#or to imply something else that is a combination or its own meaning from it?

[aria0fgold]

The nickname "Sunshine" is so commonly used yet I never get tired of it cuz it's just so poetic in its own way, it can imply so many things and I love it so much. Just imagine...

You are warm like the sun, bright like its rays. You burn so intensely with a light that brings life yet you destroy yourself at the same time.

You are life yet you bring upon death. You are what keeps me alive yet you are what destroys me just as you do to yourself. But even then I stay, gazing upon you like a sunflower that cannot look away.

You are the sun, and I am Icarus captivated by your warmth, blinded by your light. My wings set ablaze upon your touch and even as I fall to my death, I still love you all the same.

[minggukieology]

"Jimin and Jungkook's casualness isn't anything out of the ordinary but is still surprising"

'지민 (Jimin) Choreography Practice Sketch' write-up ✍️

Among Jimin's gruesome practice sessions and strict work ethics leading up to Face promotions, we were given a peak into a few moments out of Jungkook's visit on day 2.

What struck me (and even k-armys) is that they didn't even bother to pretend to be formal in front of the staff and camera + crew, which just goes to show how long gone are their age barriers in communication and behavior. Once again I know we are all well aware of this development between them, however it is still a bit surprising seeing that happen in front of strangers- especially at their workplace and during work, which is a formal setting. The significance of this may appear minimal to you but in Korean culture, the way you talk to someone but also what you discuss and how you phrase it is highly influenced by the age hierarchy. Allowing someone speak to you informally (even in the public or formal settings) means they now have the same rank as you and their word is thus referred to/significant on the same level as yours and they can express things way more directly. In a highly hierarchical culture with a strong respect for authority (or anyone above) this presents a disruption in an embedded way of thought and behavior that is in the minds of all Koreans from the very early age. 반말 (banmal) of course does happen among many people even those who are not 친구 (friends- meaning people born in the same year) but it is not something that is just expected automatically and in any social setting. (I am excluding family ties here)

Thus, what the international audience may see and perceive only reading the translated subs:

"Ah cool, Jungkook came and supported Jimin"

What the Korean audience (or anyone with just a little knowledge of the language and culture) sees and perceives:

"Oh wow they are speaking informally so naturally to each other, they seem so close"

JK: "I'll cheer for/ support (you)"

(*said in a form that implies promise to someone for the future, informal tone)

JM: "Come again"

(*said as an informal command or request)

Other fav moments:

JK: "Noo, do it once (for me)!"

(*주다 on its own means to give, gift someone something; in combination with other verbs like 하다 (to do) it implies doing something for someone; the most accurate but weird way in English to translate would be: "give a doing" Here Jungkook commands/requests Jimin to do the dance for him in an informal tone which sounds veeery casual, especially considering the dancers nearby 🫣)

JK: "It's awesome/ You're awesome"

(*Again informal tone, the pronouns are not stated therefore both you/it could be inserted)

JK: "Will be cheering (for you), myself"

(Informal tone, said in a form that implies promise to someone for the future + Jungkook added 내가 at the end of the sentence to emphasize he personally will be cheering/supporting Jimin on. Reminder- Korean sentences don't need pronouns, therefore you can tell he used it for added emphasis)

All in all, Jungkook didn't use the formal level a single time besides when he was leaving and told Jimin + everyone else in the room to "take care" (수고하세요).

Finally, to anyone trying to use Jungkook's informal "nope" to Jimin's direct requests to get his ass over there more frequently probably didn't catch just how """seriously""" both of them were taking that convo, as you can see from Jungkook's smirk hidden under the mask ㅋㅋ

Also just how long were they teasing and saying bye to each other if there is a cut and suddenly Jungkook is standing on the other side, still saying bye and holding hands with Jimin? 😆

This short edit of Jungkook's appearance tells a lot about their dynamic and reassures everyone that can perceive the tone of their closeness. I'm glad we could see a little bit of it in this video!

[another-lost-mc]

OMG THE ZEE FIC!! There's just something about yandere demon ocs that make me feral 🤭

Oh no, handsome demons being obsessed with you~

If the demon brothers and side characters can be a little sketchy, so can the OCs.

cw: yandere-ish themes and behaviours including stalking, implied violence and non-con magic/drugging to influence mc.

Karasu shares Levi's brand of obsessive jealousy and desire, easily concealed by his impressive connections and his naturally shy, passive demeanor. Being a social introvert has its advantages, after all. The amount of information as his disposal through the technology he created makes it easy for him to observe MC safely from a distance while gathering information about anyone else who attempts to get close to them.

Zee would be similar to Lucifer or Barbatos I think. Smart enough to know how much he can get away with, and he has enough restraint not to draw attention to himself in the process. Plus, like the other two demons, Zee has his own little tricks and conspirators that naturally help him avoid detection while keeping tabs on MC.

Azra and Belial are infatuation-at-first-sight types, where Azra is more jealous and Belial is more possessive when it comes to their love interests. Unfortunately, they both have poor impulse control and rely on their trusted associates (Zee for Azra, Shaitan for Belial) to keep things from getting out of hand and help them clean up any messes along the way. They're a weird combination of Mammon, Satan, and Asmo when it comes to their very boisterous affections for MC (and barely-restrained anger at anyone who gets in their way).

Tenebris has Solomon's magical tricks and Diavolo's nearly untouchable privilege. He's less inclined to use magic on MC, instead choosing to use whatever means necessary to quietly chase away or dispose of his competition. There's probably no surprise that he feels confident about escaping any real repercussions should his actions be discovered - his brother's not going to punish him the way he might any other demon (and if Diavolo is secretly taking part in the scheme, who could blame him, it's a fair compromise they both benefit from).

Simeon and the angel OCs have their sweet faces, pleasant personalities and natural charisma to help lure MC into their grasp. They're the wolves in sheep's clothing that stalk the tasty morsels in the flock. And what's even better - or worse, depending who you ask - is that many of the angels are willing to cooperate.

Metatron and Asmo will seem similar with their bubbly cheerfulness and how touchy-feely they are in MC's personal space.

Seraphiel, Gabriel and Uriel will seem similar to Lucifer or Satan with their calm, methodical approach to dealing with obstacles (and the incensed frustrations they hide behind sweet smiles, resolved later with sharp blades and split knuckles behind closed doors).

Habuhiah has Solomon's brilliance and Beel's warm, protective demeanor. She is calm and reliable, using her knowledge of magic and herbs to create to sweeten MC's affections for her and no one else. She spends most of her time working alone and far away from the Celestial Halls, and when MC visits, it's the perfect excuse to spend time together where the other angels are less likely to interfere.

[hunterthegrimwalker]

I think I've cracked the mystery of the red soul's trait...(yes really)

It's been years since the community is debating about the Red soul's real trait, since it's one of the game's biggest mysteries left intentionally up to the player interpretation. The most popular contender being of course determination despite the lack of evidences. However, after years of pondering, I think I might be into something thanks to my findings. Let's not look further than the only place that's supposed to reveal us every soul trait, aka the Ball Game.

The first message we get by interacting with this game is:

Curious how the only word that's written in red in the whole neutral/pacifist run (in narration i mean, not dialogues) is in a context where different color typing plays a crucial role in revealing every soul's trait. That's not the only thing that stands out with its typing. The word is capitalized just like all other traits:

It's also written in quotation marks, as if it is not supposed to be a literal hole or a metaphor for something else within the context of the Ball Game.

And finally, all of these specificities are gone once you exhaust the Snowdin's kill count and can't play the Ball Game anymore:

This strongly suggests that all typing specifities I've mentioned before are directly tied to the Ball Game alone, hence why they're gone when the game can't be played. It all feels too deliberate to be a coincidence, so it's likely supposed to be connected to the red soul's trait.

Hole is emptiness, which means that hole symbolizes the absence of trait, which more likely than not means that the red soul is the one every human is born with before developing their trait through experience. It's also interesting how Frisk pulls a flag from said "hole" by using different methods to win, as if they were pulling a trait from their soul by using different tactics to reach their goal. As if it symbolized how Frisk develops their personality using different tactics to reach their goal. Speaking of which, let's analyze the second word written in red in the ball game:

It's undeniable that the use of red text here is directly tied to the red soul as you get the message when you get the red flag, supposed to represent the red soul. "Ball Game" also has the same exact typing specifities as the "Hole" (capitalization and quotation marks). So "Ball Game" is very likely also supposed to symbolize the red trait that Frisk get by using the six other traits. Of course, Frisk doesn't get their trait just by playing a mini game but it works as a metaphor for Frisk's journey in the underground. They start as a little kid who's still figuring their identity and develop one throughout their journey in the underground. One that's not restricted to a single trait but is a combination of all these traits (I guess it only the case for Pacifist route since it's the true ending). So the red text for "Ball Game" either means Frisk's trait turns into a combination of all the 6 traits since they're parts of the game or that the entire Ball Game was supposed to symbolize Frisk's journey of figuring out their identity as it's implied by the second red flag's message:

It's important to note that Frisk only gets this message AFTER "winning" the Ball Game and getting the red flag for the first time, so it likely means Frisk already "developed their own identity", so all they do by getting the second red flag (which became their final trait) is to continue being themselves.

Here some other interesting facts. First, the wording for the first red flag's message make it feel like a much more definitive victory ("you were able to win at "Ball Game") compared to messages for the rest of the flags:

There's no sense of definitive victory unlike the message that Frisk gets when they get the red flag, heavily implying that the goal of the Ball Game was to symbolize Frisk's journey to develop their own identity. It's also suggested by fact that getting the red flag the first time gives you the highest award and is the most difficult flag to get.

It all ties way too beautifully for it all to be simple coincidences, especially given Frisk's role as our controllable protagonist with an ambiguous personality, appearance and expression. Dunno what you think of this little theory of mine but I'm 100% convinced that all it was deliberate as it fits just seamlessly. But to each their own, I guess.

