#we've largely come to term with it now

[lupus-mortem]

oof what a day

[ravencromwell]

The poem evokes human greatness and human vulnerability. People are “godlike” in their courage and skill, but even the greatest mortals fall and clutch the dust between their bloody fingers. The beautiful word minunthadios , “short-lived,” is used of both Achilles and Hector, and applies to all of us. We die too soon, and there is no adequate recompense for the terrible, inevitable loss of life. Yet through poetry, the words, actions, and feelings of some long-ago brief lives may be remembered even three thousand years later.

--Emily Wilson's introduction to the Iliad

[casuallyanidiot]

Yandere manager who was never gonna let you get famous.

Nsfw for this one! MDNI!

Warning for noncon/dubcon!

Yandere manager who holds a high position in a prestigious entertainment company. He works with so many prolific stars, so he's surprised that your pitiful little portfolio ever even made it to his desk. You've got no experience, no connections, and you're not exactly industry standard in terms of beauty.

Yandere manager thinks it's kind of funny that a cute little thing like you thinks they can make it in such a cutthroat industry. he's kinda curious about what you're like though, so he calls you in for an interview. He can't help his large, sleazy grin that forms on his face when you sit there in his office stuttering through an introduction.

Sure he'll hire you, but you've gotta get on your knees.

Yandere manager feels a sick thrill run up his spine as he goes over contract details while your pretty little lips are spread around his cock. Your eyes are filled with tears, and he can feel your little whines and sobs vibrate in the back of your throat, and he groans. He has to admit it, you've got that special something about you that certainly has him captivated.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a deal, sweetie," He grunts out playfully and signs his name as he forces your head down further and came down your throat.

Yandere Manager who only books you for enough gigs for you to justify staying with him. He makes you fuck him whenever he asks, and whenever you want an actual job, you have to do something more extreme to get it. A modeling gig? Yeah sure babe. You've just got to dress super slutty and let him take you in the middle of a crowded club.

Yandere Manager who rails you violently whenever he catches you trying to network. He bets you think you're so smart and clever for chatting up some pervy, old director to get a spot in a music video. Does he not give you enough? You don't need all that attention unless he's giving it to you. You don't even know how many people are gonna wanna bury themselves in that tight little hole of yours, how many people would take advantage of you. At least with him, you knew what you were getting.

You're fucked so thoroughly, and Yandere manager loves watching you stumble around after he's stuffed you full of cum. He's started making you wear plugs afterwards just so he can watch the discomfort on your face as he takes you out shopping or for meals.

Yandere manager starts to feel a bit fond of you in not just a carnal way. As much as he loves seeing your cute little asshole twitch and stretch around the toys he pushes in you, he also likes seeing you smile, hearing you laugh. He likes the way your eyes light up when he allows you to do a photo shoot. He starts liking the way you shudder and squeal when you orgasm, too.

He's not a sappy guy by any means. Really, he sucks. Even he knows that, but maybe now that you've got his initials tattooed on your plump, well spanked ass cheeks, he can start making you like him too.

He's gross, and he knows it. But he loves fucking you so much he can't find it in himself to care. I mean you're not going to get away when he's got you coming back to him with the promise of success that he's never ever gonna let you have. Not for the risk of his favorite, cute little fucktoy leaving him.

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Welcome to my Tuesday morning PSA about plastics!

So--I was walking along the Bolstadt beach approach sidewalk here in Long Beach, WA yesterday afternoon, and I started seeing these little orange pellets on the ground that looked a little bit like salmon roe (but probably weren't). So I picked one up, and it was most definitely rubber. I went around picking up every one I could find, and while I didn't keep exact count I probably amassed 50-60 of them. I took this picture before depositing them in the nearest trash can.

These are airsoft gun pellets, and you can buy them in big jars containing thousands of them. That means that someone who decided that the beach was a great place to shoot their airsoft guns could easily litter the place with countless little bits of plastic rubber in less than an hour. We already have a huge problem here with people leaving trash, including tiny bits of plastic, all over the beach (you should see the gigantic mess after 4th of July fireworks when thousands of people come in from out of town, blow things up, and then leave again without picking up after themselves.)

But these airsoft pellets have a particularly nasty side effect. You know how my first thought was "wow, those look kind of like salmon roe?" Well, we have a number of opportunistic omnivore birds like crows, ravens, and several species of gull that commonly scavenge on the beach, especially along the approaches because people often feed them there. If I can catch the resemblance of an orange airsoft pellet to a fish egg, then chances are there are wildlife that will assume they're edible.

Since birds don't chew their food, they probably won't notice that the taste or texture is wrong--it'll just go down the hatch. And since they can't digest the pellets, there's a good chance they might just build up in the bird's digestive system, especially if the bird eats a large number of them--say, fifty or sixty of them dropped on the ground along the same fifty foot stretch of sidewalk. The bird might die of starvation if there's not enough capacity for food in their stomach--or they might just die painfully of an impacted gut, and no way to get help for it. If the pellets end up washed into the ocean, you get the same issue with fish and other marine wildlife eating them, and then of course the pellets eventually breaking up into microplastic particles.

You can get biodegradable airsoft pellets; they appear to mainly be gray or white in color rather than bright screaming orange and green. But "biodegradable" doesn't mean "instantly dissolves the next time it rains." An Amazon listing for Aim Green biodegradable airsoft pellets advertise them as "Our biodegradable BBs are engineered to degrade only with long-term exposure to water and sun and will degrade 180 days after being used." That's half a year for them to be eaten by wildlife.

I don't know, y'all. That handful of carelessly dropped rubber pellets just encapsulates how much people don't factor in the rest of nature when making decisions, even on something that is purely for entertainment like an airsoft gun. We could have had a lot of the same technological advances we have today, but with much less environmental impact, if we had considered the long-term effects on both other people and other living beings, as well as our habitats. We could have found ways from the beginning to make these things in ways that benefited us but also mitigated any harm as much as possible. Instead we're now having to reverse-engineer things we've been using for decades, and sometimes--like the "biodegradable" airsoft pellets--they still have a significant negative impact.

But--at least there are people trying to do things better, thinking ahead instead of just on immediate profit. We're stuck in a heck of a mess here, figuratively and literally, and changing an entire system can't be done in a day. Maybe we can at least keep pushing for a cultural shift that emphasizes planning far into the future--if not the often-cited "seven generations ahead", then at least throughout the potential lifespan of a given product.

[meglosthegreat]

So... everyone pretty much hated Veilguard's "secret ending", right? Beyond speculation about the Executors themselves, I haven't exactly seen anyone excited about its presence, and for that matter, haven't seen many people talking about it at all.

The closest way I can describe my initial reaction to it was an immediate, visceral disgust. I think I remember uttering at my screen something along the lines of "Fuck off! What the fuck?! Are you fucking kidding me???" and ever since then I've wanted to put into words exactly why it made me feel that way.

For the 88% of you (according to Steam achievement statistics) who didn't see this ending due to not picking up three very specific codex entries by complete chance, you can watch it here. In short, the clip depicts a mysterious voice who sounds suspiciously like Matt Mercer talking about how a group of shadowy figures has "balanced, guided, and whispered" over scenes of villains from the previous DA games, implying that these shadowy figures have been at least partially responsible for all of the bad things happening in Thedas, towards some unknown nefarious purpose.

Now obviously, this sucks. This is hamfisted, unimaginative writing that simultaneously retcons and re-contextualizes elements from DA's past that absolutely no one thought needed further explanation, as well as being exactly the kind of irritating sequel-bait tactics that people have largely grown tired of these days. But why does it suck so much? Why did I feel such palpable distaste for this scene?

For starters, it simply reeks of entitlement, and a lack of respect towards Bioware's own past games. Remember those villains you loved and thought were compelling? Well, their own personal, very complex and thought-out motivations were really just the Executors whispering in their ears the whole time! Loghain making a difficult and calculated decision at great personal cost for a greater good he truly believed in? Executors. Bartrand succumbing to his own greed to the point that he betrays his only family and devolves into a tragic husk of himself? Executors. Corypheus and the Magisters breaching the Golden fucking City??? Executors.

Ignore the infuriating lore ramifications for a second and consider: what do all of these things have in common? They're all instances of complex character motivation; of people in this world doing things for their own reasons that ended up having massive ramifications. In short, they're not events that can be explained easily in terms of black and white morality. And from what we've seen in Veilguard, the current dev team has a serious inability to work with any story elements that do not have absolute moral clarity: the Venatori and the Antaam are Evil. The Shadow Dragons and the Crows are Good. Any nuance; any potential questioning of this duality is quickly explained away or snuffed out.

And that's exactly what they're trying to do, retroactively, with the rest of the series. Having a hard time deciding whether Loghain was right or wrong? Well, worry not, the Executors are Evil and if they were guiding him the whole time, then what he did must have been Evil too! Grappling with how the plot of DA2 was about the inevitable tragedy of a series of oppressive systems reaching their natural breaking point? Well, wrestle no further, for if the Executors were involved then Meredith and Bartrand must've been Evil, no question! What the Magisters did was definitely Not Great, and what do you know, there were consequences for it that they and the whole world very much did pay for. But if the Executors were behind it all, then it was someone else's fault, some Evil power reaching in and making them do what they did, rather than their actions being the result of a horrific series of power abuses done by actual people.

Which leads me to where my initial disgust comes in. Because in a world which has always had core themes of power and its many abuses, actions that have consequences, and the idea that there are no true higher beings; every horrible thing that has ever been done was done by people, the simple act of putting shadowy figures behind key moments in history completely debases and neuters all of those themes. The whole point of Dragon Age as a series up until this point has been to illustrate the complex relationships people and societies have with power, choice, and morality. To remove that link - to place an external force between those characters and their choices - is to rob the series of any meaning whatsoever.

There is a staggering difference between the messaging of a game that tells you ordinary people are to blame for society's wrongs and a game that tells you a secret shadowy faction of evil forces are to blame for them. The former invites thought about one's own society; it has the potential to be uncomfortable and difficult to reconcile with. The latter assures its audience of the fantasy it is couched in. It gives the audience a boogeyman to be angry at, and in so doing deflects any potential for introspection. And that, I think, is the real point of the scene in question.

In a time where our media has become inundated with bland, unchallenging liberal politics, the idea of "cozy" stories have become a growing trend. These types of stories often sport a broad rejection of complicated themes, painful emotions, and nuance, preferring instead to provide a "safe" place to escape to. And with that "safe" space comes a directive not to engage in critical thinking about a work, and not to draw any message from that work and apply it to the real world. Yet this is exactly where Bioware seems to be heading nowadays.

Veilguard has already been faced with heavy criticism about playing things overly safe; removing anything that might be potentially uncomfortable for the player. And the end credits scene is no different. Don't think about things too hard, it whispers to you seductively, in Matt Mercer's soothingly Evil voice. See? The Bad Guys were behind everything, all along.

