#and Ruby is the person she’s known the best so this whole thing is no doubt a shock and a blow to her system

[majoringinsarcasm]

Y’all what the Fuck did I just watch. I saw like three spoiler pictures and decided not to watch right away bc I needed to be mentally prepared for that kinda stuff and that was just NASTY!! Like the episode was good I don’t mean nasty as in bad I mean I’m emotionally ripped up but also when CC Did That, all of it but especially with Neo I was just like. Nah no nope that was Not It that was. That was freaky. Not in a the writers did it bad way I mean that was done so well bc I’m feeling the emotions they wanted which is upset and disgust that was GROSS

[penguinkyun]

This point has been made several times over the course of Oshi no Ko's run but now with the full manga here I keep thinking about Ruby's arc and how the lack of letting her confront the dark realities of the industry she is a willing participant in ends up stagnating both her arc and the story's critique of the entertainment industry as a whole.

Ruby is introduced into the story as a bright eyed young girl wishing to be an idol due to her admiration of them and how Ai- her mother in this life and her oshi in her past life as Sarina got her through her time at hospital up until Sarina died. She wants to be an idol because it is a two lifetimes long dream of hers, a dream she desperately wants to fulfill. Even though she is somewhat aware of the less than rosy reality of being an idol, she wants to be one anyway. And she does! With the help of her family, she ends up forming an idol group in a safe environment and as a result ends up with a very different start to being an idol than Ai- safe and protected.

This is not a bad thing of course! Its good that she has a safety net that she knows will catch her to fall back on and it is definitely good that she was not subjected to how terribly another agency may have treated her. But what this does is also set up the fact that Ruby's arc SHOULD have been her reckoning with her own participation in this environment and system, tearing off the rose tinted glasses completely and then choosing to better herself and the environment around her along with finally seeing the person Hoshino Ai was in her entirety.

The toxicity and parasocialism of idol culture is in a direct clash with Ruby's naivete and enjoyment of idols as a method for her escapism. She is a "fan" but she is also an "idol" and she needs to be able to reconcile and grow past those two identities, as a fan who buys into the idol propaganda, projecting her own desires and fears onto them and as an idol who has to participate in this system of being a product for the masses.

Ruby and Ai are the main focus for discussing the toxicity and corruption in the idol industry because the two of them are major idols here. Ruby is paralleling Ai of B-Komachi's steady upward rise in the industry- we've known since the beginning her end goal would have been a concert at the Dome, the story is partly about her journey getting there.

And because Ruby is the main viewpoint through which we see the idol industry, that's why Ruby has to have meaningful interaction with the darker side of things because if she doesn't, then the whole commentary falls flat. Its been discussed before but because of her following in Ai's footsteps so to speak, that the differences between her and Ai in how they become idols, the way Ruby is a nepobaby who has everything from her group members to her first gig handed to her and Ai who received none of the protections Ruby did provides an implicitly victim blaming narrative on Ai as the story transforms more and more into "Ruby is the purest and most honest of all and thus is the superior idol" when the circumstances for Ruby and Ai's careers are completely utterly different in a way that makes a comparison like this impossible without placing inadvertent blame on Ai for not being a honest pure idol like Ruby.

Ruby has to discuss and interrogate the toxic and negative side of the industry as she experiences it! It can't brushed off with her because SHE is the one following in Ais footsteps as an idol and whose journey revolves around her dream of being one. Making Ruby brush off all of that and refusing to let her meaningfully interact with critique on the industry in order to perpetuate the narrative that she's the "best and purest and most specialest idol who will definitely surpass Ai because she just can okay?" accidentally invalidates OnK's critique on idol culture with Ai. Then the topic of discussion is not "how the misogyny and toxicity perpetuated by the idol industry and rampant entitlement over idols causes deaths and suffering for idols because humans are not meant to be pedestalled as a pure ideal" but instead becomes "Ai wasn't a good enough liar or idol and wasnt pure enough thats why she was attacked but Ruby is pure and good and perfect and she won't follow in Ais footsteps because shes just naturally that good." which is uh. Bad!

And because the story takes a swift turn into making Ruby the central focus of everything, that means her dream to be an idol also becomes the centre focus which means any sort of critique of that position becomes stagnant because the story is unable to reconcile that dirty reality with the rosy future it wants Ruby to achieve. Ruby won't have to deal with misogyny and toxicity because she's perfect and pure. Ruby's negative feelings towards fans that she explicitly says she sometimes sees as Ryousuke (c.123) are brushed away because she's a loving idol who never has any less than loving thoughts about her fans. Ruby's manipulations and horrible treatment of people during her BH mode are never resolved and the RBKN fight ends in Ruby graciously forgiving Kana for her outburst and jealousy and never allowing Kana or Mem to opportunity to properly air out their grievances with Ruby discarding them like leftover vegetable scraps in BH arc because can't you see? She's the story's specialest princess who has never done anything wrong in her life ever.

Refusing to let Ruby confront her own biases and participation in the toxic culture of the idol industry and the way she perpetuates that cycle of harm in BH arc as an idol and how she places Aqua and Ai on a pedestal that she never fully takes them off from as a fan, places a dam of any meaningful commentary and critique on the toxic reality of the industry that the story began with, thus stagnating both Ruby as a character and diminishes the lessons the story taught to begin with, as all those criticisms become retroactively invalidated in the eyes of the narrative.

[thebetawolfgirl]

Who She Belongs Too

Pairing: Timmy x Reader

Warnings: Jealous Timmy, Smut, clingy ex-boyfriend.

Who She Belongs Too.

He always treated her like a Queen, he gotten her a whole new outfit for the party tonight and he wouldn’t stop staring at her as he lay on her bed watching her getting ready.

He was the best thing that ever happened to her, her parents adored him, even her father loved him. And Mr y/l/n was a hard man to impress. Especially when it came to his baby girl, but the minute Timmy set foot into her parents house he handed a huge bouquet of flowers to her mother, then walked straight over to her father, held his hand out and introduced himself. And proceeded to promise her father.

‘The day I tell another girl I love her more than your daughter will be the same day you become a grandfather. Until then, y/n will be the only woman who has my heart.’

Her father looked Timmy up and down, nodded his head and shook Timmy’s hand and held him to his promise while smiling.

Now here she was ready to go to their first party as a proper couple with all their friends. Other boyfriends didn’t like her going out with friends, but Timmy encouraged it.

‘You need time with your friends, baby. And you’ve known these people much longer than you’ve known me.’

He was probably the only person who knew how to calm her, because he was equally very calm. He was so chill, with such a good temperament. If she was panicking or if she was getting angry he would hold her tight against him and place small kisses on her neck and shoulder until she relaxed.

They arrived at the party together and joined their friends. What y/n didn’t know was that someone had invited her ex, John, who was still trying to get back with her. She had made it clear she wasn’t interested in many occasions but he still wouldn’t give.

This would be the first time he and Timmy would meet and John always felt threatened by other men around y/n and even John couldn’t deny Timothée was a good looking guy, and a lot taller than John.

Y/n saw Timmy coming back with their drinks and his eyes were as black as the night sky, and his jaw tense. Timmy walked round John and stood beside y/n and smiled tightly. ‘Hello, I’m Timothée Chalamet, y/n’s boyfriend. Who are you?’

John looked at Timmy with wide eyes and blinked. ‘You’re y/n’s boyfriend?’ Timmy nodded smiling ‘And you are?’

‘John.’

‘John?’ He looked over at y/n his eyebrow raised ‘That John?’

She nodded as he looked back at John

‘You’re not as tall as I thought.’

John blinked at him.

‘So, how did you get invited to this party?’ Timmy’s tight smile returned.

‘I bumped into our mutual friend Ruby and she invited me to stop by tonight and catch up.’

Timmy felt y/n tense at Ruby’s name and wrapped his arm around y/n’s waist protectively which doesn’t go unnoticed by John.

‘Ruby’s here huh? Natalie must’ve invited her and Ruby invited you and it’s made a pretty little circle.’

Timmy felt y/n becoming more tense by the second as John turned a bright shade of red and made a quick decision.

‘Well as much we would love to stay and ‘Catch up’ we have other people to see.’

John made to take y/n’s hand and Timmy had to stop himself from ripping that hand off as he suddenly apologised to y/n for ‘everything that happened.’

