#flames and darkness liveblog

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

Made it to chapter 16 today which means Feyre and I have both had our first impressions of Rhysand's Inner Circle and ohhhhhhh boy

Its hard to pinpoint why exactly, but theres something so discomforting about watching them interact. I think the main thing is that for all their "casual-ness", theres still clearly a rigid hierarchy between them and they all seem to 'know their place' so to speak, its not at all like Lucien and Tamlin's relationship in the first book which genuinely felt like a friendship that was unburdened by their status or positions. Like, theres this one moment where Mor and Amren are like kinda bickering with each other i guess, and Feyre remarks that Mor is probably super powerful if she dares talk back against Amren (in an incredibly minor matter Im pretty sure but I already forgor ngl) and because this is the book where Feyre's perspective starts being Objectively Correct all the time, I guess that's true, I guess the only reason someone would dare voice their opinion on something to this friend group is if they were physically more powerful because otherwise you just level a fucking mountain during an argument

Anyway, Im gonna switch topics for a short moment but I promise this diversion is relavant to the point above. So, sometimes when I go into the anti-tags on here looking for criticisms or complaints of the books, I instead find anti-ship posts that are mainly just about trash-talking some ship, mostly ones relating to that whole Elucien/Elriel/Gwynriel shipwar, which I already have thoughts on but I'll save those for later. In any case, one day I stumbled upon this pretty long anti-elriel post about how the gifts Elain gives Azriel on winter solstice arent actually cute and it describes how she gave him like, herbs that help with headaches "because his friends are always giving him headaches" apparently. And then that post went on a whole rant about how insensitive that was of her and that she doesnt actually understand Azriel's dynamic with his close friends, but honestly, judging from this chapter Elain was absolutely spot on

And I usually wouldn't say this because yknow, its only one chapter and we're probably gonna get the nuances of their relationship later, but this is a book written by Sarah J Maas, her characters and their relationships are rarely particularly deep and, more importantly, her writing is incredibly unsubtle. If Azriel was in any way fond of his friends shenaningans I wouldve noticed it, because Feyre wouldve noticed it like 15 times during that whole dinner. But she didnt.

Its especially bad for Cassian and Azriel because it feels like Cassian thinks they have this great rapport but Azriel just genuinely kinda dislikes him. Not to mention that whole fucking mess with Azriel and Mor and Cassian and Mor having sex so she wouldnt get married off or whatever, good god how is every conversation between them not insanely awkward

Even beyond that, idk man, theyre all just so insufferable. I dont understand how Amren, ancient eldritch being trapped in a fae body that she is, can stand to be around them, I wouldve left them 5 centuries ago if I was her. I guess the explanation is that she finds the government position interesting but its like, youre SECOND to the most boring and annoying man on the planet only kinda ruling over a court that you dont even actually care about from everything Ive heard. Again, if I was in Amren's position I would not be hanging out in an APARTMENT in a boring ass city at the behest of a quartett of stupid bozos, I wouldve weaseled my way into being the personal advisor of Beron or some shit so I could watch the Vanserra Family Drama unfold live

There was one good thing about this discomforting dinner though, and that was how inexplicably gay Cassian was for Rhysand. He was really out there, looking at him with such love, calling him pretty twice in like two minutes being all "I knew I wanted a piece of him the moment I first saw him, the high lord's pretty son" like okay. I know what you are

[pttucker]

"I, the master of the Black Flame, Han Sooyoung, shall awake the Dragon of the ancient seal! Oh, the Constellation darker than darkness itself, oh, the abyss deeper than the flowing night…" She really didn't want to mutter out this chant even if she were to die, but with the situation being what it was, her lips began reciting it all by themselves. Her left arm reacted to her incantation and wiggled around; a Dragon's roar could be heard coming from a distant somewhere. "Here in this place, reveal yourself!" [Constellation, 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon', is getting ready for the 'Advent of Half-God'.]

Okay, Sooyoung's whole thing with the black flames and Abyssal Black Flame Dragon and the bandages on her hand/arm and just her overall power aesthetic has been giving me this vague sense of familiarity and now with this "let's summon an evil darkness dragon out of our arm as a last ditch effort that's definitely not a good idea" I think I just figured it out.

[softichill]

The Dark is one of my least favorite fears, not bc of any writing problems but bc if you become a follower of the Dark you literally just become catholic

[utopianparadoxist]

On Fighting Nothing - Ultimate Dirk in the Struggle Against The End of Homestuck

[ Edited Excerpt from Through Loving Eyes--Who Is(n't) Dirk Strider?]

You and I have been through this, have been through that, have been at ease. Nothing scares me more than God, and Nothing cannot sustain.

Let's consider this verse from the Homestuck: Beyond Canon album song, The Leaving, as it might relate to the Epilogue's Ultimate Dirk Strider and the nature of his character arc.

It’s a well known fact from the days of Bladekindeyewear (who’s back and occasionally liveblogging HS² on Tumblr, if you’re interested) that The Neverending Story is a major source of thematic inspiration for Homestuck, with the twin ouroboros symbol from the movie appearing in several places in the comic connected to Cherub lore, including their mating rituals, which are said to tap into the innermost essences of Paradox Space.

If you don’t remember the Neverending Story, its a book/movie about the magic realm of Fantastica, an infinite realm of fantasy and wonder living inside an in-fiction book also named the Neverending Story, which is experienced by all who read it. Our protagonist Bastian reads the book, and inside lives a story where the protagonist Atreyu is sent on a quest to try to overcome the threat of the mysterious force called the Nothing, which is bent on consuming the entire fictional world.

The Nothing of the Leaving, then, is a literary reference. What scares Dirk more than God is not “nothing” in the sense that he’s unafraid of God, but instead the specific darkness of non-existence that overtakes the realm of Fantastica, obliterating it completely, reducing it so utterly that there’s not even dust left behind.

And what turns out to be the source of the Nothing in the Neverending Story?

The inevitable apocalypse that comes for all stories: The thump of the cover as you turn the last page. The moment when a living narrative passes from the reader’s experience and turns into an immediately fading memory. Whether it happens quickly or slowly, everyone who’s loved any story eventually moves on.

And that is precisely the armageddon that has struck Earth C at the beginning of the Epilogues. Seven years out from the end of the comic, it is a world almost entirely forgotten, populated by people that we almost don’t even recognize as the characters we loved.

Dirk and his friends struggled through the entire labyrinthine nightmare that is the plot of the webcomic Homestuck to reach their happy ending, and almost as soon as they got there, nearly the entire community of readers that shared the journey with them abandoned them and moved on.

One world burned up in fire (Beta Earth). One world silenced by psychic death scream (Alternia). One world drowned and boiled under water (Alpha Earth). And now? A fourth world, Earth C, doomed to death by simply being forgotten, extinguished in its cradle because it wasn’t loved enough. Gone not with a bang, but with a whisper.

That is the nature of Homestuck’s fourth and (so far) final apocalypse.

And striving against that fate, watching all of their friends and loved ones succumb to the dark like a beloved horse…we have Rose Lalonde and Dirk Strider. Our platonic (in the literal sense) Adam and Eve at the end of the world. So what else is there for them to do, except to bite the apple?

To Ascend, though it is terrible.

THE LION EATING THE SUN — THE FLAME OF SCORPIO

The only way to fight against Darkness is to Light it with a torch, and the ultimate torch is the Sun. Yaldabaoth, the denizen with the symbol of Light placed upon its head, is also the denizen shared by Caliborn and Dirk. Mythologically, Yaldabaoth is a satanic Demiurge or creator God, analogous to the God of Biblical scripture but either flawed or evil, depending on who’s talking about him.

