#reunion 1.0

[sugdensdingle]

[conchfritters]

i need to get less ashamed of talking about my interests on my 0 follower tumblr blog because if i don't point out that despite having one of the most interesting concepts ever presented in a genshin event, shadows amidst snowstorms was not actually well written, and was in fact pretty Poorly written, then who else will. Who else will.

[bobbie-robron]

Take me back!!! - the reunions ♥️

[teamoakills]

Before Will "Oakworthy" Campos can confirm or deny any of this in the retrospective wrap-up Teen Talk to come, here are some post-finale Oakworthy thoughts:

Following the Killing of God I do think Normal and Hermie (Hermie 2.0, Hermy?) kept in touch with one another but the aspects of having an official relationship was pretty touch-and-go with the whole of Normal still kind of having to process his grief for Hermie 1.0 and Hermie 2.0 seeing his return to life as a chance for self discovery and life beyond the S2 adventure. They both care about each other, but its hard for them to get that kind of relationship off the ground beyond some like maybe-dates and V-J Day kissing.

Sad as it is, I do see them drifting apart near adulthood. HOWEVER! Their bond is still there! (Dormant.) I like to think after seeing each other at the reunion dance Normal and Hermie got a proper chance to talk again and, following it, reconnected with each other in a way that allows them to test their relationship again, this time as adults, willing to be better. Then paralleling the fact that their relationship started with Normal asking Hermie out to the school dance forever ago. Maybe this time those crazy kids can make it work!

[emanation-aura]

So we've got Meetings in the Outrealm: Series V (for those of you who've forgotten, it's the "beat a boss in co-op" set of the achievements) now, and I think it's a good time to look back on the five Outrealm achievement namecards we've got and their connections to lore.

(Long post warning. Go grab a snack and some water, like I forgot to do when writing this post)

Achievement: Reunion - We shall meet again someday.

Released in Version 1.0. Pointedly, predates Chapter I Act IV: We Will Be Reunited (Version 1.4), but carries the exact same theming— the Traveler twins will meet again.

So we'll meet again. Though we need not rush, (brother/sister). I have more than enough time to wait for you.

It's my belief that, from this point forward, all the "Meetings of the Outrealm" achievements foreshadow, or at least echo, the themes of the Traveler Archon Quests, as well as other relevant Traveler lore we learn.

2. Achievement: Gate - What encounters lie on the other side of this door?

Admittedly, this one immediately breaks my presumption because it bears very little resemblance to anything I can remember of Chapter II Act IV: Requiem of Echoing Depths. The door depicted in the namecard (released Version 2.0) is obviously the loading screen door, which is located in the same sky-heaven area (suspected to be Celestia but we're not sure) in which the twins encountered the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles by trying to leave Teyvat.

There is one crucial difference between the two depictions, which is the four-pointed star/primogem present on top of the door in the namecard. It's not present on the loading screen (I know the screenshot above is night-time which makes it hard to see, but I'm pretty sure the symbol is different). The symbol is obviously so well-known and thematic everywhere in Genshin that I'm not surprised it's here; notably instances of its use, apart from in primogems and Khaenri'ahn eyes/neck, includes: the "eye" in the Traveler's original wings, the logo of WWBR (representing each twin) and on the front of Lumine's dress/back of Aether's cape.

The fact that the same symbol now hangs over the door that brings us into the world of Teyvat raises several questions and possible ideas that aren't within the scope of what I want to say. In this context where the Outrealm achievements are very clearly Traveler lore-themed, I'll just suggest that the door to Teyvat with the four-pointed star represents that the purpose of our journey, at least in Teyvat initially, is to search for our sibling (this becomes less relevant later on, but is still generally true).

Also, Rudolf Koch's Book of Signs suggests that the four-pointed star "is a phenomenon carrying a grave and solemn warning", so there's also a more sinister outlook to the door in the namecard.

I think the link with Requiem of Echoing Depths might be loosely based on "encounters on the other side of the door" theme. Dainsleif emerges from a portal (a more metaphysical 'door') at the beginning of the quest, just as our twin disappeared into one at the end of WWBR. The door is a symbol and gateway of both the unattainability of our twin, and the regular encounters we have on our journey in Teyvat.

And, if you want to stretch it a bit further into the future, the door to Khaenri'ah in Hangeh Afrasiyab, released in Version 3.6, carries on this theme of doorways and encounters— you cannot enter it at the moment of writing, but the existence of such a door is a reminder of Khaenri'ah. What sort of encounters did your sibling have behind this door, in the kingdom underneath the ground? You don't know, and that's part of the mystery that separates the two of you, and why in Requiem, you two share such differing beliefs on why or why not the purification device should be activated.

---

3. Achievement: Fated Encounter - One day, our encounter at this moment shall shine like a star of reminiscence in our hearts.

4. Achievement: Orbits - "O Almighty Sovereign, the Universitas Magistrorum has provided the predictions you requested: The two stars have been captured by the world's gravity… After a lengthy orbital period, today their paths shall intertwine once more."

