#also he's just such a inquisitive and inventive person

[muscosus]

laios is so normal. he's such a good boy. it's everyone else who's fucking insane

#dungeon meshi #roro.txt #what do you mean you don't want to listen to him talk about monsters #why aren't you curious how they taste like??? #where is your whimsy and wonder and curiosity #if laios ever wanted me to come with min explore the dungeons for the sake of exploring and existing in it i'd say yes without hesitation #also he's just such a inquisitive and inventive person #i wanna take him out and feed him the nasties burger imaginable

[pianokantzart]

The Super Mario Bros. Redux (Pt. 5)

What would happen if, in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, after Mario and Luigi are separated, Mario was the one who ended up in the clutches of Luigi’s eventual arch nemesis, while Luigi teamed up with some of his own close allies to go rescue him?

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

________

As the crowd continues to cheer for Sarasaland's Princess, she turns and waves at the four kings with a cheerful "Hi dad!" They all return the greeting with an equally enthusiastic "Hi Daisy!" before remembering their regality and regaining their stoicism.

The kings call for the crowd to settle down, and once the audience is fully silenced they announce the rules: It is a traditional one on one fight. The first to be knocked unconscious or knocked out of the arena is the loser. King Totomesu also adds– while looking at Luigi in particular– that either opponent is free to forfeit the fight whenever they wish.

Then the buzzer goes off and the battle begins, but it immediately becomes apparent to the Princess just how inexperienced Luigi is at fighting– perhaps the most inexperienced person she's ever encountered in her life....

She knocks Luigi around a bit, mostly to show off and let him know he's out of his depth, but to her surprise he keeps standing back up despite the bumps, bruises, and threats.

Eventually... to give the audience a proper show and to keep herself from getting bored (and not at all because she feels sympathy for the little mustachioed man of course)... she starts quietly coaching him whenever they're in close combat, giving Luigi pointers about how to use his surroundings to his advantage.

After a little bit of back and forth, Luigi finally gets fully used to The Poltergust, and taking Princess Daisy's advice to heart he starts putting up a decent fight.

In the audience where the kings are seated, Professor E. Gadd has finally made it back to his assigned seat among them. He asks how Luigi is holding up, and the kings admit halfheartedly that he is doing better than expected.

The Professor adjusts his glasses to better survey the scene below. He sees Luigi use the strobulb to disorient the princess, use the blowing function to knock her off her feet, then pull himself a safe distance away with the suction shot before she can retaliate. He can't help but chuckle proudly. "There now, you see? My invention couldn't be in better hands!"

Back in the arena, Princess Daisy... realizing that she now has a proper opponent rather than just a frightened punching bag... kicks things up a notch. Reaching into her dress pocket she pulls out an ice flower and activates it.

With a powerup now engaged Princess Daisy regains the advantage, only this time she has no intention of going easy on Luigi. Laying a path of ice down in front of him she causes the plumber to lose his footing, and after a short struggle Princess Daisy has him completely encased in a block of ice– everything except his head.

Daisy takes her time crafting a spear out of ice and pointing it threateningly at Luigi's nose. "Come on little guy, give it up already. You either call it quits, or I make you call it quits."

Luigi, struggling to escape the ice, fighting until he's red-faced and breathless, shouts back. "I can't! Don't you understand!? Helping The Professor is the only way I can get to Evershade Valley, I can't!" Daisy, unsettled by the desperation in Luigi's voice, lowers the spear and looks at him inquisitively.

Before she can ask what he means by that, they are both startled by the sudden appearance of Polterpup, materializing at Luigi's side, barking and whining, tail between his legs, clearly trying to get his attention. The crowd becomes disquieted, mumbling amongst themselves about the sudden appearance of the phantom pup.

Daisy, though startled at first, tsks and wags her finger disapprovingly at Luigi. "C'mon Luigi, call off the dog. This fight’s supposed to be a one-on-on, remember?" "I didn't call him!" Luigi insists. "I don't know what he's doing but... he looks scared! I think... he's trying to warn us about something?"

Suddenly there's a crack of thunder. Luigi and Daisy turn in unison to see a large purple cloud drawing closer, darkening the bright evening sky until it's indistinguishable from midnight. Lightning short circuits the lights and TV screens of the arena as an enormous ghost materializes over the frightened audience. Polterpup disappears into the nearest wall with a whimper as Boolossus makes their appearance.

Boolossus cackles, taking their time basking in the screams of the fleeing audience while they casually float toward the arena where Princess Daisy and Luigi stand. The four kings of Sarasaland– seeing their people terrorized and their daughter threatened– leap into action.

Unfortunately, for all their power and skill, there is no defeating this sort of ghost without the proper equipment. The most they can do is break their opponent apart into smaller ghosts, who merely swarm back into the form of Boolossus as soon as they are separated.

Seeing this turn of events, Princess Daisy gets right to work shattering the ice encasing Luigi, freeing him just as the last of the kings of Sarasaland is knocked unconscious. Daisy wastes no time climbing into the stands, rushing to defend her dads while Professor E. Gadd checks on the condition of the fallen royals.

The Professor assures Princess Daisy that the four kings are not terribly injured, but merely unconscious. He begins to explain the scientific intricacies of how prolonged, powerful attacks from ghosts can induce a state of deep sleep while Boolossus looms threateningly over them, empty frames in his hands, ready to strike.

Before they can capture E. Gadd or the princess, a blast of suction takes hold of them by the tail and starts dragging them away toward the center of the arena. It's Luigi, wielding The Poltergust with all his might, barely keeping his footing while slowly dragging the ghost toward him.

"S-stop! Leave them alone!" he shouts, his voice shaky and thinned by effort. Boolossus chuckles, though their laughter is tinged with annoyance as they struggle against the relentless pull of The Poltergust. "Fine!" they snarl in their myriad of voices. "Once that contraption is out of the picture, the rest will be all too easy!"

Luigi barely manages to dodge Boolossus' attacks, and despite having being successful in getting the ghost's attention he finds himself unable to properly retaliate. Though he's able to yank the ghost around with The Poltergust he can't hold on for long, and for all the machine's strength it doesn't have enough suction to drag the giant ghost all the way into the vacuum chamber.

The tides turn when Princess Daisy joins in, using her ice flower to forge pointed projectiles that break Boolossus apart. Each time the giant ghost falls into its fifteen separate boos, Luigi sucks some of them up into the vacuum until at last... working together... Princess Daisy and Luigi succeed in capturing Boolossus bit by bit, until every member of the giant ghost is locked away inside The Poltergust.

The sky brightens and clears as the strange phantasmal thunderstorm rolls away in Boolossus' absence. The four kings steadily regain consciousness, and the members of the audience who hadn't fled completely crawl out of their hiding spots to examine the scene.

Professor E. Gadd is first to break the silence, unable to contain his excitement as he calls out to Luigi: "You did it my boy! You did it! You caught one of the deadliest apparitions in the world! I've never seen such ghost hunting in all my years! Fantastic work!"

Luigi, still a little shaky, turns to Princess Daisy to ask if she's okay. Princess Daisy doesn't answer, she merely gives Luigi a proud smile before taking him by the wrist and holding his hand victoriously into the air before the remaining crowd, who immediately erupt into cheers and begin chanting Luigi's name.

Luigi shyly waves at the audience with his free hand. When he looks up to see the four kings of Sarasaland nodding at him in approval, he can't help but let out a giddy laugh and shoot Professor E. Gadd a thumbs up.

#Mario Movie AU #Super Mario Bros redux au #super mario bros redux #Luigi #Princess Daisy

[beckelliesden]

I've been thinking about the Metatron's motivations.

At first, I thought he was using Aziraphale in a simple internal power struggle ploy. He can't be in charge because he's just a spokesman and since he knows Micheal has no intention to share authority with anyone else, he needs a puppet if he wants to run the show. Aziraphale, who is naive and, let's admit it, easily coaxed, makes a perfect candidate. He isn't a very elevated angel, so he assumes he'll be easy to handle - and quite as easy to dismiss if he refuses to play along as intended. And recruiting him has the added bonus of getting rid of a torn in heaven's side by breaking up Aziraphale and Crowley, who are blamed for thwarting Armageddon 1.0. After that 25-lazarii miracle they inadvertently produced together, it's easy to see how the Metatron would be very keen to prevent them from standing in the way of Armageddon 2.0.

Then, I thought about it some more. I thought about some of the dark, ominous looks he's cast from the corner of his eyes, the color-coding of his clothes and the way he oh so easily swayed Aziraphale. Heavens is a lot of things in the show, but it's never flattering and persuasive. Not like that. Flattery and bribery are Hell's tools, and so is playing on people's insecurities and setting them up against one another.

And then I thought, what if the Metatron isn't the Metatron? What if Satan took personal interest in the launching of Armageddon 2.0 and impersonated the Metatron?

God couldn't care less, that's a given, but Satan? He was obviously VERY pissed off and personally involved at the end of S01. It's a bit foolish to think that because Adam thwarted him on Earth he's out of the picture permanently. Or that he won't be trying to extract his revenge on those who thwarted him- it's apparently his whole thing.

