#i will be cycling as much as possible i fuckin love cycling

[sometimesanequine]

[gurorori]

man. why do i even try 2 keep up w wat happens on tiktok

[muldermuse]

who wants to talk about girldad!butcher !!!!! I DO 

your first daughter is called Bea and she wasn’t planned but it’s honestly not that big of a surprise. you’re having sex a lot and you haven’t been taking your contraceptive as regularly as you should be 

you conceived on a weekend away at a hotel resort, hughie and annie got it you for a birthday gift and after some shitty weeks at work- butcher thought it’d be a great idea to cash it in. soft and passionate sex on fresh hotel sheets???? missionary and watching butchers eyes roll back as soon as he’s balls deep in you??? anyway, you basically spent the entire weekend fucking so when your test is positive 6 weeks later- it makes a lot of sense

you were so nervous about telling butcher, you debated doing it in a cute way like dropping loads of hints BUT you end up just chucking 5 pregnancy tests at him as soon as he walks through the door

as soon as Bea turns 1, you decide to start trying for another baby and it takes longer than you expect. I think you both expected it to be quick as it had been before. it’s hard and frustrating. you take ovulation tests, track your cycle and you spy butcher reading ‘10 ways to boost male fertility’ articles on his phone. you cry a lot from frustration and the mounting number of negative tests in your bathroom trash. butcher frequently wakes up to the sound of you sobbing, he always holds you and doesn’t let go until he hears soft snores slipping past your pouted lips. you listen to advice of girlfriends and try and have fun with it. Which ofc butcher LOVES bc you’re doing roleplay, buying lingerie together and having quickies as often as possible

after 8 months with nothing, you kinda give up and of course; that’s when it happens. it’s when you’re both drunk after a party; it’s quick and frantic. it’s nastier than your usual sex, butcher’s controlling your breathing as he comes deep in you on your living room sofa. you don’t even do a test until kinda late because you’re so convinced you’re not going to get pregnant again.

you break down in the bathroom when you see the clear two lines.

and you decide to surprise him this time. 

you buy Bea a shirt from Etsy, a pink one that says ‘cutest big sister ever!’. you slip it on her just before butcher gets home. Butcher greets you with a kiss, his hand grabbing your ass to pull you closer to him.

“Bea baby” you coo “y’wanna show daddy your t shirt?”

“C’mon darlin’ let daddy see what monstrosity mum’s put ya in today” he holds out his arms and smiles as she races towards him with the biggest grin you’ve ever seen. butcher doesn’t see it, too distracted by your daughters adorable waddle over to him 

“Go on butcher, read it out loud” you’re trying desperately to stop the tears from spilling down your face

“Cutest big sister ever…weird fuckin’ shirt…wait…darlin’, does this mean?” you hand him the positive pregnancy tests. you start rambling before he can speak- his eyes fixed to all the tests in his hand

“All positive, I spent way too much on all the tests I’m sorry but I wanted to be 100% sure but yeah…we’re having a baby” you start sobbing again and you hear Butcher’s voice crack as he tells you he loves you

he holds Bea close as he stands up and pulls you into a tight hug. you both excitedly try and tell your daughter but she’s more interested in the amount of kisses your both pressing against her face

when you lie in bed together that night, his hand stays pressed to your lower stomach  as he whispers about all the things he needs to get ready before the new baby is here

your family is complete when Blake is born 8 months later, she has butchers dark hair and your bright eyes

[book--wyrm]

Pengu Finale Liveblog ahhhhhh

Julian just absolutely brain blasting this old woman

Oh Rex is close enough to call her doll and make her breakfast he is not beating the deadbeat daddy allegation

OH NO DOES SHE KNOW OH MY GOD SHE KNOWS

NEVERMIND I WAS SO WRONG ABOUT EVERYTHING SHE HAS KNOWN ALL ALONG

holy shit holy shit holy shit

okay so they did find the bodies eventually holy fuck hooooooly fuck

oh my god rex literally teaching francis how to manipulate oz and use him oh my god ohhhhh my god this is so much more of a betrayal than if francis had just hated him for what he'd done

she knew all along she knew all along and she used him and she

she

oz was right ahahahahah every relationship in his life is fuckign transactional because he KILLED THE ONLY TWO BOYS WHO TRULY LOVED HIM, AND KILLED HIS MOTHER'S LOVE WITH THEM

dude he has to kill his mother now

this is a psychological nuke the likes of which i think sofia could not possibly have ever imagined.

Francis's FACE oh my god.

Julian baby boy maybe Sofia should stand out of sight to not break immersion

God this is absolutely not how hypnotism works is it

IT'LL BE EASIER NOW YOU LITTLE PSYCHO

"I see you in ways other people don't" while she is ACTIVELY USING HIM

dude. dude. I just. It's always the same with Oz, isn't it. Sofia, Eve, his mom. He's the biggest bullshitter in Gotham, and he's so full of it he doesn't have a clue how to sniff it out

God they are both so horrific to each other. Just his horrible cycle of selfishness and toxicity what a twisted family they are

HELLO VIC I MISSED YOU

Oh rip lmao I guess the gangs know the bliss is all gone

Vic baby he's saying all the same stuff oz does, only he believes it, so he can't bullshit people to his side

Oh hey that dude on the other side of the walkie talkie lived!!

Man Oz and Sofia haven't been face to face since ep 4 hahahaha

BERTO MENTION. she hasn't used that name in a hot second

Oh my god Sofia literally using that bird nest metaphor ahahahh whoever that anon was in my inbox you are a genius

Man. Sofia literally just laying out all their horrible family drama in the worlds worst family therapy oh my god

Dude I've been saying for weeks now that Sofia's superpower is to completely shatter people with the truth and. ohhhhhh my god ohhhhhh my god ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Wait. Is Sofia going to give that cigar cutter in her cleavage to Francis to use on Oz. I think she should give it to her.

Uh. Nevermind

Wow Sofia really is leaning into this evil therapy thing what the fuck. girl.

God i desperately want her to be the girl-jonkler running the aslume at the end of this show please please please

Also Sofia, I think it was the left. I mean I'm sure she knows just so she can do the other one next, but. man. she is fuckin sadistic. im love....

Julian so enthusiastic about all of this hahaahah

I love Sofia like, almost framing this to them or possibly herself as a gift she is giving to Francis. Is this cope? Is this something she sincerely believes? Or is she just being cruel?

I ALREADY FUCKIN KNOW

It's my finger you spineless prick hahahaahha but that doesn't matter to him because its your love he wants it's your adoration your pride and what actually happens to you? Doesn't fucking matter.

I NEVER STOPPED HATING YOU

Sofia's face right then like. damn dude. god i love her

She had enough love for all of them and he soured every last drop of it. For them, for him, for the world.

Sofia really does know the value of just letting a drama play out.

Francis saying Sofia is right this ep, Sofia saying Francis was right last ep, damn.

Oz really is... the only character in this show chronically incapable of learning

Damn mama cobb strong enough to smash a bottle. I don't think even i could do that.

Oh my god no wonder she said "they look at me like i'm not even theirs" because in her mind, she let their murderer go free

also is oz gonna hulk out that she's showing love to an imaginary jack and benny when oz has just seen her hate?

Oh is she just dying right now

Julian doing the get down mr president

MR DETECTIVE YOU DIPSHIT

Sofia baby you did great okay you already hurt Oz please just go to italy with your boy toy

Wow is he not getting this fucking stab looked at

EW EW EW EW

Yeah sure sure. Sofia stabbed you. Sure. Sure.

Oh noooo. Vic... baby.... he is such a believer in Oz's stupid self serving bullshit. He is so good. And pure. And he speaks from the heart and. And Oz acts like this is something Vic rehearsed

And they laugh about it but Vic doesn't understand. He doesn't understand that Oz isn't giving him advice on how to most effectively show people the fire you hold in your heart—he's teaching him the art of smoke and mirrors. how to con and grift and bullshit until even you don't know what's true and real

Christ. Vic is so fucking dead

She'd never look at me again unless i get this done.

