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ninetailedfoxmanchi · 1 year

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What is Simon 'Ghost' Riley actually like in a relationship (according to me)

A/N: I know this isn't anything like the things I usually write fics about but if I don't get this out of my system, I will spontaneously combust into flames from thought overload. There is a lot of great fics about him out there, 100%, but there is a steamy pile of garbage as well which makes Simon "an abusive asshole" to quote a TikTok I recently saw - and I couldn't agree more. So, here is my soft take on this tough guy and I hope you can enjoy reading this despite it being pretty far away from everything else on this blog.

Warnings: mentions of torture, violence, weapons, PTSD, profanity, explicit sexual themes but also so much fluff and softness

A/N pt. 2: I base this on Ghost's backstory according to the comic books as well as the video games but this is just my take so if you imagined him differently, that is totally valid!

* * *

Firstly and most importantly, Simon is a very different in his private life compared to his work; meaning he is good at separating the violent side of his work life from the life he has with you.

He must be the softest, the most gentle person there is when he is with you. I think he is very shy in the beginning as well as in early relationship given how his father treated him growing up. It is not that Simon wouldn't trust you, it's more that he would not trust himself. After all, after the Manuel Roba operation, he was tortured for months and came out with severe anger issues.

However, he was able to resolve this when he re-joined the military and engaged therapy but the scars remained: both mental as well as physical.

The reason why Ghost never takes off his mask is because of the scars Vernon and the lot left on his face (and the rest of his body). They are healed now but whenever he sees them in the mirror, he is reminded of everything he has been through, especially the loss of his family.

After Simon had told you why he keeps his mask on even in private life, at least the bottom part, you would not mind it as much but you would also reassure him that the way you feel about him could never be changed by some scars.

Needless to say, Simon would be very, very protective of you. He has lost everyone he has ever loved and cared about and he would never allow the same happen with you. It must be said though that Simon is not possessive. He above all knows the importance of freedom, especially when it comes to making choices about yourself and your comfort.

Still, Simon would face some control issues when you'd go out on your own. At work, he is used to being in charge of everybody, making sure everyone is safe and manning their positions. But with you, he needs to remind himself you are not going to war but just out with your friends, out grocery shopping, out to the library or somewhere. The thought of losing you drives him insane. He could never forgive himself if it happened when he could be by your side instead.

It goes without saying though that Simon prefers the comfort of his home to just about any other place. Clubs give him anxiety and the loud music triggers his PTSD, bars and restaurants are okay here and there but there is no place like home.

He does enjoy hiking and walking with you though.

Simon is romantic by heart so picnics in the nature would be his go-to dates. A bottle of wine, cheese and olives, a blanket in a spot with a view... You'd trace his features gently with the tip of your finger; the curve of his nose, his lips where he'd take your hand in his and kissed it softly as you would lay together in a secluded spot somewhere.

Bonus: when you decide to go home, Simon would never let you help carry any of the things he'd brought. Maybe the blanket but everything else, he'd pile up in his massive arms and carry them all the way home while barely seeing over the heap.

When it comes to sex, Simon would be just as reserved as with taking off his mask in the beginning. He would need much assurance from you that you really wanted to be with him intimately before trying anything.

Contrary to popular belief, Simon would never do anything that could even remotely hurt you when you had sex (or otherwise). On the one hand, he is well aware of his size and strength, and on the other, it is his childhood trauma that keeps him from trying anything that could potentially hurt you (even choking, spanking, etc. is not something he is comfortable with) even if you'd ask him to experiment.

Simon has seen, felt and inflicted too much violence in his life to have it included in his love life as well. All he wants to do is make you feel safe and loved especially when you have sex because this is one of the ways he expresses his love to you.

His sex drive is not that high but when you do have sex, he likes to make it special and intimate. Simon is very serious about it and wants you to enjoy yourself more than anything. To be honest, just seeing you climax causes him do the same.

He enjoys going down on your very much; the intimacy, the softness of your moans, his arms locked around your thighs when his fingers are not intertwined with yours.

Simon's favourite part though is the aftercare. He loves cuddling with you. Physical touch is yet another of his love languages although he was very reserved in the beginning of the relationship.

He is the big spoon the majority of time but sometimes (his favourite) Simon lays his head on your chest, wraps his arms around your waist and lets you play with his hair. He can fall asleep almost instantly.

It cannot be stressed enough that Simon never ever EVER raises his voice at you. Even when you are having an argument (which is not often), he never yells much less gets violent in any way.

He is a great listener and despite not saying much a lot of the time, Simon communicates well although he struggles very much to word his feelings.

After an argument or just for no particular occasion at all, Simon gets you flowers (a lot) - and different kinds every time. Another way for Simon to apologize is to cook for you. He is not very good at it but it is the effort that counts.

When he is away on a mission, Simon calls you a lot just to hear your voice, especially when he is too stressed to fall asleep. Your voice calms him down and help him get some rest but also reassures him you are alright whilst he is not there to keep you safe.

Simon likes to listen about your day, your feelings and your ideas. It keeps his mind far away from dark places. But every now and again, he would trust you with a fragment of his memories when his thoughts are just too loud. You know how precious and how rare it is that Simon opens up to you.

You don't say anything when he talks about his memories and his family but you always hold his hand, brushing your thumb across his calloused knuckles or drawing gentle shapes against his broad back.

You pepper his skin with soft kisses when his voice quietens and lead his head to rest against your chest as you pet his hair.

He likes to listen to you sing too, even if your voice is not the greatest. Even just humming a random melody and feeling your chest vibrate softly beneath his cheek will ease his heart.

Random bonus: Simon drinks English breakfast, no cream and one cube of sugar and has an occasional cigarette with it (Marlboro).

#simon ghost riley #simon riley x reader #call of duty #cod #cod mw2 #cod mw2 fanfic #ghost x reader #simon riley #simon ghost riley imagine #simon riley imagine #modern warefare 2 x reader #modern warfare 2

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alldaysarenights · 2 months

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On Discworld…

…and the things I’ve learned so far.

I know, I’m late, but sometimes it’s fun to discover something on your own and in your time.

Recently, I’ve started reading the Discworld series, beginning with Rincewind. And there are so many tiny things I’ve discovered, I don’t even know where to start.

I’ll give D&D a go first. As a passionate player and also a I-once-ran-a-short-campaign DM, I couldn’t but notice all the references there to find, especially with Rincewind. Right now I’m 4 books into his story, barely at the beginning, yet I’ve laughed my a** off a few times. Always wondering what he took from a former campaign. Well, at first I wondered if Sir Pratchett actually played. The internet was quick to answer the question, yes, yes of course he did. Would have been more surprised, if he didn’t.

I discovered stuff about the gods playing dice and there are sorcerer, barbarians and the luggage, which slightly reminds me of a mimic. But I guess this beast came afterwards. I told the other players of my group, and they agreed on the resemblance. Now we definitely have the plan, to tame a mimic, lol.

I could quote you so much stuff, but I’d fancy you going on an adventure and see it for yourself. Read the books, assemble some good friends, and have some fun on a silly campaign. Not necessarily in this order.

Next thing that keeps popping up in my mind, while reading, is Good Omens. I came from the Neil Gaiman side, getting lured in by Morpheus, whom I met doing some research. My comic book dealer was happy to help. Naturally, there was a point where I did read Good Omens. And it was weird, this was Gaiman, but also not, and it was so funny. I knew one day I would have to read Discworld. Unfortunately, I was a bit discouraged by the massive amount of books. The problem sorted out itself, after a friend, I’ve talked to about it, enabled me to read them.

With it came a list in which order I should proceed, so I happily jumped in, secretly nurturing the idea of reading all the books within a year. If it works out, no idea, we’ll see. If so, I might write another article on the experience.

Anyway, the point is, knowing Good Omens well as for watching the series multiple times and doing the same to the book (reading actually), I couldn’t but notice some stuff that definitely came from Terry’s side. Like phrases, he kept using. I did read: “Not as such” as an answer more than once. No matter who said it, in my imagination it was Crowley for a split second.

The first book got me so confused, I completely forgot that this was Terry Pratchett. I caught myself thinking, I was reading Neil Gaiman. This set my brain on halt and the world stood for a second. Amazing what books can do to you.

I’ve realised Death and the horsemen and how they seem unable to start a proper apocalypse. Also, sometimes there were phrases sounding a lot like Agnes Nutter. As well as the tone it is written in, the tiny wordings you sometimes aren’t aware of as an author. And it led me to the conclusion, (of course there is no other evidence and I could be totally wrong), that Neil must have invested a lot of time in re-reading the Discworld or maybe already know them by heart. For some of the things I’ve realised definitely played a part in GO2.

