#Bene (Star Wars) (Mentioned)

[rukafais]

pspspsps people who are interested in Forgotten Realms devils have you heard the good word of Brimstone Angels, an excellent series by Erin M Evans that has two tiefling protagonists that are sisters raised by their dragonborn dad who adopted them, and covers Nine Hells hierarchy stuff, what it means to be a devil, life as a tiefling during a specific time period, and ALSO features a specific dragonborn culture?

Cause here's my recommendation, you should read it, it's fucking good actually.

Farideh made herself keep smiling, as if she couldn’t hear Criella’s implication that she ought not to have the book in the first place. “From Garago,” she said, naming the wizard whose book it was. “He lends books to Havilar and me sometimes.”

“Havilar and I, dear.” Farideh bit her tongue as Criella continued. “And where is your sister?”

“Inside, probably,” Farideh said. Criella pursed her lips, and the younger tiefling quickly added, “I haven’t seen her in some hours. She’s likely with Mehen.”

“Does Mehen know you’re borrowing magic books?” Criella asked.

Farideh turned it over and opened it to show the frontispiece. “It’s just a history book.”

“The Legacy of the Skyfire Emirates in the Calim?” Criella said. “What has you so interested in there of all places?”

Far, far to the west, other tieflings sometimes joined the fiery efreets in the Calim Desert in their perpetual war against their enemies, the djinns of the air. Criella didn’t have to say another word—Farideh knew what she was implying: Why was Farideh reading a book about rogue tieflings who aided monsters and known slavers? Didn’t Farideh understand that she—just like everyone else descended from devils and fiends—had to know her place, to stay safe somewhere like Arush Vayem, to be quiet and unnoticeable?

Or did Farideh want to be the sort of tiefling who made life hard for the rest of them?

“He mentioned them,” Farideh amended. “It seems like such a silly thing, don’t you think? For so many hostilities to range around something as unchangeable as one’s nature?”

Criella’s smile vanished altogether. “Ah. Is that something else Mehen has taught you?”

Farideh flushed. “That … the djinn shall always be djinn?” she said as innocently as she could, but her pulse raced. It had been too near to admitting there was something like fear lurking in herself. That the lines of descent that linked her to some long ago and faraway fiend were more powerful than anything she could affect. “I believe that’s why they’re called elemental,” Farideh added.

“Of course,” Criella said, but already she was studying Farideh as if there might be some sign of her true nature unfolding. Farideh blushed harder. Any of the human villagers would find Criella’s scrutiny too subtle to notice. But Farideh’s eyes were like Criella’s—she knew the shifts and flickers of a tiefling’s eyes. Criella wasn’t trying to hide her disquiet.

Farideh longed to tell Criella that she knew. That she hated it. That it was worse coming from someone like Criella, who was a tiefling too. Who had gotten the same scrutiny from someone else when she was Farideh’s age. Who had cut off her horns and clubbed her tail because of those looks and run away to Arush Vayem, a community of tieflings, dragonborn, and anyone else who wanted to disappear. ----

His path crossed a balcony that overlooked the Court of the Sixth, and Lorcan paused a moment. The archduchess herself perched on the throne, carved from the ivory that had been her predecessor’s teeth, her batlike wings curved around her like an icon’s niche. Coppery skinned and dark-haired, Glasya made Rohini look common. Glasya made everything look common. If corruption had a form, it was Glasya, and not a soul looked upon her that didn’t feel the urge to throw itself headlong into that corruption. She radiated like a star and she swallowed up the light around her. To look upon Glasya, Lord of the Sixth and Princess of the Hells, was a special sort of madness.

---

“His destruction would benefit many,” Ilstan said. “It would be a boon to us all, and—”

“Is he like Shar?” Farideh asked. Ilstan frowned at her. “Dahl told me once you worship Shar when grief overtakes you. You give her a little honor so that she eases the sadness through your life. That the evil of Shar is that she’ll try to pull you down into that darkness, to make you stay. Is he like that?”

Ilstan shifted uneasily. “One might say so.”

“Have you given him worship then?”

“I’ve … You can’t ask me that.”

Perhaps, but Farideh could picture it: you pray to Asmodeus in the dark, for protection from the darker things, from the darkness inside you, for the blindness of other gods to the sins of your heart, for a silver tongue and a weight on Kelemvor’s scales, come the day. Freedom from consequence.

Asmodeus is the god of easy paths, Farideh thought. A god of happiness, as he says it.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #brimstone angels

[anakinsafterlife]

I'm moving on from Frank Herbert for now to start some Asimov, but I just have a couple of final thoughts about Dune.

While I was very impressed by the unique worldbuilding, I have to say that the writing style itself was of mixed quality. More than once I saw enormous dramatic potential which was depressed by either a poor set-up or a lack of follow-through. The biggie was, of course, the revelation that Jessica was Baron Harkonnen's daughter. This was shown through a vision, for one thing, rather than through personal confrontation or an actual scan of Bene Gesserit records, etc, which meant that it failed to really shock the reader. It was also barely ever mentioned again! And while Jessica had a remarkable inner world, particularly as a rare, fully developed woman in sci-fi, she also never seemed to think of it again after that initial moment of horror. It was quite anticlimactic. (And despite the criticism that George Lucas gets for his storytelling, his fulfillment of this villainous parent set-up was more satisfying by far).

Similarly, the death of Paul's young son Leto barely landed in the narrative. I suppose, given how close it happened to the end of the story, the child might still be alive somewhere? Taken hostage or something. But then, the confrontation with the emperor would have been the time to mention that, and it wasn't mentioned, so... Again, a huge letdown.

And the story itself seemed to skip around a bit after the first section. Characters became increasingly shallow and less well-detailed as the story went on. Even the big bad, Baron Harkonnen, literally seemed to lose interest in his schemes on Arrakis and tried to pass the whole affair onto his nephew, such that his death was no longer satisfying or impactful to the reader.

Now, I'm aware that Dune is a seminal science-fiction text and a huge source of inspiration for Star Wars, but I can't help but think that Frank Herbert was more invested in the world-building than he was in his characters. It's for this reason that I won't be running on to read the next book right now, despite how much I enjoyed picking out the historical sources for the Fremen culture.

Maybe later.

#dune #meta #frank herbert #star wars #lady jessica #paul atreides #baron harkonnen

[ao3feed-obikin]

Loving The Alien

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/42749112 by ghostli “I’m not the Lisan al Gaib, Obi-Wan.” Anakin responded, rolling his eyes once more. He’d heard this story again and again since Qui-Gon brought him to the sietch, but he hardly remembered anything of his life before that to justify it. His mother had trained him in some of the Bene Gesserit arts, but that alone was not enough to make him the messiah, nor was the fact that he came from off-world. “I’ve seen what you can do,” Obi-Wan justified, “You can conserve moisture inside of yourself, even without a stillsuit. That’s very impressive.” Words: 1542, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Series: Part 11 of Obikin Bingo Fandoms: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars - All Media Types, Dune Series - Frank Herbert, Dune - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn (mentioned) Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker Additional Tags: Fremen (Dune), Bene Gesserit, Water Discipline, Dry Orgasm, Semen Retention, Arrakis (Dune) read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/42749112

#IFTTT #Obikin #AO3feed #Star Wars

[bardic-tales]

Heeeeey, NL! :D Dropping by with a fruit basket for the writeblr positivity meme!

🍎🍏🍐🥝 (especially that last one, as all your stuff gives off these excellent LOTR vibes 8) )

Hi, Jax!! I hope you are having a wonderful day. Thank you for these. They really made me smile

🍎 Your world-building is incredible

🍏 Your cast is super diverse and exciting

🍐 I want to read everything you write

🥝 I want to see your story made into a movie or TV series

Thank you so much. I have been creating the Planes of Existence since 2009, and it grew into what it is now. When I first started to worldbuild, there was only one world and one god. Now, there are three planes where various worlds exist, a hierarchy for gods that include 69 lesser ones, and a full magic system.

Funny that you should mention wanting my story made into a movie or tv show and it reminds you of LOTR. Tolkien was someone who inspired the amount of worldbuilding that I do. I want my worlds to breath and for the reader to feel like they can be transported into that world.

When I had a few friends read the first draft of Cold as Ice, they called it a mixture between Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. CaI is very dark at times.

I have plans to publish the Dark Savior trilogy, as well as the final trilogy. I just don't know if I am going to self-publish, as I did with two novellas, or try to query an agent and publish traditionally.

