#At some point the Ancients will compete between each other | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

oumaheroes · 7 months

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Would you write an america and england fluffy drabble?

If domestic counts as fluffy, I sure can indeed

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Another Man's Trash

From his spot on the rafters, America watched England teeter up the ladder to the attic, a full mug in each hand, and took pleasure in offering him no assistance.

‘Took you long enough,’ he said when England was safely up and crouched under the oddly crooked roof supports. He took the mug England held out to him before it had the potential to become a weapon, ‘I thought you’d died down there.’

‘How kind of you to come and check on me.’

‘After what you’re making me do, you deserve it.’

‘’Making’ you do? I deserve death for asking for your help?’

‘Yes.’

‘Noted.’

England hunkered down a foot away and eyed the section of rafters, or lack of, which America was guarding. There wasn’t much natural light to see by. The attic spaces of England’s huge country manor were partitioned and sectioned off between the different wings, some used as servants’ rooms, others for proper storage. This particular section was one of the more abandoned, quickly and haphazardly boarded, and with were only two, small windows to fight against the dust flecked darkness. The hole which America was sat next to was lighthouse’d by a several flashlights, and he could see more by the light from the room below than he could from the small, round, single paned window above it.

England nodded at the room below, bones on the right side of his face sharp with yellow flashlight. ‘Shouldn’t be too long left.’

‘Are you fucking kidding me? There’s still a huge hole in the floor.’

‘Ceiling.’

‘Whatever.’

‘We’ve done most of it.’

‘Done? The whole thing needs replacing.’ America waved his arm wide, coffee still in hand, and England watched its trajectory with alarm. They’d cleared this area of the attic when they’d first started work, the ancient objects and historical junk which had previously occupied the space piled high or scattered about whatever space up here that remained, but hot coffee through the already abused boards probably wouldn’t end well. ‘This boarding is hundreds of years old, I’m surprised any of it is still weightbearing.’

‘It’s well made.’

‘It was well made, like a billion years ago.’

‘It’s not that old.’ England rolled his eyes at the look America gave him and took a sip of his tea, ‘The whole thing doesn’t need replacing, and the main beams are fine. That bit only rotted because of the leak in the roof.’

America opened his mouth and then closed it again, sensing that arguing this point wouldn’t actually get him out of the damn attic any faster and might, in fact, trap him into helping for a much longer project. It was bad enough that his quick summer stay to the UK had been consumed by this; if England accepted an additional idea that he proposed, there was no way to wiggle out of it peacefully. Instead, America glared up at the spot of roof they’d spent the better part of the last few days fixing and waterproofing.

‘You’re lucky I was visiting. If I hadn’t noticed the stain in the guest room ceiling you’d be fucked.’

‘Hardly.’

‘And you wouldn’t have been able to do this by yourself.’

England made a non-committal noise, ‘I would have been fine.’

‘Sure you would.’

‘I would have. It would have taken longer though, certainly. And I’d rather someone I trust than some random builder who has no idea how old this all is. Far too difficult to explain and it would have been an utter ball ache finding a specialist.’ England turned away, placing his mug down and busying himself with the stack of floorboards waiting patiently for them along one of the beams.

America smiled and shook his head. That was as close of an acknowledgement of thanks or gratitude as he was likely to get. Enough too that England considered him competent.

He tried his coffee, mournfully noting that England had reverted, likely out of habit, to making the instant stuff rather than the proper beans. Either that, or America had torn his way through the good coffee that England kept handy for what he called his ‘overly picky’ guests. ‘How old is this part anyway.’

‘This part of the house?’ England handed him a measuring tape and a board, the wood thick and heavy. They’d need to cut them to size, then add the insulation, then plaster the ceiling- actually no, fuck that. England could deal with the decoration himself, America had already splintered his hands tearing out all of the sodden stuff that was there before. ‘Not that old. I think I had this wing built not long after I found you. Maybe my first trip home afterwards.’

America let out a whistle, ‘Hate to break it to you, but that’s too old.’

‘It’s the youngest part of the house.’ England huffed, ‘I’ve been living here for about two thousand years in one way or another lad, a few hundred years is nothing in the grand scheme of things.’

‘I’m not gonna bother giving that a response.’

America peered down through the hole, cautiously perching on the edge of the rafters to see into the bedroom below. His room of all rooms; he’d had to relocate himself to Canada’s. He was sure his brother wouldn’t mind.

‘Mind yourself.’ England warning, hand twitching as if to grab him when America leant even further forwards, ‘We don’t need an A&E trip on top of everything else.’

‘I’m not gonna fall.’

England tutted and looked away, ‘And haven’t I heard that before.’

‘Stop moaning, you’ll go grey.’

‘You’ll make me go grey.’

‘You’d look more your age, at least.’

‘Piss off.’

‘That’s not a very nice thing to say to- oh.’

‘What?’

In the process of measuring the width of where the first board would go, America’s eye caught on something wedged in the insulation. It must have slipped between the older boards when they became warped by the water, or even lost between them years previously. It was deep in the insulation, not budging when America poked it experimentally with the tip of his finger. Shifting his weight, he reached out further across the hole to tug it free, ignoring England’s muttering to come around the other side and get it like a normal person and the hand he rested on America’s shoulder to steady him.

The object was small and wooden. It looked, of all things, like a thick stick, but as America worked it free it was revealed to be a very short, very crude spear. About half a foot long at most, it was roughly sharpened at both ends with a groove in the middle for a handle.

America turned it over, baffled, ‘What the hell is this?’

‘You tell me. You made it.’

America blinked, ‘Did I?’

‘Hmm.’ England wore a soft smile, ‘I left you alone with a penknife; either that or you took it without me noticing. You brought that to me and pronounced it as a “hunting weapon.”’

‘Huh.’ America rolled the stick in his palm and laughed, ‘You’re a sentimental bastard, you know that?’

‘Shut up.’ England coloured, ‘You would have been devastated if I threw it away.’

‘Uh huh. And that’s the only reason you kept it.’

‘Yes.’ England clicked his fingers and held out his hand, ‘Now give it here and let’s get on with it, it’ll be dinner soon and we need to order something early unless we want to eat at stupid o’clock tonight because by fuck am I cooking after all this.’

America grinned and settled himself more comfortable on his beam, long legs dangling down, ‘And what are you going to do with this very impressive hunting weapon?’

‘None of your business.’

‘Can I have it?’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘Alfred. Stop talking and give it here.’

America peered down once more, imagining the family room further along the warren of hallways of the manor, ‘Can I put it with Deidre downstairs?’

‘Christ- will you leave that bloody statue alone.’

‘I think Uncle Rhys did a very good job with her.’

‘I think Rhys needs therapy.’

‘Aw. Don’t be mean to her, she’s beautiful.’

‘It’s terrible.’

‘She’ll look good with something to hold. Will make that lump of hers on her chest look more like an arm than a third boob.’ America held the odd stick to his chest in imitation, ‘See?’

‘Fine.’ England threw his hands up and shifted backwards as if to prompt America to do the same. ‘Put it with the statue if you want but stop leaning so far over the edge.’

‘Stop being such a fanny fart, I’m holding the beam.’

‘Yes but that could crack.’

America held on with one hand and sat further forwards, grinning as England swatted at his knee, ‘I thought you said the main beams were fine and strong?’

‘With how your great lumpen weight is swinging from it anything coul-‘

England was interrupted by a sharp, distinct crack of old, dry wood. America froze. A fine sprinkling of dust showered down from the roof, settling onto his knees like snow. They watched each other wide eyed, waiting to see what would happen and America trying not to think about the very heavy slate of the roof not that far from his organs. When nothing immediately collapsed he sat up properly, letting go of the beam slowly as if afraid of spooking it. On the other side of the hole, England buried his head in his hands and groaned.

‘Why. Why.’

America laughed nervously and gently patted the beam. ‘I guess I’m buying dinner?’

England didn’t reply.

‘Cool... cool. Nice.’

#aph england #aph america #hws england #hws america #hetalia #hws #aph #arthur kirkland #alfred f jones #heroes writes #Only the OGs remember Deidre

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miss-hyoko · 1 year

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Hello there! :) I'd like to order a Rivals to Lovers/Crush with Jamil please, you can serve it however you like to~

"Here's the food you ordered, dear customer. Albeit a little delayed, I hope you'll still enjoy this [How Could This Happen?!] gado-gado."

How Could This Happen?!

Character(s): Jamil

Summary: You and Jamil are rivals, but then he realized his feelings for you

Tag(s) and warning(s): GN!Reader, fluff, romantic, rivals to crush trope, and a little crack (according to what my sister said)

Note: I was supposed to post this two days ago, but then I accidentally fell asleep and completely forgot about it until my sister reminded me this morning 👁️👄👁️

From the first time he met you, Jamil knew he wouldn't get along well with you. You and him… are too different. In many senses. Your opinions often conflict with his, whether it's about lessons or other small things. You're the only person besides Kalim who can make Jamil's blood boil effortlessly. In order not to get high blood pressure, Jamil constantly tries to minimize his contact with you. But somehow, he didn't know how, he will always get involved with you in the end. How annoying!

Jamil always tries to be an ordinary student with average grades. But then you came into his life, provoked him, and the next thing Jamil knows, he's accidentally gotten himself a perfect score. Upset that you ruined his plans to become a normal student, Jamil automatically looks at you with a piercing gaze. Being stared at like that, you immediately think that Jamil gets a lower score than you. So, with a cheeky smile, you proudly showed your score to him, not noticing the way Jamil rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

At this point, almost everyone in NRC knows that the relationship between the two of you is not good, even though you both are often seen together. But miraculously, you two always end up in the same group together. Arguments between the two of you were inevitable, but over time you two are also slowly starting to understand each other more deeply. Your relationship didn't improve right away, but at least it was better than before.

Jamil was the first to notice that something was a little different from your daily interactions. Sure, you two still frequently argue over trivial matters, but Jamil realizes that lately he's been giving in to you more often just to see you smile with joy. And every time you, intentionally or not, do something stupid that gets you in trouble, Jamil will secretly help you solve it and then give you a harsh scold.

Once he realizes that he has feelings for you, the poor guy will be in complete denial. Jamil's trying so hard to convince himself that he's, in fact, not the least bit interested in you. And as if to prove it, he starts avoiding you as if you were a plague to be avoided. But instead his of diminished, his feelings for you just increased the more he tried to distance himself from you. After some time, Jamil finally accepts the fact that he has truly fallen in love with you, his rival.

After successfully managing his feelings, Jamil didn't have time to breathe a sigh of relief when he suddenly thought of something important. Do you also like him the way he likes you? Jamil himself is aware that you two didn't have a good start, so he knows you don't have a good impression of him. But now, Jamil will try to improve his relationship with you little by little.

Ancient people once said that the quickest way to capture someone's heart is to catch their stomach first. Coincidentally, Jamil is an excellent cook. Using the excuse of 'accidentally making too much', Jamil occasionally gives you the food he makes. Not only that, if he notices you're having trouble with a lesson, he will help you study it under the pretext of 'it's not fair to compete with a stupid person'. All in all, Jamil is the type of person who says so little, yet lots of action. He won't immediately tell you about his feelings; preferring to slowly make his way into your heart, just like what you did to him.

#disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland x reader #twst wonderland #twst x reader #twst imagines #jamil viper #jamil viper x reader #jamil x reader #gado-gado #🍽️_ordered #👀_anonymous

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invested-in-your-future · 26 days

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Honestly the way Ruby was reluctant to form new connections at Beacon, wanted to appear normal, but then went out of her way to prove to Weiss her worth, before she was assigned as the leader, makes me assume that she's sort of a people pleaser. Ruby appears way more like a people pleaser than Yang.

Ruby is complicated because her decisions and behavior stem from her desire to walk in her mother's steps.

I'd imagine she would be perfectly fine with not interacting with people -, the attire choice, beyond allusions to her mother, always felt to me like her way to separate from the world around her.

Where I think it gets complicated is that while she doesn't really want or need people to give her validation, at the same time, others deconstructing her motivations or poking holes in her ideals is her ultimate weakness. It's why Roman's big monologue on that airship serves as a crucial moment that tears her down as a person.

(and it's why the V3 finale is built in such a way that tears down her motivations and destroys her while contrasting it with narrative framing her as a leader in that Arena stand-off segment, not to mention being part of some secret ancient legacy - Ruby is given validation but it's not what she needs nor what she wants)

Meanwhile, Weiss's very existence challenges her very being - Ruby's first impression of her is that of a rich social butterfly who flourishes in crowds, always ending up the center of attention - someone smart, someone who is a powerful fighter and someone who knows what they want from their life.

Her introduction and Weiss's early interactions with Ruby all scream at her - "This is what a Huntress should be, this is what a competent person looks like and you are not like her."

This clashes with Ruby's own self-doubt - her need to "belong" in Beacon due to how it ties into her life's purpose - her need to BE a hero/Huntress like her mother.

She doesn't really want to be liked or useful, but she wants to be a Huntress.

She doesn't want to be praised nor to get that positive feedback, but she can't stand any negative feedback.

She wants to deny her, she reacts to react Weiss in a specific way.

But more importantly, Ruby wants to prove Weiss wrong, and she wants to prove herself wrong.

