#via magic sword.

[fortcliffe]

the airhead to necromancer pipeline has me in a chokehold.

[puppetmaster13u]

DC x DP Prompt Where it's like Twilight Princess-esque

Midna-esque Danny who needs to get back to the Ghost Zone and get rid of Pariah before he invades the world with an army of the undead. But he's stuck in small almost baby-man esque form or possessing a shadow.

Enter batfamily member (or maybe all of them) who can see him, but have also gotten turned into an animal. Kind of hard to do things in Gotham or wherever they are when you don't have fingers nor can you ask for assistance. But well, invasion by the undead? Banished prince? Who only they can see thanks to being partially dead??? Breakdowns later, stopping the end of the world now.

Time to find a way to the Lazarus pits to try and cleanse the guardians there, which apparently is a thing?? The batfam didn't know that but apparently it's been corrupted for a while- and hopefully they don't slip into like, an in-between state of existence or something. Now if only there weren't several people and ghosts trying to stop them- and they have to avoid the government too?? Some sort of anti-ecto acts?? That's something they'll have to deal with later, after the whole, freeing the lil ghost-prince's siblings and dad and taking down the ghost king...

[royalboybun]

he's a darigan ixi with an acquired taste for power 🖤 his name is orpheus and he is probably my most evil character to date?? he has darkness powers, and he's been around for a couple thousand years!

(he was designed by @kougracrusader!!!)

[the-desert-beast]

welcome to the shapeshifter monsterfucker tree where your partner/boyfriend/girlfriend can turn into a big fuck off creature and hunt you for sport sexual style

and,

its literally just part of their culture. aside from personal preference why tf would any twi-vari feel any shame about using all the options they have available.

[theroundbartable]

When Arthur turned 16, his father had him prepared for a royal ceremony, where he would be shown his one and true soulmate.

Now, soulmates didn't have to be romantic or sexual. They could be entirely platonic, and everyone knew that this wasn't a choice you could fault Arthur for.

However,

It was very rare for a prince to have a soulmate within lower classes. So, when the magical orb showed Arthur Merlin, there were a ton of things they all learned that day, Arthur more than anyone else.

A) his soulmate was so attractive, Arthur felt drawn to even the picture of him

B) his soulmate was lower class

C) his soulmate was a man so it must be platonic, it absolutely wasn't

D) this was a man that would, from now on, be under Camelot's protection

The day Merlin stumbled into Camelot, the whispers began. Merlin, who was unaware of this tradition, just went to meet his uncle Gaius, only to have to save him from a heart attack via magic.

E) Gaius learns that Arthur's soulmate is a sorcerer.

No one tells Merlin anything. So, when he confronts Arthur about being a dick to Morris, Arthur first rolls his eyes at him, then does a double take and nearly impales himself with his sword.

Merlin finds his first days in Camelot quite disturbing

[riddlemearose]

I think we as the LU fandom need to stop the whole "Sky gets mad at Wild for the Master Sword breaking in TOTK" and start going "Sky is going to throw hands with TOTK Ganondorf no matter what laws of magic he has to break to do so".

Bc let's be real here, if Sky ever found out that Ganondorf tried to kill Wild and literally destroyed Fi while attempting to do so bc she was protecting Wild the best she could, he really would just go and kill Ganondorf himself.

He would manifest himself into Tears of the Kingdom in any way he possibly could (as a ghost, via possession, literally forming a physical body out of pure spite and rage, fistfighting the Shadow to open a portal) and he would jump into the Hyrule Castle rift and murder Ganondorf single-handedly.

And Wild would 100% be on board with this bc 1. now he has the best back-up he could possibly ask for; and 2. he knows that Sky murdering Ganondorf would be glorious to watch

[prokopetz]

Your post about the origin of paladin in D&D made me think of a long standing pet peeve of mine - when people insist that a knight, guarding a palace, without employing holy magic, is not a "real paladin" in modern media. Do you have any particular thoughts on the way that D&D has so heavily coloured definitions of things in this way?

(With reference to this post here.)

It's just basic lack of media literacy. People who get hung up on how Dungeons & Dragons defines its character classes are in the same boat as folks who misidentify bog-standard sword and sorcery fantasy tropes as Discworld references because they've only ever been exposed to the genre via Terry Prachett's parodies of it, or folks who see colour-coded alchemical symbols and think they've caught you name-checking Homestuck – they all need to read a second book!