And then, we come back to Aziraphale - and, more to the point, Crowley. Who is Aziraphale? A mid-level angel - a nobody who means well and can be easily swayed with the right arguments. But Crowley? From Satan's point of view, Crowley is NOT a nobody. If we read the clues correctly, Crowley was NEVER a nobody, in fact. He was a pretty high-ranking angel before the Fall, possibly even an archangel. More to the point, Satan thinks Crowley is his top agent. He's the demon who instigated the original sin, invented the Spanish Inquisition and started WW2. The demonic genius behind the M25.

The demon who was SUPPOSED to deliver the antichrist on Earth.

Crowley did not just turn traitor on Hell, but on SATAN personally.

So it would make sense for Satan to take a personal interest in return.

Everything that follows just makes so much sense if Satan is impersonating the Metatron. He wants the launching of Armageddon 2.0 AND revenge on Crowley. So he arranges to use Aziraphale to do both. He takes him away from Crowley - and makes Aziraphale break his heart in the process.

I've seen people go about the coffee scene, arguing the coffee was spiked. I think that if any 'miracle' was performed at that fateful moment, it was to push Nina and Maggie to have that conversation with Crowley. So that Crowley would finally open himself up and confess to Aziraphale - only to be rejected in the most heartbreaking way possible by Aziraphale, who's been dazzled by the idea of running Heavens along with his best friend as angels.

I've also seen people comment on how manipulative and cunning the Metatron was to 'orchestrate' the break up - and he was, no doubt about it. But how would the Metatron, as an angel, know how insulting and impossible a proposition that would be for Crowley? He'd have to be a fucking mastermind on top of being a master manipulator - two things he certainly didn't seem to be in s01. No, I'm sorry, but an angel would just assume a demon would WANT to come back into the fold. Only a demon would know better. And only a demon would go about breaking them up so cunningly.

And here's the good bit: the Metatron only turns up AFTER the Hell delegation has gone to report Beelzebub's treason to their master. Not before or during, but AFTER.

And what is one of the first thing he does when he walks into the bookshop? He asks Crowley if he recognizes him, of course. He doesn't ask because Crowley used to be a high-ranking angel - he asks because Crowley is a demon, and if he can fool Crowley, then he can fool anyone, can he?

And that leads us to the elevator scene. Notice how fast Metatron pushes the 'Heavens' button as soon as Aziraphale sets foot in? Notice the calculative looks he gives him from the corner of his eyes? They make perfect sense if Aziraphale just fell into a particularly devious and intricate trap - setting himself up as both an hostage and a tool for Satan to further extract revenge on Crowley and start Armageddon 2.0.

Oh, while ALSO providing Satan with his 'ride' to infiltrate Heavens, of course. Demons can't use the elevator without an escort, remember?

It all makes so much damned sense - and it scares the shit out of me for s03.

#The Metatron is Satan in disguise #I rest my case #Metatron theory #good omens #good omens 2 #go2 spoilers #crowley #Aziraphale is a puppet #Metatron #Oh shit s03 is going to be so hardcore if I'm right #I almost feel bad for writing all this as I'm pretty sure it's going to be a BIG season 3 reveal #neil gaiman #you're an evil genius Neil Gaiman

[bogunicorn]

i'm bored so it's time to throw rocks*, here are the types of reality tv/game shows i think the inquisition companions would watch

cassandra would watch one of those romance ones, like too hot to handle or love is blind, and get really, really invested. she's active on the reddits for her favorite shows. all of the cheesy, painfully heterosexual-but-strangely-sanitized reality TV horniness works well on her, she's the intended audience 100%. she's genuinely sad about it when couples break up after the show ends.

varric likes interpersonal dramas and gossip and backstabbing, he watches the vh1 dating shows. he knows most of it is fake, but that's what he likes about it, and he appreciates the classics. anything with "of love" in it, he loves it, he's there. he thinks newer shows work too hard to convince people they're actually real because he thinks embracing the fakeness makes it more fun.

solas has been watching reality tv since the OG: survivor. he's seen every season. he has very strong opinions about play strategies and a personal ranking of the best players of all time just ready to go if you just ask. he's convinced he would win if he was on it, but deep deep down he knows he would never get the votes to win at the end because he'd be seen as a villain and won't apply.

vivienne thinks she's above this kind of garbage tv, but she actually really likes the masked singer. she's pretty good at guessing the celebrities, but she doesn't put much effort into guessing after a point. she's in it entirely to relax and quietly fantasize about being on it herself, because so much of her life is about playing games of intrigue and survival and perception. she records the episodes and skips most of the judging because she doesn't think the judges are funny and gets annoyed when they make stupid guesses.

sera likes the obstacle course-type shows like wipeout and the floor is lava. anything where people have to come up with creative solutions and also might get hit with a giant thing made of foam and get smacked around like a rag doll. sera has been trying to convince people to team up with her and apply for this type of show for ages and it never works out. she also likes the really weird off-brand ones that only ever get one season, like who wants to be a superhero or opposite worlds.

blackwall likes the circle. he always quietly roots for the catfish. no reason.

iron bull is a drag race superfan. come on, one of them had to be. he's been watching since the season 1 vaseline filter days. he approaches each new season with the masculine seriousness of a suburban dad planning a fantasy sports lineup and correctly predicts every winner three episodes in. he would absolutely volunteer for a makeover episode if he could. his favorite queens are usually the pageant queens; he likes the sparkly ones, and the pageant queens always end up covered in rhinestones.

dorian loves innovation and being judgy, so he loves shark tank and anything similar. he enjoys episodes with absolutely terrible inventions just as much as the good ones, and is the kind of viewer who actually will go ahead and buy something he saw on the show -- including the really stupid ones, because he gives them to his friends as joke gifts.

cole watches those shows that are equal parts talent competition and sappy backstories, like american idol, x-factor, the voice, stuff like that. he always cries a little when someone does a ballad. he never votes because he can never decide who deserves to win the most, and he doesn't watch the results shows because they make him too sad.

cullen watches HGTV and gets belligerent if you point out that house hunters is fake. unclear if that's because he thinks you're being a wet blanket or because it was news to him and he doesn't want to admit it.

josephine likes strategy and competition, but the grime, physical danger, and "eat this gross thing" challenges of survivor aren't fun to her. instead, she's really into big brother. josephine is convinced that she would win big brother if she was ever on it, and she's correct, but she can't take the time off work.

leliana is an OG ANTM fan. she'll dabble in other shows that center on makeup and fashion, but she always ends up going back to the classics and the older seasons, as she feels like the current era of ANTM is too gimmicky and self-aware. the human rights violations are allowed if they make good TV.

*this is for fun don't actually throw things at me please

**also if you like this and think "i'm gonna give this fine person a follow because they're so funny about dragon age", i made a new DA sideblog at @skyholdstarbucks where i'd post anything similar to this in the future

#bog post #dragon age #dai #disclaimer that this is jokes it's jokes it's not serious #i love all my children equally #cole #solas #dorian pavus #cassandra pentaghast #blackwall #leliana #josephine montilyet #cullen rutherford #the iron bull #sera #varric tethras #blackwall's is shortest because it's funny not because i dislike him #i like him so much i gave him the best joke #don't @ me #da headcanons

[thewertsearch]

FCG: HONESTLY THE LAST FEW WEEKS HAVE BEEN A BLUR TO ME, JUST NON STOP YELLING AT MYSELF, HAGGLING WITH PAST AND FUTURE KNUCKLEHEADS, KILLING MONSTERS AND SOLVING PUZZLES, CYCLING THROUGH ALL THE GATES AND PLANETS LIKE A HUNDRED TIMES, ZIGZAGGING DOWN TO THE BATTLEFIELD, OUT TO THE VEIL, OVER TO PROSPIT, BACK TO DERSE, AND ON AND ON AND ON LIKE THAT UNTIL WE THOUGHT WE WON.

Seems like a typical session is pretty hectic. Karkat even spent time on Derse, which I didn’t expect, but maybe he needed to help awaken some Dream Selves. 

I’d love to get a proper look at the ‘standard’ Sburb campaign. Hivebent can’t last forever, so we’re inevitably getting an abridged version. 

CGA: It Seems Like A Logical Way To Engineer A System Wherein One Simultaneously Functions As The Reader And Author Of The Transcripts CGA: Its Temporally Sound Construction

Karkat’s about to invent Project Trolling - but Kanaya, not to be outdone, is about to invent ConversationWithAVeryStupidGirl.Txt.

FCG: HELL YOU PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER MAID OF TIME THAN THE ONE WE WERE STUCK WITH. [...] CGA: I Think We Are Given Roles To Challenge Us CGA: That Dont Necessarily Suit Our Strengths

As far as I can tell, Titles aren’t universally suited to their bearers - but neither are they universally unsuited. Kanaya’s having trouble settling into her role as the team’s Sylph - but Terezi’s a born Seer of Mind, and was acting as such, long before the session began. 

Kanaya calls the Titles challenging, but you can be challenged by a role you’re perfectly suited to. Rose’s inquisitive personality makes her a good fit for a Seer, but ‘seeing’ what went wrong with her session is still a huge, ongoing challenge for her. 

