#the exiled is great btw everyone read it

[barrenclan]

Not sure if you know about The Exlied by Katterpies, but I want to hear your opinion on 3 Mama's boys: (WARNING: long)

Rainhaze, Rockfall, and Fallenscar

You already know about Rain, he's,,,, like yours,,,, BUT I can't help but feel like Rockfall and Fallenscar are different degrees of Rain? #mommyissues gang

(not)quick review of each lad

Rockfall: Half-clanned, protag's littermate (Fishwhisker) to an asshole of a mother (and a deadbeat dad) but despite that Rock still hangs out with her? He's never verbally against or for her actions and just cowards or looks away when she speaks. He does everything she says and lets himself be baby-ed by her, maybe out of fear (of her or his clanmates) or familiarity. Protag calls him out on his bullshit after he ask her to help "HIS MOM." Rock tries to say something but doesn't fight and just walks away. From his friendliness to his clanmates, Rock seems well-liked if not a bit of a baby. So....I guess if his plan was to be a pushover so people would like him, it worked. But his sister him and he still helps his mother, even after she disses her own daughter for not being a warrior. Rock is a good guy, but in the hopes to be liked, whether by his mother or clanmates, he becomes an cowardly asshole.

Fallenscar: Fallen is a different kind mama's boy. Fallen's relationship reminds me of Dustfeather to Rainhaze. I don't think Fallenscar's mother (Crowstar) was a bad mother, Fallen seems like a good guy. Crow is a war criminal and a bloodthirsty killer, while she says she doesn't like killing children, she'll 100% kill everyone else. Despite the murder, Crow made sure he'd be taught to the clan's most pacifist and well-respected cat (Cloverfall), Fallen grew up to be a kind and caring cat, if not a bit spinless. He had Crow who loves him so much she made him deputy (maybe because it's hard to kill people in power), Whisperleaf his paternal uncle who loved him despite his hate for Crow, and Cloverfall, a sister figure and his former mentor. Crow could have easily pushed Clover and Whisper away and kept Fallen for himself, but she let him (maybe made him), be ANYTHING but her. This brings us to the big reveal, that Fallen knows TO SOME EXTENT what Crow has done. It's probably skewed but instead of being against the killing of others, Fallen blames Crow's former leader, Autumstar, for all the trouble with the other clans (there was a long-ass war btw). This ignores the fact that Crow is heavily disliked for killing old clanmates for trying to stop her from more killing, possibly continued the war after Autumstar's death, albeit briefly, Crowstar killing the leader of the other clan with no remorse, and later manmining Rockfall's mother. Like dude. Fallen was alive for 3 of these events and still loves his mother. I don't think he's stupid enough to say 'mommy did nothing wrong' but it's crazy and INESTERING AS HELL I LOVE IT IT'S SO FROSTPAW AND CURLFEATHER.

In conclusion,,, I just wanted to talk to you about this 'Mama's boy' trend and tell you I LOVE complex grey people giving birth to nice kids only for them to become complex grey people because they love their parent. I love Rainhaze and he's just as grey as Fallen and Rock FOR COMPLETELY DIFFERENT REASONS. bro i love both PATFW and TE I'm so mad for them thank you for making it I'm just so hyped

@the-exiled-comic GET OVER HERE KATTI THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT YOUR GUYS!!

I love these in-depth analyses on Rockfall and Fallenscar. :D Well written! Sandywing and Dustfeather definitely share a lot of parallels, and I can see Rockfall and Rainhaze interactions proceeding very simiarly to each other. It's a fun type of character to write!

[edennill]

1st age Beleriand dashboard Simulator

🌫️ mithrim-noldo following

Yeah, Thingol kind of flew off the handle with banning Quenya and all that, but why on Arda are people now justifying the Kinslaying in response?? have some nuance and also, that's just plain horrible.

✨ btw-this-is-hopeless following

hope it's fine to copy your tags, mithrim, because they're great:

#I mean I know this is probably because they've taken part in the kinslaying themselves #but #can't you just admit you did wrong and move on? #in so far as it is possible because of course forgetting would be disrespectful and unwise #because the consequences are with us still #but it should be way more comfortable than being on your defences all the time #always ready to rationalize or deny #with a conscience you cannot silence

✴️ eightpointedstar83

I am tired of typing this out again and again but Alqualondë could have been averted had the teleri been less self-centred and readier to cooperate. Thingol is just another example of this attitude. But of course, please deny that the third clan is what it is and pin the blame on the people who saved everyone's skins.

We have done nothing wrong and yet our own people are turning on us. One day you will rue this.

Long live the house of Fëanor!

💝 heart-in-a-box

This is just the sort of behaviour OP was talking about.🤦‍♀️

🌫️ mithrim-noldo following

Admittedly, this seems to be a fanatical Fëanorian and more committed than the average apologist of his/her own actions - but yes.

#current events #thingol's quenya ban #my post

11,062 notes

🧝🏼‍♂️maglorfeanorion following

finished another canto of the noldolante today

🌖 hunters-moon

you have a tumblr account??!

🧝🏼‍♂️ maglorfeanorion following

do I know you?

🌖 hunters-moon

yes :)

🧝🏼‍♂️ maglorfeanorion following

wait - yeah, I do...

which of the twins are you?

🌖 hunters-moon

how did you know😮???

👨🏻‍🦰red-haired-twin

he looked through your blog, nitwit :)

🧝🏼‍♂️maglorfeanorion following

I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find you two out of all possible people on here...

so - which is which?

36 notes

🌸 a-flower-in-the-snow following

himring winters are horrible and I hate my parents for bringing me to middle-earth

#rant #children of exilse #i meant #children of exiles #coe

4 notes

🏞️ the-wide-earth-unexplored following

Y'all weren't joking when y'all said the Sirion is impressive...

(more photos under cut)

read more

#photography #nature photography #nature #sirion #falls of sirion

213 notes

🖼️ wonder-the-earth

is it still a secret city when everyone is talking about it?

👰🏼‍♀️ celebrin following

that's a good question

21 notes

👤 incessant-leaves following

It makes me sick to see all those positive nostalgic posts about the Mereth Aderthad. How pretty the pools of Ivrin were or weren't doesn't change the fact that THE NOLDOR WERE HIDING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE KINSLAYING THE WHOLE TIME. Yeah "everyone was kind" back then. You were feasting together with people whose cousins you had killed and have the audacity to complain they don't like you as much anymore. I don't care if you're a Sinda or a Noldo who "didn't take part in it" - if you say anything positive about it I'm blocking you.

#mereth aderthad #the truth about ivrin

159, 307 notes

💎 lord-maedhros-is-the-true-king

Things they don't want you to know about Fëanaro:

read more

157 notes

🏹 huntingprincess following

with all due respect, gondolin is the most boring place in the world.

🌼 golden-flower

it's not. but you're entitled to your opinion.

🌌 daughterofdoriath following

if only all debates on here were as civil...

👤 incessant-leaves

OP is a kinslayer apologist. Didn't you check that out before you started praising them?

🌌 daughterofdoriath following

*throws hands up*

I was admiring that one exchange.

(and this was actually more about @golden-flower's response than about OP)

*sighs*

#this site...

2009 notes

image used for Sirion: link

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

It’s time for another Fic Rec List fellow humans!!!

And boy howdy do I have a LOT this time lmao. A good chunk of them are Kyle-centric, bc I, like my son Stan Marsh, have been fixated on that guy. Also there are multiple from the same authors bc I find something I like and read EVERYTHING by them.

There’s a range of pairings on this list too bc I’ll read pretty much anything (still mostly style they do be my favorite) so hopefully if u see ur favorite ship or an intriguing concept this’ll steer you to somethin u like!

Here ya go!

* (rem)ember by boxwinebaddie. Ok we all knew I was gonna start the list w this one bc I am OBSESSED!!! Style holy shit! Crimson Dawn! Mentally unstable law student Kyle! RAVEN!!! The friendships and group dynamics! Rm lives rent free in my head dude plsplspls check it out!

* Painted In Shrouds by courtanie. Y’all want some Kysterion? This is one of my favorites! And NOBODY does Kenny like this author seriously. We got espionage! We got organized crime! We got overworked cfo Kyle! We got working together to take down the bad guys! We got blood and injuries and falling in love!

* Swansong by OrcaTimes. Fair warning this made me ugly cry. No one writes Craig like OrcaTimes YALL the Cryle destroyed me and doctor Craig always slays!!! It’s a beautiful story about love and grief, just GORGEOUS!!!

* Collector by cement_shoes. WHOLESOME STYLE ONESHOT!!! Them over the years, taking care of each other, Kyle handling bugs for Stan when he’s scared of them, growing up together and the trials of being human, but with someone always on your side. This one is SO sweet and gorgeously written, and a quick read too.

* A Ballad Of True Hearts by luckypoppies. Dude we all know I’m feral about SOT Style and THIS RIGHT HERE EATS!!!!! The history, the betrayal, the FANTASY VIOLENCE AND THERES THIS FIGHT SO FAR THAT SLAYS SO HARD! Being falsely accused of treason and subsequently exiled, tasked with escorting your prince to safety, GOD you just FEEL for the boys in this (plus we got them taking care of each other like yes yes gimme that fantasy whump) the world building is AWESOME I love sot AU’s and how different authors come up w the lore!

* Behind The Wall by Jwink85. Alright this one STARTS OUT nice, and is such an accurate representation of manipulative abusive relationships. Damien man holy shit. There’s so much going on in this, and the STAN PLOT OMG (yes style I love them) Kyle and Stan reconciling, Ike is my DISTRUSTING KING, high school angst, Tweek and Kyle friendship, Kenny being an icon, and I’ve said before but I love when Kyle’s written as generally wanting to see the good in people but still fiery in his own right, this is (a lot of jwinks stuff really that’s why I like their works so much) a great example of that!

* Simply Expandable by Kivea. YO WHO ORDERED THE MOB AU!!! Dude we got private investigator Craig, rival gangs, supernatural elements and mystery, conspiracy, fucking MOB BOSS KYLE?!?!? Kyle’s a bamf in this holy shit and bodyguard Stan, (this is Cryle btw and it’s fantastic) former k2, twenny, underground fighting rings, some KICKASS gang fights and the true antagonists bro the reveal was SICK! And when I say it’s a The Gangs All Here fic, I mean EVERYONE it’s wild and such a fun read it had me on the edge of my seat!

* And The Lightning Cracks The Sky by PastorCraigEnjoyer. Yeah yeah it’s cringe to rec your own shit sue me. But like Druid prince Kyle, Smokejumper Stan, forest fires, little mermaid but in the northern rockies ass plot, OVERLY PERCEPTIVE KENNY, mutual pining, magic, my beloved injury recovery (I gotta fuck Stan up ok) (I’m the worst)(giving Kyle chronic pain who me never) falling in love and saving each other’s lives, EVIL Cartman, I LOVED WRITING THIS ONE SO FUCKING MUCH it’s truly my baby.

* A quiet place (where I can scream how I love you) by sleep2thefr33zing. Coming of age style!!! So much emotional tension dude the pining is so fucking good, the first chapter is Stan’s perspective and the second one is Kyle and it’s BEAUTIFULLY PAINFUL WHEN THEYRE BOTH DOWN BAD BUT THINK THE OTHER ISNT!!! I love them being there for each other through all the bullshit of growing up, how resonant their falling outs are, it’s just so incredibly gorgeous and you really feel their emotions along with them.

