#i rambled in the post and thus have nothing left to ramble about in the tags. peace and love on planet earth

[wanderingmausoleum]

2, 13, 22, and 30!

(for the ask game!)

2. least favorite character but a moment where you liked them

honestly i'm not sure who my least favorite characters might be...uhhhh idk maybe something like b*kugou from That One Teen Superhero Anime (censored so this doesn't show up in the tags), but i only watched the first season and remember so little from it that i don't remember a moment where i liked him LOL. there are very few characters i HATE hate but when i do it's rare there's a moment i like them at all

13. favorite books?

oh god i don't read as much as i used to. i've only been able to sustain my interest on stuff i'm fixating on or things i need to read for a class or group so that leads to a really weird mix of books lol. some of my faves i can think of off the top of my head are konrad curze: the night haunter by guy haley, the canterbury tales by geoffrey chaucer, and paradise lost by john milton. i also remember really liking pachinko by min jin lee and a place for us by fatima farheen mirza. AND THEN i'm also partway through a few books: i like the concept of the terror by dan simmons a lot but i'm not the biggest fan of the execution so far; manhunt by gretchen felker-martin seems GREAT from the small portion i read before i forgot i downloaded it; and i'm hoping to finish terror, love, and brainwashing: attachment in cults and totalitarian systems by alexandra stein as soon as i can find a physical copy for cheap lol

22. what things do you love about the world?

many things honestly...the beauty of nature and such aside, one of my favorite things is the endurance of humanity, and the way (for better or worse) humans haven't changed all that much throughout history, and how we're still painting on walls and making stupid jokes and telling stories and being a bit of an inconvenience-but-it's-okay-because-i-love-you-anyway. (that's one of the reasons the canterbury tales is a favorite book of mine, it's just fantastically human.)

30. favorite animals?

axolotls have been my favorite animal since i discovered they existed via a nat geo kids magazine as a child (their surge of popularity recently has given me mixed emotions, mostly of the oh god they're highly endangered and difficult to keep as pets so please don't get one just because they're cute variety), but i also adore jellyfish of all kinds and i consider myself a bottomless well of random-ass jellyfish facts. ask me about them if you want (please) (please)

[karvviie]

omg tell us more about your grif+locus thoughts

OKAY PREPARE YOURSELF. i wrote this all down and did not expect it to be so long. so other than it being a fun yapper/listener dynamic, i think that them being friends could actually be very good for each other.

tldr: Grif and Locus have great potential to have a close friendship that is beneficial to both of their senses of self-worth. They have seen each other at their worst/most vulnerable, and despite this, they show kindness and compassion towards one another. As a result, this can allow them to be emotionally open when communicating, thus forming a healthy friendship that proves to them that they are worthy of being treated with care and forgiveness.

my full explanation under the cut:

sorry guys i really could have worded all this better but i can’t be fucked rn and i wrote it stream of consciousness style. i am too tired to go back and proofread it.

btw i am also ignoring the fact that season 15 was retconned.

ok so. It has been established that grif has low self-esteem. he considers himself as the “hateglue,” and feels extremely guilty for quitting the team. he probably has some attachment issues and problems with feeling unwanted and not being worthy of being cared for (implied by o’malley about his family life)

and locus. he’s got so many problems. mentally and just in general. everyone knew him as the absolute worst version of himself and now he’s trying to seek redemption and atone for all the horrible things he’s done. but locus is doing this all by himself, he has no allies or anyone left that he can call a friend. He probably hasn’t had a healthy relationship with anybody in a long time.

IN COMES GRIF! grif interacts with locus when he’s at a very low point. he has no inhibitions, nothing to repress his thoughts and emotions in the presence of another person. he very quickly accepts locus’s change of heart and opens up to him. They do not insult each other or have any ulterior motives. which is already a big change of pace.

Grif initially knew locus as a horrible person, and experienced first hand his many crimes. despite this, he shows enthusiasm and support when told that locus wants to redeem himself.

Locus, on the other hand, despite how inexperienced he is in making friends and being kind and caring, shows compassion and concern towards grif, listening to his inane rambling and accomodating to his needs (allowing grif to bring his volleyballs on the ship).

Grif is exactly what Locus needs in a companion at this point in time, someone who is honest with him, doesn’t have any ulterior motives and accepts his past mistakes while also encouraging him to be a better person.

Locus has found a real friend, after years of an extremely toxic partnership. grif is somebody that he can also demonstrate care and compassion towards, further aiding him in his journey to being redeemed.

In addition, Grif finally has someone that he can be completely honest around. Someone who has accepted him at his lowest and validated his needs, regardless of how absurd they were.

to sort of quote my recent post, locus is showing grif that he is worth the mess. he is not a burden, he is not there just for people to hate. he is just as worthy as anyone else of care and compassion, even at his lowest.

On the other hand, grif is also showing locus that he is worthy of forgiveness, and that there is someone who is able to look past his wrongdoings and treat him as someone to be trusted and appreciated, no matter how unforgivable locus thinks himself to be.

their first interaction being the way that it was really makes their dynamic work, because they begin their partnership without anything to hide from each other. this opens up so many avenues for them to continue having a very emotionally open and honest friendship, since grif has already shown his vulnerable side to locus, and grif already knows how locus used to be and trusts him despite of it.

now i want to compare grif and simmons to grif and locus.

grif and simmons have a long history together. they are attached at the hip and have watched each other grow as people over the years. they know each other better than anyone else.

HOWEVER, they are both very emotionally repressed people. they avoid showing emotional vulnerability, and struggle to even admit that they enjoy each other’s company.

While it is obvious that they are much closer than grif and locus, they are held back by their inability to be vulnerable and deeply communicate their feelings to each other.

grif and locus don’t have this barrier, as a result of the circumstances of how they met. unlike grif’s relationship with simmons, they don’t have a whole history together of being emotionally repressed that determines how they’re used to interacting with one another.

I really think that grif and locus are the exact type of person that the other needed at the time that they meet. They could be each other’s confidant, the one person that they can trust to be fully accepting, in which they don’t need to feel unashamed about being vulnerable around.

[casual-praxis]

May I present the post-canon vidow in my genderbent au?

They've been through character development, but at least they still have each other! :)

I think about them a lot. I have more ramblings about them below the cut if anyone is interested in that.

The genderbent au is something I cobbled together originally because I have an easier time drawing women, but I didn't do anything with it since it was mostly just the Four Swords manga with girls instead.

Now that I have had time to think about it though, I've made a few more adjustments so it's not just a carbon copy. The bulk of changes happen with Red and Blue, but Vio and Shadow definitely have the most going on post-canon, which you can somewhat see here.

After Shadow dies, Vio spends a year or two without much purpose. She didn't have any goals or aspirations like the others. She barely knew how to process feelings beyond the basics. So now that they'd defeated the big bad, returned the sword, and miraculously not disappeared, what was left for her?

All the others seemed to pick up loose ends left behind by the original Link; Green became the personal guard of Zelda, Blue was working her way towards captain of the royal guard, and Red was pursuing blacksmithing (something Link had found interesting but had no time to dabble with). There wasn't much else left for Vio, and so she simply kept on as she had before. Learning emotions from the others, absorbing information regardless of utility, and waiting.

It wasn't until Zelda approached her with the request to investigate some ruins that she began to find a calling for herself. None of the others could be pulled away for this task, and that was fine. They were all busy with their own lives. She could read between the lines.

The dark and ancient air of the underground passages was oddly comforting to her anyway, and she found her time never wasted when transcribing olden words near faded to parchment. It felt refreshing, in a way, to be so enraptured by the secrets carved in stone.

Had she ever felt such a way before? She must have. Recognizing how she was feeling was something Red had been most thorough in teaching her. So when had she... Oh.

Vio hadn't thought of Shadow in a while. She tried not to, really. Her death had been the first time she'd truly had to grapple with the notion that someday, you'll have your last conversation with someone.

No matter how much you enjoy that person's company, or how much you wish you'd said something different. Someday, you'll say your last words to someone, and that will be that.

It was sad.

She wished she could cry. She wished she could grieve properly. The belief she couldn't feel these emotions was what got her in that mess to begin with. She did feel sad. She just couldn't express it.

More than anything, she wished she'd told Shadow that.

If only she had told her with those stupid words Vio touted so proudly above emotion. Maybe then Shadow wouldn't have died staring up into Vio's cold dry eyes and blank expression. Maybe then she would have known how Vio felt.

But she didn't.

And there was nothing in the world of light that could change that.

So she'd turned to the dark.

One more conversation is all she wanted, and then one more conversation after that. Call it selfish if you would, but she didn't care, she was selfishness embodied after all. She'd trade her listless life for the one who'd had hers cut tragically short if that's what it took.

Even if she can't emote well, or speak the way she feels, she'll show Shadow how much her friendship meant to her, no matter what.

And thus, Vio's dark magic arc began.