Timmy pulled y/n away and headed to a private area before shoving her against a wall and kissing her hard and lifted her by the waist feeling her wrap her legs around him as he grips her throat gently.

‘He tried to fucking touch you!’ He growled breathlessly against her lips. She grabbed his head as he turned to move his mouth to her neck biting down gently.

‘My skin crawled when he tried to touch me. I want only your hands on me from now on.’ She gasps as he grounds his hips against hers hard before dragging her into an empty room shutting the door and pinning her against it before coming up to stand behind her, she gasps feeling him ground his crotch against her ass, he slides his hands up her skirt and removes her panties and discovers them already soaked through and swears under his breath.

He gripped her jaw and turned her to look at him as he put her soaked panties into his mouth and sucked on the lace, she moved her hand and pulled on his belt and unbuckled his pants hearing him grunt around the lace in his mouth as she tugged on his waistband as he buried his head against her neck nuzzling her, before he gripped her hips and shoved into her from behind making her gasp.

He set a steady pace pinning her body against the door, he let her panties drop from his mouth and kissed her neck as she wrapped her arm around his head gripping the hair at the nape of his neck as he slammed harder into her.

He buried his face against her neck as she moved to whisper in his ear ‘Let him hear who I belong too baby!’

He groaned and lifted her by her hips before pushing her face down on a table and ramming into her as hard as he could. He leaned down and bit her exposed her shoulder making her gasp and grip the table digging her nails into the wood as he continued his rough pace, she grabbed his hair as he pulled her flush against his chest and ran his hand up to grip her throat and squeezed gently making her groan.

‘Lie down.’ She whispered to him pushing back against him causing him to whimper as he pulled out of her and let her push him back against a sofa nearby and climbed onto his lap as he gripped her hips watching her with his jet black eyes.

She sank down on him slowly laying her hands on his chest as she watched his eyes roll back into his head, she smirked before she began to ride him hard and leaned down catching his lips in a heated kiss hearing him gasp against her lips and ran his fingers through his hair, pulling on the strands as he wrapped his arms around her back digging his fingers into her skin. She slowed down slightly and sat up bringing him with her letting him bury his face into her neck as she rocked against him, he picked her up by her waist and slammed her down again hard, making her scream loudly and claw at his back.

He bit her shoulder hard as they came together clinging to each other gasping for air.

Timmy held her close shaking in her arms his hair stuck to his skin, as he panted against her shoulder.

‘I think it is safe to say John knows exactly who I belong too now.’ She breathed out against Timmy’s ear pushing his hair from his face and kissing his forehead.

‘Me.’ He mumbled as he pushed her back and lay on her chest still clinging to her.

@sufferingstarlight

@gatoenlaciudad

@kteezy997

@lixzey

@tchalamss

@mel-vaz

[crimson-amarone]

Fancasting for a Trigun live-action tv series/movie!! I know we got just Trigun Stampede, but we can’t let Cowboy Bebop get a live action and not Trigun right??

For all my selections I would say about 75-80% are actors I have seen in one or more of their most well known roles. For anyone else I narrowed down to 2-4 options and I did extra research into their filmography, interviews to hear their voices and general vibe, etc. And I also looked at what kind of roles they trended towards—sci-fi/fantasy and superhero media giving them bonus points.

See below for info about the actors and my runner up choices for each character. I included tidbits like their age, height, and notable roles.

For Vash and Knives I wanted to first look for real life identical twins. After some research, I believe I found a fitting pair. Cole and Dylan Sprouse, best know for their childhood roles in the Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Although I don’t think I knew their adult roles as well as their Zack and Cody days, that real twin dynamic just adds that extra layer.

Of the two, I found Cole having a softer look, and lately it appears he’s been going with black hair which seemed fitting if we think about black-haired Vash at the end of TriMax. Dylan’s look has just that different sharpness and edginess that I slotted him to Knives.

Ruby Cruz (Kit Tanthalos, Disney+’s Willow) is a very talented young woman and recently made a feature length movie debut as Hazel Callahan in Bottoms (2023) and will be starring in an upcoming rom-com The Threesome. (See notes about edit below.)

Milly was a tricky one for me. I have a couple of runners up below. My current pick is Mina Sundwall, especially for her role as Penny Robinson in Netflix’s space family drama Lost in Space.

Although I’m on board with the HC that Wolfwood is Latinx, I had to go with famous werewolf Jacob Black from Twilight, Taylor Lautner. I got a couple other choices below too.

Liam Hemsworth (or Chris idkkkk). Nuff said?

Rem was a bit hard to choose. I had to go with Candice Patton as a personal big fan of her role as Iris West in The Flash as a DC fan. She has just the right oh-crap-I-have-kids-I-am-not-prepared-at-all motherly acting vibe down pat that is essential for Rem.

Despite the fact that Christopher Daniel Barnes is always smiling in photos, his breath of filmography makes him such a good fit for wise Drunkle Roberto.

Being so effing hyped about Nicholas playing Lex Luthor in Superman Legacies (2025) he has the perfect mix of heroic and villain roles for Legato’s psychotic righteousness. And he’s already had blue hair (and fur all over his whole body) as Hank “Beast” McCoy, c’mon too easy.

Zazie Beetz… that couldn’t have been a coincidence? Like Studio Orange must have know about this actress when they worked on the Beast’s revamped design. For a second option I’d probably pick a child/adolescent actor but Zazie can pretty much take whatever form they want, so why not both? Edit: I’m going with Scarlett (Trixie from Lucifer). Very very talent young woman. She’s funny, smart, sassy.

Role: Vash the Stampede

Actor: Cole Sprouse

Age: 31

Height: 6’0”

Best known role: Cody Martin ( The Suite Life of Zack & Cody)

Runner-up Actor: Mason Dye (Jason Carver, Stranger Things)

———

Role: Millions Knives

Actor: Dylan Sprouse

Age: 31

Height: 6’0”

Best known role: Zack Martin ( The Suite Life of Zack & Cody)

Runner-up Actor: Christopher Lowell (Sebastian “Bash” Howard, GLOW and Jess, How I Met Your Father)

———

Role: Meryl Stryfe

Actor: Ruby Cruz

Age: 23

Height: 5’3”

Best known role: (Kit Tanthalos, Disney+’s Willow)

Edit: I swapped Ruby Cruz in for Bex as I learned how far along Bex was in their gender journey. As much as I respect Bex’s journey and the gender representation is important, I still want to pick someone I feel leans more feminine for Meryl.

Runner-up Actor: tbd, maybe Christine Lee or Ana Yi Puig

———

Role: Nicholas D. Wolfwood

Actor: Taylor Lautner

Age: 32

Height: 5’8”

Best known role: Jacob Black (Twilight movies)

Runner-up Actor: David Castro (Raphael Santiago, Freeform’s Shadowhunters)

———

Role: Roberto De Niro

Actor: Christopher Daniel Barnes

Age: 51

Height: 5’11”

Best known role: Spiderman (Spider-Man 90s), Prince Eric (The Little Mermaid 89)

Runner-up Actor: Edgar Ramirez (Bourne Ultimatum 2007, Carlos the Jackal, HBO’s The Undoing)

———

Role: Milly Thompson

Actor: Mina Sundwall

Age: 22

Height: 5’6”

Best known role: Penny Robinson (Lost in Space, 2018)

Runner-up Actors: Liana Liberato, Kennedy McGann, Ellie Gall, Luna Wedler

———

Role: Rem Saverem

Actor: Candice Patton

Age: 35

Height: 5’4”

Best known role: Iris West (CW’s The Flash)

Runner-up Actor: Lyrica Okano (Nico Minoru, Hulu’s Runaways)

———

Role: Legato Bluesummers

Actor: Nicholas Hoult

Age: 34

Height: 6’3”

Best known role: Nux (Mad Max Fury Road), Hank “Beast” McKoy (X-Men movies), Lex Luthor (Superman Legacies, 2025)

Runner-up Actors:

2. Samuel Larson (Joe Hart, Glee) 3. Charlie Heaton (Jonathan Byers, Stranger Things) or 4. Brenton Twaites (Dick Grayson aka Nightwing, DC’s Titans)

[yuseirra]

Kamiki's mentality- an analysis(post 162)

Hello! :) I'm back..with an analysis of what I think this character must have been feeling, I always need to come up with some type of interpretations to make fan work... some sort of base I could work with. The new chapter was really confusing, right? I've been struggling to make do of it since I encountered it, here's what I make of it, until the new chapter would drop and I get new information.