For Flight of the Dragon and Pale Fire, I plan to offer it on my Wattpad: Bardic Tales. I do have a Star Wars fanfiction that I've bene working on over there, tho.

#nl answers #tumblr games #nl talks

[the-fall-of-armie-hammer]

there's a new D Listed article about Hammer and Death on the Nile. It mentions the comments his fans are leaving on social media and it's absolutely hilarious. I hope his fans are happy for making him seem like even more of a joke!

OMG, the cringe is next level. Karma came for Armie with no mercy. He loathed those fans and now they are all he has left.

Death On The Nile is out on February 11th only in theatres and a new special look trailer has been released, as have character posters for all the major players–EXCEPT ONE! You guessed it, alleged predator and abuser, Armie Hammer, is noticeably missing from the character posters, despite being part of the main cast and playing Gal Gadot‘s newly married husband. But apart from that screen-grab from the trailer above, he’s been erased from most of the movie’s marketing.

Armie Hammer is experiencing what the people in Avenger’s Infinity War did when Thanos snapped and they started evaporating because he’s nowhere to be found. Last year, multiple women came forward with allegations that Armie was abusive, talked about eating their ribs, ignored safe words, branded an ex of his, and was an all-around psychotic creep. Armie went to rehab for several months for his sex issues anyway, but not before he got dropped from his talent agency and dropped from movies. And since I’m assuming they can’t recut DOTN to not include him, he’s being hidden somewhere in the back.

DOTN is based on the 1937 Agatha Christie novel of the same name and is the sequel to 2017’s Murder On the Orient Express also directed by Kenneth Branagh who also stars as Hercule Poirot, in the films. It follows the murder mystery of a newlywed trip in Egypt gone south and also stars Tom Bateman, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Ali Fazal, Dawn French, Rose Leslie, Emma Mackey, Sophie Okonedo, Jennifer Saunders, and Letitia Wright. The character posters are out and they give each character a label like Annette Bening is “The Mother” and Letitia is “The Vector Of Infection.” Just kidding! Letitia is actually playing “The Manager.” Here are the posters and no, there’s no poster for Armie:

If you scroll through the comments section of that post, you’ll see people are quite mad about it. The Armie fans (or Armie himself since he has the time) came out in droves:

“WE NEED ARMIE HAMMER IN PROMO!! He deserves to be involved in promoting the film.”

“I hope you will correct this injustice and will include Armie Hammer in the upcoming promo. He hasn’t been charged with any crime, he is innocent and he is an essential part of this cast.”

“WE’RE ONLY HERE FOR ARMIE.”

“Excited to see Armie Hammer!”

“The only reason I’d see this movie is for Armie, y’all are sleeping on this.”

#armie hammer

[kiwikipedia]

Hello again! Glad to see someone remember Cin Drallig exists! The poor Battlemaster could use some more content in the fandom :D Anyway what made you interesting in using him for your incorrect quotes and stuff and do you have any headcanons for him? Also will his Padawan Serra Keto from the old Revenge of the Sith video game be making any appearances in your work with Cin?

I LOVE CIN? HE’S JUST??? A CHARM??? ONE GRUFF, ANGY BOY FOR ME?? Cin easily makes my top 10 list of Jedi. Serra actually has shown up briefly in my Wolffepack Against Child Abuse Modern Star Wars AU in the second installment alongside Bene! 

ANYWAYS YOU ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE HEADCANONS:

• Cin never got along with Qui-Gon Jinn, despite having an OK relationship with Dooku. The two of them clashed over a lot of things, and Cin specifically warned Yoda about Qui-Gon when he was pushing for Obi-wan to be his padawan. The two’s fights escalated to blows during and after Melida/Daan.

• Cin practically raised Kit, and as such, Kit looks up to him like an older brother-slash-father. Kit often comes to him still if he needs advice. Cin called him a clown when he came searching for courting advice.

• He also helped out with Bant and Nahdar when he could, and was the one who finished up Nahdar’s padawanship when Kit was called to the front lines.

• Despite the stories the Padawans tell the Initiates , though, Cin’s only strict and gruff when the kids have sabers in hand. Afterwards, he’s always willing to listen to their problems. Though he’s a bit shit at giving them good advice. It’s the thought that counts.

• Cin isn’t a master at all Saber Forms  in the same sense as those who master one form— such as Mace with Vaapad or Kit with Shii-Cho— but he is insanely dangerous since he can easily slip in and out of saber forms mid combat. Repeatedly.

• Not to say that he’s not a master in every form, because he is. but those who specialize in one form only take it a step up.

• Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, Agen Kolar, and Shaak Ti are his usual duel-mates, the five of them absolutely going feral when they’re out of sight of younglings and padawans because it gets dangerous. Cin throws lightsabers. It always freaks Kit out, though he should be used to it.

• Speaking of which, Cin’s a fantastic marksman and has a crazy throwing arm. Someone once asked him what kind of Saber Style it was and he just flatly responded “the Keeping Master Fisto Out Of Trouble” style.

• But yeah, the duels between Cin and any of those four get intense. Most duels between him and any of the masters get intense, though. It’s a good way to test one’s skills.

• He’s literally so indifferent to the nickname “the Troll” that the Order has given him, it’s hilarious. Some Initiate tried to use it as an insult to him and he basically just went “Okay, and?”

• Cin always carries more than one lightsaber on his body at one time. His usual, green one, two yellow shoto, and a blue saber-staff.

• He’s one of the best to go to if you have questions about lightsabers, since he works with them so much. He’s the one who builds all of the training ones, after all.

• He casually refers to the Temple Guards as his “kids”, which is why he’s friends with Plo. 

• During the Clone Wars the two would just go “how are your kids” “doing fine, and yours?” “Also well” 

• He also loves Bene and Serra as his own daughters , along with Whie as a son, as well, despite the boy not being his Padawan

• very much the type of dry-wit humor person. Deadpan snarker. It’s hard to tell if he’s joking if you don’t know him.

• He states that he’ll never get used to the strength of non-humans, as he’s been quite literally thrown by Shaak Ti, Eeth Koth, and Agen Kolar both in duels and on the few missions outside the Temple he’s done.

• Cin suggested that the clones should be trained in saber-work and offered to do it himself. It was put on the back burner, though the few times he’s not in the Temple and down in the Barracks, he’s offered to train the troopers there. Some, like the Commanders and a few ARCs took him up on the offer. And then realized the reason why some Jedi grimaced when his name was mentioned.

• Fives will forever say that ARC training was easier than Saber training with Cin. Battlemaster was a name well earned. Cin then told them the reason he was so hard on them was because he was cut for time, the Clones didn’t have years between leave to learn Saber Forms, so tuck your damn elbows in and adjust your feet, Hardcase.

• Surprising no one, the 104th and 91th troops picked it up faster than the others. Because of course the two would teach their men saberskills on the field. So Cin stepped up the difficulty level. It was fun— for him at least. 

• On that note, Cin suggests that maybe Wolffe should learn Vaapad from Mace and Shii-Cho from Kit when the war’s over. No risk of falling to the dark but he’d have all the unpredictability and speed from both forms.

• He considers the Coruscant Guard to be like his “nephews” in arms, since their job is similar to that of the Temple Guard— and he knows that when both groups can, the two Guard groups get to gether down at 79s for drinks and fun.

• Debated giving Fox and the CG shotos for protection, but eventually decided against it. (Which is a shame.)

• He’s very easy to fluster under that hard exerior and when he’s not teaching or fighting, something that— and here’s where my own personal ships come in and I apologize if this isn’t your cup of tea— Shaak Ti and Saesee Tiin take full advantage of. Shaak teases him relentlessly when she can. Calls him cute and just? He’s CG paint red. “I’m what” “You hard me” “hhhhhhhhh” 

• Saesee just. Picks him up from time to time? Easiest way to fluster him, just pick him up and he shuts up. Cin.exe has stopped working.

• A personal headcanon of mine that disregards canon, from what I know, is that the reason Cin couldn’t beat Vader was because he could quite literally feel the deaths of everyone in the Temple, and outside of it. With so many of his students, friends, and family dying, he was off kilter and easier to kill.

#I love the grumpy battlemaster #Cin Drallig #penguinkiwi headcanons #penguinkiwi analysis #heacanons #penguinkiwi answers stuff #TiAllig #TiAlliIn #SaeCin #Templarhalo tag #star wars

[hamliet]

So one of the things I want the absolute MOST right now is to get some sort of confirmation that Shigaraki is going to be okay by the end of this story. I know the way it stands right now it’s impossible to see where Horikoshi will go but I just don’t see how he could end this story with the villains just being imprisoned and locked away to be forgotten. I just wanna know what you think with the current chapters since you are big on his redemption also, hopefully I can get some peace of mind lol.