Caliborn, who goes on to dominate the plot of Homestuck to the point of being responsible for the existence of the Alpha Timeline, and thus the plot of Homestuck itself, is decidedly the evil variety of Demiurge, ruling over the rest of the cast of Homestuck through brutality and death and reveling in every drop of the blood he spills.

And let’s make no mistake: Dirk, already consumed by the process of ascending to Ultimate Self, carries with him the risk of advancing and carrying on Caliborn’s legacy.

Lord English, Doc Scratch, the Soul-infested version of Lil Cal — all three of these entities carry Dirk’s Soul inside them, and so they can potentially count as splinters. And all three excel at manipulating and controlling unaware parties into carrying out their goals, such as Lil Cal corrupting Bro’s training of Dave, or Doc Scratch exploiting and weaponizing Vriska.

In the roiling oceans of Dirk’s ultimate self, how can we really tell who is the puppet and who is the puppeteer? We can’t. But we can tell that so far, Ultimate Dirk doesn’t exactly operate the way Caliborn did. Like the Demiurge in Timaeus’ Testimony, he insists on at least a veneer of nobility, even if he’s flawed or imperfect at it, claiming he’s only doing what needs to be done. And notably, Dirk doesn’t physically hurt a single person throughout the Epilogues.

It’s under this logic that he chooses to take on the role of antagonist, deliberately raising the stakes of his reality high enough to kick the story of Homestuck back into motion. He does this while actively knowing he’s signing up to be executed, preferably by Dave in his opinion, but certainly by someone else otherwise — Kanaya being another likely contender.

Either way, it makes the entire antagonistic enterprise one long suicide attempt on his part. Dirk may not have given up on Homestuck’s future, but in deciding to be willing to fight for it, he has given up on his own life.

It is, in essence if not intentionally, the bargain of the Flame Of Scorpio.

“The Scorpion killed other bugs and ate them. Then one day, the weasel found him. The scorpion fled, and fell into a deep well. He thought to himself: ‘How long have I eaten other creatures? And yet, the one time that I was the prey, I fled in utter terror. And look what came of that. I’ll die in this well, alone. I could have given the weasel another day of life with my sacrifice. But now my death will help no one. I’m useless. Dear Lord, I beg of you, look into my Heart and hear my prayer. In my next life, don’t let me waste myself. Let me use my body for the true happiness of everyone in the world. And then the scorpion burst into flame. A brilliant crimson glow. And by the light of his burning body, he lit up the night forever.’

— Night on the Galactic Railroad

It’s a covenant with God, a kind of magic whereby a scorpion — an entity that hurts and consumes by its nature, a Natural Antagonist, if you will — sacrifices itself to light up the night sky. A sacrifice that is depicted in 2011’s Mawaru Penguindrum’s homage to Night on the Galactic Railroad beautifully succintly with the act of…

Tearing one's heart out.

You sent me FIRE. FIRE, I’ll tear my throat out. Burn my blackened lips. You gave me FIRE!

Fire, I’ll tear my Heart out. I’d rather tear my Heart out... But I can’t stay here! --The Leaving, Homestuck Beyond Canon

If this seems familiar conceptually, it might be because it's a very similar logic to the one adopted by Vriska Serket in the original Homestuck comic, who adamantly believed that since she’s taken so many lives, she can only justify her existence by Rising Up and defeating Lord English for the benefit of everyone in Homestuck.

Vriska throws herself into the role of Hero/Protagonist, while Dirk throws himself into the role of Villain/Antagonist, but they do so with the same kind of fanatic quasi-religious zeal: That by embracing their own sharper features and committing to sacrificing for the greater good, they can make things better for everybody else.

And so Dirk commits his biggest and most obvious gesture of antagonism: He kidnaps Rose Lalonde, taking her with him on his journey to start a new session. In the process he moves her soul into a (frankly sickass) robot that he claims can withstand the infinite processing power necessary to hold her Ultimate Self, which her physical body can’t sustain.

While whether or not that’s true remains to be seen, this move has been deemed highly unpopular by the fandom, to say the least. Yet there’s a logic to why he had to do it. If Dirk had said fuck it, taken his ball and fucked off the planet on his own, what would’ve happened?

His friends and the fandom would’ve collectively gone “Weird move, but go off I guess?” and collectively moved on without a second thought. Dirk simply doesn’t carry the emotional weight to carry an entire narrative with the question of whether or not he gets a happy ending. He just has the sort of personality that inclines us to go “Probably not, but oh well. Sort of the dude’s own fault anyway.”

But Rose? Everybody loves Rose. Everybody fucking loves Rosemary! There’s nothing the Homestuck fandom wants more in the world than for those two girls to be happy together. If Rose isn’t okay, we’re not okay, and that’s exactly what Dirk needs: Something to be so wrong in the world that we can’t help but keep watching, in the hopes that eventually, someday, it will be set right again.

Rose is the very Sun Dirk has stolen in the process of making a Narrator-Demiurge of himself. She is the guiding Star that leads to the future, the very Light of Homestuck.

And look, Dirk gets a lot of flack for the whole Rose-snatching thing, but let’s put something into perspective here. In the epilogues, Rose is dying, or suffering so much she may as well be dying. Dirk may or may not be exploiting or undermining Rose’s agency, but his Rosebot innovation for her does end her immediate excruciating pain.

Ultimately, Rosebot agrees with Dirk about taking this course of action, deliberately thanking him for taking her with him and expressing her own feelings on the importance of their cause before Dirk succumbs to his temptation to eke out a hollow victory over his loneliness by using his narrative powers to encourage her eagerness.

While there are secrets being kept and the power dynamic is unbalanced, Dirk and Rose are not abuser and victim in this venture — they are co-conspirators. Remember that Rose, too, has a role to play.

If Dirk is the dragon, the damnable villain, then she is the princess in the tower, the damsel in distress. It’s in both of their mutual interests for her to play to an attitude of relative innocence and ignorance for the audience’s benefit.

The better to keep us watching.

[celebrimbor-apologist]

Liveblog of 2x08

Spoilerssss

Not ready. 

Not today, Recap 

Oh no, we are starting with Durin. 

DISA IS ALIVE 

KISS KISS KISS Oh I love them I will not survive this episode. 

….hi Balrog. 

Oh Durin oh love. No, this is not about strength. Please King Durin. But it won’t work because… I just don’t think it will.

Durin please, do not give in. Please. 

…hi Balrog properly. 

Oh well 

DURIN???? DURIN YOU OKAY???? 

Okay he alive 

YES TAKE IT OOOOF

Oh he is dad again, he leaves the ring and is- 

"Forgive me my son. King Durin"

Oh my HEART. 

DISA

Oh FUCK

Durin and Elrond recovering side by side manifesting NOW 

Yes I am watching the intro sequence because I need the comfort of it. 

Okay hello Rhûn

Hello stranger. 

MANWE????? MANWE PROMISED?? I DON'T THINK SO?????

“Old Friend” will forever sound homoerotic, X-men did that.

“My people were once kings” Whelp. Sauron's gonna make you kings again, babes, don't worry

I am so weary of this Dark Wizard.

“Pity will not defeat Sauron” Hahaha, Samwise disagrees, though I’d call it Compassion but that might just be 3000 years of language change in action

OH YOU BITCH 

Oh Stranger you beautiful son of a-

OH THE TREE OH THE TREE 

Númenor <3 

BEWITCH THE SEA???

