#motivates Lance probably

[dizzymudskipper]

Solomon, please come back. I miss you, baby girl.

[skitskatdacat63]

"The Boy With The Thorn in His Side"(x) - The Smiths × 2023 Strollonso moments + pundits' reactions

[triglycercule]

i love doodling swapinverse like hello drawing characters aside from the normal mtt is lowkey therapeutic 🧡🧡🧡 anyways i FINALLY FINALLY finished crash's lore!!!! and vice.SER is connected to him,,,, theyre interconnected!!! i forgot how much i liked crash's design (not the design but all the little gimmicks in the design. figuring out all the hanging ribbon bits is annoying but hey it looks good)

[toytle]

everything abt this is outdated but ykw. tag yourself anyway, i’m jean and fred

text ID under cut:

lasik (scott): 1) gifted kid burnout + eldest sibling syndrome 2) leader by choice(..?) 3) “this is fine.”

mom jeans (jean): 1) leader but not by choice 2) never forgets a birthday 3) gets away with things due to her reputation

fuzzy elf (kurt): 1) tries to be hip with the kids (is a kid) 2) honorary catboy 3) fingerguns his way out of situations

:3 (kitty): 1) impulsive shopper 2) livetweets everything 3) says ‘omg’ and ‘ttyl’ outloud 4) bakes muffins for her friends! they are inedible!

skater boi (evan): 1) cool guy syndrome 😎 (undiagnosed adhd) 2) steals food off his friends' plates 3) PARKOUR!

e-girl blueprint (rogue): 1) hopeless romantic 2) only child AND middle child energy 3) knows the best thrifting spots

“””team leader””” (lance): 1) tries a lot, fails a lot 2) anger is default emotion 3) probably named his car betty or smth

actual team leader (pietro). 1) cool guy syndrome 😎 (unmedicated adhd) 2) causes problems on purpose 3) motivated by attention

toad (todd): 1) thinks he's just soo funny. well, he is. 2) hasn't showered in a month 3) stays out of drama but Will grab the popcorn

bombshell blonde (tabitha): 1) self-loathing vs superiority complex: fight! 2) flirts with friends 3) parties to avoid being alone with her thoughts

scarlet bitch (wanda): 1) hates authority figures 2) cuts her own hair. and clothes. 3) in a constant state of overstimulation 4) deserves to snap tbh

hey it’s (fred)!: 1) cries easily 2) would literally murder for friends 3) treats plushies like living creatures

professor clean (xavier): 1) “hello el gee bee tee que community" 2) adopts every child he sees 3) knows everything and yet nothing at all

grrrr (logan): 1) that sounds like a you problem." 2) acts like he hates kids but tacks their drawings to the fridge 3) believes that violence is the answer

weather report (ororo): 1) everyone's bisexual awakening 2) has high expectations for everyone, including herself 3) live laugh love 😊😊😊 or else

mr beast but like actually (hank): 1) god, i could really use a drink." *makes chamomile tea* 2) longs to be a smooth rock basking in the sun 3) gives unwarranted life lessons

another blue one (mystique): 1) #girlboss 2) “gay rights but only for me" 3) loves her son but will dropkick other children

magnum dong (magneto): 1) heterophobic 2) "you have the moral backbone of a chocolate eclair" 3) does not love his son AND will dropkick other children

[wisteriagoesvroom]

how each driver would respond to “would you love me if i was a worm” 🪱

(and you actually get turned into a worm)

charles leclerc: gets the whole ferrari team to take turns looking after the worm. there’s a care roster and a motivational talk and everything. you become not charles’s worm but the ferrari worm. he posts a really cool social media story about “my journey looking after the worm.” you are loved, if a bit haphazardly.

max verstappen: “do i have time to keep a worm? probably not. but i will get someone to get you a decent box i guess. sorry if my cats eat you.”

oscar piastri: “no. you’re a worm.”

lando norris: professes his love and says “of course i would, babe”. only to be away so much on holiday or busy on track that you eventually perish in your enclosure

lewis hamilton: yes and will get you the most beautiful box with all sorts of fronds and ferns. he will build you the cutest little jungle gym of mind-enriching worm activities. you will see him about once a year but he will make sure you’re always fed and happy. he will help raise awareness of worms in their ecosystems all over the planet

carlos sainz: actually is very good at keeping the worm/you alive but is thrown for a loop because charles and lewis are all doing exceptionally with their worms. he flushes you down the toilet in a moment of emotional distress

alex albon: doesn’t tell anybody about the worm but will eventually have the longest living worm although everyone will forget this fact.

george russell: holds a drivers meeting about whether it is ethical to keep worms and should they in fact be considered emotional support animals. the vote is split and the outcome is undecided

fernando alonso: makes a tiktok with you “day in a life with my worm”. then leaves you on the side of the road and you roast to death under the sun

lance stroll: begrudgingly looks after you for about a week after which he pawns you off to his sister who is now stuck with his random worm

kevin magnussen: gives the worm to his daughter who uses it for a school project. it’s very cute

nico hulkenburg: people forgot about him so he didn’t even get a worm. he’s not that sad about it.

zhou guanyu: would seem totally neutral about it but end up incorporating a worm design into his track fits and his helmets. his worm helmet goes super viral on weibo.

valtteri bottas: will use you for fishing bait and might be a bit sorry about it.

pierre gasly and esteban ocon: constantly fighting over the same worm. nobody knows that the other has the exact same one. it ends with the alpine TP stepping in and confiscating the worm. the worm somehow gets acquired by mclaren.

yuki tsunoda: he keeps you in a box that is structurally very questionable but yuki somehow finds time on the road to get you the highest quality worm feed and vegetables. you thrive under his gourmand care although he shakes the box way too hard sometimes

daniel ricciardo: changes you immediately for a caterpillar and hopes nobody notices. the caterpillar takes ages to turn into a butterfly and then people are asking bro i thought you got a worm. he gets a caterpillar tattoo.

sergio perez: couldn’t care less. thought you were roadkill stuck on his windshield and squishes you with the windscreen wiper by accident

logan sargeant: WHAT DA FUK IS A WORMMMMM? your worm life ends prematurely when logan accidentally drops your box on the floor. james vowles gets him a new worm and it remains to be seen whether the second worm is better (hopefully it is).

[seneon]

hii! <3 may i request a hc about mashle characters if they found out they had a little sister in the middle of their school year and how they would act to her, also if possible, can you add a small part where they first interacted?

i have a sister..? ──── mashle various.

featuring. mash squad + ames brothers.

notes. this is an interesting req! all platonic fluff.

★ MASH BURNEDEAD

sweet, poor, mash would be so confused. she has the same honey eyes as him. even more miraculously, the same bangs and the same smooth silky hair that's in a specificly round shape. a one liner with pretty average magic. she does not like cream puffs. she likes tarts. obsessively. so when she's in the dormitory kitchen making berry tarts for herself and mash came in to make cream puffs, they stared at each other and she immediately screamed "you just look like me!!" and mash tilts his head. "i didn't know i had a twin." and she replied, head also tilting, "we're twins..?" both of them are equally dumb cuz why not.. mash's sis is based on this art.

