#she really loses her entire empire in one fucking day

[meraarts]

Pirate queen who conquered China Zheng Yi Sao got outwitted by a fucking nepobaby white guy? That stupid ass privilege poisoned motherfucker we met when he tried to be a pirate and failed miserably? They didn’t think to check the stupid clocks for booby traps? Be serious.

[antianakin]

And you know what pisses me off about Ahsoka Tano in the Siege of Mandalore arc? Is that she actually considered joining Maul’s crazy ass and that she actually bought into his inane anti-Jedi rant.

I actually kinda like that she considers it for a minute, because my most favorite version of Ahsoka is one who's also just teetering on the edge of darkness herself. Ahsoka listening to Maul talk about how the Republic is an Empire in everything but name and that it can't be saved, but that he alone can help her take out the Sith Lord anyway so long as she joins him, and she genuinely takes that very very seriously is arguably one of the most interesting things to happen to her since like season 4. I REALLY wish that the idea that she nearly joined a Sith Lord was something that was ever at any point followed up on, quite honestly.

Maul as Ahsoka's Palpatine just WORKS for me. Maul was the apprentice parallel back in TPM, both in opposition to Obi-Wan and foreshadowing what Anakin would eventually become. So for him to end up being sort-of Sith Master to Anakin's own apprentice just has a certain SYMMETRY to it.

I don't even hate that Ahsoka turns away from him specifically because he then mentions that they'd have to take out Anakin in the sense that Ahsoka is SUPER FUCKING ATTACHED to Anakin and this is something that's true within Rebels, as well. Ahsoka is RADICALLY attached to Anakin, to that relationship and the loyalty she feels she owes to him and his memory. And it's something that's absolutely THERE in TCW and Rebels, and it would've been a really interesting thing to explore in the Ahsoka show, the fact that she holds this attachment to him that's super unhealthy and that made it difficult for her to accept the truth about him. But they... didn't. And so instead of this kinda neat parallel where Ahsoka struggles with attachments just as much as Anakin did, we get this idea that her relationship to Anakin is what gives her the most strength, that it's the most positive thing to have ever happened to her, the only part of her life before the Empire she really remembers fondly at all (she does remember the Jedi more fondly in Rebels, but that's not there in the Ahsoka show where she explicitly calls them all failures).

And this is one of those things that frustrates me the MOST about Ahsoka's trajectory. There's so many times that they could've really explored Ahsoka's own darkness, her true struggles, and REALLY honed in on that to showcase not only the impact of things like the war and Order 66, but the impact of having had that relationship with Anakin at a foundational time in her life when Anakin was arguably at his WORST (before he became a literal nightmare genocide machine obviously). She's a gullible, malleable child put into a position where she has to have a lot of trust in Anakin and give him a lot of power over herself and Anakin is at a point in HIS life where he's giving into his darkness more and more. He's already someone who's massacred an entire village of innocent people, he's already a fascist who believes in MAKING people do what he wants, he's already a baby killer who feels no real remorse over it, he's already a massive racist who uses that prejudice to justify murdering people. He is selfish and he is greedy and he is losing his battle against his own darkness more and more to the point that he can be four bad days away from double genocide. I find it kind-of impossible to believe that that WOULDN'T have had an impact on how he trained Ahsoka and the way Ahsoka ultimately turned out.

But because the person writing Ahsoka is a fucking anti-Jedi Stanakin, what we get instead is a story that refuses to acknowledge Anakin was super dark at all and so refuses to really look at Ahsoka's OWN darkness at any point and mostly just justifies what Anakin did and the choices Ahsoka makes and her feelings about the Jedi as complete and utter failures because it helps fuel his agenda of making Ahsoka into The Greatest Jedi specifically because she was trained by The Greatest Jedi.

So, in a vacuum, I DO actually like that Ahsoka nearly joins Maul, and I even like that she ultimately refuses to do so specifically because of her attachment to Anakin causing her to be loyal to him over the possibility of getting more information about the Sith Lord. I think that that WORKS narratively and that it could've been a really interesting jumping off point for Ahsoka's character journey. But what I DON'T like is that this moment ended up turning into, as you mentioned, Ahsoka agreeing with the anti-Jedi sentiments and that her connection to Anakin is the better one because it's what allows her to reject darkness or whatever. I don't like that, I don't think it makes ANY sense, and it's boring. It makes her BORING and that's by far the worst criticism I can give any character.

[just-prime]

8 : Oh so boring

The horrifying MCU-ification of the Star Wars universe is in horrific display as 8 episodes lead nowhere but setup.

Before I get to everything else, I do want to say, Ray Stevenson's passing is a true tragedy, and I appreciate the love and care he clearly put into his character. He was the only compelling one, and I shudder to think of how Disney will probably heartlessly recast.

Now, on to the episode

Well, all the leaks that said it was zombies were right, to the surprise of no one. This is the MCU now, we need something more than just a fuck ton of stormtroopers to blow through, we need an undead CGI army.

First off : The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord...FUCK OFF FILONI. YOU ARE NOT CUTE.

The show opens with the attempt to lull Legends fans back into a Sion reference for no reason. Also, Thrawn's super baggy pants seem unnecessary, especially since the design in Rebels always has him in perfectly tailored clothes. Nothing during his decade abroad that would have cause the pants to change that drastically, so it just feels like an unnecessary change that is not an attractive look :(

Morgan's power ups make no sense, and as soon as she got them she was going to die. Her eyes had me making a half dozen Supernatural jokes for obvious reasons. The whole "Blade of Talzin" thing is also very dumb given the fact that I assume Mother Talzin would have used every weapon in her arsenal to stop Grievous, and I would think a lightsaber proof sword is on that list.

The entire "Ezra makes himself a new lightsaber" scene filled me rage for a few reasons.

A) Ezra literally just turned down Sabine's offer of the lightsaber for the martial arts force powers which we never see him use again.

B) Huyang knowing about Caleb and Kanan being the same person feels kinda weird to me to be perfectly honest.

C) Ezra's new lightsaber is boring. Full stop. This is the kid who built a gun into his first one, it makes no sense that he'd make one that looks this mediocre.

D) All of Sabine's family dying horrible deaths on Mandalore has always struck me as a cop out. It's just lazy writing to isolate Sabine.

The Stakes

Spoiler alert : THERE ARE NONE

We knew this was going to end in a cliffhanger for a while now, which means none of the main cast was going to die. Morgan has always been a means to an end for Thrawn, not that her loyalty was ever explain...But none of our heroes were gonna bite it (regardless of how I hoped for Huyang to explode) so there were no stakes. Thrawn had to escape, despite the fact that he is weirdly shaken, so he does. Ezra had to get home, so he does. Sabine and Ahsoka are now trapped on some stupid Mortis world??? Okay, pause, I'm getting ahead of myself here...because before that...

Sabine has the Force now

My deepest condolences to anyone who is finding this out from me, but Sabine is offically confirmed and shown to be Force sensitive. Yes it is dumb. Yes it makes no sense. Yes this is something we all saw being foreshadowed from day one, unfortunately. Especially with the playing down of her Mandalorian-ness (she's constantly losing her helmet, her gun accuracy has utterly gone, she barely uses her gauntlets, etc etc) it was obvious that Filoni wanted to do with her, what he was too cowardly to do with Grogu.

Other miscellaneous shit

It turns out that Ahsoka's shuttle is Jedi era...which makes no fucking sense.

The nightsisters being totally on board with the Empire feels like their ability to tell what's going on in the main universe might be a bit sketchy do to the fact that they missed that the guy in charge of the Empire is the one who ordered Dathomir razzed.