OH YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE I AM TAKING YOUR FUCKING KNEECAPS 

Oh Númenor you are so fucked 

Elendil? Elendil where are you? 

The tears of the Valar themselves. Jup. 

Oh come on Elendil. 

Eärien, you have won back my love. 

No Míriel he really don’t wanna leave you, and I support him

Elendil. Oh Elendil and Mírel I love you both so much. 

NARSIL 

WHAT WHAT WHATAHEHJJCÄPJefpojdfknvkehräp

RECLAIM YOUR LORDSHIP

NARSIL 

Aaaaaand back to Eregion 

Okay Eregion Elf Archer you will not be forgotten 

Galadriel 

I WILL GIVE YOU NINE 

GALADRIEL 

NO 

Oh no

No 

No… No please, please…

“Look what you have done to yourself” I will personally end you. I will- I don’t even know what is really horrible to do?? I WILL- 

And he still resists. 

Defiant beloved Tyelpe

“Hear the dying words of Celebrimbor”

“The rings of power shall destroy you” THEY WILLLLLLL 

The haunting theme 

TYELPE 

Oh my dearest love 

TYELPERINQUAR 

Tyelpe 

Tyelpe died in his forge 

Tyelpeeeeee I’m not kidding, I am actually sobbing. Violently. Had to pause

THE MUSIC 

THE FUCKING TEAR OH ANNATAR I WILL FEED YOU TO THE DUCKS

“I have many names” Yeah, idiot, same, I'm trans too, but I’m not a fucking bastard asshole dickhead... I don't like insulting people so I'm out of insults.

Oh hi Isildur great, it’s about Estrid, means I can chill for a second 

I mean, at least we didn’t see the torture happen. But you know what?! I can fix this. I don’t fucking care anymore, fix it number seven if I need to but I am NOT LETTING TYELPE GO OKAY. Five stages of grief? NO, I am not moving past Denial. Deal with it.

Oh Theo hug nice.

Hi Estrid 

Well she is honest I can appreciate that

KEMEN FUCK OFFFFFFFFFFFF DIEEEEEEEE

Horse more useful than Kemen confirmed

Everyone wanting to punch Kemen as much as I do huh?

Galadriel if you give him the Nine I will end you

OH NO HE IS WEARING HER RING

OH YOU CLEAN UP NICELY

NAME??? GIVE US THE FUCKING NAME PLEASE

He gives it back??? ADAR REDEMPTION??? I STAN I LOVE I LOVE I LOVE 

"No more flames and no more darkness" Yes pls

Please I NEED his name now. 

Oh… Oh that’s Glûg… 

Oh I KNEW IT. 

They Sauron’d him. But hey, Adar looks less like a loser than Sauron in his Straight Era so.

Galadriel-

Oh hi Annatar 

OH THERE IT IS 

THE R 

THE R IN GALADRIEL I FUCKING LOVE THIS, Galadrriellllllll

OH NO. NOT THE FUCKING PARALLEL 

“Bring me their leaders” 

I still need Adar’s old name. This is such a Darkling moment. I neeed. (I caps-locked too much, my goddamn shift key is broken)

Yes fight him 

Never make war in anger Galadriel 

OH NO 

Gil and Elrond 

Ereinion <3 

Oh Elrond 

Ereinion is mad <3 

HOLY SHIT VIOLENT ELROND????? FOR EREINION???? YES PLEASE????

ARONDIR 

GIL WITH A KNIFE TO HIS THROAT 

I AM NOT OKAY

This is still not as bad as last episode hahaha.....

The way I fucking Screamed when she dropkicked him 

OH NO OH NO IT’S HOT SAURON (hysteric giggling)

Okay but Halbrand never looked so baby as Sauron does now sorry, loser man (derogatory) , si

Oh well but Sauron does not SOUND like her, similar but not the same, Morfyd Clark your SKILL 

“I know your mind” Oh go fuck yourself 

YESSSS GIRL GET ITTTTTTTTT “THE DOOR IS SHUT” FUCK HIM UPPPPPP 

YES HE HAS BEEN CUT THE-

Galadriel no 

Nononono

No, you have your ring you must be okay you must be okay you have plot armour 

I love how today Sauron gets told off by all of his exes <3 Celebrimbor, Adar, Galadriel <3 <3

Fuck he has the Nine

Horns?? "DWARVES" Ereinion stop looking so annoyed they are here to help, Gil-galad, king of standing in places prettily and autism you are the love of my life.

GIL BATTLE BRAID GIL BATTLE BRAIIIIID EREINION GIL-GALAD BATTLE BRAID OH I LOVE HIM. NO LONGER PRETTY STANDING IN PLACES BUT PRETTILY FUCKING SHIT UUUUUUUUP 

(Someone please hug Elrond by the way)

Oh Annatar you can’t take the ring can you? She has to give it up. Oh I love it because this is not his ring - he had no part in it. 

FUCK 

NO GALADRIEL REMEMBER CELEBRIMBOR DON’Ttttt

“You wish to heal middle earth? Heal yourself” That is the BEST way anyone has ever been told to get therapy ngl

Arondir and Gil? 

Ring Time 

GIL IN ACTION 

Oh I love him, oh Ereinion my love. 

But the ring can

“I can” 

Oh Elrond. Oh my love. He hates this, but he loves her more. 

Oh Poppy

And the forge falls

Oh Elrond

Míriel 

Elendil 

OH YOU FUCKING DICKHEAD FEANOR’S HAMMER REALLY

I HOPE TYELPE HAUNTS YOU INTO THE FIRES OF MOUNT DOOM

Well. Gandalf it is. 

They say goodbye now, huh? 

Ah there is his stick huh

Hi Tom

Old Tom Bombadil <3

“Valley north of here” Good. Good that is Imladris 

Oh Ereinion. OH EREINION.

Oh Elrond.

Oh he smile <3 I needed this 

Remember the council of Celebrim-

VOROHIL VOROHIL VOROHILListen that end scene????? I AM FINE HOLY FUCK I AM FINEEEEEEEEE

[highladyluck]

Season 2, Episode 4 Liveblog

Teaser:

Selene is so sanguine about her entire livelihood going up in smoke! It’s almost like this has happened before

Werewolf Perrin rumors have been crushed!

The problem with the Forsaken Ski Chalet is that there’s a Myrdraal infestation in the basement

It is a personal insult that the subtitles just say [chanting] when Ishy is clearly dialing up Lanfear (also if anyone can overwrite the audio for this scene with the dial-up modem sound I want to see the clip)

DARK PROPHECY IS A GO

Awww she’s an amateur artist

Dollars to donuts that ‘older sister’ is an Aes Sedai

It has to be so painful coming back home

Selene is so sanguine about her entire livelihood going up in smoke! It’s almost like this has happened before

How long, Selene? Exactly how long has it been?

I’m gonna need fanart/fanfic of the Forsaken Ski Chalet up near Kinslayer’s Dagger

Awwwwwwwwwww

The Accepted sleeves look AWESOME I know I keep saying that but it’s true! They’re little embroidered ombre flames

Alanna is like ‘I don’t do therapy, I only do sex advice’

Hmmmmm, that doesn’t sound like stilling aftermath, another point in favor of ‘shielded’

It’s good that they are namedropping Cads this early; she came out of nowhere in the books.

DARK, Alanna. Also I bet I know what that change in Moiraine was; the timeframe is right for it to be when Gitara died & she got her quest.

Moiraine is on the case!

