#and him being a test muse arc

[myristicisms]

@knightfeared | Jayce sent;;

“ what are you doing? ” ( Jayce @ Vincent cause we’re winging thangz 💅✨ )

Crimson covered shoulders rise, nose twitching ever so slightly upon realizing his solitude had been intruded upon moments before the strange voice had cut through Vincent's tranquil silence. Whomever thought it wise to approach the sitting man certainly had guts, he'd give them that, but they were also foolish. He's half tempted to reach for Cerberus, to aim his weapon and dispatch the man slowly approaching him before he got the chance to injure Vincent first but... ( If he meant harm, he wouldn't have spoken up. ) Instead, he resumes with picking the dirt from his gauntlet, cleaning his arm properly after a battle well fought.

“ Dunno, what am I doing? ” He questions back, petulantly sure but Vincent had wanted to be left alone, doesn't bother to look up to see just who he was speaking to before deciding perhaps he was being rude, unnecessarily so. “ Upkeep, cleaning. That's what I'm doing. Why are you here? ” A question for a question seemed fair enough, staying mysterious didn't seem very important at the moment, not since Vincent knew his own capabilities, knew he was safe no matter the circumstances or was at least confident enough in the matter.

[boomania]

Genshin Basil 🤝 Arknights Basil

Lowkey racist against land dwellers

[gofancyninjaworld]

OPM Manga Update 247 Review

I was puzzled as to why the translation for this was listed as a redraw, as the previous chapters had covered the entirety of the ninja arc to date before the hiatus. Then I realised that it was the numbering foolishness messing with the translators. EH! Not my problem. Shall we go on?

Summary

The chapter opens with Suiryu being discharged from hospital. He's been given a huge bouquet by the nurses and wished a speedy return to hospital, something he understandably has no plan to do. As he makes his way down the road, his attention is attracted by screaming, which turns out to be coming from a woman about to be eaten by a monster giant anteater. He splits it in half with a single chop, noting with satisfaction that his strength has returned.

He turns back to the business at hand, that of finding the Hero Association and Saitama, and is surprised that every online search for 'hero' brings up the Neo Heroes. Things have definitely changed... but he doesn't have much time to muse on it for he is nearly flattened by the enormous head of what had been a much bigger monster giant anteater. Could Saitama be out here? No, the person who'd sent the monster's head flying was an idol. She introduced herself as Webigaza, and that she was back from her hiatus to work as a Neo Hero as well as sing. She pauses to take a deep drink of water -- she's thirsty -- and then encourages people to support the Neo Heroes before flying off.

Suiryu stares after her like a cat seeing baubles hung up on a Christmas tree. Come to that, maybe he's a little thirsty too. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to check out the opposition first... after all, he can quit right away. Elsewhere, we see an unamused Suiko surprised that her brother has discharged himself without telling her. Her concern quickly turns to outrage when she reads the note he's left for her and realises that he's stuck her with the bill.

He's just the nicest guy, isn't he?

Suiryu arrives at the Neo Hero tower and is quickly ushered into the testing facilities. With difficulty, he gets squeezed into a power suit, all while muttering to himself about how uncool it'd make him if he approached that girl looking like that.

Once on though, he feels the enormous surge of power it brings. Excited, he flexes, and the suit crumbles like a badly-baked biscuit. Worse, he now need to pay for it. Five million, which is more than the three million he earned in the Superfight.

If you break it, you've bought it. Love the detail of Suiryu flexing hard enough to break his remaining armband.

The chapter closes with a weeping Suiryu being introduced to Metal Bat. He's stuck in Neo Heroes until he can earn enough to pay off his debts.

Oh yeah, one final detail. Has McCoy handed in his notice before he started moonlighting for the Neo Heroes? He better have, the rat!

Phew, thank goodness this wasn't longer! Shall we do some meta?

Meta

We're a week on, so the outraged whines of fans expecting a showdown between Blast and Void have died down. It's totally par for the course. All I will say is this:

If you were around when this chapter (chapter 67) was first posted, you'll know that it was well over a year (in chapter 77) that we got to find out what happened.

Yup, ONE reserves the right to go 'Meanwhile...' and go somewhere else, sometimes for extended periods of time. Deal with it.

Saturation Bombing

Well, now we're back to the Neo Hero storyline, and man, when they launched, they launched HARD. They've sopped up all the SEO real estate to crowd the Hero Association off the first page of the search engines. Their TV and billboard ads are everywhere. They've even bought up the storefronts around around their headquarters. And all in the space of days. The wallets bankrolling this venture must be abyssally deep (I will return to this in a sec).

A leopard doesn't change his spots

I won't lie: Suiryu is the character I've had the most trouble seeing the point of. I've tried, but I'm still of the opinion that this lazy, feckless, superficially charming, and not-at-all-nice guy gets given way too much real estate. Well, he may be serious about wanting to be a hero but he's still as feckless as he ever was. Yes, he won a considerable sum of money just before being hospitalised and so had no chance to spend it. Yet, true to his nature, he fucks off and sticks his sister with the bill. And true to his nature, he decides to take a pass at an idol (someone who will have hell to pay if she's even thought to be dating), fully intending to cut and run as soon as he gets what he's chasing after. Well, the wheels were always going to come off sooner or later. Might as well be now. Good.

Chef's Kiss

I know that many people were a bit disturbed to find how... normal Webigaza looks but I think it's FANTASTIC. Why? Well, a slightly creepy idol isn't everyone's cup of tea, but they'd be someone's shot of whiskey, unusual and thus not interchangeable. It's a recognisable brand she'd have been able to build on. That worked *against* Webigaza's stated desperation to stand out and gain lasting fame.

Anyone into the 'creepy doll' look really, really is into it, and won't be substituting them for another.

By making her an absolutely normal-looking idol, loveable but totally replaceable, Murata has understood the brief. I can 100% believe that this Webi is desperate to be different in some lasting way when she looks exactly the same as a dozen other idols. I can 100% believe her when she's obsessed with Sweet Mask and wants what he has when she knows that the crowd that cheers for her today will cheer just as enthusiastically next year for someone who looks and sounds almost exactly like her. That she'll be forgotten despite having poured her entire life into entertaining. And that she'd rather die than see it happen.

Because she looks generic, it makes sense that she's painfully aware of how replaceable she is.

This works. This really, really works.

Let's talk cash, pt. 1: suits of contention

As many sharp-eyed readers have noticed, that suit that Suiryu got given looks awfully familiar. It's a dead ringer for the ones that Tongara's team got given by Narinki.

And once those suits hulked out...

... they looked an awful lot like the ones Hammerhead's crew got their hands on.

No prizes for guessing that this Neo Hero thing is most probably a front for one of the most successful conspiracies in fiction, The Organization. Successful because they're able to work to achieve their aims without anyone blabbing prematurely.

Let's talk cash, pt. 2: debtor's jail

It probably shouldn't surprise us too much that Suiryu is in such good shape after leaving hospital. After all, it wasn't just any hospital he went to but a Hero Hospital, a place where exceptional effort is expended in healing people rapidly. Also a very costly place, as McCoy pointed out to Mad Devil Yankee.

The drop of realism that sells the fantasy harder: yes, there's medicine and technology to heal up incredible injuries and illnesses super fast. But the price is steep!

Oh yeah, the apparent throwaway is becoming quite relevant now. I wonder if someone will point out to Suiko that joining the Hero Association would be a quick way to discharge her brother's medical debt?

I wouldn't mind this brewing Neo Hero saga to stick around a little longer. But I'm easy -- I've long since stopped expecting a particular thing to happen at a given time. All will be well in the end.

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep7 Musings - Martyrdom & Lestat's Character Development (TVC Spoilers)

Even though IWTV is Louis' story & his arc as the MC, The Vampire Chronicles are ultimately about how all of these vampires affected & impacted Lestat. (Especially since by the end of the series he's not only the MC, protagonist, and (anti-)hero; but he's also the former host for the Sacred Core that created the vampiric race (after Akasha & Mekare); and the elected king of the Vampire Court, affectionately/officially called "(Brat) Prince Lestat" in the final trilogy.) So, even though we're seeing Louis' struggles play out, we're also seeing Lestat's; and one of the big moments is this Trial in 2x7.

