#this includes game of thrones btw

[aboutmercy]

someone should write a study asking why arabs love historical shows so much. like yas slay it’s truly a superior genre but goddamn is there not a single historical show be it western or turkish that ppl aren’t obsessed with here? (i’m guilty of this as well but. still!)

[brettdoesdiscourse]

Antis: Normal people wouldn't be okay with your freak shit!

Normal people: Watches Game Of Thrones where a rape victim falls in love with her rapist and many viewers enjoyed their relationship, even quoting their saying or getting jewelry of it. (Not even mentioning the incest.)

Normal people: Enjoys IT which has numerous scenes of child sexual abuse, torture/abuse, racism, even a child orgy that is written to be a good thing at the end of the book.

Normal people: Watches Star Wars where two of the main characters are siblings and kiss.

Normal people: Enjoys mythology which often includes themes like incest which are not "bad" things in the stories.

Normal people: Reads/watches and romanticizes Romeo And Juliet. A story where two young people (one of which is 16 and the other is 13 in Shakespeare btw) kill themselves over each other.

Normal people: Watch/read/play violent media and root for the killers, especially enjoying things where they themselves are the murderer.

[twstowo]

Oyo, um I read one of your fics and it was rlly good. I'm pretty sure it was one of the 'they end up another universe twst' fics. They're rlly juicy BTW

I was thinking like...what happened if otherverse bois met normalverse yuu and they actually start liking them? Sorta yandere-ish type stuff to the point where they don't wanna leave normalverse yuu? (Yes, I've been calling normal yuu 'normalverse' yuu bc it makes a bit of sense lmao)

Understandable if you're a bit uncomfy with this :)

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

♡︎This is quite an interesting idea! I had though about it once but since you asked now I'm really going to write it! Also I'm not the best with yandere themes so I hope this is good enough!

♡︎Includes: OB! Characters

♡︎Warning: Malleus's part made me kinda sad, IM SO SORRY MALLEUS LOVERS. Also all of them need therapy.

[AU Masterlist]

NV - Normalverse (Thank you for the idea Anon!)

First things first, in general, I believe that they would understand that you aren’t the same person from their Universe, however, this wouldn’t excuse the fact that every time they see your face they are thrown back to your relationship back in their world, which to say the least is not the best.

⋆⋅☆Riddle

There would be no doubt that he would dislike you intensely. Moreover, the fact that this Riddle would be even worse than the pre-overblot Riddle in the NV would put you in a difficult position.

The first time he spots you, he would be blinded by rage and probably try to behead you. Fortunately, Trey and Cater quickly save you, taking you as far away as possible from Tyrant Riddle.

He will do anything to find you, and he will have no tolerance for your actions. At the slightest inconvenience you cause, he will be right behind you, ready to tell you how much of an annoyance you are.

But you catch on to his game pretty quickly, so you counter him by being the very definition of perfection. You make sure not to break a single rule and set an example for everyone around you, and by the Sevens, that only makes him even angrier.

But is he really angry? He can’t deny that he feels slightly impressed. Among everyone else at this strange college, you are the only one who comes close to reaching the level of perfection he demands.

Slowly, he finds himself growing fonder of you. He starts thinking about bringing you back with him once he finds a way to return to his universe. You’d fit perfectly in the castle with him, and he’s certain his mother would have approved of you.

⋆⋅☆Leona

When it comes to Leona, he is more annoyed with the NV version of you than anything else. After all, you were always pestering him about being lazy and irresponsible. He had been plotting to have you exiled once he took the throne by killing his brother.

So, the first time he spots you, he's ready to turn around and leave, not wanting to hear your nagging. But that doesn’t happen. You speak to him as if he were a normal person, with no harsh words, and even smile at him when you finish talking.

Is he seeing things? Why are you so different in this universe? And why is he enjoying this new kind of attention so much?

Yet, he remains rude, constantly sending glares your way. He firmly believes you're trying to trick him into something malicious.

Still, you bring him lunch and talk about your day. You are strangely kind, something he never thought he would experience, especially from you. You are the first person ever to treat him like this.

Slowly, something starts to shift inside him. Your attention becomes something he craves, and he starts becoming obsessed, to the point where he checks if you give the same treatment to others.

And if you do, he makes sure they are out of the picture the next time you look for them. He will ensure that you have only him to turn to, to talk about your day, and to give your full attention.

⋆⋅☆Azul

OH NO! He’s had enough of your antics ruining his business! Azul puts up a sign with your face and a red cross over it in front of the Monster Lounge. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED IN!

Floyd and Jade find this absolutely hilarious and watch as you stroll into the Monster Lounge without a care in the world. (You’re literally that meme: "This sign won’t stop me, because I can’t read.") They don’t even try to stop you, they’re far too entertained by the thought of seeing how this new Azul will react to the chaos.

Let’s just say that Azul quickly learns the hard way that you aren’t here to ruin his business. Instead, you seem determined to ruin his reputation by being overly affectionate and making him squirm with your sweet words in front of all his clients, no less.

He tries to distance himself, avoiding your gaze and setting boundaries, but you keep coming back. In that, you remind him of the version of you from his own universe.

And for some reason, he finds that persistence very attractive. He can’t deny that, before you decided to ruin his business, he used to have a slight crush on you back then.

But now, you aren’t trying to ruin his business. Quite the contrary, you’re a magnet for attention, constantly drawing more customers to the Mostro Lounge.

Slowly, Azul starts losing himself in this fantasy: you and him, together, expanding his business. But at a certain point, he realizes he’s thinking more about you than the money the two of you could make.

He becomes determined to keep you by his side, even if his business suffers because of it. If all it takes to have you is tarnishing a bit of his reputation, then he’s willing to do it.

⋆⋅☆Jamil

By the Seven, he was already annoyed that Kalim was here, but you too? This was about to be the worst day of his life, two incredibly annoying people threatening to ruin his plans.

He keeps his distance, but when you spot him, he’s about to tell you to go find someone else to bother. Then, you say something completely unexpected: you’re actually annoyed by Kalim’s antics.

You? Annoyed? At Kalim?

He’s taken aback. In his universe, you and Kalim were inseparable friends, always together. But the you from this place is actually bothered by him? He doesn’t even need to know why you’re annoyed. Just the fact that someone finally agrees with him about Kalim makes him incredibly happy.

He enjoys it when you come to him with your frustrations. Whether you’re irritated by Kalim’s constant gifts or his endless parties in your honor, because you feel overwhelmed, Jamil is always there to listen. He savors your complaints, and he’s quick to add his own criticisms about Kalim, which only deepens your dislike for him.

As time goes on, you start finding comfort in Jamil’s presence. His understanding and validation make him seem like a refuge from the chaos that Kalim brings. You begin to rely on him more, and Jamil can’t help but enjoy how your dislike for Kalim boosts his own ego.

Jamil starts subtly shaping your view of Kalim. By reinforcing your negative feelings and positioning himself as your only true ally, he ensures that you depend on him more. He carefully creates situations where he appears better compared to Kalim, making himself seem like the perfect match for you.

Jamil feeds off your growing dislike for Kalim. Your negative feelings towards Kalim seem to boost his ego, and he finds himself loving your voice even more.

You deserve someone who truly understands you, and Jamil believes he’s that person. He’s confident that he’d be the perfect match for you.

⋆⋅☆Vil

There you are, Neige’s number one fan. He doesn’t even look in your direction, you aren’t worth it. Shouldn’t you be with him, guarding him like the lapdog you are?

Vil has to admit that at least you seem more elegant here. You look more relaxed and gentle, but maybe you were always like that back then. Perhaps he was just too focused on Neige to notice you.

Or maybe this version of you from this universe is simply sweeter and kinder. Perhaps here, you don’t make Neige your whole identity and actually treat Vil like a person rather than just competition for Neige.

Vil is intrigued, he finds you interesting, even. There’s a charm to you that brings him comfort. When he learns that you’re not that close to Neige here, he finds himself feeling pleased. And when you tell him that you find him “oh so much more beautiful,” he realizes that you might not be so bad after all.

Then he becomes attentive to your habits, your likes and dislikes, he memorizes every time you express any small detail about yourself only to use these as a way to create more opportunities to be closer to you. He brings up things you’ve mentioned in passing, showing how attentive he is to your likes and dislikes. His compliments become more personal, always tied to something he knows you value.

He loves especially when you talk so sweetly about him, or when he overhears you telling others how beautiful you think he is.

So whenever you mention Neige in a good way he becomes jealous, you should be exclusively devoted to him, he should be the only thing that crosses your mind and he was to make sure you only see him as your number one option.

He’s determined to make you see him as your everything, and he’ll stop at nothing to ensure that you’re his, completely and utterly.

⋆⋅☆Idia

(In here both Idia and Ortho from the AU get sent to the NV.)

Ah yes, the ruiner of fun, you.

Back in his world, he used to send his followers to pester you, hoping you'd leave him alone. But no matter what, you always managed to bounce back and ruin his mischievous plans. What was with you, always messing with the fun? If a person or two died, who would even care?

But this version of you seems so much more into the chaos. He watches as you join in Ace's dumb ideas or get excited when Ortho prepares to blast off half the school.

You actually seem like someone who would join in his schemes now, and he'd love to have some help.

Howver the idea of you laughing, scheming, or enjoying yourself with anyone else starts to eat away at him. He starts sabotaging your interactions with others, asking for Ortho’s help to keep Ace busy with other things, making sure you spend more time with him.

He starts sending Ortho on missions to monitor your every move, always keeping tabs on who you’re with and what you’re doing. If anyone tries to get too close to you, they mysteriously vanish from the scene, often without you even noticing.

Everything feels so perfect when the two of you are together, you don’t need anyone else just like he doesn’t need anyone else.

⋆⋅☆Malleus

Poor Malleus had been treated badly by his crush back in his universe. You never answered the letters he sent, and he had heard that all the little trinkets and flowers were returned because you didn’t want any of them.

So when this version of you from this strange new place treats him with such devotion, such kindness, and accepts his small gifts, even inviting him to spend time with you, he can hardly believe what’s happening.

This was essentially a dream come true for him. He wonders if it had been you he sent all those letters to, whether you would have written him back with the same excitement.

Why, then, hadn’t this lovely and perfect version of you been the one in his universe? Why was he the one left unloved in his world?

He wants to take you with him. Surely, you love him, you wouldn’t be angry if he took you back to his castle. The two of you could finally do all the things he had dreamed about while gazing lovingly at the flowers he once sent you.

After all, why else would you shower him with such kindness? Why else would you invite him to spend time with you? You must love him too.

[unabashednightmarepizza]

𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑, 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝐴𝑟𝑒 𝑆𝑒𝑒𝑛

A/N(1): Considering Gaming is pretty much like me in every aspect and a weird sagau-like thing happened to me where, whenever I make a 10 pull, I always get Gaming and now baby boy is C5 already( THREE of them were on the same pull btw), and that we need to spread more love for him... Here I am with this impulsive piece of work that suddenly came to my mind where us, the reader who is the Creator of Teyvat and all the universes, descends only for him and IS the one who grants Vision to people. (Visions are not some shitty way of controlling people here)

A/N(2): I know Lantern Rite is over but damn, did I loose inspiration to finish this so soon so, I divided this into two parts.

Warnings: Spoilers for Lantern Rite and Gaming's backstory, Reader giving good parenting advice and literally being a grandma who would slap someone with a slipper and commit homicide for children, communication problems between parents and children.

"I think the Creator isn't too fond of me y'know?"

Lumine and Paimon sweated at the mention of your name, the former one rubbing his defeated shoulders for comfort as she looked at her companion.

Paimon worriedly looked up where her mother was as she floated above Gaming, the now peaceful and serene Celestia floating above them with the rightful owner in it. After gathering all your essences back and helping you come back once again - and learning that her emergency food was actually the Creator's daughter-, Lumine had the chance of meeting you quite a lot actually.

The reason for it was pretty simple: Lumine and Paimon had become inseparable.

They had been travelling together for years, all alone with only having each other to rely on. Sure, they made great friendships over the years and they were always happy to reunite with them whenever possible... But none of them could come with them on their journey.

