#( they're part of different moments in her timeline <3 )

[cirphu]

Timelines, Jewelry, and Sex? Oh My!

Despite all efforts to keep myself from constantly overanalyzing love scenes on this site, here I am once again. And this time I've brought three (3) of them!

It was honestly inevitable because in a series like this where sex quite literally drives the plot, these scenes are necessary to understanding the story and characters, and in turn must be discussed. That said, walk with me lovelies. We have a lot to cover. Theories and takeaways are in blue, and questions and discourse are welcome.

Great and Tyme's love scene was so beautiful and truly a joy to witness which is why it pains me to say that it was not real. At this point, we can all agree that there are multiple timelines in play. That's why I think their love scene and the moments that lead up to it were what Great wishes their relationship was like if he had made all the right choices and met Tyme under different circumstances.

I think their relationship started with a one-night stand possibly initiated by Tyme to get closer to Great and his family.

Now before I attempt to provide evidence to support my thesis, I need to point out one thing about the timelines—they are parallel. Great's first 4-minute out of body experience establishes that point.

Sure, going back in time allows him to make a different, often better choice, but the timeline in which he made his initial choice continues.

That is why we see him wake from the "nightmare" of seeing Manee lying dead on the ground after he hits her and drives off. That timeline is still in motion and part of him has experienced and is still experiencing it.

The notion of parallel timelines is further supported by the final scene in episode 4 where we see two timelines seemingly collide as Dome returns home in one and is dead in another.

I highly recommend reading this post by @becauseimanicequeen which has an extraordinary breakdown of possible timelines and the differences between them.

Taking what we've seen so far into account, my theory is that each 4-minute jump creates a new timeline or a new branch in an existing timeline that later merges back into it's parent timeline while all events and memories remain intact. Lukwa provides a bit of insight on this during her interview with Dr. Den:

What I plan to discuss in this post is based on the premise that there at least 4 timelines in play for Great-Tyme's part of the story:

Great hits Manee and drives off → has his first 4-minute jump (4MJ) → a new timeline is created; this one continues with memories intact → ?

Great hits Manee, stays, and calls for help → visits her at the hospital and delivers flowers to her room where they talk for a bit → bumps into Tyme and tries to leave, but ends up having a 4MJ → a new timeline is created; this one continues w/ memories intact → ?

Great leaves the flowers he brought for Manee at the nurse's station → first instance of seeing visions of he and Tyme having sex on 2 different occasions → bumps into Tyme, says sorry, and helps him pick up the papers → Title kills Dome and Great has a 4MJ → a new timeline is created; this one continues w/ memories intact → (this is where Tonkla and Win would come in, but they're not my focus atm) → ?

Great saves Dome and takes him to the hospital → Tyme sutures his wound; Great recalls visions of him riding Tyme → Tyme saves him from being choked out/killed by Title in the garage → Tyme brings Great his favorite iced tea and is rejected when he asks Great out → Great has a 4MJ, explains what's been going on to Tyme and asks him out → claw machine date at the mall and almost kiss in the car (interspersed with another round of visions of his other self and Tyme from T2 sleeping together; I'll explain later) → Tyme attacks Korn looking for answers about Nan's whereabouts → Great confronts Tyme at the hospital → has a second 4MJ and promises to help find Nan → Great finds Nan, but hesitates and fails to save her → has a third 4MJ, manages to save Nan, and escapes with Tyme's help → they quickly drop Nan off at the hospital and skip town → sleep together

Since Great has had three 4MJs in T4 (the current timeline), it is plausible that 3 additional timelines may have been created but I don't think that's the case because (1) four is a thematic number in the series and (2) T4 is the timeline that offers the most continuity in sequence of events.

It's also interesting to note that Great's 4MJs have become more frequent and life-threatening which could mean that he's on the right track and/or nearing the end.

That aside, the timeline I want to focus on is T2, which is where I think one of their sexual encounters takes place. Let's take a look at the timeline as if Great's 4MJ does not occur:

Great hits Manee, stays with her, and calls for help

Great visits Manee at the hospital and delivers flowers to her room where they talk for a bit

Great, unnerved by his conversation with Manee, bumps into Tyme and leaves

Great meets Tyme at a bar and they end up having a one-night stand

This scene was the sole catalyst for this post because Great seems to be wearing the same outfit he had on when he visited Manee at the hospital—jewelry and all.

Our rich boy may like wearing black and white, but he is not one for repeating outfits.

While chatting at the bar, they're conversation indicates that they remember bumping into each other at the hospital. However, unlike in T3 and T4, they don't seem to know each other beyond that. It's possible that Tyme may have some info on Great because he is investigating his family, but they're essentially strangers both to us and each other. This Dr. Tyme (T2) is not the rizz-less one we know and love from T4 because he manages to charm his way into spending the night with Great (this is speculation; Great very well could have done the charming and Tyme got lucky). How do we know this? Great's visions from the first time he bumped into Tyme at the hospital (T3) and the almost-kiss in the car (T4) show us what happens next.

Great-Tyme are seen holding hands as they enter Great's condo. I will admit that this is quite familiar behavior for people who've essentially just met, but holding hands with your one-night stand is entirely possible. That aside, if you look closely you'll notice that Tyme is wearing a silver paperclip bracelet and Great is wearing his favored watch.

These are the same pieces of jewelry that they're wearing when Tyme kisses Great's chest on the pool table ... which is insane choice of a flat surface to start a romp on when the bed is literally a few feet away, but I get it. Where else would one serve a full-course meal if not on a table?

Anyway~ Tyme is also wearing a necklace which will be of note in a sec, but what I find interesting is the stark difference in this Tyme's gaze and demeanor in comparison to the one in episode 4. He appears to be more confident and decisive.

A man on a mission and who knows exactly what he's doing. That said, if we ever get the entirety of this scene, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't kiss Great on the lips because there seems to be an emotional distance between them that is not present in the love scene we saw in episode 4.

Now back to Tyme's necklace. He appears to be wearing it in another scene from the trailer where he's standing next to Great's window so it's safe to assume that it's the same day.

I can't decide whether his gaze is menacing or not, but he is holding a rag and something black and shiny that looks like a switchblade a phone so we'll just have to wait and see.

So far we've looked at 2 of the 3 Great-Tyme love scenes shown in the trailer. The third, which also takes place in Great's condo, is one that also gives me pause because once again, Tyme's gaze is different.

Something about the way he looks at Great does not read as the Tyme we've been seeing over the last 4 episodes.

But what's most notable to me in this love scene is that neither of them is wearing any jewelry. Great doesn't wear jewelry at home, so not having any jewelry on in this scene isn't out of the ordinary. Tyme on the other hand, is NEVER without his smartwatch. And as I'm writing this, I've realized that we've never seen any indication of what time it is when Tyme is alone. The only instance we've seen a clock in direct relation to Tyme is on his phone when he exchanged numbers with Great at the skatepark.

So, is any of what we've seen so far real?

Yes and no. The only thing that has been real and consistent throughout Great-Tyme's storyline is the certainty of death; impending or otherwise. And because of that, neither Great's nor Tyme's perspectives are reliable.

It may feel like we are getting the full picture, but there is always something missing in between.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. Now off to episode 5 to see how wrong I am XD

[clowns0cks]

so, I got asked what's the spymaster timeline argument and why do I argue about it so much and keep defending spymaster lol so I wrote a long ass thing that I want to share with you.

SO. there are different arguments for people I argue with

1. having the master back as evil ruins Missy's arc and they hate him

2. having the master back as evil doesn't make sense after missy but would make sense before missy

3. They just fucking hate him god knows why.

4. A mix of these

Now. I have strong opinions, and those strong opinions are that I don't have a problem with dhawan master at all. I think he simply fits in after missy in the most normal way possible. I never saw a problem with it and I find it confusing that people do. Cause?? Imagine dying, then regenerating and realising the doctor has left you alone, but fair, cause he didn't know. So you go on gallifrey, hoping he shows up. While you're there you start hacking into the matrix for fun, cause you're the master and you like having a bit of fun. You discover horrible things. The doctor is not who they think they are, the time lords are not what you thought they were and all of your species including yourself is a product of the doctor's DNA.

This places the doctor as some kind of god. The origin of the time lords. They weren't time lords before the doctor, just gallifreyans, with no real power or anything to make them important. He's simultaneously angry at the time lords for lying about their identity, and at the doctor for being the most important time lord of them all, for being THE time lord, the original. Ultimately, for being more than him.

Now. The master has a certainty during the entirety of the show. The doctor is his equal, they have opposite moralities, but they're equals. Now, the security in this statement he believed in all his life shatters. They're not equals. He is who he is only because of the doctor. Thinking back to missy, she was the regeneration that absolutely wanted the doctor to see her as equal as well. She wanted to be like the doctor cause she missed him, and felt like he was the only one like her. So she tried to be like him, she accepted to be imprisoned in a vault and basically be changed to have the same beliefs of the doctor. But she did it willingly. Cause she wanted them to be the same. Now this entire arc feels wrong to the master (dhawan) , cause now he knows he could never be like the doctor, how could he? The doctor is much more. He thinks missy was his biggest mistake, he humiliated himself to be something he could never be. He gets out of the matrix and throws a tantrum, killing everyone on the planet for having lied to him (and to the doctor). When he sees the doctor again he hates her. He hates her cause she's just there, being her usual self, while in reality she has a bigger role in everything than she could ever think. He hates her cause a part of her is in him, and that means he's less. He's lesser than her. I also remember one scene where he was like "did I ever apologise for that?" (basically killing the doctor making them fall on the ground and regenerate, lmao) And she was like "no" and him "good". I think about it often in relation to missy, cause he was definitely saying it because of her. Why any other master should have apologised for something? Only missy was apologising for stuff she did. It might be a big reach but I like to think it's about her. And he's like "good" cause he regrets being missy and trying to redeem himself, like I said before. Anyway the follow up from here is simple, he hates her and stuff, but he also feels bad not letting her know why. So then he decides to show her her story, all he can. No one should live without knowing their origins. so he shows her, and then he says he would like to show her more, but there's nothing else to show. It's the only moment in which he's doing something kind for her. Cause I believe in some way, he's also mad at the time lords for lying to the doctor. And here's part of why he decides to use their dead bodies in such an unworthy way. They have to pay not only with their life but also with their dignity, so he turns them into cybermasters.

This is also a way to cope and create his own race, to feel a little more on the doctor's level. She created the time lords, he destroyed them and created another species with their bodies. Then it's not enough and he decides that the only way to be equals is to become her. At this point he's gone completely insane, like, we see that. But it's totally understandable for him to act that way. His whole worldview changes. Everything he believed in is not true anymore. He doesn't know who he is anymore (I also just thought about this identity crisis he was having and how he stole Rasputin's identity, but this is an analysis for another day).

Anyway this got off topic cause I had to explain only the missy/dhawan thing but then started talking about dhawan in general so forgive me lol.

