had no backbone. I was using him as a point of comparison because I noticed similarities with IDW, in that he is portrayed as more polite/timid than his game counterpart. I understand your interpretation of my previous post because I didn't get into it for the sake of not getting off topic. In the future, I will avoid making points without providing evidence in order to avoid confusing people or derailing my argument.

What I want to argue here is that I think your point arguing that Archie Silver has a backbone is still compatible with my position of both comic Silvers possessing noticeable character differences from game Silver that share the same problem with Silver being portrayed as polite or timid, just to different degrees.

I absolutely do not want to be unreasonable here! I agree with you that he is more similar to his game counterpart than IDW is and I won't deny the examples you just listed. I hope the examples I bring up can help illuminate my perspective a little bit and why Archie Silver is a bit too similar to IDW Silver for my liking.

Sonic the Hedgehog #195 - Silver tries to politely interject in on the fight, to the point of saying "excuse me" and "ma'am."

I am aware that he stops them all directly after this moment, however, it should not have happened in the first place if Archie Silver was aiming to be like Game Silver.

Sonic the Hedgehog #235 - Silver stammering in front of Sonic and allowing himself to get dragged through the dirt by his quills.

I think it's not in-line with the games for Silver to allow himself to be disrespected like this. If the Rivals games teach us anything, he gives back equal if not more aggressive energy when he perceives that someone is disrespecting him. Silver calling Sonic a jerk is really small potatoes.

If Silver reacts this way to being called crazy, how do you think he would react to being dragged through the mud by his quills? Not well, I can tell you that.

Silver's stammering here is also of note because it communicates that he's intimidated by Sonic when he has no reason to be if this were an accurate portrayal to the games.

Sonic Universe #43 - Silver tries to lie.

In the games, Silver is so honest and sincere when he speaks that it could be attributed to a source of his rudeness. Lying and deception is simply not something he ever considers doing. We've been shown in Rivals 2 quite clearly that Silver is honest to a fault. This panel also shows Silver being polite and timid in his mannerisms.

Silver attempting to lie happens to be a trait that is shared with IDW Silver in the 2022 annual.

Sonic Universe #25 - Another example of Silver not defending himself from being disrespected and using the term "sir."

Silver's childlikeness is emphasized here, as he is put in direct contrast with an elderly character who comes across as an authority figure, one he seemingly accepts and calls "sir" to be polite. This is an example of what I meant in my post when I say that Silver's naivety keeps getting conflated with being childish. He even says "b-but he started it" like a child telling on a sibling to their parents.

I acknowledge there is a tiny moment where Silver speaks passive-aggressively in the second to last panel, but Silver listening to the order of "don't sass your elders" directly afterwards quickly negates this moment.

Another moment from the same issue shows Silver becoming timid and lacking in confidence when faced with six enemies.

This directly contradicts the games where Silver is very confident in his abilities when faced with a horde of enemies. In Colours DS, he shows an eager willingness to fight and gets disappointed when Orbot and Cubot flee instead, which is opposite to how Silver attempts to avoid fighting in Archie.

Now, in the Archie example, Silver gets defeated by the enemies, which indicates that his timidness is because he is outmatched. I would argue that this is still not true to Game Silver. In '06, Silver readily and confidently fights Iblis, despite Iblis coming back time and time again and never truly being defeated.

Another example is when he fights Shadow. Despite losing to Shadow, and being told that it's no use fighting Shadow due to his Chaos Control ability, Silver does not start behaving timidly. He is still as determined as ever.

Thank you very much for your ask! I hope the examples provided illustrate why I brought up Archie Silver as an example in my previous post about this topic. I agree with you about gardening being a good recent addition to Silver's character, it's very wholesome to see him indulge in his love for the world around him.

#long post #ask #sonic characterization

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haru-dipthong · 10 hours ago

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Fansub Release + Notes on the translation process for Utena ep 17

We're back! Apologies for the hiatus, Christmas and Oshōgatsu had me too busy with family stuff to stick to my usual rate of translation.

This time, instead of general translation notes, I'd like to show my working! Where do I start with a tough line, and how to I end up on the translations I settle on?

いつも私を守ってくれた

For example, this is an interesting line, and the final translation is a bit out there if you look at it without seeing the thought process. The key word here is 守る, which is often translated as “protect”, so the lowest-hanging fruit for this line would be:

She always protected me.

But it sounds weird and conspicuously like “anime-english” which I always try desperately to avoid. So I tried this instead:

She always took care of me.

This translation gets the literal meaning across better, but it has a fatal flaw. The word 守る has strong connotations with masculinity in general and throughout the series, yet “taking care of” someone makes it sound too feminine. In this line, it’s important that Juri’s masculinity is emphasised and contrasted against Shiori’s femininity. So then I thought, maybe this:

She was always protective of me.

But this is no good either. The くれた in 守ってくれた makes it clear that Shiori views the care/protection that Juri provided as a positive thing, yet this translation comes across as slightly bitter. In English I think “being protective of someone” has the nuance of restricting one's freedom, like an overbearing parent.

I felt like there were no good options for this line! Then it struck me like lightning:

She was my rock. (no orange because I didn't use an equivalent word at all)

“Being someone’s rock” is such a masculine thing! It also carries these patriarchal notions of stability (masc) vs instability (fem), which I think the series tries quite hard to weave into the story as criticisms of patriarchal gender. Juri at least in part represents women who seek success not through liberation for all women, but by becoming a patriarchal dominator herself.

Not to mention, 守る is often depicted in RGU as being something that a man does to their female lover. The “my rock” translation also carries romantic connotations, which is obviously important for how the Shiori/Juri relationship is portrayed through the dialogue.

This translation departs from the literal meaning quite heavily, but it preserves the subtextual meaning much better, which I think is more important in this case.

あの動き、まるで先輩の剣だ。

The way she moves... it's exactly like Juri. (my initial translation, which I didn’t use in the end)

The word 剣 means (literally) sword, but it can also be used metaphorically to refer to someone’s sword technique. Take this panel from Ranking of Kings:

それは王の剣じゃない！

That’s no way for a king to fight!

That’s not the “sword” of a king!

So the question is — how do you translate this when the swords are both literal AND metaphorical? When Utena says 剣 in this line, they’re talking about the technique (剣 as a metaphor). But the writers want us to make the connection that it is also literally Juri’s sword, pulled out of her heart, which in turn is a metaphor for her anger, insecurities, and angst. It's a metaphor for swordsmanship, which is meant to be interpreted as literal through dramatic irony, which literal meaning is meant to be reinterpreted as a deeper metaphor. I love Utena.

If the swordfights can be interpreted as philosophical debates, the swords can be considered the worldview that each character wields. Since the Black Rose duellists don’t use their own swords, they could be said to be tapping into, stealing, and exploiting the worldviews/swords of their respective victims, represented by their literal ripping the sword out of the victim’s 心 (heart/mind).

With no word in English that can capture the metaphorical triple meaning of 剣, I had to settle for something else:

Those moves… it’s like she stole them from Juri. (no red because I didn't use an equivalent word at all)

I think this phrasing gets across a similar feel that 剣 does. The base reading, and the one that the uninformed and naive Utena intends, is that Shiori is just imitating, “stealing”, Juri’s moves. The next level up is that she literally did steal something from Juri — the sword from her heart. Then the final level is that what she stole was not just a physical sword; she literally stole the metaphorical moves by stealing the sword, because the moves are the sword, the sword is the angst, the angst is the worldview!

Thank you to @dontbe-lasanya for your amazing edits as always!

Follow the blog if you'd like to keep up to date with new episode releases. For all episodes released so far, go here:

Rose divider taken from this post

#revolutionary girl utena #rgu #shoujo kakumei utena #sku #translation #utena fansub #japanese #japanese language #langblr #official blog post

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yeonmuse · 3 days ago

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𓇢𓆸. 𝕯ECELIS ACA𝕯EMY. —— YJW

BLOODBOUND. ִ. 𓍯𓂃

☪︎ ִFull Chapter log Next Chapter

WARNING | EXPLICIT CONTENT ℭontains the mention of blood & voilence. Mentions of sex & death, Jungwon will be a little mean in this one but the way that each member is written in this does not portray their true selves. Includes ot7, angst/romance/fluff. Includes otr, angst/romance/fluff

𖤓 reader x yang jungwon ── 𝒢enre. angst. fluff, non idol vamp enha. [reqs are open] ᝰ.ᐟ 𝓁ibrary

𝕾ynopsis. — Yang Jungwon has stood by her side from the age of six to the night of her eternal age ceremony. He has spent nearly her entire life reassuring her that her time would come, that she would possess her vampiric abilities soon enough, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. Her lack in vampiric traits cause a ripple in their friendship, her father is withholding secrets from her and she slowly begins to lose a sense of self, but maybe with Jungwons help she can find out who she is truly meant to be in this life.

