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#those are actual superstitions i have
slepyicarus · 2 years
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Of Lavender Dreams and Starry nights
Tale 1: Old lessons The times Icarus followed old superstitions taught to him by his grandparents
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A small melody left the young now half-demons lips while he cleaned. It was the first day in the House of Lamentation for Icarus after having stayed with the Prince and his Butler in the Castle for the first month after the summoning and him losing consciousness thanks to it. He was glad they indulged him in his wariness of the brothers and rather wanting to stay with the two people he woke up too while figuring himself and his new situation out. Now in the House of Lamentation he refused to life in the prepared room. He knew how old mansions where structued and he wasn't staying in an originally servants room. No matter if that was intentional or not he refuses to be viewed as lower when they all where supposed to be on equal ground! So he asked his brother Dia to speak to Lord Lucifer about Icarus being allowed a room change which he agreed to. If it was because Diavolo directly requested it or not is something Icarus choose to ignore. Now in his new, and renovated to his taste thanks to the royals, room Icarus did what he always did when he moved. He cleaned the room, placed a amethyst piece in all four corners of his room as well as salt in his windows and put a needle with a tiny eyelet above his door. He learned his lesson when he moved into his apartment and didnt do this. He really can't afford the sleepless nights and the depression episodes this time around. Satisfied the young lilanette sat down on his loafted bed while tying a bunch of dried lavender together to hang infront of his windows as a knock sounded against the door. "Come in! The door is open!", Icarus called calmly, not stopping the tying of knots. Lucifer calmly stepped inside seeing the cleaner then before room. He smiled satisfied "I see atleast one other resident of the house prefers a well cleaned room.", making the half demon look to the aster of the house perplexed, "Have you moved everything to its place by now?" "Yes, well, kind of. Still tying the lavender as you can see Lord Lucifer. Could you actually help me hang it above the window?", Icarus answered finishing the last knot. "Ah, to keep out the insects, am I correct?" "Yes, but also to keep out nightmares.", Icarus added, getting up and joining the avatar on the lower level of his room. "Keep out Nightmares? Is that something your grandmother taught you?", Lucifer chuckled, still helping the short boy nevertheless. Icarus nodded " My Grandma tied the lavender bundle in a certain way and hung it above my window everytime she visited when she was still alive. Having alot of nightmares runs in the family she always said. Its dumb isnt it.." Making himself smaller and hugging his own frame Icarus let his ears drop slightly. "Well it is a superstition of your grandmothers family mostlikely. But if it brings you comfort why would it be dumb now? And its still useful. Devildom insects hate lavender scented things just like human world insects do. ", Lucifer argued calmly making sure the bundle was secure, letting Icarus look up at him smiling the slightest bit. "Thank you, Lord Lucifer.." "Of course. Is there anything else where you need my assistance, Icarus?" Shaking his head Icarus smiled a bit brighter surprising the eldest brother "No, Lord Lucifer. Thank you for your help. I will let you know if i need anything else." While leaving Lucifer saw the needle and chuckeled. Mammon will have a hard time trying to make Icarus join his schemes or trying to steal thanks it that. Good., The eldest thought smugly leaving the newest member of his household to finishing up his new room. And Icarus truly had never to worry about suprise insects, spiders, nightmares or scammy money grab ideas thanks to his lavender and needle.
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"Icaruuuus! Come onnnnn! Just this once! I need the video to be perfect for the competion!", Levi wailed while following his now pacted master which rounded the livingroom several rounds by now. "No! That brings bad luck! I told you! My Opa would roll in his grave if i did that!", Icarus huffed now holding his ears, "I won't be in the room while you shatter a bloody mirror! I do not care if it is essential to it! I told you where im from that means 7 years if bad luck!!" The other brothers watched the spectical happen. "Thats just superstition Icarus. Nothing will happen just because you two break a mirror.", Satan argued calmly, not looking up his book. Icarus huffed annoyed "Tell that my Aunt that broke both her legs, had her daughter go non contact with her, have to watch my cousin have a not treatable tumor and more in the same year she broke a mirror! I aint taking the chance!" Levi sighed. Asmo thought out loud "Will you film for him if he'd use normal glass and edit afterwards in after effects, sweetheart?" Icarus stopped and now calmly nodded "Yes, That would work. Thank you Asmo." Looking back to Levi and leaning his head to the side like he watched his cat to a tausend times the half demon asked "Could we compromise on that, Levi?" Levi looked like he fought an inner battle trying to decide if it was worth it. After a couple of minutes Levi sighed defeated "Fine. But you will make me your yakitori noodles as midnight snack and you do the rhyme event i will miss otherwise while i edit!" "Deal." In the end, Levi's cosplay competition video came out even better then they expected and won him first place. The two Otakus enjoyed some home made yakitori noddles and karaoke to celebrate.
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"ICARUS!", Mammon screamed while almost taking the door of the young pact master out its hinges, "I got lottery tickets! Oh i just know i will win this time. Ya gotta check the numbers with me!" Said spoken to boy looked around his room and started to knock on his desk. Once Twice Trice Mammon looked confused to him ad started walking into the room. "What did ya do that for? One of ya wierd fears again?" "They are not wierd, Mams. It's what you do where I'm from to prevent the opposite to happen. Ergo, you losing or worse getting more debt.", Icarus huffed, "You lot should stop saying what i do is wierd. It's part of my culture and what makes me, well, myself. You guys do stuff too that fing wierd, but i dont call yall out on it." Huffing Icarus got up from his place on the floor and walked over to this book shelf to pick up one of his many books. Seeing a glimps of its cover Mammon knew he said something that hurt the other quite a bit. In the time Mammon had withe the half demon he started to learn the little behaviors showing the usual hidden negative emotions of the other. Him picking up the Book named Silber meant he was hurt and wants to hide the thing that got spoken about. "Im sorry. I didn' think it would make ya this upset", Mammon tried gently. A sad or angry Icarus meant an angry Satan, upset Asmo or a murderous Belphie. Sometimes even a mix of it all three with a dash of Lucifers annoyance or Beels overprotectivness. Mammon would rather avoid any of it as well as just not see the lilanette upset at him. Meanwhile Icarus scanned Mammon. Being upset made the half demon more careful then usually he is already. Sitting across from Mammon Icarus huffed another time calming down a bit "Fine Apology accepted. Just..please don't call my superstitions wierd or dumb. They are connected to lots of memories of my grandparents. It feels like you are insulting them by saying that its wierd." Mammon nodded. "Promise. Now..wanna check the lotto numbers?" "Sure. But if you won, you gotta buy me a genesis crystal pack on genshin for the last time for calling me knocking on wood wierd!" Both now laughing Mammon agreed "Sure, I even throw in a dinner date at Ristorante Six in for ya!" Sure enough, Mammon won the jackpot that day and he never again called one of Icarus' superstitions wierd.
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Waling into the kitchen beel found Icarus humming and cooking something that smelled quite sweet and delicious. Knocking on the door frame before entering as to not startle the small half demon which is surprisingly good at throwing knifes. "What are you making, Rus?", Beel walked straight to the fridge while asking, "It smells amazing" "Turkish delight, but its not traditional. I make it alot more sweet.", Icarus smiled, " Wanna try one?" "Sure. For what do you make those?", Beel asked, taking the poudery red cube to plop it in his mouth while the other gushed "Oh a friend of mine had a baby! So Im making sweets to give her and her baby so she recovers well and the baby has a sweet life! I made them with rasberry juice to make them taste like them! How arre them?" Beel grinned "They taste really good. Very sugary but in a good sense. Can i Have some more?" Icarus giggled "Yeah I made a whole bunch. How about we take them up to the attic and share the with Belpie?" "Good Idea." Later Icarus wrapped the sweets up and placed them in a musicbox with a lullaby in it, sharing the rest of the sweets with both of the twins.
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michaeljoncarter · 2 years
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not to be dramatic but sodam yat is probably the single most infuriating waste of a character ive ever seen. the concept of him alone is so good it makes me want to SCREAM like!!! he is kyle! he’s a mirrored version of kyle where absolutely everything is flipped on its head
instead of being the only lantern left after the destruction of the corps and rising to become basically its god, sodam starts off at the highest point, as ion at the height of the rebuilt corps, and he’s destined to see it destroyed until he’s the only lantern left! his story is just kyle’s played in reverse! kyle as a tragedy!
and it started almost a decade before kyle was even created! sodam joined the corps in 2007, but the prophecy stating he would be the last green lantern to be killed before mogo when the corps finally falls for good is from an annual released in 1986! by the time his story started, it had already ended in his death and failure to save the corps over twenty years before!!
he’s one of the best tragic heroes i’ve ever seen in a comic book like EVERYTHING he does just drips with dramatic irony, and it is so good!! everything about him is SO GOOD!!
and if i think too much about the fact that he’s only interacted with kyle like twice, has barely shown up since like 2011, and has now given up being a green lantern to go be a government official on the violently xenophobic, totalitarian planet that he spent his entire life trying to escape, it makes me want to start biting people!!
