#((but there are other options like being able to change people's opinions or memories relating to him or something like that))

[qpr-cupid]

You Are My Squishies Pt. 1

A Two Shot Based on one of my Imagines:

((part two here))

You don't know what to make of him at first and the feeling was mutual but when you get comfortable enough to be in each other's presence he pop's the question: 'Why haven't you confessed to Wade yet?' After your initial shock you take the time to explain your identity and feelings and he just listens: no arguments, no opinions, just an open ear, as you talked about this vulnerable part of yourself. After you're done, there was a beat of silence before he whispered a respectful "Okay". It was then you felt a shift in your feelings. You still had a squash on Wade, yes, but the focus had changed... ...to Logan. After you had a small crisis about being polyaffectionate, you begin noticing things about him: his jawline, his muscles, his eyes, his reflex of pushing people away, how much he drank... Your nurturing nature kicked in. You'd make him cups of coffee in the morning, give him some extra bacon with his breakfast, put a blanket on him when he passed out on the couch. You even hid his alcohol from him (that was the only thing that ticked him off, but you knew he'd never hurt you on purpose, just glare heatedly and grouch more than usual). The treatment was foreign to Logan; years of self loathing and hatred convinced him that he was a worthless, murderous piece of shit that didn't deserve basic human decency let alone kindness. Admittedly, major progress was made on that front with his adventure with Wade but you were just so...bright and genuine. He found himself thinking about what you had told him, about aromanticism, about how you viewed relationships, about qprs. Most of his life, the only labels he had just been romance, friendship, and sex, but when he recalled the majority of friendships and even lovers, he found he related to what you had described. The type of relationship he wanted to have with you. Stiffening, he shook his head. Did he really just think that? Did he have a... what the fuck was it?... a squash on you? The twinge of revelation sent him into a panic (he couldn't lose you, not like them) and he found himself nursing a bottle of whiskey, quaking silently in the dark, eyes blown wide, ears ringing, and memories flashing by. He didn't know how long he was like this or when you got there but he remembers when you stood in front of him, movements slow and careful as not to startle, voice slightly muffled by the ringing. Gently, you remove the bottle from his grasp, before rubbing circles into the back of his hand and when he's finally able to hear you, you're soothing him. You ask if you can hug him and he nods, the feeling of every nerve scraped raw and slight drunken stupor overpowering the reflex to isolate himself. And so you do. It steals his breath away. Your scent, the warmth of your body seeping into him, the pressure of your hug ...sooths him in a way he can only describe as visceral. He didn't even know of his tears before you dabbed away at them, mouth still lulling him from his episode. Taking a shuddering breath, he looked down at you, your eyes so full of concern and care he nearly breaks down again. You both stay in each other's arms like that for a while before you pull him to his feet, wiping away at the last of his tears. "Do you want to talk about it?" You asked, voice barely above a whisper.

He paused, weighing his options. He could do the typical Logan thing and push you away, isolate... Or he could risk becoming attached and let you in.

Feeling something on his cheek, he looked down to see you cupping the side of his face, gaze so full of empathy and patience that the decision practically made itself.

He told you everything, his trauma, his regrets, how he lost his family, his rampage, all of it. You listened on, nodding when you needed to, squeezing his hand comfortingly when he got particularly emotional, and when he was done you wrapped him into an embrace and whispered "I'm so happy you're here."

From then on your dynamic changed rapidly: sure he was still a gruff grump, but you both initiated more casual contact, you joked and smiled with him more, and he drank less.

It was impossible for anyone not to notice...and oh boy did a certain merc with a mouth notice.

(( ...continued in part two ))

[ficoandleo]

What, being willing to ask up front makes me bad at finding things out? 💔 Are u saying it's basic enough that I could figure it out myself? U want me to guess?

Ur relationship with ur fam is pretty bad. Like as bad as Kamurai's with his daddy(might be a Frostheim thing? Maybe ur ambition when u touched that mannequin was abt ur fam?) But ur kinda stuck with them even tho they don't like u right? Expectations or whatever. Could be abt getting away from them--it got u here right? And now ur stuck with the Institute unless u get the crown or whatever--or it's back to ur lil shrine with u💔

But I don't think it's that. Ppl who flirt like u do r all always abt escapism and stuff u don't have to think hard abt. And when you're a shame to your family you just want someone to say once that you did a good job and they appreciate you. Ur a lazyass who does all the work in his House. U left Frostheim around when someone else who could do more than u to help showed up

Ur totes a tryhard lol

But it isn't about that right? It's not about doing a good job. It's about not being Haku Kusanagi. It's about being literally anyone else, or no one at all, for a second. It's about proving people wrong without anyone saying 'wow, that's more than I expected from you.' Or maybe it's about not having that expectation at all. You don't wanna be thanked for what you do. You don't wanna be thanked or relied on so people don't start thinking different about you and don't resent you when you're a disappointment again. But you can always put on another mask and be someone else or no one else, right? No expectations, you could be the best or the worst and nothing will have to change.

Maybe you just don't wanna be you. That way you can come and go as you please, no matter how anyone feels about you or what they want from you. I bet it was something like that. "I wish I didn't have to be me all the time. I wish I could be someone else." Is that anything?

Fuck Marry Kill the (canon) vagastrom ghouls?

Kurosagi, Mido, Haizono. In the order presented.

[unclaimed-garbage]

WoF Arc 2: Ending Opinions and Alternate Ending

(Note this is a couple months old)

Arc 2. It’s the most divided arc within the fandom. Many people either consider it their favorite or least favorite arc out of all the books and the same goes with the characters and books themselves. Despite the division surrounding arc 2, it has an interesting set up, premise, and introduces one of the most beloved villains in all of Wings of Fire. Dark’Stalker.

Dark’Stalker is an incredible complex character and is a very compelling villain to many. Throughout arc 2, DarkStalker is constantly displaying the main themes of arc 2, even from the moment he exited the mountain. Everybody knows how Dark’Stalker has constantly enchanted dragons to get what he wants and to make himself look better and more trustworthy. DarkStalker’s own book backs this up perfectly.

DarkStalker manipulates Moonwatcher, not with his magic, but with his wits and charm. Though the moment he exits the mountain, everything changes. Nobody quite realizes just how *big* of a threat Dark’Stalker is the moment he came out of the mountain. Almost instantly after exiting the mountain, he immediately enchants everyone around him to like him. Furthermore, he enchants winter to worship and adore him after he realized winter knew the truth and was a threat to his safety and plan. Throughout the arc, he enchants more and more dragons to command them against their will, some of which include Anemone, Winter, possibly flame, possibly glory, Fierceteeth, and Vulture. Even without DarkStalker’s spells, there are multiple instances of spells changing a dragon against their will. Most notably are Peril, Hailstorm, and Ruby/Tourmaline.

Just by these many instances, it’s clear that the themes of Arc 2 are choice, free-will, and identity. These will become very important later on in the series.

Out of all the things with this arc that the fandom is divided on, DarkStalker’s downfall is the biggest. At the end of Darkness of Dragons, Dark’Stalker was transformed into a young dragonet named Peacemaker using his own talisman against him. DarkStalker being transformed into Peacemaker completely goes against the themes of Arc 2 entirely. Though many could try and chalk it up to dramatic irony of sorts, if it goes completely against the themes of the arc, then it’s *not* a good ending.

DarkStalker was transformed into a young, Night/Rain hybrid dragonet with no former memories of his past life. Something that *I* believe was a terrible move on Tui’s part. The whole themes of arc 2 are being able to *choose* what you want, having free will over what you do, and understanding who you really are. Yet Peacemaker completely contradicts this, as Dark’Stalker didn’t *choose* to become Peacemaker, he didn’t *want* to become Peacemaker, and he didn’t have any control over becoming Peacemaker.

Even if Darkstalker’s final moments, he said he didn’t want to lose his memories, he didn’t want to be gone, he didn’t want to be another dragon. Yet he was transformed into a completely different dragon with no relations to his previous self. I believe that the Jade Winglet turning Dark’Stalker into Peacemaker is stoopint to DarkStalker’s level. They went on and on about how dragons should have free will of their own and how wrong it is to force someone to do something against their will, yet they turn around and do it themselves.

Furthermore, DarkStalker *chose* to go along the path of darkness he had paved for himself. He didn’t deserve anything other than death. The Jade Winglet could have done anything else with the strawberry. They could have enchanted it to remove his powers and kill him, or put him to sleep under the mountain for eternity, or just wish him out of existence, yet instead they transformed him into a young dragonet against his will. Completely contradicting the entire themes of arc 2. Perhaps if it was the only option or last choice, then it would make more sense, but they had plenty of other options available and them choosing the one they did only makes things worse.

DarkStalker has now been transformed into Peacemaker with no past memories of his previous form and is destined to live an ordinary life, but what if someone finds out what *really* happened to Dark’Stalker? The Jade winglet completely lied to everyone and told them that they put him back under the mountain. Nobody outside of Foe’Slayer and the Jade winglet knows the truth. So what would happen if word got around that DarkStalker was transformed into Peacemaker? Imagine the outrage that the entire continent would be flung into, if the Jade winglet lied about DarkStalker’s demise, what’s stopping them from believing they wouldn’t lie about Dark’Stalker still being within Peacemaker?

Peacemaker has no affiliation with Dark’Stalker and creating Peacemaker only risks an innocent dragonet being flung into a life of chaos and hiding if word got out of who he was before. Innocent Peacemaker shouldn’t have to potentially pay the price for a completely unrelated dragon’s actions. Furthermore, Tui confirmed in a interview if Peacemaker ever out on Qibli’s earring, he’d transform into Dark’Stalker and vaporize into nothingness due to the immortality spell being nulled. Though moon’s visions suggest everything will be okay, what if by a single chance, Peacemaker gets ahold of Qibli’s earrings? How will they convince him not to wear it? Wouldn’t he suspicious?

So not only does Peacemaker completely contradict the themes of arc 2, but if word got out about what really happened to Peacemaker, an innocent dragon’s life would be turned completely upside down and a majority of the continent would probably fear him and the idea that Dark’Stalker might still be around.

Furthermore, on top of everything else (if I remember correctly), according to an interview with Tui, she confirmed that the Peacemaker ending wasn’t even the first option. The first option was that Dark’Stalker was going to try and fail at talking Qibli out of “something” (what this “something” is was never confirmed though), but in the end, Tui scrapped the idea because she believed that DarkStalker was “too convincing” and she believed he made many good points. Though I believe that Dark’Stalker making good points could actually add to the ending if she were to keep the original instead of the Peacemaker. Having a villain that is *so* good at convincing, that they make the hero believe in their points and admit the villain is making good points is just so nice and it makes it that much harder for the protagonist to see through the lies and make the right decision in the end.

The Peacemaker ending was doomed from the beginning and everything arc 2 had set up, the themes, the characters, and the plot, were—in my opinion—all overshadowed by the gaping sore known as Peacemaker and the thematically and morally incorrect ending to the arc and how it contradicts everything the characters, the books, and the themes have set up.

How would *I* rewrite the Arc 2 ending?

Keeping in mind the themes of Arc 2, I’d rewrite the ending in a way I, personally, believe would be better.

Dark’Stalker, FoeSlayer, and the entire Jade Winglet (including winter) are standing in a field of begonia flowers (begonia flowers represents reflection which symbolizes DarkStalker’s soon to be reflection)

Moonwatcher recounts her plagues of visions, despite trying to follow a definitive path, it seems that one choice could make or break the future.

Dark’Stalker is confronted by everyone about his actions and all he’s caused. He’s taken aback, firmly believing he’s in the right. His mind is so warped, he truly believes he’s doing the right thing even if deep deep down he knows he’s not.

In a last ditch effort of both arrogance and determination, he enchants Pyrrhia to be set on the best possible path for the future. He’s incredibly determined to win back Moonwatcher’s trust and prove everyone (mostly his mother, Qibli, and Winter) that he was right all along. He is so dead set in his ways that he believes *his* ending will be the best one. The *only* one. The *perfect* one. It’s important to note Dark’Stalker made the *choice* to follow through with this enchantment, foolishly believing there’s no way it could backfire on him.

All seemed well and normal at first, but slowly with each passing second, DarkStalker felt himself grow weaker. He may not have known it yet, but he was dying. Despite *other* animus magic not being able to affect him, he foolishly disregarded and forgot how his *own* magic could affect him. Despite this, it was a gradual weakening that he didn’t quite realize until it was much too late to turn back the enchantment and fix things.

As Dark’Stalker began to die, too far gone to save himself with magic, it hit him. He finally realized all he had done, all he had fought for, all he had accomplished was *meaningless* because it *wasn’t* the best future. The only way to *get* on track to the best future was if he himself was *gone.* DarkStalker couldn’t believe it. Despite Qibli telling him earlier that his *actions* and *choices* caused him to lose his soul, he didn’t believe it until now. He didn’t *want* to believe it until now. Even then, he didn’t want to believe it..yet..he had no choice but to believe it. His actions—every dragon he’s manipulated, every dragon he’s scared, every dragon he’s hurt, every dragon he’s killed, and every dragon he’s enchanted—were finally catching up to him. He thought he could use magic to prevent this, when in reality, he *could* have prevented this himself long ago, but was too blinded by his own desires to see clearly.

The Jade Winglet and Foe’Slayer watch as Dark’Stalker dies. Despite Dark’Stalker having not realized what he did until it was too late, everyone else realized immediately. They knew it was the end for him the moment he made the spell. DarkStalker chose to make the spell, but he himself was too blinded by his pride, ego, and narcissism to believe or even *want* to take accountability for his actions until it was much, much too late.

The Jade winglet says their final, tense goodbyes to Dark’Stalker, turning their backs on him and showing how much he’s truly fucked up, how much he’s truly caused, how despite desperately begging to be saved from the consequences of his actions, the Jade winglet wasn’t ready. All that was left was Foe’Slayer.

Dark’Stalker wanted to believe his mother wouldn’t turn her back on him, yet after Foe’Slayer says her final goodbyes—filled with hatred for who/what he’s become and a longing for who he used to be—she turns her back on him as well. DarkStalker watches as in his final moments, all those he’s hurt and all those he cares about leaves him. They not only leave him to die, but leave him with his own thoughts, his own actions. He made his bed and now he can lie in it.

Then, DarkStalker is gone. Withering away to ash, the remnants of the most dangerous dragon in Pyrrhia was now left to blow away in the wind like a meaningless leaf. Just like a meaningless leaf, Dark’Stalker will eventually be forgotten about. His name, his title, and all he’s done will merely be a memory of the past. Forever forgotten as Dark’Stalker didn’t go down as the King of Pyrrhia. He went down an evil tyranny everyone tried to rid their minds of, desperate to move on and forget he existed in the first place.