While already attund to earth magic, dark magic was a difficult secondary type to pick up. It was finicky and liable to kill its caster with litte warning, so much of the early process was spent learning theory over practice.

The others thought little of it at first, simply figuring it was more miscellaneous research tied to Vio's sudden interest in forgotten ruins and text. It wasn't until Green stumbled across Vio casually casting it did they start to ask more questions about why she was looking into forbidden magic. Surely this wasn't actually her hobby, right?

Well, yes and no. Her magic studies were begining to branch out into less devious arts (much to Red's delight, "magic besties!!"), but ultimatly it served a purpose to her outside being a fun challange. She was going to resurect Shadow.

Green and Blue, as expected, were incredibly hesitant about the idea. Meanwhile Red was more optimistically on the fence. None of them wanted to outright discourage Vio, but none of them had really known Shadow the way Vio had. Who's to say she wouldn't just go right back to being evil? One sacrifice in the grand scheme of things didn't suddenly vouch for a life on the straight and narrow.

In the end, it was Zelda's call to let Vio continue her studies (with Zelda's assistance) to bring Shadow back. Should she turn out to still be evil, they'd just shoot her with a light arrow or something. Zelda really wasn't that worried about it, she knew Shadow could be convinced to see reason.

This all culminated in a few years of study, a giant mirror, blood rituals, and Vio literally dragging Shadow out of said giant mirror.

Vio's arm, which she'd used to pull Shadow out, was irrevocably stained by the dark magic, and will presumably remain this way until she dies. Small sacrifices, in her opinion. She's able to cast way stronger spells with it now.

Shadow, meanwhile, was coated completely in the dark magic of the ritual mirror, and bares the stains all over her body. She'd remained in somewhat of a limbo state after death, floating in eternal darkness up until Vio reached in to pull her out.

She was actually feeling a little petty when she noticed Vio attempting to reach her and intentionally didn't take her hand right away. This quickly changed however once she realized Vio was going to keep leaning further into the mirror until she either fell in or found Shadow, hence why the dark stains go so far up Vio's arm.

Though technically dead, Shadow did remain aging along with the others, on account of being their shadow. She was thrown for a loop initially by being brought back by an older-looking Vio with a wider range of emotions, but she bounced back quick.

After a year or so in the light world, she managed to adjust to life amongst the colors and Zelda. She's unofficially officially Zelda's "fun advisor", and makes her and Green take breaks whenever it seems like they need enrichment and time away from work. She spars with Blue to keep both their skills up, while also just hanging out and intimidating new recruits for the hell of it. She and Red gossip about town drama and only occasionally commit arson with Red's newest projects at the time. Lots of fun.

Shadow and Vio start off as just friends, trying to rebuild their relationship in a less back-stabby way, but quickly realize their feelings run a lot deeper than that. They travel together a lot, but Shadow's role as Zelda's advisor always brings them back to town after too long. Shadow's still getting used to Vio's more obvious shows of affection, as it was never something Vio did before, but she's found the change to be exhilarating. They are sickly sweet together.

I have more notes on these two but I didn't mean for this post to get this long and the sun has risen in the time I spent writing it all out why am I like this. If anyone has stuck around and read all this, thank you! I love to ramble about my fixations and it makes me happy when people listen! I appreciate it.

Bonus: Isolated Shadow and Vio.

[sapphicseasapphire]

I apologize in advance but I'm going to ramble incoherently for way too long in this ask.

I just got caught up on a lot of cryptid AU stuff and Sky and Groose's relationship is very interesting to me. At first I was like, "????" but then you explained in the post and now it makes sooo much sense and I actually really really like it. I have DID and his whole situation with two halves of a whole becoming one is so fascinating. (I went through something similar so I'm very interested in this kind of stuff.) I love the birb boi very much and I'm happy he's your fav 'cause he's mine too. :3

(The alt who went through, essentially the same thing as Sky, may or may not let me write fanfic of the two meeting & him helping Sky adjust, would that be okay?) Wild. Can I talk about Wild? I've been dying to talk about Wild. Cryptid Wild touches something in my soul. Just. The silence. The curiosity. The innocence. The tragedy. The wanderer. The watching from afar. The Lost Boy. I just. Ajkhshtrsj. He makes me feel deep and profound things and I adore him for that.

I want to give him a giant hug and just hold him for a while and tell him he's not alone and that it'll be okay but I get the sense that he would NOT vibe with hugs or contact out of the blue. (You can't stop me from hugging Sky though, birb boy's getting tackled off a cliff. HE HAS WINGS IT'S FINE. :D)

... Has Sun ever ridden on Sky's back before? How would Sky feel about that?

I want my favs (Sky & Wild) to interact but idk how close you plan on them being or how much interaction you plan on having between the two of them. I don't even know what kind of dynamic they'd have in your AU if any, they both seem kinda lost in their own heads/situations.

They're kind-of inverses of each other, now that I think about it: Wild's trying to grapple with being someone he can't remember, and Sky's trying to grapple with being TWO "people" he CAN remember! A memory vacuum and memory overload... man now I want to see them talk about that.

How much does Wild think about who he was before? Sky's kinda smacked in the face with it, but Wild seems (fittingly) very distracted by the moment. But is it distraction, avoidance, or both? He still has the soul of Link (... right?), but he no longer remembers what that means. Does he want to? Does he feel overwhelmed even thinking about trying? adkutfkuvluyvlig. Too many Wild thoughts. ♥

Also why doesn't Legend like Wind turning into his water form (I forget what it's called)? He looked freaked out by it and asked him to not do that; why? Did I miss something? /gen, I don't think I've caught up on everything yet.

Anyway thanks for this AU sorry for the novel-length ask I just had a Lot of Thoughts. :)

Bro all I ever do is ramble too long, don’t even worry about it. I love getting asks like this.

LONG ONE, under the cut!

Okay I’ll try to break this up to answer all of your questions and ramble a bit haha!

SKY AND GROOSE! Yeah, there’s a lot of tension there. Sky is… an entirely new person. He has the memories of both Link and Aepon, but he interprets those experiences differently than either of them would. Link and Aepon both had entirely different mindsets, so of course the result of their fusion would be left to interpret things on his own.

Link never cared enough about himself to care about what Groose said to him/did to him. Self sacrificing to a fault and very forgiving. (Kind of by design, too. Hylia needed her Hero to be willing to risk his life for the good of others). Aepon was Link’s other half, his Goddess given protector, and thus he had the traits that Link lacked. He was a strong, proud bird. He cared enough about Link to care what Groose had to say about him. And then he was kidnapped! And Groose just kept hurting Link! And Aepon’s!!! Not!!! Having!!! That!!!

And so Sky was very conflicted about Groose. His Link half wanted to be friends! His Aepon half wanted nothing to do with him! And then Groose… said some very unkind things. I think that Groose is a very defensive person. When he feels hurts or threatened in any way, he lashes out. He had been at a point with Link where they were close! They were friends! They faced the end of the world together! And then suddenly all of that changed and Groose doesn’t understand why. Just. Suddenly Sky started giving him the cold shoulder. And that… hurt. And when Groose is hurt? His first instinct is to punch back.

So Sky was on the fence and Groose started falling back into old habits, just being so so rude. He called Sky a monster, treated him like he was just some thing that had stolen his friend away from him. And if Sky was undecided before, that pushed him right over the edge. Sky is not fond of Groose.

And you’re more than welcome to make any kind of fanart or fanfics! Just so long as you tag me so that I can see them!!

(Sun has not ridden on Sky’s back, but he wouldn’t be opposed! He loves taking people on flights! It’s just that he was only home for three days after Demise and he hasn’t been to his era in so long. Kind of tragic that Sky’s spent more of his existence away from home than he has actually on Skyloft or even in his own era. But in the future! After the Cryptid Adventure is done! Sky will fly with Sun! Now, Sun does still have Aria, but they’ll take turns haha!)

WILD!!! He does not vibe with hugs. Pretty much ever. Anyone who grabs him, he will immediately take that as being restrained and he will run away. He is a FREE SPIRIT!!! He’d like to keep it that way.

Sky and Wild do interact! Like, a lot! I think there’s this misconception going around that the Cryptids don’t like Wild? Particularly I’ve seen it with Legend haha! But no!! Wild is so loved! The others are annoyed by his constant thievery but to be honest, it’s kind of endearing! When Wild is focused on one of the members of my Chain, he’s SO focused on them. He’s caring, he’s genuinely very sweet. AND he can be bribed with cool rocks and colorful leaves so. Winning.

Sky and Wild have this whole arc surrounding the Master Sword. Sky’s inseparable from the blade but Wild… he knows something’s not right. He wants to see what will happen if he takes it away. (Sky will not let him steal it).

