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quanblovk · 1 year

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Who did it?

Out of nowhere, Dragato angrily approaches the dining table and slams his fist down while holding an empty milk carton.

Sir Dragato: I don't care how great or noble you are.....ANYONE WHO LEAVES THE MILK CARTON IN THE FRIDGE JUST BECAUSE IT HAS ONE DROP LEFT IS UNBECOMING OF A WARRIOR!!!

Sir Falspar: oh! There's milk left? Can I finish it? I love milk!

Sir Dragato: yes Falspar, you can.

Sir Falspar: yay! ^o^

Sir Nonsurat: It wasn't me, I was out all morning making sweet love to Arthur's wife!

Sir Arthur: I know I let you have affairs my wife but do you have no shame blurting that out loud?

Sir Nonsurat: What is there to be ashamed about? I take pride in our forbidden romance! It's the most beautiful form of love!

Galacta Knight: Really?! I didn't know love could be so deep...

Sir Dragato: Don't listen to him, Galacta Knight. Nonsurat! You're being a bad influence on our new recruit.

Sir Nonsurat: hmph....

Sir Dragato: Now WHO DID IT?! I demand that they immediately go to the store and buy new milk!

Sir Arthur: Now now, Dragato, this isn't something to fuss about. You could always go and buy new milk yourself. No need to fight.

Sir Dragato: Arthur...you don't understand. We are star warriors, the greatest army in all the galaxy. The very fate of the universe are within our hands and yet....a person who leaves things unfinished...you think they should be allowed to be in this army?!

Sir Arthur: *GASP* You're absolutely right...How could I be so blind? We will investigate this matter immediately! Clear the table!

Sir Nonsurat: Eh-?! Wait, right now?

Sir Dragato: What's wrong? NERVOUS BECAUSE YOU'RE THE CULPRIT?!?!

Sir Nonsurat: Nonsense! I'm lactose intolerant!

Sir Dragato: Oh....Hey wait! What in the four stars have you got against dairy products?!

Sir Falspar: I don't think that's what it means-

Suddenly, the door bursts open as two people walk in. It was their comrades, Garlude and Jecra. They seem to be in a good mood!

Jecra: Good afternoon, gents! Haha!

Garlude: Good afternoon!

Sir Falspar: Oh hey guys! We're trying to find out who didn't go to buy new milk just because the carton had one drop left.

Jecra: WHAT?! I didn't know we were interupting something so serious....

Garlude: Truly something unforgivable....to think there was such a person amongst us.

Sir Nonsurat: No way....you guys are actually serious about this...

Sir Dragato: OR MAYBE IT WAS YOU!!! HUH, MILKBOY?! What do you have to say for yourself?!

Milkboy (Falspar): It wasn't me! Also milkboy sounds really weird, please don't use that word ever again.

Sir Dragato: Way ahead of you, realized it the moment I said it....

Sir Arthur: come join us, Jecra! Garlude! Your testimonies would be of great use. Help us find the culprit!

Sir Nonsurat: A-are you serious? But I promised dear Guinevere that I'd take her to that fancy new Floralian restaurant-

Sir Dragato: SAVE YOUR DAMN DATE FOR LATER, MOON BOY. WE'VE GOT BIGGER PROBLEMS.

Moon Boy (Sir Nonsurat): *gasp* MOON BOY?! AND YOU DARE BELITTLE OUR LOVE?! Draw your weapon, WE DUEL!!!

Sir Dragato: AHA! SO IT WAS YOU! YOU'RE BEING SO DEFENSIVE ABOUT IT!!!

Sir Nonsurat: HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT I'M LACTOCE INTOLERANT?!?

Sir Arthur: Enough! Both of you! Stop acting like ruffians! This is no time to fight amongst ourselves, we should focus on the main problem at hand. Now, then. Everyone sit down.

They all complied and took their seats at the dining table. However, it was rather small and their wasn't enough seats. So Falspar just climbed on top of Dragato. Everyone seems unfazed by this, including sir Dragato himself.

Jecra: As expected of Sir Arthur...such a great leader!

Garlude: He's a man who takes charge and controls the situation....just like his father...

Sir Dragato: Of course! He's our leader afterall. With him, we'll be able to weed out traitors in no time!

Yamikage: Hey.

Sir Dragato: Oh hey, so as I was sayi-....

Dragato turns around to see a ninja hanging upside down from the ceiling, looking at him with a rather bored expression. Though his eyes quickly light up when they meet with Sir Arthur's. They both wave a little at each other before returning to their usual expressions.

Sir Dragato: .......I-

Yamikage: Hey, Dragato, Hey everyone.

Sir Falspar, waving from the top of Dragato's head: Hey Yamikage~!

Sir Nonsurat: Greetings to you too.

Galacta Knight: Hello!! T-that'll be the last time I talk, I gotta get back to my train of thought.

Jecra: Hey. Ninja.

Garlude: Hello, Yamikage. What were you doing up there?

Yamikage: Classified. I heard something about a traitor so I came down.

Sir Arthur: Oh no, there isn't a traitor-

Sir Dragato: THERE IS TO ME!!

Sir Arthur: Ah, we're just looking for the person who didn't go buy new milk after drinking it all. You'd be of great help! Come join us.

Yamikage: Hmph, I see. That's a rather silly thing to do for a man like you but I'll play along.

Sir Arthur: Now then, if we're all settled. I'd like to start with Sir Falspar first. You wake up the earliest out of all of us, not to mention you have a fondness for milk. Tell me, what did you do this morning at the kitchen?

Sir Falspar: Well alright......It goes like this.

Sir Dragato: ......Aren't you going to-

Sir Falspar: No no, leave something for the next part!

Sir Dragato: what? What do you mean by that-?!

[TO BE CONTINUED

when i feel like it -3-]

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supersaiyanjedi14 · 8 months

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Ahsoka vs. Anakin

Thinking about Shadow Warrior again. Obviously, this episode is one of the best pieces of Star Wars media in recent years, in no small part in how it begins to tie up the loose ends of Ahsoka's long and involved story. However, one thing that I also really appreciate is that this episode is, arguably, one of Ahsoka's greatest accomplishments as a lightsaber duelist in her fifteen years of existence (and that's saying something considering just how badass she is). I know some of you might find that a strange statement given the context of her battle with Anakin, but hear me out.

Let's get the rancor in the room out of the way first. Yes, it was all a dream. Sort of like Kanan's duel with the Temple Guards in Season 2 of Rebels, Snips and Skyguy were not actually fighting each other in the real world (which makes sense what with one of them being, you know, dead). Additionally, the changing scenery in accordance with Anakin's lesson indicates that Anakin's spirit had at least some influence over the way the World Between Worlds was manifesting. As a result, Anakin basically had invincibility and quicksave mods in place before the fight even started, meaning that even if Ahsoka were able to defeat him, she had no chance of actually killing or destroying him. Yes, Force spirits have been destroyed in Star Wars lore before, but not only has this yet to be seen in the current continuity, the only spirits to have suffered this fate in Legends were Sith ghosts, which are fundamentally different than Jedi ones.

Secondly, we have the scope of just who Ahsoka was facing here. As we all know, Anakin was one of the greatest lightsaber masters the Prequel era Order ever produced, having regularly overpowered Asajj Ventress, killed Count Dooku, and being, at worst, equal to Obi-Wan Kenobi. While that's pretty epic on it's own, we mustn't forget that this is Anakin's spirit from after he died, aka this is technically Darth Vader we're seeing here. Not only did Vader establish himself in both continuities as one of the most dangerous Jedi killers of all time, but he did this with an additional twenty three years of training and experience. While Anakin vs Vader had been a fandom debate for decades at this point, I think it's pretty inarguable that Vader at his peak was a far greater warrior than he had been as a Jedi, especially since much of his development was built around addressing the weaknesses that got him roasted on Mustafar. Vader's only real shortcomings were in the logistics of his armor and cybernetics, hindering his mobility. However, as anyone with working eyes can tell, Anakin isn't wearing his armor when he fights Ahsoka in the WBW, so he can move around as much as he wants while still retaining all of his skill and power. Basically, this is a pants-crapping glimpse of what a hypothetical suitless Darth Vader would have been like if he didn't have to contend with his handicaps. While Hayden's coreogrpahy does more closly match Anakin's fighting style than Vader's, Anakin's conduct, particuarlly his psychological warfare tactics, is much closer to what he did as Vader.

On that note, let's look at the tactical side of things. We have Anakin springing this encounter on Ahsoka right away without giving her time to prepare, forcing her to fend him off to avoid being destroyed. At the same time, Anakin's objective here is to get Ahsoka to confront her inner demons and acknowledge the need to continue fighting, not just beat her senseless. This means the two combatants were going in with drastically different strategic goals; Ahsoka was fighting to survive, Anakin was fighting to prove a point. Neither of them were expecting this to be an all-out battle to the death, and their conduct reflects this. Hell, Anakin pretty much resigns from the fight once he's satisfied that Ahsoka has gotten her head back on straight.

In summary, Ahsoka was fighting one of the greatest warriors in all of Jedi and Sith history who was functionally immortal, had some measure of control over the environment, and could employ his skills unrestricted by what held him back in life.

And she still held her own.

Yes, Anakin was holding back (he was trying to teach her, not kill her), but he wasn't just playing around either. He still forcefully pressured her; he would have needed to in order to get his point across. If Anakin had just walked up to Ahsoka and smacked her around like a ragdoll, that would have been one thing, but he didn't. She fought back, resisting his onslaught, even landed a few hits on her own, and ultimatly compelled him to call off the fight. Anakin may have been in no real danger of dying here, but he clearly couldn't afford to coast by this either.

Now, just so we're clear, I don't think that Ahsoka is Anakin/Vader's equal, and in a straight up fight with no strings attached, she would ultimately loose just as she did on Malachor. But the simple fact that she acquitted herself as well as she did against Vader's unrestrained specter is absolutely incredible. I'll go so far as to say that Ahsoka performed better than the vast majority of the people Vader fought in his career even if she didn't actually win.

So, yeah. Ahsoka Tano is a beast. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

#star wars #ahsoka series #anakin skywalker #ahsoka tano #darth vader #fight analysis #meta #just another reason to love this fight

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shivunin · 7 months

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🎇20 Questions for Fic Writers🎇

Thanks for the tag @greypetrel my dear!

1. how many works do you have on ao3? 35

2. what’s your total ao3 word count? 641,898

3. what fandoms do you write for? So far? Dragon Age (all three games), but I have unfinished Mass Effect and BG3 things as well c:

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

-Your Fate for Mine (A "what if the Inquisitor was left behind in the Fade?" AU | Cullavellan | 129,681 words)

-Unyielding/Inexorable (Cullen throws hands with a member of the nobility at the Winter Palace; the follow-up is about a duel to settle things | Cullavellan | 3,083 and 8,055 words respectively)

-More than Memory (Smut about cultural differences and expressing one's needs | Cullavellan | 5,214 words)

-Search Your Hands (An exploration of the Dalish courting gift tradition with some mild smutty elements | Cullavellan | 13,581 words) (it doesn't have the most kudos, but this is by a significant margin my most-liked fic with respect to the views: kudos: bookmarks ratio)

-Wander the Drifting Roads (A "Cullen is infected with red lyrium" AU, but the focus is on how memory forms who we are and why the loss of it changes everything | Cullavellan | 108,331 words)

5. do you respond to comments? Yes, excepting the rare occasions that they are just emojis because (though I appreciate them!!) I never know what to say dsfahkjsfhk. The more I cherish a comment, the longer it takes me to answer (because I am hugging them to my chest and sobbing)

6. what’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Hmmm Palimpsest, I think, because it ends with Fenris just after the Act 2 breakup and things are somewhat bleak. I am definitely more a happy endings kind of gal. Or a "if it's not fixed, it's not the end" sort, maybe.

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Pour Forth (the Fenris not crying fic) I think? To the Bone (Cullavellan soulmate AU) is right up there, I think.

8. do you get hate on fics? I've had a couple of snarky comments about my writing style, but people have generally been very sweet.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind? Lol. Yes. I find it harder to write smut for some pairings than others, but I really enjoy writing smut. I think smut can be a very incisive window into a pairing's dynamic and feelings about intimacy. What's more, I think I'm decent at writing it haha

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written? Not really! I don't see myself doing so, either. Just not my cup of tea.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

12. have you ever had a fic translated? I have not

13. have you ever co-written a fic before? No, but I have rp'd one of my Dragon Age OC's in a narrative context (which is sort of similar, I think)

14. what’s your all-time favorite ship? October/Tybalt. I will never write fic for the October Daye series, but I would die for them. Their whole battle couple (opposites attract, damaged people finding vulnerability and love, aggrieved rogue chases Hero around) dynamic has got me twirling my hair, kicking my feet, etc.

But of course, all of the DA ships I write for are a very close second place. Just all jammed uncomfortably in the doorway at once, Fenris's gauntlets poking poor Emma in the arm and Cullen's breastplate caught between Wen and the doorway, etc.

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? The Red Crossing Arrangement, my "what if the elves never lost Halamshiral" arranged marriage AU. The concept is so unimaginably cool, but there is a level of worldbuilding required to make it work that eventually sucked all the fun out of the project for me. Ideally...someday, I'll pick it back up again because I love the concept.