#sodam yat#kyle rayner#this post is messy but im in 2006 glc again and having thoughts#reading this knowing they made him go back to daxam makes me want to lose it for real lol#like he sacrificed himself to save daxam when he was ion but#there's a difference in not wanting everyone on the planet to die and#taking a job in the senate#he had to be talked into not just letting everyone on daxam die like thats how much he hated them#and now he just. goes into work every day with people who ordered the murder and TAXIDERMY of his childhood friend#like im sry but i just dont see how running around in those caves with those people in emerald warrior swouldve changed his mind THAT much#god anyway#madness!!#also had to hold myself back from going off on a whole thing about how#weirdly unique his tragedy is?#like it's really not like any ive ever seen before and i dont think it could happen in any other medium than comics#bc its really kind of chained to the never-ending nature of the story#i cant really put it into words but ANYWAY#also just have to say#that part where he says he doesnt want to hear about the prophecy because he left daxam to get away from superstition and the like#haunts my dreams actually lol like idk if it was intentional#but the fact that he was chosen by the ring FOR his bravery in trying to escape daxam#like a big important part of his predetermined destiny was that he would make a desperate attempt to get away from fatalism#god!!!#the capital t Tragedy of it all is SO GOOD
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"Don't You Know It's Bad Luck To See Your Bride Before The Wedding?"
Warning: I write reader as female 
Masterlist
One of the most interesting things about having a girlfriend from another world is learning about the culture and traditions that her world possesses. Normally, he would consider every part of the home of the love of his life nothing less than perfect, since it managed to create such an exceptional individual - the very same individual that he can proudly call his. This was, however, before you mentioned a certain tradition/superstition that you had where the soon-to-be husband and wife spend the night before their wedding apart and forbids said betrothed couple from seeing each other until they meet at the altar.
Here’s how our dear NRC boys would react when told this news:
Is cool with it. At least on the outside. They understand that it’s a silly little tradition from your home world so they let you spend the night with Adeuce (you bet that those two are your bridesmen/men of honour and the three of you and Grim are going to have the greatest bachelorette party of your life)/Papa Crewel 
But of all traditions, why this one? He seems perfectly calm when you say goodbye - you pretend you don’t notice how he holds you much longer and tighter than he usually does when he hugs you - and your text messages to each other are as normal as they can be, but no matter how hard he tries he just can’t shake off the cold feeling of loneliness your absence brings and how his body feels empty without yours to anchor it.
Once the festivities of his bachelor party are over, it takes five minutes of him trying and failing to keep himself occupied and distracted before his desire to at least hear your voice becomes unbearable and he grabs his phone to call you. He wordlessly slips off somewhere where none of his friends would find him and he gives you a ring. The two of you speak to each other until one of you falls asleep.
He would actually go through with it in its entirely and seeing you walking down the aisle in all your glory and beauty, emerging through the door like a celestial being, after hours of not seeing you had him completely awestruck, like a dying man seeing an oasis after spending hours crawling through the desert. It nearly almost made the wait worth it. 
Just never make him go through that again. Please.
Trey, Jamil, Silver, Jack, Sebek
Instantly shoots it down. 
Listen, Y/N, he loves you so much it hurts. He’ll move mountains for you, pluck the stars and moon out of the sky for you. He’d make the sun rise from the west if that’s what you desired. If there’s an option to carve out his heart and present it to you on a silver platter he would. Every breath he takes, every time his heart beats, and every hour of every day, he’s dedicated to making you the happiest person in the world - the ring on your finger is an attest to that.
But he won’t, absolutely will not nor ever, deprive himself of a single minute of your presence. He’s trying to make up for the years he’s spent without even knowing you and now that he has you in his life, do you think he goes a day without thanking every force in the multiverse that you found him and filled his life with light and colour and laughter. Do you truly believe that he would ever even attempt to get any amount of rest when you’re not in his arms? It’s absolutely unfathomable and he will stand for it. Now come over here and spend the next hour cuddling him for speaking such nonsense.
It does not matter how long your respective bachelor and bachelorette parties last, you two are spending the night together and that’s that. Full stop.
And don’t worry about the consequences. Whatever supposed ‘bad luck’ that befalls you as a result of his actions, he’ll shoulder it all. In sickness and in health until the end of time, after all.
Riddle, Vil, Jamil, Azul, Leona, Malleus, Idia
Haha, no ♡
Leona, Lilia, Jade, Floyd
WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO HIM???? 🥺😭
Ever since you brought it up, he’s been nothing but clingy. It’s hard to tell where you start and he ends from the way he’s hugging you so close it’s like he’s trying to fuse the two of you together. 
He wants to do it for you since you’re already sacrificing so much by being away from your home but-but that means that he has to spend a whole entire night without you! Don’t you know he can’t live without your goodnight kisses? And your good morning kisses? And your breakfast kisses and lunch kisses? And you’re just going to desert him like that? Abandon him and then deprive him of hours of kisses and cuddles that legally are his right to have? Starve him of his well-deserved affection and leave him when he needs you the most? Just tell him that you hate him, it would hurt less.
This boy is going to be facetiming you throughout his entire bachelor party - the rules of your world be damned. He’s going to be marrying you in less than 24 hours and he wants to spend every second of his excitement and pure elation with you. 
These boys are also the reason as to why you have to have people stationed outside your changing room like guards to make sure that the surprise of your wedding dress isn’t ruined because ‘they just had to see you’.
Needless to say, you are going to be spending the night together
But seriously he’s tried to follow you into the bathroom. Just tell him that it’s an old custom that no one abides by anymore before he breaks the door down.
Ace, Deuce, Cater (100% snapchats/live tweets his feelings of betrayal), Ruggie, Epel, Kalim, Azul, Floyd, Rook
You used your impeccable negotiation skills (puppy eyes) to reach a compromise. You’ll spend the night in Ortho’s room and the two of you will spend the entire night before your wedding playing video games using your matching couple headphones. Ortho will run interference until you leave the next day to get ready to make sure that you don’t end up seeing each other.
Or at least that was the plan until Idia woke up in the middle of the night to find his room devoid of the only lights in his life. Without even thinking, he leaves his bedroom and goes over to where you and his brother are and he gets into bed with you and cuddles you.
Listen normie, you’ve wormed your way into his heart so take some responsibility. If your world is right, then he’ll take the L. He’s used to doom and gloom so whatever bad luck happens can’t be worse than the life he had without you and it certainly isn’t worth even an hour without you by his side.
Idia
Are you kidding him, Herbivore?
First he has to go to some stupid bachelor party that his brother, Ruggie and Jack are throwing because no one would shut up about it when he could be sleeping with you and now you’re telling him that you want him to spend the night alone when he could be sleeping with you?
No. Absolutely not.
He doesn’t care if you think it’ll bring him bad luck or whatever. He’s not spending the night without you. In fact, he’s not even going to go to that blasted party. You and him can just spend the entire time napping in bed.
What? He has to go. Fine. They get one hour. Then, you're his. And if anything tries to get in the way of yours and his happiness, he’ll turn it to ash with his very claws.
Leona
Child of Man, he does not understand. You mean to tell him that in your world, a betrothed couple must spend the eve and morning of their nuptials apart lest a curse of bad luck shall befall them? He’s never heard of such a thing. Humans have such strange customs from where you’re from. You needn’t worry, however, as the future king and powerful mage, he is more than capable of handling whatever calamity that comes your way. A measly little curse is no match for a fae such as he. Therefore, there is no reason for you to deprive him of the warmth of your body for he shall always be there to soothe your fears. He has sworn to protect you and made an oath to you that no harm shall ever befall you.
For if anyone dares to prove him otherwise, he shall deal with them. 
Personally.
Malleus (it takes him a while to realise it’s not an actual curse since your world doesn’t even have magic to begin with but he still makes you wear enchanted jewellery on your person just in case - even though every piece of jewellery he had gifted you prior to that is chock full with protection charms and that’s not even counting the heaps of blessings he gave you) (It’s like that time you told him about the curse of ‘The Scottish Play’ all over again)
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babydollmarauders · 6 months
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OUT — JACK HUGHES
jack hughes x fem!reader
summary: in which everyone has been wondering about the hair tie on Jack’s wrist, and they finally get the answers they were looking for
notes: THANK YOU MADDY ( @thatintrovertedwriter ) FOR THIS IDEA!!! I’M OBSESSED WITH IT!! not proofread and written while heavily sleep deprived
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a relationship was never part of my intentions when i accepted my job offer.
in fact, any sort of love was pushed to the far corners of my mind. my focus was on showing everyone that not only men can be equipment managers in the NHL.
i had gone through so much rejection. countless teams citing that they decided to go in a different direction, and hiring a male for the job instead; and though most of the staff would try to deny that my gender was a part of it, there was always that one guy that had no problem with admitting they didn’t believe that a woman had any place in the NHL.
as if the job was hard. as if i couldn’t hand players sticks just as well as any man could.
but then the New Jersey Devils came into play. they had heard some talk about me and were the first team to reach out to me. they offered me the job, and i eagerly accepted. i felt i had something to prove. my gender doesn’t diminish the performance of my job.
so most of the 2022-23 season, i put all my focus into my job. i was amicable with the players, making sure i knew any superstitions or things i shouldn’t do with their equipment, but i never let it pass into any real level of friendship.
and then Jack Hughes happened.
when he got injured and had to sit out for a few games, i was put in charge of keeping him company. for four games my job description changed from handing players new sticks, to babysitting a twenty-one year old, and i wasn’t happy in the slightest.
it felt insulting, and apparently Jack felt the same way. somehow in those four games, we went from sitting across the suite from each other, to bonding over how stupid it was that i couldn’t do my actual job, to forming a friendship.
and in a matter of weeks, our friendship blossomed into something more.
it started with him coming back to my apartment after rough games, watching movies and letting off steam by joking around and playing drinking games. then along the way, we stumbled into bed. one hookup turned into two, which turned into another, which turned into a date, and finally by the end of the season, he was asking me to be his girlfriend.
it took me a week to finally tell him yes. an entire week of struggling with the decision. wondering if, if i start a real relationship with this player, am i proving all those men who told me i had no place in the NHL, right? but ultimately, i decided that my happiness was worth more than someone’s opinion of me, and i told him yes.
