#at least theres no death in this haha (maybe)

[nixoon-again]

The idle hum of the fluorescent lights is all that resonates in his sensitive ears. 

Distantly, he recognizes that he's been sitting in the same position for too long. Long enough that the light seeping through the  window somewhere to his right isn't as warm and golden in its hue anymore. He realizes that night time has fallen upon the bustling city of Station Square and perhaps it's late enough for everyone to be leaving for their homes and settling in for sleep after a nice warm meal.

Even more distantly, if that is even possible for his current almost disassociated situation, he realizes that he should be asleep too. Of course his rest doesn't have much to do with the time and the shift in the sky's colours or the quiet city just beyond these walls. He never fell into slumber with the sun, working late at nights for hours without breaks sometimes left him no opportunity for sleep at all. He doesn't mind it though, he likes working. Even if it costs him a bit of rest, he'd rather have his work done sooner than later. Maybe that's what he needs right now. Something to work on will be much better to distract his mind than the buzzing of the lights.

Unfortunately, as much as the idea entices him, he can't leave for his workshop just yet.

He doubts he'd be able to.

If his trembling legs don't give in under the weight of his body then the soul crushing grasp of something icy and sharp around his heart will certainly stop him.

So he stays where he is and listens to the buzz of the lights, of the footsteps as people walk by thin in numbers, as a clock ticks away in a distance — indicating that hours have passed but Tails can't get himself to count the ticks or look at the clock. He has worked hard to concentrate on the fluorescent lights, on their inner workings, their first discovery, their usage and why they're being used in hospital waiting rooms and everything he can think of about them on the top of his head in an attempt to ground himself but he's afraid if he looks at the time, he'll lose his progress and will be back where he begun; on the verge of curling up in a ball of fluff and crying his heart out until he passes out.

The waiting room falls deadly silent after a while — no more footsteps entertain his hearing range and Tails is afraid he's the last one left waiting for updates from the doctors.

This is a bit odd for him too, he hasn't been in this position many times aside from a few where one of their battles did get pretty out of hand but despite all of the adventures, they don't regularly show up at hospitals. Let alone sit in waiting rooms for hours on end, hoping and praying that someone will walk out of that door and tell him that everything is fine, he's fine, he's safe—

Do they even know he's here? 

Probably not.

Then again, technically, he isn't supposed to be here either. 

For all the doctors and nurses know, he's supposed to be asleep under the weight of all those painkillers in his hospital room.

But there's not much sleeping he can do, can he? 

Not when he doesn't know if Sonic's breathing again or—

Nope. No. Okay, let's not do that. Back to the lights. There's a moth that has started bumping into it repeatedly and he briefly wonders where it got in from since the windows appear to be closed and all. Briefly, since he doesn't ponder it for long. He lets his tired eyes — exhausted, red, getting heavier with every passing second and threatening to dampen — trail the insect's movements. It bumps into the light, circles about afterwards and then tries again and keeps repeating this cycle and maybe it's enough to distract him, even for a while. He's enraptured with the small creature's naïveté. 

He thinks, in a sense, he isn't that different from the moth. 

He just doesn't know if the waiting room is his light or is it his brother?

He's afraid to say it's the latter. 

Tails loves Sonic. 

He loves his brother more than anything in this world and he's been so sure that Sonic loves him just as much if not more too because that's just who they are. They are Sonic and Tails, they're brothers not bound by blood but something stronger — an unbreakable thread binding them both. They're a cosmic truth.

Yet Tails finds himself sitting here and questioning himself of that bond.

Sonic and Tails are to each other what a moth is to a flame.

They love each other.

But Tails is starting to see the flame get too close.

They'll burn.

And Tails is okay with burning if it's for Sonic, don't get him wrong. He'll do anything for Sonic. He's burnt for Sonic before, the bandages covering half his face and his right arm should be enough proof.

He's just afraid of burning Sonic.

He's afraid they've reached that point today.

Sonic is hurt because of him.

He's supposed to be the smart one, isn't he? Three hundred IQ and he couldn't have realized this sooner? Did he really need for today to come pass to know what the unbreakable bond truly means? Could he have spared Sonic the pain?

Tears prick at his eyes but Tails doesn't think he deserves to cry.

Not after what he did today.

Not after being the reason he almost lost his brother today.

(Worst of all; he still doesn't know if Sonic is okay.)

Tails finds it difficult to breathe around the lump in his throat.

Pathetic. Cry baby.

His own voice echoes in his mind, taunting.

He takes a deep breath and steels himself. He knows the solution to the moth and flame problem but he's certain Sonic will never agree to it. Sonic is too kind, too good, too generous. It will be cruel of Tails to know how to protect his brother and not do it, Sonic doesn't deserve that. 

Tails hurt Sonic.

The flame burnt the moth.

In order to not hurt Sonic anymore, Tails will simply snuff out the flame.

Even if his brother disagrees with him, Tails knows it's for the best.

(Quietly, distantly, his own heart disagrees with him too but he's too scared to listen to him.)

Another half an hour passes before a doctor walks out of the emergency room.

There's a hint of surprise on her face upon seeing him there — since he's supposed to be resting in his room and not be here — but she quickly moulds her expression into a more professional one before she delivers the news to him.

“He's awake.”

Even though Tails smiles, his ocean eyes tired and out of tears, he doesn't visit Sonic.

He doesn't visit Sonic for a long time.

[clownkillsyou]

i think one time i did see someone say mrs wimbleton could be doc in mcla and i think thats rlly funny

[orcelito]

Painted my nails. Shit camera is shit so u can't see the sparkles well, but it's my magnetic green nail polish. Something a bit on the subtle side for a funeral :p I wanted to go black but. Not pure black.

It's a "celebration of life", as they're calling it. We're not going there to be depressed. We're going there to remember the man we all lost. And he would've Loved for me to have a little fun with it.

[ceruleanvermillion]

hes so funny

I’m tired of people acting like Zhongli is a serious and chill guy who would never cause problems on purpose as if he isn’t one of the biggest menaces out of the Seven. He used to throw mountains at Venti for annoying him. He, the god of history, starts fights among historians for shits and giggles. He tried to gaslight the Traveler into thinking he was totally not at the Chasm guys really Aether/Lumine you must be seeing things maybe you should go see Baizhu. When Qiqi wanted “Cocogoat” milk he was like “Oh yeah sure totally let’s go look for it” knowing damn well it was a wild goose chase. He made the Traveler sing to a flower and then was like “Oh would you look at that” when a Whooperflower jumped out to maul them. I love him. He’s like a cat pushing things off the counter to see how people react. I would pay to see him interact directly with Neuvillette because I know for a fact he’d get on that man’s nerves and argue about water tasting just to feel something. Furina used freedom from godhood to take a nap and Zhongli used it to give psychic damage to anyone who talks to him longer than 5 minutes. Iconic.

