#paragon-9

[kaz-identified]

4, 27, 33 for the guardians? 🤔

4.

Iphigenia Melavir, to whom "resilient" does not begin to cover it all. A member of Clan Ithaca, she was a dear friend of the Young Wolf, Telemachus, and her fireteam, even claiming Orestes Verlax as a brother of sorts, up until the Red War, when she lost her Ghost, Zephyr, and best friend, Apollo, in the retreat from the City, taking his Ghost Delphi with her to the Farm. Since she has learned Stasis to fend for herself and Delphi, refusing to leave the field until she is dead for real, or her beloved Cassandra convinces her to maybe take it easy.

27.

Paragon-9 leads a relatively simple life. He is a crucible regular, on the path to become a Vanguard scout. He doesn't have a lot happening.

33.

Flint-5 is motivated by one thing: wealth. She owes no loyalty to the City or Vanguard, only to herself and whoever's paying her the most. Once a humble hitman in the City, she's moved up to running her own business in the City's seedy underworld as a contractor, putting Guardians willing to get their hands dirty with less reputable activities in contact with those willing to do whatever it takes to get a leg up over the competition. ask me about my guardians

[too-many-lavellans]

Behold chibis of all our Dragon Age pcs (so far)!

[thenightwishsingers]

Nightwish Singers + Bisexual Colours

A birthday treat and 9 year anniversary celebration of this blog. @thenightwishsingers. [Insp by this]

Anette - The Priestess

Floor - The Knight

Tarja - The Goddess

[hijklab]

Amber: paragon I am going to treat you with so much love and respect despite all the atrocities you have committed and I’m going to lovingly describe the world to you until you truly learn to trust me

Fitz: dutiful you’re sort of lame I’m gonna fucking kill you (x9)

[extravagantliar]

man i love my friends ocs

[fili-oeuvre]

{ INT. CONTAINMENT LABS - PROCTOR’S PERSONAL LAB }

Proctor: *poised, hands behind his back* My Paragon, you really didn't need to come all the way down here.

The Paragon: Why? Am I such an awful guest that you can’t stand to have me around? *feigns hurt, placing his hand over where his heart should be* And here I thought we were friends.

Proctor: *slightly annoyed at the Paragon’s antics but hides it well* I just mean that I could’ve sent you the needed information.

The Paragon: *smiles, showing no teeth* Well, I thought I’d visit in-person this time. You know, like old times.

Proctor: *eyes narrow with a look that almost read “are you serious?”* *his tail was moving from side to side like a judgmental cat*

The Paragon: Don't worry tall man, I won’t be here too long. *taps the glass of one of the tube specimen holders, this one containing a large amphibious creature* I just wanted to hear about the status of the specimens. *looks up and down the creature in the tube*

Proctor: *tail flicks in subtle annoyance at the nickname* *pulls up a data screen* We've had a slower retrieval of specimens than previous excursions. I'm guessing that recently the war generals have been leaving the reins a little too loose on their divisions.

The Paragon: *moves from the first tube to look over the arrangement of skeletons hanging in a far corner of the room* *eyes the large skeleton of something resembling a huge bird of prey*

Proctor: *continues scrolling through his data screen* We have had a recent addition to our collection who is much more susceptible to commands than the others.

The Paragon: *turns his head, interest piqued* Oh?

Proctor: One of the beasts. He is much more... manageable than the others. Notably, Samantha has reported almost no incidents since she’s been assigned to him. She said "he's a lot calmer than the last one". Which I can agree with, he is certainly easier to handle.

The Paragon: *had moved all the way over to Proctor while he was talking* *smiling without any teeth* And what room might this one be in?

Proctor: *pauses* My Paragon, I would greatly advise against seeing this specimen considering what happened last time.

The Paragon: *scoffs* *puts his hands on his hips* That bear didn't even touch me! Besides, you always keep the most interesting ones to yourself nowadays. I just want to see them before you do one of your weird experiments on them and then they can't even formulate a coherent thought anymore. *his own tail flicked around in the air as he talks, before settling back down* Come on, Proctor, can't you find it in your mostly inorganic heart to let me have some fun?

Proctor: *looks at the Paragon* I'm sure that you already know the room number and location.

The Paragon: *smiles again, this time showing his teeth with a “friendly” expression* Yeah, I do~. Your mind isn't as secure as you like to think it is, Proctor. *his expression darkened ever so briefly before changing to the original lighthearted expression* *changes his smile to one without teeth* But there’s this thing called being polite, which is why I asked you about it first.

Proctor: *makes a sound like that of a sigh* *rubs his temples, tail flicking like an annoyed cat* At least, take someone with you this time.

——————

Part 9 :>

Proctor trying to talk his boss into not doing something and failing to do so

Previous: Part 8

Next: Part 10

[catboybiologist]

The year is 2030.

At the Cincinnati stop of her "world tour", Taylor Swift ends her set. As she walks off the stage, she leans into a nearby mic and says "oh by the way, I'm lesbian".

She's still milking a public relationship with a man named Chett Whitesman, so this is met with a combination of cheers and confusion. Immediately, the media mobilizes. They have to intercept her before she gets onto her private jet, and ambush her for an interview. Luckily, this has become much easier these days. Since the release of her 2027 album, "The Carbon Emissions of my Heart", T Swizzle has performed a ritual sacrifice of an endangered species on live camera every time she boards her jet, a #girlboss way of saying that her emotional pain can only be healed by the tortured screams of drowning polar bears.

