#hope i was somewhat comprehensive

[dearweirdme]

https://www.tumblr.com/dearweirdme/714931786938040320/hello-if-they-ask-you-why-you-believe-in-taekook?source=share

Wow your response is so 👌👌👌

Also I wanna know what do you think about this 'Streisand effect'? I just learnt about this term😂.. Don't you think taekook especially their company uses this inorder to create constant buzz and make it more widespread?

Hi Anon!

Tricky question you’ve sent me here! I so wish we could take just a small peak into BTS’s marketing strategies, but unfortunately all we can do is guess. This is probably going to be long again. Their way of dealing with Taekook has been confusing to me at times. Because while there are several clear instances where Tae and Jk are being forced to distance themselves, there are also a lot of instances shown that we would expect to be hidden if the ship was something they wanted to hide (Tae cuddling up with Jk in his bed in The Soop for instance). So why show some things, but also obviously hide others?

The way I understand it is that the Streisand Effect is not something that can be used as a marketing strategy, it’s more a side effect of doing a poor job at hiding things. For the company to actually try to hide stuff only to want people to pay more attention would be way to risky I believe. So while I do think the Streisand effect may be happening a bit, I don’t think it’s necessarily what they want. I think both the company and Taekook actively try to hide stuff and they probably succeed in hiding way (!) more than any of us are able to imagine.

The thing with Tae and Jk is… it’s so hard to completely hide their connection. It’s one thing to hide actual obvious actions, like hugging and touching… those can be edited out rather easily. But affection and intimacy are things that show themselves through very small often automatic responses to the other. It’s in the way we look at someone, the way our initial response to someone’s voice or appearance is. It’s called micro expressions (look it up, it’s interesting) and those are hard to describe, so it’s even harder for an editor to look for and hide. That is why so many people pick up on the bond between Tae and Jk but very little people know how to actually describe why their bond appears different from the other members. It’s just hard to get your head around, because when looking for signs to proof two people are in a relationship we tend to look for the obvious grand gesture kind off stuff (enter Jikook here), while real relationships, especially long term ones, go beyond those.

Now imagine having started this new Kpop band. Thankfully all of the members seem to get along, become real friends even and two of them have amazing chemistry. Shipping is a common thing especially in Kpop, so you utilize it. You want attention on your band, because the competition is hard. With these two member having this great chemistry, you don’t have to push for it as much. It’s already there and it works. But, at some point… maybe it’s getting out of hand a bit. And then it becomes clear that the members actually are in a relationship. What do you do? South Korea might love shipping, they do not love actual queer relationships (in general that is). So while you don’t mind the ship, the relationship has to be hidden. I think that’s when Jikook comes into play. Jimin is their close friend, they are comfortable with each other, the role comes easy to him as he is kind off a flirty person with everyone. Him and Jk are able to play of the grand gesture parts I mentioned before so to a lot of people that becomes the next ship. Now they are able to say, look it’s just shipping Jk, Tae and Jimin are just close friends… it’s normal. They start showing less and less of Taekook, going with a “they are no longer close” narrative and boom… the story changes for the eyes of the greater public. To people paying attention this was never enough, but companies are mostly concerned with the media. They do not actually care if there’s a part of fandom that’s still picking up on reality, they are probably even happy that it’s still a thing, because it does create fandom chatter and that is always a good thing.

I think they are walking a fine line (both the company and Tae and Jk themselves). The company wants to keep the ship, but hide the relationship. That is why we at times got clear footage of Taekook being close, but at other times clear instances of them being forced apart. Tae and Jk seem to really want to show their strong bond these days, but they don’t actually want to be out I think. They can’t it’s not safe for them to do so. I think they are being very brave, I admire them a lot.

[viperbunnies]

"Nothing good ever comes out when I start hoping... but maybe just a little bit."

[Thank you to @.unfinished-projects-galore , @.ai-kan1 and @.stestylius-arts for the assets! Thank you as well to @jovieinramshackle for giving me the inspo to finally start on this, and to @crystallizsch , @angelwishess and @twstgo whose oc intros I took inspo for the layout 🫶]

An outlier from the school, due to his situation he was home-schooled for the majority of his first year. They have decided to accompany the Ramshackle prefect in their daily endeavors, serving as a guide and as a companion in the worn-down dorm.

BASIC INFO.

