#and a fair reaction to their own experiences 39%

[promiseimnotacop]

jsyk user genderyomi reblogs from ppl identyfing as baeddel/“transman-hater” (w their words). safe to assume she is one.

i do appreciate well meaning calling me out on shit i've reposted and whatnot but that does not to my mind warrant any kind of unfollow/deleting posts what have you

i have been seeing traces of this new wave is 'transmisandry a real thing/is baeddelism real and if it is is it actually a bad thing or kinda based' flooding my dash lately and have very deliberately stayed away from engaging in any of it/weighing up on one side or another.

thankyou for engaging here though in a more polite way!

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 39 Part 3

(Masterpost) (Pinboard)  (whole thing on AO3)    

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Days of Future Past

After they leave Yi City, the gang comes to a proper town where there is a lantern festival going on, or else it's just a town that is really nuts about lanterns.

The juniors go shopping, looking at random trinkets, cell-phone cases, sunglasses, and electric toys that will break as soon as you get them home. Wait, that's my local mall I'm thinking of. But it's the same idea, pretty much.

Judging by the dream catchers hanging up on the right, this particular Ancient-China kiosk is owned by a traveling Ojibwe person.

Sizhui experiences a callback to symbolism from the past as he looks at an array of toy insects.

Jin Ling toy shames him, and Lan Jingyi comes to his defense.

Toys are for every age, people. Even if you outgrow one style of play, there's a lot of ways to enjoy toys, including tucking them in your robe and pulling them out to look at them whenever you have a memory cascade.

When Sizhui was young, he looked at toys with Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian didn't give him the toys, however, because "asking is asking, buying is buying." For Wei Wuxian, there was always a vast chasm between what he wanted and what he could actually have. Lan Wangji, of course, promptly gave A-Yuan toys, including a version of this grass butterfly.

The last time we saw A-Yuan with the butterfly is the last time A-Yuan saw Wei Wuxian. WWX frightened him and he dropped his butterfly, and everything went to shit after that. So I think it's fair to say the butterfly symbolizes some stuff.

(More after the cut!)

Jingyi points out to Sizhui that they have all of this same stuff at home in Gusu, which is what happens in a franchise-based retail economy.

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian enter the market together, but Wei Wuxian quickly runs ahead, enjoying the energy and the sights. Grown-up Lan Wangji, unlike his younger self, seems perfectly comfortable in this crowded and busy environment.

Lan Wangji pauses at a seller's stall to experience his own callback to the past, as he contemplates a lantern with rabbits on it.

Here the show the show restrains itself and does not show us a flashback to the rabbit lantern of the past. That's ok, though; the first lantern scene is one of the most memorable in the show, so we can just replay it in our heads.

Back then, Wei Wuxian made a special lantern for Lan Wangji, and they released it together. That was the first time we saw Lan Wangji smile, and it's also when Wei Wuxian's pledge of chivalry turned their mutual interest/attraction into something much deeper.

While Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui are contemplating lost things from the past (sky lanterns, by their nature, are losses, but in a nice way), Wei Wuxian is confronting one of his own losses.

He sees a little kid running to a vendor, and his mind's eye sees A-Yuan.

Lan Wangji sees Wei Wuxian's reaction to the child, and he stops looking at the lantern to watch Wei Wuxian instead.

When Wei Wuxian realizes that the child is not, in fact, A-Yuan, the air goes out of him.

Is it too cruel of me to point out that while Wei Wuxian's heart is breaking from realizing that A-Yuan could not possibly be shopping for toys in this market, the real A-Yuan, Lan Sizhui, actually is shopping for toys in this market?

Wei Wuxian allows himself to feel things, for a moment--and when he turns around and sees Lan Wangji watching him, he doesn't immediately paste a fake smile onto his face, which is some kind of relationship growth.

Lan Wangji takes this opportunity to say "hey, Wei Ying, I forgot to mention that A-Yuan isn't dead."

Ha ha ha ha ha of course he doesn't say that. He's waiting for the right moment to share this information, and Lan Wangji has no idea what constitutes a right moment for verbalizing anything. If he can't use his sword to communicate his devotion or his disappointment, he's in a pickle.

Also, Lan Wangji is aware of the popular Wuxia trope of "lone survivor of a massacred clan grows up to seek revenge," and the rules say you can't reveal the survivor's identity until they have gotten a job as the bodyguard and/or concubine of their enemy's innocent heir. Sizhui has made a good start by befriending Jin Ling, but he's not showing much inclination to revenge, so Lan Wangji is stuck for now.

Like a Lantern in the Dark

When Wei Wuxian sees the lantern next to Lan Wangji, he breaks into a genuine, sunny smile, and runs up to very gently tease LWJ about it.

Like a lantern in the dark, Follow on now, follow your heart

Back then the lantern had a single rabbit, and was a gift from Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji said he's used to doing things alone, and Wei Wuxian said that he can change. This rabbit lantern has two rabbits, and is about to be a gift from Lan Wangji to Wei Wuxian. Because Lan Wangji has changed.

"Lan Zhan, let's buy it"

Wei Wuxian has also changed. He asks for what he wants, instead of just wishing, and is delighted when Lan Wangji gives it to him. The lantern, people. Lan Wangji gives the lantern to him.

They take the lantern together, walk with it together, and immediately give it to (their son) Sizhui, telling him to take good care of it. Sizhui is confused but Jingyi knows what's up. Look how happy he is that his favorite teacher has a boyfriend.

I'm pretty sure ceremonial lantern-giving is going to be incorporated into Gusu weddings from now on, at least weddings where there is already a kid who needs a special role in the ceremony.

Brotherly

The kids tell Lan Wangji that Zewu-Jun is here to see him, and Lan Wangji makes this face:

Holy fuck, what is going on between the Lan brothers? It occurs to me that we haven't seen them together since Wei Wuxian came back to life. They were close, in the before times, but 33 lashes and 3 years of forced seclusion might have changed things.

Wei Wuxian gets back into his mask, and they go and show the sword spirit to Lan Xichen. Lan Xichen...absorbs it...into his body? What is actually happening here?

I mean, it looks cool, but that can't be healthy.

Now that Nie Mingjue's body has been - mostly - found, his fears are confirmed. He says that Nie Mingjue qi-deviated in public and "all his veins were broken," which I'm pretty sure should actually be translated "all his meridians were broken." Meridians are what carry your qi around your body. After that happened, nobody knew what happened to him and/or his body.

So he's sad about this, but not shocked. I feel like Lan Xichen maybe could have tried harder to find out what happened, but he never was as stubborn as Lan Wangji.

You Don't Know Him Like I Do

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji point out that Jin Guangyao is the obvious suspect in the current situation, but Lan Xichen doesn't want to hear it; he literally turns his back on them while he explains all the reasons Jin Guangyao couldn't be the person who's in control of the Yin tiger seal.

Lan Wangji is hard to read in this conversation; he lets Wei Wuxian do the talking. But he seems deeply suspicious of Jin Guangyao, and is maybe kinda resigned to his brother refusing to hear him.

I wonder how many sketchy things Lan Xichen has forgiven, over the years? How many does Lan Wangji know about?

"He wouldn't do that"

Lan Xichen's statement here is a direct parallel to Lan Wangji's statement way back in epsiode 21, which is the last time we saw the brothers talking about anything besides battle strategy.

Back then, Lan Xichen asked about the deaths at the supervisory office - you know, all those people who killed themselves in horrible ways and/or were killed by vengeful spirits. He wanted to know if WWX killed them using Yin Iron. Lan Wangji said nope, not my sweetie, he sure didn't.

"He wouldn't do anything like that."

Same framing, same camera angle, same blocking. Same message: the one I love would not do bad things using Yin iron. But - here's the thing - Lan Wangji was flat-out lying in that earlier conversation. He saw Wei Wuxian doing forbidden stuff and got in a huge-ass fight with him about it, only to deny it to his brother.

Parallels being what they are in this show, I think this is a strong suggestion that Lan Xichen is knowingly lying in the current conversation.

If we look back at that previous conversation, when Lan Wangji asked Lan Xichen "how can we understand someone's heart?" Lan Xichen gave a surprising answer.

"When looking at someone, you[...]shouldn't use a clear right or wrong, black or white to judge them. What matters is what their heart believes in."

When this conversation happened, it seemed that he was giving Lan Wangji advice about his Wei Wuxian situation, but in retrospect, I think he was thinking about Meng Yao, who had recently murdered a guy and defected to the Wen clan.

In the present moment, I think Lan Xichen knows that Jin Guangyao is sketchy, but he also believes there are some lines his friend won't cross. (He doesn't know yet about the fratricide, patricide, and filicide, or the massacre of the sex workers in the brothel where JGY grew up.) I don't think any of these guys really believes that "Yin iron" is one of those uncrossable lines.

The conversation is interrupted by the juniors having a loud argument inside about whether Wei Wuxian is The Worst, or merely bad. Lan Sizhui started this by very very mildly defending demonic cultivators. Jin Ling is super upset, because of the whole "Wei Wuxian killed my dad" and "Uncle Jiang Cheng frequently reminds me to kill people like Wei Wuxian and feed them to my dog" situation.

Lan Wangji immediately drops the important conversation he is having to go inside and deal with the more important problem of a child talking shit about his boyfriend.

Busted

The moment that Lan Wangji goes inside, Lan Xichen addresses Wei Wuxian by name, letting him know that he's recognized him. Watching him fondle his untouchable didi's shoulder might have been a clue. Wei Wuxian is alarmed but makes a quick recovery.

Lan Xichen is surprisingly kind to Wei Wuxian at the same time as being extremely extremely wary of him. He's not pleased to see him, and Wei Wuxian's 1000 watt smile and apparently genuine pleasure in greeting him properly receives a chilly response.

Wei Wuxian gently asks Lan Xichen to think about what they've discussed, but he doesn't press. He gives him time and space to think. In a way, Wei Wuxian is better at handling Lan Xichen than Lan Wangji is; Lan Wangji's stubbornness makes him inclined to push. Wei Wuxian is better at fitting his tactics to the situation.

He says his bit and then leaves Lan Xichen to think things over in peace.

Soundtrack: Follow the Heart by Yaima

[reservoirreputation]

The Inferno, Canto I: Reactions and Notes

I've had a copy of the book for years, and after being reminded of it by my friend, Lansiosa, I've decided to pick it up and seriously try to read it. Yes of my own free will. No it's not for a school project. Yes I'm thus far having a good time.

I'm 2 Cantos in, and Lanny has suggested I make tumblr posts about it, since I made *many* meta and reaction posts about Supernatural, and talking about The Inferno is reminding me of that mindset, and how, ultimately, it allowed me to further enjoy one of my favorite shows, and it's allowing me to more thoroughly enjoy this book that I've started and stopped a few times now.

I can scrounge up my thoughts about Canto I, as typed out on Discord, but more in-depth analysis comes for Canto II.

The Discord Notes:

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:36 PM

Started The Inferno, and Dante is really like 'HELP THERE’S PANTHERS PLEASE HELP- Virgil? I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN'

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:36 PM

You're actually reading it???

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:37 PM

Starting yes, but I'm also sleepy

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:37 PM

Out of curiousity

Does this edition have commentary or is it only the text, nothing else?

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:38 PM

Also, did the guy have a near death experience and this is why he's being guided through hell? That he lost his way/fucked around and found out?

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:39 PM

Second option

lansiosa

Out of curiousity Does this edition have commentary or is it only the text, nothing else?

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:39 PM

stuff like this [author's note, there was a picture of my copy here XD]

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:39 PM

So he is now being guided tbrough the three Underworld realms to… Redeem himself, I wanna say

Poor Reputation

stuff like this

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:40 PM

God, that's depressing

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:40 PM

And a general overview/biography/context of the time

lansiosa

God, that's depressing

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:40 PM

How is it depressing?

Poor Reputation

And a general overview/biography/context of the time

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:41 PM

That is better, though, that's some interesting infos you could use

Poor Reputation

How is it depressing?

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:41 PM

I am thinking about the notes in my own copies lol

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:41 PM

Oh XD

Poor Reputation

stuff like this

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:44 PM

'Aenas' and 'Troy', clearly assuming everyone knows who Aenas is and what Troy lol

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:47 PM

OK finished first Canto, now time to relax

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:48 PM

Hope you enjoyed it XD But also, yes GO RELAX

lansiosa

I am thinking about the notes in my own copies lol

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:48 PM

This is just commentary for the first verse lol

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:50 PM

Now knowing more about the speech patterns of Italian, this poem feels like a very literal translation, if that makes sense.

Poor Reputation

stuff like this

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:50 PM

I might compare and contrast here, if you want

[2:50 PM]

Just as an experiment

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:51 PM

Like instead of saying it directly like an English speaker, they were scared of getting yelled at for meddling with the core work, so it ends up being explained in a very Fancy way XD

[2:52 PM]

But it does make it all feel more poetic

Poor Reputation

Like instead of saying it directly like an English speaker, they were scared of getting yelled at for meddling with the core work, so it ends up being explained in a very Fancy way XD

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:52 PM

Fair, though, I think they are trying to keep up the poetic pattern of the original

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:52 PM

And fits Dante's super dramatic personality

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:52 PM

Wait until he starts fainting every other canto ahahh

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:53 PM

Get this man a fainting couch

[2:53 PM]

Although, you know what? Realistic reaction to hell.

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:54 PM

RIGHT???

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:55 PM

Man can't be out here describing damnation while being chill about it.

[2:55 PM]

That would be cutting his message off at the knees.

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:55 PM

Exactly, yes

[2:56 PM]

And I mean, he described pretty harrowing things, all in all I think it's already pretty impressive he managed to get through the journey at all

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:57 PM

Oh, the panther that blocks his way initially, she sounds like she's supposed to be representing a specific person

[2:57 PM]

Especially when Virgil reads her for filth

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 2:57 PM

So, the three animals do each represent something, if you give me a moment I'll be able to tell you

[2:58 PM]

How are they called in your translation, specifically?

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 2:58 PM

Panther, lion and wolf

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 3:02 PM

So, first and foremost, it is generally accepted that the mountain Dante is about to climb after he managed to get out of the dark forest (which, representation of spiritual wandering/sin) is the mountain of Purgatory, so these three beasts are in fact blocking his way to salvation

They are interpreted as each representing a sin. Specifically, the panther is lust, the lion is pride, the wolf greed

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 3:02 PM

OK so not shading any real person (yet)?

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 3:03 PM

Not yet, apparently

[3:03 PM]

I'll see if there is something about Virgil's rant about the panther specifically

lansiosa

So, first and foremost, it is generally accepted that the mountain Dante is about to climb after he managed to get out of the dark forest (which, representation of spiritual wandering/sin) is the mountain of Purgatory, so these three beasts are in fact blocking his way to salvation They are interpreted as each representing a sin. Specifically, the panther is lust, the lion is pride, the wolf greed

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 3:04 PM

Looking back on it, that's quite clear in the text, and I may be getting ahead of myself.

It can't be disgraced popes all of the time.

lansiosa

I'll see if there is something about Virgil's rant about the panther specifically

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 3:05 PM

Nope, apparently he is in fact lamenting about the sin of lust specifically

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 3:05 PM

Like why the hell would Dante shade these IRL people and then hold back on the animal metaphor XD

Poor Reputation

Looking back on it, that's quite clear in the text, and I may be getting ahead of myself. It can't be disgraced popes all of the time.

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 3:05 PM

I have to say though, you are in the right mindset to think "everything means anything" XD

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 3:06 PM

Discord is being a bit funny

[3:06 PM]

A sign for me to wind down/get ready to nap perhaps

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 3:07 PM

Possibly? How long have you been up?

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 3:07 PM

2:30 this morning

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 3:07 PM

…. What time is it now??

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 3:08 PM

And that was a short fitful nap, I'd really gotten up at 7 pm yesterday

[3:08 PM]

So it's been almost 20 hours

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 3:08 PM

………

Pal, go to sleep

[3:09 PM]

NOW

Poor Reputation — 09/20/2024 3:09 PM

So I guess the hour and a half nap wasn't all shit XD

[3:09 PM]

OK bye!!!

lansiosa — 09/20/2024 3:19 PM

Also, if you ever feel curious about details in the Inferno which your edition doesn't mention, I might just bring my own copy home and answer to questions

END

Thank you to Lansiosa for patiently guiding me through this classic ♥

Link to the next post:

https://www.tumblr.com/reservoirreputation/763501724309831680/the-inferno-canto-ii-reactions-and-notes?source=share

[randomidiocyncrazies]

shortbox comics fair 2023

it's always really nice to see indie comics thrive as an art form, so here are some of the comics from this year's shortbox fair that i've really enjoyed under the cut

(lmao i wish i had to foresight to like. save the official synopsis and preview art for the comics before the event was over...)

CROSSED SIGNALS by mxiiha

f/f, 23 pages.

bro this comic rewired my brain

the use of color is really striking, and the contemptuous, desperate, unknowing yearning between the main characters is just. impeccable vibes. like. someone gets under your skin so much and you don't know why but you devote yourself to provoking them, getting a reaction out of them, and proving yourself to them... the single-minded drive to get them to acknowledge you as someone who means something to them *chef kiss*

French Exit by Elle Shivers

gen, 46 pages. potential cw: sports injury leading to retirement, discussion of institutionalized racism

it's described as a "sports story without the sports" and i was immediately intrigued. the comic is presented as a conversation between a retired skater and an interviewer working for an online news outlet on the verge of collapse, and i think the way it's laid out is so so so interesting!

this layout really effectively controls the pace of the conversation—unlike a more 'traditional' layout where readers can just 'skip' to the next moment of action/dialogue, here every pause is represented with a blank panel on the conversation side and forces us to experience all the silent moments alongside the characters, which is a really cool way to ground us in the conversation

Light Through Memory by Jean Wei

gen, 32 pages.

a historical story about two young astrologers in completely different parts of the world connected by their night time discovery. i found the story bittersweet but hopeful, and the mirrored structure of this comic is one of my favorite things about it. the two halves of the story fit together seamlessly even though the characters never interact physically and don't even know of the other's existence

Marrow by Solane Hong

gen, 39 pages. cw: body horror, gore(? internal organs but no blood)

a good horror gives you enough to realize the implications, but also leaves room for the audience to draw their own conclusions. i really liked that we don't get to see what the characters saw in the last page, but there are enough hints to imply what they were looking at.

and while the reveal would not surprise anyone who's aware of the tropes in dystopian fiction, imo the point and tone of this comic had never been about shocking the readers—it's about the characters finding out, and i enjoyed every moment of the journey

My Father was a Good Man by Adeline Kon

gen with f/f, 39 pages. cw: animal death, gore, parental abuse

a story of a hunter vowing to hunt down the wolf that killed her father, who was a very good man. but the beast she's hunting for might not be so simple after all...

i love how the reveal was handled here, made possible by the subtle foreshadowing laid down beforehand

stinking benjamins by Jade Armstrong

gen (with hint of romance), 28 pages. cw: discussions of death, suicidal ideation, animal death (not the dog)

the layout of this comic is a very cool way to see how these characters' inner thoughts alongside the conversation they're having. i love how not in-sync their inner thoughts are, and it's a good reminder that what your perception of other people isn't necessarily the whole picture

the body from the river by riotbones

gen, 32 pages. cw: death

the lovely preview art and synopsis immediately grabbed my interest. the story begins with the body of a stranger being washed up, and the villagers speculate on who this corpse might've been and what kind of life they might've led before their demise.

i go feral for stories where someone's identity—who they really are—is unknowable to the readers and other characters, so all we can do is use them as a vehicle to tell our own stories of what might've been

The Future Saints by Niv Sekar

gen with queer themes, 25 pages. cw: touches on homophobia

this is very much a queer story, featuring the adult protagonist looking back at their childhood watching a cartoon that felt "kind of gay" with their friend, even though the show might not have intended that interpretation at all.

i really enjoyed how well the art style and color palette fit the narrative about the half-forgotten memories of childhood, and grappling with the mixed feelings of re-encountering something that had a huge impact on you in your childhood, but you discover that it doesn't hold up as an adult

the quiet end of the mundane age by Theo Stuluz

m/m, 72 pages. cw: er... a magic equivalent of a terminal(?) illness? maybe?

the wouldbuilding here is fascinating, and it does a really good job of balancing the romance between the two leads (cute!) with the mystery of what's going on with the magic in their world. there's so much implied about their society here and i really like that they don't really indulge in exposition? i kinda wish it's a full serialized series because the world is so interesting!

[acidproofnotebook]

OPM Chapter 84, Update 125

As first published online

Translator: u/Mynthence

Title Page: In order to remain solitary, instead of in solitude.

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5

Movements that are a perfect blend of attack and defense.

Even though it’s the same Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist the difference in degrees of completion are plainly evident.

The result is obvious.

Page 6

Fuu!!

Page 7 Page 8 Page 9

grab

Bwoh!?

Page 10

Ubuh!!

Page 11

Wh…what’s…with…

This flashy assault, it’s not like the damn geezer at all…

Page 12

N…not good…

My consciousness is fad…

No….I’m gonna die…

…….tsk!!!

Gwah!

Page 13

What’s with those weird movements

where did you learn them?

Like a beast

Not yet!

Page 14

If I can use the heroes that are unconscious as hostages, there’s still a chance!!

I won’t let you

Ugah

Page 15 Page 16

Bang!

I’ve taken care of all the monsters that came out of the hole

All that’s left is Garou

Page 17

There’s still some monster-like reactions but

Beep beep…

For some reason I can’t ascertain the exact number and location…

Will going through that hole take us to the Monster Association’s base?

The guys from the Monster Association…were they wiped out?

They’re useless…!!!

Page 18

I thought we brought enough forces to capture Garou alive but…

Demon Cyborg…to think that he would be this strong

Silver Fang is here too. With this there’s no chance to take him away…

But if I go back empty-handed after expending all these troops, I might be the next one to be eaten by Orochi…

Page 19

Garou will just have to break through this situation with his own power…

…but it’s hopeless…

Should I start thinking about how to live after leaving the Monster Association…?

Hey brother…if it was you…

Would you still be able to stand up with his level of injuries?

…if I was 60 years younger I could try

…probably

Alright! Just a little bit more!!!

Let’s finish this before the other heroes show up, Bang!

Indeed

Page 20

Gugi…

My arms aren’t working properly anymore…

That geezer Bang, going after his former number one disciple when he’s been weakened…how vicious is he?

