#asterisk my beloved*

[meirimerens]

hey sending you another ask since i was apparently eaten in the womb (your inbox), i just made a new post relaying dybowski's abuses with updated info from former HSE students/IPL members I've been working with and they hope it gains traction, you can share it if you're interested (warning, it's a lot of text) thanks for all the support!!

you were indeed eaten in the womb of my inbox i was checking in emails to see if the asks had showed up and i was about to screenshot yours and reply like that when you sent this one ^ so. perfect timing. mr electric and so on

[bjorkshire-pudding]

Why is there such a lack of Uki merch? 😭

[bjorkshire-pudding]

🥺🥺🥺

Captain of the 13th Division

[rockyteriyaki]

okay SO my beloved ezra @hellohallowedhalo inquired after my tags on this post, which made me realize that my FIRST EVER F1 FIC is almost an entire year old (??????) and THEN i read THIS MASTERPIECE by @fast-burn and it set off a nuclear bomb inside my head...so i wrote a free-use-ish factory followup to RSWT. thank you all for one year of freaky derangement <3333 ily

Daniel leaves Red Bull as a driver and becomes—he doesn’t even know what to call it. In his contract, it says ambassador. On suspended Twitter accounts, they call him a blood bank.

Max doesn’t know about that part, because Max doesn’t have Twitter, and even if he did he wouldn’t be term-searching his own name with asterisks in the vowel places like a nutter. Daniel’s people tell him soothingly to block and report, if he insists on being on social media in the first place, and Daniel does–he reports. He doesn’t block. Sometimes, he screenshots.

It had been a leap, obviously, to go from–from a driver, incidentally bound to the whole blood thing, to then this: a full-time gig. A singular purpose. They’d gone over the language of the contract in more detail than Daniel thought was possible, rewording and reworking every point until it maybe resembled something that seemed less obviously like exploitation, but even after it was all printed out with the little RBR letterhead, it felt swampy in ways nobody could explain or do away with.

Still, when Daniel put pen to paper, it was with life-ruining clarity. I want this, I want this, I want this.

“Ah, here you are,” Max says, knocking on the glass wall of one of the conference rooms in the factory. He cups his hands against the pane, like a kid against a department store display. “Are you hiding, Daniel?”

“Nah,” Daniel says. He hasn’t been, actually; he just wanted someone to find him. He puts his phone down as Max pulls the door open. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” Max says, and it’s so uncomplicated Daniel doesn’t feel the need to even ask a followup, which is what he likes–loves, even–about Max. Daniel crowds him in the doorway, leans on him.

“You need it?” Daniel whispers.

“Yes,” Max says. “Please. I have, already–they have everything they need, so. We can go now, if we are back before the hour.”

Daniel reaches behind Max, pulls the door closed. It pushes Max into him a little, feet falling forward. Max blinks.

“Why not here?” Daniel says. He stretches his neck out, which he knows is a dirty move, but it works; Max’s nostrils flare. His eyes dart to the glass wall, the big transparent window that looks out onto the floor where dozens of people in navy polos are working to make sure Max can deliver them to glory next year.

Well, Daniel is one of those people, technically, now. Working.

He steps back towards the conference table, a dark fake-oak thing that’s big enough to fit the shareholders and their massive egos all side-by-side. Max follows. The number of times they’ve done this and it hasn’t ended in one or both of them coming can be counted on one hand. Max knows this, and Max is following, with a blinding willingness reminiscent only of Daniel’s own desire to get Max’s fangs on him, in him, since the first time he saw that glossy pink shine over them.

“I was just thinking about my contract,” Daniel says, as casually as he can manage, which is probably not at all. He scoots onto the table, kicks the rolling office chairs out to carve a gap. “You can, y’know.” Max nods fervently, even though Daniel isn’t making any sense. “Like, anywhere? If you wanted.”

He can pinpoint the exact moment the images parade into Max’s mind. Daniel in meeting rooms, instead of bathrooms and backseats. Daniel on his lap. Daniel over dinner, only one plate between the two of them because–because he’s Max’s—

Max sinks down to his knees, cradles his head in Daniel’s thighs. It takes Daniel a moment to pinpoint the feeling through the denim of his jeans, but the saliva gives it away–Max is rubbing his gums over the seams. The hooked points of his fangs snag and retreat on the fabric.

“Hey,” Daniel says, on a shaky exhale. “Is that good teeth? Or, like, bad-idea-Daniel teeth?”

“If I don’t, I will bite you here.” Max gestures miserably to the glass wall. “And then, probably against the window too.”

There are people walking past now, and Daniel can see them look inside only long enough to register who’s who, and then avert their eyes. Daniel’s laughs turn into moans. He can’t help it. Max laughs too.

“Go on then,” he tells Max. “They don’t pay me enough to keep secrets.”

[see-arcane]

As a fan of the book Dracula and Dracula-adjacent media, I am very used to disappointment. I can still clap when the media is impressive while pretending the characters do not have the names they have. After enough trailers and interviews, I see Nosferatu 2024 is now sadly in that category, RIP to Thomas and Ellen Hutter, the un-Harkers set to get the Francis Ford Coppola treatment ala Robert Eggers. But if directors can play dolls and make the Mina/Ellen character do bloodstained kissy kissy with Dracula/Orlok, I can do this:

ACTUALLY SUBVERSIVE IDEAS I’D BE COOL WITH IN NOSFERATU (2024) FROM LEAST TO MOST COOL

Idea I’d Be Least Cool With, But Seems Eggers-shaped:

Ellen goes full Thomasin x Black Phillip, giving into the darkness~ ooh she loves her some Orlok, talk cadaverous to me babey~ And they make out bloody style and devour the puritanical human society because Eggers will pull a del Toro and make 99.99% of the human characters assholes not worth saving from the Horrors. Maybe Thomas and un-Van Helsing are left standing, maybe not. But it’s basically the Eggers MO of Monsters/Myths > Humans, however innocent or evil, extra dark ominous ending.

