#OG CC case

[astra-galaxie]

If Argo ever became a victim and the team had to solve his death, how would his case roughly play out? What would be the events that happen between chapters, and what would the AI be?

Nolan already has one in the works lol

Personally thinking of him being killed in a alleyway by a thug or someone, or maybe even die at Lawson’s own hands and the team had to figure out whether it really was Lawson, or someone else

If I had a nickel for every time I was asked how I would kill Argo off, I'd have two nickels - which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice!

I'm sorry I took so long to respond to this ask. I was waiting until I posted a specific chapter ("If You Love Somebody, Let Them Go") in my story before answering it. I needed it to reveal a significant change I’m making to Argo’s story, which plays a part in this answer.

Now that I’ve done that and thought out how to write this hypothetical case let’s see one way I could potentially kill Argo! I’m going to lay it out similar to how I plot out my OG cases in my notebook. (Yes, I have a notebook for OG cases, and yes, it's OCD-level organized to the point that it’s colour-coded by season.)

Info for this case before getting into it:

This murder substitutes the final case. Someone once asked me in an OG case I made for S3 (“Murder From The Past”) if I would kill off Argo in the final case instead of Charlie (I hadn’t even introduced Argo yet, and people already wanted to know if I would kill him or not!). So you’ll see that some things from Last Stand For Justice will be reused for this OG case

Argo and Diego have gotten back together (Argo and Jason broke up during Coyote Gorge) and have been romantically involved since the start of Crimson Banks

For the sake of parts of this case, we'll say that the Squad was already aware that Argo and Diego aren't human (Not sure if they’ll find out in my story or not yet)

The transition between this and the case before it is similar to canon, but instead of Charlie returning to the airship, it’s Argo, and Isaac goes with him

Since Maddie just gave birth and her husband isn't missing, instead of her going to the airship, it’s Arthur with Katherine (who escaped with the Squad during “Best Laid Plans”) tagging along since she knows how to avoid the Justice Corps thanks to the Resistance. That’s how they end up as the investigators

Case Outline

Title: Sinking Justice (Alternative to Last Stand For Justice)

Season: 4

Between cases: N/A - final case

District: Capitol Peak

Partners: Arthur Wright & Katherine Woolf

Summary

Victim: Argo Acquafredda

Murder Weapon: Handgun

(Shot in the heart; heart removed post-mortem)

Killer: Diego del Lobo (Justin Lawson)

Suspects

Diego del Lobo (Profile pieces: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Constable Ramirez (Profile pieces: 1, 3, 5)

Isaac Bontemps (Profile pieces: 1, 2, 3, 5)

Jason Nicchi (Profile pieces: 1, 2, 4)

Maddie O’Malley (Profile pieces: 1, 2, 3, 4)

Quasi-Suspects

Dora Umbright

Lady Highmore

Evie Holloway

Killer’s Profile

The killer eats ration biscuits (Argo’s body)

The killer knows The Caesar Cipher (message delivered by Caspian)

The killer uses moisturizer (Caspian)

The killer has torn clothes (bullet)

The killer has brown eyes (Argo’s necklace)

Crime Scenes/Clues

Airship Navigation room

Victim’s body

Talk to Isaac (no clue needed)

Police notebook (Constable Ramirez)

Squad Airship

Baby bag (Maddie)

Caspian’s letterholder

Capitol Peak Harbour

Flying Squad badge (Diego)

Newspaper article (Isaac)

Caspian

Airship Gangway

Argo’s crutches (Constable Ramirez)

Toolbox (Jason)

Harbour Dock

Engagement ring (Diego)

Fiocco Nascita (Maddie)

Gun (Jason)

Airship wheel

Argo’s necklace

Ship’s wheel

Disclaimer: The order of steps varies; this is just a rough outline of what would happen in each chapter

Steps - Chapter 1

Investigate Airship Navigation room:

Victim’s body (autopsy - Dick)

Police notebook (faded name on the cover; decipher name; Constable Ramirez. New suspect: Constable Ramirez)

Talk to Isaac about the murder (admits he and Argo got separated on the way to the airship, and when he arrived, Argo was already dead)

Talk to Ramirez about being on the crime scene (reveals the Justice Corps tasked him to guard the airship after the Squad escaped but had stepped away for a snack break during the time of the murder, and he never saw Argo enter the airship)

****New Crime scene: Squad Airship (Prerequisite: talk to Ramirez)

Investigate Squad Airship:

Bag (Search; baby supplies; note addressed to Maddie. New suspect: Maddie O’Malley)

Caspian’s letter carrier (Unlock; Coded message; analyze - Evie)

Talk to Maddie about the baby bag (discover she asked for Argo to grab the bag of baby items she had to leave behind on the airship when they fled. Maddie is shocked to find out Argo is dead, and Charlie comforts)

Get results: Autpsoy and coded message

Autopsy revealed: killer eats ration biscuits; left crumbs on Argo’s body

Code message revealed: killer knows The Caesar Cipher; coded message was from Argo to his killer asking him to meet him at the airship

****Chapter transition: Charlie interrupts Arthur and Katherine, who were summarizing the case, to announce he’d just received a telegram from a Resistance member informing them that Argo had been spotted at the harbour before his death

Steps - Chapter 2

Investigate Capitol Peak Harbour:

Flying Squad badge (faded engraving; dust; badge number; Arthur IDs it as Diego’s badge number (there are less than ten members; I doubt that many badges have been issued that Arthur doesn't know which belongs to who). New suspect: Diego del Lobo)

Torn newspaper article (Repair; old article about Isaac’s brother’s death. Talk to Isaac again)

Damaged Caspian; substance on wings (Swab wings; unknown transparent substance; analyze - Viola)

Inform Diego of Argo’s death (Reveals he visited the airship after hearing the Squad had been captured; assumes he must have dropped his badge on the way there as he carries it to remind himself there is still hope true justice will be restored. After being told Argo is dead, Diego becomes distraught and is unconsolable hearing his lover is dead)

Talk to Isaac about the newspaper article (Same as canon; it reveals the truth behind his brother’s death and how Argo found the article, causing the old memories to resurface)

Get results: Unknown substance

Reveals the killer uses moisturizer as it was the unknown substance on Caspian’s wing, but it was not the type Argo used, so it had to have been left by the killer. Viola speculates the killer must have attacked Caspian during the murder and brought the bird to the harbour to dispose of him in the water

Investigate airship gangway:

Argo’s crutches with crumbs on them (Collect with vacuum; unknown crumbs; analyze - Viola)

Toolbox (Search; ID band; compare; Jason’s ID code. New Suspect: Jason Nicchi)

Talk to Jason about his toolbox being on the crime scene (Learn that Mayor Lawson tasked him with checking the airship for traps the Squad could have set. Knew nothing about the murder and was shocked Argo was dead)

Get results: Crumbs

Crumbs belonged to trail mix. Katherine recalls that was the snack Constable Ramirez had mentioned eating

Ask Constable Ramirez about why he handled Argo’s crutches (Confesses he went aboard the airship after the murder and found Argo’s body, dropping trail mix on the crutches after seeing the dead detective. Panicked and ran out of the airship, taking the crutches since his trail mix was on them and hiding them outside to avoid becoming a suspect)

****Chapter transition: Same as in canon; Lady Highmore tells everyone to hide because Judge Umbright is coming, so Arthur and Katherine leave the mansion to search the harbour again

Steps - Chapter 3

Investigate Capitol Peak Harbour Docks:

Locked ring box (Decode lock: open; engagement ring with engraving “Mi Corazón Es Tuyo - Tu Lobo”. Talk to Diego again)

Torn fabric (Repair; Fiocco Nascita with George Dupont’s name and birth info. Talk to Maddie again)

Trash can (Search; Gun; analyze - Rose)

Question Diego about the engagement ring for Argo (Reveals he was going to ask Argo to marry them (even if it was just a symbolic marriage) after the fall of the Justice Corps)

Ask Maddie about George’s Fiocco Nascita (Tells them that Argo made the Fiocco Nascita for George and that she regrets asking Argo to find her baby bag, thinking she caused him to spend unnecessary time on the airship, which allowed his killer to get him)

Get results: Handgun

Discover the gun is the murder weapon. Rose also discovers that these guns are used by the Justice Corps and are manufactured by Jason. Talk to Jason again)

Confront Jason about building the murder weapon (Is shocked to find out he made the gun that killed Argo but promises he did nothing more than build the guns on Mayor Lawson’s orders. He doesn't know who the gun was issued to)

Investigate Airship wheel:

Argo’s necklace with substance on shell (Collect; transparent substance; analyze - Viola)

Broken ship’s wheel (Repair; restored ship’s wheel; analyze - Charlie)

Get results: Substance and ship’s wheel

Transparent substance: Killer’s tears: reveals the killer has brown eyes

Ship’s wheel: Fibres caught in the wheel: reveals the killer has torn clothes as the fibres did not match Argo’s clothes

Arrest Killer: Diego del Lobo (Or is he???)

