#anyway gonna try doing like these lil arcs when I can

[nocofamilyau]

so much for his day off, eh? (1/8)

[dangermousie]

Honestly I think you're one of my favourite kdrama bloggers on here and I'm curious: what are the kdramas you consider to be perfect? Like top to bottom not a single flaw seen. What's the best of dramaland for you?

Awww thank you! I love this type of ask too!

Any list of mine is gonna be of course vvv subjective (I am not a romcom lover for example) and I can guarantee you that the moment I hit post, I am gonna lose my mind because I will remember I forgot something.

Also, no flaw by definition excludes some of my faves where there are a few minor flaws but the rest is so amazing it doesn't matter (The Legend First King's Four Gods comes to mind - the first ep ie prologue set 1k years before the main story - is a lil cheesy. But the rest is so good I don't even care and same for My Dearest where I'd perhaps remove the final amnesia bit but it's a perfect drama otherwise with the rest so good I don't even care. So perhaps they should be listed.)

But anyway here are are some dramas where I have not seen a single flaw, perfect dramas.

Mawang (also known as The Devil or Lucifer) - probably the best kdrama dealing with revenge ever made - the damage, the driving need, the destruction of self and yet destruction of self without it. To really explain anything about it would be spoilery so all I am going to say is it revolves around an icy lawyer with a secret, a hot headed cop chasing a string of murders, and a librarian who can read past events by touching objects or people. The way I cried. The way I stared in shock as it ended. The sheer perfection of it all - the acting, the relationships, the writing. I get emotional just thinking of it.

IRIS - yup, an action drama. I am not much of a fan of various sequels/spin-offs (involving different characters, you do not need to watch anything else if you watched IRIS or to watch IRIS to watch the others) but the original is amazing. Sure, it's an actioner. It's also an amazing character study of a person taken apart and trying to put himself together, of past tangling, of people passing or failing tests set by life. It's just - AAAAAAAAA also yet another drama I bawled for hours over.

Train - Yoon Si Yoon is a cop slipping between alternate universes in search of a killer seems like a procedural with a side of scifi but it's more of a meditation on love and loss and what drives us to keep living (or not.)

Someday - hands down the most obscure kdrama on this list, this is a tale of four people whose lives intersect - a mangaka seeking inspiration, a sort of private detective hiding unimaginable trauma under his sunny demeanor, a manipulative yet childlike psychologist and a business minded friend of the last one, the sanest of them all. When people discuss healing dramas, this is the one that comes to mind. My favorite is the detective's arc because it's one of those trauma sunshine things where he's coping, coping, coping and then...stops.

Empress Ki and 6 Flying Dragons - if you watch only two long sageuks, make it these ones. They are smart (esp 6FD), and they are such amazing complex character studies of people being hollowed out by power. The OTPs are amazing and what I love but the character study is even better. And both are epic in all senses of the world.

Speaking of sageuks, Slave Hunters (also known as Chuno) about a former nobleman who's a slave hunter now, an escape slave who used to be a general, and a slave woman masquerading as an aristocrat is my favorite sageuk of all time - a love story, a character story, and a story of the dispossessed, this is smart and grim and hopeful and just - if there was ever a perfect sageuk, this is it.

The Princess' Man and Flower of Evil - ie Moon Chae Won loves a feral mess and goes MINE! TPM is a smart emotional sageuk, one of the best out there and FoE is a study of love and trauma.

Something Happened in Bali, Padam Padam, A Love to Kill, Spring Waltz, Thank You, Snow Queen, That Winter the Wind Blows - old school melodramas (perhaps not TY so much, it's more complicated in genre) that push people to the limits to expose their deepest selves.

My Country the New Age, Hong Gil Dong, Rebel the Thief Who Stole the People, The Crowned Clown, Return of Iljimae - they focus on class in period setting (just as Chuno did) and make me care and think.

Worlds Within - seemingly about lives of studio workers, this is a rare drama where you feel you are peeking at real people.

Gloria and Family Honor - 50 ep drama where I'd remove nothing and that feels so intimate.

W Two Worlds, Extraordinary You, The Moon in the Day, Live Up to Your Name, Queen In Hyun's Man - high concepts that improbably work and make you think and feel.

Secret Garden, City Hunter, Healer, Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Faith, Tale of the Nine Tailed, I Hear Your Voice - just a wonderful good time.

Gaksital - take a bad guy, make him your protag, slowly redeem him and put him through hell.

Bad Guys - a bleak take on revenge and truth but also a damn good time at the same time somehow.

Beyond Evil and Cruel City - about cops but not really. About forgiveness, love and limits.

Come and Hug Me - brought me back to kdramas. A love story and trauma story and a bit of a thriller. It's everything.

Beauty Inside, Last Scandal, City Hall, My Girl, Delightful Girl Chunhyang and Hometown Cha Cha Cha - it is very rare for me to love romcoms. These few make the list. They also made me cry so make of it what you will.

Shut Up Flower Boy Band - the only time I liked a teen drama.

Capital Scandal and Chicago Typewriter - masterpieces dealing with the 1930s revolutionaries.

Que Sera Sera - if you love dysfunction and intense shipping, oh boy!

I am sure the moment I hit post, I will remember something else, but this will do for now.

ETA: aaaaaa Damo!!! My very first sageuk and what a way to start!!! Perfection.

ETA2: Arang and the Magistrate! OK Shin Min Ah is in an awful lot of these...

[chaos-and-sparkles]

Presenting:

Prowler Pavitr <3<3

Here's Pavitr's design in my Prowler Pavitr au akjdskjdskjkskdsk! It's my au where Pavitr is a fallen hero who used to be Spider-Man and becomes the Prowler, fueled by rage against a world and a system that forced him to pretend at perfection and then only hurt him and the people he loves.

I love him so much,, I have so much stuff in progress about him rn (working on the fics too). Gonna have chaipunk front and center, and like four separate plot arcs, I'm so insane about this au actually -

Anyway here's some infodump about his design inspirations and symbolism I put in it, I loveeeee talking abt him:

Hair -

Okay so this is after some time, like a couple months since Pav became the Prowler, and he's grown his hair out a bit now. It's kind of a mix of rejection of the "masculine" standard of short cropped hair by flaunting his longer curls that he's always been proud of and even had to grow to love He also dyes his hair purple! Bc he didn't wanna cut his hair but he wanted to do something to set himself apart from his old identity and also he's literally an impulsive 17-18 year old and wanted to do something that felt like owning his own self and asserting autonomy over his body etc etc

Something Borrowed -

The tie that he's using to tie back his hair is his original blue headband!! It doesn't go with his outfit at all but It's the original blue headband that Maya Aunty got for him all those years ago that he's been wearing forever and it snapped and broke in the battle that preceded what happened to her, and he still keeps it and ties his hair back with it instead The nosering (nath) used to be Gayatri's, they used to try out her jewelry on him and he loved that one so much she gifted it to him, and since he's basically left his old life and gone no contact with her it's all he has left of Gaya too

Main Outfit -

His jacket is loosely based on Krrish's leather jacket from the Bollywood movie series that's about a superhero named Krrish. I just think it has the dramatique and vibe Pav would like He binds his chest bc he still hadn't had top surgery but he's way more open about it, with the binding showing through the neck of the jacket now where he would have never dared to hint at it before,,, another thing about how he doesn't care about people's opinions and perceptions and standards anymore, he wants to say fuck you as much to everything in the system as he can and also piss people off while he's at it and a trans antihero/villain is a surefire way to do that. His dhoti is basically a dhoti pant, modified a bit bc i liked it

He has payals on his feet that make a faint chhan chhan noise when he approaches which has creepiness and cuteness potential imo I basically turned the prowler logo into his dhoti belt buckle askjdsjk

It's also slightly modified to mimic a trishul or even a diya shape, up for interpretation either way, bc trishuls are a symbol of Shiva, god of destruction, and diyas are a symbol of light in the darkness and the need to find it Also the chain around the dhoti at his hips is both a reference to decorative dhoti chain accessories and the lil things on it are his modified grenades that he uses for arson, bc Prowler Pav is big on arson and murder ajajsjsj

Prowler Claws -

His bangles/claws were hands down my favourite part to design!!

So his claws are of course his original spiderman bangles modified into the prowler claws But i based them on three weapons, each of which means something interesting for Pavitr

The first is bagh nakh. Literally translates to "tiger claws", famously used in a legend of Shivaji Maharaj They usually curl into the palm instead of going between the fingers like they do for Pav, but they're basically metal claws wound secretly around your hand for a sneak attack It's associated with bravery and righteous rage bc of Shivaji Maharaj but it's also really associated with stealth and an attack from unexpected quarters, being stabbed from a side no one saw coming. Which. Pavitr. The perfect hero, becoming the Prowler. Come on

Second is the trishul, aka trident That's the reason there are three prongs to his claw Trishul is the symbol of the god Shiva, and as i mentioned he's the god of destruction, as in he's part of the main triumvirate of gods who focus on creation preservation and destruction He also is really really associated with rage, especially destructive rage; he has a whole dance called the tandava for his rage which is a Huge Deal I can't stress this enough And because Prowler Pav is a being fuelled by rage against a system that has hurt so many including him that he wants to destroy and see burned, it is perfect for him The trishul is also seen as a symbol of goddess Kali, who's similar in the destruction goddess aspect and also is literally an embodiment of rage and violence that cannot be controlled which is more the theme I started out with, but whichever you notice first, it works either way. There's a whole myth in fact where Shiva had to lie beneath her feet to stop her destructive rampage before it ended the world.