Page 21

Not to mention that the geezer that’s beating me up with him is Bomb, the master of the Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist

For the leaders of the martial arts world to come at me two-on-one, do they have no shame or care for their reputations?

Even if I pretend to beg for my life to these guys, I’m sure the Demon Cyborg won’t let me go

In other words, in order to overcome this extremely critical situation, I need to kill all three of them

Page 22

That’s impossible.

Know the pain of my “number one disciple” Charanko

Garou!!

Page 23

Let’s play Hero!

Garou. You’ll play too, right?

Let’s play, let’s play.

Eh

Okay

Page 24

Introductory music

Justice Man has arrived!

Justice Man Kick

Ouch!

Hey

Page 25

That’s dangerous

What?

I feel bad for him

………………

Then you should play the part of the Monster

Justice Man Cross Chop

Woah

Why did you dodge

S, sorry Tacchan

I scratched up my hand

You’re the Monster. Why can’t you read the mood?

Hold Garou down

Okay

Page 26

Justice Man Kick!

I’ve defeated the Monster, Garou Poop Man~

What’s this, is it the thing they call a flashback?

This is a fairly private memory I’d prefer to not remember

This should be…Right…Tacchan…the popular kid in my class…

Page 27

Eh? What? Why are the boys fighting?

Did anyone call the teacher?

Garou’s going wild

Garou got mad, even though we were just playing

I can’t…stand it anymore…

What’s with him?

Tacchan

Fight me!

Huh? What are you saying?

It’s just Hero

Page 28 I don’t want to be the Monster anymore! It’s not fun! Fight me, and if I win, you have to promise that you won’t bother me anymore!

Sabuchin, Yochan, hold Garou down

That’s not fair…stop…let me go! I…

Ugh

Damnit!!

Woah, he’s snapped! Call the teacher

Tacchan, run away

Hold him down! Hold him down!

What’s going on?

Perfect timing. You guys help out too.

He got carried away because Taachan’s too nice

Gross

I heard Garou got pissed off at Taachan while they were playing Hero. (lol)

Seriously? What’s he thinking?

Poor Taachan

Page 29

Taachan would easily get carried away

Taachan was good at sports

Taachan liked bullying weak people

Taachan was popular with the girls

Taachan was a disgusting guy

Taachan was popular

I was the gloomy guy who was always alone

I didn’t have any friends

I hated popular people

Why did you go wild?

Teacher, Taachan always

I heard you got mad while playing Hero. Is that true?

They always make me be the Monster

You can’t even tell the difference between make-believe and reality!?

That’s not it. Everyone says it’s my fault because Taachan is popular…

You’re the one who went crazy! How will you take responsibility if the windows get broken!

NO!

Page 30

It’s not that I hate being the Monster.

Is it that I didn’t like Taachan being the Hero?

No that’s not it

I was sensing a crushing sense of unfairness through the Hero game. A game designed in a way that would let the popular kid who was loved by everyone to one-sidedly beat up the weak kid that no one liked.

You did something bad, so go apologize.

I’m calling your parents too

This wasn’t just bullying. The game that faithfully reproduced the children’s TV shows was accepted by the public. You’re free to play any role that you want in this game, but the role of the Hero requires the approval of all those who are playing, so naturally I never had a chance to play that part. And of course, a scenario where the Monster wins doesn’t exist to begin with, so I have to always lose.

Page 31

What’s Justice! What’s Evil! In the end, I get killed because of the majority! I can’t accept that! It’s unfair!

I can’t explain the reason very well but I’m angry!

I just want to let them know!

I want them to experience a weakling’s attack!

I want to deny the positions of good and evil!

Page 32

He’s going to fall

This is the end

Page 33

Like I’d let myself be finished off in a place like this!

Page 34 Page 35

What?

Page 36

Oh!

Page 37 Page 38

What’s with that power…

from that broken body!?

Page 39

Give it up Garou!

If you keep on going… You’ll really die!!!

Bang, above you!

Page 40 Page 41

Woah!?

Page 42

A monster!?

So there were still some left!!!

Page 43

!

Genos!

Bang, you saw his appearance just now!

He’s a monster now! He even has companions!

It’s okay if I shoot Garou down with him, right?

Page 44

Did you hear that!!?

I’ll take Garou away from here

You can crush everyone on the ground right now!

I leave the rest to you!!

???

Page 45

Rasen Shoukyaku Hou (Spiral Incineration Cannon)

Page 46

Elder Centipede!

Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50

What was that!?

Page 51 Page 52

Disaster Level: Dragon Giant Mysterious Insect Elder Centipede

Page 53

W…what….

Is this a living being !!?

Oh no!!!

We need to protect them!

Page 54

Here we go

Page 55 Page 56

So this is the source of the reaction from before…

It’s not that I couldn’t pinpoint its location…it was too big!

Page 57

To think that it could take a direct hit from the cannon and have no injuries

This is going to be a tough opponent…

That centipede is…

Page 58

What do you think you’re doing, butting in like that!

Just let Elder Centipede take care of things here

He is a great calamity that swallows up everything

I’m fascinated by that unstoppable destructive power

You’re not thorough enough Hero Hunter

Once you defeat an opponent, you need to make sure you finish them off

It seems that all those heroes lying down over there are still alive

Page 59

Well…don’t worry

Elder Centipede will end everything

!

Stop interfering!

Let me down right now!

Those are my prey!

Hey, quit struggling

Damnit! Go back!

I won’t forgive you!

Hahaha…why are you so mad.

It’s your fault for not finishing the job.

Also…it’s convenient that we can erase two S-class here.

For the Monster Association, S-class heroes are the biggest threat

Page 60

You also directly experienced it

…..

In any fight there’s something called compatibility

According to our adviser Gyoro Gyoro

Out of all the heroes there are only four who can stand up against the Elder Centipede

Page 61

The peerless one wielding the strongest psychic ability “Tornado of Terror”

The one whose hidden military strength can’t be grasped by even the Hero Association “Metal Knight”

Page 62

The strongest man on earth “King”

And…the top hero that pushed Elder Centipede to the brink of death two years ago

“Blast”

Page 63

They say that Elder Centipede decided to cooperate with the Monster Association in order to get its revenge on Blast

It’s eager to pull Blast, who doesn’t come to the forefront, back onto the battlefield.

But…Unfortunately, those two don’t have the ability to break through this current situation.

Silver Fang is without equal in regards to his strength in hand-to-hand combat, but that only applies to opponents that are of a size that can be affected by martial arts.

Demon Cyborg’s abilities are outstanding but

He shouldn’t be equipped with any weapons that can take on a giant insect beast

And his firepower can’t go beyond the capabilities of his weapons

That’s his limit

Page 64

They will definitely be destroyed

Here it comes!!!

Page 65 Page 66

shine

!

Page 67

Whirl Wind

Water Stream

Page 68

Todoroki Kuuretsu Ken (Roaring Sky Splitting Fist)

Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72

What is that move

We have a special move that takes advantage of the opponent’s openings

We’re counting on you to distract it

It broken that super hard shell into pieces…!?

This is

The pinnacle of skill

Page 73

Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet

Page 74 Page 75

Oh….

Goaaaahhhh

!

Guh

Page 76

Oww…

We let down our guard

But it was effective

The shockwave is circulating throughout its body

Blow up into pieces you monster

It’s a super move that can only be pulled off once by geezers like us

I’m glad it hit

Thank you Genos

Page 77

It’s finished

Page 78

Hm?

Page 79

Seriously?

Page 80

This guy molted…!!!

And didn’t it get bigger than before!?

No way!

Page 81

We can’t beat this thing…!

If we have to protect the unconscious heroes at the same time…

What should we do!? Bang!

Even if we back off, it would probably come after us and…

It’s all residential areas outside of Forest Park…

If we leave, it’ll affect the civilians…

Page 82

Bang

I’ll fight it

I’ll hold off that centipede as long as I can so

Take the injured and escape

Page 83

Genos

Are you saying that you’ll fight that thing on your own?

I can’t agree with that…

You don’t need to push yourself. You know that you can’t win

You young ones have still have a future

Genos

Just don’t overdo it

Page 84

Is that…

Really okay?

Page 85

There’s no way

Page 86

That’s okay

Page 87 Page 88 Page 89

There’s no way!

Cannons don’t work on it!

Page 90

This guy

And the guy from yesterday

Page 91

And Garou

Are all part of the Monster Association

This fight

Is unavoidable

Page 92 Page 93 Page 94

Dual Blade Rush

That’s what it means to fight against them

Page 95

I’m participating in this fight

Grind into pieces

Page 96

If you say that’s being reckless

Crack

!

Uh…

Page 97

Genos!!!

At this rate

I…

Page 98

Won’t be able to stay in the fight

Page 99 Page 100

Jet Drive Arrow

Page 101

Uooohhhh!!!

Page 102 Page 103

Ugoah

He went into its mouth

Oh no…

Page 104

!

Digestive juices

I’ll completely melt you in a few seconds

You’re the one that’s going to melt

Page 105

Chou Rasen Shoukyaku Hou (Super Spiral Incineration Cannon)

Page 106 Page 107

…….!!!

He did it!!

Clank

…..

Page 108

Crack crack

Crack crack

Page 109

Crack crack

Crack

grin

Again…

I…

Can’t win…

Can’t protect…

Page 110

We’re getting out of here

sizzle

Brother! Grab those guys and run!!

It’s useless

What’s wrong?

Are you disgusted that you ended up being partially responsible for slaughtering those heroes?

Page 111

That’s not it!

I’m just disappointed by this ending!!!

I…want to defeat them with my own power!

By doing so, I become the symbol of fear…!!

That’s the meaning behind the hero hunting!!!

The symbol of fear? You? Hahaha…

If you were to go back now, you would only end up getting stomped on together with the heroes.

Right now you don’t have the strength to go against Elder Centipede or the officers of the Monster Association.

Page 112

Guh…

Just…you wait…and see…

What should I do…

Page 113

What is it that I lack…!?

Are there still more guys like that?

In front of guys like that…

Am I only able to suck on my thumb while watching them…?

Bang! This isn’t good. If we keep going

We’ll exit the Forest Park!

Page 114

Also…I can’t run for very long while carrying this many people

How old do you think I am

Do or die…

Brother

Page 115

I’m going to go all out for the last time in my life

Page 116

Elder Centipede~!!!

Hey! You pest!!!!!

I’ve brought the “Blast” that you’ve been looking for!!!!!

Page 117

!?

That voice is…King!!?

Blast!?

What…!

!!!?

Look!!

Its movements have stopped

And it’s turned around

Page 118

Blast…?

Yes…that’s right! The opponent that beat you up and made you run away while peeing your pants….the hero Blast!!

If you want to fight against Blast again, come over here!

What’s wrong? Are you so scared that you can’t move!? You’re spineless!!! Hey, if you’re going to shit yourself, do it at home!

A weak little bug like you should go back underground and suck on your mom’s tits!!!

Page 119

King made it to the location in City S where Elder Centipede reappeared!!!

That’s good! King should be able to do something about this situation…

Yes…there are still several heroes in that area

And when I told him that they might become casualties from any fighting nearby

He told me “Give me any information that might provoke Elder Centipede”

He undoubtedly plans on luring the enemy to where he is and fighting it one-on-one

Page 120

When Blast severely wounded it, it escaped and ran away underground

I hope we can defeat it this time…

It was top secret information, but I relayed the information detailing the monster and Blast’s connection to him

Also, I told him that if the battle were to be prolonged or if they were to change locations, the damage to the surrounding areas would be tremendous

And what how did he respond?

Just one word: “Understood”…

Together with the reverberations of the King Engine

Page 121

Draw the enemy this way so there aren’t any more casualties…

If the enemy is wounded, finish it off before it escapes underground…

Finish it as quickly as possible…

Any attacks should be contained within a limited range…and no attacks that might knock the centipede into the residential areas…

That’s all

Page 122

…..

…tama?

Page 123

Saitama~!!!?

It’s going to hit

Page 124 Page 125 Page 126

Ser

Page 127 Page 128

ious

Page 129

Pun

Page 130 Page 131

ch

Page 132 Page 133 Oh

Page 134

Is that you, Genos?

Page 135

So you were here.

Just like King said

Yeah…and it looks like we came just in the nick of time

Good thing we came

Oh…?

Saitama…you look kind of refreshed

What happened?

I kind of feel like I let off a lot of steam

Page 136

I had a lot of stress built up because you kept beating me in those games

So he was still pissed off

Well…I wanted to teach you that your way of fighting with only one style of attack isn’t good…

Saitama-sensei, I wish to ask you a question

What is it?

What do you think I am lacking?

Eh

Isn’t it power?

Page 137

….!!!!

Thank you very much!

Ahhhhhhhh….That’s no good…

You probably shouldn’t use Saitama as a point of reference, Genos…

Sensei’s fights show me the path that I should take

The symbol of strength

That is what I should aim for…

I will also reach that place

Page 138

Garou…so you finally passed out

Rest well

We’ll reach Orochi soon

[f4liveblogarchives]

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #228

Thurs Apr 30 2020 [07:47 PM] Wack'd: Johnny never struck me as a "literal jump for joy" kind of guy but he might just want to piss off Ben

[07:48 PM] Bocaj: I tried to do that jump and click heels thing but I don't wear shoes that click so I don't know why I bothered [07:49 PM] Wack'd: Hey so remember that girl at the racetrack Johnny turned down because he was nostalgic for Crystal? Well he's cool now and they're goin out

[07:49 PM] Bocaj: I can see how she won him over. "I've got a jacuzzi at my place" "You **DO**--?" [07:50 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Lorrie is coming over to meet the family so Johnny must be serious about her [07:51 PM] Wack'd: Unfortunately for him Reed just made a last-minute doctor's appointment for Franklin to use his neurologist friend's machine to peek at his mind [07:51 PM] Bocaj: Uh [07:51 PM] Bocaj: Sure [07:52 PM] Umbramatic: wha [07:52 PM] maxwellelvis: I smell wacky sitc-oh [07:52 PM] Wack'd: Sue is like "springing this on Franklin might make him freak out" and Reed, is...a good parent? [07:52 PM] maxwellelvis: Alert the Times [07:52 PM] Wack'd: He's like "hey, why don't we just be straight with Franklin and ask him if this is something he's okay with" [07:53 PM] Bocaj: Hello, The Times? This is your cousin, Marty. Do you know that headline you were looking for? Well listen to THIS [07:53 PM] Wack'd: And Franklin's like "yeah okay that sounds like a good idea, I also want to make sure I know how not to hurt people" [07:53 PM] Wack'd: A smart kid [07:54 PM] Umbramatic: this is going suspiciously well [07:55 PM] Wack'd: Hey, Ben. Buddy. Stop it

[07:55 PM] Bocaj: aw ben c'mon [07:56 PM] Wack'd: Thankfully he quickly regains his composure [07:56 PM] maxwellelvis: Before he drools so much he could be mistaken for Niagara Falls [07:57 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Reed's like "hey why doesn't everyone come with us to get Franklin's head checked out" for. Some reason [07:58 PM] Wack'd: Lorrie's a gearhead so she's into the idea of hanging around and riding in the Fantasticar [07:58 PM] Wack'd: BEN C'MON

[08:01 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, turns out the guy running Franklin's tests is one of Reed and Ben's old college professors. He is not a fan of Ben's attitude [08:03 PM] Wack'd: So Franklin's tests begin! They start with card guessing. Franklin's not great at it [08:04 PM] Bocaj: Do neurologists usually test ESP [08:04 PM] Wack'd: The professor points out that if Franklin's powers come at moments of stress it's likely that he's simply not got them turned on right now, chemically speaking [08:05 PM] Wack'd: Reed's like "we're not traumatizing my kid for science" and the professor's like "well no, obviously not, but we might be able to do something else to create that chemical reaction in his brain as needed" [08:05 PM] maxwellelvis: "You're not drugging my kid for science" [08:05 PM] Wack'd: Oh no, nothing so mundane [08:06 PM] maxwellelvis: You have me on tenterhooks. [08:06 PM] Umbramatic: oh no [08:07 PM] Wack'd: So what the scientist actually says is "we might be able to help Franklin achieve a state of such zen that he can manipulate his own brain chemicals." But the pictures tell...a different story

[08:07 PM] Bocaj: Garnet shoves the doctor aside. "Here comes a thought" [08:08 PM] Umbramatic: eeep [08:08 PM] maxwellelvis: "In such a state, one could walk on hot coals, sleep on a bed of spikes, and get a shot from the doctor without being scared or even needing a lollipop!" [08:08 PM] Wack'd: He's having his blood pressure taken actually [08:09 PM] maxwellelvis: Mine's funnier [08:09 PM] Wack'd: Anyway a quick google reveals that biofeedback is a real thing insofar as it's something that didn't originate in this comic [08:10 PM] Wack'd: It's apparently really good for stopping urinary incontinence in people with vaginas, and okay in dealing with some mental disorders, but doesn't work for much else [08:11 PM] Bocaj: Neurologist: "So we can't prove for sure it doesn't work for superpowers HUH??" [08:11 PM] Wack'd: Forty years have passed and most scientific studies on it are comparatively recent [08:12 PM] Phantom: and none on superpowers :P? [08:12 PM] Wack'd: So at a guess this was basically a health trend for the sort of folks who these days think LaCroix is a health treatment [08:12 PM] Phantom: probably [08:13 PM] Wack'd: The LaCroix comparison might be way too generous, we're in Sawbones territory now

[08:14 PM] Bocaj: Eesh [08:14 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Mr. "With Enough Mindfulness You Can Cure Cancer" decides to try hypnosis therapy on Franklin [08:14 PM] maxwellelvis: "You're not a real doctor, are you?" [08:15 PM] Wack'd: This man's classes were part of Reed's doctorate program [08:16 PM] Wack'd: Johnny and Lorrie meanwhile decide to go on a date and do the Superman thing

[08:17 PM] Wack'd: Freddie Mercury: You've made a powerful enemy this day, Human Torch

[08:19 PM] Wack'd: Franco Mercury challenges Johnny to a game of chicken in his portion of the Fantasticar [08:19 PM] Wack'd: Interspersed with Franklin finally getting in the machine [08:20 PM] Wack'd: I feel like there's supposed to be some kinda causal link but I have no idea what on Earth it might be

[08:20 PM] Wack'd:

[08:20 PM] Bocaj: Franklin was Johnny all along? [08:21 PM] Wack'd: So Franklin's brain vomited some "psychic ectoplasm" [08:21 PM] Bocaj: Wow this guy is dipping into every bit of paranormal bric a brac [08:21 PM] Bocaj: Are we sure his degree is real [08:22 PM] maxwellelvis: Are we sure Reed wasn't also classmates with Ray or Egon? [08:22 PM] Umbramatic: his degree is in "quackology" [08:22 PM] Wack'd: The true identity of the narrator of The Amazing World of Ghosts [08:22 PM] Bocaj: Do Reed Mi Egon [08:23 PM] Wack'd: ...what

[08:24 PM] Wack'd: Franklin...vomited his brain into this guy? And...and now Franklin's Franco? [08:26 PM] Umbramatic: Franklin Meurcury [08:26 PM] Wack'd: Boy, science is really taking some kinda beating this issue

[08:27 PM] Bocaj: Uhhhhhhhhhh [08:27 PM] Bocaj: Franklin is too powerful for his angsts to be doing this [08:27 PM] Umbramatic: science: "i love the young people" [08:28 PM] Bocaj: I EAT KIDS [08:28 PM] Wack'd: Yay Sue! Also not sure how I feel about this new invisibility effect

[08:29 PM] maxwellelvis: Feels more like showing off. [08:29 PM] maxwellelvis: Or at least, the sort of effect that really should have waited until digital inking was more viable. [08:29 PM] Bocaj: The invisibility is not very not visible [08:30 PM] maxwellelvis: "Due to a compatibility issue with Windows 95 graphics cards, the Invisible Woman is now extra-visible. To keep things fair, please close your eyes when fighting her." [08:31 PM] Wack'd: "It's not that I don't trust you, Abe. It's that all your theories are dangerous quackery and also you nearly got my son killed"

[08:33 PM] maxwellelvis: (That's not some weird non-sequitor, I'm paraphrasing the manual for Doom's Windows 95 port there; with some Windows-compatible graphics cards, there was a weird bug that made invisible enemies like Spectres less than invisible. The manual joked that you should make things more fair by closing your eyes if you encounters this bug.) [08:34 PM] Wack'd: Letters letters letters! [08:34 PM] Wack'd: ...i think i hate letters now

[08:36 PM] InbarFink: Letter pages are just glorified youtube comments [08:36 PM] Bocaj: Eesh [08:37 PM] Bocaj: Around this same time ish there were letters in the avengers comics complaining wasp is too weak and ineffectual and the response said they’d work on it [08:37 PM] Bocaj: So it’s not universal among fans at this time at least [08:38 PM] Wack'd: I'm just like [08:38 PM] Wack'd: The one time I can remember you print letters from ladies [08:39 PM] Wack'd: This is what you go with? [08:40 PM] Bocaj: Yeah it sucks [08:40 PM] InbarFink: would it be conspiratorial to sugget they got a LOT of letters about it and most of them were from dudes and they just picked the two with lady names on them [08:40 PM] Bocaj: No it wouldn’t [08:41 PM] Wack'd: I mean if that is true [08:41 PM] Wack'd: Good on them for not printing male misogynists? [08:41 PM] Wack'd: But just because a point of view comes from a woman doesn't make it worth your time [08:42 PM] Wack'd: Letters like "Murder your female lead" and "I prefer when she was hysterical submissive crying and helpless" are ones you can safely ignore no matter who they come from [08:42 PM] Bocaj: Yeah [08:43 PM] Bocaj: I wish unlimited was more consistent on whether they include the letters page [08:43 PM] Bocaj: It’s interesting to me [08:43 PM] Wack'd: Same [08:43 PM] maxwellelvis: "I'm not saying I WANT her to be killed, but I don't like her saving the day and that she should get beat up more" [08:43 PM] Wack'd: Hart literally says she wants Sandman to murder her! [08:44 PM] Bocaj: Wait until Ultimate hart, ya weirdo [08:44 PM] Wack'd: Alright let's move on. The current direction, whatever it ends up being, is only going to end up mattering for another three issues anyway [08:45 PM] Bocaj: Can’t wait for you to experience Byrne so I can also vicariously

[questionsonislam]

Will you explain the verse: "Say: I have no power over any good or harm to myself except as Allah willeth" (al-Araf, 7/188)? According to that verse, does the human will have no importance?