At the same time, I think Ruby subconsciously gravitates towards people who are hurt (whether dealing with grief or trauma) but have to put on cheerful masks to survive - it's not a coincidence that Ruby's first "real" friends are Weiss (abuse survivor and someone who struggles with identity issues) and Penny (existential crisis due to exploration of developing consciousness) and that the huntress she idolizes is Pyrrha (someone who struggles with being put on pedestal and who had to keep up appearances all her life to the point that it would drive others away and she would struggle with genuine interactions).

At some level Ruby recognizes those struggling with the same issues as her and relates to them - Ruby and Weiss's relationship only truly takes a step forward when Weiss lets her guard down around her in that V1 dorm scene, which means that in the end what progresses their relationship is less Ruby proving herself and more of both actually being vulnerable around each other and thus kindred.

In fact, I'd say the show specifically tells that "proving yourself" is a bit toxic of an idea - it's understanding and connections that matter in the end.

Like, it's the most obvious with Jaune, who doesn't prove to be stronger but, rather proves to be a better person than Cardin by actually willing to risk his life for someone who actively blackmails and bullies him.

There is a certain overlap between Yang and Ruby, though because, in a certain way, Yang's coping mechanism and how she behaves is emulating Ruby, but both are doing it for entirely different motives.

Yang hides a softer, vulnerable side behind a hard-headed, angry exterior, while Ruby hides all her anger and emotional turmoil behind a cheerful, more reserved facade.

Yang rushes headfirst and takes the hits, while Ruby, even at her closest combat range still keeps her enemies at a distance, not to mention having a semblance designed around avoiding hits.

Yang's choice of attire is extravagant and draws attention to her, while Ruby's is designed to blend in and hide.

Yang copes by getting into fights to let off steam, while Ruby bottles it all inside till she can't.

Ruby gravitates towards a person hiding her loneliness behind a facade, while Yang gravitates toward someone who feels aimless just like her.

At the end of V3, Yang copes with trauma by shutting down and distancing herself, while Ruby copes with anger outbursts, essentially reversing their positions.

Yang and Ruby both parallel AND contrast each other.

Yang derives her self-worth from how "useful" she can be to others because she doesn't know what she wants in life and because she has mostly just gone with the flow after giving up whatever childhood dreams she might have had.

Ruby on the other hand knows what she wants from life but it is outright impossible - being viewed as a hero wouldn't make her one nor let her save people, for example. It's exactly why most of the first volumes are just her delaying(or running from) that realization of just how silly and impossible "And then everybody lived happily ever after" is in that world. It's something she had refused to face since Summer disappeared, after all.

#rwby #ruby rose #weiss schnee #penny polendina #rwby meta stuff mine #rwby stuff mine #rwby asks #Yang Xiao Long #blake belladonna

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indignantlemur · 4 months

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Thank you so much, I do have follow up questions ^_^

1) how did those early conversations go? “What do pinkskins do for sports?” “You strap knives to your shoes and do what now?” (Maybe? I just feel like Dagmar would bring up winter sports first in an effort to be relatable? You’re the writer, do what you will)

2) what does Andorian dance look like? Historically, currently? do clans compete (any comparison to Highland Games)? Groups? Weddings? Siblings? Any Taboos? Anything you can think of :))

Hello again! <3

I suspect the initial introductions to Terran sports started out casually. Humans making friends, as they do, and doing friendly things like inviting them to attend sporting events - football, lacrosse, hockey, volley ball, snowboarding, rugby, what-have-you. This inevitably leads to a very confused alien asking about the rules, and from there the indoctrination begins! 😆

(1) I fully intend to have Dagmar bring up some uniquely Norwegian and Canadian sports at some point, probably when the gang is all back on Earth again. Dagmar's not really a sports person, per se, but her mother and little brother were and she often got dragged along to events regardless of her own preferences on the matter. You could say she learned the rules of lacrosse and hockey largely involuntarily, really.

(2) While I haven't fully fleshed out all of the details, my Andorians do dance, contrary to the impression that they like to give outsiders, but only very rarely and it's almost always centered around specific traditions and rites. It's considered a private thing meant for family and spouses, and therefore deeply personal - so much so that most Andorians will outright deny that such an activity ever takes place rather than discuss the matter with strangers. Andorians who are reasonably well acquainted with aliens, such as Thelen is with Dagmar, will understand that other species view the activity rather differently and of those Andorians many will often separate the two 'kinds' of dancing mentally. Thus, when Thelen learns from Dagmar he can truthfully say that he is not violating a cultural taboo; he is merely indulging an alien friend's equally alien customs.

When it is permitted, Andorian dances are surprising. This is one of the times where I get to bring in some of that insectoid ancestry that Andorians have and actually apply is sensibly. Drawing inspiration from bees (and stick bugs somewhat), I imagine that the steps are recreations of old migration paths, important battles, and other historical events, each one unique to a Clan and interpreted with heavy artistic license. Swaying, lunging, twisting, leaping, gliding, rising and falling and rising again - the pacing varies, but there is one consistent element: a heart-beat pattern. The measure of each dance is always based on the pattern of an Andorian's heartbeat, the timing quickened or slowed as needed in each 'scene' depicted; one might be frenzied and erratic, the other steady and even, and yet another might shift between the two extremes.

Andorians will dance to celebrate ancient religious rites, new births, and, yes, sometimes even weddings. During weddings, it's usually done after getting outrageously drunk - and usually results in at least one person making an absolute fool of themselves. As long as nothing too untoward happens, most folks let the behaviour slide as 'high spirits' and leave it at that.

One idea that I'm extremely fond of it the idea of the First Dance. After an Andorian child is born, one of the parents will hold the child and map out the progression of Andoria around their solar system in slow, ponderous steps, evenly paced like the steady orbit of their homeworld. When the entire quad is present, the three non-birthing spouses will take turns guiding the child through the First Dance, or move in a kind of relay-race with one switching out and one swapping in while the third waits their turn, rotating through each role until the dance is complete.

The First Dance was once a kind of portent for the child, with numerous outcomes derived from the the slightest of stumbles, the barest of missteps, and whether or not the parent(s) guiding the child took the correct number of steps, or more, or less. In modern times, it is an old tradition kept more out of fondness than anything else, with much of the weight once placed upon its meaning shifting to be an act of profound love and welcome.

As time progresses and Andorians as a whole become exposed to more and more alien cultures, I fully expect their natural reserve to lessen somewhat as new ideas are slowly, cautiously embraced and then eventually adapted to suit their culture.

#star trek #emigre by indignantlemur #andorian #andorians #headcanon #Andorians and dancing #Andorians and sports

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hotdsstuff · 11 months

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Blood and Ashes

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Chapter 5: Tourneys and Memories

It was the day of the Tournament. The long-awaited Tournament for the King's Heir. This heir who had not even been born. But that didn't matter. The Prince's birth was just one more reason for more than half the city to gather and watch useless men fight their own kind. If not for the immense insistence of Rhaenyra and Viserys, along with Daemon's participation, Aerin would not even have bothered to come and watch. Aerin had little to no appreciation for tournaments and jousting, I mean, if she couldn't compete herself, what was the fun in just watching?

Aerin wore a black dress with red trim that had been given to her by Daemon years ago. This matched his own armor. Beside her, as the two climbed the stairs to the small platform, Rhaenyra was dressed in a bright red dress and had her hair in a few small braids wound around the nape of her neck. As for Aerin's hairstyle, she just wore her traditional braids. The braids meant a lot to Aerin. She said that for each victory achieved, a braid would be made in her hair and for each defeat suffered, all braids would be cut. Aerin had never cut a single braid before. I think that, just for this information, Otto Hightower should rethink his ideas, no? Back to the point, at the top of her silver waterfall, Aerin had a tiara of pure obsidian, curiously also given by Daemon. Aerin liked to spice things up, and what better way to do that than to challenge the King's power without the King himself noticing?

As the two climbed, Viserys made a short speech.

- Be welcome! I know many of you have traveled long leagues to be at these games. But I promise, you will not be disappointed.

But, as on any other occasion, his speech was cut short when Aerin emerged. The people, together with some nobles, rose to their feet with shouts and whistles at the appearance of the Princess. The people had a huge adoration for Aerin, not just because she was the Mother of Dragons, no, from the moment when she was born the winter stopped abruptly, the story was passed down from generation to generation, making many think that the birth of Aerin was a sign from the Gods, an answer to their prayers for mercy. The entire city soon adopted Aerin as a source of devotion, they revered her, for she had brought the sun and rain, she had brought the crops and every source of food in the realm. She, was their goddess. Some even screamed.

- LONG LIVE THE MOTHER OF DRAGONS!

- HAIL!

Aerin immediately smiled, raising her arms. Behind her, Rhaenys and Corlys smiled along with Laenor and Laena who loved it when Aerin told them stories about Valerian, Queen of All Dragons. But, not everyone was happy, an example? Well, as usual, Otto Hightower. It was hard to see why he harbored such an ancient hatred for Aerin. But, I think it could be started by saying that he could never get the King to see the evil in Aerin. Let me explain. Aerin and Daemon, as we know, didn't have a relationship, let's say "normal", although their ancestors can't say much about it, but Otto always knew about these meetings and secrecy between the two. His spies, or little birds as he liked to call them, had filled him in on Aerin and Daemon's various customs several times. Otto tried to warn Jaehaerys about the matter, but the Old King never listened to him, there was nothing he could say that would spoil the affection Jaehaerys had for his favorite granddaughter. Now, Otto had tried to warn Viserys of Daemon and Aerin's relationship, but again, the King would have none of it. Aerin was his older sister and nothing was going to destroy Viserys's vision of her, of wisdom, of trust, of courage. Otto even thought that Aerin used some kind of witchcraft to bewitch Jaehaerys and then Viserys. But that theory was never proven, since, if she bewitched her grandfather and her brother, why didn't she put a spell on him so that he would stop bothering her? Furthermore, it was inconceivable to Otto that Viserys would not notice that Aerin wore a tiara. Not even Queen Aemma wore one! It was an outrage, a betrayal of the kingdom and the king himself, but no one seemed to care. Otto would never realize how Aerin always got away with whatever she did, but that's a topic for another time.

Finally, when Aerin sat down, in the front row, everyone else in the arena sat down with her. She turned back, beckoning Viserys to continue. Viserys waved back, silently thanking her. Viserys then continued. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra soon sat down on Aerin's right and Alicent's left.

- When I look at the fine knights in these lists, I see a group without equal in our histories. And this great day has been made more auspicious by the news that I am happy to share: Queen Aemma has begun her labors!

Aerin applauded and along with her the entire arena.

- May the of the Seven shine upon all combatants! - And the arena erupted in applause.

The jousting soon began and the shouting along with it. But Aerin couldn't care less than she already did.

- A mystery knight? - asked Rhaenyra.

- No, a Cole, of the Stormlands. - answered Alicent

- I've never heard of House Cole.

- Neither have I - said Aerin.

Then a knight approached the bench. This one carried the shield of House Baratheon. Distant cousins of House Targaryen, by Princess Rhaenys.

- Princess Rhaenys Targaryen! - he called - I would humbly ask for the favor of "The Queen Who Never Was."

- Good fortune to you, cousin.

- I would gladly take it if I thought I needed it. - he replied, convinced.

Otto Hightower approached the King.

- You could have Baratheon's tongue for that.

- Tongues will not change the succession. Let them wag. - retorted Viserys.

Rhaenyra and Alicent soon returned to their conversation.

- Lord Stokeworth's daughter is promised to that young Tarly squire.

- Lord Massey's son? - asked Alicent.

- They're to be married as soon as he wins his knighthood.

- Best get on with it. I heard that Lady Elinor is hiding a swollen belly beneath her dress.

The banners were soon changed. These indicated who would be the next combatants. The Baratheon banner was raised on the right and the Cole banner on the left.

The two knights soon crossed, Ser Baratheon being cut down by Cole. Looks like this one needed luck after all.

Rhaenyra, impressed, questioned Ser Harrold.

- What do you know about this Ser Criston Cole, Ser Harrold?

- I'm told Ser Criston is common-born, son of Lord Dondarrion's steward. But other than that, and the fact that he's just unhorsed both of the Baratheon lads, I really couldn't say.

The drums with the Targaryen crest began to play again. The people started screaming. Soon the reason they were screaming would be explained. The Targaryen banner had also been raised. Daemon was about to fight. Now, Aerin paid attention to the joust.

- Prince Daemon of House Targaryen, Prince of the City, will now choose his first opponent! - Aerin looked at the combatants, none as powerful with a sword as Daemon was. This should be easy.

Daemon crossed the arena on his black steed to match his armor.

- For his first challenge, Prince Daemon chooses Ser Gwayne Hightower of Oldtown, eldest son of the Hand of the King. - Of course, Daemon wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to humiliate House Hightower and anger the dear Hand.

Rhaenyra took Alicent's Hand. Of course this one was nervous. Daemon was the best knight in King's Landing, after Aerin, of course.

- Five dragons on Daemon - Betting began, the first was Viserys.

- You have so little faith, my brother. - Aerin commented. She looked at Otto as she smiled and said - Twenty dragons on Daemon.

Daemon looked up at the platform and smirked at Otto. He then looked down and saw Aerin. There she was in all her glory while wearing one of the dresses he himself had given her. Daemon, of course, smiled at her.

