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lividria · 7 months ago

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Baseless Speculation & Things That'd Be Cool If They Happened In Metroid Prime 4

Was struggling to figure out how to title this, because "My Vision(s) for Metroid Prime 4" or "My Predictions for Metroid Prime 4" weren't quite... Accurate. One comes off incredibly pretentious, and the other assumes I have a basis for any of this, so then I settled on "What I'd Do If I Was Writing Metroid Prime 4" but then realized I would probably not because I'd have like all of the official lore at my disposal and know everything about Sylux and all that, so now we just have this. I probably could've gotten a snappier title.

I've mentioned a couple times that I wanted to make a post detailing a bunch of baseless speculation of what could happen in Metroid Prime 4 or what I think would be cool if it happened in Metroid Prime 4, this will be that, and it's probably going to be even longer than Everything You Need to Know for Metroid Prime 4, which I will be referencing multiple times because I meant it to be context for this specific post when I wrote it. And also the better purpose of getting people up to speed on all the info we have. Please read that first, because I will not be elaborating on things like why I like the idea that Prime 4 takes place after Super Metroid and built several other ideas off of that assumption, and also because making you read both gives me more Notes.

I'm just gonna go through ideas I've mentioned in previous posts and write them out in the order I have them written down in my notes I took for this, and see where we go from there. I will not be linking those posts, because... I made a LOT of them, and I'm lazy. You don't need to look for them, you aren't really missing anything, I'll make sure I don't skip over anything.

In Case It Isn't Obvious, If Weavel Isn't In MP4 I Will Cry

I probably won't, actually, I'm sure the game will be great even if Sylux is the only one returning. But... Please, Retro. Please. We have a Hunters rival who hates Samus teaming up with the Space Pirates, the faction containing another Hunters rival who also hates Samus. And is also awesome. Weavel even fits with the theme of Space Pirate bosses being mechanically augmented that the Prime games have, for some reason. Am I just going insane, or is that really a thing they kept doing? Meta Ridley, the Elite Pirates, the Omega Pirate, the fucking unused Meta Kraid, Weavel, I can't tell for Berserker Lords actually but they got Phazoned so I assume there was some machinery involved, Omega Ridley, even fucking Master Brain? I'm not pulling up the entire list to keep going. In case you can't tell, I can't help but ramble. Get used to this format. Wait, no, it'd be a writing style.

For some reason I haven't really... Thought about how Sylux will be executed, I think my subconscious doesn't want to get stuck with a headcanon characterization that is completely destroyed by Prime 4 but I'm so attached to the conceptualization that it ruins the entire thing, though I realize now that I am doing this right now with Weavel. Let me explain. (Also, basically anything I would write about Sylux would be just shamelessly lifted from posts I've reblogged instead of my original ideas, so...)

If they make Weavel & Sylux just... Two rival characters on the same team, it'd get stale, right? Even with different personalities, it's just two Space Pirate allies with names instead of one in Prime 4 that ultimately could probably be interchangeable in the plot. So, what if, instead, Weavel and Sylux are enemies?

I doubt the Space Pirates are particularly strict on their recruiting process, just sign a paper saying you hate the Galactic Federation and you're in, and Sylux is the biggest hater, he hates the way that they walk, the way that they talk and even stole Federation equipment, so he's obviously let in. But Weavel and Sylux were both trying to get the Ultimate Power in Hunters, so Weavel could have some grudge against him, and it could go even further, like if Sylux assumes some kind of unofficial high-up position somehow and gets the general Space Pirate crew to follow his words then that'd piss Weavel off, or if they remember how Dark Samus took over the entire operation in Prime 3 Weavel could see some resemblance between the two that troubles them greatly.

In the trailer, you can see a Space Pirate shooting at other Space Pirates. Imagine if there's two factions: Some that follow Sylux, and some that don't follow him, which is either led by Weavel or just represented by him. You would probably still fight Weavel a couple times, probably about as many fights as Sylux to get both sides even, but I'd think that in the end even though Weavel's entire backstory is almost being killed by Samus I think that Weavel could feasibly team up with Samus in the climax to kill Sylux and get the Space Pirate regime back in order and then resume the rivalry afterwards. Or they start dating, I don't know.

I have more to say on Weavel & Samus teaming up later, actually, but it wouldn't make sense yet, so just... Keep that in mind.

While We're Here, The Other Hunters (Besides Trace)

I have actually no idea how they could be relevant for the main story. Maybe each map sector corresponds to a Hunters rival? Like, a snowy area has Noxus, a rocky area has Spire, etc. and you only really fight them once. But, like, we don't really have enough to work with for me to figure out how they'd be relevant beyond just being there for fanservice.

Besides for the final boss encounter. Remember how in Hunters, the final showdown was Gorea stealing everyone's abilities when they were trying to team up on it? Imagine this time it's Samus and every other hunter teaming up on Sylux, who has gone completely over the line and angered everybody. Would that not be fucking awesome? They could even bring back the thing Gorea's first phase did in with it's theme having each hunter's battle motif in it. Maybe Samus has to actually recruit all of them to help her stop Sylux from bombing the GF headquarters or something. That'd be neat.

Also, Here's Why I Singled Out Trace Just A Second Ago

Complete side note, Trace has my least favorite of all Hunters rival battle themes. Which sucks, because he's my favorite of the six Hunters hunters.

Okay, so, I have no idea where this info is from and I'm too lazy to research it, but on the Metroid wiki I use it's mentioned that the Kriken Empire, the species Trace represents, is such a menace that the Galactic Federation and Space Pirates would hypothetically team up to eradicate them if the need arose. That... Is such a plot point. You can't fucking say that. You can't just fucking say that and not go anywhere with it ever.

That, and the entire thing with Kriken at a certain age being sent to claim a planet for the empire, and imagine that the actual plot beyond Sylux & the Space Pirates is that the Prime 4 planet has been claimed by Trace, who moved on after Hunters to look for something else, and you have to stop the Kriken from destroying everything, almost like the Ing, with the final boss (or at least final boss relevant to this story arc) being the Queen Kriken or something.

And imagine how PISSED Sylux would be to learn that the Space Pirates teamed up with the GF to exterminate the Kriken after he already joined the pirates. I assume it's not unfounded to claim he'd side with the Kriken, just out of spite. So I guess it'd be Samus & Weavel versus Sylux & Trace.

Wait, hold on, you see Noxus & Trace fighting in Hunters, so Noxus would probably join forces with Samus to stop the Kriken if they're a major plot point as a callback to that, so then... Uh... Kanden gives me literally nothing to go off of, even if they're the obvious choice for member 3 of the evil squad, but I think it'd be interesting if Spire is tricked into joining the bad guys who claim that the Chozo equivalent on this planet were actually the Diamonts and they've uncovered the truth about their fate and will tell Spire if he helps them or some shit like that.

I Don't Want Ridley To Be Immortal, But

I know that Prime 4 is like, the perfect opportunity for Ridley to make a comeback after the franchise's content drought, but like, also, it just being another Meta Ridley would be boring as fuck. So, here's some more interesting ideas they could do, that also work with the idea that he was killed off in Super Metroid.

First one. Remember how in Zero Mission, the final boss was Mecha Ridley? An UNFINISHED Mecha Ridley? If Ridley was dead for real, or they thought he was or something, then as some kind of tribute or replacement, I could see the Space Pirates trying to finish one. Maybe it'd be that one design from Omega Ridley concept art that is currently my most popular post.

But that's kind of boring. Imagine this. You remember how in Other M we saw Ridley's life cycle? It's such wasted potential to just leave that as an Other M thing. Imagine wandering through Space Pirate facilities on the Prime 4 planet only to find some kind of terrarium for animals. And there's one that has like 7 Little Birdies in them. Would that not be the most startling, horrible thing the series could ever do? Ever?

Of course, it wouldn't be an immediate jumpscare to a newcomer, or Samus who probably hasn't gone through Other M in this continuity (yet?), until a fucking Mystery Creature boss fight (Probably without the weird gimmick Other M's encounter had) where you see one pop out of the Little Birdie husk and immediately see that these are baby Ridleys. Samus would be going out of her way to blow this planet up after that, right? You can't just fucking leave those here.

The obvious thing to do from there would be to have a fully-grown Space Dragon as a late-game boss after more Little Birdies escaped, but I think it'd be more interesting if they just blew the place up and didn't do that. Make you feel like you really just averted a catastrophe.

We Can Bring Back The Other Guys, Though

I think it's become common knowledge that Meta Kraid was a planned thing for Prime 1, and I've seen at least one person say that if Kraid came back for no reason in Dread, he can come back in Prime 4. I'm not... Too sure about this, even if it would be cool, because I don't know if they'd want to have him show up two games in a row, and also, if Prime 4 takes place after Federation Force and not after Super, then why the fuck would he need to get the mecha stuff on him? He got a beating back in Zero Mission, yea, but the Prime games take place over the course of several years, FF specifically taking place years after Prime 3 which is the end of the trilogy that I assume doesn't happen over the course of a single month, and I also vaguely remember reading that Prime 1 takes place years after ZM. But, then again, it takes Ridley until Super Metroid's intro to drop his cybernetics, so I dunno.

Or Kraid just shows up completely normally, I don't fucking know. What I do want to see, if he does show up, is him being characterized as a complete buffoon. I want Ridley to be the smart one of the duo, while Kraid is the Space Pirate Patrick Star, and that's the reason he wasn't there for any of the Prime games up until this point, the higher-ups in the crew didn't want Kraid to fuck anything up.

But it'd be more interesting to bring back the other 2 guardian bosses from Super Metroid. Phantoon already came back in Other M as the final boss, but Other M is Other M, so they deserve better. To keep up the assumed theme of Meta bosses, maybe this is some kind of hologram of Phantoon instead of the real one? Since they're not physical? So it'd be Holotoon? Phantogram? It's probably hard to wrangle an extradimensional ghost thing to weld metal onto it, so this is the best I got. (Also, I just tried to find out if Phantoon had some kind of established origin story and there are 3 different official sources contradicting each other, so never fucking mind I guess.)

And, of course, one of my favorite ideas for all of this because of how funny it'd be. Imagine this: You're wandering through an abandoned Space Pirate facility. There are logs describing that new cybernetics have been built for one of "the bosses", as in leaders. You can see some of the blueprints for them. You wander around, and eventually a cutscene begins. You hear the first few notes of Ridley's theme kick in... It's META DRAYGON INSTEAD, BECAUSE DRAYGON AND RIDLEY SHARED BOSS THEMES IN SUPER.

And Also The Less Important Guys

One of the Prime 3 guys made concept art for a Crocomire redesign at some point, but specifically stated it was never intended for Prime 3. If you just... Have that laying around... Free boss.

And I was going to dedicate a paragraph to talking about Serris being a really cool idea for a returning boss, but then remembered I got that idea from a reblog of someone else's post (which was a reblog of my own post but), so, uh, whoops.

And here's another idea I had just because it was really funny. Imagine the final boss is set up to be Sylux, and there's this dramatic cutscene where him and Samus give each other one final stare-down before the final fight... Projectiles from off screen fly in out of nowhere, instantly headshotting Sylux and killing him. You look up, and it's ANOTHER GOREA, here to be an out-of-nowhere final boss again. In all seriousness, I do think there's a lot of potential for lore with Gorea if they were to have another appear, and if Sylux came back, then, you know... Mmmaybe. Probably not, though.

Mochtroids Are Cool

We saw Mochtroids in the trailer, but they're just weak Metroid clones, so they're almost definitely going to do something more with them than what we've seen in Maridia. I hope. But what exactly can you do with them? Obvious, what they did to make the Metroids more interesting in Metroid 2. Evolved Mochtroids.

Fusion, for a couple seconds, showed that there was a planet right next to SR388 that the Metroid wiki gave the original name of SR387. I imagine the Space Pirates would rather try and take over a planet where the main threat is the Feds and not the vampire jellyfish creatures, but this brings the added bonus that the conditions might be right to allow Metroids & Mochtroids to grow up like they do on SR388.

But, of course, Mochtroids are failed Metroid clones that look different from the actual Metroids, so if they did grow up, I imagine the difference would get bigger and bigger and more grotesque until the Queen Mochtroid is a total abomination. There's this one obscure Metroid, "Metroid=Mutant", from some weird non-canon Metroid book thing, that is absolutely hideous, and I love it, if they do evolved Mochtroids I want them to look like this, and I will not be satisfied any other way.

I feel like I'm staring Cthulhu or Nyarlathotep in the eye, here. It's horrific. And it's beautiful.

If they wanted to make the final boss not Sylux (I typed Ylud instead oops, I'm remembering this for if I ever need to name a Metroid OC) or a big Space Pirate, and don't introduce anything we haven't already seen in the trailer, I want that final boss to either be Sylux's Metroid from FF all grown up into a Queen Metroid, or whatever the final stage of Mochtroid evolution is. A Queen Mochtroid would perfectly fit the theme of Prime final bosses being affronts to god. Master Brain doesn't count.

Also, we've already seen that Metroids exposed to Phazon develop a completely different life cycle, so I wouldn't be surprised if Mochtroids, even without being exposed to living uranium, just completely go a separate direction from Metroids and become a giant, horrible abomination like Metroid=Mutant instead of a dinosaur or Metroid Prime. Or they go the wackiest direction possible and bring back the Humetroid from old Metroid Prime 2 concept art.

This bothers me so, so much, that this is a thing that almost existed. It can't have been early Dark Samus, right? Going off memory, it doesn't match up with the hand at the end of Prime 1, so... What the fuck is this? It came from an entirely different pitch for Prime 2, as well, that had nothing to do with Aether or Phazon, AND IT WAS MEANT TO BE A PLAYABLE CHARACTER. Sorry for the tangent, I just... I can't stop thinking about this. I need to tell somebody about this if I want any level of relief, like it's Smile Dog or something.

Oh, right, one more thing, I saw somebody say that it'd be cool if you had a double battle with Sylux and his Metroid from FF, grown up to a Zeta or Omega Metroid, and my first thought was that Samus brings in her own abomination for the double battle, and my second idea (The first was Weavel) was that Samus brings in an evolved Mochtroid that she tamed like with Metroid 2. She'd probably go in alone, though, and she'd win, but it'd be really cool if she, like, RODE IN on a Queen Mochtroid.

I Almost Forgot The Setting For A Moment

Okay, so, I already mentioned that it'd be cool if this planet was SR387, but I have a couple more notes about it. First one is the quickest one, imagine that trailer shot of the giant tree repeating later in the game but the giant tree is on fire after escaping from it or something. That'd be so cool, right?

