#he’s very much like his father personality and face wise and he becomes a model embracing the high society vibe :)

[jedimastre-archive]

Laura's personal review of Jedi Survivor; spoilers ahead !

The game overall has a few bugs but since playing it on release that isn't too surprising. There are some game breaking mechanics though, like your alternative Force powers just stop working sometimes and you need to go back to the title screen in order to fix them. If you are playing on PC, the FSR ( AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 ) makes the game visually fuzzy and there is nothing you can do about it. Hopefully they will implement DLSS. The fuzziness is worse around Cal's character model. This doesn't effect the frame rate at all either so its just visually something you'd have to get used to a bit.

The fighting mechanics start out simple but get a bit more complicated later in the game. You can learn additional moves through the skill tree that can add to the arsenal but I think that is a bit overwhelming. At least for me. Lightsaber combat feels nice, you get quite a bit more selection on stances.

Story wise I think its very well written with a few things here and there that might need some clearing up later. Like how Cal is aware that the Republic was thwarted by a Sith Lord, was this something Cere just knew or found out from someone and then just told Cal or is this just something Cal just knows? I love the utilization of The Path as a story point, building a hope of something more like with the rebuilding of the Jedi Archives. Or at least the attempt at it.

The fight with Vader was both expected and unexpected, I say this because we faced Vader in the last game and I am aware of him being around but didn't really think I'd see him again.

I know a lot of people are going to thump me for this but Cere's fight against Vader was actually really unique and cool. The very fact that she can hold up for as long as she did for that fight is amazing in itself. It is a contrast to her last altercation with him where she got yeeted into an abyss almost immediately. I say I am going to be thumped because Vader is often portrayed to the masses as a very very powerful and unyielding force to deal with. 99% of the people who go up against him are dead on the spot. But I like believing that all though he is this powerful being that has so much power, that resistance isn't entirely impossible. Vader isn't perfect and he is far from the warrior he used to be. Giving Cere this piece was really a nice touch to her story and made her death all the more impactful.

Cal's fight with the dark side is a common one but done in a way he had to deal with due to circumstances. The fact that Jedi are defined really by being touched by darkness and depending on how they react to it is what makes them who they are. The fact that Cal is doing this without a Master's guidance, without other Jedi peers is both devastating and painful to watch. But you see that his training and experiences have shaped him into a very good person and a very good Jedi. He learns to lean on his friends and those who care about him and that is so important.

Facing darkness you learn that it is something he still contends with even at the end of the game. It is a nice touch and something that adds incredible substance to his character.

Dealing with Bode's betrayal was hard for me as it was for the characters involved. You grew to love him, to look forward to his interactions only to be stabbed in the back and feeling almost empty. I liked that they interacted with his daughter like an adult -- they told her they wanted to ask her father to give back something he stole. And his daughter seeing how her father has become was the right way to handle the situation rather than Cal going in and murdering her father out of hatred.

This game all in all has a 8.5/10 from me, if they would fix the bugs and the visual effects it would be higher. The world is incredibly huge and there is still so much to do after the fact. I look forward to playing more later.

[thedeadthree]

fernweh saga; edelgard vanderweyden + odilie verner

novaturient; liudvina vitkus + morta vitkus-caine

wayhaven; katrin strand + linnéa du mortain

mind blind; elin wiseman + cecylia zarneki

saw @honeysides and @shellibisshe’s as well and was inspired to make the babies and their scions ✨🥺🖤

— TAGGING: no tags for this edition but if you haven’t don’t this yet or i missed tagging you on the last picrew tag @ me! i would love to see! 🖤

[btsqualityy]

I’m feeling sad so could I hear some of you head cannons about jk and his babies.

Also jk and pregnant mama jeon head cannons would be greatly appreciated.

I got you! I hope this helps you feel a little better!

Let’s start with Jungkook and his babies 🥰

Jungkook always thought he couldn’t love anyone or anything more than he loved his wife; at least, until ava was born

Despite having three kids in total and loving all of them equally, Ava is his shining star and it’s been that way ever since she was born

When she was a baby, Jungkook spent a lot of time just looking at her, trying to figure out what was going on in that little brain of hers and trying to figure out how she saw the world through her big, brown eyes that matched his.

Ava was a baby that quickly found her voice, cooing as soon as she figured out how to before graduating to squealing and then yelling lol Jungkook always indulged her baby talk though, pretending that he knew what she was saying and replying as if she was a full grown adult lol

As Ava grew up, the two of them quickly became best friends, and they were always together if Jungkook could get away with it

If he was in the studio recording, Ava was there; rehearsals, Ava was there; On tour, Ava was right there cheering her daddy on while singing almost as loud as he was lol

By the time that Aria comes along, Jungkook feels like he pretty much has being a parent on lock: however, he wasn’t prepared for how different of a personality Aria had lol

Aria is very lowkey and while Ava was a crybaby brat, Aria is an evil brat lol She loves causing trouble on purpose and seeing people’s reactions to it

This is exactly what makes her Jungkook’s partner in crime though; they both love pulling pranks on their loved ones and they always manage to get away with it (usually) lol

Since Aria is also very playful, Jungkook spent a lot of time throwing her up into the air and tickling her stomach, laughing himself whenever he saw that bunny smile appear on her face

Once she gets a little older, Aria is a huge busybody and it unofficially becomes Jungkook’s job to keep her occupied most of the time; they’re often out in the backyard together, kicking a ball back and forth between them, Jungkook pushing her on the swing-set, or him chasing her around while she giggles loudly

By the time that Adrian is born, both of the girls are older and it would’ve been a long time since you both had a baby in the house; As soon as Adrian made his way into the world though, you were reminded of just how amazing of a father Jungkook really is

Adrian is your first and only son and Jungkook treasures him as such; It also doesn’t help that Adrian looks and acts exactly like him which really makes them twins lol

Adrian looks up to Jungkook as if he were Superman and Jungkook realizes that and takes his responsibility as Adrian’s role model very seriously; he does his best to lead by example since he knows Adrian is always watching him

Since Adrian is always following behind Jungkook, he always wants to do what his father doing; whether it be singing, dancing or working out, Adrian is right by Jungkook’s side through all of it; so much so that the other members would start calling Adrian “Jungkook’s little shadow”

Jungkook is an extremely loving father to all three of his children and seeing them grow, learn and become their own people would be a high light of his life 🥰

Now for headcannons about Jungkook and his wife while she’s pregnant 😌

When you found out that you were pregnant with Ava, the two of you had only been married for about 9 months and were still pretty young, age wise; it was totally unexpected but once you told Jungkook, he was over the moon about it

Your first pregnancy was hard on the both of you, dealing with the hormones and the pain and the changes that occurred with both your body and your mind; the both of you argued a lot, due to your emotions wrecking havoc on you and you not exactly knowing how to control them

Jungkook did his best to take it all in stride though, realizing how hard carrying your child was on you and doing his best to take some of the load onto himself; he’d massage your feet, your back and your shoulders whenever you asked; he’d also go out at the latest hours in order to satisfy your cravings

His favorite part of you being pregnant though, was watching your child grow inside of you in front of his very eyes; he loves your stretch marks (although you hated them) and he loved putting his hand on your bump, feeling the baby move around inside of you

Your second and third pregnancies were more of the same, although your emotions were a lot less intense during those because you were more prepared for them those times around

During all three pregnancies, something Jungkook loved to do was take a photo of your bump every week of your pregnancy in order to track the baby’s growth; he’d compile them into a nice scrapbook and once the two of you had named them, he’d add their name and birth date onto it as well

When the time came for you to give birth, Jungkook would be right by your side; holding your hand, massaging you, letting you yell and scream at him, whatever you needed in order to safely bring your children into the world; once they were born, Jungkook would do skin-to-skin bonding with them while you watched them with a fond smile 😌

[linxuelian]

I found a Chinese BL Warring States Game of Thrones, three years older than The Untamed

And I just had to write a review about it! It’s 60 episodes long so I haven’t finished it yet at the time I’m writing this - but I decided to just go ahead and recommend it anyway.

Why, you ask?

For one, it’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms with all the Hollywood action and adult HBO things. It’s got explosions:

Horses falling down:

People getting flogged:

Sweaty soldiers getting mauled to death:

Children used as hostages:

Dead bodies presented in court:

Stylish dye jobs:

Loving father figures:

A Jon Snow lookalike:

And very gay innuendo:

That’s right, unlike The Untamed, which was first written as a straight series featuring Wen Qing as the main female lead and then rewritten again after fans of the novel decided to boycott it, this series was written to be gay from the very beginning. It got taken down by the Chinese Censorship Board after twelve episodes and river-crabbed to death, but a good number of scenes survived censorship. Those that did not made it to BiliBili in the form of “hidden” videos and disguised as “music videos”.

That’s not all. For a warring period Wuxia series, it’s got very beautiful actors, backdrops and clothing. It’s dressed like a fairy tale, with different kingdoms sporting different colours and styles in fashion and tastes.

In terms of art direction, it’s pretty low-budget for a series but the team makes good use of existing props, locations and brighter-coloured fabric to make up for the quality. The costume design is more fantasy-based than period, and the vivid takes and angles in the first season add to its charm.

There’s also its complex story line, which brings us to...

Men with Swords is not a title for the faint-hearted. There is an acute absence of black-and-white morality depicted in it.

If you think a BL series with such beautiful backdrops and fairytale-like clothes is for the simple-minded, one-track-good-vs-evil sort, think again. The series is a tale about Murong Li, a vengeful prince disguised as a musician and his rise to power, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction in its wake.

Where The Untamed fails at delivering gray morality unlike the novel it’s adapted from, choosing to alter its script to fit a more general audience (a commercially-wise decision which got it into Netflix), Men with Swords succeeds in faithfully telling a tale where there is no good or evil, only humanity, jealousy, grudges, rebellion, loyalty, life, death, greed and love.

Everyone has both good and bad sides, just different camps and motives. Men with Swords tells the story from not just one person’s perspective, but from the perspective of many different people, all of whom become entangled in a battle for their figurative Iron Throne - to become the king of the world.

There are no “what ifs” in this story, only decisions, reactions and repercussions

A prevailing theme in this series is that there are no “what ifs” and no turning back in life, only things that have happened and will happen. Murong Li starts his journey as a prince who has lost everything and a victim of war, wandering around for three years while being put down and getting sexually harassed, eventually losing it, taking his chances and hardening his heart as he walks down his conniving, badass path of destruction towards the top.

Men with Swords is not a series for the faint-hearted. It’s a game of chess where the main character, Murong Li, is cunning and decisive, cold and ruthless and many recurring characters die horrible, sudden deaths, friend and foe alike, a la Attack on Titan.

The series is filled with political strife and warfare, peppered with some sweet, comedic and romantic undertones. There is a stark contrast between fluffy and dark in its narrative, which is pretty refreshing overall.

With that all aside, I know what you’re probably scrolling down for:

The main characters and their boyfriends

This is it. This is what you’re here for. Most “BL” series are actually bromances, but the real upside for a BL fan is that this show is not a bromance - it’s a BL title, and even with censorship, the love stories prevail.

I’m going to put this under a cut because it’s LONG AF, but what that means is that there is a LOT of BL content available, and not the type that you have to hunt for. They’re very open about it.

While the show itself has a lot of ships, there’s a larger focus on three main ones, namely the beautiful Murong Li and two powerful kings, the fairy-like Ling Guang and his servants, and King Jian Bin with his general.

Murong Li: Da Ji 2.0 and his rich and powerful kings

If you’re a Jin Guangyao fan, you’ll probably enjoy Murong Li and his elegant, charming viles and ruthless scheming. He’s a surprisingly good fighter too, and unlike most elegant and waif-like beauties in dramas and novels alike, he’s a beauty with brains who uses his physical weakness as his strength, bending and seducing his way up to power.

Murong Li only really goes after rich and powerful people, worming his way into the kingdom and taking them down from the inside. Two main love interests are King Zhi Ming, the childish but rich king of Tianquan:

And Yu Xiao, a powerful barbarian king with a soft heart:

Murong Li, while wandering around as a musician, picks up many tricks along the way to hone himself. He’s adept at dressing up, making himself look helpless and alluring to bewitch powerful men, for one:

See that small smile right there? Yes, our boy knows what he’s doing.

Aside from that, Murong Li’s also pretty good at manipulating people by using their jealousies and insecurities, getting them to fight with each other over him.

Murong Li, although modeled after the cruel and beautiful Murong Chong, the Emperor of Wei, is likened to Da Ji, the favorite consort of the King Zhou of Shang. Da Ji was said to be a malevolent fox spirit who started the art of foot-binding to hide her fox feet. Everyone else looking in can see it, but the King was blinded, just like Murong Li’s powerful love interests. In fact, the series draws a direct parallel to it:

The Guo Shi here uses the term “yao”, which alludes to a malevolent spirit.

It’s not that Murong Li doesn’t have a weakness, though. Just like every Jin Guangyao has a Lan Xichen around to cause him to slip now and then, Murong Li surprisingly is weak towards the most naive and childish character in the series, the truant King Zhi Ming, whose only qualities are having purple bangs and being rich and playful.

No matter how calculative and ruthless Murong Li is in the series, he does end up almost slipping up and giving everything away when it comes to this bumbling fellow:

He’s saved only at the nick of time by one of his followers. Murong Li tells a lot of lies, but the one thing he can’t lie about are his feelings towards King Zhi Ming, who is ultimately the one thing he can’t give up next to his kingdom.

There’s a lot more one can write about a complex character such as Murong Li, but the second ship is just as good. It features:

Ling Guang: The Ex-Arrogant Depressed Hamster hung up over a dead ex

Ling Guang, the mortal enemy and foil to Murong Li, is a baby-faced, very-much-older-than-he-looks character whose sole purpose in this series is to wear frilly magenta clothing, destroy the kingdom of Yaoguang, set Murong Li down a path of vengeful destruction and piss off eligible, probably younger bachelors by comparing them to his very handsome, very loyal and very dead boyfriend, his personal guard, Qiu Zhen, who died sometime over thirteen years ago.