[intertexts]

HELLOOOOOOO i hope u have fun w ur siblings :] but also holy shit i cant wait for u to finish 39 and get to 40 heheheheheheh. ANYWAY. welcome to wibby torment nexus hours here we go!!!!!!!!!

actually going to start with the whisperer/mal/trickster thing because holy shit dude ive had IN DEPTH thoughts about this. i cant even type it all out here bc thats for a wholeeee second ask but basically. fuckin. yeah. fundamental basics: in nhw world trickster killed clarence. not going to give you the reasoning for this yet. im on the fence about how particularly intentional wibbys death was BECAUSE of that but.... yeah thats for sure a fucking soup ingredient dude.

out of all the options you said... hmmmmmm okay. i like all of them for different reasons. i dont think he would specifically kill wibby JUST to spite mal, theres definitely more to it than that, but i think its a funny little bonus for him. mals hatred is proabably MOSTLY one sided. but trickster thinks its funny to make him look like an idiot sooo. haha i killed the kid who reminds me of the other guy i killed in front of you get fucked loser! I ALSOOOO. HMMMM. I DO REALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF WILLIAM GETTING STRUNG ALONG but i dont think trickster is manipulative Like That. hes impatient, he doesnt like playing the long game he likes instant gratification. getting ashe was a HUGE exception to that. so while i do love a good "morally grey hero works with the villain to get something he wants" thing. i think its EXTREMELY in character for william to do that but maybe not so much trickster. i do think if we want a moment like this though...................... what if. ohhh evil cooking in my mind rn. what if trickster makes it. OH FUCK. OKAY. HERE WE GO. LITERALLY JUST POPPING INTO MY MIND AS I TYPE OKAY OKAY FUCK . PSYCHIC DAMAGE

what if. what if. this happens at the beginning of the battle. they find muse sitting in the clearing by himself. they all show up ready to fight, theyre surrounding him (they have scouts out looking for trickster, too, since taking down the puppetmaster is how they free the puppets. ill get to this in a second). um. well. his hair is down, not in any fancy braid or anything. and william cant sense the breaker state. (dakota can, but hes not fast enough). trickster is making it seem like ashe is free by suppressing the breaker state as much as he can wihtout actually turning it off. he has ashe turn toward his friends, talks to them like its actually him, saying htings like "guys please he let me go help me get these off of me" (referring to. the strings) . and . in a panicked state of. relief and desperation to get ashe back, because he cant sense the breaker state, he believes the ruse, wibby is the first person to rush forward. it would maybe be more in character for dakota to rush in, but he hesitates, because with the effects of his power he CAN tell that ashe is still in breaker state. he and/or virion reach out to grab william before he can get too close but hes too fast and hes already in his own breaker form so even if they could grab him their hands would just slip through. he gets close enough and far enough away from the other heroes that trickster has ashe snap fully back into muse mode and rips wibby in half. so his real goal there was just to trick (ha!) at least one of the heroes into getting close enough to do that (lmao funny prank, get gamzeed idiot) but the fact that it was william specifically who did it makes the whole thing EVEN FUNNIER. his trap fooled the logical one, the smart one, the one who is usually stopping the OTHERS from doing stupid things like this !! AND this also just so happens to be mallard ghoul conway's little pet project who looks suspiciously like the hero trickster killed when he took over his first city!!!!!!!!!!! the whole thing is just so delicious for him. which . oh god the wards are out of commission because of wibby death but its also maybe kind of a good thing that this happened because trickster is so busy laughing at his own successful prank that it makes it just a tiny bit easier to find where hes holed up.

is this anything. hi. holy shit wibby torment nexus. i feel like there was something else i wanted to say but i got so lost in the sauce of the Scenarios

AUUUUHGH THIS IS EVERYTHING. YEAH. YEAH HOLY SHIT. sorry i took so long 2 get to this but like. Augh. holy shit. ok. this hits so perfectly i love it a lot. yeah. this goes hard. what if. also. honestly. he just could straight up turn off muse's shaker stuff/breaker state for a minute....... maybe he lets ashe think he's free maybe he's still controlling him or maybe it's genuine & he's really free for half a minute..... then also they doesn't have any reason to suspect him & if dakota Does ashe's telekinesis just. trips him up or prevents him from getting 2 will in time (bc half of dakota's thing is just Being Really Fucking Fast right).... will goes into his breaker state for Extra Security (remember how i said he hates actually fighting w/ it & stuff? he just Doesn't Know that it doesn't work right in ashe's area of effect.) & as soon as he gets close the ruse drops & everything bubbles and shifts around him & it's too late. do u think the trickster still does it with ashe's hands? also i couldn't stop thinking abt the image of wibby's breaker state just. dropping as soon as muse rips him apart. the clean blue-white glow fizzles and disappears & everything's just. blood and meat spraying. that moment of horror. (& maybe also dakota & virion literally just. can't get close safely for a while, they don't Know wibby is still Alive Like that, they just saw him get ripped apart, it's only when they recover from the shock/get desperate enough to enter the muse dreamscape that they realize his lungs are like. still going & stuff....) anyway. did we ever talk about how we fix this? how does he fucking get put back together????

[squeaksinc]

2023 creative year in review! 💦💦

The most stand-out thing to mention was this was arguably my most active and productive cosplay year...maybe ever? its incredibly uncommon that I can handmake 9 costumes in a year, but on top of that, 7 of the 9 were also custom designs, which is pretty wild.

costume-wise, i learned a stupid amount of skills and really pushed what i was comfortable with. IMO the best from the year are the collector, knives, pupet, and nekomancer at least just from a craftsmanship perspective. I try not to brag or be an ass, but I am genuinely very proud of those. they posed fun creative challenges that kept me engaged, and I'm happy with how they turned out!

the other side of the coin is although last year was my most dormant cosplay year, other crafts were super active....and the reverse happened this year _(:3」∠)_ i didnt really draw much at all other than making cosplay designs, and other physical media didnt get much time to shine either. I made some plushies, but they were lackluster, and I think I made maybe one unfinished figure lol. but I did try BJD making and loved it!! I made 4 this year and have plans to do more haha.

thats the upbeat overview, the readmore is going to be a more negative perspective so proceed with caution haha.

