#because his life has been a series of bizarre events where he has had to disembowel someone with a spoon

[chaoticbardlady99]

Darling, Never Stop Haunting Me

(Spawn Astarion x F! Ghost Reader) : Prologue

Synopsis: You’ve haunted Szarr Palace for 354 years after Donella Szarr failed to turn you into a spawn. You have favored Astarion over the other spawn for the last two centuries and after a series of events and a Paul Revere-esque mission to save him from being kidnapped- you finally meet each other in the flesh.

CW: Death (obviously), mentions of Astarion’s trauma, mentions of Gore, mentions of Gale x Tav

Disclaimer- put together the picture for the banner, but I do not own any of the pictures. Birdie is a stock image 💜 I will not describe the readers body in detail- she is just merely on the banner for ✨drama✨. I believe the picture of Astarion is from @aristenfromwarsaw . And then the symbol of Orcus in the back is a free image off the internet.

Chapter One : AO3

Your paws hit the pavement as you frantically search for Elfsong Tavern. You haven’t left Szarr Palace since you died there so many years ago- you didn’t even know what the Hells an Elfsong Tavern was until Dalyria had told Cazador that was where Astarion was staying.

It’s still just before sunset so there is still plenty of time to warn the group about the upcoming kidnapping attempt- you just hope one of them is a Druid.

You aren’t naturally a cat- you’re a ghost and you’ve been haunting Szarr Palace since Donella Szarr killed you what feels like eons ago. You had been merely walking home one evening from a Violin gig you had barely managed to get- it had gone so well that they had asked you to come back and play next week. Oh how life had other plans for poor 28-year-old you who made her entire life about music and died never experiencing romance, true companionship, etc. You had grown up isolated amongst nobles, but you knew of Donella Szarr so her asking you to have tea with her didn’t seem that bizarre.

Needless to say- it was weird watching your own funeral.

No matter how hard you tried, you could never cross over and Gods did you want to. You didn’t even care if you became incorporeal or went on to the Heavens- you just wanted to be able to actually talk to people and do things again. You were incredibly apathetic and haunting with no purpose. You’re a house ghost who has no say over the house- you can’t even help fix things in the damn place without asking to be exorcised.

Your misery was reduced significantly a little over 140 years later when Astarion Acunin experienced his first night in Cazador’s kennels. His screams haunted you and you are the one who is supposed to be doing the haunting!

You did everything you could to try to make his time with Cazador somewhat bearable, but your efforts were too small and you feel as if you failed him. You tried to possess Cazador and it went miserably- you had almost been consumed by the darkness in him entirely. You had been a mere fly to his soul.

You were able to possess Godey easily enough, but you had to be careful because he has sent Cazador on a multitude of Ghost hunts before.

Astarion knew you were around- he’d acknowledge you as ‘Ghosty’ whenever his candle would flicker out and then come back full force for him to finish sewing his clothing. He could sense your presence at other times too- one time you had been certain he was able to see you as you sat with him for the duration of Cazador’s ‘poem’.

You favor Astarion over the other spawn, but you have come to justify it as Astarion was the one who needed your help more. He was frequently the subject of Cazador’s rage and need for violence. You know it’s because he resembles Vellioth to some extent and you are certain that’s why he targeted Astarion in the first place.

Cazador introduced himself to Astarion when he was a young magistrate. It had been at one of his many lavish affairs and you had seen the menacing glint in Cazador’s eyes when the young man walked in with some over the top female on his arm.

Cazador asked Astarion to begin convicting people wrongfully and sending them to Szarr Palace. He offered a handsome amount of gold and Astarion took the offer without a thought. You immediately knew this man had signed over his soul- knowingly or unknowingly, you had no idea.

Things became even messier when Cazador began to have the closest thing to love he could feel for the young magistrate. Astarion was very intelligent- he wasn’t charismatic naturally, but he knew how to study behavior and work around it. He knew what Cazador wanted to hear.