Oz knowing now that this love is transactional. And fine. He'll make that transaction, he'll take down sofia and then maybe his mom will pretend again that she doesn't hate him, doesn't want him dead

it's not going to work, of course. it can't because this show is about him becoming the penguin. and it can't, because even that transaction was always a lie Francis told herself

I don't think she could ever have loved Oz even if he'd gotten her into a penthouse at age 20. I think she lied to herself to survive living with him, because what was the alternative? Losing all three of her boys?

AHAHAHAHAHAH SOFIA LITERALLY PICKING UP OZ'S GOLD SUMMIT MEMBERS i have to say. I did not anticipate this at ALL

damn girlie really is just gonna dip to go to italy or wherever

sofia really is just setting up the funniest game of capture the flag imaginable while cramming like seven olives in her mouth

i dont' say this often. i desire her carnally.

The gun in the glove compartment surely that will not come back later

Oz originally checking his image in the reflection of the car vs asking Vic now, treating this kid as his reflection

Damn. Is Link really going to fall for Oz's shit again after that truck of cigs thing? Or is this just a ploy to get Oz into the right place for Sofia to pick him up?

Actually maybe that's what loses Vic, that Link betrayed him, and Oz expected it. Idk we shall see

Penguin planning to run for mayor in a couple movies?

Oh Oz is totally gonna send sofia to arkham ahahaha poor baby

Oh my god I thought Sofia was gonna claim credit for Sal's death, not that Oz would give it up himself

I cannot tell you guys how fucking tempting it is to skip right to the end of this episode to see if i'm right you guys

Wow Oz really eyeing that Mayor's office

Is he going to kill Bella and frame Sofia. Is he gonna kill bella and THAT is what turns Vic on him.

oh my god LINK

HAHAHAH I WAS SO RIGHT SHE IS BURNING DOWN FALCONE MANOR

oh god that's the watch Sofia gave him for his birthday FUCK YOU CARMINE

Sofia really is gonna fucking screw over EVERYONE hahaha THREE CIGS BABY

oh god she is so hot i love her you self actualize through arson baybeeeeeeee

that shot of her throwing the cig like a dart is so much oh my god

babygirl i love you

you deserve the world

but yeah she is going into the cold according to the needle drop. definitely going back to arkham

... what's in the trunk. i don't think it's normal luggage. is it more bombs

there is still 20 mins left. i am afraid

This is clearly a trap for someone i just don't know who. Where is vic

I'm so afraid this is the last we get to see of Sofia.

She knows. She always has such a nose for bullshit lmao. Also fuck you Link you gotta know Oz is gonna stab you in the back.

I do think it's promising that Julian has not been seen all day tho. What is he doing.

I love this. I love that Oz and Sofia finally get this one moment to be truly honest with each other.

Well. At the very least, Oz gets to be honest with Sofia. idk that he knows how to be honest with himself anymore.

Why does this look like a chemical factory. I know it's not happening but it'd be so funny for Sofia to become the joker right now.

just dunk her in the goop

Man. Is he actually going to shoot her. Police pls come and save my girl. Cannot believe that's what I'm begging for now.

oh my god

yeah i called it but. Man. This is so painful to watch. also i think my julian prayers are not going to be answered it did not look like Sofia had planned any of this

okay i'm normal about sofia being arrested now.

Okay. I'm normal.

I'm back to not being normal francis and vic and oz all in one place this is all gonna blow up emotionally

Is francis in a coma. is she totally brain dead oh my god.

oh man she really is never going to say she loves him hahaha

she let jack and benny's murderer go and it never got her anything

is he gonna kill her now.

TELL ME YOU'RE PROUD OF ME oz you fuckin

he's so fucking delusional jesus putting her hand on his head

dude. is Vic actually gonna live through this episode

holy fuck

did not call that in the least

well. i was right about the pyrrhic victory for Oz

"All kinds of things" shut the fuck up.

God. I cannot believe Vic is living through this show. Admittedly as the kind of guy that his parents would have been ashamed of, but.

Wait. No no

don't

don't do it

no nondfonfodnfodnfodfn

please dont

pelase dont

oz don't you dare

nONONNNONONONONONONONONONONONO

PLEASE DOJNT DO IT NOW PLEAE

NO NO HE IS THEO NLY ONE WHO HAS SEEN THE WEAKNESS AND HUMAN IN YOU

OZ YOU

OZ

NO

WITH YOUR HANDS???? WITH YOUR FUCKIGN HANDS???? I THOUGHT HE WOUDL PULL A GUN AT LEAST YOU FUCKING

ODSOFANDFONSODNOSDAGNOGNIOAGDSASGJDISGNAGLNFGOSANFOSDO

SANO

NON NO NONONONO

VIC

vic. vic. vic barely lived a month longer than his family

all that good heart and he just. enabled a monster to rise to power. to make gotham worse

HE'S MUGGING HIM

YOU PIECE OF SHIT YOU PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT YOU BASTARD YOU

i

i

and the water takes him too.

JULIAN

oH MY GOD I WAS RIGHT AHHAAHHAHAHA

JULIAN

I WAS RIGHT ABOUT SOFIA GETTING MARRIAGE PROPOSALS HAHAHAHAHAH

SELINA KYLE???????? HELLO??????????????

bro.... oh my god..... this is....

I'm so happy.........

sofia smiling... sofia finding a new family member....

nvm i am so glad my original theories were wrong this is way better than anything i could have hoped for

oh my god

ohhhhh my god he actually is keeping his mom in a vegetative state.... exactly what she begged him not to do.......

she knows.... she knows... some part of her is aware in there ahahahahah

you should have let Rex kill him all those years ago

oh my god EVE???? EVE GIRL GET OUT BEFORE HE KILLS YOU TOO

oh no please tell me he never learned what happened with sofia and eve

hes literally just calling her ma. fuck me. mayeb that means eve is safe for now

NOT THE BATSIGNAL

[mx-misty-eyed]

OK CLANCY THEORIES THAT I CAN SHARE NOW THAT THE ALBUM IS OUT

(I'm kinda going crazy here and possibly reading into things too much so idk also these are just my opinions and I'd love to hear other interpretations)

Clancy is using psychokinesis possibly too much and is becoming corrupted, I think he's turning into a bishop and is gonna fall victim to the cycle the attempt to reclaim red and to reclaim the power to fight against them might turn into him giving in. Like firstly "I'm testing the limits of what a mind can do" in routines like, nobody should be using this power their minds weren't made for it.

Then Vignette "not sure when it started, peelin' from his bones" then "hope it held together long enough for he to pitch the greener grasses" CLANCY STARTING TO BE CORRUPTED BY THE POWER BUT NOT NOTICING AND JUST HOPING TO STAY TOGETHER TO FIX THINGS FOR EVERYONE, also just "clinging to promises fighting off the vignette tunnels cave visions fade swallowed by the vignette" perhaps fighting off the corruption??? (also "no its not me its for a friend" Clancy perhaps becoming a bit selfish with his goal to take down the bishops and trying to lie to himself and say he's doing it for others???)