More than anything I wish i had more time to do art and build up Stitch in The Ditch/more OC work, but honestly this year was also objectively insane in the non-creative front. like i hit the worst patch of chronic pain i've ever had/found out my abdominals have been ripping themselves apart and bleeding for the past 10 years lol/had to go to the hospital like THREE!!!! goddamn times and now i'm dealing with the news i'm going to need abdominal surgery, got a teaching promotion/award, got my physics masters, utterly INSANE family happenings, had gastroparesis for 2 months and couldnt eat more than 200 cal a day in that time which caused all my blood levels to crash and i'm still reeling from it, and of course, have just been Cashually working goddamn 60-80 hours a week in an experimental physics lab in the background during all of this which is driving me to the point of madness- suffice to say i hit my limit like months ago lmao.

like looking back i know i should be happy and proud i did so much but i cant help but feel disappointed and wishing i had done better quality stuff. honestly, i know i goof about how hard work is, but its really really getting to me. i've always been happy with my ability to juggle so many things and preserve my ability to have a cool job, make cool things, and independently take care of myself, but work is month-by-month morphing into more of a monster thats just been suffocating everything else out. I really dont know what next year will look like, as i've been wearing thinner and thinner i'm noticing a trend where I just dont have the energy that I used to to do anything outside of my job.

I bring this up because on paper I should be happy with what I made, but I still feel like im in a stand-still. I made a lot of costumes, but tbh they were low quality/lackluster. like the number went up, but the quality didnt and I couldnt do much of any other art things. I couldve, and shoulve, been able to make much better work this year than I did, but it didnt happen as a combo of being snuffed out by my job physically and mentally.

in 2023 I got a head start/built up momentum from the beginning of the year that carried me through when things got insane in spring/summer/currently, but I'm already starting 2024 from a low point. yall. im so tired. im so goddamn tired. like its funny to goof about how much I do but its catching up fast and i think this is going to be the year when I just cant keep up anymore. Its hard to talk about since the "being crushed to death by your job" topic isnt one people want to engage with, and unless you're experiencing it first hand its hard to understand what living like that really means.

for 2024, i know theres no way I will be able to match this same number of costumes, but my goal is no matter what I want to start making things that are more solid on a construction level. fewer projects, more polish. also doing more non-cosplay stuff like world building and dolls would also be awesome. will that happen??? lord only knows. honestly usually these predictions/goals go haywire but this is also more of a response to external things outside of my control so ???? ??????? we'll see lads

[trainingdummyrabbit]

[SURFS INSIDE OF THE ASKBOX AGAIN] hello i am Here to ask about what the Hell do magpie and luci have going on. Considering the whole Thing. magpie's watch being important to him and how luci is associated with the backwards clock. That Kind of Ordeal ^<^

hai . i am so capable of being normal about this. lie.

ok so im once again going to be At It, some mix btwn scattered notes and infodumping and me just saying words You Get It. i have Not been talking abt them as much as i think abt them, theyre another dynamic that haunts me to death. you understand. anyway; ~28 paragraphs.

so first i should Probably actually go over magpie as a character bc i. somehow. dont think i have. at all. so ^_^

magpie, our funny little manager, is introduced mostly as a negligible character. honestly? he just kind of sucked. shows up to be really annoying before dipping again, yapping just because he can, mostly. hes set up entirely to be some 'rich completely-inept asshole climbing the corporate ladder,' acting like hes So In Touch With Everyone (but still blatantly comes across as a complete and total narc). this is on purpose. magpie is a liar.

none of that is true, and he simply plays up the role so that people dont really suspect anything of him. actually, hes not supposed to be the manager at all. at his core, hes actually just. some guy from the backstreets people hire to do misc dirty work-- delivering information, just so happening to mess up in places that takes attention away from someone else, poking his nose places it doesnt belong-- hes got the look and charisma of someone who can be trusted, and he plays it up Hard. multiple times.

he has several different presentations he cycles through to get people to see him a certain way. he is Very Good at his job. he Hates his job. so much so, in fact, that after a particularly. messy. instance, he dropped off the map entirely to figure out some way-- any way at all-- to regain some sort of stability. (to stop the inevitability of harm even a little bit, even just once. (to make up for it all, maybe.))

so. yeah! magpie lies. a lot. he doesnt really care for status or the company as a whole at all-- originally it was just t cause problems for people he views as In Power, but like… fuck dude theres a LOT of people who Just Work Here, and if he went through with just Causing Problems like he thought he was going to, well. oof. so. change of plans! honestly now hes just trying to find some way to Get Everyone The Fuck Out Of Here.

he plays the part, and he snoops. he pretends not to notice shit he Definitely shouldnt be allowing (but like… if it makes shit easier for them, then yknow..) and pretty much just… lets people treat him however. because ultimately his act is Annoying and Untrustworthy yes, but also Completely Nonthreatening. people will let him get away with a LOT of shit with the excuse that he is "kinda stupid" and "doesnt know what hes doing." and well, yknow. whatever works! there is no way this can backfire <33

. so his thing with luci.

luci also generally sticks to her role as just kinda. yknow. Managerial Guide. at least to start out with. shes just figuring shit out yknow. and honestly, nobody really catches onto her being like… Conscious. except for Magpie. because he would always make dumb little quips and jokes at her out of habit-- yknow, like one talks to a particularly unruly printer or something-- and then she would respond in kind. like… snarking back enough to be like Okay Theres No Way Someone Just Programmed That In There Right. and not just that, she'd return with her Own little quips and questions, then act as though she didn't.

magpie originally takes this as a kind of "haha ok thats kind of fucked, at least thats something Super Illegal against these guys we can use if we need to" but then. unfortunately. the thing about magpie is that, against his own instincts, he cares for people. a Lot. he doesnt much enjoy watching people in danger-- and most certainly doesnt want to cause any of that Himself, he's over that.

which is to say: he Instantly gets attached. he cant really say it, but he counts her as as much of a person as anyone else is pretty much instantly, despite him knowing he really really shouldnt be doing that this is so stupid he cant just jump to conclusions like that and if anyone finds out theyre all So Dead. but he cant :( he cant help it… hes just a lil guy and luci is very obviously doing a horrible fucking job at hiding the fact that shes like… conscious. and he has a role to play up too, so its not like he can Do anything, especially since shes part of the damn facility's system and can probably get into contact with important people really easily..

so for a while, its just. luci thinking shes doing a great job at slinking around and playing the manager for a fool the whole time, and magpie fully aware but pretending not to notice and trying to just make things passively easier for her to figure herself out without anyone noticing. its insufferable. because theyre both Correct and Entirely Wrong about each other.

luci completely falls for his Dumb Manager facade and plays the part accordingly, playing around with him because its convenient and kind of funny, she also happens to be the only one who catches on that he is Not Supposed To Fucking Be Here, but plays along because, again, convenient. easy enough scapegoat if she needs it. meanwhile magpie clocks onto her Instantly, but Completely misses the fact that she isnt just innocently futzing around like he thinks she is. he somehow completely trusts her, so much so that despite being the only person who could possibly figure out her Scheming he just. completely rules it out. i really have to reiterate, they are So fucking insufferable.

it isnt until past halfway through th fucking game that luci catches on that magpie's front is . well, a front. and she is genuinely insulted she never caught on. its so fucking funny. and then things get kinda complicated bc like… [waves hands around] story events…..

