#and as i said in the original post i can talk more about the deadly sins part

[linalilia]

[meet the prisoners!] prisoner 008: maruyama yurika

(edit: .. i forgot about her height. i'm sorry yurika i have to edit your profile AGAIN)

idk if anyone noticed, but i DID post her profile but then i quickly deleted it because i realized.. that i actually don't like her crime that much. idk, i really thought that the crime i originally planned for her was too weird and i thought that it would be "too much" compared to the other characters' murders.

thankfully, i already had other crime ideas for her (and all the other prisoners) so i didn't have to think too much about it and i actually like her new crime more, so i don't regret changing some stuff about her. but what i do regret is that i had to rewrite her mv because the original one had too many hints to her "old crime". i had to rewrite her whole profile actually.

General info:

Name: Maruyama Yurika (丸山優梨香) (her last name means "circle" and "mountain" and her first name means "kindness, gentleness", "pear" and "fragrance")

Age: 21 y/o

Gender: Female

Status: Prisoner 008

Birthday: October 10 (Libra)

Blood type: A

Height: 165 cm

Image color: #FF8484

Occupation: University student and a maid cafe worker

Personality: Yurika is a kind and polite young woman who loves helping others and who is always there to support them or cheer them up when they're feeling down. She tries really hard to hide the fact that she's actually a huge otaku, but she's not that good at it because she still keeps making references to her favorite manga/anime/games. Even though a lot of people tend to take advantage of her naivety and innocence, she's actually much scarier than she appears. When it comes to her crime, she tries to avoid the topic and she claims that she did it out of self-defense and that she's not lying. You can see the anger in her eyes when she talks about her crime though, so.. it's hard to say if she really regrets committing her crime. What she did after her crime is also a big mystery and the fact that she starts shaking whenever someone raises that topic and she keeps saying "I had to do it, I had to do it, I had to do it".. makes others worry about her a lot.

MV Info:

Which canon Milgram song she would cover: Umbilical. It fits her vibe and her personality a lot!

Which DECO*27 song she would cover: Poison Apple.

If she could cover a song by a different Vocaloid producer, which one would it be: Kyu-kurarin by Iyowa.

Her MV description:

The first half of her MV would have bright colors like pink, orange and yellow, but they wouldn't be as bright as Kei or Eiko's MV colors. Later those colors would change to darker shades of green and blue.

The first half of her MV would actually have that 90's anime art style and it would be very cute and colorful. We can see Yurika getting ready for work, she's smiling and singing something and we can also see that her room is full of anime/game merch and we can see post-it notes everywhere that say things like "You can do it!" or "Let's hope today will be better than yesterday!". She finally leaves the house and the MV takes place in a maid cafe now. We can see her talking to the customers, smiling, serving food and being the cute maid that she has to be. She's also friends with her coworkers too and she seems to be the most popular maid here. Everything is fine.. but also it feels like everything is too peaceful.

Some time passes and Yurika can go home now, but right as she leaves, the colors suddenly change and become much darker and the art style changes to the usual Milgram MV art style too. However, now the MV has this weird effect, like we're watching an old tape right now. Yurika has a bad feeling and she keeps looking around as she walks home. But then, suddenly, the POV changes and we can see Yurika running away.. from us. She trips and falls and everything goes black for a second, but then we can see her lying on the ground, her clothes is torn and her hair is a mess now. It looks like we're pointing at her and laughing, but if you look closer, you can notice two right hands pointing at her, it's almost like she was attacked by two people.

Then, we can see Yurika slowly getting up and looking right at us. She stands like that for a moment and then the MV gets more surreal: it doesn't look like we're watching a video, it's like we're just watching completely different scenes that are not connected in any way. The POV is also different depending on the scene: we can see her cutting someone's hair in one scene and we can see her beating someone with a pipe, but most of the time we see everything right through her victim(s)'s eyes. We keep watching her torture someone, but you can also notice that now she is actually wearing gloves in some scenes. The colors become even darker and it's almost impossible to see what's going on, but we still can see Yurika talking to someone standing next to her and then looking at us and the very last scene shows her fully covered in blood, talking to someone again and then smiling and doing a peace sign.

It turns out that we really were watching her do all of that and right when the TV turns off and we get up, Yurika walks closer to us, smiles and gives us a hug. The MV ends.

Trailer 1 Voicelines:

"Hello! My name is Maruyama Yurika! Hm? Y-you want to know what I do for a living? Uh.. Well, I'm still a university student, but also I work at a maid cafe! Yes, as a waitress. So don't be shy, you can always ask me for help, master~.. Ugh, I'm so tired of saying stuff like that."

"I HATE IT! I HATE EVERYTHING! I'M SO TIRED OF EVERYTHING, IT'S ALL SO TIRING AND OVERWHELMING AND STRESSFUL AND- W-wait, what are you two doing here?.."

Trivia:

She had two victims and murder wasn't her only crime. She also seems more worried about what she did after her crime and not the actual murder.

(Edited after posting her VD) She doesn't want to be voted guilty because of her huge fear of death and because she's tired of bad things happening to her all the time.

She's close with all the female prisoners (at least she thinks so), especially with Eiko and Prisoner 010. Her relationship with the male prisoners is.. not as good and she prefers to avoid them most of the time. If you ask her which male prisoner she likes the most, she will try to change the topic.

Yes, Kei tried to flirt with her, he already thought she was attractive and after he found out about her job, he became even more interested, but for some reason he got very scared and after that he completely stopped talking to Yurika. Whenever he has to talk to her, he tries to run away or he asks someone else to do it for him.

If Naomi is the "mother figure" for other prisoners, Yurika is like their "big sister figure", even though she's not the oldest prisoner and she's still younger than Kei, Shun and Eiko. Younger prisoners just trust her more than those three, even if some of them (like Akio or Asahi) try to deny it.

It's hard to describe Asahi and Yurika's theme with one word, but if I had to, it would most likely be "hunger" or "not feeling satisfied", to be more exact. I actually tried to assign deadly sins to all of my prisoner OCs and both Asahi and Yurika got a mix of Gluttony and Greed, but what makes this theme really interesting is that both of them are actually on the opposite ends of the spectrum: Asahi comes from a rich family and he was very spoiled, but he still wanted more even though he didn't even know what he wants, meanwhile Yurika struggled financially before arriving here and she regretted getting a job at a maid cafe, because she wasn't paid that well and she thought that the customers were annoying and that's why she obviously wasn't satisfied with her life. Her original MV also showed her killing someone while eating/drinking with them and Asahi's murder happened while he was eating dinner with someone (at least according to his MV). Also, interestingly, her new crime actually sounds more like "Greed" meanwhile Asahi's crime still sounds like a mix of Greed and Gluttony.

Yurika and Asahi's backstories are actually "reverse" versions of each other, and it's not just about Asahi being a rich kid and Yurika having problems with money. But they're also much more similar than you would think.

[thatdisasterauthor]

@teagantheamazing Hope you don't mind, but I wanted to pull this reply out to talk about a little more in depth, because I think it is important that people understand this as we move forward.

Also, I am speaking as a private citizen here, not as an employee of the Forest Service.

In the United States, wildland fire response is handled at three basic levels: Federal, State, and Local.

Federally, it is further broken down into the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service. (Some parks have their own fire crews as well, but that varies from park to park, and they're usually still technically Forest Service.) There's really not a ton of difference between the two aside from whose name is on your paycheck. Pay is the same across each, structure is the same across each, training is the same across each. Federal crews and resources are, generally, the main and biggest responders to wildfires because wildfires tend to happen primarily on federal lands.

At the state and local level things vary a lot from state to state. You can have things like the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control in Colorado and Cal Fire in California, and you can have local structure departments that also have wildland divisions and/or training. Some of the local departments will be volunteer. State and local responders also work closely with federal responders, but how much and for how long varies from fire to fire.

Then, on top of all of that, you have private/contract crews. They are what it says on the tin: private crews of firefighters. Some of these crews are great! Very professional, very skilled. Others are...ah...not.

Now, what I am concerned about specifically as we head into this new administration is what is going to happen at the federal level. As I mentioned in the original post, the Forest Service is already struggling. It has ALWAYS been struggling. Without giving you a whole huge history lesson, the Forest Service was founded in the early 1900s by Teddy Roosevelt to protect public lands and preserve them for future use. People threw a FIT about it, specifically people who wanted to basically strip mine the forests for every single available resource. Taft was elected after Roosevelt and basically started undoing everything his predecessor had done. The budget for the Forest Service was destroyed, protections were rolled back. The only reason the Forest Service survived was because in 1910 there was a MASSIVE fire. It was, at the time, unprecedented and the Forest Service was able to use it to lobby for better funding going forward. But the same cycle has repeated ever since. An administration that doesn't value conservation will come in, shred the budget, there will be deadly consequences that make the next administration pad the budget some, and then it will start again.

It's a lot like people who stop taking their medicine because they think they're cured since they feel better, but they only feel better because they were taking their medicine.

So what happens now? Well, it's already happening and it happened under Biden, and will only get worse under Trump. To keep it simple, there are two kinds of federal employment: seasonal, and year-round. Most of the federal Forest Service jobs are seasonal, because the work is seasonal. This includes firefighters, but it also includes things like park rangers and trail maintenance crews. From late spring to early fall there are tooooons of people working. Then, the rest of the year, its a skeleton crew of year-rounders doing mostly maintenance work, controlled burns, paperwork, stuff like that.

Now, with all of that said, here is where we stand at this specific moment: the decision has already been made that the Forest Service will not be hiring seasonal workers outside of firefighting next year. This means no seasonal park rangers, no seasonal maintenance people, none of that. This means next year parks are going to be a MESS. Bathrooms will not be cleaned regularly, campgrounds will not be maintained, trails will not be maintained, and a ton of other stuff. The year-rounder skeleton crew will be all we've got. And, crucially, there will be less professionals monitoring the woods looking for new fires. Rangers, even ones not working directly on fire stuff, are a crucial level of protection for spotting and reporting fires.

Secondary to that is the pay issue. Even if you're a year-rounder, the pay is abysmal. Your average out the gate, newbie wildland firefighter is going to make around $17/hr base pay if they work for a federal agency. Now, there's a ton of random stuff that can bump that pay up even without the retention bonus we're currently getting. You get a night differential and a Sunday differential for starters, and hazard pay when you are actively working a fire, plus there's ALWAYS overtime, sometimes an insane amount of it. Then there's per diem if you are traveling for a fire, and that can be a nice little bump too. But the point/problem is that the pay is VERY unpredictable. You can have a massively busy season and be swimming in money, or you can have a slow as fuck season and end up scrapping by because the base pay isn't enough. The Wildland Firefighter Paycheck Protection Act is supposed to fix this by bumping up the base pay, but that can has been kicked back and forth in the government for yeeeears now.

Now, as you mentioned, people CAN transfer their federal qualifications for fire to state and private crews. It generally pays better if you do. But we do not want to privatize fire response. Given the size of this country, given the spread of the population within it, we have to have a federal firefighting force. Leaving it to the states and private companies will not be enough.

That is where we are starting the new administration: abysmal pay, failing departments, and slimmed back hiring. Given Trump's repeated insistence on slimming down the government, on withholding aid in blue states, on getting rid of things like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (which is also crucial for firefighting), and other things in that vein, I think we are staring down the barrel of a very, very dangerous time.

So, some action items if you want to help:

Call your local representatives and insist they pass the Wildland Firefighter Protection Act NOW, before the new administration comes in. The new administration could still screw it up, but we've gotta at least try.

Be patient and understanding with Park Rangers in the coming years. They are doing their best with what they've got.

Take responsibility for your use of public lands. Clean up after yourself, pick up litter when you see it, and donate if there is a way for you to do so.

Educate yourself and your community on wildland fire even if you don't think you are in a wildland fire prone area. Learn about and implement defensible space around your homes and communities. I'll be doing a lot of education around this going forward, so if you have questions or want help please ask me!

[seafoamdew]

Thank you for tagging me @alkalinefrog and @bignostalgias !

Post the last sentence you wrote (fanfic / original / anything) and tag as many people as there are words in the sentence.

I'll give you more than a sentence actually as an apology for being away for so long. I'll give you some snippets of the arranged marriage au that I've been working to turn into an actual multichapter fic from the drabbles/one-shots it is now 😉

Snippet #1

 “You would dare dishonour your wife’s words? Her promise to me?” Signy’s face is still, her voice a deadly calm as she stares the large Viking down.  “They should be given the chance to find love,” Stoick implores instead of fanning her quiet rage by answering.  “We are giving them that chance. They have already formed a great friendship, and there is no greater soil where love can grow.”

Snippet #2

“Take care of him for me will you?” Jack said as he pulled away from the hug with a grin. “I’d like him healthy and whole for our wedding.” “How whole could he be with a missing leg?” Astrid quipped sardonically. Jack laughed. “Fair point! I’ll trust you to keep him from losing any more limbs. You know how he is.” "I can hear you two, you know," Hiccup said flatly, joining them. "And I can keep my limbs attached just fine, thank you."

