#self sacrificial little bastards

[jamrroll]

Genshin Impact’s Self Sacrificial Little Bastards:

(Aka the playables whose skills cause HP loss and make my head want to explode. Respectfully.)

Xiao: I love you honey, but you gotta stop literally trying to get yourself killed. Please and thank you! 😊

Kuki Shinobu: What is even the point of literally slicing yourself open? Can’t you do the skill without that first step, or are you really just that clumsy? I wouldn’t be surprised if Kuki here has pulled this stunt so many times it doesn’t even hurt anymore.

Hu Tao: You do realize you can’t do business on yourself, right..?

Dehya: Honestly, Fake Cat Girl II here already makes my head want to explode, so what’s a little more?

(Could you tell I listed them in order of how much I care about them? Hu Tao would’ve been last, but then Dehya happened so..)

#genshin impact #Xiao #kuki shinobu #Hu Tao #Dehya #self sacrificial little bastards #but I still love them though #*cough cough* Xiao and Kuki *cough cough*

[uncannycerulean]

I wrote my first ever drabble! Seeing red

(375 words, mentions of Dumbledore's canonically dubious decisions)

Draco Malfoy prided himself on being an expert on anger, both his own and the anger of others. After all, he had spent half his youth acting out his own petty rage, skirting his father's ire or pushing other people's buttons to make them jump out of their skin. 

Imagine his surprise at finding that after all their fights and enmity, and the war he had fought and won, Harry Potter, the Saviour of the Wizarding World, was utterly incapable of dealing with anger – especially his own. Luckily, Draco had a plan. 

Which was why, in the dead of night, Draco found himself in front of Dumbledore’s tomb, his feet freezing in the snow, handing Harry a tomato that was quite definitely past its prime. Harry weighed the tomato in his hand experimentally, then tossed it at the tomb half-heartedly. 

The red splotch stood out sharply against the pale marble, even in the darkness. 

“Come on, you can do better than that,” Draco taunted. He could feel Harry’s anger crackling just below the surface, an explosion waiting to happen. 

Harry frowned at him, irritation and self-consciousness warring on his face. 

Draco almost felt compelled to give in, let this be a failed experiment, but he continued: “Tell me again what you said at the pub earlier.”

Harry exhaled heavily, his breath clouding in the cold air. 

“Okay,” he said, taking several tomatoes from Draco’s offered basket. 

“He left me at Privet Drive even though he knew they kept me in a cupboard,” he said, his voice hoarse.

With a satisfying smack, the tomato hit the tomb. This was more like it.

“He raised me as a sacrificial lamb for years,” Harry continued, a little louder. Another splotch on the marble.

“He always planned for me to die, and he made sure I would go willingly,” He was almost shouting now, and throwing the tomato so hard it hit like a Bludger.

“And what does that make him,” Draco prompted, a reassuring hand on Harry’s arm. 

“A scheming, manipulative…” He paused, seeming to almost choke on his words. “...bastard!” 

The final tomato hit the tomb right over the inscription. 

Harry turned to look at Draco and laughed. 

“You were right,” he said, panting. “That felt good.”

#drarry #microfic #draco malfoy #harry potter #dumbledore critical #my microfics #drabble

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

One of the things that sticks out to me about Jon is just how active and readily available his kindness is. And it’s funny because the fandom at large considers Jon to be someone with a good heart, but he usually isn’t specifically linked to kindness as a key character trait even though he should be. Because every now and then, we have moments where Jon is just so proactive in how good he is to people. Not like it’s a performance, but it’s just something that comes to him naturally. And it doesn’t have to be big things either because sometimes, it’s really the little things that matter. Take this interaction with Tyrion for example:

“Boy,” a voice called out to him. Jon turned.

Tyrion Lannister was sitting on the ledge above the door to the Great Hall, looking for all the world like a gargoyle. The dwarf grinned down at him. “Is that animal a wolf?”

“A direwolf,” Jon said. “His name is Ghost.” He stared up at the little man, his disappointment suddenly forgotten. “What are you doing up there? Why aren’t you at the feast?”

“Too hot, too noisy, and I’d drunk too much wine,” the dwarf told him. “I learned long ago that it is considered rude to vomit on your brother. Might I have a closer look at your wolf?”

Jon hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Can you climb down, or shall I bring a ladder?”

- Jon I, AGOT

First, it’s quite adorable how readily he strikes up conversation with Tyrion, a man he’s just met. The hint of curiosity mixed with concern when he asks Tyrion why he isn’t at the feast is cute.

But it’s the last line that stands out to me. “Shall I bring a ladder?” Because he could’ve just said “shall I call for a ladder?” but he didn’t. The latter suggests that someone else will do the brunt of the work. It’s still kind, because he’d still be looking out for Tyrion, but it puts him in a passive role. Instead, he means to get the ladder himself. He will look for it, bring it, and position it for Tyrion to use. So now his kindness is very much active. His empathy is on full display here as well because he acknowledges that Tyrion may need assistance and takes the initiate to provide it.

This seems like such a silly thing to get hung up on but I love this small moment because it provides a lot of depth to a character who is meant to serve as the series’ traditional hero - a role that is often times “good” by default without exploring how or why. Anyone who’s read Jon I knows that he has spent the chapter being a raging jerk. But GRRM uses this moment to remind us that despite being a moody, asshole-ish, 14 yr old boy, Jon is a really good kid at the end of the day. He’s is kind and he’s so active in how he practices his kindness. Even to people he doesn’t know and has no obligations to.

Because we’ve had a bit of whiplash so far. Bran I established Jon as a sweet and empathetic, self-sacrificial brother. But the first part of Jon I makes us question that when we see his pettiness and immaturity on full display. It almost seems like a case of unreliable narration from Bran, until we get to this last part when Jon gets a small moment to redeem himself. Which he does ~ and it’s done beautifully because it later links to some of the larger themes in Jon’s storyline. That he is one who actively looks out for the “cripples and bastards and broken things”. It’s not just looking out for Bran when they found the direwolf pups, but looking out for Tyrion in this chapter, and then for Arya and Bran again in Jon II, and then for Grenn in the last part of Jon III, and for Sam in Jon IV, and so forth and so forth. It’s a pattern that’s established through big and small moments all throughout AGOT where Jon still has a lot of growing up to do. But these moments, at large, serve as an anchor to remind us why we ought to care for this hero’s journey.

#jon snow #asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #my stuff #And it’s one of the (many) things that the adaptation got wrong about Jon’s character #Yes show!Jon was “good” #sometimes the show showed us most times the show told us #But show!Jon’s goodness was never as proactive as book!jon’s #We don’t get him offering to help Tyrion #we don’t get him telling Tyrion that he sees him as a man beyond his disability #we don’t get him making gifts for his friends just because he wants to #we don’t get him telling Gilly that her name is pretty because that’s the only kindness he can offer her at the time #Instead we’re told that he’s good because he can’t lie #Ummmmm yeah book Jon lies all the time ajnsjsbaba doesn’t make him any less admirable #We just lose so much depth with Jon like ugh #in whitewashing him they ironically removed his most admirable traits #justice for my boy

[wingsofhcpe]

Mar's BBC vs Book Canon Musketeers Assession: a Short Yet Comprehensive Guide

(read under the cut!)

bbc d'Artagnan: baby. has not done anything wrong in his life ever, actual angel, just very stupid.

vs

book d'Artagnan: has the power of god and anime on his side, most annoying little bitch you'll ever meet, broke, has a stupid horse, perpetually single.