[psyche-hero]

Reasons FNC should be canon, chronologically, sort of, by me, someone who is very slowly writing a mostly canon compliant soulmate au (yes i am reading between the lines for some of these)

1. Chip pulls Gillion out of the sea, Gillion, instantly acquires a new favorite color, the color of Chips eyes.

2. When Chip thinks he is going to die in the casino, he grabs Gillion and holds on, confessing all the wrong things he did to him because he does feel bad.

3. Episode 15 and 16

4. But fr, Gillion gets his honor back because Chip partakes in a cultural custom of his, then Gillion cheers Chip up by participating in a prank for Chip.

5. Chip INVENTING HIS OWN SHIPNAME

6. They shared a kiss that was loving enough that it opened a magic door (listen two nat 20s for a kiss, that is fucking true loves kiss, you just know Chip is thinking about the best kiss of his life constantly)

7. The rings during the BLOCK arc, like idc if it was practical, that’s gay.

8. Chip being so worried that Gillion would choose the undersea over him.

9. One of the few people we see Chip showing explicit attraction towards being someone who looks very similar to Gillion (Eden)

10. Chip basically loosing it after loosing Gil in the feywild

11. Chip like unlocking his magic potential via Gillions sword

12. Chip standing up on a rowboat in the middle of a raging storm prepared to get struck by lightning to bring Gil back

13. Gillion offering to help Chip with magic

14. Chip building an arena and begging to fight Gil because he lied and hurt Gil’s honor again

15. Them having matching scars cus of Kuba Kenta

16. Chip offering to wear a mind reading bracelet to try and fight off Gillions horrible nightmares

17. (I might be misremembering but one of Gillions nightmares primary features being him being unable to save Chip??)

18. Chip being so willing to believe that the person he was seeing was Gillion safe and alive that he fell right into Dopple Gillys trap.

That’s all I can think of. Do let me know more!!

[devildomwriter]

I have been playing Obey Me! OG and NB since October 2022, but I am still confused about the Demon brothers' powers and the dateables. I know Asmo has the power of charm, Barabatos has the power of time, the angels has blessing, and Levi can summon Lotan. If you don't mind, could you explain the powers of Demon brothers and the dateables? Thank you! I love you ❤❤

I can do a long post later but he’s what we know briefly

Lucifer — Natural skill. He can learn and do just about anything. We’ve seen him warp space, read minds, levitate people, and more.

Mammon — anyone in a pact with him has extreme luck especially with money. Despite not mentioning anything beyond this, he’s still stronger than Levi and it’s unknown why.

Leviathan — Leviathan can summon Lotan, breathe under water, summon rains and floods, can control water and speak with aquatic animals.

Satan — Wrath. His wrath is enough to shake buildings. He also has a natural talent for curses and similarly to Lucifer can learn just about anything but I’d say a “power” of his is his ability to befriend anyone and hang on to those high connections.

Asmodeus — The ability to charm others, even Lucifer and inanimate objects.

Beelzebub — Incredible strength. He’s also implied to be skilled with Wind Magic.

Belphegor — Belphegor can send anyone to sleep and can infiltrate and control their dreams/nightmares. He can also learn things while sleeping on the source of information (textbook etc.)

Solomon — Solomon’s ring of wisdom allows him to make intellectual decisions and talk to animals. His magic is also infinite as is his life which happened via an accident.

Simeon — Simeon has the power of an angelic blessing, he was also once the strongest rank of angels before being demoted to a warrior.

Luke — Luke’s angelic powers are said to be exceptional to the point Michael took him under his wing and expects great things of him. His protective blessings are especially“potent”

Raphael — Raphael is the most skilled warrior in the Celestial Realm and has the power to summon a singular spear or rain them down.

Michael — The celestial equal to Lucifer, he is extremely powerful, has a legendary sword, and can shape-shift.

Thirteen — Thirteen can reap souls, leads them to the afterlife, can see the quality of people’s souls, and has powerful magic as seen by the curses she placed in her home against anyone who broke her rules.

Mephistopheles — Mephistopheles is said to be as skilled as Lucifer with magic. If he makes a deal with anyone he can draw in any and all power in existence to see that it is completed.

Barbatos — Barbatos can manipulate time and reality. This skill can essentially do anything. It’s said he is stronger than Diavolo’s father.

