#god emperor is bonkers

[kylewalker-peters]

the thing about history is that they're literally all real people?!?!? like they all really existed?!?!?! and the length of time humans have existed on earth is a minuscule dot considering the history of the galaxy etc but a millennium is still a massively unfathomable time to us anyway and people were literally born MANY MILLENIA ago in a time that is, in many ways, utterly incomprehensible to us in 2024 but they were still real people that existed and we KNOW about them?!!?!? we have these little scraps of information that show they existed and things they did and they were literally REAL PEOPLE

[spaghettiandart]

Hello! I’m a recent follower, and I really love your Old Man Phil AU. I was wondering, does Phil ever realize that he was a racist, genocidal zealot who was going to be responsible for a *lot* of deaths on the Day of Unity? If so, how does he feel when he remembers? You don’t have to answer this if your ask box is super full, or if you just don’t want to.

Hey! Sorry for taking a while to get back to this post, it's been a while since I've watched TOH and my interest in the au has died down. But I have thought about how a possible reveal like this would go, though since the au was mostly for laughs (and so I could relentlessly bully Belos) I didn't put much in depth thought into it.

I do love to ramble, though, so let me ramble a bit about how I'd like to portray "the reveal" in the au

Since this is a early season 1 au, a LOT of things are obviously diverging from canon, too many to really write down right now. Thered be different events entirely from canon, things that occurred as a catalyst of either Belos's actions or the actions or people associated with him would either not occur at all or occur differently, so the timeline is definitely going to look a lot different.

That said, I think having Phil realize/remember who he was/is should happen around... maybe mid-to-late season 2? I mean like. I don't know how exactly itd go. Maybe he falls down another set of stairs, wakes up, and goes "HOLY SHIT" like right after

I feel like itd be a huge tonal whiplash. Also itd be like... okay, so memories do shape a person, and the new memories "Phil" forms shapes him. So I imagine if/when the old memories comes back, there's a definite conflict of priorities/moral values going on there. I mean I imagine inherently Belos/Philip is an incredibly selfish person with a list of crimes several miles long, BUT he also believes that everything he's doing is the right thing (for whom, whether it be himself or humanity or whatever season 3 revealed, is up in the air) even when he takes enjoyment from the suffering of others during the process (literally just count any of the times hes hurt someone else in the show) like hes so full of himself it physically hurts, so obviously he'd probably try to rationalize everything to himself. Because I imagine having the willpower to keep on doing shit like that for CENTURIES takes a BUNCH of rationalization and leaps of logic, especially since hes a zealot who grew up within heavily religious and I imagine almost cultish surroundings.

I imagine denial. HEAVY denial. Imagine one day you're just some old dude with a mildly shitty attitude and then the next day you wake up and remember your entire past life where you were a racist, genocidal, puritanical tyrant that had extended his own life by unnatural means and also killed his own brother and did WHAT with his body and also is planning to Literally Murder Everyone. What do you even do in that situation?

I dont think hed be able to look anyone in the eye at all after learning that. A) because these are people past-him wanted to MURDER, and B) because a very decent part of him, after having regained those memories, still feels the ingrained hate and vitriol it once had towards witches.

Its strange to think of where hed go from that point, because you'd have to take into account both his older personality and his newer personality and the morals, memories, relationships, etc both past him and current him had, since they'd all affect what hed do.

But basically: a whole mix of emotions including guilt (at the whole murder and being a terrible human being thing like seriously awful), rage (at losing his memories in the first place), even more rage (at having "played house" with witches and demons), denial, denial, and more denial.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

The Most Toxic Situationship I have ever Seen...And I Loved Every Second

As far as sequels go, I cannot deny that this one rocked. It can be so, so hard to follow up a first book without it feeling like retreading old ground or that there is arbitrary or artificial conflict that doesn't feel natural. Xiran Jay Zhao did not have those problems. This book felt immediate, vibrant, and deeply fucked up in the best possible way. I loved how messy it was, and how it refused to make deeply morally, ethically, and organizationally messy things simple, instead giving us the chance to watch the mess unfold and force characters to make choices in situations where there is not right answer. Let's talk Heavenly Tyrant.

This is you SPOILER WARNING. If you go below the cut, I'm SPOILING THE END of the book in like the first two sentences. You've been warned.

Sooooooo...she fully stabbed Qin Zheng in the heart, which somehow radicalized him into a full-on misogynist and patriarchal asshole (although let's be fair, that wouldn't have happened if he wasn't already well on his way to this point), and Shimin is a mechanical bird now. That's a LOT to deal with, and we're going to get there, then this whole book was a LOT. You don't just casually wake up a historical hero, crown him emperor, end up in a toxic situationship with him where you both plan to take down the gods and then murder the hell out of him without a lot of other elements.

Oh also, there was a reign of terror in there that got a little out of hand before they reined it in.

Now, as a heads up for those of you who like all the sci fi stuff in these books: I'm not so much a sci fi girl, so I'm not really going to talk much about those elements of the book. They were well executed and fine, but I was here for other things, so if you want a deep dive into the more sci fi elements, this is not the review for you. My focus is really going to be character dynamics and the politics.

Zetian and Qin Zheng

Sooooooooooooooo. So so so so. These two. The absolute fuckery that is the power dynamic between Zetian and Zheng is unquestionably my favorite part of this whole book. She is out here without the education and experience he has, but the conviction that women are people, the end. He's over here being this weird combination of toxic Mr. Darcy who has the education and principles but SO MUCH PRIDE and patriarchal baggage that it fucks up his implementation and Phantom of the Opera who thinks women are property.

This is what we in the business call an irreconcileable difference. So naturally they have to rule Huaxia and defeat the gods together, which requires finding some way to WORK together. And they do, technically. They get into all these weird power and dominance struggles behind the scenes, but there are also some AMAZING saves because the truth is, they need each other for now. I'm thinking particularly of when Zetian saves Zheng's ass at her coronation and pulls off a "it was a tech glitch" cover for him low-key almost dropping dead mid-ceremony. That was an A-level situation save.

