#the flag is supposed to be like a veil

[thisblogisforprivatenotes]

Reading about fucking conservative freaks using "judeo-christian values" to justify their bigoted policies towards queer kids in the education system

[i-cant-sing]

Baldwin's so damn sweet i keep forgetting that he's supposed to be a yandere lol

Can't wait to see what salauddin is like as a yandere though

Thank u, buff hellokitty

he is such a cutie patootie because you know that niqaab where he embroidered a flower on the sleeve for reader? Guess what else he embroidered in? His name on the inside of the left breast because this way he's closest to your heart.

Honestly Baldwin is such a green flag, i mean this man wakes up and as soon as he's seen you, he gives gold every day to be distributed as charity because he doesnt want you to fall victim to any evil eye (yknow, when people look at you in envy) because in his eyes, youre just too damn perfect.

Did I mention that he needs to have at least 1, if not ALL meals of the day with you? And to melt your heart a little more, Baldwin ensures that you take the first and the last bite of his meal (ofc from his hands. He likes to feed you)

As for Salauddin, well he hosts you two a lot at his place and he pretends to be so disgusted at the way Baldwin looks at u with goo goo eyes, but boy is the Kurdish man JEALOUS because ayo why tf is Baldwin looking so fucking content whenever he's with you? Why does Baldwin's smile and eyes remind him of cool breeze in summer when he looks at you? You cannot possible be that beautiful. But how would Salauddin know for sure because you want to always wear a niqaab and hide your face because "Islam and respecting his traditions" but he knows for a fact that you dont adhere to veiling yourself when you return to jerusalem. His spies told him, and on his inquiry they did tell him that youre not that pretty.

Maybe its the way you talk. You do have the gift of gab and you do tell the most interesting stories. And he does enjoy listening to your religious views too. Youre not- not as conservative as someone would be when they possess such a vast amount of Islamic knowledge- almost as much as his scholars and sufis. No, youre quite... modern, open minded. You really do believe in their being "two sides of the coin". And youre quiet the chess player too and from his last game, it was clear that you werent playing the game... you were playing him.

He doesnt know how, but he for some reason Salauddin knows that you will hurt Baldwin very deeply one day. And it scares him a bit because he doesnt know how the young king will react. He's seen Baldwin on the battlefield, he's seen the way he treats traitors, you do not want to get on his bad side.

Meanwhile Baldwin is just trying to convince Salauddin to be Imam (basically a muslim pastor?) to officiate their nikkah and Salauddin is just telling him shut up.

[skitskatdacat63]

"From triumph to failure is but one step."

+ the usual

I love when I can include paper sketches in the process gif. It's very satisfying to see it progress from a very vague imagining of what was in my head to the finished project.

+ version without text

My favorite sketch was definitely the one where I actually put in words what it's supposed to convey. I wouldn't usually write that down, cause it's all in my head, but it was useful to do so when sending it to other people. I'll go into it more but here it is just as a teaser:

Lmao first of all, I like how I was teasing "Spanish GP" art, but as per usual, it's just thinly veiled au art. IM SORRY, I'M NOT INTERESTED IN MAKING GENERAL POSTERS, THAT'S NO FUN! So instead you will get weirdly relevant matador au art. I like it a lot though, I was really shocked I was able to draw 3 different Fernandos, I mean even drawing one figure takes a lot out of me, but this was weirdly easy?? I think it's just the effect of not being burnt out anymore, and actually being able to draw with more ease makes me feel like a god.

Okay, so the text: "Fight or Flight?" I'll be honest, I don't even remember why I chose it, literally came to me in a vision 😭 But I think it's fitting with the narrative of this piece. Is it better to keep going on, keep fighting, or better to finally give up, and flee? Not that I even remotely think he should give up, but I feel like sometimes I can sense him pondering this very question. That was the big fear before he announced that he re-signed. Keep fighting and maybe, just maybe, you'll get the chance to finally go up against the bull again. Or accept it's an uphill battle and the fighting is going to keep getting more and more strenous, and maybe it's time to put down the sword. SORRY THIS IS SO ANGSTY FOR WHAT'S SUPPOSED TO BE "yayyyy home race!!!" Please forgive me <3

I. Renault

At some point, someone pointed out to me that I had drawn all other iterations of matador Fernando with a sword, except for Renault Fernando, and that ended up feeling very poignant to me. In a bull fighting match, they really only pull out the sword at the last minute to deliver the killing blow. So I think it's important to never draw this Fernando with a sword, because it shows the unfailing confidence and stability he has at that point. He only needs to pull out the sword at the end, as a formality almost, there's no reason for him to keep his guard up at all times.

II. Ferrari

Meanwhile this Fernando, he's considering his sword like he hasn't had to in the past. He's checking the sharpness, making sure in advance he can do what needs to be done. He's on guard, he feels like he needs to keep up his defenses at all times because he doesn't have that same amount of trust and stability anymore. He knows though he will be up against the (red) bull, at least that's never in question. At least there's the assurance he'll get the chance to fight.

III. Aston

Oh, Aston Fernando....He doesn't know whether to take up his sword or finally put it down for the last time. While at least Ferrari Fernando knows he's on constant guard against the bull, this Fernando doesn't even have that assurance anymore. He feels like he can never put down the sword, just in case he gets the chance to strike the killing blow on the bull, which feels like it's growing more and more unlikely.

Spanish flag: ? Lmao this was meant to be something to celebrate Fernando's home race and it turned very introspective whoops. Also got the Napoleon quote in there hahaha, can't escape it!! Shame though there is no French gp anymore, if so I'd probably draw an unhinged thing for it :,(

[thatlonelycactus]

Somehow the way David and Michael acted The Kiss™️ makes it both more and less painful. This is gonna sound weird but like- by no account is it what one would describe as “romantic”. In fact, “romantic” is the last thing I would describe it as.

In no known universe was that kiss “romantic” because that’s not what it was supposed to be.

It was supposed to be earth shattering, selfish, hopeless, hopeful. It was a last hidden, desperate “I love you”, it was searching for something that neither of them could find, a final plea. It’s savage and selfish and brewing with love and war and peace and hatred. It was saying “goodbye” to what could have been forever. It was a kiss trying to express the same amount of emotion that had stayed inside each of them for 6000 years. It was a kiss doing the job of millions of other kisses.

Maybe if it was a smaller, quieter kiss, we would have wondering what could have been. Maybe we would have cried out just as much because what else has their relationship been aside from a few, well veiled remarks and actions? Maybe we could have convinced ourselves that that was all they needed for now.

But for the first time in millennia, they went big. Crowley went for it. Because Aziraphale was trying to make a change- so why shouldn’t he? Why should he just throw it out there because it might be his last chance- their last chance. Because, in 6000 years the closest he had come to saying those three words were just small, inconspicuous remarks of friendship. Why should he raise the white flag now, when they had come so close to having a life together?

Because, after an eternity of small, quiet “I love you”s, why should their final try at saying it aloud to each other be quiet as well?

[yslende]

cabin 16 ー children of nemesis headcanons

| author's note: yeah i only really made this because i figured out that nemesis would be my godly parent. quite a few of these are based on me. probably not going to do any more of these, if only because i'd be unable to emulate this amount of detail again.

vindictive. do i even need to say it.

ambidextrous. the lot of them.

all of them have stares that seem like they look right through you. 

insane resting bitch and poker faces. nothing shows unless they explicitly let it.

⬆️ however, any emotion they feel, they feel it STRONGLY. happiness? more like euphoria. sadness? more like depression. annoyance? more like fury. (the furies *wish* they had what nemesis kids do.)

they're the type of people to be fashionable by default because all they wear is black, red, and Leather Jacket (which is a color in itself.)

⬆️ despite this, they don't mind the camp shirts, if only because everyone else is wearing them.

three options: read rulebooks for fun, be the reason rules are created, or both. 

they treat death like a trip to the dentist: an unpleasant inevitability. 

unshakeable loyalty. once you've got a nemesis demigod on your side, they'll follow you to tartarus and back.