So when Cazador found out Astarion had taken another deal on the side as well as potentially a more formal lover, well, he had signed over his fate. Cazador framed a Gur Hunter, Astarion sent him to the other group of slavers instead of Cazador, and Cazador let the Gur know this anonymously ‘in good faith’.

At first you thought it was just karma doing it’s work, but then you learned that Astarion was just another young person like you who was just trying to figure it out. Where you thought you were doing your duty by meeting with a noble, he felt he was doing his- at first at least. He had been sending a reasonable sum of money back home to his parents, but he became greedy and ended up paying for that with a life sentence.

Some higher power must be merciful because it had seemed that Astarion had managed to escape Cazador for good.

Then the moron decided to come back and now Cazador is sending Leon after him with three of the other house spawn.

You don’t care for possessing any living soul- a tacky couch? Maybe, but only because it doesn’t have thoughts. However, desperate times called for desperate measures and you are really regretting not getting the gumption to possess a person.

You are far too cute with your fluffy grey and white fur and big green eyes. People keep trying to scoop you up in their arms and children chase after you. Other cats are just plain rude and unhelpful- you have no idea how you are going to find this Tavern.

“You seem rather lost, little ghost,” a voice says from a nearby tree.

You peer upwards to see a Calico Tressym eyeing you curiously. If you weren’t so focused on finding Astarion, maybe you would be mad at her for openly announcing you are a ghost.

“I’m looking for someone,” you say as you try to catch your breath, “I need to get to Elfsong Tavern as soon as possible.”

This seems to interest the Tressym because she immediately jumps down with a serious expression on her face.

“Who and why?”

Screw it- you don’t have time to be picky.

“I’m looking for a man named Astarion- his life is in danger,” you say quickly.

She seems to digest this information for a moment as she circles you. Her eyes explore your fluffy form and she seems to decide you are trustworthy because she beckons for you to follow her.

You race after her as she flies over the buildings and lands- wait, why is she landing in front of that man in purple on the beach!? That’s not Astarion or a Tavern!

In spite of your confusion, your gut pushes you forward and before you know it- the man you are looking for comes waltzing out of a house with a disgusted look on his face while a tall, red tiefling woman holds a very old heart in a jar.

“Astarion,” the man, Gale, tries not to make his own panic too obvious, “come here.”

“You’re going to have to do better than that to interest me, Gale,” he says with an emphasis on the man’s name, “why should I?”

“For God’s sake- it’s about Cazador,” the man hisses.

This grabs his and his other three companion’s attention. They immediately huddle around Gale- the silver haired woman immediately aweing upon seeing you and the blonde haired woman intertwining her hands with Gale’s. The red tiefling is still holding the heart and you gag upon seeing it which earns a laugh from the group.

“What about Cazador?”

Astarion’s voice betrays the panic he’s feeling- for whatever reason, his panic prompts him to scratch you between your ears. You fight the urge to purr. You are a person- dammit! A dead one, but a person nonetheless!

“This Ghost,” Gale says with uncertainty while pointing to you, “is saying that Cazador is sending Leon, Aurelia, Yousen, and Violet later tonight to detain you.”

“She was practically barreling through streets- poor thing was about to experience her second death,” adds Tara.

“Apparently it was a suicide mission,” Gale adds.

You are suddenly lifted up from underneath your arms and a pair of ruby red eyes are boring into yours. After a few moments, a giggle of all damn things exits this man’s mouth.

“There are at least five or six useless thralls you could have possessed and you chose a cat?”

You flatten your ears and leer at him before attempting to communicate with him- only to be disappointed when an angry yowl leaves your little mouth. Astarion fucking giggles again. THIS IS SERIOUS!

“This is far more adorable though, I will give you that,” Astarion says as he begins to walk towards the tavern with you now cradled in his arms.

You never would have found the damn place on your own. It was clear on the other side of the city!

“It’s a shame I can’t understand you a single bit,” Astarion says, “I would love to know how Cazador has been fairing without me there.”