I'm putting these two together (released in Version 3.0 and 4.0 respectively) because I think the corresponding Traveler acts, Caribert (Version 3.5) and Bedtime Story (Version 4.7), correlate inversely with the release dates of these namecards.

For example, Orbits and 3.X lore:

In Version 3.3's Archon Quest Interlude Inversion of Genesis, we indirectly hear the words of Pierro (a Khaenri'ahn) on the topic of our sibling, retold to us through Scaramouche.

The reason why there are records about your (‍sister/brother‍) in Irminsul… It might have something to do with Khaenri'ah. Apparently, Khaenri'ah was (‍her/his‍) first destination when (‍she/he‍) arrived in this world. Plus, (‍she/he‍) only came to this world because the heavens responded to the summoning.

Later on in Caribert, Chlothar Alberich, Khaenri'ahn and founder of the Abyss Order, tells us:

We once believed that you [the Traveler's sibling] would bring new strength and hope to Khaenri'ah. To us, you were the Abyss... A wondrous mystery far beyond our imagination and comprehension...

Setting aside debates on what the Abyss actually is, all of the above dovetails with Achievement: Orbits, which clearly depicts two primo-stars representing the twins in 'orbit', and the Khaenri'ahn organisation Universitas Magistrorum talking about them, suggesting they are somehow scrying the fates of the two who have been 'captured by the world's gravity'. Given that it is all but directly stated that Khaenri'ah summoned the twins (or, perhaps, just the sibling depending on how you look at it), the namecard is basically the Khaenri'ahn perspective of everything we learn in Version 3.X.

Perinheri (a book released in 4.5) also tells us that Khaenri'ah awaited the arrival of beings who could transcend the gods, and this dovetails nicely with Orbits and Chlothar's statement to support the hypothesis that the twins were summoned, or at least, scried on and waited for. The implication that the 'Almighty Sovereign' (explicitly, a royal, likely the king, in CN) requested this scrying almost confirms it.

While the text obviously means that this hypothetical comment must have been made when Khaenri'ah still, well, existed, it also thematically resonates with all quests where the Traveler does reunite with their sibling in some form, most prominently in WWBR, but also Requiem of Echoing Depths (via mirage), Caribert (via memory and shattered mirror), and Bedtime Story (via Caribert's realm, and subsequently forgotten).

---

Meanwhile, Achievement: Fated Encounter ironically suits the themes of Version 4.X Traveler lore better.

Let's get the big one out of the way first. Chapter IV Act VI: Bedtime Story is a cruel, cruel subversion of the namecard's theme— because no. Your reunion will not shine like a star of reminiscence in your heart. You will not remember it at all. Narratively, I find it neat that 13 versions after Rukkhadevata's wiping from Irminsul, the audience is now thrust into the same position as the Traveler: as the only one who 'remembers'. As the witness to something wiped from history. (Can you tell this makes me emotional?) As an audience member, this moment is for you, you will remember it, and nobody else. Even the phrasing of "one day..." suggests that only at some nebulous point in the future will this reunion become remembered.

Hell, the namecard is two hands hovering over a four-pointed star. Given the symbolism of the primo-star as representative of both "your twin" and "warnings of an encounter" (roughly), it is basically a perfect set-up for Bedtime Story; not withstanding that the symbolism also suits the events of Caribert, where we're jumpscared with our twin in a shattered mirror, suiting the portend of an omen (the first and last quests in Caribert are named Destined Encounter and Portended Fate, neatly tying this together as well).

Of course, Fated Encounter's text harkens back to WWBR itself, as both the 'fated encounter' and becoming the moment upon which we reminisce.

The reason I think it fits better with 4.X Traveler content is because of where else we get moments of reminiscence of the Traveler and their twin: notably, in Wriothesley's SQ, Reborn in the Land of Grievances, and Xianyun's SQ, A Thousand Moonlit Miles.

For context, recall that Wriothesley's SQ is about a 'fear gem', which the villain is using to control a society of people to do his bidding by injecting them with liquid fear. Traveler and Wriothesley pick up the gem containing this liquid at the beginning of this quest, and touching it causes unpleasant flashbacks of, essentially, moments that create fear. For the Traveler, these four images are shown when they touch the gem:

Top left is vs Sustainer from the opening of the game when their twin is taken away. Top right is from Caribert, where Traveler realises they have been experiencing a memory from the perspective of their twin. Bottom two are images from the Defiled Statue room in WWBR, including the dead Grand Thief.

It is almost self-explanatory why these are a record of moments when Traveler felt 'fear'. I think this works particularly well as a thematic reflection of Achievement: Fated Encounter because this is a negative-context reminiscence of said 'fated encounters'. Here, Traveler is recalling these moments with a very strong negative association due to fear.

Compare and contrast with Grus Serena Act I's ending cutscene, where due to Xianyun's 'positive dream' Suspensus Somnium Mechanism, we get this lovely scene with the Traveler dreaming of reuniting with their twin:

Now, this is explicitly a dream, which isn't real and hasn't happened. I would argue, however, that regardless of whether this is real, this is the second important Traveler scene in Version 4.X before the release of Bedtime Story, serving to both set the emotional stakes, and as the positive counterpoint to the theme of reminiscence touched on in Wriothesley's Story Quest.

