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convenientalias · 6 months

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West Out of Yu Men/Parallel World Review

Bc I just finished watching it yesterday!

I really liked it :D

I think it had a very unique aesthetic. It's set in the desert or in cities located near the desert for the most part, and you really feel it. The characters don't always look like they're hot, but there's always a dry, gritty feeling to the air. The fashion, tooo, was pretty unique. Ye Liuxi is very rough and tumble action girl with a little bit of sexy thrown in; Chang Dong mostly dresses kind of generic, practical and understated; Ding Liu dresses kind of cutesy-garish, loosening up both in attitude and in fashion as the show progresses; and then everyone in the parallel world dresses like they're in some historical fantasy with a touch of apocalyptic. So that's all just fun to watch. I love when a show has a unique visual feel to it.

In terms of plot, the show is a little wandering and not super tight, but that makes sense for a show about two characters both investigating a mystery and traveling through a different world. It's about discovery, meeting people and seeing wonders--eventually with some political intrigue as well. I honestly wish it could have been a little longer. Give it another five episodes, and I think we could have tied up some loose ends and gotten a more satisfying ending for a couple characters (specifically I'm thinking of Gao Shen and Jiang Zhan, but even Liuxi... well, I could watch several hours more of just Liuxi lols).

The acting was all pretty good. I have to admit I was not equally invested in all characters. This is definitely the Ye Liuxi show. Everyone else can be as cool and complex as they want, but we're all here to watch Ni Ni beat people up, open up portals, drive through the desert, cut melons, flirt obnoxiously, make threats, and so on and so forth. Previously I had only seen Ni Ni in The Rise of Phoenixes, and she's good in that but more of a trickster character, clever but not exactly intimidating. I love seeing an actress in a role where she's really allowed to dominate everyone around her, and I hadn't known Ni Ni would be so good at that. Now I want to finish watching The Rise of Phoenixes at some point but I don't know if I'll feel disappointed seeing her in a role that's less absolutely tyrannical.

The other lead actor is of course Bai Yu.

Tumblrites probably know him as Guardian's Zhao Yunlan, which is also where I first saw him. In this show he's much more subdued and serious, which I think is necessary to counter such a powerful presence as Ni Ni's Liuxi. He and Ni Ni have great chemistry. It's less sexy and flirty, and more familiar and comfortable, though slow-won. There's one scene where Liuxi pokes a brooding Chang Dong with a stick until he takes the end of it, and when he lets go of it she pokes him until he holds it again, and they just sit together in silence. For me, that's kind of what their relationship is about. They understand each other and offer each other comfort and support. At the same time, they have a strong sense of physicality for a cdrama. Again, not necessarily in a sexual way, but Liuxi is the kind of person who will just drape herself on someone, hook an arm over their shoulder, rub legs like an obnoxious and kind of sexy cat... it adds to the warmth of their relationship. (Though I would also have been fine seeing the two remain platonic, but as ships go, it's rather nice.)

That said. This show also had a couple ships it did not need! Gao Shen/Ding Liu is okay but underdeveloped and kind of just background noise; Fei Tang/A He is where I enter "okay, so now you just need to pair up EVERYONE" territory. None of the ships were annoying exactly, but apart from Liuxi/Chang Dong, I just feel like you could have left them out and you wouldn't lose much. If you're going to include them, give them some damn development! That's all I can say on the matter.

I enjoyed the villains a lot. There's a variety here: Some typical shady bureaucrats, a scheming woman to serve as Liuxi's foil and rival, and a man from Liuxi's past who has a complicated relationship with her. My favorite was the last of these three, Jiang Zhan! And I won't give more spoilers than that but can I just say: Jiang Zhan deserved better!!! Will someone please write hurt-comfort fic for my boy!!

Anyway! I recommend West Out of Yu Men if:

-You like Ni Ni or Bai Yu and want to see them doing something a bit different.

-You would be interested in an atmosphere of urban fantasy meets desert epic.

-You want to see a woman playing the amnesiac "chosen one" warrior trope (and with flair).

-You like to see an ensemble go on a road trip, gathering members along the way and getting into magical shenanigans. (If you HATE road trips, though--not a reason to skip. Travel is an aspect but there's still plenty of plot to go around.)

-You want to see Ni Ni cut a melon with a big knife (you can get this in episode one. Just one episode to appreciate the glorious THUNK of a melon being cut with a large knife).

You can also watch it if you want to write fanfic for it to satisfy my current cravings for 1) femslash and 2) anything about Jiang Zhan. (I haven't talked about the possible femslash ships bc they are pretty much my imagination but Ding Liu is very cutesy and friendly with Liuxi and also that female villain I was talking about above HATES Liuxi in a way that is quite fun, so. There's that.)

Now I have to find another badass woman show to satisfy that particular mood. If you have any recs along those lines, let me know ;)

#west out of the yumen #parallel world #cdrama #cdrama review

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curiouslyattractivefishman · 2 months

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I really should update these but!!! These are my guys!!!

So I was an Undertale/CoDZ kid so AU's are a part of the inspiration (in the sense of I don't have to create a new character from scratch, I made Ari before I gave DmC a chance, and only made Zona after that fact).

Here comes a wall of text so have fun with that :))

Arizona - Small spring/Great Oak

Armani - Warrior

Ambrosi - Immortal

I liked the idea of having an alliterative name, and I like to keep my names for demons Italian/Latin due to works like The Divine Comedy, as well as the sheer amount of religious talk in the cultures.

Ari is a goofball, he likes to play and hop and frolic. He's protective of the people close to him. He only really causes mischief, and pranks. He doesn't want to hurt anyone, only cause them a small amount of inconvenience. If a joke goes too far, you'll often find that he's the first to jump in to help resolve the problem. He often steals pens from Dante, spare Devil Breakers from Nero, and tools from Nico. He's sweet, and he's kind, playful, and dumb. While his Demon Form is much stronger, he often uses it to help people feel better. He's a huge fluffy boi, and that makes it easy for others to calm down and feel safe around him.

Zona, however, is much colder. Yes, he wants humans to be free of such a, shall I say, abusive ruler in Mundus, but Zona used to be something of a feral Demon. (I can't personally decide if this part of his Backstory is that Vergil tamed the feral Zona, or if Zona was injured and became indebted to Vergil after the Nephilim helped him.) But he is Vergil's Right Hand Man, hanging just behind the blue Nephilim and waiting to do his boss's dirty work. He enjoys playing with the creatures Vergil needs dead, and the fact that Dante is Vergil's twin does NOT save the red Nephilim. Throughout the course of DmC: Devil May Cry, Zona is curt with Dante after Vergil invites him to help The Order, and is polite with Kat, Vergil's Right Hand Mystic. However, after the twins fight at the end of the game and Vergil disappears into his portal, Zona turned tail and ran off, meeting back up with Vergil after the events of Vergil's Downfall. At this point, Vergil has become the Demon King, and he formally appoints Zona as his Second In Command, his confidant. (ALSO ZONA IS SOOOOOOOOO GAY FOR VERGIL ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️)

AAAAAAA THATS SO COOL!!!!! I LOVE HEARING DmC OCS ESPECIALLY BC THERES SO MUCH TO WORK WITH!!!!