luci kinda functions as a sorta "final boss" for the whole thing, in heavy quotes. ihavent decided exactly how itll go yet, but. waves hand around. the point is that shes kind of directly responsible for a LOT of people dying, and also kind of for directly threatening Them as well. but the thing is, she hinges Immensely deeply on the idea of Relevancy. because her own nature is so fickle and fragile, shes insistent on making a strong Impression of herself-- as this is what she feels like will root her into reality. something much like how abnormalities function-- ideas dont really ever die, and neither do they. and Thats what she wants more than anything.

so. while it wasnt exactly her entire Goal from the start, if she can cement herself as a Villain, then sure. whatever. it could be fun! and she plays it up. as she is wont to do.

that whole thing is important because of th fact that like.. the only person who Doesnt immediately believe that image of her IS magpie. like… yeah hes kinda had th rug pulled out from under him completely (and its kind of true that if he'd been a little more observant that he could have literally stopped all of this.. he tries not to think about it too hard.) but he also just… god, despite everything he still hates the idea of having to do anything to her.

it takes him a while to figure out why, but its because he's ALSO immediately able to call out her bluff. AGAIN. due to being pretty much the only person that talks to her directly (and.. genuinely ??? kind of??) he can tell when she is intentionally hiding something. she is very deliberately playing up the Idea of what a villain Is, goading everyone on, but he knows damn well what shes about. the issue is that it isnt wholly untrue either.

its like. yeah she intentionally hurt a lot of people, and will probably keep doing that if someone doesnt Do something about her (like everyone else wants to do…) but also… well to put it bluntly, again, she wants little more than simply to be able to Live.

shes purposefully putting herself into a role in order to get what she wants, confident that she can do whatever she wants with no consequence, and treats the entire thing as a weird little game. she doesnt really hold any malice in her heart, she just. she's just desperate and deeply, deeply confused.

shes not good, but shes not evil either. she is JUST stupid. she doesnt know what shes doing and will do just about anything to hide that fact because she hates the feeling of not having control over these things. something she Also tries to hide. honestly hes not really sure if she even notices it herself.

at this point luci has literally never had to deal with the consequences for her actions so this is quite literally the Peak of her hubris arc. to put it in a way, shes convinced she understands how the story goes and can change it how she wants, and she Does Not and Cannot. her arc is essentially trying to assign narrative significance to things in the hopes that it Fulfills something in her. it does not. instead she just has a bunch of problems she caused herself. oops. oh well <33 and its not like magpie doesnt try!! unfortunately its a little hard to talk someone down when theyre Actively Trying To Kill You, and also when theyve completely resigned themself to this sort of Only One Of Us Can Survive ultimatum.

which is to say luci keeps collecting death flags and well. oops <333 which kind of ends with magpie being literally the only person who knows that luci was ever anything other than that Antagonistic Presence she insisted on being (because she would rather have committed fully to that than to ever reveal that maybe, just a little, she was terrified of what would happen otherwise..)

but most importantly, luci ends up being Another Person that magpie couldn't help. its not like he couldve DONE anything, she would've refused anything and everything regardless, its just. man. god. ugh. that… that sucked. its not like he has a horrible track record of repeatedly failing to save people or anything… lol lmao………

so hey, the watch, right?

its something he got from one of his little jobs. last one he ever took, actually. he'd never say it was really a Moral way to make it day to day, but like, what Was, right? nothing was Really moral, everyone just kinda did what they had to; so like, no need to worry about it right? no time for all that. but then you pay a little too much attention, slip up a little, get to know someone a little too much; learn they're pretty much exactly like you are. someone with wants and hopes, little preferences and stories they get excited to share.

and then you get the guy killed. part of the plan from the start, of course, but like... he was Right There. its different when you have to look em in the eyes when you do it, yknow?

magpie's key running emotion is Guilt. he spent so long trying to avoid facing the reality of who he was and what he was doing, but unfortunately it catches up to him Big Time. he's just deceptively good at acting as though that isn't the case. no time to slow down, after all. he couldnt Afford to do anything else. honestly? his entire stunt with lcorp wasnt even something he Thought about too hard. it was stupid and impulsive and he knows it, but now he's Here, and he Has to do something. it has to be something, he can't just let it go. can't just let them go. (some part of him hopes that at the very least when it Does all backfire on him, at least it'd help somebody in the process...)

the watch is a reminder. something kind of absentmindedly tossed at him by the guy who put him on the job as a little something extra, (or in other words, something they didnt bother to want to deal with.) and then it turns out, it was just some petty fuckoff disagreement between them that started th whole thing! but its cool because he gives you the dead guy's watch "to sell for at least a little extra, as a tip." right. of course. yeah, that's... yeah, thanks. great!

he cleaned it and fixed it up and he keeps it as a memento. a little "hey dont fuck up again ok buddy?" a little "you could literally die at any time so like just remember that ok buddy?" ... an "at least let me honor this somehow before karma comes back and inevitably kicks my ass." equal parts reminder and weight to bear. sentimental piece and confession of guilt.

luci's ordeal with backwards clock is a mostly out-of-narrative subject-- assigning her abnos to thematically tie with for funsies. the clock is, wouldnt you guess it, linked with her experience with regret. its... very, very complicated to explain, especially because of the fact that 1) shes already so goddamn hard to decipher and 2) she is Also fully incapable of processing it for what it is.

which... kind of brings me to the whole Thing. magpie is plainly, fully aware that trusting luci in the way that he is is by all means a horrible, horrible idea. she's made it abundantly, repeatedly clear she will simply do whatever benefits her most at any given point. but all magpie can really see is someone struggling just a few paces behind him, exactly somewhere he has been, something he remembers incredibly clearly. as stupid as it may be, he wants to help her. he wants her to be able to find herself, confront what she refuses to acknowledge, give her a fighting chance.

he cant stand the idea of letting someone slip through his fingers like that. it's... its complicated, but its something he wants to stand by. luci just doesnt get it. she still holds a grudge towards him after everything, an odd caution knowing that he just. knows things about her. has seen her for what she is, further than she can bear to acknowledge herself, as bad of a job as she's doing hiding it. luci will continue to refuse any opening he gives to her, but he will continue to offer the option, time and time again.

. anyway heres some images.

[alittlepink]

Honestly, i just want to say this JUST to say this....so no judge? Pretty please? Im over him anyways. hes more than daddy now, hes grandpa :)

So i had this teacher, Mr.S, and he's the sweetest, coolest old man ive ever been taught by. And the only teacher ive felt a lil close too? Ive never interacted with a teacher the way i had with him ngl

Anyways, either i was his favorite student or he kinda pitied me because im quiet and one of the only girls in the class, so he was extra nice to me

He would always help me when i needed(and i would ask for help ALOT cause i sucked at my class) and lean over me, and apologize for anything even though i told him hes ok.