Other than this, if we take big finish in consideration there's the lumiat, that comes between missy and dhawan and her story really helps some people accepting the change (for some people it's still not enough though) and in the 2021 annual is confirmed that dhawan comes after missy, as we have the doctor and the master talking about the master's story from delegado to dhawan and thirteen says "I quite liked you as missy" and he replies that she spent too much time with him and it's something that should never happen again.

anyway. I've made my point on why the missy -> spymaster regeneration simply makes sense. It's just a normal timeline, I don't know why people think it doesn't work.

update to this post; in the audio "self-help", the master mentions stabbing himself in the back just when he thought he finally knew who he was. Referring to simm master stabbing missy, of course. giving us another confirmation of his position after missy in the timeline.

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 7 part 2

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

from this moment on we follow the events from Lilia's point of view, experiencing time out of order like she does. nonlinear timelines are extremely difficult to convey onscreen, and the writers manage it so well that I still have to see someone confused by the way things unfold.

from a linear pov: lilia fell through quicksand with jen, she regained consciousness in a strange underground tunnel where she met rio. then she woke jen up, told her what billy did and that they were about to join the tarot trial. they hid from the salem seven. now they're on their way to meet the others.

from lilia's pov: she fell through quicksand (or should I say the Swamp of Sadness?), she had a glimpse of her own very near demise. then she found herself following jen through the tunnel. she has yet to meet rio and she doesn't know they're going to a trial.

see how jen immediately contextualizes where we're at? this is for us, the viewers, so we don't get too lost.

'where is rio', is the question that has been tormenting her. she just saw a glimpse of where she'll meet rio, plunging to her Death. but the loss of other people has been haunting her as much as her own.

love love love all the frantic panic patti conveys at the mention of wanda, as I imagine she doesn't give a shit about marvel and frankly can't be bothered to learn any scarlet witch lore. acting!!!

jen, now alone with lilia without alice acting as a bumper, is being real crabby with her. she thought they were bonding just a minute ago and now lilia's being annoying with her eccentricities

and just... the way she's talking to jen a moment and to alice the next

i miss you, sweet bub

and no need for any further explanation. we know exactly what's happening to lilia.

and just like that, she's talking to her maestra. lilia, what do you see? that has always been the question, hasn't it?

i would give my life for you, baby lilia

ah, capisco! you're visiting, eh? and this tell you two things: number one, how much of a (real and metaphorical) gift talking with the past can be. yes, you're seeing the long dead. no, you cannot bring them back. but you can still learn from them and put their wisdom to good use.

and number two: the importance of having a coven, or rather, a community, a support system. lilia's new coven treats her with awkwardness or even scorn, they don't know her, they don't understand. lilia's maestra doesn't even flinch talking to a woman from the future in the body of a little girl. she knows lilia's time works differently and she rolls with it. 13 or 500 years old, it's all the same, lilia is beloved and will be accepted no matter what.

lilia finds herself at her very first divination lesson and once again is dismissive of her own gift. maestra calls her out immediately: fesserie! bullshit!

this is the story of a great Seer who told herself she wasn't any good, who went into exile, who fled the company of her fellow humans. she chose to be seen as a fraud, isolated, humiliated, rather than to be hated and feared for what she could do. she closed her eyes and pretended not to see the horrors ahead.

I adore this transition between the tea leaves and the tunnel

again, no alice to deescalate. and lilia finally, finally speaks up. jen is the most unforgiving person in the coven and, arguably, the one whose opinion lilia respects the most. the high priestess.

and, to her credit, jen is willing to listen. to her credit, despite the dark path calling her, when jen sees something that she can fix, she is willing to try

I'm gonna do a play-by-play of what ms. lupone does here, because it's nothing short of mesmerizing. she raises her hand, trying to grasp at words. she looks down, the looks to the side. her hair has crumbled, she looks like a girl in pigtails. she is so small and scared.

she reaches out, bitter, sure, and nervous, but so eager for someone to understand. she takes deep breaths, tries to steady herself.

she cannot finish her sentences, her lips are trembling, she's shaking with small sobs. her eyes get so big. patti never goes over the top, she's reaching somewhere deep and intimate and raw. but you can't call this performance understated, there so much bubbling under the surface, and patti is perfectly in control, she's letting it out drop after powerful drop

she takes a moment to catch her breath, to feel the pain of it all

and jen... understands. lilia has done something so scary and vulnerable and brave. she has showed herself at her most defenseless, and she hasn't been rejected. and jesus christ this is what a coven is about, and it's what they were all missing. jen has seen lilia's burden and she has accepted it. from now on, she will help carry it.

ms. lupone. patti. how can you just walk on the set of a random superhero show and dominate it.

jen suggests the end of the Road might give lilia her powers back, but she is STILL so afraid to embrace who she is. she can't quite finish that thought because

WHOOPS

go to episode 7 part 3

[localcanadiancreature62]

Dipper and Mabel vs the Past au (title is a reference to an actual episode in the show) - Timestuck style au where instead of ending up in the time period where the Oregon Trail was being used in The Time Traveler's Pig,Dipper and Mabel end up 30 years into the past and end up uncovering secrets about their Grunkle Stan like WAYYYY earlier than they're supposed to (time travelers pig is s1,not what he seems is s2. they discover things Very Early in the timeline here). Mabel ends up with Ford,Dipper ends up with Stan. Now i know the usual portrayal of this au is "the kids being with their favorite grunkles" but i wanted to do something different cuz i LOVE exploring the dynamics of Dipper with Stan and Mabel with Ford sooo bad. I'm thinking this is set like... Paranoia Ford era aka the events culminating to Stan receiving the postcard,so basically Ford has literally just lost his best friend and also almost had his fucking tendons snapped and now he has to deal with a child who is apparently his great niece in the future while simultaneously protecting the child from Bill,Ford has a lot on his plate lmaooo.

Meanwhile Mullet Stan is down on his luck as he lives in his shitty rundown apartment while trying to avoid Rico due to owing him money that he currently doesn't have,he's miserable as ever and then a child with a hat as well as a striking resemblance to his brother suddenly appears in his car when he was out shoplifting groceries,having to take care of it when he can barely take care of himself. Angst and hurt/comfort + a few wholesome moments ensue. Ford finds himself getting attached to his young niece even when he's incredibly highstrung and feels that he can't trust anyone right now,seeing that such a bright and caring soul is worth trusting. Mabel eventually finds out about Bill after the bastard possesses Ford while she was trying to give him a better sleep schedule,and the girl makes it her mission to protect her other grunkle (like i said. they figure things out way early here) from that bastard after realizing that this pointy jerk wants to hurt him as evident from the fork stabbing and Ford's journal pages regarding him being tormented by Bill (bro the funniest thing is that Bill doesn't even appear yet in this current part of the timeline lmaoo. like dreamscapers happens WAYYY AFTER the time traveler's pig. so Mabel basically just saw a triangle dude that she knows nothing about and has never met and decided that she needs to fight for her life to protect Ford from him despite ALSO not knowing anything about her other grunkle either). Mabel helps Ford slowly get himself back together as Bill is biding his time to eventually get the portal started again one way or another,meaning that Bill is too busy planning things out to torment Ford,thus Mabel chooses self care for her Grunkle Ford and makes it his problem, trying to force Ford to get out of the house for groceries or at least give him a few minutes to touch grass rather than being cooped up in his dumb dork lab all day making him shower giving him a better sleep schedule and even making cupcakes for him so he can eat things besides moldy cheese or strange tasting alien cow milk (reference to that one real life journal 3 page with the weird cow). Ford is actually very shocked and touched by this gesture,because he has been spending weeks all by himself while being actively tortured without anyone by his side but now this girl suddenly makes his life a little brighter and he thanks her for that,despite him being strict snappy and moody most of the time due to being stressed from Bill and the portal (i can't really blame him for feeling that way. i too would feel my sanity slipping as the looming threat of the apocalypse going to be eventually caused by my former muse is getting nearer and nearer while said muse is also torturing me 24/7 all while juggling self care and research and taking care of a whole child to top it all off),bro is close to tears when he realizes that he's not alone after all and that he doesn't HAVE to be alone,and that he actually needs someone rather than not needing people like what he said,i.e "I don't need you. I don't need anyone!" and Mabel is right there to help him. Mabel ends up wearing 80s clothes as well as stops using her phone in public in order to not draw suspicion after Ford pointed out that people would get pretty confused by her glowing shoes and "advanced flip phone",meanwhile Ford tries to figure out how to find the time tape that the girl speaks of as he starts to study time travel and relearn the laws of time in order to help Mabel as he plans on possibly building a makeshift time machine to replace the tape in the case that they never find it.

So far Mabel is doing pretty well despite having to deal with her snappy Grunkle Ford and the fact that her Grunkle Stan was lying about her and Dipper being the only family he has left as well as the fact that she actively has to ignore every trick that Bill pulls on her including possession by using unicorn hair that is now a hair extension on her own hair (early discovery) while also trying to not die/get grievously injured at the hands of Bill or Bill possessed Ford and ALSO greatly missing her brother who is nowhere to be found as she can't find a way home to her time as she begins to experience literally disappearing very slowly as a result of a time paradox of her being in a time before she was even born,what fun! :D.

Dipper however,has worse problems to deal with than a demon triangle and a snappy Grunkle. He has to deal with being homeless and being even MORE anxious/guarded than he already was due to the fact that his Grunkle Stan's enemies could jump him any moment. He has to be Stan's accomplice in committing crimes like shoplifting or pickpocketing people for food and money. The fact that Stan is a criminal and that he has to commit crimes with the risk of getting caught or worse,killed by his Grunkle's old "friends" puts a lot of weight on the poor boy,and he was anxious as is with him generally being highstrung and now he has EVERY reason to be afraid due to him being a runaway criminal with Stan. Although having to live a hard life and commit difficult crimes even when it's wrong ended up toughening Dipper up,showing that dealing with the hard and fast life boosted his confidence tenfold. Dipper actually feels bad for his Grunkle Stan,even when the guy kept making fun of him back then (i.e Dipper vs manliness and the bottomless pit stories),as he had NO IDEA that his Grunkle lived like this before. So he makes sure to be as helpful and as less of a burden as possible,just to make his Grunkle Stan happy. Heck,he even becomes protective of his Grunkle despite his weak nerd arms and he has gotten injured for the grifter's sake multiple times such as the time he got a lot of scrapes and bruises from trying to rescue Stan from falling in a ditch as he ended up falling himself instead. Stan is glad to have a little buddy around him,especially when the kid is his future nephew and thus family,since he's been suffering all by himself for so long and he really appreciates the company. He really wishes that he could help Dipper regarding the whole time tape situation,but only Ford could know what to do as he's too dumb to understand time travel (Stan ur inferiority complex is showing). So he figures that the only way he could help is to just watch out for a weird looking tape measure with an hour glass symbol on it and steal it immediately from whoever has it (the time tape has actually ended up with Blendin after he used a spare time tape to look for the other one that the kids have [he needs to return those. he'll get in trouble for losing a single one],and he's been looking for the children for a while so that he could bring them back to their own time as their very presence in the 80s is a time anomaly and thus he wants to fix it before he gets in trouble with the time police).

