#and its wild that so many people are missing that part of her character

[gaytangle]

gonna be real u guys lanolin Is mean and thats okay !!! I've seen a ton of people pretending that she's not mean and saying that she isnt to defend her bc I guess people on Twitter are being weird about it but . she IS mean. like that's a part of her character. and the character is allowed to Be Mean. it's very obviously intentionally written and people are allowed to like Or dislike her because of that.

It's pretty clear to me with Lanolin's interactions with Tangle and how the both of them reacted this issue that this is going to eventually reach a tipping point and maybe she'll get some character development out of it. Lanolin is intentionally being written as being needlessly harsh towards her friends so I think it's a safe bet that people are Supposed to feel off about that aspect of her character and I feel like acting like she can do no wrong or is "just a little blunt" is hugely mischaracterizing her. Let Her Be Mean. I promise you can still like her.

And when the time comes in the story where she has some sort of intervention about how she's treating people or tangle or some other character blows up at her or something I don't want any of y'all to act surprised or like she didn't have that coming bc if you are then I'm not sure we've been reading the same comic

[sepublic]

“It’s funny how Luz thinks her friends won’t accept her for helping Belos meet the Collector when she sees them being chill with Hunter and his war crimes”

Y’all… Understand why Luz feels that her helping Philip meet the Collector is significant, right?

Don’t you think it’s crazy how in Hollow Mind, Luz sees Belos use the magic of the covens to dazzle people into following him, helping establish his regime. We see how his coven bindings literally killed people. And then she finds out she helped Belos meet the Collector, who gave him this type of magic? Who reiterates in the season finale that they have Belos “magic stronger than anybody’s” as well as the draining spell???

Luz gave Magic Hitler what he needed to rise to power, she saw people directly die because of what she gave him. Those ruins on the Knee she explored? They were ruins because of Luz, people displaced from their homes because Luz ran from hers, and now here she is enjoying what they lost. She knows about all of the systemic devastation, the environmental damage, all of the living things and artifacts and culture endangered; So many lives ruined or hurt or even cut short because of what Luz helped Belos find. Think of the damage the sigils have done, before their role in the draining spell is even accounted!

And the draining spell meant the Collector had to be freed; Luz thinks the Collector committed genocide on the Titans, and even misremembers them as more violent than they actually were. She doesn’t know what this successfully-genocidal being, who enthusiastically helped Belos attempt genocide on the isles, will do to its people! The Collector being freed led to Luz and her friends being stranded in the human realm, away from their families; The families Luz sees them missing, while Luz gets to have hers despite abandoning it.

Her nightmare sequence in the finale is about Luz seeing the dead bodies of everyone she’s met filling up a pit because of her, while Luz’s surviving friends blame her for this, with Gus reiterating that he lost his dad because of Luz, and losing a father is something Luz can deeply relate to.

And yet people just boiled Luz’s guilt down to just teenage self-loathing and angst, and made jokes about how Luz thinks her friends won’t forgive her for this but they’ll forgive Hunter’s war crimes! You know, the war crimes that fans just made up. That would still be Luz’s responsibility (in her eyes) since she aided in the rise of the coven regime Hunter did them for, if they were real. The war crimes of Hunter that, even if they did happen, he didn’t matter in the long run, he wasn’t needed for the genocide, and part of Hunter’s existential crisis in Hollow Mind is realizing that! But Luz was vital!

It’s absolutely insane, Luz was as explicitly suicidal as a Disney TV show could make a character, she went on a whole rant about it, and the fandom just barely skimmed over it. Idgaf if Hunter lost Flapjack, if their positions were reversed people would be drooling over suicidal Hunter! If Luz was also a white boy people would still remember this, don’t blame this on fans being distracted by what happened to Flapjack. I remember people making fun of Luz’s suicidal rant while cradling poor Hunter’s trauma in their hands!!!

For people who claim to love angst and dark topics and using it as an excuse to focus on Hunter and maybe those white guys over everyone else, it’s just wild to me. And now the fandom has gotten to a point where it’s making up angst for Hunter about him feeling guilty for killing witches (because his colonial violence is about HIS feelings amirite), instead of talking about other characters’ canonical issues. People would rather talk about Hunter’s hands.

The point is that Luz sees herself as just like Belos; A human who saw a world to play out their fantasy in, and ended up causing a genocide because of it… Dare Luz say, she’s a colonizer like Philip. Luz sees it as a butterfly effect where she’s also responsible for the coven system that her friends and the entire Boiling Isles suffered from, because without the Collector it likely wouldn’t have happened. This is why in the finale, Luz’s nightmare has herself as Belos.

And it doesn’t matter if Luz meant well, she’s seen how people, including her own mother, mean well but still hurt others who as Eda says, “have a right to be upset.” This is why in the finale, the Titan insinuates, when condemning Belos, that intent does still matter to some degree; Luz came from a place of compassion and good faith. Likewise, we have her friends pointing out that it’s disingenuous to take this blame because anyone else could’ve been tricked by Belos, he was going through different victims like Blue Fang until he succeeded in getting the Collector.

I’m sorry, but… Hunter killing people and being a war criminal is fanon. It’s not out of the question that maybe he killed others, but nothing’s confirmed, especially in regards to the others knowing. In his debut he’s averse to violence, doing minimal manhandling and resorting to threats, but avoiding killing the Selkidomus and not even checking its corpse. And this tracks with Hunter’s eventual development and belief he’s doing something good.

And even if he had killed, Hunter’s destruction is nothing compared to the coven system, the Day of Unity, the Collector’s reign, etc. Hunter’s a literally replaceable cog in the system and Belos even brings this up to the Collector. But Luz sees herself, partially because of her prior guilt, as a key part of Belos’ genocide from the start.

I get that you’re not trying to invalidate Luz’s trauma by comparing it to someone else’s and yes Luz suffers from a horrendous double standard of self-loathing. But c’mon, the show was NOT subtle about why Luz would think she’s done worse than Hunter, who has no confirmed kills, nobody dead via butterfly effect. And I’m sick of people always downplaying Luz’s trauma and feelings to hype up Hunter. Or even giving it to Hunter because they just gloss over what the nightmare in the finale meant to Luz specifically.

[ultimateumbreon33]

ahh, i wish i liked the arknights dungeon meshi collab more. its got plenty of fun moments, i much prefer having this over nothing or a smaller event like luo xiaohei got (though, that story was more cohesive from what i recall…).

it feels like an early draft. rather choppy, even in terms of a story structure that tends to feel that way for the sake of showing a wider variety of experiences, in making the party go across terra. details that go in and out of relevance, some lack of detail (no struggles in the cold weather without their gear, also marcille mentions nightmares in a voice line even though they hadnt fought the red dragon yet so she didnt know to check her pillow), missed potential with the painting story especially.

how were they cooking all the previous meals in the end? did rhodes really have originium slug acid on hand- no way they gave senshi seaborn specimens. ill accept the party being fine after the collapsal and seaborn food cause theyre not terran, but those parts of the story lacked focus imo. also, why was there no indication of laios’ fascination with terran biology until after he gets to rhodes, that was jarring. yeah, there were often more pressing matters out in the wilds, but he saw so many people.

anyway its mostly nit-picks, but they add up. the rainbow six events were waaay better, and i had never engaged w that series. maybe they really wanted to differentiate from past crossovers, where some characters drop in and spend a while in one place, getting to know it. i get that it may be repetitive, but its still fun to me.

still, i see potential for a second collab, if they dig more into the lore. i wonder how marcille is even getting any mana, and if the winged lion can have any influence on terra. is he seeing the world through kensuke? also, the idea of resurrection would shake up a lot of people, especially sarkaz- as seen briefly in the sami section. that and the topic of lifespans, like w the sui, could go far.

this is maybe the most silly collab in terms of like.. time scale, for the characters. based on dialogue, they hadnt reached the red dragon, so they still think falin is being digested through alll of this time? and since the party arrived, big bob had gotten to meet with mudrock, got business going, got arrested, left prison, and started business in sami. when it comes to a sequel, im not sure how things could be tied back in with the canon that the party came from lol. i wonder who would become operators- of course izutsumi. probably kabru. they couldnt add his whole party though, so idk who else. namari would be pisssed if she were dragged in.

its interesting to note how.. limited the characters feel, with how it is written. like, in order to avoid serious spoilers, they are being withheld depth to an extent. theyre all very ‘pre red dragon,’ like someone just watched the first half of the anime.