16. what are your writing strengths? This is always such a hard question to answer. It's going to sound vague, but I think one of my greatest skills is voice. I am pretty good at matching character and narrative voice to canon. I also think conveying emotions in a visceral way? I hope so, anyway c:

17. what are your writing weaknesses? Scenery. By like a very very big margin. Every first draft has almost no description of scenery in it, so I have a huge amount of respect for writers who are skilled at that. It's definitely my biggest challenge (I fall into the same trap when I'm DM'ing too T.T)

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? Ehhhh mixed. I wouldn't want to screw up someone else's actual language, so I'd only want to do it if I knew someone who could proof it for me or if I knew the language myself. I only know Latin (rusty) and Spanish (intermediate) besides English, so I'll likely stick to what I know. I have written very brief dialogue in both Spanish and Latin for fics, though. More as a way of evoking the culture of the person speaking than for any other reason.

19. first fandom you wrote for? hahaha. well. Code Lyoko when I was 13. And then not at all again until I was 28.

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written? :C I have to choose one?? Aside from any of the ones mentioned above, Breath of Life (Zev almost dies in the fight against Taliesen, because it's one of my favorite tropes) or A Golden Bell Hung in my Heart (because it's DA flavored with The Last Unicorn and I wrote it for a dear friend; what's not to love?) or As Two Reflected Stars (because it's quintessential hurt/comfort wound-tending and I adore that most of all)

Tagging back (no pressure, feel free not to do this): @star--nymph @zenstrike @jtownnn @idolsgf @dreadfutures @scribbledquillz @ndostairlyrium @vakarians-babe @nightwardenminthara @heniareth @transprincecaspian and anyone else I usually tag but am forgetting somehow---you're supposed to be here, I swear, but tonight my brain is tapioca pudding.

#tag game #long post

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wits-writing · 1 year

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We Just Got a Letter(boxd)!: Star Wars Sundays

Back at the start of this year (as in the literal first thing I did on New Years Day) I decided to start up a weekly rewatch of all the live action Star Wars movies in release order.

Called it my “Star Wars Sundays”

It was intended to be something I did just for fun and just for myself. The further I went along into the series I found myself with more to say as my enthusiasm for this universe hit in a way it hasn’t in a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. That enthusiasm came through in what I was writing as I logged each movie into my Letterboxd profile, giving insight into whatever stood out to me (for better or worse) with each film. Mainly in the form of whatever about the movie was most immediately on my mind after watching.

Do I think anything I had to say is a particularly hot take on Star Wars? Somehow bringing something new to the discussion of one of the most thoroughly discussed film series ever made?

Not really.

But even as what I was writing about this movies got more detailed as I went along, I never lost the sense of fun I was having.

So since it’s The Day the Internet Drives a Star Wars Pun Into the Ground, I figured I may as well compile everything I wrote about those movies over those eleven weeks in one place.

Let’s get this started

Star Wars (Watched: 1/1/2023)

Starting a weekly release order rewatch of these movies, my first full look back at them in a while.

There’s an argument to be made that this original is still the weirdest of all the movies in a wonderful way!

[Note from the present: If I’d known I’d be posting these all together here, probably would’ve had more to say about this one]

The Empire Strikes Back (Watched: 1/8/2023)

The willful denial of closure by making the followup to one of the greatest crowd-pleasers of all time a story where the bad guys win and the heroes are stuck with their backs to the wall set a precedent that all "darker sequels" since have been trying to emulate.

Though the imitators often miss how character focused everything leading up to the downer ending of this movie. All the big spectacle action here is front loaded into the battle on Hoth before the scope focuses down for the rest of the movie on Luke's training with Yoda and Leia/Han's romantic back and forth.

Return of the Jedi (Watched 1/15/2023)

As a kid this one was always my favorite and the parts that made it that still hold up; escaping Jabba's clutches, the speeder bike chase, Luke's final confrontation with Vader, and plenty others.

But you can feel this one stretching out at the seams in a way the previous two did not. The narrative momentum those movie's benefited from is conspicuously absent here until the story's final third. Plus the ways Lucas was exhausted from managing these massive productions at this point shows in certain story decisions, like the hasty retcon to turn Leia into Luke's sister as a way to pay off the "No, there is another" tease from Empire. Thus closing off the original outline for the sequel trilogy, which would've focused on Luke's non-Leia twin sister.

All that said, by the time this movie is over and everyone's celebrating their victory together I can't help but feel my spirits being lifted as a smile winds up on my face.

The Phantom Menace (Watched 1/22/2023)

To say a few nice things; when the storytelling in this movie is purely done through the visuals, it's actually pretty great. That's probably the reason the Duel of the Fates sequence is so fondly remembered, no bit of story telling is stronger in this movie than the body languages of Qui Gon, Obi Wan, and Maul while the three are trapped between force fields.

The thematic groundwork this lays out for the rest of the prequels is also fairly interesting. Presenting the pristine style of the systems under the Republic in contrast to an Outer Rim territory like Tatooine. Which also speak to the misplaced confidence the Republic has in its own operation with hints laid that this is more a Gilded Age than a golden one, with corruption and greed laying just below the surface.

The problem is that everything around those elements of the story and even some of those used to communicate it are so stiffly delivered. Either through the pacing or the delivery from the actors. Plus this movie sucks at communicating its stakes, we hear so much about how Naboo is suffering under the Trade Federation's occupation but are shown no evidence of it even once. We spend so much time among aristocrats, politicians, and Jedi that this movie forgets to consider portraying the common people in any form besides the occasional line here or there.

This was the Star Wars movie I always felt like revisiting the least when I was a kid. While there are ones I dislike more now (we'll get there in the coming weeks), this rewatch made me remember why that was.

Attack of the Clones (Watched: 1/29/2023)

There's definitely something to be said for how this movie chooses to be about the birth of the Galactic Empire. Obi-Wan's plot following the machinations and conspiracies that are literally manufacturing the armed forces for both sides of the upcoming Clone War drives our view into that aspect of the story. Genuinely love the way it culminates in Dooku flatout telling Kenobi what's happening with the Republic in the lead up to this war. Whether the Jedi believes him or not, it strikes a division between the Jedi Order and those they serve regardless.

Anakin's side of the story, on the other hand, has to rest a lot of its substance on George Lucas' (self-admitted) lackluster dialogue. Since the Prequels started with Anakin so young and innocent, this movie needs to sell us on Anakin both as a noble Jedi Apprentice in his own right and as someone on the edge of falling to the Dark Side. It winds up in a place where his journey to evil feel rushed and underdeveloped as it gets left off in this entry.

Revenge of the Sith (Watched: 2/5/2023)

The Prequel Trilogy's central trio of characters is clearly meant to be Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme. A big problem this movie has is that one member of that trio is given no agency or story to speak of for themselves. Padme's entire character gets reduced to "worried about Anakin" and her utility in the plot down to "gives birth to Luke and Leia." I can't argue with the fact that she gets the best line in the movie with "So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause." But one good line does not make up for every other misstep this movie makes with her.

Those problems with the part Padme plays in this movie are in line with the problems Revenge of the Sith has in its overall plotting. It's in a rush to get everything to where the audience remembers it being at the beginning of the 1977 original film. Which gets in the way of the good things this movie does have going for it.

I enjoy the opening 20 minute long set piece's role in this narrative as a last "just for fun" adventure for Anakin and Obi-Wan. It create the necessary dramatic contrast to how they end the movie on opposite sides. This movie is also dramatically playing on what I said about Attack of the Clones, the Republic was already the Galactic Empire in all but name by the time that movie ended. What we see here are simply the last steps Palpatine has to take to make sure there are no more obstacles in his way.

Purely from a broad plotting standpoint this is a perfectly tragic finale to a trilogy that was always building to tragedy. But the rush it's in to make sure that tragedy can happen within its runtime ends up failing several key elements that could've made this a stronger movie.

The Force Awakens (Watched: 2/12/2023)

I love how effectively this movie sets up its two leads in Rey and Finn. The first chunk of this movie dedicated to setting up each of them as fundamentally lost people, but in inverse ways.

Through the village massacre by the First Order that opens the movie and helping Poe escape, we see Finn realize he wants no place in the fascist idea of "order" he's been raised/trained in. He decides to start running and that brings him right into the path of the people that are going to start changing his life for the better, Poe and Rey.

While Finn's defined by how he's running from danger, Rey's established as someone determined to stay put despite dreaming of adventures like those in the legends she's heard. A character trait acutely visualized when she takes time out from eating her dinner to put on an old Rebellion pilot helmet as she watches starships leave Jakku. Coming across BB-8 puts her on a path that winds up crossing with Finn's and winds up forcing her out of her desolate situation as a scavenger gathering scraps of tech in exchange for scraps of food. Waiting for people that are never going to come back for her.

The journey this movie takes them on together culminates when they reunite. Finn chooses to run towards the First Order for the sake of his friend after spending the whole movie determined to run away. In doing that, he winds up proving to Rey that she now has people in her life that care enough to come back for her.

Rogue One (Watched: 2/19/2023)

(Note: I haven't watched Andor yet and fully intend to at some point)

I deeply wish this entire movie was as well executed as its final act.

Up until the mission on Scarif, Rogue One is fairly scattershot in terms of how it executes on the ideas it presents. A nature reflected in the narrative structure provided by the films editing. A problem that starts early on as we quickly jump from Jyn as a child in the prologue to her as an imprisoned adult for all of thirty seconds before jumping directly into Cassian's introduction. We don't get to know how Jyn is living with her current situation and only get told about it later when she meets with Saw Gerrera.

The majority of the titular squadron don't really get much breathing room for us to get to know them. Their personalities mostly communicated through quick inferences. Ones that all make me want to know and see more of them, but still simply inferences.

One character who is incredibly well developed that I've loved since the first time I saw this movie is Ben Mendelsohn as Imperial Director Orson Krennic. A figure who wields what limited power he has in the Galactic Empire's structure with great pride and takes it incredibly personal when that power doesn't grant him more reward than his superiors are willing to deal out (or even actively deny.) A perfect balancing act between menacing and pathetic.

Which brings us back to this movie's final act on Scarif, because Krennic's position within the Empire plays in parallel to the position of the rebel soldiers that make up the unit of Rogue One. While Krennic longs for recognition at any cost short of himself, Rogue One fight to make the Galaxy a better place even if they're never recognized for it. The ideological division, mixed with some of the best on screen action in a Star Wars film makes this movie's bittersweet conclusion strong enough to make up for the messy way the movie gets there.

The Last Jedi (Watched: 2/26/2023)

Despite the hell of modern Star Wars discourse, despite what followed in this trilogy, despite everything...

This is still my absolute favorite Star Wars movie!

A movie that says hope isn't just something to believe in, but something you can create for yourself and others

A movie that says it's never too late to learn from your failures and that those failures don't define you

A movie that says our place in the world and among those we love are not preordained but the product of our choices

A movie that to this day reminds me of why I fell in love with Star Wars to begin with!

I wish I could be more elaborate and articulate about this, but in the immediate aftermath of this rewatch, the fact that it still has the effect it did on me when I first saw it in the theater is overwhelming.

All coming down to the great action, fun characters, spectacular visuals, and the perfect final shot!

Solo (Watched: 3/5/2023)

I'll take this over a hundred deep-faked Luke Skywalkers!

Alden Ehrenreich plays a character I can believe grows into the smug scoundrel we all remember from the original trilogy. Trying to act like he's not flying by the seat of his pants at any given moment, improvising his way around every new dangerous scenario.

The action set pieces here are a nice, varied series of heists across the various parts of the criminal underworld of A Galaxy Far Far Away. My absolute favorite being the chaos that gets unleashed on Kessel.

Feel like some people never gave this one a fair shot, but I still find it a pretty damn delightful space adventure.

The Rise of Skywalker (Watched: 3/12/2023)

A large part of why this movie still rubs me the wrong way is that I can tell it is trying so hard to be a satisfying, high-energy, action-adventure that also brings some form of thematic closure to the "Skywalker Saga." (A term for the nine "Episode" movies in the film series that was invented for the sake of marketing this movie.)

But I would've been fine with a movie that just brought a satisfying conclusion to this trilogy as its own thing. The only story line that does feel like it's prioritizing the weight of this trilogy's themes in this movie is Poe's character arc, picking up right from where we left him in The Last Jedi. An arc that asks whether the spark of rebellion will in fact come through to light the fire that will burn the First Order to the ground.

Culminating in a moment that I should, in theory, absolutely love, where those ordinary people gather up to join the final battle and turn the tide in The Resistance's favor. All the while the villains are baffled that the ones out maneuvering them are "just people" rather than an organized fleet.

But I can't feel what that moment's going for because it gets buried in The Palpatine of It All, which drags everything this movie could've had going for it down. The presence of the classic Star Wars' biggest Big Bad winds up being the main thing to override what the previous movies in this trilogy built up, especially with Rey. Her arc in this movie requires her to push away the very bonds she spent the previous two movies building after a life in isolation, but it feels so... forced (for lack of a better term.) To the very last minute this movie doesn't actually seem to care about those bonds, because where we could've ended on the shot of Rey, Finn, and Poe hugging in relief in celebration, we instead tack on a lazy callback to A New Hope where Rey is back where we first found her, alone on a desert planet.

