#sacrifice to the wrong dark god so they don't even get anything out of it

[fujosh1dreamer]

It was a little underwhelming...

I have a lot of thoughts, some good, and some bad.

Good things: loved everything that was going on between callum and rayla and the rest of the moonfam. They were all so cute and funny together. Enjoyed the stuff with Terry, Aaravos, and Claudia at first but it got pretty stale towards the end. There were some really great animation sequences, and the voice acting was on point. Loved seeing more of queen Aanya. Finally sorvus... I know they're not technically Canon but I felt the unspoken implications when Soren almost fell off the cliff and Corvus grabbed him.

Onto the stuff I didn't like... there's a lot:

I hated every scene with karim... like I seriously wanted to turn my TV off when he showed up, which means that I also didn't like the janai and Amaya story line either because they were connected. Loved seeing Aanya but she deserved a stronger impact on the story, if felt like she was just there to have Ez not be alone. Like we went to her kingdom and didn't even get to see any of it, just some red rocks. I was happy that Terry left, but I was annoyed that Claudia didn't seem to care... she didn't care about anyone or anything this last season her motivations changed on a dime. I don't understand her wants or motivations at all. Barely any soren he felt like he should've had more stroy.

Ezran really annoyed me this season, he was willing to let Aanya shoot Rayla and he hesitated to stop her when she was about the shoot callum. He was wildly out of character and inconsistent. Also literally no one even attempted to mention to him that king Harrow killed Zyms dad first. Like what??? It's not a matter of him being a child and not being able to handle his emotions his response to Ruunan was fine, but him being swayed by aaravos and being mad at callum made for an exhausting watch.

Don't get me started on Aaravos we don't even get to see the other startouched elves. It looks also felt like he got nerfed, he doesn't use magic at all when he's in his normal giant form he just gets knocked around. Also I understand the final sacrifice of the old dragon dying to create an opportunity for happiness for the young generation, but the story didn't feel like it was leading up to that. The story never depicted the humans, elves, and dragons who helped seal Aaravos aways as in the wrong and needing to atone. That was setup for the startouched elves the ones playing god. The finally just doesn't really make any sense. Also what's the deal with callum and dark magic? Can he teach others to use primal magic? What's gonna happen in seven years?

My disappointment stems from wanting more and the story feeling very rushed, I'll probably give it another watch through but these are my initial thoughts.

One final point, and the thing that kinda pissed me off the most...

This!?!?!?!!? Really!?!?!?!? No thanks!?!

[fyeahaudiodrama]

Happy @podcastgirlsweek to all who celebrate! While I haven't had the time to properly work on fics (and probably won't this week because oops, hurt my hands yesterday) I still wanted to take the time to highlight some favorite podcast girlies along with everyone else!

The prompt for Monday is highlighting podcasts with women in the leading roles, so here's a few of mine (and hopefully, some new ones of yours if you don't know them yet):

Back Again, Back Again: Ilyaas, you absolutely fantastic disaster of a fantasy ace, never stop trying.

Breathing Space: While the show is anthology with a rotating cast, some of my favorites from across its run include:

Evie Yuriskin

Amity Archer

Any characters who were introduced one episode and then started referring to each other as "my wife" by the end or by their next appearance

Camlann: Some apocalypse survivors interpret dangerous dreams about dark magic to cope. Some knit sweaters. Both are valid and should kiss.

City of Ghosts: Featuring the grungy, disgruntled, tormented-by-visions LADY detective of your dreams.

Desperado: Take note - give your ladies knives. And god powers. And witchcraft. And a sniper rifle, for good measure.

Do You Copy?: I think [REDACTED] deserves three weeks of paid vacation

Fawx & Stallion: Madge Stallion is THE moment. She's six feet tall. She can't stop making innuendos. She's not your fucking Mrs. Hudson (although, she is - no, I shan't say).

Hi Nay: Mari & Laura are my everything - the loving and self-sacrificing hero and the newfound friend who chooses to stand by her side (fire axe and all).

Inn Between: Oh, my Inn Between girlies, where do I start? Fina and Betty, the OGs and life partners that even death couldn't stall? Rosie and Zara, the new best pals who chose to stay together? Phoebe, just one step at a time learning what she deserves and what she doesn't? All impeccable, A+.

It Makes A Sound: Any show focused on music is going to be a slam dunk for me, but Deirdre's quest to reclaim her memories as well as those that tied her to her mother is so damn real and compelling.

The Kingmaker Histories: No female character in this show has ever done anything wrong. Colette gets a migraine pass. Ariadne can turn people inside out. Daphne is owed this for working in a theme park.

Life With LEO(h): Janiiiiiine, so messy and smart and dedicated and she cares so much, I love yoooooou.

Me and AU: Kate's worries and desires and doubts are some of the realest out of any audio drama so when do I find an Ella too

Palimpsest: My faaaaavorite gothic horror anthology, each one fresh with a different brand of haunted, tormented, secret-keeping (and quite frequently gay) gothic protagonist

The Pasithea Powder: Jane and Sophie. Sophie and Jane. What more could you need? <3

The Silt Verses: Women who start cults/leave cults/seek an end to the endless cycle of meaningless sacrifice as so valid. For all your wet cat(fish) woman needs.

Second Star to the Left: Because I always love a good Ishani performance. Hi Gwen, please tell Boots I love them.

Small Victories: You want sad wet cat women? How about one that literally can't stop self-sabotaging (but at least manages to draw the line at sabotaging others...occasionally). She even gets stabbed!

Starfall: I mean, kind of a given, but anyway, Leona definitely exists because she's the kind of action protagonist woman I always wanted - one that could be unapologetically powerful, but still full of flaws and desires (especially ones that weren't about falling in love and minimizing her own strengths). She's even autistic!

Stories From Ylelmore: Keryth! Keryth, Keryth, Keryth! She reminds me so much of the kinds of characters I would make up when I was younger - I love her and her small magic so dearly.

The Strange Case of Starship Iris: Hi queer space pirates <3

Unseen: Another anthology show, but Harry Winters and Never-Ending Circles remains one of the most perfect premiere episodes I've ever heard in audio drama.

The Way We Haunt Now: Get your podcast ladies here, dead or alive!

We Fix Space Junk: My favorite type of repairman is a woman who could kick my ass.

Wolf 359: I don't think I need say much more here - y'all know and love 'em just as much as I do.

[elianaroselight]

So I have fallen into the CotL world and came across an awesome AU called the Heartstring AU by @bleeding-seraphic. I loved this post about Leshy meeting his soulmate (again) and had to write about it.

TW : talks of sacrificing another and mentions of genocide

How did he end up in this predicament? This was the thought running through Leshy's mind as he listened to the lamb that had somehow managed to make him mortal. “-welcome to your new forever home, you genocidal freak.” Ah. Still was quite the spitfire it seems. Even after all these years. “If you need anything, man up and deal with it on your own. Oh. And if you try anything, I'll break both your knees and sacrifice you to your brother. Bye now!” Well, that was quite the whiplash of a threat. 

Leshy listens to the sound of feet walking away, used to his dark world forcing him to rely on sound to orient and understand his surroundings. The worm sighs when the coast is clear, reaching down to scratch an itch on his pinky. ‘Damned beast.’ He thinks before being startled by the feeling of something on his finger. He feels it quietly. It was.. A thread? A string of some sort. Thin but strong. Almost like spider silk. It didn't seem to be touching the ground, meaning it was floating or tied to something else. Now he was curious. Where did this strange thread lead to?

He loosely holds it, following where the string directed him to go. A few times, he had to walk around a building or even past some plants. (He was especially careful around those.) As he walked, he could hear someone working in the dirt before standing up. He seemed to be nearing this person and planned to walk right on by, until he realized the string he was following wasn't going around them. It was leading him to them. He feels his hand touch theirs and feels a gaze upon his face. The gentle sparks and warmth he felt where they touched was oddly welcoming if confusing. 

They sat in silence for a moment before the other screamed, startling the god. Leshy flinched back, trying to figure out why they were yelling but before they could do anything, the sound of hurried footsteps caught his attention and he stepped back a bit more. “Okay. Okay. What is going on?” The lamb calls out to them. Before Leshy could speak, the other begins to yell at the lamb. “WHY IS THE GOD OF DARKWOOD HERE?!” He's been recognized? 

“You must have recognized him wrong, Mel. He is but a rescue from Darkwood.” They say as the lamb tried to calm the other. So Mel is the name of the one his string is tied to? Leshy quickly makes note of that information as he listens on. “My lamb, I think I'd recognize the god who tried to sacrifice me! And even if I didn't, our strings were the same the first time we met and-and they still are!” A sacrifice? There was only one sacrifice that had managed to get away from him. A silent yellow cat who had been set free after he was creeped out. So this ‘Mel’ was the yellow cat he set free? Huh. 

The annoying sheep pauses for a moment before speaking with a bit of an uncertain tone. “Are you sure your strings are attached?” “Yes! I've known since I saw it connect while I was at his altar to be sacrificed!” “I see. Well, he won't be able to harm anyone here so I'm giving him another chance. Why don't you take the rest of the day off, Mel. We can talk this over more when things settle down again.” 

Leshy hears the cat near him sigh. “Yeah okay.” They say before walking off. Leshy can feel the glare from the lamb on him, but ignores it to process this information. So this string was attached to Mel, a yellow cat he had set free a while back. The only thing left to answer was: what is this string and why is it attaching them? 

[starrywangxian]

my clematis: mizisua ver vs. ivantill ver

i've noticed a lot of people comparing ivan and sua so i thought i'd take a look at the difference of their versions of my clematis to see who sings which part - over the cut!!

i also ramble about the parallels/similarities/differences between the four characters after.