If you're fond of this character.. or want to see just what the heck he may be feeling, and what's going on in his head, I can't say my interpretations may be the best but it may help you form your own thoughts on this guy. He's a really hard nut to crack but I think I do get how he felt about Ai, and what he struggled to do to an extent. Or what they were trying to go for by having him say those things. Things can overlap with the things I already said, and I incorporate my interpretations into my fanworks too so you may see some things in common~

Really…

If we remove the contradictory descriptions and align it with the song, when trying to roughly understand Kamiki’s psyche:

About this whole idea about Kamiki feeling the "weight of life"—this may sound like some strange nonsense (I feel the same way), but when it comes to him saying such things about Ai, I feel like I somewhat understand what he means.

This isn't about worship or idolization. No, Kamiki doesn’t kill someone for the sake of making Ai an unbeatable idol. I wonder if anyone still gets confused about this. But no, that's not it. Kamiki's reasoning on this is different from Nino's;

It feels more like Kamiki wanted to truly feel Ai's existence. It's a subtle difference, but it's there. He wanted Ai to be alive, but since she isn't, he resorted into trying to feel her existence by increasing her significance and presence, by doing what he did. (I don't know how it would, but according to his belief, this can be achieved by taking down people who can surpass Ai-probably people with the star eyes-)

That’s what it seems like too, based on how it’s phrased from his own perspective.

Ai is dead, but Kamiki couldn’t bear it, so he probably wanted to feel something similar to the feeling of Ai being alive, or at least something close to it. Did he really kill them though? Really? Seriously? Well, it hasn't been fully revealed yet, so I'll hold off on judgment on that for now.

If Ai were alive, Kamiki wouldn’t have acted this way. Over time, Kamiki couldn’t accept that Ai’s presence was fading away, and he wanted to keep her memory alive within him forever, so he acted like this.

But how did Kamiki come to think this way? I don’t think he would’ve reached this kind of belief on his own. Wasn’t there someone who hinted to him that by doing this, he could get closer to Ai? Because… how would Kamiki have known to approach specific people, with those exact conditions? Someone must have told him—maybe the 'black star.' Could he have come up with this idea on his own? And to believe that acting this way would bring him closer to Ai, from the start?

When you look at the lyrics of "Mephisto," at first Kamiki was doing something that could be considered somewhat theoretically logical—he wanted to exchange his life for Ai’s. But at some point, it warped into "becoming like Ai." When did things start to twist like this? What could have driven him to this point? His original personality seemed so gentle…

It’s like he kept saying, "I want to see her, I want to see her," and when that wasn’t possible, he changed direction. That’s how the whole narrative feels concerning the song, right?

"Mephisto" is definitely not about Aqua. It’s not. Because Ruby is still alive. In fact, Aqua giving his life would take him further from Ruby, and the sentiment behind this song is completely different.

Kamiki is definitely insane, but there’s something sad about it too.

Kamiki desperately wants to keep sending something, anything, to Ai, even though she’s gone. But no matter what he does, nothing will ever reach her. So, no matter what he does, his longing remains unfulfilled.

The lyrics of "Fatal" really capture Kamiki’s feelings perfectly. I also think "Mephisto" is his song. He keeps saying, "Watch me, I want to hear your voice, I want to reach you." It’s about his feelings for the dead, so it couldn’t have turned out any other way. He misses her so much, but it’s impossible to meet her. He can't have any of these things to be fulfilled or bear fruit, but he simply couldn't stop continuing to feel this way about Ai.

After Ai died, Kamiki couldn’t live a normal life anymore. But what exactly drove him over the edge in his despair? Did he go insane by himself, or was there something else influencing him? I can’t be sure. To go this mad, it feels like the latter. Because if it were just his original personality, he would’ve probably chosen to quietly follow Ai in death on his own without harming others. But it feels like something tempted him, pushing him away from that path. Even in the early parts of "Mephisto," it seems more… moderate? But then again, you see mentions of blood, so it feels like he may have already done something quite early on. Maybe he initially believed he could bring Ai back to life, but at some point realized it was impossible—by then, though, he’d already done too much to turn back.

After Ai died, Kamiki probably felt so empty that he couldn’t feel anything at all. I actually got this right in my fancomics even before 162 came out, you know? (One example) After Ai died, Kamiki couldn’t find meaning in anything, and from then on, whatever he did, it was all for Ai. He couldn’t feel alive without her. So, he did everything he could to reach her, to get closer to her.

In the end… Kamiki just wanted to see Ai again so badly that he didn’t know what else to do. That’s what these feelings are.

Sigh… When I analyze a character and create fan art, I have to emotionally align myself with them. More than just knowing theoretically, I need to feel a bit of what this emotion is like to understand it, so that I can write dialogue, draw expressions, and bring the character to life. It’s like locking onto their emotional wavelength.

So, the characters I’m good at handling are somewhat limited by series because I need to be able to do that to draw them.

This… feels like I can almost sync up, but it’s hard. These emotions are complicated. Very painful too.

You could see this as pitiful, but at the same time, it’s such a broken emotion.

Honestly, you only just need to listen to the songs. They’re filled with Kamiki’s emotions… Once you hear them, you instinctively understand what he’s feeling.

That’s why, after hearing "Fatal" in July, I’ve been analyzing, creating, immersed all the way up to now.

Kamiki really, truly misses her… But yes, there is madness in him.

I’ve done a lot of analysis, and so I derived Kamiki was originally a really good person. That’s pretty much confirmed in canon too, but… how do you save someone like this? Is he just beyond saving now?

I feel like there was something that drove Kamiki to this level of madness. Isn’t there the issue with the black star…? The lyrics constantly mention stars, and there's darkness coming from it as said in Fatal...

The sad part is that Kamiki didn’t fall apart just because of something bad happening to him. He broke down because he couldn’t bear Ai’s death… and the extent of his destruction is severe. To break Kamiki this badly, Ai had to die. Kamiki wouldn’t have gone this far if it were just him getting hurt or dying. That’s how I see it. Now, he’s definitely lost it. He couldn’t handle the idea of a world without Ai… That’s the impression I get now. He’s completely in ruin. It’s almost like something possessed him. It feels like something took root in Kamiki’s shattered heart. He wasn’t someone who could hurt others like this.

I knew, theoretically, that he’d be deeply broken, but to this extent, it’s like he’s a completely different person. It makes me wonder if this is even possible. His original personality was really good. This was based on my hunches, but seeing him described as noble confirms that I was right about him. I can think of two reasons for him being broken this bad: 1. he adored Ai so much that the blow was enormous, and… 2. there must have been something else. Just Ai’s death wouldn’t have immediately pushed him this far—there must have been a long-term destruction of his mind. Did he REALLY make a deal with the devil? There must be a reason why a song like Mephisto exists, it may be speaking on his behalf. Could be foreshadowing you know, whatever it is discussing, it STILL hasn't been touched!!

It feels like there’s more behind this. Why are they showing us nothing? Is this really not important? We need to see Kana’s graduation concert, and we have Aqua hurting himself and falling into the water… Shouldn’t the story start moving in that direction soon? There's so much to deal with in the story even without Kamiki; Couldn’t they just reveal it already? If it’s not important, why are there two songs, and why did Ai ask to save Kamiki? It feels like this isn’t the end yet, and the real mastermind if there is one, may be connected to all this…

Kamiki wasn’t someone who would’ve normally fallen apart like this. What could it be? Am I really on the right track? I feel like I’m going to be right. I’m really good at guessing things like this.

If Kamiki is really the embodiment of Sarutahiko…

Then he’s not someone who should die, right? Does it not matter because Ai is already dead?

If this is really the case though, if someone intentionally destroyed Kamiki, they would have a lot to gain from it. The domain he governs is incredibly powerful. He governs order, guides people’s futures, he’s a god of the land and light… If there’s a being that wants chaos and irrationality, Kamiki would be the perfect target. It feels like they kept him alive just to twist him, but they wouldn’t take the plot that far into fantasy, right?