Dark’Stalker had plenty of chances to change, yet he *chose* to go on his dark path. He *chose* to hurt and kill all those that have “wronged” him. DarkStalker thought he was invincible, which, for the most part, he was. Despite this though, DarkStalker was not invincible to his *own* choices and the consequences that come with said choices. In the end, his *choice* to defend all he’s done, his *choice* to dismiss and excuse all he’s done, his *choice* to prove himself right, ended up being his undoing.

Thank you for reading my very long analysis and rewrite of arc 2’s ending. Hope all those that read (and don’t) read this post have a good day/night.

[masonscig]

Writer Rant: Am I the only one who finds it kind of strange how many people are complaining about how the detective didn't have a choice but to join the agency? Like I totally get thinking its too soon (I personally expected it in book 4 at least, so I have no issue with the opinion it should have happened later in the series) but there's been multiple posts I've seen of people saying they're upset that choice was forced upon them/the 'no' option didn't work, and I'm kind of wondering what they expected? Idk I feel like there's this growing trend in the IF/COG community where people are mad that they can't go completely against the status quo of the story, but like...there's a difference between taking away choices for the protag/taking control out of the players hands and some plots just *needing* to happen in order for the story to proceed as intended, especially when they relate directly to the protag and their environment and not a mostly offscreen situation like the aftermath of whether Sanja survives/the treaty is signed in Book 2.

The detective being a full time agent is a major development and would effect most if not every agency/station related scene going forward - if saying no was a legitimate option that carried over as a major choice, Mishka would basically have to write a second version of each subsequent book to account for the differences until they finally join. Not allowing that to be an option isn't taking away the players choice because it was *never* a choice to begin with, its a set part of the plot already. I get the frustration of it maybe not being the most in character, but the author in me wants to scream that it's not on the author to adapt their story to fit each OC every time, especially when that OC is made to intentionally break what 'should' be happening. For all the legitimate criticism about book 3 that I've seen, this is the one that I genuinely Do Not Understand unless there's just a lot of folks in the fandom without experience writing longer, connective works, because they either don't recognize or respect just *how much* would have to change going forward based on that one call.

i completely get where you're coming from, i really do, but i have to disagree with some points here

i think that the reason people are upset is because mis/hka has like. stripped the agency (haha no pun intended) from the mc but it doesn't quite feel as intentional as she wanted it to be – (idk if i'm explaining correctly bc it makes sense in my head) let's say you're playing with an mc that has little to no agency points, they've fucked up majorly at every stat check (murphy got away, sanja died, falk didn't sign the treaty, falk was hostile, fucked up at the auction), and they're scared of supernaturals? in what world would that qualify the mc for an agency position?

if you're thinking "okay well, maybe it's because the agency is trying to keep a close watch on the mc" – okay, well, mis/hka isn't going to flesh out the idea of the agency being evil or even explicitly morally grey. she's said herself in asks before that the agency are the "good guys" (i don't feel like looking for it lmao if you do, godspeed. there's a lot of asks to sift through) – so the choice just doesn't make sense unless she's been playing the absolute longest con and they'll be revealed to be the true antagonists in the end.

if they are, i'll record myself a jean jacket with no sauce :) xoxo

but like others have said before, mis/hka is writing this series as a utopia of sorts – the mc is a fucking cop, working for a federal agency. and they're presented as the good guys. that alone means that any weird things that they do are going to be pushed aside and blamed on an "individual" rather than the "structure" itself, if that makes sense. (an option available towards the end of book 3 depending on what route you're on is being able to erase bobby's memories if they find out about supernaturals. a cop? possibly forcibly suppressing a journalist? yeah. no thought put into that option.)

what i'm getting at is, she's stripping the choice to join the agency from the mc's who don't want it, and similarly, from what she's shown us, it's not going to amount to anything, because she doesn't seem to criticize any of the systems she's established in a larger sense outside of the mc's dialogue. so if that doesn't matter, then what are the mc's working towards? <- this is a rhetorical question, food for thought if you will LMAO

sorry this is all over the place, but to tie it all back together, i think that yes, if your oc doesn't fit the universe, i completely agree – you can't blame the author for not fulfilling every fantasy you have about the series – but similarly, i think that if mis/hka is giving us the option to make mc's who are untrustworthy of the agency, it's her job to follow through with that to some degree. and that means not just pandering to mcs that love their job, love being a cop, love supernaturals, love the agency, always pass stat checks, etc.

all of my thoughts are based on things she's said about her own story, and how i think that contradicts some ideas she may be unintentionally setting up.

but again, i totally get where ur coming from – branching stories are difficult, i just think that if you're going to offer options in a story, then choices should matter, and they feel like they don't in b3. i get that things need to happen in order for the story to progress, but some of these choices the mc is able to make feels like dead ends? like it's not going anywhere

[alyss-kelly]

My opinion about Another Code : Recollection Part 1

First of all, I'm an old fan of the serie, so of course I compared the Switch compilation and the DS and Wii version.

I don't want to discourage people who are curious and want to play the game. If you're even a lil bit interested in them, play them, on DS, Wii or Switch, pick your poison and make your own opinion on it. Don't take my word as the absolute thing or whatever. It's not because I'm mixed about it that people shouldn't play it. Because I still think that a game that was, to me, very niche, from a studio that went bankrupt AND from 2005, is incredible. For a game like that to get a fully voiced remake almost twenty year after the release of its first installment, with most of the old crew working on them is to be celebrated ! Even if I didn't like everything, they still did an amazing job and I'm glad to see the franchise alive again in 2024.

I have strong feelings and I feel the need to share them to see if someone "relates" or not.

I may talk about spoilers but I'll try to limit them, be vague and put a warning before and after if I state it clearly.

Soo, now that this "introduction is over ~

In this essay I will

I have a LOT to say about Another Code Recollection. Good and Bad. Sadly, I have more things to say about the bad than the good. I have mixed feeling about it. I was very VERY excited when Recollection was first announced, I cried even, because I care about "Another Code Two Memories" and "Another Code R" A LOT, it's my childhood, they're in my top fav games list, they were very meaningful to me and I was sad it ended with Cing and with no hope of seeing the conclusion of Matthew's story. Even tho I was happy, I was still a bit scared about how they would adapt some of the puzzle on the switch. And I think I was right to have this fear. They did some cool things and others that I disliked.

I'll say my "+" and "-" and develop them further bellow each point.

+ Positive :

The graphism They're very nice, the characters's models are nicely done, the scenery and everything else is definitely a BIG glow up (mostly compared to the DS graphics)

The Redesign I like some of them a LOT, big glow up for almost everyone. I particularly love Charlotte and Janet. Charlotte finally looks her age! I kinda miss the old Matthew but his new version is also good.

Puzzles use the Switch motions thingy Just a few of them tho. I think that's cool, because they sadly don't use it very much in other games. And it's nice to see them try to replicate the same feeling you had with the DS and Wii games.

Confirmation of theories and new bits of story It's nice to see that after all these years. /!\SPOILER/!\ I'm thinking about Frannie's relative. /!\END OF SPOILER/!\

Musics They nailed the music; it still has that nostalgic and lonely vibe for Two Memories and the carefree with a hint of sadness vibe in R.

Voice Acting A very nice addition and very well done. I know there's English Dub but I played it with the Japanese voices. And being able to choose between them is nice.

Possibility to switch language That's maybe a very "me" + point, but the fact that I could change the game in every language available is cool. Even more for the jp, cause now if I want to I could try and practice my reading skills because there's an option to have katakana and hiragana on top of kanji. I just think that's neat.

Hint mode I just tried it in the tutorial but I think it's a nice touch for when you don't know where to go or how to resolve a puzzle.

Relationship between Ashley and D The way they would mimic each other poses was all I ever wanted. I love them a lot and seeing them being a little bit closer than I remember them to be in the DS version was great !

Art The new sprites are very pretty and it's nice to see the improvement the artist made. The endcredits was very pretty !

Flowchart & Map I like to see flowchart in any type of game, it's helpfull and pretty. I like that it was updated along with the story. And I also enjoy the map and the little commentary Ashley was "writing" on it.

End of Part 1

---

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

[lgbtlunaverse]

Ok I have such visceral feelings about Xiyao and rarely see the specific aspect explored that I want in depictions of them but. I haven't been able to articulate why that is or what I'm looking for till now and it was bugging me. and your tags on the JGY kinnie post articulated it perfectly so. Thank

Well!! Ksdjdjskan I'm glad that my history of lying to my family, friends, and therapist has contributed to both our media analysis capabilities!! (Well when i say it like that it sounds stupid but I MEAN it)

I'm gonna use this ask as an excuse to go into a bit more detail on exactly that subject, cause I have been thinking about this a lot. I notice that anytime people go into the elements of xiyao that aren't exactly healthy, most of the focus is placed on lan xichen as the wronged party (and yeah he's the one being lied to! It makes sense) but in a strange sort of twisted parrallel to jgy and qin su's relationship, xichen is probably the one having an overall better time in the xiyao relationship right up until the reveal at the end!

To qin su, she had a loving if not physically passionate marriage with a son who died tragically young but was still wonderful and loved. Xichen had a sworn brotherhood where jgy and he could lean on each other and be honest with each other even when they couldn't be with anyone else, and despite any trouble with nie mingjue they mourned him together, carried each other through his death, and take care of his little brother in his memory.

Jin guangyao, meanwhile, has to keep up the act at all times. Somewhere in between getting taken in by his father and killing nie mingjue xichen stops being the one who will stand by his side no matter what and becomes... another person he has to act in front of. This doesn't actually change the fact that Xichen is his favourite person. That the act he is putting on for Xichen is likely the person he sincerely wants to be and strives to be as close to as he can. Jgy has put on masks all his life but this is the one he wishes was his actual face.

(Side tangent: Jgy genuinely wants to be good and help people. I believe this fully. Yes he wants to keep himself alive at all costs and will do horrible things to ensure his own safety but that doesn't mean he likes doing them or that he thinks they're justified. "Not having any better options" and "doing the right thing" are, in fact, not the same. I think jgy sincerely wishes he hadn't done any of his worst crimes and feels guilty, even while fully believing he had to do them.)

Side tangent over. You can lie to someone and love them. Sometimes the fact that you love them makes it harder to be honest. Because their opinion of you matters so much, them hating you or looking down on you is worse than anyone else doing so. Can you really handle dissapointing this person? Can you? There are a lot of people Jin guangyao lies to out of pure self preservation. I think Lan Xichen is one of the only ones where his primary motive for lying isn't just the physical consequences of what would happen if he gets found out, but also the emotional ones.

Cw for discussion of suicide this next paragraph.

So. I've been struggling with suicidal feelings basically since i was a young teenager and every single serious attempt or consideration, ever, has been in relation to a lie i've been telling (usually to my family) and it getting increasingly harder to keep quiet and increasingly more harmful to drag out. It feels so horrible that I have, on multiple occasions, considered killing myself to get out of it.

Now, jgy is a lot more dedicated to staying alive than I am. But that doesn't mean the actual feeling of it is any different to him, it's just that he doesn't see dying as a solution to problems like I do sometimes. I can say with experience. That loving someone and being around them pretending to be the person you actually wish you were but know you can't be is fucking torture. At any random moment a voice in the back of your head can and will pop up and remind you that this is fake. They wouldn't love you like this if they knew. And the longer you keep it a secret the worse their reaction will be. You'll manage to forget and let yourself be happy around them because they make you happy and the moment you remember you will feel guilt for that happiness. You're not just bad for lying, you are worse for daring to enjoy this person loving you on false pretenses.

And the fact that for jgy all this is just a repeat of shit everyone else has been saying about him for no good reason for literally his entire life? That he doesn't deserve to be here, that the people around him are too good for him. Oh. No. Yeah. Like I said in those tags. Nightmare scenario. (And then to be killed by this person for a thing you didn't actually do? Because you have fallen so low in their eyes that everything is fair game now? Fuck. Fuck. Xiyao make me want to go chew on glass.)

[upthehillart]

I want to discuss Pansy..

Warning: The topic of racism is addressed, specifically in relation to Pansy x Hermione ship. So I’ll put all my rambling under the cut.

___

Alright. I’ve received some messages questioning the morality of Pansmione. Now, this ain’t news or anything (it’s a long time coming tbh since I draw them a lot), and it’s far from being the only ship that tends to be interrogated, but it IS one of the only ones that actually carry the element of real racism - not the pure-blood stuff but race. I had read some posts and discourse online over the years, but I still feel inclined to make my own post and gather your opinions.

Now, personally, I love Pansmione. I love what they are in my head. I’ve reconciled the realities and nuances of this ship privately and in my own way and I’m able to enjoy them and find this pairing fulfilling and meaningful.

However, just to set the record straight, regardless of what headcanons anyone might come up with, canon Pansy IS an awful, racist, hateful person exhibiting almost zero redeeming qualities. I mean, she WAS sympathetic to her friends, like Draco, but they were all awful people so it’s not much of an argument. She’s a bully, period. (And if anyone is unclear about how Pansy has exhibited racism, she basically called Angelina’s afro braids to look like “worms coming out of [her] head”). Since Hermione is now commonly portrayed as black/POC now - by me, too - pairing her with Pansy gets extra tricky and raises issues - which is fair.

Secondly, I AM white, which means that I possess the privilege to even be able to reconcile with Pansy’s canon racism, unlike many other fans. I can’t ever forget about it, nor should I, but whenever I draw them, I do imply that Pansy’s a better person now. I feel like the fact that enjoying Pansmione can sometimes be a matter of privilege brings forth its own issues as well. Additionally, I know it gets even more complicated if Pansy’s portrayed as non-white herself (e.g. East Asian), and as a white person, I don’t know how to even begin to navigate this correctly...

___

So, how do we approach a character like Pansy, who is basically the only one (to my memory - correct me if I’m wrong!) who exhibited actual racial prejudice, one that may hit home directly to many fans? Is it wrong to give canon Pansy a fanon chance?

When looking at the real world and specifically at individual racism, I feel like the thing that moves us forward is not pretending that racism didn’t happen, or just eternally condemning the wrongdoer and turning away; what actually IS a productive step forward is for those at fault to learn and realize their racism, put effort into changing it, and compensating the hurt. That’s what progress essentially is - growth - and growth is good and sometimes deserves its own spotlight.

This principle is basically what fundamentally supports and justifies my like for Pansmione. That people, even the problematic ones, CAN deserve further character development and deserve the permission to grow up, learn, and become better (because nobody is born perfect and all-knowing). Pansy was never created/meant to be such a character, but just because that’s the reality in canon, it doesn’t mean she shouldn’t deserve to be given that by a fan that wants to. In a way, THAT is what IS actively progressive (- Do you agree or disagree?).

___

But when it comes to fanart, it gets more tricky because, unlike something like fanfiction, it cannot tell a fleshed-out story. It requires the viewer to use their own imagination and come up with the story themselves, or at least fill in the big gaps. And if you’re a viewer that finds Pansy’s character irreversibly uncomfortable or offensive, those gaps become impossible to fill in a manner that I can, for example. As a result, Pansmione then becomes repulsive.