Ooooooooooooh this is going to be FUN

DAMN so that’s why she wanted that specific red wine. This feels very on par with the books- Moiraine a step behind but trying desperately to stay in the loop and get Rand what she thinks he needs

Moiraine, damn

Yeah, no point letting him destroy himself until all value has been extracted from him :/

Elayne like ‘she’s been promoted’ lmao she would think it was just that

Oh Egwene, you have not even begun to feel like shit

Ooooh someone gave Liandrin her marching orders

FORESHADOWING

Awww it’s Hopper! Hi Hopper

Werewolf Perrin rumors have been crushed! It’s ok he is a werewolf in my heart, the way Rand is a ghost in my heart and Mat is a vampire in my heart. And by ‘in my heart’ I mean ‘in the subtext’

Huh, interesting thing with the visions

Perrin like ‘excuse me, why did I not get an instruction manual and personal tutoring, this is a shitty apprenticeship so far’

None of the Tower’s fucking business honestly (this is also why info about the Power doesn’t get shared but whatever)

Lmao Selene you lie about more than that

Her face when Rand says ‘you’d be surprised’ lmao, that’s a Lanfear Face (TM)

Oh honey you haven’t even broken the world yet

“[dice rattling]” IT’S MY BOY!!!

Is Min gonna have Mat kidnapped by the Seanchan and taken to Falme? I am INTRIGUED

I’m glad the show explores the rift in families created by the long lives of Aes Sedai

Liandrin says ‘Rescue mission! You love a rescue mission!’

Alanna does not like Dark Prophecies written in blood, I guess?

Ooooh there’s that Damodred spirit (political maneuvering)

“This is my room.” - Elayne

“didn’t ask, don’t care” - Nyneave

Egwene no no no you already have enough trauma you don’t need to go to Falme

Uh oh, always a bad sign when Ishy shows up in your dreams (I love that the non-ta’veren are getting Ishy dreams!) also at this point it should be obv to everyone that Liandrin is bad news bears, even if you missed the lying

Oooooh interesting, what IS In Cairhein?

The problem with the Forsaken Ski Chalet is that there’s a Myrdraal infestation in the basement

Lmao like she didn’t know

Selene doesn’t know anything about being seen as a monster, nope

Oh ok that bit about her soul is great

Rand is vanilla

What the hell

Wow that is the most awkward thing I can imagine happening between Rand and Moiraine, you’re gonna give him a complex about… killing… women… I see

I cannot wait to see Lanfear do some horror movie shit

YEAH

AVI NEXT EP!!!

[thelreads]

Did I somehow miss it or have you not reacted to the new sxf yet?

The liveblog is currently on hold because my computer went up into flames (a cable shortcircuited) and I have to pay a heavy price to have him revived by the dark arts (also I'm waiting for it to be done getting fixed)

[bmblboop]

RWBY X Justice League... TWO!

Gonna do another liveblog while killing some time. Here goes!

-cut for length-

UHD is 480p? This movie has been out for two weeks and it's not 1080? I thought the first one was only that way bc I got it day-of!

Ugh, I wont get mad over it. The YT edition gave me trouble the last time too - let's just see how it goes.

Recap! Took me a minute to realize this is the Weiss vs Bruce music from the first movie - which is definitely the closest we've gotten to classic RWBY music.

"'Grimm' as in, "The Brothers"?" For half a second I thought she was referring to the Gods of Light and Dark but no as in the authors 'Brothers Grimm' because the DC universe is supposed to be Earth and fairytales are just fairytales here. Are they gonna lean more into the allusion aspect of RWBY et. al now that we have a world where Red Riding Hood and the others are just stories?

Jurassic Park moment with the Pterrorsaur. Except this time they can literally smell fear.

Epic Ruby moment vs the Taijitu (first time in Maya), love how creative the fights are.

Grimm on Earth turn to gunk? Hopefully it's just goo and not regeneration-goo (like the Wyvern 'Blood' in v3).

Ooh, when the Kilg%re/Goliath gets punched the cracks are yellow. Color scheme: red, white, black, yellow.

When I saw the flash of purple tailing Batman I thought TYRIAN!? Nope, it's just a Scorpion with a modified tail... suspiciously like Tyrian's. Guess Watts is involved after all.

Saw this preview clip, but ow. Weiss is still hurting from losing Atlas, and I honestly don't blame her. That was her home, and it's straight up gone. Glad to see this carry through from v9, as well as Ruby's post-renewal mindset.

Voice changer to keep the mystery voice a mystery.

Mmm Flash angst. Reminds me of v9 Jaune. Blond boys get no sleep.

Had to pause on Weiss' contacts screen and I love that shes got all her teammates, all her family, and Maria just, lurking. Lol

Clearly Maria has her own scroll but I do have to wonder how good she is at tech things given she has such a close-cropped image. Or maybe she doesn't give a shit XD.

Love love love that conversation with Klein, I love that this is the direction of Weiss' character arc and I love that daddy issues whammy of 'He abandoned Atlas long before it fell.' 'Do you mean Atlas, or your family?'

Time dilation double pun. The 'when you are needed most' line at the end of v9 and Weiss being the one saying 'we have experience with that' considering one of her glyphs is Time Dilation.

Blake breaking down the door feat. Yang's flirty wink.

XD Ruby entering the portal in style

We finally got a 'not in Kansas anymore' referenceeeee.

Oh, split up along Weiss/Blake and Yang/Ruby this time, glad to see it! Time for sisterly conflict.

Heh. Joker and Harley watching the city burn.

Oh now I see why Blake went to Gotham. Cat. Bat. "This is where he's from. I get it now."

The way Ruby just knew that she'd still be able to move like she did on Remnant. My girl. (Was worried for a sec she was gonna try to Silver Eyes it and that would fail)

"You learn not to question Flash's villain roster." That got a laugh out of me and I don't even know about Flash's lore.

Something about Weiss mentioning "Mr Freeze" while dressed as an Ice Princess is funny to me.

The particles on Blake and Jessica's fist bump :D

Aw man, it IS regeneration goop!

I guess 'consciousness is stored' is how we can get Watts in a post-v9 crossover. Technomagic stuff.

Weiss proving she's the queen.

Hope Cyborg isn't corrupted.

Love this Cobra/Dragonfly grimm. Clip it's wings!

'We need more firepower.' Enter Yang with an epic save.

Hold on, are Yang's flame punches the color of the lesbian flag?

Are we gonna a get a 'speedsters need to slow down' moral here? With Flash also rushing into danger and nearly getting killed?

Anyway, planning session time.

The truth revealed.

Honestly, 'no body no death' kinda applies here like we KNOW that Watts died either burning to death via Cinder's wish or when Atlas fell but he was surrounded by computers at the time as well. It could have literally been the last thing he ever did. (Or he did it during v7 since he already wormed his way into the Atlas network via Jacques).

Via Jacques. Man. Watts really is Weiss's personal villain.

The whole 'transferring consciousness' thing also reeks of the Aura Transfer machines used on the Maidens, but I always assumed that was Pietro's invention so he could give life to Penny. Maybe Watts stole or twisted the concept for his own use.

Yang seeing the Ruby in Flash mmmmm. The way he looks at her arm and asks 'what happened?' and Yang explains how she felt ooooooooo. Flash explaining that Kilgore is no longer in his brain but he hears and sees him all the time.

Blonde PTSD buddies WOOOO-

Meanwhile Ruby and Clark orphan bonding. Not entirely sure how Ruby will take the 'I make my parents proud for fighting for the things they died for'

Also given that some of Summer's first "lines" in the show was Red Like Roses Part 2 "baby please don't do what I did/I don't want you to waste your life in vain"

And on that somber note -break time!