Diavolo — there isn’t a damn thing this man can’t do. He creates entire dimensions as he please with a solar system included. He can freeze time, trap people within phones, bring inanimate objects to life and give them SENTIENCE, can magically fertilize plain eggs, controls Barbatos’s ability, and has a realm ready to obey his every word. He is THE OP

[betafreud]

FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO GET INTO MERLIN BUT DONT HAVE TIME TO WATCH THE SHOW: this is how every episode of merlin goes.

--------

bad guy: (in a dark forest outside camelot) ARGH uther will PAY for what he has done to me

SCENE CHANGE

merlin: im gonna do my chores with magic

gaius: merlin dont do that. now go clean the leech cage. and check on arthur. and fetch me a plant.

merlin: UGH my life sucks

SCENE CHANGE

merlin: hi arthur wake up

arthur: i actually hate you. leave. but wait actually nvm come with me on a quest im gonna be the king baby. we ride at dawn

merlin: ok

gwen: hi merlin hi m'lord im not important in this episode. but im here to cut the homoerotic tension.

arthur: merlin get out

SCENE CHANGE

bad guy: (still in the woods) im making an evil plan

SCENE CHANGE

kilgarrah: psst. pssst. merlin

merlin: wtf do u want

kilgarrah: arthur needs u theres an evil guy. also can u set me free. and morgana is evil

merlin: what no arthur doesnt need me. and no sorry. and what no kys morgana is my friend

kilgarrah: ok fuck u then

merlin: wait no what where r u going

SCENE CHANGE

bad guy: (via magical telepathy) haha i captured morgana

uther: oh no

arthur: we gotta rescue her. merlin u idiot lets go. i hate u.

SCENE CHANGE

arthur: (in front of a campfire) ykow merlin ur pretty cool

merlin: thanks. ur a fucking asshole.

arthur: lets run away together

merlin: ok-omg look a bad guy

bad guy: im gonna kill u

arthur: (swinging his sword and missing) nuh uh

merlin: (laser eyes) yay hes dead

arthur: UGH merlin ur so useless why didnt u help me.

merlin: kys.

SCENE CHANGE

gaius: whats wrong merlin

merlin: i feel like arthur hates me. i wish he could know how powerful i really am.

gauis: damn that sucks. anyways have u cleaned the leech cage yet

(ROARING LAUGH TRACK)

[elmushterri]

2K followers on tumblr and 30K subscribers on YouTube! In celebration, here’s my story. Not a rewrite. This is all a work in progress and subject to change.

Being a HEMA fencer, I’ve wanted a story semi-based on actual swordsmanship and actual fencing techniques.. but fantasy.

It’s a story like… Spiderverse meets Steven Universe meets Owl House meets She-Ra.

It’s called

The Knight’s Handbook

——————

It’s modern Earth but there are supernatural people who protect it like guardian angels called Knights: Humans who’ve died via sacrificing themselves for someone else, and have been revived (not by choice). They protect humans from things as small as tripping over to protecting them from demons, dragons and other dangerous entities.

A Knight can pull their weapon from a magical, glowing scar called their Mortal Wound, the injury they acquired and a sign of the end of their mortality, like how SU Gems can pull their weapons from their gems. A Knight’s weapon can be anything including guns and crossbows, but these shoot magic/energy bullets or arrows.

Knights have their own realm to go to just for each other, (Gallantia) but can live on Earth hiding as normal humans if they wish (so long as they hide the magic scar!)

They function a bit like bees in that there is a Queen, chosen instantly when someone dies by sacrifice according to ‘qualifications of their soul’ (So not completely random like other Knights). Of course, this only happens when the former Queen is killed. Never have there been two Queen Knights at once, so written history goes. Like bees, that would create a huge issue!

Here is the main character and the main antagonist. For the first time apparently ever, there are Two Queen Knights. A mistake of nature, perhaps?

Sidra Saiffudeen

Our main enby is Sidra, she/they. A normal teen turned Queen Knight chosen right after her death, impaled through the chest (where you can see her Mortal Wound symbol) by saving her father. Her design is based on a bee! Not all Knights’ designs are, but I thought I’d lean into Queen Bee stuff.