[charlottesbookclub]

i'm here (ser gwayne hightower x reader) 💚💚

Summary: you have a nightmare, but gwayne is there to comfort you 💚

Warnings/Tags: spouse!reader; gn!reader; established relationship (marriage); nightmares; angst/anxiety brought on by the nightmares; absolutely catastrophic levels of tooth-rotting fluff; let me know if I've missed anything! ☺️

Words: 2870

Author’s Note: as I mentioned in this post, gwayne hightower has absolutely consumed my life and I am down sooooooo bad for him rn, so voilá, this fic has emerged as a result of that! 💕 as I also say in that linked post, I'm not super familiar with hotd, so I'm sorry if any of the terms I use aren't canon-accurate (I watched game of thrones a few years ago and I tried my best to make it feel authentic to the world of canon, but something may have slipped through 😅). and I hope this feels in-character to gwayne! I've rewatched the scenes of his that I have access to many times for...... uhh ~Research Purposes~ but I haven't seen all his scenes yet, so I apologize if it feels ooc at all – I did my best to make it feel like him! 🥰

oh and this is key: we've all seen the necklace, right?? we know about the necklace, right????? that fucking necklace makes me absolutely feral so I've given it a backstory, because it truly has me foaming at the fucking mouth 😌 (also, if you haven't seen the necklace, may I please direct you to this incredible gifset so we can descend into madness over it together?)

as always, I hope you enjoy!! 🥰🥰 (also please feel free to share any gwayne thoughts you have – I'd love to scream about the precious man with y'all! ☺️💕)

            The memory was not yours, but in this moment, it felt like it was. Gwayne had only told you the story once, with hushed words and averted eyes. You had asked, and he could never find it in himself to keep anything from you, even if it made his chest seize with shame. He told you that the whole ordeal had been a result of foolishness on his part, something he would admit only to you. He said that he recalled the memory with great embarrassment now. But you felt nothing but terror.

            You stood on a large, grassy plain ringed with trees, a few wispy clouds scuddling across the blue sky above you. This was a place you had never seen, never been – but one thing was familiar. As you struggled to gain your bearings in the strange location, you saw a group of men on horseback just a short distance ahead. You recognized your lord husband instantly: the delicate silver interlace of his steed’s armor and the auburn glow of his hair in the sunlight were as familiar to you as your own heartbeat.

            You called out to him, but he didn’t respond; he seemed to be in conversation with one of the other men. You ran toward the small group and cried his name again, but even at close range he appeared not to hear you. Panic grew in your chest by the moment as you hurried closer still, coming near enough that you could almost reach out and touch Gwayne’s mount. You stretched out your hand to do just that when your arm was stopped by some invisible force. There was nothing in front of you, just empty air that you should have been able to move through with no difficulty. But you were trapped mere feet from your beloved, unable to reach him.

            Something was terribly wrong. You screamed his name this time, desperation compressing your lungs with the force of your yell. But it was clear that he could not hear you, since neither he nor any of the gathered men so much as turned toward the sound of your cries. Real fear gripped you now, shooting ice through your veins as you cast about you for something – anything – that you could do. And that was when a new kind of fear crept over you, one so old and visceral you could feel it down to your very bones. Shudders wracked your body as you turned your eyes toward the sky, suddenly certain that you were being watched. But not just watched – no, you were being hunted.

            At a loss for what else you could do, you renewed your efforts to alert Gwayne to the danger that you could feel but not yet see. You screamed until your voice was hoarse, but you were forced to watch in horror as Gwayne continued his conversation as though nothing was wrong, even flashing that charming smile that you knew and loved so well. It was just then that the other man finally noticed that something was wrong. He cast his eyes toward the sky as you had mere moments before, saying something to the gathered men. A wave of fear seemed to run through the horses, as there was a flurry of shifting hooves and nervous snorts. You could only watch in terror as realization washed over Gwayne’s face, twisting his handsome features into a terrifying expression of horror.

            You screamed at him to run just as everything burst into motion, the horses tearing off across the plain toward the cover of the trees. You found yourself moving along with them, though you had no mount of your own. Instead, it was the same terrible invisible force, dragging you along, forcing you to watch as the scene unfolded before you.

            And then you saw it: the dragon. It swooped down from the sky as though it had erupted into existence from nothing, filling the empty air with huge grey wings that seemed to blot out the sun. You screamed again, but this time without the intention of forming any coherent words – the noise that escaped your throat was an expression of the fear that was buried deep in your bones upon the sight of the creature. Its lean body shot across the plain toward the fleeing men with a kind of focus and intention that proved what you had thought from the beginning: the dragon was hunting. And worse than that, it was hunting Gwayne.

            Voice rubbed raw from screaming, and realizing your cries to him did nothing anyway, you watched in terrible silence as his steed thundered across the ground, its legs eating up the distance as fast as it could. And yet the dragon gained. If this was some cruel trick played by the gods, you couldn’t think what you could possibly have done to deserve this kind of torment. You could do nothing but watch, utterly powerless, as Gwayne – your Gwayne – fled for his life, his beautiful face contorted into an expression of fear that cut you to the core like a knife to the stomach. You held your breath, fearing each moment would be the one when you were forced to watch your love be consumed by dragonfire, ending both his life and yours in one swift blow of unimaginable anguish and heartbreak from which you knew you would never recover. Just as you had resolved to try calling to him one last time – if nothing else, to assure him of your love – the treeline broke around you and the horses cantered to a stop beneath the cover of the forest.

            The world was still again, but the fear lingered. You could sense the dragon above you, even hear its thin, unearthly cries as it searched for its hidden quarry. Your eyes instantly found Gwayne, needing to make sure he had survived the ordeal. Indeed, he still sat upon his steed, and you watched his chest heave as he attempted to steady his breathing. The fear that still permeated the forest remained etched on his face as well, changing his features from those of the man you had courted and married to those of a young boy, trembling and horror-struck and so helpless and small.

            You longed with every fiber of your being to run up to him and pull him into your arms, to feel his warm breath on your neck as he folded into your embrace. You ached to hold his face in your hands and wipe away the single lingering tear he likely didn’t even know was still glistening on his cheek. You yearned to kiss the terror away from his brow and his nose and his lips, to tell him he was safe – to tell him that you were here. 

            But you were trapped just feet from him, all these longings locked into your body as you pressed toward him as far as the strange invisible barrier would allow. You watched as the fear slowly faded from his face, his features once again becoming warm and familiar. You couldn’t help but smile as he seemed to return to himself somewhat. Turning to one of his companions, he opened his mouth to say something when both of their eyes snapped up to the sky, reacting to some sound you must not have heard. You followed their gaze, and didn’t even have a chance to scream as a column of fire descended from above, ready to devour you all.

            You woke with a gasp. Your heart was pounding loudly enough that you could hear it in your ears, and you pushed yourself up into a sitting position as you struggled to calm your ragged breathing. The darkness in the room was soft, and your eyes adjusted slowly to your surroundings, only to find them all comforting and familiar – this was your room, your home. Instantly, you turned to your side, and let out a small sigh of relief when you saw Gwayne sleeping peacefully next to you. He was here, he was home, he was safe – you both were.

            When your breathing had calmed back to a normal rate, you eased yourself back down under the covers, burrowing into his arms as he sleepily adjusted his position to accommodate you.

            “Hmmm—is everything… alright?” he muttered, blinking his eyes open.

            “Everything’s fine,” you assured him, “I just had a nightmare.”

            He seemed to waken a little more at your words, propping himself up slightly on one arm as he reached the other hand out to stroke your cheek.

            “Are you alright? Do you want to talk about it?” his voice was still thick with sleep, but you knew the questions were genuine.

            “It was about you,” you reached up to cup his hand that still rested on your cheek, intertwining his fingers with yours. “And the dragon,” you added, your words barely above a whisper. Hearing his sharp intake of breath, you were certain he was reliving the memory himself, and instantly regretted your words.

            “But it was nothing,” you hurried to assure him, “I just—I just wish I had been there. Or that I could have helped or—” you were distinctly aware that your jumbled words made very little sense, even to you. “I just felt so helpless,” you ended with a sigh. Gwayne watched you with soft eyes, his fingers squeezing yours in reassurance.

            “You were there, though,” he responded, smiling gently, “and you did help.” You just stared at him incredulously, wondering if he was the one who was dreaming now. He read the question in your eyes with a small chuckle and disentangled his hand from yours, pushing himself up to sit. 

            Pressing a hand to his chest, his fingers found the chain of the necklace that he always wore. The charm was a delicate circle of beaten metal hanging from a simple coppery chain. You had bought it in the market one day when the two of you were still courting. The rich auburn sheen of the metal had reminded you of Gwayne’s hair, and you were determined to have it. The seller assured you that the little ring symbolized unending love and devotion – a never-ending cycle, an unbroken vow. You were doubtful that had been the original intention of the maker, but rather a ploy on the seller’s part to drive up the price after he realized you intended it as a gift for your beloved. Had it been that obvious how love-struck you were? 

            Regardless of whether it was intended or not, you liked the idea of the simple circle as a token of promise and loyalty, as well as a celebration of one of Gwayne’s most striking features. You had given it to him wrapped in a carefully-embroidered handkerchief when he had gallantly asked for your favor before a tourney. You cherished the memory of him asking you to help him put it on, and the fleeting touch of his skin and flaming hair you were able to steal as you clasped it around his neck. He won the tourney, and insisted that his victory was due at least in part to the precious charm you had given him, imbued with your affection and devotion. To your knowledge, he had never taken it off since.

            Now, in the dim light of your shared chambers, he held the little ring out for you to see. It was slightly more battered now than it had been, and though its original shine was gone, it still seemed to glow with a warm coppery light. Reaching out, you took the small circle in your fingers, feeling all the tiny knicks and ridges it had acquired over time, each one of them proof of Gwayne’s promise to always return to you – an unbroken vow.

            “See, you’re always with me, right here,” he gestured to the charm in your fingers. The feeling of the metal against your skin and the sweet memories that swirled through your mind caused tears to prick at the corners of your eyes, chasing away the lingering cobwebs of fear that the nightmare had spun. Gently, you released the ring and Gwayne’s fingers replaced yours on the circle, guiding it back to where it always sat on his chest, just above his heart. He pressed it there, emphasizing his words: “right here, right where you always have been – and always will be.”

            Ducking your head away, you tried to hide the tears that were now threatening to slide down your cheeks as his words. But before you could wipe them on the sheets, Gwayne’s hand caught your chin, gently pulling him back to you, the rough pad of his thumb banishing the tears from your face. His eyes sparkled with affection and mirth, and you found yourself unable to stop yourself from echoing his smile.

            “Hmmm… it’s more serious than I thought,” he said with mock-concern, tilting your face as though he was examining it, “you appear to be desperately and madly in love with me – a very serious condition indeed.”

            You couldn’t help the laugh that spilled out of your mouth as you nudged him playfully, causing him to break into bright chuckles of his own. Your chest, which just moments ago had been compressed with terror, was now so full of love and happiness you were certain it might burst.

            “And tell me, Ser Gwayne, what is the cure for this most dire of conditions?” you matched his tone of feigned worry as your laughter subsided.

            “Hmmm,” he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, unable to hide the dimples forming on his cheeks, proof of his barely-suppressed smile, “perhaps marriage? I have heard many esteemed lords claim that the institution of matrimony is bound to cure an ailment such as yours.”

            “Oh, but I fear I’ve tried that,” you exclaimed, “and it has only made my condition worse.”

            “Then this is indeed one of the most serious cases I’ve ever seen.” He pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up: “There is one more cure, but it’s risky. You could try true love’s kiss. One does read about those sorts of things working miracles after all.”

            “What’s the risk?”

            “The risk is that the kiss renders your condition utterly uncurable by any other means.” Gwayne’s lips tilted up into your favorite lopsided smile as he grinned at you, dimples glowing like twin suns, sending the delicate freckles on his face colliding into each other like falling stars.