ARI SEEMS LIKE A JOY TO BE AROUND I LOVE UR OCS DUDE…

this is my OG timeline Oc! her name is Asmara and she is Nero’s mom! (the quality is FUCKED BC TUMBLR HATES ME)

She’s a succubus and Vergils VERY ESTRANGED ex-gf.

She’s 400~ years old and from Indonesia. She was the firstborn of a king and queen in Indonesia, making her a princess. She is the oldest sibling and sister to 3 brothers.

She was turned into a succubus in her 20’s.

She was hiding in Fortuna when she met Vergil. At first they didn’t get along, but the two eventually begin to care for eachother as time goes on, which leads to them jumping into a relationship.

Vergil breaks it off because he thinks she’s weak and making him soft, and leaves her, telling her he never loved her. (He’s lying).

She’s forced to abandon Nero, as she’s being hunted down by the King Asmodeus, and since everyone in Fortuna fucking hated her, they told Nero how much of a whore his mother was.

Since she’s been turned succubus, she still technically has Human DNA, which is recessive to Vergil’s dominant genes, making Nero look almost nothing like her.

She is really kind and motherly, but more of a mama bear character. If you mess with her son, or her loved ones, she’s hunting you down.

Her weapon is a copper whip that is embedded with the spirits of her ancestors. She also has the ability to produce sparks from her palm (which are rather weak but become MUCH stronger when channeled through her whip)

She was eventually captured by Asmodeus and was trapped until (in my AU) Urizen killed him, which set her free. Not knowing who Urizen truly was, she ran away, not looking back, searching for her son.

Reuniting with everyone is definitely… an experience.

She keeps her distance with Vergil. She (unfortunately) still loves him but knows better than to fall for him a second time. They don’t go out of their way to interact, and every conversation they have is extremely awkward.

With Nero, she is a great mother, supportive and caring and just wants to make sure he’s happy, but she doesn’t seem to understand that it’s gonna take some time for him to process everything he’s going through.

She’s cool with Dante! She enjoys his quips and finds him funny.

She helps out at the orphanage and all the children call her “Mama Mara”. She is extremely proud of all of them and loves them all as if they were her own

now for my trainwreck; Ángel

(i never properly drew them lmfao)

Ángel is my DmC OC, and as their name suggests they are an angel!

Their full name is Virtue Ángel Amare de Pluma, but since Dante didn’t bother trying, it’s just Ángel.

(He still pronounces it as Angel, too)

Ángel is a Virtue angel, and their job specifically is to save the souls of every from Limbo City, since the demon menace has been cleansed. They are rather stubborn and close minded, and truly unknowing of the Human world, or what humans are forced to live through, making them come off as a huge bitch, but they truly do have only the best intentions in mind. Due to how they were raised as an angel, they view themselves above humans, and sees it as a simple fact, though they are kind to them, they are quick to cast out or judge those who aren’t believers. Their personal ‘pet project’ is saving Dante’s soul.

Dante, of course tells them to fuck off, but realizes that Ángel is really the only person who can somewhat relate to him.

Their relationship starts off really rocky. Imagine the Jehova’s Witness knocking at your door every 4 AM and telling you all your sins. Yeah.

Ángel finds Dante’s overall horniness abhorrent and repulsive. Dante keeps flirting with them because he finds it hilarious how flustered he’s able to make them. The two warm up to each other slowly. Ángel does become a more accepting of Dante’s nature even though they deny it vehemently, they refuse to have anyone believe that they enjoy his sin. And Dante learns more of what it is to be a Nephilim, and about being an angel. Like how everyone gets along in this universe; its mostly trauma dumping until the become friends.

Ángel’s relationship with Kat is much better! They are always kind to her and the two get close rather quickly. Ángel is always there to protect and support Kat, no matter what. Kat is actually the person to make Ángel realize the beauty, rather than responsibility, that humanity is.

all three end up in a poly relationship teehee

#ángel core #asmara core #asks #dmc dude #thats ur tag on my blog now!#dmc oc

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mynameisnotsoda · 2 months

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YES PLEASE INFODUMP ON THE PISS SMP, I SAW AN INSTA POST YOU MADE IF IT AND I WANNA KNOW MORE/pos

OH MY GODDD AHAHAH LETS GOOO !!! MY EVIL PLAN TO SPREAD THE PISS SMP PROPAGANDA!!!!!!!!!! Okay so

In the beginning, we werent going to do lore, it was just meant to be a server for fun! Me and my brother explored and gathered materials for a while and he ended up taming a dog! Thats where the lore starts. It all started when that damn dog died.

So, he ended up naming the dog Piss, cuz it was funny, and we were exploring more at night. Piss ended up chasing after a spider and fell into a ravine and sadly passed away. (Now in character) Cyrus laughed his ass off, Ezra (he shares a name with my brother just bc he goes by Father Piss for the rest of the series) shouted "PISS YOU FUCKING DUMBASS" and it fucked him up pretty badly even if they both played it off like joke at first.

Cyrus and Ezra settled and started building their bases, however, Ezra was actually making a church. For a while he kept cryptically laughing and saying "oh my beautiful creation" and everyone was pretty worried, of course, but no one thought anything of it. Doc went off to build their base elsewhere (across the lake from the mainland since it was a small island only disconnected by a few blocks) and Cyrus went mining.

While everyone was doing their own thing, Cyrus kept dying in The Pit. It was just a small cave entrance that was really steep and there was lava and a ton of mobs in it, he died a lot from skeletons and burning. He's had a vendetta against skeletons since then and tends to avoid the nether as much as he can. Thats how he got his burn scars.

After that, Ezra finally finished the church. Everyone was invited to the grand opening! (Although in canon only doc and cy made it, ive rewritten it to where everyone else actually came) Ezra declared himself Father Piss, bringing peace and harmony to all the lands in the name of his dog, Piss.

The only problem was.. Father Piss slipped up, it was actually a cult. Cyrus was outspoken about not wanting to be apart of the cult, Father Piss declared him a traitor and killed him. Which is the first time anyone had really lost a life. (Death by mobs/environment arent permanent but DO cause permanent damage to the body over time. Death by players are limited to three before they stay dead. AND lives are counted by red hearts on the napes of their necks, they become black when a life is lost)

When Cyrus respawned they got into another fight, also ending in death. Out of fear, Doc impulsively joined Father Piss' cul- church.