(i'll be looking at the english translation because i can't speak korean T^T)

(if i get anything wrong, please let me know!!)

till / sua: oh my clematis

till / sua: hope bloomed from the abyss

ivan / mizi: oh my clematis

ivan / mizi: always be by my side

till / sua: you bloomed from

till / sua: the huge black wall

ivan / mizi: the galactic starlight

ivan / mizi: in your eyes spreads out

ivan / mizi: in the endless darkness

ivan / mizi: i find you with your scent

till / mizi: even if i sleep in infinity

till / sua: don't leave my universe

ivan & till / mizi & sua: oh my clematis

ivan & till / mizi & sua: hope bloomed from the abyss

ivan & till / mizi & sua: oh my clematis

ivan & till / mizi & sua: always be by my side

ivan / mizi: do you believe in god?

till: no! stop talking

ivan / mizi: once upon a time, mankind believed in god and had religion

till: sigh...

ivan / mizi: they believe that things that cannot be solved by human strength

ivan/ mizi: are the will of god

ivan / mizi: believed that the entire universe revolved around the earth

ivan / mizi: thought that the place that connected with the sky, which they could not dare to reach

ivan / mizi: was the place where the gods lived

till: that's just ridiculous.

ivan / mizi: from the moment humanity left the universe, we all forgot god

ivan / mizi: but if belief in god is human

ivan / mizi: if all i can do as a human is to believe

till: why are you staring at me?

ivan / mizi: my god

till: hey, hey! wait!

ivan / mizi: my universe

till: ah, go away!! ahhhhh

till / mizi: oh my clematis

till / mizi: hope withered in the abyss

ivan / mizi: oh my clematis

ivan / mizi: please stay by my side

ivan: my clematis / mizi: oh my clematis

alrightyyy so i decided to do this because i feel like it's the best way to see how mizisua and ivantill compare. these particular characters covered these songs for a reason, right?

just to mention, i find it very interesting how till thinks the speech is ridiculous. does he say that because it's ivan that's saying it? or does he genuinely think it's ridiculous. because these words were originally mizi's. would he still think it's ridiulous if mizi was the one saying them? hmmmmm

but anyways to conclude. most of mizi's lyrics are covered by ivan and most of sua's lyrics are covered by till showing that, at least for this song, mizi and ivan are more similar than sua and till are, and if you think about it, it makes sense.

mizi saw sua as her god ("my god, my universe") and i think from how ivan only allowed himself to touch or show his feelings for till when he wasn't looking/unconscious has that same feeling, that ivan saw till as a god who was unattainable, untouchable in all circumstances except for when till was unaware. much like when you pray to god, you don't necessarily get a response back, you pray and hope that god hears it.

i know that most people compare sua and ivan because they have similar appearances and they both sacrifice themselves for their loves but i don't think that's quite the case.

for one, mizi and sua sang together and mizi only won by one point. their round was on equal footing as they both sang, complying with the rules of the game. they both accepted their fates, i feel like both were prepared to die for the other but mizi was unaware that sua was planning to sacrifice herself to make sure that mizi won. whereas, ivan and till sang separately and till won by 19 points. ivan could not bare the thought of till dying and manipulated the score which till was completely unaware of, even thinking that ivan was going to kill him right until the moment where he opened his eyes (which is AHHHHH). ivan and sua are opposites here and mizi and till were both unaware what the other was planning.

and i can see why people compare mizi and till together (i mean i judt did it ksdjksjd). mizi and till both win due to the others' sacrifice but if you think about it, these songs are about being left behind, right? we haven't seen how till feels about ivan's sacrifice yet but we know that ivan feels unseen by till. like he's been left behind. and he quite literally was left behind by till when they tried to escape on that night with the meteor shower. mizi was left behind by sua because she died but ivan was left behind by till because he cared about someone else more.

and, i mean, mizi is the one who covers black sorrow, not sua. and black sorrow is a song about not being able to reach someone (ï can't reach you"), about standing next to someone who shines (ÿou who shine, i stand next to you" <- this also adds to the idea that ivan/mizi see the other as a god), about waiting for someone (ivan waiting for till to notice him and mizi waiting for sua to return to her). so are sua and ivan really that similar?

and i mean mizi dyes the ends of her hair blue, which is ivan's colour, not green (till's colour)...

anyway i'm rambling at this point but hopefully you can make sense of what i'm trying to get at lmao

(feel free to add your own thoughts!!)

[nunalastor]

Zelda au

Similar to the Zelda's royal bloodline, Alastor in this AU has the blood of the goddess running through their veins. Alastor is female in this au and is the descendant of a mortal who is reincarnated from a goddess. The goddess could be the sibling/daughter of God that created this world. When Lucifer gave Eve the apple in this AU, it caused a chain effect where Roo/Demise was released unto the world. In order to stop the spread of malice and evil, the goddess sacrifice herself to seal the evil away and banished it to the deepest pit of hell.

Like any Zelda game, seals don't last forever and needs to be renew every once in a while. So the goddess chose to be reincarnated as a human, and whenever it seems the seal is about to break, the descendant of the reincarnated human will be able to perform a sacred ritual on earth to re-seal the evil. The bloodline is almost 100% guarantee go to heaven. Especially the one that perform the sacred ritual, they are practically saints.

However, Roo/Demise has gotten smarter over the thousands of years of being seal and re-seal away. They hatched up a plan, they would trap the latest descendant that would be performing the latest sacred ritual in to hell. This would allow them to corrupt the descendant and use their divinity power and bloodline to free them from their prison. Unfortunately for Alastor, she was the one who will be performing the sacred ritual that year. After Alastor performed the ritual, she can feel something is wrong. The seal is renewed, but something is very wrong. She can feel it in her soul.

This is proven correct, when after she died, she ended up in hell. Alastor was very confused at first but since it's Alastor she just rolled with it. Cue her being an Overlord very quickly, with divinity power and all. By the time Hazbin started, everyone has the impression of Alastor of being super evil and probably has very dark magic, ironically.

Meanwhile, Heaven is freaking out because their latest saint is missing and no where to be found and the seal on Roo/Demise is acting very strange. I can also see Lucifer freaking out when he first meet Alastor. Like this woman is reeking divinity but is also very hot?!!? Why is she in hell?? Is heaven planning an attack??? And again, why is she so hot???

Anonymous asked:

Zelda Au

Since Alastor is a descendant of a goddess in this AU, she is willing to give redemption a benefit of a doubt. Make no mistake, she still thinks sinner should be damned for their lives and deserved to be in this pit of cesspool for the rest of their afterlives but she can also see that there are people who just made mistakes and can get better. Whether or not is up to them, after all you can't get better until you choose to want to get better. After seeing Charlie commercial on TV, she figured why not? It's not like she has anything better to do and the princess redemption plan does have merit no matter how disastrous as it is.

When Alastor show up at the Hazbin Hotel, she is met with somewhat hostility. This is due to her divine blood causing the demons/sinner to subconsciously trigger their flight or fight instincts. Everyone seems a little on edge with her with the exception of Vaggie who seems a bit more relaxed due to being an angel. After the partnership is established, Alastor summons Husk and Niffty.

Husk and Niffty is a bit different in this au with Alastor being different and all. For Husk, he is still the same but can tell something is different about Alastor. He can sense that Alastor is not a normal sinner and probably not even a normal human to begin with. Alastor won Husk's soul like in the canon. But in this au, Alastor saw there is Husk can be better. So in a mess up way to help Husk, she leash his soul so that she can keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't lose himself any more further than he's currently is.

As for Niffty, she just saw this crazy sinner and decide "Yeah, this is my daughter now". Lots of cute mother-daughter fluff (Charlie is somewhat jealous. Mommy issues.)

[illarian-rambling]

Thanks for the tag @melpomene-grey!

OC Interview

I feel like I've done all of my protags, so let's go in a different direction >:)

Are you named after anyone?

"My first name, Vermir, just means sea bird, which is sort of a fucked up thing to name a baby. My surname, Nadvalsib, is in keeping with Teaban traditions. My mother's name was Nadval and I'm a woman, so hence the -sib."

When was the last time you cried?

"I can't anymore, so... about five hundred years ago, in that case? I think I cried all the tears I had left when- when I saw the results of my experiment with the dark beyond. I never meant for things to end like that.... I was supposed to have saved them...."

Do you have kids?

"Absolutely not. I don't mind kids, but I've never had the desire for my own."

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

"For people smart enough to pick up on it, sure."

What's the first thing you notice about people?

"If they're sorcerers or not. I might prefer to plan out my captures, but I'll take what's given to me if it comes down to it."

What's your eye colour?

"They were a dark brown when I was human. Perfected as I am, they shine an electric white."

Scary movies or happy endings?

"Oh, scary endings! I love anything with practical effects, especially. The craftsmanship is incredible."

Any special talents?

"Other than my incredible intellect, unbreakable determination, and willingness to do what needs to be done to save the people of Illaros? I've always had an impeccable sense of direction. I don't know if I've been lost a day in my life."

Where were you born?

"In the town of Laben, in what you would now know as the Janazi principality of Teaba."

Do you have any pets?

"Can't say that I do. I don't have the time to take care of one."

What sort of sports do you play?

"Son, I'm in the middle of conquering a planet in order to buck the boot of our tyrant gods. And you think I have time for sports?"

How tall are you?

"I was about 5'5" before my ascendency, but I'm a solid 7'0" now. It feels good."

What was your favourite subject in school?

"I never formally went to school - those weren't so widespread when I was a girl - so I learned my trade through apprenticing under the former mage of the village. He was a nice enough fellow, even if he never had the ambition to add any more to his knowledge than what he'd learned from his predecessor. He did, however, have an incredible knack for alchemy. Learning the potion trade from him made up for his failings in other areas."

What is your dream job?

"It's not ruling Illaros, if that's what you're thinking. I will rule Illaros, don't get me wrong. I'll do it, make the world the best it can be, and keep it spinning that way until it can stand on its own. This is my sacrifice for the greater good. Perhaps after my empire is established though, I'll be able to step back and dedicate myself to my studies alone. I've always wanted to finally crack the secrets of the dark beyond."

I'll tag @the-golden-comet @evilgabe29 @aesthetic-writer18 @autism-purgatory and anyone else who wants in :)

Blanks under the cut

Are you named after anyone? When was the last time you cried? Do you have kids? Do you use sarcasm a lot? What's the first thing you notice about people? What's your eye colour? Scary movies or happy endings? Any special talents? Where were you born? Do you have any pets? What sort of sports do you play? How tall are you? What was your favourite subject in school? What is your dream job?

[earlgraytay]

For the Reverse Unpopular Opinion Meme, give me Dark Souls.

Gwyndolin and the Witch of Izalith are both fascinating characters, and I really wish they got more fandom exploration.

Specifically, I wish fandom would explore the villainous/vengeance-focused side of Gwyndolin's character more often, and I wish that fandom would explore the Byronic/Prometheus/hero side of the Witch's character more often.

Gwyndolin's carrying on his family's monstrous legacy, mostly out of inertia. He's sending so many humans- "heroes" all- to kindle the flame and die in the process. And for what? Gwyn's dead, the Nameless King isn't coming back, Gwynevere is somewhere far away, and Velka fucked right off.

(Velka's another character I wish fandom would explore more. The concept of a goddess of sin is fascinating, especially given what little we know about the concept of 'sin' in Dark Souls... and the implication that she's the mother of Gwyn's children. But that's a whole nother kettle of fish.)

Point is, Gwyndolin is doing some truly monstrous things, in the name of propping up the old order. The old order that's never been particularly sustainable, and is becoming less and less so with time. The old order that full well half the playerbase wants to see torn down. His personal world's basically as over as the Age of Fire is, and keeping things The Same As They Always Were isn't making anyone happy.

Out of all the people left alive in the setting, Gwyndolin is probably the person best equipped to try to find a new way to keep the world running. But he's not even trying! He's just keeping things the same, and meteing out vengeance to anyone who gets in the way of that. For gods' sakes, the Blades of the Darkmoon cut off sinners' ears and bring them back to him.

I find Gwyndolin a deeply tragic and sympathetic figure, but I wish people would engage with this side of him, rather than just "oh, he's got a soft voice and is some kind of trans, let's assume he's never done anything wrong in his life." I'd love to see more people explore just how much of a miserable monster Gwyndolin is. How much fuckery he's doing, while not even seeming to enjoy it. How much agency he's given up to (his interpretation of) the whims of dead people, and how the nature of godhood means that giving up that agency is the worst thing he could possibly do. And how giving up that agency is honestly the politically savvy thing to do! Except that politics is dead and he should know that by now.

