#That wouldn't work at all for the timeline lol - kind of a cool look in green tho

[sysig]

Spammy doobly-doos (Patreon)

[concernedbrownbread]

Hi I read your This Unbearable Tragedy and I’m having a blast! And yes please I would like to hear your thoughts on your fic

OMG thanks for asking!! Sorry for the late reply. I had so much to say that I wrote wayyy too much and then had to cut it down, lol.

(Also for those reading the fic rn, Chapter 3 is delayed to next weekend.)

So, the main things that I immediately thought of when I started planning a fix-it was "there's not enough Ben in s4" and "why would they set Allison and Reginald up to parallel each other and not follow through?" and also "that is NOT where I saw these characters going". In essence, I thought that s3 was setting up a certain narrative with all of this and then was like ???? when they went (haha) off the rails. So I'll talk about those three points below. SPOILERS for the fic and s4. It's a long post!

Before I start: one of the major points of this fic (and s4 ig) is that timelines are spilling into each other. That doesn't just mean artifacts. It means people. The Keepers get memories of other timelines. Why shouldn't Ben and Reginald?

Character Arcs

Yeah ... I think the general consensus was that the characters weren't themselves in s4. I actually had no problems with the set-up in ep 1-2, but then ... Five and Lila happened. And the narrative seemed to hate Diego, reduce Luther to a himbo and not much else, and for some reason try very hard to make Reginald a dad to Viktor. Klaus, Allison and Claire had a kind of nice sideplot but I didn't love it. It tortured Klaus for no real reason and made Allison his saviour? And for what?

Anyway, for my fic, I start off the characters the same with some subtle differences.

We don't see Diego at his job. His job is to be a dad. That's his whole thing, that's the best part of him. He's a brother and he's a father, and the narrative will reward him for that

Lila starts by screaming. Can you tell she's NOT okay? She deserves a break and a breakdown, and she'll get both I swear. She is NOT a house wife because she simply wouldn't be. She loves working. I did almost make Diego a househusband though

Side note on Lila's parents: they don't exist because why on earth would Allison think of that and not think of bringing Sissy back? It's clear her fantasy timeline is selfish.

Luther is a stripper still but again, his job is a side note. His first scenes is with Klaus (which, again, was a relationship set up in s3 and never explored??). He's trying damn hard to keep his family together and I want people to appreciate that!!

Allison's first scene is still the studio, but I wanted to expand it to include Klaus. Her story is still of love.

Also Klaus has his own place because he has goddamn agency in this narrative. He and Luther deserve to have a home of their own, and they'd make hilarious roomates imo.

Ray of course, exists

Five is interesting to me because while it makes sense for him to be in the CIA, I can't see him staying with the CIA. This will be explored in ch5. I have a really cool piece written for him.

Viktor my beloved <3 I have no notes, I just want to say I love him. I will of course not let him near Reginald unless to beat Reginald up.

Anyway, I'm going to write a whole separate post for the characters. You opened the Pandora's box anon!

Ben (and Klaus)

I gotta say ... I tried, I really tried, to like Jennifer. She's just such a non-character. We know very little about her, her trauma barely gets explored, the Squid is stupid because all it does is exist and then Ben is like "hehe I have tentacles too! Means we're connected" WHAT?

I was excited for Jennifer. Curious about the Jennifer Incident. Very vindicated when I learned Reginald killed them because lets face it, that's super in-character. But I just ... couldn't get behind Jennifer. So I scrapped her.

Look, if there was anyone that Ben was going to be soulmates with, it was Klaus (platonically).

I mean, isn't that what we learned over two seasons? That Ben and Klaus are inseparable?

(I also don't get the whole Durango thing. TUA has never been all that science-y but at least they tried, but this season they didn't care at all. They really just threw in matter/dark-matter and pretended it was something.)

Anyway, I also don't understand why the fact that Ben was DEAD in another timeline is never bought up properly. In fact, Ben is barely bought up by the siblings? After they discuss his death, they all go off on their own. Viktor's the only one who seems to care (which is fine, I love Viktor and seeing him try to reach out to Ben was nice). Five and Diego are fighting each other during their fight against Ben??? Doesn't make sense - Five saves Ben in s3, Diego hugs Ben so tightly in s2, WHERE. IS. THE. PAYOFF.

(I think that is really what I hated about s4. There is no payoff to all that was built in s1-3. They bring in whole new narrative points without concluding the old ones, and then everyone dies. The end. UGH.)

Anyway, MY BEN needs his Klaus. His memories are a little janky, because timelines, but there has always been one constant. There has always been Klaus. I think even in childhood, they were close (and I'll try to explore that more in the memories). More than that though, Ben needs his FAMILY.

And he might deny that they are his family, but they are. And they will do so much to help him. Including, but not limited to, BEATING REGINALDS ASS (/j)

Allison and Reginald's choice

Okay, the final scene in s3 where we see Allison & Ray and Reginald & Abigail made me think that s4 was going to take this further. Allison and Reginald both made a selfish choice - not in resetting the timeline, but in directly going against the wishes of the loved ones they magicked into the timeline. Ray in s3 is very clear that though he loves her, and will always love her, his place is in Dallas 1963, where he has people he cares about. A life he cares about. Abigail is a bit more subtle, but I remember thinking that it was clear that she wanted to die/was content with dying. I was a pretty casual fan then so I don't know if this was true, but that was the vibes I got from s1, and I was pretty happy that s3 confirmed it just ... not in the way I wanted? I don't mind she destroyed the world because she wanted to die - it's clear Abigail and Reginald think themselves above human lives. I just wish they explored it more.

And again, this parallel was something I got from just the ending of s3. It wasn't a deepdive or anything. I feel like it was such an obvious choice for s4 to go "What happens if you can't let go of the person you love?" And then ... they don't even mention Ray properly. Damn.

I just don't understand why they didn't do it? They set it up so perfectly. UGHHHH.

The main reason Ray exists in my fic is because Allison has to reckon with the fact that she really did pull Ray out of his time, out of his life. And I want her to realise how awful a choice that was. At the same time, I want Reginald to face the exact same thing and choose to do the opposite - hold onto Abigail tighter. Chapter 3 is going to explore a bit more of Allison and Ray, while further down the line we'll see more and more of Abigail.

(ALSO OMG!!! Abigail and Five parallel each other in wayyy more interesting ways than Reginald and Five. I cannot WAIT to write that. But this is more a headcanon hehehehe.)

Other Notes

I think s1-3 set up a lot of things that I assumed was going to be explored and wasn't. I'm going to try and touch upon all of them

the Jennifer Incident felt lacking. s1-2 really were so good because there was a slight mystery to it all, and when there wasn't, there was a ton of dramatic irony - ofc we knew Viktor was the bomb, but it was interesting to see the family figure out that mystery. In the same way, ofc we know Ben is the bomb, but I really though s4 would allow the family to actively search for why and how to stop him. I'm more of a angst & fluff writer but I shall try to write some semblance of mystery here.

Marigold. I will explore. I have Thoughts. chapter 3 will answer more on why it was found by Ben in particular.

Relationships that were set up in s1 will be revisited because as the "last season" I expected it to be. Ofc, Klaus and Ben is the big one, but also Klaus-Diego, Viktor-Allison, Allison-Luther, Five-Viktor, etc. Some new ones will be there, especially with Ben who had little interactions (on account of him being a ghost) and with Lila.

Five continues to be old man on this side of crazy. Sometimes he has good advice. Other times his ideas are unhinged. Early chapters he's mellow because life is normal now but when things go to shit ... oh boy let's NOT forget how paranoid this guy is.

Lila is also a little crazy. Good for her.

Commission!Five is explained more than just a throwaway line in the Five Deli. Five Deli and the Subway is explored more too ofc.

DOLORES MENTIONED BECAUSE SHE IS GODDAMN IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTANDING FIVE. Not even as a "love story" (Five's love story is his familial one), just as a part of his psyche. She is mentioned in EVERY season. She deserves to be mentioned here.

Pogo. I will not say more.

Reginald. Is Reginald.

Anyway, I have a lot more to say but I'll stop here. Sorry this is so long! Thanks for the ask <3

[eolande]

MAAHES' ARISEN.... her name is dara.... was rothais' beloved.... pretty blue and white eyes like the sky.... she's 5'9 and Strong.... someone capable to rule by rothais' side.... i know she's a little Modern looking with the haircut but it's what i literally always envisioned her with So whatever. she was his beloved before he became arisen and supported him thru his journey and ruled alongside him as he founded and ruled vermund in the wake of slaying the dragon woohooooo!!!!

so i have been trying to think if becoming seneschal is the same as in dd1. did he jump in a hole and fight the previous god and have his pawn undergo bestowal?? did his pawn return to dara and she could tell something was off? how long before rothais came back down in that case? or did he even leave vermund and the current plane of existence? i can imagine dara putting together like. where is his pawn. and why is he acting so weird. and then going. OMFG.... in my mind she wouldn't be ruling or occupying the castle when rothais returns so maybe she leaves "him" (the bestowed pawn). and he comes back down and slays bestowed pawn and starts ruling again. i am attached to the idea that the world was exactly how we knew it cycle wise before rothais fucked it up, so i think this series of events is how i'll go abt it.

i don't think this would work timeline wise but maybe it still could somehow.... but i was thinking i wanted dara to be aware of rothais' habit of killing arisen which could only happen if there were a couple arisen before her.... maybe following rothais' defecting the pathfinder went crazy trying to make arisen so there were a few in rapid succession that just kept getting killed by rothais LOL. so when she became arisen (in a situation she had no choice but to fight the dragon, likely to protect others) she was just full of so much dread and anxiety. all of her past w/ rothais and his experience as arisen/sovran/seneschal PLUS becoming arisen herself in such a shitty situation planted deep seeds of hatred for the cycle within her. WHICH would end up being her ticket to bitterblack.

maahes kind of didn't help much but provided some kind of small comfort. how cruel for her mind to be so preoccupied with rothais that her pawn is conjured in his image!! as both an idealized version of him but also carrying aspects of her fear of him. there's probably some significance as to why maahes is pure white when rothais has like red hair (and also slimmer face/features than maahes) LOL. i just thought it would look cool is all. they really aren't 1:1 at all in the end but the Idea is there.

SHE herself, in kind of an ironic twist, became anxious and paranoid rothais would hunt her down and kill her. he did know about her becoming arisen, but chose to let her stay away bc part of him was still fond and knew he would become paranoid and want to kill her if they were in proximity. but there was really no way to tell her this esp since she was constantly traveling and was probably too far gone mentally. she would barely speak to anyone, often either fidgety or listless, even maahes, who was sort of forced to learn about the world around him on his own. when they would go into towns or inns out of necessity, he was often times the one doing the talking. luckily he was created to be brave, personable and outgoing but the whole scenario is kind of like when a kid has to become their parent's parent, but with arisen and pawn. they actually spent a LONG time doing this and i think maahes' even started undergoing some bestowal and developing his own will because of the extreme and odd situation (also maybe in the spirit of being based off of someone who had an extremely powerful will himself)

anyway maybe olra kind of senses a personality who's damned the cycle and makes her way to this world to ferry dara and maahes off to bitterblack, or dara finds her own way there somehow. they spend a bit of a while there too before dara dies, and maahes basically fully gets bestowed. only after that happens do tenanye and crew pick him up, as opposed to just hiding and avoiding/ignoring them like they usually do lol. he hangs out and does have some fun with them for like. a Bit. he does take the opportunity to know more about the cycle and the worlds from them all. but eventually him and tenanye find a way to travel back to vermund and ofc have their adventure together there. he really is fond of anye i want to make that clear bc it kind of is a shitty situation. but she's very endearing to him and he's glad to have met her, and he'll miss her and fauna and barroch.... bc even tho getting stranded on bbi and being isolated in that situation SUCKS he knows he's lucky to have found a silver lining and also to have been able to make it out....!! he's always kind of taken everything on the chin anyway....