* Knives by SparrowGrim. Ok so kyman isn’t my cup of tea but I’m putting it on the list bc some people do like it and this is an OBJECTIVELY FANTASTIC STORY!!! Tbh I only clicked bc I saw that it was Kyle centric (and that injury tag what can I say I eat that shit up) but I was HOOKED! Dark urbania, gangs running the streets, THE CODE NAMES SLAY SO HARD, we also got creek bunny stendy dip, the character relations are all so cool and the plot is WILD! Also Butters Kenny Stan and Craig are so badass jesus. Not even a ship I like but I loved the story.

* Peering Through Windows by Jwink85. C’mon I gotta have another jwink on the list and this one is SO. FUCKING. GOOD. K2 has been one of my favorites lately and THIS!!! We got dark cryle (my beloved) but when I say dark I mean CRAIG IS SO DEPRAVED!!! Like dude. But the story is THRILLING and artist Kenny is so kickass, Stan is a dad I literally cried over that small detail lmfao and I love jwinks Kyles and their idealistic nature (also I’m a sucker for any artist character) this story broke my heart and mended it again it’s incredible.

* Hunger Pains by Bellweather. Ain’t nobody doin Stan like bellweather MY SWEET PRECIOUS BOY UGH!!! The style is so great omg. The main four dynamic in this is wonderful, them trying to help Kyle through his ED (damn I really do read a lot of shit where Kyle’s suffering huh) all the characters are so well fleshed out and IKE I LOVE IKE IN THIS! The chapters have individual content warnings which is a great touch. Craig having prophetic dreams! Kenny dying multiple times! Chaos! Teenage camaraderie! There’s plenty of humor to make up for the dark shit but it DOES get dark. The mystery element in the beginning is really cool too I definitely have read this one multiple times.

* Find Somebody by hypercatt. STYLE!!! Stan-centric and so so so good, I love a platonic stendy team up too. some of the senior class goes “missing” and WHEN I TELL YALL I WAS so nervous that I read it out of order to make sure everything turned out okay lmao seriously this one had me WRITHING! There’s a gorgeous analogy throughout of physical hurts as a metaphor for mental illness and healing that just SPOKE TO MY SOUL!!! And there are so many beautiful moments, especially near the end, and the message of opening up and not running from your problems is beautifully written. Another one that occupies my brain lmao.

* To Have And To Hold by courtanie. Yes this is another one where Craig is SERIOUSLY DEPRAVED but hear me out!!! The plot, like I would DIE to adapt this to the screen, you feel like you’re watching a dark kidnapping race against time when reading this. And THE K2 IN THIS HOLY FUCK!!! Another one of my favorite Kennys ever and it’s so frustrating for the reader and the characters because WE ALL KNOW WHO TOOK KYLE BUT THE COPS ARENT DOING SHIT! The ending is unbelievably satisfying and the rest of the gang teaming up is so awesome STAN AND KENNY GOING FERAL OVERPROTECTIVE I live for that. But god the shit Kyle is subjected to, but he doesn’t lose that fire (Kyle ily sry)

* When The World Shakes, Hold Me by Bellweather & Blinkxs. The world building in this is PHENOMENAL!!! Post apocalyptic stuff, survival, STYLE!!! Some serious dark themes tho this is a heartbreaking read like damn check the tags frfr but the writing is MAGNETIC!

* -South Park- Style Sickfic/ Injury Fic Requests by AlwaysInSTYLE. Alright alright we all know I love my style hurt comfort and this is a request book/ oneshot series that’s JUST Stan and Kyle taking care of each other and I LOVE IT. you’d think it would get old but it DOES NOT. they’re not repetitive at all, and really fun reads! If you check it out, tell her PCE sent you we’re homies.

* Rookie Mistakes by espyonz. I love me some stenny and BRUH STANSTERION!!! Long oneshot that had me hooked. We got gentle hearted detective Stan who truly wants to protect and serve and is out of place in a corrupt police department. KENNY AS MYSTERION we know I love that shit, and he’s so awesome in this!!! The team up of Kenny Stan and Wendy to find missing people and uncover the truth behind their disappearances is AMAZING. We got Wendy as the tech girl which is SO slay (plus she and Heidi are together asjdhdks) and Kenny is hilarious in this, like he’s such a little shit and I adore this adaptation of his superhero persona. This one dropped LAST NIGHT and I’m so glad I didn’t make a red list post until now bc THIS NEEDED TO BE ON IT!!!

* Seven Candles by courtanie. Yep another one I’m tellin u, one of the best Kenny writers out there. So uhh Kyle in a Very Bad Situation again, like some of it was really tough to read. BUT!!! We got a war between heaven and hell!!! KENNY AS A FUCKING ARCHANGEL ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? (I live for courtanie’s overprotective kenny holy shit) this is legitimately my favorite Kenny interpretation IVE EVER READ HES SO FUCKING AWESOME!!! Plus we got satan being Done with Damien’s shit lmao and Kyle making friends with a hellhound which is fun. THE FINAL BATTLE WAS SO COOL TOO I LOST MY MIND!

* Why Remind Me by Kasen. One of the best style oneshots BRUH it’s so good with such a wholesome ending and the FEELINGS CONFESSIONS!!! The boys playing superhero, then later we got high school style and an accident that leads to a reminder of a kiss and UGH ITS SO CUTE!! Just- just read this one I love it sm.

[cryingmeganekko]

Chihayafuru Hitomebore/ Love at First Sight symbolism

I know this is already a reddit post but I wanted to delve into it a little more so you might be familiar with what I'm going to say for Chihaya, but the rest have more symbolism than what the reddit post said. I'm going to credit it just in case I get anything wrong. This is a whole Taichi fest, the song lyrics, the symbolism, everything mwuah chef's kiss plus it made me a Taichihaya stan. Btw this is one of if not my favorite series

https://www.reddit.com/r/chihayafuru/comments/fnpn6q/chihayafuru_3_companion_guide_s3e23/

Wataya's Wisteria symbolize love, support ( his team ), Our expanding consciousness ( y'know after his grandpa died, his depression, and learning from Chihaya) , Tenderness, Bliss, Wisdom, Immortality, Nobility ( his grandpa being the past meijin ), and Sensitivity

Chihaya's Cosmos symbolize Purity, Harmony, Humility, Autumn cherry blossom, Chastity, Delicate aspects of love, Mother's love, Femininity, Deep romance, Maiden Japanese heart, Love, and Cleanliness

Taichi's higanbana/red spider lilies and butterfly are so great together let me tell you

Ok so basically the higanbana symbolizes Never to meet again with lovers ( him and Chihaya?, have not read the manga yet because I'm poor and I also need, high emphasis on *need* to learn Japanese ), Abandonment ( You know the deal with him Chihaya and Arata ), Hell ( I mean his whole not being able to see the cards thing and his pining for Chihaya ), Afterlife, Equinox which in itself symbolizes let go of your past, and Reincarnation ( moving on maybe, manga readers tell me I'm wrong, Taichihaya stans tell me so too, please yell at me in the comment section), and immortality

Then the swallowtail butterfly, Ageha 揚羽 omg you can't tell me I'm wrong about these butterflies. The f-ing autumn butterfly and Chihaya with the other autumn flower/tree I can't take it anymore. They symbolize Metamorphosis, Love ( Taichihaya ), Womanhood, Grace, Free nature, Departed spirits, Hope, Endurance ( his life ), Change ( maybe moving on again, but feel free to attack me ), Life, and It's Raised Wings have too much symbolism for being free ( but of what )

Ok then we have Yuki Suetsugu herself subtly saying that she loves Taichi but wants him to be free of something even if it's Chihaya. With both poems 43 and 46 which is Taichi's

46 means

Crossing the Bay of Yura

the boatman loses the rudder.

The boat is adrift,

not knowing where it goes.

Is the course of love like this?

Suou says this for card 43 S3E19 08:22 - Suou: "Senpai, that poem... is a poem about knowledge that can fill you with either light or darkness."

https://karice.wordpress.com/2016/02/29/p493/

Q: In the manga, in conjunction with the feelings and situations that the characters face, you turn the spotlight on poems that deal with a whole range of emotions, including (romantic) love. May I ask, which of the 100 poems is your favorite?

My favorite in terms of meaning is “When compared to / the feelings in my heart / after we'd met and loved, / I realize that in the past / I had no cares at all” (Poem 43, translation by Moscow). Having been ignorant, once you know of it, you feel like all the cells in your body have been reborn. I think that everyone will undergo that experience several times in their lives, but there are few poems that express this feeling in words.

Then we have the poems relevance in the endings

I know the significance of the the three main ones

Poem 17 Chihaya's is on top of both 11 Wataya's and 46 ( the topic of the day ) Taichi's

I'll quote the reddit person on the significance of them all being like that

"And finally, we can come back to the three poems that are in the front and center at the start of the ED. Here, we can see #17 is on top of #11 and #46. Topically, both #11 and #46 (our Poem of the Day) cards are about being exiled on boats:

Card #11 - My only thought as I am put out to sea is to ask the fishermen to tell the people in the capital that I make for the islands.

Card #46 - Like a boatsman adrift at the mouth of the Yura, I do not know where this love will take me.

It goes without saying that the card on top, #17, is Chihaya, who is the love interest of both #11 for Arata and #46 for Taichi. #11 is a "Wata" card, which shares Arata Wataya's name. The poem was written by Sangi Ono no Takamura, who was exiled to Oki Island after refusing to participate in an embassy assignment to China. Although the poem speaks of being exiled and away from "her", Takamura was ultimately allowed to return home after being pardoned a year later. On the other hand, in our Poem of the Day above, we can see that #46 is Taichi's card, who was stranded adrift because his "oar-string snapped" -- a far more distressing and harsh reality than Arata's."

Please tell me the significance of all them as I have the ogura hyakunin isshu penguin classics translated.