Dipper ALSO forces Stan to take care of himself,although to a lesser extent than Mabel with Ford. He doesn't do any heavy duty self care work,but he more so reminds Stan to consider himself too whenever they have food or beds to share instead of just letting him have everything and sacrificing the little stability he already has for the kid. Dipper also tries to give them a better lifestyle at some point by convincing Stan to rent a house and also steal wads of cash from an ATM just to give him a taste of a normal life again since he feels bad for his Grunkle having to sleep in his car or a shitty apartment all the time,Stan literally cries from this gesture as he's so happy to have someone besides Ford finally care about him after 10 years of being alone. He discovers that he doesn't have to be alone and push people away despite wanting someone to care so bad,as Dipper is there to help him.

The two happily live in the rented house for a few weeks until they the landlord kicked them out for not paying rent and then they had to make a run for it. Sometimes,being with Dipper physically pains Stan because of how much he reminds him of Ford. He has the same bright curiosity and thirst for knowledge that his brother had,the same innocence and happiness that Ford had before everything happened. Stan missing Ford is so evident to the point of him occasionally calling the kid "Poindexter" because of how much the boy reminds him of his twin. Dipper finds out about Ford sooner or later because of this,plus he ends up discovering the old picture of Stan and Ford in front of the Stan o' War in his Grunkle's jacket.

He gets angry at the future old Stan for never telling him about his brother and that he had another Grunkle,but he soon realizes why after young Stan explains the whole ordeal he has with Ford regarding the science fair incident. Stan himself points that out too. "What the- You- You had a brother this whole time?!. How come your future self never told me about this?!. What other things is he hiding?. Ugh." "Well,kid. If i know myself,i wouldn't go around telling everyone about the drama i have with my brother y'know?. Especially when it still hurts *sniff*." "What?. What do you mean 'drama'?. Actually,is that the reason why you're living like this and you don't ask him for help?." "Uhh.. You see,my brother is a stubborn jerk. So stubborn that he decided to go to college instead of staying with me. And he let Dad kick me out because of what?. Breaking his dumb perpetual motion machine project?." Stan says in frustration as the resentment is oozing with his every word,as he still doesn't forgive Ford for what he did even with how much he misses him. "Oh.. That's awful. I don't really know the full scope of what happened between you two,but i can say that it's that bad considering that you ended up living on the streets soon after." "Ya think?. As far as i'm concerned,that nerd is living it up in a normal house with his dumb college money instead of sleeping out in a car all the damn time." "And kid,there's a reason why the older me didn't tell you anything. Whatever happens to us in the future,that bastard STILL didn't talk to me about our problems. As him- er me not talking about it means that the resentment is still simmering inside." "Ah,figures. I guess you really are Grunkle Stan instead of some random dumb hobo with how wise you are." "Can it Dippy. I wasn't the one crying over losing a hat yesterday." "Hey!. I- It's my signature accessory,i can't go without it" "Yeah yeah whatever". Also,Dipper and Mabel greatly miss the other. The kids' determination to get back to their twin no matter what cost reminds their respective Stans that they used to be like that too back then,always prioritizing their twin over everything else.

Mabel always makes little doodles of her and Dipper's adventures together in her new 80s scrapbook which Ford catches her doing,meanwhile Dipper rambles about how fun and supportive Mabel is to Stan whenever they have a break from being on the run. Stan feels conflicted over letting the boy constantly talk about how great his sister is when his own sibling is a good for nothing bastard but it also makes him think that maybe he and Ford can be like that again sometime whenever he finally gets the courage to call him or send a postcard to him,Ford on the other hand ignores Mabel's Dipper doodles and occasional rambles about her brother while making an excuse about him being "too busy" to hear about it despite the real reason being that he's too angry at Stan to keep being reminded of the fact that they used to be as close as his future niece and nephew. Both younger twins realize that they NEED to get their Grunkles to talk to each other since it's painful to see a set of siblings like them hate each other so much,especially when they're family, although Mabel is more insistent about it than Dipper due to the fact that Stan has bigger fish to fry than making up with his brother plus the girl is more optimistic than her brother who thinks that Stan and Ford's relationship is broken beyond repair and that there's no hope for them. But getting their Grunkles talk to each other is a job for another time,as they still have to find each other and also find the time tape as well as blend into the 80s until they get back.

(i made this au forever ago. but i forgot to finish it until like November or show it to anyone until now 💀)

[tokyo-daaaamn-ji-gang]

I've seen you do Haitani brothers with a older sister hcs but have you done a younger one? If not, can we have some Haitani brothers with a little sister has in the Bonten Timeline? Ty!

Like their sister not being in bonten but kinda around? Here's what I think that would be like! (Also I was imagining her to be around 3 years younger then Rindou)

She hangs about bonten owned spaces a lot since her brother's think it's the safest place for her (and so they can keep an eye on her).

They're very overprotective of their baby sister, especially considering the kind of world they live in (Ran is a bit more overprotective then Rindou).

Their sister actually has been targeted in the past but all those people who dared to mess with her were swiftly .....taken care of.

For the most part the Haitani's trust the other members of bonten with their sister but they still have their moments. 

Every expense their sister needs is taken care of by them.

If their sister is interested in working then they'll get her a job in bonten, most likely some kind of job around Koko since he works in a safe office most of the time.

Rindou likes to take her out to clubs sometimes and show her different music venues

They hint that it would be cool if she had some purple in her hair too, so all of them could match.

Ran scedules their hair appointments on the same days so they can go together.

Both brother's like to play with Kakucho and Koko a lot when it comes to their sister. They'll go from talking normally to them to suddenly sweetly threatening them if they try to make a move on her. No one can actually tell if they're being serious or joking.

She is taught how to fire a gun/ how to protect herself in some other way just in case.

They always text their sister after finishing a more risky job because they know she worries about their safety.

She has strict instructions to stay away from Mikey and Sanzu

Sanzu consistently breaks these rules (most likely to mess with the brother's for not following his orders properly)

She has also had a few run ins with Mikey, all have been pleasant enough but it makes her brother's uneasy.

And finally, although the three of them argue sometimes (especially if one of them ends up in danger) they all try to look out for each other the best they can.

[zengguos]

some of the discourse I've seen on lottie (teen timeline specifically) in the fandom (on the clock app) with people's perceptions of her definitely comes from the lack of understanding and empathy when it comes to psychosis, complex trauma, schizophrenia and cluster b disorders in general. it is also sigh inducing because it is that typical response in media to mystify and vilify personality disorders — especially when delusions and paranoia is involved. so, it's understandable why people automatically see her like a villain due to previous interpretations and one dimensional associations with them being "crazy = evil" characters in media.

(also why are we placing moral views onto the yellowjackets girls when they don't even know what morals to follow either in their little self made society — they literally decide what to do with playing cards).

she's not a villain, she's not evil. they just don't understand her.

heck her biggest fatal flaw is her love. her constant need for validation, acceptance and acknowledgement. she is scared of abandonment, her loneliness being a core character trait and insecurity of hers that follows her everywhere from the narrative to visual composition.

she's a product of her environment. constantly self harms and is unknowingly self destructive. she's literally an isolated, neglected, abused, traumatised, insecure, depressed, unmedicated kid in the worst situation of her life. but, that's still better than being at home constantly having those stressors to fit into what society deems as normal, but never being able to reach what the concept of normal is due to the labelling and stigmatisation surrounding her (people also seem to forget that this is the 90s too. mental health support for complex disorders like this was barely existent. her keeping her diagnosis a secret is understandable).

I have seen people say she "switches up too much"... her "switching up" is actually a part of her fragmented sense of identity, emotional dysregulation, obsessive thoughts, impulsiveness and distorted perception of her reality. she is extremely prone to triggers within her paranoia — paranoid delusions are such an intense experience to cope with and hard to challenge even if you are supported.

stress is a huge factor in her psychosis too and ends up re-triggering her in the recent episodes!

see people function through psychosis differently, but it's such a confusing and overwhelming experience. it's tragic to see that what she thinks she's doing is for everyone's best interest, for their protection and safety is in actuality doing more damage. she has good intentions, she's not inherently bad. it's just the fucked up situation they're in that's heightening all this to the extreme.

(she's not ruled by her disorder either. going through psychosis doesn't completely change your personality — she is still righteous, she is still passionate, she still sympathetic and empathetic).

there's so many layers to her.

that's why I think a lot of people were angry with how sudden she went out, how incomplete it felt. yellowjackets had all the ingredients to create a schizophrenic character that was breaking that one-dimensional model, that actually felt human and not a caricature for crazy. they had it, but dropped the ball in season 3 so badly — opting to go the "mysterious" way with her. having her be the one just consistently punished without some semblance of a rewarding moment for her character in her journey. in the end her illness did define her in a more depressing aspect than insane — she was still called crazy, still alone and was never able to get anyone to truly listen to her in her adulthood...

also! I think the same people who dislike lottie believe in the supernatural theory more than the psychological one. which again can be challenged if you understand what lottie is going through.

the seance scene for example — this can happen within episodic psychosis, people can discover established traits and skills unknown to them consciously while dissociated too. lottie already has prior knowledge in french, so she subconsciously retained more than she (and jackie) was aware of. she was already stressed and placed in a difficult paranoia inducing situation too: the thoughts of the dead man, the place being haunted, the situation being a seance and their location in the wilderness are already established negatively in her mind. all of this is able to create a scenario in her mind that could convince her she is actually possessed. this is also a first insight of how she is trying to disconnect herself from the trauma of the situation too — her schizophrenia infulencing the loss of agency within her own body. self harm while experiencing psychosis is quite common as well (but, that is something she does anyways...). the window was already established as an area of paranoia for her — it would make sense to her to attack it. 'you must spill blood', as mentioned, the connotations of death and doom surrounding the situation she is in are already in her thoughts.

but, yeah it just makes me sigh seeing some of her criticisms as a character come out of people's own lack of knowledge (and/or empathy).

[tinylongwing]

💖, 👏, 🍎 for the art/writing ask game?

💖 Which of your fics is your pride and joy? (and which artwork?)

I have too few published fics to really feel like one is my pride and joy here - but I am instead modestly quite fond of Al mal tiempo, buena cara as a neat little pre-canon thing.

@spectromagic knows what work of writing is my pride and joy but it is unpublished, unpublishable, and half her doing anyway lmao

For fanart, my current top favorite is the one I did for Halloween a couple years ago as part of a series of three. I'm so pleased with how I pulled off all the detail and just the raw disturbing energy of Johnnie post-blackbrain in this. I think it looks great, deserves more appreciation than it ever seems to get, and also I want more horror in this fandom in general.

For non-fandom art, it's so much harder to pick a favorite! But right now I'm feeling like it might be this piece of California Condors nesting in a giant sequoia to accompany an essay published in The Wildlife Professional a few years back.

🙌What's a line or paragraph of yours that you're proud of?

(I assume this is the question you wanted - this is a different clapping emoji vs yours but it's the only thing I see on the list that's clapping? lmao)

idk how to translate this to art but for fic/writing, man, that's hard. I'm going to go with Rigo's mental description of Dale under a street light not because I think it's peak literature but because it's cute. They're cute. I'm obsessed with them. They're adorable. I have tentative fic plans. I'm annoyed by how little I like the art I did based on this moment.

