#as you can see my top 5 has remained very consistent

[stillgotscars]

What’s your top 5 on TTPD?

guilty as sin (unchanged since my initial ranking)

fresh out the slammer (also unchanged)

loml (was ranked no. 4 on my initial ranking)

the prophecy (was ranked no.5)

so long, london (was ranked no.3)

[yourpenpaldee]

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ WRITEBLR INTRODUCTION.

I don't usually put myself out there as it makes me nervous. But I've been a lurker for way too long, and it's about time I step out of my comfort zone. So, hello! I'm Dee (she/her), twenty-two, and have found my voice with storytelling.

Writing has always been a passion of mine, and continues to be the tool I turn to when I need an outlet to freely express myself. I have, unfortunately, hit a rough patch with consistency, and I'm here to bring all of that motivation and inspiration back. Especially since there are one too many WIPs sitting on the backburner, and they're all calling my name.

As someone who loves to dip their toes into every genre of fiction, I will read anything that peaks my interest. However, when it comes to creating, my works usually fall under romance and mystery. With practice, I intend on branching out into other genres I don't write often. There's a lot to explore in the world of writing, and I don't want to limit myself to only two categories.

Creating this blog provides me the space I need to accomplish the many goals I often dream of achieving. I acknowledge that it all starts with the ability to hold myself accountable. To show up for myself. To become comfortable with the uncomfortable. Putting myself and my projects out into the world is only the first of many steps, and it feels quite liberating.

I aim to use the voice I've found to not only contribute to the progression of POC representation, but to touch on several topics that remain heavily stigmatized in today's media. There’s a joy that runs through my veins every time I see someone like me on my screen or in a book. I feel seen, heard, and proud. I feel important. But as a creator, there’s that itch that can only be scratched when I create. When I make something that lets the next person know that they’re not invisible. That they're valued, loved, and appreciated. That's what I hope for when someone reads a project of mine. For them to feel the same rush of joy flowing through them as it does me.

Wow, I’m a yapper. I'd like to close this intro off with some fun facts, so here are some of my top five favorites with sidenotes because I still want to yap a bit more about the things I adore.

SOLO ARTISTS:

ARI LENNOX ✧ ˚ · . CHOCOLATE POMEGRANATE — GET CLOSE — GOAT — POF — UP LATE

HALSEY ✧ ˚ · . 100 LETTERS — I HATE EVERYBODY — NIGHTMARE — ROMAN HOLIDAY — THE LIGHTHOUSE

HOPE TALA ✧ ˚ · . CHERRIES — EDEN — I CAN'T EVEN CRY — LEAVE IT ON THE DANCEFLOOR — SUNBURN

MELANIE MARTINEZ ✧ ˚ · . ALPHABET BOY — DEAD TO ME — EVIL — NOTEBOOK — STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE

HALIMA ✧ ˚ · . DOWNTOWN — FORD CARDINAL — IF LOVE WAS GREEN — SAMANTHA — TALK

BANDS:

5 SECONDS OF SUMMER ✧ ˚ · . AIRPLANES — BETTER MAN — KILL MY TIME — LONG WAY HOME — TEARS!

FALL OUT BOY ✧ ˚ · . BANG THE DOLDRUMS — CHICAGO IS SO TWO YEARS AGO — HEADFIRST SLIDE INTO COOPERSTOWN ON A BAD BET — NOBODY PUTS BABY IN THE CORNER — WHERE DID THE PARTY GO

FLO ✧ ˚ · . CARDBOARD BOX — FLY GIRL — IMMATURE — SUITE LIFE (FAMILIAR) — WALK LIKE THIS

PARAMORE ✧ ˚ · . BIG MAN, LITTLE DIGNITY — CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE — FRANKLIN — MISGUIDED GHOST — PART II

THE INTERNET ✧ ˚ · . DONTCHA — HOLD ON — LOOK WHAT U STARTED — SOMTHING'S MISSING — SPECIAL AFFAIR

GAMES:

CORAL ISLAND ✧ ˚ · . IF I START LISTING NAMES, I'M GOING TO MENTION EVERYONE. BUT I'M A LOYAL MARK GIRL. AND NOAH... AND MILLIE, EVA, BEN, Y—

DISNEY DREAMLIGHT VALLEY ✧ ˚ · . THIS IS SUCH A COMFORT GAME THAT SOOTHES MY INNER CHILD.

DON'T STARVE [TOGETHER] ✧ ˚ · . I MAY OR MAY NOT STILL SUCK AT THIS GAME AFTER A SOLID THREE YEARS, BUT I'M A WIGFRID MAIN.

STARDEW VALLEY ✧ ˚ · . I LOVE SEBASTIAN AND LEAH, AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL IF I HAVE TO.

THE SIMS 4 ✧ ˚ · . WHERE I SPEND A LOT MORE TIME IN CREATE-A-SIM AND BUILD MODE COMPARED TO PLAYING THE ACTUAL GAME.

TROPES:

FAKE RELATIONSHIP ✧ ˚ · . MHM... JUST SAY YOU LIKE EACH OTHER ALREADY.

FATED MATE ✧ ˚ · . I'M A BIT PICKY ABOUT THIS TROPE THOUGH. THINGS TEND TO MOVE VERY QUICKLY BUT I ENJOY IT NONETHELESS.

FRIENDS TO LOVERS ✧ ˚ · . A CLASSIC THAT DOESN'T NEED AN EXPLANATION.

REUNION ✧ ˚ · . ESPECIALLY IF THEY WERE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AND THEY REMINISCE OLD MEMORIES, OH MY GOODNESS. I EAT THIS TROPE UP EVERY TIME.

SLOWBURN ✧ ˚ · . NO DOUBT THIS IS MY MOST FAVORITE TROPE. THE BUILDUP TO EVEN THE TINIEST PIVOTAL MOMENT ALWAYS MAKES MY HEART THUMP.

TV SHOWS:

CRIMINAL MINDS ✧ ˚ · . YES, I’LL WATCH ALL 16 SEASONS FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME AND FALL IN LOVE WITH PRENTISS EACH TIME. WE WERE ALSO ROBBED OF BEARDED HOTCH CONTENT.

BRIDGERTON ✧ ˚ · . DO I CRY EVERY TIME I WATCH GEORGE AND CHARLOTTE'S STORY? YES. WILL I CONTINUE TO REWATCH IT AND RECITE THE LINES EVERY TIME SOMETHING REMINDS ME OF IT? ASOLUTELY.

THE BEAR ✧ ˚ · . I WISH I KNEW OF AYO EDEBIRI BEFORE THIS SHOW BECAUSE THAT WOMAN IS AMAZING??? LIKE, HELLO???

THE EQUALIZER ✧ ˚ · . *mini spoiler* STILL CAN'T STOP THINKING OF DANTE'S GRIN WHEN HE GOT TO SEE MEL, ROB, AND HARRY'S LITTLE WORK SPOT FOUR SEASONS LATER.

SWEET MAGNOLIAS ✧ ˚ · . HELEN, MADDIE, AND DANA SUE IS HOW I PICTURE MY FRIENDS AND I IN THE FUTURE. MARGARITA NIGHTS, BEING AUNTIES TO EACH OTHER'S CHILDREN, UGH. I LOVE THEM WHOLEHEARTEDLY.

And that concludes this introduction on me and this blog. I would love to connect and befriend other authors, so please don't hesitate to reach out as my DMs will always be open! I'd love to support and read your works, so don't be hesitant to share them with me if you'd like.

I hope you all will enjoy reading my works as much as I enjoy the process of bringing my ideas to life.

divider creds to strangergraphics ♡

[discordantwords]

Thank you so much for the tag @therealsaintscully!

How many works do you have on ao3? 48! 30 for BBC Sherlock and 18 for The X-Files.

What’s your total word count? 924,659 (whoa, that's a lot of words)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? (Never) Turn Your Back to the Sea White Knight Incidents with Dogs, Curious and Otherwise Another Auld Lang Syne The Dead Detective

Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

I try to. I'm not always as on top of it as I intend to be. I find comments tremendously meaningful and I at times get emotional while reading them. They are important to me. I reread them often.

I often fear that I'm a poor conversationalist and overthink my responses, which can tend to freeze me up.

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Most of my long fics have happy endings.

The Pillar upon Which England Rests is my ode to Mrs. Hudson. As she and John are grieving Sherlock's fall, she tells John all about how she and Sherlock first met. I don't think of it as a particularly sad story, but I suppose that ending counts as angsty, as Sherlock's eventual return is not addressed in the story.

I guess the shorter, more horrorish ones have angsty (or at least uneasy) endings.

Nothing Happened in Belarus has S4 Sherlock, in the throes of his breakdown, somehow briefly traveling through time and encountering S1 John, who cares for him. It's a brief reprieve for him in the midst of a personal hell, but there is no resolution. When he returns to his own time, he is still forced to face what's coming next.

At the end of Leaves, Sherlock and John have either successfully defeated the bloodthirsty plant that has invaded their flat, or they're being digested by it. I leave that decision up to the reader. :)

The Web has Sherlock returned from his time away and reunited with John, but there is a part of him that will always remain haunted and deeply paranoid.

What's the fic you've written with the happiest ending?

Most of them, heh. I like to leave my characters in a good place after putting them through hell.

I guess I'd have to say White Knight? I still get a little giddy when I think about the way Sherlock proposes at the end of that one, and how happy and free they both are after the crushing weight of misunderstandings and grief has fallen away.

Whirlwind has a pretty joyful ending, too.

Do you write crossovers?

I haven't written a crossover, but I have done a few fusion fics. The Dead Detective is a fusion with Jumpin' Jack Flash. Whirlwind is a fusion with Twister. Out There is a fusion with The X-Files.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really. Most responses on AO3 have been warm and supportive. I have gotten a few unnecessarily vicious comments on some of my ficlets here on Tumblr, but I do my best to ignore those.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Most of my smut tends to be of the R-rated variety, because I'm frankly just not very good at writing it.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes, sort of, but I don't believe it was done maliciously and I don't intend to call attention to it.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have not. I'm open to the idea, but I honestly don't know if I'm cut out for it. I think my tendency to wing things and my utter lack of a consistent writing schedule would drive a potential writing partner mad.

What's your all-time favourite ship?

Mulder and Scully were my first true fandom love. I love Sherlock and John equally as much, if not more.

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will?

There are quite a few WIPs on my hard drive that may never see the light of day. As far as posted fics, my Sherlock/Knight Rider fusion probably won't be finished.

What are your writing strengths?

I like to think that I'm pretty good at capturing character mannerisms, and writing from a perspective that lets the reader feel what the POV character is feeling.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm not all that impressed with my smut writing abilities.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I steer clear of it. Although Google translate can be helpful, IMO there are too many opportunities to make embarrassing or inadvertently offensive mistakes.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

The X-Files

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to?

I really enjoy the character dynamics between Hannibal/Will in Hannibal and Lestat/Louis in Interview with the Vampire. I think I'd have a harder time getting into their heads than I do with Sherlock and John, so I'll probably just continue admiring them from afar for now.

What's your favourite fic you've written?

This is such a hard question! I'm probably proudest of the work that went into Out There, but I have a huge soft spot for The Pillar upon Which England Rests and (Never) Turn Your Back to the Sea.

If anyone out there would like to share your thoughts on some of the things you've written, please do! I'll also tag @thetimemoves @arwamachine @raina-at @vulpesmellifera @iheardyou @totallysilvergirl @khorazir

[dearweirdme]

While 2023 was amazing to see Taekook together so much, basically every month we got them hanging out (and there was ofc more times that we don’t know, rightfully so) - I also couldn’t help to notice a difference to how they used to be around each other while the band was still doing stuff together. Maybe they feel more free or less observes when there are 5 more? Or they grew up which makes sense, they will be different due to age and also length of being together I suspect. While there were some very cute moments, there was also times where it felt a bit more awkward or JK seemed a bit annoyed by Tae / wasn’t as openly fonding / caring towards him. Sometimes even snippy. At times in this dumb AYS documentary and also during the Suchwita episode it came across that way. Maybe cause the older he gets he wants to protect it more or knows the consequences and tries to even it out a bit (for the both of them)

Hi anon!

I didn’t really see it that way. I think your comment about it being them without the other five members makes some sense though, as well as Jk being protective of his relationship.

From the top of my head (so there could be more), the only remark Jk made towards Tae that I consider something akin to snappy is when he said he wasn’t going to talk about something if it’s going to be edited out on Suchwita.. and I don’t really think that incident is something to make a big deal of. People disagree or get annoyed even when they’re in a relationship, it’s healthy even. To me Jk’s comments in AYS and the others in Suchwita were him joking/bantering. I know the other side loves to run with the ‘Jk was putting Tae in his place’ but that’s not actually what happened.

I do think it might’ve appeared somewhat different from other years.. and that’s probably due to Tae and Jk not generally being the main/solo talkers. I feel both of them usually play of the others a lot, and they weren’t able to do that much now. Fandom discourse has also been very leading in how people saw them together. Last year we had a huge push from former Tkkrs saying Jk treated Tae terribly and they took the smallest moments and overanalyzed those to the extreme. Anti’s, Jkkrs push those ideas like crazy still.

I have seen Jk annoyed at fandom comments about Tae, especially the Inkigayo one. And yes, I do feel that’s him being protective.. but also annoyed at fandom prying into his private live when he’s just there to talk about his music. Imagine being closeted and having to remain closeted and yet people in your comments keep asking you about your partner. It’s not fun. I think Jk shares what he wants about Tae on his own terms and not on anyone else’s… as does Tae btw.

I feel what’s most impactful about Tae and Jk last year is the shear volume of times they met.. and that we know of. They have been consistent, they have made seeing each other a priority it seems, during Ays we could still see how physically close and how drawn they still are to each other. What we saw of them last year, was so very much their own choice and not a result of editing.

Jk has edges, I mean.. he can absolutely be bratty and sharp and I don’t think for one second that he never points that sharpness to Tae. But, I think that’s normal. When you compare how he interacts with Tae to how he interacts with other members, I think it’s a definite that in general he interacts with Tae much more softly than he does others. I’m also pretty sure Tae doesn’t always treat Jk with gloves on either, which is also normal.

So, for me .. I think Tae and Jk were in a really good place last year. I think they probably felt enlistment hanging over their heads a lot, but it seemed to me like they really tried to make the most of the time they had.

[ghostofasecretary]

Pumpkin's Grief Disaster Cookies

yesterday morning my grandpa died, and i wore as close to all-black as i could to work, and i came home and made cookies without a recipe

they're pumpkin walnut! they're tasty! the yield is about 15 per batch, and they take about 15 minutes to bake at 410F. you'll probably want 2 cookie sheets or an extra large one to minimize the long cooking time, but thankfully these are tasty right out of the oven. housemate reviews: "Oh wow! That is so lovely, actually, I would never have guessed you made these without a plan." "It's so good!" they have a cakey, fluffy, chewy bit with a lightly crunchy bottom edge. you can customize the chewiness to crunch ratio a bit (see the picture at the end of the post for reference), but 410 is my personal favorite. i'm going to put the polished recipe before the cut and my actual recipe development process/personal notes below. i want to note that this was inspired by justine_snacks' pumpkin tiramisu cookie recipe, the short for which i saw in the parking lot after getting home from seeing friends, as well as knowing that you really do not need egg in pumpkin recipes after i made her pumpkin bars with chai caramel and cardamom crumble for thanksgiving. (that is the most extra, labor intensive baking recipe i've ever made, and one of my friends described them as the lembas of sweets and is still working on the leftovers. very complex and tasty.) my cookies are less flavorful than i'm sure the tiramisu ones are, but they're wholesome and light and comforting. i do think a pumpkin spice or maple glaze would be really lovely if you wanted them to be sweeter wet ingredients: - 140g unsweetened pumpkin puree - 175g white granulated sugar - 75g dark brown sugar - 1 stick unsalted butter, lightly softened - 1 stick salted butter, lightly softened - 60g unflavored greek yogurt (if the whey has separated since the last time you opened your container, that's fine, just pour it in and then add some of the normal yogurt till you get to 60g) dry ingredients: - approximately 310g white all purpose flour - 30g walnuts (could definitely use more) - 2 teaspoons baking powder fictitious, untried instructions for how a reasonable person might assemble these ingredients: 1. cream butter, sugar and pumpkin puree, until the butter has separated and no large chunks remain; there should still be visible spots of butter and the consistency should be very liquidy

2. lightly fold in yogurt with stand or hand mixer

3. mix together 200g of flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder; fold together with a spatula, as the dough will be too sticky for your mixer

4. add 30g walnut and another, i dunno, 100-120g of flour; fold till you get a dense, slightly sticky dough (still easily handled) that tastes like it will be good when baked. it should look something like this:

5. chill batter for 15-20 minutes; preheat oven to 410

6. scoop onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet with an ordinary tablespoon or a large cookie scoop if you have one

7. bake for 14-16 minutes (15 was about right for me, but you might check them earlier). a toothpick or fork inserted into the largest part should come out almost entirely clean and the bottom should be a light golden brown

8. chill on a baking sheet before storing; enjoy hot or cold! the cookies will soften over time, so enjoying them the night of or day after baking is best.