★ FINN + RAYNE AMES

little female version of them with black and yellow/blonde hair definitely stands out. so it was made into a commotion then rayne being a d.v. came to the commotion where one day it just exploded. his sister didn't even hesitate to call him brother at first sight. he froze at the sight of her and suddenly all the memories came flushing in of her being taken away. (oo mysterious) "tell me your name. now." he demands and she tells him and he covers his mouth at her voice. his sister who was taken away from him so long ago is now here, standing right in front of him. rayne caught sight of finn standing afar, also frozen. then finn runs to catch his long lost sister in a hug. omg so emotional

★ LANCE CROWN

new victim to siscon about. im kidding. he doesn't know he has a wayyyy elder sister that's like d.v. level. she left the crown family long ago before lance was born so he know not of her existence. she came to visit the school one day as a special guest to demonstrate magic to the students. accidentally introduced as a crown before saying she has no surname cuz if fam issues. uses gravitiy magic, but hers is more intense and solid. lance knew they were related of some sort but he is unsure. confronts her after the demo as she's leaving the school. honestly, his sister would be shocked that there are two of her little successors. would tell lance to keep doing what's he's doing and she's very motivating! lance knows she wants nothing to do w the fam anymore and he respects her for it, wishing her luck in life.

★ DOT BARRETT

in denial. there's a big difference in their appearance. she'd probably won't have such striking red hair as he does but more to a softer colour. i'm betting on her having a calm personality. but her ability tho. it's the same exact magical ability, hereditary, in fact. so when she appeared in school right in front of him, they were staring at each other in silence before dot started freaking out and started accusing her of looking similar to him. they also have the same line marking!! she's just there like "...?" then she'll ask, "are you dot barrett?" he nods. "oh wow! i'm a barrett too! although i was absent pretty much your whole life. lemme introduce myself, i am your sister bla bla bla" super respectful.

★ LEMON IRVINE

lemon having a sister??? younger or older, it doesn't matter. she's just really happy to find out she has a sister kept secret from her for the longest time. probably has super long hair. very confident and charismatic. she's under the wing of another family as that family wanted lemon's sister to be a bride of their son. they first met when she came to visit the irvine house and lemon immediately recognised her as she's that one cool girl in school. they immediately clicked and become close to each other after lemon's parents told lemon abt her secret sister. vv wholesome and sweet. the next day at school they're already besties doing whatever sisterish things they've always wanted to do if they hv a sister.

© SENEON 2024 ♰ do not repost, alter, or translate.

[gayferrari]

“Ollie is definitely massively press-ready in an absurdly impressive way, but I'm curious about how much is the media prep he's gotten through the Ferrari Drivers Academy, and how much is that he's clearly imprinted on Charles as a role model.”

THIS. While Ferrari are known for their ‘media training’, people forget that a lot of the FDA drivers, like Ollie, look up to Charles a lot especially since he’s the first and so far only one to have actually graduated to the Ferrari team. There are other former FDA drivers too (Checo, Lance) but imo they don’t take as much care with their image as Charles does. The younger generation of FDA drivers probably take after Charles a lot in the sense that 1) he’s a role model to most, if not all of them, and 2) the FDA probably took into account Charles’s approach with the media and started encouraging that among their drivers as well, seeing how well the public took to Charles. I think while Ferrari does, to a certain degree, provide extensive PR training because they have a reputation to uphold as a historic team, but the particular care and attention that Charles pays towards his carefully crafted image is distinctive.

I think as a whole my opinion would be that Charles probably would have turned out the same moreso because it just seems like him to be a people pleaser especially if it can benefit him in the long run. Which isn’t a bad thing at all if you’re in a ruthless sport with people waiting on you to make a mistake! He’s a smart cookie who knows how to play the game and it’s really interesting to see how well he manages his image.

I wouldn't put it past the FDA to look at how Charles turned out and decide to try and clone him in a lab but I think all those teenagers calling him one of their motorsport idols are also motivated to Be Like Sharl When I Grow Up. Imagine if the Ferrari academy start cooking for real and in 10 years we have a grid where a third of drivers all act like Ollie. kpop idol vibes

@breathofnyx just reminded me that actually maybe also Nicolas Todt had a part in Charles being Like That. They put him at work selling luxury watches as a teenager... the hustle goes Deep

[scrollonso]

First Kiss (Break 1)

A strollonso AU where 18 year old rookie Lance Stroll falls helplessly in love with the notoriously mean world champion. (1.2k words, no warnings) [@v3lnys] {filler chapter? I just felt like Lance and Nando getting closer would make more sense if they spent break together + Mark}

last part - masterlist - next part

They had two weeks off and Lance had absolutely no plans, Nico was on vacation with his family to god knows where, Fernando had probably already arrived in Australia, and Lance didn't have any other friends on the paddock to worry about.

He had thought about going back to Canada but he just ended up back at his house in Switzerland. Spring had started by the time he got home so it wasn't like he could distract himself with snowboarding so he just ended up at home on his couch for the past five days.

Being alone was nice, but a part of him missed Fernando, oddly enough. They'd only ever hung out on the paddock but Lance had grown to look forward to the time they spent together, whether it was actually sitting and talking or just exchanging glances while in the middle of interviews.

As if it was fate, his phone began to rang. It was an unknown number but he figured it might be important, his dad had a history of calling him from random places just to check up on him, as if the 18 year old hadn't been left alone before.

"Hello?" He said, holding his (very small) phone to his ear

"Lancito, I am so glad you answered!" a voice on the other end spoke, a very familiar voice

"Nando?" Lance questioned "How did you get my number?"

"Is not important!" The Spaniard said, brushing off the question "Lancito, are you busy? If you are, cancel, come to Australia."

"No, I'm not busy." Lance responded, wondering if Fernando was really inviting him to Australia, wasn't he with Mark? Wouldn't that be awkward? "Is something important happening in Australia?"

"Si, You are coming, is important."

"Nando, I-" The younger boy laughed, not being able to wipe the smile off his face just from hearing the other mans voice "Sure, I'll come."

"Perfect, I'll send you the information, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay Nando"

"Bye, Lancito! Have a safe flight"

And with that the call ended and Lance wasted no time in buying the tickets to Australia (idk how people bought plane tickets in 2006...)

Lance got off the plane, trying to pat down the hair he could feel sticking up, he always slept on long flights and this one was no acception. It was weird being in Australia a week before he had to but he wasn't going to turn down Fernando is he wanted Lance there so bad, for whatever reason.

It was a Sunday morning and the airport was surprisingly busy, he eventually found his way out and got a taxi headed towards the address Fernando had texted him

"Just landed, headed your way now!!"

Lance stared at the screen before sending the message, just now wondering why exactly he was there, he wasn't blind to the media, especially when he was constantly being interviewed and asked questions fans were dying to know, he had heard the rumours, people saying Fernando was only talking to him to scare him, he was going to embarrass him, he had some ulterior motive, Lance hoped it wasn't true but now that he was blindly following Fernandos orders in another country while he was visiting his friend (who's seat he took) a part of him started to wonder if Fernando was planning something. He hit send.