NAME: Oswald "Oz" Damarys BIRTHNAME: ???? ??????? ALIAS: Oz, Ozzie, Flashlight Fish (Floyd), Monsieur Porcelaine (Rook) Shortie-senpai (Yuudai) AGE: 17 BIRTHDATE: August 26 HEIGHT: 154 cm SPECIES: Half-human half beastmen GENDER: Demi-boy (Uses they/he and masc titles) ORIENTATION: Demisexual ALIGNMENT: Lawful Neutral MBTI: ISFP Voice claim: Here! (Stc)

LIKES: Stargazy pie, Seafood in general, Acrobatics, Crochet, Art in general, Reading, Fairytales, Music boxes, Classical Music, Card games, Mystery books, Sightseeing, DISLIKES:Wishmaking, Shooting stars, Crowded places, Performing, Being observed, People touching his birthmark, His "Luck", Basketballs

Unique Magic Your Next Line is! [ Flash Forward ] — "An indisputable future is what I see... Your Next Line is!" Oswald is able to take a peek into someone's future as long as they keep contact with his pearly white eye. It can be anything from 5 seconds from now or a day later - This visions manifests like rolls of film - Lately It appears his unique magic is going haywire, showing him visions without the need of eye contact. (They aren't pleasant visions)

TRAITS +  Easy-going; Flexible; Warm; Appreciative =  Tolerant; Perceptive; Witty; Impartial -  Overworker; Indecisive; Reliant; Worrisome

BRIEF OVERVIEW (STC)

Oz is a man of many tricks; he was raised to entertain the audience, which is why he is great at lightening up the mood of the room. The many tricks he can do reminds others of a puppy trained on how to play dead, or shake hands. Despite that, Oz actually struggles in actually expressing the his true feelings— used to being the brunt of many jokes growing up, he believes that he is simply a puppet used for the entertainment of others. He sees himself as a hollow doll with no real personality, only meant for display. He is confused about who his truly is, used to what others want to see and not what he wants to show. Slowly, he is realizing that he is merely human, and that he should live for his own sake. (Old info from my notes)

TIDBITS

Random Facts - Part-beastmen, specifically a rabbit beastmen but he lacks actual features aside for his tail that was cauterized off when he was younger - He doesn't look the part but he also likes getting into shenanigans, sometimes instigating Yuu and Adeuce with the pranks they do (No one really believes the trio when they say it was Oz's idea) - He's double jointed which is helpful with his Acrobatic hobby. - Love language is gift giving, and has a tendency to make crochets for other people. They're typically things that remind them of the other. - Has a lot of birthmarks on his face, but he started to cover them with foundation after Floyd made fun of it. - Has a terrible sense of direction so he gets lost easily, but he'd like to travel around the world someday. - He has terrible luck, and while he doesn't believe in superstitions he began to be wary about them. Doesn't want to get knocked out unconscious by a basketball whenever he passes by the gym. - Doesn't really mind being called Oswald, but he associated that to whenever he'd get scolded... so Oz is his more go to nickname.

TYPING QUIRK: - His friend got him into using Kaomojis, he likes the ones with bunny ears. - Likes sending voice messages to get his point across. - Usually types in sentence cases, (although when he isn't feeling well he types in lower cases) SPEAKING QUIRK: - Uses a lot of onomatopoeia to describe unknown things. - Speaks firmly when he feels strong emotions. - Sometimes bites his tongue when he rambles, or not focused. BEHAVIOURAL QUIRKS: - Nose has a tendency to twitch when he’s interested, or irritated. - He also unconsciously thumps his foot when he’s annoyed.

RELATIONSHIPS (WIP)

(Might put a brief overview on their more notable relationships in the future!) Note: - Main Oc x Canon is with Jamil (ignore that pink on silver and jade) - Divus is his foster parent

PNGS BELOW:

p∀ƎH ⅄W NI פNIH┴ƎWOS SI ƎɹƎH┴

[aenhanse]

interview with the vampire (2022- ) / mimesis definition by the britannica dictionary / the classical concept of mimesis, göran sörbom / adoration of the shepherds, palma vecchio / the kiss of judas, jakob smits / three studies for figures at the base of a crucifixion, francis bacon / mimesis: the representation of reality in western literature, erich auerbach (the brown stocking | introduction to the fiftieth-anniversry edition by edward said) / young man kneeling before god the father, egon schiele / shelter, peter macon

[fiepige]

Guys we need to talk about the deleted scene!

A deleted scene called "Miguel Calling" has been released and even though he doesn't physically appear in this scene, we still get some pretty interesting information about Hobie (that may or may not be canon).

In the clip above we hear a rather interesting conversation between Gwen and Miguel. Gwen wants to call Hobie for backup for the Spot mission, but Miguel says that Hobie quit!