(Since this practice started, a devoted faction of Swifties have started a carbon negative algae farming commune, with the express intent of negating taytay sweezie's contributions to climate change. Apparently "her tortured soul deserves to pollute without guilt". They haven't even come close to their goals.)

Taytor Twift is intercepted after this ritual, as she's walking up the steps of her plane. When asked what the lesbian statement was about, she nonchalantly says "oh, I thought it was clear that was a joke. Anyways, G T G!" , before biting into the still beating heart of an emperor penguin.

During her flight, discourse on the newly renamed twitter-X-ElonIsExtremelyVirile Corp goes nuclear like it never has been before.

There's a camp of swifties thoroughly convinced that her relationship with Chett is all a beard so that she can still keep touring in the New Christian Republic of Florida, and the interview at the plane was deepfaked.

A different camp of Swifties feels insulted and betrayed that she would be anything less than a paragon of allyship. To them, this is the worst slight the queer community has ever experienced.

A third camp of Swifties insists that she *is* dating Chett, and is also a lesbian. They get insulted that anyone would police Taylor's labels. Comparisons to the Boulder, Colorado shooter are made.

A group of non Swifties tries to point out that everyone is fucking insane and that 'ole taytay regularly tear gases pride rallies to make way for her promenade to stadium venues, and who the fuck cares about this shit and point out that what a billionaire celebrity does for five minutes of PR is not worth your attention or discourse, nor does it warrant harassing other people for the labels *they* use, and isn't it really fucked up that Taylor is making a joke of how people describe their identities? They are promptly doxxed, harassed, and banned.

Bi lesbian discourse is off the charts. Nothing Taylor said has anything to do with it, but it happens anyways.

A lone transsexual who actually goes outside once in a while tweets "hey guys isn't it kinda fucked up that 2.4 billion people have been displaced by mega storms this year that her jet contributes to and is also specifically designed to fly over" and is promptly doxxed and harassed off the platform.

After an exhausting 9 minute plane ride, Tailing Swiffer lands in Columbus for the next performance of her world tour. She unveils a new single that contains the line "ride my horse after dumping him, stepping up onto my SAD dle".

All is forgotten. All is quiet. The Swifties continue as usual, moving on to the next discourse about these lyrics.

[mecharena-zion-9]

Plarium's Mech Arena - BACK ALLEY - 2v2 - ZION-9 & Tanzamania

[celaenaeiln]

What are some of your favorite Dick Grayson moments?

Please and Thank You 😃

My favorites will always be Dick being the canonical center of the DC universe 😌

Dark Crisis Issue #1

The greatest hope and the leader of the ages

Nightwing (2016) Issue #49

The Brave and Bold (2007) Issue #15

"And no one doubts that you're the best one to strategize a counterattack."

"Next to Superman, Dick Grayson is the one guy alive that every other crimefighter trusts."

JLA/Titans Issue #2

"--Founders of the original Teen Titans--"

Titans (2003) Issue #23

"It's a natural thing when Nightwing shows up. None of us are conscious of it, really--but we all look to him for orders."

Nightwing (2016) Issue #9

"You vouching for someone is worth its weight in gold. It was true in my world, and it's true in this one. In fact, of everyone I've met here, you're the least changed from the version I knew. Always confident, always kind, always cool. Dick Grayson--the multiuniversal constant."

JLA (1997) Issue #73

"It was sad at first. We were discussing the work--this work...and I asked him if he ever felt pride." "He didn't....then he stopped for a second and said...'The only time I ever feel pride is when I look at Nightwing. Sometimes I think he's the only thing I ever did right.'"

Batman: Urban Legends Issue #22

"We have a shorthand I don't share with any of the others, save for maybe Alfred. He's always been the one keeping me centered. Grounded."

"Dick's the beating heart of this family we've created, whether he realizes it or not."

Titans (2003) Issue #6

JLA (1997) Issue #71

Nemesis - The Impostors Issue #3

Batman!Dick - he's so freaking cool!!!

He's so amazing and cool and extraordinary and over competent. He's what everyone looks up to. He's collectively placed on a pedal so high by every hero and anti-hero in that everyone wants to be him or be acknowledged by him. People have died in his footsteps. Even the Titans, his own friends, hero-worship, look up to him as the peak of excellence and goodness.

Justice League of America (2006) Issue #50

Roy

World's Finest: Teen Titans Issue #5

Titans (2016) Annual 1

The paragon of rightness and justice of the world - Superman - thinks dick is the best thing to ever come into existence.

Whenever you read a comic, there's always some character that goes "Nightwing!" when something happens and another responds "Dude, he's Nightwing. He'll be fine. He always is." That's the amount of confidence heroes have in him to always succeed and excel.

Like Kon said - when he shows up, people automatically fall in line. It's like second-nature to just follow him.

Dick has that Charisma, the leadership, and the strength to hold the entire community together and as a result the world. He's proven it, he's done it. Whenever the Justice League evaporates in any situation - because this isn't the first time the JL have died/gone missing - everyone turns to Nightwing for order and direction.

Truly, he's the greatest.

[uglypastels]

Not Wholly Evil / Pirate!Eddie au - Series Masterlist

'Do not worry; we shall release you straight back into your father's arms– for a reasonable price, that is,' he looked around at his men, who all once again erupted in a jolly sea of laughter, matching his much softer depiction of humour. 'But for now….' He bend in a bow, dramatically removed his hat as his unbrushed locks grazed the floor. When he rose back up, his grin had spread to the widest corners of his mouth, and his dark eyes were filled with menacing mischief, freezing your core at the thought of what he could possibly be holding back in his mind. 'Welcome aboard the Hellfire.' 

