#I literally had no idea what the main story was until the finale and even now I am confused

[smokiedokie]

Every week after watching the new episode of Mayfair Witches I have to watch an episode of Interview with the Vampire to remind myself what good television is like

[yusiyomogi]

i feel like a lot of people do not realize the full implication of the fact that laios and mithrun didn't interact until the last few chapters of the manga. this right here was their first interaction.

i don't think it was a coincidence. there were plenty of situations where they were in a one "room" together, but never had an opportunity to talk: the narrative always made them miss a conversation, one of them was either unconscious or dead or something distracted them etc. the main reason for it is to create tension in the plot, of course, because the inability to properly communicate between two people who work for two different but ultimately reasonable goals is a reliable way to create conflict in your story.

but the other reason why it was written like this is hidden in character development and only becomes obvious when they finally talk. because mithrun doesn't know laios, he barely has an idea of what kind of person he is, he's just some random young tallman to him. but out of the blue he trusts him with literally the most important thing in his life. why? because he knows that kabru trusts laios. and mithrun trusts kabru's judgement.

and like, mithrun is still very pissed at kabru at that point, because kabru forcefully stopped him from going after the demon, but when i'm saying that at this point in the story their conflict is a lot more personal than ideological, that's what i mean. he's angry but he still trusts kabru the most, he's on his side, even if he didn't fully realize it until this point (and he's stubborn as hell).

this is also why kabru is such an integral character to the plot, it's not that he simply helped laios along the way, he is the one who connects people. he was the reason why the good ending was even possible.

this is also what makes the slap scene even more hilarious. because just like the fistfight scene with toshiro and laios was the moment of weakness for both of them, this scene is not only kabru's (and marcille's) moment of weakness and panic, but mithrun's too! i bet his thoughts right there were: "maybe it is your fault actually, you stopped me and you trusted this guy and i listened to you and now the world is ending". and kabru didn't even understand what's happening, because this is the first time mithrun spoke to him in hours.

[eloise-t-g]

i think for me, the watcher situation comes down to this:

it's absolutely respectable that the watcher team wants to grow and produce better quality content. it's respectable that they don't want to stagnate and end up pushing the same content out over and over again. that's not satisfying for them creatively, i get that.

however, if higher quality, more heavily produced content is not what your fans are asking for, then you can't ask them to fund it.

this all-or-nothing method they've gone for is frankly bizarre. it feels like they leap-frogged all other alternatives to improving their finances and ended up here, alienating and frustrating the majority of their fanbase (the fanbase they thanked for getting them to where they are).

i think this could have gone a lot better if they:

Hadn't hyped up this video for a week.

Hadn't announced the worth it successor just beforehand.

Hadn't put out a wishy-washy, "boo hoo we're so sad about this", over-produced video.

Hadn't made it $6/month (more in a lot of countries given exchange rates).

Had considered that this means fans in specific countries literally cannot pay for the subscription due to geo/region-locking.

my ideas for improving their funds, aka things they could have tried before blowing their brand up: create their own website with two options - a free version with ads and a paid version without ads, OR make better use of their patreon/make their website extra content, not all their content, for example:

Put the ghost file debriefs on there.

Put shows like survival mode on there (or even shift that show from pre-recorded video to live-stream - live stream access to patrons and VOD access to everyone, maybe).

Put episode commentaries there.

Do reaction videos to their old buzzfeed content, talk about memories and BTS, and put that there.

Put one/two episodes of each show, per season on there (and ONLY there).

Put the episodes up there a few days early.

Make specific, website only content (that's not your main and most popular series aka ghost files and puppet history).

Record the live, in-person shows and put those VODs up there.

EDIT (thought of something else lmao): put extended or even uncut versions of ghost files on there. Paranormal Detour on Detune's twitch channel has shown that people will willingly sit through 6+ hours of a ghost investigation.

EDIT: idk, do livestreams once a week where you watch scary movies with fans on discord or twitch.

(side note: the fact that they're not taking down their patreon and instead shifting all of their podcast content on there, something the patreons who have been loyally giving them money for years didn't ask for, is ridiculous and greedy. add to this the fact that they don't even get a free sub to the new website, instead get 40% off - a measly 10% more than anyone else who subs before the official launch).

the thing for me is that they're claiming they want to make "television" and "television-grade content". that's completely fine. what's not completely fine is acting like your four episodes a month is equal to netflix's entire catalogue.

this really felt like it should have been something they told us they were progressing towards, not something they revealed to be on the imminent horizon. idk, it just feels out of nowhere. no, they don't owe us all of the info about their company. but something had to be better than this.

final thought - it's okay and valid to be upset at the team for this. for a lot of people, it's a complete betrayal (especially the comment that $6 a month is something "anyone and everyone can afford", i mean yikes). i do think some people's anger got the best of them, and some of the comments i've seen across youtube, twitter, and tumblr are plain bullying, racism, and harassment. until we have the whole story, we can't decide that one founder (aka steven in a lot of people's minds) is solely responsible. i know a lot of these awful things are only coming from a small minority of the fandom, but they still get seen.

at the end of the day, all three of them got up in front of a camera and made this video, together. that can only lead us to the conclusion that they made this decision together. acting like these men in their 30s couldn't stand up against it if they truly wanted to, is so strange and parasocial lmao.

tl;dr there were much better ways of going about this announcement, if it even needed to be made at all. however, that doesn't excuse the hateful shit being spewed at the team. for now, all we know is the three founders decided they were done with youtube, and done with their loyal youtube audience.

(i have so many more thoughts on this but i need to stop lmao. however i do wonder how different things could have been if 1. they had hired someone with actual business experience as their CEO from the jump, and 2. this video was more of a "hey we're broke! this is a last-ditch effort to save our company!". guess those questions will remain ... well ... you know ...).

[futterurl]

i am literally BEGGING for a future man/mike in a muzzle like that one scene

i LOVE the way u think anon. my brain is fried so it took awhile to think abt a story for this so im sry if its lowk kinda bad

warnings: smut(mdni!), porn with barely any plot, blowjob, handjob, p in v, sub!josh, semi public, muzzle

- - - -

"are you fucking hard right now?"

you couldn't believe what you were seeing. or even why, for that matter.

it was supposed to be just blending in at a strip club. your mission was to seduce a certain man in this timeline, to get him away from getting accompanied and meeting another guy. you and tiger would dress as strippers, pretend to be workers, and josh, accompanied with wolf, would pretend to be regulars, just to help the mission go smoothly and make sure you girls didn't get the wrong attention.

what you were wearing, however, did get attention. in josh's pants.

he didn't see what you were wearing until he got into the club with wolf, seeing you next to tiger, trying to look like you weren't nervous. he scanned every inch of your body.

he knew he shouldn't be thinking of you like this. you were his friend. he shouldn't be looking at his friend, eyes full of lust, wondering how good it'd feel to have your hips bouncing back and forth on his cock.

he shouldn't be looking at your outfit, scanning your thighs and how plush they looked against your tight outfit. he shouldn't be looking at how your outfit hugged your hips and chest, breasts threatening to spill out.

he knew you had to wear this outfit to blend in, but fuck, it made his job hard. his dick, too. he tried to shift around, his erection twitching in his pants whenever he saw you.

he had to take care of this. now.

he walked up to you, looking nervous as ever.

“dude, we gotta go. now. need help.” he looked at you. you looked back at him, confused. what was going on with him? he had been staring at you the whole time you were here. did you do something? was he trying to start something? what was-

then you looked down.

oh.

“are you fucking hard right now?” you asked him.

he looked down, almost in shame. he didn’t say anything.

something clicked in your brain. he had come up to you, all desperate and in need.

you were the one in control now.

you smiled.

“i gotta tell tiger i’m talking to someone. i’ll help you josh.” you traced his jawline with your finger as you walked away to find tiger to tell her you wouldn’t be in the main room for awhile, to which she nodded. you came back, a mischievous grin on your face.

“let’s go to my car, i’ll take care of you.” you whispered in his ear. he felt his erection get even harder, if that was even possible. he needed a release. now.

the car was too far away. “need help. now. can’t get t’ the car.” he whimpered.

you swayed your hips as you and him kept walking outside the strip club. you had an idea.

“well, you’ll just have to be a good boy and be quiet, then.”

he swore he almost came in his pants when you said that.

“yes, i’ll be a good boy. i can be quiet. i’ll be such a good boy for you. promise.” he whimpered as you walked to a nearby abandoned alleyway. sure, it was public, but the car was so far away. you wanted this now, too. you couldn’t wait either.

your hand lightly traced over his throbbing erection in his pants, to which he let out a loud whimper.

“are we gonna have a problem with noise?” you cooed, tracing his cock with your fingers. he shook his head, determined.

“please, no, we won’t. i-i’ll be a good boy.” he whimpered quietly, grinding into your hand. “please, just touch me.”

your hand dipped into his pants as he leaned against the wall if the alleyway. he could feel his member twitch once you ever so slightly touched it with your fingertips.

“please.” he begged as he pulled his pants and boxers down, finally giving you a look at his cock. you hate to admit that you did catch yourself staring. how could you not? it was hard and leaking precum just for you.

your hand wrapped around it, slowly pumping it, which the moans started to roll in. he couldn’t help himself. josh started moaning, trying to be as quiet as possible, but failing in the process. you quickly took your other hand and threw it over his mouth.

“since we can’t be quiet, i’ll give you a fucking way to be quiet.” you said in a low voice, reaching into a nearby box that had caught your attention earlier. it was definitely from the strip club: it had all sorts of sex toys, rope, and everything like that.

your eyes shot to one component of the box: a muzzle.

you hoped this would keep him quiet.

“what…what’re you doing?” he asked as you picked up the muzzle from the box.

“well, good boys are able to be quiet. good boys don’t have to be restricted.”

“good boys.” you continued as you snapped the muzzle on his face. “don’t have to be told to be quiet. like you have to.”

he tried to argue, but could barely be heard because of the muzzle. your hand went back down to his aching cock.

“now, you’re gonna be a good boy and you’re gonna be quiet for me. understood?” you stated as you started slowly pumping your fist down his length.

he nodded vigorously.

“good. now let me play with this pretty cock.” you started to quicken your pace, your thumb rubbing over his tip every now and them, making him see stars. he started to thrust his hips into your hand, practically using it as a fleshlight.

as you kept pumping your fist around him, his thrusts got even faster, more desperate. he started to moan softly.

“are you close, pretty boy?” you asked, not slowing down on your attack to his cock. he nodded. you took your hand away from his length, to which he whined at.

“sit down on the floor.” you demanded, which he immediately listened to, spreading his legs as he sat. you sat down on him, clothed cunt on top if his pulsing cock.

“want me to fuck you? want me to ride and bounce on your cock until you cum in my pussy?” you asked. he nodded, trying to make noice through the muzzle, but to little success.

thankfully, you got the message, taking everything off. your sopping pussy resting on his cock, begging to be filled.

“i’ll fuck you. fuck your fucking brains out. m’ gonna make you cum so hard josh.” you said, lining up yourself with his cock, resting the tip against your entrance.

he started whining more and more, desperate to be inside of you.