Cyrus was exiled from the Pisslands (names by Father Piss of course) and wandered around the woods for a while. He began construction on a small house in the spruce forest but overnight Father Piss and his goons found it and vandalized it. Out of fear Cyrus ran to Doc, hiding out in their home for the next night.

Thats when he got a great idea! He created the entrance to his bunker on the hill next to Doc's house, Father Piss would've never guessed he stayed so close and he was right! He spent days making that bunker and over the following weeks he just grew more paranoid and afraid of Father Piss.

Eventually, Father Piss requested to meet with Cyrus, at Piss' grave by the ravine. They met up and Cyrus was led back to the church, skeptical but too afraid of angering him to protest. He ended up being imprisoned behind the church. He spent hours talking to himself and playing with sand as it was the only thing left in his inventory. He was scheduled to be executed the next day, however Cosmic busted him out! Laying down her first life for him to be able to get away.

Cyrus then decided to make a second bunker, connected by a LONG tunnel for him to escape through if needed. He spent months making it, he kept a nether portal in the second bunker and tamed a dog that Argent named Swaginator. His friends didnt visit him often, apart from Doc or Argent. He rarely left but when he did it was ALWAYS to see Doc, the love of his life. He was so clouded by anxiety that he wasn't able to be there for Doc. Doc was dealing with their own problems from within the church, not wanting to do Father Piss' bidding and unable to leave.

This put a strain on their relationship, but Cyrus really did try to make an effort. He began experiencing auditory hallucinations which only made his paranoia regarding Father Piss worse, which quickly deteriorated his mental health.

One day, he decided to go into the nether for some supplies to make his bunker look nice. He ended up running into Homeslice, one of Father Piss' goons, and he panicked. Not realizing that he hadn't been noticed he started swinging, he knew it was over as soon as the fight started. Father Piss had been alerted and the two of them cornered him to the ledge, before Father Piss swung his axe and took Cyrus' final life. His body fell into the lava pool below.

After a few days, he came back! As a ghost, he lost all his memories and the first person to see him was....Father Piss. It wasnt hard to trick him into finding his old bunker before raiding it. Ghostrus was completely unaware and blissfully complied with whatever Father Piss wanted for a while. Although he grew weary of Father Piss' instability.

Ghostrus built a house on a mountain near Doc's house and kept a close eye on them. He felt incredibly drawn to them but didnt know why, as he didnt entirely believe that they were married when he was alive.

Axel then joined, making a house on stilts in the sea, he became very close to Doc. Argent also became close to Doc, as they visited his restaurant often! Then again, it was the only restaurant and it was right next to her house. Slowly the three of them became friends and eventually partners.

Ghostrus on the other hand decided to start a taco truck, which was just a front for his drug business. He laced his tacos with coke to keep customers always coming back for more! Father Piss became hooked on his food.

More people moved into the Pisslands, the community grew and so did Argent and Ghostrus' respective businesses. He created a drug empire for himself, which gave him a lot of power. With the lack of memories and moral compass, Ghostrus created an image of himself to be the sweet and friendly taco truck owner. While behind the scenes he was a cynical and uncaring asshole.

He enjoyed the chaos that Father Piss created and became the worst version of himself for it.

AAAAAND THATS ALL WE HAVE SO FAR !!!!!! the rest is much blurrier and not concise so ill stop there, but thats the lore thats absolutely canon as of now ! Ty if you read this far :33

#piss smp #save me piss smp save me #i love these guys so much #sodapoppys ramblings

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moeruhoshi · 1 year

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😵‍💫

I was gonna keep this idea a secret and surprise you all when I finish it, but I SUCK at keeping secrets and need you all just as excited as I am!

So Natsu is born into a royal family in x300 and harnesses the dormant Eternal Flame that signifies the right of the true king of Fiore

Which Zeref was happy with but Ignia not so much 👀

He's already a teenager and leaves the castle angrily since his parents now take away his right to the crown

He's gone for about five years? (the timeline is still rough) and returns with an army from Tartaros to try and steal Natsu and take the Eternal Flame for himself

Igneel and Zeref had been slightly aware that Ignia was planning something and thought of a way to keep Natsu safe in the event of an attack

WHICH is to send him into the future with Gildarts until they can bring him home safely one day

so he's safe, but Ignia still doesn't plan to give up and eventually finds out where Natsu went with the help of one of his demons (to be named)

and all he was able to take was some blood after scratching Natsu's cheek (iconic scar moment)

WITH WHICH he is able to seek out Natsu's mate with a tracking spell from another demon (TBN) and finds Lucy

Her home life isn't great; the usual abusive father and deceased mother, and he promises to save her in trade for helping him as well which she agrees to bc she's only 10 and needs help

and he takes this opportunity, after saving her, to trap her in a newform regeneration pod (of which I need to research the original pods more) but the same magic of the pod cast on a pool of lava (tbh if not the pod then some form of resurrection magic placed on it)

SO he's using her to create a demon that can lure Natsu in, because she'd still be his mate but more tempting as the demon he plans to form her into

Seven years later she's finally done absorbing the essence of the volcano and he has someone to help him open a time portal now

SO they step through and he's given her the mission to 'help Natsu remember that he's her fiancee', that he was taken and had his memories suppressed

At which this point Natsu grew up like a normal kid and is going to one of the most prestigious schools in the country, a magic academy (to be named)

And its already a couple months into the semester when Lucy transfers in from the girls only academy "Mermaid Heel"

and of course Natsu's immediately enamored because she's his mate and now a being that contains the essence of fire and lava itself

and thats all I'm spoiling bc I have the entire story planned I JUST HAVE TO WRITE IT

#I got this idea last night and I'm in an absolute fit #I'll finish greedy dragon first tho LOL

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immasock · 2 years

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Ever wonder... If... Lucifer popped out another one? Like what he did to Satan, popping out a small ball of anger (I refuse to believe he was born as an adult) ....... And this time let's say it's a GIRL, like y'know that stereotype that the first born daughter ALWAYS looks like the father . She has vague memories from Luci BUT the twist is that those CHILDREN who were FROM Lucifer the abilities they get come from directly to what Luci was angry abt (it doesn't make sense to me somehow) like just a bit, I have no idea what to put of what he was angry abt this time (your choice) although most abilities or powers come from luci obvi. And let's just say she was separated and somehow isekaid to another world which the time is at least 100x slower, in that time she s 15 but in Devildom she's 1500. So she learns new magic and is now the 4th born and Satan is 5th. Satan is specifically so happy abt this like he's no more Lucifer's shadow bc someone (aka sister) is far more similar to him, looks, interests, pets (but it's a giant beast cat), hobbies, etc. Although she just treat it as like father-daughter similarities

God this is so long, I'm gonna leave you alone for next week. Take care love❤️

Where do you come up with these? These are so good

Also please feel free to submit anything that beautiful brain of yours comes up with! They’re always really entertaining to read and work on