It is amazing how much two people can morph into one, and yet there must be a lot of work behind the scenes. I for my part can only hope that my writing buddy and I can get to this point some day. At least I’ll have to convince him to write a full-grown novel together first.

So you might ask yourself, and I know because so did I, what’s the whole point of this article? Fair enough. I came to the conclusion, that fun expands with knowledge. And I know, my sense of fun probably differs from that of others a lot. But if you are able to grasp those tiny hints and hidden pleasures, it can make a story twice as joyful.

So go out there and consume all those stories. Not just by reading. Listen to people telling their stories, watch movies, series, anime. Maybe go to the opera or watch a play. Memorise a poem or play a game. Find the medium which suits you well but keep on searching, you’ll never know what you might learn from it and what pleasures and magic are hidden in those stories. Because our world is built, or maybe better, powered by storytelling.

#discworld #terry pratchett #neil gaiman #good omens #dnd #stories #storytelling

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the-sun-and-the-sea · 3 months

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Hello! I’m obsessed with your page! Thank you for keeping the odesta fandom alive 🫡 I wanted to ask if you have any thoughts on a potential friendship between Annie and Mrs. Everdeen. I know some fics have explored this (Where Soul Meets Body is a great example), but I wanted to know your take on the matter.

Mrs. Everdeen is a character that I feel doesn’t get enough recognition and her story, in a way, goes hand in hand with Annie’s, post Mockingjay. I personally love the idea of them becoming friends — especially knowing all of the similarities between them. I could see Mrs. Everdeen using herself as a personified cautionary tale for Annie & giving her advice based on her own regrets as being a widow with children to take care of. I feel that her building a hospital in District Four of all Districts subtly alludes to the fact that she and Annie have a friendship.

Side note: even the deaths of Mr. Everdeen and Finnick are oddly similar in a way?? I’m just thinking about this quote from Katniss expressing her dislike for tunnels while she’s on a train to the Capitol in the beginning chapters of the first book — “It reminds me of the mines and my father, trapped, unable to reach sunlight, buried forever in the darkness.” I think that’s also fitting for Finnick’s death since he dies in a sewer, far away from the sunlight, and his body is destroyed by a bomb just like Mr. Everdeen.

If you have any headcanons, fanfic recs, or just expert odesta stan wisdom to share on this matter, I would love to read all about it :)

Hey, thanks so much for the ask!

I totally agree with everything you said! Suzanne Collins is very deliberate in her writing and I don't think sending Mrs. Everdeen to Four was an accident. And her journey definitely parallels Annie's, especially after the war.

I also think it's really cool how building a hospital signifies rebirth and rebuilding. And while I don't necessarily think Annie would become a doctor, I love the idea of her and Mrs. Everdeen working to rebuild Four and heal people and in turn, healing themselves. Mrs. Everdeen could definitely give input on how to use medicine as a method of growth and healing, both mentally and physically.

I never thought about those parallels between Finnick's and Mr. Everdeen's deaths, so thanks for bringing that up! And it's so tragic because these are two people who loved nature so much (Finnick with the ocean and Mr. Everdeen with the woods) and they died so far removed from that. Again I don't think that was a coincidence, and to me there's a lot of story there that we don't always see in Katniss' pov.

we were meant to stay afloat by @dancingonmoonbeams builds a great relationship between Annie and Mrs. Everdeen (plus Finnick lives so go check it out!)

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts, I always love having discussions! <3

#didn't really have much to add other than i agree #you said it so well #the parallels in this series are so cool #and there's always more to learn about #asked and answered #annie cresta #mrs. everdeen #odesta #thg #the hunger games

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an-architect-of-words · 8 months

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the thing with once upon a time at bennington is that... it paints itself as trying to paint a picture of "all" bennington, but all it does is spread misinformation and cut up interviews with people who loosely knew donna tartt and bret ellis. if you want any more proof of that anolik is like... really reaching and unethical, look no farther than her insistence that michelle maitland (costume designer on succession) is the inspiration behind judy poovey. she said numerous times that she didn't know donna, and maybe her car was the basis for judy's corvette, but THERE WASNT A COSTUME DESIGN MAJOR AT BENNINGTON, and she was a theater major, and she seriously doubts donna has a third eye and could know what industry she'd go into like 10 years after TSH was published. anolik published the interview and said maitland is surely judy anyway.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/12/succession-secret-history-judy-poovey-connection

Geeeeeez 🤦🏻‍♀️. Yeah this was the stuff I was skeptical about. There seemed to be things that could be such crazy interesting details, but that we can’t know the full context of. And they’re just being stated as truths. I hate to talk about this podcast only having read articles about it; these are just my takes from stuff analyzing sections— but I have thoughts on Matt Jacobsen and Todd O’Neal as well. They probably did give Tartt inspiration for Bunny and Henry. Certain quotes and details seem very taken from them. And Claude Fredricks totally inspired parts of Julian and the Greek class.

That said, it seems fallacious to assume there’s a 1-to-1 comparison between these people and the characters. Just because aspects of Matt Jacobsen were seen in Bunny does not mean that everything Tartt had Bunny do was with Jacobsen in mind. Bunny is still a fictional character. She also stated here that Julian was based on her mind running wild and creating a character based on rumors about Claude Fredricks. He wasn’t literally just Claude Fredricks. Tartt also has given a huge list of books that inspired writing choices in TSH and it really checks out for certain characters. Did Donna Tartt use the fact she transferred colleges and perhaps felt like the odd man out in a Greek class when she wrote Richard? Sure. But does that mean Richard is literally her avatar and that they share every thought, and that he came from zero other inspirations— or that she never departed from herself while writing him? That’s such a stretch.

And there’s another part of this narrative that just doesn’t make much sense to me. If TSH is really a revenge story about how Donna Tartt hated her Greek class and wanted to get back at them, and Richard is her stand in to do so… why is Richard so bad? Do self indulgent revenge fantasies typically make the supposed author stand-in just as wicked as everyone else? And he ends up miserable and alone and coming to terms with that he’s not special and that he’s got California in his blood (being from Cali is a huge part of Richard and Tartt isn’t from California).

Again, I can level with the assertion that authors/artists I like are flawed (some of my favorite authors are severely flawed). But my issue here is that some of this immediately jumps out as wildly intrusive (it reminds me of a different interview where the person asks Donna Tartt a really personal question, and it really shocked me that the person didn’t feel intrusive in asking it. It’s like Tartt’s emphasis on her own privacy makes people weirdly bold.). And it definitely seems like many people in the podcast have a story they want to tell and have decided to tell, despite the discrepancies and lack of clarity. Ultimately, these people are like “please be aware we aren’t claiming this is as fact” but they’re still inserting a scandal into the world.

Finally… another thing that’s weird to me is that Tartt’s peers paint this bitter picture of her for using true happenings and facts about them in the context of her fiction, and they view it as a scummy thing. But I mean, she never addressed anyone by name, claimed a character was them, or portrayed TSH as truth about Bennington. Nobody would even know these people now or about their lives if they hadn’t revealed this stuff on the podcast. But then they go on to say stuff about Tartt that is painted as biographical and they use her real name for profit. I guess I just don’t understand how that’s not very clearly doing what they’re upset she may have done. It’s very hypocritical.

#the secret history #donna tartt #tsh

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goldrushenthusiast · 10 months

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Have you read the hunger games prequel, the ballad of songbirds and snakes?

What's your opinion about it?

What's the most shocking revelation from the novel related to the original trilogy?

What's your favorite character from it?

Do you plan to see the tbosas movie in theaters?

Thank you

@curiousnonny

Definitely read it!! And loved it.

Honestly, it’s my favorite book in the series. It’s fascinating to read and everytime I do I just fall more in love with it. I used to have the entire first 3 pages memorized and could finish random sentences in my head and would quote it often (mostly to myself lol). I still do the former two but the first has gone down to just the first page lol because I had a three week reading break.

The best…connection, or revelation to the OG trio would have to be the hanging tree song. It’s perfect, and really shows us just how fearful that song makes Snow. It also gives us a look into the possibilities of a relationship between Katniss and Lucy Gray, due to the fact Lucy Gray wasn’t allowed to play it in public so only her kids would’ve known it.

My favorite character is hard. I don’t want to seem like I’m trying too hard to be different, or quirky or whatever, but genuinely it’s Ma Plinth or Tigris. Maude Ivory & Lucy Gray are also up there for sure.

