#you seeing this shit sayida?

[guildwarszeke]

bet their in-universe shitposts go crazyyyyyy

Do you think the Commanders (and companions) humour is messed up? Like how hospital and emergency workers get really dark humour?

They drop an egg and you just hear "I should've stayed in the Domain of the Lost"

they stub their toe and mutter "Bangar couldn't finish the job, so he sent you"

[elliepassmore]

Incendiary Review

4.5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: fantasy, revolution, strong female leads, magic, mind control, Hispanic fantasy, Woven in Moonlight This book was super good and I'm bummed it took me so long to read it. The world is very vivid, albeit a tad confusing at times, and I really loved the history Córdova put into each of the main locations in the book, it made them feel alive. Since the locations could be confusing at times it sometimes made it difficult to make sense of the timeline of the story and how far everything is away from each other, though this is minor enough it doesn't really detract from the story much. The story is told from Renata's, Ren, POV as she attempts to save other Moria and get revenge on the Bloodied Prince and the king. Renata's an interesting character to follow since she grew up in the palace and with the Whispers, and neither group really treated her that fantastically. She's obviously very loyal and wants to be granted forgiveness for the sins of her past, but that also means she's blind to some of the motives regarding her until it's too late. Her memory-stealing powers also make her an interesting character to follow. Córdova has written Renata in a rather unique way, where instead of the memories she steals just being stolen and fading to the background to eventually be forgotten, like normal memories or like I've seen other memory-stealers be written, the memories Renata steals are always with her and are liable to be called forward unexpectedly at any given moment. In essence, Renata is haunted by lives that are not her own and I love it. My main issue with Renata is that she can be whiny, especially in the beginning, but she does get better as the book continues. Margo, however you want to feel about her, was right when she said Renata could be weak, but Renata definitely grows over the course of the book into someone who can hold her own and could even be a leader. Dez is the leader of the Whispers, which I found kind of weird since he was Renata's age, maybe a year or so older, and there were Elders that made up a council for decision-making, though they too seemed to regard Dez as the leader of the group. Dez is brash and seems to be optimistic about everything and just about everyone, and he could easily be that annoying character who's too bright and too innocent, but Córdova has him getting his hands just as dirty as everyone else, which I appreciated. Renata and Dez are part of a Whispers unit comprised of three more people: Sayida, Margo, and Esteban. Sayida is super sweet and kind, choosing to see the best in most people and use her powers of influence for positive thoughts, even when it would be easier to influence more negative ones. Outside of Dev and maybe Illan (an Elder and Dez's father), Sayida is the only Whisper that actually cares about and is nice to Renata. Margo is more like an adder, prone to pounce and unwilling to take anyone's shit. She's determined to win the war and will do whatever is necessary. Despite their rocky history, Renata and Margo manage to call truce a few times during the book and almost become friends (despite everything, I think I like Margo). Esteban is prickly, also mean to Renata, but not quite as much a bully as Margo. He's also a drunk. Esteban feels a bit like the kid brother of the group, despite being only a bit younger than the rest. He's able to recognize his mistakes and even grows to trust (and I think truly trust) Renata. Justice Méndoza is the man who originally trained Renata to use her powers and is the reason she's attempting to atone for her past sins. Méndoza is...definitely evil. Definitely using Renata. But I can see why young Renata fell for his tricks and how it would be so easy to do so again. Méndoza is the kind of abuser that puts you in situations that hurt you, but never actually does so himself, and will actually defend you when the hurtful situation isn't controlled by him. He's sweet to Renata, offering her candies and concessions, and even goes so far as to begin to confide in her, but he is, ultimately, a terrible and power-hungry man attempting to kill any Moria not under his or the king's command. We don't get much of a chance to see the king in a personal sense, just a few scenes here and there that just prove how much he delights in cruelty. Prince Castian barely gets any scenes as well, but w-o-w are they whoppers when he is there. The Bloodied Prince got his name for a reason, and yet he is not violent toward the servants, only soldiers, and it's an interesting juxtaposition between his public self and the self that parades around the palace. Even at the end, though I do feel sympathy toward him, I'm not entirely sure what I think of him. There were loads of other interesting characters that I'd love to get more history or time with, though I know there are constraints on what can be fit into a book without it being too long or drawn out. Something I think Córdova does masterfully is make each and every character, no matter how minor, seem as if they have lives, dreams, and problems of their own. She also manages to get the intricacies of the human mind into the characters, with no one really being wholly good or wholly bad (yet), but rather a mix that balances one way or the other.