Anywho

I think Lucifer would be so stressed when this child pops out

Like his first thought isn’t something normal like “Oh my god I’m having a child”

All he can think of is “Oh fuck not another one”

For this one we’re gonna go with he was angry at Belphie for the whole wanting to destroy all human kind thing

Just cause I love sibling rivalries

This means that this child loves humans, even tho lucifer is fairly neutral to them, before he meets MC at least

Power wise I think she wouldn’t be an avatar of anything, soley because she would so much like Lucifer that it would have to be Pride, and he’s already got that. But I do think it would be like a monarch kinda system. The brothers aren’t immortal but they do live for a very long time so I think that whenever Lucifer dies, his daughter would become the new Avatar of Pride

She would be pretty powerful for a 15 year old, hell she’s more powerful than 4 of her uncles, and her power would only grow. I imagine that by the time it was her turn to be the new Avatar of Pride that she could even surpass Lord Diavolo in power if it really came down to it

However that is only once she gets back to the Devildom and starts learning how to handle all of it

I think she would get raised in the human realm for the first 15 years of her life. Or at least until she’s old enough to fully grasp everything that’s going on. It would be similar to mammons situation. Lucifer knew that he couldn’t deal with raising another child at the time so he would hand her off to some trusted witches to raise her. He would pay the child support and occasionally watch her from the sidelines

But he is so excited when she gets summoned back to the Devildom. I mean the kid is hella confused but Dadcifer is all excited. Of course he won’t show it, pride and all, but Dia can tell

I imagine that she would become a part of the exchange program. Either Dia knew about the kid and made it a surprise to reunite Lucifer with his long lost daughter or he had no idea about the kid and just thought she showed great potential and would make a good addition to the program

You can imagine Lucifer’s shock when she pops out of that portal tho

Man now you got me thinking about all of them as fathers-

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me lucifer #obey me mc #obey me child mc #obey me headcanons

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proudfreakmetarusonniku · 1 year

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ok info dumping about the old au I had. mostly just precanon stuff bc I just wanna get something out so I can sleep but I can talk about the rest tommorow if u want.

so! during one of eda's trips to the human realm, 6 year old luz ends up stumbling across the portal and accidentally ends up getting herself stranded in the demon realm (and since she’s very frightened and confused, she doesn’t go up to eda, so eda never actually realised this happened).

after a while, though, news of a tiny human child does end up spreading, and luz quickly gets caught by the coven scouts. understandably, she’s terrified and she’s convinced she's going to be killed but obviously that doesn’t happen bc y’know. random scouts aren’t going to kill a toddler for existing. that’s not a crime.

when belos hears about her he’s obviously immediately like “another human lost in this world? clearly it is just like me and caleb and i need to protect this sole other human from the Dangers Of This Realm for reasons completely unrelated to me trying to make caleb 2. obviously.” so adoption (derogatory) ends up happening.

and this Isn’t Great for luz for what are hopefully obvious reasons. being raised in an incredibly sheltered environment by a bigoted extremist who's also really fucking abusive isn’t a fun time. luz does try to escape for a while, and while she doesn’t because she’s six she does end up discovering some pretty secure hiding places. and in hiding, she sees and learns a lot she was never meant to.

still, she's being actively indoctrinated into a cult, so despite what she sees, she still trusts and believes in her adoptive father because she doesn’t know any better. she assumes what happens must be normal or necessary. after all, shes just a silly human, regular old luz who just is completely unremarkable in everything but failure. it bothers her a lot that she can’t do much to help.

when she first arrives, our hunter doesn’t even exist yet, and the old golden guard who was dariuses mentor is still around. i mean by old hes like in his twenties max but that’s ancient by grimwalker standards at this point. he sort of becomes this mentor figure to luz, too, and she really idolises him. she wants to be just like him, in how he's able to do so much without magic. she's really close to him.

which means it hits hard when he's killed. especially since, unseen by anyone in an unnoticed corner somewhere, she sees it happen. it traumatises her quite a lot, though she's good at hiding it and never lets it slip she was somewhere she wasn’t meant to be. when the new hunter comes around, though, she does take it out on this weird new young copy of someone who was practically an older brother to her. not intentionally, and not to like, a huge degree, but she's very distant to him at first.

they do eventually grow very very close, due to basically being the only person the other is allowed to really talk to, and luz stops seeing him as some sort of replacement. after all, they might look similar, but they act completely different! the old hunter was always calm, always reliable, but the new one is young and scared and needs a guiding hand through life in the castle, which luz is of course able to provide.

luz and hunter grow up in quite similar ways. luz is allowed to leave the castle much less- after all, it’d be a shame to lose the only other human left in some silly mission- but she's generally physically harmed a lot less too, though she does have a few scars that no one her age should have. both of them are manipulated and emotionally abused frequently, and are lead along by promises of a false destiny.

while hunter, of course, falls into a blind obedience, luz is privately a lot more sceptical. not that she doubts her papa is trying his best and doing the right thing, of course, but she worries he's going about it all the wrong way. while this makes her more easily swayed, she’s also unlikely to give up her views that wild magic is dangerous even if she realises her life was a lie. clearly, he must have been corrupted from a once noble goal.

she's also desperately lonely, and privately longs for friends that she knows she’s not allowed. when she has the time, she reads and rereads all the fiction available in the library, and desperately imagines herself as one of the young witches in them, able to go outside freely and talk to whoever they like and have adventures! but she knows she'll never be like that. after all, what are the odds she'd ever make it on her own, even if she somehow left the castle despite not knowing how.

(until, of course, a freak accident on a mission leaves her ending up unwillingly in the care of the owl lady, who doesn’t know who she is but knows she’s a human and someone who needs help, and surely it wouldn’t be that bad if she spent just a few days with a wild witch, right? surely she could make a few friends among the populace, right? no one would even know.)

#the owl house #the owl house aus #luz wittebane au #tw harm to children #tw abuse #tw kidnapping #tw self hatred #tw manipulation #tw murder #tw isolation

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brw · 1 year

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hi! i read your wonder man essay, he sounds really interesting :O

Do you have any comics you'd recommend to start with for him??

Thank you so much! I'm actually in the process of compiling a reading list for Simon, with additional tabs for further reading; of course, I'm compiling this as I'm rereading, which is a slow process bc for some reason I decided I would manually add a PSD I made & also recolour wanda in every panel which adds to the time. In the meantime though I can definitely offer some starter stories & some general stories / trivia I like. I made a guide specific to Simon & Hank's best moments a while back.

Avengers V1 #9 – the debut, pretty linear story. If you want you can read Avengers Classic #9, which is a reprint of the original story but includes a new backup issue between Simon & Janet 🤷 it's not mentioned anywhere else so it's canon is... questionable but it's there!