⬆️ likewise, if you harm them or their friends, there is nothing they won't do to get back at you. nothing is beneath them. be terrified.

natural skeptics. nemesis is a daughter of nyx, so some of her kids have likely been to the underworld. they've met shades. even so, they'll passionately argue against the existence of ghosts.

weirdly good memory. of course, they remember every insult said about them, but they also remember how many arrows you shot into the woods at archery practice last tuesday. especially good with remembering strings of letters or numbers.

⬆️ they're some of the few demigods that can do math. they do it for fun, that's how bad it is.

really good at strategy, but often people don't go along with their plans. see: nothing is beneath them.

geese fucking love them. a common sight at chb is watching geese try and bite everyone's faces off, then trip over themselves to be pet like drugged cats by the nemesis cabin.

all super good at board games, especially chess, settlers of catan, and monopoly. uno skills are 50/50.

they're the type of people to save every deus ex machina item in a video game for later, and then proceed to never use them.

great sense of balance. they're great at tightropes, and can do triple pirouettes (a type of turn in ballet) easily. they like perching in trees and watching during capture the flag if they're not fighting.

if you're unwilling to debate or close-minded, be prepared to find spiders in your underwear. *especially* if you're an athena kid.

⬆️ probably have a tarantula as a cabin pet, named 'houdini,' because he keeps ""escaping"" to the athena cabin. it's super unfortunate like that.

⬆️ they also probably have a favorite wild goose, too. 

there are no extroverted nemesis demigods. if one seems like an extrovert, they're either in denial or masking super hard.

they're the type of people to do all of the group project work alone. they have no patience for anyone who can't pull their weight.

each have their own methods of organization. if you touch their stuff you will die. they always know.

can't sleep without the ends of their blankets tucked underneath the mattress and the sides perfectly even. it just feels off to them.

socialism. communism. literally anything except pro-capitalist. look at me in my face and tell me i'm wrong.

optimistic pessimism? very 'the glass is half-empty, but at least there's something in there' vibes.

about as blunt as a club. if you want the brutal truth, ask a nemesis kid about your swordsmanship. you'll come out crying.

they take things very literally. jokes often fly over their head, but they catch sarcasm and veiled insults faster than hermes runs. 

always take things seriously. even things that aren't supposed to be taken seriously. like 'packing rocks in snowballs' seriously.

all of them despise bullies with all of their being. there isn't a nemesis demigod who won't introduce their knee to a bully's crotch for fun. hades, they'll *pay* you to let them do it.

their fighting skills and athleticism increase when serving justice, revenge, or vengeance. like normally, they're really good, but then someone steals their marshmallow or something and then they get REALLY good.

like to put extra effort into scaring and prank new campers before being nice to them. trial by fire, i guess.

however, after the inital hazing, they protect unclaimed kids with their lives. again, see: nothing is beneath them.

want to know everything, including but not limited to why you didn't put any grapes on your plate to every single reason why your godly parent acts the way they do towards you. once again, see: nothing is beneath them.

fight best with either a sword or a shield, but they're especially good with both. 

(sidenote: their favorite swords would probably be executioners' swords, which imo are super fucking cool. their favorite shields would probably be aspis (roman: clipeus) but specifically the ones with faces or figures carved in them.)

nemesis isn't a super caring mother tbh. she punishes her children mercilessly if they do something wrong or malicious. however, likewise, she praises them lavishly whenever they complete a quest or do something that demonstrates the power of cabin 16.

⬆️ her kids either have huge problems with authority or zero problems with authority. most swing wildly between the two, but that's what balance means, right?

friends with cabins: 1, 5, 8, 13, 15, 20

chill with cabins: 3, 9, 12, 14, 17, 19

does not get along with cabins: 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 18

[ruinofchimera]

People forget or are too young to remember that when Order of the Phoenix first came out, everyone thought Lily was exceptional because she was coming to the defence of some random slimy unpopular kid she didn’t know just because it was the right thing to do. Nobody theorized for a second back in 2003 that they were friends, let alone best friends, because they DIDN’T ACT LIKE IT. She pays no attention to him in that scene because she’s so dialled in to James even at his worst. People theorized that Snape had a distant crush. Obviously JKR wrote it that way in Book 5 to conceal the Snily connection because it needed to be a big mystery reveal in book 7, but that means she needed to make Lily’s behavior - the flicker of amusement and the bantering with James while her friend is assaulted - in the Book 5 scene work retrospectively from a characterization standpoint in The Prince’s Tale. And she makes it work by painting a picture of a shaky friendship that had turned toxic long before the Mudblood incident, and not just because of his Slytherin associations and the threat of the war. He doesn’t understand why she cares about her sister, she puts all the blame on him for them stealing Petunia’s letter. He minimizes the harm Mulciber does, she tells him that he’s supposed to show gratitude to his abuser for drawing the line at murder. We’re not meant to read it as this loving, warm, equal relationship that Snape fucked up in this one moment.

I won’t even bother to hide that your writing hooked me right away. I fervently crave insights from the time when the books were just coming out and people didn’t yet see the whole picture. I find red herring to be a rather delicious literary device, so it’s a pity that I can only imagine how the final twists of the series blew the minds of the audience. Unfortunately, I was still a child at the time, so my brain cells could not yet process the subtleties of the material. Therefore, my judgments were formed after multiple re-readings in adulthood, and by that time, I had been shamelessly robbed of the intrigue.

Many fanon trends take on deeper meaning after you lift the veil of how the material was initially perceived (being misled by the narrator until the very end and all). Taking this into account, it becomes clear where the claims of Lily’s heroism may have come from. Someone in a reblog of my previous post mentioned that even Harry, who held a grudge against Snape, didn’t find the display amusing in the slightest. On the contrary, he was terrified. So even if there was no evidence of Lily and Severus’s friendship to speak of at that time, Lily’s glorification is still dubious to me. But for some people that might be enough to plant the roots of her chivalrous nature.

I see it now. You explained incredibly well why people might have overlooked the red flags in Lily as a friend, given that they didn’t perceive her as more than a mere bystander during the incident. Unfortunately, though, I have very little faith that people still base their opinions on what they read many years ago. I mean, I reread the series just last winter, and I had already forgotten a lot of important details (for example, Lily trying to make Severus feel grateful that James had saved him). And some folk intervene in discussions about Harry Potter when the last time they touched the original material was more than a decade ago? Well, if they seriously rely on their—dare I say—ancient reading, it would be so absurd it would almost be funny. Why am I even surprised? Maybe I’m just jealous of their superior memory.

Whatever. Once again, your meta is a revelation to be reckoned with. I hadn't considered it from this angle before, my critical thinking is almost purring with an enjoyment.

[bomber-grl]

Flufftober 2024

Day 4: Ghost stories

Pairing(s): Leo Valdez x Gn!Reader

Mentions of alcohol

Whispers have been going around camp the last few days now that you and Leo have been back from Indiana just for the weekend.

You’ve only been able to hear a few words here and there before the people you were eavesdropping on noticed and quickly ran away.

Finally, you had enough and approached another camper, asking what was going on. An easy victim was quickly found in the Pegasus stables as it left no where to run.

At last you had the piece of information you had so desperately needed, plus you also understood why there was so much secrecy.

Initially everyone had been whispering on about ghosts and stuff, not that they were present as they were quickly found out to be just rumors.

Only that a new things had emerged from it, a “party” in the woods after curfew tomorrow, aka Saturday. Why it had to be kept secret was so obvious, the harpy’s and Chiron alike would have your heads (only the harpys, Chiron would just make your ears bleed) if they found out.

With this new information you quickly abandoned your place in the strawberry fields (despite them being horribly out of season) and made your way to the forgery to alert Leo that you were both going, just to listen to drama of course.

-

It was now after dark and you quietly and cautiously snuck out of your cabin (god forbid any of your siblings might’ve heard (if you had any))

You began going through the woods based on pure instinct because you were way too close to the others and a flashlight would’ve drawn way too much attention for comfort.

You could’ve sworn you heard a few twigs hear and there snapping not to far behind you. Still, you paid them no mind, if anything happened you could just apprehend whoever was there.

Finally you turned to your left, at this point just hoping that you’re close to the supposed “bonfire” that was going to happen. Let’s just say wandering in the dark alone was less than ideal.

