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kyndaris · 9 months

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Blessed Mother

The Diablo series has always had a soft spot in my heart ever since I played the second game back when I was 12 at the behest of a few school friends. Yes, it was MA15+ and I probably shouldn’t have been playing it at that age but I managed to convince my father to buy me it, one of a thousand cherished memories that I had with him, because I was already hooked on Blizzard’s other games: Warcraft and Starcraft. So began my descent into the terrifying world of Sanctuary and humanity’s quest to purge the evils that stalk its land.

Unlike its other major franchises, Diablo is an action role-playing game. Or, ARPG for short. But for many, it’s known as the one game that helps most people develop repetitive strain injury (RSI) because of the constant clicking that goes throughout the gameplay.

Diablo IV continues in this vein as very little of the core gameplay has changed. The playable character moves around by clicking the mouse to a specific spot on the map. The playable character attacks by clicking on enemies. Occasionally, one can mix it up with a variety of other skills by pressing something on the number pad.

That is, of course, if you play Diablo IV on the computer. The controls might be a little different on consoles but I’ve always found that the best way to play isometric click-heavy ARPGs on computer.

Besides, I didn’t get a heavy-duty PC just to write my stories. I mean, yes, that is the primary purpose but not the sole reason. I do use it occasionally to play video games that seem best suited for the PC. Why, just recently, I even bought an external SSD to possibly install Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield because these games require an SSD. And while my PC does have an SSD installed, since I bought my PC about five years ago, the storage on it is only about 256GB with quite a bit of it taken up by...well...normal PC function.

How was I supposed to know that game development would go towards SSD? I’m not a TECH expert with a pulse on the ground when it comes to new technology although my work colleagues think differently.

Anyways, back to the game at hand: Diablo IV.

While I was excited to re-enter the world of Sanctuary following the events of Diablo III and the interesting premise promised by the trailers regarding Lilith, it is my personal opinion that opening up the world only served to damage the game. While some might enjoy having an open world to explore, I personally found the countless cellars and dungeons repetitive. With level scaling and how quickly I managed to level up to 50, much of Diablo IV felt much the same. Especially when I’d unlocked all the skills that could fill my skill hotbar.

True, I could have respecced my character but there wasn’t much need for it with my storm wolf druid. It was an effective DPS machine and with the added ability to fortify at the end, I was essentially unkillable in the lower world tiers. Especially when I began to be level past the recommend threshold.

Open worlds, it must be said, used to be one of my favourite game builds. However, as worlds have become larger with needless collectibles to fill out the world, they have also become some of my most hated elements because I’m a compulsive explorer - always desperate to check out the next nook or cranny in case of side quests or something interesting. Diablo IV proved infuriating in this respect as it had so many side quests but no way to track the ones you’d completed except with a ?/45 on the world map. This made knowing which side quests I’d completed difficult to keep track of and figure out which ones I was still missing.

For a completionist such as myself, it was a nightmare.

Even as I attempted to get most of the blue exclamation marks that I could find. It doesn’t help that they also only appear if you’re in that particular segment of the map, which makes it even harder to mop out unless I decided to hop between fast travel portals.

Despite this, I can see why the developers decided to go for an open world. After all, Diablo end-game (at least from 3 onwards) has always been about collecting the best gear and becoming stronger than you were before. Slap on live-service with battlepass and it’s a winning formula to become an endless grind quest.

A part of me almost wanted to shake the developers and have them turn the franchise into a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) for it appears to be the direction that the franchise is going. Should it go down this route, I’d also be happy for it to ditch the isometric focus on the ground.

Alternatively, Activision Blizzard, you could also scale it back down. At least for the story segments and have it opened up afterwards. I much prefer the more compact nature of Diablo II, where I was free to explore the map of the immediate area, kill all the enemies it contained and be awed by the majesty of how large the world COULD be rather than be faced with all the open space and respawning enemies. Which, also, only seem to attack the playable character rather than have any real conflict amongst themselves.

Are you honestly telling me that the demons and the snake cultists wouldn’t fight each other or the hellspawn-esque willdlife?