anywayyyy i had fun. but it could have been more

[variousqueerthings]

read those last four pages of the earlier draft of the due south ending and wild how much it aligns with my overall predictions of how the show was going to end, so clearly i was seeing what some of those earlier intentions were (and it makes me wonder why they changed it)

to be honest, it could've pretty much ended that way with very few other changes -- the major two being meg saying she wouldn't move north, although she could still say that and be seen in a cushy office. it's the discomfort of fraser's general lifestyle/being a wild man of nature that she doesn't necessarily want, not canada itself, she canonically misses ottawa. and the other one perhaps being ray's and stella's relationship, but that could still be a thing that's dangled without needing to put too much of a line beneath what it may or may not become post-credits

it's really just the epilogue -- which felt oddly tacked-on to me -- that changes the ending, and im coming at that with a mix of "well, since most of it is making jokes about the characters i can ignore it" and "ray vecchio and stella elope and divorce almost immediately (due to ray's post-undercover ptsd)"

beyond that i wasn't totally sold on ray kowalski going up north at the end -- at least not for the longhaul, although i really do quite like the openness of him and fraser going to look for franklin's hand, so that wasn't the bit of the epilogue i was really scratching my head over, although, there are things about it that suggest that it's not the place either of them really need to be/would choose to be for too long moving forwards (also lol, ray you're wearing a thin coat and you hated most of your journey in canada so far, sir your rose-tinted glasses are blowing right off your face with the first blizzard -- but that's a part of him, he's not a hugely practical guy outside of the things he Knows How To Do, that is, he'll wear a thin coat in northern canada and eat smarties for breakfast and forget to clean his apartment and stalk his ex-wife but not out of malice and she doesn't feel threatened by it and he'll get himself beaten up in a boxing match he shouldn't be in and he'll smack computers, etc)

im still musing on how i read rayk's character, but a Big Big thing that is explored in canon is that he's someone who needs someone to tell him who to be, and that used to be stella until she correctly identified the amount of emotional labour that was being required by her vis a vis his various unexamined issues (and i believe she probably started at least some of the arguments, but at its core this is a solid lady and an unsolid man, it's easy to see where the issue lay), and now it's fraser, and all the while ray is asking, with some self-awareness: when he's not around other people (a single other person) telling him who to be, who is he? and we never do find out and nor does he, which is interesting -- it makes the franklin's hand ending quite melancholy to me, that alongside how it pertains to fraser himself

it suggests that him leaving with fraser is more about needing fraser as a crutch (like he needed stella). i was thinking there'd be some openness to the ending (people aren't at their final destination just because the story has ended), but ray doesn't need a yes-man like fraser (who sucks at boundaries), he needs... well ray vecchio, i think. and ray vecchio needs him, because of their very unique shared experience. there's an implicit understanding between them that's obvious in just the short amount of time they're together in the finale and that's really one of the main interesting things i want to think about/explore more moving forwards

the other thing that i'm circling back to in terms of the ending, is that fraser started the story very much alone, sans diefenbaker (whom one can say many things about in terms of what he represents -- friend, brother, same soul, metaphor, spirit). he ends the story with a community -- ray'n'ray, meg, maggie, turnbull to an extent, the whole precinct really, arguably parts of chicago itself, and i think that original ending makes that much clearer

the end of the story onscreen had a melancholy to it, as i said -- the epilogue puts both ray vecchio and meg far away (for no real reason that i could gather/sorta out of character for them both), effectively splitting up the community that had formed around fraser, and the northwest passage isn't the happiest of songs to end on. its story is that of a journey that is futile and circular, that to go out there is to ultimately try and find a way back home. so there's a lot of ambiguity to the onscreen ending that i am enjoying reading along the lines of how that community can come back together again afterwards, whilst still allowing fraser to fundamentally be who he is, which is wild and fairytale-like and other

the expression on his face when he first returns to the snow and the wild -- that fraser balanced with people anchoring him and telling him that whenever he wishes, they will be there for him (whilst knowing that there is, fundamentally, something about him that is of the wild and therefore untameable and also shouldn't be tamed, because then he wouldn't be fraser)

i think the main things im interested in right now are: 1. the rayk and rayv dynamic in a million different ways 2. exploring meg and maggie (apart, but also together in the same space in some way or other) 3. fraser and the balance of his two selves (the part that is always called by the wild and the part that has People whom he cares about, who are His People, not just people as an ideal) 4. also fraser and how he feels post-knowing-all-of-that-about-his-past-now-and-aftershocks-thereof 5. rayv and vegas and the aftermath of that, and including stella in that because the finale puts her in an interesting place to develop alongside both the rays 6. rayk and trying to find out who he is, because this too has been my big [?] whilst watching him. who are you sir? what do you want? (you want to know who you are, that's what you want. you want to feel real in your own skin. i want to explore what that journey looks like for him) 7. permutations of ray'n'ray and fraser either staying in or leaving law enforcement -- am fascinated by the fact that this is played with across both versions, so clearly it was a questionmark for the writing as well (my favourite idea of post-canon this is ray'n'ray open up a detective agency in some way or other)

so yeah. questions about the onscreen epilogue. what prompted it and when did it change, but im pretty chill about it, im just scooting it mildly to the left to bring all the characters back into frame a little more so i can ask the questions i want to ask of them

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

do you happen to enjoy fairy tales as much as (character) Miss Raven does? I got the feeling not just because of- well, you choosing that as a big characteristic on her, but also bc of how you sometimes talk about your fav characters in scenarios where they have "princely" attitudes or stuff like that HHAHSHSHSH plus I think a certain amount of that type of writing shows in your pieces (which I love!!!)

if the answer is yes, then I wanted to ask: what kind of dairy tales are your favorites? is there certain motifs you specially like?

YES 🤡 I’m super into fairy tales! One of my favorite Disney movies is Enchanted, but I also love the Shrek universe (Shrek 2 and Puss in Boots 2, my beloveds) and Ever After High before it quietly got cancelled. I listen to fairy tale-themed songs (I’d recommend Cinderella Step by Daoko; been listening to that a lot lately), read fairy tale retelling novels, collect fairy tale themed blind box toys… All of it 😭 And one of my favorite anime ever is Princess Tutu, which references a lot of classic ballet and fairy tales ✨

As I mentioned in this post, Miss Raven (the OC) is not meant to be a self-insert, but she is in part informed by my own tastes since I did create her. I injected her with my love of fairy tales, but tried to incorporate that in a way that makes sense. While she was still an actual bird, she often people watched and then daydreamed about being a part of “that world”. Her wild imagination eventually leads to this rose-colored expectations of how great “that world” is. She’s expecting a fairy tale but is then slammed with the reality that the students at NRC aren’t exactly the perfect princes she was imagining. Miss Raven copes with it by being delulu daydreaming and penning stories~

Before TWST corrupted me, I love Love LOVED princely/knightly characters… and butlers and bug brother-types still I blame that in part knowing me enjoying fairy tales so much. snvsjwbskwkekdbsk I-I didn’t realize that that kind of dreaminess bled through into my writing 😭

I think it’s pretty obvious by my blog name, but I love Alice in Wonderland for its whimsy and nonsensicalness. Many of the motifs that commonly appear in Alice (mushrooms, card suits, tea and sweets, talking flowers, clocks, white rabbits, etc.) are charming to me. It’s a big reason why I was super into the White Rabbit Fest event. Anything Alice-inspired… I’m so tempted to grab 😔 I once went to an afternoon tea inspired by this story, which was so fun! I’d like to go again someday, and this time with my TWST plushies.

Some other stories I like are Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and The Ugly Duckling (though this one is more a fable than a fairy tale). I also quite like stories told in ballet, such as Swan Lake and Coppelia. If you squint at Miss Raven, you’ll notice that she has elements from each of these stories. I just really enjoy stories with themes of self discovery and/or getting lost but then finding your way. Again, this is also echoed in Miss Raven’s own growth and development journey.

[dichenlachmandaily]

Warning: This post contains spoilers from season 2, episode 10 of Severance.

There is a lot to unpack after the explosive ending to Severance's buzzed-about sophomore season — and star Dichen Lachman, whose dual character of Miss Casey and Gemma was at the center of it all, can finally share her take.

The episode starts with foe-turned-ally Harmony Cobel (Patricia Arquette) helping Mark Scout (Adam Scott) communicate with his innie through recorded messages at the birthing house on Lumon Industries property where innies can give birth so their outies don't endure pain.

