#I HAD SO MUCH FUNE MAKING THIS

[dibbzzepozzum009]

For @spacefatcat , I FINALLY FINISHED YAYYY:

I also made a horror vid as a bonus:

(I also forgot to add in the credits that the frog at the end is named Ooga Booga and also belongs to Spacefatcat’s au srry)

[pascalcampion]

Jacque Tardi In the France I grew up in, Art was everywhere. I was interested in Graphic novels so I looked at everything I could. Not always understanding what I was looking at. Not always realizing the impact it had on me. Some of the books  I liked a lot have left very little mark on me.

Other books made a huge impact on me but it is only as an adult that I realized how much.

The work of Jacque Tardi is this second kind.

I would see his take on Nestor Burma in the pages of “A Suivre” and never read them.

It was gray. Dark, there was an inherent sadness seeping through the pages. Something about a world where people got the short end of the stick and knew about it

Tardi captured an essence of what French Life was like, away from the glamour of the Rivera or the lights of the Champs Elyse. This was NOT Louis De Funes.

It was all about small streets, rainy weather, cheap motels, the other side of the tracks. Literally!

The number of images depicting industrial warehouse by train tracks,  around the Paris area are innumerable in my mind’s eye.

I never EVER understood the stories. I don’t think my 12 year old brain was experienced enough to relate to the seemingly depressed mood permeating this world, and why people did what they did because they always seemed sad in the end

 No matter what the outcome was.

BUT

The artwork!!!  It was palpable. The smell of rain, the feeling of long, cold winter Sunday afternoons in a city. The mood of the nights, the smell of alcohol and cigarettes( which every French kid knew since it was EVERYWHERE , the smell of hard wood floor and worn out leather. The scope of the relationships. So human you could see it on the page.

The drawings were simple, clear. They were deliberate. 

I didn’t find them pretty, but it was clear they were MEANT to be this way.  They WROTE the feelings.

I collected everything I could find of his and barely read any. I would make my own trips in his world. It was that powerful.

Much later, Tardi started doing books on World War 1. Memories of his father who had served. 

The French perspective paralleled with the German perspective. Just like his Burma days, there was nothing pretty about it. It was gruesome, cold, and it felt real.

The people spoke the way people speak in the street. They looked like real people, they drank, lived and die without pizzaz. 

I find his later work to be some of his stronger works. 

His art is visual writing. 

It is not for everyone, I understand this. It is probably an acquired taste I didn’t ask for, but I love seeing his work and try to read/watch everything he comes out with. #Jacque Tardi

[bnhaobservation]

What do you think the todofam will be like after the war?

It's something I've been wondering as well.

Let's start with a premise.

This story is aimed mainly to a Japanese audience which sees things according to their culture. Some things that for them are a given aren't for who's not Japanese and vice versa. So, it gets twice as difficult for us to follow the message Horikoshi wants to deliver.

Also... this is going to be long and actually should have been longer. I tried to keep it as short as I could but this might have caused to make it not perfectly clear so I apologize in advance.

Lastly, what follows are just my two cents, feel free to disagree.

Said so let's tackle the matter from a realistic perspective.

If BNHA were not a story but the real world, the Todoroki family is finished. Not because Enji abused his family, but because one of their members (Tōya) is a murderer.

A seinen manga "Theseus no fune" (テセウスの船) digs with what happens to a family of 5 after the father, Sano Bungo, was accused of murder.

The mother, who was at the time pregnant, was denied hospitalization to give birth to her child.

They had to hide their identity because each time it was discovered they were forced to move. People would also refuse to hire them if they were to know of it. The main character, the youngest child of the man, the one that was born AFTER his father was accused of murder, and who should have been named Seigi (justice) is named instead Shin (heart) because "there's no justice for the son of a murderer", has to take his mother's surname (along with the rest of the family), have to wear a mask to hide his face to work, so that he won't be recognized, had to give up on becoming a teacher and, although he managed to marry, his wife's relatives refused to accept the marriage. When the wife dies during childbirth, her parents attend tot he funeral but claim they couldn't tell anyone about it because otherwise people would know she married the son of a criminal. They also demand their grandchild to be handed to them because she can't grow up with the son of a murderer.

Note that said son of a murderer, never had any contact with his father as the man had been arrested before his birth, and therefore Shin clearly couldn't be responsible for his father's crime.

We see something similar happening in BNHA for people who're involved in minor crimes.

Tobita tried to help someone but failed and was accused of preventing a Hero from saving him.

He was expelled from school and his family was implied to be targeted with bullying (see the graffiti with insults on the gate?)

It got so bad even his family chased him away.

Jin goes through something similar. Due to being involved in an incedent he's fired and no one wants to hire him ever again so he ends up homeless.

It's implied the same happened with Himiko, though we don't know if she ended up on the run just after attacking Saito, knowing her parents wouldn't want her back, or after trying to go back home and being rejected.

While Himiko's house might have been further devasted AFTER she joined the league, we can see that the gate was already damaged when her parents still lived there just after she had attacked Saito.

Note that none of the three over mentioned characters had yet committed murder. Tobita wanted to help, and the man who he had been unable to save will recover in 6 months, Jin ended up running over a guy who ran in the street without warning but only broke his arm and, as far as we know, Saito didn't die due to Himiko's attack.

Yet, they're shunned by society and with them their families who turn their back to them.

Now picture how much worse this would be for someone who committed murder.

Tōya/Dabi himself touches upon how bad they should have it now.

'Hitotsu kikitēnda ga Shōto… omae ittai donna tsura shite? Obieru shimin to issho ni U.A. ni komotteiraretanda? ENDEAVOR no musuko Dabi no kyōdai yakusai no nikogori mite~e nate me ~e ga!!'

「一つ聞きてえんだが焦凍…　おまえ一体どんな面して 怯える市民と一緒に雄英に籠っていられたんだ？　エンデヴァーの息子荼毘の兄弟　厄災の煮凝りみてぇなてめェが！！」

``I have to ask you one thing, Shōto... What the hell kind of face were you wearing? Were you able to stay holed up in U.A. with the frightened citizens? Endeavor's son, Dabi's brother, it's like a broth of calamity/disaster/misfortune! !”*

*okay, technically he says 'yakusai no nikogori' (厄災の煮凝り) which litterally is a "jellied broth of disaster/calamity", but the fact he chose the nikogori is also due to how the kanji used to write it are 'ni' (煮 "boil, cook") and 'gori' (凝 "freeze").

The people in U.A. should have wanted Shouto in it as much as they wanted Deku when he first showed up there, not even a bit, even though Deku did nothing wrong...

Something many fans often miss of this scene is that when Deku enters in U.A. all his classmates are there, except for Shōto, and that Heroes supporting Deku like Present Mic and Best Jeanist are there, but not Endeavor and Hawks.

Where are they? Just outside.

It will be Ectoplasm who will call them in when all is finished.

Why Shōto isn't with his classmates supporting Deku? Why Endeavor and Hawks remain outside?

It's not because they don't care but because they would make matters worse.

And Shōto, poor kid, is completely innocent, Enji might have responsibilities for what Tōya did but Shōto? Whatever he did wrong?

Yet, same Tamura Shin from "Theseus no fune", he's likely hold accountable for his brother and father's crimes as well as the rest of his family.

The story glosses it over, we see nothing being done against Shōto or the rest of his family, and his classmates act mostly supportive so he doesn't seem to have it bad, but the story likely doesn't show it because, for Japanese people, it's a given Shōto would have it bad, it's unnecessary to esplicitly show it and it would probably be too dark of a subject so Horikoshi skims on it, as in Japan it's public knowledge.

That's why Natsuo said all that awaits them is pure hell.

It was bad enough Tōya had killed people before but now he had attempted to nuke Japan and the Todorokis don't expect they will be 'forgiven' because they actually stopped him almost getting themselves killed in the process.

In a way Tōya has cornered them, their best option was actually to die with him.

So if we go for a realistic ending Enji will have to drop his job and the same goes for Fuyumi and Natsuo, Shōto should leave school, the family should live in hiding, being bullied and ostracized and this regardless of them having saved the day and of Tōya's fate (if he dies or lives, if he gets jailed, sentenced to death or spared due to his body condition being so disastrous he might end up needing permanently hospitalized... assuming they'll be willing to hospitalize him).

They would probably do better change name and country and attempt to start a new live under another identity and away from Japan... if the likely scarring burns they gained will allow them to live in hiding.

Now... this is a realistic fate for them.

BNHA however is a story, and it's a story which is also making a point of criticizing society. It doesn't hold just the Todorokis but also society as accountable for what Tōya did.

It's a story with a moral and if society doesn't get 'punished' or 'redeemed', or, more specifically 'atones', the moral ends up being that society can do any sort of thing to people and it will never be punished and if you retaliate you'll be squashed down. Not exactly an uplifting moral.