[enniewritesathing]

discussion post #2 (i think?)

This may have been a small update but More Things happened and we gotta talk about it. (Or, I'm gonna talk about it.) More like a ramble, really.

Thoughts? Comments? Concerns? Speculation? Let's talk about it. 🤔

Behind the Scenes stuff:

first off, I wouldn't have the ability to even remotely do ANY of this part without @anothersimsstory's CC conversions and I'm glad I had the foresight of downloading it when I did. (they didn't delete their shit or anything but you know how it is sometimes) and the monitor by Theraven (I don't think they have a tumblr? they have a forum tho), and the EKG leads by @jellypawss. It really pays to make niche CC!!

I had to make swatches for the monitor since it is an important visual thing... but it was wholly contingent on me finding something that's close to actual vital signs and I looked everywhere but they were all stock images and obviously didn't work for what I needed. I then had to search high and low for for it, but I found it. For real!! I had to use TWO laptops (one for settings and the other for the actual monitor) and I screenshotted it, slapped it into paint to save it, make it a swatch, rinse/repeat for I think 15? idk how many

you may think, Ennie, that's a bit much, and I say, my attention to detail game is insane when it doesn't need to be but dammit, the visuals have to make sense from a glance. That and the offchance of someone who knows read the monitor would point something out about it. That said! I tried parcing out what EtCo2 is but all I got from it is was "high number bad".

seriously, I spent... a Stupid amount of time setting that up. 🅱️lease clap for me -- I can safely say that I don't think anyone else would go that far.

I told myself after finishing The Incident I was not gonna be doing 5/6 rigs all in one shot again. (🤡)

The lighting situation drove me up the damn wall and after a point, I just said fuck it. What I didn't anticipate was the stark contrast of John and The Werewolf talking and the memory in terms of setting. It's really cool, I think.

I fretted over this part the whole time because I didn't know what order I wanted and what I was going for, but I think I escalated it properly.

For The Werewolf's veins, I had to do the ol' S4S shuffle, but they are a combination of 3, maybe 4 and ofc had to make outfits for the progression, which is why he's still rocking the half-sleeve look (and from an age/timeline stand point makes him 21/22ish). You know what, let's look at them again!

it's a good look

Speaking of... I had to make a lot of The Werewolf solo poses and I found out that uh, it's all in the brows; they can completely change the meaning. It's bad enough with the angles and the general body language. (Or maybe not? Eh.)

Another visual thing -- The Big Scene... that one, I had going back and forth with it until I decided going all white for The Werewolf's eyes (or lack of pupils). It was far more striking and way scarier than the 'blank' eyes I tend to go with.

seriously, I contemplated on tagging it as a jump scare.

Oh! and the shaking of 3 pics, that was spur of the moment because I really kept going back into the post and something was just missing. I have a (cracked) PhotoMosh and I played with the setting a bit and bingo.

It is probably my favorite post so far. I had to settle with the fact that it's not gonna be the one to be spread around. Or any of it really.

Story Stuff:

There's so many crumbs in this! So. Many. There's even a loaf of bread or two. If you tell me what you're picking up on and you're on some kind of track, you get a cookie (🍪). (I'm serious, btw)

John's clearly shook. This may be the first time we've really seen him like this. And The Werewolf is nonchalant... (I will admit John looks very pretty when he's like this lol)

...or is he? I think there are more cracks in the dam than you'd think. A while back in a post that's somewhere on this blog, but John has a tendency to play with his hands when he's anxious.

Another thing that I just noticed is that they didn't really look at each other; I wonder what that's all about?

I've said it once and I'll say it again; even though they share the same body, John and The Werewolf look very different from one another, and I think that's neat.

Jordan being real about taking advantage of the fact that they're getting paid $$$ and they'd be dumb to not take up the offer.

I had to remember that Brian did not know John was a werewolf at this point in time, or even begin to really put 2+2 together. I call it a bit of genre blindness, helped by the fact that this didn't happen all the time. He just rolled with it. Also, wow he looks very young without his tats; ofc this was the college years and he was beginning to fill out/eating good.

Mark is the smartest dude in the whole story. He said, nope, nuh uh, I'm OUT. IYKYK.

There were so many pics I wanted to take of Daniel punching The Werewolf right in the solar plexus (or thereabouts it might've been slightly lower than that). As they say in the FGC, he failed to block that overhead.

I'm glad I decided to leave in the fact that The Werewolf couldn't see too well.

The Werewolf blew his vocal cords out screaming. He said that shit with his soul. Rarely do I go with the funky text with him since that's his "big scary werewolf" voice (that and he rarely speaks like that). My man said "I'll make you suffer my pain." Beautiful. Can't wait to see how that plays out.

That said, The Werewolf did work himself up to the point of nearly killing himself on accident. But as Charles predicted, his body hit the emergency button and shut that shit down.

I spent the most time worried about this part because it needed to get the point across without it being so... cheesy?

also, I have to say? The Werewolf is a Swearwolf. *rimshot*

The Fucking Around part has ended... The Finding Out part is really going to be fun to watch. (I mean, you can already do this if you haven't but now you have way more context.)

There's something about The Werewolf that's becoming apparent (to us). He's still holding back on his actual feelings. Not only that... he hasn't gotten to John himself and I think that's where it's really gonna go down. John knows this; he's not naive to think that he didn't have a role in all of this too. Something to think about.

Charles is a flat out Nasty Man (very derogatory) and yet, I kinda enjoy writing it.

I do love how he is formal with names, "dear ____" and referring to John's formal name Johnathan.

which I always forget this mfer is named Johnathan. Nobody calls him that.

[gingerteaonthetardis]

I am sorry for sending you an angst prompt but... I had a thought seeing this one: "I wish people came with a warning label about how exactly they'll fuck you up. And you know what's wrong with me? I would've read yours and still chosen to tag along." - Rose Tyler and a Doctor of your choice, mid argument. Bonus points if it's an argument because he tried to send her away for her own safety, Bonus bonus if he succeeded and she came back powerful and pissed off - just not in a canon situation.

@lotsofthinkythoughts, my dearest pal, thank you for your patience. i won't tax it further with a long disclaimer, lol. however, i will say that i fudged the quote a little bit, just to fit it in how i wanted. i also picked nine for my doctor, because i love him... aaaaand enjoy the angst! (if this can really qualify as angst...)

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

Their cell was just like any other, unremarkable except maybe for the heat.

"Rose," he said.

"I don't want to hear it."

Sweat was darkening the hair at her nape, making it stick. She'd shed her jacket hours ago, and sat now with her back against the cinderblock wall, unsuccessfully attempting to cool herself down. In spite of her efforts, the concrete was as warm and muggy to the touch as everything else.

"But what—?"

Hair whipping, she turned to glare at him. "I'm not talking to you right now."

The Doctor scoffed. Slouched against the opposite wall, he looked irritably unaffected by the humidity. His leather coat still hung off him, and though his face had kind of a glow to it, he had no need to wipe away beading sweat like she did. She quietly resented him for this.

Or rather, she resented him for other reasons—mostly—but also for that. For how put-together he looked when she was falling apart. Her eyes fluttered closed; a golden afterimage asserted itself.

He'd tried to send her away. Again.

Of course, it wasn't "again" for him, not yet. He was still young—so young, possibly too young for her to be messing about with, in the grand scheme of her timeline—and wearing the first face she'd met. The one with that goofy, indescribable pride and those clear blue eyes with such gentle lines around them. The light and the dark in constant opposition over his heavy brow.

She couldn't say it didn't hurt, seeing him again. Knowing what was coming in their still-far-off future.

What she hadn't anticipated was being shoved back into the TARDIS on her own and sent flying—thankfully, not irreversibly—back in time, in a rescue attempt so pointlessly stupid and cosmically dangerous that she'd wanted to wring his neck upon return.

Did he even realise the danger that would've put them in? Put the whole multiverse in?

And then when she'd landed the TARDIS—safely, she might add—and come storming out, he'd gotten them both locked up in prison. Less than ten minutes, it took.

The Doctor sighed. "Rose, just—"

"Shut up."

What really hurt was that she'd tried to tell him, tried to explain herself, and he just wouldn't listen.

He never did, not when he thought he knew better. That hadn't changed over the years and bodies, but it was particularly bad with him—with the Doctor she'd met first.

She wasn't even sure if he'd worked it out yet.

That she was a fixed point.

Because he wasn't listening. It was all blah-blah-blah, nattering and pretending and scheming and ignoring the reality right beneath his nose.

A sharp sigh boiled up in her chest. She was tired of feeling hurt—hurt, in turn, always seemed to make her angry.

A gate clanged somewhere down the line. Some other cell. She couldn't tell if an inmate was coming or going.

"You know what's funny?" she said, not strictly speaking to him.

"I thought you didn't want to talk."

She ignored him. It was easy with her eyes closed.

"What's funny is how you never learn."

It felt good to say. It felt good to be an authority on something—and if there was one thing she knew, it was him. In all his many shapes, accounting for every variable. She knew him.

And it was true: "You never do, no matter how many times I run into you. You try to push me away every single time."

She heard a little scuffing sound. His boot against stone. Even with her eyes closed, she could visualize that boot: black and scuffed and heavy.

"And that's all right, I've come to expect it," she pushed on. "You're the lonely god aboard your lonely ship. That's who you want to be, apparently."

He huffed like he meant to say something, but her eyes flared open, and he stopped.

Hurt made her angry, yes. And anger made her burn.

She got to her feet without really knowing how. "But sometimes, Doctor, I wish people came with a warning label—a nice, specific one with a list of every possible way they could fuck you up. And yours," —she laughed roughly at the way he stiffened and stood a little taller, unused to hearing her curse, "—oh, yours would be a mile long."

His forehead was doing something ominous. But it didn't much matter. She was burning, burning. She was always burning, had always been. Her irises felt molten around the black holes of her pupils. She pushed off the wall, abrading her palms.

"You have made me more afraid than anything else in my life. More than getting fucked over by Jimmy Stone, more than losing my dad. You."

Losing you, she didn't say.

"And yet you keep coming back." His words were practically a sneer. But there was a vulnerability to them—she wasn't sure if he was even aware of it, how the syllables lifted at the end. How the pain marked itself out in between his eyebrows, a little dimple she loved and mourned in equal measure. "From across universes, if your story's to be believed."

"We wouldn't be in this cell," she said, struggling to sound calm, "if you'd believed my story, Doctor. But instead you shut me out and made a scene and now we're shut up here. So while we're stuck together, you're gonna listen."

Her eyes shuttered themselves. She couldn't bear the burning anymore, not when her whole body was slicked with sweat already. A deep breath in, out… in again, and the afterimages—the future memories, the past potentialities—faded, leaving her vision clear.

It was only him, and only her.

Rose stood in the center of the room, on the invisible line which, in crossing, would bring her into his world, with its smells of leather and engine oil and sweet-sharp mint. It would carry her to the place where she could see the fine ring around his light eyes. A saturated blue, like the widest rings around Uranus.