What we learn from this scene:

Hobie quit the spider-society (because he doesn't believe in institutions or teams- at least that's why Miguel thinks he quit)

Even LYLA can't find him!!!! I find this VERY interesting cause she was able to track the Spot as he was dimension hopping (and he didn't wear a watch or anything they could use to track him). So Hobie somehow KNOWS how to completely avoid detection from the spider-society, which again must mean that he has a pretty good idea as to how the society works! (Also does this mean he wasn't hiding in his own dimension? Cause that feels like a pretty obvious place to hide and I feel Like LYLA would be able to find him there? OR: Does this mean he'd already made a watch for himself at this point and was using it to dimension hop or maybe he can use it to somehow avoid detection from LYLA? Or maybe he was hiding in his own dimension cause it would be too obvious and thus the last place they'd look for him).

Hobie gave Gwen a way to contact him! (maybe he'd already made a watch for her too in this version?)

Miguel thinks Hobie is unrelieable and erratic, I wonder if that's why he wanted Hobie to come with the others to HQ? So that he could have a serious talk with Hobie after he was done with Miles? Is that why Miguel acts so annoyed by Hobie's presence when he first meets Miles at HQ?

I know this is a deleted scene and thus technically isn't canon, but I still think it gives us some very interesting (and possibly canon?) information about Hobie and how the other characters view him!

This post turned out to be longer than I expected but I just get so many new ideas and thoughts when I watch this scene! Please let me know what you guys think of all this!

Thank you for reading!

[azzymaxxing]

Hey, what do you think an interaction between Ralsei and Flowey/Undertale Asriel would end up being like?

Absolute dumpster fire. I think Asriel would be uncomfortable around him(especially if in this scenario Asriel counts as a lightner), definitely still polite but with Everything Ralsei Has Going On I can't see them having a genuine conversation. Also Ralsei kind of . Sucks at talking to children. I don't see a lot of people mention him giving his 'Darkners Purpose' speech to Lancer but its so Insane to me. That being said, I think they still Could become friends under certain circumstances. I think Flowey would get bored of him pretty quickly. Not much to say here, actually.

[actual-changeling]

Seasons pass and wither, and hidden within the slow, wet drag of London is a flame which remains unchanged in the face of winter. The heat leaves with a quiet exhale, and takes the colour of the world with it, stealing first green, then golden-browns from the trees, eternally growing.

As the winds pick up and uselessly attempt to erode the blue-white memory burned into a cream patch of carpet, the flame flickers despite them, growing and shrinking, defying the constant fall of rain. The sky opens above them over and over again, the lightning seen from the window a message, a plea. Painting condensation onto the glass, the flame watches the violet violent flashes with melting disdain and growing regret.

There has never been a path carved into the heavens they could have walked without extinguishing themself and being lost to the wisps of smoke drifting towards earth. Yet they breathe until the window clears and they can recount the song of a nightingale between lightning and thunder.

Storms pass, return, linger for hours and days, and the flame lives it through it all. Light comes in many shapes, they relearn, caught in the company of a tentatively flickering golden glow that is still adjusting to sharing space with more atoms and electrons than themself. They carry no warmth, only a probing curiosity for the charcoal smears the flame leaves on everything they touch.

I'm burning myself up, they say, flickering red, orange, blue.

Does it hurt?

Only if I let it.

Silence fills the smoke-riddled air after that, heavy with confusion and pity, blackened by the residue the flame grinds into the carpet whenever they try to extinguish themself. Waiting, waiting, waiting, through passing storms and snow, through melting frost and the return of sunshine.

Waiting, waiting, waiting, the flame flickers through it all, hoping for the return of their spark before they are nothing but smoldering ashes and slowly dripping wax.

[sowearecleariamhere]

yall I was Not Ready for episode 15 of lovely runner T.T

Imagine being Seonjae and having all those memories from 3 (!!!) different timelines come back to you at once, all about that woman you feel strangely almost magically drawn to and who has just a little while ago rejected you, referencing the person she loves as the reason she and you can't ever be a possibility, and you realise that in a past you only now remember, a past that your current self hasn't truly lived but did, you loved this woman more than your own life and saved her from harm time and time again, that this woman went back in time again and again and again to make sure you lived, even if that meant she had to decide that she and you had to be strangers in the end, and that the reason she blocked all your attempts of becoming closer to her (some of which were almost more unconscious than conscious) because you were in fact the person she loves and that she is once again trying to protect you from harm, even at the expense of her happiness

[kraehenkunst]

Any drawing tips? I'm in love with your drawing of people and I think you avoid same-face-syndrome very well :)

Hi! Thank you very much thats super nice of you!