Simon is involved in one or two necromancy plots but the one where he really comes back from the dead begins in #151 - #153, then Avengers annual #6, #154, then Super Villain Team-Up #9 from 1975 & that arc concludes in #155. it sort of messily goes over with other stories but it's pretty good in establishing Simon's whole deal.

you can read on or just skip ahead to avengers V1 #160, where the grim reaper, eric williams, who bothered vision a lot in prior issues of Avengers , is back to bother simon. i honestly love this issue so much, it's a great intro to the stuff between simon & vision & eric.

at this point you can keep reading until avengers #211 when he quits the first time, he's sort of just there and isn't really majorly a big player but some moments i like are #181, #198 & #201 which really define the simon & hank duo that became a thing.

marvel graphic novel: emperor doom is probably my favourite wonder man solo adventure n that's because the story doesn't hinge on being there? he's just sort of the vehicle for the resolution, but the plot doesn't necessitate that he be there. i kind of like it. anyway dr doom is doing some nefarious shit with purple man & namor is there and vision dances & simon reveals he can do professional standard makeup . it's a super fun story!

wonder man vol 1 #1-#4 is simons first proper solo title and it's .... okay? it does a pretty good job at showing what simon does with himself when not fighting graviton or whatever but the plot is just not part of that whatever. there's a portal to another dimension in a machine and a bunch of tiny people come out??? it's strange but there's some cute panels of simon getting licked by a dog and also lifting a taxi so that's fun.

west coast avengers v1, & wca v2 #1-#12 when read along the sister series vision & the scarlet witch v2. the first volume isn't majorly simon intensive but the first & second issue are ridiculous in the queercoding & I think abt it a lot. wca & v&sw deal with the whole Simon/Vision/Eric conflict again which is the second & kinda the last time this conflict is done right or at all in an interesting way to me unfortunately 😔 Simon keeps showing up in WCA but his character gradually degrades until john byrne and well. it's John Byrne.

There's not a lot Simon does that's unique to his character after this. like there's one or two issues in WCA but the characteristion is sloppy & it feels more like a callback to better comics from the 70s then it does independent stories. This is also weird bc his next most major appearance is wonder man v2, his only ongoing title & not a limited series. however, it's written by gerard jones, and undeniably 90s, so i don't recommend this as a first taste for the character, ill say the first 6, 7 issues are actually fun before the series gets sucked into event hell where every issue is an event tie in & it sucks and the series never recovers. those first issues are fun though and give Simon a rich inner life independent of the avengers he never had before or will again, unfortunately at the cost of Byrne characterisation.

He blows up in Force Works #1 which is so inconsequential it feels like a joke but no for the remainder of the 90s he's just dead until Kurt Busiek brings him back and he's mostly wanda's gay Pokémon she sends out and then becomes real and uh. just hangs out. he makes out with hank in #14 of v3 which is fun, n doesn't really do much other than hang out with Wanda so. you know. that's that.

he dates carol for a bit when we hit the 2000s and everything goes to hell but again, plays second fiddle most of the time. he gets a fun story in civil war - front line which is not even the B story but the C story, and it technically begins in issue 2 but Simon shows up in 5, 6 & 7 so that's where I care. It shows an interesting side of Simon's superhero-actor persona being used for propaganda, which I think is an interesting idea. especially because Simon in this story gets blackmailed ... by S.H.I.E.L.D. Just fun conceptually & fits Simon well into 616.

simon goes evil for a bit & tries to destroy the avengers for... honestly fairly legitimate stuff? but the story is kind of dumb & basically afterwards he swears an oath of pacifism, which i would be cool with if he stopped quoting ghandi. simon fresh from 15 years dead, sure, but at this point he is savvy & has experienced enough stuff to... not quite ghandi. anyway, he's in different volumes of uncanny avengers but frankly i hate this series so. fuck it.

simon doesn't get a lot to do afterwards, really! pacifism moves the character more into failed Superman territory because he won't even fight and yet nobody takes this angle n he just hangs out? anyway the mcelroys from podcast fame write a tie-in for war of realms called journey into mystery. it's okay! Simon hangs out with Miles & Kate Bishop Hawkeye which is fun & is a big fan of Western Hollywood which fits his character bc he was around when that was one of the massive movie industries. He's also super cute with the baby in it which is sweet.

and uh, yeah! it's mostly chronological, this list, so you can get a vague feel for each era & how he's evolved. he's not major in it but if you're interested he's confirmed jewish in marvel holiday special 2005 which i think is cool. if you're wondering why i didn't include wonder man v3, well, read it if you want but the art is gross & frankly the story is nonsense n it's only saving grace is that simon, hank mccoy & carol are all hanging out like that's a regular thing which i like. if you want a more in depth reading list, i can go through more of his stuff in ms marvel appearances & his one random appearance in 90s power man & his stuff in busiek avengers, but i think this should give a good grip of the character throughout the decades while not having to read like, 100 issues lol.

#asks #comic recs #reading guides #comic guides #mojoversian #wonder man #ch: the man of wonders!#ty for asking hope u enjoy reading these!!

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atrium-hq · 2 years

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bro when you threw out the crack theory "vyncent's dad is the lich" i was like "CLOSE, ACTUALLY" 🤣

LMAAOO one of my main theories in my drafts was that his dad betrayed the greats to work with the lich and/or Become the lich for some kinda greater good or smth but of course i also thought mynerva was in on it somehow… i was So convinced she had a part in it you could not have convinced me otherwise until they were out of there ..sorry mynerva </3 but yeah i had a Feeling he might be alive and have smth to do with the lich because “yeah he died sadly here’s his grave right here to prove it 😔” is wayy too anticlimactic cmon

also when they were coming up with a plan to save vyncent’s dad by transferring the curse and they all got the same idea at the same time i 100% thought they were gonna put the curse in mynerva and that i was on the same page as them i never would’ve guessed the chicken 😭

messed up btw, the fact that the spell took 10 minutes and they were all so distraught was rlly sad actually. and charlie said something at the end like im taking henny thru the portal there has to be a way we have to bring this chicken back, which. idk if i should be concerned about or not. also is the lich just In Chicken Form now did i interpret that right when i watched this ep at 4 am bc i was so lost by the end. “the lich flies through the portal” like. in a scary way or a chicken way. lichicken is just In prime now .

