#rhine-interacting | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

zeravmeta · 1 year ago

Text

you know for the longest time I've been of the opinion that the rhine labs trio dynamic is a parallel to the dynamic that doctor-kaltsit-amiya have and honestly this event is giving me more to play with

because like. saria is The Boss. like she is very much The Guy that everyone in rhine labs looked up to (and even still look up to) that could handle basically anything. rhine labs was the dream that kristen and saria made together, where even as further and further conspiracy and questionable experimentation took it over, people still trusted her. and thats so reminiscent of babel, the dream that theresa and doctor shared and the eventual fate of that, with one (saria and doctor) so clearly just supporting the other (kristen and theresa) because they cared about them. Saria always had a strong moral center, but years of having to slowly look the other way and cover up more and more made her numb to that sort of thing, up until the breaking point with ifrit, which has left her with so much guilt she literally Cant do anything except atone. Much in the same way, doctor was once just a medical practitioner who had to step up and fill in the diminishing ranks up until they turned out to be very good at war, from which they sacrificed more and more of their humanity until they were a cold machine of war, with post amnesia doc living with that sword of damocles always hanging over them that they'll eventually have to answer for their past selves' sins. it's this particular wrinkle that contextualizes sarias own relationship with doctor, because she can so clearly see herself in them and yet, much in the same way she has to stop kristen, she Would step to stop doctor if they ever became the same way again.

silence and kaltsit also have an interesting parallel in this aspect, as both have a very specific strained relationship with saria/doctor due to what they caused. notably, both of them looked up to saria/doctor, but were left feeling betrayed after seeing just how much they were willing to justify for their goals. the key difference with them here is that kaltsit being an immortal left her taking action and planning for literal centuries on how to fix all these problems, whereas silence is basically on day 1 working to dismantle and reform rhine labs. they also fundamentally share the same types of feelings to saria/doctor, where that, while there isnt only loathing and resentment, a whole bunch of their interactions are indeed colored by that feeling, and that even if the other truly is working to right their wrongs, that doesnt mean that those feelings of bitterness just dissappear, and justifiably so.

ifrit and amiya may not seem like complementary characters at first but in fact I would argue that due to sharing Hypergryphs Favorite Character Archetype (the girl who will end it all) they actually overlap significantly, but they just have one key difference: ifrit didn't have to grow up quickly the same way amiya did. the point of silence and sarias intervention is that ifrit was not forced to take up the mantle the same way amiya did, and a lot of their respective dynamics hinges on how they treat ifrit/amiya: ifrit is very specifically protected by saria and silence, both of them willing to completely drop their history for her sake, while doctor and kaltsit, while protective, are also subservient to amiya. the two might be the adults in the room, but its amiyas goals that they are supporting and amiyas dream that they are fighting for. they even both have the same type of relationships with their caretakers: even though saria/doctor did wrong them, they still heavily admire and look up to them, with silence/kaltsit being someone they also deeply cherish but are more willing to push back against.

you can even extend these parallels to the idealism that both trios drew from their true leaders: kristen and theresa. in a weird way, these two characters share the trait of genuinely and unconditionally loving their "other half" (saria and doctor) but are so committed to their dreams that it inadvertently destroyed their other half. Kristen was perfectly fine committing atrocities for her dream, even if she was willing to take every detour if it meant that saria would stand alongside her again and support her, while theresa, even though she hated war, was perfectly willing to let doctor become a war machine to win more and more of their harsh battles (a trait thats also passed along to amiya).

the real difference is that kristen's dream was always for herself, while theresa's dream was for everyone else, and the fallout of that is drastically different: kristen burned her bridges for her dream, while theresa's death completely shattered hers. saria, silence, everyone in rhine was betrayed by kristen, whereas thereas death splintered the organization and left so many mourning.

they're all a sort of twist on each other in that way. saria is a doctor who never spiralled into the war machine that pre amnesia doctor was, silence is a kaltsit without the agency or control that she has, and ifrit is an amiya who never had to grow up as quickly.

what makes it so good to me too is that the rhine trio isnt a dark reflection of the rhodes trio, it's the opposite.

true reconciliation between saria and silence *is* possible, and very well the path that they're headed in. for everything that happened, they are working together and slowly rebuilding that trust because they've already had their reckoning. with doctor and kaltsit, there's simply too much history and (justified) loathing on kaltsits part for their past relationship to ever be truly salvaged, even moreso because both of them are willing to follow amiya to the depths of hell for her dream, while saria and silence would die if it meant that ifrit would never have to pick up a weapon again.

maybe one day, if doctor does get their memories back, and true closure can be achieved in that shared history, they might be able to salvage their relationship, but as it stands theres still too much to answer for.

