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layla-carstairs · 2 years

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I hate reading the eah fandom wiki tbh. some takes/interprets on there are awful & something blatantly untrue like 😭 anyway I was looking at raven's main page & came across this little gem

"the only one" what??? I love Raven but since when was she the only one undertaking actions that directly oppose her destiny.

Hunter is vegetarian & spent his entire summer before legacy year sabotaging his dad's traps (and is, you know, dating Ashlynn). Darling is... well, Darling and is breaking every damsel in distress rule in the book. There's Ashlynn, who doesn't really care for her happily ever after and is dating Hunter against her destiny. And those are people who are conscious of the fact they're going against destiny, and are choosing to be themselves anyway. On the other hand, you have someone like Faybelle who loves cheerhexing, something that doesn't exactly scream Dark Fairy but she still actively wants her destiny.

What makes Raven different isn't that she does things that contradict her destiny but that she doubts the system itself. For someone like Hunter or Darling, fully abandoning their destiny isn't really an viable option since it doesn't occur to them Grimm isn't telling the truth. For Raven, is does.

She's in a unique position where she's one of the very few to know the Evil Queen isn't dead, which is what Grimm says happened to the general public, but rather trapped in the mirror prison. She knows Grimm has lied and isn't always truthful, the possibility that he's done so more than once isn't impossible. This doubt (and general dislike of her destiny) leads her to something more powerful; hope. Raven is again one of the few people who know about Bella Sister's unsigned page. Even though Grimm does everything in his power to squash her hope, it survives in a gnat, an inconsistency and what Giles tells her (through translated riddlish)

She's operating on more information that her classmates are and because of that is aware of that other possibility. She doesn't have any real proof or certainty about what will happen, but it's enough for her. She's willing to take that leap of faith, for that chance to be herself without compromise. That's why she doesn't sign.

#ever after high #eah #raven queen #hunter huntsman #darling charming #ashlynn ella #why am I writing eah analysis when I should be sleeping?? that's a good question #I have so many thoughts this just kind of spilled out of me #there's more I could say about this #like raven's tendency to not speak her mind or agrue because it's easy and her general avoidance of confrontation or conflict #but this post is already longer than I meant for it to be #raven ily #you're just like me fr #early eah especially makes me insane tbh #later on they kind of lost sight of the plot but that's a whole different post lmao

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urlocalwhumper · 2 months

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my girl and @sowhumpshaped's boy interacting bc yippee yahoo yay (yes that anon was me. again. i should really sign my anons lmfao)

also this is like a weird mix of my pet verse and theirs, tried to keep things consistent but i have adhd memory so do not count on it!! 🫡

anyways,

rayan couldn't believe it. not only had he finally, after years of attempts, been approved for his pet owner's license, but he was also heading to the shelter - not as a volunteer this time, but to finally, finally pick out a pet of his very own.

to say he was excited was an understatement, truly, but he also felt a little bad as he approached the building. he'd been so busy recently, he hadn't been in for volunteer work for a solid two weeks. he supposed it was all worth it now, though.

he only felt more and more excited, almost giddy, as he was brought back towards the kennels. no more pining and yearning, when he left this building, it'd be with his very own pet right by his side.

he already recognized most of the faces he passed, but he still bothered to go kennel-by-kennel anyways. this was possibly the most important decision he'd ever make, and he was going to take it very seriously.

there was one he didn't recognize, though. all the way in the back, curled up as small as possible on its bed, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, was a pet he'd never seen before. he couldn't even really make out any distinctive features, with the way it was hiding its face in its arms. it was blonde, he could at least say that, with floppy little dog ears of a matching color, but he couldn't pick out much else.

"when did this one get in?" he asked, frowning in sympathy. one of the other volunteers - who he admittedly didn't know very well - glanced at the pet in question and sighed.

"last week, i think." they said. "real nasty case. she was confiscated from her last owner after heavy suspicions of abuse, the pet hospital sent her here once she didn't need constant medical attention anymore."

they clicked their tongue derisively. "i don't know how someone could do that to their pet." they sighed again. "either way, she's very skittish. doesn't bite, though. not even if you corner her."

so it's a girl. rayan thought distantly, blinking silently as he processed that load of information.

"that's- that's horrible!" he spluttered, once his brain finally caught up with him. he glanced back at the kennel. the pet inside had raised her head a little bit, and he could make out one shining green eye looking warily at him. "what- what happened?"

the volunteer spun their ring of keys around their finger, before selecting one and unlocking the gate to the kennel. "see for yourself."

electing not to comment on that weirdly ominous answer, he obliged and stepped inside the kennel. almost immediately, the pet inside shrunk back, like she could somehow manage to retreat even further into the far corner of the space.

rayan frowned, his eyebrows knitting together in worry. he didn't want to scare her anymore - the poor thing had probably already been scared enough for several lifetimes. so, with a soft grunt, he got down and sat on the kennel floor, a good six feet away from her.

