#from the settings to the characters to the story itself

[magda-kb]

Character Analysis Of Luis Serra:

I just think someone needs to do this here on Tumblr so here we go…

Born in the remote and devoutly Catholic village of Valdelobos, Spain, Luis grew up in a reclusive, pre-industrial community that shunned modernity. The death of his mother during childbirth left him in the care of his grandfather (Man in the picture above together with Luis), a hunter whose wisdom and love shaped Luis’s early years.

From a young age, Luis displayed an insatiable curiosity and intelligence that set him apart. While his peers clung to the village’s traditions, Luis dreamed of the world beyond its mountains, finding solace in fairy tales and stories, particularly the adventures of Don Quixote. His grandfather recognized his potential, lamenting the limits imposed by their isolated life.

Later on his grandfather was attacked by a wolf and succumbed to a mysterious illness. Rumors of madness swirled, and fear gripped the superstitious villagers. The village’s chieftain, influenced by paranoia, ordered the family cabin to be burned to prevent the spread of the supposed "infection." According to the texts found throughout the game, the boy stood outside the house the whole time watching the flames, the next day he had disappeared from the village and nobody knew where the boy was.

In the modern world, Luis thrived, earning recognition as a prodigy in biology and securing a position at Umbrella Pharmaceuticals. Despite his remarkable achievements, including work on groundbreaking research, his tenure at Umbrella left him disillusioned. For example, we know that he was an employee of Project Nemesis (note to Racoon City - Nemesis T-Type).The corporation’s ethical compromises clashed with Luis’s growing moral awareness, leading to his resignation. This decision underscored a recurring theme in Luis’s character: the struggle between ambition and conscience.

Luis’s return to Valdelobos in 2004 placed him at the center of a nightmare. The village had fallen under the control of Los Iluminados, a cult manipulating the villagers’ religiosity to propagate a parasitic organism known as Las Plagas. Saddler, the cult’s leader, enlisted Luis for his scientific expertise, tasking him with enhancing the parasites. Initially compliant, Luis became horrified upon realizing Saddler’s true intentions. His guilt over his role in the cult’s atrocities drove him to seek redemption.

This is where Luis’s complexity truly shines. Torn between his past mistakes and a desire to atone, he takes enormous risks to undermine Saddler. Partnering with Ada Wong, Luis orchestrates plans to escape with the cult’s critical research sample, the Amber.

Here, too, I would like to emphasize a particular passage from the Separate Ways DLC that was already a bit of a foreshadowing of what his fate would be: Namely, during the scene in which other village members fell victim to the cult, Luis spoke of the fact that the next dance would be his… It should also be noted here that the already deceased was lying in exactly the same posture as Luis will later do… So it really was his “last dance”, so to speak (You can see it a little in the photo below, but it is clearly visible in the game itself)

Luis’s interactions with Leon S. Kennedy in the main game reveal yet another layer of his character. Despite their initial mistrust, Luis proves his worth as an ally, displaying a blend of wit, vulnerability, and a desperate need to make amends. His decision to assist Leon and Ashley, even at great personal risk, underscores his transformation from a man driven by self-interest to one guided by selflessness.

Ultimately, Luis’s arc concludes tragically yet heroically. Fatally wounded by Jack Krauser, Luis uses his final moments to ensure Leon and Ashley have the tools to fight back against Saddler. His death is not just a sacrifice but a culmination of his redemptive journey—a final act of defiance against all the things he did in the past. There is also the fact that Luis has doubts. Mainly about the things he himself has done in the past - And it is precisely these doubts that seem to characterize his last moment.

Something I would like to add: Krauser threw his knife directly into Luis’s spine. I mean clearly he aimed to kill. When a victim is stabbed in the area of the spinal cord, the spinal cord can be severed, sheared, torn, or otherwise damaged. This will result in a loss of function below the point of injury. That’s why it’s so impressive and powerful that Luis was able to muster up the last of his strength and force his hand to shoot at Krauser-hitting directly at his knife that could have killed Leon. That would now also explain why Luis can’t properly use his lighter and needed Leon to do it for him. Because after the lighter drops we can not see him move his body again…

Luis Serra is a character defined by contradictions: a brilliant scientist haunted by his complicity in unethical experiments, a dreamer shaped by the harsh realities of his upbringing, and a man who ultimately chooses redemption over survival. Something I would also like to point out is to link the whole story to Don Quixote. Because just like the self-proclaimed knight, he also had this urge of idealism throughout his life - which also led Don Quixote to make mistakes in the end and ultimately to his death... But in the end he became a hero and more or less passed on the title of knight to Leon...

[yourstardarling]

Aura of the air signs

In astrology, Air signs have a unique ability to influence the atmosphere around them. They are the unseen force that set the tone for interactions, shaping the environment through communication, ideas and their social energy. Like the air itself, they move seamlessly through spaces allowing themselves to be felt. They create impactful conversations and make light connections that are remembered long after they’re gone.

What this means is that the placement of air signs in your chart (and the planetary influences tied to them) defines the social energy you bring into an environment. It tells the story of how people perceive you and the vibe you exude in social settings. This unintentionally makes them natural centers of attention since their presence stirs the air around them. Whether that be through conversation, laughter, or even their energy. It’s as though the air signs pass through the atmosphere, leaving it forever changed.

Gemini’s air is one filled with chatter and laughter. It is a whirlwind of excitement and curiosity, like a warm summer breeze. They are the ones that will tell you fun facts about a random topic which intrigues them. Conversations are their stronghold, displaying that they can keep up with anyone from different backgrounds. This often can be very surface level, but Geminis have an ability to pull out deep conversations out of people. One reason is that they are very open to communication which leaves others to feel at ease to open up to them. However, the main factor is that Geminis know how to ask the right questions and stir a conversation. They don’t shy away from their curiosity which makes others intrigued to communicate. There is a quickness to their enigmatic air, often leaving as quickly as they came. Behind them they leave inspiration, knowledge, and unforgettable conversations. I always say Geminis remind me of the phrase “Gone with the wind”. They breeze through life, often leaving others to question if their breeze was a figment of their imagination.