Snippet #3

“So, if you really think about it– under all that armour and tailored leather, he really is just the same scrawny runt you know and love. Fishbones and all.” Hiccup paused just before the clubhouse entrance, brows raised at the conversation that was most certainly about him. The fact that it came from Tuffnut’s mouth only smelled like trouble.  “Well, not really all the same. Cuz of the… you know…” By Thor, if they’re talking about his leg- “The leg.” Alright, that's it!

I'm tagging you. That's right, you, you reading this very sentence. Ily 😘

[andi-rigby]

Alright, y'all. Poll time. Synopses of your choices are under the cut, if you want them. I can't decide between my upcoming original stories (I'm gonna write them all eventually), so I'm inviting y'all to choose for me.

On a related note, if I hit 15 followers before this poll expires, I'll do a follower lottery and the lottery winner will get to name a character in the winning story! (More details on that also under the cut.)

Synopses

Adventures in the Gaywild, a queer contemporary portal fantasy with an ensemble cast of queer & disabled adults just trying to live their lives, but who have said lives interrupted regularly by their hometown’s proximity to the fey realm. Beronsgate is a cute little coastal town with a major problem: sometimes the door you open doesn’t lead where you wanted it to. Monster-of-the-week episodic sitcom installments with an overarching denial-of-destiny arc. (If this wins, the "winning story" will be the first installment of the series.)

The Death of Santa, a sapphic Christmas adventure with a transgender Mrs. Claus who’s unhappy in her role as the token female holiday persona, and escapes the North Pole only to find herself in a strange land of eternal winter. Kristina takes shelter in a fortress built over a gate, and finds deadly traps, warped Christmas monsters, and the woman she married 900 years ago. Transgender themes, trans joy/power, and mistaken identity feature heavily in this high-action novelette that tries not to take itself or Christmas too seriously.

Liberty, a gay cowboy friends-to-lovers between a cattle baron’s heir and a gifted horse trainer. Aaron and James have kept their romance a secret for almost a year. When Aaron’s mother makes a big stink about him turning down yet another farm princess, he’s got a tough choice to make: follow the herd, or follow his heart. Forget coming-of-age—let’s talk coming-out, love and support from unexpected avenues, and being true to yourself.

Double Tide, a seaside low fantasy adventure about a dockworker and the inquisitive merrow they met in the local tidepools, who become fast friends despite language barriers and local taboo. When a new fishing technique threatens the local merrow population, they discover whether a lone dockworker and a social pariah can really make a difference. Try this gender-agnostic, hopeful Romeo and Juliet (without the tragedy) that explores the meaning of love and friendship.

The Siege of Helen, an exploration of neurodivergence and (mis)communication in a romantic relationship. Helen’s new pregnancy has made her mood a thousand times more volatile, and her husband is spending more and more time at the office. Hephaestus, already overstimulated and dysregulated from trying to provide for his now-growing family, realizes in the nick of time that there’s only one way not to lose the woman he loves: he’s going to have to talk to her. About his feelings. Short story companion to my novel-in-progress, By Any Other Name, following Ambrose’s parents as they try desperately to keep their marriage from falling to pieces.

The Library, a heartwarming zombie survivor tale about a weary now-single dad and his last remaining foster teen who fight to preserve the ruins of a great library against those who would destroy it for their own short-term survival. Take refuge in the Charles J. LaRose Memorial Library, and let Kaylen tell you about the time they fought off zombies and men with guns to make a safe place for travelers like you to rest and recuperate in the desolate hellscape of the zombie apocalypse.

Lottery Info

Lottery will happen if the total follower count (less myself) on this blog reaches 15 before the poll in this post expires. I'll choose via random selection & contact the winner via Tumblr to confirm you want to participate. If you don't, or I can't contact you via Tumblr because your messages are closed, or if I don't get a response to my initial message within ~24 hours, then I'll choose a different winner by the same process. And so on until someone bites.

Lottery winner will receive a short bio of the relevant aspects of their character (appearance, mannerisms, and plot role), and the name they choose will be used for the described character. I will not accept names that are offensive or that would be considered offensive in the context of the story or character, and I retain the right to ask the winner for a different name if the chosen name is, for some reason, really really not going to work in the context of the story.

[jo-harrington]

Corroded Coffin Fest Halloween - And To All A Good Fright

Summary: Halloween is over...but there's still a little fright in store.

Word Count: 666

Rating: T

Warnings/Themes: Friendship, humor, angst, disagreement, supernatural encounters, friendship

Note: Surprise! There was one more post for today. Originally I planned for it to be tomorrow but I'm about to put my head down and be in my hole recovering for the next 24 hours and I don't trust the schedule option. Check Out the Main Post for @corrodedcoffinfest here and all of the entries. I still have some to catch up on but they've all been wonderful. Thanks again @thisapplepielife for a great event.

Tagging @the-unforgivenn @1lostsoul0fishbowl upon request.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

Friday, November 1st 1985

Unfortunately, Halloween week was over before they knew it.

The faculty at Hawkins High were quick to shift from spooky decorations to harvest ones ahead of Thanksgiving. With little sprinklings of Christmas alluded to in the details. It was like the best holiday of the year wasn’t even worth keeping up for even one extra day. A Friday of all days too.

Of course, for the Hellfire Club, they had more than enough candy to last them til the end of the year.

And enough lessons learned over the course of the week to last them a lifetime.

“Who knew we’d have this much candy?” Dave muttered as he picked through the sweets he’d brought along to eat with lunch. “I don’t know if I can look at another piece of candy after that stomach ache I had on Wednesday. Least I didn’t puke like Eddie.”

He snickered good-naturedly but Gareth wasn’t amused.

“You know what Dave, you had it easy. I’d take a stomach ache over—” Gareth paused his grumbling as the freshmen took their seats at the table. “—over you know what.”

“You’re never gonna live that down man,” Jeff snickered as he swirled his sport through his mashed potatoes.

“Live what down?” Mike questioned innocently.

Eddie chose that moment to fall into his seat at the head of the table. As he threw open his lunch box, Gareth snarked his response directly at him.

“Nothing, we were just grumpy about the curse Eddie put on us last week.”

“Gare,” Eddie rolled his eyes. “You only have yourself to blame for your predicament. I don’t want to hear any excuses.”

“No wait,” Jeff cut in, “you did put a curse on us last week. When you were telling us about the seven deadly sins.”

Eddie stared at him like he’d grown a second head.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“What do you mean ‘what are we talking about.’ The sins. The deadly sins! You said they’d sneak up on us when we’d least expect it.”

The rest of the boys started making sounds of agreement, recalling the whole conversation and Eddie had to shout to get them to shut up.

“When was this?” Eddie questioned, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Last week!” A few voices shouted in tandem.

“Thursday,” Dustin clarified. “I asked what these sins were and you explained it. You were dressed like the Devil. Shitty costume horns and all.”

“Impossible,” Eddie scoffed. “I ditched last Thursday.”

“BULLSHIT!” Dave shouted. “You sat right there, you dunked your cape in my lunch. Then you cursed us.”

“You called it a blight and everything!”

All of the boys got into it again, chattering back and forth about his costume and theatricality and how he’d come and sat right down at the table and explained all of the deadly sins. And Eddie insisted that it wasn’t true.

“I wasn’t here on Thursday. I wasn’t wearing a cape. I don’t even have a Devil costume!” Eddie stared at them all like they’d lost their minds, and they shot the same look his way.

“Well if it wasn’t you, then who was it?” Mike asked. “The real devil?”

The younger boy let out a snort, but he froze as the fluorescent lights about their table began to flicker.

They all glanced up, then at each other, and then Eddie cleared his throat.

“Sure, that was me,” he said nervously, obviously lying. “I was here dressed as the Devil. And we don’t need to talk about that anymore. Or tell anyone. Sounds good?”

“Yep.”

“Yes.”

“Sounds perfect.”

The all ducked their heads and focused intensely on their lunches.

Dustin let out a snort.

“He got it wrong though.” Several questioning looks were sent his way. “It shouldn’t have been blight. The Devil…er…Eddie…should’ve said ‘Happy Halloween to all. And to all a good fright.’”

He glanced at them expectantly, only to receive blank stares in return.

“Get it? Come on! You guys suck!”

[wildpeachfarm]

Hi, Moku!

It’s been a while. Life has been a whirlwind of hurricanes and tornadoes mixed with occasional sunshine and rainbows recently, and I’ve been tackling everything I can. (Congrats on making it through another academic year, and for completing finals).

Not to beat a dead horse here, but I just wanted to input my thoughts on the q.smp bs happening.

Obviously, I hope all the workers who were wronged and never fairly compensated for their free labor, win their lawsuit and get more than what they’re owed for dealing with that narcissistic, egotistical, clout-chasing fuck. Now that I’ve said that, moving on to my thoughts.

I’ve seen discussion on how many servers are popping up post-dsmp era, and I have some thoughts on that.

Pre-dsmp, the only other SMP I heard of was Hermit-craft SMP. Then, we went through a deadly, lengthy, life-altering, and generational changing pandemic, which forced the world inside. The dsmp arose out of that, cause with everyone being at home, there wasn’t much to do. The gaming sphere/streaming sphere was dominant in a way I’d never seen it before, and it was incredible to witness. Minecraft especially experienced a resurgence, and Mr. Greenman himself was a huge part of that-through manhunts and the dsmp.

Unlike the nature of the q.smp, and some of these other short-lived smps, the dsmp started authentically. It was originally a server meant for Dteam to play on together and just have fun with each other. Then Dream added some of his friends and those friends knew people who they thought would enjoy the server and it just kept growing. Eventually, when all these people were added, the lore started, and that took the server to new heights and popularity (everyone loves a good story, regardless of the method of storytelling).

Dream himself never streamed his perspective, so as not to take away viewers from the notably smaller streamers on the SMP (which is opposite of a certain duckwhodoesntquack who only streams his perspective). He was also an active member in creating the lore/storylines of not only his character, but others as well (a certain unapologetic abusive cc was a big part, as well but we don’t talk about “Bruno”). Again, this is opposite of the q.smp, as the owner had people write the lore for him, and then was also never satisfied with what was written.

I think one of the biggest differences was the dsmp wasnt meant to be a roleplay server. It happened cause the people occupying the server wanted to do it, and made that decision on their own. It wasn’t marketed as a “passion project” so there wasn’t much build-up and hype for its release/existence (until after the lore started, and then it became more hyped). There was no competing server of its kind, cause the only other one that most people knew about had long since been established-the notoriety, popularity, and clout was already there, and didn’t need to be earned.

And the biggest difference of them all, no one got payed. There were not “workers” meant to move the server along; everything happened via the streamers themselves. So although there were some communication issues, there were no legal issues cause no one was being payed, unless you streamed playing it on a streaming site and made the money through donos.

It breaks my heart watching the q.smp play out like this, cause if it was done in good faith and genuineness, it could’ve been so good-bridging language barrier gaps and creating endless opportunities to learn a language you don’t know, and/or a culture you also don’t know-but it fell victim to a greedy owner and all good qualities were made null. I hate that this is how it transpired, especially for those that were working for free, and everyone who got doxxed/swatted over this.

TLDR; dsmp’s authenticity, genuineness, lack of greed from the owner played into what made it so successful. They’re also the reason it can’t be replicated, because it wasn’t manufactured- it just happened. And that’s why all these other servers have failed before they started, only lasted a bit of time, or ended up buckling under the consequences of the decisions of the owner. Dsmp is THAT girl and she will always be.

I’m sorry this was so long; has a lot of thoughts. Thanks for reading this anyway, and I hope this finds you well.

Have an amazing day, and don’t forget to be kind to yourself!

-L :)

Yeah I 100% agree i think something that a lot of newer servers lack is genuine authenticity that isn't built off of an expectation or hope of fame. the dsmp was never even supposed to be something other than a chill server between the dteam so obviously their intentions when just starting out were nothing but pure. However, there is no denying that anyone who made a server after that had the fame of the dsmp in the back of their mind- it's just impossible with how famous the server got.

And with how sterile the qsmp felt with how much the rp was pushed onto the streamers and the fact that there was essentially a business being run through the server, it killed the authentic feeling of everything (if it was even there to begin with)

[my-prompt-dump]

WIP for Soldier Boy x OC JPad character on The Boys that I made up based on this post

Jared's character will allude his Sam character and some demonic elements too. I think it'd be a nice touch too to name him Sam, Nick, or even Dean (both for spn and gilmore girls reference)

ANYWAY

For this WIPs sake, he's Sam Moore (very original). He's one of the scientists that is doing tests on Soldier Boy while he's stuck in that facility Homelander put him in.

