#loins girded

[foibles-fables]

So I've been carving my way through Act 1 of Baldur's Gate 3, and I can't help but consider how a similar romance mechanic would be absolutely perfect for Horizon 3.

Divisive concept, I'm more than well aware. But seeing the way it's already being implemented with fidelity and elegance and depth in the opening of BG3 gives me the perfect image of how it could work in Horizon 3.

To be perfectly clear, I'm talking specifically about the romances. We already know that Guerrilla is not pursuing branching narrative paths for the Horizon series, the way BG3 and Mass Effect do. However, I want to point out that the romances of BG3 don't alter the central narrative the way other choices do. They provide this lovely and emotional character depth and player engagement/agency without affecting the main story or outcomes.

Each is their own kind of side plot, for flavor and flair and to add a sense of romantic connection to the experience, should the player want to pursue that. And that in and of itself is not unprecedented in the Horizon series: the Desert Clan commander quest not only forces a choice, but that choice then affects the side quest that follows.

Imagine it! A more refined Base mechanic, in which Aloy can take a few of her buddies out with her on quests (since the point is that she's Not Alone Anymore), and begins to get closer to whichever potential LI the player wants to pursue. The Base/Camp would be a domestic/cozy reprieve for her, with her LI and her friends. You know she deserves it.

Another thing I want to be clear about: there's always the argument that Aloy isn't a blank slate character, therefore romance choice wouldn't work for her story. And sure, Tav is. However, BG3 also allows you to play as premade origin characters--basically, you can play as Shadowheart, Karlach, Wyll, etc. They maintain their backstories and personal motivations while still being able to romance another party member. (I cannot WAIT to smooch Karlach during my Shadowheart run.) The chosen romance doesn't dilute or change the Player Character's preset characterization or narrative outcomes.

I just. I cannot see how a purposeful romance choice mechanic would be anything but additive to Horizon 3. I cannot see how it would cheapen Aloy's development. Personally, I've had a huge issue with the way the writing in HFW and beyond has very much Told, not Shown. This would remedy that somewhat by adding another level of more active participation than we've seen--and would give the player a chance to engage meaningfully and personally with a small (but emotionally-impactful) part of the overarching story...rather than being told exactly how to feel about certain characters, which is a HUGE pitfall over which the series has stumbled and is still stumbling.

Bottom line: a romance mechanic like BG3's would fit the parameters of Horizon's narrative structure near-perfectly. It'd be an amazing tool to allow the player to feel involved and engaged in another layer of Aloy's story (not, I repeat, the outcomes of the main narrative). To have a hand in shaping that would be an absolute boon for emotional and personal investment in Horizon's themes of hope and connection and growth and belonging.

[pierkyn]

i'm sorry??

abandoned in the graveyard and saved by the undead????

that backstory is INSANE

[foldingfittedsheets]

Girding my loins. Clenching my butt. It’s time.

The father in law comes today.

[eleanor-bradstreet]

The impossible glow up has already begun 🫠

[fant-asm4]

[ellsieee]

Stay With Me didn't let us down! 😭 We got kisses and a confession. There is no way anyone can say it's not a BL now. 🙄 Not that there was any doubt even before that. The subtext was just too obvious.

I can't believe they went there. Super sleuths have already found that it really is just lip balm, but the implication is clearly that Wu Bi's dad found his lube. Wu Bi why did you do your dad dirty like that? Don't smear your lube on his mouth! 🤣

Wu Bi was about to confess but he chickened out. 😅 Shy Wu Bi is so cute. Wu Bi really can't live without Su Yu. He had never been that bitchy and rude to Mo Yi before, but now there's someone at home he wants to be with and has no time for Mo Yi's shit.

First almost caught by Wu Bi's dad and now Mao Chong. Su Yu's nervous shifty eyes cracked me up. We all know he and Wu Bi have been doing something something in his room.

They are so happy to see each other!😭Their smiles. Really, I can't. I love how much they love each other. I could not stop smiling watching them hug.

Oh how I squealed. THEY ARE SO FRIGGIN CUTE!!! AHHHHHHH! This might literally be my favorite moment in the entire series.

"Go cough somewhere else" lol. Poor Mo Yi. Right in front of his salad.

Su Yu's little smile is EVERYTHING. I feel like we're missing a scene before this though. It just seems a bit out of place that Wu Bi would run up to kiss Su Yu at school and for Su Yu to not be surprised or embarrassed. I'm counting on that uncut release later. Actually I felt like the editing for these two eps was a bit choppy. I'm going to guess it's because they cut a bunch of stuff because it was too gay.

