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arlathvhenan · 3 days

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I don’t really understand why people complain about the Inquisitor being somehow contrived into plot relevance when that’s sort of how all RPG video games work? At least when it comes to ‘PC saves the day’ type games. It’s kind of a given that some contrivance is necessary to get the Player front and center where the action is concerned.

The Warden was conveniently selected by Duncan to serve the order. Then they were conveniently saved by Flemeth, not out of kindness, but because Alistair happened to be relevant to Flemeth’s plans and The Warden happened to be with him when he was rescued.

Then you have Hawke, whom the plot demanded to be in Kirkwall, ergo Hawke conveniently had family there. Hawke also happened to be conveniently saved by Flemeth because—again—she had some scheme-hatchery afoot and for some damn reason happened to know that Hawke would be going to The Free Marches and she needed a gofer. Then you have the further contrivance with Corypheus and Hawke’s bloodline nonsense which I won’t even get into.

I don’t see how the Inquisitor is any more contrived than either of these two, in fact it kind of feels the least contrived given your character was literally in the wrong place at the wrong time. Everything after that falls neatly into place. You were screwing around where you shouldn’t have been, ended up with a power you don’t understand completely by accident, and now you’ve got enemies who either fear that power or want it for themselves. No Flemeth magically appearing at the start of the plot to nudge the protagonist this way or that.

And finally that brings me to Dreadwolf. There’s been a lot of chatter about DA needing to return to the Everyman protagonist, when I don’t see how they ever left? And to be frank, Dreadwolf is the one story where an Everyman protagonist makes the least sense and will therefore be the hardest to pull off. The new PC will basically be usurping the role that—if this were anything but a video game—would logically go to the Inquisitor, or Varric, or Dorian, or literally any of the characters who have a pre-established relationship with Solas. Narratively speaking, that’s what makes the most sense.

But they can’t do that. We need someone new. A nobody. And getting this nobody to be at the center of all this prophetic fate of the world business is going to take some level of contrivance. They will need to come up with a strong enough reason as to why this new character is exceptional enough to make world-changing decisions on behalf of everyone else in existence. We need a reason why Solas—our alleged antagonist—would take a special interest in this person or be otherwise tied to them because if not then what is the point of having them front and center?

Not saying it can’t be done, but they’ll need some really damn good excuses to justify the new perspective. And those excuses will probably be contrived. You don’t have the fate of the world resting on one person without massive contrivances.

#dragon age dreadwolf #dragon age inquisition #dragon age 2 #dragon age origins #dragon age #meta stuff

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unexpectedgeese · 2 years

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Orv: Spoiler warning

One of the things I noticed after finishing ORV was the way Kdj treats all of the characters. To be more specific, how that treatment compares and contrasts with how he views himself. There’s SO. MUCH. IRONY THERE!

He tells Lee Jihye that she needs to keep living, no matter what. That no matter what she’s done, she HAS to survive. That she deserves to live. That she will always deserve to live. And then he becomes the oldest dream- dooming himself to an endless end akin to death itself- because he thinks he deserves it.

He tells Shin Yoosung that in a pinch, he’d choose her life over all of Seoul. That there’s always a way to survive. That a sacrifice like that is never the right play. That all the shitty stuff she’s done? She’s done it to survive. And then he sacrifices himself, again and again and again, like he thinks it’s inevitable. He calls himself a monster for trying to survive a shitty childhood.

He tells Jang Hayeon that the only way to overcome a wall is to fight it. That everyone has a wall, that you will never truly understand someone, that you have to try anyway. And then he throws himself into the abyss and never explains why.

He tells his mother that her sacrifice was not kind. That martyring yourself to help someone will only ever hurt them. That a ‘kind’ lie will never be better than the cruel truth.And then he dies, again and again and again and again, to help his friend. And he lies about doing it.

Kim Dokja teaches those around him the exact lessons he needs to learn. He gives them the exact kindness he’s never received. He uses the story as an opportunity to explore that first question he asks us- what if my life was a different genre? The world changes. He finally gets the chance to be something other than a reader- and he doesn’t take it. Instead, he guides everyone else to the ending he wishes he could reach. Because, in his mind, that’s the happiest a reader can ever be.

And that reader- character divide is the reason that Kimcom’s plan in the epilogue actually works. When he views himself as a character, Kim Dokja is finally able to apply his love for the characters to himself. He can finally learn the lessons he’s been teaching the whole time- because although he’s still the reader, ‘Kim Dokja’ can finally be a character.

#orv #omniscient reader's viewpoint #literary analysis #long post #i just think it cool how Yjh's arc is about breaking free from being a protagonist #Hsy's is breaking free from being an author #and Kdj's is about breaking free from being a reader #but at the same time #just like how even when they break free from fate they return to it again #they all have to return to those roles in order to free themselves #Kdj becomes a reader to free Yjh from protagonist-hood #and then Yjh and hsy return to their roles to save him #idk i'll probably write a long-ass essay about how they reach the ends they want by perpetuating the cycle #but not right now #as always: if you have shit to add DO IT DO IT DO IT #regardless of quality

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my-insanity-is-an-artform · 8 days

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It had been a week since The Lamb had been summoned to The Gateway in the aftermath of Shamura’s death.

A week since The One Wh-… since Narinder had ordered them to kneel.

A week since they refused.

A week since they won.

A week since…

Since they had returned to the cult, bloody and victorious over their former patron, only to find him at the centre of a concerned crowd by the Indoctrination Circle.

Comatose.

The Lamb methodically tucked the blanket securely around Narinder’s still form. The only sign of life being the rise and fall of his thin chest. Whether the thinness was a sign of his former role as Death or due to his long imprisonment, the Lamb wasn’t sure but it was something of concern.

As was the gaunt look to his wrist, scarred and furless, with long oozing sores up his forearms.

“Oh, what am I going to do with you?” The Lamb murmured softly as they smoothed out the blanket.

While not entirely sure why Narinder had fallen into a coma, the Lamb suspected it might have been related to the shock of becoming mortal.

The wounds that were so easily shrugged off as a god were fatal to any mortal.

“I don’t know why I spared you. You demanded so much of me and took everything else. Maybe it was pity. Maybe I am just a coward like you said. Or perhaps I’m just tired of all the bloodshed. So many of us have died, mortal and divine and for what?” They soothed another fake wrinkle in the blanket.

They did not regret killing the Bishops. How could they when the four had stolen their entire people from them? The Genocide had started before they had been born and thus any chance of them knowing what it was like to be a Lamb, to know their culture, their heritage, was destroyed before it began. The fanaticism had extended to any who would show a lamb any form of mercy or those who tried to preserve anything of lamb culture.

The zealotry had even begun to affect other species as the number of lambs dwindled. Goats, antelopes, deer, bison, cattle, even llamas, all became rarer towards the end.

Cats, black ones especially, were also affected, being considered an ill omen and too many cats considered themselves allies of lambs to allow such brutality.

And for what?

