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kaizokuou-ni-naru · 3 months

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So. Hear 5. Nika. Loony Tunes Luffy, if you will. Tell us your thoughts on him and any potential meta? 👀 I’ve been aching to hear it from you since we first saw him go Full Silly Boy.

it's hard to answer this, because i have so many thoughts. i'm just going to try and start from the biggest points and move down.

i like gear five a lot, and i think this development feels very appropriate as a culmination of both luffy's character and the themes of one piece as a whole because of how it interacts with three extremely dominant motifs that have reoccurred throughout the story: freedom, laughter, and the sun.

from the very beginning of the story, luffy has acted, in small ways and big, as an agent of complete freedom. from his first meeting with coby to his breakout at impel down to the liberation of wano, what luffy does is destroy systems that control and oppress, if only because they are in his way. every strawhat is somehow trapped and held back from pursuing their own dreams when they meet luffy, and he frees them all, along with hundreds of others along the way, whether he's inspiring shirahoshi to venture outside or crushing yamato's manacles. his talent for this has always seemed almost preternatural.

luffy is not necessarily a benevolent person; he doesn't care much about helping people in the abstract. he's selfish. he values freedom for freedom's own sake, not because of any greater moral convictions. he doesn't think much about the negative knock-on effects of things like causing a mass breakout at impel down, and he doesn't really go around seeking out downtrodden and oppressed people to free out of a charitable or selfless instinct, nor does he really do anything because it's the right thing to do. he's dismissive of the idea that he might be a hero.

but because he is a completely uncontrollable free agent, and he doesn't really want anything but for himself and everyone he cares about to be completely free, he constantly collides with the systems of oppression that control his world, and when those collisions happen, it is the systems that fail, time and time again, because oppressive systems always do eventually. they can't withstand the light of day. and because he lives completely confidently and unapologetically, he is constantly inspiring others to do the same.

so by the time we are told about nika for the first time, we already know that what nika is said to do is what we've seen luffy doing for more than a thousand chapters: he frees people, and inspires them, and makes them laugh.

i also find luffy-as-nika to be very interesting and thematically appropriate when positioned in opposition to the various antagonists in one piece who have declared themselves to be gods, frequently some of its most tyrannical and oppressive villains- enel, the celestial dragons, doflamingo. all enslave and imprison people, robbing them of their freedom.

nika is a god of slaves, and a creature of liberation. the natural enemy, as rosinante might say, of that sort of megalomaniacal 'god.'

one piece has also consistently connected the theme of freedom, as embodied through luffy, with the sun since very early on. the sun pirates, former slaves, used the symbol of the sun to wipe away the brand of the celestial dragons. (and aren't i curious to know what jinbei might know about nika- he never did answer who's who's question about it.) the fishmen more broadly view the sun as something to be reached when they are truly free. on wano, the coming dawn is understood as the coming liberation. impel down and the florian triangle, places of indefinite imprisonment, are lightless dungeons where the sun doesn't reach. the sun is freedom.

and luffy has always been thoroughly sun associated, from the visual of his hat to his origin on dawn island in the east blue, to his ship, the thousand sunny.

finally, one piece has always placed a great deal of emphasis on smiles and laughter (laugh tale, joy boy, roger laughed, etc)- but that joy must be real. it can't be forced. we're told again and again, through koala, dressrosa's toys, and most obviously the victims of the failed SMILE fruits, that to force someone to smile, denying them the right to cry, is nothing less than an atrocity. people can't be forced to be happy- they should be happy because they're free.

luffy in gear five is laughing nigh-constantly, but it's just because he's having so much fun. unlike the victims of the SMILE fruits, his endless joy is genuine, because in this form, he is completely free- nobody can stop him, and nobody can control him. as he says himself, he can do whatever he wants.

i know that some people felt this moment was in some way a deus ex machina, but it just didn't feel that way to me, because of how well it plays on the story's established themes and trajectory, as well as concepts like devil fruit awakening having been established hundreds of chapters back.

luffy is the sun, the sun is freedom, freedom is joy. i think it makes total sense.

#one piece #jonny answers #op #opmeta #luffy #gear 5 #character meta #long post #what are my thoughts on gear 5 you ask. this isnt even all of them.#sun god nika

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pr3ttyb0ym2g · 2 months

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BODYGUARD ꒰CHARLIE 𝘅 male! 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳꒱

𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮 ;; Platonic, fluff. In which you're another one of Charlie Morningstar's guards, like Razzle and Dazzle, you are an extremely powerful being gifted to guard Charlie, courtesy of Lucifer. A clump of multiple scenarios I thought of. Doesn't make 100% sense. 𝘼/𝙉 ;; I love the bodyguard trope.. Also, I desired a found family type of fic. Started strong, ended bad. This was going to be deleted, but uh, i have too many request drafts to finish. SO HERE IS A LIL SMTH. If people like it, i'll write more with this concept.

While you weren't entertained, you weren't bored of being Charlie's bodyguard either. Truth be told, you used to be a servant of Lucifer, a strong fighter who obeyed whatever command he asked. You were one of the first few sinners to enter Hell and quickly associated with the devil. You were eons old and stuck by Lucifer's side, without a soul contract as well. If you were asked why you never left him, you'd answer, "There isn't much else to do in Hell." And plus, Lucifer was a special individual; for the devil, he had his quirks. But what shocked you for the first time in centuries was Lucifer appointing you as his newborn daughter's guard. Seriously, of all guards, he chose you? You offhandedly mentioned how he had several other talented servants who could serve Charlie just as well as you would, but Lucifer seemed oddly insistent on you. Lucifer trusted you more than any other, so you agreed. You watched as Charlie grew up, taking care of the girl as Lucifer went through his depression and Lilith began distancing herself. You didn't sign up to play babysitter, but you did it nonetheless. As Charlie reached toddler age, Lucifer would give her two other guards named Razzle and Dazzle. They were two dragons that had transformation abilities, but they would typically stay in their smaller forms. Charlie was an interesting girl, from childhood to adulthood, she stayed interesting to you. She was compassionate and caring. "[name]..?" A young Charlie would peer up at you, her eyes filled with admiration and adoration for you. "Yes, Charlie?" You responded, looking down at the small child, she was extremely short compared to you and no taller than your knee. You secretly hoped she had not inherited Lucifer's height, but Lilith's instead. "Can you carry me?" She nervously pleaded, reaching a hand to tug on your pants' fabric. "Of course, whatever you desire." You cautiously took a knee, wrapping your arms around the small girl and hugging her close to your chest. Charlie had asked to be carried often, something conditioned by Lucifer and Lilith. They both coddled the girl and often held her in their arms. But as the couple suddenly began to dispute and grow increasingly busy, neither of them could hold Charlie. So you did. You held her often, walking in her stead. You don't recall a single day she wasn't held by you. Maybe you were also conditioning Charlie's dependency, but you'd never admit that. "Charlie? Sweetie, where are you?" Lucifer asked with a panicked laugh, practically flipping the whole castle upside down to find his daughter. It was one of the few days you were away from Charlie and Lucifer just couldn't find her. Lucifer was freaking out. Charlie was a good kid, not a trouble-maker at all! So where did she go? No way she ran away, she's only a child.

And Razzle and Dazzle also couldn't find the girl. While they had keen senses, they couldn't smell Charlie over the heavy bloodshed outside. All they could smell was iron. "Honey, please come out, your dad is getting a little worried..!" He was 100— 300% worried. God, he just prayed you got back soon. You always knew everything about Charlie, having spent the most time with her, as shamefully as Lucifer could admit. A loud crash was heard outside the castle, causing the building to momentarily shake, adding onto Lucifer's worry. "Dad!" Charlie cried out, scared and running into the room with her arms out. "Charlie!" Lucifer quickly hugged the girl and took in a deep breath. "Where were you hiding?" "I hid where [name] told said to." Charlie cried, sniffling into her father's white collar. He smelled of faint gunpowder up close. "Where [name] told you to..? Now why would you do that, Char Char?" "He said to hide in our secret place if I'm scared while he's away." Lucifer paused. Ah, you set up an area for Charlie if anything went wrong during extermination day, the only yearly event day you're gone. You did this as a precaution, you didn't really trust Heaven since Adam was leading the extermination. And Adam was a fucking nutjob, so you didn't expect him to maintain their deal of sparing the Morningstars. You thought you were just being paranoid, but paranoia is better than a dead child and all Hell breaking loose. "[name], you're back." Lucifer greeted you, watching as you entered his office, covered in blood and grime. You stared at him as a mix of liquid dripped onto his carpet. Lucifer was at his typical large desk, resting comfortably on his large chair and staring straight at you. "Your majesty." You returned the greeting, giving a mock bow, clearly dazed. You were too exhausted to think straight. "Did you see Charlie yet?" Lucifer interlaced his fingers in front of himself, giving you his undivided attention. "No, I haven't." You didn't know if sweat or blood dripped down your forehead. "Are you feeling okay? Looks like Lilith sent you on a tough one." Lucifer was aware of why you were missing every extermination day, it was due to Lilith's orders. Specifically orders he was not allowed to know. Lucifer respected Lilith's boundaries and never questioned it. "Splendid. Would you like me to speak to Charlie?" You responded quickly as if you were dismissing his concerns. "No, no, you don't have to talk to her now. She's probably asleep anyway. How about you take a shower?" Lucifer urged you, giving you a smile. "I will do so. Goodnight, your Majesty." You spun around, beginning to walk out with your sore legs. "Oh and [name]?" You paused your step. "Thanks for looking out for my daughter."