There are also two maps in the back of the ogura hyakunin isshu to know where all the poems came from

Guys I'm f-ing singing this for a Talent show too

[pinkelotjeart]

you brought this upon yourself buddy

SO

Q!SLIME

AHGIEUWGFIWEUBFIWPUEF

im only gonna talk about q!slimes lore here so if you want to know more about the qsmp world as a whole just tell me and it would be my pleasure to explain it to you all you need to know is that: people were on a train, the train leads them to quesadilla island, shit happens there is an evil organization and they are stuck here

oh also they have kids

basically, all the people on the island got got paired up (one english speaker with one spanish speaker) and got an egg 

this is the egg phil got if you were wondering, his name is chayyane

and this is charlies egg, juanaflippa

charlie got paired up with mariana (mariana is fucking amazing btw i could also talk about him for hours)

now about flippa: shes canonically a trans girl,shes allergic to bees, grass, detergent, and fish and probably more stuff that i forgot, has a gun and shes a very sweet kid she deserves the world now slime and mariana weren't the most healthy couple. Charlie calls Slime “bitch wife” and mariana has been caught flirting with other men but they do both very much care for each other and they also VERY much care for flippa

i should also mention that the egg have two lives. If both lives are lost the egg dies forever

now everything is fine and dandy till flippa has her first death her first death was because of neglect

you see, if an eggs parents don't do tasks with their egg (ex of tasks are: reading a book to them, drawing with them, cooking something for the egg, etc) and, because mariana and slime didn't log that much on the server at first, flippa lost a life both slime and mariana were fucking desrtoyed and logged in regulary after that to make sure flippa didn't lose any more lives

also slime made a deal to the devil, yes the actual devil that is canon to the qsmp, in order to get a gun for flippa. the deal was that he had to kill chayanne (phils egg) and flippa would get the gun and slime did it!!

later when phil when to kill charlie, flippa shot him dead :]

happy times pass until

untill flippa loses her secod life So when the eggs go to bed they have very cute custom made bed skins?textures? idk but they are very cute here's an example of flippa in bed

very cute

so while mariana was watching over flippa while she slept, he did something that  is still remembered by the qsmp fans and gives us and the cc war flashbacks everytime its mentioned he misclicked while having and axe in hand he clicked on flippas bead and broke it and both flippa and the bed disappeared people started freking out everyone thought flippa was dead and one of the most insane qsmp events happened the trial

slime accused mariana of intentionally killing flippa and took mariana to court  (slime also maybe talked about killing all the eggs but thats not important rn) the trial is probably my favorite qsmp stream and even if you don't plan on getting into the qsmp i suggest you watch slims pov of it its genuinely so great

to make a long story short, the trialhappens and flippa gets reserected hurrayyyy

all is well everyone is happy things are great until flippa dies a third time mariana and flippa were exploring a dungeon and they got swarmed by mobs and while trying to kill the mobs around them,  he accidentally killed flippa

so flippa dies. she isnt coming back and slime may have gone a bit crazy he was/is consumed by grief he went into exile and lives thousands of blocks away from everyone. he tried to kill everyones elses egg but failed and even tho he stopped wanted to kill them and now lives them as a uncle, he still gets sad when he sees the parents and their kids together hes kinda stuck in limbo, he tries to get better and make progress and heal, but his grief still holds him back a lot

also maybe he turned into a green egg named gegg and maybe there is a monster that is impersonating flippa but my fingers are screaming in pain rn lmao so thats all ill say for now

if you do want to learn about gegg and codeflippa and maybe bolas please just tell me and i will happily come back to info dump some more :]

You know I absolutely lost it at the part where they gave the egg a gun - wnjdjwndjw I love the insanity of that all gosh. This is kinda as much as I was expecting cus I did know some stuff about the eggs- but I am enjoying the combination of angst and absurdity.

I think Bolas is the thing I’ve seen the most about- or atleast I’ve seen allot of cool fanart without context I’m curious 👀

[falseprophetpoll]

now that galahad's out (he should have won btw) sol or dbb need to win. id be fine with either (top 2 fandoms im normal about) but im just going to drop sol propaganda here because there's less of it

so he showed up at the lake all ominous and shit, and gave what i remember to be the vaguest fucking prophecy ('a great darkness is coming' or something like that) but i could be wrong (its been a while since i read PoT). anyways! there's this big battle for reasons that aren't relevant, and the sun just fucking disappears! we know it's just an eclipse, but these are feral cats living in the woods so everyone understandably loses their shit except for Sol, to which he 'reveals' that this is the darkness he was talking about (okay canonically he did know but i dont think that was ever made clear in canon and i like to think he was just bullshitting his way through all this). everyone is like 'HOLY SHIT HE STOLE THE SUN' and he uses his newfound influence to make all of ShadowClan abandon their religion, laws, and morals (warrior cats has an unfortunate tendency of conflating those things but still). he gets found out and exiled eventually ofc but he's still remembered as the cat who stole the sun and manages to manipulate onestar a bit in the next arc

oh yeah he also claimed to have connections to an ancient prophecy he knew nothing about to gain influence with these three overpowered teenagers in particular

so ANYWAYS he should win i think. or at least get far. fightcat-wise ashfur/the impostor (yeah yeah amogus. very funny. anyways) mightve been falser (and. more successful) but he's also not on here SO. solsweep

I have to give him style points for that holy shit. Even if he loses he wins the prize of “Coolest Title” in my heart

[doodlytoodly]

i rarely giggle with glee over stuff, its gotta be like absolutely preem stuff to me, so theres this alt history thing (Kaiserreich, Hoi4 mod, got alot of lore in it, basically Germany beat the entente in ww1, France and Britain became syndicalist, Russian revolution failed, the British government was exiled to Canada ((👎)) austria hungary is still around, also the ottomans, Italy is in 2 or 3 pieces cant recall rn, all that stuff, and america is not doing good at all ((I’m a loser btw did y’all know that))) and I just found a youtube channel all about it, with a little series goin on, i think theres only 2 episodes of it? Ive only watched the trailer but its got me all giddy about it, gonna watch the actual episodes tmrw cause its 3 am and i spent an hour typing all this (i edited this part after finishing the rest lol) its about the second american civil war which happens in this world cause america is all kinds of fucked up since they lost the war, i think there was also the great depression still, but theres also black monday after that (german stock market crashes, everyone that isnt syndicalist or whatever gets fucked over), america splits into quite a few shards (im not yhe best source for all this btw cause i like to play the version that is wackier and less realistic) ((i think in normal kaiserreich theres 7 factions in america, maybe 6, in the wackier version there can ve like 11)) anywya im pretty sure its the pacific states, which is the pacifc states of america ofc, they are progressives, social liberals, that stuff, there might be the western command center, that has the rockies, which is a split off of the federal government, same side of the civil war as the federal gov, idk if they exist in normal kaiserreich, (if they dont its just the actual federal gov who control it), they seperate the PSA from the American Union State, who has the midwest with texas and stuff i believe, their leaders huey long, (one of 2 i remember) in game their ideology is authoritarian democracy or smth, i think theres a lil bit of socialism goin on in there, idrk what their deal is in the lore i havent looked at them much, then theres the Syndicalists, who have the rust belt, they are ofc syndicalists, and below them is the constitutional american republic that controls the south, religious, racist, nutjobs, just imagine the confederacy 2.0, very L faction honestly (they usually get stomped in game <3) , in Washington D.C theres the federal goverment, I think run by macarthur after he takes charge for the war, or coups if some of the other factions get elected, they are the legitimate government, macarthur is still macarthur, and finally (if i recall correctly) theres New england, they control the new england area, ( they are controlled by the feds until they ask canada to come help them out, canada walks in, establishes new england ((in game as a puppet usually, once again i. am NOT the best source for this, they are usually just like normalish i think, idk prolly like the democrats in america today, but 1930s (in the wackier version they typically get taken over by hp lovecraft and go insane but thats all very non canon).

.

.

.

I have no idea where j was going with this, uhhh, im just gonna leave the trailer here for it cause why not, did I mention I get no bitches btw? cause this prolly psychically repells people without either of us realizing. anyway if anyone actually reads all my dumb rambling thanks for taking the time, if you didn’t and your only reading this, thanks for reading any of it at all, yeah.

[mesillusionssousecstasy]

The Chiffon Trenches by André Leon Talley

This book was great, but it could have been excellent with more stories, history and pictures regarding the fashion world. Not to be rude, but sometimes André complained at bit much about being a black man in fashion (activism should have been another book subject). He had such an incredible life, he met such incredible and inspiring people and honestly, if he wasn't gay he wouldn't have been as successful as he was (even truer with this sentence, page 48, "All the principals were gay, something that was understood and never discussed. In this world, there were no victims, only highoctane egos.").

What a life. What an era. For example, page 34, 70, 77, 79, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 99, 113, 114, 127, 131, 132, 133, 134, 151, 152, 161, 162, 205, 207, 212, 228, 229, 249, 262,    

I wanted more history about fashion, more history about designer, why omitting so many important ones like McQueen (even being cruel about him at page 148, he was a genius (the most beautiful masterpiece come from darkness it is well known); page 123, John Galliano wasn't the unique visionary of this era), Pucci, Valentino, Thierry Mugler, Paco Rabanne, Lanvin, ...

Why hasn't he even written a bit in French? Strange after so many French studies and living in Paris... (example at page 268)

And he should have done a book with all his photo shooting publications. It would have been a must! Because honestly, too often does he mentioned outfits or interiors without any picture to show us (shame): page 58, 59, 126, 194, 195, 214, 236, 240, 241, 248, 254, 255,

Also, one question arises: To which point is it true? (Why lie about Karl and Baptiste at page 187)?

About Andy Warhol on page 21: "With Andy, anyone could be anyone and everyone was equal - a drag queen or an heiress. At the Factory, if you were interesting, you were "in". And while he could be seen out and about at night, Andy also went to church every morning to thank God for his life, his money, and his mother." & "When Andy was in a good mood, he created small, signed pieces of art for his staff. A silkscreen print from one of his series, or a small painting, like a candy heart in lace on Valentine's Day. It was a quite generous perk.

About Karl Lagerfeld : - Page 25: "Fashion's fun and you can't really take it too seriously. Frivolity must be an integral form." - Page 53: "When I was four, I asked my mother for a valet for my birthday. I wanted my clothes prepared so I could wear anything I wanted at any time of day. At ten, I was always in hats, high collars, and neckties. I never played with other children. I read books and did drawings night and day." - Page 77: "In 1982, Karl Lagerfeld announced he was taking over as creative director of CHANEL. Paris was abuzz with the news, a beehive of intrigue and envy. Vogue wrote at the time that it was the talk of Paris; Karl Lagerfeld who was not French, going to the top of the fashion hill at CHANEL was in fact momentous. Alicia Drake said in her book The Beautiful Fall that Karl's ascension "was a black day at the house of Saint Laurent, (I don't remember this sentence btw)." - Page 100: That's one way of the story. - Page 102: So surprising that everyone is criticizing Karl when he had enough of support them financially (he even gave a house to Princess Caroline de Monaco). - Page 108: Karl's relationship with death and mourning.   - Page 113: Who is Karl's dry-cleaning? The name. - Page 114: Karl's life. - Page 115: "And I suffered in exile for a season but learned a valuable lesson: Never trust anyone close to Kaiser Karl." - Page 153 & 156: Karl and his precious gifts. - Page 162: What a generous man. - Page 163: Incredible story with André, Anna et Karl. - Page 173: Karl's regime. - Page 178: "Karl Lagerfeld did not go to Yves Saint Laurent's funeral. He sent flowers to the church, a huge arrangement of white roses, with a handwritten note: "In memory of our better days, of our youth." - Page 187: lying about Karl and Baptiste. - Page 188: Karl being tired of people abusing him. - Page 191: The last interaction between Karl and André. - Page 234: About Karl's death, "Anna Wintour called me from London. "I thought he would live forever." (Me too). - Page 235: "In my Southern Baptist culture, people visit the graves of loved ones. One summer, I faxed Karl that I had been to the grave of my father, who is buried in Roxboro, North Carolina. Amanda Harlech told me later that Karl told her, "Apparently André's spending his time running around North Carolina, visiting graves of his relatives." (Hilarious). - Page 236: "Perhaps Karl thought contemplating death was a waste of time. Truly, there was no one with a more robust schedule in all of fashion than Karl Lagerfeld. He ran three of the biggest fashion brands in the world simultaneously for decades: CHANEL, Fendi and his eponymous Lagerfeld label. And still he took on various anonymous freelance work. While other designers were driven to drink and madness and sometimes suicide by the pressures of one fashion house, Karl made it all seem so easy." (How did he do it btw). --> The book has been published after Karl's death and no word about Virginie Viard (page 235).

About John Fairchild: - Page 31: "I am the boss, and don't you ever forget it." & "I don't give a damn about clothes, I care about the people who wear them." - Page 69: "Mr. Fairchild, this genius who could make or destroy a company or a person with his brilliant sense of wordsmithing."