And then she goes around licking things in front of him to assert dominance, which...is a choice. That I kind of loved, not gonna lie.

That said, Zheng did that absolutely bonkers thing where he had to interact with Zetian every day, heard her advocate for women, and somehow STILL managed to think she'd be chill with being his personal fantasy of a tradwife? Like...my dude. She crushed a building of people who wanted that for her, and you think you're going to be the singular dude who changes her mind? And then he had the SHEER NERVE to be surprised when she stabbed him.

Qin Zheng. Sir. Zetian fought you tooth and nail this entire book and was in the single most mutually toxic situationship I have ever seen and you genuinely thought she LIKED YOU??? The cognitive dissonance and self-delusion there is astounding. And somehow also completely unsurprising. Although the fact that he went full paternalistic patriarch in the epilogue had me just DREADING what was coming for Zetian in the next book. And "After all, his son cannot grow up without a mother" is a HELL of a line from this man.

Now Zetian...Zetian learns SO MUCH in this book. She learns about building her own power base separate from Qin Zheng, but also she kept getting hit in the face with patriarchy. She kept getting "be a wife and mother" and "get pregnant" and "don't hurt the (extremely fake) baby" and "use your sexuality to get what you want." All of which are SO IRRITATING even as she learns to weaponize them. Literally patriarchy hurts everyone, and watching her having to use the tools of the patriarchy and hating it but having no recourse was painful and infuriating in the best way. And Qin Zheng somehow didn't see it coming because he didn't see Zetian as her own person.

I seriously want to shake this man.

Zetian and Yizhi

Yizhi just kept making me go, "Sir. SIR. Explain your damn self" through this entire book. Taking down his family made sense, but then he kept doing cloak-and-dagger secrets and betrayals and double and triple agenting, and SIR WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR ENDGAME HERE??? It seemed to be some combination of protecting Zetian as much as he could with what he was given, having a weirdly personal beef with Qin Zheng, and taking down capitalism, but I want this man's perspective and inner monologue because WHAT EVEN.

I did ADORE that he was over here quadruple agenting and conspiring to trick Zheng into thinking he would die horribly if not in isolation and mucking around with IVF procedures. Although the "Dammit Zetian, I'm a political and criminal mastermind, not a doctor" line when he said the baby PROBABLY isn't Zetian's was just...*chef's kiss*

That said...he did still definitely violate Zetian's bodily autonomy, even if it was to stop Sima Yi and Zheng from forcing her into having a biological child. It's...one of those situations that is so fucked up there just isn't a RIGHT answer, there's only the answer that you and the woman you love can (probably, we all hope) live with. I love how MESSY this whole thing was. Yizhi is a messy drama queen in the very best way possible.

And the vibes I got from how Yizhi said "entertainment establishments" on the giant-ass space station made my heart hurt for him. I was really impressed that Yizhi could be as hard and soft as he was simultaneously.

Zetian and Her Various Girl Squads

Zetian is absolutely correct that women need more autonomy. Does she go about this perfectly, or even in the most effective way possible? Big Sister showing up in a dream to ask what she's doing for the 97% of women who can't be pilots would suggest no, but we aren't going to be the people who stop trying because the solution we have in the moment isn't perfect. And one of the strengths Zetian has is that she pulls lots of different kinds of women around herself and she listens to them.

She reforms the Iron Widows and she takes as much of a personal interest as she can in these girls, helping them follow in her footsteps. Then she also brings Wan'er and Taiping into her circle and she takes the different perspectives in, synthesizes them, and does her best to advocate for them with Qin Zheng before they collectively figure out how to scaffold other structures and organizations to do that work independently. It's not perfect, and it's probably not going to be enough now that Zheng has decided he understands why binding women's feet is a GOOD idea, but Zetian made real, concrete strides forward to support and protect women.

I also love her relationships with Wan'er, Quielo, and Taiping, because again, this whole book is about fucked up situations and relationships, but Zetian does manage to make these real, valuable, and lovely connections that bring meaning to her life, both personally and publicly. I love a good girl squad, and Zetian manages to find hers, even after being surrounded by men and betrayed by a female mentor figure in the last book. That kind of resilience and willingness to see messy nuance and keep moving? Impressive as all hell.

The Shimin Thing and the State of the Polycule

Shimin is a metal bird now. Shimin is the Vermillion Bird. This honestly left me with more questions than anything else, because it's not entirely clear what Shimin is, where his head is at, or how he is. And it's not clear how Yizhi and Zetian are about getting him back in this form, in this way, especially after accepting that he was gone.

Not to mention that the Yizhi-Zetian size of the iron triangle is...a little rusted, to say the least, and Zetian had whatever the hell she had with Zheng too. Yes, she stabbed him. But that was complicated by the relief mixed in with the frustration when she didn't succeed in killing him. So uh...the triangle is doing something weird and we're going to need to address that more in the next book. None of them are ok, and they're ALL going to need to deal with the aftermath of the past year-ish.

The Politics

OK SO. The sheer amount of cognitive dissonance in Qin Zheng's whole "the products of labor should belong to the laborers" and the whole productivity fetish and the "don't be a money-grubbing capitalist" thing coexisting with "women aren't really people" thing is insane. Also, the whole, "your value in society is contingent upon the labor you provide" tends to rub me the wrong way because it does not take into account things like severe disabilities or illnesses and implies a devaluation of anyone who does not provide labor that society considers valuable. Which Zetian DOES address from a gender perspective, because Qin Zheng clearly misses the amount of labor women do that simply isn't acknowledged as such. And Zetian tried to ameliorate this. But I also wish just a little that the existence of a human life was valued more than anything else.

Zetian also learns how to perform politics in this book, which is a really interesting journey to watch, and having her go from randomly screaming slogans Wan'er feeds her to actually plotting photo ops and events is intriguing.

Overall, this was a FABULOUS book, and I cannot wait to see where these characters go and what Zhao will do next.

[the-nibrahim-project]

Why is Story of Yanxi Palace a better-written Harem drama than Magnificent Century?