The League of Villains is born by society's sins. Generally for me the most meaningful thing is this scene.

Why? Because in my country if you are and adult and find on the streets an unsupervised kid of 5 and turn your eyes away, it's a crime even if he doesn't look in such a poor shape like Tenko.

All those people pretending not to see him would get in troubles. In Japan they aren't so strict but for me the scene looks particularly strong because it's basically a crime.

So I've really no sympathy for those people and, if the story wants to have an uplifting moral, society has to change, hold itself accountable for how it hurt Tenko and the others and atone toward them.

In the same vein society should reform and not mistreat the Todorokis the way it did with Tobita or Himeko's family but support them.

This however narratively presents some huge problems.

Society is a broad concept and BNHA didn't offer us one or more characters that could work as stand in for it.

The characters we get familiar with, often represent the best part of society.

For example we know there were corrupted Heroes, we know the HPSC had Lady Nagant kill corrupted Heroes but... did we ever met them? Nope.

Stain, who wanted to change society and erase corrupter Heroes who ended up attacking?

Some Hero who abused his power to commit crimes? Some Hero who actually was in league with criminals? Some Hero who actually was negligent in his work? Some Hero who, at least, throwed trash on the streets?

Nope. He attacks Īda's brother and Native... who overall seemed two decent guys.

This creates a clash of our perception in the story, the League attacked society but the characters we were presented with were usually great people.

The League undoubtedly perceives society as evil and worth being wiped out because they met the worse of it but... we didn't.

That's why many readers feel like the League should be jailed for terrorism but no one thinks the "Star Wars" rebels in the first trilogy should met the same fate for... the exact same crime.

In "Star Wars" first trilogy the empire is always represented as evil, all its soldiers are represented as evil and we've zero sympathy for them when they get wiped out.

But in BNHA society is not the empire, society is common people who've families and feel... innocent enough not to deserve what the League unleash on them, especially since BNHA had too few 'bad guys' among the good guys and, conveniently or not so conveniently, wiped out the HPSC before it could take the blame for many problems and we are instead way too often presented with 'good guys' characters.

So Horikoshi has to find a way to deliver the message that if said society ended up under attack, it was actually due to its shortcomings.

Tōya told Enji the past never dies and you reap what you sow...

...but this applied to society too.

In response later on Enji will realize he'll have to atone to him and apologize to him.

In theory society should do the same... so that the story could have an uplifting moral of society learning from its errors and never again repeating them so that people will be better and the League of Villain will never be reborn in the future... however... it's much easier for us to apply all this to Todoroki Enji than to the BNHA society.

It's very fairy tale to assume that society will say "hey but if we didn't mistreat those guys first, they wouldn't have done what they did, shouldn't we also make amends?"

I don't really know if Horikoshi will be able to pull this off in a convincing manner, or if he'll be allowed to do it because one of the problems in his story is he can't allow to come to pass the idea that what the League did was an acceptable response.

We see it in the attack at Central Hospital.

In theory the story should end with a similar situation.

Shōji acknowledged that the Heteromorphs were hurt and persecuted but turning to violence wasn't acceptable

...and then somehow the Heteromorphs changed their mind and stop fighting and the people said they heard their voices today and they're sorry for not realizing it sooner and everyone cries and all's well that ends well and many readers hate this arc (for which SO MUCH could be written) and label it poor writing and it's actually a very minor bit so...

I don't know if Horikoshi now has used the people's response to it to perfect his ending in a way that won't have backlash.

So back to your question, what about the Todorokis?

Hopefully since Horikoshi wants to go to a positive and uplifting ending, the Todorokis will be spared from a fate that will be hell.

After all they made a big deal of how things were being recorded on videos. Society might be impressed by how this family came together to save everyone and might feel bad for them as well as partially responsible.

If society will come together instead than ostracizing and mistreating people, the Todorokis might not be end up driven into a corner.

In the same vein the Todorokis will likely come together as a family.

That is because I'm assuming that the idea Horikoshi wants to come to pass is that you've to PREVENT people from going bad, not punish them once the deed is done and by coming together they prevent the situation from worsening.

So, I'm willing to bet the plan is that Natsuo is wrong and no, it won't be hell for them from now on, though it likely won't be easy.

I don't know if Tōya and the rest of the League will survive, because it would be damn convenient for Horikoshi to have them die, so that he won't have to face the whole punishment thing.

If they're dead they can't be punished nor society can be asked to atone to them for what they did to them, and so Horikoshi can focus on society coming together and supporting the people who're less 'cuplable' and reforming itself easily enough in such a way that would fit the kind of fairy tale nature of BNHA.

At the same time killing the league off is such a goddamn easy solution for the problem I really pray he won't go for it... but I recognize with the League he kept the bar really very high.

So I would love for Tōya to survive and heal and be given another chance and this time, with support from his family and society, become a better person, and the same goes for the rest of the League, but I don't know if Horikoshi can, is willing and will be allowed to pull this off.

We can only wait and see.

For now, I think it'll probably be safe enough to assume that at the end the Todoroki family will come together and they won't be in hell but Fuyumi will be allowed to continue to work as a teacher and Natsuo will be allowed to continue to study and will marry his girlfriend. I aslo think Shōto will be allowed to become a Hero. As for Enji he might retire. I know people would want to see him jailed for his family abuse but since no one in his family is willing to file charges against him I'm pretty sure this won't happen. Likely he also won't divorce from Rei.

Tōya's fate through remains a mystery.

I'd like for him to end up hospitalized and for his family to stay and support him, for Enji to atone to him and finally look at him but well, we can only wait and see for this.

As much as I hate the idea we were told Tōya (who shouldn't have managed to survive away from Garaki's support) survived till now due to his grudge to his family, if he were to let it go he might just die... albeith in that case he would probably die in peace because he would finally feel loved by his family. We'll see.

Thank you for your ask!

[strqyr]

here to say thank you for understanding the characters the way as they should be, so many misinterpret them horribly and take them at their face value or will straight up make up a headcanon and then trick themselves into thinking thats what the character is(yang being the biggest one that gets mischaracterized so much and so badly). you actually go through each characters heads while considering canon material and fune tooth combing each and every scene and piece of information for them

i try my best lol. i'm sure i get stuff 'wrong' (i.e. not necessarily what the writers themselves were going for) every now and then, such is life when we all come from different backgrounds and have different life experiences that mold us, but nothing is more fun than putting myself in specific character's shoes and really digging in to see what makes them tick, how their backstories inform their actions, both past and present, and so on and so on.

i think a common stumbling block—besides headcanons taking priority, which frankly is a package deal with fandom in general—is the though that if you like a character, they must be good, and if you dislike a character, they must be bad, which leads to all their actions being painted in same light, nuance be damned. people want nuanced and flawed characters as long as it suits them; the moment it doesn't, all that gets thrown out the window while still claiming that nuance is everything—just don't point out that the character they like might actually be *GASP* flawed, or that character they dislike might actually not be Pure Evil™, and everything is fine.

(people relating to characters probably also plays a part here; any pointed flaw towards a character they like is seen as an attack against them, etc.)

yang to me is a fascinating case, because, well. people often point towards jaune as the character most often bastardized by fandom, and i completely get that, but what i've also found is that these jaune fans often just. stay on their lane, doing their own thing, which is very easy to ignore if you so please. with yang, though, i've seen people getting upset at other fans for taking an official description of yang into account when portraying her in artwork or fics and straight up claiming that the very obvious canon trait of yang's is either a) never really been a thing (it has very much been a thing since day 1), or b) a made-up fanon thing, and it's like

if you don't like it, take it up with rooster teeth??? why get mad at other fans for characterizing yang as she is in canon??? makes no sense lmao

anyway, not that i need them to stop; the most appreciation i've gained towards characters has been solely because i've seen takes about them that immediately, without ever having thought about these characters that deeply before, make me go "that's bullshit" and then dig through canon to make myself understand why my instinct was that strong—and often finding new things that i had never considered before. it's a win-win situation for me skdgkjhkfh

[minijenn]

Jen Tortures Herself With Every Dreamworks Animated Movie Ever: The Boss Baby: Family Business

So would you believe me if I told you this movie is better than the first Boss Baby? I mean it's not... much better, but still, improvements were made here. Let's talk about them.

We jump foward to a now adult Tim, who has fallen out of touch with his brother Ted (the original Boss Baby) and struggles to connect with his daughter Tabitha. He soon discovers his baby Tina is on assignment from BabyCorp to stop a new villain intent on wiping out all parents. Tina gives both Ted and Tim a formula to make them both young again, recruiting their help on this mission and roping them into all sorts of Mischief ala the first movie but... like I said, marginally better.