I love mythology and fantasy, so if that’s the case, I think it’d be fun to see… haha. But it would be difficult to weave that into the story well.

Anyway… the fact that I’m searching for hope in mythology is really just me. But honestly, there are so many parallels. The strange, unnatural things happening around Kamiki can be explained through mythology. Otherwise, I have no idea what’s going on.

I’ve got a rough grasp on the emotions now, so I can probably draw him better. If I can’t get a handle on it, I can’t draw things properly.

The answers are all in the songs! The more I look into them, the more I’m amazed at how accurate they are, more than I first thought… They’ve captured Kamiki’s emotions so delicately and precisely. I’m in awe! The songwriters are really amazing! Hopefully, the things in the songs do get tackled. They seem very interesting to me and I'd love to see and learn more about it~

[bestworstcase]

any thoughts on team strq that you haven’t already touched on? like their relationships with each other and oz? you talked about how they’ll play a role in volume 10 but im wondering if you have any other insight into their characters

gestures vaguely in gretchen was the spring maiden and all things must die is about how raven feels abt summers betrayal <- related to whatever’s going to happen wrt team strq in v10 and onward because imo "what exactly happened to the last spring maiden?" and "what exactly happened to gretchen rainart?" are central narrative questions on the same level of importance as "what happened to summer rose?" just less obvious because gretchen/spring isn’t connected to any of the main characters the way summer is…

…but gretchen is hazel’s whole motivation, the last spring maiden’s death is what shattered raven, and in v8 the narrative specifically 1. informs us that salem herself personally tracked down hazel and let him kill her over and over again for HOURS before he tired himself out, and then started talking about his sister, and 2. asks why? why did she do that? why did she choose hazel, specifically? (the answer oz suggests is that hazel is just easy to manipulate, which isn’t really an answer at all. how did she even know about gretchen?)

and then like. the spring maiden vanished “over a decade ago” (so within the last 10-20 years). summer disappeared about 12 years prior to the start of v1. gretchen’s death is less concrete but 1. she and hazel were twins, 2. she died between 17-21 at the oldest, and 3. character ages are really hard to gauge but hazel seems to be in between cinder (mid 20s) and team strq (who must be at least 38 if yang was not born while they were attending beacon) which would make hazel… probably in his early thirties. if he’s 33 at the top of v4, then he and gretchen would have been beacon student age… 12-16 years ago.

interesting how summer’s disappearance, the last spring maiden’s disappearance, and gretchen rainart’s mysterious death on a training mission all happened right around the same time, isn’t it. 🤔

shrug. neither raven nor hazel are prominent enough characters for their respective "what happened?" bereavements to be so narratively important… but if gretchen was spring and she died in connection to summer’s last mission? all three big questions turn out to be really the same question. it clicks together suspiciously well.

assorted miscellanea:

i think both the ‘poly STR’ and infidelity angles wrt the tai/raven -> tai/summer drama are both a) pretty boring ways to interpret the known facts and b) working against the text itself. i also (with apologies to the rosebirds) remain unconvinced that summer/raven was ever… a thing, ravens doomed unspoken little crush on summer notwithstanding.

what DOES interest me abt that whole . mess is the turnover. i think its very unlikely that raven and tai dated through most of beacon (because of the whole "learning how to kill huntsmen" thing) and i would bet yang happened at most a year or two after the team left school. depending how long raven tried to stay that’s like, at most a 5-6 year long relationship that ended evidently because raven felt inadequate as a wife/mother. summer being the rebound, ruby being two years younger than yang, and summer leaving when ruby was about three would similarly suggest a relationship of at most 4-5ish years, by the end of which, as we saw, summer seems to have been very well-practiced emotionally masking around tai.

taking that into consideration with… everything we know about yang’s childhood after summer left, the very quick rebound from raven to summer, and tai’s… at best, insensitivity and emotional immaturity in v4 its kinda. well ok. he acts like this NOW, in his late thirties or early forties, and still thinks the really quite mean prank he pulled on his new roommate on day 1 at seventeen is fucking hilarious, he presumably was like this in his twenties too. raven left her relationship with him feeling deeply insecure and inadequate, summer did not feel able to emotionally confide in him before she also left him, and neither woman’s relationship with him lasted more than five years. interesting.

there’s a lot of speculation out there (mostly: summer/qrow and summer/raven secret parentage nonsense) that takes the very fast rebound and (since v9) the emotional disconnect between summer and tai in 9.10 as textual evidence for summer never having been romantically involved with tai at all, which to be blunt is an unserious and countertextual way to interpret the story, but like. gestures at raven. this happened TWICE with the same guy, back to back.

or there’s the somehow even more off the wall take that wah poor tai got strung along in loveless relationships by these cold-hearted women :( which. hello???

anyway i want to know how summer rose feels about him with fourteen years of hindsight because from where i’m sitting, with the facts we have available, it sure does look like tai is perhaps the common denominator. shot in the dark based on his characterization in the present and the way he talks about raven now? i’d guess charming, bit of a hopeless romantic, fairweather partner who deals with conflict by blaming the other party. tbh.

as for. qrow. his relationships with tai and summer are harder to get a read on than raven (with whom he has a fairly straightforward "siblings who both feel rejected by the other and deal with it by being prickly and jabby at each other" situation going on) ’cause like on the one hand qrow clearly admired summer a lot and he and tai have some… unspoken resentment under the surface but on the other i really don’t get the impression that summer and qrow were especially close and while tai seems to have a problem with him, the opposite doesn’t seem to be true.

qrow’s the one who stuck around and kept trying and wanted raven to come back, and his dedication is specifically because he felt like ozpin (not his team) gave him a place to belong. it’s. hm. between his semblance-related social aloofness and the romantic entanglements of the other three i get the impression that qrow tended to be sort of the odd one out but also the one who most wanted them all to be a real team. which i imagine fueled his devotion to ozpin.

what else…

oh the hero/monster complex with regard to summer and raven is SUPER interesting. the silver-eyed warrior and the bandit training to kill huntsmen. i think—this is very tentative speculation bc it’s based mostly on fractals and why i think summer joined salem—but i don’t think summer ever particularly bought into the black and white fairytale way of looking at the world except insofar as she felt the pressure herself. we know qrow stayed because ozpin gave him a place to belong; i think raven stayed because summer treated her like a person instead of a weapon.

[lauranthalasah]

Fuck... I'm an idiot, I think I got why so many people felt Orym's nod to Laudna over Bor'Dor so bad.

This is a long one...

See, Orym has been painted as the "good one" by the group, the moraly upstanding, let's say. "The dad friend," the fandom said. And he kinda is, compared to the rest, he has more internal rules, which tend to kindness, respect, etc., and the others clocked it (not saying the other's don't have their own morality, just that Orym seems to have more lines he will object to be crossed).

For a long time, his actions proved this side of him to the Bell's Hells, but what is more important, I think... they start relying on it! Many PCs had done that, from EXU, to C3, to even guest players, somebody said something in the lines of "I look at Orym, if Orym it's okay with it, then I'm good" (I think it was a guess star). The group relaxed over their own process of decision making because they started counting on Orym to call them out if they went too far!

The key thing is... Orym never asked for it! As a mom friend, let me tell you... it's frustrating as hell to have to "parent" people who are my age or older, I do it only because I love them, and I don't want them to die! And Orym showed us his frustration with them a long time ago!! Remember when they all were rising hands over who thought they would all try to kill each other? Remember how Orym just stand up and fucking left?! That's what you do when you are tired of trying to be the voice of reason in a group in which at least four of them are older than you and the other two are adults as well! Hell! Ashton noticed it!

Orym never asked for that position, no one ever does, you just fucking fell into it, and then you care too much for the idiots you call friends... even if you want to killed them yourself half of the time (that's me). In fact, Orym reaaaaly doesn't want to be any kind of leader, not even a "moral" one, but he keeps falling into Chaotic groups, sorry man!