anyways, that's it for Fictional Recipe town, see below for how to actually recreate what i did last night

get home around 4pm and decide to use up the pumpkin puree left over from your thanksgiving baking in something. (thanksgiving baking is also the only reason you have both salted and unsalted butter in your fridge)

dump pumpkin on top of two sticks of unsoftened butter, just straight out of the fridge

put frantically back into jar so you can weigh it, like, at least vaguely. the scale showed exactly 140g but it could be lying because this was A Mess

let butter soften; take out your feelings by slapping it real hard with a spatula

sort 200g chana dal and 150g red lentils on a cookie sheet and preheat the oven to 400, which is probably a baking temperature, who knows, whatever!

add sugar

use hand mixer to cream butter, sugar, and pumpkin together till your liquid only has medium-small clumps of butter instead of huge ones. consider that you could continue mixing until it looks fluffy and nice. refuse

thoroughly wash and strain lentils and soak in a large mason jar

lick the batter off the ~wire whips~

add 200 (actually 205) g flour; stir

then add 30g walnuts and decide that since Justine Snacks' recipe had marscapone, yogurt is probably a good idea. dump the separated whey of your greek yogurt into the bowl along with the walnuts, about 8 grams, and then scoop out more yogurt-y yogurt till you get to 60g

add 2tsp baking powder directly to your disaster; stir

decide it needs more flour

at this point, stop noticing the numbers on your food scale

add, uh. 75g flour? fold

then add 50g flour? maybe 25g? 33?? i did not really take enough note

fold

taste batter; decide it is acceptably edible

start cooking lentils; chill batter till you're done cleaning dishes

nevermind, actually change out of your work clothes and put on your headphones and put soap in your dishes and then line sheet with parchment paper and scoop onto the sheet with a tablespoon and your hands. these are fairly large cookies but i at no point measured the pre-cooked weight of any of my dough balls or the post-cooked weight

set in oven and go bake 7 min at 400

wash dishes

take cookies out at 7 minutes; they are wildly overbaked

set a timer for 3 minutes; bake for 3.5 because you got distracted washing dishes

poke with fork; the cookie will completely fall apart in the center; eat the central goop. salmonella from flour the WHOMST and anyway you already ate it raw

stick back in the oven for another 3 minutes

put lentils in a pot with a tsp of turmeric and some canola oil; start boiling

cookies still look sad after 3 minutes but the edges are getting golden! go for another 2

NOW the fork comes out clean. so, nice crispy edge + clean toothpick after 15.5! however that is so long. let's gradually try, um. 410?

bake for 10 minutes; eat one of the first cookies

take out after 10 minutes; they have a noticeable edge now but the center turns to Destroyed Goop again with a fork

turn lentil heat down slightly and take away some of the scum; realize you still failed to get all the sus lentils out of your batch

feed one of the first batch to your housemate

after another 2 minutes the cookies are STILL GOOP

burn your finger putting them back in the oven; rinse with water

bake for another 2 minutes

...nope, that's still underbaked. 4 me.

1 minute later, well, that was 15 minutes, only 30 seconds less than 400. bottom looks darker. weird

decide that you want a cookie that COOKS QUICKLY, so even though the edges will probably darken too fast and they could burn, crank the oven up to 425

start very slowly peeling onions for your dal

wrestle with the by now VERY chill dough; thankfully given the amount of butter it softens well

put your 3 cookies on the sheet; bake for 7 minutes

roughly dice the first 2 onion halves

rinse your hands, check the cookies. wow the edges look much darker than either of the first two batches

set timer for another 3 minutes

dice the next half onion

...the bottoms are burning and the center OOZES goop. the top of these guys just looks. so underbaked

heat 3ish tbsp canola oil in skillet; move lentils to the back burner so you have room to take the cookies out on the stovetop

set timer for another 2 minutes

welp. that is going to burn. switch oven off and chill while you start getting the rest of your dal together. finishing dicing onion, start dicing tomatoes (about 280g of each), after onion is chopped put in 1tsp mustard seeds and 1tsp cumin seeds and a 1" ish piece of cinnamon and a bay leaf and one snapped dry red chili in your hot oil

then very roughly dice some ginger

turn stove down and add said ginger

then stick your onion in and cook for around five minutes

stick cookies back in the chilling oven for, idk, 2 minutes? 5?

finish dicing tomato

add tomato and cook

add a dash of cinnamon, a dash of turmeric, 1tsp cumin power, 1/4 tsp coriander powder, 3/4tsp kashmiri red chili powder, 3/4 tsp cardamom, 1/2 tsp salt and cook with the tomato on low heat

your mom calls to talk about your flight back home for the funeral; talk to her and also your grandma.

feel sad and add lentils slowly to pot with spices

bring to a delicate boil

taste, decide it needs some extra something, and add about a tsp garam masala and stir. also a dash more cinnamon powder

did i mention the cookies are now all chilling on the drying rack? that's happening

heat 1tbsp unsalted butter and then add 1.25tsp mustard seeds; let splutter; temper dal

turn off the heat

try one of the crispy cookies (425 batch) and feed to your other housemate, who likes them despite not seeming like a huge dessert person

decide that fresh-ish as they are this bottom is too crispy and the rest of the cookie is too detached from it, texturallly; go for 410 then next time you do something like this and accept the long cooking time

pour dal over 45g spinach to wilt it; eat and enjoy

make your housemate also eat some dal

do dishes till about 9:30

go to bed with extreme reluctance

plan to share your cookies with IRL friends and also the internet

grief is weird. my grandpa is dead. cookies are good.

here are the 400 at 15.5 minutes (bottom right), 410 at 15 (bottom left), and 425 at 12 + cooling oven time (top), so you can see what i mean about the bottoms being different colors:

there's lots of tumblr posts that are like "cooking is done by feel, baking is a SCIENCE" and i'm sure that's true if you care a lot about quality but. like. baking can be as chaotic as you want it to be. at the end you will, if nothing else, have sweet goop. and at best you'll have taken an awful day and a lot of sadness and made a recipe you're glad to share.

happy Friday!

[izunias-meme-hole]

My Definitive Top 10 Favorite Characters 

Number 1. Doctor Doom (Marvel) - I've always respected this man, but I've never been super crazy about him. His animated and game adaptations are good but not perfect, and the movies so far have failed to get his character across in a great way, so that might've been a part of why I wasn't a Doom Superfan. Though after getting back into the absurdity and impactfulslness of superhero comics, it soon hit me... Doctor Doom is a villain made for comics. He's overdramatic, grandiose, terrifying, bombastic, egotistical, pragmatic, powerful, absurd, nuanced, insecure, lonely, the whole package placed within a suit of armor and a green cloak. He's an arrogant, tyrannical, cold hearted technological and magical genius who embodies every inch of supervillainy you could imagine, while remaining a genuinely sophisticated, and honorable figure even with his history of pettiness. Overall Doom is just one big magnificent bastard.

Number 2. Sauron (Lord of The Rings) - The Original Dark Lord. A fallen being of great power, obsessed with order. The enemy army is his army, Mordor is his kingdom, the Nazgul are his servants, the One Ring is his power source fueled by a fragment of his own soul that tempts and corrupts all who bear it, his eye shines its malevolent gaze upon the world with the intent of ravaging and conquering all that it can see, and the entire story is caused by his machinations. Whenever I look back at Sauron as a villain and character, I end up remembering why he is as infamous as he is. A great villain sometimes can just be a genuinely terrifying presence, especially in cinema and literature.

Number 3. Ganon (Legend of Zelda) - Honestly after so many years, Ganon still holds up as a villain. He's had several different outings, multiple designs, multiple bosses, and many different traits though at his core he's remained the same greedy monster that he was introduced as. He remains a King of Thieves, a darwinistic asshole who was forged by his harsh environment, an ambitious man desiring to be a force of nature, a warmonger, an inevitable storm, greed and wrath incarnate, a force of destiny, and a truly demonic King of Evil that worships power above all else. It's this versatility mixed with the consistency of his core traits and ever-looming presence that make Ganon the greatest villain in video game history.

Number 4. Battler Ushiromiya (When They Cry) - Honest to god, Battler is a prime example of how to make a phenomenal flawed protagonist through someone that you can easily describe as a walking wad of grease who's bark is more dangerous than his bite at the start of his journey. It takes quite a bit for him to navigate his new environment due to the amount of mayhem he's been exposed too, hell he regresses big time at one point in the story and it bites him in the ass. Though when he finally just gets it, he finally makes some solid and true development that peaks by the final act of the finale. Great protagonist.

Number 5. DIO Brando (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) - I feel like I'm always going have a soft spot for this piece of shit, because his development and influence is something else. In Phantom Blood, he’s still one of the greatest evils the series has ever seen, but we also saw a human element to him in a very negative way. He was bitter, envious, and straight up angry at the world for making him the bottom of the barrel, but after becoming a vampire he’s becomes sick, scary, and slightly pitiable due to his lack of humanity. In Stardust Crusaders, the re-emerged DIO is out to get the Joestars, not for revenge for Jonathan humiliating him, but because he knows they’ll be a threat in the long run. He's still a vain and power-hungry sociopath, but he's less erratic and more paranoid, controlled, and slightly nihilistic from a mortal standpoint. DIO was not really sane, but he did a damn good job of holding himself together, until the final battle. This isn't even mentioning the Stone Ocean flashbacks where we get to see more of this controlled DIO interacting with the man who would carry on his work, showing that around that point in his life that he became aware of his limitations and is willing to leave unfinished business to someone he genuinely trusts. Overall, DIO is a complete monster who is willing to do whatever he can to be at the top because of his nature and because he understands what being at the bottom is like.

Number 6. Sephiroth (Final Fantasy) - Sephiroth is one of the most frightening bosses in gaming and a genuine horror villain. He is a tragic monster born from science, and a loyal “son” to his alien mother, Jenova, but he’s still scary as hell thanks to his god complex, unlimited strength, ethereal vibes, years of experience, his ability to live off of pure spite just so he can make the lives of his enemies (and Cloud) complete hell. His appearance in of itself is creepy due to how beautiful, yet unsettling it is thanks to his silver hair, green snake-like eyes, and perfect physique which is complimented by a black coat. However the most dangerous things about him are that he’s completely delusional, his strength is unmatched, and just how far he’s willing to go to distort other peoples sense reality, specifically Cloud’s sense of reality. Sephiroth a tragic character and a truly phenomenal villain.

Number 7. The Joker (Batman) - The Joker is a crook from god knows where that got a clownish makeover from an acid bath and ended up becoming the arch-nemesis of Batman himself. While the other rouges have their particular danger levels, they all have some type of cause they're fighting for or they're purely out to benefit themselves. Joker just causes chaos, death, and suffering, for the sake of his twisted sense of humor. He is willing to kill and ruin lives in the most creative way possible, so long as he finds it funny. Yet despite how twisted he is, this evil ass clown actually can be funny. Not only that, but he's the most effective contrast to Batman, even more than the other rouges. Batman is a frightening figure with a semi-demonic visage who suffered one bad day in his youth, yet he is a hero dedicated to the cause of justice and protecting the innocent citizens of Gotham City. Joker is a colorful figure with a big 'ol grin on his face and a jovial demeanor, yet he is perfectly okay with causing as much unwarranted harm to others for the sake of artistic chaos. Ultimately, the Clown Prince of Crime is a villain that's managed to last for decades, despite the ever marching clock, for these exact reasons.

Number 8. Xemnas (Kingdom Hearts) - This doesn’t require much explanation, but allow me to explain. Xemnas is an amazing villain. Xemnas is the nobody of Apprentice Xehanort, his husk, an entity that can feels nothing and wasn’t meant to exist, yet he’s quite the specimen. He’s a very sinister figure due to his nature, the fact that he’s a special nobody like Roxas, his inability to feel emotion, and his belief that negative emotions are what give the heart power, but at the same time you somehow manage to feel pity for him because of these things. While what he does is his own choice, you can clearly see that while he’s a different entity from his human self, he still chooses to go in that hollow shadow because it’s in his own nature, and it ended up being his downfall. That and his boss was truly a test of your skills. TL;DR: Xemnas is amazing.

Number 9. Bowser (Super Mario Bros) -  Bowser is a genuinely great villain and fun as hell. Sure, there are a crapton of underrated villains in the Mario series, but no matter what you cannot really hate this guy. He’s a giant fire breathing turtle-dragon who’s a evil king, but he’s also a meathead, arrogant as hell, has very cool boss fights, is a surprisingly good father to his kids, and he’s an amazing protagonist and ally. He's also a VERY huge asshole in Mario Party. Though at the end of the day, Bowser is just an entertaining villain and a great character.

Number 10. Messmer The Impaler (Elden Ring) - Messmer was certainly a welcome surprise. He was the firstborn son of Queen Marika, ultimately the one who personally oversaw the genocide of the hornsent in the Land of Shadow, and event so horrific and cruel that its impact could still be felt within the present day. He was afflicted with a curse at his birth, in which a dark and malevolent snake threatened to eat him from the inside, which resulted in Marika plucking out his eye and replacing it with a seal of grace. Sounds like quite the monster, right? Well here's the thing. Messmer's a surprisingly good boss, like he literally preserved his enemies culture inside a storeroom just because one of his knights requested it, and has at least some level of compassion. Sure some of his men defected after finding out about the true nature of his existence, but there were some that even stuck around because they know who he is as a person. So why did this great guy commit literal one of the most horrific events in history? Well you see, Marika basically told him to eliminate the hornsent, and it wasn't just a standard order... it was a secret banishment for him, and Marika's vengeance on the hornsent. That's right, Messmer was exiled so he could be a scapegoat for his mother in the Land of Shadow. While this doesn't absolve him of his crimes, it ultimately makes him extremely pitiable.

[elementaskylos345]

Urik's Journal

A series of stone tablets that carry the weary words of one man isolated at the top of the Watcher's Spire, struggling to survive and struggling to keep his mind.

This is written specifically with a humanized au in mind, so don't freak out when things have bones

!!Trigger Warnings in tags!!

Higher beings these words are for you alone.

Not really, but it feels like only higher beings can survive this madness. For those that find this journal collection in the future I am Urik, assistant to Lurien the Watcher. So much has happened over the last few months and everything is so overwhelming right now. So. I've decided to begin journaling to gather my thoughts and keep myself sane.

So, day 1, I suppose. I'm trying to keep quiet so the husks outside don't claw at the door. Thankfully the stone of these tablets is soft enough to chisel and not make too much noise. I don't think I'm in any real danger but I hate that noise. Knowing they were once my friends and coworkers makes their shambling and mumbling and feral clawing utterly unbearable. I can't stand that I know it's them out there.

Despite everything the king has done, sacrificing so many, the infection remains. it was all in vain. I can only hope that this infection is not happening in other kingdoms.

•••

Day 2

With the telescope in this room I can watch the ground even from this great height… I hate it. I wish I could put an end to this. So many people die every day. I can't see fine details but I can see enough. I don't know if I can say I'm lucky, trapped at the peak of the tallest building in the city but at least I'm safe. I don't think I'll be watching the ground below.

On a vaguely related note I'm beginning to run low on food. Though this may only be the second day of the journal I have been stuck in Lurien's room for what I think is a few months now. I'm down to just a few bags of the rations that were handed out. Thankfully it's pretty nonperishable so I can stretch it out over a week or two I think but I need to figure something out quickly. Getting food last time nearly got me killed. I'm no fighter, I'm just a man.

•••

Day 4

I've skipped day 3 as nothing interesting occurred but I eat fresh meat today. I managed to lure a vengefly inside using some of the dried mushroom and managed to cage it. I still need to actually kill and prepare it but I still managed to catch something! Vengeflies don't fly this high up enough to make this method consistent but this is still progress.

I will need to venture outside of this room and possibly outside of the tower. If I keep my distance I might be able to get by without conflict but I don't count on it. The husks outside still seem to have some function of the mind left. They speak things on rare occasions, calling on Master Lurien or even myself.

•••

Day 5

By the king I miss seasoning. But I live another day and feel better than I have in weeks. Maybe it's in my bead but the fresh food feels good. However, I still need a consistent source of food. If I can get down to the bridge or just above I could set up a few traps there. I'd need to make traps and get past the guards but it seems a decent enough plan. I'll think of some back-up ideas but that one feels very plausible.

•••

Day 8

The plan did not work. I made a few traps that worked somewhat consistently in tests and caught one vengefly but when I made my journey down to the bridge I was attacked by one of Elite Guards. I lost the traps and now have a nasty gash across my back. I think I can treat this and prevent infection but this is bad. I'm sat against Lurien's resting podium. He cannot help me but his presence is comforting…

I dread what might happen in the coming days.

•••

Day 10

I am in a great deal of pain.

Day 11

I stepped out onto the balcony today. I intended to wash the wound on my back but I stood outside for a good while feeling the rain fall on me. I wept. My situation is bleak. I am alone, I have dwindling supplies, there is nothing but death, and there is no end in sight. I feel the infection swimming in the back of my mind, tempting me closer. I hate this. I hate it all. So much death and so much pain all from one angry and spiteful god. I can't help but ask why. Why us? What crime did we commit to warrant this violent reaction?