“Boo!” from your left a figure suddenly shot out of a bush. It was embarrassing but you admittedly did get jumpscared.

“Ughh Leo!” You pushed his shoulder and ushered him out of the bush. His hair was all messy, presumably from hiding in the bush and you quickly took it upon yourself to get the twigs out.

He let out this weird little giggle and smirked, “you love me, just say it”

“Shut up and let’s go you dummy” you walked hand in hand with Leo further down the path and finally made it.

It was hard to see it at first with all the mist, charms, and illusions placed over it like a veil by the Hecate and Morpheus kids. They were really taking the extra precautions of not getting caught, especially since there was booze. (The Dionysus kid in the corner gave it away)

You two took a seat on a log (rather you sat and Leo rested his head on your lap), others were situated around and besides you just drinking away when Chiara, a child of Tyche began a tale.

When she cleared her throat and announced her topic of conversation, everyone went quiet.

Her eyebrows quirked up and began to move in an animated way. “Yknow supposedly the whole “ghost” and supernatural thing was dubbed just a rumor, but what happened to me just other day would prove that wrong.”

There was a sudden harsh wind and a shiver ran down your back, you should’ve brought a sweater. You also could’ve sworn you heard something to your distant left.

But, she continued, “there I was, it was after capture the flag and I had left some weaponry that I had only remembered to get once it got dark..”

She trailed off, the thought of monsters and such being around you in the dark was terrifying ironically enough.

Finally you snapped back for a moment, luckily she was still going on.

“And you know what I found?” She tried her best to make it spooky, and as much as you wish it didn’t, it was working.

“Let me guess, your mom?” Damian White and child of Nemesis who was sitting right besides her finally spoke his first retort of the night. Gosh it’s a wonder how they still haven’t gotten together yet. (Hinting at canon)

“It was obviously a rhetorical question Damian-“ “yea well why would you even be telling this tale if you’re so lucky?-“

Their conversation sort of trailed off but then it went silent when the sound of running was the only thing heard. And it was going straight at you guys.

Leo finally got up from his position on your lap and turned to you, sort of bunching up to be as close as possible to you. “Do you think it’s the ghost?” Despite him whispering that question, everyone else heard and began panicking.

The fact that you were all well equipped demigods seemed to have eluded you at the moment, you all shivered and stared into the abyss of darkness, awaiting your fate.

Slowly, a hoof then another and another and another emerged from said darkness, the bonfires light illuminating the being in front of you.

Chiron had been the one making the noise, and was also the one person who you had all been hiding from.

The funny thing was that he was in his pjs, he had obviously already been ready for bed and your little shenanigans (?) had ruined it.

“I-I thought there were charms up!” Somehow the Dionysus kid from earlier was suddenly sober and thinking the same thing you were.

Instead of the Hecate kid answering Chiron answered for her, “Mist is a great tool, not so great to use against a being that’s had enough time to see through it.”

With that your “party” was disbanded and you all went back to your cabins with hefty punishment in your futures.

There was really no way to run, especially with Chiron behind you all as you walked back to camp.

Still, it was funny seeing Leo shiver like a leaf the whole way back.

You brought your covers up and let out a breath, the day was over and you were best. This time around you were staying in bed and not sneaking off.

Except, maybe.. somehow you managed to sneak Leo in and had him there next to you all cuddled up. He was scared, you had to! (He wasn’t anymore)

You have better enjoyed that because the next morning was filled with punishment after punishment. Plus it was humiliating to be dogged on by the other campers, had to stop yourself from strangling someone the whole day.

[nekohime19]

Heart behind the lie # 62 : the Sunfires

Wukong and the team meet the Sunfires leader while Mac and Xiaobo meet some scavengers.

Xiaobo is now sure that Mac is insane.

The city's manor was clad in dark. It stood above all the other buildings. Drowning its vicinity in shadows. The city's flag was hung on the highest tower, it was pushed by the desert’s squalls, flaring like phoenixes’ wings. The guards escorting them stopped before an iron fence, they gestured towards Mei and Red Son, as if showing off important guests. 

“Those are esteemed fire users.” Huffed one of the guards escorting them. The soldiers guarding the fence flinched, they immediately allowed them to pass. None deigned to look at the rest of the team, as if they were of no importance, as if they were mere shadows following after the fire users. 

Sock, who was huddled under Wukong's teal veil, meowed disapprovingly. Wukong scratched under her chin. “I agree, they're not to be trusted.” Hummed the great sage. The manor was made of riches. They dived deeper in the serpentine corridors, walking on the blood-red carpets. The walls were filled with different paintings, all depicting the various leaders of the city's clan across time, or at least Wukong supposed so. The people depicted on the paintings hung on the left wall were all clad in gold, they had more or less the same eyes, two small creaks ignited by dirty brown pupils. They were most likely from the same bloodline. Leadership within a clan was often passed along by blood, so it wasn't uncommon. However, the people depicted on the painting hung on the right were vastly different, they had a softer look and long, smooth hair cascading on their shoulders. They were also clad in riches and proudly claimed the city’s sigil… Perhaps, this clan had a dual-leadership? It was less common but not unheard of. 

The guards escorted them to a lavish living room. They bowed and left with promises of fetching their leader, the great noted the singular used, so only one leader after all. Wukong eyed the two sofas facing each other, the only places where one could sit, it was fit for only four people. 

“What's up with this place and fire users?” Groaned Mei as she sat on one of the sofas. 

“Elitism based on magic is more frequent than we often think.” Hummed Red Son. As the son of a prominent clan, perhaps he had his fair share of encounters such as these. People always found a way to feel superior, it wasn't new. 

“That's why you two will do the talking.” Intervened Wukong as he put one hand on his hips and looked at the two fire users. 

“Why's that?” Asked his student with a tilted head. 

“Clearly, they're not even considering the rest of us. They're not even enough seats here for all of us and I even bet the other sofa is for the coming leader.” Pointed out Wukong as he nodded towards the two sofas. 

“Great. That's a great start.” Huffed Pigsy as he crossed his arms. 

“My fists can do the talking.” Chuckled Mei, visibly still upset about the previous interrogation. Just what kind of things did her interrogator say about Macaque to make her this mad? Not that Wukong was arguing. If anyone was talking crap about his moon he'd gladly beat them up. 

“I think we can all agree here that I will do the talking.” Corrected Red Son as he lowered Mei's fist. 

“You're no fun.” Huffed the dragon girl. 

Wukong wandered round the room, everything was made with utmost precision, even the furnitures looked like art pieces. The city's sigil was carved almost everywhere, with imagery of flames. Wukong snorted. Those people really liked showing off. He noticed incense burning in one corner of the room, so little that it was barely tainting the ambient air. Sock meowed, not liking the smell. “Yeah, it's suspicious. This type of incense is normally for funerals.” Hummed Wukong as he kissed his cat's fluffy head. He stopped his investigation when he heard people coming closer, he returned close to the others and stood behind the sofas. 

Two figures entered, accompanied by a flurry of guards that stood close to the only exit. They were cladded in velvet cloth that glimmered under the sunlight. One was a tall woman, built like a mountain and adorned with a wolf mask. The other was a thin man, his steps lighter and adorned with a fox mask. The woman leisurely sat on the empty sofa, the man hurried after her and sat at her side. They both had the same eyes. Thin creaks ignited by dirty brown pupils. They were most likely related. 

“We apologize for our lack of manners. Our manor is overwhelmed with the recent loss of our clan leader.” Hummed the woman, her voice as loud as thunder. Wukong raised an eyebrow. The leader was dead? Yet none was wearing funeral attires and the incense was so small it didn't even matter. Clearly, the previous leader wasn't well-loved. 

“So were you the leader's heir?” Asked Red Son. 

“Oh no, the Sunfires had a dual-leadership for decades, I am the other leader. You can call me Fang, and this is my son, Jaw-long.” The fox masked man quietly nodded at them. Wukong frowned. So he was right when he supposed this clan had a dual-leadership. “I was told you two were esteemed fire users? Some soldiers told me you arrived here with a shadow user, it is fortunate that you separated before he could bring troubles to you.”