Hello! So, I will caution that I can’t guarantee things; I’m not Horikoshi! 

Bad writing can and does happen, unfortunately. How sad, Hamliet, lol. 

I’ve been burned by Tokyo Ghoul:re, Star Wars, and Game of Thrones most recently. I’ve heard Things about Demon Slayer’s and Beastar’s endings. At the same time, SnK seems like it’s heading towards a satisfying conclusion (for me *knocks on wood*) that’s a direct contrast GoT’s disaster ending. No story can be perfect, but: I am honestly not worried about BNHA blowing Shigaraki’s and Dabi’s redemption arcs. I’ll talk about what I am worried about a bit later. 

See, this week I’ve been rereading the series, and Shigaraki’s and Dabi’s redemptions have both been built up pretty much the entire time they exist in the story (Himiko’s less so, but that’s pretty... on par for the course for a female character in this manga). I’ve covered Dabi’s build-up at length, but Shigaraki’s is also extremely obvious. He doesn’t have a save-the-cat moment like Dabi does (not for the first few arcs; later he does), but he has another trope that works to foreshadow redemption: 

If only, indeed. This is chapter 22. It’s child coding. I don’t mean that in the weird way people talk about child coding, but this is A Thing in stories wherein a technically adult character like Shigaraki is coded like a child. You don’t kill kids as “justice” or send them to prison; you get them help (think about FMA where the surviving homoculus is... the child). 

(I also know people will be screaming HE’S TWENTY HE’S AN ADULT and yeah, sure, legally, but a story is not a court. I call this a side-effect of GoT: the belief that every story must repeat gritty reality and also a grimdark reflection of that reality. BNHA is not that. It’s optimistic, upbeat, and hopeful.)

The story is in part about Shigaraki’s growing into an adult and choosing what kind of person to be, as is par for the course for coming of age stories (nota bene: the central question of the characters in MHA, which they repeat to themselves constantly, is “who am I?”). Considering how controlled and infantilized Shigaraki is by AFO (who doesn’t seem to want him to grow), it seems like he and Deku will have a common enemy at some point. 

Not to mention Shigaraki himself seeks out Deku to ask advice, like about ideals. Considering their ages it’s ironic, but Deku seems pretty likely to be the heroic example Shigaraki needs at some point. Deku’s whole thing is saving people. I really don’t see how people think a manga with the ideal of “saving people” even those who expressly do not want to be saved or whom the cost seems to great to save (Kouta and Eri) is going to end with “winning” over “saving.” 

Also, prison isn’t saving. It kinda sucks, even in BNHA’s world. I am fully expecting some sort of prison break at some point, but the point is that prison isn’t acknowledged as a place to save people or even to rehabilitate them within the text of the manga. It’s a place of punishment for Stain, Chisaki, and AFO. Why would you send the redeemed/saved there? Also, Shigaraki has never been allowed to be free his whole life. Trading possession by AFO for becoming a possession in prison is... ick. 

My main anxiety about the story which to be clear I don’t think will happen is that Shigaraki and/or Dabi have redemptive deaths. Their redemption I am 0% worried about, but the after I am a little nail-bitey because of the pro-punishment twists in media lately (Star Wars, Beastars, Demon Slayer). I have trust issues, lol. I don’t think this is likely to be the case because of what I outlined here for both of them. 

Saving spiritually but not physically doesn’t really work for these characters and the specific roles they fill in the story. Redemptive death works best for older characters (I am not trying to be ageist, please; I am just saying that this is a trope) like Darth Vader, for characters who have not suffered very much (Shadow Weaver in SheRa), and for characters who “shoot the puppy.” The redemptive death of Kylo Ren in Star Wars was... not critically well-received because a character who suffered much, who is young and in love and has so much to live for, just dies for... what really? It feels bleak. It doesn’t work in hopeful, optimistic stories. 

Shigaraki and Dabi have been suffering their whole lives. They are going to suffer more, both of them, so be prepared for that. They want their pain acknowledged; Shigaraki wants to be saved and Dabi wants justice and to matter to his family. Having neither of them get the peace they want is cruel and not remotely hopeful; having Shigaraki end up forgotten and Dabi end up dead again would demonstrate that nothing at all has changed and make the reader question what the hell this story was even about. It’s not a satisfying definition of saving. 

#Anonymous #bnha theory #shigaraki tomura #dabi #todoroki touya #shimura tenko #shigaraki redemption #dabi redemption #mha theory

[alittlefrenchtree]

Hello and welcome back to let’s read ALFT talk to herself about Dune, asks rhetorical questions and making a thousand theories about everything. Hope you’re aren’t bored yet :)

BOOK I - DUNE (SPOILERS) 7-13

So Chapter 7 is almost all about Lady Jessica, and I have to say, she’s kind of the most intriguing character so far. Or with the most mysteries around herself at least. I don’t really know what to do about all the infos about her latent/dormant powers (a psychic of some sort?), the fact that the Duke bought her to the Bene Gesserit School (so much for equality) and the fact that she doesn’t know anything about where she came from or who her parents are. Could she be a Harkonnen without knowing and that would be why betrayal is expected from her? I have no idea. I’m also still not sure about women’s place in the Dune universe. Doesn’t seem as good as I was expecting in the first place. Lots of men around.

There is a quote I like in this chapter.

The mind commands the body and it obeys. The mind orders itself and meets resistance.

Again, Dune seems to be a lot about mind and control and knowledge of our own mind, it’s always something I love to hear or read about. And I see where Star Wars and the Force come from.

Chapter 8 : so not only there isn’t that much water on Arrakis but it’s drying up? Who's making it disappear, meaning who’s making more money out of the water shortage?

Chapter 9 : I really, really like the beginnings of each chapter, with the quote from historian books. So much informations in each and the atmosphere it gives to the story is really good. And there’s something interesting in this one :

We can say that Muad’Did learned rapidly because his first training was in how to learn. And the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he could learn. It is shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult. Muad’Did knew that every experience carries its lesson.

Every experience carries its own lesson is quite common but the first part is an interesting mindset that worths thinking about.

I didn’t take any notes on chapter 10 and chapter 11 but maaaan, chapter 12 is something. First thing first it’s interesting how the chapter starts with Duke Leto being angry with Thufir Hawat and Paul defending him and later on Paul being the one who mentioning Hawat as a potential traitor and Leto kind of brushing him off.

Which seems symbolic of both of their attitudes during the meeting in the chapter. A few times, Paul disagrees with his father and even guides/leads his father where he wants him to go near the end. I’m not quite convinced by the differences of leadership that seems to be shown between Leto and Paul so far. Leto is more about moving by force and with a narrower vision that what seems to be Paul’s one. It does look like bad leader vs good leader, the bad being the old, the good being the young. I hope it’ll get more nuanced later on.

What does seem interesting for me is what Paul says… Which only translate in the translation, from what I’m seeing right now 😭 But still, what I mean seems to be a Dune thing. I’m talking about how truth is a nebulous concept. From what I understand Paul and Lady Jessica can perceived when someone’s lying which I think means they can be fooled by someone who actually believe their lies? I would like to see truth treated as a complex thing, something that is more personal than universal.

What is also interesting to me is Paul’s attitude at the end of the meeting. This whole part :

For the first time, Paul allowed himself to think about the real possibility of defeat— not thinking about it out of fear or because of warnings such as that of the old Revered Mother, but facing up to it because of his own assessment of the situation.

I like this, I like this a lot. Sometimes life is about eyes of the prize but we too often forget about the other side of life when the only way to come through and to stay up and alive is to face things as they are and, as the famous Dune quote say, let them pass over and through us. It’s not about changing the events but how we react to them and find a way to remain calm and serene even in the worst situations, and in every situation.

I’m also still asking myself a lot undefined questions about Mentats and their nature and what it could imply.

I’m waiting to see more about Duncan with the Fremen. It seems promising.

Chapter 13 : Nothing to say but this poetry :

To the east, the night grew a faggot of luminous gray, then seashell opalescence that dimmed the stars. There came the long, bell-tolling movement of dawn striking across a broken horizon.

It was a scene of such beauty it caught all his attention.

Some things beggar likeness, he thought.