About Paris on page 51: "Paris offered great characters and subtle intrigues, promiscuity, drugs, scandals - a whole different world from where I had grown up. In Paris, I was always seated on the front row at the couture and ready-to-wear catwalk shows."

About Anna Wintour: - Page 85: "Anna's position as creative director was vague enough to give her both total control of the magazine and zero control, depending on whom you asked." - Page 92: "Each of these women had a strong, independent personality. By naming all three fashion directors, Anna gave each equal billing on the masthead, and each could do her own thing. It was a brilliant move, politically. The equality of their roles also reflected the fact that at Anna Wintour's Vogue, there was no hierarchy. There was Anna Wintour, and there was everyone else." - Page 93-94: The Devil Wears Prada has been confirmed that it is untrue. - Page 95: Does Anna Wintour in a way got André to get closer to Karl at the beginning? - Page 98: She is amazing in the picture. - Page 145: Why he gave his story to W and not Anna, "I had to take it to Mr. Fairchild because I knew he would read it seriously and publish it respectfully." - Page 216: Her and André about the podcast for the Met. - Page 219: "I wonder, when she goes home alone at night, is she miserable? Does she feel alone? Perhaps she doesn't allow herself to feel these things, as she clearly is a person who does not dwell on the past." (Because she doesn't have time for it). - Page 222: "Like any ruthless individual, she maintains her sangfroid at all times. She is always dashing in and out, and I do believe she is immune to anyone other than the powerful and famous people who populate the pages of Vogue." (I don't think he must take it personally).

Incredible story about Gloria von Thurn und Taxis (page 89-90).

The true about Pierre Bergé is not even a surprise (page 97).

About John Galliano: - Page 123-124: His beginning. - Page 130: "Galliano understood me and I got him. I knew his wavelength, where his inspirations came about. I'd been accused of sleeping with all the designers, but the truth is that I embrace their dreams, step inside their dreams, and become part of their dreams. I bonded with Galliano on a human level. He is a genius, a visionary, a poet. A mad poet, like Rimbaud, or Verlaine, or Baudelaire."

About Diana Vreeland: - Second picture: "At a party, when you don't feel as if you have the room at your attention, just find a seat, or a corner. Sit quietly and calmly, occupy your personal space, and people will notice you. And if the world, or party, doesn't come to you, well then it's not meant to be." - Page 207: the mention of Madame Grès.

About Gabriel Chanel: - Page 158-159: "Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance."

About Tom Ford: - Page 212: His entire black garden in London (love it).

About Lee Radziwill: - Page 230: "X-rays showed Lee had broken her hip. She was immediately operated on and had a hip replacement. When she saw the replacement X-rays, she said, "I have a beautiful Brancusi sculpture inside me."

About Naomi Campbell: - Page 240: She and her friends don't need vista - Page 243: "Being in her entourage is like being in a film; she's larger than life, like Elizabeth Taylor." - Page 245: "If Naomi were music, she would be Saint-Saën's "The Swan," from his suite The Carnival of the Animals, or she would be Scott Joplin's "Gladiolus Rag." She has majestic drama on a professional runway, and her personal life is itself reminiscent of "Triumphal March" from the second act of Verdi's Aida. If she were a poem, it would be "Correspondences" by Baudelaire." - Page 246: "Naomi threw me a look that, if it were a poison dart, would have been a fatal blow." (Le naturel revient au galop) - Page 247: Doesn't know what mean "Éclatante!", shameful.

About Carolina Herrera: - "I always selected the dress I knew no one else would think of buying."

I like his view on love at page 63, 109 ("Sex was not on my radar. Success was."), Incredible picture at page 76, 98, fifth picture, !

Now I understand why there is a Chuck Bass in Gossip Girl (is it related to the Bass family? Anne Bass, page 89

André didn't tell us how Jacques got Aids (page 106), his debauchery.

I don't agree with those sentences: - At page 129: "CHANEL was the great designer but Dior was the name people associated with Paris couture." - At page 225: "Jackie the celebrity had stolen Ari Onassis from Lee." (Not Lee, but from Maria Calas).

I have only heard about "Le Palace", not at all "Club 7".

What about his father, because André always talks about his mother, but almost never about his father (page 198).

I'm sad to discover that I have missed the Oscar de la Renta exhibition in Paris at the Mona Bismarck Center (page 202).

I don't understand why he cut the 2019 Met Gala with Marc Jacobs' wedding (page 240 & 255ss)?

The real moral of the story is at page 257, "The real elegance took a train out of town a long time ago" by Anne Bass. She is so right. And the end of the golden age at page 263, 264, 265 about Condé Nast.

The Epilogue wasn't necessary.

Be aware, the book is a slow read, and it's mostly focus about Karl and Anna (at least for him to criticize them)

Some good quotes: - p. 4: "When I would get upset, my uncle Lewis used to say to me, "Just keep on getting up. Get up every day and just keep going." - p. 5: "I dreamed of meeting Naomi Sims and Pat Cleveland, and living a life like the ones I saw in the pages of Vogue, where bad things never happened." (Story of my life) - p. 6: "While I knew she loved me, I don't think she liked me." - p. 19: "His manerisms, his dandyisms, his snobbism were toxic to my budget but auspicious for my aspirations." (Love it) - p. 52: "We all had a certain way of being and we came together as units, little cliques of ego, glamour, and power. I was fully a part of this machine." - p. 55: "Betty Catroux loved me and accepted me for who I was, not for what I did. That was rare in fashion circles." - p. 61: "We were all on top of the world at this wedding. We felt free and there weren't even any drugs - well, at least not with any of my close friends. Maybe there was too much fine champagne." (Nice one) - p. 67: "She had opened my eyes to a reality I so badly wanted to deny." - p. 92-93: "One was expected to behave a certain way when representing Vogue. I played it cool and I behaved in an aloof, distant, somewhat disdainful manner, the way people usually conduct themselves on the front row. It's rare that you see a major editor emote." - p. 105: "My mother loved clothes, though I am not sure that she ever fully loved me." (Terrible) - p. 144: "Fashion is not an industry that lives in the past, but rather carries its past along, like a shadow, wherever it goes." - p. 196: "She, like Mrs. Vreeland, just took to her bed and waited to leave the world, with her own sense of the world internalized." - p. 199: "I do not fear death, as it was always present in my Baptist upbringing: Prepare yourself for death. We all have to die one day." - p. 203: "A person's words and deeds can make an indelible impression upon the soul. You can make a person feel loved through the simplest things in life. It's not the extravagant gifts that count. It's the thought, the gesture behind it." - p. 218: "I understand; nothing lasts forever." - p. 227: "Whatever time each of us had with her should be remembered as nothing less than a privilege." - p. 268: "When I am overwhelmed with feelings of emptiness and deep sadness, when the day begins and ebbs into dark blues, I have life-enhancing stratagems to make the day a better one."

Bonsoir.

[rcdiostcrs]

pjo jakke (aka, jakke cortes) au, btw

triggers: canon-typical violent references, child soldier / protector, insects (mentioned, not actually on-screen), the occult (mentioned by name, nothing occult actually happens)

this is written in drabble form, not as a list of headcanons.

Myra Gleipnif left her home country, fleeing to Mexico to escape her family. It is here where she meets Pedro Cortes, a man with a penchant for mythos. He introduces his new love to his favorite myths, reading them aloud to her.

He forgets that names have power. Reading them aloud and adding commentary on their feelings on a certain god or monster begins to attract the divine to the couple. They fend off monsters for a week straight.

Running on no sleep, Pedro prays to Hecate for protection. The lack of sleep makes him confuse the goddess of crossroads with demons who make deals with those at a crossroads.

The goddess, amused, doesn’t smite the man. Instead, she says she’ll give him a protector. What she creates is a ten-year-old child with divine sense imbued in his very being.

She parts with the following words: “Though the child will protect you and your lover, you will leave the Americas. The gods know you’re here.” The couple plan to leave for England as neither have family there. As soon as the child hears of the plan, he utters his first spell—“illuc hinc”—teleporting the trio there without any paper trail. They land in London as it will be easier to get lost in a big city full of mortals than the countryside.

Knowing his purpose from the moment he begins to exist, he chooses the name “Jakke” meaning protector. (This isn’t shared until Pedro and Myra are settled into their new lives when it comes up that he’s been “The Child” all this time). It is this purpose that leads him to have less of a childhood and more of a constant outlook for gods and monsters. He transforms into insects to sneak with them to work, keeping an eye on them.

Ten years later, when Jakke hasn’t sensed anything divine for a whole year, Myra and Pedro feel safe enough to finally stop looking over their shoulders. They would have their first child together, a boy named Benes. Two children, Filip and Sabrina, would come later. The three children were always under the impression that Jakke was just like them. His magic aged him from the preteen he looked like to whatever age he would be had he aged naturally.

The scent of five mortals does wonders to hide a demigod. However, Hecate still knows where her son is. And being fed up with the Olympians treating her like a minor goddess instead of the powerhouse she is. She sends him dreams of a new purpose—helping her in the upcoming war. (“The mortals will be fine, I need you now.”)

With Lady Hecate’s instructions being clear, Jakke would use the same spell he used to transverse the Atlantic the first time to appear in New York.

He is claimed right away and put in Cabin Eleven since Hecate doesn’t have her own. Most everyone welcomed the teenager.

It’s not hard for Jakke to see what Lady Hecate meant. How the gods treated not just her, but any god who wasn’t one of the twelve and the demigods. His anger grows on their behalf. Of course he fights for Kronos when the time comes.

Losing so many siblings and allies during the Battle of Manhattan haunts him. As does Lady Hecate turning her back on her traitor children for redemption from the Olympians. His punishment is to be haunted by the memories of the dead—seeing them everywhere he goes.

He isn’t exiled, but he doesn’t return to camp, even with the addition of a cabin he would fit neatly into. Instead, Jakke returns to England. He uses his knowledge of real magic to set up an occult shop. The name is “Magication,” a portmanteau of magic and vacation. He sets up a door in New York so those who want to visit from camp can.

By the time the Second Giant War (and later, the Great Imperial War) rolls around, Jakke doesn’t care. The gods have caused enough pain, he could stand to watch them get wiped out, but he won’t dare interfere. Even sensing Lady Hecate obscuring the heroes isn’t enough to stir him to care.

All he wants is to move on from the horrors of the first war he fought in, but his curse is always there, reminding him of the last time he tried was involved with the gods.

He refuses to acknowledge the divine. Only demigods are allowed in his shop—not gods or titans and certainly not those he considers monsters. Not even Lady Hecate’s Empousai are accepted in Magication.

[mikastormborn]

What a bunch of bs about Daenerys coming from Ms. Bardugo. I never read anything from her so I won't bother with the OP's answer about her novels (sorry 😅).

Since she talks about what she thinks GRRM is doing with her (and btw, with such confidence as if he himself told her), I will talk about the books here. Although you can also read the books vs show metas, if you are interested (x)

"Dany's hunger for power"

Well, here is a list of all the quotes (thx to aegontheconquerorwithteats ) that shows that she does not want power, but a home, people to belong to and peace and safety in general (x). Here is a meta about how she is not after self glorification (x) and a list of quotes that shows how most of her story is about care, sacrifice and duty (x), both courtesy of rainhadaenerys . And Daenerys believing in her birthright is no different than the Starks (and anyone in universe tbh) believing in theirs. She believes is her duty, as the last Targaryen, to do right by her House.