#hazbin hotel x reader #fanfiction #hazbin hotel x you #vivziepop #vivzieverse #hazbin hotel #fanfic #male reader #x male reader #platonic #found family

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jgracie · 1 month

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ELECTRIC TOUCH . . . cabin one headcannons

masterlist | rules

warnings zeus (sorry)

an im gonna be doing these for all the cabins cz i have a lot of ideas in my head LOL but in order of numbers so sorry hecate kids

on the radio electric touch (taylor swift), thunder (imagine dragons), she’s thunderstorms (arctic monkeys), skyfall (adele)

In my head, there are two types of Zeus demigods: lightning and thunder

‘Lightning’ are the ones with (literally LOL) electrifying personalities, representing the Zeus a lot of their parents probably fell for. They’re fun loving party animals and are down for almost anything. Not to the extent of a Hermes or Dionysus kid, but definitely up there

‘Thunder’ are quiet and level-headed, showing more of the ‘ruler of the Gods’ side of their father. They have a royal-esque aura to them and carry themselves with confidence and pride. Despite not doing too much to frighten others and mostly keeping to themselves, people still know to stay respectful and that they’re a force to be reckoned with

The two seem like polar opposites most of the time and have people questioning how the same God could create such different kids, but they actually have a lot in common

The main trait all Zeus kids share is an extreme calling to leadership. Just like how their father saved all his elder siblings from their father’s stomach and became their king, they feel the need to be in charge and make sure everyone’s okay

They are also incredibly good at it. Zeus kids are always the people to go to when you need a pep talk or some words of motivation. Even the ones who perceive themselves as more pessimistic have it in them

A lot of people believe Zeus kids have a minor form of charmspeak because of how good it is, but they don’t

When they’re leading a cause they’re excited about, or if they just have a lot of energy in general, their energy tends to rub off on others like static. Once one person gets it, it's passed along and all of a sudden everyone’s hyped

While their leadership is a good trait to have, it can become obsessive and unhealthy, turning into perfectionism as they want to control every aspect of their life. A severe need for control in all aspects of life is a common fatal flaw for Zeus kids

All of Zeus’ kids could have the ability to fly, but they have to actively try in order for it to happen. If they’re afraid of heights (like Thalia), it just won’t

They can also jump really high. They say it comes naturally, but in reality they just use the air to propel themselves up LOL

The main power associated with Zeus kids is, of course, electrokinesis. They all have it, but it takes them a while to be able to fully control it and harness it to its full potential. They can usually summon lightning no matter the weather conditions, but it tends to be more powerful the more clouds there are in the sky

Multiple Zeus kids could also create a chain-reaction of sorts with their lightning powers (kind of like that one Pikachu scene in the og Pokemon)

Since metal is a good conductor of electricity, I’m gonna make an assumption and say so are celestial bronze and imperial gold (I know gold is really low on the reactivity series but shh), which means Zeus kids could just wield a weapon of pure lightning if they were in the mood

Some of them have control over clouds/can create clouds. Obviously not to the extent of their father’s powers (like how he made a whole fake Hera out of clouds), but they could use clouds to obstruct people’s vision and make fun shapes for little kids

Zeus’ children also have an EXTREMELY ACCURATE gut feeling. Extremely accurate in caps because it's that good. Theirs is the only one that could rival Apollo’s kids. Somehow they just know everything

If you asked a child of Zeus what it’s like, they’ll say something along the lines of some random voice randomly appearing in their head and telling them something

It sounds kind of creepy, but it's not. They could just be staring at two people they’ve never met and immediately think, “she’s gonna confess this afternoon,” or something. This ability is especially powerful with the weather. They always know deep down what the weather will be like as soon as they wake up

The sky could be dark grey with thunder rumbling in the background and, as long as a Zeus kid says it won't rain that day, you wouldn’t need an umbrella. This is an ability that becomes pretty handy during quests

Very scary when they’re mad. Ares kids are scared of them when they’re mad. They go quiet and grunt a, “I’m fine,” if you ask them if they’re okay but you can tell they’re angry from the way their eyes seem to get darker and people’s hairs stand on end when they pass by them

#1 grudge holders and believers in payback. Especially if someone hurts the people they love. A lot of their lives were negatively affected by their father’s carelessness towards people he claimed he loved, so they vow to never do the same

If you genuinely believe a Zeus kid has let you off the hook after you did something to upset them, you’re so wrong and I’m scared for you

Anyways love you Zeuserinas please take care and remember you don’t have to be perfect all the time & its okay to rest every once in a while

#pjo #pjo fanfic #pjo imagine #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo x reader #demigod hcs #demigod headcannons #zeus #child of zeus #children of zeus #cabin one #heroes of olympus #hoo #zeus cabin #zeus x reader #zeus kids #cynwrites

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dear-ao3 · 4 months

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could you explain the mclaren reputation era please I missed it

ok well i don't really understand it entirely so bear with me here as i fumble through this.

essentially yesterday mclaren archived (deleted?) every single one of their instagram posts (and there were Thousands) except for this kind of twist trap esque video of lando, oscar and their car with the tagline "whatever it takes" like the imagine dragons song, or perhaps a 15 year old boy posting selfies of himself in the gym.

this of course is exactly what taylor swift did however many years ago right before she dropped her reputation album, archived every single one of her instagram posts except for these three videos of a snake slithering around and i don't remember what the words were associated with it but it was foreshadowing her reputation album. this was the album that she released directly after she got a whole lot of shit for her 1989 tour, took basically 2 years off and came back with some s tier bangers about how basically she didnt really care what the media thought of her, but she was reinventing herself (remember the "im sorry, the old taylor can't come to the phone right now, why? oh! cause she's dead!" meme" but essentially, it was her comeback after awhile away.

mclaren, as we know, has not won a championship since 2008 with sir lewis hamilton. their driver line up, lando norris and oscar piastri, is the youngest pairing of drivers on the grid (lando is 24, oscar is 22) and while the 2023 season for them started off absolutely terribly (their car fucking sucked) they were able to do some major upgrades throughout the season and turned it around by the silverstone race (just under halfway through the year). from silverstone on (13 races total) mclaren finished in the top 3 nine times (with both oscar and lando on the podium at the qatar and japan races) and were consistently in the points. oscar also won the sprint race in qatar. and lando had i think 17 overtakes at the mexico race, starting 19 and ending 5th. which is kind of incredible. in a season of absolute red bull domination (lets remember that a red bull driver won ever race except for the singapore race, which carlos won with the help of lando) they were consistently challenging them and there was one time in texas (i think?) where lando almost was able to overtake max.

so yes, red bull is definitely the favored team at the moment and is coming off of quite possibly the best season they've ever had. however. mclaren have some distinct advantages going into the 2024 season:

they do not have to worry about silly season. as we know, 14 drivers have contracts ending at the end of 2024 which means the absolute mad rush to resign and offer contracts across basically every team. redbull is basically guaranteed to not resign checo and might even swap him for daniel ricciardo halfway through the season whereas lands contract with mclaren ends in 2025 and oscars ends in 2026. mclaren can spend all of their time worrying about the car and the drivers rather than who they are signing.

oscar piastri. oscar just finished his rookie season (and previously won the f2 and f3 championships and won rookie of the year this year). in terms of rookie years he had an outstanding one. people compared him to lewis hamilton's rookie year. as a refresher, lewis hamiltons rookie year was in 2007 (also at mclaren) and he won his first championship in 2008. oscar is the first rookie since lewis hamilton to get multiple podiums and win something in his rookie year. expectations are running high here.

lando norris's expiring contract. as we know lando has one more confirmed year with mclaren. cel of mclaren zak brown has announced that they want to extend landos contract with mclaren, but, hes starting to get really really good, which means that a top team like red bull or mercedes might also try to get him as a driver. this is the year for mclaren to prove to lando that they can give him what he wants (which is to win a race. in his 5 years of formula 1 he hasn't won anything. and once he starts winning then hes going to want to win a championship. but. there is max verstappen to contend with). so their absolute balls to the wall tactic could work pretty well for them here. pre season testing doesnt start for over another month and they are already clearly locked in to the 2024 season.

lando and oscar actually get along. sure, formula 1 is an individual sport, but there is the drivers championship (for the individual driver) and the constructors championship (for the team with the most points). so they do have to work together. drivers not working together in the past has led to some ... undesirable results for teams (the great brocedes civil war of nico rosberg and lewis hamilton that ultimately resulted in nico retiring after he won his first championship, whatever the hell was going with max and daniel for part of the 2018 season, the french civil war at alpine between pierre gasley and esteban ocon) they are also both very consistent drivers. neither are incredibly crash prone and seem quite willing to work together on the track to optimize results.

yes they do also have disadvantages. lando has never won a race, they only have one pole position between them (lando in russia in 2021) and they're not a red bull. clearly they're the underdog in the situation. but they did finish fourth in the constructors championship in 2023 ("best of the rest") (and after basically getting next to no points for the first several races on account of the fact that their car was shit) behind ferrari, mercedes, and red bull. they're coming for the top 3 and honestly it could be their season to lose.

if ferrari doesnt change their strategy approach then they could be out of a shot at top 3. also ferrari have to deal with the nightmare of resigning both of their drivers (or finding new ones). merc and red bull will both be giving it their all (lewis hamilton really really wants to win his 8th world championship before he retires and max is well. max.) but if mclaren has a competitive car from the start of the season and doesnt have to play catch up for the first several races, then they could easily finish in the top 3.

also they released their livery today? which really confuses me (is that different than the car unveiling? what is going on someone mansplain it to me please)

#not a tag #from saph #thats more information than you will probably ever need to know about mclaren #mclaren #f1

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madlad-sadgal · 9 months

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I got bored again, so for the third time, here are random things I noticed throughout my rewatch of Nimona.

As always, Nimona Spoilers!

To start off, a few people pointed out how the first time Nimona shows up on screen, we see her doing a graffiti of the word dumb. Also, rewatching some of the scenes, in the scene where she shows the new murder wall, you can make out the word "Nemesis" written over Ambrosius' picture. Also, if you look at the very top of the wall, we can see a drawing of Bal's prosthetic with flames coming out of it with the words "Literal Firearm" written under it. So, I rethought it, and realized Gloreth was probably the first human Nimona had ever seen (as far as we know), so Gloreth probably taught her to speak, write and read, except this was a thousand years ago, and language constantly evolves, and we can all agree that "From whence you came" and "Nemesis" aren't really phrases or words people seem to use. So, I think Nimona probably has some knowledge when it comes to reading and writing, both thanks to Gloreth and just picking up bits and pieces throughout those 1000 years, but she still has trouble when it comes to full on writing actual long phrases to create like an essay or something like a resume.

When she pins back Am's picture on the wall, we see a post it with "Disrupt the System" written and highlighted on it.

We get a hint that Nimona might be "Gloreth's monster" when we see a drawing of her in dragon form that kinda resembles the dragon we see at the beginning in the scrolls.

When Bal calls Nim a monster, there is literally a newspaper cut out on the wall next to him with his picture and the word "Monster" written on it.

We get a bit of insight on the type of pressure Ambrosius suffers from when we get back to the Institute. All the other knights seem to think it's his fault for not having stopped Bal from escaping, despite a whole horde of knights chasing after him and not one of them even coming close to stopping him from escaping either. The other knights, despite probably not knowing the full extent of it, seem to be aware of the close relationship between the two of them, putting him under even more pressure because of that small fact.

When the Director stops the fight between Ambrosius and Todd, she tells them; "Look at you, acting like common children." Reminder that everyone is fully aware that Bal was a commoner and is currently suspected to having killed the queen. She is basically telling them; "Those people are very clearly below us and one of them is a murderer and a villain, and yet you are acting like them."