She’s the ‘Acknowledged’ Queen. Most Knights, ones in support of the past Queen who just died (it’s a mournful period), back Sidra, but think she’s a bit immature. Sidra adores her new people though and vows to be a good Queen. Knight Queens don’t just sit back like Earth Royalty, they’re the most powerful and therefore in battle a lot. The past Queens tended to be adults (The Captain of the Royal Guard was in love with the past Queen (sapphics >:) ) and so having Sidra around is painful but they do their best to teach her.

Then there’s Juliana Fontana, always called Jules. She… is also a Queen Knight. You can tell this because a Queen’s mortal wound symbol is always the same as the Knight Symbol, a sword. Some Knights went traitor to back Jules rather than Sidra. Jules is a very very tired and sneaky girl, but more academically intelligent than Sidra. She’d be a very different Queen, and that’s why the Knights that took her side did so! She hasn’t figured out how to access her weapon or knight form.

The twist? They haven’t seen each other for a long long time… but Sidra and Jules know each other.

Info on Weapons, Mortal Wounds and Knight Forms.

Lastly, The Title’s “The Knight’s Handbook”… what are Knight Handbooks?

Well, for Knights, along with a weapon you can pull from your Mortal Wound, you also have your Handbook! Every Knight has a Handbook with their symbol on it. Like I said, Queen Knights don’t get their own unique personalised symbol, rather they get the default symbol representing all Knights as a species (unfortunate!).

Every Handbook is personalised except for the first couple pages and chapters. The first few pages *always* contain The Rules of Knighthood. One of which is that there Cannot Be Two Queens. But… have these Handbooks with their strict rules on who your friends and enemies are and what you can or cannot do always been a part of the Knights? Or did someone *write* these books for their own purposes? Control?

Handbooks also contain info on how to fight/fence, how to defeat certain entities, anatomy, etc (I’ll figure out more). But, Handbooks also serve as phones! You write something in your handbook for someone else and your writings will appear in *their* handbook! Not sure, but I imagine handbooks can also be used as little sketch hologram projectors (you sketch a map for example or a plan and project it into the air using your book.)

Sidra and Jules may have this giant plot going on around them because they happen to be Queens, but that doesn’t mean they’re not teenagers who want to have fun. A lot of Knights are kids and teenagers and still have their senses of fun, much to the dismay of the serious adult Knights. But they’re all immortal so they’ve got plenty of time to grow up before they hit an age to stop. Being a Knight is tough and scary cause you *could* die at any time in a fight, so adult Knights tend to protect the teens from going out before they’ve trained properly. Queens are not afforded such a luxury and besides, a lot of teen Knights are totally reckless regardless of what the adults say!

So yeah!

That’s an intro to The Knight’s Handbook. I’d love for people to join in like they did with GunnTech and make their own Knights for this, if you feel inspired. It’s kinda like a DTIYS but instead of Draw This In Your Style, it’s… Draw Your Sona for this concept? Working title… /j If you wanna do something, I suppose tag it with “The Knight’s Handbook” with the apostrophe and whatnot, but I do not expect anything, you guys already do so so much 🧡.

Any art or ocs of The Knight’s Handbook will definitely be featured on my next YT vid and I’ll be reblogging (Plus I would love to draw you guys’ ocs, and basically consider them canon since there’s an infinite number of Knights in TKH!)

Thank you for all your support, guys!

[numbersandstars]

Nakshatras Paranormal Abilities List- Part 2

Here is a list of paranormal abilities of each nakshatra. It is a short list and needs to be more complete. I'm working on it but feel free to share any other abilities with your nakshatras in the comments or via pm. Thanks.❤️