The bachelors’ pissed off takes to this are particularly priceless:

Here’s another one from season 2:

That HMPH face is to die for.

Ling Guang’s delusions are met head-on by these eligible bachelors, his ministers and his allies alike:

Only to be met by a, “haha, NO.”

Frustrating, right? It only gets worse as the series progresses. Due to Wuxia’s fantastical existence of sword souls, he begins to actively test his subjects out to see if they’re his dead boyfriend, whose sword soul is still alive:

Gu Shi’an: WTF.

So why do these eligible, handsome bachelors, particularly this guy from season two, jump at his lap every chance they get?

First off, he’s very, very pretty. He’s arguably the prettiest and fanciest king in the series, with a cute rounded face, favoring fluffy organza, frills and feathers in his garb, and sporting fabulous curls like that of a swan princess on a good day.

Secondly, and more importantly, it’s likely because he’s the type loyal dogs adore.

He’s stupidly and openly attached to his bodyguards and servants, unable to hide his feelings or control them. Ling Guang’s relationships are technically the opposite of Murong Li’s. While Murong Li hides his feelings and goes after men of power and tends to use them before leaving them, Ling Guang’s willing to sacrifice everything, including his kingdom, his health and his own life for men who are merely servants.

He's a king who doesn’t know proper protocol. He’s the type who’ll demand to eat with you at the same table:

Creeps outside the palace to see you off:

Hugs your sword around like a pillow while he waddles around listlessly and sleeps with it by his side after you’re long dead (grand total: 13 years):

Coddles you when you’re sick:

Takes arrows for you:

Isn’t afraid to cry and tell you how it is:

Faints violently and won’t rest until he can get your stolen body back:

The results?

If he’s not what loyal bodyguards like, I don’t know what he is. If Murong Li’s love interests have to pit themselves against each other to show how useful they are for his sake, Ling Guang’s love interests need to wrestle with a dead man he can’t let go of... which is hopeless, because you can’t kill a guy who’s already dead.

As a foil to Murong Li, what’s also interesting to note is that it’s alluded to and foreshadowed that he’s exactly the sort the loyal Yu Xiao, the current barbarian king, would have loved to have as a lover - honest, loyal and doting - unlike Murong Li himself. Gongsun Qian, a deputy minister with great foresight, had wanted Ling Guang to go to see the new barbarian kingdom, but he had refused to go outside the palace, shutting himself inside like an otaku. This decision ultimately gave Murong Li a step forward with his plans, at the great cost of four kingdoms, including his own.

Jian Bin: My boyfriend can (REALLY) fight

Next up is Jian Bin and his general. Jian Bin’s the king of Tian Ji, a new kingdom founded by astrologers. The catch here is that Jian Bin and his boyfriend, Qi Zhi Kan, are both men of science, and this tank of a boyfriend is a genius on the battlefield who doesn’t give a single shit about star signs, astrology and superstitions.

A story between a serious, loving king and his handsome general who was once a simple sword-maker in the woods, King Jian Bin meets his handsome ex-lumberjack boyfriend when he’s attacked, falls down from his horse and is rescued by the man himself.

Jian Bin then brings the guy back to his palace and dresses him in armor:

This puts the king’s general on the war path of several ministers and the superstitious people in their kingdom. As lovers, the two go through various trials together in an attempt to run their kingdom their way.

Qi Zhi Kan may seem like a herbivore in front of the king, but he’s really not one at all. He’s terrifying to a degree when it comes to warfare, and very, very difficult to take down. Unlike the other ministers, Qi Zhi Kan knows that he can expand the kingdom quickly and solve problems by waging war.

Even his allies are scared of him:

Ultimately, it’s a ship meant for those who like watching the king teasing his loyal subject and caressing armor whenever he’s around AND not around. Jian Bin even admits to it on-scene:

This loving and devoted couple were originally blessed as the ones with the most piggyback scenes, tender bandaging-your-chest and armor fondling, but they got censored unfortunately.

Scenes like these made the cut, though:

And that’s it! There are actually other minor ships, but these are the main ones for now.

If you’re sold and interested in the show, the series is available online on Rakuten Viki. https://www.viki.com/tv/35524c?locale=zh

[itstimetotheorize]

RWBY: Whitleys ultimate decision

Not gonna lie, when we were first introduced to Whitley I did not have a very good opinion of him, but now that we have gotten to know more about him through out the volumes , I am beginning to get the feeling that Whitleys is not just some spoiled rich boy who tries to mirror his evil father. 

In V7C8 when Weiss has a heart to heart with her mother Willow, Willow tells Weiss that no matter what happens with the information she uncovers to fight her father, she needs to remember and watch out for her brother Whitley. 

Weiss does not take this seriously as she believes Whitley hates her and wants nothing to do with her, willow informs Weiss that his hatred for her only stems from the fact that Weiss left Whitley alone with Jacques and herself. 

by willows words, it was clear that she was trying to tell Weiss that Whitley was just as much a victim to their fathers cruelty as she and Winter were when they lived in the mansion. At first, it was a little hard to accept the idea that Whitley was a victim and not just an arrogant little jerk, but after watching Whitleys reaction to seeing his father be arrested 

and then seeing willow look over to him to see how he is holding up with this turn of events,

willows words to Weiss once again came back to mind. As I watch Whitley run up the stairs, unable to cope with the fact that he is now truly alone in the mansion with no one to lean on as he is left with the full responsibility of the schnee dust company, it got me thinking, what if whitley... was never honest with who he was and what he wanted to be rather be the boy and heir his father expected him to be? 

Whitley is the youngest of the Schnee siblings and as such he had no place in the family yet, business wise that is. Over the years, Whitley saw Winter and Weiss both inherit the title of heiress to the schnee dust company and watched them chose to carry out the family name as huntresses. Their decisions none the less angered their father who only wanted them to be obedient daughters who would do everything he asked and be nothing more than pretty young ladies with the title of heiress. 

With winter and weiss bonding over their chosen careers as huntresses and looking to each other for moral support during their tough childhood with their family, whitely became isolated from the sibling circle that he was once a part of before his mother became an alcoholic and before his father revealed his true colors. Over the years, when winter chose to leave the family and join the military, Weiss became the new heiress and chose to stick to her plan of becoming a huntress and leave for beacon. In those years, Whitley continued to find himself all alone in the mansion with no one to lean on. When it came to deciding who he should be around, be it his depressed alcoholic mother or cruel over bearing father,

whitley was left with no other choice but to be around Jacques for most of his life in order to at least have someone show interest in him.

 With Whitley being around their father so much, Jacques tried to make sure that he had a tighter leash around Whitley than what he previously had with his sisters by exposing him to his negative views on huntsman/huntresses and displaying his anger towards Weiss and Winters decision to stray from home. All this exposure to his fathers rage and having no one left to be around, Whitley tried to do anything and everything to stay on his fathers good side and be viewed as his favorite. Over the course of the RWBY series, It really seemed as though Jacques had a tight grip on Whitely as he attempted to make him the spitting image of himself. However! as Willow now clearly states to Weiss and the rest of the fanbase, Jacqueses hold over Whitley... is not as strong as he thinks it is.

 What does this mean?... it means that up to this point, whitely has only ever sided with Jacques because he has no other options , but... what if... whitely was given a new choice, a chance to break free from his father and the schnee life altogether, but who would possibly give him this chance?... why, Weiss of course! but if the chance presented itself would Whitley even take it?, would he be willing to trust Weiss?...perhaps

Back in V4C9 when Weiss was practicing her summoning, whitely interrupts her to tell her that he is leaving with their father to meet some business partners,

 Weiss, trying to understand the root of his hatred, questions him on whether or not his hatred for her and winter lies from hidden jealously of their abilities? Whitely ponders over her question but replies with a “no”, saying that such abilities are beneath him and are in turn barbaric . When Whitely says this, its possible that he was simply holding back the truth, the answer he gave Weiss may not have actually been his, but rather his fathers, had he been asked the same question. The truth of this could be that Whitely really was jealous! jealous of his sisters bond, jealous of their willingness to go against their father together, jealous of their willingness to leave the schnee family and jealous of their decisions to follow their dreams and be who they wanted to be rather than be what their father expected them to be. 

Perhaps Whitley had dreams and desires similar to Winter and Weiss, perhaps Whitley even had dreams of being a huntsmen himself with a a desire to explore Remnant and a desire to be included in his sisters loving and supporting inner circle. 

Heck, they could have all gained this similar dream by looking at the only good parental figure in their lives, Nicholas Schnee. 

Winter and Weiss must have gotten the idea to be huntresses from somewhere, and if we look at the type of person Nicholas was, its possible that his life story had an impact on their lives. Nicholas was a courageous man who fought for the good of his company and his employees, making him the ideal role model for the schnee siblings to be inspired by.

 If so, then perhaps it really was because of him and his daringness to do what others wouldn't that ultimately lead winter and Weiss to choose to be huntresses. If this is true for winter and Weiss then its likely Whitley also wanted to pursue a life similar to his grandfather when he was a little kid, sadly, judging by how the schnee siblings childhoods was like,  Whitley might’ve given up on his dreams when he realized he had no support and encouragement from anyone, let alone Weiss and winter who only looked to support each other. However! with everything that has happened in volume 8, maybe Whitley will finally be given that chance he never had. 

 In volume 8, Weiss and the others have no other choice but to take refuge in the schnee mansion until Nora recovers. Despite Whitley's willingness to do what Weiss asks of him after she explains her situation and only needing to stay for a short period of time

 Weiss instead gives him the cold shoulder and tells him to go to his room and not interrupt them,

 despite Weisses cold attitude towards whitely, the night that they spend in the mansion may finally give her the idea that she should take into consideration  Whitley's well being. Weiss already lost winter to ironwood, and with everything that's happening she may finally realize that she cant lose her only brother to their fathers cruel way of life. 

If Weiss were to offer whitely her hand and a chance to leave the mansion along with them, to abandon their fathers way of life and give him the chance to decide for himself who he wants to be just like how she and winter did, then perhaps this could finally bring about a much needed change in the family name. But wait, if all three children of the schnee family left, who would carry out the family business?...why, Willow of course. Despite Willows complicated life, we know that she used to be very loving and caring towards her children.

and despite her toxic relationship with Jacques and her continued alcoholism, Willow still held onto her motherly desires of wanting what's best for her children, in V7C8 when Weiss told her that she was not planning to return to the family, we see willow cry with a smile on her face, happy to know that her daughter is strong enough to not return to a house filled with a life of abuse.

If whitely really does decide to leave that abusive life along with Weiss, then its likely willow will  also happily accept her sons decision, in fact, it wouldn't surprise me if willow had already packed a suitcase for Whitley on the off chance that he did decide to leave one day. With her husband in jail, and her children having all decided to leave their fathers toxic way of life in order to rebuild the schnee name on their own, maybe willow will finally have some peace of mind and start repairing her own life.

all that remains now, is to wait and see if Weiss is willing to make the first step in repairing her broken family by going up to Whitley and having the heart to heart chat he had been deprived of his entire life. But hey that's just a theory, a RWBY theory !

[dreamii-yume]

Ohh Queen Yume you've opened the floodgates!! Which guys would be head over heels over a gorgeous, kind sensei!MC?? Who would feel conflicted about their feelings and who are shameless enough to try to pursue her?

“Tell the guards to open up...THE GATES~”

EVERYONE (΄◉◞౪◟◉｀) fight me with this one, Darlings.

Everyone would be up our Darling Sensei’s ass, I BET YOU MY LIFE SUPPORT. The better question at this point would be asking which wouldn’t be attracted to a beautiful Sensei lol

Riddle would act as if it’s the end of the world as falling in love with a teacher is a huge violation of many rules. Though he sometimes slips up with little gestures that makes him stutter and blush uncharacteristically, he can hide his emotions very well. He will try to kill these forbidden feelings, but doing so just breaks his heart. He secretly wants you to come and save him, recognizing him like he does withyou.

Deuce would be ashamed for falling in love with a teacher, how can he tell his mother about this? He came here to become a model student, not to become so attached to his own instructor. He tries to hide as much as he can but he’s a blushing mess with just the slightest attention from you, anyone could instantly tell what’s up. It’s just a matter of time before Sensei herself realized this precious boy’s feelings.

Jack is conflicted. Why was he feeling this way towards his teacher out of all people available? I see him as someone who fully respects you, he’ll be less violent and even if you haven’t noticed, you already got him perfectly tamed. He’ll keep his feelings for himself and wouldn’t ever plan to tell anyone. Though people have been noticing how slightly protective he’s being with you, of course he’ll violently deny them all. But sometimes it can’t be helped, his own tail would involuntary sway back and forth so excitedly if you go as far as to graze him.

Sebek doesn’t seem to like it, poor boy is just really confused. He should already be dedicated to his young master, he doesn’t need these silly feelings to add to his plate! You’re a teacher! You’re a person that he should respect and pay attention to for knowledge but instead, he’s disgusted at the way you haunt his dreams every night! He can’t believe he’s already falling in love with a human like you! Stop making him feel all giddy on the inside, it’s some sort of spell, isn’t it!?

Poor Idia just can’t take a break, can he? When he’s already stuck in a school full of self-centered brats, how dare you come and knock at his closed-off, introverted heart? He knew these kinds of scenarios from all the dating sims he’ve played but never in his life had he thought that he will find himself in the same situation. That being said, he’s still anxious to come and talk to you personally, his tablet was one way but even that doesn’t feel enough. He might really be going crazy as he starts to want to go outside just to meet you...

Silver can’t seem to put two and two together, he couldn’t quite figure out why his heart was beating so fast for his Darling Sensei. He would ask his father for any explanation but wouldn’t get anything out of it but a simple chuckle. That’s fine, something tells him that he wouldn’t be able to trust his advices anyway. Whatever it is, he’s quite fond of it and he doesn’t seem to care much, he does become really sad when you’re away though.