When Am volunteers to lead the manhunt for Bal, we can clearly see him go slightly worried for Bal as Todd is talking about how he'll make Bal pay. He probably volunteered because he wanted to lessen the chances of Bal getting hurt.

Like I mentioned in another post, Nimona often tries to get Bal to understand that the Institute is filled lies, but not by directly telling him. She starts by giving little hints. One example of him is when she tries to tell him that maybe there's nothing over the wall. I talk about it more in this post.

Nimona's little pink streak in her hair

Nimona is quick enough to go up an escalator that goes down, but a literal knight who has gone through harsh training isn't.

Todd knows that Am's hair smells like lavender. In flower language, lavender is associated with purity, silence, devotion, caution, serenity, grace and calmness. That sounds an awful lot like qualities the Institute would expect a direct descendant of Gloreth to posses, doesn't it?

I'll stop here, cause this is starting to get long.

Unrelated, but I decided to watch Nimona with my siblings (13, 7 and 5) and they all loved it. The best part for me was that my homophobic aunt watched the bit where Bal and Am kiss, started freaking out that I was pushing it onto them, and then my 13 years old brother just commented about how she kept forcing him to watch her romance movies with her and was always pushing him to "get a girlfriend for them to meet" and she just shut up and left. Just wanted to put that out there.

Might make another one of these if y'all like this!

#nimona #ballister boldheart #nimona movie #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister x ambrosius #goldenheart #nimona 2023 #nimona netflix #nimona spoilers #I am obsessed with this movie #My hyperfixation has been going on for a while and does not seem anywhere close to ending

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spiritualviolation · 10 months

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HEADCANON FREE SPACE - GRIAN

from the response to this post

hi hello!! this post is a free space for people to come by and share their headcanons about a specific mcyt character, and this post is for grian!

grian is like. one of those chars that are just headcanon central, so i thought it be appropriate to start with him

not-exactly-rules but some guidelines + my own headcanons under the cut!

- GO ABSOLUTELY NUTS!! share as MANY as you like, i literally don’t mind if you’re going to make a ten page essay about your headcanons. just go wild, just as long as it sticks to the character of this post! bc if it i do multiple characters on one post it might get overwhelming and messy

- you can either do it in the tags or you can just reblog and add to this, i don’t mind as long as it’s convenient for you! you can add to other people’s rbs but i do think it would be better if you rb it straight off this post, but that depends on you!!

- if you want to reblog with your design as well so you can explain your hcs, go ahead! i would absolutely love to see how people design the characters individually!!

i will probably make a masterpost for this but for now we’ll start humble, but i’m aiming to release one post per week, but maybe would speed it up if my schedule allows me!

so yea, go wild!

i will probably start with the life series peeps first but i am thinking of maybe doing qsmp peeps as well after!

my grian headcanons cause i wrote a whole thing in my notes app:

- in my hc, the forms of watchers are dream-like and amorphous, basically visual mindfucks in appearance. grian who was fairly new to the watchers still kept his regular human form, but those who have been watchers for a very long time eventually would lose their individual human identity, and is assimilated into the collective that are the watchers. grian, if give or take maybe a century, the same thing would have eventually happened to him.

- his wings, gifted to him when he was ‘taken’, are generally amorphous and shifting, and you can never focus what shape they’re supposed to be (they can give you a headache the longer you try to look at their genuine form), but he can disguise them in any shape he wants (bird wings, dragon wings, etc.) so it doesn’t hurt to look at them.

- grian cut off his association with them just several months after he was taken, joining hermitcraft not long after, estranging themselves from them.

- he can still use his powers (which include astral projection, and etc.), but because of his cut ties they’re significantly weaker than the average watcher. for example, watchers can ‘watch’ over an entire server, but grian can only ‘watch’ one person at a time.

- his reasons for not wanting to be assimilated into the watchers is that he knows what it’s like to have been pushed and forced to take up a role against his will (ahem high school ahem), and it’s hurt him and he won’t want to let it hurt him again. aside from that, he finds that the watchers are extremely boring, considering all they do is observing passively from the sidelines and all that, which is the complete opposite of how grian likes to operate. he finds it extremely restrictive and prevents him from actively participating in things. not wanting to be confined to that, he cut ties with them.

- however he still uses his powers for troublemaking and mischief, and also to help others when they need it. he doesn’t consider himself affiliated with the watchers because he thinks it’s merely some godly title and also because he wouldn’t want anyone to think him differently, so he doesn’t really hide it.

- as he denied his watcher status very early into joining them, he still has the physicality (stamina, energy and such) of a regular human. only his wings are amorphous instead of his entire form since his wings were given to him when he joined them.

- made the life smp as a fun game for his friends, but in my hc, they did a test run before starting 3rd life. it was during that test run when the watchers seized control over the server.

- during 3rd life, he put admin restrictions on himself to remove his wings so he couldn’t fly and it was fair game for the rest.

#hermitcraft #grian #grian fanart #3rd life smp #last life smp #limited life smp #double life smp #trafficblr #pls share around!!

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pompomqt · 1 month

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Journey to the West Chapter 32

In this chapter of Journey to the West with @journeythroughjourneytothewest the pilgrimage is back together and ready to head west once again. So let's get into it shall we?

So the group has been traveling for quite a while when they run into yet another scary mountain. Tripitaka is scared of tigers or wolves attacking them and warns his disciples to be careful. Monkey however reassures him, that he'll be just fine since he has Monkey. So Monkey is able to persaude Tripitaka to keep going and soon enough they run into an elderly woodcutter. Place your bets people, is this old person A) A deity of some kind. B) A demon or monster that wants to eat them. C) A normal human. Let's find out shall we?

So the Woodcutter calls out to them and warns them that there are a bucnh of evil demon's here who eat travelers who travel from east to west. Which is a pretty specific diet plan. This causes Tripitaka to freak out, but Monkey decides to question the Woodcutter more thoroughly. Interestingly, Monkey refers to the Woodcutter as 'Big Brother' usually he seems to take pride in being older then most people and calls himself 'ancestor'. Anyways, Monkey explains about their mission and asks the Woodcutter to tell him about the monsters so he can get the proper authorities to arrest them. After all whether they be demons of heaven or of earth, or dragons, or ghosts or ogres, Sun Wukong is on a first name basis with all of their managers.

Anyways the Woodcutter explains that the demons here are specifically after the Tang Monk and wants to eat Tripitaka and his associates. Monkey thinks this is great! And even asks how they will eat them, after all, being eaten head first is much preferable to being eaten feet first! Monkey is even happier to find out that they'll just be steamed and eaten whole instead. The Woodcutter warns Monkey that he shouldn't be so sassy, because these demons have five powerful treasures.

Anyways after this conversation Monkey is feeling plenty confident to conquer this mountain and leaves the woodcutter to return to Tripitaka. Monkey assures Tripitaka that this mountain is nothing to worry about, and that the people here are just wimps. As they proceed though they notice that the woodcutter has suddenly vanished. Pigsy thinks it's a ghost, but Monkey just takes a look around, until he spots the Day Sentinel. So Monkey immediately chases the god down, and demands to know what's up with all the disguises instead of just saying something to his face. The god begs him not to take offense and warns him once again to be cautious, and utilize his intelligence and cleverness in order to protect Tripitaka.

Now that Monkey knows the warning is coming from a god instead of a normal human, he is a bit more wary now. He's worried that if he tells Tripitaka about the warning, it'll freak him out and make leading him forward more difficult, but if he doesn't warn him and he get's kidnapped, it'll be a pain in the neck to rescue him. So he decides he'll throw Pigsy at the demon's first to see how strong they really are. If Pigsy wins, good for Pigsy, if not, then Monkey can just rescue him later.

He'll have to use a bit of trickery for this however, since Pigsy would never volunteer to do anything, and Tripitaka coddles him. So Monkey returns back to the group with fake tears in his eyes, which makes Pigsy immediately want to pack their stuff and have everyone go their separate ways. After all, anything that could make the Great Sage cry has got to be really bad news. Tripitaka just tells him to calm down and that he'll talk to Wukong.

So Tripitaka asks Wukong why he's crying, and Monkey explains that the woodcutter was actually the Day Sentinel. He tells him that the Day Sentinel says that the monsters here are truly vicious and that there's no way they can pass through as things are now. After all, Monkey is powerful, but (ignoring his cloning ability) is just one guy, how could he possibly be expected to handle so many demon's by himself? Tripitaka however gives Monkey just the answer he was hoping for when he points out that Monkey isn't alone, they also have Sandy and Pigsy! And if it will get them through this mountain unharmed, then Monkey is free to use them however he see's fit.

Having gotten the response he was aiming for, Monkey immediately wipes away his tears and says that in order to proceed, Pigsy will have to do two things. Pigsy tries to refuse right out the gate, but Tripitaka persuades him to hear him out. So Monkey says the first thing is to look after Tripitaka, and the second is to patrol the mountain. Pigsy complains that he can't do both of those things at once, and Monkey explains that he doesn't have to, he only has to pick one to do.

So Pigsy asks what the two tasks entails and Monkey gladly explains. First, looking after Tripitaka means taking care of his every need, but if he slips up in caring for Tripitaka even slightly then Monkey will beat his ass. The second mission just involves seeing how many monsters there are, and what kind of cave and mountain this is. Pigsy decides to take the choice that has the less likely chance of him getting beaten up by Monkey and chooses to patrol the mountain.

As soon as Pigsy leaves Monkey bursts into laughter, which Tripitaka scolds him for. After all despite being his older brother, Monkey doesn't show Pigsy any sympathy or kindness, and the two are constantly envious of each other. And now that he's tricked Pigsy into patrolling the mountain, he's mocking him by laughing at him! Monkey however assures Tripitaka that's not why he's laughing. He tells Tripitaka that Pigsy has no intention of actually patrolling the mountain or fighting demons, and is probably instead just going to take a nap somewhere and lie to them later. He'll even prove it by following Pigsy. So Tripitaka let's Monkey follow after Pigsy after telling him not to play any tricks on him.

So Monkey transforms into a mole cricket in order to tail him. And sure enough as soon as Pigsy is presumably out of earshot he begins to verbally abuse the others and complains about being made to do patrol the mountain. Having gotten all of that out of his system, Pigsy then finds somewhere comfortable and settles in for a nap. Monkey of course heard every word however and decides to harass Pigsy a bit, so he transforms into a woodpecker and gives Pigsy a bite to the face.

The bite definitely serves the purpose of waking Pigsy up, and after harassing him a bit more as a bird, Pigsy finally gets moving again. Be he's not going to patrol the mountain, instead he finds some rocks and uses them to practice the lie he's going to tell the others when he gets back on. Monkey sticks around long enough to hear the cover story that Pigsy comes up with, before flying back ahead of him in order to tattle to Tripitaka.