100% of the problems that the gang run into would have been solved if Sabine had a fucking jetpack

They pull the "Thrawn knew Anakin" card out of nowhere in the dumbest possible way, which really just goes to show how much FIloni hates the new canon Thrawn books.

Chopper recognizes Ezra (which was rather cute) before Hera does, because he decides to show up on a New Republic cruiser in full Thrawn stormtrooper garb. Also we don't even get a hug between Hera and Ezra.

Shin (because she exists, remember?) who is also stranded now, goes and appears to be taking over the bandit camp we saw earlier. Have no idea where they are taking that...but honestly, good for Shin doing something for her, this seems like a selfcare move.

Now, the ending...Fucking Mortis

So, the final shot we get of Baylan, he is standing on a giant statue of The Father (there is a statue of The Son, and a destroyed statue of The Daughter) pointing out towards something on the horizon.

Back at the hermit crab people camp, Ahsoka and Sabine (and fucking Anakin's ghost, because that's right people, instead of hanging out with his son, Anakin has been just hovering over Ahsoka this whole time apparently) here this chirping, and it's a fucking creepy hyper realistic CGI Morai.

So yeah, that's clearly how all of the trapped characters are going to get off this planet...the World between Worlds. Now, this brings up a fuck ton more questions...Chief of all being how did Ezra not use this to escape years ago???

And I get that Mortis is not everybody's favorite Clone Wars arc. Which is fair. I don't hate it, but I never loved it, and Filoni dragging in the dumbest piece of Force lore that he created is infuriating. ESPECIALLY with this being so obviously aimed at those who've not watched Clone Wars or Rebels. I'm curious to see how much he immediately recons about it, given that it's been his go-to move since before even Mando s3...

I fear they're going to do something like "Bayan is The Father, Ahsoka is The Daughter, and Shin and Sabine have to fight over being The Son" or some stupid bullshit like that.

I'm glad this is the last Filoni property we're getting for a while, since I'm pretty sure he's not involved with Skeleton Crew at all writing-wise.

I am just so happy it's over!

In the meantime, if you are as annoyed at Filoni as I am, spite him by reading the new canon Thrawn books!!! They are really fantastic and give Thrawn a lot of facinating depth, along with having an incredible cast of side characters.

For those of you who are new or just finding me because of my Ahsoka rants, please stick around!!! I'm sure I will be having other annoyed Ahsoka thoughts in the weeks to come as I think back about the full series and about just everything that it's fucked up. Feel free to pop into my ask box if you're curious about my other Star Wars related opinions, I'm more than happy to answer, though know that for the majority of the recent shows, I do not look fondly.

But if you are looking for some vindication on not enjoying recent Star Wars things, then this is the blog for you!!!

[spoiler-alert-andabunchofnumbers]

Look, I love the Castlevania series and the Netflix adaptation made 3 great seasons ("Um there are 4 seasons" LIKE I SAID, 3 GREAT SEASONS), but we have got to talk about how disappointing it is that the main trio never met or even knew the existence of Hector and Isaac - or honestly, that entire half of the plot. I will forever find it weird that the show set up two related but never intersecting plot threads (and arguably a third, go figure during the worst season).

It's sweet and empowering that both of them found their own ways to live before and after Dracula's death, with Isaac being a total badass and even progressing to a better person despite seeing how unfair, cruel, and rude the world is - to the point that he defeats Carmilla not JUST because she was partly responsible for Dracula's death but because he actually wanted to make the world a better place. But even though Isaac could arguably be founding an entire empire and generation of peace, he and Hector don't even seem to know about Alucard's existence or contributions, let alone Trevor and Sypha.

We can debate Hector and Lenore's fucked up relationship all day, but in the end the two of them DID end up bonding through all the lies and deceit. They were able to actually talk to one another and have the other listen; in the end, both of them were just born in different worlds on different sides. Lenore genuinely seemed to want to settle things peacefully, but she got left behind in a world that valued only overwhelming strength; she decides she can't live as a prisoner even though Hector was no doubt stronger than her for enduring his own imprisonment and subjugation, but I think Lenore was already on her way to losing herself. Despite what she did to Hector, she wanted to at least believe she understood him; even though she was a sympathetic vampire, she still believed knowing enough to control someone was the only way they could be friends - so when it turns out Hector was plotting the downfall of Carmilla and her buddies, unfortunate Lenore had to be betrayed as well. Even if Hector wanted her to live, she was a living contradiction. A vampire who is physically very strong and intimidating, but a woman who other male vampires have looked down upon, and even male humans. A creature who feeds on humans, but one who wants to settle things peacefully. She absolutely had a role in Carmilla's gang of women just surviving, but in Carmilla's mad conquest, she was useless at best and a hindrance at worst.

In the end, Lenore was one of the few vampires that might have been sympathetic to the human side of the argument, but she physically couldn't live like that. I believed Lenore genuinely wasn't capable of turning her whole worldview upside down and aiding humanity in any way - being beneath them. Dracula opened himself up to one human and it destroyed him; he saved Hector and Isaac, but he also sacrificed himself and forced Isaac away, that was the extent of his personal affairs with them. I think it's fundamentally difficult for vampires to adopt human ideologies and empathy, making Alucard the only vampire ally we really have in the series - because he's only half. Unlike Alucard, she is a full vampire. She has a divide that she can't just bridge like he can.

Imagine if Alucard got to meet the only other humans beside his mother who genuinely looked up to and cared about his father. What would Isaac and Hector have to say to the son of the man they had admired and then lost as well? Imagine Alucard meeting another human who may have even fallen in love with a vampire, but who understands how far their worlds pulled each other apart. Or maybe Sypha can relate to having her eyes opened to a world outside her Speaker family. Imagine a discussion with Lenore about what it means to be caught between wanting to make peace with humans and knowing how much harm they cause - her actually getting a sympathetic vampire perspective from someone like Alucard who wouldn't look down on her.

Imagine the tension that could come from Trevor meeting a Forgemaster, Isaac trying to explain his control over Night Creatures and his ability to even make them fight for a sympathetic cause. Both Isaac and Trevor have experience being the outcasts, understanding how awful humans can be, but they both found their way to still fighting for the right thing. Trevor understands why killing Dracula's wife would make him want to purge the world in retribution, but he still knows humans are worth fighting for. Isaac fully abandoned his faith in humanity and believed in Dracula completely, and even THEN he managed to find the good amongst the rabble. Is it right to make Night Creatures from the dead, even if they were bad people? Even if it's to champion a good cause? Even if Hector and Isaac have full control over them without a potential for any sort of rebellion?

What I'm saying is, I love the idea of a new Castlevania series, but nothing will beat the OG season 1 and 2, and season 3 should have been answering questions and tying up loose ends - not going off on at least 3, 4 tangents that were just meant to come out of nowhere and make things shitty again after our happy ending and I guess they're kinda related but not really, so now we can fix the new shitty stuff and have ANOTHER happy ending and avoid showing anything resembling resolutions, just teaser after teaser for the fanfics to finish up.

Anyway so I'm going to the fanfics and if I don't come back, tell the Final Fantasy rants I love them-

[historia-vitae-magistras]

Hello, I have ceased functioning. You have actually ended me this time. Also I have done the thing where I pick out the best lines and it turns out to be huge swaths of the fic again.

“Be quick and be safe!” Matt tells them. It’s a benediction as hoarse as his prayers are when he thinks there is no one around to hear him. They’re just as futile, too. The time their slaughter brought them is at a standstill, and Matthew’s bullets are gone.