As we already established, Ace can be quite shameless when it comes to his feelings. He won’t outright say what he feels for you, but he’ll constantly flirt and tease you when he has the chance. Don’t be surprised when you begin to notice him actually trying to cope a feel or looking up your skirt because that’s just him. Also, be careful, he’s very prone to using dirty handed tricks to capture your attention.

Leona is another shameless one, he doesn’t care about status, if he sees a prey, it’s just natural for him to bite from the neck, right? What’s wrong with being a little older? He’s not even that young compared to these useless herbivore, he’s the best that you can get. It wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to say that your class might just be the only class that Leona wouldn’t skip. Mainly because he might miss some exclusive view of you, like when your skirt would hitch up every time you bend over to grab something. He wouldn’t hesitate to grope either, that ass is just too tempting not to bite to at least once.

Floyd is difficult to deal with, since he’s likely the most shameless one out of the bunch. He doesn’t care about you being a teacher, Sensei is Sensei regardless! He’ll bother you at every opportunity he gets and at every place he sees you at. He’ll make excuses to meet you up, even going as far as to skip class just so you could take the effort and search for him. It bothers you a little that this particular student of yours constantly keeps asking questions about your lectures even if he always seems to already know the answer.

I’d say Malleus would also be shameless but he doesn’t actually realize that he’s being one. Forgive him for acting so strangely possessive and clingy around you, following you everywhere like a lost baby animal. It’s just that he’s not familiar with having romantic feelings with someone, let alone a mere human. He doesn’t see anything special in your role as a teacher, he had lived much, much longer than you after all.

Lilia is amused, to think that someone as wise as him had actually fallen in love with someone who was supposed to be his ‘teacher’. Never in his long life had he found himself in this kind of situation, it’s interesting! It’s not like it’s a problem anyway, you are nothing more than a child compared to his actual age, you’re just a mortal teaching him stuff that he already knew. But it doesn’t hurt to take advantage of his youthful appearance now, does it? Lilia’s excited to know where this relationship can go.

Sometimes, Trey and Jamil just doesn’t feel like a student to you. Being a lot more mature than the other students, you just can’t help but to rely on them for a lot of things. Maybe that’s probably why you’ll never notice how deeply in love these two are with you, they’re just that good when it comes to hiding emotions. They’ll give subtle hints here and there and Trey, most likely, might even flirt with you at some point but you’ll be so familiar with him by now that you wouldn’t even mind. I’d say Trey’s a bit on the shameless side, but not in a way that makes him clingy while Jamil is the type to just keep quiet but secretly and skillfully making moves.

Cater is categorized as shameless when it comes to expressing his feelings, but when Darling’s a teacher, things becomes a little...complicated. Don’t get him wrong, he’ll be the same as always, so talkative and energetic around you, even calling out for you with a cute nickname. He’ll even flirt like you’re the same age as him but he would always make it seem like a joke. If you’re a teacher, he’ll also be very careful about posting something about you in his Magicam, he knows how this works anyway. One word out that you’re becoming too close with a particular student, you’ll risk losing your job. Cater doesn’t want that happening anytime soon, but just know that he can make it happen too if he absolutely needs to. Until then, it’s all good and dandy!

Ruggie wouldn’t be guilty nor conflicted about his feelings, but he wouldn’t be as shameless as to scream out his feelings to everyone around him. No, only an idiot will do that and it’s embarrassing so, no thank you. Instead, he can play the long game, he’s a patient guy despite how he looks. Besides, he’s used to these kinds of stuff by now so it’s not that much different~! Expect many coincidences with him in it though!

Azul appears to be very calm on the inside, always helping you out whenever you need him without asking for anything in return. That’s what he is, a simp a gracious student ready to help his dear teacher out any time! But that’s what you think, in reality, he’s just desperately trying to earn your favor by being your “Yes-man”. He believes that if he became the goodest boy in your eyes, you’ll be able to love him as much as he does with you. Although, just expect a few tears and tantrums when he doesn’t get his way though.

Jade is so different from his brother that it surprises you that they’re even twins in the first place. He respects your boundaries, even if he wanted nothing more than to become as shameless as his other half. He’s very active when it comes to your lessons too, always paying attention with the greatest interest. He even serves you tea as refreshments and helps you with work if he feels as if you’re overworking yourself. He’s not really the type to care whether you’re a teacher, “I wonder~?” He’ll be very vague about it if anyone dares to ask but if you look closely, that smile says it all.

Kalim wouldn’t be able to recognize his feelings for a really long time. He’ll think it’s just normal to feel this way, for his heart to beat this fast, for his face to heat up, for thoughts of you to flow through his head even at night. But when he does, all those times he shamelessly clung to you and talked to you will come back to attack him all at once. He’ll actually lower down his affection levels because he was told that liking a teacher is bad and it might actually cost you your job. But it’s so difficult! It wouldn’t hurt to spend...a little more time with you, would it!?

Vil thinks it’s stupid of him and of you. He thinks he’s stupid for falling in love with someone like you, his own teacher, it’s unbelievable how low his standards had become. But at the same time, he thinks you’re stupid for not being able to understand why he fell in love with you in the first place too. Despite the salt of falling in love with someone like you of all people, it doesn’t change the fact the he’ll keep on striving to become the best for you. He wants you to notice him, notice his improvements, and make you feel how lucky you are for catching his attention, so would you try and look at him in a different way for once?

Rook just loves anyone and anything, does he? Everything is beautiful in his eyes and yet, there was something about you that shines the brightest amongst all others. There should be no shame in expressing his feelings, he’ll shout it out loud to world. His eccentric personality is working against his favor too, even if honestly and openly admitted his feelings towards you with everyone, no one will actually take it seriously. But what others perceives to be true isn’t always true, Darling.

I’m not quite sure where to put Epel in all of this, something’s telling me that he would be on the shameless side only if he’s willing to show his much more aggressive side. However, I can imagine him being worried to show that side to you, since you were already put under the impression that he’s a dainty, gentle boy. Although he doesn’t like being treated like he’s the most fragile thing of all people, he can’t deny the attention he gets from you whenever he’s acting like this. Epel doesn’t really seem to care if you’re a teacher in all of this, he knew that it’s not good but he’s determined. Once he graduates, he’ll definitely make a move on you so, just you wait...!

Before I knew it, I made something for every character holy shi- my teacher kink is terrifying.

Also, yes, Darlings! Yume changed her usename from “amai-no-yume” to “dreamii-yume”! ( ＾∀＾) To tell you the truth, I didn’t expect to like posting sins in tumblr this much ヽ(；▽；) So I ended picking such a half-ass username! But now, I decided to change it to something hopefully cuter and more appropriate! ( ´ ▽ ` )

Nice to meet you again, Darlings~!

[clovd-9]

fateful findings | ateez

You are the most recent Victor from the 74th Hunger Games and have been reaped for the Quarter Quell. Before your victory many overlooked your abilities—deeming you a lost cause due to your humble beginnings within District 8. With help from your mentor, Jeong Yunho, you proved your worth effortlessly. While your outstanding agility and sharp eye for observation was more than enough to show your true potential, your charismatic persona truly won the hearts of the Capitol. This presented you with numerous sponsors, and during the Game, you continued to win them over. As your death toll rose to the double digits, there was no denying your power. Despite your seemingly cold-blooded act, hints of your benevolence seeped through as you spared and saved the lives of those who were truly vulnerable. This led to you being the hot spot of gossip for fellow Victors and the media alike. However, your charming persona quickly dissolved after your win as you voiced your contempt for the Games. You quickly changed from being the nations’ treasure to the face of an uprising rebellion. 

Now, with the Quarter Quell in motion and your sponsors on the line, you must decide how to play and who to play with. Your decision will determine your fate—so choose wisely. 

Choi San

From District 1—the District of luxury

Specializes in the use(s) of: throwing knives and stealth

Won when: 12 

Current age: 21

San is the youngest person to have ever won The Hunger Games

He is the nation’s bad boy and other competitors worst fear

Due to his early age of winning the games he has had enough time to train and be the most vicious mentor and victor known to date

Given that he lives in the most luxurious district, most would call his behaviors that of a spoiled brat

So when the Quarter Quell was announced and he realized he might lose his life of comfort—the media took notice

While he is known as the Midnight Assassin, many of his fans fear they will lose their beloved District 1 victor

Will you choose to partner up with the nation’s deadliest bad boy—or will you choose someone else to keep you company during the games?

Kim Hongjoong

From District 2—the District of weaponry

Specializes in the use(s) of: daggers and speech

Won when: 15 

Current age: 21

Hongjoong is said to be the Prince Charming of the Capitol

Everyone either loves him or wants to be him

Many sponsors placed high bets on him when he went into the Games after seeing what District he came from

And due to his total of 13 kills during his time in the arena he has earned lots of support from the media

As well as being marked as a potential serial killer by fellow victors

Not only that, but he regularly has appearances on talk shows and is painted out to be a total player

The Capitol eats this up, of course

But when the announcement of the Quarter Quell hit headlines,’many feared to lose their beloved red-haired prince

However, he reassured them that he’d make it home by any means possible with a grin and a sinister twinkle in his eyes

So, will you choose to partner up with this killing machine—or will you decide upon another victor to watch your back?

Park Seonghwa

From District 4—the District of fishing and aquatic agriculture

Specializes in the use(s) of: spears, survival skills, and knowledge of numerous environments

Won when: 17 

Current age: 22

Seonghwa is the last of the careers, but certainly not the least

Even before his game, many were blown away by his stunning looks and stoic personality

Due to his District being on the coast, his sun kissed skin become something to die for (no pun intended)

This along with his outstanding skills and unexpected deadly nature quickly made him one of the nation’s favorite heartthrobs

His demeanor is rather quiet, yet he is seen as very wise by his fellow victors

He has never yearned for the limelight and is far more humble than his skills allow him to be

However, when the other career from his district was hurt during his game, he dropped everything to nurse her back to health

Many people see this soft spot as a weakness while many people living in the districts see this as a symbol of humanity within the games

The day of the Quarter Quell his face was stoic as usual but those who paid close enough attention could see the clenching of his jaw and fists in what was most likely anger

He has never openly supported the Capitol and declined all requests to be in talk shows or featured in any media streams besides his mentor position

That being said, will you choose this modest candidate to be your teammate—or will you follow in the lead of another victor?

Kang Yeosang

From District 6—the District of transportation

Specializes in the use(s) of: camouflage and stealth

Won when: 18 

Current age: 21

Yeosang is one of the lesser known victors given his District and how fresh his win still is within the Capitol

This being said, not much is known about him

However, much is known about his beautiful works of art

He is said to spend his time locked away in his home painting for his collection within the Capitol gallery

And although he’s a massive homebody, that’s not to say he doesn’t have any fans because of his looks

His distinct and charming visuals have placed him numerous modeling gigs from many brand name designers

His performance in the games is rarely a topic, as he won by rather peculiar means

Those being that he stayed hidden for more than half of his game and only had a kill streak of one

When news of the Quarter Quell broke out, very few people had hopes of seeing their beloved artist again

Will you look past the low expectations for this artistic shut-in—or will you take your chances with someone more trusted within the eyes of the public?

Jung Wooyoung

From District 7—the District of lumber and forests

Specializes in the use(s) of: axes, stealth, and agility

Won when: 16 

Current age: 20

Wooyoung was an instant fan favorite among the Capitol

“Everybody’s favorite pretty boy” as Ceaser Flickerman would like to call him

With his young age, the cockiness is expected, and the other victors absolutely despise it

His kill streak was only 4 people during the game, but do to his speed and creativity, all bets were almost immediately placed on him

He won his game with axes covered in blood and a devilish grin on his face

What he does out of the media’s eye is a total mystery, though most speculate he tries to woo the ladies of his District and the Capitol

He has also taken up a rather peculiar hobby of modifying himself—whether it be his hair, teeth, eyes, or skin

But when the Quarter Quell was announced, the pretty boy act dropped and was replaced with an unexpected rage

Never had Wooyoung gone against the Capitol, but now, some are unsure of his reliability

Will you team up with this quirky double edged sword—or will you rely on another victor to have your back?

Jeong Yunho

From District 8—the District of textiles and fabrics

Specializes in the use(s) of: intelligence, physical strength, and swords

Won when: 15 

Current age: 21

Yunho is one of the most beloved faces in all of the Capitol

The nation’s boyfriend material if you will

He’s a charmer that won the hearts of many sponsors during his game

Hilariously enough, during his game, many of his opponents wrote him off as another pretty boy to be dealt with

However, that proved to be a difficult task as his intelligence levels were above almost every other candidate

He won the games by setting up traps or having unsolvable courses of action

It is said that this raised level of intelligence came from working at his District’s textile factories every day and solving any problems with the machines

His back story is a tragic one—mother and father died due to a fire at one of the factories

And his only sister was reaped into the game with him

Yunho rarely speaks of this, though, and keeps a warm smile on his face

But the day the Quarter Quell was announced, the slight tremors in his hand became unbearably noticeable even though he had a smile on his face

He merely waved at the cameras to wave off any uneasiness from his fans and took his place on the platform

However, some say his smile is a facade, and is slowly breaking with each day gone by

Will you entrust your life with your mentor once again—or will you find yourself alongside another?

Choi Jongho

From District 10—the District of animals and livestock

Specializes in the use(s) of: sickles, stamina, and physical strength

Won when: 17

Current age: 19

Not much is known about Jongho—his District is very small and his win is still fresh in the eyes of the media

Most victors look at him as a child still given his young age

His duration spent in the game was anything but childlike, though

Due to his background as a butcher, his technique of killing was precise and clean

He only killed when he needed to, which seemed weak to some, but smart to others

He didn’t have very many sponsors because he was a mere minnow in a pond of much bigger fish

This did not stop the media from putting him into the limelight, though

After his win, the media, however, has come to fetishize him being the youngest victor

When asked about his views of the Capitol and the Games, he tends to find a way to incorporate its downfall without directly saying he hates the Games

This is written off as teenage rebellion

However, when his silence suddenly shattered during the promotions of the Quarter Quell, many came to see it was not just hormones that led him to have such disdain towards the games

Will you team up with the Capitol rebel—or will you choose another victor to take his place?