"hi." he said, giving his best encouraging smile. "i'm rayan. i'm not going to hurt you." he kept his tone as soft and soothing as he possibly could. he eyed the tag on her collar, too far away to actually read it. "could i know your name too?"

she just stared at him for a few moments, sizing him up with her one visible eye, before slowly, cautiously rising to her hands and knees and taking a single step out of her bed.

and the moment she turned to fully face him, he immediately understood what the other volunteer meant by see for yourself.

only one of her eyes had been visible because the other was completely missing. almost the entire left side of her face, only ending less than an inch above her mouth, was made up of the rough scar tissue left by severe burns. where her left eye would have been, there was simply a shallow divot.

it took everything in him not to visibly recoil, because he knew it'd be interpreted the wrong way. the poor thing would probably think he was disgusted by her, when in reality, he was nearly floored by the depths of the cruelty she'd had to endure. even her tail, which was tucked firmly between her legs at the moment, had an odd bend to it, like it had been broken and healed crooked.

as she got closer to him, he could see just how terribly she was trembling, the way her ribs were clearly visible against her flesh. her single eye held so much fear, and her ears were pinned back against her skull, yet she continued to approach anyways.

until finally, she sat down in front of him, hunched and small and afraid. he wanted so badly to just reach out and comfort her, but he knew that escalating that quickly would likely scare her more.

slowly, so she could still keep a close eye on his movements and back away if she felt threatened, he reached for her collar. black leather - heavy duty, but impersonal. "NANA" was engraved on the front of the tag in bold, capital letters. The back was bare.

"nana." he repeated. her gaze immediately snapped from his hand back to his face. "is that your name?"

after a few hesitant seconds, she gave a single nod.

he smiled. "it's nice to meet you, nana." he said. "would it be okay if i pet you?"

she looked almost incredulous that he was asking, but nodded again anyways.

the moment his hand started to card through her hair, it was like her demeanor did a complete 180. she all but melted into the touch, leaning heavily into his hand as he scratched behind her ears. he could even see her tail starting to wag out of the corner of his eye.

poor thing. he thought sadly. is this really all it takes?

"you were just scared, weren't you?" he said. "scared i was gonna hurt you..." he couldn't even entertain the thought. "well, everything's okay. i'm not gonna hurt you, see?"

to his shock, she stepped closer again, and curled up in his lap, looking up at him with and eye full of pleas for more pets. he couldn't help but laugh to himself as he obliged.

"so," the volunteer from earlier said, nearly sending rayan jumping out of his skin - he'd forgotten they were there! "think you've found a keeper?" they gave him a knowing smile.

he looked down at the pet curled up in his lap, feeling the joy of finally achieving his dream once again.

he beamed as brightly as he could. "i- yeah! i think i did!"

#hiiii. lol #rayan is a lot harder to write than i thought #i feel like he's much better w/ handling pets than people. especially pets like nana who can't speak themselves #talking to her kinda is like talking to an animal tbh. except the animal does fully understand everything you say and you are aware of this #idk. she's pupy. so he gets to act more put together than he actually is bc she won't know the difference or really care tbh #nana has very simple wants. like 'master who does not cause me grievous bodily harm'#she dgaf abt how socially apt he is #also yes she is literally pupy. that's really the only thing from my pet verse that carried over lmfao #damn i've been sitting here YAPPING i should shut up lmfao #mine

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nu-fin · 5 months

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One thing I think about a lot is Elias and his mum. Like, the only reason he changed his mind and decided to detonate the bomb is bc his mum wouldn’t come out and talk to him. She didn’t even want to *see* him (from Elias’ pov at least). Despite the fact that earlier in the series he was adamant that he didn’t want to have anything to do with her (although I have wondered whether that’s an idea that the Morley’s planted in his head, or maybe straight up told him to say), she’s still his mum and he still needs her. Then later in the series in the last few seconds before he ceases to exist when they’re hugging, the idea that that might be the only time in the series when he actually genuinely knows he is loved, and how the whole loop is him chasing after that feeling of being loved yet it takes the loop breaking for him to get it. Stuff like that.

#these two mean so much to me #I think about Elias’ mum way too much actually #more than I probably should do for such a minor character #like that scene when she’s looking through her box of his baby stuff with the news report about the bomb I. the background #ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING #OH MY GOD #also fantastic writing/direction #that scene says so much with no words I love it #bodies 2023 #bodies netflix #elias mannix #julian harker #Sarah Mannix #love her to bits <33 #she deserved sm better #I mean tbh they all deserved sm better LMAO #this show wants all of its characters to suffer

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the-priestess-of-dawn · 6 months

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Grima and Final Blows

The other day I mentioned that I had an essay about Grima to write that I'd been putting off, and between that and all the great essays my fellow Grimleal scholars have been putting out recently, I decided to sit down and finally get it done.

So here you go. An analysis of Grima's difficulties with directly killing people.

Okay, so I’ve been thinking about this for quite some time, because one of my favorite things to explore when it comes to Grima is the gap between their villain act, which they actively play up in front of others in both Awakening and FEH, and their true feelings, which are hinted at in Awakening (particularly through the Future Past DLC) and made even clearer in FEH— their own evil actions are repulsive to them, and they wish they could live normally among humans, but they don’t believe they have any choice but to be the monster that “the fell dragon, Grima” is supposed to be. They are committed to this “fell dragon” character, to putting on a show for everyone, and they are so good at it that it’s easy to overlook that they… uh… aren’t very good at killing anyone important. Not directly, anyway.