The prophesised inevitable had finally come to pass. Five became Four became Three became Two became One became…

Nothing.

The Lamb began to gather the old, ichor-stained bandages they had replaced and threw them into a bowl. Cloths they had used to wipe Narinder down followed. The old bedding was thrown by the door, ready to be washed. They refused to allow anyone else care for him with only the healers being allowed to watch over him while they performed their duties away from his bedside.

An act of devotion, penitence and safeguard all rolled into one.

“It’s funny. I thought we’d do all sorts of things once you were free. I wanted to stay by your side. I wanted to show you my favourite fishing spot by the docks and show you where I picked all those camellias in the Darkwood. I wanted to make you my favourite meal.” They were quiet for a moment. “I wanted to know if I meant as much to you as you did to me. Even if I didn’t, I hoped you let me stay. I would’ve given anything, you know, but after everything I’d done for you, after all I had given, you just had to ask for the one thing I couldn’t do.”

The Lamb sat on the floor by the bed and rested their head on the cover, watching his face for even the smallest of reactions.

“If you hadn’t demanded that... If you had found another way… Would you have let me stay?”

Nothing.

Just the rise and fall of the thin chest.

Just as it had been for a week.

Just as it would be for a long time yet.

____________________________

Everyone: Narinder is pissed and tries to assassinate the Lamb when he's indoctrinated.

Me: What if he's comatose tho?

AU where the shock of becoming mortal after being imprisoned for so long causes Narinder's body to be so overwhelmed that he falls into a coma immediately upon arrival to the cult.

The Lamb, while feeling betrayed yet still devoted, decides to personally care for Narinder while he's comatose.

Rumours spread about the mysterious comatose new recruit and how the Lamb spends every moment they aren't caring for the Cult with him.

Some think something happened their leader blames themself for.

Others think it's out of duty and safeguarding since he's technically not been indoctrinated yet.

One very persistent rumour insists that the mystery person is actually the Lamb's lover who was hurt and now they cannot bear to part from his side.

Even when the Mystic Seller commands them to free the Bishops, the Lamb is slow to do so until it offers to help Narinder heal.

With every freed bishop, the stronger Narinder becomes.

Aym and Baal are resurrected and are the only ones allowed to help with Narinder while the Lamb frees the bishops. The only ones they can trust with Narinder.

The Lamb continues to talk to Narinder throughout everything about everything. All of their hopes and fears and plans are laid bare to him. Their feelings too.

(Maybe the bishops also talk to him. Quietly and on the rare moments that the Lamb isn't hovering by his side. Their own form of confessional.)

However, no one has any idea that Narinder can hear every word.

And then he wakes up.

#Cult of the Lamb #cotl #Cotl Lamb #colt narinder #cotl bishops #Narilamb #Coma Au #because come on #Going from divine to mortal has to be one hell of a system shock #the Bishops are ok because they died between going from divine to mortal #if anyone wants to take this au from me please do I have too many save me from myself #(insert She Doesn't Even Go Here gif)

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lol-jackles · 9 months

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hey! so, I want your opinion on soulless!sam, because I think jared did a great job playing this other version of sam

Soulless!Sam was a great character. I loved that in the beginning of season 6, he wasn't just acting as a SoullessSam, he was acting as SoullessSam faking being the real Sam for Dean, and there were many times where he almost but not quite convincing pull it off. Speaking as someone with a theater background, I was impressed with how Jared pulled it off as I wouldn't know how to approach that role. Often actors play the fake character fully as if they are the real character until the ta!da reveal.

First, what is a soul? In the SPN-verse, the soul is the person’s self. We’ve seen the souls of Dean, Sam, and Bobby in Heaven and Hell and they appear to be no different from themselves on Earth. What makes up the self is the conscious, subconscious, and emotion, which I like to call the trinity.

When we see soulless people on the show, they give into their worse impulses because there were no trinity to hold them in check. Some feel free once unshackled of their soul, some shackle themselves to prevent hurting others, some make the cold calculation for the "greater good", and others rely on people they admire for guidance. When Sam, Donatello, and Jack lost their souls, they cycle through those four reactions.

SoullessSam felt he became a better hunter when unshackled by a soul, but he also let Dean get turned into a vampire and killed Robin to take way the monster's leverage. Skill and rationality does not necessarily make for a great hunter. It has to be a balance between knowledge and the heart in order to make the best possible decision under the circumstances. Sam is all about the heart and always listening because he wants to help. SoullessSam has no heart and only listens to figure out how to mathematically come to the best scenario, though without taking in the value of an individual life.

SoullessSam's worst impulse was to tell the truth without softening the blow because he no longer feels the love (or guilt or shame) towards Dean or others. But without emotion, Soulless Sam can't make decisions for himself because all arguments are equal; emotions are the tie breakers. Dean recognizes this when he saw how blindly SoullessSam followed their grandfather's order. Then Sam left their grandfather to follow Dean even when he knew that Dean's endgoal for him was not in his best interest.

I was sympathetic for SoullessSam because he lived and experienced life, he's a fully sentient being and none of us could really blame him for trying to protect himself from being resouled, as he knew it would mean his death. In the end, Soulless Sam wasn’t evil, he just didn’t care.

Though SoullessSam said he did not love Dean, he still fell right back to the codependency pattern due to a lifetime of being brothers. It was basic Sam actually guiding Soulless Sam, not Dean. Sam has always taken responsibility for his actions (as those of others). Soulless Sam had access to all of Sam's memories, including his "it doesn't matter what you are, it only matters what you do" creed. It would have made sense for SoullessSam to adopt the creed that seems to be the heart of Sam's motivation and used it as his guide. And it can be reasonably argued that Soulless Sam is proof of Sam's inherently goodness. With Sam's memories and skills, SoullessSam could have done whatever he wanted and leave a trail of destructions. Instead he returned to the family business of hunting things and saving lives, despite the flawed execution of it.

#Soulless Sam #Supernatural #Sam Winchester

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prokopetz · 2 years

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I like reading your opinions on videogames and I like horror games so I'm curious to know which horror games would you recommend?

If you've been following this blog for any length of time, it should not terribly surprise you that I'm more into the brainfucky existential horror side of the genre than the jump-scares-and-butcher-knives side of the genre. My horror library also has a tendency toward extreme body horror – basically, assume every title mentioned in this post carries a content warning for body horror unless otherwise noted. If neither of those are deal-breakers, I have a few suggestions:

Discover My Body – A short point-and-click visual novel that casts the player in the role of a medical student interviewing a volunteer test subject as their body is gradually consumed by a parasitic fungus. Minor audio-only jump scares at a couple of points as the subject screams or shouts.

Dreaming Sarah – A side-scrolling take on the Yume Nikki fan-game genre; i.e., you explore a series of dream worlds, aided by everyday objects which grant strange powers. One of the least explicitly horror-y entry on this list, though not without content warnings of its own: self-harm and suicidal ideation, in this case.

