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vampire-wizard-solidarity · 2 months

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@your-local-ruebit-hole-detective ok i’m sorry but. i will answer your question.

age of calamity advertises itself as a prequel but in reality it’s a fix-it au with slight differences and writing that’s pretty bad but i have grown to appreciate it for how insane it goes sometimes.

the actual plot is that as a child zelda used to have a little egg-like guardian robot that she was forced to leave behind as she grew up due to her father’s pressure etc, and when the calamity happened this little robot saw it and traveled back in time with the goal to prevent this and protect zelda, creating a branching off timeline. there’s also an extra villain who is this prophet (???? this games writing isn’t good enough for me to tell you what his deal is exactly) who worships ganon and for most of the game works with the yiga to bring him back, except he’s more insane than them and works directly with malice and also sucks at his job because when he finally gets to ganon he unceremoniously dies and everybody’s like “yeah we have no idea what this guys deal was”.

the one significant change that doesnt have to do anything with time travel shenanigans is the fact that link doesn’t find the master sword as a child, but instead gets appointed zelda’s bodyguard for his genuine skill and then finds the master sword during one of the in game missions. despite this, revali still hates him, and often times when justifying this revali cites reasons that are literal complete opposites of how his grudge was characterised in botw, cementing revali’s characterisation as just a cunt for no reason. it’s great.

the significant time travel related change is that when all the champions go into their divine beasts and fight the blights a portal opens and the new champions (teba, sidon, riju, yunobo) get teleported in and help defeat the blights. zelda also doesn’t get her power by protecting link from a bunch of guardians, the scene still hits the same beats of link fighting things off so zelda can run away except in this game how it happens is that the insane prophet shows up and literally summons all the blights against link which makes the scene ten times more insane.

throughout the game the yiga show up regularly, often times with master kohga himself showing up and being the overall goofy guy he is, except he also has a hunk of a body guard who’s name i genuinely can’t recall. multiple times in the game kohga gets defeated and said hunk of a body guard throws him over his shoulder says “it’s not over yet” and walks off carrying kohga like a sac of potatoes.

in the original game, when shit starts hitting the fan the yiga stop showing up as enemies and at some point in the story kohga shows up without said hunk of a body guard, says “the prophet is insane and the calamity actually isn’t a good thing as we’ve discovered”, highly implies that the reason for his change of heart is because said prophet killed his hunk of a body guard (who literally. doesn’t show up again for the rest of the game mind you. he legit died), and is like “yeah the yiga will help you. after this whole thing is over we’ll go back to being bitches to you but rn let’s just kill this ganon guy and then walk our separate ways”. the fact that the calamity being a bad thing throws the yiga’s whole ideology and purpose into question is never addressed.

the dlc makes the death scene explicit, also making it a parallel to zelink by, again, making the bodyguard fight all the fucking blights so that kohga can escape. the scene literally opens with the body guard limping as they try to escape. it’s so much a parallel to zelink it’s insane. im afraid do not know what the hell they were cooking.

some other choice moments from this game that go insanely hard for no reason:

1. the first portion of the game is dedicated to zelda recruiting all the champions, and when it comes to recruiting revali he for some reason assumes it’s an attack, and sends all the rito soldiers to fight the intruders off. the rito do not question fighting some random hylians one of whom is literally zelda. the mission ends with a boss fight of link vs revali, which only ends without them killing each other because zelda runs in and goes “stop???? the fuck ????”

2. the entire game has cute bonding moments with the botw champions meeting their idols and getting to spend time with them. that is, except for sidon, who spends the game saving his older sister in a parallel universe which he has to leave by the end of the game, meaning every scene involving him has him on the brink of eleven hundred simultaneous mental breakdowns. the dlc adds a scene where the little sidon who is native to said parallel universe gets to interact with botw sidon, and botw sidon tells him that he’s going to grow up big and strong and will protect his sister, and the entire time he tries really hard to not acknowledge the fact that they are the same person, and that mipha is his sister too, presumably because nobody wanted to animate sidon ugly crying. in that scene you can literally see his soul die in his eyes it’s great

3. the dlc features tulin, god knows why. i don’t know how he got there or what he’s doing. he’s just there.

4. you can make noble pursuits in the game and drink them before missions for a buff. pre-gaming defeating the calamity is a thing, i cannot stress how much it is a thing in this game.

5. there are two separate animated cutscenes where link eats rocks on screen. only one of them involves the gorons, the other is a scene where link is being discussed and as the characters talk about how great he is in battle the camera pans to him eating rocks, seemingly on a dare from the other soldiers, who all surround him and are immensely excited by the fact that he is actually eating rocks.

6. the dlc features a scene where zelda gets to cook. link is horrified the entire time. she does not belong in the kitchen. she belongs anywhere outside the kitchen. the dlc also gives her the master cycle as a weapon. she commits vehicular manslaughter

7. the king gets a redemption arc, where he apologises to zelda only after she unlocks her power. the reason he realized he was wrong was because a sheikah relic that he confiscated from zelda turned out to be an ancient shield and it saved his life from a guardian blast. his apology is literal dog shit and right after it the game forces you to play as him for a mission. it almost made me rage quit.

8. thunder blight has an attack where it just swings its hair at you

9. when you finally fight calamity ganon he doesn’t have the form of the spider ganon from botw or even the boar, he is instead a buff guy made out of malice. literally just the shape of a buff non descript guy made out of malice. his boss fight is endless and the entire time you’re just beating the shit out of a non descript buff guy shape with a stick.

10. there’s a cute little side mission called something like “girls beauty contest” (in reality they all beat the shit out of each other for the title), where you’re only allowed to select female characters. that is, female characters AND gorons. think of that what you will

#loz #botw #legend of zelda #breath of the wild #age of calamity #hyrule warriors #hw aoc #loz aoc

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mcflymemes · 10 months

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PROMPTS FROM RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE * assorted (and slightly adapted to suit this meme format) dialogue from the book by casey mcquiston, adjust as necessary

on purpose. i love him on purpose.

i've always thought of myself as a problem that deserved to stay hidden.

i'm going to have you offed. you'll never see it coming.

take anything you want and know you deserve to have it.

get in there.

you're literally putting your dick in the leader of a foreign state.

before you, i was all right letting everything happen to me.

i can't believe even mortal peril will not prevent you from being the way you are.

sorry, are we not? did i skip ahead again?

you've been warned.

he died as he lived: avoiding plans and sucking cock.

my life is a cosmic joke and you're not a real person.

hey, have i told you lately that you're brave?

i honestly have never thought i deserved to choose.

we're gonna make it work. you and me and history, remember?

if you finish that sentence, i'm gonna spend tonight in jail.

but the truth is, also, simply this: love is indomitable.

i actively wish for the sweet release of death.

yes, good, carry on.

i won't hear a word against it.

we're gonna do it together.

i said you look great, baby!

i meet you in every dream, and when i wake i cannot close my eyes again for ruminating on your sweetness.

i'm so in love i could die.

you can take your legacy and your decorum and you can shove it up your fucking arse.

i wonder if it's too late to swan dive off the roof.

i'm learning all your hidden depths today, sweetheart.

you must invent an entirely new system.

a curious thing about grief is the way it takes your entire life, all those foundational years that made you who you are, and makes them so painful to look back on.

he's proof that it doesn't matter where you come from or who your family is.

i've bloody well had it!

we can unpack the ironic symbolism later.

that's beyond our sense of decorum!

i'm not afraid of anything i feel. i'm afraid of saying it. i'm only afraid of what happens when i do.

aw, you do care.

if there's any legacy for me on this earth, i want it to be true.

straight people probably don't spend this much time convincing themselves that they're straight.

the moment you first called me a prick, my fate was sealed.

you are the absolute worst idea i've ever had.

should i tell you that when we're apart, your body comes back to me in dreams?

can you perhaps stop putting your sodding life in danger now?

what are we even defending here?

history will remember us.

when i sleep, i see you.

i hate this so much.

every person who bears a legacy makes the choice of a partner with whom they will share it with.

we're just gonna fucking fight.

he is my choice.

i can appreciate that maybe this isn't your fault.

i've been gay as a maypole since the day i came out of mom.

when i wake up in the morning, it feels like i've just been with you.

i can feel your skin against mine, and it makes every bone in my body ache.

your spine's a ridge i'd die climbing.

for a few moments, i can hold my breath and be back there with you, in a dream, in a thousand rooms, nowhere at all.

the phrase 'see attached bibliography' is the single sexiest thing you have ever written me.

i promise you, one day we'll be able to just be, and fuck everyone else.

give yourself away sometimes, sweetheart. there's so much of you.

i want to set myself on fire, but i can't afford for anyone to see me burn.

you see, for me, memories are difficult.

never tell me the odds.

i wish there weren't a wall.

jesus christ, it's like they can see into your soul.

you're it, okay? i'm never gonna love anybody in the world like i love you.

i'm finished. i don't care.

god, i want to fight everyone who's ever hurt you.

the whole world watched, and history remembered.

are you quite finished?

just so we're clear. i'm about to have sex with you in this storage closet to spite your family.

you insane, hopeless romantic little shit.