I think I'm going to sleep for a while. I'm so tired. I know it's risky to dream but I'm not sure what I live for at the moment.

•••

I've lost track of the days. The timer system in the tower broke down and I've not the skill to repair it. It has been at least 3. I am out of food. I've tried to trap a vengefly but with no luck. I'm not exactly sure what to do. I'm scared to leave the room. I'd pray to the Pale King but he won't answer. He can't help me. He's already failed his kingdom. What could he do to help me?

•••

I need to do something. The rainwater is plenty abundant and rich in minerals but it simply isn't enough. I could sneak into one of the floors below. I need to. I will bring one of the candle holders as a weapon. If I perish… oh well I suppose

A few hours later. I was unsuccessful but I did fend off a Lance Sentry and steal her weapon. It's not food but I guess I'm better prepared for a dangerous encounter? I'll try again soon. Maybe. I'm exhausted mentally so I might go hungry another day.

•••

I'm going out again. It is the next day I'm pretty sure. I'm going to get something.

I found some dried mushrooms near the Watcher Knights. It's not much but I'll take it. I'm beginning to regret hiding up in the tower and not attempting to flee while there were enough people between me and the husks to attempt to break past the walls. But I couldn't abandon Lurien. He may not need me now but I feel I have a moral obligation to remain at his side. I still need to hunt for food since I ate all I found. Hopefully I can lure in a vengefly or something.

••▪︎

Ask and you shall receive. Captured and cooked a vengefly. I feel energized so I might go down to try and retrieve the traps I dropped. In hindsight trying to set the traps up so far away was a poor decision. They might catch something but they're pointless if I can't reach them. It may not be the best source of food but I might set the traps up either by the telescope or balcony. I'll try the balcony. Hopefully the infection has made them less intelligent and they won't avoid this area after some time.

I have returned. One of them was destroyed and one was damaged. That leaves me one functioning trap. I think I can repair the trap but I'll do it later, I need to set the first one up

•••

Same day, different journal. Retrieved my broken traps and set up the one working trap. I have to admit writing and planning my survival has kept my mind busy. The infection whispers to me but I can mostly ignore it. The voice does grow louder and the light in my dreams brighter but I don't feel myself getting lost just yet. It's certainly inevitable that the infection will claim me but for now I survive. For who and for what sake I still can't say. Maybe I don't want to leave Master Lurien. He's all I have right now. I swore I'd watch over him… that's probably it. I live for him

I'm not sure if he's even aware in his eternal sleep but I will be here and I hope he knows that.

▪︎••

I've repaired the second trap and set it up. I've also scraped a bit of bone marrow out of the tiny bones of the vengefly and ate that. It tastes surprisingly good for being uncooked. The other bones have sat too long to be safe to eat but I'm taking note of this for the future.

Unrelated but I'm glad Lurien had so many stone tablets laying about. I was never a fan of the silk parchment. The humid air and wet conditions make keeping them maintained rather difficult, especially now. They may be easier to write on but they won't stand the test of time.

Back to my survival. The traps are set up and I can continue to scavenge. My wound is healing and I think I've grown used to the pain, it certainly makes getting around a bit easier. I can at least stand up straight again. I will go out and look for food and supplies after I sleep for a little bit. I have learned how to avoid the husks up here so they have become a non issue.

•▪︎•

A few scraps.

I shouldn't be surprised I'm struggling but I'm still frustrated. Food was tight before the infection got this bad so it's only logical food is tight now but this feels absurd. I know the other residents and guards had to eat and the places where the food was stored is behind danger. I'm just complaining. Of all the places to be trapped I feel like the city is probably the worst. Most of the food came from outside the city. But the king sealed the gates. He only trapped us all here. He sealed our fate.

I wish these fucking birds would just take the bait. I'm not eating nearly enough.

•▪︎▪︎

I apologize for my vulgarity in the last journal but I feel my frustration is justified. I've nibbled on one of the canvases just to lull the need to chew on something. It will not satiate my hunger and I think I just feel worse now but it felt good in the moment I think. I moved one of the traps to the telescope. Maybe them being farther apart will increase the chances I catch something - anything. I might need to do something drastic at this point

▪︎▪︎▪︎

Before I write on the subject of this journal I want to preface - I am ashamed of what I've done. I am desperate and in a situation most bleak but this does not make what I did any better.

I now have food for a few days. The way I acquired it is awful. His name was Elgor. He was in charge of overseeing the guards' scheduling in the spire. He was a kind but stern man before the infection claimed his mind. I often shared lunch with him when our schedules allowed it. I did not target his husk out of any hatred or any reason other than desperation.

I used the lance I acquired from the Sentry I fought a while ago and attacked him. He slapped me around with a surprising amount of strength but I ended the encounter as quickly as I could. I never thought I'd ever need to butcher a man let alone eat one. I had to cover his face with rags to not look at him while I did it. I question now if being a mindless husk would be better than this. At least the husks seem to be protecting each other.

▪︎▪▪︎

I am still reeling from what I've done. I hope to write a full biography for Elgor from this. I feel dirty. I feel as though I've defiled his corpse. I've noticed the husks up here seem more anxious in his absence which makes me feel worse. I'm questioning if I should've just starved. I've apologized to Elgor countless times and I can only hope some part of him somewhere knows I did not want to do this and that I regret it.

Despite my feelings I can't bring myself to ditch his body. I killed him to eat and at this point I should go through with it. I've already started. I'll give him as proper a burial as I can when I can.

•▪︎•

It has been several days. Elgor has sustained me and I've dedicated the energy he gave me to preserving his memory as best as I can. I've wrapped his body in cloth and hope I can bring him to ground level soon. I think I've made peace with what I've done, I'm not quite sure. I'm not sure I feel a whole lot right now.

I have caught one vengefly and have decided to wait until I kill and eat it. I have far more energy now so I can begin my search for a stable food source once again as I am NOT doing what I did to Elgor to someone else. I refuse to. I can't.

••▪︎

After a few more days I've finally made progress. I've gathered a few days worth of rations from one of the guards’ rest areas. This isn't anything sustainable but I'm so, so happy about this. I thank Elgor for giving me the energy I needed to get to this point. I'm also getting better at avoiding the husks.

Though the light is getting brighter, it's getting louder. She calls me by name. I'd almost forgotten my own name. I'm torn between hoping for my continued survival or giving Elgor the burial he needs. There's no way I'm getting to the resting grounds but perhaps I can send him off into one of the rivers that flow through the city. I doubt it would be the burial he'd want but I don't have much to offer.

•¤▪︎

The infection rings in my mind. I'm thinking about it more and more. So I risked it and took Elgor to the ground. It had been so long since I was on solid ground. I found a somewhat secluded area And watched his body disappear below the surface of the water. I stayed there for a while and wept for him. I feel terrible. Just a few days before the infection becomes a bigger issue I cannibalize what was left of him. The husks do not speak anymore, the only word I've heard is “attack” from the Flying Sentries, but this doesn't make things better.

I'm going to spend time with Lurien. I really need it right now.

¤•▪︎

My mind feels not my own. I fight to regain myself. All in vain. All in vain. The king failed. The king failed us all. He killed us all. I just want to go back to the way things were. I wish I could see my friends’ eyes full of life, I wish I could speak with Lurien again, I wish I could be happy again, I wish the light never descended upon this land. I miss the peace, I miss my friends, I miss my life. I'd give anything to go back to that.

פ¤

Lost all of them. Lost all. Lost. Master's given life for naught. Not worth. The cost too great cost too great. Lost all kingdom life light. None left left to grieve. Non left to give. How much more must we suffer?

¤¤¤

Master, light calls.

•°×

I'm not sure how but I still remain. This journal comes many days after the last. Maybe even weeks. Time eludes me. Reading over my last three journals and am astonished the infection didn't take me.

It is very hazy but I sat by Master Lurien and I think I was trying to fight it off. Perhaps I was thinking of what remains and how empty the future feels because I remember giving up. I so clearly remember it because that's when the infection backed off. It still rings like windchimes In my mind but it's less overbearing. I don't understand. Why am I still alive? I've never seen anyone get so close to the edge but pull themselves away.

Even as I write I don't fight it. I don't have anything to fight for. I'll update my journal series if I'm still aware and I deem it necessary I suppose.

×▪︎°

I ponder if being infected would be better than this. There is nothing for me here. There is nothing for anyone. This place is no better than the wasteland outside of the kingdom borders. At least with being a mindless husk I would not need to feel this pain. it's not even the physical pain it's the mental anguish. I cannot put into words the despair I feel

It's indescribable

I want revenge but seek revenge on a king that abandoned us. I want things to change but they will never change. I want to be happy but this hellish place will not allow that. Master Lurien, I'm sorry, but I don't know how much more I can endure. How much more I can despair. How much more I can hate. I crave a death deeper than that of the body - I don't want there to be an afterlife. The gods of this world are unbearable and I want naught for them to hold my soul. Let me fade. Let me become nothing.

*▪︎+

It has been a very long time since I've written in this specific series. My words are written elsewhere. I am in a much more stable position and state of mind. Still not a mindless husk. I acquired some edible fungus from the edge of the city and have started a small farm. I recently relocated the traps to a lower floor as I'm far more adept at navigating the spire and its dangers. I've also made more of them.

I've picked up many hobbies to keep myself occupied - painting, carving, crafting, singing. I've also explored some of the city. Most of what I've seen has been completely destroyed. I don't explore often. Not much to see unless I want to depress myself. I've fallen into a consistent routine and found a reason to continue living.

I swore myself to Master lurien. I'd be forever at his side. I think I've mentioned this in previous journals but I've decided my days will be spent preserving him and what he did for this fallen kingdom. The bastard king may have failed us and sacrificed so many, including Lurien, for nothing but Lurien was loyal to the end. He sacrificed his life for that fool. So I'll make sure his name, who he is, and what he did is not forgotten. I hope Herrah and Monomon have someone who would do the same for them as well.

×*●

Much time has passed and I once again return to my journal. I feel I need to on occasion to remember who I am and who I was before the infection became an issue. I had forgotten my name. Urik. It feels so foreign. Disconnected. I had to dig around for my first journal just to find it. This series of tablets has been discarded to a corner almost entirely. Perhaps I need to focus on myself some to reconnect with who I am.

But perhaps not. I don't think I'm that important anymore. I will live here, preserve here, and die here. Simple as that and I am at peace with and find comfort in that. There's nothing else for me so why concern myself with things that won't matter in the long run. For all I know I will be nothing more than a corpse in a month's time. It changes nothing. I've written all I can about Lurien. This will likely be the final entry in this series since I am not what matters here in this spire. What matters is my master.

@●¤

My past self is a damned fool for not realizing just how much time “the rest of my days” could be. The time gaps between these entries keeps getting longer and longer. I'm certain the time frame between the last two was almost a whole year. No clue how long it's been since I last wrote since it feels like eternity. I can only write, watch, and read and paint the same damn things over and over and over and over again until I need something new.

The infection has become something of a friend to me, one of the few constants of my life. It tells me things and I acknowledge them. Its influence over me fluctuates. Some time I am in a daze and some time I am barely affected by it. But despite everything it's done I can't see my life without it anymore. I'm definitely just lonely and borderline mad but I've nothing else to share to the no one that will read this, so.

@#■

Years alone. Years above. Years alone. Years above. Years alone. Years above. Years alone. Years above. Years alone. Years above. Years alone. Years above. Years alone. Years above. Years alone. Years above. Years alone. Years above. Years alone. Years above.

●¤°

What the hell was I on last entry? I don't remember writing that and just stumbled upon it in Lurien's Journal room. Maybe I was having some kind of infected bout or something. Oh well I guess

#■•

I have not experienced fear this intense in an eternity. Someone entered the spire. Someone bested the Knights below. Someone sought to hurt HURT Lurien. I managed to convince them otherwise sending them off to a strange sight I found below the city. I've locked down spire from the Knights room to up here. If that THING BASTARD comes back they aren't getting to him. To one will hurt Lurien. The seals must remain. They cannot be broken. They will not break. Never break.

@◇>

The ground shook with a might I have not felt in forever. A deep bellowing roar from the waterways. At least we're safe up here. Never breaking seals. Lurien is safe. Forever safe. The light is gone and my mind is empty. It's quiet. Quiet. Too quiet. I hate this. Why is it gone? Gone from me? I can't stand the silence. Empty empty silence. Loud and far too quiet. I need to fill the void. I can start in darkness but I need the background noise I can't stand it can't stand it can't stand it CANT STAND IT

The anger has returned. DAMNED KING

He killed us all, trapped us all, doomed us all. Nothing left for us because of him. No more life no more light. No more. Nothing but empty. Empty. I can't understand why Lurien was so loyal to a fool. A fool that used him. Doomed him. Killed him. I suffer in silence. Silent. My mind is empty, my will is shaken, and my voice is meek. But I remain. Remain at Lurien's side. Never leave. Never forget. Never abandon.

[moistvonlipwig]

Top 10 Favorite Final Seasons of a TV Show

For @loisfreakinglane's enjoyment.

...This was actually so hard. I'm limiting myself to TV shows with multiple seasons that have officially for-real ended, as well as to final seasons that I've watched in full (so there are some seasons of shows I watch that maybe should make the cut that won't because I haven't gotten around to them yet). In the order that I thought of them:

Breaking Bad Season 5: A really strong & exciting final season with some great new characters (Lydia Rodarte-Quayle I love you Lydia Rodarte-Quayle!!!) and some of the show's best episodes.

Once Upon a Time Season 7: My favorite season of the show, and one that weirdly addressed a lot of the problems I had with the first six seasons. The new characters were great and they did some cool & unexpected things with the old characters. Hardly perfect, and it somehow made the show's already-convoluted timeline worse, but it was a very strong note to end the show on & it helped me look on the show as a whole in a much fonder light, which was no small feat after some of the bullshit the show had previously pulled.

Amphibia Season 3: A great final season. I loved seeing the Boonchuys on Earth in 3A, and I loved the story arc of Anne & Sasha co-commanding the resistance in 3B. IMO a lot of the complaints about this season come from people who didn't really understand what the show was about. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Steven Universe Future/Steven Universe Season 5: I kind of consider Future to be the proper 'final season' of Steven Universe and not its own show, but I know some people disagree and consider it a separate limited series and would say that Season 5 is the real final season of the show. Either way, both seasons are quite good. I think Future is consistently stronger -- Season 5 has a stretch of 6 or so episodes that are kind of weak -- but Season 5 has higher highs. But again, both are very good final seasons, whichever one you consider to be the 'true' final season.

Person of Interest Season 5: Honestly, this is not the best final season -- I think being limited to 13 episodes really hamstrung the writers, and not all the episodes are good -- but it does end on a really strong note, and also I ran out of final seasons I consider legitimately great, so, uh, good for you PoI, you arguably don't deserve to be here but you're here anyway!

Better Call Saul Season 6: I'm not gonna lie, I had problems with the way 6B unfolded -- I thought the pacing wasn't the best and some of the character/plot beats didn't quite land -- but both 6A and the finale were very strong, and I'm not opposed to most of the events of 6B in theory. Plus, BCS is just well-made TV in general, so even when I didn't love it, I was still appreciative of the artistry that went into the show.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 9: I remember really liking the first half of this season and thinking it was some of the best stuff the show had put out in years. The second half was more par for the course but not bad. The actual season-long plot was pretty whatever but it produced some good episodes, and Daniel Ingram, as always, delivered with the music.

Battlestar Galactica Season 4: Look, anyone who's taken a cursory glance at my BSG tag knows how I feel about what BSG S3 & 4 did to Boomer, and S4 additionally committed the sin of killing off Anastasia Dualla, but I don't actually think S4 is overall a bad season. I think it could've been better, sure, but I honestly was fine with it aside from the stuff I hated. Lol. Also, Kara Thrace turns into a pigeon, and that's hilarious.

Infinity Train Season 4: Technically this is a better season of television than some of the seasons listed above, but it was not intended as a final season and you can tell; nothing about it makes for a particularly effective ending to the show. I will forever mourn the remaining 4 planned seasons of this show that we never got. But, hey, it's still a good season, even though it's probably the show's weakest outing.

...Revolutionary Girl Utena's Apocalypse Arc: LOOK I KNOW IT'S NOT A "SEASON" I RAN OUT OF FINAL SEASONS I LIKE OKAY. It's better than pretty much everything else on this list though because it's RGU, how could it not be.

Tagging @jioinfocommlimited, @02511213942, @occidentaltourist, @cassphos, @nocticola, and anyone else who wants to tackle this challenge. Be warned, it's harder than it looks!!!

[cobraonthecob]

just remembered that i haven't posted my merc 2nd seat predictions so here they go, i made them before fernando signed to stay with aston martin btw

REMEMBER. this is all for fun and for merc to deal with. some will be funny, others serious

SERIOUS PREDICTIONS: 1. carlos: easy swap, also, i'd scramble to grab carlos. he has a good brain under that pretty hair and why not. swapsies!

2. fernando: harder to get, as he has said that he'll consider going to merc if aston is a flop this year and merc is stronger this year. as we all know, he is choosing a stable future...hopefully.