Sure, Grima is responsible for numerous deaths. But what is their actual kill count? Well, in Awakening’s main game… zero. (Unless you count Chrom, but, as we witness, that was not a voluntary act on their part; Validar took control of their body. You could also make the argument that Grima “claiming the sacrifice” at the Dragon’s Table counts, but the problem with that is, although it’s obvious that Grima accepts the life force of the Grimleal members as a sacrifice, it’s not at all clear whether or not Grima personally kills them. Although it’s possible that they did off screen, it’s also possible that Validar killed them, or that they were ordered to take their own lives; there’s no reason Grima would have had to lay a hand on them.) In the Future Past, it’s… one, maybe one and half (Naga’s spirit, and Tiki, but only in body. More on this later.)

And it’s not as though Fire Emblem shies away from showing villains directly murdering people, Even in Awakening itself, the intro to Chapter 9 shows Aversa killing a Plegian soldier for delivering an unsatisfactory report, so it wouldn’t have been out of place to let Grima stab a few NPCs as a show of brutality. Especially seeing as Grima is the evil dragon final boss. As early as Mystery of the Emblem, we can see Medeus killing his cleric hostages to restore his own health if you fail to rescue them before trying to defeat him, and as recently as Engage, we get a whole cutscene of Sombron eating Hyacinth. Fantasy violence my beloved <3

Anyway, the point is, Grima could have been written to be much more violent and I don’t think anyone would have complained. Instead, though, Grima repeatedly— and consistently across the series— tries to avoid engaging in direct combat.

Let’s start with what Grima does in the main game of Awakening. We know that Risen pursue Lucina into the past, because we see them fall out of the portal with her in Chapter 1. We also know that those Risen, as well as the others that are appearing throughout the land, are not being directly controlled by Grima, because later in Chapter 13, as the Shepherds are leaving Plegia after meeting with Validar, Aversa, and the Hierophant, they are pursued by more skilled Risen, and Frederick notes that “Either they are learning our ways, or someone is commanding them…” So… It seems that sending the Risen—with or without specific orders—to attack while Grima is not themself present is a favored tactic.

But what about when Grima is present? Take a look at the Endgame: Grima chapter. Yes, you eventually get to engage Grima in direct combat. But not immediately. What Grima does first is…

Grima attacks the Shepherds with dark spikes from a distance, reducing everyone’s hp to 1. Now, here’s what happens next: Grima attempts to possess their past self, Robin hears the voices of their friends and breaks free, Naga heals everyone back to full health, and then the fight against Grima begins… Except actually, the Shepherds have to get to Grima first, because they’re at the top of the map and they’re not budging. Naga warns them that “Grima’s servants will beset [them] to no end.” and she’s not kidding. Grimleal reinforcements will spawn infinitely, and they can hit pretty hard. Even with everyone starting at full health, it’s possible to lose units to these Grimleal soldiers if Grima isn’t defeated quickly. Can you imagine what would happen if Naga hadn’t healed the Shepherds first?

Well, I’d guess that they’d probably all die to the Grimleal without Grima having to face them up close. Which was probably what Grima was going for.

This isn’t the only time Grima tries the dark spikes trick, either. Grima attempts this exact same move in the Future Past 3 when they face Lucina, Severa, Laurent, and Gerome.

Grima announces “With the next blow, I will kill you.” and then demands that they hand over the Fire Emblem as well as the gemstone they hold. The threat is very real. But…

Given that at 1hp, a gust of wind could take the kids out, would it not have been easier and faster to kill them and just loot their bodies immediately? And yet Grima lets the kids have an extended discussion about sacrifice, and even suggests that Lucina would indeed buy a little more time by running… Again, I cannot stress enough that Grima should be able to finish them off in one hit at this point.

So the plan was almost certainly to back off and let the Risen do the actual killing, even though that would be a lot less efficient under the circumstances. And when Chrom and the Shepherds arrive, Grima immediately turns their attention to them, saying “If it’s a reunion you seek, my soldiers shall welcome you on my behalf.” Then they once again pick a spot at the back of the map and refuse to move from it, forcing the Shepherds to fight through the Risen in order to engage Grima in combat at all.

And sure, Grima has some excuses. “I was hoping not to have to flex any muscle,” they say right before the dark spikes attack, as if to justify why they didn’t do it sooner. And of course they taunt Lucina over having to choose to whether to run as her friends sacrifice themselves for her or to stay and fight and die with them. “I must say I shall enjoy this either way!” Yes, Grima, we get it, you’ve made it very clear that you’re an arrogant asshole.

But is arrogance really all there is to it? If we look at what Tiki tells Grima in the good ending of the Future Past, it looks as though Grima’s arrogance has brought their own downfall. “If you had left Mount Prism alone, Grima, you might have stood a chance. Instead, you have brought the Awakening right to your feet.” However, when you think about it… Is Tiki’s continued existence not in itself a result of Grima’s repeated pattern of not really wanting to land a finishing blow? The game states that Grima did in fact kill Tiki… but only in body, not in spirit. This is, according to Tiki, because Robin intervened.