Ma Plinth because she’s so real. As I feel like we all know, THG is definitely some sort of commentary on America/The modern age (reaping day July 4th, babies protected more than children, etc) and I feel like specifically her, and by extension Sejanus, really represent the immigrant struggle.

Two of my aunts (different sides of my family) were immigrants. One from Mexico, one from Canada, so definitely different experiences. While Ma Plinth is for sure more privileged than most immigrants, there’s still a lot of aspects I recognize in her I see in my aunts as well, such as only bringing small treasures, not always being able to pick up on the new places culture, always feeling like it’s obvious they’re not “really” from there, etc.

Sejanus I feel like represents the children of immigrant parents who try to reject their culture (hating his father’s use of money, constantly defying them, doing things to go against them, etc). I don’t like his character too much, but he’s definitely an interesting one.

Tigris is my favorite as an older sister. Coriolanus can barely begin to grasp what Tigris had to go through for him, what she goes through, and everything she does for him. She works her ass off every day to provide and I love her for it. It’s clear she actually cares about him, even if he can’t tell the full extent of it.

Maude Ivory just because she’s adorable and a total vibe and reminds me of my younger sister, who’s always singing lol. Like she’s just so cute and I feel like an amazing addition to the story and I just have to acknowledge that and her.

Lucy Gray…well that’s Lucy Gray. She’s badass, again the older sister struggle, and I love her! Like how could you not?? I love how she played Coriolanus so well and it just makes me happy to know she’s there and hopefully thriving.

Me & My Dad are going the very first night to see the movie! While I don’t like Coriolanus or Sejanus’ casting, there isn’t much to do about it, and the cinematography looks so impressive I couldn’t not see it in theaters or not see it all just because of that. I’m very excited for it.

Thank you for the question @curiousnonny !! I feel like I hardly get to talk about my personal relations to TBOSAS so I love getting questions like this. Sorry it took forever to answer lol.

As always, feel free to debate but not argue in the comments!

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olderthannetfic · 1 year

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I went down a rabbit hole on penis subincision, which lead to an edu article on sexual behavior in indigenous Hawaiian populations. (By Milton Diamond if you feel an urge to google). The article talked about how it was normal and even encouraged in a lot of these cultures for young people to engage in homosexual acts for the purpose exploring each other and simply having fun. This, in turn, reminded me of an assertion that Mark Thompson made in his book, Gay Spirit: Myth and Meaning...

....I’m not sure if you’ve read Thompson’s work but you posted passages from his book a while back. He compares the rejection a fixed gender identity and the phenomenon of "changing" to the archetypal definition of being a shaman, which is kind of fine. But then he goes on to claim that Diné (Navajo) people had a cross-dressing shamanic priesthood of gay people (the nadle) until white colonialism destroyed the tradition. Which, frankly, was a claim that I initially dismissed as...

…a gay white dude making things up until this whole subincision thing made me go look into it more closely. There are in fact many detailed articles on this. (They’re called Nádleehi, not nadle in these papers). So what I want to ask is if anyone knows exactly how common it was for LGBT+ to be accepted in non-colonial populations. Because I was under the impression that the consistent natural reaction to queerness in almost every human culture is to eradicate it.

Nonnie... WHUT?

YES, oh my god, a ton of cultures were okay with some form of something we would today see as queer.

YES, colonialism routinely wiped this out or at least tried to, and many of the places doing the colonizing also stamped out their own ancient traditions.

I don't recall that particular book or quoting it, but I post a lot.

It's not as clear-cut as total acceptance or acceptance of all forms of queerness. A common format is some kind of third gender role for nonconforming or trans or intersex people, often a combination of what we'd see today in the West as femme gay men and heterosexual trans women. Sometimes, this third gender had a specific social role, like shaman or entertainer. The modern split between gender identity and sexual orientation is not really how people saw it in a lot of past cultures (or, hell, in plenty of modern ones outside of the mainstream Western world).

When I was 14, I was fucking obsessed with this academic book of compiled journal articles called Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History.

In terms of binary m/m interactions... uh... Ancient Greece is right there. Did you... miss that?

Historically, Japan was all about it being manly to fuck dudes because they didn't have girl cooties until the Meiji Restoration. Similarly to Ancient Greece, it was unmanly to take it up the ass as a grown man, but that's different from m/m sex in general being a problem. As with many societies outside of the mainstream West post... like... mid 19thC, m/m sex was seen as something you did, not something you were.

Medieval Europe would have kicked your ass for "sodomy", including oral with your spouse, which also falls under that term in that period, but they still wouldn't have thought a man was "gay" for fucking men. They'd have thought he was falling prey to a common sin that any man could potentially be tempted into. Sexual orientation is pretty much not a thing until after we get psychology as a science.

China got more homophobic over the dynasties. There was a time that the emperor's boyfriends were in the fucking history books along with his baby mamas. That's where we get the term "cut sleeve" from.

We don't tend to know what f/f stuff was going on in most times and places because most of the written record is men writing about their dicks.

Modern Thailand has all kinds of interesting things going on, and that whole region of SE Asia has had at points, though the more colonialism, the more local shit got suppressed. I can't speak to the total accuracy, but here's a wikipedia article on gender identities in Thailand.

Tibetan monasteries had abbots openly promoting their boyfriends. As long as you were doing it between the thighs and not touching icky girls, it was fine.

American Indian cultures are well known to have had fucktons of priesthoods/shamans of that type. It wasn't every group. Some were more prone to punishing gender nonconformity. AFAIK, a specific variant role for AMABs is more common than just letting people do whatever. In some, you could become a shaman, but they also tended to scapegoat the shamans in times of crisis. I'm no expert. I'd look up what modern two-spirit people have to say about their cultural traditions along with journal articles. The historical record is fragmentary and full of missionaries' unhelpful opinions.

Humans do often punish difference, but tons of cultures didn't see m/m sex or some specific form of third gender as anomalous. A ton probably didn't care about f/f sex, though it's harder to tell.

Gender conformity is often enforced... but why on earth would you assume most cultures only have 2 and that they map exactly onto our modern ideas of gender?

Seriously, nonnie, where have you been?

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wetcatspellcaster · 2 months

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I read the latest chapter of Honest Lie: it was devastating. I was smashed to the floor, it was incredible.

I loved the support group feedback.

Something I’m looking forward to is seeing how Rosalie deals with allowing Astarion to ascend. Rosalie’s straightforward ways of dealing with good things and bad things are something that I find difficult to comprehend - I think I personally am much more willing to compromise on good and evil for a person I love and a person I hate. I wonder if the party’s adoration for Rose is partially because she provides that strong moral compass that they all so desperately are looking for being

Good —————————- Power? Power!

(See companions vacillating between both spectrums, with Karlach being the exception, in my opinion)

And I do love Astarion’s cautiously made point, which (maybe? I feel?) that Rosalie hasn’t quite yet seemed to express fully in my reading - that people should be allowed to choose. There’s this line from a book that often resonates with me (I’ve put it below!! Please excuse my quoting another author at you, you being my respected and much loved author!) which states basically that choice is the most important thing to preserve, because it lets us choose to be whoever we want to be, which!! I love that BG3 seems to show us, that we persuade the companion but the companion makes the actual final choices!!

I’m super looking forward to the next installments!!! I enjoy reading so much your good and amazing works! Wishing you a great month ahead :)

“It was the right thing to do because it gave us choices. Having a choice is the most important thing.”

I’d heard that before. It’s a bullet-point line in the graduation handbook: As a general rule, regardless of the specific situation in which you find yourself, at every step you must take care to preserve or widen the number of your options. It hadn’t quite sunk in properly, but now it did. Having a choice meant being able to choose something that worked for you and whatever you were carrying and whatever you’d prepared. Having a choice meant you got to choose getting out.”

The Last Graduate, Naomi Novik

hey lovely, thank you for the message and feedback on the chapter, I'm glad that you enjoyed it!

I just want to give a quick reminder that Astarion doesn't Ascend in An Honest Lie! That is not my canon playthrough narrative and Pieces has the tagline 'Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence' for this reason. I only bring it up to put the lingering fears of any readers to bed, but also because it informs my response to your message!

Because, um, we've already *seen* the timeline where Rosalie gives Astarion full and free reign of choice... and that is, in fact, Pieces Still Stuck In Your Teeth :'))))

I totally get where you're coming from. I love that BG3 post that goes around occasionally being like 'I believe in supporting my friends' choices and BG3 really tests that by making my friends want to commit mass murder, become a God, kill a defenceless woman...' bc it sums up my feelings pretty succinctly. While in theory, I'd love a world where Astarion is given space to fix himself and then makes the choice a good Tav wants him to make, the fact of the matter is that if you do not make the (admittedly low DC) persuasion check, if left to his own devices Astarion will always choose to Ascend.