[talon-dragonbeast]

Can I ask abt your dragon lore? lol. I mean like. more about your species? can they talk, are they sapient, behaviors, temperament, biology, etc. If u want to share! I just thought it would be fun to ask and I love learning abt how others experience dragonness. I was also curious abt how u awakened as a dragon? I’m questioning currently

yes!! sorry for taking so long to answer, but to be fair its a question which required a pretty in-depth answer lol. so here we go!

my species of dragon has similarities to both reptiles and birds (and a little bit of mammal too). im a reptile because im cold-blooded, have scales over most of my body, spines running from head to tail, big shield plates on my neck and chest, eyes with sliced pupils, a long strong tail, and my claws and teeth are similar to those of crocodiles. im similar to a bird cause i have feathers on my wings, my mouth resembles a beak in shape, i have bird behaviors like nesting, and my body is built for flying and thus pretty aerodynamic. and finally, i say im a bit mammalian bc ive got ears and horns, and bc of the general shape of my body, being quadrupedal and semi-digitigrade (my front legs are plantigrade, while my back ones are digitigrade), with long limbs and strong bones, and because i can make sounds like growls or roars that sound a bit like those of big cats.

i cant talk as a dragon and my species doesnt have a language, cant use tools and cant understand human words. im basically a very intelligent animal, like a crow. my species does have a society, but we're very solitary beings so its pretty rudimentary. we raise our young communally, and once they reach maturity they are encouraged to leave the nest and find their own territory. we have Roles which are our version of genders in humans, but instead of tied to a biological sex theyre more about your place in society. so for example, there are Protectors (who have a territory that they guard, typically associated to more solitary dragons like myself), Providers (primarily hunters, they bring resources for their mate or dragonets; very nomadic) and Carers (theyre by far the most social role; as the name implies, they are the primary carers of our young, but they also keep balance in a community). sex or gender arent that important to my species, but we do mate for life.

im an omnivore, my diet consists mainly on meat, fish, and fruits, but i can eat functionally anything (except straight-up leaves, which i cant digest). im primarily a predator and a hunter, but i also forage a lot of my food. im agressive as a dragon, so that combined with being very intelligent makes me pretty dangerous to both humans and other animals.

hmm, what else... oh! i can breathe fire! its not like in most depictions of dragons though, in which theyre used as a perfectly functional flamethrower; i cant really project it or aim it at anything, it only goes as far as i can blow it. i dont exactly know how it works, but from the way my instincts tell me to just blow in a specific way to produce it, i can guess its like a gland or something that contains very flammable gas, that when it comes in contact with oxygen it catches fire.

as for how i awakened as a dragon, i realized first that i was nonhuman in some way (like i viewed myself as not human, but wasnt sure what species i was yet) because i felt wings on my back since i was very young. first i googled "phantom wings on your back?" and came across the word otherkin in a very old blog run by a spiritual dragonkin. upon seeing that there were others like me who felt phantom limbs and saw themselves as not human, i began questioning my species. i thought i was a crow at first because of the wings, but i tried on the label and it felt just wrong, so i thought i wasnt nonhuman after all. i basically dropped everything entirely for a few months, but the wings i felt on my back were getting stronger and stronger, and on top of that i also started feeling other things like claws and sharp teeth. so for the entire summer i tried on different species to see what fit: avian (bc of the wings), angelkin (i immediately dropped this one bc religion makes me very uncomfortable lmao), harpy (bc of the combination of wings+claws+teeth, but it wasnt quite right), monsterkin (felt weird to call myself a monster), and finally in a fit of inspiration i had a random thought: "what if im a dragon?"

i immediately got a rush of euphoria from the thought alone. this hadnt happened with any of the other labels, so i decided to start exploring it a bit more. the phantom limbs i felt matched those of a dragon (though the feathered wings threw me off a bit), i had very draconic behaviors like hoarding, liking shiny objects, flying urges, instincts get to high places, etc. and most importantly, it felt so good to call myself a dragon. like i could see myself as a dragon perfectly, i could imagine what i would be like as a dragon, i could do dragon behaviors almost effortlessly. being a dragon never felt like i was acting or putting on a mask, it didnt feel like i was "forcing" myself to be that way; it just felt natural, like i was always this way. thats what finally made me start identifying as dragonkin i think: the easiness of it all.

good luck on your questioning journey! i know it can be hard to find out what species you are, but remember to not overthink it too much! it can be tempting to start analyzing absolutely everything about yourself in hopes of finding your species, but overdoing it can cause you to lose yourself in the process. take it easy and remember to follow what feels right to you, without worrying about what others might say or do. this is your journey, not anyone else's!

[bitter-sweet-coffee]

ok this time there ARE barbie spoilers but it’s just the things i didn’t like so feel free to ignore this if you had fun and don’t want me ruining anything! like seriously, i do not want to make anyone upset here because of how positive the fandom vibes are. i just wanna y’know, air out some dirty laundry i have with what i just witnessed

as a disclaimer i’ve only seen it once and it ended like 40 minutes ago LMAO forgive me for any name mistakes i suck with those

- ken never got closure and i get what they were going for, just having a bunch of guys repeat “ken is me” over and over isn’t cutting it. felt this way with the “hi barbie” intro. like yes, i get what it aims to accomplish, but god does it get grating

- SOME of the fourth wall breaks were good. most were not. weird barbie and all the discontinued barbies were funny, and the drinking water gag was great. but the narrator stuff was WAY too prevalent and i get that it’s camp, but it was a tad too much at times. i’m torn on the margot line because it wasn’t necessarily bad, i just think it ruined the moment a little

- SO MANY UNFINISHED PLOTLINES OH MY GOD. you’re telling me the travel montage was all it took for gloria and sasha to bond and fix their issues? we saw their conflict through barbie’s memory link, it was never elaborated on. not once. suddenly by the end they’re getting along. the same could be about weird barbie? she always embraced the weirdness so the apology and “un-outcasting” felt off because a) it seemed like she was secluded by her own will and b) the barbies were never necessarily mean to her, they just acknowledged she’s different? which she knew and was okay with and self aware of? idk i guess an apology is fair, but the way it was delivered implied a deeper conflict we never saw

- mattel boardroom. enough said. i get will ferrell probably has a contracted screentime for funny gimmicks but it was so grating and a waste of time

- in a similar vein, all the travel montages combined probably take up as much time as the real-world scenes. for a movie that advertised barbie in the real world at a seeming first glance, that basically never happened LOL maybe that’s on me for having expectations though

- listen, LISTEN. i know there’s a lot of conflict right now with the “boo forced feminism” propaganda spreading around and i swear on god that isn’t me. HOWEVER. i do think that the way they went about resetting free will and that super long montage from gloria was not handled as well as it should have been. do i agree with everything said in the speech she gave? abso fuckin lutely. but remember, SHOW not TELL. they created this brainwashing plot device only to immediately dismantle it with one #girlboss speech which imo, undermines the very point the monologue was trying to make. i just wish they did more actual empowerment and not cheap exposition via a shenanigans montage and a third party speaker reciting a well constructed feminist rant which was just… INSERTED into a feel-good scene. i was hoping for something more organic but that’s just me. like, the barbie feeling self conscious was on the nose, but it did its thing. it’s camp i expected that. by this point in the film however, i expected more

- last thing for now: the plot was just a mess i’m sorry. the beginning was slow and expositional sure i get it, maybe it dragged a little too long when you consider everything else they tried to shove into the runtime, but for a typical film that would be a decent portion of establishing a plot. the real world segment? god, so many open doors, most of them were ignored. 99% of the real world was gimmicks and throwaway lines. the bench scene was the shining gem in that pacing dumpster. mattel plot we already know i don’t like, minus the ruth part. i have a lot of thoughts on ken patriarchy that i don’t have time or effort to unpack right now, but it was funny. and then it went on way too long and became annoying but not in the good way, in the “i get this is camp but it feels stupid” way. gosling killed that musical number but for a film about barbie, that was a hella long ken segment. like, this was a ken movie with barbie having existential dread in the background. then a bunch of magical fixits happen and suddenly all conflicts are resolved through magical means and cheap jokes and imaginary character development!!! oh but they gave barbie a pussy we unironically stan that for her (i’m serious lol like i think the joke was such a lame way to end the film but it’s funny enough to say that this whole film all barbie wanted was gender affirming surgery. i’ll allow it for sheer comedic purposes)

TLDR: i have many many complaints but i don’t think the movie is bad. it’s just fun, not particularly good all around. IT HAS GOOD MOMENTS!!! I AM NOT DENYING THERE IS SOME QUALITY HERE! i just think its hit or miss and while not every film has to be a feminist manifesto, i think all the hype and expectations definitely oversold the actual film i just witnessed because it was not particularly good. but it’s fun! and it’s okay to just enjoy that, this is my initial impression but maybe i’ll grow to like it more. just wanted to put this out here in case someone else feels the same way and doesn’t want to take the fall for finding it mid

[katyspersonal]

What's your interpretation that the left hand of cleric beast is much bigger that the right?🤔

Well, like I've pointed out before, the only explanation I am seeing is blood ministration being done on the left arm!

However, this might get a little more interesting with the Cleric Beasts, because Emilia is also one, yet her arms are symmetrical!

My closest guess to why it happened is because of something Healing Church has been known to do with female bodies. Namely - do some sort of surgery/manipulation/operation on them in order to change their blood type into 'holy blood' one, which they are able to share with the hunters!

English localization team had to use term "groomed" instead of whatever this actually says, and this is definitely going into top 10 of my biggest headaches with mistranslations! As you can see from the Japanese script retranslation ( x ), the meaning is more literal, implying a procedure. I always felt like it would be a surgery on bone marrow, since this is where blood cells are produced, and doctors in Bloodborne could have learned to alter them into having impossible type of blood!

So, as a female cleric, Amelia might have had her first communion with the holy blood as a Blood Saint, instead of generic blood ministration treatment like apparently everyone else has!

I am still not sure why female staff specifically was the Blood Saints, since apparently blood vials are not menstrual blood, as we can learn thanks to Adeline:

Maybe it could have something to do with menstrual cycle, though, because of the whole cycle of moon vs menstrual cycle thing, and Laurence being affiliated with Moon Presence, and then Micolash also stealing his swag and basing his own institution on:

I'd say this is either some sort of deeply rooted superstition within the setting, or in fact, yes, the holy blood links to the Great Ones who put HELLA importance on blood and birth, so being biologically female is crucial for that link to take intended effects.