            “That’s a risk I’m more than willing to take,” you breathed as he reached out to cup your face and bring it close to his. You closed your eyes as your lips met in a burst of warm sunlight that seemed to fill your whole body with its radiance. You weren’t sure how long you remained pressed against him, feeling his heartbeat against your skin, his auburn locks twisted in your fingers, his necklace hanging between your entwined forms. 

            “Did it work?” he whispered when he finally pulled away, his forehead still resting against yours.

            “No,” you responded happily, your fingers once again finding the thin metal of the little circular charm, “I fear I’m even more madly and desperately in love with you than before.” You met his eyes, finding them bright and soft and just as madly and desperately in love as you were certain yours were.

            “Well, I like to think of myself as chivalrous, but I don’t think I can find it in myself to regret your condition,” he whispered, a teasing smile on his face as he reached a hand up to run his fingers through your hair.

            “Nor can I,” you whispered back, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek.

            He pulled you fully into his grasp then, maneuvering you both back under the covers without relinquishing his hold on you. You rested on his chest, head tucked under his chin as he wrapped both arms around you. Your fingers found his necklace, and you clasped it in your hand. He echoed your motion until both of your hands were intertwined around the metal circle, resting just above his heart. You could feel it beating against your skin, and you snuggled yourself even closer to him.

            “This is what I imagine,” Gwayne said softly to the darkness, “when I’m on the road without you, and all I have is this small charm to remind me of what it feels like to rest in your embrace. This is what I dream of.” He pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead and squeezed your hand where it entwined with his on the necklace. “You’re always right here.”

            “I’m always right here,” you echo, your words a promise, a vow.

            “But thank the gods I don’t have to imagine right now,” you felt his words as his lips moved against your forehead, “because I am right here.” Gwayne wrapped his arms even more tightly around you, and you gladly tucked yourself further into his warm embrace. You felt yourself drifting back into a pleasant sleep in the comfort and safety of his arms. You heard his words echo softly in the gentle quiet of the room:

            “I’m right here.”

[xxcrystalinerose]

In light of Hades 2 adding new designs and MORE Nyxblings, here's a little face study I did of Chaos, Nyx, and their family. Someone once mentioned that Nyx's children who's got features she doesn't have actually have Chaos' features instead, and I wanted to compare and see which child resembles who more.

Additionally, shoutout to @blood-starved-beast for their post about the age order of Nyx's children because it has helped immensely with the brainrot.

Detailed analysis under the cut.

Firstly, the parents:

For parent and daughter, Chaos and Nyx don't really look the same. However, the cheekbones and jawline that could cut glass is hereditary lol. I wonder if there are other children of Chaos who look more similar to them?

I also like how Chaos' Hades 2 appearance could be a nod to them reconnecting with Nyx and probably wanting to look more "normal" (or as normal as they could get) for the family reunions. The exact same makeup style is cute.

Next up, we have the older children (excluding the Fates, whom we haven't seen yet):

Charon is a tough nut to crack because his portrait is so heavily shadowed and he also wears a bigass hat, so I don't really know his facial structure, but from what I could see, it's more like Chaos'.

Moros' eye shape is weirdly different from the rest of the siblings, but they appear to be downturned and large, which is closer to Nyx's eye shape. While his facial structure is more like Chaos', his eyes in particular make him look softer.

Nemesis actually has a different face structure from Nyx. Her coloring is the exact same (sans skin tone), but not the face. However, her hairstyle is similar, including the updo.

Lastly, the younger children:

It's probably because Hypnos' expression was drawn more comically, but as soon as I take a good look at his new portrait it's made greatly apparent that he and Thanatos are actually identical in terms of facial features. What makes them appear even more different is the hairstyle; Than's go straight down, Hypnos' is fluffy and piled high on his head. They also have similar face shape as Nyx, but with a squarer jawline.

You'd think their hairstyles are radically different. However, this official art of long-haired Than shows that his hair curls at the ends. His hair is straight now, but I'd like to think he straightens it out, because otherwise it would look a bit wavy still.

As for Eris, people keep saying that Nem looks like Nyx the most, but Eris looks astonishingly similar to Nyx. Oh, the irony of looking like the parent you detest.

Summary (and some thoughts):

Face structure-wise, the older children look more like Chaos, while the younger children look more like Nyx.

Of all Nyxblings we've known, only Nemesis has black hair.

Except for Charon, the children's eye art style is reversed between Chaos' and Nyx's (the ones with purple eyes have visible pupils and highlights, while the gold-eyed ones have no visible pupil or highlight).

Where did the curly hair genes come from? The twins are explicitly stated to be fatherless, too. Maybe some other children of Chaos have curly hair? Maybe Gaia, as she was mentioned in Hades 2?

I have a theory that the older children look more eldritch (more similar to Chaos), and only started to look "normal" during Nyx's separation from Chaos, and the cutoff point is Moros, unless Momus is older than him. Would be cool if the Fates are an amalgam of three bodies, because they're triplets and older than Charon.

Thanatos cutting his hair was actually a smart decision because his new hairstyle flatters his face shape more. I'm sorry darling but you don't have game in styling long hair. Too bad he and Moros don't know each other, big brother could've given him tips.

The entire family is hot. Nuff said.

[sttm99]

Only Ever You and Me

Prince!Bakugo x reader.

Part 2 of Till Death Do Us Part

After the wedding ceremony, you and Bakugo retired to your chambers for the night. He sat at the edge of the bed, faced away from you, his elbows on his knees as he tried coming to terms with everything.

He'd just gotten married. He'd just been wed... to you. He turned back to look at you, watching you as you sit by the large vanity by the windows, pulling at all the pins that held your hair up.

You seemed so calm with this, so at ease despite the fact that you'd just gotten married to a man you'd met no more than 3 times before. Despite the fact that you'd practically claimed ownership over him just moments ago, despite him confessing to you that he loved someone else.

Your possessiveness had thrust him into an unfamiliar playing field. He'd expected someone timid, meek, a woman whom he could intimidate into keeping shut whilst he snuck around with the maid.

But you? Frankly, you intimidated him instead.

He'd realised what he found off about how perfect and regal you seemed. Sure, there was the fact that you may have slight obsessive tendencies laying claim to him like that. But before then, he'd realised that you just intimidated him.

You were the perfect royal, the perfect ruler his people deserved. From all he'd seen about you; you could reassure people, play court so effectively, and you had an energy that made people want to serve you.

He watched, breath hitching as you stood and began untying the sashes that held your dress up, walking towards the divider at the other side of the room, where your wardrobe was.

Even the way you walked was perfect.

You were so... perfect.

The perfect queen for his people.

He frowned as he stood from the bed. He pulled off his coat, threw it into the hamper at the edge of his bed, and then pulled his undershirt over his head and did the same.

"I've been thinking..." he turned his head to face you as you stepped out from behind the divider, now dressed in a flimsy, pale nightgown stopping just below your knees.

"About what?" Bakugo asked harshly with furrowed brows as he sat back on the bed.

"That servant girl you were looking at." You say as you go over to the bed, sitting atop it, a few spaces away from him. "How long has it been going on?"

He frowns deeply at that, glaring at you. "Of what use is that information?"

You shrug, leaning over to him. "These women, you know.... what if she's keeping your child or something-"

"Excuse me?" He spits out, growing angry at your words. Not only had you called her 'this woman', but also insinuating that he'd father a child out of wedlock.

He had some honour, at least. He wouldn't do that to her, to his love. He wouldn't have her keep a child who couldn't even call him his father.

But you just scoff and roll your eyes. "Oh, please. I'm being cautious. I don't need some bastards contesting the crown with our sons when the time comes."

He glares, a brow raised. "Our sons? Contesting the crown? You're thinking too far ahead."

"Far ahead? There's no far ahead with us, Katsuki. We're husband and wife, we should think of our chil-"

"In paper only." He cuts you off. "We're wed on paper only. The history books? Paper. The marriage contracts? Paper! My heart will always be with someone else! With her! You? You're just a position. Even if not you, there would have been another princess for me to marry!"

His words have you glaring, and you're standing, facing him from the other side of the bed. "We've been promised to each other since birth. There is no other princess to marry, Katsuki. It has always been me for you, and you for me. I was always going to be the one you end up with."

There's a glint in your eye as you speak, a sternness and finality in your voice that has him faltering in imagining a reality where he wasn't married to you, as though there really was no one else for him.

"This- this thing you have with that woman is nothing. It's not real. But us? We have the opportunity to create something real, okay? We're married now. We have all our lives to learn to love each other!"

"You're delusional!"

"I'm real!" You yell out. "What's delusional is you going ahead to cultivate a romance with a girl you knew you'd never be with. You've always known you had to marry me, and yet you went ahead to start something with someone you could never have!"

You pause then, taking small breaths as you look at him. "I've always known I'd end up with you. So I didn't bother giving my heart to anyone else." You glare. "You think I'm delusional. But here you are, tricking yourself into believing you could ever be with anyone other than me. If that's not delusion, then tell me what is."

.

.

.

There's silence for several long moments. Bakugo's frozen, hands clenched by his side, chest heaving and lips parted.

You're right.

You're obviously right.

He's always known he would end up with you. He'd always known he'd have no one else but you. Yet he went ahead and started something he knew would have no end. There was no future for him and the other woman.

Because that's all she'd ever be.

The other woman.

The only one he could be with was standing right in front of him.

"I-" He tries to speak, tries to find the words to convey how he's feeling.

"You should send her away," you say as you climb into the bed, settling under the covers. "You'll only break your own heart, allowing her to continue to stay here."

You try to drift off to sleep, try to block out the sounds of Bakugo shuffling into the bed. Until he's pressed up against you from behind, his arms wrapping around your waist.

"What- what are you doing?" You whisper, still facing away from him.

But he just sighs into your neck and pulls you closer to him. "You're right," he murmurs into your skin. "It was only ever going to be me and you... there's nothing else it could have been."

You hum, letting yourself relax in his hold. He's warm, and he's big, his large frame practically folding over you.

"I'll send her away," he says softly, pressing his lips to your neck.

"Good," you murmur, letting your hand rest over his on your stomach. "It'll only be you and me."

And he nods, "Only you and me, my wife."

[assassinnumber9]

TwiYor's Love Languages

So as you guys may or may not know, a little over a year ago I published a fanfic on Archive of Our Own called Loid Forger is NOT A Cuddler, which is basically just 5 chapters (so far) of Loid cuddling and denying it.

It's practically an essay for how his love language is physical touch.

And while I do like to joke about how Loid Forger is a cuddler and whatnot because of my fanfic and headcanon, this most recent manga chapter of Spy x Family gives me a perfect opportunity to talk about this headcanon and why it's in line with Twilight's character as well as Yor's own love language and how they relate.

We'll look at the obvious and pretty much explicitly stated first.

Yor's Love Language: Acts of Service

As previously mentioned, she basically says it outright. Her growing feelings toward Loid are much more obvious than his, and so it's easy to point out that her wanting to help him and have him rely on her is both a way for her to care/love him outwardly and a way for her to know he's accepting of that love.

I think Loid being the one to rely on her also makes her feel even more loved/trusted/confident, because Loid Forger is just so perfect at anything and everything he tries. From the outside, he really doesn't need any sort of help from anyone.

And, Twilight would likely agree. He's confident in his abilities and doesn't seem to want help from anyone as far as we've seen. The only missions he shares are the ones where more than one person is really needed.

Fiona could be potentially seen as someone he accepts help from, except that her help is more of an employee to an employer (or inferior to superior in their case.