WE ALL SAW NAVIGATING (JOSH ISNT REAL WHAT THE FUCK I KNEW MY BLOOD WAS INVOLVED IN THE LORE) Anyway I don't even know what to say about the video I didn't even really watch it I was nodding off (fully awake rn) but THE SONG??? Just like basic stuff "pardon my delay I'm navigating my head disassociate" very just like, him fighting with the power and corruption and trying to figure things out, still trying to fight back against dema still. "How things change so rapidly I find my self-esteem, then turn so cold" STILL THE CORRUPTION

SNAP FUCKING BACK. THIS ENTIRE SONG AUGH gotta break it down a lot more than the others "got a bad feeling that i'm about to break been a good streak but the pressure's overweight" and also "got a bad feeling I'm gonna lose the lead" FUCKING CORRUPTION THE POWER AND PRESSURE IS GETTING TO HIM HES ABOUT TO SNAP "if I'm gonna snap necks then I gotta snap back" HE HAS TO FIGHT IT OFF AND COME BACK TO HIMSELF TO FIGHT DEMA (also "running from a thing that I kicked in '17" BLURRY?? that was the last blurry year before trench)

"blacklisted from forgiveness" and later "I have seemed to run out of excuses of why I am this way" could be him acknowledging what's happening to him and just accepting that. "its a backslide I commandeered a hot ride drove it til the engine died all of that progress lost today" FIRST OF ALL BACKSLIDE REF, SECONDLY HE IS DESCRIBING HDS AND HIS ESCAPE AND HE IS SAYING HES LOSING THE PROGRESS CUZ HE MARCHING BACK INTO DEMA!!?! "I've been praying for my elasticity to return to the way that it was" maybe Clancy saying that he wants to recover from psychokinesis the way he used to but he's not anymore

"I don't want anymore know me or not see me at my lowest you don't have to drop" if you've read this far then I think (?) that's self explanatory. "don't know how I feel man bout you sleepin so close to a weapon you conceal man" may either be about Clancy sleeping near antlers/just being too comfortable with them, or Clancy being the weapon himself. now for fuckin

paladin strait

"standing on the shore staring down a hurtling storm makin' it's way toward me" staring down his final(?) face down with dema. "here's my chance, time to take it can't be sure that I'll make it even though I'm past the point of no return i'm all in, I'm surrounded put my money where my mouth is" past the point of no return in two ways, hes going to fight them and there's no turning back now, and he's been corrupted and he's aware of that and that there's no changing it now he's just gotta complete his final goal AND THEN

"On the ground are banditos fighting while I find Nico even though I'm past the point of no return climb the top of the tower "show yourself," I yell louder" saying while I fight Nico even though I'm past the point of no return, to me, implies that he's fighting him even though he's been corrupted and may possibly be turning over to his side AND THEN THE WAY NICO GREETS HIM AT THE END "hello Clancy" IT WAS FAR TOO NICE AND FAMILIAR FOR SOMEONE HE HATES AND WANTS TO FIGHT, I THINK CLANCY TRIED TO FIGHT AGAINST THE BISHOPS WITH THEIR OWN POWERS WEARING HIS OWN RED HOOD BUT THE COLOR AND THE POWER TOOK OVER HIM AND HE IS BECOMING ONE OF THEM

[xamaxenta]

LMAOOOOO I did not imagine Dadan but now I cannot possibly picture anyone else!! Xam your mind is a gold mine!!!! Deities so old they've been disproven at this point in time but Dadan comes from the countryside where tradition is life so her odd habits are considered quirks among the castle staff... She constantly swears in the name of a creator that everyone literally thinks she's made up... As a running joke, no one has ever heard the same three names of minor gods Dadan prays to because theres so fuckin many that she's always cycling through that it is impossible for everyone to keep up!!!

But you bring up an interesting point with the magic. Had I been a different person or this a different AU I might've bit on the angle of Rouge being seen as a goddess after her passing. However religion is very not my scene so I am going to ignore. (I think I prefer anyway Ace returning to the castle and seeing all the hibiscus motifs that had been added since his and Rouge's deaths, and he can't remember his mother's face anymore so the image of the flower she adored is all he really has left of her memory WAHHH!)

Thanks for the heartfelt response though!!!!? I loved reading through it lots. The line about Sabo wanting Ace's garments treated with care had me crying in the club.

Honestly i have no other additions to this, youve summed up my feelings on all the points touched upon above

Like im just here nodding and groovin like yes yes exactly SEND TWEET!!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽All I have to offer is my heart on a platter bc GOD. the hibiscus imagery and all Ace has left of his mother is this flwoer she adored and pquehdih

It means so much to him 🥹

I think Dadan’s stance would change when she realises its not because Sabo is being difficult but because he loves Ace so deeply that he won’t have him treated any other way, they come as a package deal now and well best get used to it because once Sabo succeeds Roger and Ace becomes next in line as Sabos, its just smart yknow learn what they need

I was chuckling over the ask abt many attempts in which other people vying for the throne would chance if it meant they could “assassinate” the crown prince skdhbe (more on that prommy)

And yes i fully agree this au can be called my prince we shouldnt, but oh my knight yes we should or however it was ypu wrote it as 🩷

[borom1r]

(In the ask box because tumblr on phone dislikes me and will not show the lil note thing to reply on actual posts for Some Reason) I fuckin loved the Gondor/Rohan cultural influence thoughts if you do dish up more of the Thoughts I am so here for it

WOOFWOOFWOOF you’re enabling me. you’re enabling me!!!!! anyways screenshots from our DC dms bc I’m a lazy gremlin who cannot be bothered to re-type:

So this is like. this gets into a lot of half-formed thoughts abt other aspects of potential Rohirric culture and the overlap with iron-age Norse culture there which ties into the Gondorian overlap with fucking. Christians. WHICH IS ITS OWN CAN OF WORMS. but jts a can of worms were about to open

sorry if this is poorly formatted and rambly I’m sick and I don’t have the time off from work so there’s THAT and this feeds directly into my autistic special interests AND I’m a heathen so it also ties into my own religion :3

but when I was adding to the costuming document I made an offhand note about the fact Éowyn’s fashion most likely aligns more with Gondorian noble fashion than actual Rohirric fashion — bc the signifiers of nobility in iron-age Norse fashion came less from the type of garment but from the layers, dyes, and accessories. Éowyn, however, is dressed in a way which explicitly stands apart from the few common Rohirric women we see. so like.

Gondor as a homogenizing force.

I’m not going to use “colonizing” because Gondor never explicitly COLONIZED Rohan, but it very much has always positioned itself as Rohan’s better, and this holds true to Aragorn’s fucking coronation.

extrapolating from Norse culture, it seems Rohan was sort of the platonic ideal of the Germanic/Anglo-Saxon/Norse “viking.” Very Wagner’s Ring Cycle type of depiction, which gets into this weird romanticization while also depicting the gods especially as petty and self-centered, and denigrating the women. Turning from that, this fictionalized “ideal,” to what we know of the actual culture at that time— we get into a lot of grey areas. Was Rohan a raiding culture? quite possibly, at their start; I think it’s a fair assumption to make, that Rohan had a history of raiding. Which seems to have stopped once they settled in the land gifted to them by Gondor.

now, is raiding… good? oh gods no. absolutely not. but while there was a lot of violence typical of raids, not every expedition ended in raids— or was spent *only* on raiding. Vikings would stop and make camps, would trade, even settle in areas long enough that we have archaeological evidence of Danish jewelry made out of Frankish materials. Much of “viking” culture is built off borrowing; we have mjolnir pendants as modern heathens because these people saw Christian crosses, went “oh, that’s cool, we should have something to signify our faith!” and started forging mjolnirs. They were often produced by the same smiths! Sold in the same areas!