Diego confesses that Argo has asked to meet him at the airship as they had been secretly communicating about how to take down Justin. No one was around when they arrived, so they were going to grab what they needed and then flee to join the rest of the Squad at Lady Highmore’s mansion

But Justin appeared and caught them sharing a kiss in the navigation room. Furious, Justin demands to know why Diego (still wearing his Eddie Lebold disguise) was kissing a wanted man

Diego’s real identity is discovered, and Justin draws his gun, planning to take Diego and Argo in himself. The couple pleads for Justin to put the gun away and promise to go with him willingly, but Justin keeps ranting about “perfecting justice” and “ridding the world of corruption” while brandishing the gun

During the argument, Justin shoots at Diego, but Argo steps in front of his boyfriend and takes the bullet meant for Diego. The two stumble backwards into the airship’s wheel, breaking it and collapsing to the floor

Diego is distraught as he holds Argo while he’s dying, and Justin, shocked by what he’d done, leaves without trying to take Diego in

Argo dies in Diego’s arms and asks his boyfriend to take his heart (The Heart of The Ocean; long story short, magical rock that serves as Argo’s heart) so it won’t fall into the wrong hands before he passes

Diego does as requested and takes Argo’s heart; somehow, Argo’s body sustains a physical form. Diego assumes it might have something to do with the fact that the stone is cracked because of the bullet, and thus, the magic is on the fritz

Diego hid the heart in a safe location to retrieve it after Justin was taken down. But Arthur and Katherine caught Diego before he could find evidence to prove Justin killed Argo since Diego didn’t think they would just take his word for it

Thankfully, they believed him, and while they still kept Diego locked in a bedroom, the Squad now focuses their efforts on taking down Justin and getting justice for Argo

****Chapter transition: After Diego’s “arrest,” Maddie appears to reveal George has been taken by Judge Umbright like in canon (but happens late in this case), and now they have to save the baby and take down Justin

Steps - Chapter 4/Additional Investigation

****Following the introduction of the AI, we need to talk to Rose about George’s kidnapping and Diego about defeating Justin

****Maddie and Charlie stand in as partners for the George plotline

****Isaac and Arthur partner for the Justin plotline

Rescuing George Dupont plotline:

Talk to Rose and find out about her plan to save George

Investigate the Navigation room

Baby box (Unlock; baby rattle; analyze - Rose)

Get results: Weaponized rattle

Rescue George Dupont from Judge Umbright using the weaponized rattle

Defeating Justin Lawson plotline:

Ask Diego about his and Argo's plan to take down Lawson (Charlie still made the tracking device but was less involved in the “True Justice” plan since Argo takes his place in this case)

Investigate Squad Airship

Broken pieces (Repair; tracking device; analyze - Charlie)

Get results: Tracking Device

Canon results about how we need to wait until Justin stops moving to catch him

Timeskip happens - Charlie reports that Justin has stopped at the Capitol Peak harbour

Investigate Capitol Peak Harbour

Tracking device

The battle between Justin and the Squad happens like in canon, but he confesses to killing Argo. However, he no longer feels guilty since Argo was “against justice” and disobeyed Justin

Justin shoots Isaac, but the bulletproof vest saves him, and while Justin is distracted, Arthur shoots the mayor in the heart, killing him

Since they are at the harbour and Justin is standing close to the edge of the dock, he falls into the water, but by the time Arthur and Isaac reach the dock’s edge, his body is carried away by the waves and is never recovered. It was lost at sea forever, never to have a proper final resting place

(It was the ocean’s revenge for Justin killing her heart. His soul can never truly be at peace)

Everyone regroups following Justin’s death. Diego is released now that Argo’s true killer is gone, and he’s officially cleared of the murder despite taking Argo’s heart (since the Squad knows Argo isn’t human, they understand why Diego did it and therefore, he isn’t charged for any crime)

The plot continues as usual, with Lady Highmore becoming the new mayor, followed by Argo's funeral. His body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered at sea at the cove behind his house

Diego recovered the Heart of The Ocean from where he hid it but didn’t return it to the sea, hoping he could find a way to fix the cracks and bring Argo back

Another time skip happens, and the Squad meets in the airship, where everyone reminisces about Argo. Charlie says he has something that might help with their grief that he brought to work but left in his automobile. Maddie goes with him to collect it

After investigating the gangway, they find the film reel Charlie had brought, and after recovering the label to make sure it's the right one, the Squad gathers in Charlie’s lab to watch the film

The film shows the message Argo recorded in case anything happened to him while trying to take down Justin. He talks about how thankful he is to have met the Squad and the friends he has made since coming to Concordia. He tells his family and friends he loves them, along with other personalized heartfelt messages for his family and teammates. The film concludes with a message for Diego where Argo tells him how much he loves him and wishes they could have spent eternity together and hopes one day they will meet again, either in this life or the next

After the film ends, Arthur tells the team that the Squad will be going on an extended vacation. However, Diego announces that he will not be returning to the Squad and plans to leave Concordia to find a way to restore the Heart of The Ocean. The team tells him he is welcome to return and they will always be there for him if he needs help

Phew! That was a workout! Admittedly, my real OG case outlines aren’t this detailed, but this still gives you an insight into how I plot out my OG cases and keep track of everything!

While this isn’t an entirely new original case, I wanted to try my hand at using the idea of Argo taking Charlie’s place as the final victim. Which version do you think is more tragic? Canon or this one?

Either way, I’ll get the tissues!

Thank you for the ask, st4r-th0ughts! This was a fun challenge, and I loved creating a case in which one of my MCs was the victim! (Now that’s a dark thing to be happy about…)

[natashasbitxh]

Just watched cinderella's castle and..OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY

[morrigan-sims]

The other post was getting long, and this is a different sword, so here you go:

I actually fucking finished a mesh edit!!!!! Well, at least the meshing part. This thing has parts from three different sword meshes. Tomorrow it's on to texturing hell. I've never textured anything before in my LIFE, and I just know it's going to be miserable, lmao.

Especially since I assume I'm going to have to make a new uv map and I don't know shit about that. But I at the very least need a texture for renders, and this sword is low-poly enough that I could probably make it an in-game accessory too.

[jesncin]

Hi.

I recently reread your post on the racebending in CC. And while you didn't talk about Harley in that post you mentioned her case was complicated. I was just wondering why is it complicated?

If you'd rather save that answer for your analysis I completely get it, I'm just a bit curious.

Hello there! Thank you for reading my Caped Crusader mega essay on racebending, haha! I've been meaning to get to the Harley one, I'm just reading some of her comics to be more informed. I don't mind sharing my opinion so far here though since I'm sure people are curious:

While it's conceptually cool that CC gave us an Asian!Harley, it ultimately contributes to the continued erasure of Harley's Jewish identity, but this time through "diversity paint". When it comes to Harley, her entire personhood and characterization comes from Jewish culture. Not only is she full cloth inspired by her og voice actress, Arleen Sorkin (a Jewish woman), but Arleen injected Jewish and Yiddish expressions along with a played up Brooklyn accent when playing Harley, and Harley's character is based on a Jewish stock character (loud wannabe matchmaker).

I'm simplifying for brevity and will go into more detail in the essay but my takeaway here is that unlike, say, Superman who is an allegorically Jewish character- Harley is textually and canonically Jewish. If she wasn't, the character as we know her just wouldn't exist. It's not a detail for Harley to mention Hanukkah every now and then, Harley just is Jewish culture and identity.

At the end of the day, what did CC do with Asian Harley really. I'm all for changes, if you have a story to tell, but. If CC's Harley was white would it really change the story? Harley went from being this white Jewish woman informed by her culture to being an Asian woman informed by no culture. It's why I can't celebrate it as representation, it's erasing another culture all the while giving nothing to Asian representation. We could always have both an Asian and Jewish woman, but this really was the erasure of both. That's why it's complicated, from afar it looks like a Diversity Win! But up close it's erasure via respectability.

[cecilysass]

My (Late, Sorry) Perihelion Review

I’m late on this, but I wanted to offer my review of Perihelion, the official XF novel released this summer. I am going to aim this mostly at people who haven’t read it, so I will go for no spoilers (or minimal spoilers as when you typically read a review), but I will add a little spoilers section at the end for those who have read it.

First off, I really liked this novel. I'd recommend it, especially to those who have Feelings about the revival, which is almost everyone I know who has watched the revival. I think one’s reaction to this novel is going to relate a lot to one’s reaction to the series finale, as the plot here is inextricably tied to the events of that episode. I found this story very satisfying because of how it handled those events while still trying to respect the feel of the show.

To give my own bias: I am not a big revival fan, but neither am I someone who ignores its existence. I think it has many problems and some unwatchable moments. I loathed the twist about William’s parentage with every fiber of my being. But I also find some elements of the revival to be kind of interesting, and there are moments I actually like. I am not someone who is going to stick my fingers in my ears and sing loudly and pretend nothing happened in this universe after the 90s. I’d even go so far as to say I LIKE revival fix-it stories; I have even written some myself.

More coming clean of my perspective on this: I have read the work of the author of Perihelion, Claudia Gray, before, both her work as a YA novelist and as a OG X-Files MSR fanfic writer. In fact, true story—years before Perihelion, I saw her speak in person about her other novels and she mentioned in the Q&A that she once wrote X-Files fanfic. I raced to figure out who she was on Gossamer. (She was Amy Vincent.) So I am a fan of this author, and I like that she’s an old school fan. 

To sum up the story very briefly, we resume action some months after the events of My Struggle IV. Scully is further in her pregnancy (just barely showing). She and Mulder have moved to a DC townhouse together, but aren’t quite back together. They are suspended from the X-files due to the events of MSIV, and they are staggering a bit with dealing with the grief and trauma of the revelations of that episode. In this context, they’re approached with not one but two serial killer cases, one that involves pregnant women and one that involves what remains of the Syndicate.

Part of Gray’s mission is very clearly to do damage control for the revival’s most egregious offenses, and honestly, this might be my favorite aspect of the book. It’s just emotionally cathartic to see someone do that in a pseudo-canonical text. (I say “pseudo-canonical” because CC backed away from this book a little, but whatever.) Because this is a CC approved book, Gray can’t settle any dangling plot threads completely conclusively, but she offers many suggestions that take us in a more hopeful path.