[neechees]

i'm bothering you so much i'm sorry, but you've inspired me to consider reading a book i think will be a shit show. it's historical fiction (my fav) but its a romance between a white settler and a native man who is described as being 'half white and half Shawnee, who belongs in neither world' and i just. I think the author is white but I haven't checked. I may burst into flames,

On the subject of books that don't eat shit, Calling For A Blanket Dance by Oskar Hokeah (Cherokee and Kiowa and Mexican) is amazing if you haven't read it. Where the Dead Sit Talking is good, but kinda dark as well.

ohhhh noooo that already sounds bad 😩 I'll be tuning in for any reviews or liveblogging if you so choose to read it, cause like solidarity in suffering and stuff lol. Godspeed

Thank you for the recs! I could try check them out :)

[fantimati]

TMA LIVEBLOG

On: #109

Ok in terms of monsters (gods?) I'm thinking of. ⭐ Means they are confirmed where I'm at:

Earth. ( caves, dirt, being buried)

Insects (spiders, worms,maggots. Spiders might be separate though)

⭐The stranger (impersonation??? Idk man)

Space*

⭐The hunt (hunting, vampires, predators. Superhuman)

⭐The spiral (insanity, doors, vague existence)

⭐Flame (destruction, fire)

Sky*

Disease (yellow, sick)

⭐The watcher (knowledge, feeling watched. The tapes recorders? Might be connected to the eye cult?)

Flesh (anything to do with meat)

⭐The dark ( darkness acting like light. "True darkness")

⭐(?) Storm(?)

⭐Desolation? Idr where I heard this one. I might've been spoiled.

*the Sky and Space statements both have a connection to that old Lucas guy so they might be the same thing. And also the ocean one. All 3 have people being stuck in an endless space without up or down. I'm not sure what to call it for now though.

Death and /or war (war, immortality, being alive when you shouldn't, death)

Violence? Not sure if it'd be part of war or not.

Not sure if the storm with the lichtenburg guy is its own thing or connected with other gods (?).

Not sure where they belong: Those John and Jane doe students in the anatomy class, Breakon and Hope (probably neutral) , the coffin, the box , the circus (but I've probably not been paying attention for that one.), the Russian guy that wanted to be in a computer.

[sweetsmalldog]

Castlevania: Nocturne Episode 6 liveblog

While the episode is loading I read the synopsis and hope Sypha or Trevor get mentioned if not by name by Sypha being how the Belmonts got Speaker Magic

Oooh moon

DROLTA!!!!

This is my favorite Drolta outfit now I love the blood red coat with the white pants

Idk what the horses are doing

Oh is that the Messiah?

Drolta’s hair looks so good

She’s got daddy issues for the fucking sun

Oh this poor lady

The shot of the snow white skirt spread around them while she drinks that poor woman’s blood is absolute cinema

“Please call me anything but grandad” This man has given me Trevor vibes if Trevor was old the whole time maybe it’s just a Belmont thing

Ritcher deserves these answers actually yeah why was his mom sending him to Tera and not you old man?!?!

I take back what I said about him having Trevor vibes Trevor was funny even when he was depressed at least

A deal?!?!?!

So you’re a stalker old man

It is a bit creepy

Tera has a lot to tell both these kids

What is it with the Belmont family always been alone and when they have family not being one

How many “Last of the Belmonts” has their been at this point?

I feel so bad for Maria and Ritcher. Tera is all they had and now they find out she’s been keeping this kinda of stuff from them, straight up lying to Maria about her dad and agreeing to never let Ritcher know his grandfather was alive and around

YOU OWE HIM SOME FUCKING BIRTHDAY PRESENTS YOU ASS

Ritcher my boy I’m adopting you too actually all your guardians keep hiding important shit, You and Maria are my kids now. Tera can visit but you don’t half to see her if you don’t want to

“Your a Belmont your not supposed to hide in a hut. And you’re not supposed to kill vampires for money” FUCKIN TELL HIM RITCHER

SYPHA MENTION LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOO

“And she left you out” that’s so cold I love it

“I was the best magician the Belmont line ever produced” yeah and Sypha would be so disappointed in you now

Oooh this is why Ritcher can’t do magic either shit

“Evil will always win, Ritcher” ONLY WITH THAT FUCKING ATTITUDE

I hope Ritcher figures out how to use his magic again, I hope he proves his grandfather fucking wrong

Please don’t give into this Ritcher please

My son nooooooo

He looks far to fucking happy about Ritcher sobbing I fucking hate this guy actually

Ooooh Annette’s doing magic!!!!

Ritcher isn’t useless he’s just traumatized

“It’s the source of your fury but it’s not the source of your power” that’s such a good line holy shit

I love this contrast between Ritcher’s grandfather tearing Ritcher and the idea of the Belmont’s down with Annette’s mentor builds her up, speaks of her ancestors well and their strength and how hope isn’t lost

“There is light in this darkness”

Edouard voice coming in ;-;

Hi Olrox!

Why do they keep killing all the gay people?

It’s a bit soon to talk about immortality together Mizrak

“I’m not in love with you” damn ok

YOOO THEY REMEMBER!!!! ISACC WAS ALWAYS RIGHT HE KNEW HE KNEW!!!!

NIGHT CREATURE REBELLION LETS GO PLEASE

Maria my daughter he sucks he isn’t worth your time

I fucking hate the Abbot so fucking much

MARIA RUN GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN PLEASE

Olrox ripping this entire facade down I knew there was a reason I liked you

Hiiiiii Drolta <3

Please don’t hurt my daughter Drolta

NIGHT CREATURE REBELLION!!!!

OH FUCK OFF OLD MAN LIKE YOU CARE

Oh Ritcher-

Yeah you were a terrible father you fuck

DID HE JUST LEAVE HIS GRANDSON TO DIE?!?!?!

OH FUCK ITS THE GUY DROLTA WAS HANGING OUT WITH

IS HIS AXE A GUN?!?!?! THATS SICK

The old man is actually just pathetic ok

The flash of Julia fuuuuuuuck

Why don’t the vampires ever try to turn any of the Belmonts?

If Maria dies I will be distraut

HIS MAGIC IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!! LETS GO RITCHER!!!!!!!!

THIS IS SO SICK!!!! THE ONE GLOWING EYE THE MUSIC CINEMA!!!!!

THE BLUE FLAMES!!!!!!

LETS FUCKING GO RITCHER LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I may have a new favorite Belmont… sorry Trevor

“I half to live”

The sun rising and the burning river and the headband flowing in the wind I fucking love Castlevania this is so damn pretty

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

Alright, I took a quick nap and Ive decided that I wanna get the UTM reenactment over with as quickly as possible so Im reading chapter 42 and then I'll reward myself with some pain au chocolats and not thinking about this book for the rest of the day and watching the 2002 takarazuka flower troupe production of elisabeth instead. lets go

Chapter 42

here we fucking go with the illyrian wingspan-dicksize correlation, how would Amren even know that isnt she above sex or something. Honestly, I think Cassian would know wayyyyy more about that. on account of all the gay sex hes having i mean. I thought of that joke and then I realized that you could interpret it to mean that he knows about that because hes illyrian and has a dick, but I want to make it very clear that this is a gay sex joke

how come wings are so sensitive that just barely stroking them makes you moan and shudder but you can still fly with them in harsh winds with no issue. My headcanon is that wings arent actually that sensitive, Rhysand and Cassian are just weirdos with a specific kink