That said, there is no getting around that she is ruthless and it's not as if she's looking to "liberate" Westeros

Luckly, thx again to aegontheconquerorwithteats, we have a list of all passages where Dany threatens, considers to use, or she directly uses violence (x). And as rainhadaenerys says in her reblog :

The moments in which Dany truly intends to use violence (that is, moments that aren’t simply intimidation or empty threats) are moments in which she intends to: 1) use violence against her enemies, people she is already at war with (like wanting to remove the captains of certain sellsword companies), which is not something I would consider morally wrong; 2) use violence as justice or revenge against those that hurt innocents, or to protect innocents. At no point does Dany show a sadistic pleasure in violence, and at no point she shows a fascination with fire (in fact, the only moment in which she kills enemies with fire is during the sack of Astapor, which is no different from other characters using fire in battle).

Here is another meta from rainhadaenerys showcasting how Dany is no more violent than the Starks (x).

In contrast, here is a list with all book passages that shows her moments of compassion, kindness and empathy (x)

And Ms. Bardugo may think she will not "liberate" Westeros, but is possible that she is set up to do what her ancestor, Aegon V, could not : to give the small folk more power (x)

One person's hero is another's oppersor.

This does not apply to Daenerys because the only ones she "opresses" (letting their wealth intact, mind you) are the slavers, who are opressors, Ms. Bardugo.

She neither kills them all

And she does not intend to kill all the slavers :

And I am the calamity that will change these slavers back into people, Dany had sworn to herself. - ADWD, Daenerys III

~

"You are fighting shadows when you should be fighting the men who cast them," Daario went on. "Kill them all and take their treasures, I say. Whisper the command, and your Daario will make you a pile of their heads taller than this pyramid."

"If I knew who they were—"

"Zhak and Pahl and Merreq. Them, and all the rest. The Great Masters. Who else would it be?"

He is as bold as he is bloody. "We have no proof this is their work. Would you have me slaughter my own subjects?" - ADWD, Daenerys IV

Nor she exiles them

And about this specific quote from GRRM, why everyone assumes it's about Dany, or only Dany? Here is a thought about that here. (x)

End of rant.

While looking out for some information about Leigh Bardugo’s perspective on Daenerys Targaryen I stumbled across this and it gave me… feelings? perspectives? thoughts? Now I want to talk about these three paragraphs quite a lot.

First I want to draw attention to the date: May 6, 2013; Siege and Storm released June 4, 2013 while Ruin and Rising was released June 17, 2014. We must take this as written by someone who: has released one book, has fully completed the second book but not released it, and likely either has the final book in outline or draft or is working on it. The questioner has probably only read Shadow and Bone, and GoT is almost done it’s third season. Dany’s main morally questionable action thus far has been paying to receive the Unsullied with a dragon and then killing the man she purchased the Unsullied from. This ignores book knowledge which could obviously go to the end of Dance, but things like the razing of King’s Landing are totally off the table for analysis. I point this out explicitly to note that the asker is not thinking of ‘Daenarys Targaryen, mad queen’ of season 8, but the more ‘good intentions, sloppy execution’ of seasons 1-3 and possibly Dany’s troubled good intentions with the Myranese Knot.

The first parts of the question, imo, directly concern the Darkling without ever saying his name. This is, after all, a question to Leigh Bardugo. The subtext of this question is clear: ‘is the Darkling a villain simply because he wants to rule?’ The asker wishes to know Leigh’s perspective on this. They ask if the reasons for seeking power matter, and express their own beliefs that despite Dany’s motive of the Iron Throne she is not a villain in the asker’s opinion. (NB: the asker only has S&B in their conception while Leigh will have S&S firmly fixed and R&R in draft or outline only).

Leigh, probably naturally, does not give a firm answer. The Darkling is almost fully up in the air at this point. Note she also makes no ruling on Dany, which, unfortunately, is also not unfair. So knowing that a firm pro or anti stance on either character is not really expected, what do we get out of Leigh’s response? I will note that Leigh moves into discussing Dany specifically rather than villains broadly here, which almost makes me wish the Dany angle was not brought up, but let’s take a look. I think we can all agree that the Darkling will be the main villain on Leigh’s mind here, she has no other books but S&B published atm (e.g. no Crows).

Dany’s hunger for power is tempered by her love of her people and a desire for just rule. As of S&B… the Darkling seems to fit this too. The Darkling hungers for power but we also see indications that he’s doing this for his people, he claims it repeatedly in S&B, although Alina completely dismissed this as lies or delusions. This falls apart a bit in S&S when the Darkling allies with Fjerda and destroys the Little Palace two things that are pretty rough to square with his love for grisha. Many who are Darkling fans are not fond of these actions because they feel counter to the set up of his character and these two elements were eventually completely removed in the show, but they will be in Leigh’s mind. I think it’s safe to say Leigh would be skeptical this boon applies to the Darkling as she’s written so far while the asker would think it’s an open question.

Dany is ruthless, she is not a liberator of Westeros, and she is seeking the throne first and foremost. We have a light… backpedal? qualifier? here to her answer. Above Leigh says Dany loves her people and wants to rule justly, but here we are at odds with the last sentence. Now ‘rule justly’ and ‘liberate’ are clearly not synonyms but wanting the throne and wanting to rule justly are complimentary aims. Our mind turns to the Darkling: is he ruthless? doubtless. Is he a liberator of Ravka? this is an open question as of S&B but takes on a note of ‘leans no’ as of S&S, since he will betray the Lantsov’s and more importantly the grisha to Fjerda.

What sort of ruler will Dany be? What will she become? Who will she become in pursuit of her aims? Interesting questions, let us apply them to the Darkling. This is again an open question in S&B but a ‘leans negative’ as of S&S. I would hope that Leigh thinks these are interesting ‘villain questions’ not just Dany questions, but interestingly I think we must assume this is a very solid case of ‘says one thing but means another’. Again the Darkling’s motives are very up in the air to the public, but Leigh knows the Darkling will slowly ‘fail’ these character tests; is Alina mistaken about her initial impressions of Aleksander? Leigh knows the answer is ‘no’.

In short, the first paragraph of the answer is almost a wash: Dany has good qualities and bad qualities and her journey is a work in progress. Fair… ish. It’s applicability to the Darkling is also a bit of a wash, most of these thoughts and questions are similarly confused for him, but keep in mind Leigh knows his S&S actions and likely knows he will go completely off the deep end in R&R (unless conspiracies re: changed endings are true in which case… who knows).

All told I think this paragraph leans to an answer of ‘no, the Darkling (and characters in general) are not villains just due to pursuit of rule.’ So… cool? She seems to be saying that pursuit of power is not fundamentally evil, but, thematically, this is directly at odds with Aleksander and Alina’s R&R endgames. (We ignore KoS completely, it was, doubtless, not even a twinkle in Leigh’s eyes yet).

Alina pursues power for seemingly noble ends, the destruction of the Fold and the Darkling, and yet she loses her powers for reaching too far. The idea that age and pursuit of power have tainted the Darkling irreparably is strong in R&R. This ask also may have been while Leigh was not yet certain if Nikolai would survive S&S, as his fate is uncertain and Leigh says she considered killing him, which would have also potentially punished him for his own pursuit of power. So… mixed messages to say the least.

Leigh now seems to step out of the specific (Dany, with potential Darkling overtones) and answers more broadly. Three sentences to say ‘who the villain is depends on your perspective’ and then a final to say that ‘if all good men abdicated for fear of corruption we’d be in trouble’. Not a bad answer, but again we run up hard against her (at the time quite limited) bibliography.

Thus far Leigh has published a singular novel that is strictly from Alina’s POV, Leigh’s answer can be read as saying ‘Alina may not give an accurate read on the Darkling’ and is basically saying that the Darkling is someone’s hero, Ivan’s at least, and perhaps 90% of all grisha or so besides, according to S&S and how small Alina’s support base is among grisha. To many, even S&S leaves open the possibility of a misunderstood (by Alina) Darkling as he struggles desperately for a way to achieve his ends which may still be noble even with his means which are growing darker. Leigh says that villainy is in the perspective, while writing a book from the perspective of an explicitly narrow minded protagonist, but (again, assuming no R&Retcon) she is already aware of the end of the Darkling’s story: he will grow increasingly out of control, commit more and more atrocities, and seemingly leave behind his only motivations for his actions that aren’t ‘I want power’.

Finally we have her closing line, basically assuring power is something that if good men and women abdicated their responsibility to hold, we’d be screwed. Y. I. K. E. S. Was Aleksander a good man who sought power for good reasons but was corrupted? seems a pretty unfortunate way of portraying your potential theme here. Is Alina a good woman who abdicated her responsibility and left us screwed? kinda a downer ending for your hero. A triple axel of yikes is on display if Leigh still held this perspective when Nikolai abdicates in KoS.

Leigh’s answer paints a picture of moral complexity, a need to understand motives as well as means, the assurance that perspectives on so-called villains are nuanced and varied between different people. An answer like this to me says that Leigh is promising these themes and perspectives, for why would we expect an author to say ‘Personally, I think villains depend on perspective’ and then grant no perspective of our villain, not from his own words or even the words of his myriad followers. We end with, instead, ‘the Darkling is bad and he has no principles and no line he won’t cross for his power’.

I think this answer clearly demonstrates why readers who liked the Darkling would feel betrayed by R&R but especially KoS.

[journal-number-3]

Honestly the portrayal of the butcher army was really good. SAD-ist did a really good job of making sure neither side were in a 100% good light.

The butcher army was always kinda sad to me, personally. It was compromised of Fundy, Quackity, Tubbo, and Ranboo, who are always the most walked over characters. And they were going up against the most powerful player on the server.

The cabinet members were all going through A LOT. Like, I feel as though it's not talked about how none of them were in a great state of mind? Fundy's dad just died and was feeling incredibly alone, Tubbo had to do the hardest thing he's ever done by exiling his best friend, and Quackity hadn't moved on from Schlatt. ALL of them worked under Schlatt actually, and there's something to be said about his cabinet members being the ones to do this.

And they were scared. That's also not mentioned enough. How obviously scared each member was on the way there. Big q doubted himself several times. Fundy was constantly distracting himself with the surroundings. Tubbo was the one trying to keep them focused and make sure they made it.

And I wanna talk about specifically Big Q for a second. Because he gets a bad rapt for this. And it's not entirely unjustified, killing a guy is pretty messed up hot take. But I just wanna analyze him, cause he's a great morally gray character. So he worked under Schlatt and/or was in some kinda relationship with him that wasn't healthy. It ended up making quackity feel powerless, something he's always struggled with being a horrible pvper.

And that specifically is why he hates Techno. Techno killed him in Minecraft Mondays. Techno killed Tubbo, and then him, and Quackity couldn't stop it. He couldn't stop techno from blowing up L'manburg the first time, so he wanted to stop him before he got the chance again.

People saw quackity taking karl as hostage as an act of him being evil and holding power over technos head. But you could also read it as him panicking seeing his friends in trouble and feeling guilty at possibly leading then to their deaths. That's something I really like about Quackity's character, he does morally wrong actions but depending on how you read it, he could be being doing something for others, for his own gain, or both.

Im not being techno critical here, I said at the top no one was in the right. I just wanted to talk about the butcher army here and how I feel about them. I watched both povs of this event btw, first Techno live and then Tubbo's vod. So don't try and pull I only watched one perspective card, I try and get the full story through everyone.