Libras air is graceful and alluring, carrying a sense of balance that smooths out even the most chaotic environments. It is like a crisp cool autumn breeze, refreshing and filled with moisture. There’s something about their aura that draws people in, making you feel safe and at ease in their presence. Like you can’t help, but like them and get reeled into their charming character. Their air is a mix of sweet perfumes and delicate body oils that linger, creating an irresistible atmosphere. “Love is in the air” is their life motto and they carry that with them wherever they go. Whether intentionally or not, Libras air feels like a soft seduction. They keep eye contact in conversations, know how to balance intellectual stimulation and make cheeky comments. At first glance it may feel like they are flirting, but later realize it is just a natural part of their charm. Libras know how to make others like them and the right things to say to gain admiration. This why sometimes their kindness may come across as being fake. However, don’t let that fool you, they are very passionate individuals that love to debate. Even when disagreements arise they seem to have an air of elegance, leaving those involved feeling both challenged and intrigued.

Aquarius air is one brimming with disruption and chaos. It’s like a storm of winds that shake up everything in its path. This air stirs the minds and hearts of those around them, pushing boundaries and forcing change. Lightening is a significant symbol for Aquas because of the shock factor they leave behind. People are polarized by their unconventional conversations and ideas. They can seem like the less inviting among the air signs, but once you break the ice you can’t help being pulled into the storm. The storm energy of Aquarius comes from their over-analyzation of what is going on around them. So many neurons are being fired at once which can lead to overstimulation for themselves and people they talk to. They are very bright though and don’t like their intelligence to be downplayed. When in their vicinity, you feel this rush of electricity to talk about and do anything. They bring to you a foreign perspective. If you want to feel renewed and need new ideas, Aquarius is the one you go to.

Planetary Influence

The heavenly bodies have a direct impact on how air moves in a chart. For air specifically, there is a need for clarity. If there are too many planets, it can be hard for the air to push through. Their is a since of lightness and weightlessness that air signs need in order to properly function. Too many placements leads to overstimulation and a tendency to be reclusive in their minds. They don’t loose their social factor, but it makes them big over thinkers. Air moves the best when the energy is free.

Sun: The suns influence in air signs actually brings about its own set of challenges. Out of the 3, only Gemini has a good relationship to the Sun. It is in Fall in libra and in detriment in Aquarius. What this tells me is that the Sun finds it hard to shine and express itself in an environment that is so focused on other people. How can you shine for yourself when you’re always worried about the social needs of others. The light of the air signs can feel like clouds blocking the sun. They are not shining for just themselves, but for the social group around them as well.

Moon: The moon in air signs brings a nurturing factor towards conversations and communication. They know how to make people feel safe to open up to them about their throughts and opinions. A keen ability to analyze their close one’s emotions. The downside though is a detachment from their feelings. They often try to process their inner world from an intellectual landscape rather than feeling them through. This can make them be unreadable to other people.

Mercury: This is the best friend of the air signs. Mercury does really well in all 3 signs. It allows them to be able to do what they do best, communication. Mercury in the air signs make their mental capacity very sharp and ready to navigate any topics of discussion. These are very smart individuals that have a reservoir of information.

Venus: In the realm of love, the air signs can be extremely flirtatious and misleading. They will reel you in with their words and stimulation, but you will feel caught off guard by their detachment. It feels like love is a game to them. They may find it hard to build lasting connections because of their need to be free. It’s like they are up in the air which makes it hard to feel like you can grasp them.

Mars: The planet of war in the air signs causes unnecessary challenges surrounding interactions and communication. Here the air becomes hot like the desert, making it hard to breathe. The slightest misunderstanding can lead to conflict for these individuals. It is important for you to watch what you say and know when to defend yourself when necessary. The strength of mars makes them good debaters, but people can often say things to rage bait you.

Jupiter: This planet brings a strong presence within the air signs. Their ideas deeply shape their beliefs and faith. Wisdom can be found through their interactions with other people. However, information overload can become a problem for air Jupiters. Faith can also be a struggle for air Jupiter’s as they operate based on factual data instead of just pure belief: they need things to make sense.

Saturn: Now yall already know, Saturn is gonna bring a sense of heaviness in the air. It can feel like they have a responsibility towards the social and intellectual aspect of there environments. The weight of this can be heavy on them making them uncomfortable and anxious about forming relationships. However, they learn how to place boundaries and be very selective about who is in their presence. Saturn does pretty well in the air signs since it is in Domicile in Aquarius and Exalted in Libra. I think it’s because Saturn is focused on maintaining order and in the air it knows how to maintain social order. It becomes unbiased because it isn’t so easily attached. This allows it to be able to make good judgement.

___

Whether through the ideas they inspire, the emotions they evoke, or the stories they leave behind, the air signs remain a lingering presence in their environment. They are seamlessly both attached and free from societal influences at the same time. Catch them if you can and learn from the short, but worthwhile interactions.

-yourStardarling

[hexb0nes]

since i read your rules, i hope you acept request, cause i love how you you write those two <3 Sooo, maybe an scenario, spicy even where Reader was like an assitant for then in season 1, helping then both, kinda like sky but between the 3 there always was some kind of sexual tension and obviously, care and love, but nothing official. And after the final season and Jinx's bomb she disapeared. So the escenario will be for around the middle of the the season, basically with Jesus Viktor and traumatized Jayce and she appear again (maybe she pass trough sometinng like Mel with the black rose) And they tough she was dead, and she do not recognized any of them. I hope it makes sence, love your writting <3

FIGHT BACK - A JAYVIK / READER STORY

word count: 2.4k

warnings: suggestive in the beginning, violence, character death

summary: Everyone thinks you died the day Jinx blew up the Council's chambers. Yet, as the world moves forward and new chaos erupts, you find yourself in a strange realm, subjected to torturous trials. When you finally complete them, an otherworldly force offers you a second chance: return to the mortal realm dead as you were meant to be or ascend.

a/n: AAAAA you are the sweetest!! thank you for this request, it's my first one for this blog :D i hope you enjoy this, my dear!

Lingering touches. Soft smiles. Wandering hands.

You feel two sets of hands on your body, one bony and one firm. They caress your body with the precision of a marksman, finding your sensitive spots and inciting whimpers from your glossy lips. The bony hands are nimble and able to get into the nooks and crannies of your flushed skin while the firm hands plant themselves around your waist, giving your sides a playful squeeze. The touches feel familiar but still too foreign for your liking. Resist, fight back!

Sharp jawline. Dark circles under the eyes. Hooked nose.

