#especially in the name of his children

[atropinenightshade]

so so so this far fetched story fanfic where Rafal's daughter protects her cousins and realizes that her "good" dad had done some evil shit and he's also a sadist and egotistical but also maybe he really loves her so it's hard for her to kill him. which one's love and which one's guilt trip? rafal is also responsible for the death of his other daughter. indirectly.

seers say she will kill him eventually but then she finds Midas who also is torn. and it's this complicated situation where either she or midas will kill him but both of them do it.

and Rafal is just borderline bland when he gets killed as if he borderline expected no better. and maybe he was sorry, most likely he wasn't.

[my-name-is-apollo]

Why is Hera so hostile to Leto in a manner that she isn't with the other lovers of Zeus? I can't think of any other woman who was targeted so much by Hera. One could say she didn't want Leto to give birth because her children would be a competition to Hera's children, but why bother her even after she had already given birth? Is it because Leto herself is also a threat to Hera?

Sort of I guess?

I don't think Leto would ever be a threat to Hera's role as the queen of the gods but Hera might see her as a competitor for Zeus' affection, even though I think Zeus would not marry someone else and replace Hera.

The twins are definitely a big reason why Hera begrudged Leto - it is outright stated in the Callimachus Hymn to Delos that the reason Hera especially targeted Leto was because she was told that Apollo would be dearer to Zeus than Ares is. Zeus is very proud of Artemis as well. As he himself puts it, he doesn't mind facing Hera's wrath for children like her.

But the continued hatred even after the birth of the twins (like sending Tityus to rape Leto) could have been for different reasons. This wasn't like one of those affairs Zeus would have with mortal women where he'd leave them behind once the child is conceived. Neither could Hera, despite her many attempts, get rid of Leto like she did with the other lovers. Not only did Leto give Zeus children that he loves dearly, she also stayed on Olympus despite Hera's hatred towards her (which isn't directed to any of Zeus' other divine mistresses, btw). It might have also been because Leto herself is dear to Zeus, if the way she's treated on Olympus is any proof. In the Homeric hymn to Apollo, Leto stands next to Zeus - in the Olympian assembly - to welcome their son. Hera is completely absent from the scene, as if Leto had taken her place even if temporarily. Now you could say this is because Apollo himself is such a powerful and glorious son in a way that no other son of Zeus is, so of course Leto would get such an honor (the hymn itself presents it this way).

But here's another instance - in the Iliad, when Hera goes to seduce Zeus, he is obviously very smitten but before getting into the action, he lists some of his lovers (I believe these were his favorite lovers, as a lot of others are not mentioned):

"for never has such desire for goddess or mortal woman so gripped and overwhelmed my heart, not even when I was seized by love for Ixion’s wife, who gave birth to Peirithous the gods’ rival in wisdom; or for Acrisius’ daughter, slim-ankled Danaë, who bore Perseus, greatest of warriors; or for the far-famed daughter of Phoenix, who gave me Minos and godlike Rhadamanthus; or for Semele mother of Dionysus, who brings men joy; or for Alcmene at Thebes, whose son was lion-hearted Heracles; or for Demeter of the lovely tresses; or for glorious Leto; or even for you yourself, as this love and sweet desire for you grips me now.’ (Book 14, trans. A. T. Murray)

Notice how when talking about most of them, he also mentions the children they bore to him but when Demeter and Leto are mentioned, he doesn't bring up their children at all despite them being some of the most accomplished kids of his. What's more, he takes Leto's name just before Hera's. I mean, this is an interpretation but it looks like not only did Zeus love Leto the most out of all his mistresses - giving her a place second to that of his wife, but also his love for her wasn't necessarily only because she gave him two amazing children.

Nonnus does something similar in the Dionysiaca (but this time Zeus is enamored with Persephone instead of Hera) but more notably, when Typhoeus attacks Olympus and Zeus is discouraged, Nike takes the form of Leto to encourage him and it's pretty telling of what Leto meant to Zeus.