***
jackhughes
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subbanator 🚀
user83 is he wearing… a pink hair tie on his wrist?
user45 where?
user83 it’s on the same wrist with his bracelets
user16 omg you’re right
user02 is his hair even long enough to put up?
user77 @/user02 apparently
user91 what if it’s a girlfriends? oh my god
brendan.brisson Same time next year
***
i’m running late.
i’m running late and i’m rushing.
i’m running late, i’m rushing, and i’m contemplating breaking all rules of the road to arrive to work on time.
nothing is going right for me today.
i was supposed to have the morning off, so i didn’t set an alarm, but then i woke up to find six missed calls from my boss and a text asking if i could come help get equipment ready for practice because one of the other equipment managers came down with the flu.
then, i had to deal with getting yelled at because i didn’t have my ringer on and therefore, woke up after practice ended and didn’t come in and help.
then, i tipped over my brand new bottle of cold brew and had to spend almost an hour mopping my kitchen floor and wiping down the counters to get rid of the stickiness.
then, at the last minute as i was stepping out the door to head to the arena, my hair tie broke. and now i’ve spent the last fifteen minutes scouring my apartment for a new one, only to come to the conclusion that i have to leave now or else risk being yelled at for a second time today.
i give up entirely on my search for a hair tie, accepting my fate of wearing my hair down and rushing out of my apartment so fast that i almost forget to lock up behind me.
when i finally make it to Prudential Center, i’m able to clock in just before i’d be considered late, and i have absolutely no extra time to search for my boyfriend amidst the chaos of the season opener.
instead, i set off straight to the equipment area, working in tandem with my colleagues to make sure every players gloves, pads, and everything in between is ready, before i put each players gear into their respective locker room stalls.
i stack pucks in a high pyramid at the bench, ready for warm-ups, and line sticks up against the glass behind the bench, all set to be handed out when needed.
amongst the frantic running around the arena and getting things ready, i lose track of how many times i’m adjusting my hair; flipping it over my shoulder and tugging it out of my face.
finally, i get a split second to breathe, pulling my hair up in a makeshift ponytail with my hands as i stand outside the locker room, on standby in case any of the players need me.
“hey.” i instinctively drop my hands at the sound of someone talking, my shirt falling back down to cover the sliver of my abdomen that had shown when they were raised.
at the sight of my boyfriend, i sigh in relief, his chuckle reaching my ears as his arms snake around my waist.
“i scare ya?” Jack teases.
his helmet hits against my back, as he holds it in one hand. he’s all geared up, ready to hit the ice for the first game of the season, and oddly enough, i can’t help finding it incredibly attractive.
“just a little.” i huff, and a wide grin spreads across his lips. i smack his chest, but all that it hurts is his padding. “don’t be mean! i’ve had a bad day.”
his smile drops into an exaggerated pout, and he leans down to press a kiss to my lips.
“i’m sorry, baby.” i hum in acknowledgment, waving it off when he asks if i’d like to rant.
“no, it’s okay. i’ll rant later.” i assure him. “after you win your game.”
“our game.” he states, and i roll my eyes.
he’s made sure to never let me forget how much work i put into the team’s equipment and gear. citing that they wouldn’t be able to win without my help.
in his eyes, it’s as much my wins and losses as it is his.
“right.” i nod, patting his shoulders. “in that case, i’m gonna be very upset if you lose our game.”
his head tips back, laughter pouring past his lips, and it sounds like a melody in my ears.
“i’m confident. we’ll win this game.” he assures me, finally letting go of my waist and backing up. “if we don’t, you and i will never hear the end of it from Larks.”
ahh yes, Dylan Larkin. the Red Wings captain and Jack’s friend, whom i met over the summer while visiting Jack at his lake house.
“go!” i shoo my boyfriend off as the rest of his teammates begin pouring out of the locker room, heading off to line up, ready to hit the ice for warm-ups.
waving to the guys, who smile back at me in return, i head out to behind the bench.
as the guys warm up, i double check the bench stock of smelling salts, tums, stick tape, skate blades, and whatever else the guys may need during the game, before standing idly by.
*
finally, the game is underway, seven minutes left in the second period, and my boyfriend has already gotten a penalty in first for ‘roughing’.
i’m watching my boyfriend skate around the ice as i tend to his teammates, anxiously holding my breath as the clock winds down.
Jack zips across the ice, and i’m gnawing at my lip as he gains control of the puck. but before i know it, he’s just scored his first goal of the season.
a small smile splays across my lips, attempting to contain my excitement as he skates past the bench, bumping fists with his elated teammates before taking another lap around the ice.
Luke turns his head to grin at me, but he’s sidetracked as i’m interrupted by a teammate.
“y/n, can i get some salts?” Timo asks, and i nod, spinning around to grab some, my hair whipping in my face as i do so.
i let out a frustrated groan, turning back around to hand the little packet of smelling salts to number 28.
“you okay?” Timo questions, his brows threading together and i nod.
“it’s my damn hair.” i huff as he moves down on the bench, making room for my boyfriend and his line mates who now join on the bench. “i usually wear it up, but my hair tie broke and it’s getting on my nerves.”
wordlessly, Jack absentmindedly sheds his gloves off, pulling something from his wrist before holding it out to me where i stand directly behind him.
my lips part in surprise as my eyes lock on the pink hair tie that’s pinched between his index finger and thumb.
my hair tie.
“oh.” i breathe out, plucking the hair tie from his grasp. i smile, immediately pulling my hair up into a high ponytail. “thank you, love.”
he turns his head just enough to spot me, beaming back at me for a moment before turning back to focus back on the game that’s about to restart.
i lean forward a little, my hand lightly resting against the padding on his back, but he must feel the slight pressure because he leans back a little to show me he’s listening to what i have to say next.
“congratulations, babe. i’m proud of you.” i speak lowly, only for him to hear, before i stand back again, as though the interaction never happened. both of us focusing back on the game that takes place in front of us.
***
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***
Jack lays beside me in my bed, absentmindedly scrolling through his social media, nodding along as i rant about my day.
“…but seeing you in the box was a plus.” i finish off my long winded ramble, effectively gaining his attention back at my teasing.
he locks his phone, tossing it to the side as he looks over at me.
“what was that?” he asks mockingly, raising an eyebrow. but before i can repeat myself, his fingers are working against the bare skin of my stomach.
my abdomen tightens as i laugh, squirming and trying to get away from his touch.
“stop!” i cackle, attempting and failing to push his hands away as he tickles me.
“no, say that again!” he chuckles, maneuvering his body now to straddle my legs so that i can’t run away, even if i wanted to. i shake my head wildly. “say it again! what was that? i don’t think i heard you right! cause it sounded like you just said the highlight of your day was seeing me get penalties!”
“that’s not true!” i squeal and he momentarily ceases his attack, tilting his ear towards me as if he’s listening closer.
“i said they were just pluses.” i defend myself, quickly following up, “the highlight of my day was finding out you wear my hair tie on your wrist.”
he looks down at me with a smirk, obviously quite proud of himself.
“stole that from your apartment.” he announces with pride.
“when?” i laugh, reaching up to cup the back of his neck, pulling his face closer to mine.
his hands now rest on either side of my head, holding himself up.
“the second time we hooked up.” he murmurs, dipping down to press a kiss to my lips. “you had complained that day when you forgot you hair tie at home. i never wanted you to be uncomfortable again, so i took one when i left here that night.”
i blink back at him in surprise, my heart thumping loudly in my chest, whooshing in my ears.
“are you telling me, you’ve been wearing that hair tie on your wrist, for the past seven months, just in case i ever needed it?” i ask.
“mhm.” he hums, his nose nudging against mine as he nods, the corners of his lips quirking up in a soft smile.
“i’m so in love with you.” i whisper, pulling him down to capture his lips in a kiss.
his lips slot against mine, his tongue slipping in to tangle with mine in a deep and sultry kiss, before he pulls away.
“oh good, because apparently our interaction tonight on the bench?” he pauses and i furrow my brows, nodding for him to continue. “yeah, apparently that happened while the camera was on me.”
a gasp slips past my lips, and he cringes slightly, nodding his head.
“yeah, we’ve been outted.”
we both let that sink in for a moment, pondering what our relationship will be like now that everyone knows. fans certainly analyzing our every move now.
but despite that, we can finally go on dates in public, and post each other on our social medias without panicking that we may have accidentally posted on our public stories instead of our close friends ones.
“i think i can live with that.” i finally break the silence, and he grins.
“yeah?” he questions, pressing a kiss against my lips, and i nod against him.
“yeah.”
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theboombutton · 2 months
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The interesting thing about tmagp episode 9 is that, from one perspective, it's about a pair of dice that kill you if you roll a crit fail. And in TMA that would be very End-coded. Games of chance were End-coded, and death is obviously The End. Open and shut case.