Ludwig is an interesting case, though! He was SUPPOSED to have blood ministration too, like Laurence or Cleric Beast of the Bridge! Why would not the first Healing Church hunter and the HEAD of their hunters do something so crucial? Especially since Cleric Beast of the Bridge drops the Sword Badge with which you buy Hunter Chief Emblem, implying that this beast is currently what Ludwig used to be? But his left arm is not bigger. In fact, it is even smaller. So I am trying to think of the variants of what had happened here:

1) Ludwig somehow merged with an actual horse, so his anatomy is simply no longer judged through the same lense

2) Ludwig is a leftie, and this is where he holds his Holy Moonlight Sword, so its effect would be a "remedy" for possible arm deformations

3) Ludwig is not a simple beast, but the one with a lot of Kin features, so his anatomy is simply no longer judged through the same lense (+horses are primarily herbivores, and Kin is associated with the flora in the setting, so maybe that's why he went horsegirl mode instead of getting something weak like antlers lol)

4) Ludwig is trans and actually was the first to get Blood Saint treatment rather than regular blood ministration (+we take Adeline's blood from her right arm, and notice that his right arm is a little bigger)

5) Ludwig is a cis man and was the first biological male who attempted to receive Blood Saint treatment instead of regular blood ministration, but that didn't take the intended effect because the gods Be Like That in the setting + his unusual visions and mutation might be the side effect of that and that's why Healing Church stopped doing that with male organisms. Basically, if a male attempts becoming a living factory for the holy blood, it will go "wrong".

6) Combinations of the above points

.....Okay, that went a little unfocused from the initial topic, but you see my points here! Thank you for the ask!

_________________

Bonus ideas:

- Whereas Ludwig is holding the Holy Moonlight Sword in his left hand, Amelia also is grasping the Gold Pendant in her left hand. So maybe nothing was special about her, but holding a special item in the "effected" hand will remedy the asymmetry effect, and had Amelia not been doing that all the time, she'd be asymmetrical too?

- Amelia using recolored model for Bell-Ringing Woman for her appearance might be not accidental, but a fuel for the headcanon that she has Pthumerian blood too, and Pthumerians might simply evolve differently, or traditionally have different way they' go for the blood communition. Off the top of my head, look at Loran Clerics having same sized arms:

Basically, I can answer why Cleric Beasts and the huntsmen have asymmetrical arms, but not why people like Emilia and Ludwig broke the trend despite being the first in line to have blood ministration normally... Because I just have too many ideas, and my preference usually falls towards the most logical ones, but when there are equally logical ideas I become helpless :')

[perpetualdaydreamerr]

Upon the Eternal Shore: An EPIC the Musical Fanfiction (Chapter 4)

Snippets of the 7 years Odysseus spent with Calypso.

---

CONTENT WARNING: heavily implied r*pe, non-con, victim-blaming, emotional abuse, PTSD, descriptions of violence. Please consider before reading.

---

Days 357 & 471

-

He had traced every corner of the island more times than he could possibly count.

In the months that had passed, he'd requested more papyrus from Calypso multiple times. What had started off as an initial sketch of the island had developed into excessive record keeping of every detail he could possibly capture in writing.

He found a sturdy fallen log nearly twice his height. He painstakingly spent weeks laying it down along the coast, hurling it over itself, and doing so again and again until he had measured a given dimension of the island in his own new metric: “one log”. This gave him a reference point for everything else, something to build off of.

His drafts only became more and more meticulous from there. He was convinced that somewhere, in the heart of the island, there was a puzzle he had to solve. Something about its shape or characteristics that held the key for his escape. Perhaps a combination he had to repeat back to the goddess. Maybe a hidden treasure that needed to be found and presented to her. It was the only idea he had left.

There was absolutely no means of physical escape. She never left him alone, not truly. On the multitude of occasions he'd tried to swim away in a blind flurry, he had quickly been apprehended. Any raft he had attempted to build had been immediately sabotaged. The wood would rot overnight, the sails would come undone. Trying to paddle away on a partially built one was just as futile as swimming. If he got off the island, it wouldn't be through obvious means. It would be through wit, as so much had been on this journey.

Sometimes, when he spoke to himself, his voice would startle him. It had been an eternity since he'd heard anything more than the gentle breeze over the waves, the etching of his stylus, and her voice- always her’s.

“You make beautiful maps,” Calypso told him one evening, sitting beside him near the campfire. “They look like little pieces of art.”

“...Mm,” he mumbled. His voice was terribly dry, and it was uncomfortable to speak. On certain days when he became horribly entranced with his work, he didn't remember to drink water.

Calypso held onto one of his creations in her hands. A map of the northwestern quadrant of the island, detailed with every major boulder and natural feature. “It's so… exact.”

“That one isn't, not yet,” Odysseus mumbled. His voice faltered, and he met it with a harsh cough.

Calypso frowned. Her eyes glowed, and she touched a hand to his neck. He took a breath, and the familiar dryness ceased.

“You need to remember to drink water, my love,” she tsked. She looked back down at the paper, squinting her eyes. “...How is it not finished yet? It's so well done.”

“It isn't at all to scale yet. I haven't measured the distances of any of this from the coast- or the cliffside. It's all approximated,” he explained. He shook his head. “Not to mention if the angles are even slightly off on my measurement of the perimeter…”

“Why do you labor so extensively for a map?” She questioned, shaking her head. “It isn't as though you find yourself lost here.”

“What else would you have me do, Calypso?” he asked her. The words were simple, but they gathered a heavy weight as they fell from his lips. He looked at her- haggered and hopeless. This was his final idea. His final hope.

She pursed her lips. Pity crossed her eyes. The appearance of it, anyways- he couldn't bring himself to believe it. He looked back down at his map. It didn't resemble anything, not yet, but it would eventually. It would if he got all of the measurements just right. He'd solve the puzzle. He'd find the way to escape.

-

He hadn't resisted her that evening. He hadn't fought, hadn't yelled. He rarely did anymore. It didn't matter either way. It always happened, no matter what he did, or tried to do. He found it easier to stare up, to let it pass by. Oftentimes, he was able to enter a dream-like state during the act. He would focus on the shimmering marble ceiling- become utterly lost in the shapes he swore he could trace out. Pigeons, and grape stems, and faces. He forgot how much time had passed, where he was, who he was. Gone, lost in the lifeless stone.

He didn't realize it was over until she spoke. Until her words, escalating in volume, forced him out of his stupor.

“Odysseus? Ody? Ody?” She was repeating, over and over, like a hum. It grew in his ear, a buzz, a perpetual buzz, until he found the strength to turn his head to the side. To look at her.

“What?” He croaked. His throat felt like it was being torn apart by flintrock.

“I just… wanted to say that- I'd let you go if I knew for certain that you'd come back. I swear I would. But there's no way for me to be sure of that.” Her fanciful words cascaded against the stone of the room and echoed. “...And I just can't stand the thought of letting you go. Of being alone again.”

He looked back in her dark eyes. They appeared black in the twilight. Black like Syclla’s. He felt nothing in response to her comment. He never did care for her excuses. Her reasoning never mattered to him, when the end was the same. Captivity. The island. Her sweat stuck on his body.

“...Is there any point in my begging you again?” he murmured. He sounded older than he had even a year ago.

“Ody…”

“I'll do it. You know I will.” He stared into her eyes. He had done it numerous times before. Pleaded with her on his knees. Begged like a coward.

“Odysseus, you should go to sleep, my love. You'll be tired tomorrow.”

His eyes returned to the ceiling. It had almost been an entire year. He shivered, though it wasn't cold.

-

Properly mapping out the positions and dimensions of features on the island proved to be exceedingly more difficult than simply measuring the perimeter. The unevenness of the land made his log measure roll and shift more often than not, resulting in agonizing re-measurements that took weeks to complete. The tides, though considerably more temperant than the ones found on any other island he'd been on, still changed to some degree. He realized only weeks later that that would've certainly messed up his already pre-established measurements. He would have to start over.

It took him months to fully develop a system to mitigate the problem. He cut down trees and refined them into posts. He dug holes around the entirety of the island- every three “logs” apart- and buried the posts inside of them, forming a makeshift grid. That would serve as the primary reference point for all other calculations.

Calypso didn't say very much more about his work. She followed him around every day, occasionally lending a helpful spell to assist him. When the rough bark of tree trunks tore open the blisters on his hands, she'd be there, golden-eyed and delicate, ready to heal it. Every morning and evening, she prepared him food, and throughout the day, she'd bring him water. He accepted the assistance, hoping that properly sustaining himself would enable him to be faster, smarter, more efficient.

It gave him a sense of purpose. Labor that easily filled up the daylight hours of each day. He gained more weight, more muscle. He cut his hair to keep it out of his way. It was a new way of life.

He stared down at one of his maps one evening after he'd finished supper. She'd made him some sort of stew to eat- though he hadn't paid any real attention to it. Rather, he was fixated on the newest development he'd wrapped up during the day.

“...What'll be next for your maps?” Calypso asked, watching his eyes travel over the papyrus. “...Now that you've finished the river?”

Odysseus didn't look up. His eyes scanned, searched- trying to decipher anything that he hadn't been able to piece together yet. The river had been finished today, which had been one of the most tedious pieces of the map. Several new units of measure had had to be created. Smaller pieces of wood were refined into “half logs” and “quarter logs”, allowing him more flexibility and accuracy. It reminded him of the tedious nature of designing and building his palace, but more prone to error given the imperfection of natural tools. The illustrated river would never be perfect, but he'd done his best to recreate the natural curvatures and fluctuations in it. He'd been hopeful that this was finally the solution to his problem- some answer, hidden in the twists and turns…

“Ody? Can you hear me?”

He was typically more successful at blocking out the drone of her voice, but now it merely distracted him. He looked up, hoping to satiate her with a response so that he could observe it in peace.

“...What're you going to add next?”

“...Trees,” he murmured. He wasn't sure what else to do. He'd already added the three large oaks in the northeastern quadrant, and he'd loosely sketched in where the island was the most densely populated with them.

“Don't you already have trees on there?” She pried, gesturing to one of his sketched forests.