I love all the subtle ways they show us they're boyfriends. Su Yu casually using Wu Bi as a leg rest, Wu Bi teasing Su Yu about him not knowing he's Wu Bi's most important person, Su Yu taking care of Wu Bi, and Wu Bi making not so subtle hints about their relationship in front of everyone. Why always in front of Doudou? Always! 😅

The normally aloof Su Yu kissed Wu Bi! Again it's Su Yu's little smile after the kiss that makes it so sweet. The spoilers were actually true! I didn't think this would happen because in the behind the scenes Jiongmin had said there was no scene where he kisses Xu Bin, but here we are! Xu Bin's dream has finally come true. 🤭

I was not expecting such an explicit confession! They tried to hide the gay a little by having Su Yu add the ocean part, but Wu Bi's qq screen name is 我想我是海 (I wish I am the sea) and so when Su Yu shouts 我爱你, 大海 (I love you sea), he is not so subtly telling Wu Bi that he loves him. Awwwww. ​​​🥹

But also, I have to drag production a bit on the terrible green screen CGI here. It looks so fake! Did they run out of money? How hard is it to film a sunset at a beach?

No. Don't you dare Mo Yi. Fuck off. If the last two eps break my heart I'm going to consider SWM as having only 22 episodes where the boys are together and happy.

The girls on weibo only went a little crazy. I didn't see SWM on the main hot search but they were trending for a little while. Hopefully it was short enough where it didn't draw too much attention. 😅

[noa748]

The chapter is DONE I just need a few hours to like... actually read it before posting lmao

11800 words.......am dead

[thejudgingtrash]

Not the silk press lady laughing herself into the presidency I know you lying

[boyswanna-be-her]

I got a whole large ny style pizza for $14 last night from a joint on this island where i'm pet sitting. FOURTEEN AMERICAN DOLLARS. This place is frozen in time or something. That would've been $25+ "back home" on my own island (lmao)

[frostbite-fable]

you know what's absolutely crazy? i think i found your fic 1-2 weeks ago and was so completely floored and amazed by it that i recommended it to my best friend and said "READ THIS AND WEEP!" (and weeping he did) and when i saw your reblogs and tags (hilarious by the way) i thought - wait wait this username sounds strangely familiar? it was such a strange coincidence because i had just read your stuff days before that - that's some X Files shit right? AND THEY HAVE A CHARACTER LIMITONASKSWHATTHEF

skdjfskdlhgkasgh hi hello one moment while I fetch a saw for the skull-opening XDD

Okay but I'm still in geeking out mode over this okay? I'm so stupid about your art and so excited you liked our fic and so completely normal and know how to communicate like a human being I swear I do

But no really, the idea of someone shoving our fic aggressively at a friend is like . . . I think the highest honor an author can get, Ima be real with you lmao. Like, ah, yes, you're using some words and stuff me and my friend mixed together to inflict things on that person you like? woa g . . .

[transdimensional-void]

jonsa inspired by “children of dune?”

thanks to the anon that messaged @esther-dot recently about parallels with the dune series, i’ve been thinking a lot about what grrm might have taken away from dune in terms of themes, reactions, plot points, and more.

i began thinking today about the end of the third book, children of dune, which rounds out what many think of as the dune trilogy. there are additional books in the series, but these are set far in the future, so children of dune can be seen as the end of the story of paul atreides which the first book began.

warning: spoilers for the entire dune series will follow, for anyone trying to avoid those!

plot summary

children of dune focuses on paul’s twin children, leto ii and ghanima atreides. when paul overthrows the imperial house corrino to become emperor himself, he marries the former emperor’s daughter, imperial princess irulan, to cement his rule. however, paul refuses to sleep with her, so at the end of his reign, his heirs are the children of his beloved concubine, the newborn twins leto and ghanima (side note: ghanima is actually the older twin).

because the twins are babies at the point when paul gives up his throne, his younger sister alia serves as regent for them. due to alia’s own tragic circumstances, she becomes an enemy to the young twins. so, the twins, who possess prescient powers similar to their father’s, plot to ensure their own safety and leto’s accession to the throne. at the age of nine, leto runs away and, while in hiding, undergoes a transformation that sees his body fuse with a mystical creature. he leaves behind his sister, ghanima, who is vulnerable to use as a pawn in others’ plots to take the throne.