Svati: Herb knowledge, growing plants that brings healing energy, Vastu/Feng Shui mastery, enlightenment, fighting demons. Connection with a sword or a weapon. Vishakha: Occult traditions, spiritual initiation, celibacy leads to spiritual powers, rituals. Connection with tigers, fire rituals, lightning strikes. Anuradha: Numerology, astrology, tantra, sufism and any other occult science, keeps secrets, occult gifts, devotion/bhakti. Connection with lakes, Krishna, Radha. Jyeshtha: Talismans, occult power, magical items, involved in secret societies. Connection with elder gods/goddesses. Mula: Herbal healing, exorcism, occult power, astrology, intuition, omen reading. Connection with Kali, ancient temples, cave temples, holy mountains, volcanoes, ruins. Purva Ashadha: Invigorating energy, using pendulum. Connection with goddesses, waterfalls. Uttara Ashadha: Snake charming, powerful position in religious institutions, setting up new beliefs, challenging the divine. Connection with elephants, Ganesha. Shravana: Clairaudience, clairvoyance, past life memories, strong intuition, magical music, prayers are heard. Connection with Vishnu. Dhanishta: Vastu/Feng Shui mastery, magical music, alchemy, healing (pulses), magick, controlling the elements. Connection with dolphins, warrior gods/goddesses. Shatabhisha: Herbal (flowers) healing, shamanism, discovery of secrets on nature, occult knowledge, astrology, all-seeing eye, keeps secrets, involved in secret organizations. Connection with the ocean, Varuna. Purva Bhadrapada: Alien and other entities contact, astrology, magick, tantras, extreme spiritual practices, prayers are heard. Connection with gurus, saints, graveyards, fire, fire breathing dragons. Uttara Bhadrapada: Brings rain, shamanism, deep spiritual practices, devotion/bhakti, astrology, magick, prayers are heard. Connection with water dragons, lightning, Lakshmi. Revati: Contact with the dead, astral traveling experiences, psychic, prophecies, devotion/bhakti. Connection with oceans, elephants, lighthouses.

See Part 1: from Ashvini to Chitra here.

[felassan]

The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard Deluxe edition (DA:TV artbook bonus stuff). [source, via]

"The deluxe edition features: - An elegant foil-stamped slipcase and cover - Gilded pages - A ribbon book marker - Two lithographic art prints housed in a sleek portfolio" [source]

It looks like the two lithographic prints are this mural (which is from the 2020 TGA teaser iirc) and this art of Solas with a wolf by Matt Rhodes (which is from the Gamescom 2020 video iirc). The packaging's color theme-ing is black and gold, reminding of this version (that pic is from 2021) of the game's branding/color theme-ing, and also of course bringing to mind the Golden/Black City. the Golden/Black City was featured on the vinyl cover arts.

The knife here on this cover looks like the 'blue lyrium' [?] dagger, but also simultaneously not like it.

This artbook cover one is more gnarled in appearance and the 'ring' of the handle isn't complete (the way the 'broken' handle could almost be an Evanuris headpiece-shape... if it was a bit more symmetrical, it would look like Elgar'nan's headpiece).

It has extra spiky bits protruding off it too and it looks like something is growing on it. Maybe this is what happens if/when the blue [lyrium?] dagger becomes red (Blighted)? because this gnarled kinda vibe reminds me a bit of Meredith's sword Certainty in DA2, and of that body horror way in which red lyrium growth looks on people. It also reminds me of the tendrils of Blight corruption on walls and the ground and stuff in DA:TV screenshots, and the gnarled red lyrium darkspawn we've seen (look at this darkspawn's back for example).

Or maybe there's simply more than one dagger? There's two rising Evil Gods.

in the background of that image is the now-familiar geometric patterning with the concentric rings around the outside that tend to represent the Veil, and also the multiple almooost-overlapping circles/spheres inside that is suggestive of an eclipse* (something which we can see in the DA:TV screenshot with the dragon, which keeps coming up, which speaks to a lot of the pertinent imagery/symbolism e.g. Elgar'nan overthrowing his father the Sun and darkening the sky, and something which to me makes sense in a Witcher-style Conjunction of the Spheres kinda vibe, multiple realms colliding, like, if you tear down the Veil, you're bringing two 'bodies' or realms together to 'overlap' once again - the Fade and the waking world). [*in the 'eclipse' link there it's just searching the word on my blog btw, since I've banged on and on about that lots before and I don't wanna repeat myself loads in this post hhh]. the placement of the dagger over that design and what it represents makes sense; as we saw in the gameplay reveal video, the dagger was part of Solas' ritual to tear down the Veil/move the Evanuris prison.

On this cover, we can see two eyeballs in two of the corners (the eyes remind me of the Inquisition hairy eyeball, the eye motifs cropping up around Lucanis, Pride, and the Fade peacock feather/eye motif [image from this post]). in the other two corners is a sword that reminds again of Certainty. Meredith brandishing the sword is part of this DA:TV mural in the bottom left, underneath Ghil. surely not a coincidence. :D maybe a Certainty-like sword is the final corrupted form of the dagger, or one of them? in TN, the red lyrium idol changed shape enough that a ritual-blade sprang from its base.

the background of this middle cover also contains triangles, reminding of ancient elven artifacts and ancient elven magic-tech (like with Bellara, the Veil Jumpers etc) and the recurring triangle symbols in DA art around Fade/Veil/magic-y stuff (example from the Tevinter Nights map below).