3. alex: even harder, as he'll want to be the number 1 driver nurturing williams into a top-contending team. something drastic would have to happen to make alex consider moving

UNLIKELY, BUT POSSIBLE

antonelli: IF he makes top three in F2 and a lot of persuasion, but i feel like merc will try and persuade williams to take him on and take on another, more experienced driver. or merc will just put this kid fresh out of school in merc itself.

esteban: if alpine remains at the bottom of the standings and pierre is dominating, then i can see esteban trying to say 'hey merc, take me, i'll be a second player, idc, just get me out of here'. i doubt it though, considering his history of not getting along with his teammates and i think he and george would kill each other in a way that'll give toto a giant headache

I WOULD BE SURPRISED 1. mick: we love blonde nepo babies, don't we? IF mick is to return to the grid, i can see him getting strong-armed to williams and pulling alex to merc, or merc says 'fuck it, let schumi junior warm the seat for the next coming of max verstappen', then that's a possibility. his second year at haas (aka when the car was in a place to score points) showed that he can score good points, but he wasn't very consistent. he really should've gotten a third year to finally prove his skill, but alas. kmag and nico have way more experience. realistically speaking, he's going to have a hard time coming back to the grid unless he pulled a daniel and gets a P2 time or better in a merc in a tyre test. now, mick's job as reserve and i think he also helped develop the car means that he could be pulled to williams if that's an option, but i don't think mick to merc or williams is a possibility

2. logan: if he can score points this season and alex is not willing to play second and seat warmer at merc, i feel like logan would take it. currently, the way the season's going? if i were logan, i'd start looking to formula e, f1 has nothing for me going on if i can't turn the car in a corner without it attempting to fling itself into a wall

3. valtteri: idk if he'd be willing to gamble on being the better driver when merc has been slowly putting their eggs into the george basket. also why would he go back there. used to be in SILLY but now moved here since hulkenberg has taken a seat at sauber, though a driver of his caliber would be able to easily beat hulkenberg

SILLY 1. sebastian: he retired to be a girl dad, but then deciding 'fuck it, i'll pull a fernando' would have me laugh for a grand total of two seconds before i'm like 'no'. we have plenty of older drivers and no new fresh talent on the grid already, like keep your promise and be with your family

2. rosberg: why would he do this. he retired to be a father and he's happy doing other things. f1 is NOT the end all be all. let him be happy running an ice cream shop with his wife and an extreme e team

3. nyck: what i'd give to be a fly on the wall for that phone call. i can see it. toto calls nyck. nyck picks up. toto is begging on his knees. nyck smiles. 'you left me out of a williams seat for so long that i went for alphatauri. now i'm happy in formula e and wec. thanks, but no thank you. good-bye.'

4. yuki: after all the disrespect alphatauri/vcarb has put him through, he can go to merc and claw his way there. or maybe not. idk how i'd feel about yuki playing second driver to another white man

5. pierre: given alpine being a flop, i wouldn't be surprised if he showed up to the merc/williams auditions. i can see him going to williams to replace alex should alex move to merc, or pierre going to merc, but i don't know he's WANT to be a second driver at merc or williams despite the fact that maybe i do want a pierre-alex lineup. ex teammates of max verstappen let's fucking goooo

6. daniel: after all the smoke and mirrors and the reason why nyck's therapist can afford their kid's motorsport career, daniel makes a move to merc. this prediction is so impossible (merc and daniel wouldn't even consider it for different reasons) but thinking about it made me laugh

[cyannchavez]

Gajevy Analysis

I'm so glad that I finally have the time to really dive deep into this topic. I have been wanting to do this for so long but never had the time! So I wanted to introduce you all to my deep, DEEP dive of Gajevy. In this essay I will talk about every single moment that features Gajeel and Levy in the manga I might even compare to the anime at certain points. Let me tell you I read the entire manga page by page to find every single Gajevy moment I could, big and small. In this essay we will explore the characteristics and personalities of these two wonderful characters and how they came together to become one of the most loved couples in Fairy Tail. So I hope that y'all enjoy this analysis as much as I enjoyed making it! 

        I wanna start off with the first half of this pair that we are introduced to in the beginning of the manga and that is Levy Mcgarden. Levy is a 17 year old girl with short but wild blue hair, we learn right away that she is very short for her age, maybe 5 ft 2in or even shorter it's never proven but she brings it up often. She has big brown eyes and her outfit consists of a yellow bikini top covered with a blue vest and khaki like shorts. Overall she's a real cutie, not only that but she is very sweet, loving and kind. 

        She is also the leader of her own three person team Shadowgear. We learn more about her as time goes on from little appearances she makes in smaller panels. She's extremely intelligent and reads like there's no tomorrow. She doesn't like violence as she never joins in when her guild members fight, she's more of a tactician and peace maker. But she's quick on her feet and uses her attacks to her advantage when she has to use them. Her magic is awesome and slap yer grandma powerful. However, due to her peaceful and loving nature she tries to avoid using it if possible. She uses a holy type of magic called solid script. Writing runes and words into solid materials such as oil, iron, and stone. I for one think that her magic has so much potential but sadly it's so underutilized in the manga which makes sense considering levy doesn't like to fight but dang give me more please! Levy Mcgarden does indeed start off as a minor character but grows into so much more as the series goes on. We find this out as we reach chapter 47, a chapter that will change her character all together.

   We start off on chapter 47 with Natsu, Erza, Gray, Lucy and Happy returning home from their most recent mission. They comment on the guild looking so bizarre from far away but not really realizing exactly what's wrong with the guild until they get up close enough to see. They finally look at their guild hall which is deformed and destroyed by several metal looking beams. The beams protrude out from the building in every direction. Team Natsu travels down to the hall basement to get answers from the master. Who is less than helpful and is even drunk. However in that moment we can see he is upset and is drowning his sorrows in alcohol. We find out that a rival guild named Phantom Lord destroyed their guild hall in the middle of the night while everyone was sleeping peacefully in their homes. That next night everyone pairs up for safety reasons. While everyone is together, trying to remain safe for the night something sinister is happening in town. But before I talk about that I wanna bring up our antagonist of this arc. Gajeel Redfox, shockingly the other half of our favorite couple Gajevy. 

We meet Gajeel in his guild hall while he is eating with his back turned away from us. He knocks out a guild mate when they disturb him while he eats, turning so we can finally see what this man looks like. Gajeel is a towering man at least 6 ft tall, his eyes are blood red and he has long spiky jet black hair, he also adorns piercings totaling at about 21 piercings on his face not including the ones on his arms. He has a black Phantom lord emblem on his right shoulder. His fashion choice is a little strange. He wears a black shirt that fits into his iron studded belt. It is way longer in the back making it look like some kind of frayed, torn up cloak. He wears baggy white pants stuffed into black steel toed boots covered in iron studs. Safe to say this man is absolutely terrifying.

 We learn a tiny bit about his personality other than “EVIL.” Gajeel is easily agitated as seen when he is disturbed while hes eating, he loves to fight, maim, and even torture. His magic which we find out later is Iron dragon slayer magic. He is introduced as Natsu's opposite, both being dragon slayers but one that was abandoned but found by Fairy Tail and raised with love and the other being abandoned and left to fight for himself. A perfect representation of nature vs nurture. Gajeel stands with his fist clenched ranting about how Phantom lord is a more powerful guild than Fairy Tail. His master Jose congratulates him on his destruction of the Fairy Tail guild hall. Gajeel goes on to explain that he doesn't think they were hard enough on them so he decided to leave them a little something extra, a present. 

During the night while everyone sleeps Gajeel stalks an unassuming Fairy tail team consisting of three people, Jet, Droy and to much of our shock Levy Mcgarden. This is where i'm gonna compare the manga to the anime. First off in the manga we don't see the attack take place we only see a cut straight to the next morning where we find the three mages crucified in a row on the sola tree in the middle of the park high up off the ground. They are beaten and bloody, their clothes are ripped, and Levy is branded with the Phantom Lord emblem on her stomach as a calling card. In the anime Gajeel is standing on the roof of a neighboring building stalking the three Fairy Tail members as they happily stroll along unassuming. Gajeel then leaps from atop a building and makes a direct beeline for Levy Mcgarden. I took a moment to go back and watch that episode recently using my handy dandy pause button to see the moment leading up to what would be one of the darkest moments in all of Fairy Tail. Levy is still turned away from her assailant while Jet and Droy turn around in surprise and fear realizing that they are about to be attacked. Levy on the other hand has yet to notice. You see Jet and Droy reach out for Levy to pull her away but it all happens too fast for them to reach her in time. I hit the play button and pause again quickly to see the two are now out of sight and Levy finally turns around. She looks surprised. From watching this scene I think we are seeing this from Gajeels point of view when he first saw Levy the two make direct eye contact. His red eyes meet her big brown ones and the scene cuts out to black after we get a close up of her left eye wide with surprise and fear. We hear a loud banging noise, the sound of metal coming into contact with a human body. In the anime the three are still strung up on the tree knocked unconscious. This on its own is absolutely soul crushing the fact that these three suffered through an entire night their arms stretched passed farther than they're normally supposed to stretch suspended in the air at least 20 ft off the ground with broken bones and hanging on by a thread makes me feel so sick to my stomach. Fairy Tail is normally a pretty light hearted story so this really blew me away during my first reading of the manga.  

 Looking back on all this for this essay I realize Gajeel did this without his master's blessing without anyone else in their guild knowing. He receives praise from his master for doing so and Gajeel looks on laughing and bragging about what he has done. At this point in time Gajeel is still young, maybe 20 or 19 at the most. He wanted to please his master, like a kid who wants their fathers approval. He did this to get the admiration of the guild and master. He wanted to be the biggest baddest guy they had and this in itself really shows his age in my opinion. He has no remorse because no one has ever told him that hurting people isn't right, he's only ever been praised for it. He didn't need to do this. He had attacked the guild like he was told to do. Yet he still felt like he didn't get the reaction he wanted and proceeded to take drastic measures. He wanted to humiliate not only Fairy Tail but humiliate Levy, Jet and Droy and he did just that. 

This concludes the first meeting between Gajeel Redfox and Levy Mcgarden. So this begs the question, “how in the hell did these two end up together?” That we can kinda guess and piece together. Especially since Fairy Tail is a shonen we don't get much romance. But I have been able to piece together a hopefully accurate timeline showcasing the long and grueling walk these two had to take to come together in the end. 

The Battle of Fairy Tail 

We move on to our next arc where we see Gajeel once again yet this time he is a member of Fairy Tail. Brought on by none other than master Makarov. Everyone is rightfully angry, livid at the idea of Gajeel being a part of Fairy Tail so suddenly. Levy hides behind a wall shaking like a leaf, terribly afraid of Gajeel. She tries to reassure everyone that she is ok with him there and that everyone else should be ok with it as well yet she says this while her body shakes. Levy is afraid of Gajeel but as she tries to move on from this trauma she tries to be strong, speaking up in an effort to show she doesn't care that Gajeel is there even though she's not happy about it. Jet and Droy are less than happy when they see Gajeel even telling the dragon slayer to meet them where the attack took place to “talk.” Gajeel does take the time before his mission to meet up with the two men where he sees Levy yet again hiding behind the sola tree trying to shield herself from his view. She tries to talk Jet and Droy down, she explains that she no longer holds a grudge about that anymore. Not only is she in the exact place that night took place but she is also standing feet away from the man who attacked her and her friends. She is expecting Jet and Droy to get hurt, she has seen Gajeels strength. Jet and Droy don't listen, brushing off her words as they move forward to attack Gajeel. Shockingly we see Gajeel fall, getting hit by every attack that Jet and Droy send his way. Levy looks surprised that he is going down, she almost looks confused. Why is Gajeel getting beaten so easily when she's seen him fight? Levy is smart and she slowly figures out what Gajeel is doing before anyone else. When Laxus shows up and continues to beat Gajeel into the dirt she flinches at him being attacked. Even though she is afraid of Gajeel, Levy hates to see anyone be hurt. She watches nervously as he gets beaten covering her face with her hands realizing that the reason Gajeel is going down so easily is because he's trying to show them that he is one of them now, he is trying to gain their acceptance. 

In one lightning fast moment Laxus shoots a bolt of electricity straight towards Levy, she shields her face preparing for the impact,…which never comes. She opens her eyes to see Gajeel standing in front of her bleeding and wounded.

 Everyone stands in silence and in shock at how Gajeel protects Levy. Gajeel walks off beaten, wobbling away as the shocked Levy tries to get a word out. We don't know what she is going to say but I think she struggles for the first time in her life to get the right words out because she is so dazed and so confused as to why he saved her. She is so used to the evil Gajeel the fact that she is seeing that there is indeed something good inside him surprises her. 

This arc was a great arc for Gajeels redemption; people still don’t trust him at all except for Juvia. Levy still keeps her distance if possible.  After the ladies return from being turned to stone by Evergreen they all talk about how they are going to fight back against Laxus. Levy takes it upon herself to free Natsu and Gajeel from the runes that trap them in the guild hall.  

       I love this chapter and moment between Gajeel and Levy for two reasons, number one: this is the first time we see Gajeel and Levy have a normal interaction. They're talking as if they've been acquainted for a while and I find this very interesting. Gajeel is amazed at Levy's intelligence, you can literally see the gears in his brain turning as he tries to understand what levy is saying. Of course to him it's a jumbled mess of words and codes but he knows it means something and she's on the right track because they are forming TRUST.

He is putting his trust into the woman that he has hurt in the past even though he thinks she has every right to hate him. She doesn't have to help him get out of there but he is now a member of Fairy Tail and she really believes that he can help fight for their guild after he jumped in front of a deadly attack to save her life. If he didnt care, he wouldn't have saved her but he did! Number two: Levy is so swept up in her love for puzzles and solving runes that she is comfortable in her environment once again. All the moments we have seen her prior with Gajeel have been with her in fear and uneasiness. But right now in this moment she feels strong and powerful, she's doing something for the good of her guild and is even telling Gajeel straight to his face what she has to do in order to get them out. I also love how dorky they are in this moment like they are so damn awkward around each other I can hardly stomach it, I fucking love that shit. 

After Levy finally gets them out of the guild hall Gajeel and Natsu battle Laxus until they are too exhausted to continue, while this is happening Levy is running as fast as she can to stop Laxus and let him know that Makarov is on death's door. When she arrives. She tries to convince Laxus to stop this whole madness and go see his grandfather one last time. Of course Laxus at this point is too far gone to listen and he activates Fairy law which of course doesn't hurt anyone. Gajeel lifts himself and asks Levy if she is ok. I love this part cause he is genuinely concerned for her safety like damn I'm getting all teary-eyed. We then watch Natsu almost die and Gajeel once again risks his life to save Fairy Tail. Levy again looks shocked that he is still putting his life on the line. I feel like this doesn't really cement her trust for him but it definitely gets the gears in her brain turning on how this man really is a member of Fairy Tail even though he still has a long way to go. 

Of course, Fairy Tail ends up winning this battle by the skin of their teeth. Gajeel is covered in full body bandages as he watches everyone laugh and talk after the fantasia parade. He looks down over everyone including team shadowgear kinda foreshadowing his involvement in their lives as time goes on. I have no idea if Hiro Mashima meant for Gajeel and Levy to end up together this early in the manga but this tiny little scene of him just staring at her makes me think he had the idea early on. I feel like Gajeel is watching out for her from afar, they haven't built that friendship yet so he isn't comfortable just talking to her or even Jet and Droy for that matter. So he watches them from far away. I also wanna talk about how Gajeel is a double agent at this point of the story. When we all thought this man was for sure going to betray Fairy Tail. He hands the master a note letting him know that he found Ivan and that his job as a double agent is all going according to plan. This is another way of Gajeel trying his best to gain the acceptance of not only the guild but his new master as well. This is a habit of Gajeels, putting himself in danger to prove himself. He has a tremendous amount of guilt for what he did and he does want to make up for it. 

This relationship does start off badly, we are all aware of that. Levy is still uneasy and nervous around Gajeel but she is coming around, Gajeel on the other hand is guilty of his wrongdoings and tries to keep his distance but shows Levy through his actions that he is sorry. Many fans of Fairy Tail bring this topic up often “why hasn't Gajeel apologized for what he did?” He may have apologized but we don't know because it is never shown. I honestly think Gajeel is too much of an awkward guy to try and put himself out there to apologize, I mean lets be honest Gajeel is not great with words. So he shows he is sorry by protecting his new family. 

S CLASS TRIALS

We slowly make our way to one of the most important arcs of the story involving Gajeel and Levy and that is the S Class Trials. The master explains that he has picked the people for the trial that deserve S class, the people who strive for greatness and are powerful in strength, mind and body. When Levy's name is called she is rightfully excited at first but of course puts herself down. Saying she is not strong enough for the trials and is confused as to why the master chose her. The master didn't choose Levy just because. He has seen her strength, he has seen her work and he knows she is strong and capable. I want to remind you that this trial is not easy to complete. The master picks his candidates based on whether they are strong enough to do so and Levy is of course picked meaning that she can do this. He wouldn't put someone who isn't ready into the trials. 