And lastly, the urumi, aka the whip sword from Kerala Basically each of Prowler Pav's claws extend into whip swords when he does the swing/slash/whip motion This is really interesting at least to me, bc it means 2 things: 1) Pav still remembers and is actively using some of his skillset from swinging around as Spiderman. He does use the urumis to curl around distant objects and swing too, and they are very lethal weapons when used right, and that use requires a lot of skill, huge parts of which he built up by his experience 2) This is a weapon which requires an unimaginable amount of control, precision and strength And Pav is doing all that So all of his actions, every movement, is very deliberate and thought out. He's not doing any of this - turning away from heroism, becoming the Prowler, using these lethal weapons - on a whim. They are all very very deliberate.

Also one more thing - the blades of his claws are all retractable ofc But they are not protected or anything They slice up his palms and the in-betweens of his fingers whenever he uses them,, especially when he uses them as urumis And it would be so easy to fix the design or make gloves or smth so they don't do that But he doesn't ever do it He could make it so his hands don't bleed on using his claws But he doesn't want to

He is an angsty boyo...

Mask -

The eyes are ofc like the prowler mask design except I made them more curved and curled at the end bc that's a kind of shape often seen in traditional art of the headdress of Kali, goddess of uncontrollable violence as I've said before Then the part between them is meant to be based off a third eye, which is something both Shiva and Kali have. It opens at the height of their rage, it's meant to symbolise destructive fury for them both Although it's also used in an all seeing context otherwise but a lot of whitewashed bullshit is also there that dilutes sources to find connotations His theyyam-based tusks from his Spider-Man mask, I wanted to keep

The shape below the eyes is based off the noses in masks in various regional Indian tribal and traditional masks,,, a lot of them tend to have a very distinctive curly nose shape that I wanted to keep, a lot of these masks also depict rage or are intimidating and are very emotive And then ofc you have the bottom of the mask, I made the curved-ish cut based on the peacock-feather-y shape i was using but it's also based on the general shape of Kali's lips in traditional art where she has her tongue out, it's a big symbol of her rage and rampage I tried to put the tongue too but it looked awkward and honestly i thought it would be cooler to jsut leave the bottom half of the mask open and you can see Pav's mouth and his expressions through it a bit instead, in the spirit of that And also it's based a little bit off Krrish's mask, you can never escape the Krrish design Also there's the lil teeth. Those are often used in art for demons and animals,, and Prowler Pav is very cat coded in his behaviour in general tbh. He's like if an orange cat's fur got burned to black.

Anyway, so yeah, that's him!

[libbytwq]

holy moly dude, I JUST HAD AN EPIPHANY

So I was reading Lore's character sheet (for drawing reference tee-hee) and I saw the part about her being corrupted/affected by the IGBP arc and I JUST FREAKED OUT BECAUSE MY OC HEXSY (she/her if you're curious about pronouns :P) WAS ACTUALLY REALLY AFFECTED BY IGBP ARC TOO!!

This ask is gonna be long. I'm so sorry I just freaked out, and I wanted to tell you about it cause I thought you may like it ( ´-ω-)

(You can just skip to the drawing at the end of the ask if you want to lololol)

Basically, (Lore™ time *gets into the matpat pose*) while Three, Mario, and Meggy were trying to fight redesigned Toad (y'know, the long leg Toad), Four was getting annoyed by one of the ring lights in his room being too bright. Not thinking much of it, he stated out loud that he wished he could dim the ring light and used him Meme Guardian + Redesign powers by COMPLETE ACCIDENT. With that, Hexsy was born and also got some lovely scars, since Four transferred some of his scars to her with the Meme Guardian powers. He was really confused by this but ended up letting her stay in his room.

Artistic Rendition of the Lore™:

Anyways, this is leading me to how Hexsy may see SMGL:E (or Lore) and their relationship, plus the story behind it, tee-hee.

So skip some time to about a week later for when they need to get the star from Peach's castle. The pink scars on Hexsy's skin have mostly faded away, but you can just barely see them if you squint hard enough and are under certain light. (Very important)

(Also, side note: the scars end up not being visible later unless she's under high stress or during Puzzlevision when Mr. Puzzles had full control over her.)

When the gang jumps down the flesh pit, Hexsy splits off with Three, and they explore the caves. Hexsy thinks she sees someone, and when she takes another step forward, BAM, GONE. Three obviously runs back to the group while Hexsy is taken on a completely different path than the original one to the castle.

After Hexsy has walked a bit of the way, Lore drops down from the ceiling and corners her, asking her what she was doing down there and if she was there to hurt their avatar (Peach). Hexsy quickly denied it because she didn't even know Peach existed until now, explaining how she was still really new to the world, and also that they were there for the star in Peach's castle. Lore sees Hexsy's scars, and they both find themselves telling each other how they got them.

OK, LORE EXPLATION DONE HOPE THAT WASN'T TOO MUCH AHAHNENDNDNSJW

So anyways, this leads me to this awesome cool drawing I did of the two B)

Make these two clubs that Lore's in now with other SMG4 OC's heck yeah

I LOVE THE LOREEEEE HEXSY IS SO NEATTT blud is a personified ring light. damn

ALSO THE LIL STORY THING IDEA IS NEAT TOO. I really like it

even tho smgl:e prob doesnt hang out by peach's castle often,, and lowkey they probably dont know who peach is either ;;

BUT I STILL LIKE IT A TON ITS SO GOOD I LOVE IT

i love smg4 ocs waaaa

[watchyourbuck]

We’re literally DAYS away from s7 but I just watched the graveyard scene™️ and I have,,,, thoughts

I haven’t publicly discussed the lighting strike, the coma dream or the third kitchen scene yet, but there was something about this scene that irked me enough, so now im here

For starters this whole episode was centered around death. We have the Fake Funeral, Shannon’s grave, the Athena arc with the man who died then came back to life, and obviously,,, as one might imagine, we brushed Buck’s near-death experience (⚡️) — then at the end,,, the ever angering Buddie talk at a previous victim’s grave.

In this episode we meet Natalia, a death doula who Buck and the rest of the 118 tend to after an accident.

She quickly takes an interest in the recently Discharged™️ Evan Buckley, even asking him out on a date after finding out about his “acquaintance” (sic.) with death.

On the date per se she manifests her excitement towards Buck’s whole story, even prompting him to say ‘look at how excited you are. you’re like a real fangirl of this stuff.’

Upon research, I’ve found that death doulas are a real thing. Slow blink. I had no idea.

Thing is, she keeps saying how cool it is to have died and come back to life, imo pressuring him into discussing details he doesn’t seem all that ready himself to say out loud (he just seems to like her, however). He does anyway. She says how amazing and cool it is. Again.

We do not get more details of the date.

Now to what brings us all here.

The scene starts with Buck and Eddie in front of Marie’s grave (a victim they knew). Buck explains how she died and mentions Natalia. Eddie says ‘we’re all gonna die alone’,,, which,, 👁️ ok mister Diaz a little somber but um– let him cook.

Buck seems a lil taken aback by this, turning to look at Eddie quietly until he explains that’s what Marie said to him and Hen. Buck disagrees with the statement.

Then it’s Eddie’s turn to mention Natalia. “That’s a beautiful thing Natalia did for her,” he says, looking at the ground. I’m not particularly a Natalia stan, but I can say that at this point of the conversation Eddie means no ill-will towards her. She’s actually somehow a… background character (of sorts) to this whole story.

This is when it gets,,,, interesting 🧍🏽‍♀️

As soon as Eddie speaks, Buck takes a small breath and smiles. Like WIDE. (Like guys that’s the picture I just put above this whole scene) — BUT he looks like he’s a bit hesitant in entrusting Eddie with the fact that he’s seeing her. He even ducks his head a little bit, which is a clear sign of cautiousness.

Before Buck’s even done speaking, Eddie sighs and throws his head slightly back. I don’t have the WORDS to explain to yall the way this man looks like he’s e x h a u s t e d (they haven’t even started the conversation bro 😭)

“Really? Dating someone you rescued?” OKAY LISTEN TO ME. This is what sets off the Marisol arc. Before Buck started dating Natalia, we hadn’t even heard about Marisol in the whole season !!!! She was gone, poof! Then Buck gets all deathy-snuggly with Natalia and suddenly Eddie’s really interested in her (when not even half an episode ago he was telling Tia Pepa he wasn’t ready even if he didn’t wanna be alone). Otherwise it would be awfully cynical of Eddie to be saying all this when he’s planning on going against his OWN words in like two episodes……….. 👨🏽‍🦯

Not only that, but it’s the fact that he looks completely against it from the very get go. Ummmm Taylor was someone they rescued, so was Ali. We never heard this speech before did we??? “You know that never ends well.” Also it’s the second fact that he says YOU know it never ends well. Excuse me? Wasn’t Ana someone you rescued also? 🤨 it just seems like he’s trying very hard to convince Buck to not do this. How do I know this you ask??? Bc I’ve been in that situation.