FCG: SO WHAT PROMPTED YOU TO RESPOND ANYWAY. [...] CGA: Its Such A Silly Question FCG: RED OR BLACK?

lmao, Karkat’s been fielding questions like this since the session began. He knows what the fuck is up. 

Plus, he’s from weeks in Kanaya’s future, so he probably knows exactly what she’s talking about. 

FCG: I DON'T THINK ANYONE'S READING. FCG: DID YOU NOTICE ANYONE ELSE JOIN IN LATER? CGA: No CGA: It Appeared To Be Just The Two Of Us FCG: SEE FCG: NOBODY CARES ENOUGH TO BOTHER. CGA: I Dont Know Whether Thats Reassuring CGA: Or Just A Bit Disheartening FCG: WELL I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT. FCG: THEIR DISINTEREST IS MORE A REFLECTION ON ME THAN YOU.

Karkat isn’t performing anger, here. He’s genuinely angry at his situation, but he’s not making it Kanaya’s problem - which I think says a lot about the strength of their friendship. 

As a result, I think this is most authentic Karkat has ever been. He’s still grumpy in this conversation, because that’s just his nature, but he’s also thoughtful, introspective and empathetic. Alternia probably doesn’t value these traits, so he’s not really encouraged to display them, unless he’s giving quadrant advice - or unless the troll he’s talking to is as weird as he is. 

Kanaya isn’t above a little trolling - she can certainly return fire - but she doesn’t antagonize people just for kicks. Karkat, recognizing a kindred spirit, affords her the same rare courtesy. 

CGA: Shes Not Even Responding To My Messages Anymore CGA: Could Be Busy CGA: But Im Rapidly Approaching A Resolution To Discard The Preposterous Infatuation

You’re too good for Vriska, who I assume you’re still hung up on. Discard her!

CGA: How About CGA: If I Agree To Consult With You About It In Private CGA: We Can Drop It Here CGA: Before You Crack Me Like A Vault CGA: With Your Weird Romance Sleuthing Acumen FCG: ALRIGHT, DEAL.

What the hell, Kanaya! Stop bonding over romantic advice, and start teaching yourselves to hate trolling each other! 

You’re an angry and violent race! Act like it, for Empire’s sake!

FCG: OVER THE COURSE OF THIS ADVENTURE, AT TIMES I ACTUALLY BEGAN TO SUSPECT I WAS MY OWN KISMESIS. FCG: HOW FUCKED UP IS THAT???

Mildly, but I understand why you’d reach that conclusion. 

The quadrants prime you to treat all negative emotions as potential blackrom - and, thanks to time travel, you’re capable of interacting with yourself as if you’re a different troll, whom you happen to hate. 

CGA: And What Of Scarlet Ambitions CGA: Fare Any Better In That Quadrant FCG: NO NO NO I'M NOT AIRING THAT SHIT OUT HERE. FCG: MAYBE PRIVATELY. FCG: IT'S PRIVATE.

I can only assume he’s talking about Terezi - but I really thought he was seeing a black romance with her. Maybe he’s undecided. 

#2567 #homestuck liveblog #full liveblog #act 5 #s47

[unhonestlymirror]

Broke: Lithuania as America's lackey during WW2

Woke: Since most parents always try to save their children, Lithuania sent his kids to the USA right before WW2 and stayed on his land completely alone. Žemaitija painted his hair brown and introduced himself as a name, which is actually a surname, learned English, he and USA developed Mob&Reigen dynamic. No one questioned why Lithuania is shorter than Mister America, no one questioned why Lithuania always looks so quiet, pinched, and lost.

In the late 1990s, America tells "Lithuania" they're going somewhere "but it's a surprise".

- We have been flying for quite a long time.

- Oh, it's because you promised me something!

- Yeah?

- You NEED to show me your home! :D It's not fair that you've been to mine for so long, but I've never seen yours!"

Žemaitija is horrified because he has never truly forgiven Lithuania for sending him so far away, for so long, for not allowing him to stay. Thus, he never read any letters and never wrote back. To some extent, he is afraid to return home. He also can't tell this to America, otherwise, deceit will be revealed. Žemaitija doesn't know what he wants to see. He heard rumours that his father was sent to Siberia. Although it's morally awful to think that way, he expects to see nothing left from their previous life, not even a grave, just nothing. Žemaitija had enough pain already.

His expectations are not met. Lithuania's house seems a bit abandoned, but you can see that the garden is being taken care of.

- Oh, THAT'S YOUR HOUSE? IT LOOKS SO LOVELY! Exactly what I expected from you! :D

- Mister America, could you please not talk so loudly?

- Sorry, sorry. Will you invite me inside?🥺

-...Okay.

Everything looks exactly the same way it used to be. Except for the small TV on an embroidered napkin and a few modern devices. On the table there is a glass with unfinished kefir, a piece of bread lies.

An enormous man in a bathrobe, with long hair, sleeps on an old sofa, a newspaper on his face. The walls full of glued newspaper clippings: "Lithuania wins basketball 1992", "Lithuania invents...", "Lithuania wins...." - with photos of Žemaitija. Smiling, looking awkward, looking quite ugly in action.

"Jesus, he's so thin. Where are those scars from? That's a lot of them," thinks Žemaitija.

- Oh, is that your housekeeper? He looks quite exhausted - America changes his tone to whisper for some reason.

Suddenly, the housekeeper gets up, like a revived millennium tree, and it is not really clear who creaks: he or the sofa. The newspaper falls on the floor, but the hair is long enough to hide the face. He makes a few giant steps to America and leans to him. Žemaitija suddenly notices how much smaller America - in his wonderful three-piece suit - looks in comparison.

America's face doesn't change the happy expression but slightly hardens, and Žemaitija notices how his fingers reach for where he used to hold a gun. Žemaitija can't blame him.

The housekeeper slowly brings his hands to the face and removes bangs.

All this time, Žemaitija hopelessly tried to hide behind America's back. Words come out against his will:

- How many bodies have you changed??

An incredibly thin, Rūpintojėlis-like, greyish-yellow face that didn't seem to smile in decades, pronounced folds around the lips, wrinkles around the eyes. Only inquisitive fiery eyes, abnormally large for such a face, and a clear, hard look.

America seems to be speechless for a second. But he quickly pulls himself together and, in a practised manner, says:

- GOOD MORNING! :D Sorry for bothering your sleep. Um. LITHUANIA! Would you like to introduce us? - America turns to Žemaitija and raises his eyebrows pleadingly.

- Although I don't know you personally, I think I can do it. Who doesn't know America? It would be nice if you turned your face to me, though, if we're going to follow the full règles d'étiquette.

What a booming, raspy voice, with a bit strange accent but still familiar.

Žemaitija feels so damn miserable.

Why did he even come here? For what? To see enough of the "masterpieces" of soviet constructivism, monuments to victims of repression and signboards on russian language? To open up old wounds? If he gets slapped now, so be it.

Žemaitija closes his eyes because he doesn't want to exist right here right at this moment.

Again, his expectations are not met.

He's just being hugged. Pretty strongly, but still. Lithuania smells like cigarettes and some kind of ancient grief. The bathrobe covers the entire view, but America, apparently, is silent.

- Fourty-two.

- What?

- Forty-two bodies. I made a bet with Poland that I would beat his record, and I did. Pretty good, huh?

It seems like Žemaitija have cried afterwards.

***

- I think it's good that you've never written anything back to him. - America looked unusually thoughtfully. - If what he says is true, then he could have been tortured more if russia knew he had children. Especially in USA.

- Does it make me any better?

- I think it makes you worth your father. - America let out a chuckle. - My own is a complete hypocrite piece of shit: that's where my oratory skills are from. I can't remember times we had good relations, so I even envy you a bit.

- I don't think you should.

- I don't think it's up to you to decide. I have FEELINGS, you know?! And don't think that I've forgiven you for years of forgery! I will never forgive! Maybe I can change my mind if you show me the place with the most delicious zep-pe-li-nai.

#it ended up quite long #hetalia #hws lithuania #aph lithuania #hws america #aph america #single dad au? #Žemaitija

[rivilu]

I read your notes about DAQ on that wyll vs dorian post and i just could not agree more. Specifically the thing about krem you said, i absolutely hate how the game while trying to introduce trans friendly concepts just. Forcibly makes your character cis in association. Like no my inquisitioner would not say any of that shit!!! He is trans!!!! And you could tell that shit was not written by a trans person. I think they were trying to avoid using many trans specific words to fit in with the setting but like? "Why do you pass?" Is not a question that makes sense for someone to ask and i hate that theyre taking an existing trans term and trying to make it mean like....the entire concept of transitioning?? Idk i feel like i would be more ok if they could have you be like "oh dw i am also trans" but nah we as the player are just assumed to be cis. Also yeah as you said, inventing transphobia in a series where that wasnt present before, its annoying.

Oh dont get me started I could talk about my gripes with the handling of transness in dragon age (and particularly inquisition) forever. Actually do get me started this has been a long time coming.

i absolutely hate how the game while trying to introduce trans friendly concepts just. Forcibly makes your character cis in association

YEP. Yep yes exactly. your options are 'three flavors of being transphobic' or 'when did you know' . which is what i picked, because you can stretch your imagination a little at least.