Especially since it was unknown when exactly it would stop.

But although they thought to be alone as they discovered the truth about both Lumine and her brother's story and Paimon's origins... Lumine knew they weren't really all by themselves in such a vast and seemingly endless world.

She could feel it in her soul... With the warmth that never left her ever since she woke up near that shore, the one that had never left her even if she was starting to loose hope, always pushing her to fight for one more day.

There was no way you wouldn't love one of your own child.

"Ahhh... Why do you think so, Gaming? Have you done something to offend Her?" Paimon asks cautiously, with a hint of softness Lumine rarely heard since she was often sarcastic just as you were, as she patted his head warmly with worried eyes. This was one of the rare times that Lumine really saw You in her, that Paimon had more than one thing common with You.

Except Your love for food, that is.

She, better than anyone, knew how You were, after all, as a daughter... She felt your unconditional love even when she had no recollection of, well... Everything that happened.

Even when she didn't know what or who she was, she knew one thing clear: The Creator loved Her creations so dearly... The one on the throne could never be Her.

"Uhhh, Paimon really doesn't think so! Her Highness is known to be so loving and kind and also supportive of Her creations-" she nervously stuttered, looking up to where you were supposed to be as she gave as much comfort as she can. She didn't need to be an expert to know that most of the people in Teyvat adored their Creator, and all of them respected You for... every single thing You did for them.

Including setting new Heavenly Principles to ensure peace all across Teyvat, after millenias of destruction caused by the Usurper which tainted the soil, the very core of Teyvat and the souls of people and gods alike.

Gaming, of course not surprisingly, was one of those who admired you the most. Chenyu Vale, after all, was known for their tea and tea ceremonies, especially those of Adepti and the Creator. The stories of your both heroism and creation was one thing told throughout the land... And then there was the parental ones they had heard and read about thanks to their Archon, Gods and Adepti wanted to preserve for Your and their sake...

To remember those peaceful times they all used to sit with You and eat, drink to their heart's content as they shared stories and what they had been doing with their humans... Before either Barbatos or Menogias and Bosacius "ruining it" with their banter and over all "idiocy" with one of them begging to drink wine with You while the other two argued about the fact that Bosacius shouldn't enter where you are, alongside the ladies, practically half-naked as a mean of respect.

Menogias was not the one describing such events with much disdain, it was Rex Lapis' rather "dislike" towards a certain God of Freedom as those who read your stories sweated awkwardly at his descriptions of " that drunkard who wouldn't stop hogging the Creator all to himself and had no brains too actually give a thing for rules"... All the while You cackled with the "ladies" at the back with a comedic look on your face, betting on how many tries it would take for them to finally agree.

It was good old days... that seemed far, far away from reach as the years passed and now Teyvat was becoming another version of itself, one that You would be proud of no matter what.

Safe to say, most people praised your name and prayed to You through those ceremonies. Liyue and Chenyu Vale were the one who was perhaps the earnest with their belief, and the tea leaves they were proud to grow with Your blessing...

And with the dim-sum they had as a breakfast, to reminisce and pay respect to You and all the Gods who dined with You above the sky once.

But back to the modern days, where three youngsters were having a meltdown for different reasons...

Gaming, because he just told them- two once strangers and now his friends- his biggest secret and insecurity after his problems with father.

Paimon who almost bawled her eyes out from sadness because of the drop of his head like a kicked puppy at the slight sign of his insecurity of failing her mother.

Lumine, because these two were being total dummies and she was wondering how the hell Paimon could be related to You, who was always the logical one and always choose the rational side of things.

"I-I know that, and trust me, I am very grateful to be acknowledged by Her but... Well, I mean, I am surely in no position to complain but life wasn't the easiest for me. Especially since I chose to indulge in Wushou Dancing. You guys already know my story and... And I'm afraid that I didn't satisfy Her with how I failed at making Wushou Dancing popular-"

Gaming ranted in one breath, his face contorting in pain, both from the possibility of such thing being true and from being breathless, as he looked like a kicked puppy with his huge brown eyes from where he stood in front of the petite blond, who stared at him with a confused and troubled look.

" Woah, woah! Easy there, calm down, Gaming... So you think she is upset because of... This?"

Lumine couldn't help but frown while pointing at him and back to his vision, confusion and slight worry clouding her golden eyes as Gaming gulped and looked at her through his lashes, head turning away and eyes trailing over to stare over the tea fields. She only hoped he didn't think it was because she was belittling his worry, but rather, she didn't understand why he worried.

You were always so proud of your creations, did they really not know this?

"Uhm, y-yeah? Why wouldn't She be? She saw potential in me to make it so popular and well-liked by people yet, hehe... Here I am, as a complete failure. Just like my dad predicted..." He rubbed the back of his neck embrassed, sweating from the nervousness at the intense glare the duo was giving to him.

Logically thinking, he knew there was absolutely no way of knowing anything about the Creator, especially something as trivial as this. Both because of a) you must be too busy to care for such a small and childish thing and b) you were the Creator, how were you not supposed to love what you made?

But poor boy's insecure mind was too consumed by the self-hatred he had kept inside for so long that it started to consume hım whole... Enough to question everything he had been taught all of his life, questioning himself for the first time ever since that day if all these struggles were worth it.

Paimon, seeing and having a guess at his state, quickly budged in to divert his attention elsewhere.

"B-But I am sure that mot- I mean, Her Highness didn't bless you with a Vision and showed her favor while expecting something in return!" Paimon suddenly shot up to the air, her short legs kicking at the air angrily as her face was contorted in pure anger for the way he was thinking. And Lumine, for the first time ever since meeting her, cold sweated because of how scary she looked at the moment.

"But..." Gaming sighed dejectedly, coming down from the shock of her sudden burst, head hung low and feeling the familiar sting of his eyes of many nights he spent alone on his bed and looking back to his decisions, trying to determine if he regretted them or not, thinking about his beloved mother and Creator...

And what you both must be thinking of him.

Had he... Failed both of you?

You, who created the whole world with so much love, "The Mother of All" and his own mother, who never shied away from showing her support to him even when his father was angry at her for "spoiling" him...

"But..." he couldn't help but get frustrated at himself, and the tears gathered at the corner of his eyes. How long was he going to act like a kid? How much more would he trouble others because of his problems, much like he was doing now to even his new friends that he just met? He knew he kind of failed at his biggest dream, although his stubborn father didn't know about it just yet and he intended for it to stay that way...

Actually saying it out loud made him realize how... futile, his hardwork had been.

He really didn't make any progress at all, huh?

Before he could get any other self-deprecating thoughts, he contiued with gritted teeth as shame slowly filled him and he moved to get up. "...I was given a Vision because of my ambition to make Wushou Dancing popular in Liyue Harbor, at least that's how I see it although I know not everyone's jumping at watching it... And if I can't make it come true then..."

Another dejected sigh as his hand subconsciously went to his Vision, feeling its comforting warmth as he clutched the glass orb tightly. He always believed that the Visions' warmth, apart from containing the aspirations of the holder, had always had a part of you as well... That the comforting warmth that accompanied him much like other holders, was because of your love and hopes for them. To see what path they would carve for themselves while watching over them...

And there was no way he made anyone proud with what he had become. His relatives? They didn't particularly care about him, they couldn't, right? And his father was another story with the restless and hurtful quarrels they used to have every day, especially after his mother's death. He wouldn't even talk to him, yet alone look at his face, why would he care to come looking for his son?

How would a young boy like him ever know that the reason his father couldn't look at him in the eyes was because he was also reminded of his mistakes and hurtful words he uttered towards his own father when he was his age? How would he know that his own father, though he didn't show himself like that, lacked the way to express his guilt to his own son that he hadn't seen in a long time?

How would he know that his own father was drowning in his own guilt, but too afraid to say anything to his son when he too, was drowning himself in guilt and self-hatred?

His, and unknown to him... his dad's, mind was clouded with their own sadness, all the while never leaving their eyes from the clear sky while Paimon's and Lumine's worried eyes were on Gaming's melancholic ones, as the duo shared a stare only they could understand... with a question after years of being on Teyvat suddenly popped inside their mind.

That they had to reach to you as soon as possible...

And learn how the Vision-giving process actually worked.

"Then, what am I?"

Meanwhile, up in Celestia, you were merrily decorating your place in Liyue themes, since the Lantern Rite night was coming closer, and watering the many plants you had as a gift from your children was taking too long, you opted to keep yourself busy with humming a soft tune.

Completely and blissfully unaware of the chaos in Liyue.

But you know what they say: A mother intuition always works and is always right.

"Hmm... My mom senses are tingling yet once again. Could it be my daughter?" You curiously asked to yourself, a slight worry deep in your heart as you walked back to your throne room to check on her and her companion, the music still blasting inside your head.

Those "earphones" your Fontanian kids called, was really something else as they blasted of your son Barbatos' one of the many ballads, only requiring a magical jade to store that tune. Perhaps you could visit your son and see how they are all doing after that whole Usurper ordeal?

"My children truly exceeded my expectations... If only they didn't nearly destroy Khaenri'ah all those years ago, give them a very unnecessary curse and give me one week of detailed work before the new year..." You couldn't help but sigh out "tiredly" and crack your back, rubbing your neck as you opened the huge white gates of the throne room.

Khaenri'ah, your dear children, were unfortunately caught between the crossfire of Celestia and the misled Archons, getting either killed or cursed with monstrosity and immortality. With yet another scheme of the corrupted Heavenly Grounds combined with them being too blind from their greed, the evil surged to the surface near Khaenri'ah and thus... since the only God they believed in was you, the biggest enemy of the Second... They were nearly destroyed completely.

But now, after a very brutal battle on the very same grounds you now peacefully walked on, Teyvat and your children were finally free with no blood of them dripping to the ground. You gave a new hope, a new world where people would thrive and live in harmony.

Children no longer in pain and crying, not being without parents...

Mothers never having to cry for their fallen children and fathers going mad...

However, just like you always thought of your children... They didn't hesitate to surprise you, and on some occasions scare you, with their quirks... It was only natural to be scared for your children, most importantly your baby, right?

Listening to the conversations of your daughter and Lumine with their other companions had always been a joyful experience for you, even when you were yet to take a form and were shackled. Often they joked with each other, or threw sarcastic quips at each other much to your amusement as you saw yourself in your daughter as clear as the day.

With how easygoing and cheerful their conversations would often be, you didn't think there was anything alarming happening as you looked into our orb.

There were times even you, the Mother-of-All, were left speechless...

As soon as the foggy and disturbed watery surface of your orb cleared out with a wave of your hand, and you were able to see the worried eyes of your dear vessel and daughter looking at a young boy with red and brown hair, their conversation made your mom senses 100 times worse.

"Gaming... Are you okay? Did you sleep well? You look like you are about to fall asleep any time!"

"Not really. Just yesterday, I stayed up all night playing cards..."

"Huh? Stayed up all...night? Isn't that- Isn't that a bit concerning for humans?" You worriedly asked your royal guard as he shook his head just as worriedly from behind you, although disguised it better than You did as you repeatedly looked between him and the orb, picked on your lips and pulled on it in worry as if it could somehow make you understand what you just heard.

He wasn't the Mother of All, after all. It wasn't in his nature to worry about the young ones.

"This boy... He surely doesn't give a single care about his health! I didn't create sleep for humans for nothings! One thing they need for completely resting and-and look at this! Unacceptable!" You groaned with a deep, threatening tone, angry and not understanding why humans tried to go against their nature like that, hands on either sides of your hips as you stared at Gaming's reflection and see... Just how really tired his soul was.

Going between a great dilemma for his future, a hard time for him, one that hangs heavily upon his shoulders and the soul you crafted quite carefully and gently.

What was it that made a boy so young such as him so deeply upset that it affected him deep to his core?

Yet... Made him still so sweet and... pinchable?

"Hmm... They seem to be getting along well nonetheless." you affectionately expressed with a hand under your chin, trying to be still positive, lovingly looking at the content smiles of all three children as your daughter feasted upon food after food and was being spoiled to no end by none other than Gaming himself.