eventually, leto re-emerges, having gained new skills and resolve during his time in hiding, overthrows his tyrannical aunt, and marries his sister ghanima to prevent her being used as a pawn to challenge his claim to the throne. however, the transformation leto underwent rendered him incapable of fathering children, so while he is married to ghanima, he has no intention of consummating the marriage. instead, he makes an agreement with farad’n corrino, a member of the former ruling dynasty which leto’s father had overthrown, to become ghanima’s concubine and father the future atreides line.

farad’n’s mother, a princess of house corrino, had been attempting to murder leto and ghanima to restore her own house to throne. farad’n grows disgusted with his mother’s attempts to gain the throne, leading him to join with the atreides. the agreement between leto, ghanima, and farad’n allows the atreides and corrino lines to merge their claims, thus resolving the conflict over the throne. 

the story is, of course, more complex than that. it is especially important to note that leto and ghanima are hesitant to take the throne initially because they have foreseen the great personal sacrifice it will require. leto ultimately makes a sacrifice of his own personal happiness and personhood to ascend to the throne, not because he desires power or wishes to carry on his family’s legacy but because he and ghanima have foreseen a terrible threat to humankind in the future and have a plan to use the power of the throne to guide humanity to safety.

parallels

as i considered this story, the parallels to the tv show ending of king of westeros bran/queen in the north sansa began to jump out at me.

like leto, bran goes missing at a young age and during that time undergoes mystical training and a physical transformation that involves fusing with a magical creature, the weirwood tree. he eventually re-emerges, changed forever, and takes the throne. while the tv show didn’t do much with bran’s powers, the books have strong hints that they are in some way tied to one of the greatest threats to humankind, the others. (another side note: i tend to see more parallels between leto ii’s “golden path” and the targaryens’ “prince that was promised” prophecy than what’s going on with bran, especially in terms of how leto feels that mass levels of human suffering are the price he has to pay to ensure humanity’s survival. but of course grrm isn’t going to copy another story beat for beat but instead will grab the parts that resonate with him and use them to tell the story he wants to tell.)

however, bran cannot have children of his own. the tv show claims that this makes him a better candidate for the throne (???), but of course in the books it will likely be seen as a disadvantage because of the lack of a clear succession. if king bran does end up needing to designate an heir, the most likely candidate would be a descendant of his eldest living sibling: his sister, sansa.

sansa, like ghanima, starts out under threat from a tyrannical regent (multiple ones actually: cersei, tywin, lysa, littlefinger) but becomes a ruler alongside her brother at the end of the tv show. bran and sansa of course do not marry, but they are co-rulers of the continent of westeros. and, just like ghanima, sansa is bran’s only real option for an heir from his own family (arya theoretically could marry and have children, but if she’s not even in westeros at the end of the story like in the tv show, that won’t do him a lot of good)--and if bran and sansa don’t plan carefully for sansa’s future marriage and the succession of both crowns, the next generation could see the continent break out into war again.

so, much like in the case of leto and ghanima, bran has a vested interest in ensuring sansa marries someone who won’t be a threat to either of their claims.

and, you know, just like in the case of farad’n corrino, a surviving member of the dynasty bran and sansa’s father helped to overthrow could prove to be a major threat to the stability of bran’s rule. so, say, if there happened to be a targaryen still hanging around westeros somewhere at the end of the story, wouldn’t bran have a strong interest in ensuring that that person’s descendants didn’t become a threat to his rule? (especially if said targaryen had a female relative who was a princess of the former ruling house who threatened the lives of bran and/or sansa while trying to take the throne back for her own dynasty...)

just spitballing here, but if there were a male targaryen still in westeros, and sansa’s children are going to be bran’s heirs anyway, then marrying sansa to said targaryen would actually be a smart method for smoothing the way for sansa’s child to accede to the iron throne. her children would have a claim through both their mother (as the current king’s sister) and their father (as a member of the previous dynasty).

conclusions

we don’t know for sure whether grrm was influenced by the dune series, but there are some striking parallels between the journey leto ii undergoes and bran’s own journey. it is very possible grrm wrote bran in response to the character of leto ii.

there are also some interesting parallels in the struggle for the throne which children of dune sets up and the resolution of said struggle, at least in terms of the tv series’s ending. the extremely critical question of succession which the tv show so carelessly glossed over in its ending is at the heart of the resolution that frank herbert wrote for children.

that resolution involves: 

1.) a boy with superhuman powers choosing to take the throne after gaining resolve through a mystical transformation

2.) sibling marriage to protect a woman’s claim from being usurped

3.) siblings as co-rulers 

4.)  the monarch designating his sister’s children as his heirs because he can’t have children of his own 

5.) marriage between a man of the former dynasty and a woman of the current one to resolve a dispute over the throne and hopefully belay future ones

6.) a man agreeing that his children will bear their mother’s family name rather than his own

we don’t have absolute confirmation that grrm plans to make bran king of westeros, but there is some evidence that this is one of the plot points he shared with the showrunners. the question of grrm’s interest in or influence from dune aside, the example provided by children of dune’s leto/ghanima/farad’n trio shows that if bran becomes king of westeros (and sansa and jon both live to the end of the series), a sansa/jon pairing is almost guaranteed to be the best way to secure the succession.