Even though the most important thing that happens is ofc Claudia's death, an underrated moment is Madeleine's death.

Lestat callously mocks Madeleine's choice to die with HER "coven"--her companion, Claudia--rather than keep living (ostensibly: keeps fighting, but I'll get to that in a bit), and join Santiago's coven. "The martyr skips her way to Hell."

I was initially booing & hissing at Lestat for being a heartless a-hole, still spiteful against Claudia and failing to fathom how anyone could risk their lives for her; when even HE sat there and let his own daughter/fledgling burn to ash right in front of him.

But on the other hand, I actually love this moment for Les as he mocks Madeleine's choice; not only cuz it's ironic AF, considering Les LITERALLY skipped his way to Hell in Memnoch the Devil; but most importantly cuz this is all (hopefully) contributing to Lestat's character development later on. 🙏

Claudia's death affected Les deeply--nowhere near as deeply as it did Louis, ofc, but she was still his daughter/fledgling. AR never focused on Madeleine past IWTV, but hopefully the show makes Les realize later that THIS moment b/t Madz & Claudia is what TRUE love is--not ultimatums & conditions & ownership; trying to "crush what you cannot own"--but martyrdom & sacrifice & loyalty. Laying your life down for someone else. Eff would you love me if I was a worm--would you CATCH A BULLET FOR ME? Would you BURN for me? That's Claudeleine's love; but in the IWTV timeframe Lestat's just not at the point where he gets it--yet.

Loustat vs Claudeleine: What it Means to Love Someone

TVC also tracks the development/progression/evolution of Loustat's love; struggling to grow & thrive in the weeds of dark eternal damnation. They totally failed e/o in IWTV. Loustat's rekindled relationship was first demonstrated/tested in QotD, when Akasha spared Lou simply cuz Les loved him; rather than burning Lou up w/ the other weak AF vamps she'd slaughtered.

But Akasha also used Louis as collateral if Les refused to serve her.

Les had to risk his life to try making a move on Akasha & save Louis & the other vampires from Akasha's plans for world domination. But that was largely out of self-preservation; not selflessness; as Les was basically her captive, Stockholmed into being her lover.

Les committed horrible atrocities as Akasha's consort, butchering innocents & unleashing hell on earth, slaughtering whole cities--just cuz he was too scared to die. Despite how much he hated himself for what he was doing, no matter what, Les wanted to "fight for life, even when there is no real justification. I wanted to live; I always had."

So OF COURSE Lestat wouldn't understand/appreciate Madeleine's decision to lay down her life and die; not just for Claudia's sake, but also to die for her principles.

Lestat thinks his "capacity for enduring" makes him brave, but compared to Madeleine, he's a hypocritical coward. Madeleine refused to join Santiago's coven, or participate in their shams & farces. She stood on her principles, AND she stood by her companion; even at the cost of them dying--at least they're together.

Ofc, an argument can be made that by becoming Akasha's consort, Les WAS martyring/sacrificing himself for Louis' sake; because Les DID know what true love was, and loved Lou more than he loved himself. And I might agree with that--had AR not written TotBT.

TotBT & MtD: Lestat Skips His Way to Hell

In MtD, Lestat is recruited by the Devil/Satan/Lucifer (who calls himself Memnoch the Devil); and is taken Dante's Inferno style on a tour of Heaven and Hell, in the hopes that Les will hate God enough to join the eternal war against Heaven as the Devil's right-hand. SPOILER: Lestat rejects Memnoch (cuz Les wanted to be a priest--he still LOVES God, despite the "ocean" b/t him & Christ); and as punishment he is trapped in a coma for years, as he's psychologically/spiritually tortured in Hell until he finally breaks the spell & wakes up in Merrick, when Louis tries to kill himself (which AMC pushed up to 2x5).

Lestat had followed Memnoch after a depressive spell of deep self-loathing; feeling guilty for how he'd Turned David in TotBT (raping him into vampirism to be his new companion when Louis rejected him); and still haunted by the memory of Claudia in IWTV. Memnoch showed Les the Divine Plan, when God told his favorite (fallen) angel Memnoch/Lucifer that He would let Himself be crucified as Jesus in the flesh, for His love of humanity.

But Memnoch is horrified, and thinks God's plan is not only a futile failure, but also cheating (cuz being an immortal, He can never really "die" or be sacrificed/martyred). Memnoch appeals to Lestat's own experiences having temporarily come down into flesh in TotBT, body-switching with Raglan James for the desperate love of being human--and then hypocritically wanting to be an immortal vampire again when Les realized being human actually sucks. 😅

At the start of MtD, Les was VERY salty towards all the other vampires (especially Louis) for having refused to help him when he was stuck in Raglan's body in TotBT.

Loustat's love, as genuine as it is, was marred & tainted with ultimatums & conditions & ownership. As much as Les hated being human again, Louis refused to turn Les into a vampire and put him back on the Devil's Road as one of the damned undead.

Les DEEPLY resented Lou for not making him a vampire again. Les assumed that because of their relationship, Lou would HAVE TO do this favor for him; that as his companion/Maker, Lou OWED Les, and by refusing/rejecting him Lou'd BETRAYED/ABANDONED him.

Lestat didn't understand that in Lou's eyes, refusing to Turn Les was Lou's greatest act OF LOVE, the best favor; keeping Les human so his soul wouldn't be damned anymore as an evil blood-drinking serial killer. Lou said "You have triumphed in this as only you could;" but Les (like Memnoch) only saw this as a massive failure. This was Lou's SACRIFICE for Les, putting their love/relationship on the line; as Louis ordered Les to never look for him or talk to him again--to go live as a redeemed human and leave the damned alone--or else. 💀

For all the strides Loustat had made to repair their relationship, Lestat was still UNWORTHY of Louis' love in TotBT; and hadn't appreciated the sacrifices Louis made for him out of love--the kind of martyrdom it took to WILLINGLY sacrifice something precious for someone else's sake. Lestat thought the Maker/Fledgling bond was a stamp of ownership, cuz he'd been Turned by Magnus UNWILLINGLY; out of rape and violence & captivity/enslavement.

Les became a vampire as an act of SURVIVAL; shaking his fists at God the whole time; a chip on his shoulder cuz he never asked to me born into darkness (like Claudia). Louis, however, was made out of LOVE, and WILLINGLY gave up his life to be with Les (yes, we know he was drunk AF & suicidal, but still--he nodded his head cuz he HAPPILY & LOVINGLY CHOSE Les).

Loustat both see Lou's turning as their wedding, but for Les it's still a marriage CONTRACT--a transaction with terms & conditions. He is Louis husband, yes, but God Complex de Lioncourt declared "I AM YOUR MAKER!" Louis was still just a "Fledgling/Slave" under Coven Master ("Massa") Lestat's shingled roof, just like Claudia said.

As much as he loves being a vampire, and as cavalier & devil-may-care as he approaches existence forsaken by God in the Savage Garden; Lestat is fully aware of what it means to be culpable & deserve punishment. Memnoch asked Lestat what he thought Hell should be like for sinners & Evil Doers both human & vampire alike, and at first Les hesitated, "I'm afraid to answer. Because I belong there."

It's not until well after Louis' final rebirth in Merrick that Lestat finally earns back Louis' forgiveness in PLatRoA, and agrees to (re)marry Les & be his consort at Chateau de Lioncourt, Lestat's birthplace. And it's not until Blood Communion, AR's final TVC book, that Lestat risks his life for his loved ones (Gabrielle, Louis, & Marius) for THEIR sake, not his own; going up against Rhoshamandes in the ultimate showdown to save them.