Man or jinn wills and Allah creates. It means nothing takes place without the will of Allah in the sense of creation. Satan chose to rebel and not to prostrate using his own will, and Allah created his choice.

“Say: I have no power over any good or harm to myself except as God willeth” (al-Araf, 7:188) emphasizes creational willing. According to that verse, does the human will have no importance?

Allah has got two ways of willing.

First: Creational willing.

Second: Juridical willing.

Juridical willing: Allah shows through the prophets He sent what he likes and dislikes. This will of His manifests Allah’s orders and prohibitions. The Quranic verse which is translated as “If ye reject (God), Truly God hath no need of you; but He likes not ingratitude from His servants.” (az-Zumar, 39:7) indicates this “juridical will” of Allah’s.

The feature of this willing is that it is an order which only shows Allah’s contentedness and satisfaction and which does not include enforcement. The Quranic verse “The truth is from your Lord: Let him who will believe, and let him who will, reject (it)” (al-Kahf, 18:29) emphasizes people’s freedom in the presence of this willing. This freedom is also a requirement of the testing which people are put through.

Creational willing: This kind of willing means Allah’s creating, making and inventing. This willing is a reflection of might; it is creative, forcing and it cannot be opposed. It is possible to see the most gnomic statement about this willing in the verse which is translated as “Verily, when He intends a thing, His Command is, "be", and it is!” (Ya Seen, 36:82).

The verse which is translated as “Say: I have no power over any good or harm to myself except as God willeth” (al-Araf, 7:188) emphasizes creational willing.

As explained above, creational willing cannot be opposed or avoided as it is the last decision of Allah. However, it does not mean that it does not leave any options for human beings and forces them into things which they do not want to do with their own free-will because besides this kind of willing, there is also juridical willing. For instance, a murderer wants to kill someone without a fair reason; he puts his will into action and shoots the man to death. It happens in spite of Allah’s juridical willing which does not give consent to and which forbids that act. However, that man will not die and nobody can kill him unless the creational willing, which is the last decision of Allah, allows it.

When one evaluates the truth from this point of view, it will be seen that there is not a statement which restricts people’s freedom, in the Quranic verses regarding Allah’s creational willing. To sum up, human beings do something good or evil using their own free-will, power and self-control. And Allah creates the thing one wants to do if He wills to create it.

2. In the verse above, Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) is ordered to say clearly that he can obtain what is good for him and be protected from what is harmful for him only by the will and wish of Allah; the Messenger of Allah fulfilled that order; thus he informed people, without having any complex, that his means and abilities were limited with what Allah gave him because he was a human being and that he did not have any extraordinary power on his own. Thus, he showed his sincere allegiance to Allah indirectly and displayed an exemplary attitude as to what kind of consciousness of servitude man needs to have in the presence of Allah.

To know when the Doomsday is means to know the ghaib (unseen, unknown). A person who knows the ghaib may have the power to know what will bring good and what will bring bad things for him in the future and may act accordingly. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) stated that he did not have such a power and that his main function was to convey people information containing good news and warning in such a way to help them.

As it is seen here, our Prophet (pbuh) did not like to be attributed some qualities independent of the bounties and grants of Allah; he always emphasized that his duty was to be a good servant to Allah, to fulfill his duty of prophethood and conveying the message of Allah fully and to try to help people find the guidance. Regarding the issues like life in the hereafter, Hell, Paradise, angels, devil, which are in the scope of the ghaib and which are beyond man’s knowledge, he informed people as much as Allah let him know based on His permission; however, since he was not given any information about when the Doomsday would strike, he was ordered to tell people that he did not have any information about it.

It is not stated in the verse that Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) does not know anything about the future by any means but it is stated that he knows nothing about the future except what Allah informed him. Not everything relating to the future is regarded as the ghaib; man can have some definite information about the future and can know something based on his information about the laws of Allah regarding the universe called the laws of nature, his experience and his mind. What is emphasized in the verse is not that the future is completely dark for human beings but that man cannot have any knowledge about the beings and events and about what is useful and what is harmful unless Allah lets him.

3. In another verse regarding the issue, the following is stated: "But ye will not, except as Allah wills; for Allah is full of Knowledge and Wisdom." (al-Insan, 76/30)

While in the previous verse in the same chapter, it is stated that a person who wills will take the path to his Lord, in the 30th verse, it is stated that Allah will encompass those that He wills with His mercy. That is, sincere believers surrender themselves to the will of Allah with all of their belongings.

We were not created based on our own will; we were not born in the country where we were born based on our own will, either; the family and the environment that we belong to were not chosen based on our own wish and will. They all took place with the manifestation of the divine will. Everything takes place in accordance with the plan He has made in the pre-eternity based on His infinite knowledge and His will.

After coming to the world and reaching the age of “responsibility”, that is, the age of discretion, our wills start to take part in our lives. We are desired to be led by being notified with divine commands. At this point, we need to stop and think. After the notification and being shown the right way, a person is let choose using his own will; on the other hand, God’s will prevails as it is stated in the verse “But ye shall not will except as Allah wills”. We see the conclusion that “man is bound by the divine will within a certain limit”. A person can find the right path if He wills, but if not, he cannot. In this case, what are people held responsible for? If we just look only at the outer appearance of the verse without analyzing the indicated meaning, we might think that the claims of the Qadariyyah and Jabriyyah schools turn out to be correct. However, the matter is of ultimate importance and subtlety. It is hard to come to a conclusion unless its wisdom is comprehended. As it is stated in the 30th verse, Allah tells us about the limit of possibility and will that He has put between Him and His servants; in other words, the border of the right path. Unless a person reaches the level of that border with the help of his mind, intelligence and will, and religious advice and knowledge, Allah will not manifest His supreme will; and for this reason, the door of guidance path will not open for him.

Do we not encounter this limit regarding almost every matter? Without plowing and without any strife, by only sprinkling seeds onto dry soil, how can we expect yield from these seeds? People are obliged to do what they are expected to regarding this matter, and then, the rest depends on the divine will. At that point, we cannot will unless God Almighty wills. Unless He manifests His guidance and help, we cannot enter the right path and cannot benefit from the thing we have started.

We can summarize the issue as follows:

There is no such a decree like compulsion or invalidity of human will. What this is all about is the situation of crossing the limits of possibility and will that we have mentioned above. When that limit is reached, the divine will and guidance of the Almighty God play their roles above all sorts of will; He opens the door of guidance for the ones whom He wills or He does not open it for those whom He does not will. The door of guidance will not open for the ones who have not been able to use the will, and as a result, who will not be able to take themselves to the mentioned border.

The statement “You cannot will unless Allah wills” describes the ability to choose and to wish which Allah has installed in the creation of human; no extra meaning is included because bestowal of this kind of ability on the humankind is emphasized in a number of verses in the Qur’an with definite and clear expressions. Thus, we can count this as a strong principle of Islamic teaching. Moreover, the one who desires this will and ability to be available in man is Allah, the Exalted, Himself. For this reason, the choice of guidance or deviation by a person is within this extent. That is to say, as far as we comprehend, there is no contradiction. The fact that the verse consoles the Prophet (peace be upon him) due to negative reactions he received, that the deniers are described as “evil ones” as if it was their basic quality is a strong clue of their deviation from guidance and deserving Allah’s punishment because of their evil intentions and unjust deeds. And it stands as a message for us to interpret the statement “He takes the ones whom He wills to a right path” as “the ones with well-intentions and who desire to enter the right path.

If Allah had not granted us will in this world as a requirement of the position and the trial of this world and if He would not have let us choose whatever we wanted, then nobody would have had this kind of right to choose. O people! That is, you should know that your ability to choose denial or rebellion depends on God’s permission, too. If He had taken hold of the rope around your necks from the time you were born onwards, like He did with angels, mountains, rocks, sky, the moon, stars, the sun and plants and so on, in other words, if you had been created without your wills, none of you would have had the right to choose whatever you wanted.

Only man is provided with this opportunity. Freedom of rebelling and challenging has only been given to man based on Allah’s law. Therefore, the obedience of man is much more different than other creatures. That is, man’s obedience to Allah is different from the slave’s obedience to his master. Since freedom to rebel has been granted, man’s obedience is a lot more precious. Angels, mountains, skies, stars, the moon, animals and plants are also Allah’s servants but their obedience is their nature.

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

I saw someone recently accuse Peter of being immoral, of being selfish and ‘gaslighting’ of his friends and family in withholding his secret from them. 

My kneejerk reaction to that is to defend the character, but I sat down and really tried to inquire about the question.

My conclusion is twofold:

It depends upon the context and

He wasn’t being very nice in deceiving them...but it was far from immoral or anything else for him to do so.

I really hate cynical hot takes on the character like that so let’s talk about it.

For a microcosm I’m going to be using Peter’s more iconic supporting cast members circa the Silver Age when he was at ESU, specifically up until issue #122.

Why? 

Well to examine Peter in high school is rather redundant. However much slack you could arguably cut college era Peter for his youthfulness, you go further for High school Peter. Also he didn’t have many friends in the first place. Finally the college era simply contains the most iconic iterations of Peter’s supporting cast and social group.

I’m also not looking at every supporting cast member because who cares that he didn’t confide in Josh (do you even remember him) or Jameson (obvious).

  Before I begin to look at any of these characters we should properly contextualize things.

Peter’s secret is no laughing matter.

It’s more than just his sense of privacy and anonymity being violated.

It’s more even than his ability to have a freer hand in fighting crime and thus work faster and more efficiently, saving more people.

If people find out who he is then between the law, Jameson, criminals and super villains, it’s open season for everyone Peter cares about or is too closely connected to him, not to mention Peter himself.

Peter’s experiences with Norman Osborn learning his secret in ASM #39 alone were a major example of what he risks, of how dangerous and violent, his life could become if even one bad person learnt his secret.

And the fact is the more people who know his secret, the more likely it is that it will become compromised. Even telling just one person, if they are the wrong person, could have devastating results.

Whomever Peter potentially trusts must be able to keep a secret, keep a secret under pressure, not give anything away, be able to deal with that massive burden day in and day out and above all else be loyal to him and stand a good chance of remaining loyal to him.

A great example of what it could mean to trust someone too hastily is provided in MIles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man. The young Miles reveals his identity to his girlfriend Kate Bishop and in turn she reveals it to her parents who are in fact HYDRA agents.

Whilst this is an extreme example it nevertheless illustrates the extreme risk of trusting the wrong person with something like this.

We must keep this in mind going forward.

One final thing to keep in mind is the timeline. We’re bouncing around a bit here but we’re essentially looking at broadly Peter’s start of college to Gwen’s death (ASM #31-ASM #121). We don’t have a pinned down timeframe for that. But we do know Peter’s college years lasted about 4 years, which is standard. 2 of those years elapsed between Gwen’s death and the 1970s Clone Saga. We then got 30+ issues until Peter graduated.

Those 30+ issues combined with ASM #31-121 must therefore account for another 2 years and given how the latter is a larger span of issues than the former ASM #31-121 can logically be presumed to transpire across over a year.

For the purposes of this essay, we are presuming 18 months.

Let’s tackle these guys one by one.

  Aunt May: Beyond a doubt from Peter’s point of view absolutely not could he reveal his secret to Aunt May.

  Nowdays we might argue it was corny, possibly sexist, possibly just dumb and convenient writing to have May be so frail that learning his secret would kill her. 

Nevertheless though, that was genuinely what he believed.

Now for sure Peter didn’t tell May his secret before this...but in fairness to him he was young, dumb and she did mention more than once how she didn’t approve or like Spider-Man. Coupled with his teenage concern that she’d hate him for his role in Ben’s death it’s entirely sympathetic that Peter would keep her in the dark, not to mention he knew how much she already worried about him. 

Furthermore whilst the idea of a big shock being fatal to her wasn’t brought up before ASM #39, you could very easily argue that Peter in observing her age, trips to the hospital and frailty made a perfectly sound decision to not put her through any huge shocks or massive concerns for him.

Going forward Peter maintaining the secret can be viewed as a force of habit and to be frank even in Len Wein’s run May in the mid-late 1970s May was keeling over from too much stress and stimulation. Before that in ASM #144 she already went to the hospital upon laying eyes on a seemingly resurrected Gwen Stacy. Learning her nephew was Spider-Man? The idea that very well could’ve killed her was an entirely reasonable presumption for Peter to hold going forward.

  Thus not telling her is not selfish on his part, it’s literally saving May’s life.

  By extension it also adds fuel for him to maintain his secret in general. It isn’t even that villains could target Aunt May, it’s that merely finding out could kill her as far as Peter knows.

 Flash Thompson: This one is also rather easy.

Peter and Flash were rivals in high school. They were rivals still in college but began to mellow. It took Gwen dying and Peter losing his home for the two to truly start to connect and that bad blood was still cropping up from time to time thereafter.

In the silver age though they were simply not nearly close enough for Peter to entrust something as dangerous as his secret to someone who’d shown so little trust and loyalty to him as Peter Parker. Flash may even in Peter’s mind resented learning his hero was the guy who had such a bad history with. It didn’t help that even though they mellowed somewhat in college Flash’s trips in the military meant he and Peter spent less time together TO get to know one another.

Mary Jane Watson: Of course with hindsight we know that MJ was aware of who Peter was and was totally trustworthy.

But Peter didn’t.

He was fooled by the scatterbrained party girl facade, the woman who seemed zany enough to be impressed by a big hole in a wall.

From his perspective MJ also didn’t seem all that loyal. As a friend they were not that close, merely going out a few times, bumping into one another at Anna or May’s, and hanging out as part of the larger group.

Yes MJ was seemingly interested in him due to her flirtations but from Peter’s POV at best this was her having some fun and at worst it was her just being like that with most people.

Also from Peter’s POV MJ crossed the line at times in her flirtations with him given her relationship with his friend Harry. If she was not particularly serious or loyal with him as a girlfriend there was little reason for her to trust her as a friend with a life or death secret.

If anything from Peter’s POV MJ was the most likely to spill the beans inadvertantly. It was a concern he held even up to the 1980s when she did reveal she knew the truth.

Harry Osborn: From a certain point of view, Harry seems like the best candidate for Peter to confide in.

He was Peter’s best friend and roommate after all.

The thing is...people do tend to exaggerate that. For sure they were friends, probably one another’s best friends even. But the term ‘best friends’ denotes images of staying up late to play video games, hitting the clubs, making a routine of catching movies together or regularly shooting the breeze.

This wasn’t the nature of Peter and Harry’s relationship. They hung out together of course, but their studies coupled with Peter’s relationship, work and Spidey troubles meant that they didn’t spend much on panel quality time together, at least not outside the main group. 

It happened, but not as much as you’d think.

They cared about each other, but not to the extent the films and TV shows might play up.

In a sense Harry was Peter’s best friend almost by default. As in he was relatively speaking the person who outside of romance or family, was closest to him.

Harry though was also initially a bully towards Peter. He was initially jealous and resentful over Peter and Gwen’s relationship and at times showed similar frustrations regarding MJ’s attraction to Peter. And all that is before you talk about his major drug problem, how many pills would Harry take to cope with the burden of being Spider-Man’s BFF?

All these factors combined made Harry probably too unreliable a candidate for Peter to confide in. 

But the single biggest problem...was his Dad.

Harry had major issues with his Dad and was damaged over losing his mother. Peter didn’t know just how deep those scars went but he could tell there were problems even early into their relationship.

 Now Harry’s issues alone should realistically have made Peter think twice about confiding in him.

But the fact that his Dad was also one of his villains, the one villain who’d know who he was if not for a case of inconsistent amnesia?

It was a non-starter.

If Peter told Harry, Harry (frequently vulnerable and ever keen to please his father) would be extremely likely to let something slip to Norman. Or worse simply confide in Norman.

If Norman rediscovered his identity it vastly increased the possibility of him regaining his memories of being the Green Goblin and then game over.

In fact given Norman���s sometimes ruthless businessman life (even before he go his powers) along with his connections to J. Jonah Jameson and another senior gentleman we will be discussing below, Norman learning the truth was a huge risk even if he didn’t remember he was the Goblin.

Not to mention to ask Harry to keep this a secret from his own father whom he valued so highly would’ve been a humongous ask of Peter’s. Harry may simply have refused to do it, more than likely believing his father could also be trusted.

Gwen Stacy: Perhaps the most obvious candidate was Peter’s girlfriend.

Gwen as a confidant was a non-starter early in their relationship when she was a bully. And the same goes for later on when she blames Spidey for her Dad’s death. She was so hung up on it from Peter’s POV convincing her otherwise wasn’t really an option (this was confirmed by Gwen’s clone’s reaction to learning his secret in Spec Annual #8); also Peter’s decision made particularly more sense in light of an issue discussed below.

But later on when they had grown closer and were making no secret of how much they loved one another?

Shouldn’t Peter have told her?

Shouldn’t he have been fair to her in letting her in on the big secret?

Well actually...he did....and she took it terribly!

In ASM #87 a sickly and dazed Peter revealed his identity to Gwen, MJ, Harry and Captain Stacy.

Gwen broke down in tears, arguably becoming borderline hysterical. She didn’t want Peter’s news to be true.

Her dialogue and reaction pretty much indicate when confronted with the truth her instinct was to believe the worst of Peter.

To believe not that the stories of how horrible Spider-Man was were in fact lies because she knew Peter, but rather her loving boyfriend was in fact a pretense in truth being the menace Spider-Man.

Now this issue alone would have both confirmed Peter’s worst fears of compromising his identity on simply a social level (he would be rejected) and also persuaded him that it’s best NOT to confide in any of the people in that room, all of whom were his closest friends.

But was he being unreasonable in lying to Gwen even before this issue?

Not really no.

Gwen’s character had come to show itself as a woman who broke down in tears very easily, someone who needed her Daddy’s shoulder to support her, someone who couldn’t look after herself all that well and just...not all that strong of a person.

Asking someone like that to shoulder the huge burden of a life or death secret, over someone they are in love with no less, is practically cruel.

From Peter’s POV, Gwen wasn’t made of strong enough stuff to shoulder that burden; arguably the same went for Harry.

Even if she just couldn’t handle the stress of being Spider-Man’s girlfriend and they broke up and she left NYC, she’d still wander through life having to keep in a secret that could get Peter, Aunt May, her, and her friends murdered.

A horrible fate for the type of person Gwen seemed to be, but more importantly from Peter’s POV...she didn’t even seem that capable of handling it. Nevermind she’d suffer if she kept the secret, she simply didn’t come across as though she’d ever be able to.

This was the woman after all who, if memory serves, was concerned over Peter merely taking pictures of Spider-Man. How was she going to cope over him being Spider-Man?

Well there was one way she could cope. The same way she coped with alot of things.

Turning to her father for support.

And that...was yet another major reason NOT to tell her!

Captain Stacy: We know now George Stacy knew Peter was Spider-Man and protected that secret.

But Peter didn’t. 

Captain Stacy seemed like a nice, honorable man though. An upstanding citizen through and through. And he liked Peter a lot.

So, why shouldn’t Peter confide in him?

...Because he had major police connections.

Spider-Man’s relationship with the police was testy at best. They’d been after him more than once.

Peter liked George Stacy but he had no reason at all to believe George would be a good secret keeper, especially when the secret he was keeping was in essence being an accomplice to vigilantism. Peter couldn’t be 100% sure that George wouldn’t value the law over Peter’s own brand of justice. Or that he wouldn’t trust the authorities to keep him, Gwen, Peter and Peter’s friends and family safe, which would involve even more people knowing. Possibly even Peter going public.

On top of all this, telling George would mean either telling Gwen or else asking George to lie to his own daughter which wasn’t going to happen. In fact Peter asking GWEN to lie to her own father wasn’t going to happen either. Gwen and her Dad were simply too close, with Gwen arguably caring more for her father than for Peter. Asking either of them to choose between Peter and their closest family would be cruel and just a non-starter.

So with the Stacys, Peter’s dilemma wasn’t that he’d have to trust one of them, but both. One who seemed like he could keep a secret but had close connections to people who could ruin his life, the other someone who didn’t seem like she could keep a secret at all.

Remember what I said, the more people who know the more likely it is for a secret to get out.

Mathematically either Stacy was a bad bet.

It didn’t help that George, Jameson and Norman all knew one other and that George more specifically had connections to someone else...

Joe Robertson: Robbie is another guy we know with hindsight was totally trustworthy, but at the time, he just didn’t seem that way.

He seemed like a nice guy of course, but how well did Peter actually know him?

How close was he to him?

A lot LESS close than Robbie seemed to be with Jameson.

Jameson, he of the Spider-Man smear campaign infamy. He of the Spider Slayers and Scorpion creation business.

Robbie wasn’t just close to Jameson on a social level, he literally worked in the same building with him, interacting with him regularly.

And, similar to George, Robbie seemed a man of integrity to the point where him lying to the public about who Peter was would be a questionable bet to place on him.

Compounding everything we’ve looked at is two key factors.

The first is that Peter grew up lonely and bullied. He didn’t have any peers to really trust and so when he got them, trusting them with his most valuable secret, the thing that could destroy him, Aunt May, them, everything in his life, would likely have been something he’d have found hard to do.We might also argue that in finding friendship and a social group for the first time in his life Peter might’ve been inclined to do what he could to not push them away, which he (not unreasonably) believed revealing his identity would do.

The second more important point is...he hadn’t known any of these people for that long.

For sure, you can forge a deep connection with someone in a short space of time for various reasons.

But given how Peter wasn’t spending most of his time with these people, and what time he was was hardly intimate quality time in most cases...would he have a truly ‘deep’ connection with any of these people?

No...they are just people he’s known for less than 2 years, probably around 18 months tops. He wasn’t even friendly with all of them for all that time either.

So all in all...Peter wasn’t nice in deceiving his friends.

But...it was also an entirely reasonable course of action to take.

[lavellanscreee]

#2

1: what is your inquisitors name & race?

Falael, Elven

2: what is their sexual orientation?

Gay

3: what do they look like?

I'm gonna have to describe him since I have no screenshots of him even tho he's the cutest one

He's pale, has green eyes, white hair, a slightly long face and his nose is actually really flat but that's also the thing that made him look so cute

4: how did they feel about being called the herald of andraste?