The Fall – A sort of pseudo-metroidvania that’s really more of a point and click adventure game in disguise. You play as a suit of powered armour’s onboard AI, tasked with getting your injured pilot to safety. Like a lot of psychological horror titles, this one’s secretly about interrogating gender roles, though not in the way you might expect.

OneShot – The gimmick here is that, as the Messiah, the protagonist is aware of, and can talk to, God; i.e., the player. Lots of meta puzzles that play with the nature of the medium. (e.g., adjusting the game window, messing with files on your hard drive, etc.) This one’s a pure psychological horror title with no violence or body horror to speak of.

Oxenfree – An investigative walking sim in which the player character and her companions become trapped in some sort of alternate dimension and/or time loop (it’s not initially clear) and have to figure out what’s going on in order to escape. Not so much body horror as this list’s other entries, but somewhat more jump scares.

Perfect Vermin – A short (and free) first-person puzzle game where the player's task is to identify alien creatures that are impersonating office furniture and beat them to death with a sledgehammer. The body horror in this one is of a very particular strand; if you've ever lost a relative to cancer, you may wish to steer clear!

Return of the Obra Dinn – A first-person logical deduction puzzler in which you take on the role of an insurance investigator exploring a merchant ship full of mutilated corpses, trying to figure out how each crew member died, aided by a magic stopwatch that lets you view brief snippets of the past.

Rusty Lake: Roots – Rusty Lake is a long-running series of Flash based point and click escape room puzzlers. Roots is one of the more approachable entry points; it’s gotten past the early-instalment jank, but isn’t yet so deep into the lore that it’s impossible to figure out what the hell is going on without consulting the fandom wiki.

Stray Cat Crossing – Picture one of those so-stylish-it-hurts indie JRPGs and subtract all the combat and you’ll have basically the right idea about this one. A couple of audio jump scares; additional content warnings for child injury and death, as well as one character that does the disability-as-body-horror thing. (Specifically, blindness.)

The Swapper – A physics puzzler where the player is given a cloning gun that lets them duplicate themselves and transfer (i.e., “swap”) their consciousness among the duplicates. The horror comes from a remarkably in-depth exploration of what the game’s mechanical gimmick implies about the nature of identity.

They Breathe – A short-form survival horror game (a typical playthrough takes about 15 minutes) where you play as a frog – like, not a mutant frog-person or anything, just a regular frog – exploring the depths of a flooded forest. In spite of the innocuous premise, probably one of the more fucked up titles on this list!

We Know the Devil – A choose-your-own-adventure style VN where three kids at a Christian summer camp are forced to participate in a bizarre ritual which will ostensibly culminate in them confronting, and defeating, the Devil. Additional content warnings for religious abuse of children and discussion of homophobic/transphobic violence.

I’m going to arbitrarily cap it at a dozen entries because I’d just keep going forever if I didn’t; however, if anything on this list particularly catches your eye, I may be able to offer more recommendations in a similar vein.

#gaming #video games #video game recommendations #body horror #ableism #violence mention #death mention #self harm mention #suicide mention #child abuse mention #religion mention #homophobia mention #transphobia mention #swearing

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horizoneffect · 9 months

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2d6 table for law enforcement methods in D&D

So recently I've been thinking about how to portray dystopias in D&D, which is something that's harder for me to do well than it sounds. Most of the cruelly authoritarian governments I'm familiar with existed post-1900, which doesn't vibe with D&D's fantasy setting... So I've been dredging up my historical knowledge of awful governments, and as someone working on a thievery campaign, this has made me think of different methods of law enforcement.

Feel free to use the table below either as a 2d6 table, or simply as a list of ideas. Something I realized while making this is that methods of law enforcement are intricately connected with details about the town in question: who lives there? What kind of life do they live? Urban or pastoral setting? Large town or small town? What is the town like, socially -- do people put a lot of credence in religion, their neighbors, their in-group or family, the law, reason, or technology? For this reason the table below is intentionally generic.

If anyone has recommendations for other possible methods of fantastical law enforcement (trial by ordeal involving a dark cave and a dragon?), please add them below. Also please share if you have historical inspiration for awful governments (1700s Britain, 1500s Italy, the entire history of colonialism -- seriously, the concept of the existence of a company given monarchical and therefore divine right to rule over an entire nation is ripe for inspiration imo.)

In this town, lawbreakers are detected and apprehended in the following way (roll 2d6):

2 - Everybody knows and likes everybody. There's no need for any sort of law enforcement.

3 - When a crime is committed, the members of the victim's family are honor-bound to discover the perpetrator.

4 - A religious order divines information about criminals in cases of particularly heinous or sacrilegious crime. Then, the order's knights are sent to apprehend the suspects.

5 - Wealthy noble families, who have taken on the role of steward of the town, court mercenary groups to provide security as a favor to the public.

6 - The town is policed by members of the military, who are taken from the ranks of the imperial army, or the army of an occupying power.

7 - Town guards patrol the city. In smaller towns they simply keep an eye out for trouble; in larger towns they are given a set beat; in still larger cities they are assigned to separate locations and perhaps assisted with magical defense systems.

8 - Any citizen who has been wronged can submit an appeal for aid to their lord, who, in exchange for fealty, is in charge of marshaling forces to catch the perpetrator.

9 - Roll again, ignoring other rolls of 9. One of the other systems here is in place, but has gone wrong. Citizens often rely on hiring adventurers to solve crimes, and they must contend with the danger that a corrupt form of justice poses.

10 - Vigilante organizations have formed, which keep order in return for the citizens' respect. Whether or not those organizations themselves are legal is an open question.

11 - There is no real law enforcement to speak of, because no one follows the laws. Citizens pay protection money to the city's emboldened crime syndicates, which compete for territory, subjects, and power.

12 - Crime? What crime? Under the Dread-queen, all is peace.

#dnd #dnd campaign #dnd ideas #dm ideas #history

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agonycrossbow · 2 months

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Thinking about the complete and total role reversal that must have inevitably happened after Leon and Ashley got home from Spain and how how quickly the fairy tale came unraveled as soon as they touched back down into reality.

Fairytale Leon: The strong, honorable, fearless knight who walks through fire and water and mud and shit with his head held high and moves forward, undaunted, towards his goal. Feels more like a force of nature than a man, as he leaves a trail of violence and chaos in his wake, with the blood of his enemies sprayed across his face and in his hair. He's in charge and inescapable; woe betide the man who crosses his path.

Reality Leon: Soft-spoken and almost demure, with his eyes almost constantly turned downcast as he walks to wherever he's told to go -- an unquestioning "Yes, sir" following every order. His body armor has been traded in for a well-pressed suit that seems almost too clean -- and despite having been tailored specifically for his measurements, doesn't look like it fits him right. Always seems at a distance, as though he's perpetually standing just out of reach.

Fairytale Ashley: The warm-hearted and free-spirited princess fair who keeps the light of hope burning and charms the honorable knight with her easy smile and welcoming personality. Her presence is like a home away from home, as she's fair-minded and treats everyone with respect. She's exactly as strong as she needs to be, as she's inspired by the strength of those around her -- which then inspires those people further in return.