The young boy's willingness to pay for everything and not "disturb" other's, even if he earned that Mora in the hard way, impressed you and his kindness and easygoing side was something you had never seen in a human before.

And considering you were the Creator, that said a lot by itself.

But still... His way was one that could be considered as... "Self-destructive", one that rang the alarms of a troubled childhood even from miles away, and also one which needed to be stopped at one point.

Even if it required the two most essential weapons of a mother: "The Mom Voice" and "The Slipper".

Your thoughts were cut short when you saw your daughter's shy yet puffed out cheeks as Gaming cooed at her, you couldn't help but chuckle as well, leaning down over the orb with both hands on your cheeks and heart combusting and running up the walls from the sudden surge of love you felt for the three young children as the other two coddled your daughter, in their own ways of course.

Aww, a fed Paimon is a happy Paimon, huh?

"And just like that, Gaming is her new favourite friend." You giggled at Paimon's flushed cheeks from the orb you watched, Lumine's smug yet peaceful smile after all the traumatic events she went through brightening your face. Gaming's bright smile wasn't so behind on the race of "radiance", his eyes twinkling in happiness at Paimon's happy and wide smile, feeling proud with himself that he was the reason she was a full and happy child at that moment.

That was exactly what you wanted for your children and people to have: Get along well with each other, learn from each other as everyone experienced the world you served beneath their feet... Not fight for their lives in greed and selfishness.

You sighed in relief when you realized that they were fine and happy, a bit tired perhaps from the hard work earlier but still... They were finally being what they were supposed to be from the beginning as they joked together already.

Two teens and a child, though the latter was questionable since Paimon has been there ever since "the Beginning".

"Gaming is one unique boy, just like many of Your creations, Your Highness... Easily well-loved, and befriended even by 'two outsiders'."

You absentmindedly nodded, you attention straying away from the scene before your eyes as you looked at one of the pillars of Celestia in deep thought.

It was no shocker that humans were... weird, in the eyes of other gods.

You created them with compensation and empathy, with the need to socialise and friend others in their journey. The way they would do it, however, entirely depended on their choices and often times, even when shackled, you watched them in amazement with the different routes they had taken with their life.

Some gods didn't want to question your authority, but couldn't help the questions linger in their minds: Why would you built paths for them when you knew the end? When you knew how they would act?

Well, that was the question forbanother day...

But even with knowing it all, Gaming's behaviour shocked even You, who was the one to set the order.

The sixteen-year-old just... gave and gave and gave at an alarming speed, without ever stopping... Without even asking for anything in return.

That wasn't good at all... A person who gives and gives, who is very self-sacrificing with absolutely zero care about their own emotions, trying to gain people's gratitude so that they would continue the relationship/ friendship, definetly experienced a situation where they felt... Invalidated for their feelings.

And You saw it... Even your daughter, who loved food and tea more than anything, hesitated to accept his request for more food and treats to eat after all the things he bought for her.

But in the end, she was just a child. A child who loved treats, especially if it came from someone else.

"You really liked it, huh?... You know what? I'll buy you a whole bunch and pile them so high, you could swim in 'em!"

"You... You noticed what Paimon likes?" you could hear the slight wavering of your little baby's voice as a gentle smile overtake your whole face, your insides filling up with an unexplainable need to crush her to your chest with many kisses all over her chubby cheeks... Although what he said he would do was a bit impossible.

You always knew your daughter had a very soft heart behind her "ugly nickname giving ceremonies" or her sarcastic answers, even when she unintentionally ( or not, at least when she saw someone she didn't like) spoke too much and too loud.

Lucky of her that she had people who loved her anyways.

It seemed Gaming and Lumine also thought the scene to be wholesome as they both smiled with closed eyes at her obviously touched state, Lumine snickering under her breath as Paimon sniffled and blushed while glancing away from Gaming, who also supported a brotherly smile at her.

"Wait... Seriously? Paimon was just joking, you don't have to do... that!... But if you are going to get us something anyways, we would much rather have Winter Melon Cake instead! And you said you hadn't eaten it for so long, so Paimon calls it a win-win."

"Ah, don't mention it! Just think of this as a thank you for all your help." He waved his hand dismissively as he prepared to leave, doubts and anxiety still swirling in his eyes and soul. Yet, he hid all those behind a warm smile and saddened, downcasted eyes.

But there were things he couldn't hide from one entity...

"Besides, the thing between me and my family... It's a long story. It might take some time to tell. You get all hungry in the meantime as I prepare everything, goodbye!"

With that, Gaming sprintered away from the two travellers who looked from behind him with perplexed eyes. Poor Lumine couldn't understand what had just happened, with both Gaming's "story" and the way he abruptly ran away.

Paimon was busy with getting agitated, having had enough, though.

Fortunately, they weren't the only ones who felt that way... Although Paimon's reasons were different than You and Lumine.

"Is he underestimating Paimon? Hah! The audacity! She is just gonna have to show him how much-"

"Paimon could eat, perhaps?"

"Mama!"

Paimon's angry rambling and flapping of her cape ceased, her happily exclaiming as her eyes lightened up with stars when she zoomed in to where you were waiting for her with a closed eyes smile, leaving a trail of constellations in her excitement, head slightly tilted and arms wide open for her to come crashing into and nuzzle to your warm chest.

It had been such a long time after all, the last time you were peacefully together being Sumeru where you had been hiding to gather all your powers back and lead Lumine to where you were.

After a very emotional reunion, answering a lot of questions about the creation in general and the Abyss and Celestia, saving the Sumeru (as in entirety) and their Archon who was apparently your freakin' granddaughter who was very eager to finally meet her grandmother whose voice was the only thing she was able to hear in her dream...

All of you decided to wait for a bit more until everything settled and this silent war was over, to "descend" onto a very much so eagerly waiting Teyvat and declare Paimon as your youngest daughter.

Oh the amount of war flashbacks some people would have because holy shit, they treated and even insulted her- the Creator's child- so badly, they were sure they would get a very torturing punishment...

"Hello, Your High-" A hard, yet teasing, stare of your starry eyes was all it took for Lumine to sweat anxiously and correct herself with a shy smile, cheeks flushing at your serious yet still soft eyes. It wasn't in your nature to chide and get mad easily, although your eldest children would beg to differ about the previous one. However, for your dear ones, they didn't have to use such honorifics when you were all tightly knitted through the fate you let happen.

Besides, Lumine was just so cute with her bashful forgetfullness of adressing you casually, even when you often reminded her.

"Y/N... I hope you have been fine lately?" You hummed pleasantly as you nodded, patting your daughter's back as she nuzzled to your neck for warmth with a toothy smile.

"Hmm... I really was, thank you Lumine. I hope your journey on Chenyu Vale wasn't so harsh?" You inquired with a turn of your body, the floral designs on your dress and the edge of your long sleeves flowing as if they were slowly moving and your mighty crown standing on your head, shining blindingly and setting fear on enemies.

But it only amazed her further, making her stare at you for the power you held in amazement and how easily you could destroy everything and yet, chose not to.

"It was not as harsh as it was then Inazuma's, it was quite pleasing." She answered after a few seconds of pondering, making you laugh out awkwardly and sweat as she smiled kindly at you, knowing how you still held yourself to blame for what Ei had done to both of them and her own people.

I couldn't show her the right path when she needed her mother the most... Of course, I'm one of the people to blame...

That was what you said when you witnessed the pain Ei's grief and twisted thinking of "Eternity" caused to her people. Grief... Grief often blinded logic and the truth right in front of people, which resulted in unwanted situations and the hurt innocent people would have to face.

The sight of lightining scars across Lumine's petite body, a crestfallen look painted with grief raking through her body as your soft hands slowly touched her scars that you offered to heal... You never felt more disgusting and a failure than you did at the moment.

To which she always replied with " They do not hurt anymore, Your Grace..." with a tight and secure squeeze of her hands over yours as she hugged you, the Creator who felt immense guilt for something that happened out of Their control, because of the wrong doing of something else.

A Creator that felt sadness and compassion for one of Their creations so openly...

"Ah, apologies once again... I wish it was just as pleasant as it was with Liyue and Mondstadt but you know-" you shut yourself up with a forced cough, not wanting to remind her of her bad experiences as you stared at her golden eyes, to which she averted eyes and looked at the horizon bashfully under Paimon's judging eyes.

She really better had a little talk with her about Lumine's treatment towards her mother... Before something else came to her mind.

"Mom... There is something Paimon wants to ask your help with!" She excitedly chirped as she got out of your hold and made a flip, kicking her legs as you laughed out at her energy. It wasn't every day that she would ask something from you, especially that happily as if her request was a bright idea.

"Of course, darling of mine. What is it?"

"It's about Ga-Ming and his family!"

Lumine's smile froze on her face as she nervously looked at Paimon, fiddling with her fingers while hinting at her to stop, to which Paimon ignored. "I don't think it is our place to do something about his family, Paimon."

It wasn't that she didn't want to help him, she did. She already loved Ga-Ming and his energetic bursts, how he was always ready to lend a helping hand. She already considered him to be a friend and as his friend, of course she wanted him to be happy.

She knew the value of family more than anyone else, especially after loosing it, but... She was also aware that some things were supposed to stay between family and solved by them, not by some outsiders.

However, it seemed that Paimon had other ideas. As she started to reject Lumine's idea, saying how much he helped them and gave them and that they had to repay back some way, you raised a brow in question at their banter.

You already had a brief idea of what was going on with his family, courtesy of having 15 children directly related to you with different personalities, and what the problem between the father and son was, but it wouldn't hurt to hear it from them.

"Do you mean his father, sweetheart?"

She nods enthusiastically when Lumine budges in to cut her talk. "Yes, Y/N... But I do think that his problem runs a little bit deeper than we can help him with..."

You nodded at her understandingly, knowing the miscommunication going on has been prolonged far longer than it was necessary. Children often didn't notice much, didn't accept or wanted to accept their parents' expectations of them. They wanted to fly with their own wings, even if it could hurt them at first.

The parents didn't make it easy for them either and most of the times... They didn't want to accept their children wanting to go away and be themselves.

And as a result, both sides would drift apart until the other saw from their point of view, not caring that one wanted freedom and the other wanted safety and security for the other, even if it ended with their child angry at them. As long as they were safe and sound to do so... It was all that would matter, even if it seemed like a disrespect in the eyes of the child.

The stubborness of each side would only result in a distance that would severe the bond more and more with each passing day.

Perhaps... All they needed was a little nudge for them to see what both sides were loosing while they were drowning in their own stubborness?

"You are right, Lumine... However, there is nothing that could not be changed with a little help and a nudge towards the right." You hum with a hand over your chin, forefinger tapping your cheek in thought as you cross your arms over your chest. You soon broke out in a smile, having made your mind as you happily made a little jump.

"I shall help you two achieve your goal! The New Year is coming up and I do not wish any of my children to enter a new year full of new chances while being sad and alone."

You would make sure of that.

[khruschevshoe]

OFMD Critique: Finales, Writing Backwards, and the Importance of Building Relationships

Continuing on the rambling meta bc it turns out there are a couple of people that responded well to my initial thoughts...

Am I the only one that felt like the OFMD Season 2 finale suffered from the exact same problem as the Game of Thrones or the How I Met Your Mother Season finales? Well, not exactly the same, but lemme explain.

The treatment of Izzy Hands in Season 2 of OFMD feels like when they sat down to write this season, they wrote his death scene first (for whatever reasons that might be, though likely for the sake of Ed's arc- we're not going to address my feelings on THAT rn), THEN backfilled his arc for the rest of the season based on that, but then didn't rewrite his death scene to address the stuff that organically happened when writing the rest of the season.

Like, for example, I've seen plenty of people point out that the deathbed apology from Izzy to Ed doesn't really work (I fed your darkness) both in regards to the sheer imbalance of damage shown onscreen between Ed and Izzy, but also doesn't work as a "putting Blackbeard behind us" scene when Izzy figuratively (and literally, if you count him as part of the group with the cannonball) killed his half of Blackbeard in the storm scene in 2x2, with whatever parts lingering in him killed with the unicorn scene in 2x4. After this point, his arc and his focus has very, very little to do with Blackbeard or hell, Ed in general besides the couple of comments made to Ed and Stede that cement that Izzy is happy that Ed moved on and found someone that makes him happy.

