#Especially since it's kinda post apocalyptic

[theoddest1]

Okay so, ima type in what I typed to my friend here.

"Yeah Ima be so dead ass. ||Mel and Ekko carried the final for me, ESPECIALLY Ekko."

Yeah, they should have just kept [Viktor] being Ryze. That made more sense to me than whatever this is. And I am all for mlm rep, but yeah, this felt WAY too, Jayvikky. I liked it better that they were brothers to parallel Vander and Silco, who also found each other and became bros, but it seemed like they went with how popular JayVik was and stuck with it. And Jayce being strung with Viktor for wherever they went felt...kinda nonsensical. I'd rather that Viktor was thwarted and too far gone to then just suddenly have a change of heart and go with Jayce. I imagined that he would have a contingency where he, incase his body was destroyed, would then later rise again to try and enact "Glorious Evolution". It would go well with the themes of his beliefs anyway because every time he dies, he comes back stronger in a new body. I feel like that would better set the ongoing conflict and fit well with the game and why he looks the way he does currently.

I also don't like how quick he and Mel's reunion was considering how much he favored her along with his odd and sudden dislike for her decisions-- Seriously, where did that even come from!?"

[Thought it over further. Him calling her out on her actions isn't the issue. It's the timing and how this transpires that confuses me. He just came from a post-apocalyptic world where Mel, Viktor, and everything else came to mind. The lack of time for them to truly talk made the scene felt out of nowhere and not at all fleshed out. He goes on to place part of the blame on her when literally it wasn't. She DID manipulate but only politically. Everything else was on he and Viktor. Then, when he DOES confront Viktor, the vibes are different. Viktor hurt and caused a chain of events that led to several lives being taken to ensure survival and his "Glorious Evolution", why is this essentially overlooked? Maybe when I review this again, it will make more sense, but as of now, the way Jayce treats both Mel and Viktor is VERY questionable.]

"I would have been pretty happy if He at least gave her a hug, a kiss, something to make their relationship seem consistent with what we were shown. I know that he's been gone for a while and a lot more cold, but this was a very odd direction to go with. I am super happy about Cait and Mel fighting side by side and that Mel may be the main character for a new Noxus related show! [Which I knew they'd set up!] but this series, after seeing it in its entirety, DID suffer too much from the pacing issues. I assumed at the First Act that it was quick paced to go with how they've all been shifted into places they didn't see coming, but the pacing issues continued to bring down the quality. 3 seasons would have made way more sense and would go well with the 3 ACT formula they had used. I hope they learn from this and refrain from making similar mistakes.

[I responded to my friend who posted these images above] I knew they'd make a callback to this line eventually, and I am genuinely surprised people are not catching this obvious set up to Jinx living. Also, I am betting that Heimer did "die" but only that alternate version of himself. [Though obviously I could be wrong, though a life of various lifetimes where he helps each version of the main cast sounds very Heimerdinger of him, especially since he didn't wanna leave.]

The biggest letdown for me has to be Jayce and Viktor's story. It just...doesn't make sense with what we have been shown. Also, if Viktor KNOWS bad shit would happen when bringing Hextech to life and all, why TF would he give it to Jayce then???? Or if he STILL wanted magic to be tampered with shy doesn't he comvince himself in a way HE KNOWS would prevent what happens next, surely NOT EVERY timeline has it where you continue on the path of destruction! You see what I mean!?!? Leave the time crap to Ekko, man. This new inclusion makes no sense! And he does this in VARIOUS timeliness for some reason. Man, I wish it was just a random ass mage or Ryze, this added stuff kinda kills the finale for me🫠

I feel that making Viktor time travel ruins a huge aspect of the story, ngl, especially when Jayce argues that people can "craft their own path." The story also shouldn't have ended with what I could only assume both of them "dying" or traversing time instead. Also, the way Sky was treated and essentially replaced with Jayce feels....very very weeeeird."

[I believe that the ending just didn't land that well. I feel, now thinking over every character, Ekko, Mel, and Jinx carried this season HEAVY. These 3 were the most interesting parts of the season, honorable mention being Singed cause he be doing what he MUST. Also, what was the point of introducing Loris if all he was gonna end up being was a random guy who reminded Vi of Vander? I guess nothing is wrong with this, but when you're already stringing for time, these inclusions make no sense... I liked him, though, RIP Loris🤧. Oh, and Caut barely facing consequences is KINDA CRAZY but it goes with the themes of forgiveness/ acceptance. The Cycle would never end, after all, but yeah Vi and Cait made up WAY too fast and just shows that this needed another season. Let me know your thoughts!]

[hrshlandturtles]

"what else is broken?"

Hummmm.... You, Donnie.

Part 5!

I'm afraid the eyebags are really just part of the problem

Part 1

[lacyscabinet]

ellie williams with blind reader

I JUST CANT FIND THIS ANYWHERE AND I THINK ELLIE WOULD BE A SOFTIE WITH THE READER😭😭

A/N: HELLO POOKIE!!! I love love love this request so much and I had so much fun writing it, thank you so much and I wish you a wonderful day!🤍🤍🤍 It was supposed to come out WEEKS ago but I got sick because I have the immune system of a Victorian child and I forgot to post this, I beg on my knees for forgiveness 😔✋🏼

give me feedback, gays 💜

NAVIGATION

okay so where should I start...

First of all can we say that being blind ESPECIALLY in an apocalyptic world is not EXACTLY ideal...

While Ellie may not fully grasp how you experience the world without sight, she knows what it's like to feel isolated and alienated

She’d make it her mission to keep you emotionally safe, always checking in with you, and gently coaxing you to talk when you’re feeling down or scared

BUT I'd like to think that Ellie wouldn't treat you like a little child just because of your condition, she knows you just need some extra help for some tasks

Ellie would totally read books out loud for you, because I don't think braille would be a thing in the apocalypse

She doesn't even mind doing it and she actually loves being able to help you with that

she might sit with you at the end of the day and read aloud from any scraps of books she can find out on patrol. If she doesn't have a book handy, she might make up stories on the spot, trying to paint vivid images in your mind

Sometimes if she doesn't have any ideas she'd just tell you about her adventures on patrol

...and it would be hilarious sometimes-

"Alright, so I was getting chased by this huge group of clickers, right? And they’re all like… trying to get me, but I’m just this...stealthy ninja, dodging left and right— Anyway, I had this crazy plan, and I kinda... tripped but, hey, that’s the story of how I almost died!"

I also believe she would be SO worried whenever she leaves for patrol because she knows you'd have to stay alone for a while.