AR is VERY/overly explicit about the Christ-like martyrdom her messianic Prince Lestat undergoes in order to save Gab, Lou & Marius; his killing Rhosh ultimately saving all the vampires & ending the civil war. Les fought Rhosh "with speed and surprise;" going in blindly with the only thing that could get the jump on this SUPER Ancient vampire (Lestat's great-grandfather in the Blood) who would've otherwise overpowered Les as easily as he overpowered Marius. Les fully intended to die fighting Rhosh, but he fought him regardless, hoping to somehow get his loved ones back or join them in death.

Lestat and Louis were reunited, dancing happily at the celebratory ball AMC was clearly inspired by Blood Communion in the Mardi Gras scene from 1x7. And they're obviously lifting from BC in 2x7, too, with the red velvet chair/throne Lestat sits on at the Trial, directly paralleling the numerous Trials & executions Prince Lestat presides over in BC, as he destroys Rhosh's fledglings & minions--and the love THEY showed their Coven Master Rhosh, being willing to die for THEIR principles and refusing to join LESTAT'S Vampire Court.

So hopefully, if AMC gets as far as the Prince Lestat trilogy, Les will remember this moment at the Trial; and hopefully they'll continue using parallels so Les realizes what it means for Madeleine to have martyred herself for love.

[polarpace]

a starless clan protag headshots

i've been really invested in the current arc, and after reading thunder i was excited to set aside some time to test out my designs for the protagonists! these aren't necessarily my final designs for them.

recently i've been wanting to take my art in a bit more of an exaggerated cartoony direction, inspired by watching a bunch of early 2000s cartoons lately (can you tell which one inspired these particular drawings? XD). warriors might be a bit of a weird muse for that, but i can't turn down the opportunity to draw some cats!

nightheart's basically an off-black version of my firestar with hair. i still need to actually draw my firestar design, but i know what i want, so i based him off of that. the hair is just because i thought it'd be funny. i'm not too sure about his eye marking though; i give most of firestar's kin some kind of stripe coming from their eye, but i might change how nightheart's looks. something to experiment more with!

frostpaw is based on what i have in mind for curlfeather - again, haven't drawn curlfeather, but i have a pretty decent idea of what she looks like. lots of little curls incorporated throughout her design. she's also all gray to me but still a colorpoint, and has three little "freckles" on the left side of her face. i'm contemplating whether or not i want to give her a TNR ear notch in the final design.

sunbeam is probably the wildest of these three, at least in my opinion, and the one i'm probably not going to change too much because i like that about her. i don't remember exactly what inspired me, but i came up with the idea of her having a single eye with dark sclera months ago and it's stuck in my mind since. idk, maybe i just thought it would make the diamond marking pop a bit? she also only has eyelashes on the eye with yellow sclera. her back marking is a sun and the white beneath it represents a ray of sunlight.

i also had extra space so i made a doodle making fun of sunbeam and the traveling cats eating a corndog from sky. the fact that nightheart brought it up again in thunder to be sad about how he's away from her cracked me up. warrior cats eating human food and being astonished is really funny to me.

[princess-of-the-corner]

In light of my recent Audrey as a villain post I was reminded of an AU I had, namely "What if Audrey was Hawk Moth?" IE, she & Andre doing typical rich asshole things got their hands on the Peacock and stuff happened.

Off the cuff the main shift would be both of them used the Peacock, Audrey once & Andre several times. IE Audrey likely made Chloe or something else as a test, then Andre did the other Snti-Kids as political favors.

(Maybe Chloe is not even a Senti, with Zoe being one once Audrey deems Chloe not up to her standards?)

As a result, Andre would probably be dying but not yet dead in season 1 and perhaps even serving as the initial Hawk Moth. Or used in a similar manner to Catalyst/create some final Sentimonsters.

Audrey's motives wouldn't be about bringing back a loved one but saving herself, saving Andre is more of a natural consequence of saving herself and not even a certainty once he full on dies.

Musing on this AU is interesting cos it begs the question of if Chloe would be Chat Noir, or instead still end up as Queen Bee/Other Miraculous Holder.

(Also whether or not she'd work for the villains at first, IE aware of their goals, or have a fall to the villains side.)

Though as it is, I think given where she would be liable to start out story wise (IE still a jerk) such a shift would not work, or have to be akin to Chat Blanc. A one off spiraling as opposed to an extended arc.

Though, I do think that she'd have softened a bit pre season 1, due to her fathers failing health and him likely relying on her more due to distrusting staffers and such.

IE, he fears they will leak to the press he is ill, so he leans on Cloe a lot, which is hard for her but also makes her feel useful and fosters a degree of empathy without her noticing.

Given Emilie would still be alive, Adrien may half be attending school with the pretext of "Being there for Chloe" along with his own desires, so they'd probably be a bit closer as well.

Terrifying actually!

[causticcorvus]

A musing, Masquerade the Chessmaster

So, I'm still rewatching Bakugan, and have some thoughts. And I realized- Masquerade never actually accomplishes anything at all. There's a point in the show where Alice is blaming herself for what's happening, but if you really look it it, nothing Masquerade did ever mattered; or at least, none of it actually helped Naga. Who it did help got me thinking, and man, this show really had an opportunity to give him more complex motives. Masquerade's only true purpose in canon is to find and bring Naga the infinity core. Instead he spends most of his time antagonizing a group of children who he already knows do not have it. But what if there actually could have been a reason for this? By constantly sending subpar opponents to fight them instead of just taking care of them himself, he only ends up making the members of the brawlers stronger. And yes, I do know he does eventually fight Dan and send him to the doom dimension, but not only does he not find it weird the others are so willing to follow him, he also isn't very surprised when they come back. (Honestly, his lack of reaction to any of it is weird, but the show only really starts to treat him as an actual character after he battles Wayvern. Which is short-lived because he's gone a few episodes later, but I digress. I find his actual character during this mini arc interesting, but that's a topic for another time). So, I got to thinking. What if he was always planning to double-cross Naga, and the Brawlers were a weapon of his own creation for that purpose? What if every attack on them was a test, or a form of training, pushing their limits so their bakugan could evolve? The Brawlers probably weren't the only group he was looking at, but after pitting them against the Top 10, he'd have found the true strongest battlers aside from himself. Masquerade would serve as the final test, and only when one of them could defeat him, would they be ready. The idea of Masquerade secretly being a chess-master of sorts would have made him a much more effectual character. I still like his character and the small arc he does have, but a lot of his canon actions are nonsensical if viewed under any other lens.

[autistic-crypt1d]

X-Files Live Blogging

Season 4

Left off on a damn two parter!

S1, S2, S3

Updates:

- Herrenvolk

- wtfffff

- GET HIM MULDER

- he's not dead is he

- bro needs to stop fucking ditching Scully

- is cancer man gonna help Mulder in order to save his mom??

- how is he just gonna pick one and decide that's the one he's taking back??

- dude, could you not have just stuck your hand in there and rubbed it on yourself instead of dumping it all over you?!?!?!

- uh oh, you fucked up info guy

- another source down

- Home

- oh no, this is the episode I talked about when I started this watch through, the only episode of X-Files I'd ever seen and hateddddd

- Mulder wtf are you doing

- oh hell

- I'm not watching the rest of this, I'll read the wiki this is making me sick

- Teliko

- how did no one hear him scream

- been a while since we've seen Mulder eating sunflower seeds

- is this blonde woman gonna be the next source?

- how tf did he get in that wall and how tf did they get him out

- WOWZA THAT WAS FUCKING CREEPY

- Unruhe

- weirdddd

- Scully, you're really reaching rn XD

- oh hey it's that guy from The Mentalist!!

- he's going for Scully isn't he

- FUCK

- The Field Where I Died

- woah

- RIPS UP A HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPH

- Sanguinarium

- mmm immediately uncomfy

- eew

- what the fuck

- I don't understand the motive here

- so she was trying to stop him? From doing what?

- sir, why are you levitating

- OH YUCK NO THANK YOU

- Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man

- oh? Cancer man lore?

- full disclosure I got halfway through the episode but was so distracted making Stargate memes I had to restart. Suddenly Kennedy was being assassinated and I had no idea how tf we got there

- Mulder's dad??

- hot damn Cancer man has LORE

- YOU'RE TELLING ME CANCER MAN ASSASSINATED JFK AND MLK?!?!