Idea I’d Be Somewhat Cooler With:

Ellen is 2 goth 4 U Thomas. But she’s also not oblivious to how Orlok is going to drink everyone. Which is bad. So she’ll 1) embrace her own dark inner lust and monstrosity~ while also 2) pulling a Bride of Frankenstein climax (We belong dead.) to see to it that she and Orlok are destroyed by sunrise. Not a ‘She was too pure for this sinful Earth!’ ending, but a ‘She was too gothique and eager to monsterfuck to hang around with you prudes. But fiiine she’ll destroy herself and her beloved Orlok to save you all or whatever. :/’ Which is slightly better than the scenario of un-Van Helsing and/or Thomas executing her and Orlok. So. Sure. Vampiric murder suicide, dying with her True Orlok Love (Orlove) uwu

Idea I’d Actually Be Pretty Cool With:

Eggers says he’s focusing on the sex/death drive and love story of Nosferatu (many asterisks here). If he has the guts for it, he’ll turn it on its expected heel and do the unthinkable—put a magnifying glass on Orlok getting very weird with Thomas. Who he drinks from first. And leaves imprisoned rather than outright killing him.

“But how do you explain him coming at Ellen’s invitation? What about the whole locket scene??”

Well, that’s where the bittersweet bit happens. Heavy on the bitter. Because if Eggers wants to really put his heel down on the horror part of vampirism and Dracula’s original MO, this would be the perfect point to do a bait and switch with Ellen herself. She wants Orlok? Wants him to ravish and drink her and make her one of his undead so they can be vampires together forever and ever?

“You want me. My touch, my gift. This I know. But the question remains,” cue that sharp little rat grin, “why would I ever want you?” Remember; the only one that explicitly craved what Dracula had to offer in the novel and in Nosferatu was the Renfield character. The one who saw the Count as a means to their end, who pined for him and what he could give. Bar the more sexual/amorous elements with Eggers-Ellen, she’s going after the same thing. This, when Classic Dracula is very much about preying on those who are terrified of and/or loathe him—he’s a conqueror, not a suitor. If you want it, he doesn’t want you. So it’s very possible that Ellen’s unwittingly set herself up for not only disappointment, but a potentially violent end.

“Sounds fucked up. But again, where’s the ‘love story’ bit? What’s up with him taking the locket?”

The locket that Thomas had. Of his wife, who he loves. Who he risked death and worse to crawl his way home to. Who, if he’s anything more like the novel Jonathan Harker he was based on, would become aware of Ellen’s condition/Orlokian preference and simply be heartbroken, yet still unable to turn against her. Ever.

Thomas Hutter’s heart belongs to Ellen, breaking or not. Thomas is also the one who Orlok clings to like his own shadow for the entire stay in the castle. The locket is taken not because it’s an image of Ellen <3, but because it’s an image of the competition/distraction for Orlok’s pet real estate agent who he is Very Normal about. And this is all supposing he doesn't just outright destroy the locket in a petty rage, per the vile thing-mirror scene.

The climax comes with Orlok about to off Ellen, only for Thomas to arrive and offer a trade. Him for her. Orlok takes the deal, latching happily onto Thomas and setting himself up for the sunrise trap. It would make sense. It would boot the old Reinforced Hetero rule of ‘he has to be drinking a pure maiden for it to work!!’ It would be genuinely subversive and tragic as a gothic love triangle, perhaps capped with un-Van Helsing arriving too late and finding Ellen grieving over the corpse of Thomas, Orlok having gone to burning dust as he fed.

Which could lean toward a special knife twist ending in itself:

Ellen mourns not just what was lost, but what she threw away, not realizing what she had in Thomas until he died for her. Tragique. ...Unless.

Ellen refuses to let un-Van Helsing ‘desecrate’ Thomas’ corpse with stake and saw. In fact, she kills him outright when he tries. Cut to the next evening, where Ellen sits patient and unblinking at Thomas’ bedside. The sun goes down. Cue some implying beat in which we realize that Ellen’s clocked that she’s been misinterpreting her prophetic dreams all this time. An epiphany that comes to fruition as we see her smile at some sudden change off-screen while facing Thomas’ cadaver on the bed.

The Embodiment of Death she was pining for was never Orlok, but Thomas. Rather, Thomas fully metamorphosed into Nosferatu.

“Come to me,” she whispers. “Hear my call…”

Thomas hears. A claw-tipped hand raises up to hers. The wedding ring on it gleams.

The End. (?)

It won’t happen. I know it won’t happen. But goddamn would I love to be proven wrong.

[hotchscoffeecup]

intro 💜

hiiii my name is ash! basic things to know: i’m 26, bisexual, use she/her pronouns and love all things criminal minds. this is primarily going to be a fic account dedicated to the cm fandom and my beloved *criminal mind character x reader* fics! my favorite characters to write are hotch, prentiss, and blake, but my requests are always open so feel free to drop an idea in my inbox for any character! i love bringing people’s visions to life! see my master list below for all of my fics <333 fic requests are also OPEN

master list🪻

Fics with an asterisk * are NSFW

hotch x reader

power struggle

banana pancakes

drunk dial

through love and loss

after hours *

how do we carry on?

reconciliation (pt.2 to how do we carry on?)

from across the bar *

stricken

stuck

unstuck (pt.2 to stuck)

savoring the moment

alex blake x reader

the crossword can’t wait *

emily prentiss x reader

for her, i’d endure

live a little *

hotch x emily

come home with me

emily x jj

lavender bath salts

other

a bau found family easter

[beemovieerotica]

TARS FROM INTERSTELLAR MY BELOVED. I want to fuck this asterisk

alright alright alright!!!!!

[usmsgutterson]

hi !! could I request a drabble with Kaz Brekker + from the prompt list: "niche nickname for the other person/niche nickname for the other person" please? I hope you have a good day or night :)

Niche Nicknames- K.B x gn! reader headcanons

Hi, anon! First off--I am SO SORRY that this has taken me nearly a month. I saved it to my drafts with the intention of doing it a few weeks back and then got sidetracked by a number of things, but I hope you enjoy! I also hope that doing this request as headcanons is okay--I read the request and then knew that headcanons made the most sense for me in terms of writing, and so headcanons I wrote.

ALSO: the nicknames used are translated from english to dutch, which I do not currently speak--I used google translate, and I apologize preemptively if either of those words don't actually mean what translate said they do.

Fic type- this is fluff!

Warnings- none

OKAY TO START,

Kaz's nickname for you is the old kerch word for 'beloved.'

when I say old, I mean old.

so old that Nina couldn't've found it in a textbook while she was learning how to speak Kerch.