Levy sits on a bench thinking and mulling over why she was chosen while Jet and Droy argue to be her partner. While this is happening Gajeel, who is upset that he wasn't chosen, comes up to Levy offering to be her partner for the trials. Levy explains that she doesn't know why he would even want to help her considering she is too small and weak and that they will probably lose right away. Gajeel rolls his eyes at this, picking her up by the back of her dress with ease. He tells her not to give up before she has even tried and lets loose that infamous line “I’ll make you big.” Levy blushes, at this point Gajeel and levy are still awkwardly tip-toeing around each other but this is one of their first interactions as actual acquaintances. This builds her confidence slightly, a fire growing inside her to win the trials and prove herself not only to her guild but to Gajeel that she is stronger than he thinks. 

The two start off the trials with the serenity route which makes Gajeel upset. He wants to fight but levy is relying on her brains for this portion of the trial and a whole lot of luck. They are exact opposites and have no idea how to work together at least not yet. Gajeel complains throughout the whole walk to find Mavis' resting place. Agitating Levy, this girl is an overthinker, as Gajeel complains about not being able to fight, Levy reads this as him not being interested in helping her get S Class but he is in it for himself and this has Levy thinking that when he said he’l make her big he didn't mean it he just wanted to fight. Levy feels insecure about herself once again because Gajeel had made her feel strong but now he makes it seem like he doesn't care. He does care. But like I said earlier Gajeel is not great with words. Levy takes off in anger leaving Gajeel behind. As Levy runs through the island as she thinks about everything that has happened between the two of them, the attack on her team still in the back of her mind, she hasn't fully healed yet and as she desperately tries to move on and put her trust in Gajeel she feels like she can't. She was really coming around to fully trusting Gajeel. She thinks to herself that she thought he was actually a nice guy deep down but he obviously hasn't changed. This upsets her because Levy is a smart woman, she reads people really well. When she saw that Gajeel was beginning to make a change for the better she truly believed that. But this makes her feel like he isn't changing as much as she thought he was.  

Her thoughts are cut short when she is ambushed by two members of Grimoire Heart, they pin her down and prepare to literally slice her in two. Before that happens Gajeel jumps in and saves her life. He says that she is so tiny he had a hard time finding her so to never leave his side again. Levy looks on in surprise, proving everything she was thinking about him wrong. He cares, and he is there to help her, yes he loves to fight but he doesn't hesitate to protect her when she is in need. Levy wipes away her tears and stands to Gajeels back ready to fight with him. 

Gajeel and levy give it their all but are ultimately defeated. Gajeel realizes that they are in danger and tells Levy to run and that he will hold Grimoire Heart off while she goes and gets help. Levy is hesitant to leave him there alone. Considering he has protected her many times and she doesn't want to leave her friend behind to possibly die. He screams at her to leave and she does but not after giving him some iron to bring his strength back up. We finally come around to full on trust between these two. Gajeel trusts that Levy will get out and find backup and Levy trusts Gajeel to not die and make it out alive. The Iron with the heart in the middle is our first hint at Levy's feelings for Gajeel. This man has shown her time and time again that he will change and he will put in the effort to make it happen. This event brings the two tremendously close, they are now actually friends. 

This part of the story is huge for Gajeel, Grimiore Heart reminding him of what he used to be. We get a few AMAZING panels of how Gajeel actually joined Fairy Tail. Gajeel is down on his luck living in the ruins of his guild hall, starving, lonely and homeless. Makarov Seeks him out asking if he is interested in joining Fairy Tail. This confuses Gajeel, considering everything he did to Fairy Tail. He tries to give the master reasons why he shouldn't join. He destroyed their guild hall, Makarov replies saying that they can just rebuild it. Gajeel then brings up what he did to team shadow gear and Makarov replies differently this time saying he will NEVER forgive him for that no matter what. But Makarov refuses to allow Gajeel to fall into the darkness. Makarov reaches out his hand saying that he's not trying to save Gajeel but he is just trying to show him the right path, the good path. The newly inspired Gajeel takes the master's hand joining Fairy Tail for good. 

This memory gives Gajeel the strength to continue, he has people he wants to protect, the people who gave him a chance, the people who helped him when he needed it the most. Gajeel delivers a final blow sending the members of Grimoire Heart flying. Gajeel passes out from exhaustion. He opens his eyes to Levy by his side in tears, and with backup. This moment is absolutely beautiful because Gajeel looks at her realizing that Levy actually cares for him seeing her tears and worries with his own eyes. She asks him if he is ok, and he smirks at her letting her know that he told her he could beat those guys. Levy smiles at him, her tears falling. Levy is so proud of Gajeel and what he has done not only for her but for their guild. Levy picks him up and drags him to camp, returning the favor after he saved her. These two characters have fully come around, becoming closer than most characters in the manga.

  The arc goes on with them arguing, making jokes, and picking little fights with each other, all in good fun of course. Before they are attacked by Acnologia they even hold hands going down together. Their newfound friendship still baffles me because I do feel like it was handled well. They aren't in love or anything just yet, but they really do put all their trust in each other and rely on each other and I LOVE THAT. 

Grand Magic Games 

This arc is kinda random but we see Gajeel show up in this arc as part of Fairy Tail team B. He's also suddenly wearing headbands……like where did he get that from hmmmm I wonder. It's funny but I definitely think Levy gives Gajeel the headbands to keep his crazy hair out of his face while he fights. It's not proven but Levy is the only one who wears headbands. COINCIDENCE I THINK NOT!

      Gajeel fights in the games and Levy is cheering him on the entire time. We don't know this in the beginning but the narrator of this arc is future Levy herself. Let me just say I was so heartbroken when we saw the future Levy all alone in the future scarred up and beaten. She is lonely and hidden away left alone to die. She writes to Lucy who will never receive the letter but she does this as a way to heal. She explains that they lost everyone, even her beloved. We all know who she is talking about here. We don't know what happened but Gajeel died. This is never brought up again and we can only assume that Levy ends up dying alone in the future at some point. After future Lucy is reunited with everyone in Fairy Tail in Heaven we see Gajeels silhouette, we see everyone really except for Levy. God, it kills me, Mashima of course never tells us what happened to her, but I'm certain that she lived and then died later. 

Tartaros

This arc is….WILD. We all know why too hehehe. In this arc Gajeel fights against Torafuzar, this fight takes place in an enclosed building that is filled to the top with water, poison water at that. As everyone floats around drowning Gajeel has iron insides so the poison doesn't affect him the way it affects everyone else. He holds his breath as best as he can, fighting for his life, he can feel his lungs begging for oxygen as he gets tossed around in the water, not being able to move as quickly as Torafuzar. We get the scene where he floats down into darkness unable to hold his breath any longer, believing that this is it, he is going to die. He begs for air but sees a small ball of light coming toward him. He tries to shoo the light away saying he needs air not light. The lights grow closer and when he thinks he can no longer hold on. Levy appears as the light he was seeing and she blows her last bit of air into his lungs.

 Gajeel’s eyes open wide in shock. He suddenly has air. He spots Levy, confused, “why is she here and when did she get there?” She floats down into the darkness and he watches in shock and worry. Until he sees Torafuzar make a direct attack on levy, angry that she saved Gajeel. Gajeel jumps in right before Torafuzar is able to hurt Levy holding her close to his body and throwing his fist straight down on Torafuzars head. We have multiple translations of this scene. Gajeel says pretty much the same thing in all “Hands off,” “Don't you touch her” or “out of my way!” I love this scene for so many reasons, Gajeel has no idea what Levy did, only that she saved him when he thought he was a goner. This is the funny thing with these two they both will put their life on the line to save each other. I like to believe that they definitely have feelings for each other at this point. I mean it's hard to deny, considering they both will die for the other like wow! 

After Gajeel knocks Torafuzar to the bottom of the poisoned water, Gajeel tries to rouse Levy, shaking her back and forth and screaming at her to hang on and wake up. (Also why the hell can they talk in the water? Are they talking in the water? Or do they talk telepathically? This will forever confuse me but meh.) Levy finally jolts awake at her limit for air. Gajeel screams at her to produce more air for everyone. Levy shakes her head thinking to herself that she has no more air to give and that the only reason she gave him the air was that he was the closest. (sure levy…suuuuuure.) Gajeel grabs her screaming,  “What are you talking about, you're a wizard! Make some air with your magic!” Levy stares in confusion quickly turning to embarrassment when she realizes she didn't have to give Gajeel mouth-to-mouth in the first place she coulda just made it. This is hilarious, it kills me every time. But also People forget that this was an insane situation, Levy was probably low on air and panicking, she saw Gajeel and knew that he could save everyone so she did the first thing that came to mind. She isn't dumb she just couldn't think in a dangerous situation. 

Levy uses solid script crafting an air bubble the two burst from the water into the air bubble taking in gulps of air. Gajeel now has enough to fight. Gajeel swims off to take care of Torafuzar leaving Levy to take care of everyone else. “Gajeel thanks Levy for saving his life saying he would have been a goner without her. The fight goes on and Gajeel is grabbed by Torafuzar he struggles to escape but turns to check on Levy. He watches her air bubble blip out of existence and she passes out from taking in too much carbon-laced water. His eyes grow wide as he watches her sink, throwing him into a memory. 

This is a side of Gajeel we haven't seen in a long time. Gajeels memory consists of him standing in a room at the magic council, probably being charged with some crime he committed in the name of the Phantom Lord. As Gajeel walks out to leave, an old woman on the Magic Council named Belno follows Gajeel outside. She goes on to beg him to leave Phantom Lord, she says she has seen many young men just like him and every single one was lonely and sad deep down inside. Gajeel scoffs angrily at her for telling him what to do. He blows her off trying to ignore her words. She stops him one last time telling Gajeel that she doesn't need him to be an upstanding citizen but to give his life some meaning. Gajeel grows excited, turning to laugh that his life has plenty of meaning and that he is going to war with Fairy Tail. of course the war with Fairy Tail is a moment that he will regret for the rest of his life. After Gajeel, Levy, Jet, and Droy find Belno dead in her home, Gajeel seems upset as Levy tries to calm him. Gajeel then secretly travels to the roof to cry, heartbroken that Belno was watching out for him and he never gave her the time of day, he cries, saddened by the fact that Belno will never see who he is now and that he has given his life meaning. The meaning of his life being that he will keep his family and his friends safe no matter what. 

At the end of this arc, the guild has been destroyed and the master makes the decision to disband Fairy Tail for good. Everyone is heartbroken at this fact and goes their separate ways. Gajeel and Levy however decide to leave together with Pantherlily to join the magic council

Alvarez

This is our final arc in the story of Gajeel and Levy. We meet the two again with Pantherlily as they now work for the magic council custody enforcement unit. Levy returns from a mission where she infiltrated the cult. She explains that mixing in with the believers was super easy but getting out was hard. I love this about Levy, she infiltrated a whole ass cult which of course is crazy dangerous. Levy, Gajeel and Pantherlily talk about Gray and everything with him joining the cult. Gajeel states that they will stop him and that he is no longer their friend. Levy seems saddened by this but agrees nonetheless. Of course, we find out Gray was just doing the same thing Levy was doing and Gray knew it was Levy immediately and that she needed to work on her disguise. 

We fast forward to The ladies of Fairy tail in the bathhouse that belongs to blue Pegasus after traveling for a long while. The men sit on the other side of the bathhouse and they all chat through the gate. Gajeel gets thrown out by Elfman hitting Ichiya, and sending Gajeel flying through the gate naked. He lands right on top of a naked Levy. He mentions that he is cushioned but not by much (Which makes me so mad by the way Gajeel totally deserves to be hit after this comment.) She is embarrassed, punching Gajeel calling him a dummy while Gajeel screams out in pain. Gajeel isn't embarrassed about being on top of Levy naked in front of everyone but Levy freaks! 

Then we see the infamous blanket scene while everyone relaxes before the battle that they are certain is coming. We see Gajeel lying on his back shirtless staring at the ceiling, his waist covered by a blanket with stars on it. A few panels later we see Levy sleeping as well….with the same fucking star blanket! Like what!!!!! Of course, I believe that they were sleeping together in the same bed. This makes me think that over the past year that these two were in the magic council, their relationship has started to grow into something more than friends. We don't know exactly what happened in that past year but there had to be something. There is no awkwardness between them as they share a sleeping space but they are together. Another thing that supports this theory is that they are both on opposite sides of the bed, Gajeel being on the right side and Levy on the left. Idk maybe I’m crazy but I couldn't believe it when I saw it. 

We move on again seeing mavis explain that she fell in love with Zeref and because of her sins all this terrible stuff is happening. Gajeel interjects with my favorite line of his in the entire series. “It's not a sin to fall in love.” Alluding to Gajeels feelings about a certain blue-haired fairy. I feel Gajeel says this because he's been through something not really similar to Mavis but similar in how they feel about falling in love with someone. Mavis is upset about falling in love with Zeref and the bad things that came from it, viewing it as a sin. Gajeel is guilty about falling in love with Levy because of what he did to her when they first met and he feels he doesn't deserve it viewing it as a sin at one point but he is slowly coming around to accepting it. This makes Levy blush because deep down I think she knows what he's talking about. 

The next time we see them together Gajeel and Levy can't sleep before meeting up with Sabertooth. Gajeel sits crouched on the ledge of a mountain where Levy asks him if he's having trouble sleeping. He tells her that obviously, she's having trouble sleeping as well. She explains it’s because she is scared of the fight that's to come and she's worried that it will be the end for all of them. She says she isn't as strong as everyone else and she's afraid to die. Gajeel then blocks her in with a bunch of iron pillars before getting in front of her and leaning on one of them to talk to her. He tells her she is under arrest for doubting herself, she apologizes and Gajeel tells her that he promises that since she's under arrest he will throw her in the guild hall cell when they get back home. Levy smiles and nods. He isn't really talking about arresting her here. He's upset with her for doubting herself, yes but what he's really saying is that everything will be ok. They are going to make it home alive and together. I love this scene because they both understand each other without being direct with one another and I think that shows just how much they have grown together in the past year. 

The next part is…dark. We see Sabertooth never made it to the rendezvous point due to them being attacked and crucified. This shocks Gajeel and Levy; they are horrified. Levy knowing how terrible it feels to be crucified and Gajeel knowing what it feels like to crucify someone. They fight saving Sabertooth, until Gajeel gets his hands on Bloodman, the monster that crucified Sabertooth. Gajeel pins him against a tree asking him “do you have any idea how it feels to be crucified?” Gajeel is angry because Bloodman has forced Gajeel to relive the worst memory of his life. Crucifying team shadowgear, specifically crucifying the woman he now loves. Gajeel tells Boodman he's glad he gets to fight him and even if he dies that it's ok because he's been looking for a spot to be his final resting place. Levy gives him a sad look as he says this, heartbroken first off that Gajeel has to relive this terrible moment in his life and saddened by the fact that he says he doesn't mind dying. Gajeel fights with everything he has telling everyone to get away because the Bloodman is emitting magic barrier particles, a poison that means death for whoever comes in contact with it. Gajeel falls and as Bloodman prepares to attack him Levy jumps in front of him using her solid script shine. Bloodman is reeled back surprised, referring to Levy's magic at holy. 

Gajeel screams at Levy to get out of there but Levy turns revealing her makeshift mask. Stating that the poison can't get into her if she wears it. Gajeel believes her, Levy then scolds Gajeel saying that he shouldn't be talking the way he was about wanting to die. Gajeel tries to explain that he didn't mean it but Levy doesn't agree. She states that his life is important to her and she wants him to keep on living. 

The fight proceeds with Gajeel and Levy working together to defeat Bloodman. They almost drown once again after Bloodman tries to use a tartaros curse on them. Levy uses Solid Script Hole to drain all the poison water into the ground while Gajeel attacks. Gajeel and Levy work great together, I think back to the S Class trials when they had no idea how to work together but now they've been doing it for so long it's like second nature to them. Levy and Gajeel are then swept away by a sea of corpses. Gajeel wades as fast as he can through the corpses to pull Levy out with him. Both mages fall to the ground in exhaustion. Both are badly injured as they try to pick themselves up but Levy is having a hard time doing so. She collapses again and begins to cough up blood and poison. Gajeel panics, screaming that she needs to get her mask back on now. Then Levy confesses that the mask never worked in the first place. So this entire time she has been allowing the magic barrier particles to be absorbed through her skin filling her body with the poison. I wanna say that Bloodman literally didn't even touch the other people who died when they were fighting. Levy literally swam in the poison and inhaled the poison yet she is still alive…what a bad bitch. Gajeel freaks out at her rightfully so asking why in the hell she would even go there. And Levy replies weakly that all she wanted to do was save him. She then passes out. Gajeel screams her name in worry before telling her to hang on, and that he will handle Bloodman. Gajeel gets knocked around like a rag doll but continues to pursue Bloodman like there's no tomorrow desperate to win and desperate to save Levy. Gajeel thinks to himself about how he's always felt like the weakest of the Dragon Slayers and how he's always felt that he's fallen behind. At the time, beating Natsu and being the strongest is what he cared about the most. But now all he cares about is protecting Levy, the woman he fell in love with. 