And… okay. So. Wild struggles so much with the whole being Link thing. He is definitely 100% avoiding it. He spends all of his time running away from Flora, but he’s really running away from who he used to be. He has no memory of ever being mortal- his life is completely irrelevant. Link and the Child of the Mountains are separate. WILD WOULD LIKE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY. He does not want to remember. He does feel overwhelmed.

Still… there are certain things that he cannot run from. And that bothers him SO MUCH.

LEGEND AND WIND!!! What’s Legend’s issue with Wind’s natural form? Please don’t hate me, but Legend is being racist. I have a lot of lore written out about their dynamic and the circumstances that led them to this point. Here’s a post about the War! And here’s a post more specifically about Wind!

But basically, to sum it up. There’s this big war that spans across the timelines between the Mer and Aquili. In Legend’s timeline, the Mer won and he was taught to hate “Sea Monsters.” He was chased from his home by an Aquili scavenger and was never allowed to return, and so he had a very deeply seated hatred AND FEAR of Aquili. In Wind’s timeline, the conflict is still ongoing but it’s not as extreme since Hyrule flooded. He lives on an island of refugees- Mer and Aquili who fled the ocean to find peace. Because of this, the war is distant to him. Something that he’s not connected to. Although… in loosing ties with his people, he’s lost ties with his culture.

I actually have so much more to say about Outset Island in my au! I’m planning on making another big lore post soon where I can go in detail about it!

And I promise that Legend will come to his senses! Soon!

Thanks for sending in this ask! I love rambling about my guys! I hope this helps?

[didyoulookforme]

hi queen...... post! matty fucking himself alone queen......... i'm so normal can you tell CAN YOU TELL oh dear god i need him so bad

thank you for keeping me (in)sane, lena. i missed you <3

sooooo.... on to matty fucking himself because these are totally normal thoughts to have. yes. following off this.

apologies for any grammar & spelling errors in my nonsensical rambles.

it happens on a week when you're away visiting your family. you and matty have been together for a while now, so he has keys to your place to come and go as he pleases because he still lives with roomie hann and, while he loves him dearly, he'd much rather be at your space.

one day after a sweaty work shift, he comes over because even though it's only been about 48 hours of you being gone, he does miss you. he also just needs to shower asap and your place happens to be closer to his. once the water grows cold and he finally makes it out of the bathroom, he goes in your walk-in closet to look for some clothes and as he is doing so, he bumps into the box he now knows all too well. it's black, scuffed, covered with various band stickers and a taped photo of matty sticking his tongue out because, of course, he had to put it there so you would think of him whenever you used any of the sex toys kept inside.

he doesn't really ponder much before opening it to gaze at the collection of items you've acquired. never would he have guessed that you'd be so into sex toys from the first time he met you. you radiated nothing but sweetness and softness which he immediately adored. thus it was a much welcome shock to his system (and dick, let’s be honest) when he first got to use that pale blue vibrator to get you off. he’d be lying if he said he didn’t pleasure himself to the memories of watching you cum all over his leg that afternoon.

it’s no surprise that is the same toy which catches his eye and grabs before making his way over to your bed, not really caring that he left a damp towel on your closet floor and didn’t end up finding himself any clothes.

while matty is a sex fiend, experimenting with toys on himself was never something that he really considered. yes, he’d used them to pleasure others, including yourself, but it wasn’t until one night with you that he realized how fucking good it feels. that’s the time when you placed a vibrator under the head of his dick and he pretty much came right away, not being able to control himself from the intense sensation. so this is exactly what he is doing now, lying on your side of the bed with wet, messy curls on your pillow, so he can feel you somewhat close since you’re not there to do it for him.

it doesn’t take long for his legs to start shaking, his moans growing louder even if no one can hear him. one hand holds the base of his cock while the other keeps the toy flush against that sweet spot, and not even a couple minutes later, he abruptly stops as he starts losing control over his own body, instantly feeling lightheaded at the fact that he ruined his own orgasm. a string of mumbled swears leaves his lips as he inhales deeply so he can regain a sense of composure, all before fumbling through your bedside drawer to pull out a nearly empty bottle of lube.

matty almost, almost feels guilty as he pours some of the silky liquid onto his fingers and begins to coat his hole with it. he knows how much you like doing that for him and wishes it could be your hand instead as you know exactly how to make him fall apart.

it’s not the first time he’s had his fingers in his ass, but it is the first time that he uses a vibrator, making him feel full and reach that spot that makes him delusional. to be fair, he’s always wanted to try this with you as he knows you’d enjoy the hell out of it. still, part of him wanted to try it on his own to see how it’d feel as to not disappoint you in the off chance it wasn’t his thing.

oh, but he was wrong. so, so wrong.

it feels fucking amazing.

the gentle vibrations as he pumps the toy in and out of his hole… the way it makes his dick twitch and leak against his stomach… how it makes his body tremble from head to toe…

but what pushes him to the edge is knowing that it will feel one million times better when you’re the one fucking him.

as he’s still trying to catch his breath, his phone buzzes and he can’t help but laugh after opening the text. he’s on your bed, stomach covered with cum from fucking himself, with a message from you asking “what are you up to? keeping yourself busy?”

it’s almost like you knew exactly what he was doing at that same moment in time :)

—

he does admit to you that he fucked himself, and when he does, you two literally cannot wait to go back to your place and order the perfect strap so you can rail him senseless. obviously, he still manages to find a way to be in control with a strap-on up his ass, though <3

[theladyregret]

Hi! I've read a lot of your Drow lore posts and I really like how you think!

What's your thoughts on the Lolth's Embrace markings?

Heh, well first, thank you. I appreciate knowing my ramblings bring people joy.

Well...I'll say that I like the idea of them...but I think the execution was absolutely terrible. I don't think whoever actually came up with them did their research or fully thought it through before designing the lore behind them.

They don't make sense. They don't fit any Drow lore or the lore behind Lloth's religion. The idea that a visible marking on their skin denotes favor would make it impossible to hide the fact you don't have favor...which goes entirely against what Lloth herself enjoys, and that is the chaos and subterfuge. It is stated again and again that Lloth herself doesn't care about favor, doesn't see anyone as heretics, doesn't care about rules and structure. She allows her followers to think she does because it leads to the power struggles that she DOES enjoy and she uses it to manipulate and control her followers to further that chaos. So...why would she create a visible marking to prove loyalty? She wouldn't.

It's absolutely not canon...as it is never once mentioned in any Drow focused novel. This is just WoTC failing to understand what makes Drow problematic and not understanding how to correct it, and just continuing to make it worse instead by finding ways to label who is and isn't evil on sight.

I will say that I do like the idea of markings...just not how they're portrayed. I prefer the idea that the markings are just natural markings all Udadrow have and they're the result of exposure to the Faerzress and have nothing to do with Lloth at all, everyone just has been made to THINK they do. Lloth being as she is would find it amusing for them to have this misunderstanding so she wouldn't bother correcting it.

This would mean any Udadrow living in the Underdark would have these markings but upon leaving, and no longer having exposure to Faerzress energy, they would fade away over time. This could very well lead to the misunderstanding that they are connected to being within Lloth's domain and thus within her reach.

I also hate that they say that Drizzt doesn't and never had the markings. That makes no sense even in their own idea of the lore. If he never had the markings and the markings are a sign of favor...I don't think they would have allowed him to live at all. It would make much more sense for him to have had them...for them to have started to fade after the surface raid, and then lost them completely after fleeing into the Underdark. In the case of them being natural markings they would have remained only until he left for the surface...further cementing in his mind that he was never going to escape Lloth's grasp if he remained underground, and that fleeing to the surface was his only recourse.

And the story potential later on when returning to the Underdark led to them starting to come back, which could have been used to push the idea he was secretly within Lloth's favor even more...and perhaps even lead some of his allies to question whether it's true or not as well.

It would be so much better as just a natural part of their biology that's been twisted to fit Llothite propaganda than what they decided to make of it.

[tagedeszorns]

(Violetbirdie here) I think it's complicated due to a variety of issues. 40k as a franchise is huge, but it isn't the sort of thing that tends to have overlap with tumblr type fanspaces. It also doesn't help that 40k is a fractured fandom featuring tons of different factions, so it's not like a standard fandom where there are main characters and a main story that people will always flock to. The primarchs are the closest thing we have to that, which is why there is naturally more content for them. In addition, fandom itself is in a bit of a flux state and has been ever since the 2018 nsfw ban which caused a lot of people to leave for twitter, which is now undergoing its own huge changes right now (and I just hate twitter on principle).