I just... the comparison of "be quick and be safe" to prayers, both in how Matt sounds and how much good it'll do, combined with the hard stop of "Matthew's bullets are gone", absolutely set the tone and tension in the most beautiful, terrifying way. I was instantly heartbroken for the three of them stuck in that hell, and on the edge of my seat.

But she’s ahead of him. It’s the way the world works. Zee sailed into a new day ahead of him on their spinning planet.

I love the way you include these little mentions of their geography! It makes sense for them to perceive themselves/others that way, and it's also absolutely gorgeous imagery.

“Look at me!” She said, this time harsh and sharp. “We do these things together, right? That’s what we said. My balance is your balance. You watch my back, I cover your arse.”

Sobbing I love these two. I couldn't grab everything because then I really would've grabbed most of the fic, but the constant drumbeat of "they belong together, they are the most important person, they're two halves of the same whole" - it's so good. So much of their existences is brutal and lonely and terrifying, but they have each other.

Arthur and Alfred are together, already half aware, and Father looks relieved, openly so. Not a good sign. Alfred looks bewildered. Less empire than boy startled out of bed. Because he still tends to sleep in one of those, even now. Because he is precious and held in reserve.

Okay, the juxtaposition of Jack recognizing that Arthur is relieved to see them vs. the resentment of Alfred having a bed, because he's precious and held back... perfect encapsulation of Arthur's shit parenting. He loves his kids, he does, but Alfred is the favorite and the rest suffer for it. (Also kind of shows the fundamental horrors of the "family." Sure, Alfred's the favorite, but Arthur loves them all and isn't happy that Matt, Jack, and Zee were/are out there - but the three of them are colonies. The purpose of their existence is to sacrifice lives and resources for Arthur's goals, how he feels about them as people won't save them. If Alfred wasn't an empire in his own right he might well be out there too, because being the favorite wouldn't save him from the facts of life as a colony.)

“Enough!” Arthur slammed his hands down on the map-laden table and tugged Zee away, shoving one arm between Alfred’s chest and Jack’s, curling so he was in front of her. But he couldn’t break the grip Alfred had on Jack’s collar. “Get your hands off your brother, boy!”

Without losing sight of the shit parenting, I do appreciate Arthur trying to shut Alfred down and defend Jack.

“I was here, watching his back while you were home turning a fucking profit! We were here when it was all for nothing! You only showed up for what? For what? To take credit? Aunt Bridgie always said you were brave, that you were brilliant. She forgot to mention what a bastard you are!"

GET HIM JACK. I know Alfred's worried about his brother, but Jack is damn right - he doesn't get to ride in 3 years late and then accuse Jack and Zee of being the ones who don't have Matt's back. (Arthur is an entirely other story.) And Brighid telling Jack about how great Alfred is gave me... a lot of feelings. I have not sorted through them all yet but it's a lot to do with that line you wrote (paraphrasing) - "It was my magic that protected you too. Remember that as you take my people and make them your own." Alfred and Jack have this connection through Brighid that feels really powerful but I can't figure out what I'm thinking about it.

“You shut your mouth. I’m not the one who just abandoned Mattie.”

“Ah, my dear boy, but you did that first.”

AND IT'S ARTHUR WITH THE STEEL CHAIR. I mean good lord. He's not wrong, and I'm not even mad at him because Alfred's being a dick, but Jesus Christ. I was yelling at my phone at that one. Arthur is absolutely not entitled to be making that argument, but I feel forced to admire the precision. I also can't tell if that's meant to be on Jack's side or if Arthur just couldn't resist making the jab. 10/10 bastardry, I hate him but am forced to admire the audacity.

“Want another first?” Alfred wasn’t facing them now. This was an argument older than both of them, conducted in shouts muffled from the other end of the house. “I took his head off his shoulders at Yorktown. I shot our dear lord father’s jaw from his fucking skull and his skull from his shoulders and the lobsterbacks surrendered. And then they left. And when the gutters overflowed, you were born.”

I fucking... okay, first, "an argument older than both of them" is so powerful, as is the image of Jack and Zee hearing this argument that's had such a huge impact on the empire - and thus their existence and how they're treated - from the other end of the house. Like, they know it happened/continues to reverberate, and it very much affects their lives, but they aren't allowed to be part of it or witness it, they just deal with knowing it's there and whatever the aftermath is. I'm reminded of the Cromwell fic, where I can simultaneously see kids experiencing a family thing and also colonies experiencing imperial policy.

Second, what the actual fuck Alfred. POS. I know he's upset about Matt, but that's such a fucking horrible thing to say. (Also, a not insignificant portion of your birth was from the "gutters overflowing", asshat.) I felt even worse than I already had for Jack and Zee right then.

“As flattered as your brother would be to see you defending what little of his honour he hasn’t left in a brothel, I rather think we should get to the task of finding him first, no? And perhaps, if you lot can manage more than one task at a time with the single wit I seem to have left you to inherit, we could perhaps even turn back what looks to be an entire German offensive that’s just caught us with our cocks out.” He paused and glanced at Zee. “Barring you, dear girl.”

Arthur, Matt's missing. Maybe refrain from calling him a whore until he's back.

I'm not going to call him just as responsible for the fight, but there must've been something he could've said other than "hey son, I know you're worried about your baby brother, but remember that you abandoned him during the event that's negatively defined our relationship for over a century." Like, he does not get to say that and then act like it's just the kids that are distracted from the tasks at hand here.

"caught us with our cocks out... barring you, dear girl" fucking killed me. You have such a knack for humor, both writing the jokes and knowing where to insert them/how to maintain the balance with the drama. It's so good.

“Excuse you,” A note of laughter in a gravelly voice, still half-ruined by gas. “I am Father’s best knife. Only the finest for when the Krauts come for dinner, eh Dad?”

Matt correcting Alfred from "favorite" to "best" is... I have feelings. On the one hand it's kind of Matt bragging ("I'm not the favorite, I'm the best"), but on the other hand there was the reference to Alfred being the favorite earlier so I'm simultaneously reading it as "I'm not the favorite, I'm the best." Also, this felt very cinematic - we're all focused on the argument, Matt's missing, how are we going to find him, and then bam! He joins the conversation without missing a beat. I love that kind of stuff.

Jack nearly elbowed Dad in the face as Arthur tried to look at a particularly large blood stain oozing from Matt’s shoulder but had to settle for turning his cheek and looking him in the eye a moment before he and Zee nearly got bowled over entirely by Alfred rocketing through. He practically picked Matt up.

Again, Arthur's parenting sucks but I do appreciate him immediately trying to get a look at Matt's injuries (and I wish Jack had actually elbowed him in the face.)

All of the talk/examples at the end of the fic about how the two sets are really similar was so wonderful in a heartbreaking way. They're separate pairs, they're only brought together by the external force of empire - but their dynamics are so similar, right down to the older carrying the younger around everywhere. Jack and Alfred are so similar, but that disconnect in experience and treatment is such a wall between them nonetheless.

I am tired and this fried my brain with feelings and thoughts, so I don't have anything particularly interesting to say - I just absolutely adored this fic and the way you handled all these dynamics. You're such a wonderful writer <3

Thank you 😭😭😭 I can't just 🥺 thank you.

[paleghostinthecorner02]

The more I think about this the more it pisses me off

Our heroes everyone! (⁠ب⁠_⁠ب⁠)

For context, this is an Earth run by Doom and his Fantastic Four. He's pretty much made it so the people of this planet supposedly don't really have emotions. They don't laugh or cry or feel happiness or pain, just subservience to Doom if Longshot and Reed Richards are to be believed. So why bother saving anyone since they're figuratively dead already, billions of people just going through the motions as a part of Doom's perfect world? They're better off not existing anyway if they can't feel emotions!