A shadow emerges before you and fixates its gaze on you, the only piece untouched by darkness being its white sclera. It floats towards you and the hands on your body retract from you, as the shadow tilts your chin up with a finger. The room around you flickers between light and dark; you yelp and try to wiggle free from the shadow's touch, only for it to tighten its grip on your face. Resist, fight back!

Muscular arms. Scarred eyebrow. The scent of ash and metal.

Heavy chains wrap around your limbs and shackle you to the ground. You hiss when your knees hit the floor, as you are forced to bow in front of darkness itself. Yet, the shadow vanishes without a trace. The room darkens for a moment before lightening up, you wince at the sudden brightness.

Stacks of paper. Broken pencils. Equations written on chalkboards.

No longer are you in a pseudo-torture room, but rather adrift in space, constellations and passing comets greeting you with warm light. Your chains jerk upwards and you find yourself dangling from a set of pillars, one chain attached to each structure. You sway helplessly in the boundless abyss of space. Resist, fight back!

Fresh scones. Quiet laughter in the bookstore. A kiss on the check.

"Resist," you rasp, voice hoarse from lack of use. You have lost track of how many trials you completed to get to this point, an endless road to nowhere. That's how it was, you appeared in these chambers and had been since on a quest for freedom. This isn't your world, you know that for a fact, but where you came before this maze of challenges remains unknown.

Whispers in your ear. Hot breath against your skin. Mutters of your name.

"Fight-" you grunt loudly to yourself, as you pull down on your chains, "-BACK!"

Mustering every ounce of strength in your weary body, you thrust the chains down hard, breaking them free from the pillars. They fall harmlessly from your hands and fade away into stardust, floating away into deep space. You try to find your footing, but it's no use; you are drifting in space, after all.

You inhale and to your surprise, you’re able to breathe. Duh, you were able to speak earlier, silly. You allow yourself to float aimlessly through space, admiring the constellations. It had always been your… dream? What’s your dream? Dream, dream, dream… you have dreams. What are your dreams? You can’t remember, you barely remember your own name. How long has it been since you were sucked into this prison?

“Nearly three months.”

Your ears perk up at the sound of someone’s voice. It booms with power and great strength, the force of the words alone almost knocks you off your path. Nonetheless, in an attempt to retrieve answers, you call out to the stranger, “Hello! Who are you?”

A sudden surge of comets and asteroids zip past you, as the space around you begins to rumble. You sense something off—no, something ancient—while you await for a lull of peace. That’s when you feel it, a reassuring hand on your shoulder. Confused, you turn around and come face to face with something unimaginable.

A being made of blinding golden light floats before you. An assortment of blinking eyes cover its armor and it towers over you like a skyscraper. Your head throbs after staring for too long and you face away, “Who are you?”

“There are many answers to that question,” the being appears in front of you, this time with a more human appearance. It takes on the form of a lean man, silky hair and siren-like eyes shine golden. Behind his armor, you notice a shield and sword attached to his back. You rub your heads and try to adjust to the presence of this mysterious creature, “Please, just tell me who you are or how I can get out of here!”

“They call me the Sovereign,” the strange man complies with your wish, “However, the mortals of Runeterra usually refer to be as Pyxis.”

“Pyxis,” you refresh your memory on where you heard that word before, “The constellation.”

“Correct,” states the Sovereign, “I do apologize for putting you through these trials and tribulations, but I needed to access your abilities and worth as my host.”

“Host?” you mindlessly tap on a bit of broken meteorite, “What do you mean by that?”

“I am the Aspect of Freedom,” his voice roars throughout the abyss, “I represent the desire, the need, and the want that centers around the gain and loss of freedom. I am an extension of free will and tend to its aid,” the Sovereign’s hair and eyes glow amidst the darkness of space, “Someone threatens the free will of Piltover and Zaun.”

The space that the two of you have been drifting in abruptly disappears, taking the shining stars and radiant planets with it. You’re back in the pit, the hole of pure darkness. The only light comes from the Sovereign themself, “You are the only one who can correct the course of this dangerous path.

“And if I say no?” you inquiry.

“Then you will return to the mortal realm, dead.”

“What?” your blood turns cold.

“Within seconds of the bomb launched by the one called ‘Jinx’, I intervened and transported into my spire of challenge. If you were to return now without my assistance, you would only come back to that explosion. You were destined to die,” the Sovereign explains.

Destined to die. “I guess I don’t have a choice then,” you mumble under your breath. The Sovereign shakes its head in response, “No, you do have a choice. Let destiny conclude or forge a new path. A second chance, the choice is yours.”

A second chance. Vague visuals play out in your mind, as you try to piece together what happened up before the explosion. Shadows of people sitting around a table, the mention of ‘Zaun’ and ‘independence’, a gloved hand holding yours— then the explosion. You shake off the muddled memories, “Okay,” you inhale and exhale out a shaky breath, “Let’s do this.”

The Sovereign offers you a smile, the most expressive it has been so far, “Very well,” it extends a hand to you, “Allow us to seal this in the traditional mortal way.” you eye the hand and let out a soft sigh, “It’s a deal.”

Crackles of lightning surround you two’s hands, thunder reverberating around the lifeless realm. A pained cry escapes you, as the Sovereign’s hand heats up around yours, as if you’re touching the Sun itself. The light grows and grows before engulfing you whole, your body evaporating away as fragmented pieces ready to be reforged.

・・・・☆・・・・☆ ・・・・

Jayce stumbles somewhat drunkenly through the terrain that leads up to Viktor’s commune. The people of Zaun speak so highly of ‘The Herald’, but only Jayce knows the truth. Viktor must die.

Flashes of red, green, and blue pierce his mind and Jayce grits his teeth in pain. Images of broken mechanical dolls plague his sight and he readies his hammer for attack. The images dim away and reveal where Jayce has pointed his hammer, a little boy dressed in white and glowing imprints on his forehead. Fingerprints? Jayce questions.

The little boy reaches a hand up to Jayce and he knows that it’s Viktor puppeteering his actions. Nonetheless, Jayce accepts his hand and follows the boy towards a spherical outpost, Viktor’s outpost. The boy walks off upon completing his mission and Jayce wordlessly enters the outpost.