So, so much of this culture was decentralized. There was no set religious doctrine, histories and myths were told orally— hence why Skalds were so important (and likely why Théoden was so willing to take Gríma back despite. Everything). My hearth cult is different from your hearth cult is different from the hearth cults the next village over. Stories change with the times, names are lost and added, our culture shifts with the land and her people. The iron-age Norse peoples had very positive relations with Arab traders, to the point that we have an extremely detailed description of the funeral of (what was very likely) a nobleman documented by Ibn Fadlan; they had silks and glassware because of these trade relationships.

so you’ve got a culture built on adapting and borrowing, on *growing,* which has now 1) settled in one area and does not seem to send forces beyond their borders anymore, despite having a specialized category of “riders” not unlike the specialized category of “vikings” and 2) has a positive but distant relationship with its more powerful and decidedly centralized neighbor (not unlike norsemen with the English/French). aaaaaaaaand then there’s Thengel.

now like I said in DMs the blame very much does NOT rest on Thengel. like yea he kickstarted the process but I think this was very much inevitable. Gondor has written histories, better resources, like not even getting into the blood bullshit they just have a much more stable culture. Even if Christianity hadn’t done. what Christianity does. 😑 Norse peoples were worshipping Jesus alongside Þórr. it was simply a matter of time.

and like I stated above, the idea of Rohirrim as lesser and inherently violent is so pervasive even Faramir who is held up as the paragon of grace and nobility in the books does not BEGIN to question it. you don’t leave an environment where everyone thinks you’re lesser than them BY NATURE thinking “wow that was great, nothing about that needed to change!!” — I don’t blame Thengel in the slightest for going “yeah okay nobody in my line is EVER going to look stupid in front of another Gondorian.”

but at the same time as Westron and Sindarin are brought into the noble households, there doesn’t seem to be any similar push to preserve Rohirric oral traditions. Hell, considering the state of things by the war of the ring and the need for Riders, there’s a non-zero chance Gríma may have been the last “Skald” in Meduseld— which quite honestly explains even Éomer’s hesitance to explicitly harm him.

not to mention ultimately royal culture will bleed out into common culture— and eventually royal/noble culture will be all that survives. we have more place names for Þórr and Týr because they were worshipped more widely by the common folk, but more surviving NARRATIVES of Óðinn because he was worshipped by nobility and their closest warriors. If the noble culture of Rohan has shifted to more closely imitate Gondor, then it’s only a matter of time before all that’s left of actual Rohirric culture is place names and folk beliefs

like, I’m saying this as a heathen who’s doing his best to reconstruct a faith based off of archaeological evidence of my ancestors and one (1) surviving text that could be considered religious. EVERYTHING ELSE that is widely available is CHRISTIAN RETELLINGS. whose accuracy is EXTREMELY DEBATABLE. I don’t even necessarily prescribe to what many people consider one of the KEY myths!!!! and while there was a lot of violence involved in the spread of Christianity, quite clearly it does not need to start or end that way. specifically while the Norse peoples, it started very benignly as an interest in the symbols and holy figures— and turned into “all heathens are stupid dirty bloodthirsty monsters, their faith is cruel and backwards and only we Christians have any moral standing”

(Gondorians becoming more and more like those violent middlemen………)

it’s this very pervasive perspective that even when not backed with outright violence on Gondor’s point, clearly leads to the idea that to receive any sort of respect as Men, the Rohirrim must divest of anything that denotes they ARE Rohirric and live instead by Gondor’s standards— the only way to receive salvation is to follow Christ, et cetera et cetera et cetera. I got proselytized to with a bunch of friends in a fucking Mexican restaurant this shit still happens. she compared Christ to gravity and my faith as ridiculous and idiotic (as idiotic as denying that gravity exists).

and that’s part of why I like. don’t find the Gondorian perspective very compelling? like Boromir specifically is interesting because he explicitly defends Rohan and seems to carry a lot of like. both this openness to other cultures for the most part and this sort of trauma around a very similar pressure to Be A Proper Gondorian Heir, depending on how you want to read him— like this intense need to prove himself and his people as worthy to Aragorn, particularly in the films, is veeeeeeeerryyyyyy interesting to consider. meanwhile Denethor is Denethor and book!Faramir has his whole “taming” thing which I cannot even remotely stand. film!Faramir was thankfully spared the weird bullshit prejudices

it does also kind of inherently get into the question of how much of that attitude is specific to Minas Tirith; Gondor’s fucking massive, what pockets of cultures are surviving in coastal towns and out in the more distant regions? because there will always be bleeding, like I said, but this sort of Christian-adjacent attitude that is absolutely held by Gondorian nobility could very well be just that… a NOBLE attitude. the folk of western Anórien probably had WAY more in common with the neighboring Rohirrim on the Eastfold than ANYONE in Minas Tirith.

anyways, was this coherent? barely. do I care? no. I have a head cold. sources? a lot of the same creators as I cited for that gender in Rohan post that I’ll track down and link if the gods decide to bless me with a functional search bar on this site for ONCE, and Children of Ash and Elm. I also mentioned Wagner. I can’t in good faith recommend reading Wagner.

noble Gondorians sit down and shut up about Rohan challenge

(Gríma ramblings under the cut)

[stevebabey]

You don't have to answer this I'm just gonna bitch in your inbox about the x reader post you made because I felt this in my bones.

Like you really can't go in the tag for quality stuff lately. Everything is about sex. I'm not a prude. I read occasionally stuff, but omg, not everything has to be like this. Sometimes stories begin hopeful, but they end the same way. I'm just sick of it because it's all there is. And because it's so oversaturated, "normal" fics don't stand a chance because people don't click on that anymore. So yeah, as a creator, if I wanna get attention for my work, of course, I will produce stuff that people will read.

Also what you said about minors, how are they supposed to interact with fics if everything is porn.

In general, people are sooo fixated on "spicy" content. On tiktok, all people read is smut, or they can't handle other stuff. Literally, smut destroyed their brains. How is it any different than guys having a porn addiction?

Also, the tumblr tagging and searching functions are shit. I wanna find new fics from like 2020 or 2021 (before s4 bc I miss those vibes). When you go to the popular tag thing, the earliest you get is 2022. Like tumblr needs to fix that, so content from years ago can still be found. People also need to start tagging accordingly. It's such a pain.

Again sorry for the rant.

HOHOHOHOHO NO APOLOGIES NEEDED NONNIE i love having a bitch and being on my hater shit and i think more people than you might think agree with all of this + its a whole buncha opinions under the cut u have been warned

to some degree to decrease in quality fics will be due to the lull between seasons which always happens- some of the fantastic writers move onto other obsessions for the mean time and truly, i can't fault them for that.

but yet somehow i know it's more than just that - a smut piece will get more attention and notes regardless of the quality of the fic. it's so tough to complain about cos like sigh its all free writing produced by someone so to moan and bitch about stuff getting more attention than others is like. not very nice and being hypercritical but also

not everyone wants to read smut!! and its fuckin everywhere!! wouldn't it be darling if there could simply be a tag that was smut free but noooooo every post gets tagged with as many fuckin things as possible for 'reach' which is the stupidest fucking thing i've ever heard before

and ur absolutely right, because of it fics with no smut get drowned before they get a chance to get noticed. and sorry to say it, but its very rarely that i've read a fluff piece and been like ah, that seemed like it was just thrown together like no its always crafted to some degree- but i cannot say the same for smut in the least. again, often u can mentally sub in different characters and the fic still works which to me = bad writing (if its a steve fic i shouldn't be able to slot in eddie and have it work? ok cos then its not a STEVE fic its just a porn fantasy which is like fine but GOD this is a whole nother can of worms but if u just write smut and then cycle thru joe keery characters its like half a step from writing rpf cos its obvious u just think he's a hot guy and not so much into his characters 😭 maybe im being autistic levels of protective over my lil guy but i also think im right lmao)

and ough trying to write for an audience is so hard, its a vicious cycle of: wants to produce content ppl will read and interact with -> doesn't enjoy writing it as much -> writing isn't as good as u know it could be -> if it flops for whatever reason u feel like asshole. anon babey please dear god write the ideas you want to <3 i can promise you they will be 100x better than trying to cater to an invisible audience ! ppl follow you for your writing !!! and feel free to tag me!!!! i always want to read good steve x reader fics!!! (i just can't be assed hunting them down half the time)