Bullshit, says I.

First of all is the moral question this brings up. Who the hell gave them the right to decided who should get to live and who should get to die? Fuck you Morph for saying "we're not God" when you are literally in a group of heroes who's job it is to save people like them. Fuck you Sabertooth for imposing your personal existential beliefs onto an entire population as an excuse to not try to save them. And fuck both of you for saying this shit to Miguel like he's being unreasonable when he's the only one of you so called "heroes" that thinks that maybe letting billions of people die is not a good thing. "Oh, he's just blinded by his love for Gwen, he isn't thinking straight." He can be scared of losing Gwen and still be the most rational person in the room. Sorry, I don't care how besotted someone is, if that person is the only one advocating for saving billions of innocent people from death, then he's still the one I'm backing in this moral quandary.

Speaking of Miguel and Gwen...

Isn't their whirlwind romance proof that people on this planet still feel things? Gwen literally tells Miguel she's in love with him, and is obviously broken up over the idea she may have to choose between her love for him and her loyalty to Doom. She's literally crying up there because of this, how the hell are you going to tell me nobody is capable of emotions and thus aren't "truly alive"? Even the fact that she ultimately decides to stay in her dying world isn't really an indictment on her ability for love since she obviously loves Miguel enough to force him into the portal to safety. Almost like, I dunno, she has FEELINGS? Yeah, ultimately love couldn't overcome but honestly I can see choosing to side with the person who you have been brainwashed and controlled by for years over a guy you've known for two days max. She didn't have enough time to be deprogrammed, but she still showed she was emotionally entangled with Miguel enough that she didn't want him to perish as well. If she had no feelings then why would she have cared about him enough to save him? Why would she be torn between love and loyalty in the first place? That's a sign that someone is FEELING, and if Gwen can feel things, then so can other people on this planet, right? That completely undoes Sabertooth's assertation that everyone is already "dead" anyway.

And one more thing these chucklefucks didn't consider: This event destroyed THE ENTIRE DIMENSION. Not just Earth, but everything. Am I supposed to believe that the only inhabited planet in this one dimension is Earth? That there isn't possibly a Shi'ar Empire or Kree or Skrull or any of the other hundreds of alien beings that show up in the other universes? Because I don't buy that for a second. So are all of those beings just supposed to die because the Exiles decided that the people of one planet aren't worth saving? Fuck you all except Miguel, that makes you universal assholes. I can't help but think part of Miguel's reason for staying where he was stranded instead of rejoining the Exiles after this was because he was so disgusted by their flagrant disregard for the lives of billions.

[zazter-den]

i’ll say the same to you! i’m greedy and i’ll hear as much about your pretty catboy self ship (or pretty elezen boy) as you want to share with the f/o questions of your choice. ☺️

Ahh, thank you Bunny! Answering these with my dragongirl Warrior of Light, Ondata. Alongside G'raha Tia. Spoilers Ahead (mostly ARR& ShadowBringers)

nose kisses or forehead kisses? Ondata likes to give Raha forehead kisses, especially when he's worried or has spent too many hours poring over tomes.

neck kisses or thigh kisses? Raha often comes up behind Ondata while she's crafting, typically wrapping his arms around her waist before peppering her neck with kisses.

spooning or one person laying their head on the other’s chest? Overlap question! She, Raha, and Haurchefant all share the same bed so usually the ones on the end cuddle into whoever is in the middle (Usually Haurchefant since he's tall and runs warm)

hugs from behind or hugs from the front? Ondata usually flings herself into tackle hugs from the front, G'raha is a little more worried about disrupting and nuzzles from the back.

“pancake” or “waffle” hand-holding?

Waffle, in every selfship unless mittens are involved. Which sometimes happens on outings in the perpetually frozen Ishgard.

romantic dinners at fancy restaurants or take out dinners on the couch? I mean,,,regardless the man is going to look like a kid at christmas- and from the taste of fish-based Archon Loaf, I can't blame him. I'm dragging him to every restaurant I can find, but I think he falls a little for Haurchefant with that first cup of cocoa like us all

constantly bragging about dating each other or keeping the relationship relatively secretive? Ondata is extremely proud of her loves. Raha never flat out says they're together, but the way he talks about the Warrior of Light, other scholars are like "Oh, so they've been married forever I take it".

playing with each others’ hair or giving each other back massages? Raha is constantly losing pins to keep his hair out of his eyes, until Ondata starts making them herself to give to him. Raha braids Ondata's hair every day as part of their morning ritual, and she gets in a down mood if the routine is messed up.

constantly saying “i love you” or only say “i love you” during really serious/romantic moments? Between ARR and Heavensward, Ondata is hesitant to say 'I love you' to anyone. After the events of the Crystal Tower/ShadowBringers? Ondata says 'I love you' as often as possible. After Endwalker? She is fucking them anywhere that has even a semi shred of privacy.

constantly hanging off of each other or keeping a tame distance in public? Raha is more hesitant to show affection in public, but Ondata is usually pulling his hand through the crowds.

stay at home dates or out on the town dates? Adventures, just as promised.

formal/fancy wedding or casual wedding? Let's be real, Haurchefant/Ondata/G'raha want a small private ceremony- Which Tataru immediately vetoes. She would blackmail so many nobles into giving gifts and favors, look into your heart, you know this to be true. At least she will never complain about the coffers again. Maybe.

(spoiler heavy) love at first sight or slow burn? Both. Raha honestly had Ondata's heart at first infodump about the Crystal Tower and all the crystal based magicks of the Allagan Empire. She was certain they would spend the rest of their lives together, which is why she took him leaving her behind so fucking hard. And when they finally did reunite, originally they both thought they were too late. From day one, Ondata recognized G'raha but knew he had grown to be a completely different person over his time in the tower. It hurt, but she gave him space throughout all of ShadowBringers, not wanting to dredge up the past. G'raha wasn't much better, but how do you tell the love of your life that you watched their entire existence for clues to stop their tragic end? That you loved them still, before you decided to meet a light-bleached death in their stead? No, better to act the uncaring thief than to burden his dear hero with love that stood the test of centuries.

value anniversaries/important relationship dates or nah? any and every major date is a cause for celebration. but there's 3 other dates that are also unofficially observed: the day the crystal tower was sealed, the day that Hades tried to take him, and that day in Ultima Thule. Clearly not a joyous memorial, G'raha never really notices the dates themselves- but he does notice the way that Ondata clings to his back when they wake up hours past sunrise, how she will refuse to let him do anything remotely strenuous, or insists that she treat him to an adventurous date.

There is very little that the Warrior of Light needs- but the Crystal Exarch is at the top of the list, tied only by the Commander of the Silver Fuller.

kids or no kids? Kids. It was kind of an 'Oops' situation after Endwalker. I think defeating [redacted] depression and reuniting would put any previous Heats to shame. I also think that despite being world saving heroes, that they would be scared shitless but genuinely happy and excited. G'raha's eyes are passed down to some, but as a limbal ring, and all of Ondata's kids have at least some of her pearly scales. Given how powerful their parents are, toddler years are a warzone. It's a future Ondata didn't think was possible for herself, and she loves her big family.