For reference--the old kerch word for beloved is geliefd

you, however, know what it means because it was in a book you read once--it had been the nickname a character gave to their love interest, and because it was a kerch word almost as old as the existence of the country itself, there was an asterisk where it was first used explaining what the word meant.

That might make you ask how Kaz knows the word??

he's read the book too--you nipped it from his shelf in the lead up to a heist that would only be eventful after you'd gotten off the boat and proceeded into Ravka.

Your nickname for Kaz is the old-age Kerch word for darling: liefste.

It's a nickname that not even Kaz knows the origins of--one day, you started using it, and you hadn't stopped using it in the time since.

You also don't use it too often because there's not very much occasion to call him darling, so not very many people know it exists outside of the two of you and a few of the crows (Jesper, Inej, and Wylan)

the nickname that Kaz has for you doesn't get used often either--there's not much occasion for pet names in the Barrel, but you both have them for each other anyway for when there is occasion.

Generally, very few people know of your nicknames for each other and you're fine with it that way because it's just easier--though Kaz will never actually admit it, there'll always be some part of him that views love as weakness to an extent.

plus, you only ever have occasion to call each other your nicknames in the rarest of circumstances so they're fairly niche regardless.

[blorger]

Based on the discussion over the last couple of days, I feel like Drarry fandom has become very...dour? It seems people are bothered that not everyone on here wants angsty enemies to lovers stories all the time?

Draco's redemption is an important aspect of his character and has been brilliantly explored in hundreds, probably thousands of fics and I've read and enjoyed many of them. But, my god, sometimes I want to read something light or I don't have the time to invest in reading 50k+ words about how Harry is finally seeing Draco as more than just a Death Eater. Sometimes I want to see them just be together without the author feeling the need to insert a tangent about what a good boy Draco has been since the War and how he's totally changed now. I can infer that from the fact that Harry has chosen to be with him, he can tell the right sort for himself, you know?

It's as if we're not allowed to say we enjoy Draco as a character unless we explicitly put him through emotional and moral hell first. Also, I feel like by focusing so much on Draco's character arc, we tend to forget that Harry also has shit to work through, beyond needing to accept that he wants to bone Malfoy now.

This is not about calling anyone out, it's just a general trend I've been noticing with the fic and commentary that's been coming out lately. We can enjoy Drarry, but there always needs to be an asterisk to it, always. Have you noticed this or is it just me using the wrong filters/being in the wrong bubble/losing my mind?

I'm going to be honest with you here friend, I had no idea this was happening. I generally tend to stay away from, like, confrontational corners of the fandom (on account of I really don't have the constitution for it), but I know that sometimes these things have a way of reaching you even when you're not looking for them. For your peace of mind, I recommend maybe trying to curate your fandom experience to be less stressful to you because at the end of the day this is supposed to be fun. If you already are and it's not working, I'm fresh out of sage advice :(.

I do see the trend you've mentioned, I think it comes from attaching too many IRL things to a fictional world and adding complexities where there aren't, sometimes it enriches the fandom experience and sometimes it causes people to judge individual characters too harshly. I am but a passing ship in the turbulent waters of the marauders era fandom but it's something I especially notice there, with strictly segregated factions who each have very exacting parameters.

The problem with fandom squabbles like these is that no-one is wrong because we all are; we're all seeing things that aren't there in a series of books written by a terrible person; for all that we can share the joy of flipping the script on jkr, the fandom is never going to be totally unified because we're all making shit up as we go.

I also don't enjoy overly angsty fics where Draco has to martyr himself in order to be redeemed, because the Draco in my head doesn't need to do all that. The beauty (and curse) of a ship as big as Drarry is that there's multiple accepted interpretations of Harry, Draco and their relationship; hell, there's some fics where I feel like the author just slapped the names Harry and Draco on two OCs and called it a day but that just means said works weren't meant for me.

Curating our fandom experience as best as possible is really the only thing we as readers can do; one of the best strategies I've adapted is starting to exit out of fics the moment I realise they aren't working for me. I don't know how many fics I had to force myself to slog through because they are beloved classics, hoping I'd also see what everyone else is seeing, only to learn I should have trusted my instincts and abandoned ship. Ultimately I had to learn to stick with what works for me, even if it means there's significantly less fandom output I get to enjoy.

I honestly don't know if any this helped,

xoxo

[xielexalt]

HSR: A New Venture On The Eighth Dawn - My thoughts

Spoilers ahead, of course, but god damn this was one hell of an update and dare I say the true ending of this entire first act of HSR in its entirety thus far? What a treat!! Bringing a satisfying conclusion to everything Xianzhou, Penacony, and Genius Society and leading us into the next arc.

This is kinda an analysis, but it might be messy or incoherent at some points, since it's mostly my own thoughts on the matter so far.

read more below

The common ground of Sunday and Tingyun

With this story, it's clear -- both Sunday and Tingyun are instrumental in wrapping up the introductory Penacony and Xianzhou arcs respectively. They've both become reborn, faced themselves, said farewell to their past lives, and resolved to march onto the future with their own goals.

The fate of Sunday and Tingyun are probably some of the most anticipated questions in HSR up to this point -- both strongly associated with their respective arc's conflicts and endings. How they both come to intertwine in this story update is just spectacular.

And of course, there's quite a few ways they also contrast and reflect each other too, which is just so good.

Tingyun's revival was a series of choices made by people who wanted Tingyun to survive. Choice was instrumental for her, but on the contrary Sunday lacks much of choice leading up to his downfall, and has to work around his restraints. Even with their farewells to their respective beloveds, Tingyun says of her own volition she wishes to bid farewell to the Luofu to Yukong. However, Sunday's farewell to Robin is wrapped in an illusion, and if he had the choice, he wouldn't want to leave her side.

Also, the paths their arcs are associated with are quite different. Sunday is linked more to the "good" paths: Harmony, Order, Trailblaze*, and Preservation (through the IPC.) Tingyun on the contrary is linked to the "bad" paths: Destruction, Nihility, Abundance, Propagation, and The Hunt. Now, "good" and "bad" are very much relative and subjective terms, but the main point is that these groupings of paths are quite contrary to each other. In terms of "civilization," Sunday's path groupings would be more ideal, while Tingyun's would be less ideal.