More | please remember that the things written in this series are a work of FICTION,meaning NOTHING you read in this series correlates to neither enha nor their storyline.

Chapter 8

The next four days were spent shopping endlessly, the only time yn got to see any of the guys was when she had gone to class, after that when the weekend arrived she hadn’t seen either of them not even once.

“Aleera we’ve been shopping for hours, you’ve got six different dresses, how many more stores will you make us go to?” Fawna complains as the girl continues to drag the two along through town square.

“We’re going to be there for four days Fawn, four days of not having to wear that stupid ass uniform, I’m not wasting my opportunity to serve.” Fawna looks over to yn as if begging her to say something, at which she just laughs.

“Come on, the quicker we let her just do her thing the faster we can get back to the dorm.” Fawna groans as she trails behind the two, of course she was used to Alreeras endless shopping by now but she thought that yn would at least agree that they had been out too long.

“Hurry your asses, we only have a few more hours of freetime before we leave tonight.”

“Tonight? Why are we leaving tonight?” yn couldn’t seem to understand why they’d be leaving tonight rather than the day of.

“Um hello? For dinner?”

“Dinner?”

“Oh goodness gracious yn you really have never left that estate, remind me to judge your father for that when we get there.”

“Aleera please, yn. A dinner is usually required the night before every ball held by a member of the royal true bloods, I guess since your dad never really allowed anyone at the estate you haven’t really had that experience.”

“Oh..okay I guess I get it.” She honestly didn’t but she didn’t want to have to sit through another hour of one of Aleeras lectures.

The rest of their day was spent pampering themselves and preparing for the long awaited night ahead. In all honesty yn dreaded nothing more than facing her father again tonight and knowing that she would have to look him in the eyes and ask how he could send his only daughter away.

She had been calm and collected throughout the entire ride to Sunoos childhood home, which is saying a lot considering how many bumps and potholes Aleera had ridden over.

“Um Aleera, not to offend you or anything if you do, but are you sure you have a license.’’

“Wait, I'm supposed to be licensed? People need licenses for these things?’’

“Aleera!? You’re telling me you’re driving what's meant to be a licensed vehicle without a license?” Both yn and Fawna share a worried glance, Fwna sits back simply shaking her head.

“What? I've only driven once! I didn’t want yn having to take one of those uber thingies alone since she can’t fly yet.’’

“Lord, we’ll all just catch a ride back with nicholas, since he actually knows how to drive and owns a license.’’

“I still don’t understand why he doesn’t just fly or teleport..actually come to think of it i don’t think i’ve ever seen him use any of his powers.’’

“For once I'm actually going to agree with something you’ve said, Lee, I don't think I've ever seen him use them either. What if he’s like you yn? What if he doesn’t have his yet either?’’

“Well the again, he’s pretty fast, like inhumane fast, maybe he has enhanced speed?’’

“Mm could be suppose, i guess we could always ask him as well.’’ the two in the front seat shrug their shoulders, leaving yn to ponder in the back seat, if what they were discussing was actually true. The more she thought about it she hadn’t ever seen him drinking blood and he was always in the cursed book section of the library, maybe there was a possibility that he just like her hadn’t yet grasped his vampiric abilities.

When the three had finally arrived at the kim residence and they stepped from the vehicle for some unnerving reason something in the blowing wind made a sense of solemnness wash over her. She didn’t know why but as she stood looking up at Sunoos childhood home something about it felt familiar. As she pried her eyes away from the exterior of the home her gaze shifted to the trees surrounding the home, she felt as if someone had been watching her, she had only imagined it right?

“There you guys are, we’ve been waiting for you all day, Jake wouldn’t stop asking if the three of you were coming.’’ Sunoo complains as he makes his way out the door to greet the girls, a line off servants trailed behind him to gather their bags.

“Dinner is in two hours so all of you would wanna go in and start getting ready now.”

Yns stomach twisted in knots at the thought of tonight's dinner, she didn’t know if her father would be here tonight or not but she dreaded the thought. What were Sunoos' family and his sister like? Did they know about her since they knew her father? A knock on the door pulled the girl out of her thoughts.

‘Oh come in.’’ Aleera stepped into the room, her beautiful white hair that was once a head full of braids was now pulled up into a slick ponytail, bumped into a curl at the end, her baby hairs slicked down on her forehead, with a strand of hair straightened into a band on the side, she worse a short white lace dress, with lace gloves adorned on her arms, her neck tied prettily with a lace choker and pure rubies. Meanwhile Fawna that had entered behind her wore a semi short white lace dress that, the skirt ruffled at the end threaded with both silk and lace, her waist adorned with a black corset to contrast Aleeras all white look, her hair blown out and curled. Both Aleera and Fawna froze on the spot upon seeing her, so this was what it was like, they knew she was beautiful, anyone with eyes could tell that she was, but this was the true visuals of the pure blood princess. Something about her shined in this dress compared to her usual clothes, was it perhaps that they were now seeing her in all her glory? Or could it have been that she stood here before them all dolled up, her beautiful locs curled to perfection, pulled into a half updo on top of her head, and the beautiful white and gold butterfly corset dress that hugged her frame.

“You look fucking amazing.’’ they all say in unison make them all burst into immediate laughter.’’ the next five minutes consists of the three of them just fawning over and complementing one another until they were interrupted by a knock at the door,

“I guess that means it’s time.’’ the all share a look with one another before locking hands and making their way out the door, as one of the caretakers lead the way.

As they entered the dining hall the rest of the guys had already gathered there. While all of their eyes seemed to fall upon the three girls that had now entered, yns thoughts seemed to be elsewhere, she had been looking for her father but there was no trace of him anywhere.

“Well look at you looking like a princess, living up to your status.” Nicholas’s voice pulls her from her thoughts, her gaze redirecting from the empty seats, up to nicholas, as he stood before her his red hair now black with silver highlights, glasses resting on the bridge of his nose in his formal dining attire it made her heart skip a beat. He was handsome, of course anyone with eyes could see it from a mile away, but for her there was still a specific someone that she found her heart would skip a beat everytime he drew near.

“You clean up pretty nice yourself.” She retorts, causing a slight grin to curl onto his lips.

“Do i? Do I make your heart flutter?” He leans in just a bit closer, closer that their faces were mere inches apart.

“Hey you two if you’re done flirting our parents will be here any minute.” Heeseung breaks the tension between the two, yn immediately backs away feeling her cheeks flush upon realizing that everyone else may have been observing the interaction between the two.

Jungwon on the other hand had been watching from the moment she entered the room, no matter how hard he tried to ignore the beating of his heart as he saw her he couldn't. She was beautiful, and he had thought she was beautiful since the first time they met, since he was six years old he always found her pretty. He wanted to get up, to pull you aside and finish the talk that had been interrupted between the two of you a week prior to today but once again his chance was interrupted. As he observed the interaction between Nicholas and her he felt annoyed all over again. Why did he keep getting in his way? He hated the way she smiled talking to him, the way she stared up at him with her big beautiful eyes like she had once done with him. Why was Nicholas trying so hard to get closer to her, he didn’t understand it but it pissed him off.

As everyone had taken their seats the doors to the dinning hall swung open and in everyone entered, Sunoos parents, Heeseungs, Nikis, Sunghoons, slowly but surely they all trickled in and her eyes continued to linger in the door as she waited for her father to come enter but he never did. Did he somehow find out she was there and decide not to go? Did he not want to face her?

“Now that everyone is here I want to thank you all for showing up for such a special occasion tonight, this is the night that I give my precious daughter away to the woman she loves, my beautiful daughter has found the love that she would love to show eternity with and tonight and tomorrow we shall celebrate. I can only hope that soon enough our little prince will find someone as well.” Sunoos mom reaches down and pinches his cheeks only earning a whiny ‘mother in response’.

“Please enjoy tonight.” As Sunoos mother had been taking her seat once again her eyes fell upon yn and for a second her smile faded and a hint of recognition had glimmered in her gaze, but everyone had been too occupied with their dinner and conversation to realize.

“Sunoo, that girl at the end of the table, is she a new friend of yours i haven't seen her before.” She whispers over to her son.

“yn? She just transferred to the Academy a week ago.”

So it was her, it was just as she thought, her son was friends with the girl she had been sworn to secrecy not to say anything about.

The dinner itself was really nice for the most part, though yn found herself being distracted by the thoughts still lingering for most of it she still had a nice time to say the least. When the dinner ended and everyone had returned to their assigned sleeping quarters she was left alone with her thoughts, this was the first time some arrived at the school that she had been alone again. It was now that the heavy feeling of sadness and disappointment bled into her. Her father must have been ashamed of her to have sent her away.

There was a soft knock on the door pulling the girl back to reality and as she opened the door hoping to see Aleera or Fawna on the other side instead her eyes fell upon him, Yang Jungwon

“Can we talk?”