Disclaimer: This is only about superiority in the WRITING. Not soundtrack, acting, ambition, chemistry between the actors etc. In those areas MC is probably better.

1- Yanxi has a better delineation of the Harem system. What the classes of women are etc. is better-explained. The “men with balls” that the women will have a romance with are Imperial Guards and who they are and the extent of their possible relationship with the women is better-explained.

I am not talking about “historical accuracy” here. MC would be nearly impossible to write as a “heterosexual romance show” if they were historically accurate. I don’t care about that. I am talking about the show’s adherence to its own rules.

2- The protagonist’s rise is slower in Yanxi. I am on Episode 10 and she is still a maid, even though she had risen a few ranks. She will end up being a favorite of the Emperor’s, but we see her entire journey. And though she is considered beautiful, the thing that makes her rise and the men fall in love with her is her immense smarts, which we actually see the evidence of time and time again.

I much prefer this to the romances in MC that tend to be “love at first sight”.

3- Wei Yingluo is an excellent protagonist. She is an extraordinary human being: She is good-hearted, pretty, cultured, and extremely smart. But she is not flawless: She is rash, spitefully petty, overly self-confident and frequently exasperated with the stupider people around. Her good traits far outweigh her negative ones, but she is not perfect.

4- Wei Yingluo is actually of a lower-class than every other main character. Thank God. I find this very refreshing after the “noblewoman fetish” of MC.

5- Yanxi is not a leftist show by any means. There is emphasis in it on being loyal to the Emperor and to the Empress being a good thing. But there is better awareness in Yanxi of every life lost being a tragedy. In MC no one gaf about “the random concubine”.

6- There is a one-dimensionally evil Noble Consort in Yanxi who tries to poison a pregnant concubine and who gets away with it. But there is a reason for her getting away with it:

a) Her plan is genuinely convoluted and hard-to-prove so the actual ruler, the Emperor, never hears of it.

b) She is from a very important noble family that the Emperor genuinely can’t offend without sufficient proof.

So there is an explanation here, unlike Mahidevran’s plot armor.

7- In Yanxi, conflicts are actual conflicts and not just the characters being stupid.

8- In Yanxi the people who are deemed “good people” are actually shown being good, helping people, trying to stick to their principles and trying to get along with other women. No one is handed the title “Angelic Sultana” without doing anything good for anyone.

9- Yanxi is not ashamed of being a Harem drama. MC is more ashamed of what it is imo.

So these are all the points that I think makes Yanxi a much better-written Harem drama than MC.

I will only grant MC two points in the writing department:

1) In MC the timeline is much better conveyed (at least until the Season 3). In Yanxi the timeline is completely bonkers. There is confusion in the script regarding how many months have passed since Wei Yingluo’s arrival to the palace. It is all over the place.

2) MC starts more strongly. Episode 1 is one of MC’s best episodes. With Yanxi I feel like it doesn’t fully take off until Episode 3.

@desmoonl @redxluna @julyzaa @things-i-think-and-junk

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 10/8/2024

The Boy is out of my house. end of an era. formally adopt the boy for only twenty of god's own dollars here!

listening

i really really love reading perfume reviews and i would love to start describing songs like a perfume reviewer but maybe this song is not a great one to start out with: the ghost inside by broken bells, off their 2010 self-titled album. it got stuck in my head bc it is sort of the ur-example of 2010s indie rock. you have to listen to it but after you listen to it you know i am Right. kind of a bonkers scifi music video with mostly practical effects and actress christina hendricks (interview here).

thank u spotify weekly recommended playlist bc i had completely forgotten about broken bells. i think i found them through one of those little music cards starbucks used to give out?

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reading

The Blood Trials (Book One of the Blood Gift Duology, Jan 2023) by N.E. Davenport. i KNOW i originally put this on my holds list bc of a tumblr post but i cannot find that post again.

explaining the plot of this book to my best friend involved saying the phrase "and then THE BLOOD EMPEROR" a lot. there is no short way to explain the plot of this thing.

Blending fantasy and science fiction, N. E. Davenport’s fast-paced, action-packed debut kicks off a duology of loyalty and rebellion, in which a young Black woman must survive deadly trials in a racist and misogynistic society to become an elite warrior. It’s all about blood. The blood spilled between the Republic of Mareen and the armies of the Blood Emperor long ago. The blood gifts of Mareen’s deadliest enemies. The blood that runs through the elite War Houses of Mareen, the rulers of the Tribunal dedicated to keeping the republic alive. The blood of the former Legatus, Verne Amari, murdered. For his granddaughter, Ikenna, the only thing steady in her life was the man who had saved Mareen. The man who had trained her in secret, not just in martial skills, but in harnessing the blood gift that coursed through her. Who trained her to keep that a secret.

this is a "graduate or die" book that i would normally say is YA but the protagonist Ikenna is ~20ish and there are two quite explicit sex scenes. so i feel it veers more new adult? what if you learned to be an ancient greek spartan praetorian but also had blasters? that's what this school is.

this is a military scifi that is also a murder mystery (HELL of a dense concept to pick for a debut novel) that gets SO yuckydisgusting with loving descriptions of military training wounds and a cannibalism scene (not by our protagonist) i had to skip over. i think this would be terrific for locked tomb girlies but it is at the bleeding edge of my tolerance level. i am a noted big baby about gore, so ymmv.

tumblr user kay, why the fuck did you keep reading it? one of the best technically written debut novels i've ever read. extremely compelling in how the narration is from Ikenna’s point of view and she has almost all the murder mystery pieces but fails to put them together bc of personal flaws and foibles. and she is so good at tripping face first over those flaws and foibles it really effectively distracts you from the pieces of the murder mystery! she’s so so so good at making the worst possible decision (in hindsight) at any given point. all her decisions have complex hidden downsides but at the same time she could not have made any different decision. failsafes her grandfather put in place fail bc of the way she interprets them. she is a very good soldier but less good as a strategist. terrible as a politician. this sort of thing.

she is quick to act and quick to decide, and allies and enemies flip fairly quickly without much hemming and hawing. once she has definite proof of betrayal or alliance, she accepts it and charges on. i think the occasionally flimsy lead up to these flips is one of the book’s weaknesses, but i also think it’s one of Ikenna’s major weaknesses. im not convinced the author handles doling every clue out or how the very complex political situation clicks together Well, but Ikenna’s reaction and dealing with the fallout of these things is very believable and well done.