But, in a way, the path of Destruction that Tingyun walks now, is a sort of freedom. Harmony/Order/Preservation (together) don't necessarily provide freedom, but Trailblaze does (which is why I asterisked it.) But Harmony can be complementary to Trailblaze -- we can see the echoes of Trailblaze/freedom after the Astral Express has done their duty in Penacony. In the Rappa quest, we can see Robin uses DJing to unite everyone's freedom of song, synthesized with her Harmony. And Sunday follows Harmony now, while walking alongside Trailblaze.

On Sunday

Harmony, Order, Trailblaze, Preservation. One who fell from the position of "God" and now seeks to protect mortals by living among them.

What a drastic change Sunday has been through, now that he has fallen. It's honestly so cathartic to see him like this and him getting the resolution he deserves, after this entire year in HSR. His demeanor is totally different, and he feels so much more somber and almost in mourning.

The key point of Sunday's story in this update is his dynamic with Wonweek -- the side of him that is more lighthearted, open, snarky, and humorous. By confronting his past and Wonweek, he bids farewell to the Sunday forced to be a God, and becomes Sunday the mortal -- the wanderer.

Wonweek is his halo -- representing the Harmony. This is why Wonweek had better control over Harmony than Sunday during the duration of the quest. But importantly, Wonweek embodies perhaps the most mortal aspects of Sunday, by being able to tell Robin he loves her and her songs, cracking jokes, and pointing out Sunday's flaws in trying to be a "God" -- an enforcer of Order.

It also just breaks me that Robin knew all along that the Intellitron woman she met was Sunday. Both of them wish so dearly for reunion, despite their difficult circumstances. They don't have much of a choice, but they're doing the best they can in the road ahead. Robin, as shown in the Rappa quest, will continue to protect and look over Penacony in her brother's stead, while he goes to travel the cosmos in search of the Harmony -- searching for answers about the dynamic between Harmony and Order in Penacony. In a way, it's like they've been flipped -- Robin used to travel the cosmos while Sunday stayed behind in Penacony to watch over it.

Trailblaze and Harmony have shown to be complementary and intertwined in Penacony, through the Watchmaker's Legacy. Sunday joining the Astral Express, even if temporarily, is a continuation of that theme. And in a way, this is the perfect conclusion for the Penacony arc overall -- at least, for this "first arc" of HSR, which is the entire story up until this point.

Now, another thing is that Sunday is at the mercy of the IPC still, and Jade is still looking over him and what he will do. Though he is aligned with the Astral Express and Trailblaze temporarily, the IPC and Preservation will also follow him. His freedom is not entirely "true," and there's still a lot of caveats to what he's permitted to do. It's highly likely Sunday will face a roadblock related to this in the future.

In the final fight against Wonweek -- or himself -- the cinematics and framing are so good?? The touch between Adam and God echoed in Sunday's boss fight, is echoed again in the cinematic. Here, the touch is not between "Ena" and Sunday, but Sunday and himself. And the "Order" God-like Sunday disappears, becoming one with the new mortal Sunday.

He's reclaimed Harmony for himself, gaining his halo again, now ready to face the future, tread the path of Harmony, and learn exactly what it entails. We know the "good" of Harmony, but what exactly are the "failings" of Harmony? These are important things for him to know in his pursuit of "paradise."

Actually, it might be that his idea of "paradise" might be in strong opposition to the IPC's method of protecting and preserving all life in the cosmos. Just where will this dream of his lead?

On Tingyun

Keywords: Destruction, Abundance, Propagation, Nihility. An innocent mortal who got caught up in the games of the Gods, and now wishes to challenge them.

Tingyun has been one of THE big questions for HSR's entire runtime, and here with her revival, we get answers as to what happened to her, a few more hints on the motives of Luocha and Jingliu and how she herself fits into that plot point.

Essentially what happened is that Luocha noticed Tingyun wasn't quite dead, and thus asked Ruan Mei to revive her. Why did he want Tingyun of all people to be revived?

In her conversation with Yukong, Tingyun reveals her motive and drive to challenge the Aeons themselves with her new self as she is. This is in line with Luocha's desire to take down the Aeon of Abundance, accompanied by Jingliu.

It can be thought that Tingyun is now equivalent to an emanator of Destruction, with her existence now being intertwined with Destruction itself, like how Luocha is (probably) an emanator of Abundance. This gives rise to another commonality: both of them now want to destroy (or mess with) the Aeons, by using the power of the Aeons themselves.

Somehow, Luocha knew Tingyun would be in alignment with his ideals and hopefully would want to recruit her to his side later, or maybe he moreso saw the opportunity of a new emanator of Destruction arising, and wanted to take advantage of that... Whatever the case, Luocha definitely saw some kind of kindred spirit or opportunity in Tingyun and wanted her to be saved. And, they're both "merchants" after all.

In my opinion, the Luocha-Jingliu subplot is one of the most interesting things in HSR thus far and definitely shows a long-term game plan for the Xianzhou's story. Having a new development in it in the form of Tingyun's revival is very exciting.

The Xianzhou is all about the warring dynamic between The Hunt and The Abundance, but there's also an element to how The Destruction mirrors them both, and moreso especially with how it's now been intertwined with Xianzhou politics through Phantylia and the borisin.

Another path that mirrors the Abundance and Destruction is Propagation. And guess who's also involved in this plotline, who's connected to the Propagation? The one and only Ruan Mei. Ruan Mei is a very curious connecting point of literally all of the above and more. Affiliated with Herta, involved with the Xianzhou's plotline, and reminiscent of Sunday in wanting to revive a fallen Aeon. Still, she's not yet an Emanator, exactly...

Alright back to Tingyun. So though she has Destruction associations now, her gameplay path is Nihility. We've already seen through Acheron that the path of Nihility involves the loss of self and memory, which Tingyun struggles with. Still, she has enough resolve to stay true to her ideals and take advantage of the situation.

There's something also to be said about how Phantylia wanted to become Tingyun entirely, so Tingyun, a supposedly regular Foxian merchant, has some qualities envied by a Lord Ravager of all beings. In everything that's happened to Tingyun thus far, this is the catalyst to awakening her latent potential -- the things Phantylia envied, and the things that make her one of the perfect candidates to challenge the Aeons. And, this is the first time we're actually meeting the real Tingyun.