When Buck starts defending his choices, Eddie only nods. He can’t even look at him. He’s defeated, but not AS defeated as he’s about to be. “Anyway, she wanted to ask me about the lighting strike” “Right. You love being the guy with the answers.” This is NOT PLAYFUL. EDDIES NOT SAYING THAT ENDEARINGLY. Omg I can’t even- he’s not fooling around the way a friend would tease someone about their hot new date, he’s deliberately using the same PHRASING Buck used with him and Chris like a minute ago. He’s hurt. Eddie’s HURT. By now Eddie thinks Buck’s just playing around with this girl. And he’s hurt bc when he had his moment with Tia Pepa, he envisioned a life for himself with Buck (and I can’t tell you it was super romantic or platonic, but in his head it was a family. All three of them. This was clearly breaking that vision that he took so long to accept).

Okay. “I feel like she sees me.” I have… I need to have extensive PTO rn cuz im seething. The way Eddie’s head immediately turns to Buck, even though he had been avoiding his eyes through the entirety of the scene. Another person said this so im not gonna take originality credit but: it’s like their whole friendship flashes through his mind, and his face contorts into a very painful ‘but I see you.’ I’m in so much pain lmao

Eddie’s literally scrambling now. He doesn’t know what to say, how to stop this pain. He’s lost Buck. He lost the man he’s been secretly and unawaringly in love with for over five years. He tries to be okay with this new reality asap. He hides his feelings. He starts joking. Buck’s not really laughing either, it’s futile.

“You haven’t been the same since it happened. But how could you be?” The last bit Eddie says to himself. He’s trying to adjust so fast he might have whiplash. It’s like he’s thinking: “if I had acted before this all happened, maybe I could have changed with you, instead of watching you change from a corner when im nothing but your best friend. No authority, no rights, no permission.” 😀 im ready to end it all btw

Thing is,,, Eddie STILL loves Buck, even if he’s convinced himself in his head right about now that he can’t have him. He’ll be happy (he’ll have to be) just being his friend, because losing his romantic love won’t ever be worse than losing him completely, so he says: “You don’t have to be anything for anybody.” Does this REMIND YALL OF SOMETHING ???

(gently borrowed from @loveyourownsmiilee – although it was a gif but I’m kinda computer stupid)

Anyway, then Eddie becomes a little preachy, ending it w “so what changed you?” Which honestly he says quite angrily and accusatorially. If you watch the scene he even nods his head up, pointing at Buck and separating him from himself. He’s cutting their lines. YOU changed. YOU moved on. YOU died. YOU didn’t wait for me.

Then Buck kinda extends his hand back. “That has to mean something, right?” (Cheating death). He looks at Eddie with hope, but the man ISNT LOOKING BACK…. And the window is lost. Eddie’s joking again, Buck looks away.

Whatever, the scene ends with Eddie wanting but refusing to look at Buck, while Buck stares into a hypothetical horizon with a glimmer of a new, different hope. He never realized Eddie’s heart broke an inch away from him.

“It’s all a gift.”

Not to Eddie, it isn’t.

[socksandbuttons]

Reading the things you said about earth was a little disappointing. Did it really take seeing earth getting physically harmed by moon for you and other people to stop defending and justifying moon's asshole behavior and finally see why earth decided not to help him after the initial confrontation? What he said to her when she and sun confronted him was enough justification for earth to stop trying to help him. She didn't need to be physically harmed and be called a collateral damage by her own brother to justify her decision to stop trying to help that said brother who made it clear that he doesn't care about what his family thinks after they confronted him.

So i had some days to like cool down from all jazz in the episode (which i recommend if u get a lil heated with the show!) I think you misread how I reacted, but given i was typing after the episode thats fair.

But anyway as an audience youre gonna be lil like 'WHYY' when you know this is something that can be resolved and not permanent. And you don't know how. What you assume as hate is more to do with that. I dont hate earth over that lol Now that the recent episode has come out, I now know their direction and feel less hurt by everything falling apart.

This can get resolved. Earth understandably responded how anyone would. Moon definitely isn't uncaring either. I do believe this will get fixed in some degree just not right now. Right now is villain arc time. And this means Earth and Moon reconciling later.

[bookbitchx]

Hello hello here's a lil rant about SJMs writing of Rhys and it driving me crazy :) (CC3 spoilers, ACOTAR spoilers, minor TOG spoilers)

I agree with your post that questions whether or not SJM was being purposeful when she created the dynamics of the IC and their allies. I personally think in order to determine if SJM is doing this purposefully its important to take all her books into account (especially with the crossover in CC3 😭 And because SJM's only finished series currently is TOG, most of my comparisons will involve that series)

I suspect that the IC's emotional journeys are still very far from over. Especially Rhys and Feyre since they have been arguing off page (which is understandable given it wasnt their POVs) and SJM purposefully included Ember Quinlan defending Nesta in the bonus chapter. Now each of these characters have VERY strong personalities, but Ember in particular comparing rhys to someone who abused her is EXTREMELY important for us as readers to note for future books. And i really hope that its because SJM is finally gonna let him be held accountable for being an ass towards his mate's sister and for meddling so much in their relationship.

Rhysand in particular out of all of the IC has probably the most potential for a good redemption arc. Hes traumatized by his families deaths and UTM in canon and it would be safe to assume his childhood in Windhaven wasn't exactly pleasant. So giving us the Archeron POVs to unpack these centuries old characters is bound to get messy due to their own lack of experience, (but it makes for good fan interaction, i see you sjm).

Rhys definitely has better intentions than the Highlords before him did, but he still has some iffy behavior that stems from needing to have control over his surroundings likely due to traumatic events where he felt powerless to save those he cares for. But that doesn't excuse the fact that he has (accidentally) hurt more people while trying to keep control. He withheld life saving info from his mate bc he didnt want her to worry, he threatened and chased Nesta from the city because she shared the info he was hiding, he stole the book from Tarquin despite the fact that he likely would have helped rhys anyway, he locked his IC in Velaris to protect them (when Amren could've solo'd anyone in UTM 🤫). All of which to me sounds like could be control issues.

Now for who I think is the closest character we have to really compare to Rhys, the MC of TOG also struggled with control issues throughout the series. And her own trauma also mirrors Rhys' to an extent, especially her family life and the fact she was also stuck without fresh air while she was in Endovier. She made bad choices throughout her story, ones that affected the people she loved directly. But when her arc concluded, she was able to make healthier decisions for herself and loved ones despite that.

If SJM truly loves rhys as much as she claims, I don't think she wouldn't give him an opportunity to heal like the one she gave to Aelin. Especially after she hinted in CC3 that things are NOT always all fine and dandy in Feysand's relationship, Feyre herself said she was furious with the IC in acosf, and the two of them have yet to discuss how Rhys' actions utm affected her.

Realistically, I don't the highest hopes for Rhys' character arc unfortunately, but a girl can dream of a better ACOTAR 😂 I wanna believe that it'll be a great series when it concludes but im hesitant in putting my faith into SJM tbh 😔 Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful rest of ur day/ night and im so excited to hear your thoughts!

Heyy

I hope you're having a good day/night too!

You definitely make some good points.

I can kind of see similarities between Rhysand and Aelin, but at the same time, I don't.

Aelin, for all her faults and mistakes, had at least tried to do the right thing, no matter how misguided it was. She was selfish and reckless and ended up hurting people close to her, but she owned up to it. She was also young. She was, what like 19-20? Not an excuse, but a factor.

Rhysand, on the other hand... God, where do I even start?

It's weird because ACOTAR is so different from TOG in terms of writing, and I'm just talking about first person/third person POVs.

I honestly believe that SJM tried to make the series black and white. Tamlin Bad, Rhysand good. Eris bad, Mor good. Nesta bad, Feyre good... and accidentally ended up with a controversial mess.

I mean good for her. Publicity is publicity no matter if it's positive or negative (here we are talking about it), but yeah.

Rhysand was supposed to be this morally grey character, but she ended up making him a self praising, self-proclaimed king of feminism, most powerful High Lord with nothing to back it up.

○ He gives Feyre 'choices' only when the outcome is in his favor.

○ He claims he's all for women's freedom to choose whatever they want... yet he lets those Illyrian camps keep women as glorified slaves and praises the leaders for giving them 2 hours of training.

○ He's 'the most powerful High Lord' yet he can't control the HC, and the camp leaders barely respond to him.

○ He, Feyre, and the IC feel entitled to information that affects the whole of Prythian... for what I don't know.

○ I'm not even going to get into the acts he commits against his 'family' bc I would be here for a while.

○ He encouraged his mate to take her petty revenge on Tamlin, destroying his entire court in the process, innocent lives and homes, not to mention making Prythian more vulnerable to Hybern.

○ He got mad at Nesta for giving the mask to Bryce... isn't that what he did with the book? Except he stole it and destroyed Summer Court property while Nesta controls the mask.

