Naturally, I must inquire about Better Living Through 14th-Century Legal Shenanigans.
You may be unsurprised to learn, my friend, that this is the result of my thinking too hard about a silly show and a fabulous middle-aged lady therein. This is for "Covington Cross," and I think I can give the characters played by RSC veterans Nigel Terry and Cherie Lunghi the marriage they deserve through an elaborate prenup. They have adjoining estates in Kent! They have truly insane chemistry in what is essentially a teen sitcom playing dress-up! I can use my far too extensive knowledge of medieval law to make this happen.
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I was actually quite careful when trying to think of virtues for the kids. I needed things that were both wholly unique, and that logically descend from Abundance and Destruction. Fortunately, as I was already reading further into Egyptian and Indian mythology for creative inspiration, I eventually found exactly what I needed
While Hinduism has many, many gods, the most important ones are those found in the trimurti, or the Hindu triumverate: Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer. Together, they uphold the balance of all the cosmos. Burning Spice is already based on Shiva; furthermore, Golden Cheese greatly resembles Parvati, Shiva's wife and the life-affirming, creative force that balances his austere, destructive nature out (I explain this here). In a way, Creation and Destruction are already present. So why not have one of the children complete the holy triad? Thus, Matar Paneer was chosen to be Preservation.
As for Pepper Jack... From the get-go, he's meant to take after the bennu bird, an Ancient Egyptian entity that takes the form of a heron, said to be the living soul of Ra and to have been responsible for the creation of the world; a herald of the sun, of life, and of rebirth. Already I wanted to let him be Renewal just for that. But further research into Hindu tradition granted me an even greater reason to do so!
Hinduism espouses the existence of a cycle called samsara: the endless repetition of life, death, and rebirth that all living beings are subject to. There is no beginning to it, nor is there an end. You live, you feel, you desire and form attachment - and you die. And then you live again, your previous life's karma dictating what good fortune you are to take with you into the next.
I already had life and death and what persists in between. Then I became more certain than ever that the remaining child had to be the missing ingredient that makes the continuation of the other three possible in the first place. Rebirth as a concept was greatly venerated in Ancient Egypt, and was and still is in Hinduism; though he visually stands out next to his family, Jack honestly could not fit in better with them haha
And so, Abundance and Destruction reunited and sired Renewal and Preservation, two brand new aspects of Change that both stand alone and serve as equally important parts of a greater whole. Together, they all share responsibility over cosmic balance; creating life, preserving it with care, destroying it when the time comes. These along with the boundless gift of reincarnation, that which enables all of it to carry on as it must. Together, they are the cycle of Change. Or rather...
So with the Traveler back over the last city, do we know what happened to the portal to the pale heart? Presumably it still exists since we can still go there, but the Traveler is still intact so it didn't eject the piece the portal is connected to.
I assume the fact that its moved again means its healed too? At least enough to do whatever it is doing to stabilise earth after III's death
It's very difficult to tell, mostly because we don't know how much of it was in any way planned and how much was just put together quickly so it's not accurately depicting the situation.
The Pale Heart kinda has to remain open forever because it's a destination both for the expansion and just in general, so that was always kinda up in the air about how they'll deal with the Traveler having to heal eventually, and also keeping the zone open.
To me, it seems like the Traveler should still have the portal, even while above the City, but they didn't have time to mess with the model because it's just easier to simply make the skybox look like it did before so the Traveler is without the portal above the City, even though the portal should be there. I think it's just a skybox thing, consequence of scrapping things together quickly.
Because, if the Traveler fully healed, then the Pale Heart would become inaccessible or it would drastically change and they can't do that to a destination that relies on activities and stuff still being playable in there.
So I'm not sure what's the intended read on the situation. I will assume that the Traveler is healing slowly so it was capable of moving, but the portal is very much still there and we can still visit the Pale Heart and continue working to fully heal the Traveler.