Also, her conversation with Yukong really made me so emotional and teary-eyed... It's so good, allowing her to have her homecoming, flashing back to when she was just an innocent child, and echoing the key theme of "may this journey lead us starward" -- wanting to explore the myriad paths in the cosmos.

In a lot of ways, I really do believe Tingyun mirrors the Trailblazer's future potential.

On Herta and the Genius Society

Here we see the appearance of The Herta -- Great Herta, Madam Herta -- for the first time as she shuts down Herta Space Station to reach for the Aeon, probably to ask about Amphoreus, but likely something much greater, too. Why is she breaking out her true form for this? We'll just have to wait and see.

Actually, what's up with Emanators and confronting their Aeons? Luocha wants to do it, Tingyun is set on doing it, and Herta's gonna do it, too, it seems. As an aside, given Jing Yuan is an Emanator of The Hunt, and given everything going awry in the Xianzhou, it makes me wonder -- is he also going to confront Lan at some point? Once again they are definitely playing the long haul with the Xianzhou but I love all the little hints and foreshadowings about it so far! I think it's actually also worth mentioning Sunday here too, since he also wants to figure out just what the hell is really going on with the Harmony, as he is either an Emanator, or on par with Emanators of Harmony (same with Robin.)

As Tingyun said, humans are just pawns for the Aeons, but it's truly humans who carve the story forwards -- that's the essence of Trailblaze. So especially strong-willed humans -- Emanators, who you think would be on good terms with their Aeons -- actually, it seems to make total sense that Emanators, and those of similar power, would want to challenge their Aeons.

Erudition is a very interesting path -- not quite complementary to Trailblaze nor Destruction, but something of its own entirely. Regarding one of my theories about the Trailblazer -- I believe that the Stellaron inside them is the means by which we experience the story of HSR, and there is a very poignant dynamic between the player and the receptacle. The fourth wall exists in HSR as an important plot element!

Something important to note with regards to that is that Herta had that Stellaron initially. She must've known what qualities that Stellaron had, and what it implicates about the story and actually the entire world of HSR, and what it means to let Kafka steal it and embed it into the Trailblazer.

Aside from Elio, Herta might be the singular character to know the most about the true nature of the universe. Potentially she might know something about it being a story -- a game world. Whatever the case, it's associated with whatever makes the Stellaron inside the MC special.

Herta may seem like some kind of "god-tier" with how amazing she is, but really, her qualities are like that because she is human. It is the Aeons' mistake for trusting humans to use their powers to play a part in their Aeon game, anyways -- because the way things are looking, those humans will just use that power to take down that Aeon themselves. Herta embodies the absolute pinnacle of that, stretching the limits of what a human is even capable of.

What kind of world is Amphoreus?

Everything began with Herta, and here she is also heralding the beginning of an entirely new arc, wishing to know more about Amphoreus. Unknown to the Garden of Recollection, and even unknown to Herta...

A world only reflected in the mirrors of the Garden of Recollection, and a world of Three Paths. According to the wiki, one of these paths is Erudition, and I'm very inclined to believe Rememberance is also one of the paths. Either way, something about a world that cannot be reached normally from the outside feels a lot like Teyvat, doesn't it?

My knowledge of Genshin is limited, but from what I know Teyvat is trapped in a sort of cycle, closed off from the rest of the universe -- even though it technically exists in the Honkaiverse, and theoretically should be a place within the HSR universe. I feel like there's a lot of similarities with Amphoreus, where they once had a thriving civilization only to be met with ruin (Khaenri'ah?)

Teyvat references and parallels are not new to HSR. From what I know of other theories, Penacony does echo quite a bit of Genshin story too in terms of dealing with dreams and memory. Everything about Amphoreus so far just feels like it's going to echo Teyvat big time, and I'm so excited to see how that's going to weave into HSR's greater plot framework and probably the Honkaiverse as a whole.

Aside from just Teyvat, though, referencing the Amphoreus trailer -- it feels as though the arc of Amphoreus itself will be a mirror of the entire HSR plot as a whole. (Of course, this is almost the same case for every other arc in the series.) But here, I feel like the Titans reflect the Aeons and the Chrysos Heirs reflect the Pathstriders/Emanators who will take down the Aeons and claim the world/universe for themselves -- and to top it all off, led by a "Nameless" hero. It seems in all cases, Trailblaze is the path that sets worlds free and gives humanity the right to choose.

Actually, I wonder if Akivili is dead precisely because being an Aeon who's alive goes against the Path of Trailblaze. And why Pom-Pom doesn't play a role over where the Astral Express will go -- only its Nameless can decide that.

End

There's so much more I could say and honestly this is still just. Very messy and disorganized and whatever but. Yeah super excited for how grand this world is and everything and YAYYYY

[thelingering]

Making a compilation of ways to say "You are my beloved" and "You all are my beloveds" in different languages that I translate through the quickly-learned grammar:

"Ty jsi drahý můj" (Sing.) et "Vy jste drazí moje" (Plu.) [Czech/Čeština]

"Wewe ni mpendwa mwangu" (Sing.) et "Nyinyi ni wapendwa wangu" (Plu.) [Swahili/Kiswahili]

"Es meum carissimum" (Sing.) et "Estis mea carissima" (Plu.) [Latin/Latina]

"You are my beloved" (Sing.) et "You all are my beloveds" (Plu.) [English/English]

"Du bist geliebte mein" (Sing.) et "Ihr seid geliebte mein" (Plu.) [German/Deutsch]*

"Jesteś moim umiłowanego" (Sing.) et "Jesteście moimi umiłowanych" (Plu.) [Polish/Polski]

"你是我的钟爱" (Sing.) et "你们是我的钟爱" (Plu.) [Chinese (Simplified)/普通话]

This list is very likely to be incorrect, and is more or less just for my personal tracking XD Feel free to correct me though! I would adore learning a little bit of language

I'll be adding to this intermittently :3

@lost-to-the-wind-sometimes I finally got around to updating this! tagging you 'cause I feel like that was mentioned? lmk if you'd rather I not ^-^ /lh

(asterisk - * - after an entry means that I feel more unsure about the translation than I usually am)

[batsplat]

come on there’s gotta be at least 3 sete/vale rivalry appreciators (you me and pedro acosta)!! haven’t seen 2003-05 seasons in full but mugello 2004 alone was so great.

vale and gibernau finished 1&2 on the same podium SEVEN times in 2003, the only ppl who did it more in a single year (since 2000, was too lazy to look back further) were lorenzo/pedrosa in 2012 when they swapped 1&2 places 9 times on the podium.