I've thought about that choice by Larian a lot. It's part of what made Pieces so compelling to me as a worst timeline, because that crucial moment seemed to become a perfect storm of 1. Rosalie doubting herself and her own values, choosing to put love first but in a way that is essentially, more self-sacrifice and self-effacement and self-doubt, and 2. Astarion losing a key source of support at the scariest moment in his life and suddenly feeling lost and alone. Rose doesn't speak to him once, past the flashback, in that timeline - she lets him take the lead.

So in response to your question, I operate on the belief, however subjective, that Rosalie's refusal to give in actually is what opens up more choice for Astarion, not the other way around. Because (as plenty of other meta posts that come before me have said much better than I could) he thinks the world works a certain way, and all his decisions are made within that matrix and the assumption that this is the only way the world works. Rose is offering a new model of behaviour - I'm not saying it's flawless, or even correct (it's mostly just autistic). It's just an alternative perspective that I believe (inevitably, as its author) is needed.

A secondary example of that, is him mechanising love in the Chapter 11 argument to try and get his way - he knows he can get people to do what he wants through sex, surely love is just a more powerful version of that? This is the way the world works. But Rosalie refusing to back down despite being in love with him, or love manifesting in a way that isn't immediate acquiescence, also challenges that perspective. It shows that sometimes love or sex or attraction isn't the automatic tool to a person's complacency, and that in fact sometimes love is actively working to better yourself, if you care about a person enough. Sometimes love/attraction isn't making the other person do something for you, but doing something for them instead.

I agree people should be allowed to choose... but sometimes people need support and also, to be quite honest, coaching to get through the most difficult times in their lives without turning into the worst version of themselves. That's not a failing of the person, it's just proof that things are easier when you have a support network. Astarion wants independence as freedom but I don't think independence as loneliness serves him, as it reinforces his worldview, of choices as survival and nothing else.

#asks #wip: an honest lie #long posts #I'm not saying I'm right I'm just saying that's the interpretation behind the fic and its choices #also when i say 'worst version' please don't come for me. I mean evil ending i don't mean bad ending.#in the words of my very intelligent mutual '7000 deaths is something of a dealbreaker'

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moni-harmonia · 1 year

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Kaeya & Dain scene

I usually write a review-analysis of a new chapter in a single post. But I have so many things to talk about that I prefer doing a separate post for this one.

Spoilers below

The long wait is over. Finally we learn in the story that Kaeya is from Khaenri’ah and he meets Dainsleif too.

The reveal in typical Genshin fashion was a bit casual, it reminded me of Albedo’s important reveals from a little while ago.

(Traveler turns very serious when Kaeya tells them about his native land)

We learn a few things here, especially from Kaeya’s past. So he thinks that Khaenri’ah is near Sumeru, at least that’s what he read. Which I find very curious because if he has that knowledge from a book it means that he doesn’t actually remember where it is? A bit weird, but he confirms that he came to Mondstadt when he was little.

I like how Kaeya finally decided to open up a bit and tell us things about his past, his little adventure as a child was quite endearing. Poor Crepus though, what a troublemaker he adopted lol

At first, I was wondering why Kaeya decided to tell his secret. I mean he didn’t tell everything, but he does tell us he’s from Khaenri’ah like that’s a very normal thing. I guess he did that because this is the Traveler we’re talking about. Kaeya knows that the Traveler is an important individual and he must know or suspect that they are investigating stuff about Khaenri’ah and the Abyss Order. Aside from having trust with them, I suspect that maybe he brought it up in case the Traveler knew something that could help him.

After all, Kaeya’s still not sure why his birth father left him in Mondstadt. He says it himself how at first he thought he had a “duty” but now he thinks maybe he just wanted to give Kaeya a peaceful life, which is something that some people have speculated about.

(Very sneaky Dainsleif. Also, I find it very curious and funny that he orders specifically a Death After Noon)

Well, if his reason to tell us was to get new info, he certainly got it... from Dainsleif. This was a very anticipated and exciting meeting. And Dainsleif arrives as usual with a bomb lore: the founder of the Abyss Order was an Alberich.

I think the most fascinating thing is that Kaeya wasn’t aware of that. He certainly doesn’t know a lot about Khaenri’ah or his clan. But it seems that detail has given him some new ideas, although we still don’t know what exactly is he thinking about since he immediately leaves.

Also, funny that Kaeya recognized Dainsleif as a Khaenri’ahn because of his eyes, it’s the first time in the story someone mentions that detail.

(Who thought we’d see this so soon? I actually wasn’t expecting Kaeya to be involved until later, so this scene was quite a surprise)

It’s interesting because this new info about the Alberich Clan has created tension between Dain and Kaeya, something that I wasn’t expecting. But it makes total sense, Dain doesn’t trust people easily and he thinks a person can’t run away from his past. As much as Kaeya says he doesn’t care about that anymore, between Dain saying that, and Mona’s quote about him, it seems certain that someday Kaeya will have to confront this.

Which is pretty exciting. This may have been a short scene, but it’s a big set up for the future. Kaeya is now involved in the main story, and he has met Dainsleif in person, both of those facts are quite important. Since the Alberichs are connected to the Abyss Order, they will be relevant again. We still don’t know what they are currently doing and why Kaeya’s birth father left him in Mondstadt.

It’s a bit sad at the same time. Kaeya loves Mondstadt, it’s obvious. He calls himself a Mondstadt citizen. But until this situation with the Abyss Order is resolved, he’ll never be actually free to live as he wants and to ignore the past.

See ya Kaeya... I know it’s going to be a long time until we meet you again, at least in the main story, but I’m pretty excited for it!

(By the way you can still see Kaeya a final time just after the tavern scene. He’s at the market near a teleport and has an optional dialogue here. Not very important but it’s something most people will miss. Kaeya just mentions that he wants to continue talking with us, but as he sees we’re busy we’ll have to wait for another time and says that he’ll be in Angel’s Share as usual.)

#I was looking forward to talk about this #Genshin Impact #3.5 update #Chapter 3 #Kaeya #Dainsleif #Khaenri'ah #mine

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rowaelinprompts · 2 years

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PROMPT MASTERLIST!!

All the open prompts will be listed here! Also, any that have been filled will be marked with a *, but please feel free to fill as many prompts as you like as many times as you want! We love seeing all the different takes!

~~~~~~

ART: QUEEN OF SHADOWS ROOFTOP SCENE via @house-of-galathynius

ART: ROWAN/DAUGHTER via @thegreyj

ART: "I claim you too" scene via @thegreyj

~~~~~~

*FIC: "I don't know what to do"//"we'll figure it out" via @morganofthewildfire

FIC: College AU with athlete/trainer via anonymous

FIC: "Research" via anonymous

FIC: Crime scene cleaner via @backtobl4ck

*FIC: Proposal emergency via @thegreyj

*FIC: Finding out the teenage pregnancy via @thegreyj

*FIC: Rowaelin with their toddler via anonymous

*FIC: Rowan takes care of Aelin during her cycle via anonymous

*FIC: "I kept this for you while you were away"//"It's been two years"//"I know" via anonymous

FIC: First date pumpkin via @thegreyj

FIC: "if it fits, it fits" via @thegreyj and @leiawritesstories

*FIC: Clingy Rowan via anonymous (could totally be an art prompt also!!)