Honestly, I pity the people still alive on Sanctuary. It’s clear that they can get nothing done without being mobbed by an endless amount of bandits, goatmen, cultists and demons.

Yes, it works from a gameplay perspective but it SUCKS from a world-building perspective. The people of Sanctuary might as well give up and succumb to the end if all they have to look forward to is being eaten alive by cannibals that are just outside their gates.

Now, most of my readers, and friends, would know that I love myself a good story. And Diablo IV delivered it, especially at the start. Lilith’s arrival in Sanctuary was suitably chilling and the prologue with the people at Nevesk laid the ground work for what I had hoped would be an interesting throughline of the greyness that encompasses real-life morality and perhaps have the playable character struggle with the implications of ingesting Lilith’s blood.

But did we get any of that?

No. No, we didn’t.

The playable character serves as a patsy to link up the other main characters: Lorath, Donan and Nyrelle. It is never explained why the playable character is so strong, tearing through demons left, right and centre as they traipse through Estuar (the eastern continent of Sanctuary). Or how they seem able to resist the influence of Lilith’s blood in their veins. Even Lorath is amazed at their mental fortitude but it’s never truly explored. I never see my character waver in their convictions although there is a scene where they confess to Nyrelle that they have flaws.

WHERE ARE THESE FLAWS? All that the playable character does is help out those that need it and shout defiance at the demons of Hell.

I would have preferred a story with more player choice and to see us grapple with the consequences of our actions. Instead, most of the major decisions were made by other characters and the player character was simply along for the ride as the hired muscle.

It would have been far more interesting to me if we could have chosen to follow Lilith rather than stop her and allow Mephisto to do what he will upon Sanctuary. I mean, with that ending, there is little doubt in my mind that the world will be drenched in Hatred. A rather frightening prospect although it’s no different to the world we live in today. And while we fight amongst ourselves, the world as we know it steps ever closer to the edge with climate change wreaking havoc.

Let it be known that our current civilisation was laid low by our own hubris and the fact that we had grown fat and indolent on greed that thinking to change our ways to ensure our own survival came second to materialistic objects.

But enough of the doom and gloom! Diablo IV!

Personally, while I am fascinated with the lore of the Diablo franchise, this recent game left me wanting. I would have much preferred a more engaging story where the playable character didn’t sit on the sidelines as the other characters decided the fate of the world. In fact, I’d have rather a slow-burn corruption story where we step off the path of the lawful good and accept the lesser-evil to save Sanctuary.

Or perhaps have us turn away from the Light entirely and fight against the Heavens for their callous disregard of humans.

At this point, I probably have a corruption kink.

Wait. What are you doing?

No. Don’t look at that!

...

Okay, yes. Voldemort x Hermione Granger and Voldermort x Harry Potter are a few of the things that I like to peruse on the odd occasion. No, I won’t explain myself.

All right. Where were we? Ah, right. BALANCE!

For all its talk of balance, Diablo IV very much likes to paint things in black and white. Lilith, the Mother of Sanctuary, has an evil plan to cull the weak. As such, we must stop her even if it would open us up to the Greater Evils. Elias, because he brought the Mother back, is also evil despite his intention to save Sanctuary because of the ongoing threat.

As for the Angels, well, they’ve all apparently abandoned humanity. They might not have voted to destroy Sanctuary but they are doing nothing to combat the threat of the Greater Evils in the world.

Tyrael, a mainstay of the last two games, is absent in Diablo IV and its difficult to understand why.

In any case, if Activision Blizzard ever saw fit to paint out a little more of the world, I would have liked to play a game where the playable character deals with the corruption of the Zakarum by Mephisto.

Or maybe if we finally saw a few demons turn to the light.

Why is it that angels can fall but demons remain forever in the depths of Hell?

Despite quite a few gripes regarding Diablo IV, I still enjoyed the majority of the game. My only wish was that it was more concise without so many open-world shenanigans thrown in to elongate the longevity of the game. Yes, there will be a large group of people that will enjoy the end-game portion of it, but for those that thrive on story, the open world proves to be detrimental to one’s enjoyment. Especially when the world is so utterly grim.