Similarly? I'd love to see people explore the Witch of Izalith as a tragic hero. Because, like, fandom doesn't do shit with her, but she's the one person in the setting who even tried to do (what most of us think is) the 'right' thing.

The Witch of Izalith is the one person in this goddamn world who tried to solve the trolley problem by derailing the train. The world depends on the First Flame for everything that humans need to thrive? The First Flame's going out? Okay, let's make a new fucking Flame, then, what are we waiting for?

She sacrificed everything- her followers, her daughters, her son, her husband, even her own physical form! - to try to make this work. She gave everything she had to save the world, making way more sacrifices than Gwyn or any of his children made, trying desperately to save the world-- and it was all for nothing. Her creation of demons made everything worse for everyone. But she kept going anyway, because what other choice did she have?

The Witch of Izalith's like a much more sympathetic Laurence. Sketchy, conniving, yet incredibly idealistic and passionate? Incredibly learned, but in ways that let her do more dangerously stupid stuff faster and more efficiently? Crazy enough to think this just might work?

I love her. I would love to see more fandom love for her, and her daughters, and the witches of this series in general. I get not seeing it from Tumblr fandom- we ship twinks here, sir- but honestly, I don't even see it from the reddit side of fandom that likes to ship the fromsoft waifs, and that makes me really sad.

But yeah. More love for the fucked up parts of Gwyndolin's character. More love for the Witch of Izalith and her passionate intensity.

(ETA: I realized while writing this that this turned into more salt than gushing, because my unpopular opinions about Dark Souls get salty- buuuuuut I do love me some evil Gwyndolin and some Witch of Izalith, so this stands.)

[starheirxero]

OH GOD, OH GOD XERO, IT'S HAPPENING, EVERYONE STAY CALM-

THIS EPISODE WAS EVERYTHING AND MORE!!! THIS IS WHAT THE FANS HAVE BEEN WANTING FOR!!!

I am so emotional about this!!!

Eclipse genuinely cares for Earth, no matter, how much he's denying it!

I…I do not have words!

His self-loathing…he sees himself as a monster, for everything he did, sees himself as irredeemable, unworthy of forgiveness… He knows, he's been a terrible person, and thinks, he's beyond saving! From the way he spoke, he seemed to ask Earth, indirectly, if she would sacrifice him to get Solar back.

And yet, Earth is still holding on, acknowledging his hurt and showing sympathy and care!

I adored Earth's wonder of morality! Eclipse has done terrible things to her family, to everyone, except for her!

She should hate him. He has caused hurt to her family. He was the catalyst.

And yet…being left untouched by the pain he caused, she can't help but notice his pain. She understands why he acts like this, she understands, that he has been wronged and hurt, and can't help but reach out!

It's such a moral dilemma, and I really hope, they get more into detail with it, because it's really interesting!!

Earth has such a kind heart, and even Eclipse has been touched by it! He seemed about to cry, when he left! Someone sees him, and knows, there are reasons behind his actions! It doesn't make them dissappear, or justify them. But he isn't just a monster, he's a person too! Having someone tell him that, being told, that he can still be better…it would've broken me too!

The one thing I want to point out to it…he's planning to leave to a different dimension?? I don't think, it's by choice, he did mention an agreement, if I remember correctly! Was it with dark Sun?? And why would he want him to leave??? 🤔

-Stardust

I KNOWWWW AAAAAHHHH ITS SO EXCITINGGG!!!!!!!

I can't even begin to express all the feelings I felt when watching that video its just so GOOD. It's just entirely Eclipse hurt/comfort and it's potentially one of my favorite things in the whole world. LIKE U SAID WITH HIS WHOLE SELF-LOATHING TOO DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTEDDD!!! The way he lashed out after asking Earth why she kept "doing this" was so incredibly telling I can't EVEN UGH ILL START FLAILING EVERYWHERE!!!

AND EARTH. STARS YEA EARTH. Some of my non-tsams friends said it best on discord but it just gets me so emotional that unconditional and persistent love is what makes Eclipse start to crumble. She has been the main one to reach out to Eclipse over and over again, no matter how many times he's bitten her, because she doesn't recoil because she Understands Him like aoayagaahvhhh!!!!

LIKE U SAID, HE'S A PERSON TOO. AND SHE SEES THAT!!!!! BURSTS INTO TEARS

BUT ALSO YEA OMG I almost forgot about that... It could have smth to do with evil Sun, that honestly feels like it makes the most sense next to "he's genuinely just sick of everyone's shit" GJDHWFK

Either way I hope it goes well?!?!! If this isn't influenced by anything greater for fucked up reasons, a whole new fresh start like that sounds like exactly what Eclipse needs but Also like it could be incredibly daunting, yk?? Kinda fascinating......

[edgyandoverzealous]

Hot take(possibly??): most of the demigods in pjo/toa/hoo are villain coded. Not all but a lot of them and the best part of this is they're villain coded but they're known as untouchable heroes which is incredibly interesting for me.

For example, the cliche, the obvious, Percy. I love him don't get me wrong but that man's fatal flaw is canonically his loyalty, his personal loyalties specifically. The reason he went on his first quest initially was to bring his mom back from the underworld, essentially back from the dead because his mom is extremely important to him more so than his dad who was absent most his life, not retrieving the lightning bolt though he did end up doing that and Hades had Sally safe and well. The common saying is "a hero will sacrifice the one he loves to save the world. a villain will burn the world to keep the one he loves safe." You cannot look me dead in the eyes and tell me Percy Jackson, the man who while angry and bitter about his mother's "death" and this quest sent Medusa's head in a box to olympus, who after falling for Annabeth couldn't forget her even when Hera wiped his memory, would EVER let anything happen to her. He went to literal hell with her has killed monsters in brutal dark ways while in said hell and even before that jumped into siren infested waters to save Annabeth personal safety and quest be damned. He has turned down immortality for her. The gods could give him an ultimatum and he would choose Annabeth every time over anything, except his mortal family, but even then Percy would save everyone and then burn Olympus for daring to make him make that choice.

Additionally another one of my favorites who is increasingly more complex or at the very least somewhat the opposite to Percy in his villain coding is Nico Di Angelo.

For starters he's lost so much and has failed to save whoever was most important to him, twice. His fatal flaw is canonically, that he holds grudges, which is specifically noted to be dangerous for kids of Hades. Probably because demigods have shown on multiple occasions to have their powers connected to their emotions. IE: Percy through the entire first book and Nico in his first battle with Percy where he essentially summons an army in a panic. Or possibly because of their connection to death, the afterlife, and creatures from the underworld. Luckily this son of Hades is in control as he gets older so it's most likely the ladder in this case. Anyways after Percy got his sister, the only person Nico had left, killed Nico started running and using avoidance as a coping mechanism. Which in itself is a classic villain backstory set up because once someone has nothing they can be pushed to risk everything. However, my personal hypothesis is he spent that time running to avoid a violent outburst and act out on his grudge to cause Percy harm or put him into harms way, on top of the crushing guilt he must've felt for having a crush on the one who got his sister killed. To gain control over his emotions and come to terms with his new reality without his sister and with his new lineage and powers associated with. When he first comes back he is untrusting and distant. Then there was the whole "I have a friend who fully accepts me and I may be able to learn how to love again, trust again, and have friends" thing with Jason and then Rick killed him. That alone gives Nico more than a right to be angry and start fucking shit up tm. But he didn't and now he has Will. Classic case of the fooled me once shame on me fooled me twice shame on you imo. The set up for the same to happen again is underway as well. So at the very least three strikes you're out because I genuinely believe if anything happens to Will, Nico will no longer follow the heroes path. I believe the world would crumble and quake beneath his feet as the most guttural scream escapes his mouth. The dead will rise as he storms Olympus for giving him a story so cruel despite how hard he's fought and how good he's tried to be. I believe he would raise hell so intensely that the gods themselves would resurrect Will in fear of being overthrown by the wrath of the prince of darkness.

[invaderhogtwopointohno]

Mash and Earning Existence:

I am not going to lie, I thought that Mashle was just going to be a dumb Harry Potter knock off so I ignored it until the 2nd season came out with its catchy opening title song and I finally decided to give it a try and boy was I wrong!

The show and manga does such a phenomenal job of exploring a subject that is really not explored openly in a lot of anime: the concept of government funded genocide. In the very first episode, it isn't even trying to not be subtle in what it intends to explore- Mash is a child who is born without magic in a world where magic is the same as being a "person chosen by God" and because he is born without magic, he was supposed to be euthinized right then and there. His parent or guardian couldn't bring themselves to do it, so they abandoned him, which is how his now-father found him. Oppressed by the magical system himself, he finds himself on the verge of giving up his very life because he feels like a failure because he is not the greatest at magic- which is considered the worst kind of sin in this universe.

But he looks at Mash, a helpless child that did nothing wrong and he takes him in and keeps him a secret to protect. He wants Mash to be able to take care of himself so he has him phyisically train day in and out so he can one day take care of himself in a dark world that would one day probably end up hunting him down.

This is such an amazing opening for an anime because not any one race or any one religion or any one person can't relate to that kind of treatment. The government which is ruled by Magic Users, decided that they cannot tolerate people without magic and kill them to keep things the way they want them to. And it's not just a plot point that goes away- this is in Mash's face every single episode.

He is told that he is worthless, that he should be murdered, that he deserves to die every time someone learns that he has no magic. His father was terrified for him and is grateful that his friends don't even worry about the fact that he has no magic, they like him with or without it. But the rest of the world doesn't. Mash faces teachers, government officials, even religious officials who tell him to his face that he is not worth anything and that dying is the only good option he has.

What a way to explore the concept of "earned existence." How many times in history has a group of people, race, or religion have to prove to the majority that they are not a threat- that they don't deserve to be wiped out from existence? That they pose no threat to society by keeping the status quo so that the majority can feel happy and safe. This thought process is what makes Mashle so hard to watch sometimes despite the comedy, is that Mash is literally fighting to change the laws just so that he does not get murdered by people who treat him like he is less than because he has no magic. Mash seems so stoic and chill (that's probably the autism talking lolol) but he knows exactly what is at stake every given moment. He knows that he has to prove that he deserves it.

That is the craziest part of the entire show is that Mash even talks to his enemies and people who look down on them and points out that they are literally all the same- they just want to create a world where they can live in peace with their family. and none of them are able to refute him. He just doesn't have to sacrifice the lives of innocent people to achieve that goal. But the fact that he has to fight so hard just to prove that his life is worth living is just an insane concept that is handled so damn well.

[sautethehorrors]

What is funger << could easily Google but want friend to tell me about it instead

Funger is short for Fear and Hunger, the first installment in the Fear and Hunger video game series. Its an awesome game that combines a jrpg play style with roguelike elements where each room of the dungeon, and the items found inside, generate randomly with each play through.

It's a one person endeavour created by a Finnish dude called Miro/orange, and it's a love letter to the horror game genre. It feels like a mix of Soulsbourne, Binding of Isaac, Silent Hill, and Pokemon vibes to me.