#still having a hard time processing that she was genuinely just trying to help the entire time oops 😭#jrwi pd #i had so many crack theories… it took me so long to watch that episode because i kept pausing to write down more #i briefly experienced matpat’s insanity this was my fnaf #anyway 1 more episode Grins #jrwi pd spoilers #jrwi spoilers

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lesbiten · 2 years

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please enlighten me about the gravity falls characters why are they all named some variation of ford. whos who

THIS IS SUCH A VALID QUESTION because their names are all the same and for no fucking reason. okay so we have.

stanley: aka stan. ford's twin brother. very bad life, gets kicked out of the house because he accidentally fucked ford's opportunity to go to a good college, etc etc. after they haven't talked for a decade, ford invites stan to gravity falls. stan is pissed at ford because it's been a Decade and stan has been living an Actual Hell Life and ford like. does not give a shit. they're fighting, the interdimensional portal in ford's basement accidentally gets turned on, stan pushes ford into it, love loses, etc. after this, stanley steals ford's identity so he can buy time to try and find a way to get ford back. fakes stanley's death, everyone thinks he's stanford, life is great (<- not true)

stanford: aka ford. stan's twin brother, of course. after stan fucks his opportunity to go to a good college, ford ends up in a worse college. he is roommates with a guy called fiddleford. after college he moves to gravity falls to study the weird shit happening there because people bullied him all his life for being different. he is being guided in his dreams by that stupid fucking triangle, bill, + falsely believes bill is trying to help him with his research. he is also letting bill fully possess him while he's asleep. bill tells him to build a portal to another dimension, ford realizes he cannot do that by himself and calls fiddleford to come help him out since he's like, a genius mechanic and whatnot. fiddleford quits the project after experiencing Trauma, ford begins to realize that bill is tricking him. ends up having really bad paranoia + hallucinations about the whole situation and calls stan to come help him because he doesn't think he can trust anyone else. as mentioned above, stan pushes him into aforementioned portal, ford gets stuck between dimensions for 30 years before being brought back.

fiddleford: referred to in the show most often as old man mcgucket, literally just here by unfortunate chance. just some guy, was ford's college roommate and probably his only friend. at the time of being invited to gravity falls, he has a wife and a son. also has really bad anxiety. after a few too many run-ins with Scary Shit he invents a memory wiping gun and uses it on himself whenever something bad happens to him (which is often). one day he and ford are testing out the portal using a test dummy, but a rope catches fiddleford's wrist and pulls him into the portal. ford manages to pull him back out, but this is Enough for fiddleford and he quits on the spot. he then wipes his memory of presumably everything he's done in the last several months, starts a cult called "the society of the blind eye", so that he can help people forget bad memories. he memory guns himself so many times that he completely loses his mind and in modern times is just regarded as a crazy old man bc like. he is. he and his wife get divorced at some point during all of this and also his son hates him. he likes playing the banjo :) (so much so that ford had to set an 8pm curfew for him playing it)

then we have dipper and mabel who are stan + ford's grandnephew + grandniece :] neither of them know anything about this up until ford is brought back through the portal. they did infiltrate the society of the blind eye to help fiddleford get his memories back though :]

#can you believe this is the shortened version of this. i deleted several sentences of me rambling and its still this long #its always so funny to me that the two ppl ford is closest to have half of his name in theirs.#stanley and fiddleford you combine them. stanford #terrible.#asks #mutuals tag

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deiliamedlini · 1 year

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PORTAL AU?????

SO THIS IS ONE OF THOSE DEEPTIVE NAMES! IT'S NOT PORTAL LIKE THE GAME! IT'S A MODERN AU WHERE THEY'RE MILITARY HYLIANS AND ZELDA IS A CIVILIAN SCIENTIST AND THEY USE PORTALS TO TRAVEL TO DIFFERENT WORLDS!

So like the first portal they discover takes them to Zora's Domain (which is not on the same planet) so Zelda has to come up with ways to communicate while Link has to fight foreigh threats with weapons that don't work on the world (like his hylian guns don't work there while he's trying to fight a lynel with the Zora's so he has to learn to fight with other styles, and they accidently attract another portal user, Ganon, who considers himself the god of all these people and has never found the Hylian portal.

So the big plot is them trying to keep Hyrule safe and keep him from finding the portal, while at the same time exploring and understanding new worlds. It's AU so like, there's different areas of the Zora planet. One area is the BOTW area, then there's Great Bay. There's the Domain from OOT. Like, the games are combined for the sake of worlds. Like Gorons have two species: the MM ones who live in snow, and the others who live in hot climates, etc.

This is one of my fav AU's to work on, but it's so big that I just don't have time cause I have so many other AU's I'm writing at the same time. It's one of my fav plots I've given to Link (nothing I said here, just like his backstories and future things he'd have to go through). I have a ton written, but I started rewriting it because I couldn't get the beginning to work well. Link and Rhoam are besties, so it's actually a good Rhoam fic too LOL!

Here's Link and Zelda exploring, and Zelda is claustrophobic so she is NOT happy. Below the cut bc it's a little long with dialogue:

“Mhmm,” Link grumbled, though he was feeling at the door with his hands. “Something seem off to you, Doc?” Zelda looked up. “No. Why?” “The door.” “Yes? What about it?” “It closed.” He turned back to Zelda finally. She set the stone down, crossing the room to meet him, pressing her hand on the surface beside his. “Oh.” “Yeah.” “So, you’re stuck with me for a bit longer then,” she said nonchalantly, going back to her stone. But as she went to pick it up, she stopped. “Link… there’s water on the ground.” “Of course there is,” he grumbled, pushing past her to check the other door. It was sealed tight, but there was a steady rush of water moving in from under the door, and he could feel the pressure of water seeping inside. “It’s fine. The Zora know we’re here. They’ll look for us and see the door closed long before the water—” Link turned to look at Zelda, but she wasn’t where she’d been standing. Instead, she was at the other door, pressing the sensor frantically. The door cracked open ever so slightly, and water began to pour through the widened opening. “Oh shit!” Link hissed, crossing the room as quickly as he could. He couldn’t see through the other side; the water was coming through too fast and rippled. He couldn’t even tell if he needed to close the door, or open it. “Oh gods!” Zelda gasped, stepping away from the rushing water. “Link! I’m sorry! That’s what I used to open the other door before!” “It’s fine,” he said, looking around the windowless room. No other exits. “We just had to be in a world of water-dwelling fish people.” “No, I… I’m so sorry! I don’t like enclosed spaces like this.” “Who does?” Link asked, sardonically eyeing the water. “No, I really don’t,” she breathed. Link turned to see her ghostly white skin beginning to clam up. Some of it was obviously water, but he could see the distinct sheen of cold sweats coating her skin. “Stay calm, okay? We’ll get out of here.” “That’s easy for you to say, Mr. Military! I’m a civilian! My training was in a lab surrounded by microscopes and tools, not staying calm with a room filling with water, okay? The most dangerous situation I’ve ever been in was a chemical spill that got on my hands and burned a little bit of my skin before I could wash it off. Oh, but one other time, I was looking in an old house and the beam broke and I was—” “We’re going to be fine, Zelda.” “How? We are not fish people with gills! Can you swim that whole way up, Mr. Special Forces? Because I can’t! The water is clearly not drained right now. Someone got the schedule wrong, because this shouldn’t be filling up for another hour!”