Mei was about to jump on her feet but Red Son stopped her, he pressed on her shoulder and kept her seated. “I am Red Son of the Bulls, this Mei of the Dragons, we are searching for someone called the Jeweler, do you know where this person is?” 

Fang remained stoic, not betraying one hint of her inner feelings. Her son, however, flinched at the mention of the Jeweler, but he caught himself before he could reveal further. “I don't think I ever heard of this… Jeweler of yours.”

“That is unfortunate.” Replied Red Son. 

“Why don't you both and your… friends stay a bit longer. My son's wedding is coming soon, it'll be a delight to have esteemed fire users like yourselves here.” Hummed Fang as she crossed her legs. 

“Wedding?” Replied Red Son. 

“Indeed! I am getting married to Lady Wan, the most beautiful woman on ea-” His mother cut him with a sharp glare. Jaw-long stopped talking and remained quiet. But obsession was still burning brightly in his gaze. 

Fang cleared her throat, she rose and dusted herself off. “Unfortunately we still have much to do, the soldiers will accompany you to a guest room.” She didn't even wait for their answers and left, her son hurried after her shadows. 

The soldiers escorted them to another room, it was in a quiet corner of the manor, cut off from the rest. Once again, there were only two beds inside. 

“Their blatant discrimination is getting tiring.” Sighed Tang as he crossed his arms. Wukong couldn't agree more. The soldiers were still outside, surveilling them. They couldn't wander around as they pleased. 

“So now what?” Asked MK as he tested the beds' bounciness. 

“They're obviously hiding something.” Replied Pigsy. 

“I guess we have to wait and see for now.” Proposed Sandy. Wukong was about to refute him, he could transform into a butterfly and snoop around the manor. But he was cut by something rattling under their feet. One of the floorboards was moved to the side, revealing a passage underneath. A head full of curls popped out from the revealed hidden passage. 

“Lady Wan invites you all to go see her.” Informed the curly-head, the team looked at each other with surprise, they didn't expect that. They were still a bit hesitant. Following an unknown servant to God’s know where wasn't very wise. “If that can help you decide, Lady Wan has many names, but I believe people outside the desert call her the Jeweler.” Informed the servant. 

Oh well, that changed a number of things. 

***

Macaque sighed, he tugged his scarf higher, hiding his face. The sun's glare was particularly intense. It roasted him even when he wasn't exposing himself. He could feel his skin darkening even though it was hidden under layers of veils. Xiaobo was faring better than him. Perhaps because they were already used to the desert, they didn't seem to mind the heat as much as Macaque. They moved faster too. Macaque wondered if he shouldn't have taken all his weapons, they added weight to him and he wasn't used to it. As he thought this, Macaque heard something moving a few meters forward, he grabbed the lamb's collar and tugged them back. 

“Can I ask what's the fuck you're doing?” Asked Xiaobo, Macaque was holding them up by the collar, like a mother does with her kittens. The warrior coughed to hide his laughter. 

“Someone's ahead.” Whispered Macaque. He released the lamb and they slowly crawled forward, peeking from above the dune. A group of people were down there, all cladded in dirty scarfs, they were searching corpses frozen by the desert ruthless night. 

“Scavengers.” Hummed Xiaobo. “We should avoid them-” the lamb cut themselves when they saw Macaque pulling out his bow. “What are you doing?”

“Taking the first shot.” Hummed Macaque as he pulled on the string, a shadow arrow formed itself. 

“I just told you not to!?” Gasped Xiaobo, why was this monkey so battle-crazy! 

“They're gonna see us anyway and we can't go back to the bashes’ territory. Besides, they have water and we're gonna run out of water soon.” Hummed Macaque, he squinted, his eyes raking over the group of his scavengers. His breath slowed, his vision shrinked until it was focused on one particular spot. The arrow was light, almost ethereal, under the pads of his fingers. The string was pulled to the maximum. Macaque breathed in and let go of the arrow. It flew out of his grasp, grazing his cheek, and ran towards the group of scavengers. It passed through any obstacles, like a ghost, before tearing up their bag. 

The group’s food and drinks stumbled on the ground. They looked around, panicked. 

‘One of them got a gun!’ The voice echoed in Macaque's head, it sounded like his own voice. Macaque shuddered, he immediately shot another arrow, preventing the group from using their gun. The one who was holding the gun cried in pain, a bright red gash was on his palm. 

The scavengers looked around but they couldn't locate the threat, they all began to run away, leaving their teared up bag behind. Macaque waited until he was sure the group was far away. Then he hopped off the dune, slided on the steep and leisurely picked up the abandoned bag. 

“You see?” Hummed Macaque. Xiaobo followed after him and rolled their eyes. 

“Show off.” They said. “You could have asked them for water.”

“You really think they would have shared?” Snorted Macaque, he wasn't naive enough to think scavengers of all people would have kindly shared their drinks. Besides they had multiple bags of supplies, it didn't truly matter if they lost one now. 

They settled a few meters away, not wanting to be near the desert’s corpses. Night would fall soon. It wasn't wise to walk at night. Especially within the thick darkness. Xiaobo lit up a fire and prepared their food, Macaque drank some of the water he managed to win from the scavengers, he was quite satisfied. He removed all his heavy weapons and placed them near, his eyes lingered on the bow and he bit his lips. 

“Can I ask you something?” Sighed Macaque, eyes still glued on the liu'si. 

“Since when do you ask permission?” Huffed Xiaobo as they grilled some of the meat they found in the scavenger abandoned bag. It already smelled better than snake's meat. Macaque snorted. Fair. 

“This is gonna make me sound insane…” Chuckled the warrior. Xiaobo looked up from the fire and threw a deadpan gaze at the black-furred monkey. 

“Because you thought you were acting sane until now?” Macaque scratched his neck and shrugged, he didn't act this rash, did he ? “Really ? Rushing into a fight with a bashe? Provoking a group of scavengers that were, mind you, way fucking larger than us? This is not sane behavior.”

“Ah, come on, kid.” Sighed Macaque. 

“Nah, nah, don't ‘come on’ me. It won’t work. Just shoot your question.” Xiaobo waved their hand around, they didn't have time to play nice. Macaque pursued his lips, but eventually spilled the beans. 

“Do you think weapons can talk?”

“What?” 

“I said, do you-”

“No, I heard you.” Sighed Xiaobo, they pinched the bridge of their nose. “I'm just trying to understand what is going on right now.”

“I know this sounds crazy. But it's not. Let me explain.” Hummed Macaque, he tried to not look too deranged, apparently he kind of butched his impression in Xiaobo's eyes already, no need to worsen his image even further. “I've been hearing voices for some time…”

“You are aware that this is not a good start to convince me you're not insane, right?” Groaned Xiaobo as they crossed their arms.

“I just… My weapons are made with parts of my soul, it's kinda complicated.” Huffed Macaque, the whole situation was a mess to be honest. He didn't know much about soul weapons but it didn't seem impossible for them to start developing some kind of consciousness considering they were made with fragments of soul. 

“This sounds really freaky.” Shuddered Xiaobo, they sighed when they saw Macaque's somewhat distressed expression. “Look, maybe your weapons are really talking or maybe it's the desert’s heat. I don't know. Maybe my aunt could answer that, she knows a thing or two about souls.”

Macaque sighed and raked his hair with his hand. “Yeah, yeah, you're right.”

“Here, the meal is ready.” Xiaobo handed him a piece of grilled meat. Macaque gladly took it. It tasted way better than any meals they had until now. “But please don't start talking to your weapons in front of me, I don't need more mind fuckery.”

Macaque snorted. “I'll try kiddo.”

Ch1 / Previous / Next

[noonaishere]

Music of the Heart [J.YH] - seventy-two | she’s a me

You walked into the studio.

“Sorry I’m late. My bus had a thing, and I had to wait for another one, and then there was traffic… What are you two doing?”

Hongjoong and Maddox were surrounded on all sides of the desk by papers.

“We got song submissions and we’re getting ready to listen. Put your stuff down.” Hongjoong said as he got the first cd ready.

You did as he said and pulled out a notebook, maybe you’d have something to make notes about.  Hongjoong put the cd in the computer and pressed Start.

