#just some random thoughts idk

[voidedjuice]

I feel like advicing arknights newbies to max out all their 3* before even looking at their shiny higher rarity operators is kind of counterproductive tbh.

Like, imagine getting into a new game and all the community is telling you "ok so to get started you want to first do this hellgrind to max out these boring, weak characters with 1 perfectly generic atk up skill. Also in order to actually play the game with them, just watch this one guy's youtube videos and do exactly as he says :)." Like would you want to keep with that game or would you just go do something else that lets you do the fun stuff with the big flashy guys first? Idk

Like, relying 1:1 on a guide isn't exactly riveting gameplay, and also while they are perfectly usable, the 3* Are undeniably way weaker than the higher rarity units, which is especially a problem to a new player who doesn't really have a hang on the game yet. Telling a newbie who got like, Exusiai from their starter gacha to first level up Catapult Lava Adnachiel Kroos Steward Popukar etc. before her & then literally just watch youtube tutorials until like ch6 is just..

Like building 6* IS more expensive, but when you think of the way characters like Siege, Exusiai etc can absolutely roll over pretty much everything earlygame, letting the new players with no idea about anything actually clear stages on their own and get to come to properly understand and like the gameplay, I'd say having 1 well built strong high rarity unit can be worth a thousand e1max Stewards.

Like I wouldn't tell new players to disregard the 3* by any means but to maybe like, also level 1 or 2 core strong units they've probably gotten from the free beginner 5* tickets or the starter gacha. Like, pick some strong units they like (like for example the aforementioned Exu or Siege, or maybe like Blaze or even a good 5* with like Lappland or Specter) to level up at the start.

[heartorbit]

happy halloween! 🎃🐈‍⬛👻🐇

[smilesrobotlover]

Heh

[meamiiikiii]

happy siffrin day / loop plush drop day / loop day!!! :D

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

I feel so dumb for never having realized this before but I was thinking about the bookend in AGoT between the Others, the dragons, and two heroes: Waymar Royce and Daenerys Targaryen.

While squaring off against the Others, Waymar Royce asks for a dance.

Ser Waymar met him bravely. “Dance with me then.” He lifted his sword high over his head, defiant. His hands trembled from the weight of it, or perhaps from the cold. Yet in that moment, Will thought, he was a boy no longer, but a man of the Night’s Watch.

It’s notable that this scene is eerily silent save for the bits of dialogue. And when Waymar’s dance finally begins, there’s a notable lack of music.

The pale sword came shivering through the air. Ser Waymar met it with steel. When the blades met, there was no ring of metal on metal; only a high, thin sound at the edge of hearing, like an animal screaming in pain. Royce checked a second blow, and a third, then fell back a step. Another flurry of blows, and he fell back again.

I’ve always asserted that Ser Waymar is a failed last hero if we judge his success based off Old Nan’s blueprint.

So as cold and death filled the earth, the last hero determined to seek out the children, in the hopes that their ancient magics could win back what the armies of men had lost. He set out into the dead lands with a sword, a horse, a dog, and a dozen companions. For years he searched, until he despaired of ever finding the children of the forest in their secret cities. One by one his friends died, and his horse, and finally even his dog, and his sword froze so hard the blade snapped when he tried to use it. And the Others smelled the hot blood in him, and came silent on his trail, stalking him with packs of pale white spiders big as hounds—”

Both Ser Waymar and the last hero lost their companions and both had their swords shatter to the cold. Yet Waymar failed to complete one important step: find the children of the forest. The children are also known as “the singers”. So it’s notable that Ser Waymar attempts to dance without any music(ians) to accompany him. And because he does so, his dance ends in failure.

But then we have Daenerys Targaryen in the Dothraki Sea.

As Daenerys Targaryen rose to her feet, her black hissed, pale smoke venting from its mouth and nostrils. The other two pulled away from her breasts and added their voices to the call, translucent wings unfolding and stirring the air, and for the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons.

Dany performs a miracle in bringing dragons to life, the first person to do so in centuries. And these dragons sing a song that proclaims her, an exiled young princess and a widow, Azor Ahai reborn - the champion of fire, and warrior of light.

This bookend between the first and last chapters is so poignant. It’s not just that fire has returned to combat Ice. It’s that Dany brought back the music necessary to complete this dance. We start the book with a failed hero and end it with the rise of a true one; also interesting that Waymar’s end comes while he’s down on his knees whereas Dany rises to her feet reborn.

This makes Dany’s identity as the promised prince(ss) all the more impressive.

“He has a song,” the man replied. “He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.” He looked up when he said it and his eyes met Dany’s, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door.

Waymar failed because he didn’t have a song to accompany him. Yet Dany has a song to dance to. A song of fire.