Another thing I thought about is, with that time traveling gimmick (Please, Retro, it would be so cool), whatever Chozo equivalent this planet has, you could actually meet them if you go to the past. The Luminoth were special because they were on the verge of extinction and you got to actually interact with them and save them, these could be special because they WERE extinct and you STILL get to actually interact with them and somehow save them with time travel.

There could be an interesting story beat & character arc there where Samus recognizes that she just saved the day and an entire species with time travel, so if she really wanted to, if she could actually get her hands on the tech and bring it anywhere, could she save the Chozo? Could she save her family? Could she save Rundas, Ghor and Gandrayda? Could she save Zebes, and Adam (If Prime 4 is after Super it could hypothetically be after Other M, or OM gets retconned but Adam is still dead by now or he dies in this game's plotline), and everyone/everything else? But, of course, she can't rewrite all of history, which probably fucks with her a bit and she has to accept that what's happened has already happened and she still can't change that or whatever.

Another thing, you know the black hole logo for Prime 4, right? I found out recently that, apparently, in the prequel manga or something, the Space Pirates first invaded Zebes by breaking the forcefield around it with A MICRO BLACK HOLE. And, if you saw my Meet the Space Dragons post, you'll remember I was shocked to find out that Greed, Ridley's brother or whatever in a separate non-canon manga, tried to spawn in a black hole only for a ghost to disembowel him or something. We now have a complete lunatic working with the Space Pirates who has a massive grudge on the Federation, and the last game in the Prime series was the Pirates trying to mount a direct attack on the Feds. And Prime 3 was also a war between the GF and Space Pirates. Black hole generator. Launch it at Earth. Have it backfire on the Pirates & Sylux, or Samus goes back in time to prevent it, or there's some kind of time loop thing where each time it hits then Samus is sent back to the start of the loop, or the black hole is somehow how Samus time travels (She falls in and gets sent to the past?), shit like that.

But now for my favorite idea out of all of this: The reason there's a GF research facility here, and the reason the Space Pirates are sieging the planet, is because there's the remains of a Leviathan here, and the Pirates are desperate to get Phazon back. But, after the destruction of Phaaze, the Phazon's gone, so now it's just one giant carcass filled with dying animals that only survived because of Phazon and all sorts of carrion eaters, and there could even be a boss that's like a dying Metroid Prime struggling to sustain itself after all of this started, and it looks like it's going to have the second phase from Prime 1 but it just dissolves into like... A blob... Instead of the floating face, and it's basically just every slime boss ever from there.

Maybe you could even go on like a docked Space Pirate ship or something and find logs that show it was experimenting with Phazon like the Frigate Orpheon, and started freaking out when all of the Phazon disappeared after Phaaze's destruction, which is why they're desperately looking for more. Maybe they were on the verge of SOMETHING BIG. Maybe a Mochtroid Prime? A Little Birdie or Mystery Creature they were trying to manipulate with Phazon to become even stronger than Omega Ridley before they even grow up all the way? Whatever they were working on, you probably fight what's left, because of course you do, who wouldn't make it a boss?

Another, less interesting (to me) idea, I saw someone theorize the Prime 4 planet is Sylux's homeworld of Cylosis, and if the GF has a presence there it'd make sense Sylux would bring in the Space Pirates to try and reclaim it. Sure, you could go places with that, but... Dead Leviathan is so much cooler. You could do both ideas at once, actually, but you know what I mean.

Actually, it could be neat if modern Cylosis is that rocky, lifeless landscape you see in the intro of the trailer and the snowy wasteland seen in Sylux's Hunters intro, but the past Cylosis is the beautiful giant tree land- Wait, jesus christ, if there's a dead Leviathan on the planet with time travel, then you could go back in time to before Phazon was destroyed, oh jesus christ.

I Don't Have A Fun Name For The Federation Heading

If the Federation Force comes back, they could be interesting when fleshed out as actual characters, especially if Prime 4 leans into the GF having a shadier side. Would they side with the GF, even when it's revealed they're up to something fucked and the FF are forwarding that agenda? Would they go rogue, like Samus does in Fusion? Would you have to fight them at some point? What if one of them turns out to be another Deleter? What if they die trying to stop the Federation from doing something, and that's why they never came up afain?

Maybe the Space Pirates steal the black hole generator I talked about earlier from the GF research facility they're raiding in the trailer. I dunno, they might just be raiding it for the hell of it or to just generally attack the GF and claim the planet. Maybe Sylux chose this place because he knew this specific facility contains something that, if unveiled, will tarnish the Feds' reputation. Or it's the same place he took his gear from. Probably not, since he's had it since at least Hunters, but I'm just throwing that out there.

Conclusion

If Metroid Prime 4 disappoints me, I will instantly become one of the most prolific Metroid fanfiction writers of all time just from writing ideas for how Metroid Prime 4's story could've been better, or some different story that would've been better than what we got, all out of spite due to being let down by my most anticipated game of all time, and I am just as terrified of this happening as you are.

I'm sorry for rambling so much all the time, it probably makes these posts incredibly hard to follow, but I specifically made this post to ramble instead of make a point or explain things like my other posts do, so I think I get a pass on this one.

I don't know why I keep making Conclusion headings on these posts when I don't ever have an actual point to make at the end.

#metroid #metroid prime #metroid prime 4 #nintendo direct

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koi----kaboooooooom · 10 months ago

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Welcome to Koi Kaboom, My roleplay sideblog for well.. roleplaying. (Technically this is only for Koi.. not rping in general lol) This is so I dont have to deal with all the filtering and tagging that comes with roleplaying on my main blog! Sadly this isnt it's own account so asks will either be sent through my main account, or on anon with a sign off.

Tags include;

☆Koi kaboom - random things, whether that be random comments on this blog, silly reblogs, or whatever!

☆Blue buds - a tag for anything including my family! Well uh, actually just Leon and Ender.. I guess the rest get left out!

☆Order up! - Any answered asks!

☆Served Meal - Roleplay reblogs! Not the silly random reblogs that just serve to build character or something, like.. actually interacting with others. Which.. uhm.. doesn't happen a lot.

☆The Menu - The introduction post! :D

☆Katch - Lore posts :D

DNI!;

Do not interact if (you are)..

Racist, LGBTQ+ phobic, ableist, sending NSFW things to this blog, trying to ship this character(a basically self insert btw if it wasnt obvious) with anybody, zoophile, anti-furry, anti-therian, anti-otherkin.

I can and will block if you make me uncomfortable or do not respect my DNI.

Below is a (maybe a bit messed up but shh..) reference for Koi! (Sorry for some of the markings and stuff being covered by clothing I didnt really wanna put nudity even if it was for the purpose of references for art "-w-)

(uhm forget the fact i forgor the shell... shhhhh.. just imagine it.. its basically Leo's except scratched and chipped with a bit of burn marks)

Koi Info;

☆Koi's species doesn't have a name yet (like literally.. ask Koi what their species's name is and they dont have a clue), though they were hunted and are in low numbers!

☆Koi has two forms, their human form, and their animal form. They mostly stay in their human form though.

☆While they do have vitiligo, most of Koi's markings are from a burn accident.

☆Koi's eyes are naturally red, dont worry, they sleep plenty.

☆Koi has extremely fluffy hair!!!

☆Koi is about 13-15.. age gets a bit messy whenever you don't keep track..

☆Koi has a higher resistance to infection and posion. (for example for the "infection" part if a 1 zombie bite infected a human, it would take 2 to infect Koi)

(if you want more info, here is Koi's carrd! -> koiinfoo.carrd.co)

I hope y'all enjoy this blog! Oh and, if you ask why it's restaurant themed.. it's cause I wanted to. (oh yeah lol i forgot.. for some reason if you dont know my main account its @echodoesstuff62333)

#The menu

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shxwmaster · 2 years ago

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“ i’ll have my people talk to your people, sound good ? ”

Independent RP + Ask Blog for Mathias Shaw

• 9+ years RP experience • Est. July 29, 2020 , Rebooted March 2023 • Mun is 25+ • PST Timezone | Limited Availability

Penned by Mimi

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Personals / Non-RP Blogs are ALLOWED to follow, BUT do not reblog my posts !

— MUN —

Hi guys, I’m Mimi, 25, She/Her— I’m returning to the Tumblr RPC after having left it 2-3 years ago and I’m excited to be back!

In total, I have 9+ years RP experience, both on Tumblr, ingame and on Discord, and I’m very flexible with most types of RP. My default style is multi-para with icons, but I’ll always mirror your style!

I'm very active on this blog, but also tend to be very sporadic, distracted and forgetful. I have severely untreated ADHD and suffer from a lot of social anxiety, so at times that can throw a wrench in things or slow down my activity significantly. Just a forewarning!

I operate on PST, but I have VERY sporadic availability. I'm usually working Wed-Sun, and I'll be starting college classes soon, so I'll probably only be around either in evenings, or Mon-Wed if I have time. So uh, yeah, between that and the ADHD, please forgive me if I end up very slow or even forget things altogether. Don't be afraid to poke me for threads though!

I also DM occasionally for my RP guild, <Knights of Repentance>. This might occasionally cause a drop in activity. But I still love y'all!

PLEASE poke me if I’m taking too long with a thread and you want to know what’s going on. I will ALWAYS endeavor to try to appease. Sometimes I’m either genuinely working on it and I got stuck, or I really just forgot. Hit me!

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My strengths in writing reside in improv and crafting random situations, scenarios and settings on a whim. I take joy in throwing muses straight into action, so I’m your guy when it comes to that kind of stuff!

— GENERAL —

Canon-typical violence, blood, mentions of death, parental death, emotional abuse, torture and knives are present on this blog.

Personals / Non-RP blogs are free to follow, BUT, please do not reblog any of my posts or threads. Non-RP blogs that share my stuff will get blocked! Otherwise enjoy your stay!

Personals are free to send in asks on or off anon!

Please don't mention incest to me in any shape or form.

No god-modding or meta-gaming

I am mostly canon compliant, though I do have some minor canon divergences, all of which can be read further in my about page. I make it a point to adopt about 85% of RPG lore into my own canon for my own purposes.

The rest of this page are general guidelines.

— RP —

VERY OC friendly. If you've got connections or something you want to establish beforehand, hit me up, I'm ALWAYS open to plotting with OCs.

On that note, I'm always open to establishing any connections or relationships or dynamics ahead of time with any muse! You need only message me!

I will always read your rules and about page thoroughly before interacting with you

I am multiship! I love ships, I'm open to ships! Past or present, AU or otherwise, hit me.

I ship with chemistry. Yes, I love ships, but I definitely prefer to have our muses interact first to see how they get along before moving forward.

You are always welcome to RP unrequited feelings or have your character act or feel however they would around Shaw, I've no problem with that, so long as you're not forcing a ship! Again, chemistry and communication beforehand is a must before a ship.

However, I am uncomfortable with some age gaps. If your character is in their 20s (or equivalent to their 20s, if they're an elf), shipping's off the table.

At the moment, the only universes I have available for Shaw are in WoW and Overwatch (Blackwatch!Shaw), thus I'm more inclined to interact with folks from those franchises, but there are always exceptions!

I have a small handful of AUs that can be found on my verses page.

If you want to interact with any of my AUs, just specify or message me!

I'm welcome to creating new AUs with folks as well!

IC =/= OOC! Shaw is a very serious character and tends to be rather apathetic and rude at times. I, however, am not him, it is not personal!

Mirror RP - I match your length, and would ask you to do the same! If I write a paragraph or two and only get a sentence back, chances are I’m prooobably not going to RP with you again, sorry!

Dash Games are Free Game! If I didn't tag you in a dash meme or game, like one of those quizzes or templates to fill out, take it anyways. Feel free to assume that I've tagged you, tag me in it too if you complete it. There's nothing I love more than seeing other folks ramble about their muses!

EVERYONE is invited to send me RP memes! ESPECIALLY if we haven't interacted yet!

Asks being turned to threads are awesome and welcome

In fact, I make a habit of turning my asks into starters, so you’re more than welcome to reply to any of those ICly if desired! I scarcely do drabbles for asks unless the prompt is specifically for a drabble.

Please note however, that I prefer to keep all threads to text posts, so if we’re turning an ask post to a thread, I will repost it in a new text post altogether!

— MISC —

I’m a legal adult, I’m cool with NSFW. Only send NSFW prompts IF I reblogged/invited them though!

IF NSFW threads were to take place here, I would 1. like to discuss it beforehand, and 2. put it under a readmore

If you need me to tag triggers, just message me, I’ll do that

My Discord is available upon request. I will never publicize my Discord information. Same for my BNet info.

#pinned post

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whisperingintoavoid · 10 months ago

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Blog 3-19-2024

I have started a new blog. Again.

The main purpose of this blog will be to actually blog. Like, how people used to blog back when the Internet was still a baby. I'm just going to write about my life. What's going on with me and stuff.

And the thing is, I know no one cares and I don't expect this blog to see any action. I just kind of miss when people used to do stuff like this. Just talking about what's happening to them. In a real, genuine way. I hope that doesn't sound preachy.

But really, everything is so... fake now? Whenever people vlog on YouTube or TikTok or anything, it feels so manufactured. Like it was created with an audience in mind. It's trying to capture your attention and entertain you. It wants you to like and subscribe and follow and comment and give them money. And it's not that I don't like money. In fact, I wish I had a lot more of it. But I wanted to create something real, I think.

I'm tired of the over the top personalities and over-editing and people making their lives look perfect on a screen. It feels so unrealistic and the weirdest part is that we tend to fall for it.

So here's a blog specifically for blogging.

I blogged a little bit on my main blog, but I reblog a shit ton of stuff about my interests on there to the point where I couldn't even find the last blog/diary entry I posted. And that's the other half of the reason why I started this one.

ANYWAY, I think I should just jump to where I start talking about myself.

So first of all! My previous partner and I broke up in early November last year. Which was kind of crazy because we were together for 3 and a half years. We were engaged. Shit was bananas.

It was kind of a quiet break up, though. Like, no fighting really. Leading up to it, I mean. It was mutual, too. Neither of us were really happy anymore. In fact, I don't think either of us were happy for a pretty long time.

And looking back on our relationship, I feel like it should've been more clear to me that we shouldn't have been together. Not romantically, at least. And it's insane to think about how much I pined over this person, how much I cried over them, how I wanted them so badly it burned like a nebula through my chest. But by the end of our relationship, I had to convince myself I still loved them in a romantic way. And I think that says a lot about who I used to be and maybe even who I still am.

When I met my previous partner, (I think I will refer to them as Ripley), it was online through a dating app. And they had a partner at the time. They and their partner were supposed to be poly, but... well, you've heard the stereotypes, I'm sure. Their partner was allowed to date other people and sleep with other people and basically do whatever they wanted. But Ripley kind of just had to do whatever their then-partner wanted. They were barely ever allowed to see me and their partner was extremely jealous.