So what, as a fanartist, can I do? What are my options? Does the fact that I, by default, can’t always communicate the complexities of the backstory in every fanart mean that some things - aka some ships - are inevitably and by default not okay to draw at all?

And in general, is Pansy just simply too problematic? Is today just “neither the time nor the place” for her and what she might represent? Is it immoral to attempt to make her, and ships with her, moral? My convictions disagree, but I’m always open to the fact I might not be informed enough, or too privileged.

That’s why I really want to hear your thoughts, especially from HP fans that are black and might find this matter even more personal. But everyone is welcome to pitch in. How does this ship make you feel? Is it uncomfortable to you? Do you like it, and if so, how do you make it work, how do you reconcile the inseparable canon reality of Pansy’s character?

Share your thoughts only if you feel comfortable and however you feel comfortable (comment, reblog, ask, DM, etc.)! Don’t feel afraid to provide constructive criticism regarding this topic too, I want to hear! I hope it makes sense what I’m trying to communicate, thank you so much for contributing!!

___

(P.S. For anyone even asking, “WHY care about Pansy at all? There are plenty more female characters to care about in HP” - I hear it, I get it, and yet, despite my many attempts to rationalize my like for Pansy, I always fail. Giving more positive representation to Slytherins? Being a big fan of redemption arcs? Enjoying enemies to lovers tropes? Drawn to relationship dynamics that aren’t easy/simple? Am I into this dark sassy character concept/aesthetic? Projecting my own personal struggles with growth and balancing inner “light” and “dark”? Any other reason? No single one of them seems to fully explain it, I guess they all play a part. So yeah, idk... It’s more than okay for people not to like Pansmione, but I do.)

[therealvinelle]

Hey, @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin sent me to you for some spicy opinions. Have you read the hunger games? Do you have any headcanons? Any thoughts on main characters that is different from the way the author meant to portray? I really enjoyed your thoughts on Twilight and I’ll admit I disliked Twilight but not because of the characters being too flat and boring (I don’t agree with that) but just because of the writing style and the framing of the relationships. It really annoyed me. But your headcanons made me realize that there were some hidden gems in there. So thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I like that my life has gotten to a point where I’m the Muffin’s referral point for spicy opinions. And I’m very glad you enjoy my Twilight metas!

When it comes to my spicy hunger games opinions, I don’t actually know how spicy they are. They’re definitely very spicy considering what Hollywood tried to do, but I think I’m actually pretty much in tune with Susanne Collins. Tumblr certainly agrees with me, which is very rare but quite nice. The Muffin and I don’t actually want to have spicy opinions, it’s just that we’ll say shit like “Luke’s not a real jedi” and expect it to be obvious but nope, turns out the entire Star Wars fandom begs to differ. So, I think I agree with Collins on what she wrote, which is great, but I honestly can’t tell anymore what the authors want me to think so who knows.

So, first of, there is no love triangle in those books. And I’m not simply saying that the love triangle wasn’t the focus of the books, I’m saying that the love triangle did not exist.

Katniss and Gale were close friends and if it hadn’t been for the hunger games then yeah, they would probably have ended up together. However, the hunger games happened, and Katniss was a very changed person after that. Gale was still the same, and more, he did not get it, at all. He didn’t understand the person Katniss had become and wanted the old one back. They continued to hang out because they’d grown up together, but at this point it was only the memory of their old friendship holding them together and not the real thing.

Then we get into the third book, in which Gale grows enamored with weaponry and the quest for revenge against the Capitol, proudly displaying to Katniss his sadistic device that’ll later kill Prim. Katniss is horrified, and as usual Gale doesn’t get it. Their relationship with violence are polar opposites: Katniss has been forced to kill to protect herself, Gale takes pride in designing devices that’ll kill as many civilians as possible.

On to Katniss. The first big mistake Hollywood made with her was casting Jennifer Lawrence. Katniss of the books is an impoverished and starving child. Lawrence has the wrong body type for that, and more, she has the completely wrong presence. It’s like casting Timothee Chalamet for Thor. 

Then we have Katniss herself.

Katniss, as I see her, is not a hero at all, and she’s not supposed to be. A hero is too positive a word, as heroes get to choose their own destiny. St. George chooses to go slay the dragon. Katniss is thrown into an arena and told to kill children. She has nobility, grace, and kindness, she is indubitably brave and selfless. It’s not her character I’m questioning. But to call her a hero is to play into the narrative that there’s anything glorious or inspiring about her story, and there isn’t. She’s a traumatized child who’s propped up by powerful people to be a symbol. At first it’s the Capitol making her and Peeta star-crossed lovers, and then we have the resistance making her their rallying point. Katniss has no control over any of this. The hunger games is not the inspiring story of a girl who rallies the forces of good against the evil empire, but rather the story of a child who is grossly taken advantage of by both sides.

Then there’s the fact that even before the Capitol happened, Katniss had been forced to grow up too early. Her mother failed to be a mother, and so Katniss became the family caretaker, raising Prim like a daughter rather than a sister and keeping the family alive. Her childhood died with her father, and it is an unusually jaded and sad child who enters that arena. This doesn’t make her better suited for what she endures over the course of the trilogy, but less. Katniss has had no one to rely on, comes to rely too much on Peeta, which in turn makes her crumble like a house of cards when she loses him.

Going slightly back to the love triangle debacle, Katniss ends up with Peeta not so much because they’re the star-crossed lovers the Capitol wanted, but because after the arena Katniss is really only able to connect with people who know exactly what it’s like. Peeta, Finnick, Haymitch - these three all become deeply precious to her, there is a bond forged between victors because no one else can ever truly understand. Peeta/Katniss wouldn’t have happened in a timeline where they weren’t reaped, but they were, and now they’re each other’s only real option.

Not to mention that as victors they’ll live lives the rest of their district can’t really relate to. They have nice houses and a pension, which is alienating enough, but they’ll also be forever entangled with the Capitol, either as prostitutes, mentors, or both. Gale likes Katniss, but he could never have a wife like that.

By the end of the trilogy, Katniss is a traumatized mess of a girl, and so is Peeta. They choose to have kids anyway, something I have mixed feelings about. I see what Collins wanted with that. Katniss makes it clear early on in the series that she never wanted children, because those kids might get reaped. And, to my recollection, it was also that she just thought the world was a too cruel place. The fact that she still chooses to have kids can only be seen as a sign of healing, that Katniss now feels safe enough in this world to bring others into it.  Which is nice. Except I think that losing Prim is what made the real difference to Katniss. Prim was her daughter, and having children is the closest she’ll get to getting Prim back. I’m also slightly worried Peeta will one day snap and strangle them. There’s also the fact that I really don’t think Katniss and Peeta are parent material by the time those books are through. It’s bad enough that Katniss had to be her mother’s therapy animal, she shouldn’t repeat the cycle. But maybe I should have more faith in Katniss. And damnit, I want to be happy for her. In other words, I have mixed feelings on those kids. This all being said, I’ve heard people think it’s out of character for Katniss to have kids, and I disagree with that. I think it’s a very Katniss thing to do. The question is whether becoming a mother was a good decision.

(Since your ask pretty much put a coin in the ramble box, I’ll ramble some more: the whole “children are healing” thing in the epilogue happens through Annie Cresta as well. The girl is more traumatized than anybody after her hunger games, and codependent with her lover, Finnick Odair. Finnick dies tragically, luckily it turns out Annie was pregnant so now she gets a baby too. I question her ability to raise a child on her own, but the fact that both Katniss and Annie get to have kids points to those children symbolizing healing and happiness.)

[zephycluster]

Precolonial HWS SEA Rant Post, feel free to ignore

If you're still reading, then you're probably looking for evidence or some juicy tidbits to throw back at me or to try and find dirt to cancel me, like typical Tumblr/Twitter. Go ahead, I don't really care.

First off, let me just say that If you like Precolonial South-East Asia AUs, feel free to keep enjoying them. I will respectfully support your passions from afar. This post is just to explain why I don't like it, especially the way they keep insisting/portraying PH in it.

Still here? Then let me begin.

Since the recent confirmation that the ASEAN Six Majors (Can't really say ASEAN 10 atm since it's still missing some people) Were completed and the Ma-Phil-Indo Trio was included, there has been a large surge in 'Precolonial' fanarts and portrayals of South East Asians, those three especially.

Even long, long before, circa 2010's ish, a rather well-known fan universe known as 'Maaf' dealt with their story and how their Author thought their intertwined histories went. Written by (my best guesstimate) an Indonesian writer who wants to explore the old, SEA bond.

When I first stumbled across Maaf (I was in Highschool at the time, around age 16-ish), I took a casual interest in it and tried to read it through. But, I will wholeheartedly admit that at the time, Pre-Colonial cultures of South-East Asia in general, let alone Philippine, did not really interest me that much. The focus (I think) was mostly on Indonesia, a country I didn't really know back then, and the liberal use of 'ancient' names and artwork just made it feel like an entirely Original Work (that needed a degree in History to really appreciate) and not something from Hetalia. I also completely disagreed with what I could gather was the story's portrayal of PH but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Do I hate 'Maaf'? No, I don't hate it. Do I wish I never came across it or that it didn't exist? Of course not. Just because I didn't enjoy it or appreciate it that well doesn't mean I wish any ill toward it, its fans, or its creator.

Fast forward to April 2021, the long awaited inclusion of South East Asia to the canon Hetalia verse. I was happy, the other fans were happy, all was good.

Then started the questionable fanarts, fan theories and fan pairings.

Especially the expansion of Precolonial! PH.

Let's go back to Maaf for one moment. From what I understood of Maaf, PH there was a character who once was like all the other South East Asian cultures, trading with them, all around being a nice family.

But all that changed when the Spaniards attacked, so cry the precolonial buffs. They destroyed everything, ransacked and marginalized the tribes, erased everything that PH was!

Did that happen? ABSOLUTELY. The Spaniards had this vision in mind that they must spread Christianity to all of the 'savage, unchristian heathens' of their realm. :V /s

But back up a second, back to PH's portrayal in Maaf. The way she (yeah, she) was portrayed there was that she was slowly losing her memories of being a 'true' South East Asian and grew more and more westernized in the process, like some sort of Culture-specific Alzheimer's or something.

Firstly, that is seriously depressing, and secondly, I just really don't see that happening.

Here's why.

Point 1: Even before Colonial Masters, Filipinos as a people cannot agree on anything.

I'll just begin this segment with a Philippine proverb that outlines what Filipinos call 'Crab Mentality' or 'Crab Bucket Mentality'.

"You don't need a lid for a container when you're keeping multiple crabs. If you keep at least two crabs together, they will just pull each other down instead of helping each other up."

I don't know how it goes with Indonesian or Malaysian history class, but what I know of my homeland, both pre- and post-colonial history, we were never really 'united' or 'together' in the sense that Indonesia and Malaysia were (from what I assume).

Let me pull up a somewhat related question on r/AskHistorians.

The reason I brought this up as it shows the reasons why, in my opinion, a single entity that is 'Precolonial Philippines-tan' is an impossibility.

The answers are long and would extend this already long post to stupid proportions, so I'll just quote relevant sentences. The link is here for those that wanna deep-dive into the answer.

"All this to say that there wasn't a name used for the entire Philippine islands before the Philippines that people now would agree to. An interesting comparison would be the Holy Roman Empire, which might also be characterized as disparate politico-geographic groups of relatively small size that had a history of relations between each other, but one thing they had that the Philippines did not was a common language, or at least a family of mostly mutually intelligible languages, so that the name Deutschland or Germany isn't terribly offensive to anyone. If you called the Philippines the 'Lupang-Tagalog' or even 'Lupang-Tao' the other ethnic groups would protest."

For those in need of translation, 'Lupang Tagalog' means 'Land of the Tagalogs' and 'Lupang Tao' means 'Land of People', specifically. The first one is already exclusive and offensive, as the Tagalog peoples are but one of many ethnicities here.

And for the 'Lupang Tagalog' suggestion specifically, it's even more offensive as they are the majority ethnicity (not by much, just around 28%) From this chart from Geography Now! It would basically be alienating everyone else in the 72% remainder that isn't 'Tagalog'.

And even 'Lupang Tao', the most generic name in a local language you can think of, would be met with contempt because the name itself is in the Tagalog language.

Just travelling between two individual island groups today would sometimes require a translator because the words can change very rapidly and very drastically. Here's a sample of some differences coming from a friend living in Visayas (in Red) vs. the words I know living in Luzon (In blue).

Ate vs. Manang = Older Sister

Ibon vs. Pispis = Bird

Tumawa vs. Kadlaw = To laugh

Takot vs. Hadlok = Fear

Kain vs. Kaon = To eat

Ngayon vs. Subong = Now, at this point in time

Iyak vs. Hibi/Gibi = to cry

Talampakan vs. Tiil = Foot (in Tagalog, the word retains its 'body part AND unit of measurement' meaning)

Tulog vs. Tuyo = to sleep (Tuyo in Tagalog is either a dried salted fish or 'to dry')

The kicker is that just like Tagalog is just one of many languages here, so too is the language my friend speaks. Ask an entirely new person, like someone from Mindanao, they'll probably have an entirely new set of words.

It's not just Luzon vs. Visayas vs. Mindanao, either. Here's a map listing some of the ethnic groups here.

Even the way they're written differs from location to location.

While we're on the subject of Island divisions, a casual skim across Twitter and Tumblr has shown that their Precolonial PH has been one of the following ancient civilizations: Tondo, Butuan, Sugbu, Namayan. There may have been others but that was what I have found.

Notice how even today, the posters of Precolonial PH can't seem to agree on what he's supposed to be? With Indonesia it's either Majapahit or Srivijaya and Malaysia it's usually Malacca iirc.

What is the big deal? Well, let's go back to the Ask Historians post. "Why didn't the Philippines ever change its name to remove the colonial mark that being named after a Spanish King has?" The answer: "If you suggested something dating to precolonial times, the other ethnic groups would protest."

Since we're on a roll with maps, let me bring this up.

As you can see, the precolonial PH posts have a reason to not be able to agree on one thing, as there is a LOT of options. Do you also see how THAT list is also split up?

It's split up into those aligned with China (Sinified), aligned with India (Indianized), aligned with the Middle East (Islamicized), and no alignment (Animist). Now, let's go back to the main suggestions for which Kingdom/Polity/Civilization/whatever Modern Philippines used to be.

If the Filipino peoples' couldn't agree on something as simple as WHAT TO CALL THE LAND THEY'RE LIVING ON, what more a living, breathing, walking, talking entity that is supposed to be a beacon of all of their 'unified' culture? ESPECIALLY if that entity used to be a currently existing Kingdom/Polity/Rajahnate/Sultanate/whatever.