Going through these movies on a weekly basis throughout the year so far, I've tried to find stuff to like in each of them no matter what my preexisting opinions of them were. Even in the ones I don't necessarily like, I managed that. But with The Rise of Skywalker, even finding those things (I genuinely think the fight between Rey and Kylo on the Death Star wreckage is the most interestingly choreographed fight in this trilogy) didn't make up for what it lacks.

If you like what you’ve read here, please like/reblog or share elsewhere online, follow me on Twitter (@WC_WIT), and consider throwing some support my way at either Ko-Fi.com or Patreon.com at the extension “/witswriting”

#star wars #movie review #wit's writing #We Just Got a Letter(boxd)#a new hope #the empire strikes back #return of the jedi #the phantom menace #attack of the clones #revenge of the sith #the force awakens #rogue one #the last jedi #solo: a star wars story #the rise of skywalker

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grailfinders · 2 years

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Fate and Phantasms Viewers' Choice #7: Kirschtaria Wodime

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’ve got another Crypter in our sights for our viewers’ choice build- that’s right, today we’re building none other than the man, the mage, the ender of spelling bees, Kirschtaria Wodime. Now this build was pretty strange to put together. Like most of the other crypters, we don’t really interact with Kirsch enough to get a good idea of what he can do- outside of the giant meteor storm thing that’s specifically lostbelt-only. What we do know is he’s great at planning, and the problem with big brain strategist characters is that you gotta be big brain to play them. If you’re anything like me, you’re at the D&D table to do literally anything but that.

Thankfully, there’s another way to make your character look prepared for everything, and it’s something that both I and delightworks have used heavily when it comes to Kirschtaria- cheat like hell! That and his Astromancy is why he’s a Divination Wizard, though we’ll also hop into Fighter juuust a bit to help him be an even better wizard. I promise that makes sense.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

(Also worth noting, while we aren't getting too deep into the events of lostbelt 5 there is still going to be mention of stuff, so expect spoilers.)

Race and Background

Kirschtaria is a Human, even if he’s turned against the race’s history, so he gets +1 Dexterity and Intelligence, as well as proficiency in Arcana and the Lucky feat so you can get away with just about anything and say you planned it ahead of time. Now you can re-roll just about any d20 you see happen up to 3 times per day.

Kirsch is pretty much the closest thing magecraft has to a Noble- rich, powerful, bears the weight of the world on his shoulders, absolutely fucked family dynamics- anyways, that’s why he’s got proficiency in History and Persuasion. If you’re going to work with mankind’s greatest heroes, it’s a good idea to recognize them.

Ability Scores

your Intelligence should be your highest score, both for planning purposes and also your magic. if you’re going to wipe out servants in a single spell, it’s got to be maxed out as fast as possible. after that comes Wisdom. It’s hard to plan for stuff you can’t see coming. your Dexterity has to be next, both for your little sword dealie and also so you don’t die just wearing mage armor. After that is Constitution. You’re still working off that wound, but you wouldn’t be here at all if you weren’t slightly harder to kill than most mages. That means we’re putting Charisma and Strength as the low points. You don’t really connect with people much, and mages don’t lift much either.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: I’m sure you trained in magic from a young age, but you had a physical body first, so we’re starting as a fighter. This gives you proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, as well as two skills like Insight and Perception.

You get the Dueling fighting style so that if you’re stuck using your sword at least it’s not terrible with an additional +2 damage with one-handed weapons, and you also gain a Second Wind, letting you heal yourself as a bonus action once per short rest. Again, not fucking dying is your specialty.

2. Fighter 2: Second level fighters get an Action Surge, giving you a limit-free extra action once per short rest, and yes it can be used to cast a second leveled spell in a single turn. When you get spells, that is.

3. Wizard 1: First level wizards get Spells that you cast and prepare using your Intelligence. And here’s where another problem for the build comes in. We know Kirsch is a great mage, but we only ever see him use the meteor thing- tbh it’s not like he’d need anything else. What that means is most of your spell list is just going to read “whatever tf you feel appropriate for your campaign. If something absolutely mandatory pops up we’ll let you know, but don’t expect much detail from us.

That being said we’re definitely getting the staples Mage Armor and Magic Missile- you wouldn’t be a true FGO caster without casterballs. Just to be on the safe side, let’s also pick up Protection from Evil and Good, just in case Castor tries anything funny.

I know we’re starting on the magic, late, but to make up for it you can use an Arcane Recovery once a day, regaining a few spell slots over a short rest!

4. Wizard 2: At second level you become a Divination Savant, meaning divination spells cost less and take less time to copy over. I’m still not sure why WotC made it so wizards are actively discouraged from picking up the spells they specialize in at character creation, but it’s part of the game now!

More importantly, as a divination wizard you’re gaining Portents at the end of each long rest. When you wake up, you roll 2 d20s. Then at any point throughout the day you can stop a d20 roll you see from happening, replacing it with one of those d20s you rolled earlier, once per die rolled.

5. Wizard 3: Third level wizards get second level spells, though there isn’t much we need to be Kirschtaria. Turns out the mage equal to the gods prefers high-level stuff, wild huh?

6. Wizard 4: We still don’t need more spells, but we get an Ability Score Improvement, so you can improve your Intelligence for stronger spells.

7. Wizard 5: Fifth level wizards get third level spells, and we’ll pick up Sending to send messages to other crypters with only a 5% chance of failure as well as Fireball for a small meteor to start off with.

8. Wizard 6: Sixth level divination wizards know Expert Divination- if you spend a slot on a divination spell, you can regain a lower level spell slot too! We’ll also grab Nondetection here- it’s nice to hold onto reminders of the past.

9. Wizard 7: Seventh level wizards get fourth level spells like Divination, the actual intended use of Astromancy. It might not be as cool as giant meteors, but at least you don’t need to betray humanity to get it.

10. Wizard 8: Use this ASI to max out your Intelligence. Yep, you’re the ultimate lifeform now.

11. Wizard 9: Ninth level wizards get fifth level spells, and if you want to plan hard enough to fight gods, one thing you’ll need is Legend Lore. It’ll also help with servants, but it still leaves Guda as a wildcard.

12. Wizard 10: Tenth level divination wizards gain The Third Eye- spend an action once a short rest to gain either darkvision, ethereal sight, the ability to read any language, or the ability to see invisibility until your next short rest. I’m not sure if ancient Greek came up in your tutoring, but now you don’t have to worry too much about that.

13. Wizard 11: Eleventh level wizards get sixth level spells, and if you want the most powerful beams in the business you gotta go with Disintegrate. Either they make the dexterity save, or they take a ton of force damage and instantly super die if they hit 0 HP because of it.

14. Wizard 12: We probably should have done this earlier, but you’re a Prodigy, so we better pick up the feat. This gives you proficiency in Investigation, as well as proficiency in one tool of your choice and doubled proficiency in Arcana, just to dunk on rogues.

15. Wizard 13: With your new seventh level spells, you can now Plane Shift over to other lostbelts if you so chose to.

16. Wizard 14: Apparently divination wizards took a page out of fighter’s book, since they figured the best endgame stuff was what you got at level 2 but more. Your Greater Portents give you a third die to roll each day on your portent stuff. Yep. 3 instead of 2. tbh this was already busted back then, so making it a little better is still great.

17. Wizard 15: We’re almost to the lostbelt, just gotta grab an eighth level spell first. Sunburst is a burst of magical energy forcing a constitution save on anything inside the radius. If they fail, they take radiant damage and become blinded.

18. Wizard 16: By this point you’ve died twice and come back stronger for it, so let’s use this last ASI on the Tough feat- it gives you +36 max HP now, and an additional +2 every time you level up afterwards. I don’t know how the fuck you managed to get 795,850 HP while Guda only has less than 200, but here you go.

19. Wizard 17: Finally, we get to the peak of magic with some ninth level spells. Meteor Swarm is the big kahuna you’ve been waiting for. Pick four points within a mile of you to fuck up. Launch 40’ radius meteors at each of those points. Force a dexterity save on everything in those areas, dealing a shitload of fire and bludgeoning damage to each of them. It’s not subtle, but neither are the gods.

We’ll also grab Foresight for when you’re not in the Greek lostbelt. It’s fortunetelling taken to the absolute extreme- spend 1 minute casting, and for the next 8 hours you’ll have advantage on all attacks, saves, and checks- not only that, but everyone trying to hit you has disadvantage.

20. Wizard 18: Our final level of this build gives you Spell Mastery over a first and second level spell. Now you can cast those spells without using a spell slot, so long as they aren’t upcast. Honestly I’d pick Protection from Evil and Good and maybe Augury, since neither of those care about being upcast anyway. Infinite magic missiles sounds cool and all, but I don’t think 3d4+3 per action is going to get you anywhere.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

You are a wizard. Seriously, wizards are just. very, very powerful in D&D, and one that has an extra action to pump magic out is nothing to sneeze at. Also, your expert divination helps you gain slots back faster than most casters, so you can actually afford to spam magic longer than your average sorcerer.

You are The Best at strategy. You’re smart, you’ve got training in all the relevant skills, you can see into the fucking future, and even if something goes wrong you’ve got portents and luck to set it back on track.

You’re also incredibly flexible outside of combat. Even with just the spells we mentioned, you’re still a force to be reckoned with, and you’ve got 26 more to slot in as you see fit. Even if we’re not talking about pulling off crazy heists or plans future sight and portents are just always useful to have on hand. There is no point where taking you along is a bad move.

Cons:

If you don’t see someone coming, you might have a bad time in a fight. You’ve got less than 150 HP and an AC of 15 if you’re playing to character, so you’re awfully squishy, even with your fighter goodies.

Also, I understand a dnd build where more than half the spells aren’t chosen for you is kind of a copout. Yell at Nasu for not letting Kirsch do more than one cool thing in his lostbelt.

I guess you have low strength? Anything not shredded by meteors could come in and shove you? I guess? Wizards don’t have a lot of issues once they’ve got ninth level spells.

#fgo #Fate grand order #D&D 5e #DND #kirschtaria wodime #fighter #wizard #fgo spoilers #lostbelt 5 spoilers #lb 5 spoilers

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recklawmusing · 2 months

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Legacies

Recently I've been organizing a semi-regular movie night for some streamer friends. I was hoping to be intentional about community building, and wanted to give the group something easy to drop into if they were available and just vibe. It also ended up transforming one of my new year's resolutions. I had wanted to go out and see a new movie in theaters at least once a month, but instead I've been watching a lot of movies that came out years ago and I've never really revisited. Some have really held up, like Trolls and Kung Fu Panda 2. Others we watched have not fared as well.

We recently watched Pitch Perfect, which still sounds like a fun movie on paper. Acapella group sing offs, musical mashups, a tiny bit of romance, and a star studded cast led by Anna Kendrick; I was honestly excited to rewatch it and laugh at a silly little comedy about singing. But then as we watched it, a lot of the jokes fell flat or felt out of place and there was so much more vomiting than I remembered. At least the music parts were still really fun, and I'm hopeful that there's more of those sections whenever we get around to watching the next one.

I also happen to love cheesy romantic plotlines, and the chemistry of the two leads was just enough to make me want to root for them. Skylar Astin had a puppy dog charm throughout the film; he was goofy and silly, and though parts of his pursuit were dated, his character always felt genuinely filled with joy and an openness. Halfway through the movie, his character reveals a passion for film scores, and lists of some of the greatest movies ever created as his inspirations. He wants to chase down the roads carved by the legends of the industry and make scores himself, and it's easy to find yourself wondering if Astin picked the movies to list off with the way he exudes pure adoration for the craft, even as Kendrick's character scoffs and dismisses the films.

This isn't actually about Pitch Perfect, by the way.

This is about Star Wars.

"Are you a big star wars fan," I was recently asked on a dating app.

I thought for a few minutes before responding. Overthinking, mostly. In my mind, a big fan meant cosplaying characters, or creating works derived from the setting. A big fan would buy merch, have a whole display dedicated to collected toys or props, or have read all of the books in both canons, collected the comics, do things that proclaimed to anyone nearby "I'm a fan of Star Wars!"

"I wouldn't say I'm a big fan, but I guess I'd be a medium fan?" I finally responded. "It's just always had a constant presence in my life."

It's surprising to me that I don't really remember watching the original trilogy. I know that we owned VHS copies. The dark paper covers stood out on the shelf against the white plastic cases of the Disney movies, so it was easy to spot them anytime I went to grab some other cassette. I can't actually remember the first time I watched Star Wars, or even which movie I saw first. It's just a feeling, with no evidence to back it up, but I think the first may have been The Phantom Menace.

I haven't watched the movie in over a decade, but I can still picture so much of the movie playing in my mind. Qui Gon slicing through the ship's door with his lightsaber near the beginning, the introduction of those rolling droids with the shields, Jar Jar Binks, the podracing scenes. Even tinier details like Qui Gon and Obi Wan using those little rebreather devices as they dive to meet the Gungans, or the design of the droid tanks that get used in the battle of Naboo.

I saw the movie ages before I heard it being discussed as a "good" movie or a "bad" one. To me, it was magical; it was fun; it was impossible not to get hooked. Seriously, try being six years old (maybe) and watching the scene of Darth Maul facing off against Qui Gon and Obi Wan, "Duel of the Fates" crescendoing, and then his lightsaber ignites on BOTH SIDES. How are you not supposed to fall in love with that?

