#idk what to do with this- like it's not contradictory necessarily but something's not sitting right with me xD

[spottedenchants]

early ludinus lore

context dates:

544 PD - The Marrow War, a conflict between Dwendalian and Julous forces, begins 16 months later... 545/546 PD - The Marrow War concludes as the Dwendalian Empire overtakes the Julous Dominion less than 25 years later...

~570 PD at the latest - The Eve of Crimson Midnight occurs in Rexxentrum and the Cerberus Assembly is created

a fight between (unspecified) noble-housed/established mages with noble mages of the Julous Dominion

resulted in a lot of collateral damage and innocent casualties

the remaining mages involved in the conflict formed the Cerberus Assembly, subservient to the Crown in exchange for absolution

Ludinus is stated to be an original/founding member of the Cerberus Assembly both in his character blurb in EGtW and on-stream

585 PD - Molaesmyr is consumed by a corruption that results in the Savalirwood

caused by the replication of a failed/incomplete Aeorian experiment intended to create plant life capable of serving as an arcane power source/enhancer

Ludinus's character blurb in EGtW states he fled Molaesmyr to what would become Bysaes Tyl, and then "left his culture behind" to "achieve greatness" and pursue arcane interests in the Dwendalian Empire

(also of note: in 836 PD, Ludinus's annex, Zana Deelio, was helming an excavation into A2, the location of the corrupted arboretum)

dates and durations are pulled directly from EGtW and can also be found on the miraheze wiki

#ludinus da'leth #critical role #cr spoilers #critical role spoilers #nothing here is spoilers but #idk what to do with this- like it's not contradictory necessarily but something's not sitting right with me xD #i'm also staring at that crimson midnight #i understand there's only a limited number of colors and there's plenty of red herrings #so i have no conclusions to draw in the post #only dates to provide #this doesn't even get into how the aeor experiments were trying to create sustainable residuum before residuum was supposedly a thing #and specifically how ludinus consistently seems to be trying to create enhancements for soldiers between the plants and residuum and dunami #idk what's going on #chanse chatters

[wickedpact]

Do you think that there might be a story behind the ‘feral’ reaction Nicky has when Joe gets stabbed? I’ve read a lot of fanfiction about Nicky’s lunge there and how it was a little out of character for the type of character Nicky is portrayed as. Even in the comic there’s a similarish reaction.

Do you think we might find out in the next tales through time segment?

you know... its kind of funny bc ive seen several of those fics/posts too and i have to admit i dont really. . .prescribe to the idea that its unusual behavior for him?

& i know the thought process there is ‘nicky is such a calm/serene character usually, but the only time he’ll lose his shit is when joe is hurt’ which like, yeah nicky is a calm/serene monk-ish type of dude, luca (i think) called him calm and wise in an interview once. but i just. . honestly dont see nicky reacting any differently in that scene if it had been andy or booker -or even nile- getting stabbed. bc hes not just gonna Sit There and watch people hurt his friends!

and i feel like im almost contradicting myself here bc i talk abt nicky as this character defined by faith all the time. personally i dont think nicky's haunted by the idea of potentially losing the others the way that say, andy or joe are, because hes got Faith that they were all destined for this life and therefore Faith that they are destined to be together. so if joe gets stabbed or something, nicky has (maybe not complete faith) but strong faith that he’ll be fine. he doesnt worry to the extent that joe does (say, like joe does in the van).

but on the flip side i just dont think him lunging to stop someone from hurting joe (or any of the other immortals) is contradictory to that or even unusual. he believes they’ll come back, but that doesnt mean hes going to watch them (or be serene about watching them) get hurt. honestly i mean,, when you think about the alternatives, what was he supposed to do? merrick just whips out a knife and immediately just brutally stabs joe in the neck, and its both shocking and terrible to watch (and probably more so for nicky than us, at least in regards of it being terrible). if anything i think it would be weird or unusual for him to actually keep his cool in that situation. i mean, just imagining that scene but with nicky not jumping to try and stop it is actually kind of unnerving to think about

and the other alternatives,,,, i mean:

A. jump in & try to stop it (what he does)

B. do nothing (creepy and unnerving)

C. clutch his pearls and gasp i guess? (weird coming from a 900 y/o warrior)

and i dont know, whenever i see interpretations of that scene, its almost always used as evidence that deep down nicky has some deeply violent impulses that he keeps on simmer 99% of the time and hes constantly ready to flip on a dime from Calm Nurturing Monk to Cold Feral Warrior. im not fond of that interpretation bc....................... well, honestly, i just hate male characters with anger issues sdfghjk

and i dont really think (personally) that its canon!

its like ‘do no harm, take no shit’ you know? nicky's a nurturer at heart, and a deeply empathetic person, but that doesnt mean he wont stop someone from hurting his loved ones (Permanently) if he needs to. its like his rifle name! ultima ratio: the last resort. he’ll do it if he has to and he wont feel bad about it! and idk for me, i dont think theres any explanation needed there, and i honestly dont think its a feral reaction? i mean. joe was being stabbed, of course nicky was going to try and stop it, i just dont see anything feral/aggressive about that that sticks out from his other traits.

so like yeah, (imo!) there isnt any Deep Dark characterization there to be uncovered. hes a monk type character and hes a warrior. a warrior-monk. those two things dont necessarily contradict! its like. .. a duality. the duality of man.

HOWEVER, i mean,,,,,,,,, who knows! we know so little about the characters! and looking at the ttt schedule... weve got what’s probably a noriko story in issue 2, followed by a western booker story. issue 3 is the moon landing assassination, which is a team story, along with the 70s andy story. then in issue 4 theres the solo nicky story and the post-achilles story (which will probably be an andy & booker one). AND THEN theres the present-day (probably-nile) story and the paris (probably-booker) story, then the two mysteries, one of which is likely a solo-joe story.

of those, obvs the solo-nicky one is likely to go into nicky’s brainspace, and maybe the probable-solo-joe-story might include him to some degree. the others all seem like he’ll be a background character at most tbh

#this ended up longer than i thought it was so Under the cut it goes #Anonymous

[space-unicorn-dot]

SSO HTTYD AU - Jaime Ravenshield

YEET, I was actually semi-around for the talk about this one and am actually here to show up on time with a developed character to actually participate. And this is perfect because Jay is perfect for this and I guess it’s not hard to tell I’ve been literally all over getting to develop and write him more. So, without further ado!! @sso-trainyourdragon Uhhh... I also realize this isn’t done, but if I save it just to my drafts, I’m gonna lose it, not know where it went, and never finish it. So, yeah, I’m gonna tag this, and please hold.

MEET MA BOI

Name: Jaime Ravenshield - Jay to friends

Age: Twenty-three

Occupation/Trade: Adventurer, mercenary

Magic: Illusions (disguising and masking things as something different, usually something a little more “normal”), Moon Circle/prophetic visions, water manipulation

Physical Appearance:

Yeah, I do genuinely think his hair would be longer in this AU verse, and, I mean, ignore that this doll creator was obviously kickass Viking woman (Iloveit) and, y’know, I did what I could. BUT ANYWAY.

He’s a bit of a human tower, standing at least six feet in height, and probably some change (read: I haven’t decided an exact, so just know he’s tol), with light blonde hair and heterochromia. His left eye is a warm brown and his right is a pale blue. I went with pale blue in the doll thing because you can’t choose two different ones, but you get the idea. I do really like how this turned out, lol.

Clothes & Style: Jay is on the move often and his typical style reflects that, and his preference for functionality. He’s often carrying at least a blade with him - either a sword or a dagger/some throwing knives, but also carries a bow and quiver for easier hunting. I may or may not have found myself mildly influenced by the presence of Assassin’s Creed Origins and Odyssey lately in my life. >.>

Uh, yeah, he’s also probably almost always in long sleeves, the light armor, boots, and pants. It gets a bit cold out there. The headpiece/helmet is probably mostly only when he’s actually flying, and the cloak is probably under a similar sort of use.