So Monkey tells Tripitaka about what Pigsy is going to say. And sure enough once Pigsy arrives back to the group, Monkey prompts him to give the cover story he just told Tripitaka. So Monkey scolds him that this is an important area and that he should have patrolled properly. So he threatens to give Pigsy five good smacks with his staff as punishment. Terrified of this, Pigsy begs Tripitaka to intercede on his behalf... however Tripitaka also isn't to happy with Pigsy for lying. Luckily for Pigsy though, they can't afford to be down a man at the moment, so Tripitaka suggests Monkey save his punishment for later.

So Monkey says he won't beat him for now, but warns him he will if he botches this again. And with that Pigsy is once again sent out to patrol the mountain. So Pigsy heads out once again, incredibly paranoid that every little thing is actually Sun Wukong following him again, despite the fact that Monkey actually decided to hang back with the others this time.

Meanwhile we get introduced to our monsters of the week, the Great King Golden Horn and the Great King Silver Horn, and they are hungry for monk. For Tang Monk specifically, because Tripitaka is the golden cicada reincarnated, and eating him will make them immortal. So the Golden Demon has wanted posters made of Tripitaka and his disciples made, and sends out the Silver Demon and some minions with them in order to find the pilgrimage party.

Soon enough this gaggle of demons comes across Pigsy. When the demons confront him, Pigsy sticks his snout into his shirt and tries to just pass himself off as an ordinary traveler, but is soon found out. So the Demon attacks Pigsy, and although Pigsy is able to fend of the Silver Demon easily enough, he gets intimidated by sheer numbers when the Silver Demons also has his minions attack. So Pigsy tries to flee, but trips and falls and gets captured.

Current Sun Wukong Stats: Names/Titles: Monkey, The Stone Monkey, The Handsome Monkey King, Sun Wukong (Monkey awakened to the void), Bimawen (Banhorseplague), The Great Sage Equal To Heaven and Pilgrim Sun. Immortality: 5 + 94,000 years. Weapon: The Compliant Golden Hooped Rod Abilities: 72 Transformations, Cloud-Somersault, Ability to transform his individual hairs, super strength, Ability to Summon Wind, Water restriction charm, and the ability to change into a huge war form, ability to duplicate his staff, ability to immobilize others, the ability to put others to sleep, and the Fiery eyes and Diamond Pupils, intimidating horses, churning large bodies of water, sleeplessness, seizing the wind, enhanced smell, discerning good and evil within a thousand miles, Spirit Summoning, lock picking, object transformation and distance reduction. Demon Kill Count: 5+ Unknown Number of Minions Human Kill Count: 1006 God's Defeated: 20 + Unknown number Defeats: 3 Crime List: Robbery, Murder, Mass Murder, Arson, Theft, Coercion, Threatening a Government Official, Resisting Arrest, Assault, Forgery, Employee Theft, False Imprisonment, Impersonating a Government Official, Treason, attempted murder, failure to control or report a dangerous fire, desecrating a corpse, breaking and entering, trespassing, violating Tree Law and looting corpses. Cry Count: 4 + 2 fake cries Mountains Trapped Under: 1

Current Tang Sanzang stats: Names/Titles: River Float, Xuanzang, Tang Sanzang, Tripitaka Abilities: Curing Blindness, making branches point a certain direction (allegedly), reciting sutras, pretty privilege, memorization and Heart Sutra. Cry Count: 16 Tight Fillet Spell Uses: 27 Paralyzed by fear: 5 Bandit Problems: 2 Kidnapped by demons: 3 Falling Off Horses: 6

Current Bai Long Ma Stats: Names/Titles: Bai Long Ma (White Dragon Horse), Prince of the Western Ocean, and third prince jade dragon of the dragon king Aorun Abilities: Transforming into a human, a water snake, and a horse, eating a horse in one bite, flight, Magic of Water Restriction, Singing, and Sword Dancing. Cry Count: 1 Crime List: Arson, and Grave Disobedience. Contributions to the plot: 2

Current Zhu Wuneng Stats: Names/Titles: The Marshal of the Heavenly Reeds, Zhu Wuneng (Pig who is aware of ability), Zhu Ganglie, Pigsy, Idiot and Eight Rules. Weapon: Rake Abilities: 36 Transformations, parting water, fighting underwater, cloud soaring and size enhancement Demon Kill Count/Kill steals: 1 Kidnapped by Demons: 1 Human Kill Count: 1 Failed Flirtation/romances Attempts: 3 Cry Count: 1 Crime List: Sexual Harassment, Murder, Kidnapping and arson.

Current Sha Wujing Stats: Names/Titles: The Curtain-Raising General, Sha Wujing (Sand Aware of Purity), Sandy and Sha Monk Weapon: Monster Taming Staff Abilities: Fighting underwater and Cloud soaring. Kidnapped by Demons: 1 Human Kill Count: 1 Crime List: Breaking a Crystal Cup, murder, and desecration of a human corpse.

#journey to the west #jttw read through #jttw #journeythroughjourneytothewest #sun wukong #tang sanzang #zhu wuneng #sha wujing #if nothing else I'm glad Sun Wukong is getting some retribution in #for the lady bone demon chapters lol #Also I love that whenever Monkey has to leave Tripitaka in the care of someone else #he makes sure to threaten them with severe bodily harm if they don't do a good enough job

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mysticmunson · 2 years

Text

the interview

eddie munson x unnamed female reader

description: after joining the hawkins high newspaper, your first task is to interview the leader of the infamous Hellfire group, eddie munson, but maybe you bit off more than you could chew.

rating: R (smut, minors shoo)

word count: 2.7k

Being the newest intern at Hawkins High School newspaper meant you got a lot of boring stories, but this was just an extracurricular for you, needing a club on your transcript before graduation. As the year began, a piece was pitched to write about different clubs within the school. You expected to write about the fashion club, the chess club, or even the math club. But your assignment would take you to Eddie Munson, leader of Hellfire.

While this wasn’t ideal, you had grown up beside Eddie, seeing him go from awkward middle schooler to DnD master, and you were one of the only people in town who didn’t see him as a freak. While you never voiced it publicly, never finding a reason to, your association with Nancy Wheeler and her brother Mike, was enough to get you behind the dark doors. Jotting down his address, you made your way to the trailer on the edge of town with a notepad and pen in hand.

Eddie knew you were coming, Mike informing him that the newspaper had finally shown interest, making sure to spray some Febreeze so you wouldn’t get secondhand high. He smoked a cigarette outside, staring at the trees before his eyes met yours, giving him a small wave. Brief hello’s were murmured as he swayed on his heels, taking the last hit before stomping it out. He opened up the door for you, enjoying your perfume that smelled of vanilla. He plopped on his couch kicking his feet on the coffee table as you stood awkwardly. Usually when sent on these leads, you didn’t feel nervous, you knew you had a job to do and once you got the story, you sent it in. But something about Eddie set you on edge in an addictive way.

“Uh you can sit down unless you think the chair is gross.” He smirked, making you laugh as you sat. “Sorry I zoned out.” You peeped, folding the filled paper behind itself, starting a fresh sheet and labeling it, Eddie Munson, Hellfire Exclusive. He watched your hands, a bit protective of not only his group, but the boys inside of it. When the whole school thinks you're freaks, you gotta stick together.

“Exclusive? I like the sound of that.” He stated, making you blush for seemingly no reason at all, but he noticed the way you were slowly getting nervous. While he originally thought you were scared to be alone with the dark and mysterious Eddie, he remembered how Mike said you were excited to know more, always wanting to find something new to learn. Mike also said you were a bit of a secret nerd. He wanted to test the waters of your sea, finding out if the ripples were for waves or rip currents.

“Before I start asking you questions about the club, I have a favor to ask,” This made his eyebrows raise, “Can you just give me the rundown on Dungeons and Dragons? Cause the way Mike and the boys always mentioned it, I just can’t believe it would be satanic.” He relaxed, a smile creeping upon his face as he laughed, clapping his hands once. He spent the next 30 minutes telling you the rules and regulations of his group, the history of Hellfire. You could tell he was genuinely proud of his creation, making you more excited to ask the questions burning in your mind. Except, the questions weren’t related to DnD.

As intrigued as you were, your eyes fell to examine him, the way his hair flounced and eyes sparkled as he spoke about something he loved. The way his fingers fiddled on his black pants, snug fitting and his boots creaking as he set them down. He could see you trying to focus, finding it amusing how little your face gif the intrigue of not only the game, but of him. It wasn’t everyday girls were knocking on his door, asking him questions about himself.

“Well enough about me, how about you?” He said, snapping you from your trance, stuttering as you smoothed out your Toto band tee. “Uh, haha, I don’t know. What do you want to know?” Your coy response made him more illured, leaning in slightly to show his interest, but not saying a word.

“Uh I’ve been in Hawkins all my life, I’m childhood friends with Nancy and their family, which Mike probably mentioned. I entered the newspaper to get an extra club on my transcript, but I really enjoy it now.” You sighed the ending, smiling as you fiddled with the corner of your notepad.

“You also enjoy eye-fucking me” His abrupt words caused you to cough on your own spit, stammering as he stood and sauntered over. “Don’t be shy, princess, your face is very easy to read.” He smirked, cupping your face in his hand, making an involuntary whimper escape before you had a chance to clamp your own hand over it. You stood, face close to his, “I should probably get going, I need to head home, we’ll finish the interview during 5th period-“

“Yeah we can finish the interview then, but what are we gonna do now?” Invading your space where you could feel his breath on your face, you hoped that this wasn’t a sick joke as he pressed his lips against yours. Finding your rhythm was easy, but if there’s one thing Eddie wasn’t, it was just that. His lips pulled away from yours, spit keeping you two connected as he stared. He chuckled at your needy eyes, “I’m gentleman enough to offer my bed and not my grandma's coffee table.” Helping to break the ice a bit, leading you to his musty room, smelling of weed and cologne. But the smell was hypnotizing, reminding you that you just made out with the guy you admired from afar for years. Your thoughts were cut short when he spun you to lay on his bed, “Let’s keep the interview going, I have a lot of questions for you, pretty girl.” He taunted, shoving your panties down in one swift motion, pushing up your black skirt to reveal your needy center. He sucked in a sharp breath, his act dissipating for a brief moment as his cock swelled more.

“Let’s start with something easy,” His hands sliding through your wet folds before finding your clit, you gasped and grabbed onto the pillow beneath your head. He spread your legs and your instincts caused you to cover yourself with your hands. Eddie glanced at you, slightly worried before your hands removed themself, “What made you this wet?”