At one point, Ms. Cobel confronts innie Mark with the truth about his work on Cold Harbor, the project he's been working on during his time at Lumon. She explains its connection to his wife Gemma (known as Ms. Casey as her severed self inside Lumon). The clusters in each Macrodata Refinement (MDR) project are "tempers," representing the "building blocks" in Gemma's mind. Each time he completes one, a new innie is created.

While talking to his innie, Mark asks him to retrieve Gemma from the floor where she's being held captive by Lumon once Cold Harbor is complete. But Mark S. hesitates because he thinks that rescuing Gemma and leaving Lumon with her would be the end of his life — and his romance with Helly R. (Britt Lower).

Still, he arrives at Lumon's severed floor, he completes Cold Harbor as Ms. Cobel advised and he also goes to great lengths to save Gemma. After successfully retrieving her from the Cold Harbor room, their outies have a brief reconciliation before Mark switches back to his innie. He helps Gemma out of the building through an exit on the severed floor, but instead of leaving with her, innie Mark runs off with Helly R. as Gemma begs him to go with her.

Now, looking back on that shocking moment, actress Lachman, 43, tells PEOPLE about her reaction to it all.

"I think I read [episode] 10 just before we started filming [episode] 10 and 7. I just remember being like, 'Oh wow, this is going to be interesting to see the reaction,'" she says. "Obviously, the fans have spent so much time with Helly R. and Mark S., and so they're invested in that. But after [episode] 7, they're also hopefully invested in Mark's outie's relationship more as well."

"It's a really difficult situation," she adds.

As for what this means for Gemma, Mark and Helly (whose outie is Helena Eagan), Lachman also admittedly doesn't know what's next as she jokes: "Are they going to work out a timeshare?" 

For Lachman, a large part of her enjoyment for working on the thriller's second season has been diving deeper into her dual character.

"It was so wonderful because so much of Gemma for so long had just been little fragments. To really live in that space and lean into that emotional anchor for Mark, outie Mark, it was really exciting," she shares.

"It was daunting because I really didn't want to let anybody down," she continues. "I knew the fans were super invested in the show. I haven't seen people this invested in something for such a long time. The attention they pay to every single detail, like zooming into shots and finding little clues, it's wild."

When asked whether she thinks there will be a season 3, Lachman still remains hopeful.

"Fingers crossed and if we're all lucky enough to go that way, I'm just really excited to see what [creator] Dan Erickson comes up with," she says. "He's such an extraordinary talent and I couldn't be happier for him that so many people around the world have just been completely inspired and captivated by this show."

"It really keeps your attention like nothing else out there," she concludes. "It's almost like going on a ride to me. I feel like it's different watching Severance."

[luxheroica]

under your tree (3/3)

Part 3/3 - Ekko, ???, and the tree. An epilogue

Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed along the way, thank you for allowing me to express how much I love these two characters.

Part 1

Part 2

Also on AO3

---

How he drags himself back up after the memorial, Ekko will never quite be sure. 

The Firelights need him. Zaun needs him, now more than ever, and after everything he gave his promise. It’s harder than it ever was before, to get back up and keep at it. His fight was always about making the city better for his people– and now there are so few of them left. 

But he’s damned if he’s going to just give up. 

I’ve never seen you give up on anything, Ekko.

He wanders until he’s at the tree. The leaves are green and vital, the arcane spillover that was slowly poisoning the ancient tree gone with Viktor’s final sacrifice. The Firelights still call it their home– only it is no longer a closely guarded secret. Any who wish to come can, and there they can find a meal and a warm drink and a place to mourn their dead and a warm hand to hold. 

“How did you do it?” he’d asked that other-Vander, on one of his few-and-far-between breaks from building the Z-Drive. “How did you unify Zaun? With all the warring factions and everyone out for themselves…” 

And Vander had smiled and said, “Mostly, some cussed good luck. But I’ll tell you what, it started with building a community right here– and then fighting for it.” 

And Ekko is trying to build a community where he is. Some days it’s harder than others. 

There isn't any space left on the wall to depict those they’ve lost along the way, and he doesn't even know all their faces to draw them anyways. 

He easily finds the drawings that Jinx made, with their neon bright colors standing out from all the rest. He traces the paint with his hands. 

After the battle was over he looked for her. He found Vi instead, broken and grieving. Her reaction told him all he needed to know. 

How many times do I have to lose you? 

He still remembers the time they spent together. Too short, and an eternity all at once. It hadn’t been easy– her pain had come spilling out of her in explosive ways, and his caution had time to rear its ugly head– but in those scant days they had found a kind of equilibrium between them. Working on turning her lab into a flying weapon of war, intertwining their ideas together until at last they had something that might turn the tide of Ambessa’s ambition. In the quiet moments, Ekko dying her hair and Jinx altering his clothes (which didn't always remain on), and kissing her until they were both breathless. 

It reminded him sometimes, of that other Powder in the other universe. Building something together, something that would help the world. 

And now she is dead. 

He traces the lines of her drawing with his fingers. Misses her. 

Then he starts to paint. There is no space on the wall and so he covers the lines of Powder's portrait with Jinx. Changing her hair, updating her eyes, turning her at last into an older version of herself. 

At last his hands are covered in blue paint, but there she is– immortalized on the wall. Another one of his ghosts. 

“You really think I'm dead, huh?” 

Ekko whirls around. The figure coming towards him is wrapped in a cloak. She walks with a limp and her face is scarred. There is still a trace of telltale blue peeking out from underneath her hood. 

“Wha–how–?” 

He stares dumbfounded as she takes down her hood. She is unmistakably Jinx. There is a wide burn scar across half her face, but still she grins and she is as wild and as vital as ever.

“Miss me?” 

Ekko rushes forward. Envelops her in a crushing hug. She nearly buckles under his weight. “Easy there tiger–” she starts to say, and then he kisses her. She relaxes into the kiss. 

Ekko pulls back, not quite sure if she's real… but she is. He cradles her face between his hands. “How are you–?” 

“Alive? Blast knocked me clear,” Jinx explains succinctly. “Then I think one of those hexgate things activated and I got tossed halfway to Kumangra. It’s been a wild ride getting back, believe me.” 

Ekko laughs. It bubbles up out of him, unable to be suppressed. He’s just… happy. “You’ll have to tell me all about it.” 

“Someday, maybe.” And her tone isn’t like he’s ever heard it, not for years. It’s far off and quiet. 

Ekko takes her hand in his. Holds it tight. Holds onto her. 

“Have you told Vi?” he asks. “That you’re alive?” 

She shakes her head. And from the set of her mouth– wistful, resigned– he knows that she doesn’t plan to. 

“Jinx is dead, remember?” she gestures up to the portrait he’s just finished painting for her. “It’s better for her– better for everyone– if she stays that way. If she remembers me as the sister who saved her, maybe she can finally let me go. But, I wanted you to know.”

She turns towards him, and her expression is fond and faraway.  

Ekko understands in that moment that she’s not staying. He twines his fingers tighter with hers, like he might hold her here by the strength of his will alone. But holding onto her is light holding onto an explosion– the tighter you try, the more it will hurt. 

He relaxes his grip, and her fingers slip from his. 

“When am I gonna stop losing you?” 

His voice is choked. 

She smiles, leans forward and kisses the bridge of his nose. “Hey,” she says. “If you keep losing me, I guess that means I always come back, right?” 

He smiles slowly. Her fingers find his and they gently twine together. Not clutching or holding tight just touching. For this moment and this moment alone. 

“Like a lucky penny.” 

She laughs. Looks up, and her face is dappled with golden light. “Or a tree, that just keeps coming back.” 

“Where are you gonna go?” 

She cocks her head. Shrugs her shoulders. He thinks, she has finally shed the weight of everything weighing her down. “No clue. Somewhere far away. Someplace that’s never heard of Piltover or Zaun or any of this.” 

“I want to ask to come with you,” Ekko admits. 

Jinx smiles. She understands him, maybe better than anyone else ever has. “But you won’t. Cause you’re the Boy Savior, and this place needs you.” 

Zaun and Piltover are to be one city. A common enemy has forged them into one being. Sevika apparently got herself a place on the council. He hopes it will stick. But he knows that their problems aren’t so easily solved, and old hatreds have a way of rearing their ugly heads, and without some threat breathing down their necks people will remember the old ways of power and privilege. In the meantime, somebody’s got to be here to build something worth hanging onto. 

“You could do a lot of good here,” Ekko offers. 

Jinx’s answering look is wistful and sad. “I think I would have liked that– just building things with you.” 