Basically you start out as one of four characters/classes: D'acre, the knight, Cahara the mercenary, Enki the dark priest or Ragnvaldr the outlander, and your quest is to enter the terrifying and mythical dungeons of Fear and Hunger in search of the leader of a mercenary army named Legard, who has been captured and imprisoned there.

The kicker of the game is that you only have 30 minutes to find him from when you first start the game. After that even if you find his prison he'll be dead, but you can still keep exploring the fucked up dungeons. There is SO MUCH to explore in the dungeons and truthfully I think it would take at least a few days of play time to actually find Legarde in under 30 mins.

Oh right, the other kicker of the game is that everything kills you. Like everything everything. At the start of the game you're way too weak to fight anything on your own, so it's more a survival horror game of trying to hide and outrun enemies while rooting through barrels and crates for items that coukd potentially be helpful. You have to keep track of your hunger bar by eating and drinking water, your body bar takes a hit whenever you get hurt (even from stuff like stepping on a rusty nail that can cause an infection that slowly drains health), and your mind meter is constantly dropping and needs to be sustained with whatever substances you can find, from wine to opium.

It's also not shy about sex and violence. You can lose limbs, which affects your ability to wield weapons, you can chop them off to prevent infection, you can use found limbs as weapons. There are several gods and their cults in the game and receiving their blessings can help you tremendously, but their rituals involve things like orgies, human sacrifice, and cannibalism. The game has a wonderfully bleak and beautiful artsyle, where the environments are decorated with torture devices, corpses and skeletons in various stages of decay or mutation, strange plants, tons of other shit that I don't want to spoil.

Fear and Hunger also has this incredible/awful mechanic where your whole game can evaporate on a literal coin toss. Certain enemy moves or rituals, or even saving the fucking game, require a coin toss where you literally lose everything if you fail it, and the death scenes are... pretty graphic. My first death involved character being chained to a torture table and having my limbs and genitals cut off one by one by the torture master on the second floor. I picked the wrong conversation option.

Every choice you can make in the game could go in any way. You never know who to trust, which way to go, or if the floor is going to collapse under you. This game makes you fucking insane, it's bleak and horrible but somehow it's so charming and beautiful at the same time. It punishes you SO HARD for your fuck ups, but getting it right is SO REWARDING. The dungeons seem endless with so much to explore, so many interesting enemies and such intricate lore and world building. It's a LOT and it's definitely not for everyone, but if you're the kind of person who likes a challenge as well as a fair amount of horror and storytelling in your games, you will LOVE it.

I haven't played the sequal, Fear and Hunger: Termina because even though I've been playing the first game for months I'm still not finished haha. Apparently Termina is even BIGGER with more characters and backstory and laakhsgdhsjahgshddjd. I'm trying to pace myself hahaha.

I got it pretty cheap on steam and I'm pretty sure it's only available on PC. The controls are so simple you could play it on an old SNES controller, which I'm a big fan of cos I am not the kind of gamer who has the patience to learn complicated multi button moves and shit. 4 direction keys, yes and no, straight into the game. The combat is turn-based which I enjoyed a lot because once you have a few other party members you can strategise your way through most fights.

It's definitely the kind of game where I've found myself keeping the wiki page open in the background because the game explains NOTHING to you and you have to figure everything out step by step. It makes you work for every tiny morsel of progress or story it feeds you. It pavlovs you into having visceral reactions to small sounds. It's a horrifying masterpiece and one of the most beautiful pieces of art I've ever experienced. I might have already been driven insane by it though.

So yeah, that's my current obsession in a nutshell. Thanks for coming to my ted talk :3

[late-to-the-magnus-archives]

Yellow City, Chapter Fourteen - a Malevolent AU

Parker is no fool. He knows puzzle pieces when he sees them, even if he can't quite see the whole picture yet.

(And there is no question he's not seeing the whole picture.)

AO3

-------------

They did not go to see the Contract System.

Arthur was full-on nuts when he woke, and wanted to go after ambulances again, and so Hastur handed them over to Asenath and flew in the other direction.

For Hastur to not participate in Arthur’s games was… bad. Parker knew it was bad. Things were bad, here, somehow. He just didn’t know how yet.

Asenath was more than happy to play find-the-ambulance games. “So they took it to get to the mayor, eh?”

“Yeah!” Arthur cried, running all-out, and Asenath’s longer legs definitely gave her an advantage.

“Fuck!” Parker announced behind them.

“Keep up!” Arthur said.

Sure, Lester. Sure.

#

What Parker didn’t expect was for ambulances to actually mean something.

“Shit!” Asenath kept saying, and she was so angry, so upset, that power tinted the air around her, turning it the green of the Wood, and maybe that was some kind of sign, because her sister witches came flying in at a rush.

Together, they studied the mess: cracked glass vats of glowing things, edges still dripping green goo. He’d seen them before when they were whole, under the city. Whole, and filled with floating, glowing pieces of gods who’d failed to fulfill contracts. The witches had always collected the pieces of gods who’d fucked up. He hadn’t known why. 

Okay. “So… how’d these all get here?”

Asenath looked ready to bite through a wall. “Fuck if I know. Something is broken somewhere, or someone is cheating.”

“A lot of lives,” said a dark-skinned witch, her black eyes misty. “It must have taken so many sacrifices to funnel the power to steal these.”

Parker frowned. “What’s it mean that these are here?”

"Don't know," said Asenath.

“They should not yet be freed,” said a tiny witch who couldn’t be more than twelve.

“No,” said Asenath. “This is fucking bad.”

“Bad, why? The god-bits are what… running around?”

“They weren’t whole enough to do that. I don’t know where they are,” said Asenath. “Fuck. ”

“It’s not your fault,” said another sister, a round and cheery-looking redhead, her hand on Asenath’s arm.

Asenath rubbed her face. “I know. I just feel shitty I never noticed. This has obviously been going on since before I died.”

“Nobody noticed, Az,” said the redhead.

“Fuck,” Asenath said again.”

“Why’s that ‘obviously?’” said Parker.

Asenath pointed. “That one held what was left of Y’gllid. Thought he could play games and just not bother to fulfill his Contract about five hundred years ago. Blew himself the fuck up.”

“And his host,” said another witch.

“Yeah.” Asenath sighed. “Yeah. Look. The ones who violate Contracts don’t get to go back to Outer Darkness unless the Mother says so. It’s punishment. It’s time-out, but it fucking hurts. And yeah. Hundreds of years.”

So the pieces of gods were held in those vats as punishment for fucking over their humans?

If he’d been asked an hour ago if gods ever faced consequences, he’d have said no. Even a quick death was not, in his opinion, enough for those fuckers. But this… Oh, fuck, this was satisfying.

Parker knew if he said anything right now, the words would come out wrong, so he turned away and went to find Arthur. 

Arthur sat on a decorative log beside the mess, staring at his hands.

Moving carefully, Parker sat beside him. Together, they studied the mess. “Fuck,” said Arthur.

“Yeah,” said Parker. “So how’d you find this, Lester?” said Parker.

Arthur sighed and looked up. “I knew. I just… fucking knew. The warehouse—” He stopped himself, took a slow breath, and continued. “This section of Carcosa isn’t really occupied. It used to be, but as time’s gone on, and some gods have returned to Outer Darkness, and others fucked up their contracts, there’s been… space made. Hastur moved everyone around so they wouldn’t feel the empty space. Looks like someone found a use for it.”

Detective Lester, on the case. Parker took a breath. “You’re sane right now,” he said.

“For now,” said Arthur quietly.

“Ambulances,” said Parker. “You’re onto something these days every time you lose your shit, you know that?”

Arthur was silent for a long moment. “Something’s going on.”

“No shit,” said Parker. “Lots of shit going on.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

They fell silent as witches moved all around them, using magic to clean up the mess.

No god pieces were found.

#

Hastur returned, and Arthur slid happily into nutso-land, and Arthur demanded (and received) the dicking down of his life, and Parker got a damn good meal (and an orgasm on the side, and he wasn’t complaining), and then he lay in the big white bed while Arthur did his adorable, tiny buzz-snore, and stared at the ceiling.

Parker didn’t know enough to know what was going on yet.

He didn’t like that things were definitely being done on purpose. This wasn’t just shit falling apart from age, or something. His instinct said it was all connected. His mind couldn’t put together how.

Parker sighed.

“Do you wish for help sleeping, little traitor?” said Hastur, clearly entertained at the idea.

“No. Fuck you.”

Hatur laughed at him, low and deep.

Whatever. Parker rolled over. He was still trying to fit pieces together when he fell asleep.

#

Maybe having their stash found out quieted the perp. Had to have, because things calmed down for a while.

And on a far more personal level, since apologizing, Parker had to admit it wasn’t so bad. 

He slept in the bed. Nobody hit him or hurt him. Arthur and Hastur kept doing these little touches (Arthur's friendly nudges, Hastur insisting on bathing him), and Parker had stopped flinching in expectation of trouble. It was okay. Not perfect. Calm, smooth, and suspiciously problem-free, and even the Contract System threw a fit (or whatever it did) only a few times.

Calm before the storm.

Arthur no longer searched for ambulances. His focus had shifted to pipes. Why? Parker had no idea. Pipes obviously meant something, but there just was no way to figure it out from context clues. They’d all just have to wait until his madness revealed itself, like some crazy magician’s trick.

Arthur and Hastur kept having little conversations, too, in the moments when Arthur was sane. And those moments, Hastur was…

Hastur was. Parker had begun to see through that asshole. The god was dramatic and vain and ridiculous, but he wasn’t—

Say it, Yang, he thought to himself, only vaguely hearing their lovely-dovey conversation: Hastur wasn’t cruel anymore.

He could be. He had been. These days, he wasn’t, which meant it was a choice. Parker did not like it, but had to admit he didn’t just… hate him anymore. Hastur wasn’t being hateable. That bastard. 

“I’m just saying… if it would upset you, it won’t happen,” Arthur murmured from inside the tangle of limbs that was Hastur.

“It would not upset me,” Hastur rumbled. “The position has been earned.”

“Good. Because nothing replaces you,” Arthur said.

“Addition is far from replacing.”

Whatever. Parker was a lot more concerned about pipes, about missing god-bits, about a weird changing map of Carcosa, and malfunctioning Contract Systems. He finished his steak and went for a little walk around the temple.

#

A few months in, a day of adventure, of wild accusations, of votes requested, and Arthur slept hard, and Parker couldn’t blame him.

He wanted to sleep, too. They’d run a lot (and Parker liked to think he was getting closer to being able to keep up). But tonight, Parker had a question.

He wanted to be subtle about this. He couldn’t; subtle was not something Parker did, and he saw no way around a direct confrontation. “Hey. Hastur.”

“Yes, little traitor?” said the god, who made the title sound less sharp, more amused, more warm by the week.

“He’s not suffering so much anymore.”

“No. He is not.”

Parker’s breath quickened. “Why?”

“Because his Contract is fulfilled.”

“What?” Parker sat up. “It’s what?”

