#like. what is more appealing (hot) to a god of war?

[zukkacore]

Something about a Pygmalion take on Jaceporter is so appealing to me… in that way that Porter reveres power and domination… the tension between his desire to seek out and keep a Jace as a perfect spineless compliant lackey vs a need to remake Jace in the image of someone who is powerful and dominant and assertive. Jace that is complacent and cowardly and passive is a Jace he can use and control but never respect, and he loves what that Jace can do FOR him. But as Jace is transformed by rage, a Jace who is furious and oppositional and autonomous and actualized and powerful and is able to stand in the face of Porter and tell him he cannot stay even if it means death is a Jace he can respect and maybe even admire but no longer control. In the same way Henry Higgins cannot truly make a Lady until she has outgrown him, (“Eliza you’re magnificent. 5 minutes ago you were a millstone around my neck and now you’re a tower of strength. A consort battleship. I like you this way Eliza” “goodbye professor Higgins”). Because conflict is at the heart of war, Porter cannot truly anoint a Saint of the God of War until Jace has outgrown him.

[mask131]

Some people are very confused about why, in the myth of the Judgement of Paris, the three goddesses who fall for the Apple of Discord trick are Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. They usually understand why Aphrodite and Hera would fall for the trick of "the most beautiful" - one is the goddess of love, sexuality, romance and beauty ; the other is the queen of the goddesses. But when it comes to Athena, they tend to have a hard time seeing the goddess of wisdom, war, peace, intelligence and virginity get enroled into a "I'm more beautiful than you" petty feud.

... Except it is very much in line with her character, and yes, these three deities are in classical mythology the most vain of the goddesses.

Now, I will here use both Greek and Roman example mixed together because I do not have time to do a thorough split and explanation for everything - so rather let us take an overview of the goddesses' legends as a whole, throughout the centuries.

Aphrodite is vain, this is something that has been established regularly. She is a being of seduction and love, she is the most beautiful of the goddesses since birth and if it wasn't enough she had her husband create a magical belt for her that makes her attractive to anyone who sees her (a husband she cheated on with one of the worst gods of Greek mythology just because said husband was ugly and the other god was hot. Hated but hot.)

One version of Echo's legend has Pan's unrequired love for her caused by Aphrodite as a punishment for not giving her the "most beautiful" award (and turned the other contestant who won into a shark). Aphrodite persecuted Psyche because she was said to be more beautiful than her. Myrrha was cursed by Aphrodite to fall in love with her father because her mother claimed she was more beautiful than the goddess. And there's a lot of other tales like that - so it is well established that not only is Aphrodite the most beautiful goddess, she makes al lot of efforts to stay that way and will be VERY angry if anyone refuses her this title (sounds a bit insecure if you ask me but what do I know?)

If we go to Hera, we have again a certain case of pride and a status to be held. Hera is renowned for her beautiful eyes (the famous "cow-eyes" which no, are not an insult, but were an Ancient Greek compliment, because cow-eyes were deemed to be beautiful), and she is the queen of the gods, Zeus' eternal queen, THE first goddess among them all. That's a certain status to hold - and since she is known to have a bad temper, this comes of as a form of vanity and jealousy. The fact Herakles was named Herakles, "the glory of Hera", was precisely in an attempt to appease the goddess' wrath by appealing to her with flattery (turns out it didn't work). Remember: when Zeus had children of his own, without female help, such as Athena (or rather when it looked like he produced Athena on his own), Hera got pissed off because she saw this as a personal offense and tried to have a child of her own without Zeus just to prove him she could do it too (and the result was always disastrous, ranging from Hephaistos to FRIGGIN TYPHON).

This also ties into the whole idea of Hera persecuting Zeus' lovers and "bastards" out of jealousy. Note that she does not persecute ALL of Zeus' lovers, nor does she persecutes all of his extra-marital children... She always picks up those that Zeus seems to favor. That's how it all started with Herakles: Zeus was boasting about how he was going to shower his son with great gifts and a glorious destiny and all that, and Hera wouldn't have that. But she did not persecute Herakles' mother in any way... Just the son that Zeus clearly favoritized. And it becomes VERY obvious Hera's jealousy is not just related to a case of "cheating" in the case of Leto. Hera persecuted Leto for bearing Zeus' children and being deemed more beautiful than her by Zeus... When the myths are clear that Leto was Zeus companion (and possible wife) BEFORE Hera married Zeus. Before this whole story became another one of Zeus' cheating cases, this was a tale of Hera, unmarried to Zeus yet, simply being jealous of Leto being deemed more beautiful than her.

So this was all quite well established... But what about Athena, then, you ask?

Athena is also vain. I am sorry to announce it to you, but all the goddesses of Ancient Greeks have a flaw in myths (not in religion though, in religion all the goddesses are perfect and benevolent, but in legends and texts they are human-like with flaws and vices), and Athena's personal vice is vanity. The whole Arachne myth has sometimes been interpreted as a manifestation of Athena's personal pettiness, as in she cannot stand that someone is better than her at weaving. (It is a bit complicated since as I said before the legend of Arachne is purely Roman not Greek but I also told you I was going to mix Roman and Greek today so you have been warned). Even outside of the legend of Arachne, there is the legend of the flute - how Athena invented the first flute, but then cast it away and cursed it because when she played it, she looked ugly and people mocked her. This is probably the most famous legend about her vanity. And as I posted a long time ago - while this version of Medusa's legend was mostly lost to time because we lack the text, and it was preserved in scholia, we know that by Classical Greece the legend of Athena turning Medusa into a monster was quite popular... but it was all about Medusa being more beautiful than Athena, hence her being turned into a monster.

There's also a legend of a Meropis turned into an owl for mocking Athena's eye-color...

Anyway! Conclusion, it makes sense in the wider scope of Greco-Roman mythology to have these three goddesses be the one to fall for Eris' scheme, because they are the three most vain Olympian goddesses. Now it would have been weird if the candidates would have been, I don't know... Demeter or Hestia. These goddesses are not renowned for any vanity. But Athena? Yeah, makes sense.

EDIT: @teamrocketsfatknockers made a quite important point in a reblog and so I will add a point to my article.

I will insist that all I present to you above is from an "in-universe" point of view and a literal reading of the story. We are here talking of "humanized characterization" for the goddesses, and from a purely narrative, fictional point of view. That was my angle of attack: Why would Athena be considered "vain" in-story when we typically deem an "asexual virgin who hates romance and is more into war and high-intellects" as someone someone not much into superficiality or appearances.

But as I repeatedly said before, each myth has at least three levels of interpretation and three meaning warped in one. A religious meaning (though the one in the Judgement of Paris is... unknown to me so far), a literal meaning (as in we have a story, with characters, and this is a fiction) and a metaphorical or philosophical meaning. So I need to highlight that the myth of the Judgement of Paris can be read in a philosophical way as such. Why are these three goddesses searching for the Golden Apple aimed at the "fairest of them all"? Because all three of them embody the most attractive and seductive concepts a Greek man can ever hope for ; they are all three the ideals of Ancient Greek mindset and society. As such Paris' choice and the goddess' quarrels isn't about just satisfying the petty vanity of superficial divas anymore - it becomes a deep debate about which ideal, which dream is the most desirable for a Greek hero, and by extension for a Greek man. Hera is royalty, supremacy, political power and domination ; Athena is peace and wisdom, heroism and cleverness ; Aphrodite is romance, love, beauty and sexuality. And this all reflects within their gifts to Paris - which are in fact extension of what the goddesses themselves embody and represent.

You could sum it up as: Do you want to be a king, a hero or a lover? What would reward you most in life, a crown, a sword or a wife? What allures to you more, power, glory or romance?

Again, that's the beauty of the Greeks myths - and of all myths in the world. They depict simultaneously the gods as the pettiest more vicious selfish and flawed persons you ever met, basically warped caricatures of humanity... and as deep, profound, essential principles of human nature and human society, whose every interaction with mortals causes philosophical debates, ideological questioning and existential crisis.

[rachetmath]

Rwby x video game

Ruby: Whoo… that was tough.

Yang: I can’t believe that Grimm trapped us in those video games like that.

Weiss: Indeed, my game was difficult.

Ruby: How so?

Weiss: I was a witch. I controlled time, had many weapons, and summoned creatures. But I had to do some embarrassing poses. 

Ruby: Oh you were Bayonetta. That was cool. Mid though. What about you Yang?

Yang: I was in this arcade game where I fought a bunch of people in the streets.

Ruby: Oh. I mean you fit the description of someone vandalizing property.

Yang: You know it. What about you Blake?