Ellie would likely become hyper-aware of your other senses. Since you can’t see, she would focus on sounds, smells, and even tactile sensations to keep you informed of your surroundings

she might tap your shoulder lightly to guide you if you're about to bump into something

She would hold your hand to guide you when walking through a dangerous area or wrap her arm around your waist to steer you through crowded spaces in Jackson

Even though you’re blind, Ellie might still try to teach you about things that can be learned through other senses.

She could explain how to recognize different plants or what types of birds are nearby by their calls

Maybe she’ll even take it upon herself to teach you how to identify objects or places by their texture or sound, making you feel more connected to the world around you.

"This one’s a little tricky, but feel the texture of this rock—it's rough, right? Man, I love rocks..."

Ellie might get frustrated at times, but never at you, more at herself: she feels like she can’t do enough to make your life easier.

She might worry about how you experience the world, wanting to fix everything but realizing that some things are beyond her control

This would lead to moments where she becomes fiercely determined to find a way to help, trying to make things better in any way she can

"I just wish I could give you more, you know? I wish I could make you see the things I can see, just so you don’t feel like you’re missing out on things."

Overall she would be such a pookie because she's Ellie and she's a cutie patotie (and she also reduced the population of Seattle by 50%)

[angelpuns]

OH HELL YEAH I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!!

Did someone paint the stripes and details on L330-N?? Or did he do it himself, thinking it was important? And, in relation to them, does he ever think about where they came from?

And, to add, does he know (or did know) that he was built to replace someone? Did he react to it at all?? Does ninpō spirit leo think its kinda weird that he has a robot counterpart just a-wandering about or is he just kinda in acceptance that his brothers are shit at coping with loss?

For Kid Leo AU, how is big Leo doing? I get that theres only so much that a younger splinter can do with their limited resources and I do kind of wonder how Leo and Splinter interact. Is it awkward? Does Splinter accidently infantilize him at all (either due to the fact he showed up in such a sorry state or the fact that it's still his baby blue and he doesnt know what else to do)? Does Leo lash out at him at all, either for that or just in general from trauma? And, vice versa, does Splinter bark at him at all when he's stressed or overwhelmed and treat him like an adult when he's still just a teenager (notably a seriously traumatized one, but i imagine going from movie star to coliseum fighter to sewer dweller isnt a walk in the park either..)? Idk im thinking thoughts.

Anyways love your art style and comics and I gobble them up every opportunity i get. Love youuu!! ♥️♥️

I couldn't draw a ton of stuff for this one, so I decided to just answer with text!

Donnie actually painted the stripes on L330-N, since he built L33 to hopefully get Leo back :)

I think L33 probably does think about where they come from when he is able to see them. He's only been able to look in a mirror a few times before, but he's always very fascinated by them!

He doesn't have any memories of 'before'. All he knows is one day he woke up and found himself in an apocalyptic world, and he THINKS he's looking for someone.

I can't say much about the Hamato spirit Leo, cause that'd be spoilers ;)

I assume by big Leo you mean the spinoff Leo :) I haven't thought much about him tbh, though I imagine things are pretty awkward. On one hand, Leo would be glad to see his dad and his family looking healthy and safe and not yet traumatized by the Kraang, but he'd also be sad because he's the only 'broken' one. He and Splinter probably would end up having a heart to heart and its all fine in the end or smthn. I haven't thought much of the spinoff since i haven't really had any ideas for continuing it, especially since its not canon :/ though I'm glad that people enjoy when I do post about it :)

Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying my art <3

[bogkeep]

okay so i wanted to try out one of those "i pick out a book to you based on your preferences" packages, and got sent this one. i'm picking away at it in my lunch breaks and since i'm nearly halfway i think i can blog about it now.

- i'm very pleased to get a standalone novel, especially one i haven't seen on any booktok shelves in stores. i think that was my main worry, especially since i couldn't provide the shopkeeper with a detailed goodreads list, and i had picked "surprise me!" as preferred genre. i had never seen or heard of this book before so i was pretty excited to go in with zero expectations!

- it's a post-apocalyptic robot sci-fi with western vibes, except i think it's not a very good sci-fi. i think it might be a decent western though? it definitely got a lot better to read after i adjusted my expectations thereafter. idk if it's GOOD but i'm not hating thr experience at this moment

- why it's a bad sci-fi: it's written from the pov of the robot protagonist, so you'd THINK that would be an interesting choice (like the murderbot diaries!), but it's... not. it reads exactly like a human but with exchangeable body parts. which is fine, it's a choice, let's do western with robots. whatever

- the parts trying to be profound, thought-provoking sci-fi are so pretentious and insufferable sometimes. just...

it's not just me right. this kinda sucks right.

anyway then i turned the page and

tl;dr "the smartest robot ever developed concluded that because humans couldn't decide between hypercapitalism and hypercommunism they were doomed to fail."

THIS IS SO STUPID OHH MY GODDDDDD AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

anyway. the robot uprising backstory parts are actually kinda fun to read if you ignore all the blurbs praising the book for how this book about robots actually ~says so much about humanity~. i can pretend it's videogame lore or something. idk.

- apparently the robots had their own culture for a while but ???? tell me more please. lean into the concept. sometimes you get things like "caring for the dead is a human concept so we just let their corpses lie strewn across the ground everywhere" and then it's revealed that these robots have (binary, of course) GENDERS and PRONOUNS. ASSIGNED TO THEM BY THEIR FORMER HUMAN OWNERS. WHY!!!!! WHY!!!!!!!!!!!! DO YOU CARE ABOUT HUMAN VALUES OR NOT

- i think i enjoy the character interactions? there was a showdown that was fun to read. more of that pls

- the prose started out with horrible choppy sentences but it mellowed out into much more readable prose so it's. it's Fine

- the chapter titles are written in binary. fun detail

[allthingsfern]

My 2023 Top 5

Since early May, 2022, when I fractured my right arm (the humerus, right under the shoulder joint), my health, my physical well being, has deteriorated at a fast pace because I stopped being active. Part of that was my not taking pictures because, especially for the first 2 months after the break, I could not lift my camera. Then, this year, my cataracts got worst and I had my right eye surgery in early November, with my left eye surgery rescheduled for next April. (My cataracts in my left eye are not as severe as they were on my right eye and before my surgery scheduled for this month, December, I got a bad case of bronchitis.) It has been a year of deterioration and adjustment and retrospection (in 10 years I will be 80 years old) and of doing photography. Not so much of making pictures, but certainly of continuing my learning my beloved art form and going back and reworking some of my old photos.