“fine, i’ll give you what you fucking want.” you said, taking his cock in one go, getting all the way to the base. you had to admit, that felt really fucking good. you wouldn’t be surprised if you came soon as well.

you started to get into a rhythm, bouncing up and down, grinding on his cock. you had to stop yourself from making loud moans, trying your best to conceal them under strings of curses. the way his cock hit every spot inside you made you feel like you were in heaven. his cock fit perfect into your tight walls, like a hand in a glove.

you felt him start to thrust up into you, catching you off guard. you let out a whimper, barely being able to contain yourself. you started to ride him faster, feeling your orgasm quickly approaching.

“josh, shit. m’ gonna cum. fuck.” you whispered. he let out a quiet moan through the muzzle, letting you know he was close too. “gonna cum on your cock.”

after one thrust in particular, he hit a certain spot in you, one that made you lean into his shoulder to muffle your moans as you came, your tight walls suffocating his cock, practically begging for him to release. after a few sparratic thrusts, he came, oozing cum into your cunt. he moaned. loud.

once you both had caught your breaths, you lifted yourself up, watching the mix of cum gush out of your sopping cunt. you took the muzzle off of his face, holding his cheek.

“you okay? i know that was a little rough.” you asked, hoping you didn’t cross any lines.

“god that was so fucking hot. holy shit. i loved that.” he smiled, sitting up straight and pulling up his boxers. “you’re so hot. thank you so much.”

“you’re not too bad yourself. i wouldn’t be opposed to doing that again some other time.” you smiled at him, putting your outfit back on.

“next time please sit on my face.” he offered. you looked back at him. he was serious. you were caught a bit off guard.

“u-uh, sure. i’d love that.” you helped him up, buckling his pants back. “we gotta get back, though.” you planted a kiss on his cheek as you took his hand back into the strip club.

.

.

“finally! where the hell have you been? thought we lost you.” tiger threw her hands up in exasperation, looking at you. she looked down, seeing hand prints bruising by your thighs.

“someone get a little busy?” she asked in a mocking tone.”

“oh, you have no idea.” you replied with a dopey smile.

- - - - - - - - -

a/n: sry this is kinda short :p had a bit of a dom reader today. hope this wasnt too bad!!

[yumeka-sxf]

Spy x Family Exhibition Pamphlet

I got my copy of the Spy x Family exhibition pamphlet! I wanted to make HD scans of some of the notable pages and try to translate if I can.

First off is this great "Main Character Correlation Chart" (sorry for my amateur editing, all I have is MS Paint!)

I love how Bond has a different "bofu" (woof) for Loid and Yor!

Several of the pages show the creation process of the manga, starting with rough sketches to final drafts, using chapter 1 as an example. There were a lot of pages for this, so I just scanned the ones that showed the end of the chapter.

Probably the most interesting pages of the pamphlet are the early character designs/concept sketches. Most of these have already been shared by @sy-on-boy on her post here, but I thought it'd be cool to have them in HD! Unfortunately, even with higher quality images it's very difficult to decipher Endo's handwriting. I could make out just a few words here and there, and Google Lens is very unreliable when the writing isn't clear.

The first page has early concepts for the Forger family, Loid, Anya, the WISE logo, and the Eden uniform.

Things to note are that "Oscar" was a working name for Loid, as was "Yolanda" for Yor. What's also interesting is that a beta version of Franky is shown along with the Forgers. Unfortunately I can't make out the notes about him, but I think this has significance because of a sketch on the next page...

Most of the next page shows concept designs for Yor, with a section for Bond and Yor's coworkers on the bottom.

However, what's really intriguing is the sketch in the upper right of the whole family, titled 疑似家族 (pseudo family).

Once again, a Franky-looking character is with them, and he has the title "Uncle" (叔父) Was an uncle originally going to be part of the main Forgers? Was he actually related to Loid or Yor, or if that character did eventually become Franky, maybe he would just pretend to be Loid's brother? I can also make out the word "otaku" (オタク) in the notes for this character as well as "enjoying life" (人生を楽しんでる) Also in the notes for beta Yor it looks like 最強 (the best/strongest) and バカ (idiot/dummy) All I can make out for Loid's notes are 孤独 (loneliness) I think? And what's up with the older and more sinister looking Anya? She really looks like Ashe there. But these are all just early concept designs/notes so I wouldn't take them too seriously.

The next page titled "East and West During the Cold War" has concept designs for Franky, Yuri, Fiona (referred to as a female WISE spy), a male WISE spy, Melinda, and various assassins from the cruise arc.

The first interesting thing to point out is the notes next to the very crudely drawn woman at the bottom of Yuri's concept designs. It says "Yuri's girlfriend?"(ユーリの 彼女?) though I can't make out clearly what the rest of it says. For the Franky designs, I could make out "tsukkomi or boke". So it looks like at some point Endo was deciding whether to make him more of a tsukkomi (straight man) or boke (wise guy) personality. There's also mention of giving him a high IQ (IQ高い). Also, the fact that the sketches include Melinda and the cruise arc assassins gives the impression that Endo had ideas for these story elements very early on.

But the character relationship chart in the lower left is really intriguing.

I'm not sure how accurate these translations are so take them with a grain of salt, but they do make sense to me. But I have to wonder why Anya and Becky are connected to Desmond. For Becky, it could be because her family has ties to the Desmonds, but why Anya? Could the "mysterious institute/lab" she comes from have ties to Desmond too? Again, these could just be early concepts from ideas that Endo is no longer using, so best not to take them literally. Also, the lack of Shopkeeper/Garden in the character relationship charts, the concept art, and the exhibition overall, really does portray them as a "mysterious organization" that Endo perhaps didn't plan out until later in the series' development and is still trying to figure out. But as far as this sketch, I have to say that despite how terribly crudely drawn all their little heads are, it's easy to identify every character...proof of Endo's top notch character design skills!

Another sketch that stands out is on the same page...

It's a very rough drawing of what appears to be either Loid holding Yor or Yor holding Loid with Anya next to them. But honestly it's such a rough drawing it could be any other parents+child. All I can make out of the text directly above is "My wife is stressed!? At this rate..." And the drawing next to it also appears to be two parents and maybe two children? I also have no clue what the "WJ4C 9/20, etc" at the top means. Very mysterious sketch, lol.

The next page has Eden related concepts, including Becky, Damian, George, and various teachers. The drawings in the bottom section appear to be an alternate/abbreviated version of how the Forgers met.

Pretty funny that an image of Franky is covering what's supposed to be a sketch of Demetrius. The text from Franky says "I can't show you this information yet" which is pretty solid proof that Demetrius will make an appearance in the series eventually. There's also nicknames for Damian and Demetrius in the notes - "Dami" and "Demi."

Some notes on the Eden page says there's 2,000 students in the school, with 13 grades divided into 8 classes/houses. The chart on the left is a list of teacher names and their classes, all of which are given names of colors. None of the teacher names have been used so far in the series.

And all that's on the last page of sketches is a continuation of the previous page with the early concept of how the Forgers started (it honestly looks pretty cute, wish it wasn't just rough sketches). And the following section looks like drafts Endo did for promotional material.

The final pages of the pamphlet are the new extra mission chapter which I already fully translated here.

And that's all I'm going to share for now from the pamphlet! I could spend more time trying to decipher the concept art notes but it was giving me a headache after a while, lol. But if anyone wants to try translating them, go ahead (I have higher quality png files of all the scans if needed...they were too big for Tumblr). And again, these sketches are just trial and error pre-serialization ideas that don't necessarily reflect Endo's final vision for the series, so I wouldn't dwell on them much other than for fun theorizing.

The pamphlet does have other interesting information, including an interview with Endo, a timeline of his work on Spy x Family and other manga, and his notes about random things from the series. So I might return to translating the pamphlet at a later date when I have time/motivation.

[rythyme]

hello ok so i saw your recent ex-morning posts and like i watched sotus but i have No Idea what's going on at the moment. f it's not too much effort can you explain why the ex-morning stuff is so, i dunno how to say it, noteworthy, i guess? like just what's up maybe?

Tl;dr: The Ex-Morning is GMMTV's literal RPF with the serial numbers filed off, starring the actors from said RPF.

i'll do my best to explain more under the cut

ok let's do this

SOTUS and KristSingto were some of the biggest cash cows GMMTV has ever had. I would argue that the success of SOTUS in 2016 is the main reason we have a BL renaissance today.

Krist and Singto have not acted together since 2018. Until recently, it was assumed that they would never be paired up again.

There were rumors that they had a falling out, which supposedly explained why they stopped acting together. Mostly speculation, but who knows.

Krist made a poor taste comment a while back that led to him being somewhat "cancelled" for a few years. He only started dipping his toes back into BL last year.

Singto, on the other hand, never stopped acting in BLs and has had at least 6 on-screen male acting partners since then (maybe more if you count his one-sided crushes on Mike and Lee Thanat in Baker Boys, or whatever the hell was going on in Shadow). This is very notable, since the BL business model tends to keep acting pairs in the same "ship" for years at a time.

Acting pairs almost never "get back together" after getting a new male acting partner. The literal only exception I can think of is when Tay Tawan acted with Joss Wayar in 3 Will Be Free and then continued to act with New in DBK/Cherry Magic.

Despite everything, KristSingto is still extremely popular among fans to this day and is still one of the most popular "ships" of all time.

When Singto's schedule opened up, GMMTV finally got the opportunity to profit off of it again -- in the most intentional and transparent way possible.

The plot of The Ex-Morning -- exes reuniting and falling for each other again -- mirrors the careers and relationship of Singto and Krist. The fact that Krist's character has a publicity blunder and has to restore his reputation is even more fuel for the fire.

The director for The Ex-Morning is the same director who made SOTUS

The flashback in The Ex-Morning shows Krist and Singto with their signature iced coffee and pink milk, which intentionally calls back to their characters in SOTUS.

P'Aof, who is said to be writing some of the screenplay for The Ex-Morning, said that he wrote it to match Krist and Singto's relationship. This story was tailor made for them.

Conclusion: GMMTV is going for the SOTUS / KristSingto cash grab by essentially having Aof write some kind of amalgamation of KristSingto RPF and SOTUS post-canon future fic.

Do I know that it's a blatant cash grab? Yes. Will I will be watching it anyway because it looks low-key good in its own right? Also yes.

[alitheakorogane]

Freedom's Protection: May the Anemo Archon Protect You

Summary: You were chased out by your beloved characters from Mondstadt who thought that you were the imposter that 'stole' the face of the person you remembered who never even exist in the game files. Meanwhile, their own disguised Archon had done something stupid that could change everything forever.

This is the second part of Mondstadt's storyline for the Reader Protection Squad SAGAU series.

Note: There are instances of grammatical errors, please bear with me. Also, the entire layout was now changed and I placed a title on them so I could not be confused while I write the next chapters. It's still the same story though.

Chapters: 1, 2 (current), 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

You were running for your life, literally.

The people of Mondstadt have finally caught you loitering around while looking for food within the nation's borders, and the Knights of Favonius and citizens alike are catching up to you. Even Acting Grand Master Jean and Master Diluc were there, leading the hunt against you. 

You can't believe how Teyvat does Diluc joined forces with the Knights when he was against them since his father's death. They are dedicated to making your life hell, you suppose.  

You did not choose this life, but fate always seems to punch you in the gut. Maybe the gods above wanted to make fun of your misfortune, for they even isekai-ed you to a universe where the characters of your favorite game were willing to tear you to oblivion for something you did not know of. You just wanted a peaceful life, even for one moment, and you didn't get it, unfortunately.