In fact, they accused me of copying them because we both have a tattoo of a tooth? I gave myself my tooth tattoo years before I even knew this person existed, let alone that they also had a tooth tattoo. Shit was bonkers.

Anyway, things escalated and eventually Ripley wasn't allowed to be my friend or even talk to me anymore. And at this point I thought I was in love with them. Which, looking back was actually kind of crazy because I had barely spent all that much time with them or even really gotten to know them on a personal level very well. But I was so smitten with them and wanted to be with them so badly.

For the sake of brevity, I'll cut out how we ended up together, but maybe I'll write a different post explaining it at some point. Just to add context and extend the lore. Even though I'm probably going to be the only person who interacts with this blog. So I guess I'm just cataloging my whole life? I don't know.

ANYWAY, in retrospect, I really didn't know shit about Ripley when we started dating. I didn't know how bad of a temper they had. I didn't know how much they didn't like cuddling. I didn't realize that they were a bad kisser. I didn't know how averse they were to touch and that apparently it's one of my main love languages. I didn't realize how much they didn't listen, how much we didn't have in common, how much we barely had any real conversations.

And by the end of our relationship, I honestly still didn't realize some of those things. I didn't realize that I just genuinely wasn't attracted to them anymore. If anything, I was turned off by them. Their temper, their reluctance to touch, the way they always assumed everything was about them.

I wasn't happy being with them anymore. I wasn't UNhappy necessarily. We didn't fight all that often. We almost never shouted at one another in all our years together. We never put our hands on each other in a violent way.

But it was so unfulfilling. It felt more like we were roommates than anything else. I'd go as far as to say that we didn't even feel that much like friends. It was like we were both just going along with the motions because that was what we were meant to do. I didn't kiss them before they left for work because I loved them and hated to see them go and needed to see them off because I'd miss them while they were gone. I kissed them before they left for work because that's what we did every morning. I didn't hold their hand when we were at the store together because I wanted everyone to see that we were together and in love and because I wanted to be touching them. I held their hand at the store because that's what we always did.

We never cuddled at night. In fact, we both had our own blankets. They hated when I touched their face because my hands are usually a little sweaty. They hated me touching their hair because I'd mess it up. They'd get annoyed if I asked them to get me something from the kitchen. They had such bad road rage that I now have anxiety whenever I'm in the car with someone and we get a red light.

And yet I stayed for so long. It felt like... "Well, we've been together for so long... may as well stay together". It felt like breaking up would be failing. Like losing. I wanted to be that person that finds their soulmate at a young age. I wanted it to be impressive how long we'd been together. I wanted to feel official. Grown-up maybe. I'm still only 23, it's not like I'm old. Being with someone since you were 23 is still impressive if you make it to like, 40-50. But I guess I wanted to say that I found my husband when I was 19. There's just something about that. High school sweethearts. Something romantic. I don't even really know what it is. Maybe just knowing so young. Not having had anyone else. Not that Ripley was my first partner. But still...

There was also some sort of pressure. I think just about all your friends knowing you've been together for so long. Like, that your names go next to each other in sentences and you've been a package deal for so long, like it's just a canonical fact of the universe that you two are written together. Into every scene.

And then one day... you're just not. It feels like shattering an illusion. Like telling a kid that Santa isn't real or explaining a magic trick to someone. It's not real, at least not anymore. It's changed. It's not what it was. It's like hearing peanut butter and jelly broke up. Or milk and cookies. Or the moon and the stars. "But those things just go together."

"Not anymore."

Looking back now, it's weird seeing my face next to theirs. It feels like I'm looking at a mouse and a snake who are best friends. Or seeing a bird underwater. Seeing a dog lick itself like a cat. Seeing a cat playing fetch.

But then there are other times where I look at those pictures of us and it feels like seeing a picture of yourself and your childhood best friend before you moved away and never spoke to each other again. Or a home video of your child-self playing with a relative you can only vaguely remember, if at all. But they're good half-memories and you wish you could recall more about them. Their smile, what made them laugh, how they walked, how their arms felt around you.

I don't know, man, my gummy just kicked in.

I don't really know where I was going with all that. What is bro yapping about?

I think the main thing is that my fiance and I broke up after 3 and a half years together last November. And sometimes it still feels a little weird. Lesser and lesser, though.

I'm not sad. I don't want that to go unsaid. I don't miss our relationship. Not one bit. In fact, I don't think you could pay me to date them again. I'm glad we broke up. I think we should've done it sooner, actually.

When I talk about it feeling weird, I'm more so talking about how strange it feels to not have a person there who used to be there all the time. Like when you move something off an old shelf and there's a circle of dust around where it used to be. And everything else on the shelf is perfectly in place and untouched except for that one empty, perfect circle. Like your brain can feel the empty spot where they used to be.

There are a lot of other things about breaking up, though. Like having to tell your parents. Your parents, who you know don't really like your partner in the first place. And having to tell your friends who you know are going to roll your eyes because this is the fourth fucking time you're breaking up and you have to be like "No, for real this time." Having to decide who gets what.

But really, I think the thing that scared me the most about breaking up was the fear of being alone.

As much as I hate to admit it, I was really dependent on Ripley. I didn't work much, I didn't drive, I didn't have a car, I'd never had to pay my own bills. In a lot of ways, I relied on them. And I was scared of not having that. I was scared of being alone, even outside of my needs. I was scared of having an empty space next to me. I felt like one half of a pair, like a Barbie doll whose Ken was taken out of the package.

I have a boyfriend now. Actually, I started seeing him, like, a week after my ex and I broke up. And I know how that sounds, especially after that last paragraph. But when I say I hadn't intended on dating anyone for a long while, I mean it.

In fact, I was kind of excited to be single again. I was ready to have my single era and just flirt with whomever I wanted and maybe sleep around a bit. I didn't want to be locked down so quickly again.

But meeting my boyfriend, I didn't want that anymore. I didn't care about being locked down because I didn't care to go anywhere else anyway.

I think my next blog post will be about him and how we met and ended up dating. This specific post honestly was supposed to be a general life update, but I guess I had more I wanted to get off my chest about breaking up than I realized. I feel, even now, like there's more I want to say but can't think of how to verbalize it. I'm now good and properly high.

TL;DR, breaking up with someone after 3 1/2 years together feels weird and can be a little scary. Also I'm high.

~*Theo*~

#blog #online diary #diary entry #march 2024

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krooliis · 2 years ago

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You really unblocked me for this take, sweetheart? The funny thing is, I never said it wasn’t satire, the whole post was actually in reference to multiple tweets I saw that didn’t understand the He Is Music Videos message.

However, it’s hilarious to me how this fandom will cherry-pick things that are canon and that are not. I thought all the chapters and music videos contained lore is that only true when it’s something you want to be true? Like how apparently Copia and Terzo are brothers because Copia calls him Pops even though in Copia’s first appearance his whole purpose for becoming Papa was because they wanted someone not related to the clergy and it’s explicitly stated that he is not a part of the bloodline.

Fanon and Canon in this fandom have blurred so much that people don’t know the difference anymore; it’s fine if you headcanon them a certain way but stop acting like your opinion is the superior one and that people are wrong to not share the same thoughts as you. Want to headcanon them as brothers? Fine with me but stop calling the fandom’s biggest ship for the last 5 years incest and trying to insult people, you’re already known in the fandom as some weird bully and it isn’t a cute look.

Other points I’d like to address in your post:

Some people actually do take the Square Hammer Music Video seriously, that’s why we have fics, headcanons and fan art where Terzo has electric powers or can become a phantom.

I never said he acted sexily and that was the bad thing, I know your reading comprehension isn’t the best, but I said he sexualised giving a wafter to his follower, there is a difference because unlike you, I don’t have Puritan views and condemn people finding things sexy – like people finding DeFroque sexy.

See, a lot of people do have the opinion that the church in the He Is MV is a part of the Clergy, it’s been in a lot of headcanons but I know how you just hate people having differing opinions to your own so you probably ignored that.

“Good Satanic priest,” is also hilarious to me. The Papas are evil, that is literally their whole thing. They are figureheads for an evil organization and are controlled by the said higher-ups that want to bring the end of the work with the antichrist, that part is made clear in the chapters and in Secondo’s era, the same higher-ups who had them murdered and replaced but again if you want to cherry-pick you can ignore all of that and even the forced pregnancy mentioned in prime mover.

I also don’t ship incest, I don’t even ship people, never been my thing. I’ve never reblogged anything Secondo x Terzo and don’t interact with people who do, I’m just sick of people letting their headcanons cause discourse.

Anyway to end this off -

This post has been bought to you by people completely overlooking the themes of He Is and thinking Terzo is just being a good preacher. Yes, somehow people think that.

Let us start with the obvious, his attire and mannerisms. In the music video, Terzo is clearly meant to be portraying Jim Jones, a very famous cult leader.

As you can see, Terzo has the signature sunglasses on that Jim Jones was known to wear, this is also furthered by the "faith healing" that is shown at 2:56 of the MV.

Next, there is a very small clip that is easily missed in the music video of a photo of Tony Alamo, a disgraced minster, at 2:09.

Let's not forget the stealing from his followers at 2:29.

Oh, and of course the sexualisation of his followers. Giving the wafter is clearly sexualised here and groping the women he is baptising.

Things mentioned have been hyperlinked and references to the video have been time-stamped for easy access to what I have mentioned.

You're more than welcome to hate DeFroque but let's not get hypocritical here and condemn him for everything you love Terzo for.

#honestly you should just reblock me #but this is honestly funnier to me #it was so funny to see you get ripped apart on twitter because you are so angry that people simp for Jim and ship him with copia #cant wait for all the new jim and copia content that the fandom makes

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paperlovesadness · 2 years ago

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Something to rely on - Miles Kane song analysis

// From Coup De Grace - 2018 //

Okay - I need to start releasing my draft-posts into the world. I've had this sitting there for a while but wasn't convinced it's ready. I think I should just stop overanalyzing though so here goes.

We're here - another silly little subjective analysis of a Miles Kane song (geared towards how it could possibly maybe be about Alex? question mark question mark ??)

I was gonna do Adios Ta-Ra Ta-Ra first, but then I was listening to this album and this one just got stuck in my head and didn't wanna leave. So here we are (will do others too of course though).

Big disclaimer is: this is just one little personal interpretation done for fun and please don't take it too seriously.

Even I personally have more than one idea in my head about a lot of these lyrics and songs and what they could mean. I just choose one - the one most convincing to myself, one that sticks out to me the most and write it down for what it is in that moment in time.

I like sharing these because I'm curious if anyone else in the world finds some of my thoughts convincing - and if not - what they think these things mean instead! Honestly the thing I want most from these is feedback and potential conversations - be it in tag, reblog, reply, or message form. I love trying to figure songs out together! So please share your thoughts!

[Verse 1]

Crescent moon, left in my drive

All too soon, you made your point

Keeping off the radar, how does that make you feel?

The moon seems like a thing in the whole Miles/Alex "lore"

-> We've got that interview, where Alex jokes around about them missing each other while on tour, looking at the moon, wondering what the other's doing.

-> There's the "He moves the moon that kid" quote from Alex when introcuding Miles during an AM gig.

-> "I'm Alex from the lash shadow puppets and I play the awhooo [interviewer Cat - so you're a wolf. Cool] // And I'm Miles from the Last Shadow Puppets and I play the midnight moon".

-> The moon is also ofc associated with Alex himself due to TBHC and the fact he 's stated that he's intereted in space overall

other things maybe worth noting?

* "Kiss me underneath the moon's sideboob" [AM - TBH+C]

* The Ultracheese. The whole song. The title being a cheesy [hehe] metaphor for the moon

* "Crawling through like midnight panthers

Growling at the moon" [ MK - First of my kind]

* Paraselene woman, I'm your man in the moon [Alex Turner, Glass in the Park]

All that to say... We've got another moon here and maybe that's done on purpose.

This one is crescent - seems like a sad metaphor. Crescent moons can symbolize either the beginning or the end of something. "Left in my drive" is giving me very much breakup vibes. Something left behind on the way out of your home/life.

There's nothing much left of the moon that they perhaps shared as "their thing".

Keeping off the radar - a thing that Alex very much does - not one for social media or a public presence at all if he can help it. Here - maybe also direct ghosting is invloved after a breakup or fight - whataver went on.

[Chorus 1]

Something to rely on

Something to get high on

Miles has had enough of the push-and-pull of the relationship. He wants something he can actually rely on. Something that'll bring him the pure joy love is supposed to bring - a high.

Miles also references a high/getting high together in other songs - like in "Wrong side of life" (the song he says is about the person who he broke up with/the one he's wrote most of the CDG album about + incidentally a song he apparently dedicated to Alex during a gig he was at) he writes about wanting to get high with you.

So i feel like we have a doube meaning - the high of love/and actually getting high.

(something - let's be honest - that is obvious Miles and Alex did once or twice during the EYCTE era)

I don't want to beg or steal, I don't want to borrow hearts

Another clue to the fact that the relationship was an on-and-off / push-and-pull / hot-and-cold thing. Maybe even an affair. Maybe just open or perhaps simply casual - but Miles doesn't want it to be just that.

He doesn't want to beg for the persons love and full attention.

Doesn't want to share them with anyone - have to steal them away from the person they officially "belong" to.

He doesn't want to have them sometimes - a heart borrowed for the day' when it's convenient. He wants to own the person's heart and in return be theirs fully too.

I just want to make it real

Something to rely on

Confirmation for the theory above. He wants it to be a real full-on relationship, not whatever it has been and has obviously not been enough for him.

The making of a mystery, wishing on a falling star

I don't want to let this sadness rule my heart

He knows he can't take it anymore - his heart is at stake and it's hurting. Whatever the relationship is offering isn't satisfying him and the sadness that brings is taking over his life. He has to put an end to it for his own good - but he still loves the person. He'd like to be able to rely on them. He wants to wish on a falling star for this to work out. (more space related things?)

[Verse 2]

Keeping it clean, through all the things you wanted me to be

Out of touch, with all the rumors I keep hearing of you

Keeping off the radar, how does that make you feel?

Keeping it clean is a confusing metaphor - It brings to mind images of staying clean - so drugs/alcohol. But that doesn't personally makes sense to me in this context.

I'd go towards keeping their image clean. This relationship - whatever it was - was a secret. That seems like something mostly the other person wanted - not ready to fully commit. They wanted Miles to be a secret / a friend with benefits maybe / something without a label perhaps, when Miles was all in and ready for the real deal with them.

He needs to seperate himself (be out of touch) from the rumours about this person who broke his heart // perhaps the rumours inevitably make their way towards him, because this person is a well-known public figure, often gossiped about. And associated with Miles closely - so he keeps hearing about them even though he'd like not to know what goes on in his life post their fall out. <- that's assuming the lyrics are from the "now" perspective; post-heartbreak.