And Franky... acts almost like a brother to Twilight? So like, they just force each other to help. Neither of them are accepting any kind of help, just going, "You're doing this."

All this to say that Yor is the only one that Twilight accepts and asks for help from. In the latest chapter, we see Twilight is comfortable enough to ask her.

And, she's ecstatic at hearing him ask for it.

She gets to finally show her love the way she knows how - the way she showed Yuri during her childhood.

Now for Loid Forger, rather Twilight.

Twilight's Love Language: Physical Touch

So far in the story, we have not seen much in terms of love when it comes to Twilight.

Emotions, and love especially, are weaknesses for spies unlike assassins, where emotions and attachments can be seen as strengths. Both fight for their respective loved ones, but the former has to do so hidden under a mask without being caught and the other is able to outwardly express these protective instincts through their actions (assassinations).

So, Twilight, like the great spy he is, hides his love.

You could possibly argue his love language is the same as Yor's (acts of service), but his acts are to keep her happy to ensure she stays with him (ie actually for the mission).

He also seems to give words of affirmation as well, but he only does so when he needs to provide them.

Gifts and Quality time can also be crossed out, because we don't really see him giving Yor gifts and we haven't seen him really go "I need to be with Yor more" yet. The only time we ever saw him think of her when they weren't together was during the cruise arc. But that’s not enough solid evidence for that specific one yet.

Also keep in mind that we haven't seen him express any of these languages to anyone else either.

There is one language we do have solid proof for, and of course that's physical touch.

While no, it's not proof that features Yor or even Anya.

We both hear and see it when it comes to his mother.

He explicitly states that he loved being held by her.

While this story was meant to show his mother's strength as a person, it confirms that loving physical touch was a large part of his childhood

Because he remembers it

Twilight remembers loving being held by her.

He can't remember her face, or his father's face, and is even flustered and confused after his PTSD flashback when he was unconscious. His memories are covered in trauma, and I believe one of the only reasons why he can remember what his friends looked like are because he saw them later in life.

It's hinted that he remembers very little of his childhood - likely due to the trauma.

But his mother holding him stayed with him.

Physical touch was an influential thing during his childhood.

Like Yor's love language during hers.

I would really like to believe that we'll see him learn to love touch again when he finally learns to accept his emotions, and in turn, his "weaknesses" (which will likely be turned to strengths).

And Yor being strong, a trait he remembers of his mother, only strengthens my theory that he'll learn to love physical touch again.

Because, he'll once again be able to know that everything is fine when he's holding her - just as he felt with his mother.

[catsteeth]

The Caged Bird & The Leased Dog

Sandor Clegane x reader Ko-Fi

+:✿ Chapter - 17 ✿:+ Beginning of The End 

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Summary: You are the daughter of Jon Arryn, you and your father travel to King's Landing with the intention of arranging a marriage for you. You catch a glimpse of The Hound during your first night in Kings Landing and it creates a mutual fascination even if he won't admit it. 

CW: MDNI, SMUT, fingering, NSFW themes, Sandor “my wife” Clegane, misogyny, angst, VIOLENCE emotional unavailability, emotional vulnerability, The Hound being abrasive, mention of death, blood, threats of violence, mentions of arranged marriage, pregnant reader Word Count: 5.3K

It was early morning. The cold air of the North lingered in your chambers, nipping at your nose and your cheeks. But you found warmth under the thick furs of your bed, and the warm body of your husband who’s arms never left you. You never slept so soundly as when you were in his arms, you always knew you were safe in his arms. 

Sandor however never slept well. When he was without you he worried too much for you, and when he was sleeping with you he worried about keeping you safe. No matter how well the castle you slept in was guarded. 

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK three raps upon your door woke Sandor. 

You groaned, stirring slightly from the noise. Sandor’s arms around you tightened slightly, “It's alright, it’s alright.” He soothed you as gently as he could, but for a man with a voice as deep as his it was hardly gentle. Sandor then tilted his head towards the door, “Who is it!” He barked,

His loud shout waking you even more “Sandor…” You whined, pouting your lips and closing your eyes tightly as you curled back up into his chest.   

“Ser Leon, my Lord. Pardon the early hour.” Ser Leon said, making Sandor groan, “Lord Tyrion has requested the Lady (Y/N)’s presence.” Ser Leon said cautiously. 

Sandor sat up slightly, “What does he want with her?” his voice rumbled in his chest.

“Tis the first meeting of her Lady’s council, my Lord.” Ser Leon said,

That alone woke you up completely, you sat up as if you’d been awoken by a bad dream. You looked over to Sandor, “My-” you began, speaking softly, in disbelief. “My council?” You corrected your tone, beckoning out to Ser Leon beyond the door.

“Yes, my Lady. Queen Daenerys has offered the support of her advisor.” Ser Leon said, his tone lighter now that he was speaking with you. 

꒰ ୨୧ ─ 

After running around your chamber, throwing on the first gown you saw, and forcing your husband to lace it for you. You and he made your way to the great hall. 

When you entered you saw Queen Daenerys and Tyrion sitting at the large council table.

You joined them at the table, and your husband stood by your side. As he always did. 

The Queen smiled upon you, “I’ll allow the Northern soldiers to aid your fight. And Tyrion will advise your moves. Though I still have my reservations to allow my dragon to go near it.” Her smile faded, “I’ve lost two of my children, I won't lose another.” 

“I can understand that.” You nodded, though hoped she would change her mind. 

“Well, now that we've settled. What is your plan of action for any surviving Knight of the Vale? Certainly you’ve had time to think this out.” Tyrion began, 

“If I should take the Eyrie,” You leaned forwards, leaning your elbows onto the council table, “I want no harm to come to the opposing knights who survive. They’ll leave any limb they lose as payment for their lives and their betrayal.” You looked up at Tyrion, “They shall leave their positions dishonorably, and work as hedge knights. No house will wish to take in a knight who turns on their oaths.” 

“A merciful conclusion.” Tyrion nodded. 

You nodded in return, then turned to Ser Leon, “Send a raven, to Littlefinger. I’ll meet with him to discuss final terms.” 

“And what are those terms?” Tyrion asked, 

You turned back towards Tyrion, “My land and titles, or I take his head.”

꒰ ୨୧ ─ ・┈ 

After your meeting, you and your husband returned to your chambers. You paced the floor, thinking of what possible next steps you would take. 

Your husband however sat in the chair of your room, and drank from a pitcher of wine in your chambers. “You’d let the cunts who betrayed you live?” He grumbled, 

“Some of them are held captive. Some are confused. Some are just ignorant. None of which are a crime.” You said as you paced the room. 

He shook his head, “You should take their heads for it.” He was far too accustomed to the Lannisters' way of punishment. 

You stopped your pacing, and faced your husband “That’s not the way I am doing this.” 

“And what way are you doing it?” He rasped.

“My own way.” You stepped closer towards him, “You served the Lannisters. The people who took heads for rumors. How much loyalty did it earn them?” His mouth twitched in irritation, “The ones who wish to fight for me will. The ones who don’t, will die in battle. When the battle is won, they’ll be turned loose. Forced to make their own way as a knight who usurped their land and lost. What house will want them then?” You stepped even closer to him. 

His eyes trailed over you, and over your swollen belly. “You’ll need people to love you, but that’ll be easy enough. What you need is for these cunts to fear what might happen to them.” 

You sighed, “I don’t wish to tyrant over my Land, like a Frey.” 

“Do the Freys people love them? Fucks sake, you need both.” He said leaning forward in his seat, “Don’t tell me you never thought of what you’d have done to those cunts who snicker at you. The cunts who talk over you.” He shook his head, “You look at them like you’d like to gut them. I saw that look in Kings Landing enough to know.” He said with a smirk.

“Perhaps.” You huffed,  “I mislike when you speak sense.”

“You don’t like being wrong.” He reached out and grabbed your hand. He ran his thumb over your knuckles, “You’ve fed a man to dogs. People won't forget that. But they shouldn’t forget that.” 

You placed a hand atop his that held yours, “I lost myself, when I lost you. I did things I shouldn’t have done.” You shook your head.  

“It felt good though didn’t it?” He pulled you closer to him, “I can see it in your eyes.” He smirked at you, liking that bit of you, even if you didn’t. “What will you have done to Littlefinger?” 

You thought of it for a moment, “Justice.” you said matter of factly.

He shook his head, “There is no justice.” 

“There will be retribution.” You said impassively. 

Sandor sat back and chuckled to himself. Not that he didn’t take you seriously, but that he did. He knew what you were capable of and was eager to see what you planned to do. 

You however paced again. This time thinking if this war was worth it. What if you were not capable of being warden? Of being the defender of the Vale, and the keeper of the Moon Door? Your father did not prepare you for such duties, though he always promised he would. As Hand of the king he was busy attending to the Realm, and not his daughter. Not that you could stop what you started now, but the doubt still lingered in your mind. 

Your pacing stopped, “Sandor?” You said softly. 

“Mm?” He hummed as he drank from his pitcher. 

You turned around to face him, “Do you think I’m not worthy of it? Inexperienced, ignorant, or like those knights murmur.. a whore?”

He got up, and marched over to you with haste, “Don’t you ever say that.” He snapped at you, his tone low and dark. He grasped your jaw in one hand, gentle but firm. He made you look at him in his eyes. If you were anyone, other than you, he would have broken your jaw for saying what you did. “You hear me? You are none of that, and I’ll kill any foul pious cunt who tries to tell you that.” His eyes were wide. “You understand?” You nodded, you’d never seen him like this with you before. “Say it.”

You furrowed your brows, unable to understand why he felt so “I understand.” You said in a plain and cold voice. You were no longer interested in whatever fears you had about the opinions of others or your ability to rule. All that was gone. Now you stared at the face of your husband, somehow surprised by his commitment to you, and his belief in you. It stretched beyond what you thought possible. “Come here.” You whispered, pressing your forehead to his own.

He placed a hand on your swollen belly. You smiled to yourself as he did. Even though your belly had swollen so much, his hand was so large it nearly engulfed all of you. 

“Would you be terribly disappointed if it were a girl?” You asked softly, your head still resting against his forehead.  

“I don’t care what it is.” His voice rumbled softly in his chest, “I couldn’t be disappointed.” 

You placed a hand at the back of his head, holding him close to you “Tell me the truth, are you happy?”

“Do I look unhappy?” He sighed. 

“You always look unhappy.” You said softly

He couldn’t tell you how happy he truly was. He couldn’t because he knew that this was never meant for him. He was born to fight and die for the Lannisters. He did none of it. He chose love over duty no matter if he admitted it or not. He couldn’t tell you he would love that child in you more than anything in this world. He couldn't allow himself to be so soft, even in front of you. The only time he would be is when you slept, and his hand on your swollen belly would feel the babe kick. He would smile to himself and feel his cold demeanor fade. He rubbed your belly once more and sighed, “I don’t deserve it, and I might be shit at it. But I’ll keep it safe, cock or no.” 

꒰ ୨୧ ─ ・┈ ・ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈ ꒱꒱

You rode into the point where the Vales Reach ended, and the Riverlands began. An empty field, a proper place for final negotiations. 

You wore a blue riding cloak, as to not allow the men who opposed you forget who you were. Your husband rode in with you of course. Wearing the black armor you had fitted for him. And accompanied by twelve of your men, ten of Jons, and of course Ser Leon. The ride was hard on you, and the babe. You were coming along well in your pregnancy now. Riding did not agree with you in such a state. 