For example, she does very, very well at providing narrative context for Scully’s behavior in the last scene of MSIV. I’m referring to when Scully—who we saw give birth to William, be his mother, give him up in heartbreak, and then pine and wonder about him for years—suddenly rejects the same child as an “experiment” that was never theirs. This abrupt U-turn always felt like it perhaps could be explained as her entering into some self protective state of denial and emotional shutdown, but the show itself didn’t explain or earn that moment. Gray gives us a whole arc for Scully around this, and she shows how it relates to Mulder, too. It’s much, much better.

Actually, if I am not mistaken, Gray has in mind some intentional fix-it for the show overall. There are more diverse characters in this novel, including a nonbinary nurse (Casey) who plays a pivotal role and an informant who breaks the old demographic patterns. There is a moment in which Scully writes in her journal that she wishes her career at the FBI had not become so defined by her maternity. And while Scully is (again) targeted by those who want to do her ill, Gray seems to really, really resist her being victimized, her being overwhelmed with fear, or Mulder coming to her rescue. Gray gives us a confident, action hero preggo Scully. 

This novel often reminded me of fanfic in the best possible way. It reads sometimes like OG classic XF fic along the lines of Syntax6, which is absolutely a compliment. Yet it also was spot-on at recreating the "feel" of the show sometimes, especially in the characters' journal entries. By the end of the revival I came to hate voiceover monologues on TXF, but Gray found a way to tap into the charm of how they used to be in earlier seasons.

Delightfully, there are MANY deep references to past events and episodes—again, like in fanfic in the best way.  You know how on the show they almost never reference Emily again, and they almost never mention Melissa? Gray doesn’t forget. She also references making tape Xs on windows, Modell, Scully shooting Mulder, running in cornfields, going to Antarctica, and every single tiny thing that happened with William. She’s got a serious fan’s attention to show canon, which I appreciate. 

The novel is mostly about the casefile and their work-related questions. That said, it does include details like that they trade off cooking and that they both hope to be sharing a bedroom some time soon and both agents’ feelings about parenting, both William and the new baby. I would not say MSR is the main focus, but I also would describe this as an MSR story. More than that, though, it is a story about how they recover individually and together from what happened during MSIV.

The actual plot—the casefile(s) starts out very scary, even disturbing, but does (in my opinion) never quite reach climactic stakes. In part I think this has to do with Gray not wanting Scully to be victimized, which I am not going to argue with her about. But I also wonder if it’s because there are limited revelations Gray can make. I would have dropped some more reveals if it were my post-revival fic and I had no limits imposed on me. But it’s not … and she no doubt does. I do have the vibe that we are set up for additional novels in the series, which I would happily read—although I’d say at some point she is going to have to be allowed to make some reveals if she is going to continue the story.

There is one aspect of this novel I did fixate on a little too much. The story takes place directly after MSIV, so … 2018, right? Yet there are some references to specific pop culture (Wandavision, Andor) and some cultural references (remote work, hybrid work) that place the events of the story after 2020. I can only assume this is intentional, maybe to make it not matter what year exactly the revival happened and just set it “present day.” But because we are all mentally dating these characters from the original series, and because the ages of say, William, or pregnant Scully, do arguably matter, it’s confusing. This is such a Cecily thing to perseverate on, but it is what it is.

That said, I would definitely recommend to all interested fans. I listened on audiobook, by the way, which was fun, although Mulder's voice sounds a little like Keanu Reeves. Spoilers section to follow.

SPOILERS SECTION FOLLOWING. STOP READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO KNOW. SPOILERS.

All things considered, Gray did a deft job of sort-of-kind-of-but-not-quite revealing information. She partially revealed to Scully that Jackson was alive, but she only gave that info to Scully through a source Scully wouldn’t entirely trust. She gave us a gender reveal but took pains to say “it wasn’t certain.” She hinted that Scully’s pregnancy (maybe even both of them?) was caused by her really young telomeres but didn’t confirm that either.

I found Scully’s tendency not to share info with Mulder in this novel to be very, very frustrating, although not entirely out of character. Failing to mention the telomere thing when he was theorizing about her newfound ability seemed really absurd. She didn’t even give it any consideration in her internal monologue, which was hard to understand. I know she doesn’t want to let him down or hurt him, but sometimes it’s just important, Scully.

The number one thing I kept thinking in the second half of the book—the thing that was never addressed, although perhaps it will if there are more books—is that there is a very possible explanation for Scully’s supposed abilities that nobody floated. Which is that it isn’t Scully who makes the electrical shit happen, but the fetus, picking up on Scully’s fear and adrenaline. I don’t see any reason why that couldn’t be true, but the exact mechanisms for these genetic abnormalities being spread were a little vague. I couldn’t figure out if this was just me thinking wild thoughts or if the book was really preserving room for this to be true.

Anyway, anyone else read it? What did y’all think? If you want to talk about it and discuss spoilers, mark them in case someone hasn’t read yet.

[fanfictionaddictee]

Final Fantasy VII- Sephiroth Fanfiction Favs

This is a fanfic rec list that recommends stories that focus on or heavily feature Sephiroth. :) All ships, no ships, genfic. Nothing is tagged, so heed the fic warnings if you're sensitive to stuff.

Final Fantasy VII OG- Canon only Fic Recs (Compilation characters like Genesis and Angeal do not appear)

The Monsters Within by TheCalamity (The Nightmare Begins, A Cold-Hearted Boy, Minute to Breath)

A story about the destruction of endurance. What does it cost - as individuals, as a species - to survive? We are how it ends. [A contemplation and analysis of the original 1997 Final Fantasy VII. Chronicles the Jenova Project, Sephiroth's childhood with ShinRa, and the events of FFVII through the lens of Vincent Valentine. This series is a deep dive into the philosophy, themes, characters, dynamics, world, lore and message of OG FFVII.]

This quite possibly the story I've reread the most that I'll recommend on this blog. Banging soundtrack, gorgeous art, brilliant formatting, terror, awesome, gut-wrenching-- all words to describe this story. The author doesn't shy away from the grotesque, and there are tender moments woven through an epic saga about terrible people desperately seeking connection and meaning. I don't think I've ever read anything like in any fandom ever. I don't know if I ever will.

Lament of Memories by CryptCreeperX

From test-tube freak to First-Class SOLDIER to super villain to a quirky mechanic suffering from a bad case of amnesia… This is a strange tale of how the end of the world, a band of misfits, forgotten memories, and raunchy romance novels push a fallen angel to rise again.

It's a tragedy this is incomplete because I needed more of this 7 years ago. T_T

Earthing by Grenespek

Gast survives being shot by Hojo, only to wake from a coma seventeen years later. Searching for his wife and daughter, events find him in Nibelheim on the day Sephiroth disappeared. A Sephiroth redemption exploration.

I love me three things in a Sephiroth story: 1) a Sephiroth that subsumes Jenova 2) Terrifying Sephiroth 3) Sciency Sephiroth. Told from the rotating perspective of terrifically flawed Gast, an in-character badass Aerith, and a Sephiroth that I can definitely see being the progeny of two insane scientists and a space alien.

Our Shining Past by Tocasia FFN | Ao3 @tocasia

A series of old-style (original game mostly, no CC) Sephiroth and Zack Friendship stories (all genfic) from a list of 100 prompts, in order of completion. Variously dark, silly, cute. Mostly one-shots; chapter format is a lie. Same AU? maybe… or maybe not. Halfway there on 7/1/2018!

Consider this blanket recommendation of all of Tocasia's works. Pair impeccable writing with nuanced characterization, humor, action, excellent integration of the game-mechanic style worldbuilding that is so rare in video-game fics, and you've got this series of one-shots. Zack's character is so much more interesting to me pre-crisis core, and unfortunately fics that explore what canon jossed 15 years ago are slim or mostly gone from the internet. Other favorites of mine from them include God of Paperwork and The World that Will Never Be, a Kingdom Hearts crossover.

A Good Son by myeve123

AR Ending for Nibelheim Incident. After Hojo fished him out from Nibelheim Mako Reactor, Sephiroth sets about cleaning up the mess. Preferably before the chemical imbalance in his brain drowns him for good.

Ugh, this story need so much more love than it's gotten. I'm a slut for stories that play around with the relationship between Lucrecia, Vincent, and Sephiroth, and take it in a true canon divergence! Excellent visual writing, and fast paced. Unfortunately, all the images are broken.

This Family Is Alright by axilet

A series of stories exploring the dysfunctional dynamic between mad science sibs Gast, Hojo and Lucrecia, and their son Sephiroth who they're completely unfit to raise. Just imagine what the poor kid will be like once he's all grown up. Sad Uncle Vincent tries to stage an intervention but you know how that turns out.

An oldie but goodie that I first encountered on FFN some years ago now, but I misplaced the link; now archived on ao3. How To Train Your Super Soldier Son (to become an insane destroyer of worlds) is the Sephiroth-centric fic of the series, and also the first one I read.

They Were Monsters by Yinza @yinza

In the midst of his breakdown in the Shinra mansion and desperate for answers, Sephiroth breaks open the locked basement door to find the man who might be his father… But though Vincent presents him with possibilities he hadn't imagined, Sephiroth struggles with who to trust, and what path he might follow--Jenova's, or his own.

Yinza is another ruler of horror. Actually maybe I'm just a slut for horror there's a lot of those recs on this list lol. Anyway, this fic is so well-written. If a sense of creeping dread is the sensation you seek, look not further than this story. For a not-Sephiroth centric rec, I must include their story No Moms Die, which according to my ao3 history I have 32 times @_@. If we exclude the chapter updates, I've reread it more than times since it finished :D It's that good.