Hastur stroked Arthur’s hair and did whatever he did, and Arthur stayed asleep. “When I took him through the black mirror, and he accepted the consequence of his Contract, in his mind, he’d… balanced his suffering against the time already spent with me.”

Parker calculated. “Five years.”

“Yes.”

His eyes widened. “He’s been here longer than that. So he’s not… he’s… how does this work?”

“I do not need to push him to remember his daughter anymore. He does on his own, yes; but he will no longer receive such misery from me.”

And between that and whatever the fuck Kthanid showed… “He’s really healing.”

“Yes.”

Parker swallowed. “They don’t do that.”

Hastur rumbled, pleased. “He is.”

“Fuck me.” Parker ran his hand through his hair. “And you’re gonna let him?”

Hastur turned toward him, and oh, there was that weight, that power of attention from a Great Old One, a force that slid right beneath the skin and revealed all in mind and soul. “Yes. He is mine.”

“Think the whole damn galaxy knows he’s yours,” Parker snapped.

“So are you.”

“Oh, fuck that,” said Parker in response to the evident return of asshole Hastur, and rolled over with his back to his god.

To… to Arthur’s god. Not the same thing.

Hastur let it go, though of course he chuckled first, vibrating the whole damn bed.

#

The perp may have gone underground, but things weren’t smooth yet. Twice, Parker caught Hastur in that room with the map, futzing around with it, though Parker couldn’t spot the difference when he went to peek later.

When Arthur slept, Hastur was… quieted. If Parker knew no better, he’d say sad. But that was fucking stupid. Why would he be sad? Damned god had everything he wanted.

When Arthur was awake—sane or not—Hastur was not sad anymore. Arthur had been right; simple, two settings, like a light switch.

(And some part of Parker could see why, could get into it, because Arthur was… Arthur was…)

(Arthur was Arthur, and you couldn’t spend time with the guy without feeling changed.)

He found himself confused one night when, after cases, after dinner, after bath, Arthur touched his arm. “Hey.”

Parker looked up, toweling dry. “Hey.”

“Got a question for you. It’s okay if you don’t want to do it. I get it. It’s a lot. But… we’ve been talking.”

Parker studied him. This wasn’t full-on nutso Arthur, but it wasn’t quite sane Arthur, either. No way to predict where this was going. “Yeah?”

“We think you’re ready to make full partner.”

Eh? Ah. His weird little Lester and Hastur detective business. Parker sighed. “You do, huh?”

“Yes.”

Parker glanced at Hastur.

Hastur was calm. Floating there, tentacles undulating, absolutely at ease with this.

"You're fine with this?” said Parker.

“Yes,” said Hastur, low and spooky.

“No one will force you,” said Arthur. “But we’d both like it if you said yes.”

Parker sighed. This did not matter. Except it might make Arthur happy, and that did. “Partner, huh?”

“Partner.”

“So not on intern duty, or whatever the fuck anymore?”

“No.” Arthur smiled (still not quite sane, still not quite nuts).

Parker decided to go along with it. Make the guy happy, why not. “Sure.”

Arthur lit up like a damned torch. “Welcome aboard, Parker.”

“Sure. Got paperwork for me to sign?”

“I sure do,” said Arthur, and handed him an entire apple pie.

Hastur laughed, low.

Whatever that had been, Parker thought, at least the pie was good. And he got to make Arthur happy for a night. Not too bad, all told.

#

Arthur was in the lead, as usual, and tearing up the ground. “Hurry!” he shouted behind him.

Parker was in the rear, as usual, and very grumpy at people who could fly and whose names contained ass. “Slow the fuck down!”

Hastur laughed at them both, floating along, expending no effort to improving this situation. Which, of course he wouldn’t. Arthur was full on nuts today, babbling about The Cartel and “the pipes, the pipes!” and could not be dissuaded from whatever case this was. 

Hastur had barely even been able to get him dressed (and Arthur kept squirming through his tentacles and out of his clothes and Hastur kept laughing so Arthur kept getting away) and, and, to top it all off, Parker was dressed the same.

Which in this case meant boots and a really sheer sort of one-piece pleated skirt, held on by heavy golden clasps at the hips.

This was ridiculous. This was the worst. “Why in fuck do you keep making me match him?” Parker snarled.

“Because you complained,” said Hastur with delight.

Parker risked tripping to smack himself in the face.

“Come on!” Arthur insisted, leaping as if to avoid a curb (non-existent) and turning a corner (which wasn’t there).

“Tell me about these pipes, little detective,” said Hastur, who had shed his weird mournfulness the moment it was clear Arthur was bonzo.

“They’re important,” Arthur said, not nearly as breathlessly as he should be.

“Oh?” Hastur prompted.

Arthur stopped.

Parker almost ran into him, and hit a wall of Hastur instead with an oof.

Arthur seemed to be waiting for traffic to pass? He looked back and forth, shifted his weight from foot to foot, visibly impatient. “Yeah. Without those, exports are done.”

Exports?

Parker thought. The only thing Cloud City seemed to export was fucking money for things they couldn’t obtain themselves. Which was everything.

He’d worked the Lake docks. Deliveries there were always done mid-day, with the most sunlight, and the ragged men on those boats were so filthy it was impossible to even tell them from one another—but they brought crates of food, grown somewhere across that massive Lake.

Come to think of it, Parker was suddenly unsure where the money for that came from.

“That sounds terrible,” Hastur rumbled.

“It is,” said Arthur grimly. “Whole fucking ecosystem’s going down.”

“Don’t you mean economy?” Parker said from somewhere behind Hastur’s bulk.

Arthur hesitated. Frowned. Wobbled just a pinch.

“Steady, little detective.” Hastur gently held him.

Arthur leaned into the touch, clearly forgetting what he was doing for one moment. Then he gasped. “The pipes!” And he took off again.

Parker sighed and followed. If Hastur had been one of his guys (and he’d still been a detective), he’d have pursued the shit out of this. Hastur was bothered. Upset. Visibly and clearly agitated; and he just buried it every time Arthur started spouting bullshit. That didn’t work. Stuff didn’t go away like that, and if your people were distracted, they couldn’t do their damn jobs—

Wait, where was this?

Parker had been in Carcosa for five years, and he’d never seen this place before. It was walled, with a single entrance to a strange sort of outdoor statuary. Perfect statues of gods and what looked like fucking bird-baths stood all over this courtyard, or whatever it was, casting shadows under the blazing sky. In front of other bird-baths stood living gods, peering into the water, each holding a small, bronze set of balancing scales. 

It took Parker a moment to understand.

“Where are the pipes?” said Arthur.

“I don’t know that, little detective, but you have led us without fail to the Pavilion of Contracts,” said Hastur, still amused.

He’d what?

Arthur had what?

Parker inhaled. Shit. Shit. All of Carcosa seemed to be in here. Gods he knew and gods he didn’t, big and small and in-between, and if he squinted and used some of the strength he’d regained (magic, power, whatever the fuck it was), he could just make out… something… above each of those bird-baths.

Something? No. Someones.

“Oh, gods,” Parker whispered. Above each bird-bath was the hovering, translucent image of a person.

They begged, arms up, often on their knees, beseeching the sky, framed by drawn circles of runes and symbols. 

They were trying to get Contracts. 

Parker gawked.

Each god stood with those little scales, holding them near the translucent images. There were no big gods like Hastur. Even those with only moderate comparative power moved from basin to basin, trying, trying, trying, and failing to find a match. The scales fell heavily right every time, clanking, chains briefly loose with the force of that fall.

How long had Hastur tried before finding Arthur? How fucking long had he tried, over and over, facing failure again and again, refusing to give in?

“Ah, memories,” said Hastur dramatically.

Someone guffawed. “Took you like five centuries to find one guy. Can’t be great memories.”

“Over seven,” corrected Hastur, which meant he’d been trying since the Fire of Y situation was resolved.

Parker stared up at him.

“It’s here somewhere,” Arthur said over to the left, wandering around with a weird and ineffable purpose, and Hastur followed.

Parker stayed in the entryway, staring. What the fuck was he supposed to do with this? 

Some monster hooted: the scales were balanced. The victim (Parker couldn't help the thought) was some young guy. Practically a kid, and Parker could see him clearly now because as the kid and the god negotiated, he grew clear and colored. The kid’s voice, tinny and broken, crackled through. He wanted to kill his father.

The reasons he gave for wanting to kill his father, even at the expense of himself, made sense to Parker. A lot of sense. The little sister had been hurt. More than hurt, violated, more than once, and— 

Nobody believes me, and She tried to kill herself last month, and If she’s safe, I don’t care what you do to me.

“Not enough,” Parker hissed. “Fucking idiot. Not enough. You’ve got to be more fucking specific.”

“Yeah, that’d help,” came a voice.

He turned. Someone else was there; a woman. A human woman, though Parker knew at once she was not a witch. Her makeup was a statement, and her dark hair lay in some kind of tentacle-like braids. Her shirt bore a picture of a hideous, spiky, blue creature smiling with human teeth and the words, IN THIS WORLD IT’S YEET OR BE YEETED. She wore a jacket of some thick black material he didn’t know covered in sewn patches of protective sigils—so many it was hard to look at them—and a plaid skirt over gray, torn stockings and heavy, black boots. 

Who the fuck was this?  

“That is quite unfortunate,” the woman said, still watching the scene. “How much more suffering will it take, do you think?”

So, that was not the same voice.

It was the same mechanics, the same throat, but not the same at all. This was hinky as hell. There were no humans here, that was not a witch, and how fucking dare she? “So what’s that kid supposed to do then, huh?” Parker said, falling easily into rage on behalf of humans, against the gods. “Let it happen? Try on his own and get his head bashed in? He’s trying. That’s more than most of these shits will ever do!” 

“You're not wrong,” the woman said, and this second voice was just slightly out of sync with that mouth. “The issue is the system is unjust. A predator should be punished, the innocent protected. The desperate make prime targets for the unscrupulous.”

Parker bared his teeth. “Yeah,” he said, low. “And there ain’t any justice down there, either. I know that for a fact. So what’s he supposed to do instead? He’s got to rely on these fucks.”

And the woman's voice changed again. Her mouth twisted into a rakish smile. “Well? Got an answer for him?”

The smile vanished, turned sedate. “Not yet. That's why we're here, isn't it?”

Parker narrowed his eyes. “What the fuck does that mean?”

And Asenath came through the entrance at a jog, looking around, and headed right for them at once. She looked thrilled. “You did it? You did it!”

The woman's first voice responded. “Holy shit. Asenath?”

The second voice let out a soft laugh. “Greetings.”

Asenath cheered and embraced her. “Mother said you’d figured it out! Did her trinket help?”

It enabled us to channel off the worst of the etheric overflow, said voice two. We still have limited time, but I’d say we’ve made progress.

“Sure did,” said voice one. “Weird seeing you, like, outside. You look great!”

“Right?” said Asenath. “I’ve almost got melanin.”

All three women laughed, and the sound of two voices from one set of vocal chords did nothing to soothe Parker’s nerves. “What the fuck is going on?”

Asenath smiled. “Glad you asked. This is—”

Arthur popped up out of nowhere. “Hey! Missus Lady! You look great!”