“Y-You did, Eddie.” You gulped, as his ring-clad fingers began to stimulate your small bundle of nerves, making you moan. His hands were used to playing guitars, skillful and finding purpose, which caused you to also find yourself growing closer to finishing. “Awe, you’re already so close, baby.” He teased, smacking his hand against your pussy while you gasped. You grabbed his shirt, pulling it over his head before he returned the favor to you, finding you braless underneath the thin tee. He wasted no time in connecting his mouth to your neck, beelining to your breasts and sucking them. A moan seeped through your lips, knowing how needy you sounded, but couldn’t bear to care, knowing his cock was just a piece of fabric away.

His motions stopped, a whine leaving you as he hushed you, pulling his jeans down to reveal his bare length. “Guess we both forgot underwear today.” You smiled as he laughed, running a hand through his hair, pulling your hips closer to his by sending you up. You had never felt this vulnerable, yet so empowered. He flipped you face down, reaching to his night stand to grab a foil packet, “You’re so obedient.”

“Only for you.” You whispered and turned your head, his eyes appearing darker as he finished sliding on the plastic. “How long have you been thinking of fucking me?” He asked, sliding his head through your folds as you attempted to push back onto him, only receiving a smack to your ass. “I’ve wanted it for months.” You cried as his tip entered your cunt, almost sighing from the relief it granted you. His knees were planted on the mattress, leaning down to press his chest to your back. “What about John?”

John, your boyfriend of one year that dumped you after cheating on you last month. You didn’t mention to anyone, but close friends, that his adultery had been the reason for your split. You wished you were the one who ceased the relationship, but it wasn’t, you knew he had been sleeping with other girls a few days before he broke up with you from a girl a year younger named Gale. John never fucked you, only kissing you when socially appropriate, and the first few make out sessions when you first pinned. You thought that maybe he was saving himself for marriage, not prodding at a sensitive subject for both of you, but he had been fucking girls six months in. As you laid in your room crying months later, you thought about the way you never imagined John fucking you senseless. You wanted the idea of it, to have a boyfriend who doted on you and kept you suffice. You had known Eddie through others, but when you went to Nancy’s one evening and saw Eddie outside with the boys, your mind fixated.

“No.” You whispered as his thrusts got deeper, finding your body adjusting to his long and thick cock fast, only embarking on mild discomfort as he quickened. “He never fucked me. He was fucking other girls.” You gasped, surprised you said that as he hit your g-spot. Yanking your hair to bring his mouth to the shell do your ear, “He must be a fucking moron to let this pussy go untouched.” Eddie gritted out, finding it hard to control himself engulfed in your slickness. “Fuck, you’re so needy princess.” He panted as you pushed yourself to his hips, but he pulled away suddenly, laying down and pulling you onto his lap.

“Show me how much you want it.” He said, helping you guide yourself onto his cock, watching you shiver as you sank down, eyes clenching in pleasure. You began bouncing as Eddie grabbed your hips, noticing your struggle, “There you go, sweet girl, feels good, doesn’t it? Just needed to be fucked good.” He cooed, knowing the effect he had as you clenched around him, tears streaming down your cheek. He grabbed your arms and pulled you to his chest, kissing you deeply, invading your mouth with passion. His hands moved to your waist, fucking up into you as you cried out.

“Shh, it’s okay baby, let it out.” You felt embarrassed at how quickly he made you submissive, crying into his neck as he fucked you relentlessly. You had never felt so good, “Eddie, I’m gonna come.” You choked out, bracing yourself for the crash, but his movements slowed, causing you to look at his eyes. “Should we finish that interview now? You said you needed to go home, right?” He smirked, watching your face fall as you pushed him further into your needy cunt, “No, no, please Eddie.” Your breaths speeding up as he shrugged, somehow managing to keep his composure at the girl falling apart on top of him.

“Please Eddie, I need you so bad, please.” You stammered as he sat up, giving you more leverage to ride him again, going faster than before with hands attaching to his neck. You stared at his tattooed collarbones as more tears streamed down your face, his thumb catching them and hushing you. “You need it so bad, don't you princess? Need the big scary man to fuck you, to satisfy you?”

Eddie knew what to say. He knew how desperate you were, to finally be with him and feel good. Though you told him very little of your past relationship, the way you fell apart within minutes showed you hadn’t been destroyed in a way he knew he could do to you. He felt proud, but protective, already knowing he was likely the only man to see you fall apart like this. Crying from how good his cock felt inside you, how you would put your reputation within the newspaper team on the line, just to be with him now.

“You’re not scary.” You whispered, looking into his eyes as they visibly softened, kissing you much slower than previously as he laid you beneath him. His thrusts were passionate, not haste and short, but long and meaningful. He felt himself nearing his end as you did, rubbing your clit to help you finish. A mantra left your mouth of his name and pleas, finally succumbing to your needs as you came around him. Your eyes fluttered shut as he came shortly after, spilling into the condom and relaxing within you. You couldn’t bring yourself to open your eyes, the intensity still coming in waves as he caught his breath. He gave you a moment to collect yourself before pressing his lips gently to your eyelids, making them open.

“Hi princess.” He whispered, tucking your tousled hair behind your ear, staring at your hazy eyes. You smiled, returning the favor to his curly locks, “Hi.” The words breathlessly leaving your lips, “I don’t think we should do the interview at your house next time.” He left out a boisterous laugh, tucking his face in your neck to kiss the blossoming hickey. “You don’t want this to happen again?” He said, a slight worry laced within his words, fearing you’d chosen to forget this ever happened, but his worries ceased when you spoke again.

“You can’t get rid of me now, Munson, especially since I never got to ask any questions.”

---------

hi there, this is my first eddie fic, but i already have another in the works, please feel free to message me suggestions or feedback. much love.

#stranger things #eddie munson #stranger things season four #eddie munson fic #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader #stranger things x y/n #stranger things fic #writing #elora writes #eddie munson oneshot #eddie munson blurb #steve stranger things

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imminent-danger-came · 1 year

Text

MK+ Reflections

(1x00 A Hero is Born)

MK: “I just...I don’t want to let my friends down, you know? [...] But it’s too hard! I’m just one guy.” (1x02 Duplicatnation)

(2x00 Revenge of the Spider Queen)

Mirror MK: “Ugh, Stop that! Listen, every time we get in trouble we turn to Monkie King or our friends or someone—they tell us a story and we find that smidge of motivation we need. Well! Now we’re on our own. It’s just you.” (2x00 Revenge of the Spider Queen)

“I gained a new power!”

“The power...of self-reflection”

(2x00 Revenge of the Spider Queen) (This one is an honorary mention)

(2x00 Revenge of the Spider Queen)

(2x02 Dumpling Destruction)

Lady Bone Demon: “Whatever she’s planning, it’s all to do with that. I- I’ve seen you use your staff, surely you could use it to smash that thing?”

(2x05 Minor Scale)

Mirror MK: “No, stop! What are you doing!”

(2x05 Minor Scale)

MK: “This is the trigram furnace, from the celestial realm! How is this-”

“...Trust your instincts.”

(2x05 Minor Scale)

Totally Not Macaque: “The Hero and the Warrior were like the sun and the moon, their light like a protective glow shining upon the world. As the hero’s light grew, so too did his shadow—and soon, the Warrior was cast into that shadow. In the darkness, the warrior was forgotten by the Hero.”

(2x07 Shadow Play)

(2x10 This is the End)

Lady Bone Demon: “This is your destiny.”

(2x10 This is the End) (This isn’t MK, however MK’s self reflection is so closely tied to the celestial furnace, and LBD appears in a trigram furnace reflection so many times with MK that I am obligated to include it)

Tang: “Um, MK? I get the feeling you aren’t telling us something.”

(2x10 This is the End)

Tang: “My mother was right! Associate with the wrong people and see where you end up.”

(3x02 Great Grand Dragon of the East)

MK: “It’s like a whole new me!”

(3x02 Great Grand Dragon of the East)

Sandy: “Are we sure we’re going in the right direction?” Tang: “Not a clue. All Monkey King said to do was head west, so-”

(3x03 Smartie Kid)

MK: “UGH. How am I meant to fight the lady bone demon?”

(3x04 The Winning Side)

(3x06 The First Ring)

(3x14 Destiny Fulfilled)

Sun Wukong: “You actually might have done more for this world than I ever have!”

(4x01 Familiar Tales)

(4x02 New Adventures)

MK: “Remind me how this ‘game’ is supposed to convince me I’m not destined to turn into an evil demon monkey thing again? Cause, EVERY option I pick brings me to this! Same! Screen!”

(4x10 The Jade Emperor)

Oh reflection motif, how I love you.

Interesting to note, MK’s reflection never shows up in the Demon Revealing Mirror (something that is actually, you know, a mirror). Very intriguing to think about, isn’t it?

#it took FOREVER to sift through 30+ episodes to find every instance of an MK reflection #There's a lot and I wanted to compile it!#It takes a little bit to transcribe too #But I've wanted to make this one for a little bit #Next post like this is probably gonna be for the hand motif ehehe #lmk parallels #lmk #lego monkie kid #lego monkie kid mk #lmk mk #monkie kid #lmk sandy #lmk sun wukong #lmk lady bone demon #lmk lbd #OH I ALSO WANT TO MAKE ONE WHERE IT'S MK AS A MIRROR #THOSE SHOTS ARE VERY INTERESTING TO ME #long post #lmk reflection motif

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pessimisticpigeonsworld · 2 months

Note

https://www.tumblr.com/rise-my-angel/740720343328686080/the-new-hotd-trailer-has-reminded-me-how-badly?source=share.

1. Jaehaera was not raped...

2. Rhaenyra was having a breakdown on Dragonstone after learning about Luke's death when she received Daemon's letter stating that he would avenge Luke (the letter doesn't even explain how he would avenge Luke). How is that her fault?

3. Aegon is also a rapist in the books, it's not an invention by the writers.

"Who are you?" [Helaena] demanded of the two. "Debt collectors," said Cheese. "An eye for an eye, a son for a son. We only want the one, t' square things. Won't hurt the rest o' you fine folks, not one lil' hair. Which one to you want t' lose Your Grace?" Cheese warned the queen to make a choice soon, before Blood grew bored and raped her little girl. Strange to say, the ratcatcher and the butcher were true to their word. They did no further harm to Queen Helaena and her surviving children. (Fire and Blood: The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son)

You're right anon, Jaehaera was never raped, it was only threatened to hurry Helaena along. I don't understand why TG stans want to add to this event so badly, it's already horrific. It's actions like that which show how GRRM is once again choosing to have morally gray protagonists. TB is in the right about the Dance and who they're supporting, but that doesn't mean their heroes or even morally good in their actions.