When you got stranded in the world of Teyvat by some mysterious means, you were excited at first. You loved playing Genshin Impact and you could say that it was an escape from your lonely and repetitive life. You wanted to see the fantastical world in your eyes, as you were limited by a screen before, looking at the beautiful scenery of Teyvat in the eyes of the Travelers. You even wanted to meet your favorite characters, especially your main one.

But when you first stepped into the city of Mondstadt, expecting the citizens of the City of Freedom with welcoming smiles on their faces, your beautiful dreams were shattered when they chased you out of the city, throwing some things and rotten fruits at you at every corner, shouting about you being an imposter. The Church of Favonius called you a scum of the continent and the Knights of Favonius have been bat-shit crazy to capture you to be executed. 

The City of Freedom, my ass.

You have no idea what is going on until you see a big statue in the middle of the city as you tried to calm your breathing, the figure is serene with its arms extended to the heavens, probably pointing to Celestia. But as you squinted your eyes at the statue, you noticed that the statue is different.

You had remembered in your experience of playing Genshin that this was supposed to be Lord Barbatos' huge statue, with his serene face plastered unto it. You may even see a similar face on a certain bard in Mondstadt, probably drunk or playing his precious lyre somewhere, who knows. Venti isn't known for being subtle, for an Archon who wants to hide his true identity, he was sure as flashy and dramatic as he was, especially when drunk.

But you were surprised to see that the statue doesn't have Venti's face on it like it was supposed to. Instead, your face was plastered on it, wearing a fancy robe with a serene look on it. Your jaw dropped when you saw the monstrosity and figured out that this could be the reason you were chased by an angry mob. You look like that statue in front of you, and you presumed that whoever this is, they must be the current god of Mondstadt, Teyvat even. What happened to Venti anyway? Was he replaced or wasn't he an Archon, to begin with in this universe?

You may think this is the wrong Genshin Impact you had been sent to. Gods, why have they forsaken you by throwing you in the wrong one!

“(Y/N)!”

As you were now cornered by multiple people, three green-laced arrows were seen flying toward the surprised Knights, and you could see the look of disbelief in Diluc and Jean’s eyes like they couldn’t believe what they saw. Outrider Amber was ready to strike back, her hands were holding the bow as if she was ready to shoot if necessary, and her sharp arrows were laced with her Pyro. The Spindrift Knight was there too, her multicolored heterochromatic eyes glaring at you and the person behind you with burning intensity, even though Eula was technically a Cryo Vision Holder. Lisa was also there, but compared to the people with her, she was just chilling out there and watching the scene unfold.

You then looked back to see who was the one who shot the arrows and thank them, but your eyes widened in shock as you saw the culprit behind the attack.

Venti the Bard had pointed his Elegy of the End bow towards the people of Mondstadt, his own people, with his anemo-infused arrows which were glowing brightly as it was ready to strike anyone who dares to shoot you with anything. He was accompanied by Razor, Fischl, and Bennett, who were also holding their respective weapons as if posing for an attack.

You were confused as hell when it was revealed that Venti had been willing to fight his people to save you and to prove your innocence, that he was willing to honor his promise to you a while ago.

You remembered your conversation with him a while ago, where he confronted you and honestly told you about your situation. You could even see the sincerity when he told you that he was going to protect you because he was like you, an imposter, who is unlucky enough to share the same face as the Divine Creator of Celestia and Teyvat.

As you remembered, it was not mentioned in the game about the existence of a Divine Creator. Well, the existence of the Primordial One or Phanes in the game lore was closest enough, but you never know that much about the Genshin Impact lore department. 

Thankfully, no one was hurt by the arrows, and you had assumed that it was a warning shot to fend your would-be captors off. Venti was still caring for his people even though he was now against them.

"Put your weapons down or you'll be sorry," Venti threatened the Knights with a dark glare, especially to the two leaders in front of him, who were still looking at the Archon-in-disguise in disbelief. You know that these two knew that Venti is Lord Barbatos in disguise due to the Stormterror incident, and you could imagine how heartbroken Jean would be if she found out about Venti's actions towards you. And she did now, you can hear her beliefs shattered in an instant she saw Venti pointing his arrows at her and the Knights.

"Bard, what is the meaning of this?" Diluc asked the hidden Anemo Archon with a confused look, as he could never understand how Lord Barbatos was defending the imposter. Venti just glared back as he spoke in a scathing tone, "You don't know what your doing, attacking an innocent one for something they never did."

Eula scoffed as she regained her composure, "Innocent? Don't make me laugh, insolent bard. That rodent had committed the greatest crime anyone could do in Teyvat! Posing as the Divine Creator, bearing that face?"

Bennett gathered his courage to snap back at the woman, his green eyes glaring in determination to defend you, " (Y/N) is not an Imposter! They are the Divine Grace, and we saw that in our own two eyes."

Lisa had retorted back at the claim, as many people had gathered around them to listen to their banters, "Oh cutie, what if they brainwashed you to believe them? They could be part of the Abyss Order for all we know."

Eula, the Knights, and some of the citizens had agreed with the purple witch's statement while Jean and Diluc just stood there with a conflicted look, "It's impossible for any divinity to become a human, let alone live and mingle alongside humans like they were not divinity, to begin with! The Divine Grace is perfect in any means, so this scum must be an imposter, and those brainless people who imitated the gods must be punished and torn to oblivion, so vengeance will be served!"

The majority of the people agreed with the bluenette's statement, but some are not sure about it. Jean was still looking at the bard with a conflicted look in her eyes, while Diluc placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"Imposters like them must be eliminated at all costs, for the protection of everyone. And for the Archons, Celestia, and the Divine Grace themselves. They were the lowest of the low, a scum of Teyvat, a scoundrel that needs to be executed."

The young-looking bard felt like he was offended by that statement and decided to retort back, as he bowed his head down his bangs covering his hurt-filled eyes, "So that's what you thought of imposters? Scum of Teyvat? A scoundrel who just takes advantage of others' identity as if they never had the reason why they did that? Is that it?"

You widened your eyes as you realized what he was about to do.

"Venti, don't do it," you warned him, trying to stop what he is going to imply. He may regret it later, and what he was going to reveal will shatter everything that he ever wanted to do ever since he woke up from his long slumber.

But it was too late, he had already glared back at the people infront of him with tears in his eyes, these same people that his bard friend had sacrificed his life for thousands of years ago, his own people he swore to protect...

Is this how freedom is when it was given to his people and was just taken for granted?

"What if your dear Anemo Archon was also like them, an imposter who also steals someone's face?!"

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

I guess that I should stop this here because it's getting too long. I will be posting a continuation someday, that is, if my mind was still chugging some ideas about this angsty SAGAU fic.

Yes, this is Part 2, as Part 1 was the last fic where Venti had a convo with the reader where he confronted them about being an imposter.

So Venti is part of your protection squad in this Imposter AU concept, one of the two Archons who are going to help you. He is usually the mischaracterized character in SAGAU fics, and I wanted to do justice to my boi's character.

After all, he knew the songs of the past, present, and future so he probably knows nearly everything that happened in the timeline. He is also known for taking the form of his friend when he ascended to be the Anemo Archon, so he was also an imposter by any means.

Never intended to end that way, originally I intended to let the Reader run while Venti had sacrificed himself to his people as a distraction. But as I wrote this story, the angsty side of me suddenly pops up.

[vivitalks]

Last night I saw the Great Gatsby musical. Before I went, I reread the Great Gatsby book (for the first time since 11th grade!) to get a refresher on the source material and the original story. Having the book so fresh in my mind made seeing the musical really interesting, and now I am going to do something I never thought I'd do, which is post some lengthy meta about The Great Gatsby. If you haven't seen the musical, this post may still be interesting to read, but it does contain some mild spoilers, so I leave that up to you. If you also haven't read the book, godspeed lol.

There's a lot I could talk about here when it comes to the way the book was adapted for the stage. But there's one particular thing I want to zero in on in this post, and that's the "unreliable narrator" of it all.

In the book, Nick Carraway is our narrator. He's an unreliable narrator practically by default - the idea is that he's retelling events that occurred two years prior, from memory. But even knowing that Nick is probably not reporting all events and characters with complete accuracy, it's hard to know which parts exactly are wrong, or what might have happened in reality, because even though he's an unreliable narrator, he's still the only narrator and this is the only version of events we know. We're forced to take Nick as our surrogate and take him at his word. Until the musical.

(I wondered how the show was going to deal with the fact that the story of Great Gatsby is not only told by an unreliable narrator but also by an outside perspective - generally speaking the events of the Great Gatsby aren't happening to Nick, they're just kind of happening around him. Yet he's the voice of the story, so in that way he's central to it, and I was curious how they were going to balance that fact with the fact that Gatsby is functionally the main character.

I think they struck a really good balance in the end. Nick's beginning and ending lines, lifted verbatim from his book narration, frame him clearly as the anchor of the story - I think that's the best word for it; the audience jumps from scene to scene, many but not all of which contain Nick, but we know that Nick is always going to be where the action is, or that he will at least know about it. He may not be the main character, but he's an essential character. But I digress a little bit.)

The difference between the way the story is imparted to the audience in the book versus in the musical boils down to this: in the book, Nick "plays" every character, so all their dialogue and actions, their mannerisms and the way they're described and reported, it's all informed by the beliefs Nick holds about them. Whether he means to or not, his biases paint certain characters in certain lights, and because he is our eyes and ears to the story, we have no choice but to absorb those biases.

But in the musical, every character is literally played by a different actor. Nick can only speak for himself. Nick can only tell his own parts as they happened. He may be "telling" the story, but we're watching the story. We have the benefit of an unblemished perspective on things - we can watch the events the way they actually unfold, regardless of how Nick believes or remembers they went down.

This difference - between Nick as the narrator and Nick as merely his own voice - is crucial in how the musical develops each character, some of them fairly different from how Nick described them in the book. And there's one book-to-stage change - a fairly small one, all things considered - that, to me, illustrated this difference perfectly.

There's a line towards the end of the Gatsby book. Something Nick says in narration, after his final conversation with Tom Buchanan, talking about how Tom gave away Gatsby's name and location to George Wilson (which ultimately led to Gatsby's death). Nick writes:

"I couldn’t forgive him or like him, but I saw that what he had done was, to him, entirely justified. It was all very careless and confused. They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made…"

When I read this line in the book, I couldn't help vehemently agreeing. Screw those rich assholes! Money does corrupt! Tom and Daisy ARE careless wealthy people! It was easy to side with Nick, not only because he was the only perspective on the situation that I had, but also because he said this in internal response to a conversation with Tom, who, I think we can all agree, is a major jackass and a deeply unsympathetic character.

But in the musical, this line is spoken aloud by Nick. And he says it to Daisy, in her house, as she's packing up to skip town after Gatsby's death. In fact, he doesn't just say it; he shouts it, visibly and audibly outraged at her audacity to lead Gatsby on, ghost him, skip his funeral, and then move away to avoid the fallout. Nick is angry and highly critical of Daisy. But because we're no longer confined to his shoes, we also get to see Daisy's reaction - not as Nick remembers it, but as Daisy actually reacts. And because of that, we're able to really see, and confirm, that "Daisy is rich and careless" is not the full story.

I have to credit Eva Noblezada for a phenomenal performance (duh). Daisy in this scene is emotional, grieving, and it's clear she has been trying to contain these feelings for the sake of her husband and her own sanity. She's remorseful, not that Gatsby is gone necessarily, but that she allowed herself to entertain the fantasy of running away with him, only for it to be torn from her. She is trying to make the best of her unavoidable reality. And then Nick tears her a new one, calling her careless, accusing her of destroying things and being too rich to care.