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antmightpost · 3 months

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The nature of cursed energy, after death sequences and a possible inspiration from Tibetan Buddhism & Tibetan book of the dead

"Nine points. Polarized light" A theory on the nature of cursed energy, after death sequences and a possible inspiration from Tibetan Buddhism & Tibetan book of the dead (Bardo Thodol). This is the 1st part of a long theory that I intend to cover in multiple parts

Gojo's chant

The Tibetan book of the dead, also known as Bardo Thodol is a sacred text guiding souls through the afterlife. Rooted in Tibetan Buddhism, it's a profound exploration of life, death and the transitional state between ( Bardo) . The origins of Bardo Thodol can be traced back to the 8th century when emperor Trisong Detsen directed Indian buddhist master Padmasambhava (lotus born) to bring the Buddhist teachings to Tibet. Also known as 'Guru Rinpoche' he brought the teachings of Bardos ( state between Death and Rebirth)

Tibetan book of the dead

Padmasambhava Physics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, While we're alive a pattern of energy called consciousness or the 'mind' flows within our body that we identify as ourselves. But what happens after death ? This energy is no longer associated or anchored by the Physical body. It now floats, freely. In JJK the physical body is also like a barrier for the soul / consciousness which is why the innate domain or inner world manifests within a barrier or outline through a domain expansion.

Body acting as a barrier for a domain Once consciousness is loosened from any barriers ,Thoughts have no limitations set for them. "In life you make the mind , in death the mind makes you" what does this buddhist saying mean ? For ex- suppose you want to visit a place, while alive you have to follow the whole process of travelling to visit it. After death , the mere thought of visiting it will take you there (the dream realm version of it). This seems like a Fascinating concept until you think about the negative thoughts that one might have. Thoughts that while alive are slower in realization by the physical limit of the body, thoughts that in death will become your reality instantly, sometimes in rapid unending succession. This is why Buddhism places heavy emphasis on mental purification while you are alive, achieving the state of enlightenment and learning the illusory nature of one's consciousness before they Proceed to afterlife. The mind forms that one entertained or clung to while alive that manifest as body-less consciousness after dying in the dream realm are called 'Bardo'. Bardos are formed by the 'Karmic energies' or repeated thoughts one accumulates during their lifetime.

An example of the transitional state between death and rebirth (Bardo) Bardo Thodol's main purpose is to make practitioners aware of the unreality of what manifests as bardos post death. The concept of Karma refers to one's action but not merely action , Karma includes your thoughts, deeds and words. As mentioned above , the Buddhist belief is to purify the mind pre death but most if not all are unable to attain such mental purification, hence the karmic energy is inherently negative when it leaves the body, this karmic energy IS cursed energy. While passing through the state of Bardo , the deceased experiences visions And hallucinations influenced by their karmic energy they accumulated while being alive. If the deceased can recognize that these visions are illusory, let them go, they will attain a better birth and ultimately Nirvana.

Mention of karma in JJK

Even people outside of japan release karmic energy ( Cursed energy) In JJK, rebirth and attachment to one's consciousness is presented by the concept of North and South directions. North meaning rebirth, South meaning being chained to your Karma.

The idea of North and south pertaining to rebirth and clinging to your past self

There are mainly 3 sections of the Bardo state-

Chikai Bardo ( Bardo of the moment of death) - this occurs at the exact moment of death .According to Buddhist beliefs individuals may experience a profound luminosity or a clear light. The teachings suggest recognizing that clear light

The core of cursed energy (Consciousness) that Gojo experienced right at the moment of death represented with a luminous light 2. The Chonyid Bardo ( Bardo of the intermediate state of visions) After death in this state individuals may encounter various visionary experiences which can be pleasant or terrifying, the experiences are the reflections of one's karma and mental projections, individuals are said to have been visited by either deities or their loved ones in this state.

Gojo visited in his Bardo state by his loved ones

Kashimo in attendance of a deity (Sukuna) in his bardo state 3. Sidpa bardo (Bardo of Rebirth) -it refers to the period between the end of Chonyid Bardo and the time of Rebirth, in this phase the consciousness seeks a new birth guided by it's karma and desires, individual is drawn to a new existence ( Someone choosing to go North) The idea of Bardo is recognised in a broader sense in Tibetan Buddhism, various transitional states like when you dream or meditate, the state of Bardo is akin to a mental high or Trance. It's similar to NDE's ( Near death experiences) where survivors often experience a profound sense of peace and blissfulness.

Gojo feeling a mental high after experiencing the core of cursed energy (Chikai Bardo) As for why i started this thread with the words used in Gojo's chant, I think "Nine points" refers to the Nine levels of consciousness in Buddhism, 'Light' is often referred to as pure consciousness across multiple cultures and religions , the 9 levels of consciousness are - The first 5 levels ( the 5 senses of the human body) Touch, taste , sight, hearing and smell. The basic layer of consciousness formed from physical sensations, what Heavenly restriction heightens

Heavenly restriction's impact on the first 5 consciousness, possibly a binding vow that sacrifices the latter levels for heightening the first 5 The 6th level - where one understands what is being taken in from the 5 senses It's the ability to perceive and judge things , it's the ability to process information. This level integrates all the sensory input from first 5 consciousness . Perhaps that's what 6 eyes are, mastery over the 6th consciousness

7th level- unlike the prior 6 consciousness, this is directed by one's inner thoughts without any sensory input. This level deals with comprehension of the abstract, morals , distinguishing between good and evil etc. It's akin to one's ego

8th level (Alaya)- The karmic storehouse or storehouse consciousness which is known as 'Alaya' in Sanskrit. This storehouse accumulates one's karmic energy through interactions with others, as well as the causes and effects of one's actions. It stores all of one's thoughts, deeds and words throughout a lifetime , unlike the first 7, the 8th consciousness persists even after death.

Storehouse consciousness (Megumi's shadow) 9th consciousness ( Brahman)- the final consciousness from which all energy arises. It is the pure consciousness that can even suppress one's negative karma , it cannot be tarnished by any karma, the core for all mental and spiritual activity We have seen the word "Brahmic barrier" mentioned in JJK while referring to the most supreme form of barriers that are even better than the barriers tengen used to suppress the outbreak of curses in Japan, so this tracks extremely well.

Pure consciousness and the Brahmic barrier, the supreme barrier I'll end this part of my theory here, Next I'll be continuing with Megumi and his connection to the 8th consciousness, the storehouse consciousness (Alaya)

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk analysis

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captianprices40thson · 10 months

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You know there's nothing left of me, while I can forget everything I wanna be.

Simon "Ghost" Riley x GN! Reader

Pronouns used: You/Yours

Warnings: Death, Angst, Canon-typical violence, bullets, guns, mentions of dead bodies, Ghost being angsty.

First fic on this acc! Lets ago!

(Banner made by me)

“I honestly thought that this whole…situation…would have us in completely different roles. I thought that I would be where you were and you would be where I am. I guess I was wrong.”

Ghost grumbled, looking over at you. The cool breeze mixed with the night sky made the atmosphere even more peaceful than it was. The grass where you both lay has to bend and flatten to accommodate the people laying there. It was a nice night, it really was.

“You know, I’ve never met anyone more stupid than you. In a way, that made me both love and hate you.” He continued on, turning his body and looking up at the night sky, the way the stars seemed to twinkle and glisten against the dark night sky made the Brit relax. He’d never admit it, but he liked to watch the stars. Maybe it made him feel like he had a purpose, that all those years of evolution and growth led up to him and he meant something. Perhaps he liked the idea of being the universe looking back on itself. Or maybe he just liked it because you rested under the stars.

“It’s a beautiful night.” Your voice echoed through his head and he sat up, turning to you and giving a sad smile. No one could ever tell when he was smiling under his balaclava, but you always could. You noticed the way his eyes changed and his eyebrows raised…you were good like that.

“Yeah…Yeah, I suppose it is.” He heard himself whisper, shuffling around a bit and facing out on the hill. In that moment, it was just the Ghost and his best friend in the dark night, under the stars and the moon. Ghost’s eyes began to droop and he placed an arm on his knee in order to keep himself upright.

And every time he closed his eyes in order to fight off sleep, he’d get another flashback.

Blink

“That’s the last of them!” You called out, holding your gun by your hip and turning to Ghost, who was right beside you. He turned to face you, giving a nod.

“Bloody hell, you’re good.” *He called, reaching out his hand to give you a fistbump. He had taken out his wave of enemy soldiers a while ago, but didn’t say anything. You deserved to feel like you finished before him, he was nice enough to give you that.

“Let's get back to Price, I’m sure that the rest of our boys are dying to see us. They’re probably getting worried, we haven’t been able to contact them in a hot minute.” You joked, elbowing Ghost playfully and making his way up the forest path in order to get back to the trucks they had ready for you two. Ghost nodded, making his way swiftly behind you, feeling for his radio before remembering it had been broken and you had somehow lost yours.

Blink

“Ghost, everything okay?” Your voice called out, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“All good, just tripped on a branch.” Ghost called out, getting up and continuing to walk through the forest. If they didn’t have a clear path, Ghost was sure you two were going to be lost. Though he reckoned that you would pretend you weren't and lead you both into the enemy’s base by accident.

“The Ghost himself, tripping on a branch? I’m upset I missed that. I’ve always just assumed you feel like a cartoon character.” You chuckled, placing your hand on your gun as you walked through the forest. It was dark, you could never be too careful.

Blink

“You hear that?” He asked, a tight grip on his gun as you both realised you were one hundred percent lost. So much for the trail.

“Might just be your imagination, Lt. I haven’t heard any-” You were cut off by a loud gunshot coming from your left. You turned to the noise and both of you quickly shot at whoever set it off, watching in satisfaction as the person in the bushes fell to the floor with a bullet in his head.