*

bbc Athos: depressed older brother figure that's not-so-secretly very soft and loving of his found family and would die to protect them, also still horny for one Milady de Winter. Carries the communal garrison braincell.

vs

book Athos: drunk misogynist who yearns for death and whose only reason to live is his son Raoul. All his braincells have committed self-murder.

*

bbc Porthos: feisty ray of sunshine who has never had a single evil thought in that silly head of his, actually quite clever, complicated and emotional, deserves the world.

vs

book Porthos: vainest person you'll ever meet, doesn't know when to shut up, sugar baby who cares only about himself (and maybe Aramis), has not had a single intelligent thought in his entire existence.

*

bbc Aramis: cinnamon roll, golden retriever, actually quite clever, troublemaker who can't keep it in his pants, lovable self-sacrificial idiot who would get himself killed in a heartbeat to save his loved ones, brightest smile in all of Paris. Invented bisexuality.

vs

book Aramis: mean, edgy, probably secretly a vampire, would sell you to satan for one (1) corn chip, one bad day away from going on a murder spree. Also invented bisexuality.

*

bbc Treville: exasperated dad.

vs

book Treville: extremely exasperated dad.

*

bbc Cardinal: genius evil mastermind played by Peter Capaldi.

vs

book Cardinal: genius evil mastermind sadly not played by Peter Capaldi.

*

bbc Rochefort: worst person you'll ever fucking meet, arguably the only downgrade in the show.

vs

book Rochefort: sneaky lil bastard that's also the bestieTM, we stan.

*

bbc Constance: feminist icon, beautiful queen I'd kill and die for, gaslight gatekeep girlboss.

vs

book Constance: she's just there and then she dies ig.

*

bbc Milady: my cunning evil murderwife, would die for her, deserves the world.

vs

book Milady: actually I believe Athos should have strangled her with his own hands, fuck her.

*

bbc Bonacieux: evil greasy little man, fuck him.

vs

book Bonacieux: he's just... kinda... there I guess? Idk man Dumas looked at the Bonacieuxs and went "nah".

*

bbc Louis: annoying little shit but he's kinda cute and nice sometimes

vs

book Louis: manchild, just There ig.

*

bbc Anne: radiant angel who has done nothing wrong in her life ever and she's also perfection itself.

vs

book Anne: literal drama queen.

*

BONUS ROUND- GRIMAUD

bbc Grimaud: hot evil emo dude, idk what his problem was tho

vs

book Grimaud: actually he just doesn't get paid enough for this shit so if he wanted to murder Athos like in the show I'd understand that lmao

#bbc musketeers #the musketeers #the three musketeers #les trois mousquetaires #alexandre dumas #athos #porthos #aramis #d'artagnan #constance bonacieux #milady de winter

[justlarkin]

Imma just go off anon cause idc, same person as that anon who talked about housamo woman and bombom and chrsitine.

Anyways yeah! Bombom females are amazing, like looking at who's he drawn, I didn't even realize he drew some of my favorite females 😭. There's Babylon, Arc (is Arc female? Or just straight nonbinary?), my queen Christine (even tho I'm gay but like 🙏), Maria, female protag (I love her so much. She's my favorite to use cause who doesn't like strong woman). So yeah, bombom defender here too! Also, the hands thing? Honestly same. Hands suck ASS to draw 10/10 do not recommend. So I understand his pain.

Also Arc must be protected at all costs. They're a sweetie pie who needs love and affections 🙏

Gosh, I may not use MC2 as often as MC1, but she's like wow, you know. I know it's such a plain student design like the other designs, but there's just something special going on here.

I think Arc is supposed to be non binary, but the game has or had them clocked as female despite using they/them pronouns for them 💀. They are very cute regardless and needed to be mentioned!! That Little Red Riding Hood outfit is down right adorable and they're a badass when they get the spotlight. I love that Bab's isn't only motherly, but also a bastard schemer. And just look at the details on both these outfits!!

So true tho!! Protect Arc at all costs!! ❤

I have to say that I love Ibaraki's fem looks because I think girls look cute in guy outfits too 😌

I think Maria and Taromaiti are so cute and cool too. Like the way Maria carries her entire guild and is just so self-sacrificial and forgiving that it freaks out guys like Nyarl and Kirito is so goofy and based, I love her. And Taromaiti fighting gender roles and garnering an army of feral lesbian simps? Based. We don't see much of her, but she's always so kind and tries to be understanding when we do 😖❤

Also, he cooked here with this mob tbh

#ask

[thefiresofpompeii]

rewatched utopia. what the hell jack went through that with NO breaks right after the events of end of days. and the doctor just.. keeps taunting him? “you abandoned me” “did i? busy life moving on :3’ he was stuck on the slow path for 200 years waiting for you, searching for you, you bastard.

as a fun little inverse parallel — ironic with how much master-like flippant cruelty the doctor treats jack and martha throughout the episode contrasted with how doctor-like (brilliant self-sacrificial genius) professor yana is. they really are flipped mirror images and never is it more apparent than when one is no longer themselves

derek jacobi was amazing i wish we got to see more of him. poor chantho. once again i’d completely forgotten her conversation with martha where she revealed that she’d been hopelessly adoring him for 17 years. damn, even the companions are mirrored

10/10. probably won’t rewatch this again for a long long time i swear i have every other line imprinted in my memory

#dw #jamie.txt #utopia

[a-random-pillow]

Fascinated by Cody Rhodes, The Rock, Seth Rollins and Roman Regin's dynamic. Especially after Monday Raw.

It seems that Rock has devolved respect/hate dynamic with Cody, but the line 'Champion or not, I am coming back for you' makes it seem a little obsessive. Kinda like Roman losing WrestleMania because he couldn't let his grudge with Seth go, which could become a interesting parallel. (IDK what to do with 'Don't break my Heart')

We haven't seen much form Reigns since Mania so we have no clue how he is feeling. I can see a Face run starting with a Road to Redemption kinda dealio but honestly, I think he is going to be dedicated to getting revenge on Seth and Cody. We don't know if his relationship with the Rock and the blood line got soured because of his loss but it is a possibility which makes more interesting ideas.

Cody hasn't mentioned Seth, even though the guy saved his red and white butt at Mania which could hint at a heel turn for either of them. If Seth becomes the Heel he's probably aiming to take Cody's tile since he feels unappreciated for his help at Mania while Cody is trying to apologize. If Cody becomes the Heel and goes back to bisexual menace days, I can see him trying to go for more power but isolating himself form others at the earliest sigh of questioning him which would lead to people trying to take his title for his own sake and because he is being a dick.

If the Rock comes back to Heel!Cody then we could ether see Rock turning Face to help the others bring Cody down or the Rock and Cody team up to cause some major havoc or just two super powerful heels running amuck. If Rocky comes back to Heel!Seth then we might see him helping Seth take down Cody which might parrel Roman and Seth's old dynamic.

Roman depending on ether becoming a worse heel or turning face could interact very interestingly with either Heel or Face Cody.

Heel!Cody + Face!Roman could be Roman trying to help Cody avoid the mistakes he made during his Regin, maybe he doses the thing where he never gives up on Cody and they do 'Disgraced Champions' bit much much later down the line. Or Roman fixing his past relationships and working with the others to take down Cody and prove himself a change man.