Song Mingi

From District 12—the District of coal

Specializes in the use(s) of: herbal medicines, first aid, and survival skills

Won when: 13 

Current age: 21

Mingi is that of a gentle giant to the Capitol

He was never as brutal or cold as many other Victors in the games

This image of humanity led to inspire many within the Districts

He did what he had to to defend himself, and even then, he did it by the least harmful means possible

His extensive knowledge of foraging led him to survive the games, as he only ever killed people by poisoning them

He also kept himself alive with the native plants in the arena

The media played him up to be vicious due to his rather intimidating looks, but his shy demeanor quickly struck that idea down

He spends most of his time tending to his family and many people of his District

So when the Quarter Quell was announced, his entire District began to rebel

This has caused a rather dark mark upon his image, leaving him with very few supporters

Will you take this gentle giant as your teammate—or do you have your eyes set on another?

Voting is pivotal to this series. Comment or reblog with the member you decide to create a alliance with. the most voted for member will have their story written first.

Best of luck and may the odds be ever in your favor

[admelioraii]

Al Andalus II: One of the world's greatest civilizations; Times of glory, Part 1.

Previous parts:

Al Andalus I: The dawn of one of the world’s greatest civilizations.

Al Andalus II: One of the world’s greatest civilizations; Times of Glory, Part 1.

Al Andalus II: One of the world’s greatest civilizations; Times of Glory, Part 2.

Al Andalus III: One of the world’s greatest civilizations; The Downfall and end, Part 1.

Al Andalus III: One of the world’s greatest civilizations; The Downfall and end, Part 2.

Patio de la Lindaraja, courtyard in the Alhambra.

I . Abd al Rahman (the enterer,” the one entering al Andalus”)

In Damascus the situation had become unstable and dangerous. The Umayyad caliphate had weakened and faced a direct threat from the Abbasids in Baghdad.

In the year 749-750 A.C. The situation had escalated rapidly and the Abbasids started a wave of assassinations of the Umayyads, all eligible men and boys were gradually assassinated. Two of the few survivors of these massacres were Abd al Rahman Moawia 19 years old, and Walid Moawia 13 years old.As they knew the Abbasids wanted their head they secretly went into hiding, in a place by the Euphrates river.

Euphrates river

Escaping death by the Euphrates river:

One night the two Umayyad princes found themselves surrounded by an Abbasid army. They started running for their lives, but with no direct places to hide, their only way out was the “Euphrates river”. The two brothers, realising this, went into the waters and started to swim. When they had swam half way through they were tired.

They heard the calls of Abbasids shouting “come back, we mean you no harm, we just have some questions”. Exhausted and desperate, Walid, the youngest of the two, started swimming back. Abd al Rahman told him to come back but in vain, the younger brother chose to believe the Abbasids. Abd al Rahman watched on from the waters, when the Abbasids killed his brother. Shocked and devastated, he swam to the shore and continued his escape by foot.

Afraid and lonely, he walked for months until finally reaching Karouan city, Tunisia. This was his mother’s home land! She was a descendant of a prestigious Berber tribe in Karouan, here, he was finally safe, at least for now…

Kairouan Great Mosque

The uproar:

Because of the Abbasids' elimination of the Umayyad bloodline, the whole of North Africa was in unrest. Everywhere were protesters and manifestations. Many of the countries refused to be under Abbasid rule after what had happened. The Abbasids made Abd al Rahman fear for his life, but they were not his only enemies.

Fractions of Berber tribes in Morocco were displeased with what they saw as an unfair distribution of position and wealth in al Andalus. They saw that they had gotten the short end of the straw, and that the Umayyads and Arabs had benefited the most in al Andalus.

As a result, some Berber tribes in Morocco were hostile towards Abd al Rahman for being an Umayyad. On the other hand,they were dissatisfied with the current ruler of al Andalus Yusef ibn Abd al Rahman al Fahri, the governor at the time. Abd al Rahman soon realised that he was not safe in North Africa either.

Palace in Alhambra

The plan:

Amidst the situation in al Andalus, he understood that the wisest move was to try to gain support from inside al Andalus. Al Andalus was won with the help of the Umayyans, so there was significant support for Abd al Rahman inside the country. The situation inside al Andalus was filled with conflict and the different groups were politically separated. The Yemeni Arabs agreed to support him out of dislike for Yusef al Fahri.

Nevertheless, they were not completely convinced that he was trustworthy, for to prove to them that he wasn’t going to run away if they lost, he switched horses with one of them. The truth was that his horse was extremely fast, when they got the insurance they were convinced.

Abd al Rahman’s troops won the fight and he became Abd al Rahman I, the first Emir of al Andalus. Finally safe, Abd al Rahman was satisfied, now the sea separated him from his enemies.

The rule of Abd al Rahman I (the enterer) (756-788 A.C)

Up until now al Andalus had been ruled by frequently changing governors. It was unusual that a governor stayed in power longer than 2-3 years. This constant changing of rulers destabilised the country. With Abd al Rahman I in power this changed. The country now became stable and prosperous.when Abd al Rahman I took the throne he was only 25 years old but he had been through a lot. 

To get a better picture of him as a person, here is what Omar ibn Hayan il Andalusí wrote about him. “He is peaceful and diplomatic, and despite his young age he is a raw model for the people. He is wise, well educated and broad minded. Quick, hard working and forgiving, he likes mixing with the people and prays alongside the masses but he never brings guards or bodyguards. Not to forget his eagerness to help people. Moreover he is humble and democratic, he never takes a decision on his own but always discusses with others.” 

Gran Mezquita de Isfahán

Accomplishments.

Abd al Rahman I came to the conclusion that the country needed unification, economical reform as well as expansion of the army and educational reform. One of his big concerns was , understandably, the army. He expanded the army and at the end of his reign the ground forces counted 100,000 men; this was only the leg soldiers. He ordered the building of ships and created a large and strong fleet. 

His idea of including all tribes and different groups in the army, to get it balanced and avoid discrimination showed to bee very effective. As well as in the rest of the Muslim world here too non Muslims didn’t join the army but paid “gisia” *(see explanation in the end of this article). To improve the infrastructure he built harbours, roads, bridges, locks not to forget cities and castles. The naval's construction was situated in the cities of Almería, Zaragoza, Seville and Tortosa. The arms production was concentrated in Toledo (small remains of this can still be found today) and

From all these magnificent achievements some of the real great ones are without  doubt the construction of the great mosque in Córdoba, the costs exceeded 100,000 dinar in that time.Not to forget rasafa gardens, with an enormous amount of foreign plants and flowers imported from all over the world.

With all other reforms in place he couldn’t oversee the juridical system, it was entirely reformed. Every person was equal in front of the law, as was the case in  all other aspects of the society, as well.Sanitary conditions were profoundly improved and the expansion of running water systems on a large scale.

Lastly but not least was the “Beit il mal” , a kind of social security system, was set up to improve the living conditions of the poor.** (See end of this article) Emir  Abd al Rahman ruled al Andalus for 34 years, broadly loved by his people he built a strong and organised country!

In the end of his life he had to choose a successor , he was choosing between Soliman, the oldest son or Hisham the youngest. In the end he decided that it should be Hisham who should take over the throne.

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

Hisham I.                                                                                (788- 796 A.C )

He had inherited many similarities with his father. He was a well educated man who surrounded himself with scholars, one of his achievements was to make Arabic the main language in al Andalus

Al Hakam I.                                                                             ( 796-822 A.C)

He was very different both from his father as well as from his grandfather. Al Hakam I was a hard, strict and difficult person and he was specifically harsh on anyone opposing his orders, as a result he burned down the houses of protesters and exiled them.Moreover he raised the taxes and forced additional taxes on the population. Al Andalus lost Aragón (Barcelona) during his time as a ruler. Anyways, he changed towards the end of his rule and repented. As a sign of apology he put his kindest and wisest son as a successor.

*Gisia: This was money a non Muslim payed as costs for the army, for protection. A non Muslim did not join the army. The gisia was paid exclusively by men. This meant that exempt from paying gisia was; women, children, old, sick, priests and poor people. The gisia in that time was 1 Dinar per year. Much less than any taxes paid before or after. Muslims however paid 2.5% of their yearly income.

**Beit il mal: (House of social security): Working Muslims paid a kind of obligatory payment (2.5 %) that was used to improve living standards of the poor citizens in the country.

[legionofpotatoes]

alright here’s ma thoughts on that flick I mentioned

we hatewatched a*my of the dead because we were CONVINCED “zombies in las vegas” would be an impossible concept to screw up, but in so assuming we obviously invoked a holy wager with the universe and got reminded, once again, that hoping for improvement from someone who’s dependably put out bad art is never a wise choice 😐

but we were honestly kinda roped in by the marketing??? and expected a goofy fast-paced flick with the odd traditional undead metaphor thrown in, framing some sort of relationship drama maybe or hell even nothing at all! we’d have taken pure indulgent storytelling, idk italian job with zombies in las vegas, I don’t know fucking anything but??? whatever this was???? spoilers below for it is time for One Of My Rants

I mean the main reason I really want to write all this and complain. this film here probably has the most unappealing cinematography I have ever experienced in my life and that is saying something. who the fuck signed off on that CONSTANT shallow-ass depth of field that imprisons your eyeline and turns every shot into bokeh paste???? and I mean every shot almost!!!! I promise if you think I am overreacting just throw a dart at the seek bar and watch twenty seconds from wherever it lands. it is horrifying to look at. at least it gave my girlfriend a good visual shorthand for what it’s like when I lose my glasses

why was sean spicer in this movie. did they pay him to be here. was sean spicer paid hollywood money for his scene in this film because fuck everyone who was involved in that decision

the legitimately baffling hints at the extraterrestrial origins of the infection that went absolutely nowhere and had no dramatic or plot-level bearing. we love to see the franchise sprouts fellas

yet another big budget waste of everything hiroyuki sanada has to offer. and bautista too I guess? I like him but man was this an odd career move

what was the crux of his conflict/resolution with his daughter btw. I understand it was rooted in miscommunication over their forms of grief irt mom but uhh… it was all rather clunky and didn’t land for me. I tried I really tried to buy in but something was wrong fundamentally with the groundwork there, it did not click and their catharsis felt unearned. I know there’s massive amounts of tragic baggage being projected there from the author so I’m not slapping any judgment down really;

but again it would be an easy thing to wave off if they just had a vibrant cast of lovable simpletons with good chemistry and the kinetic sense of plotting the trailers promised (and this premise never discounts good drama, either). but instead it was just two and a half (!) hours of meandering into situations the filmmaking instincts had no idea how to flow in and out of

to wit. I know talking about “bad pacing” is associated with armchair bullshit but consider the example of the scene were dieter does an out of nowhere little dance after childishly screaming but then still-killing a zombie, with the film framing this as a micro character triumph, and not a second later the bg soundtrack instantly fades into an orchestral score dramatizing a nearby mcguffin reveal, completely 180 degreeing the tone without a semblance of deft insert shot stitching or even I dont know a fucking jump cut maybe. now imagine this whiplash for 2.5 hrs uninterrupted

I will keep complaining about the length yeah because this was not a story requiring this much real estate to be told. Uhh in my humble and personal opinion, of course

[man sees zombie tiger] “this is crossing the line!” you can in fact write dialogue that is not utter nonsense that falls apart once you drill down its single fickle layer of referential meta winking. what line are you talking about. you have rules in this insane situation you’re in? total nitpick moment I know but it got burned in my brain for some reason. like a microcosm of the mismanaged dramatic instincts paired with weird writing that dots this movie. I am sure the director calls this either satire or genre deconstruction. I am SO sure

tumblr domino meme that goes from “dude getting sucked off while driving” to “entire las vegas literally nuked”

tig notaro is always great to see but once you know she’s been filmed as a separate greenscreen plate months after photography wrapped - cause she had to apparently replace some abusive asshole but that’s a whole other pig not worth fucking - it becomes impossible to unsee her odd detachment from everyone else in the movie lmao. it doesn’t really “ruin” anything on its lonesome but it is hard to unsee

why. was. sean. spicer. in. this. movie

a very simple key ingredient missing from fully turning lip service sympathy for main uruk hai dude into actual empathy that would generate meaningful conflict with hero family would be to spend a bit more time articulating what he internally wanted the most. because he was obviously trying to do something here with pointed agenda. a family, to have kids, build a caste system, save his wife’s head, return to his planet??? all of these could represent the bigger context in his psychology that spurred his vengeance but none of them are dramatically emphasized long enough for you to cheer him on. I’m not asking too much I promise. Articulating interiority of a mute character is pretty doable with deft cinema language, just gotta linger and hold a shot here and there for a few seconds, frame as his POV, donezo. I know this is also one of those like. “who cares” moments but the movie does, very evidently so, in making this guy an actual character. you can kinda piece it together and create a framework of sympathy for him, sure, but then again he ultimately becomes a foil to be killed and not defeated, so. Ehh whatever

quarantine zone stuff was not a wildly childish covid allegory quarantine zone stuff was not a wildly childish covid allegory quarantine zone stuff was n

the rooftop helicopter fakout at the end was such an ass-backwards, manufactured moment of what could be a simple setup/payoff it just pissed me off??? you gain nothing by giving sad dad five seconds of pointless crisis that flips right back to previous status quo ANYWAY, except for a weaksauce waste of runtime, which could be used instead to get inside notaro’s head and actually SHOW the remorse form as she took off, literally maybe even a frown playing on her face as she’s headed for safety right before we cut back to drax and the kid. just a simple-ass, minimal, momentary setup for what is the most basic filmmaking trick of creating macro catharsis moments. Just???? g o d if you can’t even land that shit why are you even doing any of this

that lil run final pam did was very very charming and super choreographed in a way that was the tiiiniest bit overdone

the whole intro with the simul-backstories and posing with family photos was just… oddly motivated. what was the goal? “here’s what we’re fighting for” vignettes? why? it’s not a functional setup in that vein. what was all that

also I am sorry if this is insensitive but the reasons most characters end up articulating to justify going back into the hell that destroyed their lives makes them sound seriously insane