I never really feel like I'm equipped to give art advise, because most of the time I don't really know what I'm doing either. But especially in regards to character design and same face syndrome, I feel like the number one mistake people make is trying to make every character pretty.

So many artists shy away from "ugliness", or even just stepping away from the beauty conventions they are used to. But like, perfection is so boring! And thats just not what human faces look like, the people around you don't look like marvel actors, they have big noses or double chins and their eyebrows are too thick or too thin etc. and thats what makes them recognizable as the people they are! So I guess my advise is: work with references, look at people on the bus and try to understand how their features work, and how they can be translated in your chosen medium. And look at other artists too, try finding out what you like about a work of art, try to replicate the parts you enjoy and see what works for you and what doesn't.

And don't get locked into a certain style, I think there is too much focus on that, especially on social media. You can't just form an artist identity from one day to the next and then be done with your journey. Its an evolution, and the best way to prevent artblock is to let go of the confines you have set yourself and to try something new.

All right ok, sorry that got so rambly.. umm. here is a sneakpeak of what im working on right now! ♥️

[always-a-slut-4-ghouls]

On tumblr when you post you’re just playing Russian roulette with your post getting attention, but it’ll probably get ignored.

On Reddit any comment you make outside of some very niche community will immediately have someone downvoting you and calling you like, three different insults. Then they will wonder why you only log in every couple months. Like, it’s a very helpful website when you have a question for another community you’re in, but you’ll also get someone being immediately hostile when you make an innocuous post on a garden subreddit 😑

At least on tumblr people have to actually seek out your random ass text posts and go out of their way to start shit, and you don’t have the up and down vote system that feels like playing with my self confidence and worth issues.

Both websites are toxic part of the time (what social media isn’t?) and both are actually more useful for weird people, but holy shit does Reddit feel more aggressive about shit. Maybe it’s just the devil you know, but at least on this mess of a website half your hate will be for the most random shit and misunderstandings that people have to seek out finding if your blog is a normal size. Reddit is either posting on a dead sub or getting immediately thrown to the, well, sharks and wolves aren’t actually super aggressive towards humans under normal circumstances, so something else that could tear you apart instantly for just existing in the same space as them.

[productofaritual]

You know sometimes I'll just think about how terrifying c!Ranboo's amnesia is.

Sure he writes it all down in a notebook so he technically knows what happened. But he doesn't remember it. I don't know if I can like properly explain how horrifying that concept is to me. Like he's just aware that things have happened. But it's like he never lived through them. Like they're someone else's experiences that he just knows happened to him. He can't know just how it felt when he got the tear scars until he cries again. He can't remember the sound of Michael's voice until he hears it again. He knows what happened, he knows how things looked and felt, but what does it matter when he can't remember any of it?

[crossbackpoke-check]

Hello, im wehaveagathering from my main blog, im kind of obsessed with your hockey poetry edits and I think your blog is great! I guess I kind of have a dumb question, where do you find the images you use for your edits? Did you say Getty in your tags?? I’ve gotten into making icons recently (and i have ideas for poetry edits hrrrghhh) but it’s hard to find high res images. Thanks for your time and I hope you have a nice day :)

first of all thank you so much 🥹 and second that’s absolutely not a dumb question!! i do pull a lot of images from getty and i’ll also download pictures from sports articles (i got a lot of the hugheses pictures from online access articles, for example), or sometimes from instagram/facebook/twitter if an account is public. freely admitting that i am not technologically advanced? inclined? in the slightest here, but the image editing software that you use and how you import/export photos with it makes a difference in the quality of them as well!

if you haven’t seen them yet, i would also recommend checking out @simmyfrobby @national-hockey-lesbian @hauntedppgpaints @tapedsleeves @starscelly and @captainbradmarchand’s blogs just off the top of my head!!! they might know more places to get high res images and also i love their work 💕🫶

[whatisthismandoinghere]

Laramie episode analysis time!!