Build: Fit, healthily(?) muscled? You can tell he’s active and he practices his trade well enough to get more than by on the skin of his teeth, but he’s no hulking Stoick the Vast, ya feel?

Defining Characteristics: Typically wears some sort of blue paint in a few varying patterns - either something like the stripes in the picture or some runic designs. He has some claw scars on his left arm from a bit of a closer call with some ~disgruntled wildlife, and some more with scraps of the more human kind on his torso, not that anyone will be seeing that without some platonic bonding beforehand. Don’t get too excited, kids. I mean, there’s also his heterochromia. That probably gets noticed a fair bit.

Signature: Is this talking about like writing style? Signature feature? Weapon? Style? I don’t know and I’m not a cool kid that can do that fancy make your own font sort of thing because I’m lame, lazy, and don’t have any of that fancy tablet stuff, so you’re gonna have to bear with my vague description. His writing probably has a slight slant to it no matter what he’s writing - not necessarily the “I can’t write in a straight line without a line of reference” kinda slant, but like... a stylistic one? And he’s pretty neat. Probably mildly fancy. Because that shit’s pretty.

Personality: While “mercenary” might sound contradictory to all of this, “vigilante” might work a little better for a true description of what he does. Most people just end up calling him the former, anyways. He’s grown independent and self-sufficient out of necessity, considering he was an orphan, but he’s quite the compassionate individual, almost always willing to detour from the task at hand to help someone in need. He’s typically pretty soft-spoken and understanding. He’s not a particularly open book about himself, but he’ll take time to listen. Incredibly loyal and protective of those he cares for.

Talents: In free time, he’s been fond of sketching - lots of Star, but also of some of the scenery they’ve seen on their adventures. And, he’s a bit shy about it, so he won’t really admit to it unless you really press, but he likes to sing - again, mostly to Star.

Fighting Skills/Style: Jay has always been able to rely on Star to work with him in combat situations - as a distraction, with his strength, as a quick escape option, you name it, Star and Jay would trust each other to help. As for him alone, though, he prefers a shield and a trusty bow with a good range for his combat. In a sense, he likes to fight light on his feet - nimble and dodging or parrying incoming strikes so he can work quickly with his sword and daggers instead of depending on a shield for protection. If tackling a large group, he’d prefer to move with his bow first, to reduce the enemies he must take on and reduce his change of getting detected and stuck in a fight where he’s too outnumbered to take care of himself.

Relationships: Jay’s spent a lot of time mostly on his own, mainly with just Evergray, his mentor as company. Look, ‘cause I can. I love that bastard.

As for romantic, I have no idea, lol. Jay hasn’t really been on the market for a love interest, but that don’t mean he wouldn’t be open to one if something came up.

Pets: A light gray fox with a particular fondness for puddles, splashing up water, and who simply adores when Jay allows him to come with him and Star. His name is Ash.

Miscellaneous:

STORY

Origin: Somewhere high in the mountains; his memory’s a little blurry since his parents were killed when he was very young (and he’d, thus, rather not think too hard or long on it), and he was taken in after by the occasionally odd, but ultimately kind-hearted Evergray when he was young, maybe no more than six. Idk, I’m indecisive. xD Don’t make me number things.

Motivations: It’s not that his life is bad. But something feels likes its missing. The idea of seeing the world was a nice one, too, but, really, he’d also like somewhere he felt like he belonged.

DRAGON

Name; Starstone, usually just Star

Age: Mid to late-teens, probably, maybe an upwards of 20.

Species Name: Stormcutter

Description: Dark blue scales cover most of his body, with a very light blue undertone on his belly and his face that fades into the darker blue. His wings are also the light blue. His eyes are a deep gold color. Jay found him when he was still a young, barely full-grown dragon, with a bit of growing left to do, injured and a bit sickly, but they seemed to trust each other almost at first sight. Jay nursed the dragon back to health almost entirely on his own, only taking advice from more experienced elders, but letting few (if anyone at all) lay a hand to help.