Tondo? "Of course, always the damn Tagalogs. Tagalog this, Tagalog that. First the capital city, then the language,* THE REST OF US EXIST, YOU KNOW! What about us in Visayas? Mindanao?"

*The national language known as 'Filipino' is just standardized Tagalog*

Butuan? "Wait, you want Butuan to represent us? They're they only Indian-aligned city in the Islam-majority Mindanao! They're not even that many of them! I'm not gonna change my religion!"

Sugbu, the other name for the Rajahnate of Cebu on the map? Lemme bring back my Visayan friend again. According to her, she hails from the Hiligaynon part of Visayas.

"Sure :v and the other islands are what?

Chopped liver?

Not to mention the language and writing barrier helloooo"

And Namayan? Well. I'll let this pic speak for itself.

To summarize, no matter who you pick as Modern PH's previous identity, it will not end well nor be accepted by the other Kingdoms at the time.

"So where does that leave Modern PH, he had to have been ONE of them, right?"

Well, not really. He doesn't HAVE to be one of the Ancient Kingdoms that lasted till the modern day. I mean, predecessor representatives exist in Hetalia canon, after all. Like Modern Greece is a different character from Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Modern Egypt, heck even England and his brothers have a canon mother that was the rep before them.

Or you could even use the same logic that Germany does, in that each specific region has/had its own representative and that Modern!PH is just the 'mediator' between them (cause gawd does PH need one). There could be a Tondo, a Namayan, a Butuan, and a Sugbu, all arguing and this Proto-PH is just trying to make headway in making them all satisfied.

But, even after all this, there is another reason why I personally don't subscribe to the 'Precolonial PH' idea, and by tangential extension, the Indo x Phil pairing.

Point 2: Even without intending to, Precolonial Indo x Phil just comes off as patronizing

This second point is just ENTIRELY personal preference and barely has any facts to back it up.

Again, if you like the pairing and disagree with me, You do you. I will respectfully support you and your passions from a distance.

But for me, Indo being Phil's seme/bae/boyfriend and consistently bringing up precolonial times just comes off as patronizing.

Just one more time, I'd like to point out that I am NOT bashing Indonesia, its people or the subscribers of Indo x Phil. This is just how the pairing feels to ME specifically.

The way I see it, Indo x Phil as a pairing, especially if it extends back into precolonial times, reads the same way as a long-since married couple where the husband/wife CONSTANTLY brings up that ONE outing you had together, or that ONE prom night where you kissed while dancing, even it happened like 30 some-odd years ago and so much more happened since then.

Even in a platonic sense, It reads like two besties where one ALWAYS mentions stuff like 'Yeah but you looked so much cooler back in High School' or 'Back in Grade School you would've known that', or 'Remember back in Pre-school we did X? How could you forget that?'

How does one respond to the notion that no matter what you do now, it will never compare to a past you've already forgotten or barely remember? That the best version of 'you' is already long gone?

"That's because the westerners made you forget your culture! You gotta take it back!"

While it is true, yes, as a collective we barely remember the Kingdom that commissioned the Laguna Copperplate, or created the Banaue Rice Terraces, or created the millennia old bonds that we still share with Indonesia and Malaysia.

But to keep pushing the precolonial identity would be to neglect and cast aside the one REAL binding belief and culture that spans the entirety of these islands we call the Philippines.

We take on all the bad stuff that happens to us, conquer it, and make it our own. Be it natural disasters, foreign powers, or negative stereotypical mentalities.

Yes, we've forgotten the ancient kingdoms of old and are just now digging through the closet for those remnants of the past. Yes, the colonizers imposed that on us, and made us forget. But in the process we've also taken everything that they left behind, everything that they threw at us, and created something that can only come from us.

The lanterns that the Spaniards used to light the way to the morning masses they made us attend became our globally known symbol of Christmas. The junked vehicles that the Americans left behind in World War 2 are now rolling works of art that announce themselves loud and proud on the streets (for better or for worse). The iced dessert recipe that the Japanese forced us to learn while they were occupying the country is now so distinct and famous it is synonymous with us, and is so delicious even Italy has taken notice.

Even after all this? Even after all the 425-ish years total we have been under a foreign power, with all the progress we've made as a country, a people, and a nation, you would still imply our fragmented, jigsaw puzzle state of being in the past was better just because it was pure 'South East Asian' like everyone else?

We might not be as well put-together as Indonesia or Malaysia, but we made this melting pot of angry, leg-pulling, dogpiling, Native, Mestizo, Chinoy, and Fil-Am crabs OURS, damnit!

It's now 4:30 AM and I have work in 5 or so hours. I'll be going to sleep now.

[king-paimon]

HnK Post Chapter 95 Thoughts: 3 Months later...

Hi guys…. I’m so sorry for being away for so long and delaying this post. I can’t believe March is already almost over. This year is going by way too quickly, but honestly, is that really a surprise? I was working on this post back in January and was planning on posting it then, but life has been more busy than usual for me. I still feel really bad for promising to post this and not being able to keep it. But here it is now! I don’t know how many people will see it since the Houseki no Kuni tags have been pretty quiet, but you know what? I’m kind of glad I didn’t post this post right away because I wanted to properly talk about my feeling about the chapter, the series, and Ms. Haruko Ichikawa herself, and doing that when I was still emotionally charged wouldn’t have done this post justice. And though I don’t think my thoughts overall has changed too much, I’d still like to share my thoughts, if you are interested in hearing them. 

This will be another really, really long post, so be prepared! I’m definitely going to be doing a lot of edits on this one so please bare with me if anything doesn’t make sense. Please let me know if anything I said is too confusing.

Anywhoo~ here it goes:

My view of the story at this point

I had to go over my last post to see if any of my original opinions had changed and, well, for the most part, not too much. Most of the gripes I have with the story is still about the same, particularly the remaining gems becoming lunarian and the many implications that comes with it, though I would say some of my anger has subsided. I’m still bothered by it, though. I understand why the story would go in this direction and why the characters, especially Euclase, would choose to make this drastic decision to change themselves, since that was they ultimately wanted: to no longer live in fear of being destroyed and live peacefully, even if it means changing what they all were. It’s still bothers me a lot, mainly because I can relate this to similar real life events of people erasing their cultural and even racial identity as a means of survival in a different and so-called “better” society. I remember in one of my very first posts in the fandom, I stated how uncomfortable it made me that the first moon gems were totally fine assimilating into Moon society and were wanting to completely change themselves to fit in this society, even if it meant removing what made them who they were. For characters who didn’t like their original identity like Cairngorm (or Welegato but I’m not calling them that), or felt stunted in their original society like Dia, and found solace in Moon society, I can see how this transition as a liberating thing…but only to an extent. The thought of literally going to the extremes of changing yourself inside and out, erasing all traces of what made you “you”, while also destroying all old meaningful relationships in the process, to live in a place you were conditioned to be believe is the better option for you…It hits a little too close to home.

I’m talking about cultural assimilation and cultural destruction, where racial and cultural minorities sometimes go through drastic measures in order to assimilate into the “better” society, even if it means completely erasing their original identities physically and mentally. I’m not saying all forms of assimilation is inherently bad and I’m not saying that you must stick with your cultural upbringing for it’s a part of your identity; that is a toxic view and it’s especially bad if you experienced terrible things because of that upbringing.  I’m trying to talk about the extreme cases of assimilation when these individuals are essentially convinced to go through extreme measures to fit in to the “better” society because their old identity was “bad”, and by completely changing themselves, from their appearance to even their name, then they can finally be happy in the so-called “better” society. I’ve heard of people going through such lengths and it’s heartbreaking. It’s very cultish and that’s how I viewed the transition of the gems becoming Lunarians, with everyone accepting the change with seemingly no issue and especially after Aechmea literally gave Cairngorm that new name. It would have been one thing if Cairn picked that name themselves, but it was all Aechmea.  The lustrous don’t exist anymore and everyone is ok with it. The gem society that we knew, at this point of time, is gone now. It was far from perfect but the fact that it’s gone is sad and disturbing to me.

My view of the key characters of the chapter

Now that I stated how I feel about the gems essentially being erased, the next question is how do I feel about these characters themselves?

Conflicted. Very, very conflicted, and even a bit disappointed and upset, especially with certain characters more than others. But surprisingly, even after seeing how the turn of events turned out for all of them while Phos is stuck on Earth alone… I don’t hate them. Yeah. After everything that has happened, I currently don’t hate the gems… For now, anyways. It all depends on what happens next.

But the one character that I feel the most conflicted with is Adamant, especially after his interaction with Aechmea. Part of me is confused by Adamant’s and Aechmea’s seemingly friendly interaction because of Adamant’s past actions and words, for they don’t seem to belong to someone who would be on friendly terms with someone who they were actively resisting against before. I’m talking about all of the times that Adamant would fight off the Lunarians but also that moment in Chapter 85:

(Chapter 85, Pages 10-11)

After seeing things like this, I just find it odd how Adamant’s interactions with Aechmea are so friendly now. And with the horrifying implication that everything that had happened was planned between them, which also doesn’t make sense, I’m not sure what to think. Maybe Adamant’s changed attitude relates to him being free of his burdens and physical body? This could explain the change in attitude, but it still feels… off. Maybe I’m looking too much into this. I don’t want to hold hope that when he and the other gems were transformed that Aechmea somehow manipulated their memories to make them more compliant, even though it was made clear that memories were going to be lost in the process. Maybe this will be explained more in the next chapter, but I won’t hold my breath for that either. To me, this just made me feel weird about Adamant because remember, I was both sad and relieved when he disintegrated in the previous chapter because I really liked his character. Now though, I’m not so sure. I still don’t hate him or any of the other gems, but I’m definitely on the fence with him more so than the others. I certainly don’t hate Euclase like many other fans; I didn’t agree with their past actions (or rather lack of actions), but like with Phos and other characters, they did what they felt was right given what they knew. Still not excusing it, but I understand why. As for Antarcticite... I’m not sure, honestly. Though I’m glad at least they brought up Phos, I can’t help but feel that their main priority is still Adamant. Out of recently changed characters, Antarcticite is the main character I have the most positive opinion on, but again, that can easily change within the next chapter. 

So yeah, I still have mixed feeling about all that has happened that led to this point in the story, and I do have a more negative view of some of them. But regardless of that, I can’t bring myself to downright hate any of the characters. Disappointed with their decisions is one thing, but to hate them with every fiber of my being? No. I don’t think I can. At least for now. The same goes to the Lunarians, too. Hell, even though I’ve said before that I hated Aechmea for how he manipulated Phos and the other gems for personal gain, once again, I don’t think I downright hate him either (though I still want something bad to happen to him.) Aechmea is such an intriguing antagonist that I love to despise.

My view of Haruko Ichikawa at this point

Since the release of chapter 95, I’ve seen a lot of fans post their criticisms of Haruko Ichikawa herself regarding how she’s writing the story and her treatment of the characters. Someone even commented on my chapter post about how they don’t view her story as ‘amazing’ anymore because of her cruel treatment of Phos and the depressing turns in the story. Even popular commentors like @rinboz posted their criticism about what Ms. Ichikawa is doing with her story. As for me, I can agree with some of the comments made to an extent. Some of the choices Ms. Ichikawa made in the story has had me question her a few times; like the mentioned interaction between Aechmea and Adamant as well as the extremely predatorial relationship between Achmea and Cairngorm. I still think that chapter 95 was extremely rushed, especially going through the previous events that were stretched out into nearly 10 chapters. There are many other smaller issues that I personally have when it comes to how Ms. Ichikawa writes her story and characters, but I think the biggest criticism I’ve seen that I agree with is the concern about the current direction of the story. And at this point, the story can only go in so many directions and most of them are leading to anything but a genuinely happy ending for Phos. And it’s pretty depressing that Ms. Ichikawa has some of us pleading for Phos to die so they don’t suffer anymore. I can’t think of any other story that has me wanting the main character to die, not because I hate, but because I don’t want them to be mistreated anymore. This story is nothing but hopelessness.

But you know what’s crazy? I kind of like that.

Maybe Ms. Ichikawa has made me a glutton for tragic stories, or because I’ve been starving for a unique story, but I kind of like that this story hasn’t gone in the predictable, happy route for everything Phos has gone through. If this story were written by someone else, I can picture Phos somehow regaining their appearance and memories, be surrounded by the people who truly cared about them and their enemies dead, and pretty much having the picture-perfect happy ending with no form of problems whatsoever as an award for everything that Phos previously sacrificed. Yeah, this is the ending I’m sure fans want in some shape or form and to a degree, I do too. But to be honest, I’m kind of glad that’s not the story that we’re getting, at least right now.  In a weird way, it’s sort of refreshing to have a main character who doesn’t always win in the end, especially after all of the things the character sacrificed.

And I also how the story and it’s characters can be so simple and complexed at the same time, like in her anthology series. To me, this makes Ms. Ichikawa stand out from the many mangaka I’ve followed throughout the years. And because of that, part of me hopes she knows what she’s doing and has something extreme planned for the story’s future.

Now, I don’t want to shoot myself in the foot for still thinking highly of Ms. Ichikawa’s writing; there are still things that I think could have been handled differently, like the mentioned pacing and story details. But for now, those gripes are not too irritating for me and I’m not quite ready to downright say that her story is bad...YET. I want to reserve my final opinion of Ms. Ichikawa as a writer until the end of the series, whenever that will be, because despite how the story has progressed for last several chapters, I’m still enjoying writing. I just hope that when the series does come to an end that Ms. Ichikawa gives us a satisfying end. When it comes to ending a series, how an author does so can really affect how fans view the series and the author, and I think this will be the case for this story, though I’m sure there will be criticism regardless of what kind of end Ms. Ichikawa creates. For me, while I do care about whether Phos and the other characters get the endings they deserve, I just hope it will be told well. I’ve seen too many times really good series ending terribly because the creator didn’t know how to end a series properly. I sincerely hope that won’t be the case with Ms. Ichikawa.

From this point forward

I remember seeing a lot of readers who are upset with how the story has progressed thus far, with some even saying that they were going to drop the series because of how depressing it is. I think everyone who felt this way has every right to feel that way; it’s completely understandable. Houseki no Kuni is definitely not a story for everyone, and it can take an emotional toll on you.  I know it certainly affected me that way, and I can’t think of many other series that has done that. It’s been a long since I’ve been so invested in a series and despite the many emotional rollercoasters I’ve felt during parts of the story, I don’t think I will ever say that I regret picking this series up. And despite my mixed feeling about the latest chapter, I want to continue to stick with it. Even if the story continues to spiral in a never-ending pit of despair, I still want to stick with it until it ends. And you know, I think even if this series does have a somber, heartbreaking ending, I think I’d still view the story as overall amazing and I’d still be glad I got into it when I did...Unless Ms. Ichikawa gives us an abrupt, unsatisfying ending. Then that opinion goes out the window.