Tag-list @jwonistic @squiishymeow @river-demon-slayer @lillotus17 @sol3chu @butterflywonz

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passionatelyxlust · 3 days ago

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Yes, Gluttony would tell him the same thing, convincing his brother that what happened with their King wasn't his fault when no amount of comforting will diminish shifting the blame unto himself. If he grabbed what precious family he held dear and hauled ass straight to the farmhouse with Azriel in tow, Gluttony and Josephine would not be suffering so profusely. The nightmares wouldn't be playing in their minds every single night, the mansion's interior untouched by the disarray, the time spent away would be almost like a vacation. However, Lust rationalized how many things could go wrong in that scenario. The wards don't hold up, the King slipped through into the mind of anyone, perhaps the presence of two princes are difficult to conceal from being tracked. All the male knew is a decision teetering on rushing back home and being with his brother so Gluttony had another support system advocate. Really, the minute he witnessed the state of the mansion pulled him closer and closer to that option. "He will never stop taking the brunt for me." Lust gave his brother one last yearning glance before watching the wisps of darkness emitted by Gluttony's nightmares wrapped themselves around the dream witch's hand and engulfing them both directly into the other prince's mind. A swirling burst of destructive wind seemed to tunnel around the pair as they stepped through, Lust feeling the tightness of Azriel's strong grip cling to him and providing a reminder for what the other instructed. Do not let go.

Azriel's magic progressed an ebb and flow that vanquished the events occurring in Gluttony's dream, offering the Prince mere glimpses of what his brother's deepest and darkest fears presented. He could feel the despair in the atmosphere without fully seeing the contents from the nightmare itself. It is a curious philosophical question, wasn't it? What could a crowned demon Prince of Hell ever fear when he possessed the honor of a royal? A soulless being having nightmares proved that maybe...he and his brothers were not so soulless after all. The King seriously underestimated the expectation his sons had the ability to connect on a personal level that drew them closer together instead of carrying a competitive nature vying for their master's acceptance. Lust didn't hold the closest relationship with a majority of his brothers apart from Gluttony. They were two peas in a pod, gossiping days away, and placing their lives on the line for each other. He wasn't exaggerating to Azriel how Gluts took the blows wherever they were shot from, his brother somehow feeling the need protecting him at all costs. Sure, Lust portrayed over-confident arrogance, but mentally, he was damaged. Sensitive. Experiencing emotions and having to conceal them on a more heightened level. "I'm actually here, brother." The minute his eyes found his brother's and Az released his grasp as permission that it was safe, Lust immediately closed the distance between them and dropped to his knees, throwing his arms around Gluttony in a hug he was too afraid to release the man from. He remained that way for a long moment, savoring the embrace, before finally pulling away. "My corporeal form is here actually, thanks to Az, but it's me." Lust's gaze scanned Gluttony's face, taking in the state of him. "Gluts, what the hell happened while I was gone? The mansion looks like it hasn't been cleaned in weeks. And Kai's here too?" He glanced over at Azriel and back at the prince, attempting a smile, "I see you found my replacement already."

The witch responded to Lust's question with a shrug. Could Azriel have speculated every possibility that brought his brother to be in the mansion that housed two Princes? Yes, but the reality was that this trip wasn't for him. Confirming that his brother was alive was good enough for him, he knew he could always get answers from his brother directly. Az's eyes flicked to Lust as the prince took in the state of the surroundings, feeling the sadness rolling off of him in waves, and he knew where his prince's head was going. It's what he, himself, would think if something happened to Kai. Something happening to Lust's closest brother and best friend shortly after disappearing after the resurgence of his King? It wasn't a coincidence. "This isn't your fault, Lust, and I'm sure Gluttony will tell you the same thing," the witch replied quietly before taking Lust's hand in his once again, his own eyes moving back to the sleeping prince before reaching out to the inky tendrils once more. The beckoning energy that clung to him while he was in the astral plane enveloped Azriel's hand, pulling him and his passenger into Gluttony's dream. In most dreams that Azriel went to, he was able to distinctly feel where he differed from the dream, untouched as a mere spectator. However, stepping into Gluttony's dream where a raging storm with the power of the strongest hurricane hit the witch like a ton of bricks, almost winding him completely which only caused him to tighten his grip on the Prince's hand. He knew it was merely because most of the minds he travelled in weren't as powerful as a Prince of Hell. Even when Azriel made a stand against the King, it was in Alexia's mind; he never would have stood a chance if it was reversed. Taking his free hand, Az willed his magic to flow through Gluttony's dream– attempting to find where the Prince's subconscious lay and quelling the dream.

Gluttony swam and swam but hardly could breach the surface of the waves he was trapped under for longer than a second before a tidal wave of black water brought him under again. Every time he went under, it was hard to feel what was up or down, his body spinning like it was trapped in a whirlpool. His lungs hurt from holding his breath, and the very moment he ever made it above, he could only drag in a ragged bit of breath, unable to scream for help. The thunderstorm raged above his head as he forced himself to the surface with his last burst of energy, hands flailing until they gained purchase on a drifting piece of debris where the Prince finally pulled himself to relative safety to assess the damage. At that moment, he realized that he wasn't wet or even damp, as one would expect when coming into contact with water. The black waters crashed violently against the driftwood, but Gluttony couldn't help his curiosity when he reached a hand out to cup the water. Bringing his hand closer to his face, he noticed it wasn't water but words. There were so many words that it only appeared to be liquid and one opaque unit. "What the hell," the prince ground out, shaking his hand to release the captured words into the void. He felt like Rose in the last few scenes of Titanic, but only if it were set in an abyss of alphabet soup with a raging storm overhead. He'd take the freezing waters any day if he could trade. A distant rumbling brought his vision to focus once more, the area darkening around him, which made him turn to see what had blocked out whatever light source there was, only to see a massive tidal wave headed his way. Gluttony crouched in on himself, bracing himself for the impact and subsequent fight for his life again... but it never came. Peeling his eyes open, he noticed that the debris he was clutched on and the endless black sea and tidal waves were gone. Burying his head in his hands as he knelt on the ground, Gluttony breathed for once, his mind at peace for a moment before he felt a presence. Opening his eyes once more, he looked up and saw the one person he'd wanted to see since he left. His brother, his best friend, his reason for fighting. The very reason why he'd felt like he had a gaping wound in his chest– Lust's absence was far worse than any fate he suffered at their King's hand. Gluttony's face scrunched up, emotion heavy in his throat causing his chin to wobble. His dark eyes darted between Lust and Azriel, and there was a tiny spark of hope in his chest, but he was so scared it was a dream; a worse nightmare than what he'd experienced already– a golden carrot on the end of a stick that was ever a torturous thing outside of his grasp. "Please... please tell me you're real and not a cruel figment of my imagination," the prince pleaded. Azriel looked towards Lust and released his Prince's hand, nodding towards Gluttony before backing away.

#azriel convo

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littjara-mirrorlake · 8 hours ago

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what's your favorite part of Plane Shift: New Phyrexia?

The way it allows me, and all players and DMs who use the book, to tell more nuanced stories about Phyrexians.

It was one of my main goals from the beginning to create a supplement where Phyrexians were as viable and diverse a player lineage as any other, capable of becoming beloved, morally complex characters. It is not a coincidence that in the book, I have completely abolished the alignment chart.

I am trying to make Plane Shift: Mirrodin/New Phyrexia compatible with both Mirran and Phyrexian-centered narratives, and as a setting guide, it should allow for either to be played out. However, I do push strongly not to portray Phyrexia as a plague or scourge to be eliminated (as the Mirran side and Magic story usually describes it), but as a dystopia. Phyrexians are not faceless monster stat-blocks but nuanced potential allies, enemies, and player characters whose relationship to Phyrexia-the-empire and recognition of its harms vary broadly.

The book is built assuming a mixed Mirran and Phyrexian party (though it's not required), and if/when I get around to commissioning cover art, it will reflect that. Of course, games can work with only Mirrans or only Phyrexians, but the focus on revolution and dystopia also makes it possible for them to work together cohesively and compellingly in a single adventuring group.

#plane shift new phyrexia #mirrodin #phyrexian #new phyrexia #mtg #magic the gathering #dnd #dnd 5e #dnd homebrew #askbox #obiusperson

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thewalrusespublicist · 8 hours ago

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"Tbh I was starting to feel a bit down about my blog and what I was putting out ( the eternal crisis on how to give full answers and opinions without being stupid, boring and annoying lol)"

OMG no way! Your blog is one of the best here! What i love the most is reading the analysis and meta from the users, there's always more information and good takes, and yours are always quite deep and insightful.

I would love if you share your opinions about Stuart as well. I feel like he is obviously more sanctified that he should be since he died young (like that insane quote from his mom saying that Brian told her that Stuart could have been the Beatles' manager, no way lol) and i feel his memory has been used to attack Paul, sometimes in a very unfair way. Like, i don't deny the teenage drama and jealousy that Paul felt about him but he *was* a shitty bass player and the band was Paul's future, he was allowed to criticized him not only for being John's new bestie. I also think John played with them both but i lack of your eloquence so i will love to read your take about it.