the minors thing is just. god its - i remember hearing the phrase 'virgins write the best smut' and it was when i was 14 and now im like god don't say that they write like porn cos they have fuck all idea what they're talking about. i read so much fanfic when i was 12 years old and what u said is so true, it just used to sneak up in stories and ruin things. its the internet tho so its impossible to truly moderate

omg ur tiktok comment so fucking true babe. when smut is prioritized over plot, u can tell and so many of the booktok rec's they have are just that. there are ways to write smut and have it still be a story. there's also ways to write pwp and still craft it and yet, u dont see that often. also what happened to being excited when two bitches hold HANDS??? AND KISS FOR THE FIRST TIME?? it's appalling the way they thirst for that content but write their captions like "and they have s3x!!! and f@&k in the bathroom hehehe" like what. its such sanitized and shit content honestly

god ur so right i hadn't even thought about hunting down old fics - and it would make such a difference if you could do that because otherwise SO much weighs on when u post it and if it shows in tags and yada yada

this is so much omg u don't have to read all that but genuinely the reason i started writing more steddie and less x reader is the difference in reception and general support. i dont feel like i'm competing against my mutuals, but more like we're here to just hoot and hollar at each other and unless u have a tight knit group of friends on here, u don't get that on x reader fics ://

[silent-raven13]

This, right here!

Hobie shouting out loud to everyone in the meeting room: Everyone! Everyone! Shut up and look at me!

Miles: Bae... -Miles looked confused at his punker boyfriend up on the meeting table with his heavy boots covered in mud-

Miguel scowls: Brown get off of the table!

Hobie stomps his boot on the table: You can't make me! Just shut up and listen to me! -Spider-punk huffs-

Jess crosses her arms: I wonder what new Anti-capitalist thing he's gonna say. -she groans with Hobie's antics-

Peter shrugs: Maybe this time he's trying to get the newcomers to not join Spider Society.

Kaine sips his coffee sitting on the chair: Come on, Hobs! Your dirtying my newspaper!

Ben: It was a good Garfield comic strip, too. -he pouted-

The newcomers look confused as they look up at the famous Spider-punk. Gwen sighs: Hobie, we're really busy today!

Pavtri: Yeah, my dude! I gotta show the newcomers to their assigned groups!

Hobie huffs: Look at you! Is this what's all about? Being controlled and following directions? This is what the Government wanted you to be doing, this is how dictatorship gets you! We need anarchy to break the cycle and-

Miguel snap: Get to the point, Brown!

Hobie: Ahh suck ya muthers teet, mate! -Scowling at the leader of HQ for being interrupted-

Miguel sneered before Miles got between: Guys. Guys! Chill! -He turns to his boyfriend- Bae, maybe... you know I love hearing your speech on Fascism and the Destruction of Captialism, but maybe, you could get to the point this time? Hmm, please, mi amor. -When in doubt always have Miles to calm down the easily anger Punker. Miguel blink in surprise how quick Hobie turns pink and happy-

Hobie's eyes soften at his Sunflower: Okay luv! Kiss? -he bends down to receive a peck on the lips from his beautiful Sunflower- Love you!

Miles giggles: Love you, too!

Spider-punk stood back up: Listen up! I got set of rules to not mess with me! Three basic rules! Rule 1: Don't disrespect me! -He pulled out of his guitar- Rule 2: Don't force me into crap I don't wanna do! -Then he took another heavy step- RULE 3! This is the most important rule! And I swear if any of you fuckin' wankers break this rule, I will kill you! -He picks up Miles with ease into bridal style by surprised-

Miles gasps: HOBIE!

Gwen and Pav were cracking up seeing this while everyone looked at Spider-Punk.

Hobie went on: This, right here! Is me Sunflower! Hurt him or disrespect him in any way possible- even going on missions where you betray him! I will hunt you down and kill you! -He nuzzle his boyfriend being protective- Don't break these rules and we'll get along fine, right Sunflower!

Miles cover his face being super bashful and embarrassed by his Spider-Punk. Thing like this are romantic but too much for him. Miguel only rolled his eyes: yes, we know! Now, get down, Brown!

[retphienix]

Other nonsense that's not nearly as cool as finally finding the sunless city log I was missing (lie)

While my brain keeps conflating the sun station with the probe launcher I am 99.99% sure it's not for that, it's for the warp core set up next to the memory statues in the ash twin lab in order to power the 22 minute timer.

They are /linked/ but the power isn't /for/ the probe, the probe going full power and exploding isn't because they overcharge it with sun station juice, it's arguably (sorta, there were disagreements on the nomai team) by design and is just using normal power sources.

The warp core that's sending the memory statues back in time 22 minutes IS using the mega power source that's destroying the sun each cycle, it's related but not the same, since part of why that's happening is to keep firing the probe in the first place.

Anyways, some minor existentialism (my beloved). Part of what I really like about this are the ways in which your memories can be rewound without you dying "exactly". Like the ash twin core can be exposed to the supernova and rewind itself while you're 300 million miles away from the sun or while you're on the quantum moon while it's orbiting the eye and in both cases you're too far away to die before the rewind- so while in neither situation are you far enough way to survive- there's some minutes of life you don't live before the rewind. it's fun :)

These fuckin' nerds lol

Instead of just saying over the call "Yeah, the counter clockwise hurricanes suck things under" they said "IT'S FAR TOO FASCINATING YOU HAVE TO SEE" followed by "Well duh I made a model, I wanted to make a model :)"

I love them.

Also like totally nbd nbd nbd.

The probe module that receives info from the probe is INSIDE the core of waterworld. I know how to get TO the core but not IN the core (yet)(if possible)(probably possible).

And I met Sola :)

I could say plenty on the little mannerisms experienced there, but in all truth they don't say "much" of interest. Basically repeating a lot of ideas on quantum stuff and posing that if quantum state objects are every possibility at once- and viewing them "freezes" them in one collapsed possibility- what would happen if we viewed the eye directly?

A great question- fantastic even- but considering I came here with like 300 questions and then got quantum 101 and then a really good question put back at me I'm.... dissatisfied.

Not BIG time or anything. This is a great question, one I hadn't considered before talking to her. But because I can't communicate directly I can't ask about Any of this and I'm like "AAAAAAAAA"

To be expected- back to finding my own answers.

I mostly want to point at her to say how fucking sick it is that the Quantum moon isn't just showing this possibility to us- the possibility that we meet her.

It also allows us to see her corpse in various possibilities that she failed, with each other version of the moon having her in a different death pose (or maybe just 2, I kinda recall only finding her on the south pole twice and not being able to reach it otherwise, unimportant).

Neat!

Also this interaction implied she's NOT the third mask being memory-time-warped.

Maybe she is, but her interactions don't imply anything of the sort.

She doesn't mention anything about the rewinding, doesn't mention anything about the probe, doesn't mention anything about the sun station being turned on-

This is just "the possibility that she successfully found the 6th moon" and talking to her implies that she /feels/ that she has already died- and seeing how 5 of the other moon faces have her dead, that's interesting. Like she /feels/ that her being here right now is improbable. Like it's some sort of conclusion that wasn't likely because she thinks she's already dead (and is, in most possibilities).

Maybe this is what death on the quantum moon entails. If you die here, there's a possibility you didn't, so a possibility of you remains? I wonder if she can leave.

I assume not, as leaving this phase of the moon requires, by nature of how the quantum moon exists, the moon to materialize as a different possibility. Maybe if *I* stay to witness the moon she would be able to leave to a star system that never sees the moon again? But no, right, because if I ever leave then the moon would begin moving again, and in all possibilities that aren't the 6th it has her dead.

Also, consider the fact that her eyes don't appear to be considered "conscious" by the moon anymore.