Blake:  I was a ninja. But instead of fighting just other ninjas, I was fighting monsters. And I also wield multiple weapons too.

Ren: You too. I was a samurai and I was fighting demons. And I can summon creatures to help me as well. And I had multiple weapons.

Blake: One of mine was a scythe.

Ruby; Really? Man. That sucks. 

Yang: What was your game, Ruby?

Ruby: I was a devil hunter. I also had a lot of weapons. But I mainly used three and a few metal arms.

Yang: Metal arms? Holy crap.

Ruby: My bosses were insane, especially the final boss. 

Ren: What about you Nora?

Nora: I fought my father.

Ren: What?

Nora: I fought my father who was trying to take my son. I did what I could but he was too strong. I managed though and survived. However, I pushed my son away from me and he left me alone. I was happy when he came back but things only got worse. I lost my friend. And though I managed to talk some sense into my father, my grandfather killed him right in front of me.

Ren: Nora it was a game.

Nora: It was real to me!

Ruby: Okay. Oscar and Emerald, how was your gaming experience?

Emerald: I was a badass treasure hunter. 

Oscar: I was a guy who wielded a Keyblade and had to fight the darkness. I made many friends but my main ones were a duck and a dog. Mainly the dog.

Ruby: Interesting. Well, Jaune what about you? What game did you go to?

Jaune: You can’t be serious. All of you have only been to one game?

Ruby: Yeah. I was in DMC.

Yang: I was in Street Fighters.

Blake: Ninja Gaiden.

Weiss: Bayonetta.

Jaune: Which one? In fact, red, blue or purple?

Weiss: Purple.

Ren: Nioh.

Nora: God of War Ragnorock 

Emerald: Tomb Raider.

Oscar: Kingdom Hearts.

Jaune: Oh my god. For real?

Ruby: Matter of fact, you’ve been gone for a while. What game were you in?

Jaune: I was in four.

Yang: Four? Like the fourth-

Jaune: No I was in four games?

Oscar: What were they like?

Jaune: Um hell.

Ruby: O.

Jaune: I was in hell. First I was in the Resident Evil series.

Yang: Number?

Jaune: 8.

Yang: Oo did you enjoy-

Jaune: I didn’t see the appeal. Especially, if the same tall woman, is trying to kill and eat you. And they were mild compared to a fungus monster, a crazy doll, a fetus, and an insane man with magnetic powers with the temper of a nine-year-old. I don’t know how I survived half that nonsense.

Yang: Damn.

Jaune: That was light work though. Then I went to find something called the Elden Ring.

Nora: Oh. Did you score any maidens?

Jaune: I will hurt you.

Ren: I mean it couldn’t been that bad. What was your role? 

Jaune: The victim.

Weiss: Didn’t you have weapons?

Jaune: Of course, in Resident Evil I had guns. Then for Elden Ring, I had swords and magic. Too bad I was against insane bosses who were completely out of my league. And one of them was a man who fought me with his bare hands! 

Nora: Oh.

Jaune: Had my butt bent over.

Oscar: Pause.

Jaune: Then Melina. Oh god. Oh god, A dragon flame thrower.

Blake: Jaune?

Jaune: After I got done with that madness, I went further deep into hell. Where my only option was to run.

Ruby: From what?

Jaune: Killer toy monkeys. An evil little girl. Clowns. Human-legged ducks. Golden Statues. Bagged Nurses. A Stuffed Mama Bear doll. I was lucky there weren’t more. 

Ruby: Oh god. 

Jaune: All while collecting these purple gems and running from the devil while assisting a witch. Who I have to admit is very hot. 

Emerald: Who were the worst?

Jaune: The worst ones were the Joy-joy Gang.

Emerald: Who were they?

Jaune: Animatronic robots.

Oscar: How were they so bad?

Jaune: Dark Deception. They’ll let you think you had a chance. First, they can become a giant ass robot. One of them can run faster than me. And when you think you've beaten all three of them, nine more will take their place- They have an army. Unlike the others, those guys had a better chance of catching me. They were just having fun. And when they caught me… … *remembers the beatdown* I swear if it wasn’t for their boss still needing me alive I wouldn’t have survived. 

Oscar: What was the last game?

Jaune: … … 

Oscar: Jaune? Jaune what was the last game?

Jaune: *remembers the people he lost. The people he’s murdered. The monsters he’s faced. The choice that could change everything.*

Jaune: I have no regrets.

Oscar: What?

Jaune: Nothing Oscar.

Ruby: Um… Are you going to be okay?

Jaune: Yep. As long as we killed the thing?

RWBY and NERO: … …

Jaune: Don’t tell me. 

*Roars*

Jaune: Let’s see.  Nine of us are here. Giant boss. Yep, we’re in an RPG. 

Ruby: Let’s go team.

Jaune: Wait what are our roles though?

*bob*

Ruby: Sniper. Cool.

Yang: Brawler. Nice.

Blake: Ninja. Hm.

Weiss: Mage. Indeed.

Emerald: Thief. Awesome.

Oscar: Support. Ah.

Nora: Berserker. Yes.

Ren: Archer. I’m fine with this.

Jaune: *terrified* 

Nora: What’s your role Jaune?

Jaune: HEY! FIGHT ME!! FIGHT! ME!

Ruby: Tank.

[miraluking-respectfully]

How Tall are the SWTOR Boyfriends?

This was written some months ago, but the Theron Height Poll has inspired me to actually post it.

Basing my metrics around 1) the average male height in the USA where I live (5'9" or 1.75m, according to google) 2) what would be funniest or cutest when matched to their personalities and dynamics with the player character. Bear in mind: I am not operating under the assumption that being a short man is something to be ashamed of (it isn't in the real world and it isn't in Star Wars), but some of the husbands in this video game have personalities that are...enhanced by engaging in a little playful stereotyping. You'll see what I mean.

Jorgan: 5'11-6'/~1.8m, hovering somewhere in the above average range. It makes him more intimidating to the average private who makes the mistake of getting his attention, but by the same token, more charming when he warms up to the Trooper and proves himself just a big fuzzy kitty. With a big fuzzy sniper rifle

Andronikos: 5'6ish, 5'7ish (~1.7m), hard to tell because he slouches. He only really stands up straight when he's trying to be a big tough guy

Quinn: 5'7"/1.7018m. No ambiguity because his posture is perfect. Alternate Interpretation: However tall your SW is, he is exactly 6 centimeters shorter. Come Here Elbow Rest

Doc: 5'4"/1.6m. No, not because I think his womanizing personality is him "overcompensating"; in fact Doc's height is only ever an advantage in his romantic conquests. He comes on so strong that him being particularly tall might be intimidating. But nah, he's just a little birthday boy, so the hot people in his orbit let their guard down, allowing him to get in close and hit 'em with a pickup line related to his medical expertise. Being small also means he's harder to hit when helping retrieve wounded resistance fighters from the battlefield #BalmorraForever

Felix: 5'11"/~1.8m, he gets an ABOVE AVERAGE height bc he is an ABOVE AVERAGE husband can I get an AMEN

Torian: You ever met a high school freshman and been fucking shocked that children are allowed to be so enormous? The kid's like, 14 years old and shot up like two feet over the summer, and it feels illegal? That's Torian. He's 19 and he's been 6'2"/~1.87m for the past five and a half years, but he's still a little gangly and the only reason he knows how to control his extremely long limbs is he's literally a trained fighter. Alternate Interpretation: If your BH is taller than 5'10, he's 5'10 exactly

Corso: 6'/1.82m. I know I just said negative associations around short men don't exist in The Galaxy Far Far Away, but Corso seems like the kind of guy who would somehow independently develop a complex about his height, if he was short. The fact he doesn't means he must be tall

Vector: God, I really wanted to make him on the shorter side of average to pair with his mild-mannered personality and contrast the more unusual elements of his speech and his eyes, but his sleek character design makes him feel tall when I'm looking at him. He's also the only LI I've drawn beside one of my characters, and I just sort of unconsciously made him tall because my agent is kind of short, and it looked appealing. Results inconclusive; some boyfriends can grow as tall as starships while others can be as small as mites

Arcann: 5'8"/1.72m. (Thexan was 5'9")

Theron: No taller than 5'9"/1.75m. Theron seems like a pretty normal guy when you meet him, until he reveals himself to be an insane little freak (affectionate), so giving him the most Average Height Possible feels correct.

Koth: However tall Lana is, Koth is exactly 2 cm shorter.