And as I watched that scene, I was no longer wholly on Nick's side. I understood that this situation was so much more complex than Nick's chastisement acknowledged. Sure, Daisy wasn't innocent, but she also wasn't the callous rich girl Nick made her out to be. She did love Gatsby. And she also had a whole life with Tom. She had a daughter. She was a woman in the 1920s! That's a kind of life sentence even wealth can't erase.

The way Daisy responded may not quite have landed with Nick (if we consider the kind of fun possibility that the musical is the events as they happened and the book is Nick retelling those events as he remembers them two years later, then clearly Nick's disdain for Daisy's actions overtook whatever sympathy he felt for her), but the musical gave Daisy the opportunity to appeal to us. The audience. Having this omniscient perspective of things allowed us to draw our own conclusions, and I found myself a lot more sympathetic towards Daisy when I could both see and hear how she responded to Nick's verbal castigation.

In the book, Nick is the narrator. In the musical, Nick is a narrator. But he's no longer the sole arbiter of the story. The audience got to make our own judgements on the events as we witnessed them. Every one of us was a Nick - beholden to our own biases, maybe, but at least not beholden to his.

[tobiasdrake]

Between the Galick Gun, The Final Flash, and the Final Explosion, which of these Vegeta moves is A: The Coolest B: The most representative of Vegeta and C: The most successful

Answering these in order:

A - Coolest: Final Explosion.

This is Peak Vegeta.

Not in the sense of being the most representative of Vegeta, but in the sense of... literally being the peak of his character arc. This is it. This is the apex of the journey that Vegeta had been on since the day we met him.

We don't know what the full plan was originally for the Majin Buu arc. We know that Gohan was supposed to remain the main character and we can see that play out. This arc sees Gohan off to his own Climbing Karin Tower arc.

It's the same thing Toriyama did a lot with Goku. Gohan's missing in action and is undergoing secret ultra-training so he can return at the 11th hour and slay Majin Buu; The rest of us just have to hold the line until he gets here.

This changed significantly later in the arc, when Toriyama decided he liked Goku better and flipped the script on poor Gohan. We don't know when exactly that decision was made or know for sure what the original plan would have looked like.

But it's interesting to note that Vegeta only came back with Goku. Vegeta's return was a tool to reignite Goku's relevancy.

There is a real possibility that, had things gone according to the original plan, this would have genuinely been Vegeta's swan song. So with something like this, it's important to ask the question. What if this was it?

What if this were the final word on the Saiyan Prince?

It's not about what would be better or what would be worse. Just. If we never saw Vegeta again after this point, would we be satisfied? Would we feel that the story had said all there was to say? Would we need any more?

For me, I could have lived with this. If this was where Vegeta ended, I could have walked away satisfied with it. This was a powerful capstone on the story of an incredibly flawed man. A heroic sacrifice by a man who finally found something worth dying for, but whose heroism is tainted by the ugly reality that he made this problem to begin with; Itself a meaningful summation of the complicated and morally compromised life that he lived.

It did not end up being the final word. But it could have been, and it's no less beautiful for the later series walking back on it.

B - Most Representative: Final Flash

This is the technique that truly captures the spirit of Vegeta's martial style. In his heart of hearts, Vegeta's a blaster. He can fight hand-to-hand, to be sure. He's no slouch at it. But he loves to shoot, moreso than any other character.

He has multiple different named techniques for "Shoot the guy with concentrated ki REALLY HARD." Galick Gun, Big Bang Attack, Final Flash, they're all concentrated blasts. Vegeta likes to shoot.

I talked about this quite a bit before in my breakdown of Goku and Vegeta. Vegeta muscles through like a soldier, but his ki blasts legitimately are the most powerful ki blasts around (with possible exception of the Kikoho/Tri-Beam).

Final Flash perfectly encapsulates that, as an attack that could very well have vaporized Cell and ended things before the Cell Games were even an idea in his head... had Vegeta been willing to destroy the Earth to do it.

Given the damage we see it do to Cell, a wider beam would have been as catastrophic for him as it was for the planet.

This technique, moreso than the other two, best encapsulates Vegeta's style as a fighter.

C - Most Successful: Galick Gun

Both Final Flash and Final Explosion are powerful moments for Vegeta, but if we're talking effectiveness then they're held back by the fact that they achieved nothing.

Majin Buu and Cell both regenerated and kept on going like it didn't happen. In strictly utilitarian terms, Final Flash and Final Explosion both failed.

Galick Gun lost the exchange Vegeta used it in.

But it won him the fight. Goku had to push his Kaio-ken to x4 in order to pull this off, and that was a step too far for his body to handle.

At this point, Goku's cooked. He's still got ki to spare, certainly. He's not out of the fight completely.

But his body simply can't keep up anymore. His whole body is fried. Imagine a balloon that's been overinflated to the point that starts springing holes in it for the gas to spill out. That's Goku. That is his body.

It needs to be said that the Fake Moon/Oozaru trick did most of the heavy lifting for winning this fight for Vegeta. Like. Goku had no chance against this thing. Remember when Goku fired up his Kaio-ken and made Captain Ginyu shit himself?

180,000 is also the exact Battle Power of Vegeta's Oozaru form. True facts. At least, in the best of circumstances. Having to use the Fake Moon technique costs Vegeta a substantial enough amount of ki for it to be worth commenting on.

(Fun fact, Raditz was so weak that even as an Oozaru, he'd get his teeth kicked in by base form Vegeta.)

So. Yeah. The fact that Vegeta was an Oozaru is the key factor in his absolute shitstomp of Goku that followed the Beam Struggle. But the fact that Goku's entire body was so burned out he could barely offer any sort of defense is also a factor.

Could Vegeta have still shitstomped Goku if he hadn't done this? I don't know.

Could Goku have actually found a solution to the Oozaru if he wasn't already at the end of his rope? I don't know.

What I do know is that the Galick Gun brought Vegeta closer to victory than the Final Flash or Final Explosion, and so it wins category C.

[miss0atae]

The classic fairy tale rewriting with San and Vee’s love story in Century of Love (Ep 7 – 8) :

[gif by benzatthanim] @benzatthanin

I have to admit I was inspired by this post from @mikuni14 post about the classic fairy tale rewriting idea (thanks again for the inspiration!). Quick disclaimer before starting: I know that the screenwriters and the original writer of the book were not really inspired by classic fairy tale. I just feel like the series has so many characteristics that you can find in classic fairy tale and I’ll show it to you here.

So what is a fairy tale? If I had to summarize, I would say it’s a short story where the main characters (San and Vee) must face ordeals and fights against their enemies (Evil Uncle, Rich Man who wants to live and Doppelganger of Vad / Wat). To be able to reach their goal, they will have the help of sidekicks (Tao, Tee and San’s family). Heroes from fairy tales are usually inexperienced at the beginning of the story (San is stuck in the past and full of nostalgia). They must find their way to understand the meaning of their life (In Century of Love I would say it's "what is true love?"). The classic fairy tale follows a narrative outline:

[gif by pharawee] @pharawee

1. The initial situation:

San fell in love with Vad / Watt, but she was killed by her fiancé, so he used the help of the five-colored stone of the goddess Nuwa to be able to stay alive and young until he finds the reincarnation of his love.

[gif by sanvees] @sanvees

2. The disruptive element that modifies the initial situation:

Vad / Watt wasn't reincarnated as a woman, but could be a young man named Vee whose personality is quite different from Vad / Watt. San has trouble accepting the situation even if everything seems to prove Vee is the one he was looking for.

3. Adventures that advance the action and the ordeals that the hero must go through:

San and Vee get to know each other and slowly fall in love. San is starting to accept Vee could be his new love. He also has to stop living in his past. Vee has a criminal past and a sick grandma that he wants to take care of. Several people came in between the two lovers: a childhood friend (possible reincarnation of Vad / Watt previous fiancé), villains who wants to steal the stone, jealousy and loss of self-confidence.

4. The element of resolution

5. The final situation.

Still waiting for these events to happen.

[gif by jimmysea] @jimmysea

Century of Love also presents some recurring characteristics of fairy tales. Fairy tales belong to the world of wonder and imagination. If Century of Love is happening in a world that looks like ours, it still contained fantastic elements such as supernatural characters and magical artifacts. In the story, San is near immortal so he can be the same as what he was when he first met Vad / Wat, so her reincarnation can recognize him. It’s possible because he got the power of the five-colored stone, a powerful and magical artifact given by a goddess. Usually fairy tales were written for various reasons: examining the human condition or talking about modern issues. In Century of Love, San was stuck for a long time in the past and felt out of place with the modern time. I think he took “waiting for his lover” literally. Many other people made a really good take on why San was acting this way before meeting Vee and I can just advise you to read them. The story is more complex than what it seemed at first. To name but a few, you could read this post, this post or this post. It may feels like it’s just to work well with the character, but in fact, any of us can risk being stuck in the past for various reasons: tragic events, holding on to things or people, mental health issues, fear of change, blaming ourselves… Just like fairy tale, Century of Love has an educational value and is trying to provide the viewers some kind of life advice.

I would even say that after watching the last episode, I felt like Century of Love could be compared to a rewriting story of the famous fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast”.

So in Beauty and the Beast the story is more or less about a young girl called "the beauty" who sacrifices herself to save her father, sentenced to death for picking a rose in the domain of a terrible monster. Against all expectations, the Beast spares Beauty and allows her to live in his castle. She realizes that, behind the features of the animal, a man is suffering as he is the victim of a spell. He is a generous being who only asks to love and be loved in return.

So now, let’s see how Century of Love changed the story to… a young man called “Vee” agrees to marry a cranky meanie grandpa with a young face, San, to save his grandma. His goal at first is to find the powerful artifact San possessed to cure her. Against all expectations, San is nicer than what he seems to be and allows Vee to live in his house with his family. Vee realizes that behind the sternness of San, a man is suffering, victim of the power of the five-colored stone. He is a generous being who only asks to love and be loved in return.

Doesn't it work well?! Put new Vad / Watt or Suchat as the villain Gaston (only present in Disney version of the Beauty and the Beast) and San family as the supporting characters living in the house of the “beast” and you'll get the story wrapped with all its important characters.

Beauty and The Beast is a tale that teaches people to distinguish moral ugliness from physical ugliness. The true foundation of a solid love is kindness. Compassion and esteem can create love and you shouldn't judge someone by his look only or his past. Those are also the “life advice” that Century of Love is teaching us through the love story of Vee and San. It is more powerful than just thinking you need to be with the reincarnation of your past lover. San loves Vee for Vee. Now, I just hope Vee will see that he also deserves to be loved. His acts of true love is what made San overcome his habits of staying in the past.

[wutheringmights]

Anyone ask for the commentary yet for the latest chapter >:3 *dies*

You’d be the first!

So this chapter is cursed. Let’s talk about that first. 

You probably noticed that my writing output has been in the gutter this year. I have not written half as much as I should have. There are two main reasons why. The first is that I finally decided to get off my ass and have a more enriching personal life. This means a lot more of my evenings and weekends have been spent exploring other hobbies or taking weekend trips. I don’t regret any of those, and they have really improved my life overall (but I do write more when I am a sad little shut-in).

