#f&f trilogy spoilers

[pipsaura]

something about rin being betrayed by everyone in her life and in her final moments turning against the only person who would never betray her because that’s all she’s ever known (they make me go insane)

#fang runin #the poppy war #r f kuang #the dragon republic #the burning god #chen kitay #rinkitay #tpw #tpw trilogy #rf kuang #tpw spoilers #the poppy war spoilers

[larc-en-punk]

finally finished reading the poppy war trilogy and i have WAY too many things to say about it, but first let me shed light on one of the mysteries regarding altan's death (because as the last speerly, a legend itself, he remained a mystery to everyone even in death) and why chaghan couldn't find any trace of his soul after passing: it can clearly be linked to how his soul was connected to rin's, as the last two speerlies even their wills became alike (or at least altan made sure to mold rin's will like his), altan's soul was coexisting in rin's body, in rin's mind; chaghan couldn't find any trace of his soul because only after rin's death he would finally be free from any "speerly rage", because there would be no speerly left to pass on what the genocide of their nation truly meant to them.

but, while reaching this conclusion, i also had the realization that altan's soul was actually scattered among everyone. everyone had a little bit of altan in the end, right? rin gained his rage, suni gained his empathy, chaghan gained what we could call somewhat love.

altan's soul became part of rin's, yes, but it was also shared among everyone. therefore, in the end, he did not have anything to himself just like what he had learnt during all his life.

#altan trengsin #i actually cried i love altan #the poppy war #the burning god #the dragon republic #tpw trilogy #tpw spoilers #r f kuang

[ritz-writes]

HOW DOES TROLLS HAVE THE BEST REPRESENTATION EVER??

(spoilers for trolls 3 below)

we get asexual representation with trolls having kids by themselves, we have physical disability representation with a troll in a wheelchair (and im pretty sure there were other instances in the other movies but i cant remember), we get freaking agoraphobia representation with poppys sister???? that one was wild /pos and i was so happy to see it. we get interracial (sorta?? thats how i see it) with bruce and his wife, not to mention bruce changing his name. love to see that. ALSO bruce doesnt have abs anymore and no one batted an eye or did the sterotypical thing we always see in media of "ahhh you let urself go" or tried to shame him or anything. they were just like "oh nice ur a dad now. thats wild man." we got healthy communication with branch and poppy. aND WE GOT KINK TALK??? WITH BRIDGET SAYING SHE DIDNT KNOW BOTH HER AND GRISTLE WERE GONNA END UP TIED UP???

RAHHH SO MUCH GOOD SHIT

#also got that cencored f bomb #AND drug insinuations #this movie was wild #this trilogy is wild #i love it all #trolls #trolls 3 #trolls band together #trolls 3 spoilers #branch is my fav

[dragon-republic]

Re-reading The Poppy War from the beginning after finishing The Burning God, going over the scene where the Fangs are trying to marry Rin off to the import inspector, and Aunty Fang is telling Rin that no one would want her because Rin is too dark, and she's a poor war orphan with no family, no connections, and no other prospects ...

... and I'm just dying to write an AU fanfic with a happier ending where the wars effectively do not tear Rin and Nezha apart, and Rin one day returns to Tikany to introduce her fiancé to the Fangs and brings home the Dragon Warlord's son.

Just imagining Aunty Fang's reaction to that is fueling my cold dead heart 🙂

#rinezha #yin nezha #fang runin #rin x nezha #the poppy war #the poppy war spoilers #the burning god spoilers #the poppy war trilogy #r f kuang #aunty fang too stunned speechless to remember to ask about dowry money

[merlinityart]

#nona the ninth #the locked tomb #ntn #ntn spoilers #nona #camilla hect #palamedes sextus #locked tomb trilogy #this scene physically hurt me thank you very much #To quote the tab I have on this page #>:'''''''( #Nona's just happy bc she gets to be part of this gesture of love #Meanwhile cam is s u f f e r i n g #Gideon may be the saddest girl in the universe #But I'm the SECOND saddest after this book #nona the ninth spoilers #tlt

[seashell-telephone]

just finished the burning god and the end of the poppy war trilogy and… i was so sure i knew what would happen but i did NOT and now im crying… again…

#the burning god #r f kuang #the poppy war trilogy #the poppy war spoilers #HOW was this the ending???!??? how… #i dont wanna spoil but i was soooo sure i knew who would survive and well.. #i was very wrong.. this is so sad and yet i get it bc somehow but just like..NO #idk… this series really got me and i dont even know why really but omg #help #okay real spoilers after this… warning… #i knew rin wouldnt make it okay #killed me but i knew it… however!?!? #ur telling me kitay died?!?? kitay and not nezha???!!! #kitay the only sane one in the gang #i felt in my soul he would be the only survivor somehow and his last moments… im gonna cry all over again #not okay

[chalceisdone]

#i will never recover #or stop thinking about this #tdr spoilers #the dragon republic #r f kuang #rinezha #fang runin #rin #yin nezha #nezha #screaming #the poppy war trilogy

[fitzbelovedhangover]