This conversation Feyre and Rhys are having about his wings is so weird, its like dirty and yet uncomfortably clinical

oh Rhysand is quicker than death just fucking kill me, im getting so angry again

Syphons are called 'Trichtersteine' ['funnel stones' or 'funnel gems'] in german which is more accurate to how we're actually told they work imo but it sounds pretty lame

Is it just me or is Rhysand being kinda weirdly paranoid rn. I mean granted, they did just get attacked with ash arrows so maybe hes actually doing a good job for once and Im just biased against him

Okay so we finally get some night court fae wearing white, but of course its not for moon symbolism its so they can blend in with the rock of the mountain because this series does nothing but disappoint me

The Hewn City actually sounds really cool, why couldnt this have been the secret city where we spend most of our time, you couldve made it a whole thing about Feyre healing from her trauma UTM through like, exposure therapy or something idk. That wouldve been neat and dramatic, her healing from her UTM trauma in the place that inspired it with the person that inflicted it. I mean, maybe that would be less healthy and even more controversial than Feysand already is but then you could atleast lean into the dark romance of it

I mightve said this already but you knowwww sjm is NOT a painter and consulted ZERO painters because Ive never heard of anyone think about creating art the way feyre does

and Mor is wearing red AGAIN why would you make this a trigger for Feyre just go back and edit it out its not like it matters

God, the description of her outfit is so deeply discomfortingl like it literally is exactly what she wore while she was being drugged assaulted but atleast they left the bodypaint out this time

"[Keir] looked at my face, then my body. I had thought that he would stare and drool greedily but... there was nothing. No emotion. Just ice cold. Shaking internally, - from anger and revulsion - I followed Mor." Im sorry, is she mad that Keir doesnt find her hot????

Theres something uncomfortable about Feyre referring to Rhysand as 'Mor's Lord' especially when we just had a whole paragraph describing her as a proud and empowered queen

"Usually, one Syphon was enough for an Illyrian to to able to steer his urge to kill down the right path." what???

Now shes describing Azriel as dark and beautiful as death and oughhhhhh i knoww im the only who cares about this and its for a pretty stupid reason but I care a lot and it makes me very angry

Feyre referring to a 19 year old Mor as 'barely more than a child' is weirdddddd

of COURSE hes wearing a black tunic for this, I cant believe this is the guy that the fandom has designated the fashion lover when he has two (2) outfits

Feyre describing Rhysand as sooooo powerful and beautiful with a face of nightmares and dreams makes me want to vomit, but more importantly, it makes me yearn to rewatch the 1996 takarazuka star troupe production of Elisabeth with Asaji Saki as Death who unirionically fits all of Feyres descriptors 1000 times better

Not Rhysand using Feyres Cursebreaker title while hes thoroughly humiliating her

Now Feyre is calling him a god, bro youre not gonna be able to have sex if you jack him off this hard hes gonna be all sore

Imagine being a hewn city noble and you all get together because your high lord wants something from you and youre kinda scared because hes the worst, and then you just have to watch him finger some random lady. and you cant leave because then he'll just kill you

I dont like that this is framed as empowering to Feyre, i think its one thing to write a female character who sexualises herself in order to empower herself but the fact that Feyre is doing this at the behest of Rhys automatically renders it non-empowering to me. Like yeah, she obviously consented to this but it wasnt her idea but this was not her idea and this is not something she usually does, the only times shes been sexualized like this is because it was part of some plan that Rhysand came up with

"[Keir] apparently clung to the power. But Rhys was the power." i hate that that sentence made me think of Keir/Rhysand as a ship why am I so goddamn yaoi-brained. And yeah, i know theyre related but according to Rhys himself, he and Mor are only cousins in the most distant sense, so. Man, that would make the IC dynamics so much more fucked up but also so much funnier

Theyre trying so hard to make this hot n sexy but its just so unappealing and dragged out. Granted, sorry if this is TMI, but I did just jerk off so Im all out of horniness for the next little while so maybe I just dont like this because Im not in the mood but idk. theres something so annoying about this, i think its how over-the-top and artificial Rhysands hotness feels, not to mention the fact that he is absolutely not my type

Imagine being Keir rn, just trying to do your job and tell your high lord everything that he needs to know, meanwhile his high lord is sitting in front of him fondling his new sex slave and you just have to keep a straight face. i mean, he sucks ass so i guess he deserves it but man

Presented to you with no further comment: "My breasts became heavy and full, longing, desiring, just like my crotch."

goddamnit, Rhysand just said that he put Feyre on his leash and then Keir made a kinda slutshame-y remark about her clothes and then I thought Rhys was like "maybe I'll put you on a leash too" but it was Feyre who said that. another loss for big gay incest

"He liked this as little as I did" uhhhhh no offense girlie but you actually seem to be having a pretty great time rn

I dont even know what to say about this part where Feyre is like, detaching herself from her thoughts that are calling her a traitor a liar and a whore ?? I think thats whats happening here?? Like, its trying so hard to be sexy but its invoking the imagery of Feyre's (and even Rhysand's) trauma and its just very strange

It took Rhys a fucking eternity to actually touch her pussy

What if Keir developed a voyerism kink because of this. would that be fucked up or what

Its so weird how Feyre thinks about how maybe Rhysand doesnt like sex or being desirable anymore because of amarantha and that certainly sounds like a trauma response he should have but instead it just never matters

"I had been tortured and tormented but my pain was nothing compared to his." YOU DIED

Oh man I cant believe I completely forgot about the absolutely iconic part where Rhysand gets so mad Keir for calling the woman he introduced as a whore a whore that he telepathically breaks his hand about it

what was the point of doing that, Feyre didnt even seem to like it that much

[kyogre-blue]

White Clouds done for the first time. It took almost exactly 30 hours, whew.

I slowed down a bit toward the end because I started talking to every student in my class after Jeralt's death. They don't generally have much interesting to say, but I've hit the majority of available B ranks, so they've grown on me.

So, first, about this specific section. The escalation pace felt a bit fast though not necessarily in a bad way. It's just that the rest of the year had drip fed relevant info at such a comparatively slow rate that the last few month felt kinda crazy. Crazy villagers! Students turning into monsters! Jeralt dies! Byleth almost dies and merges with Sothis! Edelgard is the Flame Emperor and invading now! Bam, timeskip.

I think there is something to be said about this kind of pre-war period to help build up the characters and relationships before we get to the juicy part, but 30 hours of doing what I'd consider a fairly average amount of stuff is kind of a lot to hit what would be the inciting incident of older FE games. The calendar did not help with the pacing issues for sure.

Aside from that, I think we've gotten all the Byleth-related lore we're gonna get for a good while, and I spent a fair amount of time trying to ponder out what Rhea thinks is going on and what she wants to happen to Byleth. She talks about Byleth regaining their lost memories, which makes it seem like she considers them to be amnesiac Sothis, but she also refers to them as a vessel that will become one with the power within them, thus resurrecting Sothis...? It's really unclear what she thinks of the current Byleth, what she thinks will happen concretely, and how this would affect Byleth as an individual.

However, all this discussion only takes place AFTER Solon, so Sothis and Byleth have already merged. Byleth not only came out on top (albeit presumably based on Sothis's decision that it be so), but the first thing post timeskip text scroll is Sothis talking to you again, so it seems like the merger aspect might not even be the end of the subsumed personality.

The main point being, Byleth is not really in danger from anything except Rhea potentially reacting badly if we reveal that Sothis is gone. And since her actual aims are so unclear, it's hard to feel any particular concern or unease at that point. As a budding Rhea apologist, I wish we could had had more elaboration on this storyline.