S1.EP2 Glory Road

This was the first time I’d seen Eddie Albert in a role that wasn’t Oliver Wendell Douglas from Green Acres and lemme tell you it was a bit of a shock 😂 man nearly stabbed somebody for lighting a match on his saddle

So many cute animals, there was the goats, and then the dog, and a little kitty!! Really though I just love Andy and his big heart for all these critters, he’s darling <3

Don’t mind me out here just admiring the scenery 😂😏

You know things are bad when Jess freaks out like that when he sees Roany because Jess is not one to avoid confrontation, also Jess your maternal instincts are showing 😂 seriously though I love how protective he is of Andy <3

The way Slim looks like such a disappointed mother when he hears Andy lying to Roany about Jess having moved on 😂 hands on hips and everything, even has an apron yes I realize he was doing some blacksmith stuff but it’s funny

Aw, Jonesy getting so excited about the piano is so cute, I really like his interactions with Essie too

Not that we’ve seen much of Roany at this point but it’s clear why Jess wants to lay low, he’s got a short fuse and he’s real possessive, not a good combination

Slim, I can appreciate your morals and wanting Andy to grow up to be a good and honest man, but if your friend asks you to tell someone they’re not there, you lie for them

Sassy Jess strikes again 😂

Slim: Why did you duck him?

Jess: Cause I wanted to

Slim: You got anything against a straight answer?

Jess: You got all the answers you’re gettin’ from me

Jess just standing back there behind the door trying to not be seen 😂 also I’ve noticed that he fiddles with his fingers a lot, it’s a cute habit I think

Look, Andy’s a smart kid and he knows when something’s up and Jess being so stubborn about it ain’t helping

Andy: You’re afraid of him, aren’t you Jess?

Jess: You think what you like.

I get that maybe it’s not stuff Andy needs to hear or wanting your business to be your own but I think Andy deserves a better answer than that

Jonesy just walking up and starting to play the piano and Essie just peeking her head out of the wagon and quietly watching him until he’s finished, it was just a cute little moment I think

I think this is absolutely hilarious cuz I think I know what’s going through both of their heads, Slim knows that Jess’ll be back and Jess is thinking this is the last time he’s ever gonna see him, spoiler alert: Slim is right 😂

Bless Slim’s heart cuz I know he’s really trying to be there for Andy, Andy’s sitting there on the fence obviously upset that Jess left and you can just see from the look on Slim’s face that he’s trying so hard to think of the right thing to say, but then the stage shows up so saved by the bell I guess or saved by the stage and then Slim tries to distract him by talking about the stage but then Andy comes right out and asks if he thinks Jess’ll ever come back and he has to give him an honest answer

Gosh Slim and that girl from the stage just checking each other out was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen 🤣 and the way the boyfriend (or husband, I have no clue) just pulled her away 😂

NOT POOR JONESY!! Roany just sent my boy flying off the wagon, dude’s unhinged

Man, Jess whipped his gun out so fast when he thought Roany was gonna hurt Essie, also Roany just whipping Jess with the reins, like sir?? But then Roany seems like he's genuinely sorry about all of it, there's a lot to unpack here, Roany switches between moods so fast and it makes it so hard to tell if he’s being sincere or not

Aw when Essie asks if Jonesy and Jess could move the tables and chairs so they could bring the piano in Jess was up immediately and all smiley and he just said “yes ma’am” so happily, that was so freaking cute

4 days on the Kansas prairie with a busted leg cuz your horse threw you cuz it got spooked by a rattler, Jess you just get yourself into all kinds of situations don’t you

Roany beat a saloon girl with brass knuckles cuz she laughed at him yikes

When Jonesy says, “You didn’t want him (Roany) around Andy. That’s the reason you pulled out, isn’t it?” and Jess just changes the subject, heaven forbid you show you care about anyone Jess Harper, can’t fool Jonesy though, he knows what’s up, he’s also smart enough not to push it

I love Jonesy being able to learn songs on the piano by ear, I just like learning fun little details like that about characters

You can see that Jess was also concerned about Jonesy being around Roany, the way he convinces Roany to leave and go to another saloon, I love how Jess loves so hard and cares so much about those around him even though sometimes he doesn't like to show it

Roany, to Jess: “I guess you’d be glad to do most anything for me, wouldn’t you?” uh… no. How about you just save somebody cuz it’s the right thing to do?? We really out here expecting a favor in return smh

When Roany makes a comment about how he likes animals and that they do most things out of fright and they just need somebody to love them… and you know that he’s indirectly talking about himself too and I can’t help but feel a tiny bit bad for him, ya know? I mean that doesn’t excuse the bad things he’s done at all and he should still be held accountable but… yeah, and Jess knows exactly what Roany is like and you can tell because of the completely different demeanor he takes on with him, Jess has one heck of a temper and he will not hesitate to tell anyone what he really thinks of them and he will fight anyone and everyone, but not with Roany, his tone is completely different, he walks on eggshells around him because he knows something bad will happen and someone will very likely get hurt and I also can't help but think there's a little bit of pity for Roany maybe??