I dont like complaining about CGI (honestly) but so much of it in modern movies can achieve higher fidelity if the animation is simply subdued. Do not overengineer and over-apply 2D cell methodologies and kinematics to each tiny twitch and movement in a hyper 3D model and I promise you. it will look a thousand times more natural. look at thanos in those last two movies. your rendering and detail are absolutely perfect with the tiger you just have to let stuff sit instead of constantly simulating swaying hair strands and firing off all facial muscles at once. great moment at one point where makeup zombie horse and CG zombie tiger are both in one shot together and just by unnecessary amounts of movement alone you can tell who doesn’t belong. again; detail, rendering, compositing, lighting, all picture-perfect; but y’all just gotta let the animation breathe sometimes, and chill it out

plot holes don’t really matter to me but it was kinda funny how lilly decided not to mention the enormous wrinkle in intel pertaining to an actual territorial tribe of intelligent zombies that require human offerings to let you pass, just so that reveal could play out in real time through the joyous punishment of the cartoonishly misogynistic dude

total chad move for mister uruk hai and final pam to rule from a rusted swimming pool complex

the ending with vanderohe oh my god. with the. cash stacks at the airport register. and specifically them working in his favor. that is literally something you do to get arrested under suspicion of theft. it was almost played for laughs and I respect that. coulda been goofier. make these movies goofy ya dorks

anyway, weird, weird movie. bad marketing. message unclear (something something sins of the father???), baffling editing instincts, literal worst-looking cinematography I ever laid eyes upon. Confidently dying on that last hill

[nadiaportia]

Ximena Rubalcaba

art by magician-of-the-lantern

The disgraced exile with a past she’d rather keep hidden.

Other bios: Sayelle | Deirdra | Heloisa | Cibela

Full name: Ximena María Magdalena de Rubalcaba y Saavedra

Meaning of name: 

Ximena: Basque variant of Simone, meaning “one who has heard”

María Magdalena: Spanish variant of Mary Magdalene, derived of “of Magdala”, a village whose name means “tower” in Old Hebrew

Family: 

Heloisa and Cibela de Rubalcaba: Ximena’s elder sisters, Heloisa by 6 and Cibela by 12 years. In her youth and early adulthood, due to being closer in age she spent more time with Heloisa than with Cibela, to whom she did look up though as a role model as well as Cibela being more introverted like her in contrast to the very extroverted Heloisa. Cibela was mostly absent during her childhood, whereas she and Heloisa spent most of their free time, and tutor-free time together.

Marisol de Rubalcaba (deceased): Her mother and the former Marquesa de Rubalcaba. Having immense favouritism for her firstborn, Marisol was rather distant towards her younger daughters but would try to be an affectionate mother towards them.

Valentín Saavedra (deceased): Ximena’s late father and a sea-faring merchant prince from the higher Cartagense bourgeoisie. Like his wife, Valentín favored his eldest daughter yet tried to encourage all of his daughters’ ambitions and work. Ximena is said to be similar to him in terms of personality.

Esmerelda de Rubalcaba: The matriarch in-all-but-name of the Rubalcaba family, Marisol’s older sister and Ximena’s aunt. Esmerelda is arguably the most central maternal figure in her life, even more than her own mother, and her primary tutor. She was the one who recognized Ximena’s affinity for magic and gave her vital support when she entered the Magician’s Guild.

Agustín de Rubalcaba: Esmerelda’s only son and Ximena’s cousin. A diplomat that wasn’t under his mother’s wing unlike his cousins, he is very affectionate towards Ximena and fulfills the role of an older brother for her as well as being her only connection to her family after her exile.

Segismundo: Ximena’s familiar whom she found in the rainforests of Northern Calpacia sometime after her exile as a hatchling and nursed him back to health. Their connection is deep and he is both trusting and protective of her.

Others: Constanza de Rubalcaba (maternal grand-mother, deceased), Cristobal de Rubalcaba (maternal uncle, deceased), Máximo de Otxoa (maternal grand-father, deceased), Jaime Saavedra (paternal uncle), Genoveva Saavedra (paternal aunt), Dulcinea Saavedra (paternal grand-mother, deceased), Leonardo Buendía (paternal grand-father), Catalina Saavedra (paternal grand-aunt), Aníbal Heßling de Cordovero (brother-in-law)

Nicknames: Xime (used by both friends and lovers), Ximenita (used by family, especially since she is the youngest among her generation), Marilena (exclusively used by her mother and her aunt)

Favourite meal: Tamales de pollo

Favourite drink: Cartagense liquor

Favourite flower: White Plumeria

Favourite color: Cerulean

Birthday: 20th of November

Age: 37 during the events of the game

Zodiac: Scorpio

MBTI: INTP

Patron Arcana: Death and the King of Cups

Upright: Death reaps that which has run its course, allowing new life to grow in the space left behind.

Reversed: Death turns his back on his duty, allowing things to fester and rot in his negligence.

Upright: The King of Cups is generous and compassionate, yet never allows his emotions to overwhelm his sense.

Reversed:  The King of Cups manipulates the emotions of others callously, twisting them to fit his own agenda.

Gender: Cis female

Sexuality: Bisexual

Height: 1,65 m // 5′4″

Appearance:

Ximena is of rather slender build. Her skin is medium brown with a warm undertone and she has a round face with a rounded chin. She has a beauty mark underneath the outer corner of her left eye and an upturned nose with a low bridge. Her eyes are a color similar to dark honey and she has full lips. Her eyebrows are thick and dark, groomed but not thinned, and she has bags underneath her eyes. Her black hair is long and curly with the occasional grey hair, especially near her temples. 

She usually wears golden hoop earrings and several golden rings on her fingers. She wears a bit of eyeliner and darkened lipstick.

She gives off the impression of being rather serene and after her exile purposely tries to change the way she spoke and held herself in order to appear less like an aristocrat and more like a commoner.

Visual Inspirations: Tessa Thompson and America Ferrera

Languages spoken: Calpacian, Prakran, Firenti, Karnasso, Galbradan, Hjallen, Nopali, Nevivish, Venterran, Oriolà, Zadithi and the Common Tongue

Magical abilities:

due to the Cartagense Magician’s Guild being rather pragmatic, she is not as versatile in her skills but honed those that she is good at so well that it makes her a master in the area

high intuition and good knowledge of people, to the point that she can feel when someone is lying to her

very perceptive and aware of her surroundings

fire-based offensive magic; used to replace her profound lack of physical combat skills

Love interests:

Out of the Main 6, while I mostly ship her with Lucio (since I am rewriting his route with her as the primary main character) and Asra (her ex), her dynamics with Nadia and Portia could leave the possibility for romance open.

Isidora: An OC of mine who was once very close friends with Xime as well as colleagues on whom she had eventually not unrequited feelings.

In general, like with most of my characters; if they’re compatible sexuality- as well as personality-wise, feel free to ship them with your OCs or MCs! Hit me up with a message and we can discuss the details! 

Backstory: 

Born into the influential aristocratic Rubalcaba family based in Cartagenth, the capital of the Calpacian Empire in the West, Ximena received an extensive education and since she had the most affinity to magic within her family, a vast tutoring in magic while her sisters were put on other carreer tracks. The Rubalcabas have had a presence ever since the founding of Cartagenth thanks to Fairuza, one of the city’s original founders, and then with Xochitl I., who was rumored to be the primary force behind the union of various kingdoms into what became Calpacia. They have centuries long history of being close to Calpacia’s sovereign, the Zaan, and involvement in politics, the military and on very rare occasions the Magician’s Guild of Cartagenth, where Ximena was meant to eventually become Head of the Guild and a vital instrument in the plans her aunt Esmerelda had for her, her sisters and the fate of all of Calpacia.

Mostly due to their riches, privilege and upbringing, the climate in Ximena’s family was a rather toxic one, with a centuries-old legacy hanging over them like a Damocles sword and envy, entitlement, jealously, sabotage and power struggles running rampant among them. Esmerelda’s desire to cement her family’s position and ensure their survival in the cut-throat environment in the Cartagense court as well as wanting to function as the driving force behind the pillars of powers saw her mercilessly using her family and to see them as little more than pawns to be utilized to achieve the desired goal. 

Being maneuvered like a puppet made Ximena resent her family; her sisters for refusing to lean against it or even relishing in it, her parents for tolerating this and her aunt for being a manipulative force of nature. The straw that broke the camel’s back occurred weeks before her coronation as Head of the Guild where a vision came to her during a reading and showed how she would use her magic and that of the Guild to help in fighting a total war against everyone who refused to kneel to Cartagense’s power, resulting in the deaths of countless people - and herself as one of those who were supposed to carry on this blood-stained legacy. The refusal to partake in such future atrocities and the secret reveal of plans by the War Council to actually provoke a conflict and throw the country into total warfare caused Ximena to have her status as noblewoman taken from her and be banished from Cartagenth… or clean up her act, beg for forgiveness and mercy from her family and have the chance to correct her mistakes. That choice presented by her aunt in a final confrontation was refused and so Ximena, once a lady, now a nobody, fled Cartagenth.

Having to pretend to be a commoner was difficult at first but soon became a necessity, as well as having to adopt a different identity to make it beyond the Calpacian borders. Meeting her familiar and having someone in whom to confide absolutely everything was a much needed outlet for her, and some years her only constant companions were Segismundo, for whom she would’ve laid down her life, and the fear of being discovered by Calpacian spies even outside of the empire. She met Asra when contemplating to escape to Hjalle and from there on to the eastern countries beyond Nevivon and continue to live her life in anonymity, but decided to return with him to Vesuvia, a city of which she knew Calpacia fostered no diplomatic relations with. Her relationship with Asra at some point transcended mere friendship but even when that ended, they always remained amicable with each other and arguably the most important person in each other’s lives. The building in which Asra and she eventually opened as their ship was a gift from Agustín who was the only person from her old life Ximena ever contacted through magical and untraceable means. In Vesuvia, she also met magician and professional medium Sayelle bint Zahir from the city state of Bizatena at the Eastern Coast, and another exile from their respective home country, Deirdra Margalit of Calpacia’s neighboring kingdom Oriol.

She died from the Red Plague at the age of 34 while trying help Julian, with whom she had common friends, to find a cure for the illness that had already claimed thousands within the city. The efforts of those close to her did little in preventing her passing, and yet she woke up a year later with no memory of her previous life, her friends and the bond to her familiar being severed beyond repair.

More art:

feat. Heloisa by @missrabbitart​ | full post

feat. Lucio by @cherrygirl666​ | full post including the uncut nsfw version

[mavericksy]

BNHA Gift-Giving (4.5)

CLASS 1B

How they wrap gifts: 

Monoma: Exquisitely done, with beautiful, high-quality wrapping paper and tasteful decorations, often a ribbon. Personalises his greeting card message for each person.  Kendou: Average wrapping skills, but she does like to mix up the paper she uses. She usually switches between three or four different rolls, and especially likes that heavy-duty, sparkly paper. Not one to bother with decoration.  Tetsutetsu: Has a tendency to get over-excited and completely fortify his presents. They get passed around the room, with each person trying to force a fingernail underneath the various layers of tape that have been adhered to the sides. Eventually Kamakiri steps in, or somebody goes to fetch a knife, but even then it becomes a battle to try and force the blade underneath a completely flat stretch of gift wrap, or a small mountain of tape.  Setsuna: Very wrapping-averse. She puts a decent amount of care and effort into the first gift she wraps, which quickly dissolves into just trying to cover the darn things as quickly as possible so she can do something else. However, she’s good at using her quirk to hold down tape or paper that’s caught in awkward angles.  Kuroiro: Minimalist and mysterious. He goes for plain white or black paper with a contrasting bow. He tries to make his wrapping neat, but there are some imperfections when you look closely.  Komori: Eco-friendly gift wrap for the win! Her paper is good-quality and usually has a slightly bumpy texture to it, which a lot of people find nice to run their hands along. She goes all-out when it comes to decorations- usually giant, frilly bows- but the final effect is always tasteful.  Honenuki: Has a thing for brown paper, with the recipient’s name written neatly on the top in black marker. Also a big fan of using string, which he thinks adds a vintage quality.  Yanagi: Tends to go for gift wrap that has artistic designs or painted scenes. Despite liking Christmas itself, a major annoyance for her during the holiday season is seeing bright and goofy gift-wrap, which she finds tacky and overdone. Her gifts are beautiful, and always come with a red bow, but they have a solemn vibe to them.  Kodai: She finds wrapping gifts extremely relaxing. She keeps a series of boxes in her room, which she sizes up or down using her quirk to make them fit the gift. Her quirk also enables her to make a single sheet of gift wrap last throughout the entire year, as she can just cut a small square and resize it where necessary. It isn’t uncommon for her gifts to have gigantic prints on them. Her wrapping method is precise and neat.  Rin: Very neat, but a little plain. He likes to embellish his gift tags with small cartoons of each person. Likes paper with geometric patterns.  Kaibara: Similar to Rin, neat but a little plain. He is more likely to use glossy paper in just one color, with a small metallic bow, usually silver. He does sometimes include origami gift tags with the leftover paper.  Fukidashi: Designs his own wrappings paper for each person, including his friends and family. For people he doesn’t know as well, he has a series of go-to generic designs, but the level of skill and taste is high. The designs are sent to a website where they are printed, though the quality is a little cheap due to how many custom orders he ends up making. Decoration-wise, each gift is different, and elaborate arrangements are common. Midoriya gets very anxious about his own gift-wrapping prowess in the face of Fukidashi’s talents.  Bondo: Tends to use glue instead of tape, just because it’s cheaper to use his quirk. He has his own mixtures that he uses for each wrapping paper texture, depending on what he has been able to afford. His hobbies as a model-maker has given him the finer motor skills that help him, despite his seemingly chunky hands.  Kamakiri: Kamakiri is good at cutting paper, as his quirk allows him to have a perfectly sharp craft knife, and his mastery on a cutting board is unparalleled. When it comes to wrapping, taping, and decorating? Lost. He isn’t a fan of Christmas paper, so he tends to use plain, dark designs.  Awase: His gifts are a mystery. His quirk allows him to use his quirk to perfectly seal the edges of each fold, which is just plain weird to look at.  Shiozaki: Shiozaki likes wrapping with Nativity scenes during Christmas, but during other times of year, she uses pretty nature designs. Her wrapping is neat but scuffed due to her thorny vines draping over her thorns by accident, so the wrap is marked by tiny holes. She’s also a big fan of eco-friendly paper, from companies that donate the proceeds to various relief missions.  Tsuburaba: Does everything at the last minute- buying the gifts, buying the wrapping paper, buying the cards, writing the cards, doing the wrapping. There’s a messy quality to his gifts, which are barely held together by a few pieces of tape, and usually peeling by the time he gives them to you.  Pony: Pony’s family back in the states love Japanese gift wrap designs. It reminds her father of growing up in Japan, and the rest of her family think it makes her gifts look much more unique. She’ll buy good-quality rolls with some Kanji or hiragana writing in the design, and use that for all her presents. She’s not the most precise wrapper in the world, but she’s good enough. Her gifts tend to have quite chunky folds near the corners and edges.  Shoda: Shoda isn’t keen on wrapping gifts, as he thinks it’s a waste of time. He’s more likely to just hand you something on its own. If he does feel the need to wrap something, he’s eager to find a way to get out of doing it, usually by paying somebody else or selecting the gift-wrap option for online delivery.  Shishida: Shishida is bad at wrapping presents, and it’s a source of great shame for him. His giant pawlike hands and long claws tend to get in the way, causing him to accidentally tear the paper. He recently learned about furoshiki- traditional fabric wrapping- and has been finding it much easier to simply knot a piece of material. Plus, coming from a wealthy family, he has more than enough money to buy beautiful, high-quality silks. Yanagi, Komori, and Kodai in particular look forward to collecting another scarf each year. 