Hi anon! And the other anons!

Thank you again and to all the other messages I got, they were extremely sweet and really made my day. :)

From my inbox, it's clear you guys want to know about Stu and his role in the Beatles legacy. Well you asked for it and a novel you shall have. Be warned this might be the longest post I've done so grab like a drink or something.

A few disclaimers: I wish and had intended for this to be more of a deep dive into Stu as a whole person rather than just his relationship with John and Paul. Unfortunately I just didn't have the space to do it. If you want to know more about Stu I would highly recommend @eppysboys' blog which is the source for all things Stu Sutcliffe and where I got a lot of this info. Please check their stuff out. Also, I'm going to be a bit blunter on this than maybe I usually am because this topic has been irritating me for some time. Oh also I’m trying my best to answer a lot of asks in one post so please forgive if I don’t fully answer your specific ask about this!

Stu in a perfect world should be a fandom darling: an exciting cipher, a handsome artistic talent that died way too soon who had a major influence in the early Beatles style. It's like there’s this secret other James Dean looking mf Beatle hidden away to uncover, that's cool and he is cool! The problem is that he’s sort of becomes radioactive to talk about in a normal way due to how he's been portrayed and utilised in some biographies and fandom spaces, particularly those that have been infected by John Lennon aspirational boy bestie syndrome. As those types of spaces cannot seem to exist without tearing down Paul to prop John up as their special lil guy, Stu as John's other best friend has become the ideal heavy object to hit Paul McCartney over the head with. It's like a corrosive element, the minute Stu hits a Beatles bio, the biographer suddenly loses all training in objectivity and source work and starts waxing lyrical about 100 percent reliable never biased or wrong Saint Stu of Hamburg who died for our condom arson sins and that Paul McCartney should feel bad about every day of his life for not worshipping Stu and not accepting his own ‘place’ in life as John's just-some-guy placeholder best friend. I’ve personally seen so many posts and forums where Stu being mentioned leads to a legion of comments about how Paul could never have been Stu (correct both ways) and how John would never have even glanced at Paul for much longer if Stu had been alive. Sidenote: If you seriously think that the musical savant from down the road whom John went on to produce the most prolific song writing partnership in history with couldnt have kept his attention for long then I'm begging you on hands and knees to get your head out of the arse of your John Lennon body pillow and be serious. But anyway…

This boy bestie battle royale approach has in turn lead to a reflex reaction where Stu gets studiously ignored by other sections of the fandom as a precedent has been set that shining a light on him diminishes Paul and John's relationship with Paul. It's frustrating because if people weren't so keen to cut Paul out of his own story then we would get a much better nuanced view of every single person involved.

So let's put aside all of our defenses, cut the John Lennon loved one ranking system bullshit and lets look at the actual question here which is what was John and Stu's relationship really like and what did he mean to John?

John and Stu met at art college a year or so after Paul and John met. Up to that point John and Paul had their fun little codependant thing going on but Stu quickly became a huge fixture in John's life. Stu had things that Paul couldn't really offer at that point in time. John was at his heart a musician who aspired to be seen as an artist (he would later express surprise that he didn't become an artist). Stu was the passionate artist who knew tons about the art of the period that could teach and inspire John. Their creative leanings meant they could work on projects together and share art notebooks and poetry. (Including yes the one with anti-semitic story which I mention again as I believe it's an important thing to remember when it comes to both John and Stu and the culture of the time.) Stuart by the sounds of it was even writing a novel about John at the time of his death. They were fascinated and inspired by each other.

So, creatively they fired each other up but more importantly perhaps, Stu and John were peers. It's funny to think about when you see the Beatles later but at the time Paul and George were the kids in their school uniform coming to see their cool older friend at art school. That's an important divide. When Paul and George's parents insisted their kids do their homework and go to bed, John and Stu could stay up and talk all hours of the night, which they did. They also could rent a place together and spend long hours chatting (despite John moving out later after realising electricity cost money lol.) There's a different dynamic that the age similarity offered as well. Whilst Paul would later somewhat grow into this role, Stu could act as an authority figure to John as well as open up to John in a way you can really only do with your peers. Stu was the person John opened up to throughout Stu's life:

How long can one go on writing and writing like you. I now don’t really know who I’m writing to or why it’s quiet peculiar. I usually write like this and forget about it but if I put it in a little part of my [almost?] secret self in the hands of someone miles away who will wonder what the hell is going on or just pass it off as toilet paper. Anyway I don’t care really what happens because when I think about it, it’s so bloody unimportant – but what is important who has the right to say that this letter is not important and this is a something any way – anyway – anyway – yeah! I wonder what it would be like to be a cretin or something. I bet it’s gear. & how are you keepin Stuart old chap are you as ok – is life as good – bad shite, great – wonderful as it was or is it just a thousand years of nothing and coolness on and on and on. I think this is it Goodbye Stu don’t write out of – er what is it? well not because you think you ought to write when you feel like So goodbye (from John you know the one with glasses) ANYWAY BYE BYE see you soon I don’t know why I said that I remember a time when everyone I loved hated me because I hated them so what so what so fucking what I remember a time when belly buttons were knee high when only shitting was dirty and everything else clean + beautiful I can’t remember anything without a sadness So deep that it hardly becomes known to me so deep that its tears leave me a spectator of my own STUPIDITY + so I go rambling on with a hey nonny nonny nonny no

Extract from a letter to Stuart Sutcliffe from John Lennon, 1961

By lots of accounts Stu was gentle but firm when it came to telling John he'd gone too far. John references this aspect of Stu to Hunter Davies:

"I looked up to Stu. I depended on him to tell me the truth. Stu would tell me if something was good and I'd believe him."

The Beatles: The Authorised Biography (Hunter Davies)

In this way I kind of see Stu as a proto-Yoko. John was so insecure and uncertain about his grip on the world and reality that he relied on Stu to be his point of reference and guide. Paul did this too later and I think in Hunter Davies John mentions this, but not at this time period and not as much due to their competitiveness. This may be why some people saw Stu as the person that really understood John at this time period:

"During the turbulent adolescence that prefaced a turbulent manhood, hardly anyone knew Lennon as intimately as Stuart Sutcliffe. If they weren't exactly David and Jonathan, June Furlong, one of the life models at Liverpool's Regional College of Art, had "never seen two teenagers as close as those two."

The Gospel According To Lennon by Alan Clayson

Now this person likely never met John and Paul together but this is only one of many similar quotes and even Julia captain of John and Paul's friendship boat seems to agree there was a period where Stu dominated and Paul 'kept his distance' from the John-Cyn-Stu 'menage-a-trois'. But the friendship wasn't perfect and his position as John's ultimate best friend was never iron clad. This is best outlined by the shit they pulled when John convinced him to join on Bass for the Beatles.

Despite being John's best friend, Stu was teased and bullied:

"They argued as usual amongst themselves, but most of all they picked on Stu, the newest member of the group. John, George and Paul had been with each other long enough to know that rows and arguments and criticism didn't mean much. If it did, you just argued back. "We were terrible," says John. "We'd tell Stu he couldn't sit with us, or eat with us. We'd tell him to go away, and he did." At one hotel they stayed at, a variety show had just left. There had been a dwarf in the show and they found out which bed he had slept in and said that would have to be Stu's. They certainly weren't going to sleep in it. So Stu had to. "That was how he learned to be with us," says John. "It was all stupid, but that was what we were like."

The Beatles: The Authorised Biography (Hunter Davies)

Why John encouraged this I have no idea, maybe jealousy over Stu's looks and wanting to play people off each other? Things were tense in both Scotland and Hamburg, especially between Stu and Paul. As I said in my last post, the girls were fighting and it was mutual. Paul was mad for both fair and immature teenage-boy reasons. Stu could not be bothered with the bass most of the time and couldn't really play well and was only there as he was '(John's) best friend' (ouch for Paul). Paul conversely had given up higher education to be there and was sending lots of money back home. He also was dating the girl Paul fancied. Stu was popular with the new group and also did mean things like help John steal Paul's money when money was really tight for him. Paul in turn was a passive aggressive, jealous and mean. It all came to ahead in the punch up onstage which according to Spitz came about from Paul wanting money back and saying that Stu could borrow some from Astrid. Stu goes for him and reports vary from full-on bust up to embarrassing scuffle. Stu then goes to where Astrid and Paul's gf Dot are, demands Dot leaves and goes on a rant about Paul. Now all of this must be framed in the context of Stu receiving increasing brain damage from his condition that seemingly lead to mood swings and anger. Nevertheless, the mutual needling and anger, as well as John's refusal to do/say fuck all about it, especially given how protective John was of Stu, suggests that it wasn’t straightforward and/or John may have been playing some games to make both feel threatened. This would also make sense as to why we hear conflicting accounts of John and Stu being the centre of everything and everyone else in orbit AND John and Paul being the centre and everyone else playing catch-up, as well as John giving Paul the lead to take him round the Reeperbahn when John got dressed in the gorilla costume. (I know Paul may have just been the closest there but that always gave off bestie behaviour to me.)