Reality Ashley: Cold and closed off for the sake of keeping up appearances. Too afraid to show any emotion that's too strong or hold an opinion that's too controversial due to the looming consequence of potential backlash. Everything in her life is dictated by her station, forcing her into a selfish and self-centered lifestyle that sees her only interacting with her Equals.

Thinking about Leon and Ashley passing each other in the halls of the White House or at some official government event and only allowing themselves a quick second or two to look at the other as though they're just window-shopping for something that they know is forever out of their reach.

Thinking about the cognitive dissonance of "I know you and feel safe with you and want to be with you" lingering from the memory of their shared fairy tale being paired with the reality of "I don't really know you at all, do I?" and the forbidden longing that never gets addressed or resolved, causing each of them to have a certain level of identity crisis.

Thinking about how surprisingly and upsettingly different it feels when they finally take a second to acknowledge and talk to each other. Neither of them really knows what to say or how to address the other. The thought of casually putting a hand on Ashley's shoulder feels invasive and almost wrong to Leon, despite having held her in his arms so, so many times. Ashley wants nothing more than to reach out and touch him -- to adjust the lapel of his suit jacket or straighten his tie, but for some reason it feels like there's an invisible wall between them -- that, even if she were to reach out, her touch would never really reach him. Because they're strangers to each other now in a strange setting, and all of the rules have been rewritten, and nothing feels like it should.

#resident evil meta #eagleone analysis #resident evil headcanons #eagleone headcanons

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silverwhittlingknife · 1 year

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Idk if you read ao3 but if you do…….. got any Dick fics to share?

afdsf You have come to the right place. I read so much ao3, anon.

Dick Grayson Fanfic Recs

General notes: This is a mix of fics I associate with Dick, so some are straightforwardly "this is Dick's POV and a story about him" (like a soft place to land) whereas some are more loosely "this is the POV of one of his siblings who's just thinking about Dick a lot." Post-Crisis is my favorite continuity/tone, so everything is post-Crisis unless otherwise noted, but I happily read nu52/Rebirth or WFA-style fics when I like the authors, so there are some of those in here too.

I just skimmed through my bookmarks and picked out some fics I have fond memories of, so I tried to add content warnings when I remembered, but caveat lector - check the warnings in each individual fic before you read! (Mostly: be advised that there are both Good Dad Bruce and Bad Dad Bruce stories.)

Things I like include plotty long fics, timeline shenanigans like de-aging (and broadly, anything that emphasizes change over time), angst and hurt/comfort, characters with flaws and interpersonal tensions and misunderstandings (and reconciliations <3), explorations of trauma and grief, and Dick and Tim's relationship. So, uh, this rec list is going to be pretty shaped by those preferences.

Okay! Let's do this.

Organization:

Plotty ensemble fics with Dick in a lead role

Dick & Tim fics

Dick & Bruce fics

Dick & Jason fics

Dick & Damian fics

Fics that didn't fit into the other categories

Plotty ensemble fics with Dick in a lead role:

Exactly How This Grace Thing Works by irnan: Dick gets de-aged. You'd think this would be a routine thing. This fic is so great, you guys.

How Far Love Goes by flybynightwing: This one isn't just about Dick - it's an ensemble fic with great plotting and great writing for everyone, especially Steph - but at its heart is a very careful consideration of Dick and Bruce's relationship in all its complexities, from the bonkers highs of Golden and Silver Age comics to the darkest parts of post-Crisis and new 52. (cw: parental abuse, read the content warnings carefully)

from the till-then to the ever-since by kieron_oduibhir: This isn't precisely Dick-centric so much as it's mostly Dick-POV, but it's really good! Everybody meets their younger selves, and I especially enjoy the contrasts between Robin!Dick and Nightwing!Dick.

'no' and other four-letter words by a_good_soldier: Dick reassessing everything with Catalina, much later. (cw mentions of rape)

the man with guns for eyes by 8sword: Dick comes back from the dead. New 52 continuity, post-Spyral. Angst.

bad signal by prismatic-et-al: Not Dick's POV, but it's a great ensemble fic with Dick at the center. Hard to say more without spoiling the plot.

Dick and Tim fics:

a soft place to land by bitimdrake: Tim gives Dick a gift on the One Year Later cruise. Possibly my favorite Dick and Tim fic in the history of time ever. Perfect character voices, perfect story, perfect everything. <333 I reread it regularly.

long distance by bitimdrake: AU where Bruce is really dead and Dick finally gets a phone call from Tim. It's so sad and lives in my mind rent-free. (I also really love pain/release, which is hurt/comfort for Tim.)

Holding the Line by birdchild: Dick having anxiety dreams and getting comforted by Tim. ;_; Very canon-conscious with lots of thoughtfully-integrated references. Part of a really wonderfully-written Tim-and-Damian-centric series, and you probably have to read the series in order to understand this one-shot - and if you like those characters at all, you should!

When It Rains by vellaphoria: After Cass and Tim return from Paris, something seems… wrong. Dick investigates and ends up facing memories of his own. Really nice balance of dealing with ignored-by-canon traumas but the characters still sound like themselves (cw mentions of rape)

We've Taken Different Paths, Traveled Different Roads by sohotthateveryonedied: A moment of reconciliation post-Blackest Night ;_;

The Center Cannot Hold by kieron_oduibhir: Dick having a bad day and getting comforted by Tim and Bruce. New 52/Rebirth continuity.

the oracle at delphi by kieron_oduibhir: Future fic. The POV characters observe Dick and Tim. Hard to say more without spoilers. Trust me, it's very clever!!

Choco Bombs by lurkinglurkerwholurks: Tim POV, but the focus is on a moment of Tim comforting Dick in the Red Robin era. Mostly WFA-style but with post-Crisis influence. (The same author also has some excellent longer ensemble fics where Dick plays a minor role but is consistently well-written when he shows up.)

wake me up before you go go by incogneat_oh: short one-shot: Tim sneaks into Dick's apartment, Robin-era. General note - I only picked out two one-shots, but this author has done a bunch of WFA-style fics which are universally charming and lots of fun.

there'll always be a few things, maybe several things by incogneat_oh: short one-shot: Dick seeks out Tim after a nightmare, Red Robin-era. ;_; Low-key angst.