And I think the wider question that needs to be asked is if Sanctuary ought to be saved or not.

#video games #diablo iv #lilith #mephisto #should the franchise be renamed mephisto?#nyrelle #lorath #donan #the cycle of war

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muppetebbtide · 10 days

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trojan war tumblr simulator

🌊 is-the-sea-wine-dark-today

YOU BET IT IS

#the wine dark sea!!!!!!!!!!!! #wine dark sea #wine dark sea posting

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✌🏻 ajax2electricboogaloo follow

why is achilles the only demigod who's Like That? like he's my boy but u don't see memnon or aeneas or sarpedon acting like him on the reg. why is he so maladjusted? like specifically? I saw his mother once and was so terrified by the sight of a goddess I flung myself to the ground and hid my face in the dirt til she left but I still don't think that accounts for it idk

🏘️ nobody1020

it's blonde man syndrome hope this helps

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⚔️ sonoftydeus

opening my askbox so that we can discuss strategies on taking troy!

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anonymous asked: we should all go home :)

⚔️ sonoftydeus answered:

FUCK OFF AGAMEMNON I WANT REAL SUGGESTIONS

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nobody1020 asked: do u like..... horses

⚔️ sonoftydeus answered:

odysseus do I even wanna know where this is going

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⌛ isthetrojanwaroveryet?

year 9, day 234: still no....

#all our admins keep DYING

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‼️ trojan-confessions follow

I think my wife might be sending me anon hate :/ keep getting asks like 'hope u die on the battlefield tomorrow silly slag' and 'menelaus should have curbstomped you' and in her big tapestry of warriors she made me look stupid

🐴 horsetaminghector follow

lmaooo is this paris??

🔮 cryinglikecassandra follow

kinda think helen should send MORE anon hate idk

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❓ myrmidons-confessions

I was the one who wrote the achilles/agamemnon 100k slowburn enemies to lovers rpf and put it on the group chat but now patroclus is calling me 'agachilles boy' and laughing about it and asking if I can proofread his mock bardic epic where all his dogs are heroes and killing people, so I fear I've made a mistake. I also can't look achilles in the eye anymore... but honestly I've never seen proof he can read so I might be safe

❓ myrmidons-confessions

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👑 kingofmycenae

👍🏻 ajaxthegreat

achilles is DEAD and ur posting CRAB RAVE?????

🏘️ nobody1020

I think that's why he's posting it ngl

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😹 deiphobus42069

imagine being the achaeans and your best warrior gets killed by PARIS, after everyone else had awesome deaths at the hands of sarpedon or hector or memnon... like that's literally so embarassing I just know achilles is fucking fuming down in hades rn. I bet the achaeans are gonna put around that paris was guided by apollo, or that paris happened to hit his only weak spot..... anything 2 try and make it less cringe.... lol lol we're popping the biggest bottles tonight. hope helen's there

🐆 leopardskiniscool

???????????????

#I mean. yeah. but also. #deiphobus wtf I thought we were chill

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#hope everyone can be normal about the outcome!!! :)

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🧑🏻 randotrojansoldier-deactivated-8578543

so excited to go back onto the field of battle tomorrow! sure hope I don't encounter any of the big-name heroes

🗣️ homer follow

I hope you don't too! I'm sure you'll do great!

🐎 antilochussss

not the direct address????