Full ST Masterlist - Inbox - Reviewbox

- keep up to date with NWE -

"semi dark fic" - READ the warnings:. (gun/sword)violence. blood. mention of severe wounds. minor character death. allusions to suicide. kidnapping. imprisonment. alcohol. open and deep sea. pirates are pigs: mentions of non-con, but it does not actually occur. malnourishment and weight loss. paranoia. mention of poisoning. abuse. manhandling. lying.

Chapter 1: The Death of the Red Tail

Chapter 2: Asphodel

Chapter 3: An Affair of Honor

Chapter 4: Columba

Chapter 5: Flintlock

Chapter 6: Shiver Me, Timbers

Chapter 7: Four Corners of Heaven

Chapter 8: Earthshine

Chapter 9: Paragon - [18+ version]

Chapter 10: Lock and Key

If you want to see any more of pirate Eddie [or Steve] requests for one-off oblurbs are open!!!

Chapter 0.1: The Treasure of Old Man Jim Chapter 0.2: Eddie and Tabitha Chapter 0.3: A Ceremony of Love

[bitesizedpoetry]

Sylvia Plath's "Letter to a demon"

Last night I felt the sensation I have been reading about to no avail in James: the sick, soul-annihilating flux of fear in my blood switching its current to defiant fight. I could not sleep, although tired, and lay feeling my nerves shaved to pain & the groaning inner voice: oh, you can't teach, can't do anything. Can't write, can't think. And I lay under the negative icy flood of denial, thinking that voice was all my own, a part of me, and it must somehow conquer me & leave me with my worst visions: having had the chance to battle it & win day by day, and having failed.

I cannot ignore this murderous self: it is there. I smell it and feel it, but I will not give it my name. I shall shame it. When it says: you shall not sleep, you cannot teach, I shall go on anyway, knocking its nose in. It's biggest weapon is and has been the image of myself as a perfect success: in writing, teaching and living. As soon as I sniff non-success in the form of rejections, puzzled faces in class when I'm blurring a point, or a cold horror in personal relationships, I accuse myself of being a hypocrite, posing as better than I am, and being, at bottom lousy.

I am middling good. And I can live being middling good. I do not have advanced degrees, I do not have books published, I do not have teaching experience. I have a job teaching. I cannot rightly ask myself to be a better teacher than any of those teaching around me with degrees, books published and experience. I can only, from day to day, fight to be a better teacher than I was the day before. If, at the end of a year of hard work, partial failure, partial dogged communication of a poem or a story, I can say I am easier, more confident & a better teacher than I was the first day, I have done enough. I must face this image of myself as good for myself, and not freeze myself into a quivering jelly because I am not Mr. Fisher or Miss Dunn or any of the others.

I have a good self, that loves skies, hills, ideas, tasty meals, bright colors. My demon would murder this self by demanding it be a paragon, and saying it should run away if it is being anything less. I shall doggedly do my best and know it for that, no matter what other people say. I can learn to be a better teacher. But only by painful trial and error. Life is painful trial and error. I instinctively gave myself this job because I knew I needed the confidence it would give me as I needed food: it would be my first active facing of life & responsibility: something thousands of people face every day, with groans, maybe, or with dogged determination, or with joy. But they face it. I have this demon who wants me to run away screaming if I am going to be flawed, fallible. It wants me to think I'm so good I must be perfect. Or nothing. I am, on the contrary, something: a being who gets tired, has shyness to fight, has more trouble than most facing people easily. If I get through this year, kicking my demon down when it comes up, realising I'll be tired after a days work, and tired after correcting papers, and it's natural tiredness, not something to be ranted about in horror, I'll be able, piece by piece, to face the field of life, instead of running from it the minute it hurts.

The demon would humiliate me: throw me on my knees before the college president, my department chairman, everyone, crying: look at me, miserable, I can't do it. Talking about my fears to others feeds it. I shall show a calm front & fight it in the precincts of my own self, but never give it the social dignity of a public appearance, me running from it, and giving in to it. I'll work in my office roughly from 9 to 5 until I find myself doing better in class. In any case, I'll do something relaxing, different reading, etc. in the evenings. I'll keep myself intact, outside this job, this work. They can't ask more of me than my best, & only I know really where the limits on my best are. I have a choice: to flee from life and ruin myself forever because I can't be perfect right away, without pain & failure, and to face life on my own terms & "make the best of the job.

each day I shall record a dogged step ahead or a marking time in place. The material of reading is something I love. I must learn, slowly, how to best present it, managing class discussion: I must reject the grovelling image of the fearful beast in myself, which is an elaborate escape image, and face, force, days into line. I have an inner fight that won't be conquered by a motto or one night's resolution. My demon of negation will tempt me day by day, and I'll fight it, as something other than my essential self, which I am fighting to save: each day will have something to recommend it: whether the honest delight at watching the quick furred body of a squirrel, or sensing, deeply, the weather and color, or reading and thinking of something in a different light: a good explanation or 5 minutes in class to redeem a bad 45. Minute by minute to fight upward. Out from under that black cloud which would annihilate my whole being with its demand for perfection and measure, not of what I am, but of what I am not. I am what I am, and have written, lived and travelled: I have been worth what I have won, but must work to be worth more. I shall not be more by wishful thinking.