As you approached Littlefinger, you felt your stomach turn. You’d not seen him in so long, and the meer sight of him made you sick. You wanted to jump off your horse and vomit but you’d not let them see you so weak. 

“Look at you. You poor thing. Child bearing certainly does not seem to agree with you. Would it be so hard to turn yourself to domestic pursuits rather than a needless war.” Baelish said mockingly. 

“Shut your cunt mouth.” Your husband grumbled. 

“I see you’ve brought your lap dog to bark for you.” Baelish smirked.

“I speak for myself.” You said, your voice dark and deep. “Terms are simple. Step down now, leave the Eyrie, and return to the Fingers or Kings Landing whichever you prefer. That I have no interest.” Though that might not have been the whole truth. If he did leave, you would have your knights seize him. And he would be dragged to the moon doors to be tried for his crimes. 

“And if I do not comply?” Baelish sighed, not taking you quite seriously. 

“Your head.” You spoke with venom. 

A brief but uncomfortable silence passed, “Bloodshed is unnecessary. I don’t wish for this wedge between us any longer. I gave you a proposal before you were wed, but I don’t wish for war, so allow me to make another. You and your…” Baelish eyed the  giant man beside you, who sneered back at him. “Husband may have the fingers. You’ll have the estate, live your lives comfortably.” Sandor scoffed under his breath, “If you should bear sons they’d be my heir so long as I don’t have my own, they’d learn under me, be my ward, begin their instruction of how to lead. If it’s a daughter… Well if I had my own sons she’d marry one of them.” He stated, as if it were a most judicial proposal.

“I’d rather let my sons learn from the whores in your brothels than from a craven cunt like you. And my daughters would eat your sons alive.” Sandor said, his voice dripping with contempt. 

After a moment, Baelish looked at you with a smirk, “Charming isn’t he? I see how you fell for him.”

“My first born child regardless of their gender will be heir to my titles. There is naught that will stop you. You won’t stop until one of us is dead. You won’t be content to have me living in Winterfell. Or the Fingers. Or even in Braavos… No… because as long as I live and breathe your station will never be secure. I am the challenge. My child is the challenge. they will always pose a challenge to you as well.” You placed a protective hand atop of your belly, “You won’t stop.” 

Baelish looked at your swollen belly, feeling a tinge of jealousy. “A trade then. I give you something of great value-.” 

“I know what a trade is.” You sneered, making your husband chuckle under his breath. “There’s only one thing worth more than the East.”

“What is that? Whatever it is, you shall have it.” Baelish asked enthusiastically. 

“I want my family back. Jon Arryn, Elorie Arryn, Edmure Arryn, Eddard Stark, Catelyn Stark, Rickon Stark, and Ser Varys Cole… I want them back.” You said, rage fueled grief dripping from your voice, and your eyes, “Do you have that?” 

Baelish did not speak for a moment, simply staring at you. Unsure of what to say, 

“She asked you a question.” Your husband asserted.

Baelish looked at your husband then back at you, “What you’re asking for is impossible.” 

“Then she’ll have your head.” Sandor said with a scowl, 

you began to pull your horses reins but then Baelish spoke again. “(Y/N) I beg you once more. I was appointed by the King-“

“That King is dead. And I feel this conversation has become circular and I find no reason or desire to continue it.” You said apathetically. 

“Perhaps the reason you and I were not intended. Wasn’t because your father found me disagreeable. Maybe it was because my reign, unlike your own, would outshine his own.” He said boldly, but soon his confidence dwindled, “I don’t wish for your death, nor the death of the babe in your belly.” He shook his head, “I love you (Y/N), just as I loved your aunt Catelyn, just as I loved your mother-” He looked at you with desperation.

You did not speak, only looking at Baelish wishing you would drive a blade into his heart. And your eyes gave away your desire.

“You speak to my wife like that again and I won’t wait for the war to tear your throat out.” He nearly growled at him as he tugged the reins of the large black horse he sat on.

“Very good, Husband.” You smirked and stifled a laugh as you pulled the reins of your own horse, turning away from Littlefinger.

꒰ ୨୧ ─ ・┈ ・ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈ ꒱꒱

By the time you’d arrived back in Winterfell it was once again time to have another council meeting. You sat at the head of it, with once again your Husband standing beside you. 

Joining the table were some Lords you held no regard for, and of course Tyrion was there to advise you. 

You leaned against the table and spoke with confidence, “Northern men, and Eastern men. Together we break even with Littlefinger's men. Assuming he does not employ the aid of other eastern or southern houses.”

“Assuming.” Tyrion said, prompting you to think deeper. 

“So we must employ the aid of the eastern houses. They all swore oaths to my house. If they keep their promises we’ll out number Littlefinger easily.” You were confident in your words.

Tyrion nodded but then leaned forward, preparing to add something new to the conversation. “There is one cause for concern in your alliances in the Vale. The hill tribes have steel weapons now.”

“Yes they do. And who provided those to them?” You nodded with a sarcastic smile, then your smile faded. “With my men, the northern men, and the houses of the Vale together, I believe the Eyrie can be penetrated.” You shook your head, “I don’t need the hill tribes blessing to do any of that.”

“Still, with their weapons they’ve become a growing threat towards the people of the Vale, and travelers. If you could neutralize them, you’d gain the support and respect of the other houses”  Tyrion explained

“What do you suggest? We kill them all?” You asked stifling a laugh, thinking it was a ridiculous thought.

Tyrion shrugged, “It would be easy enough.They are of little value and have very little experience in warfare. But no. They could be used as a weapon. First we persuade them with honey.” 

“The fuck is he talking about?” Sandor rasped, not wanting to hear anything that might be offensive to your honor. 

Tyrion spoke cautiously, “The Hill Tribes despise house Arryn. Despise you. But they despise outsiders as well. And I would wager they despise the fact Littlefinger managed to usurp an Arryn before they did.” 

You sat back in your seat with a huff. You crossed your arms, “Do you know how many there are? Black Ears, the Burned Men, the Howlers, the Milk Snakes, the Moon Brothers, the Painted Dogs, the Redsmiths, the Stone Crows, the Sons of the Mist, and then there’s the Sons of the Tree.” You sighed, “All of which hate one another. More than that they all hate me and my blood. I am sure this perversion of a succession has only served them as a great jest.” 

Tyrion began more passionately in his argument, “Offer them Lands. The Pebble, The Paps, Witches Isle-“

“All of which are homes of seated houses sworn to the rule of House Arryn. If I send fleets of tribesmen to their door, I start a new war. And lose any possibility of alliance.” You said intensely. 

“Then what would you decide?” Tyrion huffed. 

“You speak of offering the claimed land of people sworn to me to people who wish me dead.” You stifled a laugh, “If you suggested a massacre I’d be more willing.” You looked down, taking his words into serious consideration, “The sisters have been a place of loose hold. Write to all three. Offer protection in return for their alliance. If not then that is where we shall send them.” You finished, about to leave the chamber before a voice interrupted you.

“What of your brother?” Lord Royce said, making his presence known. “He is a boy of five and ten now. And he misses his elder sister dearly.” 

You turned to face him, “We were never very close. Hardly a family.” You said stoically

“And yet, all the family he has ever had.” He said. You felt a sting of guilt, having never really given him a thought. “I would suggest, humbly, you seek him out. He would be a powerful ally to have in the eyes of the eastern houses. One ancient house united against their usurper.” Lord Royce said confidently. .

You huffed, “Perhaps you are right.” you said with a somber nodded.

꒰ ୨୧ ─ 

As you left your small council meeting, you and your Husband took your steps nearly in tandem. A formidable pair.

“My Lady-” Ser Leon said in haste as he approached you quickly, cut off by the brick wall that was your husband who raised an eyebrow at the man as he glared at him. 

You looked behind you, noticing him “Ser Leon.” You said in a huffed greeting, looking forward as you continued to walk.

“My Lady-” He continued attempting to ignore the intimidating presence of your husband, “Might I suggest that I represent yourself within meeting the Hill Tribes, and perhaps even in meeting with young Robin as well.” 

“I’ll speak to them myself.” You said dismissively, sure of your ability. 

“My Lady I am unconvinced that plan of action is the wisest, nor the safest.”

You stopped in your tracks annoyed and frustrated you turned to Ser Leon. You sighed letting your annoyance go. “Very well then. Explain your concerns.” You said with a calm voice and hard eyes.

“I do not doubt your will, my Lady. However I believe the offer may be taken with more confidence, and seriousness if delivered by a Knight.” 

Your eyes narrowed, stepping closer to him, “And why would my own words not be taken with seriousness?” 

He shifted uncomfortably, and began cautiously “It is only… the gentler sex is-“ 

You raised your hand, and slapped him across the cheek. Sandor reached for the hilt of his sword.

You stepped closer to him, staring him down, “I fed a man to dogs.” You shook your head. “I am not gentle.” Ser Leon nodded and looked down, “As your lady I encourage you to question my logic but do not ever misjudge my sex.” Your tone was cold as you hissed your words at him, “I am the challenge.” You placed a hand on your stomach, though not taking your eyes off of him, “My child, is the challenge. If you wish for me to allow a threat to my child to breathe and live you’re wrong.” You tilted your head, “If I send a Knight to go and do my bidding, how much of a challenge do I appear to be?”

Without allowing him to answer, you turned and continued to walk. Your husband following behind you.

꒰ ୨୧ ─ ・

Not long afterwards, as you and your Husband were walking up the halls, Sandor pulled you into a room. As he closed the door, confusing your men on the other side. You looked around the small chambers. It must have been a room meant for spare inventory of supplies. 

He pushed you against the cold stone wall, holding you by the scruff of your neck. 

“What’re you-Awh” Your words were cut short by his rough and calloused fingers running up your thighs underneath your skirts. As his fingers haphazardly moved your small clothes to the side, they began toying with your cunt, “Mphmm” was the only sound you were able to make before his mouth crashed against yours. Drinking in your moans of pleasure. Both to keep you quiet and because he couldn’t control himself when you used your authority so well.

His fingers entered your core, the feeling so intense you bit down on his lip. But he relished in it. The pleasure was so great as his fingers pulsed against the soft spot inside of you. “You make me proud to be your husband, you know that?” His fingers did not relent continuously pushing in and out of you, “So- fucking- proud.” He growled against your ear. 

Your body gave into its pleasure quickly. Being so unprepared for such stimulation. You felt yourself shake as you reached your climax. And thank the gods your Husband was holding you close.

You looked at him with half lidded, relaxed eyes. Wanting to please him the way he did you. You reached for the ties of his breeches. 

He grabbed your wrist and tisked at you, “Not now,” He rasped. “Don’t worry, I’ll fuck you good and hard later.” he groaned as he pressed his hardened cock against your thigh once more. He fixed your hair for you as you caught your breath, “Go on then.” He said with a pat on your ass. 

As he opened the door for you, and you stepped out. You looked at the men who waited for you. 

“My Lady.” Ser Leon said with his head bowed apologetically. 

You looked at him briefly, now with a clearer head knowing what you’d done was wrong. “Apologies.” You muttered before continuing on. 

꒰ ୨୧ ─ ・┈ ・ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈ ꒱꒱

You rode into Runestone, with Lord Royce, Tyrion, and of course your Husband. Though now you were now confined to a carriage as your pregnancy progressed. You weren’t happy with it, but Sandor insisted. 

As your carriage came to a stop. Sandor opened the door. He helped you out of the carriage, nearly picking you up. You placed a hand on his chest, “I’ll speak to my brother alone.” You said softly, “If he’s anything like how I remember him, he listens best when spoken to softly.” 