Doesn't like it at all, makes him feel suffocated

5: what are their religious beliefs if they have any?

He may be Dalish but he actually doesn't believe in any religion

6: what is their opinion on the mage/Templar war?

He wants nothing to do with it

7: who is your inquisitors best friend

Cole

8: who is their rival

Cassandra

9; who is their love interest if they chose one? Do you ship them with anyone else/non romanceable options?

Dorian

10: rogue, warrior, mage?

Mage

11: how do they feel about the Dalish

He never fitted in with them so he's not a huge fan

12: how do they feel about the Qun?

He doesn't know enough about it, for him to understand something he has to experience it rather than hear about it

13: how do they feel about the chantry?

He personally thinks religion is pointless but like the chantry is using its power wrongly

14: which demon is most frightening to them?

All of them, they really unsettle him

15: did they choose the Qun or the chargers in Iron Bull's personal quest? Why?

Chargers, he knows them so why sacrifice them

16: when are they happiest

When he's with Dorian or Cole

17: how do they feel about the mark/anchor?

It makes him feel uncomfortable

18: upon first meeting Cole were they afraid of him?

He was more curious

19: did they use the templars or the mages to close the breach?

Templars surprisingly

20: what was their court approval like at the winter palace? Did they have any fun at all?

100, he got a bit panicked after a bit but whenever he got like that he went and talked to Dorian to calm down, did find some of the gossip funny

21: someone is encroaching on their love interest. How do they respond?

He would get jealous and be overly cuddly later on

22: what is their favourite weapon?

He actually really liked the staff he first picked up when he was with Cassandra, it's useless now but he keeps it in his room

23: are there any creatures in the wild they refuse/are reluctant to kill? Why?

Mabari, pretty much every Mabari likes him so there's no point in killing them when all they want from him is affection

24: what is their opinion on blood magic? Would they ever use it if given the chance?

He has used it before, he won't use anyone elses blood other than his own but it's something he does more to understand it and figure out if there's safer ways of handling it

25: what is their favourite place within playable regions?

Actually he really likes the snowy area (yay me not knowing the names of areas)

26: did they feel suspicious of Dorian upon first meeting him due to his Tevinter heritage?

Actually it was more love at first sight for him, getting to know Dorian made him love him even more

27: as a whole how do they feel about Tevinter + the imperium?

He's interested in it but wouldn't want to go there unless it became properly safe for elves

28: did they encourage Cullen to continue taking Lyrium or to stop? For what reasons?

He encouraged Cullen's own choice which was stopping taking Lyrium, he sees no point in changing that if Lyrium is so harmful

29: does it bother them to sleep in tents when on the road with the inquisition?

Unless it's raining he usually sleeps outside the tent, it's too stuffy for him

30: are they an optimist, pessimist or neutral?

Pessimist but somehow he makes that seem sweet? It can get hard though since he puts himself down sometimes

31: if Varric wrote a book about your inquisitor how would they feel?

He'd be embarrassed

32: do they get along with Vivienne?

No not really, they have very different views

33: are they afraid of anything specifically?

He's afraid of losing the people he loves

34: what was their reaction to the destruction of Haven?

In his case it happened a lot quicker and he had no time to get an attachment to Haven

35: how do they feel about "the game"?

It's interesting but not something he'd ever do

36: are they particularly protective of any inquisition members, even ones that can defend themselves?

Actually everyone tends to feel the need to protect him, he's given each of them their fair share of scares

37: do they like their skyhold pajamas?

Not particularly, he finds them too stiff

38: are there any insults they find to be particularly offensive?

Any prejudice insult upsets him, poor boy might seem like he's not phased on the outside but get to know him and you'll see that he's trying not to cry

39: if Varric gave them a nickname what would it be?

"ghost" only because he almost always used fade walking to get places which makes it near impossible to see the person

40: do they enjoy being the inquisitor?

It stresses him a lot but he's glad he's got friends with him

[romchomp]

My Thoughts on Chapter 39 of Citrus (and also a lot of 23 and 24)

It truly amazes me how far Citrus has come since chapter 1. Somehow Citrus has managed to go from a yuri romance with a slightly larger amount of smut and angst than usual that had about every yuri trope, to an actually endearing and heartfelt love story of two girls. I reread the first volume and then reread chapter 39 again just to make sure the vast difference wasn’t all in my head and it isn’t. The tone of Citrus has been gradually shifting since the moment back somewhere in volume two when Yuzu realizes Mei needs a family more than she needs a romantic partner. Granted, they still end up dating not too much later, but the relationship dynamic changes after Yuzu has this realization. And the change is to something much healthier. But that’s not what I really wanted to talk about in this post. I wanted to specifically talk about chapter 39 (as the title would suggest).

Chapter 39 is tightly connected to chapters 23 and 24, which are my two favorite chapters of Citrus. If you want to have a vague idea on why then I’d suggest reading this post of mine, which could also probably help you have a better understanding of what I think about chapter 39 as well.

In chapter 23, Yuzu runs into friends from her old high school who she hasn’t talked to in a while. She gets ready to show her friends a picture of Mei, expecting them to be happy for her on her relationship.

And it’s fair to say that that didn’t exactly happen.

Yuzu is typically carefree and has an attitude of doing what makes her happy before anything else. It’s why she didn’t follow the school’s dress code, it was her biggest contrast to Mei at the beginning of the series. She did what she wanted (i.e. what made her happy) without caring about the consequences- because to her, the consequences were worth it in the end. This interaction with her friends almost broke that part of her.

I mean after she tells Mei about the incident with her old friends. She says:

So we know Yuzu went into this relatively carefree- or at least carefree from outside factors in their relationship. She never expected a negative reaction like the one she dealt with. She was just about to show them a picture of Mei before they started being homophobic towards the lesbian couple across the street. This experience has messed with Yuzu on a fundamental level. She’s feeling pain and sadness because she’s chosen to do what makes her happy (date Mei). And...Uhg I just loved these two chapters in the manga because in this time when Yuzu was feeling upset and confused Mei showed Yuzu her own notebook.

And the advice is very...Yuzu. And then Mei says to her-

and we see how the two of them have gone full circle.

Now I’m finally going to talk about chapter 39. Chapter 39 pretty much reinforces how Yuzu’s encounter with her old friends affected her, plus more good advice from her mom.

Chapter 39 is basically Yuzu coming out to her family and friends. But we see how nervous she gets before telling all of them in contrast to how excited she was to tell her old friends in chapter 23.

In the page with her mom you see how she isn’t sure how she’ll react and from her facial expression, you can tell that Yuzu is stressed by that. In the page where she’s ready to tell her best friend, Harumin, about her feelings for Mei you see that while her expression is partly goofy, her eyebrows are furrowed from worry. Her previous interaction with her old friends affected how she tackled telling others about Mei. I also want to mention the sense of urgency from Yuzu in the page with Harumin. Yuzu is determined to tell those close to her about her feelings and relationship with Mei in order to fix their relationship. This chapter kind of helped me realize where Yuzu’s carelessness stops, and that’s with people she loves. When it came to Mei and even her friends, she was always caring and sensitive. Even careful at times.  

Of course. You need to take into account that Yuzu and Mei are also stepsisters, so them both being girls isn’t the only reason she’s worried about how others will react to her relationship with her. However, even without that factor, I think the emotions shown by Yuzu are relatable. The worry of not knowing how someone will react to your relationship. Or with Harumin, who she had no reason to think she wouldn’t accept her relationship, but was nervous regardless because of past experiences.

I also like the way Harumin and Yuzu’s mom reacted to Yuzu’s confession compared to her old friends.  Harumin and Yuzu’s mom where two characters that were always framed in a positive light, while Yuzu’s old friends were typically presented as shallow. I thought it was nice how the manga basically said it was shallow to not see same-sex couples as equally genuine to straight couples.

Okay, these two pages actually get me really emotional. Like, I’m tearing up as I write this right now. The look of worry on Yuzu’s face when her mom interrupts her in the middle of her outing herself about dating Mei and her expression when Harumin not only supports her feelings for Mei but offers to help her get back together with Mei is just...a lot. They're not facial expressions we’re used to seeing on Yuzu. And I don’t know, there’s something about seeing all of Yuzu’s worry being responded to with nothing but positivity from her mom and best friend that felt really good. Especially considering that Yuzu had reason to think they wouldn’t. Hell, we’ve been around these characters for 39 chapters now and we had reason to think they wouldn’t respond well too. And there was Yuzu’s mom, who went on to say some really touching stuff.

Oh god I’m tearing up again. How did Citrus turn into so much? I really like how Yuzu’s mom compared her relationship to Yuzu’s dad to Yuzu and Mei. It shows how she sees no difference between the two relationships. She also talks about how choosing what makes you happy can also cause pain, which we’ve seen Yuzu realize and experience. And she’ll probably have to experience it a numerous amount of times in the future- her mom tells her this as well. But she also says the reason she’s telling Yuzu all of this is because she sees that she’s already made the decision to be with Mei. This is...actually...a pretty good message for a yuri. Not even for a yuri but for a romance. Relationships aren't meant to be treated with a happy go lucky attitude. Sometimes relationships are difficult not because there’s anything wrong with the two people but because of outside forces like time, work, money, sickness, people, outside forces are especially hard in lgbt+ relationships. Citrus emphasizes how much it really means to care enough about someone to be willing to go through all of that.

Citrus came a long way, and I’m proud of it. This is honestly probably one of my favorite Yuri’s. It’s been revealed that the next chapter will be the last and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sad about that. (I think it’s chapter 41 that will actually be the last whoops) But hey, how things are heading, it looks like we’re gonna be getting a happy ending! Yay!

Anyways I ended writing this way later than I intended to. I’ll probably end up writing about the last chapter of Citrus as well, knowing me. And I think the new chapter come out relatively soon if it’s not already out. Like I said, I wrote this really late.

NOTE: So last night I saw on twitter that chapter 40 is out in english now. And...I was joking when I said it might be out already. I really didn’t think I was that late like it really took me a month to come up with this post im

[hunterglow224]

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Starting an online organization to sell courses or other academic items requires more than just a site with your item listings. Have you already leveraged a strategy for marketing your products and incentivizing clients? Kartra ”Affiliate Business In A Box” And how much cash will you need to put into it before you get money out of it? What about the logistics of payment plans and payment processors?

The sheer weight of all of it can be disabling, but you’re not alone. This dilemma can be fixed with the right software application.

The term “all-in-one” platform frequently creates mixed reactions. On the one hand, the simplicity and ease of browsing a single platform is really attractive. And on the other hand, it might appear too good to be true– perhaps it has all the pieces you need, but are the pieces any good? Suzuki ltr 450 oil capacity. Both responses are fair, especially when you’re online organization will rely practically completely on the software application you select.

A free version of Business-in-a-Box 8.0.4 can be found on our software library. The copyright holder of it is BizTree Inc. The software can be often named 'Business-in-a-Box Application', 'Business-in-a-Box Demo FR', 'Business-in-a-Box. Top 20 Contract Management Software (2020) Best For. Business-in-a-Box is designed to help business people get more done in less time. This do-it-yourself document templates software has been created. Turn YOUR Business Into An Automated Online Sales Machine (In Just 2 Days) Introducing Online Business In A Box™ The Online Business In A Box course is a proven and tested online implementation program that teaches you exactly how to start and set up a fully automated online business in just 2 days. Business in a box 2020 serial numbers, cracks and keygens are presented here. No registration. The download is free, enjoy.

That’s why, in this short article, I’m going to introduce you to Kartra, a platform that weds the very best of both worlds. From a single user interface, you can effortlessly produce, launch, and market your online business.

What Is Kartra?

Kartra is a cloud-based, fully-integrated internet marketing platform. An overwhelming 90% of companies won’t make it past the first 5 years, and among the most significant contributors to this statistic is that they aren’t prepared to market effectively. Kartra ”Affiliate Business In A Box”

To fix that problem, Kartra provides a detailed set of features that work together seamlessly to make it possible for even rookie entrepreneurs to succeed. Too ofetn, the need for these functions is discovered when you are deep into running an online organization. By then, it’s really challenging to backtrack; there’s too much to lose. To keep things going, you often wind up forking out a great deal of money– and developing a lot of trouble– to bolt on solutions.

Kartra requires one platform, one set of login credentials, and one fixed monthly payment to develop, launch, and market your online organization. It provides you everything you need– a professional market, appealing landing pages, subscription abilities, and an effective checkout process that’s uniquely developed to maximize customer conversion rates.

The Marketers Behind Kartra

The Kartra platform was developed by internet online marketer Mike Filsaime and Andy Jenkins in 2018. The pair formerly constructed Saas tools Webinar Jam and Ever Webinar through Genesis Digital.

Corel 2019 crack. Frank Kern, a rock star in the direct response advertising world helped build training modules and workshops for Kartra Academy. The academy is totally free for Kartra users and an indispensable resource for the all-in-one platform.

Pros

It’s an all-in-one online marketing platform

It has inbuilt funnel templates

It supplies great value for your cash

It boasts special features such as membership websites and the helpdesk

Great for beginners

It has a trustworthy video hosting capacity

Pre-made online campaignsPre-written sales copies

Affiliate system Kartra ”Affiliate Business In A Box”

Email autoresponder system inbuilt

Lots of videos to learn from

Cons

No third-party integrations

There’s not much known about Kartra because it’s a new company

It’s pricey if you are a small business owner

It’s not great when it pertains to physical products

Kartra Features

You will have all the info of your affiliates in one place, so you will have the ability to interact with them in a simpler way. You can even remain connected with them with the integrated affiliate e-mail system. This will help your network grow.

Kartra has a calendar to set up all your conferences with your clients, no matter the business design that you have. It will help you have everything organized. Your clients can set up, inspect and self handle their consultations by themselves, this tool is life changer.

This is a perfect tool if you sell items online, either physical, digital, individual and training courses. Produce a special item page and checkouts that will make your website stand apart from the rest.

Kartra has templates that you can use to develop a page, they have pre-made design templates that are different for each type of business, you just need to click the design template that fits more to your need and edit it to make it work for you.

With Kartra you can send automatic emails to follow up with your customers, and you will have the ability to develop the design templates and make the email customized for each customer.

Kartra makes it possible for you to integrate your favorite third-party apps, payment gateways and cloud/SaaS business platforms all into one convenient location. If one of your favorite tools can’t integrate to Kartra basic email them and they will help you. Kartra ”Affiliate Business In A Box”

Ready Developed Projects/ Funnels

Kartra has start to finish web marketing projects in place and they are designed by Frank Kern– a man who has generated a million in a day from online marketing campaigns. Essentially you get spoon fed a marketing system developed by among the leaders in the field.

The most work you perform in these projects is input your product name, and preferred pricing.

You can also develop your own projects if you believe they can equal Frank Kerns! Kartra utilize a drag and drop sequence builder which can permit you to automate email series and add customers to subscription lists in a personal method which helps increase conversions. Kartra ”Affiliate Business In A Box”

Taking more control of your funnel content will happen naturally as you gain experience but these templates a terrific base to begin with if you are new to internet marketing.

Business In A Box Review

Karta Review – What Can Kartra Replace?

This was the first question I asked after I went through the marketing material. It is a great way to measure how valuable Kartra could be to your organization. I started to do the math.

This is the software application I am already using or planning to use to handle my online marketing:

Landing Page Software: Leadpages $25 monthly

Email Automation: Drip and ConvertKit $41 each month or $29 each month

Form Creation: Drip, ConvertKit, and Leadpages all provide this

Course Hosting: Teachable– $39 each month

Shopping Cart: SamCart– $99 per month Kartra ”Affiliate Business In A Box”

Business In A Box 2020 Chevy

Affiliate Management: I have actually been testing iDev Affiliate. $39 each month

If you are simply beginning, you might only require Landing Page and Email Automation software application. If you are on a limited budget Leadpages $37 per month (or $25 per month if paid each year) and a totally free Drip account (free for up to 100 mailboxes), is my suggested route.

Nevertheless, if you add up all the above items you are taking a look at a beginning cost of nearly $250 monthly Kartra Starter is $89 monthly (paid yearly) If you have a bigger email list then the cost increases as displayed in the table below.

Kartra Rates

Summary of plans Kartra has 4 primary billing plans which are the Starter, Silver, Gold, and Platinum plan, which all costs $99, $199, $299, and $499. You can either pick to be billed regular monthly or yearly.

Individual Plans:

Starter Plan For this plan you’re restricted to 2,500 contacts, 15,000 e-mails each month, 100 pages, 20 items and 1 custom domain. Kartra ”Affiliate Business In A Box”

Silver Plan You will be able to have up to 12,500 contacts, 125,000 e-mails each month, and limitless pages, products, unrestricted helpdesk and 3 customized domains.

Gold Plan For this plan you’re limited to 25,000 leads, 250,000 e-mails per month, unrestricted pages, endless products and 5 custom domains.

Platinum Plan You will be able to have up to 50,000 contacts, 500,000 emails each month, and unlimited pages, products, limitless helpdesk and 10 customized domains.

Annual vs Month-to-month Rates

The distinction between the yearly and the month-to-month rates is that you will be able to save approximately 25% is you chose the annual plan.

Incentives $1 Trial

They have a special offer for a 2 week trial for just $1 and try Kartra and see if it is what you are searching for.

Refund guarantee

If for any reason you’re not satisfied with Kartra you can get a complete refund when you request it within 30 days after your purchase. Kartra ”Affiliate Business In A Box”

Final Thoughts

If you only see yourself using one of these features early on like the funnel builder then you are much better off signing up with a more funnel focused platform like Clickfunnels.

Nevertheless, if your company is or will be using numerous features then Kartra will save you a great deal of headaches in regards to cost and in getting numerous software application platforms to work well in tandem with each other.

Not forgetting the quality of each function also, especially their campaign templates, subscription sites and webinar function. Kartra ”Affiliate Business In A Box”

The $1 trial period really should likewise iron out any uncertainty but if you are uncertain about any features, simply ask me your concerns listed below in the message section.

[gegenji]

Going Going Kugane, Part 15

The Ruins of What Was - The Group Reaches Doma

[20:18](Chachanji Gegenji) > With the Nazamu boat in their possession and Tairyo reluctantly manning the helm - or oars, in this case - the group steadily made its way up the One River. The shadow of the great wall fell over them as they past through where great barriers once stood, and it seemed like they had traveled to a whole other world. What remnants of buildings they could see were burnt and worn, and the flooded Doma Castle dominated the field of view further upriver. The fisherman was - perhaps thankfully - quiet [20:18](Chachanji Gegenji) as the group pulled into docks of Doma proper.