One time i asked to go to the bathroom to use the mirror so i can do my hair and he instead offered to take me to his office to use the mirror in there. Now, I was surprised but accepted because i was curious, and i did feel safe enough(stupid moment though, whether he was bad or not, i know better) , so he leads me and pulls out his key to unlock the door. And he opens it for me, gesturing me to go inside, so i do...and then he left. I look around this office and theres no mirror. Ok?

And when i was doing my makeup once, he asked me "who're you getting pretty for?" And i respond "No boy deserves this much effort" and he laughs and says "attagirl"...idk its kind of a blur but i had butterflies

And once i had a box of cookies so i gave some to him and he says "youre such a sweetheart"!!! I felt like such a teachers pet even though im bad with assignments

He's told me some times to never date any of the guys in my class, hes always printed pictures for me no matter what, hes told me in like his daughter T<T and also said im his 'work-daughter'...and thats when i realized why i liked him so much. he's a grandpa figure??? I mean, hes fatherly but old enough to be my gramps. And im still into him but i now i look up to him. Also im pretty sures he killed someone or at least contributed to a mass death (he's ominous and worked in a nuclear plant and or government) dont care if he did, he'll always be my fav<3

SORRY FOR THE ESSAY<3<3<3THANK YOU IF YOU ACTY READ ALL THIS

Don't apologize! I love reading everyone's stories <3

That's crazy! Maybe I'm just a little jealous haha. He seems really cool :D

[zapsoda]

hey!! give postal dude its derse/prospit pyjamas and maybe his god outfit too, according to what you think his moon and classpect is!

not my best work artwise, but i DID give the classpecting a lot of thought

so obv my first thought was "haha thief of life" but i feel like the life aspect means more than that, and theres a certain level of altruism to it that he doesnt have. still coould be a good one for him but its not what i wanted to go with.

alsoo just love the idea of him being rage. dunno why though i really cant justify it so i didnt go with it either.

see, no matter what i cannot set aside how PERFECTLY fitting doom is for him. he caused MULTIPLE apocalypses. i think it fits particularly 1, 2, redux, and 4. so fucking doompilled. breath is also an option (esp for 3, 4, shtopor) but i feel like violence and misfortune is such an intrinsic part of him you cannot set it aside at allllll. this is why witch works so well. ive read a lot about witches being SURROUNDED by their aspect (e.g. jade) and god that is so accurate for him, and he is absolutely an active class, way too selfish not to be.

witches change or manipulate, iirc knight/page are the exploitation pair? dont quote me on that- and i think either of those could work but i feel like manipulation specifically is perfect for him. regardless of whether or not you make him kill people (and he really would like you to) he is constantly thrust into terrible situations that he has to maneuver his way through to come out of with as little scathes as possible. he manipulates the death and destruction around him, using it to his own advantage. (at least as he perceives it, in the case of p1 + redux)

[autisticaradiamegido]

day 160

sniblings

i was gonna summarize their backstory in the tags but even the summary literally got too long so TRAGIC BACKSTORY UNDER THE CUT

nobody likes Szelseis (manlet on the left). everybody likes Szuna (snake bod on the right). even their mom! this is due to circumstances outside of szelseis's control (ie Snerson Societal Hierarchy)

their mom, for reference, is genuinely a fucking monster. but shes nice to her daughter at least. Szuna feels... Some affection for her, for this reason. She's seen mom's "softer side." Szelseis wants their mother dead.

Szuna tries very hard to relate to her little brother but really does very little to actually improve his circumstances because well. she doesnt want to be treated the way people treat him. and standing up for him might get her tossed to the bottom of the social hierarchy alongside him.

but she wants to be there for him emotionally. and he trusts her more than anyone else for sure. she is the closest thing he has to a friend in this world.

so Szelseis vents to her about wanting revenge on their entire community. Szuna listens to him and offers sympathy but like. She doesn't take him literally when he expresses a desire to "leave town and burn the place to the ground behind them." shes just like haha yeah we should anyway good night

of course he immediately decides that he is old enough to make it on his own in the world ESPECIALLY if his older sister is backing him up, and then attempts to burn the town to the ground. (He's like, maybe 15 at the time.) he does a pretty good job of it, too! he starts of course with their mom's place in an attempt to kill her, but also makes sure the fire is set to spread.

by the time Szuna realizes what's going on, it's too late to stop him. so she confronts him and tries to at LEAST get him to help fight the fires but he's just mad that she lied about agreeing with him on this. has she ALWAYS been on their mom's side??

and she wants to be like "no i just don't condone mass murder like really this is an ENTIRE TOWN theres like KIDS AND STUFF not LITERALLY EVERYONE has been SO mean to you that they deserve to burn to death what the fuck are you DOING" but the fire is spreading and if he's not going to help then she will get to him LATER. bigger priorities right now.

While she's busy firefighting, Szelseis flees town and basically goes "FUCK everybody the world is terrible everyone is out to get me TRUST NO BITCH i am going to have to Treat My Self from here on out." so he becomes a shitty solipsistic little thief, trying to build up enough of a fortune to live in luxury for the rest of his life.

Szuna, meanwhile, manages to save their mom from the fire, and the first thing she asks her daughter to do is hunt down Szelseis and bring him back, dead or alive, she no longer gives a shit.

Szuna of course has mixed feelings about this. But she does what shes told anyway and sets off, figuring she can just.... Decide what to do about Szelseis when she finds him.

Maybe they'll fight, maybe they'll hug, maybe they'll run away from their shitty mom together, maybe they'll straight up kill each other.

WHO KNOWS!!! thats main story territory babey this is just the backstory

[smoresie]

since everyone's throwing in facts about their buckshot ocs I might as well owo:

quick warning for mentions of self harm, masochism, and addiction

- Shepherd cannot truly die (this was found out after losing the third round)

- Despite his first game being a near win he has lost every game afterwards miserably (he blames this on the dealer's aura affecting him *lie he's a 🚬 *)

- His job is to well, keep the people at the club in order. (haha get it the shepherd herding the flock)

- Shepherd is a vodka person (loathes beer, but for the sake of the game *mainly dealer* he drinks it) (is he addicted to the vices? yes. does he have a problem? no.)

- Sometimes he lures people into playing the game (after leading them up the stairs and into the room, encouraging them, he immediately hides. The dealer knows about this.)