Ekko nods. It hurts, right in that place to the left of his ribcage, but it’s a different kind of ache from before. This, he thinks, is more manageable. She laces her fingers between his and kisses him slowly and deliberately and he knows it is goodbye. Ekko savors the taste of her, presses back into her, making sure she won’t forget him. 

Then she pulls away. Untangles their fingers. She takes two steps away and hops off the platform, and Ekko remains at the tree watching her go. She wanders off, still dappled by that sunlight, light as the wind. 

Sometimes taking a leap forward means leaving a few things behind. 

What’s one more goodbye?

He isn’t expecting her to turn back, to look over her shoulder at him. 

“Five years,” Jinx calls. Ekko raises his eyebrows at her. “Give me five years– to get my head on straight, to see the world, to figure out who I’m gonna be next. If you’re here in five years– meet me here.” 

“I’ll hold you to that,” Ekko shouts back. “Shine the place up nicely for you!” 

“You’d better!” 

She throws a peace sign over her eye. Grins. 

And then she is gone. 

Ekko waits for a long time. Leans against the wall and watches the patterns of green-and-gold light from the leaves of the tree. Then at last he looks up at her portrait on the wall and sighs. Smiles.

“Well, time to get to it.” 

---

True to her word, she comes back. True to his word, he is waiting. 

[silentmagi]

What about a BNHA Fantasy AU?

Series: Boku no Hero Academia/My Hero Academia AU Criteria: BNHA Fantasy AU AU title (optional): Fantasy!BNHA

I apologize if you were looking for me to take Horikoshi's fantasy AU and run with it. I actually think that going Low Fantasy, where it is after the fall of a high fantasy setting may work better.

300 years before the start of the series, a power hungry demon attacked the lands, and destroyed much of civilization, only contained by two brother mages that worked in unison to trap the demon and seal it away. Both of them were given lands and the people lauded them with accolades and cheers. However, the elder brother grew to desire more and more power, while his brother wanted for the lands and its people to be cared for more. Taking the gem that the demon was bouund in, the mage that would become known as All For One worked to take the demon's power for its own. The brother, bearing the sword that would be known as One For All, confronted his brother with many paladins and knights. As he held the blade ready to deal the final blow, the younger brother chose mercy and instead sealed away a part of his older brother's power in the sword. Years later, the brother was killed by an assassin, but the blade could not be found. As All For One's power grew again, he still searched for the blade, which would almost always turn up in the hands of the next hero of the people to challenge his rule. Magic is rare, and carefully monitored by the forces of AFO.

Izuku Midoriya, the son of a single mother who does alchemy work for their village, is out collecting ingredients when he finds a slime creature. Trying to escape, he is captured and saved by an aged and injured knight, named by the bards as All Might, who had faded into legends years ago. Toshinori Yagi, All Might's real name, banishes the slime demon and falls over. Taken back to his home, Izuku and Inko tend to the man.

Sadly a few days later, the armies of AFO attacks the village and kills everyone but Toshinori, Inko, and Izuku. Izuku was out in the field again, and missed while he was in the forest. Inko was taken with Toshinori, since her alchemical skills were enough to help reverse some of the demonic damage done to his body. Curiously, the blade was missed, and Izuku finds it in the wreckage of hiis home.

Taking what supplies he could scrouge, and his secret cache of potions that he was developing to mimic magical powers from legends and sets out to get his mother back. The sword One For All sheathed at his hip, where he can actually draw the long weapon. He trains with it during the evenings. Curiously, he begins hearing voices that instruct him, and feels a strange power building inside of him.The vestiges of the previous bearers work with the young boy to improve his chances.

I feel that he will visit the other members of Class 1-A along the way, so a quick run down of the characters under the readmore

Shota Aizawa - thieve's guild leader Yuga Aoyama - son of a minor noble that is a memeber of the resistance, sadly an informant. Mina Ashido - Tiefling dancer, who sidelines alchemy. Tsuyu Asui - frogfolk barmaiden that worrkks at heer family's inn. Tenya Iida - paladin in training Ochaco Uraraka - human wild magic witch, hiding from the magic hunters in the woods Mashirao Ojiro - human monk adept in a monestary near the forest. Denki Kaminarii - Lightning Genasi traveling with childhood friend/pseudo sister Kyoka Eijiro Kirishmma - half-dragon with red scales Koji Koda - Firbolg druid who helps Ochaco hide Rikido Sato - Human baker for the town that Tsuyu resides Mezo Shoji - Human(Actually teifling) ninja Kyoka Jiro - Human bard Hanta Sero - Human general goods store clerk and militia member Fumikage Tokoyami - demon possessed Kenku (Dark Shadow - wraith) Shoto Todoroki - Paladin in training, two-sword fighter fire and ice, mainly uses the ice blade as the fire reminds him of his fatheer. Toru Hagakure - Foest Fairie born and raised in the mortal realms as her family was cut off during the fall of the old magics. Katsuki Bakugo - Human barbarian who keeps getting his hands on explosives, that no one can explain. Uses a battle-axe otherwise, found Izuku after discovering the destruction of the village, and wants to save "Auntie" who had always been kind to him and his family. Minoru Mineta - son of the merchant's guild leader, and training to become treasurer. Momo Yaoyorozu - Escaped heir of the Yaoyorozu lineage, works as a smith in the town that Tsuyu's inn is in, has secretly trained in sword smithing. No, those aren't runes in the swords, they're design elements to distinguish it as her own. The glow must be a trick of the light…

[glapplebloom]

Doing my part to help the Kickstarter, even though it smashed its original goal in Five Hours...

Animation VERSUS is a fighting game by the same person behind the Animated Vs Series: Alan Becker. By the time of this writing, they already have six ideas for playable characters and the first Stretch Goal is for Character #7 (and time of upload, they're up to their 12th). But with the promise of new characters in the game you know the one thing many people would love to know: who's gonna be in it. So this list will feature 10 (or more) characters I would like to see in this game. Split into characters seen in the series and Stick Figures from history’s past.

1 - The Chosen One and the Dark Lord

I said more because I am grouping people together because of their relationship with each other. So the Chosen One is the Main Stick Figure of Episode 2 while the Dark Lord was created to fight him. In the end of the episode they decided to work together but the Dark Lord was taking things too far. So epic DBZ Style fighting. These two would definitely be fun characters to see in action.

2 - The Victim and His Crew

Introduced in Episode 9, we see four unique takes on Stick Figures. One that looks like the ones you see on signs. A more pixel art version. One that is traditionally drawn. And a normal looking one but has access to Photoshop. These concepts alone would make seeing them playable sound cool. But of course seeing the Victim playable is also awesome. Imagine he’s the final boss with some super giant robot suit.

3 - The Animator

Thanks to a comment I saw in the trailer, having the Animator represented by a Mouse Icon sounds fun. He could be a Master Hand kind of character. Like having no defensive options to make up for free range movement ability. Seeing what Alan did with them just for the Fight Animations shows there are a lot of fun options available if they went with this direction.

4 - Mitsi 

She was an angel when the Victim needed one. She was an angel when others needed help. When she was taken away, that’s when Victim went to a darker path to hunt the person responsible for this. And sadly that was the Chosen One to his eyes. The fact he was working with the Animator definitely ensured his hatred was set in stone. With her being playable, I would think it would be more like Phoenix Wright or Isabelle where their fighting style is not really fighting but doing their normal everyday thing.

5 - Doki and Nabi

First appearing in Episode 6 as a one image cameo and again in Episode 11 where Mitsi helped Doki save Nabi, essentially being the reason she is currently missing in action, I think that’s more than enough reason to put them in. And SamBakZa himself even created art for that moment, I think he’ll be cool with having them in the game. I can see them being a Banjo/Kazooie kind of character where Dobi does most of the fighting while Nabi blocks for her and is the Special Moves. And when they add Super Moves...

6 - Henry Stickmin and Ellie Rose

Now with the characters from the series already decided, time for Stick Figures of the past. And the first to come to mind is Henry Stickmin. With so many wacky things he can pull from, he would be a fun addition to the roster. Plus, if the stars align we could possibly have a Alan Becker/Death Battle collab where we research and he animates. Or if Innersloth also wants in on this could be the greatest collab on the Internet. Also, Ellie would be cool to see too.

7 - Red and Blue

Not to be confused with Red and Blue already in the game, these two are from Dick Figures: an online web series created by Ed Skudder where Red is the wild and wacky one while Blue is more of a straight man. They too have some amazing fight scenes and with so much wacky stuff that happened to them plenty of stuff that could be pulled for a fun moveset. And if they can bring back the Voice Actors to do the roles one more time it would be awesome.