Until the next chapter comes out... 

Other than being busy, I admit that I’m glad to be taking a break from Houseki no Kuni. Despite my many praises, it still takes a lot out of me and I definitely needed that break. And though I personally don’t mind waiting a bit longer, I can’t wait for it to back. I sincerely hope that Ms. Ichikawa doing alright, especially after all of the chaos happening for the past year, and that she enjoys her time away from the series. I hope she’s staying healthy in body and mind, and I’ll wait with bated breath for the next chapter of this story.

Besides this post, I actually had a few post ideas that I want to work on, but because of my schedule, those will have to wait a while. I wanted to make another story prediction post because even though they are sometimes wrong, they are fun to do. I think I’ll wait until the next chapter to come out to make that one. The other post I’ve been somewhat working on is a bit different from my usual post; it’s somewhat of a character analysis/reflection and it’s on a controversial character that while many justifiably hate, I personally can’t. (Can you guess who that is? I’m sure you can!) Because of how many people hate this character, I was not sure if I wanted to write it. But you know what, I’m going to do it anyways. When that post will be done? I have no clue, but this will be an interesting writing exercise for me and I can’t wait share why I don’t hate this character the way many other fans do.

 The end!

Well, that’s the end of this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I will likely go over this again at some point but it’s getting really late and I need to get some sleep. I hope everyone is doing well and keeping themselves busy during this series hiatus. Maybe unwind by reading/watching a new series. There are some interesting ones that came out last year and this year. I personally stated watching Wonder Egg Priority. It’s really good but deals with a lot of heavy subject matters, so be warned. I’vve also watched lighter stuff like Lupin the Third (I love this franchise so much) and some of the new shows on Netflix. I would like to see some more stuff but I don’t know what to look for. If you have any recommendations, please feel free to leave a comment.

Until next time, I hope everyone has a pleasant week 😊

[trashcatsnark]

NGL I love how much you have embraced the silverv stuff here - its so nice to read. I submit for consideration, Rogue notices the tattoo while on the disaster date and both Johnny and V play it off as a joke and holy shit poor rogue stuck in a room with two morons.

Also - V getting dressed for that date and realizing they just MIGHT be a little jealous with a side of some thoughts of "Oh God Johnny Would NEVER Feel That Way About Me Gotta Bury This Deep So He Doesn't Know"

Johnny notices the anxiety but is very dense about the cause.

Oh hell yeah, I have fully embraced it and this ship; I was writing SilverV porn before the game came out, like I knew what my ship for this game was gonna be from the second I saw gifs of

“You’re a dick, Johnny” 

“And you’re a cunt, so maybe we’ll fit together after all.” 

That banter sealed my fate and I’m fairly sure I had named and created my V then wrote porn of her with Johnny literally a week later. The devil works hard, but my brainrot works harder and faster. 

Spoilers! 

Okay, so I’ve thought a lot about that date in both a silverv context (and largely how it fits with my V, Aidan and her fic) I’ll try to stay general though. 

Firstly, I whole heartedly believe Rogue sees through their bullshit. Not only is she just good at that, but Johnny even states she has MRE’s (?) and can see through people, like her eyes can pick up on signs of lying. And usually, thats not an issue for when V talks to her, but when she asks about Johnny and their relationship with him. Its a mess. And when Rogue asks Johnny about it, its a mess. 

And when Rogue notices the tattoo it’s like Oh... I get it . And Johnny is of course like, “hahaha, yeah I thought that’d be so funny, the kid hates it.” But Rogue isn’t stupid, she knows a lovey dovey heart with their names, something that looks like someone doodled it on their third grade notebook about their crush, is not really typical of Johnny’s “joking” She knows that if Johnny is not really the kind of guy to hahahaha its so funny to make it look like we love each other; he’d be more likely to get a dick tattooed on V’s arm if it was just to mess with them. For gods sake, look how many people didn’t pick “the other one” because they were convinced it was gonna be a dick. That’s a Johnny just trying to fuck with someone move. So, she doesn’t buy it, but doesn’t push it...with him. 

She asks V about and of course they play it off as “Yeah, Johnny thought it’d be funny, what a fucking asshole, its so fucking dumb, I totally fuckin hate it.” 

“So, why not get it removed?” 

“Uhhhhhhhhhhh, well you see what had happened was, um, I, just uhhhh, never been enough time, I guess yeahhhhhh.” 

Cause lets face it, in cyberpunk universe, getting a tattoo removed should be easy. If you can get blades in your arms and can have a completely newly reconstructed body in like an afternoon; you can get a tattoo removed in like twenty minutes. So, V still keeping it, says volumes about how they really feel.

Now, V’s jealousy and the date. 

I do absolutely agree that any anxiety or ill feeling V might have up until the date; Johnny is gonna feel, but not realize where it’s coming from. I think if anything, he’s gonna chalk it up to V being anxious about giving him control again and he’s gonna be like worried that maybe V doesn’t trust him as much as they let on. 

And I do think a V who has feelings for Johnny, would not be able to help feeling some jealousy regarding Rogue and Johnny. Just because jealousy is natural thing to feel and while you can debate if they were ever a good or healthy couple, you can’t debate they shared very real feelings for one another. And I think a lot of V’s jealousy would come from just how much Johnny seems to first think of/go to Rogue. When he needed to save Alt, first person he turned to, Rogue. When he wanted to bomb Arasaka tower (going by his memory of it and ignoring that the event was probably actually planned by Morgan Blackhand), who’d he go to? Rogue. When he becomes determined to get Smasher, who is he determined to get him with, Rogue. When he first decides to atone for his past mistakes, who’s the first person he wants to make up with, Rogue. When at the rooftop, who does he want to go grab to help him save V, Rogue. 

If you got feelings for someone, that’d hurt, I think it’s impossible for that not to spark some jealousy. And V if anything is also mad at themselves for having those feelings, because they like Rogue, she’s a badass, a legend, they respect the hell out of her. And of course they have feelings for Johnny and they wanna help him make shit right and they wanna give him a chance to enjoy himself. But this stupid reptilian part of their brain is screaming but i want to be the first person he goes to, the first person he thinks about, which they know is also stupid cause for fucks sake the man literally lives in their brain, they’re as close as two people can be and literally when Johnny has the power to go to someone for something, he can’t go to V because they’re reduced to sleeping essentially until Johnny hands back the reigns. Yet, feelings aren’t aren’t always, rational, sadly. 

And to Johnny’s credit, he probably doesn’t even give it that much thought. Rogue is a badass, someone he cares for, someone he can depend on and someone he hurt really badly. The two people he can and always has been able to depend on the most (other than Alt prior to her death) have been Kerry and Rogue. And, bless his heart, the fuck is Kerry gonna do? Kerry ain’t a merc, Kerry isn’t gonna bust into Arasaka Tower or plant a bomb. Kerry doesn’t have the connection to Smasher. So, of course, Rogue is gonna be his go to. And in terms of making things up to people...he literally cannot really do much to make things up to V, not the way he can for Rogue or Kerry. Cause, when him and V are both conscious, he can’t do much beyond touch and talk to them. Hell, even with Rogue and Kerry, he relies mostly on V to help him do anything. Even with people he can interact with and do something for; V is doing all the nitty gritty work for him. V drives Rogue to the theater, V breaks into the theater, V gets the projector going. V breaks into Kerry’s house, V disables the security. V gets in contact with Nancy. V gets Nancy out of Totentanz in one piece. 

Which probably if V actually thought about it critically, does mean he’s going to them and relying on them more than Rogue, but they’d probably dismiss it out of it being for necessity and not because he cares about them and feels he an depend on them. 

Anyhow, Johnny would probably love to do some nice gesture to make up for his bender to V, hell they probably were the first person he wanted to make things up since they are his catalyst for changing. But what feasibly can he do for them? Anything he’d want to do with/for them, would just be asking V go do this thing and i’ll also be here. Anything that would put them in public interacting is out, unless they want MaxTac called on V for looking cyberpsychotic. He can’t even do an at home date, because he can’t cook (engram or not) and he can’t buy them anything nice he has no money and also doesn’t technically exist. He could try to do so sneakily while he’s in control...but he’d be using V’s money so they might as well just buy it for themselves. he can play music for them,,. but that doesn’t seem too special and more than a little egotistical to think it’ll make V feel better about what he did... So... all he can really do, is prove he’s worth trusting by being on his best behavior and more importantly do what he can to save V’s life. 

Then there’s the date. And as usual, I have some opinions and feelings about a thing.  Like, okay, I’ve seen some people (aka Gamer Bros on Twitter) being like, Rogue is Johnny’s girl. Wanting to date either of them is wrong because they like each other. (then you also get the BUT ALT crowd, but rants for another day.) And I can’t help but ask, did we play the same date? Their entire date is about how they’re both desperately clinging to the past. Rogue is trying to reclaim 2013-2023 Rogue and Johnny just wanting for a night to feel like the world and his place in it haven’t been completely rearranged. And it ends with Rogue telling him, she is not that girl anymore, she can’t pretend to be, and frankly she doesn’t want to anymore. She wishes she could be, wishes she was still that tall haired street punk who’d never dream of working with corps or being a fixer, but she’s not. Her and Johnny are no longer the same people who met back in to 2010’s. Doesn’t mean they don’t care about one another and doesn’t mean what feelings they had weren’t real or important; but they’re just not those people anymore. Rogue more so than Johnny since he’s freshly on the course of change.   

Something else in regards to the date, that I think is important to talk about and how it relates to silverv and its something I personally have very conflicting feelings about. The fact that Johnny can initiate some physical intimacy with Rogue. See, I have never chosen the option to kiss Rogue during the date and actually did not learn until relatively recently, that if that choice is made it goes a biiit further than a kiss. I have watched the scene now.

And god I have mixed feelingssss. Like, I get it, but I’m not sure I like it. And I know full well, my silverv bias impacts my feelings on the matter, it’s be disingenuous to say otherwise. But I don’t think the ship is purely my reason for having these feelings. But at the end of the day, its all opinions. So, I get from a character perspective that Johnny and Rogue are trying so hard to reclaim their past and what they use to have that they get caught up in trying do what they would do if this was the 2010’s. And Johnny’s relationships as we’ve seen are very physical, sexual chemistry and attraction are major factors in his relationships because he kept things very superficial most of the time. He even says part of the issue with his relationship with Rogue is at the time he didn’t realize he could let her see the true him and still hid behind walls, kept things at a distance. So, the idea that’d they fall back into the old habit of trying to just be physical and ignore their feelings, isn’t out of character. 

However, and Johnny even seems to acknowledge this issue when Rogue interrupts it, they’re doing this with V’s body. V...who did not consent to sexual contact. They consented to a date and while one could logic that this would mean everything a date could entail up to and including physical intimacy; I would argue that that is something that would need further conversation to have clear consent. And like again, this might come down to boundaries and personal feelings. Because I go back to the bender and what’s been interesting to me is too see different opinions on it; some people weren’t actually bothered at all by Johnny’s bender in V’s body, some people were bothered by the drugs and alcohol specifically cause their V is straight edge. Me, personally, it was the sexual content and the endangering of V’s life. Like, it was mostly funny and oh yeah, I expected that it’s bad but eh I’ll move on, to me, until he started getting sexual with people in V’s body. Like that to me is not just crossing the line, it’s catapulting over it. 

And like I said, Johnny even responds to Rogue’s “this isn’t fair” with “what, you mean it’s not fair to V?” which she says she meant it isn’t fair to Johnny. (Which viscerally upset because you nearly used V’s body for sexual gratification without their consent and you’re worried about Johnny, which tbf Rogue has no way of knowing what V has and hasn’t consented to, so its not on her but that was my knee jerk thought). So, he has some awareness that maybe that was a bad move. 

And yeah, it definitely to me and my V would be a very bad move (unless he explicitly talked to them beforehand and got consent). And in general, it made me feel like, dude, you just promised you’d be better and not break V’s trust but again not a day later you’re nearly using them to have sex. It felt like a backslide, which isn’t necessarily unrealistic, cause change and growth is not always linear, people can commit to changing themselves and still fuck up and not get it right; in fact it’s rare for them not to have any sort of backsliding or repeating of mistakes. 

Again, I will also give credit that he could have been assuming that given V consented to the date, they assumed or were cool with their being physical intimacy between him and Rogue. He also generally, might not have really planned for it to happen, because I don’t think Johnny plans a lot of anything. It very well might have just sort of happened. Also, V doesn’t clearly communicate if the sexual component was an issue in the bender. All V really seems to have an issue with in game is the very general thing of; he misled them and used them. So, he might have assumed that wasn’t ever an issue. And hell, if you wanna go full meta, the player is technically the one who makes that choice and V is largely an avatar for the player, so that alone could be seen as whether or not V would/does consent. 

But, from a story perspective, removing the player choice element. I think how that’s handled would have a huge impact on silverv and where it goes from there. 

Because if V and Johnny did talk about consent prior and V did consent while having feelings for Johnny, god I’d have to imagine they’d still feel pretty hurt, but feel it’s irrational to feel that way and have put their own feelings aside because clearly Johnny cares about and wants Rogue and they should ruin what could be his one chance to make things right. 

If there like in game was no talk of consent and Johnny ends up kissing and touching on Rogue and V finds out or has memories of it surface,that could be devastating for them. Not only from their own feelings for Johnny, but this since of betrayal and hurt. Was the oil field conversation just a lie? A manipulation? V might feel like they were used; that Johnny never gave a shit about them or how they feel. And Johnny would have to deal with the realization that intentionally or not; he earned back V’s trust just to destroy it again. He fucked up again, he ruined everything again, he got his second chance and destroyed it…. And he doesn’t know how, if he can, or if he should bother trying to ask for a third. In general, I do think, V would come out of the date assuming (naturally so) that Johnny really only has romantic feelings towards Rogue, that they’re just a friend at best, a host to be used at worse. I even in my own universe with my V have them after everything is better, everyones got a body, expects Johnny to start pursing Rogue and trying to swallow their own feelings and be a supportive friend, try to encourage and push him to do it and Johnny’s just like please stop, Rogue is this close to murdering us both.

I was gonna add more funny stuff to this and include a shitposty interaction he has with my V over them dressing up for the date and shit, BUT HOLY FUCK THIS GOT LONG AND SAD????? I’M SO SORRY.

[ihasafandom]

Together as one

Bwomp bwomp @symbruary dunno what prompt for. So I wrote a while ago about how I wanted to see more work where the dynamic between the Venom symbiote/Venom and Eddie is explored as a combined person; maybe think of it like most Venom stuff ranging from 2-1.75 people in 1.5 bodies and  Garnet in Steven Universe would be 1.25 people in 1 body, then I'd be going for 1.5 people in 1.25 bodies.

I am setting this quite a ways down the line, when they have found a comfortable equilibrium between themselves and how best to cooperate to move through the world. Like old married couples who are ready with the tea before the other person thinks to ask and seamlessly move around eachother with the ease of old habit and intimate knowledge.