As for White Clouds as a whole...

The pacing really is a mess. And while playing through once can be considered a reasonable experience, I do not enjoy the idea of doing it every single branch, especially with how little variation there seems to be. Up until Remire or so, what would even be different except the supports? And since you can recruit anyway.... Not great, to put it mildly.

It's unfortunate, because I think the calendar and monastery base could be have provided very good worldbuilding and immersion, but they just did not have enough put into them, whether because the developers did not understand how to use them, did not focus on this aspect enough, or did not have the time/budget to realize their vision. The calendar is very poorly laid out and too bare aside from repetitive grinding in the middle of the month, the explorable areas do not change according to seasons, making the calendar feel tacked on, etc. Just a lot of presentational shortcomings.

Liveblogging notes:

Kinda forgor what happened since Jeralt bit it because I took a few days break.

Well, regardless of the mission I forgot, I do recall Kronya got offed by her own ally, which was funny but kind of useless? I didn't really feel anything.

And then Solon had Byleth "swallowed by the mystical darkness of a forbidden spell." I guess if you can't deal with a problem (the protagonist), just yeet them into the void.

Lysithea shows no particular reaction to Solon, and neither does Flayn. I guess they're speaking generic lines here, which can go to practically any team member who is still alive to say them.

Everyone quite underreacts to the situation tbh. Claude's canned animations are very funny to see here.

Sothis speculates that Byleth was emotionless because of her. Presumably because she was still asleep until the start of the game, so Byleth, who is connected to her, was not entirely "awake" either?

It's kind of funny that Sothis calls herself a progenitor god but also the one who watches over Fodlan and all its creatures. But this world explicitly has more than just Fodlan. There's Almyra and other lands as well... Usually, the FE games are on separated continents specifically to avoid these questions.

The stuff Sothis says about needing to relinquish her power to you because she doesn't have a body... doesn't she directly possess Byleth in Hopes?

Sothis's soul with join with Byleth's, which I guess means Byleth does have their own soul.

The visuals somehow... feel so dated, it's weird.

Solon seems to not have realized that Byleth IS Sothis before this.

Seteth snuck a peak at Jeralt's diary too?? man, no privacy or respect for the dead. Interesting that Seteth has been so unsettled by Rhea's shenanigans that he's gone behind her back to investigate.

Rhea seems to think Sothis will revive through you for reals?

The monastery was built over the Holy Tomb, where Sothis sleeps... so they left her sleeping a ways from Zanado, where they lived, which is interesting.

This entire scene is hilarious if you know everyone's identities. Rhea is spouting pure nonsense about Seiros while being Seiros, and Seteth who knows all this and is in full doubt mode still has to go along with it.

Claude just directly eavesdrops on your meeting with Rhea? lmao

According to Cyril, Almyra is all plains and sky. Also has a city.

Ignatz just casually goes "let's go to Almyra after the war :D" Which is... Uh. Interesting that this doesn't present any travel concerns, but also what war

Imperial Army invades the Holy Tomb, wanting to take the Crest Stones there... But whose crest stones are they? I think dragons can traditionally create more than one dragonstone, but I'm not sure how crest stones function. I'm asking because it's unclear how many dragons there actually were. We have murals with the 10-something that have specific crests (who do not otherwise belong to any unified group, btw), but those crest stones would largely be accounted for, so were there other dragons too?

Also, not entirely sure what Rhea was expecting to happen. It doesn't seem like she directly expects you to get replaced by Sothis? My best guess is she expects Sothis to awaken (memories intact) and speak to you, but she doesn't know amnesia Sothis was already awake and is now gone...?

Suddenly, Edelgard

Edelgard's big invasion speech is hilariously propaganda. Ah yeah, Seteth and Rhea sure do want rule the world. Seteth is a grumpy but well meaning man, and Rhea has consistently cared about misuse of Relics/Crest Stones and Byleth and.... basically nothing else.

Also, this is not a subtle game. They want you to know Tomas is sus? Boy, they will make sure you know it. So Edelgard going "they divided the Kingdom and the Alliance from the Empire" "they live in extravagance by exploiting the masses"... NONE of this has ever been even slightly supported. There's nothing particularly extravagant about the monastery, and we have never even heard of people paying tithe. And while the Kingdom and Alliance history was mentioned somewhere, the Church was never brought up in association.

No one among the Deer students has anything to say about Edelgard's speech, just concern about this being a war. There's not even a hint that anyone thinks she's right lol

Seteth directly says that Edelgard is out to conquer the continent. His first thought after confirmation of the invasion is to have the surrounding villages evacuate.

OK, Rhea thinks Byleth's "lost memories" are beginning to return and that they've guessed "the truth of who they are." She says she has acted as "the proxy" for "Byleth." But to Seteth, she describes Byleth as a "vessel" and in time, the vessel will become one with the power within, at which point the progenitor god will return to this world. It's not entirely clear what she thinks of Byleth as an individual. She asks Seteth to "help our friend and in doing so, help her." So Byleth is a friend, but... they mention stuff like Flayn owing her life to Byleth and that Byleth may prove to be "their brethren"... Really hard to parse what they think is going to happen, specifically.

But since Sothis has already merged with Byleth and Byleth is obviously fine, there's not really anything to fear from this. It can't really read as ominous when the merging has already happened lol Edelgard supposedly spent the entire year gathering her forces at the monastery, speaking them in disguised as merchants and pilgrims.

Funny how all the Empire students are chilling at the monastery, telling us how their fathers and such are supporting Edelgard. Good thing we're too nice to take them hostage or something.

Sitri 1139 - 1159, Jeralt ?? - 1180. I guess we're in 1181 now...? Hang on, it's the 3rd month. Holy Tomb was 2nd month. Sothis merger would have been first month. So Jeralt death was 12th month of previous year, right?

It's cute how Claude says he'll always be on Byleth's side. Tbh I think the story would benefit from being able to highlight his ride or die side more. But since Byleth has very little direction in their own story, it ends up being more about Claude's ambitions.

Who the heck are Randolph and Ladislava

This music is very cool tho

The monastery walls are hella tall? Wow

I'm not sure what to make of this angle of Rhea leaving the monastery and the Church to Byleth.

Rhea just body slams the invading army.

The masked black beasts are creepy. Masks are a control mechanism, I suppose.

Byleth gets bodied by Thales lol. Where did this pit even come from

And that's that! The Unification of Fodlan has begun.

[thebibliomancer]

Flames of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 31-32 FINAL

Flames of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because the last two chapters are really short so I’m going to knock them out at once rather than have just one post next week!

Last times in book: The fires of resistance are lit, the Gelfling clans are united, Thra has provided a prophecy of Gelfling’s ultimate victory over the Skeksis, and the Skeksis have run away to hide in the Castle of the Crystal. In the aftermath of the battle, the Gelfling recover, pay respects to the dead, and make plans for the future. After Naia confirms that Amri is as interested in their romance subplot as she is, she heads off to find Kylan.

Chapter 31

Goodbyes.

The wall with the five figures was in the center of the ruins, out of sight from the campfires that flickered along the perimeter. The stench of the battle with the Skeksis had cooled, replaced by the indigo scent of the night and starlight. Naia followed the orange glow of a torch, finding Kylan kneeling at the base of the wall, clearing away vines and recording the figures on the wall in his book.

“Kylan. There you are!” She crouched beside him, nodding a second hello to the crystal spider on his shoulder, shining in the light of the clear sky. “And Tavra.”