They'd hadn't texted much, just Fernando sending him the information he needed and Lance thanking him before he got on the plane and turned off his phone, he wasn't too fond of it anyways.

"I am glad you made it"

"Is exciting"

"Tell the driver to go faster"

Lance smiled at his phone, excited to see the Spaniard again, even though he saw him not even a week ago.

"I shouldn't break the law yet"

"I just got here and my dad isn't here to bail me out!"

"I will do it, no worries Lancito"

He shook his head at the text, turning off his phone and waiting to arrive, not too far away from the location

He stepped out of the car, paying the taxi fare then walking up to the house, hesitating to knock. Maybe texting would be better? Or calling? Or anything besides knocking? Before he even had the chance to decide the door opened, revealing a slightly-taller-than-him Mark Webber and Fernando standing by his side, the two closer than he thought they would be

"Lance, welcome, so sorry about making you come so randomly." Mark spoke first, stepping back to invite Lance in

"It's no problem, I wasn't doing anything anyway" Lance smiled as he walked into the house, scanning what he could see

"I told you Lancito didn't mind" Fernando said to Mark, hitting his arm slightly "Is good to make sure you two get along before people start to speculate, ay?" Fernando smiled at Mark then at Lance, reaching up to flatten the hair still sticking up on his head

Lance wasn't sure why he was surprised Fernando was still calling him his nickname, he didn't know why he expected anything to change with Mark around, Fernando seemed the same, if anything he seemed happier around Mark. It made him feel bad, he was the reason Mark lost his seat, the reason Fernando's friend was no longer on the paddock, the reason Fernando had to settle for him instead.

"Well, Lance, I don't mind that you took my seat" Mark laughed, closing the door before putting an arm around Lance's shoulder "I was done with travelling all the time anyway, so don't beat yourself up over what people say"

Lance nodded, Mark was right, and he was pretty old so it made sense for him to be smarter.

"Now, how about we have fun now that we've dragged you to the land down under?" That made Lance smile, he was looking forward to spending the rest of his break actually doing stuff besides binging TV shows.

The next week went by so quick Lance was surprised when he actually had to go to the paddock, almost as surprised as fans when he showed up with both Fernando and Mark.

He hesitated when Fernando suggested all of them going together, worried about what people would say, but the older men made it obvious they couldn't care less so thats how they ended up going together, Mark having plans of doing interviews around the paddock and spending his free time in sither the pink or blue and yellow garage.

Being in Australia a week early was great, they were busy the whole time but Lance enioyed it, loving the time away from his phone and especially away from the media. It made him notice how close Mark and Fernando really were, he felt jealous at times but it was probably just because he was used to having Fernandos attention on him after quali and races, he felt selfish for feeling that way so of course he never addressed it.

"Where are you going first?" Lance asked, looking at Mark, both of them on either side of Fernando

"I was thinking of interviewing people first, it's gonna be weird being the one asking the questions"

"As long as you stay far away from me, we're good"

Fernando shook his head, pulling the taller man closer "We really need to get you used to the media, eh? All you do is complain" He sucked his teeth after he finished teasing Lance, earning nothing but an eyeroll from the teen

"Yeah, yeah." Lance smiled, not able to stop himself when it came to Fernando "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

And with that the race week started.

[astarionmademewriteit]

I couldn't stop imagining what spawn!Astarion's reaction would be if a stranger from the street approached gn!Tav and revealed that they had slept with Haarlep in Tav's form. So, here is a short 800 word story of what I imagine would happen in that situation from Astarion's POV.

I will probably add a part two from Ascended Astarion's POV so we can compare their motivations.

TW: Sexual harassment, graphic depictions of violence, feelings of shame and guilt.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

The glassy eyes of the strange man slip down Tav's form with thinly veiled satisfaction, eyeing them with unadulterated lust. His demeanor reeks of false confidence, and his behavior is bolstered by something that passes unsaid in his gaze.

Tav slows their steps, searching the strange man's face for anything that would spark familiarity, but ultimately coming up short.

“Excuse me? Do I know you?” Confusion paints their words as they shift uncomfortably under the oppressive gaze of the man standing before them.

The stranger chuckles at Tav's concern, his condescending tone thickening with delight as he watches Tav squirm, “No. But I know you,” he reaches out and drags a thumb across Tav's face. They quickly jerk away, repulsed by the unwanted attention. The man's face hardens, but he continues, “Well. I know your body at the very least. I'm sure there is an interesting story there. Tell me, how did an incubus come to acquire such a lovely, lovely body such as yours?”

Recognition dawns in Tav's eyes before they are quickly replaced by revulsion and shame. I can tell Tav is fighting to keep their emotions in check, but it must be difficult under the watchful gaze of such a repulsive man. Tav turns on their heels searching for a corner to slip around out of the man's sight. 

Before they can, however, the stranger places a firm grasp on their elbow and spins them around, backing them up slowly like a predator cornering its prey.

“Hold on just a minute. I was rather considering a return trip to the House of Hope's boudoir. But now that I know I can get the real thing…” He leans over, just inches away from Tav's face. The look of guilt that dances across their features only fuels my own rage.

Before the stranger can so much as utter another foul word, I spring on him–twisting his arm painfully behind his back and digging the tip of my dagger into the soft flesh of his neck.

The stranger pitches backwards in pain, trying to relieve some of the pressure from his already cracked wrist bones. “What in the hells?” He screams, his eyes suddenly wild with fear.

I try to calm my own breathing as anger wells deep inside me, “What gives you the right to violate them like that?” I twist his wrist harder in the wrong direction, finding satisfaction in the cracking of his bones and his pitiful screams. My knife digs a little deeper into his neck and the first rivulets of blood bloom from his wound.

“I– I,” the man searches for something to say–anything that will convince me to relinquish my grasp on him. He doesn't realize that his fate has already been sealed the moment he deemed it appropriate to accost Tav.

I look towards Tav, who is all but hiding their face in shame. Their frame suddenly small as they curl in on themselves after having been hideously violated. The image only stirs similar emotions within me. I know that feeling all too well. I would never wish that on my darling. Not ever. 

I turn back and glare viciously at the stranger, letting my expression speak for me. “Apologize. Right. Now. Before I gut you like the pig you are,” I growl through gritted teeth. I pull harder on his wrist, taking great pleasure in the snapping of sinew and tendons in his arm.

“I'm sorry,” he wails loudly, “I didn't mean it, I'm sorry.” His cries quickly turn to sobs as pain lances through his body, but I can hear his heartbeat. I heard the way it skipped at his words. 

Lies. All lies.

I pull the knife away from his neck, which earns a small sigh of relief from the stranger. But, before he could regain his composure I thrust the dagger into his chest over and over again in a violent flurry of strikes, letting anger control my movements. 