Face!Cody + Face!Roman might be a story about forgiveness and when it is okay to forgive someone, but this is WWE, so I find that kind of unlikely. Well, make if Roman gets all self-sacrificial about it.

Heel!Cody + Heel!Roman makes mayhem where people have to choose between two controlling bastards who hate each other's guts. Or they could team up and just become the most powerful team in all of the WWE and dominate.

Face!Cody + Heel!Roman = Roman wants vengeance, Cody Rhodes is Cody Rhodes about it. Mostly just the status quo.

I have so many more thoughts, I'll probably make a PT2 later. Asks are open blah blah.

I am very interested to hear what others think, what options they want, why and what they actually think will happen. Do you have any theories?

#homosexual reading is 100% vaild #wwe #wwe raw #wwe smackdown #cody rhodes #american nightmare #roman reigns #the tribal chief #seth rollins #seth freakin rollins #dwayne johnson #the rock #wwe the bloodline #wrestlemania #WWE theory #smackdown #monday night raw

[msftsn]

@solivcgant : “   I’m on your side, no matter what. ” things one might need to hear : eiji & lukas.

❛ i know, eiji. i know. ❜ he coughs out, smiling softly at his friend before holding his left side, feeling the smallest amount of blood pool underneath his glove. it'd gone south the moment they discovered that mercenary camp - they had tried to get out by then but it was too late and now here they were, followed and cornered. usually he was a self - sacrificial bastard wanting to feel better about himself by getting hurt. now he was a selfish man that wanted to protect the person he might just call his best (and only) friend. he rests a heavy hand on eijis shoulder, looking into the others eyes for something, anything, only to be met with the stubborn refusal of leaving him behind and abandoning him. his smile softens, gaze almost gentle as he pulls the other into a tight, bone crushing hug. at the end of the day they were two damaged guys doing whatever they could to make it through the day. or so he wants to say, instead his voice is strained but warm when he speaks.

❛ you are my brother, eiji. i'll meet you at the beach. ❜

and with that he pulls away from the hug, glances behind eiji down the small cliff to make sure there were no rocks at the bottom before pushing the other man in the water, yelling a wish for good luck after him before sprinting off towards the opposite direction, hoping to lure their pursuers into the jungle where he could lose them with ease. he can't even remember how many times eiji saved his ass; it was his turn to repay the favor. plus that way the other might be at the beach faster than him so he could enjoy a little bit of their getaways wifi signal.

#GDKFLGLJKF I OFFER YOU : STUPID IDIOTS THE CLASSIC TALE #anyways hi idk why lukas decided to call eiji his brother but here we are :) #but plot twist: crossover between my muses?? what if their getaway is vincent :sob: #› and i would give all this and heaven if only for a moment to understand the meaning of the world you see. reply #lukas tbt. #blood ment #blood tw

[symphonic-scream]

⭐️ for persona 5 aus?

Gotcha!

Okay since you gave me a star and asked for P5 and I've gotten a feel for the kind of AU's you like based on when I see you in my notes (HI BESTIE!!), I'm bringing back my first ever arcana swap

And for the first time ever, I'm gonna talk about the Beta Version

//

It all started with Chariot Makoto and Lovers Haru. I'd just read an unfinished fic with Lovers Makoto and World Haru, and well, I wanted to try something like that

At first it was a Fool Futaba, so it was goober first year with their only friends being the gayass third years. Magician Akira, for the hilarity of sassy cat

Yusuke became the Fool when I got attached to the idea of Yusuke and Haru being friends, from another fic again. This one had them get legally married to give Yusuke groceries before staging a divorce. So. Foolsuke

Cap, my bestie, of course suggested the brilliance of Devil Akira, so. I needed a new Magician, someone to be the straight man to the chaos I'd created. So, Goro

Anyways that's the history of it lemme go off a bit

So it's Foolsuke, his Thief name is Jester. He's not as strong of a personality as Joker, but he makes up for it with his drama, his poses, his long speeches of Justice and Rebellion. He wears the Shujin uniform normally for the most part, but his blazer is always open

Magician Goro is a bird in the real world, but human in the Metaverse. His Thief name is Crow, though his bird form is a robin. He has the prince outfit Goro has in P5, and instead of the Monabus, there's a white limo, a bird emblem on the hood

Chariot Makoto is tired of being told how to feel, what to do, how to live. She's stepping out of her sister's shadow, since she's already been cast out after lies spread by a certain teacher. Top grades, low attendance, leather jacket and uniform pants. Her Thief name is Knight, and at the end of the day, she's perhaps a little too self-sacrificial

Lovers Haru feels alone for so long. When her dad calls, it feels like he's not really listening. Would he even believe her, if she told him about how a certain teacher treats her? She's tired of not standing up for herself, but to gather the courage, she just needs someone, anyone, to hear her call for help. Or, for her to witness an extreme... Her Thief name is Eros, and she hates seeing good people hurt

Emperor Futaba has been lied to her whole life. She thinks her foster father Madarame is a good man, who just needs a hand with programming sometimes. She thinks her mom died naturally. She thinks she doesn't need anyone else in her life. Only when forced to witness the bloody truth, does the rage within burst free. Python, that's her thief name. She'll make sure those that cloud the horrible truth are paid what they're due

Priestess Hifumi plays Shogi, attends student council meetings to improve her reputation, and trusts her mother isn't up to anything. Then, weird things happen to the students around her, and the nicer items in her home disappear. Kaneshiro's strings control Shibuya like a puppeteer, and it takes her too long to see the strings lying across the Shogi board, pulling at her peers and mother. She goes by Rook. A great planner, she's more than eager to prove she earned her wins after all

Hermit Ryuji lies awake, remembering the smell of booze, the shouts of a bastard man, the pained scream of his mom. He feels the phantom pains where his right leg used to be, and is now a stump that ends at the knee. On good days, he streams video games, with a digital avatar. On bad days, he can't forget that he's the reason his mom isn't around. He asks for help from people he's never met, and opens up for the first time since Tae Takemi first took him in. Compass guides them from his floating ship, his prosthetic a cool ass pirate peg, and he feels helpful when he shoots canonball boosts at his friends

Empress Ann is the face of teenage beauty, both in Europe and Japan. She, hates the flashing cameras. Her parents are up to something behind the flashes, and she's ignored it for too long. Though, her deadline approaches fast. They want to scurry back to Europe, take Ann from school and have their doll of a daughter model for the highest bidder there, escaping their sins in Japan. Ann becomes Puma, a thief who wants to bring back the passionate parents she remembers

Justice Yuuki shoots two palace leaders. His podcast is toxic, and his audience grows by the day. Behind the scenes, he's an attack dog, a chain wrapped around his neck, held tight by Shido. He tricks the Thieves, has them call him Gamma. On November 20, he looks Yusuke Kitagawa in the eyes and pulls a trigger

Faith Kasumi Sumire is a dancer. She's a Shujin for ballet, moving with such grace and delicate passion that she's destined for greatness. Only, something's wrong... But that's not a big issue, Dr Maruki is helping her recover after she lost her sister.

Kasumi makes a decision. Puts away the glasses that don't help her, ties up her brown hair. When the Thieves ask her what she wants them to call her, she answers with Scarlet

Okay I'm sorry about the long paragraphs here's some little bits for the other arcana

Hierophant is Tae Takemi, with her experimental coffee shop, and her adopted son

Fortune Shinya. He stands in the shadows at the arcade, tossing a few coins. Says he knows a way to change your future. He never messes up the script given to him by his mom's strange boyfriend.