Before him, Viktor mediates above, strings of whitish god light attached to his mechanical body. He opens his eyes and graces Jayce with a small smile. Closing his eyes, Jayce holds up his hammer and activates the beam component, its charge altered by the Hexgates anomaly. Viktor’s eyes shift like a kaleidoscope, fear evident.

Jayce prepares his blast, a single tear rolling down his battered and dirt-speckled cheek, I promised.

A flash beams forth, but not from Jayce’s hammer. It coats the interior in blinding light and renders the other occupants unable to move. The light soon dies down, a small crater apparent in the flooring with a person emerging from it. They wear a golden cloak with white detailing, their boots an abnormally spotless white. Jayce aims his hammer at the cloaked figure, “Stand back! I have to do this!”

Light footsteps with their movement, the figure approaches Jayce and the taller man charges up his hammer once more. Yet, glowing chains of gold appear from the ground and shackle Jayce’s limbs, pinning him down. The hammer levitates and the cloaked person snatches it in their hand, not even Jayce himself could hold the altered hammer with some resistance. Slowly, the cloaked person sets the hammer aside and removes their cloak before Jayce and Viktor.

“It’s you,” the man on the ground croaks, tears swelling up in his doe brown eyes, “It’s you.”

Your hair and face are on full display for both inventors to see, no longer their usual colors. The color of your hair is an unnatural shade of golden that pulsates almost like sunlight. Your eyes match with a similar golden hue, Jayce tears that he would be blinded if he stares for too long in your eyes. You adjust your cloak, the sight of a white bodysuit and padded chain mail armor underneath, as you turn your back to Jayce and face Viktor.

“You’re alive,” despite Viktor’s monotonous response, his expression of surprise and gratitude betray him.

Tears roll down Jayce’s cheeks, “We- I thought you were dead,” memories of the explosion play out before him, finding Viktor among the ruins but not you. The enforcers had searched through every inch of the destroyed council room for you, but nothing. Everyone had believed that your body disintegrated from the bomb’s heat, the only remains of your presence in the council room being your broken necklace.

You don't react, you question to yourself why these strange men are talking you to with such affection and worry. You have a mission, the Sovereign informs you that the one referred to as 'The Herald' was jeopardizing the free will of Piltover and Zaun. Your objective is to neutralize the threat.

Something materializes in your hand, the head of a large pointed knife sways by your feet. Like the chains attached to Jayce, the chains on your weapon are connected, each section bound by platinum rings. A red silk is tied around the head near the knife and a green silk is tied behind the handle you're holding You adjust your grasp on the chain whip and launch your assault.

Jayce watches with objective horror and some fascination by your movements. You're different now, no longer their happy-go-lucky and driven assistant but an elegant dancer, leaping and flipping through the air, as you increase the speed and force of your weapon with the speeding of your arm. For a moment, you're levitating like Viktor and throw the chains with all your might. They snake around Viktor's body and constrict him, as he gasps in surprise. You press the point of knife head against his temple, one of the only remaining human parts in his body.

Jayce, meanwhile, is in awe of your actions and skills, ignoring the fact that you're floating like Viktor. The chains that bind him retract and vanish, freeing Jayce from his imprisonment. You shout to Jayce, "Grab the hammer and shoot!" Viktor struggles against your hold, but you only tighten the chains in response, "This ends now."

Viktor tilts his head up and you dig the knife head's point into his skin. He winces, but calmly states, "Why are you doing-" he speaks your name and you blink in confusion. Who are you? You regain your composure and return his response with a similar cold deposition, "I am the host of Freedom, of Free Will," while Jayce manages to find his hammer and stands up with it.

"I embody Pyxis, the Sovereign, as its implementor."

The corrupted charge in the hammer lights up.

"You have violated the Aspect of Freedom and Free Will by sealing away the free will from the mortals of Piltover and Zaun you claim to heal.

Wind rushes around Jayce, as he takes aim at Viktor and you.

"This is the consequence of your actions," you force Viktor's chin downward and cover his eyes with your free hand, "I shall grant you one mercy, though. There's no need to subject you to witnessing this correction in the universe."

Jayce fires a concreted blast at Viktor's chest.

"May you find peace upon the stars."

The blast hits Viktor squarely in the chest and the outpost shakes violently from the explosion. Jayce coughs and rubs the dirt off his face, as he waits for the dust to settle down. Viktor appears from the dust, his body crumpled on the floor with a large hole in his chest. You, however, remain floating in the air, seemingly untouched by the intense blast, and gently lower yourself to the ground by Viktor.

The Herald looks up at you then at Jayce, panting slightly and his expression pained with the weight of evident betrayal. His eyes finally close and Viktor goes limp, dropping an odd circular gear from his hand. A commotion erupts from outside, screams and cries alike, and you grab onto Jayce's free hand, "We must go."

"But- We must," you don't allow Jayce another word or glance at Viktor, dragging the blacksmith out of the outpost and onto the battlefield, "We must fight back."

Jayce's head spins with new revelations and grief, but he nods at your command.

"Let's fight back."

[valiantarcher]

Rocky Read Asks

A book you regretted reading

A book you couldn’t finish

A concept or plot that you thought was squandered in a story

An underutilized setting or world

A character you want to rescue from the story they’re in

An author you want to rescue from the story they told

A book you wanted to or thought you would love but didn’t

A book you thought you would hate but loved

A character type, plot, or element that you normally don’t like but did like because of the execution

A book you finished but wasn’t worth it in the end

A book you struggled with but was worth persevering through

A book on hold that you do mean to finish

A subplot, theme, or element that kills a story for you

A book that disappointed in a reread

A book that was better the second time around

A book you hold a grudge against (read or unread)

A book that you were spoiled for

A book where you like the adaptation or an element therein better than the book itself

A book you don't really like but have kept for other reasons 

A book that you didn’t read when you wanted to

A book you read but didn’t want to

A highly-praised or beloved book you hate

A highly-hated or derided book you love

A book you feel more positively about now than when you first read it.

A book you feel more negatively about now than when you first read it.

[downtroddendeity]

@sapphirestar98

Hoo boy. Okay.

This is going behind a cut both because this post is already so long and because I generally try not to talk too much about gacha game fandoms on Tumblr because I feel weird about providing free marketing for things with gambling mechanics that can easily destroy people's lives.

Let me see if I can explain this.