Except it's not, here. The statement giver had never seen anyone roll a 2 before he ran into Gary in that coffee shop, even after thousands of rolls. That's not an End artifact. Those dice are going out of their way not to kill anyone, save those who try to part with them.
The compulsion to roll feels like the Web, but is it? Certainly games of chance can become addicting, but I don't think that's the whole story. The Web is about the fear of the loss of control, yes, but it's also about something else controlling you instead. Here that something else is an embodiment of "random" chance - although again, it's not properly-random, not even pseudorandom. I have thoughts on that but they're best addressed further on.
Weirdly, of all the manifestations of Fear from TMA, this statement seems most akin to Jude Perry's - rolling the dice with other people's lives and fortunes, for the thrill of sometimes devastating them.
Which brings me back to the possibility of AU Fears.
In the Protocolverse, why shouldn't there be a Fear associated with chance and luck and fate and misfortune that happens for no good reason? A fear of lacking control and losing everything, without anyone else necessarily having that control.
This is where the way the dice are rigged becomes possibly meaningful. Their outcomes aren't random - they're what humans expect random to look like. They operate according to the gambler's fallacy, where the longer a chain of bad luck you have the more you're due for a good roll, and vice versa. Snake eyes aren't just a normal outcome of the 1-in-36 chance of rolling 2d6 - they're reserved for when someone is cursed with truly rotten luck. Notably that isn't true of boxcars: those just happen sometimes, without prerequisite.
Logically, a Fear of Misfortune wouldn't operate on the actual rules of probability, would it? It would be shaped by the superstitions of those that feared it.
(Also, I hope this statement puts the "they're not fears they're desires!" theory to bed. This guy didn't want the dice, and didn't especially want to roll them, but seemed compelled to anyway.)
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moonstruckme · 6 months
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i recently found your page and i became instantly obsessed, you're such a good writer!! i'm not sure if you're taking requests rn (if you're not, ignore this hahaha) but i saw a post somewhere saying that when spencer is in love he loses the sense of direction 😭 we saw moments like those with lila and maeve (like he starts walking but then it's the wrong direction <33) and i was thinking about that with bau!reader!! they're on a case and he gets distracted by her and starts walking on the opposite direction or says something wrong and the team is all like??? because he never gets things wrong and maybe morgan teases him or something like that
sorry for the veryyyy long message!! i just thought it could be so cute, and you would write it perfectly!! obviously if you want to write it in a different way it's okay, i would be happy if you wrote it (but again, if you're not feeling it it's completely okay!! 💗) thank you and have a good day :))
Thank you sweetness <3
Spencer Reid x bau!reader ♡ 539 words
There’s an eyelash on your cheek. You’re staring at the board, and your lips are all pursed, and you’re sitting forward on your elbows, and there’s an eyelash on your cheek. Spencer has no idea how you haven’t noticed it, sitting there with both ends curled upward, precipitous on the curve of your cheekbone.
You’re saying something to Hotch about the overly gruesome nature of the case, how it points to a connection with the victims. Your cheek moves as you talk. The eyelash looks like it should be a breath away from falling off, and yet it stays stubbornly in place. Spencer really, really wants to get it for you. It’d be such a tiny gesture, the quick brush of his finger underneath your eye, so brief no one would have the chance to question it. He wonders if you believe in wishing on eyelashes. He’s seen you throw salt over your shoulder more than once, but you claim it’s more a habit from childhood than actual superstition. Still, you’re more a romantic than you like to let on. But the origin of the salt tossing is more rooted in Christianity, Spencer thinks, whereas the practice of wishing on eyelashes is more recent and often suspected to be rooted in Paganism. It supposedly emerged only in the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries, when someone in the British isles spread word that blowing an eyelash off your finger was the equivalent of blowing away the Devil, and eventually the belief morphed into good luck and wishes. Spencer wonders what you’d wish for. 
“And it’s pretty clear what this is hailing to.” Prentiss’ voice is weary. 
“Paganism,” Spencer says quietly, absentmindedly.
“What?” 
Spencer blinks, returning to the room to find the entire table has turned to look at him. “Sorry, I—I was thinking about something else.” He glances at the board. “Jack the Ripper. The degree of mutilation is the same.” 
“Right,” Hotch says, instantly back on task. “And if we’re right, he’s going to act again soon. Wheels up in twenty.” 
Spencer picks up his bag, but doesn’t leave the room. “Hey,” he says as you stand, stepping closer to you. “You’ve got an eyelash.” 
You blink, almost knocking it askew, but hold still as Spencer brings a hand to your face, brushing it onto his finger. 
Your cheek pushes upwards as you give him a lopsided smile. “Thanks,” you say.
“Wanna make a wish?” 
You make a soft, amused sound. “I don’t believe in that, and I know you don’t either.” But when Spencer holds up his fingertip, you lean forwards anyway. Your mouth purses prettily, a tiny little o, and you blow softly. It’s a small puff of air, but the eyelash whirls off into the air. The both of you track it until it reaches the ground. You quirk an eyebrow at Spencer as if to say satisfied? and go, passing your hand along his arm fondly as you exit. Spencer follows after you like you’ve got him on a leash, and it’s only once he’s in Garcia’s office that you say “Do you need something, Spence? I just came to bring Penelope something,” and he realizes he’s completely forgotten where he was supposed to be going.
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hauntedmoors · 2 months
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hey love of my life, you've read dune right? can u explain the kwistaz haderach scheme like im 10 years old
I willll <3 people aren’t wrong when they say that the ‘kwisatz haderach’ is just a very, very special boy that a white guy was writing about in his silly sci-fi book before he decided to write more seriously about the dangers of imperialism and colonialism in the subsequent sequels. but really, the kwisatz haderach’s most narratively important role in the story is as the messiah-ruler figure of a despotic, genocidal empire; and he’s still a victim of the story he creates, a helpless product of his bloodline’s imperial ambitions and generations of political scheming.
where the definition of kwisatz haderach gets more complicated is when you start to pay more attention to the worldbuilding side of things apart from just looking at the role he plays in the larger story.
in the books, the bene gesserit essentially begin a breeding program to develop a biological product who’s supposed to have superhuman capabilities - capable of training in the bene gesserit way & developing the ability to peer into ‘male avenues’ which are beyond a bene gesserit’s ability - as well as ‘female avenues’ (which the bene gesserit are restricted to). the ‘female avenues’ referred to here are probably mostly in reference to the inherited biological memory of the past, and the reverend mothers (who inherit the memories of previous reverend mothers) probably possess the most heightened state of a bene gesserit’s powers. I suspect the male avenues refer to the ability to peer into the future although it’s never clarified - but to summarise, a kwisatz haderach is supposed to have mental powers that enable him to explore time, access the past and sort through different possible futures which can enable him to shape/choose what form it takes (dune messiah deals with the tragic consequences of losing your free will and expands more on the concept). spice and its various forms are the drugs which enable bene gesserit to train and develop these powers. the significance of the kwisatz haderach to the fremen is more complicated, although you probably already understood what was happening there - the bene gesserit plant ‘prophecies’ and superstitions through its branch of the missionaria protectiva to develop a mythology and faith that a trained bene gesserit - ideally the mother of the kwisatz haderach - can exploit to her advantage to protect the product of several centuries of breeding in case the necessity arises. and jessica and paul do actually exploit the fremen to their advantage in the books and the movies, if more explicitly in the latter.
the movie obviously simplifies this concept more to its benefit. the bene gesserit, with their own political agendas, vaguely describe the kwisatz haderach as someone capable of leading the universe into a better future, which sounds too good to be true for a reason. jessica tells paul that the bene gesserit tried to develop a mind capable of bridging space and time and those are words also used in the book - the movie just does away with most of the weird, inane gender stuff.
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matchadobo · 24 days
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KIDD; wedding headcanons
warning/s: partial nsfw but no occurrence of the actual thing, super fluff i died and alived
i'll fix the formatting lateeeerr >:) red ones are individual bullets while white ones are subheadings of the previous red one (hope that makes sense)
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* when you bring the question to him he'll be like:
* "me? you wanna marry me?" he'd point to himself.
* "yes, silly! who else?!"
* "i-i mean," he'll instantly become red and start fumbling over his words. "i-i was supposed to pop the damn question out..."
* you best bet it'll be a full blown steampunk wedding! he'd want it to be in the victoria but it's also fine with him if you'd want a beach or garden wedding so long as the theme stays. this i what i think he'll be wearing, the aesthetic of the event, and what your gown'll be.
* during preparations, he'd mostly leave it up to you so long as you follow his color palette: red and blacks. but when it comes to foods, he'd be keen on having an attendance while you taste test and choose out stuff.
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his and your fits
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* before your wedding day, he'd be soooo anxious. i have this thought that when you two are individually out on your bachelor/ette parties, he'd be calling you by the end of it just cuz he can't sleep.
* "it's pretty late, kidd. did your party just finished?"
* "yeah, every one's knocked out of their damn minds. and apparently, i can't fuckin' sleep."
* "hmm, nervous?"
* "like the fuck i am." he'd try to deny it but eventually give in. "i wanna see you before i sleep."
* "but you know the superstition-"
* "fuck that shi-"
* "no! i don't want any bad luck!"