So: a stoic face. A position of irony, of double-vision. My job is serious, important, but nothing is more important than my life and my life in its fullest realized potential: jealousy, envy, desperate wishes to be someone else, someone already successful at teaching, is naive: Mr. Fisher, for all his student-love, has been left by his wife & children; Miss Williams," for all her experience & knowledge, is irrevocably dull. Every one of these people, the divorced Schendler, the unmarried Johnson, has some flaw, some crack, and to be one of them would be to be flawed & cracked in another fashion. I'll shoulder my own crack, work on my James today, Hawthorne for next week & take life with gradual ease, dogged at first, but with more & more joy. My first victory was accepting this job, the second, coming up & plunging into it before my demon could say no, I wasn't good enough, the third, going to class after a night of no sleep & desperation, the fourth, facing my demon last night with Ted & spitting in its eye. I'll work hard on my planning, but work just as hard to build up a rich home life: to get writing again, to get my mind fertilized outside my job.

I shall not, carrion comfort, despair … etc.

No more knuckling under, groaning, moaning: one gets used to pain. This hurts. Not being perfect hurts. Having to bother about work in order to eat & have a house hurts. So what. It's about time. This is the month which ends a quarter of a century for me, lived under the shadow of fear: fear that I would fall short of some abstract perfection: I have often fought, fought & won, not perfection, but an acceptance of myself as having a right to live on my own human, fallible terms.

Attitude is everything. No whining or fainting will get me out of this job & I'd not like to think what would happen to my integral self if it did. I've accepted my first check: I've signed on, and no little girl tactics are going to get me off, nor should they.

To the library. Finish James book, memorize my topics, maybe the squirrel story. Have fun. If I have fun, the class will have fun.

Come home tonight: read lawrence, or write, if possible. That will come too.

Vive le roi, le roi est mort, vive le roi.

From "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath", dated October 1, 1957

[studentofetherium]

Monogatari characters and if they would be cool towards trans people:

Koyomi: he doesn't really get it, but is nominally supportive, and whenever he thinks about it, he goes on a several pages long internal monologue about how society is changing. 7/10

Hitagi: she's trendy and outgoing in college. she represents the "S" part in the school's GSA club. 9/10

Suruga: she has enough experience as a closeted gay kid in a conservative family that she can sympathize easy. might still be weird about dating a trans woman, but that's only a maybe. 8/10

Mayoi: died before it became a major social discourse and so doesn't have a strong opinion but wouldn't be actively transphobic. 5/10

Mayoi but later: "children" includes trans kids so it's in her very nature to protect/help them. 10/10

Tsubasa: she's a paragon of wisdom and peace. she's campaigning for trans rights in countries you've never heard of. 10/10

Nadeko: she's either chill and doesn't care or actively transphobic and the difference is if she uses 2ch or not. either a 6/10 or a 3/10

Sodachi: "I'm probably trans but i have a job so idrc about that". 6/10

Karen and Tsukihi: aggressively supportive. they throw coming out parties for their classmates. 10/10

Tsukihi on her own: supportive but if Nadeko came out to her she would start doing Death Note shit to him. 10/10 but for Nadeko a 1/10

Ougi: they're trans but if they attached to a trans kid they would be awful about it. 4/10

[literallyjusttoa]

Apollo throughout the ages! Or at least from birth to Rome. I'm going to go ham on explaining the timeline under the cut, but I hope you guys like the designs I made for the different periods of his life!

Anyways EXTREME TIMELINE RAMBLING TIME

Baby (2591 B.C.E.): The year I arbitrarily decided Apollo was born in lmao. Apollo didn’t look like this for long. Probably only like, a minute. Just long enough for Leto to safely give birth and then he was immediately like “ew, no I wanna be big” 

2. Fighting Python (2591 B.C.E.): Immediately after being born, Apollo flies off to go fight Python for 7 days (fun!). After that, he is punished for committing murder and has to purify himself by serving as a slave for 9 years in the Vale of Tempe (funner!) Yeah, Apollo definitely had an A+ childhood. One thing in his first two designs Apollo doesn’t look entirely human. This is bc I like to think he was born with some cool titan traits!

3. Pre-First Punishment (2582-2300 B.C.E): Back from his years in the mortal realm, Apollo looks much more human. His clothes are inspired by Ancient Aegean fashions I found, as we are long before the start of what is considered Ancient Greece. Apollo is the youngest member of the Olympian council and it shows. This boyish look stays with him until after he serves under Laomedon.

Other events that happen during this time: 

Hermes is born (Around 2500 B.C.E.)

4. Post-First Punishment (2290-ish B.C.E-1500 B.C.E.): Apollo comes back from Troy influenced by their traditions, and it shows in his design. There wasn’t much I could find on how Troy differed from the rest of the Mediterranean at the time (probably bc for a while we thought the place didn’t even exist lmao) but I did find something that said an emphasis was put on those with higher status wearing jewelry. So Apollo gets pearls in his hair and golden bands around his arms. His clothes are inspired by feminine Aegean attire. 

Other events that happen during this time:

Music duel with Marsyas (Around 2000 B.C.E)

Dionysus is born (Around 1600 B.C.E)

5. Post-Daphne (1500 B.C.E-1194 B.C.E.): The introduction of the laurel. After Daphne’s death, Apollo distances himself from his family a bit, which leads perfectly into our next big event-

6. Trojan War (1194-1184 B.C.E): Apollo sides with Troy, and its influence once again appears in his appearance, this time even more pronounced. In a war against not only Greece, but his own family, Apollo keeps himself covered and constantly prepared to aid in battle. Missing his mother back on Delos, Apollo grows his hair out for the first time. 