But there's also this other tiny elephant in the room issue with Krem that i didnt mention in those tags. Or should i say. Bull in the room ? Because holy shit, way to take away the trans character's speaking voice and characterization so we get to know how much of an ✨Ally ✨the cis man bestie is! Like okay if you're being a transphobic shithead it makes a bit More sense that he'd get defensive and speak up for Krem, but when your question was 'when did you know', Krem answers 'when i was young. not a great thing to know about yourself' and then Bull immediately cuts in to cisplain transness is like? What was the Idea there. Which then makes the dialogue choices being 90% straight up transphobia MORE suspicious, because the game is letting you, almost pushing you to verbally harass Krem.. almost like he doesn't REALLY matter, he's just a vessel to see how Progressive And Trans Friendly And A Good Friend Bull is. Thanks, i hate it.

Even in terms of backstory Bull being Krems savior when he was trying to escape his life etc never really sat right with me. Like there's an underlying demsel vibe i feel the devs stuck in there that really irks me. Not helped by the fact that we dont have a trans voice actor. Also not helped by the fact that this is a fantasy setting with magic but some form of magic hrt? Nah too impossible. Like sure there's some implication that it MIGHT exist somewhere but because magic Bad in the dragon age setting and tevinter magic Even Worse he wouldn't go for it- Like ok. some people might prefer their trans realism in faux medieval media. even fantasy. Im not one of those people. And all those justifications read more like excuses to me. Like you're telling me the circles wouldn't be making BANK out of selling trans-your-gender potions and abusing the shit out of it? And just. Again this makes the setting retroactively much Worse because where before i could point to my warden or Hawke and go 'yeah that's a trans man via magic hrt' and someone who prefers trans realism could ALSO do the same when making theirs how they like. Vagueness in such matters allows for imagination! But now dai is saying noo they had to be cis. And your inquisitor also. Fuck that.

Also yeah as you said, inventing transphobia in a series where that wasnt present before, its annoying.

one tiny correction here. there were hints of transphobia in the first two games, but it was mostly contained in like. Oghren style aged like milk type humor. more meta than text i guess. like in the Pearl in game one if you ask to be surprised there's a chance you get the ever hilarious 'haha you got man in a dress' *crickets* And then Serendipity in mark of the assassin.. well the wiki says she's meant to be a drag queen. So not 100% related to this discussion. But the execution of her character just felt SO mean spirited to me when i was playing that i felt it needed to be mentioned as well. (So i just love her out of spite now. ) But anyway yeah. Out of all the lgbtq things dragon age touches on i feel like gender is one that they. dont really even try to tackle in good faith. And it just got worse as the games went on. I can handle easily skippable side gags that are shitty and unfunny. Inquisition tries to actually bring ATTENTION to the topic, and proceeds to fall flat on its face. Not to mention Sera. Them having one of the main companions being transphobic in banter.

Bioware when I catch you Bioware. Bioware when i catch you.

#sorry this got very long sjdf #ask #long post #dai critical

[sharenadraculea]

Naruto-Characters as Warhammer 40k-factions

After doing something like this with atla-characters, I thought it was fun to do this with Naruto-characters. Again, this is gonna be very silly. Also all 40k factions, not just astartes-legions

Itachi: Night Lords. Renegade that uses copious amounts of terror tactics and there would be a lot more dead if someone else did the job (which doesn‘t justify what they did). Also fan favorites with black eyes, black hair and pale skin. Tough upon further thinking, Harlequin might also work? Very strong, insanly fast, kind of fragile and the terror tactics are more mind fuckery than skining people. Kisame: Carcharodons. Guys with a sharktheme and a lust for blood and I like them a lot. Samehada is allready nearly a chainsword! Sasori: The Mechanicum greatly appreciates your effort in replacing your flesh with machine-bits. Also human-puppets are pretty close to servitors Hidan: Gruesome murder for the sake of gruesome murder and personal entertainment? Sounds like the Drukhari are gonna love him. He even prolongs his life with the suffering of others! Or Slaanesh. Slaanesh would also work just not aesthetically. Kakuzu: Rogue Trader. Near infinite personal freedom and a ton of money? Yeah, he would be up for that (also they are allowed to keep Drukhari around) Konan: I‘m gonna say Sisters of Battle or Sisters of Silence, I can‘t quite remember if she sees Nagato more as a god or just a powerfull guy.

Tobirama: Inquisition. Just look at the guy who invented necromancy to use undead as a never ending tide of bombs and tell me that he wouldn‘t enjoy a little exterminatus from time to time and having waaay too much power over people. Hashirama: I‘m gonna say Exodite Eldar just for the nature-theme. Maybe also avatar of Isha? They are usually nice and have healing stuff, but you still don‘t wanna piss them of Madara: Chaos champion or demon prince, maybe he get‘s a upgrade at some point. Either Khorne or Chaos undivided, because while he does a lot of war and murders a lot of people, he also does some other stuff.

Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura: Space Marine Apothecary. Tanky battle medic. Gaara: Blood Angels. Starts out bloodcrazy and only wanting to fight but he get‘s better and ends up beeing a pretty nice guy. Also both are from deserts. Sasuke: Raven Guard maybe? He‘s suitably emo looking and Raven Guard and Night Lords really dislike each other. Orochimaru: Magos Biologis or Drukhari Homuculi coven. Doing weird, definetly unethical human experimentation as one does. Kabuto: Necrons or maybe something Nurgely? Just a guy commanding legions of the undead. Thousand Sons might also work, a sorcerer controlling empty hulls of what once were people.

Hyuuga-clan: Navigator House, eyerelated superpowers they are super secretive about, a lot of power but isolated from wider society and definetly too much inbreeding Jinchuuriki: Maybe Titans Princeps? Humans capable of controlling giant Battle-things but if they aren‘t carefull, that things mind can take over.

These are just the ones I came up with, if you have more or disagre with one of my classifications, feel free to add your opinion!

#Yeah I know that the avatar of Isha is more a warhammer fantasy thing but they could exist in 40k so it‘s fine #warhammer 40k #naruto #crossover #headcanon #silly headcanons #itachi uchiha #kisame hoshigaki #sasori #the akatsuki #kakuzu #hidan #senju tobirama #hashirama senju #madara uchiha #tsunade #sakura haruno #sabaku no gaara #orochimaru

[greypetrel]

HI I saw your art come up in my feed through mutuals and can you please tell me about?! Dragon Age X Tolkien?! My top special interests…

Hello there!

I'm glad you asked, of course I can tell you more!

So, it all started on Instagram when I posted this illustration I did. She's my Inquisitor, I did her an official portrait. On Instagram, where people don't mainly follow me for DA, one person asked me if she was a villainess, because she "got the eye of Sauron vibe going on".

And as a fellow person with the same top special interests, you can see how and why my mind exploded.

You see, my Lavellan, Aisling is a VERY Neutral Good character. She's a cinnamon roll, a huge horse-girl, and honestly she'll use sparkly pen ink if it was already invented. She and Dorian are besties, likes to experiment with magic in the silliest experiments ever (add a Solas who runs behind them trying to contain them before they make something explode. They did, in fact, made things explode. Namely, an Arcane Horror and the corpse pit in the Exalted Planes, they… Redirected on of the flame-throwers and BOOM. It was disgusting, BUT it got the job done AND set the pit on fire. Also, the Bog Unicorn? They brought him back, it was Dorian's PhD dissertation in Necromancy and Aisling helped. Go on like this for the whole inquisition).

So you can see that seeing her as Sauron was particularly ridiculous. And of course I jumped on the train right away and created probably the silliest AU ever. More LOTR than Dragon Age, but I'm still planning things. A long rant and a plotline under the cut!

Aisling is, in fact, Sauron. Or well, call her Maira or Annatar, she hates the nickname "Sauron". She sided with Melkor because he told her she could experiment to her heart's desire, he understood her view of Orcs, Wargs, Balrogs, Dragons and so on as "Still Eru's children"… And yes, he totally used her, but she was dissatisfied with Aule keeping her on constant check and leashing her out and to everyone laughing when she suggested that dragons could be tamed. She wasn't exactly ok with Melkor's conquest plans… But couldn't quit because 1) She didn't know where to go if she did, elves would have killed (tried to) on sight, she didn't like humans much (they live too little to be significant, to her, Luthien and her had a lenghty conversation after the first kicked her ass badly). 2) She didn't want to abandon the Orcs, Melkor didn't treat them particularly well (he would have cut out the minimum wage can you believe it).

She made a new life in Nùmenor, she didn't lie to them to deceive anyone… But just to have anonimity and start anew. But she did lie nonetheless, and even if she had years and years and years as Annatar, brilliant orephicer first and wise advisor later, when it was revealed who she really was she had to fled.

Which was good because she found the Orcs in Middle Earth totally in disarray and with no guide. So she started her new pet project: Mordor. Aka a Kingdom where Orcs could thrive. The Ephel Duath protects them, volcanic earth is very fertile! She evoked so many dark clouds to provide rain and water, found Adar all over again (they're besties), tried to build a net of relationships. It never worked with Gondor because they never got past her fame, but elsewhere…

About the Rings: That was another silly experiment, she told Celebrimbor that those rings shouldn't have been given to anyone, the power thei wielded was too big. Maybe some of the remaining Noldor could be ok with it, but regular humans? She had her doubts. Because you see, the Rings aren't evil per se. It's just like having on your finger a ring made of Uranium. It will hurt you not because the ring is evil, but because your body isn't build to be in contact with the material. In this case, magic. Fleeing from Nùmenor, she managed to take the Nine with her, and spent a lot of time thinking about what to do with them, exactly.