At first, Soldier Boy hated the guy. Doing weird ass tests and poking him with shit he can't pronounce (don't get him started on the stupid electroshock BS that's "important to test your brainwaves" or whatever nerd speak). Seriously, this dude is so pretentious.

Sam is mostly cold to him but after a while, Soldier Boy got bored of being a douchebag and decided to just be an annoying asshole instead. With nothing else to entertain himself, he cracked jokes and yapped about everything until one day, he got a reaction out of Sam. The man rolled his eyes in exasperation from his latest creative joke of the week.

"Ha! So you do have a sense of humor!"

Sam doesn't remove his focus from writing down today's test results. "Never said I didn't."

"Admit it. You find me funny."

"Hilarious." Sam said sarcasticlly.

"By the way, Sammy. When's this thing gonna end? This shit is lasting longer than usual."

"Maybe if you shut the fuck up once in a while, we'd get done faster."

"I feel bad for the girl you're fuckin' if that's how you think."

Then one time Sam missed a schedule. His tests were performed by a girl too shy to be acting like a torture scientist. He asks the girl if Sam had a day off or something as nonchalantly as possible, to which the girl just said: "Sam is uh, indisposed! And he is not allowed to leave the premises, Mr. Soldier Boy sir."

"The fuck does that mean?"

"I uhm- I do not have the authority to share that with you. Sam will be back as soon as he can."

"But where is he?"

"Sam is still indis-"

"Yeah. Indisposed. Heard you the first time."

Soon turns out to be 2 days later. And Sam looks... like hell.

"The fuck happened to you?"

"Your stupid son did."

"Told you not to call him my son. He's more like a sperm that didn't get swallowed."

"Very eloquent."

"You're deflecting. What do you mean Walmart me did that to you?"

"What? You can't understand English now? Should I ask Katie what kind of new tests did she do?"

Soldier Boy likes the banter on a normal day but he's getting annoyed now. "You mean to tell me you went and got in a fight with Homelander and you aren't dead?"

"It was just.. a disagreement."

And that's when it hit Soldier Boy.

"You're a Supe." It wasn't a question but Sam's silence is all the answer he needed.

"Holy shit, you are."

"No. I'm not a Supe."

"Super speed? Strength?" Soldier Boy sees the wounds. "Healing."

"No. Not exactly."

And that was the end of the conversation. Sam refused to talk to him any further and he stopped the next time they saw each other because he can't take this silent treatment.

He's about to tear his hair out from curiosity, though. And he got some kind of answer on their nth schedule this month when Homelander decided he wants to sit in. Soldier Boy is not even trying to hide how he's ignoring the stupid fuck.

"How is he reacting to the new version of V?" Homelander decides to ask Sam.

"Nothing. Because I stopped it."

Homelander freezes and turns his deadly eyes on Sam. "What?"

"I said I stopped it. It wasn't giving productive results."

"And who said you could do that?"

"I did. When you people made me in charge of him."

"I specifically requested for that test. You answer to me!" Homelander is letting his anger explode now.

"I answer to no one. I'm the one doing the tests, I'll decide what to take."

Homelander is all up in Sam's face now. He's floating the the air to be even be eye level of Sam. Most fucks from the Seven would cower in even the slightest bit of anger from Homelander, but Sam barely flinches.

"I'm gonna-"

"Kill me? Do it. We both know I'm more valuable to Vought that you or any of the other Supes in the building right now."

"You will beg for death when I'm done with you."

"I'm not here to beg for anyone. I came here to tell you that I saw you."

"What?" Yeah what? Soldier Boy is lost.

"I saw you."

A realization dawned on Homelander's face but quickly put up his stoic mask again.

"Sometime this month, when a bus load of your fans show up, I'm going to be out there, on Vought's front lawn. And you're going to tuck your tail between your legs and run.

Homelander scoffs. "And why would I do that?"

"Because I don't think you're better than me, John." The lights of the lab began flickering. "I have the Devil's favor on my side. And you? You're just meat in spandex. And I'd love to see the whole world's reaction when I prove that to you."

-------------------------------------------

A bit inspired by one quote of the Umbrella Academy. But essentially, Sam's ability is that he's still the actual Devil's vessel and got most of "Lucifer's" powers plus visions. He's also a bit immortal since Luci keeps bringing him back when he dies.

Next premise I'm thinking if Butcher and co. finding out that SB is held there and went to break him out. Found him, but was intercepted by Homelander. Sam stays behind to hold him off because he says that he can't leave the building anyway- he's tethered. The whole facility has a giant Devil's trap under it and that's how Sam's being kept there.

SB refuses to leave him behind but was assured it'll be okay by Sam. The building is slowly getting destroyed by Homelander's attacks.

SB and co. get out and Hughie or someone sees something from beneath the cracked floor. He yells for SB to punch the floor and when he did, the trap is broken.

There was silence and then a huge eldritch thing emerges from inside the building and devours it whole. People are screaming, running, evacuating.

They see Homelander fly out and zooms away into the distant sky.

The whole structure collapses and they see something on top off the rubble. For a moment, they saw a monster with wings and horns and snakes and blood, and next thing they saw Sam. Normal, lab coat wearing Sam.

Sam collapses from it. They gather him up and escape.

[librathefangirl]

Short, a demon ideal?

Okay this post has been on my mind for a while now. So shout-out to @wow-skylar and @spacehostilityy for putting the idea of Meliodas and Zeldris bullying Estarossa for his height and short being a demon ideal into my head. Now allow me to run wild with it. (Apparently this turned into a whole analysis oops)

I love this because it kinda feels like it'd be a "silly little idea", but it actually makes sense. For starters, let's talk about Meliodas and his own height. Throughout the manga/anime we repeatedly get Meliodas being mistaken for a kid and underestimated because of this and the fact that he is Tiny™

And how does Meliodas react to this? Well, it's Mel, so it's not like he's fazed by these kind of things. But! While we do get him, sometimes repeatedly, stating that he's not a kid (because obviously he's not), we don't really get him protesting about his height/size. Granted, we don't get nearly as much occasions with someone pointing out his size without calling him a kid or such, but let's look at the above scene with Simon. Meliodas isn't just unfazed, he seems surprised that Simon would even be surprised that the captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, the infamous strongest and cruelest order of knights, is someone of his size.

Which brings us to Diane's height. When Gowther reveals that Diane has been lying about her height, Meliodas is confused and doesn't get why it's a big deal actually being 30 rather than 29 feet. Now this is mostly played off like a "boys vs girls" thing, and could just be a Meliodas thing. But why would it be a Meliodas thing? Maybe because he's a demon rather than a giant/human. Like @somthing-lavender said in the original post, this could be the result of demons not actually caring about height.

Okay so - demons don't care about heights is actually something that (to me at least) makes a lot of sense when you think about it. We're shown time and time again that size doesn't matter to demons, it's not a requirement for strength or power. The first demon we meet (that we know is a demon when we do) is the Red Demon. And yeah, at first the red (and also gray) demons seem like these big powerful threats. But, let's face it, it's season 1. A lot of people seemed more powerful back then than in later seasons. And the red and gray demons' power levels lie around 1,000-3,000 - which we now know isn't that much. Something that season 2 (season 3 on Netflix) quickly proves.

Season 2 introduces us a lot more to the demon clan's power levels. Because that's when power levels in general are revealed, but also because we get the Ten Commandments and Meliodas with his power restored. As for the Ten Commandments, we get a first view at their power levels through Galand's, which is 26,000 (with his magic depleted). Now, yes, I'm aware that Galand is also a big demon, but let's make a little comparison, shall we?

According to the wiki, the red demons are 800cm (26'3") tall with a power level of 1,000-1,300 and Galand is 408cm (13'5") tall with a power level of 27,000. This means that while Galand is about half the size of a red demon his power level is still about 27 times bigger. And! Galand is the Commandment with the lowest power level, the others' ranging between 31,000 and 61,000. With the exception of Grayroad and Fraudrin (and Drole, but he's a giant and shouldn't be included in this anyway), the others are also a lot smaller than him.

What's my point with all of this? That, despite the title of this post, demons don't care about height. There isn't some "gotta be big and strong" thing going on among the demons. Because they can just as well be tiny and strong. I mean, before Meliodas' power is restored (when he only has about 10% of his power) his strength still lies at 960, which is slightly above Diane's (a literal giant) 950 in her human size.

The demon clan is just a lot more diverse in that way compared to other races, like humans and giants (who btw kinda must appear to be more or less all the same size to demons?). There are some demons that are really big and powerful like Galand and Fraudrin. But also really short and powerful demons like Meliodas and Zeldris. So, yeah, they don't put the same value in heights like humans do.

Of course ideals don't always have to do with what's actually best. So, let's leave the analysis of canon for a bit and look at the idea that originally inspired this post: short being seen as an ideal for demons.

Now I love the idea that Mel and Zel accidentally creates a beauty standard by being short. And, once again, I have to admit, it kinda makes sense. Because when it comes to beauty standards we tend to look towards celebrities, right? Successful and desirable people? And, I mean, Meliodas and Zeldris are literal princes. They're also both insanely powerful, both successfully led the Ten Commandments at different points, and Meliodas was widely looked at as the one most likely to be the next Demon King. It makes sense that other demons would look at them as being the "ideal demon". It's also not like it would change after the Holy War finally ended because these two short demons (together with their allies) killed the Demon King and Supreme Deity, beings who were seen as gods, and then became kings of Liones and the demon clan respectively. And, yup, still stupidly powerful.

Plus, you could have so much fun with this idea. Like, if being short is the ideal, how do the demons look at tall demons - yeah, he's hot but he's also tall - or big demons - overcompensating much?

I can just imagine the shit Estarossa would have to put up with from his brothers (for example, see post mentioned at the top and reblogs of it). And Galand! I Imagine he would also get bullied by the smaller (and younger) Ten Commandments members (dude even gets bigger when using his power oof). Meliodas and Zeldris probably wouldn't give it too much thought (besides bullying their brother because "why you so tall? you gotta be adopted"), except when it comes to one other thing. The Demon King.

I like the thought about these two having these inside jokes about their father in-between all the trauma and abuse. Like look at that ridiculous size of their father, now that's a demon who is overcompensating XD - Also, how would this ideal affect the rest of the demons' view on the Demon King. Imagine some demons secretly side-eyeing the DK. "Yeah, he's unimaginably powerful and I would never dare say anything, but he's not really attractive, is he?" And "look at that insanely huge and powerful god of the realm, what would he be without his size?"

Idk I'm just messing around at this point. Anyway! I had some Thoughts™ (apparently) :)

[sirwow]

Nother HC/AU ramble about these two under the cut

Since these two basically have nothing about them it leaves me all the room I want to ramble about what I think their relationship would be✨

As I said in my original HC post, these two start off as rivals, Insomniac re challenging Samurai to a fight when he lost his winning streak to the new guy (Samurai) n got salty. Being they fought half drunk in a night club, things eventually got out of hand and a sword stab to a generator later both got electrocuted, messing up their heart beats. This put them as the perfect candidates for the new rhythm doctor program and what put them in the first chapter.

Samurai was fine when the program was used on him, but Insomniac’s much more effected heart beat (this is what you get for wearing no armor) ended up causing the development of the virus. It’s hard to explain but basically the rhythm doctor program’s ticking of the beats going down the line was Ai doing so and the Insomniac’s heart beat corrupted it into only following the extreme- creating the virus that separated itself from the original program. It’s not really malicious! It’s just trying to get people to follow the beats it was taught.. being really fucked up and possibly deadly beats but beats nonetheless.

Anyways, after Insomniac and Samurai got taken care of, Samurai continued having mild relapses each day, steady and predictable. Insomniac instead ended up stuck with extreme episodes that would appear in sudden bursts, first of these showing up in X-1N where future ones will likely only get worse as the virus Ai conforms more to being insane as he has episodes. A cycle of oh no.

In the meantime they have their own time to hang out n meet the other patients. Samurai being in the west for the first time has him curious about everything and everyone, just wanting to be a part of whatever was happening. Insomniac chose to be distant from the others to continue focusing his time on training but still had to get Samurai sometimes if he wanted to spar with someone. He always had some group with him, usually Logan and Hailey, on weekends it be Cole and Nicole. Insomniac doesn’t mind Cole n Nicole, they don’t bother him much and if they did have a question they weren’t dumb. The kids on the other hand he was probably exploding in his mind if they interrupted to ask if they could touch the sword.