- why does he carry around a picture of Mulder as a baby and his mother? Did he steal it from Mulder's dad??

- wtf is he taking about "never killing anyone"???

- why did they save it's life just to kill it?

- why shoot it? Why not cut off life support?

- Tunguska

- wow what a professional. He's told the container contains biohazards and he fucking DROPS IT.

- Krycek?!?! How tf did he get out??

- PFFFT the way Mulder just yanks Krycek around is so funny

- OOP

- damn it she is the new informant. I don't want random sexual tension I want cloak and dagger damn it!!

- he should not be comfy with his informant!!

- I really hope the lab guy doesn't get hurt

- Krycek redemption arc?

- oh wtffff

- OH NO

- TWO PARTER

- Terma

- who tf are those people and why are they all missing an arm

- they cut off their arms to avoid the tests??? Would that even help??

- OH MY FUCKING GOD DUDE WHAT THE HELL

- Mulder?? Boy how tf did you get here!!

- wtf is happening

- Paper Hearts

- wtf

- Mulder looks way too good in that shirt

- she can't have been killed by that guy though right? Otherwise why would there have been clones of her at that farm?

- "wrong house you stupid son of a bitch!" PFFT

- ah hell

- El Mundo Gira

- did the sky just piss

- gross!

- why did only one of the goats die and where tf is the dude

- more gross!

- need some hazmat suits oml

- oh what the fuuuuuuck

- WHAT THE FUUUUUCK

- Leonard Betts

- x-ray vision or something?

- oh he dead

- not dead??

- BRUH

- FREAKYYYY

- :(

- WHAT THE FUCK

- Scully has cancer?!?!?!?!

- Never Again

- oh he's alive

- SHE'S GETTING A TATTOO???

- this is weirdly sexual and I do not like it

- wow way to be a dick Mulder

- I think some of my noted got deleted from the end of this episode and maybe the beginning of the next

- Memento Mori

- yeah, yell at your sick daughter, great move

- she told you when she was ready, it's her body, her life, lay off

- Skinner going to Cancer Man to keep Mulder safe from him and save Scully :(

- let's go conspiracy crew!

- wtfffff

- 😭

- her hands under his jacket AHHHH

- THE FOREHEAD KISS

- I'm kinda confused, is she just gonna not get treatment and hope for the best? Was it just that doctor's treatment that was hurting the women or all treatment? I'm confused

- Kaddish

- fuck that shop guy omfg

- :(

- this is so sad 😭

- Unrequited

- invisible assassin?

- :(

- Tempus Fugit

- plastic gun???

- woah wtf

- plane abduction?

- they're so cuuuuute

- Fornell?!?!?!

- I thought Max was the dude who got abducted in like Season 1 in that warehouse

- so the military was trying to shoot down a UFO and the plane was collateral damage?

- OH?

- bro the camera work and lighting in this scene is unbearable I can't see shit!

- IN THE DARK MULDER????

- PENDRELL NO

- HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT

- Max

- Pendrell no 😭

- it is the same Max! Why don't I remember him coming back?

- oh hell

- OH HELL

- I'm really sad about Pendrell :(

- Synchrony

- oh shit

- oh??

- noooo he was so nice :(

- so this guy is a time traveler then?

- please live!!

- HELL YEAH

- oh what the hell

- WHAT THE HELL

- this is super cool

- I wonder why he wants to stop it

- WHAT DOES HER IDEA LEAD TOOOOO

- this shit is intense!!!

- GOD DAMN

- GIRL HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING

- Small Potatoes

- another one????

- CARSON!!!

- nice dive Mulder XD

- rape tw

- ooooh that's not really him

- uh oh

- oh god he's gonna make a move on Scully isn't he

- no this would be so cute if it was really him 😭

- OH MY FUCKING GOD THAT IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST WAY THAT COULD'VE GONE

- NOW BOTH OF THEM KNOW THAT SHE WAS TOTALLY GONNA LET HIM KISS HER

- Zero Sum

- Bees?!?!?!?

- oblivious much?

- Skinner why tf are you covering up that death?

- Skinner what are you doingggg

- of course it's cancer man's fault

- Elegy

- funky

- ouch ouch ouch her therapy session

- wtfff

- Demons

- lore??

- Kawalsky?!?!? Wasn't he in the show before??

- I'm so intriguedddd

- IS HE CANCER MAN'S SON?!?!?!

- Gethsemane

- HUH?!??!

- she keeps expecting her dad to walk in doesn't she :(

- he looks so much like Jack O'Neill in that outfit

- GET HIM SCULLY

- god her angry is WOW

- ow ow ow he's crying 😭

- HUH?!??!?!!

Season 5

[puzzledmemories]

multi - muse game     :     suggest up to three muses for the mun to add to their blog. // Uhh 1: (hikari) Malik or Yami Bakura? ( You have Atem, Yugi, Ryou so idk if you'd want too pick more DM characters-) 2: zexal again maybe?? another villain type if you like Yuuri- Number 96 or Yuma? 3: third one going to be whoever you considered adding but wasn't sure? ;;; i don't want to pressure you to add any or anymore muses but i love your portrayals so i get curious if you wanted any i suggested here i'd support it <3

multi - muse game     :     suggest up to three muses for the mun to add to their blog.

((sorry for taking so long to get to this ask, i wanted to make sure i could give this the energy and response that is deserved [positive]))

((these are some really interesting choices! i'd be lying if i said i wasn't considering some of these already... i happen to already have yami bakura and number 96 icons downloaded already, lol. (number 96 was almost the ooc faceclaim, and yami bakura was in case any of his icons looked convincingly like ryou [they don't], but i also definitely considered rping them as well.) i gave malik a little thought a while back but wasn't convinced i could pull him off well... but giving it more thought now, and now that i've been on here a couple months, he might not be bad to try out. and yuma i've never considered... but i think i might be able to do him justice))

((it's fun to have a mix of "heroes" (or just. regular guys) and villains, i feel. part of why i picked up yuri besides him being one of my favorite arc v favorites was because i thought it'd be fun to pick up someone who isn't nice. pushes me out of my comfort zone because i have no backbone, lol. but i really don't have many villains outside of yuri. unless you want to call merag a villain, but even then...))

((thinking on these, yuma's a literal ray of sunshine that i feel like would be fun to write. i'm a huge fan of 96 in general. and malik and yami bakura could be interesting as well...))

((i've never had test muses before. but i think i really want to add these guys as test muses! adding them is something i'm not completely sure on since i haven't actually written them yet, but i kind of want to take a spin with them!))

((i really love these suggestions, thank you! time to make a test muses page!))

((and i'm glad you like my portrayals C: that means a lot, thank you!!!))

[psychobind]

//I've been mulling over adding a SaGa muse for a while but I love seeing your group's Seven Heroes dynamics play out & I had a series of headcanons on your Kzn-C Gamer World, if you'd indulge me a bit:

So basically the 7 Heroes form an interesting group of online personas alongside Kzinssie's Kzn-C gamer channel

Rocbouquet becoming an Idol V-Tuber, Noel having a bunch of her premium merch & being her bodyguard IRL anytime she's on tour

Noel, outside of Rocbouquet's touring, doing MMA showcases & sometimes enlisting Dantarg to help show off different fighting styles

Dantarg doing strongman lifting stunts, mukbangs, MRE taste testing, maybe possible NSFW on the side, given some things he says/does…

Wagnas & Subier doing travel blogs together, but also:

Subier going surfing & diving while talking about marine biology, maybe about climate change too because of how it affects marine ecosystems

Wagnas doing deep dives into historical places & religious sites, but after a while goes into beauty care because he keeps getting comments about it

But back to the Gamer Arc:

Bokhohn would take a big interest in technology & that would include gaming controllers (being a puppeteer & all). Like he'd start doing streams where he plays Zelda w/ the DK Bongos, or Fortnite w/ an arcade controller setup

Which then led me to think part of Kzinssie's rise to fame includes a rage compilation of the other Heroes dunking on him every so often in games they collab on, like how he keeps losing to them in Mario Party

One time Bokhohn snipes him in a multiplayer shooter by playing a recorder, notices him raging in chat, then proceeds to pull out another recorder & plays the John Cena theme as a taunt, causing further rage

//I know it's a lot, but I'm just excited to see other SaGa fans on here! Good to meet you!