(I did get an ask about how John and Paul's friendship survived it, I think it was damaged by Hamburg. When Paul got back home he got a job at a construction site and there's just a vibe of everything being a bit on tenterhooks. John also acts a bit weird at the period, not talking to anyone for a few weeks then making a lot of weird demands from Paul. I'm really not sure what to make of it.)

Even when he's back in Liverpool, John still writes long letters to Stu and vice-versa. I can't find it at all but I’ve read a really sad interview with John saying he missed his best mate and it's a shame that he's not with them. He had no idea at that point that Stu had already died of a brain hemorrhage at 21.

John is said to have gone into hysterics when he found out Stu had died. A lot of people who've spoken about this time (Aunt Mimi, his sister Julia, the Exsis) concur that at this point Stu was his best friend and the death shattered him. He even told Astrid he wished he could give his life for Stu’s. This is backed up by the fact that John never forgot Stu and his shadow lingered for the rest of John's life:

Stu was recalled in In My Life

Years later, after John composed the first of his truly poignant and heartfelt Beatles songs, "In My Life"—with its lines about "friends I still can recall/some are dead and some are living"—he revealed to me that the two people he had had uppermost in mind were myself and Stuart Sutcliffe. And then he stunned me with a statement that I'd never heard him address to anyone—least of all to another man. "You know, Pete," he said softly, "I do love you. But," he quickly added, "I loved Stuart as well."

Weird that Paul isn't mentioned surely you think that he would be mentioned if Pete was there too okay, okay my tin hat is going away this isn't the time

Pete Shotton, Nicholas Schaffner, John Lennon: In My Life

In 1965 John drew Stu on a postcard

He apparently said this about Stu prior to sending the postcard, prompted by an article about Stuart.

The card had been sent from Genoa mid-way through the Beatles' Italian tour. [...] But the conversation had become maudlin when I reminded him that he was going to talk to me for an article about Stuart. [...] In that sad telephone conversation before they set off for Milan, I asked him if he was happy: 'I'd be a lot happier if Stuart was still part of us,' he said, 'The Beatles would be complete.' And before he rang off he said 'Ill send you something.'

He also appears on the cover of Sgt Pepper

As mentioned, Stu gets mentioned in Hunter Davies in terms of wistfulness and guilt AND he gets a mention in John's insane 'if I were a homosexual' ramblings in early 70s. According to Yoko, John also wanted Yoko to write letters to him and didn't think it would be strange because Stu wrote letters to him.

I have a pet theory that as with a lot of things for John, his unresolved grief over Stu really came to the fore in the late 60s now that he had actually had a chance to sit down and think about things. I believe it was partially why he wanted Yoko to write letters and why he gets mentioned in the early 70s as a collaborator/best friend and not in 1980 where John only gives that credit to Paul and Yoko. I think with the cracks with Paul, John had started to think back on his old friend and guide and what advice he would give.

Stuarts presence is still felt throughout the seventies:

“He told me everything. He loved to talk about Hamburg. There were no secrets. It was the kind of life I never knew…. It meant total freedom. At his side always was Stuart, sweet Stuart. There wasn’t a time in John’s life when he didn’t think about Stuart. He spoke always of his love and respect for Stuart.”

Yoko discussing Stu in When They Were Boys: The True Story of the Beatles’ Rise to the Top by Larry Kane

Coming to grips with his death is also present in Skywriting

SEAN O’HAIRE: What happened to Stuart Cliff? DR. FISCHY: What happened was a full exchange of energy where it was not needed within the expression of your own self or in the energies involved around and about you. We cannot call it a happening. We’ll say it is an awakening, for in that way it has served an expression from the past to the present and to the future to where there shall be more of that incomplete vibration expressed to you in a more fuller understanding.

Skywriting by Word of Mouth, John Lennon

This isn't exhaustive but I think from all this it's pretty clear that John adored Stu, John grieved Stu and kept grieving Stu. Stu had a specific place in his life as a confidant that he tried to recreate with Yoko. At the time of Stu's death, he was John's best friend, probably slightly over Paul. Stuart had been able to be both a friend and paternal presence, a confidant and an artistic collaborator. His presence and loss was one of the foundational points in John's life.

But as we've been asked to play this stupid game and so many bios like to make a hoopla about it, were they at their closest ever as close as John and Paul were at their height?

No.

How do we know? Because John told us so:

" He [Paul] still is the closest friend I've ever had, except for Yoko, so I'm still close to him whatever goes on."

John Lennon to an interviewer, 1971

But Walrus! John just says shit! How do we know he isn't leaving out Stu because the press don't know Stu. Well true John does just say shit but this is at a time where John isn't the most glowing about Paul and he's had no problem mentioning Stu in this time period ('one of my best friends ever' would have made a similar point).

But Walrus again! If John picked Stu over Paul when they were young why wouldn't he be the boy bestie of all time, and why would John say that he was closer to Paul? Well, because of the environment and timings. Stu's death happened near the beginning of John and Paul's major bonding moments. If you look at their personal timeline, Paris, the Nerk twins, and getting signed happened just before Stu died. That's missing the major years of Beatlemania, Key West, LSD, Paul growing more into being John's peer and a load of other huge moments in their lives. It's like how John writes to Cyn in 1962 about wanting the house to themselves and not have Paul around all the time. Would you say because he feels closer to Cyn then that John in his overall lifetime loved Cyn more than Paul? No, because relationships change over time and theirs were no exception. (One thing to consider as well is that we don't yet have many letters between John and Paul during their Beatles years and earlier, probably because they were spending so much time with each other. We know a couple exist that Paul considers too personal for publication but I'm sure there are others. It's easy to understand what John felt for Stu as we have the letters, I think we would also have an easier time understanding what John felt for Paul if we had the equivalent of those.)

At the end of the day Paul was the man he believed he had a psychic bond with, the man he couldn’t shut up about, the man whom he’d conquered the world with with their endless collaboration, the man with a twin personality to him and according to John spent more time with throughout the 60s than he had with Yoko ever. To be frank if Paul had died in 67' I don't think this would have been a conversation.

As mentioned early, in early 1970s John elevates his partnership with Stu to his collaborations with Paul and Yoko but by 1980 he’s pretty clear that Paul and Yoko are their own category.

"I was saying to somebody the other day, “There’s only two artists I’ve ever worked with for more than a one night stand, as it were. That’s Paul McCartney, and Yoko Ono.” And I think that’s a pretty damned good choice!!"

John Lennon interview with DJ Dave Sholin, 1980

There are of course the what ifs. Would Stu still being alive mean that John was not as close with Paul? Maybe, highly doubtful though as the Beatles experience was so intense. If Stu remained a Beatle would John be as close with Paul? If Stu remained a Beatle he wouldn't be Stu so no. At the same time who knows what it would have been like if Paul and John were peers from the off? I said this to @the62ndbugsfan when it comes to Stu vs Paul (hi girl sorry i've made our chat a whole ass post lol) but to go a bit Wuthering Heights, soulmates are made as much from the earth as they are of the stars. What binds us is our experiences just as much as our personalities. There may be a universe where Stu and John took on the art world together or became inseparable bffs again after the Beatles disbanded, but it is not our universe. In this universe Stu tragically died and John and Paul chose to become Lennon/McCartney and artistically unite themselves forever.

Even going back to Stu's lifetime, I've said it before and I'll say it again I find it interesting that not only did John choose to go to Paris with Paul rather than pay to meet up with Stu somewhere but that they arranged to meet up with Juergen and nobody told Stu until they'd already gone. Stu was shocked and didn't know if it meant the end of the Beatles which is a pretty big thing for him not to know about. Why didn't John tell him if they're apparently still writing long letters? Was it because he really wanted to do this with Paul and didn't want to hurt Stu's feelings? And that's really the point I want to make here. Due to his trauma John was preoccupied with reinforcing ranking of relationships within his life. But the thing is friendship rankings are made up guidelines and the reality is far more complicated. You can have a designated best friend but feel closer to another friend at times, you can want to do one thing specifically with one friend and not the other for various reasons. You can (as I do) have more than one equal best friend. Friendship as with most relationships are in a constant state of flux and each friendship you have will give and mean a different thing, even if they are of similar value to you.