#zerav meta #arknights #rhine labs #saria #doctor #kaltsit #silence #amiya #ifrit #rhodes island

91 notes · View notes

cerastes · 2 years ago

Note

So I was thinking about Sesa's whole "I know how to make weapons that don't require arts great equalizer" thing and maybe he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near Rhine Lab or Columbia for all that matter. I was wondering if you had thoughts on what a potential interaction between him and Dorothy would be? Cause both talented engineers, but with Dorothy seeming to forget implications of things, what effect wooing Sesa being scared of the implications have on Dorothy.

Sesa wouldn't be a danger even if he was in Rhine Lab because Sesa himself is fully aware of the dangers of such a paradigm shifting breakthrough: I had a zealous anon (that went unpublished) some months back when I first talked about Sesa basically calling Sesa a coward, because his breakthrough in being able to produce firearms that don't require Arts knowledge or skill could be used to arm the masses and shift the power balance between the people(tm) and bigger entities like the Ursus Empire.

So obviously that's one hundred percent not feasible in the slightest for a lot of reasons, so I didn't answer that because it felt less "let's talk about Arknights" and more "why is this game not fulfilling the wishes for a social revolution we all want right now", and I include myself in that "we", it's just, it's not that simple, and Dorothy's Vision puts that in perspective, making the Sesa Conversation relevant again:

Dorothy has the skill and the intent, but lacks the worldly experience, thus she was not able to see the full consequences and ramifications of her actions, right? But there's another important factor in what made Dorothy's Vision, the Hub, possible: The endless money that Rhine Labs has, as well as their infrastructure that allows for these sorts of experiments to occur in the first place. Dorothy can have all the brains and prowess she wants, she could not have achieved the Hub by herself, or even just with her section, she needed the funding, infrastructure, and support not just from Ferdinand and Rhine Lab, but also from Loken Williams. We'll come back to this in a second.

The difference between Sesa and Dorothy is that Sesa, being far more worldly and perceptive to just how hellish Terra truly is, and that such hellish world has bred some truly evil, greedy people, is immediately aware that, were his and his brother's breakthrough of non-Arts reliant firearms to become mainstream, it would only result in far more oppression and a far more unfair playing field, not an equalizer of power.

Because to manufacture weapons and materiel, you still need funds, personnel, resources, and infrastructure. The discovery of non-Arts firearms would benefit, short term, black markets and smaller outfits. Let's remember that Sesa and his brother weren't small time, they had their own laboratory and hideout. They had more than most smaller outfits and gangs. In the long term, though, once the know-how of firearm production becomes more mainstream? Who do you think will have the edge, small time gangs or the Ursus Empire with its absolutely immense territory, endless resources, and infinite personnel? End of the day, it would be the giants like Ursus, Yan, Victoria that would just get far, far more powerful, not the small revolutionary guys and gals we'd be rooting for.

Sesa is aware of this, and that's what takes us back to the previous point: Sesa gets that his knowledge would drown the world in fire for the benefit of the Big Guys, not the everyman, simply because of a matter of logistics. For every one okay rifle a gang makes, the Ursus Empire is probably going to be making hundreds of artillery cannons and thousands of better rifles.

As for an interaction between Sesa and Dorothy, I think he'd be unequivocally mad initially, but then would understand that Dorothy truly means well, and they could definitely relate to one another, although I'm not sure Dorothy would accept Sesa too easily: Dorothy was pushed into her path by her family's untimely death and lives for her research, Sesa killed his own brother for the greater good, and tries to keep his research drowned in obscurity forever. That’d be real interesting to scope.