“Hah! It’ll take more than a scare to take down The Ghost and…and…” You trailed off, turning to Ghost and taking in his morbid expression. You took a moment, before the pain hit you. Clutching your chest, you fell to your knees on the floor, with Ghost immediately rushing to your side.

“Oh no…no…no not like this.” He whispered, holding you upright in his arms. He watched you cry in pain as your body reacted to the bullet in your lung. Your breathing was getting shallow and sharper, your eyes fluttering as the pain seemingly got worse.

Blink

“It’s a beautiful night.” You whispered, holding onto him with all your strength. Ghost didn’t remember being in a clearing, but the moon shining down on you both and illuminating your pained face wasn’t making this any easier. He could see the blood…he could see it stain your clothes and your beautiful skin.

“Yeah…Yeah, I suppose it is..” He whispered back, tears falling down his face as he held you. He knew he couldn’t save you and he couldn’t call for help. If he did run and try to find help, he’d either be killed by an enemy or he wouldn’t make it back in time for you to still be breathing.

Blink

“I’m sorry.” He whispered to your now lifeless body in his arms. Watching you take your last breath and your eyes go glossy was killing him. The tears running down his face stained his balaclava and the accessories on top of it. It was eating him up inside, the fact you had died there when he could have done something, anything!

You never even got to see his face.

Blink

“I’m sorry.” He found himself saying, turning to look over at where you rested. Your tombstone was nice, but not as nice as having you around. There were still a few flowers there from your funeral, ones that had lasted longer than others. The daisies Soap had placed had dried out, next to the roses Price had planted. Gaz had smartly placed Zinnia’s, which still looked healthy next to everyone else's. Ghost made a mental note to remove and replace the dead flowers when he visited the next night.

“I wish you knew how much I love you.”

#Ghost x reader #cod #cod ghost #Ghost x gn reader #ghost x male reader #ghost x female reader #cod x reader #angst #i'm not sorry #simon riley x reader

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magnetothemagnificent · 1 year

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Sorry if this is an inappropriate or rude question, you don’t have to answer.

I’ve been dealing with internalised negative feelings about religion, due to being raised by very Christian family, when I’ve never believed what they said. It made me think that religion is an awful thing, a cult by sorts.

A few years back, I made a friend who is Jewish and he’s really cool and I respect him a lot. I also am trying my hardest to respect that he is religious but I can’t help that voice in my head, saying he’s corrupted. I don’t think I believe it anymore but I kind of want to ask, a reassurance I guess, what your views are in religion as a whole? Why do you believe it’s good?

First of all, it is not marginalized people's jobs to prove to why they deserve humanity. If you had asked any other Jew this question, they would have every right to ignore this quesiton and/or call you out on it.

However, I do put myself out there and try to educate people, so I'll answer your question.

Religion is part of human culture and history. For as long as humans have been humans, we've always had symbolic representation, taboos, and imagination. Paleolithic humans burying their dead with body paint and bead ornamentation- that's an example of spiritual belief. To be human is to be illogical, superstitious, and imaginative. Even other animals can sometimes act according to superstition or seemingly illogical motives. Humans are incredibley intelligent, and with our intelligence comes questions we cannot answer and fears we cannot explain. Where are we from? What is death? Where are we going? What is our purpose? These are all answers we seek, and having a religious belief set can help answer these questions. Religion is just a world view in the same way Western science is a world view, and they're not incompatible with each other. Many scientists are religious, I myself am a student of science and am religious.

Religion has brought people together for all of human history- it allows the sharing of ideas and resources. Harvest festivals, weddings, coming-of-age ceremonies, funerals, all these religious events serve to reinforce the bonds in a community. A relationship must be maintained and reinforced, or it becomes stagnant. Having a shared spiritual belief system and coming together for ceremonies reignites communal bonds. Religion also allows for a community to have a shared moral system. While religion isn't necessary for morality, it definately helps define the values and morals of a person and community. If a community can come together and agree on a system of values, then there's less potential for violence due to incompatible values. Religion is a social contract. Religion is also a comfort, and can help with the immense wait of loneliness we face. If the trees and water have spirits, then you are not alone. If your loved one goes to an afterlife after death, then they are not alone.

Religion has as much potential for harm as any world view. Just as there have been countless atrocities committed in the name of religion, so too have there been countless atrocities committted in the name of science. Does that mean we should just toss out all of science? No. In the same way we shouldn't get rid of religion.

Additionally, "Religion" isn't a monolith. It's not one world view, but a category of world views. There are many forms of religion and each religion is different. Monotheism, polytheism, animism, ancestor veneration, etc- these are all different kinds of religion that can overlap with eachother too. A bad experience with one religion doesn't define all religions. With all due respect, your experience is anecdotal, and you can't apply your singular lived experience to every since religion in the world.

And for Jews, our religious identity is deeply important to us. We've been persecuted for thousands of years for our identities, and we've miraculously not disappeared from the face of the earth. You don't have to understand why your friend is religious, but you need to unpack why you think he's corrupted and why you think you have the right to apply your experience with religion to every religious person. The fact that you were raised Christian might be another contributing factor to your bias towards your friend- antisemitism is often deeply ingrained in aspects of Christianity.

#religion #anthropology #culture #human history #human behaviour #animal behavior #superstition #human condition #cultural anthropology #antisemitism

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chaoticdelinqueerwithglitter · 3 months

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I'll love you better when I'm dead

(chapter 206 from Sanzu's POV)

(tragic MuSan drabble)

(link to ao3 in case some one preferes to read it there)

First of all...I'm sorry for this (not really but yes a lot at the same time, but I did this to myself too). An evil snail shared with me this AMAZING AND BRUTAL essay on Sanzu & katana-chan and reading the last pages about Mucho, this fic happened. So first of all...

GO, READ THE ESSAY NOW!

Summary: "We are both dying here today, captain."

[or why Sanzu looses his grip]

Warnings: Manga Spoilers. Major Character Death (chapter 206, duh). Hurt/No Comfort. Like for real, comfort has been slashed with a katana and is sinking in the bottom of the ocean.

The title is from "Love you better" because I listened in a loop for two days while reading the essay and writing this.

Oh, I played with Sanzu name (again, yes) but this time doing a full Jinx, ooopsie!

(English is not my first language, so be nice please 🙈)

It’s been six months since the Kanto Incident. Six months of planning for this day, of imagining how he’s going to punish that damn traitor. Of pretending his whole body doesn’t ache at the idea of killing the only person that made him feel like he mattered.

Haruchiyo is good at that, at hiding his true feelings from the world, lying to himself as much as he needs as a way of achieving it. He’s good at rationalize the overwhelming whirlwind of emotions that threaten to flood his mind all the time. He’s used to repress the pain, keep his anxiety at bay, bury all of it next to the memories he can’t face without having the need to scream and break everything at his reach (including himself).

Six months that seem to crumble the second his captain’s eyes light up when he spots him outside the detention center.

The ride is dominated by silence, that only breaks with Muto’s simple questions about how he’s been doing during this time. Genuine concern plastered on the face he’s supposed to hate. Haruchiyo wants to laugh hysterically at this, the irony that even now the older boy is only worried about him. Instead, he just gives short answers, knowing the other won’t push his boundaries.

They are finally at the wharf and his resolve flatters for a moment, overwhelmed by a kindness that he forgot how warm it feels.

“I’ve been waiting for this day...”

Haruchiyo trails off, talking mostly to himself. His hands grip the hilt of the katana, steading his inner turmoil with the reminder of why he’s doing this. The tangible proof of his vow, of the promise that gives him purpose. Wielding it with years of practice, preparing himself to strike a fatal blow.

‘Is that it? Is that the only reason I’m doing this?’

He hesitates, consciously loosening his grip on one hand and landing a sloppy cut that buys him some precious seconds.

“You damned betrayer!”

‘Liar, you made me think I could trust you, made me feel safe, seen. How can you say you love me when you couldn’t tell your treason would rot everything we shared?’

“Sanzu...?”

Muto looks at him in shock, trying to stop the bleeding with his hand and falling on his knees. He’s the perfect image of bewilderment, like he can’t comprehend what is happening, why is happening.

“I’ve been fooling you all along.”

‘I’ve been fooling myself, pretending this never meant anything to me. Pretending you never meant anything to me.’

Haruchiyo keeps talking, winning some time in order to collect his thoughts, to understand his own feelings in order to let them go and fully put his heart on the second hit.

“Remember our conversation that day when we were playing shogi? I said it, right?”

‘Do you remember how you told me I also mattered? You made me yearn for more, you were the first person that taught me to be selfish, to listen to my own needs.’

It’s almost ironic, realizing killing Muto is a sick way of putting himself first. Realizing this is personal.

“Protecting the king is the priority. You betrayed Mikey, didn’t you?”

‘You betrayed me, didn’t you?’

He takes off his mask, the scars reminding him of his place, letting go the faint illusion it could ever be somewhere else. That it could be next to his captain. He can’t forget it again, can’t keep hiding his devotion behind his craving for affection.

A sadistic grin on his face. That’s the new mask he’s going to show to a world that will never be the same for him.

“Now it’s checkmate.”

This time the cut is fatal, slashing a lot more than flesh and bones and severing the ties between them.

‘We are both dying here today, captain.’

Somehow, Muto hears the words he never says. But his will be the only tears shed, no one else will mourn the Haruchiyo that knew genuine love.