In the end, she forged the One Ring as a catalyst for the Nine, to keep their magic stable and wieldable. She gifted them to the people she befriended and allied with (those who agreed), making them immortal and granting them some powers. Basically, the Nine Nazgul are the DA inner circle. Their immortality depends on the One Ring, she never poured her life essence in it ("Who would be so stupid to do that? With a Ring you wear in battle???" cit). But it's important for her to have it because she doesn't want her friend to die or be corrupted by their rings.

The inscription is evil, you say? "One Ring to rule them all"? Oh no, my dear, it was just severely mistranslated. Gondor scholars never cared for the Black Speech and are terrible with it. "Them all", you see, is a reflexive form of not the plural but the DUAL. It should be "one another"/"each other", and rule? More like "Belong". :)

Back to LOTR… She didn't attack Gondor first. She started back her project to reforestate Mordor, sent a contingent of Orcs to Osgiliath, hoping to commerce… But the meanies attacked her Orcs on sight and took it as a war declaration. Which never was but it's difficult to go the Diplomacy way if your people and ambassadors are attacked on sight…

Her fault with it all was not acting when Saruman started to get crazy and suggest her plans of conquest. She just rolled her eyes, told the "old geezer" that she wasn't interested at all, thank you very much and let him do his own things. Corrupting more orcs and well.

Meanwhile Mordor is a really nice place if you don't mind the stormy clouds looming over! Frodo and Sam entered it through the Black Gate, got a welcome bag of goodies with some typical snacks, a travel guide, a map, a brochure informing them of basic Orc culture tips and tricks ("Grinning is considered very rude, please don't show too much teeth when you do"), an enamel pin with "I <3 Mordor". They had a very pleasant stay travelling to the volcano, all the Orcs kept inviting them for dinner, insisted they should have slept in their hut, feed them to bursting. Add a very distressed Dorian the Witch-King flying overhead and not finding them because they keep being sidetracked. By the time they reach Mount Doom, the Hobbits have gained 3kg each, are very well fed and rested, and are extremely confused about what to do. All the Orcs have explained to them that the Lady wants them polite, and she's so kind, they don't want to disappoint her! She… Is not that evil, isn't she?

Oh the giant evil spider you say? Eh, yes, it's a problem because it's eating the orcs, poor Shagrat up in Cirith Ungol doesn't know what to do… But Shelob is still a living creature, so they're discussing long and hard on how to move her. Because the Dark Lady feels bad in killing her.

The Dark Lady who was taking cuttings in Ithilien to plant back in Mordor and was found by this strapping Gondor Lieutenant, born in Rohan, who instantly decided she was a Lady and needed protection in these dangerous lands. She tried to tell him that she was in no danger, the Orcs wouldn't have attacked her… But he insisted! Scorted her around! As if she needed help! She!! She felt very amused and kept on going there just to meet with him and chat. They got along you see… Even if he's thoroughly convinced, somehow, that she comes from Rivendell and is stranded. Add an enemies to lovers sub-plot when, finally, Cullen will realise whom exactly she is when a particularly out of patience Dorian will come to collect her and bring her back to work.

I need to add Solas somewhere there, they worked together for a long time and it still ended in him betraying her and making it so that she can't grow her left arm back.

Oh and the real villain here is Saruman, yes.

Can you feel the migraine that Gandalf will have in all this, because I can.

#aisling the dark lady au #lotr #dragon age #crossover #writing petrel

[maxinelugg]

Mephistopheles Update #1 - Concept, Head and Hair

I'm excited to share some progress on my latest personal project, and I thought I'd write a blog post discussing some of my thoughts behind the project and breaking down some of the processes involved so far!

Concept & Project Goals

Almost a year ago, I had the idea to create two full 3D characters based on my own interpretation of the two main characters of a 1592 play by Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus. These characters would be the titular Doctor Faustus, and his demonic companion, Mephistopheles (not to be confused with the Mephistopheles of the D&D Forgotten Realms setting), created to fit within the Renaissance Germany setting of the playscript. In the play, itself based on German legend, Faustus sells his soul to Lucifer in exchange for forbidden magical knowledge, supplied to him by a damned servant of Lucifer, Mephistopheles, who takes the form of a Franciscan friar. The idea of a deal with the devil, of selling one's soul or integrity in exchange for short-term material gain, often with eternally damning consequences, predates this play and the legend it's based on, but this story is still perhaps the most prominent example of this trope in the literary canon.

However, after a little while of letting the idea simmer, I'd decided to shelve it, as I felt it was somehow a bit odd to create a pair of character models based on a play from over four hundred years ago that hardly anyone had heard of. It wasn't until I was playing Baldur's Gate 3, several months later, that the idea returned to me. In seeing the many fantastic demon character models in that game, I realised I really, really, really wanted to revisit this idea. Suddenly, the project had life again.

Back when I first had this idea, I'd created some concept art for myself, as seen above. As you might notice, some things changed!

I liked a lot about this concept, but after time away from it, I'd realised the bright colour scheme, while definitely inventive and bold, and would read better from afar, might not be the most appropriate to the character, setting or premise. 

Ultimately, later in this project, I plan to pose the character with some props (books, similar to those in the concept above). The pose will be different from that of the concept art, as I will try to push for something more dynamic. I will hopefully get to share some of the progress on this soon in the next blog post.

Gathering Reference

1. Photographic monk/friar reference material

Straightforward, simple photographic reference of a friar/monk's garments (habits) and accessories. These are contemporary photographs, but are nonetheless the highest quality imagery I could find. This will be most relevant later into this project when I begin to focus on his clothing and attire.  

In the Marlowe play, Mephistopheles appears at first in his true demonic form, and is immediately demanded by Faustus to reappear in the form of a Franciscan friar instead, as the demonic form was too unsightly. It's implied that this new form of a friar appears very mundane, so I'm twisting the source material here to make him a demonic looking friar. Perhaps he has possessed the body of a human monk, but the demonic spirit inside has had an effect on the outward appearance, with horns bursting through his forehead and skin turned pallid. 

2. Primary face references

While I was not aiming for a specific likeness, I wanted to gather references of quite gaunt and aged male faces. It turned out that Peter Cushing's face was especially good as reference, as he had the long, hollow-cheeked face anatomy I was after.

When it comes to faces, I always find myself returning to the main cast of characters from Dragon Age: Inquisition for inspiration (I also just love this game in general, to be honest). I find the character work in that game to be an excellent example of exaggerating facial anatomy just enough to convey and emphasise personality and character, but not so far as to feel uncanny, and to fit into the rest of the art direction of the game which is, for the most part, realistic. 

I used a 3DScanStore diffuse and displacement pack for this project. All of the UVs of their heads and texture packs are the same, and they provide a free head base mesh (with the same UVs), which I wrapped onto the surface of the face highpoly sculpt using the SoftWrap blender addon (Other methods include Zwrap and even Houdini). After wrapping this face base mesh to match the base sculpt as closely and cleanly as possible, you can throw on 3DScanStore's displacement and/or diffuse maps onto the mesh, with the added benefit of now having much better face topology.

I really love this technique, as 3DScanStore's scan data is very good quality and straightforward to use. The diffuse map is an excellent base for texturing later. While scan data displacement maps can be useful as a finishing touch, it's important to keep in mind that a face still needs to read well at a primary and secondary form level before tertiary details are added.

3. Hair reference material

The hair provided a unique challenge. While the hairstyle was not complex, finding photographic reference for a tonsure was difficult. I ended up looking to a lot of historical paintings and illustrations. Using illustrations as reference has an added benefit of giving insight into how the hairstyle might be interpreted artistically, though this would be ideally supplemented by thorough photographic reference.

I sometimes find it useful to quickly sketch over a 3D work in progress to visualise my next steps (I did the same thing for my Guardian project!). It's a way of testing a visual idea without getting bogged down with how slow 3D iteration can often be.

I might revisit the hair a tad a later date once the character is posed, as I'm not totally satisfied with it. It might also be a chance for me to test how iterative and non-destructive I can make the posing process later on.

4. Horn surface details

Sometimes I like to find inspiration in abstract, natural textures and shapes, especially when facing a bit of an art block about a part of a design/character. As pictured above, the design for the horns changed a bit. The previous iteration was fine, but I felt it was reading a bit dragon-scale-like and I had, admittedly, failed to look at much ref for it, so it was feeling a bit uninspired. I could've changed them to look more like conventional goat/Caprinae horns, but I figured I might as well try how they'd look with a texture inspired by the bark texture pictured above. These shaped flowed with the direction of the horns, as if they'd grown directionally out of the head, which is something I'd wanted to evoke.

Pictured below are some other examples of abstract textures and shapes (generally from my mood boards, not necessarily for this project) that could be sources of inspiration when art block hits. It's very easy to get caught up in things and forget that a lot of art is fundamentally about shapes, colours and textures.