One interesting similarity between Hera and Leto is that they both had a giant try to rape them. Porphyrion tried to violate Hera (Zeus inspired him to do this) and Tityus tried to violate Leto (upon Hera's order). Though both of them were killed, only Tityus got an eternal punishment in Tartarus of having his liver/heart eaten out by vultures so Zeus seems to have taken a greater offense at Tityus trying to assault Leto.

Again, I don't think Zeus would ever take anyone other than Hera as his permanent wife - she is irreplaceable to him. There's an entire myth about Hera leaving him and Zeus winning her back. Their relationship is obviously complex and involves all kinds of emotions including love and hate. But Leto is continually dear to him as well and that's something Hera can't do much about.

[coatl-cuddles]

PLEASE infodump to me, how do we know for a fact the skiddo in the trailers and concert is the prince? I am starved for Alef lore

💫 HAYYY~~~~ 💫

I will GLADLY info dump about my favorite sky kids!!

SPOILER WARNING FOR ANYONE WHO HASNT COMPLETED AURORA!

Obligatory nothing is absolutely confirmed in sky unless stated by creators since there's no dialogue. So lots of stuff is always up to interpretation.

Howeverrrr the likelihood of Alef being the sky kid we see is essentially 99.9%!!

So here we go!!!

First thing to note is that the spirit from isle and the concert is totally the same Sky Kid. And we can tell thanks to MAMA Spirit! Or well- the adoptive mama spirit! More specifically... the adoptive mama spirit who unfortunately dies :(

One of the FIRST spirits in the game is a feminine looking ancestor with a relatively high pony tail, who discovers a fallen sky child (likely to be Alef)! This occurs in the Isle of Dawn!

Then, in the concert, we get a similar looking spirit ( high ponytail ) who ALSO took in a sky child-- who dies tragically :( leaving the sky child orphaned and alone.

Granted it is a different body type!!! But considering the amount of retcons and redesigns of areas / updates to the game around this time I'll look past it for now. But regardless, ponytail stays the same.

And of course lastly is our mama from the trailers with our Dawn Ember :(

Who is also wearing a bag on her shoulders like the aurora spirit (you can see the rope strap!)- and who also tragically loses her life as confirmed by TGC during the anniversary livestream. This can be found when they state it's the tale of two ORPHANS... implying our Dawn Ember does not have a guardian. Or at least not anymore. (Which also implies our Dusk Ember/The Stewards parents who gave him the butterfly pendant ALSO die, but that's for another time)

Something to note is that Sky Kids and ancestors are NOT the same race. They are completely different. Ancestors do have children!! But Sky Kids are a separate thing.

And they're rare.

Very rare.

So rare in fact that it's heavily believed by the fandom that Alef/Resh was the FIRST sky kid.

So the likelihood of two different pony tailed ancestors (who live in the Isle of Dawn AND who die tragically) adopting a sky kid is SUPER UNLIKELY!

So that's how we vaguely know it's the SAME Sky kid. BUT!! Most importantly, we know the Sky Kid is Alef forrrrr kinda shallow reasons, but they hold water!!! So it counts!!!

Which is basically to sayyyy... Dawn Ember is wearing a baby version of King Resh's mask.

So like- not the most GROUND BREAKING lore reveal. But---

Like-

Yeah,

That's our favorite star prince right there!

Also the implication that he got the extra four points AFTER prophecy, explains why as a kid he only has the main 4 points at the top and sides. Plus he already has suspiciously placed "cracks" in his mask where the 4 other points will come out of. That's our baby boy for sure!!!

Obviously, this isn't concrete proof of tgc just going HEY that's Alef!

However, for a game with zero dialogue and the most complex game of charades ever, this is basically as good as it's gonna get when it comes to tying everything together!

Also his name is Dawn.

Dawn Ember. For isle of Dawn. Which took me until 5 minutes ago to realize.