It's interesting how op decided to complain that Aegon might be portrayed as incompetent. Aegon was incompetent in the book, so incompetent he was murdered by his own supporters. He's remembered as being one of the most useless kings of Westeros. Saying they're going to dumb him down to make Rhaenyra look better shows how op has never read the book, or even Aegon's wiki lmao.

Further proving my point is the stupidly blind argument of how Aegon "isn't a rapist in the book". The delusion of the TG stans is neverending.

I think the most incredible take in this post is how apparently, in the eyes of op, Criston isn't an incel in season one?? Did we watch the same show? Criston makes the immediate turn to hating Rhaenyra and literally killing people associated with her family after she rejects him. He makes hating her his entire personality for the whole ass show once she refuses to run away with him. He thinks he's entitled to Rhaenyra's entire life and body just because she slept with him once. He's the definition of an incel, go cry about it greenies.

B&C was done without Rhaenyra's knowledge or approval, as you said. Daemon acted on his own (he is a true gray character). She was separated from Daemon when he made his choice, so she had even less control over what he did. Added to that is how Rhaenyra was busy with other fronts of the war and negotiating, how can she be expected to micromanage her husband?

Now, while the original post was written I think before Condal started teasing the whole "people will want to switch sides", the reblog definitely wasn't. Condal has revealed that he plans to make the audience sympathize with the greens more this season. Which is why it makes no sense why the poster who reblogged believes they will make the greens appear worse. They're already making excuses for Aegon raping serving girls, trying to make Alicent be completely innocent of her team's actions, and making Aemond "accidentally" kill Luke.

The show is already so obviously TG, they even aged up Rhaenyra and aged down Alicent to control who the audience sympathizes with. TG stans are just bitter that even the intense white washing can't cover up how in the wrong TG is.

Alicent is totally at least partially to blame for B&C. In the book, she was the head of the green faction and constantly plotted to usurp Rhaenyra, thus causing the war. In both the show and the book, Alicent raised her children to view their nephews as subhuman. She instilled the hatred of them into Aemond long before the Driftmark incident. She's the one who constantly affirmed to them that Aegon is the rightful heir and Rhaenyra is a murderous whore. Alicent bears the blame for what happened to her family just as much as Aegon, Otto, and Aemond.

#anti team green stans #anti team green #anti alicent hightower #anti aegon ii targaryen #team black #house of the dragon #anti ryan condal #rhaenyra targaryen #asoiaf #anti criston cole #daemon targeryan #blood and cheese

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randyvouz · 1 month

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Working gradually through my Inscryption redesigns, starting with Magnificus!

Some alts to show off the details/my thought process under the cut:

-To start, Magnificus’ original design always bothered me because he seems to have a lot of the same design motifs as Leshy. They’re both very overwhelmingly green in their 3D models and their eyes both have similar swirls within. I wanted to keep Magnificus still faithful and recognizable to his original design, but separated further from Leshy.

-I changed his main fur color to a bluish-green color that gradually turns into a mix of blues, purples and greens at the base caused by paint stains he’s garnered over the years, giving him this otherwordly painted look that fits his inscryption tool, but also makes him feel more magical (fun fact: his body palette here was entirely color picked from a Claude Monet painting!)

-Oh, good lord, that “magic eye”. Not only does it look identical to his non-magical eye when we see Magnificus in act 3, but look at how it appears in the box of eyes Leshy offers you in act 1:

It looks absolutely nothing like his eyes in act 3, and isn’t even consistent with act 2. (Then again act 2 sprites vs their 3d models is a whole rant in of itself i’ll possibly get into another day) So, I ended up going with leaning into the design of this act 1 eye more, but gave it more of a “magical” spin with the navy blue and gold stars within it.

-In the interview with Daniel Mullens, he mentioned that Magnificus’ hands were supposed to be “scaly” in the 3D model, and that really peaked my interest. So I went with the obvious decision based on this information to give him dragon traits due to dragons having a strong fantasy/magical association as well as their association with gems in some pieces of media that features dragons. He also gets a nice long tail because I say so.

-His mustache is based on Salvador Dali, and the little tuft below his mouth is based on how many unicorns, another magical creature, are depicted with a beard of sorts.

-The rest of the design was just me kind of bs’ing what I thought looked good.

#artists on tumblr #art #artist #character art #character design #inscryption #inscryption spoilers #fan art #sorry most of this is me ranting #except no im not sorry I love talking about my design process

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extra-vertebrae · 10 months

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Picked up Tears of the Kingdom for my birthday this year and played it over an art sabbatical. After beating it, I have some thoughts about a pair of critters.

Consider this a "spoiler" line for those who haven't beaten the game.

I've been pondering over the Light Dragon and the Tears associated with her transformation. When you take everything given about the transformation at face value, this dragon bursts into being with no sense of self, but presumably still carrying intact though likely scattered memories of when she was still Zelda. Her first act is to shed tears, presumably created through an intense sorrow borne out of thoughts, concerns, and memories that she no longer understands. Her "new" mind is struck with immense emotional pain that now probably just repeats itself over and over as she aimlessly patrols the skies of Hyrule for thousands of years until a man pulls a toothpick out of her forehead. Alternatively, the shedding of tears is symbolic of the final vestiges of Zelda's self as it ebbs away in her new existence, leaving her mind a blank slate unable to recall, process, or attribute anything to anything.

Of course, the game pulls a cop-out and goes "oh, she was just sleeping this whole time!" at the end, which I think is bullshit, but fine, we can't have Zelda scarred for the remainder of her life. We'll just say her memories of flying aimlessly for however long were just yeeted by the mercy of Sophia and Rauru and leave it at that. The implication is probably a reversal via some super powered Recall, but still.

Then comes Ganon, who takes the same road in an effort to cling to power. A new dragon that, just like Zelda, has no self - just a ream of memories and what is probably a deep, directionless, unfathomable anger towards an insignificant entity. How awful must these paired existences be? How aware are they, truly?

A repeated note in the compendium entries for all of the dragons is: "it causes [x deadly phenomena when people are in close range], but it means no harm." I thought about this later and played with the idea that, what if, even taking story circumstances in hand, Ganon's dragon was the same as the rest in this specific regard - creating phenomena out of no actual intent to harm so much as an instinctual self defence mechanism against an unknown "thing" approaching him. Does Ganon still actually recognise Link from all of 30 seconds ago? Or is he just an animal with the same blank slate as Zelda? Whichever the case, despite all the damage he's done, this feels like an especially tragic end for Ganondorf in the sense that, he technically becomes an entirely new entity that has done absolutely nothing except be confronted by a pair of unfamiliar creatures, and is smote in barely a few minutes. Minutes of existence either fraught with confusing memories of anger and violence, or a blank mind with no comprehensive ability, snuffed out due to an inherent danger he poses through, in a way, no "fault" of his own in this new body and mind.

Just a fun thought I had. I've been wondering since I started playing and seeing all of the Memories, if at any point Ganondorf (or Link and Zelda for that matter) has ever actually possessed free will in being the manifestation (?) of the Triforce of Power (or its spirit? My Zelda lore is rusty as hell and super limited).

ETA: also, I really appreciate the addition of a pig's nose on Ganon's dragon form. A+, I love it.

#tears of the kingdom

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generalsmemories · 8 months

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i am kindly asking you to please elaborate your discussion about dan heng's past bcos it's really interesting

Oh bestie buckle up then-

Dan Heng's past is very complicated. If we only go from the character stories from Dan Heng's character screen we get to know that he was on the run since as long as he can remember - and that he was essentially born in prison - That is the past that Dan Heng REMEMBERS.

But if we want to dig deeper, we go to inner turmoils and dipping down the very essence of Vidyadhara's - which is the route I'm going here.

Here's an overview that I'm going to go explain about Dan Heng's character as a whole:

An explanation of the short animation: "Ichor of Two Dragons" which can further explain the last point below:

Dan Feng and how Dan Heng is a continuation of Dan Feng. As in: Dan Feng is Dan Heng's past, but Dan Heng is Dan Feng's future.

literally settle down and grab some water while you read through i'm pretty darn sure this is going to be a long one although i'll try to just say the main points - if there are anything within this post that confuses you do ask me and i'll elaborate further!

A few things you should know before continuing: I will most likely mention leaks and I will talk about religion (buddhism in particular) So this is in no way spoiler free so read with own caution, thank u <3

I hope we can all agree on the fact that Dan Heng is a chinese character with heavy buddhist themes. As such I do want you to read through this post with that thought at the back of your mind (speaking from a buddhist myself, the way how hoyoverse incorporated the various aspects of it with the Vidyadhara and to that extent, Dan Heng is very beautiful)

As such, the saying that: "Dan Heng and Dan Feng are the exact same person." and "Dan Heng and Dan Feng are two completely different people," are takes that misses the point of his entire story and thus also downgrades his final resolution as well.

That will be all from what I personally want you do to, enjoy the rest of this HAHA

1. Explanation of the animated short: "Ichor of Two Dragons"

The animation starts off with the High Cloud Quintet drinking together, this is inherently Dan Feng's memory re-experienced by Dan Heng. This memory is something he actually accepts without complaint, even smiling like he's personally there experiencing it.

Conflict however soon breaks out between Dan Heng and Dan Feng - which marks the start of Dan Heng's internal conflict - thus all of his fears, traums and doubts resurface in the form of his past self.

NOTE HOWEVER: that the Dan Feng portrayed throughout this entire animation isn't actually Dan Feng. It is instead a reflection of Dan Heng's own thoughts and beliefs that causes him inner turmoil.

It's not meant to be interpreted as a literal battle against Dan Heng and Dan Feng.

Everything that "Dan Feng" says up till the point where they clash are Dan Heng's own thoughts and what he's been taught to believe since his rebirth in the Shackling Prison - where he was subjected to indoctrination about Dan Feng, his past life's sin and the punishment he must bear.

Which also in hindsight does tell a LOT about how Dan Heng himself perceives Dan Feng: An arrogant and unfeeling person - and thus is so different from himself. Dan Feng is to Dan Heng the very reason everything bad has happened to him in his life, and as a result fiercely wants to detach himself from him.

It's understandable really, when you were taught that your very existence is a sin in itself because of the narrative surrounding Dan Feng is that of a villain - and then your very own identity feels threatened because it's associated with said "vilain."

This line in particular tells a lot about how Dan Heng is very much aware that he can't keep running. It's a reflection of the harsh truth that Dan Heng himself is aware of. Joining the express while not having a clear aim or destination of his own is never a permament solution for his desire to escape the past.

Speaking of said clash, a direct fight doesn't happen before Dan Heng asserts the fact he is not Dan Feng.