VERY rapid pace— reminds me of The Hunger Games, where Suzanne Collins’ background in TV helped her know when to break chapters. there aren’t any lulls where I lost interest— i read this book in basically one sitting overnight.

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watching

meandering through a playlist of oscar-nominated shorts: the 1951 UPA black comedy musical film noir short "Rooty Toot Toot" has been one of my favorites so far.

it's so hyperstylized and so gleefully minimalist. the background characters, even though they are mostly just blobs and circles, are notably diverse for 1951. let's yoink some more background from the description/TCM:

Hubley brought in a number of interesting collaborators on Rooty Toot Toot. Dancer Olga Lunick was hired to choreograph the ballet-style dance moves. There was no rotoscoping involved; her moves were only referenced by the artists and animators, not slavishly traced. Paul Julian designed the backgrounds and utilized some non-typical techniques; in his essential history of UPA, When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA (Wesleyan, 2012), Adam Abraham quotes Julian on one of them: "'I found a kind of oddly corroded gelatin roller - an ordinary print roller that had been pitted and pocked in some way, chemically.' With this device, he produced distressed-looking backgrounds that suited the sordid tale." In addition, Hubley and the studio brought on jazz musician Phil Moore to write the score. Moore had done orchestrations for many MGM musicals in the 1940s, but uncredited--this would be a rare on-screen credit for the black musician. Legendary animator Grim Natwick also joined the crew. Natwick had been active since the silent era and had designed and animated Betty Boop for the Fleischer Studios. He went on to work on such key films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Gulliver's Travels (1939). For Rooty Toot Toot Natwick animated the memorable shots of Nellie Bly on the witness stand.

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playing

i don't have anything fun to say about genshin this week. prepare for me to lose my mind next week about hot ocelot lady.

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making

sanitized/enzymatic cleaned everything orange boy touched in my office and the office bath, bc he was so full of love and also worms and boysmell. i believe the stink has been defeated, but only time and the girls will tell me. unforch, i will have to sanitize and destink the bathroom Again at the end of the month bc a new outside boycat will be recovering here after his neuter. this time i am Not paying for it and he already has a home lined up! it is a complicated case with a friend's exit from a Situation and it is not fully mine to tell. can't believe this office and office bath have been like a revolving door of cats this summer/fall. phil only got fulltime house privileges at the end of june-ish.

[cyberdragoninfinity]

Well now I'm sending an ask for Primo :V

WOOOOO i think primo will be the last one i do of these for now.... im running outta juice 🥴 but for peemo.... i will go to the ends of the earth ⚔

Why I like them/why I don’t: HE'S...MY... COMFORT CHARACTER!! *TELEKINESIS THROWING EVERYTHING AROUND THE ROOM* primo is just... really the kind of character that makes me insane thinking about him. what if you were a robotic clone of an old man's young adult trauma and you were also an archangel from the future but God didn't really like you very much and you also constantly beef with your coworkers, one of which is a child, and theyre both also you. what if you wanted to fulfill your purpose and die so so so bad. what if you had a KICKASS SWORD. WHAT IF YOU WERE A KNIGHT BUT ALSO A MOTORCYCLE. WHAT IF YOU SOUNDED LIKE SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG. EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM IS BONKERS. IT'S GREAT. HE'S RIDICULOUS.

What I like about their appearance: like. it's a very cool design. and it also sucks ass. his hair is so fucking stupid. his heeled boots have turned so many people's brains into complete mush. slash neg. he is literally italian flag colored. i love his freaky robot ass. i think my favorite feature of his is the aforementioned awful haircut and also his edgy red eyes. <3 computer bring up the image again

Do I prefer their dub names or original names?: im more 'can go either way' with lesterlucciano and jakobjose but Primo is Primo Forever to me. placido is Fine but i do think for once the dub gave the character an even more fitting name. though god knows at this point i barely call him by his name and instead a bunch of goofy nicknames like he's my pet. peemo. peem. pipi.

OTP: well my silly goose ass fucked around and got attached to a nicheship (yuseiprimo) (highsidershipping) (you know it's dire when You Named the Ship.) so here i am. i just like them a lot. accidentally got a crush on my maddening human rival and now i must swing a sword around about it. theres so much AU slow burn in my brain about them

NOTP: if you ship him with lester im coming out of your closest to attack you like we're in goddamn monsters inc.

OT3: yusei/primo/antinomy goes pretty hard, i can appreciate it. yusei and two guys who cant stand each other but have found themselves potentially unwaveringly loyal to him. it's a bit of the yuma/shark/vector type deal.

Favourite card they use: OF COURSE IT'S EMPEROR WISEL but especially after it absorbs Stardust DRagon and has the freak ghost dragon sword arm thing going on.... it's so cool that they made a Wisel card that's inspired by that i love when the card game does that.

Favourite moment they were in: A.) when he got cut in half. because holy shit. but more importantly B.) when he's gloating about his stupid robot army in that warehouse and Jakob calls him to yell at him about going against the plan and Primo is just looking away from Jakob's monitor like a dog that just got busted digging through the trash. this may be one of the funniest ygo screencaps im not kidding

Least favourite moment: all of that STUPID SHIT with team catastrophe and the stupid hook card that makes you crash your bike and all the scheming he did that ended up deleting akiza's powers. MISOGYNY. AND ALSO JUST KIND OF DUMB.

Something I associate with them: so much. cinderblocks. insane angel imagery. grey pitbull. wolves. wild boar. ceruledge. iron valiant. Cry For Judas. this genre of post.

[thefallenangelsgang]

WIP Whenever <3

the always magnanimous @fablewritesnonsense has struck again!