She paused. She stepped.

"You're right," she admitted, "I do always find my way back, no matter how many times you insist I'll be happier somewhere else, or that you're better off alone, or that it's too dangerous. I keep coming back. Every time you shut me out and pack me off home and make decisions for me—I come back."

Her approach was slow, as if toward an animal she didn't want to spook. Her pink tank top had plastered itself to her back; her hair had long since come out of its clip. She didn't move to fix either. She just drew closer and closer, while the Doctor stared, his eyes narrowed and unreadable.

He was unsure of her, she could tell that much—and unsure in a way she'd never noticed, back then. Because he'd seemed so capable, so much larger-than-life, that it had never occurred to her what kind of shadow she might cast.

She took another step. "Truth is, I would've read all those warnings and I would've still chosen to tag along. D'you know why?"

She was close now. The dusty air sweltered. She wanted to touch him—was debating whether or not it was worth the risk—when she noticed his hand. At his side, it made a tight fist. He didn't shake his head, but he didn't have to.

Taking in a shallow breath, she forced the words out: "It's because you will always be worth it to me. And maybe that makes me an idiot, maybe there's something wrong with me, but it doesn't matter. The danger and the fear that comes with this life… will always be less important… than being with you."

His eyes jumped skittishly back and forth between hers, unsure where to land. She watched his Adam's apple bob in his throat.

"I'm saying this now, because I never got to say it when we traveled together. But you need to hear it." They were close enough now that one more step would put her squarely in his arms. "You can keep dodging and avoiding, that's fine; it might drive me spare, but it won't stop me coming back when the universe—or your own stubbornness—pulls us apart. You should know that, Doctor."

A memory seized her. Her own voice, screaming, "Take me back! Take me back!" Another memory overlaid itself.

If losing that life was what had defined her youth, finding it again was what defined her now.

Finding her way back, no matter what. To him, and to the life she knew she was meant to be living.

Her hand rose, both of them watching as if it belonged to neither of them, but was acting on its own volition. When it landed squarely in the middle of his chest, she felt his dual-pulse against both pinkie and thumb.

Spanning the space between his hearts.

Looking up, she said, "D'you understand?"

And for once, his magnificent gob seemed to have slowed to a near stop. He nodded. His eyes were vivid, burning, beautiful, no more or less than they always were. She remembered them brown, and green, and then in different shades of blue.

But he shone through those crowded memories and not-quites and maybes.

"I understand, Rose," he rasped.

"Good." She nodded. "Then stop fucking arguing with me about it," she said—forcefully, only about half a second before their lips collided.

His skin tasted like dust, and then in a moment like something sweeter and richer and more familiar. She reached for it, her hands scrabbling at his coat, and her tongue swiping at his soft inner lip. Everything she wanted was here. Everything was good. Everything was so clean and perfect and nothing else mattered.

And maybe because everything was so good and clean and perfect, it couldn't last. The universe felt like that sometimes, slowing and urging with rhyme or reason. It could stretch moments like taffy or cut them to the quick, cut them right out of existence.

In a blink, Rose was gone again. Back in the midst of a battle that was far, far from over.

But the Doctor—she couldn't know it, not then, but the Doctor had been listening.

And for once in his long and frequently foolish life, he grasped the heart of things. As he pressed his lips together, tasting gloss and the underlying hint of salt, he understood.

Finally and unmistakably.

She would come back again.

.✫*ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.*｡･ﾟ✫*.

[prolestariwrites]

EOY Writing Wrap-up

I saw this post and loved the questions, so I'm going to answer them below! Looking forward to another year of writing and fandom!

favorite fic you wrote this year: For sure Unforgiven, it was my baby.

least favorite fic you wrote this year: Love Between Goddess and Demon ended up being kind of disappointing for me. It didn't develop how I wanted it to and I'll admit I abandoned it since it didn't have any readers.

favorite line/scene you wrote this year: Probably the first chapter of Unforgiven, I couldn't wait to get Leon and Jake together again ha ha.

total number of words you wrote this year: 131,491 published!

most popular fic this year: By hits and kudos it was Unforgiven. My oneshot Smoking got the most notes on Tumblr.

least popular fic this year: It was Three To One, which surprised me honestly.

longest completed fic you wrote this year: Love Stuck was my longest completed fic at 23,307 words.

shortest completed fic you wrote this year: Sparring Partners was a oneshot with 1,796 words.

longest wip of the year: Between Goddess and Demon was my longest unfinished fic. I wrote almost 40k words before I put it on pause.

shortest wip of the year: 365 is still a work in progress and has only 18,964 words so far.

fandom you enjoyed writing for the most this year: A toss between Resident Evil and LBFAD. I got to write some cool RE stuff and did a short story for a zine!

favorite character to write about this year: Gotta be my boy Leon Kennedy. He's just so easy to torture.

favorite writing song/artist/album of this year: I listened to a lot of Halsey while writing this year lol. I needed the angst.

a fic you didn’t expect to write: Smoking was definitely unexpected! I've never even liked One Piece and when I watched the live action I swore I wouldn't write for it. But then...

something you learned this year: To take my time. I've gotten a lot better at being okay at writing at my own pace instead of some imagined timeline.

fic(s) you completed this year: Altogether I wrote four completed fics!

fics you’ll continue next year: I'll be finishing The Fate That Binds and 365 in 2024. I'd also like to go back and try to finish The Wish since I didn't last year.

current number of wips: I'm actively working on four wips at the moment, two the most seriously.

any new fics to start next year: Yes! I'm going to try to write the last of the Dark Heart series, and I miiiiiight try more One Piece. Maybe.

number of comments you haven’t read: Zero! I read them all and respond to pretty much all of them.

most memorable comment/review: I really liked reading the thirsty reblog tags on Smoking lol

events you participated in this year: I wrote a fic for the LBFAD Mini-Bang! It was so fun to meet some new people and see all the different ideas.

fics you wanted to write but didn’t: I had another Resident Evil fic I wanted to get done but never actually started. Maybe this is the year for it?

favorite fic you read this year: River of Stardust by @yoshi-09

favorite fandom to read fic from this year: I still like reading DMC fic! Also got to read some good Reylo fic and RE fic!

[mangoshorthand]

I am glad! It's really nice talking to you and sharing some infos if you like.

Yeah, Aidan's dad is.. well, I would say he is sons biggest fan, but I sometimes feel he involves himself too much, or more than Aidan himself. He makes a lot of sarcastic comments that people also take too seriously. Like the one where he said the storyboard picture of a woman with powers on Steve Blackman's instagram would be Five's daughter, and he deleted that comment shortly after, most probably because people were actually taking him seriously without considering he CAN'T legally just say something about S4 even if he knows something. I also remember him commenting somewhere back then he is excited for the end result "at the end of the year", meaning end of 2023, and yet they announced the season for 2024, lol. Not throwing any shade/hate towards him though.

But everyone from the staff and cast saying it's the best season (well, they kinda have to say it for promoting it) makes my expections really high and I am kind of scared of feeling a little disappointed even though the leaks seem interesting like the one where they were looking for several doubles for Five.

I am mostly sure the Commission somewhere, somehow, still exists in the new timeline as well as it exists out of time and I read somewhere last year that the new characters Jean and Gene work(ed) for the Commission. Sadly I don't know the source anymore as it was found out during filming I guess.

I am so with you! Also, I don't know how much of his past there would be more to show. We basically know the main things about his childhood up to the apocalypse. I really want to know how he managed to fit in the new timeline but I sadly doubt they will show anything before the time skip took place. I am all in for his personality be explored more.

I don't know why, it might be due to Elliott in S2, but I can kind of imagine him.. befriending some nerd, like a computer freak, that maybe even looks a little bit up to him, like if he would work in University. Someone who is almost his complete opposite but loyal.

(Whoops this came out much longer than expected, I am sorry Mango ily.)

Haha no worries!

I don't really want to go into it over a public ask, but I've been giving Rob some serious side eye recently so I wouldn't blame you for throwing shade. 😄

I think it's estsblished the commission existing out of time ≠ existing outside of the universe (hence why they were destroyed by the kugelblitz), so I think if they were back in Regiverse it would be as a result of Reggie's programming or Five refounding them. It would be cool to see how/if that plays out assuming Jean+ Gene are employees.

I think there might actually be some glimpse of Five's life pre timeskip. On the tua subreddit there was a Toronto resident who found a prop sign left somewhere they'd been filming that read Hargreeves Home for Wayward Boys, which seems like a good candidate for where Five ended up.

Also, LOVE the nerd idea. I can also see him meeting another jaded guy and getting on with them well, (a little like Hazel).

[lily-penny]

hehe some very rambly thoughts of mine after the elpis arc

On hydaelyn I don't know I'm really not entirely convinced of the whole You Must Know Suffering to defeat meteion. They didn't have to know suffering, what they HAD to know about was Dynamis. and one guy (and several other scholars acc to him) were already looking into that.

And yes, it will definitely be a challenge for aetherically strong beings like them to control it. but hell, our whole narrative so far has been overcoming impossible challenges. (with the help of hydaelyn and the scions)

Couldn't venat believe that the ancients could overcome such a challenge too? She literally said she won't give up hope. She wouldn't give up hope on US that's for sure, but for her own people?

What did she really do to help them out before going like Only Sundering Is The Way. Because it seems like, even at the end, they didn't even figure out the whole dynamis thing.

-----

I do like (narratively) that hydaelyn did all that btw, don't get me wrong, I think it fits the whole theme with the ancients very well. They're way too much "I can do everything myself".

Venat seems to have decided by herself that the ancients will just keep dooming themselves until nothing is left. When (IT SEEMS) she never gave them a fighting chance (the information about the final days), because she wants them to figure it out all on their own (or that it would damage our timeline, but isn't preserving our timeline already kind of admitting defeat?)

and when they couldn't figure it out, she lost hope and doomed them all permanently by sundering them.

It's good! A foil for ShB i think! Emet Selch tests the WoL in a similarly unreasonable way where she HAS to hold the all the light on her own to prove her people "worthy". But the strength of her people isn't in One Person (Exarch's "We stand together" during the hades confrontation gave me so many chills). And if he didn't freakin gun Exarch down, I think we could've handled the Light together!

Similarly, as a foil, emet is the one that never gave up hope (tho he certainly was by the time we got to him in ShB lol) to bring his people back.

Yeah. I just think venat and hades are like two sides of the same coin. and that's really cool to me. BUT I just wonder if the narrative will treat venat's side like the grey area it is, and not simply some "heroic" act.

I thought the contrast of the unsundered vs sundered was that scions et al shows that there is strength in variety and differences working together to solve a problem vs the unsundered's way of like Only One Perfect Way of things is right (see: hermes' thoughts on creations)

----

Maybe my view on this is like vvv biased against venat because i am very much against any kind of narrative that's like "to suffer is to live". idk it feels too catholic for me lol. to live in a utopia without suffering** like elpis IS the goal, and yeah, while not many will live to see it, it is what everyone should be striving for. "for a better tomorrow" and all that.

** this is a very big question mark too because people like hermes were already suffering in silence. ancient society didn't seem to have much empathy for ppl like him.

[shadowed-artist]

Pro Hero Dabi AU

(because I think there should be more Pro Hero Dabis where he still has his scars)

More facts...