This is the obvious instance that Dan Heng rejects an integral part of himself, and it's the very same rejection to said identity that generates both chaos, conflict and inner turmoil that takes the form of a fight. A fight that goes on until Dan Heng eventually gets submerged by Dan Feng's waters and the dragon after he's told he has nowhere to run.

"Nowhere to run" is mentioned a lot throughout Dan Heng's story. The saying itself is a reference to Dan Heng's karma that he refuses to confront the consequences of. Karma in this instant is something that transcends the cycle of rebirth (samsara) and in thus reflected in the line of "a past life's sin must be repaid in this one"

NOW. A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T LIKE THE LAST SENTENCE. CAUSE HE'S A NEW PERSON, WHY MUST HE REPAY HIS PAST INCARNATIONS' SIN IF HE HIMSELF DIDN'T DO IT?

Let me tell you! From the perspective of a buddhist!

In modern times, the usage of the word karma has really wilted down to saying that "Karma will come back to bite your ass" etc. In a way saying that if you don't try to fix a fuck up that you did recently, you would get consequences for it later DOWN THE ROAD.

Meanwhile, in buddhist tradition, karma refers to actions driven by intention. Samsara and karma are so intregrated that the karmic intentions and accumulations of the actions you've done in one life wil be the determining factor in what kind of rebirth you will have in the next life.

Karma will come to bite you in the ass yes, but especially in your next lifetime if you continue doing actions with ill intent - going as far to being the one determining factor if you're gonna live a peaceful, nice life or be reborn as a bug.

Why should that matter, you ask?

You remember Blade telling Dan Heng that he has NEVER experienced death? Because it is indeed true. The Vidyadhara molts themeslves to essentially fix their bodies and enter a new rebirth cycle - as such, avoiding death.

It's a different body, but the soul - their essence is still the same.

I'll come back more to this later, but for now let's continue explaining the animation.

It's ONLY when Dan Heng asserts the fact that Dan Feng is right that a change happpens. In the english translation given he says: "You're right. You are my past, but you won't follow me into my future!" it's only when he accepts that fact that he's able to stop being suffocated by the water - even embracing the same thing that tried to drown him and using it as his own power, able to manipulate it and even turn the dragon back on its first caster.

Now, the most vital part (and also in my opinion, the most beautiful one) is the fact that the fight doesn't end with Dan Heng striking down Dan Feng.

It ends with Dan Heng passing by Dan Feng and dispersing the dragon into rain instead. It ends with Dan Heng accepting that past. Accepting Dan Feng as a part of himself.

Now, a thing I realized with the english translation is that it goes a different way than what both the chinese voice and jp dub had said. I listen to the JP dub, and I do have better listening comprehension to the spoken language than written. While the english version goes with the: "You are my past, but you won't follow me into my future!"

Both the chinese version and jp version says something more akin to: "You are my past, but you are by no means my future!" It's slightly the same, but this final resolution said in that way instead holds a lot more weight and nuance.

The fight starts with Dan Heng rejecting Dan Feng, but ends with the opposite. Dan Heng is accepting that yes, he was once Dan Feng - but he's not going to let that define him entirely as a person or let that define his future entirely.

Another difference in translation that english has compared to the jp dub that I noticed (can't speak for chinese voice here) is the ending with Welt, March and the trailblazer appearance.

While ENG Welt asks if Dan Heng is alright. The JP version rather asks: "Did you remember something?"

In ENG, Dan Heng responds the question with: "Mm. Just reminiscing," in JP, he answers something along the lines of: "Something from long ago."

(i would like to also point out that march noticed him smiling and wasn't just like: "GIVE ME A SMILE!" out of nowhere to ease him, but more like: "Oh you're smiling! How rare, hey do it one more time!") ( ´ ▽ ` ).｡ｏ♡ oh my dear express family.

In a way, phrasing a memory from your past self in that way just holds a lot more weight with Dan Heng's acceptance of his past, by referring to Dan Feng's memories as memories from long ago rather than labeling it as something separate.

In conclusion, the animated short is only the start of Dan Heng's story (as I very much hoped it would be) and not a conclusion. With this animation, it has established Dan Heng's goal as a character and sets the stage for the future of his character (AND THUS MORE DEVELOPMENT YEEHAW!) It's a great starting point for Dan Heng to find a way to reconcile the past and the present to finally be able to face his future.

2. Dan Feng and how Dan Heng is a continuation of Dan Feng. As in: Dan Feng is Dan Heng's past, but Dan Heng is Dan Feng's future.

Now, here is where some leaks actually comes in (Moreso one leak of Jingliu's voicelines-)

Remember how I mentioned earlier that we would come back to the essence of the soul and how Vidyadhara have different bodies after every rebirth, but the same soul. Yeah, WE ARE BACK TO THAT AGAIN TOO!

The clash between Dan Feng and Dan Heng in the short animation wsa an emotional one, it was a clash between Dan Heng and his inner turmoil that essentially ended with no true winner. Rather it showed Dan Heng's slow acceptrance with coming in terms with his own past and accepting continous nature of his identity.

Because if you look at it this way with the knowledge that the same Vidyadhara will forever bear the same soul - Dan Heng would be considered the cumulative result of all his past lives and his current one.

There is a continuity of identity as it undergoes the cycle of rebirth, where each new incarnation is an augmentation of the previous one. As such, in the world of Star Rail, identity is not fixed, but fluid. It changes, but it's still the same soul from the very first one.

The new identity changes and evolves with each incarnation, with information by the experiences of the previous one. Most Vidyadhara have belongings that their previous incarnation have left behind, notes left behind them - and the few I've met in the open world of Star Rail do also come to love whatever their previous incarnation loved.

And as mentioned in an older post (that i'm way too lazy to dig up at this point lmfao) A newborn Vidyadhara usually gets pardoned the sins of their past life - but Dan Heng is a special case because of the emphasis of a FLAWED rebirth - as such he more than anyone have gotten the treatment of a life's past sins must be repaid in this one because his very essence and soul is closer to a continuity of his past one than other Vidyadhara.

Again, I desperately want you all to view this through the lens of a buddhist and understand that Dan Heng is written from an asian perspective. The complexity of karma and samsara in buddhism is the fact that it's flexible, fluid and a dynamic process - There is no set linear relationship between an action done and its result. The effect of the deed is not solely determined by the deed itself as well - but rather by the nature of the person who commited the deed and by the circumstances in which it is committed.

Because Karma in itself is not a judgement imposed by some God, we don't believe in a god after all. It is instead the results of a natural process, a result of certain experiences in life which were the results of previous actions. Unjust behaviour can lead to unfavorable circumstances which makes it easier for the person to commit more unjust behaviour, but again. You're free to commit more unjust behaviour, but you're also free to not do so.

Which means that the journey of the soul isn't linear by all means, it's cyclical with each end of one being the beginning of the next cycle: The result of what happened in one life becomes the starting point for the next life.

Dan Heng's major character points is the struggle of identity. And the character stories from his IL form shows the evident struggle with identity again - Mind you, these character stories for Dan Heng: Imbibitor Lunae are just a recollection of important point in Dan Feng's life being dreamt about when he was forced through rebirth)

Jingliu's leaked voiceline about Dan Feng gives us the confirmation that to become the High Elder means losing your own identity to a certain degree - even to the point that your very physical appearance morphs to resemble the Primordial Imbibitor Lunae (the very first one)

I want to preface as to where we stand as of right now, the current perception of Dan Feng is of an unfeeling, aloof and arrogant person. Someone who caused suffering to his next reincarnation - But by doing Dan Heng's companion quest alone it raises so many arguments that's so far from the truth. (HECK EVEN BAILU MANAGES TO SEE THAT DAN FENG COULD'VE BEEN A GENTLE PERSON)

Because as much as the fandom want Dan Heng to be separated from Dan Feng because he's his own person, it wouldn't be wrong to assume that Dan Feng yearned freedom too, no?

What if Dan Feng also yearned for freedoom amongst the stars, maybe the reason why Dan Feng severed the High Elder succession like he did - maybe he wanted his future selves to not be bound by the same shackles like he was? It wouldn't be farfetched, right?

Dan Feng is indeed Dan Heng's past. His memories, experiences, abilities, powers and EVEN PERSONAL items were once Dan Feng's. It is now Dan Heng's, but again. Dan Heng was once Dan Feng too.

As such, Dan Heng is Dan Feng's future - a future where he's able to attain the freedom he wanted.

ANYWAYS. I FRIED MY BRAIN CAUSE I WROTE 80% OF THIS IN ONE SETTING, SOME THINGS PROBABLY DOES'T MAKE SENSE AT ALL BUT YEAH! DO ASK IN THE ASKBOX AS I'VE SAID BEFORE. IF YA READ THIS FAR AND STILL RETAIN YOUR BRAINCELLS THAN WOW

I APPLAUD YOU HAHA

#narus' message corner #anon #this took more time than it should've because i procastinated im so sorry anon #but i hope ya'll enjoy #again next few updates can prove me wrong but like #from reading and rewatching the short animation and the other animation numerous times #i just lean more into this more than anything #i hope it wasn't too personalized either #i really try to not be subjective in these sort of analysises after all HAHA #dan heng #honkai star rail

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tadpolejourney · 21 days

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Thoughts on D&D alignments and BG3

Don't mind me, I just felt like spending my day off writing a philosophical essay about Baldur's Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons character alignments. I may or may not have been inspired by someone I admire here on tumblr. And by may, I mean yes, I was inspired by that. :) Everything that follows is my opinion as an experienced D&D player and dungeonmaster. My main motivations are being a 3.5 D&D nerd above all else, and wanting to educate others about a cool but misunderstood system in a game I love.

Respectful discussion and questions are highly encouraged! <3

Character Alignments in D&D

Alignments in older versions of D&D were much less about the morality of a character's choices, and more about the confluence of a character's values (good vs evil) and loyalties (law vs chaos). There is long-standing recognition among many D&D players that these alignments are merely guides to help you create a fully realized character and encourage good role-playing. Just as it is widely acknowledged that all characters are capable of changing and capable of surprising anyone when faced with a situation, even themselves. Flexibility is not only implied, but highly encouraged in response to an event, because it enriches role-playing. It also encourages creativity when you're making a truly unexpected character because that character still needs to make sense in the world they are in despite being rare or unique among their kind. For example, how would someone become a chaotic evil druid when typical druids are neither chaotic nor evil? How does that influence their actions and decisions as a druid? The potential for rich backstories and truly unique characters can multiply when thinking about a character in terms of their alignment. The broader concept of categorizing characters to better understand them isn't new or unique to D&D either. See also: Carl Jung's Archetypes.