Fitz being all like i knew it he's dead he's dead he's dead i cant deal with this right now Bee needs me and yet he cant help his feet rushing towards the Fool's body he cant help it he trembles he shakes he knows he shouldnt go he has no time for it and still he goes near the Fool's body and then the Fool throws some stuff at him in fear of being attacked and Fitz avoids it confused and shocked and you are here relieved with your book in hand thinking oh God he's alive he's alive and you feel how Fitz can finally breathe again and you dont know if you want to cry or laugh or die yourself

#that's love b... ches #fitzloved #assassin's fate spoilers #rote spoilers #Robin Hobb #the fitz and the fool trilogy spoilers #fitzchivalry farseer #the fool #beloved #fitz #this f...ing book is a roller coaster start to finish i swear #No i will never shut up abt them

[inebubble]

oh look it’s I f***ing hate Regal o’clock

#freaking hate his freaking guts ughhh #what a good antagonist but f*ck me these first books were near unbearable #very weird feeling reading it again with only a foggy memory of who lives and who doesn’t #it makes for the most interesting feeling of anticipation #but also #that man can’t die soon enough >:( #lil bitch #anyway brb gotta mourn a few characters #ha ha read them again she said #it will be a good catharsis she said #:) #I should probably make a tag for these rants #but I think I’ll stick with #assassin’s apprentice #the Farseer trilogy #realm of the elderlings #assassin’s apprentice spoilers #i guess???? #Ine’s speech bubbles #Rants of the Elderlings #ha! #found the tag

[one-squash-one-end]

I wrote a giant Raven Cycle analysis

Hi! Over the last year or so I've been working on a sort of essay about various themes in the raven cycle series, and I finally finished it a few weeks ago.

It is titled: "Why I love The Raven Cycle - An excessive analysis of the themes of friendship, queerness and growing up".

And since tumblr loves its meta (and bc I love peer validation) I've decided to start uploading it bit by bit here, making this the masterpost (if I can figure out the logistics of the linking lmao, bear with me)

(beware of spoilers up to greywaren starting at like 3b!)

Introduction

What even is the Raven Cycle?

Trust me, the characters are queer as fuck and I can prove it a) Blue Sargent b) Gansey c) Adam Parrish d) Ronan Lynch e) Noah f) Henry Cheng g) Honorary mentions

The Gangsey is a polycule

Analyzing the reoccurring themes a) Friendship b) Being a teen/growing up c) (Found) Family d) Magic (as a metaphor) e) Further themes I appreciate

Drawing a conclusion

Click here to start with the introductory parts!

1. Introduction

So here’s the thing: I love fiction almost as much as I love my friends. There’s something deeply comforting about the escapism, even if the book actually makes me want to scream and throw it on the floor (only one book has been thrown so far, I promise!).  Fiction is a healthy thing to occupy my thoughts with: headcanons! Quotes being on loop in my brain! Just fandoms!

And for me, if I am hooked on a book (series), it does not even need a good plot where a lot of things happen. In fact, I would say that my enjoyment of a book is made up of 30% plot and about 70% characters and vibes. If the characters are bland, if they do not make me feel much emotion, it likely won’t be more than 4 stars (additional info: I am way too nice rating books!). I really, really need to love the characters, to be able to relate to some aspects of them, or it just won’t become an obsession.

Since I have already started explaining that a bit, let’s look at this question: What is important to make a book special to me? 1. I need to cry reading it. 2. I have to think about it often, even weeks to months after having read it. 3. Obviously, I need to love the characters. 4. I need to be in the fandom! This can be hard with some books, but the internet is a whimsical space allowing you to find at least a small number of people who are obsessed with a work of fiction to a similar extent as you are.

Now, why am I elaborating on this so much? It’s because The Raven Cycle did all that for me. It is my favorite comfort book series at the moment, for all those aspects mentioned, but of course I cannot just leave it at that. No, I wrote a whole-ass analysis on headcanons and some of its themes. You’re welcome.

2. What even is The Raven Cycle?

The Raven Cycle is all I adore and live for (next to my friends). So, naturally, it’s a book series, specifically a four book young adult contemporary fantasy series by American author Maggie Stiefvater. The books in question are: The Raven Boys (2012), The Dream Thieves (2013), Blue Lily, Lily Blue (2014) and The Raven King (2016), and yes I will admit that the publishing dates are a bit of a red flag. There is also the very relevant follow-up series called The Dreamer Trilogy (Call Down The Hawk, Mister Impossible, Greywaren), but it’s a lot less easy to get into that here as I do not know these entire books by heart, so I’ll stick to the original tetralogy here.

To stick to red flags, the books are set in the fictional Henrietta, a rural town in non-fictional Virginia, US, in the 2010s. However, that doesn’t really say *that* much about the plot, so let me summarize that really quick, because I can do better than the official synopsis! (Or let’s pretend I can.)

Blue Sargent comes from a family of psychics, yet she does not have any powers of her own. Even worse, she is a bit of an amplifier for the others, meaning she is always somehow but never directly involved in the business. As if that isn’t enough for an identity crisis, every psychic she has ever met has told her that her kiss would kill her true love. Yikes.

But because she is that amplifier, she comes to a church watch on St. Mark’s Eve, where psychics see the spirits of those to die within the following year. It’s important business, but to her it’s really just staring into the dark. Until she does actually see a spirit: That of Gansey. Of course this is not a coincidence. No, to add to this teen’s mount of problems, there are only two reasons why a non-seer would see someone’s spirit: They are their true love, or they killed them. Or, in Blue’s case, maybe both.