Personality:  He’s very wise, old-soul kinda friend, compassionate, supportive, and, above all else, would do anything for Jaime and to keep him safe. While he moves and holds himself with experience showing, he’s also soft-spoken and doesn’t mind trying to keep up with the occasional antic from other younger or more energetic dragon friends. He’s the kind that would sit there with a straight face while you wave a Twizzler in front of him and, just when you’re ready to begrudgingly give up because it looks like he won’t play with you, tackle and roll you into a gentle scuffle. Would ten out of ten use his tail as a playing lure for kiddos and let them practice pouncing on them. Loves soaring in the night sky, and regularly lets Jay sleep on him in various ways. Sometimes just on his back, sometimes under his wing, sometimes even wrapped in them when he hangs upside down. Overall, really chill, loyal ride or die. Also a wise counsel; Jay regularly consults and takes his advice.

Markings & Scars: He has some grayish-white stripes running down his neck and back, narrowing as they reach his tail and only going down the first bit of it. He has some scarring on his chest and some lighter ones across his hindquarters from close calls with his faithful rider.

Fighter or Passive?: Typically passive, like his rider, but, also like Jay, not afraid to “throw hands” when push comes to shove.

Anything Else Notable?: He has never been ridden with any sort of saddle or harness. Jay’s relationship with him is founded on trust and respect and, therefore, the only thing he’d ever maybe consider would be additional armor for his friend if they were getting into something he worried his dear friend couldn’t take, but they’ve made it this far without, so it’s not very likely.

#sso #star stable online #my oc #writing #my writing #sso httyd au #sso dragon au #jaime ravenshield

[moonlitgleek]

Can you tell me why do you enjoy Glee? I'm not one of those who hate on the show for being LGBT-friendly, it's just that the characters are so inconsistent, the pairings are often forced and the storylines can be cringeworthy to really bad. Not that there isn't talent on the cast. I liked the earlier seasons, but I thought it became so nonsense later on... Maybe I'm not watching the way it should be watched, idk...

I’ve been sitting on a similar message for months now, trying to figure out how to respond. The problem with these messages that always leave me in a bind is that I do not think my answer would be really satisfactory to you. We all respond to media in different ways, have our own lines in the sand as to how much we can suspend our belief, like different things, etc. So I don’t know if I can really give you a different perspective on the show or anything; all I can offer is my own viewing experience.

I did not like the first season of Glee. I almost quit so many times during that first season but I was always pulled back and convinced to give the show another chance. Every time I planned to stop, a magical moment would happen - Mercedes singing I Am Beautiful, Burt telling Kurt that his job was to be himself and Burt’s job was to love him no matter what, the kids pulling a setlist out of thin air as Will listened and cried, the Glee club singing Lean on Me to Finn and a pregnant Quinn, Quinn giving birth to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody, to name a few - and I’d be so moved that I’d decide to stick it out with the show for a little while longer. That’s not to say the first season was necessarily bad, I just did not enjoy it. The Will\Sue rivalry did not sustain the season on its own, I hated the Will\Teri story, I did not think the team gelled, and I wasn’t pulled by any of the characters.

Come season 2, things changed. I fell in love with the characters. My starting point in any show is the characters - if I can’t even like the characters, I can not go on watching even if the story is phenomenal. Season 2 got me interested in these characters as people, really delved into the characterization of the students and their stories which was a million time more interesting than Will, Teri and Sue. They introduced my favorite character, the writing got tighter, and they did a marvelous job with Kurt’s and Santana’s arcs. This was the season that cemented my love for Glee, aided by how much I started relating to these characters. I started to watch the show between seasons 3 and 4 when I was fresh out of college and feeling pressured to make it, scared that my academic success would not translate to a good career “in the real world” or that I just was not enough. So I understood these characters and their struggles. I saw my own fears in theirs. I related to them and rooted for them.