Final Fantasy VII Compilation (includes Advent Children and Crisis Core)

To Be Human by LadyKF LadyKF On FFN On Ao3 [For Archive Users Only]

The world seems black and white at a glance, but the truth is never so easy. Where one draws the line between human and monster is a lot less clear when motive and deed don’t match, and a change in form is only proof of something that has been there all along. (Angel's Wings rewrite, Crisis Core fix-it.)

Ahh I was obsessed with Angel's Wings while it was updating, and To Be Human and it's compilation side stories blew the first story out of the water. The worldbuilding! The writing! The jump straight into action! The CANON DIVERGENCE!!! We all read fanfic here, we all know how rare an actual 'canon divergence' story is that actually sticks within canon without being a lazy rehash? This story is THE fix-it.

Be Not Afraid by Tiffany_Park On FFN

Hollander to Angeal: "Jenova's power has passed on to you completely." What does it mean to have received "Jenova's power"? Chances are it's not pretty. (Yeah, it was pretty ugly in Crisis Core. It's worse in this AU because Hojo got involved.) Warning: These are horror stories. Check the tags and take them seriously.

I prefer to read this series on FFN because yay for giant font but I've linked the AO3 since it puts the series in order. I live for everything this woman writes. This series takes the body-horror in canon and amps it up to 11. From Zack's POV but the Sephiroth characterization is just *chefs kiss*. Unsettling and blue-and-orange morality kind of ride of die friendship love for the win.

Snowball Effect by Tiffany_Park On FFN

Once upon a time in his youth, Angeal posed as the centerfold for an obscure porn magazine. When he made SOLDIER First Class, Shinra decided to erase its history for PR reasons. A few years later, Reno and Rude find an old copy in a used bookstore and purchase it so it can be safely destroyed. This results in many more complications than if they'd just left it to molder there.

If you read that summary and thought, "the premise of this story is utterly ridiculous", you would be entirely correct, but it's not a crack-fic in that it takes this completely seriously and runs with it. Features Shinra Corp. being dastardly, fangirls that fit effortlessly into the 90s sci-fi setting, and wonderful characterization of Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth, who all manage to be completely terrifying in their own special ways.

What is Lost by UnLike_Us

What little is left of Sephiroth after 100 years in the Lifestream suddenly finds itself without a purpose. Determined to find its lost history and reason behind its obsession, it goes back to where it all started.

One of the fluffier picks on this list, the author really plays with the idea of inner memories. A time-travel fic I don't hate lol, if only because the time travel doesn't result in an OP fix-it.

Father: Verb by Naughty_Nishitani

11 year-old WMD Sephiroth is assigned a new handler/bodyguard, named Vincent Valentine. I am sure this has been done 10000 times but I can't stop thinking about it, so here's my version.

As the author says in the summary, I too am a slut for murder-baby Sephiroth, and this is one iteration of the trope I've reread many times. Another Sephiroth fic from the same author I enjoyed is First Soldier.

Starstruck by DyraDoodles @dyradoodles

Zack's limit break always mimics people who end up shaping his life in one way or another. Once he's met them, he can use a break similar to one of theirs, no problem. This time, there is a problem: He's mimicked someone with the power to blow up a solar system, and he has no idea how to control it. He'll have to track them down, and hopefully get them to take an active role in not just teaching the limit break, but his entire life.

This fic is crack to me. I've been salivating over every update since chapter 3. DyraDoodles has another more popular series Redux Hero AU, which I also enjoyed, but that one is much more Zack-centric and so not a good fit for this list; I rec it nonetheless.

Sephiroth Shinden: CLASSIFIED 'PROJECT S.' by goddamnitaisha

A series of one-shots exploring Sephiroth's life. One of the most no-woobie takes of Sephiroth's character, which I really, really like. Paired with an almost bleak writing style, the blunted amorality of the characters really shine through in each one-shot. A favorite of mine. Ao3 users only, unfortunately, but the author has a tumblr @goddamnitaisha. Her blog is truly gorgeous and definitely worth checking out! Not Sephiroth-centric but I really love The Unpromised Land. That's the first story I read from her on tumblr a long ass time ago.

Final Fantasy VII Remake (explicitly set within the Remake/Rebirth verse)

Swords into Plowshares by brilliantKatabasis

The purpose of the Jenova project was to produce a Cetra, someone to negotiate with the Planet on Shinra's behalf. The military applications for the entity were compelling, it's true, but ultimately limited in scope- they have robots for these things, after all- and so the SOLDIER proposal was rejected, quietly shelved away. The asset is instead committed to the significantly more lucrative field of agribusiness, where it is hoped the cultural cache of his mystic heritage will assuage the rise in environmental concerns and planetological sympathies among key interested parties. Sephiroth, Director of Stewardship, tracks down the supplier of the only fresh flowers in Midgar he's had no hand in cultivating, oblivious to the web of time he's threatening. Oblivious to the probability he shares a name with, who longs to crush this flight of fancy and claim his rightful title of certainty, gathering like a cloud on the horizon. Oblivious to the attention he's brought to his local florist's door.

Ugh, remember everything I said I loved about Earthing? This fic is an AU with a similar vibe, completely different premise. I actually recommend you check out all of brilliantKatabasis' library; they truly are an excellent writer.

For the Love of Rain by Boomchick (On Tumblr)

Sephiroth is not human. There is no doubting that now. He fell in two pieces into the reactor all those many months ago. And yet there he is again. Appearing between one heartbeat and the next, while Zack floats hopeless in Mako. There he is, opening the tanks and setting Zack and Cloud free. There he is, chuckling “there is no rush” and smiling an indulgent smile.

If you like Sephiroth-fic, you've probably been recced Boomchick before. If you haven't, I highly recommend you read all her fics, especially The Trooper Series and Restart. A lot of her stories are accompanied by epic art by tomowowo. Why did this fic make it onto the list and not the rest? Because, and I quote, it gives me the tag "Nightmare Sephiroth chooses friendship." That is epic.

Little Seph by ToastedCatBread @toastedcatbread

A life spared, a life returned. A future unseen, a future to fight for. This is the story about the Candle and the Star.

On the note of Nightmare!Sephiroth, what if he was tiny instead of hot and terrifying? :D That's what this story is. Love it!

Those Called by the Reunion by EllaEpoche

Shinra Electric Power Company’s Administrative Investigator Agatha Highmore has just landed the gig of a lifetime - investigating the leak of compromising photographs of the SOLDIER hero Sephiroth. But after a night of passion, Agatha finds herself entangled in a world of human experimentation, corporate scandal, and mysterious illnesses, with only one goal: find and reunite with her lost love.

This fic is a trip @_@. EllaEpoche is one of those authors whose brain cooks up the most insane plots and has the writing talent to back up the wild storytelling. Also recommend Schrodinger's Sephiroth, which explores the multiple timelines introduced in the remake. Ten Thousand Cold Nights also gets a mention here.

Epiphany by Fenrir4life, The_Story_Maker

Sephiroth is looping, repeating the events of Final Fantasy VII over and over again. He has experienced not only the events of the original game and the remake, but many more cycles beyond, stretching into a multitude of similar and yet ever-so-slightly different worlds. Regardless of loss, death, or even victory, he has been unable to free himself from this time loop – or even uncover why he is looping at all. Determining to find answers, he seeks out Aerith Gainsborough to see if he can convince her to interrogate the planet itself for information. However, it turns out Aerith is not completely ignorant of the cycle. Fed experiences by the planet of the events of the original Final Fantasy VII, she has good reason to distrust Sephiroth and his plans. This story revolves around their interactions with each other and the resulting consequences that ripple through this particular cycle.

This is probably my favorite Remake fic. It matches the perfect balance of silliness and action that attracted me to the characters in the first place and hits it with a hefty dose of perfectly written Aeriseph, like you hit the pot with the hot pepper to make the flavor pop. Love it!

Alternate Universe

The Host by CryptCreeperX

A troubled youth, Cloud leaves home to join an elite gang of soldiers. But flipping burgers at Chocobo Chow and living in the Slums during unsafe times wasn't in the plan. Neither were rejection letters from Shinra Inc. An encounter with an enigmatic silver-haired Host presents a new obstacle. Guided to a world of sensual pleasure, Cloud bonds with a man who revels in dark passions

This story is sensual. Even the most mundane moment are described so thoroughly? So intensely? Like, this is a POV of a dude who has zero-chill and you can feel that every moment in his narration, even when man is flipping burgers. Plus, Sephiroth is HOT. The makeup of my bi-dreams.

The Boy Voted Most Likely to Rule the Planet by CryptCreeperX

In High School, there's the pressure to fit in, raging hormones, and seeing the boy of your dreams with someone else. Sephiroth deals with all this. He's been on the run his whole life. When he and his nutjob dad move to Nibelheim, things get complicated. An unruly boy catches his eye. Now he must contend with his feelings while making sure Dad doesn't turn him into a pet project.

I hate high school AUs. But sprinkle some mad science and psycho kids and all of a sudden you have a perfect story. It's like when you don't like a certain fruit but cooked into a pastry that shit is godly? That's this story.

Wonders of the World by CryptCreeperX

Once, a man driven by love nearly ended the world in hate. 200 years have passed since Meteorfall. A film crew documents a derelict mountain village shrouded in snow. Isolated from the world, it's rumored the Lifestream runs black there and spirits of the dead stalk its grounds. Their guide is Wolf, a man with odd blue eyes. He likes to smile. He also says some memories never die.