Just two Oppenheimers in a room, 5 feet away because they are not willing to drown in their scholarly curiosity.

#apparent angel #arknights #sesa #dorothy

274 notes · View notes

mothergold · 4 months ago

Text

| August |

Rhinedottir x Oc!August | Minors do not interact

Warnings: Oc x Canon, Female Original Character, Angst, Blood & Injury, Needles, Medical Talk, Medical Instruments, Stitches, Nightmares, Trauma, August has PTSD, Talk of Death, 1.8k words.

A/n: This took a little over a month to write but it was so worth it.

Summary: Although August finds herself safe and sound after tragedy struck her, she begins to realize that there are some things that someone cannot be freed of even in sleep.

It was approximately sunrise when August awoke in a cold sweat. The hair on her body stood at attention as she clutched at her chest. She counted down from a hundred, a method she’d used successfully all throughout her childhood, but sadly that method had been failing her as of late. August waited until her breathing slowed to a somewhat normal pace before attempting to crawl out of bed.

August winced the moment she stood up, wrapping an arm around her waist while she whimpered in pain. Carefully and quietly opening her bedroom door she looked around to make sure she was indeed alone before journeying out.

Lights are all off. Perfect, she’s still asleep.

August limped towards the kitchen and kept her eyes trained on the front door. She was nearly there, just a few more steps and she could make a quiet escape for some fresh air. After everything August had gone through she indeed needed the comfort of nature most of all, and it was nearly in her grasp. Just one more step, her hand on the knob and..

“Where are you going?” A voice called out in the darkness.

August cursed under her breath. She could already feel the eyes of a certain woman fixed on her hunched form.

“Going for a walk. I need.. fresh.. air.” August could barely get her words out due to the extent of her pain, practically pushing out every word by sheer force.

“You can barely fuckin’ walk.” Rhinedottir spat. “Did you actually think I couldn’t hear you?”

August turned her head to glare at Rhine who had suddenly appeared beside her. “Yes.”

Rhinedottir couldn’t help but chuckle, completely unbothered by August’s dirty looks. Tears ran down August’s face as she realized she looked like a damn fool. Just as stupid and naive as the day Rhine found her.

“I’m glad you find my pain funny.” She grit through her teeth.

Rhinedottir hummed as she grabbed August’s face to inspect it, tilting it side to side to study it fully, then letting it go gently upon seeing a few tears fall from her eyes. “When’s the last time you slept?”

August turned her head away, still firmly standing her ground by the front door. “Last night.”

Rhinedottir turned around to switch on the light to the kitchen. “How long?”

August moved her body so that she could face Rhine, but in the process she ended up hurting herself and whimpered. “Long enough.”

As she wrapped an arm around her waist again she hissed in pain as she felt a sharp stab on her side, and instantly fell to her knees on the floor.

Rhine was quick to rush to her side. “God damn it.”

Rhinedottir lifted up August’s shirt but not before August weakly grabbed her wrist. “N-No.”

Rhine scoffed and ripped August’s hand off of her wrist before forcing the cloth of her shirt up to expose her wound that had been reopened, obvious by her bandages that had now been soaked with blood.

“Fuck me, I have to redo your stitches.” Rhine groaned in frustration while August writhed underneath her.

For as weak and vulnerable as August felt she sure fought like hell against Rhinedottir, who worked tirelessly to restrain her. After lifting up the bandages and inspecting it she deduced that August indeed would have to be restitched and in the state she was in that was a recipe for disaster. Rhinedottir tried to lift up August into her arms but she was quick to push Rhine away, crying harder with every move Rhine made to restrain her. Which was no doubt making the situation all the more worse for August’s wound.

Rhine did the only thing she knew to do and pinned her down by her wrists, forcing August’s eyes on her’s in the process. “Look, I have to restitch your wound and I know it hurts but if you keep fighting me I will strap you onto the table myself.”

August stopped suddenly with a look of fear now spilling into her eyes.

“Got it?” Rhine asked in a stern voice.