[chuckling-chemist]

You Know What, It’s My Birthday So I’m Gonna Talk About Fantroll Etymology

Now bear with me, this shit’s gonna refer to a lot of trolls without pages (because they’re sitting in drafts or haven’t bothered making a page yet since there’s no art yet, written or otherwise) so a lot of these bad boys (at least of the ones I remember. Look man, I started making fantrolls over 5 years ago and 3 computers ago, and unfortunately some of the etymologies I managed to forget. I think it’s on a flash drive....that’s at my parent’s house.):

Lyzeki Vernus: Lyzeki is based off the owl Ezylryb from Guardians of Ga’Hoole, who was originally known as Lyze of Kiel. (Ezylryb is Lyze backwards + ryb, which means teacher in universe) Lyzeki is Lyze + “Ki” of Kiel. 

Nivell Abbela: Nivell comes from the abbess Gertrude of Nivelles, who, while never officially named a saint, is viewed as a patron saint to sailors. Abbela comes from the word Abbess, or the female leader of a community (abbey) of nuns. (She was based off of a human Catholic OC named Maria, whose own name is because her Catholic parents named all their children after Saints or Angels somewhere in their name)

Valeba Medala: Valeba is basically a corruption of valor...I think, and Medala is a corruption on medal. By corruption I mean “I stuck an a at the end and called it a day.” This is reference to her being a treasure hunter. Medals and treasure are...close enough. I guess.

Aluala Medala: Aluala is a corruption (I think? It’s been a while) of a Hawaiian for the morning sun. Because she’s a light player. 

Stikla Medala: Stikla is named directly after the Viking pirate of the same name, who turned to piracy to avoid marriage. Stikla worked with Rusla, otherwise known as the Red Maiden

Elliah Fagane: A corruption on Eleanora Fagan, or more popularly known as Billie Holiday. Elliah is a brownblood inspired by Billie Holiday.

Ektome Altses: Ektome is the phonetic spelling of the spider Lakota trickster god, Iktomi.  

Nafasi Altses: Nafasi comes from the Swalhili word for Space. No, he’s not Spacebound anymore. Yes, I’m too attached to the name to change it. Turns out Life fits the Altses line better! (I mean...it still does in the sense that Nafasi likes astronomy, among other things, and their lusus is a reference to the Coyote in Navajo faith who put the stars in the sky by accident...okay yeah it still fits.)

Gadung Galiel: Gadung comes from the Tolkien Gnomish word for spider, a reference to her trapdoor spider lusus. The liel on Galiel is the feminine ending for many Elvish words in Tolkien. The usage of butchered Tolkien specifically is because she’s based around a specific type of (thankfully pretty much nonexistent anymore) Dagorhir player. Dagorhir which is a fantasy foam sport/LARP originally based around Tolkien’s fantasy.

Coraxe Heelio: Coraxe comes from Corvid, a reference to his lusus (and one of the animals associated with Helios/Apollo), and Heelio comes from Helios. You know...Apollo. 

Sayida Titwan: Sayida comes from the infamous female pirate Sayyida al Hurra, a Turkish pirate queen in the 16th century. This is also where her last name comes from, as one of her other names was Hakimat Titwan, or governor of Tétouan. She’s also from a Dagorhir fansession and represents Sunhawks.

Icasui Zakees: Icasui comes from Icarus - but like Kid Icarus/Pit, not actually the Greek figure Icarus (it’s why her lusus is a flightless bird) and Zakees comes from the angel Zadkiel, the patron angel of forgiveness. This came back from when I was going to make her a Hope player and thought “hey wouldn’t it be cool to base a Hope player off of an actual angel?”, and have her be aspire for no more than runner/intern-esque role the way actual basic angels are. (Not the big fancy kind). Also because Kid Icarus Uprising makes a few jokes about how Pit’s a glorified intern for Palutena. Just so you know, barely any of this still exists. She’s not even a Hope player. ...Though she does work in a mail room when she’s full time babysitter to an heiress.

Haniel Zakees: Haniel is named for the angel Haniel/Anael, the angel of joy.

Fioria Leccia: Fioria comes from the Italian word for flowers, Fiori, and she draws inspiration for composing through her flowers. (Also her moirail, Ektome, has a natural green thumb).

Pallia Alkali/Azotes: Pallia comes from the element Palladium. I swear to God, I had no idea one of Athena’s names was Pallas Athene and that snakes go with Athena until roughly 4 years after I made her. Alkali, her fake last name, is named after the alkali metals on the periodic table. Azotes, her actual last name, comes from Azote, one of many alchemical names for Nitrogen.

Fospha Azotes: Fospha name derives from the element Phosphorous. 

Brylis Azotes: Brylis comes from the element Beryllium. Is Pallia’s whole lineage going to be named after elements? Yep, probably.

Volcor Heftor: Volcor comes from Vulcan and Heftor comes from Hephaestus. Fitting for an engineer who’s had more than a few mishaps fighting.

Fenald Heftor: Fenald comes from a portmanteau of Ferrum, the Latin name for Iron, as well as the ASOUE character Fernald (aka: the Hook-Handed man).

Thysus Bakkae: Thysus comes from Dionysus, and Bakkae comes from Bacchus. Thysus is also from the Dagorhir fansession and is based on the unit Sour Wine.