Samurai and Insomniac also share a room for the sake of space and sparing. The only language they both know is English but it’s both their second language so most conversations are simple and dependent on their tone. Insomniac always talks about training or honor but Samurai is much more interested in talking about the new things he’s learned or discovered. Insomniac has been in the west for a few years now so can’t help but find it a bit childish and his demeaning view of Samurai isn’t helped when he finds out he’s not a fighter for his family or honor but just. Likes to sword fight. (insert “stop having fun” img here)

After X-1N, Insomniac was pretty shaken up to say the least. Without anyone else to open up he decided to be vulnerable and talked a bit about life to Samurai. Insomniac wondering what Samurai’s personal propose was if wasn’t fighting for anything. Samurai simply corrected Insomniac, he was fighting for something, his own fun and joy of experiencing life. Sword fighting just being one of his favorite deep outlets of this. Despite it being a bit corny and being said as Samurai was failing but continuing some crochet he wanted to learn, it did strike a bit of a cord with Insomniac.

Slowly Insomniac opened up to the others, placating the curiosity of the kids a bit, going to the cafe n trying the tea there while also teaching Nicole how to make some specialty ones he can make, and eventually when Samurai was talking about learning baseball, Insomniac took initiative and asked to join him. Samurai n Insomniac were finally able to come to a understanding with how the other thoughts and worked.

Now then that’s all I’m gonna write for now. Iv got more but I gotta cook in the brain some more. Thnak for reading

[sir-subpar]

Just curious, what do you think of Fizzarolli from Helliva Boss??

Whoa boy, this'll be long, bear with me

I'll be honest-

I like him.

He's very charming and funny

Love the prosthetics

The writing for him has been off lately, one of the very least he hasn't been butchered like everyone else. He's still very charming and funny, and well it confused me at first, I do now find his Dynamic with Ozzy to be very Charming. To be honest, they're kind of the only reasons I hold out even a tiny sliver of Hope for the show. The rest of the show has become very aggravating but whenever those two were on screen at the very least I'm entertained

Having said that-

His outfits are terrible

He deserves better than... This

This outfit especially

The colors clash and are strange. Very unflattering, especially for a character as Charming as him.

And I will admit, I'm a little biased because I am an Alex Brightman fan, I think he's very funny and very talented

His dynamic with Mammon feels off.

Maybe it's because he's the only one of the seven deadly sins who actually acts like the seven deadly sins, or maybe it's because Mammon looks like a Christmas tree

Or it might feel off because.. it feels like he shouldn't be that intimidated by Mammon when he's got Asmodeus right there. I don't mind the idea of Mammon being a jester, because if I remember correctly, one of his many nicknames was the "Lord of fools"

And I don't necessarily hate his voice either. I'm not sure if it matches him or not. I'm still on the fence about it, but the voice itself is all right.

I feel like Fizz could have had a very interesting Dynamic with Mammon, especially if the whole "Mammon's the reason he became successful and met the love of his life" is what they're going for. But I feel like it gets ruined by making Mammon such a caricature. There's no subtlety.

If Mammon really views Fizz as an ungrateful brat that he gave everything to, I feel like that should be explored.

Getting back on track. While I like Fizz, I'd argue he's probably my favorite character, I have an issue with him. Or rather, how the show treats him

Maybe it's just because I'm asexual, so when things are overly sexual I tend to be less interested, but I'm really tired of just how much are the cast is hypersexualized 24/7

Almost every character that is significant to Blitzo's story (other than his relatives, thankfully) seems to have to be a sexual or romantic interest at some point.

Stolas, Verosika, Fizzarolli, Striker, Chaz, Moxxie and Millie, Dennis, etc,

Don't get me wrong, the idea of a character using sex as a tool to get what they want is interesting. And is not necessarily bad. Even if it was against my preference, I can see potential in it.

But it seems like the majority of the queer characters are either mocked or hypersexualized. (I'll give Ozzy a pass, since he is the embodiment of Lust)

Moxxie is a punching bag, Blitzo, Stolas, Fizz, Striker (in the harvest moon festival), Chaz is basically nothing but a sentiant libido, Glitz and Glam, Verosika, etc.

It's just dissapointing how it's lacking variety.

Fizz himself is great, I like him a lot.

Originally for my redesign/reimagine project, I wasn't going to do the seven deadly sins but I might have to do Asmodeus and Mammon since they are so entwined with fizz story-wise.

Also because their designs drive me up the wall, but I'll talk about that more in their posts

Long story long, Fizz is the best character in the show to me.

For the record, if any of you like the show as it is, great! I wish I could, I really do, but I just can't enjoy it as much as I want to. And yeah, reimagining the show has been really fun! I'm not entirely sure why, but it is. Maybe it's just a good creative exercise

At the end of the day, these are just my opinions, I'm sure all of you have your own reasons for liking or disliking it, my word is not law. Feel however you feel, and I will feel what I feel.

And all right, I confess, these two are cute.

[mask131]

Max Ernst's "One Week of Kindness"

Which could also be called "A Week of Benevolence" - the original French being "Une semaine de bonté".

This post is a follow-up to a reblog I made, right here. Please go read this reblog first, because this post continues from all the info I placed there. If you don't go check it out first, you'll be slightly or massively confused.

I wanted to expand a bit on this fascinating piece of art, and to do so I'll use the info the Musée d'Orsay shared and put on their website when they organized an exposition of Une semaine de bonté.

An expo that deserves its own mention due to how exceptional it was. It was a 2008-2009 exposition of the original collages of Max Ernst the booklets were reproductions of. It was a grand world-tour that started in the Albertina palace of Vienna and ended in the Musée d'Orsay of Paris, passing by Brühl, Hamburg and Madrid. Why was it such a big deal? Because this was the second exposition of Ernst' work - the only other exposition of Une semaine de bonté's collages was in 1936, in the Museo de Arte Moderno of Madrid, just before the Spanish Civil War. It had been organized by Paul Eluard, who loved Ernst' work, but five of the illustrations couldn't be part of the exposition - due to being deemed too "indecent" or "blasphemous". And since this date, the works had never seen the light of day anymore, being preserved in private collections... It explains why the second exposition was such a big deal.

A few more sources for this collage-work I forgot to talk about: Beyond the general category of covers and illustrations of investigation stories/crime novels/polar tales, we also know that Ernst used illustrations of Sade's novels, the caricatures of Grandville, and the illustrations of Fantomas.

As with typical surrealist work, Une semaine de bonté offers a work of onirism that transcends the limits and categorizations imposed by society, by science, by our very conception of reality, and rather offers nonsensical visions and extraordinary wonders. It was the third "roman-collage" of Ernst, after "La femme 100 têtes" of 1929 and "Rêve d'une petite fille qui voulut entrer au Carmel" (1930). Throughout the illustrations, we find many references to the Bible, to famed legends, to fairy tales, to Greco-Roman mythology, but mixed with Ernst' recurring and favorite themes. More precisely, his strong rejections and dislikes: his rejection of the Church, his hatred of the bourgeoisie, his dislike of the traditional family, his refusal of patriotism...

Because Une semaine de bonté is actually a denunciation work, a great critique, a satirical caricature of the French society of the 1930s. Ernst superposes, subverts and reverses all sorts of stereotypical and cliches depictions, of either the "good society", or of the evil, the crime, the monster. Now, of course, there is no actual "real" or "good" story for this work. It is open to interpretation and everybody has to and must find their own meaning in it - as with all proper surrealist work... But there is still strong themes that form recurring motifs, and a message Ernst wasn't so subtle about.

The satirical, ironical, cynical, biting nature of the work can be read in the very title, which plays on two levels. One, on a Christian level: "Seven capital elements" is, as I said, a parody of the "seven deadly sins/seven capital sins" ; the motif of a work centered around a week alerts that there will be numerous references to the Biblical genesis, but most importantly "One week of kindness" is a reference to "La semaine de bonté", The Week of Kindness, a 1927 association creating for social help. Tied to this subversion of typical Christan morals, ideas and values, is the second level of irony in the title: this collage-novel is called "One week of kindness"... And yet it depicts all sorts of violences and abuses. Its pages are filled with murders, tortures and natural disasters - and Ernst doesn't hesitate to subtly denounce the sensationalism of a society obsessed with depictions and illustrations of the most horrible and criminal sides of humanity.

It also is no wonder that this work was created during the 1930s. The ghosts of the World Wars are haunting this piece. On one side, Ernst was seeing with an anxious and angry eye the rise of violent nationalist movements and of brutal, discriminatory dictatorships - the very ones that would cause World War II. On the other side, Ernst was of this generation that inherited the trauma and memories of World War I, had to live with the broken and disfigured survivors of the "Great War". Ernst himself had served in the German army during the Great War (if you don't know, while Ernst was born and raised in Germany, he ended up having a triple-nationality, German, American and French). One can almost read in this book Ernst' vitriolic take on a society that distracts itself with materialism, excessive pleasures and sensationalism, in an attempt to bury the wraiths of its past, and to stay blind to the dangers ahead...

It is only by the last day of the week that the atrocities fade away, and that we return to pure oniric poetry, in a set of illustrations focusing on voluptuousness and fantasy, inviting to or glorifying freedom and dreams... Now let's take a look at the structure of the Week in more details.

Day 1: Sunday. Element: Mud. Example: The Lion of Belfort

(The Lion of Belfort is a commemorative statue of the Alsacian town of Belfort in France, in homage to how the city had been assieged by the Prussians during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870)

Another Christian subversion: the week doesn't begin here on a Monday, but on a Sunday. We also see some of the games Ernst has with the Biblical Genesis not just by waking the "last" day of Genesis the first day of the week, but also by associating to Sunday (the day of rest for a God that created everything already) the day of the "mud" (understand, the primordial mud from before the world was created, the "chaos", the "primordial soup" from which the universe had to be sculpted). Not only that, but Sunday, the holiest day of the week for Christians, is filled with brutal deaths, sadistic violence and blasphemous imagery.

More precisely, this booklet/day explores the relationships between men and women, male and females. And... let's just say Ernst has a bad view of it, since all the interactions between male and female characters in this booklet can be summarized by: persecution, seduction, theft, punishment, torture, death. Since the Lion of Belfort is the recurring theme, there is a recurring character throughout the illustrations of a lion-faced man. He is always in a position of power and domination, and it is no surprise: we often see him wear military decorations, political medals or even religious symbols such as the Sacred Heart. As a result, the lion-man clearly embodies all the dominating, oppressive and violent male-dominated organizations of the time: the political world, the military and the Church.

(If you are curious, the Musée d'Orsay offered the original picture on which the one above was based. It was taken from the Mémoire de Monsieur Claude:

Day two: Monday. Element: Water. Example: Water.

Unlike the male-dominated first booklet, this one is filled with female figures, making it the most "feminine" of all the days. There is still a lot of violence in it - but it is not a man-made violence anymore. Rather Ernst presents the violence of nature, the brutality of natural disasters - through water, a water that is seen flooding bedrooms, destroying bridges, or drowning entire streets of Paris.

Day three: Tuesday. Element: Fire. Example: The dragon's courtyard/The court of the dragon.

La Cour du Dragon, The Dragon's Courtyard is actually - or rather was - a famous street of Paris. It doesn't exist anymore, but it was in the 6th arrondissement, between today's Rue du Dragon and Rue de Rennes. This street was called as such because of a famous dragon-sculpture located at the top of one of its entrances - the dragon can still be seen at the Louvres I believe. And it is within illustrations of this "Dragon's courtyard" that the booklet begins.

The dragon is one of the recurring symbols of the booklet, with variations: dragons and snakes of all shapes and size that follow the characters around ; humans with various dragon or snake-like features ; or simply the presence of bat wings reminding of demons, sometimes counterbalanced by angelic characters with bird wings. Here, the caricature, in terms of setting and characters, clearly is of the bourgeoisie. Not only is Ernst making the world of the bourgeoisie "Hellish" by filling it with snakes, dragons, demons and flames, but he also seems to use the symbolism of the fire as a way to denote the cliche of the "passion bourgeoisie", the violence of passions, emotions and desires within the bourgeois world, leading to tragedies. (Opposing the "natural forces" of the water, here fire seems to be the human forces) It is no wonder that this booklet has a great emphasis on walls and doors, often decorated by surrealist symbols: they are here to evoke a cloistered, walled-up, compartimented world where walls and doors hide and try to restrain things such as fears, desires or dreams...

Day four: Wednesday. Element: Blood. Example: Oedipus.

This booklet is entirely driven by the myth of Oedipus (that we know to have been one of the surrealists' favorite Greek myth). All the illustrations have one element or another of the legend, and keep retelling specific episodes of Oedipus' adventures. Oedipus killing his own father, the riddle of the Sphinx, or baby-Oedipus being abandoned at birth... Oedipus himself is symbolized in the collages as a bird-headed man.

One of the most famous collages of this booklet is the one that retranscribes the part of the legend that gave Oedipus his name, "swollen feet" or "swollen ankles", due to receiving a wound there as a baby. In Ernst's work, the bird-headed man (Oedipus) rather stabs in the foot a woman:

Day five: Thursday. Element: Black. Example: The laughter of the rooster ; followed by "Easter Island".