“My name is Yujin. I’m sixteen. Um---”

She sounded so young. Hongjoong frowned and looked at the pile CDs. 

“How’d this get in here?” He asked as he flipped over the case it was in and looked at the back.

“What?” You asked.

“This is supposed to be song submissions from the producers we normally work with. This is from a bunch of kids in a band.”

“Maybe it was an accident?” Maddox offered.

Hongjoong shut it off.

“Wait--” You said.

He turned to you.

“Can we listen to it at least?”

He nodded and started it again.

“My name is Yujin. I’m sixteen. Um… I play bass… okay.” She laughed awkwardly. “Okay, I mean… I just started. But I’ve been practicing really hard and I’ve written a few songs with some friends of mine, and… if Wonderland is looking for a group of teenagers who want to speak their minds and make the world a better place through music… look no further. Are you ready guys?”

“Yeah!” Three other voices joined her.

“One! Two! One, two, three, four!” 

The drummer counted and they all started playing… reasonably well. It wasn’t stellar, you wouldn’t even call it great, but for a bunch of teenagers who hadn’t been playing that long, it was better than okay. The fact that they submitted an original song was what really wowed you; they seemed to understand how to structure a song already and the lyrics weren’t half bad. At the very least they weren’t hackneyed or cliché.

“What is this?” You asked.

“Let me check if they sent any notes or anything…” Hongjoong sorted through the papers on the desk as he looked for it. Maddox also looked and eventually found them, handing them to Hongjoong.

“It says… they’re a band of four called ONIIX? Two boys and two girls.” He read the notes for a moment before handing it to you. “Holy shit, read what she wrote.”

There was a huge paragraph about their concept: how the members were aliens and looking for galactic peace, but that they had been stranded on earth and there was something they had to fight which - really - was just a thinly veiled metaphor for capitalism.

You chuckled.“I get the distinct feeling one of them had to read Ayn Rand during English class at some point and hated it.”

“Why?”

You smiled. “Because who actually likes Ayn Rand?”

He tilted his head in agreement. “You’re not wrong.”

“I’m very right.” 

He chuckled.

You went back to reading the notes. You were pleasantly surprised at how creative someone as young as these kids could be. How creative any kid could be if they were allowed. Something in you was almost jealous; you wished you had the opportunity to make your own decisions about the world at their age. All you had really got as far at that time was, ‘Everything sucks and nothing matters’ but that was just because you were being ground down under your mother’s boot and were under parental house arrest for almost half a year until graduation. Even after that, you had a hard start to your adulthood because all you had was the money in your pocket, a suitcase half-filled with clothes, and your bass. You definitely empathized with their hatred of capitalism because of that.

And who wouldn’t want to make the world a better place?

“They listed a bunch of influences, look at the American bands they picked.” You handed it back to him.

He read: “Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Rage Against the Machine…”

“Oh, you like them,” Maddox pointed out.

He nodded. “The Cramps, Nirvana, Lunachicks, L7, Bikini Kill…”

“Quite the punk rock appetite.” You said.

He nodded.

“What they’ve submitted doesn’t sound explicitly punk though.”

He nodded again. “Much more rock, but not particularly indie or pop.”

You nodded. “I wonder if that’s a stylistic choice or just their lack of ability.”

He nodded as he looked at you.

You didn’t know what to do, so you nodded again.

Maddox laughed. “Are you two communicating?”

Hongjoong continued to look at you.

You looked at Maddox, who shrugged, and back to Hongjoong, who now had an eyebrow raised.

“What?”

“...Would you want to train a bassist?”

You laughed. He couldn’t be serious.

He continued to look at you passively. He was serious.

 “Would that mean a new job title as well?” You raised an eyebrow.

He smiled. “I think I can finagle another pay line.”

“Ha… You trying to make me indispensable or something?”

He smiled. “I think… if we have a bunch of ‘Fuck the System’ kids who want to make music because they love it… you should be the one to teach the one who plays the same instrument as you.”

“Oh… I’ve never taken classes. I don’t know if I could teach it.”

“I’ve never taken production classes and yet I’m teaching you music production.”

“...Oh.”

Hongjoong smiled.

You looked at all the papers all over the desk as you thought. Could you teach someone to play bass? You’d have to look up lessons online or something to see how other people did it. But also: ‘Should you teach someone?’ was maybe the better question.

“You don’t have to decide now,” Hongjoong said, your eyes snapping to him. “We have to listen to all of the song submissions anyway, but we’ll hold onto this on the side.”

You nodded as he put the CD and its paper in his drawer.

“I’ll ask you again in a week or so.”

You nodded again.

He nodded back at you.

Maddox looked between the two of you and narrowed his eyes. “Are you two sure you aren’t communicating?”

Both of you laughed. 

Hongjoong clapped his hands together. “Okay, let’s listen to the actual song submissions.”

*ᴵ’ᵛᵉ ʰᵉᵃʳᵈ ᵐᵒⁿᵏˢ ᶜᵒⁿˢᶦᵈᵉʳ ᶦᵗ ᵗʰᵉ “ᵐᵉᵈᶦᵗᵃᵗᶦᵒⁿ ˢᵗᵃᵗᶦᵒⁿ”

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[octolich]

I was Scared for Dragon Age: Veilguard.

I take it back, we are so back. The release date trailer fixes so many of the anxieties of this post, Im keeping it up because I ain't no bitch but consider this an archive post of sorts. Ima make a new one glazing the new trailer but for now this is absolute cinema. Nice going Bioware! Still not pre-ordering tho, fuck EA. I want to say before I state anything, I'm still buying the game, I just want to warn fellow DA Fans to be cautious about this game and its potential quality. I could be wrong and this could be game of the year, best in the franchise. I've just got a weird feeling about Bio ware's marketing that I want to get off my chest.

This is just a personal opinion and warning from a Dragon Age Fan. Disagree? You're probably right. Your opinions are valid and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

SPOILERS FOR DRAGON AGE SHTUFF.

TLDR: Bioware has been very sneaky with marketing as well as dodgy choices in design that I do not agree with. They keep on talking about how this is the best game in the franchise and how the characters are the most in-depth yet, but I personally am sceptical. I could be wrong and this could be game of the year, best in the franchise. I've just got a weird feeling about Bioware's marketing I want to get off my chest and warn others about. We're treating breadcrumbs as buffets. They refuse to show anything substantial off and rely too much on "The games good, trust me bro. we've got nudity!"

I love Dragon age Inquisition to death. Played through it multiple times over the course of 7 years (Necromancer homies rise up). I played Dragon age Origins a wee bit and really loved the freedom and gritty setting which was a complete 180 for what I'm used to from DAI. I didn't play dragon age 2 (sorry besties I'll try it at some point) but I've heard it introduced a lot of controversial concepts but ultimately "modernized" the franchise.

Now, I actually didn't mind the trailer! I was jamming to the bombastic song but found the dialogue in it to be extremely corny. It definitely is a major shift in tone from the other trailers but hey! Maybe it won't be like that in the game. Marketing can mislead the perception of a game through the trailer like with Dead Island (amazing trailer btw) But then I saw the gameplay preview.

I was quite shocked to see Minrathous! I loved the city's whole MagicPunk theme and with the floating Archon's palace in the sky? Even though it looked a bit... off, I still liked it. The city looks old, and powerful. I absolutely love that. But then we get to the immediete problem. The Demons. I believe I heard from somewhere that the artists designed them this way to be similar to that of the human nervous system. What I presumed to be despair demons looked creepy with this artistic vision, but the pride demon??? It just looked goofy and not intimidating at all. They really traded how unique each and every demon looked, and went with floating kool aid spirits?

Moving on, Dragon age Inquisition has 8 slots for abilities you can fill in, allowing you to combo them and have a wide arsenal at your disposal. But with Veil guards 3? It was an immediate red flag. Now, I heard from Bioware that Rook can have an ultimate ability, but that is still 4 out of the original 8 you could bring. Companions are said to have a fixed 5 but can only bring in 3. BUT, Bio ware has been said in the game informer to be encouraging combining abilities with other companions, and not with just your own arsenal. But I still don't like the change.