* "luck? baby, we defy all odds, don't we?"
* he'd insist but you'll also insist. so he just settled on an overnight call where you two slept in.
* during the wedding day, you two'll be tired as fuck because the only sleep you guys got was 2-3 hours because of talking and comforting each other until 5 😭. while getting ready, kidd will be more impatient and irritated than usual. but it's just due to the combination of weariness and anxiety. mostly anxiety. he never felt this anxious when it comes to you, he'd always be confident about how you two felt about each other. but right now, all he thinks if he's sure or not. if you're sure with him. eustass kidd never doubts, but he feels so deeply for you he'd never want to hurt you and that brings him to a wall. the people involve with him that day had a hard time working with him because his attitude is extraaa mean 😔
* but when he sees you at the end of the aisle as you donned a dress that looked way too good on you it was insane to him, all his worries left his body through a tear that cascaded down his eye.
* "you crying?" killer nudged kidd, noticing the taller to reach over his breast pocket to fish out the hanky.
* "shut up, you ain't the one doing the marryin'."
* i imagine his vows to reflect the kind of person he is, passionate and brute about it. he'll be soooo poetic it'd surprise you.
* "where do i even start fuck-" you'd giggle along with the audience. "i do lotsa damn declarations but this is makin' me shy, jeez."
* "name," he'd sheepishly look at you. "you are my dream and i honestly curse the seas that i'd only found you nos and not at the time i needed you the most. and now i, for the life of me, can't imagine how i'd live without you."
* "i, eustass kid, will put hands on anyone who mess with my wife, if those fuckers think they're so big, well so am i, aye?! if she cries i'll cry with her, and trust me when i say i will kill any bastard who dares do her wrong, because that's my wife, they better not look at her cuz she's taken, she's mine. got it?"
* "you've learned to love me, an insufferable asshole, in ways i never thought possible. you've seen the worst and the best, the weak and the strong, the ugly and somehow the pretty in me. you make me a better man."
* "you conquered all my fears, seized my pride, and built my strength. you are the reason i became the way i am today. you crawled your way in 'ere and took control over my heart, you little monster."
* "from the start, i haven't exactly been kind to you. i mean, i've been rude, and disrespectful; but you grew on me, you were patient and measured up to my irritated ass... so much that I don't know what happened, you really snuck up on me... so may you forgive me my past dumb mistakes. because even if I am stupid and mean, and I may not show my love properly, I love you and will do anything to give you what you fuckin' deserve. you know that."
* "name is a great woman, one who stands and always fights for what she wants, and I want the honor of being your husband. we'll conquer anything, yeah?"
* "okay i'm very fucking embrassed now so i'll just come out and say it... I need to marry you, not because I love you, not because I like you, but because I have to to... yeah, I said it, I don't like you or love you, i need you in my fucking life."
* man he'd end up crying while saying them. but his voice wouldn't waver, it's eustass kidd come ooooon
* he'd be dramatic and give you the bridal kiss where you kind of hang mid air and he supports your back.
* reception would be firrrreee it'd be an absolute rave! you'd have your wedding dress be modified where you can discard the tulle or some shit to make the dress shorter.
* your guests and dearest friends each made a speech about your craziness with each other
* "kidd was so damn insane for this girl. one time, he asked me if he should get her an otter or dung beetle as a christmas present. bro doesn't even celebrate christmas until she came along!"
* "kidd stood out as one of name's partners, he was the first jackass she fell for that was actually a keeper."
* "i'm telling you, kidd became so self-conscious when he met name! he started worrying if his lipstick was the right shade or if his eyeliner looked neat!"
* "what confuses me was whenever they talked to me about each other, the word 'i hate' always comes first and them being whipped follows after. it was annoying."
* drinking games come after, trivias about the couple and between you two after. and as expected, it was competitive because neither of you wanted to lose and give way 🤣. kidd as a man, will never go easy and let you win tho. he respects you like that.
* but what prompted me to make this hc is the wedding garter tradition 🫦. this will be his favorite part. he'd be very extra tho,
* he'll take off his suit jacket and roll up his sleeves when you two are in front for the act.
* he'd maintain reaaaally strong eye contact and will be feeling himself while you burn red and start fanning yourself from laughing or actually feeling flustered under his gaze.
* he'd get under your dress, have a long whiff of that 🐱 and his breath'll tickle you bc he nasty like that, lick your thigh a little, give the flesh on your hips a squeeze, and drag the garter off with his teeth very very languidly
* he'll be very pouty when it's time to give it to the bestman tho
* then the actual rave comesss! blasting music and lights at the victoria, it didn't seem like a wedding reception. but you and kidd were in the center of it all, dancing with each other the same way you two met in a bar.
* "wanna get out of here?" he whispered with his hands on your hips, bending down to your ear due to the deafening beats.
* "hmm, ain't this familiar?" you giggled.
* "aye. this is the part where you come with me and we kiss at the back."
* "eh? that's different from what i remember. your mean ass was angry at me for stepping on your shoe." you poked at his nose while he laughed subtly.
* "shh shh, we both know how bad that ended. bar got fucked up real good." you two broke out in laughter, reminiscing at old times.
* kidd would inevitably drag you to his quarters, man's hungrryyyyy
* he'd be so desperate to take off your clothes, with how beautiful you look today and how he was deprived of you for a couple of nights
* you'd leave the deck making out, walkign sideways, backwards, u name it
* "it'd be pretty weird if the bride and groom's gone on their reception, right?" you broke out of the kiss.
* "and we don't give a shit about it, don't we?" he'd grin, tugging at your lips
* aaaand stuff thst happens in the honeymoon happened 😏
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been in the works foR WAY TOO LONG
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13leaguestories · 5 days
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Hey, I was in the process of replaying Superstition from scratch in order to start Season 3 with everything fresh in my mind.
But because of the overhaul of Season 1 you're planning to do, do you think I should still go on with that, or should I rather wait for you to actually release the update to Season 1?
Answering this now for all those curious and who may be doing the same and want to know if they need to wait.
It mostly depends on how much you care. SHORT ANSWER: you don't have to as S3 will have the necessary CC. But I think you should. There's just too many additions and tweaks happening.
LONG ANSWER:
I've added a tons of things in Ep1 by itself already and I'm not even done. I'll list some of the major changes so you can get an idea below.
Zillah is now romanceable in S1
Chanara will be introduced in S1 and also romanceable out the gate
Tons of romance scenes beings added and tweaked to fit new scenes, better convey ideas, and due to shifts in personality system
A bunch of smaller variables for characters being added (e.g. bad habits, height, sub-classes, religious, etc)
Nerve stat tweak
An additional scar in the beginning as well as a tweak on the main fears
Plot fixes!!
And then probably a bunch of other things I just don't remember off the top of my head.
So yea, I do think if you want to get the grand scope, wait and play it when S1 updates. As in S3, if you don't, you'll notice that Chanara no longer is some new character you know nothing about. You won't have some variables that won't be in the CC cos they'll be too many of them and are mostly flavor text.
S2 will be getting a similar treatment, can't say if it'll be as grand though but possibly because of all the changes S1 will have.
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cosmermaid · 10 months
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I wonder if there’s going to be a resurgence in maritime superstitions after this Oceangate debacle.
Like, it’s pretty common knowledge that historically, sailors are or were a very superstitious bunch. And how could they not be? On the sea you can take every safety precaution there is, and things can still go wrong. You can still see things in the water or in the darkness of the open sea that you’ll never be able to explain or understand. This is a common experience of naval sailors to this day, you can find plenty of Ask Reddit threads about it.
The sea cannot be tamed. It is the most powerful force on this planet. You can do everything right and it can still take everything and never give it back.
And now you have five dead rich men that will never resurface. All because Stockton Rush tempted fate in every possible way. He did everything wrong in regards to concrete safety precautions. He boasted. He named his submersible after a sunken ship. He married somebody descended from people that the sea had already claimed.
Maybe this part is just me being a bit of a romanticist, but the titan is actually a very different vessel from the Titanic. Despite the arrogant boasting surrounding the Titanic’s maiden voyage, and the arrogance of the Captain, the Titanic was a large vessel that was crafted with care and attention to detail. The Titanic had purpose. It was built with fail safes in mind to prevent sinking. It was meant to be a luxurious experience for those on board. Even third class cabins, though small, were meant to be elegant, clean and comfortable for those staying in them. And the sea took it’s time claiming the titanic, almost as if it was savoring it.
But the Titan was none of those things. It was an idle vessel for people who had no need to be there. It was small. Uncomfortable. Built with carelessness, with no attention to detail what so ever. And it had the gall to name itself after the magnificent liner that it came to crawl over. It didn’t fail on it’s maiden voyage in such a dramatic fashion. Instead the ocean crushed it like an annoying gnat that kept coming back.
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boiohboii · 10 months
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The trophy boyfriend Pt4.
The one where the world is in flames due to Daniel's announcement, however Kim Y/N won't let her boyfriend, now fiance, upstage her.
People think they have lost Carlos to a different type of WAG only to find out Daniel Ricciardo is the one who is not coming back.
or
In which f1 fans are introduced to a South Korean chaebol and now they want to fight her rumored boyfriend...... but he is only her childhood friend while his friend is her fiance.
N.B: one more part till the end of this small series. I hope you liked it and thank you so much for reading ♥️♥️ I hope you had fun here!