So, with all that said, here are my Top 5 for 2023 and why I chose them and what, in some way, they have to do with my explanation above. The first 3 were captured this year and the last 2 are finds from past photos that I overlooked and that the newer, more powerful masking tools in Camera Raw helped me shape into what I think are stunning images. I am getting good at doing the Ansel Adams style manipulations and am also enjoying the process.

Oy vey.

Circles and triangles and shadows, oh my II. Oakland, 01-28-23.

I went to Oakland, which is a city I love and think is sadly overlooked because of San Francisco's grandeur. Had a great time walking around for a couple of hours and got a few solid photos. What more can I ask for.

Portrait II. Davis, 03-20-23.

Had dinner with this young man and got a couple of photos. zTHis was my favorite; captured him at his most comfortable because he was reacting to a comment by his roommate. Not the sharpest image, but I love the sense of motion and his expression.

Roses IX; Municipal Rose Garden. San Jose, 05-14-23.

For my birthday I went down to San Jose and stayed a couple of days. On my birthday, I visited the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden and had a wonderful time capturing gorgeous roses and enjoying the park's festive Mother's Day atmosphere.

The beauty of decay Vintage trailer: Crockett, 10-01-17.

Kinda creepy/post-Apocalyptic/SteamPunk, this photo came to life once I started editing it in Camera Raw recently. The masking, dodge & burn tools are excellent and its tools for manipulating color also helped immensely even though this is a B&W photo.

COVID wanderings Outdoor seating? Pier 1. San Francisco, 09-07-20.

While walking around a deserted San Francisco Bay promenade on the Embarcadero, I was struck by the hard, graphic lines and sharp B&W light/shadows of this, which showed that even in the midst of a terrifying pandemic, there was beauty to be found every so often, in the most unexpected, mundane places.

[the-monkey-ruler]

um hi, since you are my favorite blog when it comes to erlang shen content, what are your thoughts on the new gods: yang jian movie? i think the movie was awesome, and the animation was so good holy shit, even my mom, who knows nothing of it, loves it so much lmao but i saw posts here and i could see it wasn't well received and since im not knowledgeable enough of erlang, i wanted to know your review on it if it's alright?

Oh well thank you! But I have to say I'm kinda surprised with how popular the movie is. But maybe that just how tumblr is, the movie isn't perfect certainly, but I think that when it comes to an emotionally driven narrative that it really packs a punch.

Without a doubt the movie has pacing issues as there are a lot of scene changes, it is hard to focus on a single moment when it feels like we are already going to another. And I know that the 'twist' villain wasn't anything too exciting and even a bit confusing considering it wasn't really explained by these giant fire birds and why/how they naturally destroy like only immortal caves (at least personally I didn't get it) but it didn't stop my enjoyment of the movie because that doesn't really matter.

What MATTERED was YANG JIAN HIMSELF! And I don't think we have gotten such a good version of the character since his Lotus Lantern version. He was still so intelligent, so dignified, so unserious as well being an eternal young man but being so old and tried being powerless and with heaven fallen. The Nezha Reborn series is a bit confusing itself as it has heaven 'fallen' but we still see people in heaven and on earth living but with limitations that we are not aware of or really understand what happened to cause this. It is almost a post-apocalyptic kind of movie in a stream punk setting.

Anyway I think that the movie still stands strong even if it does take away that Erlang Shen was the one to put his sister under the mountain himself. It doesn't follow the original story with Erlang doing this out of a sense of duty or following the law or being upset at his sister for following their mother's footsteps but rather takes a different angle highlighting Erlang's helplessness. Rather than Erlang being the cause of his sister's imprisonment, it is used as a parallel of Erlang's own mother's imprisonment and how as a child he was just as helpless to save his own mother, and this is repeated in his life again as he is powerless to help his own sister to the same fate.

I can see where there could be a lot more exploration of Erlang's complex character if he was the one to put Sanseng Mu into the mountain himself, and sure that could have been a great angle to have to show either his remorse and helping Chenxiang to free his mother to make it 'right' or even him fighting himself with what he always thought was right or wrong. But instead, this movie takes it that this is more of a curse that keeps HAPPENING to his family. That his own powerlessness in both cases as forces outside of his control target his own family again and again and how they are destined to be sacrificed for other needs. This actually takes on a bit of Investure of the Gods kind of philosophy as that book is VERY HEAVY on the motifs of being slaves to fate and all that.

Erlang resigned himself to being a slave of fate but we see as the story continues as he unlocks the mysteries of who is controlling him and his family. It really makes me think that this universe follows the Investiture of the Gods verse and how there is a 'new order' or something like that but the point is that Erlang learning how to fight the fate that his family and himself have been under. Especially with poor Shen Gongbao dying.... never made me feel bad for such a pain in the ass in his original story but showing why he trained Chanxiang. Shen Gongbao was someone that tried to defy fate (for shitty reasons sure) but he saw that in Chenxiang, someone that was trying to break the cycle of abuse that his family was forced under and where Shen Gongbao failed he hoped the next generation can succeed.

I think that the movie was tackling a lot of things in one movie but in the end, it had fantastic characters that carried the movie. My personal favorite part was Erlang's flashback to his childhood and watching his mother being taken (HE WAS JUST A CHILD) and how that is echoed in his sister's own sealing as well. How he was so HURT and still HURT from his mother's imprisonment and even after fighting so hard and becoming so strong he never was able to get her back. She was gone and all that hope that maybe he was stronger or better it didn't mean ANYTHING at the end when your loved one never comes back.

And how he even KNEW that his Sanseng Mu was already gone with Chanxiang and how he tried to warn him but he STILL HELPED because he knew that his nephew wasn't going to stop. He still helped because he thought and knew that it was better to face this issue head-on, to accept that grief that has been drowning him for centuries and at least be there for his nephew in a way no one was there for him.

I really love the Noir angle this movie had, that Erlang even without his traditional powers is so smart and observant. He is able to deduce what is really happening and refuses to back down when things are getting messy. I think it highlights his intelligence in this movie that we get to see outside being a genius tactician in battle!

Overall I can see where the movie's different angle does take away a plot point of exploring Erlang's internal struggle with locking away his sister and how that reflects his own mother being locked away. But I think that was sacrificed in order to focus on Erlang's fight against fate. Rather than fighting his internal forces, that he is the root of the problems, the movie focuses on the world and how fate is trying to him to this tragedy. And within this Investiture of the Gods-inspired world, I can see why the directors made this choice in how Erlang making this step into becoming someone that faces fate head-on fits better with the movie series' overall narrative with his 'order of the new gods'. I think that it still captures how Erlang fights with himself in trying to do what he thinks is right versus trying to follow what everyone is telling him to do. Whether he just blindly trusts those around him or that he looks for the truth himself and comes to his own conclusions no matter how painful they are.