I love you anon

listen, I know some people need their rivalries to be more balanced than this, but in terms of actual on-track battles it's like. one of the very best this century. (I'm trying to hold back from calling it the best this century but I don't not believe that?) also some might argue that the 1-2 achievement is even more impressive in 2003 than in 2012, given more riders were capable of fighting for wins and the field spread was way less dramatic. sete's 2003 season in particular is so underrated, man's scoring an average of 17.3 points per race, four wins, 10/16 races on the podium, only two races where he was worse than fourth... serious pace plus consistency! out of nowhere!

anyway, here's every notable on-track encounter between sete and valentino, with * to **** asterisks by how worth watching it is for the fight between those two specifically. (for most of these, of course you can find more details in the sete post and the valentino race recs post.) using italics I've indicated which races are available on youtube (or on facebook, in the case of phillip island 2004):

welkom 2003**: the first race after kato's death, and the one where sete secures his unlikely emotional victory. valentino applied heavy pressure on sete in the late stages, but sete stood firm

le mans 2003***: yes, valentino was unlucky when the race was interrupted by rain - but the resulting battle between sete and valentino in the last few laps in tricky conditions is fantastic. multiple overtakes on the last lap and both riders off-track at the final corner

catalunya 2003*: valentino looked locked-on for the victory until he made two mistakes, the second of which has him go off-track and drop several places to hand capirossi the win. vale finds some crazy pace to catch up with biaggi and sete and pass them both

sachsenring 2003****: valentino gets a big enough lead you think it's surely over... but then sete catches him, leading valentino to let him go by so he can study him from behind. a dramatic final lap that prompts a bit of an existential crisis from valentino

brno 2003****: valentino shows up after the summer break with red hair, a determined smile and a mission. this race is a thriller, a proper dogfight between 3-5 riders with plenty of twists and turns - before the whole thing distils into an all timer of a final lap duel

rio 2003*: valentino sticks behind sete for a while, but it feels like he was just biding his time. once he gets past, he pushes hard and pulls away for a comfortable win

sepang 2003*: the match point race, after valentino had run away with the season post-brno. valentino gets a middling start and has to hunt down sete, but once he does he again pulls away

mugello 2004***: MY BELOVED. this is where the momentum in that season really shifts, courtesy of one hell of a chaotic race. there is an excellent sete/valentino duel in this race, but it's far from the only thing going on. all of it's brilliant

catalunya 2004****: a race long duel! I love catalunya duels because so much of it is about tyres getting chewed up and the riders wobbling and sliding more and more. sete's home race and psychologically a very important race... one hell of a show

assen 2004****: the turning point of the relationship! I still FULLY believe this set up everything that happened next, even if nobody talks about this race any more. the fight slaps!! the last lap slaps!! the podium with bad vibes slaps!! valentino in that presser!!

brno 2004*: sete badly needed a win here, and in the end it's not particularly close. the early battle with those two and biaggi is fun, but eventually sete's newly upgraded honda has the clear edge

phillip island 2004****: the first duel post-qatar curse - so these two now hate each other. it's also a match point race! banger of a start, sete is proper feisty here leaving valentino to hunt him down. banger of a final lap too

valencia 2004*: last race of the season - and even though the title's been sealed up, wouldn't it be nice to get a morale-boosting win to take into the new year? at sete's home race too? ah, you know how this goes. the way valentino gets past sete is pretty funny

jerez 2005****: well of course! again, fierce start, and it takes a bit to get rid of everyone else so it's just those two again. the last lap is something special, as is the post-race drama

catalunya 2005***: back on sete home turf!! and sete rides such a good race, he's really doing his very best - except of course valentino is hunting him down again. there's a brutally dismissive quality to this victory

le mans 2005***: edwards streaks off in front until valentino catches him - and vale's content to sit on his teammate's rear tyre until sete catches them both. the race from there is a joy

sachsenring 2005***: another goody! hayden features quite prominently in this one, and crucially valentino never manages to make a break for it. sete leads going into the final lap

brno 2005***: the fun of this one is in remembering it's sachsenring // summer break // brno... and the duel here immediately picks up again with valentino brusquely cutting past sete on the first lap. really makes it feel like sete is trapped in some sort of a hellish time loop... the end to this one is proper CRUEL

qatar 2005***: one year anniversary of that race and of course sete is desperate to repeat his success. the more of these you watch the crueller they get, not least when it really does look like he's built up enough of a lead. melandri also plays a big part in this one

mugello 2006**: you just know how badly sete would have loved to win this (and so did the commentators). entire race is excellent but sete mainly features in the starting dogfight, not the latter stages

phillip island 2006**: this is a chaos bike swap race and there's a lot going on, all of which is very relevant to the title fight. relevant to this post is that sete and valentino end up fighting for the last podium place on the very last lap. their last duel before sete's career was cut short by injury

obviously, if anyone's looking to watch the full sete/valentino story, there's a few more races you'd have to add in like 2004 welkom, qatar and sepang. anyway, this rivalry slaps. hopefully soon a fourth person can be recruited to the cause

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou in 2009 Ch. 8 Matsuribayashi pt. 100

A while ago I played this game called Dokapon Kingdom: Connect. It's a fantasy RPG mixed with a board game, it is a surprisingly tense and extremely frustrating game to play. The computer is such a cheater it's astonishing. After creating my character the game generated three other players for the game. So there was me, Steve, the third character who's name I forgot, and: Rika. Even in other games Rika would show up to menace me! Except Dokapon Rika is a blond girl, so I decided that what happened is that Satoko got isekai'd into Dokapon, and she remembered the name Rika and took it as hers. It works because Dokapon Rika is a rogue character. Anyway it amused me.