Sandor nodded, and watched you as you walked down the hill, making your way to your brother’s training. 

“I’ve heard the saying to never give a wench a sword on her blood, but what of one with child?” A tall Royce guard said to the other guards. They all snickered, but your Husband did not. 

Sandor turned towards the Royce guards, “The fuck did you say?” He grumbled, as he walked towards the men. 

“A bad joke.” Tyrion said, attempting to ease the situation. 

The Royce guard however did not take Lord Tyrion's grace, further antagonizing your husband. “The King commanded a man to rule for a reason.”

“Fuck the King. He’s dead. His command is dead. And Littlefinger is a cunt.” Sandor nearly growled. 

The man scoffed, “Might be a cunt. But I know she has a cunt. She is a-”

“Careful.” Sandor hissed, “Careful how you end that.” His eyes narrowed. 

A smaller guard stepped towards the taller one, “You heard what he did to that knight in Winterfell. Broke his jaw clean off the hinges one blow.” The smaller guard warned. The taller man however, looked back to Sandor, as if he had a chance at besting him. 

“I’d listen to them.” Tyrion said, not wanting a physical fight to occur during your first attempt of creating an alliance. 

The man however, did not listen, continuing, “The Arryns have long stood with the Baratheons, the Lannisters, the Crown. Obeyed their orders. Now, she’s let Valemen die for the Starks after the Lannisters sided with the Botlons.” 

“Enough-“ Tyrion began,

“Let him talk.” Sandor said calmly, his eyes staying on the man.

The man took a confident step forward, “You abandoned your duty to the Lannisters. And she abandons her duty as a woman twice now. Only giving in now. Some think of it as peculiar.” He said with a mocking grin. 

“And what do you think of it?” Sandor stepped forward, biting his lip. Begging for the man to give him a reason to do what he so desperately wanted to do already.

The man grinned, stepping forwards “She’s not a Queen. She cannot do as she pleases. I bet you bloodied that pretty white cloak with her maidenhead. No, she is no queen and now she’s no lady, she is a whore.” 

With a growl and his armored fist, Sandor punched the man in the mouth. He did just as he had done before, with one blow he broke the man's jaw. But with the next blow he shattered the man's nose, and his last blow breaking his teeth.

꒰ ୨୧ ─

As you walked down the small hill, you saw your brother sparing with another boy near his age. You were thrown off slightly by how much he had grown. He was nearly a man now. You felt dread, you never felt close to Robin, and never even felt related. But now at a time like this, you needed to make this alliance. 

“Brother.” You said beckoning out to him. 

He turned around quickly at the sound of your voice. “Sister!” Robin said with a smile, he dropped his wooden sparring sword and ran into your arms. 

You were somewhat startled by the gesture, “I did not think you would be happy to see me.” 

He looked down, feeling somewhat guilty, “I was an awful child. Weak, and sheltered.” 

“I was an angry child.” You smiled softly at him, you looked him up and down, noticing how tall he has grown, “You are nearly a man grown it would seem.” 

He smiled, though his smile soon faded. “I should tell you.” He said more stoically, “Baelish has come to me. Offering to make me his heir.” 

You rolled your eyes as you stifled a laugh, “Funny, he offered my unborn child the same.” You smiled at him half heartedly, attempting to find the humor in such a situation. 

Robin however did not smile back. His expression was a guilty and worried one. He pulled out a dagger from his belt, previously covered by his cloak. “He gave me a dagger to kill you with if you ever came to see me.” 

You put your hand on top of his, making him halt his actions. “If my husband sees you pull a dagger out he’ll kill you before you can explain why you have it.” You said with narrowed eyes. Slowly you removed your hand. Extending it towards your hand towards him, “Give it,” You commanded, he hesitated, “It’s alright. I will not hurt you.”

So he obeyed you. Placing the handle of the dagger in your hand. He huffed disappointed in himself. “I did not wish to hurt you, sister.” He shook his head, “I also have no desire to hold power over the Vale.”

You took the dagger and placed it in your belt, “That is a relief.” You sighed. You looked at Robin who was still looking down, shamefully. You placed your hand on his cheek, “Robin, we’ve only one another now. And a pretender has driven us out of our home. Either to ward for house Royce, or attempted through a marriage to the Boltons.” You continued, “I’ll have Ser Leon, knight you. And once we kill the pretender you shall be Lord of the Fingers.” 

“Baelish offered me the same.” He said, clearly uncertain of what the right choice was.

You spoke slightly harsher, “Robin, you’ve no reason to support me. But I believe that Baelish has no intention of making you or my child heir, or lord or lady of any land. He’ll do to us as he did our father, and your mother.” You said with hard eyes,  “I believe that if I have your support, I can get our home back.” You asserted. 

He nodded, “You have it,” he said confidently. His eyes wandered behind you, seeing a large and tall man off in the distance. Looking down at you and your brother. A man with half his face burnt, and his knuckles bloodied. “Is that your husband?” He asked with a frightened expression. 

You looked behind you, seeing your Husband. You smiled softly, “Yes he is.” You looked back to your younger brother, who still looked frightened. “He’s not so bad once you get to know him.” you placed a hand on the cheek of your brother. Looking at his face, studying it slightly,  “You look so much like father.” You said softly with a smile, to which he then wrapped his arms around you once more. 

Perhaps this alliance would not be such a difficulty. 

Atop the hill where Sandor stood, watching down upon you protectively. Tyrion approached him from behind. 

“Seems the man will live.” Tyrion said with a sarcastic cheerful tone. 

Sandor huffed, “If I’d an ax I'd have his head.” 

Tyrion tilted his head and furrowed his brow, “Not sure that would be the wisest option.” 

“Not going to let some cunt in armor spew foul shit about my wife.” Sandor sneered.

“That little scene could harm how the Valemen see her.” Tyrion explained passively.

Sandor looked at Tyrion defensively, “Hope so. Now they’ll know to hold their tongue.”

“Perhaps you should show a little more restraint.” Tyrion said cautiously. 

“I showed it when you stumbled to our table drunk. When you shouted about the babe in her fucking belly.” 

Tyrion squirmed uncomfortably for a moment, “If I bother you so much why don’t you just cut me down? It’d be easy enough.” 

“There was a time I would have. She wouldn’t like it.” Sandor sighed, disappointedly. 

“You must love her.” Tyrion said, looking at the Hound as if he were a riddle to solve. 

Sandor looked down to Tyrion, “You have your honor. And I have mine.”

꒰ ୨୧ ─ ・┈ ・ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈ ꒱꒱

NOTE:

is this too heavy on war? idk anymore yall. And srry for the short smut scene. it’s just smth sweet for the readers.

K love you, xoxo

Bambi

Beloved Tags: 

@dontfollowjuststuff @merfic @broadsdrinkwhisky  @vikingswhore0

@the-queen-of-sorrows @eddiesbongwater @not-neverland06  @symonedoesart 

@wyvernnest @bdudette @frosch-thefrog @patrick-hockstutter @vikingswhore0

@drymushroomfics @dream-a-little-nightmare @lavenderbreeze3 @hotvillianapologist

@childofheresy

[markrosewater]

I want to speak up on behalf of the heavily enfranchised players like myself (I’ve been playing since 1994, reading Blogatog since the beginning) who are *extremely* happy and excited about the 2025 calendar announcements.

Here’s my perspective: As you've mentioned, for many years, the default setting for a standard “Magic year” consisted of three new sets (All set on the same plane! And two were much smaller sets!), plus a Core set made up entirely of reprints. That was it.

Now look how far we've come! In 2025, we’re getting three new large sets in the Magic multiverse (a brand new plane, a long-awaited return, and a multi-planar set), PLUS three new large UB sets! (As a comics fan I’m personally very excited about Marvel/Spider-Man, and while I’ve never played Final Fantasy the aesthetic looks amazing and a perfect fit for Magic). And now with Foundations, there’s also an in-print Core set with multiple ways to introduce new players (I’ll be buying a Beginner Box for my nephews). And then in 2026 we’re returning to Lorwyn and Arcavios (two of the most beloved planes).

I personally *love* the direction Magic is going and I think Universes Beyond and the upcoming schedule are some of the best things possible for the long-term health of the game of life. Entrenched players like myself are still getting plenty of in-universe content, and at the same time UB is bringing in *so many* new players, while also giving us oldies the excitement of seeing franchises (like Marvel & LOTR) we've always dreamed of seeing on Magic cards. And I know I’m not alone in this sentiment.

That's my two cents. But after seeing so much vitriol online, I also want to say kudos to you, Mark, for your willingness to engage with the fanbase, your infinite patience, your boundless enthusiasm, and everything you do to make the game we're all so passionate about. Keep on keeping on.

Thanks for the comments.

My tendency to want to face people who have issues with the latest thing does often create the impression that the totality of Magic players feel a certain way.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Opinions on owning pet parrots? I'm doing a degree in animal welfare and have pretty much come to the conclusion that the smaller species are fine if you can provide what they need but the larger birds like the greys, outside of being rescues, shouldn't be pets at all.

Okaaaaaaaay so time to make everyone mad at me again I guess

parrots have been human companion animals for longer than Judaism has been around, so, I don't think we can just say "it's wrong" and force everyone to stop doing a thing that's been done for that long. Like, this isn't a human randomly taking home a tiger, this is a long going process with many species of parrots now being near-domesticated in the strictest sense of the term

Parrot ownership is in fact ancient in many "tropical" areas and the idea that it's a new thing is... white supremacy! what a shock!

in the United States (I am not talking about other countries, just my own), literally no companion parrots are wild caught anymore. They're bred. Bred as companions. If we were to outlaw larger parrot ownership, many birds would be without a home, and that's morally reprehensible

in fact, the kind of backlash against parrot ownership that's risen up in the past decade has directly led to a shelter crisis. most shelters are overfilled and overstressed, which is a *lot* worse for the birds in many cases than home ownership

parrots are pets that have extraordinarily high care needs. They are not good pets for everyone. but no pet is! Every single companion animal has its pluses and downsides, and many of them have many more downsides than pluses. Doesn't mean they shouldn't have a home.

There are some people who are actually able to take care of companion parrots, adequately, in their homes. First of all, we've learned a lot in the past few decades. Second of all, there are lifestyles that work well with even larger parrots and their needs.

So, while the number of human beings on this planet who can adequately take care of large parrots is extremely small, it is not zero. Which means if someone thinks they can take care of a bird well, and has the space and resources and time, then they should be allowed to, if that's what they wish

Because birds in the USA are bred as companions, the vast majority of said parrots would be unhappy in any situation that doesn't involve close contact with humans. Admittedly, all my parrots are "small" (whatever that means), but I know for a fact that if you took them away from our home they would be significantly worse off, because they're bonded to us. That's how this whole flocking thing works

Also, our most recent rescues, who had been stuck in a shelter for 15 years, are definitely happier now getting more individual attention and space. Shelters are supposed to be temporary places for most birds, not permanent homes, because they can't get the adequate level of care and attention that they need.

also, I'll point out that being pets has allowed many parrot species to have thriving populations that are not threatened by climate change, which is something to their benefit. given. you know. climate change. not that pet ownership is conservation, but, it's not that far removed from it - the axolotl population owes a lot to both pet ownership and zoo captivity, for example.

like, it's a spectrum, right? And it doesn't really go along with size, at the end of the day. There are tons of extremely neurotic and high needs small parrots, and many larger ones that are exceptionally chill. So while the vast majority of humans on this planet should not have a parrot, that's not all of them; and while the number that can handle higher maintenance ones is even smaller, its not zero. And I think, given the fact that we have all of these captive bred birds in the states at least, it's not a good idea to tell people that there is no way to ethically practice husbandry with them.

and I'm not the kind of person who assumes I know everything about someone's life in order to tell them "no you shouldn't bring home that cockatoo", so I'm not going to. In fact, I give everyone on the internet the benefit of the doubt if they have a parrot unless a) that parrot shows signs of distress (like plucking) or b) there is clearly something wrong going on (like someone's smoking weed around their bird)

so, no, there's no commonly kept (and thus domestically captive bred) bird I think is a bad pet for every single human on the planet. And it's not my business whether a particular individual should or should not have a particular bird.

