#it just doesn't come up in game because Raven is not her fucking Buddy

[dustxechoes]

"I'll give you something to talk about at the water cooler with all your Arquebus pals, Buddy."

One of Ziyi's most interesting relationships I feel doesn't get enough attention is her connection with Rusty.

Like, it's obvious she'd know who he is. The only canon depiction of Ziyi we have is a group sketch that he's also in. And they were both brought up by Flatwell making him, even though she probably wouldn't call him such, basically her older brother. If nothing else, she at least would have looked up to him as an ace pilot.

But it's also clear she doesn't know he's a double agent. As far as she's aware, one day he just sold out to the Vespers without explanation. Working his way up the ranks at speed all while proudly wearing a badge of a muzzled hound on his shoulder.

A shameless, literal, corporate dog.

How heavy must that weigh on her? To see the Liberation Front's best pilot fall so far? To kill their comrades and become just another threat to Rubicon? How many conversations must the two of them had had about the injustice of it all, of the PCA keeping them penned like animals, of the corporations who will kill and loot and plunder all that they can, only for her to see him turn around and join them when Rubicon needs him most?

And another thing. If Ziyi is aware of what Arquebus does to Rubiconian prisoners...does she think he's been brainwashed? Does she alternate between bitterly cursing the name V.IV as a traitor, and convincing herself that he actually fought like hell to the end and was made this way against his will?

I kind of like to think she """knows""" he's betrayed them but the brainwashed theory is her form of cope.

And then...how does she react when he comes back? When his work as a spy is complete, as is the Elcano machine? When she's entrusted with STEEL HAZE for the RLF's ground assault on the Vascular Plant? What do they even say to each other at that point?

[tashizweig]

I posted 493 times in 2022

238 posts created (48%)

255 posts reblogged (52%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@hypokeimena

@villainanders

@czarrish

@jacksonmaine

@serenity-the-firefly

I tagged 418 of my posts in 2022

Only 15% of my posts had no tags

#tv: titans - 35 posts

#tv: yellowjackets - 25 posts

#gaming: dragon age - 17 posts

#gaming: dragon age 2 - 14 posts

#tv: 911 - 13 posts

#tv: stranger things - 11 posts

#dick grayson tag - 9 posts

#series: the raven cycle - 8 posts

#tv: umbrella academy - 6 posts

#laugh rule - 6 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#and my therapist was like eyesemoji maybe it's because this is the longest stretch you've had in six years where nothing terrible has happe

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

i'm downloading da2 onto my nice gaming laptop because @clashofkings reminded me that the DA2 tvtropes page exists and i've been reading it all day dreamy-sighing like "god this lore is so fucked up god BLESS"

16 notes - Posted February 10, 2022

#4

so my thing about dc titans jason todd is that if you know where his story is going (and i'd imagine that most people who are watching titans are at least.....vaguely familiar with where jason todd's story is going), you can literally see every single decision and failure on behalf of the people in his lives that leads him down that path.

from jason's perspective--dick lets go of his hand and lets him fall, donna and hank viciously blame him for their own resurfacing guilt, rose earns his trust and then horribly betrays it, his therapist turns on him, bruce doesn't think he's strong enough to be robin anymore

but the final straw for him being that he can't protect molly, and that he thinks bruce sees him as too weak to protect anyone? that fucks me up.

16 notes - Posted March 20, 2022

#3

i literally shrieked out loud in SHOCK when eddie looked at bobby and went, "you got a hundred plus bodies on you and I'M unfit for duty?"

19 notes - Posted March 22, 2022

#2

LETS GOOOOOOOO

41 notes - Posted March 31, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

reasons you should play scarlet hollow

SCARLET HOLLOW is a horror narrative game set in the dying north carolina coal mining town of Scarlet Hollow, where you play the cousin of tabitha scarlet (head of the mines), coming back to town after a family rift for your aunt's funeral. things are wrong in town, and as tensions simmer over working conditions in the mine, the dark secrets of the town start to boil over in the form of supernatural events. work with cryptid hunter stella, general store owner kaneeka and her witchy mother sybil, newcomer avery, hot dad librarian oscar, mysterious artist reese, and of course, your cousin tabitha to uncover the secrets of scarlet hollow--before they drag you and your friends into the depths.