Yes Dantarg Mukbang yes Noel wearing shirts with his sisters face on them.... ahaha.

Bok being one of those madmen playing dark souls on a banana....

yes all of this. Very good. Yes.

[bigsoftmarshmallow]

Now that The Ganondorfs (Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, Hyrule Warriors, and Tears of the Kingdom) & Demise have wings, do they enjoy flying? Do they take to it naturally or do they need time to get used to it? How high do they like to fly up?

Wind Waker Ganondorf: The Natural Flyer

Wings: Raven wings (large and black with a glossy sheen).

Wind Waker Ganondorf stood at the cliffside of his fortress, gazing out at the ocean below. His black raven wings flexed, catching the sea breeze. After a moment of contemplation, he spread them fully and leapt off the edge, his form cutting through the air.

Flying came to him naturally. The wind whipped past him, but the rhythm of his wings was smooth, powerful, and sure. He angled them slightly, riding the updrafts as he soared higher and higher above the islands dotting the vast ocean.

A rare smile crept onto his lips as he hovered midair, basking in the freedom and control the wings gave him. The view from above allowed him to see his domain in a new light—spread out like a map, every island, every ripple in the water below.

He chuckled to himself, flapping his wings once to shoot upward even higher. “Perhaps there is more to this power than I realized.”

He soared toward the clouds, relishing in the sensation of the open sky and the wind beneath him.

Ocarina of Time Ganondorf: Reluctant But Efficient

Wings: Demonic wings (large, leathery, and bat-like).

Ocarina of Time Ganondorf stood on the battlements of his castle, staring down at the army of Stalfos below. His new leathery wings twitched at his back, still a foreign sensation. He hated the feeling of change, of something new that wasn't entirely his will.

With a grim expression, he stepped off the ledge, plummeting toward the ground before he reluctantly spread his wings. A powerful beat of his leathery appendages stopped his fall instantly, and with a growl, he soared upward.

It wasn’t graceful at first. His wings flapped awkwardly, as though they were trying to remember how to work. But Ganondorf was nothing if not determined, and soon his movements became more deliberate. He flew higher, experimenting with his balance in the air. His control over the skies came gradually, but his determination was unmatched.

“I suppose this will serve me well,” he muttered, flying over Hyrule Field with a newfound swiftness. He didn’t enjoy it as much as he enjoyed being on the ground, but the power it granted him was undeniable.

After gaining more control, Ganondorf soared into the night sky, higher than he anticipated. Looking down at the world below, he smirked. “I could get used to this.”

Twilight Princess Ganondorf: The Strategic Flyer

Wings: Dragon wings (huge, scaled, and strong).

Twilight Princess Ganondorf stood on the edge of the Eldin Bridge, his gaze fixed on the horizon. The massive dragon wings at his back shifted, and he flexed them experimentally. He had always favored the power that came from dominating the earth, but the prospect of ruling the skies intrigued him.

With a powerful leap, he took to the air, his enormous wings carrying him high above the broken lands of Hyrule. He wasn’t as graceful as he’d like, but his strength compensated for any lack of elegance. Each beat of his wings was strong and purposeful, propelling him upward at an impressive speed.

As he gained altitude, his sharp eyes scanned the land beneath him. From this height, he could see everything—the perfect vantage point for planning his conquests.

A deep chuckle rumbled from his chest as he flew in wide, sweeping arcs over the mountains. “This will serve me well,” he mused. “The skies will be mine, as will the land.”

His flight path dipped lower, brushing the tops of the trees as he tested his wings for agility. With time, his control over flight would rival his mastery of combat.

Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf: The Conqueror of the Sky

Wings: Fiery phoenix wings (bright orange, red, and gold feathers).

Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf stood in the midst of a battlefield, his fiery phoenix wings casting a brilliant light over the fallen soldiers at his feet. His eyes blazed with power as he unfurled his wings and launched himself into the air.

He took to flight as if he had always been meant to rule the sky. His fiery wings left a trail of embers in his wake as he soared high above the battlefield, surveying the chaos below. The sense of freedom, power, and dominance in the air was intoxicating, and it brought a wild grin to his face.

“The heavens bow to me,” he declared, his voice booming across the plains as his wings flapped with precision and strength.

Flying was exhilarating for him, and he pushed himself higher and higher, testing his limits. The fire in his wings crackled with energy, glowing brighter as he ascended into the clouds. He reveled in the sensation of being untouchable, a force of nature that could not be contained by mere mortals.

With a triumphant laugh, Ganondorf swooped down toward the ground, his wings blazing as they cut through the air. “I am a king of both land and sky!”

Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf: The Majestic Monarch

Wings: Griffon wings (huge, golden, and feathered).

Tears of the Kingdom Ganondorf stood at the precipice of a cliff, his golden griffon wings stretched wide behind him. The setting sun bathed his feathers in a brilliant glow, casting long shadows across the rocky terrain.

He took a deep breath, savoring the power that came with these wings. The strength they granted him wasn’t just physical—it was a symbol of his dominance, his right to rule.

Without hesitation, he leapt into the sky, his wings catching the wind with ease. His flight was graceful, every movement calculated and precise. He ascended higher and higher, his wings cutting through the air effortlessly as he climbed toward the clouds.

Flying felt natural to him, like an extension of his inherent power. He flew with the confidence of a king, knowing that both the heavens and the earth were his to command.

From this vantage point, he could see the entirety of Hyrule laid out before him—a kingdom waiting to be conquered. He hovered high above the land, the golden sunlight catching on his feathers and making them shine like molten gold.

“Perfect,” he murmured to himself, his voice full of quiet satisfaction. “I will rule from the skies, just as I do from the earth.”

Demise: The Master of Fire and Sky

Wings: Massive, flaming dragon wings (with molten cracks along the leathery surface).

Demise stood on the edge of a fiery crater, his molten dragon wings flickering with flames. He had always thrived in destruction, and now, with wings that matched the essence of his being, he felt an even greater connection to the chaos around him.

With a roar, Demise leapt into the air, his wings beating powerfully as he ascended into the sky. The flames that licked at the edges of his wings left a trail of embers in his wake, lighting up the night sky like a burning comet.

He relished in the sensation of flying, the wind whipping through his fiery mane, the heat from his wings mingling with the natural inferno below. Every beat of his wings sent waves of scorching air billowing outward, and Demise laughed—a deep, rumbling sound filled with satisfaction.

Flying was natural to him, as easy as breathing. His domain extended beyond the earth; the sky was now his as well, a perfect extension of his destructive power. He rose higher and higher, until he was nothing more than a fiery speck against the dark sky.

From this height, he could see the land far below, ripe for destruction. “The world will burn,” he growled, his voice echoing in the air. “And I shall reign over it, from the depths to the skies.”

[antisocialxconstruct]

the aforementioned horny writing 👀 1.3k, as usual nothing explicit, mostly just me Maksim getting carried away with the guard dog metaphor

---

Ilya’s been quiet.

It’s not an uncomfortable quiet, necessarily, but Maksim is still keenly aware of the fact that it’s out of character, and not being able to read them when they’re acting out of character still puts him just a bit on edge. He sets the manhunter down on the table in front of him, freshly cleaned and tested, and glances toward the chair on his right, expecting to find them engrossed in something on their tablet–only to start when he realizes their eyes are on him.

Their attention wasn’t on his face initially–on his hands, maybe–but they must have seen the flinch because they immediately meet his eye with an apologetic smile. They’re curled up with their feet tucked away underneath them, one arm thrown over the back of the chair with their head resting against their hand, looking miles more at ease in his apartment than he ever would have anticipated the first time they stepped foot in it. There’s something particular in their gaze that he can’t quite interpret. “Sorry, I was just thinking… something kind of funny,” they muse, drumming the fingers of their free hand against the back of the tablet, which lays otherwise forgotten on their lap. “Do you remember the first thing you ever did when we met?”