Izzy's arc has left Blackbeard behind already. He has already hit the emotional beat that the finale wants to retread.

And then the other part of his deathbed comments to Ed- "the crew loves you, Ed"- makes no sense from the Ed side of things. The show built up an arc for Izzy that would make people care when he died, but that arc was literally about the crew literally putting aside their differences/fear/distrust of each other to help, support, and accept Izzy as their figurehead, their protector, their friend, their recovery, their family, their (insert positive symbolism/metaphor for all of the VARIOUS implied flirtations here).

What did they have with Ed? Other than his moments with Stede and Fang, what relationships were built up before Izzy's death? Calypso's birthday included no scenes of the crew interacting with Ed other than the short Archie/Ed/Stede convo at the beginning. We get none of him talking to them when prepping for the party. He spends 2x7 and 2x8 with Stede, only having scenes with Stede, never building anything with the crew.

THE LAST SUBSTANTIAL INTERACTION ED HAS WITH THE CREW BEFORE IZZY DIES IS THE "INFLUENCER APOLOGY" IN 2X5 (other than with Fang in the boat). Holy shit, I didn't even realize that until I got to this point in the meta. I had realized that something felt wrong/off about the "the crew loves you line," but I thought that it was because 2x1-2x3 cast such a long shadow on the rest of the season that it was impossible to escape. No, there were cracks in the back half of the season as well.

All of which is to say: if you have to kill Izzy (which you really, really don't, btw, it makes little sense in a show where pretty much every character has survived a near death experience with nary a scratch, but for the sake of hypothetical), there is a way you can pull it off: you have the crew at Izzy's side as he dies instead of Ed. You have their relationship with Izzy at the forefront, because their relationship is the one that matters at this point in the narrative. You have Izzy die trying to save one of them, not by random gunshot.

And then after Izzy dies, you finally give the crew their agency back. You let Izzy's death be the last straw in THEIR arcs. You let them tell Ed that they cannot allow him to stay on the ship after everything. You let them tell him that they are putting their foot down, and he can go retire if he wants, but they will not let him destroy this crew anymore.

(Or, you know, you can have all of that with a death SCARE instead of an actual death, and allow Izzy to sail off into the sunset as a first mate instead of as a dead body. Because that would suit the tone of the show and the story better.)

But I have the feeling that point B (Izzy dying/his death scene) was the thing that was decided on first, and so the budget crunch/other factors may have led the writers into making the same mistake as so many before them have: writing point A out organically, and then failing to change Point B when it no longer fit the story they had written.

[eff-plays]

To me it's not really about morality if I have to be honest. I'm an Isaac Castlevania stan and he wanted to kill literally all of humanity. Like I don't care if you play evil characters or get off to immoral dom daddies or whatever. I've wanted to punt children in Skyrim into the sun for saying sassy shit to me so like. It's a video game where you kill people. I do not care.

To me, the "problem" (or rather, the thing I like making fun of the most) is just how very surface-level evil the Ascendant ending is, how obviously evil it is, how Larian pretty much beats you over the head with it using very simple and traditional storytelling techniques ("you'll have to kill 7000 people, including literal children btw"), and how some people still manage to twist it into something it isn't (a triumphant, perfect ending) despite Larian constantly blasting at you how bad it is. (And this isn't a critique, it works well and tropes are tropes for a reason, this shit works.)

And it's not even a unique setup. It's a classic dichotomy of want vs need. That's why they're contrasting endings. Astarion wants power, but he needs freedom and self-worth. That's the gist of it.

That's why I love the epilogue titles so much, because they perfectly sum up the endings. Radiant Hopeful, because he's his own light in the dark. For someone who's been a pessimistic asshole after suffering for two centuries, that's HUGE. Sunwalking Regent means he can walk in the sun, a symbol for everything he wanted, but "regent" implies he's a temporary ruler. Someone, somewhere, will come to de-throne him one day, and every day he fears that moment. His newfound power binds him to constant fear and paranoia, and he always searches for new ways to become stronger, because in his mind, he can never be strong enough.

Spawn ending is bittersweet: he lost power, he's still cursed with vampirism and can't walk in the sun, but he is free, he is his own person and he has hope for the future. He's decided for himself what he wants to do, and that's adventuring and helping others, lending his strength to those who do not have any, in his own weird way. He's physically weaker than Ascendant Astarion, and yet he's got strength to spare.

So what's the flip side? In the ascendant ending, he has power, he has control, he has money. But he's paranoid, he's controlling, and he's terrified of losing it all again, because without it, he believes he's nothing, so having it becomes his one and only purpose. It's also bittersweet, because he finally has everything he wanted, but he'll never again have what he truly needs.

These are like ... classic tropes. You can't have it all. You have to make a choice. The thing you think you want, or the thing you don't know you need. AA stans argue that actually, no. His endings are actually suuuper flat and uninteresting. Either he stays a weak and worthless and fearful spawn, or he becomes a strong and powerful and manly supervampire (let's not unpack the masculinity stuff here cuz that's a whole other bag of yikes). That's the argument they're making. That it's a black and white choice of either you pick the stuff where everything works out forever or the stuff where he's a loser lapdog who has to obey Tav because men must either control to be real men or are controlled pussies who can't do fuck (again, not getting into that here). And it's just literally not how the story is set up. None of the companion stories are this flat. If they were, there wouldn't be any argument or choice to make. No pros and cons to weigh. And it's just logically not a good gameplay mechanic, for a role-playing game.

And yet there are people who are just choosing not to get it, just the way I choose to believe it's a choice for most of them because I don't want to believe so many of these people are genuinely this stupid.

So yeah. That's why I block AA fans on sight. Not because I think their fetish is funny (though I do), but because I genuinely don't think I would have anything to gain from people who fundamentally cannot comprehend extremely basic storytelling techniques when they're practically spelled out for you with not-very-subtle methods. It's not even a thing of consciously choosing the bad ending where he's a very shitty daddy dom because it gets them off, that's literally whatever to me, but the fact that most of them genuinely believe it's somehow the better ending.

Despite. Well all of the shit I wrote above.

So yeah. It's not about enjoying evil characters, to me. People who do generally don't brush the actual evil part under the rug. It's the refusal or apparent inability to grasp extremely basic storytelling concepts lmao. And for what? Pff.

[sapphic-scylla]

Ok, could be entirely wrong about this, but this is how I’m going to interpret it, so don’t correct me…

Shadow of the Erdtree answered a lot of lingering lore questions that base game didn’t really answer, so it closed several threads.

However, the thing that bothered me early dlc was why? Why was Miquella there in the first place? What was the point? I thought he was off attempting to find a cure for his sister’s condition, you know, like a good sibling would. She’s now down to a single full limb, no eyes, and is functioning on prosthetics (still to more than full effect, but that doesn’t erase the disability of it all) and is sitting waiting for him to return after all the work she put in trying to help him ascend. Even putting her life at risk by marching an army out to Caelid to put down this rogue warlord.

Miquella, however, was misguided as most aspiring gods are. He thought his version of compassion was to ascend to the throne with that same guy (who mutilated and kickstarted the scarlet rot in his sister btw) and usher in a new age of compassion across the Lands Between and set a new precedent for the world. While, back at home, Malenia was caving in to the Scarlet Rot on a needle that wasn’t doing its job anymore, thinking that he would return hopefully soon with a cure.

We have no clue how long ago the events of the Shattering War took place. For all we know, it could have been decades ago previous to the awakening of the Tarnished in Limgrave. Time is messy and unconfirmed in a lot of places so who really knows the time table on all of this, but my conclusion is this:

Miquella was so focused on his illusions of grandeur in the Shadow Realm (still makes me laugh) and putting his own plans into motion that he lost sight and care for the fate of his sister. He said he would ascend to the throne at any cost, so he cared little for the fact that his sister was literally rotting under the guise of being compassionate and caring and loving so deeply the people of the Lands Between that he lost his priority for his own sister, who never really wanted the throne anyway, but cared so deeply for her brother that she not only went to war and jumpstarted the rot in her own body in pursuit of being a help for him, but then was carried home by Finlay and STILL proceeded to hole up in the Haligtree waiting for his return.

Now, if Miquella truly cared more for his sister than he did the throne, he would have made more of an effort to halt the spreading of the rot, which we learned is entirely possible through Millicent’s questline by means of an unnalloyed gold needle that prevents divine intervention or interference of which the rot was perpetuated by a Greater Will of some nature. That and the fact that Radahn was very much still alive post-Shattering War, so instead of using that time while Radahn was decaying out in his own wastes to slow the spread of the Scarlet Rot, he instead abandons his sister to go argue with his brother, the Impaler instead, which honestly, the zealot that Messmer is, was probably a lost cause in the first place.

Also, it really wasn’t Miquella’s problem. The Lands Between were not his responsibility. Melina was out there doing things, chosen by her mother, Marika, to set things right, burn the Erdtree, find a worthy candidate for Lord despite the hundreds of threats standing in said candidate’s way including Marika herself who had been merged with her husband, Radagon (still not clear why that was necessary or anything), but my point being was that their was a plan in place. Kind of a long shot, but Melina was raised by her mother TO DO EXACTLY THAT, making me believe this was the plan all along and most didn’t like that decision and attempted to take fate for themselves (like Rykard, Miquella, Godfrey, even Godrick despite him being overwhelmingly inept at, well, everything). It’s also clear to me that Miquella cared very little for Mohg, who also put himself on the line for Miquella and ended up biting it to a random Tarnished who got curious. Ansbach clearly shared ill will towards Miquella with his attempts to reclaim Mohg’s dignity and his role in the defeat of Miquella’s allies and his role in the battle against Radahn while assisting the Tarnished.

TLDR: Miquella got either hungry for power or a MASSIVE savior complex and, in a perfectionist manner becoming of only him, made a long form journey beyond the realms to resurrect a warlord he chose as his consort, leaving behind a sister, sick with rot but willing to do anything for him who believed he would return with a cure, only for him too spend an inordinate amount of time arguing with their estranged sibling, Messmer, and attempting to become Elden Lord rather than actually spend the time to care for his ailing sister. Compassionate indeed…

Again, I’m probably not correct about a bit of this, but this makes the most sense in my brain and honestly, unless we get another DLC, which I’m pretty sure we’re not, I like this take one the story so I’m not really interested in being corrected at all, so enjoy the rant I guess?

[gay-jesus-probably]

I feel like Zelda does not recognize that her actions have consequences, which is. A very bad attitude for a leader to have, and seems to extend VERY far back in the Hyrulian royal family. You're also very right about them seeming to think that Ganondorf was too far beneath them to do any real harm. They thought they were being clever, but they failed to recognize that he can be very dangerous if he wants to be. This is entirely in a "good for her" way towards Ganondorf btw. So basically I am shaking Zelda by the shoulders and screaming "WHEN WILL YOU LEARN!!! WHEN WILL YOU LEARN THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!!!!"

Oh my god, right??? I mean, I'm not surprised, that kind of shit is just par for the course with royalty. They're literally born into a position of absolute power and authority, and told that they deserve it because they are fundamentally better people than literally everyone else, and all these lesser people exist only to serve them. That is the philosophical bedrock that a monarchy is built on. And in the LoZ universe it's a thousand times worse, because now we're also talking the divine right of kings (divine right of princesses in this case i guess), except it is canonically true. The literal canon says that the Hylian royal family has actually descended from a goddess, and that means they get to rule the world forever, and anyone who disagrees with them is pure evil to be crushed.

I mean, don't get me wrong aesthetically I love a good fantasy monarchy, that's just an inherent guilty pleasure of the genre. But I like them being done well. I don't want my fantasy royalty to just be the beautiful well mannered people that wear fancy clothes and sit on thrones. I like them being written as a person in a mandatory lifelong political position, and taking their duty as head of state really fucking seriously. Yeah, they're rich and powerful and live in a cool castle, but the trade off is that literally their entire life is dedicated to the betterment of the kingdom, regardless of what they actually want to do. That's the deal. You get anything you want, but you don't get to be your own person. If you don't want to do the job, then you don't get to have the privilege that comes with it. Honestly, one of the best examples I can think of off the top of my head is Riju; she's the unelected leader of the Gerudo and took the throne as a child... and took her responsibility really fucking seriously. She's been an exemplary leader in all her apperances, and she's clearly dedicated to the idea that being the head of state means serving your people above all else. She's dedicated her life to the wellbeing of the Gerudo, and that makes her an incredibly good person; she's more than earned her position and the benefits that come with it.