In the end, as predicted, Daemon won. He approached the platform as Aerin, Rhaenyra, and Alicent rose to their feet.

- Nicely done, Uncle.

- Thank you, Princess. - Daemon replied. Aerin just smiled at him and waved. But before continuing, Aerin turned to Viserys.

- Viserys. - Aerin held out her hand, while smiling. The latter threw him a small bag of coins. Aerin turned to Daemon then.

- You bet on me? - He asked, falsely surprised.

- But of course. Twenty dragons.

- Now, I'm fairly certain I can win these games, Princess Aerin. Having the Mother of Dragons' favor would all but assure it. -Daemon wanted to pull Otto to his limits. He considered asking Alicent's favor but that would be too boring. And what better way to piss off Otto than to publicly show his appreciation for Aerin without it seeming romantic? Better was impossible. Rhaenyra just smiled at Daemon's attempt to piss off Otto. She knew about her uncles romance since she was just a child. She was sworn to secrecy, and secretly, she supported their relationship.

Aerin turned her back and took her favor as she looked into the eyes of Viserys and Otto. Her favor was made of red and black roses, decorated with golden dragons. A complete symbol of House Targaryen. She turned to Daemon and urged her favor as the people cheered and whistled. And then she dropped it onto Daemon's spear.

- Good luck, my Prince.

Aerin soon turned around and was just in time to see a Maester whisper something in Otto's ear and he did the same in Viserys's ear. This soon got up, only stopping to whisper in her ear.

- Take care of Rhaenyra.

- What? Why? What is going on? Viserys? Answer me. - But this one was already gone.

In her heart Aerin knew something was going on. She felt her chest heavy. Not even two seconds had passed when Aerin rose to follow Viserys. Otto tried to stop her. But it was in vain.

- Princess! The King has asked you to look after Princess Rhaenyra. You cannot-

- Do it yourself!

- But- Princess!

- Aunt Aerin? Is there something wrong?

Hearing Rhaenyra's voice, Aerin turned to her. She put her hands around Rhaenyra's face gently and said.

- Nothing is wrong, my dragon. Do not worry. I just need you to stay here and focus on Uncle Daemon so that when I get back you can tell me everything that happened, you understand?

- Okay.

Aerin broke into a run up the stairs of the Red Keep. Soon she heard Aemma's screams and knew something was wrong. The birth should have been over by now. Aerin soon entered and saw Aemma lying on the bed as she screamed with Viserys beside her.

- Aemma!

- Aerin - shouted Aemma and Viserys in unison.

Aerin walked over to Aemma and sat beside her. But Viserys pulled her away.

- What are you doing here?

- I am taking care of my sister! - Aerin returned to sit beside Aemma.

- No no no. Please!

- It's okay Aemma. You will be fine.

While Aerin massaged Aemma's hair and soothed her, Viserys spoke to the Maesters.

- During a difficult birth, it sometimes becomes necessary for the father to make an impossible choice.

- Well, speak it.

- To sacrifice one or to lose them both. There is a chance that we can save the child. A technique is taught at the Citadel, wich involves cutting directly into the womb to free the infant. But the resulting blood loss-

- Seven Hells, Mellos. You can save the child?

- We must either act now or leave it with the gods.

- Viserys - Aemma called weakly.

- Yes? They're going to bring the baby out now.

- What? How? - Aerin asked. But Viserys did not respond.

- I love you.

- What is happening? - asked Aemma, confused.

- No, it's all right.

- Viserys? What are you doing? - Aerin tried to warn.

Aemma was getting more and more scared as was Aerin.

- Viserys!

Viserys nodded to the guards, who then grabbed Aerin by her arms and pulled her away from Aemma.

- Viserys, no! Please. Think again. STOP! VISERYS! - Aerin tried to free herself but had four guards grabbing her at once, she was at a clear disadvantage.

- NO! NO! NO! AERIN!

- AEMMA! VISERYS!

- I'm making the first incision.

- VISERYS! - Aemma and Aerin's screams echoed in unison. - AEMMA! VISERYS STOP THIS MADNESS!

When Aerin saw Aemma stop screaming, she did, scream as she had never done in her life.

Valerian, sensing her rider's pain, roared with all her might. At the tournament, Valerian's roar was adopted as Daemon's victory badge, but that victory would not last long.

When the first cries were heard in the King's chambers, the guards finally released Aerin. She fell to her knees on the floor as tears streamed down her face.

When Daemon looked up at the platform, he finally noticed that Aerin was gone.

Aerin, when finally released, ran to Aemma, in the little hope that she had just lost consciousness. Aerin grabbed her face as she cried, trying to get her to wake up. But in vain. She was dead.

As she approached Aemma's body, Aerin had her dress covered in her blood. But this one didn't care. She was in pure shock. Her sister was dead.

- I hope you're happy. -Aerin said to Viserys, as she looked at Aemma's face. As she ran her hands through her hair one last time.

Meanwhile, at the tourney, Ser Criston had bested Daemon. And now this one claimed his reward, Rhaenyra's favor.

- I was hoping to ask for the Princess's favor.

- I wish you luck, Ser Criston.

- Princess.

Aerin, coming to terms with Aemma's death, remembered the last thing she had asked of her: that she take care of Rhaenyra. Then, Aerin gave Aemma a final kiss on the forehead and left the room. She walked slowly through the corridors of the Red Keep. She was in no hurry to tell Rhaenyra about Aemma's death, but the time would come whether she wanted it or not.

That moment came faster than expected. When Aerin appeared Daemon and Ser Criston were still in the arena, no longer fighting, but still there. When Daemon looked at Aerin,he knew something was up. Something had made her eyes go cold, they no longer had the same sparkle as before. When Daemon saw the blood on Aerin's dress and hands, his eyes widened and he had a small idea of what had happened.

When Rhaenyra saw her uncle so taken aback, she immediately looked back to see Aerin desperately fighting back tears. With blood on her hands and dress and her hair a little out of place.

Aerin approached Rhaenyra and knelt in front of her. Without saying a word, Aerin embraced Rhaenyra, her mother's death sure to haunt her forever.

Rhaenyra, still not knowing what was going on, soon found out when she saw Otto arrive and whisper something in the ears of all the members of the Small Council.

It was the next day. But to Aerin and Rhaenyra it felt like a hundred years had passed. Aemma's presence no longer cheered the Red Keep.

Syrax was above a hill while Valerian circled the skies. Beneath that very hill they all gathered around the funeral pyre of Aemma and Baelon, yes, Viserys had borne a son, just as he wanted, but he had only lived for an hour, suffocating on the very air. To Aerin, that just meant the karma was real, but she would never say that out loud, out of respect for Rhaenyra and Aemma's memory.

They were all silent, none daring to utter a single word.

- They're waiting for you. - Daemon said, behind Rhaenyra, next to Aerin.

- Nyke pendagon lo, isse lī dorolvie jēda ñuha lēkia glaestan, ñuha kepa mōrī jiōraton biarves (I wonder if, during those few hours my brother lived, my father finally found happiness.)

- Aōha kepa jorrāelagon ao, tolī sir than ziry mirre ēza (Your father needs you, more now than he ever has.) - Daemon tried

- Kesan dōrī sagon iā tresy (I will never be a son.)

Aerin just watched the scene. Staring intently at the pyre of Aemma and Baelon. That reminded her of something. A memory from when she was just eight and Daemon was three. Daemon was still a baby in arms when Alyssa, mother of the three, had died, along with their brother Aegon.

Aerin remembered how her childhood faded from that moment on, never to return. Aerin, eight years old at her mother's death, was the woman of the family and soon realized her duty to care for Viserys and Daemon. Aerin was a child who had been forced to grow up and mature quickly. Far too quickly.

Rhaenyra inched closer to the pyre. She looked at Syrax. She was the only one

Rhaenyra inched closer to the pyre. She looked at Syrax. She was the only descendant of the King. The "dracarys" had to come from her. Rhaenyra tried. But Aemma's death weighed heavily on her. She couldn't. She turned to Aerin, who had 'woken up'. Aerin nodded and soon Rhaenyra stepped back and hugged her, tears covering Aerin's dress immediately.

- Dracarys, Syrax. (Dragonfire, Syrax) - Aerin ordered, and soon the dragon descended the hill and burned the pyre.

#daemon targaryen #daemon targaryen x reader #game of thrones #got #hotd #house of the dragon #fanfic #wattpad #hi again #hi friends

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ask-de-writer · 9 months

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WIND MEETS THE ROM : Part 21 of 27 :

MLP Fan Fiction

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WIND MEETS THE ROM

Part 21 of 27

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

Cover art by @wind-the-mama-cat

54212 words

Writing begun 06/01/18

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Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

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New to the story? Read from Part 1, here!

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Wind replied, “Thank you, Mama Dragon. I have already learned that I am not yet ready for swords.”

Hanar chuckled, “I was there! No, sweet love of mine, no swords. If you tell me what it needs, I will make you a staff of Rom Blackwood. No wood is stronger than Blackwood.”

As Wind was thanking Hanar for her offer, Mama Dragon pushed back her chair and said, “Marchhare, I must thank you for your excellent care of my Kitten. Now, I fear, it is time for me to go.”

She was starting for the door in the front of the caravan when Wind took her arm and told her, “Not yet, Mama. You need to stay until the fair opens. The wood miners have found a big ancient maple with burls. The burls and some of the other wood have opalized. Think of the lovely maple burl grain patterns in opal.”

Mama Dragon's eyes closed and her lips pursed in a near ecstacy as she pictured the burl grain in opal colors. Recovering, she looked down at Wind and ruffled the hair between her ears as she rumbled, “Thank you, Wind. You have saved me from a grave error.”

Turning to Hoof Dancer and Black Lotus she said contritely, “It appears that you will have to make more carnivore breakfast, my dears. How soon will the wood miners get here?”

Marchhare giggled but replied, “Fairly early after sunrise. They will need to set up their sales booth. How do I compete for opalized burl wood with a dragon looking to increase her hoard?”

Mama Dragon's grin bared all of her impressive fangs as she retorted, “You don't!” Her grin morphing into a smile, she added, “Fear not, I will leave some for both you and Rose. In fact, I would love to buy one of her boxes made from this opalized wood.”

Breakfast was the usual madhouse of Rom grabbing pastries, pies, tea and scrambles. Mama Dragon surprised everyhorse there by taking a place beside Wind in the serving line, speaking perfect Gyptian to the rest.

The three of them, Mama Dragon, Wind and Hanar found a nice shady spot to eat their breakfast. Hanar was brimming over with questions about Wind's home world as they sipped big mugs of tea.

Suddenly Hanar's magic gathered all their breakfast dishes and utensils and sailed them unerringly into the soaking tubs! She pointed, dancing with excitement! “The wood miners! That is their cart on the midway!”

There was a small stampede of Rom and a dragon toward the cart in the midway! Wind, far ahead of the pack, stopped by the cart and politely asked, “How can we help you to set up? We have some horses and a dragon who all want your special woods.”

“We'd be glad of some help, um, Mam. We have some heavy things to off load and our tables have to be real stout, so they are heavy too.”

Wind pointed, “So, those trestles and boards on top are your tables? No problem at all. If I am counting right, you want four trestles under each table, right?”

Wind just hopped up onto the wagon, calling, “Hanar! They want four of these under each table!” She casually began tossing the dozen stout wood trestles off the wagon!

Hanar's magic caught the sawhorse like trestles and set them neatly into a big U shape. Boards sailed off from Wind's hands but were caught and placed with precision by Hanar's magic. In short order, the booth tables were ready.

Mama Dragon and Marchhare stepped to the front. Mama Dragon, leaning forward in a slightly predatory posture, politely asked, “I hear that you have some opalized maple burls. I am most eager to see them. I will buy one if they are anything like the report that I heard.”

Stepping back with trepidation from the dragon in front of him, the leader pointed to three stout square cases on the wagon. They are right there. It takes two of us to lift each one. We will get right on it . . .”

His words trailed away as slight seeming Wind picked up the first of the indicated boxes and handed it to Mama Dragon, who took it, balancing it on one hand and transferring it to the table. They repeated the task with each of the other two. Wind hopped off of the wagon and joined Mama Dragon, giving her a hug.

Mama Dragon returned the hug with hands that were rough scaled on the backs but scaled as smooth as the belly scutes of a snake on the palms and undersides of her fingers. The sheer comfort that Wind radiated showed all who could see that she was happily at home in Mama Dragon's arms.

Mama Dragon extricated herself from Wind and asked politely, “May I see the burls?”

The lead miner nodded, “Sure can. If you want to buy one, we will take a Secure Gold Transfer or cut it down to a size that you can afford.”

“Oh, that won't be necessary. You do take gold coin don't you?”

“Yes, Mam, we do. But this is thousands of gold bits we are talking about here.”

“I did figure that out, Sir. Equestrian gold bits are 2% copper for durability. I have coins that match that purity in my hoard. You do have a trade scale to weigh them, don't you? Of course I expect you to test my coins for purity.

“May I see your burls now?”

Mutely he nodded and unfastened catches at the lower front corners of each case. He folded back the front and top to make a display box of each case.

He apologetically explained, “We only got them cut free of the trunk two days ago. Didn't have time to polish the faces but you can see, they are top quality.”