Thanks again for letting me rant about my ffxiv char! Ask Game

[veresk-is-back-at-it-again]

sometimes im genuinely surprised at how many people . genuinely ship cal and merrin? ESPECIALLY in the second game?

like dont get me wrong people can ship whatever they want but the way fandom latched onto calmerrin as THE ship for cal is ... weird to me? especially since we have bode? because for me calmerrin dynamic kind of. falls apart. in the second game. long rant below

so for me calmerrin were not a. GOOD. ship in the first game. not because i didnt like their dynamic- i thought it was kind cute and they had potential to grow together- but mostly because i absolutely headcanon them as a gay/lesbian duo. i genuinely thought that they worked best as friends- platonic soulmates, who find comfort in each other not in a desperate, romantice fire way, but in a way you sought comfort from hot coals in the fireplace. they will warm you for a long time, despite never being a straight out fire. but even back then, i could see the appeal- they were both survivors, both forced to carry the weight of their cultures, trying to salvage what they can from the unforgiving empire. cal, despite the heartbreak and suffering was a hopeful, and optimistic person, while merrin needed someone to show that not everything was bitterness and anger.

but then the second game came. and the mantis team broke up (for reasons, and yeah, it does have a justification) and when merrin talked with cal (dont rememver if it was before or after the kiss) she said that they didn’t share that unique survivor bond. at some level, it makes sense- there WERE a lot of families that got torn apart by the empire. but for me, her words didnt make a sliver of sense- their bond wasnt that of orphans, their bond was that of (basically) the sole survivors of entire cultures- not just their family was killed, their very existence as a jedi and a nightsister was paradoxal. because they didn’t just have to live on- they had to rebuild, scrap by scrap, inch by a blood-earned inch their cultures. thousands of years of traditions, language, practices. and then merrin tells cal that- that it wasnt unique? that their bond was no more than that of orphans? it didnt sit right with me.

and of course, cal changed. cal isnt nearly as hopeful- he still hopes, of course, but he became hardened, more bitter and anxious (and it probably has to do with him losing his third family. like. seriously. my man has at this point a very much worsening cocktail of survivors guilt, ptsd, attachment issues and lord knows what else). merrin is older now, she is more experienced, but she didnt really... change, i think. maybe she is more optimistic, though we didnt see it properly.

also can i say something, since we’re all here anyway? why the fuck was greez the only one to hug that kid when meeting cal after all this time? genuinely. like, what is up with that? cere and merrin barely pat his shoulder. would it kill them to give cal a hug? this is why greez is my favorite, his love isnt carefully contained and hidden.

back on track. so in the first part, we had this wonderful mix- cal would be the bright-eyes, optimistic counterpart to merrins guarded, and cautious presence. but in this game the only way i see them having a similar bond is merrin helping cal to fight the darkness which is... okay, i guess. but there is no back and forth. i dont see how they could make each other better people. i dont see how they could work as anything but platonic soulmates. to me, cal doesnt want merrin- he doesnt truly want her as his romantic partner. he wants people to stop leaving him.

this is probably very messy and maybe doesnt make sense, but cut me some slack, i am barely functional on my best days.

[spacegoathours]

gonna ramble about calnr below the cut

bc I’m BORED and this is MY blog I do what I WANT

TW for self-harm, I think. I am not nice to my girl

edit: i sat on this for days and it’s long and stupid but i’m sick of seeing it in my drafts. every day i strive to be worse than the last ✌🏼✨

since I am the worst at writing, and really not creative overall, I struggle with stepping outside of the few things I’ve drawn which range from generic cutesy things to angsty AF

at some point I’m gonna have to suck it up and make sense of their relationship, why it’s even necessary for both of them, and what the endgame is. is this just for funsies and doesn’t matter? yes. is my brain not going to leave me alone until I make sense of everything? also yes.

like. ok. we can assume that Lard Nar has dealt with a lot of loss. he lost his home first and foremost, but it can also be assumed that he’s lost a lot of loved ones, family and friends and so on, either by imprisonment or death by Irken hand. this makes him not only opposed to commitment for fear of losing someone but especially opposed to commitment to an Irken.

at the same time we like to think that Lard Nar sees past how Irkens tend to be on the surface and understands that they’re just victims of Irken society, this awful propaganda that turns what could be free-thinking individuals into single-minded drones privy to violence and hatred of other alien races.

he knows deep down that Callie is good because she saved him during the Vort disaster. that’s highly unusual Irken behavior and the act sticks with him years down the line, even after watching as his planet got conquered and his family imprisoned. so the two views go back and forth in his mind, i guess.

obviously trusting Callie in the end is what happens since they do, eventually, have some sort of complicated relationship. once he opens up to her, that fear of losing her just like he lost everyone else becomes super exasperated, now that he’s let Callie be someone important to him.

this really sucks for him because Callie is fiercely independent and leaves the Resisty ship often. each time is either quietly leaving without anyone knowing or getting very angry and leaving, never with the intent to come back. she just wants to be left alone at first.

(tw implied self-harm below)

Callie gets into a lot of trouble while away from the Resisty. the story I keep trying to tell with her is dark; she hates herself, a lot, has no sense of self-preservation and comes back fucked up every time. most of the time she’s found by the Resisty and they have to bring her back to health again.

her background of like… forced to train hard as hell to become a top elite next to miyuki and never wanting that future, having to escape her home planet because she would have been killed otherwise, actually being killed painfully after finally finding what felt like home, waking up in a body that isn’t hers and another Irken’s mind battling with her own, and by this point assuming that the Resisty just wants to use her because she could potentially be a huge threat to the Empire…

this girl’s mental state is bad by the end of it all.

and actually, most of the Resisty hates her at first, which doesn’t help. they just got done trusting an Irken who betrayed them and nearly got them all killed (Nyx). but their captain feels that he owes Callie, she saved his life after all so many years ago, so he saves hers in the only opportunity that arises to make it possible. so the rest kinda have to deal.

after some time goes by, Lard Nar realizes that he’s gone from “ok I have returned the favor my work here is done” to “fuck I really care about you please stop hurting yourself like this”. and he does see Callie as a potential asset to their cause at first, but doesn’t press the subject. after he realizes oh fuck I have feelings for this Irken he drops the idea from his mind entirely; he just wants her to be okay. Callie, seeing no future for herself, has no interest in joining the Resisty or being in any sort of relationship.

Eventually she comes around after slowly realizing that the Resisty has 1.) learned to trust her after Nyx’s personality is fully gone and they spend more time getting to know her true self and her history and 2.) saved her time and time again without expecting anything in return, proving that they actually do care. her mental state starts to improve slowly but surely.

Callie officially joins the Resisty and goes on missions with them. somewhere in this part of the story is where she realizes how much she cares about Lard Nar in return. but emotions are very confusing for Irkens, especially those surrounding romantic feelings, so Callie doesn’t know what to do half the time. she’ll go to Laksa like “hey Nar brought me flowers from a nearby planet and asked if I needed anything while I’m stuck in the med bay and it made me feel weird what does this mean” and Laksa will be like ROLLS EYES.

this girl stubborn AF and when she understands what she’s feeling for Lard Nar is love, she’s in denial about it. her??? with a Vortian???? that’s wrong!!! it’s not, but the things you’re taught on Irk take some time to unlearn. anything between them is kept in private and even though she thinks she has their relationship under wraps, the rest of the Resisty is like “oh wow sweet gossip” and they are very aware lol.

there is a mission at some point where some Irken enforcers capture Lard Nar and keep him imprisoned for a while, and Callie rips through the prison’s guards like they are nothing to save him, and at this point she doesn’t care what people think anymore. when she saved him and some other scientists the first time on Vort she didn’t think much of it, it was just the right thing to do and she took hold of the opportunity. this time she’d stop at nothing to make sure he’s safe, even if that means murdering a ton of Irken guards, going very much against her own ideals.

the two become highly protective of each other and intermittently co-dependent because of their different traumas surrounding loss. I don’t think this makes for the healthiest relationship - sometimes one or the other will realize they’re being clingy and pull back for fear of getting hurt. it probably takes them a very long time to get to a point where the fear of losing the other becomes less important than the desire to be together.

also like…this takes a while. you can’t erase the past, and the reality is that Irkens and Vortians have a very strained relationship with each other. Lard Nar occasionally gets a sinking feeling in his gut when he’s around Callie, remembering the history surrounding the broken alliance. This is an Irken who can choose to betray his trust at any moment, and it’s not like it hasn’t happened to him personally. Callie, being on the “winning” side between the two, feels overwhelming guilt and often feels like she doesn’t deserve to be with Lard Nar because of what the Irkens - her people - have done to him.