“...I’ll count them. Get them all,” he decided softly. Nothing on his map stood out yet. It had to be a more complicated puzzle. Maybe the sum total of trees, or birds, or stars… Numbers converted into letters, condensed into words, a riddle…

“...That'll take you forever, my love,” Calypso replied carefully. Her eyes were wide and sympathetic, looking over his face. It reminded him of how his mother used to look at him when he was ill.

He ducked his head down to look back at the map, avoiding her eyes. She would never help him find the answer, of course. If anything, she'd lead him astray- waste more of his time. When he found the answer, it would be entirely through his own intellect.

“...Ody, you've done a brilliant job making these. You don't need to count every tree. You're driving yourself crazy, ” she said after a moment. She bent over, reaching for the stack of rolled papyrus that sat next to him. “...Why don't you come to bed? You must be tired. You aren't thinking clearly.”

He shivered. His eyes darted up at the sky. “It's not dark yet,” he mumbled, shaking his head rigidly. “Give me a little more time, and I'll go.” He squinted at the shape of the river. Perhaps a key shaped like the curve of the water. But how would he fasten a key without supplies? Where would such a key even go? Maybe he could ask her for metal- cut the design into it by hand. Or maybe it was the shape of the cliffside instead- it too resembled the uneven bending of a key edge…

He could feel her eyes, but he no longer cared. He merely looked at the map, trying to find whatever solution had to be sitting right in front of him.

-

Link to other chapters

[agbpaints]

I like a lot of battlemechs. Some of them look really cool, some of them play like absolute fiends, some of them are absolute piece of shit graft boxes. The Hammer isn't really ant of those, I like it because of its name.

Designed by Gibson Federated Battlemechs in Free Worlds League space and first rolling off production lines in 3053, the HMR-3M Hammer was intended to serve as a direct competitor to the Federated Commonwealth's popular Valkyrie battlemech in the light fire support role. It packs the same throw-weight in missiles, though it splits it into a pair of LRM-5s equipped with Artemis IV Fire Control and fed by a 2 ton ammo bin instead of a single LRM-10, drops the jump jets (though maintains a ground movement profile of 5/8), and carries slightly less armor than contemporary Valkyrie designs like the VLK-QD. It uses this saved weight for a fairly beefy set of sidearms- three medium lasers arranged in a vertical stack up the center torso and into the head. Interestingly, the arms of the design are free of any weapons, implying it has some want to be in melee which the missile racks really do not want it doing. As far as base models go, it's not super inspirint- as a Valkyrie competitor it lacks the mobility to quickly move to firing positions and as a fire support platform it basically serves as a budget Trebuchet, a mech that already sits firmly in Discount Dan's bin of mostly competent missile boats. It's biggest boon is likely its double ammo bins and low BV cost, which easily allows you to add weird LRM ammo like smoke and thunder rounds to a force without sacrificing an archer or something, and even then you waste the Artemis, tonnage which I think is kinda wasted on LRM-5s anyway.

Now, onto the thing that drew me to the Hammer, the variants. You see, each variant of the Hammer has a fun little nickname instead of just a variant code. That's character most mechs don't get outside customs and I think it's kinda cute. Anyway, the HMR-3S 'Slammer' is our first variant and by far the worst. This one pulls two of the medium lasers on favor of *another* 2 tons of LRM ammunition. This allows the Slammer to keep up its fearsome 10 damage barrage for 48 turns, long enough that someone else might have the sense to wander over and kill it dead.

Next, we've got probably the funniest variant, the HMR-3C Claw-Hammer. This is the compulsory 'oops all medium lasers' version of the design, pulling an LRM rack and its attendant ton of ammunition in favor of four more medium lasers. The heat sinks have been upgraded to double strength freezers to cope with the strain of being roughly 40% of a Nova, and to its credit it can more or less handle the heat of its guns.

Finally, we have the HMR-3P Pein-Hammer. Unlike the previous variants which had some long range firepower (even if it was only token like the Claw-Hammer), the Pein-Hammer is 100% a forward unit. It carries a pair each of ER medium lasers, small pulse lasers, and Streak SRM-4 launchers, along with a TAG laser designator for guided munitions and enough double heat sinks to more or less carry the load of its guns. This Hammer has a sort of annoying, weird anti-synergy with the rest of its ilk- despite being obviously a forward observing unit that LRM boats could benefit from, the TAG system it carries is wasted when combined with the Arty-IV every other model has. It does, however, pair fairly well with contemporary ANV-8M Anvil, spotting for the heavier mech's Arrow IV artillery piece.

I decided to get in on the action and make a pair of my own variants. The HMR-3ASC 'Sledge-Hammer' is an extremely low cost iteration on the 3M- rip off the expensive guidance systems of the LRM racks, along with a laser and a heat sink, and just add more missile tubes. 4 LRM-5s means that with Kerensky's blessing, you can deliver a knockdown at long range, while the lack of inbuilt guidance means special munitions are less feelbad.

The HMR-3AT Trench-Hammer is intended specifically for hunting battle armor. 4 jump jets keep it ahead of most of its prey. While the double SRM-6 rack can be loaded with Inferno munitions to make Toads die a firy death, or just regular missiles to soften them up before they get whacked by your force's bigger guns.

[gumi-writes]

for what it’s worth

source: touchstarved

wc: ~3k

summary: lunari weighs what it means for something to be valuable. (also, vere is there to be his usual bitchy (affectionate) self. go figure.)

contains: implied lunarixvere / usual bitchy dynamics / some lunari twauma / violence, but that's to be expected with the source material /

author’s note: hiiiiiii @laymes-art love you <3

Marketplaces were but an assemblage of allure. 

Many would think so, and Lunari was no exception, except the way in which she did held far more weight than it both rightfully should and comparatively, when weighed up against the opinion of an average person, that is. 

Her eyes, a gaze hazed over with a misleading glassiness, scans the crowds with an efficiency that bespoke a worrying amount of experience—at least, to her enemies. For Eridia’s marketplace, the amount of people either milling about or offering wares could be considered the norm for the hour; the late afternoon meaning it had just gone from being at its busiest to slightly less so.

Lunari’s fingers would always tingle at times like these, an itch that, while not to any degree approaching unbearability, was most certainly still there. It was the kind of restlessness present in the way her instincts meant that she was seeking out weaknesses wherever she looked. Which, while not done in a particularly active way—it wasn’t one of those days where she was actively looking out to exploit said weaknesses—was still something that had long since been inbuilt into her.

That merchant with all the blindspot around his wares. The woman with a dangerously dangling bag. The performer, with only a simple hat out for coinage.

It was most likely a good thing that Lunari was able to spot so many of these details—it meant that as a whole, the atmosphere wasn’t one that was breeding paranoia for the fellow man, nor was there an ongoing decay of trust, not a suspicion that one was always in danger of backstabbing—literal or otherwise. Sure, there were monsters, and paranoid certainly existed for them, as well as that damned fog that signalled their arrival, but at least it was fear of a common enemy and nothing else.

Must be nice. 

The thought isn’t a resentful one—at least not in this very moment. It is simply a passerby of a musing, a reaction without the drive to do anything other than to let it exist.

 ‘—wares! Get your wares here!’

She makes eye contact when Lunari goes to find the source of the noise, and a friendly merchant gives her an acknowledging smile. She did not begrudge him for what would no doubt be a sales attempt; a living was a living, and selling wares was only barely above the difficulty of selling yourself as a ware. Lunari would know.

So Lunari approached his stall—the man had a nice smile, and paired with features that, while nothing to write home about, were still pleasant to look at. His neat brown hair with matching skin and eyes were graced with an openness that was surely welcoming, a combination that was a boon to have in his particular occupation. 

‘Greetings, my good madam.’ He gives a bit of a bow when Lunari approaches him, one she feels at least some obligation to return. ‘Tell me, did you so happen to be in the market for hand-crafted woodwind instruments?’

Something in her stills, though it is only for a heartbeat. It wasn’t his fault—there was no way for him to have known, so she gave him a brilliant smile of her own, even if the soft quality to her gaze had steeled—not into anything particularly hard, but enough it served as adequate protection.

With gentle hands, she takes the flute, muted blue tracing over the meticulously carved lines and swirls as she turns it over in her hands—cautiously, attentively. Love and care had gone into this, poured into what had surely been a stiff block of wood until potential had been whittled into something more realised, into something more beautiful. Karu would have loved this, and had they had enough luck with their initial plans, perhaps Lunari would have bought it for him.

A wound, still raw. Quietly, it festered, though whether a sign of healing or of infection, it was too early to be truly determined.

‘The craftsmanship on this is beautiful,’ Lunari says, and she is being genuine. ‘Whoever worked on this must’ve really had a lot of skill.’

‘I’ll let them know.’ The merchant is beaming, smiling with enough pride that Lunari is certain that if he is not the craftsman behind the craftsmanship, then he surely knew them well. He knew them, and held a definite fondness for them. ‘They worked on all of these, actually,’ he continues, presenting neat rows of instruments with a flourishing arm. 

In lines of music and that which made them, Lunari thinks of those she’d lost on her way to Eridia. It’s not a long reverie—she’s not the type to let her thoughts entrap her for too long, but there’s a moment of vivid, plunging clarity, a singular bright flare before it passes. 

The flute is handed back, and Lunari offers an apologetic look. ‘I’ll have to return back, I’m afraid. But you’ll see me again, I’m sure.’ A commitment that is non-commital, a polite and well-mannered acknowledgement of his efforts. They both knew the game being played; one that surely the merchant must have danced the dance of before.

And he only bows, nothing in his expression indicating disappointment. ‘Of course, madam. I look forward to seeing you again. In fact, it would bring me much joy to see someone as lovely as you gracing my proverbial doorstep.’ 

With one last smile, she leaves him, walking past a few more stalls before ducking into a less populated alleway. 

A hushed sigh is all Lunari uses as an outlet, releasing all the tension in her body. She’s fine for the most part, of course, most definitely, but it was never nice to have a still healing, still recovering hurt of a thing prodded at while it stung. Lunari would have the bark to bite if there had been foreknowledge, but that was the thing—there wasn’t any.

There wasn’t any, and while there were many arguments to be made in regards to the type of person she was—morally upstanding was so far beyond her the thought was an absolutely laughable hilarity of one—she was not one to lambast the undeserving. 

‘All by yourself, darling?’