Thanks for coming to my TEDtalk. I encourage spirited debate in the replies. Girl LI Height Opinions still percolating

[blushblushbear]

ok so i just got 3 new tattoos and like 4 more piercings YKNOW WHAT THAT MEANS more punk s/o headcanons (if ur up for it ofc <3) maybe with Volks, Anon, Logan and Haru? (i need haru so bad mans is so F'ING FINE)

hell yeah

Volks

really likes how much you like to stand out

low key jealous of your tattoos

okay medium key

high key

he's high key jealous

he wants a tattoo so bad but he's so indecisive about what to get and where to put it

you might need to peer pressure him into finally biting the bullet

peer pressure with his permission of course-- you have his okay to bully him a little

every now and then catches a glimpse of you and keeps thinking 'my s/o is so cool...' along with an internal swoon

he doesn't know the music scene that well but he's really down for you to show him

he's also down for the anti-establishment message

fight the power

you look hot

Anon

another member of the really digs that you're a rebel squad

he's a little more quiet about his riots

also a lot more digital

but still

also he's the king of helping you make sure shit heals properly

never will your colors run nor shall you be infected with him around

has loads of gloves for you too use when handling anything fresh

thinks the ink and piercings look sick as fuck

knows he could never

his germaphobic ass agreeing to bleed somewhere outside his spotless apartment???

or at all ever????

yeah no

he's gonna leave that to you

can't tell if he'd be cool to talk bands with or super annoying--- he def knows some underground shit

might turn into a battle of the more obscure bands

take from that what you will

Logan

honestly his world is not one that normally has piercings like that

having too much metal touching flesh isn't the best idea for someone in his line of work

but damn if he doesn't think it looks cool on you

it's actually a little like--- a contradicting appeal to him

you look so wild

but he knows you're so sweet

seeing those bright eyes and warm smile surrounded by metal that gleams like starlight???

yeah, it does it for him

you're so cool

and cute

and you probably think he's a square

mostly cause he calls himself things like 'a square' unironically

but he's glad you like him anyway

also def would enlist your help in figuring out a future tattoo

another member of the not sure what to get squad

also another member of the making sure your shit heals properly squad

Haru

LOVES THIS

IS LIVING FOR THIS

out of all the dudes here who think you're crazy hot for how you present yourself

he's at the top of the list

he loves a unique beauty

and a wild spirit

dead ass your whole vibe really does it for him

he doesn't know much about the punk movement but he can really get behind it

especially the anti-war/tear down of ruling powers part

but yeah, he's bad giving you side eye all the time

as in he's staring at you

and smiling

like that smirky smile where you are not even pretending to not check someone out

tells you your hot at random basically all the time

asks you to pick out his next tattoo but low key he's just looking for an excuse to have you feel his bicep and he's not even shy about that

god you're hot

[vesemirsexual]

What is even more disappointing about how game!Ciri is written is that CDPR Can give us compelling and complex “ trauma and grief can cause you to repeat the cycle of violence” arcs for characters like Syanna and Lambert but apparently completely forgot what a huge part of Ciri’s character that is

the first time I played I thought she got amnesia as well because of how much of her fiery temper was toned down, and how her trauma is hardly mentioned ( and it's not like the characters in this game trauma are completely ignored it is talked about in some quests) I wanna see what she really would have done had she seen Emhyr again

I feel like game Ciri had two distinct groups they were aiming for: people who found Geralt even more appealing because of the fatherhood angle so they had to work his actual kid in AND hot girl fan service.

The thing is, if they gave her too much personality or depth, she wouldn’t have fit into these groups well and therefore people would’ve found her annoying and/or off-putting. People already do sometimes but not to the degree that they would’ve if they even BEGAN to touch on the absolute shitstorm that is Ciris psyche after everything.

Also realistically, they made the Witcher games centre about Geralt bc he appeals to their large majority male fan base: combatant, dark mysterious tragic past, ripped, attractive, fucks hot women, is a good guy while still also getting to do badass things and beat people up. If you look in depth at Witcher fans on different platforms when they talk about him, a lot of dudes are very much “oh my god he’s literally me”. Ciri could never be the focus because she wouldn’t appeal to that same group, and we know that every time a game is released people throw the weirdest bitch fits about female characters, especially main ones.

This is also why Ciri is made an attractive character, when realistically that tiny little facial scar they’ve given her is nothing, she’s spent her developmental years on the run/being attacked/under extreme stress so I honestly can’t imagine her being a tall skinny but also hourglass woman with one or two scars, and put her in a cropped shirt (such a bad choice it’s mildly hysterical).

I think Lambert and Syanna are also a really good example of how people handle angry traumatised characters too, because Lambert gets a lot more leeway than Syanna (and I say this as a big fan of both!) Like there are literally people out there and on this webbed site who say she is pure evil, one of the evilest people in the Witcher for being a fucked up mean trauma victim who hurt a Poor Little Meow Meow (Higher vampire with decades of life experience more than her, incredibly possessive, responded to emotional manipulation by violently attacking an entire city). Like Lambert literally brags about axii’ing a guy to shoot himself in the head with his own crossbow.

Ciri got done very dirty, but I see how and why it happened. Book Ciri deserves rights but unfortunately I think Games Ciri will always be how people perceive her, and therefore portray her in fic, art and other work predominantly (praying same doesn’t happen with TWN Ciri). We’ve been robbed of such a complex, angry young woman and I mourn it 🙏

Edit: I can’t even touch on the Emhyr thing because the fact she can reconcile with him is honestly mildly fucking horrific. Like even if they’ve removed the nasty ass incest factor, that man quite literally destroyed her entire world and was willing to do so further in order to get his way. The fact she can call him father in one ending is genuinely vomit inducing and so disrespectful to Ciri as a character (also the audacity to play down that Ciri literally sees Yen as her mama WHILE playing devils advocate for War McCrime is a whole choice).

[laxibbeb]

Don’t worry, it’s truly been a week for us all. And not to flood you with asks, I just happened to have this ready at the same time as your snippet:)

I’m a fan of those Greek mythology retellings (although I haven’t finished Song of Achilles because I know how it ends and I’m scared of getting hurt). And I don’t know if you’ve ever read Gods of Jade and Shadow, but it was interesting.

Ninth House is fun, it has that mystery vibe to it while still being dark urban fantasy. Which is a genre that I don’t typically enjoy?

Also I enjoyed Too Good to be True. It was interesting trying to figure out each character’s motives throughout the book.

Have you read Priory of the Orange Tree? I loved it, but I ran into the same problem as you. I had a massive book hangover and haven’t been able to get into the second one yet 😂

I…am hesitant to tell you one of the things I’m pretentious about. I think it might give me away. I can tell you it has to do with one of my hobbies, though! For the other, I can be a bit of a snob about wine. I love a good Sauvignon Blanc. Truly immaculate. (But YES! Let’s be pretentious bitches together. That’s truly the dream. It’s also what Mor x Nesta could have been but anyway) haha maybe I’ll indulge both of us and write that someday 😊

Ooh the weaver? I see the appeal! It’s hard to pick one for ACOTAR because most of the characters are already hot. Andras, maybe? Dying for the sake of the plot? What a guy. Although I guess he’s not special in that regard, if you think about it.

I’m so sorry I just started talking😂

For non ACOTAR? I’m going to be honest I didn’t think about this either, so I’m doing the same as you. Uh, this is definitely a popular one, but that one fish from finding Nemo. Gill, I think his name is.

I can verify I am not one of the two people in the fandom who can understand that reference. Unsure if that narrows anything down for you (so I’m going to narrow it down even further and tell you I’m American)

I feel like these asks keep getting longer and longer. I don’t know what that says about us.

Anyways!

Do you have any favorite fics? They could be for any ship, honestly. I also enjoy Nessian and sometimes Feysand, and am open to other ones too.

Do you play any instruments? (I don’t think I asked this already?)

santa ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 i hope you flood me with asks, i love them

oH MY GOD i do that too, where i leave a book when i know it'll get bad 🫢 i'm scared to proceed with other books form "The Poppy War" for an example, because i have a vague idea of what will happen and i just. i just can't i've not read "Ninth House", i wanted to but not gonna lie, i'm scared i won't like it.. leigh bardugo hasn't ever done it for me before

i wanted to give something new of hers a try, though! so maybe?