So! Despite the aforementioned attempts to mostly keep the amount I talk about it on Tumblr low, I have been into Arknights for several years now. Like, into it enough that I keep breaking down and ranting about it anyway.

The easiest way to describe Arknights is, "Grimdark science fantasy tower defense about catgirls with guns." But this is a little like describing Metal Gear Solid as "a series of stealth games where you play as a genetically-engineered supersoldier": it's a largely accurate description and necessary starting point, but it doesn't remotely prepare you for what you're about to get into, and especially how much of that experience will consist of hour-long cutscenes discussing the human cost of the socioeconomic turmoil following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Arknights is an otherworld fantasy story and the vast majority of its characters are animal-people, but most of the countries are extremely clear and up-front parallels to real ones- the Ursus Empire is Furry Russia, Siracusa is Furry Italy, Victoria is Furry England, etc. That makes it a setting that's knit together by huge amounts of real-life references, even though the original setting lore is pretty expansive all by itself, which is something they're only able to pull off because there are clearly people on the creative team in a variety of positions who do incredible amounts of research about a wide variety of topics purely out of love of the subject. We're talking deep cuts. We're talking "there is a Halloween costume skin that paraphrases the closing passage of Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, which turned out to be a stealth spoiler for main story plot points several years later." We're talking "a whole storyline centered around 12th-century poetry." We're talking "NPC named for the author of a novel about medical ethics." We're talking heartrending multilayered Russian puns. We're talking the translators once had to swap out the names of several boss levels a few weeks after they released them because they hadn't caught that they were all titles of songs from an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

So, this is already a shockingly dense text, and it's intensely and openly political. And on top of all that, their favorite way to foreshadow things is through Dark-Souls-style single-line ambiguous but portentous hints. For someone like me who loves deep reading and overanalyzing for fun, this is catnip. However, for us losers who only speak English, there's a major extra complication: Arknights is made by people in China, in Chinese, and localizing it has got to be one of the most nightmarish translation tasks ever. The English server is 6 months behind the Chinese server, so there's always quite a bit of in-game material that's been released but Anglophones only have sketchy fragmentary translations of, and there are various tie-in materials that we don't know if they'll ever translate at all, notably an in-universe setting guidebook.

So, if I want to get my red string and thumbtacks conspiracy corkboard on properly, I need something like a wiki. I want to be able to check out references I might have missed and hunt for lore breadcrumbs more easily. Pretty basic wiki stuff, right? There's just one tiny little problem.

It's a mobile gacha game about anime catgirls.

And it turns out people who become admins at websites for posting data-mined combat statistics for mobile gacha games about anime catgirls are not always very smart or good at reading.

So the trivia and lore articles are frequently just... wrong. Sometimes it's tiny quibbles or missing nuance that disproportionately annoy me, but other times it's flagrant. Like, there's a character song that prominently references an extremely famous piece of classical music, the serenade from Franz Schubert's "Swan Song." Both the wiki and the not-actually-a-wiki-but-says-it-is-anyway correctly say that the character song is referencing a piece by Schubert... and then link to a completely different Schubert piece that is not referenced in the character song, because both of them are titled "Ständchen" because it. Means "serenade." And somebody made a Twitter thread about classical music references that linked the wrong video, and Gamepress plagiarized it without checking, and the wiki added it to various pages also without checking. And you can tell this immediately if you listen to the songs, but apparently no one has done that in almost 3 years even though @onwardmotley tried to fix it.

Now imagine that across a whole wiki trying to document a game with millions of words of text, which is the only public-facing source about some Chinese-language official material in English.

*sighs and resets "days since last tirade about an extremely obscure subject in a group chat because someone was wrong on the internet about a video game" counter to zero*

[pyromance]

PLEASE share ur saw color theories. if u don't mind 😁

OH OF COURSE they're not perfectly thought out and how intentional these choices are is up for debate. but! beyond just looking fun and creating a great contrast to the very barren and downtrodden world of saw, in my the use of a small group of specific colors communicates quite a bit about themes, motivations, and story throughout the entirety of the saw franchise.

my qualifications are several years of middle and high school lighting for theatre and being a big nerd.

the two most recognizable colors in saw are bathroom blue and saw green. in concert with eachother, they paint the beautiful state of new jersey in garish and eye-catching beauty. the moment in which the meanings of these two colors is solidified is shown in two scenes in saw 4. both of these scenes feature a character getting their scalp ripped off (yeouch). the first example of this, during john kramer's autopsy, is washed in cool toned lights. the room is sterile, painfully white fluorescents bask the scene in a shade of bathroom blue. the next time we see someone get scalped in this movie is in rigg's apartment during the see what i see trap. while the light coming from the tv screen and the trap itself are white, the environment of the trap is another shade of saw green (though less hauntingly beautiful than the first go around). more contrasts can be made with the score, the cinematography, the movements of the actors, these two scenes are clearly supposed to be put into contrast with eachother.

so, the use of color in both of these scenes provides a key for what both of these scenes have to say about violence. specifically, when violence is acceptable and when it's not! within my viewpoint, bathroom blue is for socially acceptable, everyday cruelty that follows the rules, whereas saw green is for times in which violence is no longer a normal fact of life and is instead a sign of a rotten core.

once you pick up on this, you start seeing it everywhere. the titular bathroom that shade gets is hue from is bathed in blue, which is not only a good contrast of lawrence's previous medical uncaring cruelty being brought into focus, but also shows the emphasis john is allegedly putting on rules. however, the moment his own rules are broken and his cruelty leaves the realm of acceptability even built within his own rule book, the bathroom becuase awash in saw green. look, i could go on.

however! there's more to saw's use of color than green and blue! the two slightly less recognized but still ubiquitous colors in saw is yellow and red. i've personally coined these tumor yellow and autocrat red. tumor yellow is first introduced in john kramer's hospital bed in saw 3. it could be merely read as another, slightly diffrent shade of saw green, but i disagree. tumor yellow speaks to the inner sickness growing inside of john kramer, and doesn't quite fit the mold of rules and violence set up by the green shade. yellow lighting of this shade makes the skin look weird, and is just cool enough to remove any warmth created by the amber undertones. tumor yellow is, to be frank, just kind of gross! but by using unappealing lighting of subjects, the movie is trying to speak to their inner rot. the other best example of tumor yellow being used is actually in spiral, during schenk's whole villain monologue. he's talking to zeke about the inner cruelty within the system he works in, so it's only natural that such an unnatural color is used. (times like this is when i wish tumblr had footnotes, but i do think it's important to note how schenk is cast in shadow for a lot of it. ooo, very menacing.)