Timeline

He still has his incident at Sekoto, but instead of escaping(?) Endeavour finds him and took him to the hospital

Still ends up with burns no matter how many healing quirks they try and eventually he just accepts it

Endeavour still refuses to train Touya because "obviously he can't handle himself"

Like, he's happy Touya is alive, but he would have hoped this would be the push Touya needed to give up on his dream once and for all

Touya's like "lol ok, screw you" and applied to UA without Endeavour knowing until it was too late

Endeavour is pissed that Touya would do something so reckless but he technically can't do anything, so he chooses to simply ignore it and focus on training Shoto

It isn't until Touya is in his 3rd year (when he gets 1st place in the Sports Festival) that Endeavour is like "hmm maybe I should be paying attention to my other kid"

Touya's super excited about the sudden attention but it his common sense kicks in pretty quickly. This doesn't make up for the years of ignoring him, and Endeavour isn't really trying to "atone" as much as he is "trying to take credit for Touya's sudden fame"

Touya eventually graduates and Endeavour offers him a job as a sidekick DURING THE CEREMONY

Touya can't say no (literally, it would tank his career before it even got started) so he agrees

He sidekicks for a year before starting his own agency

His goal is no longer to be better than All Might (he lost that dream a long time ago) it's to stick it to his dad by being a beloved hero who is more well-liked than Endeavour

He starts by putting on an act of being super nice and friendly but through this he actually BECOMES super nice and friendly

In his quest to annoy Endeavour, Touya is currently threatening to take Shoto once he graduates so they can run a sibling agency together

Shoto is 100% on board, he thinks Touya is so cool

Costume Design

His suit is designed to release excess fire in order to keep his body cool. He had the designers make the "vents" release flames, similar to Endeavour's costume (he's pissed at Enji, but he has to admit he likes his costume)

The "vents" follow the patterns of his scars because his scarred skin is at greater risk of spontaneously combusting. This helps channel the flames out in a safe, manageable way

The inside of his suit is also designed to cool his skin. It's a really soft material so it doesn't irritate his staples

He used to wear a mask as a student/sidekick because he didn't want people to be scared of him. He doesn't wear it as much now, but if he's working with kids he'll generally bring it along

He chose his colour scheme based on his hair and eye colour. It was only afterwards when he realized he kind of looked like an ice hero (aside from the flames)

Family

Natsuo is so proud of his big bro and brags about him CONSTANTLY

"My brother is Dabi!" "Oh, cool! Wait, wouldn't that mean your father is Endeavour?" "... like I said, my brother is Dabi"

Shoto made Touya "his first piece of fan art" upon his UA graduation. Touya keeps it framed in his office

Shoto also forgot to draw his own scar haha kids are so forgetful lol I totally did that intentionally

Fuyumi once brought her class to Touya's agency for a field trip and they were SO HAPPY

They wrote thank you cards once they got back to school and Fuyumi gave them to him. He put them up in the lobby and took a selfie with the display, then sent the photo back to Fuyumi to show the kids

[lightrises]

"Only in allowing her to pass..." — Hornet, The Radiance, and the means by which Hallownest turned its victims against each other

A quick note: I read Hollow Knight as an anti-colonialist text. As such I'll be touching on topics related to colonialism as it's depicted in the world of the game, and said analysis will reflect both a sympathetic take on The Radiance and a critique of The Pale King that won't pull its punches. If this sounds up your alley, hello and thank you for the read! Let us be sad about these bugs together.

———

So!! A while back I realized something about pre-canon that felt rather... "curious" is one way to put it, I think. To wit: for all the effort and scheming and determination The Pale King poured into trying to get rid of The Radiance, neither of his plans involved directly killing her.

Was that his long game? Well, sure, that seems clear enough. His tack changed from luring the moths away from their god and creator to a more literal form of incarceration once the infection became a factor, but at its core the end goal never really changed—The Pale King very sincerely wished to destroy Radiance via obsolescence. The Seer lends us foreshadowing to confirm as much:

[Image descriptions: Two screenshots from Hollow Knight, showing the Seer and Ghost in the Seer's alcove at the Resting Grounds. Across both screenshots, the Seer tells Ghost the following: "None of us can live forever, and so we ask those who survive to remember us. Hold something in your mind and it lives on with you, but forget it and you seal it away forever. That is the only death that matters." End description.]

(Which, by the way and given the context, talk about an extremely unsubtle allusion to cultural genocide huh!!! Whew.)

In any case, we're left with a whole bunch of machinations which build up to... well, two very roundabout attempts at committing deicide. That's kind of weird, all things considered! Why not just do the deed in one fell swoop and get it over with?

This could be for any number of reasons. Maybe the king was devoid of the means to instantly kill another higher being. Maybe his personal sense of scruples stopped him short of signing off on MURDER murder (although, y'know, the aforementioned genocide + eternal imprisonment = still cool and copasectic apparently!). Maybe the long drawn-out cruelty was the point. Maybe the idea of playing fuckign 4D chess with the circumstances was too delicious for him to pass up—that man did love to tinker and stick his claws where they sure as hell didn't belong—or maybe it was a little bit of All The Things. Who knows!!

But interrogating The Pale King's methodology on this count isn't what I'm here for, at least not really. The main reason I raise this question at all is that in her own way, Hornet did too.

"I'd urge you to take that harder path... "

See, going by The Pale King's actions and what The White Lady explicitly says, they both foresaw two outcomes wrt the infection: it can be allowed to spread, or it can be contained. At Teacher's Archives, Quirrel acknowledges the fact that Ghost is expected to do... something about this, but he doesn't elaborate on what HE thinks that's supposed to be apart from the obvious "Gotta bust into Black Egg Temple first". Hornet is the one person who presents to us—to Ghost—what's framed as a third option: confront and destroy the infection at its source.

And she doesn't bring it up like it's just another tactic for Ghost to consider, prim and indifferent to what they would do. She nudges them towards it, actively, up to the point where she throws herself into the fray against Hollow at a juncture that's uniquely dangerous to her and her alone just to make that option feasible.

Even when she's couching it in disclaimers that this is still Ghost's decision to make (and let's be fair, she's extremely not wrong about that lol), no one can pretend Hornet is unbiased. It's obvious in that buttoned-down Hornet kind of way that she is way the hell done with the increasingly tenuous stalemate that's kept Hallownest's desiccated corpse from collapsing in on itself. Personally it's hard for me not to read some Toriel Undertale-esque "My father was too entrenched in his own foolishness to pursue any course of action that would have DEFINITIVELY ended this" shade into her stance here, regardless of whether that's strictly true in canon.

And that bit—Hornet's hopes for an end to Hallownest's stasis, moreover her grim calculation of what needs to be done to get there—that's the bit I find super interesting but likewise tragic and depressing as shit, on multiple levels. In no small part because a) canon itself gestures towards Hornet feeling conflicted about the very plan she's pushing, and moreover b) she has at least two (2) damn good reasons to feel that way.

So, what do I mean by that? Let's look here first:

[Image description: A screenshot from Hollow Knight, of Hornet and Ghost inside the Temple of the Black Egg, standing in front of the unsealed egg itself. Hornet has been struck by the Dream Nail and her dialogue is displayed as follows: "... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?" End description.]

As the curtain is about to drop on things one way or another, Hornet thinks,

... Could it achieve that impossible thing? Should it?

Now, looking at that last bit it's easy to go "Oh no, Hornet's worried that Ghost won't survive killing The Radiance!" And I do think that's part of it: Hornet is, categorically, not her father. By endgame it's clear she's not content to view her Void-borne siblings as tools to be used then disposed of. She's also well aware that as a healthy autonomous Vessel amongst the countless dead, Ghost is the only person left alive who has a fighting chance against The Radiance. Knowing someone is the only qualified candidate for the job doesn't make encouraging them to embrace a probable death sentence any less of a bitter pill to swallow, though. And odds are on that this sentiment extends to Hollow too, who IS going to die no matter what happens here. To put it bluntly, it's more than reasonable to conclude that Hornet hates the absolute fuck out of this.

But I don't think that's all there is to it either. Remember what I said earlier about The Pale King's bids for genocide? Well, it's not like the man deigned to limit his efforts to just the moth tribe.

"We do not choose our mothers... "

On top of everything else—an infected Hallownest being all she's ever known, the fact that she only exists because of the infection, the list goes on—Hornet has spent her life wedged into a position that's been uncomfortable and terminally unglamorous at best: she is both a daughter of her father's kingdom and of Deepnest.

Deepnest, which like the moths and many others was here long before the wyrm and his lady wife swanned onto the scene and the God Become Bug laid claim to everything the Light touched plus a considerable amount of change. THAT Deepnest, which has fought claw and thread to retain its sovereignty against same-said settler king, and for which Herrah not only surrendered her life but also agreed to bed her worst enemy, all in hopes of securing a viable future for her people (put a pin in that last part by the way, I'll come back to it soon).

Two Worlds, One Family (Ft. An Indigenous Woman Trying Her Damndest To Work With What She's Got Versus An Imperialist Who Only Signed Up For This Because He Needed The Political Favor THAT Badly, So It's The Height Of Dysfunctional Actually). Fun times!!!!

The baggage this entails for Hornet is gnarly enough without implications made by The White Lady and the pre-canon timeline of events and even Team Cherry's dev notes that the king may well have looked at baby Hornet, gone "YOINK", then ensured she spent the lion's share of her childhood reared within the pearly auspices of his Pale Court*. That would be rather advantageous for Him Specifically after all, the potential to mold a born foe into a future ally and even have her trained in combat under the same tutelage as her doomed sibling. And far be it from him to stop a grown Hornet—his own flesh and blood too!—from making Deepnest her forever home if she so pleased. He totally wouldn't be reneging on his "fair bargain made" by doing this one simple thing until Hornet came of age, not t e c h nic c a l l y.

If that is indeed the case, there's a non-zero chance Hornet's formative years were a hot mess of cultural alienation and being a good deal more privy than most to just how much of a bastard her father could be. There's an equally non-zero chance that at some point she stood or sat within earshot as The Pale King finally, finally dropped all pretense and euphemism to name the Light for precisely what (for who) it was.

See, in conjunction with the question that started this whole dang train of thought I've been asking this one too: Does Hornet know? When she speaks of confronting "the heart of [the] infection" does she know she's talking about not just a literal person but someone very specific? The Radiance, who god though she may be shares skin in the game alongside Hornet as a native woman screwed over by the same settler king, likewise deprived of her kin and saddled with a life gone horrendously pear-shaped?

I'll assume for the sake of exploring the possibility and because I think it's a likely one anyway that yes, Hornet does know. She knows, and despite everything can't help empathizing. She might even look at Radiance and see bits and pieces both reflected and slightly inversed in her own mother: Radiance was forced to the sidelines while her people—her children, the brood she was meant to lead and care for—died out under The Pale King's rule, and it's no stretch to assume she's at least as upset about that as she has been about everything else; Herrah too took drastic measures for her people's sake, trying to head off annihilation by relegating herself to the sidelines in an act that was as much calculated risk as an attempt to find wiggle room and leverage in the face of a nasty proposition.

A calculated risk that, if things continue as they are, might well amount to nothing as the rest of Deepnest gets eaten alive by the infection. It survived The Pale King's advances for so so long, only to fall here. Herrah's sacrifice would be for naught; the other tribes—themselves the king's victims—would keep succumbing to the infection too.

And this is where things fall apart.

"... or the circumstance into which we are born."