But it can also mean that they had an actual relationship - but it was kept secret - something initiated by the other person, not Miles.

Miles kept the rules - kept their image clean, kept it all a secret. But that meant having to deal with rumours about the other person being with other people.

In this context "Keeping off the radar, how does that make you feel?" can also refer to the relationship. He's asking the person - keeping us secret - how does that make you feel?

[chorus 2 / ending]

The making of a mystery, wishing on a falling star

I don't want to let this sadness rule my heart

Your actions from the start

In spite of me insightfully inviting me to fall apart

This person was doing more-than-friend things with Miles and suggesting a possible something-more from the very start - when they first met. Their actions clearly invited him to fall for them and then in turn fall apart from the heartache that it caused in the end.

Miles may have known it's a bad idea (in spite of me) but coudn't keep himself from falling anyway. The person was super close to him, understood him well (insightfully inviting me) - which made falling all the more easy.

[Bridge]

All aboard the guilt train

Last call before we leave

First off - makes me recall the "All aboard the Kane train" thing Alex once said during a TLSP gig. May be a coincidence - may not be.

Secondly - Miles seems to feel guilty for the way things went - but he believes both sides should take the blame.

Last call before we learn to love

The last before we leave

(And here we collectively fall apart)

"Last call before we learn to love" seems to me to imply that it's the time to take accountability for their mistakes in this relationship so that they can move on and form other ones ina healthy way? [maybe] BUT-

if so, I still believe this is Miles being freshly hurt by the hearbreak. There are contradictory statements about this love he's lost on the album (and I believe some more on the next one). It doesn't really seem like he's given up on them and their bond.

Even here

You're all that I wanted

All that I need

You're all that I wanted

You're all that I need

at the end of the song we get "wanted" in past tense but "need" in the present.

So doesn't truly seem like giving up on the person and their true shared feelings.

#Miles Kane #miles kane and alex turner #Coup de Grace #Lyric theories #Lyric analysis #Song theories #My posts

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canceltheact · 4 years ago

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Cancel The Act: The Definitive Theory of Lunky, Lixian, and Actor Mark

Hello there theorists! This is the big one - the (hopefully) final draft of CancelTheAct.

For those of you that have been following this tale of truth, perserverance, and chromatic aberration,you may find that a few section of this are exactly the same. It basically is the same theory, but with a few things tightened up (see post from two days ago) and some updated information. This is the big one we’re hoping on spreading, so be sure to reblog this one like you’ve done before. We really appreciate all the support you’ve given this assertion.

And for those who are seeing this for the first time...welcome! This is a theory exploring what's been going on the past few months on Markiplier's channel, and the side story that connects the odd goings-on. If you support this theory, spread the word on Twitter and reblog, not just like, on Tumblr with the hashtags and this very site.

Thank you for all the support, folks! Now...let's talk about the truth. We'll see you on the other side.

So, if you are a Markiplier fan on the interwebs, you have no doubt seen the newest Cloak ad that was in the Cooking Simulator video from about a month ago and noticed something...off. Something... suspicious. And if you follow Mark lore, you know that this was NOT ordinary Mark. This was Actor. The robe underneath the Cloak merchandise he was wearing, the spotlights and cracking of his body reminiscent of the Darkiplier ending from AHWM, and of course, what he says in a haughty tone of voice, seeming to be the opposite of his opening stair spiel in WKM: "It's not about you...it's about me." Heading over to instagram, we get more interesting stuff, with a description of the ad clearly reflecting the events of WKM from Actor's skewed and self-righteous perspective.

Was this just a ploy for marketing purposes, you ask? How could it be important to something? Well, Cloak's response to said post says it all: "oh". Meaning they had NO CLUE this was coming.

Even in that Cooking Simulator video, there were signs that this wasn't just pertaining to an ad. In the kitchen of the game, he comments "Modern is stupid; I’ve always said this; I want the classics," quite a different opinion from the man we knew that owned FIVE OVENS, but would seem quite on brand for someone who lived in a old-style manor - even the Youtube description seems a bit suspicious saying that "this time, I'm gonna show everyone what I'm all about." No doubt, Actor Mark has made quite a return, for seemingly NO REASON, right? Right? Well....not exactly. We’re here to tell you that Actor's been here for quite a longer time than you might expect.

For those who have been paying attention to Markiplier for the past couple months, you may have noticed some strange, yet fleeting events.

The stick figure monstrosity known as Lunky invading Mark’s channel for one day. The strange revelation that Markiplier isn’t real, yet 6 days later denied by the very man who confirmed it. The erratic behavior of the editor known as Lixian.

Such strange goings on, isn’t it? But I have reason to believe that these incidents are part of a greater step in the lore of Markiplier. That these very events are tied to each other, and something much bigger than the sum of their parts. Many people have had their thoughts on what this all means. It’s time we threw our hat full of overthinking and crazed observation into the ring. Hopefully, this theory will help uncover a bigger story. A story of control, reality… and CHROMATIC ABERRATION.

First of all, let’s answer the question: is Markiplier real? Answer: No, he’s not. Even with the “Markiplier isn’t Real” videos not being canon, it doesn’t mean that Markiplier is “real” after all. Because he is, and always has been in terms of CANON, Actor. (Now this doesn’t mean that every video Mark has done has been in character, just the ones that have correlation with the Lunky arc, Lunxian affair, and the Mark isn’t real stuff, as this relates to bigger story beats that are happening.) Think about it. After the events of WKM, Actor (who already was a Youtuber as seen as one of the points on the Detective’s theory board reads “What is a Let’s Play?” implying to Mark’s original ticket to Youtube) used Damien’s body as a replacement for his own and going on with his life, rising to even more Youtube fame. This makes him not who he seems, and definitely not real as the person his fans and editors in canon thought him to be. But what does this have to do with Lixian? With Lunky? What about those confessions? Well, for that, we have to start at the beginning.

Lixian and the Lunxian Affair

Though the MarkiplierIsntReal videos aren’t meant to be canon, as told to the member mixers by Mark himself, we have seen behavior from Lixian that is still similar to the entire week-long event - that Lixian has found something out about Mark. We can gauge this through not only the behavior of Mark, but of Lixian as well. Most notably, in 3 Scary Games #46, we see the description of the video of what reads like Mark’s pleas to us, calling Lixian “a monster” and that “the old methods aren't working anymore.” Actor is trying to control Lixian, and even sow the seeds of fear into his audience. Lixian, in that same video, pulls a knife on Mark and, in general, acts more antagonistic towards him. From 3 Scary Games #46, we can gather that Actor isn't happy about any information Lixian may have leaked or let loose at this point.

There are 2 big points that support this:

1. Lixian's animation sprite during the episode mainly shows up as a shadow, otherwise known as "Shadow Lixian". Lixian's animation sprite typically assumes this shadow form as a visual way to let the viewers know that he's sneaking around and doing something that Actor wouldn't approve of.

2. Actor develops the idea of a "controlled Lixian" (which is later to become known as "Lunxian") to where Actor can use his arcane powers to have Lixian do/say whatever he wishes.

But of course Actor can only come up with the idea of a perfect editor at the time, and has no real way to actually manipulate Lixian at this point. It's not until Lixian leaves for vacation that Actor puts a plan into motion.

In an attempt to try and get rid of Lixian, Actor created Lunky to try and make a replacement Lixian. This obviously didn't work, as Lunky is barely like Lixian and was seen for a time by Actor as a poor carbon copy. And as we can see in the Minecraft video where Lunky is introduced, Mark dislikes Lunky immensely, pushing him off to the side and not wanting to even edit him in. Mark doesn’t even say that he made Lunky - he just says that he’s here so that he’s not talking to himself.

Despite this separation, though, there are clues right off the bat here that Lunky and Mark are connected. Where, may you ask? Well, in the outro of this very video (Lixian Is gone, Lunky Is Here), there were some awfully interesting shrieking sounds. Almost sounded….backwards. And wouldn’t you know it, after we reversed the audio, we could hear a voice. And with a few more tweaks to the speed and to isolate all of the echoing sounds that were added to the audio (which is actually a tad important), we made out “Thanks for watching - don’t forget to like” before it dribbles off. (Hear audio here: https://canceltheact.tumblr.com/post/645011603474038784/backwards-lunky-audio-for-reference-in-todays Also, if there are any audio expert theorists out there who are more skilled than us that can get a better result, write us and tell us what you find!) However...this echoing that comes off the audio seems familiar. What other type of person has a voice that echoes? Oh right! ACTOR when using arcane powers!

This CONFIRMS, through the echos and that would be what Mark would say, that Lunky was created by Actor through the arcane power stuff and Lunky, at the moment, though trying to be a poor carbon copy of Lixian, is at most being a channel for Actor's things he would typically do on the channel, as that encapsulates the story dimension and his power as a whole. And not only does the presence of this backwards audio reveal more about this seemingly joke character, it also reveals that this is something that Mark has put time into and planned for this to be something bigger than a one-off.

But then Actor realized that he could use Lunky to do the next best thing - be an extension of his own power and subdue Lixian enough so that he would be kept quiet. So Actor bided his time with Lunky and ‘allowed’ Lixian to trap Lunky in a cage.

This backfires on Actor though, as Lunky manages to harness some of that Actor power and attempts to complete his original intent...to destroy Lixian. Lunky goes on a rampage, overtaking both Lixian’s channel and Markiplier’s channel until Lixian kills him - Or so it seems.

Actor realizes what has happened and decides to do a combination of his two previous plans: have Lunky possess Lixian, making Lunxian (a name we have come up with for this phenomena), in order to keep Lixian completely under control. We see this through two things:

1. Lunky's rainbow glitch, or chromatic aberration, around him is transferred to Lixian AFTER Lunky gets killed - and we see Lixian acting VERY differently towards the editors, saying that he’s watching them, being present in several videos outside of 3 Scary Games and being generally creepier than usual when judging from the scope in general.

2. Lixian screams "I'm the Editor" after ‘defeating’ Lunky. Interesting, isn't it? Lixian has said a few times before that he doesn’t like being called editor. But Lunky, in control of Lixian now, has a different want. Lunky was meant to be the editor for Actor, hence why Lunky would want to be called editor.

#CancelTheAct Reasoning

But now, to let you know exactly WHY we're pushing "CancelTheAct". So, Actor has used the story dimension in order to keep those he has trapped in the manor in playing out his stories, such as Dark as the villain and Abe as the detective archetypes, right? I realized: the story dimension IS the channel. And what does the channel drive on? Fans. So, Actor derives his power from being able to be the hero, the lead of the stories, and his channel in canon gauges his influence and power right? Well... Lixian is trying to EXPOSE ACTOR from what he’s found and we see that as not just exposing... but “cancel” him in the eyes of the people who GIVE HIM POWER... his fans in canon. Thereby making Actor powerless. The fans in canon will see him as a fraud, not support him, and take away his strength of his ego. Jabbing a slight bit at the now-popular cancel culture, we are siding with that fight with a clever little hashtag that can be made alongside #MarkiplierIsntReal. Though MIR was never actually a canon intention by Mark, it’s still a hashtag that people are familiar with - and as it relates to the fact that Actor has been putting on a facade, we can use it in order to rally our cause.

Rainbow Chromatic Aberration Breakdown

Why would this rainbow aberration be cause for identification of something being off? Of Actor?

Well... back in the WMW breakdown video, Mark talks about this one point in the mini movie where there’s this aberration, when Wilford and Abe go from the detective’s office to back at the dance club. Paraphrasing here, he says that this is not Darkiplier and that he just wanted to replicate the effect of a VCR rewinding to establish to take things “from the top” with Wilf and Abe’s meeting. Remember the VCR thing though, that’ll be important later. (Time stamp: 2:07:50 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rsi_L1b1RwE&lc=Ugwo26EalTI5QP15ooF4AaABAg) This thereby establishing Warfstache’s use of gelling and framing this weird reality by manipulating time and space. We see this AGAIN in AHWM, as when the box is used in the Bob/Wade endings and we go through time, we see the SAME COLORS OF ABERRATION. Warfstache does the same VCR type thing in the interview as well. Ok, so we’ve established that the rainbow aberration implies when one (besides Dark) manipulates their time and space.

Now, these colors look familiar... where have I seen them before OH RIGHT. LUNKY. Lunky has appeared with this aberration through that video with his song (you know the one) and in the 3 scary games videos. Since we’ve seen that Lunky is connected as an extension of and creation from Actor’s power, it makes sense that Lunky would have a similar chromatic aberration. We see this fabrication from time and space (Lunky) use this manipulation power, and then, as Lixian is possessed and subdued by Lunky to become Lunxian, this aberration is also adopted. (for image examples, see Lunxian picture in the first part of this theory)

However, we have seen some slight resistance throughout these Lunxian appearances, showing signs of Lixian trying to break free, as we see in the Forest video “Escaping the Sinkhole” where he says “You think you can replace me?” But instead of the typical rainbow aberration, the colors are inverted to a purple and bluish green.

An aberration we’ve seen a couple times before: in the “DEAD” post that Lixian posted on his Twitter when he was thought to be killed, and in the flashback sequences in Lixian’s Confession which, while doesn’t give us any information for the story, still gives us context for what colors show Lixian in control.

However, despite the control of Lunky over Lixian, the past few weeks has shown the emergence of Actor, despite how he tries to keep it under wraps.

Events Post First Lunxian Emergence - Post MarkiplierIsntReal

In the past few weeks, we have seen through the types of video uploads that Mark has put out, along with Lixian’s behavior, that despite Actor’s attempts to keep his identity under wraps, there have been increasing signs in the in-canon Actor channel and Mark’s real life channel stuff that tips us off otherwise.

First off, in the first week after Markiplier Isn’t Real, there were only compilations and old footage from streams, which wasn’t exactly too important, except for a few hints through the editing that Lixian gave us - first, the fact that a lot of the text and effects were surrounded in that Lunky/Actor rainbow aberration - implying that Lixian isn’t really acting of his own free will...not controlled, per say, but not allowed to talk about the secrets of Actor.

In this same compilation, we even get a hint that something is amiss from Lixian - in a moment from the end of 3 Scary Games #38 where Mark is wholesomely preeshing Lixian, suddenly, the moment glitches in a similar fashion to how it was done at the end of Lixian’s Confession - then cuts to the scene where Lixian “kills” Lunky. This type of unusual transition into such an event lets the audience know that this event is important and something to pay attention to.

Secondly, in the 3 scary games compilation, we have an interesting change in edit that Lixian made - instead of the normal jumpscare from 3 scary games #57 with Mark with no eyes, Lunky is plastered over Mark’s face, implying Actor and Lunky’s connection.