Sanzu can’t allow himself to grieve. He can’t be weak again, these seconds that felt like ages will be the last entertaining the idea he could be more than a loyal knight to his beloved king.

He made a promise and Sanzu is willing to do anything in order to fulfill it. Even killing a part of himself forever. His weakness, the love that tempted him to break free of his sacred vow. In a twisted way, he can’t avoid thinking how fitting it feels burying it with his captain.

Haruchiyo is dead.

Only Sanzu prevails.

#tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers spoilers #me writing🌻#tokyo revengers fic #drabble #kanto manji timeline #bonten timeline #hurt/no comfort #comfort is not here anymore #angst #sanzu angst #sanzu haruchiyo #muto yasuhiro #musan #tragic as fuck musan #but what's new #tr chapter 206 #katana-chan is here again #canon complicit

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bestworstcase · 5 months

Text

okay

let's talk about alchemical readings and rwby.

as the resident crank it would be remiss of me not to begin this little jaunt with a very important disclaimer: like all esoteric lenses, alchemical philosophy is an analytical framework that relies quite heavily on symbolism, and because of that it is really important to be mindful of how you're engaging with the text. symbolism services narrative, not the other way around, and you should always let the narrative guide your understanding of its symbolism. if that doesn't make sense to you, don't worry, because there will be lots of examples to illustrate what i mean.

before getting into the weeds, we're going to lay out some basic alchemical concepts.

in simple terms, the core philosophical idea of alchemy is a gradual process of transformation from base material into the sublime; conceptually the transmutation of lead into gold is also the perfection of human body and soul. alchemy is about change, refinement, rebirth, wholeness.

the prima materia—first matter—is the perfect and formless primordial matter of which all forms of matter are derived. if you're familiar with certain other alchemical readings of rwby you'll have seen it defined as the "raw material" that is transformed into the philosopher's stone through the alchemical process; that is not inaccurate but it must be stressed that the idea here is that ordinary matter comes from the prima materia and the philosopher's stone IS the prima materia, made perfect and whole again through the great work.

<- rwby directly invokes this idea in 'all things must die' ("all bonds dissolve/infinite matter/will always evolve").

yliaster is another name (coined by paracelsus) for the prima materia, which he described as "completely healed human being who has burned away all the dross of his lower being and is free to fly as the phoenix."

the great work is the actual process of alchemy. it is classically broken down into four (or three) stages, each represented by a color:

nigredo, black, involves putrefaction and charring—symbolically, death. decay. rot.

albedo, white, involves purification and separation. the undifferentiated mass of the nigredo stage is clarified and divided into two opposing principles.

citrinitas, yellow, is the "dawn" or reawakening.

rubedo, red, involves coagulation and recombination after the separation undergone in albedo.

citrinitas is not always treated as a discrete stage, instead sometimes being combined into a single stage with rubedo or understood as the transition between albedo and rubedo. hence "four (or three)." there are also a great variety of other stages, mostly given in sets of seven or twelve and listed in myriad sequences, but for our purpose this four-or three-stage model is the most useful.

now!

ordinarily with an alchemical reading, we would begin by finding a narrative pattern of symbolic death and rebirth, but for rwby we first need to interrogate the goliath in the room, namely:

YES, IT'S ABOUT SALEM.

there is a tendency in alchemical readings of rwby to interpret salem's immortality as a lifeless unchanging stasis, and thus to read her as an embodiment of the anti-theme, and surprising absolutely no one i find this to be… well, just not right at all.

rwby initially sets up the pattern through the mantra pyrrha recites when she awakens jaune's aura: "for it is in passing that we achieve immortality. through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death. i release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee." 'rising' explicitly calls back to this ("we are paragons of virtue and glory/death can't bind our endless story/infinite and unbound") and 'indomitable' reiterates the idea ("when we strive, we transcend/even death cannot end our climb"); this is important to note because the repetition correlates with revelations about salem's story.

the key thing to understand here is that 'the lost fable' is narratively structured around salem's deaths:

first, the god of light bites her and she's drowned in the fountain of life (notice her last breath leaving her mouth; she chokes for air and her eyes rolls back as she loses consciousness, sinking into the depths)…

…and then the god of darkness brings the moon down on her head and she wanders in a haze until finding her way back to the pool of grimm, where she seeks her own destruction and is created anew.

the brothers cast salem into the fountain of life, which pools under the roots of a tree and appears to be infinitely deep. she drowns as she sinks into its darkness—then abruptly reawakens hitting the water again, now only a reflecting pool, and the water-light of aura shimmers over her hands as she rises.

"for it is in passing that we achieve immortality…" the reprisal of "infinite and unbound" in 'rising' draws a line from pyrrha's mantra to the lost fable for a reason; it's to help us understand the truth behind the story jinn is telling. it is not even subtext—it is text. especially after volume nine, which clarifies the symbolic meaning of the tree growing above the waters.

through death, salem became immortal—infinite—and the infinite waters of life and creation became finite.

that water was the prima materia of the brothers' world; it combined with salem—the prima materia changes itself and combined with all imperfect bodies that it touches—and thus she herself became yliaster, "the perfectly healed human being who has burned away all the dross of his lower being and is free to fly as the phoenix."

the dross in her case being the brothers and their divine order, she rebels against them, and they destroy their world. she is all that remains. they leave salem behind in the end of all things and, phoenix-like, she rises out of the ashes of her destruction. yliaster is the prima materia; it contains everything, is everything, and everything is released when it is broken apart.

"this force of pure destruction could not destroy a being of infinite life, so it created a being of infinite life with a desire for pure destruction." destruction exists within creation exists within destruction: salem embraces death, throwing herself into the "blackened pools of annihilation" in the land of darkness. nigredo.

she's torn apart and reborn, and remnant is born with her, a pure-white being clambering into a revitalized new world she cannot touch; after a long separation, her partner returns to her and she experiences love, connection, freedom for the first time in years, until she learns that he seeks the destruction of this world and a return to the old and they burn each other alive in a violent parting. albedo.

salem's arrival in atlas literally at dawn incites the struggle between herself and cinder, which culminates in salem beginning to relinquish control and as her true feelings come to the surface. citrinitas.

thus, what remains of her story is rubedo: reconciliation with cinder, reunion with ozma, peace between humans and grimm (<- unity of opposites), and finally symbolic transcendence over death by convincing the god of light to ascend, with "death" being specifically the threat of annihilation represented by the divine mandate.

ozma's arc, of course, mirrors hers very closely: the god of light breaks him apart, the god of darkness burns him (nigredo)—his reincarnation divides him very literally into two, and symbolically divides him between duty and desire (albedo)—he awakens with the dawn, reconciles with oscar, and begins to face the truth in atlas (citrinitas).

as alchemical readings go, this one is not difficult or arcane or remotely ambiguous. it isn't even symbolic; the deaths and resurrection are explicitly literal and occur onscreen with the accompaniment of helpful explanatory notes. the goliath in the room is making aggressive eye contact.

but we are not done here yet, because i never do anything by halves and we have symbolism to talk about.

THE GREAT WORK.

salem, you will recall, is yliaster, the prima materia of remnant. you will also recall that the prima materia is the formless primordial matter from which all other matter is formed, and thus it is both the raw material of the great work and the philosopher's stone. yes? good. rwby interrogates this contradiction through the idea of balance, which the god of light conceives of as an inviolate order that must be designed and enforced. but, as the blacksmith explains, his understanding is a limited falsehood:

"balance is not two forces locked in never-ending battle. balance is an ecosystem, an organism, a living, breathing thing; thus balance cannot be restored by force or calculation. it only requires love and the patience to see things through to the end."

here is where i think a lot of the fandom—not people doing alchemical readings necessarily, but in general—miss the mark by interpreting this to mean that opposition and balance are antithetical to each other, that a system with two opposing forces is inherently out of balance. rwby's metaphysics are grounded in hellenistic philosophy, plato in particular (<- neoplatonism had a significant influence on the western european alchemical tradition), and the philosophical ideas undergirding the ever after follows herclitus.

(i recommend perusing the category pages for λόγος, justice and strife, the harmony of opposites, φύσις, ψυχή, cosmology, fire, water/the river, life/death, and waking/sleeping—i know that sounds like a lot of reading, but it isn't, as what we have of heraclitus is only fragments and the summaries provided are brief and accessible.)

the two key ideas we're interested in here are flux and strife. the world exists at rest in a continual state of change; a river is always the same river, but its flowing waters change from moment to moment. this conception of the world—"changing, it rests"—is flux. strife incites change through the tension between opposing forces. strife is not discordant but rather harmonious: "men do not know how what is at variance agrees with itself. it is an attunement of opposite tensions, like that of the bow and the lyre." (B51) just as a bow could not fire and a lyre could not sing without tension on the strings, so the world could not be without strife.

this is what the blacksmith means by balance. true balance is not war; it is strife. not two forces locked in never-ending conflict, but opposite tensions in harmony with each other. destruction and creation are opposing forces, but each exists within the other and they are both interdependent and inseparable.

salem embodies this theme. through death, she became life, and by destruction she was created. human and grimm, light and darkness, creation and destruction. she seeks to tear down the huntsmen academies and incite revolution in pursuit of a new world. she is balance—and the god of light inflicted his punishment upon her not because she failed to understand the importance of life and death, but because her dedication to change challenged his false and hollow conception of what balance means.

this guides the alchemical reading of the wider narrative in significant ways. salem is the prima materia of remnant—yliaster, broken apart to release everything contained within—and thus both the subject and the aspiration of the great work. when we examine other characters through this lens, it is in relation to her.

we'll begin by discussing the narrative's big symbols: the rose, the broken moon, the tree, grimm, silver eyes, and fire.

traditionally, the rose symbolizes rubedo. in most alchemical readings of rwby, ruby rose is accordingly presumed to represent this stage for obvious reasons—however, if we pay attention to how the narrative itself symbolically identifies the rose:

ruby's emblem, which she inherited from her mother, is a burning rose.

our first sighting of it is on summer rose's grave, above an epitaph—"thus kindly i scatter"—taken from a poem which uses the death of a rose as a metaphor for the speaker's loneliness and despair.