Gajeel screams out that he will get Levy back home safe no matter what, keeping the promise he made to her a few chapters back when they were talking on the ledge of the mountain. After Bloodman disappears Gajeel turns to Levy with a smile on his face, and he says her name. But before he can go to her Gajeel is grabbed by Bloodman who is turning into this kinda hell portal thing that turns people completely into magic barrier particles. Gajeel squirms and struggles to break free realizing that the portal is pulling him inside. 

We reach the only chapter of Fairy Tail that has actually made me cry. Levy watches as Gajeel gets sucked into the portal; she uses all her strength to stand spitting up blood as she does so. Running to Gajeel to save him. Gajeel screams at her to stay away from him that if she touches him she too will die. He says that he can feel his body turning into a mass of magic barrier particles and it's too late to save him. Levy shakes this off saying she doesn't care what happens to her and that she WILL save him. Gajeel pins Levy to a rock in the same crucifixion style that both of them hate. Levy yells at him asking him what he thinks he's doing. Gajeel looks down ashamed that he is doing this to her once again saying that she left him with no other choice.

Levy because she is such a freaking badass uses her foot to write the word sword cutting her free from her restraints Gajeel begs her to please stop but before she can reach Gajeel something stops her and holds her back. Lily. Gajeel gives a smile of relief as Lily holds Levy back from going any further. Levy fights to get out of Lily's grip begging him to let her go so she can save Gajeel screaming that if she doesn't do something Gajeel is going to die. She begins to cry in frustration and sadness. Until Gajeel says her name. He tells her that he used to be such a horrible person, but then he met her. She was able to bring out all the best parts of him. Parts of him he didn't even know he had. “You taught me what it means to love..and for that I will be eternally grateful.” Levy is crying so hard at this point realizing that Gajeel is going to die. Gajeel smiles at her his own tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He says that falling in love with her made him think about things he never thought he would think about. A future with her, a family with her, and just all around being happy with her. We get a few shots that I absolutely love. Gajeel laying in the grass with Levy laying on his chest, now I don't know if this is a memory of them taking a nap together or just him imagining what it would be like. But I like to think that this is a memory. A shot of Gajeel and Levy with their children, and a shot of levy giving him a smile.

 Gajeel begins to let his tears fall as he's further sucked into the portal. He says “I really did want us to be together forever..and having that future snatched away from me is the most terrifying thing I've ever had to endure.” Levy screams for him begging him to stay with her but at this point, Gajeel's face is the only thing that can be seen in the portal. Gajeel tells Lily to get Levy back home and makes him promise that he will do so. Then in a blip, Gajeel is gone. Levy screams out his name crying for him with Lily. This was the most heartbreaking moment. The two people that loved Gajeel more than anything crying over his death. They hold each other sobbing. Gajeel never thought he would ever be loved by anyone. Lily and Levy truly changed that for him. They were his family, the people that he trusted more than anyone in all of Fairy Tail. 

Of course, we find out Gajeel is ALIVE! I held my breath man I was like there ain't no way this man is dead and we were all right. Gajeel thinks about how he supposedly died and blushes because he realizes that he totally confessed his undying love. Levy finds out he is alive and is so happy when she sees him again she gives him a big ole kiss….just kidding she dropkicks him in the face. He falls back and she straddles him crying telling him that he needs to keep his promise of taking her back to the guild, Gajeel smiles and nods. After a big fight with Acnologia everyone comes together again happy that they won. We get a tiny little shot of Gajeel holding Levy and Lily close. Levy cries tears of joy and Jet and Droy stand in the back cheering at the fact that they all finally won.

We end the Fairy Tail manga with Levy coming up to Gajeel through the narration of Lucy. It is a year later at this point and Lucy explains how Gajeel and Levy have grown even closer over the last year (meaning they're dating.) Levy whispers in Gajeel's ear something secretive and Gajeel gasps in shock blushing profusely. Lucy then begins to blush confused thinking she just heard Levy say the word baby. Wendy however knows as she is steaming in embarrassment. This of course confirms that Levy and Gajeel are indeed going to have a baby. Y'all know what that means. Y’all know where babies come from hehehehe. They even end up leaving the party, Lily goes to Jet and Droy asking if either of them has seen Levy and Gajeel. Jet and Droy yell at Lily not to ask them and to think about their feelings. Where did Gajeel and Levy go? Maybe they went to “celebrate?” 

The Fight

Now I wanna talk about their meeting. Gajeel used to be a terrible person and what he did to Levy, Jet, and Droy was completely inexcusable. It was not ok but it was integral to his development. Gajeel doesn't do an immediate 180 and Levy does not fall in love with him right away. Levy doesn't forgive right away either. He doesn't join Fairy tail and she immediately accepts it. Levy is terrified of Gajeel still she is actively hiding away from him in multiple panels. When Jet and Droy go to fight Gajeel Levy follows quietly; she doesn't say a word until Gajeel shows up. The only reason she tries to stop Jet and Droy in the first place is that she is afraid that they'll get hurt. She also, like I said before, hates violence it seems to me she honestly wants to move on and ignore Gajeel if she can. We have no idea what kind of fight they had that night of the attack and I don't think we will ever know. But I think it's important that we don't know. This moment is something that only Jet, Droy, Gajeel and Levy know and it stays that way because it's dark, and it's not easy to talk about. One thing that I hate seeing is the whole disgust with Levy falling for a man who hurt her. Now let me explain myself and why I think that is wrong! Levy is not a victim, Levy is a strong and capable wizard. Levy is a member of Fairy Tail even though she hates fighting and she tries to avoid it, she will fight if she has to. Don't forget that Levy is also the leader of her own fighting team, Levy's job is to be a fighter. Gajeel didn't just beat up a girl, he fought another mage. I believe 100% that Shadowgear fought him with everything they had, they just were on the losing end of the fight. Yes, sneaking up on Shadowgear was a shitty thing to do but they are enemies of course they're gonna fight. 

Levy's clothes 

After the Phantom lord arc, we see Levy again and she looks slightly different from when we last saw her. A few paragraphs above I really went into detail on how Levy dresses. Her outfits in Fairy Tail really tell us a lot. That being how she is feeling and her mental state. Levy is still very happy and sweet per the usual greeting Lucy as she returns from her mission. Levy is now dressed in a turtle-neck orange dress that reaches the middle of her thigh. Underneath she has another layer, long sleeves adorn her arms leaving her shoulders bare and long black leggings…in the summer. Why is she dressed this way? I believe this is far from just a fashion statement. This particular outfit covers not all but most of her skin. The only remaining skin is her face, shoulders, and hands. Levy is covering herself as a way to hide. After what happened with Gajeel she feels embarrassed, nervous, and maybe even exposed after having a dark guild emblem forced upon her bare stomach. Being covered is her way of protecting herself. At this time even though she may not say it, the attack on her team really did a number on her, and most importantly her confidence, the horrible event is still fresh in her mind. Early Levy is a fairly confident woman, she is a leader and she is very capable. Not being able to protect her team or herself really knocks Levy down and now she's struggling to believe in herself and believe in her confidence. 

She ends up changing her outfit again in the S class trials. Now more comfortable around Gajeel. She also has more confidence after Gajeel told her he'd make her big. She exchanges her orange turtle neck for a short orange dress that bares her legs and shoulders.

Levy is slowly growing, her trauma falling behind her.

The last outfit everyone loves including me is of course the white crop top with the word iron on it, the gray skirt and black leggings. This is her “I love Gajeel” outfit I swear to god. Levy is now complete again and she is stronger than ever before and I love that about her. She really did grow in so many ways…not in her height but in everything else hahaha. 

Forgiveness

A common theme in Gajeel and Levy's relationship is the theme of forgiveness. Levy does not forgive Gajeel right away and Gajeel takes FOREVER to forgive himself. Gajeel and Levy don't talk about their first meeting which I understand. It's a sore subject. Gajeel however is a man of action. He shows that he will do anything for team Shadowgear and the guilds forgiveness. Protecting Levy is his way of apologizing. The man would take a bullet for this woman I kid you not. In the beginning it was a way of apologizing but now it's because she is his family and he loves her. Instead of being on his knees begging for forgiveness he gives Levy reasons to believe in him and to forgive him. Which is something that Levy needs. I don’t feel like she is one for taking apologies and just forgiving a person. I do think she wants to be shown that the person doing the apologizing is actually sincere. 

After a year of all this Levy finally gives Gajeel a shot by letting him help her with the S class trials. That scene with her running away from him after they argue on Tenrou Island isn’t just her being overly dramatic. This scene is important to Levy's development because she is fighting to forgive. Levy does want to let it go and trust Gajeel but to do that she needs to see it and believe it. The whole reason she runs away is that she thinks Gajeel hasn't changed when she was certain he had. He just doesn't know how to talk right that big ole dummy. Only after he saves her life again and they almost die together after Acnologia tries to kill them all does she truly and fully forgive him. 

It was a long road but Levy got there, Gajeel on the other hand has the hardest time forgiving himself. In stories like this, we always talk about the person who needs to do the forgiving, never the person who is searching for that forgiveness. Gajeel is a deeply emotional person. I know it might not look like it but he truly is. Gajeel was thrown into this life with nothing but the clothes on his back. This made him very tough and emotionally distant from everyone else but also himself. When he starts to try to earn Fairy Tails’ forgiveness he learns to express his feelings more. Jumping on stage to sing with passion, or crying when he finally gets to have PantherLily as his cat and partner, or being heartbroken about Makarovs sacrifice when he saves them from Acnalogia. This man is learning and thriving, however, there’s one thing that he just cannot get over and that is Levy. We kinda start to see a crush blooming between the two of them. Of course, Levy is good at showing it even though she really tries to hide it. But Gajeel on the other hand is quite different, Gajeel is comfortable around Levy, they are always seen together, and they train together. To the unknowing eye it may look like just pure friendship. He enjoys spending his time with her. We all know Gajeel prefers to be alone or with Lily, Levy is the only person that he hangs out with outside of the guild. But he is hesitant to show that he likes Levy more than a friend but goes out of his way to be with her on multiple occasions. 

When we reach the Alvarez arc he is flirting with her and picking on her. But he still doesn’t confess until he realizes he’s going to die. Gajeel explains how horrible of a person he used to be and Levy is the one who made him want to change. In that moment all the guilt and hurt that Gajeel has held onto all these years falls away as Levy cries for him. He feels like he doesn’t deserve her after what he did. Instead of telling Gajeel that she loves him she cries for him and begs him to stay with her and I think that shows Gajeel what she means by that. Gajeel was certain that no one would ever love him the way Levy does. I feel like another reason Gajeel was so emotional and heartbroken about losing his future with her is that he waited so long to forgive himself..too long. By the time he was ready to confess he was dying and it was too late. 

The path to forgiveness really is a righteous one, Levy forgave him, but not as quickly as everyone says she did. They worked together, they picked each other up constantly, and in the end, they both saved each other. Gajeel saves Levy from her fear of being weak, something that he caused by attacking her in the beginning. He picked her up and put her back together over years of working at it. Gajeel made Levy feel strong once again. Levy then fell in love with him. Levy saves Gajeel by believing in him, believing that he can change and that deep down he is a good person. She pushed him in ways no one else ever could. She pushed him to grow and become better. And in the end, Gajeel fell in love with her for it. 

How did they become who they are?

Sometimes I really look at how far Gajeel has come as a character and who he is as a person. Gajeel like I mentioned above is deeply emotional, he has hardened his heart over the years from being abandoned. The day that Metalicana “left” Gajeel was the day that made him decide he wouldn’t trust anyone ever again. It’s so sad to think about him as a kid wandering for days looking for his father only to come up with nothing. This leaves him homeless and desperate for help from anyone who will give it to him. And that is where I’m thinking Jose entered his life. Giving Gajeel food, a roof over his head, and a life in general. Jose used Gajeels vulnerability to his advantage, Gajeel being a child at the time or maybe even a young teen when he was recruited into Phantom Lord.  So Gajeel learned things all wrong, Jose drilled into him that he had to be the best and to do that he needed to hurt people to get what he wanted. Gajeel was tricked into thinking that Jose, his master, was a father figure and what does Gajeel do? He strives to please him, to show him that he is the best, that he can handle the harder jobs that Jose has to throw at him. While Gajeel sees this as Jose being kind to him, Jose sees Gajeel as a puppet or a pawn nothing more. So when Phantom Lord is disbanded

Gajeel is so lost, he knows nothing else but Phantom Lord so he once again falls into this depressive darkness. If Makarov had never gone to Gajeel that day, I don't think he would have ever joined Fairy Tail, or let alone see levy again. This huge difference between Jose and Levy is crazy because Levy on the other hand believed in Gajeel in a different way, encouraging him to fight and be the best but for good and good only. He struggles to put his trust in her but when he does he grows in all the best ways possible because this is the first time someone has worked to build him up not tear him down. 

We have no idea who Levy used to be before she joined Fairy Tail. Something that I will always wonder is what happened to Levy's parents for her to end up in Fairy Tail? The majority of the children in Fairy Tail have been through some pretty unimaginable things, things that no child should have to go through. There are a few panels and one cover page that show Levy as a little girl in Fairy Tail. She is very, very young in these panels and when we see her she is never smiling. She's frowning or looks sad or uncomfortable, I don't know, maybe I'm crazy but where on earth did this girl come from? It is mentioned in one scene while little Levy plays some kind of version of chess with Cana that she was younger than Cana. I have a theory as to why levy's backstory was never introduced. I think Levy was very young when her parents disappeared or died making her an orphan. She honestly could have been an orphan from the very beginning but we just don't know. Levy integrated into Fairy Tail at such a young age I don't think she even thinks about her real parents. She sees Fairy Tail as her only family. She grew up there and that's why she is the way she is, kind, loving and strong-minded, she learned from tons of good-hearted Fairy Tail mages, so it would make sense that her characteristics and qualities all derive from the people who raised her.

Two Mages and a baby

Gajeel and Levy are seen again and their story continues through the Fairy Tail 100 year quest. Gajeel and Levy are boyfriend and girlfriend now which is so weird to me. I mean I love it but it's just so crazy that it feels surreal. This story is set a little bit after the end of Fairy Tail and Gajeel and Levy are expecting their first child. Gajeel and Levy bicker like an old married couple but they also constantly flirt with each other like teenagers. Levy's unwavering trustful side comes out when they discuss Touka, Gajeel not trusting her stating that she's off for some reason he doesn't know why but he knows something's up. Levy combats this saying that they shouldn't be stalking her and that she is a Fairy Tail mage so why shouldn't they trust her. Gajeel goes on to say that everyone treated him badly when he joined. Levy scoffs, stating that it was because he used to be horrible. They get all up in each other’s faces and Lily tries to cool them down, they both turn telling him to shut up. Levy then stomps off angry, Juvia asks Gajeel if he's sure that fighting with levy was ok. Gajeel turns to state that if Touka is actually evil then she'd be putting levy in danger and he refuses to let that happen. 

It's not fully confirmed at this moment that Levy is pregnant. However, it is finally fully confirmed as Levy walks down the street after catching Gajeel and Juvia still stalking Touka. Gajeel lands on top of Juvia in a very suspicious-looking position on the middle of the sidewalk. Levy looks down at them and Gajeel tries to explain himself. Levy just says “carry on,” and walks away while Gjaeel screams for her to wait. Levy is not jealous in this scene. Levy is just agitated that they still aren't listening to what she had to say when she told them that stalking Touka wasn't a good idea. No she doesn't think Gajeel is cheating bahahaha. She holds her stomach and a little light pools inside, showing Levy's pregnancy.

 Gajeel is very protective of Levy that even when his mind was being controlled by Touka and Levy was fighting Natsu, Gajeel begged Natsu to not fight her afraid. Before Natsu punches Levy in the stomach, he stops mis-swing remembering that she's pregnant. We get a little flashback of Levy telling Lucy, Natsu, and wendy that she is expecting. Natsu asks her if the baby is his and Levy gets flustered screaming at him saying “there's no way in hell that it could be his.” Natsu is not that dumb seriously hahahaha I will never understand why he thinks this way.

 Natsu is completely frozen in his place, giving Levy the moment to strike, sending him away on a carriage. Gajeel gets upset with Levy saying that what she did was really risky. He then begins to sulk after being beaten by Natsu again. Levy smiles saying that she doesn't care that he lost, holding his hand, she goes on to say that no matter what she will always think Gajeel is the best. We get another scene later on of Gajeel switching bodies with Levy while Sai uses his alchemy love bond which turns people into the person they love. Gajeel gets angry allowing God Serena to get away saying that this body is way too important right now and that if Sai even tries to put a scratch on it he'll smash him to pieces. 