5. Spectacles

Simple ref for some wooden spectacles. My initial concept didn't include these, but as I began to design the design in 3D, I soon realised spectacles would be helpful signifiers of a scholarly archetype. Also makes him a bit more distinct as a character design.

6. Vibe Check

These paintings and illustrations, from a variety of time periods, will be more relevant later into the project when I think about my final presentation, but I keep them here in my Pureref as a reminder of imagery and a general vibe I'd like to try to evoke. This keeps me focused on a visual goal, which proves to be important when working on a concept that's changing frequently. 

Developing Productive & Sustainable Habits

Before now, when I've worked on self-driven projects, they have primarily been for university assignments, which had a solid deadline, and I could work towards full-time. Since finishing university and starting a full-time job, figuring out how to weave in time for personal work, and how to push that work as far as I can visually, has been something to adapt to. 

The following are various habits I've tried to make an active effort to implement to better achieve these goals:

Not waiting for inspiration to hit like a lightning strike, and instead scheduling time to dedicate to personal work. Obviously, the most rewarding experience in working on art is when you're in a flow state and completely lost in the moment, often right after you've made a breakthrough or are otherwise intensely inspired and moved to create. The kind of flow state where you look down at the clock and it's somehow already 3am. These moments are awesome, but are unsustainable to depend on in the long term. Making time, even if it's only a couple of hours at a time, over a long time, is better for your work and your life (at least in my case!).

Coming back to it with fresh eyes. Whenever I'm working on personal work, I like to take progress screenshots and post them in a personal Discord server at the end of every session I spend on it. This means I can look back at it on my phone or wherever whenever I need. And sometimes it's good to not look back on it until a day or two has passed, because with fresh eyes errors are glaringly obvious. In working on a face, like I have so far with this project, I found this to be especially important, as I'm still fairly novice at facial anatomy so my eye for what does and doesn't look right is still developing. 

Seeking feedback. Admittedly, this is something I could've done better with this project so far, but getting input from others is invaluable.

Inspiration is more than the Artstation front page. This one is important, and I really mean it. It's a topic deserving of an entire blog post, but I think it's important for game artists to look beyond other games/game-adjacent media for inspiration. Watch fashion shows, go to museums, read some books, watch some documentaries, go to a contemporary art exhibition, watch some theatre - literally whatever. I recently read Lent by Jo Walton (and loved it) which, while I didn't read for this project, it ended up being massively inspirational; the book's detailed descriptions of the life of a monk in 15th century Italy reinvigorated me when I'd hit a lull with this work.

That's all for now (: I hope to be able to share more updates on this project soon! Thanks for reading!

[autisticlancemcclain]

!!! I think number 1 this time!! (I loved allura's backstop <333)

hell yeah coran’s turn 😈 3-7 left to go!!

———

Coran watched with the rest of the world as the most powerful ruler Egypt ever saw grew up, and then was the only one to see as she rose from her slumber to bring the world back to its power and unity.

He didn’t know that would be his fate, of course. He grew up under the peace of Allura’s grandparents, helping his mother attend to the then-Queen as a child. It was there that he met Melenor, a daughter of another handmaiden, his best friend, and it was there as he watched his best friend grow to catch the eye of the son of the Pharaoh. It was in the castle, under the reign of peace, as he watched Alfor and Melenor fall in love, marry, and assume the power of Ra when they took the throne — the youngest married couple to ever do so.

It was in that castle, the castle where he spent his whole life, that he watched Allura take her first, wailing breath, and Melenor take her last.

It was a time of confliction, that first year of Allura’s life. The kingdom was torn between celebrating the princess and mourning the Queen. Many people, even, were convinced that Melenor was alive again through Allura, with her fiery spirit and playful demeanour — an opinion that grated Coran endlessly, to watch the child he loved as a niece be reduced to a copy of her mother. An opinion he fought frequently, no matter who he was fighting. (For Coran was there when Melenor was a child. It was Melenor who was the loudest of the handmaidens’ children, Melenor who invented great games of war and pretend, who convinced the people, even as a babe, that the spirit of Horus was evident in her veracity. Coran was there as he watched his best friend challenge the son of the Pharaoh, and have him fall, devoted, at her feet in love. He was there to watch Melenor’s calamity sweep the nation.

Allura was not her mother. Allura was just as fiery, yes, but strategic where Melenor was impulsive. Patient where Melenor was invigorated. Allura was her own person, a mix of her father and her mother and herself, and Coran would not stand for people to forget that.)

The opinions changed during Allura’s twelfth spring.

That year, the winter had been so brutally cold that there had even been snow, and the Nile had frozen over. It was the worst winter Egypt had seen in decades, and likewise, the spring was even more horrendous. The snow melted and flooded the Nile, destroying crops and homes alike. Every advisor in the castle and beyond — including Coran — had been summoned to meet with Pharaoh Alfor, so that they might solve the problem.

Enough advisors that a child — especially one small for her age, just like her father had been — could slip into the room unnoticed, hiding behind Coran, and watch the meeting with careful, inquisitive eyes. Enough that the child may tap Coran on the shoulder, and whisper her suggestion solution — deep trenches dug at the side of the river, when it is at its lowest, so the flood water no longer flows past the bank.

Allura, even as a child, had wisdom beyond her years, and Coran had always advocated for her, especially then.

As the years went on, Coran watched as she grew into herself and her grace, her wisdom only growing in tandem with her newfound alchemical abilities. Coran also watched as her father grew wearier with every year Allura grew taller. (He had never quite accepted the passing of his wife. As much as he loved and cared for his daughter, his heart was broken, and a broken heart can only beat for so long.)

Alfor was bedridden by Allura’s seventeenth summer, and passed by her eighteenth. The country was in mourning, and feared the new lead of a woman so young — but they needn’t have. As he always knew she would, Allura prospered.

As she prospered, though, Coran worried.

She knew that there were those who were unhappy with her rule. Those who benefited from the suffering of others, the suffering Allura was slowly and meticulously eliminating, those who sneered Allura’s name behind closed doors. Allura knew of those people, suspected them and kept a careful eye on them.

But she did not expect her own aunt and uncle.

Coran knew, however. He watched them, quietly thwarting their many attempts to subvert the throne for their own power. But he never expected them to commune with Seth. Never would he expect for them to stoop so low, to make a deal with the trickster god, and so when the clouds came and their plan swept through the castle, Coran was helpless to stop it, and died along with Allura and the rest of the castle’s loyal staff.

He was the only to wake, though. The only to rise as Allura rose and the power of Ra rose with her. He and Allura were left as remnants of their time, mythos of people lost to the crumbling of their nation.

But they were not the only people on the Earth who were lost to time. And Coran was looking forward to meeting with all of them.

———

halloween au

allura’s lore

ask game

#more of the lore for my halloween au!! #i have backstory for each member of the team #send a number from 3 to 7 and i’ll give u the backstory of that character!! #coran’s backstory is entwined with allura bc i wanted to establish him as a protector and as a support #i love him #vld #voltron #coran #coran coran the gorgeous man #allura #princess allura #halloween au #ask game #my writing #fic fragment

[scriptores]

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐄 : hermes , the messenger of the gods

overview: a son of zeus and maia, the daughter of atlas, hermes was born in a cave in arcardia as a god of swiftness and craftiness. he snuck out of the cave in his youth after his mother told him a story about apollo's cattle. through his cunning, unrivaled speed, and trickery, he was able to steal the prized cattle, endeared an angry apollo to him through the invention of the lyre, and won his father's favor through his amusing antics and sacrifices to the gods. thereafter, he became zeus' personal messenger and an olympian god by his own right presiding over herds, heralds, travelers, commerce, trade & thieves. he is the pantheon's middleman and arguably the biggest aid to their mortal heroes. he also serves as a psychopomp, guiding departed souls to the underworld when requested or needed.

VERSES.

✧ main : for any greek myth canon or ancient/modern fantasy verses that leaves room for the pantheon to exist. any cataclysmic/supernatural threat that can only be addressed by a chosen one/few means there's a call that will need to be answered, and you know who's making that call? hermes is the mouthpiece of the gods, and herald of nearly every story, so he will be convincing heroes to step out of their ordinary worlds to go save the world, may even help or deliver a boon somewhere along the way between his many misadventures errands if he takes a liking to them!

✧ dragon age : will be kept a little vague for the sake of flexibility with plots, but the general vibe is that hermes was a city elf turned thieving rogue with a robin hood complex, so can very easily be dragged into a companion verse during the fifth blight, or recruited by the inquisition if they can look past his delinquency. he is technically a mage, but non-practicing, never properly trained, and won't disclose this voluntarily; however wind is his natural element and he does use magic to grant him supernatural speed which he chalks to his "enchanted boots". aside from that he'll rely on his arrows or short sword in a fight.

✧ fae verse : open for further plots and development, but he's so fae boi coded it has to be done. he would be considered seelie, an embodiment of wind (originally from the autumn or spring court? not sure yet), and a herald to whatever faerie monarch applies. he's usually sent as a spy, diplomat and courier between the fae courts, but is also regularly found in the mortal realm stirring relatively harmless trouble or stealing things from guarded hoards and castles.