I think I want them to have a happy ending where they can overcome their pasts, but ugh. I sure do view the IZ universe and timeline as very dark and awful and sure do love putting characters thru the horrors.

like I said before I’m bad at writing and there are a lot of elements here I want to include, which is why this ended up so lengthy, but some probably contradict others!! it’s just a string of thoughts though, so take it all with a grain of salt I guess. eventually I’ll simplify things which would make it easier to come up with ideas for writing/drawing. or just do whatever. whenever. this is literally just textbook “I want to shove my OC into every aspect of canon because I need to live” fuck it we ball

umm anyway how’d this get so fucking long. if you made it this far why did you do that. goodnight

[kitkatopinions]

I’m gobsmacked that people are still like “honestly I think Ironwood’s arc is super well done because if you look back at some of the things he did in the earlier seasons, not all of it was perfect and his character has flaws. Such art being made! His villainy is undeniable!” Like, my friends?? What??

First of all. No amount of foreshadowing no matter how excellently done can make a fall of villainy look well done if the actual fall itself is still rushed or badly written. I was introduced to the character of Kylo Ren through him being a massive unapologetic evil villain, but when the Last Jedi was like “yeah, Luke ‘saw darkness’ in the future of the young training jedi son of Leia and Han and almost murdered him... so he went on a massive murder spree and turned into a sith lord working for an evil Empire trying to subjugate everything” I was still sitting here feeling like that was really hard to believe. Ironwood went from being a struggling leader trying to save as many people as he could while being backed into a wall and was launched into a maniacally laughing evil for the sake of evil villain trying to bomb people over the course of two in-universe days. Over the course of just over one season that was jam packed full of too many characters fighting for the spotlight. And the writers didn’t let their characters ever sit with or deal with his ever-escalating villainy so that it feels like Oscar just kinda forgot that Ironwood shot him and Ruby never even knew. And nobody reacted to the villainy like it was actually surprising, or even kinda weird, not even Oz or Qrow. I could go on, but my point is that the complaint of rw/de posers is usually ‘this fall to villainy was so badly done that it was unbelievable’ and not ‘Ironwood had never done anything that might indicate a future fall to villainy.’

Second of all. This is a show where the characters are supposed to be more than two-dimensional characterless blobs of shallow nothing, right? They’re all supposed to have flaws! Any character who matters more to the story and has more screen time than Velvet the side character from seasons 1-3 should have both good traits and bad traits, should make mistakes, and have instances where they’re kinda fucking up. A character having flaws doesn’t make them evil. A character being stressed out doesn’t mean they’re definitely gonna be a villain. A character doing the wrong thing doesn’t mean they’re going to be fine with torture later. And the thing is, RW/BY as a show does have all of their main characters or B-listers have flaws, they just also refuse to acknowledge some of the flaws or refuse to give consequences to some characters and let them grow. So there’s this really weird idea in the fn/dm sometimes that seeing Ironwood do something wrong or display a flaw is ‘proof’ that his villainy was always just under the surface and therefore anyone who says it doesn’t make sense for him to try to murder children is just a stupid lying fake, when in reality, every single somewhat important RW/BY character from Ruby Rose herself to Professor Ooblek makes mistakes or has flaws. Take Weiss, for example. Weiss was a spoiled brat who was actively anti-Faunus, wanted to call the police on Blake, never apologized, accidentally attacked some lady at a party, fell into the Salem fight more or less on accident, has drawn her weapon on an ally for the crime of stepping forward and saying hey, put her own needs above the world-saving mission in the ‘steal a plane to get over the Atlas boarder’ plot, stuck her weapon in the face of an auraless teenage civilian for not immediately springing to the side without being asked upon seeing her in his doorway while she was a badge carrying law enforcement officer, and her entire motivation has been wanting the name of her billionaire family with a sketchy at best history to be reclaimed from the ‘bad apple’ non-blood-relation by her and she treated losing her status as a billionaire heiress like a massive blow to her morality and exchanges funny quips with her one faunus friend about how her family owns so much. And she was also, you know, involved in sitting around in a tearoom while people died around her, and trapping everyone in Atlas in Salem’s direct line of fire and putting Mantle and the world at risk at the same time. And she could easily be seen as the actual ‘Evil Queen’ of her own Snow White story with enough work, with her song Path to Isolation being about being a bitter and angry hard cold person who creates her own isolation after her losses and also the fact that she’s got White Witch from Narnia vibes on top of that. Weiss is a character with a lot of great potential to be a villain, all it would take is work and dedication and good writing and her fall to villainy could be super well done, heartbreaking, and convincing. And yet it would still be really out of character and freaking weird and bad writing if she started trying to kill Jaune next season and then randomly tried to destroy Vacuo, and said Ruby was an enemy she wished she’d tortured, and started maniacally laughing and shooting down Whitley when he tried to be like ‘what the fuck, Weiss.’ Like, I’d be right here on Tumblr talking about how horrible and badly done it was. Ironwood having flaws and making mistakes isn’t proof of evil, it doesn’t make what became of him automatically good.

Like guys, please stop saying this dumb thing.

[hsladies]

enjoy these two very rough sketches from a spitballing au where rose pulls a reverse little mermaid (a fic which i will never actually write, despite it being such a good fucking idea)

'verse details under the cut bc it gets long and super dark, lol

cw: addiction, alcoholism

you are rose lalonde, famed and formerly fabulously wealthy author of scintillating tales of the eldritch horrors lurking just beneath the sea along the quiet, sleepy northern new england coast. your life has, pardon your french, gone completely to shit lately, though. your long-time lover, wildly successful gumshoe detective novelist and baking empire heiress, jane crocker, has recently broken up with you and cut all ties. she won't even answer your phone calls anymore, for chrissakes.

this is following your public and very messy meltdown, where you checked yourself out of rehab six weeks early for a two-month program, immediately got so wasted you scarcely recall the night at all aside from nauseatingly embarrassing flashes, and drunkenly screamed at a liquor store employee for refusing you service (due to you being so incredibly sloshed at the time) until the police had to be called. you spent the night in jail to sleep off whatever you had been drinking (absinthe, gin and absinthe- never again), and you had hoped that would be the end of that, but you have never been quite so lucky as all that. this embarrassing altercation and your subsequent arrest was filmed by another patron, and went viral- letting the entire world in on your hitherto- well-concealed, not-as-moderate-as-you-would-have-liked-to-believe drinking problem.

lately, you have been having nightmares about the sea, about the lonely and desolate stretch of beach off the coast of the dreary little fishing town you grew up in. you haven't thought about it in years, but now it haunts you every night, stormy water and cold sand and voices calling from beneath the churning waves.

in a fit of rage and despair and bad decision-making, you've booked a flight back to your home town, returned to the slowly decaying shell of the vast and stately manor you once shared with your mother- the house that was never truly a home, that you haven't visited since your mother died (fell down the stairs and cracked her head open all over the marble floor trying to reach the old landline to call for help for her particularly wretched case of alcohol poisoning, but she was already dying from cirrhosis of the liver after years and years of drinking, so you just tell people she had a nasty fall, and you aren't even lying, really, are you?)