[bouncyirwin]

Bouncy! Dramatic irony is my absolute favorite and there's heaps of it in Tuesdays of Doom. I'm hoping you have the time to comment on these sections, specifically on how you decided to characterize Sasuke because it's just *chef's kiss* HILARIOUS:

He hadn't meant to snap at her, but Sasuke still felt personally victimised by her actions. And he couldn't silence the part of him that was angry at Sakura for going after his brother after having spent years pining after him. Was she upgrading? Downgrading? What did she make of her own predicament?

This paragraph is shortly followed by:

He'd debated confronting his brother or Shisui or even Sakura (although that last one wouldn't be wise at all), but ultimately Sasuke decided against it. He had no idea what to say, and despite how much it frustrated him, it wasn't his business. All he could do was hope it was a one-time thing.

(Kami, this was messing up all his preconceptions of his brother. It put Itachi in a completely different light outside the idealistic one Sasuke had placed him under. Just how much did Sasuke not know about his own older brother?)

He was glad to find Itachi absent when he arrived home; he didn't think he could face him then. (How much did Itachi dote on Sakura? Did he love her too? Had she become more important than Sasuke?)

Ahhhh okay! *cracks knuckles*

This is one of my personal favourites, I had HEAPS of fun writing it so prepare for an essay xD

Tuesday of Doom’s Sasuke was all about messing around with headcanons about a non-mass AU. Basically at the core he A) loves his brother unconditionally and idolises him B) is thirsty for his father’s approval and C) is trying to fill some uncomfortably big shoes!

I loveeeee tormenting this idiot. To put it bluntly, I wanted him to suffer in a funny way. He has so much respect for his older brother and a healthy dose of caution around Sakura (though there was a time he had no respect for her because she wasn’t strong enough and she was crushing on him like all the other silly girls) and I wanted to shake that a bit.

We have to understand first that Sasuke here views Itachi as his. His brother, his most important person. Sakura is merely the teammate who had a crush on him that he tolerates out of caution (much like he tolerates Naruto out of fondness/because it’s easier than pushing him away). And there she was! Making a move on Itachi! He feels personally victimised by all the actions she took to lead him to the point in time wherein he witnesses them together. With Shisui, this is the part that really fucks with Sasuke the most. This was not a secret love affair with his brother. This was raunchy threesomes, and sneaking around, and having fun and doing naughty things. Sasuke really hoped it was a ‘one-time’ thing. He figures he wouldn’t begrudge his brother that too much.

But this totally messes with the way he sees Itachi as the stoic, traditional role-model and future head of the Uchiha who never steps a toe out of line. He’s now becoming uncomfortably aware that there might be a lot of things he doesn’t know about his brother (and is now jealous Sakura gets to know these things; like what did she do to earn that privilege?).

As he ended up seeing more and more of them together, it occurs to Sasuke that perhaps this is neither a one-time thing nor a fling and starts to wonder just how important Sakura was to Itachi. This worries Sasuke, what if he likes her more than him? Sasuke feels very possessive when it comes to his brother but also feels slighted that his teammate would think to go after not just his brother, but also his cousin.

So basically the whole one-shot is Sasuke battling with his views about the people he thought he knew best. I wanted to explore the almost-naivety he had. I think Sasuke has a bit of an inflated sense of self, and seems to think all revolves around him or that he knows everything that’s going on in the dark. He really doesn’t! Tuesday of Doom is a wake up call for him; the silly fangirl is a grown up playing grown up games, the ideal older brother is really just human at the end of the day and definitely has other priorities and is most definitely putting up a front a lot of the time, and the silly cousin he sneered at is totally more wicked than he expected him to be.

Just goes to show him that one can never really be sure what goes on behind closed doors.

The truth is Sasuke here is the butt of an inside joke he isn’t even aware of. Because Itachi certainly wasn’t the first to sharingan him! 👀

Kakashi did it before too, on Sakura’s request, and Sasuke never thought to question it. This is not explicitly stated but it’s alluded to at the beginning and end of the chapter that something is amiss but oh well Kakashi has never lied to him before so whatever.

Okay I’m done rambling omg xD thanks for indulging me! 🥰

[mk-wizard]

Alpha Trion: An Analysis of the Wizard of Bots

Hello, Transformer fans. Today, we pay our respects to the elderly by doing a character analysis of the Autobot who no matter how much we come to know about him, the more mystery there is behind his character. Let’s delve into the history, facts and all around definitive traits about the Autobot sage Alpha Trion.

Alpha Trion was first introduced as the mentor of Optimus Prime as well as the keeper of all Autobot knowledge that is written, contained in the Matrix and beyond in the G1 cartoons. He is also in many ways a father figure to Optimus Prime and Elita One who he watches over on Cybertron. While this is still up in the air, it is heavily implied by his colouring, traits and the appearance of his wife Beta (more on her later), he is the biological father of Elita One and therefor, the father-in-law of Optimus meaning they are in fact all family. Alpha Trion’s demeanor is that of a wise old man with a lot of life and war experience who comes across as perpetually calm, but with a slight hint of mischief and a liberalism. His trademark appearance is of an elderly bot with the doll type frame, his armour is red and blue while being the first and so far, only bot to sport a cape, he has a long beard and (while we don’t see it) long white hair beneath his helm, his alt mode is a hovercraft and he was the first bot in the Transformers lore to wear actual glasses.

In his case, he wears them not only because his optics aren’t what they used to be. They actually help regulate his psychic powers as he is a very powerful diode (a psychic Transformer) and has abilities that would be considered as magic even by other bots which explains how he survived on a Decepticon dominated Cybertron dying only of old age in the original G1 cartoon. To be precise, his glasses keep him from using his powers automatically and he has a plethora of them; clairvoyance, hypnosis, aura reading, telekinesis and telepathy. And for the record, those are just the psychic powers we know of. With such a long list and taking into account how powerful he is, Alpha Trion needs those glasses to keep his powers in check so they don’t overload his mind or uses them on someone he didn’t mean to use them on.

Another thing about Alpha Trion is that like Optimus, the “Trion” in his name is actually a title. In Autobot culture, there is always one Trion who serves as the religious figure, the head archivist, the sage, the second in command of all Autobot kind and the keeper of all sacred data including that which is exclusive only to the Trion to know. Unlike being a Prime in which you become one by assignment by the previous Prime or it was literally in your code to begin with, being a Trion is a spiritual thing so the selection is done by divine intervention. As soon as the current Trion passes on, the divine Trion protocol gets passed onto the Autobot who Primus deems worthy though in some cases, if the current Trion has a good guess of who will be their predecessor, they will take time to train them. A Trion’s special abilities by default are being a powerful diode with a plethora of psychic abilities though the bot usually had them to begin with as well as other spiritual abilities. In the case of Alpha Trion, he has some powers the whole time, but they were nowhere near what they became when he became ordained. Another thing that is worth noting about Trion’s is that they are not actually fighters and seem to take an oath of pacifism of which they are not allowed to commit any direct act of violence though they are allowed to help provide tools or assistance during war.

Going back to Alpha Trion specifically, his life’s story begins when he fought in his own war though his was a little different. Back in his day, the Autobots fought to free themselves from their slavers the Quintessons. During this time, he went by the name A3 though he still sported facial hair and a pair of glasses. He also proved to be quite the fighter and rebel with a personality that was a similar to Rodimus’. Like Optimus, he had a wife who fought alongside him who went by the name of Beta Maxx or simply Beta. While she was dressed in green, we can see that she still has a striking resemblance to Elita One and even A3′s armour style back in the day was a lot like Elita’s which further hints that they are her parents.

After the war was won, we can assume that the two of them lived very peacefully and happily on Cybertron and quite possibly had their daughter. It was also during this time where A3 was ordained and was now took on the name of Alpha Trion. It is not known who the previous Trion was though it is heavily implied by Alpha Trion’s disciplined behaviour and extensive knowledge that he had a chance to be trained before getting ordained. It is also not known who the Prime during this time was though it is most likely that it was one of Orion Pax’s parents. When the Decepticons attacked one day and both Orion Pax and Ariel were injured, Alpha Trion rebuilt them into warriors known as Optimus Prime and Elita One. It isn’t known what became of Alpha Trion’s wife though a lot of evidence suggests that she was one of the casualties in the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. As the war went on, true to his duty and oath of pacifism, Alpha Trion acted as a guardian to Vector Sigma and would only assist the Autobots on Cybertron in their war. He was also an unofficial member of Elita One’s team by acting as a strategist and an adviser. When Elita One got captured, he had a hand in freeing and helping her before once again going into hiding. While Alpha Trion managed to elude the Decepticons and never even got taken prisoner, he sadly did not live to see the long awaited peaceful era as he died of old age near the end of the war appearing only as a ghost yet still offering help even from beyond. In the G1 cartoons, it is has never been confirmed who the new Trion was after him.

According the the comics, Ultra Magnus was his predecessor and faces the same struggle that Rodimus does as Prime; he has a very big pair of shoes to fill and often questions if he can do the job. In the War for Cybertron cartoon, Ultra Magnus was implied to be the new Trion in secret after Alpha Trion was murdered by Megatron and after he was killed, Bumblebee became spiritually ordained with the Trion protocol appearing before him in the form of Alpha Trion. In the Animated series, Alpha Trion appears once again as a sage figure though the extent of his role and title is not explored. However, it is heavily implied that his influence and rank goes far beyond that of a Prime. In the Prime series, Alpha Trion died in the war though it isn’t known if he was killed or died of old age. Before he did pass away, he passed the key to Vector Sigma to Optimus for safe keeping and appeared to Optimus in spirit when he was close to death to help him join the Allspark. It isn’t known who took up the Trion mantle after Alpha in Prime though. In the Michael Bay movies, Alpha Trion did not make an appearance, but Sentinel Prime was modelled after him in appearance though his personality could not be more different.

While Alpha Trion is not a mech of action, his legacy is definitely comparable to that of Optimus’ in that we can picture no one else with his role, but the wise old mech. Despite not appearing often in the cartoon, he made quite an impression that lasted and cemented itself in the lore. If Optimus Prime is to Autobots what Papa Smurf is to the Smurfs, then one can say that Alpha Trion is what Grandpa Smurf was to them. He has a similar role to Optimus, but is the one person who surpasses him in terms of wisdom and has an incredibly different view of the world for it. It has been confirmed that Optimus is very conservative whereas Alpha Trion is in fact liberal hence why he not only allowed his beard to grow out, he flaunts it which is unusual in Transformer society as hair is usually not considered as a desired trait for mechanical beings. And while that side of him was not very explored, Alpha Trion has a mischievous side and was at times known to be defiant. It is kind of a shame that he never got a chance to meet Rodimus because I imagine the two of them would have gotten along well. As a side note which I find amusing is that Alpha Trion from his youth to his silver years was always consistently handsome according to sources because he was athletic. Well, you don’t live THAT long unless you stay in shape and in his defence, anyone who can sport a superhero style armor while being able to show that much leg at that age must have aged well. I do hope that in the next era, he will be showcased more as a regular character rather than just a background one because he really is one worth showcasing not just as the Trion, but just as himself.

Anyway, what is your take on the Autobot elder?

If you have a Transformers theory or character analysis you want explored, please let me know in my ask box. And please, support me through Patreon or Ko-fi if you want me to make Transformers merch and videos. Or if you want a commission of your favourite bot, let me know in my shop. All links are on my profile page.

Thank you for reading and please, stay safe.