...And then we have Zelda, who isn't so good at this. Honestly, I'd say her main problem is just straight up entitlement; not really surprising given her environment. I mean for fucks sake, just look at how the civillians in TOTK treat her; I'm still absolutely horrified by that one sidequest where a research team misheard her instructions, thought she told them to go exploring in their underpants, and instead of refusing or even questioning the situation, they actually fucking did it. Every single one of them stripped naked, and set off to do their job in the manner the Princess had asked them to. A job that included going into monster dens. Now of course this is all silly, because naked people are funny, but if you actually think about it for five seconds, it's actually not funny at all. A group of civilians believed that their ruler ordered them to throw away their weapons, remove all their armour, strip naked, and walk into a monster den. This is outright said to be suicide. And they were actually going to fucking do it, without a single complaint or word of question. And the game's actual response to this is just "wow, it's so great to see how everyone's so devoted to our princess! this is a really heartwarming story". No game, I do not consider it heartwarming that a group of civillians were immediately willing to throw themselves to a pointless, agonizing death for no benefit other than Zelda's amusement. Not that she actually told them to do it, but the misunderstanding spiralling that far says so much about the state of Hyrule, and how much accountability Zelda is being held to. Which is to say, literally none whatsoever. Even when the fake Zelda is raising hell across the country and actively ruining lives, the only response from her apparent victims is to get worried that they haven't been showing Zelda enough devotion which is why they must have deserved this torment, so the only response is to dedicate even more of their lives to her service! Nobody questions her, nobody even gets angry or scared that she's seemingly hurt them. They just grovel at her feet.

The point I'm making here is that Zelda has spent years in an environment where literally everyone tells her that she is the most important person in the world, she deserves all the power, respect and riches, and she could never do anything wrong. That would go to anyone's head, and let's be real here... the game never even suggests that Zelda's tried to get people to take it down a few notches. She isn't worried about the mindless worship, she's perfectly okay with her country being a goddamn suicide cult. And you can see the entitlement coming across in her actions during the game - she has the four sages swear that their entire races will dedicate themselves to serving the Hylian royal family, and specifically their still-unborn descendants will take up the role to do her dirty work. She thinks it's perfectly reasonable to ask people to sell their unborn children into her service, and there's nothing ethically dubious about making demands of people who haven't been born yet, with two of them still being children when they're ordered to take up arms. And I realize it's a serious situation, but the game doesn't acknowledge this as being a morally grey action; the new sages are swearing to dedicate their lives to the glory of their god-ruler, how could anyone find that alarming?

And her treatment of LInk is particularly infuriating, because let's remember her, the last time she sees Link is immediately after he's been gloom-fucked by Ganon. His entire left arm is dead, and his beloved weapon is destroyed. She saw it happen. He absolutely could have just died right after she was yeeted back in time, because again, he was mortally wounded and in an extreme amount of danger. And even if he did live, he's just had his entire arm ripped off; after everything he's gone through, it would make perfect sense for him to finally hit a breaking point and decide he can't stand to fight anymore. My man's literally died before, and now he's lost his dominant limb, how could anyone be expected to keep going after that? But Zelda never even considers that Link might not be able or willing to fight for her. She treats it as a given that he's perfectly fine, and will do exactly what she wants even if she isn't there to order him around. It's not like he can think for himself, that would be ridiculous. Link is denied any and all agency; he can't even form his own opinions about the main plot or influence it in any way; everything was decided several thousand years ago. He's just here to do as he's told.

It just... all makes me think of that one memory in BOTW where Zelda runs away from Link, and when he catches up to do his fucking job, she greets him by angrily declaring that obviously she's the only one with a mind of her own. That was supposed to be her being way the fuck out of line, and abusing Link to deal with her own frustrations. But apparently TOTK... decided that she was right. Zelda is the only one with a mind of her own. Link's just here to follow her around and swing the sword when she tells him to.

It's just so fucking bleak, I hate this story so much. I love the gameplay, but I'm having a miserable time with the plot, every new development just makes me more frustrated and upset. I'm working on the fifth sage thing right now, and gotta say, absolutely fucking hate how Mineru refers to Link as just Zelda's Human Weapon. Like thank you furry goat lady, I realize that Zelda chose me to be her personal bootlicker, but I sure as hell didn't consent to any of this, and nobody has asked me if I'm actually willing to put my life on the line for this woman yet again.

At least BOTW fucking asked me if I was willing to risk my life to stop the Calamity.

[westeroswisdom]

^^^ Yes, that’s Carice van Houten, AKA: Melisandre, taking part in a demonstration against a fossil fuel company in the Netherlands. It’s a shame that she can’t just recite an incantation in Valyrian that would turn all the oil in the world into seltzer. BTW, great sign!

The onetime Red Priestess was arrested for blocking a major highway with other climate activists.

Extinction Rebellion protest in Netherlands ends with 1,500 arrested

During the protest, organised by Extinction Rebellion, activists walked onto the A12 highway demanding an end to fossil fuel subsidies.

Police fired water cannon to try to disperse the crowds - but many came prepared in raincoats and swimsuits.

Most arrested protesters were released, but police said 40 would be prosecuted.

Among those at Saturday's protest were several Dutch celebrities, including actress Carice van Houten, known for playing Melisandre in TV series Game of Thrones. She was arrested but later allowed to return home, Dutch news agency ANP said.

So cheers to Ms. van Houten for her efforts at keeping Earth’s climate from getting worse.

[annachum]

Several GOT ladies in more historically accurate clothing

Since House of the Dragon has inspirations from The Anarchy ( set in 12th century ), and Game of Thrones has inspirations from War of the Roses ( set in 15th century ), I've decided to draw several GOT franchise ladies in more historically accurate fashion

And....here we go.

A drawing I did of Margarey Tyrell in a more historically accurate attire

It is actually a Tudor Era rendition of her iconic blue and gold attire, with stylistic nods to Anne Boleyn btw

A drawing I made of Sansa Stark in a more historically accurate fashion

It is actually a 15th century rendition of a purple and gold outfit that I really like - with stylistic nods to Elizabeth of York

A drawing I did of Rhaenyra Targaryen in a more historically accurate attire

It is a 12th century rendition of a dark blue and gold dragon dress attire that she wore, with stylistic nods to Queen Leah ( Disney animated Sleepinf Beauty ) and Queen Matilda of England

A drawing of Daenerys Targaryen in a more historically accurate attire

Now Daenerys' fashions included beautiful dresses and long skirt armors

I drew Daenerys in a 15th century ladies' armor rendition of a black armor suit of hers that I really like, with stylistic nods to Joan of Arc and Lagertha

A drawing of Alicent Hightower in a more historically accurate attire

This is a 12th century rendition of Alicent's green and gold attire that I like - with stylistic nods to Queen Elinor from Brave, and Adeliza of Louvain

A drawing of Cersei Lannister in a more historically accurate attire

This is a rendition of Cersei in a 16th century rendition of a mahogany and black attire that I've seen her wear ( in my memory ) - with stylistic nods to Caterina di Medici and Mary I Tudor

[asrainstorm]

The legend of the Goddess of Thunderstorms

Includes: insane!Raiden Ei x f!archon!reader (presumably romantic), fan-archon!Glasea-Labolas x reader (romantic), reader x Kunikuzushi (parental platonic)

Warnings: Genshin Impact AU; songfic, the reader is the Archon of the Oceans, the reader is prone to emotionality and therefore a little myopic, mentions of death, partial rape, angst, partial description of an aphrodisiac, forced imprisonment in captivity, violent insanity.

A/n: The work is based on the song [pyrokinesis - the legend of the goddess of thunderstorms]. Also here, the reality differs from the original plot of the game in that Ei and Makoto switched places – from the very beginning, it was Ei who was the Archon. I warn you once again that this is a job focused on dark and unhealthy relationships without a good ending. And yes, there is some merging here with the previous work about Sara, since in my mind it is one universe. Maybe I should open requests for it?.. English is still not my first language, btw.

I bet you'd marvel.

The legend is not simple, La Commedia Divina.

And then there's the question:

How did the Goddess of Thunderstorms fall unrequitedly in love with the Ocean?

—

Raiden was glorified by three things. The unparalleled power of the storm that lurked in the depths of her palms, the severity that twisted sinners like a wild storm, and the all-seeing eye of eternity, beyond the reach of mortal exertions and untouchable to divine hands. She was the crowned ruler of thunderstorms, tearing the world to shreds and calling the universe into her arms with a teeth-baring roar of thunder. She drew landscapes and outlines of creatures on the earth's massif, powerfully named them, and waited for them to live up to the name they were given. Innocence would fall, kingdoms would crumble, and lives would follow. Truly so. For Hell, yielding to desire and rushing in the chariot of time, is an act of a higher will.

The other Archons looked at her with a strangely readable mixture of pity and condemnation, or rather, those who remained after that very War and events that took her sister in a golden spectrum of radiance. Those who had not kept Makoto safe and had barely escaped themselves. They were pitiful now. The God of the freest winds very soon fled, falling into a sound sleep and leaving his people in a fortress that resembled a keyhole from above. The God of the indestructible mountains hobbled with the blood of his loved ones and wiped his mouth with the white sleeve of robes from dead body, retreating from his duties with blind faith in the autonomy of men. The wisest of saints the Goddess of unyielding nature perished, suffocated, leaving behind only a young fragile creature amidst sturdy roots and grieving sighs. Is it worth continuing? There was, however, among the seats empty of mournful thoughts at their table a special throne, untainted, hardly alienated from itself. Yours.

Stoically enduring the blows of the stone oxen and the ships cutting the smooth skin, the God of all the seas and oceans which preceded Osial, being his child, but could not compare with the stinging Goddess of justice Focalor, the Archon of Water by birthright. The faithful called you Vine. You didn’t appreciate these people, rather you simply did your job, coming out of the sea-foam with indifference and then dipping into it. Prayers and praises did not occupy you, ancient offerings only repulsed; you understood that these were just people holding on to their Deity, but you never asked them for it. A hundred years ago you should have died. But there was one who disagreed and took a fierce blow to his chest, scattering almost instantly in a sheaf of sparks. Yes... Him.

Raiden had often seen you together. In your heart, torn by a love tinged with standing blood, there lived an Archon called Glacea-Labolas, Hades, known for his irrepressible despotism, comparable to Decorabian. Much senseless bloodshed he brought, much knowledge of science, art, and revenge, but no one could fathom what his cruel gaze was so appealing to you. Glacea-Labolas loved you, too, in his own way: he scratched your back with his claws to the rough furrows, kept you close and smiled only in your presence, humming impossibly sweet words in your ear. The serpent tempter made you lose your breath, and at one collision of glances a pulse of insane force ran through your divine vessel, making your knees tremble and your stomach twist with exhaustion. Together you were happy. At the level of monsters with no sense of intelligent communication, of course, but Morax was the first to blink approvingly; Raiden couldn't understand that. She didn't like it. She knew how clever you were, how full of passion and ambition, how mind-bogglingly powerful. You were the Esther of your age, and she had no desire to give the Persian beauty to the mad animal Baal. She wanted you for herself. When you sit beside her, the air fills with sea salt. The wet, cold, salty water that all living matter once was. It's like a dragging watercolor, an oil painting of half dreams, and Raiden suffocates from this scent like the heroine of Heliogabal's Rose, bends, merges with it and swallows it, gulps it down, revels in it to the point of exhaustion. To a stupefying stupefaction. Her knees move apart like the legs of an easel, asking for art – she has read such a perverse formulation in a novel or heard it somewhere, but it makes no difference, as long as it suits very well. You are certainly art and the ocean that washes over her shins and thighs. You cause her ecstatic spasms, and her desire only increases. It's eerie to have you. Because she is stern and strong and gets what she craves, so she doesn't even hesitate when she takes your salt-soaked hand and leads away from the general celebration, quite sure of your positive reaction to the further words spoken.