A 60 second cooldown though??? either the fights shall be long, or you'll be a sitting duck spamming basic attacks waiting for your cool spells. I suppose there would be ways to reduce the time with cooldown reduction perks, but again, I do not vibe with this. aswell as following to comment this:

Now, Im no expert on game design, but I loved the combat in DAI AND DAO, yes it had its flaws but I find it was a highlight, now a flaw of the games. To say that Combat was "Uncharitably meh" I find spits in the face of the philosophy of combat in the previous games. DAI was all about about levelling up to build complex arsenals of spells to combo with, and unlocking specializations which further added spells to play with. DAO was all about freedom, you can be a necromancer/pyromancer/blood mage/spirit healer and it would work! Im afraid that Bioware has forgotten why this was fun and risk the chance of making combat one of the worst aspects of Dragon age Veilguard.

Now, instead of Bioware talking about gameplay, they love to talk about companions, throughout all of the game informer articles they talk about Romance, nudity, character creation (I admit I'm a bit hyped about this one though), and the companions.

Again, the wordplay of how Veilguard is even better than all previous dragon age games doesn't sit well with me. Are the previous companions also not complex? Is Dorian not a man who's constantly fighting between hating his father and loving him, while this love is also reflected for his home land? Is Morrigan not a woman who is on a fight between the discovery of ancient magic, the love of her warden and son, as well as the fear of her mother?

I just find it so strange that they focus so much on the companions in these articles, while also keep quiet about the gameplay, spare the game preview (Basically a vague tutorial) and a few pictures. Now, again. They could actually be the best in the entire franchise. I could eat my words and these companions could shake the very foundation on what it means to be a companion, but I just don't buy this narrative bioware is trying to feed us.

"These followers or companions don't exist by themselves" "Your assembling a family." "Everything you do ties into the critical path" "things are done towards a goal." "In Origins things are done just to do them."

https://www.gameinformer.com/exclusive-video/2024/07/19/the-making-of-dragon-age-the-veilguard (blue text is excerpts from this video. There's more but I can't be assed putting every quote into this. You may watch it yourself if you wish to see more)

They continue to use flowery language in these statements. How complex they are, how they're their own people. But where's the proof? these are all just words at the moment. In the 20 minute preview, I wasn't sitting there immersed in Minrathous, (still pretty gorgeous though, love you concept artists and 3d modelers xxx) or sitting there amazed at the characters. I'm just a dude sitting there watching some Batman Arkham knight look ahh combat.

The Video used above is just so much yapping, with re-used footage from the gameplay preview, trailer and images previously released. There is nothing new they are adding or introducing, only saying "The Characters and Story is good, trust."

Honestly? My theory is that this entire campaign is damage control. Lots of people who viewed the trailer immediately hated it (to be fair most of them haven't touched a single dragon age game in their lives) and the gameplay preview was a mixed review at best. After mass effect andromeda? I don't trust them. Not one bit.

I am going to buy the game and either enjoy it or hate it. I don't prefer gameplay over story, I'm a mix of both. I think one cannot exist without the other. I am just extremely worried for the future of not only Dragon age, but Bioware as a whole. I have a feeling that after this, if this game flops, Bioware is headed for the guillotine by the hands of EA (bunch of pricks).

One thing I will say is I like the skill trees!

This type of skill tree I think outdoes Inquisition's skyrim style perk tree, and really leans into the way Origin's does its abilities and perks (which I like more and Inquisition). From the looks of it, you can twist into what type of mage you are, as well as specialization. Control Death Caller? Burst Spellblade? Or maybe mash Control/Sustain together? It really beckons the imagination. THIS is what I want to see. Instead of words I want action! I want snippets! Not reused footage of the trailer or game preview, I want hard proof of how great this game is!

Not only that, but I do have to admit. the New UI puts all of the previous games to shame. I'm a big fan of the prismatic purple UI they've got going on.

I got to hand it to the Artists and graphic designers, It feels like the artists have fully realised their creative vision. I've never wanted a MagicPunk city until I saw Minrathous. I admit its a small thing to like about, but its the small things like these that can elevate a games quality. If there's one thing that I find that Dragon age Veil guard does better than the rest is the UI.

I post this out of love, not hate. I'm terrified that my favourite franchise is going to turn dogshit thanks to questionable choices. Bioware is doing nothing to comfort these fears by pumping out bloated statements like how the characters are the best in the series, and bringing up transmog and hyping up the character creator. Like, yeah? where is it then? are there no snippets? You're willing to post entire skill tree's why not post the character creator? or a sneak at the transmog?

After mass effect andromeda, my faith has been lost on bioware. But I still love the dragon age games. I just wish they do it justice. I will still buy the game, and leave a positive or negative review depending on the quality. If its good then ya'll have full permission to clown on me!

Im uh, still new to Tumblr so I don't know how to end this. Treat yourself to some water, maybe order just eats? Just treat yo self! Thanks immensely for reading this, hopefully you've learned something from this rambling. And hey! If you disagree, that's more than welcome! Your opinions are just as valid as mine. and I'd love to hear what you think and love about Dragon Age. Who knows? we might agree! (Lucanis is so handsome its not even funny)

[minecraftbookshelf]

Marriage of State AU Character Designs: The Codfather

Like Lizzie, Jimmy has two forms, Pre-Killing the DragonPlot Event and Post-Plot Event, both indicated on the Handy Dandy Height Chart

Pre-Eeveelution Jimmy: Before his full codfather-ification, Jimmy is assumed by the other rulers outside his alliance to just be a run-of-the-mill cod hybrid. He's mostly human in appearance, with a few fishy traits. Some scattered scales, especially from his temples down to his collarbone, webbed fingers and toes a bit of a tail, slightly sharper than standard human teeth. He's a bit on the tall side for a cod hybrid, but not enough to raise any flags, red or otherwise, especially given that he's not that much taller than any of the WRA. His eyes are human (and brown). He usually has slime and/or mud in his hair. Somehow.

He does have gills but they have very visible scarring on one side, resulting from the damage done to his egg in the salmon attack. (Yes this does negatively impact his ability to breath underwater) The scarring goes all the way down his left side from his ear to just past his knee. It's faint, due to age, but very distinct and does impact his swimming, though he learned to compensate for that very young and is just as fast and agile in the water as any of his or Lizzie's people.

Eevee Evolutioned Jimmy: Swamp Monster! Like Lizzie, he is now Very Clearly A Little Eldritch. has proper fish teeth, fully fish eyes (black center with a ring of gold around them). He grows fins off his face and arms, which does make the left side scarring more obvious, as it affects his fins on that side. His tail has grown and his limb proportions are just slightly off. He also now has the lateral line, (visible in the above picture) allowing him to sense vibrations in the water more clearly, giving him better underwater perception in general. His scales are now scattered over his entire face, rather than concentrated by his hairline, giving the overall appearance of green and brown freckles. His hair is also a bit shaggier and longer, though he seriously considers cutting it at first. TBD if he actually does. There is still usually slime in it.

Jimmy actually adjusts a bit better to the physical change than Lizzie does, though they both seem to have some sort of muscle memory for their divine forms, due to his history of learning to compensate for his steadily developing physical disabilities from his egg damage. They both acclimate rapidly but he had just the slightest bit of an edge there.

Costuming:

The Codfather Head my beloved/be-loathed. ngl, I saw doodle-lists art fairly early on and it permanently changed my brain chemistry so uhh...yeah basically that. In addition to serving as a traditional face-covering (by oceanic traditions for god-rulers. Lizzie also technically is supposed to be wearing face coverings, she just. doesn't. Except very occasionally, in the style of a veil made of strings of seed pearls. I forgot to mention this on her post oop.) the codfather head/mask also has enchantments on it allowing him to breath easily underwater, accommodating for the damage to his gills. Obviously this is very important to him on a personal level, due to being amphibious. (It also has enchantments so it doesn't obstruct his vision in anyway. It is the fine-tuned result of a decades long collaboration between the Oceanic mage priests and the Swamp witches.)

Day-to-day We're pretty much throwing the whole skin out the window tbh, beyond the very vaguest of inspirations.