7. Post-Trojan War and Hyacinthus (1184 B.C.E-776 B.C.E.): After Troy falls, Apollo sheds it’s influence quickly, not wanting to look like he’s supporting a side the rest of his family is either against or has given up on. He breaks his time evenly between Olympus and the mortal realm, and takes many lovers until the death of Hyacinthus around 800 B.C.E. After that, he stays up in the heavens for a few decades. 

8. “Main” Apollo (776 B.C.E-540 B.C.E): Starting with the first Olympics in Greece, Apollo is lifted as a paragon of Greece and its people. Shedding the peplos he has worn throughout his early years, Apollo wears a classic chiton and becomes much more invested in the affairs of man. This is a period of great power and ecstasy for him, but as the saying goes, pride goes before the fall. 

Other events that happen during this time: 

Death of Niobe’s children (Around 770 B.C.E.)

Music duel with Pan (Around 750 B.C.E)

Dating Cyrene (Around 630 B.C.E)

9. Coronis-Asclepius (540 B.C.E-500 B.C.E): A design that only lasts as long as Asclepius lives. Zeus is unsettled by Apollo’s influence over Greece, and starts applying more pressure against him. This leaves Apollo stressed, and that's without the fact that he is now raising a prodigy in medicine alongside Chiron. In these 40 years, Apollo attempts to balance his want to be involved in the mortal world with his fathers wrath. In the end, his father will win. 

Other events that happen during this time: 

Around 515 B.C.E - Tarquin purchases the Sibylline Books. Apollo and the Sybil of Cumae must happen before this point (not entirely sure when yet, but definitely in this period.)

10. 2nd Punishment (500 B.C.E.): Apollo serves his second punishment under Admetus. Crushed by the loss of his son and anger of his father, Apollo spends most of this time in hiding. It is only through the gentle hand of Admetus that Apollo finds some sort of healing. 

11. Late Greece (499 B.C.E-146 B.C.E.): Apollo is definitely trying to move on far too quickly from his punishment. He cuts his hair, dons his chiton, and gets right into being an Olympian. It doesn’t help that he is beginning to see the cracks in the foundations of Greece. Athens is flourishing, but only at the expense of Sparta and his own Delos. Years of civil war and threats of Roman invasion leave Apollo shaken, and he pulls away from both the mortal realm and his family, who seem more and more like strangers every day…

Other events that happen during this time:

Trophonius’ death (Around 200 B.C.E)

12. Fall of Greece (146 B.C.E.-32 B.C.E.): Rome officially takes over Greece, and suddenly Apollo’s family are all lost to him. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t think Apollo has a Roman form like the rest of his family, and I imagine the sudden switch in their personalities must have been terrifying. Rarely worshiped and ostracized from Olympus, Apollo returns to the mortal realm, spending his time in solitude as a shepherd. As his influence grows weaker, he begins to show sign of weakness. This is the only time Apollo “ages” (I gave him a beard) and I tried to take away some of the attributes that would have been considered divine. Apollo is completely covered, and he wears shoes (which gods would never do)

13. Rome: (32 B.C.E.-476 C.E.): I know, I know, Apollo should have multiple Rome designs, but I got lazy. Apollo is credited by Octavian for his success in battle against Marc Antony and Cleopatra, and worship of the god skyrockets. Now back on Olympus, Apollo is still wary of his family’s Roman counterparts. He drowns himself in luxuries, hoping to distract from his worries about his brothers and sisters. Who knows what kind of bad decisions a man might make in this scenario?!? (*cough* Commodus *cough*). 

And that’s my full timeline so far!! If there’s anything y’all have questions about (Any missing myths, questions about why I put things were) I’d be happy to answer! I put a lot of work into this, so I hope y’all like it!

[soullessjack]

talk about that stupid lil hedgehog. go hog wild (punintended)

oh my god i keep Trying to answer this and it keeps getting deleted somehow ok. deep breaths. and spoilers for the 3rd movie also.

SO.

sonic 3 is, naturally, a very loose adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. and just like the other two movies there were details from the games that were either changed or taken out to better suit the movies, bc as much as they are sonic movies, they aren’t just beat-for-beat remakes. they’re definitely aiming to be their own thing while also respecting and keeping close with the source material they pulled from (and personally, I didn’t grow up with the games; I’m a watcher over a player; I’ve always had more interest in the game’a story than actually playing it—so just from a creative standpoint, I immediately respect any adaptation that does the same).

the 3rd movie has a lot of major detail changes for the sake of running with their own plot and trying to keep its PG rating, and it works fantastically. I’ve watched it twice already and there is no doubt in my mind I’ll watch it again bc it’s genuinely So Fucking Good. but one of the most important detail changes for me is how they handled Maria’s character. in the original SA2 game, and I don’t mean this as an insult or anything, Maria is frankly a non-character. she falls into the archetype of a character who exists just to die for the plot and doesn’t have much personality as a result. it’s not inherently a bad thing; it’s just a narrative tool. but the issue comes from how it’s done, because when it’s done right, it’s done right. but when it’s done wrong, it becomes lazy fridging (we as supernatural victims know this well).