- He is under the Dealer's covenant. He is to follow any orders given to him, remain truthful, and to never leave under any circumstances (in return he faked Shepherd's death and gave him a new identity)

- Dealer was the one to bestow him the title of Shepherd (shame it doesn't fit on his typer, so he just puts his old name down, only dealer gets to call him Lamb)

- Between smoking and drinking he'll always choose to smoke (at least smoking doesn't lower your inhibitions and let it slip how in love with your boss you are I mean what that never happened)

- He's british, more cockney (the dealer likes to tease him about his accent, and it come out even more when he's miffed)

- Former doctor (was forced to resign, sometimes takes the dead bodies back home to study)

- Historical buff (specifically 1800s, you mention something from there he will never shut up)

- Masochist on a whole other level (the dealer knows about it and does indulge him sometimes, grabs the shotgun)

- This has only further after learning about his 'ability' (though he calls it a curse, the dealer thinks the opposite)

- He also doesn't like to talk bout his past much to anyone, let alone the dealer (tho will leave him notes for him to piece together maybe)

- Has multiple sh scars on his body (the usage has slowed since meeting the dealer but he has resorted to biting himself. This too is being worked with.)

- While he knows he's attracted to the dealer, shepherd has come to learn theres more to his feelings (and he hates it)

[some-internet-stranger]

botw for the fandom ask game!! :>

That ask game⤴️⤴️⤴️

Also hiii!!! Thank you for the ask!

(( Here's me actually replying to one, so sorry man, I Always procrastinate answering, I have Like three Other ask Games Just rotting in my inbox)))

Anyway, this was really fun!

Favorite Male Character: Revali!!!

Favorite Female Character: ahhh, this is a lot harder mhhhh..... Zelda, Mipha, Urbosa.... Ummmmmm ah??? I really wanna say Zelda, but totk........ Can be ignored. My answer is Zelda, she's the best and I Love her.

Least Favorite Character: I dont think I have one of those if we're only talking about botw... If we're expanding to age of calamity and tears of the kingdom, however, I would say Terrako and Rauru

Favorite Ship: revalink, all the way!! But I doubt thats a surprise for anyone following me😅😅

(Zelimpa and Zelpha are amazing aw well, so I wanna mention them too)

Favorite friendship: I'm very biased and this is 100000% influenced by the fanfiction finding link (my favorite, If you havent read it, do it!! Its so good!!! Omg!!)(😱😱😱) but I like Zelda and Revali as best friends. Their friendship would Go so hard guys.

Favorite Quote: I used to have a quote as my blog name! "[Link] Du bist der Schlüssel... Du warst es immer!" (eng: You are the key... You always were!), which is what Revali says at the end of the vah medoh quest after Link is teleported away. I'm Not sure If its my favorite quote, but it Sounds oddly romantic Out of context, heh

Worst Character Death (if any): all of them, man :-(

This made me so happy you have no idea Moment: mhhh the entirety of the Champions ballad dlc, which isnt excactly a moment, but do we care about that?

Saddest Moment: that one memory were Zelda cries, breaks my heart every time (Go listen to the german dub of that Scene, zelda's voice actress is KILLING it. Rent was due. 10/10 crying snot and water)

(Honorable mentions to Mipha telling Link to save Zelda as he's teleported away at the end of the vah ruta quest. Her voice?? Hello? Very Zelpha, Go watch it!)(If you feel Like it)

Favorite Location: ohhh also hard... I really Like akkala, (probably because I like fall🍂🍂🍂) but theres honestly Not much going on there haha😅 ACTUALLY NO WAIT A MINUTE,.vah medoh! If that counts as a Location (i think it does)

Attacking vah medoh with Teba is one of my favorite parts of the game, its so fun! (And maybe a Bit easy too😅)

[dawningsky]

also thinking about loki & mika because of the whole. mikaboshi who built the great wall & deployed a key to the otherworld for the sake of destroying astrals. and lokis lines during edgelands...

Loki: You know… I've given up living like you lot. That lifestyle can stay in the past. The Sky Realm, the Astrals, not even fate—none of it matters. I won't let anyone get in my way. I will do what I want to do. So at the very least, let's try not to get in each other's way.

especially the 'ive given up living like you lot' ? because theres these interactions too just before

Astral: Loki… Why would someone of your stature be here?

Astral: You lout—watch your tongue! A low-birth cur like yourself has no right to address me! Loki: Haha… Don't mind me. Regretfully I had a terrible upbringing. I can't be held responsible for what comes out of my mouth.

Astral: Answer me one thing. What happened to your older brother, Lord Byleistr? Loki: He's dead. Gone for good. Astral: Humph. Of course he is. News of mundane deaths—especially those of fools who chain themselves to the Sky Realm—wouldn't reach us here.

last one i put so much weight to because they refer to byleistr with lord, but loki with 1) nothing like that 2) low-birth (unrelated, but theres also the ending to the conversation where it describes loki as 'composing himself' after he has said everything, so i get the feeling he (rightfully) got annoyed with how his brother was treated. but also using 'lord' and then saying mundane & fool.... like seeing how the astrals on the edgelands are i can see why (the one loki was speaking to was a fighter during the war? right?) but cmon now leave the man alone

Astral: You will not act foolishly if you know what is best for you. Someone like you mustn't interfere in the affairs of the world.

augh....

theres also the fact that true king & violet knight reacted to loki being aware of the otherworld rewriting history as it was happening, and with how loki went 'lol maybe its an astral thing?' and cutting to where mika actually was (because she wasnt there & could confirm)....loki..........was it shown if repti was aware of not? cant rmbr if they touched upon that at all in any way

either way loki saying all that and then increasingly becoming more confused with what he wants to do throughout the arc. my lil dude. ill grab his conversation with mika some other time(unless i alrdy have it somewhere) but i think loki & mika are sooooo...............ppl who are not fond of astral society....mika to the point of almost destroying herself had she not been sealed (with shitori).

theres also....mika was in the sky realm to prepare for the invasion only to start building stuff to target astrals instead (which is so funny on its own like why did yall give her a skydom. what did she say. did noone care. did noone think she was considering to unleash the otherworld on u), but loki wasnt a researcher and he surely wasnt a fighter, was it for byleistr? also the fact he picked up fenrir......fenrir who was created to go against god..... ig zwei falls into it too but its very. people who were rejected. does that make sense. ness is there on society's orders & gandharva. is gandharva. lov u ness tho

[send-up-my-heart-to-you]

theories for chain of thorns

i had these posted on my gr from like december, im just posting them here

- lucie will now be an antagonist lets be honest we all know it. necromancers are NOT good people and thats the path lucie chose for herself by wanting to save jesse

- someone major will die idk who it is yet, but my instincts tell me its matthew or alistair. the second wouldnt make sense tho – if alistair dies, how would the carstairs line continue down to emma??? hopefully itll be tatiana that bitch

- jamie x daisy its inevitable guys, have you seen the snippets? im rooting for them theyre perfect

- thomas and alistair are NOT gonna end up together this was a gut feeling when i wrote it but as of jan 5 i have a legible reason as to why they would not be happy and its the next theory

- IM SCARED THOMAS IS GONNA DIE the “found family tree” says that thomas died TWO YEARS before barbara. i understand cassie has repeatedly stated that its been manipulated (she hinted that it was changed by the silent brothers) and isnt reliable. but isnt that disturbing?? esp considering theres at least part of it thats reliable, and thats the fact that alistair will 100% go on to marry a woman despite being gay. if alistair doesnt have kids, and cordelias children are all herondales, then the carstairs family would die out and emma would not be related to jem (even tho its been stated that they are related by blood). “oH bUt SoNa iS pReGnAnT mAyBe ShEs GoNnA GiVe BiRtH tO a bOy” first of all, theres a chance the baby is born a girl second of all, the baby might die third of all, where is the son on the family tree? fourth of all, SONA IS, ACCORDING TO THE TREE, DEAD BEFORE THOMAS. PLEASE.