Now, the question I have is… Is it really possible that Robin could have intervened both against Grima’s will and without them having any idea? Honestly, it’s hard to tell exactly how aware Grima is of Robin’s resistance, because they lie about it a lot, e.g. stating that Robin’s spirit perished in sending Chrom back to his own world, even though just moments later, Robin is once again overpowering them. So, keeping in mind that Grima is a liar, was Grima really arrogant to leave Tiki’s body in Ylisstol, and to not make sure that her spirit was fully destroyed? Or was Robin simply able to capitalize on Grima’s propensity towards backing off?

Because surely the only way Grima could be unaware that Robin had acted against them is if Robin hadn’t actually acted against them. I don’t think I believe that Grima really wanted Tiki gone. Naga, sure—longtime nemesis and all. But if Grima had truly cared about seeing Tiki’s existence destroyed… Well, I doubt Robin could have interfered that much.

But maybe it could still be a matter of arrogance. Maybe Grima just didn’t think Tiki’s spirit could do anything with Naga’s spirit gone, and thus didn't care to pay attention to her anymore once she seemed dead enough.

If that’s true, it doesn’t explain why Shadows of Valentia Grima exhibits the exact same habits when fighting Alm and Celica, despite never having been outside of the Thabes Labyrinth at this point in their life. As opposed to the various Terrors throughout the rest of the Labyrinth, which chase Alm (or Celica) down in the overworld to force a fight, Grima is immobile in their room, and will wait patiently there indefinitely until the player chooses to engage. You can even evacuate from the dungeon.

But if you do choose to fight Grima, it proceeds much like the battles against them in Awakening go. The main difference is that they actually will move from their starting position this time, if you position someone in their range. That still requires a fight against (proto-)Risen who are spawning in from the sides to stop your party’s advance.

So… Now it’s starting to look like Grima actively prefers this one particular trick… And it’s a fundamentally defensive maneuver, which makes perfect sense from SoV Grima’s standpoint (they were attacked out of nowhere, after all), but is not really an obvious standout strategy for Awakening Grima, whose taunts and threats suggest an aggression that would be better supported with a more offensive strategy… Consider, too, that Awakening Grima is in fact being even more defensive than their SoV iteration, since they don’t move towards you at all.

With all that in mind, it really, really looks like Grima doesn’t want to fight, especially in Awakening. Not that they don’t intend for the Shepherds to die—on the contrary, they’ve set everything up so that the Shepherds will eventually be overwhelmed—but that they don’t want to land the killing blow.

(And gee, I wonder what might be fueling their reluctance? Being controlled and made to kill your best friend by your own hand wouldn't be totally traumatic or anything, right?)

And then... Funny thing here, I’ve been procrastinating writing this essay for a long time. I originally started thinking about it shortly before the Depths of Despair banner was released in FEH, so imagine my surprise when I saw this characterization hold up in the writing of Fell Exalt Chrom’s Forging Bonds as well… The Grima there says that Chrom was the one to kill the rest of the Shepherds. Now, it’s pretty clear that it was through Grima controlling him, but that’s not the point. The point is that once again, Grima didn't have to do any direct killing.

Look, if it had only ever happened once, I could buy that maybe Grima was just underestimating their opponents, that maybe they thought they could get away without having to put very much work in. But for Grima to operate this way so many times, so consistently, and to their own detriment? No...

Grima doesn’t like direct combat. Grima has trouble even when it’s a fight they asked for.

And when you think about it, that makes their reaction to Robin choosing to land the final blow themself in the sacrifice ending all the more understandable.

“…YOU WOULD… NOT DARE!”

Because Grima would not dare. Grima has always preferred to let someone else land the final blow.

#grima #fire emblem awakening #fe13 #grima studies #honestly realizing that main game grima doesn't kill anyone kind of shook me #future past grima only has naga and tiki... neither of which we get to see on screen so tbh grima might have weaseled out of them too #expiration has 5 range after all. naga could have just taken some dragon breath to the face from afar. we truly have no idea what grima did #to my knowledge the only time we see grima actually try to KILL kill (not dark spikes 1hp em) is... rearmed grima in the forging bonds stor #not her specific forging bonds but the general overarching one for that banner #which i have major problems with for other reasons anyway #and which might be retconned by feh itself bc thrasir said arcane weapons should be avoided at all costs yet... so many rearmed heroes now #so i don't feel too bad ignoring that one #but yeah like... writing this essay made me feel for grima even more #um... you know that one quote that the robin who's part of the day of devotion duo with chrom has...#“Having someone to express your love to is an amazing thing. There IS more to life than constant battle!”#yeah. i think about that quote and i think about grima's defensive fighting style and i. feel things.#to exist always on the defensive...#such an exhausting life they lead

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hasarjunadoneanythingwrong · 1 year

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i am confusing kali and durga but you did make design of fgo her right? can i ask you to repost it bc i scoured your archive and i still cant find it

It was kali! The actual post is here but I’ll post some of the pictures here as well

I’ve been planing on doing proper ascension-like art for her for a while now, just haven’t found the time between work and making my normal content for the blog ;v;