The aforementioned Gansey is Henrietta’s Golden Boy, the son of politicians (read: he’s fucking loaded). He does not run with the Republicans though, he runs with dead Welsh kings, meaning he has been searching for the probably dead, presumably sleeping Welsh king Glendower (*1350; †1416; yikes) for the past like seven years. Why the fuck would he do that? Well, legend says that he will grant a wish to whoever wakes him, and our favorite PTSD-ridden guy really wants that favor.

Aiding him are fellow Aglionby students Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch and Noah Czerny, plus Henry Cheng, though only a lot later in the series, but I really did not want to leave out that menace (affectionately) here. The paths of Blue and the boys cross because of Gansey’s search for Glendower, plus the fact that Blue works at a popular pizza place, but that’s a lot less whimsical. And, well, there’s the implication that Gansey might also be her true love, but perhaps she just kills him because of his bad fashion sense, it would be justified. Anyway, in true Famous Five fashion (Ronan is the dog; I won’t elaborate, the girls that get it, get it) they are of course not the only ones searching for the king, so it’s not completely a wholesome friend bonding activity all the way through.

Be prepared for: friendship and growing up, lots of treasure hunting, family mysteries, magical forests, illegal and slightly distasteful activities (our favorite of course), but most of all, heavily queer-coded (or even canonically queer) characters. Be Gay, Do Crime.

#y'all better like this it took a while #trc #the raven cycle #gansey #blue sargent #ronan lynch #adam parrish #noah czerny #henry cheng #the raven king #the raven boys #blue lily lily blue #the dream thieves #let's hope i don't forget about this after the first part #please talk to me about your thoughts

[fandom-friday]

Thank you so much to everyone that submitted recommendations this week! A comprehensive list of this week’s submissions can be found under the cut! Recommendations are organized by show/media, and any main pairings will be listed after the title.

💕 = 18+ content 🟪 = contains spoilers of a currently running show

Fics:

The Clone Wars: It Only Takes a Spark (Purge Trooper Cody x f!Inquisitor Reader) by @vodika-vibes 💕 Time After Time (Commander Cody x f!Reader) by @the-rain-on-kamino Theirs (Commander Fox x f!Reader x Commander Wolffe) by @vodika-vibes 💕 Don't Stop on My Account (Commander Wolffe x f!Reader) by @dickarchivist 💕 One Spotchka Too Many (Captain Rex x f!Reader) by @twistedsarchive Captain Rex x OC Nia Ficlet by @eternal-transcience 💕 The Last Word (Fives x OC Mal Darroch) by @ariadnes-red-thread Shattered Sunrise (Mace Windu x OC Danica Morrow) by @pickleprickle The Choices We Make, The Paths We Tread by lildropofmagic (AO3) The Number Lads by @jgvfhl

The Bad Batch: The Hostage by @kybercrystals94 Freeze Thaw by AnEchoInHere (AO3)

The Book of Boba Fett: 💕 This Tender Love (Boba Fett x f!Reader) by @daimyosprincess 💕 Worth the Risk (Boba Fett x f!Reader) by @daimyosprincess

Star Wars Original Trilogy: Revelations by shOokspeared (AO3)

Republic Commando: 💕 Off the Grid (Niner Skirata x f!Reader) by @the-rain-on-kamino

Batman: Lavender Blood by @starkskypines

Hetalia: Axis Powers: Grey Skies Over London by Gemini Star 01 (ff.net) Every Generation by Gemini Star 01 (ff.net) Gutters by Glassamilk (ff.net) Ditches by Glassamilk (ff.net)

Call of Duty: 💕 Riptide (Price x f!Reader) by @the-californicationist

Crossover AUs: Edward's Babysitting Service (Hetalia: Axis Powers X Fullmetal Alchemist Crossover) by orphan_account (AO3) Conversations With Patronizing Jerks (Hetalia: Axis Powers X Star Wars Crossover) by @basketofnova

Art:

The Clone Wars: Republic Troops 501st Poster by @boggsart Clone Wars Band Art by @pinkiemme Captain Rex Art by @vivaislenska Captain Rex Art by @kheimerios Captain Rex Art by @rackcty Mace Windu Art by @mudpuddless Fives and OC Elara McTavish Art by @aliettali OC Kazi and OC Daria by @eyecandyeoz (from I Yearn and So I Fear by @enigmaticexplorer) Clone OC Atlas Art by @orionfrommars

The Bad Batch: Bad Batch Selfie Art by @collophora Happy Ending Bad Batch Art by @mroddmod Hunter and Omega Art by @blxem1lk Hunter Redesign by @snw-faatuatua 🟪 (TBB S3) Hunter Art by @soularsss 🟪 (TBB S3) CX-2 Art by @notnyxxy Tech Art by @rexxdjarin Tech and Phee's Children OCs by @nightskyfoxyy A Place to Hide by @the-rain-on-kamino

Star Wars Original Trilogy: Young Boba Fett Art by @mrs2224

Jedi: Survivor: BD-1 Art by @eriadus

Batman: Batman's Boys by @inverted-typo

How to Train Your Dragon: Meatlug Art by @spacenintendogs

Call of Duty: Wraith by @bluegiragi

GIF Sets:

The Book of Boba Fett: Kia Kaha, Kia Maia, Kia Manawanui by @bobafettdaily

#ff weekly summary

[pipsaura]

forever thinking about that one scene in the dragon republic when rin tries out the wings kitay made for her and they’re just so happy and when she comes down she shouts move! but he just grabs her wrist and swings them around until they collapse in a tangled laughing heap of leather and silk and limbs and she says “i love you” and kitay gives her a tired smile “i know”

#fang runin #chen kitay #rinkitay #the poppy war #the dragon republic #i love them so much #platonic soulmates #r f kuang #the burning god #tpw #books #tpw spoilers #tpw trilogy

[hauntthenarrative]

Haunting the Narrative Character Roster

Thank you for your patience while we sorted the submissions, and thank you to everyone who submitted! Here’s the final character roster for our tournament!!

The roster is currently in alphabetical order by character name for your convenience; we haven't made the brackets yet! Please check out this media list first if you want to know the media without potential spoilers, and keep these things in mind going forward!

Ai Hoshino (Oshi no Ko)

Alice (Alice Isn’t Dead)

Altan Trengsin (The Poppy War Trilogy by R. F. Kuang)

Andrey Nokolayewich Bolkonsky (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812)

August (A3! Act! Addict! Actors!)

Ava Ferin (Just Roll With It: Riptide)

Avator Roku (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Ayano Tateyama (Kagerou Project)

Beatrice Baudelaire (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

Caleb Wittebane (The Owl House)

Carmen (Lobotomy Corporation)

Cassandra “Andi” Brand (Glass Onion)

Chara/The Fallen Human (Undertale)

Connor Murphy (Dear Evan Hansen)

December “Dess” Holiday (Deltarune)

Doug Rattmann (Portal)

Dr. Casper Darling (Control)

Falin Touden (Dungeon Meshi)

Gertrude Robinson (The Magnus Archives)

Godot (Waiting for Godot)

Goto’s Girlfriend (Samurai Flamenco)

Gregory Edgeworth (Ace Attorney)

Hinawa (Mother 3)

Indou Hikaru (The Summer Hikaru Died)

Iphigenia (The Iliad)

Jackie Taylor (Yellowjackets)

Jason Todd/Red Hood (Batman)

Joe Tazuna (Your Turn to Die)

Jordie Rietveld (Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo)

Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair/Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony)

Kasumi Yoshizawa (Persona 5: Royal)

Kite (Hunter x Hunter)

Klint van Zieks (The Great Ace Attorney)

Lacie Baskerville (Pandora Hearts)

Laura Palmer (Twin Peaks)

Leelathae/Lilyth (Cursed Princess Club)

Lup (The Adventure Zone: Balance)

Maes Hughes (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Mami Tomoe (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

Mara (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Mari (Omori)

Maria Robotnik (Sonic)

Maric Theirin (Dragon Age)

Martel Yggdrasil (Tales of Symphonia)

Murata Himeko (Honkai Impact 3rd)

Professor Sada/Professor Turo (Pokémon Scarlet & Violet)

Rebecca de Winter (Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier)

Red-Haired Shanks (One Piece)

Renju Okiura (AI: The Somnium Files)

Rose Quartz/Pink Diamond (Steven Universe)

Rose Thorburn Sr. (Pact: Devils and Details, by J. C. McCrae)

Saki Momose (Kamen Rider Ex-Aid)

Shannon Masters (Warrior Nun)

Shen Jiu/Original Shen Qingqiu (The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System)

Sliver of Straw (Rain World)

Summer Rose (RWBY)

Tadashi Hamada (Big Hero 6)

Ted Kord/Blue Beetle (Booster Gold)

The Oldest Dream (Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint)

The Pale King (Hollow Knight)

The Snail (Zero Escape)

Trisha Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

White Lily Cookie (Cookie Run: Kingdom)

Zack Fair (Final Fantasy VII)

#haunting the narrative tournament #not polls

[the-modern-typewriter]

Hi! I love your blog so much. Do you have any book recs for dark/twisted romantic relationships? Something like these violent delights by micah nemerever. Doesn't have to be mlm & i would honestly prefer if it had a female main character. Thank you!

This is goodreads list for 'books similar to these violent delights'

Out of them, I have read and liked/loved:

If We Were Villains by M.L Rio (m/m, dark academia!)

The Secret History (not really romance, but very good! Seminal dark academia book)

Vicious/Vengeful by V.E Schwab (again, not romance, but might help with the itch and she is one of my all time favourite authors)

I haven't read Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield, but I really want to because I recently read her short story collection Salt Slow and I am obsessed! Her writing style is gorgeous. Dark, feral, femininity. Often but not always sapphic.

My other personal recs would be:

Deathless by Catherynne M Valente (female main - more fantasy than These Violent Delights but the romance dynamic remains one of my favourite slightly twisted dynamics)

The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue by V.E Schwab (female main, fantasy, one of my favourite books, hits the twisted romance/bond vibes)

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (lol, spoilers)

Blood Countess by Lana Popović (f/f, female main, inspired by the story of Elizabeth Bathory)

Dark Rise by C.S Pascat (m/m, but very promising first book in the trilogy)

The God Key by me! It is m/m, but one of the POVs is female and you will definitely get 'wow, this relationship is so messed up'

Anyone else feel free to chip in!