Let's be clear: I think Hornet is wise enough to know what's what here, that all the carnage and suffering falls on her father's head for starting this slow-motion trainwreck in the first place. Hallownest wasn't always Hallownest. This domain was Radiance's home first, along with many others. It was the worm-turned-king who rolled up on the scene unsolicited and decided this was a ""'problem""" that had to be """solved""".

But the fact of the matter is that he's gone and The Radiance is here, raging, seemingly inconsolable. Above and beyond being Deepnest's rightful heir, Hornet isn't in a position to countenance more splash damage even if the grief and fury fueling it makes perfect sense. She can understand without ever bringing herself to love Radiance, and she can bend her knee to practicality even if she hates the everloving shit out of it because the fact that it "has" to end this way isn't fair.

This lends itself to one last awful conclusion: that Hornet has probably considered and (rightly or wrongly) discarded the possibility that Radiance can be saved, at least not without dragging more collateral along for the ride. If even her mother and every other enemy to the king seemed to dismiss talking Radiance down as an option way back when... well. Why should Hornet hope for any better after things have escalated so far?

Again, it's practical. A practical net good is what Hornet strives for. And again, it fucking sucks.

For extra tragedy points, this makes Hornet's extended crypticness around Ghost followed by her last minute casting about for a reason to tell them "Wait, don't; not just yet" that she never voices even more of a gut punch. She can't bring herself to burden Ghost with the context that haunts her so, least of all when it might weaken their resolve to go through with what (she thinks) needs doing.

It's the "same song, different verse" which led to the mantis tribe and Deepnest being pitted against each other: Hallownest rigged the game so that two women who could have been powerful allies—who have a mutual vested interest in driving out settler rule—wound up poised as enemies instead. And how awful is that? The king for all his being extremely fucking dead still gets the last laugh, because outside of a miracle the game never manifests Hornet can salvage what her mother started and look forward to a future where Deepnest pulls itself back from the brink if and only if The Radiance dies.

Resolution comes at the price of a completed genocide. Add two more dead siblings to the unconscionable pile thereof, while we're at it. That's what it boils down to whether or not Hornet can bear to articulate it as such, and there's no grace or even a properly bittersweet ending to wring from this clusterfuck. And that is rough.

———

* This has been better explained elsewhere, but a quick rundown: The White Lady tells Ghost that Hornet and Herrah "were permitted little time together." On its surface this can be taken to mean that Hornet was still very young when Herrah was shipped off to Eternal Dreamland—except this doesn't jive with the fact that we meet Hornet as an adult. If the stasis kicked in once the Dreamers went to their rest, which in turn halted the aging process for every living bug in Hallownest, AND before all this Hornet experienced little by the way of quality time with her birth mother... I think you can see where I'm going with this.

To top it off we've got Team Cherry weighing in ominously from their dev notes on Herrah: "As part of the agreement for her alliance and her role as a dreamer, King gave her a child (Hornet). Was she allowed to keep this child or was she taken away?" This isn't confirmation by itself of course, but given additional canon details (see above): Can I get a "yikes" in the chat fellas.

[raz-b-rose]

Hi Raz! We don't know each other or anything, but I had a question if you'd be okay answering it. I came across a post you made in the pro life tag saying that you and your husband were looking to adopt. I think that's super cool tbh, but what I wanted to ask about was how you found your husband? I've been single since birth (never dated) and I really want to be in a relationship with the goal of leading to marriage, if God wills it. That being said, I wonder if maybe some churches have any kind of matchmaking services or if maybe there's a dating site that I haven't tried that could yield some results? I'm trying to be grateful in my season of singleness, but having a person who loves me even with my faults is something I've wanted since I was very young.

Hi it's so nice to meet you!

While I wish I could offer some advise, I wasn't looking for my husband when we met. I had actually told God that I was finally going to stop forcing things with boys and just focus on my relationship with Him when a few months later we met.

We met at Taco Bell, where I had been working for a few months and he had come back down for the summer from Collage. (And God had a funny sense of humor because we both went to the same church for years and had never met. I knew his mom and sister too. )

So honestly, I would just keep praying and don't be afraid to join activities that you could meet a man. Like a ministry in your church, a singles small group. Online dating gives good opportunities, but I'd be cautious.

I am blessed, and I know many aren't, and I hope you will be too! Trust God. He is not constrained by time, and you will be surprised by how much better His timeline is anyway lol 😉

Another piece of advise I can offer though is if you do start potentially have anything serious with a man, is communicate everything! Expectations, desires (keeping it all appropriate wouldn't want either of you to stumble) goals and dreams, likes/dislikes, and even beliefs. It'll help keep emotions pure/ unattached if you end up deciding that a relationship isn't for you guys, and friendship easier.

If you ever have any other questions my dms are always open too, praying for you!

[sweetescapeartist]

MY DBS MANGA CHAPTER 70 REVIEW

We learn in the last chapter that the Cerealian Dragon's name is Toronbo when Granolah speaks Namekian. Toronbo grants Granolah's wish but can't make Granolah stronger than the gods.

Here's the confusion I have... Goku is a mortal beyond GoDs so making Granolah the strongest mortal is making him stronger than gods. If you wanna say Beerus has been training and is now stronger than Goku, there's still a problem. It was said that Goku and Vegeta were stronger than some GoDs right before the ToP (but that might be anime only, so maybe it doesn't apply here). So Granolah is stronger than GoDs no matter what. If the gods that Toronbo is speaking of are the Angels, then that means Granolah is Ultra Instinct level of power since Goku is the lowest in Angel tier. But whatever. Bottom line is Granolah is temporarily stronger than Goku who may or may not be stronger than Beerus.

Granolah gets his wish granted and the cost is shortening his life... cool. Not much to say except let's see how its executed.

(I recently read that in DBXV2, during the Infinite History Saga, Videl is enchanted with Towa's Dark Magic spell by Dabura shaving off her life but granting her greater power. So granting power at the cost of lifespan has been done in DB before. Not in canon but in the games.)

Also, Granolah's life being shortened to 3 yrs got me thinking... Currently it's almost AGE 781 in the DBS manga timeline. Goku leaves to train Uub in AGE 784. We got 3 yrs left. The original manga shows Bulma said she hadn't seen Goku in 5 yrs. How I see DBS is that it is an alternate timeline that just happens to have a similar outcome to the EoZ.

So... why is Vegeta learing from Beerus again if Beerus isn't that strong now? Is Vegeta being like Krillin and continuing his learning from a master weaker than him, but gaining wisdom & knowledge? I-is Vegeta becoming Krillin 2.0?! (More like dollar-store Krillin)

I do think beerus got stronger tho. He seems very confident that Vegeta can get stronger from learning from him. Beerus probably saw Goku get UI then decide to train aftet the ToP

Anyways, Beerus is teaching us about hakai/destruction energy. Its erasing something from existence, not just destroying it (we already knew that). But, Vegeta quickly figures out how to do it anyways. By destroying a tiny pebble...

A tangent again but I personally think Piccolo is capable of easily learning Hakai energy. Think about it. Piccolo can create clothing out of nothing, why could he not do the reverse?

Goku is uninterested in what Beerus & Vegeta are doing. I dont know about you, but it sounds like Goku thinks that he's above Beerus in strength. Beerus & Vegeta aren't considered a challenge to him in any way. Goku sees UI as more important & better than anything Beerus has to teach, and Goku is right. Plus Goku learned Hakai on his own while Vegeta needs Beerus to teach him. It's a waste of Goku's time to learn it again.

(God Comics is funny. I imagine Toribot writes them)

Goku says "Let's see which one of us can be the strongest in the universe!" Really, Goku...? At present time, Goku is the strongest mortal in the universe already. He should know that. Then Vegeta for some reason thinks he will become the strongest in the universe. The last time manga Vegeta was the strongest mortal in the universe was... never. He's always behind Goku or whatever new opponent arises. This scene is meant to be comedic that they're arguing over who will be the greatest but it's not funny to me. And yet Vegeta fans still hold on for hope.

But why is Goku concerned about being the strongest between him & Vegeta? Goku is far above Vegeta. They're not rivals at this point. Also, Goku was the strongest in the universe until just a few moments ago. Goku should be saying "I knew bein' the strongest wouldn't last for too long. Roshi did tell me there will always be somebody stronger out there. Hehe! This is gettin' me excited! I can't wait to meet 'em!" (This would alsp parallel Monaito giving Granolah the same advice Goku already knows.)

Also, I guess Broly isn't that strong after all. Bye Broly, you served your purpose. And to think that Goku had said that he thinks Broly is stronger than Beerus...

Oh yeah. So Vegeta destroys a pebble. Impressive? Goku kinda gives a compliment or he is practically saying "Good job Vegeta! You're doing great following in my footsteps!" Seriously, this would be so much better and cooler if this seperate paths of training began right after the Universe 6 vs Universe 7 tournament. That would be the perfect spot to have them train under Beerus & Whis. [Vegeta using Hakai against Merged Zamasu, Goku able to fight Merged Zamasu temporarily because he is getting better at letting his body move on its own, Toppo & Vegeta using Hakai against each other as Goku & Jiren use power above GoDs. That would work so much better.]

Then Vegeta says he's gonna destroy bigger things soon... is that supposed to be more impressive? Its not. But this it to build up Vegeta even though there is nothing amazing about anything he is doing at the moment. Maybe later tho.

So Cerealians can't grow beards. Also I guess Granolah's race don't age? His hair grew when his lifespan was shortened but he has no wrinkles. It seems that they age more gracefully than Saiyans. If he has some wrinkles he would have looked cooler imo. Or those lines under the eyes at the very least. If the wish shortened his life & made his hair grow, it should have also showed that he aged. (Here's an edit I made of "Grampa Granolah." You're welcome)

And remember Vegeta destroying a pebble? Granolah can suddenly destroy big rocks! Cool right?! No? Its not cool? Showing Granolah destroy a much larger object right afterwards kinda belittles Vegeta's accomplishment.

Oatmil is surprised by a boulder exploding. This means one of 2 things. Oatmil is stupid & never saw an Granolah explode a boulder. Or it's implying that the boulder exploding is some technique Oatmil doesn't know of. Idk how he can tell its any different from just blowing up a rock with ki. I think it's supposed to be destruction energy. If it is then, ok. If getting his wish was so easy, then why can't he suddenly learn destruction as well?

Yay! Monaito! (This really should be a Namekian focused arc)

Granolah reminds me of Zamasu with his attitude a bit. Monaito tells him somebody stronger will definetly appear. Granolah has become like Vegeta and is over confident, so he is destined to get humbled. And think about this. Goku can probably train a bit and surpass Granolah within a week.

Granolah can now sense ki. Meaning he can have the destruction technique or UI, because why not?

Monaito blames himself for Granolah's actions. Its not your fault Monaito! You did nothing wrong! Dont be so hard on yourself.

Whis being a creep and peeping on people lol.

Granolah's hair growing was pointless because he cuts it off soon after. Nothing changed visually. This kinda reminds me of how Moro lost his arm. Goku gave him a senzu, Moro grew it back, & then Moro broke his arm when attacking Goku. Then Moro tore his arm off & reattached his old one. There was no need for Moro to grow his arm back then tear it off. Similarly, there is no need for Granolah to have grown long hair then cut it off.