What this might look like from the outside:

Commonly uses phrases indicating having more than one opinion, especially ones like "of two minds about this," and choosing the third option "both" Often expresses preferences in pairs.

Can genuinely multitask, especially when physically doing one thing while talking or thinking or listening to another, with no seeming distraction due to this. Related: might not seem like they're paying attention to you; they absolutely are.

When only doing one thing especially, extraordinarily perceptive; notices everything like not distracted at all.

Personality seems a bit fluid at times. Hard to predict, has a tendency to code switch or change attitude frequently in the middle of things, especially around certain topics. (example: flipping between harmless puppydog and sharpeyed predator and back at the drop of a hat). This can be unsettling.

If comfortable with you/their current company, may express a preference for they/them or talk about themselves using the royal we.

Prone to internal debate and extended quiet thought, though may still have a habit of mumbling to self when agitated.

May suddenly get happy and/or lovey-dovey with no seeming cause. You might guess there's a significant other but no one you know has ever seen or heard from them.

It's kind of sus how strong they are and how many things they can carry, especially when it should be a "can't hold all of these limes" situation. For sure weird things happen around them (but they're good enough at hiding it by now that it's not obvious) Extremes of movement in general also a thing.

Never seem to need help with much, accomplishing more than a single person should be able to on their own.

Seeing Eddie move around his own space without knowing anyone’s watching, one could easily assume that he’s just a mutant with the way the tentacles and assorted goop moves around like an extension of his own body and will. That there are 2 minds at work is not generally apparent unless they’re purposefully split to argue or goof around.

What this might look like on the inside:

It's no longer "Eddie's Body" and "Venom's Body" with Eddie and Venom aligning with their own bodies, now it's E and V in their body which is sometimes Eddie and sometimes Venom but is always both of theirs. V might be a bit more passive when they are Eddie and the elements of their personality that are mostly managed by V might be more in the forefront when they are being Venom, but it's always both of them all the time unless one of them is sleeping.

In human families, often certain duties and memories are delegated to different people. This is even more pronounced here, in the same way that the brain's lobes have sections dedicated to different functions. Each "personality" will grab the necessary knowledge from whichever brain has it. If they're smart they'll keep double copies of the basics so they aren't incapacitated if something happens, but they're both idiots so they may or may not do this. Generally, things are divided by which type of brain is better at which task, or sometimes which one is more interested in the topic/is more likely to be taking the lead when they're performing that task.

Because of this, being separated is gonna be a trip. Even if they prepared, as above, it's going to be the equivalent of severe brain damage.

For instance: Movie!Eddie at least seemed to have sensory processing issues to me, so they're going to wire that through V's brain. V's also picked up Chinese from a dip into Ms Chen. Meanwhile E's got his pre-existing knowledge of how San-Fran works, as well as V's notes on human interaction and reading people with their inhuman senses since social stuff encodes better in a human brain evolved for that.  Split them up and Eddie's suddenly back to the confusing wall of sound and flashing lights and not understanding his meditation tapes, while Venom can no longer tell whether a person they're interacting with has good intentions or is scared or what and doesn't know to look both ways before crossing the street even though they've been doing that every day for years.

The type of love, relationship, and emotions between them is probably not strictly analogous to human love, even were it to have started that way. They’re a lot more to eachother than that and they’ve got Klyntar emotions in the mix to boot. They’re their own thing, though what that means exactly is up to interpretation.

[cheri-translates]

[CN] Fireworks Event - Victor

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for an event which has not been released in English servers! 🍒

Contains references to Night Dream Date and Fairytale Date (available in EN)

Previous section: here

3rd Anniversary Masterlist: here 

Prior to the Carnival, there were questions posed in the Go See You feature which affects which scenario the player sees during the Fireworks Event:

Question 1: Having gone to the amusement park a number of times, which attraction was your favourite?

Option A: As compared to the attractions, the fountain left the deepest impression!

Option B: The float parade! I really want to participate in it again!

Option C: An attraction consisting of a rapid fall. [no footage found]

-

Question 2: Think about what the “perfect day” you clamour about every day looks like specifically.

Option A: For you to smile a little more.

Option B: To stick together with you.

--

[ PART ONE ]

As the day gradually darkens, tangerine light from the setting sun dyes the clouds crimson. Various coloured lights are illuminated within the carnival.

MC: What should we try as the final attraction...

In order to round up this day in the most perfect manner, I look at the guide map before me, in serious thought. 

Victor: Let’s go to this place.

A step faster than me, Victor takes my hand, moving forward without hesitation.

MC: This is...?

[ Option A: As compared to the attractions, the fountain left the deepest impression! ]

MC: The fountain plaza!

The glittering and translucent water droplets meld with the setting sun, casting a colourful brilliance. 

The scene before me is similar yet different, and it makes me recollect that trip to the amusement park I thought we had missed out on.

The shock that the amusement park had been rented out completely still lingers in my heart. 

Victor: The only person to feel so strongly about fountains would be you.

MC: Do you know the reason for that?

I smile as I look at Victor, watching as he sighs and folds his arms in front of his chest. 

Victor: Because we watched those fountains together. As compared to the fountains, what’s more important is the memories related to them. Things which carry memories are always more captivating than other objects.

MC: ...

I’m rendered speechless as Victor steals all my lines.

Seeing that my originally planned script is no longer of use, I can only nod blankly, letting my cheeks flush. 

Victor seems to be pleased with what he sees before him. He chuckles while shaking his head, returning his gaze to the fountains. 

The faraway water columns are reflected in my irides. They twirl elegantly in the air before falling, crashing against another rising column of water, creating rays of light.

Victor: I like more things now. 

Without warning, Victor speaks. 

MC: What?

Victor: Fountains, Shiba Inu dolls, and all sorts of miscellaneous items. From a certain point in time, I started liking more and more things. 

Memories from the past flash before my eyes. Those very trivial fragments string together like pearls, sparkling and dazzling.

MC: Isn’t that pretty good?

I tilt my head, leaning against his shoulder. 

Victor: It’s not bad. 

Victor lifts his hand naturally, encircling my waist gently.

Perhaps due to the ongoing parade, or visitors seizing of this chance to experience other attractions, there aren’t many people at the fountains. 

We monopolise the sunset and the gleaming reflections from the water, tranquil happiness entering my heart along with the rising water droplets.

As the final ray of light of sunset dips beneath the horizon, the fountain performance officially announces its end.

Walking towards another place, I suddenly realise that one question has been neglected.

--

[ Option B: The float parade! I really want to participate in it again! ]

I look at the bustling parade in front of me.

MC: The parade!

As dusk gradually sets in the amusement park, the lively performers and magnificent parade vehicles move forward together with the music. 

Along with the lights, the images before me overlap with my memories. 

MC: Victor, do you still remember the first time we visited the amusement park? Just like this time, we tried all sorts of attractions, and then watched the parade. 

Victor: Mm. I won't forget. 

MC: With this thought in mind, whether it’s the time we sat in the parade vehicle, or how we took the merry-go-round together today... I seem to have truly become a princess from a fairytale. 

Victor: Just that counts as being a princess?

MC: Eh? What counts as being a princess then?

Could Victor have an unexpectedly wise opinion on this topic?

I look at Victor, waiting for his response in anticipation.

Victor: The ability to handle governmental, state, and diplomatic affairs - these are the most fundamental...

MC: Wait, wait. I don’t think we’re talking about the same type of princess. 

As expected of a Victor-style response - in just a second, it can ruin the romantic atmosphere surrounding us.

MC: I’m referring to those in fairytales.

Victor: For example?

MC: Mm... 

MC: Beautiful dresses, elegant and dignified, able to eat delicious food and adorable snacks... 

MC: Most importantly, they their own Prince Charming!

Victor: That’s all?

After listening to my response, Victor chuckles softly.

MC: What’s wrong? Don’t look down on this “princess dream”, okay? This is the purest dream of a young woman...

Victor: I’m not looking down on it. I just wanted to ask how this differs from the days you’re leading right now. 

This question renders me speechless, and I can only stare at him blankly. 

The parade vehicle passes by, and large volumes of flower petals drift around us.

I just hope that the light is sufficiently dim, so that he wouldn’t see that my face is even redder than the sky.

As the final ray of sunset dips beyond the horizon, the parade officially announces its end.

Observing the gradually dissipating crowd, I suddenly realise that one question has been neglected.

--

[ PART ONE ENDING ]

This isn’t an attraction Victor would be interested in. Why did he bring me here so decisively?

I search my memories for a long while, and a possible answer finally surfaces in my mind. 

A few days ago, he suddenly asked me a few questions out of nowhere. 

[ flashback begins ]

Victor: Having gone to the amusement park a number of times, which attraction was your favourite?

MC: Why the sudden question?

Victor: So, what’s your answer?

MC: Mm... let me think...

MC: If I had to mention one...

[ flashback ends ]

I didn’t expect that he was already making preparations for this trip to the amusement park since that time.

Perhaps seeing that I'm smiling in an overly silly manner, Victor asks a question.

Victor: What’s that silly smile for? 

MC: Victor, do you place special importance on this carnival? 

Victor: What kind of a question is that?

MC: I’ve already noticed! Those questions you asked a few days ago - they were in preparation for today, weren’t they?

Victor: Haven’t I always been practising what I preach and telling you about the importance of doing research and preparation beforehand?

Victor gives me a blank look - the exact same expression as when I hand him a proposal which doesn’t pass.

But as of today, his outward appearance no longer dupes me!

MC: Thank you. I didn’t think you’d really remember my answers, and even fulfil them for me. I feel especially happy right now. 

I take his hand, the corners of my lips curling upwards involuntarily.

Victor: Which one of your wild imaginations do I not remember? In contrast, I want to forget them. 

His tone is gentle, and a more tender sentiment surfaces in the deep pools of his eyes.

MC: But... isn’t something missing? 

Perhaps attributable to the extraordinary tenderness in his expression, I’m given the courage to be “insatiable”.

[ Option A: For you to smile a little more. ]

MC: Since you also asked me what I’d consider a “perfect day”, where’s the smile I want to see more of?

Hearing this, Victor rubs the bridge of his nose in resignation.

Victor: Haven’t I smiled enough today?

MC: Not enough. Aren’t you pulling a long face right now? Hurry and smile a little?

Most likely unable to win against the expectant blinks I'm sending him, Victor sighs heavily once more. Then, he lifts the corners of his lips in an unnatural manner.

MC: Pfft... 

MC: That won’t do. That’s just movement of your facial muscles. It doesn't count as a smile. 

I hop forwards by a few steps, then turn my head to give Victor a demonstration.

MC: This is how you smile. 

Victor: [sighs]...

He reaches out to pinch my cheek.

Victor: Always so silly. From the moment we met, it seems you haven’t changed.

MC: On the other hand, you’ve changed quite a lot. You’re more gentle, and you smile much more. It isn’t like how it was in the past either, where your smile would give Goldman a scare. 

--

[ Option B: To stick together with you. ]

MC: Since you also asked me what I’d consider a “perfect day”, why aren’t we sticking together as agreed?

Sure enough, Victor’s eyebrows furrow deeply once he hears this.

Victor: Your memory is always bafflingly good when it comes to these things.

MC: Of course. So? There are only a few more hours till the end of my “perfect day”.

I run a few steps forward, then turn my head and offer my hand to Victor.

MC: I’m already in front of you, and you aren’t going to hold on tightly?

With a long sigh, Victor steps forward and grips my hand tightly.

Victor: I've been holding on to it tightly since a long time ago.

He exerts slightly more pressure. Then, he steadily and naturally wraps his arms around my waist, encircling me into his arms.

I’ve forgotten when I started getting used to holding hands with him, and getting used to having his warmth by my side.

Victor: I’m wondering when these habits developed.

MC: Are you criticising me again?

Victor: I’m referring to myself.

Victor smiles with a sigh, looking as though he’s seen through me since a long time ago.

Victor: You're always making such a din. Ever since I met you, you don’t seem to have changed. But this is good too.

MC: We’re meant to complete each other. But you’ve changed quite a lot. More frank, and more easy to get close to.

Victor: I was infected by a certain dummy.

[ PART TWO ENDING ]

While Victor says this, he taps my head gently. It’s reminiscent of a complaint, yet is affectionate.

MC: It’s all right, I’ll take responsibility.

Victor: In that case, tell me more about your plan?

MC: First of all...

I step on my tiptoes, helping Victor adjust the tie around his neck which features pictures of small black cats. 

MC: I'll fill your life with more adorable things. Like me. 

The park starts to announce that the fireworks display is about to begin. 

Turning my head, I see the faint, flickering stars in the sky, anticipating the fireworks I’ll be sharing with him.

The first light rises to the sky, announcing that the performance has begun.

Victor: Your proposal still needs slightly more refinement. 

The moment the firework blooms, Victor takes my hand off his tie and into his palm. He speaks in a volume only I can hear.

Victor: Think properly about how you’re going to fulfil your bold, visionary words of taking “responsibility”. There’s still a lot of time to come to a conclusion.

In the deep curtain of darkness, the blooming fireworks create mottled colours and speckles of light. 

They are of the colour I answered him as my favourite.

When I don’t notice, he always does too much for me that I’m unaware of.

I know that the person holding onto my hand next to me is my life’s answer.

[rinharu-purple]

Hi, nice to meet you!

As a fellow Gavin stan, I found your analysis quite interesting and I'm very happy that someone finally understand the other side of our ginkgo boy... Idk whether you play in CN server or MLQC. I'm just curious, what do you think of Gavin in S2? Because I hear that everything is gonna be different. Also, the latest main story in CN server--do you think the story will be more angst?

Thank youu..

Waiting for more analyzes from you ❤

Dear Anon, 

Thank you very much for your kind words and I’m also happy to meet you ^_^

Please excuse my belated answer. I waited specifically for cheri’s translation of the S2 CH11, so that I could give you a worthy answer <3

I play MLQC, because I don’t understand Chinese (yet), so I am following @cheri-translates on a daily basis for the season 2 material. (Thank you cheri, you’re the best! (ɔˆ ³(ˆ⌣ˆc) )

From what we get so far, Gavin shows some differences in his aura and character in S2 due to two main reasons:

1) He didn’t have the extreme teenage drama from S1 (except for his mother’s passing)

2) He and MC were companions during high school, so their relationship has a healthier fundament.

The events of the second season take place in a “parallel universe”, therefore MC’s relationships vary from those in S1. But also the Loveland City they are in is a different one, with different players but also different villains. So things DO change in S2 in general.

What do I think about Gavin in S2?