✌🏻 ajax2electricboogaloo

direct address got him :(

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💂🏻 trojanguardtales follow

fuck my job so much I hope that this wooden horse tribute to the gods turns out to have some guys inside or something just so I can DO something rather than standing here like a twat with my spear

💂🏻 trojanguardtales follow

by ares this can't be happening

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⚔️ sonoftydeus reblogged menelauskingofsparta

do NOT order achilles from shein!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#oh yeah #I was stuck with temu achilles in the trojan horse for six hours #and by hour two agamemnon had suggested killing and eating him #and odysseus was threatening to 'send him to meet his father' #and it's not even like there's any kleos in killing priam!!! #anti neoptolemus #neoptolemus defenders dni #vent tags

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#taking a break from my actual academic essay about the iliad to make this terrible terrible post #I don't think there's any proof everyone hated neoptolemus. BUT.#but if I'd been at troy for 10 years and achilles' fuckass teenage son pulled up with the bloodlust of an xl bully I'd have been. displeased #iliad #the iliad #trojan war #achilles #ajax #odysseus #homer #epic cycle #unreality #tumblr simulator #greek mythology #my post

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dcvina-claires · 10 months

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please put emphasis on platonic soulmates in media. on unconditional love and loyalty based off of pure friendship. on heart wrenching breakups between best friends that change their lives. on knowing someone else better than they know themselves. on being a shining light for each other and finding happiness in the darkest places. on fighting side by side until the end, because a lover may visit your grave but your best friend will be in there with you

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hycinthrt · 8 months

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no!! stop running!!!

i need to tell you that he held out his arms to take his baby!!!

but the child squirmed around and began wailing terrified by his father’s helm!!!!

and his father began laughing and his mother laughed as well!!

and from his handsome head he took it and placed it on the ground!!

and he kissed his son and swung him around!!!

and prayed that he would become better than him!!!

stop running this is important!!!!

#its one of those days #when im thinking about hector and his helm #tagamemnon #the illiad #hector of troy #hektor of troy #astyanax #epic cycle #trojan war

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art-of-pluton · 4 months

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Blue da ba dee

#i'm reading blue lily lily blue #and i read this is how to lose the time war before #hence the blue da ba dee joke #the raven cycle #blue sargent #the raven boys #the dream thieves #blue lily lily blue #the raven king #trc #trc fanart #my art

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quill-is-brainstorming · 1 year

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Here's something funny that I can't believe I've never shared before.

So I was scrolling through the Hector of Troy tag and I stumbled upon a post referring to him as the "son of Troy".

Now, in it of itself that's all fine and dandy, but it reminded me of something.

In Italian, the city of Troy is referred to as Troia.

The word Troia just so happens to be a mixture of the words bitch and slut.

So yeah, you just end up with these marvelous expressions:

"Hector, son of Troy" becomes "Ettore, figlio di Troia" = "Hector, son of a Bitch"

"Trojan War" becomes "Guerra di Troia" = "Slut War"

"Paris, prince of the city of Troy" becomes "Paride, principe della città di Troia" = "Paris, prince of the city of the Slut"

And I could go on.

Man, do I love my language.

#trojan war #the iliad #epic cycle #greek mythology #ancient greek mythology #hector of troy #paris of troy #tagamemnon

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currentlyonstandbi · 8 months

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#what if i just never emotionally recovered from this . wouldnt that be something #star wars #sw rots #revenge of the sith #rots novelization #anakin skywalker #darth vader #you know what. it's the fact that after everything that has happened anakin still chooses to stay with sidious #even after he knows all he's ever done is lie to him. is use him. is be yet another person on a list of people #who've only ever wanted him for his power #anakin HATES sidious by this point. he despises him. he wants him dead. and yet he stays #because he has no reason not to #he's destroyed everything and everyone who he's ever loved and has loved him in return #and as twisted as it is.. sidious is all he has left now. sidious and all of his anger and all of his terrible grief #so he stays . because he has no reason to leave #and it's not until rotj that anakin finds himself faced with a choice which isn't really a choice at all #because from the moment he realised luke would never join him in overthrowing sidious and ruling the empire #there was only ever one decision anakin could make #because in that moment he looked upon the last reminder of the love that existed once between him and padme and he found his reason #to finally break the cycle of violence #he couldn't kill luke because he loved him ! even among all the anger and pain and regret. anakin loved his son #and just as anakin's love drove him to the dark so too did it help guide him to the light #whatever. this novel destroyed me. gonna have 'this is how it feels to be anakin skywalker forever' on my mind for 3-5 business days