“You can't grieve forever, can you? We are supreme beings, we are more powerful than anything in the world, so why are you cooling off in this doldrums, why are you stopping?”

“Because my beloved is dead”, you said with a furrowed brow, incomprehensibly. “Isn't that a natural reaction in relationship?”

“Then start a new relationship, Y/N.”

Silence falls between you. The numb niche of furious shock that drives you mad becomes frighteningly alien. Half-seriously, half wheezing, you barely smile. Half face.

“Is this a joke?”

“Not at all.”

“Then what is it? It hasn't been a century yet, it's just unseemly”, you try to brush aside what's going on, you're visibly frightened and agitated; the mere mention of Glacea-Labolas brings tears, viscous salt, under your blue-dust-covered eyelids.

“Start a new relationship with me.”

The silence between you became almost physically palpable: it rubbed into skin, got under fingernails, and quite clearly disrupted thoughts and feelings. It made it hard to breathe. From head to toe, you were suddenly filled with a crushing, paralyzing force that pinned you to the floor like nails to a blackboard; the rage that had methodically scraped away from the blurred walls of your being by grief, and it splashed in your eyes, and the ends of your hair shone with a clear, menacing blue glow. Such you were simply beautiful...

“How dare you? No one dares to interrupt my mourning, even the people who believe in me mourn this loss, and you, Narukami Shugoshin, think you are something more worthy? Something better than us? Do you have the nerve to mock us?” you clenched your fists until your knuckles turned white, turning away from her sharply. “I am so disappointed. Please don't visit my lands again.”

Your departure was either ignored or tactfully overlooked, but Focalor, your patron, could not refrain from giving a reproachful look. Raiden was unwilling to speculate whether or not she'd heard your conversation, but, to her amazement, the rejection she'd received didn't cause the wave of despair she'd expected. Surely you didn't mean it. You're sad. Yes. Should have thought about that. Taking chopsticks in her dainty fingers, Raiden pacifically set about her meal, unconcerned about anything – she made the decision to give you time, which she thought was incredibly gracious. You'll realize you were wrong. Naturally.

Anger, like the pain of loss, cannot last forever, and Ei thought herself more right than ever.

—

When her sister passed away, surely Raiden was shattered – don’t consider her insensitive. Though Makoto wasn’t Archon, her strength and courage would have been worth a lesson to many: she had fought bravely, holding the fort in Inazuma, while Ei had fought with her own kind. Upon her return, she was told that Makoto had been badly wounded in the heat of battle and soon stopped fighting at all.

Despair is a hard feeling. So, in order not to bend under it, Raiden made herself stand up, straighten her shoulders, and pretend that what had happened didn’t touch her as much as it actually did; left alone, she could afford to scream and cry, but the others couldn’t see them. So the indomitable Goddess of Thunderstorms pretended, until artfully woven from her own face and posture, the lie became the truth. You were the only one who unmasked her in that time.

“I'm sorry for your loss," you said quietly after one of the meetings. “I can't imagine how hard this must be for you...”

Raiden smiled harshly.

“This loss is... irreparable. But I must move on, for the good of my people and those who rely on me, to achieve absolute balance in Inazuma. After the recent incidents, people need strong support.”

“But there is no one to support you.”

That was true. Although people worshipped her and prayed tirelessly, full of reverence, there was no one else around Ei on whose shoulder she could rest without remorse. Yae Miko would tease and bring it up, though she would certainly help in a time of need, and Raiden made no friends among the Archons. That trust was too fleeting and, as time had shown, too risky.

“I don't need support," Ei finally concluded, a little twisted in her rugged soul. “Not anymore. Makoto was the one and only, and now I have to learn how to live without her.”

“All alone?”

“If I have to.”

Your eyes reflected a deep sadness, and, looking into them for a moment, the proud Goddess of Thunderstorms was afraid to swallow, turning her gaze back to the meadow. You, Ocean, were ambivalent in your moods: sometimes you raged like the most terrible disaster, mercilessly leveling the mountains and spitting out the brutally battered remains of ships, and then you became warm and calm, so motionless that one touch of you seemed to convey a sense of peace. Raiden didn't know what to expect if accepted your pity. Perhaps you would confine yourself to a brief caress, or maybe would plunge her into attention and then rob her of it a second later, not the least bit tormented by regret. But it would be pleasant, suppose, to feel lungs burning under the pressure of your hands, and heart beating hideously fast, wanting to get just one more look... You would fist her heart, not hard enough to kill, but enough to make her grasp the edges of your clothes with trembling hands, falling to her knees and begging, pleading, whimpering... You would...

“Don't you have more important things to do?” frightened by her own thoughts, Raiden asked, raising the electric ripple in her gaze to a maximum.

“Well, we're done with Celestia's business and figured out where Barbatos went. I think I'm free enough to feel sorry for you.”

Don't smile like you have no idea what you're doing.

“I hate pity.”

“But you deserve it, don't you? Not in a negative way, more as a relief,” you unobtrusively moved closer. “Tell me about it. As a perfect Archon, it's essential for you to be free of worry, to have nothing to cloud your thoughts, you know?”

It's a tricky move, that is what Baal knows. Yet, with a feigned nibble of her lips, she did as you said, opened her soul the very least; and then, when you met, she did it again and again, until there was nothing left that your ears didn’t know about. And your empathy, uninterrupted by a storm of recriminations, was truth healing. You just listened with a soft look, sometimes gently brushing her thick, luxurious hair, whose light sparks of incipient lightning ran through it as it split into strands. Together you once spent about half a century in the farthest room, enclosed behind a billion passageways and walls, just talking. Raiden anticipated that she would want something like this before, so she created a doll that looked exactly like herself. The Shogun obediently executed the protocols embedded in it while the softened Ei lounged at your attention.

“What would you want for your people?” she asked one day, running her fingers mechanically over the patterns on your clothes.

“Mm... That's a difficult question. You know how I feel about them. If they're in trouble, I'll help them, of course, but otherwise I don't care what they do. I mean... How can I explain it?.. I believe that people should not depend on the Archons. Yes, we make their lives easier and more colorful, but what will they be if they lose the will to do everything themselves? Think of the state Sumeru is in right now. Hades was there recently, he told me...”

“I didn't know you talked to him.”

So Raiden, who was already madly in love with you, found out that someone else had encroached on your heart and won without a loud declaration of war.

—

Rejected by the Sea her grief, her tears, and pain and will and love, her feelings loaded, pressed on her shoulders with an unbearable weight and caused a strong headache. The insatiable immensity of what might be revealed to her gaze demanded a way out of the painful trance she was in; she had neither the strength nor the desire to return to that sticky darkness. Something had happened to her will. Raiden didn't want to deprive herself of the dizzying pain of looking at your stirring silhouette, irresistible and distant – a decade left since your fight, and at any other point in her life, Ei wouldn’t have noticed it with just a blink or two, but now the days had a tendency to drag on like an eternity. Raiden didn't want you to stop visiting her thoughts, filling her completely, she didn't want to give up the pleasure of imagining the ways in which you could be shackled in countless rooms or underground caverns known only to her. She could forge chains that would coil around your legs and neck, taking energy, weakening you, or she could create a crystal dome under the ground of Tsurumi Island with enough water to keep you comfortable, but no one you could talk to. Just her, popping in now and then and beginning to associate with the emotion of happiness. Raiden thinks you'd look great under glass, like a butterfly. If your limbs were immobilized, if given only enough air and energy to sustain life minimally, you would forever be as artful as she keeps you in the shards of memory. Beautiful, ready to listen, malleable. Raiden would take care of your people, even make these people of the sea her own people, introduce them to Inazuma – is that not the highest expression of her favor? You should be grateful; of course, not that you are aware of all these thoughts, but Ei will expect at least a "thank you" in the future. In her arms, you will no longer have to grieve for the withered God of Death; you will always be happy. You will have to be happy to keep your relationship as beautiful as Raiden imagines it to be – she will work, too, no doubt, and your life will be like a fairy tale.

Gradually the Goddess of Thunderstorms, observing the Eternal Sakura, came up with the perfect kind of dungeon for you; the sketches are drawn in her crackled mind on their own, looking perfect. Baal was never a fool: no matter how much she wished otherwise, she knew that you would never love her after what she would do to you, and she would do it because it would be better for both of you. Would, would, would… Will. You just can't understand it. That's all right: Raiden herself loves and can imagine how she would feel if you left her so completely. Perhaps relieving you of your grief and despair is the greatest gift Ei is capable of. She sets to work immediately, looking far more obsessed with it than with order in Inazuma, and Shogun gladly replaces her; Yae Miko remains silent, but her judgment burns back even miles away from the temple. The Goddess of Thunderstorms has decided this: if she cannot have the Ocean, then let her at least have some of It at all costs, separating her resentment, hatred, and pain from herself.

**

Waiting out your moment of calm was not easy. You've been angry and raging a lot lately; Barbatos, your closest friend, kept sleeping somewhere you couldn't reach, and Nahida, no matter how hard she tried, couldn't replace Rukkhadevata in your heart. Morax stiffened before your eyes, becoming calmer and more distant, and the Tsaritsa disappeared altogether, declaring a new war – it hurt you so much that the storms did not pass for six months, killing many people. Raiden didn't blame you: your heart felt too much for anyone who was ever kind to you, and you were so happy when you joined the Archons that you loved them all instantly. Some more than others, some less, in fact, you valued them as family, though in Ei's opinion, not all deserved it.

When your storm subsided and you, exhausted, were left without Morax's attention – he felt obligated after the death of the Goddess of Salt – Raiden decided to take the first step.

“I was wrong," she admitted quietly, approaching you, so alone in the vastness of Underwater Realm, and sitting down beside you. “I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding, ha? You knew how I felt about it, and yet you desecrated Hades' memory in that way.”

“I apologize. My behavior was indeed inappropriate, and if I had the chance to go back, I never would have said those words.” Ei shifted her gaze from the shimmering mother-of-pearl belly of the whale floating overhead to your chin line, cheekbones, and insistently averted eyes; she was lying, but it was the only way to make you hear. “I'm sorry. Perhaps I really don't do well without Makoto.”

The sad smile on her face finished the image. Raiden hated herself for mentioning her sister's name for this case, but your face, instantly contorted with empathy, was worth it. She knew you wouldn't resist.

“Hey..." you whispered softly. “Has it really been all this time..?”

“Please. Just believe I'm sorry, Y/N. I know how much you loved Glacea-Labolas, and of course I should have given it time; nothing can justify my ignorance. However, I would be very grateful if you knew that my words... my offer is sincere. I do have feelings for you, and that will never change; this is the first time it has happened to me. You are the most amazing and attractive Archon I have ever known. Your power is awe-inspiring and your uniqueness is admirable. So if one day you should wish...”

She doesn’t have time to finish her truly touching tirade when you gently move up and pull her into your warm embrace. It's hard to call it unexpected, but Raiden is melting for a few moments, melting from the newly turned sun with your name on it.

“I'm sorry I can't reciprocate, Ei. Really, I'm very, very sorry. But I'll try to make it up to you in friendship, if that's okay..?”

Wouldn't expect anything else, so the Goddess of Thunderstorms smiles a little more sincerely and nods. You decided to take this step only after listening to a cheap confession from a novel read by Baal not so long ago. How trite and predictable, yet how good it is that everything went strictly according to plan. You took the bait.

**

Your relationship has certainly changed since then. Raiden couldn't help but wonder if this was how Hades felt in your presence, when you had surrounded him with your special attention and care. The attention was different, of course, but now you were also trying to be affectionate enough to heal the wounds of Makoto's death; Ei felt a little uncomfortable using that trauma as an excuse, but there was no other way. You were beginning to let your guard down.

If she had to describe her feelings, she would have said, "Something spicy and bloody." Meat, well coated with spices. She chews it thoroughly, swallowing as the graceful collar of her robes slides down and up in time with her gulps; Raiden was carnivorous, and the metaphorical eating of you brought her to some stage of rapture.