Mama Dragon picked up one and asked, “May I shine them for you? I promise that it will not be hurt by it.”

He nodded, “If you can without hurting them, go ahead.”

Cradling the stone in one solid arm, she breathed a gentle wash of pale blue flame across the burl while rubbing it softly with the smooth side of her other hand. In only a few minutes, she put the burl back in its box. Its face was now perfectly smooth, revealing to all the brilliant reds, blues and greens in the wonderful swirled patterns of the burl's original wood now replaced by pure opal.

She quietly went down the table repeating the feat. The rare treasures of the wood miners held every horse and pony there spellbound.

Mama pointed to the first one that she had polished and said cheerfully, “I will take that one. Now, the gold. You do have a scale don't you?”

“I do. That one is 32,000 bits for the whole thing.”

He put out a scale with a stand and two sliding weights. He set the weights and pronounced, “There. It's set for five hundred bits weight. You going to have some, um, horse go get your gold?”

“Not necessary. I have it here.” Mama Dragon opened her belt pouch and reached impossibly deep into it. She pulled out a large hand full of huge golden coins.

His eyes bugged out at the sight of them! “I have never seen coins that big! They must be near two inches across!”

He drew one across a testing slate, leaving a streak and applied the test acid to it. “These are pure gold! I'd be robbing you of 2% to take them. Let me re set my scale to give you fair value.” He fiddled with an adjustment screw on his scale. “There. Now it will read honest for you.”

Stacking coins on the scale until it balanced, he set aside the stack. Cheerfully he commented, “500 bits. Only sixty three more stacks to go!”

One of the other wood miners put out a largish box for Mama Dragon to pile her coins in and started keeping a tally as his boss weighed stacks of coins.

Mama Dragon's huge supply of coins coming from a seemingly small pouch drew nearly as much attention as the opal burls!

Finally the last stack was weighed and the last of the gold loaded into a coffer. “Do you need a receipt, Mam? Help with carrying your purchase?”

“I think that I can manage it.”

Mama Dragon took the pouch off her belt and pulled the opening wide. She stretched it over the box with her opal burl, working it around the box like a snake swallowing a large prey. At the last she tipped it up, letting the box fall inside the pouch, which resumed its original small belt pouch size. Mama Dragon attached it to her belt, and gave Wind another hug.

“I really must go home now, Kitten. I will see you again when you can properly wield Soulblade. I love you.”

“Love you too, Mama. I will miss you. Take good care of your world.”

The crowd parting in front of her and closing behind her, Mama Dragon went into Marchhare's caravan and closed the door behind her.

With Mama Dragon gone, the crowd became the usual somewhat unruly collection of ponies that anypony with brains expects around the wood miners booth. Their goods, as usual, were first rate.

Marchhare managed to get his hooves on a whole burl too. Wind and Hanar helped him to carry its box to his caravan. Wind noticed that Rose had obtained a nice plank of beautifully grain figured maple that was subtly infused with the lovely opal.

As they were opening Hanar's booth for the day, Wind wanted to know, “Hanar, you said that you might make me a staff out of Rom Blackwood? I would really appreciate that. I have not been able to work out with any weapons since I got here. I do need that discipline.”

“Then you shall have it, Wind, my love. But not until this evening, after the fair closes for the night. How big around and how long should it be?”

Wind took the time to measure out one of Hanar's woven Broadweave fabrics for a customer. The customer, a pleasant faced yellow pony with a bow in her forelock, was surprised when Wind sheared off the fabric on the cutting board. She held it in her new metal hand and sliced it free of the bolt with a claw sprung from the index finger of her flesh hand.

As she took her neatly folded purchase, a little wide eyed, she asked, “That was amazing! Do you need a knife or scissors at all?”

Hanar looked up from where she was twining more thread on her spinning wheel and replied with a grin, “Only if she needs to cut something really big! Those claws of Wind's are really sharp!”

As the Sky Dancers first tune struck up, Wind went to high alert! Her keen eyes scanned the crowd for any sign of surreptitious magic use that might endanger the performers.

What she saw instead was indeed sneaky use of magic, all right. Some pony was sliding coins out of a merchant's coin box while he was distracted by the ongoing dance in the air!

She was over the counting board in a leap! She was silently charging through the crowd of fairgoers, dodging or leaping over ponies as needful!

The first that the thief knew of his trouble was Wind landing astradle his back! Her clawed metal hand was gripping his horn! Her right arm was around his neck, claws sunk solidly into his skin, just over the major blood vessels!

Using his horn for a lever, she pulled his head around! A few coins fell to the ground, along with the surprised blue green unicorn!

Wind shifted position as he fell and landed solidly across his neck! Conversationally, she commented, “If you try to get away or use magic, I rake your horn and you won't ever use magic again. Clear?”

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#WIND MEETS THE ROM #Part 21 of 27 #MLP Fan Fiction #Written by De Writer

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loominggaia · 3 months

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Question: Is it possible for Gaia to be killed or rendered unable to just destroy the people she’ll punish for making them the way they are? ‘Cus what I’m getting is that Gaia is an uncaring (Or caring in that abusive, “mother knows best!” way.) ass who lets the Celestials do whatever they want with the peoples souls, and who also has her Nymph’s kill people for not doing exactly what is told of them. If not is there a way to commit suicide that completely destroys your soul?

That's a very good question! Truthfully, no one really knows Gaia's true motives. The nymphs know more than anyone, but no single nymph knows the full scope of what's happening on a cosmic level. They each kind of get a little snippet of the story.

World Athenaeum researchers theorize that the universe is so big, that Gaia is the size of a bacterium by comparison. They believe there are creatures much larger than Her out in the cosmos, and she is far from the most powerful thing out there.

The point is, everything Gaia does could simply be for survival reasons. She seems to behave as if She can die. Some of Her actions may seem unfair from the perspective of peoples, but nature has no concept of right and wrong, or of justice.

It is known that long, long ago, Gaia was colonized by a sapient species that goes by many names. They were humanoid in shape, quite short and frail-bodied with large, bald heads and grey skin. What they called themselves is unknown, but today they are called "Ancient Dworfs", "Ancient Ones", "The Before People", or "The Greys".

Did Gaia create these people? Did they evolve from Her native beasts? Or did they colonize Her from somewhere beyond the stars? No one knows, but their civilizations grew to be technologically advanced. Eventually they developed weapons of mass destruction and waged war on eachother. The destruction caused immense damage to Gaia, and she was forced to destroy them in order to save Her own life. She ripped the great continent into pieces, killing all Greys and burying their civilizations deep in the ocean.

After this, Gaia created the peoples we know and love, and she created the nymphs to keep them in line, so that they would not repeat the Greys' mistakes. She blessed every person with a soul so that they may have an afterlife in the cosmos when their body dies. She also made a diverse variety of peoples rather than just one species, hoping that they would compete and keep eachother in line as well. She wanted to ensure that none of them became too powerful and dominated the others, so she gave them all their own strengths and weaknesses.

But why did Gaia create these peoples? Why try to replace the Greys at all? The exact reason isn't known, but some theorize that peoples may one day play a role in defending Gaia from other beings in the cosmos. Perhaps that situation hasn't come to pass yet, but Damijana is currently working on a space program, so that time could be sooner than we think!

As far as it's known, there are only two things which can destroy a soul: Gaia herself, and the Divine Executioner. Some think the Divine Executioner is an artifact invented by the Greys, while others think it was created by beings from the cosmos. This is just another piece of the puzzle which is shrouded in mystery.

We don't know if Gaia loves peoples, or if She is just using them to one day defend Her from something they can't yet comprehend. It's very possible that both things are true. Love isn't sunshine and rainbows all the time. Sometimes love means using a heavy hand for one's own good...

The celestials seem to play some role in all this. Some researchers think celestial realms are acting as "reserves" for Gaia's souls, others think this is a means of reproduction between Gaia and the celestials, and some think the celestials are just predatory cosmic creatures who feed on Gaia's souls.

There are so many mysteries to be uncovered!

Questions/Comments?

Lore Masterpost

Read the Series

#ask #askgaia #asknymph #askcelestial #askancientones

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vindieselsfacebook-blog · 4 months

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Meaning/references behind every Gilmore Girls episode title - Season 3, Part 2

Masterlist: Season 1 Season 2, Part 1 Season 2, Part 2 Season 3, Part 1 Season 3, Part 2

My notes: - As always, please correct anything I've gotten wrong and share your own insight! - Many of these notes are pulled from and/or learned via annotatedgilmoregirls.com - an absolute icon! - I just KNOW there must be some more specific reference with "Keg! Max!"... anyone have any ideas? Perhaps also with "Happy Birthday, Baby"...?

Season 3, Part 2

Lorelai Out of Water The title is a twist on the familiar idiom, “fish out of water”, which refers to someone who feels awkward or uncomfortable in an unfamiliar environment. The earliest known use of the phrase comes from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1483, and was about someone riding a horse, which they weren’t used to. In this episode, Alex asks Lorelai on a fishing date, which she knows nothing about and gets Luke’s help with.

Dear Emily and Richard Through a series of flashbacks, we see how things played out for teenage Lorelai when she learns she’s pregnant and eventually leaves her parents’ house suddenly with baby Rory, telling them in a letter that presumably begins with “Dear Emily and Richard…”

Swan Song

A common metaphorical phrase for a final gesture, effort, or performance given just before death or retirement, referring to an ancient belief that swans sing a beautiful song just before their death since they have been silent (or alternatively not so musical) for most of their lifetime. The belief, whose basis has been long debated, had become proverbial in ancient Greece by the 3rd century BC and was reiterated many times in later Western poetry and art. This is of course jokingly referring to Jess getting “beaked” by a swan.

Face-Off In ice hockey, a face-off occurs at the start of each period, or to restart play. An official drops the puck between the sticks of two opposing players, who are then said to “face off” from each other in order to gain control of the puck. This episode has a hockey game as its focal point as well as several characters having “face offs” with each other, or efforts to gain control of their situations - Rory running into Dean and learning he’s moved on with Lindsay, Rory confronting Jess about his disrespect of her time, and Emily outing Trix’s affair with the tracksuit man.

The Big One“The Big One” is an informal name for World War II. It’s also a commonly used name for an anticipated megathrust earthquake along Western North America or Japan. It’s an appropriate name for this episode where several big important life events happen for multiple characters - Rory and Paris compete for the honor of speaking at Chilton's Bicentennial, Sookie and Jackson learn they are pregnant, Lorelai runs into Max and reignites old feelings, Paris has sex for the first time with Jamie and melts down on national television when she fails to get into Harvard, and Rory's college acceptance letters finally arrive. Lorelai says “You got the big one,” referring to the fact that acceptance letters come in big envelopes, whereas rejections come in small ones.

A Tale of Poes and Fire A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of fantasy novels by American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. The stories depict a violent world, largely without magic and dominated by political realism. The title references the Society of Edgar Allan Poe fans staying at the Independence Inn when it suffers a fire.

Happy Birthday, Baby Happy, Happy Birthday Baby is a 1957 song written by Margo Sylvia & Gilbert Lopez originally performed by The Tune Weavers, who had their only hit with this song. This episode marks the one and only time Lorelai’s birthday is celebrated on the show.

Keg! Max! Lane’s band plays their first gig at a houseparty and she somehow drinks enough cheap beer from the keg to get drunk for the first time. Lorelai continues running into Max and pushing his boundaries. It’s common for young people to yell excitedly about kegs at parties.

Say Goodnight, Gracie This line is spoken by George Burns in the TV show The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950-1958). Actors George Burns and Gracie Allen met in 1922 while they were both touring on the Vaudeville circuit. After falling in love and getting married, the two developed an act together—George would play the straight man and Gracie his silly and illogical wife. By the time they brought their act to TV in 1950, the two were a huge hit. The end of every show became a catchphrase: George and Gracie would come out and do some jokes until it was time to close the show, when George would turn to his wife and tell her, "Say goodnight, Gracie," and she would simply reply, "Goodnight." Thanks to Gracie’s ditzy delivery and the hilarious chemistry she had with George, this line became iconic. Presumably this title is referencing the ending of Jess and Rory’s relationship and/or his time in Stars Hollow

Here Comes the Son This episode title is a play on the song title Here Comes the Sun by the English rock band The Beatles from their 1969 album Abbey Road. It was written by George Harrison and is one of his best-known compositions. The lyrics reflect his relief at the arrival of spring and the temporary respite he was experiencing from the band's business affairs. In this episode, Jess leaves Stars Hollow to try and form a relationship and a new home with his estranged father in Los Angeles.

Those are Strings, Pinocchio Rory strikes a new deal with her Grandparents for more Friday night dinners in exchange for her Yale tuition. Lorelai warns her of the implications or “strings attached.” “Rory, honey, do you understand, the Gilmores do nothing altruistically. Strings are attached to everything.” “There are no strings.” “No strings?” “No. I just have to pay them back starting five years after I graduate and I have to start going back for Friday night dinners.” “Um, hello, Pinocchio, those are strings.” The Adventures of Pinocchio is a famous children’s novel written by Carlo Collodi in 1883. Pinocchio is a wooden marionette puppet operated by literal strings.