Which explains a lot, because we've all been kinda side eyeing the names like why tf did they name Hopeful Steward the Dusk Ember. But, if they're naming them off of AREAS and not literally the day/night motif that makes sense. Especially since a ton of Dusk Embers trailer scenes seem to take place in Wasteland, which the devs call the Dusk area. Despite him probably being from prairie or aviary village.

So badabing badaboom that's our baby boy right there!!! 3 different ways. 3 different flavors!!! All for the sake of mama spirit dying. Tragic. But that's our boy alrighttttt yayyy!!!!!!!!

Watch me be totally 100% wrong and all the fanart make zero sense a couple months from now. BUT IM DYING ON THIS HILL (for now!)

🎉🎉 That's our Prince right there!! 🎉🎉

[finitevariety]

Umberto Eco (1995) 'Ur-Fascism', New York Review of Books, 2/14

[aloeverified]

i wish jagged was luka and juleka's step-dad instead.

anarka and jagged meet in a dim, little corner street bar. she doesn't keep up with all the new fancy spots anymore and he's trying to hide away from anyone with a camera who might make his night worse.

anarka goes out for the first time in many, many years. luka and juleka want to have a little get together with their friends at the boat, and she trusts her kids enough and know they'll not do anything too reckless. besides, she remembers what it's like to want freedom and privacy from parents at that age, so she'll let them have a little party while she gets some alone time.

jagged was also looking to have a drink that night, trying to take his mind off another annoying disagreement with his producer. apparently, he'd gone against his contract by playing unreleased music during his television interview and was essentially being put on house arrests: no tours, no shows, no leaving paris. not until he had a new album ready to announce and was ready to do everything his producer asked of him.

he overhears anarka ordering, something strong he's only had on a handful of occasions. he takes a sea on the stool beside her and asks for the same. she smiles over at him, asking if it's been "one of those days."

he replies with a groan, saying everyday is one of those days with this ridiculous coworker of his. she chuckles at that and he questions if she's in a similar predicament.

she shakes her head and takes a first sip as their drinks are placed in front of them. she tells him it's just been a while since she's been able to go out, is all, might as well enjoy all the alone time she can while she has the chance.

he asks if his presence is taking away from her alone time, and she shakes her head once again before taking a larger drink. it's nice to have a drinking partner, she tells him it's been a long time since she's had one. he takes a sip of his drink as well, humming in agreement.

the two of them talk some more with more drinks coming. jagged realizes anarka has a very nice laugh and also a much higher tolerance than him.

somewhere in their conversation, something is said that causes anarka to have an epiphany. she jolts up in her seat, startling jagged, as she turns further towards him and announce that she knows him: he's a musician that her oldest kid is absolutely obsessed with!

jagged tries to hide the surprise in his voice as he repeats that she has kids. anarka nods, still very proud of her discovery. two, she tells him, the sweetest little kiddos in all of france. he listens to her gush about them for a few moments more, enjoying the way she face brightens with each word.

he decides to test his fate by saying he hopes her husband doesn't mind her having a drink with a rockstar, lots of people would get the wrong impression. anarka laughs, loud and heavy, telling him he doesn't have to worry about anything like that. she gives him a mischievous look, telling him that if she ever saw her lousy ex husband again, she'd throw him overboard.

jagged offers her his help if that ever happens, a long with his number written on one of the bar napkins. she stares at it for a moment in bewilderment, before laughing and sliding it into her purse, telling him she'll never turn down a drinking buddy.

from there on, jagged and anarka meet fairly often. it started off as getting a drink once a week together at the bar while so the kids could have a night to themselves and so jagged could unwind, but it eventually turns into them getting together every few nights for drinks, dinner, checking out new instrument stores.

luka grows suspicious that their mom is seeing someone and eventually decides to ask her about it while she's getting ready to go see jagged, and juleka jumps in to let their mom know she's happy for her and supports any relationship she may be pursuing.