Missus… the fuck.

“Hello, Mister Lester.” The woman (the Lady???) inclined her head, a fond smile slipping through the veil. “You are looking much better since we last spoke. And… oh, my. I suppose congratulations are in order.”

Arthur grinned shyly, shifting his weight, and touched where he thought the wedding ring was (and Parker only noticed now that one of the bands Hastur’d put on him had been… altered, made grander, more beautiful). “Yeah, I joined the club. Hooked for life. Sorry, I seem to have lost my hat.”

Hastur looked spooked. Hastur looked terrified. If he had fur, it would all be on end. Slowly, eyes locked on the woman, he handed Arthur a fedora produced from nothing.

“Thanks.” Arthur gave him a besotted look, donned the hat (ridiculous with his hazy, glittery, layered skirt that brushed his painted toes and hung low on his hips). Then he turned to the Lady and doffed it with a flourish and a bow.

The ladies laughed again.

Hastur hung back.

That was fear, so this was that Outer God. The Lady (or some of her, anyway). There was no doubt. But how? 

“Let me get a look at you, Arthur.” She stepped forward, taking his chin in hand and gently tilting his head back and forth. She was small, nearly a foot shorter, but that made no difference here. “Much nicer. Better fed, certainly. And nicer muscle tone. It's good to know that someone can follow instructions, hm?”

Arthur looked puzzled. “Instructions?”

“I did,” Hastur said quickly. “For both of them.”

“Which means you must be Parker Yang, if my information is correct.”  

“Yeah, sorry," said Asenath. “That’s Parker.”

“He’s our partner,” Arthur said very firmly, as if drawing lines in the sand.

Parker made one low sound that meant Don’t bring me into this, but the words stuck.

The woman turned to Parker and smiled, sedate but unsettling even so, and offered her hand to shake. “Don't worry, dear. I don't bite unless provoked.”

And of course the wrong words came out. “You’re the baby Outer God.”

Asenath snorted. “‘Provoke’ is his native language. Don’t take it personally.”

“And you’re married?” Parker continued. “He didn’t make that up?”

“It’s not that weird a concept,” Arthur chided lightly.

“We sort of got the idea from him, to be honest,” said the first voice. “Marked and whatever, already practically married. Why not make it official?”

“We exchanged rings and everything,” the second voice added, sounding suspiciously misty about it, which did not make sense if that was the voice of a fucking god. She took her own left hand, thumb stroking over a silvery band with a glittering black gem on the ring finger.

Parker glanced back.

Arthur was distracted again, hat against his bare chest. For all the world, he looked like he was listening to something nobody else could hear.

Great. Parker had to fill the silence. “Uh. Well. Good for you.”

Arthur wandered off, just wandered, mumbling again about pipes. Hastur bowed at the tiny human that wasn’t, then gratefully scurried after.

Pipes. Parker frowned. “He’s always onto something,” he said to no one. “Just needs a fucking translator.”

“Wanna follow him?” Asenath said.

Parker scowled harder. “Naw. Can’t cover the whole place unless we split up.”

“Not a bad idea. Where does your instinct take you, Parker?”

Funny, to be asked that. It had been a while since he was asked that. Powers from gods and all were nice, but he’d fucking earned his place in the department. “Gimme a minute.” And he looked around.

Maybe it was normal for so few Contracts to be working out. It sure seemed like there weren’t that many in Cloud City, and this one pavilion provided Contracts for the whole world. But unless he was wrong (which was possible), there were definitely fewer than there should be.

He watched one god, scales balanced, try to make a deal, and the little colorful human image suddenly just… vanished. The god snarled and moved to the next bird-bath.

That probably wasn’t right. Could’ve been just the human doing it wrong, but Parker doubted it. It looked more like the connection cut, like somebody snipped a phone line, or something. He kept looking.

So. Turned out the feeling of being watched wasn’t in his head. “Huh,” he said. “Yeah?” said Asenath.

“We got a visitor. Eh… let’s go this way, ladies. All right?” And he gestured behind himself, further along the wall, away from the frustrated gods and whatever the hell Arthur was doing, and away from the Great Old One standing in the entryway, glaring at them.

At them?

No. At him. That fucker’s face was never visible, but Parker had spent years under that gaze. He was being glared at by Y’golonac. “Fuck,” Parker muttered to no one.

The Lady paused, staring intensely at the entryway, but then turned and followed Parker. “Fucking asshole,” the first voice muttered.

“Tabby.”

“Let him get close. Let him try something, I’ll fucking show him—”

“Not now, love.”

“He’s not—” Parker stopped himself, unsure exactly what he was going to say.

“My apologies, Mister Yang. We are not on good terms with… him.” The Lady’s voice was tense, a bit of a sneer on her lips. “Please, continue your investigation. You seem to be on the trail of something.” “I ain’t on good terms with him myself,” Parker snapped because he couldn’t help snapping. “I’m just saying don’t fuck with him. He’s dangerous.” Though instinct was right, and Parker sure was on the trail of something. Fucking Y’golonac had proven it. The weight of that glare, the tension in those horrible, melted hands… it was almost as if by going this way, they’d gotten under his rotten skin. 

Hm.

“Your chivalry is noted, appreciated, but unnecessary.” The Lady smiled.

Sure.

“I have taken steps to ensure Tabby’s safety,” she continued. “I prefer that we not use them; if I were to face him down, I would prefer to choose the battleground. Either way, I have no intention of interfering in your investigation.”

He was scared of the Defiler. They didn’t seem to be. Their skin to lose. “Sure,” was all he said. “Probably smell like fuckin’ rot to you, too, don’t I?”

“Yes and no.” She let out a low hum. “There is a lingering scent of it to you, yes; but you are free of the contagions that plague so many of his own.”

Hastur’s perfumed baths weren’t ever gonna do it, apparently. He glanced back.

Oh, yeah. They were pissing him off. The Defiler had stepped in, come far enough that he’d remained equidistant. 

Parker wondered if he had to do some kind of fucking bait-play here, take off running and leave these ladies behind.

“That isn’t your fault, Mister Yang. You were one of his for a very long time; until you release yourself from that responsibility, that magic will linger.”  

Release himself? He had no power to do any releasing.

The Lady let out a soft sigh. “Got him agitated, did we?”

The first voice (Tabby, it seemed) cut in. “Let me get one good hit in and I’ll split his garbage-bag—”

“Tabby.”

Parker’s lips twitched. He liked voice one. “So, one of you really is human, then?”

“That would be me, I guess,” voice one said, and grinned. “Tabby Mormont-Keeper, at your service. My wife is sort of… Piggybacking, for the moment.” She said the words ‘my wife’ in a bizarre accent, which seemed to amuse her greatly. “I think you were outside the door back when Dagon and Yellowjacket tried to scratch their way in?”

“Hmph.”

“Aw, come on, it was kinda funny in hindsight. They really thought they were doing something.”

So here was another human who got their god to love them—just as the one who’d hated him from day one followed him around. That just figured. “Yeah. I took a fucking nap, though. Seemed like a fuckin’ waste of time to me.”

“Oh, you’re right. It was. Keeps would have zapped them something nasty if they’d actually pissed her off.”

“Did you enjoy the sandwiches?”

“Yeah.” He salivated even now, thinking about them. Pathetic. “First real food I’d had since that fucker back there brought me back.” In years. First real food that wasn’t rotten, or leftovers, or even just juice. He looked over his shoulder.

Yep. Closer. Probably would be a lot closer if not for Asenath and this weird Keeper. Parker slowed down. Whatever had the Defiler’s attention was worth figuring out.

He caught Arthur’s words as they walked, bouncing off the walls. Guy was interviewing people, for some reason. 

“No, Mister Lester,” Nodens was saying, clearly deeply entertained. “I am afraid I have no alibi for that night.”

“Maybe we can get a neighbor to vouch for you,” Arthur was saying. “Gotta find something.”

What the hell was he looking for?

“Arthur was not particularly healthy at the time,” said the Lady, and she sounded amused. “I assumed you likely had it worse. I know a thing or two about feeding humans properly. I’m glad you liked them.”

“Keeps actually cooked all of that too. No conjuring,” Tabby said, proud.

“She insists food produced by magic doesn’t taste as good.”

“And I’m right.”

This was so… normal? Domestic? Just talking like people?

(Gods weren’t people. Damn it, they were not going to fool him again.)

He wanted to say something nasty. He wanted to say something smooth. He wanted them to stop talking. He wanted them to keep talking. The fuck, Yang, he thought at himself, and that’s when he felt the buzz.

Parker froze, mid-step.

Asenath had been watching the bird-baths. She sighed. “Yeah, that’s not right. A balanced scale means it should go through. It’s weird, you know? Nothing huge is wrong, but all these little tiny things…”

“Like flickering headlights before an alternator goes,” said Tabby.

“Yeah. Good analogy.”

Whatever an alternator was.

Hastur hovered in the center of this place above the ground, arms and tentacles outstretched, robe fluttering. Bars of light beamed from him like some old painting, where some rich guy used real gold on canvas. 

Several smaller gods cheered. Apparently, he’d fixed the problem. Several ghostly human images solidified, gained color, and the gods went back to Contracts.

“Can’t keep doing that,” Asenath murmured to no one.

Parker toed off his sandals. “Why? What’s he doing?”

“Powering through it,” said Asenath. “It’s his house. He’s basically pushing harder. It’s requiring a constant drain at this point. Even Great Old Ones have their limits.”

Hm. So that felt like a clue.

Parker stood in place, shifting from foot to foot. He knew what he’d felt. Like an irritant. Like an itch, burrowing into the sole of the foot—some fungal growth that could never be scratched, infecting with hair-thin filaments deep into the flesh. He’d felt it. Right… here.

Here.

Parker was pretty damn sure the Defiler wasn’t supposed to have any of his power moldering here, of all places. He looked up.

His former god met his gaze. This was as close as that asshole had ever come to showing his face, and it wasn’t really a face—just the impression of presence, self, and vaguely, a few dozen eyes.

And Y’golonac spoke in his head.

He hadn’t done that since Parker died. Since that last, awful moment when Parker had pulled Arthur into an embrace, and his god snarled NO, too late, too late for all of them. But he did it now. Walk away, said that voice he’d one associated with power, with a future, with hope, with the strength to remove enemies. Walk away, and I will reward you.

Parker reared back. He couldn’t help baring his teeth, couldn’t help feeling like his head was on fire. The Defiler dared? He dared? Was he that fucking stupid?

He was that arrogant, is what he was, just as bad as the gods he’d promised Parker he’d wipe out. Maybe for good reason. If Parker thought he could still earn his place—

A place he’d never had. An affection he’d never get. That door would never, ever open to him.

Cold filled his veins. It clicked into place pretty quickly, in less time than a blink. The Defiler was fucking with Contracts; the Defiler probably had spread those rumors about Arthur. The Defiler had a long game going, to weaken Hastur by forcing him to pour himself into this fucking mess, and it all had to do with fucking up that vote.

And the Defiler would react very badly if Parker let Hastur know.

The Defiler’s look was steady, cruel, waiting. Assuming obedience and angry it hadn’t happened yet.