FIC: Rowan decorating a pumpkin for Aelin via anonymous

FIC: "The pain served as a reminder" via @thegreyj

FIC: Rowan comforting Aelin postpartum via @thegreyj

FIC: Aelin playing breakup songs via @thegreyj

FIC: Rowan POV when he's skinning Cairn via @autumnbabylon

FIC: Rowaelin vows from EOS via @autumnbabylon

FIC: "Are you coming?" 👀 via @thegreyj

FIC: this Instagram reel via @backtobl4ck

FIC: Pajama party via @thegreyj

FIC: Rowaelin's child telling this joke via @thegreyj

*FIC: "Geriatric pregnancy" via @thegreyj

FIC: "Is that a candy cane or are you just happy to see me?" via @thegreyj

FIC: Aelin gets pregnant because of an orange via @backtobl4ck

FIC: "Fuck you" // "No, you fuck me" 👀 via @mariamuses

FIC: "She'd been waiting to hear that voice.." via anonymous

FIC: Rowaelin in the theater Rowan gifted Aelin (canon) via @autumnbabylon

FIC: Rowan washing Aelin's hair via @autumnbabylon

FIC: "Married At First Sight" via @thegreyj

FIC: Rowan and son and dress-up via @thegreyj

FIC: Rowan and son going shopping via @thegreyj

FIC: "Midlife crisis/Ongoing crisis" via @thegreyj

FIC: Aelin's clothing parades to Rowan via @autumnbabylon

FIC: Twitter feud AU via anonymous

FIC: Terrasen High School camping trip via anonymous

FIC: Drunk and clingy Aelin via anonymous

FIC: this TikTok via anonymous

FIC: Chef's knife via @thegreyj

FIC/ART: this cartoon via @thegreyj

FIC: "You're my favorite pillow" via @thegreyj

FIC: "That was not how I imagined my first kiss" via @thegreyj

FIC: 20 questions via @thegreyj

FIC: Rowan's sexy accent via @thegreyj

FIC/ART: Rowan simping over Aelin via @thegreyj

FIC/ART: Aelin wearing Rowan's reading glasses via @thegreyj

FIC: Rowan quoting classic movie lines via @thegreyj

FIC/ART: nose kiss via @thegreyj

FIC: "Stop doing that!" / "What?" / "Smiling!" via @thegreyj

FIC: Rowan is bad at flirting via @thegreyj

FIC/ART: renfaire via @thegreyj

FIC: Interrupted proposal via @thegreyj

FIC: "I'm a big kid now!" via anonymous

FIC: Secret spies/Mr. & Mrs. Smith AU via anonymous

*FIC: "Is he your boyfriend?" via anonymous

FIC: Selection AU via anonymous

FIC: "Books" via @thegreyj

FIC/ART: Throne of Glass x Avengers via anonymous

#rowaelin #rowaelin prompts #rowaelinprompts #open prompts #fic ideas #art ideas

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denimbex1986 · 10 months

Text

'Clocking in at just over three hours, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is his longest and arguably most ambitious film yet.

The biopic sees Cillian Murphy giving a sure to be Oscar-nominated performance as the titular physicist, who is known as the ‘father of the atomic bomb’.

Its not just the lead star who is being tipped for award season glory either, with his cast mates, director Nolan and the film’s sound, special effects and wardrobe teams also likely to make it onto shortlists.

We’re still many months away from the Golden Globes and Oscars nominee announcements but to tide you over, here are 15 behind-the-scenes facts that remind you just how impressive Oppenheimer is...

The Trinity Test recreation was filmed without special effects

Nolan is no stranger to recreating dramatic events on the big screen but in perhaps his most ambitious move yet, the director decided to film the atomic bomb test without using any CGI or visual effects. That means what you see on screen really did take place – although on a smaller scale.

Visual effects supervisor Scott R. Fisher has explained how his team created real ‘miniature’ explosions and filmed those.

He told Total Film: “We don’t call them miniatures; we call them ‘big-atures’. We do them as big as we possibly can, but we do reduce the scale so it’s manageable.

“It’s getting it closer to the camera, and doing it as big as you can in the environment.”

In order to create the intense burning created by the successful test run, Scott’s team used gasoline and propane, while aluminium powder and magnesium were added to replicate the blinding white light of a nuclear explosion.

Scott added: “We really wanted everyone to talk about that flash, that brightness. So we tried to replicate that as much as we could.”

The opening Prometheus quote is a nod to Nolan’s source material

Oppenheimer opens with an ominous opening caption, which reads: “Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to man. For this he was chained to a rock and tortured for eternity.”

The film is based on Kai Bird’s 2005 Oppenheimer biography American Prometheus and explaining the comparison, Kai writes in his book: “Like that rebellious Greek god Prometheus—who stole fire from Zeus and bestowed it upon humankind, Oppenheimer gave us atomic fire.

“But then, when he tried to control it, when he sought to make us aware of its terrible dangers, the powers-that-be, like Zeus, rose up in anger to punish him.”

Cillian Murphy got his role without auditioning

Oppenheimer marks Christopher and Cillian’s sixth film together – following the Batman trilogy, Inception and Dunkirk – and given their close relationship, the Irish actor no longer needs to audition for roles.

During an interview with Radio 2, Cillian recalled the moment when he received a casual call from Nolan, who explained he had the perfect lead role for him.

“If you’re lucky you get one or two of those [calls] in your career, you know?” he said. “It was the best, best feeling. It was kind of euphoric, and then you go ‘oh that’s a lot of work’. So I immediately just started working.

“I had like six months before, between when he called me and we started the shoot. The script was solid and was there. It was one of the greatest scripts I’ve ever read. It was magnificent.”

The cast lived together during filming

Oppenheimer sees America’s greatest scientific minds living together at the Los Alamos facility in New Mexico and for the movie, Nolan also moved his cast and crew into digs together.

Emily Blunt likened the situation to ‘summer camp’ and told People: “We were all in the same hotel in the middle of the New Mexican desert. We only had each other.”

But Cillian skipped their group hangouts

Longterm pals Emily and Matt Damon organised group dinners for the cast during filming – but the former’s on-screen husband RSVP’d with a firm no.

Mary Poppins actor Emily added to People: “The sheer volume of what he had to take on and shoulder is so monumental.

“Of course he didn’t want to come and have dinner with us.”

Cillian added: “You know that when you have those big roles, that responsibility, you feel it’s kind of overwhelming.”

Another contributing factor was the Irish star’s strict diet, as he lost weight to play the scientist, who in real-life subsisted on cigarettes, martinis and not so much food.

“He was losing so much weight for the part that he just didn’t eat dinner, ever,” Matt told Entertainment Tonight.

The hard to hear dialogue is (sort of) intentional

While Oppenheimer is very much deserving of its five-star reviews, cinema-goers have complained about one thing: the sound levels.

Posting on social media after seeing the movie, numerous fans noted that some of the speech sounds muffled and exchanges on-screen can sometimes be difficult to fully hear.

This is down to the fact the IMAX cameras used by Nolan aren’t soundproofed.

Most directors would work around this by getting actors to re-record dialogue in post-production to make it clearer, but this is something he isn’t a fan of.

“I like to use the performance that was given in the moment rather than the actor re-voice it later,” Nolan told Insider. “Which is an artistic choice that some people disagree with, and that’s their right.”

The script was written in first person

In another unusual move, Nolan wrote the script in first person in order to reflect how most of the film is being told from Oppenheimer’s perspective and using his memories.

Matt Damon told Vulture: “I’ve never seen that done before. Instead of ‘Oppenheimer walks across the room,’ it’s ‘I walk across the room.’ This was a way for him to signal that, Okay, this is what the movie’s going to feel like. It’s going to feel immediate.”

Kodak had to manufacture a new type of film especially for Oppenheimer

Film purist Nolan filmed the biopic on large format cameras with IMAX 70mm film, but there was one small problem.

Oppenheimer features two timelines with one in colour and another in black-and-white. Unfortunately, black and white IMAX 70mm film didn’t exist so cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema put in a call to Kodak.

He told Variety: “They came out with test rolls for us to run through our camera. We had to re-engineer our cameras a little bit, and we had to remake our pressure plates and our backend lab work needed to be readjusted.”

“I do remember when Chris and I were sitting in the cinema and watching the results of our first black and white test and it was just freaking amazing. We had never seen anything like it.”

Cillian had no physics knowledge – but one co-star was well-prepared

The Inception star has admitted that he doesn’t “have the intellectual capacity to understand quantum mechanics” but the same can’t be said for Benny Safdie, who plays Edward Teller.

Prior to becoming an actor, Benny was a budding scientist and studied nuclear physics in high school.

“I was working with a physicist at Columbia University,” he told Vulture. “I was doing cosmic rays. It is a deep passion of mine.”

And another actor previously starred in another Oppenheimer-inspired project

Christopher Denham, who plays Klaus Fuchs, appeared in the 2014 series Manhattan, which took its name from the project developing the atomic weapons.

We won’t spoil the TV drama but Christopher’s Manhattan character, the entirely fictional Jim Meeks, has parallels to his Oppenheimer alter-ego.

There are no deleted scenes and there’ll never be a director’s cut

Nolan’s love of IMAX cameras and 70mm film makes movie-making incredibly expensive, so he makes sure every single second of his movies is mapped out before yelling ‘action’.

Cillian told Collider: “There’s no deleted scenes in Chris Nolan movies. That’s why there are no DVD extras on his movies because the script is the movie. He knows exactly what’s going to end up – he’s not fiddling around with it trying to change the story. That is the movie.”