So yeah, once again, very silly plot for a very silly movie. And yet... I don't know, it feels more... genuine than the first one did? Like it leans less on the obvious "oh look at funee baby in suit talking like a businessman" (though there is still plenty of that) and leans more on character interactions and I gotta respect that. Especially since it actually gives me a reason to care about Ted and Tim this time around, actually strengthening their bond and reflecting on how they weren't there for each other growing up like they promised they would be, and how they're given a second chance to change that now. Idk, just some pretty nice thematic stuff in there, along with Tim learning to be a better dad to his kids along the way (daddy issues in Dreamworks movies, they never stop, I Swear).

The characters here are... ok. Better than they were in the first movie, I mean fuck, the titual Boss Baby is toned down a lot and is honestly one of the least painful parts of this. Tim is also better, mostly bc he's actually an adult here so he's not your annoying kid stereotype like he was before. Tina is... kind of annoying, being the source of all of the "business baby" jokes and she grates on the nerves every now and then. Tabitha is ok though, getting some good development alongside Tim. Then we have our villain, Armstrong, who is... surprisingly funny? Like he isn't the funniest dreamworks baddie by any means, but he was certainly watchable. Hell, you could kind of say that for this movie as a whole, really.

The humor here is a little better, striking surprisingly a little more mature than last time (featuring an insane joke about agnostics like what the fuck Dreamworks I never would have thought you'd ever reference religion again after Prince of Egypt holy shit). The emotional beats also hit just a touch more, feeling a good degree less forced than the first movie's. And yet for everything this movie does well, I think its biggest problem is it drags on for far too long, just meandering with scenes that don't need to be anywhere near as long as they are, into a movie with a longer runtime than it probably should have had. It gets... tiring, after a while, and you get to the point where you just want the damn thing to end.

The animation here is really nothing special, basically looking identical to the first movie's, though I will say a few of the imagination sequences were sort of eye catching here. The music is also pretty simplistic but there were a few diagetic songs that I thought were... ok enough. Pretty unoffensive in that reguard, though of course, the pop songs just couldn't keep their nose out of this movie either.

Like I said, its far from being anything resembling good, but fuck, I watched Spirit Untamed last night and this was better than that and it was also better than the first movie, so that's gotta count for something. Even then though, it doesn't count for... that much.

Overall Rating: 4/10

Verdict: Pay tribute to the Greatest Dreamworks Character Ever: The Agnostic Kid

Previous Review (Spirit Untamed)

Next Review (The Bad Guys)

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

ask and u shall receive 🫡 it seems like shanks does specifically say "we" while buggy doesn't rip (also ftr mangareader.to has the raws up to ch 1098 now!)

(these raws originally requested here)

bless you, ma’am o7

(i feel positively ancient every time i realize i have no idea where to find this stuff anymore. i used to be one of the cool kids who knew which sites were legit! look at me now, paying money to read things legally. ridiculous. thank you so much for letting me know where to look should i need to dig into translation nitty-gritty again in the future!!)

and this is… interesting.

you’re right, shanks does specifically say ore-tachi (we; literally “me + plural”), while buggy doesn’t use any pronouns. but japanese speakers often omit pronouns, resulting in ambiguous turns of phrase that are hard to replicate in english, so that’s not too unusual or unexpected.

but they both say itsuka jibun no fune de iku (someday go by my own boat), with the only difference being a syllable tacked on after iku. shanks says iku-yo, which just adds a little excitement, like a verbal exclamation point. buggy says iku-tte for sentence structure reasons—his first speech bubble basically says “you said, shanks!!” and -tte tells us that the preceding phrase is the thing that shanks had said.

which makes me think buggy did hear shanks make that promise when they were younger, and is explicitly attempting to remind him of it. in the context of my last post, that should make me pretty excited—buggy knew about shanks’ plans! his laugh tale expectations were (kind of) based in reality!

however.

i wouldn’t usually translate jibun no as “our,” even in the context of that ore-tachi shanks used. jibun can be used to mean myself, yourself, her/himself, depending on the context… but it’s not really a pronoun with plural use. if you wanted to say “our (shared) boat,” i’d expect ore-tachi or another [first person pronoun]-tachi, waga, maybe uchi if you’re being formal, followed by no fune (possessive particle + boat).

…but if you wanted to say something like “we will both go to laugh tale, each in our own boat,” jibun could work for that use.

[37gorditas]

Why was Spamton so much more unsettling than Jevil?!?!

(Deltarune Chapter 2 spoilers under the funny line!)

I thought about this stuff when i was in the shower, so it probably doesn't make much sense but here goes!!!

Alright, I might be having serious brainrot, but i think compared to Jevil, Spamton is unsettling as FUCK. I mean, one of them is a fella in a jail cell somewhere that really likes chaos (and is also probably based on a random LINE sticker pack)...

Spamton, on the other hand, while also having similar thoughts of freedom and is also similarly Kind Of Unhinged, is a bit more disturbing, especially when you're working to fight his NEO form. One event that sticks out to me is when you transfer his data onto the Empty Disk. As the data starts transferring, line by line, the shop turns greyscale, the music lowers in speed, and Spamton disappears.

When playing through the game myself, I immediately left because Crap! I Kinda Liked That Guy! Something about him just Disappearing just got to me. Another pretty unsettling thing that happens is at the end of the Spamton NEO fight, he just. Falls to the ground, motionless. His NEO form lies there on a black background for what seemed like Hours, and the gang appears on a path leading out of the basement (IIRC.)

Now, I don't think everything literally turned Pitch Black for the gang when they were on the tracks there. Seems that the game intentionally has everything else black out to emphasise what happened to US, the player. The same goes for the shop, in a way. While maybe the colour DID get transferred from the room along with Spamton (and the telephone???) it's like the game litters these jarring, quiet moments with Spamton throughout the game. But why?

Maybe it's to show the parallels of Spamton to Kris. Kris is also unsettled by Spamton, especially seen after the fight, when they yell that they're not OK (if that option is picked.) Spamton may have painted a picture to Kris that there's no way out of being puppeted forever. (He talks about not being [Big] enough and that makes new goofy theories spring up in my head which i'll spare you guys from.) Kris is pretty annoyed by us, the players, already, and they DO have times where they just sever our connection to them through the SOUL, but these periods of time are brief. Spamton crushed the hopes that Kris may have had of completely regaining control.

But why show the parallels to US? What do we do, rewrite the game to make things go better for Spamton and Kris? Honestly, there's no way of knowing until at least chapters 3-5 come out. I need more LORE...... more TINY CHUNKS OF PLOT....... more FUNEE CHARACTERS......... to think about and tie back to this.

That's pretty much all I had to say, to be honest. I had a lot more ideas about this in the shower, but they don't make much sense to me now. PLEASE tell me what you guys think because there are probably a lot of pieces i didn't connect that well, and things i would've got wrong. I don't know where I thought I was going with this. Just putting my thoughts here so I can look back when the rest of the chapters come out and laugh.

TL;DR: Spamton's presented as being unsettling because he has pretty similar toils to Kris, who is also probably unsettled by him.

Thanks for reading!

[castershellwrites]

Ghost of Tsushima CYOA Part 3

Link to part 1, and to part 2. This fic is rated Teen.

"Hurry up and warn Tenzo!" won. As it should, Tenzo is cool.

Part 3 is below the cut, and the poll for what will happen in part 4 ^_^

He had to warn Tenzo. Even if the raider could fight off the samurai long enough to make his escape, the civilians couldn’t. Even without The Eagles poison clouding their minds, the sight of samurai on Iki would dredge up traumatic memories. Jin had a few of his own, he wouldn’t wish the experience on anyone.

He practically charged into Fort Sakai, the horses milling around their stables raised their heads in concern. Jin leapt off Kaze and rolled on the landing, the better to spring up and keep his forward momentum.

“Tenzo!” He called out. The civilians—technically active and retired raiders—eyed him with concern.

“Up here Jin!” Tenzo waved from one of the watchtowers.

Jin vaulted up the ladder and stood in front of his friend, winded. “Tenzo—”

“The samurai? I know. Unless you’re here to warn me about another disaster?”

“No,” Jin panted, “Fune’s… refuge… is safe.” He was bent nearly double but Tenzo’s hands on his torso made him stand tall.

Tenzo pulled Jin’s hands over his head and mimed taking a deep breath.

Jin felt patronized, until it worked. How did he keep stumbling upon such kind people that his station—former station—as a samurai required him to be enemies with? First Yuna… now Tenzo. He looked into the deep brown eyes shaded by gray hair and felt understood and known in way he hadn’t since Ryuzo. This was dangerous territory; literally and metaphorically.

“We need to leave.” He stated.

“I don’t disagree. That’s why Fune’s crew is taking the last of the refugees out of here. They’re going down an old path we used to scout the fort, the samurai don’t know about it.”