The interesting thing that has popped up from these videos isn’t just the type of game that has been done, but, specifically, the behavior of Lixian. And it mainly started with the editor collabs that Lixian has been doing with Marcus (aka Nerd Fiction) and Rachel, the two new editors for Markiplier’s channel- not only a tool to help them learn the ropes to the type of editing Lixian does, but also leaving room for an interesting plot device.

In the first simulator collab episode, “Cooking Simulator”, Lixian seemed to be able to be in control by Actor, doing his VCR chromatically aberrated bidding, but being a bit more acting of his own free will, being a bit more resentful of the job instead of compliant.

However, in the second simulator collab video, “Car Accident Simulator”, Lixian seems a LOT LESS compliant and even rebellious. Yet Mark seems to be ok with joshing Lixian’s chain around, even mockingly calling him editor. Even more interesting…the fact that Lixian says “I’ve got all your dirt!”, implying his knowledge and slight ability to share the truth.

So, why is this? Well we think that Mark still thinks Lixian can’t escape, but Lixian is simply biding his time to get free from Lunky and Actor’s grasp... still playing along with Actor’s game, but planning to get stronger and plan an attack.

Unfortunately, this state of the upper hand does not last long. In the Forest 3 Peens stream before this, we get another Lunky appearance, with Mark seeing. Combined with the rebellious behavior he sees Lixian have and Lunky now being separate from Lixian, Actor sees that Lixian is not under control again, and realizes he has to take further action.

Breaking the Facade

This leads us to the latest 3 Scary Games: #64 and #65. In these two, some of the last regular appearances of Lixian, we see jumpscares like usual, but these monsters are...different. The spider monster in #64 is much more detailed than any monster we’ve seen before, and in #65, the fake Mark stand-in speaks in a newer type of audio voice effect. And in both of these video outros, Lixian is shown defeating them both with an axe, fighting them off. (not showing images due to arachnophobia that spider is dang scary) This tips us off that these monsters are different than just the typical jumpscares we see in 3 Scary Games - Lixian is deliberately against these monsters. And in BOTH VIDEOS, Lixian is in the same position, asking where Mark is.

This is why we haven’t seen Lixian in videos since this - because he is trapped in an area either by Lunky or Actor, fighting off these monsters and unable to escape while Actor keeps up his facade.

However, despite this, through real life and in canon, Actor’s facade has been breaking to us little by little.

The Reddit banner changing from a Heist promo to a picture of Date Mark a week after MIR.

In the “Teardown” video, Mark is shown with some interesting edits when he goes to shoot a tree - seems normal, but with that font being Lunky’s font and his background being red, this definitely seems like Actor - even the things he says,” You wronged me and it’s only right for me to come to pay back what is due” - seems like he’s projecting anger from the people in his past onto this tree.

Then, even the day after the infamous Cloak promo, we see even MORE allusion through referencing Actor scenarios THREE TIMES in the “Stormwatch” video: once referring to WKM, once referring to the END music and filter from WKM, and a reference to the Warfstache Markiplier interview, which points to Actor from THIS CONVERSATION: “You heard it here first ladies and gentlemen Markiplier has admitted to NEVER KILLING ANYBODY.” “Well I never said that”.

Looking back at the cloak promo for the self love story line, Mark himself has said that the promo featuring him wearing Actor’s robe was a last-minute choice by him, as he was largely involved with the release of this line. Even so, there are certain details that simply can't be ignored. Enter: At Dead of Night Part 1. During the video, Mark just decides that he has to leave the room, glitches out of the room, and after an uncomfortable amount of silence, he jumpscares us after some spooky red light engulfs the room. In this period of time, there are TWO things that separate it from the normal type of jumpscare that would be found when Mark plays a scary game (despite it NOT being 3 scary games video)

1. We see a quick flash of what appears to be Shadow Lix...until we look at the eyes.

This aberration definitely shows signs of Lunky - looking like Lunxian has returned.

2. Mark returns...with the same Cloak shirt that Actor was wearing in the promo over his robe. Probably just promoting the brand, right? Well this video was five days after the promo was released, quite an arbitrary number for just doing an empty reference to the promo, especially since the day of its premiere, February 16, was around the day the Self Love Story line was dying down and not needed to be promoted. And all the while Mark plays, the Actor robe is on the dresser in the background - the first time we've seen it since the promo in the first place.

Even considering the fact that the promo was a last minute choice, WHY would Mark bring it back up again? WHY would he nudge us with the hints to connect the promo to something bigger - unless he WAS planning something a bit bigger.

Other strange occurrences have been happening in bits and pieces throughout other videos. A Lunxian appearance in the Barn Finders episode.

And curiously enough, a jumpscare in a Forest video from a previously used 3 Scary Games video - #62, to be exact, and the only one who has eyes that are similar to Lunky’s.

Combine that with the fact that despite Lixian editing a lot of this video, he doesn’t show up at ALL to being called editor - this is showing that Lixian isn’t in charge of editing the videos - Lunky is in control. And the monsters coming out of the closet is a clear sign of another one of Lunky’s monsters that might have bled through the area between where Lixian is trapped and where Mark is - the 3 Scary Games dimension, if you will.

The Next Plot Step

The next 3 Scary Games videos since this time have clearly been very, very telling of this banishment and kidnapping of Lixian. Let’s go over some of the most important details, namely from #66, #67, and #69.

In #66, we see the latest monster in the line of the three we’ve seen before, such as the spider and the fake Mark; the squid monster fake Mark. This monster says the same things as the last monster: “Your end is near. Your end is here”, with the same font we’ve come to know of Lunky and Lunxian. (first pic #65, second #66)

But this time…Lixian’s axe doesn’t work. Why? Well, as we can see, there’s some kind of…force field.

Of…dark red. HMM…. looks awfully familiar. Even though we’ve never seen it before. Like RED, ARCANE ENERGY. There’s no doubt about it. Lunky, and by proxy Actor, are making the monsters stronger. So Lixian can’t escape.

And as we see in #67...this has seemed to work. As towards the end of that episode…

Lixian is…not doing good. At all. As we see him in an area, a rock or something, coated in red. Lixian is in trouble. It seems the monsters have finally banished him to a place where he cannot fight back, where he cannot tell the truth he knows. The red lighting looks similar to the prison in where Lunky was kept, possibly entrapping him in a prison of his own making.

Interestingly enough, before this, we see Mark’s “monster” thing: his eyes, moving aLLLL around. And the aberration on him is a tad rainbow-y. Could this be an allusion to Lunky, whose power is all about his eyes?

But...the most INTERESTING video was of course, #69...where quite a few things were confirmed. Let’s tackle them in this breakdown linked here, shall we? https://canceltheact.tumblr.com/post/649094311147978752/3-scary-games-69-the-eldritch-resurgence

We should have you caught up with all of our important findings for now. As you can see, Actor has been playing his games for quite some time. But he’s gotten bold - far too bold, to reveal himself to us like this. And this is where you, dear reader, come into play. It’s not too late to end this game Actor has us in. We, the viewers, give these alternative egos power, and if we refuse to play Actor’s games any further and cancel his acts, we can begin to weaken and perhaps even eliminate Actor’s grip on the channel. We believe that the time is now. Spread this post if you support it - reblog it, hashtag it on Twitter or Tumblr, use the hashtags #CancelTheAct and #MarkiplierIsntReal. This may be our only avenue to have our voices heard, and to truly unearth what the Actor has been threading together all along.

Chromatic Aberration Appendix (Yay!)

Hey there folks! I’ve decided to do a companion writing on my theory, that explains exactly WHAT chromatic aberration is and why it’s important to the current Mark lore.

Chromatic aberration is the glitchy effect of various colors surrounding words, objects, or people. There are quite a few different types of this aberration, and as they are an important part of this theory, this section is to denote the different types of aberration and what they mean.

“Rainbow” Aberration - This aberration has been used multiple times as a representation for the manipulation of time and reality in order to control someone - we see this used in AHWM as we surge through time using the artifact, and as Warfstache brings us to our proper interview location in time/space. This effect has also been associated with the effects or rewinding of a VCR, as Mark says in his WMW breakdown video when discussing said effect when Warfstache takes Abe back to the disco club to “have a little fun”. And as we have seen in this part of the lore, Actor has used this type of power as well in order to control people’s reality. This aberration, therefore, denotes for those OUTSIDE Actor’s planned story - which is why Warfstache has it (since he has no role), why Lunky has it (because he was created as something to exist outside the story dimension and to fill a role that wasn’t a set role in Actor’s story in the first place) and was used initially, yet unsuccessfully by Actor to control Lixian (because he was working outside his story onto someone who didn’t necessarily have a role)

Heavy Presence of Red Aberration - this aberration, though more of an aura than anything else, indicates the control and presence of Actor, as seen in “Damien” - though this isn’t used too often, it is often used with Lunky’s rise of power, such as in “He escaped...” and at the end of various 3SGs.

Lixian’s Aberration - this combination of dark purple, teal, and greenish blue aberration is present in Lixian’s confession and is a marker of when Lixian is in control - as seen in Lixian’s confession and the “DEAD” picture post on his Twitter.

#markiplier #markiplierGAME #markiplier game #markiplier lore #markiplier lunky #markiplierisntreal #markiplierlore #canceltheact #lunky #lixian #markiplier theory #actormark

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bumblewarden · 2 years ago

Note

Hellooooo!! Some time ago you reblogged a Dragon Age Origins specific ask game and I was wondering if I could maybe ask a few questions? Even though it was some time ago? If yes, I'd like to ask Novhen:

5. Did he stop to talk with the children playing? If so, how did he handle the children saying they didn’t know any elven heroes?

And Pavle:

3. How prepared was he for his Harrowing?

5. Did he believe in “Mouse?” What did he think of his story?

If you'd rather not, however, no worries ^^ Have a lovely day!

No issue at all! I love receiving asks about my guys, and any ask games i reblog can be assumed to be free game until deleted! And even if i actually went through the work of doing that for whatever reason, you would never even find them to ask

5. Did he stop to talk with the children playing? If so, how did he handle the children saying they didn’t know any elven heroes?

I do have to start with a mini-rant for this one

The game states that city elves all know the legends of Garahel and Wenna di Ladia but "BioWare Keep Your Own Lore Straight Challenge (Impossible Edition)". This dialogue (and later when Tabris can ask Duncan if there have ever been any elven Warden heroes) serves the Doylist purpose of reinforcing the city elves' low status and destroyed cultures, yes, but it's also inconsistent with the lore. Or is the Denerim Alienage just particularly bad at maintaining their history? Their vhenadahl is still standing, so i doubt it

Anyway

The game doesn't let you tell the kids about them, so Novhen makes up a hero. They've been failed to go this long without knowing any stories of elven heroes, so he has to give the children something

He tells them about the "totally real" notorious elven thief Tathas who is "definitely not" based on his childhood perceptions of Adaia's exploits

She stole from tyrannical humans and redistributed her plunder to the alienages. The happiest plausible ending he can think to give the story is that Tathas simply disappeared one day, and that nobody knows where she went. He doesn't want to give the kids just another dead elf story, and he doesn't want to bring give the fantasy of his mother to another tragic ending

(Also, because the names of the three heroes you can make up to tell the children about are Tathas, Korin, and... Blargha. I headcanon that Tathas and Korin are actually very popular elven names, even if i don't think we ever actually meet anyone by those names. They're just the first names that came to his head, and it's a similar energy to "There are some who call me... Tim" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

The way i excuse him not telling them about an actual hero (which normally he would have done, he loves history and finds pride in keeping their heritage alive) is that he's hungover and disoriented from the sudden move up of his wedding (massive massive breach of expectations!!) and even the most cunning of us slips sometimes. His head isn't in order enough to remember the actual historical heroes until halfway through, but by then, he's already made his bed. Best he can do at that point is at the end give them a nudge that "I've gotta go, but hey, next time, I can tell you about the elf who rallied Thedas to get off their [asses] to combat the Third Blight and saved the world," but little does he know he'll be the next elven hero for everyone to tell their children about and gets a happy ending! Which is bringing his main story to a full circle, surely

But speaking of circles--

3. How prepared was he for his Harrowing?

Pavle survived his Harrowing so evidently prepared enough!

Did he feel prepared? No. But he was never going to. This isn't something you ever really feel prepared for

I don't remember how much canon information there is on it, but i imagine it was the sort of thing that they pulled him aside after dinner with no explanation or forewarning, and he just had to [Mission Objective: Survive]

5. Did he believe in “Mouse?” What did he think of his story?

Pavle catches on to Mouse lying about something pretty quickly on account of his wearing senior enchanter robe while claiming to be a dead apprentice. Instant alarms

But while he's silently commenting r/thathappened on every word out of this demon's mouth, it can't help but fill him with dread. He still doesn't know exactly what he needs to be doing, and that demon probably got his story from somewhere. It's unnerving if nothing else

[Dragon Age Origin Character Prompts]

#askbox #heniareth #novhen tabris #pavle amell #god writing this i put together something about elves and blights #that pisses me off so much wrt inquisition's intent on justifying the march on the dales #i'm going to have to write up another post on that quickly it needs its own post #EDIT: ok it's posted

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all1e23 · 4 years ago

Text

Tricks & Treats

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Orion’s Halloween is quickly turning rotten until someone helps to turn her day around with a few sweet treats.

Warnings: N/A Unless you count a disgusting amount of fluff to be a warning.

A/N: A new Astrophile drabble! This is set in the very far future, Halloween 2042. Orion is 27 and it’s just the kiddos. No Beck or Bucky. This does have some bits (okay a lot of bits) of the the shared Price of Astrophile universe collab with Tara and if you haven’t read The Price of Gold you need to! Thank you to my beautiful @moonbeambucky for looking it over for me. If you have not read the series Astrophile, THERE WLL BE MAJOR SPOILERS.

Catch up on the series here!

***My fics are not to be saved or posted on any other sites without my written permission. Reblogs are my jam, though! Thanks!*

Halloween 2042

Today has been a disaster. A complete and utter nightmare. It started with spilling hot tea all over her copy of Star Lore and down the front of her favorite skirt, which forced Ori to settle for the little black number Cassie bought her as a Halloween costume. It’s supposed to be a cat but it’s really a dress accompanied by cat ears. It’s not that it’s awful, it’s not her usual taste. It’s a simple spaghetti strap dress, sweetheart necklace that doesn’t dip too low and cut just above her knee. As far as Halloween costumes go it’s fairly modest but it’s a little tight compared to the rest of Ori’s closet.