Thematically, this is the other side of the 'star of reminiscence' in Achievement: Fated Encounters. While the scene in Xianyun's SQ is a bittersweet dream, ending up with the Traveler waking up in tears and thus is not a straightforward positive happiness, this melancholic nostalgia for a more innocent existence in Grus Serena Act I still contrasts with the sharp burst of fear we're served with the images of our past experiences Cerberus Act I. They are two sides of the same coin and a reflection of the conflicting myriad of feelings the Traveler has about their twin— longing, heartbreak, fear, confusion— exploring what the memory of their twin means to them. Shine like a star of reminiscence in our hearts much?

Also, you encounter the gem of negative reminiscence at the beginning of Wriothesley's SQ, and the dream of positive reminiscence at the end of Xianyun's SQ. You could possibly stretch this to reflect the journey as a whole— which begins with fear, loss, and confusion, and ends with bittersweet happiness. Wait, shit, does that mean one of the twins is going to die—

Essentially, it's all about memory. Which also echoes Bedtime Story and how Caribert attempts to connect with others, however briefly, through his incomplete Loom of Fate, trying to 'live' like a real person even though he cannot exist as anything but a memory in people's minds— I would make a slight tie with Nara Varuna (the twin, as referred to by the Aranara), but I'm running out of short-term memory storage to load Aranyaka lore, so I'll try again later.

(Cheekily, the four-pointed star in Achievement: Fated Encounter is actually part of the co-op mode symbol, which is the star plus radiating waves resembling a WiFi symbol. You could point to this just being an acknowledgement of the fact this namecard is obtained from playing in co-op mode, but apart from what I've discussed, I can add a suitably unhinged suggestion that the co-op mode icon contains lore. It's a modification of a WiFi icon, which popularly depicts a dot as a broadcast origin, and concentric waves surrounding it as the signal broadcasting from it. Simple, but Genshin replaces the dot of broadcast origin with a four-pointed star, ostensibly just representing the game's version of connectivity. And yet, the four-pointed star broadcasting a signal outwards can also use the symbolism of the Traveler/the Twin as the point of origin as a reach for 'connection', both reaching for their sibling, and as a general harkening back to the theme of the Traveler being a 'connector' of people's wills, a la Liyue finale, Inazuma finale, Sumeru finale— wait, I'm sensing a pattern here...)

Of course, let me not forget to mention that Achievement: Orbits is also relevant to Bedtime Story and some of 4.X. That quest is where Dainsleif casually drops the Five Sinners of Khaenri'ah on us, so it ties in with the disembodied quote we get about Khaenri'ah addressing the twins. We also learn about the Universitas Magistrorum from the Narzissenkreuz WQ series beginning from 4.0, where it is stated that they 'inverted the alchemical stages' (likely referring to how, in real life, the alchemical stages of Magnum Opus, the process of creating the philosopher's stone, were Nigredo -> Albedo -> Citrinitas -> Rubedo, whereas from Albedo's ascension voicelines, we know his Art of Khemia, originating from Khaenri'ah, inverts Citrinitas and Rubedo, suggesting that the irl Magnum Opus is actually the lore-accurate method as opposed to what the Art of Khemia says about Rubedo -> Citrinitas. But that's a story for another time). While unrelated to twins lore specifically, the gradual addition of Universitas Magistrorum lore might serve a purpose like the continual drip-feeding of Qiaoying Village pre-4.4, as well as Dornman Port and Blackcliff Forge now, building up to eventual relevancy. For now, there's no way of knowing.

---

...wait, why did I make this post again?

(nervously checks notes) ah right, to dissect the Outrealm achievement series. So, let's look at what we have for 5.0.

While I won't suggest we can predict the plot of the next Traveler Chapter through this namecard alone, we can go through the themes and plot points brought up by this namecard, and see where it gets us.

Obviously we are tying back with Bedtime Story here. That is where we first learn that the "Sea of Flowers at the End" is a real place (and not just Travail's artistic concoction of the finale of the game)— both the title of Achievement: Endpoint and the depiction of Inteyvats reinforces that this is where our journey will end.

You: Why... Why can't we continue our journey together? Sibling: At the end of my journey, I arrived at a place known as "The Sea of Flowers at the End." Do you remember? A long time ago, when we traveled between worlds together... You told me… You wanted to find a place in the universe where that one flower was in full bloom. To have a place like that suddenly appear before me…  Well, would you think of that as a coincidence?

It is all but outright stated the reason our sibling cannot move on from Teyvat and travel with us is (aside from the war with the Heavenly Principles) because Teyvat contains the true endpoint of their journey, not just the journey through the land itself but their journey through the cosmos at large— the Sea of Flowers, which is the location we will reach at the end of the game.