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prahacat · 6 months

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first snow

#star wars fanart #dooku #count dooku #more vampire au #lord of the valley. protector of the people. deathless creature of the night #old tired man who hates cold feet so he's gonna head back to his castle now and get drunk on mulled wine #we had a bit of snow this weekend #i'm so excited for winter #soft snow and snuggly coats ahhh yes #my art #prahacat draws #the cycle

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izloveshorses · 8 months

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like. imagine being a Normal Citizen in a galaxy far far away during revenge of the sith. like. you're scrolling on your holonet and not only has the chancelor been promoted to emperor (hello??), a senator (you follow fan pages of her for fashion inspo) has DIED suddenly AND it's revealed she was PREGNANT !!!!!!?? the whole time??? but who was the father?? was she married?? how did she die??? as far as you know she was young and healthy and unmarried, so like?? the girls and their speculations and their memes would've been insane on the holonet dashboard that week fr

#star wars #padme amidala #rots #revenge of the sith #anidala #like what was that news cycle like #did they try to cover up the fact that she was secretly pregnant #did they ever speculate about What Happened #i mean. we know what happened.#but the normies on coruscant?? what a WILD time #and i doubt it was ever resolved #so the girls never got closure to That story #which is a shame bc they would've loved the drama of the former queen/senator secretly marrying a jedi knight sworn to celibacy :/#and the drama of said jedi knight vowing to kill for her #sigh

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itseghost · 3 months

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sketched out a thumbnail for a painting of essek i wanna do from the episode i just watched !! really wanna properly render it out and do some fun magic effects

#cr2 #cr2 fanart #critical role fanart #critical role #the mighty nein #critrole #essek thelyss #the war criminal wizard has bewitched me once more #hes one of those characters i dont quite have a clear vision for ni my head #partly bc ive seen a lot of different interpretations that i really like #i imagine ill cycle through versions if i end up drawing him more often #itseart

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amiti-art · 6 months

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Did you guys know that Admetus' son Eumelus was fighting in the Trojan war?

Alcestis: I worry about Eumelus, it's been 10 years. I fear we will never see him again.

Admetus: Don't worry dear, I'm sure Apollo is watching over him, like he always watched over our family.

Meanwhile in Troy

Apollo: *kills dozens of Greeks with the plague. Constantly protects Hector and makes sure he can kill as many Greeks as humanly possible. Helps Trojan princes kill Greeks' best warriors*

Eumelus after seeing all of this: mom come pick me up I'm scared

But all jokes aside

Can you imagine Eumelus coming back home and seeing Apollo visiting his parents?

He sees Apollo being loving and kind to Admetus, he sees Apollo being gentle and friendly with Alcestis. He saw that his entire childhood, he saw the god of music, knowledge, light and poetry.

But now, after the war, Eumelus can't help but only see the god of plagues, the destroyer of men. He can't forget the horrible smell of disease and rotting human flesh, he can't forget what happend in Troy.

Obviously, it's not only one sided. Eumelus was fighting in this war, he helped destroy the city, he does have blood on his hands. And that could make him even more terrified of Apollo. Because he helped destroy the city that was under Apollo's protection.

What if one of the man he killed had Apollo's favour like Hector did? What if the only thing standing between him and Apollo's rage are his parents? What if Apollo is waiting for them to pass away to punish Eumelus? He can be patient, he's a god after all, he have all the time in the world. What if Pherae (their polis) will lose Apollo's favour with Admetus' death? What if Apollo will send a plague upon them as soon as Eumelus takes his father's throne? He can't stop thinking about all of this every time he sees Apollo.

I also like to think that Apollo did protect Eumelus despite being on the other side of the war. After all, Eumelus didn't die during the plage. He didn't die in the last battle despite being on the front line, inside of the Trojan horse. He made it home while most of the Greeks didn't.

He had and still have Apollo's favour, he just can't see it through his fear.