WHY YOU SHOULD PLAY:

there are seven character traits to choose from (mystic, talks to animals, hot, street smart, powerful build, keen eye, and booksmart). you pick two, and they influence how you can react to situations and how people can react to you. i've done three playthroughs with different traits so far, and they have all been radically different. the second playthrough i did, i was blown away by how many things were fixable, or could be made so very much worse, or hadn't existed at all in my first playthrough.

going off of that: the choices that you make in this game actually matter. and not in a "you can have different buddies going into the final battle!" sort of way. in a life or death sort of way, in a brutal consequences for our heroes sort of way. there is at least one MAJOR decision in each chapter, which can end in multiple different ways depending on your choices, and they stick with you.

the characters have rich back stories, and you can tell that the writers planned this whole story out from start to finish before releasing chapter one. i just started a playthrough after finishing chapter four, and the events of that chapter are foreshadowed all over the place in ch1, which was released a year ago.

it's GENUINELY scary without relying on cheap jumpscares or gore tactics. so much of the horror in this game comes from the dread it invokes, and the implications for our heroes. in chapter four, i was literally hiding behind my hands for a large section of the game.

i need PEOPLE TO TALK TO ABOUT THIS GAME because i am LOSING MY MIND over how good and game-altering chapter four was, and i am gonna die. thank you please do the damn thing

246 notes - Posted December 4, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[fictionplumis]

Listen, I know Dream winning his duel with Lucifer with hope is like... A BIG DEAL and super symbolic and beautiful, HOWEVER I have something that may not be better, but would definitely be FUNNIER. 

Dream loses. He's been locked in a bubble and had his hopes dashed again and again, even though he's still fighting and still hopeful, it's harder for him to reach that and it doesn't come to mind in time for him to win against Lucifer. He's to stay as a servant in Hell and there's no Endless or divine being that can or will come to his aid. He's trapped. Again. 

Only Matthew isn't Jessamy, Matthew knows when the best way to help is a tactical retreat to gather reinforcements. So that's what he does, going immediately to Luciene like, "Hey, so, uh..." And there has to be some way they can help him! Luciene makes it clear that none of the dreaming denizens can. None of the Endless can, no deity would be of any help there against Lucifer. There are Old Laws dictating that Dream lost fair and square and no one can interfere with that. And Matthew's like, "Well what about someone who can challenge Lucifer to win him back? Someone not bound by the Old Laws?" 

"The only beings not bound by the Old Laws are humans. There's no human--" 

Except there is. There's one. One human that Dream would go off once a century to meet, and it's a long shot, but-- 

That's how Hob Gadling finds himself being approached by a talking raven asking him to trek into hell to rescue his boss. "You know, Dream of the Endless? Lord Morpheus?" 

Hob doesn't know who the hell the bird is talking about until Matthew describes him. "Oh, my Stranger!"

"...He seriously didn't even tell you his name?" 

Now, the idea of setting foot into Hell itself to do battle with Lucifer Morningstar is, y'know... Not something he wants to do. He confirms over and over if Matthew is SURE he doesn't have to die to achieve this, because he's not ready to leave yet, and Matthew is like, "Yeah, buddy, shouldn't be a problem." He's lying. He has no idea if it's a problem. (It's not.) 

Hob is like, "Yeah, but... I can't FIGHT Satan himself and expect to win, I AM still human." 

And Matthew's like, "You don't actually have to fight her, it's like a game! But uh... Pretty sure you still feel all the pain and stuff." And he explains the rules, and like, okay, feeling the painful death of whatever kills whatever you decide to be in your round SUCKS, but Hob's been through that before. It's actually a pretty intriguing game, one he thinks he might win. 

See, the way he sees it, it's a combination of the "times infinity" type of game (I love you, I love you more, I love you times two, I love you times a thousand, I love you times a million-- so on and so on) with that counting game where you either say one or two numbers, back and forth with someone, and whoever says 21 loses. Basically, there's one logical conclusion the game is going to reach. Someone is going to bust out the "times infinity" or in this case, "heat death of the universe" or some other completely life-ending thing. And like with the counting game, if you can get your opponent to say specific numbers on the way to 21, you can make sure they're forced to say it. 

There's a strategy if you think ahead enough, and he has an entire walk through Hell to plan it. 

(It SUCKS. He sees Robyn there. It breaks his heart. It's meant to, it's meant to keep him from reaching the palace, seeing his son in Hell, but they don't know Hob. They don't know the grief he's had to overcome in order for him to say, with absolute certainty, that he still wants to live even though it hurts. He reaches that citadel.)

Dream is, of course, horrified to see Hob there. Hob meanwhile is like a jilted exe all, "Yeah, yeah, we're not friends, you stood me up, but I'm still here for you because I'm the bigger person and I fucking care." 