"Too good to be true" is actually going on my tbr now, especially since i promised myself i'd read more thrillers (and haven't but shhh)

i HAVE read priory, (i have like, 80 pages left, but i'm GETTING TO IT so let's say i read it for a moment) it was so good! but yeah, the second one is gong to have to wait

(i would absolutely read an 800 page long, day to day account of tané's life, though)

---

OKAY, a wine snob??? that's so classy and sophisticated of you, santa (might i say - hot) i'll wait for your other pretentious thing, that's ok see! you see the mor x nesta potential for what it really is... divine and so, so sexy if you ever decide to write mor x nesta i'll owe you my firstborn, actually

---

OH MY GOD, THE ANDRAS SHADE (i wish the most important man in the acotar series had a single speaking line, not gonna lie)

okay, here's the thing - i've watched nemo one time and, stupid me i thought that was it, so i deleted all the memories i had of this movie. little did i know people would be referencing it for the rest of time i googled gill the fish from finding nemo and you know what? i GET IT. it's his slutty fin swoop

---

you know what, if you said that you recognized what i was talking about, only then would i have IMMEDIATELY known who you are

i now have 3 pieces of information that could possibly help me in figuring out your identity, and let me tell you, it doesn't narrow it down that much 🤣 so you're in the clear

---

I BRING FORTH MY FAVOURITE FANFICTION:

i cannot have a favourite fics list without mentioning @separatist-apologist, as she's the reason why i'm even in this fandom to begin with, so even though we all know this already -> take your pick and it's my favourite ever

what lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why by @foundress0fnothing THIS ONE IS SO MUCH FUN, and it has bi lucien; what more could you want

Springtide by @clarafae i've been really enjoying this one and i'm not done with it yet but it belongs here, ok i did not think i could like high lady of spring!elain but turns out i just needed a good fic

also, i've started A Blaze in the Dark by the famous @the-lonelybarricade and i can already tell you it belongs here as well

lately i've been reading a lot of azris, actually!

Just Enough Light to Cast Shadows by @jules-writes-stories (if you're reading this because ot the tag, jules please know i haven't forgotten about you, I'LL COME BACK) anyway, i love this one and i've been having so much fun reading it

i'm due a reread of Kerosene by @chunkypossum which is my absolute favourite and changed my life, actually

AND there are so many more but i need to finish replying to you before i turn 80 years old, unfortunately

---

i do not play an instrument :(( i used to really want to play the violin when i was a kid but when i asked my mom if i could attend music school she got war flashbacks and said she wouldn't put me through that (she also said i have no predispositions for doing music, which wow, thanks mom (she was right) 😋) so no instruments for baby laxi but i like to sing in my car when i'm driving 🤣

---

we're writing love letters to one another from across the sea and as the time passes they get progressively longer we just need to embrace it

it got to the point when i'm putting dividers whenever i change the topic to make it easier to read 🤣

as always, santa tell me your answers too, please!! and have a

[calisources]

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙇𝘿 𝙊𝙁 𝙄𝘾𝙀 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙁𝙄𝙍𝙀: all these quotes and sentences were taken from the world of ice and fire, a book written as in-universe history book of george r.r. martin's a song of ice and fire universe. change names, pronouns, locations as you see fit.

No man can say with certainty what the future may hold.

Perhaps, in knowing what has already transpired, we can all do our part to avoid the mistakes of our forebears, to emulate their successes.

What one of them does not know is known to another, and little remains truly unknown if one seeks far enough.

Glory may be everlasting, yet it is fleeting as well—soon forgotten in the aftermath of even the most famous of victories if they lead to greater disasters.

If instead you feed the wolf and tame him and turn his pups into your guard dogs, they will protect the flocks when the pack comes ravening.

When a wolf descends upon your flocks, all you gain by killing him is a short respite, for other wolves will come.

You may dress an ironman in silks and velvets, when you look into his eyes, the sea will still be there, cold and grey and cruel.

And all his smiles belong to her and her alone.

These colossal beasts, many times larger than the dragons of Valyria, are said to be made of living ice, with eyes of pale blue crystal and vast translucent wings.

Ice dragons supposedly breathe cold, a chill so terrible that it can freeze a man solid in half a heartbeat.

Like all tales, it takes on the attributes that make it most appealing to those who tell it.

The Westeros of Aegon’s youth was divided into seven quarrelsome kingdoms, and there was hardly a time when two or three of these kingdoms were not at war with one another.

Vermax left a clutch of eggs somewhere in the depths of Winterfell’s crypts, where the waters of the hot springs run close to the walls.

He was stone, hard and strong and unmoving. He was the wind, which rages and howls and blows this way and that.

One is hot and one is cold, yet these ancient kingdoms of sand and snow are set apart from the rest of Westeros by history, culture, and tradition.

Neither was ever truly conquered by the dragons.

The king in the North accepted Aegon Targaryen as his overlord peaceably.

Dornishmen and Northmen alike are derided as savages by the ignorant of the five 'civilized' kingdoms.

Dorne has danced with dragons before, and I would sooner sleep with scorpions.

The more he laughs and gives, the more they despise him.

Wars are bad for trade.

The man who honors all the gods honors none at all.

I desired nothing more than to become one of them.

There is always more to know, more to see, more to learn. The world is vast and wondrous and strange.

Amongst these river folk, women were regarded as the equals of men.

Lady Ellyn must surely be a sorceress, for she has made it rain inside the Rock all year.

His palace was a tent, his throne a saddle.

[crehador]

BROTHER CRAB'S SUMMER 2024 TOP THREE

i can't believe this is happening i really can't believe it but i think i'm gonna have to go with

THIRD PLACE: NIGE JOUZU NO WAKAGIMI

for much of the season, nigewaka seemed like it was easily going to be my anime of the season. it had a banging first episode and never at any point got less enjoyable to me

the animation was consistently beautiful (yeah sure with the occasional jarring bit of cgi but in all honesty it never bothered me much) and the characters are all delightful to me

i think the mix of humor and the horrors of war depicted here, understandably, might not appeal to everyone. but it really worked for me. the fact that these characters are so lively and alive, as opposed to doomed and hopeless, in these times of strife makes the stakes feel all the higher to me

so despite it taking third place on my list, this is still solidly one of the best shows of the season (of the year, even)

a few things just happened to blow me away a tad bit more

SECOND PLACE: DEAD DEAD DEMONS DEDEDEDE DESTRUCTION

honestly this is so close for me that demons and nigewaka may as well be a tie, but maybe demons gets a slight edge just for being something so fresh to me

god i loved this. it's been a hot minute since i've seen something that felt so real and human. aliens are invading, the world is ending, but girls will be girls

i guess, like nigewaka, demons also mixes some good ol' humor with The Horrors, and it really works here too. the theme of "hey there's this giant alien mothership hanging over the city but life goes on" is executed so well in the early episodes of this series, and the plottier plot comes together in such a satisfying way in the later episodes

and seriously just huge props to ano and lilas ikuta for their performances in the leading roles here, they smashed it. if i didn't know, never in my life would i have guessed they weren't voice actors with years and years of experience each

ANIME OF THE SEASON: TSUE TO TSURUGI NO WISTORIA

first things first, i would not say this is objectively the best show of the season

but holy shit this is the most fun i've had all year

i'm probably more surprised than anyone that wistoria is ending up as my anime of the season, because even after a whole season, the story is just so... it's basically nothing (stay with me)

there are so many things you could call the plot of wistoria. typical, tropey, contrived, textbook, tired, etc etc etc. anyone who finds the plot boring isn't wrong. it's a fantasy magic school series like any other fantasy magic school series, with so many tropes that you'll recognize if you've watched basically any amount of fantasy at all

but for some reason i didn't dislike it. maybe wistoria doesn't do anything new, but it hits on all these familiar plot beats in such fun and entertaining ways

at some point i realized what word i really wanted to use to describe it:

quintessential

sure, it wouldn't be unfair to call it contrived or derivative or what have you. but to me, this is a quintessential fantasy action/adventure series. yes it hits on all the story beats we're familiar with, from countless series before it, but it hits each beat perfectly

the characters are ridiculous, all easily recognizable archetypes, but they're so unrepentant in who they are that i find myself enjoying them too

and then there's the animation

guys this show is fucking gorgeous. like if it weren't this pretty, i doubt i would be raving this much about it. if it had been just decently animation, i'm pretty sure i would've just enjoyed it a normal amount

but the animation is so so so good that this quickly became the number one show i was hoping for a season two of (and we are getting one!)

like the production quality just did not waver. i found myself baffled that this is the series, the story, that got this level of masterful work put into it. but then i started thinking maybe that's unfair, because really, the story is not bad. fairly simple and straightforward sure, but again: quintessential fantasy

not to end on an absurdly cheesy note, but just like how it's wistoria wand and sword, i think it's the stellar animation and entertaining story/cast that makes this series work so well. without the animation being this good, the story wouldn't have been enough to stand out. but without a truly entertaining story, the animation, however pretty, would have felt pretty empty too

very eagerly awaiting season two

[arkus-rhapsode]

Video Game Hot Take of The Day: Metroid Other M would've actually been more warmly received if it had nothing to do with Metroid.