[20:21](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara's eyes widened at how large and glorious the Doman castle looked beyond the giant walls. "Holy shit..." was all she could say as the boat pulled into the dock. [20:22](Jancis Milburga) Jancis had a bad habit of leaning on the boat, looking about and almost losing her balance had she not held onto Denz's prominent armor as needed to lean all the way back and look at the wall, get a better view of the castle, or try to look down into the river. As they docked, she had her hand in the water to get a feel for it. "All the lumber floating. Thaliak's Might..." [20:24](Denz De'bayle) *Denz's eyes looked upon the ruined castle in a mystified wonder and sadness. To see it in its previous glory, but to arrive to late and see only a flooded shadow of itself. "... What happened here?" *Somehow, Denz had not heard this story between the locals and the travelling.* [20:25](Virara Wakuwa) Virara stares up at the ruins. Her blank expression is unreadable. Impressed? Mournful? Is there a hint of recognition? But she hasn't been here... [20:25](Chachanji Gegenji) "When th' Garleans had control'a th' place... they ruled from inside our own castle..." Chachan explained quietly as he pulled himself out of the boat. His gaze, too, was on the ruins of the great Castle. "Go-nii had mentioned tha' they had flooded th' castle in order ta overcome all th' soldiers... but 's... a lot more heavy in person..." [20:26](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara's eyes widened at how large the castle fountain looked as the water feel down majestically into the river. "Holy shit.." [20:27](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara frowned and climbed off the boat, giving him a small hug from behind. She'd attempt to give him comforting pats on the shoulder as she rested her chin in his floof. [20:27](Virara Wakuwa) "..." [20:28](Jancis Milburga) "It looks that the main walls still stand. It is washing away the rest that has been soiled." [20:28](Denz De'bayle) *Denz shook his head.* "The symbol of a country's power, reduced to rubble amidst the war... 'Twould be like setting the Vault ablaze when the Archbishop turned... A victory and a defeat." [20:29](Chachanji Gegenji) "Y-yeah but... 'm jus' imaginin' all th' folks tha' were inside when it happened... how many were washed 'way in th' floodin'..." He shakes his head. "I know they were th' 'bad guys' 'n stuff but... tha' had ta have been a terrifyin' way ta go. Fleein' from a wall'a water..." [20:29](Denz De'bayle) *Denz's long legs easily allow him to make it onto the bamboo strands of the bridge, turning about to hold out a hand for Jancis.* [20:30](Chachanji Gegenji) > Chachan's sympathy for the enemy gets a snort out of Tairyo. But even that is... subdued... as if the heaviness of the atmosphere here is blunting his harsh edges. [20:31](Jancis Milburga) Jancis looks thoughtful a moment, murmuring a soft 'thank you' to Denz as she takes the hand and balances to make it to the dock with a little more work. "That is not a particularly painful or terrible end, Chachanji. That is not the most comforting thing to say.  Forgive me." [20:31](Virara Wakuwa) Virara's head turns slightly towards Chachanji, though he cannot see her visible eye. An uneasy atmosphere suffuses the air around her. [20:31](Y'zhara Zekial) "Yeah..." Zhara rubbed her chin. "If it helps... drowning is actually a peaceful death. You go out pretty quick. I know that doesn't completely help... but at least they weren't in too much pain." [20:31](Virara Wakuwa) "What does it matter? The dead are dead. Enemy or no." [20:31](Y'zhara Zekial) "What Jancis said, yes." [20:32](Virara Wakuwa) Virara strolls quietly to the end of the pier, the bamboo slats creaking beneath her. [20:32](Chachanji Gegenji) "W-well... ta be fair, I dislike any death..." Chachan gives an awkward, forced chuckle that quickly fades into an even more awkward silence. He looks down into the waters of the One River. "U-um... I guess we should go... see what remains'a Doma 'n head on past it ta th' smithy." [20:32](Denz De'bayle) *Denz looks at Y'zhara,  putting a hand to his chin in thought. Still a bit of struggling involved. Clearing his throat, he followed the lalafell off the dock, going back to look at the larger-than-life walls they had passed under.* "Your family lived here? Inside the palace?" [20:33](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara stood up and followed the group off the bambo pier. [20:34](Chachanji Gegenji) "A-ah... nah. Tha's where th'..." He pauses to think of the right way to phrase it. "... Royal family lived. We were jus' a family of smiths tha' lived out in th' foothills'a th' mountains beyond. But on th' trails ya could always find a spot 'ere 'n there where ya could see th' Castle." [20:35](Jancis Milburga) "Many other families must have lived there as well. And the castle must have asked for your father often?" [20:36](Y'zhara Zekial) "That's really neat." she'd eye the ruined walls as they walked up the slant. She'd frown a little. "This must've been really beautiful." [20:36](Chachanji Gegenji) "A-ah... well... as th' honorable Elder in Namai said... folks us'lly came ta see us. 'm sure someone from th' Castle prolly came now 'n then..." [20:38](Denz De'bayle) "Aye. On the clear days in Coerthas, you could see Ishgard for miles. Many mountains here, but such a sight must've been inspiring." [20:38]Virara Wakuwa drops to one knee. [20:39](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara blinked in surprise as they came upon the ruined outskirts and saw the creatures wandering around it. "... Are those angered Kami?" [20:39](Jancis Milburga) Jancis rounds the corner, a soft smile on her face as she looked at Denz before seeing what was left of the town, her face dropping at the old warzone, eyes leaving the elezen to the metal spikes nearby. [20:39](Chachanji Gegenji) > Thanks to the gentle rise and the rock barrier, the group didn't get a good look at Doma itself until there were already at its edges. The skeletal remains of numerous buildings lay exposed to the open air. A rare few buildings still stood, and the whole of the place was utterly infested with armored puppets and grotesque head-like creatures. [20:41](Virara Wakuwa) "A charming vista." Virara mutters, oddly. [20:41](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara frowned, knowing full well of what probably went on here. Garleans invading, villagers running and getting killed as buildings were lit on fire... this was just the aftermath. [20:41](Virara Wakuwa) "'The Old Country is a nest of twisted spirits and the dead,' eh?" [20:41](Denz De'bayle) "If those are the gods... we're gonna need a lot of offering food." [20:42](Virara Wakuwa) She mutters, in a tone that seems to mimic someone far away. [20:42](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachan's response was a bit more... dramatic. The sight caused a hissing intake of breath, looking about as if not believing what he was seeing. Not a single Spoken soul to be seen. Only their creations, left to run rampant in what was once ostensibly his hometown. [20:42](Virara Wakuwa) "Don't look away." [20:42](Virara Wakuwa) Virara mutters under her breath. [20:42](Chachanji Gegenji) "... How could I?" [20:43](Denz De'bayle) *Denz tilted his head at Chachanji's reaction, before sucking in a breath. Oh... they're here.* [20:43](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara's eyes widened and quickly walked up to him, she'd kneel down to give him a tight hug. "It's okay... it's okay..." she'd whisper as she looked on at the ruins. [20:44](Jancis Milburga) "..." Jancis' gaze turns to take in both the ruins and Chachanji's back, oddly enough following Virara's instructions as well to soak in the moment. [20:44](Chachanji Gegenji) "I... I left a'fore this all happened... I heard all 'bout it but... t-ta see it in person..." [20:44](Chachanji Gegenji) He fades into silence again, shaking his head slowly. [20:45](Y'zhara Zekial) "I know... it's probably a lot for you." [20:45](Y'zhara Zekial) "But we're going to be here for you throughout this whole experience." [20:45](Chachanji Gegenji) "This... this was me... hometown... more'r less. I thought I had gotten ov'r th' fact that it was gone but..." His voice hitches in his throat and his shoulders slump. [20:47](Virara Wakuwa) Virara, however, seems eerily calm. It was true that she didn't often show much more feeling than a doll, but she seems almost disarmingly tranquil. Perhaps it is because she has no connection to this land, despite being raised as one of them. [20:47](Y'zhara Zekial) "... You never get over things like this... once something or someone is gone from your life... it still leaves a void. Sure you have a home in Eorzea, but it's reasonable to be sad.." [20:51](Jancis Milburga) Jancis takes a slow breath, sighing and stepping forward to stand beside Virara.  “Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break.” [20:52](Denz De'bayle) *Denz simply saunters forward, left hand flapping his butt cape behind his knee as he knelt down, a hand coming up to silently mouth a prayer for the fallen. [20:53](Virara Wakuwa) Virara grips tightly at the collar of her coat. Her face is chillingly still, but her eye trembles with a muted energy. "I don't feel. Nothing like that." [20:54](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachan merely gazes quietly out at the ruins. "... W-well... m-mebbe wit th' Garleans gone... we can start takin' it back. Rebuild. 'm sure... 'm sure there are Domans plannin' right now ta try'n clean up this place... make it livable again... if'n not here... then def'nitely with folks like Papa back at th' Toll." [20:56](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara smiled. "Yeah... I think this town can be rebuilt and cleared out of the..." she rubbed her chin. "Dangerous creatures that roam the town." [20:56](Y'zhara Zekial) "I'm sure there's plans to rebuild Doma." [20:58](Denz De'bayle) *Denz stood up from his praying kneel, looking back at Chachanji.* "Which house was yours?" [20:58](★Virara Wakuwa) "To send such abominations through sixteen hells. That would be useful practice." Virara muses under her breath. "But such things are not for the soft hearted." [20:58](Virara Wakuwa) Virara's hands tighten, stonelike, behind her folded arms. [20:59](Jancis Milburga) "Yes. Just like the priest who was calling to the kami. The land can now rest and recover and then the soil will return and it will grow and blossom." She looks to Virara, "We could purge some of it. Add to the recovery." [21:00](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachan shook his head. "Not here... th' smithy's out in the foothills near Prism Lake..." He motioned beyond the ruins before him. "If'n we stay ta th' outskirts, we might be able ta get 'round... all thi'... wit'out too much trouble." [21:00](Jancis Milburga) "Foothills. If we get to Chachanji's old home first, we can see where the best place to start is." [21:01](Y'zhara Zekial) "Sure, and we can clear out whatever we come across." Zhara would stand up and summon Bunky. Since Denz appeared to be a stable tank, she figured her highest damage dealing carbuncle would help over her more bulky one. [21:01]Virara Wakuwa nods. [21:07](Chachanji Gegenji) > Sticking to the outskirts, the group was able to avoid any real encounters with the new denizens of Doma. However, as they neared the footpath that lead out of Doma and - presumably - to the mountain path Chachan had implied they would have needed to take... they found several of the armored puppets scattered about in pieces and otherwise inactive. [21:09](Chachanji Gegenji) > Closer inspection would find the damage caused by all sorts of instruments... from bladed weapons to things more mundane. The broken pieces of hoes and shovels scattered amongst them hinting to what caused the less precise injuries to the automatons. [21:09](Y'zhara Zekial) "Uhm... looks like someone was here. We should be careful... they might want to harm more than just the beasts.." [21:10](Jancis Milburga) Jancis went over to one of the derelict pieces, a large helm, and tried to lift it. The shape and torn pieces made it clumsy, and she ended up rolling it on the ground to look at its face. [21:10](Y'zhara Zekial) "Huh.." Zhara began inspecting the ruined creatures a bit closer. "... Maybe some people from the resistance wanted to start cleaning things out?" [21:11](Chachanji Gegenji) > The face was cold, expressionless. If it had any life to it, it had long since bled away from being rendered into this state. [21:11](Virara Wakuwa) Virara's dark eye slips from side to side, observing the desolated pass for any malign influence. [21:12](Virara Wakuwa) "Others may be close bye. Don't get careless." [21:12](Y'zhara Zekial) "Maybe we should keep going just in case they're still in the area? I wouldn't want us to get caught up into something potentially dangerous." [21:12](Y'zhara Zekial) "But I guess we're geared enough to deal with such stuff." [21:13](Jancis Milburga) "Agreed. If we stay out in the open and not get caught by surprise." [21:13](Chachanji Gegenji) > As if summoned by Virara's words, a pair of much more active and mobile magatsu appeared from around the corner. The remnants of whatever previous battle had taken place was all but haphazardly kicked aside, heralding their arrival with a harsh clang and clatter of metal and wood. [21:16](Virara Wakuwa) Virara's gaze overflows with unspoken malice. Somewhere in there is the tremble of wordless excitement as well. Iron knuckles flick into her grasp. [21:17](Jancis Milburga) Jancis' eyes locked on the new machines that arrived, her hand going back to her staff, the light ring of the bell on it as it sank into her and and came around her body. [21:18](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara pulls out her book and remains grounded for now. Bunky was arched over, ready to attack when Zhara was. [21:22](Chachanji Gegenji) > The pair of puppets, seeming to sense the impending threat, turn towards the group. With a screeching of steel on steel, they draw their swords - the blades themselves as big as a man. They move forward ponderously to intercept our heroes.

[21:24](Jancis Milburga) Gasping, it's a quick reaction from Jancis to start casting, her words flinging about and focused at the ground, hoping to push up around the machines' feet and knees to slow them down or trip them up. [21:27](Chachanji Gegenji) > The rocks strike true, denting the leg plates of the behemoths, but it only seems to slow their approach for a moment - staggering them as they process this sudden hindrance. [21:27](Denz De'bayle) *Denz was a silent watcher as they moved through the destroyed village, having since kept himself on the look out for attackers. When they neared the outskirts and seemed in the clear, he was lax in seeing the automatons approach and draw steel. He grit his teeth, drawing his own tiny longsword in comparison, before dashing to the fore of the ground to intercept the pair's path.* "I am your enemy!" *He brandished his weapons in a ready position.* [21:28](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara still remained still, waiting for the perfect time to release her carbuncle into the fight as Denz and Jancis began to make their moves. [21:29](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachan is quick to move to Denz's side, a sudden determination in his posture and expression. He wasn't decked out in his armor, but he had his hammer and a desire to aid in removing a couple more obstacles that might hurt his friends or his people. [21:32](Virara Wakuwa) Virara flings her body towards the armor, leaping over the upraised stones from Jancis' spell and swinging her right arm downward as she glides by, the strike parting the air into wisps of white vapor. [21:33](Denz De'bayle) *Denz points his sword swiftly at the openings of the creations' limbs.* "Chachanji! The joints! Virara, distract the right one!" *He pointed to the one she was already attacking.* "You two! Make them bleed for every swing!" *His vague instructions allowed Jancis and Y'zhara the freedom to either protect or attack as need be. With that, Denz dashed forward, slamming his shield into the left armor's kneecap, before stabbing his sword into the open joint.* [21:34](Chachanji Gegenji) > As Denz and Chachanji move into position to each take the attention of a magatsu each... the clang of Virara's hora connecting with one of the puppets' leg plates echoes through the otherwise quiet ruins. The impact leaves a sizable dent in its wake... but it seems she has failed to hit anything of value. [21:34](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara would point at one of the Magatsus. "Bunky... Wind Blade, now." The carbuncle would let out a noise before charging with wind aetherical energy toward the armored creature. [21:36](Jancis Milburga) Jancis' words took a new tone, something more inspiring in a way for the familiar ring to it as aether started to gather around her allies, flakes of stone and the like passing by and easily seen in the adrenaline waiting to scatter and take some of the brunt of any blows that might land. [21:37](Chachanji Gegenji) > Denz's blade has a bit more luck. One of Jancis' stones had warped the leg armor of his target enough to give him a clear shot into the inner workings. There's a horrible grinding and a shower of sparks as the Elezen's blade catches... something. The movements of the leg become stilted and awkward, doing it no favors as the combination of Bunky's powerful wind aether assault sending it toppling over backwards. It was down, but by the way it was moving... it certainly wasn't out quite yet. [21:38](Virara Wakuwa) Seeing her last blow ring ineffective, Virara lands, wheeling on her heels in a tight circle to strike the armor in the back of its leg with both hands, delivering an uncanny pressure. Her coat billows in her wake, revealing a brace of strange black boxes surrounding her sides, probably containers for her knuckles.* [21:40](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara smiled, happy at the outcome of Bunky's attack. "Good, very good. Shockwave!" Bunky would press his paws into the ground at Zhara's company before jumping up, and then landing straight to the ground, creating a mini earthquake, potentially causing damage to both targets. [21:40](Chachanji Gegenji) As Virara moves into a new position, Chachanji is also in motion - trying to keep the brute's automated attentions on him so she might find a better vantage point. His eyes trace over its form, seeking weak points in its armor. Denz had correctly identified the joints as a weak point... but the little smith could read far more in the armor than the Elezen like knew. Finding one such weakness, he leaps in for it with his hammer. [21:42](Jancis Milburga) Jancis watched the mechanical 'beast' fall over, conjuring an orb of water over its prone form to have it drip and rain down on the armor, hopefully to get into the cracks and make more sparks happen. [21:44](Chachanji Gegenji) > Chachan certainly had his opponent's attention, and his attempt to strike at a weak point is rather soundly interrupted by the behemoth's sword being stabbed into the ground in front of him. He only barely stops short enough to avoid running into it. However, he was distraction enough for Virara to find a more vulnerable spot, her strike sending a lattice of fractures through the automaton's leg and forcing it to a knee. [21:46](Chachanji Gegenji) > Bunky's sudden seismic upheaval further keeps both magatsus from getting back to their feet, leaving Denz's wide open to being assaulted by Jancis' watery attack. However, no noticeable sparking occurs! [21:47](Denz De'bayle) *Denz wrenched the blade out of the blade, surprised with how effectively it had affected the beast. Seeing it's neck draw closer, he hopped backwards, before grabbing his blade in both hands. As he rushed forward towards the first machine, he was splashed with water, failing to deter him as he hopped up and brought down his blade for the Magatsu's neck with a loud roar.* [21:48](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachanji was likewise not about to be denied. With Virara disabling its movement, the green-haired Lalafell darts around the sword - now being used more as support than as a weapon - to strike at the puppet's midsection! [21:50](Virara Wakuwa) Virara vaults over the metal beast, the earth's force clinging to her body as she thrusts both palms down at the metal armor's gut, looking to provoke a catastrophic shatter from the fighting doll's core. [21:54](Jancis Milburga) Jancis echoed Denz's call, focusing a stone on the swordarm of the machine to damage it or weight it down to keep it away from Denz and his attack. [21:56](Y'zhara Zekial) While Bunky was doing normal hits and tackles to the puppet that Denz was focusing on Zhara would begin summoning a second carbuncle, her new red one! Bunky's size would shrink as the new carbuncle came onto the battlefield. "Bunker!" she'd point to the puppet that Chachan was focusing on. "Attack it while it's down!" the carbuncle, who was half it's size just like Bunky was would charge it and began to assist Chachan in keeping it down. [22:00](Chachanji Gegenji) > The tag-team assault of Virara and Chachanji are quite successful in puncturing their opponent's armor. Chachan's hammer finds a weak-point, causing another spider-web of fractures... but this one is immediately acted upon by Virara, whose strike shatters the breastplate entirely - revealing the clockwork innards of the thing along with the crystal that gives it life. [22:02](Chachanji Gegenji) > Denz's strike is similarly impressive, perhaps moreso due to removing the head of the machine single-handedly with a vicious chop of his blade. Its expressionless face drops to the earth with a clang to land near the one Jancis had been observing earlier. However, it seems beheadings aren't enough to stop the thing! It would have caught the poor Elezen offguard if Jancis' well-timed attack hadn't intercepted the blow meant for him! [22:03](Chachanji Gegenji) > It's this sort of scene Bunker joins, harrying Chachan and Virara's opponent as it swipes at all three opponents in a wide sword arc to try and make space for itself! [22:05](Virara Wakuwa) Virara hunkers down, doubling back with a quick half-step and raises both arms. Her thick coat shouldn't provide that much defense, but her slanted arms and small, boulder-like posture, seems to minimize the damage, causing the blade to shove her back, but she is otherwise unharmed. [22:06](Jancis Milburga) "Quarter?!" Jancis calls out to Denz, the short confusing question she can spare before she gets caught up in calling on the elements, trying to do her part and make a sharp sleet of stone to come down once more on the armor of the swordarm. [22:07](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachan is a bit more... dramatic with his defense. The blade is too big for him to evade at this range and he isn't as combat-savvy as his partner in this combat. So he goes for what seems like the crazy play. His hammer swings around to meet the behemoth's with a horrendous clang of steel on steel! [22:08](Chachanji Gegenji) Unfortunately, he misses the point he was aiming for and the beast's greater weight and momentum sends the green-haired Lalafell tumbling into the dirt a short ways away. [22:09](Denz De'bayle) *He grunted as the automaton still functioned after being beheaded, but was indeed saved by Jancis' attack. He held up his shield on reflex, before lowering it to leap forward and stab it into its chest and attempt to crash it to the ground. [22:10](Virara Wakuwa) Virara doesn't spare Chachanji a glance as he tumbles by. He's fine; if he wasn't, he couldn't have made it this far. Instead, she immediately returns to the offense, drawing a thick black chain from her coat and swinging in a wide arc before letting it streak, meteor-like, towards the caved-in chest of the armor. [22:15](Y'zhara Zekial) Bunker looks over at Chachan but otherwise continues his clawing. At this point the Ruby carbuncle was assisting Virara and would get out of the way of the wide arc when she swang at the armor clad creature before jumping up and charging at it. Bunky did the same with Denz and mostly assisted him during his fight with the other Magatsu. Meanwhile, Zhara stayed in the background, casting minor healing spells where it was needed. When Chachan hit the ground she'd move over closer to him and Virara [22:16](Y'zhara Zekial) giving him a few quick heals to any flesh wounds or road burn he got. [22:18](Chachanji Gegenji) > Jancis and Bunky's continued harrying kept the magatsu from being able to levy much of an attack on its closest opponent. Either by luck or pure happenstance, the Elezen's blade digs into the chestplate and strikes crystal! The action causing the whole thing to shudder and jerk as if it had been struck by lightning. The wild flailing, however, could also catch Denz up in the whirlwind of limbs if he's not careful! [22:20](Chachanji Gegenji) > The other automaton moved to continue its attack on the only one it really had managed to knock around, but Bunker's interception saw a stop to that. Reeling from the surprise ruby-hued attack, it only just managed to get its blade in the path of Virara's chain - the links wrapping around it and catching. It was suddenly a tug-of-war between the purple-haired Lalafell and the armored behemoth over control of the weapon! [22:25](Virara Wakuwa) Virara is lifted bodily by the huge blade and swung about. As strong as she is, she's not quite heavy enough to prevent him from tossing her about. Her blows carry an abnormal weight to them, but only in sudden bursts, so it would seem. Instead, she relinquishes the chain, and is flung to the ground, rolling across the dirt before rising to one knee. [22:25](Y'zhara Zekial) At this point Bunker was watching the ongoing tug of war fight between the creature and Virara. Zhara began to mutter an encantation [22:27](Y'zhara Zekial) toward the beast struggling to take control of his weapon. All of a sudden she'd summon a glowing triangle which shot toward the creature like a boomerang, if hit, the creature would begin to feel weakened as small bits of aetherical damage would happen over time. [22:29](Denz De'bayle) *Denz was suddenly flung to and fro as he felt the tip of his blade hit resistance within the device. Letting out up and down pitched yelps, he attempts to pull out his blade and leap from the machine's chest before he took any strikes.* [22:30](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachan, revitalized by Zhara's magicks, was quick to scramble back to his feet. Seeing his fellow Lalafell being tossed around, and is a lot less dismissive of it than she was. Seeing that crystal out in the open, he rushes forward under the cover of Zhara's more offensive spell. Leaping up its leg, he'd sheath his hammer for but a moment before unsheathing the thing in a vicious arc that'd seek to strike - and perhaps even shatter - the crystal in the behemoth's chest. [22:32](Jancis Milburga) Jancis stared at Denz as he managed with the flailing machine. Unable to get a clear hit on the beast without risking getting Denz as well, she waits until he is clear, trying to aim a staglamite at the gaping hole Denz created in the chest. [22:38](Chachanji Gegenji) > It was as if the two attacks had been made in unison. Jancis' stalactite slamming into Denz's magatsu as Chachan's hammer struck at the heart of his. There was a crackling, a crinkling, and then an explosion of shards as both crystals shattered. Both automatons spasmed, jerked about, then went still. [22:40](Jancis Milburga) Jancis stayed tensed, staring at the one Denz had just been on, words hanging in the air ready to strike again, and maybe again, trying to use her aether sense to see if she felt anything from it. [22:40](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachan was already on the way out as the crystal on his, actually managing some manner of awkward somersault in the air as the shards cascaded around him. He landed on his feet, staggered a couple steps from the awkwardness of the landing... and then put his hammer away once more.