- grace x christopher i despise grace but she acts like a different person around kit… maybe he can fix her

- anna x ariadne she cant fuck up ALL the gay relationships, now can she?

- the merry thieves are gonna forgive alistair (specifically matthew) bro he literally made out with one of them TWICE. if matthew doesnt think “well shits gonna get awkward if i dont forgive the sorry bastard” istg~ 💀

- this is more of a hope than a theory MATTHEW FAIRCHILD SHALL ACHIEVE THE HAPPINESS HE DESERVES smth tells me he wont get a happy ending tho… i mean, if my above theory abt thomas is correct~

- SO DOES ALISTAIR I MEAN CMON GUYS #justiceforalistair he regrets the shit hes pulled and therefore your hate against him for it is invalid PLUS HE GOT BULLIED BY RACIST PIECES OF SHIT HE DID WHAT HE COULD TO MAKE IT STOP

- matthew will open up abt his secret its like a routine at this point, in every shadowhunters series. a character has a secret that nearly kills them outta despair, they open up to friends, theyre met with love and support. jace loving his “sister”. wills “curse”. emma and jules’ relationship. ty bringing back livvy. alec being gay. you get used to it lol

- either lucie or matthew would have their marks stripped lucie for attempting/committing necromancy, and matthew because sobh said he doesnt have a specified death date (also i think cassie just hates him)

- jesse will be evil bro wouldnt that be cruel… like imagine after lucie brings him back hes like “haha i manipulated you to bring me back i never loved you” and then sHe GETS HER RUNES STRIPPED FOR NECROMANCY and its worse bc the shadowhunters are already out to get the herondales bc they refuse to accept tessa as anything but a warlock no but in that case she would prolly go to live with wills parents OKAY BUT IMAGINE HOW HEARTBROKEN CHARLOTTE WOULD BE WHILE DOING IT WHILE JAMIE IS CRYING AND MATTHEW SCREAMING AT HER NOT TO AND WILL TELLS HIM TO STOP WHILE TEARS ARE GOING DOWN HIS FACE

- a “seven husbands of evelyn hugo” thing with anna x ariadne and thomas x alistair (credit to my good friend wiz/nisha for saying this) maybe cassie is going to have thomas marry ariadne and anna marry alistair so that they could have a good old switcheroo, so they can swap lovers?? obviously it cant be anna and thomas lmao theyre cousins but thomas and ARIADNE…

- matthew and cordelia ARE going to kiss at one point HOL’ UP I DONT SHIP EM, i think its gonna be a climon kinda thing where they kiss and dont like it as much as they thought they would, and end up deciding to stay friends i think thats the best way cassie could deal with matthews crush on her without breaking anyones heart, i hope to god it wont be like him confessing and her rejecting him plz oml

[c4tg1rlf41lur3]

had a power thought at work today and so i wrote it down in the silly little work memo pad. im just gonna write it all down here. bc i can.

transcription start!

' golden trio? cursed trio. obvi we have harry first, like OBVIOUSLY he's got his curse scar forehead shtick, but also he's like. fought death since age 11 (AT LEAST). mans is not gonna b completely unscathed save for the silly little death curse scar :3 he's prob got a burned palm from the philosopher's stone/quirrdle. quickle. what the fuck's name. him. 2nd year we've got the basilisk fang stab. big scar, pheonix tears or no. 3rd year he got no big wounds from what i can remember? whole lot of emotional trauma but what's new. 4th year burns from dragon in 1st task, maybe some residual gill/webbing scars from gillyweed in 2nd task, then the piece de fucking resistance from the third task. by that i mean forehead scar is prob. worse. somehow. maybe it spiders out like cracks in the skin further than it already has. and by lightning scar i also mean like actual lightning. not that shitty little ⚡️ something messy and even bigger after the graveyard ("i can touch you now" scene) + scar on forearm from blood sacrifice. 5th year "i must not tell lies". obvi. then a lot of shit happens to harry in 6th/"7th" year that i Do Not Remember woops. whatever happens there = still there.

RON! bestie. bby. im so sorry the movies utterly DESTROYED ur character. he doesn't suffer as much physical damage (still emotional! but) + a lot he does receive isn't caused by magical curse objects physically hurting him. i've got rules for these headcanons you just don't get to know what they are. (directly caused by magical object/curse/cursed object = scar) (indirectly caused by magic or nonmagical encounter = no scar) (<- situational healing magic properties). anyways ron. lots of his injuries are indirectly caused by magic (i.e hit down by chess pieces) this trend gets obliterated past 4th year. ministry of magic showdown. the works. those weird brain jellyfish things that stuck on him all mind zappy + literal zappy. THE FUCKING LOCKET. aw harry, ron, n hermione have matching scars <3 from the locket horcrux. they all wore it right. im sorry rons section isn't as detailed i just know he went through HELL in the last books but I! DO NOT! REMEMBER THOSE! bad jojo. woe is me. FIENDFYRE BURNS. WHAT THE FU-

hermione is a similar case to ron, but actually very little physically happens to her, magical or no. i scoff at this blatant sexism. i'd like to think maybe the polyjuice potion cat hair fiasco of 2nd year may have had some lasting effects (purrhaps some facial scarring from whiskers, marks at her tailbone from the tail) (haha) (see what i did there) (anyways) then we have the removal of an imperfection when they fixed her teeth. more sexism with that btw. but like ron, lots of damage past the 4th book. notably the written "mudblood" scar from bellatrix. i cannot remember what else happens to hermione other than that. guess i'll die '

the end. theres very little point to this tbh i just thought it was interesting. i didn't check my work at all btw. if anythings wrong i. Dont care love u byeeeeee