“They make their way toward the apartments. Past the fenced-in basketball court, past the murals, all fire and lightning that decorate the walls facing the street which advertise to anyone who passes by just who all lives and operates from this little cluster of housing. Once government subsidized, now a ramshackle fortress with two kings. It’s a funny thought to have right as they pass a street light on the way into the parking lot. The gold halo cast around Dale’s hair looks like a crown.”

🍎What's something you learned while researching for a fic?

(cut here because this got long but please do read if you have any interest at all in the LH world and our real world and how they intersect)

Now THIS is something I will definitely stick to writing for because I have so much to say. I have learned a lot doing research for art too, but oh my god, the amount of research I have done for writing and understanding and piecing together the elements of 1) US history, especially during the 50s-60s, 2) Chicano history and culture in LA, and 3) gang and drug culture and history. I have read books, I have watched documentaries, I've dug up redlining maps from different decades. It's fascinating. And it's horrifying.

I was born in the 80s and have never lived in Southern California so I really don't have firsthand knowledge about the time period and location this is all set in. Yeah, we all know the Vietnam War happened and yeah, we also all know that California used to be part of Mexico but like, everything that happened during and in between those broad points on a timeline fascinates me. I could go on and on. But that's the stuff that informs my writing and is so fun to then twist into that subtle supernatural horror going on in the LH world. I'll take this as an example:

Mandy reaches out an arm to signal a turn, and the two World Enders sweep down off the boulevard and toward the concrete pillars that mark the failed path of the 5 over Hollenbeck Park. Johnnie had only been a kid when development started and quickly halted, a consequence of neighborhood resistance and one too many accidents on the job site, as papers had put it at the time. And yet Johnnie remembers the day that the pond rose up in one dark wave with more water than it had ever held, and swallowed the concrete whole. That scared off the city developers more than the anger from the community had ever done.

So, one of the things modern Los Angeles is known for are its freeways, right. It's the terminus of Route 66, maybe the last of the great highways before the freeway projects started. LA was kind of a backwater for a lot of history but once the population boomed they had a sudden need for roads - huge roads that could move a ton of people, trucks, supplies, oil, military stuff, etc.

LA was also monstrously redlined (as were most cities, and as are most cities even if they'd prefer not to admit to it). Entire areas were for Blacks only, or for Mexican immigrants only, etc and realtors wouldn't give loans for those areas, wouldn't let nonwhite people move to homes not in those specific areas. "East of the river," as Johnnie indicates the location of their underground clubhouse in Vide Noir, specifically signals that they're hanging out in one of these major redlined areas that is actually a thriving Hispanic community, probably somewhere vaguely Boyle Heights (as supported by the views of the specific bridges we get in the movie, and suggestions of cruising/lowrider culture like in the Long Lost teaser clip for Not Dead Yet).

(view of the LA river with multiple bridges spanning it close together, from Vide Noir as Buck walks around looking for the underground clubhouse - this appears to have been shot near 6th street, aka Whittier Boulevard, famous for lowrider cruising in Boyle Heights)

(Map of Los Angeles today, with a red X marking the approximate location of the above shot, with an arrow indicating the camera is facing south. Look directly east of the river and see how many massive freeway interchanges were put right through huge chunks of Boyle Heights.)

(Los Angeles redlining map, 1939. The large round red blob on the center right side is Boyle Heights. Red = "hazardous", high interest rates, no home loans available, etc because these were primarily nonwhite areas of the city)

LA didn't start off having freeways, and they have an enormous ground footprint. They needed to put roads in, and they needed to demolish entire swaths of existing, thriving neighborhoods in order to put those huge roads in, so they picked communities to destroy based mostly on those redlining maps. Black communities, Latino communities, were ripped apart, bulldozed, demolished in order to make way for the new roads.

Now, look up to my google maps section there. See that patch of green just left of the words "Boyle Heights" that has a freeway right on top of it? That's Hollenbeck Park, the one mentioned briefly in the fic in that paragraph I pasted.

Once described (~1890) as the most beautiful park in Los Angeles, with an idyllic, serene lagoon, they fucking... put a freeway through it in the 1950s. Because freeways gotta go somewhere! So how about right here! In this one lovely park! That'll be great, those people don't deserve nice things anyway!

Fuck, man.

So in my LH-ified version of reality, where sometimes the land itself has power from being full of its centuries of ghosts and community and hopes and dreams and death and destruction, the park consumed this construction project. The lake stands. The people fought back, they got in the way, they did their best to prevent this, and when that wasn't quite enough, the waters of the lake rose up and swallowed the scaffolding, destroyed the initial concrete pillars, probably killed a good few people in the process on either side because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The city decided at that point it probably wasn't worth it to put the freeway right there after all (so they moved it a few blocks at most).

And when I write this stuff, like, Johnnie isn't really conscious of the history or the right- and wrong-doings himself, he doesn't really have it in him to care, but the city remembers. The land cares. The history is all right there just under the surface.

Anyway that's the kind of research I do that winds up being like, tiny elements of worldbuilding in a fic about drug use and existential dread.

[hexxbug]

ACT 3!!

I can't believe it's over :((

This is probably more analysis than the other ones I've done lol, spoilers below :o

─ ─ ──┉─ ¡! • !¡ ─┉── ─ ─

AHHHHH so sad, I loved it sm

WE GOT MORE EKKO!!! FINALLY!!!!

THE RECORD BEING JINX AND EKKO INSTEAD OF VI!!

I was joking throughout ep7 and saying oh this is the closest we'll ever get to timebomb when she hugged him, then when they were working on the hextech AND THEN WE ACTUALLY GOT TIMEBOMB???!!!!!!!!

At first I wasn't a massive timebomb shipper, I preferred them platonically icl but it was SOOO FUCKING CUTE and I've been converted! (mostly, I still think they're sweet as a platonic pairing too but either is good) (the au has definitely won me over lol but I personally still think in the main timeline they'd have a different relationship anyway, maybe Ekko has/had a crush on her and in the finale maybe it was mutual but it needed more time to be fleshed out for me to properly ship it, I generally see Jinx as not really in a place to be interested in romance)(grey romantic/demi maybe???)

MA MEILLEURE ENNEMIE?????? THAT SONG HAS BEEN LIVING RENT FREE IN MY HEAD SINCE THEN AND I AM NOT OKAY. ABSOLUTELY FUCKING SPECTACULAR SONG

I think they should've given us a couple extra episodes because him and Heimerdinger, Mel and the whole Jayce Viktor story did not get enough screen time imo, could've done with a bit more interaction idk

Claggor glancing at Mylo being bros!!

HEIMERDINGER STAYED BEHIND!! NOOOOOO. he was such a silly guy I was very sad

ik yordles basically respawn or whatever but still :((((

Cait being like "who decides who gets a second chance" like it wasn't her busting Vi out of jail like 6 months prior

JINX SHE WAS SO BROKEN😭😭😭😭MY POOR LASS

lowkey wish we'd got to see her go absolutely batshit over Isha's death but I get the direction they went in (or just been able to see more of their reaction and recovery from her death in general)(because that shit was glossed over)

Vi being so upset and destroyed about Jinx, saying she shouldn't have done this and then Cait going mf I practically engineered this whole encounter😭😭😭

CAITVI IS A GO!!! I REPEAT CAITVI IS A GO!!!! HHHHHHGHHHHHGGG THEY'RE SO FUCKING CUTE!! I really love how the scene played out

VI'S "Cait I don't FUCKING CARE" just marry her already (ngl not the way I thought that confession would go but I'm glad it was pretty happy)

MEL!!!! I love her character design smmmm it keeps getting better and better🤩🤩🤩she needed more time and practice with her powers though, I think they rushed that a bit.

EKKO MY MAN!!!! HE REALLY WAS THE BOY SAVIOUR!!!!! COMING IN CLUTCH THERE AT THE END

JAYCE. VIKTOR. YOU GAY MFSS LMAO (platonic or romantic they are so in love) I also think they rushed their whole story because both of them were suddenly like "oh yeah besties again✨✨" and I wanted a bit more story there but THEY STARTED IT TOGETHER AND THEY ENDED IT TOGETHER🥲🥲(they basically saved Piltover with the power of friendship lmfaoooo)(jayce's whole monologue to Viktor was absolutely adorable though)

JINX NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I'm not okay💔 I know it's what she wanted, really, but it felt so flat idk I wish she'd lived and come to terms with every (also I love her and she needs to come back so that's probably why I didn't like it too lmaoo)(ik she fell like a hundred stories or whatever and canon divergence is a thing but my girl is a big part in LoL so maybeeeeee????)(I'm once again in denial....)(COPIUMMM)

ALSOOO CAIT WAS LOOKING AT THE BLUEPRINTS FOR THE HEXGATE AND HAD JINX'S BOMB SO I WILL STAY UNDER MY LITTLE DENIAL ROCK THANKYOU VERY MUCH

Honourable mentions:

Heimerdinger being like "you sure it's 4 seconds???" and Ekko just like •_• "mmmhm yep definitely" poor guy was TRAUMATISED😭😭😭it was so funny to me

Also Heimer's bard moment, him just being able to chill for once hahah<3

All the outfits in ep 7, I loved them! ALSO THE DANCE SCENE!! SO SWEET

LEST!! I wanted to see more of her she was so cool!

The blue haired woman who died:(( rip to a queen

And the guy who took over manning the hex gun🫡

Maddie, ngl I wasn't expecting her to betray Cait but it was unsurprising really, I would've loved to see what she'd make of the aftermath and better terms the city's are on but it was also a very dramatic moment for Mel and I liked the twist lol.

FIRELIGHTS(EKKO) FIGHTING TOGETHER WITH JINX!!!! AYYY

Just the whole union of Piltover and Zuan in the fight against Ambessa and the Herald(I wanted more build up for that too tbh but anyway)

VIKTOR GOING THROUGH ALL THE TIMELINES TO FIX IT AND IT BEING JAYCE!!!

The sweet little Cait and Vi scene at the end🥹

My mum who's been subjected to all of S2 and her main comment at the end was "I'm still a bit confused" 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[noirandchocolate]

I haven't been following for long so I know jack shit about your Kohga but! I'll gladly ask things because I love comparing headcanons and getting to know people's visions on characters (especially kohga I love him)

Biggest things first that I'm always curious about - his age! Is he immortal for some reason, if not what's his relationship with his family? Is he the same guy in botw and aoc??? (I know they're two different timelines but like. ykwim)

Who taught him his magic?

Does he know about the monks in the shrines?

Why even worship Ganon? Does he believe that he'll be left alive when the world is destroyed, or is he so consumed by revenge/indoctrination he wants to see it destroyed, no matter if it's him along with it?

Does he have free time for hobbies? If so, what does he like to do?

Does he have a favourite animal/creature? Why?

How did he survive the fall into the Depths? Did he survive the rocket, too?

Did he dye his hair?

You mentioned embarrassing childhood/teenager stories. PLEASE give those I'm so invested in this guy's humanity (lowkey feel like it's almost required for every single yiga member to cartoonishly slip on a banana peel at least once)

Did he have any childhood friends? Who are the people he holds closest nowadays? (Excluding Sooga)

Speaking of Sooga though, what's his most treasured memory about him? What's been the most memorable gift given, the most impactful moment shared?