[22:42](Virara Wakuwa) Virara sighs calmly, and takes a moment to tug at her right arm, then her left, adjusting the harness under her coat perhaps. She slips her iron knuckles into her coat pockets, despite their twisted and otherwise ruined shape. She calms herself, normalizing her breathing, like a tranquil pool of water. [22:42](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara sighed in relief once the Magatsu's were down. She'd dismiss both of her carbuncles which turned into large balls of aetherical energy before disappearing. She'd smile and give a thumbs up. "Nice job. Good team work." [22:43](Chachanji Gegenji) "Y-yeah... was a team effort," Chachan agreed, brushing himself off. "Ya opened up th' chest fer me, y'know?" [22:43](Denz De'bayle) "Everyone okay?" [22:44](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara looked around at the party. "I think so... are you okay? You were mostly on the front lines, I was in the back." [22:44](Chachanji Gegenji) "I took a bit of'a tumble... but Zhara got ta me akay. How 'bout ya, Virara? It tossed ya a bit there..." [22:44](Virara Wakuwa) Virara shrugs, rolling her shoulders with a stiff creak. She seems fine outwardly, though scraped up from the fall. Dust settles in the air from the edges of her tattered coat. [22:45](Virara Wakuwa) "It was nothing. The tigers were much worse." [22:46](Jancis Milburga) "I am unharmed." Jancis finally answered as she lowered her guard, her eyes relieved and smiling at Denz enough to show her admiration. [22:46](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara would patch up some of Virara's flesh wounds with her only healing spell, but wasn't able to heal any big wounds or serious injuries like Jancis would be able to do. [22:46](Virara Wakuwa) Virara accepts the healing. She quivers a little as the scratches knit themselves up, but otherwise doesn't respond much. A stoic nod in thanks. [22:47](Denz De'bayle) *Denz looks himself over.* "I think there are no wounds on myself. Good work, team. We should press onwards." [22:48](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara turned to look toward the mountain road they were going to take. "Yeah.. .good idea." she'd look ahead, admiring the beauty of the road. [22:48](Jancis Milburga) "Agreed." She reaches a hand out to Denz, closing the distance to grab his for a minute before relaxing it. "Thaliak only knows how none of that chaotic flailing hit you." [22:50](Denz De'bayle) *Denz sheathed his weapons, eyes going to Jancis and taking up her hand silently.* [22:51](Chachanji Gegenji) Once Chachan had made sure everyone looked like they were okay and tended to, he led them onward. Perhaps with a bit more confidence in his step for having done at least a little to help in the reclamation efforts of his hometown. [22:51](Jancis Milburga) Jancis' hand loosened after a minute, avoiding on hindering the knight if anything else came their way. [22:53](Chachanji Gegenji) Another expanse of wall passed over them as they moved into more mountainous terrain. Perhaps these were the foothills of which Chachan spoke. It was hard to tell too much - the fog was thick here just as it had been with Namai upon their arrival. [22:53](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara smiled, feeling glad that Chachan was a little bit perkier than he was earlier. [22:53](Y'zhara Zekial) She'd gasp a little as she looked up at the rocky mountain faces that surrounded them. [22:56](Chachanji Gegenji) > It wasn't long until Chachan paused again. This time, the weather seemed to be agreeing with him. The fog dissipated just enough to show a series of lakes spread out before them. Each tier a different color from the others. Like someone had spilled a liquid rainbow down the mountainside. [22:58](Virara Wakuwa) Virara relaxes her body, shuffling some of the stiffness out of her form after the fight. She watches the deep valley and its plumes of vapor, the colors dancing across her eye. [22:58](Virara Wakuwa) "A strange place. Master's home." [22:58](Virara Wakuwa) "... Or was it? Hm." [22:59](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara looked out over the series of lakes, chuckling a little as she looked on and admired them. "Wow... is this.. prism lake? It's so beautiful." she'd scratch her head as she continued staring in awe. "I... wouldn't blame your parents if they wanted to reclaim their land. This place... it's magical." [23:00](Chachanji Gegenji) "A-ah, yeah. Th' smithy is up th' mountain a ways, overlookin' all this..." He makes a wide motion with his hand. He pauses, then chuckles awkwardly. "W-when I was real litttle, I usedta think each'a th' pools tasted diff'rent 'cuz they was diff'rent colors." [23:01](Denz De'bayle) *Denz walked forward to see the incredible view of the mountainous valley and the Prism lake, once more caught in the wonderment and unable to speak.* [23:01](Virara Wakuwa) Virara pauses, pressing a small finger to her round chin. "You were building poison resistance?" [23:02](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara laughed a little more. "Oh like the orange ones taste like oranges, and the green ones might taste like green faerie apple and the blue ones like blueberries? Because I'm kind of thinking that as an adult." [23:02](Chachanji Gegenji) "I-I didn't act'lly drink any'a it... It was jus' somethin' I thought." [23:02](Y'zhara Zekial) "Oh I don't think it would be very smart to drink it, no." [23:03](Chachanji Gegenji) "A-anyroad... it ain't much further 'till we get ta th' smithy..." [23:03](Jancis Milburga) Jancis gazed out over the valley, going from each color, then to the four companions ahead, taking in their reaction with just as much as the bright colored waters. [23:03](Y'zhara Zekial) "Alright well it looks mostly safe to cross." [23:04](Jancis Milburga) "Maybe we can taste a couple." [23:05](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara shrugged at Jancis. "I don't know if we could purify the water, but maybe." [23:05](Chachanji Gegenji) "I... uh... think th' color's due ta th' crystals by each'a th' lakes... so... um... mebbe it might be safe ta drink? I 'unno." [23:06](Virara Wakuwa) "Aether poisoning, likely." [23:06](Chachanji Gegenji) "O-oh. Um. Good point... 's-specially wit my... um... condition. Might not be a good idea..." [23:07](Virara Wakuwa) Virara blinks curiously at Chachanji, but says nothing about his malady, wisely enough. "Yes. Unwise. Unsafe." [23:07](Denz De'bayle) *Denz snapped back to reality as the thought of giant Chachanji crossed his mind.* "Hnnngh... Aye, let's keep moving. One last mountain to climb." [23:07](Jancis Milburga) "We still must needs return to the dock. Perhaps another time, then." Jancis conceded, looking at the beautiful colors. [23:08](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara nodded as she began climbing down the cliff, wanting to get a closer look at the lake. [23:08](Chachanji Gegenji) "Ah... m-mebbe," he agrees with a nod before hopping down the side of the hill, sliding down a bit as he lets gravity do its work. Once on relatively level footing, he makes his way towards the lakes themselves. [23:09](Virara Wakuwa) Virara approaches the ledge, takes a long, cautious look, then hops off, sliding down along its rough, uneven edges, hopping from outcropping to outcropping with the easy grace of an opo-opo. [23:10](Denz De'bayle) *Denz blinked, craning his long neck over the ridge to make sure he could make it down in his plated stature safely. He leans backwards as he skids his boots against the dirt and slides down the hill, taking long steps to slowly halt his momentum at the bottom.* [23:10](Jancis Milburga) Taking her staff again, Jancis heads down the short hill, murmuring as the winds pick up around her and soften the drop. [23:12](Chachanji Gegenji) > Chachan leads them on a winding path through the lakes, allowing them all a good look at each of the tiers of pool and their vibrant colors. As they pass the brilliant crimson on the highest tier, he meanders up a path that seems almost camoflagued against the rock face. Had one not known it was there, they might have thought he was walking on air as he continued up on a slight angle over the lakes. [23:13](Jancis Milburga) The desire to touch the colorful water was strong, Jancis walking by part of it just long enough before she reached down to try and trail her fingers through one. [23:14](Virara Wakuwa) Virara's eye widens visibly as Chachanji seems to ascend with such lightness that he seemed one of the sages who feasted on air and glided on clouds. She must climb carefully and slowly up after him, not knowing the path nearly as well. [23:15](Chachanji Gegenji) > The water is cold and clear, Jancis' fingers seeming to take the hue of the waters while within them. It is but an effect of the water, however, and her fingers retreat from the pools unstained once she removes them. [23:17](Jancis Milburga) A childish happy smile comes and goes from her face, looking at her hand one more before picking up her feet and hiking up the rough path. [23:24](Chachanji Gegenji) > Once the path was known, it was actually a relatively simple climb... if only treacherous due to the width being a couple ilms short of comfortable and no manner of railing other than clinging to the rock face. It followed the curve of the mountains before Chachanji seemed to... disappear into the mountain itself. [23:25](Virara Wakuwa) Not allowing herself to overthink the climb, Virara simply puts one gloved hand ahead of the other, clasping an iron piton in her teeth in case she needs it with an expression that unconsciously resembles a wild dog. She creeps upward to where Chachanji disappeared and observes for the way onward. [23:26](Chachanji Gegenji) > It was no trick. The path just curved into the mountain itself - heading into a cleft before delving into what looked like a cave tunnel of some sort. [23:28](Virara Wakuwa) Virara's purple coat likewise disappears into the mountain. [23:28](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara carefully watches her step, especialy since the width of the path was very thin. She'd then eye the cave tunnel and would look up at the mouth of it curiously. She continued to remain behind Virara and in front of Denz and Jancis as they continued their trek. She didn't see Chachan up ahead very well but assumed that he was okay, since he knew where he was going. [23:31](Jancis Milburga) Looking around had made Jancis miss the point where Chachanji went out of view, following Virara's movements. Her pace was slow to keep her feet steady in the thin path. She paused halfway up, looking back at Denz. "I can see why the village elder held this place in such rumor. This path is more of a test than anything else." [23:32](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara turned her head and chuckled. "Yeah... I thought that maybe the smithy would've been destroyed by the Garleans for sure... but I don't know how the Garleans would've been able to find this place. It might still be in tact." [23:33](Chachanji Gegenji) > The cave itself had its own surprises. Not but a couple fulms in, it tilted upwards sharply. The cave itself was sizable enough to fit a Reaper in... and that might be exactly what had gone through here. The otherwise smooth angle upward was littered with divits that looked far too large and too smooth to have been made by animals. [23:34](Chachanji Gegenji) > On the plus side, it made the climb in the low light of the tunnel all that much easier. [23:35](Jancis Milburga) "Quite possible. Depends how well it is concealed from above. And if it is still intact, how could anyone move the mass of smith tools with such a limited means of access?" [23:35](Virara Wakuwa) Virara dips in and out of the large pits, as they're almost large enough to acommodate her. She crawls upwards showing no sign of exhaustion or soreness, though she does pause momentarily from time to time to be sure of her path forward. [23:35](Denz De'bayle) *Denz at first was alright with the climbing, until his larger frame seemed to lack space and his teeth were grit in stress until there were able to get into the cave. He sort of flopped into it, before looking up at Jancis.* "Wh-... who builds a -house- up here?!" *Grunting, he looks down on the cave floor to see the divets, examining them closely before standing up and following the lalafell further.* [23:38](Jancis Milburga) Jancis took a break, leaning her weight into the climbing holds as she looked down at Denz, "I do not know how. Someone more focused and determined on not being found than your cousin." [23:39](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara climbs up the steep slope using the divots as support as she made her way up. She would look upward to see if she could see Chachan... no sign of him. [23:39](Chachanji Gegenji) > The tunnel's harsh incline ended as abruptly as it began - or at least it felt that way with the added benefit of the divots - with a plateau that housed the other mouth of the tunnel. Through it, one would likely first almost stumble over the still form of Chachanji. Only afterward would one understand why. In a natural clearing in the mountain, set on a small land mass in a clear, shallow lake... [23:40](Chachanji Gegenji) > ... was what was likely once a smithy. Though, that was only identifiable by the blackened forge that was all that remained recognizable in the rubble. [23:42](Chachanji Gegenji) > Around it, a lot of the plant-life looked like it had recovered from some manner of damage as well. Jagged, blackened tree stumps jutted from the ground like angry, unkempt fangs, surrounded by scraggly brush. Reaver prints and the gashes left by their weaponry were still visible even through the attempts of nature to cover them up. [23:46](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara frowned as she took in the scene, she actually had some hope that maybe the smithy was still in tact, but she was wrong. She'd quietly and slowly approach Chachan and would kneel down right next to him silently as he remained quiet and frozen still. She didn't say anything, just waiting for Chachan to take it in and react first before saying anything. [23:47](Jancis Milburga) Jancis managed the rest of the way, climbing up and taking in the scene, eyes going up to the open sky for a moment as if anything could come down and do more damage, taking in the scene and even scrutinizing bits of rubble, as if she could rebuild what it was in her mind. [23:49](Virara Wakuwa) Virara comes to a stop at the edge of the lake. She doesn't say anything, instead observing Chachanji's reaction with curiosity. It isn't likely that there is much she could say that wouldn't harm him, unlike the others. Perhaps she realizes that. [23:52](Chachanji Gegenji) > By what one could tell from the charred outline of brick and wood... the place was designed in an almost angular U-shape. The front likely being where the "shop" part of the front of the smithy was, with the blackened forge jutting up from the arm behind it. The other was likely the residential side - where the Gegenji family had lived for generations. Until the Garleans chased them out and burned it to cinders. [23:54](Denz De'bayle) *Denz's labored breathing was calmed as they came up to even ground, eyes scanning the charred remains of the once great house. The sharp orbs looked around for any sign of danger, wandering a bit from the group. [23:54](Chachanji Gegenji) > The open air area in its center, given the mess of blackened, jutting stumps and overgrown mass of plantlife that was creeping out over the rest of the layout, was like once a garden. [23:55](Chachanji Gegenji) > It's almost deathly silent here. Just the faint whistling of the wind, the gentle burbling of the water, and the quiet sound of a Lalafellin heart breaking. [23:56](★Jancis Milburga) Denz's movement catches Jancis' eye, following along as Chachanji still said nothing. But her feet went towards the front edge of what was left of the building's foundation. She looked through the growing plants, pushing some of them away in an attempt to try and sort through the rubble, trying to make piles of like burnt items for what she could lift. [23:59](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara would simply give Chachan's hand a small squeeze before standing up and picking up Jancis's idea to look over the ruins. She'd walk into the water to the land where the building once stood. She mostly was exploring the place and the yard as she rebuilt the place in her head. [23:59](Chachanji Gegenji) > Getting to the front wouldn't be difficult at all. Several wide, flat stones had been apparently purposely set to allow one to make it to the island with a few wide hops. There wouldn't be too much to find. Twisted heaps of scraps melted by the firepower of the Garlean's magitek. Burnt scraps of leather and blackened swatches of chain. It almost seemed a wonder that the forge itself had remained standing under all that. [0:04](Virara Wakuwa) Virara wordlessly stops by Chachanji's side and drops to her knees, sitting quietly by him. Her lips form a flat, calm line, and he cannot see her eye from that side. Outwardly, at least, it seems like she is as stony as ever. But perhaps the way she stares at the ruined forge suggests a mind stirring with a desire to understand? [0:07](Jancis Milburga) The lack of finding anything wasn't showing on Jancis' face, she did put the metals in one pile, the chunks of other things in like piles. The corner she started in was growing a bit, the pile corner, as she worked her way towards the forge. She wasn't going to make it any time soon, leaning into a bigger piece of with both hands and some scuffled noises, pushing it down and out of the way, or dragging larger items that were hard to get a good hold on and lift. [0:10](Chachanji Gegenji) > Closer to the forge, she'd find more and more metallic remnants. Though, it was hard to tell what was actually damaged in the razing and what had simply been left incomplete. There was even a couple intact items. Most notably, what looked like a katana in a burnt and tattered sheath. [0:11](Denz De'bayle) *Denz's patrol continued around the outskirts of the shallow lake, moving to the opposite end of the lake and checking the back area for anything out of the ordinary.* [0:13](Chachanji Gegenji) > The rest simply seemed like the broken remains of other necessities of a forge - a blackened and slightly-melted anvil, a shattered work bench, a pile of used charcoal that had likely only been 'used' by proxy of being in the fire that burned the place down. [0:14](Chachanji Gegenji) > If there was any wildlife around, it was avoiding Denz. There was a sort of quiet, sad serenity to the place. [0:14](Jancis Milburga) Jancis was sweating now. She'd taken off her satchel and staff out of the space she was working in. Spotting something actually in tact, she took a breath and then went back to her belongings to get a handkerchief. Using that to keep her dirt and rust-covered hands from making the sheath worse, she climbed over other rubble to show it to Zhara and hand it to her, nodding back to Chachanji. "Mayhaps he would like this." [0:15](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara eyed the shealth and smiled. "Oh cool find Jancis, thanks." she'd take the weapon and would continue exploring, she'd start checking out the gardens and the leftover yard as she attempted to imagine Chachan playing with his brother outside. She remembered how fondly he spoke of play time with his brother as she held the katana with both hands. [0:19](Chachanji Gegenji) > The garden was certainly overgrown and unkempt at this point, but it still have enough definition to it that it wasn't hard to tell where one section was being used to grow vegetables, and the twisted remains of a bench amongst burnt stumps a sitting area to rest and enjoy the serenity of nature. The very center was still... somewhat clear - likely where a young Chachanji flitted about with a stick pretending to be a hero. [0:21](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara smiled weakly at the garden before finally stepping off the land mass and using the stepping stones to get back over to the side. She'd look down at Chachan and knelt down next to Virara and him, setting the sword in front of them. [0:21](Virara Wakuwa) "You should look. It is still your home." Virara muses quietly under her breath. [0:22](Virara Wakuwa) "?" She peers up at Zhara, eyeing the sword curiously. [0:22](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara looked over at Virara. "Jancis found this near the forge." [0:23](Jancis Milburga) Jancis was getting to the point her arms were getting sore, more and more bits by the forge proper getting dragged out of the way and the piles closer and closer. [0:23](Chachanji Gegenji) That seemed to snap him out of it for a moment, limply dropping to his knees to take up the katana and look almost blankly at it. After a moment, he set it down again and... with a gait that would have you think he was drunk or something... he weaved his way into the lake and waded his way towards his lost home. [0:25](Chachanji Gegenji) > As for the forge itself, it seemed the most intact thing there. As a thing that dealt exclusively with high heats, perhaps that's why it was the only thing to do so. However, the base around it was rather sturdily constructed as well, with many of the stones that made it up blackened but intact. [0:25](Virara Wakuwa) "Nn?" Virara follows him as persistently as his shadow. For whatever reason, she didn't seem to want to be far. [0:26](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara picked up the katana and followed Chachan back over to the house. She was really worried for him since he had never acted this way before. [0:26](Denz De'bayle) *Denz halted in the spot where his comrades walked across the water. Sucking in a breath, he followed behind slowly, unsure if he was meant to walk these grounds. Like walking about a grave.* [0:26](Chachanji Gegenji) > In fact, a section of it seemed a bit... too well-maintained. Curious fingers would find one of the cornerstones... could actually move, revealing a cavity beneath the forge. [0:27](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachan, however, seemed intent on flopping his way to the other arm of the house, away from the forge. There, he collapsed in a section there and began digging up... what looked like burnt remnants of scrolls and books. [0:27](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara tilted her head as Jancis began looking into the strange secret hideaway under the forge. "Huh... what's in there..." she'd kneel down next to Jancis. [0:30](Jancis Milburga) Seeing Chachanji move gave Jancis more energy, brushing off the forge where she could of dirt to show what had stood the test of time and war, until her hand found a part that moved all too well. Looking up at Zhara, she held her breath and carefully tried to pull out the stone, holding it up in her hands. "I am unsure. See anything?" [0:30](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara squinted her eyes into the dark hole to see if she could see anything of note. [0:32](Chachanji Gegenji) > Within the cavity was a long box, its surface thick with grime and dirt and dust and neglect. It had a lock on it, though, so it was obviously some manner of importance. [0:32](Virara Wakuwa) Virara wordlessly stoops beside him and begins digging with hound-like vigor. She seems determined to be of some use to him. [0:33](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachan doesn't seem to really be digging up anything in particular. With Virara's help, they mostly just unearth what looks like remnants of storybooks, a couple arcanist tomes, and some rather odd scraps of yellow-hued cloth that seem to have a bit of a feather pattern to them. [0:34](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara grunted as she reached in and grabbed the box, she'd tug and pull until she managed to get it out. She panted a little as she tried to open it. ".... It's locked. Where do you think Papa Gegenji kept his keys?" [0:35](Chachanji Gegenji) > Once it was out in the light, the two of them would notice that it wasn't a key lock, but a puzzle lock. Several squares that could be slid about. The engravings on it seemed to hint that... if done correctly... it'd make an image of something. [0:36](Jancis Milburga) "I would not know. Never seen a lock like that before. Lovely box, though. Did he ever mention making boxes before?" [0:36](Y'zhara Zekial) "Ooo um... a puzzle..." Zhara started playing with the puzzle pieces, sliding them and experimenting with them. She'd hold the puzzlebox outward so that Denz and Jancis could see what she was doing. [0:38](Jancis Milburga) Jancis watched, setting down the cornerstone where she'd found it and sliding it back into place, before getting very close to the most curious box to watch them move about the pieces. [0:38](Y'zhara Zekial) "No... they didn't mention ever making boxes... this is a strange thing to have in a smithy." [0:39](Virara Wakuwa) "What are these things?" [0:39](Y'zhara Zekial) "I can't see to figure this out, what do you guys thing?" [0:39](Chachanji Gegenji) > Zhara seemed to have trouble with the sliding pieces, moving one piece here and then back again because it didn't look right. As she moved them about, however, Denz started to notice which bits were supposed to line up with what. And he might have a way to do it, if he can get at that box himself. [0:39](Virara Wakuwa) Virara mutters under her breath, brushing the charred dirt off her gloves. [0:39](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara held up the box. "You guys want to try it? I'm not very good at puzzles." [0:41](Chachanji Gegenji) As Virara brushed off her gloves, Chachan's breath caught in his throat and he lurched at something in the debris. Yanking out... another burnt book of some sort. But... it didn't seem like a published text. The pages were hand-written, at least from what Virara could see from the fragments that flitted free from its bindings, in a neat Doman script. [0:42](Denz De'bayle) *Denz took up the box, seeing the moving parts and analytically beginning to piece the picture together, moving the sliding pieces one by one. He still remains as silent as a ghost as does this, completely focused.* [0:43](Virara Wakuwa) Virara peers curiously over her shoulder. Her eye is curiously dark, pupil wide. [0:44](Chachanji Gegenji) > Click. Click. Clack click clack. It takes a couple attempts and doubling back on movements, but Denz finally moves the pieces into place. The image? The colors are faded but someone like Jancis might recognize it as a purple hyacinth. More noticeable is the solid clicking sound the box makes once the puzzle is complete. [0:45](Denz De'bayle) *Denz silently muses, setting the long box and opening it.* [0:45](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachanji, however, is perhaps unhealthily engrossed in looking through what little remains of this strange text he found. Should Virara take a look over his shoulder or at one of the scraps... she'd note that Chachanji's name is actually listed here and there. [0:46](Chachanji Gegenji) > Within the box is... a bunch of old and musty scrolls and papers. Faded with time, but still readable if one is fluent in the Doman script. [0:47](Y'zhara Zekial) "... That's neat... huh." she'd eye the flower and then the scrolls, she'd gasp a little. "... These documents might be important to the Gegenjis." [0:48](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara would attempt to translate the text with what little knowledge she knew of the language. It probably wasn't going to be very successful but at least she'd try to see if she saw some familiar words. [0:48](Chachanji Gegenji) Back with Chachanji, a bit more damage is being done to the pages he's reading. A bit of water damage from the tears that he seems oblivious to the fact are running down his cheeks. [0:48](Denz De'bayle) *He nods, standing up and taking the box into his hands, moving to find the pair of lalafells.* "Chachanji." *His voice is heavy, and he is slow to speak.* "Jancis found this hidden away. I... opened the lock." *He held out the opened box to the lalafell.* [0:48](Jancis Milburga) Jancis gasped softly at the final deep click, admiring the lovely image of the thick plume of tiny flowers, only looking at the sheets of paper within without touching them. "Must be. Has he mentioned anything about this flower before?" [0:49](Virara Wakuwa) Virara peers curiously over his shoulder. Her eye is dark, pupil wide. [0:50](Y'zhara Zekial) The box and the documents were taken from her before she could actually read them. She'd follow Denz and Jancis. "Yeah Jancis found a secret chamber beneath the smithy." she'd then notice Chachan's tearful face and began to kneel down and tried to give him a hug. [0:51](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachanji seems... engrossed in the fragments of pages he's desperately holding in his clutches. It's all Doman nonsense to Denz, most likely, but to Virara and possibly Zhara... they'd be able to tell that this was the makings of a story about a hero Chachanji. Given the tidiness of the script, likely penned by Gogonji. And based off the story-games they'd play. [0:53](Virara Wakuwa) Virara reads quietly, memorizing what she sees, though it is perhaps an invasion of his privacy. [0:53](Virara Wakuwa) "..." [0:54](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara looked down at the journal and gasped as she looked over the writing, quickly figuring out what it was despite knowing only a few of the words. She'd squeeze a little tighter and even began to cry herself, her tears dripping down onto his floof. "I... I'm so sorry Chachan..." maybe Virara was right, and that it was an invasion of his privacy, but her curiousity got the best of her. [0:56](Jancis Milburga) Jancis looks back up at Denz, face full of worry and confusion at the reaction to their find. Brows furrowed. "I do not understand." [0:56](Denz De'bayle) *The elezen was hopelessly lost, but he knew the depth of his pain was beyond his understanding or ability to aid in any meaningful way. He simply shrugged back at Jancis.* [0:56](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara looked up at Jancis and Denz. "It's... one of Gogon's old journals." [0:57](Jancis Milburga) Realization came to her, her eyes going to Chachanji and the earring he wore. [0:58](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachan just hugs the tattered remains of the home-made storybook to his chest, clinging to it like it might dissolve away under his touch. Though, given its condition and age... that was probably not such an unlikely thing. It would certainly be a bit before he would be in any condition to look at the contents of the hycianth box. [1:00](Jancis Milburga) Jancis closed her eyes a moment, empathy flooding her gaze. Her voice was soft to Denz for the brief explaination she gave. "His older brother. He had thought his family perished in the war. And he has been distant ever since." The look in her eyes made it clear it was more complicated than that. [1:01](Virara Wakuwa) Virara's expression was one of silent, quiet contemplation, almost as if she mourns the man, though he yet lives. A far cry from her usual glare of disdain at the mere mention of Gogonji. [1:03](Y'zhara Zekial) Zhara smiled weakly under her tears. "You know you're always going to be a hero to us Chachan, yeah? You're so brave to have come here with us... you're just like the hero Chachan that Gogon wrote about... you're him and have become so much more." [1:03](Jancis Milburga) "I will set up something to eat. We can be here awhile." Jancis gathered up some of the items she could that [1:26]]<Jancis Milburga> Jancis tore her gaze from Chachanji, taking in a deep breath and usefully went back to their supplies they had brought. She went around digging up roots, tubers, and soft plants she knew would be okay to eat. The roasting was on an open fire, flat metal and wood used to cook on. It would have ash on it, but it would make a meal for a day that had so far had been physically and mentally exhausting. [1:06](Virara Wakuwa) "What did you find?" Virara's cool demeanor returns. Her hand twitches at her side, opening into a loose, empty grasp. [1:07](Virara Wakuwa) "Elsewhere." [1:08](Chachanji Gegenji) Chachan quietly nods at Zhara's encouragement, though a few hiccups and sniffles still escape from him. He's obviously trying to regain some manner of composure, at least. How long that'll take, though, is the bigger question. [1:11](Chachanji Gegenji) > Should Virara or Zhara get a chance to look through the papers in the box, they'd find it seemingly mundane. A family registry showing the ancestry back to the first Gegenji. That in and of itself wouldn't be all that surprising. What was of a far more interesting note was the other documents that clarified who that first Gegenji was. [1:11](Chachanji Gegenji) > The first Gegenji... Genji - whom the whole line was named after - was a Roegadyn.