PART 3
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Liked by danielricciardo, carlossainz55, landonorris and 985,820 others
KimJeonwoo: Hello, this is actually Kim Y/N. While I have made it known to Daniel and our close ones that I absolutely and am madly and deeply in live with him, I think it is only fair that I acknowledge his post on this platform as well, however I will not be unlocking any of my personal profiles as they are just that- personal. I hope that you will understand that I am not one to share much publicly.
Daniel, from the day I saw you on that floor I knew I was going to find you again. People say that when you meet someone you will know, and I never believed in that superstition. How was that even possible? How was I just supposed to look at someone and decide that I will spend the rest of my life with them? But then I saw you, sprawled out on the floor with your hand reaching to me, I was and still am not the most social person so all I could do was nod at you and then go on my way, certain that I will meet you, after all, all of those sayings seemed true; I just knew you were the one in that moment.
On that first date I knew that I was going to have to share you with the world. On the second date I knew that I wanted you by my side for as long as you will have me for. And on the third date I was already picking our rings.
I was nervous on that night, I was scared that you wouldn't want to get married now, after all our schedules are ever so changing and our careers do not seem to have a meeting point. I am always nervous around you, you make me feel like I can be anything and anyone and you would still love me all the same.
I love you, you are the one who colored my life with arcades, forts, karts and jokes. You are the one who taught me to accept mistakes, to not get too caught up on the past.
They say marriage is hard, that you need to love a person for the rest of your lifetime, but I don't think these people knew what love is, if they did marriage would've been the easiest thing for them. Everytime I look at you, everytime I hear your voice i fall in love with you all over again, I fall and I will always keep falling for you, only you.
I swear that I will do you right, I will respect and cherish you, I will keep falling in love with you everyday even if I can no longer see you or hear you. You will always be my sun, my laughter and my joy. You will always be my first and last love.
Thank you for the years of bliss, the years where my heart stopped- only to beat again at the sound of your voice, the years that were full of delightful memories. And to all the years that are yet to come, always remember that I am forever yours my darling, till my very last breath.
~comments on this post have been disabled~
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NEXT
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thunderboltfire · 2 months
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I have a lot of complicated feelings when it comes to what Neflix has done with the Witcher, but my probably least favourite is the line of argumentation that originated during shitstorms related to the first and second season that I was unlucky to witness.
It boils down to "Netflix's reinterpretation and vision is valid, because the Witcher books are not written to be slavic. The overwhelming Slavic aestetic is CDPR's interpretation, and the setting in the original books is universally European, as there are references to Arthurian mythos and celtic languages" And I'm not sure where this argument originated and whether it's parroting Sapkowski's own words or a common stance of people who haven't considered the underlying themes of the books series. Because while it's true that there are a lot of western european influences in the Witcher, it's still Central/Eastern European to the bone, and at its core, the lack of understanding of this topic is what makes the Netflix series inauthentic in my eyes.
The slavicness of the Witcher goes deeper than the aestetics, mannerisms, vodka and sour cucumbers. Deeper than Zoltan wrapping his sword with leopard pelt, like he was a hussar. Deeper than the Redanian queen Hedvig and her white eagle on the red field.
What Witcher is actually about? It's a story about destiny, sure. It's a sword-and-sorcery style, antiheroic deconstruction of a fairy tale, too, and it's a weird mix of many culture's influences.
But it's also a story about mundane evil and mundane good. If You think about most dark, gritty problems the world of Witcher faces, it's xenophobia and discrimination, insularism and superstition. Deep-seated fear of the unknown, the powerlessness of common people in the face of danger, war, poverty and hunger. It's what makes people spit over their left shoulder when they see a witcher, it's what makes them distrust their neighbor, clinging to anything they deem safe and known. It's their misfortune and pent-up anger that make them seek scapegoats and be mindlessly, mundanely cruel to the ones weaker than themselves.
There are of course evil wizards, complicated conspiracies and crowned heads, yes. But much of the destruction and depravity is rooted in everyday mundane cycle of violence and misery. The worst monsters in the series are not those killed with a silver sword, but with steel. it's hard to explain but it's the same sort of motiveless, mundane evil that still persist in our poorer regions, born out of generations-long poverty and misery. The behaviour of peasants in Witcher, and the distrust towards authority including kings and monarchs didn't come from nowhere.
On the other hand, among those same, desperately poor people, there is always someone who will share their meal with a traveller, who will risk their safety pulling a wounded stranger off the road into safety. Inconditional kindness among inconditional hate. Most of Geralt's friends try to be decent people in the horrible world. This sort of contrasting mentalities in the recently war-ridden world is intimately familiar to Eastern and Cetral Europe.
But it doesn't end here. Nilfgaard is also a uniquely Central/Eastern European threat. It's a combination of the Third Reich in its aestetics and its sense of superiority and the Stalinist USSR with its personality cult, vast territory and huge army, and as such it's instantly recognisable by anybody whose country was unlucky enough to be caught in-between those two forces. Nilfgaard implements total war and looks upon the northerners with contempt, conscripts the conquered people forcibly, denying them the right of their own identity. It may seem familiar and relevant to many opressed people, but it's in its essence the processing of the trauma of the WW2 and subsequent occupation.
My favourite case are the nonhumans, because their treatment is in a sense a reminder of our worst traits and the worst sins in our history - the regional antisemitism and/or xenophobia, violence, local pogroms. But at the very same time, the dilemma of Scoia'Tael, their impossible choice between maintaining their identity, a small semblance of freedom and their survival, them hiding in the forests, even the fact that they are generally deemed bandits, it all touches the very traumatic parts of specifically Polish history, such as January Uprising, Warsaw Uprising, Ghetto Uprising, the underground resistance in WW2 and the subsequent complicated problem of the Cursed Soldiers all at once. They are the 'other' to the general population, but their underlying struggle is also intimately known to us.
The slavic monsters are an aestetic choice, yes, but I think they are also a reflection of our local, private sins. These are our own, insular boogeymen, fears made flesh. They reproduce due to horrors of the war or they are an unprovoked misfortune that descends from nowhere and whose appearance amplifies the local injustices.
I'm not talking about many, many tiny references that exist in the books, these are just the most blatant examples that come to mind. Anyway, the thing is, whether Sapkowski has intended it or not, Witcher is slavic and it's Polish because it contains social commentary. Many aspects of its worldbuilding reflect our traumas and our national sins. It's not exclusively Polish in its influences and philosophical motifs of course, but it's obvious it doesn't exist in a vacuum.
And it seems to me that the inherently Eastern European aspects of Witcher are what was immediately rewritten in the series. It seems to me that the subtler underlying conflicts were reshaped to be centered around servitude, class and gender disparity, and Nilfgaard is more of a fanatic terrorist state than an imposing, totalitarian empire. A lot of complexity seems to be abandoned in lieu of usual high-fantasy wordbuilding. It's especially weird to me because it was completely unnecessary. The Witcher books didn't need to be adjusted to speak about relevant problems - they already did it! The problem of acceptance and discrimination is a very prevalent theme throughout the story! They are many strong female characters too, and they are well written. Honestly I don't know if I should find it insulting towards their viewers that they thought it won't be understood as it was and has to be somehow reshaped to fit the american perpective, because the current problems are very much discussed in there and Sapkowski is not subtle in showing that genocide and discrimination is evil. Heck, anyone who has read the ending knows how tragic it makes the whole story.
It also seems quite disrespectful, because they've basically taken a well-established piece of our domestic literature and popular culture and decided that the social commentary in it is not relevant. It is as if all it referenced was just not important enough and they decided to use it as an opportunity to talk about the problems they consider important. And don't get me wrong, I'm not forcing anyone to write about Central European problems and traumas, I'm just confused that they've taken the piece of art already containing such a perspective on the popular and relevant problem and they just... disregarded it, because it wasn't their exact perspective on said problem.
And I think this homogenisation, maybe even from a certain point of view you could say it's worldview sanitisation is a problem, because it's really ironic, isn't it? To talk about inclusivity in a story which among other problems is about being different, and in the same time to get rid of motifs, themes and references because they are foreign? Because if something presents a different perspective it suddenly is less desirable?
There was a lot of talking about the showrunners travelling to Poland to understand the Witcher's slavic spirit and how to convey it. I don't think they really meant it beyond the most superficial, paper-thin facade.
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she-posts-nerdy-stuff · 4 months
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It’s one in the morning let’s talk Six of Crows analysis - it feels like it’s been ages since I did any analysis, which is like the entire point of this account so sorry about that but here we go: We should talk more about Adem Bajan you guys okay because first of all he effectively comes to represent the vast majority of everyday people in a clear juxtaposition to both Inej and Van Eck, but he also is in a position of far less choice than I think we give him credit for.