The moon moves despite the fact she's on the 6th iteration.

So I guess even the moon recognizes that she has died and she is quite literally a living ghost that only exists when the moon exists in the 6th state- and as a ghost she can't be considered "conscious" for viewing it to lock it in the 6th state and if she tried to leave I suppose she would simply cease to exist on the spot and would become the corpse in each iteration and /nothing at all/ during the 6th since she left?

Hmm.

Anyways, all to say that means her being here is more to do with the quantum state of everything than with her retrying every 22 minutes until it worked- so I don't think she's the third or is directly responsible for any of this.

[storeecbrcod]

Through the Rubble (Pt 3)

Ghost x Reader fic (TW: Injury, death, possible themes of derealisation)

Reckless, Price had said. He had become reckless.

Ghost didn’t listen whenever Price pulled him into his office, another talk about how his actions had been dangerous, risky. It had become a common narrative to him. The same thing over and over, how Price was worried about him and didn’t appreciate the blatantly dangerous ‘stunts’ he’d pull when on missions.

Well, it didn’t matter now. His mind buzzed as he sat against a cold wall on a cold floor, looking around with heavy eyes. He was so tired, so tired of everything. He was exhausted by making the effort to move on, exhausted by making the effort to come home safe.

Everything that had transpired since your death had been so dull. Every day was the same; get up, eat, go about his duties, be talked to by Price, lay down, and try in vain to sleep. A cycle on repeat every single fucking day. It was getting on his nerves.

Even now, he felt stuck in the cycle. Like every other day of his life, he grabbed his dog tags from around his neck, flipping them over gently. He had four tags on his chain, though; two saying Simon Riley, and two inscribed with your name.

He ran his fingers over your dog tags, a pang of grief shooting through him as he studied how one was bent on a slight angle, having buckled under the same weight you had. Another way the universe seemed to mock him, mock you. Another cruel joke.

He felt over them tenderly. In his mind, it was the only thing he had to connect you to him. Having never been one for gifts or photos, he had very little of you to look back on. He hated to admit it, but sometimes, your face escaped his reaching memory.

He took a deep breath, the air getting caught in his throat at the stinging of his pain. A small smile graced his lips, free for the world to see while his mask watched, discarded to the side. His movements were slow with emotion, with longing.

“Evening, [Name],” he murmured to himself. As per his routine, he spoke to you, a daily diary muttered into the night in the hopes that his words would drift on the rivers of cold air to your ears somewhere beyond. He was never a religious man, finding it pointless. But with you, a blessing to which he bore witness, he was a willing martyr.

“I think the job’s catching up to me, you know. It’s getting hard to keep my head in the game. Keeping focussed is so fuckin’ hard, y’know? “Johnny gets on my nerves more often, and Price is doing my damn head in. Always on my ass about how I don’t care anymore, no passion and such. Even Gaz pisses me off, and he doesn’t fuckin’ speak half the time,” he recounted, a rueful laugh echoing in his chest.

“I dunno, love. I’m… I’m over it. I don’t care for it anymore. Just… just you. I only care for you.”

He sighed, looking around with dull eyes. The night was quiet, uninterrupted by noise he cared to listen to. He only focussed on you, visualising your reaction to receiving his words.

“I was thinking of retiring,” he added, scoffing another laugh.

“Guess that doesn’t matter anymore.”

He was quiet, carefully tracing his bare fingers over the metal of your dog tags. The ridges of the lettering pressed smoothly into the pad of his thumb, tracing your name as if following the dips of your skin he had memorised so well. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine your heartbeat under his thumb spelling your name. The thumb did have it’s own heartbeat, after all. Longing belongs in the body as much as it does the mind.

His breath hitched, the struggle of impending, troubled sleep wracking his chest. A thick swallow followed, tasting the air that was filled with chill, filled with the metallic smell of blood he had never managed to clear from his senses.

“I just want to see you again, darlin’. I’ve been waiting for a damn long time. And to think you’ve been lookin’ over me, making sure I get home even when I do dumb shit like running into enemy fire. “I appreciate it, love, but let me come home. I don’t wanna go anymore, I wanna stay with you. I’m sick of being haunted by your death, all while living for the both of us. It’s bullshit, and you know it.”

His body spasmed, trying to keep itself away despite his quick loss of feeling, his mind’s fuzziness growing. He looked down, holding his dog tags with yours firmly, bringing them to his chest. His stuttering heart beat reverberated through the metal, a last beg for aid.

“I’ve pushed my luck enough, love. I’ll get to see you soon, I promise. I’ll find you,

“I always find you.”

Warmth had spread over him, yet he felt colder than he ever had. He didn’t even have the strength to look down as the last of his blood drained from him, the wounds littering his stomach aching.

He heard the distant chatter of his radio across the alleyway, but readily ignored it. He was done, his path to you lighting up for him to follow. He stepped away from his body without hesitation. ----------------------

What?

Beep. Beep. Beep.

What? What’s- Where are you?

Beep. Beep. Beep.

No, no, no. No. No.

He refused. He adamantly refused to feel his body. He tried to ignore how the soft pinch of the heart monitor clip bit into his finger, he tried to ignore the weight of blankets holding his legs in place. He tried to ignore the distant chattering of birds outside the window.

He tried to ignore the world. He tried to ignore life, the idea that he was still stuck on the godforesaken planet that had caused him so much agony.

He kept his eyes closed, wishing this was a stupid game his mind was playing on him. It had to be; he had accepted he was on his way back. He was excited to be on his way back to you.

But the world was cruel.

Reluctantly, he opened his eyes, bright light assaulting his vision and instantly making his head pound. A soft groan escaped him, a breath of throbbing pain and emotional turmoil.

It was true. He was alive.

He should have been happy; not everyone gets a second chance. Or, for him, this was probably closer to his hundredth. His hundredth time being dragged back into living, reaching at the darkness, clawing towards you.

“Easy, mate,” a voice sounded beside him. He looked, being met with blue eyes that spoke volumes; concern, worry, relief, and anger.

Ghost couldn’t help but groan in frustration, looking away from Price’s gaze. He knew exactly what was coming. Another bloody lecture about his near death, another lecture that showed Ghost nobody understood a lick of what he was going through.

“You’re pretty beat up. And very lucky,” Price said sternly, putting a hand to Ghost’s shoulder and keeping him on the bed. “Minutes, mate, minutes.” Minutes from being irrevoverable. Yet, Ghost cursed those minutes.

Price looked him over, seeing the rough scowl on his face. “You’re gonna have to apologise to Soap. He was distraught, thought he was too late. He was too late, in some way. No pulse, no breath, and nearly no damn blood.” Price was growing more irritated by the second, but it fell on deaf ears. Ghost was still trying to grasp the idea that he was still here, still breathing, still living. He was staring at the ceiling, trying to collect himself and keep calm.

Price sighed beside him. “Why are you so determined to die, Simon?”

Ghost’s eyes flicked straight to Price’s a burning hatred dancing like flames in his irises. He used his name, his real name. It was a quick way to anger him.

“Fuck you, Price,” it was a growl that emanated deep in Ghost’s chest, a dangerous warning. Price didn’t take it kindly, his own anger sparking.

“No, you don’t get to take the easy way out, not again,” Price shot back, “You’re always passing it off as if you aren’t in medical getting blood pumped back into your broken body every other week. I don’t get it, Simon, I don’t. Why are you so determined to kill yourself?” “Because I’m sick of it, Price!” Ghost boomed. “I’m bloody fucking sick of sitting here, dragging myself through each day to get nowhere. Nothing I do has any meaning anymore. It all left, it all fucking left with-”

Your name caught in his throat, a searing pain as grief rose up in his chest, twisting around his neck and suffocating his heart.