August nodded with tears rolling down her face as her bottom lip trembled. Mentally she began to prepare for what was to come, balling her hands into fists at her side as intense anxiety washed over her. Rhine very carefully picked up August and walked to the nearby vivisection table. Already August had several questions rushing inside her head, but she ignored them for now. Once Rhine had comfortably situated August onto the table, she quickly gathered the necessary supplies, rushing back to August’s side as quickly as possible. She felt queasy and lightheaded upon watching Rhine sort through the tools, her eyes widened each time she looked at one of the intimidating instruments. Already she was dying to escape.

Rhine had begun to fill a syringe with a clear liquid, and afterwards she turned her attention to August. The poor fawn looked at Rhine with pleading eyes, ear pulled back while looking at her with a fearful expression , terrified of what she was about to endure.

“W-What’s that?” August started to sweat from panic.

“Hold still. This’ll numb you up.” Rhine replied as she injected the first shot.

Rhinedottir made sure to get at the very edge of the wound, wanting to ensure that she caused the most relief for August as she could. For a moment she pondered whether the numbing agent would be enough to relax August. First and foremost Rhine had to be quick, and if she couldn’t manage that then her and August would both be in for a very rough time. It wasn’t until after the second injection was administered that Rhine finally saw August’s face begin to relax. Afterwards, she started to carefully pierce the thread through her skin.

She’s going to need at least 10 stitches, Rhine thought.

————

For the most part August had held strong through the entirety of the process, nearly falling dozing off when Rhine had tied off the final knot. Rhine inspected it a couple times before finally letting August know that she was in the clear, wanting to be completely sure she has finished everything when she eventually told August. She couldn’t afford a fuck up like that especially in the state August was in.

Rhine gently nudged August’s hand to get her attention. “I’ve finished your stitches.”

She had to say it a few more times for her words to truly sink into August’s mind, but she eventually got the idea. August winced as she attempted to sit upright. She nearly fell back onto the table, but thankfully Rhine was quick to grab her and lift her up.

“You need to be more careful.” She warned.

Finally August was able to sit up and catch her breath. Rhine watched August while she washed her hands of the blood and filth. She took internal notes of August’s behavior and how her breathing became more labored.

Hopefully that will pass soon, Rhine thought.

She made a few more mental notes of the symptoms August was exhibiting and what she would do in the unfortunate scenario that her situation worsened. Thankfully, Rhine could relax, even if only momentarily.

“How long was I asleep?” August asked, pressing a palm to her forehead.

Rhine dried off her hands and moved to stand beside August. “Not that long.” Her eyes met August’s and could immediately see how tired she was. “Regardless, you should try to sleep.”

August averted her gaze and furrowed her brows. The words she wanted to say had quickly died on her tongue. What was it she truly wanted to say?

“I’ll help you back into bed.” Rhine offered a hand towards August but she leaned away from her.

August could not see Rhine’s angry expression but she did indeed feel a cold sensation spread across her body when she was met with her silence. August had learned quickly that Rhine was not someone she wanted to piss off, but that did not make it any less possible to do so.

“I wasn’t asking.” Rhine warned.

August’s body stiffened up before she let out a heavy sigh and ultimately grabbed on to Rhine’s hand. The walk to the bedroom was too quiet and August didn’t dare say a word. When they finally reached the door August just stood there quietly. She dreaded crawling underneath the comfortable blankets only to have more nightmares. She wanted more than anything to tell Rhine about the nightmares. She wished Rhine understood. It just wasn’t that easy, though.

“Okay, I’ll let you get some sleep.” Rhine said, her voice surprisingly soft.

With a sad expression August watched as Rhine turned her back to her and shut the door behind her as she left. Once that door had closed and the darkness rapidly enveloped August she began to cry. It was quiet at first, a path of tears were left on her cheeks as the ache in her chest grew, but eventually they became hushed whines. Her hands trembled as she reached for the hem of her dress and clenched it in her fists.

As much as she tried to stifle her cries she simply couldn’t. Not when she saw their faces twisted in an unnatural fashion, something she should’ve never been alive to witness. She remembered- No, she was unable to scrub the sight of their burning bodies from her mind. It was a torment that even sleep could not free her from. She felt a shriek looming inside her throat, and her hands itched to tear her skin clean off, rip the fur from her body, but that would solve nothing. Punishing herself would not bring her family back, no matter how hard she wanted it to.