And then to go on and watch the originals. Luke's journey from farm boy to Jedi. Han and Chewie's adventures in the Millennium Falcon. Princess Leia firing off retorts. The striking presence of Darth Vader. I didn't watch movies critically at that age, but I think part of me always knew instinctively that what I was watching was spun from the same fabric as other stories I loved. In Star Wars, I saw myths, fairy tales, the westerns I would watch with my grandfather. I couldn't have expressed those connections until I was much older, but I felt the influences in the films, and they resonated with me.

I can remember practicing the sound of Darth Vader's breathing, one of the first sounds I wanted to mimic. I remember seeing Attack of the Clones (vaguely) and Revenge of the Sith (more clearly) in theaters, contributing to my love of watching movies on a big screen in a dark room full of strangers. I don't love every aspect of Star Wars. Maybe it's impossible to love every part of that galaxy, now that there's so much more of it. I went into The Force Awakens an eager nerd, ready to watch more adventures in a great big galaxy, and walked out enjoying what I had seen. Mostly. It didn't feel quite as fresh as I had hoped, but it was still more Star Wars! The Last Jedi was fun too, but parts felt a little like a let down. I don't even wanna talk about how walking out of The Rise of Skywalker put me off of going to the movies at ALL for months.

One theme kept standing out as I watched the movies: legacy. Kylo Ren is so devoted to Darth Vader's legacy that he forsakes his father's name. Rey's story is constantly forced to become one about her quest to find her parents, to learn her own legacy. The First Order is just an attempt to regain the status of the Empire, Starkiller base echoing the Death Star, but in a bloated, distorted manner. Like it wants to become the superweapon we all held the Death Star as in our minds, something massive and undefeatable and overpowered. "Somehow, the Emperor returns," to remind us that the only real threat is and always has been Palpatine.

Smarter people than me could probably dissect this theme and its prominence as a response to new leaders stepping up to direct these new Star Wars movies. Hell, they probably have already. And there's nothing WRONG with the theme being something the filmmakers might have wanted to explore in the movies. It just felt, to me, constricted. The Star Wars galaxy is massive, and yet, we had to go back to the same piano and hit the same notes that have already been played.

I've always enjoyed the Solo movie, with my main critiques being all those parts that exist solely to remind you that the main character is Han Solo. Watching the sequel trilogy felt like it amplified those feelings. The films told me that it mattered that they were Star Wars movies, not because of the inspiration they were rooted in, and the way they connected and expanded those base ideas, but because Darth Vader, and Leia, and Han, and Chewie, and Luke, and the Emperor, and Stormtroopers, and the Death Star were still there.

The sequel trilogy movies, especially The Rise of Skywalker, told me that the magic of Star Wars I'd felt growing up wasn't really the important part. The important part of Star Wars is spelled out by Anna Kendrick's character in Pitch Perfect, as she scoffs at the "predictable" ending of The Empire Strikes Back. "Vader in German means father. His name literally means Dark Father."

This isn't actually about Star Wars. It's about my father.

My dad is not Darth Vader. He was enlisted in the Navy, and I could probably be cheeky and draw some parallels to my father working as a low-level imperial officer, but he wasn't some force of evil.

He was distant. His work in the Navy bounced us up and down the east coast. We'd move every few years which made it hard to set down roots and really maintain friendships. Sometimes he'd get deployed and be gone for a few months, which only made it harder to ever find a rhythm to get closer to him. Even when he was home, our interests diverged and we never really found a way to connect.

When I was in high school, my parents got divorced. It's hard to remember liking my dad before that time, my shoddy memory only highlights the times he'd be arguing with my mom in a raised voice, or spankings I'd gotten for some reason or another. But after that, I think I hated my dad for a while. The gap that existed between us widened, and I sawed off the ends I was able to reach to make sure it was as impassable as it could be. It was never enough to escape his orbit fully.

My life's not a movie and it doesn't have themes, but my dad's legacy is one I've always run from. He was, as a metaphor, Anakin letting the hate flow through him. He was angry and stern and ordered, red in the face matching red of a lightsaber. I was scared that I was destined to become like him, that if I journeyed into that cave on Dagobah, I too would see my face inside my father's helmet.

I wasn't a rebel and he wasn't the empire, but we stood on opposed sides over so much. I wasn't Luke. There'd be no meaningful redemption of my father in his final moments. He wasn't Vader, persuading me to join him and rule the galaxy forever. He was just an example of what I wanted to avoid becoming.

I'm not just talking about my dad in Star Wars terms because they're fun imagery. I also cannot separate a lot of my memories of Star Wars from my memories of my dad.

At the end of high school, I was briefly in a long distance relationship with a girl I'd never met. A week before we set to meet each other in person for the first time, she broke things off and shattered my heart. The next week, I was at my dad's, and we watched the original Star Wars trilogy. He didn't really console me, or offer any words of advice on how to process my heartbreak, and he owned the blu-ray versions of the originals, with all their strange additions and edits, but that's the only strong memory I have of actually watching those movies. A few years later, I stayed with him over my college's winter break. That Christmas, The Force Awakens was released in theaters, and I drove down the hill and saw it at the theater by his house.

We saw The Last Jedi in theaters together when it was released.

I don't hate my dad anymore. I still don't like him, and I don't agree with his views or how he treats waitstaff. I can't forgive him for how he's hurt people who I care about. But my present feelings towards my father are like those I have for the sequel trilogy - I try not to think about them that much. The galaxy is wide, and there are stories I love to watch instead, and people I love to focus my energies on.

For all the interests I've shared with my mom though, she's never been a space adventures person. Someone else had to be the one to buy those VHS tapes I'd see on our shelf.

So I do have to thank my dad for giving me Star Wars.

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perfectlywisedelusions · 3 years

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For bored people (like me)

Here's a link to a complete audio comic of the Darth Maul 5-comic series. It’s amazing

Here's a link to the Darth Maul Son of Dathomir audio comic

Here's a link to an AI run inspiration quote generator than will keep you entertained for hours.

Here's the link to the the first 40 minutes of The Fellowship of the Ring free (not extended edition :( (but still great)

Here's a link to a LOTR video that speeds up every time ring is said (ends up giving you a headache. Don’t watch if flashing lights bother you. But it’s fun)

Here's a link to a book I really like, online for free. These are the links to the second and third.

Here's the link to one of many in a set of Barbie movie edits that make me crack up every time.

Here's a link to an Are They Gay video I binge about once a month.

Here's a link to an epic saga that makes me laugh. A lot.

Here's the link to a very interesting game. It’s kind of creepy and weird but it keeps you entertained and it’s also pretty neat to replay.

Here's the link to a way to download podcasts to your computer on Spotify (which you can get free), in case you are in school or in a place where the Wifi blocks it.

Here's the link to all of Buzzfeed Unsolved (although the first few really short episodes don’t have Shane, so maybe skip those) It’s a fun dive into true crime, or the supernatural, if you watch those.

Here's the link to a film/anime review channel that I really like because, you know, film nerd here. If that interests you, of course.

Here's a link to a step-by-step process of how to create a free account on Funimation or Crunchyroll so you can watch anime for free!

Here's a link to book recommendations by me, if you can find ways to access them.

Here's a link to Puppet History, which is perhaps the greatest thing ever created.

Here's a link to a video that proves that Zemo can dance to anything. And yes, it’s as amazing as it sounds.

Here's a link to the entire Star Wars saga but it’s just the memes.

Here's the same thing but with the MCU.

Here's a link to the only good thing to ever come out of ScreenRant, aka the Pitch Meetings.

Here's a link to one dude singing the entire orchestra in Duel of the Fates because, you know, priorities.

Here's an impossible piano song that’s actually kind of a bop.

Here's a Try Not to Laugh if you’re feeling down. At the least it has a bangin’ soundtrack.

Here's a video that’s-oh just watch it.

Here's the link to all 3+seasons of Miraculous Ladybug, available on YouTube for free. It’s the world’s greatest guilty pleasure show. Besides, who doesn’t want to watch pirated copies of an animated French kid’s cartoon in varying degrees of quality? I will be updating season 4 links as it is currently dropping.

Here's where you can watch one of the most iconic movies ever, a Cinderella Story, for free (with ads).

Here's a video that you gotta watch with closed captions on because it adds a lot.

And lastly, if you want to ask me something, feel free to. It can be about anything.

Hope this helps. Feel free to reblog and add what you use to bust your boredom.

#i'm bored #i was bored #this took a long time anyway hope this helps #don't ask why there's a barbie post please #ok fine i watched those movies as a little kid and now have repressed memories #boredom #how to fix boredom #star wars #marvel #what to do when you're bored #lotr #puppet history #buzzfeed unsolved network #anime #ultimate anti boredom compilation

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that-wizard-oki · 3 years

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SO hear me out on a theory. Say the Wizard made realized they are very similar to Morganthe. We know they probably weren’t in the greatest mental place after Azteca. Due to this guilt, the Wizard becomes irrationally terrified that they will end up just like Morganthe. They are willing to do anything to prove they are not the same, and so they become reckless and cruel, eventually killing her. I think this would explain why the Wizard easily releases Spider and allows Morganthe to die. Thoughts?

Yeeeeep. That's spot on to what I've been saying- I think the wizard, especially after Azteca's events, are projecting their own insecurity about being a failure on Morganthe because she, in the wizard's eyes, represents failure to a t. To become anything akin to Morganthe is their worst fear.

Not only that, but Morganthe has proved to be someone who can and HAS rivaled the Wizard in terms of power and skill. That's why Azteca was so pivotal for the Wizard- before then, while they may have resented Morganthe for what she was doing, there wasn't necessarily anything super personal between the two, outside of Morganthe's banter about Merle and similar. But when Morganthe destroyed Azteca- that was the first time our Wizard truly faced failure. Morganthe challenged our title as savior, which in turn would also make the Wizard likely question whether they SHOULD be savior- but they have to be. All their relationships with everyone they've ever met rely on the fact that they are Savior. We aren't anything if not the Savior.

And like you've said anon, that would make the Wizards pursuit of Morganthe in Khrysalis more ruthlessly motivated. Unfortunately, (but also, this is such good character shit) that ruthlessness might have caused the Wizard more turmoil than intended. Mainly being, we do get to see first hand Morganthe's memories, and specifically how she ended up with the Magi. before these dreams, Morganthe herself seemed unreasonably ruthless. However, not only do we learn that the people wo were supposed to care for her ended up hurting and pushing her away, but we also learn that she wasn't super willing to be with the Arachna Magi as well.

But, we persists. We free Old Cob, and he himself actually tests to see how far we are willing to go to rid of Morganthe by showing us two different ways to separate shadow from a physical form, and ALSO cleverly reveals that he knows how Morganthe became she shadow queen- that she was, in fact, unwilling to share anything the Arachna had her learn about the Shadow Web and it's nature, and when she refused to help them, they infused her in the same way we know the Bumblers and Mantises are infused with the conversion tables.

Point blank, Morganthe is being used. She's as much as a victim as the Wizard is- but the thing is, Old Cob's strategy in actually revealing this to us in a sly manner is his way of trying to figure out how blinded we are- he wants to know, "even if you know the truth about Morganthe, will you still continue with your rage?"

And when he says that, and we don't say one way or the other... he knows. He knows he has us in the palm of his spindled hand.

What's really a kicker is that, right before we even fight her, he says, "So it shall be. The Children of Light and Shadow, The Children of Prophecy, shall duel and decide the fate of the Spiral."

Like, there it is. The entire reason that Morganthe was utilized as Shadow Queen was to lure our wizard into a situation where they were so desperate to make sure they win, that they release old cob from prison with the promise that he also wants her out of the picture.

Not only does this, imo, make Morganthe one of the most tragic characters in the game (with this in mine, but also because she didn't even SEEK OUT shadow magic, alllll she wanted was to learn how to control astral magic and go back home, and like the wizard, in her state of vulnerability, was coerced into doing something that she didn't really want), but it also is one of the most profoundly darkest moment for the Wizard as a character- while they achieved their goal in defeating Morganthe... they have ultimately become just like her. The wizard was so blinded by their own ego that they let their guard down and allowed the god of chaos to utilized their own power against Morganthe, juuuuuusttt like he had done with Morganthe in Azteca. It's just a roundtable domino effect, and it's so sad, but gooodddd is it so so interesting and i will die mad that we have thus far gotten no closure between Morganthe/The Wizard in this respect. Imo, Woulda been great to see Morganthe's return in Arc 3 (though i still feel like they can do this in arc 4 tbh) to adress their shared trauma between old cob along side Bat and Mellori's own journey with their family/father.

Anywho. Yea, big agreed with that there anon :'D

#wizard101 #oki answers a thing #anon

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cm-top-10 · 3 years

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C.M. Top 10: Powerful &/or Dangerous Items

There are many items I keep stored in times like this. Some that do good, but others that're too dangerous if in the wrong hands. So this ten features the most powerful & dangerous items known to man. & those you don't know what is or what it does, I'll gladly have them explained why.

1. AVP/Aliens - Xenomorph Royal Jelly

Royal Jelly is a unique & rare substance to find anywhere in any galaxy. Only way to find some is on the Xenos' homeworld of Xenomorph Prime or if some idiot &/or mad scientist happens to just stumble upon it somewhere.