[fallenlightsif]

Do you have any if recs or demos you're excited for? What genre is your favorite to read?

Oh boy, do I have recs, anon. I started out reading IF before I started writing it, so I've compiled quite the list lol.

My Absolute Faves

Blood Moon by @barbwritesstuff (Werewolves are my weakness and the writing is so good, highly recommend Marco's and Vicky's routes but all of them are perfect tbh)

A Mage Reborn by @mage-parivir (The very first IF I ever read, absolutely crushed my heart, I still rush to play when updates are released)

Mindblind by @mindblindbard (Just...so good. Literally amazing. Not enough good things can be said. I would totally die for Gray.)

Raiders of the Caravan by @leftski-if (So much great writing and all the characters are very loveable. Highly recommend for some nice hurt/comfort but mostly comfort (so far at least))

Diaspora by @diasporatheblog (Very badass and very good writing, again has very loveable characters to the point that I can't easily pick a favorite (would probably end up being Sang if forced tho) also the world-building is just perfect)

OFNA: Birds of a Feather by @ofna (Bird cult. Need I say more? Seriously though, the plot of this is just A+ and check out their blog for info on the birdtrayer who I will likely never guess and also forgive after .2 seconds)

The Exile by @exilethegame (Pretty sure everyone knows about this one but it's amazing so I have to mention it. Top tier, so much angst, I get to romance a god living in the player's head, what more could I ask for?)

The Golden Rose by @anathemafiction (I replayed this so many times, I literally cannot wait until it's fully published. So good, 10/10, couldn't recommend more)

Attollo by @attollogame (I think everyone knows this one too but I have to mention it. I honestly couldn't describe Attollo in a way that would do it justice, you just need to go play it. I'm definitely gonna almost get killed a variety of ways in this game, but I'm okay with that.)

The Chosen One by @kal-writesif (Again, just go play the demo. So good. 10/10. I literally love that there's only one LI whom I would already die for btw.)

Thrill Seeker by @thrill-seeker-if (Literally catch me romancing Hannie, Oli, and N. The writing is so good and I highly recommend it! My MC in this one is very traumatized tho.)

Northern Passage by @northern-passage (Again, I'm pretty sure everyone knows this one, but still mentioning it because it's one of the first IFs I played and still one of my favorites)

Golden by @milaswriting (The writing is really immersive and absolutely sucks you into the story. Also, all the ROs are super interesting.)

Scandal by @nightingale-interactive (Recently began reading this and it's so good. It also focuses on romance a lot too which I love.)

Demos I'm Supremely Excited About

The Moonless by @moonless-if

Spilt Milk by @spiltmilk-if (I lurk on this blog so often lmao but I love every single romance option and cannot wait for the demo)

The King's Hound by @the-kingshound (The same author as The Chosen One, I absolutely cannot wait to romance Arthur)

This got way too long. Oh well. I might've missed some because I'm dumb and don't keep a comprehensive list of IFs I've played, so if it's not mentioned it's not on purpose I just have a horrible memory!!

[hamphobicbasil]

Could u elaborate about the dsmp story being bad? Not a rabid/brain dead fan, just genuinely curious and I enjoy reading people's rants lolol

oh you dont know the floodgates you just opened

a few things:

1. despite not liking the creators of the dsmp anymore, I don't actually hate most of them. [the ones that are particularly unsavory fall outside of this of course] so all that I'm saying i truly mean in a critical sense towards the story, its also just all purely my opinion as someone who enjoys fictional and fantasy stories and who like criticizing works to see what it does well and what it doesn't do well

2. for clarification I'm going to use the c![name] to indicate when I'm talking about the characters. Don't get me wrong, I think its annoying too but its the only way I'm gonna be able to write this thing without getting something across the wrong way yknow?

3. I stopped watching the streams after November 16th, [save for one Techno one but I closed out after a particularly bad story beat lol] and so all information coming afterward is all second hand from either me seeing people on twt talk abt it or people dming me. All i really know is up to dream's imprisonment and some stuff past that.

4. This is mostly aimed towards the "main" story, so stuff abt the badlands, eggpire, and whatnot are briefly mentioned.

anyways uh, i'll try to be brief but also include enough information to get why i feel the way i do on some stuff across

A. Performances Alright obviously these people are all streamers, so obviously they might not be the best actors, and hell no one is even asking that of them. However, when you're telling a story that's based on the audio with the visuals kinda coming to a second, it's gotta be pretty strong. I will say, some of the best actors in my opinion are Wilbur, Tommy, and Tubbo. I would include Ranboo but I never watched any of his story bits or story streams so I can't say much. Wilbur and Tommy are excellent in selling their character's emotions and feelings, when I watch the stream I don't feel like I'm watching an rp but an actual thought-out story yknow? And one of my favorite Tubbo examples was in the Hog Hunt video whenever Techno attacked him, he sounded genuinely afraid and I believed everything his character was feeling.

However, unfortunately, not everyone is gonna be that good. And I'm gonna say it; Dream and Techno have to be the worst out of the entire cast. I understand Techno's whole character is this monotoned badass, however, when really emotional moments hit I feel like he never lets that fall, and a lot of intense moments just ring hollow. And I'm sorry but Dream's attempts at being intimidating leave me laughing whenever I watch them. It feels like he watched that one scene from The Marriage with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johannson and said "Oh this is what good acting looks like! Just yelling." His whole "I don't give a FUCK about Spirit!" speech isn't as great as people keep making it out to be. And whenever he tries to act coy when being a villain it feels like a guy reading the script for the first time, a bit like he's trying too hard. I have more problems with his character but his portrayal certainly doesn't help.

Everyone else is fine, and I don't feel strongly either way about a lot of them.

B. The "Lore" Okay first off, I can't be the only one who thinks it's silly that people are calling the dsmp's story "lore" when it's not, it's the fucking story. Lore indicates backstory to either the world or the characters, which a lot of the streams don't really pertain to. This is a really petty section but god it's a weird pet peeve of mine.

Other than the misusage of "lore" vs "story", the actual lore and world-building of the world are so lackluster that new elements can be introduced whenever and it often feels cluttered or not well thought out at all. And here's the thing, I feel like if the writers sat down just for a few minutes to establish world rules and general history, a lot of this could be solved! but so much is made up on the spot that it starts to feel like they're grabbing at straws to keep people invested, trying to reach that next high and intense story beat without actually earning it.

C. The Egg / Eggpire This is a pretty minor note since I was only invested in the Egg storyline for a little bit, but god it's so underused that it's almost embarrassing. Bad has provided this super interesting antagonistic force that's infecting the SMP, can control people, and who one of our main character is immune to, and it's just never used or even talked about again? Now I understand if he wanted to keep it to a side storyline only, however, to introduce this borderline eldritch creature and force within the world and then never have it dealt with is so weird.

D. The Writing Oh boy this is. kinda a big one. Now I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty obvious I have a bias for the Wilbur writing over the current team [that consisting of Dream, Quackity, and Tommy mostly]. I don't this his writing is perfect by any means, the characters constantly bringing up traitors got obnoxious after a while, and writing Hamilton but in Minecraft really isn't the modern Shakespeare or anything. However, I think his exploration of characters and plot progression was a lot more thought out and well planned, like he actually had two brain cells behind the story yknow? The current team I think fails to be as emotional or even impactful, things happened too fast and my god was everything drowned in angst for so long.

Don't get me wrong, you gotta have your characters face hardships to make them reach their goal believable, but some of the shit they put the characters through just felt like too much. From c!Tubbo's constant comparison to c!Schlatt [who btw, fucking ordered his death and kept him from his friends in a nation he felt trapped in] and on a side note, i kinda really fucking dislike the "c!Schlatt dad!!" au's or the au's where c!Tubbo inherits some of Schlatt's features, it would be like c!Tommy getting a c!Dream mask after his exile, it's feels so weird yet people eat that shit up for some reason.

But god, did c!Tommy get the brunt of it all and in retrospect after his final death, it kinda feels really fucking gross. Now obviously, I'm not trusting any of these people to write decent mental health representation, but c!Tommy's PTSD and how it was explored was just degrading. [Specifically the scene in that one Techno stream where he saw the final control room from the first war, and had a flashback / panic attack where he started calling out for c!Dream. I understand this is an actual thing people with PTSD will experience, but it felt so fucking stereotypical it got on my nerves. I actually had to close out of the stream because it made me feel sick, fiction shouldn't leave you feeling that way.] And don't get me started on how they basically reused the formula from the previous arc. [Problem introduced -> Tensions rise as things start to fall apart -> Big confrontation -> Exile -> Return from Exile -> Blowing up L'Manberg, again.]

And speaking of characters-

E. Character Arcs, or the lack of them In my genuine opinion, some of these characters' arcs are so disappointing. Especially c!Tommy's. I'm not one to believe that he was a "selfish" character or anything, however, his goals were simply set on his discs and maybe c!Tubbo, he didn't have much outside that. However, L'Manberg gave him something to care about, he gave up his discs for it and he fought for it tooth and nail, I think it taught him to open up to others and trust more. It was a great character arc for him to have, seeing him still fight even after his first exile alongside c!Wilbur, to return safely to the nation that he and his found family had built.

But then his second exile happened, and I feel like all of that was undone.

c!Tommy's exile genuinely pisses me off for so many reasons. It's not that characters can't have their low points after reaching a major change or feeling like they've "completed" their arcs or anything, but it's more of the fact that it seems like he's never going to heal that feels like a spit in the face, especially to people who might have had setbacks like that before. Progress isn't linear, sometimes things happen and you get knocked back down, it can take a while to get back up, but I don't think c!Tommy's character is ever going to be allowed to get back up. From c!Dream, who pretty much was a constant abuser in his life, killing him then reviving him, and his still fractured relationship with c!Tubbo, which by the way I have a had time believing they would still be friends after all that happened, it feels like he can never get a win and it's generally kinda a shit way to treat your characters who have been abused. Of course, not all abused characters are going to get happy endings, I'm not trying to dictate that they all should, but c!Tommy deserves one and the fact that it's so obscure feels shitty.

Side note: we still don't have a canon reason to give a shit abt the discs. Like I'm sorry but without some sorta connection to the MacGuffin why should we give a shit about him getting them other than "he wants them lol". Like hell, I would even accept the classic "they were the last gifts from his parents" or something, but we still don't have a reason.

c!Tubbo also lacks a fulfilling arc as well, from someone who started out as a yes man, he has progressed a bit into having his own interests first, but besides that sometimes his character makes me so. depressed. He's easily one of the most pushed around and hated characters within the story, all for being a kid who didn't know what to do and he's in the same vein as c!Tommy; these kids can't get a break. Also, his anti-violence beliefs morphing into the "lets kill c!Techno lol!" bit was so out of place and without proper build-up it was like. what. And now he's building nukes?? god c!Tubbo makes me so sad because he's kicked around constantly and never given a chance to grow.

Another small note, I also don't really enjoy c!Techno at all. Besides the previously stated reasons of lack of emotions when they're really needed, I find his character to be weirdly pretentious. He talks as if he's constantly been betrayed and hurt but I personally, don't see it? Like, I think one of the main examples was the Pogtopia vs. Manberg war, yknow he wanted to end the government but they just reinstated it after they won = c!Techno upset. But this doesn't make sense to me because why did he think otherwise? The entire time c!Tommy had talked about taking back their nation and starting again, so the fact that c!Techno suddenly thought there would be a sudden change is, to put it bluntly, kinda fucking stupid. I don't want to say that he "plays the victim" or anything because that feels a bit harsh, but his character feels so far up his own ass that I can't enjoy him.