#gilmore girls #my gg brainworms #lorelai gilmore #rory gilmore #gilmore girls season 3 #jess mariano #gg episode titles explained #literati

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jynjackets · 6 months

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why is gardening so hard 😭😭😭

Week 2? 3? of making a backyard weenie paradise

Did you know soil expires? Because what the fuck.

Apparently, good soil has lots of delicious microbes and bacteria for plants to thrive. However because it’s a baby greenhouse for plants it also houses bad bacteria, bug eggs, bad funguses that take away from the plant and make it compete for those same nutrients. If this is not tended to then the bad stuff takes over and it will actually just kill your plant.

So it’s not just “recommended” to repot or amend your soil once a year but you really just fucking should because it’s like not going to the dentist. It’s fine if you prolong it every now and then but just do it eventually because long term care ya know.

So everyone just has exotic house plants and not talk about this shit? Soil is like buying apples from the grocery store and you’re the plant that’s going to eat it. If you don’t eat it in time it goes bad and that’s nasty to eat moldy apples; except the apples last 1-2 years but are also constantly outside and you take a bite out of the apple everyday. This is literally what happens and yet I had to google for hours just to understand why I can’t just use dirt.

I have this ancient bag of soil the old resident gave me when I first moved in and never used but it’s probably not good now (womp womp). However, you can apparently “sterilize” soil to reuse it by: baking it in the sun hoping it somehow reaches 140 degrees in the Bay Area, literally baking it which is ew because I don’t want it in my oven, pressure cooking it which is also ew for the same reasons, or spraying some hydrogen peroxide which will not 100% sterilize it. I opt for the last one and hope for the best. I add fertilizer and compost et voila.

I still don’t understand the difference between peat moss, coco coir, dirt, and soil. I know what each of the these are made of mostly but nobody can tell me what the fuck the different point in usage is. Why would I buy expensive “nutrient” soil if I can buy cheap clean dirt or the other two and just add the nutrients with cheap compost and worm castings? If the pH is balanced and there’s enough drainage why can’t I just do this the cheapest way possible? Idk.

I wanted flowers but we really just might be doing succulents. Chemistry was my worst subject in school and now I’m just getting war flashbacks.

TLDR; Planting is very hard for me.

#lila tries a new hobby #personal updates

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dawn-of-worlds · 10 months

Text

The Qattangi Diaspora

Tepponilamek has 4 + 3 + (2d6 => 2 + 5 = 7) = 14 points remaining. The Qurri who fled the Isle of Velarie during and after the War of the Isle found three new cities; Mistinaqa in the land of Iriola (-3), Ongejadir in the land of Kpomo in western Nulat (-3), and (due to inspiration from the Reflecting Gallery) Aźere in the Forgotten Lands (-1).

When the War of the Isle burns itself out, the Qurri population of the Isle of Velarie is a tenth of what it was just a few decades before. Many of these are deaths in the war, of course, but far more are from Qurri fleeing the Isle aboard any ships they can fit on. Kilkanaqa’s tyranny, the violence of the War of the Isle and the predations of pirates and Chivik fleets have sent a steady stream of refugees abroad. Many have settled in small communities in larger cities of humans, Sun-divers, Messonir and the like, but many others have founded new communities in the more remote and unsettled parts of the world, of which three are particularly notable.

Some refugees sailed west, towards the rich lands around the Great Canal, before heading south towards Tuula. There they found a stretch of coastline they named the Broken Shore, for all along its hundred-mile length were thousands upon thousands of small islands, each big enough for perhaps a pair of Huk or a small village of Qurri to make their home. Between these isles were small channels and straits with many strong currents, and here the Qurri settlers hoped that they would be safe from pirates and bandits.

The Qurri of the Broken Shore built villages amongst the small islets, and lived much as their ancient ancestors had (and many of their distant kin still did) in the Haebran Isles. Many of the Qurri had fled Qattangu long before its fall, to avoid the tryanny of Kilkanaqa, and named themselves the Lenniti, which means “Free Ones”. As their communities grew large and needed organisation, and unwilling to risk be ruled by a tyrant once more, the Lenniti gathered and agreed upon a Great Charter. In the charter, it was agreed that each village and town would elect two representatives; there would always be one in the settlement that chose them, and one in a central settlement, whose body of collected representatives would “guide, but not rule” the Lenniti. The two representatives would exchange roles every so often. Thus, the Lenniti hoped to prevent any one Qurri from amassing power.

For this same reason, as soon as their meeting-town, Mistinaqa, was built, the Council of Isles (as they named themselves) issued decrees limiting the power of alchemists. These Qurri were still of Qattangu, after all, and maintained the usage of the Falsuk for construction and warfare. Firstly, they proclaimed that no settlement was to have more than six alchemists, so that no entity like the House of Transformation could reappear. In addition, they proclaimed that the creation of Falsuk was to only be performed with the approval of the Council; by this measure they hoped to limit war and power-amasssing amongst individual settlements. Finally, they proclaimed that no alchemists could sit on the Council, or rule a village, on pain of retribution from the Council.

The few alchemists who had escaped Qattangu with the rest of the Lenniti were willing to accept these terms in order for the Broken Shore to remain peaceful and welcoming to them, and soon the isles grew prosperous, trading pearls, herbs and spices, dyes and alchemical products up the coast to Ker Atel and the Opal City. The small alchemist-covens of the isles grew to compete with each other in discovering new unguents and applications of their skills to make their settlements rich, and using the great many medicinal herbs of the isles and the coastal hills of the Broken Shore produced potions that could relax or reinforce the body for surgeries, calm the minds of those troubled by traumas, or help fight off ailments of aging in non-Qurri. The Broken Shore never regained the wealth of Qattangu at its height, but it was neither poor nor unfree, and the Lenniti were content with that.

Some other refugees sailed east, especially after the Chivik navy defeated the Qattangi fleet and it became clear to many Qurri that even if they would not lose the War, they could not hope to win it. The journey was long and hard, as the ships carrying refugees needed to avoid both the ships of the Chivik and those of the Dominion of the Burnt. Many eventually ended up on the westernmost tip of Nulat, a land known as Pkomo. A few Messonir inhabited the shores and river deltas of this region, which was full of thick forests in the south which faded to savannah in the north and also many sparse ranges of hills and small mountains.

The Messonir, though wary of these new arrivals, did not inhabit much of the land; they were confined to the coasts by the predations of the Ohmlings of the hills, who worshipped spirits of lightning and wildfires and often raided the coasts. These were the largest concentrations of Ohmlings remaining in Nulat after the Great Cleansing, but the warriors of the Ajuna Valley were unwilling to travel so far to aid their brethren in Kpomo. These Messonir were less inclined towards large settlements than their brethren to the east, and many were even nomadic, guiding herds of beasts across the grasslands and returning only occasionally to the townships where the libraries were kept. Instead of electing a number of individuals to a single city council, and doing so often, the Messonir of Pkomo often chose a single Speaker from a settlement of nomadic group, who represented that city until their death or disgrace, when a new Speaker was chosen.

Eager for allies to fight the Ohmlings, the Speakers of the cities of Tjomu, Mbaka and Dzwema – three of the largest cities in Kpomo – agreed to aid the Qurri in settling in the region in return for aid – particularly with the Falsuk – against the Ohmlings. The Qurri hated the Ohmlings as all civilise dpeople did, and counted amongst them many warriors, members of warrior-clans sidelined by Kilkanaqa’s rise or else soldiers that had deserted their army. They banded together, forming new warrior clans – the Spear-Beat, the Arrow-Whistle, the Blood-Wetted-Mandible-Click and many others – and leading their brethren in battles alongside the Messonir that drove back the Ohmlings and claimed land for them, particularly forested hilly valleys where Huk could live happily.

The Qurri themselves founded a city, Ongejadir, in one of the few unoccupied river valleys of Kpomo, near the hills where the eldest of the Qurri refugees had traveller to metamorphosise. It was here that the warrior-clans began to recruit young Qurri for the new campaigns into the uplands; here where squabbling alchemists founded three separate guilds who began deep (if mostly non-violent) feuds with one another, and here where the Qurri chose a Speaker from themselves in the manner of the local Messonir, who treated with the other Speakers of the region and helped organise the many factions of Qurri that had developed in the region into a choseive whole.

Each year the campaigns pushed back the Ohmlings more and more, the ties with the local Messonir became deeper as trade developed and many Qurri adopted Messonir religious practised like the reverence of Hanun or Astatism, and more land was occupied by healthy Huk. The Qurri of Kpomo had hard lives, and slowly became accustomed to conflict, but also took comfort that they dwelt far away from any true dangers.

Finally, in the closing days of the War for the Isle, an young alchemist named Kettoka began to dream. Wandering the Halls of the Reflecting Gallery, they saw refracted in the ice visions of the destruction of Qattangu and Viidako, the death of Kilkanaqa, and the scattering of the Qurri people. Despair almost overcame them. Yet they also dreamed of a land far to the south, forgotten by most and sparsely settled, where the Qurri could now live with the new techniques of controlling the Huk invented by Iltanka.

When Qattangu burns, Kettoka musters their eloquence and their zeal and organises the evacuation of many of the citizens, speaking of a distant land where the Qurri might live free of war. Many of the citizens that follow Kettoka do so their long faith in Kilkanaqa has finally been broken by the Chivik victory, and the fervour of Kettoka’s rhetoric, their organisational skills and their seemingly endless energy and drive draws them in and gives them a new cause to follow.

The journey is long, and those Qurri who begin to metamorphosise on the trip have to be slain for the protection of others, which harms Kettoka’s popularity some. Kettoka’s popularity is harmed further when they do not settle at the first sight of the Forgotten Lands but instead sail down the east coast until they reach a great bay, which is soon named the Bite. Inside the Bite, Kettoka’s fleet of refugees makes anchor, and the Qurri spread out and begin to settle the strange subcontinent they find themselves on – a land of cold winters, high mist-covered peaks, and dark forbidding forests that lack the warmth and vitality of the equatorial jungles. The mists and forests also conceal dangerous basts who have little hesitency in hunting Qurri, and the settlements they build are ringed with wooden walls to keep out the slithering Tangi, the horned Xoku and the shabling, moss-furred Gedeq from their homes.

Slowly, the Qurri make their home in this land, which they call Qollot – literally, ‘darkness’, raising a city, Aźere, amongst the fortified villages. Kettoka, their great dream accomplished, is torn between periods of manic leadership and soporific despair. Given that many of the Qurri of Qollot view Kettoka as a saviour figure, this causes difficulties. The few alchemists amongst the refugees establish a new guild, which they name the House of Rebirth, but they find themselves spending so long tending to the maladies of Qurri and Huk both they have little time for politics, and the raising of Falsuk becomes a little-used skill as medical demands on the Qurri become greater.

The Qolloti, based on half-remembered history of a time before the House of Transformation took control of Qattangu, establish a tiered kingship. Kettoka is named the First King, whose rank exceeds the all others. Then they name (form oldest to youngest) three Wise Kings, and three Just Kings, and three Dutiful Kings. The first would see to the spiritual and moral health of the Qolloti, as well as deciding on important matters of law and direction for the people as a whole. The second would see to the implementation of justice, the organisation of Qolloti territory and disputes between settlements, and the control of the House of Rebirth. Finally, the Dutiful Kings would see to the adminisration of taxes, budgets and community-wide labour amonst the Qolloti.

While this brings a measure of structure to Qollot, soon difficulties begin to arise. Coordination even in the small land is difficult given the terrain and climate; Kettoka frequently comes to argue with the various Kings on different matters of policy, and many of the younger members of the Qolloti community start a cult hailing Kelloka as a god, or the mortal incarnation of one, which creates further rifts in Qolloti society. Though they are far from the troubles of the rest of the world, the Qolloti have enough troubles of their own to deal with.

#world 02547 diegesis

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rxttenfish · 2 years

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What’s your favorite part about your design for Miranda? Might not be the most in depth question but it’s what I’ve got

there's a LOT that i like and a lot of little details that go into her design that only really show up when you see them acting in tandem with each other (her jaws are what come to mind - she is very, VERY good at biting and biting to a terrifying degree, but you can't really see it until you put together the shape of her teeth with the serrations on them with the shape of her skull with the fused bones in her skull with the "softness" of her face created by her jaw muscles with her neck muscles - and you only get that when all of her various smaller traits work together)

but i think if i had to pick a single, purely physical aspect of her redesign it would be the nose crest

i've had it for... a while? namely, because for a long time i was drawing more humanoid miranda and miranda closer to her canon design, but i also had a full speculative design that i kept in my head, although i never really had chance to use it. that was where i added the nose crest, based off of phytosaur nose crests at the time, because i think they have funky skulls and its a shame that people outside of paleo circles dont know about phytosaurs. and it really is just a VERY appealing head shape for me.