[linkhundr]

So NFTgate has now hit tumblr - I made a thread about it on my twitter, but I'll talk a bit more about it here as well in slightly more detail. It'll be a long one, sorry! Using my degree for something here. This is not intended to sway you in one way or the other - merely to inform so you can make your own decision and so that you aware of this because it will happen again, with many other artists you know.

Let's start at the basics: NFT stands for 'non fungible token', which you should read as 'passcode you can't replicate'. These codes are stored in blocks in what is essentially a huge ledger of records, all chained together - a blockchain. Blockchain is encoded in such a way that you can't edit one block without editing the whole chain, meaning that when the data is validated it comes back 'negative' if it has been tampered with. This makes it a really, really safe method of storing data, and managing access to said data. For example, verifying that a bank account belongs to the person that says that is their bank account.

For most people, the association with NFT's is bitcoin and Bored Ape, and that's honestly fair. The way that used to work - and why it was such a scam - is that you essentially purchased a receipt that said you owned digital space - not the digital space itself. That receipt was the NFT. So, in reality, you did not own any goods, that receipt had no legal grounds, and its value was completely made up and not based on anything. On top of that, these NFTs were purchased almost exclusively with cryptocurrency which at the time used a verifiation method called proof of work, which is terrible for the environment because it requires insane amounts of electricity and computing power to verify. The carbon footprint for NFTs and coins at this time was absolutely insane.

In short, Bored Apes were just a huge tech fad with the intention to make a huge profit regardless of the cost, which resulted in the large market crash late last year. NFTs in this form are without value.

However, NFTs are just tech by itself more than they are some company that uses them. NFTs do have real-life, useful applications, particularly in data storage and verification. Research is being done to see if we can use blockchain to safely store patient data, or use it for bank wire transfers of extremely large amounts. That's cool stuff!

So what exactly is Käärijä doing? Kä is not selling NFTs in the traditional way you might have become familiar with. In this use-case, the NFT is in essence a software key that gives you access to a digital space. For the raffle, the NFT was basically your ticket number. This is a very secure way of doing so, assuring individuality, but also that no one can replicate that code and win through a false method. You are paying for a legimate product - the NFT is your access to that product.

What about the environmental impact in this case? We've thankfully made leaps and bounds in advancing the tech to reduce the carbon footprint as well as general mitigations to avoid expanding it over time. One big thing is shifting from proof of work verification to proof of space or proof of stake verifications, both of which require much less power in order to work. It seems that Kollekt is partnered with Polygon, a company that offers blockchain technology with the intention to become climate positive as soon as possible. Numbers on their site are very promising, they appear to be using proof of stake verification, and all-around appear more interested in the tech than the profits it could offer.

But most importantly: Kollekt does not allow for purchases made with cryptocurrency, and that is the real pisser from an environmental perspective. Cryptocurrency purchases require the most active verification across systems in order to go through - this is what bitcoin mining is, essentially. The fact that this website does not use it means good things in terms of carbon footprint.

But why not use something like Patreon? I can't tell you. My guess is that Patreon is a monthly recurring service and they wanted something one-time. Kollekt is based in Helsinki, and word is that Mikke (who is running this) is friends with folks on the team. These are all contributing factors, I would assume, but that's entirely an assumption and you can't take for fact.

Is this a good thing/bad thing? That I also can't tell you - you have to decide that for yourself. It's not a scam, it's not crypto, just a service that sits on the blockchain. But it does have higher carbon output than a lot of other services do, and its exact nature is not publicly disclosed. This isn't intended to sway you to say one or the other, but merely to give you the proper understanding of what NFTs are as a whole and what they are in this particular case so you can make that decision for yourself.

[queerly-autistic]

Right, I think it's time for some positivity, and also a reality check (and I mean that in the most loving way possible) regarding the campaign to save OFMD. I've seen a lot of people saying 'it's been nearly a month, we should have been picked up by now', and whilst, yes, some cancelled shows have received very quick movement to other streamers, it's absolutely not the story for all of them. We've seen numerous shows follow different journeys from cancellation to pick-up, and there's no way of knowing what journey we might be going on.

Are we in the fast lane where we get picked up the next month (lookin' at you, Lucifer and The Expanse)? The middling lane where it takes months for a pick-up deal to be hashed out (lookin' at you, One Day At A Time, The Tourist, and Warrior)? The slow lane where we keep pushing for years and then eventually crowdfund a film (lookin' at you Veronica Mars)?

I think we have to consider the fact that OFMD being cancelled was a last minute thing that blindsided the cast and crew (and shocked people across the industry). So we're going into it in a different position to other shows that had maybe had a hint/suggestion that cancellation was coming before it happened. This is because if there are rumours of cancellation circling, it gives a chance for feelers to be put out to other networks/by other networks before the actual cancellation is confirmed. That didn't happen here. Which is important.

It's not just wham bam thank you ma'am and now you've been picked up by Netflix (or insert streamer of your choice). It's a negotiation. It's a process. It takes time. There is a very good reason that people heavily suspect that Brooklyn 99 had already been picked up before the cancellation was officially announced, and that the cancelled-to-new-home-in-24-hours thing was pretty much just a marketing stunt. No way was that all negotiated to the point of announcement within a day,

There are many reasons why any potential pick-up elsewhere might take a bit more time. For example, if David is (hopefully) juggling interest from multiple different networks, then that has to be hashed out and negotiated to make sure the best deal is reached for everyone. Also, OFMD is potentially a more complicated show to negotiate than we imagine: at a very basic level, it has a large ensemble (a large international ensemble), which would need to be discussed and negotiated, and it's filmed in New Zealand, which would need to be discussed and negotiated. That doesn't work against it in terms of 'it's more complicated, so it won't be picked up' but it could very well mean that the time needed to negotiate a pick-up is longer.

Remember: One Day At A Time had a much smaller cast (which wasn't an international cast) and it basically had one single studio set (being a sitcom), and that took three months to be saved.

I chatted with my friend, also a fan, who has worked in television production previously and is currently working as a screenwriter, and she confirmed just how much time, discussion and negotiation this stuff takes. She basically said: yep, this all takes time and this is very normal. And this is coming from someone who is very firmly in the 'I am refusing to get my hopes up because I can't bear to get hurt again' camp of trying to save the show.

On that note, I think it's important to address David's silence, because I've seen a few people panicking about that. There's a very good chance that if he is in negotiations right now (and I do not know if he is, he might not be!) then there would be a lot he wouldn't be able to talk about. And he knows that we dissect every single syllable of his posts, so posting anything would be risky. Negotiations are tricky things that involve juggling multiple balls (and torches and knives and chainsaws), and a lot of push-and-pull, back-and-forth, variables-upon-variables, and so going silent on social media would be absolutely what I would expect from him if that was happening.

It's eerie for us because we had a burst of activity from David, a lot of noise and a lot of confidence, and then...nothing. That's jarring, and anxiety-inducing. But I want us to think of it this way: David did a big post about being back in New York, about things looking up, and then he went uncharacteristically silent, which is what would happen if things were going on that he couldn't talk about. I have no idea what, if anything, might be going on, but it's important not to see this as a bad thing.

As someone on Twitter, who also works in the industry (they work as an actor) said the other day: in this business, no news is good news.

(also important to note: if he suddenly reappears on social media, that also doesn't mean that any negotiations have fallen through, and we should all panic; anything could be happening, and I know we're little anxiety gremlins - me included, bigly - but until we are definitively told that this is over and there's no hope, then it's not over and there is hope)

There's no way of knowing what is going on, or how long whatever is (or isn't) going on might take. This might be a sprint, but it could just as easily be a marathon. The show not being picked up immediately does not mean there is no hope, as we have seen with numerous other shows. Look at fandoms like Shadow and Bone, who are still fighting tooth and nail for their show because they refuse to give up on it. They haven't given up, and neither should we.

We need to decide if we love OFMD enough to fight for it long-term, to settle in for a long battle, and keep pushing for as long as it takes. And I think, as difficult as it might be, we all know that this show, and its cast and crew, is worth it.

[boinin]

Batten down the hatches: Rin's ego is about to land

The latest chapters show Rin playing with an unfamiliar aura: what looks like swirling rivulets of water.

This represents the refinement of his ego and playstyle since the under-20 match. But what exactly are they going for with the swirling water? Here's my two cents.

Rin is strongly associated with water, specifically the sea. He grew up by the coast; he and Sae shared a love of watching the sunset over the water after training together. Those childhood memories are turbulent now, like dark clouds on the ocean's horizon.

It's here he realises that he can no longer play the puppetmaster football that helped him thrive in Blue Lock. As good as he is, it wasn't authentic... and it's nowhere near where he needs to be to compete with his brother, or even Isagi.

Rin's flow state is the most unique out of any others we've seen. Let's dig into it. All panels are from the official translation, which is important as the translation choices are 1) consistent and 2) likely chosen carefully.

In the dying moments of the match, Rin complains about feeling restrained. Being Itoshi Rin is eating him alive.

Cool, calm and aloof.

A genius. Prodigy. Puppetmaster.

Team player. Team captain.

Isagi Yoichi's partner. Shidou Ryuusei's rival.

Itoshi Sae's little brother.

The prospect of defeat rudely wakes him up. His pretence comes crashing down hard, triggered by his ineffectiveness in spite of the teammates around him. It's one of the best rugpulls in sports manga.

When the power of friendship comes knocking, Itoshi Rin tells it to fuck off and die.

What a glorious moment... and not just because it posits Rin as a Uchiha Sasuke kinnie. I prompt you to examine his eyes in this panel.

They're a swirling vortex of hate and destruction, befitting Blue Lock's angstiest character. The shape reminds me of this:

Satellite images of Hurricane Franklin and Hurricane Idalia, August 2023. Image credit: NOAA Satellites.

Rin's true ego, which he unleashes against Sae, is a storm.

Optional soundtrack for the rest of this post (because Rin 100% listens to this once it comes out in Blue Lock's universe).

Although it isn't portrayed visually as such in the under-20 arc, the metaphor fits Rin's evolving playstyle. What is more destructive, more uncontrollable, more senseless than a hurricane? A violent force of nature that we can predict but never avert?

When a storm approaches, all we can do is rank it, track it, then attempt to mitigate the inevitable damage.

In football terms? Sounds a lot like playing Rin.

It's even alluded to in chapter 250: the graphics for Rin's formation are similar to the satellite images of large storms.

Within the U20 match, there are exchanges that support this theory. Darai calls Rin's evolving playstyle arrogant and avaricious. The latter (meaning extreme greed) is evocative of a force that pursues what it wants without regard for anything in its surroundings. What it can't have, it destroys.