Gajeel shows his affection for Levy constantly in this spin off and I absolutely love it. While Gajeel fights God Serena we get a scary panel of Gajeel being beaten when God Serena asks him if he has any last words, Gajeel looks on in anger and worry. We then see Gajeel slumped against the wall beaten and bloody. God Serena then replies “Oh? A woman's name? Too bad she will never see you again.”  Gajeel was so worried about leaving Levy alone and I think that's why he said her name, maybe even wanting to hear himself say her name one last time IDK but I was all sad.  I think this is an eye-opener for him because when he returns to the guild Levy scolds him for disappearing and that she was worried sick and that he is going to be a dad now so he needs to be close. Gajeel smirks, wrapping his arm around her stating that she's going to be a mom too. They walk off together. I assume Gajeel might be done with doing dangerous things at least for a while so that he can be with Levy and the baby. Gajeel is super excited for the baby, we even get a cover page of him making a baby crib while smiling, and Levy stands behind him smiling as well. Overall I think they are gonna be great parents. They're all grown up now and it literally brings a tear to my eye. We got a little spin off story of Gajeel laying on the ground in his house in his underwear exhausted because he is pushing himself so hard to make more money to support Levy and the baby. Levy comes home to a huge mess and starts to clean but notices Gajeels scars stating that he has so many and there are even more than before. We see a memory of Gajeel explaining that he will be ok and he just wants to make as much money as possible so he can support them. Levy smiles at the memory and lies down on the floor with Gajeel resting her head on his chest. It's absolutely beautiful and Gajeel doesn't even stir awake. He's so used to Levy's presence that he doesn't care; he knows it's her sleeping on him and he just lets her come in for a cuddle. So damn cute!

I feel so lucky that we get to see Gajeel and Levy’s actual romantic relationship, them getting ready to become parents, their flirting and being in love is just so beautiful! I do wonder if they will get married though, or if we will actually get something showing their engagement or even wedding! I cannot wait for this baby to be born or if its actually going to be twins like we all suspect. 

Conclusion 

Gajeel and Levy are one of my favorite couples of all time. I'm so happy that I saw these two characters grow together in more ways than one. Seeing where the two of them are now is so fulfilling, being able to watch Gajeel change his ways and being able to watch Levy grow in strength was more than I could have ever asked for. The two of them deserve all the happiness coming their way after working hard for each other for so long. It definitely is a rollercoaster of a ride but it was all worth it in the end. Gajeel is one of the best once a villain and now a hero character i've ever seen. Levy really did bring out the best in him. Now we can't have one without the other. It's no longer just Gajeel or just Levy it's now Gajeel and Levy. Thank y'all so much for taking the time to read this. I hope you all enjoyed reading the entire timeline of how these two ended up together and how they lived, learned and loved. 

[toniko]

side stories spoilers

there was only a little bit of LHH in these new chapters? I mean more of him next chapter but I miss him so bad…

oh but seriously hyunwoo is so gilyoung coded it’s crazy, the image of them lying side by side… LHH’s sentiment about them looking like brothers is such a sweet sentiment

otherwise i feel it’s finally time to settle my opinions on the readers

1: Lee Hakhyun (my serious favorite chara of all orv)

He refuses to let ANY reader die, it really reminds me of that Dokja selfishness for his companions but it somehow expresses so much kinder out of LHH idk, i just be saying shit now

thank goodness that he’s slightly better emotionally regulated, i love how everyone loves him as well n he so loves them back (especially that 41!YJH guy…) (damn this kind of rehashes my reasons for loving Dokja but that guy is severely more emotionally constipated so i like LHH better)

he feels like such a reliable guy, he really makes sure everyone will be okay n it truly feels like orvss will have a good ending bc he’s there to see it through

yk that feeling of pride u get when Kim Dokja gets hyped up on ORV, yeah i get that for LHH so hard he’s like my guy ever if i were a constellation, half my savings would be gone bc im busy gassing up LHH. he’ll do anything n ill be like “damn RIGHT he did, my goat”

2: Cha Yerin

theater dungeon cube room convo my beloved, literally a top 5 scene for me and all they did was talk

seriously tied w her brother but i think i like her slightly more because she’s the first reader 🥺 i mean LHH’s biggest number one fan literaturegirl64, likes his original works more.

the story of her n her brother is such a, idk gets my heart… orphanage, siblings? she’s blind and her brother has info dumped orv in audio over 6 complete times to her? amazing (this one of applies to why i like both characters, duh)

also just one of the most skilled fighters, ik orv women go crazy but orvss has so many new top tier female fighters, rlly said “no constellation” just a martial arts goat, she n her bro stood out immediately as the badass readers. her design makes me rlly happy too, i keep thinking abt it please make her real blackbox or webtoon ( in aprox. 6 years…)

the 1 on 1 convos she has w LHH are always so special to me, more than ever LHH is an author to her and she is his reader

she’s living my dream btw (got to read LHH’s old novels)

3: KillerKing (Cha Sunwoo???)

i think maybe, if LHH didn’t STILL call you KillerKing (regardless it’s what you go by damn) then I’d remember ur real name

idk I genuinely have to revisit the chapters to check again bc no one is updating any wikis… no should i do it? anyway

he is easily the funniest new character of the side stories bar none, god damn YJH kinnie, chuuni ass

recent recycling center arc (the animal masks one) sold me so hard on him, how can he consistently be like “no, go on without me!” flips black coat n still be cool… coolest lamest guy ever

jophiel is also such a cool constellation sponsor, some of the other readers have yet to have constellations so im excited to see what they end up with

his idea of surviving also being not to be like kim dokja but to do what you’re good at? it’s so good, makes so much damn sense. amazing.

the duo video game skill is awesome, I just can’t believe YJH beats the really cool co-op siblings bc he’s a fucking pro gamer, like get a JOB

4: Ye Hyunwoo

is that right? you want to be kim dokja but you can’t. this mf sets off 20 red flags every damn chapter but there’s that sense that he will always remain an ally cause he’s a smart kid and very self-aware so it’s also tragic in that sense

oddly enough he feels like an outsider to the group but he’s around really often n i think he really sets that distance himself

i think he’s really gotta embrace that he’s okay with being taken care of and hiding behind someone but is also capable himself. gong pildu literally your dad little man. I think we’re really at the trickling last bits of his general character arc

5: Lee Dansu (Noh Kyunghwan) (made me cry like 20 times)

favorite dilf in the apocalypse. im joking. maybe

inevitable insane tragedy of staying alive beyond his family

his entire like arc got me bawling my eyes out ong i just wish for him to be happy, kindly middle aged man who only read orv to understand his daughter? like what if i end it all omg it’s so… 😭😭😭

my wish is for him and hyunwoo to talk deadass. they should mourn together. hyunwoo knows what happened to his daughter and they both share a really close connection w her

there’s a real time to shoe him in these chapters bc that’s his daughter’s best friend n then his constellation came down too? deadass

6: Kyung Sein (does this count as trans girl)

she’s goofy silly cute… him? i mean it’s the only time we’ve seen a different gendered reader to character deadass did they run out of incarnation bodies for transmigration?

but anyway, i think it’s fun that she just stans heewon so hard she worked out n then is like bros with hyunsung. 41!YJH legitimately values her and the rest of the companions in combat. this round is so interesting bc like there’s the usual incarnations + the readers who got crazy good powerful so the balance is wrecked

honestly she and Lee Dansu were like, the first companions so there’s a sense of fondness that just comes from knowing them for so long

7: Ji Enyu

victim of less screen time bc she’s being badass on her own, seriously. initially she’s all like “haha what if we get put in the orv world there’s no way I’d survive” n she’s surviving the hardest, the balls on this woman. i think my jaw drops everytime she appears bc she’s got new awesome abilities n powers n connections. don’t even need that YJH carry

+ Yoo Sangah constellation, + LHH’s equivalent of Yoo Sangah, + the editor of ORV (its editor…. 🥹)

she and LHH literally got that best friend feel on, just looking at each other n understanding each other

also possessing King of Beauty is unironically crazy, but so so funny. someone who found her own way but still remains a reliable ally all the way through

seems to be getting more screen time this arc PLEASE more of her

that’s the companion readers i deadass can not write anymore in this tumblr post i mean i can. oh wow the readers are so fucking awesome man…

[unitedbydevils]

Fixing United: FM24 vs Real Life

Once upon a time, playing as Manchester United on Football Manager would be seen as an easy save. The same went for Real, Barca, Bayern, Chelsea... it was just a load of cash, a load of rep, and a stroll in the park with any vaguely sensible tactics.

These days though the likes of United, Chelsea, Ajax, Valencia are in disappointing form. Big name sides lower down the table than before. The upside though is that suddenly it's more of a legitimate challenge to take over one of these clubs on Football Manager and restore former glories.

Fixing United:

I'm currently in my second season at United, having won the League Cup twice and the Premier League and the FA Cup in my previous season. We also did alright in the Champions League, though lost to Barcelona and they ultimately lost to City in the final - can't stop the Blue Moon entirely eh.

The big changes to my side were RCB, RW, and RB. Todibo in from Nice replaced the outgoing Varane (Saudi league), whilst Diogo Dalot jumped before being pushed (to Arsenal) allowing me to bag United fan Jeremie Frimpong from Leverkusen - and for less money than I sold Dalot for. Bargain!

United's right side is very feeble. The game treats Antony as a good winger and supplier, but reality is yet to prove that point. I kept the Brazilian for the season, and also played Sancho (who remains) but I've brought in much more talent.

Mohamed Daramy from Reims is in - the Dane linking up nicely with Højlund. Johan Bakayoko (PSV) and Roony Bardghji (FCK) are both in but back out on loan at their former clubs for one final season of development, giving me time to sell Amad, Pellistri, and maybe Sancho - should a PSG/Barca bid materialise.

As you can see, I'm working on Højlund and Evan Ferguson (both ardent United fans) to be all-out complete forwards. Man of the Moment types. They have the skill set to be all United need, and so far so good.

Rashford plays left and only left. If he has a form drop, like real life, then Garnacho/Sancho/Daramy get his spot. Simple as that.

Bruno is currently the top scorer at the club with 28 goals and 13 assists. This is Ballon d'Or form.

Sancho quietly gets on with his football. Sports Interactive clearly don't know ball.

Mount as a roaming playmaker or a box-to-box midfielder is where I find him strongest. He did take time to establish himself though, so fans should give him this time in real life. There's a good, clever player there, and United need brains on the field.

Tchouameni was a fluke signing, having already bagged Joao Gomes from Wolves to replace the despondent Casemiro and to allow a more tekkie Kobbie Mainoo to work his way in as a Herrera type of DM/ball winner. Still, we take it, he's class, and everyone gets rotated.

The back 5 is obvious, with Frimpong in for AWB more often than not but also more prone to injuries due to his athletic approach and the skillset drawing fouls.

Beyond this the academy is doing well. Dan Gore (on loan at West Brom) has had a season like Jimmy Garner did at Forest IRL, so he's possibly ready to squeeze into the first team squad - especially if I do sell a few people. Mount can then rotate more in CAM with Bruno, and that opens my LCM creative position for someone like a Gore.

The interesting thing for me has been realising that United does have issues, for sure. RW and RCB are the crucial two spots that if you fix, the team really clicks into place, but also it's the depth of talent and the specifics of deputies. In real life we have Lindelöf and Maguire; able EPL defenders but not the same playstyle as Martinez or Varane. Ten Hag can't achieve with these deputies. Variety between a Dalot/Frimpong offense and Wan Bissaka defence... sure, that makes sense, but the footballing culture shift of high line passing defenders versus bruisers who sit deep and battle constantly... it's not it.

For United to turn a new leaf and escape the Banter Era there has to be consistency in both recruitment and development. United's squad and academy need to be working to the same hymn sheet of what Ten Hag's first XI need and how to fit it. The right wing suits me as classic winger, but ETH will be happy having a winger, an inside forward, an inverted winger ala Antony - whoever. Options are a good thing when they can still adhere to the core principles or tenets of a manager's style. For me, I like having a Rashford/Garnacho swing in off the left to double up with the CF, and the LB/RW being wide support.

Maybe Erik wants this too, maybe not, but FM24 has me as Master and Commander in the Fergie role. Ten Hag isn't about that, nor should he be. Sir Jim Ratcliffe needs to come in and establish this setup with reputable, reliable professionals who can be held accountable. With these people in place, then United can begin a 5-year project of overhauling the squad bit by bit. This is where you'll see young, suitable talent brought in at fair prices on fair wages to serve as backup to the starting 11.

[toumoromoro]

Fishing for the moon in the sea at night

Just finished the game, it was pretty fun. 

Ok first why does this game has 3 names? Fishing for the moon in the sea at night / Towelket one more time 0 / Yorunoumi2

I have wanted to play this one for a long time, I have said it a couple of times before but TK4 is my favorite TK game (maybe one day I will explain why in detail) so a “remake” immediately caught my attention. In the end the game was completely different from what I expected it to be. While it borrows some concepts and story beats from TK4 it really is its own thing.

This game look so pretty. One of my favorite things about the series is watching how the art progresses in each game. I absolutely love how the world of the inn looks. White, black, red and blue look so nice together, and thanks to the border it’s like reading a story book. 

Also the sprites look nice, it’s the same style from 5 so I have no complains... ok maybe I have one complain. Mocha’s sprite. I’m sorry but the sprite from 4 is still the better looking one. Oh also Buritoba and Sekken-bako got new sprites and now they actually look like TK characters. It bothered me a little how normal their sprites did look in 4. They were literally just girl#1 and girl#2.

I almost forgot to talk about my favorite sprite, that’s right Nekojita’s(?). This weird fusion of Warawau and Nekojita that came out of nowhere. I love it, it’s adorable. Their palettes are pretty similar so no surprise why it works so well.

Music was good as always, I could listen to Furikusuku’s mansion theme for hours.

About the gameplay, almost no battles this time around. There are a couple of mandatory fights, but you are basicaly guaranted to win. I think it’s alright, battles have always been one of the weaker points of the series, and this game clearly wants to focus on the story. I hope they return in the next games though.

This game is pretty unique in the sense that you need to play it multiple times to actually understand the story. It has a “route system” where you can date 1 of 11 characters and depending on who you dated you get a different ending. Most endings are pretty much the same, but some are essential to understand what’s going on. On my first playthrough I went for Koucha and after beating the game I was so confused that I blamed the MTL, but no, it turns out a lot of concepts and lore are in the other routes. Even the Koucha route splits! And did you know some dialogue can change based on the gender you choose? So save a lot if you play it. I ended up using all 15 slots. 

And this brings me to my first complaint. I think the route system ended up hurting the story overall. One of the things that I really did like from 4 is the amount of time you get to spend with Mocha and Koucha, we get to see how their relationship evolves, them interacting with others characters or just fooling around, by the end of the game you know them pretty well and you care if something happens to them. In this game you spend very little time with the character you choose, so the more emotional parts didn’t really do a lot for me. I understand that asking Kanao to write that much dialogue for 11 characters is just unrealistic so I wish we had less routes so the other routes could have more dialogue.

Trying to piece the story together was pretty fun. I understand “The true purpose of the inn”, “The story of Mocha and Furikusuku” and “The sins of the Inkeepers”, but I’m still confused about concepts like the Tokage and Uikechuke transformation. You get 2 examples for the Tokage one, but almost no info for the Uikechuke transformation.

This game introduces Smile DK, I think she’s okay, but she only really shines when she’s with Nyanyamo, they are really funny together. Also I really like what’s been done with Nyanyamo design and personality. If I had a top 5 she would definitely be there. Pucchi remains a consistently good character. PPU was there and had more lines than in 4. Please give Agochu her labcoat back.

Overall a fun and solid game, but I have to admit that I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.  Maybe I had too high of expectations. 

A now some trivia: 

1) If you examine the game files it looks like a Buritoba route was considered at some point before being dropped, I didn’t even notice until I read a thread in Japanese Yahoo.

2) If you extract the StringScripts for the game there’s a lot of dialogue for what appears to be a route in which Koucha is possesed by Furikusuku. I couldn’t find any info about this, so please tell me if it was actually implemented in the game.

3) To unlock the Moochasu route you need to go on a date with him before going to Barrieland, then you need to tell Kyuuri or Chihedo that you love her when she confesses, so she connects the inn 1 day earlier. Finally you need to be on the Koucha route so you can go to the inn when you get the wedding ring. Moochasu is inside the bath, give him the ring and you are done. Took me a while to figure how to date him so I hope this helps someone one day.

Next game is:

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Sm stans should be thanking Hybe for doing them a favor by getting rid of Lee Sooman. Instead they remain as hateful and as ungrateful as ever.

***

Lol Anon,

First of all it’s a bit weird but also funny you’re taking offense on HYBE’s behalf like that. If you’re anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, I suggest you go outside, buy yourself a flat white topped with lots of whipped cream, walk into a park, find a nice bench to sit on, and pull an Elsa.

Life’s too short love. Just let it go.

And secondly, well, yeah. I agree with you. But remember, HYBE also got involved for purely profit-making reasons. Lee Sooman just had to get out of the picture before any reasonable growth could happen in that company, and nobody - not the fans, not the staff, not even Chris Lee who it turns out was just as culpable for illegal practices as Lee Sooman - nobody but a cashed up third-party could buy him out. HYBE did the needful and SM Entertainment will only benefit as a result. And of course k-pop stans will do nothing more than hate. That has been the story of the growth BTS/ARMY/HYBE have brought to the k-pop industry especially in the last 6 years and how the Big3 and fans of groups from those companies have responded every single time. The sky is blue and water is still wet. Same old same old.