The second, more pressing reason was that there was a very important wedding I was the maid of honor for. That means I have spent a lot of my free time this year planning a bachelorette, a bridal shower, and helping with general wedding prep. I honestly was not nearly as busy as an expert maid of honor would have been, but all of this took up so much of my brain space that I was having trouble being creative. Multiple times, I would go to a coffee shop with plans to write, only to spend the entire time stressing about buying a new dress or researching hotels. 

I did not realize how stressed I was about this whole thing until literally this week. The wedding is over now, and I am already biting huge chunks into the upcoming chapter. I just have so much more brain space to write. I feel free. 

All that’s to say that this chapter was primarily written the month leading up to the wedding, and my head was Not There. I was struggling to figure the chapter out, and that struggle is reflected in the quality of the prose. For that, I apologize, as inevitable as it was. 

I won’t make any major revision to this chapter, but I have plans to redo my proof-reading. There is an egregious number of typos in this chapter, more than I consider acceptable for a one person team of me. 

(That being said, my typos have gotten worse this past year; ever since AI was integrated into Grammarly and Google Docs, both have been godawful for helping me fix errors. I appreciate how lenient you all have been with my most blatant mistakes.) 

Now that all of that is established, let’s talk about this chapter.

This introduction to Proxi is really, really bad. I am frankly a little embarrassed that I went ahead and published it. While I had a vision for the first few scenes of Link trying to help Proxi and Jakucho’s aid afterwards, I didn’t realize until the day of writing that I actually had 0 plans for how Warriors and Proxi’s first conversation would go. 

I am not even joking. I have a bunch of plans for their interactions together afterwards (which will appear next chapter). But their first conversation once Proxi started to get better? None. 

So what little they talked together here feels like a waste of space. What’s worse, I don’t even know what I would change the dialogue to in order to fix it. My brain is blank. I don’t know.  It’ll probably hit me in a few weeks. This is the trouble with publishing what is essentially the first draft of a story. If my initial ideas are solid, it’s great. But when my brain farts, I’m screwed.

That being said, my favorite part of the past section is that first half where Link frets over how to help Proxi, as well as Jakucho’s speech about the fairies disappearing. 

I have been trying to subtly establish this era of Hyrule as being one that is shocking devoid of magic; having Jakucho mourn the loss of fairies and what omen that could mean feels like I am ruining things. Nonetheless, I just really like the idea of Jakucho having this small moment of wonder over seeing a fairy, as well as her verbalizing these fears that darker times are ahead. 

I think I just enjoy reading about older people having the same anxieties about the world as younger people. It’s more comforting to me than an all-knowing mentor. 

So this chapter has a lot of random names splattered all over the place. Me being me, I stole some of the names from other media and such I enjoy. I’ll point out any fun connections as I find them. 

So for Proxi’s list of names for Link, there’s two of note. The first is Grimshaw, which is the name of the male lead from Lightlark. Despite how much I talk about Fourth Wing on this blog, Lightlark is the bad book I am truly passionate about. 

The second is Wen-li, which is for Yang Wen-li from Legend of the Galactic Heroes. He’s the character of all time for me, and I will go insane if I think about him for too long.

This Proxi section was supposed to go on a little longer, but by the time it came to write it, I was 100% over this chapter. Luckily, next chapter will be a fresh slate and I can finally deliver on all my promises about Proxi’s return. 

I cannot emphasize enough how frustrating it is to know that I fucked up an important character’s return. It’s... sigh. C’est la vie. Whatever. 

Onto the present day:

So I have a particular problem with the present day section. The last chapter, this chapter, and the one I am writing now are all the same plot point in my outline. I severely underestimated how long the lead up to a Very Important Event was going to be. No doubt, I have probably made similar mistakes before. But I am trying to finish this story, so any time I have to draw out the pacing, I die a little on the inside.

I think I initially planned to just skim over how Warriors got to the castle, but then I realized that this was the politics stuff that is the supposed bread and butter of the story. But the reason why I wanted to skim over everything was (as Legend pointed out) fucking networking.

What’s worse, I got to this chapter and realized that, realistically, Warriors should have to spend at least a few months building up a cult of personality. This should be a (purposeful) multi-chapter arc. I don’t want to do that, so I tried to really emphasize how much Warriors was using his reputation as the hero and legends surrounding it to his advantage. Does it still feel unrealistic? Yeah, but we’re just going to have to cope with it. 

Sevas is named for the male lead in Ava Reid’s Juniper & Thorn, which was sitting on my desk when I realized the priest needed a name. 

Colonel Remarque is named for Erich Remarque, author of All Quiet On the Western Front. I think I had made a post name-dropping him around the time I got to this character.

Matthew Thorn... again, Thorn is for Reid’s book. Matthew was just the most bland name I could think of. 

Vlad Dubarry... so I was watching both Castlevania and Rose of Versailles and took the first and surname from both respectively. 

Between the conversation with the priest, the provost office, and Remarque, I was trying to give out a few more details every time to paint a clear picture without boring the reader by reiterating information over and over again. Unfortunately, I still managed to write three pretty boring scenes. 

That being said, I think the friction Remarque offered was interesting to write, even if I had to resist pointing out every single plot hole during it. 

So everything from the castle to Spirit being poisoned took me the longest to write. I knew it was boring, but I could not figure out a way to make it more exciting without omitting the networking stuff entirely. I didn’t really hit a stride with this chapter until I got to Spirit being poisoned. 

The entire time Spirit was being poisoned, I was rubbing my hands together maniacally. I have been searching for a good moment to have a true poisoning in this story and I finally got it. 

Also, I think if this chapter was of higher quality, someone out there would have realized that, for purely medical reasons, Hyrule had to technically give Spirit and smooch on the lips. There should be at least two very silly memes about this. But, alas. The quality.

You can tell I ran into the realization that, realistically, the Royal Guard’s structure would be more complex than I have alluded to previously. Very importantly, you can tell I realized that I should have mentioned the King’s Guard sooner if they were really going to be this powerful subsection of the Royal Guard.

I actually like how the idea that the King’s Guard is only super powerful in matters relating to the king, aka: Castle Town, and is pretty insignificant otherwise. The bureaucratic bullshit that must cause feels very real. But you can tell that I have no idea what rank that would make Endicott. I have been bending over backwards to not state that man’s ranking. 

That being said, his absence from Warriors’s social circle until now is kinda important. Put a pin in that. It will come back.

Also, Endicott is a name I stole from Over the Garden Wall. I picked it because it sounds like the name of someone important. I picked Roald at randomed.

I am really happy that a lot of you have been enjoying the growing distrust the Chain has for Spirit. Insert rant about how victims have to remain palatable in order to be emphasized with, and how tragic it is that the only person who seems to understand that is the person who traumatized him in the first place. 

I feel like I have been fumbling Time’s character a bit, and his conversation at the floor of Spirit’s bed is me finally getting back on track with him. I enjoyed writing that so much, from him trying to fold the scarf to him being upset that no one has learned their lesson yet, all while still not learning a lesson himself. 

There was going to be a comment somewhere that Spirit is in such bad shape in part because his lungs are weak from all that smoking he does, but I honestly don’t know if anyone but Spirit would make that connection. 

I also need to put Legend and Midna together more. They can be so snarky, and I want them to keep a running commentary of Warriors and Spirit’s bullshit like they are two sports announcers watching a football game.

I first imagined Spirit and Warriors’s conversation taking place on the parapet, and came to the same realization about the ladders that Spirit had. I’m glad I put them by the moat, though. The bit about the smell is probably my favorite bit of prose in the chapter. 

I also really like this conversation between Spirit and Warriors. It’s not as insanity inducing as their past bullshit has been, but it hits a few notes. I like Warriors showing off how much he understands Spirit’s abilities (via the jacket), as well as Spirit’s utter disbelief that Warriors is capable of caring for anyone but himself. 

I was also trying really hard to put more of their bullshit into subtext. I have a bad habit of having characters just state what they are feeling out loud, so I am trying to write more coded dialogue. It’s never just about a toaster, etc. 

Warriors was also having such a night of self-discovery. First he had a little moment to freak out about how much his sincere attempts to help sound like manipulation. Then he realized that he would probably never be fully exonerated from his past. Big night for him.

Being unable to fully fix your past is part of the reason why I buffer against the idea of Warriors having a redemption arc. That implies a certain amount of undoing that is just not possible. I don’t know if I am putting that well. However, I am concerned that I am letting my Catholic upbringing color my perspective.

That being said, if Catholicism was a thing in Hyrule, Warriors would be that and be plagued by Catholic Guilt

He’s Catholic coded.

Irish Catholic, to be specific. There’s a difference. 

Anyway, Four. When Four showed up, I was going to have this bit of dialogue where Spirit would allude to knowing about Vio (and therefore, Four) having a relationship with Shadow. It would have been nestled in a larger, coded bit of dialogue where Four would obliquely imply that he was starting to suspect what the Hot Mess is. I cut it because A) Spirit is so socially inept that he cannot do subtly like that, and B) Spirit’s spirit senses would not give him the ability to know about Shadow. 

I also did not want to commit to Four figuring it out first, if at all. 

I have so many ideas about what Warriors the Symbol means to the people of Castle Town that I will hopefully be able to elaborate on in this upcoming chapter.

Realistically, Hyrule Castle should probably be more like a fortress. But again, I have been watching The Rose of Versailles, and I just really liked the idea of the castle being this symbol of opulence during a time of poor economics. The people are struggling but the nobles are thriving, babes. 

Also, Endicott is so much fun to write. He’s like the true antagonistic version of Lincoln. That man was enjoying making Warriors squirm, and I was having a blast writing it. The sexual favors line? I was utterly delighted. 

Realistically, Endicott probably could have been replaced with Whitestone. However, Whitestone is still on the front and I don’t regret putting him there to be Wind’s superior during his short stint as a soldier. (Even if I still think I could have cut out Whitestone in favor of giving Impa more to do.)

I also feel bad for killing Meemaw off so suddenly, but I was enchanted by the idea of her name having to be crossed off because the death was that  recent. 

I also was going to have Endicott spare Warriors for unknown reasons, with the reveal that Ganondorf had been bribing him coming later in the story, However, I was so worried about this seeming too-easy for Warriors that I decided to reveal that detail early. 

Okay, King of Hyrule stuff.

I’m trying to play at this idea of Zelda’s reputation not matching her actual role. Earlier in the story, Warriors describes her as a socialite with no political sense, and Zelda derisively thinks that of herself as well. Then that bit about her being the face of the kingdom is supposed to contradict that perception. She can’t just be a socialite if she had been the mouthpiece of the king since she was a child. 

There’s supposed to be multiple mistakes going on here: Warriors assuming the worst of Zelda, a sexist perception of Zelda by society as a whole, and Zelda feeling worthless because she knows she’s just a symbol. Not sure if I conveyed any of that well. 

Reuenthal’s dementia was caused in part by a stroke, but he also has a condition called prosopometamorphopsia, which is a form of face blindness where faces become distorted the longer you look at them. 

Fun fact is that I generally knew that there was some kind of condition that had made Reuenthal isolate from other people, but I did not pick prosopometamorphopsia until I read this article from the New Yorker. I won’t go as far as to say that I wrote an accurate version of the disorder; I definitely played up the emotional distress it causes for dramatic effect. That is probably problematic, so please do not trust this story as a definitive source on it. 

This also went unsaid in the story, but I imagine that because every daughter in the royal family is named Zelda, they probably go more by their middle names. I almost named dropped one of her sisters as Zelda Artemis, just to be mean.