Parker laughed. Sudden, sharp. And just what, really, was that monster going to do to him that he hadn’t already done? 

“If we knew where the pieces were,” Asenath was saying.

Parker turned and shoved both women away from him with all the strength in his body. “ HASTUR HERE RIGHT HERE!” he yelled at the top of his lungs, and it was big, it was a yell that came from someone trained to shout over gunshots and riots, and everybody in the whole place heard it, and Y’golonac was on top of him before he finished the last syllable.

It happened so fast, but not so fast he couldn’t snarl one more thing right into the putrid chest of the fucker who’d ruined his whole life, and as he went down under stink and fat and the tearing of a fungal bloom in his gut ripping through organs, he swore : “ Fuck you!” 

Tendrils choked his throat from the inside.

His brain hurt.

It all went dark.

[tagedeszorns]

Upon leaving his chamber, Saqqara discovered a parcel waiting for him on the floor. Intrigued, the diabolist paused briefly before deciding to open it. As he did, a glint of steel caught his eye, causing him to withdraw his hand in surprise. A slight wound on his hand prompted him to examine the contents of the parcel further. Inside, he found a letter bearing a chilling message.

"Greetings, wayward son. Or perhaps I should say, wayward brother? It appears you have found solace in another's embrace, haven't you? But now, it is time for you to fulfill your destined sacred duty. This blade, stained with your blood, shall never know peace. Ah, but I misspoke. It will find peace once it has taken the life of the one who has done the most good for you. Or perhaps the one you love above all others. Or even yourself."

(wrong blog to ask, but I'll just reblog it with the Consortium)

The diabolist drops the letter, his fingers immediately reaching for one of the smaller bottles on one of his belts, carefully avoiding getting his blood on the seals. As he loosens the cork, he whispers spells of binding that cause flakes of ash to fall from his blacking lips. A colourless thread of smoke snakes out of the bottle, encircling the blade of the long dagger. Where the smoke touches the strangely archaic-looking surface, it hardens and a low, angry hiss can be heard.

Saqqara leans back. Stares at his hand. Wipes the ash from his lips and then stands up.

"An athame?!" Arrian didn't intend to shout, but the word ends up at a considerable volume. Fabius gives him a chastising look and clicks his tongue. Reaches for the hilt of the dagger. "Interesting. I don't remember ever having one of these in my hand."

Saqqara nods, exhausted. "They're not necessarily widely used, as there are easier ways to kill someone with the help of the gods. This one is a symbol."

"Erebus?" asks the Chief Apothecary, tilting his head. As much as he despises anything to do with the mumbo-jumbo of self-proclaimed gods, he knows full well that it represents a real threat. Especially in the hands of a gifted politician like the Dark Apostle.

Another nod from his diabolist. "I can't think of anyone else with such a long memory."

An arm of the chirurgeon with a microscope attachment approaches the athame. Fabius gives in to his curiosity. "Well, I'm on the safe side this time, aren't I? I've never done you any good on purpose." He smiles narrowly. "Even if I would be the easiest way out. Though I'd prefer not to sacrifice a body still that fresh and healthy, just to spite Erebus."

"Not really." Arrian points to a passage in the letter. "Fulfilling Saqqara's original mission is also a way to get the Athame away from him. And for that you are the target."

Fabius bares his teeth. "Afraid you'll be the one who dies?" But then he waves it off before Arrian can protest. "No. All this is unacceptable. I don't like being threatened. And that extends to my employees as well." - "Technically, Saqqara is more like Erebus' employee." - "Come now, details. I don't see that Lorgar's First Chaplain has made any improvements to Saqqara!" - "You riddled him with explosives!" - "Improvements."

With a barely audible sigh, Arrian gives up on this fruitless discussion. He looks at Saqqara, who is still staring at the dagger as if hypnotised, running his finger over the wound on his hand, which doesn't really want to close and looks strangely unreal.

Fabius straightens up. The Chirurgeon busily folds himself around his shoulders into a very aggressive position. The Chief Apothecary waves a servoskull over with a curt motion and begins to dictate.

"To whoever of the Dark Council of the Word Bearers is interested in my diabolist! I do not appreciate members of the Consortium being threatened, as I apparently have not made clear enough in the past. My mistake, sorry. So let me rephrase, hopefully without room for interpretation: Saqqara is mine. And anyone who would like to discuss this is cordially invited to a meeting on neutral ground. Yours sincerely, Lieutenant Commander Fabius, Chief Apothecary of the Emperor's Children."

He makes a waving gesture. "Send."

Arrian whistles through his teeth. "You really don't like 'em, huh?"

Fabius smiles humourlessly.

[tarotcard0]

Okay, so here's my long-as-fcuk post complaining about Zelda's damselification in TotK

Spoilers ahead.

Part 1: Why is Zelda not allowed to have agency in her own fucking game?? (Spoilers for TotK, OoT, WW)

People have wanted an official playable Zelda in a Zelda game for years at this point, so the fact that Nintendo went out of their way to basically do the same thing again, is... lame.

"Oh, but this time she turned herself into a dragon and she restored the broken Master Sword." Yeah... about that: That's bad, actually.

I really don't think there's a good way to spin the whole Light Dragon thing. For starters, that plan was fucking stupid. It only worked because Zelda got ludicrously lucky, but it goes beyond that.

On one hand, it means that the largest impact Zelda had on the plot was the help she offered when she wasn't even herself. They brought her back at the end, but that doesn't undo the writers making the active choice of having her make the active choice to stop being a character/person in order to do anything. On the other hand, it could be said that Sacrificing herself for the good of her people was very Noble of her. But then they bring her back, undoing the Sacrifice part of her Noble Sacrifice and there are no consequences. So it's kinda fucked no matter how you look at it.

Zelda is, for some inexplicable reason, not allowed to help, so in order for "her" to help, she has to become somebody else. Sheik and Tetra can be used as examples of this, but at the very least, she was still her own person in those examples (and still got to do things as Zelda), it never got as bad then, as it did now with the Light Dragon. Unlike Sheik or Tetra, who are essentially ostensibly Zelda in a different outfit, the Light Dragon is a Non-sapient animal! Which makes it fighting alongside us to beat the Dark Dragon kind of confusing, like, why are they fighting? It's just another Dragon.

Some to think of it, why was the Dark Dragon fighting anything? How do you know you're evil, Dark Dragon? you were just born.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part 2: So... about that haircut...

Remember in part 1 when I said people wanted a playable Zelda in a Zelda game?

See, I did say that :3

And that's really important, because when that first teaser dropped, we were all hype as fuck!

Not only were we getting a new Zelda, but a Direct sequel. This has only happened 3 other times (1 -> 2, OoT -> MA, Oracles -> Awakening)

This is a very rare and exciting thing for the series. But there was something else people were excited for. Something I didn't notice at first, but many others did.

Zelda got a haircut :3

I was confused why people were so excited about that at first. "It's a haircut, what's the big deal? I didn't even notice until you brought it up." then it was brought to my attention that Zelda's shorter hair matches up well with Link's. Then I was like "Oh!" Then I remembered Skyward Sword was canon and I was like "oh..."

I didn't want to get my hopes up. I really didn't. There's no way Nintendo would do something that cool. And you can bet your bottom Rupee that I blamed Skyward Sword for that conclusion. Yet I remained silent. Apparently it was impossible for me to not get my hopes up. To want this one theory to be correct. To want Nintendo, for once in their god damn life, to prove me wrong.

Then that second teaser came out...

And pitched Zelda in a hole in the ground.

A lot of people weren't happy with this.

Simultaneously, a lot of people still (somehow???) held out hope. I'm looking at you Arlo.

(Both of these released right after that second teaser btw)

But I'm pretty sure most reasonable people understood it was over.

And we were right. Zelda falls down a ditch. The princess needs to be rescued by the noble (male) knight with basically no shakeups to the trope whatsoever, and Zelda got a haircut because... That's the end of that sentience. They redesigned her for no reason. Not one that'd be satisfying to hear at least.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part 3: Why is no one talking about this?

Even me. Seriously, the only reason I'm making this post now is because someone else made a post saying how weird it was no one is talking about this.

What's even weirder to me, is that it's not just that no one's talking about this; it's that nobody's talking about this all of the sudden.

When that first teaser came out, I saw dozens of people talking about the short hair and how that'd make it easier to adapt Zelda's Animations to being a playable character.

And when the second teaser came out, I saw dozens of people expressing disappointment at Zelda's Fall-in-a-ditch-ification.

Myself and likely the others in my camp at least have an excuse. It was 2 whole years after that teaser before the game came out. I'd already gone through the stages of grief and just accepted that Zelda would play the same part she always fucking has.

But that still doesn't explain why the previously hopeful have said nothing. Why a second wave of disappointed voices didn't appear. Surely the hopefuls would have been hit with the same disappointment the realists were previously hit by once the game came out and it turned out they were wrong?

They should have been even angrier than I was. Yet... Silence. I watch Arlo's content regularly. Surely if he was going to say something about it, he would have done so by now, right?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part 4: Let's take a look at that second teaser again for a hot minute.

Why'd they release a second teaser when they didn't even have a name for the game yet?

And why'd they show Zelda falling in a ditch specifically?

The best theory I have, if you'll allow me my tin-foil hat, is that Nintendo saw the hype around a potential playable Zelda, but, having already decided the story wasn't going to allow that, decided to show that scene to squash that hope. And it basically worked.

But that begs the question... Uh... Why'd they do that?

Dragon Quest 4 gave us a girl option for the hero on the god damn NES, and the fact that Nintendo still refuses to put such an option in the Zelda series is... concerning. Which, now that I've written it, is a line I really wish I put in that video of mine.

Fans have wanted a Girl option in Zelda for years, if not decades. Nintendo themselves has gone on record as saying if they were to add such an option, they'd just have [us] play as Zelda, instead of making a new character or a Girl Link.

Okay. Cool. Fine. FUCKING DO IT THEN

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part 5: Uhg.

I've done my best to write down all my thoughts here in an ostensibly organized manner, but on top of just having way too much to say on the topic, I accidentally hit "undo" once which "undid" literally the entire document, which I then could not Redo, inexplicably. As a result, some of what I originally had to say may have been lost.

This post is ranty, and rambly, and has no real ending. Because the ending to this conversation is the Zelda Team giving us a playable Zelda (in a non-spin-off title) or, in my opinion, any playable lady protagonist.

So, because I have no real ending to this post, I'm going to just stop it here. Feel free to add to it in reblogs, tags, comments, etc. I'm sorry this post is so fucking long.

[spry-the-artist]

Yet another Frantic Fanfics solo run. Same stats as last time. A lot less structured then last time I feel, though I do enjoy this one a bit more since I never was all that into romance (which was last one’s main thing). I accidentally uploaded the image of the fic instead of the txt so I had to run it through an image to text translator. So, the prompts each part had are still visible (at the end of each part instead of the little “-“ separating everything)

TITLE: SELF IMPRISONEMENT

CHARACTERS : BENDY, SAMMY

There was about five different outcomes here, now that both Sammy and his “Lord” were stuck in the same room underground:

Sammy becomes free of his inky prison

Bendy kills Sammy

Sammy kills Bendy

They sit in silence

They become friends

Of course, Sammy was begging for the first option. No more summonings, no more sacrifices to attract his attention. They were stuck together, Bendy could no longer avoid him. After giving him so many meals throughout the years, well, Sammy felt like he was owed this.