#books #book recs #book recommendations #twisted romance #romance #read #reading #literature #lit #book

[ideas-on-paper]

Rannoch researches - Part 1: Astrophysics, formation of the Tikkun system and origin of life on Rannoch

[Potential spoilers for the Mass Effect trilogy]

Alright, I finally, finally made it to the Rannoch arc of ME3 - and while it absolutely freaking destroyed me on an emotional level, I was nevertheless very excited to see the Quarian homeworld in person. I mean, it's one thing to just read the entries on the wiki, but virtually being there and flying around in the star system is something entirely else.

As you might know, I'm very interested in any lore about the Quarians and Geth, specifically everything that's related to Rannoch's culture previous to the Morning War, and being able to set foot on the site is like a dream come true for me. (Having an idea of the place you're researching just immensely helps with visualization. xD)

However, being my nerdy self, I decided to try and explore Rannoch's history a little further, beyond the Morning War and even the advent of Quarian civilization - that is to say, the history of Rannoch's star system. I'm aware that this topic might be a little dry to some people, since it has nothing to do with ME's story as a whole and basically just covers the scientific background. However, after researching about it, I must say that I find it to be quite fascinating, and I certainly learned a lot of things about astrophysics, the origin of life, and the universe as a whole along the way.

Disclaimer: I should mention that I'm neither an astrophysicist nor a chemist, and all my knowledge about the topic stems from self-study. Therefore, it's possible that some of my conclusions and projections might be scientifically inaccurate; if someone has more expertise in these fields than me, feel free to point any error out to me. For the sake of understandability, I will try to explain all facts as simply as possible.

The age of the Tikkun system

Before actually being able to travel to the system in Mass Effect 3, Legion already gives us a little trivia about Rannoch and its star in ME2. When Shepard inquires what the Quarian homeworld is like, they respond with:

"It is more arid than Earth. The star is older and more orange than Sol."

In combination with the information that Rannoch's star Tikkun has about 90% of the Sun's mass and half of its luminosity (which we learn from the planet's description), we can conclude two things:

Tikkun is older than 4.6 billion years (the approximate age of our Sun).

Tikkun is a K-type main-sequence star, sometimes also called orange dwarfs due to their emitted light being in the orange spectrum.

From an astrophysical perspective, these two pieces of information complement each other nicely: Since K-type stars are generally more stable than stars of the G-class like our Sun, they also have longer lifespans (about 17 - 70 billion years, in contrast to the estimated 10 billion of the Sun), which means that a K-type star that formed long before our Sun could still exist without issue.

Also, despite being colder and less luminous than G-type stars, K-type stars are considered to be of particular interest in the search for extraterrestrial life, if only for the reason that their extended lifespan gives organic life more time to develop. Furthermore, K-stars emit less total UV light and ionizing radiation than G-type stars, which are known to be damaging to DNA and thus would hinder the development of extraterrestrial life.

However, it's still debated how beneficial these presumed advantages actually are: Due to their lower heat emission, planets would have to orbit closer to K-type stars to have habitable temperatures, which might offset any benefit from a lower UV output. Also, while the total UV radiation is lower, K-type stars emit higher levels of X-rays and far ultraviolet light (F-UV) during their early lifespan, which may act sterilizing and destroy any atmosphere, thus preventing the emergence of organic life (or at least significantly delaying it).

Still, there is a factor that might have made it possible for life to develop on Rannoch after all: metallicity. Metallicity denotes the abundance of heavy elements in a star, although the term "metals" is a bit misleading - it's not about metals in the actual sense, but rather every element that is heavier than hydrogen and helium. Hydrogen and helium are the two lightest elements and the first to exist immediately after the Big Bang (in addition to small quantities of lithium), and all other elements were created by nuclear fusion in stars and then ejected into interstellar space by supernovae. Consequentially, that means the older a star is, the less heavy elements it contains (there are exceptions to this rule, however).

Now, the interesting part about this is that very recently, scientists have found out that planets orbiting metal-poor stars might actually be more habitable to organic life: Although metal-poor stars emit more total UV radiation compared to metal-rich stars, the spectrum of the emitted UV light strongly differs. Metal-poor stars emit more short-wave UV-C light, while metal-rich stars predominantly emit the longer-waved UV-B light. The difference is that while UV-B light acts destructive to any ozonosphere, UV-C light actually supports the formation of an ozone layer. It may seem like a bit of a paradox that a certain spectrum of UV light benefits the formation of an atmosphere protecting the planet from cytotoxic UV radiation, but what we can surmise is that metal-poor stars are generally more life-friendly.

However, Rannoch's star system potentially being very old by galactic standards introduces yet another problem: At first, scientists suspected that metal-rich stars are overall more likely to possess planetary systems, particularly such that include terrestrial planets. This was probably due to the assumption that since heavy elements were not that abundant in the beginning of the universe, terrestrial planets were also not very common back then, although further observation has shown that smaller exoplanets exist around stars with a range of metallicities. Evidence suggests, however, that large gas giants are more likely to form around planets with high metallicity - perhaps because cores containing a large amount of heavy elements exert a stronger gravitational force on light gases.