He is someone who cares deeply for his family and while a little misguided he does want to do what he thinks is needed. He thought Chanxiang was safe with his former master, and sure maybe he could have checked on him but he thought that he was safe. And when he finds out that he wasn't in fact safe and even being framed for murder he tries to find out what is really happening for his sake. He has to deal with his own grief that still affects him but does so

[guro-man]

Horror Manga Recommendations part 10: Sadako at the End of the World by Koma Natsumi

Happy Saturday everyone! I'm uploading today's recommendation a bit early cuz I'm gonna be busy this afternoon. This week we're looking at the oneshot post-apocalyptic comedy( kinda? ) ghost story of Sadako at the End of the World.

"In a world torn apart by an apocalypse, two lonely little girls chance upon a strange video. To their surprise and joy, a girl with long black hair named Sadako climbs out of the TV…But little do they know that Sadako is a vengeful ghost who will kill them in a week! In order to help their new friend, these two sweet, innocent girls begin a journey to the end of the world to look for more victims/friends. Can their bond with Sadako help her find peace and finally break the curse? Or will this tale have a tragic ending…?"

The story is really interesting because it explores themes of found family and perseverance, but it's also dread inducing because you know what's going to happen when the seven days are up. Especially as Sadako is introduced to more and more people...

What I especially like about this is that you can read it even if you've never seen/read The Ring. It doesn't assume that you already know how the rules of watching the VHS tape work so it is nice enough to explain things for anyone who wants to read it but is new to the series.

I will say that since this is a oneshot, the story could've benefited by being a bit longer so it would have more room for development, but it's still an interesting story nonetheless. Love The Ring? Try out this unique take on the story! Know absolutely nothing about The Ring? Try this out and see if it interests you!

This single volume series is available in english from Yen Press!

[angelkitty54]

Sonic Prime AU time! (coz this has been everywhere in the last month or so.) Basically just some ideas I had for shatterverse versions of Sonic and Shadow, set after the end of the series.

New Yoke City: Based on the idea in SA2 where it's kinda implied Sonic was also made on the Ark like Shadow (which is never brought up again). Basically Nine stumbles across a pod that contains the New Yoke version of Sonic (Spirit) and excitedly wakes him up. However he quickly finds that this is not the Sonic he met before; Spirit has never been out of his bio-tank thingy before, he is basically a newborn in a full grown body, with the mentality of a newborn too. Spirit is a wide-eyed innocent child, sweet, kind and trusting, a stark contrast to the world around him and the people in it. Nine is having a hard time adjusting, especially since Spirit's keeps chewing on all his power cables. He is also constantly being accused of having cloned Sonic. Which he totally did not! He found this Sonic fair and square thank you very much!

Meanwhile, having lost their power source, the Chaos Council has lost a lot of ground to the resistance. In searching for new power sources and weapons, they discover Project Umbra (three guess who this is). Umbra leans a little more into his alien side than Shadow does, he is also less of an angsty teen and more of a scared, grieving child lashing out at a world that hurt him. He agrees to work for the council only due to the distant family connection, but he doesn't particularly like them or care about their goals. He just wants to see the world burn. Of course, things change when he finds out his baby brother survives the raid on the Ark. Tho he is not particularly happy about this strange fox hanging around, acting all buddy buddy with Umbra's brother. Ugh, the nerve of that guy!

Boscage Maze: Got inspiration from movies like Nausicaa and Origin: Spirits of the Past. So the instead of the prism, the massive jungle was actually caused by a bio-experiment gone wrong which set off an apocalypse. There are effectively three groups of survivors, those that escaped into space (mainly GUN people), those that survived on the surface (whose descendants became groups like the scavengers) that live more or less in harmony with the jungle, and those that made it into underground shelters and were put into stasis chambers where they have slept for several hundred years. The latter two group are often at odds with each other, one wanting their old world back, the other wanting the jungle to stay as is. Dr Nightshade Robotnik and his assistant, Sunny, are among the stasis group.

In this universe Gerald went down the road of cybernetics as well as genetic engineering when creating his Ultimate Lifeform, Nightshade. Their Maria got to live her life to it's fullest, becoming a scientist like her grandfather. Nightshade also dedicated his life to science, wanting to follow Maria's dreams of making the world a better place, even after she passed away. Sunny benefited from their research, as it's thanks to their work into cybernetics that he is able to walk (and run) again. Upon waking in the post-apocalyptic world, Dr Nightshade has made it his mission to find out what caused the plants to grow out of control and hopefully reverse the effects. Sunny, someone who sees the benefits of both the old and new world, hopes that he can help the good Doctor find balance between the natural and mechanized worlds. Meanwhile GUN is up to something rather suspicious up there in space...

No Place Sea: Yay pirate AU!! Honestly didn't have a lot of ideas beyond just pirates tho... Shadow is Captain Blackheart and is like super duper cursed. He is captain of a ghost ship, whose crew is also super cursed and/or undead. All save a single member, his navigator Tempest (Sonic), who is immune to the effects curses due to him being half siren. Tempest does not speak much as his voice is imbued with the charming power of a siren, which he lacks much control over. He has a knack for reading the winds and currents making him an ideal navigator in treacherous waters. He is both drawn to and fears the water, as something in those dark depths keeps calling to him, eager to drag him down down down into darkness... However he can't bring himself to stay away despite the danger, and luckily whatever is hunting him seems to steer clear of the ghost ship. In exchange for shelter aboard his ship, Tempest is helping Blackheart track down and decode ancient sea charts that will lead them to a great treasure he's been hunting. One said to be able to grant wishes: the chaos emeralds!

[furbygoblinxiv]

Ok now to be annoying about a completely different flavor of Zelda: That cartoon from the 80s that has aged so poorly I take psychic damage every time I watch it (which has been multiple times (I have problems)). A few months ago when rewatching and being sick of the Link's personality from the show (his best feature is how funny the "Well excuuuuse me, princess" line is) I was like "I wish the quiet kid from the games/art was here instead" and accidentally thought too hard and made an au/rewrite of the cartoon lmao.

Anyways Zelda cartoon au where cryptid boy Link saves the post apocalyptic Hyrule of loz 1 and chills in the castle with cartoon Zelda to defend the triforce pieces that they have while trying to find the last piece before Ganon can find it, stumbling across the sleeping loz 2 Zelda along the way lol. Hijinks ensue as he teaches Zelda the brawns to back up her girlboss and he gets an adventure buddy because its dangerous to go alone and Zelda with her boomerang and crossbow goes hard. I think a monster of the week style plot works for the earlier Zelda games, but an overarching plot could coexist with that since that is kinda how games work lol.