I suppose the one thing I think would help, would be somehow getting the 40k tumblresque fandom space more consolidated as a whole. Like, somehow have a blog that is popular for all factions that posts headcanons about everything, thus getting people interested in parts they don't normally think about. Because 40k is a huge time investment to learn about. I've been listening to audiobooks for what feels like nonstop for over a month, and even then I could only ever feel confident telling people about Emperor's Children. So it naturally is harder for new people to get into the fandom and focus on some of the smaller things because there is just so much. It's almost how I view your blog. I check it daily for fun art/headcanons/just general character stuff, and you made me more interested in some of the captains and such. But even then, you have your focuses. So a space even more general where someone would reblog art from everything 40k would likely be nice? Maybe I just miss the livejournal days of fandom. As far as more engagement, I think having silly things like character weeks which encourages people to draw or write or talk about specific aspects is a huge benefit. It sets a schedule and makes people feel like they are shouting less into the void.

But as someone new here, maybe its my weird perspective, but I don't feel like things are getting less popular. If anything, from just checking AO3, it seems like things are only getting more popular for less of the reddit type and more for the Tumblr wanting to see hot dudes and their complicated feelings type. Also more people are getting into 40k in this side of the space through rogue trader. Like people I never talked to about 40k are starting to look into the series because they played Baldurs Gate 3, and needed a new RPG to play, and conveniently Rogue Trader is filling that for them. So, I'm optimistic if anything. Sorry about the long ramble! Just kinda dumping my thoughts out.

I love Tumblr because, unlike Twitter or Bluesky, it allows for way longer, way more elaborately structured posts. I love it when artists don't just slap their pics into a post and be done with it, but instead add stuff like maybe "I read this book, here's a quote, and it gave me this mighty need to draw this". Or "please listen to this music here while looking at my pic! It goes perfectly with it!". Or just a multi-paragraph-essay (preferably very unhinged) about the character in the upper left corner.

This in advance, so you can see I'm totally with you on the "miss Lifejournal"-thing, because blogs are so much better than just 500 characters, four pics and nothing else. And why I think Tumblr is a very good replacement for Lifejournal.

The multitude of Tumblr-blogs with their many different angles are such a treat and provide such a rich ecosystem! I follow artists posting exclusively admech-stuff, others solely Drukhari, some writers focussing on just one Astartes Legion ... it's phantastic and the depth of their niche-knowledge is mindblowing.

I agree with you that this will be overwhelming for new fans coming from rather monolithic stuff like Rogue Trader. And the key to keeping those new people involved and making them feel welcome is showing them all this variety without scaring them away.

Maybe this new feature Tumblr is working on, can be helpful here. I haven't read much about it yet, but it seems the "Community"-feature has the potential to bundle stuff in a way that's more approachable for new and old fans alike. Maybe there's room for your idea of having "character weeks" (I like that! Sounds very MacDonald's. I'll have Fabius with extra pickles, please! 😁).

I'm sharing your optimism that both the new games and maybe the new series/movies will bring a lot of new fans over and some of them may even stick around. I am a bit wary that there's the possibility of a MCU-situation starting to build up, but since Warhammer-lore is in a constant state of flux anyways this might just add some spice to the mix.

So, yeah, hope for the darkest of futures!

[thisuserislilsilly]

Codex entry of the loyalist Space Marine Chapter "The Ember Nomads"

Summary: thanks to @cardinalcanis and their blog about their custom 40k Chapter (I cannot understate how much I own this user I've just met for giving me the idea of rambling about my hyperfixations here) I will be posting here everything there is to know about my characters of the 40k universe and (hopefully) interact with other users about their own hyperfixations and make my little goblin brain go feral for knowledge.

So this is too, in a way, an invitation for all of you readers that thankfully are able to see this post...lemme share ideas with you! Let me enter in your precious brain and admire your works! Let's share info about our characters, write about them with each other and have fun! (Of course with rightful credit to original owners and all that bureaucratic understandable guidelines)

Tagged goblins (affectionate) that wish to learn more (so far!): @cardinalcanis

This codex may seem a bit barren and kinda simple, fear not it was like that intentionally, very intentionally....not at all because I was nervous and copy-pasted from my notes on my cellphone and because I am not the most aesthetic pleasant person ever...ahem....ONWARDS WITH THE INFO!!!

Battle Cry

"Die with a smile, live with the wind!"

Number

Approximately 900-860

Founding

11th foundation (also known as the "cursed foundation" in Imperial records)

Successors of

White Scars

Successor Chapters

None

Chapter Master

Haseyr Stormblood

Primarch

Jagathai Khan

Homeworld

Cthonipem XI

Strength

Optimally operational

Special Tactics

Rapid deployment, hit-and-run tactics, enemy leader headhunters

Allegiance

Imperium of Mankind

Colors of the Chapter

Pale yellow and crimson red

Image

No image available because sadly I'm a writer, not an artist, we'll just have to make due with imagination. The left pauldron and right leg of their armor are painted with the pale yellow color, as for the rest of his armor the Chapter has the crimson red color, hence the "Ember" part of their names.

Homeworld

<Cthonipem XI was a Feral World in the Galphais system, as these set of planets were close to the majority of sectors that the Imperium had trouble controlling in the Nova Terra Interregnum era (Circa 972. M35). With the rebellious traitors closing in, the creation of a new Chapter was authorized using the geneseed of the White Scars and Cthonipem XI was chosen as the perfect planet to breed this warriors. The large forests that separated the nomadic tribes from one another gave enough resources to its inhabitants to survive, but it too carried a series of dangerous animals which created hunters and warriors amongst the tribes.

Once the Chapter was born, Cthonipem was left basically untouched by the Ember Nomads as they saw how the tribes resisted all kinds of technological advances that the Imperium tried to provide them, taking it as a sign of the untamed wild spirit of their soon-to-be brothers and thus left alone. In the course of the next millenniums nothing changed in the extraction of new Adepts for the Chapter, only coming down to the world when it was time to collect the chosen few to be Astartes, thus Cthonipem has been able to maintain the same traditions, legends and deities as before the Imperium arrived.>

Summary of general behavior between battle-brothers

< Friendly, brutal and blunt by nature, the Ember Nomads have kept a reputation of being extremely proficient when it comes to end entire wars in a matter of months or even weeks; usually deployed in zones of war where the battle has been stuck in a stalemate, the Nomads strike down from the heavens and the ground together to aid the forces of Mankind. However outside of the battlefield this Marines are rather pacific, oftentimes having abilities for things such as singing, writing and craftsmanship; keeping good relationships with the allies they have made along the years. Regiments of Guardsmen are always happy to know the Ember Nomads have answered their calls for help, since it's a clear sign the war will end very soon and the fellow guardsman will have warm occasions with the "happy brutal giants" on their side.

Aside from the rest of their brothers, the Librarians of the Chapter do not share the same amount of hospitality with strangers that their fellow brothers have, usually casting themselves aside from social activities and having certain levels of secrecy between them. The "Witchers of the Wind", as they are called by the Nomads, prefer to only socialize amongst themselves, whenever they speak with their brothers everyone remains silent and listens very carefully to every word or litany they say, for they know the past of the Chapter, what will happen in the future and what actions to take in order to ensure the best outcome possible in every situation. >

General physical appearance

<Having absorbed many of the culture and traditions from Cthonipem XI, the Nomads paint their bodies with tattoos representing key moments in their life as the Astartes climbs the heriarchy of their Chapter, is normal to see bones or other sorts of trinkets hanging from their armors too as they think it'll give them the favor of the Emperor in whatever task they set to accomplish. The second company is the one that has more "savage like" imagery on their equipment; adorning their helmets with animal skulls, painting their bikes with designs of the cave paintings found in their homeworld, placing multiple trinkets in their weapons and generally having a much more hostile or violent demeanour than their brethren.

Each veteran of the Chapter is tasked with creating one full song about their life, going from the moment they were chosen to be Astartes up until the last big event on their lives, these songs many times have lengths of a couple of minutes per battle brother, but the chiefs of the Chapter, the Chapter Master, Chief Librarian and Technomarine Scholar, have been noted to have at least 6 minutes each on their songs and the time keeps increasing the longer these mighty figures have remained alive. >

Preffered Enemy and Special Tactics

<Created at first to fight against heretics and traitors of the Imperium, the Ember Nomads saw their first decades of life fighting against this enemies of Mankind, always remaining true to tactics that could provide them with the right amount of speed, strategy and improvisation as well in the battlefield. The Nomads preferred method of engaging the enemy is through their Jetbikes and Land Speeders to cause confusion and bloodshed in the enemy forces, gathering in the process as much Intel as possible to then strike with all of the strength and speed of the Nomads, in this final assault is when the ancient Dreadnoughts are awakened or more heavy-support units are used, marking the end of the battle in many occasions or, in the rare case the enemy survives this massive wave of firepower from the Ember Nomads, a turning point of the war which likely won't last long.