(and if jonsa was originally meant to be part of the story but was scrapped in later seasons, that could explain why the question of succession post-bran was addressed so sloppily by the tv show...)

Edit: now with a part 2

[agoddamnbeautifulidiot]

Niall Horan casually crooning to Flicker in Raleigh, NC:

Tipsy @harrywavycurly: Are you ever gonna finish Flicker of Hope??????

Me, also very tipsy:

Me, several hours later, less tipsy:

[unchartedcloud]

The Art of Defiance - Chapter 10

Part 2 of a Clexa Star Wars Story

The stage is set for the final confrontation with Roan: they have their location, their plan, and their bait. All that remains is waiting for the curtain to rise.

What ever will Clarke and Lexa do in their idle time, alone together?

Clarke rolls her eyes. “I like when you get all philosophical on me,” she says. Lexa feels Clarke’s hands grasp her hips and allows herself to be tugged closer, until Clarke’s knees bump against her thighs. “It’s kinda hot.” The holocron rolls off her fingers and hangs suspended in the air, levitating a few inches to Lexa’s right and Clarke’s left so Lexa can lay her newly freed hands against Clarke’s shoulders. She catches one side of Clarke’s open collar between her thumb and forefinger, testing the texture of the fabric against her skin. “I think that may be the lingering effects of the shower.” Clarke chuckles in what sounds like surprise—and affection, though Lexa is still getting used to that particular aspect. “That’s not what that means, it’s…wait. Are you messing with me?” “Me?” Lexa lifts her eyebrows, putting all her recently developed acting skills to use feigning ignorance. “Messing with you? That doesn’t sound terribly Jedi-like of me.” “It sounds like you, and you’re a Jedi.” Clarke's hands move up Lexa’s sides and fist into the sides of her tabard. “My favorite one I’ve met so far, in fact.” “Do you plan to meet many mo—? Mmph.”  The moment Clarke has a good hold, she starts to reel Lexa in; Lexa chooses to speak anyway, knowing full well what Clarke’s after, and accepts that the last of her question will be lost in the press of Clarke’s kiss. Being cut off is a small price for the immediate bloom of warmth in her chest and buzz along her scalp that follows that first touch. It’s a soft thing, but it isn’t quick. Clarke’s lips linger...then draw gently on Lexa’s. Lexa sighs, goes in for another. Clarke’s fingers tighten, holding her closer still. A newly familiar breathlessness sets in, her heart races. A quick flick of Clarke’s tongue against the back of her teeth invites her closer and she obliges, stepping between Clarke’s legs as she wiggles up onto the back of the couch. Lexa drops her hands, fingers closing around oh-so-soft hips to steady her— “Mm! Mm, no.” Their lips smack as Lexa pulls away, a Herculean feat of will allowing her to lift a hand and take a half step back. “No, you’re not getting out of training like this. Not again.” “Oh come on, I’ve totally got the whole mental fortitude thing down.” Clarke’s fingers are still wrapped around Lexa’s tabard, but her thumb manages to find its way between the folds of Lexa’s shirts and swipe along her sternum. The sensation, even brief as it is, makes Lexa shiver. “And this is so much more fun.”

Note: the latter half of this chapter contains sexual content, and is not suitable for ages under 18.

Read on Ao3.

[stjohnstarling]

Working on the wmom finale and, to put it delicately -- this is gonna rip all your heads off, you won't know what hit you

[boysbeloving]

okay....okay it happened....the mama papa happened

the thing with watching a series after it has ended (and after i've already kept up with it when it was airing through tumblr posts) is that you KNOW some things....like...i knew babe and charlie do this mama-papa thing

i told my friend @imminentinertia HOW MUCH i loved that fact that i get to hear p'babe from charlie's mouth and she said wait till the mama-papa strikes....and i (in my hubris, as i now realise) told her that my loins were girded for that

my loins were not girded enough for the mama-papa talk

[laughing-at-the-darkness]

Just called my useless representative to let him know that I disagree with HR 9495 and want him to vote no. It was painless. I recommend doing the same with your state rep.