Like in the ocean, a priority of clothing is reduction of drag, though they care much less about transitioning from water to land, partly because they do it so often in the swamp.

Swamp day wear is very simple, primarily linen, which both is suited for a hotter climate and dries quickly. Jimmy wears the same things as the majority of his people, simple generic medieval-fantasy tunic and trousers, cut to reduce drag in the water. He does not wear shoes. (Neither of the seablings do. Most aquatic hybrids don't.)

His fancy clothes are either Oceanic or Mezalean style or a nicer version of his day wear. (Still with no shoes)

He does wear some simple jewelry, gifts from Lizzie and Joel and Pix. a copper armband, a golden tail cuff, little prismarine stud earrings. All things that won't get in the way when he's working on land or in the water and remind him of his family. (The pierced ears is a Mezalean thing, not an Oceanic thing. It was all a very teen rebellion-esque, if your teen rebellion involves the actions thereof being facilitated by one of the people who helped raised you. Mezalean style earrings are, however, extremely impractical in the water so studs it was.) Both the armband and the tail cuff have to be resized after his divinely sourced growth spurt.

He stops wearing sleeves after his eeveelution, because arm fins and sleeves do not mix. (Scott does not appreciate this in the slightest, nope.)

Armor

bronze-plated netherite fishscale armor. (I just realized i need to go back and edit Lizzie's post to include her armor rip).

His armor also doesn't have sleeves (post eeveelution) but he does have arm guards he can strap on around his fins. When he remembers to. Stylistically, this is also very similar to doodle-list's design. (What can I say, it lives rent free in my head.) His armor isn't super heavy, as it is designed as much for underwater combat as dry land and needs minimal drag.

He doesn't have a proper helmet but the codfather head is enchanted extremely thoroughly and serves well enough.

He wears his sword on his back, since it's too long for a more typical sheathe at the waist, and usually also has his trident back there so he can be hands free when not actively fighting. (Yes, his stealth stats on land are absolutely terrible. He makes up for it underwater.)

-

Lizzie || Joel ||

AU Masterpost

[sunlessea]

"nu te teme, iubirea mea! am venit să te salvez de dragi." such a ... spirited welcome, from the tongue of one whom has not crossed paths in a good few decades, since it was last forced to set foot on shores so painstakingly close to london proper. mr zees waves the metaphorical white flag as it steps up to spices and all but hoists it to stand with arms looped 'neath its arms even 'gainst the pushback of all its cloaks and layers. like it's lifting a petulant orphan! the garou master more or less forces it to its feet, steadying it only so long as to make sure it is in its right mind, able to stand at all. it always has been the strongest, of their little coalition. "you look positively dreadful, mr spices! did they drag you through a bog when they captured yo-ah, no, never mind, you've always looked like that, haven't you? tsk tsk."

its neddies are spread out all around them now, a flurry of irons and bullet clashing among the chaos in the background. captured by pirates! what a funny story. well, that serves spices right, it supposes. masters should vet those they pay to transport them more closely. this port would be a wreck, by time its crew was done.

"i've come to retrieve you by order of mr veils. isn't that delightful, ducky? come along now, limp your way to my ship so we can strip you down for injuries. it would be terribly embarrassing if you died here."

@londonfallen / mr spices

[allmoshnobrain]

NO-SKIP ALBUMS tag game

i was tagged by @nornsfate (tysm!!) and this seemed like such a fun idea i just had to do it! i tried picking albums that i felt had a big impact in my life and that i love listening to until today. i'm tagging @aplaceforyourhearttorest @hunter-sylvester @therockywhorerpictureshow and anyone who wants to do it (but ofc no pressure!)

rules: share the albums that you can listen to nonstop. those lightning in a bottle-albums that scratch ur brain just right. every single track, an absolute banger. u could not skip one if u tried. no notes. stunning, show-stopping, immaculate. ur no-skip albums.

bonus & optional rules: 1) add a track rec for us to listen to! AND 2) share ur favorite line(s) from that track!

albums and track recs:

MEGADETH - RUST IN PEACE

tornado of souls: Selective amnesia's the story / Believed foretold, but who'd suspect? / The military intelligence / Two words combined that can't make sense

VENOM - BLACK METAL

black metal: Lay down your souls to the gods rock 'n roll / Metal ten fold through the deadly black hole / Riding hell's stallions bareback and free / Taking our chances with raw energy

METALLICA - RIDE THE LIGHTNING

for whom the bell tolls: Take a look to the sky just before you die / It's the last time you will / Blackened roar, massive roar fills the crumbling sky / Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry

AVENGED SEVENFOLD - AVENGED SEVENFOLD

unbound (the wild ride): This ride that takes me through life / Leads me into darkness but emerges into light / No one can ever slow me down / I'll stay unbound

GHOST - IMPERA

darkness at the heart of my love: Will you spill the wine / To summon the divine? / I'm with you always, always / Now paint a pair of eyes / And let's watch as it dries / Remember always, that love is all you need / Tell me who you wanna be / And I will set you free

THE RED JUMPSUIT APPARATUS - DON'T YOU FAKE IT

cat and mouse: Am I supposed to be happy? / With all I ever wanted, it comes with a price

MEGADETH - THE SYSTEM HAS FAILED

the scorpion: As I climb onto your back, I will promise not to sting / I will tell you what you want hear, and not mean anything / Then I treat you like a dog as I shoot my venom in / You pretend you didn't know that I am a scorpion

TURISAS - STAND UP AND FIGHT

the march of the varangian guard: Guards of glory and of might / Red as blood and black as night / Flies our banner as we march / In the East, for the king of the Greek

LANA DEL REY - NORMAN FUCKING ROCKWELL

happiness is a butterfly: I said, "Don't be a jerk, don't call me a taxi" / Sitting in your sweatshirt, crying in the backseat / I just wanna dance with you

HOLE - NOBODY'S DAUGHTER

nobody's daughter: Nobody's daughter, she never was, she never will / Be beholden to anyone she cannot kill / You don't understand how damaged we really are / You don't understand how evil we really are

ANGRA - REBIRTH

rebirth: Ride the wind of a brand new day / High where mountains stand / Found my hope and pride again / Rebirth of a man

FLICTS - SINGELOS CONFRONTOS

desmascarar sua bandeira: Foda-se a bandeira do estado de São Paulo / Foda-se a bandeira e o hino nacional / Fascismo enrustido sob as cores do estandarte / Velando o ódio ao livre amar e a diversidade (english translation for my mutuals - guess which state i was born and raised in lol: Fuck the flag of the state of São Paulo / Fuck the flag and the national anthem / Closeted fascism under the colors of the banner / Veiling hate for free love and diversity)

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS - ELECTRA HEART

teen idle: Yeah, I wish I'd been, I wish I'd been, a teen, teen idle / Wish I'd been a prom queen, fighting for the title / Instead of being sixteen and burning up a bible / Feeling super, super, super suicidal

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - THE BLACK PARADE

famous last words: I am not afraid to keep on living / I am not afraid to walk this world alone / Honey, if you stay, I'll be forgiven / Nothing you can say can stop me going home

MODERN BASEBALL - YOU'RE GONNA MISS IT ALL

your graduation: You weren't the only one / Who thought of us that way / I spend most nights awake / Wide awake / I never thought that I / Oh, I would see the day / Where I'd just let you go / Let you walk away / Where I'd let you walk away

[inscrutable-shadow]

Whumptober 2023 Day 5 - What's the Worst That Could Happen?

@whumptober-archive

No. 5: “You better pray I don’t get up this time around.”

Debris | Pinned Down | “It’s broken.”

also available on ao3!

Jack yanked hard on the Doctor’s lab coat. “Get down, Doc, unless you want to catch one of those bullets in your teeth!”

The Doctor crashed to all fours, panting hard. “Apologies, I am not moving as quickly as in my younger days. I suppose there is no longer any chance of reaching our destination on time?”

“Sure as fuck not. Is the First Quarter always like this? Seems like every other week I’m getting myself caught in a shootout.” He pulled another magazine out of his belt and slid it into his pistol in a practiced motion. The suppressive fire didn’t seem to deter their pursuers any.