As per usual here are a bunch of slapdash barely related sketches of my ideas with my expanded thoughts below bc I think it'd be fun to share:

I look at the official art of Link being a quiet determined little dude with a backpack of tools and wish that that was represented more. Like look at him! What a guy! Imagine giving a quiet puzzle solving 14 year old a sword, lethal magical weapons, and a wasteland to explore! I would love a show about that! In terms of other characters, swap out that annoying fairy character, put in a Navi clone, at least Navi didn't have a crush on Link🤮. Ganon can stay the same so long as he was always a demon pig and was never a Gerudo man because unlike Nintendo, I do not want to imply that the only prominent man of color in the series has only one big braincell thats just screaming "EVIL" on loop. But! Keep Zelda the same, I love her so much in the cartoon, she's obnoxious in a slay girlboss way, maximum vibes. By virtue of not having a paper thin plot, most other characters that were fine get fixed by proxy.

I think plot wise? It takes place a few years after the first game. Initially, Link saved the royal family and they started rebuilding that area of Hyrule, and Link traveled around to help people. One day, Ganon's minions start making attacks on the castle to steal the triforce pieces back to revive him fully, and a Zelda who greatly admires Links steps up to defend the place. Eventually, Zelda requests Link return to help defend the castle while they search for the mysterious hidden third triforce piece in order to combine the full thing and wish for peace in Hyrule. Link agrees and the hyjinks begin.

IIRC the og Link backstory was that he was the son of the hyrulean queen and the elf king or smth? In the manga? I didn't want him to be hylian royalty but I wanted to keep that cryptid vibe, hence why I have him related instead to the great fairy and the kokiri. He just leaves the forest/cave one day with literally nothing to go save Hyrule, what a chad. I think it'd be funny if people describe Zelda as feral due to how boisterous and headstrong she is, especially out on the field, but Link is the quiet version of wild that you don't notice at first. She is openly intelligent and snarky in comparison to "says 3 lines a day, bombs first and asks questions later, explore under every rock and bush" forest kid Link.

It would be fun though if "rushes into danger" Zelda resonated more with the triforce of power and "solves dungeon puzzles for funsies" Link with the triforce of wisdom, then they both resonated with the triforce of courage upon finding it. idk tho lol

I also think two different young Zeldas coexisting with each other after one awoke from a cursed slumber would be really funny. Like that's gotta be so awkward, especially if one has the fighter girlboss slay up to 11 and the other just woke up from a coma to her family gone and her kingdom destroyed and just kinda wants to read books and drink tea in peace. Imagine being the same age or older than your great (great?) aunt. Or imagine if the old lady Impa nursemaid to Zelda 1 Zelda was the young Impa nursemaid to the Zelda 2 Zelda. Wild.

If I wasn't incapable of remembering to finish writing wips I'd write that series lol. Alas, this is all I can pull for now.

I'd love to call this propaganda to go watch the show but maybe don't because its yikes. This is moreso propaganda for someone to make a Zelda cartoon show instead of the movie that I sense Nintendo is plotting to make. Also, if you've read this far, I should mention I also will probably be posting art from some of my actual long term Zelda aus beyond just expanding on the cartoon, though I may continue to do that if my train of thought continues on these tracks.

[butterflydm]

more cr103

The fact that the group that has the least exposure to the gods and the least understanding about them is the one that is sorta incidentally saving them while doing something else is... I guess a vibe, lol. But I really do hope that at least some of them take advantage of being in Vasselheim to do some godtalking and at least get even a fraction of the understanding and knowledge that VM or MN had about the gods.

It isn't necessarily all that important for the plot - 'Stop Ludinus' is the plan whether or not you give a shit about the gods, and that motive has been baked into Orym's backstory since day one - but it just feels weird that the party that knows the least about the gods is the one given the most power over their fates.

So it seems like we could end cr3 with a few different possibilities:

a. Bells Hells succeeds; Ludinus is defeated and things go back mostly to normal

b. Bells Hells fails; Ludinus succeeds to a certain extent and we end up with another calamity and cr4 is a post-apocalyptic campaign in some fashion, with the gods either eaten or chased away (Chetney brought this up in the episode, iirc)

c. Bells Hells succeeds but only after the Divine Gate gets torn down for some reason (either by Ludinus or by the gods to fight Predathos), thus leading to a world that is more like the one pre-Divergence (honestly, this one would be kinda funny if only because of how much Ashton would hate it).

I do think that the recording wouldn't have as much of an impact on faith in the gods as Ludinus thinks that it would -- everyone who knows about the Calamity already knows that 'the gods destroyed Aeor', or at least I believe that's part of the established history/lore of the series; and we see two of the gods (Everlight & Dawnfather) actively seeking to not have to destroy the city the entire time that they're there.

It would make some people lose faith, but it would also endear the gods more to others (like it has done for Launda). I just... given how wide-spread faith is irl without anything like the pluses that faith-based people get in Exandria, I would just find it unlikely that the orb would have the impact that Ludinus wants. We've seen that the only people it really 'convinced' were people who were already inclined to be unhappy with the gods (Ludinus himself, Dorian, and maybe Ashton, but I think Ashton just dislikes any kind of authority/structure and I'm not sure if the orb actually had an impact on that one way or the other)

But, of course, if the world doesn't immediately agree with him, that only gives Ludinus more reason to invade and conquer and destroy, because now his pride will be hurt over the fact that people aren't listening to him ("I am talking!").

As someone who isn't a believer irl, my main feeling about fantasy gods tends to run along the lines of "are they more helpful or more harmful?" and the Exandria gods as a whole have shown themselves to be more helpful than harmful over the course of the three campaigns (*cough* defeating Vecna *cough*), so I'd like them to stick around (since they've shown that they can mostly keep the betrayers in check with the Divine Gate in place). There are fantasy worlds where Ludinus might well be doing something heroic by wanting to take out the gods... but I don't think Exandria is one of those worlds.

Exandria is a world where the prime gods were willing to take a hard look at the consequences of their actions and do something to prevent more harm in the future, even at the cost of losing something incredibly important to them. As far as fantasy gods go, they're pretty nice! Especially the ones we met in Downfall, I feel very fond of them.