Jin bit his tongue. The past was behind him, and in his fights against the Mongols, he’d done much the same as the people of Iki. Tenzo and he weren’t so dissimilar.

“Then why are you still here?” Jin glanced down into the fort’s courtyard and confirmed that, yes, the horses were scattered except for Kaze and the people were gone. He was along with Tenzo.

“I want to know why the samurai are here. Perhaps you can provide some insight? Do you recognize that banner?” Tenzo pointed to the sashimono flag waving above a soldier’s back.

Jin stared and raised a hand to block the sun’s glare. It was a red flag… with a white diamond… and a sun above the sea. Shimura. His uncle was on Iki. He didn’t dare say that for fear of upsetting Tenzo, an himself. His uncle, or at least his men, were here.

Would his uncle speak with him on ground that wasn’t Tsushima? Would he kill him on sight? Hope and dread warred in Jin’s chest. The Eagle’s poison was gone, but poisonous words still lurked in his subconscious. That he would kill his uncle, that he should let Shimura kill him, that he’d never be worthy and how fitting to meet with his uncle here, at the island his father died on.

“Jin.”

Jin swayed on his feet.

“Jin!” Tenzo shook his shoulder. “I know you recognize that banner. Who is it?”

Jin contemplated lying. He knew Tenzo would see right through him but the temptation was there. “It’s clan Shimura.”

“Oh. Fuck.” Tenzo dropped his hand from Jin’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I know you and your uncle had a falling out.”

“Funny, that a duel to the death is a falling out. Imagine what would happen if we really hated each other.” Jin said with dry wit. The joke fell flat.

“Do you want to talk to him?” Tenzo asked.

Jin pondered.

[marastriker]

NIBLING (gender neutral term for niece/nephew) SNEAK ATTACK

Give me some Greaseball hcs please....I would ike your thoughts on the funee diesel man

-Wolf

NIBLING HELP-

Oh the greasestain....rottweiler. stinky puppy.

I take a lot of context on what each character is meant to represent in the story to help formulate my headcanons - and Greaseball is the epitome of a privileged, white, American man. He was the golden child of three other siblings, always favored and adored. It was always his dream to become a champion engine, starting to practice racing and training when he was young.

He's from Tennessee, a good ol' southern boy, though he doesn't have much of an accent unless he's primarily around Dinah (which, to be fair, is very often lol but she's a Georgia gal so their idea of "southern" doesn't always match up.)

He's always had this sort of macho, big bad diesel attitude, but underneath that layer of egotistical asshole, he has a good heart - at least for those that he really cares about lol

Though he's always been rough and tough and a bit of a bully, fitting into the exact stereotype of what diesels are seen as. And this was mostly due to his parents spoiling and favoring him, making him think he could get away with anything. That definitely carried throughout his life.

He got an injury at some point after becoming champion (which he did initially earn that title fair and square) but since then, has restored to cheating and rigging the races in his favor to maintain that title.

[okaydoll1301]

You, deserved it

I recently ran into the whump community and found it scratched an itch like nothing else. I wasn't new to the trope, but didn't know it had a name; much less knew others were into it. I'd been into it for years, but who knew?

So I have been writing these little snips for years. A lot of us have, right? Writing is such a private thing, but I wanted to finally gather my courage and share. Not entirely whump/whumpee related, but it's in the realm. I hope you enjoy more to come!

tw: implied abuse, mental health, toxic relationship

---------------------------ฅ^•ᴥ•^ฅ-----------------------

You deserve it. You deserve it. You deserve it.

"Please, don't be angry with me. I-" My voice cut off, the words began repeating in my head again and again. It was desctructive, I knew it. But the words were there, repeating like a chant of truth. "Please…please don't be mad," I repeated the words as my hands raised to my temples as if somehow that would ease the every increasing volume, the pressure that was building in my head. I deserve it. I deserve it. I know. I know I deserve it. Look at you. Why wouldn't they do that? You did bad and now this is what you get.

She was funing, standing there, looking at me as if I was the perpetrator. I stepped back, swallowing and going silent. Except the voices only grew louder and my vision got hazy. Her lips were moving, but I couldn't make out what she was saying.

You deserve to hurt. Why else would they do that? You felt better when it hurt. You know it's what you get.

That's when I felt their hand rest on my shoulder, and without a thought my body turned into them as they pulled me close. The voices didn't stop, but at least they got a little quieter.

See. You deserve what they give you. Look how you snivel up to them. But at least it was only a whisper.

She grabbed my arm and turned me to look at her. Her angry expression was still there as she now pointed at them and I shook my head. It was like a dream as I stood, defending them.

"You're as fucked as they are!" I definitely heard her now. She was angry as she threw her hands up and walked away.

"See, baby. I told you she wouldn't get it." They whispered into my ear, arm arms wrapping around me, and I nodded. They were right. She would never understand.

[punklorde-hunter]

Well, since i finished the main story Penacony's first half (still need to do the Companion Mission + finding all those chests), and I took a few screenshots, and I thought I'd show them while also having commentary on the main quest's story beats.

**SPOILERS and a LOTS of words Under the Cut

While I am kinda sad Dan Heng didn't get to join us for Penacony, at least this means he gets a rest. Man was going through it on the Luofu let him have a chance to breathe and relax for once in his life.

This is more of a nitpick for me but I missed the easter egg at the beginning where you could've seen Silver Wolf & Sam chatting and I'm sad i missed it! I can go back in someone's playthrough to see it but man :(

Gotta love not at all ominous red text with Acheron. I'm sure this has nothing to do with anything in the foreseeable future.

That being said, I am kinda intrigued on what's the relationship between the Trailblazer & Acheron. I didn't get to play Honkai Impact 3rd, but I have read the comics Hoyoverse have online. And as the Star Rail's Raiden Mei of course they're going to give her an important role. It's also nice (and depressing) that she sees what I assume is the HSR Kiana of this universe, or someone else entirely. Plus she just seems like a character with a lot of regret. Hard to tell right now, but I also saw the red text does change depending on who you chose & the choices you make when talking to her so cool details!

Also Penacony is HUGE. I spent so much time getting lost in the Golden Hour area alone and i still haven't found every chest & puzzle. they really wanted this area to feel like the Roaring 20's and it shows

Aventurine is a grade-A asshat and good for him. He's very punch-able in a positivity way. Man's scheming something and i don't trust him one bit, but I am intrigued by him. Also his banter with Dr. Ratio was defiantly charged with something. Whether that was sexual tension or them wanting to kill each other, it's anyone's guess. He's also a really good contrast to Topaz as an IPC official whose not above using shady methods to win so I'm intrigued. Still wanna punch him tho.

I hope Misha & Gallagher get more time to shine in later patches, their appearances were so brief I NEED MORE! I do have a working theory on Misha but that's for a later time :)

Despite not being a character I would usually like, I kinda enjoy Sparkle in a "i would hate you irl but i find you fascinating in game' way. Masked Fools always struck me as an cool faction since their Aeon is a trickster god in a way. SO it makes sense of of their most notable Fool being a shapeshifting trickster who loves pushing people's buttons for fun. I'm pulling for her for having more DHIL ultity but man is she a piece of work.

I also really enjoyed Firefly as a character. Even tho I feel we didn't get to explore more of her character before you know what, I liked what we got. She was very cryptic about why she was a stowaway, and a lot of dialogue during her heart-to-heart definitely means something. Even what Clockie said about people being able to see him by being pure of heart probably holds more weight, but i guess will have to wait to see where that goes in future patches.

Nothing much, I just really liked this shot in the Dream's Edge area, and I think generally I enjoy Dream Edge the most out of all the Penacony 2.0 maps. The shooting stars are a nice touch too!

What a cute pic, surely this means only good things for them :)

On that matter, I can't believe Star Rail introduced a sweet cute young girl, had us bond the majority of the quest-line with, ONLY to rip her from us in the most GRAPHIC WAY POSSIBLE!? ALL WHILE PLAYING "If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking" AFTERWARDS?! WHAT THE HELL

what a way to show Penacony isn't playing games, and that the writers being from Honkai Impact 3rd show they aren't afraid to show that things in Penacony are taking LIVES!!

I also like Acheron in this scene after Firefly passed on and giving some funerary rites. A nice quiet moment after we got are hearts crushed by the Something onto Death entity. I also like how Black Swan has beein a patient guide after all this, trying to get the Trailblazer to a goal but because she can foresee events through Arcana and can see memories, shes been the most helpful on Penacony as of right now despite being an enigma

I also loved Sam's first introduction as he's always been mentioned by the other Stellaron Hunters as 'not picky' with his prey, doesn't play mind games and goes straight for the kill type. And man did he make an impression in the short amount of time he got.