Blood splatters unceremoniously across my face as it casts off my blade. Only when the man's cries turn to whimpers and gurgling do I stop and let his body fall to the ground. I step over his crumpled form as if he were nothing but trash on the street, because that's all he really was, and make my way towards Tav.

“A-are you okay, my love?” I whisper sweetly, avoiding touching them without permission. I knew this dance all too well.

Tav shudders before shaking their head. I frown when I see sadness flooding their eyes threatening to spill over and consume them completely. 

“Let's draw you a warm bath, darling. I think it's much needed after that encounter. Afterwards, we can talk about it if you feel like it.” I give them a soft smile, hoping to ease some of their shame.

Tav reaches out and tangles their fingers in mine as we walk back to Elfsong Tavern. “Thank you,” they whisper softly. The images of tonight still dance across their vision, and I swear to myself that I will try and make it better. As they had once done for me.

[zahri-melitor]

You have been assigned a four issue mini comic [<100 pages]. It can be about whatever you want. The only restriction is that it has to be about a minor support character [IE character friends, character parents, reoccuring minor villains, reoccuring civilians]. Which character do you choose, and what story would you want to tell in a four issue mini?

For transparency, I'm asking this question to a bunch of people because I want to see all the ideas everyone has. See what everyone would do.

You know what I'd really love? Writing a Lady Shiva mini. I am stretching the definition of 'reoccurring minor villain' but she's never actually had a proper mini in her own right and she's very VERY rarely had viewpoint. I'd want to pick and choose from her various established backstories, and tone down as many of the League of Assassins connections as possible. I think I'd frame it as four pivotal fights (because that's the language of Shiva)

Fight 1: Sandra and David Cain (the 'sort out the backstory' issue/the apprentice) hitting the following:-

Carolyn and Sandra's childhood in Detroit as Chinese-American diaspora, including trips back to China to the family village there for additional martial arts training.

Carolyn encounters Ben Turner and David Cain, both of whom are training under Richard Dragon, with none of this LOA-linked

David Cain murdering Carolyn to motivate Sandra who he sees as a stronger fighter

Recanonise the Batgirl 2000 Cass origin

Sandra giving Cass to David

Fight 2: Lady Shiva and Richard Dragon (the 'birth of Lady Shiva' and her quest to match herself against the best fighters on the planet/the journeywoman)

This would revolve around Shiva's quest to seek training from various sensei.

References to Dinah and Shiva's shared mentor

Shiva and her encounters with Vic Sage and the first signs of her fondness for cases in which she sees the potential for greater violence, just as David Cain saw in her

Maybe recanonise the Paper Monkey stuff? Either way, have her win accolade and acclaim by facing off against the greatest fighters, killing many of them, and gaining her place in the hierarchy

Lots of wandering swordsman journey

Finishing point has this fight ending with Shiva not killing Richard because she can now best him and has found herself alone at the top as the 'best fighter in the world' - but she sees the power he still has above her - his ability to mentor and create the competition she seeks

Fight 3: Lady Shiva and Dinah Lance (Shiva the mentor, training those she most respects the potential in/the master)

I picked Dinah to frame this one for two reasons: she's my fave AND I wanted a fight with a woman for the second set.

We hit backstory with Shiva actively encountering Dinah, Tim, Connor, Cass. 'Her' heroes who she becomes attached to and to pushing them to be better competition for her.

This is the only bit where I might lean towards League of Assassins in terms of probably Nyssa and/or Talia approaching her to ask her to help train their troops, but Shiva finds it dull.

"Go to sleep Westley I might kill you in the morning" attitude emerging as she finds herself weirdly attached to the people she's pushing.

I would love to include a pay off for her fight with Helena Bertinelli in BOPv2 that was put on 'hold' in this fight with Dinah.

Fight 4: Lady Shiva and Cassandra Cain (The inheritance and future issue)

This would be framed around a NEW encounter between Shiva and Cass rather than one of their old ones

Leans into Shiva's death wish and viewing she's already passed on her inheritance, and that she's now defeatable

I would also want to see Sin Lance and Bethany Thorne appear in this issue (also Tim)

Looking at all four of these characters and how they have the potential to surpass and surprise her.

This one WOULD end with Shiva in a position where she's pushing Cass to kill her as she's now the tired one and Cass once again denying it to her

[beebopboom]

A Case of Missing Weaponry

Probably the thing Archangel Michael is most known for in biblical lore is striking Satan down with a sword/spear (i see them used interchangeably) and yet it seemingly has not been touched on in the show.

Granted it is a story largely in Revelations and we are shown that that is not an entirely truthful book in the show so it might not even be a something that proves to be anything

but I have a theory for you anyway.

Michael has continued to be a mystery in this show with their motivations, their past, and their knowledge all called into question.

and yet another thing we haven’t even gotten a verbal mention of is their weapon - the legendary weapon that stuck Satan down from the Heavens.

With all the mentions of the fall and the Great War it’s an interesting detail to leave out but I was willing to leave it alone for the reason mentioned above.

However,

In @drconstellation future of echos past meta she points out the Michael parallel indeed being the one to take the shot at the Lucifer parallel - which is then later confiscated by police (ok maybe not that exact meta but i couldn’t find the one where you went into detail about it😭)

@youryurigoddess pointing about the Michael statue in the trash mountain is missing its sword

and the scene being depicted within Agnes Nutter’s book

It makes a person start to wonder yknow?

but where could this weapon be if it’s not on Michael’s being? The logical explanation is that it’s just up in Heaven somewhere, I mean it’s not like Michael has a use for it right now anyway.

So up in heaven? Confiscated? Never existed? Misplaced?... Maybe

There is one small offhand comment (you know I love those) in 1941 that threw me down a rabbit hole of what could maybe be Michael's weapon.

When Aziraphale is handing over the books he compares Agnes's book to the Holy Grail but that's not the one I want to focus on rather something mentioned right after,

The Spear of Destiny, or the Holy Lance

This spear is said to be the one that pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the cross to make sure he was dead

The spear which was said to guarantee victory in battle. (That was until it made its way to Hitler and he lost) 

but probably one of the bigger success stories about this spear is one that actually connects it back to Michael

Emperor Constantine

He was the one to bring Christianity into the Roman Empire and believed in the power of this spear - bringing it into battle with him as his main weapon.

Constantine and his co-emperor Licinius were the ones to sign into law that Christians could worship publicly and have churches

later they fought each other with Constantine coming out victorious near the Michaelion - which caused him to attribute his victory to Archangel Michael

even going as far as comparing Licinius to the serpent that Michael defeated, as described in Revelations. Using the serpent as a symbol for Licinius in money and art

he then continued commissioning statues and art of this event eventually replacing him and Licinius with Michael and Satan, which then lead to it being standard of what Michael is known for - spear and all.

Interesting (very shortened) story isn’t it?