you told yourself, promised yourself you would never come back here, that you were done with this place and the family plot where your mother now rests, and yet here you are, pushing open the creaking, groaning front door.

the nightmares are worse, here. you hear the voices in the daytime, now, too- while you're wide awake and you're losing track of the days, now, when did you last sleep? you haven't been drinking, you haven't you're sure of it, you only brought a few bottles with you and you threw out everything that had been in the house after your mother's funeral had ended- you took the bottles out, and you smashed them on the front drive, and you screamed and cried and vomited and jane had to take you back inside, didn't she? jane, poor jane, who saw all of your sickest moments, all the worst of you, and who had loved you anyway until you at last succeeded in pushing her away.

and it isn't just nightmares, or voices, or losing time- you've begun sleepwalking, something you never did before, and you wake up on the beach behind the manor every night, not remembering ever falling asleep, with the water up to your waist

anyway, rose is being called into the water by some Great Old One type shit and it does a real number on her sanity and it ends with her just going bugfuck and willingly, desperately trying to swim out to sea to get to the voices promising whatever it is that creepy sea whispers promise and vanishing in the ocean to become an urban legend while jane stands on the shore and screams frantically for her to stop, come back, rose please, rose this isn't like you, rose come back

there are no happy endings, but rose becomes an octopus sea witch serving old gods which i guess is okay for her

[eriexplosion]

My reward for getting my new apartment keys is finally getting to watch Ahsoka and I'm still just. So utterly delighted by Ezra's entire presence.

Saying "SHE DID? WHY?" to Sabine revealing that Ahsoka was training her absolutely fucking sent me into orbit. I love him so much.

THREEPIO SHOWING UP <3 He was a breath of fresh air after how mad THESE PEOPLE MAKE ME. Truly the New Republic is dedicated to doing the Least at every given opportunity.

Seriously never will they stand accused of doing anything remotely helpful.

I love Anakin's training holograms, and of course he left them behind Just In Case. I'm sure that he saw how hard Obi-Wan struggled immediately after losing Qui-Gon, I am convinced that the thought of doing the same to Ahsoka one day Haunted him. Of course, the circumstances he could never have predicted, but...

Every time I see the Noti I squeal they're so fucking cute look at those little GUYS.

Okay Baylan leaving Shin behind got me Emotional. He sounds so wistful telling her to take her place in the coming Empire. Proud of her but also sad. Whatever he's planning will probably render this galaxy obsolete either destroying her with everyone else or making it so she never existed depending on what path this takes, but he does care about her.

Makes me wonder how this plays into the overall themes - he cares about her, but is able to detach from that for what he thinks is the greater good. I wonder if he ever did think about letting go of this plan that seems to be years in the making, considered letting himself find actual fulfillment in being a master and teaching his padawan, only to make himself pull away from it for the good of the overall plan. Versus Sabine going after Ezra no matter what, because saving your loved ones over everything has been baked into Star Wars ever since Luke fucked off to save Han and Leia purely because he cared about them.

This is swimming in something approaching coherency but hasn't quite gotten there yet. I'm just emotional about the wars in the stars again and absolutely fucked up about how much I like Baylan as a character.

I love Sabine's reaction to Shin being just. *SIGHS* THIS LADY AGAIN. I want them to try and stab each other again and then Kiss.

No need to land! Oh not this again... YES THIS AGAIN. Ahsoka really is her master's apprentice.

GOD THE LITTLE FIGHT BETWEEN EZRA AND SABINE OVER WHO TAKES THE LIGHTSABER IS SO FUNNY. He's right though. He very much did not need it. I guess when you have nothing to do for a decade but train in weaponless fighting you Git Gud real fast.

I loveeee the effect on the lightsaber when he blocks it just with the force.

Ahsoka really swooped in like YOU ARE LIKE LITTLE BABY WATCH THIS and kicked Shin's scrawny ass huh

Ten seconds later she's offering to help her like trying to rescue a hissy kitten she found in the garbage. I love Ahsoka <3

GODDD THE WAY SHE HAS OPENED UP THOUGH. MY GIRLLLLLL.

Ezra holding the little Noti's hand's got me squealy I cannot fucking take these little crab babies.

HEY BAYLAN YOU HAVE ONE EPISODE LEFT I HOPE YOU PLAN TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF AT SOME POINT DURING IT.

[vaugarde]

shoop be doo hcs under the cut ^^

-he’s an alicorn now... i like to think he became a dark alicorn with dark magic by draining the energy of earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns (in my hc alicorns get their magic from the power of all 3 subspecies) i imagine he hides it with his cloak at first and then when the mane six think they’ve beat him he reveals his wings and they’re like FUCK????

-he also has a shadow mane in the same style as celestia’s wavy mane

-so im very loosely going off the comics canon but not really, he’s not an umbrum, he was born as a unicorn. he was abandoned and put in an orphanage. his only friend was radiant hope from the comics and the two of them were romantically involved.

-sombra used to be extremely kind and caring. radiant hope was often mocked for her autism but he would stand up for her. he agonized over his abandonment and swore to be there for anybody in need. he tended to be stubborn and brash, but he had a massive heart and was very emotional. he aspired to become an alicorn from a young age.

-sombra had an interest in all kinds of magic since he was a foal. when he and radiant hope showed a lot of promise, they both applied to study under princess amore and passed. (they kinda parallel sunset and twilight in this verse perhaps?) 

-sombra ended up getting far more ambitious with his studies and would travel around the kingdom... until he found the dark crystal from the comics. it’s not related to the umbrum, but it held powerful dark magic. he dabbled in it, but soon he became entrenched in the art of dark magic and it slowly began to corrupt him.

-radiant hope could feel him slipping away. he still loved her, more than anything he loved her- but he grew more maniacal by the day. he began to lose himself and view the ponies around him as pawns. he became obsessed with control. he thought princess amore was holding herself back with her base magic, and therefore holding the kingdom back.

-she tried to stop him. she did everything she could, she tried to counter it with her own magic, she tried destroying his documents behind his back. nothing worked. she grew desperate and alerted princess amore

-amore sought him out, a fight breaks out, just like the comic shes turned to stone and broken into pieces, sombra claims the crystal heart and becomes the emperor. 

-radiant hope, desperate to save her husband, engaged in a duel with him. unfortunately, his dark power overwhelmed her. sombra asked her to join him- he didn’t truly want to fight her, he wanted to rule alongside her as empress. radiant hope felt tempted- she loved him that much- but she couldn’t. she wouldn’t. she fled and got the attention of princess celestia and luna.

-sombra got to work. he enslaved the empire and poured dark magic through the crystal heart. he extracted the 3 species’s magic with his own and absorbed them to become an alicorn. basically everything he did in the show he did here

-he created a failsafe spell that would make the entire empire disappear for a thousand years if he was defeated

-radiant hope tried to evacuate the kingdom as much as she could and was outside of the kingdom when it vanished. one of the ponies was princess amore’s son.

-radiant hope tried to bring back the kingdom on her own. she traveled far and wide trying to bring back her loved ones and save her husband, she still believed he could be saved. with each failed attempt, she became more frantic and daring. soon, she went off the deep end and became corrupted by her own magic. she disappeared from equestria, her corruption and fate unknown by the general public

-idk if u can tell but i want an ice king and betty type dynamic w radiantsombra hehe. they’re both corrupted and yearn for each other.

-idk abt him post season 3 but i want radiant hope to come back and shes like doing something insane and desperate to save him. im not sure what she does tho lol but i dont really wanna do what happened in s9 idk

[negative-speedforce]

I posted 265 times in 2022

That's 246 more posts than 2021!