Tonight I am wasting my time remembering how, when I mentioned retrying Dinah's CGC, I was met with "Why!?" and "I would never put my working dog in that situation!" by the schutzhund people in my life.
So. Why?
Because I didn't even know what schutzhund was when I put a deposit on this litter. Because i purchased a balanced dog with a beautiful temperament from one of the most versatile breeds in the world, and I want to do more than schutzhund with her. That has always been the goal. Her maternal grandparents have many accomplishments in many sports. Her mother does as well. I like that about her pedigree. I have always wanted that for the two of us.
I did not purchase a "more drive more better" dog. I could have, and i chose not to. I do not need her to live and breathe for schutzhund. She does not live in a kennel and only come out to potty or do schutzhund things. If I owned one of those dogs, I also would not put them in a CGC situation. I would live and breathe schutzhund things and embrace the dog I had, because that would've been my goal in purchasing such a dog.
It shouldn't matter that I want to do different things with my dog. Everyone owns dogs differently. Everyone has different goals with their dogs. That's okay. It is great, actually.
I do not need to feel small and stupid for wanting to try Dinah's CGC again. It is okay that I want to earn our CGC.
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Important: Moash/Szeth vs Moash/Venli vs Venli/Szeth
dhhfkljfjdjfhhdg let it never be said, anon, that you don't know your audience. When it comes to shipping my Best Boy, my Other Best Boy, and my Best Girl, my brutally honest opinion as per ask game is that none of these ships really work until we get like six degrees of separation from canon. And even then they can kind of feel like stretches. Their common throughline is their mutual penchant for destruction (although Moash BARELY qualifies for that) and the fact that I love them. Which sadly is not enough to make them compatible. I think that these three are great to pair up if you just want to have them cause problems together, but I don't buy them as actual relationships in any combination. Moash/Szeth/Venli KIND of works for me as a trio (it has an advantage over the others that we'll get to when discussing Moash/Venli) but if I'm being honest, I like them more as a heist crew than as a polycule.
But by god if I'm not going to try to make these ships work anyway.
Moash/Szeth
I'm sorry, these two are not compatible as a pairing. Szeth would not be even slightly interested in Moash unless they were thrown together by circumstance. And Moash would not have the patience for someone like Szeth. He might like the idea of him in theory, but in practice I think Moash prefers people who he could hold conversations with. Szeth is the most dramatic, edgy, pretentious person on the planet, and Moash is Some Guy. Neither would really be sympathetic to the other's problems and outlooks, but neither would be so worked up about it that they'd want to fix the other. I definitely could contrive of plenty of situations in which they're put together and have to interact a lot, and feelings blossom. But I think for me this ship kind of only makes sense if it's based in literal attraction. Moash is into Szeth because he's cool and dangerous and regicidal, and he keeps trying to hang out with him. Szeth is like "maybe if I just fuck him once, he'll be satisfied and go away." Moash doesn't really know what he's doing (I know that I'm probably declaring war on all other Moash enjoyers when I say that—anyway see endnote) and this ship turns into "Moash Learns Sex Ed From the Assassin in White." There you go, this is my honest take. (Moash would love Nightblood though. So maybe he's pursuing Szeth because he wants to coparent his swordchild.)
Moash/Venli
I have thought about these two before. I have tried to make it work in my head. They sure seem like they have a lot in common, traitors to their own kind, trapped under Odium's thumb, miserable and alone. It probably would have been very cool if they'd actually gotten to go anything together. I can imagine them having been given a very compelling arc in the universe where the books didn't become bored with them both, and still cared about them as people. But I think my true to canon read of them is that they would have zero chemistry. They wouldn't hate each other or anything. Nor would they like each other. Put them in a room together, they talk about the weather and then one of them mentions that they really should be getting along. THAT BEING SAID, I do think that you could get some sparks to fly if you turn them into a throuple. Throw Leshwi in there, and you could some sniping and hateflirting out of them as they compete for her attention. Or try El, maybe Venli is too sensible for his advances until Moash is also in the picture to make her jealous. Szeth? Utterly unhinged, you would have to be this specific anon or me in order to seriously consider Venli/Szeth/Moash, but I like the idea of them both trying to pull him along as their partner in crime for their respective agendas and ambitions, almost in tug of war fashion, and then ending up pulling one another along as well. They need a third, but once they have one I do think they could be fun.