Oppenheimer features Nolan’s first ever sex scenes

Despite having directed 11 feature films before starting work on his latest, Nolan had never directed intimate scenes before.

Oppenheimer features sex scenes with the titular scientist and Jean Tatlock, a member of the communist party who was his lover before and during his marriage (played by Florence Pugh).

Justifying the intimate moments, Nolan told Insider they are “essential” to understanding Oppenheimer’s life as a whole.

“His very intense relationship with Jean Tatlock [...] is one of the most important things in his life,” he said. “But not least for the fact that Jean Tatlock was very explicitly a Communist and his obsession with her therefore had enormous ramifications for his later life and his ultimate fate.

“It felt very important to understand their relationship and to really see inside it and understand what made it tick without being coy or allusive about it, but to try to be intimate, to try and be in there with him and fully understand the relationship that was so important to him.”

Florence Pugh’s topless scene is very different in some cinemas around the globe

The intimate scenes between Oppenheimer and his lover earned the film its R rating, but some cinema-goers noticed an odd addition to one scene.

In countries including India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, digital censoring has been used to cover Florence’s body with a CGI black dress.

Nolan had been thinking about Oppenheimer since he was a teenager

The director grew up in England in the 1980s when the scientist was “a part of pop culture then, without us knowing a lot about him.”

He told Bulletin: “I think I first encountered Oppenheimer in that relation; I think he was referred to in Sting’s song about the Russians that came out then and talks about Oppenheimer’s ‘deadly toys.’

“It was the peak of CND, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the Greenham Common [protest]; the threat of nuclear war was when I was 12, 13, 14 – it was the biggest fear we all had,” he added.

And there’s even an Oppenheimer reference in Tenet

In the same interview, Nolan recalls learning of how the Los Alamos scientists were told there was a chance the atomic bomb could destroy the world.

He explained: “That struck me as the most dramatic situation in the history of the world, with any sort of possibility being an end to life on Earth. That’s a responsibility that nobody else in the history of the world had ever faced.

“I put a reference to that in my last film, Tenet; there’s dialogue, a reference to that exact situation by Oppenheimer. That film deals with a science-fiction extrapolation of that notion: Can you put the toothpaste back in the tube? The danger of knowledge, once knowledge is unveiled—once it’s known, once it’s fact—you can’t wind the clock back and put that away.”'

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stormblessed95 · 10 months

Note

Hi Storm. I wonder if you have read Red rising? I ask because you are one of the few book loving armys I know and Tae in Love me again MV totally reminds me of Darrow with his red and gold outfit and blond hair. It is not my favorite book but so so entertaining, stay at edge of your seat nail biter. I just had to say this somewhere. Also, in one of his W magazine covers he totally looks like an anti hero leader kind of character.

I'm obsessed with that book!! Lmao this is from my other more book focused account just yesterday talking about Darrow:

You are free to follow me there if you want more of my bookish rambling posts 🤣

Idk if Tae is giving me Darrow vibes outside the shining like the sun in head to toe gold and being stunningly gorgeous. Lol but while Darrow loves SO HARD, I mean... the way he talks about the women he loves??

"Without me, she would not eat. Without her, I would not live."

"We grew together, and now are grown. In her eyes, I see my heart. In her breath, I hear my soul. She is my land. She is my kin. My love."

"My wife is not as fickle as a flame. She is an ocean. I knew from the first that I cannot own her, cannot tame her, but I am the only storm that moves her depths and stirs her tides. And that is more than enough"

But like other than that, I cannot get Darrow vibes because this man is INSANE. AND I LOVE IT but Tae is not nearly as brutally awful and calculated as he is in that MV and outfits maybe fit color scheme wise, they don't fit style wise.... even Darrows relaxing clothes feel more military (or threadbare if we go by when he was a slave). Tae is just incomparable! But his beauty for sure probably equals that of a Gold!!

Art credit: CJ Merwild

Also, I highly recommend these books, but don't let the quotes above trick you, there is very little romance within these books and a whole lotta trigger warnings!

#red rising #darrow of lykos #darrow au andromedus #the reaper of mars #red rising quotes

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alyshiba · 3 months

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IRON FLAME CHAPTERS BREAKDOWN: 1 to 3

Since I'm re-re-reading Iron Flame, and thime annotating, I thought, why not sharing my rambling madness with everyone ?

I envision this a bit as a book-club reading, so you can comment-reblog and add your thought, opinions, theories etc..

I already have red multiple times this book, so to make thing fair to those who might be reading it now for the first time, I'll divide this post in two parts: part one will be readable by all, while the second part will feature the theories, foreshadowing, and miscellaneous that include spoilers for the events who happens later on the book.

Of course, as always under the cut there will be spoilers for Iron Flame (in this post from chapter 1 to 3)

Chapter one

In chapter one we deal with a lot of confusion, and we do not get a lot of weird quotes and informations (or at least that I noticed).

The first thing that I noticed is the name of the scribe who is quoted in the Epigraph: Cerella Nielwart. Who's surname is oddly similar to Jesinia's (Neilwart), maybe it's a typo, or not, but I found it odd, and I would like to know more about Cerella, if they're actually related to Jesinia.

In page 2 we discover that Brennan now goes with a different name (for obvious reason) with is Brennan Aisereigh. I know on the web you'll find that the surname means resurrection, which totally fits, but on the Learn Gaelic webiste you'll see that the spelling for "resurrection" is a bit different (Aiseiright, with an extra I). Maybe again it's a typo, or maybe not idk.

In page 3 Violet tells us two very interesting pieces of information: the first is that Riorson house has been sieged 3 times (that she knows of), one of them being ofc during Fen's rebellion. It would be interesting to know when the other two sieges happened and who was on either side. Then we get a reminder that the rebellion relic that the marked one carry masks them from Melgren's signet. I don't know Codagh, but it's odd for one dragon to dimish the power of their rider, no ?

In pages 4 to 8 we get the first glimpse at the Revolution's leadership. During the first read I found it a bit confusing to make sense of who they are and how many are present, so I'll bullet-point them for you:

Major Ferrish (whom Xaden is talking to), he's the Hawk-Nose that responds to Xaden's question. He's described as "an older man with an eyepatch and hawkish nose [...], tuft of thinning grey hair [...] lightly tanned, weathered skin, his jowls hanging, [...] thick hands and a round belly."

Trissa, who is described as a "petite woman with glossy black hair like a raven"

Felix (whe learn the name in page 7), who is described as "large, [...] with ebony [skin] hand tugging at his thinck silver beard"

Woman #1, described as " older woman built like a battle ax [...] with blond hair brushing past her square alabster skin."

Suri, a "brunette with olive skin and a single streak of silver in her hair", she also as a giant emerald ring.

We know from page 4 that the Assembly, which would be leadership, is composed by seven people in total, but only 5 are present in that moment ( the ones above ), so Xaden and Brennan in this moment are not part of the assembly, they must have other roles. And, we need to meet 2 more people.

All of these people are dressed in rider black, Violet notes, so it's safe to assume that they are bonded riders, with signets and all.

In page 8 we also get an interesting line from Brennan: "Knowing that she [Violet] is bonded to Tairn, whose bonds get deeper with each rider and whose previous bond was already so strong that Naolin's death nearly killed him?" So, from this line we know that the rebellion knows that Naolin is dead, just as leadership, and that either Brennan thinks this as well, or is lying about it.

Chapter 2

In this chapter we get a lot more informations, most of which are summarized in a map I made:

The first noteworthy lines are in the epigraph: we learn here that above Riorson House lies the original hatching grounds of the black dragons line from with Tairn and Codagh descend. The first thing we can assume is that Riorson House, and Aretia, sounds now a lot like Basgiath, with a fortress and a vale with hatching grounds and all. So it made me wander if there might be more places like these around the continent. In this line we are also given the name of the family line of both Codagh and Tairn: Dubhmadinn, which is a composite word of 2 scottish gaelic terms: Dubh (black, blackness, darkness, pupil of the eye, ink, dark, sad) and Madainn (moarning).

We then get to the first weird thing we encounter, in page 11 Violet spots "a rune shaped scar or his [Brennan] hand", we then cut to Tairn saying that he will no longer speak of his former rider and that "Naolin didn't fail, but that it cost him everything". I think Naolin is dead. I mean, at the end of FW Tairn promised to always be truthfull to Violet, so I don't think he would hide this from her. But the fact that he died doesn't mean he couldn't have turned Venin. Maybe to save Brennan he channeled from the source, and then either he was killed or he died from the power usage (maybe Tairn killed him to sewer the bond).. Either way I don't think he'll come back in the present. In this scenario it would be possible that the rune on Brennan's hand would be some sort of protection, something that prevents him from tapping in the source, or using the venin power siphoned in his body from Naolin.