“The etchings go on for what seems like forever,” Kylan said. He sighed and looked into the pages of his book. “I’m never going to be able to record them all. Especially not if we’re leaving in the morning. We may know the final outcome, but we can’t deny that hard times are yet to come. For all of us. The Skeksis may try to destroy the wall. The song of prophecy must be preserved. But...”

Apparently when Thra gets talking, its a chatty planet.

The iconic prophecy about what was sundered and undone? That’s a small, small part of the total amount of text that spontaneously burst into existence at the end of the battle.

I wonder what it all says.

Naia recognizes that Kylan is connected to all this prophecy somehow. And, I mean, he was the impetus. Showed up and tooted on his firca and gave Naia the idea of a plot resolving sing a long. Plus, his firca is a super magical one that resonates with the Crystal.

Given all that, Naia tells Kylan that he should just stay in Stone-in-the-Wood and study the lore as much as he needs to.

It’d be too dangerous for a full clan to stay here but a couple Gelflilng shouldn’t be a problem. Especially since Kylan is familiar with the area now.

Tavra offers to stay with him and volunteers Onica to stay as well. Although, to be fair, she mentions that Onica is drawn to the etchings like Kylan is.

Kylan asks Naia if she’s sure and she says she is, like a liar.

Naia laughed to hide the opposite feeling that was burrowing in her chest. Even deciding Gurjin and Rian would go to the castle hadn’t felt like a farewell. Not really, and certainly not like this. Naia wasn’t sure the time would ever feel right to say farewell to Kylan of Sami Thicket. Her friend the song teller.

;__;

I’m feeling feelings.

Writing down the prophecy is just one part of the task Kylan would be taking on as best prophecy boy. After that, he’ll need to decipher and interpret it with Onica’s help.

Naia even suggests that after they’re done in Stone-in-the-Wood, for them to visit the Valley of the Mystics and get the urRu’s insight on any parts they can’t figure out.

Being best prophecy boy is a full time job and Naia doesn’t know when she’d see him again.

But its him becoming his best boy best self. Definitely the greatest song teller since Gyr.

TANGENT: during this scene, Kylan holds his bell-bird firca and the narration notes that resonating with the crystal has scorched the bone a clay or earthlike shade unlike the bone white color it had before what with being made of bone.

The implication being that this is the firca that Jen eventually has and its why the Crystal Shard resonates with it.

I’d personally prefer if any firca could have done what Jen done did in the movie, provided the Gelfling play the right note.

But this isn’t an establishing movie thing and implying bad thing for prequel character thing like Rian and Gurjin’s mission with the shard.

Kylan is already going to the valley. Maybe he leaves his firca with urLii or urSu for safe-keeping.

And from there, Jen gets it.

Also tangent: Tavra doesn’t mention Tae staying with Team Prophecy so I guess that answers my question about her and Tavra’s deal.

Anyway.

“I’ll make sure one day all Gelfling know the song of how we endured the Skeksis. Forged the prophecy and healed the Crystal. And in that song, your name will ring. As will Rian’s and Gurjin’s. Tavra’s and Onica’s and Amri’s.

“And yours,” Naia said, tears pricking her eyes. She tried to capture his face in her memory. The path ahead was unsure and uneven, and even though the Gelfling were united in spirit, there was still distance between them. It was likely it would be a long time before they saw each other again.

Kylan chuckled. “Don’t be silly. It’s poor taste for a song teller to insert himself as a hero in his own song... I’m glad to have met you, Naia.”

“Same, Song Teller,” she said, and wrapped him in another hug that she hoped could last until the next time they met.

;__; Frens.

Chapter 32

Morning came softly and quietly.

Naia woke to the smell of the fires being put out, the gentle murmuring of the Gelfling saying their goodbyes to one another. It was time to leave.

Dang.

I know its not safe or enjoyable to hang out in the ruins of the village that the Skeksis destroyed but I thought that the great Gelfling gathering would last longer than that.

And if they take the plan to relocate the clans to swamp, ocean, and desert, there’s probably not going to be another great gathering for a while. Traveling is going to be dangerous.

Oh and apparently Aughra just ghosted the Gelfling at some point. Just took off without saying goodbye.

That tracks.

Naia speculates that she has her own work to do.

Rian and Gurjin head off for their crystal shard mission.

Since Gurjin is about as good at goodbyes as Naia, instead of hugging her, he punches her in the arm. Just refusing to acknowledge that they might not see each other again. And since she’s about as bad at goodbyes as Gurjin, Naia socks him right back.

Ah. Siblings.

Naia gets on a Landstrider with Amri and sets off with a group of other Landstridered Gelfling swampward.

“I’ve been thinking,” Amri said suddenly. “Do you remember what skekZok said, back in skekSa’s ship? About how our descendants might not know the names of the clans?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, take a look around. Maybe he was right.”

Gelfling surrounded them. On foot and some on Landstriders, the Drenchen and the Spriton and the Stonewood. There were even some Sifa and Dousan with them, and silver-haired Gelfling, though whether they were Grottan or Vapra, Naia couldn’t tell from the lofty saddle of her mount.

It didn’t matter, anyway. They were one clan, now. No matter what else happened, that was something the Skeksis could never take away from them.

One clan. And some of them have gills but that’s alright.

With the Sog ahead of them, Naia feels that even though she’s going home, it’s like she’s stepping into a brand-new world she’s never been to.

“It is new,” Amri said. “It’s new every morning. It’s only our memory that ties us to yesterday. Everything else is different every time the suns come up.”

Naia closed her eyes, feeling the warmth of the three suns as they brightened across her face. She took in the moment, the fresh air across her shoulders. Amri nearby, holding her waist. The Gelfling waiting below and all around. Listening for her signal.

To continue. To go on. To survive.

She opened her eyes. Kicked her heels and whistled, letting the moment pass as her Landstrider raced first into the awakening day.

How far Naia has come. She went there and back again and there and back again.

I really loved this book series!

Sure, it wasn’t perfect. I still think the final battle feels tacked on after the natural climax of the book. I wish the Arathim had gotten something like they got in the show.

But the characters, the expansions on the Dark Crystal setting and lore, each Gelfling clan getting some time in the spotlight, the creative places the plot went. It was a trip I’m glad I took.

Now to be sad that I ran out of Dark Crystal things to read.

Saaaaaaaaaad.

[teeforhee]

absolutely obsessed with Jon projecting all his fears about being an avatar and doing or not doing as beholding wants him to onto daisy and her relationship with the hunt.

it's the hunt, isn't it? even so, what if it kills you? daisy! you can't think like that. that wasn't you, that was the hunt! you'd never known anything different!

he's so fucking scared of being a monster, but he's so fucking desperate to feed the monstrous part of him, so all that's left is to make it seem like he doesn't have a choice. like it's just his nature, now. or like it's for the best. cane says it's all him. helen says it's all him. and daisy is standing there, a living breathing example of how it is all his choice, even if it's a shitty, weighted one, and he has to try – even though he's been told so many times that his reasons are bullshit – to justify it again. he has a choice to make, that he can't make by throwing himself into danger, and he's just. putting it off. saying it's fine, to do it this way. feel guilty so he can feel human in the face of avatars who are past caring, but keep doing it because he loves it and say the world needs him with his powers in the face of people who have chosen to do better.

oh ho ho!! can't fucking WAIT to see how this unravels!!!!!!

[eerna]

It was supposed to be a show abt a witch who is promised greatness if she signs her soul and freedom off to Satan and realizes that is no different from any other shackles men like to put around women so she decides to find another way, HOW do you mess that up,