Maksim stares back for a moment before glancing aimlessly toward the floor as he thinks. He remembers the night they met. If pressed he could probably recall most of that first conversation, in broad strokes at least. But Ilya is clearly fishing for something specific, and he’s never particularly liked guessing games. “What do you mean?”

“I mean you walked into the bar, and within seconds of confirming I was the person you were looking for you saved me from getting cold-cocked by the guy behind me.”

“Oh.” Maksim snorts. “The guy I didn’t know you had been intentionally provoking when I got there.”

“So you do remember.” Ilya’s jagged canines are on full display as they grin. “Then I assume you also remember that not five minutes later you told me it wasn’t your job to protect me. I’m not your muscle were your words, I think.”

Maksim blinks, holding their gaze for a moment longer before the irony properly settles over him and a laugh bubbles up from his chest. “Well…” he shrugs. “I was born with telepathy, not future sight.”

“Hmm.” Ilya doesn’t immediately add more, just pins him with the same self-satisfied grin before he pulls his attention away from them to return the manhunter to its holster. As he’s tucking the cleaning kit away into its drawer beneath the table, he hears the chair creak as Ilya unfolds themself from it, and a moment later the couch cushion beside him dips slightly with their weight as they plant themself next to him instead. “You know what I think?” they say, and the honey creeping into their tone and the fingers they comb through his hair already have his mind sputtering to a halt, leaving him woefully unprepared for what they say next. “Maybe deep down, you always knew you were going to belong to me eventually.”

Maksim’s breath leaves him somewhere between a shuddering sigh and another embarrassed chuckle. It’s so easy to forget himself, where he was, what he was doing, when Ilya talks to him like that. Maybe he did know. Maybe he’d been waiting his whole life to belong to someone. To belong to them. His head is still bowed down slightly as Ilya’s hand lingers on the back of his neck, and he reaches up to lay his own over it. They’re not applying any pressure, they’re not keeping him stooped forward like that, but the weight of the contact feels pointed, impossible to ignore, calling to mind an image of…

“Maybe I was waiting for you to collar me.”

“Oh?”

Maksim doesn’t even fully register what he said until he registers the curiosity in Ilya’s response, and the mortification that arcs through him barely has a chance to find purchase before he feels them shift, feels the warmth of their body pressed against his as they rise up to their knees, feels their other hand snake around his throat to rest just beneath his jaw, coaxing him upright and his head back. They’ve brought his face close enough to theirs that when they breathe “is that what you want?” the words ghost across his lips, and if his thoughts hadn’t turned entirely to static he might have been able to hear the smile in their voice.

His hand slides down to close loosely around their wrist and he swallows, aware of the way his throat presses against the steady pressure of their palms on either side of it. He nods.

Ilya hums appreciatively. “You want me to keep you on a leash?” Their lips graze the corner of his mouth but the contact never quite becomes a kiss. Their voice has dipped into a register that feels downright dangerous, piercing through Maksim’s skull and down his spine to set his veins crackling with electricity. He lets his eyes flutter closed and he’s drowning in it. “You go where I go, do exactly what I say, never be allowed to stray out of my sight?”

The only immediate response Maksim can offer is a soft, desperate sound in the back of his throat as his breath quickens and his hand closes tighter around their wrist. Their grip on him hasn’t changed, but the steady, gentle consistency of it is making his head swim anyway. “I just want to know my place,” he breathes.

Ilya tsks softly, shifting their hand only enough to trace their thumb along the curve of his jaw. “Look at you,” they say, and he opens his eyes again to meet their gaze, bright and hungry as they take him in. What must they be seeing when they look at him, pliant and submissive in their hands, begging to be trained. Begging to be owned. “I think you already know your place, don’t you?”

He nods again, eager.

“Tell me.” Echoes of another conversation in another place, their roles reversed even as this, whatever this is, was just beginning to take shape.

“Here,” the answer tumbles from his lips without him even having to think about it. “Right here, right at your feet.”

There’s a momentary pause as Ilya searches his expression, their own shifting slightly but remaining unreadable as they tilt their head in consideration. Then they say, “no.” It’s gentle, without a hint of edge or genuine dissatisfaction, but it still jars Maksim back up to the surface of the reverie they’ve plunged him into. He shrinks into himself just a little, shoulders tense and grip on Ilya’s wrist slackening like he’s not sure that’s allowed anymore. He wasn’t ready to hear no. “That’s not where I’d expect a good dog to walk,” Ilya presses on, with a smile that’s tilting back toward playful now as they ease back onto their heels, forfeit that domineering little height advantage they had given themself. Their hands remain, but as they knit their fingers together over the back of Maksim’s neck it feels more like being held, less like restraint. “When I say heel, where do you stand?”

Maksim opens his mouth to offer a response, but it takes him a second to work past the mental image of Ilya commanding him to heel. Still, he thinks he understands. “At… at your side.”

Ilya beams. “That’s right,” they purr, and the momentary tension bleeds back out of Maksim. They lean in, let him wrap an arm around their waist, let their weight settle more firmly against him as they catch his lip between their teeth for just a second before finally gracing him with the kiss they’ve been teasing for much too long. “You’ll be exactly where I want you.”

[samsspambox]

Some Musings about Luke's Illness and Parallel Theory

hi, howdy! it's been a while since i've done one of these! but i have a Thought™️ that I thought was worth sharing, but I wanted to wait until close to the end of Vyn's newest sweet chapter.

anyway! idk how much i'll write but i'll just put everything under a read more :D

now, for those new or those who need a refresher, a while back on this humble blog i started talking about 'Parallel Theory', which is the idea that if one NXX LI has a certain trait or an event happen to them, another NXX LI would have something similar happen to a varying degree while the other remaining LI's would have an opposite attribute. (Rapid fire examples: Marius and Artem having people they care about go missing, Vyn and Luke's past being foggy and full of Mystery, Vyn and Marius holding positions of power they don't want)

but i couldn't figure out how Luke's illness (which, for the remainder of this post will be theorized to be caused by the NXX drug) would be applied to the theory until the 2nd part of Vyn's sweet chapter came up. The genetic testing.

this got the gears in my head going, especially with the small snippets of main story from the cn server i keep seeing on twt. what i've seen is vyns family (?) being involved in some way or another with the drug. that, and given that vyns father regularly gets invited to a ship that deals with nxx drug dealings feels intentional.

"sam" i hear you say "what the fuck. what's your point?" and to that, dear reader, i say think about it. the mention of genetic testing implies a state of being healthy. there's nothing to worry about, right? it's not at all a form of foreshadowing, right?

i think that one of the nxx boys aside from luke will be afflicted with a sickness produced by the nxx drug. my biggest contender is vyn for the reasons listed above, but it doesn't have to be him. one could make the argument that it could be artem or marius. i wouldn't put it past hyv to add a kidnapping arc.

but! it wouldn't be as bad as luke's illness. they'd have it for less, obvi, and the fact that bc they're hyv's way of getting money, i don't think any one of them would die. they're protected by plot and economic armor. but i feel like it'd be an interesting development!

honestly it's not as polished bc it's fairly recent, which i'm labeling it more as a musing and not like a prediction, but it'd fIT!! and yeah! there's a musing! :D

[tending-the-hearth]

if you can, could you write a short about echo talking to the batch about the rest of domino? could be pre-show or post-show, maybe when crosshair's joined back up with the batch

they are very important to me, thank you anon 😌

*insert the obligatory "echo finds hevy's medal on the marauder" fic*

Kashyyyk had been a welcome respite after the recovery of Cody and Crosshair from the Empire.

Gungi had been more than excited to welcome his friends back, greeting Omega with a joyful hug that had the blonde giggling brightly as she returned the embrace. The rest of the Batch watched the interaction warmly, glad to see their youngest member being so happy upon reuniting with the young Jedi.