The Sea of Flowers is a field of seemingly-endless Inteyvats and, contrary to my belief before 4.7, an actual physical (or at least metaphysical) location. Achievement: Endpoint says of this place "a sea of blossom awaits the return of a single flower, anticipating the day when both hearts and petals shall become soft and tender".

Breaking this down, we can identify that the return of a single flower should refer to Lumine, regardless of whether she is your Traveler or your twin, since she wears the Inteyvats in her hair. This creates two completely different narratives about the game depending on who you picked, which seems mostly antithetical to how Genshin has written the siblings thus far. (Well, she wears Inteyvats plural on her hair, so the single flower thing shouldn't apply.)

So let's skip that and contextualise the rest. If the Sea of Flowers is waiting for an Inteyvat to 'become soft and tender', then there is a condition we need to fulfill. Recall Dainsleif's words in Requiem of Echoing Depths about the Inteyvat:

But if you were to pluck one and take it out of Khaenri'ah, the petals would stop growing and turn hard. Only when it finally returned to its home soil would the petals grow soft once more, and finally turn to dust... So the Inteyvat is a symbol for a wanderer far from home, signifying the tenderness of the homeland.

The symbolism is incredibly blatant. The Sea of Flowers awaits the day when the return of a single Inteyvat, because only when the flower returns to its homeland will it grow soft.

Here's where we resolve the Lumine problem. The name of this flower is the Inteyvat. Prefix in-, which English borrows from Latinate words, where the prefix was used in a variety of ways but in our case, to mean "not-". Therefore Inteyvat, as in "not-Teyvat", or more fancifully, "not of Teyvatian origin".

If the returning flower is an Inteyvat, it is not actually about who carries the flower, but what the name of the flower represents: "not-Teyvat". Which means it should be your chosen Traveler, regardless of gender, because your twin has become "part of this world" for a reason unknown to us, and no longer counts as an external being, or Descender— we learn as such from Inversion of Genesis.

Nahida: Irminsul does not keep records on the Descenders. Anyone who comes from beyond this world is not counted as part of Teyvat. Scaramouche: The reason why there are records about your (‍sister/brother‍) in Irminsul… It might have something to do with Khaenri'ah. Apparently, Khaenri'ah was (‍her/his‍) first destination when (‍she/he‍) arrived in this world.

Essentially, this is a giant lore teaser for: you're going to the Sea of Flowers at the end, and everyone will be happy again...

Or, not?

Because Endpoint tells us that it awaits the day when both hearts and petals shall grow soft and tender. This is a yearning for the softness and happiness of reuniting without anything standing in the siblings' way, except... Dainsleif explicitly tells us that after the flower returns, it doesn't just go soft— it turns to dust.

This is why, earlier, I suggested that theory about the emotional overtones of our journey, as derived from Wriothesley and Xianyun's SQs. Without the supporting evidence of the Inteyvat's dissolution implied at the end, it's just crack; but now, I think it's going to compose the bittersweetness of the reunion or ending we're promised, like Xianyun's SQ depicts.

(I want to be clear that this isn't a prediction of Traveler or twin dying. While it certainly isn't outside the realm of possibility, I wouldn't lock in the Inteyvat dissolution symbolism into that event alone; it's also possible, for instance, that one or both of them lose their memories, etc, or they lose something else dear to them. We can't even be sure the story will end on such a note anyway, so this is purely extrapolation on extremely limited connections.)

As a mini-prediction: we could either get more Sea of Flowers lore in Natlan's Traveler Chapter (unlikely, doesn't seem Hoyo's style to follow-up so soon, we still don't understand the Defiled Statue etc.), or we could follow the emotional beats implied by the namecard description. Or, like Achievement: Gates and Requiem, it could have loose or no connections at all.

This post is mostly an excuse for me to talk about my favourite lore in the game. I'm going to bed

[crackers4jenn]

Fic Masterlist - Supernatural (Dean/Cas)

CANON-ADJACENT

TITLE: down the road (WIP)

SUMMARY: Set immediately after the s7 finale, when Dean and Cas get sucked into Purgatory. They stick together to fight their way back out, running into some old friends along the way... and some old enemies. (Or, Brokeback Purgatory 1.0. Dean and Cas work through their issues in monsterland.)

TITLE: every inch of my life

SUMMARY: Post-season 15, in a version where Dean doesn't die and Cas is back from the Empty. Gabriel shows up with some mischief in mind, hurtling them through classic porn tropes.

TITLE: one more time (WIP)

SUMMARY: Set during the s15 divorce arc. What if Cas got captured by a djinn. What if he experienced his moment of ‘true happiness’ while caught in its dream, and it summoned the Empty. What if Dean saved Cas from the djinn, only to have a portal of black goo open up in front of them?

TITLE: lapse and fall again

SUMMARY: A post-finale fix-it fic where Dean doesn't die. Instead, he pulls Cas out of the Empty. Eventually, after the reunion, there's romance and a road trip, but not specifically in that order.

TITLE: like a tidal wave I'll make a mess

SUMMARY: 5 Times Dean and Cas Get Mistaken for a Couple (and 1 Time They Actually Are)

TITLE: and I will pull my whole heart up to the surface

SUMMARY: 15x20 fix-it fic. Heaven feels perfect, until suddenly it doesn't.