This is a piece of DnD writing from the campaign I'm playing Wynleth in. This scene hasn't technically happened yet but we've been talking about what it would look like since I became privy to some Meta-Knowledge (🫠) and it's been rotting in my brain since. I'll put context at the end because it's BONKERS. (if you are one of my party members, this is your warning to leave under pain of death)

----

Rage. Pity. The echoing of my grandmother’s voice in my ears. She was right, you know. 

But mostly fear. 

That ever-present, always-constant companion that’s been fluttering in my periphery my whole life surges forward like a battle charge: fear. It tastes like lightning and feels like nothing else. 

A thousand uncharitable things make to claw out of my mouth. “How could you be so stupid?” Being one. I always had a tendency to bite when scared, like a dog backed into a corner. My grandmother hated that. But it is not my enemy with their shields and spears boxing me in. The wielders are friends. Family. And it’s not even their fault! Which only serves to twist the knife slotted neatly between my ribs further. Betrayal. 

But it’s not their fault. They didn’t know they were even holding a knife until it was too late. And something about that eats me up inside even worse.

Because it means I’ve done something foolish again.

I’ve put my heart on display, and the world has seen fit to crush its soft flesh underfoot. For the second time in my life, I wish I had listened to my grandmother from the very beginning. 

I get the sense that I’m being stared at, and someone who sounds like Zan is talking to me in that gentle way that always gets under my ribs and finds the source of my hurts. But I don’t care. I can’t- I can’t look at them any longer. 

There is a notch on my ribs for every person I have failed, and tonight another one has been added, nameless and new. 

It was only a matter of time before my ribs caved in.

----

No Pressure Tags <3: @heylittleriotact @helena-bug @druidgroves

----

CONTEXT: (last chance party members!)

I wrote this purposefully vague, I'm not entirely sure why. Cutting to the chase, a party member has gotten pregnant (this is a plot line that has been consented to and discussed.) The couple are technically Wynleth's in-laws.

There has been some fuckery going on with adult adoptions. The long and short of it is: the couple in question is comprised of the Prince of an Empire, named Chang (who is a DMPC) and a Player of the party. Zan (Wynleth's husband, now back from the dead. Which is an even longer story) is a childhood friend of Chang's and got adult adopted by the Emperor and is now ALSO a prince (though not in the line of succession). This has been a political clusterfuck of a nightmare in a campaign that was openly advertised as a political clusterfuck of a nightmare.

Under normal circumstances this would be a joyful moment but we are currently at war and being hunted by a god. Not a great situation to bring a child into.

The whole situation is also pretty solidly Wynleth's fault.

I'm not speaking in hyperbole here. Wynleth refusing to listen to her grandmother and God's demands have brought down their ire in the shape of a MASSIVE war and continued assaults by divine beings. Wynleth feels it is her duty, and her duty alone, to die to satiate both these forces but that has been denied of her. Her Goddess has made it clear it is the whole party in her sights (because she knows precisely how precious they are to Wynleth) and there is nothing Wynleth can do.

My girl is careening towards a particularly nasty crash out. Let's just hope she doesn't find out about the baby heir to the empire. I kind of need her to be playable for the end game lmao.

[thebibliomancer]

The escalation of the Battle of Stone-in-the-Wood is so bonkers from the Skeksis point of view

Okay, so, a Gelfling stabbed the General. Alarming but he was screwing around. Jeer his ass off the battlefield and let’s get on with things

The battle is tougher than the Skeksis were expecting but more like trying to swat flies than feeling in any real danger.

Then Aughra explodes out of the Hunter. That’s pretty messed up but she’s basically god and they all thought the Hunter was dead until a couple minutes ago anyway.

They’re more annoyed that Aughra is back than scared.

But then a massive amount of reinforcements show up.

THEN a Gelfling reflects the Emperor’s darkening lightning back and blows up another Skeksis.

You know what, this has gotten too scary. Run awayyyyy!

[vitanithepure]

I cannot for the life of me read the whole text on the banner which makes be objectively very sad. Found on Footfall and was a pain to get a clear shot without the camera going absolutely bonkers T_T

One [dares?] [not?] [doubt?]

the faith in the

God-Emperor.

For none can gain

insight into the

depth of his [???]

Ward off the thoughts

of [???] and

adhere to the

Imperial Creed.

[landoflustfulladies]

For a very quick summary, Exalted is a game heavily inspired by bronze age fantasy and various ancient myths. The players are the chosen of the mightiest gods called Exalted (hence the name), though instead of being Oops All Paladins, it's more like "you were suitably impressive so independent of loyalty I'm giving you the power to kick ass in my flavor". Given potential character inspirations for player characters include things like the Yellow Emperor and Sun Wukong, safe to say things can get bonkers in this game. I will share more absolute nonsense over time because it is so cool.

[lokiina]

I FINISHED THE GAME (BG3)

I'M GONNA- THERE'S BIG SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT. So if you don't wanna hear about end game stuff don't click it cuz I'll be 100% explaining my ending and adding some screenshots in there too. You have been warned.

Proceed with caution. Like Gale hiding behind Cas.

Kay omg. SO, I'm really curious now how other choices end up playing out cuz for the most part this was a fairly happy end. Not 100% happy, as some people didn't get important things but all things considered things went well.

BUT.

I chose to side with the Emperor for this play. I know it was kinda sus on whether or not he was lying and using you as a means to an end for his own selfish needs, but I decided to take the chance and just follow through with the things he wanted. (Except taking the fancy worm to evolve, I was too scared to do that.) I only used a small handful of the worms through my play, and it ended up not being a problem at the end. My boy was completely fine and cured of his brain worm problem.

also this happened while trying to confront the brain the first time. LMAO

Siding with the Emperor and putting complete trust in him involved giving him the nether stones and it did end with the Githyanki prince guy dying. Cuz in order to leave the prisim properly to help me with the fight he had to absorb his abilities.... which meant eating his brain....

RIP Prince guy. Sorry for that....

But after that unfortunate event he was able to adventure with me outside the prism and I could control him in all the fighting as an allied companion. So I had a crew of 5 running around instead of just 4.