"red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest," and "red like roses fills my head with dreams and finds me always closer to the emptiness and sadness that has come to take the place of you"

adam's emblem is a withered rose.

"the moon will sadly watch the roses die"

"maybe red's like roses? maybe it's the pool of blood the innocents will lay in when in the end you fail to save them"

"the rose will grow to be a seed, from every life another leads" (<- evokes an image of deterioration, rot; the rose going to seed)

"some roses will never bloom, some dreams will rot on the vine"

in rwby, the rose represents death. it burns, it withers, it dies, it is scattered, it never blooms; thus, it does not symbolize rubedo but rather the death and decomposition of nigredo. why then is ruby's primary color red? we'll get to that in a little while.

the moon traditionally symbolizes albedo, which is a process of separation, reflection, and illumination. the god of darkness shattered the moon as he departed after slaughtering humanity, and:

"the moon will sadly watch the roses die"

"the sky is turning black, light is fading fast, but we don't surrender; shattering the night, radiant and bright, armored in splendor, shining forever […] we're rising like the moon"

salem falls into and through the reflection of the broken moon when she casts herself into the pool of grimm

the broken moon symbolizes the death and resurrection of humankind, which—as noted—is the beginning of the albedo stage in salem's story.

so in rwby the broken moon does indeed represent albedo.

the tree, obviously, represents the whole circle of life-death-rebirth, with its symbolic meaning on remnant following its actual function in the ever after, where it is the cosmic tree, the river, and the ever-living fire. thus cinder and salem falling into pools of water at the base of a tree are symbolic (and in salem's case, also literal) rebirths.

grimm are "manifestations of anonymity," "the darkness," hates and feared as soulless monsters, destruction incarnate, thought to have no purpose other than to exist as "mankind's greatest foe." rwby is consistent in using the grimm to symbolize ostracism, persecution, fear of the other or the unknown, and salem's exile is justified (in ozma's mind) by her grimmness. which is to say, the grimm represent the separation undergone during albedo; they are the darkness to humanity's light. (hence, the narrative building toward coexistence between humans and grimm, exemplified by the faunus.)

silver eyes are described in opposition to the grimm and likewise represent the separation of albedo; the light to grimmkind's darkness. salem's experimentation with combining them into one being is a faunus for good reason, and i do not think it is coincidental that cinder has become less vulnerable to the glare as she finds balance with the grimm arm. and speaking of her:

the phoenix is another traditional symbol for rubedo, which naturally calls to mind associations with fire. citrinitas, similarly, is represented by the dawn or the "solar light," overtaking the moonlight of albedo, which again connotes fire. in rwby, fire is used to symbolize hope and wrath, which are thematically intertwined (hope ignites fire -> loss of hope incites wrath -> wrath ignites fire, and is thus a form of hope):

"even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change […] nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness"

"a simple spark can ignite hope, breathe fire into the hearts of the weary…" becoming "i can't wait to watch you burn"—salem seeks to smother ozma's hope, and thus rekindle her own.

"the light of hope is taken and discontent is the contagion; the blinding eyes that burn a yellow flame, the embers that remain will light the fuse of condemnation"

"we were destined to light the flame of revolution; consider this the spark" + "i think father may have just provided the spark that's going to set this kingdom on fire"

flame imagery used in relation to cinder and salem in the volume eight opening and jaune throughout volume nine.

cinder being… a spark…

as i noted, the paradigm shift between salem and cinder in atlas represents the transition from albedo to rubedo through the dawn. in rwby, the kindling spark symbolizes citrinitas and the changing flame that follows is rubedo. the role cinder will play in reigniting salem's hope is obvious, and the symbolic use of fire to reawaken first jaune and then neo in volume nine only underscores this meaning. in combination with the dust and ashes motif going on with salem and the grimm, the fire becomes specifically phoenix imagery.

now!

why, if the rose is nigredo, is ruby red?

in order to explain this, we first need to examine team STRQ, because the answer is that the great work is cyclical.

in team STRQ, we have:

summer rose, whose red-and-gold interior is masked by her white exterior

taiyang xiao long, who is all yellow

raven branwen, who is an amalgam of red and black

qrow branwen, who is mostly white except for his red cape

the branwen twins also transform into corvids, traditional symbols for the nigredo stage; qrow's scythe harbinger and raven's allusions to the morrígan underscore their symbolic association with death.

if we consider these color associations through an alchemical lens, the pattern that emerges is—by design—muddled and strange, but not actually that convoluted:

raven "tried to leave," but couldn't. she became the spring maiden by mercy-killing a girl whom she loved as her own family, and never having dealt with that grief or guilt, is trapped in nigredo whilst projecting a hollow image of rubedo—her pretense of strength. she runs away from her feelings, rather than challenging or examining them; what she needs instead is to separate and reflect honestly on herself.

summer did leave. her white outer shell—the phantom she left behind—suggests albedo, but her true colors are what she wears beneath the cloak: red trimmed with gold. she found salem, listened to her and awoke to the truth of this world, and then joined her. but in order to do that, she had to separate from her own family, joining salem exile; thus her individual rubedo brings her into alignment with the grimm in salem's albedo.

qrow, shattered by the dissolution of his team, is undergoing his own albedo. like his sister, he wears the trappings of rubedo—he is the one left standing, ozpin's most trusted agent—but this is a false projection which crumbles once it challenged by the revelations of ozma's deceit. his drinking and reluctance to be around people for fear of bringing them to harm make it impossible for him to move forward until he finds new hope and decides to try again. like his onetime mentor, he experiences citrinitas in atlas and the beginning of his transition into rubedo is marked by the introduction of maroon (desaturated red) and tan (desaturated yellow) into his atlas fit.

tai, lastly, is interesting because in one sense, he is citrinitas in isolation, a dawn with nothing to illuminate because his team left him behind, but in another sense, tai mediates the generational transition between team STRQ (albedo) and team RWBY (rubedo). he is yang and ruby's father and—crucially—he raises both in idealized casts of their mothers. ruby feels compelled to live up to the fairytale idea of summer rose; tai tells yang that he sees all of raven's good qualities in her and warns her to be wary of being too much like her mother, in almost the same breath.

ruby's red and yang's yellow represent the culmination of what tai wishes could have been; the summer rose who returned whole and alive, the raven branwen who chose reflection and reawakening instead of running away. but both colors are only things projected onto them—false images.

in truth, ruby represents nigredo. her scythe and the burning rose both connect her to death; her semblance disassembles her into a swirling formless mass of rose petals; her own identity is lost beneath the idea of summer rose and the first nine volumes of the story are devoted to the long, slow journey to her symbolic death at the roots of the tree.

only with her ascension has she begun to undergo albedo (notice the greater emphasis on her silver eyes and the flaring white light as she comes out of the tree; also, "otherside, did you mean to leave me half or whole? will i ever be complete? when will i become all of me?" and "what is left? i know it's you and i when i look inside"—she is beginning to separate herself from the imaginary paragon.

weiss represents albedo—her story is fundamentally about separation from her family, leading to self-reflection and growth, and in the process she has become an emotionally intelligent, insightful person who consistently helps others draw out and clarify their hidden emotions. her mirror motif and her knight summon further represent this: the self and the reflection.

blake represents citrinitas—her golden eyes, her association with the black king, her identity as a faunus, all support this reading. her time with the white fang was her albedo (she lost herself, gradually began to see herself in a new light, and finally separated herself from everything adam represented) and her personal moment of citrinitas is the removal of the bow and meeting with sun after she reveals herself as a faunus, after which she begins her journey of rediscovering herself and reintegrating with her faunus heritage.

finally, yang represents rubedo—her fire, her red eyes, "scathing eyes ask that we be symmetrical, one-sided and easily processed, yet every misshapen spark's unseen beauty is greater than its would-be judgment," "feel like i'm finally unbroken, feel like i'm back from the dead," the whole thematic conceit of bumbleby being the catalyst and the flame, the dawn and the sun, and so forth, two-in-one, "we're protecting each other."

the team collectively represents rubedo in relation to salem, in that they will be the ones primarily negotiating with her and this will obviously not begin to happen until ruby has her personal moment of citrinitas, which is to say not until ruby meets the real summer rose.

as a final point of interest, the four qualities (and relics) of destruction, creation, knowledge, choice map neatly onto the four-or-three alchemical stages—destruction as nigredo, creation as albedo, knowledge-then-choice as citrinitas-then-rubedo—and given the parallelism between yang and cinder, blake and raven, and weiss and penny+winter, it is probably a safe bet that the summer maiden is a) not summer rose, and b) a character foil to ruby, which i think adds some weight to the gillian theory.

anyways.

the philosopher's stone is ozlem.