You're right about his control issues, though, as was seen with Nesta every time she didn't listen to him. I can see how that would relate to the lack of control he felt UTM, but...

Did 50 years UTM getting SA affect him? Obviously. I don't disregard the trauma he went through, but I also don't turn a blind eye to the things he did UTM.

He assaulted his mate with no excuse. He could've easily left her in that cell instead of making her wear a napkin and get drunk against her will. Amarantha didn't even care when he paraded her around and only got mad when she saw them kissing.

The children of the Winter Court that were killed, I don't know why it was brushed off with no consequences because who else would have done it? Daematis are extremely rare, and somehow, there was another one powerful trapped under the mountain, but he doesn't know who? Another Daemati who was working for Amarantha and didn't call out Rhysand on the Claire Beddor lie?

God, this turned into a rant, I know, and I'm sorry, lol.

I personally don't see a redemption arc satisfying enough happening or at all really. I read somewhere that Rhysand was created after SJM's husband Josh... yk where I'm going with this.

Anyway, if you sat through this, thanks!

[callmearcturus]

Arc Plays Games: Nora to Toki no Koubou: Kiri no Mori no Majo (NDS)

(apparently in English that's something like "Nora the Time Witch")

I'm gonna try something and try to keep track of all the games I play this year. First up is this extremely cute little that honestly got me through being sick as hell over the holiday. It is kind of perfect as a game for your brain at 40%.

Nora is a DS game that has better "Cozy" feel than most games under the cozy game genre. Basically, Nora (the character) is a chronomancer, so she can do time magic. She's a rookie so she's supposed to be learning how to get good at chronomancy. She's sent to a lil cottage in the woods to bone up on her skills.

The house and garden are extremely precious. You can redecorate the cottage, move furniture and crafting items around, change the walls and floor. The garden has friends and you can lure in cute creatures.

The main loop of the game is in three parts. First is making items to fulfill requests for townsfolk and friends. You'll be asked to make a certain item, and have to figure out the best way to do so with time magic, dismantling raw materials, and processing materials into new stuff. You start off with just a work table and the time magic thingie, then get more and more crafting options like sewing tables and smokers and stuff.

Then you turn in those items and get other items in return and make people happy!

There's also foraging, bc obviously you need materials to make stuff.

There's a whole map with multiple places to go and each of those locations has different materials to gather.

When you arrive at a location, there are interactable things that will give you different materials. Some are sparkly and also give you random effects, like increased rarity, more items, or monsters.

You might want to grab the sparklies first to try and booth the number of materials you get, but on the other hand you might find a monster instead.

Battles are the third pillar. There are a SHOCKING amount of party members, and you can pick and choose teams depending on what you want.

Want to make sure you survive really tough monsters? Go with the errant knight lady and the big friendly city watch guy. Want to get more materials? Go with the soft-spoken clinic worker who can spot more herbs of the 12 year old shop girl who fucking LOVES rocks and can find you more rocks. But the clinic girl isn't great in a fight, so you gotta be careful.

Party members include: a weird mercenary dude who just wants to be the cool knight lady, the buff city watch man who has tea parties and tries to kill monsters with stale bread, the clinic lady who secretly can deadlift a tree, aforementioned 12 year old who thinks rocks are just soooooo cool, the hot knight lady who i think has the hots for Nora but i'm not sure, a Capitalist, a thief who kinda sucks, and a mascot character.

I weirdly ADORE the economy/shop system in this game.

Sometimes when you are selling off old equipment or excess materials, the shopowner will counteroffer your request for money with rare items instead.

YOU CAN DO THIS TOO. Most of the stock in the shops can be bought outright OR you can choose "Buy with items" and offer up stuff in exchange for the item you want.

Shops have normal stock but also special stock you can only get by trading the right materials. The armory guy has swords and stuff BUT if you want the good shit, bring him a dragon scale instead.

I bounce off a lot of these kind of soft, cute games because they don't feel like they have depth but this game sooooo does. I would say the only downside is when you struggle to make a certain items or find a certain material, you... sometimes just gotta figure it out, because this game was an oddball Japanese-only Atlus title and the fan translation isn't super well-known, there isn't a robust wiki to refer you. Just figure it out!

Anyway, solid fucking 4 out of 5 on this game. If you can emulate DS games, you can locate this one pretty easily if you know where to look. (And if you don't know where to look, send me an ask off-anon and I will direct you a bit.)

gd i maybe need to try an atelier game...........

[eluxcastar]

Leona in his Uncle arc because I can and will

── ୨୧：leona kingscholar & reader

୨୧﹑synopsis :: Leona being the cool Uncle.png mostly just fluff hcs of him caring for them more than he will admit it's kinda scatterbrained because same

୨୧﹑genre :: fluff

୨୧﹑content :: (implied) child reader, it's just platonic fluff tbh

୨୧﹑words :: 724

well here we go ig turns out the first everything I write for a fandom is Uncle hcs 🤨 shoutout to my Uncle ig? where did this phenomenon come from (ﾟ▽ﾟ*) anyway Leona seems like he'd play bite baby's lil lion ears when they're misbehaving to scare them like an "I'm gonna call the boogeyman" type thing 😭✋ I rest my case

when you were young enough to have to crawl around the floor Leona found watching you to be much easier to some extent, though he did not appreciate having his hair pulled on and chewed and is still weary every time you try to grab his hair.

thankfully years of pulling your tail and threatening to steal it has deterred you from that. Going home over break is sometimes hell, sometimes not. It's better than when there are events that allow outside guests to come and see them as Leona knows you'll be so full of energy and so excited to see him. He just can't bring himself to throw you off after you jump on him and latch onto his arm. Annoying perhaps but he finds your affections to be endearing at the best of times. Seeing you get so excited to see him more so than he's ever seen you to return to your Father strokes his ego just a little bit.

he just doesn't quite like the part where you complain that you write to him all the time and "Are getting way better at writing the letters now" in your own words, but don't ever get a response, then it becomes the questions of "When are you coming home?" and Leona has to shake you off and send you back on your way as he makes up some excuse about your Father worrying about you.

he does enjoy spending time with you much more when you're controllable, especially at bedtime when Leona begrudgingly agrees to tell you stories or lets you crawl into his bed under his blankets and curl up at his side where it's warm. Leona much prefers this arrangement, though he will yawn and complain that you're getting too big to be there and taking up all the space on the bed. The worst part is waking up to your little hands shaking him, usually because you want something and can't reach it, or just don't know how. You might just be lazy like him.

the little whines for your Uncle to get up are annoying at the best of times, but Leona finds himself unable to resist when you pull at his arms with all your strength. You could never hope to pull him up on your own but the dedication to get him out of bed sways him for just a few minutes.

when Leona comes home over the holidays he makes sure to make sure that if you want to be attached to him you're at least taken care of: teeth brushed, properly bathed, fed, ears and tail groomed, socks on at all times. If you don't he'll ship you back to Falena in his own words. Every time you challenge him at that with some remark about how "How are you gonna ship me back to Dad?" always met with "In a box" and Leona frankly doesn't care when you tell him that's against the rules (which you probably only know because you tried to ship Cheka somewhere).

Leona tends to problem solve that by pulling you down onto the floor and tickling you in his lap so you'll forget that and justify the need for you to wear socks all the time by kicking at his arms until he stops. Without the socks you always scratch him. He can hand the gnawing on his hands when you bite. Leona isn't fond of going out, just staying in and letting you play until you start to get tired, inviting you to take a nap with him even in the middle of the day.

he often tells you that it doesn't matter what you do with your time, since you're also the second child like he once was, but tries his best to pay attention to your studies and support you to try anyway. Leona's point is never really to become as lazy as him, but to become something other than just an heir. "It'll make you feel better than a throne" is his only reason, maybe that's why you like him so much. 'Other things' is a bit big to think about though. Even if Leona is not really King outside of his school unlike your Father is, you might like him better. Being something like a real King sounds super boring anyway.

[jkgnggj]

Question, is saiki & toritsuka's friendship better(healthier) or hii and toritsuka's?

Just a question!!! for me it's hii's and tori's

(Is healthier spelled wrong????)(ᗒᗣᗕ)՞

I FUCKING WROTE A LONG ASS ESSAY TO THIS AND WHEN I TRIED TO POST IT TUMBLR WAS LIKE "WOOPSIE SOMETHING WENT WRONG 🤪" BITCH !!! ANYWAYS SORRY FOR SUPER LATE REPLY I HAD TO RETYPE AND RESEARCH STUFF AND REWATCH THE EPS FOR THIS LOL

Ok so basically I think they're both healthy / unhealthy in their own ways its just up to ur interpretation yk. Like ultimately it's up to everyone to decide whether it's toxic or not in their hcs and fanon aus and stuff bc note everyone's gonna have the same opinion but to me I think both friendships are very healthy in their own right.