Terribly, but in a crazed, rage filled way. Unfortunately poor Dalyria and Petras had been receiving the treatment usually reserved for Astarion. You were happy to see him thriving, but it does make you sad that it had to cost two other people’s dignity and comfort.

The moment the party enters the room and announces that they are anticipating an attack once the sun sets, everyone jumps up and prepares themselves for the coming battle.

Astarion places you on his bed before grabbing a green bottle and chugging it. He then proceeds to look at you expectantly and you have no idea what he is doing, but it’s starting to kind of freak you out because neither one of you is blinking and he’s beginning to look more and more like the predator he is.

“I don’t think I like this game,” you say, “you look rather terrifying when you don’t blink for long periods of time.”

“Oh, but terrifying is what I aim to be, Darling,” Astarion says with a toothy grin, “I don’t want any of them reporting to Cazador that I’m still the pathetic vampire spawn I was before I went missing.”

“You were never pathetic,” the words come out of your mouth harshly, “and if you must know- they are reporting to Cazador that you practically have a whole army of ‘do gooders’ by your side.”

“Oh really? Do tell me, how does that make him feel?”

“He was surprised at first.”

“Naturally.”

“But then he heard about Orin’s death and your part in it- he’s worried, to say the least.”

“Good,” Astarion snarls, “he should be.”

The siblings arrive exactly when you said they would and they are surprised to see everyone prepared to see them. You are absolutely floored when Astarion tries to convince them that he’ll ascend all of them- he has to know by now that that is not what this ritual will do. You notice the uneasy glances between Astarion’s companions.

If they really are the heroes Dalyria made them out to be, will they truly let him ascend without contest?

There wasn’t time for any questions as the other spawn rush the group. You did manage to help in the fight- Astarion was being cornered by Violet and Leon so you took it upon yourself to wreak havoc upon Violet’s scalp. She went back home pretty quickly and Astarion was able to take on Leon with ease.

Now you sit in front of a big window and take in the moon. Your heart breaks for the 7,000 souls beneath Szarr Palace and the six other house spawn. Poor little Victoria had finally been taken away from the city and replaced with someone else- Leon promised he’d come find her. Gods you hope she doesn’t think Leon purposefully abandoned her. She’s a great kid.

“You seem to be thinking rather hard for a cat.”

“You lied to them.”

The silence between you is deafening before you finally look up at him. Astarion’s face is conflicted and guarded as he searches your features for any indication of what you are feeling. Cats aren’t terribly expressive apparently.

“Don’t give me that disappointed ‘I’m not getting cuddly, Astarion’ look!”

You feel your hackles raise slightly and your tail get puffy as you get up on your feet. You narrow your eyes at Astarion and he meets yours with equal amounts of stubbornness.

“I’ll give you this look for the rest of your damn life if that’s what it’s going to take!” You exclaim, “you can’t kill them! They have suffered too! Dalyria and Petras both tried to keep as much information as they could about you and your companions so that you stood a chance against him! Leon just wants to be with Victoria as a free man!

“The rest of them… they think it’s going to free them… they are all talking about what they want to do with their lives after this,” you say with anger and sadness in your voice, “You can’t take that from them.Their lives are not yours to take!”

“I hate to disappoint you,” Astarion says with venom lacing his words, “but I could care less about what they went through and their wants or their souls for that matter. No one was there for me, well besides you, but not everyone is an overly friendly Ghost like you.”

Your eyes become blurry and Astarion’s face goes from anger to shock and confusion. It takes a moment to collect yourself, but when you do- you make sure to say exactly what you are thinking.

“It makes me sad.”

“What does?”

“That you ended up being no better than Cazador,” you say flatly, “I thought I saw some redeeming qualities in you. I guess I was wrong.”

You watch it take all of his willpower not to snap your neck right there or pick you up and chuck you against the wall. The woman, Karlach, seems to notice his sudden shift in energy because she’s quickly walking over and scooping you up off the windowsill.