#tbh she is pulling from multiple versions of k/ali #more in line with a specific interpretation of her through shaktism #as a form of adi sha/kti #/mahadevi-which if I understand correctly in shakti/sm specifically puts her more at the level of Bra/hman #as the supreme ultimate reality of existence (bra/hman the principle not the god)#so she’s the source of all creation/it’s embodiment/the energy that animates it/and that which it dissolves into #and yeah I went with this in part bc I was so annoyed w how they made par/vati -_-#look if we can have characters be the personification of planets then the personification of the cosmic force of the universe should be doom #I’ve like. thought abt how to work it into nasuverse #it’s like ka/li is one form of the main goddess who’s like the universe #similar to how ameratsu can send out bunreis on a larger scale #except in this case it’s more like ort w the planet thing only on this case it’s the universe #I’m not explaining this well but it made sense to me lmao #basically #the servant form is an avatar of kali in that it’s less powerful than her #and kali is also mahadevi #who is the universe #‘what’s par/vatis deal then?’ she got overzealous making her servant vessel and overcorrected #ik I’m not explaining this well I attempted to write lore for her ONCE and exploded #she’s interesting tho. she tends to be impartial (except w kids) but represents change and destruction #and is constantly updating and changing her views based on her children (followers) world #(like with the sacrifice thing which is interesting bc I’ve seen things saying she never wanted human sacrifice but it DID still happen)#she requires sacrifice which often nowadays is interpreted to mean things like negative energy and the like #or like the sacrifice of your ‘ego’#she’s also a goddess associated with anger #idk I’m getting all over the place again which happens when I start #getting into it lmao #my asks

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ride-a-dromedary · 28 days

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I continue to think about an underdeveloped AU where Halsin was one of the potential new companions for Baldur's Gate 2 (and by continue to think about I mean the oven is preheated).

Because realistically it would have been 24-ish years before they Shadow Curse, which means he wouldn't have yet been Archdruid - would have been in his 220s about, so would have been out of his cynic phase (and likely post Underdark). He'd probably still be on the cusp of being young and idealistic enough that he'd come across a little more chipper and less even keeled/potentially more risky. His personality/disposition and alignment already seems to mesh pretty well with Minsc and Jaheira (in a way I can't quite describe but he's carried much like a BG1/2 era character), who are heavy returning hitters in BG2, so it would likely mean he'd conflict with companions like Korgan, Dorn, possibly Edwin, etc. He'd get along with Aerie (hearing about a "circus" but not experiencing one, then coming into play in BG3 like oh...OH) and Cernd and Mazzy (and Wilson, obviously), and I can see him coming around to Viconia after an initial icy and distrusting head to head.

It would have had to change how he reacted to BG in the third game if he had previously been there, but that's not a huge leap with some dialogue tweaking with less "first time shock" and more "can't believe this place has gotten worse, didn't think that was possible", but unlike Jaheira who begrudgingly grew to like the city after making it her home because it was her children's home (kinda...sorta...), he would have likely gotten right back out of there and held onto the viewpoint for 124 years, with nothing particularly to challenge that, and a particular wariness now of Reithwin's "little market town" turning into an entire city along with the other druids. So the contempt would be further informed by experience.

#I'm not good at replicating artistic styles but also thinking about #Halsin done moreso in the “elven” facial structure style of BG2 #hush i'm cooking #BG3 Musing #Halsin Posting #the reason i say halsin is because a. i cannot see star joining willingly first of all but also he would have been under cazador's control #and i can't imagine he'd want to follow hero under different circumstance tbh but also hexxat would kill him by looking at him #and b minty was still part of her house at the time so i can't imagine she would have been adventuring either #though i can see a stronger argument for that if we tie her in with viconia maybe #halsin though? still in peak adventure mode at that time and no leadership responsibility no tie down #so realistically the only one both old enough and realistically willing enough/able to do so #i'm still figuring where and how you'd run into him #it would ultimately be a good excuse to replay bg2 again...#also the reason i say viconia is because a. i'm writing this and larian's not and b. it makes more sense to me that halsin might relate #with her situation moreso and there's no negative 'tried to raid' connotation there (also i still think that ultimatum after threat #of slavery is ooc and a clumsy way of shoehorning a mechanic limitation that they should have put their foot down with so)

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majestic-salad · 6 months

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Silly little professor layton art study with my silly little oc <3

#professor layton #professor layton oc #She should be more scrungly tbh #it's not an exact fit. could do with more experimenting :)#professor layton background character design my beloved <3 <3 they're so creature <3 #this is a first pass anyway whatever #am I tempted to write out a vague setup for a game story she can feature in? maybe so.#Millie is an entomology student. this! girl! loves! bugs!#very tempted to do an ace attorney style study with her too I think it would be fun #anyway. bug mystery. she only gives bug themes puzzles #art

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aroaessidhe · 2 months

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2024 reads / storygraph

The Saint of Bright Doors

a surreal Sri Lankan fantasy about colonialism, revolution, mixing fantasy with the modern world

follows a man raised by his mother to kill his father, a god-like cult leader

but as an adult he puts aside his life of violence and moves to the city for a quiet life

he becomes fascinated with ‘bright doors’ around the city that never open and have no other side, and joins a group studying them to find out more

and a support group for those with divine heritage that becomes increasingly revolutionary, until the task he was made for reemerges and his life upends