TITLE: here's a map, here's a shovel, here's my achilles heel

SUMMARY: Post-15x19. Turns out, Dean doesn't have to ask to get Cas back.

TITLE: sink

SUMMARY: "Where to?" A 9.06 coda.

TITLE: dry and blown like dust

SUMMARY: They worry first about angel doings and once-dormant plagues and monster illnesses from cursed objects around the bunker, but Sam WebMD's Cas' symptoms and diagnoses him with: the flu. Set in s9.

TITLE: Mr & Mr Winchester

SUMMARY: "No pet names, I popped the damn question, and you're the girl." (Or, Dean and Castiel: fake-married. Set in a hypothetical s9.)

TITLE: lights down low

SUMMARY: When Dean comes to, it's with a fuzzy, head-pounding disorientation. He's on his back, on the ground, that much he immediately knows, where there's an overgrown lawn cushioning what must've been one hell of a landing. (Or, my excuse to do a canon-compliant Dean/Cas rom-com.)

TITLE: the morning when it's clear

SUMMARY: Post-8.02 Purgatory fic. When it all goes to shit, and obviously it does, it feels like the world is splintering open. That's probably because it is.

✨

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE

TITLE: 99 problems (and a stitch ain't one) (WIP)

SUMMARY: Dean gets a job at a craft store to woo and date ladies, but his plans backfire because his boss is the v. annoying but v. dreamy Castiel, who might be the actual temptation.

TITLE: Wedding Guy

SUMMARY: Cas slips Dean his number at a wedding, and a friendship/relationship takes off from there.

TITLE: on higher grounds

SUMMARY: (based off a tumblr post) charity collector cas who has a spot outside dean’s favourite book store in town and who always looks so cold despite the huge scarf he wears so dean takes to bringing him hot chocolate every day and cas gets this little smile every time he sees dean coming down the street

TITLE: a way not steep

SUMMARY: Dean's twenty-six and his roommate's a guy who cries during E.T.

TITLE: like only a best friend could

SUMMARY: They're both 18 now and Cas is going off to college and Dean's. Well, Dean's probably headed for a fun future of 'would you like fries with that?' and sometimes it scares him so much he thinks about running away too. Like their dads.

✨

CROSSOVER/FUSION

TITLE: Filming Jesus

FANDOMS: Community, Supernatural

SUMMARY: God is not here, Dean. (Or, Jeff and Annie meet Dean and Castiel. Set during Community s3 and SPN s5.)

TITLE: 11 characters that never were the slayer

FANDOMS: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, The Office, Community, Glee, Parks & Rec, Gilmore Girls, etc etc.

[yesterdays-xkcd]

I'm waiting for the day when, if you tell someone 'I'm from the internet', instead of laughing they just ask 'oh, what part?'

Online Communities [Explained]

Transcript

[Hand-drawn fantasy style map with land and sea areas representing populations of online communities, plus some fictious jokes and references. Each area or item is labeled.] Map of Online Communities and related points of interest Geographic area represents estimated size of membership

[A giant continent with:] The Icy North (Yahoo, Windows Live) containing the Mountains of Web 1.0, AOL, Qwghlm, Yahoo Games, Reunion dot Com, Classmates do Com, Faceparty, E-Harmony, Friendster (off the coast of which is the The Lonely Island), My Space containing The Series of Tubes, MySpace Bands, and the much smaller Attractive MySpace Pages, Blurty, O.K. Cupid, Cyworld, Orkut, Facebook, and Livejournal & Xanga - the coasts of which form the Bay Of Angst.

[The Noob Sea is bordered by AOL, the Icy North, MySpace, and an island system off the coast of Yahoo Games consisting of:] Second Life (and the much smaller island Third Life), Lineage, World of Warcraft, Runscape, Ultima Online, EverQuest, Final Fantasy 11, and further off, 2Channel and 4Chan. [To the east is labelled "Here be anthopomorphic Dragons].

[The Gulf of Youtube is bordered by Facebook, Myspace, and the island continents of:] Piczo, Broadcaster, the river Bit Torrent, Flickr, Last.FM, and DeviantArt with the subsection Gays of Web 2.0, and off the south coast and between another island is the Straits of Web 2.0.

[Off the pennisula of MySpace, island of Second Life, and island continents of Broadcaster et al is the Sea of Culture which hoasts the Peer-to-Peer Shoals. The Sea of Culture is separated from the Ocean of Subculture by and island system consisting of:] Digg, Fark, Reddit, Slash Dot, Soviet Russia, and Something Awful, which surround the Bay of Trolls, and Spaaarta (You're The Man Now Dog), Stumble Upon, and Delicious on the south end of the Viral Straits and the north end of the Sea of Memes, the Isle of Slash, Numa, and Your Base.]

[On the south end of the Sea of Memes, mostly made up of the IRC isles with a dotted outline where Usenet is located, is:] Stallman's Airship, Google's Volcano Fortress, Sourceforge, and the Wikipedia Project bridged island system that connects to M.I.T., EnGadget, Gizmodo, and Make Blog.