I don’t think game-Maria was necessarily fridged; it’s her clear purpose in the story and pretty much a canon event that she and Gerald will always die (thanks gens), but it also makes her a little less interesting to engage with as her own character bc she isn’t really her own character. she’s like, the idea of shadow’s goodness. she’s this perfect paragon of love and kindness and forgiveness that, at 9-12 years old, somehow has a fully formed opinion on the nature of humanity as inherently good and worth being saved [by shadow]. it’s not bad storytelling, but it’s just a tad heavy handed.

movie-Maria, on the other hand, is an actual person. she still dies in the end, of course (canon event), but through shadow’s memories of her we’re able to see how she connected with him and what made that connection so important to him that it ruined him severely to lose. movie-Maria is just a kid. she’s curious, a little mischievous and plainly innocent. she doesn’t really know what shadow is or what his purpose on the Ark is, and she doesn’t really care. she just knows that she likes him and cares about him and that’s good enough for any kid. it’s all, “let’s watch movies together,” “let’s use your air shoes to roller-skate really fast around the colony,” “let’s dance to this record,”etc etc.

the actual scene is such an adorable little montage but it also shows how simplistically Maria connected with shadow and made him feel like more of a person. instead of directly asking shadow to be a good person and save the world, she encourages him to be whoever he wants to be. instead of sending him off and making a final promise with him, she just dies. suddenly and without any last words. which means shadow has no promise to remember like he did in the game. he doesn’t come to his senses because he finally remembered Maria actually wanted him to do good.

and that’s my segue into the second major difference of the movie! hooray for segues!

so, one of shadow’s final memories with Maria is sitting with her under the Ark’s dome and looking up at all the stars in space. just like the montage it is an adorable, even beautiful scene of them together all by itself and I had to pause the movie during my second watch to sob into my hands but the one thing I’m picking on today is when shadow tells her, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” again, very simple, but still very hard hitting because we’re seeing in real time what he’s doing without her. we’re seeing how much her loss has affected him because we finally saw exactly what it was like, what it meant for him to have her in the first place.

and, between the game and the movie, shadow’s end goal is still revenge for Maria. her…presence…(?) her memory, at least, is still with him at every step of his plan and fueling him to go even further. in a way, it’s almost like Maria becomes the face of her own loss, because each time he remembers something about her, it’s only ever painful and only ever makes him more determined to enact revenge. and then when he beats the shit out of Tom (sonic’s dad who’s also kinda boring) (sorry), and the flash between sonic kneeling over him to shadow kneeling over Maria, it starts a sort of…tipping point for shadow to doubt if this is what he really wants or has to do.

and the thing is, it’s not about right and wrong with shadow. he knows what he’s doing is wrong (i personally must disagree with revenge on the military for murdering a child being framed as wrong but this is a paramount produced kids movie so that’s how it goes). he knows it’s just pure, anger driven revenge for the sake of revenge and he doesn’t care. in his own words, it’s who he is internally, bc it’s all he’s had or known for the last 50 years. and then, when he and gerald are on the eclipse cannon together, shadow asks him, “is this really what Maria would’ve wanted?” again, it’s not about right or wrong for shadow (or even Gerald honestly). it’s just about Maria and avenging her and dying in the process bc nothing is worth living or saving anymore, including themselves. that is, until Gerald responds, “the question isn’t ‘is it what Maria would’ve wanted,’ the question is ‘what do they deserve?’ Remember what she meant to us; remember what they took from us.”

I genuinely think that was Shadow’s wakeup call (and I love how it was changed from Maria simply wanting Shadow to be good all along, to Shadow coming to that realization for himself). pretty soon after that exchange, the fight between him and sonic starts and the entire time it’s just shadow instigating and antagonizing sonic to do his worst and End It. Straight up kill him, bc he’s too far gone now and there isn’t even enough time left to begin processing any doubt or regret for it all, and the plan was always a revenge-suicide-genocide anyways (you know, for kids!)

let’s go back a few paragraphs to when I said that Maria had almost become the face of her own loss, her own absence, because shadow’s memory of her only fueled his pain and determination to destroy everything. just like her game iteration, she’s an idea now. she’s an embodiment of the past, for better or for worse, for both shadow and Gerald. and remember, in both the game and the movie, it’s Gerald’s need for revenge that sparks shadow’s. Gerald uses shadow’s grief and anger to encourage it and it does eventually become shadow’s own goal too, but Gerald always wanted it first. shadow was just a means to an end that he thought he wanted.

it’s Gerald who tells shadow to remember what Maria meant and remember how it was taken, while shadow focuses on her and how she would’ve felt. and I really think it’s that moment afterwards that pulled shadow out of it, just enough to try and instigate his own death since the cannon can’t be stopped and, again, even if he did regret his actions, it won’t matter after everything is done. he thinks he’s just as far gone as Gerald is with this need for revenge and anger and hatred. he thinks This is who he is, until sonic gives him the classic “it doesn’t have to be who you are. love is stronger than pain, and even if she’s gone the love you had for her is still there, so keep going on that instead of the pain.”

(paraphrasing like crazy but it is genuinely a very well written scene like all the others.. IT’S A CINEMATIC MASTERPIECE AND I AM DEAD SERIOUS ABOUT THAT).

I’m not trying to say the original game’s story is any lesser or not impactful, and if I did that would just be a straight lie bc that’s one of Sega’s most renowned games in the franchise to this day, but I do think it hits a lot harder for shadow to have this arc away from Maria, if that makes sense. no final promise, no idea of what she wanted him to be. she’s not the embodiment of all that was good in him, but she was the support system he needed to (eventually) realize he could be good and be more than his purpose.