I think at first tori's def a bit selfish and only seeks out relationship out of his own selfish desires like he seems out Saiki bc of his cool powers (though there isn't much wrong with wanting to befriend someone bc u think they're cool) but he also mentions he wishes he had those powers and then he goes on to try and make saiki use his powers for saikis benefit (aka be popular and get a girl) which again isn't like the worst thing ever like it's obvious Tori would want his only friend to help set him up with someone but the way he does it is a bit disingenuous bc he's pretending to be something or someone he's not. But regardless saiki always helps him even if he doesn't actually help lol sometimes he sabotages him tho usually Tori does that to himself LMAO. But saikis supportive of Tori even tho he insults him and shit he's just a tsundere who doesn't know how to show affection and his way of doing it is a lil violent but he doesn't actually ever harm Tori he always heals him and stuff when he actually physically does damage so Tori can't even feel it when his insides explode lmaooo. Also saikis constantly helping Tori become a better person and do the right things. And u could say it's "toxic" or one-sided cuz only Tori gets something out of their friendship but that's simply not true bc saiki gets a friend out of Tori and the first friend to know Abt his powers too, the first person out of his family to know him for who he truly is powers and all. He's also really reliable even if he's kinda incompetent or useless he is still a huge help when it counts. Tori's constantly putting saiki above his selfish desires when it really matters. They each give and take from each other which I think is necessary for a healthy relationship tbh. It's not one sided at all bc they each risk their lives for each other (cat tank arc).

As for hiitori like any relationship Tori pursues it's a lil superficial at first bc he's got unpure intentions and like selfish reasons for approaching her. He wanted to flirt with her and date her simple as that he wants to be loved lol. And he's a bit of a jerk Abt it bc altho he's nice and kind to her u could say he's probably mostly or at least partly doing it to end up dating her or so she doesn't end up hating him or losing feelings for him bc he's never really had a girl like him for more than like 0.2 seconds. He approaches Saiki to help cure her unluckiness so that he can date her without the fear of getting killed (which like sorta fair but at the same time still douchey lol). He also gives up and runs away bc he's a coward and tries to dump her into Saiki and Mikos hands bc again he's selfish and prioritizes his life over anything else but he tries to protect her (and himself, or maybe himself and by extension he protects her) when they're together like when he offers to take the dangerous chemicals to class himself instead of letting her touch them. So you could say his motives are more Abt self preservation than love but I do think he still cares about her safety and well being (even if at first it's just bc hes desperately and selfishly attached to her love for him). And he gets a lil "toxic" or like possessive when satous in the pic bc now he's got a love rival and he doesn't really like being dumped over the average dude (like fair again but it's still seen as toxic bc he calls hii-chan his girl LMAO) and so he tries to get between them right but backs off when he's literally almost killed at the stationary store haha what a coward. But then when they find out why she's so unlucky although reluctantly Tori ends up helping Saiki figure out how to cure her misfortune. And u could argue he only did it for Saiki's sake so he could praise. Him or be proud of him but I think the reason (if not most of the reason anyways) he does it is because he does genuinely care about hii-chan's safety at the end. He can't just leave a poor cute defenseless girl with that shitty guardian spirit. She's the first girl who's ever really had feelings for him for this long and like genuinely doesn't hate him or whatever so ofc he's gonna have a lil soft spot for her she's the closest thing he has to a friend in class since most of the girls hate him and call him "pervitsuka" and shit so im sure he was trying to be legit helpful and useful to if he wouldn't get recognition for it. I mean he goes full on mom mode on the guardian spirit and then nendou sr comes and goes mom mode sr on the dude too and cleans him up and then it's still not enough so Tori sacrifices (literally, he holds a fucking funeral for them) his getas burning them at the stake just so the guardian spirit can be happy and protect hii-chan like he should've been. He doesn't even complain about giving up his high heels what a brave girl he is 😔💔 oh u also made a post I think Abt how when tori was missing for a whole fucking week the only one who noticed was hii-chan and she went and told Saiki and that's the only reason he found out lol. Maybe it's because the dude sits next to her in class or bc he was her first friend at pk or her first love of something but whatever the reason it was still incredibly thoughtful of her to worry about him and his wellbeing. That's something that didn't really occur to kusuo so I guess if u really wanna pin them against each other hii-chan wins by being the more thoughtful of the two but hey Saiki felt guilty and wanted to rescue Toritsuka despite him being brainwashed and hating him at the moment that he risked his life for him just so he wouldn't get hurt by the cat tank so I think they can't really be compared since. They're different circumstances lol.

Anyways, I think that although his motives for starting any relationship and approaching anyone are usually selfish, Tori sticks around and helps them when they need it. Both saiki and suzumiya are important for Toritsuka's growth as a person / character and their relationships are both fairly healthy at least by the end. I think toritsuka loves and cares for suzumiya and saiki as much as they do for him <3

[risingshards]

I've been hovering around a subscriber number and it's been going up and down a bit and cuz it went down a chunk today I'm a lil anxious, I worry about everything constantly so this probably isn't a big deal, but instead of dwelling on it I'm gonna try and self promote and maybe overcome this subscriber hurdle! So Self Promo Saturday in addition to Storyteller Saturday? Is that a thing already?

Anyways, if you've followed me for a while you've probably seen me talk about my main series, Rising Shards!

Rising Shards is my passion project, a super long web novel that updates Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. It's always tough for me to explain it, but in short it's part fantasy series, part slice of life, part comedy, part adventure, part romance. It's got a huge cast of characters that a vast majority of are queer!

What's life like in a world where monster folks called Cani are as normal as rainy days? What's it like to juggle learning how to use your powers on fantasy adventures with taking tests and giving speeches in class? How about balancing having crushes and getting over breakups with growing tails or having full on werewolf moments? That's what Zeta Faleur, a trans girl getting over a bad breakup, has to do when her fangs come in and she has to go to a Cani school.

Other main characters have to deal with similar issues as well. Zeta's best friend Oka, a kindhearted girl with a troubled upbringing struggles to fit in at school, gets her first crush around the same time she gets her first role in a school play. Kalei, a snarky gamer jock, begins to find her own identity and all the angst and joy that comes with it. Lillia, a by the books honor student, goes through as many crushes as she gets good grades, but what happens when someone finally likes her back? Longtime friends Aira and Laenie face off with the prospect of drifting apart, while similarly close besties Iris and Maia deal with getting closer. Marmalade, a trans girl who is a late transfer to Rising Shards, strains with self doubt and acceptance. Roux goes on a gender focused journey and finds confidence in themselves. Zeta's older sister Stella starts crushing on Zeta's teacher, Dr. Evy Diast, but are there sparks between them? (given that these two also have an 18+ side series which can be read here, the answer is probably yes).

And that's just a chunk of the characters, yes there are somehow more, including wizards, pop stars, goofy principals, princesses, wannabe hall monitors, filming experts, coffee lovers, gambling obsessed gremlins, mean girls, exes, and enemies! I love stories with a huge cast of characters and actually spent time in college getting my writing degree writing essays about series that juggle tons and tons of characters. For the others, you'll have to read the series to meet them! :)

If the length of the series is intimidating (understandable!), I like to think of it like a TV show or a long manga or light novel series. It may be a ton of chapters and words and such, but they're split up into episodes and seasons, so each chunk of episodes is a complete little arc like a TV episode, and each season completes a big story. With such a huge cast and the way I pace the story, I try to use the space I have to the fullest to spend lots and lots of time with the characters.

If you wanna check the series out, it'd mean the world to me. And big bonus if you subscribe as well. :) If Tapas isn't your jam, Rising Shards is also available on Scribble Hub!

Art for Rising Shards is done by the wonderful Flopicas!

[rosetheocto]

After the doors finally opened up, the group quickly dashed into the first room they could register. The moment was chilling after their sudden brush with death, everyone taking a moment to catch their breaths.

“Okay.” Blue was the first to speak up. “I’ve seen a lot of things happen in this game, and this is by far the most messed up.” The bean took a quick look outside the Laboratory’s doorway, double checking that those faceless, creepy, glitchy ‘ghosts’ didn’t follow them in there. “You’re right. This definitely isn’t a dream… so how the hell are we gonna get out of this mess?”

we were really robbed of more Blue in the NoVisor Arc. like my guy has been playing this game since 2018, which means he’s been around during the same time Aiden was first kidnapped!! I’m a bit hyperfixated on the rewrite of the NoVisor Arc (and AUL in general) I’m doing with a friend rn, so if I remember to post more of that I will! For now though more context and other scattered stuff about the lore for AULR will be under the cut!! :3

the beginning of Return is kinda identical, but Blue replaces Ria. Player, Veteran, and Noob try to warn them about Things Being Kinda Weird and that they are absolutely trapped inside the game but they both call bs (assuming they’re like dreaming or something) until a group of glitched out ghost things (with no visor cuz duh) chase after them all. PF also Coincidentally™️ shows up not too long before the ghosts start attacking and chasing them! how strange…

ANYWAY now they’re hiding out from those things and are using the stupid cleanup thing in MIRA to give them a moment to catch their breath, buy some time, and think of a game plan. The near death experience convinced Mr. Egg and especially Blue that maybe there is way more to this than they both initially thought.