[West of the Wikipedia Project lies the Blogipelago with:] BoingBoing, Technorati, [something that can be read as T.W.B. or T.M.Z.], Cory Doctorow's Balloon, Sulawesi, Xu Jinglei, Post Secret, the Shipwreck of the S.S. Howard Dean, the Huffington Post, and the Wet Sea.

[North of the Blogipelago lies the Compass Rose-Shaped Island, with the north arm labelled Practicals (Noob), the south Intellectuals (Pi), west Focus on Real Life (I.R.L.), and the east Focus on Web (dot Com).]

(Not a complete survey. Sizes based on the best figures I could find but involved some guesswork. Do not use for navigation.) Spring 2007

[bumblebysupremacy]

Bumbleby reunions 💛🖤

Beeunion 1.0

Beeunion 2.0

Beeunion 3.0

[that1nkyone]

For character ask: Hildebrand Manderville

First impression

"Oh, this questline's going to be goofy goofy, I see. Not sure how I feel about it, but let's keep going."

Impression now

The Hildibrand Quests are Essential Reading. This man is the single most powerful and idiotic force in the entire game, and to ignore his deeds and shenanigans is to throw everything in Eorzea out of balance. I cannot wait for this well-meaning buffoon to show up in Tural.

Favorite moment

Yes, he spawns in the Heroes Gauntlet if all party members have done the questlines. Also, Volleyball.

Idea for a story

I mentioned it before with Alphinaud, but any story where the twins, or hell, the rest of the Scions, are inexplicably forced to participate in Hildibrand's shenanigans alongside the WoL. Urianger is the least fazed. He was the straight-man to this guy's shenanigans in 1.0, apparently.

Unpopular opinion

Making his questline essential for the relic weapon unlocks was an Excellent Decision.

Favorite relationship

No ships, but I would be very happy to see a reunion with Gigi, or Briardien having to suffer his presence, again. Also, Godbert and Nashu. They are Here! Does that benefit the situation for Hildibrand?? Maybe!!

Favorite headcanon.

He inexplicably affects his surroundings into becoming a comedy routine and nothing can be resolved through proper means until it's over.

[janedances]

now that it’s possible for casts to reunite for another production, breakaway 1.0 reunion for uk tour next please.

[u-changed-my-life]

Top 5 fav robron scenes?

1.

Happy husbands looking forward to a future together.

2.

People don't stay with me.

People don't forgive me.

Robert could only ever be truly vulnerable with Aaron. He has rarely opened up to anyone else like this.

3.

Robron Reunion 2.0. because OBVIOUSLY!

4.

SSW16 - every single moment of this conversation

5.

This was REALLY tough because it's like choosing your favourite finger! But I chose this moment- wedding 1.0 but especially this moment - have you seen me husband....then you will come home to me.....😭

Also, because I LOVE the parallel of Aaron asking Robert- Aren't you scared and Robert replying "what do you think" 💔 Emmerdale tried to ruin that in so many ways but Ryan and Danny made that scene EPIC!!!

[fabslikestron]

RUBY CHARACTER INFORMATIONS

„he didn’t protect us…he betrayed us too…“

Name: Ruby

Aliases: Little ISO, Pain in the ass, Sis (by Fixt)

Gender: Female

Origin: TRON System

Resides: Argon City

Species: ISO

Age: unknown (physical age 20)

Physique: Small built, curvy woman

Hair length and colour: Long and white

Eye colour: Light blue

Suit colour: White and grey, black (black guard disguise)

Circuitry colour: White, orange (black guard disguise)

Height: 149 cm | 4ft 11in

Weight: 49 kg | 108 lbs

Occupation: Soldier

Weapons: Identity Disc, Baton, Staff

Hobbies: Bullying some black guards, travelling, exploring

Mother: unknown ISO (deceased)

Father: unknown ISO (deceased)

Partner: Dyson

Offsping: -

Allies: Dyson, Clu (occasionally), Java, General Tesler, Paige, Linux, Fixt

Enemies: Dyson (formerly), Clu, Java (formerly), Pavel, Paige, General Tesler, The Renegade, Mara, Zed, Able, Kevin Flynn, Ava Flynn, Sam Flynn, Fixt (formerly), Eclipse, Tron, Biju, Querty

BACKSTORY

DISCLAIMER: my AU is built up differently, TRON: Uprising plays AFTER TRON: Legacy, plus they find Kevin in 1997, not 2010!

Ruby is an Isomorphic Algorithm that was created by two other ISOs. Together with her parents and her younger brother Fixt they would try to go to Argon City and try to continue living their lives in peace yet as programs saw them as enemies it wasn’t easy, until one day an angry mob tried to harm them in which they succeeded, derezzing Ruby‘s parents, being able to flee from the scene yet losing sight of her brother.