I - AM - IN - LOOOOOOOVVVEEEE - WITH - HIM!!! <3 <3 <3

Gavin was the main reason I watched the anime and downloaded the game in the first place. He was a very caring, understanding, talented and *ehm extremely good looking guy. He still is btw. This guy has a very big heart and is the most human among all LIs if you ask me. But sometimes I had the feeling in S1, that he wasn’t reaching to his full potential. His love for MC was at times awkward, mainly because he doubted himself a lot and was underestimating himself in many topics with regards to MC. His past with his father and brother was also weighting on him big time. Thus affecting his actions to a great extent. Gavin’s potential was bound by ball and chains and he didn’t seem to be able to free himself from them. And yet, he was a resilient guy, who made peace with his past, always finding the love&faith in his heart and following his own path. Those unnecessary insecurities caused by his experiences were Gav-babe’s downside in S1.

In the second season, we meet a very self confident Gavin who doesn’t get worked up in front of MC easily, let alone shy away from her. On the contrary, Gavin is teasing MC shamelessly and even toys around with her as he lets her hover over the ocean. Would you ever think that S1 Gavin would dare to do that? :D He interrogates her just for the kicks even though he doesn’t suspect her one bit, or asks her if he should detain her, since she looked like she was asking for it (I really recommend you to read the scene in CH11). Gavin is carefree towards MC and this makes him unbelievably attractive. Sure, I was surprised at first as I saw him immobilizing MC after meeting her for the first time after many years and was afraid, that he would be hostile towards her. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case...so far.

In S1, Gavin and MC were already in a harmonious relationship and were moving forward side by side gradually. But they were also having difficulties in terms of protecting each other from harm’s way and hiding their dangerous missions or wounds from each other. Which didn’t go along with a healthy relationship, even though they came a long way by the end of the S1. Plus, their positions weren’t even equal in respect of being a couple since Gavin was quite the simp and was insecure at times about his interactions with the MC. There was a teenage Gavin in him, who was telling him that he wasn’t good enough for her, that he is useless, that he is worthless. Therefore he always had his gloves on, so the speak.  

These insecurities are downed to a minimum in S2 and Gavin no longer has the self loathing inner thoughts, so it feels as though, he is the real Gavin. The Gavin who he could be, he should be. Up to this point (S2 CH11). I feel like we are watching a Gavin who’s reached, or is reaching, to his full potential. 

In S2, we see him co-operating with MC right from the beginning with little reluctance at first, which is natural since -you know- they are working for the opposing sides. But then we saw in CH11, that they make one hell of a team! In all honesty, Gavin and MC don’t even need to talk to each other to understand what the other thinks. We witnessed many times in S1 when they were thinking/saying/doing the same thing at the same time. But this time, they are aware of the fact that they can see through each other without words. Moreover, they banter with each other by calling one another out. Which is mostly Gavin calling her out btw. This almost flirt-like sweet bantering makes their interaction all the more titillating to me. The chemistry between them is very evident and Papergames makes sure to let us producers know, the attraction is mutual and on equal grounds. Maybe its only my opinion, but I find S2 Gavin way more sexier than the Version 1.0. But its probably because I find self-confidence to be the sexiest trait a person can have. 

On a side note, Gavin also doesn’t display jealousy as in S1 and I believe this also has to do with his self confidence. Jealousy is an emotion which arouses from lack of self-confidence and trust. And the level of trust Gavin and MC share in S2 is off the charts, dare I claim.

One might even say, that the tables have turned in S2. MC has her memories from S1 whereas Gavin has started having flashbacks or dreams about their past just recently. Because of that MC already carries her romantic feelings from S1, she is the one with denser emotions in the new chapters and is rather insecure in front of Gavin. Thus making herself vulnerable for his “toying sessions”. Gavin on the other hand is beginning to explore his heart’s desires towards MC only piece by piece. He cares a great deal about her and is drawn to her inevitably, but can’t quite put his finger on it. His body and soul is already reacting to her, but his mind is a little bit slow on this front. But as stated in R&S “Inevitable”, his heart is destined to get drawn to hers. 

Whether the story is going to get angstier...Let’s not fool ourselves, Papergames has the word angst in block letters carved in marble in their office. So yeah, I am pretty sure that the story is going to get angstier. But I haven’t seen anything as angsty as in S1 CH13, 14, 15, 18. Those chapters were really hard to read, but let’s wait and see.

Another important point about Gavin’s character in S2 is related to his position. He is now the Commander of the STF and therefore carries a heavier responsibility than in S1. We see in every chapter how strategically he is acting and picking the best option in which nobody gets hurt. He is still a maverick and does things in his own way and yet he is now well aware of the fact that each of his actions are affecting great numbers of people. With his subordinates he shares special bonds all the while keeping them disciplined and whatever he does, he prioritizes everybody’s safety equally (only with MC as an exception).  Of course, this was one of his strengths also in S1, but in S2, he can have a bigger impact, since he has more resources to do so. He has become the perfect leader.

Which can be tied to his balanced temper. In S1 there were times, where Gavin wasn’t able to control his Evol and caused mayhem. We haven’t seen any uproar like this in S1 so far. Gavin is in control of his Evol, his emotions and his blushes...hih...well... almost. But he certainly blushes much less in S2. 

So to sum it up, yes, Gavin is different in S2, but in all the good ways and I couldn’t find anything that goes in the wrong direction so far. We have a more mature, confident and experienced Gavin in S2 and I can simply say:

AMEN

I hope my answers can help you with your questions and you can always feel free the contact me if you have any questions...be it anonymously or not.

Have a nice weekend dear anon! d=(´▽｀)=b

[rachetmath]

Why I love team JNPR

You know the usual. This is in my opinion. If you like it, reblog it or both that’s your choice. If you have questions, or want to add on to this then comment.  Read at your own time and will.

Ren and Nora compared to Yang: Yang had a mother. May not be by blood related but by relationship. Her mother died while she was young, but she still had her father and uncle to raise her. She had a social life in school, and she was trained by her father and uncle. Ren and Nora on the other hand, have no parents, only watched after each other and were trained by a bunch of strangers or by themselves. So unlike Yang, Ren and Nora would have a hard time relating to some people than Yang would.

Pyrrha compared to Weiss: Weiss was born and raised in a rich family. True, she was always cautious when it comes down to others using her for their own gain. But she takes her title way too seriously and it made her arrogant and cocky. Pyrrha doesn’t take her title too seriously, but she was overwhelmed by it. She hated how everyone only saw her as a tool or a weapon they can use for battle, and not as a person. She tries to welcome anyone into her life, but they always reject her, mainly feeling unworthy of her. Because of this Pyrrha felt truly more alone than Weiss. Unlike her, Pyrrha made her way to the top, she wasn’t born into it nor took the easy way to get there.

Jaune in comparison to Ruby and Blake: Jaune had nobody! Jaune had no uncle, no best friend, no teacher(sensei), NO SUPPORT to help him become a hunter. Jaune literally unlike Ruby is way out of his comfort zone. And unlike everyone he had no aura or training to help him. Jaune unlike Blake was treated, like a faunus, as a huge literal joke. This guy has literally had more reasons to be a villian than any of his teammates do. Plus, he has more things in common with the bad guys than he does with the heroes. He lost his partner and best friend due to the heroes, and Ozpin’s actions.

I liked team RWBY in volume 1-3, mostly because it made sense and was reviling each character’s problems and goals and was setting up the conflict of the story. But in volume three I started liking team JNPR more, because how they are not like the other teams. Everyone knows Pyrrha Nikkos, and believes without her, team JNPR is nothing more than failures. And you can’t blame them considering Jaune only became a leader because he was assigned to be one, and Ren and Nora were a bit too relaxed and into to each other to be leaders at all. And now with Pyrrha gone, they must prove that even without her, they can still be a great team. While defying the so-called “destiny” Cinder described as well.

In volume 4, we see Jaune does miss Pyrrha, and that he trains at night to her video message. He does feel sad that he lost her and that he couldn’t even express his feelings towards her as she did to him. And when he realized the truth, of course he was suspicious, his friend would have died either way by Amburn’s soul taking over or being a target for the rest of her life. Ren and Nora not only had to be there for each other still but now they had to be there for Jaune like Pyrrha did. (Even though they were completely horrible at it considering their flashback and action in volume four.)

In volume 5, (oh my gosh, this one is the reason I hate the show sometimes because of time constants) we learned the whole reason behind Jaune’s actions, which is revenge on Cinder. Team JNR were first to see Oscar before Ruby. Oscar was place under Jaune’s care do to the fact he was also a underdog (even though Oscar can just learn from muscle memory like Ozpin said) but Ruby takes that role for some reason and we are expected to take it. When the battle arrived, when Jaune had Cinder right in front of him, he did not hesitate to fight her. This backfired and one of his friends got hurt. He acknowledged that he missed up, that it was not suppose happen, and by doing so, he got his semblance. (Even when that makes no sense considering Cinder was after Ruby and Jaune’s secondary reason for coming along was keeping Ruby safe. At least I hope it was.)

In volume 6, could’ve better, Jaune made Oscar question himself even further, which is good. Because, one, Oscar is fourteen, and unlike Ruby he doesn’t have much of a clear idea on why he came along on the journey in first place other than Ozpin telling him to. When Jaune heard Oscar ran away, unlike Qrow, who punched him by the way, and don’t say it was for Ozpin because they share the same body, Qrow still hit a child, Jaune helped in the search and apologized to Oscar for his behavior. He gave Ruby an option when she couldn’t think of anything then she takes charge over it. Also, Ren and Nora admitted that they love Jaune and would not want to lose him just like Pyrrha. (Again, they were completely bad at that, considering they didn’t talk about that on the train, nor called Jaune out on his actions, completely ignoring him and etc. Really Jaune needs new friends.)

In volume 7, here’s the thing, Jaune had no reason to hate the General because he already worked things out with Qrow. How and when? We don’t know. But that shouldn’t mean he should flat out trust James with his life unlike Clover. Why you may ask, first, Qrow told him about the maiden powers. I mean, he wouldn’t leave out the people who knew about them like Ozpin, Good-witch and Ironwood, right? No. So Jaune has a reason not to trust James, not because of Pyrrha but Lionheart, the general’s actions so far and how the truth almost torn them apart mainly himself. Plus Jaune, and his team work more in Mantle, than RWBY, so they would have more run-in times with happy huntresses than team RWBY would on a regular basis. Then it’s how Mantle and Atlas situation is affecting their team with Ren and Nora butting heads over who’s right and who’s wrong, whether their ready to be hunters or not, and more importantly questioning their relationship and loyalty to not only each other but their friends. Image Ren, taking it too far where he could say something he’ll regret. Or by finding James to be right, he would sell out his friends believing it was the right thing to do. Image Nora having to choose between Ren or Jaune, which will be devasting more for Ren than Jaune because of how close they are to each other.

In volume 8, (Even though I highly doubt that team JNR will ever have a scene to themselves and now preview.) Jaune will feel bad because he not only lost the relic, he lost Oscar even though he’s alive. Now, how would this disturb him? Well, even though Nora would have to decide between him and Ren, in volume 4, there was a scene with Jaune going with Ruby and Nora going with Ren. It would feel obvious that she would follow Ren anywhere, even if it means leaving her friends behind. That could leave Jaune broken because he lost not only Pyrrha and Oscar but his teammates, making him the official Qrow and Raven of the group. This could cause Jaune to further out cast himself from everyone, trusting less in others and undoubtably make more horrible decisions than he already has before. That could also make him more of a target for the villains themselves. However, Jaune’s will to still protect the people and his friends will be the what keeps him sane and less brainwashed like Salem’s forces or the Ace Ops. (Or call team RWBY out on their mistakes.) But who can save him from a self-destructive path?

Many of you will say team RWBY might be able to help since their the main crew. Well, sadly, I disagree. Do to the fact that none of them tried to talk to Jaune after the Cinder and Ozpin incident. And there are multiple characters who have gone through a similar process or are wiser, than the main cast. The only ones who I feel can make an impact on him are maybe Maria and Penny. Penny may be android, but she seems more human than the RWBY girls put together. She is kind, friendly and mostly very supportive towards her allies. Maria may not have had many friends or levels of companionship as others, but she does know about how it feels to be powerless and scared of what’s to come. Maria would basically remind Jaune that being afraid and sorry for himself isn’t going to make things better. Penny would try to keep his sanity alive until he could once again maintain it on his own. However, the final person who I believe can help him is Qrow or even Oscar (Ozpin). Qrow would just remind Jaune on how far he has come, and for him to understand that nothing will play out as he planned. He would even tell him more about his team, mainly Raven and himself and how their decisions affected their family. Same goes for Oscar (Ozpin) but telling him how many mistakes he has made during his lifetime. He might even tell Jaune he knew about his fake transcripts, just didn’t care much about it if Jaune was willing to work and improve.

I know many people love team RWBY due to them being an all-female cast or for other reasons I cannot explain. But sometimes, there are situations that they cannot relate to. And even if there was, team RWBY does nothing to resolve it. For example, Jaune was sad about Pyrrha and trains under her videos. He wanted revenge on Cinder and Weiss almost died for it. And though he was asking appropriate questions, he went about it the wrong way, causing Oscar to feel unwanted and run away. Yet, none of his friends, bothered to either call him out on it, nor done anything to cheer him up or reason with him. Ruby who literally saw Jaune committing every one of those transaction, and has a dead relative, said nothing. Yang who lost both her moms, whose uncle was a constant drunk and had to take care of Ruby while her worthless dad is busy, said nothing. Weiss who has a somewhat of a dysfunctional family, said nothing.  Blake who is supposed to be an escape victim of a one-sided relationship, who seen how friends change or show their true colors with time, and literally seen more death than her team members and blames it on herself, said, nothing. Basically, Jaune overcame some of his problems on his own along with the help of the Red-Haired Women (and she barely mattered). And even though Ren and Nora talked to him, he already had reinsurances he needed to move forward. The point I’m trying to make is the reason I like team JNPR is that they are more real than team RWBY. They have weakness, they have arguments, nothing goes their way and when something bad happens they face the consequences.

That is why I love JNPR better than RWBY. Jaune, he was just a normal person until he made a chose to leave his old life behind for something greater, only to have his character taken by Ruby and Oscar, who just ruins it, and to never improve. And we still know nothing about him. Pyrrha who should just stayed alive because no one has learned from her death. Ren and Nora are just to be a better ship than Bumblebee. I hope these characters get better, but I highly doubt it.

[currentfandomkick]

Marinette did not sign up for this part 8

first part here previous part here ao3 here

update at last!

--

Marinette almost screamed when she saw the knitting needles on her balcony. It wasn’t even her birthday yet. Was he around? Taunting her?

School wasn’t helping. She kept her eyes on the windows.

It didn’t help her team was scanning the area constantly… and she was certain that Kagami somehow got out of school as she could spot Ryuuko before school even started, and her shadow had’t moved often.

Alya, Nino and Adrien weren’t leaving her side. Kim had taken to joining them (and with him, Max and Alix) with Kim determined to get Marinette to wear one of his hoodies since “you look cold.”