And that’s about it for today, see you for the next reading session 🌔💛

#DUNE FIRST READ

[beyondthecosmicvoid]

Video: "Dune: 20 Things You Missed" on YouTube

Okay breakdown but not a good one. If they have read the Dune books, whoever was in charge of this breakdown, shows the opposite because the presenter leaves it clear he's bored by the political intrigue. Seriously? Dune is mainly for political reasons. Dune Messiah is my favorite for that reason but also because it is a twist on the archetypical hero. Glad you did mention the Jodorowski

The movie does explain he sees potential futures. They don't spell it out for you but rather show and imply it. First when the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam asks him if he dreams about he exact future and he says not always which is an obvious nod to that. Secondly, the fact Jamis dies instead of becoming the mentor/teacher also leaves that clear. As Master Yoda from Star Wars (which was heavily inspired, among other things, by Dune) said, the future is always in motion.

I would have liked they mentioned at least once the Orange Catholic Bible instead of showing it and the animosity between lady Jessica and Thufir Hawat. Their big sit down and confrontation in the first book is great. It's just a verbal sparring but it tells you how much sinister can the Bene Gesserit be and how you don't want them as a foe. Thufir realizes that right away.

Anyway, as for the Duncan Idaho thing in Paul's visions. That's easy. It is either for aesthetic choice or another way of showing what was mentioned earlier of the future being in constant flow and that he's seeing possible futures.

As for how the movie began; while Irulan is one of my favorites in science fiction and Dune and I love how the book begins with her narration, it makes sense they made this change. That being said, I hope that they don't turn her into a classic Victorian foil, resentful wife, etc or worse. Like Alia (Paul's sister who was showed in his vision as a baby), she is far more complicated which is what makes her more interesting.

Part two should be able to go deeper than just showing the Orange Catholic Bible but saying it by name and by extension it's religious significance to the future in which Dune is set and we can finally get to see the navigators. Because besides using religion to depose the Emperor and rid himself of his enemies, he also comes to the conclusion why the spacing guild guards is so secretive of how they use the spice. Up until that point, no one knows that the spice melange comes from the worms. This also helps him fuel his jihad or religious crusade. This is what brings the navigators, all of CHOAM to heel. It's not enough to be victorious, you also have to score a political victory. That's what Duke Leto was trying to tell his son when he said to Paul that there would be political danger awaiting them on Arrakis.

#dune #okay but not good analysis #barely hits the spot #Youtube

[doctorlaelia-ffxiv]

never let you go - part 2.

[[ read part one >here!< @benes-diction for mentions of the Beanies! ]]

I allowed Cato Lucretius to start officially courting me come spring in Garlemald... which doesn’t mean much, and does little to make dents in the snow, but it still felt warmer, somehow. His presence was warm. At times, he was like the soft glow of a candle in a dark room, providing a sense of safety and comfort. Other times, he glowed so brightly that I thought that he might be a supernova, too big for this world altogether. 

To say that I was in love with him would be a difficult thing. I was very fond of him, for a while. We got along tremendously well, and he was good at making me laugh. Our honeymoon period was sweet, and friends sighed over what a lovely pair we were, and I agreed with them. Cato Lucretius was a perfectly amiable, enjoyable sort of man to be around, who gave excellent kisses and was an attentive sort of lover, who could provide conversation that stimulated the mind and be a quiet place to rest, too. 

At least, at first. All that glitters is not gold. Sometimes it’s just a very pretty plating put over something rusty. 

In the summer, Cato Lucretius invited me to move into his apartment on the outskirts of the university we both attended. He was a literature major with a schedule that was far less packed than mine, considering I was still taking classes while conducting my residency at the hospital to enter into neurosurgery . But it worked, I suppose. He was something of a “house boyfriend,” you could call it. He made meals and kept our shared space clean, ran hot baths when I had a long day at work, would call me on the nights I couldn’t return. And he made a point of bringing me on dates, where we were able to make time for it, to expensive restaurants and pretty museums and lush greenhouses and towering libraries. 

Being old money from Garlemald came with a bit of status that Cato Lucretius frequently enjoyed. He liked the balls and the parties, and he enjoyed the luxuries of the finest foods and wines, and he liked to talk, very much, about the plights of our countrymen in a senseless war for a government that only wanted dominion rather than peace... and his words were pretty. They were nice to listen to. He could be fantastically passionate about things, he could grab a whole room’s attention with his vivacity and silver tongue, and I enjoyed listening to him on those summer evenings where the world felt like it belonged to us. 

For the first time in a long time, I was happy. I was twenty and finishing the last leg of my residency - the youngest in generations in Garlemald to achieve such a high position so quickly. It was an honor. It was a feat, of countless sleepless nights and many frustrated tears and many, many joyous victories. And Cato Lucretius would stay up with me, during the time we were together, to celebrate or to mourn, respectively. And then things just... started to feel like they were shifting. I remember it starting to feel different in the autumn.

The warmth was starting to fade, like it was chasing the seasons. 

“You’re brilliant,” Cato Lucretius would tell me as he smiled, as he brushed my hair from my forehead as I nursed a glass of something strong on a rare day off. “You’re the smartest person on this star, Laelia.” 

He said it so frequently. At first, I thought it was sweet. I liked being acknowledged for my accomplishments more than my looks. It didn’t feel like he looked at me like a piece of meat. To him, I was his equal - more than his equal. And that, maybe, was the problem. Cato Lucretius was putting me on a pedestal I didn’t try to get onto, and slowly... Slowly, but surely, it started to tarnish the way that he looked at me. 

“You never have time for me.”

That was how it started. It caught me off guard, as we stood in the kitchen and made dinner together. He was leaning against the counter and staring at the floor as he sipped from his whiskey glass, one hand braced behind him with the sleeves of his red sweater pushed up. 

“I always try to make time for you,” I had told him, and I had frowned, because I was confused. I was... I am a person that grew up quickly. There were intricacies in people’s words and meanings that I wasn’t able to pick up on at the age of twenty, when my whole life had been dedicated to how brain functions but not, exactly, the emotions that run through them, too. 

“But it never works out, does it?” Cato Lucretius shot back, looking at me with pained and angry eyes. “When’s the last time we got to go out? You said you would come with me to my colleague’s party the other night. And you forgot, didn’t you?” 

Accusation after accusation as I stood there with a ladle in my hand and my lips parted, because yes. Yes, I had forgotten. But I hadn’t meant to. The day he was referencing was nonstop. I hadn’t even been able to come back to the apartment between surgeries. Older, wiser me would have been able to do something, to put this man in his place. Twenty year old Laelia just wasn’t sure what was happening or what she had done to make him so angry.

“Yes,” she had said, and that’s what it feels like, as I think about this turning point of a night now - like I’m watching in third person. “Yes, I forgot, but... but I told you that I wasn’t able to leave, Cato. I’m very sorry, I didn’t realize that it was so important to you, but--”

“I’m making a big deal out of it, aren’t I?” And just as quickly as he had been angry, he was smiling at me, and I felt... unsettled, in a word. “I’m sorry, Laelia. Forgive me. I suppose I must have had a bad day today.”

Whiplash. That was the day it started - or, at least, the day I began to notice it starting. Cato Lucretius was changing in how he spoke to me, in how he looked at me, and so was the regard he held me in. What was once my ‘brilliance’ was my ‘cockiness,’ and what was my dedication to my work was a force driving us apart, no matter how hard I tried to yield to his requests. 

And all the while, this man was starting to fail his classes. Professors were sending back essays with bundles of criticism. He was slipping up, and the golden boy with the flawless smile that I met at the ball in the winter was now beginning to lose his gentleness and his geniality, unless he was drinking. And when he drank, all the venom he felt for me would come spewing out.

“You think you’re so smart,” he would sneer as he slouched in his chair by the fire. “You made a big splash, and now you think you’re too good for anyone, don’t you? What’s going on that has you out at all hours? Are you having an affair?” 

“That’s enough,” I had snapped, slamming my glass down on the counter. He raised his voice at me, and I raised mine. Our fights became infamous in the apartment building. I had never been the type to shout. That wasn’t the way to get a point across, but no one infuriated - and hurt me - like Cato Lucretius did. He made my ice turn to fire, my quiet and composed way of dealing with things seem unhinged and furious. 