Still, the issue remains that the cores of planets which formed during the early phase of the universe most likely contain next to no heavy elements. This is important because the iron and nickel core of Earth is one of the main reasons life was able to develop on our planet in the first case: The heavy elements in the core are responsible for Earth's magnetic field, which stabilizes the atmosphere and protects it from being blown away by solar winds. So, presuming that Rannoch's core is composed of a larger portion of light elements, it would have a weaker magnetic field than Earth, which in turn would make it harder for the planet to develop a life-essential atmosphere.

Either way, we can surmise that the question whether a planet is actually habitable depends on various different factors, and it once again proves what a delicate balance has to be met for organic life to develop. In case of Rannoch, it's worth mentioning that Rannoch's atmosphere is stated to be slightly thinner than Earth's (0.93 atm). So, if Tikkun is indeed an old, metal-poor star, perhaps the influence of the increased UV-C radiation is just enough to offset all other atmosphere-depleting factors, like F-UV radiation, x-ray radiation, and solar winds. Also, it's noted that Haza, the only gas giant of the Tikkun system, is comparatively small; thinking back to the observations that large gas giants predominantly form around stars with high metallicity, this might suggest that the percentage of heavy elements in Haza's core is pretty low, which in turn could hint at the system's high age.

Life based on dextro amino acids - proof of Rannoch's age?

However, there might be another, even more convincing indicator that Tikkun is pretty ancient by astronomical standards: As we know, life on Rannoch is based on dextro amino acids, including the Quarians who are the only dextro species in the galaxy aside from the Turians, with all others being levo amino-based. For a long time, scientists have been speculating why lifeforms on Earth consist pretty much exclusively of L-acids (levo), and why there are sugars (e.g. glucose) consisting of D-molecules (dextro), but no proteinogenic (protein-creating) acids. Theoretically, the chemical construction of D- and L-acids is exactly the same - the only thing that's different is the way the molecules reflect light, which is clockwise for D-acids and counterclockwise for L-acids (a property known as "chirality"). This may not sound like much, but it has major consequences: As a result, D- and L-acids are entirely incompatible with each other, acting like image and mirror image. (Just as a side note because I keep hearing that Quarians consist of "completely different" molecules than humans and thus are completely different lifeforms: Broken down to their chemical components, D- and L-acids don't differ from each other at all - it's basically the same, just the other way around.)

Meanwhile, the American chemist Ronald Breslow has proposed that the reason why L-amino acids are dominant on Earth has something to do with electromagnetic radiation: Going by the panspermia hypothesis, the molecules of life spread through the universe by means of meteoroids, asteroids, comets, and other matter. However, on their way through space, these molecules are subjected to the radiation of neutron stars and pulsars, and it's been observed that dextro amino acids get destroyed more easily by neutron star radiation than their levo counterparts. Thus, the meteoroids that fell down on Earth contained more L-acids than D-acids. Since amino acids of the same kind paired up with one another and became crystallized, the only ones that remained were those that couldn't find any partner: the excess L-acids, which were dissolved in the water and eventually became the components of organic life.

Now, one thing to keep in mind is that neutron stars and pulsars are objects that form after a dying star turns into a supernova. Logically, this would mean that the older the universe gets, the more neutron stars are created, and consequentially, their number must have been lower during the early stages. If this is true, the radiation hazard must have been lower as well, and presuming that the quantity of D-amino acids contained in a meteorite exceeded those of L-acids, it could've led to life developing along an alternate path on a different planet - even Breslow himself considered it a possibility that life based on D-acids and L-sugars might exist elsewhere in the universe.

This would lead to the conclusion that the Quarians as a species are way older than humans - and potentially, the majority of the other races in the galaxy. What makes this even better is that it actually lines up very nicely with the comment from Erinya's bondmate (the Asari you meet on Illium during the sidequest "Medical Scans" in ME2) that Quarians have "old souls". (I'm not entirely sure how Asari are able to determine how old someone's soul is, but then again, I never quite understood their esoteric mindset. xD) Going from this, it might mean that the Turians are another "old" species of the galaxy, since they developed based on dextro acids as well - either way, I quite like this theory, since it not only fits in with the lore but would also make sense from a scientific point of view.

Rannoch's position in the Milky Way

However, as with pretty much all good theories, there is just one problem: Rannoch's position in the Milky Way. In 2016, scientists created the first global age map of the galaxy based on observations of 100,000 red giants, coming to the conclusion that the oldest, most metal-poor stars are located in the galaxy's center and in the halo (the roughly spherical space surrounding our galaxy, acting as a kind of "border zone"). Furthermore, they observed that with increasing distance from the galactic center, the stars of the disk (the "flat" level that the spiral arms are on) get younger the farther away they are - and with the Tikkun system being located at the disk's very edge, this puts my theory in a somewhat precarious place.

However, at the same time, the stars' age increases the greater the vertical distance from the galactic disk is (to put it simply, the oldest stars are found above and below the disk). At first, this led me to the suspicion that the Tikkun system might actually be located in the halo, since the galaxy map of Mass Effect is only in 2D and doesn't account for the 3D aspect. However, I was stopped short by the realization that the halo contains no interstellar medium - that is to say, clouds of gas and dust which are essential for the formation of solar systems. With nebulae (like the Perseus Veil) also being part of the interstellar medium, this makes a localization of Tikkun in the halo extremely unlikely. Still, one thing I did find out that Tikkun is probably located "above" most of the rest of the Milky Way: Due to the dented shape of the disk (which is suspected to be caused by the rotating movement of the galaxy's center), the regions at the outer edge of our galaxy are significantly bent upwards and downwards. I actually managed to find a three-dimensional map depicting the position of our solar system, making it possible to deduce the position of the Tikkun system in relation to it, which would most likely be located near the "raised" partition of the disk (see image below).