Is it worth pointing out that in all of the earlier chapters barring Minagoroshi during the 1983 Watanagashi she always uses Tomitake to break into the Furude storehouse? One of my beloved commenters @neon-z mentioned that the occult fascination that Takano had is all but removed in this chapter. I wanted to bring it up because of this “she needs him to criticize her” thought. It never occurs, she had Tomitake help break into the storehouse, and then kills him later that night. So I suppose you could read it as he did criticize her, but she can’t handle criticism, and that’s why she kills him.

Anyway, jumping far, far ahead in the story:

Reading this again, I became highly amused by the idea that Rika’s down for the count here because Akasaka just roundhouse kicked her into oblivion.

I’m sure I’m just repeating myself, but Rika’s meeps were originally her mi-*s.

Remember when everyone was into Krav Maga? Anyone else remember the 2000s?

I haven’t done any research into it, but I wonder if the same people who originally translated Higurashi are still with MangaGamers or if the re-release got new translators? Also this particular stretch of the readthrough is a combo breaker. It’s the only one that doesn’t have screenshots of Rika complaining about her flat chest.

For some reason I had accepted the manga translation of “beautiful women never die” as the universal translation of this bit. But no, determined girls never die.

I don’t want to imply that the Tokyo organization is an omnipotent force, but I wonder if Takano had to keep them apprised of their plans during these events. Also, extremely minor typo there. Okonogi of the Mountain Hound, not Mountain Hounds.

Maybe I’m just misremembering, but I don’t recall any scene between the two where Tomitake acts especially rude to Takano.

I do kind of wonder why they went with the asterisk at the end of her Mi-*’s or her Nipa-*’s. I’m aware of people using the tilde to try to convey something in a cutesy way, but I’ve only ever seen asterisks used to denote either sound effects or a physical action.

I have a completely baseless speculation for why Mion had this pellet gun for the original art style. I assume it’s a pellet gun, because the notion that everyone is okay with Mion just open carrying an actual gun strains all reason. I think it was meant to instill a doubt about whether Mion and the Sonozakis are the relatively upright individuals portrayed by Mion throughout the series. It also gives a certain amount of credibility and weight to Ooishi’s belief that the Sonozakis have their secret armory. So, when the truth comes out in this chapter about the Sonozakis actually having their cache of hidden assault weapons it doesn’t come entirely out of the blue.

I kind of love how Okonogi is basically just talking like a person who’s quitting a job after a decade, and not someone who is probably going to jail for their complicity in crime.

I don’t think it was even really a case of they wanted to see who they could sucker into believing the scrapbook. I think they just wanted to be able to point at whichever political enemy they had and be like “this schmuck signed off on the order to try to kill thousands of people!” Despite the emergency manual plan going up in smoke Nomura and the rest of her conspirators could still probably use this to make their power play to get whatever political power they’re after.

I suppose this is a better conclusion to the 2009 Higurashi playthrough than what I did for the PS2 version. But we’re not done yet.

I know you’re dying to know!

Fair, he did say some highly questionable things in Tsumihoroboshi and Tatarigoroshi.

To be fair, I really think you could put most of the male characters on this list. Cake fetishist whose name I’m presently blanking on, Pa Maebara, Irie, Keiichi himself. The two younger guys who hang out with Keiichi, whose names I am also blanking on. Tomita and Okamura? I think those were their names.

In hindsight it probably was a good thing the series didn’t really delve into Rena’s depression.

Oryou Sonozaki, pictured here.

This has nothing to do with anything, but I am forever grateful that one of the sites I use has very strong blacklisting options. I really dislike guro, and it is one of my annoyances that I’ll look up a character or some show or other, and bam: here’s a picture of that character just getting mutilated in a style that can only be described as lovingly. Other sites their blacklisting feature still will show you the thumbnail of the image, just slightly darkened, kind of rendering the exercise moot. This site though it just has a gray square with the word blacklisted replace the image so you can’t even click it. Even here on tumblr I have my blacklist and it’ll still be like “here’s a post about Disco Elysium, we know you have it blacklisted, but do you want to see it anyway?”

I know it’s a joke and all, but I wonder why Rika is the biggest perv of them all? Is it because of her crush on Akasaka? Anyway, I think you’ll probably agree this was worth cutting the report on the Irie Institute’s coup attempt.

[khruschevshoe]

As someone who self-admittedly loved RTD's first era (with an asterisk or two regarding the treatment of Martha my beloved), is anyone else getting the ick by the "Season 1" branding? Like, you can feel the overreach of Disney, and as much as I criticize Moffat and Chibnall as showrunners, there was a lot of good there too that it feels like is getting partially swept under the rug. Combine this with Disney's new release times for the show (making them so America-Disney-centric) and it just gives me all kinds of off vibes.

[machineryangel]

any turkish movie recs?

HI YES i've been waiting for this ask my entire life

Kurak Günler (2022) dir. Emin Alper*

Emre, a young and dedicated prosecutor, is newly appointed to a small town hit by a water crisis and political scandals. After an initial welcome, he experiences an increasing number of tense interactions and is reluctantly dragged into local politics. When Emre forms a bond with the owner of the local newspaper pressure escalates under heated rumours.

trigger warnings: animal cruelty & abuse, graphic animal death, sexual abuse & rape (potentially of a minor, the victim's age is not clear), hunting, drought, sinkholes, drugging, hallucinations, homophobia, physical assault, harassment, guns & rifles and other weapons, riots

Bizim İçin Şampiyon (2018) dir. Ahmet Katıksız*

The mid 90’s. Turkey’s political instability, inflation and hopelesness on people were increased. In those years when all hope was lost, people deeply bond with Bold Pilot and Halis Karataş who win every race coming from the last place. People see themselves at the point where this horse and jockey are: at the back. This duo make people to believe that everybody can win. The race ends at the finish line and the first to cross this line are Bold Pilot and Halis riding it.

trigger warnings: terminal illness, misogyny (+ possibly more, it's been a while since i've seen this movie)

Mucize (2015) dir. Mahsun Kırmızıgül

1960s Turkey countryside. A newly assigned teacher finds out that the solitary village is missing a school. He gets fond of the village people and especially a disabled man. The teacher helps the village to build a new school and educate the children and the disabled man.

trigger warnings: ableism (very graphic; e.g children & teenagers are seen throwing rocks at a physically and mentally disabled person), use of ableist slurs, misogyny & sexism, guns & rifles, celebratory gunfire, animal cruelty & killing, brief non-sexual nudity, suicide attempt, harassment

Dedemin İnsanları (2011) dir. Çağan Irmak*

A feature film that tells the story of the director’s grandfather who was forced to leave Crete in the 1920s during the Greek-Turkish population exchange.

trigger warnings: forced displacement, death of an infant by illness, xenophobia, homophobia, suicide

Kedi (2016) dir. Ceyda Torun*

A profile of Istanbul and its unique people, seen through the eyes of the most mysterious and beloved animal humans have ever known, the Cat.