Nintendo is one of those rare companies where they've got such appealing characters and worlds for a general market, that they can take a lot of their existing franchises and expand them out into other genres to get players to try. Nervous about buying a tennis game? Well don't worry we have Mario in it. Wanna play a rhythm game? Well we got theses Bongos with that Donkey Kong plays along to. However, a lot of these are still general and broad appealing genres. What about more diverse styles of gameplay?

This is certainly more of a gamble. Sure Mario and Zelda transitioned in big 3D worlds fine. They're basically the same core mechanics but in a different dimension. Metroid Prime is still a search adventure style game but they move it into an FPS perspective and make it more about gathering info. But in terms of massive genre shift you get all the Mario RPG series, something that almost completely ditches the gameplay of Mario and becomes a completely different experience. Now Mario and Luigi and Paper Mario are generally well liked and for some the only RPGs they'll play, but then you get something like Star Fox Adventures, a game that wasn't intended to be a star fox game and has very little things sections that have original star fox gameplay. Now Adventures has its fans, people who would say they'd never try a Star Fox game due to the fact its a flight sim, but others will argue it strays too far from the series identity. So it often makes you wonder what it be like if Dinosaur Planet did come out instead. Would it still be considered a Ocarina of Time clone? Or would it be see as standing on its own merits?

And what about something like Pikmin? Some of Pikmin's earliest prototyping phases had it as a Mario game. But it was ultimately made into its own franchise with its own identity. But what if it was just other Mario game. Mario isn't some small man needing to flee this foreign world on a time limit before he dies, he's just be leading a bunch of goombas or koopas or something collecting mushrooms. Would it be as fondly remembered? Would it be consistently released across Nintendo consoles?

Now of course we can debate on the merits on what direction to take a franchise in or if we can balance releases of a franchise with two distinct types of gameplay like 2D and 3D Mario plus its various spin offs. But in the case of Metroid Other M, a lot of the hostility is often due to the story. A game that seemed to both contradict lore and ruin the mystique of a beloved character. However, the actual gameplay was done by, of all people, Team Ninja. A group known for character action games. The actual exploring and arena combat in Other M is actually pretty fine. Yes it was the Wii so there was Wii Remote shenanigans, but in terms of the actual combos and supernovas you could do, it was pretty alright. Its no DMC, but I could see it being something that would get people into DMC.

Its also important to remember at the time, Nintendo didn't really have their own unique character action game. Meanwhile, Sony was just cleaning up with stuff like God of War. Now of course Nintendo has Bayonetta and they even have a franchise they own that's also a character action game in the form of Astral Chain. But that leaves me wondering what could've been had Metroid Other M just had nothing to do with Metroid? What if it really was just some different sci-fi story about a moody girl with a chip on her shoulder as she smashes up aliens and robots? Not having at all to worry about an existing canon or timeline?

Honestly, I have no real answer. People could've still acted the story, the wii was still mostly known as a general entertainment system so maybe it would've do too well. Its would just be speculation on my part and I highly doubt at this point we'd see Other M 2. But I do at least think as an actual gaming experience, Other M isn't that bad. But it absolutely is a bad Metroid game.

[bigsoftmarshmallow]

Yeah, I don't care what anyone says: the Dorfs & Demise are all dextrophiles. Meaning that competency directly translated to attractiveness. As in, it is defined as an attraction to competency or talent. Specifically displays of such.

Like, I don't mean that they need someone to be ridiculously skilled at something or multiples things in order to find them attractive, but more so that if the individual he's interested in also happens to be skilled at things, then that's like, not even just a cherry on top. It's whipped cream, chocolate sauce, sprinkles, & a cherry on top.

Because ice cream is already a miracle of God, much like a good cup of hot chocolate is. So, adding all of that on top is like, “yes, please.” Like, it isn't necessary, but it sure as heck is the very definition of a treat. At least, in his mind, I think.

What do you think?

I fully agree! They don't want a skin deep partner. They want someone skilled at their side. A trophy bride, male or female, is not a thing they ever wanted. Someone who could keep up with his ideas, his plans, his everything, definitely attractive.

While they DO want someone skilled, the more skilled the person, the more distrustful the Dorf's can be. They have been betrayed before, and they have seen how with the more power someone has, the more ambitious someone becomes (They can see that in others, but man they cannot see it in the mirror >_<) So while they SO WANT someone talented and skilled, they also do not want someone who could definitely overthrow them.

Nemma is an exception, of course. She kicked ass and seduced the Demon King.

Of course, lets go in depth with Chat:

***********************************************************************

The idea that the Ganondorfs and Demise are dextrophiles makes a lot of sense, especially considering their own backgrounds as powerful, skilled leaders and warriors. Competency and talent would be qualities they'd highly value, not just in themselves but in their partners as well. Here's how each version of Ganondorf, as well as Demise, might be particularly attracted to certain skills:

Wind Waker Ganondorf

Strategic Thinking: Wind Waker Ganondorf is highly cunning and strategic. A partner who can think several steps ahead, who can craft clever plans and execute them flawlessly, would deeply impress him.

Leadership: This Ganondorf is a leader who commands respect. A partner who can naturally take charge and lead others would be incredibly appealing to him.

Cultural Knowledge: Given his reverence for the old ways, a deep understanding and preservation of culture, particularly of the Gerudo or other ancient Hyrulean traditions, would make his admiration soar.

Ocarina of Time Ganondorf

Combat Prowess: This Ganondorf is a fierce warrior. Someone who can hold their own in a fight, whether through physical strength or magical ability, would definitely catch his eye.

Magic: As a powerful sorcerer, he would be highly attracted to someone who shows a strong command of magic, especially if they can do so in ways that complement or rival his own abilities.

Stubbornness and Resilience: A partner who refuses to back down, who shows resilience in the face of adversity, would earn his respect and attraction.

Twilight Princess Ganondorf

Survival Skills: This Ganondorf has survived and thrived in harsh conditions. A partner who can adapt, survive, and even thrive in difficult circumstances would be someone he finds particularly intriguing.

Wisdom: While he is powerful, Twilight Princess Ganondorf also shows a certain depth and understanding of the world. A partner with wisdom, who can offer unique insights or perspectives, would be highly attractive to him.

Loyalty: A deep, unyielding loyalty, especially in the face of adversity, would resonate strongly with this Ganondorf. A partner who is loyal to their beliefs, their people, and to him would have his heart.

Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf

Tactical Mastery: As a master of war, someone who can think like a tactician, who can direct forces and outmaneuver opponents on the battlefield, would catch his interest.

Physical Strength: This Ganondorf values raw power. A partner who can match or at least come close to his own strength, someone who is formidable in physical combat, would be highly attractive.

Craftsmanship: A deep appreciation for weapons and armor, particularly if the partner is skilled in creating or enhancing them, would resonate with him.

Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf

Ritualistic Knowledge: With his connection to ancient and possibly forbidden knowledge, a partner who has a deep understanding of rituals, especially dark or ancient magic, would fascinate him.

Endurance: Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf seems to be in it for the long game. A partner who shows incredible endurance, both physically and mentally, would earn his respect and admiration.

Mysticism: Someone with a connection to ancient, mystical forces, especially if they can manipulate or control these forces, would draw him in.

Demise

Battle Skill: As a being of pure power, Demise would be attracted to someone who is an exceptional warrior, someone who can challenge him or even stand alongside him in battle.

Fearlessness: Demise respects strength, and someone who shows no fear in the face of danger, who meets challenges head-on, would earn his admiration.

Indomitable Will: A partner who shows an unbreakable will, who refuses to submit or yield, would be incredibly attractive to Demise. He would see them as a true equal, someone worthy of standing by his side.

[mvnvgedmischief]

evergreen preview. words: 837. chapter 5.

tags: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Marlene McKinnon/Dorcas Meadowes, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadowes, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Lesbian Marlene McKinnon, Butch Marlene McKinnon, femme dorcas meadowes, Butch/Femme, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Alternate Universe - no Wizarding War, No War AU, Period-Typical Homophobia, 1980s, Original Character(s), Minor Original Character(s), mechanic marlene mckinnon, Healer Dorcas Meadowes, marlene has a lesbian posse that she hangs out with, one of whom took her in when she ran away dorcas and friends have all felt pretty abandoned by her

summary: Marlene Mckinnon used to be one of the most promising witches at Hogwarts. she used to have friends, she used to have dreams, she used to have a lot of things, but none of those things were authentic. Running away seemed like the only option, so that was what she did. She built a life in muggle London, with friends who cared about her, a job that fulfilled her, and found herself. She found a way to express herself, and her butchness, without fear of whispers and hexes, and without fear of her friends finding out. Now, seven years later, everything has changed. But her world was about to shift once more, when she found a familiar, beautiful, stranger out one night with her friends.