Aside, I keep getting asks about how fans of SHINee, NCT, EXO, Red Velvet, SuperM, etc seem to nurse a special grudge towards BTS, Namjoon in particular, and HYBE more generally. For the people sending me those asks, I can understand how your experiences with those fans inform your views on them, and I’ve talked several times before about the cultures of older k-pop fandoms from older companies, how the behaviours you see in k-pop spaces are structurally supported, but I also want to point out that if this is something that consistently bothers you, that’s very much a you problem.

If you feel that simply by virtue of being ARMY you will be intensely disliked and hated by k-pop stans, and you find that thought uncomfortable, I really can’t help you so there’s no point sending me asks on the topic. I’m not sure how after reading my Masterlist, seeing what I write about and how I write about it, you’d think there’s any world in which I’d give a fuck. In fact I’m a bit amused you’d think I’d care how random k-pop stans feel about music and artists I like, people who proceed to judge me on that basis as a result.

You can keep sending me asks to explain their behaviour, but I already wrote an exhaustive post on hate in my Masterlist, and it’s also just a fact of life that there are some people, many people in fact, who need no reason at all to hate someone else. Just someone blinking a particular way can inspire intense dislike in people with certain personalities. Not everybody you come across in your life will like you. That’s no excuse to act like an asshole, but pre-occupying yourself with how they feel about you is also a colossal waste of time.

Let it go.

Bringing it back to HYBE and SM, I think Bang PD actually achieved his loftier goals of wanting to see more accelerated growth of k-pop, simply by removing Lee Sooman from the equation. We won’t see the full repercussions of this until 5 years down the line (the average peak group cycle today), but in my opinion, HYBE couldn’t have played this better. Let’s hope with the current conclusion, people finally move on.

[thatneilj]

Game of the Year 2023

Originally posted January 2024 without images.

Another year managed to fly by! In personal life I got another 9-5 for the first time in a few years. Nice to be able to know I can afford rent again, but definitely kept me away from playing as many of the games I would have liked. But hey! Got through another year without catching COVID so I must still be doing something right to stay safe and protected, right? Anyway, there were some HUGE games this year, but my favorites tended not to be those. In fact, I spent a lot of this year feeling like I was getting a bit too hung up on the negatives I saw in a lot of the games I played. Still found a lot to love in my top 5 though! So enjoy this weird list that is… not so purely video games this year.

Honorables

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

In the last few years I’ve been putting stuff in here that aren’t video games, but this might be the first time I tossed some anime into my honorable mentions. Frieren takes the fantasy adventure premise and decides to tell the story of the world after the wizard and her party defeated the big bad evil guy. By having the long living elf be the central character it weaves a current journey with flashbacks of the heroic adventure to create a melancholy vibe with threads of comedy, intrigue, and hope. If you like fantasy and are looking for something other than boilerplate action/adventure you NEED to see watch this show.

Metroid Prime: Remastered

I’m sure there are some people out there who are shocked to see Metroid Prime: Remastered in my honorables instead of the top of the list. Yes Metroid Prime is one of my favorite (if not THE favorite) games of all time. After replaying it with this remaster that remains true. The reason it only made it into the honorable mentions is because I this remake is overall a worse product than the original Gamecube version. Yes the graphics are sharper and the textures have more detail, but some aspects of the game are actually much worse – Thermal Visor for example gets fuzzy and seems like it tanks the framerate in ways that make it much harder to use than in the original. This game is still amazing, even on Switch, but if you can play the original (and can get over the control scheme of the original) it is the better experience.

Hi-Fi Rush

Hi-Fi Rush managed to marry the rhythm game experience to a 3rd-person action game more cleanly than I ever would have expected. It makes sense that the genres would fit together, so many of these games use pauses in button presses to modify combos and such. This game brings all that to the very front and center by making the entire world pulse with the music to help you find that pace of play. I am sure the writing and tone could get on some people’s nerves – hell, in another game it would probably get on mine – but the comic book aesthetic and comedic tone grew on me as the game went. The only thing that kept this off the top 5 was that the highs of some other games excited me more than anything in this game, even though the quality was consistently better in this one.

5. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is Team Ninja’s incredibly cool first shot at stripping a lot of the soulsborne influence they had for Nioh in favor of some much more unique systems. Frankly I loved pretty much every system they came up with. The morale system creating a strength progression within each level rewarded exploration and meant that replaying levels didn’t become trivial slogs. The spirit system replacing stamina as a resource to reward good play and letting you use your special abilities instead of punishing you attacking too many times before blocking is great.

On top of how cool those systems are, the game also has what is probably my favorite boss fight of the whole year in it. The first Lu Bu fight about half way through the game is INCREDIBLE. The way he dances between his two phases to mix up your parry timing on his critical attacks feels just right, the way the magic weaknesses work really letting you feel the difference in how to push him to swap phases more quickly. And he isn’t the only great boss in the game either!

The only real problem with the game is that it feels like it needs ONE more system in there somewhere. Bringing back the stances from Nioh, or requiring different options than just parry for some of the critical attacks the way Sekiro went about it. I’m sure there are other options too, but that one little missing spice really does end up feeling lacking by the time you’re thinking about playing New Game+.

4. Street Fighter 6

Considering I’ve spent the last 18+ months avoiding playing many fighting games I am surprised to find this was one of my most played games this year. When I started wracking my brain about how that could be I realized it’s because Capcom put in that giant World Tour single player campaign. Say what you will about it being cheezy and wildly awkward to control on a fight stick, but the fact is it worked. It’s a single player campaign that has pieces in there to help teach new players about low attack and anti-airs, it brings more character to many of the playable fighters, and it does something unique in the fighting game space for single player.

Of course, that isn’t really why I come to fighting games, but considering how incredibly lacking Street Fighter V was at launch – particularly in the single player content – this game delivered. All that says nothing about the actual core competitive game behind it all with the new drive system causing a major change in how Street Fighter has historically worked. The drive gauge is EVERYTHING in this game giving you access to a bunch of defensive and offensive tools including all your powered up special moves without needing to build up the super gauge. Running out of this new resource is also how you can be stunned, locked into scarier pressure from you opponents and more.

While I didn’t spend as much time grinding ranked matches and playing against my friends this year, everything about Street Fighter 6 feels thought out. Now I just need to find the time to commit to it more! Luckily I know it will be getting a lot of support for years to come, and I look forward to finding my own drive for it again sometime in the future.

3. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

We all know nostalgia goes a pretty long way for me and this year Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is that pick. It manages to be a true throwback, taking all the attitude and core gameplay of Jet Set Radio, and creates a true modern successor to it. They even tossed a tiny bit of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater into the mix with their silly combo system for building a boost gauge and finding ways to make you engage with it during the turf war battles as you progress through the story.

Now I am not going to gush about how nice it is that you can always access all your sprays instead of just picking 3 before a mission, how the modern camera controls improve navigation, or how getting to pick a character doesn’t lock you out of the transport style you prefer just feels good. Instead I’m just going to gush about the soundtrack. IT IS COOL AS HELL!!! Even ignoring the fact that they got Hideki Naganuma to make a few tracks for it, this game has some BANGERS. Just to torture myself a little extra I made myself pick a top 3 off the soundtrack (in no particular order); I Wanna Kno – 2 Mello, Condensed Milk – CYBERMILK, Big City Life – Kidkanevil.

2. Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Unapologetic joy seems to have been boiled down into a goop, and painted onto Super Mario Bros. Wonder. It’s not exactly surprising to see the vibrant colors and bright musical jaunts, but the choir of piranha flowers hitting in the second level feels like a big step beyond the goofy image of a mustached frog in a hat. The thing that made this all so surprising for me isn’t that Nintendo got wild, but that the gimmicks throughout the game never felt like the mostly cheap tricks my last foray into a Mario game did.

I cannot sit here and say every single level managed to find some unique hook with the wonder flowers, in fact they do end up repeating a lot of the effects. However, every time I found one in a level I got excited to see what they would do. Sometimes it would be a change to how to play the game, like with sudden isometric segments. Sometimes it would just be causing the world to suddenly come alive to change the platforming challenge but not my fundamental approach. And as fun as all of those effects always were, some of the biggest highlights are the badge challenge levels that often felt like a ROM hack with official polish.

Anyway, I can gush about this game being my favorite Mario experience since the N64, but the real sign of how much I liked this game comes from something else. This is one of the only 2 games all year that I spent the time getting 100% completion, and would have happily played another 2-3 worlds full of levels.

1. Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon

It must have been 2017 when I said to myself, “Neil, we got to try and understand what people like so much about mech stuff.” Sure I had had fun with Pacific Rim so long ago, bounced so hard off Macross and Evengelion so long ago I just needed to try again. After six years, two and a half campaigns of the Lancer TTRPG, and a handful of mech anime both good and bad I had finally developed an appreciation at the very least. Suddenly the Armored Core 6 marketing was working on me. “But wait,” I thought to myself, “Didn’t we play a little bit of like the second one of those games at a birthday party when we were like 13 and think it sucked?”  I probably did, but back then I was a very different person, and FromSoftware was making very different games.

The game asks you to operate at almost the exact same pace as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, even bringing in a kind of posture system, to deliver an otherwise completely unique experience. The campaign is progressed through levels that can range from expansive explorations to single encounter arenas and everything in between. And of course we can’t forget how awesome some of the set pieces and bosses throughout the game are. That first time I attacked the giant walker in chapter 1 was incredible!

The plot is delivered mostly through radio-play like conversations between faceless characters, yet it manages to make many of those characters extremely memorable. Some for showing up in many missions like Rusty, but others like Pater for small things like an impression of one of his superiors. And we can’t forget how well the theming of the game plays perfectly in the same genre space as so much other mecha media. Your chance acquisition of the moniker “Raven” and the baggage it carries about being a force of freedom and choice, all while you’ve been given no choice coming to this planet in a war machine. Even once you can start making choices every one you make, no matter how far it takes you, can never separate you from your mech or its role as a weapon. Somehow all of that isn’t why Fires of Rubicon reached my top spot this year. It was for two specific reasons.

First is how the customization works; it encourages experimentation without a cost to discourage it. I know people love to talk about how many different ways you can build a character in the souls games, but I always found swapping to a new weapon meant taking not just a hit in my personal familiarity with how my approach works, but also tends to make everything harder simply because whatever new weapon I’m experimenting with needs to be invested in to level up or it won’t be effect enough for where I’m at in the game anymore. Those upgrade materials are limited! AC6 just says that the pieces are what they are, mix and match to your hearts content and see what you think feels fun! The amount of difference you can feel in how your vehicle moves, its effective ranges for attack, and structure of combat is incredible. While every level has taken precautions to make sure any mech you build should be able to get from start to finish, the range of your mech’s abilities allow for vastly different and fun experiences getting through them.

Second is because after I beat the game – three times for all the endings – I went back to it I went back to replay a bunch of missions because there were some weapons I hadn’t earned enough money for to have everything possible unlocked. Once I completed that I went back again, just to make more mechs. Rough facsimiles of the mechs my friends and I had built in our tabletop games, and then modified further still to keep the flavors but fit the builds better into the way AC6 plays. Then, for the first time in any FromSoftware game, I took the plunge into the online PvP systems. All of these games have some kind of multiplayer aspect, but I almost never engage with them at all. Entire questlines about invading enemies in Elden Ring went entirely ignored by me because that just isn’t what I come to these games for. But here I made some mechs specifically to mess around with finding ways to land the Chainsaw in 3v3, or a quick flamethrower build to dance around an opponent while making it so hard for them to see the laser drones shredding their health bars away.

Fire of Rubicon got its hooks in me so badly I have seriously debated figuring out how to revisit older Armored Core games. I was so into this game I convinced myself to sit through a pretty fucking bad anime this fall season simply because mechs were a part of it. This game is number 1 this year by a landslide.

[redwineconversation]

and the interstate was so loud, there was a lot to drown out (Lyon - PSG Postgame Thoughts)

There was good and there was less good, but there wasn't really "bad". So let's pour ourselves a cup of coffee and have a good and proper chat about things.

I wouldn't really describe this game as memorable, and I think that's what's upsetting a lot of people. It wasn't chaotic, there was no blood drawn, there were no exceptional comebacks. In many ways, it was a really, really boring game. Not much happened. Or did it?

Lyon's finishing is obviously still an issue but it's not as bad as I think certain people on Twitter are making it out to be. Lyon shot at goal almost 30 times, 11 of which were on goal. People will complain that Lyon "only" won 1-0, and I agree it should have been more. BUT this isn't like the game against Paris FC where it genuinely felt like Lyon was shooting for the sole purpose of saying they did. Here there was intent. It could have/should have been more, but Lyon hit the post I think it was three (3) times, Katoto - a striker - saved twice off the line, Earps actually came up with good saves. Like this wasn't a team who was shooting with no intent, they were shooting and coming up with a good defense. So yeah, it was "just" 1-0, but it could have been more if not for PSG defending like their life was on the line.

It's not to say Lyon always made the right choices in front of goal. I still remain on the fence about Dumornay - girl, just keep your head down and do your job; Hegerberg's shot was awful but at least she felt enough shame to apologize for it. Chawinga scored, cool, but there's still some issues there which need sorting. And again I am not buying the excuse of "well she isn't used to being around technical players" because PSG can be a technical team. She just needs to make better decisions. I think she'll get there eventually.

Damaris was my player of the match, you're allowed your wrong opinion. Lyon is just so lucky to have her and we're lucky that she describes Lyon as the club of her dreams. It's easy to romanticize a team when the players do it for you. Damaris suits Lyon the same way Lyon suits Damaris. And the cool thing is, Damaris is only going to get better with experience. We don't have the polished version yet, and that's super exciting. If Henry molded Lyon into her own image, I think we're starting to see Damaris do the same. I hope she stays injury free this season and we really get to see what she does with the keys to a Maserati.

People were bitching on Twitter about van de Donk/Horan in the midfield and honestly I think they were bitching for the sake of bitching because it is fashionable to hate on those two players. Neither of them did anything which raised my blood pressure. Horan missed a couple of chances, sure, but if you're going to hate on Horan for that, then I expect the same criticism towards Durmonay and Diani, who also missed clear chances. If anything I thought van de Donk played a little handbreak-ish, so if you're going to bitch about her performance, bitch about that.

Defense was stellar. Look, I'm not going to deny it, I probably had the biggest head loss out of everyone when Svava signed with Lyon and she has proven me wrong every single week. I was very, very vocal about how there was night and day between Svava and Bacha, that recruiting a backup LB was beneath Lyon, etc. But look at us now. You could make a genuine case that she has been the best defender on the team so far this season. And it's not to say the others have been bad, because they haven't been. She is just very consistent, which is something I really appreciate in a player. She doesn't showboat, she doesn't do more than she is capable of. Someone said she is aware of her limitations and so stays within her perimeter. So we definitely need to give her credit.

I've also seen a lot of head loss about Montemurro and I have to say, I don't really agree with it, and he was not in my Top 5 choices for head coach. I think there is a bit of confirmation bias - a lot of the time the ones screaming #JoeOut are the same ones who think Lyon should focus on being an academy development team and stuff like that. No. I don't give a fuck if academy players get playing time or not. I just want to win.

And I honestly think Lyon, barring the Paris FC game, has been playing well this season. Compare to how stale the performances were under Bompastor at the end to how they're playing now, there's an obvious difference. Lyon is playing with purpose again, it seems like they're enjoying themselves on the field, etc. If your criticism is that he is not benching Horan/van de Donk and isn't giving academy players playing time ... Maybe your problem isn't with Montemurro, maybe it's what you want from Lyon.

And again I do have issues with Montemurro, he's made decisions that I don't agree with. But I don't think he is a bad coach and I think none of the realistic criteria for him to be fired are being met. Lyon is playing well. They are winning games. And he hasn't lost the locker room and believe me, we will know when that happens (because yes, all coaches lose the locker room eventually). Whining that he should be fired because he isn't benching Horan or isn't playing your favorite academy player isn't a good look. The fact of the matter is, Lyon is playing and is winning. Renard and Hegerberg aren't calling for his head. You really want him fired, take it up with them because they're the only ones who really have a say about his job security.

So what did we learn from this game? Not much, except that under the right circumstances, Lyon-PSG games can be boring after all. A PSG fan pondered that maybe the intensity dropped once Lyon realized that PSG wasn't actually going to do anything threatening. Lyon definitely took their foot off the gas in the last 15-20 minutes (which coincides with Horan and van de Donk coming off, but that risks upsetting the Twitter fanatics).

Lyon's press is really, really difficult to handle and I do think PSG struggled enormously with it. Now it must be said PSG was decimated by injuries and this wasn't their strongest 11, and some of their players just don't have the necessary level/experience to handle a press like Lyon's. Though to be fair, neither does Becho. But the press was very, very intense. I saw some criticism towards Leuchter basically ghosting the entire game but in her defense, Lyon wasn't letting her anywhere near a CPR kit either. On the rare occasions she got on the ball there were immediately 4-5 Lyon players swarming her. Realistically she wasn't going to be able to do anything except maybe jump to Lyon at the first opportunity @kang

Was it a good game? Ehh. Was it a bad game? No, and that's kind of the point. Lyon got three points and didn't really step out of second gear, and didn't play badly. We owe ourselves to acknowledge that much.