And it was becoming clearer and clearer that any support he had for the Populares was... surface level. Certainly, he was prepared to speak out against the oppressive government, but... I have to wonder if that’s because it was the popular opinion amongst our circle. He clung to his status and the wealth of his parents in a desperate sort of way. I often wonder how much of anything he spoke passionately about that he really meant, and how much of it was manipulation to make him look good. I fear that the answer would be troubling and disheartening both. 

A warm, sunlit garden that we had planted in the spring was starting to die come the fall. Our honeymoon period was over, and I didn’t know what to do.

Many times, Cato Lucretius would coerce me into bed, to have sex that was angry and rough, that screamed that we hated each other in those moments. I never really said ‘yes.’ I just gave in to his nagging, to make him be quiet, to stop accusing me of affairs that didn’t exist.

“If you loved me...”

He loved that one. ‘If you loved me, you’ll sleep with me. If you loved me, you’d make more time. If you loved me, you would stop asking me where I go late at night.’ ‘If I have to trust you, don’t you have to trust me?’

The difference is that I never came home smelling of someone else’s perfume or cologne like he did, or with a wine that he didn’t drink still clinging to my lips. 

Giving up Cato Lucretius was difficult. He was nowhere near as creatively gifted as he wanted to be, and if I’m being honest with myself, I have to wonder if the vague similarities he shared with my Cato are what made me stay. They wrote, and they were both like light - even if Cato Lucretius’ light was rapidly fading - and they both, at one time, made me feel safe. 

I remember curling up on the bathroom floor and simply sobbing into my arms, overcome with a grief that was too unbearable to speak aloud. More often than not, I would say Cato Lucretius’ name and think of Cato Benes - of the soldier boy who had paid the ultimate price, of the one in all of my dreams, who dried my tears when I slept and told me everything would be alright. 

Often, as things got more difficult in my relationship, I dreamt of that farewell ball for Cato rem Benes. I dreamt it over and over again - arriving late and anonymous in a beautiful gown, and making him laugh, all with the knowledge of what was to come that I was forbidden to speak. And the dreams ended the same - me, forcing myself to leave Cato rem Benes alone on a balcony before collapsing in the gardens and being overcome with grief.

Those are the dreams I would wake from in tears, sometimes screaming my anguish, begging to please just bring me back to that night, so that I could tell him not to go, to plead and block him from his departure if I had to--

And it was easy to lie to Cato Lucretius about when I screamed the name ‘Cato,’ because I could tell him I was having nightmares of something terrible happening to him. But maybe part of him knew. Maybe a part of him had always known that my heart was never fully with him. 

I still don’t think, though, that I deserved his cruelty for it. I was young, and inexperienced in so many things, and mourning the loss of someone who had so deeply impacted me as a young girl. Even seeing Cato rem Benes’ parents were difficult. Seeing Lucius in a hospital, or sitting and listening to one of Theodosia’s performances... I always kept up with them - quietly, and in the shadows, but I tried to. My heart broke to hear the stories of what Caius was becoming. I wept bitterly when Solina left, knowing how deeply the family hurt when their children hurt, knowing just how the loss of Cato rem Benes had affected him. 

And there was a part of me that felt like it knew more, too, like... I could sense something in the future. Of course, I was a woman of science. Looking back, yes - in a strange way, and thanks to kami meddling, I did know. I knew the painful endings and the happy endings both, but to not be able to explain those feelings was often agonizing. And the more my relationship with Cato Lucretius began to fraction, the more I felt it. 

The more I felt that something just hadn’t ended right, that a book that was meant to be closed had simply been paused. 

The day I found his love letters from another woman beneath our bed and his collar stained with a coral lipstick that I wouldn’t wear came almost as a relief. Of course, it broke my heart. Spring had come around again, with a surprising melt in the snow. We had spent a year around each other, committed to each other - or, at least, one of us had been committed to the other. When I asked how long, just how long had he been betraying my trust, he was vague. When I asked how many times, he had simply shrugged, staring into the fire. 

“How many hours were you too busy being brilliant to give me?”

“You’re casting yourself as dependent and lonely to get out of being accountable for being a dickhead,” I had told him, tossing the letters that he’d so obviously read over and over directly into the fire. “For being the worst of men.” 

“We could try to fix this, Laelia,” he had said, running his hands over his face before standing up to face me, to try to reach out to me. “I messed up, darling. I messed up so badly, but if you give me another chance--”

“Haven’t you heard, Lucretius?” I asked him, smiling. “Goodness, I thought you would have, but... I simply just don’t have the time to give you that. I have very brilliant and much more important things to be doing than wasting my godsdamned time on this - you manipulative, lying, tiny pricked bastard.” 

When I slammed that apartment door with a box of my things in my arms with that man crying like an infant, it was liberating. I was free of his cruelty and his coercion. I suppose I could thank him, though, for the beginnings of the spine that I became so famous for.

For the spine that Cato rem Benes will always love me for having. And Cato rem Benes is, was, and always will truly be spring - the true herald of new beginnings, of promises that the long winters would end into a blossoming, glowing new world. 

#ffxiv rp #ff14 rp #writing #tw relationship abuse #sort of #?

[commodorecliche]

I don't know... the casting is straight up perfection and the cinematography is of course flawless -its Villeneuve after all- but the costume design? it doesn't feel as futuristic or distinct as it should. Kinda uninspired, kinda generic, kinda Star Wars-y. We can hate on the og movie all we want but at least they managed to make it come across how far into the future it is and how different from us, how foreign and strange their culture should feel to us- all through the costumes.

i mean… frankly, i’m sorry to say this, but i completely disagree with ya there. the costuming for this is pretty…. on point with how it’s described in the book?

the stillsuits are also almost identical to original concepts for the book and the costumes in the 1984 flick:

dune 2020 stillsuit:

dune 1984 stillsuit:

some old dune concept art:

dune book description of the stillsuit design:

“It’s basically a micro-sandwich — a high-efficiency filter and heat-exchange system. The skin-contact layer’s porous. Perspiration passes through it, having cooled the body … near-normal evaporation process. The next two layers … include heat exchange filaments and salt precipitators. Salt’s reclaimed. Motions of the body, especially breathing and some osmotic action provide the pumping force. Reclaimed water circulates to catchpockets from which you draw it through this tube in the clip at your neck… Urine and feces are processed in the thigh pads. In the open desert, you wear this filter across your face, this tube in the nostrils with these plugs to ensure a tight fit. Breathe in through the mouth filter, out through the nose tube. With a Fremen suit in good working order, you won’t lose more than a thimbleful of moisture a day…”

so basically: layered, with catch pockets on it (the slightly bulged areas in both film designs), tubes in the nostrils that are connected to the suit’s water catch pockets, an optional face mask filter for open desert travel, and sealed up to the neck and wrists, with optional gloves. (there is also a cloak in order to keep the stillsuit out of direct sunlight, but that’s mentioned in a different section).

the only things missing from the 1984 stillsuit design is a face mask and the cloak. but 2020′s costume actually looks like it might have a cloak and a face mask attached to it, which is in-line with the book’s costume descriptions. the other photos show this:

as for the other costumes, it’s kinda hard to tell just because this is only a handful of pictures. we see a group photo of house atreides in their formal wear, which was a relatively plain but official dark-colored uniform; this is quite similar in appearance to the 1984 adaption:

we also see a bene gesserit, who does appear to be bald and adorned in a black robe. this is in line with previous adaptations, some of the bene gesserit in the 1984 dune would wear a full black hood and cloak, aside from the more dramatic black outfit we see them in later. so far we’ve only seen this one bene gesserit photo from 2020. we also see Jason Momoa as Duncan - doing what Duncan does best: being handsome and tough.

as for the ‘clunky’ armor: you compared it to star wars, but it’s REALLY important to remember that star wars, the original star wars (including costume design, story design, character elements, etc…) was heavily influenced by the original 1965 Dune novel; George Lucas himself has admitted this. so honestly you can’t really say that the costumes look “star wars-y”, when the entire reason star wars is the way it is and looks the way it looks is because of Dune in the first place.

the costuming doesn’t have to necessarily be a crazy-futuristic-we-all-wear-chrome sort of thing to show how far away this world is from our own. hell, the costumes in the other adaptations weren’t super crazy tbh (except for Feyd, but we havent’ seen his 2020 design yet). but it’s also super important to remember that we don’t want to just believe this world is SUPER FAR APART AND DIFFERENT from our own - because these people are us down the line. they’re still humans, set several thousands of years in the future, we have to connect to them while still understanding that they are far more advanced than us. a good, easy way to do that is to costume them in a way that is different, strange, but still normal enough that a modern human could connect to it.

and not to mention, we haven’t seen anything else so far about this film - there are so many other costumes that are yet to be seen. there are so many character designs we haven’t seen yet: WE HAVEN’T EVEN SEEN THE GUILD NAVIGATORS YET. can you imagine how wild the Guildsman might look in this adaptation? we also haven’t truly seen any of the sets yet. there is a lot of world building left to see. there is a lot left to be revealed that i imagine will very easily make us believe we’re in the year 10,191. judging it as ‘not looking futuristic enough’ based on the very few photos and costumes we have is a bit short-sighted.

personally, i’m very excited about this adaptation. Dune is a notoriously difficult book to adapt, but from what little we’ve seen so far, it looks like it’s going to be pretty good and likely in-line with the book as much as it can be. if there’s any director i trust with Dune, it’s Villeneuve.