Paul may have ended up closer to John than Stu had been, but that doesen't make John's relationship with Stu any less special. Nor does Stu negate the significance of Paul. Whilst both fit into John's pattern of intense relationships and demands related to that, both had unique positions and meaning to him. Considering what I've gone into about John's closeness to Stu, it actually says something deeply, borderline unnervingly, intense about John and Paul that Paul pipped Stu to the post. Maybe it's time Beatles bios accept the fact that John Lennon just wouldn't be into them like that, stop using a tragically prematurely deceased young man as a prop in their jealous psychological warfare against Paul McCartney, stop perpetuating one of the most damaging games that John did to his loved ones and allow both relationships the space to shine and showcase the amazing talent that was the Beatles and those that surrounded them.

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expertfool · 2 days ago

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i can’t really get over douglas adams rewriting adam and eve as ford and arthur. there are many things about it that blow my mind. that they are both men. that it was the 80s. that arthur is presented as eve. that it is all intentional. that trillian—who is the other last human being along with arthur—could’ve been there instead of ford, more accurately portraying the adam and eve story, and there is literally no good reason for her not being there as zaphod, ford, arthur, and trillian had all been in that time machine and yet douglas adams pairs ford and arthur off instead of the last two humans (and notably male and female). the only reason trillian is not there in place of ford is because douglas adams specifically did not want her to be. she continues to be a part of the plot in the book, although it is not critical to the plot (in the restaurant at the end of the universe) that she be there with zaphod instead of with arthur (though it’s better for her character), so the choice of who is paired with who is very purposefully based on relationship and not plot requirements.

i think this point is even furthered by mostly harmless—arthur and trillian do end up conceiving a child together, but arthur is not even there at the conception of his own child. he is completely without any romantic or sexual desire or intentions towards trillian. donating sperm is the most sexless way of conceiving a child, and douglas adams chooses to do this after intentionally pairing ford and arthur as adam and eve. when arthur finds out he has a child, he doesn’t think of himself as missing out on a relationship with trillian, instead asks “what about zaphod?” without jealousy or frustration. despite the sexless-ness and detachment of the act of donating sperm that was never even intended for child conception, arthur loves his daughter unconditionally and without reserve.

these points paired with the scene where arthur is given a prayer tailored to him in mostly harmless, “protect me from knowing what i don’t need to know. protect me from even knowing that there are things to know that i don’t know. protect me from knowing that i decided not to know about the things that i decided not to know about…it’s what you pray silently inside yourself anyway, so you may as well have it out in the open…there’s another prayer that goes with it…protect me from the consequences of the above prayer.” just really lend itself a lot to the idea that arthur was maybe possibly intended to be read as gay. or at least makes it very easy to read arthur as gay.

i’m also fascinated with the contrast of ford and arthur portrayed as adam and eve eating the apple which would give them the knowledge of good and evil and allow them to understand the consequences—obviously these characters are adults and already know these things, making this metaphor a euphemism for something else—against the prayer arthur receives for himself in mostly harmless. it is like a reversal of what eating the apple in eden achieves. eat the apple, receive awareness of something, three books later receive a prayer for the exact opposite. these things also existing at contrasting times in ford and arthur’s relationship—that ford and arthur had been isolated on a beautiful planet together during the apple in eden bit but had not seen each other in years and had a bad argument in mostly harmless during the time arthur received the prayer. i do think the prayer means something else for arthur in the plot (though actually, douglas adams almost always uses events in his books to have more than one meaning in the series so..), but these things being so intentionally written always makes me wonder if douglas adams meant something about arthur’s sexuality and his relationship with ford.

#sorry for the wall of text #arthur is gay to me #the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy #h2g2 #forthur #ford prefect/arthur dent

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onewaycloset7 · 2 days ago

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Byler questions bc why not.

1.Out of Mike and Will who do you relate to more and why?

2.What season did you start shipping Byler and why?

3.Are there any songs you associate with them?

4.What is your favourite Byler scene?

5.Whats your favourite Byler quote? (I.e “cool cool” “it was a 7”

6.What is your favourite gate?

7.What type of confession would you like them to have?

THANK YOU FOR THE ASKS!!! 🫶🫶🫶

1. I always thought I was a will my whole life I have always been artistic and very kept to myself about my love life. But recently I was like god damn… I’m a Mike. Im extremely closeted I can’t even say it aloud or come to terms with it. I have spent my life acting like I liked the opposite gender for others (and still do…). I’m told that I act like him a lot (I can’t control my face when I’m around people basically…) EVERY TIME I say something everybody is like “okay Mike!🤗” also I’m so clueless when somebody likes me 🙏

2. Oooo I started shipping them in s2! I never really thought about their friendship or anything till season 2 and ofc through all the scenes I saw in s2 I was like lawdddd they are gay! This was about 2018 I think and when s3 came out I was so obsessed with them I had an editing account (a horrible one) for them but nobody knew I shipped them because I was so scared what others would think… but now I write about them every day on tumblr so look at me now!!! 😌

3. I have a whole playlist associated with them!! Called STurn 2:

(Tell me if it doesn’t work!!!)

But some of my favourites are “Hero’s” - David Bowie because duh I think any Conan gray song match them so well especially “the cut that always bleeds”, Strangers - Ethel Cain, love of my life - Queen, seven - Taylor swift (TRUSTT) and of course the classics Me and Micheal by mgmt (ANGST IN MY PANTS IS A BANGER TOO)

4. My favourite scene would definitely have to be ethier the van scene or the “shed” scene. The van scene portrays their love for eachother in such a clear way and really keeps us all on edge how this painting will be brought up next season. Aswell as this scene showing that what they ultimately need is eachother🫶🫶🫶. The shed scene is just perfection. I think that scene is Mike being his truest self and really showing the audience the real him. For me it was like a coming out scene the whole “it was the best thing I’ve ever done” is mikes way of trying to tell will how special he is to him. But I will say the rain fight is an honourable mention BECAUSE LAWDDDD

5. “It was a seven” is my favourite I think it shows their bond and trust from the jump + that scene linking up to flickergate. “If we both go crazy then we’ll go crazy toghere right?” Is ALSO my favourite 😌🙏

6. Pastagate ofc 🫶😈 rigatoni is gonna come right in and swoop will off of his feet!! But LETTERGATE 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ will it happen? Probably not but the way my jaw would drop to the floor if bro just pulled out a box of letter he never sent I would go into cardiac arrest! Same with church gate my love ❤️❤️

7. I’m a basic bitch 💔 I want the confession to be in rain to parallel the rain fight… BUT MIKE needs to be the one to initiate the kiss!!! I also would love for church gate confession!!! LIKE HELLO?!?! That would be abousetly insane gays kissing in a church?!?!? Abousetly iconic I must say. I need them to be yelling at eachother and then will says something and Mike is like “what?” 🙏🙏 I wish I could broadcast the vision I’m horrible at writing 😋

#byler #byler brainrot #byler endgame #mike wheeler #byler s5 #will byers #byler nation #byler tumblr

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drdrizzey · 3 days ago

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(possibility part 1) of Putting Arcane characters, events and politics into our world's perspective! (Because why not?)

That french guy on tiktok pointed out the sociopolitical implications in arcane, linking them with actual political events or politically engaged individuals and dynamics in France and in the US, and I couldn't agree more on a lot of things he says.

I won't cite most of the french politicians he named because it's not that relevant, but I will break down a few of his points and add up on them. I find the captions pretty tricky when it comes to translation so I'm going to use my bilingual powers for that one<3

Silco :

For starters, he points out the way Silco portrays the instances where left wing revolutionaries who purposely intended to fight against capitalism (piltover) ended up reproducing said capitalism at their own scale (the shimmer empire). On that I'd like to add the fact that Silco's actions keep entertaining this whole concept of "becoming the person you're fighting against". In wanting his nation of Zaun, protecting Zaunites, he actually ends up making their lives worse in many ways, creating addicts, and insecurities. The same way piltover uses Zaun for its own cause, Silco ends up doing the same with many Zaunites.

Vander :

On the other hand, Vander is more of a portrayal of people giving up on activism to protect their personal lives, the same way that would be the case with activists stopping their actions after receiving death threats, or people that were very active in their communities when they were younger but gradually stopped when their priority switched to their family and when they got the occasion on going back on it they simply didn't, but never gave up their initial morals and values, simply the will and ambition to put them into actions. It's pretty self explanatory.

Jayce :

Then, jayce would portray the kind of people who due to their heritage are fundamentally more left sided socially speaking, but are more prone to range alongside more right wing politicians and elitists as a way to grab opportunities whenever they show up, suddenly brushing off their background, not that they are ashamed of it, but more that they need they "have to" in order to succeed and meet the expectations people might have of him, or to "open more doors" for himself, constantly leaving a bitter taste to any of his success. To a certain extent it could lead to him feeling like the lines of his own morals are constantly blurring, the same way it's shown in the scene where due to his fatigue he tells Victor that Zaunites are "dangerous". It's not only due to his mental struggles and tiredness at the moment but also due to his exposure to very closet minded people on the subject, enforcing ideologies that he maybe wouldn't have had on his own. It doesn't take much for him to switch from one way to the other, making it hard for him to make concrete decisions sometimes.