Strength Morgana. He starts human, and when he finds himself again, he becomes Monster Cat

Hanged Man Kawakami. She got into some bad stuff after believing she led to a kid's death

Death Lavenza is a recent med school grad, who's younger sisters call themselves drug dealers, when really they just help Lavenza with some basic pharmaceutical stuff

Temperance Sae. A teacher, who didn't believe her sister over her coworker. She feels like a failed teacher, and failed sister

Devil Akira! He runs the school newspaper, known as the Tea Party, it's. Unofficial. He hangs out at the gay bar, Crossroads

Tower Kaoru Iwai. He posts an ad looking for a high schooler to teach him how to be more sociable. He says it's to get girls, but he's building up the courage to try to reach out to his dad

Star Yoshida. He sits in the park, playing chess with anyone who will sit and talk with him. He has many regrets, and honestly just wants to meet someone who will talk with him

Sun Ohya. A reporter who feels like she's lost her voice, doing what she's been told, not reporting what she believes. Teaches Yusuke better ways to phrase his wording and shit

Moon Shiho! Local discord mod notices the weird kids in her class being extra weird, and decides to be their social media manager. She's the one that asks them to help save their Empress, her girlfriend

Judgement Sojiro. Still working as, an agent of sorts, he's highly trained in interrogation. He feels weird about using his skills on a high schooler...

I love this swap so much,, I miss you Chaos Arcana Swap

#chaos arcana swap #chaos swap #arcana swap

[ge]

spoiler warning... since there's a quote from the novel

so dear to me how the one thing tang bo did nawt play about was chung myung's health, in canon the only time he was genuinely furious was @ chung myung's self sacrificial nature during the war

(Chung Myung glared at Tang Bo. However, instead of shrinking back, Tang Bo raised his voice and shouted angrily.

“Why do you keep risking your life for people you don't even like?! You're always complaining to me about how those bastards make your stomach turn! What, do you have a split personality?”)

I THINK ABOUT THIS ALL THE TIMMMEEEE tang bo knowing full well chung myung is the strongest in the world but still getting angry when he bears wounds that are more than superficial.. he cares about him sososo much..... i love the 'self sacrificing person who throws themself right into the fray with little to no concern about their well being as long as they make it out alive' x 'person who patches them up while shouting and berating their choices to mask how worried they really were' dynamic sooo much.. god tangchung really does have it all

#is it too late for BIGA to make chung myung a widower #also think its very funny to me how when tang bo gets outwardly mad at him chung myung acts surprised like he wasnt expecting that response #LIKE WHAT REACTION WERE U EXPECTING...?

[snowthornes]

💥, 😨, 🍧, 🎭, and 🔪 for Thorne sdjfgksg or whichever of those you want bc I recognize that that's quite a few lol. I just think he's neat

ASK GAME: THORNE BRIERS | SHEPHERDS OF HAVEN | OMNI

SDJDG Thank you so much for sending an ask!! And it's not a problem at all — I love writing about my OCs!!! No matter how much you send, I'll be over the moon. Thank you so much for liking Thorne, that makes me very happy!! 🥹🥹💐💐

As usual, I'll be answering in the context of the SHOH universe! Ah, here's the LINK to the ask game, for anyone who wants to do it!

Edit: Okay, this became. Long. Ridiculously long. I considered splitting the ask up, but I'm not sure how that would work. Will probably do it in the future, though!

MINOR SPOILERS FOR THE ALPHA BUILD BELOW!!

😨 — when scared, do they go into "flight" or "fight"?

Flight! Thorne's not very big on the whole 'go out in a blaze of glory' thing — he'd much rather slip away from the enemy's grasp and live to fight another day.

Actually — and this is a bit off topic — he's not a very big fan of the whole 'self sacrificing' routine that a lot of the Shepherds seem to have going on. Scratch that, he hates it. Everytime Trouble or Blade or any of the Shepherds say something along the lines of sacrificing themselves to save innocents, his eye practically starts twitching in irritation. 🗿

He'd much rather that they all stayed alive, thank you very much. He refuses to tolerate any other outcome. Now that I think about it, it's a bit funny — he'd joined the Shepherds only as a means of self-preservation. He was so sure that he'd fade into the background soon enough, that the Shepherds would just be another odd chapter in his life.

Now he spends most of his time running himself ragged for the order and (secretly) worrying about his more self-sacrificial comrades' survival. Oh, he also spends a good chunk of his time worrying about Caine. His ass was not expecting to be a sort-of-guardian for a twelve year old, but here they are. Ah, how the turns have tabled.

Blade, Dead Serious: Are you willing to bleed for the order? To die for the order? That's what we demand from all our recruits. Thorne, voice floating from another room: It would also be ideal if you, you know. Didn't die. Less paperwork that way.

🎭 — Do they act differently around certain people? What's different between the way they act around friends, family, strangers, etc.?

Oh, boy. Given the fact that his entire surface demeanor revolves around concealing his true thoughts and emotions from others, I would have to say... yes.

HOW HE ACTS AROUND STRANGERS/FRIENDLY ACQUAINTANCES:

Around strangers or friendly acquaintances, Thorne's guard is always up. His charming veneer never wavers, cloaking him like a second skin — he smiles at the right time, laughs at the right occasion, and frowns at the right moment. Everything he does is a calculated mix of genuine and deliberate, engineered to make him come off as a smooth mix of charming, elusive, and trustworthy — elusive enough to make people think of him as mysterious, but pleasant enough to make people trust him.

He doesn't lie outright, however. Not if he can help it. Lies are tricky, and can leave too many threads to pull and unravel. Instead, he deals in half-truths: little bits of truth about himself that he can sacrifice to the masses, all while keeping the ones that he'd rather hide safely concealed behind his smile.

Strangers know him as the dark-haired mage who carries himself with an air of casual elegance, who possesses storm gray eyes that gleam with an intelligent and elusive light.

Others would say that he's a smooth-talking sod who knows more than he lets on.

Others still would call him a smart bastard who's absolutely ruthless in a fight.

Ah, well. Depends on who you listen to.

HOW HE ACTS AROUND FRIENDS/FAMILY:

Around friends or family — and let's face it, those two words are practically synonymous in this case — Thorne is a lot more expressive and reactive.

While it took him a long, long time to get to his point, Thorne begins to drop the calculated front when around the Shepherds. He becomes a lot more... relaxed, and as a result, a trace of his true personality comes out — though sometimes even Thorne isn't sure what that is.

He becomes a lot more mischievous, bouncing off of Chase and Trouble's antics by spearing them with the occasional dry comment or good natured jab. He also frequently comes to Blade, Red, and Halek's defense(?) by playfully coming up to bat with his arsenal of deceptively innocent quips whenever the others are dogpiling them, prompting Ayla to jokingly complain that he was a "bloody suck-up": an accusation to which Thorne responded with a look of mock-offense and a lofty, "I haven't the faintest idea of what you mean."

His terrible sense of humor also comes out in full force. Even the stupidest and flattest of jokes can coax a snort of laughter from him. He's a big fan of Riel's sarcasm, often snorting in amusement — eyes sparkling with poorly concealed laughter — whenever the other lets loose of yet another dry quip.

Overall, he's very different from how he was when he first joined the Order. When he first joined the order, he had treated them as he would any other stranger: charming, but distant, with the distinct air of someone who was sure to leave in the future. Now, he couldn't be any more different.