Niou is confident enough in his physicality to try withstand his opponent's attrack. Rin literally flips him into the air. Niou's hubris brings to mind all man-made constructs which are supposedly storm-proof... until a cyclone comes along and proves otherwise.

The contrast between Rin and Sae's egos are interesting. If we accept Rin's is a storm, i.e. a destructive force of nature that cannot be controlled, Sae's is the opposite despite being as impossible to defy. Sae's motif is defined in the manga as "beautiful destruction", plays and passes depicted in graceful data strings. Rather than natural, his playstyle is sleek and controlled, and dominant to the point of appearing pre-ordained by his opponents.

Their attitudes are equally different. While Rin drools and loses composure in the final minutes, Sae does little more than raise his eyebrows throughout the entire game. He's completely emotionless.

It's the extremes of human nature: animalistic rage versus robotic detachment. This time, the latter wins. Will Rin have an opportunity to face his brother again, with a better grasp on his ego? Here's hoping.

My final thoughts on Rin are speculative. How does one beat a storm? Not just endure—but subdue and calm one?

It's beyond human capability. The ability to control the weather exists only in myth and fantasy, and even then it's usually in the hands of powerful entities, not mere heroes or wizards.

Subduing something as powerful as a hurricane would require a god.

Is this Isagi and Rin's endgame?

Time will tell.

[raayllum]

Season 6 Trailer Breakdown

You all know what this is, although a quick note that I won't be drawing much from other teasers or clips released / a "this is what probs happens in each episode" amalgamation may come out later depending on motivation. There are some scenes I left out as 1) we know where those clips are from already (like the water funnelling shadowpaw clip) or they seem self explanatory (Karim and Sol Regem's plotline, etc).

Furthermore — there is one specific screencap with something I noticed that I'd argue is the biggest / most plot relevant spoiler in the trailer; I am enclosing it at the end for posterity. If you want to read the rest of the breakdown but want to avoid a potentially big spoiler, please stop reading after *** . I don't want anyone to be more spoiled than they'd like to be. Okay? Okay.

With that out of the way, let's dig in

First up: Kosmo's monologue overlaid with clips of the Starscraper and some kind of wintery storm. Kosmo is the male Skywing / celestial elf with vitiligo on the left in another shot

Kosmo: I see a thousand stars. A thousand eyes. Worlds one and myriad. All of us nothing, and all of us infinite.

This probably relates to his understanding of Star magic and possibly the arcanum itself. The wintery storm may be something from the past or present up here in the Frozen North, a lightning storm that Avizandum or Zubeia created, or it could even be from Callum pulling lightning down they face the large blue dragon we've seen in a few clips now (Luna Tenebris' "unsuitable" heir) and later on in the trailer.

Then we see Rayla, accompanied by Kosmo and Astrid, overseeing the beginning of Callum's trust fall 'trial' for lack of a better term with the blindfold over his eyes. It's clearly extremely cold and he doesn't seem particularly happy, but... willing participant, I suppose?

We're gonna come back to the staffs in a second, just you wait. To start, I want to affirm that there are multiple shots of this same location being unveiled, and make up the bulk of the Callum / Rayla + Starscraper portion of the trailer, such as these:

We see eight staff-holders, though it's not clear if one is missing. This could mean a 'Startouch' elf for each primal source + two others, or something unrelated to magic at all. There was "eight" singled out in the 5x08 poem ("eight in a line") though this is a circle, not a line.

The reason I highlight this is because 1) I've been confident that Viren's staff contained Star magic or extra power of some kind for years now and it seems that the answer is yes and (bonus points) it's not a quasar diamond, which also helps keep another theory of mine going and 2) we saw in the teaser some of the Viren-Kpp'Ar flashback fight scene, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were partially fighting over Viren taking the staff from Kpp'Ar, period.

Moving on, I'm speculating that the growing blast we see may be Aaravos (or another Startouch elf) being cast down to earth and creating the Sea of the Cast Out, given that Ripples describes it as, "The falling star plummeted, down and down and down, until it struck the breathless world below. With its impact came a long and terrible night: The earth bled! The seas churned! The sun and moon hid for weeks behind the sky’s screaming storm!" This may be what we've seen Aaravos weeping over additionally: not his own banishment per se, but the loss of someone else (Leola?).

the next main 'set piece' of the trailer is the big battle scene in the encroaching Sunfire civil war, and while there was speculation previously from a shot of Aanya and her arrow that she'd joined the fray, we now have confirmation. I am intrigued about what has Ezran being on the battlefield on foot without armour, weapons, or his usual dragon cavalry.

You can even see her in the background here on the stones, seemingly firing off her special flashy arrow in order to help Ezran get away from Karim's forces, which may be why he's caught up in the middle of things without a lot of preparation. This might be related to the closeup shot of her from this trailer with her bow and arrow, but given the nature of the arrow, it could easily be the other closeup shot of her with the fancy unfurling flower gemstone arrow we got in the Teaser.

For more individual shots:

Aaravos still has his chest piece in full and it doesn't seem like he's been expelled from the heavens yet. Looking very pointedly at my "his chest piece is out there somewhere and maybe in the cube as a quasar diamond" theory. I could see this being him on trial or something with the other Startouch elves

Then we have Rayla and some form of Runaan. He has red eyes like a corrupted Banther, but the green is completely base. This Runaan also doesn't have his canonically broken horn (just like Rayla's vision of him and her other parents in 5x01) so I'm willing to bet whatever this is is preying on Rayla's memory of Runaan > the actual Moonshadow elf himself. Could be a nightmare, or even some kind of illusion (maybe Luna's heir's moonstone collar has some messed up illusion stuff?). Rayla also seems to be underwater or in some kind of dark place, though the background for Runaan looks more fittingly like the Silvergrove. I certainly would not be opposed to Callum and Rayla having to face their worst nightmares, or something — stuff like that is always interesting angsty and juicy characterization.

Speaking of nightmares, that would also fit with this screencap of Callum. We know from 6x01 details that he has a nightmare regarding Aaravos, and we also know from people at cons that this screencap was not there. Looking at the scene itself, the deep purple lighting highlights that it's not quite 'real', nor is it necessarily possible due to the background being Finnegrin's office on the Sea Legs, where Callum last did dark magic. I could very easily see this being a dream where Callum is having horrifying visions of himself outside his body, and this is one.

I do find it interesting that, rather than black dark magic slug goop like I first thought on his hand, it's actually blood on his hand, and the changes this indicates of Callum's psyche / fears. Normally when Callum breaks things (primal stone, moon opal necklace, the green slug) it's with his other hand, for starters. But more importantly, I think it's interesting that this nightmare isn't about being flat out possessed, but of being more of a dark mage: the eyes, the corruption, the blood, etc. and how that may lead to Aaravos' will being further enforced over him. It speaks to a recognition of his own agency as well as growing fears of being not just controlled, but corrupted along the way.

Claudia on the beach probably after killing Sir Sparklepuff (hence the blood and corruption) having the worst mental breakdown of her life (which is saying something) so far, either upon realizing she's lost her father anyway, Viren being alive but leaving her, etc.

Then we have Callum the infamous Frozen Ship, now burning. Either he was in there with Rayla and escaped first, leading to him sadly thinking she's gone before she manages to get out on her own and they happily embrace... or he was vibing outside without her (by her request no doubt) and shit's hit the fan. I could see him mourning her and her reappearance is when they finally fully reconcile, and I could also see him running back onto a burning ship for her (or trying at least). Y'know, the way you do.

I am famously always here for Rayllum being desperate as fuck about each other's safety, so I know I'm gonna eat that shit up regardless and it will be Delicious.

Onto the less clear parts of the trailer, in some ways:

We have what seems to be Terry and Claudia presumably at the same place, the Valley of the Graves, back in Katolis, although for what reason is unknown. I could see them maybe coming back to Katolis to the Orphan Queen's grave, for some reason. I could also see the spell Claudia doing (hence the light hair and yellow on the chest) being a release spell for Aaravos — which asks when and how does she get the prison from Callum and co. — or some 'opening up the heavens' spell that'll come close to killing her; it could be something else entirely. It has to be something where Terry seems reluctant to let her go through with it and has probably tried to stop her (yes internal Terry turmoil!! Come back to me) and failed. I've kept meaning to make a post about it, but I could see Claudia post-6x01 come crawling back to Terry at Aaravos' beckoning ("He'll be a useful ally") and Terry realizing Claudia didn't come back to him out of love like he thought, but partially to use him because she's too far gone right now to see it and trying to keep her distance emotionally.

Which asks the question: we all thought this was maybe from the beginning of the season, with Viren or Claudia or something trying to get into Katolis. But what if it's closer to the end?

I posit this order of things for two reasons. The first is that we know in 6x01 Soren leaves to go look for Zubeia with Zym, reunites with Corvus at the Sunfire elves (6x02-ish?), Corvus and Ezran see Karim's forces at one point (the Teaser) with Zym helping Ez escape. We even have a shot of Soren leaving Katolis with Zym in the trailer.

The shot of Soren being bloody is clearly at Katolis on the battlements, so it seems that it has to be after the Sunfire battle has happened, and I doubt Janai and Amaya can win considering Sol Regem having his wings healed by the Sun seed, and it's S6 "everything goes wrong" time.

It could be that the Sunfire battle didn't end well (Karim as king or forces corrupted by Pharos-sleeper agent? Kim'Dael is free?) even with Aanya's help, and people have retreated to regroup in the stronghold that is Katolis... A stronghold that Claudia wants or needs to get to, for whatever reason. Soren would have good reason to look pissed. Maybe the big explosion from earlier on in the trailer is even just Claudia, making her presence known on her way into Katolis for some kind of scare-factor.

And, of course, Claudia could go to Katolis in the first half of the season (6x02—6x05) when bloodied and bruised Soren isn't there, and just Ezran in the rain. There could be some magical power-up, and then Ez has to flee and go to the Sunfire elves, the situation not much better. But this doesn't explain why we see Soren presumably at Katolis and looking as beat up as he does unless it's a shot from very near the end of the season.

And here's where we get to the Big Spoiler, imo, so please click away now if you don't want to see it!

Furthermore... we Know the Sunfire battle is happening near the End of the season (sometime 6x07 onwards) because there's no way Rayllum is leaving the Starscraper any earlier than the end of 6x06... and they're there, along with Astrid, at said battle.

Y'know this big shot of the Sunfire battle? Well, the trio is there in the upper red corner, when you zoom in.

There's Astrid (blue and white), Callum in between flapping his wings, and presumably Rayla with her borrowed wing bracelets from Kosmo (though I suppose it could just be Kosmo himself, but I doubt it). Why they're coming to the battle, I don't know — if Aaravos is out by this point, they might have bigger problems that they need to collect Ezran and co. for, and didn't realize the level of conflict had escalated — or somehow, we get through the Starscraper portion of the story without the prison breaking, though Callum is still presumably possessed (?) — and it is Claudia who releases Aaravos near the end of S6.

That could be possible, especially if Claudia, whose S6 plotline is a total mystery, comes sniffing around the Sunfire side of things and can steal the prison here and... take it back to Katolis because it needs to be? Orphan Queen had Aaravos' chest piece? Idk. But yeah, this is where things get kind of tricky, and if we did go this route I'd wonder why not let Claudia steal the pearl in 5x09 at all, but we'll have to see. It could work! My money is still on Callum possessed or otherwise having a hand in setting Aaravos free, but really anything could happen at this point

Just thirteen days to go!