I think this raises some interesting questions regarding the nature of this great conflict. There not only has to be a song to dance to, but it seems that there is a key distinction between the singer and the dancer. Rhaegar Targaryen failed to fulfill the prophecy because he was the singer and not the dancer. His role was to provide the hero’s musical accompaniment. In a way, it’s almost like he as the bard is the herald. And the herald is rarely, if ever, the main character. So notice how Rhaegar heralds the hero, the king, while looking at Dany.

But! - there’s different kinds of songs. Dany has one, made by her dragons. But it’s not be the only one. The children of the forest are heavily associated with the last hero and while Waymar Royce is dead, there lives another: Bran Stark.

Bran found the children, the singers, and is a step closer to completing the last hero’s journey.

Now Bran is an interesting case.

“Go,” Bran whispered to his own horse. He touched her neck lightly, and the small chestnut filly started forward. Bran had named her Dancer. She was two years old, and Joseth said she was smarter than any horse had a right to be.

He has a dancing horse but at some point has to leave her behind. So does that mean that he has to learn to do the dancing in his own way?

And I find it interesting that Bran has a female dancer horse because this creates a neat parallel with Dany, a dancer who may also be the stallion that mounts the world; if it’s not her, then it has to be her mount, Drogon. This is important if we consider that the last hero, Azor Ahai/the promised prince, the Stallion That Mounts the World, etc. are all different yet complimentary manifestations of one heroic legend.

But the issue of songs doesn’t end there because there still exists one Jon Snow, another version of the last hero and promised prince. Jon isn’t a bard but he has been positioned as being adjacent to dancers. I won’t harp on about Jon’s parallels with Waymar Royce because they’ve been done to death. But it seems that Jon, like Bran and Dany, will succeed where Ser Waymar failed.

Because not only does Jon have music to herald him:

That night he dreamt of wildlings howling from the woods, advancing to the moan of warhorns and the roll of drums. Boom DOOM boom DOOM boom DOOM came the sound, a thousand hearts with a single beat.

But he is also positioned as a last man standing among many dead heroes:

“Stand fast,” Jon Snow called. “Throw them back.” He stood atop the Wall, alone. “Flame,” he cried, “feed them flame,” but there was no one to pay heed. They are all gone. They have abandoned me.

And he has a sword that will not shatter against the cold:

“Snow,” an eagle cried, as foemen scuttled up the ice like spiders. Jon was armored in black ice, but his blade burned red in his fist.

It’s noteworthy that Jon is the son of a singer, Rhaegar Targaryen. The very singer who sang the song of ice and fire; and notice how Jon is clad in both. Plus he has been mentored by another, Mance Rayder, whom he eventually succeeds.

At a quick glance, it’s very interesting to me that Jon is constantly listening to songs beyond the Wall. There’s the song of the blue winter rose (which in a way heralds his own birth), the song of Joramun and the Horn of Winter, and many others.

It’s also noteworthy just how often giants are mentioned as the subject of songs in Jon’s POV chapters. I bring this up because of the Last of the Giants:

Ooooooh, I am the last of the giants, my people are gone from the earth. The last of the great mountain giants, who ruled all the world at my birth.

I think there is a parallel here between the dragons, the giants, and the children of the forest. These are all dying species, yet they linger on for the song of ice and fire still needs to be brought to completion.

And let’s consider where our heroes fit in all this. Dany commands the dragons, Bran learns from the children, while Jon begins to befriend the giants. All these creatures make musical accompaniments for our heroes to dance to.

Lastly, I’m inclined to think of the Stark girls though I’m not entirely sure where they would fit in all of this. Arya, at some point, trains to be a dancer:

On the way back to his chambers, he came upon his daughter Arya on the winding steps of the Tower of the Hand, windmilling her arms as she struggled to balance on one leg. The rough stone had scuffed her bare feet. Ned stopped and looked at her. “Arya, what are you doing?” “Syrio says a water dancer can stand on one toe for hours.” Her hands flailed at the air to steady herself. Ned had to smile. “Which toe?” he teased. “Any toe,” Arya said, exasperated with the question. She hopped from her right leg to her left, swaying dangerously before she regained her balance. “Must you do your standing here?” he asked. “It’s a long hard fall down these steps.” “Syrio says a water dancer never falls.” She lowered her leg to stand on two feet. “Father, will Bran come and live with us now?”

Now Arya is no singer, but her wolf is.

In another place, his little sister lifted her head to sing to the moon, and a hundred small grey cousins broke off their hunt to sing with her.

On the other hand, Sansa is no dancer but she is known for her ability to sing. And boy does she sing beautifully.