But be careful what's dangerous about this stuff is that it has metamorphosis properties that effect only Xenomorphs. Because once a lower class Xenomorph gets their jaws on this stuff or eats enough of it, their body & system go through changes. & once fully morphed that particular Xeno who ate it will turn into a Hive Queen.

But just know other Xenomorphs during the Xeno-Anarchist have fought & killed each other over this stuff ever since their last Queen Mother died. & last I heard it was an enemy Red Xenomorph that ate the stuff to become a Red Queen Mother. So that's how important this ooze is to them, cuz they'll do anything to fill the powergap between the hives. & so far only two colored Xenos have waged war on each other over it.

2. The Dragon Prince - Sunforge Blade

Sunforge Elves are the finest blade makers in all the magik kingdoms of Xadia. But these are no mere knives no, these weapons are made in fires one could never imagine. In fact the blade still remains extremely hot to the touch as soon as it's forging is finished.

Its said to be so hot that it can even burn through walls in one slice. Even the thickest armor or strongest sword doesn't stand a chance to it's burning edges.

& to keep the owner from being burned by their own blade, a special satchel is made to hold it's temperature in check.

So remember kids don't play with hot knives.

3. SDBH - Dark Dragon Balls

Made by Dende against his own free will. Towa saw to it that a special set of Dragon Balls were made by her specifications. Thus the Dark Dragon Balls were born...

However these are no mere wishing orbs. When used they awaken an evil dragon named Dark Shenron who'll grant any evil desire that person wants, through evil content.

Once a wish is made, all seven spread across time & space until they're reunited again. However if so they'll form into the demonic Shadow Dragons of Shenron.

But if they don't the orbs will chose an evil host to attach itself to. Until a warrior is strong enough to take it from them by force. But fair warning, once a being is merged with a Dark Dragon Ball, their power skyrockets into something not seen before.

So be careful what you wish for...

4. Kaijudo/Duel Masters - Choten Armor & the Five Relics

With all five of these relics, the Choten was able to control all five Creature Monarchs in one summon. The Sword of Fiery Cataclysm, the Cloak of Dark Illusion, the Shield of Unity, the Helm of Ultimate Technology & the Heart of Light. When all five are used together, not just creature gods will be controlled. But all creatures of the Veil will be under your command.

But it's the main reason they're too dangerous to leave about. Which was why they were stored away for safe keeping.

5. Transformers Prime - the Dark Star Saber

The Dark Saber is one of Megatron's greatest creations. Though it has not yet slain a Prime, it's still the most powerful weapon he's ever created from Dark Energon.

Like Optimus' Star Saber it can slice through anything, even a mountain. It can even send a powerful slice wave through the air, making it feel like you've been hit by a cutting shockwave.

Though after Starscream's defeat after using the Dark Star Saber, the Autobots smartly locked it away. Where nobody will ever get it. Probably for the best it remains locked away.

6. DC Universe - Blue Lantern Power Battery

Now the reason this little baby is on the list. Is because this Blue Power Battery has enough juice to power up not just Blue Lanterns. But can also full-power a Green Lantern's ring power tenfold!

The blue charge is so powerful it makes a Green Lantern feel like a new man.

Reasons why the Green & Blue Lantern Corps have been allies. & due to the two colors' relationship with each other. That Blue Element energy can surge a Green one's power full blast & can make it's user feel unstoppable.

7. Star Wars - Darksaber

Now this saber has alot of history. & tons of previous owners who just either lost it in battle or just managed to pass it down to someone else. But this saber can only be earned by one-on-one combat only.

& only the strongest shall wield it! Darth Maul was one of the previous owners. Though he was not Mandalorian, he still used it like he was made for it. However this weapon has even lost previous owners over the years.

Most even rumored that those who held it always ended up dead. Which is why not many Mandalorians went looking for it.

& hopefully Mando doesn't end up the same fate & curse...

8. Dofus: Kerub's Bazaar - Ecaflip's Sword of Nine Tails

As weird as this weapon is Ecaflip's Sword of Nine Tails is a powerful weapon. This very sword is what even brought him into godhood.

By sacrificing his nine tails except the one attached to him to this day. He used that very sword to cut the multiple heads of the 9 Headed Hydra during battle. Thus making him a hero to all.

Reasons why this sword is dangerous is because it can literally slice through anything. & it can withstand the burning fires of hell. Which was perfectly made for the battle against the Hydra.

In other words Ecaflip made one hell of a sword!

9. Batman vs. TMNT - Joker Mutagen

What makes this worse than all the other items is that this particular mutagen is a cocktail mixture between the T.G.R.I. mutagen & the A.C.E. chemicals Joker uses to make his infamous Joker Gas. One injection of this vile ooze & you mutate into the last thing you touch, only with a psychotic aftereffect to go with it.

Luckily this stuff was destroyed before it could reach Gotham & mutate it's people into mad mutations.

10. Marvel Universe/Death Battle - the Continuity Stone

For those who don't know about the Continuity Stone, or Canon Stone as most people call it. Was a lost Infinity Stone made the same way as the other 6...well 7 counting this one. Anyway the Continuity Stone has the power to literally rewrite any form of reality it's user, namely Deadpool wants it to be. But what's really dangerous about this stone is that it warps Wade's mind most worst than it already is.

That & he gets carried away sometimes with the reality jacking so best it stays locked up.

Deadpool: AWE!! Come on man! I said I'd use it responsibility!

Wade you're not getting it back till you behave & stop messing with reality. & get off my 4th Wall or I'll tell Harley & Death about last year's Christmas party! 💢

Deadpool: Hmph...fine! (-3-)💢

#C.M. Top 10 #Top 10 #My Top 10 #Dangerous Items #Items #Powerful Items #Xenomorph Royal Jelly #Sunforge Blade #Dark Dragon Ball #the Five Relics #Choten Armor #the Dark Star Saber #Blue Lantern Power Battery #Darksaber #Ecaflip's Sword of Nine Tails #Joker Mutagen #the Continuity Stone #my screenshots #cameraman screenshots

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kiranatrix · 4 years

Text

Need some Death Note fanfic to read while avoiding family, recovering exams/work, or just cause? Here’s everything I wrote in 2020 for Death Note. I’ll be updating this post for 2021 eventually. I organized them by type of work (in-progress fics, finished chaptered fics, tumblr fics, and one-shots).

IN-PROGRESS FICS BEING UPDATED NOW

Dial K for Kira: Lawlight//Rated E. Summary: Light needs some easy money to finance his Kira plans, and notices there’s a big demand for Kira roleplay phone sex. So he figures, “Why not? Pretty sure I’ll be convincing.” He raises some fast cash and plans to shut the whole thing down and get back to writing names, until he gets a request from somebody who wants to “roleplay” as L.

Catch Perfect [with @resilicns]: Lawlight/Rated M. Summary: Light’s desk catches on fire during the placement of L’s illegal surveillance cameras in the Yagami household, burning up the Death Note. Light forgets everything, the killings suddenly stop, and Kira fades away from the public consciousness but never from L’s. Six years later, Ryuk returns to Earth with a new Death Note for Light, now an agent in INTERPOL, ready for Round 2. L’s ready too.

Good Bones [with @main-exam]: Lawlight/Rated E. Summary: Mello and Matt have a seance with a cursed Ouija board but summon a very annoyed Ryuk from the Shinigami Realm into the attic of a gothic mansion. Fast forward a few years and Light Yagami is a realtor in England, vying for the title of Realtor King from the current champ. He's determined to sell this discount mansion with a bad reputation, but just as Light starts to make friends with the mansion's ghost, a ghost-hunting detective gets wind that something spooky is going on.

FINISHED CHAPTERED FICS

Koi No Yokan [with @ghostoftasslehoff]: Lawlight//Rated E. Light decides to take a little risk and seek a no-strings-attached hookup and gets a surprising (accidental) match. Light and L gradually open up to each other over the course of a night, not knowing who the other is. However, as they go back to their lives in the morning, suspicions take hold and secrets come to light. The chance meeting starts to feel a lot more like fate as L closes in on Kira, and both must decide whether they felt anything real for the other and what that means.

Lux Aeterna [with @ghostoftasslehoff]: Lawlight//Rated E. Vampire AU. The world’s greatest vampire hunter, L Lawliet, heads to Romania with his mentor Watari to investigate some odd disappearances. Meanwhile, the 400-year-old vampire, Light, has recently awoken from his century-long slumber to find the world has changed, but his thirst for the blood of sinners hasn’t.

Enemy of My Enemy [with @my-one-true-l]: Light Yagami/Beyond Birthday//Rated T. It’s just another day for To-Oh’s top student Light Yagami, until he runs into a mysterious new student in class who can see Ryuk. Beyond is set on getting to Kira before L does but things take a twist when Light gets him alone.

TUMBLR FICS

Strange Fiction: Death Note Ficlets: Various//Rated Gen to T. Thirty-nine ficlets and more added periodically. Lawlight, Ryuk & Light being bros, MikaLight, gen fic, Remisa, Android AU, stories of Light and L’s childhood, etc.

ONE-SHOTS

Get Well Soon [with art by @sketchyspirit]: Lawlight//Rated E. Summary: Light buys Misa a birthday present which L jealously intercepts. Possessiveness and misunderstandings threaten to rock the precarious agreement between Light and L, where each has made dangerous sacrifices to stay together after the end of the Kira case.

Phototaxis: Lawlight//rated G. Summary: L comes over to the Yagami's household for dinner and to work on a project with Light. On the menu are suspicions, ulterior motives, and nobody saying what they mean.

Orbit: Lawlight//Rated T. Summary: Light’s having lunch under the cherry trees with his friends at To-Oh, but L unexpectedly shows up and runs everyone else off but Light. A missing scene, a private conversation with L's 'first friend' and rival under the spring sakura.

Appetites: Lawlight//Rated T. Summary: It was never about cake.

Main Attraction [with @ghostoftasslehoff, with art by @ohgodplsdontlook]: Lawlight//Rated E. Summary: Light invites L to the movies but L expects to be bored since Light picked the flick. Light has a secret plan to make sure that L will be on the ‘edge’ of his seat the whole time-- a toy that L doesn't know is remote-controlled. L finds out the hard way, and at the worst (best) moments.

Obsolete: Ryuk/Light//Rated T. Summary: Light lives all his life in the span of a day, but Ryuk will live that day over an eternity.

Beholder’s Eye: Lawlight//Rated M. Summary: Light's rudely awoken and seemingly kidnapped to face his execution, but all is not what it seems.

One of a Pair [with @ghostoftasslehoff]: Lawlight//Rated M. Fencing AU. Summary: Light has just quit the To-Oh fencing team and the team Captain, Ryuzaki, will do just about anything to provoke him to come back, including challenging Light to an illegal duel.

Restitution: Lawlight//Rated T. Summary: L tries to pay Light a salary for his work on the Task Force to assuage the prickling of guilt he feels, but that’s not what Light wants.

Kodama [with @ghostoftasslehoff]: Lawlight//Rated T. Summary: Seven years after L’s death, Light feels compelled to visit his grave and take solace under the strange, dead tree nearby. L’s watching from Mu and takes residence in the sacred tree, changing it and Light, who can’t see him.

Still Life: Light/Light//Rated T. Summary: Light stumbles upon a painting that he bears an uncanny resemblance to and discovers a magical secret behind who was cursed to dwell within it for 300 years. It might just be the best luck of his life (or the worst).

Dark Horse [with art by @daathdweller]: Gen fic. Linda left Wammy's House for a brilliant art career, but never forgot how she'd been passed over as one of L's successors. She decides to work in the shadows as the detective L2 when a new Kira appears in 2019, moving fast to tackle the case that the 'official' L seems content to ignore. Roger told her art never helped solve a case, but he was wrong.

Technology Liaison: Light & Ryuk. Light gets curious about what the Death Note is really made of and asks Ryuk. What happens when paper becomes obsolete in the increasingly digital world?

Yosuzume [with art by @ikathemadhatter]: Beyond-centric//Rated T. Summary: Beyond’s shinigami eyes have always set him apart and given him knowledge no human should possess. His obsession with divining and controlling the future has led him to develop his own rituals, which weave themselves into his life and the events of the LABB case.

Names and Distant Things [with art by @ikathemadhatter]: Beyond/L// Rated T. Summary: Beyond knew when L was planning to visit Wammy’s House because a padlock would appear on the second refrigerator in the kitchen. A day or so later, a green Aston Martin would roll up the long, oak-lined driveway in the dead of night, headlights off and practically invisible. Not to Beyond, though; his strange eyes had always seen more than others could-- names and distant things; an antique car in the darkness or the date someone will die.

Copper and Silver: Beyond/L//Rated M. Magician AU. Summary: There had always been two types of magic in the world. One was quite real but elusive, and more of a curse than a blessing on those who could channel it. The other was the magic of mankind-- the sleight of hand or memory trick, the careful distraction or well-placed mirror. It was the business of the famed illusionist Lazarus, also (un)known as L Lawliet, that no one in his audience should ever know the difference.

For fics before 2020, check out my AO3 (ZombieJesus) here!