[violant-apologia]

ranking the QLDs of various vanities!

looking at the hunter of zee-beasts QLDs inspired me. there are a bunch of these, so this post is going to be pretty long. sorry!

i could go into the criteria in detail but instead i won't.

A Hunter of Zee-Beasts the one that inspired this list! it's not good. it scales way too fast, and also implies you become "synonymous with death" when the quality can be gained exclusively through pacifistic means. the QLDs in isolation are pretty cool, but they're marred by this inauthenticity. 1/10

Prophet of the Gutter - the quality name is pretty cool but the actual QLDs are dull. even the 10+ one, "an unmatched circulation," isn't that impressive. 2/10

Palaeontologist very generic. only one of them is really "vain" (and that one is rad) but the rest are just "a number," "a large number," "an astonishing number" which is pretty boring. 2/10

Barrister of the Evenlode i came into this project expecting to rank this HIGH. like 9 or 10 high. but then i realised my fond memories were actually of the manifest text quality influences. the actual QLDs are not as cool. they're very... plaque-focused. 3/10

A Worker in the Common Cause similarly to barrister, this has related description (the level change descriptions in this case) which go super hard, but the actual QLDs themselves are egh. 3/10

Defender of Truth - the last one "the only source of truth" is kinda fun, but the rest aren't anthing special. 3/10

Defender of the Public Safety eh. some of these are pretty cool (especially "a shield of the people" and "the armour of the city") but the rest are kinda generic. and i don't remember rescuing any widows in this grind. 3/10

A Poet-Laureate a little better than DotPS but not by that much. the scaling works well at least, but none of the QLDs hit particularly hard. 3/10

Renown: Rubbery Men i like the bit! it's a funny bit. but it isn't a satisfying reward in the same way as the other renowns. 3/10

Renown: Tomb-Colonies kinda lame? it doesn't really tell us anything that interesting about the colonists or your relationship with them. just kinda generic. 4/10

A Synthetic Philosopher i like "you have acquired a rather fruity smell, and some adherents all of your very own." the rest are kinda weak. 4/10

Renown: The Church the 50 is pretty good, but not great for renowns. the rest of the entries are pretty generic. 4/10

Meals Served at Station VIII a little underwhelming, but the last one ("a handful of visitors have come all the way from the Surface to dine at your table") is underwhelming in a cool way. no i won't explain myself. 5/10

A Shaper of Starved Culture pretty neat! scales nicely (maybe a litle slowly) but the "members of the starved delegation effect some quirk of your anatomy or dress" snippet is very cute. 5/10

Renown: The Docks it's okay. "veins running thick with gold and salt" is cool, and the namedrop of the impossible east is fun. apart from that, a bit nothing. 5/10

Cardinal of Conspiracy - the last two are quite cute – "but that means... oh no!" and "how high does this go?" the others are alright. 5/10

Lurer of Cities pretty neat titles. "paragon of geological indecision" is cool, as well as "topographical tinkerer". the highest one ("lacerator of landscapes") falls a little flat for me though. 5/10

Teaching Reputation of Your Laboratory fun but not that varied. the last few, "your former students could fill [an auditorium/their own university/their own corner of London" are very cool, if formulaic. 5/10

Renown: Bohemians solid within the renown formula. the 50 is a banger. "for better or for worse" does imply that maybe the PC just sucks at art though, which is funny. 5/10

Infiltrator of the Tracklayer City most of the descriptions are Fine. the highest one (we've found) goes super hard though ("scourge of the Revolution") and it feels very warranted given how much effort this grind is. 5/10

Dream-Trophies of Parabola pretty neat. mentioning some bonus parabola lore (the red-handed queen and the hanging mountains) does give extra cool points. 5/10

Scintillack Dreaming weird name for this one but still cool. most of the QLDs are kinda boring, but the last one is good: "in the fading scintillack shimmer, the game is the same; only the pieces have changed. you are a Grandmaster, playing a long game towards dissolution." 6/10

Renown: Constables "they say you are the spirit of the Law" goes SO hard (including the capitalisation of law) but the rest are a little dull. 6/10

Renown: Revolutionaries ironically i have the same thoughts here as the constables. the 50 (the Thirteenth Month in the Calendar) gets the edge on the spirit of the law though. 6/10

A Scholar of the Correspondence this is a weird one. the actual QLDs are pretty understated, but the coolness comes from that understatedness i think. listener being above speaker kicks ass too. and "courier's footprint" goes hard of course. 6/10

Renown: Hell all of the renowns are kinda clustering because of their shared formula. hell is good! it's kinda just another one of those. "book of everlasting chimes" is cool though. 6/10

Respected by the Corsairs not technically being a renown quality lets this abandon the formula of renown QLDs. unfortunately they don't really do anything cool with this freedom. "known to all as the Left Hand of Prophecy" is rad, and "recipient of a dedicated dock-cradle" is also quite cute, but the rest are pretty standard. 6/10

Renown: Urchins the lower ones have some fun urchin bits and bobs, but the standout is the 50. "they say you are a stalwart champion of all urchins. they also continue to refer to you as 'Oi!'" it's a classic. 7/10

Oneiropomp people half-recognising you while awake is very cool. and "you have become one of the Powers of Parabola" goes incredibly hard. 7/10

Renown: Criminals this one goes pretty hard! all the renowns have great 50s but even the lower ones on criminal are pretty great. 7/10

Renown: Society a lot of these are really cool actually. "unimportant titles but titles nonetheless" "those envied since birth" "all whose names are appended by numerous letters" all go hard. and the 50 is so cool too. 7/10

A Historian of the Neath solid! scales well. "you sometimes find yourself refuting your own earlier work without noticing" is pretty great. 7/10

Dedicated Brawler there's only three properly vain ones here, but they all kick ass in fun and distinct ways (and scale well). 7/10

An Interloper in the Library given the ludicrous scale of the stacks, 777 books seems like nothing at all. in terms of the effort the player puts in though, "the books shivering at your passage" does feel very appropriate. 7/10.