8 - Fancy Pants Man

Fancy Pants Man is a Stick Figure from a series of Flash Platformer Games called Fancy Pants created by Brad Borne. It was some of the smoothest platforming at the time. He has multiple games and spin-offs and he was in Newgrounds Rumble, which was a Platform Fighter so there is plenty of stuff to pull from to give him a full movelist. And honestly, having everyone in this song would just be cool to have.

9 - White (?)

As far as I can tell, this Stickman does not have a name. So I’m calling him White since he is white. But regardless, this is from a game known as the Stickman Project. Specifically Stickman Project: Rebirth by Neron’s Brother. Between that game and the trailer for the Animated Series, there looks to be a lot of fun stuff you can bring to this that would be unique among the other Stickmen. Plus, you could throw in stuff from his other Game: Supreme Duelist Stickman to add to the fun.

10 - The Stick Slayer

When the internet was young, so too was animation by the people. At the time, no animation style was as smooth as Stick figures. People loved it, but being the internet even at those times people were complaining about it. One person named Ben Spurgin made a character to reflect on those people: the Stick Slayer. A character so bent on slaying Stick Figures, he would be a great addition to this game just to see him be the villain despite claiming to be the hero.

And these are my picks. How about you?

[chemicallywrit]

Happy Audio Drama Sunday! What a week! Let's talk about audio drama!

⏰ Nine To Midnight has its own feed now, which I appreciate, as a listener to many of the involved pods, because I didn't get like six iterations of the show in my feed. I did have to go seek it out though, but I'm so glad I did. These stories!!! These STORIES. The second episode in particular stuck out, just banger after banger. Also, what's up David Ault! Always fun to watch David Ault flex.

😈 Dungeons and Daddies this week was on the short side, but woof. I. Love. The Stamplers. I love them. I love you Ron Stampler and Terry Jr. Stampler and Scary Terri Marlowe Stampler. They are ridiculous and excellent. Honestly though, their wonderful energy was just the prelude to the truly heartbreaking Close clan. These boys are so deep in denial they ought to be worried about the bends. Yikes. I'm really looking forward to watching them try to save hell and make up for lost time.

⚡️ Electromancy! Of COURSE it's all happening at the dance. What kind of school story would this be if everything wasn't going to go down at the dance? Like with all fantasy about young people, I love the mixture of extremely high stakes (colonialism and revolution) and extremely low stakes (but what am I going to WEAR). I can't wait for part two. @electromancypodcast

👟 Keep It Steady!!! New episode of Keep It Steady! Our teenage burnout is faced with the mortifying ordeal of having real friends who love him, which is a wild thing for a teen to have to accept when he has zero self esteem. And then on top of everything, he gets concussed! My boy! @keepitsteadypod

⚖️ The Adventure Zone Imbalance has appeared on the feed, which is a relief to me, a person who hates listening to things on youtube. And Davenport is there! My main man! If y'all need to know anything about me, it's that I love Davenport. I missed these guys so much.

🚀 Travelling Light is a new show from @monstrousproductions, and I am THRILLED. I love a travelogue, I love a character with ties to religion, I love a warm scifi show, I love a recipe. I know from their tumblr that the writer and narrator of this show is Quaker, which is a tradition I'm not very familiar with, so I'm interested to see how that perspective influences this story. It's just so NICE.

👻 I started listening to Magenta Presents this week, in an effort to listen to everything Lindsay Sharman has ever done, and this is spooky. Beth Eyre is always a treat to listen to, and Lucy Roslyn, whose work I am not familiar with, is also a fantastic actor. They have great chemistry. I love a true ghost story, and I love a protagonist who feels like she's slowly losing her mind. @longcatmedia

🪓 I've finally arrived at the bit of Woe.Begone where other actors are showing up, and surprise! It's David Ault again! He's everywhere! I haven't interacted with fans of this show, so I had no idea, and apparently fans hate his character. To be fair, I did too, but now David's here doing the voice, and it's so much WORSE. Well done, David.

🍕 I finished s1 of Gastronaut and started s2, and I find myself enamored with this guy, coming from a place of relative privilege, tearing his preconceptions apart with a fork and a knife. The writing is lush, the story is fascinating, and it really hits the spot for me of "moody thoughtful nonfiction." I love it so much. I can't believe there are only two seasons. How dare they. (I trust them though.)

🧛🏻‍♀️ Re: Dracula is done, and we have announced Carmilla! My role in Carmilla will be less than it was for Drac, but I'm still very excited to get in on making this story. It's going to be amazing.

🧟‍♂️ The Dead's second episode has appeared, and I am continually impressed with the people I work with. What a death scene from Marquis Moore! What good acting from Brandon Nguyen! They are a joy to direct.

As for me, I'm about to start getting Inn Between ready to post! Are you hype? I'm hype. If you like what I do and want to give me a hand, please check out my ko-fi!

See you next week!

[alchemicaladarna]

Demon Royalty AU part 3

I haven't really thought that much about other characters' roles in this story, so for now the only eggs that I've fully fleshed out the story for are Em, Dapper, Pomme, and Richas :D

Empanada: Vampire

Co-adopted by Bagi and Niki and taken care of by her clan when she was a very small child (4-5)

A group of rogue and wild vampires that fed on humans, demons, etc. massacred a human village and fed on all its inhabitants

Bagi and Cellbit arrived at the village almost too late as there was only one survivor that hasn't been devoured or turned into a rogue: Empanada

The little girl's parents were dead and she was on the brink of death too

The only way to save Em was to turn her into a vampire and she had to drink Bagi's blood to complete the transformation and save her.

Niki would also often care for Em, as Bagi's right-hand

Keep the wild/rogue vampires in mind because they'll most likely be important later

Richas: Vampire

Wild vampire child that was found running in the forest by himself when he was only 4

Had to fend for himself by feeding on animals until Cellbit, Pac, Mike, and Felps found him while hunting for food

No one knows who his parents are/were- it seemed as if they just left him to survive on his own

Was missing a leg since birth and was likely left behind

Cellbit's clan adopted Richas of course- it took a while for Richas to trust or be able to communicate properly with them at first

Was found 2 years before Em

Children typically aren't vampires because they would need to have vampiric venom in their blood and they'd have to feed on blood too. If they do become vampires as children, they still grow up normally, but stop aging in their 30s.

Dapper: Demon

Son of Bad, Prince of Death

Rumored that Dapper's other father was the Prince of Diamonds from the Overworld, a gem golem- no one dares to ask Bad though, he never gives a clear answer or dismisses the question entirely

How? Use your imagination d:

Dapper loves exploring the Nether and is very fascinated by magic, alchemy, science

Encouraged by her father to pursue her studies of the Nether Kingdom

Also studying as a reaper apprentice

Rare occassion Dapper can go to Overworld when Bad must collect souls as the grim reaper and train him for the job

Gives Bad a heart attack when Dapper would wander off when they're in the Overworld

2 years older than Pomme

Demon children can be born in different ways because there are many types of demons, but regular low-class demons are mortal and age normally living up to 300 years max. Royal blood demons grow up normally but the older they get, the slower their aging process becomes because they have longer lifespans than regular demons. Dapper has a much longer lifespan because he's the son of a demon and what is basically a diamond.

Brief intermission to talk about the French kingdom/land/it's a working title XD:

Leaders aren't monarchs, but have titles called "Royal Governors" that represent the people in a council

They have sub-regions that each leader represents- but the people are also included in discussions relating to the kingdom- their respective leaders just represent them during the meetings

The Council leaders: Étoiles, Aypierre, Antoine, Baghera

All have close ties to Bad and the Nether Kingdoms

Pomme: ???

This girl's origins are a complete mystery because like. No one really knows where she came from?

She was found in an ancient city in the Deep Dark. A baby, barely one, just sitting in ancient ruins, surrounded by cornflowers

Pomme was found by Étoiles and Aypierre during an expedition into the ancient cities

The crazy part is she wasn't crying until the two found her, so they had to bring her to the surface very quickly

Brought her to the kingdom, back to Antoine and Baghera- they all loved her instantly

Soon, they noticed her powers get very out of control, and it's difficult for the Overworld leaders to manage alone- especially since she covered the kingdom in darkness and almost single handedly brought a plague upon them at one point

They know nothing about her powers so they visited an old friend who might have some answers: Bad. He has a lot of knowledge about the Deep Dark, but he's never encountered a baby just- mysteriously surrounded by cornflowers in an ancient ruin

The Four asked Bad to watch over her as well because Pomme was truly an anomaly and they needed his help

He hesitated for a bit because he already has Dapper, but eventually agreed to adopt her too

They agreed to have Pomme stay in the Nether with Bad until she was 17 and she can fully control her powers, and Antoine, Baghera, Pierre, and Étoiles would visit her regularly too

I thought about writing Chunsik as another demon child, but I remembered his parents, right now, are only Acau and Jungryeok. He hasn't met YD yet, and also something else to keep in mind is YD being a demon is still just a headcanon.