This thing's got the pacing of an M.Night Shyamalan movie. Love it!

The Prophet by NazoFox2501

In Assiah, there are prophets that are chosen by the god Sephiroth to speak on Their behalf. Cloud, an atheist college student, is afflicted with a deadly disease, the mark of the next chosen prophet. On a journey with his friends, will he be cured and accept his fate, or can he overcome it?

If religious trauma horror is your cup of tea, this story is for you. If your favorite bit of FFVIIR is how terrified Cloud is in Midgar, this story is for you.

[zephyrlion45]

ok,, so, its been a week? maybe? and i've already redone their designs. (very little in some cases but still!)

big explanation of the whys of designs and what changed below :3

ok so right to left

Zedaph is still just a yellow sheep hybrid, he has dyed the ends of his wool/hair pink.

I changed his wool, hair, and general sheepy-ness, I actually Really looked at a lot of different rams to figure out the face, hooves, legs, and horns. also, his tail is long because it isn't docked.

Impulse! wow ok, so, very big changes here.

He is a Shulker hybrid! this is because of a lot of reasons, so, number 1: read somewhere that cc!Impulse might be becoming ambivalent towards his character being a demon/imp. I could be totally wrong, but I'm covering all my bases here just in case. If I am completely and utterly wrong, then I will have learned from this. But also, I still think I came up with a pretty cool design.

Number 2!

(cant find og poster so im not gonna put their art in) SOMEONE had funnily noticed that when cc!impulse is embarrassed/scared he hides his face with his hands, so they drew something really cool with all the zits crew as arizonian wildlife, with Impulse as an armadillo. That had helped further the shulker hybrid idea, especially with mob shulkers actually hiding between attack phases. (if you know who, please tell me, ill edit this and say so)

"Well, if thats the case, why not just make him an armadillo hybrid, they Are in the game now."

Very true! However, (reason number 3), I made him a shulker hybrid because I wanted all the ZITS to be from different deminsions. In Impulse's case, he would be from The End. (Zed from the Overworld, Tango from the Nether, and Skizz from the Aether)

this is also inspired by!!! @/pixiemage

Tango is still a blaze hybrid, the most I changed was his outfit (the vest and reflectors of the shirt) but I also changed his face and blaze rod coloring to be more like the mob. I also fixed his core flame on the top of his head so the colors are the right way round. (I seem to always make that mistake with fire)

Skizzleman is an angel, specifically a Throne (in training), the things I changed about his design the most were: i got rid of the bandages around his human-y eyes and subsequently the bow at the back, his outfit is closer to his minecraft skin, except the socks, they're impnskizz socks. Blue background with scattered yellow "i" and little angel wings out of them.

ok I think thats it, after all this (prolly on another day) I'll have a bigger explanation about the details of these hybrids/mobs, I'm just making a big compendium of practically every mob in minecraft, so it'll take a while but I'll get these specific ones out there, at some point.

[misc-obeyme]

omg okay this was originally going to be an ask about what you think the ring of wisdom may look like because i wanted to try and hunt something down that was similar to buy (mc has both the ring of light and ring of wisdom by season three I think, and i own the ring of light irl)

BUT THEN i went on the wiki and found out it's made of brass and iron, and also learned that u treasure created the ring of light look since it never appeared in canon (i can dream of them making the other half but unlikely as Solomon is a side character, sad)

AND THEN i was reminded that Michael gave the ring of wisdom to solomon so he could control demons more easily and not have the giant strain. But why give it to him? Why this specific sorcerer? Why aid in that?

So now I'm in a rabbit hole of wondering WHEN solomon got the ring. And if it was after the brothers fell, did Michael do it on purpose? Was he aiming for solomon to become powerful enough to even control the seven of the brothers? AND HOW DID HE FIND SOLOMON AT ALL? I have so many questions now

- ✨ anon

Hmm well if I remember correctly, Solomon gives MC a ring when they become a full fledged sorcerer, but I didn't think it was the Ring of Wisdom that he gave them? Perhaps I misinterpreted that part??

(Side note, I'm almost glad they aren't like to make Solomon's Ring of Wisdom just because OH THE TEMPTATION.)

Anyway, the question is how the heck did Solomon end up with that ring in the first place??

Oh, friend. You have unlocked a CC Solomon Theory because I've thought about this a lot.

I'm going to put it under a read more because of OG and Nightbringer spoilers!

We know almost nothing about the Ring of Wisdom. I can't remember if it's been mentioned in Nightbringer at all. And there may be more instances of it in OG that I'm not remembering. But here are two of the relevant parts:

This is from Lesson 2-2 of OG. He says he used it to create pacts with the 72 demons. Now, it's obvious that Asmo is one of those 72 demons, which means Solomon wouldn't be able to make a pact with him until after Lucifer & co fell. However, I don't think that means that Solomon didn't start making all his pacts before they fell.

This is from Lesson 29-5 in OG. And he says that Michael gave him the ring at a point in his life when he was lost, etc.

What does that mean? Is that before or after Solomon met Barbatos?

Now, there is also a part in Nightbringer where Solomon says that he met a friend back when he was locked up in the basement. He says that his new friend's family came to get them, but that they would come back from time to time and talk to him. He promise the friend he would be a good sorcerer so he could protect humanity.

What if that was Michael?

If it was, maybe Michael gave him the Ring of Wisdom around this time. Maybe Michael did it because he wanted to help Solomon protect humanity.

But this is also the story Solomon couldn't tell MC entirely. He stops part way and says he doesn't have the courage. Which means something else happened then, too. Probably something bad.

So I dunno, this is just a theory. But it could explain why Michael gave Solomon the ring to begin with. If it happened before the brothers fell, his motivation could have purely been to help Solomon protect humanity.

Of course, it's possible that wasn't Michael at all and was actually someone else. In which case we would be back to square one with the question of why Michael gave Solomon the ring.

It would be rather sinister if Michael gave it to Solomon after the brothers fell for the sole purpose of Solomon being able to control them.

It makes sense that Michael would need a human for this because he can't make pacts with the demons himself. But maybe Solomon didn't want to do what Michael wanted him to do and therefore decided to do his own thing instead. He only has a pact with one of the brothers, so he's not exactly going through with that idea.

If Michael is Nightbringer, this could explain why Solomon said that Nightbringer made him who he is. At the same time, it's pretty clear from Solomon's conversation with Nightbringer that he disagrees with Nightbringer and is kinda defiant.

But if Michael is Nightbringer and he's always wanted to control the brothers, that could explain why Nightbringer wanted MC to make pacts with all of them. Perhaps by creating pacts with the brothers in the past, MC has strengthened their pacts with the brothers in the future, too. That could make it easier for MC to control them, especially to control them all at once.

Which is kinda the point of the Ring of Wisdom. As you said, it's meant to allow someone to control multiple demons without it being as draining on the body.

Unfortunately, I still feel like I don't have enough evidence for any of these theories to say for sure that I think they're right. I kinda always thought Solomon's friend was Michael because to me that seems like the scenario that makes the most sense and fits with the Ring of Wisdom situation.

But in the end, I'm hoping they will reveal more about this part of the backstory. Even if I'm totally wrong, I would still very much like to know why Michael gave Solomon the Ring of Wisdom. Because that feels like a really big deal and so far all they've done is just kinda mention it briefly.

ANYWAY well you see I spend too much time thinking about this stuff. But I also have many questions! Here's hoping we get the answers soon!

[antisocialbunnysims]

the funny moment when ur doing super specific searches on etsy to find vintage candy tins you can use to recolor ATS' candy tin..and then you recognize the exact candy tin that is used in the og recolor lol (i filter by different random countries so i can find uncommon results, this only showed up when i searched for etsy uploads from denmark lol. this is prob a common candy tin in europe but i haven't ever seen it in the states!).

and bonus that on flickr i found almost the exact same ad i have hanging in my kitchen that i bought at a vintage paper fair! i've moved into the most cursed phase of CC addiction. You don't browse or save it anymore, instead you just browse websites full of images you compulsively save in case you MIGHT recolor something with them. my digital hoarding is out of control lmao ;_; i really want to try to recolor some cute kitchen clutter soon as i have free time tho!