And the end scene with Aventurine, there's a lot going on. While i don't completely agree with him on Acheron, he does have a point on her being suspicious. Especially if she killed Duke Inferno ALONE (rip Ifrit mains) and her Emanator powers truly do come from one of the destructive Aeons. Most likely Finality since KiaMei is as consistant as with BronSeele/lh

Also on a side not I hope Sunday gets to go apeshit soon, dude deserves it since his dear sister is dead too. Otherwise yeah I'm VERY invested in what Penacony has in store later on.

And with that, I leave this post with the MOST EVIL ACHIEVEMENT PT 1 (there's more of them dw)

[405rew-twain]

Week 5 - On Twain’s Sphinx and the Horror of Memory

I’m, as a rule, not terribly fond of creative nonfiction. It’s just one of those genres that’s never appealed to me personally. Although I’m not exactly a comedy person, either, I do think Twain’s work here shows the appeal of both genres in a way that didn’t really click before. This admiration comes about for me especially in regards to the section where he contemplates the Sphinx in Innocents Abroad:

It was looking toward the verge of the landscape, yet looking at nothing—nothing but distance and vacancy. It was looking over and beyond everything of the present and far into the past. It was gazing out over the ocean of Time—over lines of century waves which, further and further receding, closed nearer and nearer together, and blended at last into one unbroken tide, away toward the horizon of remote antiquity. It was thinking of the wars of departed ages; of the empires it had seen created and destroyed; of the nations whose birth it had witnessed, whose progress it had watched, whose annihilation it had noted; of the joy and sorrow, the life and death, the grandeur and decay, of five thousand slow revolving years. It was the type of an attribute of man—of a faculty of his heart and brain. It was MEMORY—RETROSPECTION—wrought into visible, tangible form. (Mort 147-148).

Remarkably poetic and serious for something out of Twain! (Although he, of course, follows it up with scathing satire just a couple of paragraphs later.) So we’ve got a lot of contemplation on memory here, line upon line meditating on how much the Sphinx has seen and remembers, to the point where it starts to read as a kind of anxiety. He says just a paragraph after on that “the sphinx is grand in its loneliness,” but how enviable a position is it to preside “over the ocean of Time,” though? I’m reminded of the Jorge Luis Borges story, Funes the Memorius, where the titular character is physically unable to forget anything: 

Funes could continuously discern the tranquil advances of corruption, of decay, of fatigue. He could note the progress of death, of dampness. He was the solitary and lucid spectator of a multiform, instantaneous, and almost intolerably precise world. [...] I suspect, however, that he was not very capable of thought. To think is to forget differences, generalize, make abstractions. In the teeming world of Funes, there were only details, almost immediate in their presence. (153-154; emphasis mine)

This story comes to mind not only because of the emphasis Twain places on the Sphinx’s observation and complete retention of things past, but the weight he places on the faultless empirical memory of the steamboat captain, as our class observed in Week 2 with Life on the Mississippi. Funes and Twain’s Sphinx, “solitary and lucid spectator[s] of an almost intolerably precise world,” basically act as the same figure. The Sphinx has seen everything, all nations and wars and empires, but in that absolute recollection, he loses the ability to truly think, be anything other than stone. I do wonder, then, how much of Twain’s seeming anxiety about the Sphinx’s memory might be traced back to that horror, the horror of the steamboat captain’s precise memory.

[dark-frosted-heart]

A compilation of random and not so random things from Clavis’ route throughout the common route and true love route. This is not a detailed summary, but rather a series of things I found funny or interesting that later on turned serious as we got to the heavy stuff. And three times I yell at the new characters. 

Take the information with a grain of salt because I’m still a learner, and used a translator + dictionary for most of the story, so some nuances may be lost

Spoilers and very long post ahead, ye be warned. Some backstory stuff is listed first

Another note, I switch between using Chevalier and Cheva a lot lol. I’m sorry. Everything italicized is a sublist to an unitalicized point because Tumblr formatting is weird sometimes

CLALELOUUUUUUU

Such a charming, confident-looking gentleman that hides behind a smile but actually has a lot of insecurities.

The comedic timing in this route, holy shit

Take a shot every time his golden gaze with a hint of sensuality is mentioned, or he’s described as sexy in some way or another. Have a medic on standby. 

I need an 色香 counter

But can you blame MC?

Clavis writes long-ass letters. And each ends with a little fact about himself. Some including:

Clavis doesn’t like food that looks or tastes ordinary

Princes are given territories. Clavis took one of Chevalier’s and developed it into his own. 

He started learning medicine to show that he too could read medical books. Then one day, his mother caught a fever so he tried to make medicine based on what he read from a book. He realized that he can make people happy by making medicine. And then it turned into him using this skill to overcome his weak constitution and pull pranks

Clavis gets a fever if he stays up late, something touched upon in the story event of what the princes do when MC’s away, attending a friend’s wedding. The medicine allows him to push his body through these types of situations. Because the man’s always working.

Clavis is not of fully noble birth. Clavis’ mother, Letitia, was a maid from a lineage that served the Marquis de Michele family for generations. And so, Clavis’ fate was to do the same from the moment he was born.

His mother and Chevalier’s mother were close like sisters and had been together since they were children. Letitia was very loyal

Because of this relationship, no one knows how Clavis came to be. Sariel suspects that it wasn’t something she did willingly, but this was before the previous Belle had died and before the king lost his mind.

It’s revealed that in the both end clear chapter that his mother was raped by the king.

Clavis’ mother was always smiling, even if she wasn’t happy. She had loved Clavis very much but...

After Cheva’s mother died, Letitia threw herself off a cliff a few days later

Clavis says that if Chevalier wasn’t such a beast, adding on to the queen’s heartache, then the queen wouldn’t have died and Clavis’ mother would still be alive.

It’s after his mother’s death that Clavis is the way he is now.

By the way, every prince’s mother is dead...

Imagine Ikemen Prince if everyone’s mother loved their sons. And if their mothers were still alive.

Seven wonders of Clavis

Writes letters in code: actually his terrible handwriting. Sometimes even he has trouble reading what he wrote. BIG MOOD

Clavis has this secret room. Anyone that goes in doesn’t come out: It’s a room filled with weird shit and where he meets informants who tell him about activities from the surrounding kingdoms.

Parties that Clavis hosts filled with questionable people: anti-government people. You meet the “main” bad from both Cheva’s and Luke’s route. (Flandre and that guy that starts with a B in Luke’s route)

A gentleman that makes women cry. More on that soon

Whenever Clavis appears, there’s always an incident

Anyone who enters Clavis’ room gets amnesia

Clavis gets in a bad mood when it rains because of the rain-soaked roses, just like on the day of his mother’s funeral (revealed in the Both End Clear chapter)

A gentleman that makes women cry (the following is revealed in his true love route):

Clavis is a man that loves everyone and wants to be loved by everyone. However, he will only fall in love with one person

He had a bit of traumatic experience with love in the past, coming from how his mother killed herself the day after she told him she loved him

He thought he had all of his mother’s love. But he knew it wasn’t so after he found his mother at the cliff where she threw herself off of. His mother loved Chevalier’s mother more than she loved him.

He knows that women are attracted to him. Many have told him that they like him. But the more they proclaim that they love him, the more suspicious he gets.

And so he tests them, plays with them. Making the women who claim to love him run away

Clavis’ room hides his studious nature. It’s filled with well-used books on a variety of subjects including cooking, medicine, law, and economics. He doesn’t have a bed, but a couch.

Clavis has self-confidence issues when it comes to Chevalier. He’s an ordinary man while the 2nd prince is a genius.

As a child, he’d only receive praise and acknowledgement from his mother. He wanted others to recognize him as a real prince, but they were all always looking at Chevalier.

He’s never been able to beat Cheva in anything. In the true love route, Cheva says this is because Clavis never believed in himself

As children, bebe Cheva tells Clavis to do something that only Clavis can do instead of trying to do/beat him at things that Cheva can do if he wants to be acknowledged

Cheva would acknowledge him first if Clavis is able to do something Cheva can’t

Clavis is the type that’s willing to betray his country for the sake of a person/people. Where Chevalier will abandon a few lives, Clavis will save them. Where Chevalier protects the country, Clavis protects the people.

Chevalier is named king of Rhodolite. Clavis is named king of his own ‘Lelouch Kingdom’ that’s his territory.

If you want want Clavis to stop teasing you or doing whatever to you, tell him that you’ll hate him if he continues, and he’ll stop.

Clavis:

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

Cyril has red hair and his last name is Rose

MC’s second day in the palace is her being dragged around by Clavis and witnessing him pulling pranks on all of the brothers but Chevalier.

Yves and Licht pit count: 1

The food Clavis makes is questionable in color and appearance. It’s as awful as it looks. At least the first time. When referring to the food he made, a (?) is attached to emphasize the questionable nature.

Clavis and MC have breakfast daily (with breakfast made by Clavis). Occasionally the other princes are threatened invited to join, where MC can learn more about the princes as Belle.