Maki still brings a smile to my face. She & Gas stand out the most out of the Heeters. Maki's personality is kinda like Zangya combined with a teasing Bulma. Gas reminds me of a Krillin/Piccolo fusion with dreadlocks. I also ship Maki x Gas cause they're short and look cute together. (please don't be siblings so I can draw them together🤞)

Granolah fights Oil & Maki. I'm not impressed. They seem like they could be defeated by Chaoitzu (he's stronger than Raditz and probably Nappa now too). Granolah's movements could be seen as UI. If it is or isn't UI, it doesn't matter. Showing off that kind of power is like Goku using Ultra Instinct during a rematch with Nam or King Chappa. Its not effective storytelling. There had to be a better way of showing Granolah's new strength than making him fight opponents that give him zero challenge.

The art is good as usual and the panel flow is nice. Toyotaro is improving at creating the illusion of motion. The environment being used in the fight was smart and a good visual. Toyo still uses a ton of panels almost every page tho. But he's still a better artist than I am.

Granolah appears to have used Hakai again. Not the explosive variant but the sand variant (yes I think there are 2 ways of using Hakai).

The "Sand Variant" that Beerus & Goku (& maybe Granolah) have used.

The "Explosive Variant" Beerus & Vegeta (& maybe Granolah) have used.

Maki thinks the "Hakai" is magic so that's interesting. I would say I'd like for the next enemy to be a magic user but, we know how Moro turned out... 😓

Maki has "ki claws" & I like the idea but it would be better if she had used it against an enemy she can defeat. It doesn't make her look useful in this fight. Gas seems confident when he is about to fight Granolah, but Elec stops him. Gas would've gotten beaten but it make ya wonder what Gas can do.

Granolah appears to be a person that is easily manipulated and persuaded. He even gave information they weren't even asking for. He'll probably be easily convinced and manipulated by Freeza/the Hedters or quickly have a truce with Goku.

The Heeters plan to go to Planet Cereal to get the Dragon Balls. As I suspected, the Cerealian Dragon Balls were created so that it would be easy for wishes to be granted. Gathering 2 Dragon Balls on a nearby planet instead of gathering 7 on New Namek or Earth. Plus these new Dragon Balls ensures no interaction between Earthlings & Granolah/the Heeters. A perfect way to write Gohan & company out of the story... *sigh* 😔😒

We learn Cerealians live for 2 centuries. How's that compare to other races in Universe 7? Freeza & King Cold apparently can live more than 200 yrs, But that may be because they are mutants. Namekians can live for like 500 yrs & its possible for them to reincarnate themselves too. So in a way, Namekians can live forever. Saiyans stay youthful & live to be in their 80's, but rapidly age when they reach their 60's or 70's. Average Earthlings appear live to be in their 80's or 90's but some are over 100 yrs old (Dr. Briefs, Panchy, & Ox King are in their 90's in GT) and others can increase their lifespan through elixers or the Paradise Herb. Just some thoughts of mine.

Maki says "If he ices Freeza..." Ha, an ice pun. Elec wants to defeat Freeza so he can control his army. Its revealed they wanna kill Granolah & that they worked with Freeza to destroy his planet & race. Well... that more than likely means they're gonna die by Granolah's hand or Freeza's. This info is also an attempt to make the reader more sympathetic for Granolah. Granolah is too bland (pun intended) so I don't feel any more sympathy than I already had for him. Elec plans to make Goku & Vegeta fight Granolah since Granolah hates Saiyans. Smart but we all kinda expected it. Not bad writing tho.

The final panel talks about fate bringing the 3 (Goku, Vegeta, & Granolah) together. Sounds like a repeat of the Broly movie.

We've had 4 chapters in this arc & not 1 panel of Freeza... If Freeza doesnt appear & do something in the next chapter then I will be disappointed in the writing. Showing Freeza here and there would give tension and build up until we get the encounter with him. We also have no idea who Oatmil is. Is he an A.I. or a person? Not that big of a deal yet, but I would like to find out soon. Either show Freeza or tell us more about Oatmil next chapter pleaae

This chapter was like oatmeal (the food not the character) without butter, brown sugar, milk, & honey or raisins. Not bad, but not very good either. 

So here's my thoughts on the things that could or could not happen in this arc.

Goku vs Granolah. I don't care for the fight because the power is at a point that it doesnt make sense for enemies to get to without cheating somehow. The fight will look cool but I have no interest in it.

Vegeta vs Granolah will have Vegeta being stomped as always and Vegeta fans will make excuses & complain how it's not fair. A lot of Vegeta fans often make fun of Yamcha & Krillin for getting beat up even though those 2 bravely fight opponents leagues stronger than they are. Vegeta has gotten stomped by opponents more times than Krillin & Yamcha combined but the fans gotta deflect somehow. I don't care to hear or see the complaining again.

The interaction and dialogue between Granolah & Vegeta is going to be more interesting than their fight. But I worry because Toyo isn't the best at writing dialogue.

I have no reason to care about power growth, certain interactions, or Goku & Vegeta's training.

What I am curious about/want to see?

Monaito's well being. I want him to reunite with other Namekians. But I think he's been set up to die.

Lore about the dragon gods & Namekian lore we probably wont get.

I want Piccolo, Krillin, Gohan, & others will be involved. Piccolo because of the Namekian & wosh granting dragon lore. Gohan because his interaction with Granolah eould be interesting since Gohan is half Saiyan & views himself as an Earthling. Krillin & other Earthlings because they can bring tensions where characters like Goku & Vegeta can't. Those 2 are too strong for there to be any real tension. However Earthlings aren't all powerful so them using wits to survive is more exciting. But I doubt any of their involvement.

How long a Cerealian year is? Is it shorter than a Namekian year? How much time will pass for the Cerealian Dragon Balls to be active? How much stronger than Granolah will Goku get? Hopefully the answers aren't lazy...

Will Beerus finally fight somebody? There are 6 mortals that are near or above his power (Goku, Granolah, Vegeta, Broly, Freeza, Gohan).

Who's the villian of the next arc & what explanation is going to be given for them having power on the level of Angels? Angel tier fights don't sound interesting to me anymore. After those kinds of battles, Goku will have no challengers left.

Will Goku disappear to train or something so the story can TRY to match up with the EoZ?

Will Goten, Trunks, & Marron hit their growth spurts within 3 yrs?

Will we get spin-off manga about other characters? PLEASE!? 🙏

Also DBS moved too quickly when it comes to power. Now we're at the point that Goku & Vegeta need to stop being involved in fights for there to be any actual threat or tension. The Buu saga took place in AGE  774. After training for 4 years of peace, Goku thought SS3 & fusion was his limits as a Saiyan and he was right. Well, kinda... Goku was introduced to god ki near the end of AGE 778. Then in AGE 781, Goku masters Ultra Instinct... He mastered an Angel technique in 2 year or 2.5 yrs. That was waaaay too fast. As a result the storytelling & writing are suffering from this rushed progress. Now we're gonna have an Angel tier opponent? According to the pattern of DBS, Goku's gonna end up surpassing the Angels within 2 or 3 yrs after learning god ki. Thats not impressive for Goku, that's terrible writing. And no, Goku getting this strong so fast is not a benefit to Saiyans either. It just shows us that without god ki, Saiyans ain't all that powerful unless they're the legendary Saiyan like Broly. Saiyans didn't even have a concept of training until Goku was trained by Earthlings. Gohan, Freeza, 17, & I'm pretty sure Piccolo as well have all surpassed SS3 without the help of god ki. God ki makes Saiyans look like they have limits. With god ki, the writing is broken....

I got off topic again... Anyways that's the end of my review.

[supersizemeplz]

Bearer of Gifts

Winston Duke x Black PlusSized Reader

Another #supersizedfic short. For @muse-of-mbaku and all my Winston fans. Dare I say, Smut? (That’s the warning, lol). I kind of just went with the flow for this one. Hope you enjoy. Ain’t he fine? 🤤

The faint sounds of cars found their way to your apartment from the street below. Whether honking or softly thumping with bass. The television gave off soft mumbling aside from the droning sounds that came along with you scrolling through your social media timeline. Two soft pings sounded before the message banner slid down into view.

You up, sweetness?

The brightness of your phone lit up your face. Showing off the smile you gave at the sight of the name that accompanied the message. You could almost hear the hushed cadence of his voice saying the words to you.

He'd brought the name out of no where weeks before during a cuddling session. The deep and husky rasp of his seductive whispering soothing you as his fingers danced along your skin. Those thick digits of his pressing into your thigh gently, moving up to grope your soft backside. His soft lips brushing against your earlobe as he smiled. He mumbled the nickname into your ear, chuckling when he seen your cheeks rise from a grin.

"My sweetness.." You mumbled the words he had spoken to you, in memory. Smiling like a fool in the dark, you began your reply. The clicking of the keyboard overpowered the television for a moment.

Yeah. Watching movies, knowing damn well need to be sleep.

You can't sleep either?

The familiar sending tone told you that the message had delivered. Three dots popped up immediately, doing their dance as you awaited his answer. Then they were gone. You raised an eyebrow, giving the screen a few moments before you went back to social media. Waiting for him would only make the time drag by so.

Suddenly two pings surprised you, followed by another identical duo. Attachments? You tapped the banner, using the shortcut to the message thread. "Good googly moogly." With a quick tap, you took a closer look at the photo. The hum that left your throat was unintentional, an unconscious reaction to the sight before you.

Can you tell that I'm fighting it?

Hearting the photos was obvious like a second nature. You admired the photos for a second more, moaning softly with delight at his sex appeal. Your fingers went back to tapping the screen for your response as you crossed your ankles, squeezing your thighs lightly.

Did you just take these thirst traps for me, sir? 👀

Me? Thirst trapping? Noooo..

The sarcasm was dripping from the text, and you just knew he was smirking. Handsome devil. You laughed, opting to FaceTime him instead of texting back. The phone trilled twice before he answered, smiling that charming smile of his. He rubbed a hand over his hair.

"So that's what took you so long to text back, I see.." You grinned, holding your phone out to show your whole face. "You want to tease me."He looked at you with low eyes, taking you in with a satisfied hum.

"You know I wouldn't tease your pretty ass like that, sweetness." He spoke with amusement. His voice was deeper than usual, probably from sleep trying to win him over. "Not unless I plan on gifting you something to ease your troubles."

You caught his hinting as he licked his lips. A chill ran down your spine and you tingled at the memory of his last teasing session. With a raise of your arched brow, you shifted in the sheets to get more comfortable. "Ease my troubles, huh? You know, I really do like gifts."

He smiled at the your slight change in tone, getting up from the bed to do something. His background showed different parts of his bedroom as he moved around. "I know you do.. Maybe I can come over and give you a few tonight?" The camera was on him again once he'd propped his phone on his dresser. Exposing his bare upper body before it disappeared beneath a shirt. "..if you'd let me?"

"I think that can be arranged.." You smiled as he picked up the phone again. "You and your thirst traps owe me an apology." He barked out a laugh at that before you'd hung up. Standing from your bed, you danced your way to the bathroom to freshen up.

15 minutes.

It took him that long to make it to you. Thanks to it being midnight and the traffic being close to non-existent. An extra five minutes was dedicated to getting from his car, to your door, and following the satisfying sway of your silk covered backside as it led the way down the hall to your room.

The soft scent of the candle you'd lit half an hour ago caught his nose. He grinned as it gave a different mood to the bedroom. You stood in front of the bed, opening your robe and dropping it to reveal your pajama set. Silk like the robe and fitted to your body. "And I'm the one teasing?" He spoke up, watching you with clouded lust that only amplified once you'd opened the door.