Now, I know that lots of people did not like the latter seasons but honestly, seasons 4 and 5 are my absolute favorites in this series. I genuinely enjoyed them despite some glaring problems. See, I watched Glee with my eyes wide open. I knew its problems and was infuriated by some of them: storylines that didn’t really go anywhere, stories that were set up perfectly but wrapped up sloppily, some obvious pace issues, big name guest stars that tended to become a plot black hole - if a big name guest star appeared, often the plotlines of the regulars got shelved in favor of showcasing said guest star - the writing even became reactionary at one point as some shippers took to social media to hound the writers over their ships, and Ryan responded by making a point through the writing. I saw all of that.But while I admit that there were issues worthy of criticism in Glee, I also think that there came a point where it became “cool” to disparage the show, and that fed to a widespread feeling of negativity towards it. I’d see someone lamenting how Glee stopped being silly and fun and now took itself too seriously but when the show did a cracky ridiculous episode like the ones it used to do in earlier seasons, it was criticized for being too silly and not taking its audience seriously. The writers got flayed for doing PSA episodes and I’d read think pieces on how they should employ subtle storytelling and not throw their themes in our face, but when they did so with their story about race - one of the subtlest and longest running storylines - it largely got dismissed because people simply did not notice it since Glee did not wave a red flag saying “this is a race story” (though honestly, when it did explicitly tell us it’s a race story in Asian F, some still failed to understand that yes, this is about race.) At one point, there was no winning for the show, everything was criticized.

One of my favorite things about Glee, though, is that it managed to sell me on things I thought I’d never accept and made me love characters that I wasn’t a big fan of even four and five seasons in. For the love of god, Glee somehow managed to make me really care about Dave freaking Karofsky which is a damn feat. Like, Finn and Santana were two characters that I’ve always struggled with. I outright disliked and resented Finn at the end of season 3, and then season 4 happened and my god, did I fall in love with Finn - that goofy, stubborn, supportive kid who stepped up, learned from his mistakes and became a rock to the younger generation. Santana was just intriguing in that season and she drew me in in a way that she hadn’t done before. Season 4 had its problems, but it’s the season that genuinely made me so attached to Glee. Blaine was a bloody revelation and a joy to watch. Sam somehow managed to steal my heart. Tina had really good material that I enjoyed to death to make up for three seasons of sidelining. The NND had a very rough start and the show struggled in the beginning to give the newbies distinguishing characterization that did not echo the graduated characters’ but once they found their groove, they became a team that I loved with all my heart, one that I enjoyed seeing interact far more than I ever did the previous team. Season 4 was primarily about friendships and support, it allowed the characters to fly their nerd flags and they felt like real teenagers in their silliness. And hey, very little Will. That was always a plus.

While season 5 was heavily impacted by Cory’s death, and despite how that forced the writers to throw away their plans for the season which unfortunately led to some storylines getting axed, I found it a solid season with some excellent episodes that capitalized and improved on the relationships they set in season 4, and that did a much, much better job with its pacing. I find it admirable that they managed such a good season after a heavy personal and professional loss as Cory’s death.

As for characterization, I disagree that it was inconsistent. Obviously I have no idea which characters you have in mind but the two characters I often saw this criticism directed at are Blaine and Tina, and I just don’t agree. The bones of Blaine and Tina’s later characterization are laid in seasons 2 and 3 if one looks for them, and can we really call them inconsistent when they were only truly fleshed out in the same season that prompted people to criticize their characterization? Because both characters were underdeveloped in earlier seasons. Butcharacters are constantly developing and I can’t expect the characters to be the same four or five seasons in as they were in season 1. As long as the change falls in line with previous storylines or expands in them in a non-contradictory way, then it’s not inconsistent. That’s not to say that I enjoyed every bit of characterization from every character (I was very vocal in my dislike for s4!Rachel’s characterization), but just because I did not enjoy it does not necessarily mean that it was inconsistent. That’s a line I had to find while watching.