“I cannot say it is uncommon, at least in this area. I had hoped my return to the land of my birth would be less… hectic. If only the gangs here had a Queen of Diamonds to unify them.”

Jack scoffed. “Yeah, I think we’re good with just the one.” He poked his head around the concrete barrier and immediately pulled it back. “Mother’s veil, these guys don’t give up…”

“I don’t imagine so. Astra Group would likely send any number of men to ensure my premature demise,” the Doctor said mildly, adjusting their glasses. For someone who had a hit squad out for them, they sure seemed much more concerned with how much exercise they’d been getting than the actual bullets. Standard Doc.

Jack checked his surroundings. Narrow access tunnel, and the pod car was around a corner about thirty meters away. He’d give the Doc a moment to catch their breath and then they’d run for it. They were slower than he was and he’d have to take a few calculated risks if he wanted to keep them intact. Well, if there was one thing the procedure had done, it was make him better at math.

“Okay, Doc, we’re gonna make a break for the pod car. Don’t look back, just keep running.”

The Doctor, still sweating and panting, looked up at him in dismay. “That distance? I cannot keep up with you, Jack, I will be left behind—”

“No, you won’t. I’ll keep pace with you. Just trust me, okay? Keep moving and you won’t get hit.”

“I find that incredibly unlikely—”

“And go!” He hauled them up by the lab coat and pushed them out of the cover of the barrier, but not too far, giving them a chance to right themselves. The Doctor let loose with a colourful stream of curses, but started running anyway, which was the point.

Jack allowed himself a bit of a laugh. The “hitmen” couldn’t aim for shit compared to a Suit’s evasion ability, even protecting another person. He was, for the most part, able to keep his important parts out of the path of the bullets, and he only had to yank the Doctor to the side twice. He clicked the key fob to open the pod car’s hatch as soon as it came into view.

The Doctor was flagging by this point, their pace steadily decreasing despite their best efforts. Jack was going to have to do something about it. “Forgive me for this, Doc, yeah?”

“Eh? Ack!” They flew the last ten feet through the hatch opening, landing with their face on the far seat. Jack dived in after them and scrambled to pull the hatch closed. Glasses hanging askance from their face next to a slowly oozing bullet graze, they rounded on him, furious. “You could have killed me, Jack! I am not a sack of potatoes to be hauled around as—!” They stopped short. “I say, is that blood?”

“Well, yeah. Got hit a couple of times. ‘M fine, just give me a second and I can drive.” It really wasn’t that big of a deal. He needed to get the car in gear so they could get the hell out of here. The electric engine clicked worryingly the first couple of times he began the startup sequence, but eventually it began to hum.

“At least have a booster, Jack, no? You know where we are going, I do not.” Well. At least they had their priorities straight.

general taglist: @athenswrites

fcd taglist: @youareshauni, @arieadil

doc taglist: @i-eat-worlds

[snekknack]

Is there even someone at the wheel over at tumblr? Did they read a psychotherapy textbook and decide all blunts/cigars/smokeables are but thinly veiled phaluses? Even if that was the case, why would they keep it on the site like this?

Your bullshit rating system makes no sense tumblr, except as an exercise in your rampant transpbobia; the only reason I can assume this post was labled as sexually explicite is that it was reblogged from a trans persons account that got flagged with your infamous black-spot (the one that permanently locks people out of being able to change their profile pic)!

Whoever the decision maker is for what constitutes sexually explicite material over at tumblr HQ, you make me sick. Literal straight fucking porn rolls across peoples dash every day in the form of your "tumblr live" service that no one fucking asked for and everyone wants to fucking eliminate from their dash (not silence every week or month or whatever arbitrary time you've decided on at the moment)! And that's not even getting into the rampant porn-bot problem that seems able to send mass follows to every user, but it's somehow the responsibility of unpaid users to do your flagging for you?!

To borrow a phrase from a UK friend of mine, are you taking the piss? Are you for real? Is this what eight dollars a fucking month is supposed to justify for those that don't want to be bombarded with ads disguised as posts?

Of course you don't have any human employed in quality control, because you get the people who pay for your platform to do it for you; you have found the golden goose and decided to turn it inside-out. You've been ordered, by the courts, to stop this blatant biggotry against LGBTQ+ users, and yet you persist! How many lawsuits is it going to take before you fix this problem? How much money are you going to waste defending the decisions of an outright bigot before you pull your collective heads out of their singular ass?

Your biggest threat to your bottom line is not queer people, it is the person(s) that has carried out this sorry excuse of "moderation" policy as a vendetta against the very people that made your platform what it was at it's peak!

[sovpologist]

Lightfall Review: TLDR

Read my full review here!

Best parts of the story:

Zavala immediately squashing the "The Traveler tried to abandon us" hot take by explaining that it went to confront the Witness at the end of Seraph. Like I felt like this was obvious but some people want the Traveler to secretly be evil so badly they'll use anything as proof

Osiris launching himself in a Cabal drop pod

Nimbus and Osiris bickering

Caiatl coming to help us and Nimbus thinking she's hot

Calling down orbital strikes

Neomuna being an Ishtar Collective colony (science wives Maya Sundaresh and Chioma Esi were alive! And thriving!)

Osiris' theory that Light = material/physical and Dark = mental/immaterial

And how this would build/add onto Ikora's theories about pain, forgiveness, and memory and why the Light forgets but the Dark remembers

The Witness taking control of Ghost to get to the Veil

There's precedent for this in the Vow raid lore; plus the Witness/Darkness has influenced/taken control of Ghost before. It also always seemed too good to be true that Ghost and the guardian could spy on the Witness with no issue but that connection didn't go the other way around

Worst parts of the story:

Amanda being on the front lines of the battle despite being a civilian non guardian??? and later in defiant battlegrounds devrim even has a line about how he and amanda cant be on the front lines bc they dont have lives to space so why was she there in the first place?

Osiris seeing the Witness touch the Traveler, leave, and immediately guessing that the Witness 1) saw the Veil 2) is going to get it right now

The Veil and the Radial Mast in general

Rohan's death being obvious from a mile away and him not getting enough screentime that wasn't draped in "I'm definitely going to die soon" red flags to actually be able to get attached to him

"Let's stand perfectly still in the dark!" -Mara, Zavala, Elsie, Ikora

Overall:

Story: 4/10

Pros:

Lots of mystery going into "Final Shape"

Strong aesthetics + vibe

Post-campaign content is largely better written and more engaging

Cons:

Breakneck pacing

Poor motivations

Lack of setup

Overutilization of MacGuffins

Rapid, jarring tonal shifts

Obvious, guessable deaths

Stakes are supposed to be high but feel low

No payoff

Bungie telling people who are confused or unsatisfied to buy the year's seasons and play them to get answers… Expansions should be mandatory to understand seasons. Seasons should not be mandatory to understand expansions.

Characters: 6/10

Pros:

Fun new characters

Interesting character interactions

Cons:

Underutilized existing characters

Gameplay: 8/10

Pros:

Difficult but not oppressive content

Strand is massively fun and engaging

Interesting, well-designed missions

Lots of opportunities to use/experiment with Strand during main campaign, meaning putting together a build post-campaign is easier

Strand is much easier to unlock than Stasis, which was a huge pain

Replayable activities in Neomuna

Cons:

Some of the "secrets" on Neomuna are not really secrets (Vex disruption, Cabal ammunition, disrupting transmission)

Post campaign content with great lore (yay) is largely patrol based (nay...)

Will need to see the longevity of Neomuna + how it shakes up in the long run; Savathun's throne world had some things to do for leveling/unique replayable missions right after the campaign but a season or two later they were essentially worthless, meaning there was no reason to go back

QOL Changes: 9/10

Pros:

Simplified mod system

Ada-1 sells shaders now!

Loadouts!!!

Mod building screen!!!!

Commendations are fun

Artifact mods are intrinsic

Artifact is free to reset

Power system less relevant

More ways to stun champions

Cons:

Guardian ranks system is underwhelming, just another list of tasks to check off

Lore being moved to triumphs is a bad design choice IMO; I much preferred being able to read it on the same screen I unlocked it