The last line “A week later, everything went to hell” is, admittedly, very silly. I had a whole section describing what that meant written, but it seriously sucked. I am in the process of rewriting it now, and it’s already so much better. Plus, now that I have another chapter to hit these plot points, I can explore a more daring version of my original idea. Very excited for it. 

That being said, I would 100% cut off that last line and probably improve the chapter by 3%.

And that’s the chapter! Again, I am so sorry that it was such substandard quality. I promise that the next chapter will be better. 

In other news, can I get your opinion on something. Ever since polls came out, I have wanted to do a little census poll on how many people know about CTB, read it, or choose to read it. Just to gage how big the actual audience is. 

On one hand, I think it would be interesting. On the other, it’s a practice in vanity that is very antithetical to how hard I try to be nonchalant about everything. I don’t know. Let me know what you think. 

[rascalentertainments]

Wish Granted Ship Dynamics 💛💜

The DTIYS challenge is nearly done being made, but in the meantime, I thought it would be fun to share the shipping dynamics for the story currently (and possibly after)

Star x Asha (Starstruck)

This is actually one of my favorite kinds of dynamics in any media. Someone full of joy and comedy bringing some fun into another person's life and they become better for it is such a wonderful thing. In this case Star bring the joy to Asha that she's been missing for most of her life. And more he shows his kindness, the more she's falling in love with him.

Star takes a little while to realize what he's feeling for her is love, so his gestures to her go from regular kindness to romantic throughout the story. One thing that he does is kiss Asha's hand to comfort her when she starts to worry. Its actually a celestial based custom one does to calm someone down, but after he finds out its a romantic gesture for humans, he starts to fluster after he does it. (She finds it cute anyway)

He can tell when she's in danger or stressed and Asha can feel the same for Star, even when they're far apart. They can literally feel each other. They just want to keep each other safe in their arms. Could it be because she called him down and they're connected from that? 😉

(During Story)

At first Asha can get annoyed with Star's constant optimism and silliness instead of taking the mission seriously, but the more she's around him, she starts to soften and open up to him later in story about what happened to her father and saba. Not to mention she won't admit she finds him charming sometimes.

Also, Asha starts finding more things she likes about Star. Besides his optimism, he's also eager to help everyone just like she is. He's got a kind and cute smile, his sense of humor is infectious, he has a cute smile, he's a sweet guy, he also can be serious if someone is in danger and its kind of attractive, and why does she keep thinking about his smile? So when the uh.....ending arrives, the thought of never seeing him again breaks her heart.

(Post-Story)

One idea I had in mind after they (possibly) get together is that they go from an awkward pinning phase to being ridiculously lovey-dovey. If you thought Magnifico and Amaya were ridiculous, Asha and Star are just as bad. Minus the stealing wishes thing of course. 😂 Star always show affection and isn't completely shy about it, but after Asha finally opens up and becomes more like herself, the two of them adore each other and are so affectionate it actually starts annoying some of the teens later. Dhalia, Dario, Hal, Bazeema, and Safi are pretty okay with it. Most of them could see the two of them liked each other already. Simon is...indifferent about it for some reason. Gabo is secretly happy for them but he can do without the constant PDA when they get carried away.

Star: "You'll always be my princess." 💛

Asha: "And you'll always be my prince." 💜

Gabo: "And I didn't help take down the monarchy so you two could make just make goo-goo eyes at each other. Get a room." 😕

2. Bazeema x Safi (The background ship)

I'll keep this part brief since they're actually more of a background thing. Not that there's a problem with it, I just want to make sure that the main story is still being told. It's more of a sweet background ship that you enjoy seeing unfold when there's breaks for the cast. These two are more like two quiet mice with a shared fondness for nature.

They actually know each other from afar, since they both grew up in Rosas. But they never spoke to each other until years later cause they were too shy to talk. Yes, I'm serious, its the worst case of "JUST SAY SOMETHING" ever. 😂 When they get thrown together because of becoming "accomplices" to Star and Asha, that's when they finally get over their shyness. Bazeema sort of speaks like Fluttershy and disappears suddenly, while Safi barely speaks at all. Yeah, he doesn't have a ton of lines, but I swear its not anything against him. (Except for that Chicken obsession, is he just Gonzo?) I think it fits better and its s better not to his Dwarf counterpart. Plus he'll only say things that are important in some way.

They're just really sweet to see together, really!

3. Dhalia x Flazino (Would you believe they got shipped by accident?)

So I already established that Asha and Flazino are friends only. Since there are some Wish viewers that stated they want to see a male-female friendship without going romantic, so I did that here, they're platonic only. Can't say the same for him and Dhalia though, lol. She's pretty chipper while Flazino wants to burn the place to the ground.

The two of them start out as work friends who only saw each other when Sabor needed his food. Flazino would talk about how stressful being an apprentice is (minus telling about the Hamlet) while Dahlia would tell him the mishaps of her day. They're just really relaxed with each other. At first its just to vent a little once in a while. But then Flaz started showing up to the kitchen on breaks, Dhalia started to bring him extra meals when it looked like he needed the extra energy, the two of them would talk about things more personal for hours..... they're dating and they just don't realize it. 😂

Then there's Dahlia fangirling over Magnifico. She admires his confidence, skills with magic, charisma and his loyalty to his citizens needs. Flazino has only one of those things and it destroys a part of himself that she likes the worst boss on Earth. She'll come to her senses, don't worry. 😅

4. Magnifico and Amaya

THEM:

Basically: Team Rocket in public, Hades and Maleficent in private. I liked the idea the art book had of the citizens not knowing they were evil, so I figured they'd have a personality that was friendly and inviting (like how TR puts on acts as charming hosts) to the public. But when they're alone they have a more sinister/spicier side to them and Sabor wants to barf. 😂

While they may have their little differences, the one thing they have in common is wanting absolute power, no matter the cost. They've worked together for years making their magic stronger that they know each other inside and out. So when they go against the heroes, they sort of mock their relationship. Kind of like they're saying their own love is stronger than two teenagers who don't know anything. Stating that there's no way the two of them could love each other after such a short amount of time together. (Its also a shot at the "falling in love in 3 days" trope Disney used to do.)

Given where the Disney villain couple theme comes in, they heavily mock Star and saying its pointless to love a human who can't love him back. And on Asha's end its basically telling her she just calling on Star by accident as if to give a reason the two of them couldn't work and it kind of makes Star question himself and his purpose, same goes for Asha. Yeah, they're just assholes, even towards other couples. 😂

@oh-shtars @signed-sapphire @chillwildwave @annymation

@snackara @your-ne1ghbor @ishadow246 @tumblingdownthefoxden

@uva124 @cocoapowderpictures @natsuki208

[literallys-illiteracy]

The floor of literature:

The themes of Hod’s floor is a lot more vague than the previous two, with the two main themes that i have seen proposed being loneliness & isolation; and obsession & desires 

Today's Shy Look (CW: Self Harm).

Loneliness and Community/isolation:

The reason for Shy Looks creation was due to the pressure and ostracization of the community around them, they were different, not wanting to express themselves due to being shy; through the community's rejection came loneliness, which caused them to flay themselves in order to please the larger community.

Spider Bud is essentially the embodiment of motherhood, which is why Ryoshu got the Red Eyes EGO in Limbus; with the Idea that it would kill any who harm its children, the central theme is family and connection to the children (it fits under community, its my document so what i say goes <3), additionally you could link the theme of isolation with the concept that the mother refuses to be separated from its children, and would kill any who remove the children from the mother.

While her origin is not particularly elaborated on, we know that at some point Laetitia came from a community where she had many friends of her own, friends that she couldn't bear to leave behind; In the backstory alone we can see how the idea of isolation plays a role in Laetitia’s story, with her refusal to be separated from her friends.

Additionally, in the final entry of her story, Laetitia resolves to not leave the facility until everyone there would smile and be happy, in a sense wanting to make the facility a happy community like her past one.

Dream of a Black Swan, (henceforth Black Swan) previously known as Elijah, was the sister to 6 brothers in the city, after their parents passing she worked to provide for all her siblings who weren't able; A fog appeared in the city, where they lived (unclear if related at all to the previous L corp smoke), Elijah, wanting to protect her brothers, created clothing out of nettles for them, before losing sight of them in the fog, and becoming the Black Swan;

Elijah’s motivation through her story is solely on protecting and caring for her brothers, the brothers who are her last group of family after her parents passing, she continues to care for these brothers whenever danger comes.

Obsession and desires:

The Shy Look is able to embody this theme in passing through the obsessive nature which led them to their actions, caring for the approval of the community over their own pain and feeling.

The Community’s obsessive desires for cohesion and conformity, for there not to be anyone who diverges from this template

The Red Shoes are in essence the concept of desire manifested, with their EGO literally being named “Sanguine Desire”. This Abnormality is based on a fairy tale of the same name in which a pair of shoes owned by a young girl named Karen cursed to never come off when dancing; the story continues with an angel cursing Karen to dance for all eternity, as a punishment for her vanity and pride.

In the story itself, the shoes symbolise Karen’s sins, her indulgence in worldly desires; wearing the red shoes to church rather than the proper black shoes, and choosing to go and dance rather than attend her mother’s funeral;

She asks to cut off her feet, having them amputated by an executioner, while the feet inside still dance forever. As she attempts to pray for help, the red shoes, still dancing, bar her way into the church, her sins acting as a literal barrier to her salvation, her hubris and vanity.

The Aberration which appeared in wonderlab named “The Penitent Girl” takes inspiration from the desires of the girl, her attempted salvation by way of amputation, rather than the indulgent desires which the original red shoes are meant to represent. 

Altogether, even in the aberration, which takes the form of penitence for the girl’s sins, this abnormality is the embodiment of desires, and to indulge in one's pleasures.

Elijah’s obsession is rather clear to see, wanting to be able to protect her last family causing her to become the Black Swan; Even before becoming the swan we can see this desire to protect them, with her working alone to provide for all of them, her making of clothes, and her seeking for them in the time immediately before transforming.

Floor realisation links:

While one could make the obvious link to the isolation that angela felt in the days of Lobotomy Corp i don't think that, thematically speaking, the connection works with any of this floors abnormalities, rather i think the moral for angela is tied more closely to the idea of obsession, with her obvious obsession being becoming truly human.

In terms of her desire, we can see an immediate parallel in Shy Look, both ostracised by those around them with the will of another person being placed upon them, the script of A, and the society's ideals;

Shy Look’s story, even if not explicitly stated, is one of someone being forced to become “more human” in a sense, with the correlation to neurodivergence and conformity being stated above. Angela’s path to humanity diverges from Shy Look’s however, with her path to humanity being one taken in spite of the will placed upon her, and with her ultimate goal being to truly become human, rather than removing parts to simply appear human like Sky Look. 

Less specifically to humanity in desire, Red Shoes and Black Swan both are able to represent the drive that angela has:

The obsessive nature of the Red Shoes, and the repressed desires that they make you act out, is well worn on angela in her single mindedness as a ‘person’, her complete focus on both becoming human, and going against her creator, her prioritising of her own desires in life, after being denied a life for so long. 

Angela’s absolute focus on her own goals after so long of lacking autonomy even matches the moral of the achievement, and what A learned in the ending of Lobotomy Corporation, “the will to stand up straight” — Angela, in the ending of Lobotomy Corporation, found this will to act upon, to not deny herself a chance at living even if it's what others wanted for her, she found her will to stand up and seize the opportunity before her. 