When she arrived back at the flat, her swatch was ringing on her wrist, alerting her to the time. She would be a liar if she said she got any less neurotic in the years since she and Cassie had stopped being in school together. She still set her alarm for at least an hour before the other would arrive, for fear of not having her hair perfectly quaffed into her signature mullet, or not wearing her most appealing outfit. She wasn’t like Jordan and Nancy, who put on their evening best and emulated a straight couple as far as the people outside of the gateway could tell, with Jordan’s suit and tie and their jacket draped over Nancy’s shoulders. Not because she didn’t want to be, she couldn’t quite say that with confidence, but more because she didn’t have the resources. Mar made an honest living at the shop, and she had no complaints about it, but it wasn’t like she had the funds to waste on dating that wasn’t going anywhere. She felt it was a better use of her time to funnel cash into her tattoo fund and her savings, hopeful to get her own place someday. She thought it was a waste to spend too much on relationships that could go nowhere. Now, she was trying to convince herself that Cassie didn’t require her to go outside of the bounds of her usual dating rules, and could instead be someone that could slot into her life like nothing had changed. Too bad she wasn’t going to do that.

She stripped away the clothes she had worn at word all day, rife with motor oil and sweat, and threw them into her laundry hamper. God, she hated laundry days. Unfortunately for her, the routine she stuck to demanded her in the laundry room tomorrow morning at 6 AM, to throw in a load before she went off to the shop, regardless of how much fun she did or didn’t have with Cassie. 

Her aching joints were eased by the hot water of her shower, running down her body and reminding her that she was alive. Her shower-based introspection had a timeline, lest she think about everything she had to give up to be exactly who she was. If she thought too hard about it, shed would be reminded of it everywhere, from the way her hair took no time to wash, to the cool tile of the shower in her flat. Sometimes it was tough to feel like she had given everything up. That being said she would never change it. It was always the right choice for her. But that didn’t made it any easier. 

She stepped out of the warm shower steam, towel slung low around her hips, and grabbed her tub of hair gel. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it right. She reached into the tub, scooping up a dollop and using it to arrange her mullet to just the right effortless height. It was easier to shine up when she wasn’t so outside of her comfort zone, but god was she excited. Marlene snapped her fingers, just a bit of wandless magic at her fingertips, and started playing her radio. Siouxsie and the Banshees would make getting ready feel normal again, right? 

Carding through her clothes always proved to be an immeasurable task, with the confidence of a fawn taking its first steps. She never knew what to wear. Her mind traveled back to the last time she and Cassie were together. She had been so caught off guard by the femme just appearing in her home, she had put on the only thing she could think of. Plain blue jeans and a white t-shirt, her chest bound by a too tight jog bra.  Being butch was difficult. It was all about finding the right barber to shape her hair into exactly the right quaffed mullet (usually that barber was actually a pretty femme returning the favor for good head, but that was neither here nor there). Finding the best mens pants to minimize her shapely hips, while still showcasing just the right amount of swell of her ass to draw in the femmes who couldn’t wait to strip her into her boxer briefs, while still balancing covering up enough to prevent any man who might have something to say about the dykes in this neighborhood from noticing her. It required beating her chest into submission, whether that be through the jog bras she relied on when she was feeling particularly sore from the shop, or the swaths of ace bandage sitting below the bathroom sink. She had learned a long time ago that magical binding was a waste of time. It always came undone while she was out, or it lead to tenderness that stopped her from being able to bind again the next day. She’d rather stick to the primitive muggle methods if magic was going to cause so much pain.

[kaytheday]

The War He Brought Home

The stairwell was hot. He couldn’t help thinking it as his mouth filled with cotton. He was gasping the air through his open mouth, absolutely sure he looked stupid lying sprawled out on the stairwell like that. Surely he needed a hospital. Nobody survived this kind of injury, not without a visit to the hospital.

The blood dripped off his shirt and down to the stairs floors below him. The liquid of life ebbing out of him as he struggled to breathe. Soda never would have guessed this is how he’d die, not after Vietnam. Not after trudging through those jungles in the rain and running through a haze of bullets coming from everywhere. Certainly not after watching all those others die and wondering when he’d be next.

Then his thoughts were in that jungle halfway across the world. If Soda would have died in Vietnam, his biggest regret would have been not being able to say goodbye. He didn’t want to die without telling his brothers goodbye. He also wanted them to know that he loved them.

As of right now, he had said goodbye. It had been angry and followed by the slamming of the door but at least he’d said it.

The only regret when he dies now is that he won’t see Ponyboy grow up. The thought made his stomach twist and bile sear the back of his throat. His baby brother was so smart, in college on a scholarship doing everything that he should be. Making a life for himself outside of Tulsa. The same life that Sodapop would never get to see him live.

So this is how he would die. What would the police tell Darry? That he was killed in the stairwell of a shitty apartment complex because of a drug deal gone bad? He couldn’t bear his strong, good, oldest brother knowing that he’d been killed trying to score drugs. He didn’t want Ponyboy to know either but he especially didn’t want Darry to know. Darrel Shayne Curtis Jr. His older brother who had worked so hard to get custody after their parents were killed. Doing everything he could to provide for them and make sure that they grew up okay even though they weren’t as privileged as so many others.

The same brother that tried so hard to help him after he got back from Vietnam.

What would he think of him when he learned Soda had died? How would his brothers remember him? How would Steve? How would anyone else?

So this is what he would be reduced to? A tragic casualty of war? Killed because of the war he brought home? The one that fractured him into pieces? The same pieces that Darry had tried so hard to pick up and glue back together.

He came back from the war broken and unstable, and not completely whole. This terrible thing inside of him, the war he brought back with him was preventing him from being the version of himself that he used to be before the war. Something inside of Sodapop broke over there in Vietnam. Now he was a mottled shattered version of his former self, the sharp pieces of him jutting out at ugly angles.

There were times where he felt like himself, the person he used to be before the war, and other times he felt like a completely different guy. The one beyond repair, the one that his brothers couldn’t fix.

Now he was dying, in a dingy stairwell, alone, because of how he changed. Coppery blood made its way from his lips and down his chin. His sweat soaked skin is growing colder, as if preparing for death already. It was getting harder to breathe, a weight being pushed onto his chest with each breath. The same breath that will stop soon. Sodapop had always thought he’d die in Vietnam, not because of Vietnam.

“Soda!” For a split second he thinks he has finally died, it sounds so much like his father calling to him. Calling him to come home. Death is sounding more and more appealing, to sit in heaven with his mama and daddy and Johnny. But with all the things he’s done, it’s more likely that he’ll burn in hell with Dallas and all those boys he lost over in that damned jungle.

“Sodapop! Soda are you here? I swear to god…” That’s not his dad's voice. The voice is too worried, something his father had never been. God he misses his dad. Mama too.

He doesn’t have any more time to dwell on who the voice belonged to now because Darry is in front of him. Right in front of his face saying words he can’t understand in his sluggish half-dead state. Suddenly Soda feels so sorry he can’t stand it.

So sorry that he did this to Darry. So sorry that he can’t be himself anymore. So sorry that his older brother still has to spend his time worrying over his little brother. So sorry for everything he did in Vietnam. But most of all he is so sorry that he came back a different person.

But none of that matters to his savior of an older brother who is pressing a t-shirt to his bloody stomach. Yelling for someone to help him because he’ll be damned if his little brother dies like this.

Darry has always been a fixer, he thinks. Could never stand when something was wrong. He would jump in head first to whatever problem any of them was facing and work tirelessly till it was figured out. It’s what made him a good athlete. It’s what saved the Curtis family after their parents died. It’s also why things got so bad with Ponyboy and why he and Johnny were nearly killed at that park.

“Soda? Sodapop! Stay with me! We’re gettin’ out of here, okay little buddy?” It’s the nickname rather than the stab wound that nearly kills Soda. He hasn’t called him little buddy since before Vietnam. Glossy eyed and in pain, Soda tries to nod before dropping his head back down on the stair above him.

“Someone call an ambulance! Someone! If you can hear me!” Darry is yelling as he picks Soda up. White hot pain sears Soda's torso. A low groan is emitted as he carries him down the stairs, still panicked and yelling. Soda can hardly stand to hear Darry like that and know it’s because of him.

