#sophia rambles

[sophia-and-emmie]

Percy is 7 years older than Sophie. Nico was 9 when Percy was 14. This means that Nico is older than Sophie by 2 years. [NO we’re not going to say ‘bUt he wAs ALReADy OldEr BEcAuSe oF LOTus cASinO’] Fitz and Nico are the same age...

[tabithachrysanthemumscarlet]

unrelated side note but im working on a video essay on sara teasdale, super excited to share it one day :)

[valar-did-me-wrong]

I keep seeing this sentiment among people that"the showrunners are giving into /going to give into Tolkien dude bros" and before too many fans actually start believing all this I jusy want to remind everyone somethings about..

The Hate Storm of 2022 🌪️

And how back then this show stood up with Ismael, Sophia, Cynthia, Morfydd, Sara, Lenny Meghan & Markella when the online hate was 1000000000000x worse than what you see rn.

If you weren't tuned into ROP back then, I assure you whatever vitriol you see about the show rn on twitter or ragetube is nothing compared to what was happening in 2022.

On sites like Instagram, not only bots & racists but even normal regular people used to directly bully you and pile on if you left even a single positive emoji in the show's comments.

Even many left leaning Tolkien blogs here were parroting lore points (originating on racist youtube channels) that were based solely on PJ movies, praising WB like it was a non-profit fighting against world hunger & warning to block ROP blogs on sight for watching a show made by Christian men

(PROF. TOLKIEN WAS A HINDU MONK WHO SOLELY WORE SAFFRON DHOTI I GUESS RIGHT?!?)

It was so much that back then the official trop Instagram account DELETED all their promotional photos, cast intros, teasers, trailers EVERYTHING to post a statment that condemned all the racist & horribly misogynistic vitriol thrown at the POC & female cast of the show.

They did all this when the hate campaigners were publically encouraging masses to review bomb ROP across internet to the point that IMDb had to suspend posting user ratings of the show without reviewing them first.

And the global public sentiment was basically hacked by loud incessant misinformation, lies and rage bait that made it trendy & even progressive to bash on the show.

Now despite all this the showrunners stood by their creative choices & actors back then just how they are doing it rn imo..

Remember when the Haters™ complained about Arondir being "too good of a warrior to be true"?? The show did not let that change their decision of showing Arondir as an exceptionally skilled warrior. Even in S2 when his storyline got disturbed by Nazanin leaving, they made sure to give him as many action sequences as possible, made him fight beside and more than High King Gil Galad of the Noldor & Elrond freaking Peredhel in the Siege.. even highlighted all this in BTS videos.

And when the the internet pushed that Galadriel should not be fighting on the frontline but rather float in forests?? They reminded the lore bros of Nerwen with her hairstyle exactly how Tolkien wrote and still made her fight orcs, rescue survivors, negotiate sucessful peace treaties, duel with Sauron & kick his ass in an ultimate finale showdown.

And orc family hate?? Despite all the loud nonsense around it they highlighted it with dedicated posts & Tolkien quotes instead of hiding it away.

And finally, despite consistent continuous complaints against the Harfoot storyline, they did not shrink it or write it out.. because in their vision of Tolkien the little guys & their stories are important so they stay, even going into S3.

I'm not saying there aren't any problems with their depiction of POC characters or writing or pacing. There DEFINITELY are, I mean look at who all died among Elrond's company... The problems especially with minor POC characters are there & VERY visible in S2. (which I hope they fix in future seasons)

But imo these things aren't because the show wants to please racist ragetubers or try to win over a group of Tolkien fanatics who will never become show fans anyway. You, me, my dog, the Haters™ and even Mcpayne know this.. it's common sense atp.

All to say this show was literally forged in the fires of Internet hate storms, I don't think the pathetic flicker of the remaining Haters matters to the showrunners anymore.

(Also the ratings people keep using to scare the fans are US ONLY ratings & data, there's a whole world out here beyond US & the show remained in the Prime top shows across many countries for weeks & weeks after the S2 finale.. and the constant stream of new viewers that are starting the show for the first time just on this website should be proof enough that the show is doing fine) Don't let the show haters' talking points get to you!

Season 3 is, for all intents & purposes, already green lit and ROP is going to complete the story it started out to tell.. don't worry needlessly :)

edited Tolkien lore bros to Tolkien dude bros (I'm not saying all masc fans of Tolkien are racist sexists I promise, it's just a term we use here 😭) after someone from outside of ROP pointed they have a problem.. clarifying things here also, if you love Tolkien & dislike ROP for reasons other than female lead/POC characters/not a copy of PJ = bad etc etc, I've no problem with your personal opinions & this post is not about you :)

[zolo-san]

So I started thinking about Skypiea/Post-Skypiea Zosan last night...