[xestuck]

the sim3stuck post

+ some more stuff added 15/mar/24 ! this wont be reccs for specific features for canon characters, but items that can apply to hs trolls in general (also including xeno headcanons)

before anything else. heres a link to the og simstuck cc, basically the canon trolls' horns and the canon trolls and kids shirts, in case u somehow dont have them already :-3

cas items should all be recolourable unless otherwise stated. some links direct to the creators page, but some r direct downloads. this is cos a lot of older sims 3 cc pages have broken or link to now-defunct adfly links + ND SKINS: Indogene Skin by niobe cremisi Fantasy Insect Skin by niobe cremisi Scaly Alien Skins by sim-it-up Expanded Colour Ramps by FairsteadSims Alien Colour Ramps by Scones Wood Doll Grey Skin by niobe cremisi Steampunk Robot Skin by niobe cremisi Mermaid Skin by niobe cremisi Animal Skin by Juba Metal, Matte and Plastic skins by CmarNYC

MAKEUP: Set of scars by i-like-teh-sims Bleeding face makeup by TheBleedingWoodland CAStable Mouths by Chibikinesis Freckle Blusher by Stefan0412 Recolourable Freckles & Blush by sims3land Tears of Pain Eye Makeup by GorePrincess Third Eye by moonskin93 + Avatar Alien Markings p1 by traelia + Avatar Alien Markings p2 by traelia + Dragon Scales Blush by Simmerstore -- CONTACTS Goat Eyes by Moonskin93 (iirc its unrecolourable) OhMyEyes by escand (has colourable sclera too) Solid Colour eyes, Robo eyes, Lizard eyes by Esmeralda (some are unrecolourable) Fantasy Eyes by Arisuka Fantasy Eyes 2 by Arisuka EphemeraMS93 Eyes by brntwaffles (includes default, non-def with recolourable sclera, and odd-eye contact accs) + Dragon Eyes by niobe cremisi

ACCESSORIES: --HORNS Devil Kazumi horns by TheBleedingWoodland Horns + Demon Tail by CloudwalkerNZ Classic Demon Horns by Lavoieri Devil Horns by yenwenz Sundown Horns by LeahLillith Crave Horns by LeahLillith Hathor Horns Headband by LeahLillith Some horns and "ribs" that might work for "grubscars" by VenusPrincess FF12 Demon Horns by MurfeeLee FF12 Gilgamesh Horns by MurfeeLee Small Oni Horns by Mitarasi

--TEETH AND NAILS Vampire Fangs by TheBleedingWoodland Wolf Claws for all by Callia-Evergreen/Camkitty Orc Teeth by VenusPrincess --EARS, FINS, WINGS Fin Ears, Pierced Fin Ears, and Goblin Ears by VenusPrincess Feathered Wings and some tiaras/necklaces by VenusPrincess Fairyish Wings and Ear+body fins by VenusPrincess Feathered Wings by TheNinthWave Mermaid Fins by DSims (these r the ones used in the old simstuck blog, the dropbox links still work) --ETC ACC 2 Different Colour Eyes (Natural and Solid Colour) by Esmeralda (yes these arent in makeup, sims 3 eye contacts in makeup are always mirrored so these have to be "glasses") Metal Prosthetic Arms by Arisuka Egyptian YuGiOh Choker by SallyCompaq122 Antennas by VenusPrincess Spine + Tail Accs by VenusPrincess Cat Tails by Tehmango Paw Pads by Callia-Evergreen/Camkitty Lizard Tails by Callia-Evergreen/Camkitty Lizard feet by Callia-Evergreen/Camkitty (included with the downloadable sims) Pointy Anime Shades submitted to simstuck by eiram87 Triangle Shades by GrahammerTek Welding Goggles by GrahammerTek Misc Goggles by sionelle + Medusa Snake Accs by SilFantasy

GENERAL RECS: - nraas MasterController is needed to put multiple accessories in the same location and to add more face/body sliders to your game but it has a shitton of other useful features too. - OneEuroMutt various facial and body sliders, i have the alien/ body/ amputee sliders but the rest might also be of interest. (remember to get MasterController first) - aWT Eyelid and Pupil Sliders, yes there is functional sliders for sims pupils. note the mesh needed for the sliders to work will remove the EA eye shine on sims (and glow eyes on supernatural sims) - sims3genderswap is a collection of GNC/transgender/gender neutral clothing, makeup, and hair - also some dreamer shirts/dress submitted to simstuck by zootycoon for the sims playing sburb - links to some sims 3 cc reupload piles. some of the stuff here was picked frm these, but mostly its general sims 3 cc that lost their original download links. one | two

i do have more cc that should work for simstuck shit but i have merged a lot of my .packages or cant find the source download. i havent included any skins for this reason but i can try finding fantasy skins or human skns that have grayscale tones at some other point. i dont have a simsfileshare code but if i somehow get one then i might upload packages of stuff that i cant find online anymore

also if theres any other canon homestuck cc for sims 3 pls send it to me....... i think theres stuff like mitunas outfit somewhere out there but my searches for sims 3 homestuck cc get drowned out by the sims 4 stuff...... rip

[cryptiam]

TSR has now disabled reblogs/comments on their post response to firing 60+ featured cc creators.

Since I reblogged their response early on, I wanted to give this update for everyone in case you missed it.

It's not surprising of course, just funny they didn't know how to do that before posting it.

*This will prob be my last post about it though unless there's another notable development needing to boost.

In case you missed it:

TSR's response tried to manipulate the truth of how they fired ~60+ long-time cc creators abruptly. It's a bad response and people called them out for it. Creators included.

(*linking to my reblog of it in case they delete/edit the og post in the future)

All that to say:

Please don't go after the people working at TSR or any cc creators still partnered with them. That's not the point of all this, and odds are they aren't even the ones responsible for these business decisions anyways.

This is to set the record straight due to the deceptive response and them locking comments out of damage control.

Decide whether you'll personally use TSR or not, but leave it at that.

[hana-bobo-finch]

ok ok! I think I can actually articulate my thoughts now which is good so here is a brief list of my Evil Diabolical Thoughts so far (sotr spoilers below)

• super super super glad it was very upfront that Lenore dove is covey!! I was worried it was gonna be some “ooooh is she is she not” type thing that’d get annoying fast but No it is very straightforward which I appreciate. Seeing CC and tam amber too? wonderful I love those guys I’m so glad we get to see some of the covey grown up

• THE CAPITOL IS HOMOPHOBIC??? that genuinely surprised me. It said that you could even get arrested for “loving the wrong way” which is. damn aight then. I wasn’t expecting it because the Capitol generally comes across as hedonistic and such so I guess I assumed they’d all be lenient on what people do in their private love lives but I guess not. I absolutely adore this addition though. not because homophobia is good Obviously but it’s really interesting and I could go into it So much and what it implies for any other queer people but I will shut up for now

• THE FLINT STRIKER. OKAY. I’M ABOUT TO GET EITHER FARFETCHED OR INCREDIBLY OBVIOUS BUT. it is extremely interesting to me!! A main motif throughout the series is fire and burning in association with rebellion and war. Lenore dove literally provided haymitch the tool to spark fire. oouughh (surely there’s a more verbose way to phrase that but. I’m very tired lmao)

• ^ it also vaguely reminds me of the bangle haymitch wore in catching fire that he gave to finnick but that’s a stretch so I won’t theorize on that!!!

• FINALLY. NAMES OF KATNISS’S PARENTS 🦅🦅🦅💥💥 BURDOCK. ASTRID MARCH. Also it is extremely funny to me that burdock’s nickname was burdie. birdie. bird. it is not even subtle at this point and I love it

• the narration of the book!! I like how it’s a bit more gruff than Katniss’s in the original trilogy. Nothing incredibly noteworthy but I did notice the language being a bit harsher (harsh as far as YA novels go. A piss here and a crap there and the occasional hell, when there was mostly nothing of the sort in the og trilogy (ironically except for, iirc, haymitch instructing them to “get the hell out of there” when the gong sounds))

• everything with Woodbine chance. There have been small scale rebellions cropping up for years, even if it’s something as simple as running away from the reaping. But nobody speaks of them because they get covered up so quickly. In the og trilogy katniss talks a lot about 12 not being one to rebel, but that’s clearly not the case (or at least wasn’t at a time. Very possible they were beat into submission but for a time? 12 was filled with rebels)

• drusilla’s outfit being described as a deranged daffodil. Not of any significance I just adore that line

• THE TRIBUTE’S FAMILIES HAVING TO ACT FOR THE CAMERA??? That part was sickening to read and even though I know Plutarch is on the rebel’s side it was just. horrific. As much as he may help the rebels he still sees them as a spectacle at the end of the day. Yeah yeah he needed footage for the reaping recaps but he did it in the cruelest way imaginable like it was nothing. Not only did he demand that they reenact their genuine anguish for him, but he discretely films them when they whisk Louella away???? Demanding they act or they can’t say goodbye?? Plutarch you are not making yourself likeable

• LOUELLA. OKAY. ONE OF THE REASONS HAYMITCH TOOK SUCH A LIKING TO KATNISS WAS BECAUSE OF HER. WAAUUUGHHH. she has the seam look, was described as being smart and spunky, and if I’m not mistaken she had her hair in braids. Gee wonder who that sounds like (DIES). He made his first goal to protect her, and even if he couldn’t, he still protected Katniss all those years later. And called Katniss sweetheart not to be patronizing but because that was his nickname with Louella???. Im gonna explode

• the sheer extent of how the tributes are treated like animals. It was always apparent but especially so here. They’re referred to with animal terms and herded around, and what especially stood out to me was Maysilee’s line “if you let them treat you like an animal, they will.”