This 3D map of the Milky Way galaxy shows the position of our Solar system, and if compared to this Mass Effect galaxy map, we can conclude that the Tikkun system would be somewhere on the right, where the "ridge" is (Edited image; original picture source)

Still, that doesn't mean my speculations are completely off the table: In a more recent study from 2023, a team of scientists did a metallicity profile of the Milky Way's stars, starting from the galactic center all the way to the outer rim. During their survey, they not only observed a spike of metal-rich stars around 23,000 light years from the center (with 26,000 light years distance from the center, our solar system lies quite close to it), but also an unusually high quantity of metal-poor stars about 50,000 light years from the galactic center.

Granted, there is a correlation between the age of a star and metallicity, but as I already pointed out above, this doesn't always have to be the case. In fact, each of the three star populations - young, intermediate, and old - displays the trait of a higher metallicity near the center and a lower metallicity at the outskirts. Then again, the oldest, most metal-poor stars of the galaxy are also found in the center, and the research group has acknowledged that one reason for the steep decrease of metallicity near the outer edge might be that our estimates of the extent of the Milky Way's disk are off. Either way, a diagram from the study shows that old stars still exist up to a radius of 12 kpc (approx. 40,000 light years), with their luminosity decreasing the farther away from the center they're located. In the study, "old stars" were classified as those with an age of 8-12 GYR/8-12 billion years, so this would be my rough estimate for the age of the Tikkun system as well.

Another explanation for the rapid decrease of metallicity near the outer rim that has been proposed is the collision with a former, metal-poor dwarf galaxy. This galaxy would have been engulfed and later absorbed by the Milky Way, with its metal-poor gas being used as the building material for new stars. If this was true, perhaps the Perseus Veil might even be a remnant of this collision, consisting of gas formerly belonging to this dwarf galaxy. Going by the description from the Codex, the Perseus Veil is an opaque nebula in the colors of "purple and gold", suggesting that it might consist of a combination of emission nebulae (those that emit light in the visible spectrum, hence the striking colors) and dark nebulae. Dark nebulae absorb the wavelengths of light visible to the human eye, effectively concealing any stellar objects behind them (still, objects obscured by them can be observed with radio or infrared telescopes, which is a little curious considering that the Codex entry says "the Veil's total opacity prevents Council intelligence from surveying Geth activity"; however, it's possible that the Geth are using technology to disrupt those frequencies, not wanting organic races to spy on what they're doing). Dark nebulae in particular are also known to be the birthplace of many stars and planets, which makes them a likely candidate for the origin of the Tikkun system.

However, there is also the possibility that the Tikkun system might not be located in, but rather behind the nebula. The form of dark nebulae tends to be very irregular, with no clearly defined boundaries and far-ranging, serpentine shapes. In the night sky, they appear as dark patches, which is a phenomenon we know from the Great Rift, clouds of interstellar gas and dust obscuring much of our view from the Milky Way (for avid star gazers, this is indeed the dark band that stretches across the "bright band" of the Milky Way). This is due to the Rift being located between the inner edge of the Orion arm (which is the spiral arm where our Solar System is located), and the Sagittarius Arm, the next arm inward; thus, the Great Rift effectively blocks our view of the Galactic center. So, perhaps something similar might be the case for the Perseus Veil, with the Veil being located in-between the closest spiral arm and Quarian/Geth space. (This would also make sense considering that the Quarians/Geth occupied more clusters than just Tikkun, for example the Far Rim; the fact that multiple clusters are obscured by the Perseus Veil would support the theory of it being a more extensive interstellar cloud instead of a nebula that only contains the Tikkun system, despite Tikkun's cluster being labeled "Perseus Veil").

Also, keeping the 3D-perspective in mind, the elevated position of Tikkun (and probably the other systems as well) would mean that observers from other star clusters have to look "up" at them, which might indicate that the Perseus Veil is located slightly below the Tikkun system. (As an allegory, imagine spanning a dark piece of fabric between you and a lamp at your ceiling.) This allows for some interesting speculation what our galaxy might look like from Rannoch's night sky, as our position on one of the spiral arms also affects what we can see of the Milky Way. In that sense, Rannoch might even be in a more "ideal" location to observe the galaxy as a whole, its elevated position granting something like a top-down view of the Milky Way. From the northern hemisphere, you would have a good view at the stars of the halo and other galaxies, while on the southern hemisphere, you would look directly at the dark "rift" of the Perseus Veil. One might wonder what kind of influence this had on Quarian mythology - considering the huge significance stars held in human culture, we can assume that the same is true for the Quarians, if not more.

Organic life: a temporary phenomenon?