#to be clear i think the alchemy thing is more convergent evolution from plato than deliberate use of alchemical structure #but neoplatonism did significantly influence western european alchemical philosophy so there is a lot to work with #and putting it in alchemical terms can be a clarifying analytical shorthand #as long as you don't. ignore everything the narrative spells out wrt salem #ANYWAY. HERE. TAKE IT.

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tenspontaneite · 11 months

Text

SRS: why the fuck do you need biosecurity in your organisms our People and their political rivals are all fucking dead

NSH: oh you know

NSH: reasons 💚

(For some unspecified future point in Assembly. Details/worldbuilding under the cut)

It occurred to me that with how much bioengineering the Ancients did, there would have certainly been purposed organism designs that were considered trade secrets, and that rivals might attempt to steal. If the data are secure, you might try to steal a tissue sample from the organism to work from instead, and get your hands on the organism that way. This was referred to as genetic espionage.

Countermeasures for genetic espionage generally involved engineering an organelle into any DNA-bearing cell that would fucking melt the nucleus and then breach the cell wall as soon as it detected its cell or surrounding cells being disconnected from the larger organism, causing extremely rapid cell death and loss of genetic information. This has the side effect of making security enabled organisms unable to reattach severed limbs or body parts. Tissue grafts are similarly impossible.

Counter-counter-espionage methods include injecting an organism with a substance that baffles the security organelle detection methods in some way, or placing the sample in a container that does the same. Counter-counter-counter espionage methods vary. There's a whole bioengineering arms race in that 👌👌

Given the ancients are all dead and theoretically no one is around to do genetic espionage anymore, Suns has no fucking idea why Sig is security protecting the thing they're working on together. (Meanwhile, Sig is basically doing 5d chess with multiverse time travel in his brain and knows exactly why he's doing this.)

#rain world #seven red suns #no significant harassment #my art #rough and sketchy #assembly #it posted the images out of order initially. hopefully fixed now

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seradyn · 15 days

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Royal Respite and Midnight Melody!

The two I’m most excited about 🤤🤤

I’m going to start with Midnight Melody cause I wAnT tOO

This is a short one shot I thought of when I reexamined some of Astarion’s lines post Cazador. When the player asks how he feels directly following the event, he explains he feels ‘numb’. From my own experience and what I’ve learned about surviving abuse, often people can struggle coping with a world where their abuser is out of the picture, because so much of their life was consumed by them, either physically or mentally. We see this not only in Astarion, but in Karlach too, who has similar feelings after Gortash’s death, because all the rage she built up around him has nowhere to go. It’s still there, but now it’s trapped inside without an outlet, instead of being healed when her abuser went away like they think it should have.

Astarion is the same way; without Cazador, where is he supposed to direct all his energy, his hatred, his rage over what happened to him? It’s still there, even though he’s dead, and it’s not fair. I wouldn’t be surprised if he struggled with his purpose after Cazador’s death. This happens with real survivors too; their whole world revolved around their abuser for so long, once they’re gone they just feel so empty and lost.

This fic is a take on that, where reader helps reassure Astarion that he doesn’t have to know what he wants right now, and they’re more than happy to help him figure it out. He tells them he doesn’t have a heart to guide him, but that’s not true. Is it not reader’s blood that flows through his veins? Does reader’s heart not beat for him? They remind him, hold his head gently to their chest so he can listen, can hear the heartbeat that is not only theirs, but one they give freely to him, too.

Basically more tooth rotting fluff and non sexual intimacy. Baby boy just needs to be held and I’ll be damned if I don’t smother him in affection. He deserves it.

Here is snippet:

“It’s nothing serious, of course…” he said quietly. Another lie, but you didn’t say anything, simply cradling his hand to your chest, a precious and fragile part of him. It gave him time to work up the courage to continue.

“It’s just that…When I was under Cazador,” he hissed the name, fangs poking out over his bottom lip, “every thought I had, everything I did was for him. He dominated us, mind, body and soul, and used that dominance to make our whole world about him.”

His eyes were wild with anger, that grimace back on his face, because it was so much worse to say it out loud, to acknowledge how much of his life belonged to his old master. You squeezed his hand to encourage him to keep going. This needed to come out, lest he push you away to protect you from the rot that did naught but burrow and consume down into his being.

“Even after the nautiloid, he inhabited so much of my thoughts,” he went on, his voice slightly rasped and shaking. “Though instead of fear or obedience, it was anger and determination to kill him. Even when he lost control of me, all I could think about was him. Even with his body rotting in the dirt, I cannot get him out of my head.”

“And now that he’s gone…I can’t help but wonder…what am I supposed to do?” His eyes filled with sorrow then, displeasure with himself. “With Cazador dead…I find myself losing all sense of direction.”

Your heart broke for him, jagged pieces of it left on the floor for you to step on. You cupped Astarion’s cheek, lifting his face to look at you. His eyes were wide, glistening in the dim candlelight as they filled with pain and worse: self loathing. You didn’t need the tadpole to hear that treacherous little voice in his head, one you knew like an old friend that whispered pathetic, worthless, weak. You knew he wanted to protect you, wanted to give you the life you deserved, yet he hadn’t the faintest idea how to do that, where to even start, and it pained him.

Gently, allowing him to pull back if he so desired, you led him into your arms, wrapping them around him so you could rub at the tension in his back. He nearly collapsed into your embrace in relief, immediately wrapping his own arms around you and crushing you to him. You massaged his shoulder blades while he pressed needy, frantic kisses into your hair, afraid you might pull away and leave should he stop.

“It’s okay not to know,” you said into his chest, kissing his sternum. “We can figure it out together. I’ll always be here with you, no matter what future you decide you want.”

He let out a tense breath, burying his face in your neck. “I know,” he mumbled. “I know whatever future awaits, I want you to be a part of it.” He leaned back, just enough that he could meet your eyes, so you could see into the dark abyss where his mind lingered. “The problem is, I don’t know what I want our future to look like. What I want it to look like.”

It was then you fully realized that what Astarion had been feeling since the confrontation with Cazador was lost. So, so lost, in a world without his master to contend with. The hopelessness you heard on his tongue was a knife piercing your tender heart, a sharp pain burning through your chest as it tried to beat around it, blood gushing from the wound and radiating out across your skin. What was freedom to one who didn’t know how to live with it, didn’t know how it felt? Though his chains had been broken, the memory of them still pulled him down and suffocated him. You wished so deeply to spare Astarion this pain, for he lived so long in the shadows of the world, you wanted to shower him in the light until he was blinded.

Abruptly, he shook his head, a growl ripping past his lips as he pulled himself away from you. It should be so easy, to move on and enjoy life now that he was allowed to. His desires could be fulfilled, instead of remaining the desperate wishes of a slave who longed for escape. The world was his for the taking, his life his own once more.

So why did he still feel so broken?

“Now that I’m free, I’m supposed to be able to do whatever I want. Follow my heart, as our companions said.” He spit the words; they tasted foul in his mouth.

“How am I supposed to know what I want without a heart to guide me?”

I’ll send you the full version once the first draft is done. Hope you like it 💕

Royal Respite has a similar vibe, and is also pure tooth rotting fluff/non sexual intimacy. It’s a one shot in which reader gives Ardyn a massage after he delivers the peace treaty proposal to the Lucian council. Just letting reader dote on him while he talks about his day, and letting him relax before everything goes to shit, basically. Ardyn has been working to make this plan come true for literally decades. I think he deserves some rest before it fully comes to fruition.

No snippet for this one yet, since I’ve been hyper focused on some of my Astarion fics *cough* see above *cough* but hopefully it doesn’t take too long to get on paper. You’ll be the first to know when there’s a rough draft 💕

#let me hold my babies #get absolutely adored idiots #that’s basically the vibe of these two fics 😂#they’re very closely related in terms of mindset #astarion x reader #ardyn x reader #ardyn izunia x reader

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alevolpe · 4 months

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Please tell us about Luna (and Artemis)!

Alright!

Luna as I mentioned here was a part of the rebellion group that included Beryl and the 4 kings back in the silver millennium, she was a crucial part of the operation as she was the only one with direct access to the Moon Kingdom and the Queen.

Though let me take it back a second and explain who Luna is. The name Luna isn’t her name per se, but more of a title/position in the royal court that is passed down. The role of a Luna is given to a human woman whose job is to be a caretaker, specifically she’s the caretaker for any reborn senshi.

Say the current Mercury does anything that gets her executed, the new Mercury will be reborn on Earth and it’s Luna’s job to take her from her human parents and raise her til the age where she’s mature enough to be independent.

Additionally, since it happens that a whole life of a Luna can pass by without her even needing to take care of any senshi ( read more on how old the senshis are here, in the comments) she also is entasked with small roles as advisor for the queen and mediator during Earth expeditions, both of these jobs are her responsibility ONLY if it has to do with the senshi.

Our Luna didn’t raise any of the senshi, they are all adults when she is given the title of Luna, despite that Luna still tries to be there for (most of) them like a mother would. She feels for them and understands the terrible situations they’re in. That said she’s not treated well by all of them, really the only ones that treat her nicely and with respect are Mars and Neptune, and in her own way Mercury.

Luna is very passionate, even in her current life, she’s very driven by a sense of justice, while also having a very compassionate heart toward the people she’s supposedly betraying. Though she’s never swayed to think that what she’s doing isn’t right, the people of Earth deserve better and for that, the Moon Kingdom has to fall, even if she knows it means most likely means the death of the senshi and the princess.