To such a display of power, the Chaos forces are likely to be entirely crushed. However there are a few warbands that have survived their first encounters with the Chapter. These are the "Unending Hatred" and "The Fractured Hosts" Chaos forces, commanded by Guul Thavas (Nightlord) and Arellian Menus (Iron Warriors respectively; which have become the sworn enemies of the Chapter and had been the center of many battles fought against these Chaos warbands. >

Important historic Chapter figure

<Kanjaghol was one of first savages to be turned into Space Marines, with his hair tied in a ponytail and the stare of a hawk was the first to know about the advance of the heretics on his solar system and urged his superiors to do something; when the answer was negative because the Nomads weren't yet in a stable strength to go into battle Kanjaghol in a fit of rage went against orders and took a small team of 100 Astartes and went to the borders of his system to defend it.

Kanjaghol managed to keep the heretics scattered and disoriented long enough for his brothers to gain enough strength to aid him in battle; for the indomitable heart and the stubbornness displayed Kanjaghol was named Master of the 1st company and would keep the title until his death at the hand of Guul Thavas a couple of decades later. >

Current Chapter Master

<Haseyr started as a common Jetbike rider on the 9th company, with his long beard and short hair he was unremarkable on the campaigns he took part of, naturally ascending the ranks as any other battle-brother would; however his keen eye for improvisation and discursive capabilites were displayed first at the death of the 2nd Company captain as he took the bike of his fallen commander and regrouped the company leading it to a unexpected victory against the Chaos Champion Arellian Menus and its warband who retreated to the Immaterium being closely chased by Haseyr forces. Since that day on the Nomad swore upon his fallen brothers bring the head of Arellian back to Cthonipem as a trophy showing nobody escaped the wrath of the Ember Nomads. On this unstoppable hunt Haseyr was able to be promoted to the Chapter Master of the Nomads and since then he has become the prime example of the savage, religious and friendly nature of the Ember Nomads>

Quote of renown

<An always drawn-out blade eventually loses it's edge, the man that lives only for war is dammed to lose against his own bloodthirst. We must be the sword drawn at the right time, the man prepared for the right war, the indomitable wind of the East! >

[a-goumang-ripoff]

The Use of Death in Nine Sols

I know it's been a while but I'M MAKING ANOTHER POST FINALLY!!!! Alright so, I was rambling to a friend and something clicked in my head. If you can't tell by the title, it's about the unique way death seems to be used in Nine Sols.

To summarize it, death is used in unique ways with each sol in a way that gives each one exactly what they deserve, even if what they nearly all get is the same exact thing: death. While I'll do my best to not explain every single case individually and make a super massive post, I will go over as many as I think is needed to make my point. My autistic ass has categorized almost every character into 2 categories I want to cover: the sols who are good, and the sols who are bad. I will also be talking about Kuafu, Goumang, and Jiequan separately as they are very unique cases for mostly obvious reasons.

Getting into the 'bad' sols first, the sols I've categorized in here are Yanlao, Fuxi, Nuwa, and Eigong. The thing that ties this category together is that these sols suffer death as a punishment for their actions. Yanlao I think encapsulates this the best. He would go on to die terrified of death, attempting to cling onto life as hard as he could, but still being punished with death despite it. And I think it's well deserved the way he dies, as in his sol seal memories he is shown to be a hypocrite willing to do anything just for the sake of respect, only liking the old relics he has because they make him respected and they make him money. He was brought onto a project to eliminate the deadliest disease that penglai ever faced, that solarians ever faced, that threatened the survival of the species, not for what he can provide to the efforts in skills, but for the sake of his relics which are actively remarked by multiple characters to be unnecessary or worthless. He spends his time as a sol doing nothing but criticizing others, demanding respect, and being extremely petty. He did nothing, and thus, deserves nothing, not even a death at Yi or his own hands, simply death itself. The fates of the rest can be argued similarly, Fuxi deserves his existence as a monster for him actively taking advantage of literal disasters to make money, and dying only as a monster. Nuwa deserves hers for her similar stuck up personality and asshole behavior. Arguably, Eigong could be said to be rewarded for her death by practically creating her ultimate work that would immortalize her, but the fact that it is immediately obliterated in its entirety with no one left to truly remember her makes me argue that her death was only a punishment in the end.

For the 'good' sols, I've categorized Yi, Lady Ethereal, and Ji together, as they ultimately receive death as a reward, as opposed to a punishment. I think Lady Ethereal encapsulates this the best. One could say that she deserved death for what she did, causing the gruesome deaths of several people, including someone incredibly close to her, and remaining silent about it. However, aside from her having no clue that the soulscapes would have that effect, I believe she atones for her mistake in her own soulscape, suffering her own personal hell in it over the tragedy and her response. She suffers for I don't even know how long torturing herself over it all, even attempting suicide at one point, only to be forced to stay alive in this soulscape. It's only then, after being truly forced to torture herself, that Yi is able to interfere and allow her to finally process and come to terms with it, after making her own punishment she felt she deserved, and thus embrace a death that she earned and be able to truly rest. Yi ends up going through something extremely similar, obviously being the one to suggest harvesting humans for their brains and attempting to originally take the seals to take the cure into his own hands, but the game itself serves as his redemption and in the end, he is rewarded with death and the ability to see his sister again in the afterlife. Ji also is similar, though they don't really make this big awful disaster occur, only lacking courage to truly act despite their immortality, and actively express happiness in their death.

Alright, now to talk about the other three. I have made my point already about how each sol does deserve the fate they are given, being rewarded or punished with death in very unique ways. However, one that sticks out is Kuafu, the one sol who doesn't die within the events of the game. And, as you can probably guess, I think it's because he is the only one who doesn't deserve to die. He doesn't actively express a want to die, yet he definitely lies more in the 'good' side of the sols. Nothing he has done has warranted death as a punishment, the most punishment he needs and gets is being the last survivor, which can be seen as a steep punishment, but I think he's one of the few characters who could really take it in a much softer way, especially with his bonds with Shuanshuan and his changed view on humans.

Now something I've been itching to talk about: Goumang. I've singled her out because holy FUCK her ultimate fate is super fucked up. Way worse than any of the other sols. And as I've seen the community discuss, a lot of people think this was way too excessive, but, as fucked up as it is, I do think she deserves it to a degree as well. And, before I get into this, I do NOT think that this is something that should actually be done to anyone, even fictional characters, but the irony of her fate I think makes it something she does really deserve in a poetic way. While she does have a lot of good intentions and plans set in place to revive Penglai and save solarians, but I find her true awfulness in her ideologies and behavior. Starting with behavior, despite being in a grave situation in which solarian life is threatened, she does not decide to forget her differences with other sols and put her effort into helping the cause, she instead decides to remain petty and a full on asshole to Yi, in a way that surpasses other shitty sols because she is in a position to actually do something and work with other to help save solarians. Her ideology also heavily contrasts her genuinely good desires. To put it bluntly, she is a fascist, I've said it a thousand times and I'll say it again, she believes that every person needs to be micromanaged in the same way she micromanages her farms, that it would create a perfect society if this did happen. It doesn't help that "if everyone gave up a little freedom and submitted to higher authority..." is just straight up fascist rhetoric. She also is the ONLY sol to own human slaves to serve her, ones with collars that actively control their actions. I think all of this combines to really set in that she is the worst of the sols, that while you're meant to question Yi's true motives and intentions, his biases, because of this moment, Goumang still gets what she has coming to her.

As a final little sidenote, Jiequan is interesting not because of his alignment, he's quite clearly on the bad side of the sols, evil as fuck, the way his death is treated is interesting. It feels like a mix of death as a punishment and death as a reward, he does not want his death but in the end he still dies happy and proud, he believes he died a hero, and that is far from a punishment to the character, even though he well deserves to die. Maybe it's a mix of him being a horrible person and yet also surpassing his bullying he suffered as a child, the expectations put on him, etc. I love it as a point to show how unique the game is able to utilize death.

[edwinspaynes]

Another post pointed out yesterday that the Clave was so progressive in the 1800s and (especially) 1900s while being incredibly regressive in the 2000s-2010s. This is inarguably true. It also inarguably is true to real life when it comes to views on homosexuality. While male homosexuality was illegal in the UK during the Victorian/Edwardian eras, many (though not all) people tended to turn a blind eye to it assuming that everyone involved minded their business. (Oscar Wilde, for a relevant example, was pretty widely known as being a man who loved other men. He probably would have been able to carry on as he was if not for suing a powerful and influential public figure. But I digress).

Also, it's important to note that, yeah, the TLH kids' parents were overall loving and accepting people. The one who was not such a person blessedly died before his son came out. On the other hand, Alec's parents were in a literal hate cult. But once again, digression.

Because what I really want to talk about are Shadowhunter's shifting attitudes to technology and innovation. I would like to posit that Christopher Lightwood's death was the beginning of the downfall of innovation in Shadowhunter society.

In TID, Henry contends with mockery and side glances because of his drive to invent and create. This makes sense in what his son will later describe as an "arid warrior culture." However, while generally labeled as an eccentric, the Clave - including the Consul and Inquisitor - generally leave him alone to tinker and build. No one stops him. And when he finally invents the Portal, no one shirks it. By the time TLH rolls around, it's a widely-used, widely-respected part of Shadowhunter society. It's ingrained in the fabric of their people just as steles and seraph blades are, and we still see them widely in use in the modern day.