I have a major grip with c!Dream as well, but that's getting it's own fucking section.

F. L'Manberg This is a quick note before we get into the, forgive me for this, endgame, of this entire rant, since the next two sections are tied together. But god, L'Manberg makes me upset because it feels like they gave up on it.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that it is supposed to be c!Wilbur's "unfinished symphony", the thing that destroyed a once charismatic and widely loved man, his attempt at power that utterly ruined him. But the fact that it just got blown up in the end after everything and left to rot felt like such a waste of time. From the first war, to Pogtopia, to even c!Tommy's exile, it all felt fucking worthless in the end, and the story is actively closer to how it was when it started now more than ever. I wished it was actually allowed to exist and continue to be a peaceful place in what is a chaotic world, but no it was just snuffed out because why dedicate to this concept of finding others you can band together with and feel safe. fuck that noise apparently?

G. The Villains Now villain-wise, I'm only talking about c!Dream [during the first war], c!Schlatt, and c!Wilbur. And believe it or not, this is actually mostly positive.

Now I'm not gonna lie, c!Dream as a staring antagonist wasn't bad actually, he posed a genuine and threatening opposition to L'Manberg, even if we didn't know his real intentions or motivations as to why he was against it. He's lucky in this sense because he didn't have to be good, he had to be passable. If anything, he felt more like an anti-hero than a tyrant or traditional villain, and my god do I wish he kept this theme going forward.

Now quick disclaimer, I don't like JSchlatt as much as the next guy, he's an adult man who should know better than to joke about some sensitive topics and act the way that he does. But the one thing I'll ever give him is that damn, was he a good actor for his character.

Now here's the thing, c!Schlatt wasn't particularly deep at all. He had no real motivations behind his exile of c!Wilbur and c!Tommy other than getting competition out of the way, had no reason to act the way that he did and yknow? that's fine. The reason why he worked was from his performance alone, he was actually intimidating. When he came onto the stream and was doing his typical bad guy stuff, it was actually intense to see what he would do. Whenever he would almost catch c!Tommy back in Manberg, whenever he would begin to pressure c!Tubbo, it put you on the edge of your seat and it felt like everything would change at the drop of a pen. He's a villain to be a villain, and this works out because he's just charismatic and well put together enough to make it interesting, even without the backstory or motives.

c!Wilbur however, is much more tragic, and the best villain of the story. He essentially was the "mentor turned evil" trope and it felt terrible watching him descend into madness, unable to trust barely anyone except for c!Techno and c!Tommy. Hell, in the end I think he still cared about them both, despite losing everything. Sure, he blew up L'Manberg, but there was still a smidge of the old c!Wilbur in there made everything he did feel melancholic. His death at the hands of his father after achieving his final wish was chilling, and something I still think about.

Until yknow, Ghostbur came back way too soon to let people feel his loss as a character within that world. And then he got revived, pretty much-undoing everything that moment meant for his character lol.

And then there's the worst one:

H. Dream. I'm going to be completely honest, c!Dream is one of the main reasons why I dislike the current dsmp stuff so much. Outside of his actions as a person, the way Dream decided to write his character as this overpowered madman of the dsmp really just. destroyed any intrigue that he could've had. Perhaps this is from my growing dislike towards him, manifesting into a bias towards his character, but god I cannot fathom why people try to insist he's interesting when he has as much depth as a fucking puddle.

And here's the thing, I'm not even entirely against c!Dream being a villain, hell I think he would've been great as an anti-hero if anything. Make him sympathetic but not through c!George to get your precious "DNF" points or anything, but show him actually caring about the people within the dsmp, including c!Tommy and c!Tubbo. This would make his rival status with them just a bit more complicated, sure they're enemies, however, he doesn't want to hurt or kill them, and there's still a level of friendship there that keeps them bonded when things get super bad. This could've been super interesting to see, the first villain of the story receiving a sorta redemption arc then descending into madness as he started to fixate on being a god. This is all how I feel personally, but god do I feel like it would've been better than his current character, and hell would've worked with how he was during the Pogtopia arc, before the war that is. I'm not trying to tell Dream how to write his own character, but there are so many other ways he could've done the madman seeking to become god rather then. whatever the hell we got.

Because instead, we got this power-mad asshole who does things... because he can? And that's one of my major issues: he tries to surround his character in mystery to make him "intriguing" but it's kinda like c!Techno, it comes off as pretentious. Not only that, but you cannot keep waving around this mystery of a backstory without ever actually revealing it. I know the story isn't over, but c!Dream is effectively at his lowest point, now would be the time to reveal his backstory. But no just keep it in the dark and keep everyone guessing, that's totally fun and not at all tiring and annoying. (sarcasm, if anyone needs it)

And back to his performance, he doesn't sell this aloof, cynical and strategic warrior that has perfected the blade or some shit, he comes off as some angry guy yelling on reddit. which i don't need to tell you, isn't intimidating. It feels like he's trying to have c!Schlatt's intimidation combined with c!Wilbur's depth, but instead he's like a little brother who's trying to hard to mimic his older brother and is kinda embarrassing himself.

but other then that i dont feel too strongly abt the dsmp lol

but seriously, these are the main complaints I have abt the story tbh, I could probably talk about more but I wont because man. this is probably gonna get me in trouble if any of the hyper-dsmp fans actually read it.

[prismadog]

I kinda had a suggestion for your au,

So if you don't want to read it, this is your time to delete this ask,

But yeah, maybe Xornoth hasn't been completely corrupted when Scott's people sends them to the nether

As in like, he is definitely very corrupted and evil, but it's not too late for him to become human again

And then [insert something involving Shrub] happens and he is presented the choice of becoming human again and unlocking all the power of exor, at the cost of turning away from his humanity forever

why wouldn't I want to read a suggestion? I love talking to people! and I'd love to hear any feedback, comments, or suggestions!

ooh...I love this idea so much already!

I haven't thought too much about the end game yet but I have thought a bit about pre-exile Xornoth and it's pretty much what you said: maybe they're not fully corrupted and there's a chance for him to return to his former self.

EDIT: this is a quick message from after typing out the below post. I somehow ended up coming up with an end game, idk how that happened but it did. it's not exactly like you suggested but I hope it satisfies well enough. I really loved your ask btw.

also, this is fairly long so I'm putting a "keep reading line below". I think I might have also sort of written a story here? like, I meant for this to be just a little response but...it's not. it's practically a story for how things will go down. obviously, it'll need work, but it's a start!

.

pre-exile chance

my thoughts: there was one moment when Xornoth really questioned their actions, questioned their blind faith to Exor, questioned how they became a monster when all they wanted was to be the beloved hero that their brother Alinar is.

that moment, it was when they were banished from their home, but before they were exiled to the Nether. the people wanted them gone and they turned to their brother for help, they wanted Alinar to keep the people from banishing them. the moment where Xornoth questioned everything was when Alinar turned his back on them.

they moved to the caves and questioned every single little thing they've ever done - where had they gone wrong? why wasn't Alinar proud of him? maybe...maybe everything they were doing wasn't so good after all.

I believe that if when Alinar had found his brother again, if he had asked Aeor for aid in saving his brother instead of banishing them for good, there would have been a chance for Xornoth to return to his former self. but no, Alinar had to go and remove that chance entirely from the equation and exile his brother in the Nether.

* I'm using the Clash of the Great Stags as reference for that part above. I'm leaving Conal & Alinar's canon story as history for the AU versions, though, there might be a tweak or two in the future, who knows?

but. after reading your suggestion and having a good long think about this...maybe there is still a chance, even after Alinar turned his back on his brother.

so...I'ma gonna hash things out here.

.

hash out chance

we the fans know that there's going to be some form of "final battle" between the rulers and Xornoth - the same will be true for the AU as well. it'll be Xornoth, Sausage, Joey, and Shrub against everyone else - though, for Shrub, she doesn't want to fight, she doesn't want to see anyone get hurt, she just wants everyone to get along. but she knows that no matter what she does, everyone will end up at the final battle, ready for war.

but before that, there's a lot of moments where, like in canon, everyone is trying to find a cure for the corruption plaguing their lands. Shrub is no different, except, she pushes more towards a cure for people, for the demon themself.

Katherine, Scott, and Gem are more than willing to help her find a cure - they don't really know why Shrub is so insistent on curing the demon, she only ever vaguely tells them her reasons, but they're still going to help her because they're her friends.

during this, Scott will talk to Aeor, wondering if there is a way to cure the corruption at its source - the demon - without shedding any more blood.

Aeor, I know he's supposed to be a good god, believing in peace and equality - and he is a good god, but...I don't think he would want to resolve things between him and Exor peacefully. in the story I linked, he pretty much jumped right into a fight with Exor without hesitation

so, that being said, I don't think things would be any different even if his champion was looking for peaceful solutions. I believe Aeor would want Scott to take up arms against Xornoth and fight for him, to end the corruption once and for all.

Scott would be reluctant of course, torn between his god's wishes and helping his friends. so, maybe he does both - he'll try to help his friends find a cure for the demon but he'll also prepare for the inevitable final battle.

Shrub and her friends work tirelessly trying to find a cure, making several different potions, and each one Shrub takes home with her and gives them to Xornoth. they're reluctant to take the potions but they'll do anything for their gnome, even if it means turning their back on their god and giving up all the power Exor gifted them.

so, Xornoth tries every different potion given to them, even though not a single one has any effect on them, until all options are completely eliminated and the rulers run out of ideas. at that point in time, there is no other choice except war - war between the gods, between their champions, between people who were all once friends but are now on opposing sides.

maybe this is where Shrub breaks completely, at the moment when the others give up. maybe she begs them to keep trying - just one more potion, that's all we need, the next one will be the right one, I just know it, please keep trying, please don't give up yet, we have to keeping trying.

they'll question her on why she wants the demon cured so badly, they'll question despite knowing that she's only going to dodge every question asked.

but this time. this time Shrub doesn't dodge. this time, she stops giving vague answers and she stops telling lies that leave her with a pit in her stomach. this time, she breaks. this time, she tells them the truth. this time, she tells them the story of her life, her connection to the demon and how Xornoth is like a father to her - tending to her injuries, telling her stories, teaching her so many things, but most of all, loving her unconditionally.

she begs their forgiveness for lying to them for so long, begs them to help her find a cure for the only family she's ever known, begs them to not give up yet.

the other rulers would obviously be shocked, some might walk away feeling hurt and betrayed, some might come to Shrub and accept her as the child of the monster that plagues their lands. those that do accept her, they comfort her and she comforts them. they might all keep trying to make a cure, despite how hopeless it seems - they've already failed so many times, what more can they do?

Xornoth would have the same thoughts - what more can the rulers do? everything they tried, every potion made, has failed and it's just going to be more of the same. so, they make a decision, the demon seals their fate, the demon makes the call for war.

they go into the final battle reluctantly, knowing that there's only one true way to cure them and wishing that it didn't have to be with their death. they go into that battle hoping their little Shrub - their sweet, kind girl who showed them a better way of living - will be okay when they're gone. they know that her friends will be there for her so she should be okay, she can survive.

the two sides face off. no one wants to fight. Shrub, though she stands on the side of the rulers, is torn between her friends and her family. everyone there knows that the speeches given by the rulers of the Overworld are a poor attempt at staving off the inevitable.