Trouble had once remarked on his change. He had ruffled Thorne's hair, ignoring his dismayed squawks, while thoughtfully commenting on how different he was compared to when they first met him.

"Oh?" Thorne had responded dryly, disgruntledly attempting to fix his ruffled dark hair. "What was I like when we first met, then?"

"Sort of closed off, even though you smiled a lot," Trouble had said thoughtfully. "Like one of those nobles. And you always kept your distance — almost like you were going to disappear any second."

Thorne had paused. It had felt odd, hearing this from Trouble. He hadn't known how to react. "... And now?"

Trouble had grinned, then, eyes warm and affectionate. He clapped Thorne on the back and slung a familiar arm around his shoulders. "Well, now you're stuck with us, of course!"

Thorne had let out a breath at that, rolling his eyes. There was a pause, the two of them blanketed in comfortable silence, before a quiet voice spoke tentatively into the air:

"Yes, I am."

🔪 — How do they react to injury / misfortune befalling their loved ones (significant other, family, friends)? Do they put themselves at blame?

Now... here's the thing. The more Thorne cares about someone, the more emotional he can get. The more he cares about someone, the less all the other things — logic, pragmatism, himself — matter to him. He's very much the type to love slower but harder. I genuinely think that life threatening injury befalling his loved ones would make him completely fling all his caution and inhibitions to the wind.

He'd be rushing to their side in a heartbeat. If they were on a battlefield, he'd be fighting his way to their side like an animal gone feral: all gnashing power and glinting arrows and a desperate need to get to their side, get to their side, before it's too late. Thorne knows how swiftly a person's life can be snuffed out; how one wound, one blow, can so easily drag them to a realm that no living being can ever hope to reach. He has to get to them. He has to.

His magic would probably start running rampant, responding to the cold spikes of fear cutting through his chest, to the ringing screaming in his ears. Rationally, he knows that he should conserve his magic and energy — that he shouldn't be so reckless, so careless, so impulsive — but all that would be drowned out by his urgent need to get to their side.

Ultimately, I think he'd either reach their side and haul them off to safety while debating between trying to heal them now or scrambling to a Healer (he's not the best healer), or someone else would step in and snap him out of it. If someone like Red (since he can translocate) told him to stay behind while they got the injured loved one to safety, Thorne would probably gnash his teeth but ultimately, stay and absolutely tear into the enemy. The moment the battle was over he'd be rushing off to go check on the loved one.

Once he sees them, alive and— well. Not well, but not dead, at least — he'll probably start crying. Tears run down his cheeks while he desperately tries to stifle his sobs, but it seems like the inhuman control he typically has over his emotions has fucked off to nowhere and he just keeps bawling his eyes out like an utter fool. Someone, either the poor injured loved one, (who now has a Mr. Thorne Briers bawling over their bed), or a trusted friend tries to comfort him, and he stiffens up so much that they fear he'll break. But then he grasps onto them like a lifeline, (or ever so gently, featherlight, if they were the injured loved one), and starts sniffling out a bunch of incomprehensible reassurances and apologies as he forcibly tries to calm himself. (It doesn't work).

He'll probably be extra clingy in the coming days, like a cat wandering around their favorite person. He won't come too close out of fear of smothering them (he probably still is) but he'll repeatedly attempt to ✨discreetly✨ poke his head into the infirmary to check on how they're doing and reassure himself that they'll be fine. If he's close enough to this particular loved one and feels secure enough to do so, he'll probably insist on doing his paperwork near them. The poor healers will probably have to shoo him out with a broom at one point.

Eventually, he'll start to relax and lay off on the clinginess, but — I think he'll be a lot more... forward with his affection than he was before. His masks and pretenses are still there — I don't think they'll go that easily — but they're a lot more transparent, and more easy to see through. For his loved ones, anyway.

Ah. This got long. I'm sorry, I think I just really like the drama 😔

💥 — What emotions do they have trouble dealing with?

Thorne... can be frustratingly complicated when it comes to dealing with emotion. He does a lot of mental gymnastics and unnecessary entangling when it comes to... how he perceives himself, and it can be a headache trying to follow him. Ironic, how someone so determined to never lose his composure is actually an absolute trainwreck. Still, I'll do my best to answer!

(Ah, and a reminder that Thorne's thoughts and opinions do not necessarily align with my own, and that they're not always, well... right.)

Thorne is the type to feel with everything in him — and it's a part of himself that he's grown to despise. Sadness, grief, longing, compassion, and hope: they will do nothing. They will accomplish nothing. He sees it as an unnecessary indulgence — something he lets himself feel just to validate himself. To pretend that he's a better person than he really is. That he can be better.

He can't.

Take compassion, for example. For Thorne, compassion coming from him is a useless token. Compassion is pointless when no action is taken, and he can't— he can't promise anything. And what good is feeling sympathy for anything when you can't do anything to help them?

Once upon a time, he had worn his heart on his sleeve. He used to be brighter, all smiles and laughter: a light that waveringly persisted even after the destruction of his village. And he had tried to help — to save people, to do good in the world. But after a few events that I won't get into right now, he... became disillusioned. Overly so, I would say. After all, what was the point in having a bleeding heart when you wouldn't be able to save them no matter how much you bled? When you would only make things worse? He began to harden and hold the world at an arms length. Slowly, he learned to conceal himself, to manipulate and charm and persuade.

And the more beautiful his mask became, the more he began to despise himself.

To be blunt, Thorne hates himself far too much to indulge in these emotions.

Sadness, grief, longing, compassion, and hope: he began to deal with them by either internally pulling away or leaning into his anger.

Thorne's anger isn't the raging, blood-pumping kind — not usually, anyway. His anger is focused, deliberate, like ice and frost creeping up a metal chain and delicately shattering it to pieces. Anger is easy. Anger is cold. Anger lets him look at the world with a knife-like clarity, lets him ignore the steadfast ache in his chest. Anger lets him ignore the emptiness that follows him wherever he goes. Anger... is protection.

Yes, not a very healthy way to cope. But he'll be having some hefty character development throughout the course of the game! :D

🍧 — Do they still have any objects from their childhood? What significance does it have to them? What would their reaction be if they lost it?

Thorne has a bracelet made of twine, with little wooden star-shaped beads woven into it in pretty patterns! His mother had been the one to weave the bracelet, while his father had been the one to carve the wooden stars.

It had been his thirteenth birthday gift; his father gave it to him the day before his Wreath Day. His mother had woven it for him when she fell sick with the Grey Waste. The Grey Waste was deadly, and she had known that it was very unlikely she would be able to pull through. So, shakily, laboriously, she created one last gift for her son, to be given on his thirteenth birthday.

Thorne had cried for hours when he received the bracelet, burrowing into his father's arms as he bawled his heart out. Now, the bracelet is old and worn; he keeps it in a pouch he wove himself, embroidered with patterns of his parents' favorite flowers in honor of their memory. He would be absolutely devastated if something were to ever happen to it, and would probably be shattered for days before painfully accepting that it was gone.

#gameboard.txt #listen. i have no excuse . #shepherds of haven #oc: thorne #i think i just can't shut up when it comes to my ocs im sorry #😔😔😔

[alexgalaxyboo]

GhOst dIES I FORGOT… IM GONNA YARTS IDC IF ITS TEMP

HE DOESN'T REALLY DIE COME ON. I mean he kinda does. For a little while. But he gets better it's fine it's fine.