But it all comes down really to the fact that I still found magic in Glee despite its problems. I found as much joy in On Our Way as I did in Ride Wit Me and as much beauty in If I Were A Boy as in I Am Beautiful. NND were even more important to me than OND were, Blam meant the world to me, as did Blaine’s struggle with his insecurities, Kitty’s journey, Jake’s anger, Ryder’s ridiculousness, Marley’s steadiness, Unique’s bravery, Rachel’s stumbling, Tina’s resentment, it all meant something to me. I loved these characters and was invested in their happiness and their success. I started watching Glee for the story of these underdogs standing up to the world around them and picking themselves up after they were knocked down again and again, I stayed for the sense of community and support they built against all odds which is something the show never lost, and I ended it with them, with Rachel Berry accepting that Tony, with Kurt and Blaine happily married with a baby on the way, with Mercedes successful and fulfilled. It ended with a show of friendship as these kids who stuck by each other through thick and thin gathered to support one of their own, and with that weird, crazy, dysfunctional, flawed group of people coming together to honor the person who made Mckinley just a little bit brighter for many of them. Perhaps he never got the chance to walk these halls as a teacher, or to become the teacher that future Mckinley students deserved, but he still left a legacy behind.

Moments like these are why I enjoyed Glee, and why, despite all of its problems, it remains one of few shows that touched me the most.

#Anon asks #ask box #glee

[calamitys-child]

Hey so we're mutuals and I like your stuff so I thought maybe I could get this off my chest and I hope that's okay with you. I thought about saying this not on anon (via like dm or something) but like idk if you're cool with that so I'm just gonna stick to this for now. If you want me to come out and talk to you just reply to this one and I'll dm you, but I'm sending the whole thing now via ask bc I just need to talk, ya know?

Hey, anon, I'm just gonna reply publicly to this ask rather than publish all the other parts if that's alright? Like, I've read it all and I'm replying to it all, but I'm putting the whole reply here.I'm not super familiar with this guy other than the name ringing a very faint bell for me, and a quick Google just led me to a lot of right-wing troll sites which it is far too early in the morning on far too nice a day for me to want to look at, so I can't speak much about this specific scenario. In terms of the overall situation though I absolutely understand what you're dealing with. I watch a couple of trans vloggers and their videos sometimes cheer me up but sometimes just make me so jealous, because they're going through all these changes on T and I haven't even had a single appointment with anyone yet to discuss transition.I don't know where you live but I know it's a nightmare getting T in the UK, where sometimes we can go through the NHS and sometimes we have to go private and it's all a bit of a mess. I know it's almost definitely harder in America. It's totally okay to be angry about this, my dude. The world is messed up on so many levels and it's absolutely fine to be pissed off at that. Not knowing how to feel is weird and it's confusing and all I can recommend for that is to look after yourself. It's okay to be angry, it's okay to be sad, it's okay to take some time to sit quietly and just try to step away from it all for a little while (I like to listen to podcasts under a blanket when the world gets too much). It's also okay to be happy. Be aware of what's happening, be angry, but please try not to let anger be all you've got. The world may be run by idiots who keep overpricing things just cause they don't want to understand them, but the world is also full of love and art and really goddamn cute dogs.I know exactly what you mean about your friends- it's so frustrating, when you're happy for them but also jealous. Try to remember that those two emotions aren't necessarily contradictory. You can absolutely be feeling both. I obviously don't know the full situation but it sounds to me like they're maybe trying to make you feel better by downplaying how they felt, but it's coming off as dismissive cause they haven't actually thought through what they're doing? Either that or they really have just moved on and forgotten, which I guess means some day you'll be able to forget too. I know it hurts a lot right now, I feel you, but I promise one day we'll both be able to look back at this post-T and realise how much it's stopped hurting.Dating can be confusing at the best of times, my only advice there is that if he doesn't support you through this, then he doesn't deserve you. The people who matter, the good people around you, will support you, and the people who don't aren't worth your time. You deserve to be supported.This is a very long rambling reply, I'm sorry. Hopefully at least part of it is worth reading. If you want to message me I'm not always great at remembering to reply to people but I will do my very best, and my inbox is always open if you want it. You haven't been a bother at all- I do care, and it's not too far on your part to need to vent about stuff. You seem pretty cool too, you know, so don't you go anywhere either 💙💙💙💙💙