How does Kohga celebrate his own birthday? Separate from the clan? Or is the clan's adoration enough?

Why does he live in the desert actually like why is the yiga clan there

Has he ever been on the brink of death outside of any canon events? What happened?

Any interesting scar stories?

What's a memory he'd rather forget?

What's a memory he'd rather forget not because it was traumatic but because he just feels embarrassed about it?

And the opposite - what's a memory he would permanently engrave in his brain if he could?

Anything he's personally done that is genuinely very fucked up and morally wrong? I imagine he's killed on more than several occasions but is there anything worse?

Weirdest/most interesting rule he's made in the yiga clan? And what's the story behind it?

Has he ever modified existing rules? If so, why?

How much does he leave the hideout? What makes him go outside?

If he was anything other than a cult leader, if he just lived in some random village as a regular guy, what would he want his job to be?

I want to ask so much more but my brain is erroring, might come back to your askbox if I manage to untangle my thoughts (and if I don't forget due to adhd)

Wowww awesome you sent me a whole banana bunch's worth! I think I'll break up my answers across multiple posts and save some for another time if you don't mind because a lot of these are REALLY good and I want to do them justice! <3 (Seriously thank you for your curiosity! I want to write a lot!)

My particular Master Kohga is AoC-timeline exclusively. He's just turned 52 years old today and is not currently immortal! I do think that in the BotW timeline, Master Kohga was alive at the time of the Calamity and I think it's still the same dude wanting to kill Link 100 years later. My personal headcanon is that BotW Kohga was a regular-aged, non-immortal dude at the time of the Calamity and then figured out de-aging or age-freezing within that intervening 100 years. MY Kohga, in AoC timeline, who only just lived through the Calamity, hasn't done that (yet?). He's in his prime! His Foxy Fifties! He's doin' just fiiiiine!

Kohga learned a lot of his most powerful magical techniques from his Nana, while he was a child! And he got basic stuff that all Yiga learn (teleportation, seeing through a wooden mask, illusions/disguise) in part from her, in part from his father, and in part from the Clan's teachers. He's also come up with a bunch of stuff himself!

Oh Kohga and the Clan know plenty about the Sheikah monks. They probably have more ancient records than the Kakariko Sheikah do, since they're descended from those among the Ancient Sheikah who didn't abandon their tech, weapons, and lots of their heritage. Actually, I may eventually be writing fanfic about Kohga getting to speak with a monk, to whom he has a particular connection he wasn't aware of... But for now, I'll say the Yiga know that their original Master Kohga, 10,000 years ago, was the grandson of Monk Mogg Latan on Satori Mountain!

On the subject of worshipping Ganon, this is a very ymmv topic and I don't mind other people's headcanons, but my headcanon is that the Yiga don't worship Ganon or the Calamity! It's not a religion, and there's no indoctrination per se. The Yiga grow up learning their history and the Clan's goals, sure, but there's no like. Brainwashing involved, in my hcs. (Any more so than one would say the Kakariko Sheikah and Hylians are 'brainwashed' to fear and dislike the Yiga.) Personally I think their hatred is only fair, given the persecution of their ancestors. Anyway, it's not worship, for Kohga, it's respect. Why respect the Calamity? Because it's akin to a force of nature, capable of sweeping clean the unjust slate. The Yiga have wanted the justice of revenge for their fallen kin and the betrayal of their ancestors' loyalty for 10,000 years. Kohga, the latest in a line of Masters Kohga before him, had no reason to question that an entity embodying hatred for the Royal Family would be able to achieve that revenge. And yes. He thought the Clan would be special. That he would be special. That after all that time, he was going to be the Master who actually assisted the Calamity. He thought they'd be spared. He was wrong. He has to live with that. It's...hard. He struggles sometimes. But...he has to live with it.

Hobbies include!! Playing and composing for the shamisen! Renku-style poetry circles at parties! Messing around with ancient tech! Disguising himself to go to Gerudo Town and be a cute menace! And of course. Napping. <3

Kohga doesn't really have a favorite animal and if you asked him this question he'd say 'boar' without thinking too hard and then be like 'Oh. You don't mean to eat.' He likes various animals--he thinks bright little birds are fun to watch, he's getting along well with the Clan's new dogs, he has a Yiga's common penchant for frogs, and foxes make him think of his mama--but there's no critter that he points to and thinks 'that's my best guy' about.

Hair dye, huh? You see my Yiga are very strict about who can see their real appearance (I'll just link to a post explaining instead of doing it again). But! One small thing. That I will tell you. Because Kohga isn't really secretive about this. Is that his hair isn't dyed. It is beautiful inky black coils naturally~~ <3 <3 <3 He takes incredibly good care of it.

Gonna skip a few here 'cause I want to do longer answers for them when I have more time.

BIRTHDAY TIME!! A Master's birthday is a Clan-wide celebration! It's not as formal of a thing as Ascension Day, of course, but everybody who's home at the Karusa Complex on the day is treated to a BIG meal and the Clan's usual-style party out by the chasm (season permitting). Kohga loves his birthdaaaay because unlike with Ascension Day where the celebration is just as much about the office of Master as it is about him as an individual, his BIRTHDAY is HIS day ALONE. He gets tons of presents (many of them bananas and art projects from children). Everybody pays even more attention to him than usual (which is saying something)! He gets all his favorite food at dinner! And he just loves a good party no matter what it's for. This year is his first birthday as a married man, too, so he's having extraspecial fun with Sooga, too. Many kisses and such, ehehe.

The Clan's in the desert because Karusa Valley is naturally protected and was the best place the fleeing, persecuted Sheikah who would become the Yiga could find to shelter themselves from pursuing Hylians. With punishing, trackless desert to the south and the brutal, sheer cliffs of the Highlands to the north, it was a perfect hideaway 10,000 years ago, especially after gates with magical/tech wards were built to hide the Valley's southern entrance. (Kakariko Village wasn't the only 'hidden settlement of the Sheikah' following the genocide.) Finding an even more ancient Gerudo site to start with was pure serendipity, but the Clan has in the millennia since excavated more and more of the Highlands' insides to link up caves and build their own, creating a Complex that's highly defensible and quite cozy if one doesn't mind a complete lack of windows in one's home...

Kohga's never been actually injured so badly that he almost died, but one accidental near-death experience he had as a young man was something he now laughs about with hindsight. When Kohga was about...I want to say 21, 22? He and another Footsoldier were assigned by Daddy Kohga to go scout out a group of Hylians on Koukot Plateau, above Gerudo Canyon. Reports had been made that this group seemed to be amassing lumber there, and Kohga's father wanted to know what they were doing. So Kohga and his buddy, disguised as burly Hylian dudes to fit in, stole a pack donkey from some Gerudo merchant and wandered into these guys' camp. They found out what was going on, that the group was going to build a temporary camp there while doing some stone-quarrying, but would be leaving after a couple seasons. But that's not what's important. What's important is that while getting this info, as well as personal info on and descriptions of everyone present like a good little spy should do, Kohga also got actually drunk with them instead of just pretending to be, and uh... One thing led to another with a bunch of escalating macho tests of strength and physical dares, and Kohga literally fell into the Canyon. And was drunk enough that. He momentarily forgot he can float and teleport. And he broke his leg pretty bad hitting an outcropping on the way down before realizing. And letting himself land softer on the ground. This scared the CRAP out of the Hylian stonemasons--because Kohga literally should have been dead and somehow wasn't--AND Kohga's partner--because oh sweet stars and ancestors above that was the Heir, the Heir just FELL OFF A CLIFF. Luckily the dudes were also drunk enough that Kohga's buddy convinced them they should just like, forget about it, don't tell anybody or they might get in trouble, and he'd just, go down via this nice scaffolding here and get his friend onto the donkey and uhhh, they'd go home... And Kohga was a huge baby about recovering with his stupid broken leg after his goofy shenanigans, and now he tells this story like it's the funniest damn thing ever.

With that I have run out of time to answer things for today but! Thank you sooooo so much for asking so many and I will answer more of them another time, promise!!

[stolaz-the-artist]

Murder drones au pt 2

Long awaited follow up for my murder drones au, of which was kindly requested by @burgertron17.

I appreciate the patients you've had with me, I and I apologize for the wait. But enough talk, lets get into it.

⚠️Spoiler warning for murder drones. Duh⚠️

lot of text ahead. like A LOT! beware!

So first an explanation of how the timeline is played out in comparison to murder drones canon.

Macy isn't really "bullied" in the same sense Uzi is, but she does experience a disconnect with the other kids. There is a rumor going around that she's half disassembly drone, which would explain why she's so tall. This one singular rumor is why she isn't outright bullied, they're low-key kinda scared of her.

The gun incident goes as followed in the canon. Aaron and Lance walk by and see Macy is hurt. Macy talks about the outdoors and how she's planning on sneaking out to get the last part she needs for her gun to actually work. Bottom panel of the lance drawing plays out here.

As the exit the outer door Aaron makes an off comment of "I bet Lance is worried sick." Hard cut to top left corner of Lance drawing, insert elevator esque like music. Hard cut back Aaron and Macy. Moment of silence. Macy says "Eh we'll make it quick.

They find the piece and blah blah blah.

Ok I'm not gonna write every single change I made cuz that will make this post wayyyy to long. now I don't even know if posts have a word limit but I don't wanna find out. Also cuz. didn't change overly a lot, most of the stuff still goes the same way. Its not a roots deep au like my other ones.

Instead of Clays comment that everyone thinks hes useless and terrible he just casually flexes how many kills hes gotten, followed by an awkward laugh, showing how he isn't actually enjoying any of it. Instead of him telling Wanda his name he just says "welp, guess I'll stay guard and . . . look for other drones. or something. Also cut out the whole crush comment cuz in this context ew. Just have him stare into space is sum idk. Also In the J flashback just have them have a very awkward conversation, and right when Clay is about to ask him something he flies off. Keep Jestro as the leader or not Idk

instead of Clay firing hearts (cuz that would be weird) just a puff of smoke comes out. He's too tense too shoot her. he says ". . .Listen! im sure we can talk it out like civilized-" And then the bomb. or rocket. whatever it is.

Obviously Jestro is a lot less menacing and brash. Where the failed monologue comes in he more so only apologizes and tries to brush it off in a "don't take this personally" manner

only difference in episode two is that Lance, Aaron and Axl is there. Place them in any situation as you please. Expect when chad or whatever his name is almost dies. that's Aaron.

It's Fletch and Izzy who try and give Macy a make over. Fletch is probably speaking English thought. Also obviously they're a lot less mean and any off putting comments is Izzy trying to seem cool. She looks up to Macy.

Axl isn't in the room when the attack happens. Returns right after, gets rather angry cuz rightfully so- all his hard work has been destroyed. Lance comforts him with a pat on the back.

Lance was the one who tried to get Wanda killed. Ended up saving her. they bond. they're besties now.

Didnt change anything for ep 3. Oh expect the hot comment. Lance instead says. "Dramatic. . . Justified reaction? . . he doesn't appreciate you enough"

Where N is, Wanda is instead. Given how Clay and Fletch was built after everything. Monstrous as Cyn. Marlok as Tessa. And Jestro as J. Macy ended up hacking into Wanda and then connected Clay into it so he could see what happened too.