Now, something else the group as a whole fails to realize in its full meaning is that Orym is a soldier in a mission. He has always been, and they know it, intellectually, but they failed to understand the implications of it. Fearne understands Orym, that's why she goes to him when she herself has doubts over Imogen, because she knows what Orym did with Dorian, so she knows Orym must be thinking some strategies just in case, and I'm not sure if she goes to him only because she is worried or also because she wants to show him her support, whatever it is... it's one of the best shows of not only that Fearne loves Orym, but that she actually understands him more than one could think. But Bell's Hells don't have the knowledge that Fearne does, they don't know how lethality serious Orym can get, how he will do things he hates because he things they must be done, they've seen glimpses, but Fearne saw it in all its cold steadfastness when Orym pulled his sword on Dorian, she knows, the rest are going to find out little by little.

So we have Orym trying, for a long time, to understand the enemy, what motivates the members of the Ruby Vanguard, trying to keep seeing them as people, not just "enemies." But he also recognized that he can not be impartial with them. We saw how he left another "should gods live or not" discussion because he is tired of it. Even if he thought (which he doesn't) that all the Gods should died he would not help the Ruby Vanguard, they will always be his enemies. He has been saying it is personal to him since his chat with Chetney. The philosophical conundrum, it's in the end, pointless to him, if he can stop the Ruby Vanguard he will, just for what they did to his people. And even with this as a known factor... he still tried to understand the members of the RV, they were people who have been hurt, even after they killed him, Fearne, and Laudna, Orym still tried to keep that openess of mind and heart.

Until Bor'Dor.

Bor'Dor attacking them after they offered him kindness and friendship, but even worse, I think... it was Bor'Dor attacking Prysm and Deni$e, who had nothing to do with Bell's Hells and their attack to the RV, just because they were there, and he wanted to hurt Ash, Laudna, and Orym. That proved to Orym once and for all that the RV were too dangerous, too cruel in the pursuit of their goals, simply put... they don't care how many innocent people they have to kill to reach their objective. At that moment, Orym went to war, at that moment he became completely the soldier he could be. At that moment, he thought, "He has to die".

And in the middle of this storm we have Laudna on her own, and she looks up, she looks at Orym, hopping he will maybe stop her, the friend that has always stop them from going too far, and she doesn't realize that what she sees is an aspect of her friend she hasn't fully met yet, and because she is used to rely on his instincts over this things... she lets herself go.

So later, when things get a bit calmer, it kinda feels like a betrayal, doesn't it? Why? Why does the friend who always stops us from doing stupid things didn't stop me?! WHY? And the answer is, because he couldn't stop himself.

He didn't betray Laudna, he fails her in the rol SHE had assigned HIM, now they will have to rework their friendship.

This moment weighs in the three of them, Ashton, too. It's obvious in the way he and Orym tell Laudna to take a moment for her. They are trying to help her now. Nothing changes what happened, though.

This is going to be interesting because it's clear that that aspect of Orym's personality, the cold soldier, is quite on the surface now. He is angry, really angry, angry enough that he might not have the strength to keep being the "dad friend", because he might be too focused on keeping himself at bay to be the person who helps the others to do that as well. Like I think he will keep trying to be there for his friends, but his own mental and emotional state makes him less reliable to what the group is used to.

[invested-in-your-future]

It's odd how you had Glynda have no qualms being kept in the dark on the details of one of their comrade's fate (Summer) and being fine that Ozpin's revealed more to the twins instead of her, whom he had known and worked with longer,

whereas in canon she's convinced he wouldn’t hide things from her.

"Don't be ridiculous. You know very well that we are not the ones in the dark."

And that she's surprised Ironwood stayed to help construct encampment area, whereas she's certain of Ironwood's good nature?

"You're a good person, James. You've always done what you think is best for the people, even against strong protest."

I always read Glynda as someone who believes she knows as much as she needs to know - if there was anything else she SHOULD know, Ozpin would have told her.

After all, as she says in that same scene in the show - "Ozpin has experience that the rest of us lack. And I think that's something worth remembering."

She has complete faith in Ozpin's methods and experience.

If Ozpin had decided that his inner circle shouldn't know something? That's fair game to her - he has centuries of experience over them - after all, it is only by his decision that they know what they are up against or what's truly going on.

In a way though - it's a flaw because Glynda is more likely to exaggerate what Ozpin can or can't do (hence why she seems to think that Ozpin made no mistakes and everything that happened must be part of some grand plan).

Since she is the one who brings up the dangers of the information about Maidens spreading in V3, Glynda is also the one who would view secrets like that as dangerous for the overall world - she believes knowledge and information need to be managed and that it's important that only the right people would have access to sensitive data.

It's a contrast to how Ironwood handles having mostly the same amount of knowledge ("What else do we not know?!"), as well as how Raven views Ozpin withholding things. Raven especially is a contrast because Raven believes Ozpin has not planned anything of this and was blindsided by what happened at Beacon.

The line to Ironwood is not necessarily about how they know everything - it's about how they know enough, at least compared to the rest of the world - The inner circle aren't the ones in the dark because they know the scope of what's going on.

Mind you - both of them know way more in the rewrite than the show decided they did after V3. The only ones better informed about Ozpin's matters in the rewrite would likely be Qrow and Raven - Glynda might have her thoughts about the Branwen siblings, but she still trusts Ozpin's decisions.

Summer situation is... complicated - Glynda is privy to information about the whole ordeal that the audience isn't yet - and her outlook towards Summer can hopefully felt in those lines and also in the way she handled Ruby in Volume 1. She might not have the details of what happened to summer, but to her such an outcome is completely unsurprising.

At the end of the day, Glynda prioritizes order and the well-being of Vale's citizens over personal conflicts and doubts - and with what happened at Beacon and Ozpin's disappearance, she can't allow herself to falter in those beliefs. That belief is all she has left at this point, after all.

Will she remain that way? Only time will tell. It's easy to say "i'm fine with not knowing" when you don't know what you don't know.

As for Ironwood - one needs to remember what else Glynda said in that scene back then too - "(You're a good person, but) But it's high time you stopped talking about trust and started showing it."

Glynda believes Ironwood to be a good person but also too rigid and mistrustful - she had expected Ironwood to rush back to Atlas (and prioritize the bigger picture) - rather than skirt orders and help out. There's a bit of a dynamic there where she positions herself on the opposite sides of both Qrow and Ironwood at times, so seeing Ironwood act this way blindsided her.

To her, that choice likely rings back to that conversation they had - instead of taking matters into his own hands or prioritizing other things he did something she didn't expct. Ironwood didn't assume command and he didn't leave for Atlas - instead Ironwood had placed his trust in her and Vale and put himself at a disadvantage with what he did (how Atlas would view his decision to "waste resources" is debatable, after all), not to mention vulnerability (with how Atlas role in Fall of Beacon likely had impacted the world's perception of them likely endangering his men and with how he had every reason to want to protect Atlas or expect something similar there).

She didn't expect that, and she's annoyed because she got pleasantly surprised, if that makes sense - Ironwood is not as as rigid or mistrustful as she had thought.

[synthient]

Open questions about Rogue-Master

Because I'm very confident that this reveal is coming, but I have a much less concrete idea of how it'll be executed

Does the Doctor know:

My first impulse would probably be no; his emotional reactions seem a little too genuine + I kind of doubt he would have let Ruby think she was genuinely about to die. But then again, his companions' feelings and wellbeing do seem to take a backseat a lot of the time when his evil ex is involved. (or Ruby could have been in on it a la the Sutekh confrontation?). There are a few moments where the Doctor's interactions with Rogue feel a little pointed/bait-y. And it would be really funny if Rogue does his big reveal-flourish, the audience gasps, and then the Doctor immediately takes the wind out of his sails by going "haha yeah babe, I've known since the balcony ;)"

How plugged in is Rogue to the A-plot:

On one hand, I think we're building to a season 2 storyline that's significantly about the Doctor's backstory and the time lords, so it seems like a no brainer for the Master to be a major player. On the other hand, I could actually see Rogue-Master as a plausible self-contained B-plot: we get one (1) Rogue Returns episode, the reveal happens, they fight and make out, and Rogue fucks off on a flirty "maybe we'll fight and make out again another day ;)" note. Or, some compromise between the two, where after the Rogue Returns ep he shows up one more time to dramatically help the Doctor during the season finale ("get out of the way" callback?)