Also I haven't seen Yedinci Koğuştaki Mucize (2019) dir. Mehmet Ada Öztekin & Babam ve Oğlum (2005) dir. Çağan Irmak but i've heard rly good things about them & they're on my watchlist <3

Additionally, pls note that except for Bizim İçin Şampiyon & Kedi, all of these movies are very political. They include population exchange, military coups, the hypocrisy of rural people, anarchist people getting arrested unjustly and disappearing in custody, etc. If you're not familiar w Turkish political climate in the last century, they could be hard to follow at times, but all of them are rly worth watching.

the ones w asterisk are my faves <3

[cosmossystem]

hi I saw your post on what you meant by therapy ain't shit (shortest way to put it) and I (someone who considers themselves to not be pro psych) have a question regarding this

do you think it's hypocritical for me to still want to try to get help through just going to therapy despite me not really caring for alot of things that therapists do. because in my head it's like I have a genuine hatred and fear for some of the "practices" I've heard from other people who've gone to therapy and I'm also kinda of wary of going anyway because I'm a black person in southern america and we don't get shit like ever but I feel like it might be better for me to go than sitting here letting my emotions and poor mental health just ferment in my brain until I physically can't take it anymore. and also I'm going because my old pediatrician thought I should be put on antidepressants . so. there's also that

but anyway before that gets too rant-y. this is probably just a moral dilemma that I have because it feels weird for me to actively want to try therapy even though my mom (or my family in general) is one of those people who's like "just go outside" and I've seen alot of people who talk about how therapy is pretty much pointless because you can just get better on your own if you look for the correct resources. so. thoughts

ok hello beloved mutual. so sorry i have a LOT to say here. it boils down to this: personally i wouldn't really find it hypocritical. i think if you are introspective and self-aware enough to know what issues exactly you deal with, and you have some idea of how you'd like to treat those issues, and therapy is one of those ideas, then i think therapy is worth a try.

those are all genuine concerns, especially wrt potential racism (if i'm interpreting that right) but i do think if you believe there's even a chance that therapy can help your specific situation, you should at least give it a shot. if you are someone who will really benefit from the possible outcomes of therapy, then i don't think it would be hypocritical nor do i think it'd be a waste of time at all to at least try.

i'm in a similar position i think. i've spoken about it here a bit, but my guardian is one of those "sickness is all invented by Big Pharma to sell Drugs and you can get better if you just Believe Hard Enough" and……….. eugh. a lot of the people who are generally speaking "anti-therapy", or really just anti-medicine in general, are… may be right in some ways, but their underlying motivations are wrong and they ultimately just want to shame everyone who relies on treatment. it's one of those things that sort of trancends politics tbh. like yes, they might be right that therapy doesn't work, BUT it's not for the reasons they claim. there's an asterisk after it. therapy doesn't work*, *in some cases because of various differing factors. you know what i mean? it's more of a gray area than anything else. the overarching anti-psych movement is less about how it 'doesn't' work, and more about how, like everything else, 1. it has mixed results and 2. is propaganda by the government to further oppress minorities. (if anyone feels so inclined, ask me about that latter part some other time. this post is long enough.)

therapy COULD make things worse. or, it COULD make things better. it COULD really help you, depending on your specific circumstances. for instance someone who is experiencing extreme psychotic episodes COULD benefit from seeing a therapist, provided that therapist is familiar with psychosis and doesn't actively make their patient's psychosis worse, but they could also make it worse or involuntarily admit someone.

i believe in a lot of ways your mileage wrt any sort of treatment is based on how well you can self-advocate… but also, considering that the people who turn to treatment are the ones who are the most vulnerable, they shouldn't have to learn to self-advocate. but it is necessary.

like, i am a disabled person. i go to doctors knowing they may or may not understand my disability. they COULD find something and help me treat it, or they COULD talk down to me and ignore my symptoms and ultimately set my progress back. the best i (and anyone in a situation like this, whether it's a physical doctor or a therapist, etc) is to do a bit of research on who it is i'm seeing to prevent any potential conflicts if possible, advocate for myself and my treatment, and be informed on what treatments i think would work or what i would like to try. if i'm going to a physical therapist, i'm not going to let them tell me that i need to Just Walk More.

similarly, if you're going to a therapist, you should know what you need from therapy--whether it's someone to lend you a shoulder and an ear and gently discuss your problems, or if you need them to be emotionless and simply give advice--or, at least, you should have an idea of what you're visiting for and where you'd like to start. i try to phrase it with symptoms instead of general disorders. such as: "ok, i have trouble with executive dysfunction in these various ways. i'd like someone who is familiar with executive dysfunction to help me finds ways to manage it." make sense? you'll have a lot easier of a time navigating treatment that way.

if you are at a point where your emotions and mental state are out of control (and i heavily empathize bc i was there not too long ago and was only saved through slow change) then i would say give therapy a try, at least. if it doesn't help, try reaching out to other people who have been through what you've been through. you don't need a degree to empathize with someone, and often that empathy works better than workbooks and cold offices.

i should also say that i do think there is a lot of genuine fearmongering and stigma around going to therapy, especially from older generations. like you've said, plenty of people talk about various, how should i say um, Not Good methods that therapists could use. but, (and i say this as someone who thinks there are Plenty of bad therapists out there) that shouldn't stop you from at least trying if you genuinely think it will help you. please don't let the strong opinions of anyone (including me even!) stop you from attempting treatment that could very much help you.

basically TLDR: i don't think it's hypocritical. there's nuance, the truth lies somewhere between all of the arguing from all the different sides. if you want to try therapy, go in open-minded but informed. remember that it is collaborative. if you want to get better, that is the most important step to getting better. if it helps, great! if it doesn't, keep in mind that therapy is not the only treatment, and plenty of people around you are here to support you.

💙 cass