Now this spear has been passed along all throughout history with many people claiming to have it and different pieces of it displayed throughout the world, so maybe it just was a replica of Michael’s spear just like they did with Aziraphale’s sword - the Romans seem to have a type for their weapons

there is also a very interesting conspiracy that after the Americans found it after ww2 they brought the real one back with them and leaving a replica behind - yknow considering the hints at America having something to do with s3

How Michael’s spear would have ended up lost on Earth I do not know but I do think that this could be interesting if nothing else

either way the lack of talking about it in the show has always had me intrigued

What is up with you Archangel Michael?

[lil-shiro]

Highlights from a recent New York Times article on Aston Martin

Don't know why, but the New York Times published a whole article about AM's season, here are some key points.

Words from Fernando about his season:

“It has been a historical season for Aston Martin, and for myself, eight finishes on the podium, more than 200 points, nearly 300 for the team."

“Twelve months ago, this was unthinkable. An incredible year to remember.”

“For me, 2012 and this season are the best in my career,” he said, referring to his third season with Ferrari, when he missed out on a third title by 4 points. This year resulted in “a position I couldn’t have imagined at the beginning of the year with the car performance we had,” he said.

Dan Fallows about the development of the car in the second half of the season:

The reason for Aston Martin’s slide was “a very aggressive development philosophy in-season,” Fallows said. “We decided to try to be quite brave, quite risky, in some instances, in terms of the speed of delivery of these parts.”

Looking back, Fallows said, the team would probably choose not to make some of the decisions it did, but it valued the learning experience.

“Towards the end of the season, we used some races essentially as glorified test sessions in many ways,” he said, adding, “We felt that was necessary to understand the car and to understand what we want to do for next year.”

Mention of the new factory:

There was disruption along the way as Aston Martin moved into a new $250 million factory in May. It was the first phase of a three-part project that includes the team building its own wind tunnel and simulator, going online in the third quarter of 2024. The team currently uses the Mercedes facility.

“We moved into a new technology campus, which is only a third complete,” Fallows said. “We have had several upheavals during the year, with that being one of them."

“But we don’t have the level of facilities, the stability of structure, that some of our main competitors enjoy, and yet we’ve still been able to compete at that level.”

Lawrence Stroll addressing the minor share he sold:

Last month, he sold a minority share in the team to Arctos Partners, a private equity firm in Dallas.

“You don’t go spending hundreds of millions of pounds, building the greatest new Formula 1 campus and hiring 400 of the greatest employees if you’re about to leave the business,” Stroll said.

He added: “It could not be any further from the truth that I have any interest in ever not being the majority shareholder of this team for a very long time, and it is the same with the road car company. I’m not going anywhere. I plan to run these businesses for many years. I’m at the beginning of the journey on both.”

Quote from Lance about his season:

“It was a really strong start to the season, a really difficult middle and then strong again at the end,” Lance Stroll said. “There is some stuff I can chip away at for next year. Overall, it’s been a season full of emotion.”

Tom McCullough (Aston Martin performance director) shares praise to Lance for overcoming a difficult period:

“Lance, as far as how he works, is in and out of the factory between every event,” McCullough said. “He’s simulator running, he’s sitting with his engineers.”

He added: “He works so hard, and he’s so motivated to learn from one of the best drivers this sport has ever seen. And that’s what Fernando is.”

-

Overall Aston Martin are happy with the steps forward they took as a whole this year, and will work towards developing the car for next season and avoid making any repeated mistakes.

[fanfictionrecsss]

KLANCE FIC REC TIME

Ok, first of welcome, second off here is my ao3 acc:

Archive acc (I only have one fic, I will write anything someone asks me to at this point, I don't have any ideas).

Star ☆ = Favourite

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And here is some recs.

Extrication By Dealio (Orphaned account)

Keith/Lance Words: 4,103 Finished.

My View:

I can't remember too much about this one, but something that I can recall is trying really hard to find a part 2. The acc is orphaned, so I can't find the orginal author :(. It's a really great fic, but a bit short.

Summary:

A blackness swirled around the outer edges of his vision and it swam when he moved too fast, but he could still see the figure at the end of the hallway, running towards him as they seemed to sling a long rifle over their shoulder. They came closer and closer until Keith could make out the glowing motif and the traditional uniform of a Blade of Marmora soldier.

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What a healing pod can't repair ☆ By Remember_Me

Keith/Lance Words: 55,777 Finished.

My Veiw:

This is one of my all time favourite fics, it's probably one of the first ones I've read and oh my gosh I was addicted. It's about when Lance goes missing, and they find these video log things from him when he was lost, (Ok, not gonna spoil anymore). I love this fic.

Summary:

The compromised wormhole was ripping apart at the seams, sending everyone spiraling away in completely different directions. Lance could feel himself being pulled and bent in ways he was definitely not supposed to be. -- Stitching the team back together after everyone is separated is difficult, and for one Paladin rescue wouldn't be coming for a very long time.

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Break Every Chain on Me By Katsudonace

Keith/Lance Words: 14,406 Finished.

My Veiw:

I loved this fic, and I wish there was more to it. It is a BOM Lance/Keith fic, which I really liked because there aren't alot of BOM fics out there.

Summary:

Lance is tired of no one listening to him, tired of his fears and concerns being brushed aside. With his suspicions about Shiro and Lotor being ignored, Lance decides to go to the one person group that he knows will believe him, Keith the Blade of Marmora. However, emotions run high and situations become complicated. Lance must grow to move forward, but that's easier said than done when his insecurities bind him.

Keith was finally carving out a spot for himself in the Blade, finally feeling as if maybe he belonged somewhere. That's until his mother decides to return to the main base, and his crush suddenly shows up unannounced. It's hard for him to face his feelings when he's so used to fighting them. He needs to confront his issues or forever be locked in place, never finding a place where he fits.

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If people want more recs I can post them, but honestly the only way I continue something is by people liking what I post, as it's very motivating for me.

Please suggest something, like if you want me to find fics on something I can do that, but I also really want to write some fics of your choice. If you'd like me to write a fic, (I'll basically write anything since I have buckets of free time), go onto my main blog which is here and request something:

Oatmeal-3 (My main blog)

Thanks again,

-Oat

[digoload]

the paladin line up!!! (click for better quality)

This is a part of my voltron AU that I already did a bit of art on this here. i'll probably update my foolish design at some other time but there he is for now.

Under the cut -- my reasons for these particular characters, plus some sketched story ideas i had for them/their backstories prior to canon.

(also, yes - qtubbo tucks his jeans into his socks)

Green Paladin - Tubbo. He's green already, fantastic. Also, a nerd like Pidge and naturally curious. I considered other Create-oriented QSMPers for green lion but I think Tubbo fits the best!

Yellow Paladin - Missa. For a while I was gonna make Forever the yellow or blue paladin, but then I realised the whole cast would be wayyyyy too zany or weird. We needed a sturdy, relatable character. Someone who was scared. Someone who didn't really want to be there. Someone who would have an unlikely romance with a menacing purple rebellion-leader alien in space. I knew Missa was perfect for the job.