He goes all emo and self sacrificial like the stupid bastard he is and then Soap cries his sparkly magic gay little tears and he's fine again don't worry don't worry.

That fucking scene is like.. way up there on the top ten of scenes that kept me on the edge of my fucking seat when watching for the first time as a kid ong, I rlly thought he was a gonner at first lmao.

#mailex #ghoap tangled au #john soap mactavish #simon ghost riley #ghoap #ghostsoap #ghost x soap #cod mw2 #call of duty #empresscirque

[gardenofedenuniverse]

Alexander Skarsgård: ‘There’s a politeness to Swedes. It’s a facade. Deep down we’re animals’

The actor talks about his new film, the explicit sci-fi horror Infinity Pool, why he gave up acting for eight years – and why he likes playing darker, more twisted characters.

Alexander Skarsgård: ‘I’m quite mellow in my disposition.’ Photograph: Charlie Clift

Alexander Skarsgård is an embarrassing creep who tries to coerce women into partying naked with him in hotel suites. Or so it would seem from the version of himself that he played last year in Donald Glover’s comedy Atlanta. “I’m not saying that I dance around in a leopard-print thong in front of girls I don’t know,” he says. “But I’m also not saying that I don’t. That kind of thing works really well when there’s a kernel of truth in it.”

This twinkling, teasing playfulness represents the default setting of the 46-year-old actor. His natural self-deprecation is what makes it so startling when he turns up on screen as another of the brutes and bastards that have become his speciality over the years. There was the violently abusive husband in the HBO series Big Little Lies and the violently abusive cop in War on Everyone; a racist in Passing and a rapist in the Straw Dogs remake, as well as a sad, moustachioed sleazeball who sleeps with his partner’s underage daughter in The Diary of a Teenage Girl. Eric, the vampire he played across all seven series of True Blood, was an absolute catch by comparison.

It could even be argued that Skarsgård looks lost or vague in those roles that don’t supply some darkness to temper his natural sheen. He was ferocious as a mud-caked proto-Hamlet in Robert Eggers’s wild Viking epic The Northman, but as the yodelling vine-swinger in The Legend of Tarzan, there was none of the usual depth present behind his beauty. Whereas his character in the new satirical horror Infinity Pool – directed by Brandon Cronenberg, son of David – is up to his disbelieving eyes in vanity, amorality and rancid privilege.

Skarsgård plays a novelist called James living off the wealth of his wife, Em (Cleopatra Coleman), and struggling to write a second book six years after his debut. In search of inspiration, he and Em visit a luxurious resort in an unnamed country. What begins as a taunting comedy about the awfulness of the 1% veers off into extremity when the couple fall in with the hedonistic Gabi (Mia Goth) and her partner, Alban (Jalil Lespert). All it takes for the impressionable James to be hooked by these reprobates is a few compliments from Gabi followed by a sex act shown in graphic detail. “My job is so hard,” the actor says with a smirk.

Cronenberg and Skarsgård are both the sons of talented men. (Skarsgård’s father is Stellan Skarsgård who, like him, is part of the Lars von Trier Cinematic Universe.) Director and actor also have a certain placid temperament in common. “There’s a politeness to Canadians and Swedes,” says Skarsgård. “But it’s all just a fucking facade. Deep down we’re animals. We’re just very good at concealing it.” He gestures at me. “Brits too. It’s all down there, though. You can just open the tap and let it out. That’s what this movie does.”

Even as the film descends into gruesome horror, Skarsgård remains committed to the idea of his character as a show pony with delusions of being a stallion. “James is arm candy. His wife buys him all these expensive clothes. The two of them look like something out of a travel brochure: the perfect couple on vacation. And he’s trying to play that part while wanting also to be this serious author. But he’s not a Charles Bukowski, he’s not tormented and twisted. He isn’t in touch with the darker side of his personality.”That changes when James finds himself facing the death penalty after accidentally killing a local farmer. He is assured by the police that there is a way out: for a hefty price, a clone of him can be created to take the fall on his behalf. This is no dumb beast, however; the sacrificial lamb will possess all his memories and feelings. It will, in effect, be indistinguishable from him. In a film featuring explicit sex and violence, there is still nothing quite as unnerving as the moment James encounters his own double as it wakes with a shocked gasp in a vat of red goo.

“The film company gave me a prosthetic of the clone’s face with all that goo round it,” he says, shaking his head. “It’s incredibly disturbing. What am I meant to do with it? Should I just hang it on the wall? Put it in the fridge?” He decided to go down the practical joke route. “When I have guests over, I’ll hide it in different places around the house.”

Would he take the clone option himself, I wonder? “One hundred per cent! I don’t blame James for going to the ATM. But it opens up other questions. If the clone retains all his memories, then how will he ever know that he is not the clone? Maybe they’re killing the real James. That fascinated me, and I love that there’s no answer in the movie. To throw another wrench in the works: maybe James has even been to the island already. Maybe he’s done this sort of thing before.”

These questions of authenticity, dilution and duplication are especially intriguing for an actor who proposed that twisted alternate version of himself in Atlanta, and who claims to suffer even now from impostor syndrome. Had you been present in 2008 on the set of Generation Kill, the HBO Iraq war mini-series written by the creators of The Wire and shot in Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa, you might have noticed him sitting off to one side between takes, quietly totting up figures with a pen and paper. “It was my first big job,” he explains. “I was so convinced they were going to fire me that I started calculating the cost of recasting the role once they realised I wasn’t good enough. A month or two in, I was still convinced that every time the phone rang, it was my agent saying: ‘Pack your bags, you’re not cutting it.’ It was only when we’d done some big battle scenes that I knew it would be too expensive to replace me.”

It wasn’t as if he has a history of flunking, though there was the job in the Stockholm bakery that he was sacked from at the age of 16. “We were dipping little biscuits in chocolate for six hours a day in a basement and that was the only thing we got to do,” he says pleadingly, as though mounting the case for his defence. “When you get chocolate on your fingers, it’s tempting to put little stains on your buddy’s white robes. That turned into a bit of a food fight.” He smiles bashfully. Chocolate wouldn’t melt in his mouth.

A few years earlier, he had abandoned a childhood acting career after feeling freaked out by all the attention he received. “When people recognised me, or I thought they did, it made me very uncomfortable. I also believed everything I heard about who I was. Most people at 13 have no idea who they are. I was going from a boy to a man, which is a crazy transformation anyway, but to do it while being in the spotlight was not healthy. That’s why I didn’t work for eight years.” What could he learn now as an actor from his younger self? “There was a lot of joy,” he says. “That makes me sound bitter now! But there was something innocent and lovely and wide-eyed. It’s worth remembering that it can still be a big silly game.”

On Becoming a God in Central Florida. Photograph: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy

His continuing appetite for comedy bears this out. He was a riot in the opening episode of On Becoming a God in Central Florida, where he played a dope who gets involved with a pyramid scheme before being eaten by an alligator. (His on-screen wife was Kirsten Dunst. For further proof that their marriages never end well, see Von Trier’s apocalyptic Melancholia.) He also goofs around gloriously in the new season of Documentary Now!, in which he stars as a Werner Herzog-esque director shooting an epic in the Urals while simultaneously showrunning a US network comedy pilot called Bachelor Nanny. “I’ve met Herzog a few times over the years, but I don’t know if he’s seen this yet,” he says, slightly sheepishly. “I’m curious to hear what he thinks.”