Over the cycles, Ruby would be taken in by a sympathetic program and gain some experience with fighting, until her guardian was derezzed when black guards discovered that they were hiding an ISO, ending up on killing the killers of her protector. From that day on, the young ISO despised Tron for not protecting them properly on that day and Clu for slaughtering her species as they were seen as an imperfection, swearing to avenge her parents and her ISO friends.

Ruby would occasionally go onto General Tesler‘s ship and try to challenge his guards and himself, which started off as a fun thing but ended up on being a true cat and mouse game, being wanted for basically being a nuisance, especially when Dyson arrived in Argon City, annoying the highest ranked soldier to the point where Ruby would start to have some kind of love-hate relationship with him as his anger intrigued her.

Eventually Ruby was sent to the games after being successful caught, yet winning after facing off several black guards and the Empress herself, which led to a repurposing process to make her being part of Clu‘s army…

PERSONALITY

Ruby mainly is a person driven by vengeance which can make her quite reckless and make her do decisions which aren’t that wise, but other than that she truly cares about the people that she likes, especially her brother although at the beginning of their reunion they weren’t really happy to see each other.

artwork by me!

[not-so-rosyyy]

We have to consider that after getting back together after that traumatic separation and spending every day together for months during the NWH shoot that 3 month separation must have been extremely hard. Look how delirious Tom got after only a few weeks apart earlier this month. So their reunion in June must have been explosive. Also Z didn't have much time off since she was working on Euphoria, so they had to make every second count. So they were more careless. Zs interview with British Vogue the day of the pics shows that they didn't have any intention to reveal that they were dating and would just continue to date without acknowledging their relationship. You know that without those pap pics, the usual suspects would say "a man and a woman can go on vacation as friends, and just friends. Look at Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio! Plus Tom still has the pics of his real gf on Instagram! Respect Tom's relationship delusional tomdayas!" (you can see that I've been around for a long time and seen all the anti shit).

I mean, yeah, the raging hormones played a huge part in the pap pics lol. but I don't agree with your read that they had "no intention of revealing they were dating". him running around in LA and going to Euphoria set all the time that June; them going to that July 4 weekend getaway and the wedding (that was both obviously pre-planned)? they didn't care whether they were seen together or what people think of that. it was so very unlike 1.0 where they actively tried to hide the relationship.

so, my guess is that when THE reunion talk happened, it was stipulated that they wouldn't be keeping it so secret anymore. they wouldn't be out there announcing it themselves, but should people catch them, it's no big deal because they've made peace with it being public someday.

[trelkez]

Notes from my current Doctor Who rewatch, which has just reached s3 (having started with s4/early s5, at which point I gave in and started from the beginning):

We really don't give Nine enough homicidal credit for building a humanity-ending doomsday weapon out of loose wires and scrap parts and then putting his hands on the detonator

But then he took his hands off the detonator, unlike Ten, who decided to destroy the Cybermen by making them self-aware, thus effectively torturing to death untold numbers of innocent converted humans (...a thing I had completely blocked out)

(All of this really undermines Ten's point later about how Tentoo is him when Rose met him, before she made him better. The two of you unhinged each other! It doesn't somehow make things better that you're giving him to her pre-unhinged!)

On that topic: I don't rewatch s2 often and it's been so long that I had forgotten why, but Ten and Rose are just A Lot. Two mutually enabling sets of character flaws racing headfirst for tragedy, staring each other in the eyes on the way down

Some of those character flaws are interesting; some were just unnecessary. Why does Rose turn into a territorial misogynist any time the Doctor has a conversation with a woman? Didn't we address this in School Reunion and move on? Rose did not rewrite the universe in 2005's finest Punkyfish so that the writers could constantly undo her character growth

[ this space reserved for a lengthier rant about how Mickey deserved better ]

Tommy from Idiot's Lantern is gay? They went to great lengths to make the subtext as overt as possible and it still took me almost two decades to catch on

Knowing that makes the ending of that episode even worse. Don't tell that abused gay kid he's personally responsible for redeeming his horrible father! Why is that the moral of the story!! Just Walk Out! You Can Leave!

I've made it to Martha! She has always been one of my faves, but her season makes me constantly want to punch the Doctor in the face, so this should be ... another adventure

"Trelkez, do you even like Doctor Who?" yes I love it more than I can say but RTD Era 1.0 sure did have some content in it

That said, things I loved about s1-s2: Sarah Jane! Mortal Jack! The Runaway Bride! The Girl in the Fireplace! The Doctor Dances! Cassandra dying in her own arms, Jackie saving humanity because a guy with a truck owed her a favor, Mrs. Moore teaching herself how to be the tech support of the revolution, the Doctor finally catching on to Bad Wolf in Boomtown - that moment gave me chills again like it was 2005

I will not be watching Torchwood before/alongside s3 for the full experience, because I lived that and I am not going back. Torchwood stays in the box. No thank you

[redladydeath]