Cheva’s the only one that hasn’t been invited

When Yves and Licht were invited, Yves brought breakfast that he made. Much to Licht’s relief. Licht gets force-fed cake by Clavis. Poor baby.

Leon actually enjoys the food and keeps stuffing his face.

Clavis drags MC with him to Cheva’s room to wake him up. Clavis’ method of waking Cheva up is drawing his sword and attacking him. But MC holds him back this time.

MC gets “kidnapped” by Clavis after lessons with Sariel. 

Clavis: You’ll be saying “Clavis, I love you” after this.

MC: (There’s no way I’m going to say that)

Cut to Chevalier’s personal library

MC: Clavis, I love you!

They really just talk about the three new characters without dropping names in one scene huh

Clavis invites MC to a soiree he’s hosting. Licht and Yves tag along.

Clavis’s villa is weird. What is this architecture. Also looks haunted.

No seriously, what the hell is going on in the front.

It’s a dilapidated mess with booby traps until you go deeper in

Yves and Licht pit count: 2

HI SILVIO

OH? SILVIO’S FACE FEELS FAMILIAR TO MC?!?!?!? looks at Rio

“Silvio arrived by caravan”

Me: Romani dalmatian...

Silvio invites MC to a soiree he’s hosting at the Benitoite embassy

Cheva’s nickname for Silvio is jarajara? JINGLES? Silvio is Kommo-o

Clavis kissed MC’s forehead

HI GILBERT

Gilbert kowai

Cyril hiding in a chimney

Silvio tries to get MC drunk, but at her latest glass where she’s reached her limit, Clavis swoops in and snatches the glass, downing the drink

There’s talking with Silvio afterward, a carriage ride home, Clavis tucking MC into bed, and him leaving her room before we see the alcohol take effect

We get a reserved, insecure Clavis who keeps comparing himself to Chevalier

I WANT TO HOLD HIM

Sidenote: TW server mentioned acting along the lines of spoiled and affectionate when he gets drunk 🤔 

Jade people are staying at the palace.

HI KEITH

tall like Jin and Luke

Has trouble sleeping and often wanders in the middle of the night

He’s having a tea party with Yves and Licht. Clavis appears

Y, L, K: SCATTER!

Clavis once fed Keith something weird

Clavis under suspicion for helping an Obsidian prisoner escape

Clavis is nowhere to be found. Cheva tells her where she can find him.

Meeting Gilbert in the ruins at Obsidian and Rhodolite territory. 

Gilbert kowai x2

Clavis did free the Obsidian spy. Returned him to Gilbert in exchange for a key. Gilbert then kills the spy

The mansion at Clavis’ territory is clean and normal because it’s actually being maintained

Gotta love when a route has you question morality and if a character’s actions are right or wrong.

CLAVIS BOCCHAN

Clavis has been a disaster child since childhood

Date with Clavis in his territory!

Townspeople: SCATTER!

It’s like his birthday story all over again

Instead of punishing an Obsidian refugee boy who escaped the orphanage and stole from a bakery, Clavis has him work for the baker instead.

Clavis loves and remembers all of his people

People may be nervous around Clavis because he’s a walking disaster, but he’s a good lord to his people. You just can’t bring yourself to hate him.

30% of the people in his territory are Obsidian refugees

Sariel and Rio are at the mansion. There’s a document signed by all the other princes but Cheva charging him for kidnapping MC as well as helping a prisoner escape. Back to the capital we go, where Sariel questions MC

You can exchange books for information with Chevalier

Sariel begins to interrogate Clavis in the throne room with the same questions he asked MC, but Cheva interrupts and kicks Sariel out

Clavis and Cheva have a long talk about the things that Clavis is doing and how he’s a pawn in Gilbert’s game, and is going to end up getting himself killed. Before he leaves, Chevalier tells Clavis what MC said when she was questioned by Sariel

Breakfast with Leon and Nokto. Leon calls Clavis’ tart(?) cute and can tell that it’s a rabbit. Why rabbit? Because Clavis likes rabbits. Like MC

A knight rushes over and tells Clavis that a certain “place” is under “attack”. Clavis leaves breakfast to attend to it and the other princes are just chilling, Leon stuffing his face with food. Suddenly an explosion. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Apparently Sariel tried to break into Clavis’ room.

He tries to do it again, this time having MC keep watch and Rio act as a distraction

Sariel was the one that taught Clavis how to pick locks

Young Clavis threatened to tell other people about how he saw Sariel pick a lock unless he taught him how

Sariel wasn’t raised in nobility

Door opens, and the two see the inside of Clavis’ room.

MC comes back to her room after a bath and sees Clavis waiting for her. She tries to leave but he stops her. She has this guilty look and MC eventually confesses that she went into his room

Clavis was actually in her room to apologize for leaving during breakfast. He left her a clay figure, a Clavis substitute

As punishment for entering his room, Clavis gives MC a hickey

MC gets a lesson on the history of Belle selection and tragedy that was the previous Belle and king

This MC had the time to look over the contract and was not surprised when Sariel asked about the 99th clause

MC says she knows her position. But suddenly Clavis pops into her mid and she thinks about how she’s never going to fall in love with him

MC: (Wait a minute, what did I think about Clavis when there are 8 princes?)

Clavis takes MC to the southwestern border where a civil war has broken out. They’re crossing over to Obsidian because a refugee boy from Clavis’ territory begged him to save his family

CLAVIS IS A CUTE SLEEPER

Cyril was formerly an Obsidian soldier who couldn’t live with what he had done during the war 10 years ago where 1000 people from a Rhodolite village were to be burned. The 1000 people that Cheva sacrificed. Before that, Clavis came to the rescue. Well...he got captured first, and Cheva still didn’t budge. So the burning commenced. Cyril went to meet Clavis because he was curious and planned to die in the fire. Clavis freed himself and whatever survivors he could and Cyril joined him after hearing the prince’s convictions.

Onto the True Love route!

After finding themselves in an Obsidian prison, Clavis, Cyril, MC, and two guards that Clavis convinces to release them go and rescue 100 prisoners and they take an underground path leftover from an old fallen kingdom toward Rhodolite.

At the exit, Clavis and MC go to check it out and are greeted by Chevalier and an army

Cheva draws his sword and Clavis is frozen. MC steps in between them and Cheva points his sword at her throat. Clavis snaps out of it and pulls the blade away from MC with his hand

MC: (Don’t act like a gentleman at a time like this!)

Clavis scolds MC for trying to confront a beast like Chevalier

MC yells some sense into Clavis to get out of his lack of confidence funk

Cheva’s just standing there while Clavis is still holding onto the blade

MC continues her talk no jutsu and tells Clavis not to give up. Clavis starts to laugh and is out of his defeated state.

Cheva draws his sword out of Clavis’ grasp. Ouch. Clavis throws a smoke bomb and the two make their escape back into the tunnels. Cheva calls off the army. But stay alert

Back underground, they need to figure out food. They can’t get aid or find refuge from other countries. MC offhandedly suggests that Clavis establish his own country.

Clavis agrees to the absurd idea and establishes Lelouch Kingdom

Someone save Cyril from this absurdity

The refugees are for it.

Exiting the ruins, in the forest, Clavis points MC in the direction of his territory.

Clavis asks for a kiss goodbye and MC gives into his sad eyes. She pulls his ascot tie and kisses his cheek

In the city of the territory, MC asks for everyone’s attention to help their lord and tells them about the story of Lelouch Kingdom being established

MC then returns to the palace. She has to choose the next king the next day.

MC writes down two names: Chevalier and Clavis. Sariel asks her to explain (threateningly). She asks for a meeting with the two new kings.

The meeting’s to discuss granting Clavis’ territory independence as Lelouch Kingdom. Chevalier counters all of Clavis’ reasons, but Clavis knew that he wouldn’t be able to convince Chevalier with words

They’ll settle this with a duel. Someone help Sariel who can’t take more of this.

Oh my god the ground below gave in and they fell to the floor below.

After throwing a smoke bomb, Clavis lands a hit on Chevalier’s shoulder.

The two shake hands and Chevalier tells Clavis to prepare the necessary documents, with legible handwriting, and to set a meeting with Jade and Benitoite. He’ll surrender land to Clavis.

Clavis cries after Cheva leaves

(premium attire chapter 24) Shirtless Clavis

MC treating his injuries.

Clavis tells MC the various things he likes about her, kissing her in various places on her face in the process

Clavis starts to kiss her legs while trying to get MC to admit that she likes him

MC relents, grabs his collar, and kisses him

Clavis mentions that he’s a leg man, not a breasts man. I’m surprised this didn’t come up anywhere in the common route)

(end)

Before returning to her job at the bookstore, Clavis tried to keep her in Lelouch Kingdom by taking the yandere method of handcuffs, drugs, and nets until MC told him that she would hate him

At the bookstore

MC: (It’s a bit lonely, but it’s nice to have some peace and quiet

The door opens with the loud bell

Clavis: I missed you my lover! Now come and jump into my arms! (He says chest, but that sounds weird)

MC: (The peace didn’t last long!)