Stuffing herself underneath the blankets she squeezed her eyes shut and covered her mouth with both hands as she allowed herself to let it all out. At some point she would need to truly open up about that night, and August hoped that Rhine could’ve been that person, but there was nothing but regret and anguish between the both of them. Maybe if things had been different, perhaps if Rhine had left her to die things could’ve been different.

The thought stung August. Had Rhine not saved August that night then maybe she would’ve been reunited with her family. Instead she was forced to live and learn to survive, neither of which August knew a damn thing about. She missed them, so dearly she wanted to feel their warmth again, but such a thing was a mere fantasy now. August wanted to laugh with her brother and sister again. She yearned to feel the love of her mother and the guidance of her father, again. Instead she would have to settle for the harshness of Rhine and hope to the archons that it would be enough.

#genshin impact oc #genshin oc #selfship: rhinegust #oc: august

12 notes · View notes

arkiwii · 1 year ago

Note

Arknights 8, 9, 17!

yippee!! more questions for me OM NOM NOM

8. A quote from Arknights that means a lot to me.

that's a very hard exercise right there because there is MANY quotes I love. and I have to pick one?? what!!

I'll put all the Rhine Lab events aside and pick one that I've read recently;

"Evil thought and evil deed differ by only one word, yet the difference in consequences could hardly be greater. This indeed began with thy thoughts, but the moment they became reality, they had left thy control." - Saga (Nameless Minion, A Death in Chunfen)

Saga is amazing, Saga is wise, Saga is right, love Saga and read a Death in Chunfen this event is amazing. this quote is a whole summary of one struggling with invasive thoughts. we all, and I mean, ALL, have these thoughts. this voice in our head impulsively and wrongly telling us to do something that we shouldn't. this desire to cause harm or to answer with violence. there's no exception to this, everyone is victim of this voice, even the wiser ones. the only difference between good and bad is if you decide to make these thoughts reality or not. Saga explains herself that even as tho she's a monk, herself has these thoughts;

but she decides to not fall for them. and it's what matters.

Saga is an AMAZING CHARACTER please fandom of Arknights oh please I beg you to stop treating her like she's stupid which she is NOT.

9. Which character I think should have interacted more in canon.

hello Hypergryph. she's literally in Victoria during the main scenario events according to her operator records. WHERE IS QUERCUS?? THE PEOPLE DEMAND QUERCUS IN MAIN SCENARIO

outside of a Light Sparks in Darkness and her operator records - as well as Susie's -, Quercus is completely absent and forgotten. and it pisses me off. she's seriously, and without any doubt, one of the most interesting characters. she lived so much, she saw so much, she struggles so much, has done horrible things, has seen horrible things, and understands the horror of war more than anyone. she's still, even to this day, working on herself, beating herself up to try to live a normal life again

and most of her character is, in fact, outside of Arknights?? all of her past, you learn it in YUJI's artworks. seriously.

please please please Hypergryph. we need more of Quercus. I want her to heal, to learn, to show weakness, to grow up. thank you

17. "The world-building aspect of the story I have the greatest admiration for."

hummm literally all of them??? but in all seriousness, the thing that I admire a lot in Arknights is how they were able to build a world with different countries with their own politics, and how they interact together, influence each other, the conflicts, history, cultural differences... alright, a lot of it is based on real world stuff, but it's still fascinating. as someone who creates stories, it's something I really want to be good at!! I'm kinda dumb to understand politics tho, so I don't really get what's going on in Arknights, but I can tell it's real good shit, that's what matters

#this turned out into a Saga and Quercus appreciation post #good. very good.#arknights #askiwi #not my art #thanks for the ask!!!