Lunari’s head whips up at the voice—unfamiliar, and while the tone is mild at best, something about it makes her skin crawl with unpleasant tingles. ‘Don’t look so alarmed, love. I won’t hurt you. Just thought you might like the… company, is all.’ 

The emphasis on the word is not lost on her, but a cruel, sneering amusement is beginning to bloom like an errant weed—Lunari might not be the type to lambast the undeserving, but she had no issues when it came to those that did not fall beneath this category. She did not. 

‘Listen, little man,’ her eyes bore into his, narrowed into frosty slits, even as she gave him a slight grin, one that bordered on a smirk. It’s a warning, even though she’s absolutely certain men like him wouldn’t take it as one. They never do, and her hand closes around a soothingly familiar coolness, hidden in the depths of her large sleeves. ‘Perhaps I would entertain you any other time—’ a lie, but he did not have to know that ‘—but right now, I am not in the mood.’ 

That seems to amuse him, and her grip tightens into readiness as she waits for the right moment. His features were similarly nondescript; black hair and dark eyes both in promise and in actual colouration—one man amongst many that Lunari was certain she’d forget within the week. There were always men like him. 

‘No? Are you sure I can’t convince you? Perhaps…’ and he begins to reach out, ‘I could help improve your mood—’

His last mistake. It takes once swift, brutal movement to break his nose, and another to smash her baton into the side of his head. The two were likely  enough on their own, but whatever lingering feelings from before had fused with her current annoyance, igniting into the exact kind of ire that had her bringing it down on him again. And again. and Again. 

‘Now aren’t we being a bit beastial today?’ 

For the second time in a short period, Lunari’s focus jerks from the mess she had made to the one she might make next—though that vastly depended on a variety of factors. 

Vere’s smile is a poisonous one—as pretty as it belied hidden fangs, metaphorical and literal. The irony in his words no doubt seemingly amused him—the bright amber gleaming with a certain glint that told Lunari he was incredibly entertained by the show he was being given. 

Perhaps out of a desire not to feed him more than he deserved, some of the fire within her dims. ‘Ah, another stalker. Just my luck, really.’

Something contemptuous curls Vere’s lips, even though his smile still remains in place. ‘Stalker? Don’t flatter yourself. You were making so much of a racket that it’s a wonder you’re not being swarmed by the guards right now. I’m only here because I had nothing better to do.’ 

‘How kind of you to imply that I’m better than nothing.’ The barb is a pointed one, but despite it, and in spite of the fact that Lunari would not admit to this fact under extended torture, she could feel something almost warm in her chest. Comfort. Or familiarity, at least—here, she found a place where the polite mask of Lunari could sometimes… slip. 

‘But if you truly have nothing better to do, I’m going to go back and explore the markets. You can go get your rocks off somewhere else.’ 

‘Then perhaps I shall join you,’ is Vere’s response, eyes sliding shut into something satisfied. Momentarily, for his eyes flash open once more. ‘Count your lucky stars.’ His voice is a lilt, one that seemingly bordered on a titter—implying a hidden joke that Lunari was never able to grasp. It was always like that with Vere—a push and pull that yanked and shoved, never letting her find a stable foothold. Maybe that’s why she hated him so much. Maybe that was why she didn’t. 

And to her surprise, Vere does stick around. 

She pays in jibes and taunts, in smart comments traded for anything she said or did—but strangely, Vere’s digs did not feel as deep. Perhaps a part of it was because he was sticking around, seemingly of his own volition, despite all that he had to keep leashed; perhaps the other part was because Lunari genuinely did not feel that the cutting remarks were as cutting. 

Though they definitely still counted as cuts.

‘You surely realise that keychain was disgustingly overpriced? Even I didn’t think you were that much of an idiot.’

For some reason, this unsubtle jab hurts the least—Lunari simply gives him an easy shrug as she affixes said keychain to her bag. It’s an adorable facsimile of a flower, colour matching the soft red shade of her jacket. ‘I believe I can make that kind of judgement, not you. Do you even have any money?’

Vere doesn’t bother answering the question, instead continuing his original thought. ‘Just look at it.’ A haughty sniff. ‘Poorly made; something you’re likely to lose or damage easily just going about your business. Hardly worth the display nor even the coin lost.’

‘Look, I don’t know if it’s because you’re incapable of empathy, but something like this was made to be seen and loved.’ 

Vere scoffs. ‘How very… sentimental of you. Well, if you’re going to find something as inane as that within something so cheap, I won’t stop you. I’ll congratulate you on having such low standards, even. We need more people like you in the world to accept the bare minimum.’ 

A few seconds pass in silence—maybe a heartbeat’s worth or two. ‘You know, Vere,’ she starts, and she feels the lines of his body piqued into a curiosity. Very, very rare was it that she said his name—it was far more likely to be an insult that would be paid back in kind, again and again until Vere grew bored. ‘I’ve touched some of the most expensive things in the world.’

She’d pocketed them too, not batted a single eye nor had it shed any tears as she pilfered rare items, artefacts, works of art—to name a few. To name very, very few, each passing her hands and staining them in a way that could not be washed clean. All for the sake of those that would not even spare her a single thought should it have come down to it, all for the memories that would never leave her. All for naught to show but bloodied hands and an even bloodied soul.

Vere had not said anything in the midst of her thoughts, not even the slightest of disparagings but he was still here, so she continued. ‘People can be so fucking stupid when it comes to money, you know. Absolute idiots. For every valuable thing that exists in the world, there are at least one hundred men vying for it. Wanting to pay in coin. Or in men. Or in blood. But you know what the thing is? They don’t even want the thing itself. It’s always about how much they can get for it in the future. That’s what it’s all about. A fake potential, not ever anything real.’

Here, she meets his gaze, steeled softness meeting glowing sunset. ‘I never want to be that fucking stupid. Maybe the keychain is overpriced. Maybe it will break, or chip, or lose its colour, and do it quickly. But it is far more real than anything those men and those before and after them will fight to kill themselves over, and at least this will last long enough for me to enjoy it.’

Lunari doesn’t stop to gauge Vere’s response. 

Instead, they continued on their way, glancing around and browsing until something caught their eye. People gave them a wide berth—likely because of the beastman at Lunari’s side, but she did not overly concern herself with it. Let them stare, and let them avoid her—it certainly was no skin off her back.

It’s not until they reach a fountain in the middle of the marketplace plaza do they stop. There, a man has a set up worth interest: pages of sketches lined up in neat rows on some kind of blanket, features etched with hands, gentle and a gaze even more so. There was a variety to the people he drew—children and the elderly and everyone in between, human and beastmen and even something that fell out of range of either. 

‘Hmm. Nice to see some talent still exists here, I suppose,’ is Vere’s remark of the minute, and while he could have worded it more nicely—then again, he could word many things more nicely—she is inclined to agree with him. 

Watching until a certain itch in her fingertips builds to boil, Lunari finds herself striding towards the artist until he looks up at her. Sleepy eyes seemingly belied his talent, and he gave her a small nod of acknowledgement before she found herself reaching towards her pouch. 

‘A tip, for your hard work,’ she says, pushing some coins into his hands. 

She hadn’t let him refuse, and it’s only until after they leave once more that Vere has an apt response. ‘I’m surprised. Thought you only liked ugly things.’

Her bark of laughter is a little on the derisive side, but there’s no true bitterness in it. ‘I never said that’s what I liked. If that’s what you got from what I said earlier, then maybe you’re also an idiot as well.’

‘I hardly expect an idiot to be the arbiter on who else is an idiot.’ 

‘Wow, how cutting of you. I’m truly wounded.’ Lunari holds a hand over her heart, but quickly drops it. ‘But you were wrong, so perhaps we shouldn’t go pointing fingers. Ugliness isn’t what I look for, nor is beauty something I find issue with. In fact, beauty is what makes something worthy, even if it’s not the obvious kind.

‘Alright. I’ll bite. What makes something worthy? What gives it value, hmm? Not that I don’t expect an answer that isn’t disgustingly tender-hearted.’

At this, Lunari smiles. Vere showed his interest in interesting ways, a curiosity disguised behind blithe and sometimes even cruel words. It was very much like him, which is why she does not bother calling it out. Instead, her hands reach for the flower dangling on her bag once again, and her answer is a simple one: ‘How much you love it.” 

Before Vere has the chance to respond, his ears perk visibly—a strangely endearing gesture, but not one Lunari focuses on, because she hears it too. Music.

Her body floods with excitement before she’s able to comprehend it completely, and immediately, she dashes towards the sound. From the well, sound of it, it’s a live band playing an even livelier song, a tune with woodwind and swing and a hearty singer to tie it all together. 

Quietly, Vere watches her leave him. He watches as Lunari twirls into steps so practised she must have had a past life before coming here, before arriving in Eridia. Something passes and flits through his gaze, a feeling he doesn’t bother to name, but it pricks in the moment he allows it to last. 

She’s drawing quite the crowd. He’d almost be impressed, but instead he takes it as a chance to slip away, not bothering with the annoyance of a proper farewell. He’d deal with her definite annoyance of appearing and disappearing the way that he did later—for now, he had something to immortalise in sketch and in paper.

Something that might some day hold some value.

[sthenoaloraquest]

Just rambling to myself. (Spoilers)

Vi's second signet... *sigh*

It's still killing me that RY said it's easy to spot, but yet I just don't see it. I keep looking for the obvious point out like she did with Violet's first signet.

What we do have is repeated sayings and words: gravity, running out of time, time slows, wanting powers like Brennan and Mira (more said in FW), Vi being the strongest rider, Vi wanting the truth, runes, of course the dread one "You'll be the ☠️ of me" (which I'll gladly ignore until the time comes for it to be real 🥲.), and others that i either missed or just dont stand out at all.

I truly don't think it's truth sayer, even with the insta story RY posted. Vi may be asking for the truth, but that seems more directed at Xaden than anything else. She wants to be honest with everyone around her rather than getting the truth from her friends. That doesn't mean it wouldn't be cool if she was one. Interrogating any enemy would be soooo much easier. I feel like if she was one, there would have been a tell kind of like her lightning signet.