[xeno-odyssey]

Get to Know Me Tag

1. What is your name and does it mean anything? You can call me by my nickname Jae. At the time when I was born, my mother gave me my full name thinking it was unique. Nowadays, it’s a common name among many boys and girls.

2. How long have you known your best friend? I’ve known two of my best friends since elementary school before I moved to Calgary. One is loud and she loved Flipnote Hatena, and the other loves Pokemon and is the best bro ever.

3. What position do you normally sleep in? I sleep how I want. I’m constantly tossing and turning.

4. Were you part of a “clique” in high school? Yes, actually! I joined a group of friends as part of the Gaming Club. Every Friday we borrow a classroom during lunch hours and play various fighting games.

5. Who was your favorite high school teacher and why? It was my homeroom teacher who is also my gym teacher. She’s the nicest person I’ve ever met. I see her more than just a teacher, but as a friend.

6. Do you travel a lot? Not much these days. I’ve been to Vancouver a bunch of times, America as well.

7. Did you participate in any sports in high school? Yup.

8. Hand writing example:

9. Have you ever given blood? Yes, I’ve donated several times. But now it’s been ages since I’ve done it.

10. Did you like the way you grew up? Yes. I’m glad to have parents that are not like their parents.

11. Do you like your siblings? Why or why not? Unfortunately I don’t have any siblings. If I had some today, I’d have an older brother and sister. Though I see my younger cousins as siblings, so yes I do like them.

12. How did you meet your best friend and why did you become friends? I met him in elementary school, and our interests align. I wonder how he’s doing now...

13. Name one movie that made you cry. Coco. ;w;

14. Do you prefer to read poetry, write poetry, or neither? Neither.

15. Things about someone that you find attractive? I think it has to be their features and personality. It doesn’t matter what they are, I’ll find them handsome or sexy.

16. What song are you currently listening to? Boombayah - Blackpink

17. Have you ever broken a bone? If so, how? When I was just a baby, I broke both my arms. At 2 years old, I broke my right arm falling off my bed, a year later I broke my left arm the same way.

18. A random memory from your childhood: When I was 13-14 years old, I went camping for 3 days on some islands as part of my final elementary school field trip. All the counsellors were so nice, we explored forests, and played so many games. Talking about this sort of reminds me of Kingdom Hearts’ Destiny Islands.

19. Where did you grow up? Winnipeg, Manitoba

20. What was the last thing you watched on TV? Voltron: Legendary Defender - Season 5 (JUNE 15, SEASON 6 IS SO CLOSE, UGH.)

21. Do you think you’d make a good parent? Maybe! I’ve babysat my cousins several times, and I and them see myself as an older brother.

22. Would you like to meet any of your Tumblr friends in person? Possibly! I wanna meet most of my mutuals, and if fate has its way, I wanna meet them at some convention like Comic Con or Otafest.

23. What was the last dream you remember having? I actually don’t remember.

24. When is your birthday? January 28

25. How many pillows do you sleep with? Only 2.

26. Do you wear glasses? No, but I do have a pair of reading glasses and sun shades.

27. What color is your hair? Black.

28. Name 5 facts about your appearance: - I’m 5′8″ - I have brown eyes. - I have a natural tan skin since I’m Filipino. During summer when I’m out in the sun, my skin gets darker. - My skin is sensitive, specifically my hands. It’s always rough like I was working for hours, I have cuts on my cuticles, and I have eczema on the tops of both hands. - Apparently I have natural good looks, according to friends and family.

29. What is your favorite soda? Japanese strawberry ramune.

30. What is a strange talent you have? Besides my natural skill of playing video games when I was 4 years old (thaaaat was oddly specific, even for me), I used to imitate voices. Nowadays I’m unable to thanks to puberty. But hey, I’m self-training myself to possibly be a voice actor one day!

31. How’s the weather right now? (As of 2018, March 2nd...) CONSTANT. SNOWFALL. I want to move to Vancouver dammit. I hate snow and winter. Barely any snow there, and it’s only cold rain.

32. Why did one of your friendships end? We used to be friends. He was the bully that always picked on me and always agitated me and constantly got on my nerves. He always picked a fight with me, yet I never fought back because I was weak. I hated him. Since I was the victim, the teachers and staff were on my side. He hated me even more for that. It was not long until he got transferred to a different school. I’m glad I never saw him again. If he kept bullying me for the rest of my life, I’ll probably be not the same person I am today.

33. Who do you miss right now? My aunt, every single day. She passed away a few years ago. She was so young. Coming up soon is a special marathon run my family and I participate in every year for victims of Lupus.

34. Why did your last relationship end? We never were in one. I try to forget him everyday, but the memory of him haunts me every now and then. That bully is forever burned in my memory. I guess this is what a trigger feels like, should his name be mentioned around me.

35. Are you still figuring yourself out? (As of 2018, March 2nd...) Yes, everyday. I’m currently looking for jobs, but no luck for anyone accepting me. I have no plans for college nor do I want to go to college. My 3 years of high school was nearly wasted, and I don’t want to experience near-failure again. I don’t have a particular interest as of now, so I don’t know what I want my career to be like.

36. Have you ever been admitted to a hospital? Why? Several times. The broken arms incident, and there was one time I had to go when I got an allergic reaction.

37. What is your favorite restaurant? I don’t have a particular favorite, but if I had to choose it’d be the dining section in The Rec Room.

38. What is a word you always seem to spell wrong? Definitely. Just now my computer auto-corrected me.

39. Would you ever adopt kids? One day, if I ever get married. I don’t have any plans to have actual kids.

40. What is your favorite kind of pizza? Two kinds: Margherita, and a Philly Cheese Steak.

41. What was your first thought when you woke up this morning? (As of 2018, March 2nd...) Shovel the snow.

42. When was the last time you got really really happy and why? When I finally got the Nintendo Switch. Seriously! Those things are hard to get!

43. What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten? I don’t remember. Though I’m not entirely picky with what I eat.

44. How do you start a conversation? I usually don’t, too shy. If it’s in their interest, I try to talk about video games.

45. Do you come from a family “of money?” No.

47. What is your favorite series of books? During middle to high school, they’re graphic novels called Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Bone.

46. Do you have a bucket list? My plan is to travel to Japan by 2020 for the Summer Olympics. If not, I can still go.

48. When was the last time you laughed so hard your stomach hurt? Watching Deadpool.

49. Where do you go when you’re sad? Usually the Internet, and sometimes I listen to my music to calm myself.

50. 5 facts about yourself: I - I formerly owned French Garfield comics when I used to understand French. II - I taught myself to read at a very young age. III - I own a fair collection of books, a lot of video games, some amiibo, and tons of Lego. IV - I have over 200+ hours on Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. V - I’m able to finish Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions in a single day (not counting breaks, speed running, or 100% completing the game).

I did not create this tag.

I was tagged by @all-shall-love-me-and-despair

I’ll tag @curvishsundown @peachyflan @d-manaceattorney @paintedrocket @taulun @kiibos-ahoge anyone else that reads this can do it too! EDIT: I had to re-tag the people I tagged since it didn’t tag them properly.

[crossoverglobaloutreach]

NOT ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER

A Wonderful Heart?!

A few years ago, we were visiting dear friends who invited a brother we did not know to meet and join us for dinner. After an enjoyable evening, as he stood to leave, this brother looked directly at me and paused to remark, “You have a wonderful heart.” Again, he repeated, “I want you to know, you have a wonderful heart.” It took me completely off guard. He continued to reiterate that statement several times with a concentrated gaze until I had to (was forced to) acknowledge it, though my initial reaction was to downplay and deflect it.

It was very uncomfortable for me. Not knowing this fellow well, I even thought for a moment, was this inappropriate?  At first, I dismissed what he said with a nervous gesture and a gracious grunt or two. But I realized he wasn’t going to back down, change what he was saying, or stop repeating it, until I verbally conceded and received it. So, to make it stop, I finally did - with an embarrassed, inept sort of “thank you.” Mind you, this all took place in a matter of seconds, but seemed like forever. It left me wondering, what just happened?!

When I awoke the next morning, it suddenly struck me how directly_ the Lord_ was speaking to me in those statements – as awkward as it all was. I had been meditating for weeks on 1 Peter 3:4 concerning the “hidden person of the_ heart_” and that our attention and adornment should be focused there “with the incorruptible_ beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious_ in the sight of God.” I had been praying earnestly, daily, for the inner workings of my own heart, and yet nearly missed the Lord’s blatant encouragement to me! How did I do such a thing?!

Then I remembered a similar experience more than fifteen years ago while studying the Song of Solomon. It seemed to me the Lover kept repeating the phrase, “Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair!” an inordinate amount of times. I was actually annoyed by it, which was ridiculous on my part, but helped make God’s point all the more effective. Frustrated, I literally said to myself, “Why does He keep saying the same thing?!”

Immediately, I heard the Lord answer, “I’ll keep saying it until you believe it!”

Stunned, I realized I did not believe I was fair (pleasing or attractive), especially to Him. Neither did I feel deserving to be called His love. Yet, the Lord was saying otherwise! The word “Behold” means “See!” See, you are pleasing, my love – Will you see (realize, acknowledge, believe) this? I was definitely more comfortable with realizing my darkness and untended vineyard (S of S 1:5-6), even as I was more aware of my deceitful and desperately wicked heart. At the time, the Lord was specifically dealing with those deficient areas of my life; so why, in the midst, would He make such lovely proclamations to me?

As we know, God doesn’t see things the way we do. In Song of Solomon our Lover says, “You have ravished my heart with one look of your eyes” (4:9). One glance in the Lord’s direction, to make a move toward Him, causes He who loves us to be overwhelmed and run toward us. Consider the prodigal son, “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was_ still a great way off,_ his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him” (Lk 15:20). Let’s respect the Father’s view of a situation over our own; though apparently, we are more apt to carry a grudge like the older brother – even against ourselves! Yet certainly, the Father doesn’t turn a blind eye to sin and rebellion? So, what’s going on here?

A critical truth explains these scenarios and can safeguard our walk from significant stumbling. It has to do with the finished work of Christ versus His on-going work. Both elements are real, valid, and indispensable in our lives. But neither nullifies the other nor should one ever be confused, mistaken, or forgotten in light of the other. Here’s the scoop: As believers, we have placed our faith in Christ’s accomplished work on the cross for our redemption. By this we are saved. What peace and rest for our souls knowing, “It is finished!” No more striving to please God as “He has made us accepted in the Beloved” (Eph 1:4-8). However, most also understand that we are still a work in progress, “being saved” through His on-going work in our lives while He purifies our faith and forges character in our souls (1 Cor 1:18; 1 Pet 1:6-9). We press toward this in cooperation with Him as part of our upward call by walking out the good works prepared for us in advance. As we go through the distress of trials and tribulations, though, we discover new aspects of our unworthiness and unregenerate selves. Herein lies the crucial question: Are we defined by that revealed ugliness or do we continue to identify with Christ – the One who saves us and washes us clean? What do we remain focused on? Our flesh and sin or “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are [we] being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Cor 3:18)? Do we really believe that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from_ all_ unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)? Or do we need to beat ourselves up for a while? Convinced now, the Lord no longer loves us – at least not as much.

T. Austin-Sparks deals with this subject in his book God’s Spiritual House. He defines it as our spiritual experience of the two sides of the cross: our assurance in His completed work and His handling of us to conform us to His image: “Never allow that which comes to light by God’s handling of us to cross over into that other place of our acceptance, our standing, our peace with God. So many people fail to keep that line clearly defined and they accept all kinds of accusations from the enemy because the Lord is dealing with them in this way…I am seeing more and more that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing! ...but that is the Lord’s matter. That is for the Lord to deal with. [emphasis mine - remember, we are His workmanship.] I am not going to allow that to encroach upon my absolute acceptance with God, my basic standing before God. I am not going to allow all the problems of sanctification to come over and destroy the great assurance of justification!”

This is why the Lord is adamant for us to behold our beauty even while dealing with our failings.

Shall We Press On?

Since the Lord’s work in our life is on-going, sometimes it seems we never get a break from being worked over. The Apostle Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?” I say, only _we _can –** only we can be persuaded **(Rom 8:35, 38-39)! If we lose sight of His completed work and everlasting love, it undermines our confidence and shakes our grounding in Him. Check yourself: Is the Lord truly magnified, prominent in my life or is it dissatisfaction with myself? “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things” (1 John 3:20). Note, only He knows the depth of these things.

Isaiah 43 is a powerful chapter expressing the Lord’s love, care, and protection over His people. The first twenty-one verses describe the multitude of ways He saves and redeems us, however the Lord laments His people were not calling upon Him or bringing sacrifice and offering (vv 22-24a). Instead, He made this conclusion to the matter_: “**But you have burdened Me with your sins, you have wearied Me with your iniquities”_** (v 24b).

Yes, it’s my rebellion and sin that ruins everything. When I approach God, though, I discover I can become overwhelmed with my failings and preoccupied with my inadequacies. After I confess the downside of my life (which seems endless), I’m too discouraged and deflated to get anywhere on the upside! Why bother, the enemy taunts. To my surprise, one day while reading this verse, I heard the Lord say, “Don’t weary Me with your sins – it’s all you talk about to Me. It keeps you from just being with Me, loving Me, and doing the things that please Me.”

He continues in verses 25-26a,_ “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins. Put Me in remembrance.”_ In other words, let the Lord do His part as our Redeemer. Notice how He emphasizes that it’s His job. Quit bemoaning and rehashing the same old things He doesn’t even remember! We’re to focus, set our minds upon,_ remember Him_ – that’s our part. Magnify the Lord, not our sin. Give Him the sacrifice of praise, love offerings from our heart, and sweet incense of fellowship. That’s what He wants to hear. “Call to Me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which_ you do not know”_ (Jer 33:3). Note, once again, He is the One in-the-know who brings us in with Him on a need-to-know basis!

Now, I want to take this thought one step further. Since we have the principle of our salvation being fully accomplished, yet on-going, it also applies to all the benefits included in our salvation such as healing, deliverance, provision, protection, spiritual authority and power, etc. “For in that He put all in subjection under him (notice lower case h, meaning man, us!), He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus…” (Heb 2:8-9). I read in one of Randy Clark’s books: “Even though you may experience defeat, you are part of an undefeated, unshakeable Kingdom. Be grounded in this identity because it will sustain you through setbacks, trials, and disappointments.” Bingo. Do we identify with defeat or the undefeatable Kingdom? As with our salvation, the reality of His benefits is no less true in the midst of ups and downs, victories and defeats. And that certainty spurs on our pursuit to contend for the faith:  _“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” _(Jude 1:3).

We must always keep in mind the finished, forgiving, and forgetting work of Christ done on our behalf. At the same time, we are still His workmanship in a daily construction zone. Once again, both aspects are real, valid, and indispensable. One does not cancel the other out. Nor should either be confused with, mistaken, or forgotten in light of the other. Read 1 Peter 1:3-9; hear this twofold truth:

_3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. _

_6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have beengrieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having notseen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,  9_receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.

An Add-on (as if this wasn't long enough!)

Looking at 1 Peter 1:4 concerning our inheritance,_ incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,_ - consider this reserve as the gold in our National Treasury which backs up the everyday currency we use. We trust that reserve is real, though we’ve never laid eyes on it. It’s unfading, perfect, and flawless, yet we live in a flawed and imperfect world. So, there are variables we face when drawing from our reserves: What is the cost required? What is the exchange rate? What price am I willing to pay? These are consequential questions as we do business in His Kingdom. Do not lose sight of the certainties of Christ (vv 3-5) in the midst of the fluctuating variables of life (vv 6-9). Those variables change in a moment based on whim and emotion; sickness and health; the cultural and political climate, not to mention weather itself! These instabilities add to the grief of our_ various trials_ and are why we must be_ kept by the power of God through faith_ as a constant.

You may have heard the expression, “Change is the only constant in life,” but we know otherwise! Jesus is the Constant, that Rock when our heart is overwhelmed, a Refuge in the storm, Peace which surpasses understanding, etc…_ Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. _

Be blessed - Elese

[davetheshady]

It Devours! liveblog 6

Part 1 here | Part 2 here | Part 3 here | Part 4 here | Part 5 here

Chapters 35 - 39

WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK

(that’s both my reaction and my summary)

The next day, still recovering from the V-A (Victory over Arthropods) Day celebrations and a little anxious to avoid talking to Darryl about the scientific/theological import of killing a big bug god, Nils heads to the lab. Carlos is there already, preparing to finalize his experiments that will allow him to figure out the desert otherworld and keep it away from Night Vale forever.

1) Awww, but

2) those were pterodactyls, not pteranodons. PALEOBIOLOGY IS SERIOUS BUSINESS.

But as soon as Carlos starts his experiments, their lab starts shaking and melting, and even more pits start opening up all over Night Vale. He can only come to one conclusion: city officials will stop at nothing to keep him from figuring out the desert otherworld. They’ve been been betrayed.

Incidentally, this is exactly what happened to Carlos at the end of Year 2 (stopped Smiling God, saved Night Vale, got punished) which, I don’t know, MAY KIND OF BE A RELEVANT CHARACTER MOTIVATION THAT PERHAPS SOMEONE SHOULD MENTION.

Carlos vows to science so hard, no one will be able to stop him. The scientists realize that they killed an innocent creature for nothing.

But Nils also realizes that something doesn’t fit. And then:

It’s not just Larry who’s back: EVERYONE who was attacked by the initial centipede pits is alive, because they were stuck in... the desert otherworld. They fell through a bottomless pit and woke up there (a familiar sensation for anyone who’s ever gone to Denny’s). The pit portal spits them out into a house with a picture of a lighthouse on the wall, and at the top of the mountain is that lighthouse (with its blinking red light). Most of this corresponds to Carlos’ accounts of the desert otherworld, like the stars being weird and changing every night.

ain’t no rule that says a dog can’t be a constellation

However, there are a few key differences. The biggest one is that Larry Leroy claims that Night Vale and the desert otherworld match up.

So... a single mountain in the middle of a giant bowl of desert is geographically similar to a flat desert plain with a whole mountain range to the north? Um, okay.