Volatile Consignments Delivered to the Remote Magazine there are a lot of funny ones in this. "your crew might just forget to send you Christmas cards this year", "your insurance broker has been spotted sporting a new diamond necklace". bangers to the last. 7/10

Renown: The Great Game really cool actually. namedropping the mithridate office and the white-and-golds is really fun, plus mention of the old man in vienna? rad as hell!! the 50 is amazing too, "you are the pawn who reached D8". augh it goes so hard. 8/10

Bone Market Exhaustion kind of a weird one but i think it should count. especially because the little vain bits they add are so cute. "depleted for two to three weeks, but you certainly impressed them," "while every buyer wrestles with the magnificence of that which you wrought," "a breathtaking feat of paleontological construction." 8/10

Fabricator of Past Lives "your alternate identities constitute a significant percentage of the entries in Slowcake's" is so good... AND "no biographical encyclopedia ever written suffices to catalog all the alternate identities you've foisted on the world." 8/10

Familiarity with the Carpenter's Granddaughter REALLY good. i mean, i don't know why this quality needs to exist. but i'm glad it does! "you can recite along with the presentation: every word is familiar as a nursery rhyme learned in childhood" is really cool. 8/10

Painter of Fine Art very cool! scales well, imitators and fakes are cool, the great canvas shortage of 1899 is very funny. i kinda wish there was more ways to get this than painting balmoral over and over again (or the fate way) but that's besides the point. 8/10

A Prolific Pirate see, sinking 200 ships is the sort of thing that WARRANTS your name being seen as a curse. 25 zee-beasts... anyway this one kicks ass. 8/10

Notability a CLASSIC. each level having its own description is nice, and the progression is slow but earnest. maybe i'm ranking it so high because its one of the ones you see so often, but i'm ranking it high nonetheless. 8/10

Record of Successful Forgery briar has none of this because he's a good and honest lad. and the lower numbers are pretty understated but the later ones are really good. "it is possible that you have created more false things than true ones," "genuine evidence is difficult to find in London, and entire encyclopaedia articles are based upon the fruits of your imagination." they go so hard!! 9/10

The Prestige of your Laboratory (capitalisation isn't consistent with teaching reputation. i will destroy fallen london with my fists.) apart from that it's GREAT! fuckin... "your laboratory's reputation is known even in the High Wilderness." that's SICK!!!! the others are good too. 9/10

Prolific Advertiser i had actually never read this one before now (because i never do advertising) but this one is so good. "they say you could sell zee-water to a Drownie" "products clamour for your golden touch" "yours are the hands at the tiller of public conciousness" this is GREAT. 10/10

Neighbourhood Noctivigant augh this one kicks ass. "your very soles are attuned to Treachery. should the lights go out and all laws flee, you will get where you are going". what else needs be said? 10/10

[spectres-fulcrum]

I knew my getting back together fic would hit eventually. Chalk full of my Tommy headcanons because he wanted to be vulnerable, plus some shit I had to make up to fit the break up. (MY Tommy never left therapy *grumbling*)

I love them so much and they were in love for this entire piece. It's a matter of when, not if really, once Tommy calls Buck. This is one of those Tommy calls Buck to ask for coffee to explain shit, but this time the week of what should've been their anniversary.

Snippet:

“After the pandemic, there was another guy, Nick. Not as new as James. He had hooked up with dudes, but I was his first serious thing. I liked him, thought we could be together a good amount of time. He broke up with me because I was sweet for a first queer relationship, but he was looking for passion. It hurt.”

“So when you said firsts aren’t lasts, you were truly speaking from experience,” Buck said, understanding. Tommy nodded. 

“The moment you said it was your first date with a dude, I had sirens going off, Evan. But I liked you. And when you sat here on this patio and asked for a second chance, I pushed them back and decided it’d be fun. I have never fallen for anyone like I have you. Baby, I have stopped myself from looking at rings. I wanted you living with me within a month of Gerrard’s reinstatement. Seeing you come home in emotional pain was torture for me. It wasn’t fun. It was for real. And then you started talking like you never saw me as anything but some gay mentor you put on some pedestal and I knew I had to run to save myself. If you left me for passion, for someone else, I would be getting over you my entire life. Baby, sweetheart, Evan, there is no one after you breaking my heart,” Tommy said.

“I am so sorry,” Buck said.

BONUS Tumblr Snippet:

“Hey, hey, hey. So I hear you on the paragon thing. I-I had just had a weird talk with Josh about you living in a pre-Glee world and as a post Glee queer I couldn’t judge you for leading on Abby and had to respect your scars and-”

Tommy made a face.

“Wait, Josh gave you some speech about Glee changing queer rights? I mean it kind of did but people worked damn hard for everything you and I benefit from, coming out in a post marriage equality world. And about me hurting a woman you loved was something you had to honor? Evan, baby, no,” Tommy sounded horrified.

“Oh,” Buck said.

(You're welcome)