Now, we get to Christopher, Henry's protigee.

It's important to acknowledge that Christopher may have been left alone in part because Henry's Portal was so successful. With him primarily hanging about in the Fairchild lab, nothing could go wrong. Additionally, Charlotte was Consul, and she knew how brilliant her husband was. This probably contributed to Christopher's success greatly.

Christopher grows up shrouded in this love. He is free to create and innovate as he pleases, and he comes up with the idea for fire-messaging. We see him successfully invent fire-messages by early 1904, at which point he is tragically killed by Belial.

Fire-messages are the final piece of technology that we see invented before the TMI era. All other technologies in the modern TSC canon exist in the historical stories. Thus, we can conclude that Christopher's fire-messages are one of the last creations of Shadowhunter society.

(ADHD side ramble: I'm interested to see what Grace manages to accomplish, but I cannot think of something in the modern TMIverse that she may have created. I imagine that her status as not only a woman but a widely-disliked social pariah held her back. Hate it, but my point stands. I hope she's at least given a small amount of credit for the final touches on the fire-messages.)

Anyway, fast forward to 2012. The TSCverse now has another brilliant neurodivergent mind in Tiberius Nero Blackthorn. Of course, he is extremely different from Henry and Christopher. He is more mentally present, serious-minded, and a lot less spacey. But he also views things in a significantly different way than other Shadowhunters do, finding himself drawn to technology like computers in a way that most Nephilim would shirk.

Ty and his family are forced to keep the fact that they have computers in the Institute a secret. This is likely in part because mundanes invented them, but it also feels inconsistent with previous generations. Shadowhunters of old appreciated art; Jem and Alastair were openly musicians, for example. Matthew is an obvious aesthete with a penchant for the theatre and artistic pursuits. Even when Alastair notes that they aren't supposed to like mundane things like moving pictures, he does not seem worried about facing repercussions for seeing one. Ty and the other Blackthorns seem to think that they will see legal ramifications for having a computer, and this is in a world where Jia Penhallow is Consul.

Could the Blackthorns be wrong? Sure. But it feels to me that the Shadowhunters of old would not shirk a useful technology, and the computer has limitless capacity to assist them in their demon-fighting endeavors.

The Clave closed itself off to progress shortly after TLH, and Christopher's death feels a likely catalyst for that.

[emberfrostlovesloki]

Writer's Block and Creativity [a ramble]

Photo credits: Left (@life-and-love-in-a-myst) Center (@shakespearesdaughters) (Right (@hotch-girl)

Let me put a poll in here before I start the rambling part of this post. I've got two pretty fluffy story ideas. One is for Aaron and one is for Emily. Which would you like to read first? They will be reader inserts as always. Hotch's is with BAU reader and Emily's is a Non-BAU reader. I'm equally excited for each, thus letting you all decide. (The poll will be up for 24 hours)

Now to the rambling. I was close to feeling very burnt out and having lots of writer's block at the start of this week. I just couldn't think about anything new like I normally do. And I think this process is natural for any writer or artist. It's bound to happen eventually. That feeling may hit me again tomorrow. But now that I'm back in my own apartment (I was at my mom's place for a little over a month for the break), I feel the spark again. it's not a raging fire, but I hope to stoke the flames gently. Writing is something I've been working on for some time. It's been my friend for years. So I guess I just want to encourage those who are feeling like they have nothing left to give that that's normal and fine. You can take a break. You can rest. The ideas will come when it's right. And I'm proud of you for ever having put a single word on a page (published or not). [I'm telling this to myself too.]

I'll probably delete this later, but just felt like saying that I don't always love what I put out. And that's okay. I still did the hard thing, and I'm proud of myself for it.

Love you all! Levi - ❤️

Text Break Banner by @cafekitsune

Tag List: @geminitapestry

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[reggiespoon]

Been pondering recently how to square the supposed personality of Robespierre with the fact of his personal influence. I'm aware Thermidorians have muddied the water here but consider:

Appearance: ordinary. He was physically unimpressive. Leaving aside the vexed issue of pieds-du-roi, he was either of average height or a bit (but not significantly) smaller than average. He was slim, pale, and fair, with light brown hair and green eyes. He wouldn't stand out in any crowd of northern Europeans, then or now.

Oratorical skills: lacking. He wasn't a great speaker, like Danton or Mirabeau. He had a quiet voice which he struggled to project in large spaces, and it was allegedly strongly accented in some way that marked him out as Not Parisian. I wrote a whole other post about Robespierre's accent and I stand by my personal headcanon of Scousepierre because it's hilarious, but regardless, this wasn't a beautiful or powerful or otherwise compelling voice.

Writing: mediocre. This seems unfair, but whilst he has very eloquent passages in his speeches, even McPhee allows that Robespierre often committed the twin autisms of rambling and repeating himself (same, bb ❤️). He wasn't generally witty, pithy, or to-the-point.

Political stance: consistent but not extreme. Clearly something that exasperated his allies and delighted his enemies, for whilst he was a tireless advocate for The People, he refused to cater to either conservative or radical arguments about what The People wanted/deserved. He wasn't a hawk or a demagogue. Thus Thermidorians arguing that he was Too Far Left and Too Far Right simultaneously as justification for murdering him. We don't know which direction he's taking this country, but it's definitely the direction you (dear People) don't like, trust us.

So how did this ordinary-looking, unimpressive-sounding, rather boring man inspire such radical devotion across the entire nation, in large cities and tiny villages, north to south and east to west, when he himself never travelled outside the well-worn route between Paris and Arras, never married, didn't really socialise, and should by all rights have been an anonymous cog in the Revolutionary wheel, unknown in life and forgotten in death?

It can't be simply his honesty and integrity, because frankly if honesty and integrity inspired radical devotion in politics, we'd live in a very different world.

How did someone so fundamentally unassuming come to embody the Revolution for so many? And why did they feel so passionately about someone whom even sympathetic(ish) historians describe as having basically zero charisma?

I think the zero charisma thing is - must be - a legacy of Thermidor.

Nobody loved Robespierre anyway because he was a monster, but even before his monstrosity, he was dull. A boring monster! The worst kind! We have saved you from his tyranny.

I think he actually must have been one of those rare people who have real charisma - in the sense of something divinely-conferred; a quality mysterious and indefinable, divorced from mere personal charm. Nothing we know about the man suggests someone who could attract a large following, and yet his personal influence was disproportionately powerful. Robespierre should, according to all descriptions, have been a non-entity, a footnote in the biographies of others. Instead, he's one of the giants of history.

[sparky-is-spiders]

Pleeeeease tell me about the time travel jonsasha fic. I'm assuming it's jon who goes back in time? From where, end of s5? 👀👀👀 Is it preestablished js, or canon compliant until the time travel? Are they going to try to kill elias......

Alright. So. This answer doesn't need to have context but I'm going to provide anyway, so buckle up for several paragraphs of rambling. Under a cut for length.

Anyway so last year I made this post. It's not required reading but it is relevant. Basically, in my first six months(?) or so in the fandom, when I was big into jm, I read a buncha time travel fix-its. I've sorta moved away from them (heads up this fic will NOT be a fix-it) but at the time I really enjoyed them.

(To clarify, nothing wrong with liking time travel fix-its or not wanting to touch the implications. Time travel identity theft isn't real and we're all here to have a good time. If that's your jam you do you)

Now. The Thing With Time-Travel Fix-Its is that there's going to be a past version and a future version of your intrepid time-travelers and you're going to have to Deal With That, and a common method of Dealing With That is the time travelers waking up in their past bodies. Pretty normal, not unusual, dodges some complicated tangles re: having two versions of certain characters floating around, a perfectly understandable choice that nontheless carries Implications.

Namely: what does it mean to take the place of your past self? For you? For them? For the person they could be? For the people around you (who may as well be interacting with a stranger)? Is that really you? Are you really them? Could overwriting your past self count as murder/identity theft/Bad?

And I thought about it. And I thought about it. And I thought about it. And then I got super into jonsasha dual archivists AUs.

Okay. Context over. We can (finally) talk about the fic.

So, I am a simple creature and Jon is my darling beloved. So I didn't want to just kill him off before the fic even begins (although. hmmm. tempting, actually). But i did need him replaced by s5 Jon. So. What if he was just... displaced? Shoved out of his own body by an imposter? A ghost invisible to all? Alone? Afraid? Watching his friends interacting with an unknown but possibly malicious entity? And thus, the Time Travel Nonsense AU was born!

So there's no outline and it hasn't had a lot of Rotation Time in awhile, but I do have a series of loosely connected Ideas down so you can have those.