Price was quiet for a long moment, looking at Ghost with an unreadable expression. “[Name]? It all left with [Name]?”

Ghost grimaced, looking away. The crash of his tormented love devestated his body, making him shudder. There was a long pause, tears coming to Ghost’s eyes in a rare display of emotion other than anger. Price was taken aback, only now realising how much Ghost hadn’t moved on from your death.

Ghost looked to Price, a world of heartache evident on his face, the weeping lifeblood of his connection with you leaving stained riverbeds down his cheeks.

“When is it my turn for peace?”

Part 1 Part 2 Part 4 (Final)

[strugglingyetvibing]

what a fuckin day this has been, huh?

there's so much to dissect with this, and the domino effect of the move is going to be INSANE

like, there's rumors that carlos didn't know this was going to happen until a few days ago?? but charles has known for a 'long time'?? how long is a 'long time'? was he told to keep quiet about it, or did he just decide to not tell carlos, or...?

there's also rumors that toto didn't know this was going to happen either?? he tried to get back to brackley before the news dropped but was apparently in the air when everything came out??

i know lewis activated his exit clause, but what was in that clause? what specifically has failed that contractually allowed lewis to leave, and why did he take the out??

and, late night marketing brain go brrr, it's kind of heartbreaking that ferrari announced the arrival of lewis but not the departure of carlos, making carlos announce his own departure. and, reading over the copy of carlos' announcement, "Following today's news" and "News about my future will be announced in due course" is VERY specific language to use. it tells me that carlos really might not have known that this was going to happen. maybe he knew it was a possibility/it was going to happen eventually, but that word choice tells me that he might have been blindsided by this as well.

i also wonder who will move where now that the mercedes seat is open and carlos is out of a seat for now. personally, i think the red bull family (max, checo, daniel, yuki, liam) will all stick together (with the exception of checo if he's moved out of there as rumored). they seem to have two very solid lineup options to choose from amongst those drivers, and it wouldn't make sense for an 'outsider' to come in to the red bull family as it stands. but other than that, it kind of feels like open season. will some drivers just lose a seat to make way for a rookie? will the prospective rookies have to wait another year/contract cycle because all the current drivers keep their seats and just shuffle around?

i don't have predictions yet (i probably should make some before things get crazier), and i stayed up too late last night and it's already late again tonight. so, i'm gonna go to bed and hope to the f1 gods that we get a bit of a breather before the next breaking news hits

stay safe out there, f1blr (and all my moots!) love you all bunches <3

[sodaliteskull]

The Starcrossed Cycle: Media Influences

Got inspired by the meta dump @byjillianmaria did (which you can find over here), and wanted to do one for the Starcrossed Cycle!

(I go into more depth about how they influenced me below the cut, because I love getting in the weeds with this shit!)

Borderlands & Sunset Overdrive - A neon, hyperpop veneer over top a dystopia caused by corporate greed, these were the main inspirations for the world that Iradurel grew up in

Saints Row & Borderlands - Violent settings with little to no regard for the sanctity of life, these were inspirations for the life that Iradurel led before being put on ice

The Addams Family - A family that stands in direct opposition to the norms of their society, they were a big inspiration for Iradurel's parentage, the Kortellako family

Panty and Stocking with Garter Belt & Saints Row - Panty from PaSwGB and the Boss from SR were big inspirations for Iradurel's character

God Eater & RWBY & Horizon - Settings where monsters with no end plague the world were something that really tickled my pickle, so I made up my own with the Opiri

Dragon Age & God Eater - If there's going to be monsters, then there are going to need to be monster hunters to fight them. May as well give them powers to do so, but watch out! Those powers have a price! These two are the biggest influences on the Opiri Slayers

RWBY - And if you have monster hunters, then you need a place to show them the ropes, and this was the series that inspired me to make a dedicated school for the Opiri Slayers

Critical Role & Dimension 20 (specifically Fantasy High) - I really enjoy the differing takes on what Gods are in these two: either outside forces that have come to the world of their choice and shape it according to their whims (CR) or endemic to the world but shaped by their followers (FH)

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem & Babylon 5 & Mass Effect & Critical Role - Eldritch horrors causing problems for mortals that they view as little more than ants, another inspo for how deities work in this setting

Babylon 5 & the Legend of Zelda - A repeating cycle of conflict perpetuated by a single malevolent force is something that really gets my motor revving, so I yoinked that for Marenkes' history

Sailor Moon & the Legend of Zelda - The reincarnation aspect from these to tie into the cyclical aspect of the above bullet point was just a natural fit. I gotta have that miracle romance!

Dragon Riders of Pern - The concept of dragon riders is sick as hell, and ones that are psychically bonded to their mounts? Fuckin' awesome, my dudes! Everything else that McCaffrey thought was necessary to add to that equation? Big Yikes! But my desire to have the draconic Eidolons does stem from this series

Assassin's Creed & Final Fantasy XIII & Tales of Symphonia - Settings where the world is older than anyone realizes, and problems from the past (caused by a group of individuals with godlike abilities) are coming to bite the present in the ass were concepts that really excited me! Bonus points to ToS for inspiring a pretty big piece of the physical world of Marenkes!

Mass Effect & Horizon - Ryla is very much in the vein of a Commander Shepard (doing a full Paragon run, naturally) and Aloy type person

Dragon Age & Mass Effect - People being able to use magic because of a natural element in the world is definitely inspired by DA's lyrium and how biotics can use their abilities thanks to eezo from ME

Horizon & Assassin's Creed - The modern world is built on the bones of a far more technologically advanced society that was completely wiped out due to hubris preventing a solution being thought up to a preventable situation, that's the kind of juiciness I wanted for my setting!

Mass Effect & Eternal Darkness & Babylon 5 - The path to victory has been paved with so many sacrificed lives, but it is only thanks to those sacrifices that success will be possible. I fucking LOVE plots like this!

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

*PATIENTLY WAITS FOR THE INDIAN LOSTBELT KING REWRITE FOR YOU*

Concepts I’ve thought about

-theme of lostbelt focusing on ‘guilt and memory’ but like this time more obvious

-something something instead of it being ‘just’ the lokapala arjuna alter is unconsciously trying to recreate his own siblings/family with them, though this means instead of kubera/nezha the ashwins would be used possible w a twin servant, or they’d be moved over to asclepius and someone else would get yama

-lb appears to be stuck in the time right b4 the kurukhestra war, cycling over and over in an effort to ‘prevent’ it despite it already in f having

-ashwatthama actively chooses to join arjuna alters side? Instead of the torture thing, as an exploration/continuation of the theme of ‘guilt,’ deciding to side with the people he hurt even if they’re now in the wrong as well out of a desperate attempt to try and right something that could never be fixed out of a nostalgia for a relationship long lost

-parallels between lakshmi bai giving up her life for her country and the youth of hastinapur giving up theirs for theirs? Idk I just feel like some line could’ve been done. Especially bc she also left a young child behind

-karna being forced to confront what ‘good intentions poor execution’ truly means as he witnesses people he knew and respected become warped beyond recognition, being forced to acknowledge his own role in enabling the conflict, once again having to come to terms with his tendency to enable and prioritize his pride and own desires over his common sense

-by which i mean I’ve considered subbing out karna alter over douman just bc it would be funny to have the more og text canon warhawk karna see some fucked up arjuna and be like ‘hey you should keep doing that :)’ while his lancer version is in the bg like ‘bruh’

- focus on the repetitive nature of the cycles, how and why they were reset, what that meant for arjuna alter’s psyche. Really hammer in the increasing isolation and disconnect, and the growing agitation as the inherent nature of humans prevented a world with no conflict no matter what he did or how hard he tried. Talk about what happened to his family and the other gods, and the thousands of years ago. Do a this chair monologue idk something

-parallels between arjuna alter and Asha as people who’s families were torn apart, who struggle to conceptualize their grief as they can’t even remember it. Let them talk at some point.