Jinx and ekko :

Jinx and ekko are the manifestations of the consequences of sociopolitical conflicts. They are a result of it. That much is also pretty self explanatory especially with jinx being a woman and ekko being black, and them both being late teenagers, even with the matter of racism not being directly a subject in Arcane, it is something that speaks to us as viewers. They both unwillingly are stuck in a position where their communities (Zaun in this case) are being minimised and dismissed in a way and they struggle to make their voices be heard (the same way this is often the case in both feminism and BLM movements.) It's a clear overpoliticalisation, and even if it's not on purpose (since arcane has a brilliant way of normalising diversity in the best ways possible), the fact that they are who they are just makes sense to a lot of people and reminds them how activism can be in real life as well. Ekko and jinx also have very different ways of manifesting their engagements in their actions. You could as well see ekko like those people making smaller communities and associations for exemple.

Caitlin :

Caitlin could be a right wing from a very elitist and more conservatism oriented household who's racist but "I'm not racist! My friend here is black." Or "x is different." And thrives off claiming wanting to help people and helping getting "insecurities and street violence" off and making the (higher classes) people (her own community) feel "safer" by simply converting their ideas into socially threatening actions and opinions towards minorities. Sugar coating hate speech or justify cop violence, basically.

Vi :

Vi would be anyone who came from more precarious households or minorities and ended up switching sides, turning up against her own people. It's kind of a more extreme Jayce case in a way. (Which makes them an even more interesting pair when we have that in mind.)

There's actually so much more to talk about, I've added a lot of my own interpretations but he also says that Mel is basically Kamala Harris (which is a bit funny, it is accurate.) those are just most of the characters he talked about but I could easily think of other things to say for pretty much any arcane character, it's part of why Arcane is so good.

Also a French moment here, can I point out how great it is that a french studio got to make a show with so much political implications and will for revolution and change while France is currently in a pretty politically complicated state at the moment? (When is it not honestly? but you get it.)

There's so much more to talk about so let me know if I should go over more characters, everything and everyone is a bit political when you really think about it.

I'm a bit tempted to go over more stuff on the subject now))

#arcane #arcane jinx #silco arcane #jayce talis #caitlin arcane #vi arcane #vander arcane #arcane politics #arcane analysis #basically arcane but how politically sided they would be in our world #pretty interesting #i swear im sane (its 3am)#jinx #silco #arcane jayce

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below-et-almost · 20 hours ago

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tw: the section on Aphrodite brings up a dub/non-con curse

I haven't thought about the Iliad in years. Like a decade. but OH man this au has me so excited about putting Maedhros in this world!!! He's outside of Arda and the role he bound himself to within it, and he can do serious good here! Also, he can sow some serious confusion.

Somehow, Maedhros is even more lost than Odysseus was... What next, is he gonna get lost enough to land himself and his band of refugees in Ithaca? And what kind of advice can Tiresias give him for getting back to Beleriand?

The shipboard adventures are gonna go rather differently, with this crew. Circe, for one, may be less initially aggressive towards a ship full of refugee women and children; but, going by her other various exploits, quite probably not for long. There are several directions for that encounter that pop to mind, actually.

Circe as Sorceress Fatale is attracted to this exotic and unusual hero/leader now under her power, and she gets cursing-level offended when this interest is not reciprocated.

Something dealing with how Circe 'purified' the argonauts of murdering Medea's brother. While the ritual in and of itself is not super important to Maedhros, I think that it's super interesting how she both purifies them even before knowing what they did and then, after the telling, denies them hospitality. There's something there about personal forgiveness (she doesn't give it) versus offering second chances (the purification) and her not offering then hospitality to these people as the continue to pursue the pre-second chance goal. And I think that oath-bound Maedhros could have a very interesting discussion with her about second chances and the sunk cost fallacy. Especially this Maedhros, who has found himself lost in a world not his own, who has found himself outside of his oath-bound role for the first time in centuries and whose preconceptions about the world have just been rocked.

Also super interested in how Ares, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus' attention will affect the adventures of our intrepid crew.

It could be fun if Hephaestus is curious about the metal alloy technology Maedhros is wearing. Also, if he knows that Maedhros isn't his son and figures out that Aphrodite genuinely does not believe him to be hers, he's in a position to be even more curious! Which is to say, Hephaestus chatting with and/or throwing 'little' challenges and puzzles Maedhros' way to try to figure him and his origins out.

Ares is also paying attention, which I think is hilarious. Or, at first I thought it was hilarious. Then I started seeing parallels. Maedhros' deeds of great valor and orc-terrifying ferociousness are very on-brand for Ares. The narrative is also very ambivalent towards him in much the same way as mythology is towards Ares, and for much the same reasons. The warlike attitude and aptitude to help defeat the enemy threat is praised, but, like the sons of Feanor on Doriath and Sirion, Ares can and will bring that same violence against his supplicants. And he's also often portrayed as humiliated by his pride... like the son of Feanor who for all his fearsome oath and deeds of valor did not damage Morgoth, attacked elves, and refused mercy only to kill himself.

So: Maedhros has got the courage and physical prowess and bloodthirsty attitude-- and he hates this part of himself and how he's turned it on his fellow elves. Meanwhile Ares is all for belligerence and warfare and has to be ritually chained-in-effigy in order to not continue causing strife after helping to repel enemies. They could have a really interesting dynamic. Like, Maedhros would absolutely despise Ares, but I think that Ares could roll with that enough to continue to initiate interesting interactions.

Aphrodite... she is pissed, and she is powerful! There's some tension re: how powerful Aphrodite is, which we can see even in the Iliad, where she both kicks off the entire war with her curse and gets scolded by Zeus for getting injured on the field of battle, where she shouldn't be because she doesn't have power there. (But in other instances she is associated with battle thru Ares or even thru the physicality of battle itself-- and later from the influence of Venus Genetrix of Rome-- and in other hymns she seems to have great power over all things that procreate.)

In any case, her curses are potent. She needs to give Maedhros a good curse! This could be some awful whump scenario, or this could be a hilariously ineffectual curse to desperately and effeminately (going off of the idea of active/passive roles in male-male relationships and the domination of a woman by her husband or lover) long for a relative-- thwarted by Maedhros already being a sad widower for his cousin and liege. I'd consider the former more likely, except the latter would fit well with the themes of the narratives not knowing how to handle their swapped characters. Idk perhaps she ineffectively and hilariously curses him the first time, and when that doesn't work, she either curses him to have sex with someone/thing he'd really rather not or makes his dick fall off /shrug. But she can't like, gainsay her first curse, so she's stuck with curse options that don't change his amorous emotions/cause a permanent mental state that would make him forget his priorities?? So we can have the humorous moment, the acknowledgement of Aphrodite's power, and the fact that the way in which Aphrodite didn't understand Maedhros blunts her curses from 'chronic mindfuck' to 'serious trauma but at least it's not permanent mindfuck'.

Maedros in Troy AU

Long, long post about my very niche obsession. Original AU by @sweetteaanddragons can be found here.

Every so often when I'm listening to EPIC, my mind will play six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon and I'll end up back at this AU. This particular addition was inspired by my remembering that Achilles was a redhead (Or maybe strawberry-blonde, idk enough about the Greek language to say for sure. His son was a redhead, and he once went by the alias of "the redheaded girl.")

The morning after the sack of Troy is a somber affair, even, surprisingly, amongst the victors. The surviving Achaean princes limp their way back to the feet of the horse, finally able to take a headcount. Odysseus and Ajax the Lesser are missing, Neoptolemus is nursing a nasty leg-wound, and less concerning but equally inconvenient, Menelaus and Helen have absconded to Sparta to start their second honeymoon.

Neoptolemus, in particular, has been having a day. First he got paired with Odysseus, which he has come to learn means he's going to be acting as the muscle while the Ithacan takes the credit. Then Odysseus was granted the honor of ending Hector's bloodline, and Neo couldn't even say anything because the order came directly from the mouth of Zeus. (Odysseus already took his father's armor. Could Neo not at least be allowed his vengeance?) Then Hector's woman took a swipe at him with a dagger, which Neo handled quite easily, then a madman burst out of the crypts and nearly cut his leg off, which presented a bit more of a challenge.

The princes compare notes, slowly piecing together a picture of The Stranger who carved a bloody swath through their armies and then disappeared as quickly as he materialized. Finally, Eurylochus says what everyone else has been thinking (fearing). Towering in stature, redhaired, wearing armor that turned their blades and wielding a sword that pierced through bronze like soft clay? They all know who that sounds like.

Yes, the others reluctantly admit, The Stranger is most definitely the ghost of Achilles, returned from the grave to once again punish them all for the sake of some personal slight. (Neo can't stop thinking about the look in the man's eyes, that look of pity or maybe disappointment before he left the youth bleeding on the steps of Hector's tomb).