Road to Damascus by irrelevant: dark AU where Batman kills Zucco and Dick's parents don't die. Fascinating world-building and great character voices. (cw: explicit sex scene between Dick and an OC early in the fic - it's not important and you can skip it but just generally think of this fic as an r-rated movie)

There in the sudden blackness by camsthiSky: Dick and Tim tension in the Batman: Reborn era. Dick and Tim POVs.

things that don't kill us by polsvoice: This one's really Tim-centric but it's all about Tim missing Dick ;_;. After the events of Batman #71, Tim makes a visit to Ric. Nu52/Rebirth era, Tim POV.

and the shapes that you drew may change beneath a different light by popsunner: Tim-centric but I think of it as being about Dick because his absence is the hole that the whole fic's shaped around. ;_; Nu52/Rebirth era, Tim POV, Tim and Damian bonding in the aftermath of Dick's death.

spill of the war by 2012bookworm: "You dosed yourself. With Joker venom." Tim-centric, but Dick is a major character, trying to fix Tim while not-so-secretly crumbling himself. Dick's a barista, but not done in the way you'd expect. Very angsty.

exit wounds by Shari Deschain: very short one-shot in the very early days of Tim-as-Robin

Dick and Bruce fics:

almost right by bitimdrake: Bruce-centric, but it's about his relationship with Dick. (cw mentions of parental abuse)

in the dark of the night by fanfictiongreenirises: Dick & Bruce, through the years. AU where Dick gets adopted last.

deep roots are not reached by the frost by fanfictiongreenirises: in a future where everyone gets along, Dick gets de-aged to several different ages and has to process how the world has changed. I love how different the various incarnations of Dick feel. (cw mentions of rape and parental abuse)

shoulder to shoulder by lurkinglurkerwholurks: Dick and Bruce at Janet Drake's funeral.

the lower and coarser soul by dustorange: absolutely perfect slice-of-life with Dick, Bruce, and Tim (cw mention of Bruce punching Dick)

Dick and Jason fics:

Recollect, re-collect by Ptelea: A spell gone wrong leads to Jason reassessing some things. Jason-centric, but it's mostly about his relationship with Dick. Fantastic writing and plotting. New 52/Rebirth continuity (Spyral, Tim's close to Jason instead of Dick, etc.).

The 70 Days After Groundhog Day by Ptelea: Fascinating concept - Jason experiences a traumatizing Groundhog Day, but the whole fic is from Dick's POV in the aftermath as he pieces together what happened - and wonderful slow-burn writing. New 52/Rebirth continuity. (cw: mentions of rape).

Dick and Damian fics:

the primacy of personal conscience by birdsofthesoul: Brilliant concept (a wishing well that grants wishes - but it might be evil!), whirlwind plot, and a great take on Dick that doesn't lose his edge. Damian is a minor character but an important part of Dick's motivations. Read if only for my favorite take on Talia ever in the last chapter. New 52/Rebirth continuity.

3:16 by partingxshot: With faltering steps, Dick and Damian become Batman and Robin. Lovely writing. Canon notes: closely tracks Morrison's B&R and Leviathan.

Fics that didn't fit into my other categories:

It's a Wonderful Earth-218 by flybynightwing: I asked for an It's a Wonderful Life-style fic starring Dick and then I GOT ONE, proving that miracles are real and flybynightwing performs them. <3

If you just call me by flybynightwing: Dick and Donna, through the years.

continuous tense by batofgoodintent: Fix-it for the Mirage plotline. DickKory.

Let Us Be Brave and i want to wake up (i hate this dream) by camsthiSky: One-shots with Dick-as-Batman, depressed and grieving.

Don't You Forget About Me by sohotthateveryonedied: Everybody forgets Dick. ;_; One-shot.

touch starved by envysparkler: Dick is touch-starved and then gets hugged a lot. WFA-style.

feast by envysparkler: The Batkids are magical creatures that feed on pleasure from cuddle piles. Gen ensemble; ch. 1 is Dick & Jason and ch. 4 is Dick & Tim. WFA-style.

Also, I write stories about Dick & Tim sometimes, so, uh. If you're interested, there's

the WIP where Dick meets Tim for the first and second and third time and finds him really annoying,

the one where they spend Christmas Eve together and inch closer to being brothers,

the one where Tim is a wimp,

the one where Dick catches a falling Tim in RR 12, and

the WIP where Dick's trying to solve a mystery and everybody's mad at each other (this one's gonna be heartwarming eventually I promise!! later).

Snippets: Tim's imprisoned in fantasy!Russia and Dick has to disguise himself as an interrogator to rescue him, outline of an angsty fic of Dick and Tim in a world with soulmarks.

In conclusion

Dick is the best blorbo ever to blorbo. There are more fics in his character tag than for any of the other Batkids and yet there will never be enough <3

#ask tag #fic recs #dick grayson #<333 the BOY #there are even more fics that i like but this has taken wayyyy too long already asdfsdfa #anyway these are all ones i like a lot #also both fantastic-nonsense and upswings have good rec lists if you want to check those out!!#by the way wfa-style doesn't actually mean ''set in wfa continuity''#it's more ''probably loosely au / you're more likely to enjoy this if you also like wfa / cute things probably happen''#this is not a scientific category it's just based on ~vibes~ sdfdsfs

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sapphire-weapon · 9 months

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#resident evil 4 #leon kennedy #ashley graham #eagleone #WHY DO I HAVE TO WORK FOR A LIVING I WANT TO WRITE THIS FIC

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dailycharacteroption · 2 months

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Roleplaying Races 15: Caligni

(art by BryanFRosadoArt on DeviantArt)

When Earthfall came and Azlant fell, the survivors of that devastation fled in a diaspora that reached not just other human societies, but underwater, underground, and even the plane of shadow.

The act of doing so left these humans in strange places, and often at the mercy of powerful beings. All of which caused these humans to change and adapt. Respectively, these humans became the azarketi (gillmen), the morlocks and munavri, as well as fetchlings and today’s subject, the caligni.

Like fetchlings, the caligni, originally named for the settlement of Calignos in the Mindspin Mountains, are marked by the Plane of Shadow, but in a much different way. Indeed, the Azlanti humans that would become Caligni were contacted by a group of shadowy demigods known as the Forsaken, who offer succor in the Plane of Shadow while Earthfall passed in return for worship, and used powerful artifacts called the Cradles of Night to transform them into the Caligni, also known as Dark Folk. Devoid of all color and fearing the light, they were very much creatures of shadow, but the more this relationship went on, the clearer it became how much the Forsaken had twisted them. Many consistent mutations began to appear which quickly separated the dark folk as a whole into several castes. Some were born shrunken and squat, others without eyes but possessing incredibly keen senses, and so on.

This of course was the plan all along, for the Forsaken wished to use the worship of the Caligni to help them escape the Plane of Shadow. However, an unknown calamity devastated the Forsaken, forcing them to abandon those plans and retreat deeper into darkness.

But they did not abandon the Caligni entirely, their messengers, the owbs, soon appeared afterwards to act as the mouthpieces of the Forsaken, though only a rare few actually establish divine contact with those demideities, and none actually fulfill their role as go-between, granting divine power to the worshipful dark folk, proving just as treacherous as their masters. However, the owbs did continue where the Forsaken left off, ruling a broken people that were utterly dependent upon them.

However, while most Dark Folk are twisted in body and mind, there are a rare few that are born looking almost entirely human. These are the caligni we are talking about today. These genetic throwbacks are a cause for great celebration among their kind, but they are also in great danger from day one as one of the dark stalker or owb masters might decide that they are a threat to the clan, leading many to die young. Those that do survive into adulthood are not shackled in mind or body by the influence of the owb or the Forsaken the way their kinsfolk are, and may yet be the best bet for the caligni people to one day return to being a free people.