Something else is living in S1 Jon's body. He doesn't know what it is, or what's happening to him. He can't really interact with his surroundings, either. Can't be seen, can't speak to anyone, can't do anything but watch. Even the thing puppeting his body doesn't seem to know he's there. And it behaves... strangely. It has some of his mannerisms, and it acts like him, but a little to the left. It's uncanny, watching something that is him-but-not-him like that... and it's lonely.

(S5 Jon is going to be an "it" because S1 Jon is perceiving S5 Jon as a monster/creature (although I do believe in it/its Jon supremacy, to be clear)).

He tries to figure things out on his own. Tries to signal for help. Tries to take his body back. Tries to speak to the new occupant. Nothing.

The fic initially opens with a transcript of his statement regarding the experience. It's technically for everyone but it's addressed to Sasha specifically. I don't know what happens with it after though.

At some point, he does manage to make contact with Elias. It's So Weird how only his boss can see him, but it's something at least. Especially because he's so goddamned lonely.

He's a ghost at his own job and in his own house. He hasn't spoken to anyone in weeks. The others think his replacement is behaving a little oddly but seem to be getting along better with it than they ever did with him. It's revealing things about him as if it was him. It feels horribly invasive, and lonely, and frightening, and awful. His only source of comfort is Elias, and they start a sort of weird situationship sorta thing. It's a good thing Elias is so helpful and trustworthy huh?

Maybe Sasha finds the tape. Maybe she just thinks Jon is acting Weird. Either way, she gets to snooping and is drawn closer to the Eye.

Elias, meanwhile, is trying to get Jon marked, and closer to being the Archivist, and back in his body, AND trying to figure out what it was that replaced Jon. Jon is trying to do the last two. Idk what s5 Jon is doing. Maybe finding ways to break whatever binding will cause Elias' death to hurt other institute employees?

Anyway, after a certain point, Sasha is connected enough to the Eye (and Looking hard enough) that she can see S1 Jon, and they start working together too. Maybe they try to keep it secret from Elias? Idk.

S1 Jon will get his body back, and S5 Jon is eldritch enough to probably not need one.

Ok honestly by this point things are reaaaaally vague if I'm being real. So, lightning round:

The JE situationship breaks off due to Elias'... everything really (I mean, once its revealed that he's evil and sinister and stuff).

Jonsasha's misadventures trying to get Jon's body back result in them racking up marks.

Sooooo much of this is me being enamoured w/ outsider PoV... time travel but from the perspective of someone who ain't travelling. Another important aspect is S5 Jon trying desperately to fix things but failing because the whole project is Doomed and he is being sabotaged from the start by an invisible force (himself).

Also S1 Jon accidentally making things worse for himself because all the information available and his general situation push him to do so.

Sasha survives the Not!Them (obviously) (how? good question!!)

Jon and Sasha have a weird complicated Thing. Their research into S5 Jon sort of separates her from the others and they kinda become drawn into their relationship and stuff. Also from the whole "same master same monster" situation they got going on.

There's going to be a short tape transcript of Jon telling Sasha about his situationship with Elias. Idk if I'llbe able to indicate it over audio transcript but they are both sitting on the floor or cot or whatever and Jon's head is on her lap.

Jonsasha are t4t and autism4autism.

I have a really specific image in my head of them running out the institute's front doors while holding hands, very near the end of the fic.

They do run off somewhere (maybe Scotland still idk) and they do read the 160 statement. Together <3.

And yeah that's everything. Got vague and floaty near the end there but to answer your questions: yes, yes, canon-compliant until time travel, and maybe at some point idk.

[estbela]

Just saw your post and was wondering if you have any SerbRo headcanons?

Yes. A lot. I'm so normal about them (lying). Although they might change and stuff, since I'm still working on my Serbia OC and stuff. At the moment he's mostly just vibes (and not that different from other serbia OCs anyway). Also the moment anyone asks me about anything I tend to forget anything Ive ever thought but I'll try.

Prepare for a lot of rambling. And for possibly regretting asking me this haha. Im also sleep deprived, as usual, so hopefully everything makes sense.

They're childhood best friends. I don't know exactly when they met, but they definitely met when they were children, and so they were best friends ever since.

Serbia was like...I think one of Ro's first friends? Besides Bulgaria. I think, in a way, they were both lonely wild children who were considered outcasts. In part for being nations, in part because they were both often disobedient and stuff, and thus were "bad kids".

They were such troublemakers as kids, and tbh, they still are. Whenever theyre together you gotta prepare for trouble.

they were both huge francophiles during the 19th century, I think. Idk I just picture them bonding about that.

They get along like a house on fire. They also might have lit up a couple of houses on fire together. What's a little arson between friends? :)

They're both animal lovers! It's also one of the things they bonded about when they first met(I can just imagine them being kids and telling eachoter all the animal facts they know). If they lived together it'd be them and a house full of animals I'm guessing.

They bully Bulgaria together. <3

Anyway more about their relationship.

they...understand eachoter. Understand eachoter so deeply. They know things about eachoter that almost no one else does. They talk about anything(like their interests and such), and about shit they would never be brave enough to discuss with anyone else. Show sides of themselves they didn't even know they had.

Yet they've never truly discussed...the fact that they might be more than friends. Or well, it took them a really long time of knowing eachoter to do so.

They're kindred souls. Also slightly codependent in the way, that they've grew up together, and went through so many things together, and even when they were alone, they still had eachoter. They're kind of inseparable at this point.

Yet, they can go on pretty long times of not talking to eachoter, but then they meet again and it's like...nothing really happened. They immediately pick where they left off. Thought, if they were to ever truly lose eachoter they would not deal with it well At All.

Anyway they both eventually have The Realisation, when theyre like teenagers. For Serb, I think it's maybe in the 16th century. I think...it's not exactly one moment that makes him realise it, but rather, multiple moments of just. Not wanting to be anywhere else in the world than with Ro. Just softly looking at him and having so much fun together.

For Ro...it's much of the same, although more reluctant, in some way. He doesn't really wanna fall in love. Something she learns early on in his life is that love between nations is tricky and often ends badly, and she's already got A Thing going on with Bulgaria.

They actually have their first kiss earlier thought. They're young teens, like maybe 13, or a little more, or less. It's the 14th century and theyre both curious about that kinda thing, and wanna practice for when they'll have a relationship.

And so they do eventually figure if out as I said, and they never talk about it, never say it aloud, but they Know. They know, and even if the both of them act so brave and confident most of the time, like they always know what they're doing, in things such as battle and in general facing enemies, they are afraid. Cause at the end of the day they are young and terrified that if they admit their love aloud it might twist and burn, or worse, it might be used against them, and then they'd lose their best friend.

But I think they do things that some ppl might consider to be of a romantic nature, like kissing and making out and cuddling and holding hands. Theyre both so touch starved, and even if Serb doesn't wanna admit it, he's even more clingy than Ro is. And everyone is kinda used to it cause thats just how Ro & Serb are like.

And like. Realising they love eachoter romantically, does not really change their dynamic cause they were already doing all of this stuff before.

Also, from the outside it might look like they make eachoter worse, but somehow, they manage to make eachoter better.

Their first kiss as teens, after The Realisation, was initiated by Ro.

and theyre not really children anymore but sometimes it feels like theyre two kids again, staring at the stars, talking about nothing in particular, as if they were the only things they mattered. They weren't nations, or well, they were, but sometimes they could almost forget that.

I think they do eventually talk about It. They're both shit at feelings, with Ro being slightly more emotionally intelligent i guess. In the 19th century, because their thing that's neither nothing or something was driving both of them a little insane. And they kinda get in an on and off relationship, but they dont use that word.

As far as anyone is concerned, theyre best friends. Best friends who perhaps aren't simply platonic, who have shared more than just friends ought to. But the fact is, calling eachoter best friends is not untrue, because that's what they are, thought they are also lovers.

And they have loved other people, and still continue to do so.

I guess they might try to not be too close, at least nto in public, when one of them is in a relationship of the monogamous kind, and theyre also the first person they go to after a break up.

Back to the understanding eachoter thing. I think they'd be willing to forgive eachoter for a lot of things, even if both of them are usually really petty(especially Serb). They'd also be willing to do things for eachoter they'd rarely do for others. Theyd kill for eachoter tbh.

I know this is very random and very different in tone after everything Ive talked about but they have a height difference and it's so cute. Serbia is like. 180 something centimeters while Ro is barely 170 cms shdhdhdhs. Anyway it's adorable.

Songs that make me think of them: Bad Idea from the musical Waitress, You don't need to love me from If/Then, Across the Overpass by the Solids...and way more that I cant remember.

And that's...not all. But all that I can remember at the moment cause my memory is shit. And woah, I talked so much about them dhdjddjdj. It's like the first time i ever get to ramble about them to anyone (besides one of my friends)

[fatherentropy]

Because my tES roster has gotten large and complicated I thought I should make this and ramble a bit. And then tumblr ate my post so let's try to do this AGAIN but quicker because I started writing this at midnight and it's now 6 am SO!!

warning for child endangerment/death

Winter, Summer, Autumn and Spring are names given to girls kidnapped by this one man. There have been multiples of them but the last four are here. Winter was murdered before she could reclaim her name, Summer forgot hers and Spring...I just haven't named her. She's not that important outside Lily's story aah.