Pretty straightforward, as parallel dimensions go... OR IS IT?

Larry finds that as time goes on, he can stare at the picture of the lighthouse in the house at the foot of the mountain and find himself in a house in Night Vale, although he can’t leave without finding himself back in the desert otherworld. Big Rico hypothesizes that as more people come to the desert otherworld, the barriers between the dimensions get thinner.

This goes on until finally, something changes: instead of lurking underground, the centipede emerges and heads into the house at the foot of the mountain, busting a hole between dimensions and allowing all the people in the desert otherworld to follow the centipede and return to Night Vale. Larry got back and thought it was all over, except that today, he heard the horrible noise that presaged falling into a pit portal right as the coffee shop disappeared, and now he’s afraid the barrier between dimensions is failing entirely. 

And then...

However, I have a lot of questions. Like, A LOT.

If the old oak doors appear in the desert otherworld when people are changing dimensions, why did one appear in Night Vale at the farm of John Peters – you know, the farmer – and stay there for multiple years?

Why was Carlos they only one who could see Night Vale from pictures in the lighthouse?

Since these seem to be two-way connections (door to Night Vale, pit to the desert otherworld) then what corresponds to John Peters’s door (closed), the house that doesn’t exist (just busted), and the Dog Park (still open)?

How did the centipede (which did not feature in year 2) get equated with the light of dimensions crumbling/the universe unwinding (which did)? 

If Carlos running experiments in Night Vale triggers rumbling in the desert otherworld, then who triggered the rumbling in the desert otherworld (you know, in “Rumbling”) while CARLOS was there?

And most importantly: where's Kevin and Desert Bluffs 2: Electric Boogaloo??

Meanwhile, Josh Crayton watches a movie.

This sounds leagues better than Batman v. Superman, and now I'm curious if those are Josh's exes or if he's into dating a lot of people at the same time. Like, he can turn into an octopus, he can hold up to eight hands at once.

Nils immediately runs for Carlos and tries to tell him that the city hasn't been opening pits to stop his experiments, his experiments have been opening pits and the city wants him to stop, because correlation does not equal causation. But Carlos gets defensive and refuses to listen to her and locks her out of his office. And at the movie theater, Josh hears the rumbling and realizes that another pit is about to open up. And then this happens and just, ugh:

Okay, so having Carlos be so obsessed with staying out of the desert otherworld that he accidentally sends people there is an excellent use of irony, and totally believable (um, in Night Vale, presumably not in general). But there are two huge problems:

1) this DIRECTLY contradicts everything we listened to in Year 3. Like, yeah, Carlos certainly was trapped in the desert otherworld at the beginning, and probably much more unhappy about that than he let on to Cecil. But he did get to see Cecil, because Cecil went there ON HIS FUCKING VACATION, and then Carlos not only PASSED UP THE CHANCE TO COME BACK WITH HIM but also asked CECIL to come back and STAY THERE FOREVER. And when Carlos finally decided he did want to return to Night Vale, he was able to do so immediately!!

Like, it's cool that Finknor want the novels to stand on their own, but there's a difference between not needing prior knowledge of canon and ACTIVELY BEING SABOTAGED BY PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF CANON WHICH MAKES THIS MAKE NO SENSE. Carlos can have all the changes of heart he wants, but you have to TELL US ABOUT THEM.

2) One of my friends was INCREDIBLY upset by this section, because as a woman in STEM, a constant problem for both your emotional wellbeing and your CAREER is dudes yelling at you for stuff that isn’t your fault and then completely dismissing your expertise when you try to fix things. Guess what Carlos is doing!

And then, to top it all off, despite the fact that a major subplot of this book is them becoming close friends, and that Carlos trusted her to take over this investigation in the first place, the thing that convinces him to stop is not his trust in Nils, or their friendship, or his knowledge of her mad science skills. No, it's the testimony of Larry fucking Leroy out on the edge of fucking town. Because why would he listen to his trusted female colleague and friend when there's a random dude he can believe instead??????????????

That being said, I really like Nils’ and Larry’s thoughts here. I just wish they were in a much better chapter. 

And meanwhile, at the movie theater, Josh is finally able to fly with passengers and saves some of his fellow theater-goers. Yay Josh!

Anyway, Carlos shuts off his machine and all interdimensional portals shut down (although they do still leave bigass holes in the ground), and even though a good chunk of this chapter either makes no sense or is terrible, I do like how it ends.

Carlos lets Mark and Luisa dismantle his machine for use in their own projects and goes into the house that doesn’t exist and rounds up everyone (almost) he dumped in the desert otherworld that morning, which is nice and all, but at no point does he apologize to Nils for being an absolute tit.

At least Cecil is great, as usual.

I like the implication that everyone hears Cecil say "I would trade all of Night Vale for you" and they're all "Yeah that's fair."

POTATO ACE

The scientists and Night Vale start to rebuild, aided by JoyCon, and things start to return to, uh, “normal”. We check back in with Darryl and Nils, snuggling and having deep conversations about everything that’s happened to them.

"Religion can be something you do, not something you believe” Darryl be careful what Protestants you talk to or you might restart the Thirty Years' War

Unfortunately, then Nils just had to trot out this tired old theme.

You CAN expect someone who’s into religion to learn science because THAT'S NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE WITH RELIGIOUS BELIEF. RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY IS UNSCIENTIFIC MERELY BECAUSE IT CAN NEITHER BE PROVEN NOR DISPROVEN!  HUMANS BELIEVE IN NON-EMPIRICAL STUFF ALL THE TIME, LIKE ETHICS AND MORALITY AND A LOT OF PHILOSOPHY!! ALSO EMOTIONS AND HUMAN CONNECTIONS ARE ALL SUBJECTIVE AND UNRELATED TO LOGIC AND REASON!!! THE ONLY TIMES WHEN THERE ARE ISSUES ARE WHEN RELIGIONS DEMAND STRICT INTERPRETATIONS OF DOGMA THAT CONFLICT WITH SUPPORTED SCIENTIFIC ANALYSES OF THE WORLD, WHICH IS NOT ACTUALLY A REQUIREMENT TO BE A RELIGION BECAUSE NOT EVERYONE'S AN ASSHOLE!!!! WITHOUT RELIGIOUS INDIVIDUALS AND INSTITUTIONS IN SOCIETIES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE ANCIENT GREEKS, VARIOUS CHINESE DYNASTIES, MEDIEVAL ISLAM, THE EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE, AND JUDAISM, WE WOULD NOT! HAVE!!! SCIENCE!!!!!

Anyway, we conclude with Nils and Darryl being cute, neatly wrapping up that whole romantic arc.

Unfortunately, the book keeps going.

This is obnoxious. Not because they subverted romantic tropes -- in retrospect, it makes perfect sense for WTNV to back up Sandra Bullock’s lines in Speed -- but because of the way they subvert it.  

They fully constructed a romantic arc and then RESOLVED it in the previous chapter, engaging their readers' emotions. Then, in the VERY LAST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK, they turned around and immediately kicked everyone in the pants, and even if they didn't intend it, the implication is that if you're upset it's your own fault for daring to believe in romantic love and happiness. It's not: the readers are following the emotional cues laid out for them. And instead of more emotional cues as that arc gets subverted, we get pages of being TOLD it didn't work out, in a dispassionate way designed to philosophize about human nature and draw attention to the subversion itself, but we're not actually shown how Nils and Darryl don't work together. And then the book just stops. The focus switches from the characters we're emotionally invested in to the writers being clever dicks.

(Incidentally, this is also why I hate the end of “Ghost Stories”, but since It Devours! didn't trigger anxiety attacks about real life traumatic events I guess technically it's coming out ahead.)

And with that, they actually undercut one of their major themes. The book focuses pretty heavily on how people enrich their lives through connections, and the natural conclusion for Nils and Darryl's arcs is this:

But Nils and Darryl’s lasting friendship gets a sentence, not four pages. Talk about burying the lede. 

On top of that, we also get stuff like this, where Darryl's opinions from like two pages ago are now completely different.

And, like, it make sense that his views have evolved, now that he's had time to process, but because we skipped all the emotional continuity, it comes across as sloppy and disjointed. 

But at least that’s not as bad as this:

Ugh. This should be cute, but instead it just shows that wow, Finknor clearly have done VERY little research into how women are treated in STEM.

1) in return for saving Night Vale from both a giant centipede and Carlos, she gets promoted to ASSISTANT? What the FUCK does she have to do to become an equal partner, save the entire universe from imploding?? Hell, she was BETTER at not doing terrible things than Carlos, she should just be in charge!

2) a huge part of her job is to now regulate her male colleague's emotions and actions for him, wtf

3) oh, she can do her own research as a "hobby". She'll just put aside the projects she's been working on for years so she can focus on important MAN DOING SCIENCE STUFF, which she'll only get incidental credit for since she's just an assistant, and IF she has time she can pursue her own interests which clearly aren't as worthy. I mean, why would you need safe ways to protect crops or develop medicine?????

Women in STEM are already underpromoted and expected to support their (male) colleagues at the expense of their own lives and careers, and when they DO start to make it, their entire field is discredited and belittled. (Go check out the correlation of the reputations of computer coding and biology with the number of women participating.) So to have literally all those things happen to the main character as a happy ending is beyond fucked up.

Alas, more cluelessness keeps coming.

Where do I even start??

1) experience is completely relevant to belief?? Some people believe BECAUSE of their experiences??? Some people STOP believing because of the experiences?????

2) "belief is happiness" what the fuck. NO religion promises that you will be happy from start to finish. Yes, belief might give you transcendent joy, but it also gives you the obligation to practice your faith under any number of adverse circumstances that will make you uncomfortable or annoyed or terrified or heartbroken. People die for their faith, and it's not so they can be happy (in this life, anyway).

3) "fanciful beliefs"

4) fanciful

5) beliefs

6) FANCIFUL BELIEFS

7) ::incoherent screams of rage::

8) "What is, he would ask, the sound argument for seeing the world as it is if it possible to see the world as it isn't?"

Look just go read that quote from Hogfather again

9) FANCIFUL BELIEFS?????

10) Jesus Christ I honestly cannot get over the sheer condescension of "fanciful beliefs". What is the fucking point of writing this entire book if you don't even bother to fucking learn anything and then conclude by offering nothing but disrespect and belittlement just because you don't agree with someone's viewpoint?

And then: the ending.

First of all, are they, like, still calling out religion here? Because as previously stated, NOT believing in empirically-supported concepts is neither a requirement of religion nor present in many of them. It certainly happens, but that's a function of the type of organization accompanying the theology, a type which also can appear in secular settings like social classes or political parties or, I don't know, NIGHT VALE.

If they're not calling out religion, cool. 'Refusing to believe stuff that's there' is definitely a theme in this book. Carlos succumbs to it and causes problems; Darryl moves away from that mindset and resolves problems. 

...which means the last line makes no fucking sense. Literally all of the previous 346 pages is people going "Look, here's a problem" / "No there isn't" / "Yes there is, I'll show you" / "Oh, you're right, my mistake." You know, Night Vale citizens changing their beliefs because someone showed them something!

Not to mention this: 

In a previous report, we at Night Vale Community Radio were talking about the commonly held belief that there is such a thing as “mountains.” We scoffed at this belief, and bellowed repeatedly, “It is flat all the way ‘round. It is flat all the way ‘round.”

We wrote lists of friends we knew to believe in mountains, and sent the lists to the City Council, recommending that all of them be put into indefinite detention. We got physically violent with an effigy labeled “Mountain Believer,” punching it repeatedly before burning it in our station’s bloodstone circle. In fact, we devoted a full day of our programming to getting together the entire station staff and screaming in unison, "Mountains? More like nothings!" into the microphone.

Recently, one of our previously mentioned friends — who thankfully had not yet been apprehended by the Council — took us for a drive out to a mountain. We looked at the mountain, and even touched it, and it was definitely real.

Therefore we are forced to admit there is indeed at least one mountain in this world, and we apologize for our previous energetic assertions to the contrary. 

– WTNV, "The Traveler"

...

...

...

So, yes. The only people refusing to believe the evidence in front of them are the AUTHORS OF THE BOOK about the stuff THEY CAME UP WITH IN THE FIRST PLACE.

And that’s the end of the book! So I repeat:

WHAT

THE

FUCKING

FUCK

[marlikesthings]

M21 and M24′s relationship

M21 and M24 were first introduced as the antagonists of this manhwa back in season 1. Now that we know that m21 and m24 aren't as bad as we originally thought, I want to talk about their relationship. They were very good friends. There is nothing surprising with that, but when we compare the relationship other modified humans have/had (especially if they are introduced as antagonists) then we can see there is a difference. Tao and takeo could be seen as exceptions but considering they weren't very close when they were in DA-5, my point still stands. There is also the trio: tao, takeo and m21, but they befriended after joining the good side so their situation is different.

I. A great team with a lot of potential

They were a team and M21 was the brain of this team. He tried to keep his calm when things went bad and always supported and encouraged m24. Of course, m24's role is also very important. They both supported each other and that's what made their relationship so great for me.

In chapter 37 we can see m21 comforting m24 after Jake appeared. M21 knew m24 was having a hard time controlling his feelings. After all, jake was mocking them and treating them as weak by saying: “they were crushed by incomplete speciments like you. An organization like that won't be too hard to trace and to handle”. That was of course completely false. First of all, because the enemies m21 and m24 had fought were frankenstein and rai and none of them are weak. Sure, jake didn't know but my point still remains. M21 and m24 were stronger than they thought. M21 is like a werewolf and m24 has been said many times to be similar to nobles. It's a shame we didn't get to see his real powers. If m21 can compete with werewolves warriors, then what if m24 (after being awakened) could compete with family leaders?

Chapter 54

Also, m24 had noticed that there was something weird with frankenstein. Nobles have the capacity to separate humans from non humans (like rai). M24 was able to do the same. He had potential to be better. I don't know if m24 had as much potential as m21, so maybe he would only be considered a low level noble but that's still better (and stronger) than being treated as a failure. 

II. M21/M24's roles as antagonists

Chapter 41

Although m21 and m24 are not saints and did bad things (especially to the kids) they were not monsters. They did kidnap yuna and called shinwoo and ikhan (to fight the infected guy) just so they could have fun, I am not planning to ignore that fact. Nevertheless, they were both surprised (especially m24) by the atrocities committed by jake and mary in the hospital. Later they will discover it was actually the guy m24 infected who did all this but jake and mary were there and did nothing to stop it, so I consider them accomplices. 

This is not me trying to say m21 and m24 don't have flaws, but that they could have been worse (jake is an example, but we also have the elders (except for lunark), Ignes, maduke, etc. who are much worse than those two). It's not so obvious at the beginning, but after jake and mary appeared we can see that the author was starting to drop hints m21 and m24 were going to switch sides (well only m21 did, but that's because m24 died). To be fair, m21 took a more logical approach after learning what happened in the hospital. That is to say, he was surprised but he didn't seem as angry as m24 (then again he's always been less expressive than m24). He immediately realized what was jake and mary's plan: to blame them for this mess. Does m21 seem cold? Yes, maybe. Does his reaction make sense? Sadly, it does. At that time, m21 was only trying to survive. His only comrade was m24, so I don't really blame him for reacting like that. He's suffered all his life, and he saw many of his comrades die in front of his eyes. He didn't know the people who died at the hospital and he wasn't emotionally attached to any of them. Anyway, he did realize how horrible it was, and he did not support at all the actions of the infected guy (and jake).

Now m21 also had his good points. He tried to keep the kids safe and not involve them (more than necessary) in their mess. So did m24. Sure, it doesn't change the fact that they caused them harm at the beginning, but at least they had set limits. They were originally antagonists. They aren't supposed to do good deeds to begin with, but they still did. We can see in chapter 39 how m24 had warned the infected guy to not approach the kids. We can also see jake saying: “But those two are funny. M-21 and M-24 had witnesses but hid them away from us”. Jake himself notices that those two are trying to protect/to hide something from them. I remember being surprised by this when I first read this manhwa. I mean, why were the bad guys trying to protect the kids they had hurt previously? After rereading this series I was surprised for not having seen this coming.

Chapter 35

Frankenstein had already noticed those two could have killed the children but chose not to do it. Of course, neither him nor rai trusted those two. They had no reason to do it at that time.

Not only m21 and m24 tried to hide the children from jake and mary, but they also hid there were nobles in the city.

It's only in chapter 42 when m21 comes up with a plan to use rai and frankenstein to attract the attention from the union. If that's the case, then why did they chose to hide this information from mary and jake, before coming up with this plan? And why were they trying to protect the kids? According to m21, him and m24 knew the kids had not witnessed anything, therefore they had no reason to kill them. He even said to frankenstein: “we didn't even think of them after we met you two. We had no reason to risk fighting you again. And it had nothing to do with our mission anyways...” (chapter 52). He also affirms that they could have killed them if they wanted (as frankenstein had previously noticed). Basically, they messed with kids for fun (which is wrong), but they protected them because they didn't know anything. I've already mentioned it, but there is a before and after jake and mary appeared. When they were first introduced they were the bad guys, but after those two came, they calmed down a lot. They suddenly weren't as bad as before. They both try very hard to protect the kids to the point of risking their own lives. 

Ultimately, m24 died to protect the children after being moved by shinwoo's attitude/speech. M21 also changes a lot after joining frankenstein's household. 

Extra:

Chapter 35

Rai answers this after frankenstein tells him he noticed there was something weird with them. I know rai is referring to them being modified humans, but this quote fits so well their situation. They really didn't belong anywhere and that's sad. Thankfully, at least for m21, now he has a place where he belongs.

III. M21 and M24: Brain and heart duo

I said at the beginning that m21 was the brain. If m21 was the brain, then m24 was the heart of this duo. This is another reason why I think m24 is so important. 

M21 was able to keep his cool, unless someone badmouthed m24. After jake said: “M-24. How long can you go on without those meds? 48 hours? 72 hours? You two are breaking my heart” (chapter 49) m21 got up and screamed at him. M24 was his precious comrade and the only one who could understand his pain. It was nice to see m21 lose his patience. It showed us that m21 wasn't emotionless and that contrary to jake and mary whose partnership was forced and didn't get along those two have a special relationship. None of the other modified humans (except for tao and takeo) showed as many emotions as those two. All the others were proud of their strength and most of the times they used it to destroy everything they saw. But more than that, all the others seemed to be proud of being superior to normal humans (like the elders). This is due to the fact that they are seen as failures, but I also think that even if they weren't failures those two would still feel unsatisfied. They didn't want to have those powers and, like tao and takeo, they only wanted to be normal and live a normal life. M21 said it himself, after m24 died: “We laughed, talked, agonized, felt sadness, felt pain, hurt. We just... wanted a normal live any normal people would have lived. That’s all we dreamed of” (chapter 78). All the pain they endured made them stronger. 

Anyway, it's in moments like these when we can see how important m24 was and how much he affected m21. Afterwards, m21 realized what he did was dangerous and asked m24 for forgiveness. This is what m24 said:

Chapter 51

They both complemented each other so well. 

Furthermore, m24 decided to rebel against jake and protect the kids. He is the heart of this duo because it's his kindness which will lead to his death and it's his last words which will save m21. He was very surprised by the kids concern for him and said: “I put them in danger before and they're in danger now because of me. Why would they say this to me? Why are they looking at me like this? These normal kids from this bright world?” (chapter 71). M24 wasn't pretending to be a hero. He acknowledges he did wrong in the past and he is only helping the kids for his own reasons. Because shinwoo reminded him of his friends.

Chapter 70

I think M24 and m21 realized at that moment that they were doing to the kids the same thing the union did to them (although it was mary and jake’s fault). M21's priority had always been to keep his only friend and himself safe. He didn't want the kids to get hurt, but losing m24 was far more painful for him. Meanwhile, m24's risked his dreams to save the kids. He knew he had no chance to survive. That he would never find his name or his comrades names. But he felt he had to do something. He didn't want anyone else to experiment the same pain him and m21 experimented. He didn't want those kids to lose their friends. That's why I call him the heart. Of course, m21 changed a lot after m24's death. He will later sacrifice himself in order to save the kids (in their battle against DA-5):

Chapter 137

I wanted to write m24's last words (or part of it at least): “M-21, listen to me. Folllow them. I don't have much time. I'm sorry. I can't go on with you. You're free now. You won't have to stay in the organization because of me[...] I was abe to save the kids. Use that leverage and ask those guys for help. You get too emotional [...] I'm sorry. You have to find their names and also mine on you own. I'm sorry to leave you with such a burden. I am sorry” (chapter 78).

Chapter 78

M21 wanted to die. The one who gave m21 the dream to find their names was m24. He gave m21 a reason to live. The reason why m21 keep on moving on with m24 and tried to survive, the reason why m21 decided to move in with frankenstein and rai and not give up living, it was all thanks to m24. I will probably never get over his death.

Chapter 248

Even after m24 had died, m21 never stopped thinking of him. He always remembered his smiling face. Now, look at his face here. He looks so hurt and what hurts me the most is that this isn't even the real m24. And then he even cries. M21 wanted to believe m24 was alive and even went as far as to ask rai to awaken him in hopes m24's health would improve. And because he hated seeing him suffer. I love their relationship. Moreover, each time something important happens m21 thinks of m24. His death traumatised him.

Chapter 322

M21 is so afraid of losing his new comrades that he managed to transform into a werewolf and confront kentas even though he was previously too shocked for having seen a real werewolf. Just before transforming he says: “I will never lose my friends again”. I don't think m21 would be able to keep on living if something happened to his new comrades. He's already being traumatised once, more than that would be too much. Moreover, although m21 hates being treated as a lab rat more than death, there is one thing he cannot handle and that he probably hates more than being treated as a disposable tool. That is to say, to lose his comrades. Comrades that he would not have met if he didn't join frankenstein’s household as per m24's request. 

IV/ Conclusion

They went through a lot together. I love how m24 is the reason why m21 decided to join frankenstein's household. His last words saved him. Thanks to him he has a new family and thanks to him he is alive. I mean, if m24 had not suggested m21 to make an alliance with rai and frankenstein then m21 would most likely have died already. Crombel would definitely not have allowed m21 to be free, especially after discovering that they were hiding their real powers from him all this time. Even if it wasn't crombel, I just can't see m21 wishing to live without him by his side. Without having something or someone to protect.