She couldn't wait to taste it.

The table is already set: she didn't need people or Yae Miko to organize everything, so of course she hoped you'd at least compliment her. There is nothing she won't do, after all; time with you promised to be wonderful to the highest degree.

The feeling that Ei carelessly called "love" wheezed suffocatingly in your chest, twisting tight knots around Gnosis, and making her look at your serene face with scorching hunger. You shouldn't have been so careless.

You are, after all, an Archon...

**

Long tubes with gold plugs were very carefully inserted into the veins in your arms; Archons had no blood, but there was liquid energy, in your case represented by brackish water. It was pumped into a cylindrical tank, huge, dense, thick glass, and mixed there with a purple liquid; for a moment, the thought flashed through you that perhaps it was Ei’s energy. There were others besides these tubes. Many. Some served as arm and leg restraints in a rather uncomfortable pose, others hung side by side, dangling limply in a light draught. Everything was floating before your eyes, but when Raiden appeared in the cave, you felt her electrified presence well.

“How do you feel?” she asked calmly, keeping her tone surprisingly soft, as if the situation were not extraordinary.

“What’s... going on?”

“Oh, you mustn't exert yourself too much. Your energy is just enough to keep you viable, but unfortunately, not to negotiate. Someday I'll fix that.”

Someday. A single word was enough to determine the duration of your situation – presumably: eternity. And there's no telling what will happen to you during that time.

“The other Archons," Ei continued, stepping closer and picking up another tube, slightly larger and longer than the others, "believe that you are dead. I've come up with a very plausible explanation, but I don't think you'll be interested in it; open your mouth.”

She pressed your cheeks a little bit, executing the command herself, and, to the protest of your slightly dilated eyes, she began to slowly and gently insert the tube into your throat. Unbearably disgusting.

“I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Believe me, it's only for now, I'll get it later and make you feel as comfortable as possible. Just be patient for a while," she murmured affectionately, "good girl, good. Thought you would start to resist and I’d have to resort to other methods.”

The sensation of an oblong tube in your throat, ending somewhere among organs, taking up absolutely all the space, made you want to scream. You’d have caused the most devastating storm, and it would have gone down in history, but unfortunately, Raiden – and there was no doubt about it now – had taken care of everything. You couldn't have created a drop if you'd had the strength to lift a finger.

“I understand your bewilderment. But look, you didn't want to be with me, so I thought, why not do it myself? No one will come looking for you, I'll take care of everything, and it's just your job to satisfy my gaze and desires when necessary. Quite a bargain, Morax would say, if he knew about it, but I promise he won't. Besides, I've decided to charge a small fee for taking care of your people; I hope you think it's fair.”

Baal smiled softly.

“It was hard to find this information, but Nahida, the wonderful child, was so eager to be useful that she didn't even wonder where my interest came from,” she stepped closer and slowly began to get rid of your layers of interfering clothing. “At least part of you will love me. But for that part to come into being, I have to do what Hades was so scared of. You know, he thought you were a saint. He feared that if he touched you too foully, you would crumble like a crystal vessel, a figure made of water by trembling weak hands – he said so himself, before he, ironically, met death in that battle. But I am different. I'm much better than he was, and you're bound to feel it.”

Well, in that moment you felt three things: the way the tube trembled, filled with purple energy flowing into you, the way fingers entered your vessel, several at once, without warning and too sharply. And an unexpected readiness to receive them. A moment ago you were filled with anger and disgust, but when the foreign energy flowed into your stomach, everything quickly turned upside down, generating a shameless desire so powerful it made you dizzy. You simultaneously hated Raiden, you hated yourself, you hated the situation you were in, and you longed to know more of the possibilities that Ei could fulfill by using your human vessel as she saw fit. Under the overwhelming pressure of cognitive dissonance, your pupils visibly broke, spraying tear-stained eyes, and your mind was cracking at the seams, not knowing which thought was right and which principles to adhere to. It was too much, even for an Archon.

You could hear Raiden breathing. Breaking, hot. You wanted more, and maybe Ei saw it in your hazy gaze. Her energy inside you was stronger than any potion, spreading through your body like a virus – it was eating into your cells, mixing, and you were slowly beginning to feel... like her? A few strands of your hair slowly turned a deep blue, and your left eye turned lilac. The voice of your thoughts became remotely similar to Ei's timbre, until you finally realized what she meant: she could only get a part of you by mixing you two up and growing as if from a test tube. She was making you half of her, because that was the only way to get around Celestia's laws.

“Can you feel it?” she asked, reaching down to your neck and biting it, deep, to the bright purple marks. “Do you understand me?”

You wanted to answer yes and no at the same time. Hate and love mingled together, conveying a madness to you.

**

It didn't take much effort for Raiden to get the sea foam. She was careful to mix it with her energy to get a drop of the cursed seed, and, dancing off, in hideous sin the Goddess of Thunderstorms impregnated herself, while you, rid of your tubes, lay limply beneath the earth of Seirai Island. Where no light shone, beneath the ruins of the catacombs, beneath the Thunderbird platform, beneath the water poisoned by lightnings, it was there that Raiden had erected a citadel of ice – a shelter from the world where her beloved woman and the wind-born child, born in captivity from a cursed womb and without a soul, were safely hidden. Ei believed that she would love this creature as much as she loved you. Really believed.

She built a cradle, inlaid with stones of elements, visited him when she visited you – it was inevitable, because you, lost and maddened, considered the only bastion of your peace as young Kunikuzushi, the beautiful child whom you adored despite all that you had gone through for his birth. Even in his cradle, he always felt your love, smiling at the first sight of you. He didn't feel Raiden's love at all.

What a pain: his parent, as much as she wanted to, couldn’t love her chimera and locked him in the ice.

Baal assumed that loving a child born of your energy would be as easy as loving you, but she failed to consider that, in fact, she never truly loved you. This became clear when feelings for an emotional child, crying from the simplest things and weak without his mother's touch, didn’t appear as soon as she expected. This was not in her plans, and therefore discouraging. Raiden seemed to have gotten everything she could from you, everything she wanted, and now, looking at your lost silhouette, she felt neither pity nor warmth. You no longer wandered through her thoughts. You no longer made her heart race. To her surprise, Ei was no longer sick of you, infecting you with herself like some kind of revenge. And, having come to this conclusion, it was with a sense of relief that the Goddess of Thunderstorms, frustrated in her experience, left Seirai Island with your Gnosis as compensation for "lost time and effort," cutting off Kunikuzushi's bedroom from yours with an impenetrable wall.

**

“Don't be angry, please. Don't be angry.”

“Argh, come on, Mom, I'm not angry. I'm furious as fuck!”

The precious child grew faster when Raiden stopped coming. Perhaps her energy, poisonous and effervescent, was inhibiting growing up, because Ei certainly never wanted a pet, but she was obsessed with growing the fruit of the Gods. Experimentation never interested her; what involved using you for her purposes and crossing you with her own ideas, though, she liked very much, and you were even glad that for the last hundred years Baal hadn't thought of you. Well, as happy as a completely broken Archon can be, lost it’s Heart and the lion's share of energy, a completely weakened God with a screwed-up mind. Besides, sometimes, in particularly violent storms, you could see a little with "Ei's eye," see what she was doing, what she was looking at, who was looking back. Lately it has been a tengu-girl with dead eyes – you would know that look from a thousand; you knew that only those who have lost their love look like that. Because you looked the same way.

You couldn't say that even with the energy of Baal you could call her "dear someone". No, don't think so. It was a betrayal, along with the thick tube in your throat, penetrating under the root of your tongue, running down your larynx, into your stomach, into your intestines. It grew like mold, and with each passing year it gradually crushed the effect of the alien cells. Besides, Ei didn't like you now, either.

And your weak voice, sounding no louder than a draught, filled Kunikuzushi with a keen sense of injustice. Unlike Raiden, you cared for him through the wall even better than circumstances allowed.

“When we get out..." he often swore, gritting his teeth. “When we get out, I'll give her hell on earth. I'll return you your Heart, become God myself, and… and I’ll be a thousand times better, promise – do you believe that?”

“Of course," you answered softly. “Of course I believe you.”

“Good. Because I’m going to change everything. We are to put her here, right in your place, and I’ll give you everything and you're going to get better. You'll be strong and powerful like you used to be. And happy, so-so happy!”

You know that's just a dream. There is no escape from the ice citadel, but your voice is filled with the unbreakable love that always saves Kunikuzushi from breaking his mind. You call yourself his first follower. After all, it's the least you can do for a desperate child who has never seen the light.

But you both know that love of all things divine is unnatural.

[just-antithings]

Btw, I don't think it's that strange to know a little about your sibling's sex lives either by the way, without being snoops or invasive.

As grown ass adults in our thirties and fourties, my siblings and I do talk about sex and don't have any issues watching movies with sex scenes in them. We don't watch porn together, obviously, but Game of Thrones is a family watch. As the oldest queer in the family, I've had countless talks about sexuality - including an (admitedly awkward) conversation with my bicurious brother in which I explained to him that sex between men doesn't have to include anal.

Multiple people in the wider family group are sex educators, so that's probably another reason that we are pretty frank about that stuff.

-just pushing back a little at expectation that everyone is prudish about the topic of sex

fair enough!

[arleniansdoodles]

So I watching Sifu and I was... thinking about the third boss's past,Kuroki's past actually. In the detective board, she had a sister.

And Kuroki's wiki said that her father blamed her for her sister's death. Do have any headcannons

About this? (My name is Desa,Btw)

Pleased to meat you, Desa! :D Hmm I'm not sure where the wiki got that part about Kuroki's father blaming her for her twin's death; I don't think it's ever mentioned or implied in the game, but it's a theory that works imo!

As for my headcanons, this one got a bit long loll so sorry about that! ^^;; To start off, I imagine that Kuroki was from a powerful yakuza clan in Japan which was ruled by her father. However, he couldn't have two children inherit the throne, so he had them fight to the death, and whoever won would become his heir. Kuroki killed Shiroizu (the twin's name is listed in the game's credits), but was so horrified afterward that she killed her father in revenge, then booked it to China to escape. Either the yakuza clan banished her / tried to hunt her down, or she just ran off by herself and covered her tracks, I'm not sure. But either way, she escaped and started a new life there in exile.

Regarding how the sisters are presented visually, I've chosen a theory that probably isn't widely accepted in the Sifu fandom, but it makes more sense to me than the "common" one - that Kuroki is the woman in white while her sister, Shiroizu, is the woman in black (in the phase 2 battle). My chosen theory is this one - basically, Kuroki presents herself with Shiroizu's appearance (white kimono, three-sectional staff, serene demeanor), whereas her phase 2 shows her true self, or how she ought to be if she wasn't living as Shiroizu (black kimono, kunai, chaotic personality).

What got me into this theory was the Family Photo collectible: one girl wears black and the other wears white. Kuroki and Shiroizu's names include the Japanese words for black (kuro) and white (shiro), so I just assumed that Kuroki is the one in black and Shiroizu is in white. This would mean that the sister in white is the one who died, which also makes sense given how her kimono is folded in a way that is usually reserved for the dead in Japan. Of course, this could've been a mistake by the devs where they just copypasted and flipped one girl to draw the other, but since their father is painted with the correct kimono folding, I have to imagine it was intentional.

Sticking with this assumption, I can see how the sister in white who fights defensively with the staff would fall in battle to the sister in black who fights offensively with the kunai. Though the Museum's clues leave it ambiguous about which sister killed the other; that final statue of Kuroki and Shiroizu shows the murder weapon being a katana, which means it could've been either of them and you're free to assume which one it was XD

Of course, I can't forget Kuroki's painting in her studio! In that painting, the sister in white cradles the dying sister in black while holding a kunai. How does that work with my headcanons? I can see it two ways: it's how Kuroki wishes the fight with her sister actually turned out - that Shiroizu killed her (the sister in black) instead of the other way around; or it's a representation of Kuroki sealing away her true self inside, or killing it completely so she can allow Shiroizu to live through her, in a way.