autocrat red is mostly present in just one movie, saw 6, but it's so incredibly pervasive in it and goes with scenes with similar ideas that i think it's noticeable. this vibrant, consuming shade of red is present in scenes in which the power structures certain characters have come to thrive in are violated or perverted. hoffman abuses his strength and power as a police officer to LITERALLY hinder justice, and william is suddenly brought face to face with the power of death he has been using AND, perhaps, the somewhat explorative nature inherent to his position as a CEO in relation to his employees. (there's also some tumor yellow in here, which also tracks with the metaphor in that color). once again, this color is only used heavily in saw 6, but i do think it is present in the others ones AND it's clearly intentional.

so, in conclusion, here's a guide to what i think the colors in saw "mean".

BATHROOM BLUE: socially acceptable violence, or cruelty we can wave off.

SAW GREEN: unacceptable and needless violence

TUMOR YELLOW: used when systems or people are brought to their knees and exposed as rotten

AUTOCRAT RED: power in crisis

i'm not claim this is the end-all-be-all of saw color analysis, or that i'm objectively correct on these. i'd love to start a conversation! but, i do think my ideas are fairly well supported by evidence in the text.

[literary-illuminati]

2025 Book Review #3 – Fifteen Dogs by Andre Alexis

My mother recently retired and cleared out my childhood home, part of which involved throwing out a lot of books. So I have come into possession of a lot of weird literature no one remembers ever actually buying, which is honestly pretty exciting. This was one of them, a tragic bit of literary modern fantasy about the titular canines being uplifted to human intelligence and it ending in general quite badly for them. Not at all light reading, but interesting and very affecting at points.

The plot concerns a wager between Hermes and Apollo, regarding whether a human’s intelligence is a blessing or a curse. To settle the matter, they gift all the dogs that happen to have been left in a random Toronto vet clinic overnight the power of human thought, and bet two years of servitude to the other on whether any of them will die happy. With occasional divine interludes, the story mostly then follows the dogs – first as a pack, and then tracing each life separately with occasional unhappy reunions – from uplift to death.

This is an incredibly high concept sort of book – coming in expecting anything like traditional urban fantasy or contemporary litfic and you will be deeply confused. It is literature in a sense, I suppose – the prose itself isn’t particularly adorned or eye-catching, but it is very concerned with interiority and subjective experience, and in any case there are fifteen different poems scattered throughout the book. But far more than that, it’s philosophical fiction – which is to say, very explicitly theme-first and contemplative of the Big Idea its turning around, with the actual story being basically in service to that.

That big idea if ostensibly about whether intelligence and self-reflection are a blessing or a curse, but it’s at least as much about the degree to which its possible to live a happy life in a world full of misery and where nothing but luck keeps everything you love from being taken from you in an instant. Few of the dogs live happily – they kill each other, they make themselves miserable attempting to regain the thoughtless purity of their prior existence, they become entrapped in toxic hierarchies of status and dominance. And on the other they starve, they’re hit by cars, they eat poison, they’re abused and neglected by the humans they relied upon. It is a book with a very tragic sensibility, all in all – even the dogs with the good luck and character to find happiness always live at the risk of some divine fit of pique. In this the use of the Greek Gods as characters fit very well – Apollo taking one of the dog’s sight and hearing in annoyance with him seems entirely of a piece with how the myths often go.

As for solutions – the book’s later parts focus a great deal on two dogs who have, more or less, good lives. It is, on the whole, very positive about love (at least, a specific kind – affection devotion and most importantly understanding between equals) - but equally concerned with how ruinous losing someone whose thread of life is intertwined so tightly with yours can be. It clearly thinks there’s something a bit noble and sacred to living as a monument to grief, but equally doesn’t think doing so can really be called a good life. Instead – and this is almost too predictable, simply because it’s written by the kind of person who writes elaborate philosophical fiction – the book presents a life dedicated to poetry and art, thought and self-reflection, to beauty however fleeting it is to be the best suited to appreciating life in all its miseries. It is, as I said, quite philosophical about it.

The book also accidentally fulfills any Canadian Content obligations I had for the year. It’s a book set in and deeply in love with the geography and character of Toronto (if often a jaundiced and teasing sort of love). Honestly it talks about the city in a way I usually only see fiction discuss New York or parts of California.

As an exploration of actual canine psychology, it varies between interesting and tiresome. I rather wish any of the female dogs had survived longer or gotten more focus, just for a bit of variety on all the oft-offered opinions about mounting and heat. The fifteen poems included in the book all being the result of a project to write poetry that listening to would have an affect for humans and dogs is, at least, a very cute bit of trivia.

But yeah, interesting piece of fiction. Read if you like these sort of meditations and can take lots of unhappy and dead dogs in your stories.

[tuesday-teyz]

Can you tell us the all the name of each arcs in butterfly reign and short description abt it :>

Also hai teyz!

Hai, and thank you for the question!

I answered this one before in the comments to the last chapter, so I'm going to copy that and then expand a little on what I mean by arcs and how they are distinct from one another:

Arc 1. The Midday Sun

Includes everything from the start of the story and until the night of the Empress' death anniversary. This is kind of like the 'hanging' point of the story where I set up the main players on the deck and their relationships. Most of the conflicts at this stage are plain and understandable: Tommy hates Wilbur because he left, he is bitter at his family for their preference towards Ranboo, and he gravitates towards Dream.

The majority of people would clearly separate characters into 'good' or 'bad' based on their general disposition towards Tommy, the primary narrator. In a way Midday Sun also refers to how Tommy views himself: at noon, shadows are most prominent and distinct, almost separate from one's own body, much like Tommy and Theseus are two separate entities in his mind.

Arc 2. The Witching Hour

The phrase witching hour by itself refers to the typically darkest part of the night at around 3am, often tied to superstition and magic. The arc includes Tommy and Dream's fallout, Tommy's conflict with Techno, and the entirety of the traveling arc with Wilbur as well as Techno's interlude.