Is Rogue's boss real/who are they:

Seems like a superfluous detail to his cover story, so I suspect there's some truth there. Maybe whoever picked up the tooth has been exerting some kind of control over him ever since? Either making him do actual bounty hunter missions, or sending him after the Doctor specifically? (If it was Mrs. Flood, then that's a point toward A-plot involvement). Or maybe it was just another one of his signature Total Lies

Was he working with the Chuldurs the whole time, was he hunting them for real (as an assigned mission if the boss is real?), or did he he stumble across them and use them to his advantage:

Not a huge deal to the overall storyline, but could be any of the above I think (though his Bird Ship is certainly suspicious)

Is Rogue-Master a major villain/the big bad:

I lean pretty strongly toward no on this one. If he's self-directed, I think the disguise is probably little more than a 'getting my ex to take me back' scheme, and/or foreplay. If he's working for Mrs. Flood/the time lords/the real big bad, then I think he'll probably dramatically turn on them at the 11th hour. I could of course be wrong, but at this point I think "the Master's around but he's not Behind It All, he's just vibing" would actually be more of a twist

Could Rogue become a companion Missy-style:

Sadly, I think there are several points against this: a) Groff lives too far away for more than periodic guest appearances to be likely. b) unclear how many seasons we're going to get, so if the reveal happens in mid-to-late s2, then that may already be too late. c) "and what if I like what I do? Would you travel with me?" seems to be setting up that even in a best case, truce/back together scenario, they'd have more of a long distance thing with occasional run ins/hookups. Would be fun, however

Could Rogue be a new antagonist/someone other than the Master/working for the Master:

It's possible! It'd be less fun and hot to me personally. And I get very strong they already know each other vibes from both performances. But a "he's not the Master but he was lying his ass off" reveal seems more likely to me than no reveal at all

[filthy-reckless-rp]

♛ Spotted on the Upper East Side…

Name: Loryn Huntzberger Pronouns: She/Her Age: 19 years old Hometown: Upper East Side, NY Occupation: College Freshmen and Video Game Developer Social Status: Insider Faceclaim: Madison Bailey

Who Is Loryn?

“I swear to god, I saw her howling at the sky, she ain't out to get you, but she's better on your side."

My, my, if it isn't Loryn Huntzberger! Where have you been hiding? The competition is questionable at best but you have always been the smarter sibling, haven't you? The rational, practical one. You've done everything right, worked hard and played even harder. You spent most of your days with your nose stuck in a book, your laptop or in front of the webcam (streaming, of course). You're passionate, you're tenacious and you've done everything you can to distance yourself from your family's reputation. At the end of the day though, you're still a Huntzberger and you'll always be a Huntzberger. So, look out. XOXO ---Gossip Girl

A Little Extra

Loryn Huntzberger has always had a complicated relationship with her family. Namely, her father. She has never wanted anything from him but that hasn't stopped Lawrence Huntzberger from trying. For the most part, Loryn tried to keep to herself. Spending hours poured over books, Loryn focused on her studies and learning everything she could. Later, she would focus on video game design. A self-professed nerd (queen of the nerds, actually!), Loryn is endlessly passionate. When she was in high school, she started building her online following as a streamer and cosplayer. From then, her notoriety has only grown. Unlike her father and brother, Loryn is kind. She can be sweet, welcoming and tries to do the right thing. That doesn't mean she can't manipulate when the occasion calls for it. She can be scathing, she can root out a weakness. She can act like a 'Huntzberger'. When Loryn went to college, she was so happy to be free. When her dad came to her with an offer though, she found that she couldn't refuse. No, she didn't want to refuse. He'd bought over a video game company (they were about to go bust) and needed her to run the place, full-time once she'd graduated and part-time for now. It wasn't the first time Lawrence had tried to buy her affection and it wouldn't be the last. A deal is a deal though and she knows when to take a (questionably) good one.

What Does Gossip Girl Have On Them?

William's the one with all the secrets, Loryn is totally drama-free! Totally.

Connections

William Huntzberger - Loryn's beloved and embarrassing older brother. She might be the only person in the world who gets away with calling him anything other than 'William'. Loryn loves him but honestly, big yikes, often!

Ruby Reyes - when Lawrence remarried, Loryn didn't know how to feel about it. She's managed to pretty much avoid her dad's new wife and her daughter, Ruby.

Camille Hunter - her father and Camille's have been best friends their whole lives so naturally, they've known each other just as long. Loryn adores Cami, they've been friends since the crib.

Lucas Baizen - when it comes to being a smart ass, Lucas Baizen is unmatched. Luke is on Loryn's intellectual level and enjoys causing chaos with that intellect.

Bella Coates - when they were in high school, they were at each other's throats. And then... they were at each other's, um, everything else. It's a secret they've both elected to keep.

[razieltwelve]

Scars (Final Rose AU)

A somewhat... darker take on the consequences of dating someone with Saviour.

X X X

Summer's back arched, and her whole body tensed. Her entire world went white before the rising tide of pleasure swept her away from the light and near to darkness. For long, long moments, nothing else mattered. There was only her and Lightning and a seemingly endless wave of orgasms so intense she wondered if she was going insane.

When the pleasure finally faded, she sank back onto the bed and covered her face with one arm. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. To her shame, her body was already begging for more. Her legs shifted to lock Lightning in place, only for the pink-haired woman to sit up and lick her lips.

"Are you all right?" Lightning asked. Her voice was low and rough. "Summer?"

Summer bit her lip so hard it bled. "This is so fucked up. I'm so fucked up."

Lightning scooped her up into her arms. Summer didn't resist. Instead, she savoured the warmth of Lightning's body. The other woman felt so right, like Summer was meant to be in her arms.

"I'm sorry. I am so sorry. If I had known..."

"I was the one who kept asking you," Summer whispered.

She pressed herself against Lightning. The urge to seek comfort was strong, but her other urges were already trying to take over. For a split-second, she saw herself thrown onto her front as Lightning fucked her into the bed, each thrust finding that perfect depth and hitting at that perfect angle. Lightning would have one hand tangled in her hair, yanking Summer back with just the right amount of force, so they could kiss. Liquid heat filled Summer's body. She wanted that. She wanted that so badly. She wanted Lightning to just take and take and take until there was nothing left in Summer that wasn't hers.

"Even so, I should have noticed it sooner. I should -"

Summer couldn't stand it anymore. She yanked Lightning into a kiss. It felt so good. Too good. And then Lightning was pushing her back onto the bed.

"Please," Summer begged.

Lightning stared down at her, eyes filled with desire, regret, and love. "Summer..."

"Please," Summer said again. "They'll be back the day after tomorrow. I need this. I need you. Please."

"All right."

X X X

Fang kept one eye on the kids as Lightning fucked Summer senseless a few rooms over. The situation was, by any decent standard, extremely fucked up. There was a part of her that wanted nothing more than to just storm in there and tear Summer to pieces before reminding Lightning who she was married to.

But she didn't do that. Instead, she watched as Averia and Diana played with Yang and Ruby. They were pretending to be huntresses although their game skipped all of the unpleasant paperwork in favour of fighting Grimm.

"Is my mommy okay?" Ruby asked.

"She's just a little sick," Fang replied. "Your Aunt Lightning is taking care of her."

"Oh." Ruby smiled sunnily. "She should be fine then, right?"

"Of course."

The worst part was that Fang wasn't even lying. Summer and Lightning had gone out for a few years, and their relationship had been... intense in every way. Lightning had used Saviour to 'optimise' sex at Summer's suggestion, never realising that their decision would have long-lasting consequences.

To put it bluntly, Summer had a Lightning addiction.

Fang knew from personal experience what Saviour was capable of in the bedroom, but she had Ragnarok. The mental... filters that came with Ragnarok prevented her from getting addicted to anything, and that included the otherworldly pleasure Saviour could provide.

Summer had nothing like that.

Instead, Summer was doomed to constantly compare the sex she had with other people to the sex she had with Lightning. The result was an unshakeable addiction, a desire for Lightning that Summer did her very best to suppress but which would always - always - become too much given enough time.

And so they had come up with a solution.

Regular visits to keep things from getting out of hand.

It was the very definition of fucked up, but none of them had come up with a better idea yet. They'd even asked Vanille to look into it, and the other woman had only been able to shake her head. She'd put it very bluntly.

"Imagine growing up eating nothing but the very finest cuisine. You get used to it. It's all you know. And then suddenly all you can eat is gruel. It tastes like shit, right? Of course, it does. It's gruel. But the whole time that cuisine is right there, all you have to do is reach out and take it. That would drive you insane, right? If you could just have a bit of the cuisine every now and then, you could stomach eating the gruel. You could get through it. But if you could only just stare at it, so close but so out of reach? You'd grow crazy, wouldn't you?"

And so Fang had let Lightning and Summer do what they needed to do because Lightning was the love of her life and Summer was one of her best friends. It was messed up, but until they came up with a better plan, it was all they had.

Her senses, which could pierce through Saviour's silencing field, continued to catalogue Summer's cries and wails and sobs of pleasure. She could hear the self-loathing hidden behind each sound, along with the unmistakable desire for more.

"Hey," Fang said, clapping her hands together. "Why don't we go down to the lake? We can go fishing."

She needed to get out of the house before she did something stupid.

[shadow-schemer]

Why I think the Red Fox is related to the Legendary Stalker

@elden-bling My reply would be too long, but here's some item descripts as to why I think the Red Fox is related to the Legendary Stalker.

(I just began NG+ so all my Collectibles are reset to 0.)

Descript of [Bundle of Old Letters] you can find in Arche Abbey.

Dear Valentinus Monad. As a result of the last summit, we venerable families have decided to sponsor the Zelator laboratory construction plan actively. There are still those who oppose, but it won't be too hard to persuade them. The only possible variable is that they won't give any information about the lab. Being careful is a good thing, but we're the ones who provide the funding, so we don't want any uncertainties. We should never just watch. Old families hate being looked down the most. You Alchemists know and handle so many things. I had no idea that place known as the devil's pit had so much value. But when a gold mine or a secret is revealed, you can't put the cat back in the bag. Don't worry about the construction workers. We'll take care of it real clean. Don't forget, it you look down or try to trick us, it's not only the workers who will disappear. Till next time I see you. I'm looking forward to our beneficial exchange. In the name of the old houses, Volfe.

Descript of [Mechanical Cryptic Vessel] that can be found in Arche Abbey:

"Orders: The train doesn't leave anymore, and the merchant awaits a "Frozen Feast" in the destroyed town. Appendix: An order form is attached for mutual trust. No gender preference. A request for Bastard-style Stalker equipment. Refer to the daughter of the Volfe family; codenamed Fox's equipment. Please obtain it by crafting or checking if there's extra in stock. Even though she's cut ties with the Volfe family, she's still a Volfe. She's got a good eye and the best equipment. Maybe we can look her up when we're upgrading our equipment."

[Rusty Cryptic Vessel] talks about the locked cave in the Barren Swamp. There's flavor text in the end about some "Volfe girl". One thing about the cave is that you can find the Black Cat's clothes here. It's one of the first deliberate hints in-game you can find about the Fox's identity from then on.

"Orders: Find the cave blocked off by metal bars in the Barren Swamp. There is a reward at the end of the new road. There is a place called Hermit's Cave. An old man who went crazy after losing his family locked himself up there to pray. It's strange in this age to hear about such a medieval-sounding story in Krat, but one thing's clear: It's a good place to hide treasure. The kid's clothes seemed like good-quality too. Maybe that Volfe girl fixed them up."

[Red Fox Amulet] description:

...also this next one is very superficial, I think... But this summary of the [Have A Taste of La Bleiwies!] ad for some reason, even though nowhere in the actual contents have that descript. You can pick this up when the Fox and Cat join you temporarily in the Mallum District slums.

Item Summary: "Even the legendary Stalker enjoys La Bleiwies. Taste the best wine chosen by the one who stood at the pinnacle."

Contents: "The La Bleiwies winery has a long history. Vintage wine, starting alongside the revival of Krat. Its rosy color known as the ruby of heaven, its delicately matured scent and taste, its wonderful aftertaste."

(....because... red... red fox... orz)

As for Laxasia, I haven't seen any mention of her Stalker background. Only the description of [Sad Zealot's Ergo] mentions that her old name was Alchemist Adriana, the one writing [So Said Pristis 1 & 2]

"Ergo obtained from Laxasia the Complete. It is packed with immense power. A treasure hunter may want this rare Ergo. The Alchemist Adriana was baptized by the elixir and she became the first whole being. Everything about her was perfect except the fact that her feelings for one person could not be erased."

Loading Screen hints are a bit difficult to wait for since I'm in PC but I'll post what I can find.

[lemonxlimee]

Chapter 1

September 4th, the first day of school for freshmen at Ivan Ibrahim High School, more commonly known as II High. There were only about two hundred new kids this year, but it was already more than enough to overwhelm Tania Thomas as soon as she stepped inside the building. Much more people than she was used to, that's for sure. She grabbed a strand of her emerald-green hair and twirled it around her index finger.

This wasn't her first time at a new school. She'd moved schools almost consistently every two years since she was six, once going from public to private during the school year. Tania was used to the new experience by now.

What she wasn't used to was high school. Tenth grade was a whole new thing for her, and she had no idea what to expect. Was it going to be easier than junior high, or harder, would it be faster, slower, more painful, more stressful, would she make more friends, would she make more enemies, would she--

Oufh!

"Oh, golly, sorry, haha..." She said to the mysterious person she'd run headfirst into. All her stuff was on the floor now, and she immediately scrambled to pick up the papers and pencils. Meanwhile, so did the other person, and a few others who had stopped to witness the impact.

"Oh no no, don't worry about it," the other said. Tania lifted her head a bit to see a smaller, timid-looking boy with ruby-red hair in a half ponytail, his long sidebangs a bright yellow. "It happens to the best of us." He stopped picking papers up when he noticed one of Tania's papers.

Most of her paper so far was covered in intricate detailings of experiments, equations and diagrams, instructions and hypotheses, charts, chemical formulas, highlighter marks and god-knows-what-else. This was, of course, embarrassing to the young scientist, as she had seen all over Disney Channel that the nerds were the most likely to be picked on. This boy, however, seemed to be admiring it.

"Did you do all this by yourself?" He asked. Tania blushed and grabbed the paper, which was now dirty from lying on the floor. She sighed and stuffed it back into her backpack, nodding. The boy smiled.

"I don't let anyone see those. It's... private." She said. She felt a hand on her shoulder, which was half covered by a baggy white sweater, underneath which was a forest green tank top.

"I think it's pretty cool," the boy said. Tania felt herself smiling, too. Her face was a lot warmer than it usually got when she interacted with boys, and her glasses were getting foggy at the bottoms of the lenses. She grabbed a strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear timidly.

"P-people are watching..." She said. The boy chuckled awkwardly and helped her off the floor.

"I'm Felix, by the way," he said. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm... Tania," she replied. "Golly, we should get to class." Felix nodded and they parted ways.

Well... that never happened in junior high. Maybe this year would be pretty neat after all.

[freevoidman]

I really do think a major flaw with V9 at this point is that the writers reunited the girls too soon. All of their personal conflicts work best when they’re all separated, or at MOST paired up with one other person. Having them all together makes it difficult to focus on personal stakes (which feels SUPER odd, right?) as they focus more on “getting out of the Ever After” and exploring the world, rather than focusing on “hey Ruby’s best friend died, Salem took both the relics, Atlas fell, and she’s placing all of that blame on herself right now.”

I think it speaks volumes that they DID reunite the girls so quickly. I genuinely think the writers didn’t know how to competently write having the girls on their own, so what did they do? Oh, Ruby meets Little almost immediately to have someone to bounce off of. Weiss and Blake, despite falling at separate times, are paired together. Yang isn’t even shown on screen until she happens to meet up with the girls when fighting the Jabberwock. 

And that leads to the worst problem of them all: Ruby is having a rough time mentally, the audience can see that (and we have some 4th wall knowledge from seeing the opening and knowing how bad things can/will get), but... why are the others all seeming to ignore that? They all must have known that Ruby cared deeply about Penny, before they came up with the plan to help her she threw a tantrum in the Schnee manor about not being able to do anything.