#dune #dune 2020 #dune 1984 #frank herbert #long post #my post #Anonymous

[little-zabrak]

It's @starwars-oc-ship-week, which I just found out about today! Today is Day 1 and the prompt is "How They Met!" I sketched a quick pic and am thrilled to have a chance to tell the story of my OC and my friend's OC, San Sang and Commodore Vierce!

Set during the Dark Times, San is a slightly Force-sensitive Iridonian Zabrak girl with knowledge of Iridonian rebel financial information. Commodore Vierce is the slightly Force-sensitive Imperial Officer commanding the Star Destroyer assigned to the Iridonian system. The characters meet after San is arrested and dragged aboard Vierce' ship. The characters meet in an interrogation room.

Nota bene that this is a summary of a small part of a "dead dove do not eat" story with erotic elements, and you shouldn't read below the cut unless you're an adult who enjoys fucked up character relationships! If you have any hang-ups about nasty things in fiction you should just skip this post.

In the interrogation chamber, Vierce is imposing. He's spent years of his career pursuing information around the Iridonian Resistance. San Sang's parents have been in prison for several years already and the girl avoided arrest for a long time by making herself look like a messy street kid. But she could only keep moving so long. San hates Vierce, understandably. To her and to the reader, he is a villain and because he's an Imperial of high rank it's fair to assume that he's a war criminal. Early in the interrogation, Vierce gives San opportunities to spill her guts and pass information to him. Being headstrong and stupid, she hurls insults at him instead of just staying quiet. While San shouts at him, the two have a moment of awareness that they are both Force-sensitive. San doesn't understand what it means, but Vierce does. It makes him more curious about San, but not more kind. With just the two of them in the room and San's wrists and ankles in binders, she stupidly picks a fight that Vierce finishes. To humiliate her, he grabs San by her head and touches her horns, unaware that these are erogenous zones until the girl reacts by moaning. Vierce brings her to orgasm and mocks her lack of self-control, then has her taken to solitary confinement. (To avoid leaving off on too dark of a note, it is worth mentioning that San and Vierce gradually develop an uneasy alliance based on their mutual weak connections to The Force. They eventually succeed in killing a moff and freeing a number of people from prison, but theirs is never a happy story.)

#starwarsocshipweek2021 #star wars oc #zabrak oc #smut #dead dove do not eat

[lazarusii]

Whumptober Day 12: Broken Down | Broken Bones

- “Vengeance”  (2/2)

Fandom: Star Wars TCW

Rating: Gen, Teen

Characters: (for both chapters) Obi-Wan Kenobi, Commander Cody, Captain Rex, Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Maul

Potential Triggers: Major Character Death, blood, slight gore, mention of possible suicide.

Summary: 

Anakin and Obi-Wan accompany Ahsoka to Mandalore. Maul wins. And Obi-Wan loses everything.

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels

[Link to part 1]

This fic was written to: 

“X-F” by Hans Zimmer

“Sacrifice” by Alan Lennon

“10の秘密” by Yuki Hayashi (”10 secrets”)

The tunnel junction was silent when Obi-Wan entered, the oppressive absence of sound punctuated only by the splash of his boots and the quiet hum of his lightsaber. 

It was dark, the room’s single strip of industrial lighting having been shattered in places and left flickering ominously. The remaining bulbs, however, cast just enough light to reveal the ghastly sight before him. 

Around him, Obi-Wan could feel the dark side humming softly, the silent whispering pressing against his mind and body, feeding off of his horror and pain, an accompaniment to the smell of blood and death that hung heavily in the air.

Slowly, Obi-Wan’s lightsaber began to dip, his arms falling to his sides as he stood in the mouth of the junction, eyes seeing--but his mind refusing to believe... 

.

Anakin lay facedown, his face turned away from Obi-Wan, partially submerged in the low-bearing water. Red blood seeped from wounds that Obi-Wan, gratefully, could not see clearly in the ever-flickering, low light. 

Scattered around the junction were soldiers, Red-armored Mandalorians, many missing limbs, but all unmoving--dead. 

Slowly, Obi-Wan’s eyes moved towards the center of the room, but he stopped at the sight of a familiar pair of lightsabers, glittering beneath the still surface of the water.  

He couldn’t bear to look--he couldn’t... 

.

With a heavy heart, Obi-Wan deactivated his blade and stepped into the room. 

This was a nightmare, it had to be... the Force couldn’t be so cruel... 

But, then again, he was blind, the light completely obscured by the sheer power of the dark side, its shadows twisting and weaving about the room, singing a terrible song of victory. 

.

Eyes downcast, Obi-Wan moved beside Anakin, a hand extended towards the man’s shoulder--

Only to come up short as he heard a weak cough coming from ahead. 

Heart leaping into his throat, Obi-Wan leapt forwards. He knew that voice-- 

“... Master.” 

.

Ahsoka lay beside Maul, a dark wound marring the fabric of her Mandalorian-gifted uniform, cuts and bruises forming a terrible latticework down her arms and chest, grime covering her face. 

As Ahsoka stirred, small waves disturbed the still water, and her arm splashed down, as she tried to reach out towards him. 

Heart pounding against his ribs, Obi-Wan hastened to her side, taking Ahsoka’s hand in his own as he knelt, feeling a horrible sense of finality in the way that the blue eyes blinked up towards him, glazed with pain, glittering in the half-light of the junction. 

“Master--I’m sorry--” 

“Ahsoka--” 

“He...” She closed her eyes, emotion tearing at her voice. “... got Anakin--I tried--Maul--just ran into my lightsaber--I don’t understand why--” 

Ahsoka’s chest heaved, and Obi-Wan heard the telltale sound of broken bones shifting. 

He held his former-Padawan’s hand to his heart, struggling to keep the pain from his expression. 

“You did what you could Ahsoka...” Obi-Wan tried to find words, but found his voice choking up, throat closing under the weight of his failure. 

He could have been here--he could have prevented all of this... 

.

Through the Force, Ahsoka’s presence, discernible only because of contact, was fading, slowly melding with the darkness, fading. 

“I’m sorry... Master,” she whispered. “--the Order... I left...” 

“No, Ahsoka.” Obi-Wan managed, “I’m sorry.”

Her presence was slipping, almost gone completely, and Obi-Wan felt a terrible, crushing pain sink into his chest. 

“I’m proud of you, Padawan... we both are.” 

Tears sparked beneath Obi-Wan’s eyes, blurring his vision as a ghost of a smile crossed Ahsoka’s lips.

The light flared for a moment--

Obi-Wan felt the soft whisper of her presence brush against his--

And then all was silent. 

.

.

Fin.

.

[This work will be edited, slightly reworked, and posted to Ao3 at some point in the future]

Thank you so much for reading! ❤️

#whumptober2020 #no. 12 #broken bones #broken down #fanfiction #star wars #major character death #mention of possible suicide #blood #slight gore #obi-wan kenobi #anakin skywalker #ahsoka tano #darth maul #mandalorians #hnngh #ouch #writing by lazarusii

[repentantsky]

5 Indie Games That Are Fantastic (Or Look To Be)

I love indie games. They are the releases in gaming that really hold the whole industry together between big triple A titles, and also when you need a break from big budget games, and either want a challenge unique to their metroidvania style, or want something emotional that doesn’t take 50 hours or more to get through. Today’s list, my first on this site, will focus on games that use the term indie in all of it’s glory, and whether or not these games are released, or are on their way, hopefully they’ll give anyone who happens this list, something to enjoy.