PF’s a lil nervous cuz he believes Blue is catching onto him knowing more about everyone getting transported into the game than he lets on (AND HES RIGHT), esp cuz Blue has mentioned having multiple encounters with strange cultist beans over the years of playing Among Us. (Spoilers Blue does find out about PF later in the episode, but definitely dies like right after :(()

The way I see NV’s plan is somewhat similar but also different. We didn’t really know what was going on exactly in canon, but for this one the best way I can describe it is like the plot of Side Order. The NV Cult is forcibly bringing people into a virtual world in which they would be able to rule with The Power Of Hacking.

as for why the world they picked is a hacked Among Us game? Well it’s simple! it’s super buggy, and there’s only three developers (at the time this takes place that is), so anything they do will take forever to fix and update on their end. And the game being practically a wasteland to the sudden boom in popularity was perfect for bringing unsuspecting people in.

Innersloth knew something was wrong right away all those years ago, but they just couldn’t keep up with this group of hackers. The eventual solution they came up with to all the shenanigans from the cult (and others when it started getting popular) led to the creation of the Hacker’s Lobby, run by 2 (technically 3 if you count Clogsworth) Admins. This new lobby worked! …for the most part. As new cult members infiltrate the game, there’s bound to be some people Innersloth and the Admins missed…

BUT THATS ALL SUBJECT TO CHANGE and there’s a lot of stuff I definitely missed but yea!! AULR my beloved :]

[head-empty-just-sigma]

so y’all remember this post i made about skk

well i’m gonna expand on it a lil bit because i swear i learn new things every day and one of those things is that Chuuya really deserves a fucking break (…/hj)

okay but seriously, the more i think about all the other skk moments where Dazai makes these big brain plans that ensure that, while it’s most definitely still dangerous, both him and Chuuya will win the fight and walk away from it alive at the very least. but in chapter 101… Dazai made and executed a plan that he thought had a good likelihood of defeating the enemy. but, it also put Chuuya in a situation where he actually could have died. and now Dazai’s in a perilous situation with, as far as we know, no one to help him. and i just wanna explore some new context and expand on a lil theory i came up with as to why this arc is important for skk (plus bonus theory! Dazai really fucked up this time and now he has to find a way to not actually die. i have a few ideas)

🔺spoiler warning for chapters 95, 98, 101, 105.5, 106 and 106.5 and the end of Beast🔻

god this is so long im sorry **i added a tldr under the cut for those of you who just want my rambling ass to get straight to the point 😭

TLDR because this thing is so FREAKING LONG OH MY GAWD

So while Dazai was in the prison, based on his reaction to Chuuya’s arrival being more anger than shock and his instigation of ‘one of them dying’ (talking to Fyodor), there’s reason to believe that Dazai and Ango had set up a plan involving Chuuya somehow breaking Dazai out of the prison on the same day Nikolai arrived. On top of this, Dazai’s character development is finally coming to the forefront in trying to save Sigma and keep him alive, as well as the remorse for trapping Chuuya with Fyodor in the water in order to buy himself time to escape ahead of Fyodor (instead of killing him there, since he knew that wouldn’t be enough to kill Chuuya as Dazai would never do that even if it meant sabotaging his own plans). And at the very end of chapt 106.5, his fall to his death could be prevented by a number of things including Chuuya coming out of vampirism and saving him, but it would also be interesting to see how skk’s relationship changes now that Dazai has to save himself and has so clearly changed from the time when he worked with Chuuya and relied on him to save him from danger (see: Lovecraft fight, Dead Apple & DA prologue). It’s also possible that Sigma will be used as a distraction for Fyodor and Nikolai while skk work their stuff and Dazai 100% still has the potential to win even in the bottom of the elevator shaft so long as he can get the antidote to the poison.

Starting in chapter 95, Dazai was the one who initially mentioned escaping (or dying). It was as if he knew something was going to happen soon that would lead to their eventual conflict to escape or at least some kind of confrontation that would end with one of their deaths. However, he is still caught off guard when Fyodor disappears from his cell first, and then was also surprised when the floor was literally opened up below him by Nikolai. Considering Fyodor didn’t seem to be planning an escape at the same time Dazai had mentioned it, if his reaction to Dazai is anything to go off of anyway, it’s clear that he had not planned for Nikolai to be there to bail him out of jail early. Therefore, it’s more likely that Dazai knew someone was on their way to break them out, and was planting the seed of the idea that one of them was going to die in the process.

It's also further proof that neither Dazai nor Fyodor had planned on Nikolai being there when they take a minute to assess the situation before Nikolai explains his 'Gogol Game', meaning they had to deduce what was happening in the moment instead of relying on a plan they already had laid out. Nikolai pretty much set into motion that one of them will, in fact, be dying at the end of this game if the poison is real and there truly is only one antidote. It doesn't matter who outsmarts who, because even Dazai could win at the bottom of the elevator so long as he can get his hands on the antidote (through Sigma or Chuuya, perhaps?).

Then we have his confession that he listens to the voices in his head him telling Sigma that there’s an “angel” talking to him in chapter 98. We already know that the “angel” is actually Ango, and the reason why I’m bringing it up is because of the context of the situation here.

Sigma and Dazai both hear loud noises coming from the prison floors above them. Dazai deduces that it’s not being caused by Nikolai, and not a result of Nikolai and Sigma breaking in, but before he even makes this analysis he says “It’s an intruder”. I find it odd that he would say this, considering there’s no way for them to know if there is a new intruder or if it’s the prison itself going into some kind of lockdown, or if it is in fact Nikolai causing chaos. Sigma calls this into question as well, asking how Dazai knows this, and the funny man says “an angel told him”. Without knowing Ango is communicating with him from the outside, this could have been taken as a typical Dazai one-off response deflecting the fact that he’s just stupidly smart, but it’s not. It’s referencing Ango giving him information. However, when did Ango communicate the situation to him then if it’s unfolding that very moment?

I think we can tell when if we look at this specific page here:

Right before they hear the loud noise, Dazai is being his usual goofy and mildly insane self, much to Sigma’s dismay, and then he suddenly just stops and turns around. Even for Dazai this behavior is odd, and what’s more, he randomly wants to now go to the employee service room when he literally had no concrete goal in mind just a few seconds ago when he was dancing around with Sigma and saying he wanted to go sightseeing (in hell). There’s even a panel of him looking like he just found something out or realized something, but it barely lasts more than a moment and Sigma doesn’t call attention to it. I believe that one panel signifies Dazai reacting to Ango sending him some last minute information on the situation at the prison, like he does every day, but this time it’s that there is an intruder in the prison. Or perhaps telling him that Chuuya arrived?

Considering they already know Nikolai and Sigma are there, this explains why Dazai would deduce that the commotion is caused by someone other than Nikolai getting bored waiting for the two stupid smart people to start drowning each other. He also says there’s only one possible answer to who that intruder is, which I’ll get to later so just hold on to that thought for now…

Chapter 101 is where it’s revealed that Dazai doesn’t have escape as his top priority right now, it’s actually to kill Fyodor while they’re still in the prison. He also explains how Ango is communicating to him with the time-stopping ability user. So with that information, and the fact that it seems like Dazai can request time to be stopped as well given he uses his advantage of being a walking anti-ability entity to waltz into the central command room and knock out all the guards while time is stopped for them, there’s good reason to believe that he had been planning something already with Ango to get him out of the prison prior to Nikolai's appearance.

Of course, Dazai is confident that they can beat Fyodor even though he has Chuuya under his ‘control’ (which is questionable at best at this point), because he’s been coming up with ways to kill Chuuya for seven years blah blah typical skk stuff… But it’s also interesting that Dazai would say this now, when in just a few minutes when he thinks he’s trapped Chuuya and Fyodor in a room to drown, he acts like he hates what he did. I also think this is why he’s being so overly goofy with Sigma, because it’s his default method of masking how he’s actually feeling. Whenever we see him not goofing off, his expression is usually partially hidden from view, and/or much more serious. Another thing of note is that while, yes he was probably apologizing for 'trapping' Chuuya like this, he was also apologizing because Dazai knew that if he failed to kill Fyodor here, he was going to be the one in a perilous situation. This is what is currently going on in chapter 106.5, as Fyodor sabotaged the elevator to fall and Dazai prioritized saving Sigma over himself not once, but twice in the span of a few pages.

And what is the other consistency we usually see with skk? Chuuya is there to bail Dazai out of these situations. This is what happened during their fight versus Lovecraft, where Dazai got hurt because nullification wouldn't work, and Chuuya had to get them out. This is also what happened in Dead Apple where Dazai was literally dead until Chuuya showed up and risked dying to save him, and even in Dead Apple’s prologue when he had to save Dazai from an enemy organization.

But now, Chuuya isn't there. He isn't there and Dazai is falling to his probable death.

The elevator trap was set up by Fyodor himself, which is why the water set itself on fire in 106... But besides that, it's clear that Dazai tampering with the electronics in the elevator was probably him locating the mechanisms to open the doors, therefore making it so that there are 'no traps', and would explain how he knew where to shoot in chapt 106.5 when he shot the mechanism keeping the door shut.