Vi wanting power that is similar to Brennan and Mira's signets. This would point to her being the destroyer of venin but also the mender that could right the venin back to normal. Again, I'm not seeing anything really pointing to her being a type of mender. No instantaneous recovery is happening to her or to others around her or even the venin. I have actually another's theories that the runes will have something to do with the cure rather than Violence. I could see that being true since runes carried a lot of weight when talked about in IF.

What hits me right in the face as being obvious is gravity, time slowing, and Vi saying she is running out of time. I know Tairn said feathertails lose manifested power once they enter the deep sleep, but I feel like this doesn't imply to Andarna. Warrick's journal left things up to interpretation, not wanting others to make their own wards, but why write "6 and the 1 combined"? With Andarna being a different dragon breed, does feathertail knowledge work the same for her? Vi specifies how the big final battle with the venin is approaching faster than everyone thought, she feels like she doesn't have time to work on her signet, she doesn't have time for family, friends or xaden, that time is their biggest enemy (other than the venin). Signets are based on what you need and want the most (hence Xaden being an intensic).

I am quite honestly not sure what gravity has to do with Vi and her signet, but it's written a ton. I think gravity is going to have more of a focus either at the end of Onxy Storm or even in the other books havung nothing to do with her powrs or its just a word that RY likes to use and it has no meaning at all. Speculations from Vi jumping in mid flight at the end of IF have people thinking she can defy gravity, especially since she didn't break anything, but is that a strong enough case?

What Jedi mind tricks are you playing RY? 😂 I just want to know what it is! Im over analyzing something so simple here. January 21st is taking its sweet time...

[carnal-lnstinct]

All My Soul Within Me, Burning. - II

Content: dbz crossover - inspired fic ( fnaf inspired ). android saga "what if" au ( post cell games). memory loss / recovery. possession. drabble w/ little plot. not completely proofread. characters: au!android 16 / raditz, dende, piccolo Warning: canon typical violence, referenced character death, implied existential crisis, soft angst

I will put you back together. / Leave the demon to his demons.

How beautiful, how powerful, the bright full moon. She's useless for him now. inevitably, utterly useless. Its eminence could only be enjoyed with his eyes as it gave him nothing else. He dared to watch the moon long enough for nature to take its course only to come out of his thoughtless trance with an appreciation for the way the stars speckled the darkness from the Earth instead. There aren't many places he can remember carrying a sight like this. Except for one. The errors, the thing, inside struggling against his programming recollects instances of a sky where only the stars thrive. Enough to light the lands of Planet...It's gone.

Visions that come and go as forgotten thoughts returned to him when he least expected it, places and faces he could not know beyond his initial activation in Dr. Gero's lab and the intel he was programmed with. But all of the unknown was begging to be acknowledged, identified, and accepted. The same pattern of thinking that was shaken loose after the Brief's refurbishing and which brought him back to The Lookout over the Earth. Here is where he has mused upon the night sky, it's where it felt closer and more familiar. Watching the moon and waiting for his metamorphosis, but lacking the means to do so.

Dr. Gero is dead. Cell is dead. K̸̨̧̦̯̜͇͍̬̟̰̗̹̀͋̐̍̔̄̀̕͝a̷̲̙̥̟̪̼̳̺̳͇͛̿̈́͆͑͜͜ͅk̸̡͍͓̟͔̻͈̮͇̜͊͒̒̔̓̍̿͆̕͝͝a̵͕͖͚̟͓͐̈́͌̇̎̽̅̓̿̈́ͅr̸̛͍͋̊̂̈́͝ŏ̵̖͔̥̜̙̲͆͝ţ̶̠̟̦̥̹̠̝̹̳̱͇̔͑̔̊̆̊͂͂̍͂͛͘ Son Goku is dead. Android 17 and 18 are missing.

What happens now?

Perhaps he should return to Dr. Brief and Bulma. Those who made him useful again. Whole. There is some loyalty to that kindness. So...he will serve again. What else is there? What else is left...

It's just him.

And there it is again, suddenly, screaming and fighting and raging through the programming. The bio-android lowers his gaze from the twinkling sky and his hand is drawn to the lower part of his sternum where his skin and casing seamlessly blend together. He remembers his reflection, seeing the cold blue eyes staring back at him in the mirror as he inspected his repairs. He remembers his reflection...a dim illumination as he stared out of his pod's windscreen anticipating his landing. His other hand now reaches for the back of his head, tugging the ribbon binding back the long, wild mane and freeing it all in a swift pull. For once, the android empathizes with its intruder's struggle to exist. Dreaming of what it once was, and what it could continue to be given control. A purpose.

"..Me." Android 16 breathes and closes his eyes. A warmth fills his body and all the weight it carries with it, merging itself with him. What else is there, after all?

This trapped spirit refuses to let go of its body, watching his own corporeal form be pulled apart and put back together again and again, made into something he is not. Mocking its very nature. No longer content to serve those who abused his loyalty or those who stood by them. Unable to see past his agony anymore.

Despite what he has become, saiyan...android...an abhorrent combination of the two forced to live again, "It's still me". His soul makes that clear. It will not leave and it will not rest. Despite everything taken and denied from him...

"Android 16." The young guardian of Earth emerged onto the platform, unable to detect the body of the mostly artificial being standing near the edge so he was surprised that anyone other than Mr. Popo was here so late in the evening. "I wasn't expecting you. What are you doing here so late?" Innocently asked in his unsuspicious approach.

The tall android tilts his head and looks over his shoulder, casting his piercing blue gaze down on the namekian boy. Reminded of his undoing; the one who caused his death while his so-called brother allowed it to happen. The catalyst of his unmourned fate. As his fists clenched into a tight grip, the vibrant color of his artificial eyes became pitch black, tiny white dots where his pupils would be stared down on Dende.

All he wanted now was his revenge. This desire, he will serve loyally.

"Namekian." He turned slowly, imposingly. A twitch in his head and his forearm. What Dende could not sense in his body, he immediately detected in the haunting leer and rough tone. Raditz making himself known. It was quick, the way he lunged forward at the inklings of Dende's retreat and lifted the boy off his feet, hanging him in the air by his large hand wrapped around his neck. Enough pressure and he would take their greatest hope away from them. The dismantling of their peace— defining his liberation from those who gained his "avatar's" solidarity— would stick.

The data perpetually computing in his mind made him aware of his risks, and compared his power to those who championed over Cell. But his rage could not fathom the warnings. He knows his limits and he would just take as many down with him as he could. No greater victory than the pain they can't undo as was done unto him. Tonight, he is immortal. Kakarot has already escaped his fury. But Piccolo, he will be sure to torment the most with this little one.

"Call him. Piccolo." He commanded with a strained, uneven tone with a grin rising in his features making the twitches in his body more menacing. "Bring him to me."

[ninhaoma-ya]

For the fic writer meme: 4, 16, 32, 39,54. 56

Thank you very much for the asks!

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

All over the place. Reading something else, cycling home, listening to a podcast… mainly I blame the cosmic inspiration rays, streaming through the universe, combined with my lack of protective gear to stop the pesky buggers.

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

Eeeeh… 94? <sweating>

And I’ll one-up the ask and share two! “How to win friends and influence people” for DoVio and “Chess game” for LawNa. And, of course, the rest of the prompts for this years Heart Pirates week which I will get to, eventually…

(And my latest reread of Discworld which had the unfortunate side-effect of inspiring me to start plotting a Moist von Lipwig-story…)

32. Name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

The list is too long for tumblr, but since I am in thesis hell, I lean towards hurt(/comfort) at the moment.

@chromatic-lamina for the Hearts (AO3 here)

@senlinyu for the angst (AO3 here)

@purplehairedwonder for that sweet, sweet whump (AO3 here)

39. Share a snippet from a WIP

Law grunted as he sliced through an enormous alligator, rearranging its parts with those of a nearby tree. Their path so far had been quite uneventful, but they were probably nearing the shade and good hiding spots of a ruined temple, if the increasing amount of beasts and just plain weird creatures were something to judge by.

“I’d say we’re nearing the main area,” Nico Robin said, echoing his thoughts, as she used her extra limbs to brush away greenery and peer through the undergrowth.

“What makes you say that,” Bepo asked, panting and surreptitiously clawing at the opening of his boiler suit. Law furrowed his brows – the mink sounded like he was suffering from the heat. He really should have left Bepo on the cool ship with Ikkaku and Franky, but Bepo had insisted… but what kind of captain was he if he didn’t put his crew’s needs before their wants? A quick Scan ensured him that Bepo was fine, even if he was running a bit of a temperature.

“If not for the increasing amount of things that try to kill us, which implies the presence of good hiding spots, such as could be created by a ruined temple," she said, pointing at a cracked stone tablet, “I’d say the sign that says ‘this way to main plaza and temple entrance’ in one of the ancient tongues of the island is a good indicator.”

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Writing. Also, my least favourite part is writing. It’s good you get to write, but then you have to write, y’know? But I really enjoy getting lost in the story and finding the right way to express something, preferably with at least two layers of meaning to it.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

My multi-layered jokes and easter eggs and call-backs and puns and wordplay. It’s fun to just go off on a pun-tangent and drop weird-ass almost-acronyms and still somehow make it make sense (for me at least). I’m still inordinately proud of my “plastered enough to start their own construction company” as a way to describe really, really drunk people in StatSig, for example.

I'm still accepting (and hoping for) more asks as I try to procrastinate working on my thesis, so anyone reading this; feel very free to ask away! List to be found here.

Answered: 1, 2, 4, 9, 11, 12, 16, 25, 26, 32, 39, 54, 56

[rauthschild]

Everything has its genesis from something else in our Universe, from the instantaneous point we call "Source" to the final jot of existence, so that the question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" really begs the question --- "Where did the chicken or the egg, either one, come from?"

What mysterious force has resulted in their appearance, their profound ordering of substance within themselves, and the immense amounts of energy required to create and build that order, maintain it, and then, to release it, back to whence it has come?

So it is when we embark on a study of law, which leads to a study of religion, and then to the history of religion, that finally reveals so much about where concepts of "government" come from.

You have probably heard mention of "the Rule of Law", and wondered --- if you've been following along --- what's a Rule compared to a Law? What does "Rule of Law" mean?

More fast ones and substitutions?

Yes, as it turns out.