Her throat was dry and tight with fear, and every song she had ever known had fled from her mind. Please don't kill me, she wanted to scream, please don't. She could feel him twisting the point, pushing it into her throat, and she almost closed her eyes again, but then she remembered. It was not the song of Florian and Jonquil, but it was a song. Her voice sounded small and thin and tremulous in her ears. Gentle Mother, font of mercy, Save our sons from war, we pray,

In fact, a lot of Sansa’s songs are prayers for those who dance to the music of swords. Her songs are soothing, calming. And see this during Stannis’ assault on Kings Landing when she is able to calm Sandor and the noble women through the power of song. Hers is not a song to dance to, it’s a different kind though I’m not entirely sure what it entails. I do want to say, though, that Sansa is often paralleled with creates that take flight; various birds and bats. So she is a singer, much like the dragons.

I may have neglected other characters here, but I just thought it was intriguing that our main heroes (Jon, Bran, Dany, maybe Arya) are all positioned as dancers for the song of ice and fire.

[peppermintquartz]

"So what's it like, kissing Buck?"

Tommy misses the shot and Eddie catches the rebound. Tossing a shit-eating grin Tommy's way, Eddie races down the court, passing to Lee who's open, and his shot makes the basket.

Tommy shakes his head at Eddie. "That was low."

"Sorry," Eddie says, but he's very clearly not sorry at all.

Tommy's side loses by four points. As usual, winners buy a round of drinks for everyone - non-alcoholic for most of them, since they have to drive - and Eddie drops an ice-cold can of Dr Pepper into Tommy's waiting hands.

"For real, what's it like dating Buck?" Eddie asks quietly, while the other guys joke about something from their own stations.

Tommy can't help his smile. The mere thought of Evan makes his heart warm. "It's nice. It's different from my previous boyfriends. He just... He knows, somehow, what I mean when I say things. I can be an asshole and he's never taken my words the wrong way. So far, at least."

Eddie nudges him with an elbow. "Come on. It can't be all good. We know he can be a reckless idiot."

Tommy's smile fades slightly around the edges, and his tone becomes a little less friendly. "Evan's not an idiot. He's a little impulsive, maybe, but he's smart."

"Hey, didn't mean to imply he wasn't. But I've seen Buck make some truly stupid decisions before, and hell, half the time I was making those same decisions myself."

"Obviously I don't know him from before," says Tommy slowly, measuring out his words. "I've heard from Howie some stuff about the risks Evan took. About that lawsuit also. But thing is, that was then. This is now. And Evan's grown. He still feels things with his whole heart, but he's using his head too." He sighs. "Sometimes I wonder if you still think he's the twenty-something kid you met when you first walked into the 118. But that was how many years ago, Eddie? Even Christopher is a teenager now."

Eddie has to swig from his own can. That hits a little close to home.

"I know what you and he have is special. You two have this, this bond that I can't hope to replace, and, yeah I'm jealous sometimes, but I know he loves you and he loves Christopher, and I can't find it in myself to resent that he has so much love to give." Tommy smiles wryly and shakes his head. "I don't know. I mean, I look at myself back when and I cringe. Maybe Evan was an idiot, but I was a coward. Just went along with the flow, even though I knew the flow was fucking garbage."

"You're a pretty decent guy now," Eddie offers.

"You wouldn't let me date Evan otherwise, don't lie."

"Heh. If you were still an asshole, I would cockblock you every single chance I had. Hell, I'd date Buck myself to keep him from you."

Tommy freezes. His eyes widen. "You... want to date Evan?"

Eddie punches Tommy in the shoulder. "No, you dumbass, I don't. I want him to be happy, to be with a person I can tolerate and who can tolerate me." He lets out a sigh. "Not many women like that Buck and I are pretty tight."

"I'm glad you can tolerate me," says Tommy dryly. He presses the cold can of Dr Pepper to the back of Eddie's neck, making him yelp. "You'll find her. Or she'll find you. I'll even keep an eye out for someone like that." His grin grows cheeky and he chugs the rest of his beverage. "Anything to make sure you never even think of dating Evan."

[sonknuxadow]

hey guys look what i found in my drafts. from a few days ago .

[erineas]

This is how the joke started

And this is the joke itself

Anomaly design belongs to @htsan

[stardustcleaningguy]

maybe i just miss mr jarchivist .. but this little bit reminded me of tmagp archivist

[puppyeared]

fake ep idea + doodles

[thecoolerliauditore]

flower husbands fans be like *types up entire character analysis essay, retelling of the whole of empires s1, writes fifty angst/longing fanfics* yeah i just like them cus they're cute

ethubs fans be like clips from a collab in 2008 where everyones mic is constantly peaking, "these fucking assholes ruined my life", visceral reaction at any mention of last life, fanart is either memes or the angstiest thing you've ever seen in your life with no inbetween

ranchers fans be like they are my sons they have every disease

treebark fans be like hi im inthelittlewood also known as martyn and today we are playing mcci with

[fabuloustrash05]

I don’t know if this is a hot take or not, but I dislike it when in modern Greek myth retellings nowadays there’s a side plot of Hera having an affair with one of Zeus’ brothers, Hades or Poseidon.