[b7ngt4n]

The Last Remaining | Part 04

-> South Korea was left abandoned after a 'zombie' virus sweeps the nation. Left to save themselves, Y/N and a group of seven men, who she's found safety in, rely on each other to stay alive as they travel to the south side of the country on the hunt for a rumoured 'z-free' haven. But nothing is ever easy. Especially when they find it's not only just zombies they need to watch their backs for.

-> A female reader x BTS zombie apocalypse AU

-> Genre: Post-apocalyptic, action

-> Warnings for Part 4: swearing, violence

-> Word count: 2,195 words

-> Interactions are greatly appreciated xoxo 💖

Part 04: Unpleasant Ambush 🧟

The hard feeling of cold steel pressed against the back of your head made you slowly raise your hands in the air. You were usually the rebellious type, not wanting to obey without a fight. But having a gun pointed at you was not really fair now, was it?

Multiple people started yelling at once, “get down on your knees!” You didn’t hesitate to listen, feeling the gun penetrate into your head harder as a way of asserting authority. The concrete felt cold and uncomfortable against your skin. You could feel the harsh tiny rocks scrape against you from under the thin material of your tights.

Your eyes sneakily danced around as much as they could without turning your head. From the corner of your eye, you could see Yoongi with his arms raised and held at gunpoint like you. In front of you was Namjoon. He wore a serious frown on his face while staring down whoever was behind you. Out of everyone, only Namjoon could see the perpetrators as he was the only one facing them.

“Put your hands up!” the stranger yelled in a loud and threatening way. You recognised the voice belonged to a woman. She had a deep and powerful shouting voice. It reminded you of those shows you used to watch on TV of reality boot camps and the female trainers had some of the most strongest military voices you had ever heard.

Namjoon, you presumed, stared at her. She seemed to have the leadership position among the ambushers. A quality you've also noticed in Namjoon in the brief time you've known him. He raised his hands up agonizingly slow before he spoke, “we don’t want any trouble.”

“On your knees now!” she ignored him, continuing to yell commands. You could hear clicks against steel, a noise you didn't think sounded so positive.

"Alright, alright," Namjoon complied, getting onto his knees with his arms raised in the air.

“We don’t want any trouble either,” the woman spoke in a more calmer tone but still sly sounding. You heard the car engines start up again. You watched as two men quickly removed the spike strips off the road. They're faces were covered in bandanas so you could only see their eyes. Cowardly bastards, you thought.

“No hard feelings everyone!” she said in a soulful voice like this was all a game to her. You felt the gun had retrieved back and shortly later you watched Jungkook’s motorcycle and their cars speed down the tunnel, disappearing into the distance. You could hear them cheer, celebrating by pumping their fists out in victory at the stunt they just pulled.

Their cheers and the noise from the cars died down and was soon replaced with the loudest silence between the eight of you. Jin was the first to speak up.

“They took mine and my brother's car,” you could hear in his voice he was trying his best to not cry. It broke your heart having to listen to him try not break down. You never realised the cars held such significance that the entire situation just now hit differently. They weren’t just some random cars, they actually meant something more to him because they belonged to him. You watched as Jin stood up to walk away, but you could hear his sobs only grow louder the further he walked. Jimin followed shortly behind him, likely going to console him. Since when had the apocalypse, apart from the zombies, become so cruel?

“Not to be a bitch, but um... all our food and water were kinda… in there,” Taehyung broke the painful silence. He received a harsh push on the arm from Jungkook, who had a clearly annoyed expression on his face. Taehyung groaned, rubbing his arm, but stopped himself from retaliating back to avoid making the situation even worse.

You glanced between the boys who were all sitting in deep reflection and shock about what just happened. Nobody could believe that all their supplies were gone in just a matter of seconds. There were eight of you, how on Earth could you find enough to support you all?

"Oh!" you piped up, suddenly remembering as you slipped off your backpack, "I have some food and water in my bag,” showing them your bag you had previously stuffed with snacks and water bottles back in Seoul.

A soft smile slowly returned to their faces, “that’s good,” Namjoon said gently, “it’s a start.”

You felt someone rubbing your shoulder. You turned around to find Jungkook, looking at you with a proud smile on his face. "Good job," he whispered to you. A smile naturally appeared on your face from his praise. But you quickly turned around when you felt your face heat up, smile fading when you realise he was making you blush. Get it together Y/N, you thought.

"I wonder where they got their guns from," Yoongi mused aloud. Hoseok hummed, agreeing with him.

"They could've stolen it from a police station," Taehyung responded, "maybe even a military base."

"Guns could provide us good protection," Yoongi said in a suggestive tone as he glanced at Namjoon, looking like he was seeking his approval. Namjoon nodded, agreeing with Yoongi while pondering in deep thought. He was likely imagining the pros and cons of carrying around guns.

"Plus we could maybe prevent a situation like this happening again if we were armed like they were," Yoongi continued, frustration obvious in his voice as he angrily ran his hands through his hair.

"And protect ourselves better from zombies," Jungkook added. Yoongi sent him an approval nod.

Speaking of zombies, you were lucky you were inside a tunnel. There weren't any abandoned cars nor zombies since it was a concealed space. Though, there was still a likeliness they'd find you in here, being attracted by the previous sound of loud vehicle engines. You were safe for now, but being without wheels left you much more vulnerable.

"We'll go to the next town. The sun has already passed halfway so we need to find some shelter to spend the night. Our other goals are to find weapons and more food. We can figure out what to do after that," Namjoon announced in a serious voice. It was clear to you Namjoon was the dedicated leading figure around here.

"Sounds good," Hoseok replied. Yoongi, Taehyung, and Jungkook nodded in response. They all silently turned their attention to you, glancing at you.

"How do you feel about that Y/N?" Namjoon asked, wanting you to have an input too.

You met his gaze with an enthusiastic smile, "let's fucking do it," you responded firmly.

Hoseok clapped his hands together eagerly with a pleased smile, "yes, that's the spirit Y/N! I'll go tell the other two," he stood up to head to where Jimin and Jin sat isolated. Jimin was rubbing Jin on the back while he sat there with a blank expression, zoned out on the ground. It was saddening to see Jin upset.

"Alright, let's make a move," Namjoon declared. You all got up and began to make the walk out of the miserable tunnel that bought you nothing but misfortune and a stronger sense of vigilance.

It felt odd to be walking along the highway when usually you would be driving in speeds as high as 80-90 kilometres. The road was practically empty, apart from a couple of dead cars that were no use to you. But no soul in sight. Not even undead ones.