5. Rakuen. 

You may or may not have heard of this game before. It’s one with two very different styles as you go between a hospital full of sick children in the real world, and a fantasy world, solving problems that help the real world characters as much as the fantasy ones. It tells a beautiful story in the fantasy world, one that looks like it could come from a Studio Ghibli film with it’s vibrant colors and wonderful critters, and a dark but hopeful tale in the real world, that those of us who have been in the hospital in real life either for ourselves or a loved one can really relate to. The story therein in likewise just as vibrant, or dark as the contrasting settings make them feel like they should be, and if the ending doesn’t have you in tears, I don’t know what could ever make you cry. 

4. Haven.

Haven is an upcoming indie game that takes the idea of barely off the ground flight, something that’s bene popular and freeing in gaming for many years now, and adds a sense of foreign atmosphere to it. The two main characters who are in a relationship, are quite comfortable talking about the darkness in their lives, and about more personal things that only those who are together talk about, and would leave a third wheel blushing. The added strange planet feel of the game that the trailers have shown us also makes for a beautiful and romantic place for their relationship to blossom, but also leaves the player with a sense of dread of the unknown. What story this game will actually end up telling is anyone’s guess, but it’s far too intriguing to ignore. 

3. The Pathless. 

A game that only recently released with the launch of the PS5, The Pathless is a game made by the same studio that brought you Abzu, which is made up largely of former That Game Company employees, and the beautiful art style of their two projects thus far really reflect that. While I could easily just talk about Abzu, The Pathless is clearly the next step in the company’s evolution, and is worth talking about. It’s beautiful open world is fully realized on PS5, and it’s fast flowing movement, really takes the ideas of Journey, more on that later, to whole new heights. The Pathless is a technical marvel of a game, and that’s easy to see only looking at trailers, but seeing it actually play out, shows that we are looking at what should be, a juggernaut of the industry moving forward. The game has everything that fans of fantastically beautiful worlds could want, and it revels in the fact that it’s as amazing as it is, without showing off. The balance of movement and combat rival the highest quality games, and the whole experience, is fantastic in very sense of the word, that a game can be. It tells us that next gen indie games, are something we should look forward to, as much as the big triple A games to come. 

2. Sable. 

While the basic premise of Sable is nothing to marvel at, you’re a character in a desert wasteland trying to find a certain special item, the cultures it embodies, and it’s unique, somewhat grainy, but still very refined art style, really give it an edge that you can’t help but look at with some shock and awe. Sable, the titular character is also fantastically designed, and her ability to slide down large dunes, and with her vehicle, slide over the terrain look like lots of fun. I know I already mentioned Studio Ghibli once on this list, but Sable has obviously been inspired by that style, and Jakku from Star Wars, which means visually speaking, we are looking at something fantastic. While the game at it’s core is a puzzler which could turn some people off from it, and many on to it, that potential diversity of tastes is no reason not to give this game, a real hard look before it’s projected release date, next year. 

1. Baldo

If you’re old enough, like I am, to remember an animated movie about a talking dog based on an actual event when you hear the name Baldo, I implore you to forget that moving forward. Baldo the game, is probably the most Studio Ghibli like game on this list, but with a little Zelda thrown in, and just for good measure, some of that Level 5 charm that fans have always loved. The blending of these elements allows for what looks to be a fantastic game, that’s not focused on combat, but does feature it heavily. The Developers, who have been working on the game on and off for 15 years, say it was originally supposed to be a Gameboy Advance title, but thanks to more modern technology at their disposal, they have instead come up with something else entirely, that looks spectacular in every sense. While the game was set to release this year, the lack of news suggests it won’t be coming until 2021, but of all the indie games out there and on their way, Baldo really seems to me, to be the one, we should most look forward to. 

Have you got any other indie games that you think are worth a mention, I know I left a few out, please let me know. I hope you enjoyed my first list on tumblr. 

#indie #inide game #baldo #sable #the pathless #haven #rakuen #ps5 #xbox series x

[hatsukeii]

Hi! 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14 for Kageyama from the headcanons list?? If it's too many, just choose whichever interest you the most! Thank you! 💜

Hhhhh ty for requesting!!

I have so many ideas from Kageyama after seeing the latest few chapters all over my explore page on ig, this should be fun~

Btw just because I crave fluff and made up romantic scenarios I will be including you as a female s/o, I hope you’re fine w that bc I’m terrible at writing same sex fanfics and I feel like including you might be fun too, sorry if it’s not what you prefer, I’ll write up another one if you want!!

(You aren’t mentioned excessively though, so don’t worry!!)

Warnings: Mild manga spoilers that have to do with Kageyama’s backstory, nothing too major though, and angstangstangstangstangst-

2. How are they like on social media?

- Kageyama’s probably one that doesn’t really have that much regarding social media.

- However he would probably have the most common ones.

- Instagram, snapchat, maybe twitter too.

- He also has tiktok now that you’ve basically forced him to download it.

- Definitely uses instagram the most out of everything he has.

- Username: milkboykags

- Followers: 992 (Since he’s pretty popular through playing volleyball.)

- Following: 745 (He tries to follow most of his followers back if they have mutual friends between them, even if it’s a fan.)

- Profile pic: Probably one of those grunge shaky pics of him with a few of the Karasuno team members and you with a dark background and stuff.

- Bio: If you don’t have milk, don’t bother looking for me. ~Me, 2k19 (He hasn’t updated his bio a year lol.)

- His instagram feed is actually pretty aesthetic.

- He has one volleyball post of the entire team at the beach playing beach volleyball while the sun sets.

- He’s way too proud of that post.

- Another one of his posts was taken when you two were on an arcade date (At that time he hadn’t confessed yet, but he asked you out just to do that) and he sneaked a photo of you trying to get a unicorn plush from one of those claw machines.

- That one he’s gonna be keeping in his feed forever.

- He has a collection of highlights.

- There’s one for volleyball practice shenanigans, one for those little dates he takes you on, another one for full on group hangouts, then one of camera wars with random people that try taking photos of him, most likely you or Hinata.

- His feed basically revolves around this filter recipe he made for instagram, which makes his photos look cooler toned and more faded.

(P.s dm me if you want the recipe bc i made it on vsco lmao no I’m not a vsco girl don’t worry.)

- He doesn’t really use snapchat and twitter.

- Only does streaks with you and the volleyball team.

- Tiktok though, is a whole other story.

- Username: givemethecows

- Followers: 1405 (People from both tiktok and instagram.)

- Following: 200

- Bio: I make videos and shit.

- Profile pic: Bass boosted you like jazz meme (Bass boosted but photo if you get me.)

- Kageyama has this whole lowkey eboy thing going on with his tiktok.

- Most the time his videos are just a way to show his weird sense of humour or his sense of style that screams casual eboy.

- Since you forced him to get tiktok, you also forced him to learn dances with you.

- He’s terrible at those.

- Like very bad.

- He managed to break a pair of Tsukishima’s glasses while doing the renegade at break.

- And almost twisted his hips trying to throw it back as a joke.

- Needless to say it’s both hilarious and embarrassing for Kageyama.

- There are also tiktoks of him doing insane volleyball tricks on camera like the demon quick, the synchronised attack, and his jump serve etc.

- Which have gained him quite the following on the platform.

- In conclusion, Kageyama is generally pretty good at social media, but sucks ass at dancing.

4. What is Kageyama’s preferred weather?

- Surprisingly, Kageyama doesn’t like sunny weather. At all.

- For him, it’s the absolute worst thing.

- He think that sunny weather is way too annoying and hot and stuffy and gross.

- Plus, going out for morning runs in sunny weather is like wearing 10 jackets in hell.

- Like you can put on an extra layer if you’re cold but you can’t just strip naked if you’re hot.

- Oh my god he hates it so much it pains him to even think about it.

- He likes rainy days.

- Definitely not his favourite though.

- Rainy days usually mean staying home for the entire day.

- He can just laze around in his house, do whatever he wants.

- The sound of rain against glass windows soothes him.

- The constant sounds of droplets hitting the windows give him a sense of tranquility and peace.

- He will quite literally, fall asleep to those sounds.

- However rainy days do have their drawbacks.

- One of them, is having to stay home.

- Kageyama likes going for runs just to take in some fresh air, but that won’t work when it’s raining cats and dogs now will it.

- Plus, it means everything he does is restricted in his house unless he can get to an indoor gym that’s open.

- Boring.

- So he prefers windy days, when the cold breeze grazes his skin and the sun hides behind the fluffy clouds.

- It’s those days where he doesn’t have to suffer the heat that the sun brings upon him, nor does he have to suffer the feeling of rainwater dripping from the tips of his hair.

