#confinement ring

[fieriframes]

[Wow. Into the slot. Confinement ring. Because there will be sway. Pull it down, then we hit the button. Nice drop down, activate.]

[wasabi-gumdrop]

Is this the same "saabi" on AO3 who dropped that god-gorgeous fic of Laios being painted and then the painter laid his eyes on Kabru and was like HOLY SHIT THIS MY MUSE! And then Laios was like... no wait, I need Kabru. He can't run off into the sunset with that painter. I'll have to double his pay. And then Laios compared him to a Couatl egg? Because that shit is LIT! Like. Your writing is amazing and you captured the sweetness of everything that is THEM and there is an aura of intrigue in the plot to boot that's so captivating and I love you.

... If this is not the same "saabi" I'm so sorry for this message. But also I highly recommend this story "empyrean, from the summit" which can be read here at:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/56087968

yes it’s me 🥹

omg thank you this is so sweet 😭 i’m glad you liked the fic. and hopefully i can update soon, most of chp 2 is already written

a little preview 😚

[mossy-thing]

Nazgûl over Minas Tirith

[arx-aru]

Is it established anywhere in canon whether the Godrick and/or Radahn cliques know Malenia has already made it back to the Haligtree after the Battle of Aoenia?

Curious cuz so far as I can immediately find the only acknowledgment of her escape prior to the Haligtree area itself seems to come from Commander O'Neil's Standard--

(I'm 99% sure O'Neil was part of the Malenian/Miquellan host but I don't think it's explicitly stated? he and the Cleanrot Knights around his arena are specifically non-hostile to each-other and share buffs, and he absurdly found Malenia's(?) discarded needle and protected it to his death even after being nuked by her)

And Gowry obviously hinges his whacky machinations on her being at the Haligtree (though it's probably more blind faith in his goddess than it is, like, solid intelligence...)

But both those guys and their associates are specifically Malenian or adjacent thereto... and, in light of the stupendous amount of bad blood and continued lethal(or worse) hostility between her and Godrick/Radahn's forces, it seems reasonable to assume the information wouldn't make it across enemy lines...?

The only(?) relevant sword monument makes no assertation on Malenia's whereabouts post-bloom too:

Gideon also seems not to know her whereabouts--or at the very least he feigns ignorance--

(the exception he's referring to here is Ranni)

If Godrick IS unaware of Malenia's successful exfiltration(thank you finlay very cool), it would serve as an interesting explanation as to the outwardly nonsensical distribution of his army in Limgrave and the Weeping Peninsula, I think;

(the banner icons are where he has soldiers encamped)

The guy has made zero effort to place garrisons to a) contain the Scarlet Rot of Caelid, b) contain the Frenzy in the Ailing Village, or c) Contain the beastman peasant uprising in Castle Morne's fief... all of which are catastrophic and increasingly existential threats to his domain. He COULD just be very, very careless and bad at basic warlord-ing, but in which case he surely wouldn't have survived the Shattering right???

But actually it maybe makes sense! His troops are dug in around the Weeping Peninsula with their battlements/ballistae facing away from the internal threats and towards the far end of the single bridge to Limgrave, completely neglecting Castle Morne and its satellite fortress which SEEMS dumb... bUT! the Tower of Return, with a direct gate to Leyndell, isn't protected by Morne whatsoever. And it's one of the few locations with his lordsworn still entrenched, despite everything else.

Soooooooooo Godrick perhapsedly is insanely hyper-fixated on catching somebody trying to flee from Eastern Limgrave or Caelid. He already broke the bridge connecting Stormhill to Liurnia, which means the only means of traversal from Caelid to the Snowfields by land would be through Stormveil Castle(which would be suicide) orrrrrrrrr the Tower of Return's gate.

His prey could be Tarnished, granted, but considering that he's a) already got that entire issues entirely contained by the far more formidable Grafted Scion at the Chapel of Anticipation and b) has forsaken 90% of his domain and powerbase on this endeavor, it seems far more likely that Godrick has long been all-in on catching Malenia.

Seem like a silly objective to trade a kingdom for? Not at all, unfortunately! The uh. The game doesn't talk a whole lot about it, but Malenia isn't just a shardbearer: she's an Empyrean. The component Godrick needs to become an Elden Lord (yes, he could aim for consort to Marika, but then he'd be beholden to Marika's order, and unable to shape his own blueprint for reality like Ranni can. If he managed to shackle Malenia then he'd be able to do the same).