The cover on the right has more geometric patterns, circles, rings etc. (all these patterns remind of the art in the vinyl booklet btw). and, in the center, the eye again. 👁️

[taylorswiftstyle]

66th Annual Grammy Awards | Los Angeles, CA | February 4, 2024

Schiaparelli gown

In my eyes, a Schiaparelli look should be an uncontested slam dunk. So for this look to, in my opinion, not fly quite as high as befits the beautiful work of Daniel Roseberry is almost a greater disappointment than an average look on its own. To opt for a designer that is known for its surrealism and its beautifully eerie ethereal strangeness but to tamp it down to what I mistook as a Vivienne Westwood gown and strip it of any possible Schiaparelli beautiful weirdness feels like a huge missed opportunity. Especially when it could have really been magical and interesting and a fashion risk for Taylor.

But I also understand that she had a vision. And she molded the designer to fit her and that vision.

It’s a look that I feel falls on an Easter Egg’s sharpened sword. The draping akin to tangled bedsheets, the Victorian cameo-esque appearance of the watch choker from afar, the dramatic opera gloves, the corset back, and the black and white colour scheme feel pulled from (or inspired by) what we now know is the forthcoming album formerly known as ‘TS11’: Tortured Poets Department. And if Taylor’s admission that this project has been in the works for the last two years is anything to go by, it also throws into sharp relief the schoolgirl plaids, the dark academia loafers, and the shadowy colour palette her street style has often centered on in recent months. 

There are so many beautiful elements to pull apart here that feel sacrificial in the name of early evocation of what could be a scholarly-sounding (or perhaps sapient-sounding) album based on the cover and intro language. The gown has a beautiful shape (the waist cinching!) and is a fascinating colour choice that could read suffragette or bride depending on who’s asked (and isn’t that in itself an intentional diametric “Lavender Haze” worth dissecting?). But the black accessories (presumably in service of Tortured Poets) overcooks it. I think a low bun, single strand of diamonds, and closed toe pumps could have gone a long way in styling (I’ll let the trendy gloves stay - in combination with the white gown they’re giving Princess Kate at the BAFTAs, no?). 

The biggest point of all is that Taylor understands the connect between her music and her style (I should know - I spend 350+ pages talking about it in my upcoming book Taylor Swift Style: Fashion Through the Eras). She also understands the role her style plays in cementing moments in her career to milestones. This moment. This gown. It joins a trio of looks as her most memorable and significant: her AOTY wins. This look will forever be enshrined in slideshows depicting the new precedent she has set for any artist - male or female. And what a win it is for an album I love so much. Knowing that, it feels even more fascinating to me that she’d use this moment as a bridge to another project and not honouring the album in question. 

Worn with: Lorraine Schwartz jewelry and Giuseppe Zanotti heels

Photos by Matt Winkelmeyer and Gilbert Flores via Getty Images

[mxtxfanatic]

Let’s talk Yi City Arc! I’ve seen a few posts since my time in the fandom that talks about the Yi City Arc as unnecessary or out of place in the whole of the mdzs narrative. I’ve even seen some suggest that the disconnect is because Yi City was originally a separate story to mdzs, a sort of prototype, if you will, to explain it away. I, too, after my first read questioned the significance of this arc to the overall story. However, the Yi City arc and its placement so early in the novel is actually just a huge and very clever spoiler to most of the important plot points of the overarching story… if you know what plot points to look for, which an un-spoiled first-time reader would not. So let’s talk about those spoilers:

1) The righteous cultivation clans’ refusal to stand against evil—and, really, their indulgence of it—leads to the wiping out of an entire clan and a monastery as well as the deaths of two powerful cultivators unaffiliated with any major sect.

The “righteous” cultivation clans happily ignore that fact that the Jin Clan is amassing power through unscrupulous guest disciples, and it is only when Xiao Xingchen, an outsider, brings the crime against the Chang Clan to light do they bother to pretend to do anything about it. However behind the scenes, the Jin Clan assassinates their only real opposition, and the other clans, great and small, continue to do nothing as Xue Yang is released to commit another massacre. The Jin are never held responsible for their actions. Likewise, all the clans turn away from Wei Wuxian, an outsider, when he calls out the Jin Clan’s crimes against the Wen remnants and accuses them of amassing power via poaching vassal clans and attempting to steal his tools. Behind the scenes, the Jin work to undermine Wei Wuxian’s reputation before joining in to massacre Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants. The Jin are never held accountable for this, which directly leads into the Xue Yang situation.