It was in fact comedy that tempted Skarsgård back to acting again after all those years away. He was on holiday in Los Angeles in the early 00s when his father’s agent suggested he try out for an audition. Six weeks later, he was pootling around New York in the back of a Jeep with Ben Stiller, pouting away happily as gormless Swedish model Meekus in Zoolander. Getting that job was such a breeze that he was crestfallen to be knocked back repeatedly in other Hollywood auditions. He returned to Sweden to continue acting; another six years elapsed before Generation Kill kickstarted his US career.

These days, he seems somehow both ubiquitous and judicious. He is getting ready to make his directorial debut with The Pack, in which he and Florence Pugh star as documentary makers in Alaska. And he will return this month in the fourth and final season of Succession, which reportedly places even greater emphasis on Skarsgård’s character, the tech bro Lukas Matsson. Another bad boy of sorts.

With Brian Cox and Kieran Culkin in Succession. Photograph: Graeme Hunter

“Quite a few of the projects I’ve chosen deal with the juxtaposition of someone trying to function in modern society while also dealing with that atavistic primal question of who he is deep down and what happens when that flares up and can’t be suppressed any longer,” he says. “It’s incredibly cathartic to play those roles. Maybe because I’m quite mellow in my disposition. These darker, more twisted characters give me an opportunity to howl that primal scream and let it out, which I rarely do in everyday life.”

James in Infinity Pool has his head turned by the tiniest compliment; Skarsgård knows that, for all his own protestations about refusing to read what is written about him, he is just as susceptible to praise. “I really don’t read reviews,” he says. “That said, it’s so nice when people enjoy your work enough to come say something or take a photo. I’d prefer that to the alternative, which is crawling around in the mud for seven months and giving it everything and then it’s just … crickets. I like people appreciating what I’ve done. I’m a vain motherfucker!”

#the guardian #Alexander Skarsgard #infinity pool #film #garden of eden universe

[poisonheart]

It’s been several days since I finished FFXVI and I gave myself time to process those emotions, but I still don’t like the ending. The more I watch people play through that conclusion, the clearer my reasons become. To me, Clive was never free.

He was his mother's disappointment (and treated like a bastard just because he failed to "awaken"), his brother's shield (I loved their bond but it was still a big responsibility for a child), a slave assassin to a foreign kingdom, Cid's replacement, the person people placed their faith on in the absence of a savior while being wanted/hunted as a vessel by a selfish god who only cared about self-preservation.

In the end, after having so much taken from him and giving so much of himself, he had to lose everything to birth a new, better world.

And I get it. Intellectually, I understand and can even see the "beauty" in the tragedy of it all. I know what had to be done and I know he was always that kind of guy—willing to give himself up for a better cause.

Emotionally, I disliked it. I always do. In the end, he didn't escape the whole "being Child of Fate" thing.

Joshua shouldn't have died.

Dion shouldn't have died.

Clive shouldn't have felt like he needed to die to bring happiness to everyone but himself.

I know it's implied he survived despite seemingly calcifying at the end. He was given a quill and suggested to abandon the sword for that quill—to become a writer when it was all over. And you see a book after the credits written by "Joshua Rosfield."

Again, taking up someone else's name, having their legacy live on. I get it was a cute, meaningful gesture—if it was Clive who wrote it because Joshua didn't survive, but he could never just be "Clive." He was always someone else, something else. Not just Clive. I wanted him to live as Clive Rosfield.

I know the ending was ambiguous to leave the door open for DLC's. I mean, Clive "healed" Joshua after consuming the powers of god with all the creation magic that came with it. We can assume, if we want, that Joshua does make it too. Maybe he's the one who becomes the writer because Clive was too busy being a farmer or something.

Maybe Dion survived too.

Maybe when Clive "healed" and "birthed" this new world, or whatever actually happened there, those people in the vicinity were restored.

[And maybe none of them lived and DLCs are about the past of the characters in those 13 years after the intro... or they'll give Jill a little Clive baby who is also tasked with living up to his father's legacy...]

Don't get me started on how Dion deserved better. Especially if you do the quests before the finale—that shit hurts. Clive was given time and a support system to overcome his guilt over "killing Joshua" but Dion never had that. He was only allowed to find absolution in death. He should have lived a long life—repairing his kingdom, raising that little girl who saved his life with his boyfriend, and being happy.

Maybe on the other side we didn't see, in some DLC, they did live happily ever after.

But it wouldn't change how punishing the finale felt.

Jill said Clive always wanted to save everyone, but never thought to save himself, and even at the very end he didn’t.

He could never rid himself of his fate as some divine plot device. 

I get that it is heroic and noble to give up oneself for those you love and the world they'll be left in. That undoing the horrible suffering we saw was indeed an act of love, but I personally dislike this trope.

It's a personal bias of mine when a hero needs to die to achieve a greater good, leaving behind people who want them to live because they too deserve a slice of the happiness pie.

Clive spent his life juggling duty, guilt, promises, dreams while being stalked by a god hell-bent on destroying his life to break down his will and take over his body (Ultima, you had tits too, so why?) and yet he was still chained to his fate of becoming a sacrificial lamb.

The only difference was the outcome.

One option ensured everyone/the world perished.

The other option ensured the everyone/the world didn't perish.

He just couldn't escape being bitch slapped no matter what.

I know that it's poetic to show how different he is from Ultima who didn't care about anyone, hijacked a planet because his was dead, and created people for the sole purpose of saving himself through them someday.

Clive had to be the opposite.

Had to be willing to die for a better world.

Prove to Ultima who was floating in the lifestream that selfless love was better than self-love.

I get it. I get the themes, but I don't have to enjoy them.

This was also my problem in FFXIV with the Warrior of Light's ties to a past that chased them all the way to their reincarnation(s), but that's another story.

I felt the story punished Clive for existing.

I didn't feel liberated by the ending.

The vagueness of it didn't satisfy me.

He had a miserable fate from beginning to end.

Even if Clive is alive, happy, and free in some future DLC chapter, that hint of disappointment will stay with me. Because they said the ending was meant to stand on its own.

I know that a story isn't good because it has a happy ending, but I can't think of a cast of characters who deserved a sappy end more than this one, especially a protagonist who was seemingly born under the worst possible star (fate).

I didn't want the conclusion to be left up to interpretation.

Overall, I still liked the journey, I enjoyed playing it, loved the cast, and especially enjoyed the combat—which I wasn't expecting—but I can understand why so many people turned to fanfics.

It's the only way to cope now.