So far one of the most interesting information we get in chapter 2 are from pages 12 to 14.

The first line of information we get is that Dragons used to live in what is now called the Barrens, until General Dramor (he's the villain who faught against the first 6 riders) ruined the land in the Great War. It is safe to assume that General Daramor was a Venin, since we know the first 6 fought them. And that if dragons lived in the Barrens, maybe there was an hatching ground there as well ?

We then get an updated, real, situation of the continent by Brennan. I don't know about you, but I need to visualize what I'm reading, expecially if it involves battles, travels etc. So here's a map with the current situation which I'll update every time we get more news.

Here's what you need to know to read it:

Castle Icon = Basgiath;

Dragon Icon(s) = Dragons og hatching grounds, every color of dragon icon correspond with the dragon breed;

Light Blue stain = Navarre's wards (which does not cover Aretia & Tyrrendor);

Small orange flags = uncofirmed locations of most recent venin attacks;

BIG orage flags = most recent venin attacks in confirmed locations;

Small red Flags = old venin attack in non confirmed locations.

Red Stain = Venin territory

In this map you notice, like Violet does, that the Venin are moving towards Navarre and following the stonewater river (the rivers close to Braewic provice), and that both Resson and what we can assume is Jahna (from Brennans lines) are on almost the opposite side. We also learn from Brennan that in both of those locations were found lures, that were of Navarrian craftmaship.

So, is someone in Navarre working with, or exploit the Venin ?

Brennan then tells us that the hatching ground of Basgiath have enough energy to sustain the venins for decades, so that appears to be their short time goal.

Violet then reminds us in pages 14 - 15 that 400 years ago (so 250 years after the unification & og battle against Venin) the scribes (and the ones who ordered them to) deleted every knowledge of Venins (& who knows what else) from public records. It is interesting to note that it happend way after the actual battle against Venin happened, in a moment where Navarrian should have felt protected and forgot about the monsters they faught. Why 400 years ago ? Why not immediately after the unification ? What happend that pushed an entire generation of leadership to delete history ?

Then I'll just remind you that we know it happened 400 y.ago because Violet's dad wrote it a note directet to Vi that he hid in the "fables of the Barrens".

The last two important pieces of informations we get in page 15 are: Brennan telling us that "he thought dragons were the only key to power wards" (weird, is there something else that can be used to power up the wards?) and that "something killed the venin off 650 years ago", which is debatable, considering that there are still Venins I'm starting to think that they just weren't defeated, but just banished, somehow. Which then makes me wonder why are they back now?

In page 17 we close off the chapter with the revelation that Sgaeyl kind of hates Brennan. Maybe she senses the Venin power used to revive him (to connect back with the Naolin channeled from the source to bring Brennan back). Note that Brennan has been around Sgaeyl since Xaden bonded her, so roughly 3 yars ago, and 3 years after his resurecction.

From here on there are spoilers for the rest of the book.

Chapter 1 - page 2: Considering the Rune talk we get later on, I think it's obvious that the reason why the marked ones are masked from Melgren's signet is the rune Liams (and Sloanes) mom made rather then Codaghs doing. It would also give leadership one more reason not to teach runes at Basgiath, I mean, one non-dragon-related power just countered what's considered the strongest signet ever. If I were in Melgren's shoes I wouldn't want that knowledge around.

Chapter 2 - pages 12 to 14: Considering that the same lures were found in Basgiath before and during the battle, it is kind of obvious that at least someone inside of Navarrian leadership is working with the Venins, or maybe using them for some other reasons. I'm not straith up saying some is venin inside of leadership, simply becouse so far we have no evidence of it.

Then it's obvious that in Resson the lure was used to try and kill Xaden (an the marked ones), but the one in Jahna ? Maybe they needed to see if it would work? Or were there another reason?

Chapter 2 - page 15: on this re-read I stopped by this page, because we'll later learn that by using dragon power to raise the wards venins and gripphin riders can no longer wield magic. Which is debatable since in FW Jack Barlowe uses Venin power on Violet (Rebecca confirmed it in an interview, clip is here).

This bring us to two issues: there might be a way to raise a ward using gripphin (or venin) powers, which would solve the Aretia and Poromiels wards problem, or ruin us all, AND that there must be a fault in Navarre's wards if Jack channels Venin power in fourth wing, when Basgiath's wards are still strong.

In Chapter 2 - Page 17 we also get a very important reminder: the poison that the Venin used on Violet @ the battle of Resson cut her off from her bond with the dragons and her powers.

Doesn't it sound familiar? How would the leadership be able to develop (we later learn that it's something they develped this year) a poison that works in the same way of another one the Venins actually have ? I mean, the only difference is in the administration...

I'm more and more convinced that the real enemy of this book are not the Venin alone, but a coalition of some of Navarrian Leadership and the Venins (if they are cooperating or using eachother I don't know).

In chapter three - page 22 Tairn gives an interesting information: " The First Six Riders were desperate to save their people when they approached the dens over six hundred years ago. Those dragons formed the first Empyrean and bonded humans only to protect their hatching grounds from venin, who where the bigger threat." From this phrase we understand that the first six bonded dragons were one from each breed (they bonded only to protect their hatching ground). So what of Andarna ? So Andarna's breed either refused to bond with a human rider, OR bonded with a rider who already had another dragon. Like Violet.

Note that we already kind of know the Venins background story: a brother bonded a dragon (the first six - or who came defore them -), a brother bonded a griffin, an another, jelous, turned to stealing from the source. The jelous brother was then vanquished by their sibling who commanded the sky to realease it's power.

We already have a lot of paralles that refers to Violet. So I find it very likely that one of the six might have bonded 2 dragons, and that it was the one who bonded two dragons.

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docholligay · 11 months

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Never Have I Ever

This is a short story collection I got as a gift quite awhile ago, and as one might expect it took forever for me to work it into my reading list because I’m just like this and I have 86 things I always want to read.

Anyway, very glad this wasn’t a commissioned read, as I apparently have managed to lose the book somewhere between my room and pool deck, which is admittedly pretty impressive, even for me. I’m hoping it’s just under something back in the room.

SO! Non-spoilery: This is a Filipino-American paranormal collection of stories, that leans heavily on the knowledge of FIlipino culture and creature. Like all short story collections, it’s definitely patchy, but comes in with some really beautiful stuff here and there. Yap seems to struggle a little bit with endings occasionally.

SPOILERY:

So I can’t actually decide if I liked this or not. Yes? But also no. I saw the pull quote from Tamsyn Muir on the cover and was like, ‘Oh great, when it came down to it, I did not like Gideon the Ninth. Fantastic” BUt there was a lot lot lot more for me in this book than Gideon.

I CAN tell you that I wish I hadn’t been reading it poolside, because I don’t have a lot of exposure to Filipino culture and go I had to google a LOT for this collection, which I absolutely do not mind doing, I like to learn, but while I’m trying to relax in the hot spring, having to google a bunch of stuff to try and grasp the context of what’s going When I say this book requires a solid footing in Filipino culture, I mean, there are entire lines of dialogue, untranslated, in Filipino.

It is patchy--A Spell for Foolish Hearts, for example, feels TOTALLY out of place in the collection, which is mostly darker in tone and subject, and then...we have a fluffy gay boy story in San Francisco. The story itself, while not being to my taste, isn’t BAD, just a bit saccharine--okay, a LOT bit saccharine, and it turns out he’s dating the mist of San Francisco and there’s a funky sitcom mixup that leads to a romcom style breakup and gag gag lots of you would LOVE this but it just ain’t for me-- but it feels like a friggin pothole in the interruption of the flow of the collection. The first story, which I can’t remember the name of, was, for me, very “yeah, yeah, the monstrous feminine, we’ve all seen it” and while it’s not terrible, I suppose, it doesn’t break any ground. Many of her stories end hanging, which is fine, but they feel unfinished in a way. There’s not a lot of great drop lines. Sometimes I think Yap gets real tangled up in THE MESSAGE I AM CONVEYING and it takes away from her truly good handle when she allows things to get creepy.

Now, to stories I loved:

Have you Heard the one about Anamaria Marquez?: This was a great story that really played into gossip and what it is to be remembered, with a fairly light touch of possession and belief. I loved the way the rumors about Anamaria’s ghost wavered from wildly ridiculous to plausible, in keeping with the ways that all high schools have a ghost and that ghost always has a tragic story.