Anyway, regardless whether my theories are true or not, I certainly found it very interesting to think about how life could've developed on a planet like Rannoch, and I think the possibility of there being an extraterrestrial civilization which is much older than ours is extremely fascinating. Still, one thing my researches taught me is that on a galactic level, creation and destruction often lie very close together: When a star dies and goes supernova, all life on the planets around it is naturally extinguished. However, the gas and matter from the dying star go on to become the building material for a new generation of stars, thus creating a new chance for life to emerge on other planets. The interesting question is though whether this cycle will continue indefinitely, or if there is some kind of natural limit to it. (As a fair warning, this is about to get a little existential.)

What stirred this thought in me is the observation that with growing age, the universe will become increasingly hostile to life, as each new generation of stars will contain more heavy elements. As explained above, this will lead to the stars emitting more hazardous radiation, which at some point could reach an amount that prevents the development of life altogether. So: Does that mean that organic life is really just a temporary phenomenon, and is our existence nothing more than a tiny episode in the grand history of the universe?

Regarding Mass Effect specifically, I wonder whether the Reapers are actually aware of this - I mean, a universe without life might mean that they'd be potentially jobless at some point. xD On the other hand, perhaps this is precisely the motivation behind their harvests: If organic life is truly just "an accident", as Sovereign says, maybe this is why the Reapers were talking about the "ascent" of humanity when turning all of them into a giant bio-machine in ME2. Maybe they actually intend to bypass the pre-destined extinction of organic races by lifting them onto a higher evolutionary plane.

Before you ask, yes, I've played the Leviathan DLC, and yes, I'm aware what the Reapers' purpose is in canon - however, I couldn't help but feel that the explanation of "AI and organics are destined to fight" is a tad bit lame, and on top of that, it leaves open so many plot holes and loose ends that never get addressed. So, I guess I would've preferred if they went with a more philosophical approach like this. (Especially since it not only seems to be implied, but also fits the overall setting quite well.)

Anyway, that's enough talk for today - I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into Rannoch's astrophysical background, as well as my conjectures how it all may fit in with real-life science. I'm definitely planning to make this into a longer series, but I need to figure out how day and year cycles work on Rannoch first. In fact, if anyone of you has sufficient mathematical knowledge, I would be very grateful for any assistance in calculating how fast time passes on Rannoch - we do know that it has a slightly lower gravitation than Earth (0.89 g), and since theory of relativity exists, that means time passes faster on Rannoch than on our planet.

It might take me a while before I'll be able to continue this series (if simply for the reason that posts like these take a lot of time and effort to make), but still, thank you for your attention!

#mass effect #mass effect lore #lore theories #quarians #rannoch #science #astronomy #astrophysics #fictional astrobiology #I just reconstructed the hypothetical history of a planet that doesn't even exist #funny how real-life science is more helpful to me than BioWare's own lore #dang it I did NOT mean to go that existential near the end but I suppose I did lol

[dinluke-ao3feed]

Sing My Song (For You)

Read it on https://archiveofourown.org/works/54829282 by Maered NRC Archives, February 1986, the Tonight Show Starring Orson Krennic, Guests; Ruescott Melshi, Luke Skywalker [Krennic]: I guess I owe you an apology. [Skywalker]: Oh? [Krennic]: I asked you last time if you thought your first album was going to flop… I think we can safely say it didn’t. [Laughter] [Krennic]: Now, lets talk about this new stuff- [Skywalker]: That’s why I’m here! [Audience laughter] [Krennic]: You, famously, are quite the bachelor. But I was listening to your record- and let me read the audience some of the lyrics in case they haven’t heard them yet. Everyone says/I should be bored by now/Everyone says/It’s time to leave somehow /But I don't see how that's true/I've never been more in love with you. Now, to me, those don’t sound like the lyrics a bachelor would write. Are they about anyone? [Camera focuses on Skywalker as audience titters.] —- It’s 1986, and Luke Skywalker is just about to release his second solo album, Try. Except. All of his peers are dying, and he can’t do a damn thing about it. Well, there is one thing, but. He’s afraid if he does do it, he’ll lose everything he holds dear. Maybe Forever Words: 14084, Chapters: 3/3, Language: English Series: Part 3 of Rebellimania Fandoms: The Mandalorian (TV), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars Original Trilogy, Andor (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M Characters: Din Djarin, Luke Skywalker, Grogu | Baby Yoda, Cassian Andor, Jyn Erso, Wedge Antilles, Leia Organa, Dedra Meero, Lando Calrissian Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Cassian Andor/Jyn Erso Additional Tags: You thought youve seen the last of this au, think again, set in 1986, 80s AU, Luke is still performing, leia is still head of republic records, i guess I should tag that there’s spoilers for LMLM, anyway the biggest suspension of disbelief once again is pretending I’m any good at lyrics, author does not quite have an encyclopedic knowledge of 80s music, more like if i have a phd in in 70s, im midway through a masters program in 80s, Trigger Warnings, Period Typical Attitudes, Period-Typical Homophobia, Set during the AIDS crisis, SO, death mention, mentions of death tolls, No major characters die, also dedra is a huge fascist still so, Another parentheses song title obviously, We’re back to articles baby, Grogu is a TEEN in this, Grogu | Baby Yoda Being a Little Shit, Grogu | Baby Yoda Ships Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu | Baby Yoda is a Menace

#dinluke #lukedin #din x luke #luke x din #skydalorian #IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfiction