#also taking a huge liberty with the theme

[starkittnd93]

Welcome to another episode of “Star Starts Another Really Ambitious Project”

In this episode she. Tries to make up her own cover of a medley of all the “journey for ___ ends” themes!!!

Here’s me getting the beginning part down lol

[siriuslylantsov]

sock drawer

spencer reid x reader blurb. fluff!

spencer reid keeps a sock drawer for you at his apartment. (during the early stages of your relationship, before you move in)

it's in a dresser in the corner of his room, and above yours is a drawer consisting of his collection.

it's sweet you think, his collection of socks. varied pairs of different colours and patterns. each one meticulously folded beside its match, but never knotted together. it's more sustainable for mismatching, he says, it's also a little anal (and time consuming) but you don't tell him that.

so when he tells you he's set a space aside for you, you were hesitant, not because it was a huge step but because you ran through a rotation of the same 8 pairs of black socks and a few white ones. a whole drawer wasn't necessary, maybe a little hamper.

it's not like you need the drawer for your clothes either. most of the time you're over, you’re in his clothes anyway. and the clothes you do have at his place, stay among his. a secret ploy to get your things smelling like him. he appeases you by sandwiching your clothes between his.

you open the drawer and there's a celebratory first pair, electric blue with bananas scattered all over. you hold it up with a small smile. leaning over, you quickly kiss him on the cheek and sit down to put on the new socks, they're soft and surprisingly smooth on the inside considering its repetitive pattern. leave it to spencer to find reliable socks that aren't a sensory nightmare. 

over the next few months, you also start to accumulate a collection. your black socks are a constant, ones you wear to your horribly boring corporate job, taking up half of the drawer. the other half though, souvenir socks.

spencer was away a lot, halfway across the country or when you’re lucky, right in dc. the first time it happens though, he comes home with a pair of mardi gras themed socks having had a case in louisiana. he spotted them walking by the duty free and thought they were perfect for you–bright purple spotted with green and yellow? you know what, hell yeah!

the next were casino themed ones from vegas, a pair matching the worn ones he wore often. lobster socks from maine, statue of liberty socks from new york, and dorothy and toto socks from kansas.  

when you tell your friends about this, they laugh. but again, you think it's sweet. he brings you something every time he's away, a promise that he’ll come back. it's incredibly reassuring and endearing in its own little way.

[axiina]

I saw your post about writing for Coriolanus Snow Andi was thinking classic enemies to lovers nsfw I’ll give you free liberty with everything else 💕

'I hate you' is new 'I love you'

Pairing: Coriolanus Snow x capitol!reader (gender neutral afab)

Summary: When your professor tells you to come to an agreement with your enemy, and you take 'come' too literally.

Words: 3.2k

Themes: smut, nsfw

Warnings: using of 'you' to reader, set before events of tbosas so no actual spoilers, more like academic rivals to lovers but they want to fight at some point so I guess it counts, NSFW | public sex (or more semi-public), unprotected sex (wrap it before tap it), p in v sex, kinda toxic but it's enemies to lovers, more like enemies who fuck, Coryo is pretty rough and possessive, marking, making out, idiots in love but they prefer fighting with each other

Author's note: I found some free time between studying, so I decided that I can no longer delay. English is not my first language so i hope that i didn't do too much mistakes. It is possible that a single "she" or "her" will appear here because I changed the concept during writing and I do not know if I got rid of everything. Let me know whether to stay with the use of 'you' or maybe replace it with personal pronouns or 'y/n'. I hope it's not written very awkwardly and you will like it!!

Coriolanus Snow is a peculiar person. Most people love him. Nice, classy, handsome and rich from a wealthy family. What more could one want? However, one of Coriolanus' traits that everyone seems to turn a blind eye to is his two-facedness. Some say this is merely a symptom of his cunning and wits. He knows when and how to behave to make his counterpart happy. You are not one of those people. Saying that you and Coriolanus Snow don't like each other is a huge understatement. You guys hate each other. From the very beginning when you both met at the academy it was known that you would cause a lot of problems. Too much of a character difference, or perhaps too much of a similarity between the two. However, this is not what is crucial. Whatever it is, it makes you two most likely to kill each other if you could. Every move you make you do to screw each other up. To prove who is better.

Professor Satyria's pleas for you to finally come to an agreement are of little use. The conflict must go on, and neither of you has any intention of giving up.

You like the way things are working out. At first, Snow was annoying and you didn't understand how people couldn't see him for what he really was. Fake. Now he is still annoying, but getting under his skin has become a sort of routine. Quite a pleasant one.

"You have to get along with each other and set a good example as rightful citizens of the Capitol, otherwise the Academy will draw out the consequences."

Professor Satyria's words continue to ring in your ears as you get ready to go home after finishing classes and doing punishment work. On the one hand, you don't want something as silly as arguing to weigh on your future, but on the other hand, reaching out to agree is like admitting you were wrong. Failure.

"Wherever I am you must also appear. Are you obsessed with me?" Behind your back, you heard a familiar, annoyingly kind voice, in which you could sense some arrogance. You groaned turning around to see no one else but Coriolanus.

"Don't you have anything better to do? People are finally getting tired of your idiocy?" Your words, however, did not budge the blond. His expression remained unchanged. One that might make most people think he is a nice person. You, however, have known him long enough to see right through it. Perfect. Too perfect.

"We need to talk. A positive outcome for both sides. It will interest you." Well, the threat of Satyria. He is the first one to extend his hand for agreement. Where is the trick? You look at him suspiciously without saying a word, and so Snow takes it as a sign that you are thinking about the proposition. "Do you have free time? Maybe we could go out somewhere together?"

The suggestion makes you burst into laughter. "With you? No thanks, I'll pass on this pleasure."

Coriolanus is not surprised by your answer. He knew it wouldn't be that easy. Accepting rejection, however, is not his strong point. He is annoyed by your behaviour, but he bites his tongue to avoid responding in the same spiteful way. Instead, he doesn't give up.

"I know we were never on good terms, but I want this war between us to end. I hope we can put behind us all the bad things that happened between us and start fresh. What do you think about this?" he says, sounding quite sincere.

"Let me think." You say and sigh, pondering the answer, which is obvious, but you can't let go of a little malice. "No."

The expression on Snow's face became more serious. It seems that your refusal offended his pride. But he doesn't show it in his tone of voice.

"Why not?" he asks and you notice how he clenches his jaw and his gaze becomes unpleasant.

You enjoy the view and it fills you with satisfaction. "Because you think that with a pretty face and fake politeness, you can get anything. Maybe it works with others, but I'm not that stupid. Additionally, you are damn annoying. That's why."

The expression on Snow's face becomes dark. Typical when he fails to get what he wants. His usual tone is completely gone. His face is twisted with anger. He still tries to maintain a polite voice. The attempt fails.

"Do you want to repeat it?" he asks through his teeth. It's obvious that you've hit one of his sensitive points. That was the plan.

"Exhausting, isn't it? Hiding behind the mask of a nice and put-together boy from a highly placed family who is a veritable ideal is tiring, isn't it?" A mockery can be heard in your voice. Coriolanus is very sensitive to it.

"What do you think you know about me?" He asks through clenched teeth, his tone no longer artificially polite, it is filled with rage. Your mockery has really gotten to him. He tries to calm down, but it's all in vain. Coriolanus has never had problems with self-control, but something about you makes him ready to abandon everything. You manage to get him off balance with ease. In his head, he has one plan. To destroy you.

"Do you think you pretend so well?" You burst out laughing and shake your head. You know you shouldn't say such things. The academy is practically empty, and Coriolanus's angry enough can be unpredictable. However, you can't help but point out everything that annoys you about him. "It's actually quite easy to see what kind of person you are. You look at people with disgust, but when they look in your direction, you suddenly change dramatically. how fake you are to everyone. I wonder how they don't see it. How empty and shallow you are."

"You don't know anything about me!" Snow shouts at you, his face twisted with rage. He is barely able to control himself. He doesn't even try to hide it anymore. He stares at you with hatred in his eyes.

"Don't you dare assume that you know everything about me. You don't know me one bit. You don't know what my life is like. Don't think so highly of yourself. You aren't better than me." He continues, his voice getting louder with every word he says. You really hit his sensitive spot.

"I don't know everything and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. For me, the most important thing is acts, and in your case, they are fake and two-faced. You despise people, and you yourself are at the bottom." Irritation takes over. You know that at any moment you can say one word too many if you haven't already. However, someone has to talk it all out for him. Adrenaline makes you take a step closer to the upset boy without considering the possible consequences.

Snow seems to be on the verge of a breakdown. His fists are clenched and his eyes are wide open with rage. He is breathing hard, trying to control himself. He's not used to being treated this way by anyone. He has come this far over the years, solely because of himself and what role he has taken in society. You really succeeded in hurting his pride. "I warn you right now. Don't mock me any further."

"Why? What will you do? hit me? do it, I dare you. Then everyone will see how "perfect" you really are." You know the situation is starting to get dangerous. However, you come closer. It's stupid, you know it, and yet you do it. Maybe it's the way his reactions give you satisfaction, or maybe it's the way he looks at you.

You can see the hatred oozing from his eyes when they are locked on yours. His face is full of rage, his breathing heavy and his muscles tense.

He takes a step toward you with a clenched fist. You can see his knuckles turning white. He grabs you and presses you against the wall, his body against yours.

A second later, you feel him pressing you against the wall tighter than before, and his hand grips your throat.

You feel the warmth of his breath on your lips. Your heart is pounding as if it wants to jump out of your chest. You feel a strange sensation in your lower abdomen. His eyes are cold, yet they make a pleasant shiver run through your body. His face is right next to yours, flesh pressing against yours. It was a matter of split seconds as you two pressed your lips to each other in an aggressive and hungry kiss.

He returns the kiss, wrapping his free hand around you. He seems to enjoy the kiss as much as you do.

You can feel his body trembling as he still tries to keep control of his overwhelming emotions, or maybe it's because of the situation you're in.

The two of you kiss aggressively. Snow's body shakes as he fights between his desire and how much you get on his nerves. You feel how rough but passionate his kiss is.

He draws you closer and your bodies press against each other. The friction of your bodies makes you uncontrollable over the muffled whimpers you make. You feel the bulge forming in his pants rubbing against your body.

The situation seems hazy, and only fragments register in your mind. How you both enter the bathroom without stopping your hungry and clumsy kisses, and your hands work to get rid of clothes that only makes it difficult. How Coriolanus presses your body against the wall slamming his hips against yours.

All this is to express yourself and give vent to all the negative emotions you have been holding for years.

Snow's body is now almost completely controlled by his emotions. His movements seem full of hatred and at the same time passion. He just wants to express himself using his flesh to claim you as his own.

You feel as if you are on fire, your body moves and reacts according to your desires. The tension that has built up between you for years is finally released, and it all comes out as raw passion.

His fast and aggressive movements make the place where your bodies meet burn in a pleasant way, and you think to yourself that it will be a miracle if you walk normally tomorrow. His dick stretches you nicely and his movements make your inside sting slightly. It's not a problem for now. Not now when your legs are wrapped around his waist and the only sounds you can make right now are moaning and repeating his name like a mantra.

Your body trembles at how rough his movements are, but you don't care now. The most important thing for you now is to show him how much you hate him. A broken moan leaves your lips when he reaches deeper.

Coriolanus feels your legs tighten around him. He moves slower now but is more passionate and rough. He holds your hips tightly, not caring if it is uncomfortable for you. His lips move to your neck, where he bites as if he is trying to unload all the emotions you are causing you this way.

His hips buck firmly against you. Each thrust makes your body more tired and aching but at the same time, it makes the whole experience even more pleasurable. If someone told you that you would end up having sex with your biggest rival in the academy bathroom, you would laugh in that person's face. There you are, panting, with your arms around his neck when Coriolanus Snow is abusing your cunt sensitive from too much friction.

Coriolanus brings his lips closer to your ear. His warm and irregular breathing makes a shiver go through your body. "Do you like it when I claim you as mine?" He purrs, his voice still filled with desire.

"I hate you, I hate you so much," You exhale in a trembling voice that takes a lot of trouble to keep from cracking. You bite and suck at the smooth skin of his neck, leaving there dark marks. "I hate you, Coriolanus Snow."

"I hate you too," Snow says with a low growl as he continues to hold you. He bites your shoulder, leaving marks on your skin. His moans are muffled by your skin, which he touches constantly, as if afraid that at any moment you might escape and leave behind only a faint memory.

You hate him, but you enjoy him. You are pleased when he takes you as his own. You are excited when he uses your body. You feel his passion and desire through his body. You feel his raw passion and it's hard to hate him now.

"oh go to hell" You hiss and bite your lower lip to stop your moans, feeling him moving faster.

He doesn't care if he hurts you or not. All he cares about is that you belong to him right now. His hips slam against yours in an aggressive peace. The bathroom is filled with sinful noises because you don't even think about the fact that someone might come in and hear them.

"you may have already fallen in love, but with me, it's not so easy" A trembling laugh leaves your lips. You feel your head getting foggier and foggier. It's hard for you to put together a meaningful sentence, "but you're doing a good job" a loud moan leaves your mouth. you close your eyes and throw your head back "mmm my sweet toy."

He hears your moans of pleasure, and his eyes close with a smile. He has won and he knows it. Snow always lands on top. He presses you against the wall with his body even tighter. His movements become more sloppy and deeper as if he wants to bury himself inside you. His body trembles as his lips leave broken moans and whimpers.

Passion is so strong that you can almost forget about hatred. You can almost fall in love with Coriolanus Snow. Almost. But you know that what you feel now is only lust, and you know that it's all temporary.

Not him. Not the arrogant boy whose whole life is based on lies. Not that boy who doesn't care about anyone. Not that boy with a beautiful face and mesmerizing blue eyes. Not him.

You press closer to his body, almost clinging to him as a wave of pleasure sweeps over your body.

Coriolanus lets out a raspy throaty moan feeling your walls pulsate around him. His voice is low and shaky. He doesn't seem to notice anything except the way you cling to his body. He moves faster and harder, making sure he satisfies you completely.

Snow is fully immersed in feelings. He can't think clearly or rationally. He only knows that he has to claim you, that he has to satisfy his needs. He wants to feel you and make the most of the situation. All his thoughts and desires are focused on you. His hip movements speed up as he reaches the climax. He hides his face in your neck to muffle his moans. His body stiffs as he comes inside you.

Your arms wrapped around his neck, while his wrapped around your waist. you cling to each other, still not making contact with the real world as your breathing slowly calms down.

What happened in that bathroom is over, they both return to reality. Snow steps back slightly and helps you stand on your own two feet. He looks at you with heavy eyes. All the emotions he had been hiding inside him had finally been released.

He has won and he knows it. He has succeeded. But what now? Was it really worth it? This is not a question for now. Coriolanus does not look far into that future with his thoughts.

You look at each other in silence. Slowly you begin to realize what you have done and now you look at each other awkwardly and somewhat panicked.

Coriolanus is the first to break the silence. His cheeks are flushed and his breathing is faster. The passion he felt a minute ago still lingers in his heart, something he tries to hide from you. He looks at you with a somewhat absent and uncertain gaze

"Do you think we should forget what just happened?" He tries to make his voice sound normal as if nothing had happened.

"Definitely." The words leave your lips before you have time to think. You stare at each other in silence for a few more moments and begin to quickly put on your clothes.

Snow is surprised at how quickly you agree with him. He needs to make sure this is the end of what just happened between the two of you, so he adds.

"If anyone asks, it never happened." He now looks at you with a somewhat panicked expression on his face.

"You don't have to tell me," you scoff, buttoning your shirt, "if you tell even one soul, I'll kill you, I swear."

Coriolanus looks at you with small amusement while fixing his jacket. "I hope you won't become obsessed with me after this."

"Maybe in your dreams," you say with a slight smile fixing the collar of his shirt. " you better be careful that you are the one who will be lost in memories of me." Before you leave the bathroom you stop in front of the mirror and fix your uniform and hair. Coriolanus smiles for a moment but then quickly clears his throat and tries to look cold.

You both come out of the bathroom, look at each other and part your lips, as if to say something to each other, but you look at each other in silence "Now everything is back to normal. We can still hate each other," you say, but this does not improve your mood at all.

"It never happened," Snow says trying to look you in the eyes, wondering if you're thinking about it too. He wonders if what he feels is real, or if it's just a moment of passion.

"Never" You agree by nodding your head. Your gaze goes down to his mouth. As you look into his eyes again without a moment's thought you move closer to him and press your lips to his in-hungry kiss. He kisses you back wrapping his arms around you to bring your body closer.

You parts away after some time and you both catch your breath for a moment after this passionate kiss. Coriolanus is completely consumed with passion and there is nothing in his mind but you.

You move away and nod to each other as if you have just made a deal and each is walking in your own direction in a much better mood.

Maybe that's not exactly what Professor Satyria meant when she said you two should come to an agreement, but it certainly worked.

[windvexer]

Deck Review: Under the Oak Tarot by Ofride and StregaDelleMele

This is a borderless deck featuring a sometimes-sightless girl named Anima as she traverses a fantastical otherworld.

Physical Concerns

Overall: 10/10, so far very satisfied (especially for the price), would buy again if I lost it

RWS Clone? No, but RWS symbolism is obvious in a handful of cards, notably the High Priestess and many Major Arcana cards. Other cards are completely unique.

Cost: 10/10 for quality. As of this review, $26 without shipping

Card stock: 10/10, the card stock has a nice texture and feel sturdy. But it isn't the super thick stock that's stiff and difficult to bend. It doesn't feel cheap and it's nice to shuffle. Also, gilded edges, which we love. It's a standard size deck.

Box: The box is nice and relatively sturdy. It's not a huge box (like we see with Woodland Tarot or Animal Totem Tarot) which I like, because my storage isn't unlimited. The box has an unattached lid and you can dump the cards out for easy access. The LWB fits in the box. Sometimes I struggle with hand pain and it feels like an easy access box.

Little White Book (LWB): It's a 128 page book with translations for English, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. It includes meanings for each card, and three spreads with very little explanation. More about LWB meanings and card interpretations below.

Deck Theme and Symbolism

Per the introduction in the LWB, this deck follows the journey of Anima, a visually impaired child who travels through a fantastical otherworld and learns to develop a second sight.

While many of the cards that feature Anima show her being blindfolded, the deck clearly uses sightedness as a metaphor for spiritual enlightenment or "second sight." All of the 10s cards and The World XX show Anima as seeing clearly without her blindfold, and some other cards show partial sightedness as well.

Beyond that, this is an eclectic deck, no two ways about it. This is primarily present in the court cards and some of the Major Arcana cards.

The Pentacles cards feature Basque mythology; Wands are Welsh and Celtic, Swords are Norse, and Cups are Greek. There's also Hebrew symbolism (notably the High Priestess II), and probably other stuff I haven't picked up on because I'm not the most well versed in mythology.

A lot of the cards feature mythical beings, but there are also statues and woodland creatures.

Sorry for photo quality, I don't have a great camera.

I think the symbolism is nice. Sometimes the cards are more heavily re-imagined (like the Star XVII and Moon XVIII), while some of them are more or less exactly what you'd expect from RWS symbolism (Devil XV).

The Minor Arcana takes more symbolism liberties, and some of the cards are very different from RWS.

Overall, I really enjoy how it reads. I love a good borderless card, and this deck is A) fun and B) really pretty to look at. It's got enough familiar symbolism to ground me, but a lot of the cards are very different and with enough wiggle room to explore my own interpretations.

Card Interpretations

The LWB interpretations are all about a spiritual journey, healing, and transformation. So if you're looking for a spiritual journey deck, this one might be for you.

At the same time, there's enough going on with the cards that I didn't find it to be difficult to link the meanings to a wide variety of topics.

The one thing I've got no idea about is the runes, which feature heavily in the Swords suit (which is also the suit where all the court cards are Norse entities). I don't know if the runes are thematically relevant to the card at hand or not. Hopefully they are, because I can imagine how irritating that would be if you read runes and it doesn't match.

Here are a few Minor Arcana honorable mentions. Note the familiar symbolism of the 6 of Pentacles (bottom row, second from left), but the unique symbolism of the 5 of Swords (bottom row, far right).

Overall I found the cards to be evocative and easy to connect to, with enough symbolism in each image to facilitate intuitive reading.

[aihoshiino]

chapter 137 thoughts!

so sorry in advance for how long this chapter review is but anyone who has spoken to me for more than 5 seconds on the topic of oshi no ko probably saw this coming the instant they read the chapter

Picking up immediately where we left off, this chapter feels sort of like a pause to inhale and reiterate Themes and Ideas to really drill them into the readers' head. Technically, none of this is new information (especially as pertains to Ai) so I could see it being repetitive for people who are keyed into Ai as a character but like… I am STILL seeing people in discussions of the manga just flat out not understanding Ai even when the text lays it out so I kind of I can't blame Aka for just clobbering us around the skull with it at this point: There was no horrible dark secret or ZOMG SECRETLY EVIL AI reveal waiting in the wings. It was always just that Ai was a normal girl doing her utmost to live and find normal happiness in a deeply abnormally cruel and lonely life.

With that in mind, I can't help but wonder if the film crew's reactions to this Ruby adlib aren't, to some degree, a reflection of that willful ignorance in the text for the purpose of refuting it — similar to the way Tsukuyomi was used to shut down the "Reincarnator Ai" theories popping up in the wake of new fandom blood back in chapter 118.

Like, these are all people who knew what they were signing up for, who are aware that this is a movie about depicting the "real" Hoshino Ai and yet their reaction is alarm and even dismay - the same instinctive rejection of Ai's vulnerability we see mirrored in Nino and even Aqua to an extent. Even while filming a movie that's all about her pain, they still value and instinctively prioritize the clean and perfect image of the invincible idol, Ai.

By contrast, Gotanda won back a lot of my goodwill this chapter with the monologue that took up most of its first pages. As I've alluded to in some previous chapter reviews, I was having a lot of mixed feelings about Gotanda's role in the movie and 15YL as a whole, but this chapter has reframed things in a way I am tentatively on board with. In this new light, 15YL is about crafting a narrative of Ai's life that may not be literally the events that occurred - it may even take huge liberties with them - but is all in service of conveying a much more important series of emotional truths about the cruelty she was subjected to.

This is mirrored by the visuals that accompany Gotanda's words, a series of disconnected images that do not themselves portray a coherent series of events but paint an emotional narrative of the loneliness, abuse and abandonment that created Hoshino Ai. This honestly might be one of my all-time favourite sequences in OnK so far just on the strength of its imagery alone. Those final two pages especially are just breathtaking: the grotesquely detailed and toothy maw of a B-Komachi fan sandwiched between two pure, sanitized images of Ai, the sea of huge, grasping hands reaching out of the void, on the verge of swallowing her.

I especially want to highlight that final panel of Ai's eerie, perfect smile. I genuinely can't overstate what phenomenal fucking expression work this is from Mengo and once again, I think this might have jumped into my top 5 favourite panels in the series already. It's so frightening — there's nothing technically wrong with it, but it looks wrong, it feels wrong. Even in the confines of a still image, I still somehow got the impression of it being a mask, unnaturally frozen and fixed in place. It honestly jumpscared me a little bit when I first saw it. My friend Silvie (@relares) also pointed out that the panel is framed in such a way that Ai appears to be trapped — backed into the corner of a closed box, pressed up against a wall to cover her vitals like a caged animal. It's really genuinely unsettling.

On that note; scooting back a bit, something I was really gratified to see as a girlie who constantly reaches for this idea in writing for Ai elsewhere: referring to Ai as an animal brings into text something that had, prior to this, only really been a happy accident of associative imagery, where her role as B-Komachi's bunny brought to mind a timid, easily frightened and physically weak little domesticated animal. This chapter makes it very clear this is not accidental but an extremely intentional choice to further emphasize both her vulnerability and dehumanisation. Being a helpless prey animal, rolling over and showing her belly, is less scary than being human

The Japanese text of the chapter the text takes this dehumanisation a step further: Rather than the wasei-eigo term アイドル (aidoru), when calling her an idol, Gotanda uses the word 偶像 (guzou) - an idol by its original definition. It goes beyond just reducing her to an animal - it's objectification in the very literal sense. Ai is an idol, a ceremonial object of worship, an inanimate vessel for the dirty desires of the people around her. That's the nature of the "idolhood" that was inflicted on Ai and it was killing her long before Ryosuke ever picked up a knife

This is especially interesting to see in the wake of Ichibanboshi no Spica, which essentially depicts the moment that Ai starts down this road, committing herself to being an idol who will love and support everyone, even people who hate and scorn her. This is framed by the novel as being something of a breakthrough for her and being liberating for it but I came out of it feeling deeply unsettled in a way I don't think the novel wanted me to be. I couldn't quite articulate why at the time but I think this chapter has given me the language to do so: Spica depicts the moment that Ai goes from アイドル to 偶像 without seeming to realise that's what it's doing and thus does so in a way that is not just uncritical but wholly celebratory.

In a lot of ways, this makes sense - Spica, broadly speaking, is about the "oshi" part of Oshi no Ko: the emotional fulfillment of not just receiving support but in the act of giving support yourself, in cheering someone on and seeing them succeed. Spica depicts these sorts of relationships in a straightforwardly and uncritically positive light, even in cases of parasocial relationships between fans and celebrities but this chapter, by contrast, paints a much more honestly ugly picture, of oppressive expectations, fear and dehumanisation inflicted by the supporters on their "oshi'.

At least in terms of OnK's narrative as a whole, I think the truth is somewhere in the middle: the bad certainty outweighed the good in the end, but it does not erase the ways that Ai was able to find genuine joy and fulfillment in what she did as an idol. But as far as this chapter goes, this is as unflinchingly honest about idol and stan culture as OnK has been, honestly, since the LoveNow arc and maybe even the prologue. It decries it as ugly, visualizing it as grasping hands, drooling teeth and a quivering, terrified prey animal on the verge of being consumed.

This is why (if you'll forgive me for briefly jumping ahead) the RBKN talk at the end ultimately fell so flat for me, among other reasons: it felt extremely out of place to the point of being a little tone-deaf to go from a whole half a chapter so brutally tearing into celeb culture to Ruby brightly talking about her own celebrity ambitions. I don't need Ruby's arc to end with her giving up on being an idol or anything, but it nevertheless feels completely insane to go from the first have of this chapter to the second with absolutely no in-text acknowledgement of how incongruous these two perspectives are.

Given that this is paired with her declaring that she isn't going to be like Ai, I can only take this to mean that Ruby is declaring her intent to never cross the line of アイドル to 偶像 like Ai did but I think that ultimately just kind of misses the point. The only way I can make any sense of it is if the narrative itself is drawing a distinction between アイドル and 偶像 and trying to pretend that the former is something that can be purely good and wholesome.

This frames Ai's situation as being somehow unique to her and while it's true that Ai was a person pushed to extremes by many contributing factors, none of the pressures placed on her by idol culture were unique or unusual. Hell, I've even said before that the premise of Oshi no Ko is more or less the result of the friction of idol culture's obsession with purity and the fantasy it promises of an eternally virginial child-wife and the reality of Hoshino Ai as a dirty, messy human with adult desires and sexual autonomy. When you get down to it, what happened to Ai is really the logical end point of celebrity culture as a whole: dehumanisation, commodification and reduction of people to ceremonial objects of worship. Why else would we call them "idols"?

oh my god. i'm not even halfway through the chapter. i. sorry i';m like this. anyway.

This chapter also does a lot to reframe what 15YL even is as a movie, both through Gotanda's monologue and his take on Ruby's performance as Ai — rather than pure authenticity, it is a blend of Ruby's compassion for and understanding of her mother and her anger and disgust at the people who exploited her, an indictment of the public and all the people who were complicit in her suffering. The end note of the chapter even points out that aiming for "the real thing" is no longer the point of the movie if it ever was and this frees it, to an extent, of the hypocrisy of purporting itself to be a movie about "the real Ai" while dramatising and rewriting aspects of her life and identity to better suit its narrative

As good as this recontextualization of 15YL is, I do think its portrayal in this chapter feels a bit inconsistent with what has been leading up to it. Prior to this, there had been a lot of focus on contrasting the movie's supposed dedication to the authenticity of the real Ai with the number of changes and dramatizations it made of her life and character. This new framing of it is certainly not bad and honestly preferable to what came before, but it does still kind of feel like an overt overcorrection, as if someone finally pointed out to Akasaka what I've been saying this whole time about how fucking ghoulish this movie feels.

anyway. oh my god. moving on at last: wow! mid filming script rewrites!! historically always a great sign for the health of a production! … obviously, actors giving a character a different energy in their performance that contrasts the script and requires adjustment is not UNHEARD of and has resulted in solid movies but that Gotanda makes this decision so lightly and without consulting like�� any of his cowriters does speak to Akasaka's comparative level of ignorance as to how movie making works Vs the much more real and in depth experience in TV and music production other parts of the manga reflect.

I do really like that the discussion here ends on a note of asking Ichigo for his thoughts because like… yeah, actually, of course Ichigo should have opinions about this! Even putting aside the That Is Her Dad of it all, Ichigo is the only person involved here who knew Ai before she became and idol and can properly speak to her early experiences. That said, Ichigo being involved here brings something else back up: BRO…. WHERE THE HELL IS MIYAKO!!!!

it is getting so beyond absurd at this point that she is not involved in things. I know people are probably so sick of hearing me harp on about this but her absence is so, so baffling and there really is no good excuse for it. Even if they just said some shit like "Miyako is busting her ass managing our other talents while we make the movie" I'd take that. But that it goes SO uncommented on when she was so involved in getting all this together and just had a whole chapter dedicated to her talking about how strongly she feels about the twins as their mother… it's so baffling!

This goes QUADRUPLE for the total absence of Aqua this chapter, despite him being right there and getting a dedicated reaction panel in 136. The lack of focus on him lately was something I was willing to buy into as an intentional choice that would make sense when viewing the arc in hindsight but at this point, his lack of engagement with the things going on around him is just getting ridiculous, regardless of its intentionality. This is the guy who spent over a month emotionally self harming to the point where images of Ai's face would give him a panic attack and now that he's at, arguably, the lowest emotional point he's been at in his life, we have no reaction to basically seeing her walking and talking in the flesh again?

Hell, given that this is Ruby of all people and this is coming so close on the heels of the GRSR reveal, I'd expect an even stronger reaction from Aqua than anyone else but… nope! Nothing. We've barely had any meaningful AQRB interactions and it all adds up to making that past life reveal and the tease of Ruby's feelings in the wake of it feel totally flaccid as a plot development because nothing is coming of it. I know we will inevitably have to circle back around to it given that the HKAI scenes are on the horizon but there were surely ways to weave this more organically into the ongoing conflict that didn't result in me feeling like I'm sat at a kantenzushi place and waiting for something to come back around on the belt. Gah!!

Speaking of conflict, I want to at last move onto the RBKN talk that makes up the back half of this chapter. As I alluded to earlier, this talk fell incredibly flat for me, both as a character beat for these two characters and as a conclusion to this chapter in particular. I already talked about why Ruby's resolution here didn't click with me but more broadly, I simply don't like this as the resolution to the RBKN conflict which is seems to be presented as.

To touch on the things I do like about it… thematically, I enjoy this as a continuation of the ongoing idea of the New B-Komachi learning from and correcting the mistakes of the group that came before them. In practice, though… have they actually done that? This talk doesn't meaningfully address or even really acknowledge all the ways New B-Komachi is repeating old mistakes or the way the group quite literally does exist purely for Ruby's sake and that her taking that for granted left both Kana and Mem feeling used, as if they were just accessories to decorate Ruby's idol career that her CEO mommy bought for her. Instead, they just touch on the very surface level issue of their staged argument and then move on as if things are resolved. There's obviously still room in the future for us to circle back to it with Kana's graduation concert set but as things stand now, it's an unsatisfying note to end this thread on.

Ruby is robbed of the opportunity to do any real introspection and we as readers don't even see the moment she realizes what Kana is doing and why, or get any real insight into her feelings on this fight outside of vouyeristically goggling at her in the immediate aftermath of her pain. There was some really great potential here for Ruby's behaviour during her Black Hoshigan arc to finally catch up to her and make her face the consequences of her poor treatment of Kana and Memcho. She could've had a chance to confront her own inner ugliness and her potential for buying into the same bullshit perpetuated by the rest of the industry that hurt her mom so badly. Instead, we get an endpoint in lieu of any real work necessary to get there without any indication that she has learned anything meaningful from this arc or that her relationship with Kana has changed at all.

Kana, too, is done exceptionally dirty here. We get a lot of great Kana introspection in this arc, digging into both her feelings of insecurity towards Ruby specifically and the sense of empathy she developed through playing Nino, who she saw as being in a similar position to her. Kana's jealousy towards Ruby and her sense of being Ruby's extra, an accessory, is something that's been brewing in the background honestly since the First Concert Arc and I initially found it incredibly cathartic to see her finally expressing that to Ruby and getting those feelings off her chest. I was looking forward to seeing how she would work through this and resolve it, confronting her inner demons and coming to have a healthier relationship with Ruby as a result. But again… it just doesn't happen. Kana gets no closure over the hurt she expressed in this arc — instead, she's once again used as a stepping stone to prop Ruby up and make her shine.

And like… what are we supposed to take away from this? That Kana — and Nino by extension — were correct? That Ruby is just The Most Special by default (never mind her CEO mommy explicitly favouring her for work and opportunities) and that the only way Kana can deal with it is by quitting as an idol altogether? I'm going to be totally frank: as both a Kana enjoyer and a Ruby enjoyer, I think this sucks shit as a resolution for both of them! It's not only unfair to Kana but it's also just so boring as a way of characterizing Ruby. I think there's a space in OnK for really interesting discussions about like, natural talent VS hard work and how much of someone's success is one or the other but this conflict absolutely is not that.

In general, this chapter just felt… uneven, I guess. The first half of it, as you can probably gather by my completely unhinged ramblings, was one of my favourites we'd gotten out of OnK in a long time but with the back half falling so flat for me, it just ends up feeling kind of jarring and a bit less than the sum of its parts. It's definitely not a BAD chapter by any stretch and it very clearly gave me a lot to chew on and think about. It's just kind of a let down that a chapter and a shared character arc I was otherwise enjoying so much ended on such an incredibly nothing note.

[dream-in-fall]

Another theory about Maggie and Nina, plus a theory about coffee and death and a lot of symbolism.

Theory One (Maggie and Nina)

Nina and Maggie can symbolize the two sides of Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship. Maggie (this name means pearl, it is a symbol of hidden treasure and purity) this is the best thing about their relationship. It's their love for each other, for music and for the bookshope. This is confirmed by the jewelry on Maggie's neck (heart, snake and ring). This relationship is timid and it's hidden, like Maggie herself. Nina is the side of the relationship that is visible "on the surface". Nina is a responsible person, but she looks annoyed, a little rude, closed, distrustful. She is disappointed in her past relationships, which were toxic and there was no love in them. I will also note that Nina is active, she wants to sell her goods to people. Maggie's main theme is music, retro and love. For Nina, it seems to me, this is freedom (there are several statues of liberty in her cafe, one of which stands right on the counter). Including freedom of choice.

Theory two (choice, coffee and death)

So. In symbolism, coffee means awakening, awareness and life force. The torch of the Statue of Liberty means enlightenment, knowledge and optimism about the future. First. Nina offers a choice of coffee or death. In other words, to be alive or to be dead, to wake up or to sleep. Secondly. The hand of death is depicted on the wall, holding out a cup of coffee, like the Statue of Liberty holds out its torch. I can make the assumption that if you choose death, you will still get something. Once again, you make a choice to take a drink from Freedom or from Death. Nina said that no one had ever made such a choice, to which Metatron replied - people are so predictable.

What can death offer? In symbolism, she separates (with her scythe) body and soul, and irrevocable changes occur after her actions.

The third theory (choice without choice or something else)

So. Metatron brings Aziraphale coffee. The coffee was obtained from Nina, who symbolizes the dark side of the relationship between Azi and the Cro, a pinch of almond syrup was added to this cafe - it is what was good in this relationship (Maggie brought the ingredients to the coffee). So this drink is a concentrated version of their relationship. Next, Metatron is lying, claiming that he added a huge amount of almonds to the drink. Almonds in the symbolism of Christianity mean divine favor and hidden truth. Aziraphale asks if he should drink it. Metatron says literally: "Of course, I ingested things in my time, you know". I suppose he also refused something or made a difficult compromise (perhaps for the sake of his high position). Next, a conversation takes place in which Metatron, with the help of manipulation and cunning, compels Aziraphale to accept his offer. Of course, the coffee wasn't literally poisoned. The poison was in his words and intentions. I clarify, Aziraphale still did not make his choice of "coffee or death" when he took a drink from Metatron. And also when he talked to Metatron. At the same time, an equally important conversation takes place between Crowley and the girls. Both Aziraphale and Crowley are confused, events have gained momentum too quickly. There is a climactic conversation at the end of which there is actually (almost) nothing new for them. They always abruptly end the conversation by being rude to each other as soon as the conversation gets a little heated. But this time, fate has put Aziraphale in front of a choice for which there will be no turning back. It is now that Aziraphale is making his choice. Between love and death, he chooses death. When Aziraphale goes up in the elevator, you can see that his face is painfully changing, like his face is cramping up. This effect is highlighted by flashes of light. I explain this by the fact his soul and love remained on Earth (death separated his soul), and he dies - that is, irrevocably changes. Most likely, Maggie also received "death", since we see that she fell asleep in her little back room (of the bookstore).

[prismarts]

Hiiii Prism. Hey so. Wanna introduce me to Epic The Musical???? I see it on my dash all the time now but I never bothered to look up what it actually is. On purpose lol. Because at first I totally skipped over it thinking it was some Percy Jackson fanart, and then I thought it really wasn't that big of a deal, and now it seems to be a HUGE deal to so many people on Tumblr. And I enjoy the kinda not-in-that-fandom-adjacent tea-sipping vibe veeeeeery much. So. I literally do NOT know what it is. Is it like Hamilton??? Is it a Percy Jackson fanwork??? Is it neither???? You have now been given the absolute power over whatever you let me know. Because I have no clue.

Go wild. (Please haha.)

OH HI FRIEND!! HI BAB!!!

Okay okay uhhh finedje. I NEVER had to pitch something to someone without the ability to just physically sit them down and like show them before cause I'm generally bad at explaining things but LEMME TRY!!!

So so, Epic the Musical is a musical concept detailing the Odyssey that is being made and like chopped up into 9 sagas! We have 8 of them now so one more to go!!!

Made by the wonderful, and very silly, Jorge Rivera-Herrans, Mr. Jalapeño himself. He wrote it with the theme of ruthlessness in mind, as in when do we adopt the philosophy of being ruthless to other people and when do we show kindness and mercy. (I may be explaining this wrong, Jorge has so many little videos explaining his process about creating Epic, i might leave a link so you can hear from the man himself)

It's not like a Percy Jackson fanmade thing, I know Jorge has read the Odyssesy and is essentially adapting it into this musical in his own way (I say this cause some people just can't comprehend it being its own thing as an adaptation). I don't think Jorge has read PJO? I could be wrong.

It could be compared to Hadestown the Musical? BUT THE ONLY SIMILAIRITY IS THE LIKE ADAPTATION OF A GREEK MYTH INTO A MUSICAL, OTHERWISE THE GENRE AND STUFF ARE VERY DIFFERENT.

I will uhhh keep note that Epic takes heavy inspiration from video games and anime which has the musical take several creative liberties and not be a one to one of the actual Odyssesy. One example of like the video game inspirations is every saga having some sort of boss battle esque song at the end, as if you are going through a video game, level by level.

And the anime inspirations are heavy in the ways Jorge uses iconic anime imagery or like I guess visual tropes in his references whenever he commissions artists to do animatics or animations.

THAT'S ANOTHER FUN THING TOO!!! Aside from the thousands of fan animatics that come out with each saga, Jorge also just commissions art, animatics and animations from artists with each new saga that he'll debut during the album's live watchparty where we listen to the whole musical up till the latest saga. So we have like fan animatics but also in a way, canon animatics and animations on how things go down.

He puts so much care into the music and the like themes and and uhhh musical terms escaping my head but he carries over chracters and their musical motifs so well throughout the story.

He also uhhh does open auditions to EVERYONE like ANYONE could audition for Epic with just leads to so many hidden gems of singers and songwriters that he just hypes up so much, he hypes up their work in Epic and their own personal musical endeavors.

Some of the amazing cast are: Teagen Earley who plays Athena, TROY who plays Hermes, Steven Dookie as Polites, Talya Sindel as Circe, Barbara Wangui as Calypso. Of course, Jorge himself plays Odysseus and he is also just incredible vocally.

HE ALSO uhhh casts his family members in this which is super fun and wholesome and I won't spoil who they play cause its such a fun treat to discover as you listen.

Aaaaaaaaaaa what else-

It is also very silly, we get quite a few silly moments and I really enjoy that. Jorge is really good with sprinkling the silly moments in between the songs and just delivering such a good experience. A lot of the silly moments just become memes and that's also a fun time.

I just love the way he adapted the musical in this very very unique and amazing thing, it's this phenomenon of like story telling and music and also just a collaboration of art between not just the cast who come from so many places but also the HUGE community and I think that's the most special part, y'know?

I think that's all? Imma try to link some of Jorge's shorts and videos here just for fun and because he might explain things better lol.

Thank you for the ask bab! Hope this helps explain, I'm not that good at it lol xD 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙 *hugs*

[sexyleon]

I felt that post of yours about the Dracula fandom and the way it talks about adaptations tbh, like, I'm someone who was very involved in DD last year and I've written critique myself about Dracula adaptations bc I love comparative analysis and really thinking about the choices adaptations make, for good or for ill, but from my personal experience, a lot of fandom commentary on adaptations isn't really thoughtful analysis, and don't get me wrong, I'm a hater sometimes too and enjoying venting, but I noticed that this year, there were so many posts that started out as thoughtful commentary on the book, then launched into bitching about the evils of adaptations out of nowhere, and people can write what they want, but it got tiring after awhile to be in a fandom with so much angry energy, not to mention the divergence in canon vs fanon that was much starker this year that made me feel like I had read a different book.

Also, every time I see people point at re: Dracula to be like, see, it's so easy to do a perfect 1:1 adaptation of the novel, why can't other adaptations do it?, it's like, it's an audiobook, a movie can't be that long, even a television mini-series would have to make cuts. And I might dislike a lot of choices adaptations make, but creatives absolutely have the right to take a public domain work and put their own spin on things beyond book accuracy as the number one goal - and like, do we truly want a 100% accurate adaptation when the novel is still ultimately a xenophobic reverse invasion story? Like, I would hope modern directors would seriously grapple with those aspects of the original story instead of reproducing Victorian bigotry unquestioned.

Hi, thank you for your response! I'm glad that my post resonated with a few people!

I definitely also felt a shift in energy with this season of Dracula Daily, and I'm pretty sure it is a direct result of the phenomena that is Re: Dracula. Don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE supporter of RE: Dracula, and I found it to be absolutely delightful specifically because it was a 1:1 adaptation of the book, but I also think that it has skewed the way people engage with all the other adaptations of Dracula. You are so right when you say that Re: Dracula's media as audiobook is what allowed it to be so authentic. Even if it was a long-form series, there would have to be creative liberties taken to account for visualising certain aspects of the text. I am 100% sure someone would be able to do it, but it would undoubtedly be a labour of love and expense.

I think the biggest thing that got lost in translation in my post is that I was speaking specifically on the rhetoric of "bad adaptation = bad media." I don't even like to use the term "bad adaptation" because it feels inaccurate and gives the connotation of being holistically terrible; "failed adaptation" or "inauthentic adaptation" seems more apt when discussing how close an adaptation relates to the source material. I think it is unfair for any adaptation to be written off solely on the fact that it does not strictly adhere to the original text. This can be in way of narrative, characterization, theme, etc. I don't think it's fair to say "x adaptation is bad because it ignores x from the text" because that fundamentally dismisses all the other attributes that contribute to whether or not a piece of media is subjectively good (because honestly that's all it is-- subjectivity). Media, especially film and stage, has so many dynamic and moving parts. There are so many attributes that contribute to the success of any one given thing, especially adaptations (which can claim the title with even the loosest references to the source material). I feel like the black and white thinking when it comes to this doesn't really allow for a dialogue to exist between people who enjoy Dracula adaptations for what they are and, forgive me for saying this, book purists.

Understandably, there is criticism against some adaptations that have claimed to follow the source text closely, but very distinctly did not (Ahum, Cappola). However, I think it does everyone a disservice to deny the impact of a lot of these (mostly) films. Someone in the reblogs of my original post did a good breakdown of the origins of the Dracula genre itself, and I think it goes to show that the story of Dracula has a life of its own outside of the pages of Bram Stoker's book.

The most annoying thing about the responses to my initial post was the refusal to believe that anyone was making these comparisons. I really would not have gone out on a limb to rant about this if I hadn't been consistently seeing vent posts in the main tag with mostly negative responses to a lot of different adaptations of Dracula based on the authenticity of them to the text. I admit I was frustrated when I wrote it, but it really was meant to just address the black and white thinking re: failed adaptations making bad media. This is not to say that criticism of adaptations isn't valid, but I think there should be more nuance to this conversation and that's what I wasn't seeing. It's not fun to dive into the broad Dracula tag and find post after post shitting on your favourite media because it isn't like the book.

Sorry this was a bit long! I am just really passionate about Dracula okay!! And I really really really like all the shitty little shows and movies and plays and comics and all other media that comes out of his name (because YES, a lot of adaptations really make vampire synonymous with Dracula and ROLL WITH IT). Vampires are really neat and the Dracula genre of film has been a huge influence on horror media. I think there is a lot to be said when analysing adaptations, but none of it can come from blanket statements against them.

@spider-xan

[quibbs126]

Can u make a parfait x sandwich fankid pls?

Here she is, Strawberry Sandwich Cookie

Let’s see, my characters thoughts on her…Well, she’s a peppy city girl, but I also don’t see her having a huge passion for any career like her moms do. She does however like fruit sandwiches, and she also likes selling them at food stands, just sort of as a hobby. She’s probably also gotten Sandwich to start selling them at her shop. I can also see SS having a bit of a passion for dance

Her name comes from strawberry sandos, because it’s a sandwich and also because the fruit and whipped cream kind of fits with Parfait’s theme

Strawberry sandos:

I’m gonna be honest, I wish I gave her more yellows and whites, honestly the jacket was supposed to be the main source of red/pink outside of the hair, but the yellow and white I thought didn’t look good on her arm and leg things, so it ended up being more pinks. But ah well, I like her design anyways

I know the red eyes is me taking creative liberties, but it looked good with the hair, and same with the bottom red streaks. I want to try and take more liberties with these designs, make them more unique

Speaking if unique, recently I’ve been trying to expand on making different eye and mouth shapes, and while I think I’ll need to practice more, I think it looks good on Strawberry Sandwich

I gave Strawberry Sandwich her arm and leg things (I’m not really sure what they’re called) just to try and give her design a bit more flair. I think it works with her design, it’d be too plain otherwise

Also she’s supposed to be wearing shorts, I’m not sure if you can see them

But yeah overall I quite like her, and I hope you enjoy her too

[phantomrose96]

I’d love to hear about your fucked up subway, as best as you can express. Love love love hearing about weird dreams!

In exchange I’ll tell you about my recurring Bad Mall— I’m not on any meds my brain is just like this— usually I’m at the mall looking for someone. Usually it’s a friend, sometimes it’s All Might (??? Also haven’t seen BNHA in years why he there), and in one notable instance, it was a blue sock puppet who everyone loved.

I don’t know why I hate this mall so much. If I could I would never have another mall dream again. It is, technically, a very nice mall. The employees are nice. Usually I have a friend there. The shops are interesting and fairly priced. But something about the atmosphere is just… *grey*. Sapped. It’s a big loop of a building, sized such that there should be a courtyard in the middle— there is not.

The main entrance borders a clothing store that also sell luxury nail polish (like… made of velvet) and a decadent chocolate shop that gives out really nice free samples. Across the way there’s a couple jewellery stores I’ve never been in, and then you make a sharp left and you’re into the mall proper. To your right, the food court. I’ve only stopped there maybe ever twice, and the food is really good. The second time I accidentally put someone else’s fried chicken order into an incinerator so we got married about it.

On the other side, there is GameStop. This store is the bane of my being. It always has the *coolest* stuff but if I dare set foot inside the dream will start looping around it— genuinely, one time I tried to escape by running to the other side of the mall, and I ended up in a secret passageway that led me right back to GameStop. The worst part is that it’s all dream stuff. I don’t get to take any purchases home.

Past that, on the right there’s kind of a weird store that sells vintage stuff, old video games, and tshirts. On the left is a shop that sells gnomes. Directly ahead is a Walmart, and, in the middle of the like. Mall hallway. a free floating hot drink store that also sells wooden cutouts of deer, and kickass hot chocolate. Turn left.

I haven’t been in any of these shops. The only one I recall clearly is a big, outdoorsy-themed sportswear shop to the left. It has a full sized pool in it. I’ve never been inside, only pressed my face to the glass. It also seems to have some sort of scavenger hunt happening with bits of shredded paper. Usually I hurry through the rest of the hallway, not sure why. Turn left.

On the corner to your left, there’s the shop where one of my friends works. The only thing I remember about it is a wind-chime made of dvds. To your right is a large store that takes up the entire stretch of building— it’s one of those, like, VR experience places. Past that, on the left, there is a cinema. Turn left.

You’re back where you started, now. You can go outside. The parking lot is huge, and there’s a MASSIVE textiles store you can only access from out here. Don’t go to the stuffing area, bad vibes. There’s also a handful of gacha machines. One is easily lockpicked, and has cool Pokémon stuff inside. Another has little historical artifact recreations that are all slightly wrong. The Mona Lisa but her hair is blue. The Statue of Liberty, but the torch is a bundle of snakes.

There’s another bundle of disconnected shops. One of them sells pizza? And also it always wakes me up instantly so I don’t know what the pizza is like. The mall doesn’t always spit me out into the parking lot, either. That’s just part of the mall experience I guess one second you’re walking away with your shopping the next you’re running for your life in a dream video game c’est la vie

Hey anon I fucking LOVE your nightmare fucked-up dream mall. If this was the setting of a 16-year-old forum post creepypasta that only exists in reposts and screenshots I'd read the hell out of it.

To your right, the food court. I’ve only stopped there maybe ever twice, and the food is really good. The second time I accidentally put someone else’s fried chicken order into an incinerator so we got married about it.

^Highlighting this because it's doing a lot for me.

My fucked-up subway does not have nearly as much lore as your fucked up mall, and most of my feelings about the fucked-up subway are rooted in the heightened emotional ether of dreams where everything is slightly wrong, but I'll take a shot at capturing the vibes.

The first hallmark of fucked-up subway stations is that they are deep and they are vast--and by vast I mean there's often endless dead-space fanning out from the platform. The stairs descending to the platform are often unrailed and give you a wide view of the endless black-void expanse that stretches beyond the platforms.

The structure of the tracks and the trains is a lot more like a rollercoaster than a real subway. The tracks are bare and exposed and peter off into the dead-space distance. The cars are small and often roofless. They're often some combination of cold and wet and exposed. When there's no roof, there's usually the latent understanding that if you fall out you'll fall far.

The fucked-up subway trains run very infrequently. Usually when you get to the fucked-up station, the train in your desired direction is just about to depart, and if you miss this one, the next one will not be for a long time.

The fucked-up subway trains go to stations that do not exist. They're always modeled off the subway routes in my home city, which I've lived in for close to 5 years now and whose subway system I know like the back of my hand. This means you'll always know where you're trying to go, and be confident in how you're getting there, until you realize the subway is headed to the stations that do not exist.

The stations that do not exist often have transfers with other subway lines, which you can take in an attempt to get back on track. These transfers follow the same rules as the infrequent trains--the train and direction you need will always be just arriving when you are, and if you miss it you'll be stuck waiting a long time. Usually to transfer you have to descend to a deeper level, which brings you to more of these vast and dark and precarious platforms hanging over the abyss, with exposed traintracks running on either side. Sometimes you'll accidentally descend the wrong side--inbound instead of outbound, or vice versa, and need to hastily backpedal (or come up with some way to get across to the other side of the chasm).

One dream with the fucked up subway system had the deep, deep subway system. This station goes all the way down. No clue at all how deep but I'll call it 30 floors, at least, into this dead and lifeless, lightless trough at the bottom. The very bottom has no train, it's just the very bottom of everything. It's a bit like being at the bottom of the ocean, or the bottom of an almost pitch-black cellar--if that cellar's walls were hundreds and hundreds of feet above your head. There is a shop down here! It sells frozen meats that are kept very well preserved down here due to the cold and lifeless nature of the trench's pit.

It's not really a shop, per se. There's no staff or anything. It's more like you've discovered the abandoned contents of this cellar. Things are just stacked around, and very very hard to find with so little light. I don't remember how paying works.

Sometimes, you'll go to a station that exists, but it'll be wrong. You're at the correct station but nothing about it or its surroundings is correct. Nothing looks right. You recognize nothing. But it is the correct station. Sometimes this is nice. One time it let me out into this very pretty street with a nice red brick church whose yard and stone wall were surrounded by beautiful flowers. I met a friend here and she disappeared.

The fucked-up bus lines exist, and they go south. I've only ever ridden them at night and in the pitch black, and they run to places that aren't safe. This is a problem because they run infrequently, and you have to wait for them outside in the dark. I took the fucked-up bus line to a church way south of the city, where I was helping a nice couple set things up in the church. They were never there while I was. The church was always dark.

On the way back taking the fucked-up bus, there was a stop in the middle for the driver to rest. I talked with the other riders while we waited. The bus driver had a medical episode and drove the bus over the side of a nearby cliff. I don't remember what happened when we tried to get help.

[a-crown-of-ash-if]

Planning for the future of A Crown of Ash and an overall update

First of all, I want to thank everyone for the huge amount of support for the prologue! I honestly never expected to see this many people interested in something I was doing for fun.

I want to start off by saying that I have started to write the first chapter.

I have also decided not to put any full dates for when an update will be released. As I go in and out of being able to predict my availability. I would rather not rush out a product with which I am unhappy or have taken liberties. It's not fair to either side of the party.

I am currently unaware of how long this story will end up being. I have ideas written down on a document, but nothing has a solid order. I work best by letting things flow as they come to my head.

While I have made this clear on the Itch page, I wish to state it here too. This project is going to become more mature in nature as it progresses. There will be blood and gore, profanity, along with mature topics, themes, and the potential of mentioned adult actions. As progress moves along, I will update the intro page with a list of warnings and potential triggers. If things do have their moments of 18+ content, that will be updated too.

Around 48 hours after chapter 1 releases I will reveal the potential love interests, and dig a bit into them as I see fit. I consider it a spoiler for what I'm planning for Chapter 1. So I'd rather wait to post it.

I am still considering adding a fourth romance option, but I am not sure if it will blend in too much with another option that I am 100% sure will be in the game. I will be hosting a poll to gauge interest after the first chapter's release.

I want it to be known that I will always put a story narrative over adding more options for the player to pick. It's not fun when you're just adding something to add it. Some choices are going to be separated to give different bits of lore. I'm building the game this way so that if someone decides to replay it, they can learn different aspects of the story they didn't notice or find before.

The same here goes for that mature content label. Mature topics and themes aren't being added just for the sake of being there. There are other projects like that out there for people who are looking for it. That's not the direction I desire for this story to take.

That being said, I am still learning coding and Twine. I am going to make mistakes, but I am always going to try my best to fix said mistakes that happen. Whether it's a spelling error I missed, something coded incorrectly, or a major bug. Whatever it is, I will try to the best of limited knowledge I currently hold to fix everything that pops up.

Once again thank you all for the support, I will slowly update the blog with progress as I see fit. Monthly updates put too much pressure on me, and I'm going to stray away from that in favor of smaller and more spread out but more content heavy updates.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Winds of Destruction

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Here I am, dirty and faceless Waiting to heed your instruction On my own, invisible warrior I am a Wind of Destruction!

As many of you might now, I’m a huge fan of the Metal Gear series. What you probably don’t know is  that, despite the series having a penchant for squads of quirky bosses, I’m not really a huge fan of many of them. FOXHOUND? I mean I like Mantis and Ocelot. The Sons of Liberty? I guess Vamp is alright. B&B Corps? I barely remember any of them. I love the Cobra Unit, but that’s because all of them are batshit insane and weird. I’m not saying they’re bad boss fights or anything—far from it, they all offer fantastic boss fights—but as characters I’m not really big on many of these villains.

The Winds of Destruction, on the other hand? I fucking love these guys (and girl).

Metal Gear Rising is what happens when you turn the insane anime action of the main series up to 11, and so it should be no shock the squad of bosses is cranked up as well. Each and every one of these guys is nuttier than the last, and the whole lot of them are some of the most memorable and memetic characters in the franchise. Also Khamsin exists.

Motivation/Goals: So besides the obvious way they tie into the plot because they’re working for Armstrong, each of these villains has a theme song which pretty much details what makes them tick, what they’re about, and expands upon them once you get their health low enough during their boss battles.

Mistral’s theme, “A Stranger I Remain,” details how she has come to this land to sate her bloodlust, and how she truly feels most at home on the battlefield; Monsoon’s theme, “Stains of Time,” acts as a reinforcement of his nihilistic outlook; Sundowner’s theme, “Red Sun,” expounds on his nature as a card-carrying villain and how he revels in the violence and bloodshed he causes; Sam’s theme, “The Only Thing I Know for Real,” lays out his desire for a one-on-one duel with Raiden, his foil, to see who is truly worthy to stand up and continue fighting for their ideals; and Khamsin’s song, “The Hot Wind Blowing,” showcases his patriotic nature as well as just generally acting as a badass boast. Most of these songs  act more as thematic seasoning for the characters, adding on to what is already established in their cutscenes, but for some like Khamsin and to a lesser extent Mistral, it’s pretty much the extent of their development.

Performance: Every single one of these actors really brings their all to make these characters memorable.

Sundowner is the ham and cheese of the group, working alongside Armstrong to ensure that all the scenerey is well and truly chewed. And who better to bring on the ham than Crispin Freeman? Salli Saffioti is Mistral, and is it any shock she’s also played Black Widow before? And also Hilda from Fire Emblem, I guess? Then we have Monsoon, played by John “The Crypt Keeper” Kassir, who delivers everything with gusto as always. Phillip-Anthony Rodriguez makes Sam just as smarmy and charming as a rival should be, and Benito Martinez puts in his all to his brief role of Khamsin. Not a weak vocal performance here, I’d say.

Final Fate: Seeing as they are video game bosses, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Raiden slices each and every one of them into confetti. Special mention to the absolutely brutal death of Mistral, where she gets frozen in liquid nitrogen before you get to shatter her.

Best Scene: For most of them, they only get the one scene followed by their boss battle, with the exception of Sundowner and Sam. Mistral and Khamsin’s boss battles are obviously their finest hours, though Mistral’s takes the cake between the two seeing how explosive and exciting it is, living up to the promise of that first battle with Metal Gear RAY, while Khamsin’s is the finale of a DLC featuring the game’s ultimate jobber, Blade Wolf.

Monsoon has a lot more going for him, because before his boss fight he gives off one of the most amazing monologues ever put into a Metal Gear game, as he lectures Raiden on memes (“The DNA of the soul!”) and his nihilistic philosophy. Then you get to have a kickass boss fight where, if you do well enough, you will make this nihilistic bastard beg for his life as you hack him to pieces.

Best Quote: Monsoon has the honor of dropping the most iconic bit of dialogue in the entire game (outside of everything out of Armstrong’s mouth, of course):

"Free will is a myth. Religion is a joke. We are all pawns, controlled by something far greater: Memes. The DNA of the soul. They shape our will. They are the culture — they are everything — we pass on."

Sundowner, being the massive slab of ham that he is, is no slouch in the memetic lines himself. Two stand out, and that’s his battle cry of “I’M FUCKIN’ INVINCIBLE!” and his proclamation that he wants things to go back to the old ways of war, specifically “IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS AFTER 9/11!” This is hilarious because even with confirming that 9/11 happened in the Metal Gear universe, it still is probably only the second worst thing to happen to New York.

Sam doesn’t really have any great quotes that stand out, but this man is a master of reactions, from his shit-eating grin to his rousing applause. I figured I’d highlight that here.

Final Thoughts & Score: Let’s look at them from best to least best; I don’t think any of them are awful, though some are better than others obviously.

Monsoon

Outside of Armstrong and Sundowner, Monsoon is absolutely the best character in the game. I think part of it is because he so thoroughly represents everything the Metal Gear series is summed up in one character; he’s incredibly philosophical and legitimately fascinating while also being hilariously over-the-top and spouting off some of the most ridiculous and cheesy lines you will ever hear, all while being a bright red-and-black cyborg voiced by a guy famous for acting as the emcee of a horror show. Literally everything about him is the pure essence of the franchise, so even without Kojima’s direct involvement we still got a beautiful 10.5/10 character.

Sundowner

As far as the Winds of Destruction go, Sundowner is second only to Monsoon. He’s just over-the-top in ways I never could have even imagined for this series, and the only thing holding him back is he is almost immediately outdone by Armstrong two levels after you kill him. Still, this bloodthirsty butcher just revels so much in being a huge asshole and delivers all his lines with the Southern-fried charm that only an actor like Crispin Freeman could deliver, and you have a character I wish was around in the good old days after 9/11. He’s an easy 10/10.

Also he is literally just this image as a character, and that’s amazing:

Jetstream Sam

Sam is a really great character in the Cyborg Ninja tradition, easily following in the footsteps of characters like Gray Fox and Raiden himself. The sheer badassery of this man, a normal human whose only cyborg trait is a single arm and yet who is still capable of taking down a RAY by himself, cannot be overstated, and I think he gets a big boost from being playable. There’s an underlying tragedy to the character too, with how he’s something of a fallen hero whose sword was once a tool of justice but who became disillusioned due to his inability to make the world a better place all on his own  and losing to Armstrong in a fight. He’s easily the most complex character besides Armstrong, and his boss battle and theme song are both top notch. I really can’t justify anything less than a 10/10.

Mistral

As much as I love Mistral, it’s hard to deny she is really the epitome of a one-scene wonder. She does not get nearly as much characterization as her compatriots and is very vague and ambiguous even after the DLC… but that might be the point. Her image song is “A Stranger I Remain,” and though we know of her bloodthirsty nature from that song, Mistral still remains a mystery to us to the bitter end. But hey, it’s hard to deny that what we do see of her is pretty impressive (and I’m not just talking about her boobs, I promise). She’s not quite as good as her fellow Winds I’d say, but considering she’s a 9.5/10 that’s not really a knock against her.

Khamsin

Despite having one of the best songs in the game to his name, as well as an intriguing personality and motivations, Khamsin really is incredibly forgettable, to the point his comrades  don’t even bother to mention him in the main campaign. This is not something you should ever be saying about a dude who looks like Quaritch in his mech suit at the end of Avatar on steroids, and yet here we are. Of course, he’s certainly not awful by any means and he makes for a great boss fight, but he falls severely short of the main game’s enemies. Mistral managed to score as high as she did with only having one level to her, but Khamsin only manages a 5.5/10 with the same. Maybe it’s because he just feels so inconsequential… Eh, at least he looks cool.

[kaysfanficcorner]

Out of This World Chapter 6:

Message In A Bottle

Author’s Note: Hey everyone!! Welcome to chapter 6. I genuinely hope you love this chapter as much as I do. I had so much fun writing it! We’re finally getting to the good stuff with these two! Please know that I took the liberty to make up some things about Nevarro for this chapter. This chapter was heavily inspired by the Strangers Like Me sequence in Tarzan from 1999, and I probably listened to it fifty times while writing this. Also if you haven’t figured it out already my take on Din is that he’s a sweet boy and a huge softy so be forewarned that it’s only going to get worse from here on out. If you’d like to join the taglist please let me know!

Summary: The Mandalorian and the Earthing spend a week on Nevarro enjoying their time together with the child.

Pairing: Din Djarin x Female Earthling Reader

Warnings: cursing, angst, mentions of emotional abuse (in the past), mentions of thc use (in the past) , FLUFF, explicit sexual themes. This work of fiction is strictly 18+.

Music Inspiration:

Strangers Like Me - This song heavily inspired the themes of this chapter. Not referenced directly.

Head Over Heels - Directly mentioned

Moonage Daydream - Requested by @missbabyjay

Message In A Bottle - Directly referenced, themes inspired

I Saw the Light - This is the song that I envisioned at the very end of the chapter, not directly referenced

AO3

*****

“So I’ve been thinking,” you, the Earthling woman stuck in a galaxy on the other end of the vastly infinite universe, begin a conversation with your cosmic companion clad in Mandalorian beskar. You’re seated across from him at the very same restaurant where you had first sat across from each other and negotiated the terms of your sort-of employment upon his ship all those months ago.

Thinking about how nervous you felt around him that first time you’d met, compared to how comfortable you are in his presence now, brings a warm smile to your features as you bounce the kid in your lap. If someone had told you on that fateful Nevarro evening that you would be on the verge of completely falling for the guy by now, you’d have laughed in their faces. Sure, you had found him attractive in a weird way, but you’d expected it to start and end with that. 

The fact that you’d almost slept with him only a few hours ago is hard to wrap your head around. It feels like that had been a dream. You can still feel the ghost of his fingers on your skin, goosebumps crawling up the back of your neck at the thought of how it’d felt to let him touch you so intimately. Idly, your free hand snakes up to your neck as you hold the little planet pendant he’d given you between your thumb and forefinger, letting the tiny thing run back and forth along the thin gold chain. Having him adorn you with jewelry was the highlight of that entire interaction. 

Mando’s suddenly saying your name in his modulated voice as he waves a gloved hand in front of your face, and you snap out of the memory. 

Laughing, you shake your head at him with a grin, “Shit, sorry. I got lost thinking about this morning.”

“Mm,” he responds, the way he hums letting you know that it’s been on his mind as well. Then he changes the subject back to what you’d started to say a moment go. “You said you’ve been thinking about something?” He urges you to finish your thought, head moving as he looks you over. You wonder if he’s raising an eyebrow at you, liking to think that he is.

“I want you to teach me how to be more like you,” you say plainly, eyeing him for a reaction.

“In what way?” Din asks skeptically.

A droid comes over and drops a bowl of unappetizing looking, half-alive food in front of the kid, who begins to slurp it up happily. You smile down at him before fixing your gaze back on the Mandalorian across from you, attempting to look serious. “To defend myself, to fight. I want to know how to protect myself without a blaster. I’d like to see if the warrior you think is inside me can find her way out.”

Mando stays quiet for a moment, watching the kid eat before he answers you. “Are you sure?”

Nodding, you reply, “Very much so. We’re only six years past the Galactic Civil War. Clearly I should know what I’m doing because that’s not going to be last last time any of us are in danger. And besides, I’d like to feel more like equals.”

Leaning forward, he drops his voice down low enough that only you and the kid can hear, “I don’t need you to fight like a Mandalorian for us to be equals, Cyar’ika.”

You roll your eyes a little, but a playful smirk pulls itself up the left side of your mouth. He’d told you back at the inn that cyar’ika is Mando’a for darling, so hearing him call you that in a public place is enough to make you feel giddy. Assuming that he’d said it in order to get his point across, you want to make sure that you get your own point across too.

“This isn’t for your benefit, Mando. It’s for mine. I genuinely want this.” Gaze serious, you long to reach across the table and touch his hand for further emphasis. The restaurant isn’t very crowded, but you abstain regardless.

He seems to mull this over for a moment, “If it is truly what you want, then will teach you how to fight like a Mandalorian. Training won’t be easy. It will take time and dedication.”

“I know I can do this, or rather, I want to prove to myself that I can do this. That I’m not just some weakling from a planet of humans that can barely make it to their own moon. I used to feel thankful that I was privileged enough to never know what fighting for my life felt like, but I think that my life was very small because I’ve never had to leave my comfort zone. I can’t shake this feeling that I was meant to be here, that there’s something out there in this galaxy for me. A bigger life, maybe. And besides, we’ve got all the time in the world,” you add with a little grin, “I’ll stay with you on the Space RV for as long as you’ll have me.”

Mando’s voice takes on a somber tone, “There is an open invitation for you to stay as long as you like. Even when the reason you joined me in the first place is no longer with us.” 

He’s talking about the kid leaving, and your heart sinks at the thought of it. Eyes casting down to the child in your lap, your chest begins to ache. “So we’re really going through with that when we leave Nevarro again?”

Sighing, he nods once. “It is my duty.”

“I know, I just wish it didn’t have to be.” 

“I know.”

Suddenly the seat beside you becomes occupied, and you look over to see Carasynthia Dune seated to your left. She looks between you and the Mandalorian and raises an eyebrow. “Why do you guys seem so miserable?”

Your eyes flick over to Din with a knowing glance, then back to Dune as you shake your head. “No reason. I guess we’re still pretty worn out.”

“Mando told me what happened. I know it’s hard, but for what it’s worth I’m proud of you,” she says, knocking into your shoulder with her own. 

Odd as the sensation is, you’re thankful for her pride. It’s affirming to feel like you did the right thing, even if it was the morally comprising thing. “Thanks, Cara. Mando here was just agreeing to teach me how to fight properly. Hopefully next time something like that happens I’ll be more prepared.”

The Marshal looks over to the Mandalorian and then back to you with a little smirk. “Oh really? Well, while you’re here if you want any help from me I’d be glad to offer my services.”

Mando looks to you, “That’s not a bad idea. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve trained someone together.”

“And this is not as time-sensitive,” Cara adds.

You look between them with a raised brow, “Okay, that’s a story I expect to hear at some point. So when do we start?”

Cara shrugs, “I’m not busy today. Why not now?”

Once the child is finished eating, all parties involved vacate the restaurant and head for the outskirts of town. Nevarro really is growing into a city that could eventually be seen as a respectable place to settle down. It’s people are kind and polite, the physical structure of the town itself is growing more aesthetically appealing by the day. Greef Karga’s hard work seems to be paying off.

Eventually you realize that Cara is leading your group close to where you first fell from the sky when the black hole spat you out. You haven’t set foot here since the day it happened. Suddenly triggered by this realization, an odd feeling washes over you and you feel almost sick with anxiety thinking about the events which led to your arrival in this galaxy. What your family had put you through. How you had been wishing, praying to deities you don’t even believe in, for something to take you far away from everything bad in your life only to have it replaced with good.

An intrusive thought echoes through your fraught mind, and you imagine another black hole forcing itself open. Horrific black tentacles much like those in the Anzat’s dead face snake out of it’s abyss to catch hold of you and drag you back into it. Drag you back to your old life where you felt small, inadequate, and unloved. 

Unthinking, you grab for Din’s hand and squeeze it. Shallow breathing starts to find you as you  feel panic rising in your chest. You really don’t ever want to go back there, and it’s far  more apparent to you now than it has been this entire time. Mando aside, the kid aside, and life in space aside, you know in your rapidly thumping heart that should you go back to Earth something in you would die forever.

Cara is a few paces up ahead walking beside the child, so Din squeezes your hand back and looks down to address you with a low voice full of concern, “Are you okay?”

You shake your head, “She’s leading us close to where I landed when the black hole spit me out. It’s probably a five minute walk from here.”

“Does this frighten you?”

“A little,” you try to breathe slowly, “I don’t know why but I got scared that another one might snatch me up and send me back, and now my heart is so full of dread that I feel like I can’t breathe. I can’t go back there, Mando. I fucking refuse.”

“It’s incredibly illogical that it would happen,” your Mandalorian tries to soothe. 

“I know, but that’s how afraid I am to go back. I never told you what happened that day, did I?”

He looks ahead to Cara and the kid, then he shakes his head once and looks back over to you, “Only in so many words. The subject seems sensitive to you so I never pressed.” 

You sigh, “I hate thinking about this, but I’d like you to understand why I feel this way.”

*****

Earth. 2023. Day of the Incident.

Blasting “Head Over Heels” by Tears For Fears at nearly full volume, you’re screaming the lyrics at the top of your lungs as you dance around in the driver seat of your blue Honda Civic at a stop light. The old girl has seen better days, with one speaker on the verge of death, a broken glove box, and no sun visor on the driver side of the windshield. It had just fallen off into your lap one day, as most things in this vehicle have just decided to give up on you mid drive. It’s a piece of shit, but it was the first car you bought as an adult so you love it regardless and fully intend to drive it into the ground before you eventually buy something else.

You’re having a great day. One of the better days you’ve had in recent memory. It’s been two months since Grandad was declared legally dead, and one month since the funeral you did not attend. 

That being said, you decided to take a few days off from work and give yourself a mini stay at home vacation so you’ve been out enjoying yourself all day. Full of edibles and your favorite shitty mall cheese fries, you’d taken yourself out on a movie date. It’s been a while since you’d been to the theater, so you went for a double feature. A new horror movie that only kinda sucked, and the next installment of a stupid comedy series you’ve enjoyed since high school.

You feel more at ease as the lovely day goes on, and when it finally comes time to go back home you enjoy blaring your music so loud that you’re sure that this is the day the right speaker will finally give up on you. But you could care less. You’re actually enjoying yourself for once.

Then you pull into the driveway of your home, and all of the color drains from your face as your heart sinks into your feet. 

Your Grandmother is here. With some guy you don’t recognize. Anger rises in your chest like a pot that’s about to boil over. She looks so polished on the surface. Immaculate hair and makeup, fine jewelry and clothing. But under the facade you know that there’s a heart of stone and a narcissistic personality just waiting to show themselves. 

Gritting your teeth, you get out of the car and shake your head at the intruders. “Fuck off,” you say firmly, “I don’t want whatever it is your selling.” 

Your Grandmother scowls at you, wrinkled face contorting into an ugly sneer. Her voice has a thick layer of fake sweetness to it, “That’s not very kind, sweetheart.”

You snort, “Oh, how silly of me. I forgot my manners. Fuck off, please.”

“I would watch how you speak to me, young woman. This is my lawyer, Mr. Burns. You wouldn’t want to do something that’ll get you into trouble. Again.” She looks so pleased with herself, and you wish there was a way you could deck her and get away with it.

Slamming the car door, you come to stand on the walkway that leads to the front door of your little rancher home. “Well I guess I should thank my lucky stars that you didn’t call the cops on me again. Oh, wait, I haven’t fucking done anything. Just like last time. You’re the one trespassing on my property. Maybe I should return the favor and give them a ring.”

“This is not your property,” she says with a smirk.

“Yes it is. He left it to me. You read the same will that I did.” 

Your Grandmother looks to the lawyer. A sniveling little man with a bald spot and glasses, he adjusts said spectacles and looks at you with an awkward facial expression. 

Mr. Burns clears his throat, “Upon researching the legal documents surrounding this property, I found a discrepancy. Your grandmother was never removed from the deed because your grandfather missed a page upon signing the document, so therefore her removal is not valid. You’re welcome to find legal representation and fight my firm on this matter in court, but your grandmother is still a homeowner and you are not.”

“That’s… No. That’s fucking impossible. Leave me alone, get out of my life.”

“Filthy-mouthed Godless brat,” the old woman sneers at you, making you want to curl up into yourself like a little kid again. She’s had this effect on you for most of your life and it’s infuriating that she can still make you feel so small and worthless.

“Why are you doing this?” You ask in a tiny voice, angry at yourself for cracking under the pressure of her evil gaze. 

“Because I intend to take what’s mine. Perhaps if you had not betrayed your family we could have made some kind of arrangement, but that ship has sailed.”

“I love that I stood up for myself and tried to call you all out for abusing me and I ‘betrayed’ you. You’re a fucking psycho. All of you are dead to me.” 

The crone looks almost hurt for a moment, and then her face becomes sour again. She’s never looked more ugly to you. “You have until this time tomorrow to get out. If you’re still here when I come back, I’ll be calling the police. You can leave your keys under the mat. Don’t try to keep them, I’ll be changing the locks when the house goes up on the market so it won’t do you any good.” 

Dread fills your heart, eyes tearing up. You refuse to let yourself cry in front of her, to give her any satisfaction. “I can’t move all of my things out in a day. I have nowhere to go.”

She waves you off as if what you said is irrelevant. “I guess you’ll have to figure that out. I’ll have the rest of your belongings put in the garage and you can come get them at your leisure. If they are still there when I’m ready to sell the house I’m giving it all to a thrift store. Enjoy your last night here, sweetie.”

And with that, the horrible woman who you will no longer think of as your grandmother and the lawyer leave. You’re left standing in your front yard with your heart ripped from your chest. As soon as their vehicles are gone, you drop down to your knees and begin to sob. 

Shakily, you pull your phone from your hoodie pocket and begin typing out frantic text messages to any of the friends you think might let you crash on their couches for a few days. 

Your entire world is crumbling down around you, and you sincerely want to die for a few minutes.

Then you suddenly realize that dying would only give your family the satisfaction of knowing they won, so you pull yourself up from the grass and rush over to let yourself in. You don’t know how, but you’re going to find a way to fight for this house. It means too much to you. You can’t just give up.

Upon entering the house a new wave of anxiety and sadness floods your system, but you try to keep a level head as best as you can. Jupiter comes to greet you, and you pat her on the head with a shaky hand.

“We’ve got to take a little trip, homegirl. This is going to suck for a while but it’s going to be okay. I’m going to fix this.” You say down to her, reassuring yourself more than her. 

She meows in response, so you nod. Before jumping to crazy conclusions, you need to see these legal documents for yourself and confirm that what you’ve been told is true. There’s a chance that some of this was your grandmother bluffing. But first things first, you need to charge your phone and pack a bag in case this threat is real and your grandmother isn’t just trying to scare you into leaving. 

So you plug your phone into the charger in the kitchen and scramble around the house with your huge purple pet carrier backpack, frantically throwing in random items you think you’re going to need. Clothes, the iPad and it’s charger, and for some reason you throw nail polish in. Some of the items you pack don’t make sense, but you’re riddled with anxiety and it’s keeping your scattered mind from thinking straight. 

Then you go down to the basement, Jupiter in tow. This is where your grandfather’s very seventy’s looking office is located, and aside from cleaning it you’ve left everything in it’s proper place and barely touched anything in the five years he’s been gone. The hope that he’d return one day never once leaving your heart.

The room is covered in yellow shag carpet and wood paneling on the walls. Your grandfather’s scientific triumphs are on display all other the room, either hung up or on display beside his library of books. A telescope almost as long as you are tall is set up on a tripod facing the one small window.

Sitting down at the large wooden desk, you begin rifling around through drawers to see if there’s anything related to the house you can find. Most of it is scientific paperwork that makes absolutely no sense to you, so you slam a frustrated palm down on the mahogany surface. 

You have no idea what you did, but a compartment opens up and a little metal prong with what looks like a repurposed GoPro camera pops out of the desk. Blinking at it, you whisper to yourself, “What the fuck…?”

To which a robotic voice responds, “Voice recognition accepted. Beginning facial recognition scan.” A little red light like a laser pointer shines in your face from the prong, and the voice comes back with, “Facial recognition accepted. Beginning fingerprint recognition scan.”

And then the coster beside your grandfathers cigar ashtray lights up, and you’re so dumbfounded that you just stare at it. 

“No fingerprint found. Re-initiating scan.”

“Shit,” you mumble, sticking your right index finger down onto the glowing pad.

“Fingerprint recognition accepted. Welcome,” the robotic voice greets you by name and your eyebrows shoot up into your hairline.

The carpeted floor below the desk slides open to reveal a hatch leading straight down. Jumping down to your hands and knees, you try the wheel on the door and with some effort you’re able to pull it open. A thin tunnel with a ladder leading straight down into darkness is what greets you on the other side. Waving a hand down in the hole, you trigger the motion activated lights and watch as the tunnel illuminates itself for you. It looks to go about fifteen or twenty feet down.

“This has got to be a dream,” you mumble. Jupiter comes over to sniff around at the hole, so you scoop her up in one arm. “I’m not going down there alone, little miss.”

With Jupiter inside of her area of the backpack and the large thing strapped to your back, you carefully position yourself at the top of the ladder and begin a slow descent. It takes a moment, but your feet finally touch solid ground again and you’re suddenly standing in what is clearly a large laboratory. It’s so big that you know it has to run under some of the neighbors’ houses as well as your own.

“So you had a secret lab and you never told me?” You ask yourself, addressing the father figure who is obviously not there. All of this is so incredibly hard for you to process. 

It smells like a hospital, and the walls are all a clinical white. Equipment that you can’t even begin to wrap your head around is all over the room. It all looks like something out of Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi classic “2001: A Space Odyssey”, which was your grandfather’s favorite movie of all time. You wonder if the design is intentional. There isn’t a single window or obvious other entrance. The hole you came down in is likely the only way in or out.  

Which is why you begin to panic when it suddenly shuts and locks itself. 

“Shit, no no no.” You put your backpack down and scramble back up the ladder, shoving on the door. After trying to find some way to open it and failing, you figure that there’s got to be some sort of control for it down in the lab, so you climb back down.

Jupiter’s part of the backpack wasn’t completely zipped, and the cat has wiggled her way free by the time your sneaker covered feet touch the floor again. When you look over to see her walking around on some of the equipment and it begins to light up and make noise, you curse again and run after her with the backpack. 

“Hey, stop that. I have no idea what this shit does and I don’t need you turning things on.” You nearly grab her but she jumps from one machine to anther, landing on ever more buttons and knocking a leaver into the opposite direction.

Then the room begins to shake as a circular pad on the floor glows. The cat jumps on a few more buttons and then comes to land on the eerily glowing floor. Rushing to her, you scoop her up in your arms, fighting her as she tries to escape your grasp. 

“Would you sit still? You might have really fucked us over on this one, Jupiter.”

A loud noise takes over your senses, your body tingling all over. You realize that you suddenly can’t move, everything becoming incredibly bright as you scream. After that everything fades to black completely. 

*****

Nevarro. Present Day. 

You look at Din as you finish telling him the story, feeling vulnerable and tired after reliving such a horrible memory. His body language seems on edge for a moment.

Then he stops walking to pull you into a hug. His voice is laced with animosity, “Those people are not your family. A clan should treat it’s members with respect and admiration.” 

“I’ve known that for a long time, Mando,” you mumble into his shoulder, squeezing him. “I’m glad they aren’t in my life anymore. I don’t want a family like that.” You can’t help but think that the family you do want is literally holding you, but you keep that thought to yourself. 

“Not to interrupt,” Cara’s voice breaks your train of thought, “but we’re here.” 

Looking around, you notice that she’s brought you to what looks like a little arena. Volcanic rock surrounding it, there’s a large and nearly perfect circular section of flat surface. The area is very secluded, far enough away from town that it’ll serve as a great practice ring. 

“We‘ll be right behind you,” Mando says, and Cara takes the hint enough to walk away with the kid in tow.

You and Din break apart from each other, Din keeping a hand on your shoulder as he looks down at you. It’s not often that you wish to see him without his helmet, but this is one of those instances. “So now you know why I don’t want to go home,” you say with misty eyes, “why I can’t stand the thought of it. There’s literally nothing for me there.”

Din responds by leaning his head down to gently bump foreheads with you in a Mandalorian kiss. His head lingers there for a moment. “This can be your home,” he whispers.

“Don’t say that unless you mean it,” you counter, looking right into the visor. 

“I mean it,” Din breathes. He lifts up, motioning for you to follow as he begins making his way over to where Cara is waiting for the two of you. Then he laughs a little and looks back over his shoulder at you, “That cat is not allowed in the cockpit by herself anymore. I don’t need her jumping us to the other end of the galaxy.” 

You laugh as well, “I try not to let her up there unless she’s supervised.”

“I’ll remember that the next time I find her sleeping up there and you’re nowhere to be found.” 

“Butthead,” you poke your tongue out at him, grinning when he makes a noise of feigned offense.

Joining Cara and the kid, you look between both of your warrior friends and clap your hands together. “Alright guys, what are we going to start with? Punching? Kicking?”

Din and Cara look at each other and nod, then back to you. Cara smirks, “Hold your banthas, you’ve got to learn how to dodge an oncoming attack before you can even think about attacking first.”

“Blocking and dodging are essential,” Din agrees with a nod.

You can’t help but groan.

*****

“I can’t feel my legs, you’re gonna have to carry me back.” 

Din watches you throw a dramatic hand to your head, leaning back against a rock as you pretend to pass out. The short, purple hair upon your head is nearly soaked through, laying in damp little clumps on your forehead. The impractical Earth shirt that you’d been wearing the first time Din ever saw you is equally soaked through, clinging to your form. He’s never seen you strain your body with exercise in the way he did today, and how hard you pushed yourself only serves to make you more lovely to him. 

Cara is already back in town, having been called away on marshal business, so its just the three of you out here as the sun begins to set. The sky is turning a lovely shade of violet above each of your heads.

Din comes to squat down in front of you, shaking his helmeted head, “It hasn’t even been one day.”

Opening one eye to look at him, you grin widely, “I was just being silly. To be fair you guys did make me squat more than I’ve ever squatted in my entire life. My thighs are on fire. And my arm hurts where she punched me.”

You’d taken a few of Cara’s hits before getting the hang of blocking them, but none of it had discouraged you. In fact, it only seemed to egg you on harder.

“I told you this wouldn’t be easy,” he replies with a playful tone. 

You throw him a pointed look, “I don’t want this to be easy. I’m trying to challenge the expectations I have for myself.”  

Under the beskar Din is smiling very warmly at you, “I’m teasing. You did very well today, Cyar’ika.”

“Thanks,” you groan a little as you stretch your legs out straight, “I can’t wait until we move on from blocking and dodging. This sucks.”

“Soon enough,” Din agrees. He looks over to the pram where the kid is out cold, smile faltering for a moment. Taking the kid to his own kind has been on his mind all day, and he wants to avoid it for as long as he possibly can. An incredibly irresponsible idea strikes him, and he looks back to you with hopeful eyes in spite of the fact that you cannot see them. “I was going to suggest we leave Nevarro in another day or so, but perhaps we should extend our stay for a little longer. I can’t train you as well on the ship as I can here. There isn’t enough room.”

Your brow reaches up towards your hairline, following his gaze to the pram and then back to him. “Isn’t that going to interfere with things?”

Din shakes his head, “It shouldn’t. A week won’t be that much of a delay. We might as well make the most of our time here while we have it.”

You seem pleased with his suggestion, a beautiful little smile playing at your lips. “I’ll have to make runs to the ship to go check on the cat, but I’m not opposed to staying for a little longer.” 

Standing, Din holds both of his gloved hands out to you. You take each one of his appendages in your own, letting him gently pull you up from the ground. Once you’re standing to full height again he pulls you the rest of the way into him, wrapping his arms around you. Din leans his head onto your shoulder with a sigh, eyes slipping closed as he breathes in your scent. 

“None of this is easy for me,” his voice is barely a whisper.

Din feels you begin to rub circles into his lower back with your left hand, cradling his metal covered head onto you with your right. “You mean us? Whatever this is between us?” You ask quietly into his neck, sounding faintly afraid.

He shakes his head on you, “You. The kid. I’m not used to caring for other people this much.”

Mumbling into his shoulder, your voice is full of mixed emotions, “What about the other Mandalorians from your covert?”

“That’s… different,” he says, “It’s tied to a sense of duty. With you, there’s no duty involved. I just want this. I want you. And with the kid, it started as a sense of duty but now it’s grown into something else entirely.”

“It sounds to me like you love him, Din. Like any good parent loves their child.”

“But I have to do what’s right, what’s best for him.” 

You pull back enough to look at him again, but you don’t break the embrace. “No offense, but who are we to decide what’s best for him?”

Din’s head tilts down, gaze somber behind the visor. “When he meets his own kind, it will be up to him to decide. This is The Way.” 

“Maybe one day I’ll truly understand what that means,” you say with a small laugh.

“One day,” Din repeats almost dreamily.

Dislodging yourself from his arms, you take a step back and yawn. “So I don’t know about you, but I could really use a shower and another night of sleep in that big comfy bed.”

Din nods, modulator hissing a little as he responds, “I couldn’t agree more.”

Nightfall comes rapidly on Nevarro thanks to it’s orbital path, so by the time the three of you reach the inn it’s incredibly dark out already. Luckily reptavians don’t fly this early, so Din isn’t worried about catching one’s eye. The kid stays asleep the entire time, curled up in a little blanket inside of the closed pram as it floats beside Din to the left. You walk beside him on the right, and he worries that he’s pushed you too hard as he watches you struggle to take full steps by the end of the short journey. 

“Make sure you stretch,” Din says as you’re entering the rented room, “Those muscles are going to feel even worse tomorrow.”

“I was already planning on it,” you reply with a groan, throwing your bag down on the bed to dig out a change of dress. “But first, I need to get these damp clothes off and feel clean again. Can I go first?” Gesturing towards the fresher, you jab a thumb in its general direction.

“Of course,” Din agrees, enjoying the look of happiness that crosses your features.

“Thanks, I’ll be out soon.” And with that, you’re shutting yourself into the small space. Din can hear the water running on the other side of the door.

Din stands there for a moment, just staring at the fresher door. He knows exactly what he wants to do next, but he’s unsure if its the right thing to do. To Hell with it, his own voice eventually whispers inside his head. He begins to strip himself of all armor and heavy clothing, placing it on the desk as he had the night before. Once he’s down to just a shirt and pants, he double checks that the child is indeed sleeping deeply inside of the pram and ensures that the pod is shut again when he’s done surveying his foundling. Hopefully the kid will just stay asleep for the remainder of the night, but just incase he won’t Din needs to execute his plan as quickly as possible. 

He moves to the fresher door, knocking lightly. 

“It’s unlocked if you need something,” your voice filters through from the other side. 

And so Din enters the fresher, closing the door behind him. He chooses not to speak as he looks at the frosted shower door, the silhouette of your naked body on the other side filling him with a warmth that he once thought to be dormant inside him. It’s not even a clear view of you, but damn are you stunning. 

The shower itself is roomier than the narrow thing back on the Razor Crest, with the rest of the fresher being of a much nicer quality as well. Half the time Din just uses the sonic while back on the ship, simply because it’s less of a hassle. This room, however, was intended for people to luxuriate themselves. The one on the Crest was intended to get the job done.

“Hello?” You eventually call out, voice puzzled.

It’s now or never, so he begins to remove his pants and undergarments followed by his shirt. The mirror is already fogging up considerably, but he catches a glimpse of himself in its hazy reflection and admires his physique for a moment. Nude save for the beskar upon his head, he sincerely hopes that this next move is going to go over well with you.

Din’s hand grabs for the shower door handle, gently sliding the thing open. He doesn’t look at you yet, though. He feels as if he should be granted permission first. 

You squeak out his name again in a questioning tone, voice sounding genuinely surprised. 

“I was hoping I could join you,” he says quietly, his own voice low as his eyes continue to cast downward and away from you. All he can see is your feet. 

Din begins to worry that he’s overstepped his bounds when you don’t answer right away, but then he feels a wet hand wrap around his wrist and he’s suddenly being yanked forward.

“I would love for you to join me,” the tone of your voice is so lovely in this moment that Din’s chest swells at the sound of it.

He looks at you then, breath hitching in his throat as his eyes soak up every inch of your gorgeous body. Hot water bounces off of your supple skin, some of it running in miniature streams down your thighs. He follows the trail all the way up to the lovely patch of hair between your legs, then up past your hips and bellybutton to the exquisite breasts. What really sends Din over the edge, is the fact that you’re still wearing the necklace he gave you on the slim neck he wishes he could sink his teeth into.

“Mesh’la,” he breathes. Then he realizes that you’ve been doing the same exact thing, admiring his naked body for the first time with hungry eyes.

“Fucking perfect,” you breathe back, and finish pulling him all the way into the shower. 

Din slides the door shut behind him, moving into the hot water with sharp hiss. “You really like to burn, don’t you?” He chuckles.

You giggle a little, wet hair falling in your face as you look up him. “What can I say? I love hot showers. Is the helmet going to fog up on you?” 

His hands find your hips, gripping slightly. “No, its designed to withstand most conditions. I can see just fine.”

“Mm,” you hum, mimicking the sound he often makes when he doesn’t have much to say at first. “What about washing your face? Or your hair?”

He shrugs, “When you’re finished I’ll just stay in a little longer.” You seem to look a little uncomfortable for a moment, so Din brings a hand up to move some of the hair from your eyes. “What is it?”

“I don’t really want the first time we have sex to be in a shower.”

“That was not my intention,” hidden, Din can’t help but smile fondly at you, “I just wanted to be close to you.”

“Well in that case,” you shuffle forward a little, pressing your bare body to his as you snake your arms around his neck. 

Din has no idea how long the two of you are in there together, but in his mind it mind it goes on for hours. Hands all over as you wash one another, slowly scouring fleshy new terrain. Examining each other’s forms with almost scientific interest, each of you treating the other like some sort of glorious discovery. Lips on his chest for the first time over a decade. There is so much physical touch that Din nearly gets dizzy from it at one point. His entire body tingles with sensations he’s not sure he’s ever felt, bright sparks constantly cascading throughout his nerve endings. He inevitably grows hard from it at one point, but neither of you bother to address it.

Eventually you declare that you’re ready to get out and go to bed, so you rise up on the balls of your feet to peck the side of his helmet, and suddenly Din is completely by himself in the water. You dry off and throw on some fresh clothes, and once you’re completely gone from the fresher Din slides the helmet from his head. He sets it on the counter just outside of the shower, finishing up with the quick routine of cleansing himself.

Once he’s done and standing in front of the fogged mirror, he wipes away at the cool surface in order to see his reflection. Din is sure he’s never looked this relaxed.

When he enters back into the room, clothed and helmeted once again, he finds you already curled up in the bed under the blanket. 

Yawning, you gesture over to the kid’s pod, “Let’s keep the kid in the pram tonight. There’s no point in moving him if he’s comfortable.” 

“Fair point,” Din agrees, killing the lights before coming to join you.

It’s not pitch black, so the two of you can still faintly see each other, Din more so than you with the helmet’s technology. You roll onto your side facing towards him, and he lays down facing towards you.

“I just realized something and I’m a little embarrassed,” you whisper shyly.

“What?” Din asks.

Giggling, you cover your eyes with one hand but splay your fingers out so that you can still look at him. “How old are you?” 

Din quietly laughs, “Have we never talked about this?”

“I guess not.”

“How old do you think I am?”

Propping yourself up on one elbow, head in your hand, you squint at him for a long moment. “Forty-seven.”

“Thanks, I’m glad that I seem old.” Below the beskar Din is grinning at you cheekily.

“Hey! I was just guessing! You’re kinda rugged, so I figured you were way older than me,” you squint at him even harder, “Are you older than me?” 

He shakes his head, chuckling, “Yes, but not by that much. I’m thirty-eight.” 

“Okay, so eight years older than me. Hmm what else haven’t I found out about yet?” Looking him up and down, your squinting eyes suddenly widen. “Oh shit! Your hair! Is it dark or light? My guess is dark based off of your body hair.”

“Mhm, dark. It’s brown. Somewhat curly.”

“Facial hair?” 

He nods, “A little bit. I like to at least keep a mustache and some on my chin. I look… odd without a mustache.” 

You scoff, “I thought you said you don’t have a problem with the way you look.”

“I don’t. I said I look odd, not bad.” 

“Okay that’s fair. What about your eyes? I’m going to guess green.”

He shakes his head, smiling. Din adores the fact that you’re this enamored with him. “Brown.” 

You close your eyes for a long moment, a content smile of your own crossing your features. “I’m trying to imagine you. Do you have any scars or anything like that? Missing half an eyebrow on one side?”

“Not really. I have both eyebrows. My nose is normal, if not a little big.” 

“Well now I’m convinced that I’m right, you’ve got to be handsome in there.” You gently tap the beskar with one finger.

Din’s face becomes serious, unbeknownst to you, so his voice changes to match the seriousness on his face as he gestures towards his head, “I’m... grateful that you find me attractive with this on.” 

You seem shocked by this, “Are you kidding? That thing is downright sexy. I can’t explain it, there’s just something about it. Maybe it’s how you wear it. The fact that you can just turn your head and say nothing but it completely changes the tone of a conversation. Your personality still manages to shine through the physical barrier. You know how to express yourself without anyone being able to see your real facial expressions.”

Din shrugs, “I had to learn how to do that.” 

“I actually worry that this,” you gesture between the two of you, “is weird for you because I’m not a Mandalorian and I don’t wear one of those.” 

Looking you over, Din decides to admit the thing he’s never spoken out loud to another person before, “I’m not proud of this, but I’ve never been able to see another mandalorian in the way that you see me. The helmet is not alluring to me.” 

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of,” you say quietly, frowning, “you are allowed to be attracted to whoever or whatever you want. Unless… oh shit, is this actually forbidden or something? Are we breaking some sort of sacred Mandalorian rule?” 

Din shakes his head, “No. A Mandalorian is not required to take another Mandalorian as a mate. A bond is all that is required for a connection between two individuals to be considered valid.” 

You grin, eyebrows shooting up, “So are we each other’s mate?” 

Din had almost said the word “lover” a moment ago, it had been on the very tip of his tongue. Afraid that it would be the wrong thing to say, he’d instead gone with “mate” and now that you’ve jokingly pointed it out he feels incredibly awkward for his choice of wording. This is why he never used to talk unless he had to. In an attempt to recover he says, “Only if you want to be.” 

“I think I could be cool with that.”

He’s confused by your odd turn of phrase, but he can tell that you meant it in a positive way. Scooting towards him, you spin yourself around and press your backside up against Din’s front. He instinctively curls his legs up to catch yours, wrapping one arm around you as he pulls you in close.

You both fall asleep in less time than it usually takes, comfort and contentment aiding two weary souls in finding rest.

*****

As the week goes on, you find yourself spending every day out by the lava fields of Nevarro learning hand to hand combat from your Mandalorian. Sometimes Cara joins your group, sometimes its just you, Din, and the kid. 

On the second day, you force Din to do yoga with you so you can stretch out the tight leg muscles from the day before. It’s hilarious to see him do some of the poses, being that he insists on leaving all of his armor on. He’s covered in beskar attempting to do “happy baby”, and you really have to hold in your laughter because you don’t want him to think you’re picking on him. The kid joins in too, following your movements with much more ease than his father figure. 

“A happy baby would never lay like this,” Din huffs, rocking as he struggles to keep hold of his booted feet. He finally gives up and lets his legs fall back down to the ground, rolling over to jab a finger towards his green foundling who is rolling around on his tiny back with his legs in the air. “I’ve certainly never seen him do that and he’s happy most of the time.” 

Laughing, you sit up and shake your head at him. “It’s just a dumb name for it, it’s not supposed to be hyper-realistic.”

Later, after learning how to get out of a chokehold from behind, you take a break to do some art with the kid. It’s the first time you’ve broken out the set of supplies that Din bought on Nar Shaddaa, and the kid has a blast with it. At one point while you’re drawing flowers and animals on your board, the kid is drawling little scribbles on his own. Din’s seated beside you holding the kid in his lap, watching his foundling draw with interest.

When the kid turns around and holds up his work of art with a string of babbles, Din makes an odd little noise. It sounds choked, and it instantly grabs your attention.

“Wow, buddy. Is that us?” He sounds amazed as he lovingly pats him on the head, “Great job, kid.”

“Let me see, Green Bean.” You lean over to look at the kid’s art board, and your mouth drops open. To a stranger it would barely pass for a comprehensible picture, looking like three heaps of multicolored scribbles. But you can clearly see that the three scribbles are supposed to be Din, the kid, and yourself. The child’s green and tan form with big ears poking out is nestled between a back and purple scribble with extra purple on top, and a brown and silver scribble with a wiggly black T shape over the silver circle meant to be the head. The two big scribbles look to be holding hands above the green scribble’s head, long janky shapes meant to be arms touching each other at the ends. 

Tears fill your eyes, overwhelmed with emotion for this little child. You lean forward with your eyes closed and press a kiss to the top of his head, feeling his small hand lift up to touch your neck. An image crosses your mind then, one of the Mandalorian and yourself raising the child as your own, and you have to force yourself not to get lost in it. After this little vacation the plan is still to find where he belongs and take him there, and your heart is already cracked in two at the mere thought of it. 

“Great job, little dude,” you say with a grin when you sit up to look down at him again, “You’re such a good kid. You know that, right?”

“You really are,” Din agrees, scooping the kid up in his gloved hands as he lays down on his back, “The best kid in the galaxy.” He holds the green child up in the air, pretending that the little guy is a tiny starship as Din makes all kinds of mouth noises to simulate the act of flying. It’s hands down the most endearing thing you’ve ever seen Din do.

It is in that moment that your heart swells to the point of being painful and you realize how much you love these two people. What they truly mean to you. Din had said that you should all make the most of this respite on Nevarro, and so you intend to enjoy this time with the three of you all together as much as you can. Soaking in every second of it is your new priority for the next couple of days. 

*****

On the third day, you finally get to see what the kid’s powers are really like when he uses them to tear Cara off of you. She has you in a pretty good chokehold, wanting to see what Din had taught you the day before, but she actually chokes you to hard for a moment and the kid does not respond well to seeing you unable to breathe. Cara suddenly goes flying back a few feet, landing on her ass. You cough and sputter, catching your breath again.

“Really?!” Dune glares at the kid, “This force crap again? I am not trying to hurt her.” 

“Easy,” Din says, stepping in front f the kid’s pram. “He’s protective of us, and I didn’t like the way you were choking her either.” 

Cara rolls her eyes, “She’s going to have to learn what the real thing feels like if she’s going to have any hope of defending herself.”

“Cara’s not wrong,” you say, rubbing at your neck. You move over to where the kid is looking up at you with concern in his big eyes, throwing a thumbs up his way. “I’m okay, Green Bean. Promise.” 

“Fine,” Mando grunts, helping Cara up from the ground. “You and I should spar a little to show her what correct form looks like.”

“You’re on,” Cara agrees with a smirk. 

You take a seat on a rock next to the kid’s pram, watching as the two warriors square up to fight each other. You really do try your best to keep an eye on both of them and take mental notes, but watching the Mandalorian move with so much ease as he dips and dodges from Cara’s oncoming attacks is so distracting. Every move, every tiny gesture, makes your head swim and your core heat up. He’s mesmerizing to watch, quickly spinning himself behind Cara’s back and pulling her into a chokehold. Cara breaks free, dropping down and spinning to push both hands into Din’s stomach. He grunts, taking a step back to steady himself. 

“So that’s how it should look, but remember that how it feels is equally important... Are you listening?” 

It takes you a moment to realize that Din is talking and you quickly try to recover, but Cara laughs at you and speaks first. “She’s got stars in her eyes, Mando.” 

“I was paying attention, I swear!”

*****

This continues on for the rest of the week. You learn more in those few days than you thought possible in such a short amount of time, but you’re well aware that you’ll have a lot more to learn before you’re anywhere close to Din’s level of skill or Cara’s.

It’s the final day of your Nevarro vacation, as you’ve been calling it, and you find yourself seated at the city’s one restaurant again for breakfast. You’ve got the kid in your lap as you both eat, with Cara seated across from you. Din’s back at the inn eating his breakfast in private, so the two of you are enjoying a little girl time before he comes back.

You take a sip of caf, sighing into the cup as you look at Cara with mixed emotions. “Is it bad that I don’t want to leave? This week has been great.”

Cara shakes her head, “No, but I know Mando is still hung up on finding out where the kid belongs.” 

“It’s his duty,” you reply flatly, “I have to respect that even if I don’t really agree with it.” 

“So what’s going on with you two, anyway?” Cara’s question is surrounded by a bite of her food.

“I mean, I guess we’re a thing?” You shrug, “I’m trying to take this one day at a time.”

“So have you,” she looks down at the kid with a scrunched expression, “you know?”

“No. Almost, but no.” You sigh into your mug of caf again, eyeing her carefully as you consider what you want to say next. “I think I love him, Cara.”

It feels incredibly bizarre to say it out loud, despite having felt it and thought it for days.

“I thought that was obvious,” she says, grinning a little. 

Rolling your eyes, you groan, “Why do I want to throw things at you when we have these conversations?”

“Because I’m right. And because I can see that you’re still spending too much time over thinking everything.” Your first friend in this galaxy’s face suddenly becomes serious as she sits her bowl of food down on the table, looking right into your eyes. “Listen, I lived through a pretty awful war and I’ve seen a lot of horrible shit in my day. I’ve lost a lot of people who I’ve cared for. The rebellion fought for freedom so that people could worry about things like love, and not when the Empire was going to show up and ruin their lives at a moments notice. Take it from someone who waited too long and missed their chance. This life is too short not to get what you want out of it.”

Unable to find the right words, you simply nod at her and extend gratitude for her little dose of wisdom. “Thanks, Cara. You’re a good friend.”

“You’re welcome.” 

The kid makes a mess of his brown robe, so you sit him on the table to clean him off and that’s when you notice how crowded the restaurant is. It hasn’t been this crowded all week. Not once.

“What’s the all the hullabaloo about today?” Cara seems confused by your choice of wording so you laugh, “Why’s it so busy today? Is something going on?”

“Oh,” Dune says, “It’s a holiday.”

“How have I been here all week and not known this?”

She shrugs, “Beats me. Twice a year there’s an atmospheric anomaly that causes what the locals call a ‘light show’ at sundown. Nevarro holds a bi-annual festival in its honor, the ‘Festival of Lights.’ One in the warm part of the year to represent rebirth and life, and one in the cold part of the year to honor death. We’re coming up on the colder season, so today is the latter.”

You can’t help but grin, “That’s so cool. My favorite holiday back on Earth was all about honoring death, and it also marked the beginning of the cold season. It’s kind of lost it’s original meaning at this point though. So what’s this ‘light show’ look like?”

“I guess you’ll have to see for yourself when the sun sets.” 

Holding the kid below each armpit, you bounce him on the table top a little as you imagine him dressed in an Earth Halloween costume. “On Earth we dressed up as various creatures on Halloween as part of the celebration. Maybe I should find you a little witch hat, kiddo.” 

*****

After finishing his morning meal, Din sets out on the streets of Nevarro to meet you and the child at the restaurant and is shocked to see the city streets so full of life. There are vendors setting up small tables of goods to be sold, street performers preparing for their acts, and most people are dressed in pinks and purples which match the banners decorating the street lights.

“Mando!” Greef Karga’s boisterous voice interrupts his train of thought, and Din looks to his left to see the man himself approaching. “I’m glad you’re here. Today is going to be a very special day for Nevarro!”

“I didn't realize it was already that time of the year,” Din remarks, having been present for more than a few of the bi-annual light shows. It’s beauty is certainty a sight to behold, and he’s suddenly very excited at the prospect of you and the kid getting to see it for yourselves. 

Karga nods, grinning. “This year is going to be different. We’ve gone all out, spared no expense. And I’ll be making a speech in regards to Nevarro’s future as a respectable planet. The outer rim doesn’t have to be all outlaws and old Empire outposts. As of today I will no longer be a part of The Guild, and all trade here is to be done respectfully and legally.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Din agrees, continuing in the direction of the restaurant with Karga in tow.

“I hear you’re planning to leave tomorrow,” the older man says.

“I still have a mission to accomplish,” Din responds.

Karga stops and holds out his hand, Din takes it and the two men shake. “Well, please know that there is always a place for you and yours here if you ever wish to stay.” 

“Thank you, Greef.” 

Karga breaks off to mingle with more of the locals, and Din makes the rest of his way to the restaurant. 

Upon entering, he sees you and stops for a moment. Your back is to him, and you’re holding the child to stand on top of the table at which you’re seated. Cara is seated across from you, laughing, and you lean forward to touch noses with the kid as he also laughs and grabs at your purple hair. 

The sight of it warms him, and when he realizes that this will be the last day of pretending that things aren’t about to get very uncomfortable in regards to the child, a chill cuts through that feeling of warmth. Little pangs of pain jab him in the heart, but he remembers his creed and takes a deep breath to steady himself. Painful as it may be, This is The Way. 

“Mando, how in the hell did you not tell me that today is a holiday?” You say as he approaches the table. 

Din grabs the kid from you, holding him to his chest as he shrugs. “I didn’t think about it until this morning.” 

Looking up at him, your eyes are hopeful. “Well what’s the plan for today? I’d like to see what all the fuss is about.” 

“The spot we’ve been using for training would be great for a secluded view of the lights,” Cara interjects, smirking at you for reasons unbeknownst to Din. 

You grin at Cara then up at Din, “Well what if we poke around the festival for a little bit and then go out there to watch it? I think my body could use a rest day anyway.”

“That would be agreeable,” Din’s lips are tugging up into a grin of his own beneath the beskar. If he can, he just wants to make the two of you happy for this one day. He looks down at his foundling, “What do you think about it, pal?” 

The kid makes a noise of agreement, smiling, and Din feels himself becoming misty eyed. 

“I guess it’s settled then,” you agree, standing to join him. 

The three of you spend the better part of the day roaming through the festivities, watching performers do odd tricks, eating street food that Din saves for when he’ll have a private moment to eat again. Mostly the group just enjoys the celebration of life, soaking up the energy that this gives off. There are small sections scattered throughout the city devoted to mourning the dead, and Din thinks of his fallen comrades as the group moves past them. He’s sure you’re thinking of your grandfather, watching your facial expressions change as you stop to admire one of the shrines. 

At one point a woman drapes a pinkish-purple fabric over your head and says something to you in her native tongue before bowing her own head at you and walking off. 

“What was that?” You ask up to Din once out of earshot, and he gestures around. 

“The colors represent the colors of the atmospheric anomaly. It is seen as good luck to wear the colors on this day, that it will bring prosperity to your life. Just a superstition among the locals. She wished you a long and happy life, and for your fallen loved ones to have found peace in the afterlife.” Din smiles down at you, hidden as always. 

“It’s amazing how many languages you can speak,” you remark, eyeing him with admiration.

“We should continue your education in Mando’a,” he replies. 

With a little wink, you bump your hip into his slightly. “I would love that, ner burc’ya.”

“Cyar’ika,” Din replies lowly enough for only you to hear, wishing for privacy so that he would feel comfortable enough to reach out and touch you. Nights have been full of nothing but touching while on Nevarro, and Din finds himself slowly becoming addicted to it. 

Random children stop to greet you here and there. Some remark that they miss your presence at the school or ask about Jupiter, while others simply grace you a quick hug before running off to re-join their families. Din can tell that this touches you, and you look so incredibly soft to him in those moments.

When a stand selling plush toy versions of lava meerkats catches the kid’s eye, the pram floats over to the stand and the kid begins reaching for one with grabby little hands. One begins to lift up and float towards him, and Din has to quickly snatch it out of the air.

Grinning up at Din, you gesture towards the child with a loving expression. “Aw, look at that he wants a toy!” Din just stares at you so you begin to pout, “Oh come on don’t be a party pooper. Let’s get it for him.”

“It’s overpriced.” 

“So is everything here today.”

Seeing how much the child wants it, and thinking back to his thoughts earlier of wanting to make the both of you happy today, Din conforms with a sigh. He pays for the toy and hands it over to the child, who hugs it so happily that Din suddenly doesn’t care about how much it had cost.

After listening to Greef Karga’s speech about the future of Nevarro, you look to Din and motion with your head that you’d like to get out of the crowd. He feels similarly, and so the three of you exit the city to make your way out to the rocky fields where you’ve been spent the last several days. 

“Sunset will be soon, so I figured it was a good time to get out of there. Plus it was getting a little too crowded,” you say once the party arrives, sitting your things down on a rock. 

“Agreed,” Din says, setting the child down to play with his new lava meerkat. He immediately starts chasing after some sort of insect with it so Din calls after him, “Stay close, kid.” 

The two of you take a seat beside one another and you pull out the personal device from your bag, setting it up to charge in what’s left of the sunlight. Din looks down at it, suddenly feeling like he wants to understand more about the culture you were raised in. 

“Why do humans put so much emphasis on music where you’re from?” He asks, watching you for a reaction. 

You look at him and smile, “Music is one of the many ways us Earthlings express ourselves artistically. It can move people on an emotional level. You can have a terrible day, and then dancing and singing along to your favorite song can make you forget why your day was bad at all. As for the people who make the music, it can be a form of dealing with something that’s going on in their lives. One person can write songs about falling in love, another can write about something sad that happened to them. It’s all about how you feel in the moment. Even music without words can spark an emotional reaction, which is why we use music to amplify the emotional moments in films. On a personal level, music has helped me get through tough times and other times its simply been a source of joy.”

“Mm,” Din responds, unsure of what else to say.

“What about your culture? Are there Mandalorian songs?” 

“Yes, mostly war songs about the glory of our ancestors in battle.” 

You grin, laying back to look up at the sky with your hands behind your head. “I’d be interested to hear what that sounds like.” 

Din sits there for a moment, keeping an eye on the kid while he mulls over the impulse he’s feeling. Maker its been so long since he’d done this, but you’ve become the person he trusts most and he knows that you would treat his decision with respect. 

And so he begins to sing. At first the sound of it is so foreign to him that he’s not sure if he’s got the pitch right, but the ancient words flow out him as he chants the old war song. This one was always his favorite as a foundling, and getting to share it with you strikes a chord within his heart.

You’re sitting up again, staring at him in awe when he finishes. He’s avoided looking at you through all of it, but now he’s meeting your gaze through the beskar with a new sense of confidence after seeing your reaction. 

“You’ve been holding out on me,” a little smile plays at your lips as you shove at his shoulder with one hand.

“It’s nothing special,” Din counters. 

You roll your eyes, “Yes, it is. You just shared a Mandalorian war song with me, and you sang it beautifully. That’s special, Din.” 

The kid waddles over to the two of you with his new toy, climbing up into Din’s lap as he stares at him with an equally awestruck expression.

“See? He agrees,” you laugh a little. 

“Play me one of your favorite songs,” Din lightly commands, tone soft. 

“Hmm,” you seem to ponder something for a moment, before grabbing the iPad and clicking around on it. “Aha, this is a good one. You know that shirt with the guy on it that I love so much?” Din nods, so you continue, “He’s a musician named David Bowie, and he was huge deal on Earth. This song is one of my favorites because it’s space themed. It’s called ‘Moonage Daydream.’”

Din leans his head back, allowing his eyes to slip closed as he listens to the odd music. It’s pleasant, even though the lyrics make absolutely no sense to him. You begin to hum along to it at one point and eventually you’re singing along to the words. He feels the kid leave his lap at one point, prying an eye open to see you dancing around with the foundling in your arms. 

The song changes over, and Din stands up to join you. “I’ve heard this one before, you play it quite a bit on the ship.” 

You look bashful for half a second, sitting the kid back down on the ground. He continues dancing with his meerkat. “Yeah this one felt relevant when I first got stuck here. It’s called ‘Message in a Bottle’ by a group called The Police. The lyrics are heavily metaphorical, but its about being stranded on an island after a shipwreck and feeling incredibly alone.” 

“I can see how that would have resonated with you,” Din remarks, head tilting down.

“Yeah, but now it feels like someone found my bottle and I’m not alone anymore.” You look up at him through thick lashes, and Din wishes for a split second that he could kiss you the real way.

Instead, he touches his forehead to yours to kiss you in the Mandalorian way. “Let the music play for a while.” 

As the three of you wait for the sun to finish setting, something that is rapidly approaching, your Earth music cycles through a few more songs. Each one is vastly different from the next, and its a marvel to Din Djarin that a simple planet creates so much variety. 

Then, just as the light show is about to begin, a song with a slower rhythm and lyrics that are clearly meant to be romantic starts playing. Without a second thought, Din grabs your arm and pulls you to him. He starts to gently sway his hips back and forth, guiding you to do the same in tandem with his movements as he dances with you.

In the pram floating next to you both, the child is already looking up at the sky with a mesmerized expression. You’re still staring at Din, so he puts a hand to your chin to gently point your face upwards. 

“Watch the sky, Cyar’ika.” 

Din’s seen the pink and purple swirls of light in Nevarro’s atmosphere many times, so his own eyes do not leave yours as he watches the spectacle in the reflection there. Your face lights up, both literally with pink hues, and figuratively as your mouth falls open into a wide smile. Your eyes shine, and Din never stops gently dancing with you.  

“Mesh’la,” you breathe, never taking your eyes off of the natural display of beauty above your head. 

*****

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*****

Taglist:

@luc-k-y | @theslytherinwriter | @somewereinthegalaxi | @leithatnight | @missbabyjay

[xielexalt]

AITSF + AINI spoilers ahead

But I've been thinking a bit about how I view Shoko, Renju, and Mizuki's dynamic after the "retcon" and I don't think I've ever posted it? But here it is, and I like to think it still makes sense in the context of their characters.

For various reasons, Renju and Shoko don't actually want to have a child the usual way.

Shoko thinks pregnancy is a huge pain and doesn't want to go through it and ruin her "perfect ladylike looks" with being hormonal and everything. Instead she wants the "perfect baby" so she goes for the lab option which is how we get our Mizukis.

She also doesn't want to deal with raising a child since infancy, so Mizuki was to be raised in the orphanage until she was old enough for Shoko to tolerate.

Also, Renju doesn't want to reproduce with a woman. He's always felt unsure about being intimate with Shoko that way. Why? He's gay. His true love is Pewter. It just makes sense! (Previously it might've been thought Renju is bi, but I think the gay interpretation works a lot here too and even moreso.)

Both Mizukis are biologically their children, but were grown artificially.

Shoko's lack of sympathy towards Mizuki stems from the selfish desire for Mizuki to be the perfect child -- that's what she was supposed to be after all.

There would also be a distinctive lack of intimacy between Renju and Shoko in the first place that leads to their separation.

Overall, the details have shifted a bit from "Shoko gave birth directly to Mizuki," but I still think the expectations and abuse Mizuki faced from her are still very poignant, very real, and still reflective of a dysfunctional family dynamic...

I think it did rub me the wrong way seeing people say this retcon ruins some aspects of Mizuki's storytelling in regards to her parents and Date. But I honestly still think if we look at these details in this way, they remain overall consistent with the message the first game is trying to convey. Either way, Mizuki was a child who didn't live up to Shoko's expectations, while Renju was disconnected from her. Either way, Date is still the only real parent she can rely on. (Especially since I played AITSF after AINI, I didn't feel these plot points were taken away from.)

In fact, I think if we look at this retcon in the way I outlined, these themes are actually strengthened. There was NO love between Shoko and Renju in the first place -- they just were tied by obligation or societal expectations. Shoko literally wanted Mizuki to be designed to be her perfect daughter, but it did not work out for her. A major contributing factor for Shoko's coldness is that she lacked the crucial steps in which a biological mother is to bond with her baby from infancy. (Though this is not to say that biological mothers who raise their babies from birth can't be abusive, and on the flip side, of course adoptive parents are capable of being caring and supportive.) Because of this also, Renju not only feels distanced from Shoko, but also Mizuki. After all, Mizuki inherited Shoko's major appearance points, and maybe Renju realized he really didn't want to be married to a woman or have a child with one at all. It's likely Mizuki was all Shoko's idea and Renju just went along with it.

Basically, if we interpret the retconned story in this way, the things that made Shoko and Renju terrible parents in AITSF are just amplified even more. Yes, this is an interpretation that takes some liberties and inferences, but I just think it's an interpretation that makes absolutely total sense.

[blazingstaro]

I love Magolor's Mechanical Madness (nice alliteration)

This is seems like a what if scenario where Magalor tried to save dreamland in planet robobot prior to Star allies.

I love the addition of the cute contractor waddle dees, Fumu and Bun grown up, and the comments made for each post, specifically the halberd getting destroyed on a Tuesday.

I adore that Magolor can wield Galaxia, as he can wield a giant ultra sword from his epilogue.

I hope kirby, DeDeDe, Bandana are involved so that the heroes of dreamland return once more.

I also hope Captain Vul is saved, despite his immoral actions in Super Star (Ultra).

I also hope that their are soundtracks from the kirby games and the halberd in kirby's mouthful mode!

Nice story!

This is such a huge compliment! Thank you!!! 💜💜💜 I love alliteration, so I take what chances I can get with titles. This one was too perfect, because as an acronym no less, it's so hilarious to read!

Indeed, it's a somewhat scenario! It's more of a "what da Magolor doin" during the events of Planet Robobot. Following his perspective during the main plot, and what sort of contributions he made (at least in my AU) to make things move forward

Sort of answering various questions throughout the game, such as:

"Why did all the major security doors open for Kirby when he was a main threat to the facility" ; "How come they didn't send Mecha Knight after Kirby earlier, and frequently" ; and many more!

Little things that made me in particular ask, "Why is that so" in the face of a multi-billion dollar, highly advanced tech company with nearly god-like machines at their fingertips

I'm glad you enjoy my witty commentary, heheee!! It's one of my favorite parts of posting pages! So fun!! I'm glad you enjoyed my additions as well! After all, this mostly takes place in parts of Popstar/Access Ark that we don't see in Kirby's perspective of the game, so I have tons of room for creative liberty and so forth!

Mmm yes the bit with Magolor and Galaxia. You see, I mix both anime and game story/plot into my AU, so if you're familiar with Galaxia's lore from the anime, then you may know as to why that is. 👀

King Dedede will be taking a back seat in DotS:MMM just as he did in the game, but we will be seeing Bandana Dee alongside Kirby!! There are a few instances where they cross paths with Magolor!

As for Vul, we shall see what fate has in store for the old bird 👀👀👀

Not sure what ya mean by soundtracks, but OST is a banger and I love it! Love Access Ark's first major theme with that dubstup, just MMMMMM— even my dad loves it!

Also! I will not be drawing the accursed Halberd in full for this comic omg— I did once before for an entire battle scene and don't want to go through that again LOL Those pages were FIRE, but oh my god nope, never again, my soul will surely whither away into dust

Again, thank you so much for this lovely ask!!

[udurghsigil]

i see u post it a lot but i still dont know what madcom is whats it about?

omg!!!! *rubs my gayass little hands together* sorry for the incoming wall of text. i love this weird little series to death.

so madness combat.... this lil cartoon series that started on newgrounds (by krinkels)... starts off with a guy named hank that doesn't like the music some other guy is playing so he goes around and kills everyone in sight (non-bloodily). but from that point forward it just gets more and more elaborate, much more gory and gruesome, with new characters being introduced and actions from previous cartoons carrying on into the next ones... for example hank Literally kills the sun, now every cartoon going forward just has a dark red-tinted sky. things also just get weird and sorta otherworldy too which i love!

there's like no dialogue n most of it is, i surpose, environmental storytelling??? it heavily focuses on the fight scenes of the main character just wiping out room after room of other chars, and the choreography of the fights are just. so much fun. so many very clean kills its impressive to see how they get pulled off. think like... those old stick fight animations, but typically more elaborate!

um also worth mentioning the characters (pretty much) all look like this. just little stubby guys w their little outfits (except for the big guys). yes i'm taking alot of liberties with my designs for them. and yes there are more chars than just sanfy and deimo.

this kinda series isn't USUALLY the type of thing i'd get into but i just find it so mesmerizing idk. i used to be embarrassed abt it but not anymore. like i said the fight scenes are SO much fun and i rediscovered it after like... only seeing a few cartoons as a child through the friday night funkin' mod scene cuz there are a TON of cool madcom-themed mods. the fandom is also HUGE so it's fun to just. observe what everyone is doing. i can't say i'm a big participant in it other than posting my art but i love seeing what the community makes. there is a ton of fuckin amazing fan content from animations to fangames to art to music to... everything!!! obv i love sanmos the most because i'm a sucker for duos and it's just so much fun seeing how expressive these Faceless Guys are to where you can get a sense of their bond without even needing it spelled out....

it also has a REALLY AMAZING game that came out recently called madness: project nexus and i'm not just saying that because i like madcom!!!! it's a really fun beat-em-up with very smooth controls and . god. i just have so much fun playing it. i could play arena mode for hours. plus it lets the characters actually talk and its cute seeing them interact :333 i GENUINELY recommend this game if u like fast-paced beat-em-ups it's such a blast to play even with 0 knowledge of the original series.

ANYWHO YES.... it is a little silly i admit. but i just adoooore madcom so much. i love me some stickman fights and seeing how the world just unfurls with each cartoon is so fun. it's like you can really see when krinkels is going "maybe i can expand on this little thing i added in X cartoon" when some New Lore drops. i Love when the creative process is like... idk. so palpable. heck i recommend the cartoon series too if ur not squeamish abt stickman gore. it's quite a short watch honestly... 👉🏽👈🏽