#death note #light yagami #l lawliet #lawlight #my writing #pinned post #one day I'll make a masterpost with everything #but I'm lazy and 2020 will do for now 👌#check out my A03 if you want to find older fics

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anika-ann · 4 years

Text

Of Thieves and Queens of Hearts (B.B.)

Type: Reader-insert , SEQUEL TO Of Jewels and Gems

Word count: 2860

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Summary: Medieval AU with thief!Bucky and princess!reader.

You and Bucky ‘meet’ again - is it fate or something more? And what should you do now, when you crossed paths again?

Warnings: mention of arranged marriage and blood, tears and stuff, angst and fluff

A/N: There were quite a few people who asked about a sequel and since the prompts was ‘I snuck in the castle to steal the royal crown but I’m stealing you instead au’, it only felt right to write this 😊

Of Jewels and Gems (previous part)

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

Your mind was wandering, gone to a faraway land, far from the present moment for you were not particularly fond of the present.

The bumps on the road didn’t cease to shake the carriage for long moments now, gravel crunching under the wheels and hoofs, the cracking, occasional snorting of the horses, and your own breathing the only sounds keeping you company.

You had forgone interest in the landscape a long time ago, not bothering to revel at the scenery of the lands despite the curtains being open, and while no fabric was shielding the interior of the carriage from the outside light, with the sun slowly setting down, you were engulfed in a comforting gloom.

Too lost to your musings about the future, you missed the shadow lurking around your carriage – until a figure jumped right in through the modest window, causing a yelp gather in your throat in fright.

Before you could release a single sound to alert the coachman and the two guards riding in front of your vehicle, a warm calloused palm covered your mouth, muffling your scream.

All too familiar silver-blue irises twinkled even in the half-lit space, space that suddenly felt cramped.

Your sounds of protest died in your chest, where your heart had challenged your carriage to a duel in speed, beating faster than the hoofs of the horses carrying you towards your fate – whether the fright or the excitement was to blame, you weren’t able to tell.

You stared into the face of a cheeky man you hadn’t seen for almost six months and strangely a man whom you found yourself missing.

His palm reluctantly retreated, smug smile spreading the precious ruby lips as if wishing to irk you right from the beginning – as if the fact alone that he had assaulted you in your allegedly safe space wasn’t outrageous enough.

“Hi, Princess,” Winter said lowly, eyes roaming all over you face, observant and somewhat content.

Your fingers gripped at your skirts as his head appeared to be in scandalous proximity of yours – tempting proximity, but you couldn’t even dare to think that, let alone say it out loud. The interior suddenly felt too hot.

“What in Heavens are you doing here?” you demanded in hushed voice, torn between exasperated and… pleased. There was a strange warmth blooming in your chest and you couldn’t even begin to examine where it had come from.

“Told ya’ I’ll be back for the real jewel,” he smirked, the startlingly red lips peeking from under his beard.

‘Next time… I’m stealin’ the real crown jewel, Your Highness,’ echoed in your ears, an old promise he had given you right before… right before his lips had caressed your cheek.

Daring bastard!

And again, here he was, cheeky as ever, as if nothing could hurt him, free as a bird he could never be caged, only here to tempt you and mock you, no doubt about to tease you about your future.

“How—how dare you! Leave, now!”

His lips pursed, an adorable pout twisting it, eyes turning to ones of a child who just realized their parents didn’t bring any presents from their travels.

“Why?”

Why?

As if an explanation was needed! As if his mere presence in your carriage wasn’t a great offence! As if—as if he hadn’t played with your heart, made a promise and suddenly been in the wind!

“You- you’re a thief and a- a player and-and an outlaw-!” you hissed, managing to stutter marvellously in your indignation. “And I cannot be seen with another man in such close quarters to begin with for I am to be wed soon!”

The corner of Winter’s lips turned downward, his expression clouding further and all of sudden, you felt like the sunset truly had started, stealing all light from the world, and the warmth in your chest seemed to burn cold.

Why were you sad because of this man’s obvious sulking? What he was supposed to be to you, but a confusing memory? What was he even doing here with you?

“Yeah, I heard. I betcha’re all happy ‘bout it,” he noted with generous amount of sarcasm, causing your heart to skip a beat while his eyes never ceased to observe you, as if your face was an open book for him to read.

You attempted to fix your features to ones of a future queen and wife-to-be you were. A responsible crown princess, caring for the good of her people – for that was who you were and should you wed a man twice almost three times you age for it… so be it.

“What—eh- of course I am.”

A woman who was to become a queen one day was meant to be pampered, provided excellent education in both the world’s knowledge and manners and raised outside the filthiness of common people; however, there were always to be cracks in the foundation, little slips, little words you should not know but you did.

‘Bullshit’ was one of those words, as both as a noun and a verb.

The way Winter was watching you at the moment told you with startling obviousness that he thought you were bullshitting him.

So you stuck out your chin in defiance, hoping to sound convincing – to Winter, to yourself. Perhaps should you say it over and over, you shall believe it.

“I am happy to marry King Ronan should it bring together our kingdoms.”

“Mm,” the handsome thief hummed doubtfully, lightly shaking his head, causing the short loose ponytail he wore swing. “Don’t believe ya’. I think ‘dat if I told ya’ ya’ can run with me right now, you’d come.”

Heat rose to your cheeks in shame for he was horribly close to the truth. To cover your shame, you chuckled affectively as if he said the most ridiculous thing you had ever heard in your life. “Aren’t you a funny man!”

His eyebrows rose, losing themselves in his hairline for a moment. “I prefer handsome, but I guess ‘dat’ll do too. So… ya’ comin’?”

All you managed was to stutter an incomprehensible streak of words.

“’dat a yes?” he questioned with a smile, just a fraction shy and very much teasing.

You crossed your arms on your chest and looked away from the beautiful face that was somehow still mere inches from yours – unable to bear the gaze that seemed to burning through your very being and staring right into your soul and seeing the truth you were trying to hide.

You had to marry King Ronan. That was your duty as a crown princess, to bring peace and wealth to your kingdom, even if you should suffer in an unhappy marriage. People did not enter such holy union for love and attraction – no, marriage was a thought-through act of diplomacy.

Who should care for your well-being? Staying alive and serving your people was the truest and greatest reward you could earn.

Of course, you could not say that to Winter, who for whichever reasons refused to leave the topic alone and decided to create your personal hell by tempting you, attempting to lead you astray.

“Why should I, the princess, want to escape with you?” you scoffed defensively and he backed out, leaning to the opposite side of the carriage so swiftly as if he had been burned.

And then he pursed his lips again; but his gaze turned serious, no traces of the previous jests.

“’Cause I can keep ya’ safe and you’ll escape the possibility of dying at your future husband’s hand. Word’s goin’ ‘round… ‘dat he beat his first wife to death. Cheats and kills. Scumbag of a man, really-“

You chuckled bitterly, eyeing him from head to toe sceptically to put out the fire of fear lit inside your belly. He spoke the truth – these were the tales spread about the King all over the Seven Kingdoms and try as you might, you could not pretend to be that brave. Yet, you could not allow yourself a moment of weakness and display such – you were a future queen.

“And I should believe that you are any better? You’re a thi-“

“-thief, yeah, yeah, I didn’t forget ‘bout ‘dat, doll,” he interrupted rudely; nonetheless, a true concern casted shadows over his eyes, forming a worried crease between his brows. “But when I heard ‘bout the marriage… with him, I had to come runnin’ for ya’. I can’t stand the thought of ya’ getting’ hurt or worse.”

A sudden lump grew in your throat as you found yourself taken aback by his care – and moved. He was no one but a stranger and yet, not even your father had expressed such concern for your well-being when you had been leaving the castle with an enormous chest in the back of the carriage, hiding your multiple possessions.

Tears burned in your eyes and you fought to keep them at bay and find your voice, charming a gentle smile for the handsome thief who seemed to steal another piece of your heart by the minute.

“A sweet sentiment that might be, however unacceptable.”

He leaned forward again, gently taking a hold of your hands, engulfing them in his calloused and yet soft ones entirely. A unvoluntary pleasant shiver ran up your spine at the intimate gesture.

“Why?” he questioned quietly, gaze hopeful and shining with honesty, perhaps with a drop of mischief. “Ya’ like me too, I can tell.”

Laughter erupted from your throat and you had to quickly slip one hand from his to muffle the unexpected sound. Tears sprung from your eyes at last, a blend of humour and grief.

“You must be the cheekiest man I have ever met!” you whispered, shaking your head.

He truly was. He was also one of the kindest and most handsome ones – and the only one your heart ever beat for.

“Thanks, doll. But really… come with me,” he pleaded with urgency you would not have expected, let alone from a man you had barely spent few moments with. “Should I get on my knees and beg? I’ll beg-“

He released your hand and went to fall on his knees indeed, not wary at all of the limited space of the carriage.

On instinct, you swiftly grabbed his arm in hopes to keep him in place with a panicked ‘no!’ on your lips.

You shook your head again, this time soberly, when he tenderly manipulated your hand on him to bring it to his lips, gracing the back of it with a brief kiss.

It was an difficult task to attempt to resist his charm, one worth of a future queen, nearly impossible – you could have swoon right at the moment, no doubt ending up in his protective arms should you lose your balance.

Nevertheless, you must have remained rational about this.

“I cannot escape. Even if we could manage such daring thing, we would never be safe. We would have only prolonged the inevitable and the punishment-” your breath hitched as you were staring into the gentle orbits of his, still watching you intently, ”-punishment for you and for my insolence would be great.”

The corners of his lips raised in a minute smile as if you weren’t talking about the inevitable deaths that awaited you both should you take him upon his suggestion.

“Ya’ worried ‘bout me, doll?”

You supposed he took notice of your exasperated look, however he chose to ignore it and smiled wider, causing you to chuckle through your tears.

He surely was insane— and yet, here you were, nodding minutely, confirming your concern for him for you wished that his smile lightened the carriage further… and that it did.

“Don’t. I have a safe place to come back to, always.”

You felt your eyebrow jump in surprise, genuinely taken a back. Was he pulling your leg now?

“Oh, do you, Winter?”

He frowned and nuzzled the back of your hand.

“It’s Bucky,” he mumbled.

For all your astonishment on learning his true name, you still couldn’t resist caressing his face; his whiskers felt softer than you had expected and you hadn’t anticipated his eyes to flutter shut, a sound resembling a purr vibrating in his chest.

“Suits you better,” you smiled sadly, still in battle which you were slowly losing as Bucky seemed to be prepared to convince you no matter the cost. His kindness and faith had your heart swell in your chest, however—you couldn’t. Could you? No. No the risks were too high and you had a duty to fulfil. “I wish you a long good life, Bucky.”

“Ya’ could live it with me. Please? I promise, I- uhm, King Steven of Brooklin owes me a favour.”

“King Steven of Brooklin?” you repeated, turning entirely sceptical. Now he truly was only spinning a tale. “You certainly are funny.”

“Mock me all ya’ want, Jewel mine,” he shrugged and kissed your palm for a good measure, as if he hadn’t had your heart stuttering constantly already. “But he does. I was able to help his beloved escape from the clutches of HYDRA.”

“Wh-is-- is that so?”

You had heard rumours – of a mysterious man aiding the future queen of Brooklin, of a spy within the HYDRA castle’s wall perhaps – nonetheless, not even in your wildest dreams you would dare to imagine Bucky was the fabled one.

“Yeah. I saw a miserable to-be queen Margaret and helped her run,” Winter—Bucky shrugged nonchalantly again, dismissing the heroic act. “We met the king in the near woods, he was gettin’ all ‘let’s cut off some heads’ to free her. It was kinda funny actually, when he found out who I was.”

It sounded like he spoke the true… however, you couldn’t seem to shush the suspicious voice in your head, challenging you to ask further questions.

“…what could have you been doing at such place to begin with?”

Cocky. His smile and the raise to his brows only could be described as cocky.

“Ya’ keep sayin’ ‘dat I’m a thief, so…. Ya’ tell me.”

Of course. Of course, naturally. He had snuck in to steal.

Your lips pressed into a thin line upon that realization – nevertheless, you couldn’t force yourself to be mad at him for his nature. After all, it appeared that there was much more to learn about him and it couldn’t all be bad if what he had revealed so far was anything to go by. And who were you to judge, yourself born into privilege?

If anything, he clearly could have been responsible for a woman being alive – and you had never heard about a heist that would end with a single man dead whenever the gossipers whispered about Winter and his visits to the royal treasuries.

And yet, doubts were still playing with your head, rightfully so.

“And I should simply trust you that King Steven, a man famed for his good heart and ultimate belief in justice, approves of your choice of livelihood?” you couldn’t but ask.

“He tolerates it. He knows I steal from the richest and some of it goes to the poorest.”

…oh.

“It… it does?” you stuttered, almost embarrassed at your loss of composure.

Bucky, the infamous thief was doing an excellent work again, claiming your heart altogether. You had simply believed that he was an outlaw, a thug, a thief, a molester maybe—but how could you hope to resist his charms upon learning this?

He had been helping the poor? Such action surely was more than you had ever done… perhaps he was a better person that you could ever-

“Yeah,” he confirmed with a grin, cocking his head to side, visibly content that he impressed you. For once, you couldn’t argue with him for you truly were enamoured with his kindness. “But from now on, I can only take for you. For us. To give ya’ all stuff ya’ deserve, Jewel. Just say the word. Come with me.”