-look if rama comes into the lostbelt asking about his wife you can at least superimpose her sprite in the sky at the end after arjuna alter dies and have her be like ‘cool I’m not mixed w 400 other gods now. Sorry I can’t hang love you bby xoxo’ like cmon

- I want to see arjuna alter get MAD. Make him cry and scream about how unfair it all is it’s bullshit that it was karna. I want him to rail again the unfairness of having to kill your kin, of how no matter how much you destroy it will never create peace, of how the world he was in was destined to head to a bloody war, just SOMETHING

-let us run koyanskya over w the shadowborder. For fun

-if we have to endure kiara’s 400 hour buddhism monologue then can’t rama explain some like, basic aspects of Hindu theology to us. Why hasn’t that happened yet. Huh?

- you know how the boss fights from Greece-> onwards have their name in that countries’s script? Yeah something in like Sanskrit for here pls

-let us have an actual dialogue w arjuna alter

-let us actually see douman and arjuna alter interact.

-idk fuckin uhhh if Krishna was the guy who allegedly junao was able to absorb everyone through can we like. See what his deal is? In a flashback? Please?

-mention gilgamesh flies his vimana wrong for me. personally

-have a third party who knew arjuna who isn’t karna/ashwa/biased there to talk about what he was like. Idk Bhisma drona someone just let us see more facets of him so we can understand how he got to this state

-hammer in the memory issues. Hammer in the fact arjuna alter’s body is breaking down around him, held together only by force of will. Hammer in the fact he is willing to die to try and save everyone. Really get that beaten in there.

-for me personally given that hindusim features reincarnation heavily it would be nice to at least acknowledge most of the people deleted are probably reentering the samsara (only enlightened people exit the cycle which a flawed being can’t be). He hasn’t necessarily abandoned these people even if he’s treating them wrong.

[level1cleric]

What book have you read or game have you played that stayed with you longer than you thought it would?

alright so there's like two kinds of answers to this

there's the really good stuff that sticks with you, like okami. i did not think i would still love okami like i do after almost two decades! i played that shit on ps2 back in '06! dog game good. dog game weirdly long but dog game good

but then there's the real shit, the shit you keep thinking about years later when no one else is. many people love okami. who loves battleborn?

fuckin... Battleborn. A first-person shooter MOBA experience that was unfortunately followed 3 weeks later by one of the biggest games of the year, and direct competitor, Overwatch. Between the similar hero-oriented gameplay and the $40 price tag, Battleborn could not favorably compare in the eyes of the masses. Within a year, the player base had gone from 12,000 to 1,000, to only a few hundred. Not even a move to free-to-play did much to help it. After a move from Gearbox to put it in 'maintenance mode' 16 months after release, Battleborn would see its last online play in January 31, 2021 as the servers were shut down.

But. The legacy of Battleborn can be felt elsewhere, in what was Gearbox's long-awaited and somewhat disappointing release, Borderlands 3. Game development cycles are tricky things, so its not the easiest thing to pinpoint when Battleborn was being developed, but with Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel being released in October 2014, one could estimate that more hands were being put on Battleborn after that was finished. So, with (an estimated) two years of dedicated development, we see our final product get demolished the same year it comes out. Disheartening. Well, Gearbox has other things it can work on, right? You've got a big IP in your back pocket, it just needs a good 3rd mainline installment!

Borderlands 3 would be released 7 years after its mainline predecessor BL2, which for reference was 3 years after BL1 (so thats BL1 - 2009, BL2 - 2012, BL:TPS - 2014, and BL3 - 2019). This game has had a doozy of a cook time, so surely our final dish is superb, right? Well... its a bit mixed, yeah? The writing of the game doesn't really hit the same highs as BL2, gameplay has new mechanics sliding and more action skills, but less overall polish on the details. It's not bad, it just doesn't live up to the 7 year wait. Maybe it never could.

Wait, what does this have to do with Battleborn? Well, what if, and hear me out, what if BL3 came out 2 years earlier? If Battleborn was not given out theoretical 2 years of dedicated dev time, it could have meant that BL3 would have had an earlier release, in which its writing was a little more topical, for an audience that would be possibly more receptive to how the story was told (ehh, maybe not). But more importantly, a 2 year earlier release would have meant it would release within one week of Destiny 2, a game in the looter-shooter genre that was inspired by BL2. From there, its a huge toss up for how the two would have interacted with their player bases and retained regular players, but damn do i think about it

[thatonesongyouretryingtoremember]

SONG SONG SONG SONG

tell me what you mean by angela is jane ives pleaseee

EHEHHEHEHEHE MY BAYBEE ANGELA IVES

BASICALLY this revolves around

When El was trying to become Jane, she used Angela as her inspiration.

The real Jane Ives (or at least the girl Terry thought was hers who she flashed back to- I believe that this IS Jane bc how else did Terry find her and because El's birth memory does not match Terry's) is blonde and wore normie clothes. While it is possible she was moved to the Gown Facility, likely, in fact, based on a convo in NINA, her hair color would not change all the way to dark brown in the consecutive four years necessary to become Killer Ellie, aka the El we see at the very END of NINA who was the HNL Murderer. Since Jane is not Killer Ellie, she can't be El since El's initial flashback is of Killer Ellie pre-NINA

As a blonde (via flashback), Jane Ives is likely El's "opposite" like when Will's eyes changed to symbolize his new personality, or the Blonde Mother pattern, and any number of inter-timeline hair/eyes clues of that nature. Angela fits the bill as an opposite since she is popular and a bully.

Angela likely developed her bullying patterns because of trauma, and I realized that it lines up with the lab, ie: wanting to be the teacher's favorite, so much so that she is paralleled to 002

As @/henrysglock so kindly pointed out to me, Angela's outfit is the inverse of El's. She wears a ring on the opposite finger, a watch not a hairband, same hairstyle as El but with a high pony, etc.

Angela is weirdly obsessed with Hopper. The writers chose for El's school project to be about Hopper, and for Angela to pick on her for this project not once but twice, AND for Angela to bring up Hopper again at the Rink-O-Mania. She then targets El's lack of this supportive father- and I believe this is because whoever adopted Angela isn't like him, or because they are and she feels insecure in maintaining her situation thereof. Either way, growing up with a Brenner and losing Kali make her fixate on someone like Hopper, who El specifically says protected her, a fact Angela points out at the rink.

Angela and Troy, are like, the only bullies who don't get backstory. HOWEVER, Troy got a scene with his mother in ST1, which is already more exposition than Angela, plus if he's actually on the basketball team, then he might get screentime next szn. If Angela is accrual the outlier here, what was the reason? /rhetorical

The fuckin angst potential. I'm biased as fuck and I admit it. Not only that but the narrative potential. The whole point of timeline theory within a show who's meta is about the cycle of abuse and bigotry? The whole Multi Henry thing is meant to show how variables can affect outcome- ie: some Henrys become Vecna. SOME older brothers become like their fathers and others don't. This carries over to SOME Ellies kill more than others (including our lovely leading lady, whose arc about accepting her supposed monstrosity as a part of a whole is looking suspiciously complete) and SOME Ellies become Angelas.

ANGEL. HER NAME HAS FUCKIN ANGEL IN IT. As we know, as "Angel" is the person whom the memory of brings a Curse victim back to reality via the victim's will to live. Victor's Angels are his family members, and Max's are- get this, Lucas and El and her wider friend group. Not only this, but Max sang Madonna's "Angel" in El's bedroom in ST3. I'm not sure what the implication quite is here, if it's more than "She's an alternate timeline version of a girl who is somebody's angel", but I think it had to mean SOMETHING.

I THINK that's all for right now. I'm still kinda obsessed though

ALSO WELCOME BACCK