This is where we reach the last three days placed in one same booklet. It is also only in this last booklet that Ernst placed text, in the form of quotes or poems from other authors. This day has three quotes. In the "Laughter of the Rooster" segment, two. One from Marcel Shwob's L'Anarchie: "Those of them that are joyful sometimes rise their behind up to the sky and thow their feces at the face of other men ; than they lightly hit their bellies." Another from Schwob's Le Rire: "Laughter is probably fated to disappear." The third quote comes from the Easter Island segment, and is from Arp: "Stones are filled with entrails. Bravo. Bravo."

Here the symbols seem to again represent men or organizations of power. On one side, you have the recurring rooster - which is of course the symbol of France, and thus can be seen as a representation of the French government or French state. On the other side you have cruel and brutal men with the head or faces of the Easter Island statues, reflecting them not just being humans made of stone - but being literal "stones idols" (in the religious sense of the term, the sin of idolatry, again a Christian subversion).

Day 6: Friday. Element: Sight. Example: The inside of the sight / The interior of the view.

Again, three quotes here. One from Professors O. Decroly and R. Buyse's "Les tests mentaux": "If three is greater than six, make a circle around the cross, and if water extinguishes fire, draw a line from the sceal to the candle, passing above the knife, then make a cross on the ladder." One from Paul Eluard's "Comme deux gouttes d'eau": "And to love I oppose / Already-made images / Instead of images to be made" (The text is much more poetic and punny in the original French). The final quote is from André Breton's "Le revolver aux cheveux blancs": "A man and a woman absolutely white."

Unlike the previous booklets which presented dynamic, violent, active, interactive scenes, here we are in more still, contemplative images. Symbols, visions and settings to be looked at and gazed at, as the title of the section indicates.

Final day: Saturday. Element: Unknown. Example: The key of songs (again, a pun on "The key of fields", a French expression)

Only one quote: "........ / ........ / ........ / ......" from Pétrus Borel's "Was-ist-das".

For this part, the Musée d'Orsay used a quote by André Breton to explain Ernst's intentions: from the Surrealism Manifesto, "Glory to hysteria and its cohort of young, naked women sliding down the roofs. The problem of womankind is, to the world, everything there is of wonderful and troubled/murky." In this final day, we see women, always leaving a bed or bedroom or resting place, and either flying away or entering landscapes where gravity does not work. There is clearly here a work on the "clinal hysteria", and Ernst' own take on the surealists great obsession with hysteria, that they deemed to be disease, yes, but an illness that brought both freedom and inspiration. This idea of being set free is within the section's very title: "Prendre la clé des champs", "To take the key of the fields" is an expression meaning to go away (especially to go away from an oppressing or suffocating, unpleasant situation), to flee, escape, disappear (with the connotation of the fields as a vast, open space of great possibilities and endless horizon).

[goldenstrikeheart]

do you have any headcannons about Lost in oz? the fandom is really small and its hard to find stuff about it online about it

I do have headcanons! I actually made a post about 5 of them a while back (You can find the post here).

Here’s some more just for fun:

Scarecrow. Under no circumstances can he stay quiet for a long time. He’s a Scarecrow, his presence is to be known and call attention to himself (because real life scarecrows are used to scare away crows and such, it’s supposed to be seen to scare them away.) Another reason why he’s expressive and such, he speaks with arms and hands (quite literally if you watch the show a lot, he moves them a lot. Especially in the season 2 in the first couple of episodes.). It’s meant so people notice him in some way. The real only time he wouldn’t move and/or talk at all is during night time, but as shown in the show, he sometimes fails at not talking to himself. (I like to think he got this off of being alone in Glinda’s castle for so long.)

Glinda knew the original Dorothy and thought of her somewhat like a daughter, so when the Dorothy from the present appeared, it was like an immediate emotional adoption. Because of this knowing, she feels more inclined to protect and help Dorothy around Oz.

Can be said the same for Scarecrow, but his memories are messed up so he doesn’t really remember the original Dorothy. Also, Scarecrow adopts every kid in the show he sees. Dorothy? The moment they met. Roquat? No problem, he’s been adopted while in the deadly desert together. West? The moment Cyra was in trouble he and Glinda zoomed in as step-in parents. Reigh? Has been somewhat adopted as well. They spend their time talking about Reigh’s theories for Oz. Every child he sees. Especially the ones that have no dads.

Reigh has definitely done some illegal hacking and sneaking around before. Of course, nothing to the extreme level of being an undercover villain or anything, but enough that he stumbled on something important and caused him to be even more paranoid most of the time. I also like the thought that Reigh is the Cowardly Lion’s descendent, and to that I say: Yes. He is. (I have an AU about this that I will later post about if I am have time and energy to draw it.)

A fun one that’s just a joke: Fitz ended up going back to school on a traveling study. Now he gets to explore the world while going to school.

[opinated-user]

Whenever someone talks about LO has treated and helped survivors of abuse, I always remember how she said that if your friend isn't listening to you calling out abuse, you should just leave them. Which.. is not how you treat a current victim in an abusive situation. You've talked about it before, so I don't need to go in depth, but that should break any creditability L has as someone who claims to supports abuse survivors.

actually that's a great point and i think it's appropiate to bring out what was the great advice that LO gave to the friend of someone in a potentially deadly abusive situation.

this is what LO thinks "helping survivors abuse" means. helping out abusers to isolate their victims even more.

on the original post you can find links with actual resources and actual advice that won't garantee the death of someone.

[one-britt-to-rule-them-all]

Just me rambling about my fanfic projects

(I didn't really proofread, I'm sorry.)

Listen, I know nobody's really gonna give a fuck, but screw it, I need to word vomit a bit.

I've posted on another platform about how I've been writing some Twisted Wonderland fics behind the scenes – three of them, to be exact. I haven't published them because I've been enjoying writing and indulging in this hobby in a stress-free manner, because I sometimes feel overwhelmed when having to cater to an audience, which incidentally takes the fun out of writing for me and causes me to block or burn out easily.

Doing this has really been making me happy, and I'm on the fence about publishing the fics. I probably will at some point; it would be a waste to not share the works. Plus, they're already written in a reader insert format, so it's not like I'd have to change much about the stories to cater them to my typical audience. I think I'd publish them only when I'm nearing their completion or when I have a lot – and I mean a lot – of chapters done. That way, I can set a consistent upload schedule.

But regardless of what I end up doing, I'd like to share the basics of the three books I've been working on! So continue reading if you're interested! ~

I'd like to give a preemptive warning that the second story I talk about is heavily NSFW-based. So, if you're uncomfortable with that, then skip over to #3.

Another thing: the reader is referred to with she/her pronouns throughout the explanations, though if published, they might be changed to GN, but I'm not really sure yet.

#1

So, the first book I want to talk about is called 'The Devil's Wonderland.'

This story is definitely inspired by some elements of Obey Me, though you don't need to have played Obey Me to understand what's going on because although it's inspired, it's not a crossover and the OM characters are never mentioned. 

This book does follow Twisted Wonderland's main story, though, with some artistic liberty taken to make it more unique to me and my story-telling. The reader is the highly-respected and somewhat feared demon lord of the Nether Realm (hell) and runs an institution where demons of all ages learn various things about the Nether Realm and important skills to have as a demon. The idea of the institution was first brought forth by the previous demon lord, her father, but the reader is the one to have actually gone through with it. Much like the Twisted Wonderland side of things, the institution has seven dorms with one demon at the head of each of them, and each dorm is based on one of the seven deadly sins. The dorm heads are personally very close to the reader in one way or another, and all come from different social standings of demon hierarchy. 

Her office has a mirror that allows her to look into different universes and realms, as well as travel to said universes, which is where the reader learns of Twisted Wonderland, a Realm she finds absolutely enchanting and fascinating and was contemplating taking a vacation there. However, when one of the freshmen, a mischievous cambion who has already earned himself the reputation of being troubled, gets called into the office, he goes into the mirror and Twisted Wonderland. So, with her trusty right-hand demon man at her side, they go into the mirror, where they are transported into Twisted Wonderland at NRC. They end up using humanoid disguises with magic to not draw much attention to themselves — they're unaware of what constitutes normal for the world — and originally have a mission to retrieve the troubled student and bring him back to the Nether, but they get dragged into the mess of the prologue of the main game. The thing is, the reader realizes that she likes being in Twisted Wonderland because of the way she's being treated. She's not being treated with fear and superiority. People aren't sucking up to her or blindly following and adoring her for her status because the NRC men don't know that this is the literal queen of hell.

She likes it. She likes being just another person. Hell, she gets excited when people outright disrespect her because nobody would ever dare say their true thoughts to her back in the Nether. So, she wants to stay in Twisted Wonderland to experience a semblance of normality, though she still has to flip-flop between realms because she has duties back in the Nether, so she's living this double life. Much to the chagrin of her right-hand man.

To make the story more unique to me, I've implemented a lot of elements of the original universe I've been building for myself and OCs, and there a few of OCs that will be added to add a little something! 

I'd like to briefly introduce these OCs to you. Please note that all the artwork that I'm about to show you have not been made by me. They are all paid commissions of my characters, directly taken from my ToyHouse account. I'd also like to apologize for the poorly-done collages of the images. I tied to condense things as much as possible.

Obviously I won't be revealing too much info on them as I don't want to spoil things should the books come to the public, but I want to share a few tidbits!

Starting off with my personal favourite and one of the most relevant characters, meet Alastair:

Al is the right-hand man and butler to the reader. His loyalty to her knows no bounds, and he's almost always seen with her. They actually have a very close relationship and respect each other as way more than just business partners, instead seeing each other as very close friends. Alastair is an absolute badass in his own way and possibly my favourite character. I'd even go as far as to say that he's my favourite of ALL of my OCs. I've just grown super attached to this dude and can't wait to show him off in story.

Next, we have Luka:

Luka is the cambion that got Alastair and the reader in the mess in the first place. Being half demon and half human, he struggles with his identity as he's unsure of where he fits in best. He faces prejudice in the human community for being unpure (racism is actually a big thing in my universe regarding human views on non-humans) and the demon community often reject cambions for being 'not demon enough'. Luka gets a lot of character development throughout the story, and his relationship with Alastair is pretty comical, and the relationship he grows with the reader is so wholesome to the point where I'm debating not making Luka a love interest because I feel like they have a very familial bond.

So, Luka and Alastair are the main OCs and the ones that are seen the most. The other OCs get introduced slowly but surely and are less present — though they still hold weight — so I will rapid-fire them at you.

So, let's get into the seven dorm heads of the demon institution!

First, we have Melchom:

Melchom is the dorm head of the Superbia dorm, which is centred around the sin of pride. He is a noble who is very well-acquainted with the reader and her family, being a childhood friend of hers. They were brought up with the intent of wedded to one another, but that didn't happen for reasons I'm not spoiling. With striking good looks, great power, a high rank in demon society and the sheer confidence he exhibits, Mel is definitely one of the more popular and admired demons at the institution, seemingly being perfect in every sense of the word.  

Next is Lucius:

Lucius runs Avaritia, the dorm based around the sin of greed. Although neither a noble nor anywhere near royalty, Lucius is a pretty successful business demon. He's incredibly skilled in business affairs and has made a name for himself in both the Nether and human realms, but is his money all from honest, hard work? Probably not. But he sure is good at convincing others that it is. He's a demon, give the shady man a break!

We move on over to Jinn!

Jinn is at the top of the Invidia dorm, which is based on envy. Out of all the dorm heads, Jinn is the most difficult with which to get along. Deep-rooted insecurities manifest as envy towards his comrades for one way or another, making it difficult to form a genuine bond. 

Next is the duo of Gael and Aziel:

Leading the Ira dorm, based on wrath, are Gael and Aziel. Gael is the only human that currently inhabits the Nether Realm, and he shares his body with a demon named Aziel. The reasons as to why Aziel is possessing Gael are redacted for the time being as I don't want to spoil, but much like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing, Gael and Aziel are completely different in terms of personality, and Aziel can take over Gael's body.

Next, we have Ezekiel, or just Zeke for short:

The Luxuria dorm is based on the sin of lust, and Zeke is the one who runs it. Zeke is a super open, chill and fun-loving guy who is all about self-expression and will absolutely shame kink and slut-shamers. He's allergic to wearing proper shirts, but if he must, he will. He also runs various clubs at the institution, including a dance club and a yoga club.

Next is Iblis:

At the top of the Gula dorm, home of gluttony, is Iblis. Iblis is an absolute sweetheart and cinnamon roll, whose tail and butt will do little waggles when food is involved. Despite constantly eating, he's rather fit due to gluttony demons essentially being bottomless voids, nearly immediately burning up anything they consume. And yes, his tail is as warm and squishy as it looks, and he's all for letting people use it as a weighted blanket. Once a human, reincarnated as a demon after death, one really wonders what the hell this guy has done to wind up in hell, he's such a sweetie... ~

For the last dorm head, we have Izzin:

The last dorm, representing sloth, is Acedia, which is run by Izzin. Much like, Iblis, Izzin was also once human and turned into a demon after death. Being a sloth demon, Izzin is forced into a perpetual state of sleepiness and because of that, he's the most uninvolved of all the dorm heads. Make no mistake, even in sleep, he's somehow perfectly aware of what's going on around him. He hears all, don't test him. Though when he's awake and aware, he's amongst the more mischievous and scheming of the dorm heads and often gets involved in Lucius' scams- I mean business.