Blue Paladin - Etoiles. We don't know the specific qualifications for someone to be the blue paladin (thanks Lance), but there are some clear similarities between Lance and Blaytz (I know Allura doesn't really fit with the pattern towards the end of the series, but work with me here), so I sort of made up my own requirements. 1. screams with joy when they get to pilot their lion. 2. dogboy. 3. ready to throw down. (season 1 allura fits all 3 of these, but arguably not really towards s6-7-8). I kinda relate him most to Blaytz out of all the blue paladins.

Red Paladin - Roier. You KNOW it had to be Roier. Who else. Literally who else. The man is red. Ready to throw down. Trusts his instincts. Angsty backstory. Right-hand to the guy who takes the lead in most situations. Also, just in general, I have a vivid vision of qroier in the red lion's cockpit. He could totally pull it off.

Black Paladin - Cellbit. The other characters I considered for this role were bbh and philza, but in the end I liked them more with having alien roles mainly due to their backstories (BBH as an immortal soul-guide demon and Philza as an avian). I just think that Cellbit would fit this role better. He already sort of heads the Order, is associated with the colour black as well. But most of all. I think there's a lot of potential for an angst arc where he goes off on his own for some dumb self sacrificial reason I guess, or maybe because of his extremeee trust issues, and neglects his leader duties because of this. and then there's a whole lesson learned kind of thing, maybe roier brings him back, etc.

Now for some backstories:

I think Tubbo would follow Pidge's backstory and motives pretty closely, given his penchant for breaking into the federation offices and snooping around (very Pidge-like behaviour). The thing I struggled with was getting someone to be kidnapped by space aliens that Tubbo cared enough about to go searching for. I already have plans for Fred, Phil, and the eggs, and they're the main things that drive qtubbo. Also, ideally, they'd have to be somewhat older than Tubbo in order to be on the Kerberos mission in the first place. For a while, I thought about somehow having Tubbo and Pierre being connected, but they're not super close in canon, even if he would make an Excellent Sam Holt.

BUT THEN I REMEMBERED: MORNING CREW. ITS PERFECT. I don't think they'd be directly related, but Pac as Matt Holt just works so well. I think Fit and Ramon would be rebel fighters that free Pac from the Galra and they sort of fall in love that way, but Mike was on the Kerberos mission too and is still missing, and that's Pac's main motivation.

So I think the best people for the Kerberos mission crew would be Pac (technician), Mike (engineer), and Cellbit (pilot). Cellbit obviously takes Shiro's role (sans robot arm, that's Etoiles' duty later on - this AU would divert from VLD canon pretty early on). Roier never gives up on Cellbit, just like Tubbo never gives up on Pac (and Mike). Except unlike Tubbo, who has to purposely get enrolled at the Garrison as a cadet in order to get intel, Roier is already graduate from the same class as Cellbit. He KNOWS there's a coverup of some kind, but he has no way of proving it. Fortunately, an old upperclassman/ex-tutor believes in him enough that he believes in Cellbit too, and together they get to work on figuring out this mystery. When an alien pod crash lands, they know they've got to get a closer look.

Missa is an unfortunate decontamination unit first-responder who gets in the way. They can't just leave him behind to sound the alarm - he has to come with them while they rescue Cellbit! Unbeknownst to them, Tubbo has already taken out the alarms and is also on his way over. Miraculously, they all escape with their lives, and magic space lion adventures ensue.

I feel like none of them would really have any time to change into casual clothing, so they're all in uniform. Cellbit would probably still be in prisoner clothing but tbh I just didn't think of that lol. Also, I wanted to draw him in a garrison uniform that wasn't detox or combat oriented. There are so many cool garrison uniform designs out there so drawing the same one twice was kinda soul crushing lol. cant wait to show you guys their individual character sheets!!

[autisticlancemcclain]

Jackie supports the lion swap? How dare you!

Okay SO. This is not the first time I’ve gotten an ask or a comment like this, and I’m fully aware it’s a joke (or at least I think), but I also know that it is kind of a controversial topic on here! And I’ve already written an essay in the topic, but I have some more thoughts I’d like to dive into.

I used to be team Blue Paladin Lance, and hardcore on that team, too. If you look at some of my old fics, you’ll see that. However since I am a contrary person by nature, I started to notice that Red Paladin Lance was way less liked, and so I started to like it more. I really grew fond of the dynamic Keith and Lance got to have as co-leaders, both because it was homoerotic as hell and because the symbolism was fun to explore, but klance is not the main reason I started to care so deeply for the lion change — it was actually Shiro and Allura.

I’m going to start with Shiro, because he’s one of the most fascinating characters in VLD, if not underdeveloped. Part of that fascination for me is that he probably has the most arcs and opportunities for character growth and development in the show, and yet somehow he’s the flattest. He’s portrayed as very one-dimensional in a lot of fic — he tends to be less of a character and more of a role. He’s the Space Dad, or the older brother, or the cool teacher, or the kind and wise friend, or even the stoic Black Paladin. He is loved, I think, but the role he plays is loved, not quite the person he is. And that makes sense, because that is exactly how he’s portrayed in canon.

To Keith, Shiro is “like a brother to [him]”, but what do we see of that dynamic? The show has a clear sense of how a brother acts, that’s a good chunk of Pidge’s character. We barely even know Matt, but Pidge carries herself in such a way that it’s clear when her brother shines through her. And yet even though Shiro also goes missing, twice even, Shiro does not shine through his brother. Keith’s impulses are his own, developed from general abandonment issues rather than Shiro’s specific absence. Shiro’s absence becomes less of Shiro’s absence and more of an absence of a beloved leader figure, kind of a martyr, a “Shiro would have wanted you to carry on”. It is really hard for us as a fandom to use Shiro’s disappearance as anything but a plot device, because that’s all it felt like! We have occasional moments with Shiro, enough to care about him in some way, but as a figure, not as a person. Someone pointed it out on one of my fics and I agree wholeheartedly — Shiro is not shown with any flaws, and that makes it really hard to love him, because you don’t really get the pleasure of defending him, of seeing his motivations, his reasons. Not until the very end, at least.

This is, in all honesty, likely just poor writing. Shiro’s character was honestly just sidelined to a role, because he is really not that present in the show. But I am going to work with the benefit of the doubt, and see if I can use the lion change to explain why we all kind of love Shiro anyway, despite the fact that he’s flat as hell.

Shiro isn’t the Black Paladin. He never was. He flew the Black Lion, yes, and he flew her well — but he was never her Chosen. He couldn’t have been. From the very beginning, the Black Lion was in mourning; she was in no space to choose a new paladin. She accepted Shiro, and she loved him, but he did not fall into her as much as he fell into the role she provided for him. He piloted the Black Lion, but he was not her Paladin. This is made obvious in two ways: in that he never got her bayard, and that from the very beginning, he set up a replacement for himself.

Doesn’t that strike anyone else as odd? I haven’t seen the show in five years, and I don’t plan on rewatching, but I do remember that every moment with Shiro almost had this underlying tension. The closest thing I have to canon off the top of my head is the Handbook (which I had to stop reading because they did everyone SO dirty there, even though some of it was honestly pretty funny), which was released in S2, and even that incredibly early canon talked about Keith replacing Shiro!