You didn't answer, only smirking as you took a seat to watch him. Watching him undress was a favorite of yours. He had taken a liking to your watchful eye as well, taking his time to tease you further. Knowing that you were ready to pounce on him, he'd be waiting for the day that you finally did so.

He pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it aside onto the chair that sat at your desk. You didn't say a word as he awaited an answer as he adjusted his sweats. They sat dangerously low on his hips, giving your imagination a few scenarios to work with. His smooth skin had a shine to it, most likely from the Shea butter he'd use after every shower. Those massive arms of his flexed with his movements, along with his chest. You were damn near drooling.

He chuckled at your silence, enjoying the fact that you were admiring him. He'd done the same to you countless times. "Focus, sweetness." You looked up at him, lips parted as you tried your best to not melt beneath him. The faint scent of his cologne was doing more for you than he knew. "Can I ease your troubles?" His teasing voice lowered to a mumble.

Your lips held his attention for a moment before he caught your eyes once again. Lifting a hand to his jaw, your fingertips gently ran over his beard. Nails massaging at his chin once you heard the soft hum he exhaled. "Please.." You whispered the confirmation, making him smile.

His lips caught yours with several pecks and a hungry kiss. Both his hands pressed into the mattress on either sides of you as he focused on the taste of your soft lips. "I swear you have the sweetest lips.." He mumbled the statement, brushing his nose against your jaw as he took in your scent.

His chain hung from his neck, brushing against your chest as he peppered his loving kisses along your skin. You sucked in a breath once he'd worked his way to your breasts, working them from beneath the cool fabric that once housed them. A freed hand worked at the waistband of your shorts, inching them down until they hit the floor with a soft thump.

Like a reflex, your knees pulled closer to your stomach to open you to him. He'd grinned at the simple action once he'd placed his last love mark of the moment between your breasts. You moaned at the warm touches of him, feeling the soft touches he placed at the back of your thighs. To fuse with the slow kisses and gentle bites.

"Win.." The softness of your voice still caught his ear, making him look to you. Your upper body had propped itself onto your elbows with a want to view the care it was receiving. He groaned at your lustful eyes, feeling the effects of his own excitement stiffening in his sweats. "Shit.." Your curse slipped past your lips as a low pant once he began his experienced touches.

His fingertips were glossed in your natural lubricant, shining in the light of subtle blue LED that lined the room. An arm wrapped around your thigh loosely as a safety net when he really began his magic. Your soft moans motivated his moves, helping the flow that he chose in each passing moment. "No ma'am. Eyes on me, sweetness." He called to you, speaking in that low tone he knew you liked. Though it came easily.

You gasped at the dancing of his tongue, lifting your hips from the sheets as his lips met your center. "Oh my gahh.." Looking away from him, your eyes were shut softly but your brows were pushed together. He hummed, smacking your thigh as you ignored his recent demand.

His lips gave you rest for a moment as he chuckled, giving a gentle tug of your thighs to pull her closer. "Let me see those pretty eyes of yours.." He sweet talked you, pressing wet kisses to your thighs. "Yeah, sweetness?"

You moaned, nodding before you looked at him with eyes full of want. "Yess.." He twitched at the sexual desire in them. Soft sound of your puddle got louder the sloppier he became. It'd be a lie if he'd said his beard wasn't glistening with you.

"That's more like it, baby.." He praised, resting his mouth to tease with the subtle strokes of his fingers. You mumbled his name in a daze as he watched you began to unfold. "You sound so good saying my name. Say it louder for me.."

And his mouth joined the fun once again. You cursed out, throwing your head back and breaking eye contact. He didn't bother to try and regain eye contact because he knew it'd be useless. Your soul was being slurped from your body and he had the privilege to be the culprit doing so.

Once your hands found his hair, you couldn't choose whether to push him away or closer. So you let him decide, to which he chose to continue the sweet torture. He was, for sure, your favorite bearer of gifts.

___________

Taglist

@sisterwifeudaku @kumkaniudaku @wawakanda-btch @theunsweetenedtruth @marvelmaree @chaneajoyyy @wakanda-inspired @princesskillmonger @liviy00 @xsweetdellzx @killmongerdispussy @thehomierobbstark @princessstevens @killmongerthiskoochie @cecereads209 @beautifullmelodyxx @soufcakmistress @melodyofmbaku

[nightswithkookmin]

JIKOOK: DEAR ARMY WE ARE IN LOVE

DISCLAIMER: I wouldn't take this particular post seriously. I mean it's something, but nothing at the same time. I just do these kinds of 'analysis' for fun and for my own personal amusement.

Do you see it? Or do you need me to connect the dots for you? Thought you'd never ask! Lol

I have always been fascinated by BTS's incorporation of fine art, poetry, metaphors, imageries, philosophical and psychological theories etc into their craft.

They are brilliant at expressing themselves and conveying their emotions through art and music. I have always found that challenging and mentally stimulating.

Take for example this whole Dear Army moments they shared with us on Weverse this week. Yes, it's a marketing strategy, the objective of which is to build an intimate connection with Army but most importantly hear feedback from Army on the struggles we are each facing in light of Covid 19 and also to provide feedback on why we love and stan BTS through their recommended hashtags.

Suga had already explained they were going to do this in that March YouTube live and so it's no brainer. The fun part for me, which of course is subjective, is the embedded meaning behind this whole Dear Army concept.

The progression from day to night, the use of contrast etc is all very reminiscent of the message of Bulletproof eternal- we are not seven with you. Especially with Suga and Hobi's postcard being taken directly from the BTS bonfire moment in Bonvoyage which made a cameo in Bulletproof eternal and the allusion to winter in both artworks.

The overall message of Dear Army is very simple: we had nothing but dreams, open our eyes to a foggy morning, so much pain too much crying; after seven winters and spring- we are all in this together, BTS and Army forever.

I also found the exploration of the cycle of life, the ambiguity of morning and night that blurs the line between evening and daybreak quite interesting. Its always been a recurring theme in their songs and arts. It's just them reassuring and connecting with us through their ingenuity as usual.

But of course this is just my opinion and my interpretation of their use of symbolism and allusions. And as much as I enjoy deconstructing BTS's musical genius, I'm just going to focus on Jikook's message- well not message, message but their artistic expressions in Dear Army.

JIKOOK'S MESSAGE

Now I already talked about the body text of Jimin's post and so I'm not going over that again. Jk's text is equally very much straightforward and is just a restatement of the message he shared in his recent YouTube live about rediscovering his purpose in life. So I won't focus on that either.

It's the artwork they chose that I am interested in and fascinated by. I was trying to ascertain whether the art work for the postcards where chosen randomly by staff or whether it was something the members themselves chose as at first glance it looked pretty generic- I wasn't able to confirm so...

Now from what Suga said about incorporating letters into their upcoming album, I'm just going to assume BTS themselves chose these images and the creative directors added their finishing touches to it- based on the tone and mood BTS had described.

Let's start with Jimin's. I clocked immediately I saw his postcard where the concept of that artwork or background image was from. I'll circle back to this hold on.

I value and pay alot of attention to the unique ways that each member of BTS expresses themselves. Those unadulterated, authentic expressions of self provides a better sense of who they are as Individuals rather than the perfectly curated, highly edited and performative versions of themselves we see screens. In my opinion.

Take Tae and JK for example. These two men are the kinds who'd write a song about their feelings and emotions when they are hurt. Lol. They deep for no reason. Bless them.

Jimin talks a lot. He is a verbal communicator. But hardly does he reveal any relevant details about himself that gives insight into his psyche and persona through his words. Again, in my opinion.

I keep saying his persona is very elusive to me. He tends to give us so much he ends up not giving us anything at all. Unlike Tae or even JK who write songs, recommend songs, or even GCF(JK) that gives us insight into their personal feelings, Jimin doesn't do covers as much and the songs he recommendes aren't as insightful into his deepest thoughts and feelings. He is very elusive that way.

That doesn't mean he doesn't express himself. He does, just not through his music like the others. In my opinion. Mostly he expresses his wants, his desires through his music but his sensuality through his dance.

It seems also that he explores his identity and expresses the exploration of that identity through the body arts he inks himself with temporarily or permanently.

Jk I find is the opposite. He doesn't explore his identity through his body art. Nor his sensuality through dance. Rather he expresses his values and the things he cherishes through his body art; his thoughts and feelings through his music and art.

And so while Jimin would be inking temptress, seductress, bigender on his body, JK would be inking- rather cool than dead and other symbols that represents his beliefs and values on his body.

I'm going off on a tangent, am I not? Sigh

Back to the post card. When I saw JM's postcard, it immediately reminded me of JK's GCF in Helsinki. [Couldn't attach image due to Tumblr but check it yourself]

It reminded me of JK's Frozen sunset theme, his use of warm and cold contrasting colors throughout that GCF and also the ending parts of GCF Helsinki where the sun is setting over the clouds just as in this post card- Frozen Sunset.

Jk also made an allusion to that frozen sunset in his song Still with you. I am particular about his use of the words Sky, clouds, sunset etc when they appear in his music, paintings or tattoos because he once said it's something he loves taking pictures of- that and of course Jimin.

I pay much attention to the things he says he loves and so I look for them in his self expressions to try and understand why he loves it and what it means to him.

Honestly, I didn't think much of JM's postcard art when I saw that use of the frozen sunset for his postcard. I thought, well staff could have picked it out randomly so I was waiting to see JK's postcard and the overall concept for Dear Army to see if this was something JM had done intentionally.

Part of me also felt those themes they presented in the post card art work were metaphors for the kind of songs they would be creating in the new Album just as Suga had said.

But JK's postcard art made me suspicious of JM's post card. JK's postcard art is the odd one out of all the artworks for the postcards. Sope had a similar complimentary art taken from the bonfire moment of Bulletproof Eternal as I mentioned earlier. The rest all had elements pertaining to nature- sky, parks etc except JK's.

Also the theme and symbolism of Jk's art convinces me he chose his artwork himself for that post- I mean I could be wrong but...

Remember when I talked about GCF Helsinki, Still with you and Never Not etc and I said they all had a similar theme- something about roads and paths, being mismatched, not being on the same page, not having the same goals etc?

GCF Helsinki- I'll take the desert, you take the coast to each his own.( moving in different paths)

Still with you: Though our steps may not go along together, I still want to walk this path with you.(again, mismatched paths repeated)

I was intrigued by that recurring theme of roads and paths leading in different directions in JK's music and art in this timeline especially as it contrasts heavily with the themes of his past timelines.

And I even speculated that I felt it was in reference to him and JM not meeting minds on the direction they wanted to take their relationship.

I have been waiting eagerly for him to release yet another cover or art since still with to see what that whole mismatched, separate roads thingy was all about but he didn't do his birthday cover this year- among other things.

It's thus funny to be that in this post card thingy he chose train tracks- intersecting train tracks to represent his feelings and coupled with the message of him rediscovering his passion- It doesn't feel like a coincidence to me or something staff would chose for him.

It certainly doesn't help my delusional brain cells, that JM flashed that Mickey Mouse during his VLive which again I felt was an allusion to their GCF in Tokyo.

First he is making allusions to GCF Tokyo, now GCF Helsinki, signing his name to JK's posts at Pop-ups...

Remember when I said that if JM was the one who had stopped JK from posting on his birthday, that he would come swinging hard on his Jikook agenda? Remember that?