#asks

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superliz6 · 2 years

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66 76 87 93 for both

67 76 85 for Kaz

70 96 for Lin

For Both Lin and Kaz:

66. When was the last time your character got sick? Who took care of them?

Oh man there's a canonical answer for Lin and I guess it'd be in Zaofu and the answer is - nobody lol. Or maybe, Suyin's staff hahah.

Kazuo doesn't get sick often, but last time he had a cold his ex-gf Yuri made him soup :)

76. What annoys them about the religious groups in their area?

Oh I'm so glad someone asked me this! Idk if you've read the Kyoshi books but they have a great detail in them that Fire Fountain City is built over a deposit of natural gas and that back before people knew this it was considered a spiritual mecca bc people would go there and trip balls from inhaling this stuff- having crazy visions and stuff so they all thought it was spiritual.

In 'modern' times, of course they have figured this out and a lot of engineering went into making the city safe and directing the gas to things like the Fire Fountain in the middle of the city (which is now a statue of two dragons and not Ozai). ANYWAY- there are still little cultish sects of people who gather here and try to sabotage the piping system in order to get high and have visions. Obviously, such an occurrence would be a huge pain in the ass for Kazuo and a safety hazard for the city in general. There are a lot of laws that protect these groups and they don't spend much time in jail whenever they manage to break open some vents so it's an ongoing issue and Kazuo absolutely wishes he could deport these lunatics.

Which leads me to the Lin part of this answer-- these spiritual cult people are totally Lin's problem now. She can't stand them either. Since Korra opened a portal to the spirit world in the middle of a city with plenty of conveniences (ie not somewhere in the barren wasteland of the poles) this same cultish sect has mostly abandoned Fire Fountain and set sail for Republic City where they can come and go from the Spirit World as they please. They're constantly tying themselves to vines that grow through people's homes so the vines aren't removed, they stage protests on behalf of spirit creature rights, and do a lot of panhandling to fund their efforts.

87. Would they rather fly or be immortal?

I think they're both wise enough to choose flying on this one.

93. If they were forced to dye their hair, would they rather dye it purple or neon green?

Omg LOL. I cannot imagine either of them doing either of these colors. Maybe a deep purple would be less noticeable than any shade of green? hahah

For Kaz:

67. Do they know what memes are? If so, what memes do they quote on a regular basis?

He lives in a meme-free time period, but for the sake of this question I feel like he would get a lot of mileage out of closing his eyes gently and saying "I pretend I do not see it"

85. Picture this character’s worst enemy. Now write a short scene in an alternate universe where they fall in love with their enemy. What attracts them to each other? Try to find personality traits that the characters fall for (not just physical attraction).

LMFAOOO God. I don't know if I can do this. It's his brother in law Goro and uhhhhhhh idk man.

For Lin:

70. When they go to the beach, do they use sunscreen? Lotion or spray-on?

Ok, this one is also good bc I think Lin prob uses some real hardcore sunblock (lotion) that's like 95% zinc and makes her look like a straight up ghost.

96. If they were able to compete in the Winter Olympics, what sport would they compete in?

I'm going to go with the luge bc this is what i envision when someone asks Lin to talk about her feelings:

#kazuo #lin beifong #linzuo #idk man i gotta drink before writing that goro part #also god bless the ask about the religious groups that's an HC I have that I haven't had a chance to put anywhere lol #lok #beifongs #lin

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seetangus · 2 months

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Hello there (again)!

Woo hoo! Team Protestant in the house! I consider myself a non-denominational Protestant just because it feels like there’s too many nuances between the denominations and, fortunately, you don’t have to confine yourself to a denomination or main branch of Christianity to be saved. Christ’s death was for all of us, and so long as we believe in Him as our Lord and Savior, that He rose from the dead, and continue to repent of our sins as we try to follow the teachings of the Bible, and ask forgiveness, we are saved and will be ushered into everlasting life with Him.

OH YEAH! I forgot to talk about that! I was answering you on my lunch break and had to hurry up and get the heck out of dodge to clock in, so I forgot. I did watch it! It was so good. I wanted the 49ers to win, so it was a loss for me, but the lead up to that loss was a nail-biter! When we went into overtime, I was in the edge of my seat. I just knew that they should’ve watched out for Mahomes from the Chiefs, but they didn’t watch out for him to run the ball himself or to make as good of plays as he did. It sucked my team lost, but I’m not going to complain because it was a hard-fought win for the Chiefs. ((Also, pretty sure if you took a shot every time they showed Taylor Swift bc she’s dating a player on the Chiefs, you’d have been extra wasted.)) There’s an ongoing thing of people talking about trying to make the day after the Super Bowl be a holiday since it lasts forever and people get hungover; I don’t drink, but I’m definitely on board with the idea!

Other than the game itself, halftime was pretty good and the commercials are always pretty good too. It’s the time of the year when companies like to go all out with them (like hiring celebrities and making them outrageous) since millions of people tune in to watch it! It’s surprising to hear that a lot of people were interested in it in Germany. But that’s cool! I guess I just assumed American Football wasn’t that interesting to other countries. Did you or someone else you know see the game? What were your thoughts/their thoughts? 🏈

- 🌹

Helloo,

Oh the denominations! That is so, so different in the US and Germany. Here we have Catholics, Reformed and Lutheran. That's it. Of course there are little communities of orthodox etc in between but they're not that many. But from what I've heard you have so many churches/denominations it's insane. I get why you don't want to be part of that. In the last few years many so called free churches from the usa and southern america have been coming here, which is a bit sad since they're mostly fundamentalists, but the traditional churches I mentioned above still make up the vast majority of Christians here. When being non-denominational, do you have a church to go to?

And you seem to have enjoyed the superbowl quite a lot, that's great! The news over here mostly focused on how big the event was and stuff like that you couldn't walk to the stadium etc as literally nobody here even knows the rules for American Football 😅

I just looked up the headlines on the biggest news portal here (Tagesschau), literally two of them were about the actual game and the rest about costs, Taylor Swift, the shooting and Conspiracy theories 😭😭

The sports channels talked more about the actual game though

How have you been lately? Is everything allright?

Seetang :)

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somnaliusfern · 1 year

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I'm really enjoying some random NPCs now that I'm replaying Oblivion and doing all the side stuff too. Since my mods are actually working this time, I'm trying a companion mod too to enhance my immersion for NPC Relationships because that's the most fun part of RPGs for me.

- Velwyn: Idk I love him. Underrated. From what I can see his family is middle class from his clothing (perhaps formerly upper probably given the manor and the Lich) and I assume they make mead (Benirus Mead). He foists his manor off on the first sucker (HoK) he can so he can go live his life and join his family in the Imperial City. He's just so relatable? "Layabout" I mean of course, he's depressed; he lives in an Inn in a pretty dead town trying to sell a manor that he can't stay in and no one wants. (On that note, wish Anvil felt like more than an abandoned suburban development .) Sure he misleads us, but I don't hate characters for lying or being interesting in plotlines. He helps out with the sealed portal and runs out bc he's really not great in a fight, but he helps and he sounds genuinely happy that everything worked out for you after and likes the HoK. I drag him around as a companion and he yells the most comedic stuff tbh when there's combat. I consider that for benefits for him, he is hopeful her growing fame will rub off on him and present some opportunities for his future. Ana finds him relaxing to be around and a good source of humor (albeit often at his expense). "The manor... Is Finally Cleansed." FR I might be the only person setting this dude as essential and dragging him everywhere for companionship. I'm a fan.