According to Yoongi and Namjoon, the next town is supposed to be Suwon if you followed the highway. But for now all you could see was mountains and bush since you were in the rural areas. It was alarming to you that you didn't know when you'd find the next town. But the boys admiring how beautiful Korea's landscape was made you forget about ever being worried as soon as you emersed yourself in the scenery too. It's only when you stop to think about how beautiful nature is that you realise how peaceful rural Korea is. Anyone could fall in love with it so easily.

"So," you started the conversation between you and Jungkook who hung at the back of the group, "how do you know them?"

Jungkook smiled to himself, "we all knew each other before the apocalypse."

"Oh really?" you marvelled. You shouldn't be so surprised. Thinking back it was obvious they all shared a bond that felt stronger than plain old friends, strong enough that even you could feel it.

"Yeah, we all met through Namjoon a few years back," he reminisced, sighing to himself as all the memories came flooding back to him, "we all just clicked instantly and have hung out all together since then."

You were impressed by their friendship, considering you've had a fair run of friends that come and go. "So were you guys all together at the beginning of all of this?"

"Yeah," Jungkook recalled, thinking back to the very traumatic day, "we were eating at a restaurant, celebrating Yoongi's birthday."

You frowned, glancing at him to find him staring down at the road. "That's so sad," is all you could say to him. You were at lost for words, unsure of the right thing to say.

Jungkook nodded in agreement, "it is. We had to camp out at a nearby supermarket for weeks until we ran out of food and water. We took Jin's car to his hometown, Gwacheon, and found his older brother there. He was the one who told us about Mokpo. He turned trying to save us."

You didn't say anything as you allowed yourself to absorb all this new information. Actually, you didn't know what to say about that. All you could do was feel for Jin. Loss is never easy. Jungkook glanced at you, smiling at the serious look on your face.

"Enough about us. What about you?" he asked.

"What do you mean about me?" you replied absent-minded.

Jungkook chuckled, nudging you playfully, "I mean like what's your story? What happened to you before we met?"

A sour look appeared on your face as the only memories you had were shit ones: every single day feeling like it lasted forever, getting your hopes up when you see a helicopter only to be let down when it disappeared again, your food and water supply shrinking as the days went by. You were depressed, anxious, and alone. It was a shit time you wished to forget.

"I stayed in my apartment for a month," you told him.

"Were you with anyone?" he questioned, curiosity getting the best of him.

"No," you answered, lips pursing into a straight line, "I was all alone."

Jungkook noticed how you got quieter, realising he may have crossed a line or two. He cursed himself out in his head for stepping past your boundaries.

"I'm sorry," he apologised, making you glance at him with a baffled expression, "That you were alone, and for bringing up something you may have not wanted to share."

You blinked profusely, nearly stuttering your words out, "no it's okay, Jungkook, you're alright," you assured him as he looked at you with a guilty frown, "yes, it is a bit hard to talk about, but I feel safe talking about it with you."

A shy smile appeared on his face as he looked away. "I ran out of food just like you guys, that's why I left. I was inside a convenience store when Kang and Gihoon found me, hit me unconscious, and took me."

"So that's those bastards' names," Jungkook fumed, jaw clenching as he clicked his knuckles.

You giggled, finding his protective nature over you endearing, "And then you found me."

He glanced at you, the corner of his lips tugging into a small smile.

"You and Jimin saved my life," you continued, staring at him with grateful eyes, "thank you Jungkook."

None of you spoke as you stared at each other. You could feel the tension growing stronger between you two the more you hung around each other. Part of you liked it, but at the same time you were scared. Scared that if you were to let him into your world and if you were to lose him one day, you would never be able to recover. Romance was such a strong thing, but it was so dangerous at the same time.

"Hey!" Taehyung shouted, causing you both to quickly turn away like nothing happened between you two. Even though there wasn't physically, there was something emotionally and spiritually. You looked at Taehyung to see he was pointing at a sign in the distance. But before you could read it he yelled it out for you, "Suwon interchange up ahead!"

"That's good. Let's get off the highway before we run into someone," Namjoon advised to which everyone hummed in agreement.

"Or zombies. The lack of zombies here is extremely suspicious," Taehyung noted, kicking at rocks as he walked.

"Finally, Hobi finished most of Y/N's snacks!" Jimin groaned, exposing Hoseok who tried to explain himself but was met with complaints and criticism, mostly from an annoyed Taehyung.

(a/n: hey my cuties thank u so much for the recent love 🤗💖 hope you guys like this one xoxo thank u for the support i appreciate it a lot 💖💖

now that i’m looking back after posting i realised i ended this part rlly shit n honestly could’ve kept going but i js wanted to post something cs i hadn’t for a couple days 🙏

to be honest i did rush thru this 😭 i did not take as much time as i should’ve to perfect and be happy w the final product ✋ so i will js point out now that i could take a few days to post parts. i know nobody has complained but js wanted to say it anyways 😊 that’s all have a lovely day mwah)

[mayordea]

MORGAN HEADCANON POST!!!

so i have posted my elaborate “the robins are separate entities and siblings” headcanons and i think i’ve said too many damn times that i wanna extend a similar headcanon post for morgan and now it is TIME!!

(im also a lot less nervous sharing this time teehee)

more info about the guys under the cut :]

morgan

the girl one

robin’s adopted daughter. parents died after grima goes bananas and robin decided to take her under his wing. i like to think robin held out a little longer than the rest of the shepherds once the apocalypse started so he was able to teach morgan what he knew. plus she self taught herself magic and tactics using his notes even when he’s dead

can be blunt, hates being the butt of the joke, but has a pretty dry and witty sense of humor. sometimes clashes with lucina’s inability to pick up on jokes

since she was a kid when grima goes bad, she is the oldest among the second gen. older than lucina by a few years perhaps

has a close sisterly relationship with lucina. she and lucina sort of reflect robin and chrom’s relationship in the group, with the exalted leader having a wise magic man by their side. given the situation in their family tree (though morgan is adopted, she is still lucina’s cousin) i’d refrain from defining it as anything romantic (besides i hc lucina to be aroace anyway. queerplatonic relationship, perchance)

since morgan was only able to cross paths with lucina and the rest of the second-gen shepherds through her adoption from robin, it is unlikely that she will meet lucina in the good future or at least have the same very close relationship with lucina since she’ll be raised by her bio parents. (one may argue that none of the second-gen shepherds will meet or form a close band without the backdrop of acopalyptic bonding in the good timeline, but the point is that morgan will live a significantly different upbringing if the grima threat is taken care of). lucina sometimes worries about this possibility, but morgan’s conviction to change the future for the better is stronger than this uncertainty. this conviction was also probably inspired by lucina’s drive to change fate