Little did she know that was just the beginning to her terrible day. This was the first day in months that Ori was running the store on her own. No mom to fall back on. Not that it hasn’t happened before. At fourteen Ori was working the floor by herself so none of this was new but, today has been a nightmare from the moment the doors opened. It was unusually busy for a holiday, especially Halloween. It wasn’t often that the store was packed with customers on a day like today and there were moments when Ori began to feel claustrophobic with the amount of people filling the tiny shop.

Half of the morning was spent on decorating the window display for a new series that was set to be released at the beginning of November. The copies were scheduled to be delivered today, but they never showed and when Ori called to check on their status, the man she was unlucky enough to be put in contact with screamed at her, explaining that it was a holiday and not everyone spent their lives working.

It was one of those days where she wished she was ten years old again and Bucky could swoop in and save the day.

By some miracle, there was a lull, and she was able to slip behind the counter where her phone is kept when she’s working the floor alone. She swiped away the missed calls from Cassie and ignored the texts from Leo. There was only one person who knew how to calm the swirling mess in her head right now and she knows how pathetic she looks, twenty-seven, and tears swimming in her eyes. She didn’t care because just hearing his voice would help settle her. Theo’s voice rang her ear and as happy as she was to hear it, part of her wished it wasn’t his voicemail.

“H-hey,” Ori’s voice cracked, she cleared her throat ridding it of the tears choking her. “I know you’re at work. I’m sorry I’m calling. Please tell me I didn’t get you in trouble. I’m so sorry if I did. I just… I needed to hear your voice. I’m having a really awful day. That party with Cassie is tonight. I don’t want to go even though Cassie says it will be fun. And this new series. This stupid dumb shipment. They said they would be here today and I spent all morning doing the window display between the mad rush of customers by the way, they never showed. When I called to check in they said they can’t get here because it’s a holiday and well, they yelled at me. Now, I have to find something to replace the window display and spend another hour fixing what I did this morning. The store is so incredibly busy. I haven’t even stopped for lunch. I’m hungry and tired and I hate this day. Great. Now, I’m whining. Did I mention that I miss you? Well, I do and-”

“Ma'am?” A deep voice grabs Ori’s attention and she turns around to find a man in a UPS shirt standing behind the counter, she smiles as kindly as she can and pulls the phone away from her mouth to answer him, “I’m so sorry. Can I help you?”

“We have your delivery.”

Ori can feel the color drain from her face. She shouldn’t have that many boxes and the publisher on the clipboard being handed to her isn’t right.

“Wait… No. No, I didn’t order that. That’s not mine-”

“Orion Barnes?”

“Well, yes that’s me but,” She sighs, holding back the whimper that’s threatening to escape her. “Can you hold on just one second?"

Ori didn’t wait for his okay like she normally would have, she stepped towards her office and put the phone back up to her ear, “I guess my terrible, awful, no good day isn’t over. Talk to you soon? I hope.”

Orion had her eyes glued to a stack of invoices in front of her when the bell above the shop door rang. Thankfully, she was able to clear up the whole shipping mixup, but dealing with that set her even further behind inventory. It didn’t matter much. She knew who it was without having to raise her head. Ori didn’t have to look up to know her sister had arrived. Cassie skipped nearly everywhere, she has since she was old enough to walk and between the jingling of the bracelets on her wrist, the massive keyring on her purse, and the bells on her shoes (that had nothing to do with Halloween) it was easy to know when she arrived. The jingling came to a stop next to Ori, and a slight nudge to her hip that made Ori look up from the papers in her hand to find Cassie handing over a small brown paper bag from the bakery next door. Ori narrows her eyes at the gesture. Is she trying to butter her up about the party tonight?

“What’s this?”

“Cinnamon bagel from next door,” Cassie said with a certain self-satisfied taunt to her voice. “A certain boy texted me and said you hadn’t eaten today and asked if I could bring you something when I come by to pick you up for tonight."

Ori beams brightly as she peeks in the bag, avoiding her baby sister'’ suspicious and slightly giddy gaze.

“Question. Why is Theo texting me about your food needs and how does he know about tonight?”

She doesn’t answer, but this isn’t unusual. Like Bucky, Ori’s softer, gentler when it comes to revealing things close to her heart. There are some secrets she’s not ready for the world (or herself) to know yet. Cassie on the other hand is loud, in all things, but especially with what’s written on her heart. She loves just as deeply as Ori does but she’s quick to shout it from the rooftops, without a hint of fear.

Ori wishes she could be like that sometimes.

“Something is up. I can tell by the smile you’re trying to hide!”

"I’m smiling because I was hungry and it was very thoughtful of you both.”

Ori finally gets a look at Cassie’s costume when Cassie sheds her coat and she can’t help the surprised laugh that slips out. She’s in a white cotton dress that looked like it was made from one of those adult onesies, covered in glitter from head to toe and the rainbow leggings she has on matches the tail sticking out of the bottom of her coat and the mane on her hood she has pushed down.

“What are you wearing?!”

“What? I’m a sparkly unicorn. I look adorable!”

Ori grins.

“Yes, you do. You look beautiful.”

The bell chimes again and Ori greets her brother without looking, he’s never far behind Cassie after all. Leo looked pretty much like he always does, slacks and a button-up white collared shirt under his coat but he was wearing black square-frame glasses. He leans over the mahogany counter and presses a kiss on Ori’s cheek. Whatever Cassie was hoping to get out of Ori would never happen now that Leo was present. Ori laughed at the pout on Cassie’s face, picking at the bagel as she scans over the invoice in front of her.

“Ready for tonight?” Leo asks as he steals a piece of her bagel.

Ori shrugs a little, glancing at the clock and sighed when she saw it was nearing six. They would be pushing her out the door soon. It’s not that she didn’t like going out, she did. Things have been off lately and she hasn’t felt much like socializing, which is why her siblings insisted they have a party. If it turns out to be as terrible as she predicts it’s going to be, she can always call Bucky to pick her up because no matter what Bucky still drops everything to come to her rescue whenever she needs it.

“It’s going to be fun!”

“I guess. I’m not really a party person.”

“I know but you make the cutest cat ever.”

Leo’s brow furrows and the worry on his face has him looking so much like Bucky it almost makes Ori laugh.

“You’ve been working a lot. Skipping family stuff. When was the last time you came to family dinner and didn’t rush out the door? Mom said you’re working more hours than she is-”

“I should! She deserves time with dad and it’s not like I have a life waiting on me right now.”

It’s been a little over a year since she called off her wedding and ended things with Cole and while she’s happy that relationship has ended, she’s nowhere near where she thought she would be at her age. She had plans and lists, milestones she promised herself she would hit by a certain age and now she’s… floating. No purpose. No real path. Simply riding her mother’s coattails, managing a store she wouldn’t have without her mother and she has no idea where she’s going or what her future is going to look like. It’s terrifying. So maybe she’s been spending a little more time at work to keep her mind busy. Sometimes it doesn't quite calm the chaos in her head, but staying busy helps.

“That’s not true. You have us and, yeah, mom deserves a break but so do you. We thought it would be good to get out of the house. If you hate it I’ll bring you home.”

Ori smiles. Leo has always been their protector, ready to jump in and save his mom and sisters from anything that could cause them the slightest bit of discomfort. She couldn't be aggravated with him for wanting to help, he’s only following in Bucky’s footsteps.

“Yeah, okay. Today has been a mess. Give me a few minutes to wrap things up, okay?”

She’s barely had time for her eyes to focus on the words in front of her when Cassie chirps from her side, “The window display is a mess. What happened there?”

“Cassie!”

“I’m just saying. Want me to help you fix it tomorrow?”

“I’ll be out in a minute,” Ori snatches the brown bag with her bagel resting on top and heads back towards the office in hopes she will be able to focus there, “and yes. I would like help. Thank you.”

“I’ll watch the desk!” Cassie shouts behind her, getting an appreciative smile from Ori. The quiet doesn’t last long. The shop bell is ringing and Cassie is yelling for her before she’s managed to make it through one invoice.

“Ori! Get out here. There’s a delivery.” Cassie’s shouts are piercing her ears and she’s certain the entire bakery next door can hear her clear as day. Ori steps back out onto the sales floor, frowning and having every intention of reminding Cassie not to scream in the store, but she can’t because she’s staring at the largest bundle of lavender she’s ever seen.

“I-- this. What is this?”

“They are for you!” Cassie squeals but quickly stops smiling and looks at the older gentleman who is wearing a warm smile when he confirms that they are indeed for her sister.

“Yes, ma’am,” The man says with a chuckle, “If you’re Orion Barnes. These are for you.”

He passes the delicate bundle wrapped in brown paper in her arm and passes over a pen for her signature. She quickly scribbles her name and pulls the small white card out of the twine, grinning foolishly at what’s written.

“Who are they from?” Cassie begs, jumping up and down. “I already know but I need to see the card myself.”

Ori presses the card to her chest to keep Cassie from sneaking a peek, she’s not willing to share a bit of the sweetness written there. Cassie quickly gives up on the card and snatches the receipt before Ori can grab it, finding exactly what she was looking for.

“Theo Tucker! I knew it!”

The thin paper is pulled from Cassie’s hand by Leo, who is staring at the receipt with a deep frown as if he can’t process what he is seeing.

“Why is Theo sending you flowers? Where did he find a place that delivers lavender like that? More importantly… why is Theo sending you flowers?"

Ori can’t answer her brother, she’s too busy grinning like a fool and hiding her blushing cheeks behind the soft purple sprigs in her arms.

“What do you mean ‘Why is Theo sending her flowers?’ Because he loves her. Am I the only that’s been paying attention?”

"He loves you. It's the same thing and you don’t get flowers.”

“It is a hundred percent not the same thing, Leo.”

There’s the faint sound of the twins arguing in the background, “How is it different?” “Leo you can’t be serious. You’ve seen the way he looks at her!” She should probably stop their bickering but she can’t. She can’t focus on anything, not while she’s daydreaming about California.

Maybe it wasn’t the worst day, after all.

“So, are you going to wear a sprig of lavender as your catnip? Seems like it added a little spring in your step.”

“Cassie!”

Cassie had squealed when Ori asked her to draw a cat nose and whiskers on her face. If she was going to dress as a cat she had to go all out. The ears, while cute, weren’t enough to satisfy the perfectionist in her. Before they left her apartment, she sent Theo a thank you text and a picture of her all dressed up. The simple response, you look beautiful, makes her stomach flip and leaves her head spinning. It drops a fraction when Leo asks why she’s smiling at her phone with such a goofy grin.

No one is ready for that answer, so she tucked her phone in her purse for now.

The minute they arrived, Leo stepped through the front door and pulled his shirt open to reveal a giant S stitched onto his blue undershirt and he proceeded to do several more times throughout the night. Despite her reservations about the party, it wasn’t so bad. Or maybe she was simply in a better mood. She spent a better part of the night hanging around Cassie and Ariel, who was dressed as Tinker Bell and her lovesick Peter Pan never strayed from her side for long. Ori didn’t know a lot of the people currently filling Leo and Ollie’s apartment, so it felt safer to stick by family.

At some point a small group of people broke off from the larger party and started playing spin the bottle. It was strange to watch twenty year olds play a childhood game. There was bobbing for apples which didn’t seem all that sanitary if you asked Ori, which is why she declined rather emphatically when asked if she wanted to try.

Halfway through the night their mom texted asking for pictures, so she took a few with Cassie and Ariel, some of her and Leo and of course all of them posing together. She even sent the few of Ariel and Ollie off to the Tuckers. Another text comes in but it’s not a response from her parents, a very handsome Indiana Jones pops up and she can’t help the huge smile that forms. He looks adorable with that hat and playful smirk and she tells him so. Ori peered over her phone to find Cassie and Ariel smiling, she cleared her throat and quickly hid her phone back in her purse.

“Oh, look. There are some mummy cupcakes left. I better go grab one before they disappear,” Ori had muttered as she quickly tried to divert attention off of her.

There was every Halloween themed treat you could think of. The chocolate covered strawberries dressed up as ghosts, bloody s’mores, and candy corn rice krispy treats were gone first. When Ori asked how they managed to do all this, Leo admitted with a sheepish grin that their mom had done most of the baking and Cassie and Ariel had decorated. She should have known Ariel had a hand in the planning, it was too well organized for Leo and Ollie to handle on their own.

The party started to die down a little after one in the morning, Leo offered his bed but Cassie was already fast asleep and there was no way she was sharing with that human koala. After refusing to take Leo’s spot on the couch, Leo brought her back home with the promise to text him the minute he got back. There’s no way he would let her catch a cab back to her place all by herself.

It’s nearly three by the time Ori trudges up the stairs to her apartment. She’s tired, but it’s a good kind of tired. Not that she will ever admit this to Cassie but tonight was fun. It wasn’t exactly where she wanted to be, and a very important someone was missing but it wasn’t as bad as she envisioned. She slips out of her heels and drops her purse on the table by the front door, she can clean up tomorrow when she’s not struggling to keep her eyes open. Right as she reaches kitchen island where her bouquet is sitting in her mother’s chipped mint green vase, her phone rings in her hand and she can’t help but grin at the name staring back at her.

“Hey, you.”

Ori grins, dusting a finger over a stray sprig and she’s suddenly not feeling as tired.

“My day? You know, it wasn't so bad actually. It got better there at the end. Even better now.”

#Orion Barnes #astrophile files #Theo Tucker x Orion Barnes #Theo x Ori #the price of astrophile #poa #Astrophile

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lal-ffxiv · 3 years ago

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An Explanation

I wanted to make a post explaining my long absence, but it honestly can be explained like this; I got very busy (am still very busy). Then, I hit a low place when I wanted to become active again. Took a while, but I got out of that place. I am not sure if I am better than before, but I am trying and feeling good. Now, no matter how busy I get I still want to be active because FFXIV and this community is fun to be a part of.

The most important explanation needed are the things I had to think about while on hiatus, and how that thinking will make changes on this blog.

Let me start off with saying that before I got involved in writing in FFXIV I had not written anything that wasn’t academically demanded of me. Therefore, I will forever be thankful for the blogs that welcomed me to this writing community (seina-kurokiba. @khaamara. @cahli-tia), for blogs that motivated me when I read their amazing writing ( @miqojak. @captainkurosolaire) and for the people I have written with @ayoaibori, @cigarettes-n-daisies and @thevoilinauttheory

However, when I started truly writing again, I was taken to the same places that made me give up writing before. Some were easier to get out of than ever before, others were still rough, and there were new places I didn’t even know how to handle. One of these is my social anxiety coming into reaching out and writing with people. I never have done any collaborative writing before, and have like 2 centimeters of experience of rp that wasn’t at any good. I didn’t want that to stop me though, so this year more than ever I tried, but with this effort I still haven’t learned how to manage my anxiety. I am terribly sorry for everyone I reached out to in my enthusiasm and nothing came from me. During the low moment of my hiatus I was almost convinced to deactivate this blog all together if I wasn’t rping enough or all. Then, I had no purpose for this blog at all. (big thank you to @sundered-souls who tagged me in so many tag things while I was tethering on this thought and didn’t even know. It was just right timing)

So on the term of RP-ing, I come from hiatus still having mixed thoughts and feelings on it. I don’t want to definitely state I will not pursuing any rp ever. I keep thinking: maybe I can do one-shots, maybe only rp over discord, maybe ingame rp or mainly threads over tumblr. However, I don’t want to keep approaching people with the promise of writing and fail to keep that promise. I apologize to everyone I have disappointed by doing that. I am so sorry. I am uncertain of the prospects of RP-ing with my characters.