Webtoon’s Lore Olympus and Netflix’s series Kaos have both done this and I’m already tired of it.

[thosewildcharms]

Any personal headcanons on Rick and Michonne as a couple? Like their favorite things about the other, what they argue about, love languages ect. lol they’ve set up camp in my brain and I just want more of them 🙇🏻‍♀️

this is so funny because i've been thinking about their love languages ever since danai did that interview with YNB after 1x04! yvette said rick's is words of affirmation and michonne's is acts of services, and I definitely agree but I also think they display pretty much all of them, and quite a bit? rick is obviously into giving gifts and loves quality time (family fun day, begging her to spend just a few more days on the road in 7x12) and to say they both love physical touch is an understatement. this gorgeous gifset highlights it all beautifully.

anyway, some headcanons~

I really don't think they argue about much? they are very in sync most of the time. historically their big arguments are about how to handle major threats (negan, the crm, rick's PTSD) and since nothing bad is ever happening to them ever again because I said so there's no need to fight about those things anymore

michonne's favorite things about rick are how affectionate he is with his family, his strength, his accent, and his hair

rick's favorite thing about michonne is everything

i actually think they talk about books a lot. they're both nerdy as hell in different ways and love that about each other

michonne likes to cook and is very experimental while rick likes to bake (mostly secret family pie recipes) and they love feeding each other and their kids

michonne absentmindedly sings and does little dances when she's doing things around the house and rick stops whatever he's doing to lean against the wall and watch her and smile

that scene we saw in 9x01 where they cuddle up in bed and unpack their day was a ritual they started way back at the prison, even though back then it was obviously platonic (we do actually see them talking when everyone else is asleep several times throughout twd). they would linger and chat before heading to their respective cells at night. in the six years michonne spent without rick, she continued the tradition herself, talking to him out loud alone in their bedroom

rick DEFINITELY teases michonne about being oblivious to his feelings for her before The Couch

michonne hits back by teasing him about Whatever the Fuck He Was Doing With Jessie 💀

you didn't ask for grimes family headcanons but:

after they got home, michonne has a moment like that scene at the end of kill bill vol 2 and has a near silent hysterical laugh-cry of relief by herself in the bathroom before calmly walking back out to join her family. only rick notices

rick on the other hand is afraid to let any of them out of his sight. he spends the first six months he's back home being a total insomniac watching the three of them sleep because he's afraid if he closes his eyes he'll wake up alone back at the CRM

antony azor who plays rj is apparently very shy and reserved but opened up unexpectedly with andrew lincoln and so obviously this is also exactly what happened with rick and rj. father and son bonded INSTANTLY

his first night back, judith asks rick to finish reading the wizard of oz to her because he never got a chance to. it takes a good five minutes for him to compose himself but she does finally get the full story from her dad

rick and michonne do have an actual wedding ceremony, but it's just for them, judith and rj.

[meamiiikiii]

some random reverse entry au [office + reverse isekai loop] drawings :thumbsup:

[mildly interested in this silly au? here is a link to scroll through for all the stuff i've made for it! i'll make a proper master post... someday.....]

[blog-of-gourd]

what if mr sands was scary

(ID in ALT.)

[nandorsrelentless]

there seems to be far too many fans who can't seem to wrap their head around the fact that no relationship in the Vampire Chronicles is healthy. every relationship includes an element of abuse/power imbalance by normal standards. literally every single one.

they are all monsters who are no longer constrained by societal rules. so I don't think it's too crazy to expect them to do mosntorus things. the genre is Gothic HORROR. the show really prioritizes the HORROR element more so than other adaptaions, which i love.

i don't need louis to be a liar to enjoy lestat. if louis lied or misremebered things about the fight in episode 5, i literally do not care because it's never gonna make me hate louis. the baseline of what constitutes "evil" or "bad" is so different in iwtv because of the fact that they are NOT HUMAN. Claudia is literally a serial killer and she's still mother to me. ykwim?

the nature of vampirism is they have to kill to survive. so it would be really cool if people could accept louis, armand, and claudia as complex characters who are fundamentally not good people (because they aren't people!) without being racist about it. THEY ARE ALL KILLERS

im more interested in this exploration of the complexities of memory and seeing how the show integrates the other books into this story in a way that hasn't been done before than I am in discoursing about whether louis is a liar or not. who gives a shit???? grow up and realize that there are no good guys here and that's OKAY