[reordering-the-planets]

MBTI personality types as ancient Greek gods and godessess

ESFJ Aphrodite (Ἀφροδίτη): Born out of the foam of Uranus’ (God of sky) castrated parts that his son, Titan Cronus, had thrown to the sea. Thus, she emerged from the Ocean in all her beauty and grace and all the water Nymphs and all the Winds came to bow before her. Goddess of love and beauty, of pleasure and of passion as she was, all the men desired her and all the women envied her graces. She married Hephaestus, she desired Ares and she loved Adonis. One could always glimpse her winged son, Eros, god of desire, flying above her as she would’ve often whispered to his ear the next mortal whose his heart was about to be shot by Eros’ arrows.

ENFJ Apollo (Ἀπόλλων): God of light, of sun, of music, of poetry, of truth, of knowledge and protector of the arts. He was everything and he knew it all. People worshiped him all over the known world and build him the most gracious and marvelous temples and oracles, where sunbeams would make the white marbles shine as bright as the sun. In return, Apollo through the voice of gifted diviners would reveal to them what would the future hold. He played his lyre and his daughters, the Muses, would come over from the valleys to accompany his sweet melodies. He loved and protected the young as he, himself, remained a young man forever. He was a healer, but if the mortals were to infuriated him, he would bring the greatest of the plagues on them.

ISFP Artemis (Ἄρτεμις): Twin sister of Apollo as they where both children of Zeus and Leto. Quieter and humbler by nature than her twin brother, she found her call in the deep forests, the mountains and the moon. She befriended all the living things of the wild and devoted herself to their protection. Always bearing a bow in the hand and a handful of arrows on her back, she would hunt in the forests, but she’d never become violent, always honoring her prey. Although she took an oath to remain a virgin, young Orion became her hunting companion and he managed to win her heart. Their love was never meant to blossom, as Artemis shot Orion with an arrow by accident and killed him.

ESTP Ares (Ἄρης): Son of Zeus and Hera as he was, he would grow to become a forceful and a fearful one. Gifted with great physical strength and an everlasting blood lust, he excelled in the battlefields and become a soldier model for the Spartans. He was Aphrodite’s secret lover and together they had many children like Eros, who followed his mother, and Deimos (god of terror) and Phobos (god of fear), who both followed Ares as his warfare companions. The other gods tended to avoid him and on the great Trojan war he was on the losing side, therefore triggering Zeus’ anger towards him. Later, the Romans acknowledged his military intelligence and worshiped him by the name of Mars.

ESTJ Athena (Ἀθηνᾶ): If someone contrived to impersonate the essence of the ancient Greek spirit, it would look like her. It does not surprise that she was goddess of wisdom, handicraft and warfare as well. All three basic elements of the city that she fought with Poseidon for, thus founded and gave it her name, Athens. Athena always wore a helmet, brandished a spear and kept her shield with Medusa’s head on it (that Perseus had gifted to her for helping him in murdering that marine beast) by her side. Legend has it that she was born fully armored from Zeus’ forehead. However, Athena would never initiate an  unreasonable, blood spilling war against her enemies like Ares would do. Wise and strategic as her mind was, Athena favored those with strength and bravery, like Hercules and Perseus, with courage and valiance, like Bellerophon and Jason, as well as those with a sharp mind, like Odysseus, aiding them in multiple ways.

ENTJ Poseidon (Ποσειδῶν): He is known as the sea god, but in fact there was not an element that wouldn’t bow to his will. Poseidon was ruler of the seas, the rivers and all the running waters. He was commander of the earth, the soil, the storms and the mighty earthquakes. He was protector of the noble horses and, as many say, he was the true king of Atlantis. Although he lost supervision of Athens to Athena, the Athenians didn’t forget his volition to become their guardian and they worshiped him almost as much as her. They build him a magnificent temple on the windy top of Cape Sounion, where the waves of the great Aegean sea would crush the rocks beneath it. Poseidon would often help seafarers reach their destination safe and sound. Damn those who would dare sail without a sacrifice to his name for appeasing the tides. A tremendous storm created by a swing of his trident would crash their ship to an unknown land or, even worse, he would drag them all the way down to his wet kingdom. 

ENTP Zeus (Ζεύς): The father of the Gods wasn’t an easy one. As every king that walked the earth, the sea or the skies before and after him, he was whimsical, temperamental and stubborn as a bull. In fact, there were times that he would take the form of a real bull or an eagle, a swan, a bear, a serpent, a flame or even a shower of gold, always to seduce a new love interest of his own. Europa, Cassiopeia, Leda, Alcmene and Ganymede are just a handful of all the women and men he desired and approached while transformed into a creature of beauty, with the sole intention of sleeping with them. It’s no wonder that his wife, Hera, was always mad at him, thus she was the only one that ever managed to scare him a little bit. However, he was Father of everyone and everything. Mortals should not forget that without Zeus, the world would still be at the hands of his tyrannical father, Titan Cronus, whom Zeus with the help of his brothers and sisters managed to overthrow. Thus, he became the true ruler of the skies, bearer of the thunder and enforcer of law and order as well. Among mortals, he was yet another mighty symbol of civilization and justice.

INTJ Hera (Ἥρα): She wasn’t the wife next door. She was the queen of Gods and protector of all the women. Someone could even see her as one of the very first symbols of feminine power in ancient cultures. Her rightful rage towards her unfaithful husband, Zeus, was the fuel of her many vengeful actions against him and his lovers. Although she refused Zeus’ first marriage proposal, after marrying him, she became goddess of marriage and patron of the household and childbirth. Hera could be your worst enemy (even Zeus was sometimes afraid of her), but also your most valuable ally. But, most of all, she was true to herself and to her worshipers. After all, she was the queen-mother of the world.

INTP Hades (ᾍδης) or Plouton (Πλούτων): After the Gods defeated the Titans at the beginning of time, the males ones (Zeus, Poseidon and Hades at that time) gathered together to drew lots of ruler-ship over the world. Although Hades was the eldest between them, Zeus received the sky, Poseidon the earth and the sea, but Hades’ fate was to become king of the underworld. He took Persephone, Demeter’s daughter, for his wife and made her queen at his side. A giant three-headed dog guarded the doors to the underworld, thus making entrance to anyone alive almost impossible. Hades didn’t care for the affairs of the world of the living, or even for the matters of the rest of the gods. Although he wasn’t evil, mortals avoided to refer to him by his name in case they drew his attention. They mostly called him Plouton, which meant “rich”, as all the precious minerals came from the underground, thus the boundary of Hades’ kingdom.

ISFJ Demeter (Δημήτηρ): A rather motherly figure and a well-respected goddess. Demeter loved the earth and everything that came from the soil. She protected farmers and brought to them a good harvest year after year. The humblest seed took root whenever blessed by her. Nothing was more precious to her than her own daughter, Persephone. When Hades abducted Persephone with the intention to marry her, Demeter fell in deep sorrow and not a single thing would grow anymore. Everyone was desperate, and an era of great famine was upon the humans.

INFP Persephone (Περσεφόνη) or Kore (Κόρη): It is said that before her abduction by Hades, Persephone was called Kore, which means maiden or daughter. She was, in fact, the beloved daughter of Demeter, that one day while she was peacefully gathering flowers, Hades came and abducted her, as he was deeply in love with the girl. Demeter was so angry and sad after that incident, that forbade the earth to produce and she begun to wander around looking for Persephone. Zeus heard the cries of the hungry mortals and persuaded Hades to release her. Hades tricked Persephone to eat the seeds of a pomegranate before leaving the underworld, but she ignored that if someone tasted underworld food, they were obliged to come back. Demeter agreed that Persephone would spent half a year on earth and half below it. As a result, the time that Persephone returned to Hades as queen of the underworld, Demeter’s sorrow of her daughter’s absence would make winter on earth. As soon as Persephone come back to earth, she would bring the spring with her. Thus, people worshiped her as a goddess of the springtime and the flowers.

ENFP Dionysus (Διόνυσος, Diónysos) or Bacchus (Βάκχος): This one knew how to enjoy life to the fullest. As the god of wine, theater and ecstatic dance, Dionysus was an emblem of freedom and basically... fun. With vines in his hair, a thyrsus in his hands (a wand of ivy vines and leaves) and a smile on his face, Dionysus would stroll the valleys with his many followers, dancing ecstatically, driving them to divine mania. Mortals would call him “the god who comes��. His companion included goat-legged satyrs and maenads. The last ones were women who, after coming to ecstatic frenzy through dancing and drinking, would please Dionysus through blood-offerings, which in some cases meant that maeneds would kill men with bare hands. Dionysus is said to be a god who dies and rises back from the dead. His many, divine powers still remain a mystery to many of us, mortals.

ISTP Hephaestus (Ἥφαιστος): His form and character does not remind of a god. He was a shy one and would rather spend his time crafting weapons on his hot anvil. However, Hephaestus was the god of fire and served as a blacksmith of gods and heroes. His many creations include Hermes' winged helmet and sandals, Aphrodite's girdle, Achilles' armor, Heracles' bronze clappers, Helios' (god of the Sun) chariot, Eros' bow and arrows and all the thrones of the Gods in Olympus. The legend has it that he was Hera’s son, one that she made by herself out of jealously of Zeus giving birth to Athena out of his head. However, Hera ejected him from mount Olympus, because he was lame on one leg. Hephaestus took revenge against Hera by crafting her a magical golden throne, which, when she sat on, it didn’t allow her to stand up, thus making both her legs useless.

ESFP Hermes (Ἑρμῆς): Also known as the “divine trickster”, the messenger of the gods and the guide to the underworld. Hermes was a pleasant god who protected travelers, merchants, shepherds, athletes and thieves, as he was all of those things himself. His appearance is quite known. A young man with the top of his head full of playful curls, wearing winged sandals, winged petasus (traveller’s hat) and holding the kerykeion (a short staff entwined by two serpents and surmounted by wings). Always being on the move, Hermes loved playing tricks on other gods and mortals.

ISTJ  Hestia (Ἑστία): Hestia was one of the six children of Kronos and Rhea (among Zeus, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and Demeter) and therefore one of the oldest Gods. She was goddess of the home and domesticity as her name suggests (Ἑστία means “hearth”) as well as protector of households. Mortals used to gift her the first offering of every sacrifice in the household. During the founding of a colony, flame from Hestia's public hearth in colonizers’ mother city would be carried to the newly founded one. Hestia rejected both the marriage proposals of Poseidon and Apollo, and took an oath of virginity (like Artemis). She cared little for the conflicts of gods and mortals and tended to her domestic matters. Hestia was the simplest and humblest between gods and even offered her place in Olympus to Dionysus, making him the 12th Olympian god in her place, thus showing her divine magnanimity.

INFJ Asclepius (Ἀσκληπιός): He was originally the son of Apollo and a mortal woman. His father offered him, when still an infant, to centaur Chiron to mentor him. Chiron taught him the art of medicine, but an ancient legend says that a snake returned a favor of Asclepius back to him by licking his ears clean and passing him secret knowledge of healing. In order to honor the snake, Asclepius made a rod wreathed with a snake his divine symbol. This very rod is still nowadays associated with healing and medicine. Asclepius mastery of healing reached the level of bringing people back from the dead. This act infuriated Hades and forced Zeus to kill Asclepius and turn him into a constellation known as Ophiuchus ("the Serpent Holder"), which many claim it to be the 13th sign of the zodiac circle.

[knifefather]

First of all congrats on 400 Jasper!! You deserve it and so much more! Here's to hoping for more milestones in the future :D This event seems really fun so I thought I'd try it out! I'd like a jojo matchup from any part just no underage characters please haha. Let's see my name is Sid and I'm a 22 year old 5'1 bi girl. I've got sun in pisces, moon in leo, gemini rising and venus in aquarius! I'm an INFP. Likes: I'm a foodie and like trying out new places to eat, but I'm also big on staying home and relaxing, enjoy conversations over warm beverages, libraries, music, reading a good book (or fic haha), writing, alone time, sweets, cute dresses and makeup! Dislikes: I don't like getting angry / upset, waiting in line, crying in front of others, confrontational situations, embarrassing situations, or being the center attention it gives me anxiety. Appearance wise I've got brown eyes and skin, black hair. I'm short and chubby w/ and tummy and double Ds haha 😳 that's all I've got! Thank you so much 💜

Thank you so much Sid!!! I appreciate the kind words!! Also... I know that I’m matching you with your fave, but I honestly would have matched yall even if I didn’t know he was your fave lol. 

The Knife Father matches you with...

Prosciutto!

via porunareff 

➼ Wow, where does one begin with you two lovebirds? Prosciutto is known to be the stern, older brother type of La Squadra. But when he’s around you, it becomes very apparent that some of the strictness is an act. He’s very nurturing and kind, especially to a cutie like you! Though, he does stick true to his facade a bit, because he is the type of partner that inspires you to be the best version of yourself. He knows what you’re capable of, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and he encourages you to better yourself as a person. He’s very kind, though, much kinder than he is to Pesci, and very receptive to your feelings. Given your sun in Pisces and that Moon in Leo, that is very important to you. His attention is also a very valuable thing to you. 

➼ Prosciutto actually enjoys that you like to stay at home. It’s easier to make sure that you’re safe if you’re not going 100 places a day. He is the type of person that worries about their partner in the middle of his day. It’s really often that he’ll text you sweet messages like “Are you doing okay princess?” to make sure you’re still good. On the other hand, he knows that you enjoy going out and makes it a point to take you to new, interesting places all the time. Enjoys that you’re a foodie and will have you trying new things all the time. He likes the bright-eyed, happy look you get on your face when you taste something for the first time that’s really good!

➼ As a couple, you and Prosciutto seldom fight. You’re not confrontational, but Prosciutto is. He’s definitely not the type to get mad over petty shit in a relationship, so if he brings something to your attention, it needs addressing. It also eases your anxiety to know that he doesn’t get mad at you easily. His temper is relatively short with everyone else, but he has a special reserve of patience and understanding just for you. There is no better comforting place than being on Prosicutto’s lap, letting him stroke your hair while you work out your problems. He’ll even make you a cup of your favorite warm beverage to calm you down and while you talk. 