#Or at least I think he made it home #there is so little information about him it's hard to tell #But I didn't find anything about his death and from what I've seen was the king after Admetus so I guess he came back #I would be writing fanfiction if my English didn't suck so much #apollo #eumelus #trojan war #admetus #alcestis #tagamemnon #greek myths #greek gods #greek mythology #epic cycle

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doodlerose · 29 days

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This is supposed to be children of Hero's who were killed by their parents, chilling in a field. Hopefully having a much peaceful afterlife compared to their lives.

Hippolytus- son of Theseus and the Amazon Hippolyte - who was killed by Poseidon as a wish from Theseus after being falsely blamed for Phaedra (Theseus's wife) suicide.

Iphigenia- daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra - who was killed in a sacrifice to Artemis in order to sail to Troy.

and Medea's and Jason's sons- who were killed by Medea for revenge against Jason, and after researching were not able to find definitive names for them in the play which is tragic. But I haven't read the play so I could be wrong.

Feel free to correct me if I got any information wrong :).

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aletterinthenameofsanity · 4 months

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Me, to my new date: doctor who thinks it's a sci-fi story because the Doctor thinks it's a sci-fi story and because the companions think it's a sci-fi story, but it's really just a story about ghosts. a story about an ancient creature carrying the ghosts of everyone they have ever loved, meeting new people, and seeing them only as future ghosts. they are haunted by the future and the past and the present because they are the only constant in a world constantly in flux, and they are running as fast as they can to things before they burn and fade to dust but everything will always end, you understand, because this is the only thing the Doctor understands and yet they keep going. they love too much to stop. doctor who is not science-fiction, it's horror and optimism and spiritual more than anything else, it's religious unto itself, the TARDIS is a haunted house and a church and a graveyard and a hospital and the Doctor is the most haunted being in the universe but more than anything, this is a love story, because how can you love something without being haunted by it- hey, what are you doing?

My date, shoving breadsticks in their purse: I have to go-

#more unhinged doctor who meta #doctor who #meta #*into a bullhorn* IT'S A GHOST STORY #ninth doctor #tenth doctor #eleventh doctor #doctor who meta #twelfth doctor #thirteenth doctor #it's abt the time war & dalek & the parting of the ways & doomsday & the last of the time lords & journey's end & angels take manhattan #it's about hell bent and death in heaven and the doctor falls and it takes you away and the woman who fell to earth #it's about the montage of all of the people the doctor has let down #it's about astrid peth and amy pond and rory williams and rose tyler and bill potts and clara oswald and grace o'brien #it's about gaps in memory and memories that live too long to ever heal #the doctor is a haunted house #it's a show about cycles by its very structure #the moment that regeneration became a mechanic for the writers to use and companions began to move out the doctor was DOOMED #but what makes them fascinating is that they see themselves as doomed and blessed at the same time #because they will never ever stop running #clara oswald #amy pond #rose tyler #bill potts #the ghosts are INEVITABLE

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jaguarys · 8 months

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On the note of the snippet I posted. Ultimately what makes me go batshit insane about the Sith is that it's truly not about the magic of it all. It's about people being hurt and hurting others in turn.

What it is to become a Sith is to enmesh yourself, forever, in pain. It's at the very forefront of the doctrine, but even ignoring the mentality of it, on the basest level it is about physical and emotional pain. In agreeing to be an apprentice, you're agreeing to years of torture. You're agreeing to anything your master chooses to subject you to; they themselves have suffered as you have and they're chomping at the bit to inflict it upon you too. They have convinced themselves this pain has made them strong, but it has only made them vindictive.

Becoming a Sith is not about becoming powerful. It's about surviving the sheer horror of the training itself and convincing yourself survival is the same as control, that it's the same as power. It's about taking the seething, burning hatred you feel for the person who has tortured you and passing it onto your student, and repeating this for centuries. It's about licking your own wounds, not only the physical but those of centuries of disgraced Sith before you, hiding in the shadiest corners of the galaxy with no one but the person you hate most and believe you owe everything to.

The Sith are fundamentally pathetic, fundamentally impotent, fundamentally miserable, and it simply cannot be extricated from the mess of it all

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