Not much change for episode 6. I dunno who the souther creepster is. Didn't even make a sketch. I might. probably won't. If you have any suggestion do tell.

During the Flashback in episode 7 we obviously have Hama (Queen halbert) and the other one I didn't think much for either. So place whoever there too. Yet again, if you have any suggestions, do tell.

Where Doll gets killed Wanda rescues Fletch last second. Monstrous could barley figure out what happened and decided that he has more important things to do.

If you ship Clay x Macy, keep it the same, if not, change it to "Are best friends. we hang out a lot." Or something. I dunno

Not much change for the finale. The reason Clay is scared is mainly cuz he just knows what hes capable of from his mom's memories. "Wanda says: Its monstrous! You know, from when- you know what I mean!

Where we get the flashback of doll dying instead have Fletch enter the room. Izzy says "Woah! Cool limbs! How that happen" Fletch lets out a "um . . " Flash back of him waking up with the new limbs and then experiencing a existential crisis. He shrugs and says "Its a long story"

Yeah that's about it for the story. Now for some behind the scenes stuff!

Pilot C

His mother build him after the explosion. He's actual defective (He's a lot shorter) But he was so good at his job they just let him be, in fear of fixing him would change it.

Clay: *Liiiick*

Clay: Oh please don't run, if I miss then this will just be more painful. Ill make it quick!

Fletch (Actually F)

W lost him during an attack. He was raised by worker drones. He isn't very confident with his limbs and is a bit clumsy. (robots built to be JUST disassembly drones don't work well with worker drone limbs.

He was attacked by AD (Absolute destruction) but W saved him last second and gave him proper limbs

F (after being converted) He still hasn't fully figured how to make everything work, but he's already gaining confidence within himself

Macy

Daughter to Eggred who built the bunker. Freezer out because she's weirdly tall and gets called a "Wannabe disassembly drone"

Macy: Shit

Aaron: I mean, he seems . . . fun sized?

Aaron: Ok so not fun

Macy: You think!?

And now for some extra stuff!

This was the initially requested casting. I couldn't quite make it work while still keeping stuff rather canon. But I made some sketches for how they would and or could look like. Oh and a drawing page for more Merlok as Tessa

More canon Clay worker drone

More Uzi leaning Clay worker drone + feat my "joke" scene Clay hc

N jestro (Just gave him a hat lol) Wanda as Nori

Kinda gave up (Not kind, I just gave up)

Merlok Moorington

Merlok: This extension looks amazing! We're matching now! I swear in another universe we're siblings.

Merlok: If you could have a family, what would their names be?

Wanda: You're my family!

Merlok: He he, of course! But other than me

Wanda: Hm . . . Clay and Fletcher.

Merlok: Hm . . I like those names.

Only child of the Moorington family. Only friends are the worker drones. Mom hates that hat, but he refuses to take it off. Mom gave up eventually

Merlok: It wants paid time off . . . to attend Union Negotiations!

Wanda: THIS IS A UNRELATED LAYOFF!

AND BOOM! we're done! Thanks so much again for all the patience! Been having a lost of work and test as of late, and I wanted to have the time to properly write all of this.

[hematomes]

Oh it's fine ,I was just really curious about what's up with them ,you don't have to explain if you don't want to :D

I DO WANT TO IM JUST GONNA NEED TO ORGANIZE MY THOUGHTS and struggle with the sources bc i just grabbed bits of lore from other shippers 😭 most of their lore, if im not mistaken, comes from the passerby of wandering cloud relic set. keep in mind im also only referring to the english translation so it could be slightly different in the source material

but basically they were very closely involved with each other in the past. dan heng made matching bracers for both him and blade, as stated in the hand relic:

"A slender yet strong hand once wore the other bracer. That owner, whose sharp spear glinted with a cold light and flourished like shooting stars, once sparred with the unnamed. That owner also once shared company and drinks with the unnamed, the two of them simply gazing at the moon with no words exchanged. However, in the end, it was also this person who stubbornly adhered to their plans with the unnamed, turned the beloved into a monstrosity, and pushed all into an abyss of eternal hatred and remorse."

the owner is dan heng, while the unnamed/beloved is theorized to be blade. im insisting on the theorized part because it could be a third-party; some people mentioned jingliu, who was jing yuan's mentor, but it doesn't exactly correlates as she isn't mentioned anywhere else in the set + i think there's a lightcone mentioning that she went mad after losing her sister? don't take my word for it tho. another interesting thing is that these bracers allowed them to communicate telepathically <3

now the "turned the beloved into a monstrosity" is also important, because it's theorized that dan heng turned blade immortal, which is why he's banned from the entire planet. this comes from blade's intent for revenge/"three must pay the price" cutscene, + the head piece lore of the relic set:

"Epiphany struck him like lightning. The curse of immortality still raged on, and the grudge of past misgivings never died out. HE was now the newborn flower on this once-dead branch."

now there's a moment where blade just wanders aimlessly before he's found by the stellaron hunters, and he's still pretty much out of it and closer to a wild beast than an actual person. however, the body piece says this (as he is with the stellaron hunters):

"In hazy memories of the olden days, he finally made up his mind to gift his bosom friend with his hand-made jade flask, only to realize with a shock that the person he longed for was no longer there."

"bosom friend" is theorized to be dan heng, and blade's intent to give him a hand-made gift to be a response to the aforementioned bracers. it's also interesting to note that "bosom friend" is kind of an outdated term for lovers, or at least someone you have deep feelings for

that's all i can say without diving into leaked information (including story spoilers) but. the way i see it, they're former lovers - and dan heng turned blade immortal against his will, perhaps as a desperate attempt to keep him forever by his side.

a deeper look into the theory/timeline: the vidyadhara race is known to "reincarnate" (like bailu says when we meet her), which is why they're truly immortal in a sense, because their cells rejuvenate completely (as opposed to the foxians for ex) and they actually die. so dan heng could have sealed away his actual dragon self in a way. as it stands, he doesn't remember anything - he just saw blade in a nightmare once, and considering what blade says it's understandable that dan heng is pissing himself.

however i don't believe that blade wants to kill him for good, or that dan heng is actually traumatized/suffering from ptsd. it looks more like guilt, that you can't even explain because you're unable to remember what you did. it's a matter of interpretation for now. i also believe that dan heng will in fact have to "die" to have his dragon unsealed, so.

anyway i really love them. blade isn't out there out of pure hatred but he feels hurt and betrayed (by someone so close to him, too!!!), because he's forced to live and probably so, so tired. dan heng isn't just scared and helpless, but also devoured by a guilt he can't exactly explain. they have such a complicated relationship, and chalking it up as abuser x abused is not only reductive but blatantly wrong. i strongly believe that, once unsealed, dan heng could literally fold blade in half with one hand <3

[neutrallyobsessed]

pls pls pls tell us more about the concept of ur tophrr and joan when theyre grown i read the long post about whos more manipulative and there isn't much about that part of it <_<

u mrntioned them in the future and i was just wondeirng how that would go about? like what kind of jobs? is there any secret double life or hide hustle? how does that play into them at home?

Hey, if im able to work out the joanpher daughter's title card of sorts, then I'll be able to post the grown up Joan and Topher art that goes with it, and I'm like super close to it!! Anyways, I hope you liked my long post of sweet toxic joanpher and hope you enjoy this other long post of:

The Entire Joanpher Timeline (as most complete to this day xd)

Let's start with establishing that in this timeline, Joan and Topher will more likely to drop out of school and never look back. Things I gotta work on are how to deal with Candide's wishes of World Domination, there will be a moment where Joan and Candide meet to discuss this but for the time being I have no solutions xd, so moving on...

When I say "season 3 doesn't happen here" I mean it in the without Topher and specially Joan, the events that happen in season 3 would be very different and maybe not even happen at all, cause yeah, Clone High and its students will continue on with their lives so technically season 3 "does" happen but it couldn't be the season 3 we know. And now, the meat of the post:

Underground artists going by stage names like Joan of Arc and Christopher Columbus go around the country doing plays, films and youtube videos of strange caliber. He is the face and she is the brains. But their most profitable venture is definitely when they occasionally direct music videos for some artists. And let me tell ya, the inmense quality of their work had people buzzing since the release of their second video. Being nomads and hard to find also makes them to be in high demand but they are quite the snobbish elitists and will pick both the artist and song, so have that in mind ;P. These are their best works to ever be made because music videos combine Joan's love of visually confusing storytelling and Topher's love of musical theatre.

Now, they are both a bit older, more mature and financially stable enough to put their world travel dreams in action! Tbh they did travel to Canada and Mexico before but they're really going places now, as many as possible! And in one of those trips, in one silly country of the very down south, they'd get to watch this quirky travel tv show of two surfer brothers travelling the world, doing exotic things and funny skits in between and they thought we could do that........

And that's exactly what they did.

With a clear vision in mind, episodes and plots to write, vigorously searching for the most interesting things a country can give, enjoying each adventure to the max, this lovely couple has enough of a pitch to show investors at a tv station. But from where? Italy? Poland? Estonia? I haven't decided that yet but the show is a medium hit, maybe it gets brought to a couple of nearby countries, they might be recognized very occassionally, it's all pretty cool and chill~~.

10 years later after their class was meant to graduate, Joan is one to know first of a Clone High High School reunion. Topher isn't too thrilled about this and doesn't want her to go either but she tells him that she wants to do something and, ableit somewhat recluntantly, agrees to at least takes her there.

I have the idea for this fic bouncing on my mind like a dvd logo and recently, if I think for long and hard enough of it, one day suddenly I am able to write almost the entire thing in one sitting so I'm hoping for this to happen, I kinda also wanna make it a comic but we'll see, we'll see…

Basically Joan and Abe catch up and he attempts to ask her out in a way, but she drops all nuclear bombs at once, that she's with Topher, married to him in fact, expecting a child and that she has never been this happy since dating him and it's all Abe's fault for being so oblivious but at least she found someone who cares for her, really destroying his heart real nice (but don't lose hope just yet). Topher could either not be there, just leaving Joan at the reunion and then picking her up or he could catch up with the bleacher creatures, it depends of what happens in the others timeline, will elaborate in a different post. In any case, I do want to add a scene where Joan looks at Abe and Topher and her gaze is the same because she's in love with both of them~~.

4 years later is when Abe realizes that Joan is pregnant y si hay que ser pelotudo pero esa es su gracia xdd.

So yeah, Marion Adèle Columbus of Arc is finally born! In the picturesque country of Czechia for no particular reason (of why Czchia) other than Joan and Topher thinking it could be best for her to have a relatively normal childhood in a stable place of residence. And she does, growing nice and healthy, doing girl things like playing with her (few) friends, watching tv, being online, going to school, hating physical activities and occassionally helping in her parents productions, even participating in a few of them!

It is all chill until she discovers her parents travelling show and she's like I WANNA GO I WANNA GO!!!!!!! and they're like ok but you gotta graduated school and when she turns 13 (ideally, cause idk how czech education is divided) all 3 of them do an extra season with Marion included.