BUT I ALSO LEARNED MY BABY OWLBEAR WAS OKAY. He had previously like.... vanished from my camp and I was pretty sure it was a bug. But the lil babu was all grown up! AND IN ARMOUR!

The allies became quite useful, you could call on a handful of people to come as allied game controlled characters in some of the fights cuz damn them end game fights didn't fuck around. They just swarmed you with enemies.

In the end moments I genuinely thought there was gonna be a moment when the Emperor was gonna pull some shit to like take control of everything himself but he never did. He genuinely just wanted the brain gone. So we were 100% on the same side and so giving him the stones and everything was not an error it worked out.

Now in the cut scenes following the destruction of the brain my game kinda shit itself and stopped loading textures so things started to look absolutely bonkers for me and was a lil hard to follow. I think it's cuz I had been playing for so long my poor lil baby system was struggling to keep up with all the stuff it was throwing at me so I had to save, close the game and relaunch in the middle of the end stuff. Lae'zel peaced out, she was obviously not vibing with the fate of the prince guy. Understandably so. She did thank me for everything else that was done tho. Astarion was really upsetting cuz he was all ready to party, and then the poor guy started to burn in the sun and had to book it. kfdjghdkfjgh and then Karlach. Oh GOD. My poor heart.

I almost fuckin cried fam. She was about to die, and Wyll bust in going NOT ON MY WATCH and the pair of them peaced out to Avernus to save her and kick ass together. I would have offered to go with them but I had a funky lil wizard to worry about too. But I knew with the two of them they'd be okay.

The Emperor was just content everyone was free he said he'd miss my boy and thanked me for trusting him when most people wouldn't have. dkjfghdkfg He's a pretty cool dude.

And then there's this guy. This loveable lil nerd.

SO LIKE CAS IS GOING TO WATERDEEP TO MARRY HIS WIZARD.

It's actually fucking cute as hell and very fitting. I hadn't given Casvius a surname at all cuz they;re hit and miss with Tieflings. Some have some some don't, it's often a reflection of whether or not they keep family ties or if they've grown up outside of human culture influence and the like. I had it head canoned that he basically grew up in the Baldur Gates streets without a family but like managed and turned out okay. But he didn't have a surname at all cuz he didn't know what family he came from and didn't really care to find out. He figures his parents fucked up and he was the first tiefling in their bloodline and they panicked abandoning him. It wasn't an uncommon thing to have happen so it's what he kinda adopted as his own scenario too.

BUT NOW, HE CAN HAVE ONE. He can go marry Gale and be Casvius Dekarios. A name he's happy with and more than glad to adopt as his own.

ANYWAY This fuckin game is brilliant, and I hope it wins game of the year. Fuck. It deserves it. The scope of this game is unreal and you can tell a lot of love was poured into making it.

I'm probs gonna remake this boy and play again later so I can go back through parts that had been previously bugged and patched after I had passed them.

[firespirited]

In other news my Dune fixation caused by some amazing tumblr meta writing has not been sated by watching the DUNCs.

I had a long pretty good post typed out after the first one and tumblr ate it:

here goes:

I considered it an alternate timeline (by the time we get the non-Alia and Chani choices of DUNC 2, we're definitely in a different version of this story - I like not knowing if Messiah will be much like the book, I like it if there's no escaping the plots set in motion). I had to repeat Alternate Timeline as a litany when there was no diplomatic party, no tweaking methhead bitchy Piter and Kynes didn't get That Moment with nature.

Was disappointed by the fact Paul isn't already tormented by potential futures at his first major fight wondering if dying might be the best way to avoid mass death and escape the machinations. To me, in that fight, he's chosen a path to the suffering of billions and justifies it and refines it later.

Lynch Dune remains fun because it's bonkers, this is fun too but definitely alternate timeline and neither are at all how I imagine it. Lynch seemed to nail the spirit of some of the characters better despite massive creative liberties with the plot details. It's its own weird and wonderful artefact.

Villeneuve remains the king of ovoid spaceships, mega landscapes and letting the fashion and sound designers get a great budget. I love the Chani additions, not canon and I don't care, it works!

The lack of Arabic complex concepts and more references to eastern religions was sorely lacking: flow has to be more than just a picture of moving sand, i wanted that cells interlinked within cells interlinked: galaxies and molecules and populations easter egg.

I also had a hope for DUNC 2 that it would show the whole universe as deeply religious, as in hardwired to give themselves over to a higher power even if that belief is atheism or eugenics. It didn't and I think that's really important context to properly understand what the story is saying. We've got political devotion bad and religious zealotry bad with both being culturally groomed into people but not the larger context of other "cults" that aren't explicitly about power but self-improvement or belonging or even service.

----------------------

My silly pet theory is that the font is like that because we're probably never getting the two other "ones who bridge everything" of the trinity: sad worm god emperor and our man DUNC potadaho the ultimate renaissance man with a thousand lives. (As much as I'd love DUNC 8 2039: we're putting silver fox Momoa in situations again)

The dream will always be the cartoon/anime adaptation:

52 x 50-minute episodes that teeter wildly between dense political machinations, ecological exposition, that Bakshi LOTR trippy violence and even trippier visions interrupting action scenes, but most of all, near blasphemous levels of religious symbolism top to bottom, the Abramic sure, but the Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist. If they could add Paul getting a big dose of gender WTF: trill-style after being exposed to the water of life that would be amazing.

But yeah I need to get my hands on large print books - yeah yeah, the migraines will murder me regardless. I missed being in everyone's head. Like, the films are great a conveying scale but not how much it's an interpersonal drama first and foremost... for many of the side characters too.

[angelcloves]

thank u for the tag in this lil writing game @enchantedchocolatebars

1. What motivates you to write?

if i dont write ill just flat out go crazy it needs to get out of my brain

2. A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud of; if not, share a line from someone else's work that you love (just make sure to give credit

ive written so much and cant be bothered to pick a favorite line so heres an excerpt from burning bridges

“Camilla Myles, may I see you in the throne room?” The air was cold, but it dropped a few degrees chillier as the Emperor receded into his lofty throne room once more and soft chatter broke out amongst the scouts. They each spoke of Camilla, but none to Camilla. She stood paralyzed in the line for what felt like hours. She’d been a scout for two years without even a single warning on her record. She couldn’t imagine what she’d done to warrant being called straight to the throne room, but she didn’t want to keep the Emperor waiting. It never ended well for the Golden Guard when he made Belos wait.