I hope that made sense! Sorry if I got a bit confusing; that tends to happen when I ramble loll ^^;;

[aleksanderscult]

What other fandoms do you follow? I mean in movies, series, book etc etc

Hmm.... Actually I don't follow any fandoms. The debates and discourses are so toxic like you can't believe (*cough HotD *cough*). Honestly the Darkling/Darklina fandom is the only one I'm in (because everyone is amazing and sensible here).

But I can tell you which movies/series/books I like. It's also an opportunity for you guys to get to know me a little since I don't talk about myself and my interests much.😊

Favorite movies:

The Lord of the Rings trilogy (I don't like them. I worship them. I grew up with them and I would die for them)

Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2, 3 (I don't really like the other two movies. Especially the fifth one)

The Dark Knight (2009). But the other two movies were amazing too.

The Mummy (1999)

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Crimson Peak (2015)

The Ring (2002)

Scream (1996)

The Woman in Black (2012)

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

Amadeus (1984). I recommend it btw. A wonderful movie with incredible performances that got me into classical music.

Schindler's List (1993)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966). One of the best movies ever created. Period.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

King Kong (2005)

City Lights (1931)

A Christmas Carol (2009)

The Hangover (2009)

The Hangover: Part II (2011)

Due Date (2010)

Favorite series:

Merlin BBC

Peaky Blinders

The Musketeers (2014)

Cold Case (2003)

Charmed (1998)

Game of Thrones

House of the Dragon

Vikings (2013)

Gran Hotel (2011)

North and South (1985)

I'm currently watching "Hannibal" which I really, really like and enjoy and "Breaking Bad" which I cannot say the same here. It bores me and I find it overrated.

Favorite books:

Grishaverse (minus the duology)

Harry Potter (fuck JKR tho)

The Mortal Instruments

A Song of Ice and Fire (all the books that this world includes anyway)

Iliad and Odyssey by Homer

Any work from Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde's and Sylvia Plath's poetry

(I would put PJO but I no longer have any respect for them. Fuck it and the author)

You can also see my interests on my main blog. Whatever else I like, I post it there.

[justgottafinishthischapter]

So glad I found your blog! I like your posts. Can I ask for some advice on Historical Fiction?

I'm going to write a historical fiction novel, my first time. I'm not very good at research - in general. I just don't know what to look for.

All I know is the story will take place somewhere in Italy during the Renaissance. I'm having trouble narrowing it down, since I don't know much about the Renaissance, and I have no clue where to start on research.

I can handle learning about daily life, fashion, diets, etc. when I start writing, but my problem is with how the period affects the plot and characters. Also, if there was anything going on that would have a huge impact (aftermath of a war, a revolution, etc.), even though I don't really want to focus on that stuff.

I'm just stuck in the beginning because I need to know a little bit so I can have a fitting plot for the period (if I was doing Regency I would probably follow Bridgerton's example with Suitors, courting, Viscounts, Dukes etc.).

Once I have that sorted, then I'll be more than comfortable to deep dive into research. My story has no "agenda," btw. It just simply takes place during the Renaissance.

I hope this makes sense?

Any generic advice on starting a historical fiction is helpful, too.

So sorry for the long ask - I've been stuck for days and any article I find on google is a bit too vague to help.

Thank you!

Italy is not a country whose history I am well-versed with, and my studies were more on Medieval History as opposed to the Renaissance, but the best direction I can steer you towards is the Medici family. They used marriages and their masisve wealth to stick their fingers in several pots, including the Pope. I'm not saying your story has to be about the Medicis, but they are certainly a prolific family from the region and time period. It's also worth looking into the social climate of Venice in this era, as this is the period of Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and others. I also have a post on courting that applies to a large swath of human history. As for learning the political system: watch Game of Thrones. It's a mastercraft of showcasing Feudalism in action. How I mean by this is imagine actually living in Westeros. If a conflict were to arise on Bear Island, the dispute would be put before the Mormonts: the lords of Bear Island. But if the dispute were larger than the Mormonts could handle, then that dispute would be brought before Ned Stark as the Warden of the North. Only in the event that Ned could not handle this issue would it then reach the king's attention in King's Landing. A Lord handles local affairs, a count handles county-wide affairs, and a king handles kingdom-wide affairs. As most historical romances are among nobility, it is prudent for you to research the roles and positions of the servants in a noble house in the time. Laws that may have been present. By the renaissance, knights have disappeared. You won't find any knights still fighting in full plate on horseback. Look at the literature from the era. What themes and ideas rose in this era? Classicalism exploded, causing a massive interest in Greco-Roman mythology. How many paintings must there be of lovely Venus, clever Minerva, and splendid Juno competing over the golden apple? What were the everyday struggles of the working class? What were they fighting for? What conditions did they live in? What were a woman's rights, duties, and allowances? The renaissance predates the Golden Age of Sailing, but it does loom on the horizon, as it's the era that follows the Renaissance. Other movies and shows worth watching are The Tudors, Romeo and Juliet, Ever After: A Cinderella Movie, and any other historical fiction you can get your hands on set in the Renaissance specifically. I do hope you found this helpful, and if you have any more specific questions, I can't promise to have the answers, but I can try my best to lend a hand wherever possible.

[supernovadragoncat]

I wanted to ask you about this since I find you to be one of the more understanding people in this fandom... I'm not writer but I can't help but feel these pointed comments about dark fics (BTW: not talking about Littlefeather's posts; 100% think she's right and fully support her decision) can discourage and alienate writers and readers who do enjoy reading fucked up dynamics and themes. I don't want to enter a fandom that is already made out to be some 'freak fandom' by the larger ASOIAF fandom only to find people lowkey judging others for enjoying darker aspects of an admittedly fucked up canon ship, you get me? I feel like there's SOME policing going on and I just don't see the need to look down on people for enjoying these fics if they are properly tagged or make these little comments about how we somehow we don't truly get the dynamics. Sometimes I want to read about Sandor being a creepy stalker and sometimes I want to read about Sandor having a secret affair with his Queen lol. Why limit the pool? Am I being sensitive?

Hi Sweet Nonny!

First of all, you’re not being sensitive at all. There will always be a place for you and everyone in this fandom. I don’t mean that in a kumbaya way. I mean that in the sense that fandom and shipping should be a fun and enjoyable experience. It shouldn’t be mired in negative feelings. Not for you, not me, not for people who like drastically different things. No one.

Your preferences and triggers, the things that make you squeal with delight and the things that make you “nope” out immediately—they are all valid. Everyone deserves to feel included and safe to explore this ship however they like. That doesn’t mean, of course, we all align, but just that there’s a spirit of respect and understanding extended to others, whether or not they enjoy the same flavors of the ship.

I'll put the rest under the cut since I've apparently written you a novella, but I want to say that I value you in fandom, whoever you are, and thank you for coming to me with this ask! ❤️

The topic of dark content versus light content is one where I do honestly see both sides of the discussion. This is also a complicated discussion because it’s not just a matter of preferences, but very often there needs to be parallel discussions about triggering content as well as kink shaming. That’s where it can get unwieldy—trying balance these facets in a fair and reasoned way.

When discussions of fandom trends come up, it can create a sense that parts of fandom are being ostracized. I empathize with that feeling and I have felt it when these topics are raised. When you’re on the receiving end of “why is this trend/thing happening in fandom?”, it can feel like your preferences are being policed or that you’ve been voted off the island, so to speak.

In 2013/14, there was the great Sandor woobification debate where the fandom tendency to show the softer side of Sandor was hotly debated. After Game of Thrones brought in a lot of new fans in 2011 and 2012, there was the show!sansan vs. book!sansan debate. There were many debates about “how sexy is too sexy?” re: Sandor headcanons (there was bearded insta-thotty Sandor; then that time when several of us fell down a WWE rabbit hole). The rise of Modern AUs. The debates about dark fic and kinks.

All of these were discussions where people undoubtedly--myself included in more than a few--felt like they were not shipping “correctly.” Of course, that’s silly. It’s a ship. You can do whatever you want as long as you’re kind and you tag things properly, which most people are and do. And yet, the best of intentions can still go awry.

In these discussions, sometimes the topic becomes a monolith where, for example, something like Dark Fic™️ encompasses not just the content itself but the writers, readers, and artists who exist in that part of fandom. I think most of the time this isn’t intentional but is where the discussion can become hurtful. This is why Littlefeather’s post was so bang on—it tactfully decoupled the creator/consumers from the content itself, such that there were no value judgements being passed.

If I can offer a perspective from the flip side, imagine you’re scrolling the sansan tag on AO3 and you see an influx of sansan fics that are tooth-rotting fluff or domestic bliss sansan. If this isn’t your jam, it’s perhaps, at worst, annoying or eyeroll-inducing. However, imagine you’re scrolling the sansan AO3 tag and you see an influx of darker fics, especially fics that deal with a topic that is triggering to you. Even if you don’t click on the fic, it very well could still elicit a feeling that the ship isn't a safe space anymore or a general sense of unease.

My point here is that this topic is more complicated than just “don’t like, scroll on” or “dead dove, don’t eat.” Triggers are deeply personal and many times don’t manifest in ways that make sense or are predictable. This is why I personally espouse the mantra of “better to tag liberally than not enough, spoilers be damned” for dark fic.

“…Only to find people lowkey judging others for enjoying darker aspects of an admittedly fucked up canon ship, you get me?”

I get you completely and I think you’ve hit the nail on the head of what the divergences really boil down to.

First of all, no one—I don’t care how long they’ve shipped sansan—gets to lay claim to understanding the dynamic better than anyone else. Only GRRM gets to say that and, 10+ years from the last ASOIAF book, I’m not even sure he gets to say that anymore.

Everyone is drawn to this ship for their own reasons. For some, the darker aspects drew them in—a deeply traumatized man and a girl whose dreams were ground to dust. For others, the canon dynamics are fascinating from a psychological perspective. For some, it’s the BaTB dynamic. For others, it’s envisioning a happier, kinder future for two characters who’ve suffered so much.

There are many sansan shipers who are or were victims of abuse, domestic violence, and/or sexual assault and something about the ship is their way of working through the trauma. Someone once said that they were drawn to the ship because Sandor was the type of protector they wish they’d had when they were being abused. As the saying goes, you never know what battle someone is fighting or has just survived but is still healing from. Fandom may very well be their port in the storm.

However you ended up here, it’s valid. There isn’t a VIP entrance to this ship. We all get here how we get here, and it doesn’t really matter other than it’s cool that this ship means different things to different people. That should be cause for celebration, not division.

When there are people who come to this ship to escape dark things that’ve happened in their life or just to enjoy the love and romance, it’s probably hard to understand why some of us like and want to explore the darker, angstier side of the ship.

When you like and are attracted to the ship because of the complicated, fucked up aspects (I think we can all acknowledge the fucked-up parts of canon sansan), it can feel a bit disingenuous when others are baffled that this ship attracts people who appreciate the darker side.

Whichever side of the ship you like, you don’t need to explain yourself. You don’t need to justify to anyone why you enjoy what you enjoy. This is especially true of the darker side, which can be subjected to kink shaming. If you like creepy stalker Sandor, you never need to explain why you do and why that's valid. If you write creepy stalker Sandor fic, you don’t need to justify yourself to earn your place in fandom. If someone doesn’t like it, there are 4,000+ fics in the tag. I’m sure they’ll find something they like or they can write the fic they want to read.

Fandom dies without diversity. We need diversity of voices, interpretation of the ship, the identities and histories we all bring to the table, tropes, headcanons, themes. If we have one flavor, guess what? No one’s coming to the popsicle stand. It's amazing that the fandom keeps trucking on with the absolute breadcrumbs GRRM and GOT has given us. I credit that to fandom diversity and a willingness to accept new approaches to the ship.

Write shamelessly what you want to write (just tag it). Read shamelessly what you want to read. Draw shamelessly what you want to draw. Podcast shamelessly what you want to podcast. You get the idea...

If anyone intentionally makes you feel bad about it, block and carry on. I strongly believe in creating a bubble in fandom to exist in if you need to.

I hope this helped, nonny, and my ask box is open to you or anyone, anytime. Take care of yourself! Much love to you. ❤️