Lily is not coping well with anything going on in her life but is doing remarkably well for a girl who was orphaned at 11 and raised herself on the road. Largely because she's being personally supported by Sheogorath because she's his "Grand niece." Dedicated her life on Nirn to hunting Thalmor and Stormcloaks, blaming them for her parents' death.

Lulueith was raised by her mom in Valenwood but left to look for her dad after she passed from illness out of curiosity and nothing holding her where she grew up. She was disappointed because he's largely just a drunk content to drinking himself to death in peace. Just here to vibe now.

Part of Lulu's dad's angst is from Summer trying to kill him before abandoning him altogether. She was a very bad mom but she tried because she tries a lot of things seeing if it'll make her feel anything significant since growing up in constant fear has kind of fucked her brain up. She meant to destroy Tuveri's life specifically but her plan was foiled by Martin's kindness giving Tuveri the power to push her away. Fled Cyrodiil after Martin died because part of that seperation was Tuveri warning her that the next time he saw her he was going to kill her.

(I also drew Summer's line too dark but I think I'll keep this. I like it more than what I've been rolling with.)

Tuveri!! Is an Ashlander actually. His dad got sick and died and Tuveri was in the middle of making him a cairn when he got too close to the road and was pinched by the man and brought to Cyrodiil. Would have returned to Morrowind after escaping with the other two surviving girls but he kept dreaming of Cyrodiil and took that as a sign he had to stay. Thus him becoming HoK and then Sheogorath after that.

I have a lot of thoughts about Tuveri as Sheogorath but that's another rambly essay. To put it simply he's kind and caring to those who are "his" and malicious to those who aren't because that's typically the role they cast him and his in. Thus him targeting Ulfric and his scheme resulting in his son named both Martin (by Tuveri) and Yngve (by Ulfric).

Have a lot on Yngve's emotional state but not a lot of anything else just 'cause Todd willing I might plop him in the next game whenever tf that happens. (Y'know providing we don't go back the timeline/they don't add a super specific opening ala Fallout 4.)

detour to talk about Laury

He's named after the witch his parents managed to take down before they were murdered by the other three while trying to protect him. He was then raised by them to be Hermaeus' champion. Though large parts of that time is lost because his memory is swiss cheese between the alchemical shit he was forced to imbibe (Fun fact! Laury has taste only in one small part of his mouth) and depression.

There's math somewhere in the blank space of me trying to figure out Winter/Autumn's ages during Morrowind because I realized I could go the full nine yards and pull Laury into this weird mix above by doing this:

Nerevarine as dad or grandad? I dunno yet but next time I try and play that game... yeehaw. That man is gonna have a bad time.

Also think it's very tragic of Winter's mom to look to Hermaeus for answers and become one of his biggest shill holes when he sponsored her daughter's kidnapper.

(technically still thinking about whether I should but I'll probably do it. You've heard rule of cool, have you heard of rule of sad?)

I have other ESO alts besides Yorick and Illya but I tend to delete them on a whim so! Hypothetically, Yorick is actually like 50ish% human so a(n indirect) descendant of his could be the man but that's a lot of centuries between. Do you know how many bretons you could fit in there? At what point does it stop mattering.

Illya is just a dragon priest that saw the writing on the wall and fucked off. Kept the mask and became a vampire because can you imagine dying? Couldn't be him. He is my Miraak expy and I love him even if I do nothing with him ever.

[phantomcellar]

Murder Drones theory Time

Spoilers for Episode 4 ahead

I'm posting this again because it didn't appear in the Murder drones tag last time so I'm trying again.

Ok so the new Episode got me thinking and I'm starting to think that the solver is somehow sentient in a way, and may even be behind the core collapse.

1) The Basics:

"The singularity awakens". I think this refers to a Technological Singularity, i.e., when Technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible.

I think this definitely refers to how the absolute solver, which was likely developed/researched on Copper 9, either became sentient itself, or perhaps a Drone with the solver gained sentience and broke from their programming because of the Solver and then took control of it. I do lean more towards the latter and I'll explain why and how this connects to CYN, as well as the 4th Drone in the Mansion in Part 2) of this Post.

It is also worth mentioning that the only drones who seem to have a sense of Danger/Self Preservation are the ones connected to the Solver somehow. Like how Lizzy would've let Eldritch J in (she seems scared at first when she says, "that girl…." and then just goes "is gorgeous right?", like a switch just flipped inside of her), or how that one drone just went along with the crappy Illusion and so on. This is because it’s part of their programming, so that they can do dangerous work and be controlled more easily. And the solver nullifies that.

Furthermore, I think its very likely (or pretty much confirmed) that Nori, Yeva and the at LEAST 46 other Drones from the "Cabin Fever" lab thing were used in Experiments with the Solver, but then Broke Free after the Core collapse, which the Solver is responsible for (either through CYN or itself).

2) Nori, CYN and the Solver:

Ok so when N touches the ZOMBIE DRONES Tech Training Video VHS (which I think is a guide for the employees of the lab on how to deal with the solver drones down there), we got to see a couple of things:

First of all:

The 4th Drone from the Mansion, who what from I can make out has a Human (or at least organic) Hand in their Mouth, with the Solver Symbol. I was pointed out to me by someone on Discord that the Drone on the right is probably V and that the Flashback is from Ns POV.

Second:

A small human hand. May be the one the 4th Drone is eating

And Finally:

What seems like a Black Hole with a null inside the hole (which in computer programming is like a "nothing" or "not here" type of value)

This may be one of three things

A literal Black hole and the actual "singularity" that Nori was rambling about.

The end goal of the solver, aka create a Black hole to wipe out organic life (unlikely imo)

or

A symbolic representation of either how the solver wants to wipe out organic life or, the solver itself, being the "singularity" that kills all humans.

As mentioned earlier, I think a drone (who imo is called CYN) gained sentience and more importantly independence, perhaps through the solver, and then took over said solver. CYN then caused the Planets core to become unstable and caused all organic life on Copper 9 to die, except for the Drones. This however, killed seemingly killed them, but in reality, this caused them to fully take over the solver, becoming the Solver basically.

All was well until the humans realised what had happened on Copper 9. Whether or not they knew if the solver was directly responsible for the catastrophe is not exactly clear, but they knew that the solver drones can’t just be left to their own devices (maybe because they showed signs of rebellion even before, which could also be the reason for the creation of the VHS) so the humans decide to create and send the Disassembly Drones.

And thus, the humans take N, V, J, the 4th drone and perhaps more and insert the solver into them. Now why do this? Because Solver infected drones are immune against the telekinesis powers of other solver drones, thus they can’t just be one-shot, and the healing powers also help.

CYN however notices this and decides to get a new body, aka. the 4th drone (whether the body had a drone mind inside before is not clear to me). CYN then goes ballistic in their new body, maybe even being responsible for the organic things the solver can do, although I think that was there from the start.

This is the reason why V is so scared when Uzi turns the arrow into that weird meat thing and when Solver Uzi goes around killing, she has seen this before and suspects CYN has found a new body in Uzi (I don’t think she quite knows who CYN was before the 4th drone tho), "New Body, same horrors, huh, CYN".

The humans are scared after this and block all functionalities of the solver in the DDs, except healing and the immunity against telekinesis. After which they still send the drones to copper 9 anyways, thinking CYN was just a rogue drone who went mad because of the solver.

It is said that the Doors were Nori's idea, who somehow knew that the Murder Drones were coming, I think this because CYN was warning her (and other drones as well, like the dead one we see in the episode) about the disassemblers.

3) Conclusion

So yeah, that’s the theory. I have my suspicions about what’s going to happen next, but I'll share those once I have more info and can create a theory.

There also may be some things that could perhaps be changed:

If CYN really let Nori and the others know about the DDs, why did they also show them the "singularity"? It could be that the "visions" were simply a side effect of the solver, or an indirect connection to CYN.

CYN could still just be the 4th mansion drone who went mad because of the solver. And the Absolute Solver is itself what caused everything to happen (either way the "More like you're our cute little puppets" line makes sense)

It could also be argued that CYN didn't take over the solver, but got absorbed into it and the solver is a hivemind or something similar.

How and Why does N get a flashback from the VHS? As for the how I think there are just multiple copies of it, I mean it is a training video after all, probably for the employees not the DDs tho. So, it’s likely he saw one back on earth, perhaps while they were made into Disassemblers. As for the Why I’m Not 100% sure.

Ok that’s all thank you for reading. If you have questions, feedback or found a mistake (I speedran this after going through the episode like 6-7ish times lol) then please tell me.