35 notes · View notes

monards · 1 year ago

Text

rhinedottir story quest where we visit the horrors

#rhine's story quest should be one huge insane family reunion #rhinedottir's big fat khaneri'ahn family reunion #we got 2 (dead dragons) 700 dogs albedo and his really fuckedup older brother and said older brothers plant son thing whatever (sorrywhoppy #her second story quest is cataclysm part 2 #can we visit golden wolflord #pleaseee #pretty please #i just want them to interact with rhine.#rift wolves meet with rhine #the story quest is just them being like big puppy dogs #and paimons just going #“what the fuck”#the entire time #pleaseeeee

7 notes · View notes

zhongscara · 2 months ago

Text

mavuika is just so nothingburger of a character writing-wise which is made even worse bc just previously we had FURINA as the archon. furina who had something to say for every little thing, meanwhile mavuika doesn't even react to losing memorabilia she saved up during her long life she's just :) had to save you guys!

rhine put it best in our chats when they said she's a characterization black hole, bc even other characters interacting w her just lose all personality to become yes-men. and it's not even in the annoying way the writers warped specific people around raiden to fall over themselves to defend her! they're just like "oh haha hey archon :) nice weather :)" THERE'S NOTHING THERE. NOT EVEN ANY SORT OF SIGNIFICANT DEVOTION. THEY'RE NOT EVEN BUDDIES. THEY'RE LIKE COWORKERS AT BEST. NOT EVEN CLOSE COWORKERS.

any hints of her having trauma or any complicated thoughts are handwaved away with "oh its my duty :) its fine haha!" when she loses a significant chunk of her power all she has to say is "aw i miss it kinda :)" IANSAN HAS TO NARRATE THAT THIS IS SUCH A HUGE SACRIFICE FOR MAVUIKA meanwhile she's just standing there no thoughts head empty.

hell, capitano's interactions with TRAVELER are infinitely more interesting than his interactions w mavuika... and traveler doesn't even really "say" anything 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

like. i really really liked the abyss war section of the aq! i really do! but aside from that, there's just. little to no conflict in the main story so i genuinely do not know where we go from here. how do you have an ARCHON so PROMINENT in the story that does nothing. nahida was imprisoned for a good chunk of the sumeru aq and she had an even bigger impact on her nation and people than mavuika who is RIGHT FUCKING THERE. like WHAT?

#mine.txt #like ill still try out her gameplay and possibly (most likely) pull bc im tired of xiangling but oh my god. theres nothing there.

9 notes · View notes

dkniade · 10 months ago

Text

Me casually watching a scene from the second Windblume just to see how Albedo and Klee interact

(~11:51)

Mona: “Who are you! Who dares imitate my master!?”

Alice, (imitating Rhinedottir?): “Ahem… Hmph, and what of imitation and mimicry? It has always been a fool’s errand to mimic and learn from humanity…”

(Learns that “fool’s errand” means “a task with no hopes of success”)

Me, who’s been thinking about Shadows Amidst Snowstorms today:

(On the assumption that Alice is imitating Rhine since the themes mentioned were also in Shadows Amidst Snowstorms)

(Even though it’s just Alice imitating Rhinedottir, why does that sound so harsh)

(Likewise Dorian and Whooperbedo mimicked Albedo’s behaviour but Dorian especially didn’t accept that humans are imperfect (hence perhaps subconsciously erasing his mark))

Me: wait, lemme just check how it was originally

Chinese: “咳咳…哼，模仿又如何？对人类的描摹和学习本就是无意义的愚行…”

Me, after fumbling with the definitions of 描摹 and 愚行: “Ahem… Hmph, and what of imitation? It has always been a meaningless act of folly to copy and learn from humanity…”

THAT’S SO HARSH… If this was ever her reaction to the events of Shadows Amidst Snowstorms (in which everything Dorian did was in hopes of ultimately blending in as a human and have friends) Dorian would probably have a crisis

TL;DR: started with casually observing Albedo & Klee’s dynamic, ended up overthinking a line about Rhinedottir and circling back to Dorian again

#dusk rambles #dusk analysis #genshin translation #genshin impact #Rhinedottir #Dorian #subject 2 #shadows amidst snowstorms #obviously this is just a messy summary of what I actually wrote #most of my argument I’ve already laid out in my notes. I guess I just need to revise it to make it more clear #someone I follow mentioned the 2.3 even yesterday and I ended up having a dream about Albedo & Dorian fkksjsjs #*event yesterday

15 notes · View notes

zephyr-windss · 5 months ago

Note

(A text comes in.)