There's one last character I want to show, and that's the reader. Now, in and of itself, the reader is not given a set appearance. The skin colour, body type, hair colour and style, eye colour, etc. remain ambiguous so that the reader can insert themself or their OC. Plus, this is made to be my sona as the MC of the story, but I still wanted to show! This is more to show what I have in mind with the outfit, crown, wings and horns when in demon form.

OKAY. Moving on to the next book!

#2

The next book is... something. It's called 'She's a Monster.'

Let me explain this book's existence with a simple conversation between my friend and I.

Friend: Hey, Britt! You know how everybody writes fics where the reader is a monster fucker?

Me: ... yeah?

Friend: Well, hear me out... what if the reader is the one who's a monster, and the guys are the ones who are monster fuckers??

Me: ...

Me: *Opens Google Docs.* Say no more.

So... this book is a collect-all-the-men reverse-harem-porn-with-plot... thing.

To make this simple, it's Twisted Wonderland, but the reader is a big, strong, naga woman that brings out the monster fucker in the NRC men. There's the plot that follows TW and my added plot lines, but there's a lot of sex and kink exploration.

My portrayal of nagas is not accurate to our real-world legends. My portrayal of nagas is purely driven by my original universe and narrative, so keep that in mind!

The gyst is that the reader is a naga — half human, half snake monster — a rare creature on the brink of extinction in Twisted Wonderland. The reader has been living completely isolated in the depths of a forest near the Dwarf Mines. She's rather lonely and craves having a clutch — what nagas use to refer to their group of mates — so when she sees Yuu, Ace, Deuce and Grim adventure into the mines, she's compelled to help them out a bit and interact.

Now, in this story, nagas are rare and almost extinct, so while it's not normal for her species, the reader is willing to get with humans and humanoids because she's a little desperate. Here's the thing: nagas have a weird male-to-female ratio, with females being much rarer than males, where there's only about a single female for every nine males, so it isn't uncommon for females to have multiple partners, and this instinct is still very present, and so that is why the reader is compelled to get with multiple guys. However, despite this, female nagas are very respectful and gentle with their partners and love them all equally.

The reader in this can shift between her proper, monstrous form and a more humanoid form where she has legs, though she's not fond of being in that form as she gets sore from containing her monster form. So, there are scenes where the men fuck the reader in her human form and some scenes where it's human on monster.

The reader is portrayed as a switch in the book, but there's a focus on her being dominant. I'm just tired of always writing submissive readers, so I'm trying something different. Plus, female nagas, in this interpretation, are typically larger, stronger and more dominant than the males.

Also... the reader has both female and male anatomy. I primarily work with female anatomy in the story, but when in her full monster form, the reader can sheathe and unsheathe two dicks, so there are some scenes where the dudes get dicked down.

There's some genuine fluff and emotional connections made, it's not all smut, and there are definitely some comedic moments, especially with the reader just... not understanding everyday slang, technology and human things in general.

So yeah, this one is definitely sexually charged and not for the sexually squeamish.

I'd like to give a visual reference of my OC that I've used to base the reader off. Again, keep in mind that my showing you these images is only to give you an idea of the physical traits the reader has in her monster form. Her skin/scale colour, hairstyle and hair colour, body type and shape, eye colour, etc, are all for you to pick. The basic appearance of the reader's insert is their choice, but this is a template for you to know what I have in mind when writing in terms of physical traits. The reader's 'colour palette' while in her monster form isn't mentioned, so feel free to think of her as the colour of your choice. Doesn't have to be purple and gold.

Her name's usually Lilith in my universe, but she's (Y/N) here, obviously! I have some more art of her, but the images are... very NSFW. So, I'm not showing.

Onto the last book!

#3

The last book is called 'Monsters & Magic.'

I don't have a cover for this one yet, but here's a commission that's in progress that I should get this week. There's gonna be a nice background of NRC's courtyard!

POKÉMON X TWISTED WONDERLAND CROSSOVER!!!

Okay, so this book is a little different... it's kind of a CYOA? 

Also, you don't NEED to be a pokémon expert to read this, but it definitely helps.

Basically, the reader is a champion-level and gets yeeted into the world of Twisted Wonderland thanks to Arceus. Basic stuff. But here's where it gets a little different: the book has three prologue chapters, and in the third prologue chapter, the reader stands in front of the mirror, and the story branches. There are seven branches for the seven dorms, and the reader will be placed in one of the dorms, and you choose which paths you want to read. So there are basically seven stories in one.

I decided to do this because I wanted to follow the stories of Twisted Wonderland, but I wanted the reader to experience the events of every dorm from the perspective of someone who's in that dorm. I wanted to write a bit more of an inside view of the dorm dramas and characters, with added plot lines and scenes made by me, of course. This is also a good way to give more depth to some characters I feel got screwed over by the writers. Leona, my love, I'm looking at you.

The reader also changes depending on the dorm she's in. Her personality and backstory are different, her pokémon team is different, etc. This is for variety because I don't want to write the same character over and over again but in a different setting.

The reader is from a different region for every dorm and has experienced the events of the main games associated with that region, plus more. The thing is, there are nine main regions and only seven dorms, so I can't honor them all. Plus, if you count Hisui, Orre, Fiore, Almia and Oblivia, there are even more regions.

Since I wanted to involve as many of the regions as possible, I fused some of them together, so here's what I got:

Heartslabyul: Paldea + Galar

Savanaclaw: Sinnoh

Octavinelle: Hoenn + Alola

Scarabia: Orre

Pomefiore: Kalos

Ignihyde: Kanto + Johto

Diasomnia: Unova

Because Hisui is basically old Sinnoh, I decided to not include it at all, but there are some nods and references to Legends Arceus, notably in the prologue of the book where Arceus brings the reader to Twisted Wonderland, and how pokémon are portrayed to be, as they are, wild creatures that can be extremely dangerous when not tamed.

Fiore, Almia and Oblivia... as much as I love the ranger games, I decided to not include them. Mostly because I haven't plsyed the games in so long that I don't remember them that much, but also because I wabted the reader's history to be more trainer-oriented.

Orre is included becasue I'm a sucker for the GC games, but also because I think the story and atmosphere based on those regions is great, and I'd love to incorporate it!

----

All in all, I'm having so much fun writing these books, and if I ever release them to the public, I hope y'all will enjoy them as well! 

Welp, thank you for coming to my TED talk! See ya!

[autumnsorbet]

Arthur Feeling for Merlin

Art by ( suzuen )

I'm questioning whether or not Arthur in seven deadly sins and a four nights is in love with Merlin short answer is I'm like 80% sure he is in love with her sadly and considering how nakuba does the writing for Arthur and Merlin at times I just feel so scared of what could happen in the future I don't really want to see a ship happen between these two even though they are both in their 30s, and it's kind of weird cuz Merlin raised Arthur I do think he has an unrequited love for her that maybe in seven sins he didn't realize it was love but maybe is he got older between seven sins and four nights he realized he was in love with her maybe confessed to her at one point I don't know we probably won't get up back story till the end of this manga like with the first one

Iv seen a lot of post over the years about Merlin's feelings for Arthur and a few one Arthur feelings but nobody's really going into deep explanation as to how and why certain characters feel certain things or if they have a lot of those older post I've seen are deleted so I've decided to make my own I didn't want to do this for a while I just haven't had time

🟠perralles between escanor and Arthur

❤️Royalty,power,and they're love for merlin

🟣Royalty

I know you're probably wondering why bring up escanor and Arthur well they have a lot of parallels a lot of people have talked about them before but I don't see it discussed as much as it used to be but there are a lot there was even a point I thought

Maybe they were possibly related like now that we know in the current story that Arthur isn't a pin dragon by blood it could be possible that maybe escanor was Arthur's uncle like maybe his brother survived and had a kid and that kid turned out to be Arthur but this is just me guessing or making up a theory so let's get into the parallels between them

🩷

Both Arthur and escanor are the second son of a royal family from the south though Arthur was adopted into the royal family of Camelot he ended up becoming its king I'm not sure why his older brother kay wasn't picked to be king but maybe in Camelot you have to prove yourself by doing a heroic task to be the king maybe it's not by bloodline, or people really just saw that kay was a spoiled brat and did not want him on the throne 😅

And as you can tell both escanor and Arthur's older siblings didn't seem to like them much and as we saw in escanor's flashbacks in the anime and I believe even the manga his older brother was abusive towards him and during one of his abusive attacks escanor unlocked sunshine and hurt his older brother

I'm not sure when it was revealed I would have to go back and look or see if it was maybe in a q&a but it was revealed that escanor's Kingdom that he originally came from was destroyed by Viking Invaders got caught in a war and was destroyed

And as we all know from the seven deadly sins series Arthur's home Camelot was destroyed sadly

Escanor had no interest in his home since everyone including his own parents turned on him the only person he had to look to for comfort and Hope was his caretaker/aid I believe who watched over him Rosa, but as we know Rosa passed away because

escanor went and visited her in the capital of the Dead and then at some point later on escanor meets Merlin and falls in love with her but not just because she looks like Rosa because as he said she saw him as his own person and never truly treated him like a monster

Same with Arthur kinda,king Uther was busy being King so probably didn't have much time for even his own biological son kay,let alone Arthur and not sure if Arthur had friends or not when he was younger

Cuz we've only had a side chapter to explore his backstory when he was younger we still don't even know how he met Merlin outside of cover art an few flash back panels scattered throughout 300+

chapters, I'm hoping at some point in four nights we get more on Arthur and Merlin's backstory and how they met because why was Merlin just allowed to take Arthur because he's not a biological child of the throne maybe and they were okay with her adopting him or something it's never been clarified and I'm confused about this still to this day.

My theory is that like in all king Arthur story Arthur is still king Uther son by blood but he adopted Arthur so no one would know he had a child outside his marriage to cover everything up and his affair

🟠Power

As we now escanor had sunshine a power/Grace that came from the supreme deity and with this power in the daytime! Physical appearance and a personality change but at night he was his normal self

☀️

🌌

And then there's Arthur who has chaos and as we can see in the sequel series similar to how eskenor's power Sunshine changed his personality chaos has completely changed Arthur's personality after he consumed more of it

And as much as people hate to hear this between the two of them Arthur is the more powerful he has chaos which is the power to create and control reality itself chaos the being itself created all of the races but the races that resemble chaos the most were humans and due to that the supreme deity

and demon King who were also created by chaos fear that they wouldn't be loved or favorite and sealed chaos away Merlin found out about chaos and spent 3,000 years dedicating her life to finding the next Wilder of chaos who will wield it perfectly and as we know hawk mama was chaos itself and she was even in Camelot around the same time Merlin met Arthur

(go to the wiki on mama hawk it tells you she was in Camelot 10 years ago around the time the seven deadly sins were all framed for the murder of the head night Gill thunders father, in Merlin was also in Camelot around that time cuz she met Arthur whenhe was five I believe Mama hawk was there because Arthur the new host of chaos was there but at some point she met meliodas and he ended up taking hawk and hawk mama with him as he traveled around looking for the other sins and made the bar hat, although I wish they had been better foreshadowing that hawk mama was chaos I think we got to throw a line line in the movie that she was the mother of chaos but we hadn't heard of chaos any other part of the story before the chaos are so it just feels like bad foreshadowing)

but I don't think Merlin learned where chaos was stored so maybe during her travels with Arthur I don't know this is just me guessing it was never explained how Merlin knew that hawk mama was the mother of chaos is she called her in the first seven deadly sins movie

Arthur chaos power has consumed his original personality like how escanor personality was somewhat consumed by sunshine

🔵

And merlin

Do I think escanor loves Rosa yes the same way I believe unfortunately that Arthur does love Merlin the same way I think I've said this before even this post or another but it wasn't really uncommon for the time that the story is set in for people to fall in love with older people in their lives such as tutors and mentors and even older cousins 🤢 or relatives or a family in-laws or older family friends

It's even still kind of like that today we're older people want to not really date in their own age range but date someone older because they feel that they have more answers or a bit more maturity to them and that people around their own age just don't have anything they're looking for

But an escanor and even Arthur's case Rosa and Merlin were their soul caretaker who took care of them and risked their lives for them unconditionally

Already talked about how escanor fell for merlin but he didn't just fall for her because she looked like Rosa he fell from Merlin as he got to know her over time and I believe the same happened let Arthur but