• magno. love him in a backwards way. what is his problem

• mags and wiress really didn’t have to be there I’ll be honest. They most of all definitely felt like fan service so I guess this is my first major complaint, but I can’t say it dampened the overall experience too much. More so just a passing “eh that’s unnecessary isn’t it.” Though I will say, I like that mags’s personality gets to show a bit more. Her being incredibly devoted to her allies’ survival, putting it at the top of her list of needs. It’s shameless fanservice and ya boy went hook line and sinker for it because I love her here. She doesn’t do a whole lot but her comforting the tributes, and just that small tidbit of her shielding a traumatized victor from the cameras is so. it is so everything to me. Wiress I feel has less of a reason to be there and I’m more leery on her being there tbh. Not really necessary, but again, I did like her here. Her being all calculated and calm, teaching the tributes a little song to help them remember what to do in the arena. Also her arena sounds SO cool. So cool but terrifying. I’ve been in a mirror maze before and even on a small scale it was extremely disorienting so that arena is immediately interesting to me. One last note on wiress, the line, “most of the tributes went nuts, but not wiress.” ohhh that is diabolical given her future nickname and all

• I love the dynamic between the district 12 tributes, really makes you love them even if they don’t play a hugely important role. Wyatt hardly did anything but I was so sad when he died on the first night. Something I love in all of the books is how lighthearted relationships still form even in such dire circumstances. Like these three are about to be sent off to be slaughtered and they’re just casually discussing how Wyatt snores too loud (I will be forever quoting BAD NEWS. YOU ALSO REAL-SNORE)

• snow showing up and practically Fucking Dying is so funny I’m sorry. Haymitch went in so terrified but snow is just “it’s too hot in here my tummy hurt :(“. Haymitch internally thinking he’s glad he doesn’t have to clean up after snow? diabolical foreshadowing for Peeta having to clean up after haymitch. with how menacing snow came across in the other books, even in ballad when he was at his lowest, this scene was surprisingly funny and I’m mixed on that. On one hand damn ok snow is just not trying anymore which seems very off, but on the other, it does genuinely show that he is just. Some guy. It’s especially potent after ballad when he makes his way through so much and seems invincible, but here he is just being a weak-ass old man. I audibly laughed when haymitch drank all the milk that was FOUL of him. And snow grilling haymitch on Lenore dove is just…ouuughh. He’d managed to compose himself for the most part and went back to his regular vaguely menacing self but he slipped into pure pettiness there. He is such a petty little man outright telling haymitch he’s dodging a bullet like holy SHIT men will do anything but go to therapy smh

this post is getting long so I will rapid fire through my last few thoughts okey dokey

• LOU LOU DESTROYS ME. SO MUCH. WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE IT. HER AND HER SNAKE JUST. AUUUGHHH

• Effie didn’t have to be there!! This is my main complaint with the book aside from some iffy pacing (though to be completely honest I always found the pacing in all of the books to be iffy but that’s mostly a me thing because I’m into slower pacing). Again it doesn’t ruin the book, but her being there doesn’t really add anything. It sucks because I genuinely think the stuff with her dubious family background is really interesting background detail to think about, but Effie herself really didn’t have to be there for that. Outwardly giving Prosperina the last name trinket would have been enough. What sucks most of all is that I DONT HATE HER HERE EITHER!!! it’d be so much easier to complain if I wasn’t legit enjoying every morsel of fan service. Suzanne I am shaking my head disapprovingly and acknowledging that it serves no real purpose but I will continue to gobble it up. I shall gobble with conviction.

• the way that the Capitol essentially shaped haymitch into his outward facade?? Yknow??? Am I making sense?? To get sponsors and the like, he presented himself as a drunkard, uncaring troublemaker and in the future that’s essentially what he became because of his trauma in the games. am I coherent. probably not. but it makes me feral.

• the Capitol was so outwardly harsh even then. The tributes weren’t treated as poorly as in the tenth games but were still treated terribly before the games themselves. Getting showered with insecticides, the escorts getting into physical brawls…I guess I figured it’d be more similar to Katniss’s pre-games experience which was obviously not great, but it had a certain luxury to it that, even when she was getting shipped off to fight in a death arena, she found nice. Makes me wonder when the tributes actually started getting that full on luxury treatment. And Caesar…….ive seen people say he’s out of character which, on a surface level I agree with, but, is he? Outwardly, yeah, but the Capitol itself is like the arena. Everything looks perfect on the surface but is actually deadly. So it really wouldn’t surprise me if that’s just how he is, and the nice and supportive Caesar of the recent Games is just another part of the luxurious pre-games experience that wasn’t really around for the 50th games. Am I making sense. Probably not but this is making me NUTS ITS LIKE THE ARENA. PERFECT ON THE OUTSIDE BUT CRUEL ON THE INSIDE AND CAESAR IS NO EXCEPTION BUT NOBODY KNOWS THAT. NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT THE CRUELTY BECAUSE OF THE CAPITOL PROPAGANDA. YES I’M LOOKING TOO MUCH INTO THIS BUT THIS REALLY STOOD OUT TO ME

[tactical-mode]

Episode 010

(Remember to turn on CC for the dialogue!)

This episode is full of departures from the OG, although nothing so drastic as 7R. In many cases, dialogue has been tweaked to suit the blocking. It’s my opinion that these tweaks - mostly from Remake - suit the characters and the flow, but you can be the judge.

[Chapter 04] Scene 37-40: Morning in the Slums

Tifa joins the party while Barret’s Theme pleases the ear. This is actually the original midi track from the 1997 game but put through some modern samplings. Later in the episode, you’ll hear the orchestration by modder Neo Faizan, which can be used in your Remake playthrough, I heartily recommend it!

OG fans may notice that I’ve changed this scene somewhat. In the old game, the dialogue introduces a materia tutorial. Since this is in movie-style, that's nixed. I thought about planning some overlay text to show our loadout, like so:

(I gave Tifa an advanced purple materia here because she’ll be roundhouse kicking giant robots soon and I don’t want her to break her leg.) The overlay idea was scrapped.

Scene 41

This small scene on the train platform uses dialogue mostly from Remake, although in places I have swapped the new lines out for things that are covered in side-dialogue in the OG (such as SOLDIER being deployed).

In my initial concept for the series I wanted all scenes like this to go in the Extended Cut playlist only, as separate “deleted” scenes. So, why the change? Primarily because the music leads from one scene to the next, and without a clear break, I didn’t want to jank the flow.

[Chapter 05] Scene 01-03

Enjoy the music mod by Neo Faizan and the Train NPCs mod by FantasyRaiderr. These scenes are spliced in with scenes from Chapter 2. If you watch all the episodes in one sitting, you can see that I’ve filmed the same moment twice and used it in Episode 7 and now 10. Whoops!

There’s also a materia in the background of the emptied train car. It emits glowing particles that were chewing the scenery, so to film the scene I opened the engine .ini and removed all particle effects. Much less distracting!

In OG, Tifa is the one who breaks up the fight, prompting Cloud to very cooly say his line. In 7R, Tifa ain’t here and Cloud has a moribund expression to match a changed bit of dialogue (a more judgemental “You know you’re better than that.”).

Scene 04

Ah finally, a music track from Remake! Hurry! Is the name of the tune, and has several versions in Remake - this one brings the ticking clock noise, running synth, and morse-code-esque percussion  that most closely matches Uematsu’s score. 

The race against time from the OG sadly doesn’t happen in 7R, so we jump from the train straight away. There’s also no goodbye sequence with Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. The only indication they’re even on the mission is a single shot of them imported from Chapter 2.

Remake’s replacement for these scenes (killer drones that attack everyone on the train) was also cut, this time by me. It may explain why the party seems to be ready to fight something off screen, and why the passengers seem less afraid of Barret that they are of Tifa (hint: they’re actually afraid of the killer drones behind her).

One final change: in OG, Barret jumps from the train last, boasting that a leader always stays until the end. I lament the change here, but I couldn’t edit my way out of him jumping first. Ah well, at least we get a nice little romantic moment here. My multi-shipper heart soars.

Scenes 05-15

Several combats are cut here. The music track is Lurking in the Darkness from EC. Also, if you play through 7R, this scene is likely cluttered with crates and pylons, as a combat full of exploding interactables happens just before it. To reset the crates so they aren’t bouncing around the scene, I had to save in the quick moment between the fight and the cutscene, then reset the game so that the interactibles appeared back in their default position. Clever girl, eh?

Barret going off about Plans B to D as well as the railway map is an invention of 7R. I liked it, so I kept it, clipping where I could to keep it brisk. It allows the song to play out, shows us some tasteful character interactions, and serves as a tidy plot button for the end of the episode. It is thus saved from becoming a deleted scene, purism be damned!

One last note here - in trying to force Barret and Tifa to run up to the map at the right time, I spent a lot of time freezing the engine, causing any the actors in motion to float far away. This forced them to backtrack towards their marker while I set up a shot. A shot I really liked of Barret reflected the OG's image of the train tunnel and I really wanted to use it, but I found it confusing as a viewer in terms of getting a sense of place.

Final Thoughts

This episode brings the series’ run-time up to about an hour. That’s on par with the original game. Comparatively, Remake’s version of the train escape happens around the 8-hour mark. Just some fun stats for you. I am hoping that this is one of the episodes in which I play the loosest with OG's script but there are some real hurdles up ahead. In the meanwhile, I get to kick back and enjoy some dungeon and combat for the next few releases.

[encyclopika]

Animal Crossing Fish - Explained #241

Brought to you by a marine biologist with some snakey shark...

CLICK HERE FOR THE AC FISH EXPLAINED MASTERPOST!

Fish are fascinating. Although, yes, I'm very biased, I'm also saying it because the two largest groups of them - the bony fish (Osteichthyes) and the cartilagenous fish (Chonrichthyes) - come in some wild shapes and sizes. And some of these shapes, like that of today's fish, the Frilled Shark, are still just weird as hell.

I'm actually really surprised that ACPC added this shark in, but they did! It was a special catch for the Deep Sea Shark Goals back in July 2023. The art is also so spot on given just how weird this guy is! Look at the teeth in perfect rows! The fins are all the way towards the back of the body! The gills are even frilled (that's where the name comes from!) to the point you can see the red gill tissue inside! It's really great. Although there are two species of Frilled Shark now, and they look very much the same, I'm going to say this is definitely the OG Frilled Shark - Chlamydoselachus anguineus - that everyone knows and loves. (The other species, the Southern African frilled shark (Chlamydoselachus africana) was only described in 2009, so I just doubt it's the one featured here.)

It's hard to find good pictures of a healthy frilled shark since, if you're seeing them at the surface in broad daylight for a good picture, odds are, that guy is on his way out, unfortunately. These are relatively deep-sea sharks that live their lives like a lot of twilight zone animals do - hopping on the Great Diel Migration, where they hang out at depth during the day, but go up to the surface at night to feed.