72 posts created (27%)

193 posts reblogged (73%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@echo-arctrooper

@ele-millennial-weirdo

@danger-xylophones

@reythemandalor

@memories

I tagged 151 of my posts in 2022

Only 43% of my posts had no tags

#thrawn - 60 posts

#thrawn ascendancy - 49 posts

#star wars - 33 posts

#chiss - 31 posts

#ar'alani - 31 posts

#chiss ascendancy - 28 posts

#wutroow - 25 posts

#samakro - 21 posts

#wutrolani - 18 posts

#eli vanto - 12 posts

Longest Tag: 116 characters

#status: screaming and crying and making my roommate very concerned for my well being over a semi-evil fictional lady

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Rating Thrawn Characters by How Often They Say 'Fuck':

Thrawn: 1/10. The only F-Bomb he ever dropped was when he got exiled.

Ar'alani: 0/10. Uses minor swears frequently, but never says fuck.

Wutroow: 8/10. Has a mouth like a sailor.

Lakinda: 100000000/10. If there was some kind of Spotify Wrapped thing where you could see the word you said the most, 'fuck' would be in her top 5.

Samakro: 5/10. Rarely uses the f-bomb, but when he does, he means it.

Eli Vanto: 2/10. He probably swears a lot in his head, but rarely ever out loud.

Pryce: 10/10. Says 'fuck' with a proper British accent.

Faro: 6/10. On duty? No. Off duty? Absolutely yes.

Ronan: -500/10. Probably believes it's illegal to swear on TV.

49 notes - Posted December 5, 2022

#4

I really, really hate Christmas. Call me a Grinch, call me a Scrooge, I don’t care. I don’t want to celebrate it, I don’t want my family to drag me to church, I don’t want Mariah Carey screaming in my ears every five seconds, and I don’t want to have to waste hundreds of dollars buying crap that my family will end up thanking my mom for anyway. 

Give me back my spooky scary Halloween skeletons any day.

56 notes - Posted November 9, 2022

#3

Rating Thrawn Characters by how much they would like Taylor Swift:

Thrawn: 5/10. He doesn’t get the hype. Eli Vanto: 10/10. Loves Taylor, loves her music, loves her personality. Ezra Bridger: 100000000/10. Annoys Thrawn to death while the Purgil are pulling them through space with terrible Taylor karaoke. Karyn Faro: 100/10. She would be the one to spend the Empire’s entire budget on Taylor Tickets. Vader: 0/10. He’s too grumpy to be a Swiftie. Ronan: -100/10. He hates Taylor Swift, and will be very vocal about that opinion. Palpatine: 3/10. He despises Taylor Swift, but he does like her “villain songs”. Ar’alani: 6/10. Thinks Taylor’s overrated, but she vibes.  Samakro: Sober? 1/10. Drunk? 9/10. Thurfian: -5/10. Hates Taylor Swift, but doesn’t say anything because he doesn’t want to lose any of his political allies that are Swiftie fangirls. Zistalmu: 1/10. Despises everything except “Ready For It..?” Wutroow: 10/10. Her and Karyn would totally dance to “Style” and “Shake It Off” together. Thrass: 7/10. He enjoys Taylor’s music, but he’s not a full-on Swiftie. Ziinda: 4/10. She doesn’t really like Taylor, but understands the appeal. Thalias: 6/10. Liked her at first, but Che’ri blasted Midnights too much when it came out and now she gets annoyed because she’s sick of it. Che’ri:  ∞/10. The only one who likes Taylor more than Ezra.

75 notes - Posted November 20, 2022

#2

Y'all have it all wrong, Thrawn's not gay. He just likes to say men's bodies are like pieces of art. It's purely platonic. Especially when he says it about me.

Eli Vanto

82 notes - Posted November 16, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

The one thing I have to say about the Thrawn fandom is that it's definitely the healthiest fandom I've ever been in. There's a few trolls, but it's nothing like the others I've been involved with.

There's also a remotely low amount of shipping wars. Like you ship Thrawn with Ar'alani? Cool! You're a Thranto freak? Awesome, me too! You ship Ar'alani with Wutroow? Pass the link!

99 notes - Posted February 7, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[deathdxnces]

7. what is one of your muse’s greatest fears?

» — IF YOU SEND ME STUFF I PROMISE I'LL ANSWER. ONE DAY.

— @nameaprice

noxus establishing a real foothold in ionia, i think, even if they don't manage to occupy it entirely. yes, there is fae'lor, but they didn't really take it as they have, say, northern shurima (in part also because syndra fucked up the fortress and all that but still). it's pretty obvious and basic, but irelia has made ionia her life's purpose, it's what she fights for, what she'll die for, and given her feelings especially where noxus is concerned, the idea of having to see the empire succeed at any level would be a nightmare to her honestly.

i don't think irelia fears much, for better or worse. other than that, she is deeply terribly afraid of losing anyone she loves, which in turn would make her prone to go to extreme lengths to keep them safe, i think. i could say she's afraid of becoming like the people she hates, but honestly she doesn't fear that; i said it a thousand times before but the noxians aren't people to her, they aren't even worthy of the respect she'd give other living beings in general, so really the idea she'd be anything like them would be laughable to her.

[icharchivist]

@nightmarenoise submitted:

By the way I finished the story mode and realized that there's two more unique tutors! Seox's skills are taught by Seofon and Vira's, funnily enough, by Luminiera.

The story after beating Avatar Belial and him fucking off basically is Gran and Djeeta co-captaining the ship and crew and then Eustace shows up and tries to kill them to save the Skies, but is beaten and his memories of them are restored, so he stops.

The Eternals have a meeting about that, but only Seofon, Seoux and Anre show up. Seoux has a run-in with a doppelganger of himself who tells him that the only way to save the Skies is to kill the Singularities. He also says he's the Seoux of this merged dimension. Seoux refuses to raise a hand against his friends and kills his doppelganger, then feels weird about having essentially killed himself.

Vira's story starts at the beginning of the story, with Katalina and her having spent a few days together before the causality fuckery by Bubs and Belial caused Katalina to lose her memories and she dips to join the resurrected Erste Empire and capture Lyria. Vira tries to follow her, but stops to save the people of Albion who are under attack from monsters.

But then, after hearing about these malevolent doppelgangers existing, she starts questioning her choice to save a stranger over her beloved and decides that she must be an evil doppelganger, doomed to betray everyone, so she seeks out Katalina and requests she kill her. When Katalina loses their fight Vira tries to kill herself, but Katalina tells her that she's not only the real Vira, but very selfless and mature for caring so much about other people, and to not kill herself, please.

Vira accepts this and invites the entire crew to stay with her at Albion, as her personal guests, to relax after everything they've been through. That's where it ends.

So we're all up to speed on the story. If Rising picks up right here, we're probably starting in Albion (again) and our enemies throughout the story mode might be those doppelgangers who want to kill us, until we've fought our way to kick Lucilius' ass, hopefully.

I hope this helps at all

There is no tutorial for Avatar Belial btw, which is a bit disheartening, I would've liked to see that, even if his moveset is basically Belial on steroids, but Rising might rectify that and give me a proper one anyway

a little too much info at once so i don't really know how to process everything by giving it justice, but thank you for the summary!

lots of suicide attempt in this one :sob:

would make sense then that yeah we pick up from Albion and see where we're going onward once Lucilius shows up!

The tutorial stuf are also pretty cool, too bad for avatar Belial though! maybe rising will fix that

but that's very cool thank you for sharing!!