As a reminder, Bajan is a young Suli boy (presumably somewhere around 19 but we have no confirmation of that) working in the Van Eck household teaching Alys music. He is highly implied to be having or to have interest in having as affair with Alys, and was Van Eck’s chosen jailer for Inej at the beginning of Crooked Kingdom. Van Eck claims he made this choice because he thought “a Suli boy would be most conspicuous” when he was attempting to lure Kaz into a trap to save Inej, but it was also an inarguably smart decision in that, as Inej even comments herself, Bajan was easy to talk to, made her feel nostalgic, homesick, and alone, and very nearly succeeded in drawing information out of her without having to restore to torture. If anything, resorting to torture was Van Eck’s major mistake at this point but that’s really a conversation for another time. Bajan is a really interesting character because he doesn’t want to hurt Inej and specifically encourages her to tell him things so Van Eck won’t escalate things further, but when Van Eck does escalate things Bajan is unable - or possibly unwilling - to stop him. For this Inej calls him a monster, and when he claims he did nothing replies “no, you’re the man who stands idly by congratulating himself whilst the monster eats its fill”. She draws a Suli phrase on him that effectively means he’ll be rejected by the community forever and his spirit/soul won’t be accepted, and she describes it as the worst fate or something along those lines sorry I can’t remember exactly. But what’s the most interesting thing is that even though he claims not to believe in any of it Bajan gets noticeably upset by this and says “that’s not fair”. Inej is surprised that he’s this soft, and there’s a very clear juxtaposition between the lives they have lived.
BUT - let’s look at this from Bajan’s perspective. And remember - this is important - Bajan is not described as an employee of Van Eck’s, but an indenture. An indenture. So Bajan is a young boy indentured in a foreign country to a man as high up in the country’s government as you can get and who has clearly been illustrated to the reader as a terrible person on several different levels that I won’t dissect in too much detail right now. He appears to have acclimatised himself to Kerch surroundings and acts with elevation above his status, because that’s what he has to do to survive in the upper echelon of a deeply classist society that actively diminishes and disapproves of his culture. (<<if anyone wants references for that let me know and also I’ve written about it quite a bit before so that’s kicking around on my page somewhere) He refuses to speak to Inej in Suli because “it makes me maudlin” and my question to you is: is he rejecting the language to further attempt to fit in and as a product of internalised prejudice, or because it’s so incredibly painful to be half-connected to a culture not only that he has forced himself to reject but also that he feels he can never safely return to? Probably both. He tells Inej he doesn’t believe in Suli superstition, religion, or culture, and yet is deeply upset when she uses it against him. Is this because he actually does believe, or wants to believe, in the Saints and the Suli interpretation of them but has rejected them for survival and the supposed betterment of himself? Possibly.
Bajan strikes me as very similar to Jesper in the way he presents himself as free, flirty, and casual, but had a considerable weight to almost everything he says and considerable pain hidden closer to the surface than he may have realised. I think there are parallels between him and Inej if we want to see them, but also a very stark difference in the way Kerch and Ketterdam have treated them. Bajan may not be privileged but even as an indenture he has - or at least as far as we know has had - a far safer and kinder experience than Inej has. This could be related to gender since the hyper-sexualisation of Suli culture is mostly centred on women - “the Menagerie always stocked a Suli girl” (I’ve intensely analysis this quote before so I won’t now but ugh there’s so much to say) - but we do know there are young boys captive at the pleasure houses as well although less commonly and it’s also possible that this difference is linked to Bajan’s decision to turn his back on Suli culture in order to appeal more to Kerch society whilst Inej continually embraced her culture and arguably became more religious in response to her experiences.
This is complicated because I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Bajan. I understand and support Inej’s perspective and everything she saw whilst in a far more dangerous position that he was, but is it possible that this was a lonely boy who saw someone he thought was like him and tried to communicate with her the only way he thought was safe? You are completely isolated in a foreign culture and hate yourself for having suppressed your own upbringing in order to survive, but now you meet someone else who yes, is in more danger than you, but who you might be able to help so that she can help you in return. You aren’t safe to speak freely and so you subtly tell her that you are an indenture, hoping she acknowledges that none of this is of your free will and because you know that she was indentured too (and remember from a societal pov there is very little understanding of what indentured girls at the pleasure houses actually go through and although that doesn’t excuse ignoring Inej’s trauma it may explain why he doesn’t fully acknowledge that their positions aren’t equal), you tell her that speaking your own shared language makes you feel maudlin, hoping she realises that you desperately miss your homeland and using your language makes you feel even further from your family than you already are because you can’t share it with them. She doesn’t seem to be taking any of it in, your employer has every intention of hurting her and you don’t know what else to do, so you make a last plea: you ask her about home. You think you’ve already made it clear that speaking about home is painful, so you ask her about it to invite that pain, to share it, so you both understand. But it fails, because she only sees your employer puppeteering you. You openly beg her to tell him the truth so that he won’t hurt her but she refuses to comply, and after all of your efforts and your desperate attempts to connect and beg her to help you both go home, her response is to turn your home against you and banish you from it for eternity. So when you see her the next morning, how could you possibly look her in the eye?
Bajan did not make all of the right choices in his brief time on the page. He didn’t. But maybe he was trying really hard, and he had no other options left.
Anyway I’m not saying this is definitive one way or the other it’s just an interpretation but I find him a very interesting and very sad character and I although I support all of Inej’s actions in these scenes from her point of view I do find myself wondering how she appeared to Bajan and how he felt in the aftermath.
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theresattrpgforthat · 3 months
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Games with an atypical division of Player/GM responsibilities? For example, in Fellowship, the players have final say in lore/world building questions, not the GM. (Not counting GMless games, which have atypical GM duties by default)
Alternatively, if that's too niche: any games explicitly designed for rotating GMs and/or 'West Marches' style campaigns.
THEME: Unique Player Responsibilities / Rotating GMs
Hello there! I hope to do your ask justice, although I feel more at home talking about the first half of your question than the second. I’ll ask my followers to supply some more suggestions in the tags/reblogs, and throw at you what I have!
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Fae’s Anatomy, by Hebanon Games.
Fae’s Anatomy is a comedic storytelling RPG wrapped around a challenging logic puzzle, recreating the high-stakes melodrama of medical procedurals like Grey’s Anatomy, House, and General Hospital. 
Anybody can be an expert in Fae’s Anatomy. The game is set in a world where all forms of magic, spirituality, and mysticism are science. Science? Just another form of wizardry. Quackary, superstition, and pseudo-science work, but so does chemotherapy, antibiotics, and sound medicine.
In many ways, I’d say Fae’s Anatomy feels like a typical ttrpg: you have one person giving hints and clues to the rest of the players, who will use certain skills and abilities to solve a problem. But the closest role to the GM role - the Patient - is simply different from the doctors in what limits them. The Patient is suffering from some kind of mysterious illness, and while they have a little bit of information available to their general illness, the app presented to them to help them run through the diagnosis keeps the solution obscured enough to keep them on their toes. The Patient also has to role-play their symptoms well enough to help point the doctors in the right direction. In some ways, it feels like Fae’s Anatomy is an elegant form of charades - and if you want to hear how this game plays, you can check out the special episodes that Lawful Great Adventures recorded using this game!
Apocalypse Keys, by Rae Nedjadi @temporalhiccup
The Doomsday Clock is ticking down and emotions run high as you and your team of DIVISION agents struggle to find the Keys before the villainous Harbingers unlock the Doors of Power and bring about the apocalypse.
As an Omen class monster, you are the only thing capable of holding back the apocalypse. Combat occult threats and investigate supernatural phenomena alongside your team of supernatural agents working for the shadowy DIVISION. But in a world that shuns monsters like you, only your deepest, most heartfelt bonds can grant you the power to stop those who seek to unlock Doom’s Door.
There are two ways in which Apocalypse Keys uniquely empowers the players in ways I consider slightly unorthodox. Firstly, there’s the fact that the lore of DIVISION, the shadowy government agency that holds your monsters leash, isn’t fully fleshed out at the beginning of play. It’s slowly uncovered with each mission and playbook advancement, with the players being presented with questions and workshopping the answers together.
Second is the mystery mechanic, which was popularized by Brindlewood Bay and The Between, and also made its way into games such as External Containment Bureau and Bump in the Dark. While the GM designs clues and thinks about what kinds of Harbingers might be responsible for this specific apocalypse, it’s up to the players to decide what the answer to the mystery actually is - and it’s the player’s roll that determines how accurate they are.
Brinkwood, Blood of Tyrants, by Far Horizons Co-Op.
Mask up. Spill blood. Drink the Rich.
The world is not as it should be. The rich feed, literally, upon the poor, as blood-sucking vampires who barely bother to conceal their horrific, parasitic nature. The downtrodden peoples of the world struggle under the burdens of rent, payable through the sweat of their labor or the blood of their veins. Evil has triumphed. Many have given in to despair. But all is not lost.
In Brinkwood, you take on the role of renegades, thieves, and rebels struggling for freedom and liberation in a castylpunk world controlled by vampires. Radicalized by tragedy, you have taken up arms and fled into the forests, where you were taken in by unlikely allies - the fae, forgotten creatures of myth - who offered a different path and the means to fight back against your oppressors. Masks, forged of old wood and older magic, are the final tool left to fight a war long ago lost. If you wear them, they will take their price, etching themselves upon your very soul. But they will also let you spill the blood of the rich and powerful vampires that now rule the land, and from that blood strengthen yourself and your movement.
There’s a lot of things about Brinkwood that I absolutely love, from the way the mask playbooks are meant to be swapped among the characters/players with every mission, to the slow but steady revolution that you build by fostering connections with various factions in the Bloody Isles. But for the purpose of this request, we need to talk about Your Exquisite Fae.