Gliden Rectus: Gliden comes from the protein group gliaden, which are not only found in gluten, and the one your body can’t break down if you have Celiac Disease. Rectus comes from the Latin word for straight. You know, just like how straight and narrow he is on that gluten free diet. Mmhm....

Charis Zakmos: Charis comes from the Greek figure Charon, or the ferryman of the dead. Zakmos is also based off of Zadkiel. Charis is a purpleblood based off of the Ticketkeeper in The Devil’s Carnival, a figure who is frequently the first one the fallen come across, and certainly one of the more sympathetic carnies to their plight.

Glacin Bebuso: Glacin comes from the Irish plague doctor named Niall Ó Glacáin from the second major outbreak of plague in the late 1500s-early 1600s, who was also a pioneer in pathological anatomy. Shockingly, not from the word glacier. Or the protein Glacin A/B which is found in plants. Or Glacin tablets, which are used for cramps and pains. Bebuso comes from the word bubonic. That’s it.

Dontoc Leiniz: Dontoc is a corruption of the word dolphin, which is his lusus. Leiniz comes from Leibniz, the other founder of Calculus - the one who isn’t Newton that you probably don’t remember. I pronounce it “lay-niz” which sounds kind of like how you pronounce “Les Mis”, and while les miserables might be a good way to describe his early life that’s...pretty accidental tbh.

Inaeis Leiniz: Inaeis comes from the Latin word Inanis, which means void, worthless, or foolish. Google Translate 4 years ago only gave me the first (it’s a Voidbound joke, hey!), but the other two words certainly fit just as much.

Nieche Leiniz: Comes from the philospher Nietzsche. 

Haiark Noblet: Haiark’s is based on the Dagorhir unit Uruk-hai (and you can imagine what they named themselves off of.) and seeing those names together you can see where it came from. Noblet is just noble, since Haiark is a violetblood.

Careen Elsker: Careen comes from the term “careening”, or dry docking a ship to clean off the barnacles. It’s a shipping joke. @deadmen--tell--no--tales‘s idea 100% thanks to their obsessive knowledge of ships. Careening, of course, also means to move in a wildly unspecific direction, which...yeah okay that was unintentional but it fits too. 

Carica Elsker: Carica comes from the Serbo-Croatian word spelled in English that way and is really pronounced more like “charicha” than with the hard c’s I actually read it with that means Tsarina or Empress.

Mayola Yoscan: Mayola is a portmanteau of the Spanish words el mar and la ola, or the sea and the wave.

Domina Gnomen: Based off Rome from the Dagorhir fansession, Domina is named after Dominus of Rome but feminized, and gnomen comes from the Latin word cognomen, or “last name”. Yes, her name is Dominus Last Name. I’m clever.

[panic-in-tarir]

Barely spoiler-y pics, and the text below contains heavy spoilers. You’ve been warned. :p

I finished LS4-2 in two sessions, and it was an absolute delight from start to finish. The mechanics, the aesthetics, all the little details..! Gotta let the feelings settle, but it's probably my favorite LS episode so far.

The map: the first thing I’ve done upon arrival is run/fly around and see the environment. This place feels so alive. Lots of ambient dialogue, RACE SPECIFIC REACTIONS, lush jungle, high cliffs, peaceful seashore, LOOMING HUGE MENACING CUBE in the middle of it all. Rata Primus looks really awesome. It’s nice to see an inquest structure in 2018, with all the new shiny stuff. Back to the islands themselves - it’s raining here like all the time! Bonus points from me. <3

The story: the biggest thing for me personally was Taimi reuniting with her college buddies, one of them being fused into a golem, AND feeling like he was close friends (?) with Taimi. I can bet now they have a lot to discuss, possibly turning Taimi into a golem too, despite it being considered an immoral thing among asura.. It’s still better than dying to a nasty disease, right?

I LOVE Olmakhan. Anet gets a lot of praise for it, and it’s totally justified imo.

Also seems like we’ve gained Sayida as our constant trusty ally. She seems rather excited and looking forward to our future shenanigans. x’D I don’t mind having a badass pirate lady by my side.

We got a moment alone with Braham.. In the goddamn space. It felt surreal. Now I feel relieved about this whole relationship, glad that it gets somewhat fixed. Bless.

The fights: they feel so dynamic, different and fun! Not being too hardcore either. I didn’t have a single “meh” moment, safe for the golem boss who had like a SHIT TON of health and was just tedious. At least it was cool visually. All the other fights and mini games/puzzles were simply amazing. Anet only keeps on improving and adding new tech, I’m fascinated by all the possibilities for the future stuff.

Overall I’m SO pleased like you have no idea. After seeing the trailer I feared that the actual episode won’t live up to the hype, but it was even better in a way. It didn’t retain the eerie mood set in the trailer, true, but the amount of fun and “gasp” moments makes it the best LS episode really.