MC doesn’t give Clavis the welcome he was expecting so he says he’ll jump into her chest instead. *picks MC up*

It’s the day of Chevalier's coronation. Clavis drags MC off to the ball to show off their love

*squints* The dress that Clavis puts MC in sounds like the same dress Clavis had her wear for their engagement party in the fake wedding event. Or they’re just both coincidentally wisteria in color

*kisses MC while they dance* everyone is shocked

MC, embarrassed, tells Clavis that she doesn’t like PDA

Clavis: I wanted to show off our love, but now I can’t let anyone else see how cute you are

Drags MC to his room in the palace

Kisses and starts to strip MC out of her dress

Stops when she tells him to.

Even at this point, Clavis is still testing MC. 

She asks what he’s testing her on. He gives her one of his shirts to wear because it’s going to be a long talk

refer to ‘A gentleman who makes women cry’

MC has learned to distinguish his laughs

MC decides to show her love more, catching Clavis by surprise every time

She tells him that she’s confident that she won’t break, so he can keep playing with her until he believes that she loves him the most. Other than PDA

A lot of tie pulling

Unnecessarily sexy act of removing his gloves

Lifts MC’s bare legs up and situates his body between them. Starts stroking her legs because the man loves them

Used to want to imprint his existence to everyone, but now is more interested in doing that with MC

MC asks him to do it gently, without the handcuffs, drugs, and other stuff

Ah, the wet sound of kissing

Epilogue

Clavis had a branch of the bookstore MC worked at in the capital open near his house in Lelouch Kingdom

He also has a room set up for MC at his place

He asks for a kiss on the cheek and MC complies, surprising him

Cyril makes his presence known, surprising MC

MC’s dere dere moments need to be cherished

MC doesn’t have to go back and forth between Lelouch Kingdom and the capital anymore. But what happens to Rio?

Clavis asks MC to wait in his room while he goes and carries out his duties. The door to his room opens easily, but instead, another trap waits for her that restrains her

As Clavis teases her, she notices that his body temperature is high. He takes some medicine.  He got a fever from staying up late again

MC wants to be someone that Clavis can relax and be himself in front of

Cuddle time with Clavis. Vulnerable Clavis but doesn’t mean he’s still a little bastard

More wet sounds as Clavis teases MC in the morning

[starry-skies-116]

"Oh shit" moment

No, but I don’t think I’ve realized, in the Alive!AU, just how serious and harrowingly shocking Evan making an attempt on his own life was for the Afton Family, and how much it made them realize that he was suffering so MUCH. All I went was ‘haha angst funee’.

Like, Evan isn’t completely innocent- far from that, he’s HEAVILY morally grey/ambigious and has done a couple questionable deeds across all my AUs, but just look at how much he’s sacrificed, and how much had been so unfairly taken from him. This bitch has trauma with a capital T-R-A-U-M-A.

Evan’s home life was essentially spiraling downwards since he was two- his parents were arguing already an awful lot, and he had undiagnosed autism, so he had only his plushies, his interests and his relationship with Michael, which was initially healthy, full of love and respect and affection and blossoming and thriving. Yeah, that gets ripped away from him by the time he’s five. Cue depression and anxiety symptoms making themselves visible and mild nightmares/hallucinatory symptoms showing up for the first time, and cue Mike and his friends bullying him, plus the bullying from peers his age AND older than him.

Then Elizabeth is born. His sweet, beautiful baby sister. Evan had already known that no matter how much he loved, respected and looked up to Michael, his older brother had ‘forsaken’ him and would never love him the way he used to, nor protect or take care of him. 

It made sense- Evan was undesirable, after all, from his own point of view. Unlovable- without worth or value, devoid of purpose, of any meaning, honor or dignity at all. Whilst the rest of his family shined like the purest of gold and gemstones, his heart was mired in the everwinter of permafrost that blackened and rusted away at it in turn.

Yet wrong he was, for the boy had erred in judgement- his heart was that of shattered, pure gold, kind yet cracking beneath the burden of the weight it bore. He gave all he could muster to Elizabeth as her mind gradually unveiled itself to full consciousness and enlightenment with every passing year- encouraged her, took care of her, consoled her, listened to her, protected her, imparted smidgens of sagacity unto her whilst her gaze glimmered with curiosity. He appreciated her- a babbling creature of never-ending questions, demands and desires, listening to his own intelligence and letting him love her the way he wished he could be loved again.

And while she did defend him and ramble to him every now and then, she gradually became obsessed with Circus Baby- and consequently, with their father, doing everything she could to make a man who never knew or fully cared for his own blood and flesh proud.

Everyone had abandoned him unwittingly, unaware of what they had unintentionally done- Evan felt alone. Was alone. And the nightmares and hallucinations began to worsen as a consequence of his depression eating away at him more- the monsters he had been fighting all his life. And it’s not just these horrific conjurations he dreams of- he dreams of a warmer, brighter future, filled with love and joy so imperfectly beautiful- of promises forsaken and betrayed, of past vows unfulfilled and left to rot, of the rage and sorrow and pain festering like an open wound on his heart within

No one was there to help him because no one knew. Every day, the screaming coming from the fights was louder. Every day, the panic attacks, existential crisises and mental breakdowns were becoming worse. The only time he isn’t feeling numb is when he feels pain, and thoughts of disappearing from the world or hurting himself occur to his mind almost every day.  He becomes more detached, numb and full of despair, hope being leeched from his body with every pointless hour that ticked by

Evan doesn’t feel safe in his own body, nor his own mind.

And then comes his birthday gone wrong, where he was humiliated once more by Michael and his friends, and then the summer after he graduates from fifth grade, he just can’t do it anymore.

And then comes the shock- the afterthought, the ‘oh crud’ moment.

Where the rest of the Afton family realizes that things are bad, and because of their unintentional negligence and being caught up in their own life, they almost lost their own family.

[waterlily707]

Okay im posting this here since people on IG didnt care as much :(

For the past 8 months ive been working on a Captain Rex custom, its taken me 8 months so far because of life stuff and the fact i started in October and began moving in December 2020.

Here are some images of the process

So the basics, the base doll is an ever after high hunter doll.

Take off head, you can recycle it but I couldn’t after I realised the facial structure U_U

the head was unusable because I acetone shrunk it and couldn’t thread wire through the neck base because the plastic became too hard.

I used another misc monster high head, used the neck base to thread wire through. 

so after I had my head armature wire base I began sculpting, I had a panic attack (metaphorically)  because as you’ll see with the first image that’s what it was looking like, but after rigorous sanding with sand paper and my funnee dremel tool I got an IMMACULATE head. *chef kiss*

so after that, using water and acrylic paint, I painstakingly spent decades trying to colour match the head with the rest of the body I managed to get something real cool :)

if the head looks ashy I tried using pastels to make the hair but ended up painting on his blonde buzzcut

after colour matching i did the face up and it turn out so much better than I thought it’d be.

I even did some body blushing and details and cried as I drew out his scars

Reminder: if your doing body blushing or any details involving the body, get a fine grit sand paper and sand the body to get everything to stick or else you’ll have a peeling problem that i’m having currently U_U

so I painted his hair, gave him funee shirt and there it was for a while lmao

(1/?)

[bri-notthecheese]

my thoughts on Iki Island:

(spoilers under the cut)

I really loved this DLC! I had nothing but high hopes for this after playing the base game last year (and three more times after that), and Sucker Punch didn’t disappoint. The whole time playing it I felt like it was only adding to my love of the characters and the stories they set up in the base game, and then all the new quests and mechanics added a lot of fresh fun on top of that! 

So where to even begin. 

The opening scene was super cool and a neat way to introduce the new shaman enemies. And despite Yuna only actually being in one scene, it was a delight to see her again. Though since I’m playing the DLC after finishing everything, I don't love the continuity of Yuna not accompanying him, but gameplay wise I knew that wasn’t going to happen anyway, but I just love when she’s with us <3

Went for my horse straight away and I was THRILLED to see that Kaze can now kill enemies and the new charge mechanic was way more fun than I was expecting and I was having too much fun with that. After Nobu, I didn’t expect to get attached the Kaze all that much (even if he continued on into a later game) but I was quickly proved wrong with this because I now kind of separate Nobu as the more gentler of the two, that was always there for me, and while Kaze is too, I like imagining Kaze is a lot younger and his aggressive personality in this really sold that and I like that it probably eases Jin’s worries a bit to see his new horse being able to fend off attacks a bit better. Plus, with his new armor, he’s even safer <3 Really fell more in love with Kaze in this, which I didn’t expect.