...So Finlay didn't just save Malenia from death by Radahn, she saved her from being Godrick's, uh- well. She would've been in the same situation as Miquella(or what whats-his-face wanted for Ranni). It also isn't exactly... unthinkable, so to speak, that Radahn pre or post rot would have liked the same thing.

I mean. That was the goal of the Shattering.

The target on Malenia's back as an Empyrean is massive. And her fate, should she have failed, would have been exponentially more miserable than all the shardbearers'.

Small part of why it's cool that, unlike the other two, Malenia battled on the front lines and charged demigods on an equal or greater power scale. Add to the fact that she's physically disabled, actively sabotaged by an Outer God, and demonstrably less magically adept than her counterparts and her performance is all the more impressive.

[bentrollio]

Finally got an Elden Ring ass tag for Morgy. The lil sewer man is doing so well- yesterday he decided to run and frolick on his walk! During his 3 months in the shelter no one was ever able to get him to do that. I’m so happy he’s finally coming out of his shell and feeling safe and healthy enough to be a dog!

Look at him go!

[vera-keller]

hello tumblr i graduated with first class honours after being absolutely convinced that i will pull a 2:1 at peak performance in exams because i was sitting right on the 2:1 grade boundary last year only to be siked in the best way. now i am in possession of one thing that david kenyon webster does not have: a completed english literature degree. brb moonwalking into the ocean with tears in my eyes

[swagmagussupreme]

Remember when Guns 'N Roses was a popular ship? A woman and her gun. Simpler times.

[pokesmashorpokepass]

[shake-a-peepaw]

    "FUCK YEAH WOMEN"

[theelfmaiden]

"A sword rang as it was drawn. 'Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may.'

'Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!'

Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. 'But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.'"

- the Battle of Pelennor Fields, March 14-15th 3019 T. A. ...

... aka "why not to celebrate Tolkien Reading Day with smth that happened ten/eleven days ago" me thinking 🤔

Anyway, Happy Tolkien Reading Day folks!!! 📖⚔️🐎

[coockie8]

Can't wait for Hazbin Hotel to come out so I can just ignore half the lore!

[the-trans-dragon]

Okay I have decided I never want to work in a dentist office, i was already apprehensive because there would be lots of kids and lots of stranger’s teeth and I don’t really like either of those, but after listening to someone use a little drill FOR EIGHT HOURS TODAY I realize I would not survive a week around the noise

[moth-in-retrograde]

So you may notice in this post that Capella has some scars on her hands. Both she and Sanke were abused and raised for parts, so bond over their trauma.

[kiragecko]

I have complicated feelings about this.

Because I don't think Tolkien would have wanted this interpretation. And that doesn't matter, we can read it how we want, but I respect Tolkien so much! I want him to be at peace!

Sam is such a love-letter to the men under his (brief) command. The men who returned home and didn't have the luxury of taking time to recover, because their loved ones NEEDED every penny they could make, and so they just ... kept living.

He wanted those men to be okay. To recover anyways, and find joy in the things that seemed so meaningless after the horrors of war. (Many men broke off engagements after their return.) To find rest.

Basically, I agree completely with the second half of the post. And don't disagree with the first half. A few of the ways you worded things got me thinking it was going somewhere different. But no, I agree with everything you said. No complicated feelings.

Tolkien wanted Sam to get a happily-ever-after, and he understood they required work. It is a very respectful reading to posit that Sam recovered in the same way he did everything else - through complete commitment and dogged determination.

(Though, again, no one is required to have respectful readings. I just connect with those more.)

I think Sam Gamgee didn't get off as lightly as people often think. Just my interpretation. But the ferver with which he snapped back to doing "normal" things reads to me as a kind of trauma response too. The desperation to return to the status quo. I think he needed to live in the Shire as much as Frodo needed to leave it. It's just - he's so aggressive about it. Mayor seven times, getting married quickly and having so many children, it paints a picture of frantic activity, a need to be kept occupied - perhaps so that you are too tired to think on things best left in the past. I think Sam needed to live that busy, full, life, I think that WAS a form of resting for him. He could not join Frodo, who he loved deeply, until he had had a lifetime apart. As if, having gone on a perilous quest into lands unknown, Sam snapped defensively back into familiarity and refused to leave until his wounds had healed. It took until the end of his life for any tolerance for travel and adventure (no matter how gentle) to return.

[bruisedloverr]

i started a new pc and i don't know which LI(s) i'm going to officially pursue rn but i know for a fact i will always end up falling for sydney. i am not immune to religious overworked blondie.