2) Xiao Xingchen has his reputation slandered by Xue Yang killing others using his sword.

After Xiao Xingchen kills himself, Xue Yang begins using his sword to enact “vengeance” on the remnants of the Chang Clan, who he considers as having “betrayed” Xiao Xingchen. Finding the signature of Xiao Xingchen’s sword on the slain bodies leads the cultivation world to believe that a disillusioned Xiao Xingchen is killing in revenge. In much the same way, Wei Wuxian is used as a scapegoat by the cultivation world whenever bad things happen, such as the presence of walking corpses or the mass digging of graves. In neither situation does any clan investigate the true events of the situations, happy to blame the easiest suspect and allow the unrest to continue. In both situations, Xiao Xingchen and Wei Wuxian are eventually found innocent of the crimes for which they are accused, and the true culprit is revealed.

3) Xiao Xingchen is betrayed by someone he considered close to him, which eventually leads to his death.

Xiao Xingchen, due to being literally blinded by his sacrifice, ends up running into, rescuing, and caring for his mortal enemy, Xue Yang. Taking advantage of Xiao Xingchen’s blindness, Xue Yang tricks him into murdering a bunch of innocents and his best friend, causing him to commit suicide. Wei Wuxian, similarly, is betrayed by a close friend he kept near, figuratively blinded by a former childhood friendship and the present debt he felt owed to said friend’s parents. This misplaced trust directly leads to his death.

4) Xiao Xingchen must give up his eyes for Song Lan to see again, because Baoshan Sanren is not magical.

This is probably the biggest spoiler of the entire arc, but by the time you get to where this information is relevant, you’d probably have forgotten that this was even said. Xue Yang blinds Song Lan after destroying his home, and to atone for this, Xiao Xingchen goes to his master, Baoshan Sanren, to beg for her help. However, Baoshan Sanren cannot make something out of nothing. Mxtx explicitly writes that tidbit into the narration. Song Lan goes up the mountain blind and comes down with eyes. Xiao Xingchen goes up the mountain with eyes and comes down blind. Song Lan was given Xiao Xingchen’s eyes.

Much later in the story, Jiang Cheng loses his golden core. Wei Wuxian offers the miracle solution of Baoshan Sanren “giving” him a new one. Jiang Cheng, obviously skeptical, questions Wei Wuxian up until the moment he must go up “Baoshan Sanren’s mountain” alone. Wei Wuxian descends, alone, looking pale and weak. Later, when Wei Wuxian is ambushed by the Wen, Wen “Core-melting Hand” Zhuliu touches him and is visibly shocked by a discovery that he then keeps to himself. Jiang Cheng emerges from the mountain with a new golden core, while Wei Wuxian emerges from the Burial Mounds with a new cultivation method wholly independent of the need for a golden core. The Yi City arc tells us why this is: “Baoshan Sanren” cannot make something out of nothing.

And these are just the major parallels I remember off the top of my head. However, while a reread makes a lot of these parallels directly applicable to specific plot points in Wei Wuxian’s own story, I would argue that the biggest role the explicit paralleling is meant to play for a new reader is to make you question the dominant narrative of the main story. The narration tells us that Wei Wuxian is a bloodthirsty man who may as well be a demon, known for cruelty and vengeance. We see none of that from his character when he is resurrected. Then we get a mini-drama where a man with attributes Wei Wuxian directly relates to, with a story Wei Wuxian directly compares to his own life, is scapegoated by society, killed, then eventually vindicated. If nothing else, the Yi City Arc is meant to make you, as a reader, stop and go “Hey, wait a minute, what if Wei Wuxian isn’t the bad guy here???” And once you understand that, you should start questioning everything the prologue told you, just like the juniors start to question what they were told about Xiao Xingchen post Yi City in their group debrief.

[thechaoticdruid]

°•IF THE BG3 COMPANIONS BABYSAT YOUR KIDS!•°

Lae'zel

Congratulations your children are spending an afternoon at boot camp!

You can rest assured they will be treated fairly at least.