- Maglir: I remember him from Skingrad but last time I didn't do all the factions with Anadrya (she's not really fighter/warrior type but tbh actually I'm kinda living for this knight imagery stuff in some of the content). He's genuinely funny, I was dragging him around with Velwyn so someone would be there to actually be of help in combat. I actually really like him--he's kinda loose about morality which I actually prefer in companions really. I picked up something I shouldn't have and he was like "Oh! I didn't see anything!". I just like his voice-acting, and I love bosmer. Not sure if his family is legit, and I'm hoping he doesn't end up crooked in the quest-lines moreso (ofc I covered for him, dude just follow me around and I'll do most of the work just hang out and don't die). I was in a player home with him and Velwyn swapping out gear from my closet in the bedroom, and he says something like "I have a feeling we're about to be getting much closer." What a great little angry smarmy dude. Like give us a quest instead to help him with his (family) life or something. I mean, he just wants money and stability, super relatable.

#personal s #oblivion liveblogging updates.#im usually so like DB/TG then with mages stuff on characters so like. this time im putting off the heartbreak of MSQ #nice to feel attached to characters that hopefully are not doomed to die lol #i tried a few companion character mods and tbh they just dont feel immersive.#so im just gonna torture vanilla npcs instead #ill probably drop these two eventually and try some others tho. wanna diversify

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seven-saffodils · 2 years

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OK I have yet to see any kind of fandom for His Dark Materials on here but. Just got to the end of the first season and (spoilers) the part where Lord Asriel uses Roger to open the portal reminds me so much of the Akeidah (the Binding of Isaac) and of the story of Jephthah/Yiftah.

In the original biblical story of the Akeidah, G-d tests Abraham, telling him to take his son Isaac to the top of a mountain and sacrifice him to G-d in the same way that the Israelites would sacrifice an animal. Isaac asks, on the journey, what they will sacrifice at the top, and Abraham says that G-d will provide a ram. In the end, after Abraham has bound Isaac and prepared to offer him as a sacrifice, G-d prevents Abraham from killing his son by providing the aforementioned ram for him to sacrifice instead. In an echo of this story in the Book of Judges, the judge/warrior Jephthah vows that if G-d helps him win a great battle, he will sacrifice the first being to greet him when he returns home. His only daughter is the first to greet him, and G-d does not provide Jephthah a ram.

Lord Asriel believes that he will have to sacrifice a child in order to defeat the religious order that has oppressed the people of his world (it’s been so long since I read the books, so I don’t remember if that is in fact the case, but he still makes the same choice Abraham did). In the show, Asriel at first fears that he will have to sacrifice Lyra to his holy cause (she is the first to greet him, as with Jephthah!), but later sees that she has her friend Roger with her, which I guess is a ram for him (but not for us the viewer!). He takes Roger to the top of a mountain to do the deed, and iirc his goal is to get into heaven and kill an angel who has usurped G-d? And of course there’s no way an actual ram would work for his sacrifice, bc he needs to separate a child from their soul to open the portal.

Jewish interpretations of the Akeidah and Jephthah’s story tend to believe that these fathers made a major mistake in being so thoughtless with their children’s lives. Jewish commentators note that Abraham had not previously gone along so easily with G-d’s decrees, as when he had G-d promise not to destroy Sodom if there were ten righteous people in the city (after bargaining him down from fifty!). If he had bargained G-d away from sacrificing his son in the same way, many commentators say, that would have been the way to actually pass the test G-d set.

Others, and many Christian interpretations, see Abraham as having passed the test. That he would give up his dearest possession, his only son (says the text, even tho Ishmael is right there), to a power that is so high as to be incomprehensible to him, that lesson in humility and faith should serve as an example to us, the teaching says. The ram is a reward for Abraham’s faith, rather than a symbol of his failure.

I have yet to see anyone congratulate Jephthah on his devotion and humility and faith. He was not asked to sacrifice his only daughter, instead offering her seemingly without thought to the consequences, and G-d does not give him the second chance of the ram.

So how are we to interpret Lord Asriel? I don’t quite remember how we get to the end of this series, but I’m inclined to read him as having been written as a criticism of the common Christian view of Abraham (mainly bc Pullman comes from an English-Christian cultural background). Asriel’s belief in his higher cause gives him a tunnel vision that prevents his search for better alternative solutions, as seen in his anguish when he first sees Lyra. That is a man who will kill his own daughter to ensure things go well in heaven, not gladly, but resignedly, because he has so lost track of what is important. Though he will try to do what is right, his “big picture” gets in the way of connecting to people, just as much of Christian hegemony has trampled on people’s rights while trying to ensure a more “godly” society. This is a man who has lost himself to theoreticals until he becomes a Jephthah even as he thinks he is a Christian Abraham.

But that’s just what I think at the end of Season 1. It’s been so long since I’ve read the books, so I’m ready to see new ideas complicate the metaphor.

#his dark materials #his dark materials spoilers #please add thoughts if you have them!#tell me what i missed! tell me why im wrong!#im just so into this parallel bc i'd completely forgotten it but it's right there and i feel like it says so much

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streaming-yn · 3 years

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(☁️)

HIIII it's 3 am and i'm trying to sleep but brain went brr with ideas n shit and oh well- thing is ; i was wondering if i could make my first request? (smth simple if u want to, no need to be very long or anything + pls don't rush nd take ur time AND don't feel pressured to actually do my request :] ! ) maybe smth ab faceless art streamer! y/n [they/them]?? (if u could add that the reader is like an indie game dev or works for smth like that u'd be sosososososo cool omg) with maybe quackity, tommy, dream, ranboo, niki and/or jack?? idk brain did the storming and its all messy hsdnshhfjsjz (btw! i know it's a lot of CCs so feel free to remove some or do the ones ur only comfy with !!! take care nd stay safe !!! luv ya <3 (/p))

AS SOMEONE WHO LIKES TO GAME DESIGN, CHARACTER, AND PLOT DESIGN YOU BET I CAN MAKE THE READER AND INDIE GAME DEV (and aaaa ty for adding jack!!! I think he's really neat and not enough people acknowledge him :))!!)

Multiple x indie game dev!artist!y/n

pairings: quackity, tommy, dream, ranboo, niki, jack manifold (separate) x indie game dev!artist!y/n

pronouns: they/them