However, I am not quitting this blog or writing for Luka, Asdis or Luken. I hope to post more drabbles on all of the muses in the future. In fact, I will be posting more writing on the AUs, ATs, and my non-rp characters (Riva, Haran, The Parents).

Also an important change I have made @lal-ffxiv to follow only ffxiv blogs, but aside from being connected to @lightyouarelikes, my ffxiv side blog to showcase other’s amazing oc’s, screenshots, writings and ffxiv lore. This @lukawarrioroflight continues to be my main blog and should be the only place to tag and message.

Another change is not to the blog itself, but my attitude concerning activity. I kept measuring myself on these standards of blog activity of likes, reblogs, and followers. That mindset was only dragging me down, because I kept criticizing myself on those standards. The focus of this blog is so I can write, share my muses and connect with others, and I need to remember that for myself.

Thank you for listening to me to everyone that read all this. I thought it was important to say all this, so I didn’t put it under a read more.

Thank you for your support, encouragement and positivity during my hiatus and I hope it will be a long time until my next hiatus.

To anyone who doesn’t have the time to read all this, and skipped to the end here is the short version -> LINK

#OOC POST #MUN stuff

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flightofaqrow · 4 years ago

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YOUR CHARACTER IN FIVE QUOTES!

( repost, do not reblog. ) Tell us your favorite quotes from your character. Give us an idea of who they are by five things they’ve said.

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Alright, buckle up, I’m stealing this meme and repurposing it for my own use. Probably more than five, and including some quotes from others about him, though I’m going to try to keep it in groupings, and also not meant to be exhaustive of qrow’s character, but rather, to point out some very poignant lines that have effected my portrayal and... some possibly in an unpopular way compared to what I’ve seen in the fandom? I think Qrow Branwen is more complex than fitting the broody broken boi trope would give credit for (though he at least fits it as an overall stereotype).

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1) I’m absolutely sure Qrow had a rough start and transition from the tribe to ‘civilized society’, coupled with typical teenage hormones and mood swings, but generally, Beacon was a good time, and he sees himself as a good huntsman, and (though we may joke about it sometimes) he absolutely does not have an active nor passive death wish.

Yeah, yeah, I know he has a song all about how he self depreciates and carries shame, but that’s a theme of his attitude, not backed up to be every single aspect of his life by actual canon. Quite the contrary.

I don’t know where fndm gets the idea that he constantly lost his battles (especially to Raven) or was perpetually looked down on or stayed an angsty, broody teenager (who could never possibly have ever even breathed a single happy breath on his own without Summer??) all four years. As if school was hell and he never came into his own until STRQ was a graduated unit or something? If ever?

Leo tells Raven she and her brother are evenly matched. Raven herself - who takes pride in being stronger and more clever than others - describes them as a pair: “we were good.”

“you're talking to a member of the coolest team that graduated Beacon! ...we were pretty well known back in the day. ...hey, we looked good! and I have a number of inappropriate stories to back that up!”

“let me tell ya, these kids are way better than we were at their age. ...well, not better than me, specifically...”

“a professional huntsman like myself is expected to get results as soon as possible.”

The way Qrow talks about his past, as well as carrying a memento of team STRQ around with him, it’s very nostalgic for better times. The way he talks about his work, if not himself, can actually be to the point of being self-aggrandizing, instead of depreciating. He’s even able to admit that his dreaded semblance, Misfortune, “comes in handy in a fight.”

“lots of us thought you were just layin' low. eventually, we just came to accept that you were probably dead. but the stories about you, i based my weapon off of yours. i wanted to be as good as the Grimm Reaper.”

Qrow talks about himself as striving to be better. It seems he never really sees himself as reaching that standard, but it certainly implies he knows he’s not at the bottom - he had an ideal he wanted to reach and likely worked towards. Notice the use of “us” and “we” as well - he talks about himself as part of a group of larger huntsfolk circles. Who knows if this refers to students or licensed professionals or both, but this heavily, heavily implies that he was more than just a sad, outside loner, at least for a time; he chatted with others and traded stories about goings-on and missions and idols.

Somewhat related and leading into...

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2) At least around this blog, Qrow does not have an inferiority complex because of Raven.

Does he have some internalized shame about being soft that he can’t quite shake? A few insecurities about being unwanted compared to her natural leadership and competence? Yes. Does he consciously view himself as lesser than her? No.

Also... he’s not co-dependent on her. To a degree, for while? Yeah, there was probably an unhealthy reliance going on there. But Qrow and Raven establish themselves with their own identities at some point, they’d have to, to chose different paths so stubbornly. There’s a rift there, eventually, if not always having been at odds in some ways and comfort in others.

“Raven's got an interesting way of looking at the world that I don't particularly agree with. [The weak die, the strong live. Those are the rules.]”

“...they were killers and thieves.”

We are shown that the twins were raised with this weak/strong dichotomy. Raven bought into it, but Qrow explicitly separates himself from that belief. Shown again when he mocks Raven with, “because that was your rule, right?”

He believes in true family, he believes in protecting the weak, he believes in doing good, he believes in standing up for what’s right. He may not like being emotionally vulnerable, but he shows softness and kindness to others, and for as much as he likes his flourish when fighting, he also isn’t afraid to look an absolute fool either.

He is shown de-escalating conflict time and again, even if he also falls back into violent, defensive patterns at times, too. He resents Raven for the choices she made, and as far as I interpret, thinks she’s the lesser one for running away and abandoning her family and her mission. (Meanwhile, she thinks the same of him for turning his back on the tribe.)

He all but spits on the tribe’s way of life, is willing to attack them outright to get the Spring Maiden. Why would he judge himself by those standards any longer? No, he lives by his own code, a huntsman’s code, and even has some pride in that. It’s why he can call Clover out on it. It’s why he folds when Robyn holds him to it.

It’s why it hurts when he finds out what gave him more meaning, aligned more with his own heart, than the tribe’s dogma may not actually have any purpose at all...

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3) There’s so much to unpack here:

“No one wanted me... I was cursed... I gave my life to you because you gave me a place in this world... I thought I was finally doing some good... Meeting you... was the worst luck of my life...”

No one wanted him? I believe this means the tribe, maybe even Raven, maybe trying to make friends, but no one until Oz? Does this include STRQ? I have trouble reconciling that one with everything else we’re shown. I still maintain he was part of bigger circles, but we get confirmation that these were probably fleeting or superficial. He knew people and was known, but no one stuck around. Also more confirmation of his values. Gave me a place sounds like so much more than refocusing to me. It’s not gave me a direction, not told me what to do, it’s took who i am and gave that person a place to thrive - despite the bad that comes with - to work towards something better. Just like he always wanted.

But then he backtracks. What is it he regrets? We do know how he likes to go into dramatic hyperbole about these things when he’s upset. [eg. “we’re not family anymore.” “i shouldn’t have come. i shouldn’t have let any of you come.” “we can kill the man who put us here.” “gone. like everybody else.”] (I love that crwby lets their characters do it. we all say things we don’t mean in the moment, give voice to those intrusive thoughts.)

I’ve talked before about how I picture him having flashes of all the lives he could have had instead. Would he have gone back with Raven and at least still had her? Would he just have been a normal huntsman defending people from Grimm without the crushing extra knowledge? Might he have been able to have a relationship or family of his own had he not signed up for the vagabond spy life? Does he just resent losing Summer and Raven because of how things went down? We don’t know, and I think the point is that he probably doesn’t either, but the weight of sacrificing all those alternatives and putting so much faith in Ozpin, stacking so much of his life’s work and identity on being part of the inner circle, comes crashing down on him all at once.

also quite fitting...

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4) "Nice place to raise a family. ...If you're ...into that sort of thing."

This is from his World of Remnant narration, talking about Patch, but it hits so damn hard. The softness and warmth in the first half of the statement, followed by the harsh need to qualify it in regards to his own outlook... We learn all we need to know about his opinion of the subject.

We see the conflict right there - the possibility of such a thing brings a wholesome lilt to his voice, yet he implies that it’s not something he personally intends to pursue. Is that because he doesn’t want it or because he thinks he can’t or shouldn’t have it? I don’t think that’s clear, and he may not know either.

At the very least, I fall into the camp of him believing he doesn’t want it. Combine that with the fact that he does pick up that spy life, which makes keeping his distance a necessity, and makes settling down near impossible, and then he definitely knows it’s not in the cards for him.

So I think it ultimately falls somewhere between. Why would he make the commitment to being a lone spy if he had dreams of love and a family? ...But then why would he resent making the sacrifice of that possibility later if he didn’t?

Having his nieces around probably softened him up to the idea, but he’d already made his decision by that point. He’s also solid and generally happy with his choices at the point it would most matter. He’s married to his job. He’s fulfilling his missions well, in well-suited ways for his strengths and flaws. He has his nieces around as a balm on any sort of biological clock. He has his purpose with Oz. Until he doesn’t.

This is an incredibly long-winded way of restating that one of the headcanon hills I do stand to die on is: Gray-romantic Qrow.

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5) “some people are just born unlucky... my semblance isn't like most - it's not exactly something i... do.”

I am constantly confused by the amount of people trying to do character analysis around Misfortune and Qrow based on standard semblance lore, when he has yet again stated explicitly to the contrary. We all have carte blanche ya’ll. We can do whatever we want with this, because he’s already told us his semblance breaks the rules.

My full headcanon for it is here and my opinion about the direction I hope it takes is here but tl;dr

Unless we learn otherwise, there are very, very few ways I believe Misfortune is a reflection of Qrow’s soul, if at all. This is from the first headcanon, but it’s worth restating, because it’s important to me, aaand fits the theme of pulling in some quotes from other characters:

Everyone likes to quote Ren and his description of someone’s personality being incorporated into a semblance. I don’t buy it for qrow. Here’s the FULL quote: “A common philosophy is that a warrior’s Semblance is a part of who they are. Some say your personality and character can define your Semblance while some claim that it is the other way around. Of course, there are still many who don’t see a connection at all.”

So unless we find out otherwise I will also die on the hill that qrow is an example of the middle part. Qrow’s personality/soul has nothing to do with why his semblance is what it is, but being forced to grow up and live with Misfortune has defined him tremendously.

OKAY, there are some smaller quick ones, but I’ll stick to my five points like I promised at least, and maybe do a lesser version some other time. :]

#qrow branwen #* legends and stories; some of them true; some made up = meta *#* hey don't get mad cause i'm right = headcanon *#long post tw

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andromedasstarship · 4 years ago

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faceless, nameless - the prologue

gif credit - @kylos

pairing - kylo ren x reader

warnings - canon-typical star wars violence, depictions of death/violence, fighting (verbal + physical), loosely implied physical intimacy (really up for interpretation here), angst, tension, implied mild love triangle, kylo ren betrays you

summary - For four years, Kylo Ren considered you to be many things: his right hand, his confidant, an irreplaceable strategist, a friend and most importantly his equal. It all ended when he left you with a blaster shot to the stomach on a near deserted planet. On the brink of death, a rather dashing Resistance Pilot stumbled upon you, saving your life.

Donning a mask to hide your identity, you’ve grown to become the most fearsome Resistance fighter they have; bewildering the First Order as to how you always seem to ruin their plans and avoid capture. Kylo Ren is a different man from when he left you two years ago, so how will he react when he accidentally finds you alive and well in Poe’s memories?

masterlist // series masterlist // read it on ao3 here

next chapter

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the prologue - the sun

On Starkiller Base, there were plenty of rumors as to why Kylo Ren kept you around. Some said it was because of your extensive training in hundreds of different languages, both spoken and signed. Others were sure it was due to your diplomatic upbringing that came with countless connections and near endless wealth. Or, maybe it was due to your more than adequate ability in battle that served him the most. Even some people thought you were a kept woman, who only existed as a way for Kylo Ren to blow off steam behind closed doors. Your favorite rumor was that you were actually a high-ranking Resistance spy who was tasked with infiltrating the First Order at the highest level and that Kylo Ren had become weak because of you. Had it not made you laugh so much the first time you heard it, Kylo would’ve crushed the windpipe of the lowly officer who created the elaborate lie.

Of course, there were some truths in all the rumors, but none of them exciting. You were in fact trained in hundreds of languages and that training was a product of your diplomatic upbringing. You were exceptionally trained in various forms of combat, but that was something that came after you met Kylo; he had always been afraid of you not being able to properly defend yourself. You were most certainly not a kept woman, not that you and Kylo weren’t intimate, but certainly not in the type of dynamic people thought. You absolutely were not a Resistance spy, but even though neither of you said it aloud, Kylo Ren was definitely weak for you.

How it actually happened is quite boring. The two of you met when Kylo had just turned 24, still more Ben Solo than Kylo Ren. You were recently 23 at the time, head of a diplomatic welcoming committee that met with Kylo as part of his first official diplomatic endeavor as ‘Kylo Ren’ the soon to be Commander of the entire First Order. He quickly became enamored with you and the way you commanded a team full of older men who clearly didn’t approve of your position- whether it was due to your age or gender he didn’t know- but still treated you with respect; in short, you radiated a confidence and power he desired. For you, it was quite the opposite, Kylo Ren still wasn’t sure of himself and at times still acted like the awkward lanky Jedi boy who had never spoken to a girl outside of school purposes. He was a fresh and welcomed change from all the annoyingly rich and cocky men you met with on a daily basis.

Him and his team stayed on your home planet for nearly three months. Countless delegates from various planets flocked there for balls, meetings, conferences, and more. Your connections ran deep and you directly aided in the First Order’s successes during those three months. For the first few weeks, you and Kylo skirted around the obvious pull between the two of you. He wasn’t exactly sure how to ‘woo’ a girl, nor was he even sure if he was allowed to. His lack of action caused you to regularly doubt if he also felt the spark, or if it was completely one sided on your end. Weeks of longing gazes and accidental brushes of fingertips finally came to an end when the two of you were sitting on your private balcony, overlooking the well kept grounds, discussing the conference that had just ended. It was a roaring success for your planet as well as the First Order, both of you securing mining resources at an exceptional locked rate for a minimum of fifty basic years. You made the first move, he was irresistible under the moonlight, closing the space between you on your bench and pressing your lips directly on his. In his hesitation you thought you had completely misread the past month, but it was only a moment later that his hands found purchase in your hair, pulling you closer. The two of you were nearly inseparable for the rest of his trip.