[repl1c4nt]

i wanna uhhhhhh update my ffxvi post: i did end up giving it a chance and so i will elaborate on the Me (tm) official review: theres a lot buckle in (spoilers for th3 entire game)

ok.,,,,,,...... now dat were all here letz go

First id just like to say soken delivers another phenomenal soundtrack(no surprize there) Historie - the holy empire and Titan lost are some of my favorite tracks in the game i cannot say i expected anything otherwise and it was a delight to get to every major dominant battle to hear what he cooked

on the topic of battle the gameplay was another huge plus for me. when all else failed i found myself returning to ffxvi for the gameplay alone because it is very genuinely fun, fast paced, and i enjoyed the variety of each eikon it kept rhe game fresh for me espically when it slowed down in every other aspect, i enjoyed every eikon battle to death whenever i couldnt decide if i /liked/ the game while playing i remember fighting titan. i had no clue how the fight would play out despite being late to the scene and i was blown away by how good it was. everything about it was so enjoyable it honestly empowered me to get to the rest of them and bahamut was just as much of a treat. it helped i love dion (i will be getting to characters) and his phase themes (beyond the heavens&ascension) were brilliant. the bahamut fight much like titan did not disappoint. for me at least it felt odin had a bit of a much welcomed difficulty spike enjoyed that fight a lot even if it wasnt as cinematic as bahamut and titan

speaking of... cinematic scenes were a weak point to me.. as cool as they were and they /were/ i cant help but feel like there had to be a better way to interrupt the fight. sometimes it really took me out of the moment to have my fight paused to just like press a button or mash or some shit. its fine just got old /fast/

as far as the rest of the battles they were all fun adn well and good.. i enjoyed every fight theme and found every fight mostly enjoyable although i cant help but feel the DPS check section fighting ultima where you kinda fly arounf him in circles would have been leagues more fun if it was a drakengaerd 3 style synced to thr music event... imagine that....it would be so awesome it woukd be so cool................. anyway as far as the actual final fight.. well lets get to the characters and story first

i wont be discussing the controversy surrounding the game because, despite it impacting my experience playing the game in very real ways, it just isnt what i wanna get into in this base post

alright. maybe i wasnt paying rnough attention but the story to me fell apart when ultima became a bigger actor on the stage. absolutely dont get the lad or the crystals. were destroying yhe mother crystals cos theyre killimg the planet fine well and good the story's pacing in this part was really wonk to me haha it would go from desperately boring an sluggish to fun for a moment and then just so boring again. it wasnt until the final two mother crystals when i became invested in whats happening. the mothercrystal plot twist was like oh ok well cid died for nothing /shrug i really dgaf either way i only really care my beloved mid. i really found myself most invested when characters i liked specifically becme involved with the plot (dion its dion its always dion)

dion's story to me was easily the best (yes my favorite heavensward character was aymeric. whos fucking surprised) fang and and vanille always had the most profound impact on me as far as ff relations go and its def because they were the closest thing we had to a canonical queer relationship and i will say dion and terance felt.. good? i know theyre not the /best/ and fang and vanille were leagues ahead of them a decade ago bit theres that just the way theres no question about their queerness just felt so good to see as a long time queer fan of the series who put up w its homophobic moments lol........... they were definitely a genuine highlight for me and their relationship was so beautiful and refreshing i wish we saw more of them.. especially because clive and jill just did not hit lolll. i couldnt believe how little i resonated with clive, joshua too. for me i usually have no problem relating to the main cast they all feel so human and real even when theyre cartoonish theres an undeniable down to earthness and relatability of most of the ff main casts i just couldnt bring myself to really care about clive

jill's story was for a brief moment something interesting and exciting. this was a woman in a yoshi p game w her own arc where the male character plays a fully supportive role and she isnt put in a passive role for her own story to move someone elses development along jill for the briefest moment maintains her own active will to get closure on her trauma where she isnt punished for it its just so disappointing its her only moments in the game. her character arc is chapters short and afterwards she would almost exclusively play passive roles, even giving clive her powers after they share an equally intimate scene both naked and venerable only for a dynamic to be reinserted through the form of dominant's power

clive was just nothing to me, i honestly tried to like him and i did mostly enjoy joshua as a character but i just did not ever care for his story ultima was so unfleshed out and strange ffxvi was best when it was pretty grounded to the on continent conflicts, the story doesnt feel like it was built around ultima the story honestly feels like it was built around the empire and ultima was an after thought. and man vs empire and then suddenly extraterrestrial/celestial freaks are involved isnt even uncommon ff plot progression. i could play like 5 other final fantasy games at that point. if the combat in ffxvi werent so addicting it would have nothing. (untrue of course it always has a brilliant soundtrack) i just really did not like the way the game built off itself it never felt natural or believable. none of the conflict with ultima felt grounded or natural or like it was built up in any meaningful way

i really dont understand the hype around clive hes very genuinely just a pretty face. i just dont care about u at all no matter how hard i tried

i never cared about hugo or benedickta either, although theyre like tertiary antagonists to be fair

joshua was another highlight for me. hes just very polite and jote was cute if definitely underutilized. i really dont have much else to say i wasnt surprised he died

clive i knew would die, that was a spoiler i knew w out a doubt going in and i was completely disappointed in it anyway. joshua made sense at Least he was basically dying the entire game and dion well. it makes sense yoshi p would kill the one gay man we cant have shit in eorzea but seeing clives entire arc be no dont kill yourselfffffff..... the world and its endless beauty is a bounty of possibilities and meaning. just to die anyway feels well. it just feels and to be fair clive did sacrifice himself for the lives of others but the scene where cid tells clive not to kill himself- regardless of how ungentle he put it- just feels so empty because well clive u could hav just killed yourself there i guess. sorry you were a slave for 13 years youll die before you get to live your life for yourself. like cmon narratively a more satisfying arc for him would have been to overcome this and live for himself even if he has to live w out joshua. he can move on hes done it partially before hes accepted himself he must live but he doesnt get to

its a shame. also unrelated the final fantasy namedrop made me reel but i forgave it for honestly being a little camp......... the lodestone name drop is Not forgiven. just horrible someone shpuld be fired

i dont really have much else to say and out of a desire to post this soon im gonna wrap it up. honestly i had high hopes for final fantasy 16 and im not one to go "oh final fantasy now sucks" because i Love ff13. i love ff15. i liked ff14 a normal amount. but ff16 just felt underwhelming compared to them.. it looked leagues better dont get me wrong even if ill always think ff13 is visually the best out of 'modern' final fantasy for its incredible cgi cutscenes good art direction and the ps3 charm the realtime cutscenes in 16 sometimes felt undynamic in comparison but real time vs cgi is very literally games hardware vs movie so........ not comparable tbh the environment and general worldbuilding of 16 was just so lackluster. the world felt so unreal even if it looked incredibly real, the plot was unfocused at times and inadequately built up, the characters are mostly uninteresting, and the character eith the most meaningful connection to clive was torgal. well torgal and cid but cid dies and leaves a gaping hole in the 'good character' category when it was just him mid and dion to begin with

still fun to hunt rank s's though ☝️