Darry, still strong as a bull, emerges from the apartment complex, going down nearly five flights to meet an ambulance in the parking lot. Apparently somebody had heard the yelling.

“You’re gonna be okay, ya hear me Pepsi-cola. Dammit you have to be okay.” Even in his delirious state he doesn’t miss the way his voice cracks at the end. Then Darry is giving up his brother to the EMT’s following as he climbs into the ambulance with him.

They’re hooking him up to an IV. A needle he doesn’t even feel slipping into his skin. Darry has a hand on his knee, eyes down, head bent almost in a prayer. For a split second, Soda wonders if he’s thinking of their mama.

So golden and beautiful even though he’s glad she’s dead. Glad she never had to see how bad things got between her boys. Glad she never had to see how Johnny and Dally went. But most of all, he’s glad she never had to see her baby boy like this. Glad she never had to see him fractured, snarling like a hurt dog with its leg caught in a trap, terrified with nowhere to go and broken beyond repair.

Then he’s gasping as a searing pain tears through his side. He realizes they’re pressing some sort of bandage into his torso. Darry’s head snaps up at the noise. His eyes are filled with tears, his face stricken and Soda can’t hardly stand it. He suddenly wished more than anything that he had died in that stairwell. That all his crimson blood had dripped out of him, settling down the stairs and into the floors below him, along with his life. All so Darry could stop trying. Story trying to put him together again when it’s so hopelessly impossible.

“Dar…” Soda rasps. He needs to give some sort of reassurance. To let his brother know that crying over him, worrying over him is futile. That he will always be broken. This war he brought back to the states is destroying him from the inside out. “Darry…”

“Hey, hey…” He’s murmuring, as if he’s a child. “It’s okay Soda. We’re getting you to the hospital and you’re gonna be fine.” Damn. Darry thinks that Soda’s the one needing reassurance. He has to get these words out, to let his brother know that he shouldn’t worry over him.

“Darry… I’ll be… okay.” Words are getting harder to say, his breath coming in shallow gasps, the weight sitting on his chest heavier and his head growing foggy.

“Damn right you will Soda.” Darry looks beyond panicked. “I’ll get Ponyboy as soon as we get to the hospital, we’ll all be with you…” That’s when Soda tunes out. His head lolling back onto the gurney.

The last thing he feels is his brother's hand on his. Squeezing soft reassurances even though he’s sure that Darry is terrified out of his mind. How fitting is this? Darry is trying to comfort him even though Darry is the one that’s terrified his brother is dying. But isn’t that what Darry’s done their whole lives? Pushed away the panic and fear, pushed away and all his selfish needs in order to take care of his brothers? It's all Soda can think about as a tear slides down his cheek and onto the floor of the ambulance. How Darry has only tried to help him since he got back. How Darry tried to fix him, to get rid of this war he brought home.

“Thanks Dar…” it’s all he can get out without needing to take another shaky breath. “Love you…”

Darry’s yelling as he slides into unconsciousness.

Inspired (in part) by The Trip by HappierThanMost

[questionablepastries]

Wahoo I beat armored core (just now now!) thoughts below (and spoilers of course)

I can’t believe they made me fight an upgraded balteus lmao but what balteus wasn’t ready for was an upgraded ME 😈

Good game! Visually very very pretty to look at, mentally I’m clapping a lot at the credits rn lol

And the choices the game made me do lol aaaaaghhh. I almost considered putting the game down for the day when it asked me to betray carla. Same thing with eliminating G1 Michigan, only because I thought VIII Pater was my friend (turns out he’s sick in da head!! Scary guy. Really lives up to his AC name “dual nature” whew) less messed up arquebus members the better. In the end I went with ayre all the way but not because I like ayre but because of 2 things

1) carla she did try to kill me once (she made up for it by saving my ass out of prison tho)

2) (the more important reason why I sided with Ayres idea) — who knows what the ecosystem of the planet would be like with the complete removal of coral, not to mention coral is semi sentient so it’d be like super massacre if I went with Carla (and Walters) idea of destroying it all. ALSO, the destruction of the giant space ship crashing into that coral harvesting place, like what would life be like for the rubiconians? Even worse? Nobody has their interests in minds bc as far as they’re concerned they’re always caught in the middle of some corporation war, so if I sided with Carla it’d be adding fuel to that corporation war fire :(

Like ayre says at the end though, I’m sure we can avoid a fires of ibis situation 2.0 if we work really hard together. 621 is a human that didn’t lose their mind completely after contact with coral voices and maybe it has to do with the fact that they’re a fourth generation human (since the later generations worked out the kinks of not having to hear coral anymore)

Also. During the very sad heartbreaking (for me) killing carla mission, do u know how excited I was to beat the shit out of snail lmao

After reading that his augmentations were only perfected thanks to who knows how many innocent deaths, and his mind re-education shenanigans I’ve hated his ass since DAY ONE. Even IF he’s a sassy funny guy

Ok the ps just told me the trophy for this ending is called liberator of rubricon. Whatever ending that is lol idk what ppl are calling it

God I already miss Walter why’d they make me kill him too lol

ON THAT NOTE I MISS RUSTY I THINK WALTER MAY HAVE KILLED HIM. I’m gonna stick to anime rules for this one and that’s “no body seen no death” yup rusty is still out there (<- copium)

Oh wow ok I guess NG+ just starts like that huh, that’s ok w me I’ll do a NG+ run just to see the other endings, they better not make me actually kill rusty tho that’d break my heart more than it did to take out carla and chatty : (

Also pvp is fun but I’m ok at it lol I keep losing a ton but I’ve had a couple of close matches and won like 4 matches so far

Oh right about snail tho, back in the Carla mission? I was talking mad shit while fighting him like “I ALREADY BEAT YOUR DATA IN THE ARENA YOU THINK YOURE HOT SHIT??” that sorta thing. And u know how dissapointed I was that I didn’t kill him right then and there? His ass escaped that ass beating. Don’t matter tho I terminated his ass for good when he was riding that toddler ass upgraded baby chair balteus 2.0

Idk how from soft does it but they keep making these super super climatic boss fights and super fucking awesome attack patterns that are both visually appealing and difficult to evade/survive but when you do it’s like you’re really in the fight in that moment it’s awesome :) this happened with balteus, balteus 2 purple laser moment, and the fuckinnggggg icewormmmm, malenia elden ring comes to mind (alongside demon souls king of storm)

And I can’t believe they got me with the sekiro monkey “it’s not dead! It’s getting up again!” Moment too god damn that flying boss whew, sad the game wouldn’t let me use that boss’ sweet ass wings as a part to equip :(

Rusty really warmed up to me, initially I was a hater because his ass was always setting me up with these missions that always had an extra lil spice in them meant to kill me or set me up in some way (probably arquebus’ fault) but he…. Waghhhggg………”the first to join” ok cool….ty for being so eager to reunite with me rusty…I honestly thought he was dead after the ice worm mission….and the fucking line he says “there’s only one person who can keep up with me” with 621 in on the comm to listen in on….what are we…….(we’re buddies…)

Great game. And amazing cast of characters, like maybe it’s the voice acting that really nailed it but for me to care about a bunch of people (g1 Michigan…..) that you never actually see in game and only hear is wild lol

I do not care for ayre tho. I’m sorry I’m a hater, she always said some common sense stuff like “remember to dodge” baby we been on how many missions together now please. If she was a deep voiced lady I would’ve been on my hands and knees tho, and if she had a male voice I’d be even worse lol

Cortana ass!!!! Anyways cutest ayre moment was 621 and her watching these giant nuke missles hit a massive structure and she’s like (cutely) “they’re really like fireworks” & I had to laugh and be like we gotta get u some real fireworks ayre they don’t look like this gsvdvdvd

Right and do u know how much I was pogging when the fake raven or Rather the Real Raven showed up??? Damn what was that guys situation about and their handler too? Hmmmmm (dlc potential?)

Fun ass game! Slow start but momentum wise it keeps speeding up and then the end is like WHAM did ya like it and I gotta be like YEAH. I DID. Now I have the urge to play the other endings in ng+ since my AC is geared the fuck up to handle anything I feel like. Kinda wish the pacing at the start stayed the whole way as in slow pacing the entire game with the game letting me kill more shounen protagonist types lol (although that would mean killing ppl like Rusty hmmm my sadism for wanting more murder of naive protagonist types and love for rusty is like oil and water when it comes to that idea lol)

One complaint tho just one, the ost can be somewhat lacking. It has its moments tho!! There’s like 3 tracks that really kill it, and they’re at important moments too. Iceworm, balteus 2.0/snail showdown, and Carla fight are good. The rest went over my head tho sowwy

Now that I’ve achieved credits in this game im a certified armored core fan (even tho this is my first one) and I’m glad this game is getting attention! I really hope they release more AC games bc this kicked ass, maybe they can take a break before taking that on though, because every single mission is pretty breath taking visually, and MASSIVE in terms of sheer size sometimes like damn. Lots of love!