It was difficult, when he finally had to return to his new master and some massive ship that would be lightyears away from you. Unspoken promises were made the night before he left, declarations of love and devotion made behind closed doors. He was still far from truly becoming Kylo Ren, had copious amounts of training to finish before he would see himself be fitting for someone like you. If he was nothing else, Kylo was desperate for loyalty and when you watched his ship leave you had no doubts he would come back.

And he did, nearly an entire standard year later. You almost didn’t recognize him when he stepped off his personal ship. All broad shoulders and shrouded in layers of black, with that intimidating mask covering his face. He was proving to be quite the warrior, the tales of him and the Knights he commanded reaching the farest edges of the galaxy. When the welcoming festivities had ended and he removed his mask in the privacy of your room, you found a mature face that had lost the softness you once knew. It was no matter to you, flinging yourself into his arms and vowing to never let go.

This time, when he left, you went with him of course. Kylo had been shocked when Snoke approved it, but Snoke, ever the manipulator, knew the growing attachment between the two of you would inevitably prove to be valuable in controlling Kylo Ren.

Moving into a giant spaceship wasn’t easy for you. The dark, cold and everlasting expanse of space was a sharp contrast to your warm ocean planet. You missed the sun on your face and your people, but when you vowed to never let him go, you meant it. As time went on, you grew accustomed to the ship and then eventually Starkiller- which was an entirely different battle, that piece of ice had you complaining for months-, and soon enough you couldn’t imagine a life not in space.

Most of your days were monotonous, not that you minded. From the first day you stepped foot onto base, Kylo began training you himself. He never wanted you to feel as hopeless and afraid as he did when he woke up to his uncle ready to kill him in his sleep. So he trained you, and he trained you hard. You could wield a lightsaber well enough, as he argued that should anything ever happen to him- a thought you hated entertaining-, his saber would be the best weapon you had available. You were smaller than him, so close combat was a challenge but you learned to use your size and agility as an advantage. What you specialized in, was the staff. It allowed you to give a larger opponent at a safe range until it was possible to take them down. Kylo had a special one created just for you, with double edged electrical ends that you could easily turn on or off. It was rare that he actually let you on a battlefield with him, but when he did you were unstoppable. Not that you minded, you quite enjoyed working behind the scenes, forming battle plans and leading diplomatic endeavors for the First Order.

Other than Snoke, no one out ranked you, not even Ren; a fact he had been extremely particular about after a visiting diplomat made the excuse of outright ignoring and belittling your presence in a meeting. You were equals in everything, even going as far as taking on the ‘Ren’ moniker.

Among First Order subordinates, you were fairly well liked, and not just because it was unspoken that anyone who thought badly of you would probably die at Ren’s hand. The people actually liked you. Ren was cold, you were warm. When he was sharp, you were soft. It worked well, his ability to command troops and fuel the fires of war was complimented perfectly by your ability to talk nearly anyone to your side.

You never wavered in your support for him, ever loyal by his side no matter what he did or who he killed or how many villages he burned to the ground. You stood next to him, never behind, when new planets presented themselves as potential allies. You watched from above when he burned villages, that dared aid the Resistance, to the ground. You cleaned and healed every single wound he received from Snoke’s brutal training. You held him together when the pull to the light made him feel weak and undeserving.

Anyone could see that you were the sun that Kylo Ren revolved around.

So, when he came back to Starkiller on that fateful day, covered in blood- your blood-, announcing that you were dead- and he was the one who killed you-, and that your name was never to be uttered on his base or by any First Order subordinate ever again, no one knew what to do.

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a/n - hi!!! im so excited for this story, ive never written star wars before and my lore knowledge isnt the best ill admit, so please excuse any minor bits of pieces i may get wrong! comments/likes/reblogs always appreciated. if you wanna be added to the taglist, just ask and ill make one! :D

no permission is given to copy or republish my writing on any other platform or account. if you see this story outside of my blog or my ao3 it is stolen work. i do not own nor claim to own star wars or any of the character involved in it.

#kylo ren #kylo #ren #kylo ren x reader #ren x reader #kylo ren x you #kylo ren/reader #kylo ren/you #kylo x you #kylo/you #reader insert #star wars fanfiction

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feralphoenix · 4 years ago

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HOWMST BELL THE CAT? - A treatise on one aspect of how the Pale King sealed the Radiance

sup hollow knight fandom, i’m back with the picante takes again after having Noticed A Thing.

as with my previous essays i’ll put this guy up on dreamwidth later for accessibility purposes, since my layout text may be too small for high-res pc users. i will attach that in a reblog at a later point.

CONTENT WARNINGS FOR TONIGHT’S PROGRAM: This essay discusses canon-typical body horror and bodily boundary violations, with some side mentions of colonialism.

all game screencaps are mine. the screencap of the wiki is from the “developer notes” (style guide) section of the “cut content” page.

ALSO: if youre from a christian cultural upbringing (whether currently practicing, agnostic/secular, or atheist now), understand that some of what i’m discussing here may challenge you. if thinking thru the implications of this particular part of hollow knight worldbuilding/lore is distressing for you, PLEASE only approach this essay when youre in a safe mindset & open to listening, and ask the help of a therapist or anti-racism teacher/mentor to help you process your thoughts & feelings. just like keep in mind that youre listening to an ethnoreligiously marginalized person and please be respectful here or wherever else youre discussing this dang essay, ty

HOWMST BELL THE CAT? - A treatise on one aspect of how the Pale King sealed the Radiance

We understand more or less how the Pale King’s plan was supposed to work. Stuff Radiance into a no-thoughts-head-empty and silent Pure Vessel to trap, isolate, and silence her, both putting an end to the Infection and killing her for good. Stick that vessel in the Black Egg, which harnesses Void BS to both keep the vessel alive indefinitely and to cover Hallownest (and its neighbors) in a time-defying stasis so that the Pale King could successfully hoard his favorite shiny FOREVER, threatened by nothing. Then put a seal on the Black Egg to prevent anyone from getting inside and harming said vessel while it’s strung up and helpless. And THEN, put protective seals on the anchors (the Dreamers) to the Black Egg seal to protect them from any external harm: The stasis means the Dreamers won't die of old age or starvation.

All in all, a pretty foolproof plan!

...except that the Dreamers are still vulnerable to having their minds breached with the moths’ magic... and the Pale King failed to take into account that his Pure Vessel was a person actually and the amount of toxic stress his training/upbringing put on them made them REALLY POORLY SUITED FOR THEIR JOB... and also that killing 99% of his million children and turning the Abyss into a landfill for baby corpses would take enough of an emotional toll on his wife and #1 enabler the White Lady that she would walk out on him, ensuring he’d only ever have one shot at this whole deal...

Basically it’s the sort of plan that an emotionally constipated, low-empathy sort of guy who pours all his points into INT and has a big fat zero for WIS might think is foolproof. It has big holes in it that the Pale King did not consider to be big holes until he got owned by the various consequences of his actions and fell down said big holes, making the shocked pikachu face all the while. Rip in die, my guy.

Anyway, there’s a lot of incidental information scattered about the game that gives us more insight into the stages of TPK’s plan. Looking at Monomon’s notes in the Archive suggests that she was probably involved in designing the Black Egg; the hidden room in the Weavers’ den points to their being the ones to blueprint the Dreamer seal; the White Palace’s hidden rooms reveal both TPK’s morbid fascination with the Void and his mea culpa wrt his motives and the Path of Pain is certainly suggestive of a lot of things. The White Lady tells us straight out that she walked out on the Pale King because she wanted no part in a second vessel batch, but how TPK didn’t handle that is only revealed via map design and some incidental dialogue from the Old Stag.

This stuff presents us with, if not a full picture, then at least a decent connect-the-dots of certain aspects of crater politics and Pale Court drama at the time, and how exactly TPK’s plan came together.

But there is still one glaring question that these cookie crumbs do not provide us an answer to:

Who shall bell the cat?

How did TPK et al manage to stuff Radiance into Hollow in the first place?

This is the subject of a lot of memes and jokes within the fandom because it's so absurd. Radiance fuckin hates that dude! She’s probably gonna be pretty wary of him considering how he stole her people in the first place! And considering the anti-colonialism slant of the writing - beyond the general sympathetic view Team Cherry gives of each indigenous bug society, Seer makes it very clear that Radiance has very good reason to take violent action against Hallownest - the answer is probably not something like “she’s just that stupid” or “she rolled a crit fail”.

Well... I have an idea of how TPK managed to get Radiance in there. It raises about as many questions as it answers, mind, but it may be someplace to start.

[desc: the hollow knight's entry in the hunter’s journal. top text/ghost’s comment reads: “Fully grown Vessel, carrying the plague’s heart within its body.” bottom text/hunter’s comment says: “The old King of Hallownest... he must have been desperate to save his crumbling little world. The sacrifices he imposed on others... all for nothing.”]

Here we have Hollow’s bestiary entry. Most of what we’re concerned with here is the top text, which says the seal has literally trapped Radiance inside their body. (First of all, ew, TPK.)

We already knew Radiance is literally actually inside Hollow, though: The Infection is leaking out of their body, and to get to fight Radiance, Ghost has to go traipsing into their sibling’s mind. So what’s significant about that here?

[desc: screencap of the outside of the black egg temple, post-infected crossroads. there are large infection blobs in the foreground and background, connected to each other by veins that come from inside the temple.]

The infection blobs are weird and get weirder if you kill enough Lightseeds for the Hunter to tell you their origin story, i.e. that the literal actual sun has been having a very long bad day and cried a lot, and some of the liquid coalesced into living flesh, and some of that living flesh took on a mind of its own to become Lightseeds. (Hollow Knight is a WILD place.)

Lightseeds are Radiance’s accidental children and share a lot of her traits: They are harmless creatures that try to avoid conflict if possible but if pushed will get creative and find ways to fight regardless of their physical limitations. (For the Lightseeds this involves hiding inside Broken Vessel’s corpse and puppeting it around to try to stab you.) They even have her same distinctive yell. And according to the Hunter, they’re born from the infection blobs. These enemies only ever appear in the Ancient Basin, which both Radiance and the Void have ransacked, and in the Infected Crossroads.

The infection blobs are connected to and sort of a weird extension of Radiance because the Infection itself is sort of a weird extension of Radiance. In the game’s internal style guide Team Cherry explains that the Infection started as an accident, not her original intention but what happened when Hallownest tried to block her out.

[desc: screencap from the wiki of style notes attached to seer that describe a sketch of radiance’s finalized backstory. text reads: “The moth tribe were (perhaps) descended from Radiance. However, the King convinced them somehow to seal Radiance away. I guess so he could rule Hallownest with his singular vision, as a god/monarch with no other gods. The moths sealed Radiance away by forgetting about her. Hallownest was born and flourished. However, the memory of Radiance lingered (eg [sic] the statue at hallownest’s crown) and soon she began to reappear in dreams and starting [sic] exerting influence. The King and the bugs of Hallownest resisted this memory/power and it started to manifest as the Infection. Thus the first attempt to seal Radiance failed, and the King had to try another method - the Vessel.” emphasis mine.]

Some fans have posited the blobs as deposits of pupa juice, but given Team Cherry's description of the Infection’s origins I don’t know how likely that is. Since the Void also sticks its squamous tentacles into things via veiny looking things and the Nightmare’s Heart has similar veiny nonsense in the Nightmare Realm, I wonder if it isn’t just a Meddly God Shit thing in general.

Whatever the case, the blobs are very much connected to/a part of Radiance.

And when you’re hanging around them, you will notice two things: They pulse like they’re part of a circulatory system, and you can hear Radiance's heartbeat emanating from them.

[desc: screencap of the game’s title screen with the infected menu theme in use: a glowing orange ball at the center of a lot of black tendony webbing.]

Let’s also think of the Infected menu theme, which you unlock after getting either of the endings where Ghost takes over from Hollow and absorbs Radiance out of them. Ghost is infected and then sealed inside the Black Egg in Hollow's place. It’s suggested by the animation’s staging that Radiance briefly struggles to get out of Ghost after absorbed but is ultimately stuck in them, at which point the seal is reestablished.

If you haven’t used the Infected menu theme yourself, the... interesting thing about it is that it moves organically. The light ball expands and contracts - y’know, sort of like a living organ - and so does the black webby stuff around it.

Also, Radiance’s heartbeat is included in the theme's ambiance.

[desc: hollow’s bestiary entry again]

To cut to the chase, this part of Hollow’s bestiary entry that says “the plague’s heart”? I don’t think that’s just Ghost/Team Cherry being poetic. I think there’s a good chance it’s LITERAL.

I think TPK is the sort of person who could cram a native woman’s literal living beating heart inside his own child’s body so they can use it as... say, a focus to absorb and trap her mind/spirit inside their body, too. Mr. No Cost Too Great is capable of a lot in the name of keeping other people’s claws off his Big Shiny kingdom. This is kind of his whole brand.

But also, like, yuck.

This fits the worldbuilding too; generally speaking Hollow Knight is Body Horror City. Also there’s the case of Grimm: While he and Radiance are loose counterparts at best with WILDLY disparate outlooks and ethoses, his existence serves as precedent that a Higher Being’s heart specifically can be separate from the rest of them.

As I said before, though, this DOES raise as many questions as it answers. If this is another piece in the puzzle of how TPK belled the cat, we’re now left wondering how he got Radiance’s heart to use as Hollow's focus to begin with.

We know he has access to the Dream Realm because that’s ultimately where he hid when Hollow’s seal failed, but who did he send to do the stealing and how did they get away with it? (TPK certainly wouldn’t have gone; his own life’s the one cost too great for him to willingly pay.) Was Radiance’s heart separate from her like the Nightmare’s Heart, or was it a part of her body? (I think the latter is more likely just from her personality; Grimm’s hidden heart makes sense because of how he keeps even his own servants at arm’s length emotionally, whereas Radiance is all heart all the time. I think this makes more sense with their equal opposites schtick too. But this would make for a WAY riskier mission.)

I can imagine all kinds of possibilities. None of them are definitive, but the thing they have in common is that they are all Awful... and how on-brand that is for Hollow Knight as a whole is, maybe, the most persuasive argument for It’s Literally Actually Her Real Physical Heart there could be.

#hollow knight #hollow knight spoilers #hollow knight meta #the radiance #hk radiance #not sure if i should tag tpk bc i doubt therell be anything in here his stans will enjoy lol #long post under cut -#essay

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