she tells the kids to settle down, it's nothing like that. he's just a friend she's been getting together with to have some adult time. though, she does find him quite handsome and charming, and his accent does do something for her. she decides to text her "friend" to come by the boat to pick her up, rather than meeting a few blocks away.

imagine luka's shock when his idol shows up in his living room, more polished and out together than he's ever seen him, with a bouquet of flowers for his mom.

summary: jagged stone falls in love with anarka from the moment he sees her and she decides to entertain it, featuring bonus family shenanigans with juleka and luka having a good father figure for the first time in their lives and jagged realizing that maybe he doesn't mind the idea of settling down and having a family as much as he thought he would.

[mishy-mashy]

WE GOT EN'S FULL NAME AND VIGILANTE/HERO NAME!!!! YEAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!

[lovesickeros]

putting my thoughts under the cut in case people dont want to spoil themself on arle voicelines

currently obsessed with the view our current harbingers have of the Tsaritsa. both childe and arlecchino greatly respect her even if arlecchino is dubiously loyal to the Tsaritsa at best. they both talk about her as a figure who is gentle and compassionate, completely at odds with both the organization she allows to commit horrible acts (dottore. its a lot of dottore. he canonically took children from the hoth under the old knave if they were no longer considered "useful" and used as test subjects). shes described as someone with no love left for her people yet the harbingers we've heard talk about her never seem to describe her in such a manner. of course, childe mentions she had to harden herself to complete her goal, but he still notes that shes too gentle. the more we learn about her the more i want to meet her purely because she is contradictions all the way down and its great!!! taking whatever scraps i can get and its perfectly in line with my characterization too so i stay winning

[wildflowercryptid]

the daughter of the king, xerneas's beloved child... she loved all pokémon, but floettes were undoubtedly her favorite...

[oifaaa]

Does Janet and Martha become heros in the future

Janet does Martha on the other hand well youngest siblings are usually the more rebellious ones

[tekra-brings-the-rain]

I keep thinking about Nex. They should’ve lived. They should be home with their family right now.

[somnus-in-law]

out of context, Bruce Wayne is a prime example of a serial white savior adopter.

[an-incoherent-mess]

So I'm really into genealogy and have been for a few years now and I'm blessed with being really good with names and dates etc. So in conversation I can remember like a ridiculous amount of:

Jane Doe Smith Johnson

b. 1805 Tennessee d. 1879 Missouri

Married 1828 to John Patrick Johnson. Had five children. Died of TB

Etc etc

And that's cool enough apparently but I've mostly been using it for

A. Making up bullshit but real sounding names for stuff (i.e my name is Emily Stewart, Grace Kolár, etc). The point is that they're normal sounding and varied.

B. Having a bizarre frame of reference for historical events. Like "oh [small town],[state] 1942 had [random] event happen? My 1st cousin 4x removed got married there that year, small world!"

It's so dumb, like I'll read about some historical event from my area (where I've had family in the vicinity of since the 1840s) and I'll link up the time frame in my head and be like hmm... I wonder what 3rd great aunt Helen thought about that happening next door to her church.

[vonkarma2]

ultimately my enjoyment is hampered because it is low key sexist bc it takes place in an alternate universe where Sigmund Freud is real. though I did still like it for the most part but I hate Sigmund Freudddd Utena better

[swallowtail-ageha]

Head empty thoughts full of the antigone incest essay

[imaginarianisms]

1 day i will make a meta of sansa's dynamic with her metaphorical champions/suitors & how that correlates to the ashford theory (i.e sansa being betrothed to joffrey baratheon, then promised to willas tyrell, then being married to tyrion lannister, then being married to harry hardying then married to aegon vi targaryen & aurane velaryon but it is not this day. lmao. when i make that meta it'll be so over for y'all.

[fauville]

thinking abt dima introducing nate to his snakes. that is all