He challenges Lucifer for Dream's helm and their safe passage out of Hell. Lucifer is... Intrigued. She just beat Dream of the Endless, and this human thinks he can beat her when humanity's collective unconsciousness couldn't? His immortality has made him cocky, clearly. So she accepts, and bargains that if Hob loses, he has to give up his immortality. 

There's a good minute where Hob pauses at that and has to really think about whether his arrogant, condescending not-friend is really worth that but yeah, yeah he is. Meanwhile Dream is off to the side. "Don't do this, Hob Gadling. It is not your responsibility to fix my missteps." Basically his version of pleading for Hob to leave and not risk this up until Lucifer is like enough out of you and shuts him up. 

They play. Lucifer starts out with the wolf again, because it's a good starting point to see what direction her opponent plans to take, to get a glimpse into Hob's mindset entering this game. Her plan is, of course, to cause pain enough that Hob will have a hard time thinking, but Hob makes that really fucking hard from the get-go and throws everyone in the room for a loop when his answer is...

"I am the over hunting of the local deer population. Ecosystem destabilizing, predator killing."

Well. Okay. Yeah, sure. Fucking fine. It's hard to kill that painfully. Lucifer manages to come up with, "I am hunting restrictions, nature preserving, ecosystem balancing." 

Hob, by that point, is like, I got this, actually. This might be fun. "I am the expansion of civilization. Forest destroying, hunting law nullifying." 

Matthew, who had been feeling pretty iffy about calling this guy in to help, is no longer questioning that choice. Dream is a little starry-eyed. 

Eventually Hob is the head of the Home Owner's Association. Lucifer is a bear, scrap hunting, person killing. Hob is family, revenge-seeking, bear euthanizing. Lucifer is Pride, argument starter, family destroying. Hob is friendship, blood covenant, thicker than womb water. Lucifer is jealousy, friendship rending, relationship ruining. Hob is personal growth, jealousy ending, apology giving. Lucifer is relapse, progress destroying, confidence killing. Hob is perseverance, step taking, progress rebuilding. On and on until finally Lucifer decides to end this the way she did with Dream and Hob leads her along until it reaches that natural conclusion, the death of all. 

Now there's some temptation there to go with the obvious, since he can't die even if the universe was destroyed. At least he doesn't think so. But he had already decided that it was an obvious choice to go for and he could think of a few clever ways Lucifer might get around that. So instead, Hob goes the far better choice and personal insult of being God, universe creator, life giver. He's very proud of himself when the demons erupt into boos and Lucifer looks about ready to rip his fucking throat out with her teeth. 

The way he sees it, there are two choices for her there, unless she really pulls something unexpected out of her ass. Option one is the whole "what's a god to an atheist" thing in which Hob would have then been a miracle, faith affirming, god-proving. Not much can destroy a miracle. 

But Lucifer, livid and prideful, goes with option two. "I am Lucifer Morningstar, God defying, His Kingdom ripped sunder!" 

And Hob has the absolute glee to grin and go, "I am Hob Gadling, clever, death defying, and triumphant over Lucifer Morningstar."

He and Dream are promptly kicked out of Hell on their asses, Dream's helm is thrown at his head with a force strong enough to break the sound barrier, and the gates are slammed shut behind them. The whole thing is so humiliating that Lucifer has to change their gender and moves to LA to open a nightclub.

[stressedsnake]

no one asked for this but i'm bored and this my blog unfortunately so here you go

ROUND I OF INCORRECT OCS

Ricky: I’ve done a lot of dumb stuff. Alvie: I witnessed the dumb stuff. Cedric: I recorded the dumb stuff. Alvie: I joined in on the dumb stuff. Draco: I TRIED TO STOP YOU FROM DOING THE DUMB STUFF!!!

Cedric: Nothing in life is free. Lizzy: Love is free! Ricky: Adventure is free. Alvie: Knowledge is free. Draco: Everything is free if you take it without paying.

Cedric: You really put aside everything and came all this way for me? How did you even get here so fast? Alvie: Several traffic violations. Lizzy: Three counts of resisting arrest. ricky: Roughly thirteen cans of energy drinks. Draco: Also, that’s not our car.

Ricky: People are always asking me if I'm a morning person or a night person. Ricky: And I'm just like, 'Buddy! I'm barely even a PERSON!'

Cedric: Physically, yes, I could fight a bird. But emotionally? Imagine the toll.

I'm about to pull people from a completely different universe brb

Shapeshifter: *transforms to look like Alex* Alex: Okay, are you like BLIND? You look nothing like me. First off, I'm way taller. Secondly, I DO NOT look so sleep deprived and lastly, if you could drag comb through that hair you're like a 7 on a good day and I've been told I'm a constant 10.