3. Which OC makes you smile when you think/talk about them and what are they like?

all of them but lately ive had annie on the brainacle. shes cold and quiet but god she loves her friends more than anything even if shes just got the one and they end up with a major wedge driven between them for most of the story

4. Which process of writing do you enjoy the most?

planning! its the part i get to go absolutely bonkers during. im a huge fan of broad strokes so shaping things before i start real development hell is a super fun activity

5. Which part of writing do you think you're best at? (Stroke your own ego, it's okay)

ive always seen myself as a dialogue person from my time writing for stage but i think my foreshadowing has been getting better lately

6. What is something in the writeblr community that is most enjoyable?

im going to treat writeblr here as my mutual circle but god i love that we bounce ideas off of each other so often

7. A writing tool/device that helps you with writing (i.e. text-to-speech, a program, etc...)

comic sans

8. A piece of world-building that you like in your own story (it could be the magic system, a particular place, a law, etc...)

all of the hopper stuff honestly. it was funny how well it translated to the collector even before we knew what they were really made of

9. What piece of advice would you give to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

try a different approach. sometimes it helps to make a major departure from your norm. pick up poetry or work under a set of constraints youve never given yourself before. it helps to come into something fresh yknow

10. Tag some people whose work you love/ have been your biggest supporters

the GANG

@blackyote

@emsprovisions

@sapphic--kiwi

@secretly-of-course

and also everyone else who i forgot because i know thats not all of you please dont take it personally im just scatterbrained this is for all of you

[alyjojo]

August 👨🏽‍🏫 2023 Monthly - Gemini

Whole of your energy: Knight of Cups

There is a lot of watery energy in this relationship, you both show up as the Cups pair, but they’re reversed, and you aren’t sure why. You’re taking the first step towards making amends, you’re apologizing and hoping to fix this separated energy between you, but it looks like this person is and has been playing games with your head, you’re getting increasingly pissed off by that. Because your intentions are very loving, whatever you’re doing is loving, sweet & romantic with Knight of Cups. You’re probably being passive aggressively punished by a water sign’s silent treatments, or that’s what I’m getting.

What’s going on in August:

The Devil rev:

Just being here shows there was some level of toxicity in the past between you and this person. You’ve apologized for your end, or you’re doing that now, but you could also feel like the tables have turned and it’s now this person up to some toxic bs with their emotional manipulations or overflowing tears, silent treatments, general confusion and purposeful fog they’re giving you within the connection. You want to make it better, but you do not speak telepathy, and can/do empathize while also not really understanding this person’s level of depth with these issues so…is this person even on your page anymore?

Ace of Cups:

This is a new start, you love this person and want to make things better. A fresh beginning, lessons learned and all that, Page of Cups here can be asking them out to a movie, a date of some kind. Your olive branch 🕊 is extended more than once throughout this reading, because you don’t want the relationship to end, but you do want to lay the old stuff to rest. You’re also not sure if they can because they’re giving you very little to go off of, except chaotic emotional energy that’s sporadic and hard to read.

8 Wands:

You’re taking action, asking them out, sending messages, trying to bypass their whole moody moon energy. Let’s go to an event, spontaneously, it looks fun. They will probably reject you with with 4 Cups here. There are at least two occasions in this reading where you’re making an effort with them and being shut down. I can’t see what you did, just that this dynamic makes you go bonkers, you’re an air sign and need communication THE most. But you’re dealing with a feeler/telepathic subtext type of person and neither of you are getting what you need from the other, but they’re not even trying, that’s the difference.

King of Cups:

This seems to be your energy as well as the Knight of Cups, an emotionally mature and loving sort of person, you’re willing to make the effort it takes to get this other person to open up and have a good time with you. They’re resisting. So you’re doing the only thing you can do, nothing. You’ve apologized for whatever they’re mad about, there’s been no progress, you’re going to stop trying. If you’re feeding some kind of manipulative joy in this person, that’s ending. I don’t really get that but even this reading doesn’t give off much from them, except what they’re giving to you…which isn’t much. This could be a silent treatment stand off that you don’t even want.

5 Pentacles:

I don’t see it going anywhere. You’re probably going to end up abandoning this situation. What other choice do you have? They don’t speak to you, they won’t go out with you, they don’t tell you what their problem is or let you in to even try to fix it! It’s a lose/lose for you, and they’re driving you crazy in the meantime. The solution is Wheel of Fortune & 9 Pentacles. “Giving it to God” as some like to say, you’re releasing any expectations or hope for a specific outcome, if it is then it is and if not okay see ya. 9 Pentacles shows you being in pre-Empress/Emperor energy where you’re secure in yourself and what you’ve got going on, with or without this person, you’re fine. It’s great energy to be in, you’re not going to let them drive you crazy for very long. That then puts the ball in their court if they want to try and contact you for Round 2 of this game, they know where you are.

Signs you may be dealing with:

Every sign, heavy Cancer/Pisces 💦 & Virgo

Oracles: ✨

38 Limits

Know that limiting attitudes are often formed as protective reactions to past events.

69 Precision

The desire to do things precisely is useful as long as it does not devolve into rigidity.

20 Healing Energy 🤕

Drawing this card guides you to work with energy on a healing level. Take a class, go and receive a Reiki healing, or just sit in meditation and concentrate on mindfulness. With the healing energy of Divine love, you do not have to “know” how to do anything. Just sit quietly, set your intention and let Spirit’s love fill you up. When you are living in a vibration of healing, you not only affect yourself, but those around you. Others then can connect with your energy and their vibrations can rise as a result. There is no force to this. This is basically how energy works. Your vibrational change will effect change in the ones you are close to. Alternately this card signifies healing is taking place within a relationship.

We enter into August as:

Shrinking Violet 😥

“I don’t trust my intuition.”