Most that do realize the danger they are in from the power structure of their society, and therefore leave, often becoming adventurers or mercenaries and plying their natural abilities in the dark to get by, perhaps to come back and free their clans, or maybe just to be free of that society.

These “pure” caligni typically stand at about 6 ft tall and resemble humans with pale, ashen skin that darkens near the extremities. Most tend to wear dark hodge-podge rags to cover their whole bodies, but they don’t have the same aversion to being unclothed as other dark folk, and typically have the cleanliness to actually wash their clothing and themselves. As such, their fashion senses can actually be quite varied, picking up from the societies they interact with.

As a people that typically abandon their kin in order to survive, caligni don’t have a society of their own for the most part. Those that dare to remain may hold the same or even greater power as dark stalkers, which only puts them in danger. Those that leave likely remain insular, but pick up cultural norms from their adopted societies, though their aversion to light and appearance means they may feel estranged there as well. Perhaps the place where caligni find the most acceptance is among fellow misfits, ranging from adventuring parties to outcast drow to planar scion communes and the like.

Caligni are agile and tough, but growing up in an insular and stagnant society blunts their curiosity and makes them less inquisitive.

As creatures of true darkness, these dark folk go beyond mere night vision to be able to see perfectly in darkness, even that created by powerful magic.

That night-sight, however, makes them vulnerable to bright light, though they are not fully blinded by it.

Like their kin, caligni explode in a blaze of light upon death. However, unlike their other kin, they are not totally obliterated, leaving behind a shriveled and shrunken body that can be used for resurrection.

Sadly there has been no significant expansion to the caligni ancestry, but I think there’s some interesting potential there.

With the dex and con bonuses, not to mention their ability to see perfectly in all darkness, caligni make excellent rogues, ninjas and slayers, as well as more tanky combat classes and builds such as barbarian, fighter, and swashbuckler. Any build or archetype that attacks from stealth is a good option here, really. What’s more, their con bonus would make being a kineticist a neat option, particularly if you void as your element as a chaokineticist. Additionally, shadow-themed builds and archetypes are very thematic for them as well. Their penalty to intelligence weakens them as certain casters and skilled builds, but not enough to be a major problem.

That does it for today, but we’ve only gotten started on this pentultimate special on 1st edition ancestries! (that’s right, this is the second to last time we’ll be doing this!)

#pathfinder #race #caligni #bestiary 5 #dark folk

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everlastiingiimmortals · 4 months

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I was waffling about last night and thinking about the NPCs and other dialogue or commentary relating to Jing Yuan, as one does, and I gotta say with Huohuo, Hanya, and Xueyi added to the ever growing list the understanding that nobody really knows or properly values Jing Yuan (anymore, or maybe never at all) only gets more depressing. You have the horrifying realization that, once again, he is deified and removed so far from his identity as a person with Huohuo's voiceline about his portrait supposedly bringing good luck.

But the more unsettling lines come from the sister Judges themselves. Xueyi comments on his loyalty to the Ten-Lords instead.

This line always struck me as odd, because as far as we know the Ten-Lords do not operate on the same plane as the other six Commissions, and furthermore they are above the other Commissions. They do not require the loyalty of the general, though yes — the general of each ship will work closely with the Ten-Lords, and so cooperation is necessary, but loyalty? Why this word specifically?

We know that the Ten-Lords are not keen on letting their criminals go. To this day, Xueyi still hunts Blade. The preceptors had to fight tooth and nail for Dan Feng to not outright be destroyed, had to beg the Ten-Lords through an appeal to Jing Yuan and the other Charioteers for mercy and permission to have Dan Feng seal the Arbor back up. But the decision to free and exile Dan Heng was entirely Jing Yuan's own. We also know that most people on the Luofu do not recognize Dan Heng as his own person, as he carries Dan Feng's karmic responsibility.

If the Ten-Lords are as strict as we are repeatedly led to believe, why agree to Jing Yuan's exile order for Dan Heng...

...unless they got something from him in return?

To go back to the voicelines, we know that the Ten-Lords have the ability to reverse or negate the effects of mara within those under their command (as what happened with Hanya and Xueyi). And it seems like Hanya, despite being a Judge, has absolutely no idea how Jing Yuan is still alive, still sane. With Jing Yuan's habit of retiring his soldiers early if possible to reduce the risk of early onset mara, it's all the more strange that he has been through some of the worst events in the Luofu's history and still shows no sign of developing mara, and has stayed in his seat for seven centuries when most generals don't survive one.

Could it be, I wonder, that he traded himself in exchange for Dan Heng's freedom?

Looking at it from this lens, his behavior makes more sense. His loyalty to the Ten-Lords makes more sense. His jokes about retirement, and "taking the fall" for Fu Xuan makes more sense. He refers to the Ten-Lords as a yoke, one that "reins in our long lives", yet while from a superficial perspective it is obvious he is talking about the Ten-Lords' role as a surrogate for death, Jing Yuan rarely ever speaks without double meaning. A yoke's connotation is one of servitude and submission. From this standpoint, he is also talking about himself, bound to the Ten-Lords to ultimately join their ranks when his time as general is up.

#Willow Rambles #unhinged theory posting more at 11 #not tagging this w my hc tag because i'm not sure if i wanna commit to this w my interpretation #but oh goddddd OH GODDDDDDDDDD APOLLO DONT COME FOR MY ASS PLEASE

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krovscastlerpg · 6 months

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DANCE, DANCE 'TIL YOU'RE DEAD

Welcome to the Krovs Halloween festivities!

Krovs Town has been decked out with fog, jack-o'-lanterns, cobwebs, and all kinds of spooky decorations lining the streets upon entering the quaint village. The main events take place along Oymyakon Street where the hottest bars and clubs, like Cannabites and Euphoria, are hosting parties with special themed drinks, food, and music for dancing among other activities. The enchanted park has been turned into something quite frightening bathed in moonlight. Here attendees can partake in a haunted maze cursed with nightmare magic to bring forth the worst nightmares and fears as realistic illusions for those brave enough to venture through.

We hope you all enjoy yourselves!

Please note that our full moon mini-event has ENDED. No more posts should be started related to this at this time, however, anything already begun can continue for as long as needed.

DRESS CODE

Halloween costumes are strongly encouraged for this event!

Masters, staff members, and villagers all can pick their own costumes.

Claimed and purchased slaves should discuss with their owners if they will choose something for them or allow them to pick for themselves.

Unclaimed slaves will have costumes chosen for them by the castle – these can be anything given that there’s no theme this year, however, the possibility of them showing more than enough skin is pretty high. (Players will choose these costumes themselves from the castle)

EVENT TASK

Post your characters’ Halloween costumes now that the event has begun! Make sure to tag these posts as #krovscastletask so we can all see and enjoy them.