From the very beginning, Shiro was planning an out to his role. He knew it was not meant for him. He did the role well, but it was not his to do.

Aside from those two reasons, Shiro also…can’t be the Black Paladin. He can’t be that and himself, I mean. This part is a little more complicated, so I’m going to borrow some of my own tags from some awesome fanart I saw:

I really do think Shiro is defined by his humanity (as is heavily implied by his illness — this is a character who is completely and totally bound to his mortality. Of all the other characters, he is the one most familiar with death, so he is the one who is most intimate with the raw fear of being human. But more on that later), but it’s my last comment that I want to focus on — “he is DEFINED by his his humanity…even as his greatest asset is the part of him that is not human”.

Every second that Shiro is leader of Voltron, he is the Champion. That can literally be his only goal — he is the head of the fight against Zarkon and the Empire. Either Shiro comes out the Champion, or Zarkon does. Either Shiro has to grit his teeth and fight off the flashbacks and the fear and the pain and use the one thing that forces him to reconcile with the fact that he had his entire personhood stripped away (his arm, his Galra arm, one of their biggest advantages as a team; his connection to Zarkon through Black, something that can only help the war effort at a direct cost to him; everything he does in this war is shoving him right back into that Arena again and again and again), or Zarkon wins. Every second Shiro pilots Black, every time he plays her paladin, he has to be who the Empire made him to be. He has to be the Champion. Once again he is not Takashi Shirogane, the person, the astronaut, the man, he is the Role. He is the Space Dad he is the Pilot of the Black Lion he is the Champion. For every second he is in that lion he is stripping away himself.

Obviously, that is something that was never sustainable. On this argument alone, Shiro was going to waste away eventually. There was always going to be a point where Shiro was not going to be able to be the Champion anymore. There was always, from the very way the dynamic was set up, going to have to be a lion switch. Now, interestingly enough, there could have been a really easy fix to this: Black Paladin Allura. She’s already a born and raised leader, already shown her immense competence, already someone the rest of the paladins follow. With her at the helm, nothing else would have to change, right?

Well, maybe. We’ll never know. One part of that is absolutely true — Allura should have been a paladin from the very beginning. Her quintessence is canonically closest to the entirety of Voltron (something that bears its own essay,; the relationship between all six of the paladins and Voltron is wrought with heavy symbolism), she is the most highly trained, she is smart, and she actually wants to be out on the field. She should have been in that armour from day one.

But Allura cannot be the Black Paladin. Allura cannot handle other’s sacrifice.

Of course this is a complicated subject. Should a leader sit back and let her crew sacrifice themselves instead of her? Must she hold herself in higher regard, convince herself she’s more important? Of course not! Teams, especially Voltron, are built with assets. While not everyone might be ‘equal’ in the traditional sense, they are all integral, and expecting sacrifices is not the stance I am trying to take here. But the point of a team, especially a team so small and vital as Voltron, is that everyone is willing to be the sacrifice, as they have to be, and Allura simply can’t handle that. She shows us this from the beginning, when she disguises herself as Galra and is taken in place of anyone on the team she barely knows, and again in Oriande with the White Lion, and finally in the piece of shit canon ending. Allura has to be the sacrifice. Every time.

And how could she not be? The last time she spared herself of sacrifice, she lost her entire people. The last time she let others sacrifice themselves for her, she was left alone, to shoulder a war bigger and greater than she could ever handle. Allura is painfully familiar with the agony of being the survivor, and she cannot do that again. She cannot and will not put herself through that again. As the Black Paladin, she would have to let her team make sacrifices — she would have to let them have their own agency, their own decisions; she would have to let them choose to get hurt and choose to do risky things and analyse and react and act. As leader she would have to trust her team to put themselves in harm’s way, and not only that, but she would have to authorize them to do so.

Like Shiro cannot last as the Champion, Allura cannot last as the Survivor. Shiro cannot even last in Voltron, and it is foolish to keep Allura out of it. A lion change is absolutely necessary for the show to move forward, for the war to move forward. The initial team was doomed to fail.

How would it change, then? What would fit? I know I’ve said my piece. I know who I think would fit where. But since I’ve been comparing character arcs to their roles as paladins, I’d like to keep doing that — what about Keith makes me so sure that he’s the true Black Paladin?

I’ll show you with process of elimination. I know Black Paladin Lance is a favourite, and I can see why. Lance has many leadership qualities, is a good tactician, and cares deeply. However, aside from his desire for power making him less suitable for the role, Lance functions best as support, despite how much he hates it. He is the one who knows how to pick up the pieces of a broken situation. He is an excellent guide, which makes him an unbelievably valuable second. He is adaptable, so he can fill in for many different roles. He can step in for leader when necessary, but putting him in Black would encourage a more active role for him; would force him to anticipate and plan for specific outcomes rather than his strength as one who analyses any outcome as it arises and works within it then. Lance could be the Black Paladin, yes, but taking him from the body and placing him in the head would be a fool’s choice. It would be crippling to Voltron, to put the jack of all trades as a master of one. Lance’s arc is all about learning to love and trust himself as he is, as the seventh wheel. Not to put him in charge of the vehicle.

Well, what about Hunk? Hunk is incredibly intelligent and analytical. He probably could lead Voltron, and did in several occasions. But Hunk’s arc is interesting because it was handled so early in the show. Unlike the rest of the team, Hunk’s arcs were solved largely in the first season. His biggest flaws were his distrust of people and, literally, his inability to fly. He could not take his feet off the ground. He was so untrusting that he could not manage to take a step forward. However his bonding with Yellow and trust with the team and their subsequent and returned trust resolved these issues, more or less, which is probably why Hunk was treated more and more like a side character the longer VLD went on. Hunk didn’t need the role of Black Paladin because he had settled into the Yellow Paladin in a way that was sustainable.

Pidge is in a similar boat. Her arc, primarily, has been about finding her family. Voltron was almost second priority for her, or at least not her only first priority. And understandably so! As the youngest she was afforded with that lenience. Her growth was about growing into her own pain, about becoming her own person alongside what she had become in the absence of her brother. As the Black Paladin, she would no longer have the space to prioritize her search for her family alongside Voltron, so her position as Black Paladin would be unstable. She is best suited in Green, where she can focus on several things at once.

That really only leaves Keith. In many ways it comes full circle — the Black Lion healing from her grief by choosing the man who ran from his Galran heritage and his power as a leader, rather than the man who chose nationalism and power over anything else. Keith is Zarkon’s direct opposite, and as such is the other side of the same coin, the one who is truly Black’s Chosen. We know this because Keith is the one who wields the Black Bayard, and Keith is, from the very beginning, the one the rest of the team chooses to follow — I ask you whether it was for Shiro that the three other humans ran off to chase in the desert, or Keith? Who was it that Lance could not leave alone? Who was it that piqued Hunk’s curiousity? Who was it that challenged Pidge to choose Voltron, rather than the search for her family?