Are you retreating from a situation that could bring you success? We all abandon projects that seemingly lack merit. However, Shrinking Violet indicates you may not be trusting your intuition, which is mostly likely on target. Choose three people to ask advice from, then take their advice, throw it out the window and go with your gut. There is every indication you should complete the task at hand. Block yourself off from thoughts of what will happen at the completion stage. Stay the process, don’t worry about the ending, or results, don’t be frightened. Just continue on.

What is to be learned in August:

Rose Without Thorns 🌹:

“It is time to face my true feelings.”

You are most fortunate. As we mature, we learn that to enjoy the beauty of a rose, we must occasionally risk getting pricked by a thorn. You are not facing “the same situation”, this is the dawn of feelings being awakened and a new truth being born. You’re being presented with a different way to live. Trust you will know what to do. Stay open. Time changes us all if we’re lucky, it’s time to surrender and make the change. The best incentive to change is often love.

Red may be a lucky color ❤️

[tavina-writes]

Today I am thinking about the eternal blorbo, Huang Yaoshi from LOCH and just. God, what a guy. How could I ever possibly explain why I am so feral about him?

Especially thinking about these lines today:

Ouyang Feng said with a laugh, “Xiong-di left for the west this morning and took a rest at a schoolhouse. I heard this rotten scholar teach the students to be loyal ministers and filial sons. Xiong-di loathes hearing such things, so I killed this rotten scholar. You and I are the Eastern Heretic and the Western Poison, we both are of the same kind.” Then he let out a long laugh. Huang Yaoshi’s face changed, he said, “All my life, I always respect loyal ministers and filial sons.” Stooping down he dug a hole with his hand, buried that man’s head, and respectfully bowed three times. Ouyang Feng lost interest in him, but he laughed and said, “The Old Heretic Huang has enjoyed a false reputation, turns out he also adheres to propriety and etiquette.” Huang Yaoshi imposingly said, “Loyalty and being filial is integrity, it is not propriety and etiquette!”

The reason this sticks out to me SO MUCH is because. Well okay this is difficult to explain without going on 20 different tangents but:

1) Huang Yaoshi is heretical. He hates social customs, being polite, or bothering with people in general. He's downright rude to people about 99.5% of the time, and MOST of the time people simply have to put up with him because lolsob his martial arts are godly and his temper is horrible and he WILL kill you without blinking for being irritating to him.

BUT critically: 'loyalty and filial piety is integrity' and not propriety or etiquette. Being a loyal minister or a filial son is not a thing you are for show and what he HATES is people who do shit for show! Like his daughter, Huang Rong, Huang Yaoshi really admires and likes people who are genuinely committed to doing good even if he's PERSONALLY /hand wobble/ on how great being a good person is as a personal commitment.

2) This whole thing about 'loyal ministers and filial sons' things drives me INSANE in the context of HYS's backstory. Which is that his grandfather was a minister in the Song Government who defended General Yue Fei from being executed (this is widely considered unjust, both from a Chinese Folk History standpoint and inside the narrative of LOCH itself) and then Huang Yaoshi's grandfather was executed for speaking for Yue Fei in front of the emperor. After this, Huang Yaoshi's family was driven from their home in disgrace. Later, when he came of age, he refused to take the imperial exams and become a minister, he fought with his father and was disowned. This is how Huang Yaoshi ended up in the jianghu to begin with! He comes from a long lineage of rich (if slightly disgraced) literati. He clearly changed his name after he was disowned and left home -- 'yaoshi' means 'medicine teacher' and is NOT a real name you give your children lolsob. These experiences shaped his contempt for society and how he treats Huang Rong in the book (with all the love and attention and general acceptance of her character and life path that his father clearly never gave him.)

THIS is why I am so feral about that line.

He was never allowed to be either a loyal minister or a filial son.

AND YET, despite these experiences, some part of him still really respects people who want to be these things, who are these things, who can spend their time on this earth with integrity and honor.

There are of course, other reasons why I'm feral about him -- his horrible pathetic mental breakdowns, leaping to batshit conclusions, absolutely bonkers crimes, and depth of love for his spoiled conwoman princess have endeared him to me -- but this axis of cynicism and yet ADMIRATION for people who are NOT cynical. Just. yes.

[owenthetokencishet]

I get what you're saying, but that's kind of the point.

40k is an exercise in showing HOW the far-right sees the world. It is holding up this example and going "isn't this ridiculous? Isn't this just an absolutely fucking bonkers way of looking at the world?"

Like, the Imperium of Man is a failed state. It is a tangled mess of incompetent bureaucrats wrapped in so much fearmongering and religious dogma that it can lo longer competently do ANYTHING other than make war, and even THAT it can't do competently.

I do think you're right though that modern 40k doesn't present the imperium critically enough.

I think the solution would be to make the satire, y'know, funny? There was a recent story during the 4th tyrannic war where the ecclesiarchal forces on a planet REFUSED to accept that the tyranids were invading their planet and executed anybody who said they were as a heretic. The emperor would never allow such a thing. Even while they were waist-deep in termagant jaws they cried that the whole invasion was fake news. THAT's the kind of shit we need novels about.

Like, present space marines the way the Fallout show presented the Brotherhood of Steel. They paint themselves as the invulnerable defenders of the wasteland, but in reality are just an abusive cult comprised of dumb assholes with lots of toy guns.

The return of Guilliman was... an attempt at this. But the problem is that even the imperium of Guilliman's time was fundamentally broken.

THE GOD-EMPEROR OF MANKIND ALWAYS HAS BEEN AND ALWAYS WILL BE A TOTAL DIPSHIT

warhammer 40k loves to call itself a satire of fascism and then depicts a universe in which all of the great fascistic anxieties and beliefs of its imperium (the enemy is everywhere, it is both weak and strong, we are eternal, any violence we commit is justified, our leader is our genetic superior, degeneracy will lead to the collapse of our society) are all objectively true, completely blunting any satirical edge it could have, but giving it just enough plausible deniability that games workshop can market to anyone of any ideology