Venli/Szeth
This ship could go two ways for me, they could be evil or chill. If they're evil, the relationship would be a lot of Venli bossing Szeth around while also envying his infamy. They would Get Shit Done. They actually make for a pretty terrifying power couple, but Szeth is always the one people fear and respect, Venli's contributions are always downplayed. The famous Assassin in White. Why does that get to be his thing? In listener culture, all assassins are supposed to wear white, her people were the ones who gave him those clothes in the first place! Szeth will remind her that he does not enjoy his fame, and he would be perfectly content to be forgotten. In fact if she derives no pleasure from their exploits, then he would be happy to stop at any time. Venli isn't finished yet, she will be recognized, and Szeth is going to help her. They would kind of hate each other but Venli would get off on the feeling of power she gets from the relationship, and Szeth would enjoy being with her as a form of self-harm. They'd be really awful together. Hmmmm I'm kind of selling myself on this.
The chill version would involve them meeting up after they've both broadly decided that they don't want to be terrible anymore. They would sit on a couch sharing a tub of ice cream, and they'd trade stories of all the horrible things they've done. They sort of nod along to one another and say "yeah that's fucked up, you are a bad person." It would be kind of comforting to see that there's another former monster out there, and that they've found reasons to keep living. Their relationship would be pretty low-key, they wouldn't be joined at the hip or anything, but they'd come home in the evening and talk about their days. Szeth will have cleaned the place up and made dinner, Venli would hum to Peace which Szeth doesn't understand but which does help a little with the screams, it's all very domestic. When they're in a room with other people, they could have private conversations in one of Szeth's ten languages and trade comments and observations with each other that no one else can understand. People assume they're scheming, but making everyone nervous while discussing grocery lists is about as cruel as these two retired problems-causers are willing to be these days. They would be very understated in how they demonstrate affection, but they'd be fond of each other.
In either scenario, the aesthetic is kind of great. Smooth little tiny guy X big spiky woman who's twice his height, what's not to love. Venli would hide behind Szeth in a fight, and Szeth would hide behind Venli in a medium stakes social interaction. And you know what. I have never before managed to come up with a Venli ship I liked, but I think I don't hate this one? I guess it wins.
Endnote: I'm going to make myself a pariah among Moash stans here, and say that I don't think he's a sexual force of nature. He's a vorin guy who's maybe slept with a few women in his travels. I certainly don't think he's ever been with other men (well, not until his very canonical relationship with El.) He's definitely bi, but if he had known he was into men then we would have seen him taking his shot with Kaladin. Moash isn't the type to play it cool, and he's not that subtle of a person.
She panted against his lips, forehead pressed to his.
"Ah, fuck, Higgs," she moaned out, brows furrowed and eyes held tightly shut in pleasure. Hearing his own name fall from her lips was heavenly, the way she turned it into a song just for him. He could never get enough of it. "You feel so fucking good…"
The reaction to that was immediate, his hips bucking upwards violently, his mouth open in a silent oh. His hands tightened their grip on her hips until it was almost painful, sure to leave a bruise in the morning, but neither of them pulled away from the too tight hold.
Suddenly he lurched forward from his reclined position in the wide chair, forcing her down on himself as far as she could go. She cried out at the sudden roughness, but didn't stop him - she never pulled away from him, never pushed him. The release was sudden and blinding, euphoric in its overwhelming relief. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his nose in the crook of her throat, groaning loudly. She wrapped her arms around him in return, threading her fingers through his hair as their clammy bodies molded to fit against each other.
Like a puzzle, he thought, nearly delirious. She was made just for me.