The use of Rules comes from early Church Orders, primarily Augustinian and Benedictine, that were established as the foundational principles and purposes of these Orders. These Rules were supposed to apply to all members of the Order, both priests and lay members, and provided a definition of purpose and agreement that all were expected to know and abide by.

The combination of the two concepts, "Rule" and "Law" in "Rule of Law" is therefore, as we have so often seen in other settings, oxymoronic.

A Rule is not a Law and a Law is not a Rule, and they are in fact mutually exclusive; a rule is voluntarily accepted by individuals according to their values, conscience, and beliefs, whereas a law is externally imposed under force without regard for personal conscience, values, or beliefs.

Elevating Law to the level of a Rule suggests the slave-like subservience of the individual conscience to whatever external authority or government is generating whatever form of "Law".

It does in fact imply the loss of an individual conscience or will.

Let's give an example --- the issue of abortion on demand.

For a number of years, this was "the Law" externally imposed; the exercise of the Law, however, was left to the Rule of individual conscience.

All this sudden talk about "the Rule of Law" and its implications has therefore sparked considerable consternation, wonder, and debate.

It suggests the existence of individuals either naturally not having a conscience or will, or the creation of a population of subhumans deprived of their right to exercise their conscience and freewill: slaves.

Certainly, robots have only an artificial conscience or will dependent on the decisions and values of their programmers, and a system of law pertaining to the operations and programming of robots might be described as the Rule of Law, simply because they have no independent will or conscience.

The second, more sinister meaning could be reference to a system of law applied to people arbitrarily defined as "subhuman" --- or as the case actually is, "transhumans".

The U.S. Supreme Court case, Biden v Missouri, revealed the intent of the vaccine patent holders to claim that the people who received the mRNA jab have been turned into Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and are now owned by the patent holders and redefined as "transhumans" having no natural and unalienable rights and no Human Rights, either.

This repugnant claim was supported by the U.S. Supreme Court and is most likely the reason that the attorneys are babbling gobbledygook about the Rule of Law; it would apply to these Transhumans as they would be slaves and have no ability to express their freewill or conscience.

We suggest that it is more than past time to dissolve all these offending corporations and put the attorneys permanently out of business.

Foreseeing this venal agenda, our State Assemblies came together and passed our first Public Law in over a hundred years, forbidding the exercise of any such claims against living people on our land and soil.

We have also moved swiftly to overturn earlier such attempts to self-interestedly "redefine" us as British Subjects and U.S. Citizens, and from there, to confer the crippling "citizen of the United States" status on us, without our knowledge or consent and without our agreement.

All these horrific and criminal activities have hinged on arbitrarily redefining living people as something "else" --- humans, subjects, and now, transhumans, using illegal, undisclosed, unconscionable, and implied contracts, and then enforcing this gobbledygook using corrupt courts and foreign systems of law.

Reducing a man to a "human" and then to a "transhuman" -- aka, "subhuman" is no different from what the Nazis did to the Jews.

It is just as repugnant, just as immoral, illegal, and unlawful, only it is being applied in a wholesale and indiscriminate fashion by commercial corporations engaged in crimes of state.

It has been our observation that the Roman Church has been deeply infiltrated by immoral influences and evil men who have used the Church as a "storefront" and cover for their heinous activities. The same phenomenon has beset the leadership structures of other religions, too. This has led to a broad spectrum failure of nearly all religious faiths and institutions to oppose the burgeoning evil in our midst.

Many people have wondered about the misuse and abuse of our public hospitals and the weaponization of medicine to promote mass genocide. We have pointed out on numerous occasions that medical doctors, nurses, dentists, and other medical professionals and even hair stylists who accept a "license" to serve federal citizens or to work in facilities receiving federal funding, are defined as "Uniformed Officers" under Federal Code Titles 8, 11, and 31, and not only can such officers be conscripted against their will into the military, but are also deemed to be part of an unseen "civilian military".

Civilian military. Another oxymoron.

This foreign licensure of occupations of common right and the brain-washing and coercive power of the American Medical Association operating as a Professional Guild that is enabled to withhold credentials, has made it easy to weaponize medical services against the Public Good, and provided an undisclosed means to undermine public health for commercial profit.

How did such a crooked system ever come to be? How and why would doctors and nurses be imposed upon to function as soldiers and be looking at average innocent people as "enemy combatants"?

Look to Church History. At about the time of William the Conqueror's death in 1087, things were getting increasingly difficult for the Crusaders in Jerusalem...

Here, linked below, is a timely reminder and insight into how our "hospitals" were first literally defined and managed by the Order of the Hospitaliers, who became a completely militarized Order similar to the much-later Jesuits and earlier Templars:

Hospitals, according to the admitted history and records of the Order, have been militarized since 1099, twelve years after the death of William the Conqueror.

Hospitals were first created to serve the sick, wounded, and dying soldiers of the Church during the Crusades, and though they have become public institutions funded by public money, their basic nature and character as military organizations has not changed.

The actual name of the Order is: The Military Religious Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem.

Our "military" has actually been functioning as a mercenary organization since the 1860s, and our "public" hospitals are organized as for-profit corporations that are franchises of the same parent corporations as Pfizer and Moderna and.... it does not take rocket science for us to figure out that the mercenaries employed by the parent corporations in the District of Columbia made use of their "Uniformed Officers" to murder and maim and enslave people for profit during the recent events mischaracterized as a pandemic.

Donald Trump wasn't duped, though he may have been used as a storefront by Fauci and the other criminals, similar to the Roman Catholic Church being used as a storefront by the Roman Pontiff.

The truth will be told by what happens to Fauci, Pfizer, Gates, the CDC and the NIH and the medical services sector in days to come.

So far all that has happened to address one of the greatest crimes in human history and Mr. Trump's own culpability for "Operation Warp Speed" is half a trillion dollars spent on an all-encompassing AI surveillance grid designed to monitor our vital signs and brain activity from space, something nobody wants except those who wish to control and micro-manage everyone else.

This "service" is nothing we contracted to receive and is a gross misappropriation of our money, an endangerment to our lives, and an unconstitutional invasion of our privacy -----and we count on everyone reading this to get the point.

Thumbs down, Mr. Trump.

We also don't appreciate the recently introduced bill seeking to approve the use of Artificial Intelligence to replace our doctors. They may be stupid and corrupt, but some of them still have a conscience, which is more than we can guarantee from AI.

Thumbs down again, Mr. Trump.

If we see any more phony epidemics, any more mRNA "vaccines", any moves to claim ownership of people redefined as GMO transhumans, any more wrong-doing or malpractice at all, any more use of "Uniformed Officers", any weaponization of health care --- we will all know what to think and, more importantly, what to do.

If you continue to fist bump and yuck it up with Fauci and Bill Gates, Mr. Trump, we'll pay attention to what you do. Mere words won't mean anything to us.

Please note that Commanders, as in Naval Officers, are the same exact office as the Preceptors of Rome and the Roman Church. Please also notice that the office of "Bailiff" --- Tip Staff in Maritime and Admiralty Courts today -- got its start in the Church.

Many thanks, again, to researchers in Australia, for setting flint to steel and sparking an admirable debate here. There will be more to come.

[semi-imaginary-place]

dragon age veilguard live thoughts

varric better not die in the intro. Where is the inquisitor? Why is solas' ritual happening in minrathous and not skyhold where the sky was held back.

wow they are confirming fan theories in the first few hours including my own. that the Evanuris are connected to the blight and the black city in the fade. titans hiveminded dwarves and stone magic vs sky magic. Enchantment! i had sooo many elvhenan hypotheses. I am conflicted about the evanuris being proven evil in a series so dedicated to "both sides"ing EVERYTHING even when they shouldn't, like the mages are way more right than the templars. to be fair the blight has always been a morally black element to the series so by definitively connecting the evanuris to the blight they are painted as the villains. we'll see if that stays true or whether their morality is complicated later.

the crows are just the mafia or maybe the mexican cartel. absolutely brutal and violent and constantly murdering, torturing, or trafficking people. but also a major power system in the region and removing them leaves a power vacuum and more violence as small gangs war to fill in the space. oh and now they're nationalists hmm?

ah lucanis. dark brooding and tormented by demons (literal). ventori incubating demons in people. i won't say it i won't say it. also just noticed neve has a sick ass carved gold snake for a foot.

Having the ventori and evanuris be allied feels like the boring option. Just the 2 most blatantly rvil factions. Would be more interesting jf they hated each other because the venatori were racist or something.

would have expected the fade expert to be with the veil jumpers or those veil nuts in inquisition instead of a necomancer. i guess emmrich does both? or i mean there's no one probably more knowledgeable than solas. Gameplay wise this was probably to distinguish from bellara but it's janky and feels like emmeich was shoved into the role of fade expert.

It's been like 20? 30? Years since origins. Dog is dead! He was already not young in inquisition and even if mabari are long lived that's impossibly long for a dog. Really instead of d52 or whatever the year i think it would have been more interesting if the game took place 5 or 6 years ago. Solas makes a more interesting antagonist and having this during the antaam invasion is more interesting.

Hawk would have been useless anyways but this is perfect for the hero of ferelden more than the inquisitor. The blight, the blighted dragons, the wardens. But there was never meant to be a dragon age series, origins was meant as a stand alone. And as a stand alone close book story it fits pretty well that the warden dies. But as a series especially how relevant veilguard and origins are its glaring that they havent shown up. But of course they cant. World states. Same as how Alistair doesn't show up even though he could be a senior warden at this point, or he's be dead. Wardens don't get old, it's been 20 years and 2 blights. But he also could be king and combine that with the 3.5 games thats too many branches.

Wow orlean conservatives would rather have the venatori than anything else. Guess they hate poor people and elves more than magic. They'd probably jump at the chance to have slaves. Looking at the foreign fascists thinking her they have the right idea.