and thinking about how there's no way that Sanji had an easy recovery with the full body burns he ended up with and I could see Zoro going out of his way to help Sanji out because Zoro has been there He's been seriously hurt and had to take care of himself and while Sanji has chopper, I think that Sanji would be similar to Zoro (If not worse because Sanji has a worse self image than Zoro) in that he would be afraid of worrying Chopper or being a burden and would try to do a lot on his own or act as if it wasn't that bad But Zoro would clock that shit immediately because he does it too And I think Zoro would also be able to tell when someone is moving differently because of pain or an injury But I think some of the things Zoro would do to help Sanji would be small like grabbing something for him so he doesn't have to move too much and hurt himself or making sure he doesn't spend too much time out in the sun and get dehydrated or over heated I think he'd try to get him to sit tf down more too which would be hard since Sanji is such a care taker and gets joy out of doing things for Nami and Robin (I think Robin would be more insistent that he doesn't do this during this time tho because she's suspicious that he's not totally healed/hiding the pain while Nami may not pick up on it right away, very much to Zoro's irritation) But I think he would also try to help Sanji in bigger, more meaningful ways too, like going out of his way to ask Chopper to each him how to change Sanji's bandages because he knows Sanji hasn't been going to Chopper when he needs too and he knows how hard it is to do something like change your own bandages, especially when in pain, because he's done it himself in the past and I think he'd know that it's something really vulnerable, so he'd be very gentle about it and not push too hard, but still insist that Sanji let him help And I think Sanji would be seriously blown away by how caring and gentle Zoro is being towards him He'd notice all the things he's doing and be really touched It's not like Zoro wasn't helpful on occasion in the past or never showed any care for when Sanji was hurt before, but I think that this being one of the first time Sanji got seriously injured and the fact that it happened because Sanji was trying to protect others would make a big difference to Zoro I think Zoro would know that Sanji really needed the help and would want to show how much Sanji and his actions meant to him

In my own little Zosan timeline, Skypiea is when Sanji sort of has to come to terms with/admit to himself that he has feelings for Zoro, but I think that he would assume that there was no way Zoro would feel the same way about him because how could he? but I think something like this would be a sort of "Oh...." moment where Sanji realizes that Zoro really cares about him but I also think it would make him really confused and conflicted (in my timeline at this point Zoro almost completely assumes that Sanji is straight and has come to a point of fully accepting that he and Sanji will never be together and he's okay with that, as long as Sanji is happy and he's still allowed to be a part of his life) Anyways.... just some Skypiea stuff I kept thinking about last night~ It'll probably make it into a fic one of these days if the universe would just give me some time to write o(-< I have a full scene in my head and I want to write it very badly, but the whole fic isn't fully cooked yet~

Also thanks to this post for getting my brain thinking about Skypiea Zosan and leading me here lol

[evilfaggotyuri]

Hey Crozier buddy, can we uh… talk…?

[kirnet]

ok. ok

[iveneverbeenmorestressedinmylife]

Live Franklin reaction.

[ihaveforgortoomany]

The Isle of the Dead painting by Böcklin in R1999

(Ignore the watermarks I cant get rid of them)

Back with another "Reverse 1999 really likes making obscure references to paintings" and this one features in the special EP for 1.9 'Reasons' performed by Dead Marbles.

(Fun fact: I am not an art history major lol, the Oath of Horatii painting was for a French Revolution essay, and a saw a YT short for the Seventh Plague from Hell painting)

(Credit to YT georgieegames for offhandedly mentioning the painting when reacting to the EP, also I recognise the painting from Signalis ... And Im realising the pipeline of doomed yuri again heh)

Heres the full shot from the EP. For this painting is harder to discern the intention of its inclusion since the original painter never gave a clear explanation to the painting. What we do know about the painting is its multiple versions, the one above is the 1880s one, other variations include a white and black photograph version with each version showing the walls growing as the figure in the boat gets closer.

(For the EP there are flowers present (maybe roses from the thorns but I cannot see them clearly)

The interpretation most go by is that the figure on the boat is Charon and that they are travelling towards death on the River Styx or River Acheron. The Manus or the Aperion followers that left the island with Sophia are depicted here (you can see the outfit under the cloak in certain closeup shots).

Honestly Arcana is an omen of death at this point, her presence ends in the death, torment and destruction of others.

Alright this part will be tricky to explain and again I am not an art major.

One of the few things Böcklin said about the painting was that it was reminicent of a dream. He was part of the Symbolist Movement that focused "on the use of abstract and metaphorical language and images to represent the absolute truth" (Hypercritic). Freud was also writing similar ideas at the same time. This idea of searching to depict the absolute truth in abstract ways could link to Sophia's search and vengeance in the phenomenal world, seeking a truth that 37 or Aperion could not give her.

The composition does create a feeling of confusion and lack of direction, while the Manus are all heading towards Arcana and Sophia, only Arcana is left assured in heading towards the dark abyss behind her. The whole EP is Sophia's resolve and aftermath of learning the futilty of the teachings she tried to follow: now as part of the Manus having to seek a new path that she may be necessarily be sure of but must follow through regardless.