“You look like you need to take a breather, Fangs,” Karlach chuckles awkwardly, “maybe you should go hunting. We’ll be leaving to storm the castle before you know it.”

So he does and Karlach takes you over to her bed.

“That was awfully harsh, Boo,” Karlach says, “a gentler touch may have been better.”

“Karlach, I’ve been a ghost for almost 400 years. I have been forced to watch either Donella, Vellioth, or Cazador terrorize handfuls of people,” you shake your head, “Cazador is the worst of the worst- he’s terrorized over 7,000 people at this point and that ritual will kill all of them. Yet the soul I’m most upset about losing is Astarion’s.

“So yes, it was harsh, but it needed to be said.”

Karlach is quiet for a moment, “I suppose that’s true… but 7,000 people? I thought there were only 7 vampire spawn?”

“What? Who in the hells told you that?”

“Fangs- obviously.”

Oh right, he wouldn’t know that every person he’s ever shared a bed with is rotting away, starving in Cazador’s dungeon.

“No,” you say softly, “unfortunately there is a lot more going on than Astarion knows.”

**********************************************************************

Astarion is the first through the door when the group comes back from Szarr Palace. You have been sitting on Karlach’s bed the entire time- pacing anxiously. Scratch and the Owlbear cub would ask you to play with them, but you couldn’t get rid of the twisting knot in your stomach.

He goes to his bed and grabs a new change of clothes before weakly walking in the direction of the washroom. Karlach makes eye contact with you when she walks through the doors and she gives you a big smile.

Wait, does that mean?

She follows it with a thumbs up.

He didn’t do it. Holy Gods he didn’t do it! BUT WHY!?

You have a million questions, but you’re sure he doesn’t want to talk to you anytime soon. You bid a farewell to Karlach and the other companions. She tries to convince you to stay and talk to Astarion before deciding to leave, but you merely shake your head. You said your piece and you can return to haunting a now empty castle.

Or maybe you’ll be a cat around Baldur’s Gate. Tara seems to enjoy wandering around and you did forget how lovely the sun feels.

The walk back to Szarr Palace goes far smoother than your adventure finding Elfsong Tavern. The courtyard is still in bloom so the scent of red roses acts as your guide. Gods- Cazador was such a cliché. You hope these roses die and someone decides to plant literally anything else. Maybe you could figure out how to? You can dig hypothetically.

So that’s what you do. You begin digging out the crap ass red roses and do your best not to get caught on thorns. After the fourth or fifth rose, you have it down to a science and you’ve gotten quite a lot of work done on one flower bed. This cat thing isn’t all that bad!

Well, minus your excessive need for water and food, but there’s a running fountain nearby so that’s promising. The food part is going to be the harder part. You haven’t had to eat for centuries now and the growling in your belly is entirely foreign to you.

Should you try to steal food? Honestly, you’re adorable enough, you could probably beg for some food. Trying to hunt for a mouse is absolutely off the table and forget a bird all together.

You look up at the sky. The last bits of daylight cling to the horizon and the moon begins to kiss the sky. You are going to keep working until the sun has set, you’ll attempt to clean up, and then you'll sucker some people into giving you food.

Back to digging it is!

You continue your work and think about what you may plant. Maybe you could find seeds for food- there are plenty of homeless who could use it, but would they dare go to Szarr Palace for produce? The idea makes you snort. Donella would be infuriated if you turned the front of her “work of art” into a free farmer’s market for the needy.

“Are you taking up gardening now? I think it suits you,” a familiar voice says, “well, maybe more so if you were actually a person and not a cat.”

You slowly turn around and you’re met with the sight of a sheepish Astarion. He absentmindedly plays with his own hands, but you are happy to see some of the tension melt away when he sees your face and begins laughing.

“You are caked in dirt, Darling.”

“I would hope so- if this is something else then I have a real problem on my hands.”

“Ha!” Astarion says, “I don’t think you have any reason to fret. I can’t remember the last time Cazador had anyone tend to these stupid things.”