✧ modern/futuristic/dystopian : any non-immortal plots where more than likely hermes is just your typical outlaw recruited to a cause or special mission. will be a case by case basis, but some options are: hermes as the vroom vroom catch me if can boy, the designated getaway car, the double agent, the heist extraordinaire, the clever speedster (for mutant/super hero aus), the devil's advocate (for organized crime aus where zeus is the head of a crime ring), the head of his own band of thieves etc etc

DOSSIER.

name. hermes titles/epithets. trickster god, slayer of argos, of the golden wand, of the gateway, patron of athletes and gymnasiums, swift-footed, luck-bringer, keen-sighted, glad-hearted, ready-helper, champion, guiless-one, famous-one pronouns. he/him age. immortal pantheon. hellenistic polytheism etymology. olympian god sexuality. pansexual alignment. chaotic good / neutral

relations. zeus (father), maia (mother), atlas (grandfather), apollo (favorite target, brother), dionysus (foster kid, brother), charon (hhrrhgurrgh ♡), and too many many others to list (homer said he's for the streets).

height. 5'11" build. lean and very toned, especially around his calves, thighs, and glutes. he's not running around in a mini chiton for no reason hair. black and usually kept at a youthful and lush length, just short enough to stay out of his eyes and nape eyes. dark brown, increasingly gold during a run, and near electric when he starts to reach top speed. sacred animals/plants. ram, hare, tortoise, cattle, sheeps, goats, strawberry trees, crocus

abilities / skillset. * super speed. the fastest god of the pantheon, easily capable of traveling faster than the speed of sound, and if he pushes it hard enough his top speed reaches just shy of the speed of light.

* dimensional travel. he can also travel the axis mundi aka "the crossroads" between realms and take others through those roads. typically, he uses this for short cuts and to save on his endurance when zeus needs him to hop to too many far away places at once.

* wind manipulation. his proclivity for speed is in large part due to his manipulation of air and ability to live in his own separate vacuum with little to no wind resistance. as such, he is able to fly for limited periods, create whirlwinds, manipulate and build air momentum into concentrated blasts, change the trajectory of airborne projectiles, cushion a hard fall, enhance his agility, create air shields etc.

* martial arts/rogue class skillset. not just for fantasy verses, but in general hermes has very high dexterity, coercion, and agility. he is also very adept in martial arts/wrestling. while he is strong, he can be overpowered and will reply on his speed and precision with hits, as well as use an enemies momentum against them.

* intelligence. hermes is wickedly smart and inventive, as demonstrated in several of his myths, it's the reason why he was even accepted into the big 12 to begin with. his intelligence won't present itself in the conventional way, he has very little patience to sit and learn subjects that don't apply to him or engage him, but he has a strong affinity and natural understanding of physics and mathematics which will be obvious in the way he trades, the things he's creates out of scraps and items he collects, or when he improvises his escape plans.

magical items/work instruments. he's got a couple of these that's he's either stolen or created for himself, but his short cloak/hood of invisibility is the one he will not leave the house without. and his arm brace is what allows him to carry souls to the underworld.

restrictions.

* speed and endurance limitations. since he is creating his own little vaccum, the faster he runs the less oxygen he has to breath, which as an immortal won't kill him, but will be very painful and mess with his focus. he trains a lot to build up his lung capacity so he can travel faster for longer periods of time, but like any runner, he does have his limits. high speeds are mean for shorter bursts. he's also still trying to outrun lightning, but somehow can't seem to manage it (yet).

* low damage tolerance. while he is very agile and prides himself in being hard to catch, when a hit does manage to make the mark, his tolerance for damage will be low. ( he's also very futbol player coded in that way. don't trip him while he's running because he will be baby about it for a hot minute. )

* unfocused. while very hard working, he can and will get easily distracted, take on multiple tasks at once regardless of his bandwidth or overestimate how many enemies he can take on which is usually to his detriment. he's also.... very thrill seeking and care free which means he's likely to act on impulse rather than strategy, thinks he's smart enough to improvise his way out of a bind (most of the time he is)

themes. i had to make a playlist, don't look at me

#🏃 profile : hermes

[existentialflirt]

random thought: what if every high-ranking demon (especially the fallen angels) in the GO universe has animal eyes? Crowley obv has vertical slit-pupiled eyes (like a snake). Beelzebub (IDK their rank) obv has the whole fly aesthetic...

if there was a demon/fallen angel w/wolf eyes, I'd RIOT (& try to hug them)--

So Hastur and Ligur did have, er animal features in a manner of speaking. Hastur has black eyes and a Frog like welded in his head and Ligur has an iguana. I think they're both Archdukes of Hell, certainly Hastur is. Beez is a Lord or something. Definitely high rank. I know their rank is noted in the book but i don't feel like looking it up. The larger point is that it was very strongly implied in the book that Crowley is actually pretty low rank. Season 2 kinda muddied things a bit, I feel, with the whole bit with that demon trying to get dirt on Crowley in exchange for getting a promotion into temptations which i'm guessing Crowley is in. Makes sense honestly. I have the head canon that he basically invented the model of how demons corrupted humans by tempting Eve into eating the apple. Also that he's been coasting on that monumental deed for millennia, because y'know. Instigating the fall of man, even if that hadn't been his intent, is kind of a big deal.

so uh, that doesn't really answer your question, because i really can't say if there was any real intent beyond some interesting aesthetic. My thought is that GO demons are exhibiting the corruption within on the outside. There's the question of why Crowley is exponentially more...uh, well, convenionally attractive than most other demons, both on Earth and down below. You could say, I suppose, because deep down he was never really that evil. Sauntered casually downward and all. Personally i think it's just a matter of him having half a brain and an imagination, with a dash of vanity. Not to mention the fact that he's been, for all intent and purposes, on Earth since the dawn of man and as far as i can tell, hasn't spend much time in Hell. Humans are fickle things, and you can't very well go about LOOKING the part and expect to have success. There is an interesting point in the book when he changes his shape into something truly horrific to scare a dude (it's never detailed, only that it was terrifying and apparently maggots were involved). When he changes back he bitches mildly about how much he hates doing that because he's afraid of getting stuck.

Uh so. tl;dr: Demons and angels aren't really bound by anything but their imaginations. Which is why both Crowley and Aziraphale stand apart from their kin. They're both inquisitive creatures that think for themselves to varying degrees. Now, i'm not sure if a demon would have wolf eyes. The pattern of imagery is that demons embody cold blooded creatures and insects. Things often considered creepy or repulsive. Most people would probably agree that wolves are far too noble, but i mean, i really have to stress that aside from Crowley and Beez, the animal features and/or affinity is largely a series thing and as I said i really don't think it's anything but some neat costume design. Sometimes a bloke just has a frog on his head and it doesn't bear any deeper meaning than that.

#Meta ramble #I'm so sorry. I tend to prattle on #I love GO but you know some of the choices just ain't that deep y'know? #Mobile post;

[littlecarnet]

Some random little headcanons in my fic:

- Ash has his mom's eye color and facial shape. He got his dad's dark hair, nose, and darker skin, which gets freckled in the sun. The freckles he also gets from his dad.

- His father was originally raised in Johto, specifically Olivine. He was adopted by the Ketchum family after washing up on shore with no memory and with no one claiming him. His adoptive parents figured that he was the sole survivor of a cruise ship that sunk at sea. His memory loss was likely due to repressed trauma. Not being able to recall his own name, he was renamed to Daniel, though often went by Dan.

Dan's personality is very similar to Ash, so his memory loss didn't bother him too much. He fit right in with the maritime community, charming anyone he met with his inquisitive nature and boundless energy. Dan met Bill one summer during their teens. Bill's family were on holiday from Galar. The two clicked over their mutual interest in the mysteries of the world and creating inventions, and would correspond with each other over the years.

Dan met Delia who was on her way back home from Sinnoh (shortly after her near death experience on Mt. Coronet). She opened up to him about her past, and his concern for her and empathy left her stunned and smitten. She was the one to introduce him to Samuel Oak, who became part of the trio. Dan later left Olivine to move into the new lab on Cinnabar Island with Sam and Bill. Their projects were funded by Silph Co, Dan's in particular. It became their headquarters in studying mysterious phenomenon and Bill's teleportation project, though Dan later moved to Kanto to marry Delia and raise his son. He'd make trips back and forth from the island to the mainland every few months.

Dan and Sam built the home that he and Delia would live in. Delia expressed that she wanted a big family, so he planned that out by building four bedrooms. Sadly it would never come to pass after his untimely death/vanishing on the Cinnabar coastline. The incident was covered up with only Delia, Oak, and Bill knowing what really happened. To the public it was simply an unfortunate boating accident. All of Dan's research was taken as property of Silph Co and used in their technology. However, Delia has a lot of his unpublished papers in their study regarding the nature of the strange energy, what it does to both pokemon and human DNA, and its possible link to Arceus.

Bill learned a few years later about its effect on DNA after being changed into a pokemon, and though he turned back, it had unintended side effects such as being able to understand pokemon and unusually enhanced night vision, proving his DNA had been altered or possibly mutated. But he keeps this a secret as he doesn't trust Silph Co or Devon. Silph Co essentially claimed Dan's research as their own, and Devon has an issue with corporate espionage, once with Team Meteor, and another in Ryme City involving Howard Clifford's schemes.