That covers Black Paladin Keith. But what about Red Paladin Lance? I’ve established already why he cannot be the Black Paladin, but why did he have to move from Blue? For that, I bring you another few slices from early, S2 and previous canon:

“I thought what we had was special!” “Seventh wheel, if you count the Alteans.” More than once, Lance laments over being forgotten. He struggles with feeling like anything but the extra, the unnecessary. Whether or not Blue Chose him is irrelevant — he does not feel Chosen by her. The Pilot of the Blue Lion position for Lance is as unsustainable as the Pilot of the Black Lion position for Shiro — Lance does not trust it. He doesn’t trust himself in the role, and doesn’t trust Blue in having chosen it for him. Obviously, this is not the role for him.

But Red? Keith’s Red Paladin, at least? Yes, he struggles with feeling like Keith’s second, but that is literally his arc. Lance’s development is about becoming his own person despite his own misgivings about being second-best. His role as the Red Paladin is the fulfilling of his arc, and is thus the best Lion for him, the Chosen. And Red did Choose him, mind you. There was an adjustment period, of course there was, but Red did more than let Lance pilot her. She opened up new possibilities for Lance — think the broadsword — that he could not see. Red saw his potential and revelled in it. She Chose him.

Lastly — and this turned out to be less relevant to the essay than I expected, but I do want to go over it a tad — is Shiro’s tie to humanity. I mentioned two important points: Shiro’s connection to mortality makes him the most intimate with his humanity out of all the characters, and he is undoubtedly the flattest character of them all. That is, if you don’t consider his clone to be part of his character.

But I’m begging you to reconsider. Reconsider, perhaps, who the clone is — Haggar had pure access to Shiro for a year, you remember. His thoughts, his dreams, his mannerisms, his priorities, his body. Even him at his most human, his most deranged, his most scared. She had Shiro then. She had Shiro when he had nothing to look forward to. She had Shiro when he hurt his crew to make sure they would live, at direct cost to himself.

She stripped him of his humanity — his connection to his own mortality. She took his illness from him. And who, then, did she return to the team? Who was clone? Shiro, mostly. The clone was happy to play with the team. The clone was clever. The clone believed, fully, that he was Shiro, only he was angrier and meaner, a little, and less capable of shoving down his own pain. Shiro, stripped of his tie to humanity and mortality, stripped of his compulsive need to be strained and stressed and the one everyone else can rely on, the Role rather than the Person, is emotional. He has flaws and outbursts. He can’t manage his own pain. He is is cruelest to the one person on the team — Lance — who canonically reminds him closest of himself.

Shiro, in the purest form that Haggar can make him, is flawed and self-hating. That is where our love for him comes. Not the man who pushes himself down at the same time as he sacrifices his personality to be someone for others, but the man who is struggling and can’t keep it locked down. That’s where it comes from.

Anyways. Like with my other essay, I’ll admit that this analysis is probably reading into this. The writing of VLD was flawed, at best, but regardless, I think the lion change is a rich amalgamation of the characters and who they really are.

[hungriesttable]

if the Sinners got a dog

(below the cut because I actually have a decent amount of thoughts on this)

Outis: one of the only (and possibly THE only) sinners committed to disciplining the dog. She’s a bit perturbed that the dog won’t reliably sit/stay on command because it tends to jump at random intervals instead (Don Quixote’s influence).

Has some belief that if she speaks in a voice that’s authoritative enough, the dog will understand what she’s saying. Is displeased when that doesn’t happen. “Why are you trying to sit on me? No.” “It’s because the dog likes you” “If she likes me she will sit politely on the ground as she is supposed to”

Rodya: She was the one who named the dog, and probably rescued it off of the street, insisting that they should keep the dog at least for a little while. Feeds the dog a bit of whatever the Sinners are having. “That’s not good for dogs!” “A little won’t do her any harm~”

Sinclair: He wasn’t sure what to make of the dog at first (it’s probably not vaccinated, and he only became sure it didn’t have rabies after a couple of days), but he’s pretty fond of it. Whenever he’s in need of company, the dog appears without him needing to say anything. It’s warm, soft, and close, and he definitely thinks of it as a family member. That being said he personally has a steep learning curve of “how to take care of a dog” (if he had one in his previous years then there was probably a butler to take care of it)

Heathcliff: I recently read Wuthering Heights. This gives me reason to suspect that Heathcliff would not be a big fan of the dog, at least at first. He’s fine with it from a distance, but protests to having to touch it (and to having it touch him). I’d imagine that it gets on his good side eventually, though, and he’d probably be one of those people who wants the dog to love him the most out of everyone.

Ryōshū: They weren’t really sure how she would react to the dog at first. She’s currently trying to teach it how to sic. Given the opportunity, she’ll examine the dog’s body. Her efforts of questionable motivation led to the discovery that the dog is missing a tooth.

Gregor: After 5.5, I think it’s safe to say that he’s the “dad with the dog he didn’t want”. He notices that the dog is repulsed by the smell of cigarettes and doesn’t smoke as actively when he’s around it.

Don Quixote: She wants the dog to be her sidekick. She’s taught the dog how to hug (ie how to jump and put its paws on her chest/shoulder), and is hoping to teach the dog how to do some advanced stunts. “Move forth, my companion, and fetch mine lance!” (Dog does nothing)

Yi Sang: The dog is his buddy. He’s a bit concerned about the idea that the dog could be involved in Limbus Company’s business, but has no problem with the idea of teaching the dog some more simple stuff (eg how to track scents and find lost people/things).

Faust: If there’s a City equivalent to a Wikipedia page on dogs, she probably read it. Several times. She wouldn’t say it, but the dog’s capriciousness often confounds her. In lieu of a microchip, she made a tracking collar for the dog.

Meursault: He and the dog share a certain special bond due to his willingness to walk, clean up after, and generally take care of the dog when others don’t feel like it. He’s not necessarily a fan of the whole “spontaneous tackling” thing, but he’s big enough to avoid being pushed over and has few other complaints about the dog. With the lack of interest in training the dog on the bus, he doesn’t see the use of disclosing what he knows about training dogs.

Ishmael: She likes the dog. Walking the dog often brings her mixed feelings, since it reminds her of the other experiences she’s had with being on the end of a guiding rope. She’s figured out that she can derail Heathcliff’s train of thought by invoking the dog, either physically or in name, and she’s greatly enjoying this ability.

Vergilius: He was dubious about the whole “dog on the bus” thing. Since Charon seems to enjoy the dog’s presence, however, he sees no point in objecting to it. He doesn’t dislike dogs, but the fact that anything bad happening to the dog could have catastrophic consequences means he’s always a little on edge around it. If the Sinners weren’t planning on doing their best to take care of it before, they certainly are after receiving some Red Gaze-brand reminders to be responsible pet owners.

Dante: Rewinding dog scratches is a small burden, but please, can SOMEONE cut the dog’s nails? They like the dog, but their clock head doesn’t seem to win them any canine popularity points. They’re both disappointed and relieved that the dog doesn’t count as a thirteenth Sinner.