(just look at him. look at my good boy.)

but, because i've gradually gotten more and more divergent with my artwork and with miranda over time, i eventually realized... i already had basically the rest of the head i wanted with the original total redesign, and all i had left was to move the nose up and almost between the eyes, instead of at the end of the nose.

however, one of my favorite things about having the redesigns is what i mentioned before - how all of the various parts of the design work in synchronicity together. at a certain point, even when you make a change, it all kind of WORKS with everything else you have, often even better than before the change, and it helps reinforce the idea you're going for and makes them seem all the more better adapted for what they're made to do.

in which case: merfolk's ancestors diverged from ancient amphibians. i've known this for a while, that's how they have their external + internal gill setup, and even more recently i've settled on them being a type of temnospondyl. however, its important to understand that this lineage of ancient amphibians who lived lifestyles similar to crocodiles experienced a decline in the mesozoic, entirely disappearing around the middle-cretaceous. several different factors contributed to this, but one of the big ones were being out-competed by crocodiles, and even if they had made it to the K-Pg boundary, they wouldn't have made it beyond that.

this has been a problem for me for a while. merfolk are a part of this ancient branch, but they survived to modern day, unlike their relatives, and thus would have had some kind of workaround that let them survive while the other branches of temnospondyl died out.

so far, the reason why has been two-pronged, with some adaptations that made them unique very early on and let them carve out a niche for themselves.

the first has to do with their reproductive setup. they, very early on, had live birth, and because of that, they were not as reliant on pools on water to reproduce in like other amphibians. they also had unisex individuals, which let their populations survive at lower numbers.

but the second has to do with how they accessed oxygen. this is why they have the dual gills setup - they could extract more oxygen from the water than their relatives, via waving their external gills around when they were still or having running water pass over them, or from swallowing water and pushing it out and over their internal gills when they were moving around, and both of them meant they didnt have to breathe through their skin as much, so they could cover it in scales. because they were amphibians, they had lungs too, which let them directly breathe in oxygen from the air, which gave them a further use and advantage over their counterparts, as it gave them a bigger "hit" of oxygen all at once for them to use.

which leads me back to the nose crests as one of those ancestral traits that merfolk still have today. moving the nose so radically on top of their head meant they didnt have to lift their head so far outside of the water to breathe, but because it was on its own bump and above the rest of the head anyways, they could shift their nostril position around to more directly funnel water into their gills when they swam forward, effectively giving them the best of both worlds for specializing in taking advantage of all the different ways they can access oxygen.

and both of which, in tandem, makes me feel a lot better about alluding to their evolutionary history and how they managed to last through deep time while their relatives didnt, and how merfolk were able to come about in the first place.

#asks #chloes moth dimension #all the care guide says is 'biomass'#monster prom reanimated #Monster Prom: Reanimated #this is also why abyssals have pretty small nose crests while the other species of merfolk get much bigger nose crests

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autobotmedic · 2 years

Text

Verses

Disclaimer: the Aligned Continuity is a hecking mess so I am flexible and some verses may not be the same for everyone, depending on how I develop with each writing partner or what works the best for a concept (ex: Predacons Rising may be completely disregarded in some things tagged Post Series, but not in others, because they are all still set after the show).

––––––––––––––––––––––– –Related to Main Timeline– –––––––––––––––––––––––

Default, untagged

Posts without a verse tag are set at some point in time or variant that has not yet been determined. Because that happens a lot. I’m just here to have fun, extensive plotting is not necessarily required.

V: Pre Series

Set before the events of the show while Ratchet is in contact with the other Autobots, but actually traveling far more often outside of their base to help search for energon deposits all around Earth. May also include interactions set further back in human history than modern day, or on other worlds in years before the Autobots’ arrival to Earth while they are traveling elsewhere in the universe on the Ark.

V: Post Series

Set after the show’s conclusion, while Ratchet spends part of his time helping with the reconstruction of Cybertron, part of his time on Earth among their human friends and assisting Unit E. May also include the later-set Transformers: Robots in Disguise, such as his travels between TFP and RiD or set during the RiD series. Here is a video of clips for reference.

V: Post RiD

Set after the Robots in Disguise series, mostly as another division for a new part of his life, a better part with a healed Cybertron. It may consist of anything from his time as a High Councilor, to being a full time doctor once again, to teaching young robots at Rescue Bots Academy.

V: Cybertron

Also pre series, but not set on Earth nor space. Instead, this will include anything taking place on his homeworld, from before the war began to events and battles following. In other words, a younger Ratchet, ranging from being a normal doctor looking after patients without bias, to an Autobot bothered by his conscious when he must fight and use knowledge that was meant for healing to harm, and sometimes kill.

––––––––––– –Major AUs– –––––––––––

V: Shattered - Shattered Glass verse, aka blackmarket doctor/mad scientist.

With a reversed color scheme and unnerving cheerfulness even while treating someone severely injured, this doctor is still fully competent at his job, but he is not his grumpy yet comfortable counterpart. He loves science, but his study and experimentation is not ‘limited’ by ethics. He is more talkative, selfish, charming, carries a dark sense of humor rather than a dry one, and he is armed with a blaster.

Additionally, unlike the Ratchet who apprenticed for many stellar cycles to become the medic he is, Reamer’s background is significantly self-studied. Some of said hands on studying was far from moral, or legal… until the Autobots’ reign; since then, he has created various chemicals and tools used to assist Optimus Prime in warfare.

V: Toon - cartoon, fourth wall breaking concept, think Roger Rabbit

Honestly I wrote so much information in this post I will just link it here.

V: Mer Medic - merformers au

In the depths of the oceans, where humanity has yet to be capable of exploring, lives an ancient society. Stories suggesting their presence have appeared throughout human history, from ancient mythology to sailors’ tales of sea monsters. Some of these creatures are indeed malevolent and hunters of more than non-sentient fish, but many are benevolent in nature and have created peaceful communities and cities. At times, they have protected or helped humanity, but they often simply avoid land-dwellers due to their destructive chemicals and littering tendencies.

Among the Iacon Shoal, Ratchet is a well known doctor and elder, who has contributed both healing and technical knowledge for the betterment (and protection) of his kind over many years, fought in several skirmishes between groups, and has many children, and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren…

He is the same length as his usual height, and here is my art reference along with a few notes about this au.

V: Fae - faeformers au

Hatched outside the protection of a hive, Rescue spent the first stage of his life as a grub who burrowed and primarily focused on survival. The first other sentient insect he met was a caterpillar, who soon morphed into a moth, and the pair remained friends as they slowly learned about the world. In time, they interacted with other hiveless and learned written language and additional information about their kind. Rescue pursued science and magic related to health, primarily after he reached his second form, morphing into a beetle-like build.

However, the amount of knowledge available was still limited to a certain extent in the wilds, and Ratchet later sought to become a healer in Hive Iacon. Orion accompanied him, and although he continues working within, they live in a burrow outside of the busy city.

My art design for him may be found here. Some references may be made to sparkmender’s worldbuilding for a similar au.

V: Healer - deity au

Rescorre is one of the earliest beings forged on Cybertron, second only to the original Thirteen Primes. He was created alongside a handful of individuals with specific focuses in their overseeing the life of their world, intended to assist the Primes that came before them with their specialties. Rescorre’s abilities are related to mending and fast travel. He is able to analyze and manipulate mechanical biology without being hardlined (as a normal medic requires) for various purposes. He is also capable of teleportation, enabling him to traverse across great distance if he is needed or a prayer reaches him.

In early times, he became known as a representative for healers and families, as the healthy bond required for the development of a child forged by the union of sparks is also within his realm. He later had a temple, for a number of eons, where individuals came for his help, guidance, or blessing. But in time, like the other remaining Primes, he faded into mythological legend, and his temple slowly became overgrown with foliage and the blemishes of age. He is no less real, even if much fewer believe in his existence, and he continues to assist many the best he is able. Be it steadying a nervous hand in surgery, or reminding someone to double check their calculations for a mineral supplement, he continues to help when he can, unseen in the mortal dimension.

Art design reference will go here once I’ve made it, but the main difference in his design are additional biolights lining his inner hands and forming decorative glyphs of ancient language across his armor.

–––––––––––––––– –Other Universes– ––––––––––––––––

V: Animated - a verse for Transformers: Animated.

Ratchet is incredibly similar overall, and the differences in regards to personality are due to largely different story elements compared to Prime version. He is more of a soldier than a scientist, and rougher in demeanor, a veteran who thought his time of fighting had concluded, only to be dragged back into it along with a bunch of ‘young bots.’ However, his heart shows when it counts, and he is just as determined and skilled as a medic as his Prime verse.

In height, he is smaller than his Prime version, standing at 5.35 M or 17.5 Ft. In equipment, he is armed with electromagnets and an EMP generator, not duel swords and a hand torch.

V: Cyber - a verse for Transformers: Cyberverse

Due to how minimal his appearances have been, often implied more than anything, I use significant Prime inspiration for his personality and voice, as well as a heavier build. He is, however, not overwhelmed as often, for he has proper medical facilities on the Ark, and he is not in charge of the science department too. He is just the medic, and that is what he does best. He is quite familiar with the multiverse, however, due to several events in the series.

With the help of a friend to determine an estimate of his size, I am going with 6 M or 19.7 Ft. His primary protection is a Triage Shield, a form of protective bubble for himself and to help wounded on the battlefield.

#musepage

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syrupwit · 2 years

Text

Letter for Just Married Exchange 2022

Hello there, and welcome to my letter for Just Married Exchange! I appreciate that you’ve taken the time to read this letter. I hope that it will provide you with clarification, inspiration, or whatever else you may happen to be seeking from it. What I've written in the freeform sections is largely supplemental information and brainstorming; please don't feel restricted by my prompts if they don't speak to you.

I have requested fic only for all fandoms. Although I’ve written more for some sections in this letter and less for others, rest assured I would be thrilled to receive a gift for any of the requested fandoms, ships, or freeform tags. Should you have any questions or need clarification on something, please feel free to reach out through the mods.

Please see the table of contents below:

01. LIKES 02. DO NOT WANT (DNW) 03. FANDOM - DRAGON AGE 04. FANDOM - FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS 05. FANDOM - STELLAR FIRMA

01. LIKES

In general, I’d describe my fandom tastes as omnivorous. I like fanworks that strive for a canon-typical tone, and I like fanworks that lean harder into specific elements, themes, or interpretations of canon. I am a greedy multishipper and enjoy many interpretations of characters and ships. If you’re writing something for one of the ships I requested and avoiding my DNWs, it’s going to be hard to disappoint me.

For video games with a customizable player character, unless otherwise indicated, I’m not attached to any particular background, characterization, or set of choices for the PC. I’m fine with the PC being whoever they need to be for the story, as generic or as specific as you’d like.

I have a very long list of likes here.

In convenient bullet point list format, here are some of my general likes:

Humor, especially absurd, situational, or dark humor

Surreality and weirdness

Mood whiplash

Stories within a story, in-universe media

Lore and worldbuilding, background details

Ensemble characters coming together; sense of community, especially if it persists despite tensions, hurts, and differences that are not easily resolved

Enemies, frenemies, friends/lovers turned enemies, or just people who don’t know each other that well having to cooperate to make it through a situation

Characters defending and protecting each other, especially if there’s a power or status imbalance in their relationship

Identity porn, especially scenarios where a character demonstrates hidden competence or knowledge as a result of their multiple identities

Characters doing heists in disguise!

Characters doubling down on poor decisions as a result of their flaws; alternately, characters changing their behavior and making more effective decisions in spite of their flaws

Complicated or ambiguous relationships; unresolved tension

Strong sense of time and place, environment, atmosphere, mood

Gratuitous descriptions of scenery, food, clothing, ancient cursed objects, etc.

Happy, cathartic, or bittersweet endings

Here are some of my smut likes:

Characters being super into each other, especially if one or both of them are conventionally unattractive

Emotionally intense or significant sex scenes

Easy intimacy between characters who have known each other for a long time; alternately, sex knocking their relationship off balance and making the familiar and comfortable novel and strange

Unexpected tenderness between enemies or characters who don’t like each other

Awkwardness; characters not being totally confident, even if they talk or act like they would be; sex being imperfect and a little gross

Repression; the unraveling of repression; characters becoming more comfortable with their sexuality though it may be slow or difficult

First times

Virginity, loss of virginity

A character losing their virginity, which they perceive as some kind of significant milestone, and immediately having their heart broken by the person they lost it to (although I also enjoy happy virginity loss with a partner who behaves considerately afterwards!)

“Chicken,” denial, teasing; one character flirting just enough for plausible deniability and the other not believing that they could be serious; one character hurting the other, purposefully or unwittingly, when they take the teasing too far

Jealousy, especially if the jealous character is guilty or in denial about their feelings; eroticized jealousy where the jealous character is a masochist about it

Sex pollen/mating cycles/in heat

Male characters being submissive

02. DO NOT WANT (DNW)

Characters depicted as under age 18 involved in sexual situations

Characters having sex explicitly without mutual sexual attraction (I love G- and T-rated shipfic and would be fine with sex not being mentioned at all, but for works featuring sexual content, I don’t want it to be outright stated that the characters are not attracted to each other)

Characters making bets on others' sexual/romantic relationships or activities

Real-life hate speech or hate crimes (discussions/mentions of real-life bigotry are fine)

Harm to children

Harm to pet animals (the existence of ghost pets is OK, and it’s fine to mention pet animals that have canonically died, but I don’t want to read about injury, abuse, or noncanonical death of pet animals)

Cannibalism

Bestiality

Scat

Necrophilia (sexual activity involving ghosts or sentient/possessed undead is OK, just not inanimate corpses or remains)

Sexual activity involving worms, spiders, or insects

03. FANDOM - DRAGON AGE

Leliana/Morrigan

The in-game interactions between these two in Origins have such intriguing tension and potential. (I haven’t really played DAI yet, but from what I understand about both characters’ development there, I’m prepared to ship them even more when I do.) There’s just a great clash of background, personality, and motivation between them – Morrigan, scornful of Leliana’s softness and frivolity while pushing down her own vulnerability; Leliana with her secrets and scheming and desire for attention and affection.