Rex had joined the Batch after Cody and Crosshair’s rescue, unable to part himself from his brother’s side.

After a day of quiet recovery on the forest planet, Echo set himself to organizing the crates that had been languishing in the Marauder’s storage hold, completely untouched over the past months of racing around the galaxy.

Distantly, he could hear Omega begging Crosshair to help her with her bow. He chuckled to himself, knowing that his little sister had been waiting for the day when she could get tutelage from their marksman brother. Digging through one of the messy crates, Echo flinched as his hand was poked by something cool, and he frowned. Grasping the object, he pulled it out into the light, and immediately froze as he recognized it.

“Oh…”

The gold sunburst glinted in the afternoon light that streamed through the Marauder’s open hatch, the green and blue ribbon faded, but still holding together.

Echo knew 99 still had the medal, but he hadn’t known what happened to it after his older brother’s death. Thinking it back over, it made sense for 99 to have given it to his own batch.

“Echo! Find anything interesting?”

The ARC was startled out of his musings by the sound of Wrecker’s shout, and he stood, holding the medal tightly in his hands as he exited the Havoc Marauder.

Rex looked up from where he was speaking with Cody, immediately noting a difference in Echo’s mannerisms.

“Vod’ika?”

Echo simply held up the medal, a small, sad smile on his face. “I haven’t seen one of these in a long time.”

Hunter’s face was bittersweet. “It was 99’s.” He approached Echo, reaching out to brush his fingers across the medal. “He gave it to us when we went off on our first mission.”

“That looks like your medal, Ey’ika.” Rex prodded gently, making Echo huff out a laugh. Of course his older brother knew something else was going on. “From when you passed the test.”

“You’ve got a medal?” Omega asked excitedly, moving around Hunter to get a peek at the object.

Echo nodded, walking to where Crosshair and Tech were seated, quietly enjoying each other’s company. He sat himself beside his grey-haired brother, taking comfort from how Crosshair didn’t tense up like he did when Hunter or Wrecker sat beside him. Rex sat on Echo’s other side, a quiet pillar of comfort.

“99 and I got our medals at the same time.” Echo began to explain, voice quiet. “His was given to him by a clone named Hevy.”

Tech cocked his head. “99 did mention it was a gift from a friend.”

“You knew the guy who gave this to 99?” Wrecker asked.

It was only Rex’s presence and Cody’s silent support from where he was sitting opposite them that kept Echo from falling apart then and there, the pain of thinking about his Domino squad often too much to bear.

“Hevy was my brother.” He said after letting out a breath. “He was the oldest of our batch, and a kriffing asshole half the time, and an overprotective mother tooka the other half of the time. He was selfless, and stupid, and everything 99 wanted him to be.” Rex shifted, wrapping an arm around Echo’s shoulders as he spoke. “Then there was Cutup. He was almost as bad as Hevy when it came to smothering us after training. He was always worried we weren’t eating enough, and when he wasn’t smothering us, he was trying to prank anyone who looked at our squad wrong.”

“Sounds like we’d get along with them.” Hunter said with a small grin.

Cody’s eyes suddenly widened with horror. “Can you imagine.”

Echo let out a loud laugh. “Oh, Hev and Cut would have loved you guys.” His face grew a touch sadder, and he leaned more into Rex, who tightened the arm he had around his shoulders. “Then there was Fives and I. Fives was older by literal seconds, but he still held it over me every chance he got.” He couldn’t bring himself to talk more about his twin, and instead pushed on, fighting to keep himself from crying. “Finally… there was Droidbait. He was the baby of the squad, and never did anything wrong in his life.”

“Didn’t you and Fives tell the story of how Droidbait started a food fight during your last day on Kamino?” Rex asked, suspicion in his voice.

Echo raised an eyebrow at his former captain. “Again, ‘Bait never did anything wrong in his life. Ever.”

Beside him, as he had been speaking, Crosshair’s posture had grown more and more relaxed until he was leaning into Echo, arms pressed together as he listened.

“I remember that.” The marksman said, voice quiet and hesitant. Echo immediately glanced at Hunter, who was obviously holding back a small grin at the sound of their brother’s voice.

“I believe Wrecker was enthusiastically involved in widening the range of that chaos.” Tech supplied helpfully.

Echo snorted. “I wouldn’t be surprised. ‘Bait was especially excited at how extreme it went so quickly.” The rest of the clones laughed, and Wrecker’s face was gleeful as he remembered that specific day, tucked at a corner table with his own batch, watching as a group of newly graduated clones cackled and teased one another.

Echo was surprised to find how easily the stories of his brothers fell from his mouth. Instead of the pang of heartbreak over his lost, there was nothing but warmth that filled him, as though Domino was sitting around him, laughing along with the stories.

Omega scooted closer, eyes bright as she asked for more stories, and Echo was only happy to oblige, grinning as Crosshair’s snarky comments interrupted him ever now and again.

It wasn’t the same, but Echo was content in knowing that he could pass on his brothers’ stories and memories.

[novelcain]

Hi, it’s me again, I had a couple of ideas, a couple are about possible bard reader, another is a musing for any reader, and the last is a general question.

1. Bards aren’t solely musicians, (from my dnd experience,) they also recite poems, ballads, and stories. So what if Reader tries to keep some of the more prone to boredom pilgrims by talking about various other myths and stories she might know? For example, she might’ve had an ancient Egypt or Greek mythology phase and still remembers a lot of those stories and when things are getting dull, she just goes like “Hey, wanna hear a funny story?” And then talk about Midas getting cursed with donkey ears. It manages to occupy the silence with something more interesting.

2. I’ve seen the Ruan being suggested as Reader’s instrument, but I wonder if anyone has considered the Xun. A xun is basically a small ceramic or wood instrument in the same family as the ocarina, but played slightly differently. They’re quite portable, and they could also make for a convenient “which one of these identical monkeys is Six Eared Macaque,” test. Nothing against the Ruan, just wanted to share. (Bonus: if the Reader likes the Zelda games, she could play some of those songs and most of them are either soothing or fun to dance to.)

2.5. Personally, I am an edgy girl, so if I chose to sing, it’d be like the early 2000s nu-metal songs from groups like Evanescence, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, and all of that other stuff, so that’d be embarrassing.

3. How are she and Tripitaka going to stay warm in the winter? There were points in the book where it was stated to be snowing or at least very cold, and idk if Guanyin would give them coats or if they’d have to get one of the other pilgrims to beg for a couple of used old coats. If Guanyin did give them some, it’d be neat to see like a feather cloak or something along those lines as feathers (down) are very good at insulating and keeping one warm.

4. Given all of the times when Tripitaka either punishes Monkey too severely and/or kicks him out, I can imagine the Six Eared Macaque arc being the one where reader genuinely loses her patience and slaps the monk across the face. She doesn’t really even say anything, just turns to leave and if they say anything about how they need her to guide them, “well, you can figure it out for yourself, because I’m done putting up with your ‘holier than thou’ bullshit.” Then goes to find Wukong. Depends on if you want the one she finds to be the real one, trying not to cry, or if she runs into his doppelgänger. (Suppose we’ll have to wait and see.)

Have a good Sunday, Skittle!

-🌺 Anon

Hello again~

ok soooo i'm gonna admit that at first I had no idea what you were talking about but then I remembered that one of my followers did fanart with their version of Reader using a Ruan and I just wanna say that isn't canon it was just someone's art. anything that i post about ittw on here should be considered specifically not canon just for fun. i also won't answer any questions about what will happen in the future of any of my fics or au's (i know i'm a meanie😋). you can find all my ask rules on my pinned post 😊 (tho i might update them soon)

also everything about ittw was set in stone before i even began writing. nothing will change the plot even if i find an idea that i like (there was one idea from someone's fanart that i liked and i was thinking about using since it wouldn't effect the plot [after getting their permission] but i won't be doing that now because i don't want anyone to think i'm playing favorites or have a bunch of people try to get me to add their ideas as well. i've already had a bunch of people try to do that and it really stresses me out cause it's hard to stay nice in those situations) because of that (and i mean this in the nicest way possible i promise i'm not trying to sound like a jerk) i won't be taking any suggestions for plots unless i specifically ask for them🤗

I hope you have a great Sunday too, 🌺 Anon!