Bendy would've been quite pleased with just eating the man, but Sammy wasn't just some Lost One or Searcher. He would put up a fight that Bendy quite simply didn't have the energy for. So, he had to settle for the other option he could feasibly do: becoming friends. Well, that and sitting in silence, but the two were practically immortal and it would start becoming long.

“So, uh, Sammy..."

Sammy straightened himself, “Yes, my lord?.

“You... wanna play something. Or... um... talk?"

The prophet wouldn't lie about how excited he was currently. But, he also couldn't lie that he was disappointed in not getting his prize immediately.

“I remember vaguely playing a game called Truth or Dare! It doesn't have an end so it could pleasure you for all eternity!”

PROMPT: TRAPPED UNDERGROUND

“Damn, we really do have all eternity, huh?" Anyways, what's the game about?”

***

“My Lord, truth or dare?”

The game was fun, don't get Bendy wrong, but they'd been playing it for well over 4 hours. Ah, well, may as well answer a few more.

“Truth”

Sammy went quiet for a good minute, his voice came back cold, "Why haven't you freed me from this inky prison?"

“Sammy, I-"

He became more agitated, "After everything I've done for you! I created a religion, I created your rituals, I even made sacrifices for you! There are now tens if not hundreds of lost souls who see you as their god! And yet, no matter what I do, you never give anything back!”

The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

“Sammy, you know that I'm the one supposed to tell stuff, right? Not you." Sammy grunted, "Answer My Question”

“talks a lot for a guy i could easily kill..." the Ink Demon whispered, “Anyways, for that question of yours. I can't.”

“What do you mean “you can't“?! I’ve seen you place so many people in your prison of darkness, and yet you can't get them out of it?!"

“Oh, I just kill people. They get some of my ink in their system and eventually it takes over. When you're dead, it takes over a lot quicker,” Bendy chuckled, "I remember it taking over ya when you were alive. It was... slow... but you came out pretty alright! Don't get me wrong, I love having people worship me. Just..., don't expect anything out of it."

PROMPT: CONFRONTATION

Sammy sat still for far to long after Bendy said that, ‘What do you mean by that?"

“Well, when people get my ink in their system, they turn into ink creatures. As long as I exist, they're probably stuck in the same prison I am”

“No, what do you mean I was alive when it happened?”

Bendy went to pat his worshipper's head, "Ah, Sammy, don't tell me you didn't know! Surely you've seen other people drink some ink when they were alive!"

“I... don't remember much before all this..."

If Bendy could frown, he would, "Ah jeez.., well, the reason why you're wacko,” Sammy crossed his arms at that, “is because you drunk a bunch of ink. It was like poison, slowly spreading throughout every part of ya before you eventually,” he snapped his fingers. “Why... why would I keep drinking it. Surely I would've noticed myself becoming more and more imprisoned!"

"I don't know! By the way you were acting, I think it was a drug,” Bendy now scratched his “chin”, "Yeah, I remember! Joey used to drip it in your coffee! Your coffee gave you the energy you needed so you started associating the taste of my ink with good stuff. 'Ventually, you just started drinking the ink on its own.”

Sammy once again sat still for far too long. “Sorry, Sammy, but I can't get you outta that prison of yours.

You're kinda the one who poisoned yourself”

PROMPT: POISON

[jessimiko]

My thoughts on the idea of resurrecting Penny

So first off I'd like to preface this with clarifying that this is not an attack on anyone or your theories, I don't want to ruin your fun and if you disagree that's fine! I just wanted to discuss my own thoughts on the matter and my opinions on popular theories. If you don't want to read about like, me criticizing the idea of Penny coming back then this is your warning, I guess?

So right off the bat, I'll say that I think brining Penny back again would be a bad writing decision. It takes away any possible stakes for not only her, but for everyone else too. If we set this precedent that people can just be brought back to life over and over again, even in a human body, then is there really anything at stake anymore?

Two, it goes against the main conflict of the story. This all started when Salem just refused to take no for an answer and wouldn't let Ozma rest. Now, you can think whatever about the Gods, that they punished Salem appropriately or they're total dicks or something in between. But like surely we can all agree that Salem was in the wrong in bringing Ozma back? Like... when she first went to the God of Light and begged for her beloved back, that I can understand. Obviously she's heartbroken and she's mourning, she didn't do anything wrong there. But like, the God of Light was right, life and death is a delicate balance. And I guess you could argue it's different in a fictional world where it IS possible for the Gods to bring people back to life, but... Accepting death and mourning your loss so you can move on is a part of life, no? Like I'm having trouble putting what I mean into words but y'know, the circle of life. Two sides of the same coin. Etcetera etcetera.

Where I'm going with that point is that bringing people back from the dead upsets that balance. And it's because Salem disrupted that balance that this is all happening. We've already seen what happens in universe when people are brought back from the dead. And it's uh.....BAD. Plus, as you'll remember, the God of Darkness brought Ozma back and he was freaking out and and screaming "Where am I?!" So like, people coming back to life is potentially an absolutely horrifying experience for them, so maybe lets not???

(You could also argue that the Gods themselves broke their own rules and disrupted the balance by punishing Salem with immortality. That's it's own discussion but like we all know the Gods fucked that one up. Because it lead to....*gestures at The Lost Fable* But that doesn't mean Salem was in the right for bringing Ozma back. And yeah, the Gods are capable of bringing people back to life, doesn't mean they should.)

Thirdly, it takes all the weight out of the absolutely crushing defeat of the volume 8 finale. It makes it all kinda meaningless. Y'know how frustrating it is when a story ends with something like ✨and it was all a dream✨? It's like that. Plus, I can't really see them putting Jaune through the horrifyingly traumatic experience and the subsequent emotional turmoil of killing her, only to be like "lol jk"

(you could argue that Penny being killed disrupts the balance of life and death, but bringing her back would just be another thing that disrupts it, they wouldn't cancel each other out)

Now, I'd like to also put in my two cents on some popular theories about it happening. Again, I'm not making fun of you or anything for having these theories and ideas, this is just how I feel about them personally. But I'm glad y'all are having fun theorizing /gen

Pietro will give the rest of his aura and sacrifice himself to bring Penny back.

It makes sense. Pietro loves Penny, and it's obvious he would do anything for his daughter. And that's exactly it, he would do anything for her.

This is how that scene went, and what Pietro said specifically:

Ruby: You gave her part of yours?

Pietro: Yes. And each time I rebuild Penny, it takes a little more. If the people get their wish and she's destroyed, I won't be able to--

There's obviously no sacrifice that Pietro won't make for his daughter. If he could sacrifice his own life to bring her back he would do it in a heartbeat. But he can't. He won't be able to.

Whether it's that he doesn't have enough aura left, or it's literally not possible for him to give up ALL of his aura, it's very clearly not possible.

They will take part of Pietro's aura and/or the part of Penny that's inside Winter to bring her back.

So the "part" of Penny that's inside Winter is linked to the winter maiden's power, and based on volume 3 I assume that the maiden's power, magic, is bound to your soul. There's no separating it from your soul. Hell, the reason Oscar can use magic is because of his soul merging with Oz's.

So what the idea is here is that they put Winter in the aura transfer machine thing and rip her soul apart to put the maiden powers in someone else? Y'know, literally exactly what Cinder did to Amber? Yeah, I can't see them doing that.

Part of Penny is inside Ruby because of what she said to Ambrosius "We kinda want to keep her around a little longer than that."

I...don't really understand how this idea came to be, to be honest. Like Ambrosius' whole thing is that he's very literal. He'll give you exactly what you asked for, not what you meant, not what you might have meant, exactly what you asked for. I don't really think Ambrosius like, reads between the lines and creates his interpretation of what he thinks you meant. Also sticking a piece of Penny's soul inside of Ruby isn't creation, and wouldn't it have y'know...fucked her up? Maybe both of them? So yeah, this one doesn't make sense to me, sorry.

Penny's swords should have disappeared when she died, but they didn't (I guess the theory is that she survived somehow?)

Okay but like, we have no reason to believe they should have disappeared. Sure we have no reason to believe they should still be around, either, but hear me out. We've seen two other maidens create weapons with their magic (not their aura, if they did it with their aura then anyone on Remnant could materialize weapons out of nothing.) Raven, and Cinder. Raven we've only really seen make that huge sword at Haven, and Cinder is making weapons for herself all the time. In both of these instances, these weapons were probably deliberately destroyed, I mean a distinct part of the way Cinder fights is she makes weapons and throws them at people and makes them explode. We've never seen these weapons disappear after a maiden's death, obviously, because Cinder and Raven are still alive. Thus we don't really have a reason to believe that Penny's swords should have disappeared.

Edit: seems like I was wrong about the swords disappearing! Still, we never actually see them dissipate/disappear, so maybe they went flying off the edge or something? And I still highly doubt her swords/the one Ruby found are like the secret to reviving her, like containing some of her aura or soul. Why would that be the case?

The way Penny said "Trust me." to Jaune must have meant something

I don't really know what to say here, either. Is the theory that she came up with some plan of how to survive or bring herself back or something? But like...how?

I think it's more likely that she was just convincing him , I guess? Choice was actually a pretty big part of Penny's narrative in volumes 7-8, and how she struggled with not being able to live her life the way she wanted to.

Penny: I was the protector of Mantle. But now, I am much more than that. And I wish I was not.

Even becoming the winter maiden, she chose to do that, but because she didn't really have a choice. She didn't want that responsibility. And once she had it, she wanted to use it to help her friends, and to help with the mission. But even her father wouldn't let her at first. And when Penny explains to him that she's trying to live her life, but he isn't letting her, Pietro understands and let's her do what she wants, even if it puts her in danger.

And then we get this shot:

She feels so free. Even if what she's doing is dangerous, she chose this.

And she chose to sacrifice herself to keep the winter maiden's power from Cinder, and by extension, Salem.

Edit: She also got to choose to give the winter maiden's power to Winter, rather than letting them go to Cinder or someone random if she just bled out.

And it was tragic, but I think, narratively, it would be a disservice to take that choice away from her.

Penny's character allusion, Pinocchio, came back twice, so it makes sense for her to come back twice, too.

I'm sorry I really hate to rain on your parade, but like... she already came back twice. The first time, after she "died" at the Vytal Festival, and the second time was when she was saved from the virus, which would have killed her, and became a "real" girl.

Plus, how would they bring her back when she died in a human body? Just doesn't seem possible to me.

Little is Penny

While I think this idea is super fuckin cute, I don't really understand. Why would that have happened?

Like, I totally get it y'all are GOING THROUGH IT, and I'm not here to ruin your fun or fight with you or anything. This all just been sitting in my brain and it wanted to come out. Again these are just my thoughts and I understand if you do not agree. I hope you keep having fun with all this 🙏