Congrats on moving in together! You two are the sweetest.

Totally unrelated question, but do you have a favorite flower?

- @rhine-ghoul

//also hi! we've somewhat interacted before but never officially i think? i run the delta acc too :)

Thank you so much! About time, don't you think? I tease, of course. Very excited.

I've always been partial to Lily of the Valley and Forget-me-nots. They're just so pretty

//omg hiii!! I've been meaning to interact Properly but much like Zephyr, I am a complete Hermit LOL. Very excited to see you!!!

#zephyr rp #in character #ic reply #nameless ghoul rp #ask zephyr ghoul

3 notes · View notes

lokiinmediasideblog · 1 year ago

Text

Myth!Loki's Hair Color: Common Depictions

Because the AI user that just annoyed me also claimed myth!Loki's canonical hair color is blonde and that's why they did that crappy blonde MCU!Loki AI art, and I am feeling spiteful cus fuck AI and that eyesore, and I need to wash that off my brain.

AND I KNOW this claim came from those people that interact with THAT ONE VERY obnoxious Sigyn stan that pretends to be a Norse mythology expert despite never providing proper citations or citing modern myth re-tellings and whines about children's story books not being accurate. Ask her to cite her claims and actually look at the sources, for the love of Loki!

LOKI HAS NO KNOWN HAIR COLOR IN THE MYTHS! THERE's NO SOURCE FOR THAT! Loki's also a shape-shifter! Loki can have their hair look like whatever the fuck they want. To my knowledge, the only gods that have confirmed hair colors are myth!Thor, who is said to a red-head, and myth!Sif being a blonde who gets a wig of magical gold to substitute her chorn hair. There's also a description of myth!Heimdall who is said to be the "whitest" god, implying blonde/white hair? Loki's only mentioned to be pretty, assumed to be Aesir -sized rather than gigantic, likely smaller than myth!Thor because myth!Thor can kick his ass and he can hold onto Thor's belt when crossing a river (Skáldskaparmál), and have scars on his lips due to them being sown shut.

Also from Gylfanning: "Loki is beautiful and comely to look upon, evil in spirit., very fickle in habit. He surpassed other men in that wisdom which is called 'sleight,' and had artifices for all occasions; he would ever bring the Æsir into great hardships, and then get them out with crafty counsel."

There's also the Snaptun stone, believed to be Loki due to the scarred lips, giving him a mustache.

The most common and widespread hair color depictions of Loki have red/ginger/orangey hair due to Loki mistakenly being thought to associated with fire because their name's too similar to the fire personification Jotun's name, Logi, because Richard Wagner fucked up in his Ring Cycle Operas and combined the two of them into "Loge". Arthur Rackham's illustrations based on Wagner's Ring Cycle are possibly the most influential in that regard because they're fucking awesome. Even GOW made their Loki depiction a red-head.

And here's a painting that looks like a ginger to me by James Doyle Penrose (1912):

The second most common hair color depiction is black hair, probably thanks to Marvel as it's most prevalent in modern depictions (e.g. Alan Cumming's Loki in "Son of the Mask", whom I fucking love).

There's also the Valhalla comics that started in 1979 (after Marvel, but I don't think that contributed AT ALL because Vallhala comics are way more myth-accurate and fucking awesome. I am just including it here because it's a black-haired Loki depiction).

There's also Eric M. Esquivel's Ragnarok n' Roll (have not read and I am not inclined to do so, but it kept showing up in my loki searches 10+ years ago and its existence was archived in my brain due to that). Is it me or does he looks like Cantinflas because of the mustache?

This is Cantinflas btw

There's also Jul I Valhall Loke (Thanks Scandinavian Twitter users for showing me this gem even if I can't understand the language. I am forever grateful.)

youtube

And surprisingly, Marvel was not the first to give him black hair. Marten Eskil Winge portrayed Loki with black hair in his 1863 painting "Loki and Sigyn."