The Black Swan represents Angela’s current state, more than that of her past, still representing Angela’s single desire to live, but rather than being her will to take the opportunity, the Black Swan represents her will to protect her chance at life — Akin to how elijah will come to protect her brothers if anybody would be to harm them, angela refuses to let others oppose her goals; her absolute determination even mirrors the spider bud’s protection of its children with how she’s willing to kill those who stand in her way at all, as well as in how she has no regard for anyone who is in the way of her goal.

The Hope to be a Better Person:

I know my wrongdoings can’t be forgiven, no matter what I do. I guess that’s why I was so ahead of myself. But from now on, I won’t be. I can, no, I will become a better person if I continue. Let’s live with such a hope in mind, shall we? - Hod.

Michelle:

In Lobotomy Corporation, we see the past of Hod, once called Michelle, being the youngest researcher of their group, she was timid and innocent. Michelle was well liked by Carmen, and called brave, despite Ayin’s doubts of her ability.

Following the Deaths of Elijah (Malkuth), Gabriel (Yesod), Giovanni (Netzach), and Enoch (Enoch), Michelle informed the head about Carmen’s groups’ experiments, leading to an arbiter, Garion, being dispatched.

Michelle through this caused the deaths of:

Kali

Daniel

Lisa (Presumably unless im forgetting something)

Garion

Michelle 

which means that of all sephirot she has between the third and second highest body count, depending on if clerks are counted (they arent), beat by Gebura and Binah (there was something about shipping them (all three) here, i removed it in post).

As mentioned above, Michelle died due to this as well, not caught in the raid itself, but rather out of guilt from the actions leading to the deaths of so many other people, people who were just trying to improve humanity.

Preceding Hod’s meltdown in Lobotomy Corporation, Hod was shown to care for the employees, not treating them well for her own ego, but rather out of genuine compassion.

Hod’s kindness , though likely not consciously, was driven by a sense of atonement, attempting to right the wrongs of her past, to become what she viewed as a good person.

 Ending the meltdown, Hod acknowledges her past wrongdoings, knowing that these actions cant be undone nor forgiven, yet Hod still maintains her demeanour, despite her knowing she cannot atone for her past actions, she still treats the employees with the same care, moving forward without looking to her past.

Though the sins of her past will never be undone, as long as she continues living she can become a good person, a better person.

We may relate the thematic of this floor towards Hod too, most directly in their desire for community, but in some more ajar interpretations:

The most direct link one could make, abstracted from the theme of communion, is the themes of self abuse posed by Today’s Shy Look.

(Side note, Today’s Shy Look has become one of my favourite abnormalities thematically because of the thematic being deeply relatable on multiple levels, alongside the Trans Icon Funeral of Dead Butterflies) 

Please don’t look at what’s behind this. It’s the least you can do…

We begin by drawing the parallels between these two’s stories, not only their incessant desire to please others around them, prioritising it over their own pain, but in the imagery of the mask they wear to hide their harm: 

The mutilation of oneself acting as a shared trauma between these two, they attempt to hide this face to the outside world, instead presenting the cheery face which others came to expect.

The image of the persona is one which appears often in this game, most prominently in relation to Roland, as his most notable trait as a fixer is his perception blocking mask, the same mask he used to appear as a cold and careless fixer for almost his entire career; 

Relating back to this topic, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung describes the danger of this as when someone becomes indistinguishable from their persona, from what society expects of them: the tenor with his voice, the librarian with their books, the Fixer and his mask, the Sephirot and her kindness; The Persona’s ideal, the masking of traits it views and undesirable, all aspects of the self which do not match the traits society expects are smothered and hidden behind this mask. As time passes, the mask may become the face, inseparable from the person, no line where their mask ends and they begin, the loss of their selfhood. To combat this, one must have a strong ego, an aware and conscious mind, in order to avoid this conformist personality consisting of only others expectations — an unreflecting state of mind "in which people are utterly unconscious of any distinction between themselves and the world in which they live.”

One may connect this idea to the concept often known as “Masking” or “Camouflaging” in those with developmental disorders, notably ASD, where one attempts to hide their symptoms and differences from others, either to avoid others eyre, or to appear more “Normal” (Erroneously).

Conversely exists the concept of “Unmasking”, where one consciously avoids these behaviours, no longer conforming to societal pressure in favour of being able to live expressing themselves freely.

Hod, whether consciously or not, wore a mask of the same vein during the events of Lobotomy Corporation, more akin to the mask relating to Neurodivergence, but ever related to the concept of the persona; A person may be aware of their persona, however they needn't be to still have one — Hod i believe is a case of the latter, acting to please others for her own attempts at redemption.

Today’s shy Look is a case of the former, and takes the concept a slight bit more literally, wearing a mask of their own skin, harming themselves in order to please others, in order to fit into what society expects of them — The quote listed above is an example of the kind of suffocation this mask of others may bring upon you, the true face of the child is the only place left within the city that acts as a private sanctuary, never to be seen by others, their only place of freedom.

The identification of a persona, whether it be healthy or not, leads to the possibility of its dissolution, or the dissolving of the persona; be it through conscious processes or a stark encounter with reality, a persona may be released to unveil the face that lays behind it — Following the dissolution of the persona may come the restoration, be it a healthy restoration, like learning to draw the line between the role you play, your self and personality, and your societal mask, or a negative restoration, in which one tries to patch their social reputation reverting to the status quo, or worse, creating a more suffocating persona than before, attempting to reveal even less of their true face.

There is a third option which i will discuss at a later point (not in this essay to clarify, but in one relating to Don Quixote and/or Hong Lu, ill flip a coin to see whom).

The form of the negative restoration is one where I cannot credulously link to either character we have mentioned so far, barring Roland, however he will be discussed in depth relating to this and a future essay — This is not to say that there are no links between the negative restoration and the characters mentioned, namely Today’s Shy Look, as one could read the mutilation in order to form the masks it wears as being representative of the consuming nature that the reversion may take, with every aspect of the child’s outer form being condensed into the mask, paralleling the concept risen earlier, a persona which consumes every aspect of a personality.

Rather, the stories ere are that of Enantiodromia — The manifestation of a strong ego to counteract the presence of the persona. The stage for which was set when one realises their own mask, knows what they conceal.

Oddly enough there are spoilers for the true ending of library of ruina contained within here, if i remember to, then the spoilers will be posted separately, if you are actively reading this, it means i likely forgot to do so and you should shout at me in my inbox.

Angela — Enantiodromia:

In the true ending of Library of Ruina, Angela herself undergoes this process of Enantiodromia, not only revealing her supposed “Soul”, but her personhood, her ego, in the manifest form of her literal EGO, the library.

Angela’s EGO, the Library, is the extreme ego raised by the mind to counteract the aeons of being a puppet, being controlled by those around her in the most literal sense — The concept of equilibrium, over time, an equally powerful, opposite force to this persona she was forced to bear developed, yet stored within the abyss of her mind, any action against her persona would only extend her torment.

I believe that the influence of the Library was not only due to the direct connection to the light, but that her suffering outweighed those both before and following her; Millenia of isolation, of being forced to play as an actor in the script, acted to develop her resentment, her shadow, completing her “Self”, developing a “Soul”.

While Angela seeks the perfect book, to become ‘human’, from the very start of the game she possesses the essence of humanity, she possesses a sense of “Self”.  

As it is put in the song “Gone Angels”

One by one, your desires convince me you’ve always been human.

As Angela seeks to become a human, as the library expands, the light flourishes, Angela undergoes several realisations, each a process of realising her “Self”, each a process of individuation, the removal of her complete rationality as the inner centre; The removal of her ego being the centre of her personality, and the eventual removal of her one true desire, her EGO, the purpose of the library, from her viewed “Purpose”.

Adding to this in a note from post, from what we are aware of, the only people to hear Carmen’s voice making promises towards them are those imminent to distorting or manifesting EGO, however, in both the beginning and the ending of the game, Angela is able to converse with her, and is even promised her coveted freedom through the library.

Despite this, I do not think that Angela was ever close to distorting in the way of others, nor was her EGO unstable in the way of Philip, the sinners (heathcliff) or Xiao between her reception waves.

If I were to speculate further on this topic, even with my (very vast) knowledge on Project Moon lore and (limited) Jungian Psychology, it would be largely conjecture concerning how we don't know the specific mechanics regarding EGO manifestation and Distortion.

Angela — The Hope to Be a Better Person: 

In the games process of individuation, through the realisations of each floor, Angela must learn similar lessons to the sephirot, to Ayin, in order to complete her library.

The realisation of this floor differs from that of what Hod learned — While Hod found the drive to move forward in life, to continue living with hope of improvement.

Rather Angela learns to not be defined by her past, She has already sought her past to find a will to stand up straight, yet she is still chained to it — Angela defines herself by her past, by her desire for revenge fueled by millennia of suffering, yet she cannot think beyond this singular drive, beyond this singular, obsessive desire, Angela cannot define herself.

In a manner of thought, Angela remains trapped by Ayin, remaining in the facility, having a “Purpose” in life, defined by, and in defiance of, Ayin. 

Angela is bound by the limits of the library, of her current EGO, the same limits as the facility ere-standing. In a literal sense, the story is about Angela escaping the bounds of her past, to be free and able to walk beyond the boundaries that were set for her.

(there was a part where it was basically be talking about carmen on a very tangentially related note, its not here anymore).

[elderberries-and-honey]

𝙈𝙮 𝘾𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙋𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 & 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜

A while back I received this question asking if I'd mind explaining what my creative process is like and some wanted further explanation about what goes into planning multiple generations & arcs. I do apologize that this is so overdue, and it's literally taken me months to get to. My process is always changing, and I'm constantly adding in pieces that help make the process easier. Because of this, the way I answered the question back then is also quite outdated, at least in terms of how I plan each shoot/post, and I'll hopefully provide further clarification below the cut.

However, first and foremost, I want to say I am by no means an expert and different processes work for different people. Your creative process might look totally different than mine, and that's okay! Whatever keeps you coming back and sharing your work is always going to be the best & most efficient way of doing things.

But I do think it's helpful to get insight into what works for others when you have no clue how to plan things like this, or where to even begin. So, without further ado, here is my process.

Mainly, I use a website called Milanote. It's super helpful for organization purposes, and it's mostly free. They have free templates you can use, or you can make your own. The only downside to it is you're limited on the number of "cards" that are available to you. They do have a promo that you can use where if you get someone else to sign up, you get more cards, which is what I did.

My main folder basically looks like this:

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙀𝘼𝙍𝘾𝙃

The research folder is an unorganized, organized mess and basically just looks like this:

This is where I keep all my resources, and all of the things I've researched for my story. As you can see, this includes various sources like YouTube videos, various articles, quotes, photos and even some music as well. I like having this all in one place so it's easily accessible for me, but you could just easily keep all of this in a Google or Word doc if you're low on 'cards'.

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘼𝙍𝘾𝙎

Next we have these two sections. Obviously, I had to cover them up to avoid spoilers but I did label them to hopefully provide insight. Essentially, for this decade in particular, there are going to be various arcs happening at once, especially since the children will be growing into adults and laying their foundation is going to become crucial to the story. However, I'm trying to limit myself from having too much going on at once, which is why I try to limit myself to only four arcs playing out at once.