The silence sounded deafening to your ears and Bucky appeared to feel the need to fill it with grasping your hands gently, once again gracing them with reverential kisses. The affection chased more tears into your eyes as you tried to breathe through them and not let them escape anymore… failing.

Yes, the silence was deafening, felt suffocating and heavy on your chest, but you could feel like you were able to breathe again when a calloused fingertip wiped at your tears with tenderness.

You wondered… could he hear the last of your resolve not to be selfish crumble to the ground?

“Do you…” you whispered, voice unladylike hoarse due to the lump in your throat, “…do you truly believe that we would find refuge in Brooklin?”

The proclaimed topazes of his eyes glimmered with their silver lining, ruby lips you had fallen in love with spreading in a genuine wide smile as he nodded, delighted.

“Yeah. I do. Do ya’ trust me?”

“Gods help me, I do…” you sighed, giddiness battling with nerves as you smiled back at him. “Very well, Bucky, Winter the thief. Let’s run away to Brooklin.”

And for all you had thought his face was precious as all the jewels and gemstones of your kingdom, it was the smile he graced you with upon your yes, shining with the power of a thousand suns, that you found worth the world’s greatest fortune.

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

B.B. masterlist (…yes, it’s that short)

•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••

Ugh. Not as cheeky as the previous one, but hopefully the sweetness made up for it :-*

Thank you for reading and special thanks to you, who encouraged me to write this sequel ♥ I’m glad I did ;)

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sepublic · 4 years

Text

Lilith’s Wasted Effort

Honestly, I just FEEL for Lilith! I feel bad for her, like… This lady’s entire life, ever since that fateful night she cursed her sister, has been nothing but regret! Nothing but her desperately trying to undo her greatest mistake, to get back her sister… Like, Lilith must’ve wasted decades of her life, in her attempt to compensate for her biggest regret.

The thing is, she was a child. She was dumb and stupid, she thought the curse would only last for a day and only weaken Eda’s magic. It’d be like an AU for Really Small Problems, where after King accidentally shrinks Willow and Gus, they die by some horrific accident! Obviously there’s a bit more lenience to King since he didn’t intend to shrink them, not to mention Tibbles (I mean Obvioso) dropped the potion into his hands, and King was fully under the impression it’d wear off, and had seen an actual demonstration beforehand to reassure him.

But still- Can you imagine if Luz found out? Or if she didn’t, and then King spent the rest of his life, desperately trying to make up for the blood on his hands, perhaps even resorting to necromancy, or creating a false Willow and Gus… Or worse, it’s Luz who dies?! It’s just pitiable for Lilith… She really was looking forward to joining the Emperor’s Coven, but her one dream in life and she can’t even enjoy it, she throws the rest of her existence towards curing Eda’s curse, only to find out that it’s too late, there’s nothing she can do about it…!

And obviously- Even if Lilith hadn’t cursed Eda, their separation would’ve been inevitable. Eda would’ve still defied the Coven System and become a Wild Witch, Lilith would’ve fallen for Belos’ propaganda. But that’s also precisely why Lilith’s situation is all the more sadder… That even if she had invested decades of her life to curse the curse, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Eda would still defy Belos and be disappointed in Lilith for supporting the Coven System… And sure, Lilith would at least alleviate her greatest regret, right?

But the thing is… I think the curse is Lilith’s greatest regret because she blames it for driving a rift between her and Eda… And obviously the genuine harm it plays into Eda’s life and wellbeing is ALSO a concern, don’t get me wrong! But in the end, even if Eda was suffering, at least they’d be together… Being apart was the worst part to Lilith, I feel. It’s genuinely sad; How Lilith was but a child who made an almost silly mistake, but because of her regret she dedicated thirty-or-so years of her life… Lilith cast aside any attempts at being her own person, at enjoying herself, and wasted away in trying to undo the curse.

Lilith had a bright future ahead of her… Or maybe not. This IS the Emperor’s Coven after all… If she didn’t have the curse weighing on her mind, would Lilith have become fully-indoctrinated into Belos’ cause? Or would its absence force Lilith to acknowledge that the rift between her and Eda was an ideological one, one that came as a result of Eda’s voluntary and willing disagreement with the Coven System… Perhaps THEN, she would’ve realized how harmful Belos really is, and Lilith could’ve abandoned the Emperor’s Coven much sooner. After all, part of her motivation to stay in the Emperor’s Coven after that fateful duel may have been to find a cure for Eda, with access to the best resources in the Boiling Isles… Not to mention, the shame and guilt of cursing Eda could’ve made it hard for Lilith to bear being next to her sister.

If Lilith hadn’t cursed Eda, perhaps she would’ve realized, so much earlier on, how toxic the Coven System was. Maybe she would’ve rejected the Emperor’s Coven, perhaps as early as her twenties, and moved in with Eda… Then the two sisters could’ve been happy. Lilith could’ve instead invested her energy not towards slaving to some dictator, or trying to desperately undo a permanent curse; But instead use that time and energy to build other meaningful relationships, discover herself, forge her own identity… And just BE an actual person for once! Lilith could’ve been happy…

That’s what Lilith’s life, post-curse comes across to me… Wasted. Wasted time, wasted energy and effort. Time that could’ve been dedicated towards anything meaningful and productive, anything that could’ve made Lilith happy and grow as a person… But instead, she maddeningly dedicated herself to undoing the curse, to trying to get back to a past that became more and more idealized, more and more out-of-touch with what really happened. Instead of making a new, better future and life for herself, Lilith wasted decades in mental and emotional debt to her greatest regret.

Did Lilith, in dark moments of her life, ever get jealous of Eda again? Did she ever become jealous of Eda, without even meaning to, for getting to be so carefree? While Lilith wastes away taking care of her, by making up for her mistake with the curse all those years... Eda gets to actually grow up and outpaces her sister in terms of development- And this rather literally can be seen through Eda physically aging faster than Lilith, BECAUSE of the curse that Lilith cast! Because in the end, Lilith only has herself to blame for this, right?

And as Lilith looks back on the mental prison she’s built for herself, is she ever envious of Eda for getting to be her own person in the meantime, getting to build her own identity and connections? Angry that her younger sister, as always, gets to go ahead while Lilith is left behind, too busy working and taking care of her to have fun- That Eda’s carefree life comes at Lilith’s expense?! Hence why Lilith feels entitled to at least some reception on Eda’s part for all of her hard work, because Eda doesn’t realize Lilith is making up for the curse, so surely her effort comes across as more unconditional?

So why is Edalyn so ungrateful, acting like Lilith clearly isn’t trying!? Does Lilith think that Eda’s current, carefree happiness in life should be Lilith’s happiness (or least Eda AND Lilith’s), just as the Emperor’s Coven position should’ve been Lilith’s from the beginning- That maybe Eda is taking the life Lilith should’ve been owed from her! Why is Eda being so greedy, always taking from her, always asking for MORE, as if she doesn’t have it all- Why can’t she leave something for her older sister, who isn’t as talented or confident!?

And then Lilith thinks, that the curse was cast specifically BECAUSE of this, as if this is Eda’s fault... Only for Lilith to remind herself that, NO, this isn’t Eda’s fault, Eda is also dealing with the curse, she’s just as imprisoned as Lilith? And yet in the end... Lilith is right, Eda IS more free than her! No matter what Lilith does to reassure herself, her own life in the Emperor’s Coven is indeed worse than Eda’s seemingly ‘backwards’ situation as a wanted criminal, because at least Eda gets to learn and grow and be her own person, and EMBRACE that...!

And can Lilith even call herself free, now? She finally took on the curse… The sad thing is that Lilith could’ve easily taken the curse and shared it with Eda, so much earlier… But she never did, because in the end, Lilith also had her other insecurities and regrets, her issues with failing to recognize Eda’s actual motives. What’s worse, Eda lost all of her magic, when beforehand she was merely inhibited, but stillthe most powerful Witch in the Boiling Isles! And THAT was Lilith’s fault, directly… Because she was terrified of Belos, and resentful of Eda for not being with her. So she hurt Luz, and forced Eda to use up all of her remaining magic in the process…

So even in her attempts to cure the curse, to undo it… Lilith made things worse. Somehow, she made them even worse, and now HER magic is limited as well! But to someone as self-loathing as Lilith, that may as well be one of the few good things that came from this recent mess of events… Or not, because Lilith is no doubt struggling with productively handling her regret now. Now, she’s forcing herself to not wallow in self-pity, and make things better… But then that acknowledges her own pain from the curse as a BAD thing, and like with Amity, it’d be so much easier if it was secretly a good thing, that Lilith just deserved this all along and there would be some justice in the world if she was suffering!

But Lilith’s suffering won’t accomplish anything. In the end, all she can do is focus on healing Eda… But can she still trust herself? Because she spent decades of her life trying to cure the curse, and all it did was result in Eda and Lilith losing their magic! Eda completely losing hers, in fact…

And yet, DID Lilith actually work? Because she never did try to share the curse with Eda, not from the beginning. And that is also a horrific realization; That she wasted so many years of her life when she could’ve easily just shared the curse with Eda from the beginning. It wouldn’t exactly erase what had happened, but it would’ve led to a more repaired relationship, and perhaps Lilith confessing earlier than she did… And maybe, it would’ve led to Eda and Lilith fully recovering. Perhaps Eda wouldn’t have lost her magic, and with only half a curse, she could be strong enough to take on Emperor Belos himself! Who can say…

So, not only did Lilith waste years of her life working to undo the curse… But in the end, the solution was right in front of her! And she’d willingly ignored it…! And even if the curse HAD been shared, would Lilith have done the right thing and continued to support Eda, or would she still have tried to be with the Emperor’s Coven? Perhaps with half a curse, she’d have been rejected and forced to confront the truth of the corrupt system…

Alas. Lilith is a character who is fundamentally built on wasted potential; On what could have been, but never was! She could’ve been an actual person, she could’ve fixed her mistakes and owned up to them, she could’ve maintained a loving bond with her sister… But she didn’t. She could’ve had it all, really… But now she has nothing. Lilith is alone, she has no identity nor sense of self, and she’s lost so many years of her life that she’s not going to get back, a youth and glory days that were thrown aside.

Lilith could’ve been so much more, but instead she’s just nothing. And while Belos and his sickening system and environment that enables and encourages people to suffer like this is ALSO to blame, as is the sicko who sold a curse to a child… In the end, the most tragic part is that this was SO easily avoidable. That each mistake that Lilith kept on making, she could’ve easily fixed or at least mended. She could’ve chosen NOT to curse Eda… She could’ve chosen to share the curse… And so on, and so forth.

And no matter HOW horrible Lilith was, I don’t think anybody deserves that, to be so miserable, to invest so much effort for nothing, to realize how STUPID you were… To live in such utter regret, to waste so much of your life and existence, to lose all meaning… To lose so many wonderful opportunities because you were desperately focused on something else! And now that Lilith is finally free… Does she ask herself if it was worth it? Perhaps she should’ve kept to that dark place she once was in… Because she was already too far-gone. Because maybe if she’d kept trying, EVENTUALLY the effort would become worth it, because finally changing your heart would mean admitting it was all for naught, and it would mean finalizing the reality that you’d wasted so many years.

It’s like a gambler who keeps spending money, more and more, in the pitiful hopes of a lottery ticket! Because they’ve already LOST so much money beforehand, if they quit now, then it was all for nothing! But if they keep going… Then maybe they can make up for all of it, and won’thave been for naught! I low-key think that’s how Lilith operated, it’s why she spent so many years trying to cure the curse while at the same time avoiding accountability. In the end, she just keeps digging herself deeper and deeper… Which just ties into my past analysis, about Lilith being associated with Earth; Not just because of that metaphor, but also as someone who is a bird of a feather who can’t fly after the other… As someone stuck in her ways. As a person who has no identity but the one in association with someone else; Because in the end, Earth is Belos’ element. What identity that Lilith DOES have, what little she built, was all entirely the work and result of someone else.

Lilith was in a dark pit. She hit rock bottom, then grabbed a shovel and began tunneling. Years wasted in the darkness, digging deeper and deeper in hopes of striking that hidden treasure, because giving up means it was all worthless and a waste of time and effort… But never actually finding that goal!

…Until, a light comes into her life. A light illuminates Lilith’s life, and forces her to look around and realize where she’s gotten herself into. To realize just how AWFUL this situation is, a Light that reveals to Lilith the truth, that it isn’t going to get any better until she starts climbing upwards… Like her protege Amity, Lilith needs to learn not to be so hard on herself; Or at least divert more of that energy into actually fixing things.

Luz Noceda is the Light that changed SO many lives. Lilith was on a trajectory, one heading further and further into the darkness until she’d lose sight of herself and be too far disconnected from the world above, where Eda was; But Luz’s Light showed her the path. It helped Lilith navigate back the way she came, back to where she started…

And when Lilith arrives back where she started, perhaps, THEN, she can start on a new path. Because even if the beginning is nothing, at least from nothing, Lilith can start anew. She can start forging a different path, a productive one… And as scary as it is, resetting all of that past progress, it allows Lilith to make room to start anew. Luz’s Light and the beating of an Owl’s wings changed the air currents, altering Lilith’s trajectory. Now, after all this time…

She’s free. And instead of destroying herself, Lilith can actually starting making something new…

Luz saved her- That’s what that wonderful girl does. She saves people. This girl is Hope incarnate.