Asphalt, River, Mother, Child: This was maybe my favorite story in the whole thing, despite the fact that if someone accused it of being heavy-handed, I wouldn’t disagree. My friend actually said this story reminded her of my writing, which I found insanely flattering. Its about corruption and death and innocence and best intentions, and the exhaustion of compassion, how you can help so little, even if you are a goddess of sorts, but that small but still means something.

Hurricane Heels: This is a grown up magical girl story! I could have written a variation on this idea, I fucking love it. I don’t even know that I think it’s the most artful story in the collection, but this was the story that made my friend decide to give this to me, and you know what? She’s right.

How to Swallow the Moon: You see literally every beat of this story coming, if you’ve been around the block once or twice, but it kind of doesn’t matter. The only thing I don’t like about this story is that it’s written in second person, which is not the first time Yap does that. I don’t know if it’s to prove that she can, but there’s nothing about this story that fucking requires it to be in the second person. But, otherwise, it’s a beautiful and lyrical take on the whole ‘princess and handmaid’ type story trope, which really flattens how good I genuinely think the story is. The description in this story is as good as Yap ever gets in the whole collection, and I actually suppose if I had any other mild criticism of this story, which is once again a criticism of the collection itself, is, this story doesn’t fit. I actually think this would go better in a different collection, maybe one with Spell for Foolish Hearts, actually. I think many of y’all would love this one--nicely written stock fantasy beats, gay, happyish ending but not cloying.

So, yeah, there we are! I guess I would say I DID like it, in general

#doc reads #This took forever to write ahaha

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praecurokat · 1 year

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Ted Lasso Finale Thoughts- So Long, Farewell... (I do not know what to think!)

this episode being an hour and 15 minutes..after being released at midnight... that's just cruel.. my brain cannot operate properly under such conditions..

congrats Tedbecca shippers! oop watched more.. sorry Tedbecca shippers...

most normal Beard and Jane appearance in the series at Rebecca’s house in the beginning

writers were bringing the dramatic flair in this episode! first that thing with Isaac dressed as a judge in the beginning, and then a musical number! idk how i feel about that..

speaking of the musical number, i must regretfully inform the masses that idk what the song is from.. pls lmk in the comments.. i see that it relates to the episode title

ah yes Jane acting totally normal by shredding Beard's passport.. total ✨ marriage material ✨

Trent's shirt says sat 17 may.. could this be significant?? everything in this show is..

"You know, that might be a tasty little treat for the diamond dogs.” “No. No. No. No!”-Roy, soon to become a Diamond Dog in a moment of desperation

wait did Trent name his manuscript the lasso way awww

“I only got into this to ruin Rupert's life, and he seems to be doing a pretty good job of that himself.”- Rebecca

So. Many. Throwbacks. Keeley saying “Is everybody decent?”, Jamie using lots of axe body spray like S1, the cleaner walking in on everyone, and way more i can’t think of

the complicated web that is royjamiekeeley is still being spun.. in the last episode..

“Must be awful for them, lying awake at night, haunted by how fucking easy they’ve had it!”- Mae, to Rebecca’s mom

Trent watching Ted read his book.. heart eyes emoji

the way Ted looks at him.. i meannn is this even subtext anymore?

“So you do laugh, but you don't do it until page.. 43?! And it wasn't even a big laugh!”- Trent, while Ted is reading his manuscript

"Whatever happens on Sunday, I want you to know I’m proud of you. All the work you’ve put in this year."- Roy to Jamie, before proceeding to fistfight with him later

Both Roy and Jamie seem very contemplative this ep. What are they thinking??

i am so concerned about the current royjamie feud over Keeley... what is gonna happen here???

“Would you please stay?” and “I know, I just had to try.”- Rebecca, about Ted

lmao Keeley kicking both Roy and Jamie out after they asked her to choose

“You stay put, Trenthouse magazine. You’re part of the squad now.”- Ted, to Trent

“Yeah. Someone better. Can people change?”- Roy, also this is a central tenet of this damn show

“I don’t think we change per se, as much as we just learn to accept who we’ve always been, you know?” -Trent’s most beautiful quote thus far

aww Nate finally got his diamond dogs reaction to Jade

George being Rupert’s coach sent me.. like you Really couldn’t find anyone else?

I hate Rupert but I love his dramatic slay coat swish moments.. again reminds me of Uther’s drama queen antics

“I prefer rugby, there’s just more grown men throwing other grown men into the air like children. And blood. Which is nice." - Barbara

Bloodthirsty and mysterious? Barbara is a serial killer or vampire confirmed.

“Never forget, I am always inside you.” -Zava’s note, which also came with a giant avocado

Zorro has truly entered his superhero arc and Dani Rojas is his genius creator

the fourth thing has to be 'Believe'.. aand it was? Right?

AFC Richmond Women’s club.. i sense a spinoff show opportunity…. or they could just do a show about Trent

George has begun a redemption arc!! (Telling Rupert to fuck off)

Rupert's desperation and misery at the end is not entirely unreminiscent of Rebecca at the start of S1

yesss Colin got his kiss on the pitch!!

haha the same? person from S1E1 taking pics w Ted in the airport

damn so Beard’s going home too, thought Jane would've locked him away in a safe or smth… nvm

omg Amsterdam man has a child.. hmmm Rebecca’s prophecy may still be fulfilled

Roy becoming manager feels natural

Ofc Trent renamed his book ‘The Richmond Way’… never let them know your next move

that montage at the end…so much to process....

beardjane wedding marking the end of the series.. good or bad omen for the future? i think bad

seems very fitting the series ending the opposite of how it began.. Rupert's life ruined, Rebecca in love and not owner of the club, Roy and Jamie healing and bonding w others around them, and Ted back in America with family.

#ted lasso spoilers #ted lasso #afc richmond #trent crimm #roy kent #rebecca welton #isaac mcadoo #coach beard #jamie tartt #keeley jones #ted lasso s3 #ted lasso finale #anotherofmybrilliantthoughts

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izzyspussy · 1 year

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[image description: a cropped photo of a bullet journal page showing four banners with geometric icons in green and brown. the icons are a play button, a scene board, an open book, and a writing quill. by each banner is listed something that corresponds to the icon in a matching color. /end ID]

Media I Loved Last Week

My favorite thing I listened to last week was Even Lovers Drown by Abby Bernstein. I was reminded of this song from seeing the poem it's inspired by and quotes in the lyrics and sought it out to listen to again. It's not on Spotify, which is the main place I listen to music so it's been a good long while since I've heard it. I first listened to it back in ye olde days of Grooveshark. Anyway, it's fun and I really like the poem and just the whole vibe. 10/10

My favorite thing I watched last week was Mayhem (free to rent at this link as of 5/12/23). It stars Steven Yeun, he gets covered head to toe in blood, he fucks Samara Weaving, he has so many fun little ideas, and he absolutely obliterates a couple dozen corporate lawyers. And he doesn't suffer any consequences whatsoever! Love that for him. And his bestie really got all tangled up in my heartstrings despite only being on screen for like five nonconsecutive minutes maybe. 10/10

My favorite thing I read last week was Change Partners by avocadomoon. Pretty much immediately post Chapter Two, Richie gets his phone hacked and the contents sold to papparazzi, and thus is outed. The fic manages to be mostly about him and his relationships more than the actual outing though, which is interesting and quite nice. I think it's really in character for the entire ensemble, which with so many characters is a feat. It also never has Richie ascribe to any particular label (aside from in the press, which is Different), which I personally really really like. 10/10

I wrote ~11k words total last week. Most of that was on the second draft of Paid Training, so tbh a lot of that is really more like words edited than words written. I'm re-writing it for the second draft, as I always do with originals, but not much is being added in just yet. I changed the names like usual, but this time I've also changed two main characters' genders. I've gotten to the part in the draft where that actually becomes relevant and a lot more will have to be changed from draft one, so it'll be a lot slower going from here on. I got about 2k added to Curse The Messenger, which I'm not very happy with because I'm still months behind on my ideal schedule lmao. At the same time I'm giving myself some lenience on that because, like, it's tough to write about something horrific as it's actually happening to you in real life even with twelve degrees of fantastical separation. And also it's hard to write a research montage that isn't boring as hell. But hopefully that'll be picking up soon idk, we'll see. I have to figure out how to insert the interesting stuff in there without it being obvious, and then how to move tf on. I'm creeping up on the current end of my outline too, man, idk. Whatever.

#jack facts #last week #reading process #fic rec #music #writing process #progress report

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