No favoritism going on here.

Anyone who misbehaves shall be sent to solidarity confinement and left there until....Idk

If they want a snack they WILL have to fight one another in a duel to the death.

Or at least until one of them falls down and cries.

To the winner go the cookies.

Or more accurately maybe some giant space hamster jerky.

Karlach

This is assuming her engine has been fixed, naturally.

The kids absolutely love Auntie K.

Legit can carry them all on her shoulders at once.

She gives the best hugs too and is always so nice and warm.

She is up to play any games with them! Especially ones where she pretends to be a monster and chases them around.

Very protective of the little ones.

Brings them new stuffies each time she visits.

You MUST remind her constantly to watch her language around the little ones!

Gale

Arrives via magic portal.

Brings Tara to help him.

Takes it very personally if one of the children don't like him.

Tries to impress them via magic and creates a magical illusion to entertain the kiddos.

Attempts to teach them everything he knows about the weave.

Takes it very hard if the children fall asleep during his lecture.

Must be consoled by Tara.

If any take an interest in the weave they immediately become his favorite.

You'll probably end up coming home to your home appliances floating or having some kind of enchantment on them.

Halsin

Yes he turns into a bear and lets them ride on his back.

Most time is spent outside enjoying nature and all of its beauty.

Will carry the littlest one on his shoulders at all times.

Always brings healthy snacks, mostly fruit like apple slices.

Proceeds to take them to a nearby pond to feed the ducks.

Widdles them little animal figures to play with.

No TV or video games. The thought of technology taking over their lives makes him sick.

We play outside or we don't play at all.

Doesn't mind them grabbing at his ears, if they can even reach them that is!

He has to remind one of them multiple times that he unfortunately cannot turn into a dragon.

Sad sad truth.

Shadowheart

Makes cute little flower crowns with them.

Helps the little ones feel better if any of them are afraid of the dark.

Is very good at comforting them.

Possibly might be one of the older one's first goth girl crush.

Badmouths Lae'zel in front of them shamelessly.

Always puts on a tim Burton movie or something for them to watch.

Definitely the reason for any of their emo phases.

They think she's really cool though.

Wyll

Always the first to volunteer to babysit.

Man has the patience of a saint and can handle even the most unruly of children.

Always talks them up and is very careful to never put them down.

Tells them all kinds of exciting stories of his time as the Blade.

Makes sure to adjust them to be suitable for the kiddos.

Leaves out the scary parts.

If any of them are mean to one another and can't get along he's the type to make them each say something nice about the other as a punishment.

Let's them play with toy swords and teaches them a thing or two about using them.

Never raises his voice at them. Is super calm and collected.

Loves them all to pieces!

Also may or may not take them out to get ice cream if they're good.

Astarion

Assuming this is Spawnstarion we're talking about because the vampire Ascendant would just laugh in your face if you asked him then slam the door on you.

Our sweet little spawn will also likely laugh and think you're joking at first.

"You seriously want a vampire to watch over your children?"

Assuming you pay him and be sure to give him big sweet puppy dog eyes he may consider it.

This man is a very not my child not my problem kind of guy.

Gets annoyed with all the children asking tedious vampire questions and responds with very sarcastic answers.

Does not approve of them wanting to touch his ears.

Agrees to let them see his fangs in hopes to scare them (the mischievous little shit).

The children instead think they're cool, which confuses him. He really isn't sure how to feel about it.

Threatens to eat them if they get on his nerves.

Spends most of the time on the sofa, boredly reading a magazine or watching television.

Miraculously takes a shine to one of the younger girls who call him pretty and compliments his clothes and hair.

This is also given the girl is a little mischief gremlin who pulls pranks on her older siblings.

He lets her paint his nails purple or red while she gossips about her mother/father's new partner or her siblings.

Unapologetically shows her favoritism and lets her sit on his lap and watch TV with him.

Will not bat an eye if the other children run a muck and destroy shit.

Legit just keeps watching TV. Probably some drama filled 'reality' show.

He actually finds the chaos caused by the children quite amusing.

One of the children somehow ends up on the roof.

Once the parents are home and it's time to leave. The youngest girl gives him a hug.

His eyes get all big and round and almost threaten to tear up.

Astarion is not asked to babysit again.

Sorry some of them are so short, I mostly write for Astarion so I'm not very confident at doing the other characters.

Hope you like it though!