I cannot express how much I love watching Jonesy play the piano and sing! And when Essie asks him if he could stay until Sunday since Roany hurt his hand and wouldn’t be able to play, he was so excited!! I think if Essie had been on the show longer, her and Jonesy would have been such good friends

I am going to have The Church in the Wildwood stuck in my head for the next week or so, it always makes me think of The Andy Griffith Show though, Andy Griffith and Don Knotts performed it so beautifully

NOT THE PIANO again, I act like I’ve never seen this episode before

Really I think in the end it had to be Jess that killed Roany, Essie may have been able to do it but even if she did she would have never forgiven herself and Jess knew that, he's good at reading people I think and he's so selfless, it's one of my favorite things about him

Jess disappearing for a week and then showing up with a piano is just… such a Jess thing to do 😂 and I mean that affectionately of course

They’re precious, I can’t even 😭

Yall know I just had to clip this whole scene, audio and all HOW COULD I NOT

Love how Slim just moments earlier was talking to Jonesy about how Andy needs to move on cuz it’s been a week since they’ve heard from Jess, then Slim is out here just as happy to have him back 😂 and he said he was happy to have Jess home yall 😭 can you just imagine what that meant to Jess, especially when there are so many clues that he had a rough childhood WHO IS CUTTING ONIONS IN HERE, also Jess is adorable swaying back and forth to the music, I would die for him

[blood-mocha-latte]

I just saw a tik tok saying that they hc lip and toye training together and I need to hear your thoughts on it because I know I'm drooling thinking about shoulders

WAIT WAIT WAIT is this based on That One Photo bc i have had. that exact thought anon

i like to think that lip and toye probably like. boxed consistently even after basic training and things because it's both a great stress reliever and something that keeps one in Fit Fighting Form. like. u got downtime in normandy? sparring time with the boys

ALSO. also. it works on multiple levels bc it's sort of that push back for lip. he can let go some, have some sort of release mechanism on his most certainly colossal stress levels in a good old fashioned brawl, and barely has to worry, because he knows that toye can take it

and i could possibly get into what that does after toye Gets Hit, but i shall probably save that for another day. a slightly more depressing day, perhaps. :))

[yanlei-a]

my heartlight. that's what could have been. . .

— @kiguard

There is a universe somewhere, he is certain, where that is what they are to each other.

Some life where they do not choose to follow opposite paths, but rather brave the path hand in hand, no matter where it takes. Some version of reality where he gives Shen the chance to make his own choice, no secrets nor deception; and where Shen, in turn, chooses him.

It is not an ideal world, truth be told. Not if it gets to that point. There are reasons behind his choices, even the secrets and deception, and to let his dearest friend stain his hands and forgo his duty would have been a selfish act, done for himself alone, to soothe the overwhelming affection and unending grief their parting brought. Possessive, in a way; wanting nothing more than to keep Shen with him, his, regardless of consequence.

Of course, Zed could never do it in reality; it simply wasn't who he was.

There is scarcely a moment of respite, time to be wasted in idle fantasizing, but even the Master of Shadows cannot control his every thought. There may not be elaborate daydreams of a perfect world, but when the longing gets the best of him, there are glimpses: them, together, finding the laughter that so often eluded them after years hunting the Golden Demon; the temple not taken but shared, their ways not opposite but merged into a single path, not as harsh as this one, not as oblivious as that of the Kinkou, a middle ground crafted together; moments of quiet, with the peace Zed had only ever known because of the only man to treat him as an equal from the start.

A life where my heartlight would have been easily offered, honey-sweet, the only apt word to describe the entirety of what Shen meant to him; where it would have been returned, embraced, accepted, cherished, really, because there is no reality in which it would not leave him in awe, where hearing it may become commonplace and ordinary, as if love could ever be so.

Countless times, the damned longing almost causes him to falter. Zed despairs with it, the desire to bring to light the truth, even if it would not absolve him. It feels like a more merciful life than this, standing before the Eye of Twilight and baring his sins, the reasoning behind them, and kneeling before him to subject to his justice, to the bite of his blade (who would have more right to his life than him?). A mercy he does not deserve, when it would cause Shen so much pain; best to bear it on his own, to make it his burden, to shove down the yearning that makes him so weak that the thought would be entertained at all.

What possibilities there were (what could have — should have — been), he chose his path long ago. Honor compelled him to keep his secrets, surely enough, but it was more than that: his own happiness is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. Better to allow Shen a chance at it, or at least peace of mind, despite him assuming a mantle he never wanted but was only ever suited to him. Better that Zed refrains from feelings that could so easily cause him to stray from the only route there was for him to follow, a life that was and should be for Ionia before it was for himself. It was what the First Lands needed: his darkness and Shen's light, a balance of sorts on its own.