It is around here when they travel to the US where there's this little casting place and Marion decides to try out without much push back from mom and dad. Little do they know that she was going to get a role for a long awaited sequel of a movie held in high regard by a branch studio of the biggest conglomerates of the entertaining industry.

And with "they" I mean that, I feel Marion totally knew what she was doing and was hoping that her parents either didn't realize till it was to late or didn't mind at all. Joan minded it a lot however...

No daughter of mine will work for mainstream blockbuster productions!!! she was like, and there are perverts in every corner she appealed to Topher's overprotectiveness, knowing full well that her own personal beef with normie media couldn't be enough to sway him. If that's what worries you then just stick cameras onto me and I'll have any degenerate in jail before they can say "wow you're so mature for your age!" Marion said with everything thought out beforehand. (Fuck, she really is my daughter) Topher thought proud of his little girl with dreams of acting and blackmailing. But of course he couldn't say that last part aloud. No daughter of mine will put herself in danger like that. Not until you're of age and have good self-defense training. At the end of the day, Topher wants to support their daughter no matter what and Joan also wants to but not like this, not like this!!!

Of course she ends up relenting later and after seeing the massive profits and giving work to those who were laid off at the end of the production, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all~~

But didn't Inside Out 2 come out the same year as Clone High season 3? TIME ISN'T REAL!!!! Don't worry about it!! Not a big deal!!

And so, Marion comes back to her home town and enters secondary school as a celebrity! And there's a lot of shenanigans about it that cool down as years pass and she doesn't make any other fuss with that side of hers.

Jumping much further into the future and considering the genetics in place, I don't really think Topher could outlive his clone-father, mayyyybe for two or three years and it could be a miracle of modern science if he reaches his 60s. In any case, he's fine with that. Even if dying a bit after the half-century is considered "dying young" by current standards, he'd do so happy knowing that during all these years he was able to live an amazing and fulfulling life, where he was able to make a name for himself beyond the legacy of his lineage (not as much as he wanted buuuut he may inspire someone else in the future)(and he did play an astronaut once so that's good and realistic enough) along a gorgeous, smart and caring woman and a beautiful, talented and wonderful daughter. The good years outnumber the bad years and there's really not a lot to regret at the end. Topher lived the good life that I think deserves is what I'm saying.

And after a life well lived, Joan returns to the US as a 60~ year old lady who did it pretty much all, except to live that life with the childhood best friend she always wanted to. But there might be hope in the end...

There's this close-to-S3-canon timeline where MaryAbe became canon and Abe is a ghost. She's too old to complain and you know, Mary can bring Topher's ghost back~ And now they all live togheter in a polycule of sorts cause the JoanAbe is actually cheating, but Mary and Topher let them and they also ghost-fuck too so they even ;3.

Meanwhile in the S3-never-happened timeline is a lot less... supernatural lol. Abe and Frida have gotten togheter but he widowed around their fifties. He wasn't much to date after that but didn't want to close off the chances either (to say, he didn't want to die alone). That's when Joan comes back into his life, a path clear ahead where they could live another 36-40 years togheter doing all those things they were meant to do so long ago~~♡

[tiktaalic]

Do you think Tashi loves Art? Like of course she loves him but do you think she’s in love with him or ever was ?

yes ! when they meet again 3 yrs later or whatever i do think she's legitimately charmed by him. she thinks hes cute she likes that he takes her seriously after The Injury. the people at the being of challengers are sooooo so different from the end products but i do think there were points along that timeline where she loved him. but i also think it's really telling that they're engaged in the run up to the us open that talking heads r saying is his best shot ever. AND that she sleeps with patrick at this point. i think art came into it like yeah sure tennis can be a large part of our relationship and then realized after committing to it. how seriously she meant it. and i think it's a just a time thing. anybody's annoying habits or differences can be weird but cute or weird but harmless for a couple of years. i think he probably DID find it romantic that she like. trusted him to work as an extension of her. for quite some time. but when he's not living up to it and she's not happy with him it transforms from. i'm pushing myself to be the best because tashi needs me to for Her it's so awesome to be needed and connecting with her in ways no one else does. to. in over his head on obligations to tashi (to be as good as her at tennis) and when he can't meet them he gets in his head about it and it's not fun. it's something he's doing not because he wants to do it for tashi but because he's got too much forward momentum to stop doing it for tashi. but this isn't how their relationship starts out! it's what it evolves into. and even after it evolves, they still like each other alright. mostly i'm thinking about the first scene in the hotel room where tashi's watching his flop match and he lightly goes. (opponent) was really good. you're evil. etc. it's just that these moments fall by the wayside because the Focus is on the tennis. other aspects of their marriage work. the tennis doesnt. so i think. early on. it's 1) new. 2) working. 3) genuinely a meaningful thing for him to do for her that no one else has offered her. she loves him! i think there are circumstances where she WOULD say yes to a loveless marriage or a marriage of convenience or a marriage to save a relationship. but i don't think that's what is happening when she was 25 or whatever i think she just liked the guy simultaneous to doing the relationship math. like i dont think it was. yeah i'll marry this guy because i don't see a way out of it that doesn't explode the only thing in my life that makes me happy. i think it was. yeah i'll marry this guy and he'll care more about anniversaries than i do cause he's goofy like that. plus it's probably a good idea to shore up the last name thing for branding.

[rervraiilstew]

3, 6, and 24 for the blorbos ^^

3: "Was there any specific point/any specific moment...or slowly grow to love them more and more...?"

I have different answers here for Sigma and Lucy actually!

Sigma:

Sigma was my favourite character before I even started bsd. Two years ago my best friend would show me out of context bsd videos and also showed me Nikolai("he likes cutting people in half") and Sigma("he's three years old"). It took me a few months to get into bsd after that but said friend kept telling me to cut my hair like Sigma's during that time. I wanted to but couldn't because I still competed in women's artistic gymnastics at the time. I also wanted to cosplay Sigma at that time, even though I had not even yet seen him in the manga(I actually finally got a cosplay of him in October 2024 :D!!). And then I saw a Siglai manga edit on youtube and was HOOKED. And then all my other obsessions died out in favour of bsd, particularly Sigma. There was no specific point I was obsessed with this man at first sight before even properly even getting into bsd.

Lucy:

She grew on me over time! I actually didn't like her all too much when she was introduced in the timeline. And then I think it was the realization of the parallels between her and Atsushi that made me like her more. And then her personality grew on me. And then I realized the parallels between Sigma and Atsushi as well. And then the idea of those three as a trio + their interactions in the casino arc just made me love her even more.

6: "If you could talk to your Blorbo, what would you say to them?"

Sigma:

Okay I know that this is beyond just saying something to them but oh dear lord I would love to play Thirty-One with Sigma. Obviously with more than just two players but yk its the thought of it.

Lucy:

ouuughhh I actually have no clue 😭!! Main thing that comes to mind is(again this happens to be more than just saying things) crochet. She DEFINITELY has at least some sort of fibre art in her toolbox(Anne's room, the dolls, yadayada). I know crochet(even if I'm more of a beginner). Yap session would ensue I hope.

24: "If you could change one canonical thing about your Blorbo, what would it be?"

Okay I'm speaking more with my self-indulgent brain rather than my analysis brain and this goes for Sigma and Lucy here:

Definitely more of an interaction between Sigma and Lucy during the casino arc. ((Or also the idea of them both working for the cafe at the agency(like that artwork you did recently!) Even just a few words or sentences between them to show the understanding of desperation when joining the organization that they did as well as the difference in loyalty to their home vs the loyalty to their people. The main differences I've noticed between Sigma, Lucy, and Atsushi is where their loyalty lies in the organization that they're originally a part of and that's something that I so desperately need to yap about/currently have a draft for.

[laurfilijames]

What’s your favorite chapter of breathe and why?🙂‍↔️ I’ll be very sad if you shy away from hyping yourself up in your response 🥹💗

Aww Ray I really love this ask! I know I've had it sitting in my inbox for a while but it's because I've been thinking really hard about my answer and trying to come up with one while in the midst of still writing chapters that I've been very excited for!

Picking just one chapter from Breathe is honestly so difficult! I love them all for various reasons as they all include so many different things, so bear with me as I ramble on podcast style all my thoughts as to why 🥂

I love parts 1-3 because of the newness of them. The sexual tension and blatant want between them always gets me. It's exciting and exhilarating and writing the beginnings of a relationship is one of my absolute favourite things to do.

Then in chapters 3-5 where it's just sex everywhere all the time and them falling hard and fast for each other while navigating through Will's issues was such a thrilling part in their timeline to explore. Seeing Will finally let his guard down and give in to trying to resist something he knew was there was 🫠🫠 and then the result of that with the hot, raunchy sex? Yeah. Big fan. Glad I did that 🤣

I'll give Part 5 a special shoutout as it was the chapter that brought me back to this world after having put it on the back burner for almost a year 🙈 and is the plot point that breathed (😉) new life and excitement into it for me.

Then comes Parts 6-8 😬. These were heavy hitting chapters. I've never written angst like that before and it really pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me as a writer. It hurt to write some of those scenes, but oddly enough some of those were written the fastest and the words were just furiously typed out which surprised me! I felt so emotionally drained writing chapters 6 and 7 and remember feeling like I had just gone through a breakup 😅😭

Now although parts 9-11 never seem like they're very exciting or thick with plot to me, they are equally as meaningful and all hold their weight with building this relationship and fleshing out their life together. The smut scenes, especially in part 9 were a favourite of mine as I added in the layer of possessiveness after Cam made a reappearance and I loved showing that side of Will 🫠🥵

This portion of the story gives me all the warm and fuzzies and makes me kick my feet just thinking about how happy and in love they are and relieved that they made it through all the hurt and turmoil from earlier chapters. Will deserves all the love and calm and understanding life and a partner can offer and I think (and hope 😅) I've been able to portray and give him that here. The scenes with him getting the ring and then proposing live rent-free in my head and I'm just so in love with seeing them, and especially him, experience such happy moments.

Any chapter that included scenes between Will and Benny were also favourites of mine. Miller brother moments hold a special place in my heart and were always so easy and enjoyable to write (even when they were fighting) and it was like I could hear them in my head and their tone and see their expressions clearly.

Now that I've spewed out all of this and had a chance to go back and really reflect on everything, I think I've narrowed down one chapter that I feel as a whole really sums up everything this story is about and that is Part 7. So much happened in it!! They were still in the thick of their "breakup"

and trying to figure everything out.

She found out about his nightmare and finally began to understand what the hell had happened to cause all of this which then resulted in her showing up for him at base when he came home. I always do my best to show enough from both of their points of view and I think this chapter was full of what both of them were going through. We also had the introduction of Cam (heyyyy boyyyyy 😉🥵) just to add a little more drama to the already dramatic situation, but then everything wrapped up how it should by the end with their intimate and emotional reunion and as I just skimmed through it, I wanted to scream with how happy it makes me!

I've realized how many scenes of pure lovemaking are in this series and clearly I'm all about the intense intimate moments and Will Miller being a man head over heels in love 🤣🤷🏻‍♀️ sue me.

So do I have a favourite chapter? Kinda. They're all my favourite and I'm very happy to say that I've written a whole series that I actually enjoy reading for myself and there isn't one part that I am not proud of!