OOC RULES

Our Halloween event will run OOC until 12PM EST Monday, November 6th. In game, this event will take place only on Halloween night (October 31st). Like always, players are free to choose if they wish to participate or not.

Players should only post starters that are related to the event now that it has begun. Please tag all open starters only with #event starter and #krovscastlestarter. Make sure to @krovscastlestarters as well! Our rules on open starters in terms of limits and response requirements still apply; please see here for information. Please do NOT use the #krovscastleevent tag so that players can easily find event information without starters clogging this tag. Keep in mind to reply to other open starters being posted. Open starters that are not related to the event will be reblogged after it has ended. Any starters prior to the event needing five responders will be advertised after our event ends.

Anyone looking to post event-related open starters should do so by Friday (11/3) evening. This is to ensure that all event open starters receive enough responders before our event ends next Monday. Any open starters for the event posted after Friday will NOT be accepted.

Players can choose whether they would like to place prior threads on hold to focus on event threads, however, this is not mandatory. All we ask is that players communicate with their partners or drop a note in the OOC about their thread status.

Rules for masters, slaves, staff, and villagers still apply in Krovs Town! This means anyone, regardless of their role, who misbehaves or breaks town rules will be taken into custody or fined by the interim chief of police or his officers.

Unclaimed slaves are advised to behave their best and follow any orders they’ll receive. They are allowed to wander through town this evening without escorts to enjoy all the fun properly. Police officers and guards who have volunteered to work the event are everywhere and will report all misbehaving slaves to the police chief or enforcer. After the event, all unclaimed slaves will be returned to the Undercroft where they’ll be given a decent meal and allowed to shower.

Claims and purchases will stay intact throughout the event and all individual collars and marks will remain as well. Unclaimed slaves and staff members will continue to wear their usual collars, which can only be taken off by a master.

Applications will still be accepted during the event week.

Players, please LIKE this post so that we know it has been read.

#krovscastleevent #krovs halloween 2023

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plumbley-bee · 1 year

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What if the brothers Grimm are affecting and partially responsible for the Time of Shadows but are not necessarily the bad guys

So hear me out, the fairies are the ones who want the fairytales to return to normal but we also know that the fairytales themselves are in their nature these horrible terrible things. And the things that have gone wrong have partially been because of the times of shadow but they've also been caused by the natural progression of the stories after they end.

So my theory is this. The Brothers Grimm saw the world they lived in being governed and almost controlled by the fate these faries desperately wanted to uphold and they saw how inherently awful these fates actually were so in their own twist way they started rewriting some of it to free the characters from these stories. Miss muffet is destined to be afraid? Well if she is the thing she fears she can't be afraid of it now can she? Sleeping beauty is destined to fall in love and be with a man who's willing to kiss an unconscious 18 year old girl without her consent? Well let's have the Briars who want to protect her be the type of love that wakes her up. I want them to basically be these story tellers who are not necessarily good, but not necessarily bad either. They see this world as already dark and twisted so they figure the only way to escape it is to twist them even more. Make them dark in a way that toughens up the people in them so they can learn to carve their own fate in the end.

But I don't think they affect every tale as I said before the stories themselves are inherently twisted. For instance Pinocchio can only be a real boy if he doesn't lie, but then he has to lie in order to save his father which turns him back into a puppet. This dark twist of fate was already woven into his story from the beginning. Same with Gerard. He was cursed to be a frog as a child until he found true love but you don't just 'get' love, it's something that requires upkeep and effort. Both of those stories were touched and caused by the fairies, and it was the nature of the fairies magic that made their stories eventually turn out like this in the end.

Then you have Pib, who is a trickster. A separate entity entirely from the storytellers and the fairies. He's literally just there to fuck shit up, and it's his own fuckery of making a miller's son a king that causes the kingdom to fall because this poor little farm boy doesn't know shit about ruling. Pibs story is eventually affected by the Times of Shadow, but its more just the side effects of it and his own fuckery that is his downfall.

What I'm getting at is I think there are more forces at play here than just one bbeg. The nature of the world was always wrong and you have the fairies who want it to stay the way it was, (which was still not great) and you have the people trying to change it in their own ways, aka the princesses, and the storytellers. All of these forces are acting within their own power to make the world right again but they all have different ways of doing so and it is clashing into one another as this sort of domino effect that is causing the times of shadow as a whole.

The biggest mystery for me though is the big bad wolf and his part to play in all this. Red and the wolf seem much more important then maybe we are at first led to believe and I still don't entirely know the wolf's role in all of this yet, but it's not farfetched that he is his own being, a representation of the repetitive stories and multiverse they live in. Because the big bad wolf always gets defeated, he always dies. And we know what happens to those who die in the neverafter sometimes. So how has that many deaths made the big bad wolf what he is now? And is that why he wanted red to kill him? Idk there's still so much left to learn and this is all speculation and basically just a fun what if bc honestly I'll love wherever brennen ends up taking the story in the end.

#dimension 20 spoilers #Neverafter #d20 neverafter #ylfa snorgelsson #pinocchio #puss in boots #mother timothy goose #rosamund du prix #pib neverafter #gerard of greenleigh

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muzzleroars · 11 months

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hi its the return of song guy. today i bring you a holy council song: DOKUZU/scum of the earth by nakiso. this thing lives rent free in my brain bc it fits the holy council soooo much holy shit its so fucked up

ouuughhhh i love having the chance to talk about the holy council and how genuinely awful they seem because i'm just so sure they used every part of how heaven operates and its inhabitant's fear to ensure their preserved reign, and specifically how they used it in their control over gabriel. they're a group of angels that took over the throne of god and that should have been immediately deemed as high heresy regardless of its vacancy, but they surely couched it by reassuring everyone that this was temporary, an interim solution, and it would bring back peace. they understood god's law and they would rule to his letter until he returned. and the citizens needed that, angels needed that, they needed to feel safe and they needed to have structure. and once they were given that in, they knew precisely how to rule in a kingdom as necessarily dogmatic as heaven - to voice dissent to their rulings would be to voice dissent against god himself. and that proved obviously effective with the masses, but, most importantly, to be just as effective personally with gabriel.

angels would likely naturally fear dissent - they are made to do a job and do it well without question, each of them knowing what happened to lucifer when he refused his rank (or so they're told). and higher angels command those lower, with the four archangels, and so gabriel, actually being in a rather unique position in this aspect as it's thought they derive their title from their ability to issue special orders to the hosts. however, the four are also often connected to the "living creatures" mentioned in ezekiel which uphold god's throne...and so regardless of gabriel's rank, it's likely that he would have a natural inclination to obey the council as they are now occupying that throne. it's his job, it's his position, he is one of the four pillars that must create the base of the throne and so god's law, and he falls right into that role even though said law has been transposed. and i KNOW the council members were absolutely aware of this because i still maintain that their control and eventual execution of gabriel was all planned due to how his rank and popularity would be just about the only thing that might challenge their authority. so they use his instinct to serve their position (if not themselves) as their first point of control over him, but that tendency isn't enough. it gives them a foundation, but what this song really makes me think of (TOOK ME AWHILE TO GET HERE I KNOW) is the idea that maybe gabriel did, in the beginning, attempt to use his position to push back against their policies despite that and he did bring his rank of archangel to the conversation.