But there is a universe somewhere, he is certain, where they are each other's heartlights.

[raddestrose]

WAAAIIIIIIT NOOOOOOOO

I DIDNT KNOWWWE, I MISSED LAN WANGJI’S BIRTHDAY

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE BEAUTIFUL FAILURE MAN WHO GOT HIS AWESOME WIFE THROUGH HIS ODD BIRD FLIRTING

[mivinaluv]

Some thoughts on the Luxon, Predathos, the Gods and everything

This is less of a theory post and more just me putting my thoughts out, because I feel like I’m starting to think in circles and I would love to hear what everyone else thinks about it. Plus, there are so many contradictions in the info that we have and many sources that it comes from, which makes it really hard to speak about anything as a matter of fact.

So, as far as we know, and this is one of the least contradictory facts, Exandria was nothing before the Luxon arrived. After its arrival, it created pretty much everything on it, and, most importantly, life. Now, it’s unclear whether all life and all existing things are made of the same stuff that Luxon is, or at least some parts of it, or Luxon was kind of just a catalyst for it to start existing, and its creations don’t directly share its essence. I am more inclined to think that the former is true, but there’s been some interesting wording regarding this moment, which leads to believe that the world just came to life after the Luxon “embraced” it and merged with its core, which might mean that the world is just capable of creating things on its own, it just needed Luxon as a jumpstart and/or a power source. Once again I’m more inclined to think that everything shares Luxon’s essence in some way, but I also think that Luxon on its own can’t just create things without having the world there in any case, but that creation of anything is also impossible without the Luxon. Moreover, first living beings are specifically referred to as Luxon’s children in some sources. So, first point is, everything on Exandria is made with the help of the Luxon.

Next, and this is a very contradictory point, it is completely unclear when the Luxon split itself apart. As recent as c3e104 the Bright Queen said something that can be interpreted as that the Luxon gave life to Exandria when it broke itself apart. This is completely contradicted by what is said in EGtW and in TCSR. In TCSR the Luxon broke itself apart when the gods came, because it saw mortals die and decided that they need to enter a cycle of rebirth to gain more knowledge. This is a strange interpretation to me, since it contradicts not only the myth of the Luxon, but also some other information that we now have from the campaign and from the other sources that I will talk about later. But, nevertheless, it’s another version that’s been published. And last but not least, we have the EGtW version, which to me makes the most sense, and I mostly base all my theories on it, but it’s also the oldest of the 3, so it might’ve been retconned or rewritten. Anyway, in this explanation the Luxon broke itself apart after it created the Primordials and all that comes with them, by disliking how they fought each other all the time and didn’t really have much consciousness and thought, so the Luxon couldn’t really ask them what it wanted to know about itself and, long story short, it decided to break itself apart and enable the cycle of rebirth until someone figures it out. I think it’s the most popular version, and also the version that was somewhat backed up by Matt in c2 wrap up.

But, what is also important and is evident from the first and I think pretty much any version of the second point (maybe aside from the TCSR one), is that I think it’s safe to assume that the Luxon is pretty much the source of all the souls in Exandria. There are sources that directly state this (mainly EGtW). And this raises so many interesting questions. First of all, recently it was stated that Exandria was in a perpetual cycle of rebirth before the gods came and established the afterlife. The EGtW expands on that and says that at first Primordials just killed each other and “their souls born of the Light” (which, more points to my everything is made out of Luxon take, and also it’s an interesting thought that the Primordials had mortal souls) were lost to the darkness beyond for basically forever. And after seeing this, the Luxon decided to split itself into the beacons and establish the cycle of rebirth, so they can learn and etc, etc. So, only after the beacons appeared, the cycle of rebirth began, and it also mentions that those who were “bound to the Light” were a part of this cycle, so does that mean that not everyone was a part of it? And I wonder how it really worked, being a part of it, because if it’s any similar to the consecution, could everyone regain the memories of their past lives after being reborn? And was there any danger of going mad from that, like there is with the consecution? If the beings at that time even had enough consciousness for that, of course.