[lazodiac]

It's time again to look at Thunder Junction's cards and try and divine where each and every one of these bad boys are from.

Also just a note in case people are curious; since Tumblr has a 30 image limit per post, I'll be doing all of The Big Score at the end, after all the colours and stuff. It's my prerogative and I'll do as I please. If you missed the first part, you can find it here! So without further ado, it is time for...

BLUE

While I don't think EVERY mount is from Thunder Junction Proper... newts ARE a creature that shows up in the west. I was initially thinking this could be for Eldraine, especially given it belongs to an archmage, but... ultimately, I think this is a native to the plane.

Another native, and dare I say this is a CHARISMATIC crab. I love the crystals on its back! I also love the blue cacti nearby it? Those are real by the way!

There aren't many turtle-men in Magic. Three, in fact, before this one; the Lagoon Sage, a Quandrix student, and a Kappa from Kamigawa. The Kappa has a VERY distinct look, the Quandrix is a sea turtle, and the Lagoon Sage is a snapper just like the Thunder-Thief over here... and I'm gonna make a called shot and say this is from Bloomburrow as a result!

Homarid are a Dominaria specialty, so this racist bastard is absolutely from there.

Djinn of this type are only found on Tarkir, so this one is easy. He's taken a break from his dragon-infested plane to relax under a waterfall martial artist style, and that's just kinda fun.

This is a tricky one, since the ability is pretty plane agnostic, and the design doesn't evoke much in it... but her collar DOES have the typical three-fang Dimir tell, and it'd fit both colour and what she's doing, so lets go with Ravnica.

Sadly a cursory Wiki glance tells me only that this guy is from America.

... okay okay, taking this seriously; the wings and the scroll and the steps, the name, all the flavour suggests this is from Amonkhet for me. It could be from elsewhere, but this feels the most "correct" for lack of a better term. I wish cards like this would get flavor text reprints down the line though...

These are some home-grown ghosts, and we know from various other stories (Gideon, Elspeth, etc) that when you die you go to the afterlife of the plane you're on... so these are some newly "born" natives.

These unfortunate individuals are from the dead plane of Oregon.

... what? I already used that joke? Okay fine. There really isn't any actual signifiers here, and the only humanoid in the art is too indistinct to tell. Given the content of the card is trying and failing to ford one of Thunder Junction's mighty rivers, I'm calling this card "native to the plane" for lack of anything else appropriate.

Oh hey it's everyone's favorite running gag from Ravnica. Fblthp is an easy one, so instead of elaborating more on our mono-eyed friend instead I'll bring up a question I want any of you reading this to answer.

Didn't they say during the initial preview teasers that there was an important plot event happening in the background of this card? That never bore fruit and I can't remember the exact preview stream I heard it, but I swear I did. I want someone to confirm this for me. I'm abusing my power.

Regrettably, the flavor text makes this spell be sourced from Oko's Home Plane. I do love this weird tumbleweed creature though!

God I hate Oko he's such a scum bag (derogatory).

A personal favorite character of mine, Geralf is an Innistradi born and raised, here to investigate the Thunder of the plane- as well as test how mana bonds work for planebound folk now that they have access to planar travel. Good luck, sir.

An obvious native of the plane. I quite like the flavor of this card as well by the way, it's just a clever way to incorporate the geysers you would occasionally see in the old west.

Another Thunder Junction native! It's wild how many of these there actually are, but wild animals do make up a bulk of cards in Magic so it's not THAT unreasonable.

Fun lore tidbit; allegedly the Thunder only started after the Omenpaths opened up. No one has lived here before that so no one can confirm that is true, and this flavor text suggests otherwise.

One of the only cards showcasing the least important members of Oko's gang of ruffians! Kaervek and Satoru busting out of jail thanks to the help of Annie Flash. The framing of the card makes it feel more like Kaervek's doing the real world (valid, Satoru is a loser this entire story) so I'm gonna call it for Zhalfir here- and yes even though technically everyone from Zhalfir is from Dominaria, it's a plane all its own now. I make the rules here!

The Fomorian made star-key to open up their vault on Thunder Junction, I feel like it is safe to say this was made here. It's got little arcs of Thunder and even looks like a deputy star, so it fits the vibe.

Fun fact; being a six pointed star, plus the fact that in the story they mentioned the sixth slot started glowing purple, I briefly had the idea that they might be implying the Fomorian's know of Purple magic and we'll get it in the big Space set we're getting down the line. Then I remembered Cosmium is purple and a major energy source for the Fomorion people, so nevermind.

I can't confidently say this is from Bloomburrow, given we don't know how big the people of that plane can get- so far they've maxed out at Badger and Fox- but I really don't know where this guy could be from otherwise! Maybe Ravnica? So lets call this Bloomburrow until corrected otherwise.

Incidentally this is one of my favorite pieces of art in the set. Love this fucking guy.

Beyond all the art signifiers, I believe it was straight up said on twitter this is a Therosian Sphinx, so she's from Theros. Good for her. Why is she wearing spurs...?

I'm fairly confident this is meant to depict Stella Lee, and she's from the Atiin people, so that's where this is from! Rundo meanwhile sounds like a Ravnica, but that's just some trivia.

This one I'm not fully sure on. The little bird like flecks of white in his magic, the watery energy... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before, but I can't quite place it. The red and blue suggests Izzet but then he's a Slickshot, the red-blue faction on Thunder Junction. I'm gonna go with my gut and say Ravnica, though.

Shit like this is why I wish we'd gotten a planeswalker guide...

Blue, so far, has some of the most easy and obvious ones to place, and for this I'm thankfully. This guy is a Stitcher, so he's from Innistrad. Easy as.

She's got some of the Sterling Company aesthetic going on, but I'm a stickler for stupid jokes so I'm gonna say she's from Zendikar. The armor could evoke Sea Gate, and they've always been good with ropes so why NOT translate that to combat?

Like with the earlier ghosts, dead-then-revived means you're native to Thunder Junction... but also this guy is clearly an Obscura from New Capenna, using some of his old magic, so I'mma call it for the big city here.

Oko's big bad gang preparing for the heist of the life-time. Since it's Oko's big idea it's from Oko's stupid plan.

The sort of misty blasts of fire and ice we're seeing here is aesthetically similar to the "gunfire" magic of New Capenna. I love this guy by the way.

Hey wait a second Ashiok can't do stuff like this. They can only read nightmares, not minds!

YEah for those of you who don't know, the Ashiok in this set is actually Jace in disguise! So this is from home-grown celtic Vryn mind-shredding. Our hero(?) ladies and gentlehommes.

An actual Sterling Company goon, though at least this one has a funny joke to his card. I still really like the work they did in making sure every weapon used in the set has the needed arcing loop for Thunder to channel through it.

Oh right the reason why we're here. I'm gonna say New Capenna again, because there's basically no defining traits here. Also god I just realized he's missing the front brim of his hat and it looks terrible. Graywater pay your men properly they can't even afford complete hats!

It took me a bit to realize what was happening in this card. The lady in the back is only choosing the final Spree option here, swapping around the Outcaster and the Hellspur's clothing. Rude!

Clothing swap spells seems like a funny prank to pull at magical college, so Arcavios is where this is going.

I think in cases where I just cannot make any reasonable assumptions based on art, I should look at mechanics. Flashback is usually in Innistrad... but this lady's neckline is WAY too exposed for that Even accounting for the new plane... honestly I give up, the only real identifying factor here is her little lockpick device, which... kinda looks Kamigawan? Lets go with that.

The vibe, the way she wears her hat, and the little phone cord(?) on her belt makes me think of New Capenna. Look some of these are really difficult and I gotta go by vibes!

And that's the 30 card limit, give me a half second for part two!

[shit-solkat]

Names for every sprite (canon and not) - Homestuck, pt2

PART 2 OF THIS POST.

Notes:

Note1: I love using common words as names, but there will be other options as well :)

Note2: I find translations and meanings on google; of course I don't know all the languages of the world. So if I fuck-up some names, pardon :( (I can't fuck-up italian names cuz I'm italian tho lolz).