Crys: Schrödinger’s cat is overrated. If you wanna see something that’s both dead and alive you can talk to me any time of the day.

Crys: You can de-escalate any situation by simply saying, 'Are we about to kiss?' Crys: Doesn't work for getting out of speeding tickets, by the way.

Meda: NO

Silas after emmy dumps him, motioning to a Halloween display: All these ghosts! All these ghosts! I still can’t find a boo.

Crys @ Raven: My life isn’t as glamorous as my wanted poster makes it look like.

Alex/Deathwish: When someone points at your black clothes and asks whose funeral it is, having a look around the room and saying 'Haven’t decided yet' is typically a good response.

Crys, playing a VR game: You see, that’s the thing. It PROBABLY is fine. It’s PROBABLY 100% okay. There are PROBABLY no spiders in this headset. Crys: BUT- as you may be able to relate to- If you find a spider in your headset, and then have to put that headset on to play video games... Crys: YoU jUsT dOnT gEt ToO cOMfOrTaBlE.

Another universe switch because i want to

Axcel being forced to read english: : You think I really give a fuck? I can’t even read.

Milo: You wanna see how hardcore I am? Milo: *punches wall* Milo: Milo: Take me to the hospital.

Sage after she regains her powers: With great power comes great need to take a nap. Wake me up later.

Vierra, attempting to find her wife: Some of you may die, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

Milo, threatening the others with a paintball gun: Listen... Life comes at us fast. We don't know what life is gonna give us... And today, it's gonna give you... a paintball!

Shay when his ex jumps to save him: Well, well, well... if it isn’t my old friend: the dawning realization that I fucked up bad.

would you look at that, another universe jump

Jhaas: I’d like to offer you moral support, but I have questionable morals

Salem: BEHOLD, the field in which I grow my fucks! Lay thine eyes upon it, and thou shalt see that it is barren!

Aspen: Whaddya call a fish with no eye? Salem, not looking up: Myxine Circifrons Julliera: Oh honey Aspen: fsh

Julliera: Must be hard not being able to laugh Salem: I do have a sense of humor you know Julliera: I’ve never heard you laugh before Salem: I’ve never heard you say anything funny

Aspen: What if I press the brake and gas at the same time? Salem: The car takes a screenshot. Julliera: For the last time, get the fuck out.

Salem trying to get money Julliera: Um, Salem, why are you pretending I'm this guy's family? Salem: We need money! Julliera: You're scamming him? Salem: I was thinking more like flat-out stealing from him? Julliera: What?! No way! Salem: Why not? We already stole Aspen! Aspen: Hey guys Julliera: No, we didn't. Aspen can think and talk for themself, they can do whatever they want! Aspen: I wanna steal

Julliera: Jhasser, can you pass the salt? Jhass: *Throws Salem across the table*

Aspen, holding a python: Guys I impulsively bought a snake, what do I name him Julliera, on the verge of a mental breakdown: You did WHAT– Salem continuing filing his nails: William Snakepeare

Salem : Two brooooos! Julierra: Chillin' in a hot tub! Salem : Five feet apart 'cause we're not gay! Julierra: Salem : Julierra: *tearing up* Salem : Babe, c'mon... Julierra: AND HERE YOU REALLY HAD ME THINKING WE HAD SOMETHING. Salem : Babe...

Julierra: Did it hurt when you fell- Salem : From heaven? Wow, I didn’t think you were such a flirt- Julierra: No, I meant when you fell down the stairs. Salem : ... Julierra: You just laid there for 15 minutes.

Salem: We have a problem. Julierra : No, YOU have a problem. I have an idiot who keeps making them.

Julierra : My future partner must be brave, strong, intelligent, successful and organized. Salem who is all of those things: *steps on a caterpillar and proceeds to drop to their knees and sob while apologizing profusely* Julierra : That one. I want that one.

Julierra : I love you. Salem, not paying attention: What was that? Julierra : I said I’m selling you to the zOo-

Salem: Julierra is playing hard to get. Salem: Little does she know, I'm a master at playing hard to get rid of.

Julierra : Wow, Salem, you want to hold my hand before marriage? How awfully lewd of you. Salem: We literally slept together yesterday. Julierra : That's NOTHING compared to the lewdness of holding hands.

Julierra : The stars are so beautiful... Salem: They're just giant balls of gas. Julierra : You know what, if you're just going to ruin this, then- Salem: And yet none of them are as huge as my love for you. Julierra : Oh...

I-

I did so many