If JK posting on his birthday was important to JM, chilee nothing would have stopped JM from logging into Twitter, posting and signing JK's damn name to his post- if saving face is what was important to him. It's not like he's not done that before. He could have done that and we wouldn't even know it wasn't from JK. Lol

He really is the one that stopped JK from posting on his birthday for whatever reason- wink. You know. Lol

Park Jimin is not the 'victim' in this birthday drama. He is guilty party your honor. Guilty per the books. Lol

Stay supporting Jikook, your life will be easier that way. Bless you.

Signed,

GOLDY

[belphegorbillickin]

Okay, but I can definitely imagine Barb/Dia doing that. It seems like quite a possibility. But wasn't dying mc's own fault though? Like,, Barbatos did warn,,, unless he knew this was gonna happen and mc was DUMB AND STUPID enough to show up to everyone like: "hi." and possibly be dumb enough to get killed. Idk lol I forgot this part.

But what you said about Beel, I really like that. I think you even mentioned belphie guilt tripping you in your yandere hcs, and trying to make you completely depend on him?? I like those possibilities. Mammon though,, too soft. Like you said, they've robbed him a lot. He could have had so much potential to be a dark character. Similarly Levi omg.

The brothers are the embodiments of the 7 deadly sins, yet, tbh, I haven't seen too much of this side of them. At least, not like how'd I expect. Leviathan, for eg. Envy. I don't recall seeing his sin playing out anywhere except in the TSL Quiz thingy. I mean, it's been toned down a lot for someone who's the literal embodiment is envy. Idk I just don't feel he's like that? As from what I found: Envy (Latin: invidia), like greed and lust, is characterized by an insatiable desire. It can be described as a sad or resentful covetousness towards the traits or possessions of someone else. The struggle aroused by envy has three stages: during the first stage, the envious person attempts to lower another's reputation; in the middle stage, the envious person receives either "joy at another's misfortune"(if he succeeds in defaming the other person) or "grief at another's prosperity" (if he fails); the third stage is hatred because "sorrow causes hatred".[38]

Envy is said to be the motivation behind Cain murdering his brother, Abel, as Cain envied Abel because God favored Abel's sacrifice over Cain's.

They toned him down a little too much?? If this game has actually been inspired by demons and the 7 deadly sins, they could at least make them similar to the demons, at least in some way. I'm not that far into the game yet, but so far that I've played, I haven't seen much. As for a demon who is the embodiment of envy... I wish to see more. Levi is capable of A LOT.

Similarly, Satan. I sometimes wonder why is he even called the Avatar of Wrath when we hardly see it?? The only time I remember is him losing his calm during the whole body swap event. The fact Satan got mad at us refusing a pact actually made me think that he was the sin "wrath", but idk now. And the way it was said that "every smile is an act", I really like that concept too. But I don't think I've paid much attention to see where it played out. Sigh now Satan simps for cats like,,, please show me your dark/evil side sir.

The way you said Barb and Dia took part in a torture dungeon, I want to see more of that too. If they're demons, wouldn't they have caused SOME sort of bloodshed in a way? Especially if they're the strongest demons. Killing humans, eating them, or I even like to think doing the same to their own race. Torturing... Seems like something that every demon's blood would contain lmao, I'm not answering questions bye.

And I believe so too. The human seems like a pawn... I feel the demons would use humans for entertainment and their own purposes, while keeping up the facade of loving them. It's easy, since demons are manipulative. In that case, losing the human whether by their own hands or not would go like: "Oh well, that's unfortunate. Time for another human."

But if they REALLY did love you, I feel they'd still be manipulative. Like you said. Corrupting/spoiling the human so much to the point that they'd just HAVE to depend on them. I feel they'd also have yandere tendencies, or be "protective". Like, then I feel they really wouldn't want to let you go, despite knowing how much it can ruin your innocence.

I also don't like how everyone is after mc like "uwuwu master". The human is still a weakling despite having pacts, plus, the pacts aren't even demanding the human's soul or anything. I don't get why they let mc walk over them when they are CLEARLY much stronger? If I were a demon I'd do the opposite lmao. Making the human seem as if they are controlling me, but it's the opposite. I don't think a mere pact can change the fact that the demon's stronger,,, esp if the pact didn't demand the human's soul/life/whatever.

Also, thank you! Things got better for me :)) and also,

💫✨💕send this to ten bloggers you think are wonderful. keep the game going 💕✨

Ofc you don't have to do this, but I got this, and it really made me happy, so here ^^

Oh btw in lesson...56 I think?? Just gonna tag this as a spoiler, but where for whatever reason Satan was "Sully" and the angel Lucifer asked him whether he liked books, let me just say I haven't even played it that far yet, but Satan going, "...Every book here is precious."

TOUCHED ME SO BAD LIKE. I DON'T KNOW IT REALLY MADE ME SOFT LMAO HE'S JUST SO okay I'll stop 🏃– 🍹

It's been a while since I've thought in-depth about the whole time traveling thing tbh, but couldn't Barbatos generally see the outcomes of the world?

We went back because they wanted to know who opened it, but considering Diavolo's the ruler of hell who turned Lilith human and Barbatos is basically the ruler of time & practically the universe I believe they already knew Lilith did it since it had to be "blood related" basically.

Barbatos also knows he can stitch together timelines and get of "extra" MCs essentially, so I believe he'd take that into account. I'm not saying MC getting killed was 100% part of the plan, but that they didn't care of MC was traumatized because they knew they could bring them back if necessary.

Imo the real goal wasn't to find out who did it, but to avoid breaking the family's bonds and devotion to Diavolo. The way it worked out was incredibly convenient and "coincidentally" a huge upgrade for Diavolo that kept the status quo and made him look good (or at least better) to Belphie and Beel without making Lucifer choose.

We see that kind of repeat later when Diavolo withdraws from the play because he was worried Lucifer wouldn't be as loyal. That's also why Lucifer gets that warning from Barbatos.

I think a huge part of why Levi's characterization is like that is because not enough people like him enough to tolerate it tbh. Even Mammon and Lucifer stans complain about the other characters hogging screen time and a lot of them admit to feeling bad for other fans. Levi is pretty much always second to last popularity wise.

I think he'd actually be more liked if they focused more on the jealously instead of making almost every interaction otaku/Ruri-chan related, but it's a bit too late now. I really, really hate how they just pretend otaku culture always existed and that's all Levi ever was. Like at least make him have an obsessive personality and be hyperfixated on novels instead of talking manga in an era before Japan even existed. It's so unbelievably lazy and really takes me out of the story.

Another problem is we only really see him interact with family or people that could enact severe consequences like Diavolo & Barbatos or people protected by the exchange program. He never gets a chance to shine or be cunning. The closest we get is things like him purposefully trying to ruin Christmas for random people online in his Christmas card. I think if he genuinely got jealous of MC and some random demon he would summon lotan almost instantly.

It's especially painful knowing what we had & being so excited to get more only for all of that to get dropped.

In an early devilgram, Be You, Satan gets jealous and feels bad about not having much unique to him and Lucifer comforts him in his own way when the others make it worse. Mammon is the most empathetic though ofc. They also talk about horror movies and Mammon says he doesn't find them scary (& the way it's framed sounds honest, idk if it's a retcon or a lie,) and Satan says "I'm sure we've all witnessed plenty of real-life horrors worse than anything in the movies."

Then when Lucifer asks for a time when he was really angry Satan first casually then gleefully talks about torturing a family to death because a kid set him up to get scolded by their parents. Meanwhile the brothers act wary of him and worry about him getting out of control while Lucifer tells everyone to take cover for their own safety with a smile. Satan happily talks about them begging for their lives and says he wishes they saw it too.

Levi also says he hates hearing about people being happy, but likes hearing about the negative things. While Asmo and Mammon are freaking out he also calls Satan cool. Which shows at least a little bit of his envy for once. Satan also says just the aura of his rage is usually too much for humans which is also interesting.

But back to Diavolo and Barbatos, I don't hate how the whole torture thing isn't super open, it makes sense imo, but I would like to see hints of them hiding it. Especially if Satan or even attic Belphie was the one you could go to to learn more about it. If anyone would defy Diavolo for that it'd be them trying to bring Lucifer down with them, or even just Satan rewarding the hunt for knowledge and not understanding the human psyche fully.

Imagine if instead of a paper thin lie about being human we got a Belphie manipulating us by pretending he was locked up because he was against hurting humans and the whole exchange program was a scam? Or at least if he told us things no one else would about Diavolo that were true so we wouldn't trust him and etc. That's the angle I'm going with in my fanfiction at least, the original story is just so lazy and boring imo.

Yeah I'm not a huge fan of how they handled pacts either, especially considering they don't even get MC's soul. It's way too one-sided to the point where I don't believe someone like Satan would ever offer it, even if the first offer was a trick and he'd get your soul or something. I agree on the whole manipulation thing too, like how is it partnership if one side has complete control over the other?

Even just making it so that demons can fight against if they really don't want to do something like harming each other and having it corrupt MC would make it a million times better.

And that's so sweet, thank you! You've made my days a lot brighter too. Not much makes me happier than infodumping and complaining about Obey Me rn lol.

I really liked Satan's line there too, although I did wish he had more a reaction to everything tbh. That whole section felt a bit too easy imo though, like I kept waiting for it to all go to shit or something. I am glad they went back into more story-based chapters too. I hope they keep that trend and expand on it.

[elfyourmother]

I used to be interested in buying Vagrant Story years ago because I thought it looked cool and I just kinda forgot about it. While it's on your mind, do you have any advice for newcomers? (I also wouldn't mind hearing you gush about the game in any way you feel like!)

If you’ve ever played Dark Souls or Bloodborne, you’ll have a good idea of what Vagrant Story plays like because those games owe their entire existence to it, especially Bloodborne (which is honestly just VS with modern graphics and a shit story tbh). Action RPG except with a set protag a la single player FF. Very deep combat system with a hardcore learning curve that takes a lot but is very rewarding. I always says there’s 2 kinds of Vagrant Story players, people who never made it all the way thru the wine cellar and obsessives with 200+ hour New Game+ saves who probably have Blood Sin tattoos irl. There’s no in between with this game lol

Number one piece of advice I can give you is let the game sit on the Start screen because there are 2 extremely important cutscenes that set up the entire plot and are very easily missed. You don’t want to miss those and go in confused because this game’s story is the crown jewel of the PS1 JRPG era imo, it was peak Matsuno and the English localization by Alex O Smith is really what elevates it to art. Total mind fuck of a Shakespearean tragedy with no easy answers and one of the central mysteries is basically left up to the player to interpret (Matsuno still refuses to answer it to this day).

it came out towards the very end of the PS1’s lifecycle and pushed the upper limits of what the hardware was capable of. but because they weren’t going for hyper realism, more of a graphic novel style, they still hold up pretty well considering how old the game is. There’s no voice work and I personally think it fits better that way

btw it’s part of Ivalice and while Square & Matsuno have gone back and forth on any grand unified Ivalice setting, the “official” timeline puts it post FFXII as the latest game (magic has largely died out along with all the Ivalician races like Viera, Bangaa, etc). As FFXIV’s Ivalice goes it’s very much part of it because Ashley and Müllenkamp are both canonical to XIV-verse (they are mentioned in one of the lore books as historical Zodiac Braves). You will also recognize the final boss’ music because T.G. Cid’s boss fight in the Orbonne Monastery raid uses it.