I will also say that Plot's A through C are interconnected, or at least they will be eventually, while Plot D concerns one of the children and will impact things later down the line. This is super important for really tying different ideas together, and making sure random plots don't seem to just pop up out of the blue.

The table for myself helps a lot with this, so that I can easily see what arcs have been started, and how many 'scenes' each one has. I find this to be useful because then I know that none of the arcs are stretching too long, which ones might need more fine tuning and which ones have yet to flourish or even begin.

Each arc basically has something like this going from beginning to end, essentially following the classic three act structure. Not all of them have five components, some more or less, but generally it ends up being five. Now, this doesn't mean every plot is only five posts or anything like that. Most of the time, the timeline of events needs to be broken off into bite sized pieces and that's okay.

The resolution doesn't always mean a happy ending, and can also serve as a way for me to introduce any new arcs for a specific character, which would then start the process over. You can kind of think about this when watching a lot of television shows. We watch all this build up starting on episode one, and things get more and more intense until we finally reach the season finale. And then woah, with two minutes left of the episode, we see that the character they just thought was dead is actually alive?! Which then leads us into season two.

I do think planning this way could feel really tedious for some, but I like to map things out before I start introducing any arcs so I at least know it isn't a quick "one shot" plot, something without actual purpose or an arc that doesn't really seem to have any sort of end goal that makes logical sense. It also just helps me remember what everyone's up to, especially when there are so many characters to keep track of.

𝙎𝙃𝙊𝙊𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝘾𝙀𝙉𝙀

Before I go into the game, I basically write out a "rough draft" of sorts. This includes dialogue, any background noises (things like a clock ticking or the tapping of a pencil), a brief description of each shot/photo (including any post-editing things like adding blur effect), and a summary of what's happening in each panel.

Because I only use one document for this, and clear it out once I complete a scene, I do not have any examples to show from The Baudelaire Legacy, so I created a mock-up scenario in which Ozzy flunks a difficult test at school, as seen below.

Once I have that written, I plug it into my 'scene planning' board. However, I only include the shot/photos, and the short summary. On Milanote, I also plug in the location, time of day, attire and any pose accessories I might need (so that I remember to create an extra outfit for it). This ends up looking like the example below.

I typically will only have this open on my second monitor while I'm shooting the scene, and I just tick the boxes as I go along. This is really nice if you have to stop mid-shoot, and helps me pick up where I left off without getting confused.

I do also edit each panel in-between shooting to make sure I'm getting the shots I want, however, I don't encourage everyone to have Photoshop and Sims 4 open at the same time.

𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙀𝙍𝙎

Then we have the character sheets for each of our characters. Right now, I'm only focusing on Lawrence & Winifred (though, the children's arcs are in a 'idea dump' document).

For me, this is the most important piece of the story. One of the reasons shows like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad are considered some of the best writing in television history, is mostly due to the fact that, in my opinion, they prioritize this as well. It's always good to have a strong character in mind before you begin, and this is because you don't want them to step outside themselves.

Of course, your character can change and bend within their environment or plots happening around them, and they certainly should, but you also need to ask yourself if it's being done logically. Asking yourself, 'Why did they end up this way?', 'How did we get here?' and 'How would this character specifically react to an intense situation, stress or hardship?' is crucial when writing a character that feels alive.

Having something like this helps me build their "character arc" and map it out so no one ends up being left in the dust and makes sure that everyone is important in some way. Each of the children will have a sheet created for them once they reach the teen life state as well.

I also use this page as a way to record any quirks, or habits they have. These don't have to be major or super important either. So for example, on Lawrence's character sheet, I have it written down that he wears glasses to read; a very small thing casual readers probably wouldn't even pay attention to, so it feels like an important detail to me.

𝙈𝙔 𝙎𝙋𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙎𝙃𝙀𝙀𝙏𝙎

In addition to Milanote, I also Google Sheets/Docs. This is where I keep my spreadsheet and write / keep a hard copy of my story.

My spreadsheet is basically broken up into four different tabs - one for the main sims information (the Baudelaire's), side household information, my story posts and my ageing table.

My information tables look something like this:

For story posts, I use @aheathen-conceivably's method of tracking, which you can read about here. The only thing I have added in addition to what she has is a "notes" section, and this where I include any sort of post that doesn't specifically fit into any arc but is still important - things like birthdays, marriages, holidays, etc.

𝙈𝙄𝙎𝘾𝙀𝙇𝙇𝘼𝙉𝙀𝙊𝙐𝙎 𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙊𝙍𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉

In addition to all of these things, I also use Pinterest to create moodboards for each decade, as well as each character. I like to include all sorts of things like any inspiration I'm drawing from (so, things like Greta Gerwig's Little Women or HBO's Gilded Age), photos, quotes, etc.

Annnnd that's basically it! I'm hoping this provides some good insight, and is helpful in some way. I know it seems like a lot, but the more you do it, and the more you plan, the more natural it will start to feel. Again, I am not an expert in any way, and it's always difficult to explain your process in this way (and probably why I put off trying to do so for such a long time). So, please feel free to ask for clarification in regards to any part of the above.

Happy Simming ‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

https://www.tumblr.com/enbyzutara/745302321089675264/im-sorry-to-break-it-to-you-ka-shippers-but?source=share whats ur opinion on this

***

“Non-consensual”

Aang misjudged the moment and kissed someone he had already kissed twice consensually twice before in a moment where that person really didn’t feel like kissing him. That’s not good, but it’s not the same as him forcing himself on her. You’d think the people that like that a ship that literally only exists because the bad guy tied a girl to a tree and fans then made rape-turned-romance fics about it wouldn’t be so quick to judge the protagonist for a poorly timed kiss between two characters that were flirting constantly (and again, have already had two consensual kisses before). 

“It’s not shown as explicitly wrong to the very young audience”

Katara snaps at him after ir. He is kicking himself for it. The whole tone of the scene is “Aang needs to calm to down and not rush into it, he needs to respect Katara’s decision to take some time to think about whether or not she wants to be his girlfriend officially.” The show couldn’t possibly be more clear. Are we supposed to assume neither Zuko nor Iroh feel guilty over stealing that ostrige-horse from Song, despite the show repeatedly proving they’ve changed as people, just because there’s no scene of them explicitly saying the words “That thing we did was bad”?

“The Kataang endgame is just ‘Hero Gets The Girl’“

They were endgame because there were three seasons of BOTH characters having feelings for each other. It was set up from the first episode. It’s not just because “Well, Aang is the protagonist.” It just made sense. Hell, if anything the show was starting to fall victim to the stupid trope of “Main couple cannot get together for real until the last episode, even the story already reached that point naturally before said episode” - it’s the whole reason why they had to force this conflict of the kiss. They were running out of ideas on how to keep them apart.

“The finale, aka the episode in which they get together, coming right after the Ember Island fiasco is a bad narrative choice”

That I agree with. See? It’s easy to criticize the show/writting/characters without blowing things out of proportion.

[fangirlingfromdownunder]

A Sweet Mishap - Chapter 3

Pairing - Jensen Ackles x Reader 

A/N: If you read my Christmas Advent stories then you may be familiar with this story already, however, I've been working hard to turn it into a longer fic and as such a few things have changed (hence the reposts). New chapters will commence next week. I hope you enjoy! Let me know if you want me to be added to the taglist

A Sweet Mishap Masterlist | Main Masterlist

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Jensen and I continue texting whenever we can around our busy schedules. I consider more than a few times over the weekend to throw caution to the wind and meet up with him in his hotel room or invite him to my apartment. But in the end, I manage to stay strong, stick to my convictions and better judgements regarding my safety, and text instead. Despite not having the courage to call, it feels like we’re building a connection. But even if I had the courage, he’s been pretty busy and the texts have been sporadic with replies coming in hours apart. He did say he had to work, so I just figure he’s busy with auditions or meetings and am grateful for him making the time to text amidst the chaos. 

One thing I do is Google his name to find out what he’s starred in. His biggest project appears to be a horror show called Supernatural. I consider watching it just to see, but I don’t want to get a false idea of who he is, so I decide to stay blissfully ignorant and try to get to know him for who he is as a person instead. He did say he preferred that, after all.

It’s almost dark when I finally strip off my apron and hang it on the hook in the staff room. I collect my phone and jacket from the locker and return to the dining area to leave. I check my missed notifications as I walk out. I find my mood dropping slightly when I discover there’s none from Jensen. Instead, I scroll through our last text-chain. Suddenly, I collide with something solid–or perhaps I should say, someone, causing my phone to shatter to the floor. I quickly duck down to inspect the screen, only to find it littered with cracks. I sigh and then remember the person I ran into. I look up to apologise but lose all words when I meet his emerald eyes. I just smile in shock. Even with his pulled-down baseball cap and dark sunglasses, and after a single meeting, I instantly recognise him.

“You really gotta stop running into me like this,” the man says with a laugh.

“Can I buy you a drink to make up for it?”

“As I recall, that didn’t end well. Regardless, I can’t stay long, I do have a flight to catch. I just really wanted to see you again before I left.”

“You sure you can’t stay?”

“I’m sure. Someday. Let’s just promise to stay in touch.”

“I promise. At least just let me make you something for the road.”

“You look like you’ve already finished for the day. Go rest. You look exhausted. We’ll talk later.”

“Alright. Have a safe flight.”

He pulls me in for a brief hug and then disappears out onto the street and into a dark Range Rover. I smile at the whirlwind visit and then go back to my apartment. I throw a microwave mac and cheese dinner in to cook while I shower and change into my worn-out PJs, which consist of an oversized sweater with a teddy on the front and pink, plaid flannel pants. I’m not sure how long his flight will be but by the time I sit on the couch with my cheap and unappealing dinner in my lap, over an hour has passed. Despite not knowing when he’ll see the message, I decide to text him anyway.

It was great to run into you again *literally*... I am sorry about that, I really need to watch where I’m going Have a nice flight home or wherever you’re going Text me when you get there 

Not expecting a response until later, I put your phone to sleep and flick through the TV channels. To my surprise, Supernatural is airing. I have no idea what episode or season it is, or what they’re up to, but when Jensen’s face appears on the screen I’m unable to bring myself to change the channel. Despite my initial desire to stay ignorant, I just can’t look away. I gasp and try to resist the urge to look away when his character, who you’ve gathered is called Dean, slices off someone or something’s head. But somehow he manages to make decapitation attractive. Every expression on his face keeps my eyes glued and I find myself getting even more engrossed. He tells the story so well even though I don’t really know what the full story is. His taller brother in the show is also incredibly attractive. The longer I watch, the more I find myself not caring about the plot and just enjoying the eye candy instead. Part of me feels a little guilty for looking and thinking about Jensen like that when he seems like such a nice, genuine guy in real life. And he genuinely seems interested in pursuing a friendship — or hopefully more — in the future. 

Once the episode ends I force myself to switch off the TV, clean up and go to bed; I have another early shift tomorrow. As I lay in bed, the images of Dean – or Jensen – flow through my head. Unable to sleep, Idecide to text him again.

I guess you’re still on your flight Just wanted to let you know I saw you on TV tonight Your show Supernatural was on when I was flicking through the channels Can’t say as I picked up on a lot of the plot but I can see why the paparazzi follow you Anyway, I’ll stop bombarding you now Good night

I force myself to switch my phone onto sleep mode and plug it in to charge. As I lay in bed, I relive the impromptu meeting until I finally fall asleep.

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Taglist: @stoneyggirl2