#ffxvi #ffxvi spoilers #clive rosfield

[glorynglory]

𝙱𝚄𝚃  𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃  𝚂𝙷𝙰𝙻𝙻  𝙸  𝙳𝙾  𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷  𝙼𝚈  𝙴𝙼𝙿𝚃𝚈  𝙷𝙰𝙽𝙳𝚂  ? lady    alannys    greyjoy    ,    lady    of    misfortune

࣪𓏲ּ  ֶָ  𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑠𝒕𝒗  ⁝         aurora ruffino,  29,  cis female,  she / her.    announcing  the  arrival  of  ALANNYS  of  house  GREYJOY,  the  LADY  of  PYKE.  whispers  among  the  court  name  them  to  be  both  CHARISMATIC  and  RETICENT  in  disposition,  and  those  closest  to  them  speak  to  their  interests  in  revenge.  if  we  bards  could  compose  a  song  for  them,  it  might  tell  stories  of  abandonment  is  familiar  (  like  a  lover  ,  like  a  ghost  )  and  it  nestles  in  the  marrows  of  your  bone  ,  the  heaviness  become  the  anchor  to  every  ship  because  what  is  dead  may  never  die  ;  brittle  bones  make  for  a  brittle  girl  ,  the  lady  of  pyke  /  flaws  /  failures  /  misfortune ;  brittle  girls  with  broken  hearts  make  for  a  good  the  damsel  in  distress  (  or  the  sacrificial  lamb  ?  )  .  the  seven  whisper  to  their  most  devout  queen  as  she  sleeps,  making  her  question  where  their  loyalties  truly  lie.  are  they  right  to  whisper?  for  their  loyalties  truly  lie  with  THE  GREYJOYS. 

alannys  has  always  felt  out  of  place  in  her  home  and  family  ,  the  cutthroat  culture  of  the  ironborn  and  she  never  truly  felt  like  a  greyjoy  -  she  was  too  soft  ,  too  kind  and  forgiving  ,  too  naive  .  as  a  child  she  was  a  rescuer  of  many  things  ,  broken  birds  ,  loitering  pests  and  invading  insects  .  she  was  scared  of  the  dark  ,  of  the  raging  sea  and  loud  noises  .  she  was  often  found  on  window  sill  reading  a  book  or  drawing  pictures  .  doubts  of  her  true  bloodline  flittered  among  the  commonfolk  ,  many  assume  that  she  is  a  bastard  for  the  traits  of  the  kraken  are  not  strong  in  the  lady  . rumours were denied , she was a true greyjoy — though she may seem a little peculiar .

though  the  rumour  of  the  bastard  kraken  was  quickly  displaced  with  the  title  the  lady  of  misfortune  .  betrothed  to  the  heir  of  house  wynch  at  two  and  six  ,  many  saw  the  happiness  bloom  in  the  lady  greyjoy  and  she  was  in  love  and  thriving  with  the  ironborn  people  .  she  grew  more  confident  ,  more  self  -  assured  and  most  importantly  ,  he  taught  her  how  to  be  more  in  love  with  the  iron  islands  .  she  was  ready  to  be  a  ruling  lady  .

lost  at  sea  .  that  was  all  she  was  told  ,  that  was  all  they  could  explain  .  seven  nights  before  the  wedding  .  the  betrothal  was  called  off  and  the  light  dimmed  within  alannys  .  though  there  was  hope  ,  she  was  with  child  .  though  they  had  not  wed  ,  alannys  truly  loved  him  and  had  expected  to  be  the  mother  of  his  children  anyway  .  she  can  still  remember  the  glimmer  of  relief  in  her  mother's  eyes  when  she  found  her  crying  in  her  room  ,  a  strange  pain  in  her  stomach  and  blood  on  her  dress  .  she  had  lost  him  too.

three  years  later  and  grief  still  has  his  hand  on  her  throat  .

𝙰𝙽𝙳    𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃    𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷    𝙼𝚈    𝙷𝙰𝚄𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙳    𝙷𝙴𝙰𝚁𝚃    ?

#death tw #miscarriage tw #drowning tw #westeros.live #westeros.intro

[cityandking]

black 4, green 2, purple 2, silver 4 for daichi, minah & anticlea!

I love u!! // medieval heraldry oc asks

Has your OC always feared the loss of the same thing - perhaps a loved one, a valuable artifact or a carefully nurtured reputation? Or do they look back with amusement on what once felt important to them?

DAICHI — well his worldview (worlds-view?) has expanded quite a great deal recently, but at the end of the day he's always feared loss of the same thing, which is his person (people, now). there's a reason he went shield paladin and all that. he stands by his conviction. MINAH — minah looks back at what she used to fear losing with immense cynicism and some measure of self-disgust. she's lost a lot over the years and has very much revised her hierarchy of what's important CLEA — she's always feared loss of the same thing (a loved one), but it wasn't a real fear until suddenly it was. she was a grandmother already when it went from a distant, theoretical fear to a real thing. but it was also the kind of fear she could act on, so she did, to the best of her ability.

How hopeful is your OC about the future? Do they see things as becoming better in general - either for them personally or the world at large? Or do they feel as if decline and disaster are inevitable and all that can be done is to delay the final end for as long as possible?

DAICHI — okay well first of all until very recently daichi's thoughts about the future were *static noises* in a sort of self-sacrificial, passively suicidal way (which. self-fulfilling prophecy I guess), so on the personal level I wouldn't say there was a lot of hope. in terms of a theoretical future that may or may not involve him, he felt. pretty bleak actually? like he was well aware of the Void and its creeping tendrils and the Owl Traveller and the staining of the worlds and all that so. not a great look! but he also doesn't believe it's an inevitable decline, and is (was) quite willing to give his life for the possibility of a better ending (also a self-fulfilling prophecy maybe?) and he'll stand by that decision a hundred times over. he's a creature of faith, no matter how much of a struggle that might be. sorry to his loved ones. MINAH — gonna level with you, I don't think minah has thought about the future. she's a live-in-the-moment kind of gal. that said, she's not an optimist to begin with, and with the way things are trending right now (especially given the Orlais-Tevinter tensions and the Blight and the Tevinter cults and all that) she's not super hopeful. things are fucked. CLEA — clea absolutely 100% unequivocally believes that things will turn out right and we can make it so. even in the darkest and bleakest of times she believes in the power of turning on a little light and planting something to watch it grow

Is your OC comfortable in the higher echelons of society, such as aristocratic functions or assemblies of the rich and powerful? Or do they prefer to avoid these events if possible?

DAICHI — he's definitely uncomfortable among shows of wealth and power and Would Prefer Not To. however, paradoxically, the higher echelons are some of the most regulated by rules of politeness and propriety and that is something dai can navigate without trouble. give him a hundred social rules to memorize and he's golden. MINAH — she really doesn't get on well with nobility, and given the option, she'd avoid aristocratic functions and assemblies always and forever. that said, she could fake it til she makes it pretty damn well—she's got the charisma for it and she's a slippery little bastard. she'd hate every second of it tho. CLEA — she's not super comfortable, but she's also old and set in her ways and wouldn't really have an issue. she's passed through plenty of high society functions in her time adventuring. at best she finds it invigorating and at worst she finds it irritating, but regardless, she can hold her own just fine. (she really doesn't like the fey courts tho)

Do others find your OC easy to believe? Or is there something about them that makes others distrustful or cynical about their motives or trustworthiness?

DAICHI — his flat 0 charisma mod says it's a little dicey, but honestly he's a forthright guy, and I think he exudes an air of stalwart honesty and trust. it's not just that he can't lie; it's that he wouldn't. he's got Good Vibes MINAH — and on the other hand...... despite the high charisma (and deception) mod, I think she's got just enough edge to her to put people off. she can mask it when she's doing a job or if she's with a casual acquaintance, but long term exposure to her is like. yeah. it's clear that she's squirrelly and a little untrustworthy and a little sharp around the edges in ways that aren't obvious on first meeting CLEA — the only dishonest bones in her body are the sly and insightful grandmotherly kinds. she clearly means well, but she'll also use her old lady charms to be a little conniving when the occasion calls for it

#me answering the high society question like. daichi autistic king? maybe? #good for him #ty for these my dear #memery #daichi #minah #anticlea