I'm going to try to look at this from both Merlin and Arthur's point of view from Merlin's point of view Arthur is someone she loves and cherished not just as a student but like a child maybe although it hasn't really been said that's just the feeling you kind of get through her body language and how much she cares for Arthur we still don't know much about Arthur and Merlin's past we've only gotten pieces that's led up to the current day with the fake Merlin and Camelot that sorry for spoilers is no longer around cuz Arthur killed her off after

plot device

🤭 (sorry ) Guinevere called Arthur out for making what she thought was an illusion of Merlin but was actually a fairy he captured that he had take on Merlin's form since she's no longer with him for some reason

There another think to merlins other love interest meliodas and both escanor

Although Merlin wasn't able to reciprocate eskenor's feelings she did kiss him goodbye and keep the burns that show that he was alive and it's proof that there was one man alive who loved her we also know due to 3,000 years ago and The holy war she met meliodas and fell in love with him but he already had Elizabeth

And I seen people ask before and even talked about it another post people have asked with Merlin still have searched for chaos if maybe she had met eskenor 3000 years ago or even if she had fallen in love and meliodas that loved her back and the answer is yes Merlin is a curious person she's the type of person that like she did with the seven deadly sins would have went by behind their back in order to search for chaos to feel her own curiosity so even if her lover had been meliodas or escanor 3000 years ago she still would have looked for chaos even if she had met eskenor 3000 years ago he's still human he would have died eventually maybe in his late 60s-80s like most humans do

So even after his death she still would have looked for chaos to get over her sadness

And then when it comes to Arthur love for merlin

Do I think Arthur's in love with Merlin 😮‍💨

The thing for me on one hand I think chaos is taking Arthur's ideas and feelings too far I don't think he had maybe ever wanted to bring people back but if he got corrupted by the fragment of chaos he absorbed and made him want to bring people back do I think he probably loves Merlin yes 😐 and now maybe there are some unrequired feelings he never realized he had that of come to the surface and it's coming off as love

On the other hand he could fully be in love with her cuz like I said earlier in this post people have been known in this time The story set in to fall for their mentors and older people and looking back at the

story we never really saw or got to see Arthur interact with people of his kingdom or if he had friends or anything or even see him interact with his brother or even meet his sister Morgana lafaye if she's in the story at all we didn't see him get to form any relationships with anyone around his age the only other person around Arthur's age was Elizabeth but her soul character was tied to meliodas and the sins and her curse I wish we could have seen a

friendship develop between Arthur Elizabeth go through and maybe some of the other younger characters like Jericho as well that would have been cool and it could have been set up Jericho working for Arthur down the line cuz I don't think they ever met or even know each other at all in the story looking back I think they talked once the same time Arthur met escanor and that's the only interaction they ever had,

it also has me wondering about eskenor's jealousy towards Arthur, like some others have said I always stop asking or jealousy towards Arthur was a bit odd I think it would only be natural for Merlin to care for Arthur because like I said she sees him as a student / child of her own I don't think she has any romantic feelings for him maybe ,

but maybe even though they met once maybe due to how Merlin seems so attached to Arthur and said how she felt like Arthur was her hope and then later on in the chapter after Arthur's got stabbed with Excalibur well being mind-controlled

escanor over here Merlin's talk about how important Arthur was to her the same way meliodas is important to Elizabeth that could be interpreted as loves from an outside point of view which I think escanor did

maybe Arthur even overheard this in his unconscious state of sleep and is mistaking Merlin's feelings for love after all

looking back Merlin has been there for so many important moments in the story with Arthur from him getting stabbed with Excalibur to him getting chaos and even them going to lions in the first arc

Even though I don't like it and I hope this doesn't come up but considering how nakuba does his writing in this story

we're going to find out that Arthur is indeed probably in Love with Merlin and this probably for me when it comes to the story and how nakuba does his characters in relationships in nanatsu no taizai and four knights,

it's a big 80% we'll see that Arthur loves her and at some point either confessed to Merlin had feelings for Merlin just never said anything because he learned that Merlin was in love with meliodas

I'm sure at some point Arthur even asked Merlin about the burns on her face and she probably told him what happened with escanor,

because again looking back at it we saw in the save by light movie Merlin had her face covered and I thought that was weird I didn't think it was Merlin but from what I was told it was her

maybe at some point Merlin noticed that Arthur seem bothered by the burns on her face so she covered it

but when it comes to the fake Merlin that was in 4knights Camelot we never got to see her full face but what if her face just looked normal like Merlin used to before she got the kiss burns on her face and even if maybe she still did have the burns on the fake version of Merlin maybe that's why the her face was covered because Arthur never liked those Burns he was jealous that escanor got to kiss Merlin and

eave a mark on her that was everlasting and he might not be ever be able to get the chance do I think Arthur is in love with Merlin sadly yes do I think it'll come up in the story also sadly yes do I think it's going to lead to anything big possibly like a said before considering who's writing the story Arthur being in love with Merlin might have been used as a way to show Guinevere and how sassy she could be and even upset Arthur to the point

where he destroyed the fake illusion that was over the ferry and killed the fairy he even mentioned how he was starting to consider her as the real thing but at the end of the day we're going to see Merlin again and she and Arthur are going to come face to face and he's either going to confess to her or Merlin's already going to know Arthur's feelings and have probably already rejected him and he's probably still not over it

I used to ship Merlin and Arthur and when I saw that they were still together in four nights I was actually happy but then going back rereading the story again after a few years cuz I hadn't read in a long time and then reading four nights up to where I think at the time I started reading it was on chapter 40 I realized I no longer shipped or life to the idea of Merlin and Arthur being together because I completely had forgotten cuz I hadn't read it in a long time that Merlin was secretly a 13-14year-old I do have a theory that maybe Merlin undead her ceiling spell and maybe if she could start to age like a normal human and that way by the time she and Arthur were a bit older they would be in their twenties at the same time and then and their actual 30s at the same time as well even though technically she is thousands of years old Merlin would be 22 or 23 when Arthur 26 and that would also add up kind of in the timeline cuz I was trying to piece the timeline together based off of what some other characters have said in the story as to when Arthur started acting weird so I'm wondering if Merlin maybe did start to age alongside Arthur and he developed feelings for her in that sense as well could something have happened between now or maybe Merlin was no longer in her kid form and actually did age and go until adulthood from the same time as Arthur maybe they had a kid together I don't know this is just a random theory that I kind of also hope doesn't come true but still thought I'd share it

Sorry this is so long

And if it's there a certain parts on repeating myself for a few parts I maybe don't make a complete sense it's because I kept getting interrupted while trying to type this out sorry ,,😮‍💨

[not-too-many-eyes]

Digimon Survive, Mistakes and Moving On Part 1: Shuuji and Ryo

(Day 2 of Survive Week: Survive) [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [Takuma Addition] So Digimon Survive is a huge game, with 4 routes and a lot of moving parts, Digimon Survive tells a story about eight kids transported to dangerous world and the emotionally conflicts and physical challenges that come with it. This was originally going to also talk about all four routes and there respective focus characters but then I realized it was too long so I split it up.

With that out of the way, let's talk about the first two deaths of Survive and how they connect with the games themes. CWs: Discussion of Child Abuse, Death, Self-Hatred Spoiler Warning for: Everything. Mostly the game pre-route split though. My Italics kept on breaking and when I checked this again for some last minute editing. no idea why if you notice any weird itallics that's why. I need to stop writing directly into the tumblr post maker.

Ryo Tominaga

When you first meet Ryo It's easy to dismiss Ryo as nothing more than a cowardly delinquent, and it's not like he gives you a lot to work with. Ryo tends to be rude and hostile but also terrified all the time and thoroughly unhelpful because of that. He also doesn't have a good relationship with his partner Kunemon, who can't talk and can only communicate through body language and tone, Kunemon tries his best to connect with his partner, but Ryo keeps pushing him away, terrified of him.

We are not encouraged to empathize with Ryo, in fact we are encouraged to do the opposite. To find him cowardly and his fear silly. To be annoyed with his actions, to be frustrated with his attitude. Ryo is designed to be hated. Ryo is the one dragging the group down, the one making this already stressful situation even worse, maybe if he just...wasn't there the situation would become easier, more bearable.

But as the game progresses you find that Ryo is struggling, his mental health deteriorates over the three chapters before his possible death. With Ryo at the end of it muttering about doom and ghosts and the afterlife and his mom.

But the group doesn't do much to help him. Because there's so much more important things to do, find everyone else, manage supplies, continue surviving. So Ryo's problems are ignored and Minoru even actively makes fun of Ryo during the first three chapters, exacerbating the situation.

This comes to a head in Chapter 3 where, if you don't have enough Affinity with Ryo (or are on your first save), he dies, the fog using his dead mother to lure him into it.

Haru: Why do you want to return to the real world? Ryo: I d-don't belong here. This isn't my world Ryo: Takuma and the others all hate me. I know because they all treat me like dead weight Ryo: They're trying to use those monsters of theirs to get rid of me Haru: Oh? Is that how it looks like to you Ryo: That's why I want to go back! Back to my world, back to my home! Ryo: But its okay. Any minute now, Mommy will call me, and then I'll be saved' Haru: *sigh* Haru: Just how long are you going to keep deluding yourself? Haru: You should know better than anyone that your mother is never going to call you Ryo: *gasp* Ryo: Yes...That's right... Ryo: Mommy was always sick. I wanted to spend more time with her, but the doctor said no... Ryo: I tired so hard...Whenever i was lonely she'd tell me to be strong, but.. Ryo: But those...Those were her last words.

Something the group didn't know before the start of this game was that Ryo's mom died, and Ryo was left to cope with his grief. Alone, in a strange, deadly world. With people who, at least to him, hated his guts.

No wonder he was such a wreck this entire time.

Ryo's death is a big turning point in the game, where the danger of the situation really sets in for everyone. And afterwards when everyone goes back to the school after being calmed down by Shuuji, Takuma reflects on how if they just, tried harder they could of possibly prevented this.

Takuma: (Surely there must of been something more I could of done) Takuma: (Maybe if we'd all work together or if I'd been more determined or...) -------------------------------- Takuma: There must of been something we could've done to save him. Maybe if we started earlier... Takuma: I knew. When he couldn't open up to Kunemon, when he got so scared of Dokugumon, how he acted in that classroom, on the trail, or even just talking with him. It was clear Takuma: I knew he was struggling. But I didn't help him. Takuma: I just....let him suffer.

I'll talk about that in more detail later when we get into post-split content. I'll just say it's important to note that Takuma, Aoi, and Shuuji are blaming themselves for Ryo's death and, as seen later on, this isn't really a good thing. As much as Ryo dies because he wasn't given support, it's not really right to say that Takuma and the rest should of bent over backwards for him. This is why dialogue choices that raise his affinity involve Takuma, not necessarily agreeing with him, but understanding him, which let's Ryo knows that he is part of the group, that they won't abandon him, even if Ryo really was just a cowardly jerk.

Because of this, Ryo survives, and gets better.

Ryo is a great member of the cast, he's loyal and attentive. Helping Aoi and Shuuji to manage to group when Takuma disappears, Ryo is also one of the more proactive members of the group, helping everyone stay on track and get things done. And While Ryo can be overly pessimistic and still has trouble communicating with everyone it's clear that he's a reliable guy in his own way.

Ryo: Yeah, um...I mean, how do I say this... Ryo: When he's (Takuma) not around, I can't just leave it all to you and Aoi... Ryo: I'll, uh...I'll follow your lead, a'ight? Shuuji: Ryo... Shuuji: Sure, I'm glad I can rely on you. -------------------------------- Kaito: Quiet, Miu! I'm saying this for your sake...! Miu: You're not doing this for me! Kaito, you- Ryo: Knock it off you two. Now's not the time to be butting heads Takuma: (Ryo stopped the fight...His mouth's as nasty as ever, but he's keeping a cool head.) Ryo: First, let's hear what Takuma has to say. What's this about Miyuki being the key?

Another thing of note is that while Ryo's actions Pre-Chapter 3 are neither dwelled on, or brushed aside like nothing happened.

Ryo: I really think you would (save everyone no matter what)...Wish I could be like you. Takuma: You should just keep doing you, man. No point in becoming like me. Ryo: You think the guy standing in front of you could save someone? Takuma: The guy right now? Absolutely. When I think of how you were when we got to this world... Takuma: You've changed a lot. That's how I know. Ryo: Yeah, maybe. The fact that I can understand this guy (Kunemon) now is proof enough. -------------------------------- Ryo: This wold has given us a ton of memories. Ryo: Honestly, there's a lot I want to forget... Ryo: For real. It feels like people have been messing around with me the whole time. Takuma: Now that's not true. Ryo: Not for you, sure! But Minoru, man... Ryo: I mean, I guess it's my fault for giving him so much ammunition in the first place. Takuma: ...One day everything that went down here will be distant memories. Ryo: I'm sure that's true. And when that happens... Ryo: I want them to be great memories. That's why we'll save Miyuki. We've got to. -------------------------------- Ryo: Huh? What are you thanking me for? Takuma: Oh, nothing in particular. Everything you've done for us so far. Ryo: Oh, that's good. Ryo: Well, thank you, too. And, I'm sorry. Takuma: Wait, why are you apologizing? Ryo: Oh, for all kinds of stuff. I was kind of a jerk. Violence, selfish...you know. Takuma: Yeah, kind of. Ryo: That's why I'm apologizing. Sorry

Ryo certainly hasn't forgotten that he was a bit of a jerk, he apologizes to Takuma and Kunemon, does his best to help and support the group, and most importantly resolve to do better without drowning himself in guilt.