➼ Cute dresses and makeup? Prosicutto is an enthusiast! He adores taking you shopping and seeing you model for him. It’s often that you’ll pic out a few things to try, then he’ll pick out a few that he wants to see you in, too. Likes it when you come out of the fitting room and do a little twirl. If you’re a fan of high-end makeup, too, Prosciutto has got you! He brings you high-end stuff that he sees while he’s out and about, and he’s like, “I’m not sure if this is what you wear, but I saw this and it made me think of you.” It’s pretty often that what made him think of you is a 160,000 lire (100 USD) bottle of foundation. That just so happens to be in your perfect shade. We stan a king. 

➼ Last but not least, Prosciutto likes your body type! He’s not normally too selective on that, but he really finds himself captivated by your many curves. Bending over, or exposing your ass to him in any way, is a dangerous game lol. If you let him, he’d always have his hand on your rump, or one of your tits in his hands. He just appreciates your looks in general, he thinks you’re very pretty and tells you every opportunity he can get!

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

for the quiet night in ask: how did Grima make his way into your heart? And why do you ship him with Eomer? I've been meaning to inquire about this for long hehe (also I love your theme! think this is the first time I see it)

I am so sorry, you’re getting an ESSAY. 

I’ve been wanting to talk about my Grima feels FOR SO LONG. 

HE SNAKED HIS WAY INTO MY HEART. 

Um, tl;dr I have a soft spot for the bad guys who clearly have a complicated history with those they are opposing and I think Eomer/Grima have a fun opposites-attract dynamic and I love a good redemption story. 

I don’t touch on literacy and Grima in this because that’s strictly the films and it’s worthy of it’s own post entirely. 

-

I’m trying to think best how to break this all out, because it gets a bit long and rambly. I’m using both book and films for this, as a note. Since I tend to mash up different aspects of those Grima’s in my head, give the guy some eyebrows, and call it a day. 

So, first off, his history. Now, we don’t really have anything to go on in canon here. All we know, in both book and film, is that Grima “was once a man of Rohan” (ROTK). In the book, Gandalf says: “This here, is a snake. To slay it [Grima] would be just. But it was not always as it is now. Once it was a man, and it did you service in its fashion.” 

Grima evidently has served Rohan for some years at this point. We know that Theoden’s enchantment/possession began three years prior to TTT. In the books there is no possession. Theoden’s enchantment relies on the powers of words and their suggestions. Something Tolkien was well aware of carrying great weight and import in Anglo-Saxon culture. You tell a man he is old and infirm, he will become old and infirm. 

I understand why Jackson went the possession route - explaining Anglo-Saxon engagement with galdorcraeft/witchcraft and the power of words etc. and how that influenced the development of Rohan in the span of like 7 minutes of screen time wasn’t happening. Possession works for the same purpose, but in a language the modern audience is familiar with - especially in visual mediums. Grima is circa 40 when TTT happens, same age as Boromir for reference. So, let’s say he’s been an advisor for 10/12 years at this point. He has therefore been a good servant of the king longer than he’s been a traitor. 

Hence, the outreach. And, in Brad Dourif’s wonderful acting, Grima’s clear desire to go home to his king. In the book it’s more subtle. Grima chucks the palantir out the window at Orthanc and it’s stated that he wasn’t sure who he was aiming for, Saruman or Gandalf, because he couldn’t decide who he hated more. 

Honestly? Legit. I would also hate the guy who reduced me to “it” pronouns. But maybe that’s my gender identity stuff playing up ;) 

(Granted, in the full quote Gandalf reverts back to “he”, for context. And I’ve said this before, in another post, that it makes sense for Gandalf and as a writer, I agree with Tolkien’s decisions for that scene.)

Now, for some speculation. Not that I haven’t spilled a tonne already. MORE SPECULATION. This time bringing you long term effects of bullying and never having loving relationships modelled for you! Because LOTR, at the end of the day, is all about trauma and how maybe not to deal with it. 

So - motives. 

We know Saruman’s motives. Indeed, he tells them to us in FOTRK: “[to] have power, power to order all things as we will, for that good which only the Wise can see” and to achieve “the high and ultimate purpose: Knowledge, Rule, Order; all the things that we have so far striven in vain to accomplish, hindered rather than helped by our weak or idle friends.”

Great. Super straight forward. And from the man’s own mouth. 

Grima’s though, always come to us second hand. In the books it’s Gandalf telling us (Gandalf can mind read, so yes, maybe he is accurate). In the films, it’s Eomer guestimating. 

But Grima never actually tells us, himself, what his motives are. 

(a quick aside: if some dude is shoving me up against a pole and threatening me, and I hear someone walking by, of course I’m going to look over at them and it by no means indicates my desire to shag that person. Now, of course, we know from other scenes this is the case. I’m just saying. It’s natural to look over at the person walking by while you’re being jumped by the Third Marshal of the Mark who is twice your size. anyway.) 

So what are his driving forces for treason? What made him go to this point of no return then keep going even when people offered him a way back. 

It is important to note that his treason required him to forswear his oath to his liege lord. I don’t know how to convey what a big deal that would have been, in modern terms. But it would have been huge. Forswearing/reneging on oaths was a massive cultural taboo in Anglo-saxon [AS] England (and general, early medieval Europe). 

And, as Rohan is based on AS England (I forget if Tolkien was cagey about this. He was sometimes a dumb shit and coy about things so was like “noooo it’s not STRICTLY AS England….but it’s clearly AS England with more horses and a light dusting of vikings and the Danelaw”), we can assume it carried as much weight for them as it did for the historical people. 

(Indeed, it’s implied, if not directly stated, in the text what a big deal oath breaking is. Don’t say “oath breaking” too loud or the Silmarillion fandom will come out of the woodwork)

The big takeaway: BIG DEAL TO FORSWEAR YOUR OATH. 

And he did it! Which is why I don’t buy the “it was because of Eowyn and like some nice jewels.” You don’t betray your country, you don’t forswear your oath to your king, simply because you’re hot on the king’s niece and Saruman might give you a raise. 

And, as a liege man to Theoden, he was part of Theoden’s household so would have eaten, worked with, lived with everyone else in the household (Eomer, until he becomes Third Marshal; Eowyn; Hama; Theoden’s guards etc.) 

So, you live with these people, eat with them, drink with them, spend all your time with them, for circa 10 years then you do a bunk and betray them? Something happened. I suspect it was years and years of things happening. 

Overall, I think it to be a combination of things. As is usually the case for these sorts of crimes. In this case, a nice mix of fear, desperation, greed, resentment, anger and desire. 

Fear/Desperation: So, to Grima’s mind the world is ending. Why wouldn’t he think this? Hell, even the Wisest and the Fairest (i.e. wizards & elves) think it’s ending. Why wouldn’t this poor bloke from some small country nearby to Mordor not think it an existential threat to an unimaginable degree? 

Grima is sat here in Rohan looking at Mordor going "oh fuck" then who are the leaders left? Denethor (slightly bonkers) and Theoden (past his prime and lacklustre, like his father and grandfather). 

This is not a man with a strong moral fiber. Or...any moral fiber, let’s be real. He does not have the fortitude to stick it out through hopeless situations. And it would have been hopeless to his eyes. And those around him (see: Eomer’s do not trust to hope… Sure Saruman was a problem, but he wasn’t just talking about the white wizard).  

Gandalf’s plan, which none of these people were ever wholly aware of, was a goddamn Hail Mary pass and it worked. Barely, but it did. NO ONE had reason to believe it would, though. And those are people in the know. Not someone like Grima who has no fucking clue what Gandalf et al is up to. He sees Gandalf then like … Nazgul torture him on the planes of Rohan (Unfinished Tales). He sees Gandalf then bad things happen. 

Lathspell indeed. 

Greed & Desire: I don’t think I need to go into these ones too much. They’re pretty self explanatory. Grima and Black Phillip hung out and the goat asked Grima if he wanted to live deliciously and Grima, like any normal person, said: um, yes please? Also, Eowyn was around being badass, beautiful and untouchable. 

Resentment/Anger: Alright, more probing in the dark. I suspect, for one reason or another (and these reasons would vary depending if you’re looking at books or movies), he was someone who was always treated as other/differently, teased, picked on, isolated, overlooked, doesn’t measure up to Rohan’s military ideal of masculinity. All of which creates an underlying resentment issue.

And nothing festers quite like resentment. 

On top of that, I also suspect he was always told he was a snake/untrustworthy/not worthy etc. and if you're told something enough, and you don't have anything or anyone else telling you the opposite, there is a strong chance you become that thing.

It's a chicken and egg: the face you wear to the world tells the world how to treat you; the world tells you what you are and that is how you shape your face.

THEN you add in Saruman. Who is clearly, in the text, abusive. Which, if there were any inferiority/bullied etc. issues that are informing Grima’s actions, Saruman is just going to amplify it. 

“You are a traitor because you’re a snake, and you’re a snake because you’re spineless, weak, nothing more than a creature that crawls on its stomach on the ground. Snakes are bad, evil things. Which is all you’ve ever been. Barely deserving of the good treatment I give you etc.” <-- all of which is basically a summary of what Saruman has been saying to him for a few years at this point (in the book, it’s only tangentially implied in the movies). 

So Grima sort of morphed himself into what he believed himself to be, fuelled by that perversity resentment causes: Oh you think I’m a snake? I’ll be the best goddamn most poisonous snake you ever did see. Just watch me. 

He is trapped in this situation. A hutch to trammel some wild thing in. 

Which leads me to an interesting point that I think gets lost sometimes: Narratively, he and Eowyn are similar in what they are experiencing. Isolation, being overlooked, misunderstood/misrepresented, don't fit into societal roles and expectations etc. They just go in very different directions in how they respond to it.

I think that's why, in the film, it was smart to have her give pause and listen to him because what he's saying resonates. He is, in some ways, speaking as much for himself as her. But then, of course, he's also just trying to shit disturb and make mischief so of course, at the end of the day, any sympathy he is attempting to convey is laced with poison.

I do wonder, too, if he's the first person to see her fear and her frustrations and acknowledges them out loud. Which is powerful. To have someone see you. Damn shame it's Grima. Still, Eowyn (in the film) paused and listened for a reason.

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A brief aside on my idle, ill founded thoughts on gender and Rohan: 

One of the reasons I think Eowyn and Grima go in diverging directions, is that Eowyn is performing masculinity, in her society's accepted interpretation of it. Masculinity, in Middle Earth, is clearly the norm. And in Rohan, it’s a very particular iteration of military-focused masculinity that is idealized (you can bet, men who killed like 10 orcs were awarded places in court above Grima who served as advisor for like ten years but hasn’t killed an orc ever).

Eowyn’s desire to live/perform this more masculine ideal caters to the subconscious thing of “Masculinity is Natural Neutral Ideal” so of course you would want to be more like A Man. Whereas Grima is the opposite, not performing masculinity according to Rohan's accepted view of it.

And gods, in Anglo-Saxon culture (therefore, Rohan’s, most likely. I see no evidence to the contrary) is that a difficult position to find yourself in. Back in AS England, being called argr, unmanly, or to be accused of ergri, unmanliness, was one of the worst insults you could throw at a man (indeed, some laws said you could kill a man in retaliation for calling you such things). I would bet my shirt that people used such insults about Grima in this world. Which is all kinds of messed up.

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Now, my interest in him is my general love for a good redemption arc for the most hopeless of characters. It’s why I struggle to call Boromir’s arc, when he’s written as living, a redemption arc. Because I don’t know he has much to redeem himself for. In his own mind, sure, yes, but externally? Not in my view, at least. He has things he’s done wrong and needs to make amends for. But that’s different from redemption.

Grima, on the other hand, is one whose walk-back from evil would be a full on redemption arc. And I like it because he’s not nice, he’s not pleasant. He will never be nice or pleasant or cheerful. But learning how to love and be a good person doesn’t require niceness. 

Saruman could be plenty nice. Sauron could be plenty nice. Look what they turned out to be.

And in my writing, I do hope I’m treading that line between creating an understanding of who Grima is without Kylo-Ren-ing him. Or, woobiefying him, as the old parlance was. That’s the line I’m really aiming for. I want people to not hate him. I want them to understand him. Oh, still condemn him, still judge him, disagree with him, acknowledge and know he did bad things and isn’t a nice person. But the end game is to add some understanding and nuance.

Shades of grey.

Also I’m a sucker for challenging redemptions.

--

Why Eomer/Grima? 

Because I am an agent of chaos. 

More seriously, I was never overly taken with the Grima/Eowyn approach, personally, which is obviously popular (um...within the Grima world), and closer to canon. There are some beautifully written fics and art out there for the two of them, so if you’re into that. The creators in that nook of fandom are top notch.

I always liked the drastic opposite of Grima and Eomer. As I noted above, Grima and Eowyn are two sides of the same coin. Both bitter and resentful and trapped. And that’s a lot of fun to play with, and i get it. But for me, I love a good strong contrast of personalities in my pairings. (If that uh … isn’t readily apparent.)

I think both Eomer and Grima would have a lot to teach each other and in some really interesting ways that neither would expect. I can see both getting under each other’s skin in that way where you’re sort of always thinking about them.

Grima is also someone who has had very little love in his life (I suspect he wants it, he just doesn’t know how to give or receive it). Eomer is someone who has lost a lot of people (parents, quasi-uncle for a few years there. I think it’s why he’s so controlling over Eowyn. Didn’t want to lose her). And I think there’s something in there where they could help each other grow. But I’m a sucker for some beauty to be there, in the end. Some hope.

Mostly, though, I think it boils down to their dynamic and the angst potential. Eomer is this brash, forthright, fiery third marshal of the mark who may or may not think things through. Big of heart, dumb of ass. Then there’s Grima who is quiet and reserved, cynical, critical, always has a plan or five, gets by via his wits etc. Lots of fun potential there.