She’s eventually discovered and executed, Mars tipping off the Queen to her doings. Mars is a very interesting character in silmil and she’s def the most “lawful good” out them all, but with her future vision, she does what she has to make sure the pieces fall into place for a better future. She knew Luna’s execution was the only opening for such future, so she regrettably did what she had to do. There’s 0 animosity between them, more like a mutual respect and liability. They never talked about such issues openly between each other, but there was always a silent mutual understanding. Mars understood Luna’s actions and Luna’s understood Mars’.

Skipping to the current time, the same Luna that was executed was reincarnated into the body of a cat, my theory is that cats are nimble, low key creatures who are able to fairly easily integrate into society while still not being human and so that’s why the Queen chose such form. She didn’t want Luna to be a human cause she doesn’t need Luna to stick around long, cats live much shorter lives and she only needs Luna to care of the senshi during their ‘transitioning training’ period and then die, having fulfilled her purpose.

All Luna’s memories were erased, only keeping very foggy, but clear goals in her mind. Awaken the senshi, find the princess and stop the evil Dark Kingdom. I like to think Queen Serenity chose this past Luna to reincarnate instead of just getting a fresh new soul because Luna already carried that sort of experienced motherly vibe with her, making it easier the ease the senshi into accepting their new destiny, but also maybe as a sort of taunting punishment. This is your punishment for your betrayal, you’ll unknowingly help defeat the same group you were a part of all those years ago and that empire you tried to destroy, will rise once again, with you knowing no better and dying before even getting to witness it.

As for Artemis, my ideas with him are definitely not as fleshed out. I most often tend to see him as the royal advisor of the Queen, his name also being a title. He really believes the Queen to be a sort of superior being, but he does also have a deeper attachment to her, seeing the more human side to her, which no1 else really gets to see.

He’s a bit more on the cynical side when it comes to the Earth people. Not that he sees them as completely inferior, but he believes people like them need beings like Serenity to mantain peace and order, even if they don’t know better. Humans are inherently selfish and self-destructive, he witnessed it, being a human who grew up on Earth.

He regularly interacted with Venus, being another victim of her manipulations, even if not to the level of Serenity, and holds her to a standard higher than the other senshi, seeing the rest of them as unmotivated and ungrateful of being a part of the court.

Unlike Luna, he retained his memories when he got reincarnated. Lying and withholding information to the true extent of what the senshi, the princess and the kingdom truly entail to the future of the girls and Earth itself, even from Luna.

He believes he’s doing the right thing, that Queen Serenity knew better and that this is how things should be. Though in the back of his mind something doesn’t feel right, he feels hurt and betrayed. Why was he reborn as a cat? He understands why Luna was, but why him, he showed nothing but devotion and loyalty to the Queen. Did he really not mean anything to her or does she really know best and knows that Artemis’ fate is ultimately inconsequential to the rise of the new kingdom?

This conflict within him is a major part of his growth as a character, learning to unwind and truly rethink what being human means through the girls and especially through Mina.

Regarding their relationship, I really do not ship Luna and Artemis. Through the majority of the first arc Luna is left in the dark by him and lead to make decisions that ultimately will cause the girls more harm than good. They are coworkers at best and even after stuff get a lil cleared out, Luna still holds a huge resentment toward him never really gets resolved (in my hc, Luna doesn’t live past the 2nd season, sorry, ik, I love her too).

This is long I know , sorry. LOL, but hopefully it clears some things up and of course all I write int his asks is still a draft, so stuff might change.

#ask me stuff #silver millennium #luna #artemis #Longest ask by far? …#Prob not lol

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firein-thesky · 16 days

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cielo you're smarter than me or at least more eloquent

can you explain why jjk upsets me to no end but csm doesn't at all?? I feel like I can trust fujimoto, even though heinous stuff happens in csm too

anon hfkjdksja i am not quite sure but i can endeavor to answer!!

gonna put this under a cut in case it gets long!!

jjk and csm spoilers below the cut!!

mostly, i think it’s because csm is very precise and thoughtful with its story, even if the story is sad. in csm part one, no panel is wasted. even their “down time” serves to further relationships, plot, or emotional ties. i think jjk at one point was pretty thoughtful, though not quite as laser-focused as csm. mostly, i chalk this up to writer experience. jjk is akutami’s first published manga. fujimoto has had a couple other works published previously and is a pretty seasoned writer.

i think, at the end of the day, few stories are as clean as csm has been so far. jjk was always written quickly, similar to csm, but i think at points it lacks finesse. i think especially as we enter later parts of jjk, like the culling games, where we lost track of our main protags for an insanely long amount of time to give room to many characters who were only recently introduced and we had little connection to as an audience, only to get our protags back and then effectively…lose them again in many ways?

like sukuna moving into megumi’s body, getting gojo back and then killed, etc.

not to say every moment in jjk is bad, but it is sloppy at points. and that is something csm is rarely, if ever so far. there are also a ton of strange plots that akutami introduced and then has done nothing with? or plots lines akutami has effectively done away with.

more than that, jjk has (in my eyes) officially fumbled the “best female characters in shonen” lol after losing nobara, though maki’s arc is compelling, it’s pretty much trashed all the rest. csm, on the other hand, has only doubled down in part two in making asa its protagonist and creating a very complex, emotionally compelling female lead. nayuta/makima is also interesting and well written. i also think this is why csm is not as popular/as beloved or as talked about as jjk. i think a lot of people are subconsciously or consciously not interested in women or their stories and therefore find csm “more boring” but that’s another conversation.

overall, i think jjk is so frustrating because it does not feel planned out, thoughtful, or intentional at points so it’s deaths or ‘tragedy’ feels a little hollow. wasted, if you will. whereas csm, even if it’s sad or we lose our favorite character, we can tell, even just instinctively, that it had purpose and drive to the story, themes, and ideas csm is presenting.

(i also have another conversation entirely on this whole ‘jjk is a tragedy’ spiel because i kind of disagree…or think it’s a very poorly written one as tragedy is a genre in and of itself. but i won’t get into it now—if you’re curious, i can talk about it in another ask or something!!)

i didn’t get into specifics too much—but if you wanted, i could also do that!! i hope this answered your question somewhat haha but ultimately, what you feel is for you to say!!

#thank you for calling me eloquent jfkdjska that is kind of you #i hope this made sense!!#cielo chats!#cielo rants!#<- gonna start tagging when i’m being a lil critic bc i know some folks don’t want to see criticism of their favs on the dash!!#and i don’t wanna bombard them w that!!

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ailurocide · 8 months

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Have you mentioned how the sort of nine lives system works in Ailurocide?

I have not!

Within Ailurocide’s narrative, we’re abandoning the nine lives system set up by Warriors, but not abandoning the nine lives idea as a whole. Just remodeling it and making it unique to our story here!

Let’s get a bit of context before actively diving into the whys and whats!

The Tree of Lights (also sometimes known as “the Tree of Souls”, or simply “the Soul Tree”) is, like many other things within Ailurocide, a hybrid! Rather than following the three-point-hybridization of most species, it is split between a weeping willow and a Canadian hemlock. This Tree produces glowing, harmless, and infertile spores that come in striking colors and sport bioluminescent characteristics, though it also bears a type of “fruit” that grow as cones, protected by a hard outer shell of scales that, when peeled back, reveal the tiny, fleshy fruit within.

These fruits are used for two very distinct and separate things:

When kept in its shell and offered the blood of two felfolk, by either cutting into the scales specifically to feed it, or by “watering” it with blood, the fruit and cone will expand and ultimately produce a new-bloom born of the DNA that the fruit was fed.

When ingested, the fruit can cause extreme resilience within a felfolk (or really, any animal that eats it) for several hours, sometimes even up to a whole day.

For the purposes of this post specifically, we’ll focus on their second listed use.

After ingesting this fruit, the individual will be able to walk off what normally would be a life-threatening injury, recover from the brink of death with little issue, and heal from most any immediate physical ailment. The more it is consumed, however, the more unstable a felfolk’s body becomes; they become weaker and far more prone to illness and small injuries such as excessive bleeding and bruising.

So, in order to ensure that no overdosing occurs, the plant is only offered to fairleads - ideally the strongest of their faction. On the cusp of war, the fairlead can ingest it, or if they’ve been suffering from an illness and wish to continue leading their faction, can ingest it then; it’s an incredibly powerful, potent plant. To misuse it not only causes extreme adverse effects on the body, but it also is grounds for banishment or even execution, in some cases.

Due to its immense importance to the Fealty’s way of life, the ability to continue bloodlines non-sexually, as well as the tempting power it holds, the Evergreens have been entrusted with the duty of guarding the Tree and the fruit, to ensure that not just anyone is able to get their paws on it and risk abusing it. The Tree’s protection, as well as the protection of its fruit - either for the purposes of continuing a life or extending one - falls onto the shoulders of the Evergreens, and it is a responsibility that none take lightly.

The max number of times any fairlead has ever ingested this plant was nine. They would always experience a horrifically painful death - with all of their organs failing, one by one, the brain being the last to go - afterwards.

#ailurocide #ask #x-critter2022 #spotty speaks #xenomoggy #warrior cats rewrite #warrior cats au #ailurocide: the evergreens

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silviakundera · 2 months

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alright my dudes & dudettes, it's Spirealm time!!