#the Saint of Bright Doors #aroaessidhe 2024 reads #this is kind of hard to explain I dont know if I did a very good job here lol #it is weird and full of so many interesting elements. I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it but?? I really liked it mostly???#It starts pretty small scale focused on the MC & slowly unravels the wider worldbuilding and narrative elements in a really interesting way #The first chapter or two I assumed it was typical high fantasy but then it’s like. oh this is a modern city. with emails and stuff.#The pacing is a bit weird - it’s quite meandering and also pivots significantly in the second half. tbh I’m still ????? about the ending lm #but also I am happy to float through on vibes.#and there’s some elements (like the doors that become….not that relevant) that I want to know more about. (as an aside - I saw someone say #that it’s a very clear retelling about Buddha’s son? which idk enough about but probably could give a deeper context to a lot of it)#writing style is kinda detached from the MC but also there is a reason for this that makes sense with the twist near the end!#which is a kind of twist i LOVE. Maybe I wish it had been emphasised a bit more over the story though? unsure.#I thought his mother's story was interesting also - you think she's an terrible parent just there for background context at the start but #then when she tells her story it's like ohh there's more context here.#also I hesitate to just say ‘if you like the spear cuts-- you should read this’ because I think the elements that are similar are done in a #kinda different way and might disappoint you if you’re expecting it to be the same as spear….but regardless the sort of dreamy writing #rich world; narrative with fantasy but also modern day elements; some of the writing style; mlm MC (tho not a romance)#idk. it will definitely not work for everyone but I enjoyed it overall #also it is full of queerness #bisexual books

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mirchoff · 3 months

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nancy and ace in 2x09 teasing each other about gill and amanda and the navy blue pullover while literally flirting with each other is peak nace delusion

#the way she pulls on it??? you want to jump in his pants #yes i’m Still on s2 please do not remind me of it okay i’m chugging along #and trying to read some fics and engage with material without finding out more spoilers #but That scene… whew #i will be writing a fic starter about their museum date btw because also What Was That #knowing nace is endgame and i’m still not focusing on them as much as i should #because they aren’t at That point yet but i should be having the goggles on #nancy drew #nace #ace hardy #nancy x ace #ace x nancy #also deleted my ace gifs cuz they sucked ass…. is this fandom that desperate for content jshdjsdhd #anyway i like amanda now tbh i had no feelings towards her before this episode #ACE SAYING HES BLOOMING LIKE A FLOWER OR WHATEVER???? THATS BABY BOY!!!!

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welcometoteyvat · 1 year

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AU where xiao has no karmic bonds anymore and works in liyue’s food delivery services

idk wanmin restaurant is expanding its service and xiangling heard zhongli telling guoba (when zhongli visits the ex-stove god the conversation is really one-sided but zhongli doesn’t mind, he can ramble enough for the both of them) that xiao is looking for work, and yknow, xiangling’s seen the young adeptus here and there and he’s praised her cooking before, both she and her dad don’t expect running deliveries to be that much work (plus he can teleport, it won’t be that hard) and he’ll get paid decently, why not offer him a job? he can pilot the program for a bit and then they’ll see whether it turns out ok, the worst thing that could happen is getting 1 star reviews on sevenstars.tyv for “unapproachable and frightening demeanor of delivery guy” (sumeru scholars invented the internet a couple years back or something).

obviously zhongli says yes for xiao, because he thinks xiangling’s suggestion can do the young adeptus good—trusty old common wisdom states that food warms the heart and brings people together, and xiao (or any liyuen) is not an exception. and of course xiao agrees to zhongli’s proposal because when has he ever refused a request from his god and savior. never! zhongli and xiangling both assure him that he can refuse or resign at any point and neither will hold it against him, but of course xiao takes his job extremely seriously, and if yanwang di- no, if zhongli daren wants him to do it, of course he will.

xiao doesn’t have any feelings on the arrangements because it’s just another thing to keep him busy lol but he appreciates complimentary almond tofu, especially since he manages to persuade xiangling to make it the traditional way he likes it and save her new and improved tofu recipes for Other customers to try

xiangling sends xiao to more remote places at first to avoid crowds, which he appreciates, one time he goes to qingce village and ends up meeting little luo again, he doesn’t even remember her until she exclaims “you’re the adeptus who rescued my doll!!” with a giant smile on her face... were humans always so blindingly bright? he stiffly gives the family his greetings, and tries to smile a little bit at the girl (she’s extra pleased by this, maybe he’ll ask zhongli whether he has good smiles or whether they look like grimaces). little luo... was it? he should get xiangling to send her some candy next time.

he gets sent to the chasm one time bc the miners ordered hotpot as an end of season celebration, and he finds a small little memorial to the millelith who died in the chasm 500 years ago. after delivering the hotpot ingredients, xiao climbs to the top of the cliff to pick a qingxin and offer it to the memorial. the other yakshas were always pretty fond of humans, so it’s only natural.