Diomedes is the only one to object. Aside from Neo, he was the only one to get a good look at The Stranger and live to tell about it. That wasn't Achilles. In fact, he made the man bleed, so he wasn't a ghost either. No one else seems convinced.

Neo confirms that Odysseus went into Hector's tomb alone, and only The Stranger emerged. Sage nods are exchanged amongst the other princes -- Achilles must have returned to avenge his old comrade, Greater Ajax. But then why would he kill so many Achaeans after presumably taking his vengeance on Odysseus? (Agamemnon scoffs. As if Achilles ever needed a reason to be a pain.)

Then a messenger arrives, breathlessly announcing that Ajax the Lesser has been found. Specifically, he has been found dead by a blow from The Stranger's magic sword, lying at the feet of a toppled statue of Athena.

Now that's clearly an omen of some sort, though no one can agree on what message to take from it. Athena is Odysseus's patron, but is the toppled statue a sign of judgement or of disrespect? Does this have anything to do with The Lesser's cousin The Greater? Nestor suggests consulting the Trojan oracle Helenus. They left the boy tied up on Agamemnon's ship after Odysseus finished with him, and he was still alive the last time they checked. Perhaps he can interpret the omen.

This plan only makes it as far as the beach, where the gang discovers that both the oracle and Agamemnon's flagship have been stolen.

Suddenly it all makes perfect sense. Diomedes explodes -- yet again, Achilles is punishing them all for the sake of his feud with Agamemnon. The High King sputters out a denial -- he and Achilles were square when the man died. His conscience is perfectly clean. He still looks as if he is actively having a heart attack.

Nestor attempts to intervene. Diomedes shouldn't jump to conclusions... But if Agamemnon knows of anything that might have brought a vengeful Achilles back from the grave, he really should tell them. They promise they won't be mad.

Agamemnon has the horrible, sinking feeling that this might be about the fact that he took a leak on the ashes of Achille's funeral pyre. But he's certainly not going to admit to that. Wounded or no, Neo has a good couple of inches on him, and the kid is built like he strangles oxen for a hobby. He has that same twitchy look in his eye that his father always had.

This man cannot have been Achilles, he insists, and Agamemnon is going to bring back his head to prove it! (No one else is willing to set sail while the son of a Nereid might be after their heads, and Agamemnon is quite sure that they're one more bad omen away from sacrificing him to appease Achilles. It's what he would do, were he in their position.) Eurylochus and his crew quickly get pressed into service -- they need a captain, and Agamemnon needs a boat. And don't they want to avenge their fallen king?

Neo insists on coming along, much to Agamemnon's horror.

Maedhros isn't ready to panic just yet. Disorienting as that first night was, he's now fairly certain that he knows where he is. He's on the eastern side of the Sea of Rhûn. This is an inland sea, and the climate and general look of the people suggest that he's somewhere south and east of Dorwinion. He's a long way from home, to be sure, but at least he knows how to get back. He takes a moment to privately curse that storm Maia for dragging him so far out of his way.

He's fairly certain that the woman he rescued is the baby's mother. At least, she seemed very relieved to have him back. So if he recalls the storm Maia's threats correctly, that would make her the prince's widow. The others seem to tentatively consider her to be in charge, and she's at least attempted to communicate with him. Maybe she can help him get his bearings.

Unfortunately, she doesn't speak any of the Easterling tongues he learned from Bór. That's not terribly surprising. Rhûn is a land of many nations, and this particular clan must be rather isolated if they're still casting weapons out of bronze. That's fine. He might not invent new languages on a whim as his father did, but he does enjoy learning them.

The golden-haired girl hasn't stopped watching him. She looks away with a pained expression every time he catches her at it, but even now he can feel her eyes boring into the back of his head. He saw eyes like that once before -- the first time he saw a mirror after Thangorodrim.

The others give her a wide berth, though she does nothing apart from sit curled under the mast, arms around her knees. During their flight, she broke from her stupor long enough to lead them to this ship -- the same ship where they found the prisoner who Maedhros assumes to be her twin brother. It almost seemed as if she knew where...

But that would be ridiculous. She couldn't have known. Maedhros rather forcibly shrugs the notion off. They're twins. He's seen Amrod and Amras do far stranger.

On his first night, Maedhros was too preoccupied to look up. Even had he chanced to look at the sky, the smoke of the city's burning would have blotted out the stars. He spends the following day tending to the wounded, despite having nothing but torn clothing and seawater, and offering what comfort he can, despite speaking not a word of their language. When the sun sets, he forces himself to stay awake. One look at the stars will give him his heading, and from there he can plan the route home...

Oh. Maedhros doesn't know those stars.

Maedhros is beginning to suspect that he isn't in Rhûn.

More coming soon, by request of @sweetteaanddragons !

#the silmarillion #silmarillion #maedhros

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rowie264 · 4 hours ago

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Councilors vs Chem-Barons

Remember that creators wanted to "show there is merits and flaws on both sides"? While I still feel that agenda in the first season, the second season is... well.

The easiest way to see that creators wanted you to be more sympathetic to Piltover is to look at the rulers of both cities. The Council is flawed but mostly fine, while Chem-Barons are purely bad.

You can protest that 'wait, but in s1 we saw that the Council is corrupted' and... i agree with that. But let's take a closer look at all members with information from both s1 and s2, hmm?

Torman Hoskel was portrayed as silly and easily manipulated person. He is the worst among them.

Salo makes the same appearance as Hoskel in s1. But in s2 he becomes disabled. This is the easiest way to manipulate you into sympathizing him. Of course, this wouldn't change your view of him completely, since his personality remained the same, but you can understand his anger (his suffering is shown on the screen). Besides, later when Viktor heals his legs, Salo changes, losing his arrogance and becoming a good person.

Irius Bolbok is strict, composed and slightly harsh ruler (remember him saying to find the culprit no matter what). But he isn't shown as bad as Hoskel and Salo in s1. He is quite decent.

Shoola was portrayed as reasanable ruler from very beginning. She was the first who said "They [zaunites] may not be your preferred consituents but they're still our people." She was the first after Mel who voted for Zaun's independance. In s2, we see how she cares about people rather than acting in the interests of revenge like Salo.

Cassandra Kiramman was also showed as good person even in s1. She might not be active Zaun's simpathizer but she did schedule an audience for Caitlyn and Vi giving them a chance to change Councilors opinion about Zaun (ofc it's bc Cait is her daughter but Cassandra could just deny her). Also in s2 we learn that she built a ventilation system which makes her the only Councilor (beside Jayce) who actually did something for Zaun.

Mel Medarda is shown as a woman who does things for her own benefit, manipulating others. But she still did vote for the independence of Zaun (albeit for personal reasons). You also can't say that she's a bad person or that she's done really bad things for her cause (like Silco for example).

Jayce is a bad politician and has made few mistakes, but at the end of the day, he is a good man.

Heimerdinger is portrayed as good person as well.

Even though we know that all of them are corrupt (except Heimer) and that they have ignored Zaun for decades, only one of them has no good traits and completely unlikable (Hoskel).

But what do we have with Chem-Barons?

Finn is an idiot and power-hungry.

Rennie is too. She lost her son, which to some extent makes you understand her attacks on memorial (not justify, just understand), but the show itself does not even focus on this fact, ignoring that little nuance.

Chross's goons force children to work in the mines. He also fights for Silco's chair to gain more power.

Smeech's business is connected to shimmer (i guess he provides it after Silco's death?). Only, unlike Silco, Smeech isn't shown as someone who uses shimmer simply as a tool to achieve a higher goal (nation of Zaun). He is just power-hungry like others. Also s2 shows that he doesn't value his own people.

Margot is unloyal as well. "I'd rather favor my chances with Topside". She fights for power like others.

Silco is the only one who commits bad deeds for a higher purpose. All he wants is an independent Zaun, not power itself. We see his positive traits such as dedication to his city, love for Jinx and others, which makes him the only really likable among other Chem-Barons.

Of course the government doesn't represent people themselves. We saw that there are good people in Zaun and there are bad people in Piltover. But you know what it does represent? Creators' true view of Piltover/Zaun conflict.

Despite everything Piltover was ready to grant Zaun independence. The Council was shown flawed but the characters themselves were not completely bad persons. You, as a viewer, can understand and sympathize them. Creators made sure you will sympathize them.

But Zaun? Bandits and criminals who don't think beyond their pockets. The only person who did and tried to do something good for Zaun was wrong, bc s2 promotes us "violence is not the answer" and "power of forgiveness" agenda.

So where are the "merits and flaws on both sides" again?

#sometimes i will write a short analysis but not today #also don't tell me “but The Councilors are opressors"#i know that but this 'little nuance' was brushed aside and wasn't properly addressed in s2 #arcane #arcane s2 #arcane critical #zaun #piltover #zaun/piltover

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