She knew that was code. ‘Let me help.’ She wasn’t sure this was something safe for them to help with.

“Thanks but I’m good!” was highly ineffective.

Before lunch Kim had his hoodie on her. It made it harder to find her with the change from her usual outfits once Adrien and Alix stole her hairbands.

They were doing a plain sight disguise. She knew it.

Going to Alix’s after school helped a bit with that.

She still felt eyes on her. She couldn’t tell who’s.

Alix was the one to break out the guardian translations with her dad. The Kubdels knew more than most of her team—time travel side effects after all. It was a big part of why she could trust them in the first place: Alix wanted to help and her father knew there would be a Ladybug in Paris before giving Alix the family heirloom. When Marinette saw it after studying the miraculous for a bit and asking Fu if there could be two rabbit miraculouses… it lead to Fu merging the two (from two separate timelines).

In the one Mr. Kubdel was from, a girl named Bridgette took up the role of Ladybug and was followed around by a questionable Black Cat. Mr. Kubdel’s grandfather prevented that timeline from happening—changing key events and all—but was prepared for the chances another rabbit would be needed. His son was not a good fit… (poor research, questionable retention, and overall bad at delicate work) meanwhile Alix had street art done quickly and intricately, fast reflexes, and adored learning history to the point some topics had been re-written in the curriculum for “the complete BS this hack is pushing” and “obvious refusal to stick to the facts” among other objections with heavily cited and sourced works to back up her claims. To a truly terrifying degree.

Its also why once they were out of sight, Alix and Mr. Kubdel and her escaped to one of the secret passaged kept off the current schematics for Miraculous related reasons (escape without being seen leaving) and Alix brought them into her burrow sans ‘time windows’ for her peace of mind.

“What do you want us to do Ladybug?” Bunnix asked.

That was the question…

They tracked that the issue began with what let Robin identify her in the first place. The most likely culprit was the flaming akuma… if Alix went as Bunnix and helped Ladybug catch the butterfly or got it someone else, then Robin would never have identified her, and their current situation wouldn’t be happening.

She wouldn’t be hunted by the Ghosts of Gotham.

But then… her team wouldn’t exist, not as it does.

Chat wouldn’t know who she is.

She wouldn’t exist.

She… she wasn’t willing to give that up.

“We’re not undoing the past.”

Bunnix nodded, gliding around the empty space.

Mr. Kubdel opened and closed his mouth before finally offering his own suggestion. “Perhaps, we could capture them.”

Marinette ran over that option. It wasn’t bad. Not by a long shot… but the capture would deprive Gotham of its vigilantes…

“We only keep Robin, any others captured are cut loose as soon as possible and removed.”

“But Robin is the one that knows your identity,” Bunnix reminded her.

“The others probably figured it out already. But that’s not why we’re keeping him.”

Mr. Kubdel gestured for her to clue them in.

“Remember what the Aesir and Vanir did to end their dispute?”

Mr. Kubdel searched his memories until it hit him. “Ah. That.”

Marinette nodded. “Add in a game of chase, move to the home turf, and we have our plan.”

“And you’re bait?” Bunnix checked, no longer moving about as she absorbed the plan.

--

If you were a civilian in Paris, you might catch sight of what must be someone’s idea of a joke. As not only were there Big Justice Members running around with your local heroes—who up until this point had only worked with one other group (Quantics) who were Europe-based.

But seeing some guy in black with a bluebird on his chest go head to head with Rena, Miss Sting and a very pissed off Monkey King and Pegasus (since when does he get mad like that? Kid looks like he’s going to end Bluebird) was not a sight you were able to process at the moment. Wonder Woman joining the group was the cherry on top. and Carapace was moving civilians out of the way and sometimes caging them all in Shelter.

You also catch an enraged Chat Noir and Ryuuko tearing after some fashion disaster in a cape down the street. A cape for godsake. In broad daylight. Green Lantern was flying after them, and since when does Chat’s suit… move? Like, you’re pretty sure that’s not normal… at all.

Ryuuko and Fashion Disaster (FD for short) are sword fighting. Chat is attacking FD at any opening. Viperion is with them, sometimes shouting directions. Green Lantern seems to be keeping the fight from spilling over.

A check on the Miraculous News App shows pics of Fashion Disaster trying to get too close to the baker’s daughter. You know, the one that kind of slips the heroes snacks and is seen with Chat randomly at her balcony? The one you’re 30% sure he’s crushing on and in some war with Ryuuko for the heart of. Why else would the two be seen so often around it?—Akuma school is across the street.

You blink a few times when you realize that baker’s daughter is visibly scared of FD (and you’d be too if a random Mask with a sword showed up) and apparently had Bunnix with her at the time to help move faster.

That meant whatever happened in another time had to be bad…

Bunnix mentioned that in the world where she went Princess Justice there wasn’t much to stop her…

You can see why the team is a tad… okay, really overzealous. You’re pretty sure Chat tried to cataclysm FD after Ryuuko sent him flying with the air attack.

You manage to get a better view (For the People! and not to mock the villain later—no siree!) of the Bluebird fight. Dude gets taken down by a combination of things in short sucession—Monkey King landing a hit with his power, Wonder Woman’s lasso (through a portal—good on you Pegasus!) that he got pulled through, a flute to the head by Best Girl Rena, and paralyzed by your favorite striped heroine.

The take down shocked FD and Green Lantern caged the guy (teen? Kid? They look small.) and moved them over by Wonder Woman and her group, some of whom dispersed to recharge.

Never claim Bruce is not a dedicated parent. The best? He hopes not. The worst? He has met Stephanie’s parents, and he is far from them. And Cas’s. And he knows he’s not as bad as Rah’s. He is dedicated (and a serial adopters, but shhh). How does he know this?

He managed to reactivate his kid’s trackers and noted where they intersected and looked into properties, deeds, and children in the school across from the bakery Stephanie and Cass had taken to camping out in when not at their hotel rooms. So far, he narrowed down his daughter to three possible candidates—Mireille Caquet, Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Laura Pretre. The only three girls in the age range he suspects Ladybug is in (he paid attention to the early videos and crossed her references, videogames and knowledge of the teens’ involved (re: knowing their names before the class became an akuma gold mine).  They are also the only three from his candidate pool who were adopted or single mother of the right age to have caught his younger self’s attention—a few interviews of the heroes let slip that Ladybug’s parents and her team’s parents are unaware of what they do, and her vicious support for child support and adoptive parents in a few akuma instances gave credit to her belonging to one of those two groups.

It was between Marinette and Laura in his opinion—they both ran a fashion boutique online. Mireille was a model the two shared, but still a possibility.

Jason was helped him narrow it down—a consolation for being stuck in bed and not allowed on patrol for the night. Apparently he was also trying to call off the identity search in-person to prevent any accidental identity reveals and prevent further stressing of “Lady Bat”.

Bruce may have smiled at the nickname. He doubted his daughter would appreciate it, but nicknames had a strange habit of sticking if Jason gave it… for better or worse in Tim’s case. (He was glad that Replacement was replaced with Tiny Tim, Timbo and Timmy).

He also noted that the girls were intent on Gabriel Agreste being Hawkmoth… and had a strange obsession with his relationship to Mayura given their search histories. Tim was still deciding between designers, and he did note that Marinette ranked highly on there… which was both a relief and terrifying.

That meant everyone but his daughter’s “business conduct supervisor” (Adrien Agreste, only son of Gabriel Agreste, primary candidate as Hawkmoth) had been akumatized and someone she had to personally fight while they hurled who knew what at her. He doubted it was good for her mental health. (Not that he has much room to talk, but still.)

Damian and Dick were refusing to respond to his messages, and likely engaged in something.

Until Green Lantern lit up his screen with a pained look. “Bats, this is not what I meant by get your house in order.”

The view panned to Nightwing and Robin currently held by a very pissed off Wonder Woman. With Chat Noir glaring at Robin, something off with his suit.

Batman sighed deeply. “I told you those two weren’t responding since Robin returned with Red Hood last night.”

Green Lantern looked at someone off screen, clearly taking commands from them.

“Uh, yeah… We’re having Supergirl get the other three back Stateside. Miss Sting and Chat want to interrogate these two since Robin was caught around a civilian they keep an eye on.”

Batman could hear what wasn’t being said. Robin went to talk to Ladybug’s civilian identity and it blew up in his face.

“… are any of you allowed to be present to monitor the interrogation?”

He doubted the teens would get violent. (he hoped) but there were too many unknowns.

A hiss from Chat Noir ended his ‘not likely to get violent’ train of thought. His one of his sons was caught stalking their leader, who he has previously tried to kill, and another aimed a gun at a member of their team. Violence was on the table.

And he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

“Ladybug will choose who comes.”

Robin looked up at him from the background. “Permission to ask Father a question?”

There was a moment when everyone turned to the figure off screen, likely Miss Sting given Ladybug’s refusal to be in the Justice League’s presence.

Robin turned back to the screen, Hal moving closer to give him a better view of Robin. HE was largely unbruised on his face and his breathing was even. Positive indicators.

“Am I allowed to unmask?”

Batman froze. Jason looked up from his spot. He could feel Babs choking on something in shock.

Hal and Diana reacted somehow, but they weren’t in screen.

He meant to do this far later. When she adjusted. To her alone, and later let her team know. ease them into it—there was no knowing one of their identities without knowing the rest. Not with how Ladybug’s mind worked. And he doubted she kept many secrets from her team.

“…I am not opposed to it. Preferably keep it to those you trust with that knowledge alone.”

Robin nodded. “Understood Father.”

--

When Ladybug showed up, she could feel everyone’s eyes on her. She ignored it as best she could, especially the silent Nightwing and Robin… possible assassins. Sent by her biological father who never even met her. it was going to be a long plan execution (and gods, she still needed to double check on the Hawkmoth as Gabriel theory and work out how to remove him from the company without screwing over a decent chunk of the fashion industry workers from design, store front to manufacturers and suppliers. And emotional whiplash of Hawkmoth trying to kill his own son twice. And the times he tried to manipulate her into Princess Justice and have it Stick in the timeline).

All it took was one look at Pegasus. One look and she blocked all the other issues swimming in her mind.

“Ah, we’re going there then… It’s a good thing Cowboy is resting for the moment…” Pegasus shook his head. “Voyage!”

Ladybug looked them over.

“Chat, Miss Sting, Rena, and Pegasus, I need you with me. The rest of you, patrol or return to civilian life until I return. If you come across an akuma, jar them. Contact us if you need a fix only.”

Carapace nodded, looking over at Kim and Alix. “We won’t let you down.”

Ladybug nodded, her eyes narrowing at the two League members present. She was still debating contacting the ‘only in an emergency do you contact this rogue branch’ group… they were once lead by a Chat Noir candidate, or still were… she wasn’t clear on that detail. What she did know is they went by League of Shadows in the book, but it was noted they favored violent forms of destruction, and she wasn’t sure if they needed that method… didn’t want them to need it either.

But the book stated the Amazons were loyal to Ladybugs. “Wonder Woman, please ensure the Bats are out of my city before we return.”

“Of course Ladybug.”

She turned to the Green Lantern. A shakier alliance with the lanterns historically, but also known to tell the Ghosts of Gotham off, and so far he’s shown a high favor of her team’s stance over his technical ally’s. Perhaps a personal grudge, or maybe the Justice League operated more like Gabriel’s company—a chain of command, specific roles somewhat dependent on each other, and no one had to like one another…

Wonder Woman was better to ensure the Bats left.

Green Lantern was the one holding Robin in his ring. And his “Core” as the book said, was most responsive to Ladybug who didn’t hesitate to protect others and themselves at once. That they showed a level of comradery during times when the Order followed philosophies that could be linked the idea of “personal and individual impact upon others with one’s actions and choice” was the exact wording.

She hoped she was doing this right.

“Green Lantern, if you would be so kind as to come with us and bring Murder Robin? You are free to roam once we get there, but don’t try to locate where on earth we are then. It’s the one place Hawkmoth hasn’t been able to reach, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Green Lantern and Robin both agreed readily.

Nightwing looked like he really wanted to argue. A lot.

Wonder Woman somehow kept him from speaking as they left.

Marinette could finally breath when they entered the Temple. She wasn’t able to bring back the Guardians. She could bring back their scrolls, the library, the training rooms. It also meant they were far from Paris, from Hawkmoth’s reach, and that now the real plan had to be put in action… how to keep the bats out of Paris and her secret identity a secret. (Hawkmoth could wait. She needed time to work that out, and once she was sure, once the nagging doubt and what ifs stopped plaguing her… then she’d look for that solution… maybe Adrien could inherit early or they could arrange for his father to be caught committing tax fraud or something after getting Nooroo and Duusuu? Anything to ensure he was punished for his actions and that Adrien isn’t caught in the crossfire. She can’t lose the literal other half of her soul. She just. Can’t.)

Ladybug paused when she looked over Chat. His suit was… moving. Shadows were moving on his suit. That. That can’t be good.

“Chat, bring Murder Robin somewhere he can’t find a weapon, Miss Sting, make sure no one attacks anyone in any way, am I clear?”

Miss Sting gave a curt Nod while Chat hissed, but relented easily enough.

Green Lantern put a hand on her shoulder while Pegasus ran off to the library, likely to check up on his own additions to the place… bringing it into the twenty-first century was not easy.

“Going to check-in with what’s going on with your Cat?”

Ladybug glanced at him. “He’s my partner.”

“Pretty sure that’s what a Black cat is for a Ladybug,” Green Lantern said.

Ladybug didn’t respond, moving away from him and Rena to message Alix to find out what shadows have to do with the Black Cat… and if she needs to worry about a second Atlantis event.

------------

so things are happening because Mari is Smart Strategist, Protect Mari Squad is a force to be reckoned with (teen superheros love local baker daughter that gives them food and lets them hang out), Kubdels Know Their Timelines (Sort of) and Wonder Woman and Hal know better than pissing of a Ladybug while Bruce is off Suffering and Putting Shit Together.

and yeah, Damian is both the one who started this, and the one that Marinette wants to confront, (plus respects her secret ID rights unlike Certain Bats who made it a competition) so he gets First Meet rights in the way None Of Them Wanted.

anyone who wants to add to the madness, feel free to comment possible things and i'll see what sticks and doesn't.

fight scenes are Not My Best so i tried where I could (Sorry to batfam fans who wanted Dick to be Badass. he's up against Diana and four miraculous members directly PLUS carapace 'i am locking you into this space now' shelter? he's good but its Wonder Woman and five demi-god level heroes raised on adapt and overcome heroing. long battle but he was going to lose.) Damian's fight is left up to interpretation but Team-Work makes the Dream Work for this story.

@heldtogetherbysafetypins @laurcad123 @raisuke06 @chaosace@jeminiikrystal @toodaloo-kangaroo @kris-pines04 @bisha43rbs @izang