They can be really fun together, too, even in the darkness of the setting. I love their interactions in a potential Fort Drakon rescue and the banter where Leliana fantasizes about dressing Morrigan up. Origins!Morrigan tends to protest such things, but I think she does like fun, deep down.

Blind Marriage - Marriage of Psyche and Eros-based AU Supernatural - Eros and Psyche AU

I wouldn’t have thought of it before seeing the freeform tags, but I adore the idea of an Eros and Psyche AU for this ship! Morrigan is a shoe-in for Eros, with the mother issues and shapeshifting abilities, and Leliana would make a delightful too-curious bride combing the world for her lost love. Feel free to go for a looser adaptation, or one that integrates other versions of the Eros and Psyche myth, “East of the Sun and West of the Moon,” etc.

Also, totally optional, but I love the image of Leliana trying to illuminate a sleeping Morrigan’s face with a candle – the romantic lighting! the suspense! the tone of Morrigan’s voice after she gets woken up by dripping wax! Leliana you are in trouble. :D

Supernatural - Accidental Shapeshifter Marriage Due To Unknowing Theft Of Animal Skin

Morrigan’s a shapeshifter! Leliana might get curious and/or cold at some point! I feel like she would treat the skin well, though – stroking it, going on about how nice it is, how could someone leave such a fine skin just lying around, etc. While Morrigan seethes.

Dimension Travel - Surprise Dimension Traveling Spouse

DA has Eluvians and, I gather, time travel – surely a married-to-Leliana!Morrigan might emerge from a portal, or a married-to-Morrigan!Leliana might be pushed through one.

Fake Marriage - As Part Of A Con Fake Marriage - Farcical Conclusion of Increasing Escalation in Performative Intimacy Fake Marriage - Pretending To Be Married To Access Information Fake Marriage - Third Party Realizes Their Feelings for Half of Fake Married Couple

I just love the idea of Leliana and Morrigan having to pull off a fake marriage scheme together. Leliana bluffs fabulously and with relish, while Morrigan is SO BAD at it (“We have come on… Chantry business”).

I think that, although Leliana might be aware of an attraction to Morrigan, Morrigan would be oblivious or think it was all on Leliana’s side and then get blindsided by Actually Wait Oh No She’s Hot. Meanwhile, Leliana has accepted her feelings as one-sided, but Morrigan keeps giving off these weird signals…

For the “Fake Marriage - Third Party Realizes Their Feelings for Half of Fake Married Couple” freeform: I’d love something where maybe Leliana has to pretend to be married to someone besides Morrigan – Wynne! Zevran! Sten! – and Morrigan realizes that she’s not cool with it. Maybe “Leliana and her fake spouse” is a common ruse the party pulls, and once Morrigan has had to play the role of fake spouse (and perhaps done terribly at it), she is bitterly, awkwardly jealous of anyone else who fills it. If we have a situation where Morrigan finds herself jealous of, for example, Oghren, she has to realize that something’s up.

Anders/Fenris

What can I say? I like pain. I also like a lot of different interpretations of this ship, from grim and near-entirely hateful to gentler and more easily reconcilable. I like these characters best as equals, locked in self-reinforcing trauma cycles, who are both right and wrong at the same time and also capable of being total bastards to each other.

What attracts me to Anders/Fenris is that they are mirror images, but unable to connect with or concede to one another in-game; I want to see them bridge the gap, however complicated that bridge is to devise. If tropey marriage stuff helps the process along, all the better!

Side note with regard to shippiness: I’d be more than happy with a story where Anders and Fenris don’t necessarily get together, but have UST and/or a moment of mutual understanding as a result of whatever’s going on. Full shippiness is good too though :-)

Another side note: Although I’m not interested in endgame Anders/Hawke/Fenris, Anders/Hawke, or Fenris/Hawke for this request, I would totally be down with Anders/Hawke and/or Fenris/Hawke as a side pairing (requited or unrequited). Anders/Fenris/Justice, or Justice being opposed to Anders/Fenris or weird around Fenris, is cool too.

Dimension Travel - Surprise Dimension Traveling Spouse

I love exploring AU versions of characters, and Anders and Fenris already have a bunch of identity stuff going on. Learning that they’re married in another dimension might be among the less startling bits of knowledge gleaned from an alternate self.

Accidental Marriage - To Someone You Hate Fake Marriage - Farcical Conclusion of Increasing Escalation in Performative Intimacy Marriage of Convenience - Going Way Too Far in Order to Prove a Point Proposal - Joke Proposal Taken Seriously

I don’t even care how they come about, I just think the situations implied by these tags would be hilarious.

Forced Marriage - Marrying Someone You Don't Like To Save Them From A Worse Fate Marriage of Convenience - To Protect Spouse from Being Raped by Others

Some darker freeforms. My initial thought about these was, “What if being married to a mage will give Fenris some sort of protection under the laws of Tevinter, and no more amenable options than Anders (mage!Hawke, Bethany, even Merrill) are available?” Why would Anders agree?

Magic - Artifact or Spell Accidentally Causes Marriage Magic - Chastity Device Only Unlocks Upon Marriage To Person Who Accidentally Applied It Magic - Curse Supposed to be Broken by Marriage Magic - Game Of 'Fuck Marry Kill' Somehow Becomes Magically Binding

There’s a bunch of terrible magic and artifacts and such floating around in Kirkwall! Anything could happen.

Alistair/Zevran Arainai

A request that is being added a bit later than the others! I couldn't resist. So, these two are from very different backgrounds and don't have too much in-game interaction, but I feel like they have so much potential -- for sweet fluff, comedy, pining, or angst and tragedy and darkness.

Second Marriage - Marrying Someone New After Death Of Previous Spouse(s)/Partner(s) Second Marriage - Reluctant To Remarry Due To Traumatic Loss Of Previous Spouse

For these freeforms, I was picturing a worldstate where the Warden romanced Zevran or Alistair, and then died either fighting the Archdemon or due to normal Warden things. For extra complexity -- and this is just an idea! -- perhaps the non-romanced character was also in love with the Warden, or the Warden had unrequited feelings for him and was rejected.

Marriage of Convenience - Marriage For Protection From Criminal Organization Marriage of Convenience - Marriage To Save Criminal from Other Punishment

Here the criminal organization is most likely the Crows, and the criminal is Zevran.

Mail-Order Spouse - Mistaken For Mail-Order Spouse and Goes With It Mail-Order Spouse - Mistaken or Hidden Identity

Terribly silly, but I would love an AU where Warden!Alistair buys, or thinks he's bought, a mail-order spouse in the form of Zevran and then there are complications. Meanwhile, Zevran is actually there to assassinate someone -- or maybe escape the Crows?

Courtship - Misunderstood Attempts at Courting Result in Surprise Proposal Magic - Truth Spell Results in Accidental Proposal Proposal - Blurting Out Proposal Unplanned Proposal - Having To Convince The Person They're Asking That Their Proposal And Feelings Are Genuine

Look, we've all been ninjamanced at some point during this game. (I'm just saying that, I don't think it's actually true.)

Accidental Marriage - Series Of Mishaps Prevent Annulment Of Accidental Marriage Accidental Marriage - Trying To Keep Accidental Marriage Secret Fake Marriage - Amnesia Victim Does Not Remember That It's Fake Fake Marriage - Farcical Conclusion of Increasing Escalation in Performative Intimacy Fake Marriage - Practical Joke Results in Pretending to be Married Fake Marriage - Undercover As Married Leads To Unexpected Feelings

Another lump of freeforms that I just think are fun.

Marriage - Married to a Spy or Assassin

Zevran's an assassin! I've added this as a catch-all tag in case the other requested freeforms don't speak to you.

04. FANDOM - FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS

Courier/Yes Man

Possibly my Fallout OTP, certainly my favorite passive-aggressive indestructible killer AI x vengeful postal carrier ship. I really love the characters, world, and atmosphere of this game. I don’t have a preference for the Courier’s gender or karma level, but for this request I would prefer them to be Independent-aligned -- although a Courier with a different faction alignment could be interesting! -- and somewhere between 70% and 200% as unhinged as Yes Man.

Bachelor(ette) Party – Damage Control Bachelor(ette) Party – Hijinks & Shenanigans Bachelor(ette) Party – Hijinks & Shenanigans Endanger People’s Ability to Attend the Wedding

The Courier has met a lot of people on their travels, and many of those people are susceptible to hijinks, as is the Courier themselves. How does Yes Man keep the wedding party from ruining the wedding?

Engagement - Acts Like Engagement was Accidental but Knew Exactly What They Were Doing

I can absolutely picture Yes Man doing this, provided that his programming allows it. When does the Courier figure it out?

Established Marriage - Framing Spouse for Murder by Faking Their Own Death

Oh no! Why has it come to this? Is there a substantial population both aware of Yes Man’s existence and willing to prosecute the Courier for murdering him? Alternately, if the Courier is framing Yes Man for their fake murder, what do they have to gain? Finally, how did they get married in the first place?

Honeymoon - Hijinks & Shenanigans Honeymoon - Thought the Honeymoon Would Be Bad and They Were Right Honeymoon - Thought the Honeymoon Would Be Bad and They Were Wrong

Where would they even go on a honeymoon? What’s the best way to transport your newlywed AI husband over long distances? I would especially love some fluff or humor for these freeforms.

Proposal - Attempts to Propose are Continuously Interrupted

The Mojave contains plenty of potential interruptions, and I can see either character getting increasingly, hilariously frustrated as problems and obligations keep derailing their attempts at proposing. Maybe they start out with elaborate plans, but eventually just blurt out their proposal artlessly during a free moment because who knows when those flipping cyber-werewolves are going to show up again.

Wedding - Decoy Wedding To Ensure Real Wedding Goes Smoothly

Another freeform scenario that I just think would be hilarious.

Science Fiction - Married to an Android/Robot

Added in case the other freeforms were too restrictive. I really love this pairing and I'd be happy with just about anything for it.

05. FANDOM - STELLAR FIRMA

Bathin/Trexel Geistman

They went to school together! Trexel claims that Bathin bullied him, but in typical unreliable narrator Trexel fashion, it’s implied that Trexel has cast Bathin as a bully and villain when he was most likely just too friendly and handsome for Trexel to handle. I love how Trexel projects his own feelings and desires onto others and then gets prickly and stupid when he’s called out on it, and those tendencies seem to come out particularly strongly when Bathin is involved.

Courtship - Misunderstood Attempts at Courting Result in Surprise Proposal Proposal - Accepting Their Proposal to Spite Them Proposal - Genuine Proposal Assumed to be a Cruel Joke

A couple of related freeforms lumped together! I’d love something where Trexel has decided that Bathin is taunting/baiting him, he’s awful, why does he keep insulting Trexel by offloading the consequences of his shopping addiction on him and dragging him to random places – and meanwhile Bathin is courting him in total sincerity.

Accidental Engagement - Didn't Know Item Was Traditional Betrothal Gift Engagement - Acts Like Engagement was Accidental but Knew Exactly What They Were Doing Proposal - Accidental due to Not Knowing Item Was Traditional Betrothal Gift

Trexel lies to himself constantly. Proposing to Bathin with, I don’t know, a really awesome inflatable pool toy per Galactonian tradition and then claiming it was an accident would be right in his wheelhouse – as would be proposing by genuine accident.

Celebrity Marriage - Media Reaction Celebrity Marriage - Epistolary media coverage/social media reaction/etc.

The most popular man in the universe getting married to, well, Trexel… that’s got to provoke some reaction. Do the media or public think that Bathin has been mind-controlled? Or are they trying to spin Bathin/Trexel as a touching reunion between the Great Duke and his beloved childhood friend, who also happens to be the guy who [long list of crimes] but let’s gloss over all that? Are there different camps?

Wedding Reception - Someone Gives Worst Speech Ever

My idea for the speech-giver is Hartro, per her renown for giving horrible speeches at funerals, but anyone will do. :D

David 7/Trexel Geistman

This is one of my favorite ships. I'd be happy to read a million words about them in all kinds of scenarios. I love their dynamic and its many slow shifts over the course of the show -- the gradual development of their not-quite-friendship, those short moments of genuine connection that contrast all the more with Trexel’s everyday self-absorbed cruelty and the oppressive horror of David’s situation, and then what happens at the end. <3

Arranged Marriage - Their Organization Decrees It Forced Marriage - By Corporate Overlords

This could be part of the Board scheme, but alternately, maybe a bunch of Stellar Firma employees are forced into marriages with other employees and Trexel is the only one assigned to a clone? I'm imagining a lot of other people cheerfully gritting their teeth through having to share quarters with each other, while Trexel flails alternately with romantic distress and denial that he was considered too horrible to inflict on anyone even in this corporate dystopia, and David is just like, at least I get to leave the room now.