ngl this is all i have unfortunately 😭 but i do wanna work with her more, especially her relationship with lucina

marc

the boy one

chrom and reflect (girl robin)’s son from… a different future. he does not hail from the same doomed timeline as lucina and the rest of the kiddos. instead, he’s from a timeline where grima was vanquished with the falchion (keeping reflect/the vessel alive). he was born shortly after the war ended (though in actuality he’s born after chrom and friends leave smash bros but that’s a whole other can of worms)

the youngest of the future kids

due to his unawareness of the apocalyptic future and grima in general, he has a much more jovial attitude compared to the rest of the kids

brash and a bit of a jock

has a little bit of aptitude in magic from his mom, but he has no interest in actually touching a book

lucina (and the rest of the kids) were confused about this guy’s existence and why he was sent to the past but they embrace him as one of their own anyway (he still doesn’t really know what’s going on)

tbh i have even less going on with him, but i think exploring the silly sibling dynamic he’ll have with lucina should be fun in future projects

his design is kinda messy atm, i do not know if ill fully settle on the one here idk

OH and lastly: his mark of the exalt has not surfaced yet at his age, but i think it’ll appear on either the back of his right hand (like the defile brand) or on his upper back (jojo reference). or maybe even in his right eye like inigo (but that sorta feels like his thing so i don’t wanna rip it off lmao)

anyway that’s it!! i’m kinda pressed for time rn but i wanted to get this out before i forgot lmao!! will edit if needed ough

[fernsnailz]

What is even the point of Silver living in the future? It’s not his future anymore and he has no friends or family there. There’s nothing for him there. Now that he has precognition he should just live in Sonic’s time and get visions of disasters.

Seriously there’s no point in his future or time travel. We’ll never see it, Silver only cares about the state of it and he can only go to Sonic’s time anyway.

i might have missed something but as far as i know silver doesn't have precognition? like the whole point of him being sent back in time to fix stuff is that he has no idea what's going to happen to change the future. did i miss something??? idk

regardless, i understand where you're coming from - i agree that parts of it feel kinda pointless mostly due to the fact that we really don't know anything about silver's future. i think that it's likely he has people he knows in the future, but it's impossible to really know since his future is constantly in a state of flux. when it's not in a post-apocalyptic form, what does he do? what places does he like? does he know anyone? what keeps him going back?

it's hard to understand silver's place in the future when it feels off-limits narratively. however, i don't think the solution is to completely remove silver from the future, because there's still a point to its existence - like you said, silver cares about it regardless of how it treats him. he cares about the people living there even if he doesn't know them, and he cares about the safety of that world even if he can't find a place in it. i think these traits are essential to silver - even when he doesn't know how he fits into everything, he's determined to find a path forward for everyone else. i think these concepts should be further explored through stories set in the future so we get a better understanding of silver's place in all of this - i'd really like to see silver stories in the future explore that setting and how silver fits into it, especially since IDW is currently examining silver's place in the present with the rest of the cast. and hey, why not have some of the other characters travel to the future as well? idk get wild with it

i think silver's world is a really cool setting that hasn't been utilized in a while, and i don't want to see it scrapped forever. maybe after returning to it, silver does decide that his place is in the past/sonic's present - and i think that's an earned choice. but i don't think that decision should come without exploring silver's future and understanding what it means for him to leave it forever.

[elendsessor]

spoiler warning for smtvv! i won’t shut up about vengeance’s endings because they’re genuinely so interesting to me

consider this the follow up to one of my other analysis posts. i’ve said it once and i’ll say it again: i love how both vengeance endings allow vkun to keep aogami forever and that neither law nor chaos ends on this note of everything sucks ass. more of a hopeful feel if anything. in general, i love how vengeance’s endings challenge the pre existing story structure of most smt games. so did nocturne, but in terms of the same old law-neutral-chaos thing, yeah this was such a nice shake up.

it’s not bc i love aogami to death or bc i love the pairing but more i’m kinda really tired of how mainline smt always has to have this everyone dies and/or loses their humanity quota. this is a really welcome change in my opinion. usually, the leading lady is the only one safe but it is just ran into the ground.

aogami has such a strong arc inherently about gaining individuality. if anything, he becomes more human. vkun stops being the implied outcast and actually doesn’t just completely shove aside all chances at even a friendship compared to how most protags say “fuck you” to the ones who aren’t on their side. having him keep a healthy relationship especially with a demon is something actually unheard of mainline-wise.

4 apocalypse did this too but the difference comes in terms of tone. as a 4a defender i will admit the plot’s a lot less smt and more generic anime-y with 4’s world building sprinkled in. with vengeance, as i mentioned in a previous post, the events still happened so characters that died only to be revived in the law ending still died, and the characters are aware of this. da’at still will be reborn, demons still exist, etc.

the theme of vengeance’s conflict between tao and hiromine is definitely cautious optimism. don’t be a doomer, but recognize that things won’t always work out in a picture perfect way. yeah even with chaos doing a nuke the world thing, it did leave on a somewhat positive note. the way relationships with demons have also changed dramatically in mainline with 5 is nice too. not all demons are bad but they’re often times not fleshed out and are usually relegated to the two extremes of the spectrum. again aogami’s arc is reflective of this, but even hiromine learning to open up more. to have characters gain or retain humanity instead of becoming a cookie cutter rep is super nice since a lot of the actual law and chaos reps don’t come out of it being actual decent beings and tend to be full on inhuman dicks, which tbh doesn’t entirely make sense.

you’re telling me someone can’t be radical in their beliefs without giving up what makes them human? because fun fact, radical people are still people.

also despite being doomed yuri, tao and hiromine don’t truly hate each others’ guts??? they actually do get influenced by one another positively??? they change and grow through their interactions with one another and don’t constantly butt heads, more use their differing views as talking points??? do you have any idea how happy this makes me. to go one game without the law and chaos reps being so against one another that what actually sparks the real imma kill you part is some angel/demon confirming their preexisting beliefs. to have them actually again grow and change. challenge what they know about the world. because you do actually see glimpses of that with them and that’s like actually how some people interact. people can change opinions, they can challenge beliefs, and dammit this is the step forward i really wanted. they’re more respectfully disagreeing as opposed to wanting to strangle each other.

it’s definitely not the most smt ending, but there’s still that looming sense of uncertainty/a bit of dread akin to nocturne’s freedom ending. post apocalyptic fiction needs a lot more of that cautious optimism instead of it being either everything’s okay or everything’s not okay.

so yes taomine shippers won big time. actual best law x chaos pairing.