The primary conflicts in here are sort of flipped. We get this betrayal-ish moment in discduo, even though the readers already know that Dream's been shapeshifting, while Wilbur's more empathetic behavior might hint for some people of a possible redemption. This arc is aimed at recontextualizing previous actions and behaviors: Dream helped Tommy out of political gain and then somewhere along the way came to care for him genuinely, Wilbur acted out not out of maliciousness but because he was unable to grasp the nature of Tommy's opposition to him, and Techno had suffered in silence and distanced himself due to intense feelngs of guilt and isolation.

The Witching Hour also refers to Tommy's darkest points when it comes to the state of his mind. On multiple occasions, he contemplates taking his own life, shows complete disregard toward his health and well-being, and his inner conflict of past vs now manifests in him making up reasons to be angry and an asshole to people around him. All of this in part masks how the entities of Tommy and Theseus begin to merge together, ultimately leading to a decision that would probably feel very out of character for Midday Sun Tommy. During the Witching Hour, everyone just looks like their shadows, which someone could argue are their truest selves.

Arc 3. The Star Of The Sea

The Star of The Sea is a lesser common name for Polaris, the North Star, due to it's significance in maritime navigation. Polaris' position in the sky is comparatively stable, which makes calculating distance much more accurate even when using most primitive tools. It is also one of the easiest and brightest stars to find at night. I don't know if anyone else does that, but whenever I want to look for some constellations in the sky, I always find Polaris first, then the Ursa Minor (constellation that Polaris is a part of), and then find the rest relative to positions of Ursa Minor and Major. Probably not the correct or scientific way to do but still, there is an inherent association of clarity tied to the North Star.

Because arc 3 didn't happen yet, I can't say a whole lot without bordering on spoilerish, but Dream's comparison of Tommy to the North Star in arc 1 does have something to do with it. To me, this is the arc for showing the characters' – and especially Tommy's – purest, truest forms. Tying it back with arc 1 and 2, you can't see stars during the day, and to see the stars clearly you first need to reach a point where the sky is truly dark. I'm hoping to loop every unfinished arc around in and on itself here, so hopefully I'm able to produce a full and coherent narrative by the end of this and preferably before I graduate university and apply for a full time job lmao.

[dramaticurge]

i think arcane isn't copaganda, i think it says ACAB too.

i think the show itself has many layers, and that the acting, writing, and storytelling do a lot to tell different angles of different stories.

i think arcane acknowledges police brutality and the struggles of systemic oppression. i think it says ACAB, but it asks you to seperate from a moment, and asks you to look at it through the lens of understanding. not for forgiveness, but so you can maybe try and see why people do bad things, even if they're bad, and even if they're good. the show asks you to set aside your biases, to look at this world for what it is. parallels and all.

and i understand that caitlyn's role and ending make it swem glorifying cops in a way. even when it's something she actively disagreed against, even when in the first season she was trying for a middle ground and was the only one trying for a middle ground.

and not to be too woke, but the triple K caitlyn jokes were never that funny to me. nor were the ideas that she was racist. arcane is a beautiful show that does not burden it's characters with racism and oppression in that way- and you should definitely not erase caitlyn's asian ethnicity. between her and jinx, jinx is the white woman. its so irresponsible to read into the racial aspect of this side of the arcane storyline, the story is making it clear that is not something these characters face, and they shouldn't have to face to justify things like oppressive militia. caitlyn isn't fully white. do not dilute her.

kind of related to that thought, too, is the fact that no one living in america is a zaunite. most americans will remain as pilties, because systemic oppression will sometimes really just be how you were born.

back to it, i also just think arcane shows police brutality for what it is. that type of oppression. it invites you to dislike caitlyn's actions, because caitlyn dislikes her actions, and all this type of oppression leads to is to pointless, senseless, and violent war. a war they should've lost. a war they would've lost.

the scene where steb takes off his hat in respect to zaunites is him respecting that they decide to help, when if it were the other way, it would be unlikely. piltover would never help zaun, and he knows that, and everyone knows that. no one wins in war. no one wins via violence. the show knows this, and when it shows the side characters who we know had so much more life left ahead of them is when it acknowledges that systemic brutality has led to deaths of innocent people. that in a search for power, or for revenge, that they will eat themselves alive by their hubris. an eye for an eye, in caitlyn's case, who tipped the scales too far.

and the show asks you to look at this and the show makes caitlyn face this. the show does not agree with caitlyn once. but the show asks you to never defend her actions, but to look at her and understand why.

i think it asks you to look at the system, but to understand the characters. the people. because we often, in many stages of analysis, forget about people. in the broadest sense, these people are wrong, but it makes you deconstruct the complicated nature of why, and asks you not to dilute them in fear that you'd smudge the intricacies that make them up.

ACAB, even if they're sorry about it, and even if they've got a family. ACAB is systemic.

but good stories include layers, and ACAB is not without possibilties for something different. not critique, but in the same vein. ACAB is true, but it does not mean by exploring the complicated nature of why's, how's, etc that they are copaganda.

putting aside those ideas for the sake of looking at why their flaws can encompass them, and for the sake of understanding the type of world this is is important to. maybe for the sake of love, people do these kinds of things, and there isn't making up mistakes. just living with them.

|||

ofc this is just my opinion and something that's been bugging me for a bit... i genuinely dont hate anyone in arcane. i hate that in terms of discrouse, we've diluted these characters down to our preconceived biases. i hate that we seem to be arguing over morality.

maybe its just obvious though that i spend a lot of time on arcane twt. curious about people's thoughts... if anyone even sees this...

[beachyserasims]

The Lonely House

On a cold autumns eve in a modern rented house, a small family sits down together after a Harvest meal, bellies full and hearts open to share. They traveled here from different places to meet one another, some from as far as the rocky mountains and beyond. But in the past, they all lived together in their quaint family home, in a small prairie town just outside of the city. They reminisce about times they spent there, each recounting their own isolated experiences. Throughout the conversation, a pattern is clearly seen, and they all begin to agree on one truly disturbing reality… That house was definitely haunted.

This series contains 3 very short stories, a bit of poetry, and graphic art related to The Lonely House.

This series is non-fictional and rated +18 for mature audiences only.

Click for trigger warnings and tags related to this series.

Enter here… if you dare.

[bonefall]

Hey, what makes a character a 'plot device but not a character'? And how do you not do that? I'm trying to do it on purpose but also I need to still make them interesting because it's on purpose, yknow?