Aliens - Aliens Will Only Agree to Interplanetary Summit with Married Couples Aliens - Think They're Married

They have had to meet alien clients sometimes! Maybe the clients think they're married. Maybe the clients are like, ooh, we want to make this big deal with Stellar Firma, but you have to come to our planet and also be definitely married. Having to pretend to be married to Trexel might not be the worst trade David could make for getting off the station for a while. (Poor David.)

Accidental Marriage - Game Of 'Fuck Marry Kill' Somehow Becomes Legally Binding Accidental Marriage - Joke Marriage Ended Up Being Legally Binding Accidental Marriage - Series Of Mishaps Prevent Annulment Of Accidental Marriage Divorce - Keep 'Forgetting' to Annul Accidental Marriage

Certainly there are all sorts of weird laws on Stellar Firma, and IMOGEN hears and sees everything.

Fake Marriage - Pretending to be Married for the Inheritance Fake Marriage - To Evoke Spousal Immunity In Court Marriage of Convenience - Getting Married was the More Complicated Solution to This Problem

These tags are just fun!

#optional detailed letters for exchanges tag

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thefootballoutlet · 1 month

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Profit Over People is Compromising Inclusivity in Elite Sports

In the realm of elite sports where athletes, fans and clubs alike unite to compete with and against each other, there is a fundamental principle which is seemingly forgotten about by those in charge: inclusivity. At its heart, the world of sports celebrates the human spirit's potential, regardless of a person’s background, identity or what they believe. Yet, behind the scenes, a complex interplay takes place between inclusivity and profit, a struggle where the pursuit of profit often overshadows the need for inclusivity and the prevention of discrimination. Discrimination in sports, as described by Dashper and Fletcher, refers to differential treatment, exclusion or disadvantage experienced by individuals or groups based on certain characteristics. Dashper and Fletcher argue that people tend to discriminate against others for their race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability or socioeconomic status. While every issue is equally important in its own right, in recent years the marginalisation of those because of their gender or how they identify has become more recognisable thanks to the rapid growth of women's sports and the audience which it has.

Where Did Discrimination against Women in Sport Stem From

Discrimination based on gender or identity has a long history, with its roots dating back to ancient times. The earliest notable case of such discrimination is often associated with the 'Ancient Olympics.' In these ancient games, women were excluded from participating in the main male Olympic events and were instead directed to their competition, called the Heraean Games, which were considered less prestigious. The practice of segregating men and women in sports persisted for centuries, continuing into the 20th century.

During the 19th century, the participation of women in sports was actively discouraged. Prevailing beliefs at the time argued that physical exertion could harm women's reproductive capacity, and any involvement in competitive sports was considered socially improper. In the 20th century, as women began to break into the world of competitive sports, they faced substantial challenges. Women faced difficulties when it came to accessing proper training facilities, participation in sporting events, and securing substantial funding remained a challenge due to the societal notion that their involvement in sports was still seen as improper.

Closer to home, we can also examine the discrimination women encountered in football at the hands of the Football Association (FA). In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, women's football was in its 'formative years.' During this period, the sport gained popularity and drew significant crowds, similar to the crowds of the men's game. However, despite its large audience, women's football remained largely unregulated. The lack of recognition from governing bodies and a lack of infrastructure for women's teams posed challenges in imposing regulations and standards.

A notable turning point in the women’s game came during World War I, when women's football enjoyed a surge in popularity, becoming the sole elite football genre available for spectators while the men were at war.

However, in 1921, women's football was abruptly banned. The ban was driven by a mixture of discrimination and jealousy regarding the sport's rapid growth, with some fearing that the popularity of women's football might overshadow men's football and divert financial resources away from it. In 1971 the ban was eventually lifted, allowing women to compete in regulated football once more and proved to be a turning point in the growth and development of the sport in the modern era.

Despite women, and now many other gender identities, being allowed to compete in high-level sports there is still a stigma which is prevalent in almost every sport which suggests that men’s sport is the highest level and any other category is below it and not worthy of the same prizes and financial backing.

The financial disparity between sportsmen and sportswomen

As mentioned earlier, gender inequality in football has been a persistent issue. While there have been improvements, several key problems continue to prioritise financial gain for those at the top while sidelining the equality of others.

The most glaring issue in women's football is the gender pay gap. While directly comparing players' salaries is complex due to how many aspects there are to consider, it's more straightforward to examine disparities in prize money and sponsorship between men's and women's games. For instance, consider the men's FIFA 2022 World Cup hosted in Qatar. The total prize pool amounted to $440 million, with the winners receiving $42 million which would be distributed between players and staff. Now, compare this to the 2023 Women's World Cup, where the total prize pool is merely a quarter of the men's, standing at $110 million. Similarly, the winners of the women's competition receive significantly less, with a total prize of $10.5 million going to the winners.

While it may seem logical that men, who often attract more sponsorship money and are considered the more marketable asset, receive the lion's share of the prize pool, it prompts questions about why FIFA doesn't distribute funds more equitably between the two tournaments. Surprisingly, FIFA did make an effort to increase the money on offer for elite-level women's international football. As reported by Jennifer Robinson in The Guardian, in 2019, FIFA announced a doubling of prize money for the Women's World Cup to $30 million as part of their commitment to gender equality. While this seems like a step in the right direction, a closer look reveals that the increase amounted to just 7.5% of what the men's tournament offered.

Robinson's report highlights that this new distribution not only paid women more but also increased men's earnings, thereby further widening the already huge pay gap. Interestingly, FIFA's decision to increase men's pay was made without any explanation from the FIFA Council. As a result of this change, the U.S. Women's team, winners of the World Cup, took home only 10.5% of the prize that the men received for winning their World Cup and just half of what the US men's team earned for simply qualifying for the tournament.

When FIFA was questioned about the gender pay gap, President Gianni Infantino initially echoed the familiar argument that "men's sports generate more revenue." He went on to express hope that "maybe one-day women's football will generate more than men's football."

In a report on The Conversation, Keith Rathbone sheds light on critics' doubts about FIFA's transparency in revenue-sharing and the feasibility of achieving equal pay for women in the future. The Professional Footballers Association (PFA), for example, thinks the sizable pay gap is “either couched in diplomacy or politicisation” and their decisions are made purely by “looking at their balance sheet”.

The Lack of Media Coverage

The disparity in pay between male and female athletes in sports, particularly in elite-level football, is often attributed to the significant imbalance in media coverage and limited investment. We've grown accustomed to the prevalence of men's sports being broadcast, with the majority of live events on mainstream television focusing on men's competitions. A 2021 USC/Purdue University study on ESPN's broadcasting schedule reveals this gender bias. It found that a staggering 95% of total television coverage and ESPN highlights are dedicated to men's sports. In contrast, women's sports received just 5.7% of the broadcast's attention. The study further investigated three local Los Angeles networks and uncovered just 5.1% of their sports coverage was focused on women.

However, looking at the UK, a 2022 report published by the Women's Sport Trust highlights the growth of women's sports, largely driven by the success of the Lionesses during Euro 2022. In contrast to the limited 5% of screen time women's sports receive in the US, the report reveals a more positive trend. Women’s Sports Trust found that 16% of coverage on BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4, ITV, and Sky Sports Main Event was dedicated to women's sports. While there's still a lot of room to improve, this shift indicates that broadcasters are starting to provide the media coverage that elite female athletes rightfully deserve.

Tammy Parlour, the chief executive and co-founder of the Women’s Sport Trust, commented on the impressive growth of women’s sport by saying it “needs to translate the increased interest and attention into generating enhanced commercial revenue streams, such as merchandise, ticketing and media rights, and unlock innovative ways to monetise the passionate women’s sports community, many of whom were new to sport during the Women’s Euros”.

Whilst the growing audience is something for all involved to be proud of, it is only right to discuss how unfairly the finances are distributed between both men and women when it comes to purchasing broadcasting rights for the highest levels of the respective games.

The Women's Super League, the highest level of women's football in the UK, achieved a landmark with 37.6 million viewers in 2022, marking a 5 million increase from the previous year. Remarkably, Women's Sport Trust reported that 8 million of these viewers exclusively tuned in to watch the Women’s Super League and didn’t view a single Premier League match. Nevertheless, despite this surge in viewership, Sky Sports pays only £8 million per year to broadcast 35 Women's Super League matches each season on their networks.

In the men's game though, the Premier League secures £1.6 billion annually from Sky Sports and TNT to allow them to stream 200 matches in the UK, a significant amount more per game than the Women’s Super League receives. Sky Sports, TNT and other sporting bodies, according to an SO Legal report, would contend that this substantial investment in men's football is justified by the extensive viewership and higher revenues it garners. Nonetheless, SO Legal maintains that with the right opportunities, the women's game has the potential to achieve similar financial success, bridging the gap in revenues between the two and offering a fairer distribution of resources.

Infrastructure Challenges in Women’s Football

In addition to the unequal media coverage, women's football faces challenges stemming from a lack of dedicated infrastructure. While all Premier League clubs have their own women's teams, the majority do not play at their home stadium and instead ground share. According to a report by Charlotte Marsh for Sky Sports, only two of the 2022/23 Women's Super League (WSL) teams shared facilities with their male counterparts: Reading, who shared the Select Car Leasing Stadium and Leicester, who shared the King Power Stadium.

Heading into 2023/24, according to Marsh, there were more teams in the Women’s Championship (4) that will play permanently in the larger men’s stadiums than in the WSL, which will have just two. Marsh, who is a WSL expert, reports that Chelsea have their own ground in Kingsmeadow, which they previously shared with AFC Wimbledon. The remaining share with EFL, non-league, rugby and academy teams.

While some clubs appear to prioritise their men's teams over their women's counterparts, Arsenal stands out as an example of progressive change in the treatment of women's football. Arsenal has set a precedent by taking full advantage of the growing market and using their larger home stadium. Last year alone Arsenal hosted 11 home games at the Emirates Stadium, including all their Women's Champions League matches. This stands in stark contrast to Liverpool Women's historical approach, as they have only had the opportunity to play at Anfield on three occasions throughout their 34-year existence.

Although, while they would never admit it, some clubs may argue that their main stadiums primarily serve their men's first teams, the practices of clubs like Leicester and Reading demonstrate that sharing facilities can be effectively implemented if a club is so desperate to do so. The reluctance of many clubs to follow suit is often attributed to the additional effort and lack of reward that having another matchday in the middle of the week would bring to a club. So, as a result, many clubs find it more convenient to relocate their women's teams to nearby alternative, and cheaper, stadiums.

However, with the increasing demand for women's football, clubs are recognizing the need to invest in specialized infrastructure tailored to the women's game and its audience. In her exploration of the future of women's football, Marsh spoke to Chris Lee, a managing director at a leading architectural design firm, to gain insights into the future of infrastructure for women's football. Lee believes the next step is to "understand what a stadium for a women's football match should be." He points out that many stadiums are designed with seating tiers based on a male eye height, which means they are not optimized for accessibility to everyone and tend to cater to what is perceived as the majority.

Work is being done, but more is needed...

In conclusion, discrimination in elite sports represents a persistent and complex issue that challenges the fundamental principle of inclusivity in the realm of sports. While sports celebrate the human spirit's potential and should be free from discrimination based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, or socioeconomic status, the pursuit of profit often overshadows the need for inclusivity. Discrimination against women and other marginalized groups in sports has historical roots dating back to ancient times and has continued through the 20th century.

Gender discrimination in sports has particularly marginalized women and their participation. Women were excluded from many mainstream sports and often discouraged from participating in competitive activities during the 19th and 20th centuries. Even in recent history, women's football faced discrimination, including an abrupt ban in 1921, driven by a mix of discrimination and jealousy regarding its rapid growth.

Despite progress allowing women and other gender identities to compete in high-level sports, there is still a lingering stigma that perceives men's sports as superior and more deserving of prizes and financial backing.

The financial disparity in women's football, illustrated by the significant gender pay gap and disparities in prize money and sponsorship, raises questions about equity and representation. Initiatives such as FIFA's commitment to doubling the Women's World Cup prize money represent steps in the right direction but may fall short of achieving true gender equality. Critics challenge the transparency and feasibility of achieving equal pay for women in sports, highlighting the need for more concrete action and a departure from the "men's sports generate more revenue" argument.

The lack of media coverage presents another significant challenge, with men's sports dominating broadcasting schedules and receiving the lion's share of attention. However, positive trends have emerged, such as the growth of women's sports in the UK driven by the success of the Lionesses during Euro 2022. The presence of women's sports on major broadcasting networks is increasing, and this progress indicates a shift toward more equitable media coverage.

Furthermore, the lack of dedicated infrastructure for women's football poses challenges to the growth of the sport. Many women's teams share facilities with men's teams or lower-league clubs, creating suboptimal conditions and accessibility issues. There is a growing recognition of the need to invest in specialized infrastructure tailored to women's football and its unique audience.

In summary, discrimination in elite sports presents a multifaceted issue involving financial disparities, media coverage imbalances, and infrastructure challenges. While there have been positive developments and increased awareness, the journey toward inclusivity and equity in sports continues. Overcoming discrimination in sports requires ongoing efforts to address these disparities and promote fairness, ultimately ensuring that every athlete, regardless of their background or identity, can participate and compete on an equal playing field

#football #womens football #womens super league #inclusivity #inclusivity in sports #women in sport

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