If there is any shark that is called a "living fossil" it's this one. With the snake-like body and six gills and pretty much a lack of a rostrum, this isn't the first image you would conjure when someone says "shark". And just from my experience talking to people about sharks since I was really small, I've noticed that when people think "shark" they are more than likely imagining the sharks of Galeomorphii, or the Galean Sharks, which include the Great White, the Whale, the Hammerheads, and just your typical shark friends.

The Frilled does not belong here.

By © Citron, CC BY-SA 3.0, (Do you see what I was saying about the teeth being in perfect rows???)

There is a whole other SuperOrder of sharks called the Squalomorphii, or Squalean Sharks. The Squaleans are typically told apart from the Galeans by lacking traits, such as an anal fin (which isn't the case in the frilled shark, so we'll move on), no nictitating membrane over the eyes, and differences in skull morphology. These guys are diverse, weird...and sometimes disrespected. A lot of them are called "dogfish" and where I'm from, dogfish aren't even considered "real sharks". I can't complain too much since I never count dogfish as "seeing sharks" when I'm out at sea. Many of them are small. But this group also includes famous sharks, like the Greenland shark, saw sharks, angel sharks, and the very primitive-looking Cow Sharks, for which the Frilled, we think!, belongs.

Cow Sharks, the Hexanchiformes, are a bunch of weirdos with six or seven gill slits, where other sharks (and most rays!) all have five gill slits. They're typically deep water sharks that can only rarely be studied. One of them, the broadnose sevengill, though, is a resident to San Francisco Bay, California, so it's not necessary to be deep sea when you're a weird, primitive shark. Even so, the Frilled Shark is a weirdo among weirdos, and it's been placed in many other groups of extinct sharks since its discovery. However, genetic analysis done in 2016 puts it in with the Hexanchiformes, but still apart in its very own Family - Chlamydoselachidae. That's what happens when you're a shark that looks and swims like an eel, has trident teeth, and has a weird head with weird jaws. Did I mention these things grow to be 6 feet (2m) long?

And there you have it. Fascinating stuff, no?

[monasims-gallery]

Goldspire NPC's Pt. 1 - The Rusted Roses

Just in case you missed it, I am now keeping my Steampunk CC Resources over here!

I didn't mean to make all the quest givers in the player hub femmes but, here we are.

CC Links and credits under the cut

Harlob "Harpy" Iron-Tusk: Skintone, Ears, Nose Preset, Eyes, Tusks, Prosthetics*, Piercings, Earrings**, Top*, Belt Bag*, Pants, Boots(Mesh)

Clarabeth ... Silverdust: Body Preset, Hair Color, Face Markings 1* 2, Body Markings, Nose Blush 1 2, Eyes, Eye Preset, Nose Preset, Ears, Goggles, Necklace, Gloves, Top & Bottom, Belt, Socks, Boots

Dr. Delilah Clearwater: Mask, Necklace**, Bodysuit, Dress, Bracelets***, Garters, Boots**

Binx: Body Preset, Skintone, Brows, Freckles, Nose Markings 1 2, Body Markings, Finger Stain, Eyes, Ears, Nose Preset, Eye Preset, Mouth Preset, Jaw Preset, Blush*, Hair Acc, Necklace, Top, Puff Sleeves, Belt*, Pants, Socks, Shoe Acc, Boots

*TSR

**Simsfinds

***Not sure where the og link for this is, I looked high and low

Many thanks to: @blahberry-pancake, @pralinesims, @clumsyalienn, @shandir, @dansimsfantasy, @madlensims, @iliketodissectsims, @aleniksimmer, @lamatisse, @ssspringroll, @thepeachyfaerie, @strangestorytellersims, @tricoufamily, @quiddity-jones, @kittrixsims, @fluffyfrogg, @myfawnwysimblr, @berryqueercc, @eachuisge-cc, @taty86, @mossylane, @obscurus-sims, @oydis, @pinkpatchy, @stamsim, @oranos, @serenity-cc, @bokchoijo, @yuyulie, @mmsims, @dream-girl, @evilquinzel, @simgirlz, @cosmiccs4, @gummyheaven, @chere-indolente, @nv-games, @alifya, @sammi-xox, @moony-bonbon

[infiniteetcetera]

The only things we learned from SJM’s recent interview snippet being:

1. Next book is longgggg

2. Next book is super far from done…

Makes me wonder if there actually is something super surprising coming, like something she herself didn’t even necessarily plan? (especially since we know CC3 got major rewrites after it was nearly done) I do think there could be some elements of the expected story that could fall into this (I think the most obvious route is a book with Elain/Azriel/Luciens POVs and those are three characters we have the most to learn from) but everything about the ACOTAR characters in CC3 make me wonder if she won’t go in an unexpected route

The most obvious thing to point out is Nesta being so prominent which makes sense on thematic levels to some degree but also we have to remember SJM is in control of what she’s writing and if she wanted to…that could have been Feyre with Bryce the whole book??? Or Elain or Gwyn or Mor or whoever with just a few minor plot point shifts. The Azriel of it all seems to check out but the emphasis on Nesta is so curious to me because I’d argue it doesn’t even make entire logic sense (like Rhys was throwing a fit at her for how she handled Bryce as if he didn’t send her in their with presumably almost zero training) and she’s been set up for something different in more ways then one now…

Which brings me to another point, maybe it’s just my Anti-Nessian instincts talking but like…what was the need to continue to make them so gross still??? I had kind of accepted by the end of ACOSF “yeah this pair kind of sucks but it is what it is they’re getting a happily ever after now” but that’s just so clearly NOT THE CASE. The whole Rhys issue is still super prominent, but the narrative is actually finally starting to acknowledge that like, maybe this isn’t okay??? Before in the text you read the awful things Cassian says and does and the narrative is just Nesta’s POV being like “yeah but im terrible and worthless and he’s great so I deserve this” and readers just have to stomach it but Ember stepping in feels like a shift in acknowledgment that this treatment isn’t fair and the part that always gets me is THAT STUPID SEXIST JOKE THE GUYS LAUGH AT BUT NESTA AND EMBER DONT. that’s such an intense and powerful moment, especially when these are two abuse survivors tolerating it and it’s literally like three lines that didn’t need to be there if they weren’t important???

This all adds up to me for the next book as meaning:

a) something really bad is going to happen to Nesta and the plot focus will be in some degree on helping her (maybe using the star sword, which would likely involve her sisters/Azriel)

b) Nesta’s POV still being a thing….

I know the second option would maybe feel wrong in a book that is probably meant to focus on her sister but there aren’t really rules about these things. SJM made a passing comment once about the new spinoffs being “one couple” focused and “each sister/her lover” focused but she really doesn’t have to stick to that. Even the OG ACOTAR trilogy was not that at all. We got maybe like three chapters in total of Rhy’s POV??? Even the text itself was first person which has been a major shift (side note people always ignore in their evil Rhys theories, we’ve only ever gotten Feyre and him in first person, we knowww this man). I think it would not be super crazy if next book is very multi-POV. It would still probably be focused on one person mostly (I am thinking Elain or Azriel and I think there are a lot of valid reasons to support that no matter who they wind up with) but having POVs from at least Nesta and maybe some other characters (dream ones here are Eris, the Valkyries, Vassa/Jurian, and a return to Mor’s POV) could make a lot of sense and be done in a way that still “focuses” on one character mostly. The most obvious examples to me are CC (those are Bryce’s book, but there are so many other POVs) and TOD (undeniably Chaol’s book, but there are other POVs).

I don’t know I think all the clues we’ve gotten so far suggest something bigger and less expected for ACOTAR 6 then just a “Elain’s version of ACOSF” sort of deal. If it were just that simple I feel like by now SJM could just…say that? Like call me crazy but I don’t think announcing it’s Elains book would be new information at all if it’s that simple?? it doesn’t tell us who she’s gonna wind up with and it’s perfectly in line with what people expect. Now I know there’s a whole slew of people who believe in a “just an Azriel” or Azriel/Gwyn book next but I just don’t see that for a lot of reasons (I mean I could be wrong and all the theorizing was for nothing but I don’t think I am). This really is not a point against Azriel/Gwyn either but I don’t see the logic in addressing their story before Elain/Azriel and Elain/Lucien. Chronologically it just doesn’t make sense to me and I actually think having them together first would detract a lot from an Elucien story (it’d just feel gross to me if Az finds his mate and then all of the sudden elains like ‘fine Lucien let’s figure this out🙄’ like if she’s going to choose Lucien let her choose Lucien please).

Im always curious to know other people’s thoughts, especially since we continuously have so little to go off of🙃 I do think there are even broader economic/practical elements it’s easier to ignore when your in a fandom space like…does any of this matter since it happened in CC3??? Do the bonus chapters even matter??? Would SJM be right in expecting people to have read them to “get” the next book. I think we all have very different impulses about this and actually think next book could be a rude awakening about it (like is there a world where nothing about the necklace/Elriel kiss/Gwynriel/Rhys is ever acknowledged??? it seems crazy to think about given fan discourse and theories but if SJM turned around and said “those bonus chapters are silly deleted scenes like” how could the people argue???) but I think it’s more likely there’s an acknowledgment most people have read all these series and she’s sort of priming them to do so with all these references. I just don’t know how much self contained ACOTAR related plot next book will have and how much of it will address these broader issues with the multi verse (like again Azriel can hear the star sword and it affects truth teller??? he lives in the same house with Nesta and that sword and can presumably use both, how could it not be acknowledged???) but I am curious to find out and honestly not even sure what I prefer