But then the gods came and created the afterlife and stopped the cycle of rebirth. And so, we are being told now, which is a new information from this campaign really, I think, that mortal life existed on Exandria before they came. Which contradicts TCSR, but, I think, lines up pretty well with the Luxon creation myth from EGtW, meaning that yes, mortal souls existed before (and were made by Luxon), but in a much more primitive form, without much consciousness really. All this time we knew that the gods made the first humanoid races, unless it got retconned now, which would be weird, but. And another question I have is: where do the souls come from, and especially where do new souls come from? As I said before, I’m of the opinion that they come from Luxon, definitely, but after the cycle of rebirth ended and the afterlife was established, there hasn’t been any problem with new people being born and new souls appearing, despite the gods supposedly holding all the dead souls in their domains. So is Luxon (or the world, with the help of Luxon) just perpetually still creating new souls, even in its sleep? I don’t think Exandria will ever be at risk of running out of souls, because we’ve seen zero evidence of that, so they have to be coming from somewhere. (And, to that point, if all that’s been said is true, should the world ever lose the gods and the Luxon, I think the souls will be dying forever to nothingness until eventually there’s nothing living left, which is a fun thought).

Another interesting point is that the gods seem to have great ability in manipulating everything that Luxon made, but at the same time they can only reshape and work with the existing things, i. e. souls, and can’t really create out of nothingness like Luxon can. The nature of the gods and their connection or similarity to the Luxon is a point that I want to discuss a bit later and I don’t really have any definitive conclusions on it yet.

But what I want to talk about, first and foremost, is the nature of Predathos. There’s been a lot of conversation about its similarities to Luxon, mainly because of the nature of its arrival (though, it seems, this is how everything arrives on Exandria) and some similar descriptions and also being “something other than the gods”. I’ve also seen ideas that it’s an opposite force to the Luxon. Now, I want to preface this by saying that there is a contradiction in its descriptors that doesn’t make much sense to me. Sometimes it is described as nothingness (mainly what happened to Tengar, if that was Predathos, which seems implied but also somewhat off) and “oblivion”, but it’s also described as leaving “twisted life” and has some sort of corruptive nature, which is a wildly different thing from being just a void. Based on the evidence that we have, it definitely seems capable of leaving twisted life, the best example of it being Ruidus, where it could create completely new races out of existing exandrians (an assumption, but a fair one, I think, at this point) and change various other fauna and flora. And another example being, of course, Molaesmyr, though that was a collaborative effort. In this sense, ironically, Predathos is much more similar to the gods, with being able to change existing things (and especially exandrian things, which are, in turn, Luxon things) and not being able to create anything just out of nothingness, which differs it a lot from the Luxon. But also both Predathos and the Luxon (and Luxon’s “brethren” which is, woof, another topic) were described as stars. So, while maybe being of a similar nature, I feel like Predathos is kind of an inferior, incomplete version of what Luxon is (or even sick, hence the corruption and it’s been shown as a red star, stars grow red when they’re dying - another fun thought), and this is why it’s always so hungry. It’s trying to fill what it’s lacking, trying to complete itself, but it will never be enough. Maybe there is a nothingness inside of it that it wants to fill, and this is how corruption and nothingness can coexist? Why it’s exactly attracted to divinity I can’t say, but if they’re all of the similar nature or something, I can see how it can think that that can fix it.

Now I want to take a step back and just collect all the information about their nature. First of all, Luxon, who seemed to exist from the beginning of the universe (once again, mainly basing it on EGtW), even described as the first light. All the other stars appeared after it and settled around as stars, referred to, specifically, as Luxon’s brethren, but Luxon wanted self-discovery and “resisted” burning and went on its journey to Exandria. So, in theory, there are many beings similar to Luxon, that are just stars, which means there can definitely exist sort of defective stars, which is what I suspect Predathos is. It can also be some flowery words for a pretty story of creation, but, once again, Matt said similar things without the flowery language in c2 wrap up (mainly that Luxon would pass other things of light). Now this has almost no connection to Tengar or what we saw happening there, but Tengar is also not a real place so it’s really hard to conceptualize it within the real, physical universe, which this myth talks about. On the other hand, what Luxon is and what the gods were is described extremely similarly, so much that it’s hard to ignore, but I’m really not sure what to make of it aside from that. And if Predathos indeed originates from Tengar, then maybe it was already born wrong right there. If anyone has any thoughts on this specifically and how to connect it to what I’ve already said, I would love to hear it.

(And on that note I think Luxon is actually safe from Predathos, just because I think Luxon is stronger and better than it is, and can probably purge that shit, at least in its og form, beacons maybe not so much. And I think maybe it has trouble eating things that it corrupts, so if it touches Exandria and corrupts it, it might not actually be interested in eating it, just will change everything living forever, lol. But this is just pure speculation on what might happen that holds no real weight, don’t take it too seriously.)

But this is what I’ve been thinking about and props to anyone who has made it this far. I’m really interested to figure out how it all works, so if anyone has any opinions/additions/corrections or really anything on these topics you’re very welcome to do so.