Fyodor's comment on skk having a shallow bond feels almost out of place for him. He's not usually one to brag, much less about how he can wield someone's boyfriend better than them. I also think his little monologue here was partially payback for Dazai's guy speech back in chapt 101. However, I think Fyodor is wrong to try and say Dazai didn't foresee Chuuya getting out of the situation, because he absolutely would have. I think trapping them in the room like that was less of a play to kill Fyodor and Chuuya together, but to buy time in order to reach the exit. There’s no way Dazai would be willing to actually kill Chuuya just to get rid of Fyodor if he can help it, meaning he’s probably buying time and waiting for the poison to kick in since Chuuya wouldn’t be effected by it. At the end of the day, the one who is going to win will be the one with the antidote from Nikolai, and that could still be Dazai.

This is probably the most serious we’ve ever seen Dazai for a prolonged period of time. And it’s not even because he’s focused on saving his own life in order to escape the prison.

It’s because he’s focused on saving Sigma.

I believe his plan here is to allow Sigma to be reunited with Fyodor and/or Nikolai, but now with the knowledge that they will most likely be planning to kill Sigma by the end of it so no one knows what happened to Dazai. However, the fact of the matter is that the two of them believe Sigma would not try to kill them first, and I don't think he's going to do something like that either. I think Dazai is most likely using Sigma as some kind of distraction for Fyodor and Nikolai while Chuuya comes out of his vampirism. If Chuuya was conscious enough to understand Dazai’s speech in chapt 101, there’s no way he’d sit by while Dazai falls to his death. A lot of people have been pointing out this box in this official art:

Saying that the box looks a lot like the elevator:

Which is a vital component of the prison that Dazai or Fyodor would have to use in order to reach the exit, and the marking on it looks similar to the markings that appear on Chuuya during Corruption. This could be hinting towards Chuuya slowing or stopping the elevator somehow with Dazai inside of it, but I’m not sure how since Dazai would have to not be touching the elevator for that to work, but if the elevator stops while he’s floating in it, it would be no different than him hitting the ground… So I guess we’ll see what happens.

Moving on from the chapters, here’s my thoughts on Dazai’s reaction to Chuuya being at the prison: he’s not shocked, he’s angry. Why? Because he and Ango had probably been planning on how to get him out of the prison for a little while now in order to stop the vampires, and potentially nullify the effects of the page before Fukuchi can write on it a second time. Similar to Dead Apple, Ango probably called on Chuuya in order to do this since he’d be able to get to Meursault the fastest and would have the best chance at protecting himself from the vampires along the way. So then, how did he get infected? Well, we already know how loyal he is to the Mafia, so he could have been protecting Mori from the vampiric Mafia members and eventually got overwhelmed. As far as we know, there isn’t a single human member anymore (besides maybe Mori), meaning Chuuya would have had to fend off potentially hundreds upon hundreds of vampires dead set on biting Mori in order to cripple the Mafia entirely and remove the threat of Mori’s ability and intelligence coming to the aid of the ADA. Meaning instead of going to Meursault of his own will in order to nab Dazai and leave, he was forced to break in and aid Fyodor under the influence of the vampire virus. Another option was he was simply not working and had no idea the Mafia was infected, as he's not wearing his typical executive attire, he's in something similar to his 15 outfit, making me think he was either going to one of the Mafia's bunkers (Verlaine's, perhaps?) on Mori's orders because he is an executive, or he just was on his day off and suddenly found himself surrounded by familiar vampire faces.

This would explain why Dazai said there’s only one option in there being an intruder in the prison, because he was already waiting for Chuuya to arrive that day to initiate his escape. That is why he told Fyodor it’s about time to figure out which one of them is going to die, because it should have been Fyodor, meaning Fyodor would have been taken out of the ‘game’ while Dazai continued playing, but now alongside everyone else back in Japan. But this didn’t happen, and now Dazai has to change his entire plan on the fly just like Fyodor is doing, taking away any upper hand he would have had with Chuuya.

106.5 also isn’t the first time we’ve seen the words ‘I leave the rest to you’. We saw it in Dead Apple, for what it’s worth, coming from Ango when he sent Chuuya to his potential death to save Dazai. The second time we see it is in Beast, just before Dazai replicates the season 1 opening scene, those are his final words to Atsushi and Akutagawa, before he falls to his death. Does this foreshadow Dazai dying or being fatally injured? I don’t know, but I don’t think so. Killing such a major character in this situation would be somewhat out of left field if it’s Dazai, since he seems to be getting some character development with Sigma in the prison. However, he has pretty limited options here:

Chuuya, if he is no longer under the vampire’s influence, could slow the elevator’s fall like a lot have been predicting because of the official art hint, and the trend of Chuuya bailing Dazai out of situations like this. Dazai might also be able to jump out of the elevator if the doors are still open enough and land on a floor like he pushed Sigma on to, or grab the rungs on the wall of the elevator shaft that some have pointed out. Another option, in my opinion, is to stay in the elevator, because as we saw set up at the beginning of the Gogol Game, the elevators only go between two levels, meaning he would only be falling down one level instead of four. Depending on how much space is between levels, he might be able to survive inside the elevator with minor injuries if he braces himself against the floor of the elevator and prays it doesn’t collapse in on him when it hits the bottom of the elevator shaft. I also toyed with the idea that he could shove the elevator using his body weight and tilt it in order to scrape against either side of the shaft and slow the fall, but given he pushes off the wall to save Sigma and it does nothing to the elevator itself, I’m going to assume the elevator is too heavy for him to tilt like that. However, Chuuya could accomplish a similar feat by hitting the outside of the elevator with the help of a little gravity manipulation, so it’s still possible he could save Dazai. However, what I’m more interested in seeing is how the relationship between Dazai and Chuuya changes after these events… With Dazai now really showing how much he’s changed and developed as a character, and what effect those developments will have on skk going forward.

Anyway, those are all of my current thoughts on the matter! Holy crap this post took forever to finish for some reason BUT it’s done now and until we get a new chapter (in like a week) I don’t have to make my brain hurt mulling over how elevator physics works :’)

[archersxartxblog]

Ok so recently I read the entirety of Warden Twins in the span of 4 hours (with a break in between cause it was 2:30 AM) and I just had a funny shower thought I'm gonna put here.

Basically, Arceus feels bad about the whole situation, so he gives Drayden and F!Emmet Arc Tablets or something that show the both of them Ingo, Lil' Ingo and Emmet and their misadventures. They essentially react to everything that happens in the fic as it happens.

Drayden is initially very sceptical of the whole situation, rightfully so. His nephews were kidnapped like 3 days ago (he basically got like a prologue vid showing what happened before showing him everything else), and then some stranger gives him an iPad that shows him his missing nephews being adopted by some guy who looks hauntingly similar to Lil' Ingo, with amnesia and who knows where. But he eventually warms up to F!Ingo cause hes actually not that bad at being a dad, is increasingly growing more protective over his now sons everyday (as he should be), and is looking out for them when he cant.

He invites Clay over cause his boys just became friends with Liam who ALSO looks hauntingly similar to Clay. And then the both of them bust out conspiracy boards when Akari reveals that all 4 of them are from the future. Lil Ingo and Emmet make sense, but Ingo??? If hes from the future as well, then is he some cousin they never heard about? What is this???

But they dont really care about that. Drayden swears that Ingo is now gonna be (officially) part of the family if- no WHEN they all return back to the future. Oh and so will Akari, she's a cool cousin to the boys.

This eventually just devolves into Drayden watching all of this like it's a soccer game or something : very passionately. Like "oh my dragons I'm gonna kill the Miss Fortune sisters for kidnapping my nephews", and then cheering like his team won the world cup or something when Gyarados shows up. Oh and Drayden will be so angry he might rip a tear in spacetime in order to kill Volo when all THAT happens with him and Lil' Ingo.

With F!Emmet its gonna be a bit more complicated, since he either remembers the past or not. But if he doesnt remember, then he will be panicking. His brother went missing like 5 years ago, and when he finally sees him he's with baby versions of them??? Why is Ingo a father to two kids who are named after them and look EXACTLY like him when he was also 10?!? 'AM I AN UNCLE??? DO I NEED TO BUY A BIGGER APARTMENT NOW?!??' Elesa is surprisingly taking this much better.

And then when Akari is revealed, F!Emmet is both verrrrrry happy to be an uncle and that his brother is not alone and happy, but at the same time mourning his bank account, cause hes gonna need to buy a bigger apartment if he is to house 3 new kids and like 24 new pokemon.

And then its revealed that both Ingos are one of the same. Emmet is internally having a blue screen of death moment, cause that means that Ingo literally raised him. Elesa is just treating thos like it's a certified Watchmojo top 10 anime plot twists.

But if he does remember, then he is basically just refreshing his childhood memories.

I wanted to add that maybe Emmets and Draydens tablets are connected to one another, but I've already typed WAYY too much. Can you tell that I love the Warden Twins AU?

Anyways enough from me, thank u for listening to my Ted talk. What are your thoughts about this? Really hope the fic gets updated soon and have a good whatever-your-timezone-is

Oh wow

Not gonna lie this was really fun to read. I love reading stuff like this. This is a really fun idea, i just imagine Arceus making like a YouTube channel like Gamingharry or Ladyoflore or something and just sending it to Drayden and future Emmet with a message that says "this explains everything"

I do need to get back to writing Warden’s Twins, I'm a little stuck with Lil Ingo's face off with Kamado, so I've taken a small step back for a bit to try and figure out how to go about it.