(jazz hands ensue)

fair warning: in these episode reactions I'm not gonna pretend I haven't read the novel. in fact, I purposely finished the novel before viewing, to get The Full Experience. thus novel spoilers, including twist end, included.

I'm spacing out posting these, so you aren't flooded.

The Spirealm Ep 1

* ngl I was legit hyped to see the hallway of doors! I am one of Those People who does not visually imagine stories in their mind, so I don't have much of a preconceived idea of what people or places in a book look like. So adaptions are a special delight for me

* ok, so he's playing a "VR game" and logs off.... OR DOES HE????? In the book, the whole narrative we think he's experiencing for the first time all happens within the 12th door - he has his memory suppressed and only thinks he just entered his first door. I am intrigued at the idea that the drama could be playing a lil bit of a slight of hand here... in which he has been a regular player of 'the official version' already and is already under the thrall. Apparently symptoms include hallucinations and death! Good times. No wonder he wants a black market copy for his very own.

* idk it's just a thought

* Mostly what I found suspicious is that he's already showing super hearing ability and he's having to shake off a mental disturbance

* Chestnut!!! Ok in the 12th door in the novel, at first Chestnut wasn't uber lovey dovey with him anymore. 1st indication of weirdness. In the drama... maybe? we see the cat backing away a bit and resisting, and he has to pull Chestnut over... LQ makes a comment, "I'll give you food, don't move" 🤔🤔🤔🤔

* Suddenly the game shows up in his mail? from Unknown Address... on... isn't it the same day? so that makes no logical sense. (intentional subtext or just cdrama time lol? ) and then for a moment it melds into the game world when he's walking outside... this is all supporting my theories!

* k it's BOYFRIEND TIME. Let's find yo man.

* He either now logs onto the official game (or THINKS that he is logging onto the official version for the 1st time, but he's been inside this whole episode)

* He walks through the door, thinks there's a glitch, and now he believes he's logged off. This time he definitely didn't. DEFINITELY.

* This door looks fantastic.

* He's hit by a car while marveling at the door. Except I don't think so, either time A or B he never logged off. Bro is SEEING FANTASTICAL DOORS IN THE STREET. That's not occurring in our reality.

* I'm really appreciating how disorientating the first episode is, by the way. When does reality end? There are like 7 options to start from.

* FINALLY BOYFRIEND \o/

* "I'm saving you and you still scold me." We may have lost Ruan Baijie 😭😭😭 but this is a nice meet-cute.

* The explanation from Mysterious Future Boyfriend: To put it simply, you're in the game. Here, if you don't finish the game, you can't leave. If you end the game here, you leave... then it really is the end." [universal sliced neck gesture]

(and ok, still banging on that drum, but this vibes with my pet theory - that he never left in the first place...)

* LQ crossed into the game -- and what that means is said to be complicated.

When LQ says as a programmer he can follow an explanation, Ruan Nanzhu just mocks that he hears but doesn't understand.

* Already we are getting a certain vibe, with LQ being backed up into a tree by looming hot stranger. Bro visibly looks down twice (at hottie's lips? at how close their bodies are becoming? the looming increases intensity)

Very strong 20 minute opener imo.

((Post-script: if we want to consider an alternative to the alternate theory of WTF is Reality in this Drama? What if is there a normal game he test plays in the first 12 minutes & separately also The Doors actually exist the same as they do in novel, and he enters on the verge of death and the drama is never actually about a game at all, & he never leaves the 12th door. He just never escapes, baby. 💥😵💥))

(that one is pretty out there tbh. just added for spice. and that very pretty door looking out of place & wholly different than the game decor.)

Next Episode

#the spirealm #silvia watches #silvia watches the spirealm #the spirealm spoilers #kaleidoscope of death spoilers #cdrama

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dirtytransmasc · 1 year

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I know there are like three fanfictions and four fanarts with Na'vi/Avatar Spider but it got me thinking about the possibility of our boi having an avatar body in the next movies and I've been thinking about these three questions if it's a good or a bad idea (and not an absolute fuck you to Spider)

1) Does Spider want an Avatar?

Easy answer YES absolutely 100% he wants. He wants to not constantly risk choking to death when he goes on a walk. He wants an ikran. He wants to connect with Eywa.

2) Does he need one?

Answer: YES and NO He shouldn't need to get a new body to be finally accepted by the people around him (and that would be a kick in the teeth if he realized that now it's easier to see him as a person when he literally has to get a new body) but he does live on a planet that he can't breathe on without support and probably 90% of food is inedible for him.

3) Does he deserve one?

YES and it's not because of some heroic feat but because again he's born on a planet that can easily kill him and having a body that makes living on this planet easier and helps him really connect with the place he was born and raised it you know I think it's neat.

Conclusion: Whatever makes Spider happy is great as long as the decision is made by him with only his wellbeing in mind and no one else's.

Anyway I'm very passionate about Spider having his own Avatar. Thank you for trying to understand my bullshit.

this is exactly what I think about the whole thing, screw the narrative, screw the purpose or story; I need my baby boy to be happy, and while he shouldn't need a navi body to be happy, its what he deserves.

#spider socorro #miles socorro #miles spider socorro #avatar 2 #avatar the way of water

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randomfoggytiger · 1 year

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Scully's Speech in HTGSC Proves Mulder Is Her Ouroboros

**Note**: Will come back to edit later.

I pulled out a portion of my next In-Depth analysis because it was an amazing little connection:

This next speech of Scully’s is so incredibly important it’s getting an in-depth analysis of its own, tying together the threads of Scully in relation to Mulder: his stagnation and her frustration with it, as well as her deep understanding of what he really says and what makes him tick. As yet, she tries to bridge that gap in vain.

“I mean, the whole-- Mulder” she calls when he gets too far ahead, signaling Mulder to wait up “--the whole idea of a benevolent entity fits perfectly with what I’m saying: that, I mean, um, that a spirit would materialize or return for no other purpose than to show itself is silly and ridiculous.” (Just as aliens are ridiculous?) “I mean, what it really shows is how silly and ridiculous we have become believing such things.” (“Mulder, you’re crazy.”)

Mulder flashes his light at Scully briefly as if to say "well, you’re here, too" before going back to his thorough search of the upstairs hallway. She may be sermonizing a little, but she’s there; and the more she talks her nerves away, the more Scully relaxes into her monologue. She’s found a way to say something important, and she’s using this opportunity as best she can.

And it’s here where Scully, again, touches on her continual talking points of S6 (“settle down… something approaching a normal life”, “life on this planet”, etc.), harkening back to her itchy feelings in Never Again when she contrasted her zest for growth and forward movement to Mulder’s stagnation and single-minded ways (that circular snake eating his tail to death and decay, post by @suitablyaggrieved here): “I mean, that-that we can ignore all natural laws about the corporeal body, that-that we witness these spirits clad in their own shabby outfits with the… same old haircuts and hairstyles, never aging, never...never in search of more comfortable surroundings. It actually ends up saying more about the living than about the dead.”

Scully is a creature of comfort; but she and Mulder approach it very differently. She surrounds herself with manicured nails, quality heels, silk pajamas, and spa bath experiences. Mulder buries himself in dust and death, avoiding what Scully celebrates about life by “walking into his sister’s room” every day of his life.

Scully has been softening her tone during this speech; but when Mulder merely makes a “Mhm” noise to notate he’s somewhat listening, she doubles down in earnest: “I mean, Mulder, it doesn’t take an advanced degree in psychology to understand the, the unconscious yearnings that imaginings satisfy.”

Crucially (and I can’t understate this enough), Scully lays out what she believes Mulder is trying to tell her here (just as she understood his baseball lesson in The Unnatural) as they both pause in the haunted hallway (it’s always in hallways, isn’t it?): “Y’know, the, the longing for immortality, the hope that there is something beyond this mortal coil-- that, that we might never be long without our loved ones-- I mean these are powerful” she pauses to further soften her voice “powerful desires.”

Mulder pauses his wanderings, showing his attention with stillness rather than any overt reaction.

“I mean,” she says, “they’re the very essence of what makes us human."

It’s also interesting that Scully is proving how at peace she is (mostly) with the tragedies in her life: her father, sister, and daughter are dead, because she believes in the gift of immortality through life after death (it’s not until Tithonus shows her what a curse that can be, too.) Unfortunately, while she may have laid her ghosts to rest, Mulder has not; and they are still tearing at his mind (as demonstrated before in Demons.)

Mulder nods along, taking in what Scully is saying but not understanding it. Just as he doesn’t get her “what about your family” in Home, her “endless line” in Never Again, her “normal life” in Dreamland I, and her “life on this planet” in The Unnatural.

Mulder is Scully’s ouroboros, constantly pursuing one path and consuming himself (and her) in his quest. “There are other fathers,” she told Ed Jerse; but what she meant-- or didn’t realize she meant-- was that there will always be her Ahab: relentless in his career while living, only realizing what he’s sacrificed-- love, family, the little things-- once he's dead. “You know, you are Ahab,” Scully said to Mulder in Quagmire; and she was right. (Shoutout to @waiting-for-the-day for her assessment that Scully is self-aware of her own narrative.) He's still on that rock, in the basement, in his childhood memories; and his pursuit of "the truth" leads him perpetually away from it.

#txf #meta #Scully #ouroboros #Mulder #Never Again #Quagmire #Home #HTGSC #The Unnatural #S4 #S5 #S6 #mine #thoughts #xf meta #x-files #the x files #xfiles

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