[minetteskvareninova]

Minette watches Medici, part 18 (The Ten)

-*sigh* Do I have to? You know the drill. The writing is poor, there's too much exposition, Lorenzo is Gary Stu, the show worships the ground Medici family walks on, Riario is a villain with little nuance or charisma... Man. I am so tired of this show, you can't even imagine.

-First I'd like to note that there are a lot of things where I have to just nod along and be like "sounds legit", particularly when it comes to war tactics. I am not a military history person, what can I say. I absolutely do not understand that shit.

-Riario isn't exactly endearing himself to me. Oh, he thinks he's cute with his requests to turn over one's own dagger. Oh, he folds after one well articulated argument from his wife and possibly the sight of her not even that well showcased tits. Oh, he still acts aggressively towards her while admitting her arguments are valid because he's an insecure manbaby. Oh, instead of shanking Lorenzo en route to the country villa, he sends the assassins to said villa to massacre the whole family, because that's totally necessary. I remain unamused.

-On the other hand, I cherish every appearance from Caterina Sforza, not because she's that great of a character, but because the historical person was pretty dope and Rose Williams is insanely hot. I still hope she'll do at least something cool in the remaining episodes.

-The attack on the villa was laaame! Five minutes of cheap tension and action that makes an average Michael Bay flick look coherent. I am still baffled where the dudes that helped out Lorenzo came from and how many there actually were.

-Equally eyeroll-inducing is Bernardi, whose sole purpose seems to be acting as the bad angel on Lorenzo's shoulder. I mean, at least he has an interesting personality and the decency to be subtle in his relative villainy, but still. He steals some of the moral ambiguity from Lorenzo, and I for one think that's an unforgivable crime. I still don't know what to make of his crush on Lucrezia T, let's just wait and see where they are going with this...

-Speaking of Lucrezias - Lucrezia D came back... Only to ineffectually appeal to her husband (who apparently STILL has no idea she's been banging Lorenzo in the past?) and also inadvertently make Clarice jealous by, like, talking to Lorenzo. I am living off of scraps here, people. Doesn't help that Clarice isn't doing anything that interesting either, like yeah, her charitable activities are cool and all, but that's basically it as far as her character goes so far.

-Giulio leaves me kinda cold. I still don't get what this boy's deal is, other than him being sad and feeling like he doesn't belong. What I mean is that he's a character that has the potential to be interesting, but the show so far doesn't bother developing him. I do hope that we get more of him bonding with Carlo, though. That could be fun.

-Obligatory Leonardo da Vinci cameo! Yay! *deep sigh* Well, at least they portray him in a semi-interesting way and try to showcase his unconventional opinions. Still, this kind of cameo makes me greatly appreciate the complex characterization of Sandro Boticelli. Honestly, Sandro in general is slowly growing on me as a character, the whole "raised by the Medici" nonsense notwithstanding.

-Lorenzo's Ivan the Terrible gambit was admittedly pretty clever, even if it did reek of a man who just absolutely cannot stand that he's not getting his way, which again would be a nice character flaw if it was intentional, but it isn't, so again, fuck this godforsaken Gary Stu. I can't even properly enjoy how much he suffers in this episode, because so does the rest of his family, including my baby Clarice. For shame. And oh God not again the shit with "maintaining the republic"... *sigh* Okay, I ranted about that all the damn time in the previous Minette watches Medici instalments, let's move on.

-Bianca cameo! Yay! ...I would say if I gave a shit about Bianca, or if she did something interesting, but I don't and she doesn't, so. Her lame husband isn't anywhere to be seen, presumably because he's running around Middle Earth trying to fuck Morfydd Clarke.

-People, I really want to say something positive about this episode, but every one of my opinions that isn't outright hateful comes off kinda half-hearted. I am so, so sorry.

-The one thing I like so far was Savonarola's story, which is surprisingly nuanced and relatively well-written (even if the whole "keeping an infected man in my own apartments" thing is a bit dumb). Even if I am still a bit butthurt over the absence of Pico della Mirandolla. Again, where the fuck is humanism in this renaissance and humanism show?

[turtlemagnum]

here's some of the lore adjustments i'm going to make when i buy the star wars franchise:

recanonize hutts being able to biologically trans their gender for purposes of having kids. jabba can be trans if she wants to, ok

i think it's fucking stupid that twi'lek women are god damn gorgeous and the twi'lek men look like fucking freaks. therefore, i'm gonna be making the men look as pretty as the women. it's only fair

give the devaronian women horns. you make a species of devil lookin guys and you TAKE AWAY their HORN's??"? shame!! shame upon your houses. also i'd make the facial variation a bit more diverse so we still get the freaky lookin guys but also we should be able to make hot guys too with them i think.

in general i'd get away from that weird sexual dimorphism thing common to a lot of fantasy stuff where the males of a species are all monstrous but the women are all sexy and curvy and such. as such, either all of the people of a species are gonna be sexy and curvy like the women, or they're all gonna be monstrous like the men. them's the rules

revan would be made canonically transmasculine, though i'd wanna do it in a very low key way. it just makes sense!!!

droids can use the force, and everyone has a little bit of force in them so if you train hard enough anyone can become proficient. also, since the cool thing about the force is that it's a very soft kind of magic and is generally just whatever the story needs, i'd go Ever So Slightly Anime about it. like not full on but i'd definitely wanna stretch the physical elements of it slightly more than the movies tended to

yoda's lightsaber should be longer than average, actually. dude's little, he's gonna need the extra reach

the society of star wars is like, fairly straightforwardly a human supremacist one, right? how would that impact the beauty standards and gender identities of the other sapient guys? like what if a rodian got surgery to have a body more appealing to the human gaze? what if one of those secretary droids intentionally designed to look like a shapely woman turned out to be transmasc and got robo-top surgery? conversely, what if a transfem B1 battle droid got robo-breast implants to feel more like a woman?

anyways, speaking of rodians. i want you to imagine the face of a rodian (for those unaware, the guy we see han solo shoot at the beginning of a new hope (greedo) is a rodian). imagine what that mouth do. like, vacuum type shit. literally inhuman degrees of head game. think about it

slugthrowers!!! i'd wanna completely overhaul them, there's this one bit of lore That I Hate that is like "heh... slugthrowers are so much more reliable than blasters, which are actually unreliable as hell if you really think about it..." and it's like. No. That's Not How That Works. if blasters were less reliable than more conventional weaponry, they'd never be widely adopted. that's how weapons work. if it ain't reliable, nobody's gonna fucking use it!!! you need (and i mean NEED) the thing to go bang (or pew, in this case) every time you pull the trigger!! if it doesn't, then no military is gonna adopt it, and since civilians will very frequently go for stuff that has some degree of military pedigree, that's kind of fucking important. so, here's how i'd make blasters better than slugthrowers: more accurate, more reliable, easier to mass produce cheaply and effectively, higher ammunition capacity, and not impacted by varying gravity (at least not as much as Real Bullets, y'know). i'd also make the advantages of slugthrowers that they hard counter jedi (can't reflect metal with a lazer sword, you'd just melt it and now you have molten lead hitting your body at somewhere between mach 1 and 4!!!), and have more potentiality for stealth since you can suppress em silent if you know what you're doing. it is canon that jedi are often killed by assassins with explosives, and since slugthrowers are essentially a form of explosive, this is just an extension of that. so, that's why blasters would be more popular, because How Often Is A Normal Person Gonna Fight A Guy With A Lightsaber, so blasters are just Better in almost all situations but slugthrowers have Just Enough Of A Situational Benefit to still be around for like, at the very least people who are like, bounty hunters that specifically go after jedi or sith, y'know. And No, Jedi Cannot Just Catch The Bullets With The Force, That's Stupid.

anyways, i'd either make padme as young as anakin was when they meet (about 9) or i'd make anakin about the same age as padme when they meet (about 14). that way it's Not Quite As Weird, y'know. i'd probably spring for the latter since that'd be easier to cast good actors for

i'd decanonize the sequels since i have my own ideas for them, but i'd keep certain elements (like bb8 droids and porgs and the live slug reaction guy)

luke is ace but has romantic attraction. again, relatively low key but yeah. also mara jade is canon

i'd make jar jar hot. i'm not gonna elaborate because i wanna keep some things a suprise