But I'm so glad you're enjoying Warden’s Twins :)

[eclipsecrowned]

anyway. blog focusing. gonna try a technique a friend taught me to attempt to get my askbox under control. also goin to give a small preview of muses i have been asked to add -- though this does not mean they are all being added at once, some need a rewatch/reread before i unleash them on the blog.

616.

sebastienne (tbt) // 20s-30s // mutant // thi3ves guild associated due to family debts, has passive mutant abilities related to luck and probability, once getting out from under the guild's thumb she starts working towards establishing a community/support system in the south. quiet revolutionary, diligent woman, knows the city like the back of her hand and tries to be a good catholic between the demands of work and solidarity.

dnd.

m0llymauk tealeaf // 20s // tiefling // i promised them forever ago and am finally getting around to my s2 relisten to really bring them around, so thank all of you for your patience :3

fandomless.

cathal // ageless // cait sidhe // imagine an orange cat that is also fae. and all the stereotypes that implies. he's two stone, dumb as a box of rocks, but has so many heart cells that he's welcome wherever he roams. he's a good lad. dangerously cute, but subtly off-putting if you are a mortal viewing him from the lens of 'just a cat' because he is certainly not that and some of his movements/behaviors outline this.

fin*l f*ntasy gets its own section.

b*lthier // 22 // hume // the leading man is an audacious boyfailure and i love this for him. we need more on the level dashing rogues. he's the han s0lo of this rebellion and his chewie is a sexy bunny girl so what could possibly go wrong? going to rewatch a game movie to brush up on him.

br*ska // 30s // hume // i delete him. i readd him. i delete him. my bestie picks up j*cht and we start bullying our third musketeer to play aur0n. at this point he's going up and staying up til the day i die even if he never gets any airplay besides ax.

l*rsa s0lidor // baby // hume // do you love a good prince archetype? do you love lil dude morality pets to arc villains? do you believe in the redemptive power of a child leading the people into a golden age? well good luck getting to any of that because fate and his ambitious but loving elder brother are kicking this kid's ass six ways to sunday. still, he keeps his head up and aims to be better for the world than it has been to him, and is a surprisingly adroit negotiator. if i get even a whiff of people being abnormal about him i'm blocking liberally. also rewatching a game movie to brush up on him.

mikoto // 20s-30s // human // ten years ago, she was a legendary warrior guiding her summ0ner towards victory. braska and company beat her merry band there. in the ten years since, he's given up her role as a guardian, retired from public life, had a kid... and been drawn back in with the promise of an ambitious young man o reform the church she sees aging out of humanity every day. badass twin-sword wielder who is gonna lose her shit when she realizes her boss is the villain, actually --

valeriana maghreb // 20s // hume // a biracial woman raised in the deadly decadent court of the empire, daughter of a judge, and old friend of ax's muse in setting. loyal to the ruling family in totality, she has an affinity for one of the princes of the empire and plays wholeheartedly into his schemes. her own guile is reserved for helping others across the imperial march of conquest, and has been allowed to help mold another muse listed here per the schemes of his brother to shape an ideal leader. generally tender and sweet but capable of great acts of pettiness if pushed. she's so pretty and she suffers so much for what? girlish whimsy?

literature.

erik // 40s // poto // a little of the novel's absolute mystery, a dash of the musical's tragedy, altogether we stand for accountability in this house. multifaceted but unerringly the villain, even if his intentions can be read as sympathetic. i stand by the hilarity of book erik thinking wives are like little pets you feed and buy trinkets for and take for walkies in the park, the fact women find him brooding and suave and sexy is weirding him out.

quasim0do // teens // hond // i am throwing the novel the musical didney and the 39 movie in a blender and letting it create my ideal take on the character. wretched and tragic and hopeful and mad and pious. he's been through a lot. tentatively nixing his book and didney lore bc Holy Racial Stereotypes Batman, but may keep the book ambiguity about his mother potentially having been Roma. Def want a rewatch of a bootleg before I set anything for him in stone (ha ha.)

misc.

garrett // 20s // q4c // would you like to see some of the sickest blind rep in fantasy from an admittedly mid tier otherwise production? a stable boy who suffered head trauma in an evacuation that led to gradual vision loss and then outright blindness, he entertained dreams of knighthood in camelot regardless. however, the death of his biggest supporter soured him to the notion, and he retreated into an enchanted forest to carve out his own path instead. ten years later, he's getting dragged back into camelot's drama by an adventurous damsel with big hopes and dwindling experience about the world. please god someone help him he's so tired.

[dynamic-k]

Are you tired of this yet? I feel like I keep asking questions about Vic, but it's because I already know that information for the other characters... Vague Vic.

Anyways, I think you said in a comment that Vic has trauma from Primal stabbing him in the back (that was obvious but im still gonna say it). How does he deal with this? Does he have nightmares? Does Dune or the guards suspect anything?

Does anyone else, like Primal, Agent, Hazard, Ballista, RGBY, Purple etc. also have trauma? If so, how do they deal with it, and do they also have nightmares?

I think somewhere in Arc 2, when Chosen, Second and Dark meet Primal and Ballista, Primal says she was going to visit Vic. How did this go?

Have a nice day (it HAS been over 24 hrs)

-R

See this is why people should send me more asks. I'm going to spoil or spill things. XD Sometimes I cannot keep my mouth shut about my own creations.

Vague Vic indeed! I laughed a little too hard at that- <3

:D Vic can have trauma. As a treat. Cause why not- /silly

[ I'll include a little snippet for Arc Two at the end of this ask, in relation to Vic's trauma and a Primal visitation. ]

Vic does indeed have nightmares, I will say that much. But I shouldn't try and explain this too in-depth, as I will be elaborating on the super fine specifics of Vic's nightmares and how Dune would react to it and such, in the storyline and in the plot itself when it comes to that point in time.

Dune will have some involvement, yes. The guards too, some of them, but to a lesser degree. [in only one or two different scenes.] Dune, on the other hand, has multiple encounters with Vic in which the grey hollowhead is much closer to a breakdown than he would otherwise be.

:) Ah, Purple. Ehehe. EHEHEHHEHE. I shouldn't say too much about that. Let's just say, Purple's lore is a little all over the place, and even I am still trying to sift it out into chronological order. Anything I could say that comes to mind right now is a huge spoiler so, I can't say too much aside from I can't say too much.

Primal is actually trauma-free for the most part, and by that I mean, she obviously regrets nearly killing Vic, and it sticks [*cough!*] with her for a long time... but the most actual reaction she endured was nearly puking just afterward of the Stabby Scene, which was covered already in Arc One's climax.

Hm. Yeah.

Definitely trauma-free. [compared to the others, ehehe]

Agent doesn't have nightmares, neither does Hazard, and both are generally content and happy with their current positions.

Agent is running Rocket, finding out he's really good at it. Hazard is assisting trainees for the Rocket Hero program, and occasionally helping out of the field where the public eye is abundant.

But Agent doesn't like to remember the day he got his life-altering injury. It's not a day he remembers as a day of celebrating, even if he was incredibly heroic. Hazard has been a great help, assisting Agent so he can see himself in a more positive light than he would think independently... but it can be a struggle on some bad days where everything Agent does seems to go utterly wrong. And especially now, being in an important position and having more responsibility that could be screwed up.

Not me giving Agent some occasional self-loathing issues because I want to help others work through it. U v U Also good angst.

Ballista is the one who is actually trauma-free. He just a happy lil dude. XD Worst he's got is Primal stole his snacks. He does help Primal through her mild outbursts though. The days where all she can do is rant to the air and lay her head on the table and spill every regret into the empty air where Ballista stands as comfortingly as he can.

See, now- The Color Gang's trauma-

...I should not be talking about Arc Three so early into Arc Two-

I have plans. Wait and see. >:3

-

"I think somewhere in Arc 2, when Chosen, Second and Dark meet Primal and Ballista, Primal says she was going to visit Vic. How did this go?"

She did indeed say this, but it has not happened yet. It's plot heavy enough that I shouldn't say too much, since I'll be covering it as an event in the storyline, once I get that far in.

You have a nice day tooo!!! :DDD You've made me so happy with these asks, I am having an absolute blast answering them!! hehe

And now for the small snippet:

It's a very minor sneak peak [spoiler?] of a scene I am still writing.

-

“Vic.”

Vic's head jerked instantly behind him and he met her eyes with a speed that rivaled her quickening heartbeat at the anxiousness of what she planned to do.

“Primal,” Vic breathed out slowly, his shoulders relaxing greatly and his features smoothing out into a calm and more peaceful outward appearance. 

Primal did notice his eyes still held just the faintest traces of wariness, but she didn't bring attention to it. 

She had stabbed him, after all. It made sense Vic couldn't seem to help automatically being aware and alert as a result. 

-

-

See~? Trauma! :D /smile-of-insanity