which went poorly. because i think they know gabriel's weaknesses as well. gabriel, again, seemed to be some kind of friend or at least presence to those in hell - we know about the spirits of limbo and ferryman having contact, but it seems telling that "traitor" is written over gabriel's depictions in greed and the fact that minos believed he could be reasoned with. SOMETHING is going on with his treatment of the damned and it folds into the idea that gabriel did, in some capacity, question the way of things and so the way of god. and i think there was whispers and rumors of that in the upper ranks, that perhaps gabriel was weak in his faith. shocking given his dedication and position, but it persisted nonetheless, and i think gabriel himself was racked by it besides. he always did his job and did it perfectly, but he couldn't stop the little questions that plagued him, the uncertainty that marred an otherwise perfect soul in the eyes of god. and that tortured him, it struck fear into him...and so when the council seriously questioned his faith because of his disagreement, they knew instantly that had struck the perfect nerve. they have all they need then to be sure he obeys them, to give pointed reminders of his position (as the upholder of god's throne) and his loyalty to the laws of god. and he can argue neither of these things, not without invoking accusations of heresy either from them or from his own conscience. so he works harder, he questions less, because they use it against him regularly to keep him evermore obedient to even the most detrimental extent. he will run until even he is exhausted, and they know at that point, sooner or later, he can be gotten rid of. and while gabriel may be torn apart by what he does, it matters little since he holds his faith above anything else.

#I GOT THE CHANCE TO RAMBLE ABOUT THE COUNCIL #AND TRULY RAN AWAY WITH IT SORRY #they really are just such a perfect example of weaponizing someone's faith #they ARE the church holding damnation over their adherent's heads unless they obey #and gabriel is a microcosm of that #cake answers #gabriel

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yngai · 1 year

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despite her role being a little bit of a rethread of her time in spain (mysterious third party aiding the cult's primary target from the shadows), i do think it is interesting for ada to reexplore her time in the field as a mother during the bulk of her activity in romania . after yearning for so long to get a chance to return to her calling, forced to separate herself from mei-li & having felt that caring for a child is akin to captivity, wrestling with her own internalized misogyny regarding societal perceptions of women as mothers (independence turned to docile subservience to either a child or a spouse) . spending her first few years trying to recapture the moment she first laid eyes on her daughter & saw a young version of herself, not either of mei-li's biological parents or their respective/combined monstrosity, trying to peel away all the layers of her various personas & give what she can to a daughter she didn't want but whose life is undeniably her responsibility . she learns there are certain habits she cannot repeat, risks she cannot take for fear her abandonment would become permanent, aspects of herself & her persona that she has deconstructed in order to perform the role of a caregiver with authenticity, become something she never thought she would be, could be, for a child that mirrors her in all the ways that matter .

i also do think it's a little bit funny & admittedly unintentional on her part that she plays herself-as-crowley to be a kind of genderless entity (in my mind their voice is similar in modularity to bloodhound's from apex legends only with a somewhat noticeable romanian accent owing to a device embedded in their respirator) . it's a kind of anonymity she wouldn't otherwise enjoy in any of her prior masks, but it builds off an infrequent fluidity in her gender presentation that has seen her sans any makeup, binding her chest, & presenting as either masculine or male on shorter assignments where the differentiation between her persona & ada wong's consistent hyperfemininity allows her the chance to play two characters at once, or switch at the first sign of danger & scurry by unnoticed (as i like to think is the case with her prying information about wesker & umbrella out of javier's men, wesker later using his relationship with javier to try & have her killed) . i don't think those instances really make her question her gender identity more than her lesbianism already does, what are women without the affection of men, how can they define themselves without men as opposition, etc. especially since seduction is not an aspect of spycraft we see ada employ beyond her relationship with john, & even there there's implication that ada built their romance on top of a genuine connection, ada a spy & john a known risk to his company, same as with leon & annette in my gay little brain . crowley might bring some uncertainty into the mixture but they don't exist long enough for any concrete notions to form in her mind, just some personal amusement at how much she enjoys the role & when she's free of the village they become an afterthought, a memory, but she would relish the chance to wear their mask once more .

#* file // : OOC — ( 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐄 . )#* file // : 005 — ( 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀 . )#kind of went on a bender unintentionally #ah well hopefully there's something interesting in there #still feels a little cringe to talk about ada as a mother but whatever i'm cringe and i'm free etc.

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lifeattomsdiner · 1 year

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NEX Collective: how it started vs. how it’s going

This was a rough beginning; very quickly after the game started I found myself boxed in by a superior foe (the empires to my north and southeast are a bulwark subordinate and its overlord, respectively). Nor did my neighbors--pissed off after my completely innocent curiosity lead me to try and abduct some of their citizens for analysis--hesitate to throw their weight around and put me in my place. I quickly found myself on the back foot in a series of two defensive wars. I barely managed to hang on through the course of the first but the Azantians tired themselves out before they could eradicate me. A burgeoning intelligence network (cybernetic infiltrators, anybody?) alerted me that the second one was coming in time that I was able to prepare a rapid advance into enemy territory. The very stupid combat AI natural inefficiencies of my organic foes wasn’t able to respond to this effectively, and I was able to penetrate all the way to some of their core worlds and abduct some of their population for assimilation. This wore out their fighting spirit enough that they ended the war soon after; I even returned some of the territory I had captured afterwards (I have little interest in keeping systems that would be a pain to defend effectively, so I withdrew my control back to a natural chokepoint).

This still left me boxed in and badly outclassed--I was lagging behind my enemies technologically and in raw force of arms, with only my absurd resource production output evening the score. Fortunately for me, the organic species of this galaxy are fractious and prone to constant squabbling amongst themselves. I waited, patiently building up my defenses and my fleets, until the Azantians were distracted with wars elsewhere and I was free to press north into their Ekwynian subordinates. Two sequential invasions quickly netted a healthy chunk of territory, including a significant number of planets complete with populations to assimilate; meanwhile the Azantians made aggressive noises in my direction, but remained distracted with their squabbles elsewhere (not knowing that I had my mechanical hand in stoking those as well).

So here I am, just shy of 130 years in, slowly clawing my way out of the box. Will I be able to hit critical mass and become powerful enough to challenge my main rival* before they decide to destroy me? We’ll just have to see. For the moment, though, my focus is on consolidating my gains and bringing some measure of order to the worlds I just assimilated...

*Speaking of rivals, a fun bit of emergent roleplaying: naturally these other empires quickly declared me their rival. I considered responding in kind, but between innate bonuses, the size of the fleets I needed to maintain to keep up, and a lack of diplomatic agreements to keep up, I was generating a pretty absurd amount of Influence already--as much as 6-7 per month. So I chose to play the role of an amused networked intelligence, looking on at this quaint organic notion of “rivalry”...

#stellaris

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