- He can do whatever he wants and still feel at ease and comfortable.

- Quite literally everything he asks for in a day.

6. Favourite music?

- Let’s be real, Kageyama probably isn’t good at music.

- He can’t dance or sing to save his life.

- However, he does enjoy how listening to music calms his nerves and gives him a chance to relax, even if he’s in a situation where he should be focused on an assignment or a piece of class work.

- People would expect him to enjoy listening to EDM or alternative rock, but no.

- This boy likes to listen to lofi and love songs.

- This doesn’t mean that his playlist only consists of these two genres, but the majority of songs in his playlist are either chill lofi beats or songs that give you the feels.

- Some of his favourite artists are Jeremy Zucker, Blackbear, Conan Gray, Billie Eilish, Lauv, Clairo, Wallows, Khalid, BENEE, Post Malone, Coldplay, Rex Orange County, Green Day, Shiloh Dynasty, Kina, love-sadKID, and the Arctic Monkeys.

- Has like 5 different playlists for different moods and events.

- One for moody times, one for study beats, one for when he wants throwbacks, one for firing him up before volleyball matches, and one for if he ever has to DJ in the front seat of someone’s car.

- Prefers to listen to music by himself.

- You’re an exception though.

- If he’s with you, you get one earbud, but he’ll be the one choosing the music still.

- You two have pretty contrasting tastes when it comes to music.

- He likes softer songs and lofi the most, whilst you prefer old rock and alternative rock. Oh and also a lot of throwback songs.

- I feel like Kageyama has definitely cried to a few songs when he was going through hard times.

- To him, listening to music is also a way of releasing all the inner conflict and frustrations.

- (Spoiler for backstory) When his grandfather died, he put Fix You on loop for at least 20 minutes.

- He was just numb, curled up into a ball on his bed, staring at the wall. He couldn’t feel anything. Nothing in his mind registered properly. All he could think of, was everything his grandfather had taught him, before he eventually passed away.

- Submerging himself into the melancholy song he was listening to, he didn’t even feel the tears that were now streaming down his face.

- The salty tears were now staining his pillow, creating little wet spots.

- He listened to every single lyric in the song, clutching his sheets harder every time the chorus came up.

- He punched his mattress repeatedly, still unable to accept the fact that someone he held so dear to his heart had just left like the wind.

- It wasn’t long until he was a sobbing mess, shaking and whimpering as he knelt on the bed.

- Silently sang to the lyrics, plopping back to his bed in defeat.

- His sister lingered in front of the door for five whole minutes, eventually leaving to let Kageyama sort out his feelings himself.

- You introduce a ton of new songs to him, since he doesn’t know that much about anything else other than lofi and sad songs.

- Just please no one let him listen to Nickleback. Please. He doesn’t need to know about it.

8. Movie that he would choose for a move nigh?

- The monthly Karasuno volleyball team movie night was finally here, and it was Kageyama’s turn to choose a movie this time, much to Tsukishima’s dismay.

- He’s put a lot of thought into this, not wanting to disappoint his teammates by choosing a shitty movie.

- He basically tried to figure out what everyone wanted to watch.

- However, everyone had very contrasting requests.

- Tsukishima wanted to watch Jurassic Park, Yamaguchi wanted a Disney movie, Hinata wanted something Marvel, Tanaka and Nishinoya wanted a horror movie, (Mainly so they could hit on you whilst you were still single) Sugawara wanted a romcom, Yachi wanted a comedy, and the others were fine with anything.

- He stressed himself out way too much trying to choose one movie.

- He finally got an idea after 3 entire days of thinking.

- And it wasn’t anything the team expected.

- Kageyama pulled up with Pulp Fiction.

- He’s seen that movie at least 5 times already.

- It was the perfect mix of comedy, gore, action, and philosophy.

- Plus, anything that starred Samuel L Jackson was worth a watch.

- Till this day, it remains one of his go to movies, alongside any MCU movie. (Captain America: The First Avenger is definitely his favourite though.)

12. Something small that they enjoy?

- One of the two small things Kageyama enjoys doing is baking cookies.

- Cookies in particular.

- I mean, there really is no detailed explanation.

- He’s pretty good at baking in general, even Tsukishima enjoys the cookies he bakes.

- Plus, he gets to dip the cookies in milk, what’s there not to enjoy?

- Another little thing he enjoys a lot is actually photography.

- Most the time, when he sees a pretty sky, or a city street at nighttime.

- He can’t help himself but snap a few photos here and there.

- Something about a well shot photo just hits different.

- Sometimes, he brings his camera out just to takes nice photos.

- Whenever you two are on dates, he’ll be able to capture candid or motion shots of when you’re just looking out the window of a bus mindlessly, or when you’re twirling around on the street playfully.

- Photos speak a thousand words, and honestly? He lives by that.

14. What is enough to bring him to tears?

- Support.

- Kageyama really needs support from someone he cares about.

- And no, not like support from his teammates.

- That’s different from hearing someone cheer from the stands.

- (Spoiler for backstory) Kageyama’s parents never gave much attention to him, since they were always busy with work. The only person that ever showed support for him was his grandfather, who passed away while he was still young.

- As if that wasn’t enough shit directed towards Kageyama, his teammates abandoned him during a match in junior high not long after the death of his grandfather.

- Which means that Kageyama now has lowkey abandonment issues.

- All through his volleyball journey he never got the support and reassurance he needed.

- He watched in envy as people from opposing teams, or even his own teammates, waved at their family members after they won or lost a match.

- All he could do was stare at the stands, hoping to catch just a glimpse of a family member.

- Nothing.

- Nobody realised how alone Kageyama felt during and after matches, until they watched him break down in tears after a particular match.

- It was the Spring Match against Seijoh, and Karasuno was playing like normal.

- Kageyama was insanely good as usual.

- What he didn’t notice then, was that you had dragged his sister Miwa to the match just so you both could cheer for him.

- In addition to that, you were also wearing his jersey.

- It wasn’t until the final point was scored, did he hear you and Miwa scream from the stands.

- Hearing the familiar voices, his head basically snapped in your direction, scanning the stadium for someone familiar, before landing his eyes on you and his older sister.

- His eyes widened for a hot second, his mind running in circles.

- Nobody has ever cheered for him.

- But here you two were, cheering for him from the stands.

- And you were wearing his jersey.

- A hand went up to cover his mouth, a huge grin spreading.

- One drop.

- Two drops.

- Then came the waterworks.

- The entire team was shocked.

- Like shookth.

- The two of you ran down to the arena, engulfing Kageyama in a huge hug.

- Best moment of his fucking life.

- From then on, the Karasuno team members made sure to notify you of any matches they had against other schools, hoping you and Miwa could go cheer.

- You two haven’t missed a single match since.

Whoooo three hours of work and going straight to Netflix at 2:30am, what a life.

I couldn’t resist I’m sorry casual or slight angst is my favourite genre of hc and fanfic-

I hope you liked this xx😗👉👈

#haikyuu x reader #kageyama tobio #hq kageyama #haikyuu headcanons #hq headcanons #hq x reader #kageyama x reader #haikyuu #hq #writing prompt

[alittlemissfit]

Tagged myself from @sylviaplaths post to choose my ten fave female characters from ten different fandoms!

I tag anyone who is interested!

1) Liz Lemon - 30 Rock

2) Carrie Mathison - Homeland

3) Dana Scully - The X-Files

4) C.J. Cregg - The West Wing

5) Susan Lewis- E.R.

5) Alicia Florrick- The Good Wife

6) Lorelai Gilmore- Gilmore Girls

7) Amy Dunne- Gone Girl

8) Moira Rose- Schitt’s Creek

9) Elizabeth Jennings- The Americans

10) Gen. Leia Organa- Star Wars

Honorable Mentions: Paris Geller, Stella Gibson, Poussey Washington, Leslie Knope, Nicky Nichols, Mackenzie McHale, Carol Hathaway, Diane Lockhart, Peyton Sawyer, Sally Albright, Fleabag, Elaine Benes, Dee Reynolds, Alexis Rose, Temperance Brennan, Olivia Benson, Donna Moss, Cristina Yang, Miranda Bailey, Meredith Grey, Lilith Sternin, Amelia Shepherd, Roz Doyle, Rhoda Morganstern, Dorothy Zbornak, Dixie Martin, Mary Richards, Lucy Ricardo, Diana Prince, Villanelle

#yeah the honorable mention list is long af #whatever