Note3: I will add names to sprites that already had one or more in the other post.

Note4: Many characters miss, and I WANT to make a THIRD part!!! So don't worry too much about it (but you can totally contribute if you want :) ).

Note5: No ship tagged cuz it's not a ship list lolz, but you can consider it like that if you want :3

PLUS, special thanks to @not-someone-who-matters for helping me with some names! I'll put a ❣ next to every name she found <3

CANON SPRITES:

Tavrisprite = Ferox

>❣ Ferox: In Latin it can mean both wild (like the wild animals Tavros likes so much) but also fierce and spirited (like Vriska).

NON-CANON, RANDOM ORDER:

Betakidsprite (John, Jade, Rose, Dave) = Eather

>Eather: One of the classical elements that compose reality, along with Earth (Jade, her passion for gardening), Air (John, his Aspect), Fire (Dave, his land) and Water (Rose, her land).

Davejadesprite = Eonee, Relat, Besselle, Altair

>❣ Eonee: Eon, an undescribable amount of time. With an ee sound at the end, to make it sound like Uni, for universe. >❣ Relat: Short for relativity, as in the theory of relativity, which details the differences between how the speed at which objects move through space affects the way they experience time. >❣ Besselle: From Bessel, the scientist who came up with the term light-year. >Altair: From Greek, it can be translated as the flying one or bird, but it's also the name of the Aquila constellation [perfect name for Davejadesprite^2].

^I already made one name for them in the other post (Saros), but I wasn't satisfied and didn't know what else search/put. So SPECIAL-SPECIAL thanks for this one!

Erifefsprite =

>❣ Poctopi: Hippocampus (the scientific name for seahorses) and Octopi (plural for octopus). Can be shortened to Pocti or Topi*. >❣ Kuanat: From aqua nata, meaning water-born. [I am not sure about this one :)]

*little note I told her too: "Topi" in italian means "Rats" :3 IDK, just to say, it's cute.

Jadejohnsprite = Cielo

>Cielo: It's an italian word (rarely a masculine name), that literally means "Sky" — reason: Sky=John, The clouds or stars (that are in the sky!)=Jade.

Janejohnsprite = Azzurro/a, Brio

>Azzurro/a: Azzurro in Italian literally means Light Blue, it can be used as a name. Azzurro=masculine, Azzurra=femminine.

>Brio: Liveliness or vigour; spirit. [At least in italian:] Brio is something that tingles you, like a breeze up your back.

^Yes, I knew ONE Azzurra in my life :)

Ericrosprite = Cupid, Regulus

>Cupid: I won't explain. >Regulus: A noun that means petty king/ruler, comes from the Latin word for prince.

Aradavesprite = Phoenix

>Phoenix: Crature from Greek Mythology; a bird that is symbol of the birth-death-rebirth cycle. It can also be translated as meaning "Dark Red".

Jadenepsprite = Rasalas, Kuppy

>Rasalas: It's acutally a boy Arabic name, that means the northern (star) of the lion's head. >Kuppy: Funny name I've found that mixes Kitten with Puppy.

Roxyrosesprite = Rosolio, Mami

>Rosolio: Italian liquor that was once reserved to rich people. It's made from roses, and its color is pinkish. >Mami: Mom in Albanian.

Roxysolsprite = Honeysuckle

>Honeysuckle: A flower that is also used to make Honeysuckle Vodka, a cocktail.

[the-queerview]

The Substance

2024

by Coralie Fargeat

My dear readers, it's been a while since I decided to post. It was a long summer, ending with me visiting North Korea, just kidding, i just saw North Korea, which is already pretty amazing and frightening. Unfortunately my experience was disrupted, since a few week before my arrival some American tourist ran into North Korea and got shot, rest in peace idiot. They say never judge a deceased and in retrospective, i can't since those tours are literally disneyland trader joes tourist traps kind of, but lets not roast on peoples buisnisess here, lets roast the films, that take us on rides in our grey existence.

I would like to start by saying, that it's a pretty good year for babes and a pretty good year for horror film. We had Brat summer and soon there will be Nosferatu Autumn, with Lily Rose Depp starring in Nosferatu (102 years after its first release). We have Hunter Schaefers first cinema film, where she is not there for like 5 minutes like in Hunger games or entirely Naked for a few minutes like in Lanthimos kinds of kindness. Not to hate on nudity here, but we have a quite problematic history with women* and nudity. I highly recommend here Linda Nochlins representing women, on womens representation within western art history paintings, which is till todays core a major influence on cinematography. Which brings me to start today with a Portrait by Gericault, titled : Monomaniac of Envy (Monomane de l’envie) from 1822.

The Substance is a film following Elisabeth Sparkle ( Demi Moore), a former Oscar winner now aging TV -Starr with an aerobic ( I assume) show. (We might be remembered here of Jane Fonda, who indeed was an actress and the figure for aerobic in the 80s, when american propaganda preached they can't control the world in post vietnam war america and they only thing they can control is the BODY.) Elisabeths nasty boss is firing here for being to old, sad and isolated as she is, we don't learn so much, about her inner world. They cinematograpghy is resembling a distant, almost, stretched, lets say overdrawn perspective, probably similar to the characters inner world. Everything is clean, but not personal. Theres a giant photograph of Elisabeth in her almost comic looking loft. It reminds me somehow of older sowiet films, where a picture of Lenin would hang on the walls or some shit, so I thought, damn, the main dictator in Elisabeths Life is probably herself. And turns out right. Long story short, I try not to spoiler the grande scenes here, but one word, the billboard scene.. Elisabeth gets in contact to an anonymous note by an anonymous person, after some tragedy, and orders the SUBSTANCE. She will pick it up, inject it, and after some alien shit, which you see in the first picture, a second version of herself, that is herself will crawl literally out of her back. This version is young, hot, and will fuck Elisabeth up. Her name is Sue ( Margaret Qualley) and the rule is, that Sue got 7 days, and Elisabeth got 7. If one breaks the rule, they basically both fucked.

So the movie itself, is literally like, when popstars get the chance, like i dont know, rihanna doing superbowl singing all her bangers. kind of this vibe, So for horror film nerds, and i m sure i didnt guessed all but we have of course, david lynchs twin peaks and pretty sure wild at heart. we have suspiria by dario argento, especially the soundtrakc and BLOOD, we have some cronenberg body horror, and crazy camera like in gaspard noes enter the void, but all in all, i guess, what i was missing in the film, is that the first half was literally fucking amazing. it had it's own signature, it didn't need the references from my part, like yeah those dude directors did important work, i wish Fargeat would trust herself maybe more, that what shes doing is the right thing to go for. Also I literally loved ALL THE DETAILS. Like i could start analyzing so many bits of it.

I loved, that it was dealing with Envy, fear or aging, MISOGYNY, and comparison in such a smart way. The first half of the film, felt like an entire advertisment, which is the core to all evil, as we know. We literally spent actually years of our lifes watching advertisments.

The second half of it, reminded me to much of 80s body horror, it had its campy moment. And here I m being unfair probably. I did my research and Coralie Fargeat is born 1976. She was a a child in the 80s, and this was a time, that formed her culturally and therefor aesthetaically to a certain degree... or did you never noticed that fashion designers usually end up designing clothes, that they loved to wear as kids/teens? I feel like, if Coralie Fargeat felt like working in this 80s rubber stuff was important for, fuck , let her do it. Also in the 80s there weren't many female filmmakers around, especially not in the dudy dude horror scene. So whatever.

Also I was tbh in shock about the violence. Like many times, my partner had to close my eyes in the cinema, cuz i was hella scared of the intense violence. Maybe Kira Muratova ( an amazing ukranian filmmaker, that I truly adore for insane films) was right, when she said, women make harder films. I wonder if it has something to do with being in pain every month, of the injustice of the binary patriarchal world, or the violence transwomen experience?

There was for sure a very insanity level of violence, but at the same time, the most stunning portrayal of envy against a version of yourself, that you might never see. I loved that it also reflected so much the world in a sense, the decadence of the west, hollywood, glamour, age, ozempic, comparison, starving for youth vs the isolation of those from the current wars in the middle east, the starvation in Sudan. The proatogists were isolated in every scene almost. The Bathroom was the scenery of the crime, similar to the way we use this room to get ready for the outer world. The only real personal details in the film I experienced in the notes, those handwritten notes, that would always appear. I kept thinking about them for days. They became almost a metaphor for me, that different then then all the advertisments, the substance delivery typography, all those for Elisabeth Sparcle seemingly important objects, where not personal, thou its about her,about her body. while those handwritten notes by the strangers, seemed more personal, then the things that surround her, since trough the handwriting they are proof of a human life. Turns out, they were a signifer of what is missing in her world, the way she experience having the body, its no intimate, not adressed.