Your Exquisite Fae is the process by which the group collaboratively creates a faerie patron, otherworldly and uniquely powerful. It’s inspired by the game Exquisite Corpse, which has each player draw a piece of a drawing without knowing what the others have already created. In Your Exquisite Fae, the players receive answers to prompts written by other players but aren’t given hints as to what the context was - and then they elaborate on what those answers mean. For example, one player might state that the Fae has eyes that reflect the night sky, gleaming like a thousand distant starts. The second player might decide that those eyes see the deepest fears of the enemy, giving the group an advantage at finding weaknesses and secrets when spying on vampires.
Ars Magica, by Atlas Games.
Ars Magica is the award-winning roleplaying game by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein•Hagen about wizards and their allies in Mythic Europe. This flexible, deeply built world can support games that are historically accurate or fantasy-based, epic or small scale, political or personal.
Players work together to tell the story of their covenant — all of the magi, their companions, and grogs. This history can span decades. It might be heroic, tragic, or both in turn. The covenant could influence the entirety of Mythic Europe or the fates of a small corner of the world.
Spells will be cast. Duels won and lost. Houses may rise and fall. But magic is forever.
The last time I talked about this game, one of my followers pointed out that this was an incredibly complex game that was designed to accommodate rotating GMs. The game styles itself as a troupe-style game, which means you’re not just responsible for your mages, but also your companions and servants. If you want a game with complex relationships and big-picture conflicts, this might be the game for you.
Slugblaster, by Mikey Hamm.
In the small town of Hillview, teenage hoverboarders sneak into other dimensions to explore, film tricks, go viral, and get away from the problems at home. It’s dangerous. It’s stupid. It’s got parent groups in a panic. And it’s the coolest thing ever.
This is Slugblaster. A table-top rpg about teenagehood, giant bugs, circuit-bent rayguns, and trying to be cool.
It may look like a small thing, but during crew creation, each character playbook has specific roles in determining the crew’s resources and relationships. The Grit picks a faction that trusts the crew. The Guts chooses a faction that the crew has somehow annoyed. Each player draws a portal between the known multiverses, but the Smarts draws two. The Chill has final say over where you hang out when you’re not Slugblasting, and The Heart has final say over your crew name.
I’ve drawn direct inspiration from this setup in my own game that I’m playtesting, by giving each playbook final say over some element in the world, and I think it really boosts player agency and gives them control over the kind of story the group wants to tell.
Planedawn Orphans, by Sharkbomb Studios.
Planedawn Orphans is a campaign kit that helps you prepare a campaign for the fantasy role-playing game of your choice. It provides a flexible and versatile framework to start a campaign. The campaign kit will help you get started and provide structure and support, but some assembly is required.
Set in the Planar City, a strange melting pot that connects the vast diversity of the multiverse. You all play Planar Orphans stranded in this city, your original home worlds destroyed, corrupted or lost. A mysterious Patron has brought you together, provided you with a base of operations and tasked you to complete a Planar Key. This key will let you create a new plane for you and your fellow refugees. Your quest will bring you to exotic places filled with strange creatures and bizarre phenomena.
This isn’t a standalone rpg, but rather a campaign kit for whatever system you like - or even multiple systems! I’m recommending this toolkit because I’m actually planning to use it to run a series of rotating-gm games later this year, with a friend of mine. You’re building your own custom dimension by jumping into a series of vastly different worlds, and your home base is built collectively. There’s a lot of player agency and GM agency here, as players have plenty of control over their home dimensions (since they can’t ever go back) and the GMs can take turns designing custom worlds for the party to jump into. I definitely recommend checking it out.
Also Check Out
Asymmetrical Games Rec Post
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mask131 · 1 year
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While checking around for my “Roman gods are not Greek gods” posts, I found back this tripartition of mythology, which is actually a fact that everybody should kno about if they want to dabble in Greco-Roman myths (especially Greek myths).
We know that, during Antiquity, the Romans and the Greeks thought that there wasn’t just one, but three different types of “theology” - three different views, perceptions and reception of the gods.
The first theology was the theology of the priests and of the state - aka, religion. The Greek gods as perceived and described by religion, as honored through rituals and festivals.
The second theology is the “mythic theology” - what we call “mythology today”. It is a set of legends, folktales and stories that are not part of religion, but rather used and carried by art - it is the gods are seen, perceived and described by the poets, by the epics, by the theater plays.
The third theology is the theology of the philosophers - who used the gods and their tales as images and allegories for various abstract or concrete topics. It is the gods as depictions and description of natural phenomenon, or the myths as a way to actualy exemplify a social fact or explain psychological workings. 
For the classic Greeks and Romans, there was a clear divide between those three very different point of view of the gods. It was basically three different versions of the pantheon. This is notably why you will find texts noting that priests disliked and condemned the poets’ mythological works, due to them being blasphemous and making the gods too human when religion described them as perfect ; and it is also why the philosophers of old dissed on and rejected the literary works of mythology as nonsense only good to feed superstitions, because for them the gods weren’t characters or realities, but rather abstract concepts and rhetorical allegories.
This is something I feel needs to be reminded, because today these three different theologies have been mixed up into one big mess - as literary myths are placed one the same level as philosophical “myths” (actually texts taking the shape of myths), and both considered of outmost religious importance. When in fact, things were quite different... 
EDIT: I was asked if there was a myth that could illustrate the three different theologies, and on the spot I would say “the affair between Aphrodite and Ares”.
This story originates from the “mythological theology”. It is primarily a story, and a good one. It is the story of a husband who discovers his wife is unfaithful and tries to get revenge, it is the story of an extra-marital affair gone wrong, it is typical set of divine shenanigans ending on a grotesque display of divine humiliation - it is an excellent narrative material for plays and poems (and the legend does originates from poems).
The story was also dearly beloved and reused by the “philosophical theology”, because the philosophers adored the idea of the love between Ares and Aphrodite - for them it was the perfect depiction of how the concepts of “love” and “war” , despite being seemingly opposite, attracted each other and were closely tied. For them, this story isn’t to be taken literaly as “a god cheated on another god”, but rather as “this is an allegory showing that love and war are two sides of the same coin, which is why Aphrodite falls for Ares despite being married to Hephaistos”. But for them the whole net part is just poetic nonsense invented to make people laugh ; or maybe they will reinvent them as a moral, cautionary tale that should be used to warn people of the dangers of unfaithfulness. 
And then there’s the “religious theology”, the point of view of the priests - for whom such a story is mockery and sacrilege. You can imagine them saying: “You are making the gods look like fools! Gods don’t cheat on each other, gods don’t get captured in nets while butt-naked, gods don’t even sleep on beds - GODS DO NOT EVEN HAVE HUMAN FORMS IN THEIR NATURAL STATE - what the heck is this bullshit you’re saying, you’re just insulting the gods by turning them into lecherous humans and grotesque clowns for your vulgar story!” (This is a reconstitution and not the actual words of an Ancient Greek priest)
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lilyginnyblackv2 · 1 year
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Buddy Daddies - Episode 7 - Thought Post - Extra Stuff! - SPOILERS!
A few small tid-bit stuff that I liked or thought interesting in the episode.
1. Rakuzon:
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They combined Rakuten (a Japanese-based Amazon like site) with Amazon, lol. That got a good chuckle out of me! 
2. I want pizza!
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One of the ladies Kazuki is with says, “I want pizza!” 
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Kazuki responds with, “Aw, that’s for poor people!” And he tells her to order sushi. Then there is a transition to Miri sneezing. This works as both a way to show Miri having a cold (a great call back to Episode 1′s opening scene, where Rei didn’t take her having sniffles seriously) and as a way to show the whole “sneeze when someone is talking about you” superstition in Japan. Kazuki is out here basically call Rei and Miri “poor people,” despite the irony of Rei being actually rich and Kazuki not. Which also fits back into one of his character personality traits of trying hard to be showy and trying to appear rich. 
3. Open Umbrella Indoors
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Speaking of superstitions, Japan doesn’t have one for opening umbrellas indoors equating to bad luck. You don’t realize how culturally ingrained stuff like this really is until you live in a culture that is very different in ways like this. Like, when I lived in Japan, I eventually got used to not saying anything when people sneezed, but I could never bring myself to open an umbrella up when inside a building. That was just like, “Nope, can’t chance it regardless.” lol
4. “And an order of fries.”
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Rei just straight up doing the opposite of what Kazuki would do when ordering the pizza (Miri, “Papa Kazuki says we need veggies!” Rei: “And an order of fries.”). 
5. “We’ve been abandoned.”
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Also, Rei, you don’t just tell little kids that you’ve been abandoned! T0T This is another one of those moments where Rei kinda treats Miri like an equal, instead of the child in his care, when he really really shouldn’t. Goodness!
6. Kazuki’s Eyes:
This is something I noticed all the way back in Episode 1 too. But I’m glad they’ve been consistent with this detail. In the flashbacks, Kazuki’s eyes are drawn a bit bigger, so he looks younger and also more innocently naïve.
7. Umbrella and Bike Riding:
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Rei asks Miri where he umbrella is. She tells him it is broken. It should be noted that riding a bike while using an umbrella is technically against the law. But everyone does it anyway, lol.
8. Rei in Different Outfits:
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We got to see Rei wearing a bunch of different shirts and pants in this week’s episode. As well as wearing Kazuki’s apron! *-*
9. Miri Manipulating Her Cuteness:
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Kazuki and Rei are really going to have to watch out for this tactic! 
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