Alignments are supposed to guide role-playing decisions, not dictate them or pass judgment on a character's worth. In D&D, players are not supposed to know the alignments of the other players' characters, and in fact alignments are often withheld from the dungeonmaster (DM) as well to limit meta-gaming. When your character's alignment can be revealed as a creative surprise to the whole table upon confrontation with a game mechanic that exposes you? That's fun. I heard fun is the point of games, idk.

Character Alignments and BG3

In the spirit of not making things fun, BG3 character alignments have become broadly associated with moral judgment of a character instead. Another mistake being made in the BG3 fandom over and over is the erroneous conflation that D&D 5.0 = all D&D ever. D&D 5.0 is D&D simplified and reworked to be more accessible to more players. This is a good thing at the end of the day, but resulted in a lot of difficulty imbalances, lost mechanics, and confusing remnants from the more robust versions of D&D. In the case of alignment, it should have been either included entirely or left out entirely. Instead it was left in name only, causing it to be often and easily misunderstood and misused.

Larian wisely left alignments off the character sheet in the game, and I'd like to think that was at least partly done out of reverence for D&D. It would take away from one of the most powerful experiences in BG3 that separates it from D&D: your choices, as the video game player, guiding and influencing ALL of the characters, not just the one you chose for yourself.

I consider the characters in BG3 to be well-written characters. Well-written characters are meant to be seen in multiple dimensions, and at best an alignment gives you 2. There will always be nuance in a complex, fully realized character that alignments just won't cover.

All alignments have two sides to them. The first side of an alignment is good, evil, or neutral, while the other side of an alignment is lawful, neutral, or chaotic. If both sides of their alignment are neutral, that character is considered a 'true neutral' (often simplified as neutral, sometimes referred to as neutral-neutral).

Good vs Evil in Alignments is Not a Value Judgment

The good vs. evil side of alignment is all about degrees, not about a character's worth. Anyone can be an asshole or an angel under the right circumstances. Good vs evil is about what they value most. A traditional argument for the meaning of goodness asserts that all killing/harming is evil, and therefore a truly good character would never harm anyone. On the opposite end, the simplified definition of evil is anyone who kills or harms others, regardless of their circumstances or motivations. These definitions are way too reductive and inflexible, and would be the worst framework for the good vs evil side of alignment. In D&D alignments, characters who fall along the good axis are primarily motivated by altruism no matter their loyalty. Characters that fall along the evil axis are most motivated by power no matter their loyalty. Neutral characters on the good vs evil side of alignment are most motivated by personal relationships.

What follows is my perspective on how alignments shake out for BG3 characters. For the sake of brevity, I provide either a single example or a short justification of why I think that character 'fits' within a given alignment only if needed. I also account for contexts where a character's alignment can change based on players' choices in BG3. This is presented along the law vs chaos side of alignment, rather than good vs. evil, to diminish moral knee-jerk reactions.

Chaotic Axis

Chaotic characters are not always actually chaotic by definition, nor are they selfish by definition. Characters in the chaotic axis are most loyal to personal autonomy rather than rules/duty (aka law).

Chaotic Good – places the highest value on freedom of choice. Different from personal choice, freedom of choice implies that all people should have liberty but not at the expense of the liberties of others. (Karlach's arc is largely driven by this.)

Chaotic Neutral – places the highest value on personal choice.(Astarion doesn't care if others' lives don't benefit from his personal gains. He won't commit an evil or altruistic act that would disrupt or compromise his ability to live how he wants to.)

Chaotic Evil – places the highest value on personal gain (Ascended Astarion, on the other hand, will harm or kill anyone to be and remain powerful, no matter the consequences. His romanced line about being two sovereigns when in reality you are subjugated by him is a good example of that shift in values. See also: Every devil in the game. Orin fits here in theory but her alignment is more chaotic stupid, which is a special circumstance I won't cover here.)

Neutral Axis

The neutral axis gets wacky, because true neutral is the only alignment where neutrality is typically the goal and neutral shows up on both sides of alignment. Neutrality is difficult if not impossible to maintain unless you're in a vacuum, and true neutral characters are the most difficult to role play correctly. It is rare that a true neutral character is presented in a way that makes them compelling and interesting. They are likely to read flat and/or as though they're missing something. This alignment isn't useless however, because true neutral alignment as something intentional and/or temporary allows for interesting characterizations not available to other alignments.

For neutral good or neutral evil characters, their neutral alignment is determined by them being most motivated by their values rather than their loyalties. For chaotic neutrals and lawful neutrals, the opposite is true: their loyalties come first.

Neutral Evil – places the highest value on total control. (The Emperor. The Netherbrain. Ketheric. Gortash. Don't feel like I need to explain these to anyone who has played through BG3.)

Neutral-Neutral (aka True Neutral) – all things are considered equally. They favor neither their loyalties nor their values when making decisions. Their typical actions neither directly harm nor directly help others. A character without specific motivations to maintain balance in all things (aka a true neutral that isn't a druid) is likely experiencing or has experienced something which prevents them from possessing strong convictions or values. (Shadowheart when you first meet her, literally only because she's missing chunks of her personality and nearly all of her personal history. Her attempts at conviction are shallow and unconvincing, and her values don't land consistently either. I'd put God of Ambition formerly known as Gale here too. He's not actively bringing harm or help to anyone. He's just kinda there, soaking in worship while being really detached, uninteresting, and uninvolved, as any god would be.)

Neutral Good – places the highest value on kindness/compassion for others. (Gale. How outraged Halsin is at the state of the refugee crisis in Baldur's Gate. Jaheira allying with the Astral Prism gang once she realizes they're on the same side, despite misgivings about them being infected. Selunite Shadowheart.)

Lawful Axis

The meaning of 'law' in the law vs chaos side of alignment is extremely flexible: duty, order, honor, justice, tradition, and rules, are all considered law. The lawful axis is for characters who place law first, above their values. The type of law is not necessarily indicative of the good vs evil side of their alignment, but there is a certain amount of boxing in that can take place. If the character's highest priority is fulfilling duties for an evil god, for example, they're lawful evil, period.

Lawful Evil – places the highest value on attaining and maintaining 'rightful' power. (Minthara embodies the lawful evil paladin archetype pretty fully. She has a malevolent sense of justice. See also: Dark Justiciar Shadowheart, Vlaakith's Zealot Lae'zel.)

Lawful Neutral – places the highest value on upholding law (Lae'zel. Duty is everything to her.)

Lawful Good – places the highest value on benevolent justice (Minsc and Wyll, always kicking ass for good and willing to sacrifice for it too. Killing may be an unfortunate side effect, but the values of lives are respected.)

A Scandalous Visual Representation

Final Thoughts

These are just examples, of course. There are many characterizations in which you can argue for an alignment where the standard description I provide here wouldn't apply. That is part of the fun of debating character alignments and thinking critically about what motivates the decisions of characters. As a creative tool, character alignment has value outside of the game as well. It facilitates that difficult process fan fiction writers go through of not being the original writer while trying to determine how a character would react, what they would do, and what they would say. Writers who can see characters in three dimensions are capable of expanding on any existing well-written universe with believable canon and stories. If you got this far, I appreciate you entertaining my rambles!

#apparently I just like school so much that I school even when I don't need to school #sorry if you're in college and an essay is the last thing you want/need #I hated writing essays the whole time I was forced to do it but now I'm really glad I developed the skills to write like this when I want t #bg3 #baldur's gate #baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #bg3 spoilers #baldur's gate oc #dungeons and dragons #d&d

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ryin-silverfish · 6 months

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Chapter 19: Pearls before Swine

-Pigsy started off the chapter with a long poem about his backstory, full of internal alchemy jargons that were mostly explained in the footnotes. So, instead of going into details, I'm just gonna talk about the general idea of "Reversal" in internal alchemy, namely, the reversal from Houtian("Post-Heaven") to Xiantian("Pre-Heaven").

-The trigram on the left of this picture is the Xiantian Trigram, aka Fuxi's Trigram, while the one on the right, the Houtian Trigram, aka King Wen's Trigram. Notice how in the former, the north and south position is occupied by Qian and Kun (Heaven and Earth), while in the latter, it's Li and Kan (Fire and Water)?

-Well, according to internal alchemy theory, the "Qian" of the Xiantian Trigram represents the primodial state of human existence, where the Spiritual Mind(元神) and Vital Energy(元气, or Qi) are one. Separated after birth, they morph into the "Li" and "Kan" of the Houtian Trigram, after the middle "⚊" in "☰", representing Vital Energy, switches place with the middle "⚋" in "☷" and causes the Spiritual Mind to become Yin-aligned.

-Cultivation is supposed to reverse the Li-Kan of Houtian back to the Qian-Kun of Xiantian through the fusing of the Spiritual Mind and Vital Energy, granting practitioners immortality in the process. Thus, the allusion to the "Li-dragon" and "Kan-tiger" in the poem.

-On a tangentially related note, according to the Book of Changes(周易), the Kan trigram is represented by the pig, which is but another example of the long-lasting tradition of associating pigs with the Water element in ancient Chinese culture.

-Fast forward to Pigsy officially joining the group: his religious name, Zhu Eight Rules, could be a reference to the 8 Buddhist prohibitions against killing, lying, stealing, sexual debauchery, indulgence in luxury, drinking, dancing and music, and eating out of regular hours.

-However, if we look at the sentence before that, Tripitaka states that Pigsy had "not eaten the five forbidden viands and the three undesirable foods"(五荤三厌). The first 5 refers to the Buddhist dietry restriction against five sorts of pungent vegetables, while the 3 undesirable foods are Daoist prohibitions against the consumption of wild geese, dogs, and fish/turtle.

-Personal story—I first read the full JTTW novel while hospitalized, and still vividly remembered how the book I borrowed from the nurse happened to be missing several pages in the Crow's Nest Master section. Anyways, who is this guy that popped out of nowhere just to give Tripitaka the Heart Sutra and make digs at his disciples?

-He appeared to be an amalgation of two figures:

1) The "Bird's Nest Master" recorded in the Buddhist history compendium 五灯会元, who lived atop a pine tree in Hang Zhou and was visited by the famous poet Bai Juyi. After Bai voiced some rather reasonable safety concerns about the whole "living on a tree" thing, he retorted that the poet was in an even more dangerous situation, sth sth being an official of the court is like amidst flames sth.

2) The filthy, sickly man who appeared in Xuanzang's biography, 大慈恩寺三藏法师传, and taught him the Heart Sutra in return for the monk's kindness, which would later ward him from demons and ghosts during the crossing of the desert.

-It's kinda fun to imagine him as an actual cultivated crow, working to attain Buddhahood, tho.

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