Also Demi and Margaret were so fucking amazing, i 'm literally blown away. Like i WISH i could like scream and hug them and be like. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT. I bet all their friends and family are proud like crazy. This shit was insane, playing that? Insane. They did so good, like not many ppl can read a script like that and be like...mhhh yup. So GRANDEUR APPLAUSE !!!!!!!

All in all I highly recommend checking out the Substance, I m sorry if I spoilered to much. Big trigger warning for violence, also some scenes are literally gross, depending on you, bring a friend or a lover, and watch it in the cinema, if your socio cultural situation allows you to, i can imagine this film being censored, otherwise just be illegal literally. Like we live in hell.

but dont watch it alone, only if you are freaky deaky i guess.

love to my readers.

the queerview

ps: Also I did watch blink twice by Zoë Kravitz. a queerview will follow, but its so hardcore to watch blink twice and p.diddies freak party assault stuff. mentally i cant go down that road, but Kravitz did literally on time...

[ecargmura]

Lazarus Episode 1 Review - Something's Missing...

There has been a lot of hype with this show, but the first episode isn’t what I was expecting. It’s not bad, but I was expecting a bit more, given that it’s created by the renowned Shinichiro Watanabe and it’s animated by MAPPA. I guess what the first episode lacks will be handled in future episodes…

The story’s compelling. A doomsday plot where people have to find the cure in just 30 days or the world will fall into the drug the scientist created? That’s intriguing! However, the episode mainly focuses on exposition in the beginning and then it gets sideline for a wild goose chase regarding Axel Gilberto, the protagonist who breaks out of prison one day after meeting a woman named Hirsch who wants him to find the scientist Dr. Skinner.

What I was looking for is mainly Axel’s reasons for being in prison with a life sentence for 888 years. Is he a criminal? Was he falsely charged? I wanted some sort of background on him other than him being good at prison breaks and a lover of parkour. I guess it’ll be answered in later episodes?

Because this is the first episode, I’m not too sold on the characters not named Axel. Axel already gives out a lot of flair in his debut where he’s sneaky, carefree and also extremely good at escaping like it’s his second nature. The ones of importance are of a secret organization called Lazarus, hence the title. Though, if they were going to be allies, why not explain it to him earlier? I thought they were antagonists… I do feel that if a story introduces too many characters at once, it usually turns out a hit or a miss, but let’s see where this goes. They all have interesting designs and I can’t wait to learn how they formed Lazarus and why they’re here…

The animation is very good. The way Axel moves around and the camera angles are splendid. I mean, it’s to be expected since this is animated by MAPPA and Sola Entertainment, but I do feel like they’re bringing out their A-game here. It’s been a while since I’ve seen such animation and camera work from MAPPA. Are they working this hard because they’re collaborating with Watanabe? Also, if the art style reminds you of Banana Fish, it’s because the character designer is Akemi Hayashi, who did the character designs for Banana Fish and Yuri on Ice.

I watched the episode in English dub and all I can say is…it’s the first episode. I do hope the vocal delivery gets better because the dialogue choices is a little corny. They all have good voices, but it’s just the direction that’s the issue. For a story that has quality animation, the deliver needs to be as bombastic. Why is everyone talking so slow when the story and the pacing is fast? Though, I do commend Jack Stanbury for being the best of the bunch because Axel gives off a dynamic character and the way he delivers his lines is pretty good! I especially liked the part where he’s talking with the police officer just outside of the boutique. I also like Luci Christan as Chris—she was the second best performance with her flirty personality and big sister aura.

The Japanese cast is also good. I do like that they casted those who were in MAPPA works in the past. Axel is voiced by Mamoru Miyano, who has been in several MAPPA works such as Oblivion Battery and Zombie Land Saga. Douglas is voiced by Makoto Furukawa who has been in Banana Fish as well as Yuma Uchida who voices Leland. Chris is voiced by Maaya Uchida, Yuma’s sister, and she has been in Chainsaw Man. I’m not sure if Elaina’s voice actress Manaka Iwami has been in a MAPPA work—please let me know. Megumi Hayashibara and Koichi Yamadera, who voices Hersch and Dr. Skinner, are in Ranma 1/2. It’s like gathering the MAPPA avengers for Lazarus…

This has potential, though, Truthfully, I’m not a huge fan of Terror in Resonance, but I hope this one is something I’d like. I just hope it’s not just some flashy slop with all the fanfare it brought before its debut. Let me know your thoughts if you’re watching this!

[freezerbnuuy]

Act 2:3 - Found Family (Page 5)

LORE | CHARACTERS | ABOUT / CHAPTERS / WARNINGS

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[author's note: conversations done telepathically in this story are written in italics.]

Katlego

Iris seems more than a little offended by that comment. "You do realise that success isn't always Simoleons, yes? It isn't living in a nice house in a town that doesn't appreciate you either, Kat."

"I didn't mean to upset you, Iris."

"No, no, don't apologise," she says, still clearly upset. "I just wish people would realise that there's more to life than just throwing it all away to some factory, just to make enough money to live in a measly dump. I have lived this way for many years, and I have not regretted a single one. We pay no-one to live here, we have each other to look out for us, and we are not governable in any way. We're the worst enemies of the people in the towns and cities. We have everything they want and for a fraction of the price- power, and happiness."

Part of me never thought of it in such a way. Perhaps that's just another reason the people of Henford hate witches so much...envy, though it's still no excuse. When I wish I had what someone else had, my first thought wouldn't be to take their life. 

"Kat, you already are successful in your own way. Of course, you may no longer have your business as a cunningwoman, or as an arcane merchant...but now you can leave business behind and live your life the way nature intended you to as a witch. Besides, the people in the towns, they're sucked into the world of the nobles. They believe if they think like them, they too will have gold-lined pockets. And you know what the nobles think of people like you and Ellie, yes?"

This really is as close to home as I will get. Back home, I lived rurally. I loved the quiet, the animals, the friendly locals. It never seemed like enough back then; part of me yearned for the big cities, the world outside of the one I grew up in- and yet now, to become as close to home as possible is the only thing I could ever want. 

Iris leans back, and a smug smile crosses her lips. She told me once that she saw it as her duty to bring out the wild feminine in every woman she met, the woman inside the shell the men and the urban life had created. Jemima and Clara were both former seamstresses, one fleeing a controlling husband and the other fleeing plain old fashioned boredom.

"I'm intrigued, Kat- I've never seen you on the inside. Your animal form. I'd like to."

I hadn't been in animal form for so long. I missed it. For a moment, I had to remember what it was like to be the animal. I tried to put myself in its mind, padding along without a sliver of fear in my heart. The queen of the forest, hidden in the shadows, feared but never seen, not until you glimpsed the piercing yellow- 

"My goodness, how majestic! I've always dreamed I'd see one and...They always looked so beautiful in artwork, and now..."

I could not be more thankful for my animal form- the same as my mother's. The beautiful tiger. What more could any witch want?

I missed how powerful I felt in this form, like nothing and no-one could do harm to me. If men didn't tremble at the thought of being turned green or made to feel a little delirious, they'd tremble at sharp claws and unforgiving teeth. I sometimes revel in the thought of strolling four-legged past a row of witchfinders, watching them cry for mercy and soil themselves at my roar. Still, even I know my limits. Shapeshifting was incredibly draining, and I didn't want to make myself unwell at overuse. Iris shows me her animal form- a brown and white deer, and nowhere near as skittish as your typical wild doe. We communicate to each other with our mind.

I...feel a bit silly now, actually.

Don't feel that way. Deer are smart- they're vigilant, and they're good at running. You're a witch- you need that more than anyone else!

You...don't think I look tasty or anything, do you?

Oh, of course not...Though perhaps if you were tossed in some herbs and spices I'd change my mind...

What? Don't say that! Especially not whilst licking your teeth like that!

I'm only joking, Iris. I should thank you. Had you all not have saved my life, I would not be here now. I'd probably still be running around Henford trying to escape Annorin's lapdogs or something. From the bottom of my heart, Iris- thank you. 

[2nd author's note: Katlego's planned animal form was a lioness, which made far more sense - but I could not find any deco lionesses back when I started this story and didn't think to look for a rigged model and didn't know how to make decos. I could only find 2 model tigers, hence the tiger.]