when he gets a little more used to the city xiangling sends him to deliver stuff around liyue harbor itself—one time the delivery was for hu tao, xingqiu, and chongyun, hanging around wangsheng parlor. usually xiangling would join them herself, and the young opera director yun jin and their rockstar friend xinyan visit too, but the three were busy with their own plans that time and it fell to xiao to deliver their dinner: light translucent shrimp dumplings without carrots, a bowl of cooling soup, and filleted fish. he hears them playing a rowdy game of something (mahjong... with only three players? or maybe tcg.... but as a 2 v 1 game? he’s getting more and more confused by the second) before the door’s opened by hu tao; she seems really ecstatic to see him, except her smirk sobers up quickly once they hear chongyun shouting “hey! you stole my cards!!” regardless she thanks him for the food, and then tells him a joke that really shouldn’t be funny at all except the corners of his mouth quirk up against his will. of course hu tao notices this, she’s always been a mischievous child too clever for her own good, and she smiles even wider in return and tells him that he’s welcome any time in her house. if he brings a couple hilichurls along he’s even more welcome

and of course, a lighthearted scene where, surprisingly, zhongli also places an order, but it isn’t sent to wangsheng funeral parlor, xiao goes all the way to jueyun karst and delivers the order to cloud retainer, mountain shaper, and moon carver. they’re just chilling and zhongli is introducing them to take out. “so, what do you all think of wanmin’s handiwork?” xiao tries to leave before any of them can start droning on and on, but obviously he ends up spending the whole meal with them because nobody can escape the sheer force of zhongli and cloud retainer infodumps. the other adeptus ask after him and the meal is generally silly banter: there’s a digression on triangular cups,,,, some nagging for xiao to eat more, “look at my newest invention isn’t it wonderful”,,,,,, and other small and incredibly mundane nothings that keep the conversation flowing like the tea from their triangular cups. insignificant occurrences in more peaceful lives, and maybe xiao is learning how to fall into this new rhythm of things... maybe he even likes it, maybe it will bring him more smiles in the days to come

yknow yknow do you feel me

very aware that some of this might be super ooc especially the adepti thing at the end but hey they can be silly as a treat, cloud retainer and co deserve a bit of adeptal entertainment time

#more end notes: the thing about smiling has literally invaded my head bc do you know the npc little luo who's in qingce village #she met xiao before and like he gave her her doll back right and then she says hmm i wonder what would make adeptus xiao smile #hoarous wrote the best fic in existence for my otp based on that line and tbh its really such a good line like WAH supposedly 'scary' conque #conqueror of demons masked yaksha alatus smiling.... 🥺 thats so cute come on guys #in this au i like to imagine that he brings flowers for cy along with the order. and then cue ht and xq teasing him endlessly for it bc im n #nothing but a xiao.yun shill at the end of the day #can be read however you want tho there's a reason why i hide ship thoughts in the tags lmfao #ok maybe i should write a fic???? realizing... i wrote more for this than i have in like the past 3 months and this is literally just me thr #throwing spaghetti at the wall #@ followers is this anything #xiao #zhongli #xiangling #teyvat thoughts #hu tao #genshin impact

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irondad-defensesquad · 3 months

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this idea is, unsurprisingly, self-indulgent and therefore repetitive.

trigger warning for self-harm:

morgan sees peter's cuts and she asks him, "petey, are you hurt?" peter freaks out because he knows tony and pepper are home, and the last thing he wants is tony - or morgan or anyone else - getting worried. peter doesn't want to scare morgan or make her sad, she's too young to understand this. she asks him if she can help with the wounds, but peter tells her they're going to heal eventually. then she asks if he needs anything else - even something like a stuffed animal to hug, or a blanket, or a cheek or forehead kiss. little things like that.

inevitably, tony ends up knowing, maybe he asks what morgan is doing and she lets out "oh i'm helping petey because he's hurt!". of course, peter couldn't ever get angry at her for doing her best. he just feels awful making them all worry.

but they love him and still stay with him, no matter what.

#lotus speaks #irondad #ironfam #self-harm tw #self harm tw #sh tw #fic ideas #i feel like i should write more morgan tbh #i'm so weak for her and peter being siblings

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todayisafridaynight · 1 year

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This might not be anything, but while writing about your fics, the way you have the characters' mannerisms down PERFECTLY got me thinking about mirroring...

There's a lot of it in 7 (Horii is a directorial genius etc etc), most of it more intentional than these probably are, but there's something so interesting about mirroring that takes the tone of a (relatively) fond memory, a familiar gesture, and inverts it in the way shown here.

OH I'M GLAD YOU'VE NOTICED THESE TOO I think I mentioned it months back (or I drafted a post 'bout it but didn't think it was anything noteworthy) but I always really did like how the Arakawa Family mimicked each other's mannerisms (also circling back to how Jo and Masato calling Ichiban 'Ichi' presumably after picking it up from Arakawa)!