#the owl house #owl house #the owl house lilith #lilith clawthorne #the owl house eda #edalyn clawthorne #analysis #meta

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shera-dnd · 4 years

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Lori’s New Troll Lore

So me and my friend took very different approaches to rewriting the lore of these fantasy races. While Sal had the approach of making all the canon lore be born from in universe racism and misunderstandings, while creating the real lore of what these people really are instead of how they’re perceived by external groups (which is a fucking amazing btw)

I decided to go with a simpler approach of taking the very basic of what is canon to the universe and then reworking it so that it becomes its own unique thing, free of the usual yikes.

So what do we know for sure about troll canon. Well they can regenerate like crazy and can only be killed by fire or acid. They have amazing dark vision, at the price of being sensitive to bright lights (apparently that’s not in their stat sheet, but it’s referenced in lore). They’re a matriarchal society (weird how only evil cultures are matriarchal in D&D. I wonder why that would be the case), lead by shamans. And they’re sorta kinda giants, because they were born of the demigod Vaprak, who was born from... well when The All Father pulled a Zeus with a sorceress (Yes, depicting a child born from this kind of shit as inherently monstrous and evil is profoundly fucked up)

As you can see this shit is just full of yikes, but there are still a lot that can be salvaged here and put to good use creating an interesting story, so let’s see what I managed to make with all this

(I added a keep reading link, because this shit got loooooooooong)

~~~

Fire is the greatest enemy of Troll kind. It blinds them, it burns their flesh and it reminds them all of their own mortality, to this terrifying force of nature they show equal parts fear and respect. For in the hands of the old and wise, fire can still be used to make grand things.

Of course most troll children aren’t born with this inherent knowledge, so little they’re exposed to anything that could ever do them real harm. Young trolls have this sense that they’re immortal, invincible. When two trolls fight they could suffer terrible wounds that would kill even the mightiest of human warriors a dozen times over, and still get up and laugh it off.

From this two things can be gathered about troll kind. First that their disdain for armor and fancy clothes, comes entirely from practical reasons. What point is there in wasting resources in equipment that will get completely destroyed in a quick scuffle.

Second, that when it comes to real conflict, who wins is not the strongest troll, but the smartest. In the absence of fire or acid, the only real way to best a troll is by outsmarting them or outrunning them. This is one of the many reasons why it is wisdom, and not strength, that makes for a great leader.

It is also wisdom that allows for some trolls to work terrifying force of fire. Those who can treat that force with respect and who have fully understood what it means to hold in their hands the only thing that can kill their own people.

Still fire is very rarely used. They do not need it as a light source, they do not need it to cook their food or to heat their bodies, and they have very little use for metal tools. Fire in troll culture serves only one use, as a funeral pyre.

In the rare occasion when a troll truly dies, their body is burned and their ashes returned to the world. To many young trolls this is the first time they’re shown the destructive force of fire and learn of their own mortality. But in a way this ritual is less about how a troll dies, but more about how a troll lives on.

From those pyres banquets are prepared, their ashes are spread and seeds are planted where they were scattered. In this way a troll’s death is simply a means for them to truly become immortal.

In recent years metal tools have also been forged from these pyres, as more and more other cultures push into troll land, the more they must protect themselves from those who so carelessly brandish flame and magic.

Of course there are always grand tales about these tools, both of the people who brandished them and the people who became them. There are legends of an old troll queen whose corpse refused to burn away, keeping her pyre burning from 7 days and from that fire many grand weapons are forged - some hich are said to still carry her will.

Or perhaps the tale of the old wise woman who used a shield and a hammer to create an avalanche, thwarting a conquering army and humbling their warlord. It’s said that the shield forged from her pyre could stop even the acid breath of a black dragon.

Those are the story of the great troll people, of their strength and their wisdom, carried on in the world around us and in the many stories of their children.

~~~

Okay so that was a lot. One last bit that I wanted to write down is how they relate to the 13 classes of D&D. Gonna keep these quick and simple, because jesus christ I’ve been writing this shit for over an hour

Artificer: One wouldn’t expect them to have many artificers, but you’d be surprised with how much they can achieve without the use of metal. Ingenuity and cleverness goes a long way for Artificers and trolls have plenty of that. Though they do tend to prefer Alchemy as their field of study.

Barbarian: Rarer than most people think. Unyielding rage will only ever get you so far when fighting other trolls and their rage can’t do much to protect them from magical fire. Those that do exist lean towards the Path of the Ancestral Guardian

Bard: The living memory of the troll people. They retell the grand tales of their ancestors and share their wisdom with new generations. Many who follow this tradition lean towards the College of Lore

Cleric: Trolls prefer to worship their ancestors more than they worship gods. The one exception being Vaprak themself, as they’re the oldest of troll ancestors. Clerics do not have a particular preference towards any domain, as there’s certainly at least one great troll out there with a tale relating to each of them.

Druid: The most common of spell casters and wise leaders in troll communities. Though they may join any circle, the Circle of the Moon seems to attract particularly few of them, as their bodies far outmatch those of most natural beasts.

Fighter: Where there’s a fight to be had, there are fighters to fight it, troll culture is no exception.

Monk: Troll martial arts tend to center around grappling and pinning their foe, a victory by submission is often the best one can hope to achieve when dueling another of their kind. Still there are some who learn the ways of the Monk and how to channel their Ki to make their bodies even deadlier

Paladin: There are no classic paladin orders to be found among trolls, but as rare as they might be, there are still individuals who would dedicate so much of themselves to a cause that something out there - ancestor or god - is compelled to land them their aid.

Ranger: No society would have ever gone that far without rangers, hunters and guides, to lead them through the natural world. Trolls are no different.

Rogue: It may seem silly to think of something as large as a troll sneaking around, but it’s this sort of thinking that makes such clever people the deadliest and fiercest among their kind.

Sorcerer: Sometimes magic simply manifests itself to a person. Elves, humans, orcs and trolls alike, magic flows through them all and can awaken just as easily in any of them.

Warlock: Most trolls who seek this path are too young to understand the consequences of they’re doing. Perhaps they have never seen a funeral pyre being lit and are confident of their own immortality, or perhaps they have and are doing everything within their power to avoid such fate

Wizard: Only the old and wizened are ever allowed to take such a path, for such terrifying power cannot be taught to one who would use it carelessly, and far too many tales were ended far too soon by a single stray spell.

AND WE ARE FINALLY DONE. Hope you enjoyed this absurdly long read and please feel free to offer me feed back and your own unique takes on other fantasy races. Please do keep your advice constructive. I know I probably fucked up some bits back there, but nothing here is set in stone and a lot can be rewriten and changed as necessary

#dnd #dnd 5e #homebrew #trolls #dnd trolls #dnd homebrew

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fatesdeepdive · 3 years

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Entry 10: Geneva Convention Speedrun

Before doing anything else, I built a Prison in the castle so I can test out Orochi’s personal skill. Birthright allows the player to replay old maps for EXP, so I tested it out on one of those maps. I had Orochi go up to a random enemy soldier and use her Capture ability, which knocked him out. When I got back to the castle, he was imprisoned. I had my most terrifying, intimidating soldier, Sakura, go into his cell and convince him to join us. She screamed a bunch like she was being murdered and then walked out with our new soldier: Kenshi the Oni Savage.

Kenshi

Why am I even doing a character profile on this guy? He’s a generic enemy I kidnapped. Whatever, he’s part of the team now. I shall treat him with love and respect.

Hey, minor thing that’s unrelated to anything that I feel like mentioning: the Geneva Conventions forbid forcing POWs to fight for you. Corrin is a war criminal. I mean, that isn’t big news, considering the fact that Sakura is by definition a child soldier, but still. So many war crimes.

Speaking of child soldiers, we got Hayato at the end of last chapter.

Hayato

Hayato is another Diviner and the son of Fuga, the buff dude we fought last chapter. His personal skill makes him fight better against higher level opponents, which is fitting for a character with an inferiority complex. Personality wise, he seems kinda rude about characters treating him like a kid, which is dumb because he is a kid. Maybe the game will do something with his wanderlust. Is it just me or does Hayato look a lot like Ricken from awakening? I mean, they aren’t identical like CERTAIN CHARACTERS, but they’re both short young mages wearing blue with red hair and brown eyes. It’s weird. Speaking of his design, I think Hayato’s is fine? It isn’t bad, it’s just kinda okay. Way too similar to Ricken’s though.

Support: Azama/Setsuna

C: Setsuna does chores and Azama sarcastically mocks her. Setsuna is too stupid to understand that he’s being a dick.

B: Setsuna tries cooking. She makes food that is unholy.

A: Setsuna, thanks to Azama’s sarcastic advice, goes into a zen state and creates the greatest meal Azama has ever had.

S: Setsuna proposes to Azama.

Review: A very shallow support line, admittedly. Setsuna’s incredible stupidity is amusing, but Azama comes off as a jerk and the two of them do not work as a couple.

Support: Kaze/Saizo

C: Kaze asks Saizo about his quest to avenge their murdered father, pointing out that Saizo is motivated solely by his desire for revenge and loyalty to Ryoma. Saizo hints that there may be something else fueling him before running off.

B: Kaze challenges his brother to a duel, under the condition that Saizo comes clean if Kaze wins. Saizo decides to just explain things to Kaze. Years ago, Saizo confronted the man who murdered their father but failed to kill him, losing his eye in the process. Saizo hid this fact for years out of shame.

A: Kaze apologizes for allowing Saizo to carry the burden of his revenge alone and vows to make amends, promising to become Saizo’s new eye.

S: This is a great support line that expands Saizo’s backstory, explaining his scars and grumpy mood, while also establishing a solid relationship between the ninja brothers.

Support: Hinoka/Sakura

C: Sakura, while watching her sister train, laments that she isn’t brave and tough like Hinoka.

B: Hinoka praises Sakura for her kindness, stating that their love for their family members is what they have in common.

A: Sakura and Hinoka decide to train each other. They hug.

Review: A sweet, but ultimately lacking support line. I do like Sakura’s feelings of inferiority and desire to have Hinoka be proud of her, but ultimately this support line is just the two of them explaining things we already knew.

Support: Corrin/Hayato

C: Hayato is sending charms back to the Wind Tribe. Corrin encourages him to send a letter with them. Hayato freaks out, because he’s never written a letter before.

B: Corrin helps Hayato write a letter, recommending that he tell his family that he isn’t scared of ghost stories any more. Hayato objects, and instead writes about his battle prowess. On Hayato’s suggestion, Corrin also decides to write a letter.

A: Hayato sends off his letter and Corrin gives him hers, which is filled with her gushing about how awesome he is and embarrasses him. Hayato decides to write an embarrassing letter for Corrin in response.

S: Hayato writes a letter about how cute Corrin is and how he’s in love with her. They get engaged.

Review: This support was...weird. It’s a “comedic” support, but it isn’t very funny. The letter writing concept is odd, but I suppose it makes sense for Hayato. I will say that this one flows into the S-Rank conversation better than most, but that’s about all that works.

Paralogue 1: Tragic Start

Fire Emblem games often feature side levels called Paralogues. Most of the Paralogues in Fates are linked to a specific route, so I’ll be doing them after their route is done. The exception is Paralogue 1, which is available for all three routes and will be done now.

The chapter opens by showing a herd of faceless destroying a small village and killing the mother of Mozu, one of the villagers. Team Corrin hears the screams and runs in to save the day. They find Mozu cowering in a thicket, hiding from the faceless. Corrin comforts her over the death of her family and Mozu decides to fight to avenge her family, joining the army.

Mozu

Mozu is our obligatory small child who can’t fight but has really good stat growths because of her personal skill. Like Donnel from awakening. Honestly, identical to Donnel from Awakening. To be fair, she does have some characterization about her being the sole survivor of her village, which might come up in supports. Her design is fine; a bit plain, but that works for her character. I am unnerved by how young she looks for a character in a game about soldiers and marriage, though.

The enemies in this chapter are fairly weak. I bolted Corrin over to Mozu with Subaki and recruited her. I decided to try and have Mozu kill as many faceless as possible, to avenge her dead family. Mozu can’t take a hit and does one damage, or zero in some cases, but it was doable. I positioned her next to Corrin, made sure to only fight one enemy at a time, had Hana weaken enemies with a kodachi, and healed Mozu constantly with Sakura. After thirty-three long turns, Mozu killed all of the faceless and reached level eight. Still, it was worth it. Those seven levels of high growths made her go from doing one damage per hit to doing five.

After the battle, Mozu is left wondering what to do with her life since, you know, everyone she ever knew is now a corpse. Corrin suggests she join the team, but only until they find a good home for her, because Mozu is a child and they are an army. Mozu decides to join their cause, despite having literally no idea what they’re fighting for.

So that’s another child soldier. God, child soldiers, forcing POWs to fight for you, invading Hoshido and killing border guards, killing enemy medics...Corrin’s speedrunning the geneva conventions.

#mozu fe #hayato fe #fire emblem #fire emblem fates #fe14 #corrin fe #corrin x hayato #saizo fe #kaze fe #setsuna fe #azama fe #setsuna x azama #hinoka fe #sakura fe

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