[aroacesigma]

ok anyway izuleo. there is so much to go thru here. pls be aware that i am looping fineknights starlight parade rn so im like 500x more insane. this is so much lore bear with me

okay so. leo and izumi met a bit before the war when leo just kinda. burst into a classroom izumi was practicing in and was like "ur singing sucks lmao" and izumi was like "what the hell" and then they got in a small scuffle or some shit and then leo basically just didn't leave izumi alone and called izumi his muse and composed a bunch of songs for him so they're besties.

so like. izuleo are just kinda chilling. and then the old leader of the mega-unit.... Othello? or Backgammon? I think it was called at the time? has smth happen and can't be the leader anymore (it's heavily implied that Eichi was why the previous leader stepped down) so Leo is left to fill in the slot and he becomes the new leader and renames the unit back to its og name before the name changes to Othello and Backgammon - Chess. but most of the people in the unit (bc at this time units were GIANT and encompassed like hundreds of students) didn't actually care abt being idols and were just kinda in the unit for the sake of the name they could ride off of that looks good on their resumes and shit. Eichi did not like that. so eichi does his eichi things and pulls strings with the student council (thanks keito) and makes it so units cannot be bigger than 5 people and can't really be smaller than 2 due to prohibitive costs and whatnot. (madara is an exception. they let him stay a solo unit bc it kept him out of everyone's hair) so. the mega-units splinter!

Leo and Izumi go to form their own unit out of the splinter units and Leo originally suggests them being named Knight, but Izumi tells him that that name was already taken, and suggests Knights instead. (yes. izumi named their unit.) and so ! Knights is born ! Izumi and Leo are the only real members at this time so they go. recruit people i guess idk. Arashi gets roped in despite not actually caring abt idol-ing at the time and i think Ritsu just kinda comes along bc it's the easiest course of action? idk man it's been so long since i read Checkmate. ANYWAY.

Eichi uses this early Knights to destroy units he sees as threats and to test the DreamLive system (which is the current system operating in Enstars for lives and shit. i cannot explain it) or maybe it's DreamFes? idk. one of the two. anyway. at one point Leo goes to a bunch of the other splinter units and asks if they had to choose between never using his music again (leo is a genius composer btw and is largely attributed to being a reason knights is so popular) and being his friend; or using his music. Every single person he goes to chooses his music over him. Strike one on the Leo Downfall Arc! ALSO ENGSTARS RETCONS THIS. DON'T TRUST THEM. In Engstars Izumi says that Leo once asked him that question too, but that's a fucken LIE Izumi was never asked to choose between Leo and his music bc his choice was always Leo and Leo KNEW that.

The two are disgustingly codependent at this point btw. so like. Leo uses his music to destroy these splinter units of the mega units and everyone Eichi considers a threat and this does. A LOT to his mental state. He's kind of disgustingly codependent with Izumi to the point where he basically tells Izumi that he'll do anything Izumi asks of him and that all he wants is for Izumi to smile (and praise him i think?) bc like. at this point Izumi has gotten super harsh on Leo and like. Izumi is normally prickly but this is way worse. Strike Two on the Leo Downfall Arc!

Sometime after this (I do not know exactly when. again. been awhile) Leo realizes what he's done and the fact that he's stepped on so many people and that his music is little more than a weapon and just fucking. breaks. he becomes a shut-in and basically disappears from Yumenosaki. Izumi visits him a few times - most notably in the short story Lionheart where he visits and Ruka (leo's younger sister) ends up crying and begging Izumi to help Leo, which leads to Leo coming out of his room (and Izumi describes him as being super gaunt and barely able to stand) and tells Izumi off for making Ruka cry. (he didn't make ruka cry btw she's just really worried abt her brother) After that Izumi leaves the house and goes and sits on the beach and is all emo while listening to the MP3 player full of music Leo's made for him. one of the tracks is just a recording of their first meeting too and izumi does not have a good time listening to that. I think at the end of Lionheart Izumi promises to keep fighting in Leo's name until he's strong enough.

Anyway. While Leo's a shut-in he basically stops composing entirely bc he stops hearing music in his head and thinks everything he composes is worthless which leads to him hurting himself (i still hc that he has scars on his hands from biting himself and izumi always gets a little sad when he sees them) which eventually leads to Madara taking Leo to travel the world so he can get his groove back. This is during IzuLeo's second year i think. The war was during their first year i think. timeline is fuzzy ngl. So Leo is basically missing for the entirety of his second year. Knights at that time is Izumi, Ritsu, and Arashi with Leo missing. Leo was their leader (dubbed "ousama" (king) - also the name of my leo fictive. unrelated.) but he's just kinda. gone. so I think during this time Knights just stops performing and slips out of the limelight. Mama and Leo's World Tour happens, which is also kinda sad bc once Leo comes back and is asked abt it he says he was "abducted by aliens" and doesn't remember it. Also when Leo comes back he doesn't go straight back to Yumenosaki, he remains away from Knights and everyone for awhile. Madara is able to coax Leo into performing with him during the story Concerto and that's where Leo finally decides to go back to the stage with his Knights. except oopsie ! all judgement !

So. Leo goes back to Yumenosaki. By jumping in through a window. He does that a lot in the early stories btw idk if he knows what a door is /j BUT. I digress. So he meets Tsukasa at that point and i feel like just kinda brushes him off? and challenges Knights to a duel ! Judgement ! Where he claims that if Knights cannot defeat him then Knights doesn't deserve to exist anymore bc they've grown too weak in his absence. So Izumi is like "Leo-kun what the fuck" and Leo is just like ":3" and peaces out thru the window. Knights are unsurprisingly like "wtf are we meant to do we don't have Leo's songs" and Leo goes and gets his little temporary unit Knights Killers up and running with Eichi, Kuro, and Nazuna. eichi bc they're kinda friends despite everything that happened (and also leo knows that he's strong), and kuro and nazuna bc they're literally the closest people. good work leokun. So ! Knights Killers and Knights go to battle ! Knights begins losing bc Leo can compose on the spot and Eichi is noted to be a powerhouse, and with Leo and Eichi together they're basically unstoppable. During that story we also get this really soft moment of Ritsu (who's Knights strategist) apologizing to... Tsukasa? I think? maybe Izumi? for his strategies not being enough. but as Knights Killers wins, Leo has an "oh shit" moment and realizes that he can't just do whatever the hell he wants with Knights, bc Knights also belongs to the others :3 so Leo is like "yeah no we're not dissolving Knights" and rejoins as their ousama ! (also Knights Killers has a song called Crush of Judgement and its a BANGER go listen to it)

at this point Izumi and Leo have a very kinda. tense? relationship? they're not as disgustingly codependent anyhow. they're kinda distant. but they work on repairing their relationship over time ! izumi is less harsh on Leo and keeps a pretty close eye on him actually (they live together in Italy !) as a sort of way of making up for everything he did. and leo's just a silly goofy guy but is still a little haunted by his past. but the two are working on it.

anyway once they graduate and tsukasa becomes the new ousama, izumi goes to live in italy for. modelling things? i think? i don't really know tbh. and leo goes with bc where izumi goes leo follows and vice versa in most cases. sometime in the modern !! timeline leo is like. doing stuff for GFK (gatekeeper? godfather? idk. one of those dudes. don't ask me abt them i don't get it) and overworking himself and izumi is like "leokun PLEASE" and takes over his scheduling so he doesn't keep working himself to the bone. also leo does like a requiem or something? to see if kasa is worthy of being the leader? or something? gonna be real i do not really remember that story much.

so yeah izuleo were disgustingly codependent and now are more normal and also got gay married in florence. they told me themselves.

theyre absolutely sickening (/pos) i LOVE that omfg . congratulations to them on their italy wedding i fully believe you im sure thats canon . also feeling very sorry for this leo guy i want to hug him . also i listened to that song while reading this and its an absolute banger