I'm sorry this got so out of hand haha but it's given me something to do on the 3 hour drive home from the cottage (I should be writing and working on the final chapter 🙈😅 but I'm stallllinggg because I don't want it to end 😭) I appreciate you asking this so so much and am forever grateful and in complete shock that you are so invested in this story and continue to give it so much love, attention, time and thought 🫂😘💗💗💗

[e17omm]

Writing down my thoughts while playing HI3 part 2 chapter 6:

Spoiler free TL:DR; What an absolute mess of a chapter. Were they just throwing things at a wall and seeing what stuck before trying to piece those things together into a chapter? At least it wasnt boring. I didnt have a lot of fun but the story kept moving forward, even if it went in circles sometimes.

Not sure how I feel about the flashback at the start of the chapter. Feels pointless unless its brought up, I just dont see why it would be brought up during this.

I really appreciate that Hoyo bothered to animate Theresa using the payphone. I know its not a hard ask, but boy they sure havent put much effort into dialogue animations for their other games

also im really starting to get tired of this "show us around every single place!" thing they've been doing. It just feels like, dont we have more important stuff to be doing than going on a tour? Like, the forward pace is a crawl. I miss when Kiana was investigating stuff in Arc City and we didnt need to go pick up a lockpick and some food from the local supermarket at the beginning of the chapter.

the armwrestling was really fun at first, but its really wearing out because theres literally no difference between them. I just spam B on my controller. For all 3 of them. Not even intensely. They were all as easy except the 3rd which wasnt a bar but I had to press B and... I already was. "Tap B to win" doesnt have much gameplay variation.

My god Coralie holds her attacks harder than Margit from Elden Ring does. The ding comes like a whole second earlier than her attack does and theres nothing like an adjustment of her wrist to react to before she launches her attack.

Very sudden Litost attempting murder. I didnt take him as the nicest of guys but this is certainly something to timeskip to.

also did I miss something or did Helia not have this helpless inferiority complex before? ... Did she fight Litost in the previous chapter, lost, and are only in Reimu because Coralie won? Am I remembering that correctly?

So Ajita is the evil Entropy person? At least this appearance of her? I dont see why she would appear and tp us away and then go "oh how sad, that girl you just saved is gonna die anyway". Is this Sparkle?

Yeah okay that 180 mood turn was 100% intentional.

Yeah Helia, I dont understand where this came from. This part of your character wasnt there before this chapter, and its not like there was a particulary long timeskip between chapters 5 and 6. I get what they are doing, its similar to Mei chasing after Kiana. But with Mei it was Kiana being kidnapped, HoV defeating her, chasing after her in Arc City, being pushed away by Kiana, having Durandal reach Kiana first and stopping Mei from getting her, chasing Kiana to Nagazora, doing everything she can to find and help Kiana, and Kiana still pushing Mei away and, finally, over the edge.

For Helia she lost to Listost, I think? in the previous chapter.

11. They dont need to spell out what character traits Vita and Ajita has...

12. I want to replay chapters 5 and 6 of part 1... They did looping and fixing the timeline way better back then. Helia's inferiority complex came out of nowhere and is clearly a focus for this chapter, I bet she's gonna do something stupid to try and prove herself, where was this the last 5 chapters?, meanwhile at the same time I dont even know why the 32nd Ten Shus War is critical?

13. That's the second time they've done a "the situation isnt as serious as it first appeared to be" twist

14. They're actually putting more than no effort into dialogue animations. I like it. They still havent fixed all characters turning around like a robot, but at least now there are about as many moments with good animations as there are moments with robot animation. Its an improvement!

15. Flashback chapter! Joy! Why does everyone have a sob story and why was this never hinted at before and why are they revealing it all now by thinking really hard about it? When Kiana had a flashback her dad pointed a gun at her. I sure hope that Helia's flashback wasnt just context for why she fainted upon seeing small Dudu.

16.

17. How did we go from family sob stories to searching for traces of Litost? Did I miss like, a short transition scene?

18. WHERE IS THIS BEEF BETWEEN CORALIE AND HELIA COMING FROM?!?!?! Am I forgetting? Am I crazy? Or was there not this much beef between them before?? And before as in, THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER??? Yeah they had an argument but where did Helia's inferiority complex come from?? Am I crazy or has their dynamic shifted drastically from the previous chapter?

19. My issue with their beef and Helia's inferiority complex is that that part of Helia wasnt present or noticably before this point. And Im not really even sure what triggered it. Was it her loss to Litost? "Talentless and unhelpful" is about the exact opposite as what Coralie described her as. Yeah if Helia wanted to be the strongest and greatest Valkyrie there ever was, I can understand how being "just" an A-rank is an insult, but then the question remains: where did THAT part of her character come from? She wasnt trying to be the center of all fights and the victor at the top in previous chapters, right?

20. This is not the same Helia that we had in chapter 5. It cant be. This inferiority complex is a fucking massive part of her character and I didnt see any of it the last 5 chapters. Im scratching my brain trying to figure out if I missed anything or just wasnt paying attention to Helia enough.

This feels like a new character.

21. This is a new character. Im calling her massive-inferiority-complex Helia as long as she stays here (MIC Helia) since she has the same name as the Helia we had in chapters 1-5.

"It wasnt the focus of chapters 1-5" well then they gotta fucking ease me into it and not drop a bucket of cold water on me.

I would love to go back and check, but, you know.

22. How the fuck was what Entropy said enough to break MIC Helia out of her year long inferiority complex? Or did Entropy just switch MIC Helia out for Helia while I wasnt looking? I hope its the latter.

Like Helia's inferiority complex isnt "Im so weak so I have to try extra hard to make up for it because Im so weak." its "Im so weak and thats impossible to change"

Everyone told her to keep trying and improving and be the best that she is, and her response was that its impossible for her to change and be anything except weak.

Then Entropy comes along and tells her that she doesnt know if its impossible for her to change and that she just have to keep trying and improving and... that worked?

Also wait I just came back from my shower,

23. why is Litost just standing there?

24. Okay, while going around killing people feels in-character for Litost, him spouting "youre so weak, youre pathetic, youll never amount to anything" to Helia REALLY feels like "the writers are making him say this to push Helia to the edge"

Killing people feels on brand for Litost, but belittling them in length? I feel like he would've just said something like "see? youre too weak." and be done with it, but this man is on his 3rd page of insults to throw at Helia.

25. Not really a big fan of the whole "we will introduce a brand new aspect of a character this chapter and then solve it halfway through the same chapter" thing.

26. Good to know that everyone can teleport. I mean they set it up but still. Also Litost just disappeared after grilling Helia for like 5 straight minutes? What was that about?

27. Well at least we're finally back to Helia! Mostly. I really missed her from chapter 5. I think she's an alright character, much better than this MIC Helia they suddenly dumped into chapter 6.

28. Yeah this MIC Helia character isnt written very well. She disagrees with the advice she is given but then does what the advice she got told her and then she still doesnt listen to the advice until one day when she does.

29. this is getting really long and I'd like to consider this the start of the chapter considering that we got all the characters from chapter 5 now, but I dont know how much is left of this...

30. Litost is the most interesting character in part 2 so far. Like I still dont know the end goal of all this. I get that theyre doing it coz otherwise Laylah will kick them out if they go too off-script, and the Earth gang wants to find out why Kiana is sleepy, but like, I dont get the point of this whole simulation thing.

31. Genuinely the chapter could have basically started here after Chexue died in the past slice. Helia is back to what she was like before.

32. Azur flame sucks. Its tanky and has 2 attacks. Seriously? Honkai beasts has more effort put into them than this.

33. That's the 3rd time the mood is suddenly twisted into the opposite. Hi again Litost, thank you for always showing up on your own. We really didn't do much to find you at all. Ever. You literally just walk past us when we arent even trying.

34. We really just switched back to MIC Helia? I hoped I had seen the last of her! Seriously what is character development that last for more than 5 minutes?

35. So we just went from MIC Helia, to Helia, and then 5 minutes later back to MIC Helia having basically the same realisation as 5 minutes ago back to Helia, and now Coralie gets killed in the simulation and Helia is all emotional except, you know, its a simulation. Dramaqueens.

Dont tell me its back to MIC Helia again...

36. yeah I smell bullshit on that.

WOW THEY DIDNT CARE ABOUT CORALIE AT ALL.

Oh she died 6 minutes ago? Oh well, time to dive back in! No time to lose I wanna stay in that night city place I forgot the name of.

What a mess of a chapter. What's worse is that them killing of Coralie in one of the more bullshit, but also completely apathetic way for the rest of the characters - they really were about to just go straight back in. Ajita saves their progress, there is literally no rush. Mourning? Pssh, who cares?

Coralie's death is so random. If anything the chapter was setting up for Helia to die. The simulation being able to influence the real world wasn't even hinted at. Have one of the hologram girls lift a physical vase or something, at least that would have planeted the possibility! I could understand it if Coralie still felt pain and panic as she logged out from the wound she recieved in the simulation and had to recieve aid and be out of comission for a whie as she recovered, but "the doctors did everything they could..." really?

And again, they are just going to jump right back in? What writing decision is that? Yeah they'll have a meeting first but, again, what's the rush? Coralie is basically still in the emergency room. Not gonna take care of the body?

Im kinda not sad about her death, just because I find the writing choices around it kind of unbelieveable.

Like, what will Coralie's death bring that isnt Helia turning into MIC Helia AGAIN, or Helia having the same "I have to push forward" positivity thing that she has already had TWICE this chapter? The rest of the characters clearly dont care enough to even mourn Coralie's death. I guess they werent that close? I mean, they were inviting Helia to re-enter the simulation ASAP again. Do they just not care about her or Coralie at all? Havent they been partners for a period of time before this? Dont they think that maybe they should check on Helia first before inviting her back to the place her friend literally JUST died at? Like, LITERALLY JUST DIED at.

And again, what does Coralie's death mean for Helia? Is she going to go through what she just went through twice already? Is Helia going to shoot herself? Her clear inferiority led to Coralie dying (in her head), so if she isnt going to go through the same thing thrice, is she just going to kill herself?

Do Hoyo not care enough about the part 2 characters to not write a character arc (twice) right before a death that would trigger that character arc?

So Im trying to figure out what the difference between Himeko's death and Coralie's death is, and I think its the buildup to the climax that is missing for Coralie. For Himeko, there is several chapters of building and a lot of things are escalating and they're throwing everything they cant at the Herrscher of the Void and they just cant stop her, leading to the climax of a sacrifice play that doesnt even fully defeat HoV. The tension is built up over several chapters and a lot of focus is put on Himeko and Kiana over those 5 chapters (chapters 5-9) which leads to the final climax of HoV vs Himeko and a great animated fight scene.

After all the focus was on Helia this chapter, Coralie jumps infront of a sword in a simulation and dies irl. Bruh what.

How did Coralie even die? We didn't even get to see her condition. And she died off-screen.

What.

Who wrote this?

What a mess of a chapter. Helia nearly flip-flops between 2 different versions of herself, and then Coralie randomly dies off-screen from an indirect wound.