A good skill to pick up is to learn to criticise criticism itself. A "plot device" is simply a thing that moves the plot along, it's a neutral literary analysis term! Usually, when people are angry that "a character has been used as a plot device," it doesn't mean they hate plot devices. It means they're gesturing at something deeper.

Runningwind and Bumble are equally plot devices in their deaths. They are both killed by the antagonist to escalate political tension. Runningwind is rarely "accused" of just being a plot device, and yet, we're talking about Bumble for the same thing.

So, why?

Well, Runningwind is just a background character, but in life, he was a part of the community. He was characterized as impatient but responsible. Yet, he wasn't SO important that he died with a bunch of unresolved plot threads.

He is mostly an extension of the entity of ThunderClan. His killing by Tigerstar, and the fear and paranoia that settles on the group after this, feel like a progression of the story insteas of something forced.

Bumble, on the other hand...

Is hated immediately by Gray Wing, when she's established as Turtle Tail's friend. Bumble's abuse at Tom the Wifebeater's hands invites even MORE investment. The rejection is shocking and upsetting. There's a story there about our main characters being imperfect; jealous, bigoted, and judgemental.

But, she is simply killed off. Everything they set up for this character is gone with little personalized fanfare. It's not a tragedy with a lesson about cruelty, or something anyone regrets.

It's just... plot. Gray Wing whinging that no one will like his shitty brother now that his body count is 2.

More than that, in the discussion of women in particular, "Fridging" was coined to give a name to the way women characters often don't get their stories told at all. There is a CULTURAL trend of female characters facing disproportionate violence, for the sake of advancing male plots.

Bumble has a lot going for her. Petal had a lot going for her. Turtle Tail had a lot going for her. Bright Stream had a lot going for her. When they died, they took their potential with them.

It's not always wrong to kill off a character of high potential, mind you. In Gurren Lagann, Kamina's death is sudden and shocking, leaving a massive hole in the hearts of the cast that never heals. Grappling with that loss, but also letting his memory fuel them, is a major theme of that story.

All that to say... there's no formula for avoiding it. You've gotta identify what the deeper issue is, in your specific narrative.

I can't say for certain what that will look like for your story, but here's some things I keep in mind;

When you make characters who exist to die, make sure they're people before you axe them.

Ask yourself; what about them does the cast miss?

If they just miss them because they were (pre-existing relationship), go back to the drawing board.

Fluttering Bird as an example. Who was she? Dead sister. Why do they miss her? Dead sister. No traits until after her death.

Runningwind was short-tempered and helpful. Kamina was a valuable leader who made people believe in a brighter future. Swiftpaw was fiesty and desperate to prove himself. The better characterized, the more profound the loss usually is.

If this is a female character who is dying just to serve the plot, be aware of cultural bias and tropes. How is the gender ratio looking in your cast? Is this happening disproportionately with your girls?

Note how Quiet Rain's litter had both a boy and a girl, but the girl was chosen to be "weaker" and wither away.

And how most of the time in DOTC, whenever a man had to be upset, a girl would get killed for it.

If you ever feel like the character on the chopping block is NOT a full character, ask yourself why it needs to be a character at all. You don't need to spend narrative time building out someone when a literal object of high value might suffice.

"My sister died when I swore to protect her and I can't face my family" = Old. Tired. Ive seen this.

"I lost my heirloom sword when I swore to protect it and I can't face my family." = Fascinating. Why was the sword so valuable? Will they really not take you back? How did you lose it?

When you do kill off "high value" characters, try to make sure you're not leaving too many plot threads hanging. Or at least make a point of how they will never get closure.

[waterlinkedgirl]

Musical Touken Ranbu: Michinooku ~ Hitotsu Hachisu (Michinooku ~ A Single Lotus)

Here we go! Only a few days after the archive release and toumyu's ninth anniversary (congratulations!)

Michioku, or Michihasu, is a myu I have many conflicting feelings about, both positive and negative. However, I do believe that with the right amount of care in the next Mika-related story myu, the negative can still be cleared. Plus, I'm glad about a lot of things being re-established. The writer does need to step up her game a little on the plot-writing side of things, as well as the understanding-and-respecting-past-myu side of things, but as long as she does, this can still be given a proper place within what was already established.

Keep in mind that these are only the subtitle files, timed and tled to the DMM senshuuraku and the bluray respectively. The archive version will have a talk at the start, so the starting times of the subs will have to be delayed accordingly.

You can find the subtitles and my TL notes document here!

[mariocki]

Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, 1971)

"You dream of having an affair with this woman who lives next door. To you, that woman represents sin, moral degradation. The house next door is a symbol of vice. From what you've told me, Mrs. Durer is not exactly respectable."

"No... she certainly is not."

[bmpmp3]

everyone on earth probably has a hypothetical farming sim in their mind's eye that they daydream about on occasion because of the unfortunate situation that despite there being like a thousand farming games released every minute only like 4 of them are any good. and i think this is fun, i think its good to keep the imagination alive. if i made a farming sim i would bring back rival marriages from the old friends of mineral town. i want to steal someones wife.

[theramblingvoid]

I think the biggest thing about Sunless Skies that gives it a different feel than Fallen London (other than the obvious gameplay differences) is the position of your player in the universe. In Flondon, your character is important and singular. The storyline is oriented around mastery and influence: starting from the bottom and climbing to the top, gaining recognition and reach as you unravel the world's secrets. While social play is encouraged, there are few in-game characters comparable to the PC, and in many plotlines the idea of being the only or the first one to accomplish a certain thing is specifically emphasized. The story is about what path you take to Make Your Name.

In Sskies, that goal is not absent, but there's a sense of...fleetingness, that never quite leaves you. There are many others like you. You see their entries in the cache logs, they are mentioned in the ports and pubs, you find their frozen bodies littering the open void like stones. It is the very first thing you know when you start: you are a Captain filling the shoes of a predecessor, and in all likelihood simply keeping them warm for the next to come after you, and the next. Your time is limited. Your significance to the wild, vast, ancient skies is negligible. The drive in the story comes from this: Your space in this universe is small and hard fought. Make it count.

[flythesail]

I'm probably overthinking Qimir's backstory because this far in I want it to be somewhat shocking/worth the wait, BUT... I believe the "tragedy" of it should come from simplicity