Met The Eagle next and had that whole encounter. I love how right away if you pay attention, you know Yuna isn’t Yuna because she’s never once addressed Jin as ‘my lord.’ I think the only time she said it was when she was talking to both him and Shimura at the lighthouse, and it wasn’t because she wanted to. But still, even knowing something was wrong, it’s cute that Jin’s mind went to her as a safe place who he’d have no problem entrusting stories and secrets to, which was obviously the Eagle’s goal. And hearing her voice warp into the Eagle’s was creepyyyy and so good <3  (my Yuna loving ass was sad to realize that was most likely the last time we’d see her, but that’s okay) That next part of the hallucination really got you feeling for Jin, and I couldn’t help but be frustrated that he’s only a child, how was he supposed to help?!?!? 

So I ignored Tenzo’s next mission and explored and pretty much completed the entire island. I got jump scared WAY too many times by her taunts, but I loved how that just added to the direness of the situation. I was obsessed with finding all the hallucinations and it just kept breaking my heart how Jin has all of this pent up guilt/heartache--with Ryuzo (he had so many I found), his father, his uncle, the Khan, Nobu :(, Masako, etc. I honestly had expected to find one regarding Taka and I’m a bit sad that I didn’t. Add those to the memories of his father and the ever-present taunting, I was going through it with Jin <3 At least you can pet the animals for him <3 The little smile he’d get every time was worth it. And the flute playing mechanic was really neat!

The first memory I got was their chat before Kazumasa’s death and honestly that got me all teary because Jin wanted so badly to hear him say he accepted him as his son, but deep down, would he have felt it? And my heart just breaks so much for Jin because as I kept going through the memories, I kept thinking how well 1) his dad sucks, but 2) both father figures kept wanting Jin to be somebody else. And it hurts that he was closer to Shimura’s way of thinking and how we even see that one time that Shimura corrects Jin, that his recitation of what honor means were his father’s words, and gets Jin to say that kindness is what honor means to him and wow. <3 <3 <3 But it hurts knowing their fate too <3 That while Shimura was more of a father to Jin than Kazumasa was, eventually, he couldn’t accept what Jin was doing in their way. Though it does hurt and make you wonder if Shimura was frightened that Jin was turning into his dad...I had that thought many times. (I loved seeing Adachi so much though omg <3 <3 <3) It was very interesting how the song Jin ends up playing for his father at the end of the memories is the ‘Jin Sakai’ theme. And then how that in turn, morphs into ‘The Way of the Ghost’ later on when in the final battle. 

It hurts that Jin had Chiyoko in his life for such a short time. I’m glad he did have Yuriko at least, but all of Jin’s memories on his mother and how she emphasized just living was so prominent, and her love of animals clearly passed to him and that gentleness too. And of instruments. Such softness, and I love that he retains that even as an adult. It makes sense that he doesn’t speak of his mother as often since he has far less experiences with her vs Kazumasa or Shimura, but it was nice to see her influence within him.  

Did this quest near the end of my exploration but I got the BIGGEST smile on my fave when I barged in the house to find the Ghost of Iki Island was Kenji <3 <3 <3 I love this dumbass so much and it was so nice to see a familiar face <3 Plus it let Jin have an actual full laugh when Kenji referred to them both as ‘tough guys’ XD His quests are always enjoyable for me and so I really loved that (though I was also Jin when he’s like “...you didn’t say goodbye.”) but I was happy to see him do the right thing at the end <3 THEN I got to duel the Viper because I diffused the situation instead and that was fun. Love that Jin explains his knowledge of negotiation was learned from all the years with Shimura <3 Also enjoyed spotting Kenji later in the Refuge XD

Really enjoyed all the side quests overall, loved all the animal sanctuaries, and the archery was a TON of fun! Getting the horse armor was neat, seeing Jin actively stop a Mythic retelling, though I was surprised there was no duel for that one. The one for the monkey armor was so creepy, following the lights in the cave, but so damn cinematic and that fight was incredible plus that amor is my new best friend. Seriously omg, the duels in this DLC felt so much beefier than the base game (I was playing on hard so that could be a reason, but the fights didn’t feel this tanky in the base) But that armor just made them a piece of cake if you’re good at perfect parries and perfect dodges <3 <3

Loved the banter and camaraderie between Jin and Tenzo throughout. And I really enjoyed Fune’s character as well! Did the next few story missions and I couldn’t help that sense of foreboding slipping in as I was getting more attached to these characters. Love that they had Kidafure Battlefield on the map but it isn’t till the mission that they tack on the ‘Village’, really hitting home what happened there. 

Maybe I should have been, but I did not see the twist with Tenzo coming at ALL! I physically gasped when he spoke the “May your death benefit all things” to that random Mongol and I was soooo tense, like Jin listen I know he was your dad but also Tenzo spared you. Which I love in the long run how he spared the Butcher’s child only to save him later in life, and Jin could save him and the island in return <3 Because ohhhhhh boy did I get emotional when Jin stopped the Eagle from landing that blow. 

But before that, HER FIGHT IS SO FUCKING COOOOOL!!!!!! SHE IS SO DAMN FAST AND SHE EASILY WIPED THE FLOOR WITH ME THE FIRST TWO TIMES. I also love her references to Khotan and that her moveset with the spear shares some similarities with him.  I tried once more in my Ghost armor (for fashion) and then I switched to the Sarugami armor and was flying through just to have that whole cutscene.

I know culture is different and obviously I can never understand that mindset, but to hear him say to Jin that they both should have died there broke my heart. What kind of a father wants his son’s death with him like that?!?!?!?! But I LOOOOOOVED ‘Honor and Ash’ playing in the background for that scene, as Jin is rejecting what his father may have thought/wanted (just like he did to Shimura with that track at the end of Act 2) and then it moved up a key just to reinforce that Jin is forgiving himself for this and letting go and again, forging his own path just as he did with his uncle. I loved that they used that piece for that pivotal moment...

...JUST TO KICK IT INTO AN EVEN HIGHER GEAR WITH JIN SAVING TENZO AND THE GHOST THEME BLARING IN WITH A KEY CHANGE TO THEN TRIUMPHANTLY FINISH OFF THE EAGLE!!!!! I WAS SO HYPED (and also hoping I wouldn’t die cuz how anti climactic would that have been?!?) but I didn’t and I really enjoyed the resolution between those two. I bowed to him after he bowed to me and I love that they even added dialogue for that if players do decide to do that <3 <3 <3 

The next quest with Fune was sweet, though it felt a little odd to do after defeating the Eagle, but it was sweet nonetheless. I have to finish up some trophy stuff, I guess there’s unseen quests that I’m sure I’ve done a few of, but I have to figure out what I missed. The dueling ring was fun, though that lady was the most difficult for me.

A few things of note:

-I like that in this DLC, you really can’t tell if it’s better to kill or spare Shimura. And how there are lines that could mean slightly different things to Jin depending on what he’s done. I’ve done both and I was on a file where he spared him, but besides a hallucination mentioning the Ghost being hunted for the rest of his days, nothing else pointed to one choice or the other.

-Though a line Jin said to Sugi threw me a bit when he said something along the lines of ‘you’ll never understand how hard it is to kill your family’ and maybe he was referencing his guilt for his father, but I’m like ?????? who else did you kill Jin??? Shimura is fine in this play through XD 

-Talking with her though, I like that Jin described himself as ‘someone who knows what it’s like to be hunted’ :((((((

-Tenzo also made reference to a friend of his being beheaded, but not finding the head till a week later, and asking Jin if he understands that and while the situation is different, I bet Jin’s mind went to Taka :( 

-Loved the subtle storytelling elements with Jin falling into his nightmares during the fight through the Gorge and his resolve disappears each time. The second time it happened, I verbally went “oh my resolve.....oh.”

-I do think Sucker Punch made a lil mistake though because I started thinking about how in Tale 8 of Masako’s quests, I’m almost certain she mentions Jin not understanding her need for revenge or something along those lines, and she talks about Shimura hunting down Kazamasu’s killer for weeks and how Jin had his closure. But uhhhhhh obviously his killer was never found? Or they killed the wrong one? And they didn’t mention it was on Iki Island and obviously didn’t have that foresight that they’d be doing this DLC since he was killed in the snow in the base game and now it was under a wisteria tree, but besides that small thing, I had no complaints! except for always wanting more Yuna

It was so great and I felt it really complemented the base game, especially in regards to everything that Jin feels guilty and responsible for, but also puts his relationship with Shimura is so many new lights that I loooove and I need to talk about more!!! If you read this far, feel free to hmu to chat about it because my best friend who played the base game at the same time I did and screamed with me about it has not played this yet and ahhhhh!!!!!!