Prior to his disappearance, Dan was a loving husband to Delia and a wonderful father to Ash, often indulging their shared sweet tooth, much to Delia's annoyance. Though he'd get on her good side buying her a favorite treat, a marshmallow pie. The family would visit Olivine and Rota, flip flopping every year so Ash can spend time with both sides of the family.

Their home had a small battle platform in the backyard. Ash's parents loved a good battle, and playfully competed with each other. Delia however was definitely more competent due to her extensive training in Team Rocket, and ultimately was the one to teach Ash everything he knows. Ash's father often said she was just as formidable in debates with him as well, especially with the topic of the deities of their world. He wasn't convinced just legendary pokemon could harness such incredible power, but humans could possibly do so too. Which led to the research in Missingno and its link to the very energy of creation.

One mystery that haunted him was his origins. Who was he before his memory loss. What was his original name, who were his parents, and where was his original home. The research from the Aether Foundation, which Sam shared with him with once, led him down into the study of wormholes. He began to wonder if he was a Faller, a person from another dimension that was misplaced by a wormhole. Which might explain why no one could find his identity and why he had no records of his existence.

#fic headcanons #we finally get a name for Ash's father #its actually a nod to daniel jackson from stargate

[crossdressingdeath]

Since you're bored: I know you like romancing both Iron Bull and Dorian (you're right, a poly relationship with these two would be delightful), but which romance cut scene/quest do you prefer? You don't have to pick a favorite (I know I can't) but I'd love to hear your favorite bits and pieces about each.

Oh god it's so hard to choose. Full disclosure though, it has been a while since I did Dorian's romance so my memories of it are a little hazy? I remember the vibes but not a lot of the details. Took a break from DA and I just decided to go with Bull first for my return to the game. Dorian... soon.

Dorian's is definitely the sweeter of the two? Like, it's so fucking soft and affectionate. And the little dates you go on around Skyhold? As far as I'm aware none of the other romances do that! It's so good, I love it! And his romanced banter with Cole, god it's so cute I adore him. His sarcastic shock at you saying you prefer men during his personal quest if you've been flirting with him because "You are not subtle, oh lord Inquisitor" is very fun also. The increased disapproval when you drink from the Well if you romanced him because he was scared he'd lose you? His audible heartbreak at the end of Trespasser when he learns you're dying? Him inventing a magic phone so the two of you can talk while he's in Tevinter? Perfect, no notes. The way he says "amatus" is also just so good, A+ voice acting there. Also I love the bit where you go to that merchant who calls Quiz Dorian's friend in a Tone and Dorian goes "I know what you mean and he's not my friend" and Quiz just looks so offended, it's very funny to me, I actually had that expression as my profile pic for a while and I may go back to it once I romance him again. Also the general "fuck you" to the Chantry that is the Herald of Andraste falling for a Tevinter magister is delicious and I might have romanced him for that alone even if he wasn't so fantastic. I'm going to have to scramble through the rest of my Bull run so I can romance Dorian again, I miss him.

The initial flirt options for Bull's romance are just him totally ignoring all Quiz's flirting and insinuating and it is fantastic. I especially like the "I can protect you" "My blade can protect me just fine" "Maybe I can do things your blade can't" "Doubt it. It's got blood grooves" exchange after IHW/CotJ. He's just being deliberately obtuse about it and it's very fun. Also I love how incredibly thirsty Quiz is in Bull's romance, like they are here for this. They are going to ride the Bull and no force in Thedas can stop them. And it's still surprisingly sweet when you get into it? Which, when you hear "BDSM romance option" you probably don't immediately expect it to be pretty cute, but it is! Especially when you get the opportunity to actually fluster Bull; I believe he gets pretty flustered when you ask him to dance at the Winter Palace, and I vaguely remember an option to scare the shit out of him by jokingly taking one of his comments as a proposal late in the romance. ...I think, I haven't actually hit that point in this run yet so I don't really remember. Also the fact that you have to fight a dragon for him is both kind of a pain and also very him, if you were to take a complete newcomer to the series, show them a lineup of the Inquisition romances and ask them which one makes you fight a dragon to finalize the romance I bet they'd get it right. I continue to love the requisition request for the Necklace of the Kadan coming up while you're talking about it, a Quiz romancing Bull has zero chill and I love to see it. And how in the cutscene after killing your first high dragon he'll call you "kadan" if you're romancing him? Very good, very cute. Also the scene where all your advisors except Leliana walk in on you is so fucking funny to me. Especially when you look at the scene and realize that you're in Bull's room? Like they came looking for you in Bull's room and somehow didn't guess what was going on. Cassandra is especially funny because she can be in parties while party banter discussing the fact that you and Bull are fucking happens. She should know! ...Also I just realized that Leliana probably isn't there because unlike the others she almost walks in on you after the first time and is stopped by Bull, so she already knew and would've known to avoid Bull's room while you're there. Also again, Cole's banter with him if he's romanced is so good. I especially like how totally mortified Quiz can be about it and everyone's snarky comments. "If a rift were to open up right now and swallow me that would be fine" followed by Solas's "Provided it tied you down first, one assumes" is a personal favourite of mine. I also remember a very fun banter in Trespasser while you're underground, something about beds...? But I cannot remember the details for the life of me (honestly might be mixing up him and Dorian, it wouldn't be the first time), although when I went to check the banter page on the wiki I did learn that if you pick the right dialogue option after fighting the Qunari (provided you made the objectively correct choice and saved the Chargers, since if you didn't it is just Pain) Quiz will call Bull "darling" and I like that very much. I do remember the bit where you can distract him from the Chargers loudly moving his present across the floor by talking about sex shops! Bull's romance is very fun just because of how wildly unsubtle it is, like it can be very sweet but also this is the most down to fuck I've ever seen Quiz. Which does fit the friends with benefits to lovers theme of the romance, but still. It's fun.

But basically both romances are very very good and it kills me that there isn't a polyamory option. Let me have both, Bioware!

#dragon age inquisition #the iron bull #dorian pavus #asks #anon

[theoseong]

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE 1: BATTERY OF TESTS

Enneagram: Type 8 - The Challenger

People of this personality type are essentially unwilling to be controlled, either by others or by their circumstances; they fully intend to be masters of their fate. Eights are strong willed, decisive, practical, tough minded and energetic. They also tend to be domineering; their unwillingness to be controlled by others frequently manifests in the need to control others instead. When healthy, this tendency is kept under check, but the tendency is always there, nevertheless, and can assume a central role in the Eight's interpersonal relationships.

Personality DNA: Reserved Artist

Dungeons & Dragons Alignment: Chaotic Good

A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he's kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society.

Keirsey: Rational

In working with problems, Rationals try to find solutions that have application in the real world, but they are even more interested in the abstract concepts involved, the fundamental principles or natural laws that underlie the particular case. And they are completely pragmatic about their ways and means of achieving their ends. Rationals don't care about being politically correct. They are interested in the most efficient solutions possible, and will listen to anyone who has something useful to teach them, while disregarding any authority or customary procedure that wastes time and resources.

16 Personalities: The Mediator - ISTP

A Virtuoso (ISTP) is someone with the Introverted, Observant, Thinking, and Prospecting personality traits. They tend to have an individualistic mindset, pursuing goals without needing much external connection. They engage in life with inquisitiveness and personal skill, varying their approach as needed.

Sorting Hat Chats: We think you’re a Gryffindor Primary and a Ravenclaw Secondary.

Lion primaries trust their moral intuitions and have a need and a drive to live by them. They feel what’s right in their gut, and that matters and guides them. If they don’t listen to and act on that, it feels immoral.

Bird secondaries are collectors. Dedicated to knowledge, to facts, systems, tools, or skills, the things they have already learned are what they call on when things get tough. They can collect useful skills, build complex clever systems, invent vitally useful things, or just learn everything there is to know about the large cats of South America.

Four Temperaments: Melancholic

Your temperament is melancholic. The melancholic temperament is fundamentally introverted and thoughtful. Melancholic people often were perceived as very (or overly) pondering and considerate, getting rather worried when they could not be on time for events. Melancholics can be highly creative in activities such as poetry and art - and can become preoccupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world. Often they are perfectionists. They are self-reliant and independent; one negative part of being a melancholic is that they can get so involved in what they are doing they forget to think of others.

Big Five

Statistical “Which Character” Personality Quiz

Sebastian Wilder (La La Land): 84% Maeve Wiley (Sex Education): 84% Ola Nyman (Sex Education): 84% Janis Ian (Mean Girls): 83% Jo March (Little Women): 83% Kinsey Locke (Locke & Key): 83% Marianne (Portrait of a Lady on Fire): 82% Omar Little (The Wire): 81% Jughead Jones (Riverdale): 81% Kat Stratford (10 Things I Hate About You): 81%

DISC: D Style

The D Personality Style tends to be direct and decisive, sometimes described as dominant. They would prefer to lead than follow and tend towards leadership and management positions. They tend to have high self-confidence and are risk-takers and problem-solvers, enabling others to look to them for decisions and direction. They tend to be self-starters.

#task #about