This is the general idea I got from the painting, its fun to do these (the only one I havent been able to do is the painting in the scene between Constantine and Druvis in Book 3/4 since the painting is too faded and AI has fucked up google search)

[deyaluv]

spoilers for loch henry from the new season of black mirror ...

im seeing a lot of ppl saying pia's death was simply a callback to the earlier pub discussion where they were talking about how the countryside was dangerous and whatnot... i mean, yeah, but also... this person who was obsessed with exploiting people's horrific deaths for monetary gain, who even sexualized a literal murderer - she ends up dying in one of the most unremarkable, stupid ways anyone could die! tripping and hitting her head on a rock! something she was warned about earlier!

the whole episode was making fun of these true crime fans and content creators who exploit and sexualize victims and murderers, so i think pia's death has a lot more to do with those people's real lives than what you see on the surface. these ppl glom on to stuff thats interesting, lucrative, or even disgusting - but in real life they live unremarkable lives and will likely have unremarkable deaths.

[vertin-is-the-frog-guys]

why am i the only one serving cunt here

[sophia-and-emmie]

"Trust the process"

The process betrayed my trust.

"A good looking piece of art, process, you promised"

[lynsstrange]

Unpopular opinion probably, but Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus is one of my favorite tracks from the whole album. It’s like the 1 but in the trenches. Like still being in the midst of heartbreak while wondering what could have been and having these revelations about someone who claimed to love you so deeply. Not wistful retrospect like in the 1, just a desperation for closure.

[killrbeetle]

The penguin finale spoilers!!

I HATE YOU PENGUIN 3000 YOU KILLED MY GOAT VICTOR I LOVE YOU MY LATINO KING YOU DID NOT DESERVE TO DIEEEE

also CATWOMAN AND SOPHIA MEET UP WHEN MY GOATS!!! AHHHHH I was wondering the whole time if they’re going to address the fact they are half-sisters!! AHHHHHHHH

[zolo-san]

I read all your tags and I’d like to suggest that in bed Zoro and Sanji also sleep this way. Sanji’s side of the bed being the left and Zoro’s the right because they trust each other to cover their blind spots.

I could write a fic about this ong

Okay, okay yes!!!! I agree!!!! But also might I add a bit from my hc that I discussed in this post I made about the Straw Hats' sleeping arrangements where I mentioned that I think that Zoro would choose the one of the beds closest to the door partly because he's inherently a protector (there are studies that show that people who choose to sleep closets to the door/facing the door do so because they want to protect/defend while those who sleep furthest from the door tend to want to be protected and hide or run) But from the way I hc their sleeping arrangements and how that would change/be affected by relationships, I had Zoro opting to sleep in Sanji's bunk and while I never said it, I always imagined Sanji sleeping to the left of Zoro, partly because Zoro would insist on sleeping closest to the door and party because I think that (whether Sanji realizes it or not) Sanji doesn't like to feel vulnerable when sleeping so he would sleep better with Zoro on his right and closer to the door And I think that they are not really aware that they do this and that they're not consciously protecting each other, they just do it inherently I also think that Zoro sleeps a little better too, knowing that he can trust Sanji to protect him on his more vulnerable side But I also think a contributing factor to Zoro preferring Sanji to be on his left would have to do a bit with Zoro always wanting to know when Sanji is awake/gotten out of bed They originally would have swapped bunks because Zoro hated being woken up by Sanji in the morning, but I think that even after they swapped Zoro was still woken up anyways (I have a whole other hc about how and why I think that Zoro is actually a really light sleeper) because he'd sense any movement in the room and automatically wake up a little bit, but this doesn't really bother him because he likes to know where everyone is, for safety reasons (and let's face it, he can instantly fall asleep after lol) Once him and Sanji start sleeping in the same bed I think that they'd be further along in their relationship (I'm currently working on a timeline for when and how I think their relationship would develop) and Zoro might have a bit more anxiety around Sanji's safety because even though he knows that Sanji can easily handle himself, I think that Sanji's self-sacrificial tendencies would honestly really affect Zoro if he admitted it or not But yeah...I'm very normal about this hc so normal about the intrinsic trust these two have in each other and how easily and naturally they are combat partners without ever discussing anything, they just know~ I'm incredibly normal about how quick they are to know when the other needs help and how they don't hesitate to help each other and trust that the other will always be there when they need them and when they need protection yup yup...very normal I too could write a whole fic on this concept~ Edit: to anyone wondering what post this is referring to, it's this one with my long ass tags on it

[baldandgay]

It's very unfair that I can't have other party members romance each other In my main game where my Tav is in a romance with Karlach I should legally be allowed to have Gale and Astarion and Shadowheart and Lae'zel romance each other like why? let me do it damn it