Ryo doesn't dwell on his mistakes that much because he knows that he can do better. Ryo knows that making a mistake, making multiple bad mistakes, isn't the end, and what's really important is making up for it. Ryo changed, because he wanted to do better.

All these traits is why he's the perfect character to help out one Shuuji Kayama. Shuuji Kayama

Shuuji is an interesting character, he's the oldest of the group and before chapter 5 is in charge and leads the group through this world. Because he's the oldest and thus has to be the most responsible of the bunch.

This, doesn't go well to say the least. Shuuji feels less like someone your working with but someone your working around, and can often feel bossy, defensive, or unreasonable.

And Shuuji isn't really listened to by the group, most of the group have a lot of grievances about how he acts. Minoru and Kaito especially are very critical of Shuuji's actions, with Minoru making fun of him and Kaito harshly criticizing him.

Shuuji is also the one with the worst relationship with his partner at the start. Shuuji is verbally abusive to Lopmon and acts hostile towards him, pushing him harder than anyone else in the group, not even letting him rest for a few minutes.

Shuuji Kayama is designed to be hated even more than Ryo was. His actions are often times frustrating, his treatment of Lopmon is horrible, and he's clearly not ready to lead a group, especially one in such a dangerous situation.

And, just like Ryo. It's easy to think that if Shuuji just, wasn't there, or stayed out of the way, the situation would be less stressful, more bearable.

When Chapter 5 rolls around we are first shown a nightmare Shuuji is having, it's about his family, Shuuji's dad is berating him, that he must hate him for not living up to the Kayama name. His brother is on the sidelines, saying that he'll "do his best for the both of them" and the nightmare ends with Shuuji's dad abandoning him, leaving him behind.

Shuuji Kayama is an abused child, one trying his hardest to live up to his family's expectations, and yet still failing to no matter how hard he tries.

In Chapter 5 the group goes to confront Arukenimon and to possible reason or attack her to gain information, due to a series of events the group is separated from each other and shown various illusions the group eventually meets up and eliminates the illusions, except for Shuuji, who's shown a very different illusion from everyone else, one of his dad, and then later, Arukenimon.

Arukenimon: We need a sacrifice...A single one will do. Arukenimon: So give us just one person... Ho ho ho. Shuuji: Really? Just one?! -------------------------------- Shuuji: Just one...Just one...Who to choose... Shuuji: No, I... I can't.... There's no way I can make that choice...! Shuuji: I know! Me! It should be ME! That would work, right, Arukenimon?! Shuuji: Answer me, Arukenimon! I'll be the sacrifice! Take me! Arukenimon: What admirable spirit...Still, is that what you really want, my dear boy? Arukenimon: You lack courage...and your sense of justice is nothing special. Don't you think? Arukenimon: You're just frightened, and you want to leave this place behind? Arukenimon: You'd rather pass the buck onto someone else. Isn't that true?

Shuuji is a bit of a mess, and his actions here aren't just motivated by wanting to save everyone, he thinks that this is what will get his dad to be proud of him, that he'll finally live up to being a proper Kayama. He thinks about how this story could get him praised by his father, get into a good college, finally live up to their expectations.

But...he doesn't want to die, and not only that, Shuuji is tired.

Shuuji: From the start, I didn't want to do it. I couldn't do it... Shuuji: Why didn't anyone say anything? I can't do it, tell me I can't... Shuuji: If I'd known then...I wouldn't have to do this..

Shuuji is tired of having to constantly chase something he can never have. Tired of always having to be "better".

Shuuji: You (Lopmon) can't even evolve! Maybe you'd be of some use if you could! Shuuji: Yeah! You'd be able to defeat our enemies if you could do that! Shuuji: Enemies...Anyone who looks down on me! You should just erase them all Shuuji: Even my dad...even my brother! Everyone! Lopmon: I...I...! Shuuji: Why, why am I so hopeless...? Is this all I really am?!

He's angry, scared, and completely alone. With no one to turn to, no one to help him, and at his lowest point, he hits Lopmon. Multiple times, over and over again, to force him to evolve, until...

Shuuji: Go on! Hurry up and evolve! We'll show them we're not useless! Lopmon: Stop, Shuuji...It hurts, and I'm scared. I don't like this! Shuuji: I'm the one in pain! I'm the one who's scared! All because you can't evolve! Shuuji: Yeah, everything is your fault! You're the reason they called me useless! Lopmon: GRAAAAAAA! *Lopmon evolves into Wendimon* Shuuji: You did it...I knew you could if you tired! Now show them. Show them I'm not useless!

After this Lopmon defeats MegaSeadramon and then...eats Shuuji. But, it's less being eaten and more absorption.

Agumon: Listen, Takuma! He's crying! Takuma: Crying...? Lopmon/Shuuji: IT HURRRTS...I'M SCAAARED...I DON'T WANNA DO THIIS... Agumon: It's Lopmon! Lopmon's crying! Lopmon/Shuuji: WHAT'S...WRONG WITH ME? WHAT SHOULD I HAVE DONE...? Takuma: That's...No way. Is that Shuuji's voice?! Lopmon/Shuuji: I DON'T HAVE...ANY RIGHT TO LIVE. I SHOULD JUST DISAPPEAR...

It's both Shuuji and Lopmon's voices crying and screaming. Because these emotions are something both of them feel. Because Lopmon is Shuuji and Shuuji is Lopmon. Let's talk about Partners:

Lopmon is cute, unassuming, and harmless. He's adorable. He's shy, trying his best to help everyone out, and constantly trying to please everyone. Lopmon also tends to be a very emotional and gets easily worried, anxious and sacred.

And Shuuji Hates Him. Shuuji gets angry at Lopmon, is frustrated with him over the smallest things, pushes him harder than anyone else in the group and is unsympathetic to Lopmon's struggles. He is disgusted and wishes he had a different partner. Because Lopmon can't actually do anything useful.

Now, something we find out in the chapter right after this is that the A Kemonogami and their partner are connected because they are two halves of a soul. A Kemonogami is a reflection of the human.

Labramon tends to chew out people who Aoi is frustrated with, Kunemon can't talk because Ryo can't easily communicate with people, and Lopmon is trying his best to please everyone because Shuuji is trying his best to please everyone.

So when Shuuji pushes, verbally abusive, and gets angry at Lopmon. He's really, getting angry at himself.

Because, Shuuji Kayama hates himself. Something we find out in the short backstory released by Bandai is that Shuuji Kayama graduated top of his class. And yet his dad still isn't satisfied by that. Shuuji was taught to hate himself, and Lopmon represents all of it.

Evolution plays such a major part in Shuuji's arc, as evolution in general it symbolizes change and personal development. But in this scene it's not positive. Shuuji is forcibly trying to change who he is out of hatred and self-loathing.

Shuuji: Why don't you (Lopmon) change? Shuuji: I see...You're the same.

Shuuji: You're just like I was when my dad chewed me out...and had to abandon me.

Shuuji does not think he as a person has any worth, he wants Lopmon to "evolve" because if Lopmon stops being Lopmon then Shuuji can stop being Shuuji, to be someone other than him, to be someone that has "worth" and ultimately that's what destroys them.

And the group reflects on this, now that they know about Shuuji's feelings:

Aoi: Did Shuuji really think that...? If so, then we... Minoru: We put him into a leadership role due to his age, and made everything his responsibility. Takuma: He was suffering the whole time, and we were the ones who made him suffer!

Again, the cast blames themselves, for not doing enough to help them, for hurting them, for being the ones who made them "suffer". But, Takuma has this scene in the library Post-split:

Illusion Shuuji: Look, our deaths were out own faults. We were weak. We admit that. Illusion Shuuji: But that wasn't the only reason we died. It was also because you abandoned us.

Illusion Ryo: You probably forgot all about it in your struggles to survive. Forgot abandoning us. Illusion Ryo: And after all that talk of everyone going home together. made me sick just hearing it. Illusion Ryo: I guess Shuuji and me were never part of that group, huh? "Everyone" didn't include us. -------------------------------- Takuma: (If I want to apologize, that means i have to become like them? Really?) Takuma: (If that's true...then I-)

Agumon wakes him up before he says anything but it's clear Takuma still blames himself for there deaths.

I'll go into more detail in this when I talk about what happens post split, but Digimon Survive doesn't think that going the other way, giving everything you could to the people around you, is good either. Because yes, he could of done more, yes he could of pulled out all the stops and yes going out of your way to understand Ryo does lead to a better outcome.

But, Takuma dying here because he thought he deserved it Would Not Make The Situation Better. We know what happens if Takuma isn't here because of the Bad " The World Ends" Ending! Takuma is the group's leader, and that he has to move on, to do better.

In contrast to Takuma's guilt and how the illusions ask him to die for them for forgiveness, let's see what happens when Ryo is alive in Chapter 5.

Ryo: You bastard! Shuuujiiiiiii! Takuma: Ryo?! Hold on, we'll all go- Ryo: You freakin' MORON!!! *Ryo Punches Him* Shuuji: Ga-hack! Ryo: You scum! You think you have the right to hurt Lopmon like that?! Shuuji: Wha', what...? What are you...? Ryo: Just look at Lopmon! Ryo: He ran himself ragged just to try and save you, then you start roughing him up... Lopmon: Ungh...*pant* Shuu...ji...*cough* *cough* Shuuji: Oh...oh no... Ryo: He's been working his ass off, an all for you! And this is how you thank him?! Shuuji: All...for me? No, but, but I... Ryo: Yo, this ain't about you, man. Take a good look around you. *camera pans to the rest of the group* Shuuji: Ah... Ryo: We're here too. All of us, your friends...and especially Lopmon. Shuuji: Ah...no...What...What have I been...

Now, as I mentioned at the end of Ryo's part, Ryo is the perfect person to help Shuuji out. Ryo starts off with punching Shuuji which shocks Shuuji out of his breakdown. He then continues telling him how horrible he's been to Lopmon, how hard Lopmon has been working for him, which makes him realize what actually happening, but then Ryo reminds him that, he isn't alone. That everyone is here to support him, and Lopmon especially is here to support him.

Shuuji: ...I'm so, so sorry, Lopmon. I'm the one who's been useless here. Shuuji: I kept seeing myself in you-all the weakness I saw in myself. It was so painful. Shuuji: But you're so much stronger than I've ever been. You came to save me, after everything. Lopmon: Ah...I'm so happy...You praised me, Shuuji... Shuuji: Lopmon...I've wanted to, for so, so long. But that doesn't matter anymore. Shuuji: I want to protect everyone...to save them. I...I want to live up to your expectations!

Instead of before where Lopmon evolves because of Shuuji's rage and self-hatred, Lopmon here evolves because of Shuuji's sense of duty and Shuuji wanting to live up to His own expectations of himself.

After this, Shuuji starts working with the professor after he's revealed to be alive, noticing things the professor didn't notice and helping him interpret the various murals in the Shrine and Shuuji loves working with him and is proud of the work he's been doing with it

Takuma also comments on how Shuuji looks happier and more refreshed when comes back in Chapter 9 and Shuuji responds that now he's just trying his best. Shuuji always wanted what's best for everyone, but now he has room to breathe, because now he's not alone. He's noticeably easier to talk to now, more open and honest about the difficulties he's facing, now it really does feel like your working with him.

And the most important, Shuuji resolves to talk to his dad, to talk to his family, to tell them how he's been feeling, to stand up for himself. He's gained the confidence, the strength, and the self-worth, to do so. Like Ryo, he's given the chance to get better. To grow, To own up to his actions, and eventually, forgive himself.

Ending Notes: So as I mentioned on the top, originally I was going to go to the branching routes here but as you can also tell this thing is long. So this is being split up two THREE parts. One covering the game pre-split the one covering Harmony/Wrathful/Moral and one covering Truthful.

I would like to thank Digisurvive's meta about extreme collectivism as horror and how that connects to Survive and abelunwinning's Shuuji Kayama's meta for both being fantastic and also giving me the ability to finish this damn thing (specifically the end and Shuuji's good evolution/Ryo punching him scene gave me trouble) go read them there great. I gained more appreciation for both Takuma and Ryo because of this, I loved them beforehand but I love them EVEN MORE NOW! Survive week is created by: @surviveweek