Aoki actually does the same sitting gesture too! I went back to double check and skim through the rest of the game's cutscenes, and as far as I could tell unless I skipped a scene, it really is only these three that do this specific pose:

It's such a small detail but I love it immensely and it really does highlight their connections with each other and it drives me insane

#snap chats #the fact aoki holds his left fist with his right like jo..... im gonna be sick... (crying)#potential hints that aoki really does favor jo and/or spends more time with him... or i might be delirious. could be both even..#focusing on how jo mimics arakawa though i dont think i have to say i love how it is inverted intention wise #like of course in arakawa's situations he's in a position where he's helping ichi and speaking calmly with him #while with jo Evidently each interaction is more tense and antagonistic #really is a cool way to emphasize that whole 'step parent' angle if that makes sense #OH BUT THANK YOU ON MY WRITING that's a huge compliment: i'm glad you think i have their mannerisms down !#accuracy is a big thing to me... in case we haven't picked that up yet.... i should relax a little tbh--#BUT i'd like to think my brain's good at visualizing things and i think i've 'studied' enough to get an acceptable result in what i show #it's like... if i can't see it in my head clearly or it doesn't look right then i wanna keep trying until it DOES look right yk #dont want a Hello Kitty Wouldnt Do Xanax moment... only on occasion.... a lil xanax wouldnt hurt as long as its not too far gone ☠️#alright im. DELIRIOUS.#to end this off i watched the first episode of Sailor Suit and Machine Gun !#my japanese is. HORRENDOUS BUT the art of inference and context clues and stray knowledge got me through it #i'm excited to watch the next episode even if i'm only really getting half the impact from the dialogue #BUT THE FEELING'S THERE... the emotion's there #embarrassingly i almost cried when izumi was crying in the theater over her dad while she was eating cause like Girl Me Too ☠️☠️#ill go one day without mentioning my dad i promise... todays not that day tho ☠️#IN ANY CASE. thank you for droppin the episodes on me !! i can't stress never tiring of having new things to watch #ill watch the next episode tonight probably. i was gonna go out to get lunch buuuut my moms home #so there goes that plan.. at least my bro got me food while /he/ went out today lmao

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krikeymate · 1 year

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Scream 7 opening concept:

It's late, the scene is a police station. It's pretty empty except for a couple of old and crotchety desk jockeys. A handcuffed Tara is being walked into a cell. Her hands are cuffed in front of her and she's a little beat up, and scowling. The cop tells her that her sister is on her way, and not to look at him like that, if she didn't want to be here then she shouldn't have assaulted an officer. She slouches down on a bench with a huff, and the cop leaves. There's some drunk who flirts with her from the other side of the cell - what's a girl like you doing in a place like this, and other such things - he's handcuffed to a bench.

The lights go out.

The drunk makes some comment about it, but Tara's alert, it sets her anxiety off. One of the cops heads over to a breaker box and fixes the lights, mumbling about shitty funding. He goes back into the office to find his partner missing. He looks around a bit, calling for him, before finding him dead under a desk, he sees nobody else around. He runs to the cells to check they're still locked, and Ghostface appears behind him, stabbing him in the neck.

"Hello, Tara. What's a girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Tara's eyes flick between the Ghostface and the drunk, who is visibly confused and upset about what is happening.

Meanwhile, Sam, irritated, walks into the police station and finds the receptionist is conked out at her computer. She puts a hand on her shoulder after she doesn't respond, and she rolls over dead.

Back to the cells, Ghostface bends down to take the cell keys from the cops body and begins to unlock the cell. Tara has stood up and backed away as far as she can. She eyes the door as Ghostface walks in, wondering if she can get past them. She tries, and fails. Ghostface slams her head into the bars, dazing her. "This isn't the place for you Tara, but I know where you belong." The Ghostface grabs her, one hand on her shoulder, the other grabs her by the hair, and marches her out of the cell and back into the office room.

They find Sam holding a gun in their direction, she took it from one of the dead cops.

"Tara, you ok?" "Well, I haven't been stabbed yet, so pretty good I guess." "Great, now fucking let go of my sister. This won't end well for you."

Ghostface releases Tara's shoulder to hold a knife to her throat instead. "Are you going to shoot me Samantha? Have you been practising your aim?" Ghostface moves Tara more in front of them, using her as a shield. "I hope so, you wouldn't want to accidentally hit Tara now, would you?"

Sam falters, the gun lowering slightly. Tara tries to struggle, but the grip on her hair is strong and they press the knife harder to her neck. "Ah ah, behave."

Ghostface starts to move forward, Sam stepping back. They pivot around the room, until their positions have been reversed. Ghostface goes to step out the room when a shot rings out and the knife goes flying. Ghostface's been shot from behind, it's Kirby.

The shock has them loosening their hold on Tara, and she throws herself forward at her sister, who grabs her and lifts the gun up again. Sam presses Tara's head against her and covers her free ear with her hand before taking a couple shots at Ghostface, while Kirby does the same from behind.

Ghostface dies, and when they unmask them... they have no idea who this person is... or what they wanted. Well, they search him and find several photographs of Tara. Guess they do know what he wanted afterall.

#/mp #Scream #Sam Carpenter #Tara Carpenter #Scream 7 #scream concept #my writing tag #the tags tag #Tara has been in two openings so far and we need to see her in a third. but not if she's gonna die thanks lmao #this post is inspired by my need to see more of Tara's anger issues thank you #don't @ me about the 'process' - Tara's an adult getting treated like a child because of extenuating circumstances #there gets to be a running theme of what exactly is 'a girl like this'. the girl in question being pretty angry and unstable tbh.#she's sick and tired of everyone trying to tell her who she should be #the best part about this concept is it works with so many Ghostface options. is it a cult? will it be her mum? her dad? some stalker?#alternative line: “Great now fucking let go of my sister or I'll shoot you in the head.”#there was a second post I thought of half way through writing this and now I've finished I've entirely forgotten what it was. shit.

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