The solas murals! Cole!!! My head is spinning. I'm a little worried about the implications. The fade is formed from perceptions of the world, the emotions of people, and thus so are spirits. That elves are descended from lyrium embodied spirits might be implying they were indirectly formed from other races. This combined with the dwarves being of the titans makes me worried as different race origins can be a slippery slope. That said this could be the begining of an "each race has it's own true creation myth". The other thing possible is that the two sides of the veil feed into each other and the evanuris making bodies happened before the veil and disparity. Who is to say the spirits weren't first. You can see the writers are favoring dalish elf origins. Also solas is the writers special little egg. His romance has so much unique content it's rather unfair really i would have rather he be unromanceable but oooh lore content. Fem dalish inqs eating so well. And while I love lore I do miss origins and it's presentation style where there was a more equal lore spread. Although part of that could be location. Orlais and ferelden are very chantry while the North with rivain, tevinter, and arlathan are less andraste focused

wow solas and mythal had history history. and that explains where she is in this game. he killed mythal/flemeth to restore his power after inquisition. the writers nerfed well of sorrows.

kieran should be like 20 right? imagine if he was a companion. the inclusions of taash and emmrich (as much as I love them) into the plot is super rough. like these two were bought on after the attacks on minrathus and treviso. but we don't go and hunt down those dragons at all. emmrich might be my favorite companion but his reasons for being here are the thinnest. Morrigan's like 50 now right, hilarious how she looks and sounds exactly the same as she did at 18. to be fair origins morrigan looked and sounded 35, but she did act like a moody teenager.

Rather than a pocket spirit all I was looking from Mythal was some advice on how to stop elgarnan and gilhinain

the old god dragons were always enslaved high dragons of the evanuris that they could puppet around. eh i don't like this idea overall. this does explain why the darkspawn seek them call to them between the evanuris using the blight and the blight being the corrupted and severed malicious dreams of the titans. but it goes against that plurality spirit present in dragon age origins where multiple different myths/belief systems are plausible. haven't heard about andraste in a hot second but maybe that's because we're in the north. where as veilguard is giving single definitive answers. so definitive this sort of feels like the finale for dragon age stories which I would be fine with. This would be a good ending point for the series, focus on new projects. like remember how origins was all about killing one archdemon, well now we have 2 to deal with a continent wide super blight and the gods who were puppeting them all along. this also in a way makes the dragons less cool. before dragons were specifically associated with mythal and not the pantheon as a whole and that fit well as mythal was the matriarchal mother figure and dragons are female that was the whole thing with the associated animals, halla raven wolf. making the archdemons slaves of the evanuris takes away dragons as gods in their own right, again the plurality thing. and why have dragons if they aren't going to be cool. like imagine the old gods were like nature spirits (given the strong elemental affiliation like ice lighting fire dragons), and a neutral party to the evanuris shenanaigans originally. but they were deemed a threat and sealed and now that the evanuris have become corrupted the darkspawn seek them out to turn them. like that's only 1cm off of canon but it's cooler. Or maybe the old gods existed before the evanuris just like the titans and it's a greek titans olympus situation where the dragons were too powerful to kill so the evanuris had to seal them. And it's only after they gained the power of the blight that they had an edge over the old gods but by then they were at war with the titans and then solas went against them. Well in general I have mixed feelings about the evanuris being revealed to be super evil. I'd much rather they were gray like solas just a darker shade. or maybe more emphasis given on before they were blighted. Like that they dalish myths were kinda true they just didn't paint the full picture vs. canon where the dalish are mostly wrong (which is actually pretty interesting for the dalish but not for the evanuris)

Weisshaupt time. Uuuhh doesnt davrin die if he kills the archdemon, the whole thing about needing a grey warden to trap the soul. If the archdemons are evanuris thralls then whose soul was mythal/flemeth trying to yoink into morrigan's baby? And just what was she trying to do with it.

i need to introduce emmrich to buddhist philosophy. I went and watched Emmrich's romance on Youtube and it got me thinking. First, ahem, "BOONNEE!" Wow even as a skeleton in a coffin rook is wild. His questline is mainly about his "whining about his mortality" as Hezenkoss says. "The sound of the Gion shōja bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sōla flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline." Bro could use some buddhist existentialism and anika. He just worries about it so much and he's my favorite of the companions. Even if he becomes a lich that probably wouldn't be an eternity. Nevarra isn't eternal and neither will be the necropolis whether that's 100 or 100,000 years. And assuming real world science applies the sun is going out in a few billion years and heat death of the universe atoms will eventually decohere into a soup of uniformity. Although maybe he'll have it figured out by then. Thinking about persona 3 whose main repeated motif and theme is memento mori.

Spite is not very spiteful

Taash is great and all but hello?? Their mom??? She's so immigrant mother it's perfect. Extremely hardworking tough love tries to take care of her kid but also doesn't quite get it. The main thing im disappointed with taash's story is that you are forced to choose between rivain and qunari culture in a story that is otherwise about defying boundaries and binaries. I get that it's a formula and all the companions get a 2 fork choice but it's just thematically inconsistent for taash. (Griffons to forest or wardens, harding normal or titan, emmrich lich or manfred, neve kingpin or detective agency). So much outrage at taash being nonbinary wow we do live in the transphobia age. Like tassh's story is a very direct and straightforward queer narrative so I can understand why people might find it too in your face. I was rewatching all of dragon age and dragon age was always like this. people didn't nearly have this many problems with krem and his transness is just as direct as taash's like there's several dialogue options with him and bull asking what his deal is and each time the game reaffirms krem is a real man. So dragon age hasn't changed it's that games have somehow gotten even worse. Dorian's story was in large part about the stigma of being openly gay and the pain of his father trying to change him with blood magic conversion therapy. Also marveris is right there if you want in the background transness or even rook. A story with multiple trans characters presenting different aspects of the trans experience from questioning and defining identity to just living it, love to see it. People need to get over themselves, your life experiences are not universal, people different from you exist and their stories are justcas worthy of being told.

Wow companions actually die. This is stressful.  I'm willing to sacrifice davrin but not assan.

I'm disappointed wolf solas isn't fluffy. He barely looks like a wolf more like a dog with mange. They should have leaned into the shadow wolf thing. Also i cant be the only one who finds elgarnan boring. I wish there was an option to let solas merge the fade nf the physical world. Veilguard geels like a finale anyways might as well do something irrevokable. Like the origins of the blight have been revealed and dealt with. we've traveled the continent. The extinction of the griffins has come to light. Solved the secrets if arlathan. It all tied back to the evanuris. Mythal. I do like we get the option to just beat him up or trick the god of trickery i feel like he's admire that. Convincing him is good too since he's been twisted from his original purpose wisdom to pride. Why didn't solas part the veil at skyhold it's weak there and that is where the fade was held back.

Overall great game I had a fun time watching. There is a weirdly high amount of hate, people talk about this game like it's the worst thing ever and really none of it was bad. I liked origins more but but this is still good. But Origins cant really be beat one of the best games of all time. it's not a bad game people are hating way out of proportion, I'd put it on da2's level. Not as good as origins but still pretty good despite the (different) flaws. Both are good games but have more flaws and less highs that dai and dao. I like all of Dragon Age it's like asking me what flavor of ice cream I hate I love them all.

Inquisition though has the best characters love the cast and character writing even if i despise some of them (vivienne, sera). Given how solas is a major character now in 2 games his romance should have been for all genders. I mean it's already elf locked it, did they really need to gender lock one the most important characters in the series and pretty important characterization and lore. Yeah i get that they wanted solas to be a problematic straight guy but he's too important to be straight. 

Of Veilguard my favorite character is emmrich, devs commited to the bone. I expected harding to be my fav but liked harding better in inquisition and i cant figure out why. Imagine if emmeich joined the inquisition, in veilguard he talks about wanting to adventure and really inquisition in some ways is more appropriate what with the rifts dragging spirits out and demoning them, that would motivate him. I wonder if solas would like or hate him. Vivienne would continue her trend of not liking any other mage besides herself. Dorian would get to see his foreign exchange professor. Cole would help. Cassandra doesn't even like nevarra and hates the dead stuff. Would bull adopt manfred? Sera would hate emmrich he's like all her least favorite companions combined. 

Outside of emmeich and assan I didn't feel all that strongly about any of the characters, maybe because i was sometime half listening while doing other stuff. Loved bellara and neve's friendship

[straynoahide]

bisexual and pansexual should all coexist bc there's no theory of all for LGBTIQ+, it's an artificial polemic from people with no queer culture or unpacked issues against genderqueerness and GNC people.

you like bi fine- don't force the label bi while pretending this is about defending from biphobia bc what this is isn't that, in fact it's the opposite, making the label pan something it isn't.

people can choose on their own which label applies and what that means to them, bc it may not be what it means to someone else, working from the classic distinction that was nothing on the lines of the gender binary, but rather bi being about experiencing attraction in different ways to people monosexuals tend to be singularly attracted to, while pan is about experiencing attraction as something that is more about the person regardless of their gender distinctions. none of this implies erasure or binarism of the other definition. i'm neither bi nor pan but i listen to queer people and i empathize so idk what you're all so pressed about with trying to get into other peoples' business.

as always these dropping the 'q' moments are adjacent to radfem-y "same-sex attraction" bs. "sexual attraction" is not 'determined by biology'..., that doesn't even make sense. you're not attracted to a chromosome or genitalia when you're turned on by someone or some situation. on the contrary it's heavily dependent on secondary sexual characteristics (which explains why straight men are into trans women and gay men aren't, and why most porn for heterosexual men focuses on the penis more than it does on the vulva)- but also on gendered semiotics (which are mediated by Culture, humans are civilizational animals, have gender on top of sex) and relational dynamics (not all attraction is about bodies, ace people exist, split-attraction people exist, sexual arousal is not the end-point or sole component of attraction let alone a sexual or romantic or another type of relationship).

so... for example, it's trans men that attract people who are attracted to masculinity, not """biologically male""" trans women "determining" who they're attracted to you all just say whatever as common sense when it's the most counter intuitive shit possible irl about how human sexuality works and then drop the q cos its too weird or sth

in general people are attracted to either femininity, masculinity, both, some combination or neither. many labels can describe that better or worse but 'bi' is not enough or else we wouldn't have made up more terms as a queer culture. not sorry for that, queer liberation also means rejecting bad ideas and reactionarism within the community.

I'm gonna get heat for this, but fuck the word pansexual. All it does is divide the LGBT+ community and allow bisexuals to be pinned as transphobic for being realistic about how biological sex works. I'm physically attracted to both sexes, not "all genders", don't you dare call me pan, it's just bi erasure, and in turn female erasure by pretending biological sex doesn't determine attraction.