Neil Gaiman has depicted Loki with a variety of hair colors, USUALLY as a literally "fiery" red-head (Sandman comics & American Gods book), whatever Johnathan Tucker's hair color is in the American Gods TV show, and black-haired (Norse Mythology graphic novel).

There's a brown-haired Loki depiction in Assassin's Creed (I have not played it btw).

And sometimes he's just some demonic thing with horns:

20 notes · View notes

cerastes · 2 years ago

Note

Since you like talking about relationships, I've got one I've been rotating in my head but can't really figure out: Kal'tsit and Muelsyse. They're both extremely long lived and, judging from Mumu's song, it's a major source of pain for her. But their personalities, at least on the face, are so totally different. I imagine they'd take quite a while to figure each other's shit out, since neither seems inclined to speak clearly or trust anyone more than necessary, leading to a dynamic that evolves quite a bit, and for a long time, perhaps to the confusion of less observant peers.

With both being practically the urban fantasy equivalent of long lived archmages with aching hearts, as well as experts on their particular fields, there's quite a few parallels one could make between them and their interactions would be very fascinating indeed!

However, I think you touched upon something that I think is both important and a bit different from how you put it: A main difference between Kal'tsit and Muelsyse is, in fact, that Kal'tsit does allow herself to trust in others, while Muelsyse keeps her cards close to her chest, even among those who she supposedly trusts.

Kal'tsit isn't naive, but she does in fact allow herself to trust others... A whole lot, in fact. She believed and trusted Theresa, and still tries to carry out her goals, she trusts in Amiya, not just because Theresa chose her, but because she really believes she's got what it takes. She trusts Rhodes Island Operators so much that, even though she's a powerhouse herself, she doesn't handle everything that Rhodes Island has going on and even has some Operators she implicitly trusts enough to let them handle some seriously dangerous stuff either under her or by being her extension in other endeavors she can't be there for personally, such as Margaret Nearl and Elysium. Reluctantly, she trusts in Doctor's abilities and temperament, in part out of necessity, in part because love it or hate it, Theresa did trust Doctor quite a lot, and so she'll trust in Theresa's trust.

Muelsyse, on the other hand? Her 'trust' is hugely utilitarian. Her choice of joining up with Rhine Lab was born out of necessity, as she judged that Kirsten and company would be her very best bet to achieve her own goals, but that backstabbing environment doesn't particularly allow one to make good friends or trust anyone too easily. In fact, during Mansfield Break, Muelsyse quite literally couldn't compute why Silence would be helping Anthony (Mountain) without ulterior motives: The fact that Silence would do it first and foremost out of the goodness of her heart was unbelievable to Muelsyse, because it goes against everything she's learned, especially in Rhine Lab. In a way, one could argue this is where she started changing a little, and it brought to mind how Saria was legitimately trying to be there for Ifrit because Saria legitimately holds affection for her, which Muelsyse thought was a load of barnacles before, at least without any sort of further objective or ulterior motive. Hell, Muelsyse's character song is a perfect fit for her: Chipper and energetic, yet, the lyrics are very sad and lonely.

I think a dynamic between Kal'tsit and Muelsyse would fundamentally be very... Curt, initially. All business from Kal'tsit's end, because Muelsyse has yet to earn her trust, all plastic smiles and idle hands from Muelsyse, because unless Kal'tsit can verifiably be of use to her beyond being a bigwig at RI, she doesn't need to know her.

But Kal'tsit grows on you, you know? Doctor's not the only one with those people skills... Perhaps they are at another level altogether, given they can handle even the freakiest freaks and weirdos and wrangle friendship out of them, but to say Kal'tsit isn't formidable in the arena of trust is but a lie. She'd get in, I'm sure. Muelsyse would see someone akin to her in ways other Terrans simply could never achieve, and while they are very different in terms of demeanor... Well, so are Kal'tsit and Closure, and Kal'tsit and Warfarin, two good friends of hers. Kal'tsit can definitely deal with Muelsyse's antics, and I think Muelsyse would enjoy seeing someone so similar to her in so many ways that can also allow herself to trust others. Maybe Kal'tsit could be important in just that: Muelsyse allowing herself to trust more.

#arknights #kal'tsit #muelsyse

129 notes · View notes