Xornoth wants to be the one to throw the first punch, to get the ball rolling, get this fight done and over with, but they see their gnome, their beloved child, staring at them from across the battlefield, and she's crying. the battle hasn't even started and yet, she's mourning their death.

they don't attack. they stay their hand. they stand down. they move forward, hands up and open, free of any weapon, and walk gladly towards their demise. no one moves, all are still as the demon approaches, the usual sinister grin replaced by a grimace of heartache.

the demon stops before them, before their little Shrub and before the elf that looks so much like the brother they lost. Xornoth kneels at their feet, they say their parting words of love to their gnome, then they bow their head and tell Aeor's Champion to make it a quick death and please, if you could do me one favor, please don't let Shrub watch, please don't let her be here.

Shrub tries to go to her father's side, tries to beg them not to do this - there's still time, we can still find a way, please don't do this, please don't give up. Katherine and Gem hold her, embrace her in a way that her eyes are shielded from the bloodshed that's soon to come. they look to Scott, he's the one with the powers of a god that can rival the demon's darkness.

Scott is shaking where he stands but it's not from fear. he stands before the demon, above the monster that's terrorized his friends, and in his hands is the weapon that will strike the final blow and end everything. he had thought for a long time that Alinar was right in his actions, following the path Aeor laid out before him, banishing the only family he had to another world.

but standing here, knowing what he knows now about his friend Shrub, what he knows about himself as Aeor's Champion and about his past life as Alinar - he knows that Alinar made the wrong choice, he knows that there is a better way.

Scott, knowing that his next action is going to displease his god, drops the blessed weapon given to him and says - No. he kneels before the monster and says - You will not die today. he embraces the brother he never knew and says - We will find a cure.

this is where Aeor has a choice to make - enact justice on the crimes committed by Exor - or forgive his sins.

the Stag God follows his Champion's lead and chooses forgiveness. he stands before his own brother and chooses to end the war they've fought for eons.

with this, the corruption dies around them and Conal is freed. the demon melts away and an elf emerges from its remains. Conal embraces their brother come back to life and relishes in the life he's been gifted.

Shrub breaks free from her friends and practically crushes her family - both her father and Scott - with an embrace of her own. she cries enough tears for the both of them, though, Conal comes pretty close to out-crying their child.

and with that, the war is over, the demon is defeated, and the Overworld can live in peace once again.

[gay-impressionist]

Bookworm ask

thanks @pia-writes-things ^^

how many books are too many books in a series ? i don't really read series so i don't have an opinion on this

how do you feel about cliffhangers ? as long as it's inside the story (ie chapter from chapter), i absolutely love them. but it usually frustrates me when a book doesn't "end"

hardback or paperback ? paperback because hardback pretty much doesn't exist in France ! except for big fancy books like photography books or whatever.

but we do have different types of paperbacks and as i'm a rich bitch who loves original covers with fancy textures, i prefer brochés over poches (but they're great as well don't get me wrong)

least favorite book ? Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prevost. idk if it's my least favorite but i remember hating reading it for school and wanting to throw it at the characters' faces

love triangles, yes or no ? if it's to build up a poly relationship then hell yeah 😏 (which is why i need to read @xiranjayzhao's Iron Widow). apart from that, they mostly annoy me tbh. i think love triangles could be great but they're usually so UGH

the most recent book you just couldn’t finish ? Jane Fonda's What Can I Do?: The Truth About Climate Change and How to Fix It. I love her but this is really not my kind of book. I thought it would be more autobiographical but nope so I found it boring af

a book you’re currently reading ? La vie interrompue de Sergueï Alexandrivitch Esenine by Jean de Boishue, about the life of a well-known russian poet who commitied suicide in 1925 (but did he? 👀)

oldest book you’ve read ? oldest? well i couldn't say for sure but I guess the play Le Cid by Corneille since it's from 1637 (btw it's wild that we study such old books??? i feel so grateful that we have the opportunity to dive into the minds of people from centuries ago. and to realize how relatable they can still be)

newest book you’ve read ? I guess La carte postale by Anne Berest. the author recounts her research about her grandmother's life and family (ie. exiled russian jews) and her journey to find out who sent her family a postcard with the names of four relatives who died in concentration camps.

favourite author ? i don't really have one but if i had to choose, it'd be Claire Mazard. she's a french children/YA author who i discovered in middle school and i still buy her books, especially her Comissaire Raczynski series which has a special place in my heart (and the main character lives on a narrow boat in eastern paris and owns a bunny??? my dream life.)

buying books or borrowing books ? buying books because i like to own books 😅 i can even think of two times where i borrowed a book and loved it so much that i ended up buying it haha (but i don't mind buying second hand books !)

i used to go to the library a lot though ! in 9th grade i went like. every week to borrow anthologies of 60s marvel comics

a book you dislike that everyone else seems to love ? HARRY POTTER

bookmarks or dog ears ? bookmarks because i'm the kind of person who's books look like they've never been opened (i even bought a handmade protective pouch so they don't get damaged in my bag! totally recommend the shop btw)

a book you can always reread ? Une arme dans la tête by Claire Mazard. probably the book i've re-read the most

can you read while listening to music ? absolutely ! i do everything while listening to music

one pov or multiple povs ? i like both :) but i prefer if there's a narrator, i don't like first person pov

do you read a book in one sitting or over multiple days ? both ! sometimes i will read a whole book in one seating, not moving from my spot for several hours, sometimes it'll take me months. it depends on my mood/energy and how i manage my time

who do you tag ? @white-caged-bird @larosezen @wolfsnape @maikanna @tonio-thegatto

[ryuichirou]

Out of all the snk shipping fandoms, which one do you think is the best/most wholesome? And which one is the worst/most toxic? Reminder that we’re talking about fandoms here and not ships (btw even tho I hate ereri I can’t help but love your art about it, it’s just amazing and hilarious, keep it up!)

Interesting question! As you might know, we don’t consider ourselves a part of any shipping fandom (or any fandom in general), so we can only talk about how we (and people we know) were treated by them. There won’t be much of an “inside” experience, because well we’re not “inside” any of these. And a lot of it is “people who ship X tend to shit on Ereri absolutely unprovoked at every chance they get, so we really don’t like them” lol

Obligatory and very obvious: loving a certain ship doesn’t make you a good/bad person, and there are a lot of wholesome people in any shipping fandom: we’ve met a lot of very kind, helpful and open-minded folks during these two years. So if any of you read this and think “oh, I ship X too, and this doesn’t sound like me or my friends at all”, chances are I’m not talking about you. But there’s always a possibility that peeps that you interact with in your shipping circle are pretty nice to you, but super mega shitty to others. Whether you ignore this type of behavior or not is up to you. I just want all the harassment to stop, because frankly we’re very tired.

As someone who ships Ereri, we’ve experienced and witnessed a lot lol especially on twitter. The most vocal ones would be Levihan, Eremin and Eruri fandoms I suppose.

With Eruri fandom, we’ve heard a lot of stories about some people bashing Zevi and attacking Zevi shippers + we’ve witnessed the great Eruri vs Ereri war, so of course we know how pretentious and rude they can get. There are people who felt like they were exiled from the Eruri shipping fandom for either shipping any other character with Levi or just seeing characters and their relationships differently (i.e. not seeing them as wholesome husbands or preferring Levi to bottom which is apparently a sin for Eruris too sometimes nowadays???). Although it’s important to mention that I feel like Eruri shippers know how shitty the anti stuff is better than a lot of other communities, so I don’t feel the same aggression from them at this moment.

If we’re talking twitter, based on what we and our friends have experienced, the most aggressive groups seem to be Levihan and Eremins. When I go through my blocking sprees and block everyone who hates on Ereri or Zevi or Eruri (well, mostly Ereri), ~88% of the accs happen to be either Eremin or Levihans. When someone writes a long-ass thread to attack a content creator, it always happen to be either of these two, and I have no idea why. A lot of them are also minors who act like the way they harass others is perfectly justified. I legit see stuff like “besties let’s spoil snk for ereris” and “let’s bully ereris and tell them to kys” every time I search ereri on twitter. And I’ve seen enough of Levihan folks saying shit like Eruris being criminals because Erwin is basically a nazi + spreading misinformation about popular artists just out of spite… extremely annoying stuff. Actually, I think you’re the first LH person who’s been kind to us lol

Also don’t get the idea that there are no toxic people in the Ereri community, because this simply isn’t true. Like I said, every fandom has its own clique and a certain level of toxicity, and it’s stupidly easy to be the “wrong one” here, at least it used to when we just started posting. People who’ve been following us for a while know that we used to get a lot of crap for making Levi a bottom on all of our drawings and not wanting characters to switch. It’s such a stupid reason to get harassed, who the fuck cares whether a character tops or bottoms in a drawing??? And yet we’ve been told that a lot of harassment has happened because of it + experienced it ourselves. I think the only reason we don’t get harassed for it very often nowadays is because of a luxury of being a kind of a big art account. It’s much easier to attack smaller ones who don’t have any power or connections, especially when they’re insecure and want to fit in with the fandom.

Now for some reason some people now think that we (me and Katsu) block people for loving top!Levi or bottom!Eren… this isn’t true. I admit that I can get petty when I block people, but it’s always about their attitude and never about their preferred ship or character’s position. Whether you like something or not is none of our business, and we never criticized what others like, so it’s kind of offensive that people think we’d act that way towards others when we ourselves experienced the same treatment for making Levi bottom every single time. It’s childish and disgusting, and I really don’t want people to think of us as someone who approves of this behavior.

Top!Levi stans act pretty toxic too sometimes, not only in Ereri (well Riren) community. The majority of comments about our Levi being ooc, looking like a child and being too horny and blushy we got from them, they get straight-up OFFENDED by our Levi. We’ve talked about how people are afraid to make Levi into anything but a serious and stoic manly man a lot in the past… And this is the only reason we get defensive when people ask us about top!Levi. But still, we never block anyone because of their preferences. This assumption is very... idk yikes, and more disgusting is the fact that people very easily jump to this conclusion, like... seriously? That’s what you think about us? So much for “uwu our supportive shipping fandom community”.

Shippers of het ships can get quite toxic too, especially after the finale. Some of Eremika peeps got wild, and you’ve probably seen our replies about it and that one Anon who got very upset with our reply about Eren. For some reason, when you post something het-related, there’s always going to be a person saying shit like “NAAAH HE LOVES X, NOT HER”, as if any of this matters. They are the type to whine about Eruri shippers ruining beautiful friendship between Erwin and Levi with their homo sexy stuff. They’re often disrespectful: shit in your comments, belittle other ships with comments like “well THIS is much better than X”, and overall make the experience very uncomfortable. For some reason they just can’t enjoy their darn ships without shitting on others.

Anyhow. I know this reply sounds like “everyone’s a shithead” lol, but once again: sadly, there are nasty people in almost every shipping circle, this is unavoidable. And it’s easier to mark them as “shippers of X”, because they often act like a clique or high school bullies or something. And even though there are a lot of very nice people, I tend not to associate them with any shipping community: it’s just a pleasant and cool person who we had fun communicating with, and who just happen to ship X, Y and Z.

Maybe… it’s fair to say that we dislike fandoms, but talking to people who are kind, polite and excited about the same things that we are, is always great.

Siiigh, hope I didn’t bore you to death with this reply. Thank you for giving us an opportunity to talk about this! And for enjoying my art and being open-minded :)