At the very least, shouldn’t Yang care a little more about her sister’s wellbeing then flirting with Blake? Again, don’t get me wrong, I’m HAPPY the bees are finally confirmed, but... Yang had a whole conversation with Ruby about what REALLY happened to Summer in V8, she saw Ruby was doing bad mentally, Yang’s also aware that Penny was Ruby’s first “real friend” outside of school obligations, shouldn’t Yang have some kind of internal knowledge that states “hey my sister can’t be doing this well after everything that’s happened, maybe I should try to find some point to seriously talk with her?” This has been a problem for a while with Yang and Ruby’s relationship: any points of sister conflict are either a) completely forgotten (by Ruby) or b) ignored in favor for ship bait (by Yang).

BUT... if they were all separated, then none of this would even be a consideration. Yang wouldn’t know Ruby is going through hell--she would ASSUME so, because Yang thought she was dead when she arrived in the Ever after, but she wouldn’t be seeing it happen right in front of her. Blake would be worried about Yang and (hopefully) Ruby after falling and be desperate to find them, potentially beating herself for not doing more to help/prevent this from happening. Weiss would be dealing with the grief of Penny’s death, seeing her sister become a Maiden, carrying that weight on her shoulders while desperately trying to find the others, all while dreading their reunion and how she’ll have to eventually tell them what happened. Ruby would be struggling on her own and have no one to lean on OR shoulder away in favor of “being the leader,” it’s just her now, no one else can see or judge her.

[intothewickedwood]

Ruby or Mulan, Maleficent or Cruella, Dragon Queen or Outlaw Queen, Shadow Queen or Regina x Kathryn?

Gaaah! Thank you for the questions! These are challenging, for sure!

Ruby. But it's close! The werewolf thing wins it for me, and also because she was in Season One. I have a lot of Season 1 feelings. And also her friendship with Snow! And "Red-Handed" being one of my favorite episodes. She's a great and tragic character who does her best to help others no matter what she's going through herself.

I do love Mulan a lot, though. I may be in love with both Red and Mulan. Oops! I just wish we'd gotten more of Mulan. I loved her dynamics with every character she interacted with. She's such a badass. Mulan x Aurora x Phillip is one of my favorite ships in the show, and I also wouldn't have said no to Mulan and Ruby ending up together. Mulan deserved better.

Cruella. I agree with you about having a lot of room to explore with Maleficent, as she could have done with a bit more development in the show. I'd have at least loved to have seen more of her relationship with Lily. She was an adorable mom in the one episode we got to see them interact. But Cruella makes me laugh out loud. She has some of the best lines. "Sympathy for the De Vil" is one of my favorite, most unique episodes. She just wants to murder people! Let her have her happy ending, Isaac! xD. I don't know, she's just so fun, but I do still really enjoy Maleficent. I wish they'd explained what the heck happened with her and Aurora's parents. I like to believe she was in love with Briar Rose, and it went terribly wrong.

Definitely Dragon Queen. I've just been having a discussion on a different website about how Robin Hood was possibly evil the whole time. Looking at the evidence, his words don't match up with his actions. If he wants to steal from the rich, why date Regina? His code says he can't divorce his wife, but he'll… let her die instead? In the book, there is a page which shows that when he met Marian, he planned to kidnap her for ransom, yet he tells Will that he tried to steal her horse, didn't because she was poor, and from that day forward, he chose to steal only from the rich and give to the poor. Yet, in "Heart of Gold," we see that he only decides to steal from the rich and give to the poor long after he and Marian are a couple. Not to mention he shot at Regina without hesitation when looking for the Wicked Witch and, knowing at the time that the Wicked Witch had bright red hair, hid in the bushes and aimed his arrow at the back of a clearly dark-haired Regina's head for a good while before making his presence known. It's just a theory, but I do wonder if he had a plot for revenge against her all along, at least at first. I think that would have made him a much more interesting character. Otherwise, I struggle to make sense of why Regina, post formation of the Evil Queen, would want to be with someone like him. She kinda had to change her personality during their interactions just to make it make a little sense. It's just not for me. But power to those who like it, and I may adopt the revenge plot theory as headcanon, which might make me more invested in them.

Dragon Queen, on the other hand, has to be canon, right? I mean, the intensity of the moments when their noses almost touch. I think they should have kissed. There is so much blatant subtext there, and it's so wonderfully gay. Okay, so Regina rode home on a dragon. Okay, girl, I see you. "Are you a bad girl, Regina?" "The worst." I mean, come on! Everything that comes out of their mouths when they interact just screams "we are exes who can't stop flirting with each other." I love it! I wish it was more explicit!

Okay, this last one is really freaking hard. I do love both almost equally, but I've been thinking a lot about Regina x Kathryn lately and their potential, and I just wanna go back to season 1 and make them fall in love. I want the angst post-season 1. I need it! I honestly would have been ecstatic if Regina had ended up with either of them. And it's totally cool that she ended up single at the end. That was a nice way to demonstrate that happy endings/beginnings don't have to involve romantic love. But goddamn, I wish Facilier didn't die. I know love triangles aren't popular, but heck, if they'd brought Facilier in earlier and had a Kathryn/Regina/Facilier love triangle, I would have been very happy. Idk, I love both pairings, but the Kathryn x Regina friends-to-lovers gets me. And we could have gotten so much more Kathryn. *Cries forever*.

[writingforevren]

WIP Intro - Eldenstow Creek

{ Story Description }

A drive through the empty roads of the countryside, along the edge of the woods and away from everything they'd once known. Sounds nice right? well not when you're running from something, something far more sinister than what they were about to encounter. The world was not as it seemed, there was another side, a side where strangeness & evil resided. Circuses popping out of seemingly nowhere, pools of mystical water trying to pull them in, unintended consequences after trying to fight this higher power. Everything had seemed normal but then they’d made one mistake, messed with the wrong person, spilled the blood of something they never should've. So yeah. They were in the same car and driving along the edge of the woods. Nothing to it.

{ The Basics } 

Genre - Urban Fantasy & Mystery

Themes & Tropes - Mystical, Supernatural, Adventure, Unlikely Friends, Unintended consequences, Derealization, Fear of The Unknown, Dark Imagery, LGBTQ+ Characters, POC characters, Dreamlike Descriptions, Mind-bending, Self-sacrifice, and Horror.

Setting - Fictional locations in Eastern U.S & Fantasy Locations

Status - Plotting & Drafting

Point Of View - Third Person Limited

Content Warning - Contains Dark Topics such as assault, violence & murder.

{ Spoiler-Free Synopsis }

Shae Brooks is just trying to live a ‘normal’ life, at least not one full of fantasy creatures and a girl who seems to be more full of bullshit than anyone else he’d ever met. He makes one mistake, he interacts with the wrong person, but instead of just letting him deal with his own problems like a normal person, a girl named Ruby Gardner comes along and decides the best course of action is violence.

Not wanting to be arrested for a crime he didn’t commit the best course of action is to go with her right? And when things go south from there the only choice is to follow this lunatic girl who seems to be stuck in her head far more than the real world wherever she intends to take them. The further they venture, the weirder things get, pools of mystical water, creatures from the unknown, woods that seem to be unending, bottomless creeks, and a journey they’d truly never forget. 

But the question is... why? why any of it? Why does he choose to go along with this girl who is the exact opposite of himself, whom he never in a million years thought could be a friend. What is this girl hiding and why did she do something so unthinkable such as spilling the blood of another?

There’s love and there’s loss, but nothing is as it seems and that stands true for the happy ending as well.

{ Eldenstow Creek Playlist }

Mysterious & Unusual, the perfect accompaniment to this story.

{ Notes & Conclusion }

I was inspired to write this story by two very different stories, one of which is Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman where it starts off seemingly normal and gets more and more strange as time goes on, and the other is The End of The F***ing World mostly in writing style and also the whole- murder thing y’know? So if like those, you might like this one. 

Character Intros will hopefully be soon (if I get any interaction that would help motivate me to share) for the two main characters Ruby and Shae who are complete opposites but both have very strong personalities.

This story is early in development, I’ve just written bits and pieces here and there but I did want to put an intro out there so if you are interested in this idea, you can watch as it develops.

{ General Writing Taglist }

@weirdfishy | @wannabeauthorzofija | @annlillyjose | @radiomacbeth | @opes-magnas | ask to be +/- 

{ Eldenstow Creek Taglist } 

this one’s empty for now but if you’d like to be informed of updates and shared excerpts feel free to send an ask and I’ll add you :)