Non-standard Queen Hairstyles - Cleves

Alexia McIntosh - West End V1 & V2 Genesis Lynea - West End V1 Emergency Cover Alexia McIntosh - West End V2 & 2022 Reunion - Photo by Daisy Galforg Vicki Manser - West End V1 - Unknown photographer Courtney Stapleton - West End V1 - Unknown photographer Collette Guitart - West End V2 - Photo by Tudor Von Snaps Collette Guitart - West End V2 - Photo by imrobynhi Ella Burns - Australian Tour V1 Chiara Assetta - Australian Tour V2 Shannen Alyce Quan - Australian Tour V2 - Photo by Dayna Ransley Natalie Pilkington - Bliss 1.0, UK Tour V3 & UK Tour V4 Emily Harrigan - Bliss 2.0 Disney Performance Zara MacIntosh - West End V2 - Photo by Daisy Galforg Cherelle Jay - West End V2 Jennifer Caldwell - UK Tour V2 & West End V2 - Unknown photographer Liv Alexander - Breakaway 1.0, West End V2 & UK Tour V3 Collette Guitart - West End V2 - Photo by Daisy Galforg Alexia McIntosh - UK Tour V1 - Unknown photographer Grace Mouat - UK Tour V1 Grace Mouat - West End V1 - Photo by Shona Louise Jennifer Caldwell - West End V2 Nicole Kyoung-Mi Lambert - Pre-Broadway Tour Harriet Watson - UK Tour V2 Zara MacIntosh - West End V2 Harriet Watson - UK Tour V3 - Photo by Paige Leigh

[porta-decumana]

A Masterpost of My Gaius and GaiusWoL fanfics

Putting these here because I’ve sensed a spike in GaiusWoL lately (particularly after 6.4!) and I figured I’d do a bit of shameless self-advertising!  Here are all of my GaiusWoL and Gaius-centered fics.

The Last Light of Dawn - Explicit | 379,213 Words | Ongoing -  A Dark AU fanfic that posits the question “What would happen if the Garlean Empire rallied itself in late Shadowbringers and took over Eorzea?” The Warrior of Light is taken captive by Garlean scientists and wakes up to a world that is much unlike the one she knows.  The Eorzean Alliance has fallen.  The Scions have scattered.  Hope now remains in the Wild Rose Rebellion, led by Tataru Taru, Gaius Baelsar, and Estinien Wyrmblood.  

Alea Iacta Est - General | 29,458 Words | Ongoing - A scene collection that takes place during the Sorrow of Werlyt questline.  Most of the scenes take place outside of in-game cutscenes though some chapters features slightly edited scenes.  Features WoL Kaida Asagiri and Gaius pre-relationship and how they ended up starting to fall for each other.

And Love You Shall Find -  Explicit | 82,707 Words | Ongoing/on Hiatus - The sequel to Alea Iacta Est, And Love You Shall Find takes place in the gap between Shadowbringers and Endwalker.  The Warrior of Light is called back to Terncliff to help Cid Garlond do some test pilot work for the G-Savior with Gaius Baelsar as her copilot.  Meanwhile, old phantoms from Gaius’s past start to appear and Kaida must deal with her growing feelings for him.  “And they were copilots!” basically.

Respite -  General | 2,527 Words | Complete - A cutesy oneshot that happens sometime prior to Endwalker.  Sparring and flirting-- a good trope. For your fluffy needs.

Wolves Howl At Night - Teen and Up | 4,428 Words | Complete - A oneshot that takes place prior to 1.0.  Features Gaius and his lover, Cassius.  Angst-driven. Mentions of Gaius/Midas.

Reunited - Explicit | 3,583 Words | Complete - A smutty oneshot that takes place prior to Endwalker.  Features hits such as implied armor kink and praise kink.  Very light on the story, heavy on the action.

Risks Taken - Explicit | 3,777 Words | Complete - Gaius gets injured on the Warrior of Light’s behalf and proves to be an unruly patient as she tries to mend his wounds.  Very light on the story, heavy on the action (smut).

Favorite Scars - General | 2,393 Words | Complete - A fluffy oneshot where the Warrior of Light asks Gaius where he got a certain scar from.  She was not anticipating him telling her that she had given it to him years ago.

Undone - Explicit | 4,300 Words | Complete - may get a sequel though! - OT3 smut between two of my OCs and Gaius Baelsar.  A “we’re stuck in a cabin in a rainstorm and there’s not much else to do” situation.  Takes place after 6.0′s MSQ.

Who Hunts Shadows - General | 4,227 Words | Complete - A oneshot of Alphinaud’s time with the Shadowhunter gang in Stormblood.  Features Alphinaud realizes who Gaius is. 

Tension - Explicit | ??? | Being redone - A smutty fic of Gaius’s sexual exploits with multiple partners in the capital city.  Prior to 1.0.  Polyamory and orgies galore.

Purgatorio - General | 11,960 Words | Ongoing/on Hiatus - A fic about the Warrior of Light’s journey from the Aitiascope into the aetherial sea.  Meanwhile, Gaius and Allie struggle to protect the people of Werlyt from the second Final Days using the G-Savior.  

Sunlight in Her Eyes - General | 4,059 Words | Complete - Kaida and Gaius’s reunion in the Burn.  “Oh no, he’s hot” basically as a fic.