“Oh he didn’t have to,” you say in exasperation, “Donella enchanted the damn pots so that the plants can grow without soil. She hated the smell of fertilizer.”

“Donella?”

You blink at Astarion two times and tilt your head to the side.

“Cazador never mentioned his aunt?”

“Does this look like the face of a person who knows about Cazador’s aunt?”

“Put your sass back in your pockets, Mister,” you say with equal amounts of attitude, “Donella Szarr was the first Vampire Lord in Baldur’s Gate. She created Vellioth and well, you know how well that all went.”

“But how do you know Donella?”

“She killed me,” you say bluntly, “she took advantage of my naivety. She thought I was a promising young woman and she was very anti-patriarchy which I did really appreciate. However, she invited me over to tea to discuss a potential job offer at a party of her’s. She didn’t know how to properly create a spawn so when she drained me dry and I never popped back up- she realized she made a terrible mistake.

“Not because she cared about me, but because my parents were relatively prominent in the community.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Hmmm… well I was born in 1,110 then Donella killed me at the beginning of her dynasty in 1,138 sooooooo about,” you think so hard your ears begin to twitch, math was never your strong suit, “354 years ago.”

“Good Gods, you’ve been trapped in this damn place longer than I have. Why in the hells would you come back?”

That is a good question- why did you come back? You suppose it’s because at one point you were attached to this house and it made you uncomfortable to be away from it for longer than eight hours at a time, but that’s dissipated. You didn’t realize your attachment had changed to a person- the vampire spawn asking the question- until he disappeared and you felt like you did the one time you tried to stay away from Szarr Palace. It had weakened you significantly, but now that you’re a cat, that attachment isn’t there and you are free to go about your silly little business.

You also don’t know where else you would go. It’s not like staying in the Rothwell crypt is going to do wonders for your mental health and going back to haunting this palace means you’ll feel uncomfortable again until you are reattached.

“I don’t have anywhere else to go,” you admit, “so I came back to the only place I know. I think I might piss on Donella’s legacy by making this a community garden to feed the homeless. She’ll be infuriated- rolling over in her urn.”

Astarion snorts, “your idea of revenge is helping the needy? Gods, you’re insufferable.”

“What would you suggest then?” You retort, “I can’t imagine it will be easy finding seeds for anything worth planting. Unless you can hook me up with some sunflo-.”

“What if you traveled with me instead?” Astarion interrupts you.

Oh.

You blink a lot and your jaw has dropped. The happiness spreading through your body makes your paws tingle with excitement.

What an exhilarating concept. However, there must be a catch.

“You just said I was insufferable.”

“Just because I asked you to travel with me doesn’t make that any less true,” Astarion says, “but I’ve rather enjoyed your silent company over the past two centuries, I’m sure I’ll get used to the eccentricities of a ghost cat.”

“It’s quite a generous offer,” you say slowly, “why do you want me to travel with you?”

Astarion looks positively exasperated by your onslaught of questions.

“I would like to remind you that the last time I trusted a vampire- I died!”

“I suppose that’s fair,” he says with a sigh, “for a noble and a bard, you certainly aren’t one for mincing words.

“I was conflicted about ascending. No one was really giving me a reason not to because no one wanted to upset me. You, on the other hand, humbled me,” he says with a shrug, “and the lack of haunting I’ve experienced over the past several months has been absolutely terrible, Darling. I can’t keep a candle going as bright as you do to save my life.”

He says the last part with flourish and embellishment followed by an awkward cough.

You look to the roses and the garden bed then back to Astarion. It’s a much more fun idea- going with Astarion. It would be safer to remain here, but your life was cut so short so long ago. What if you could find a solution to become a person again? What if you could have the life you’ve always wanted?

“Okay.”

“Okay meaning?”

“I accept your invitation to travel with you.”

You are being scooped up from underneath your armpits again and Astarion holds you at arm's length. You flatten your ears and look at him unenthusiastically. Maybe you made a mistake.

“Wonderful! Now let’s get you cleaned up- you are positively disgusting right now.”

“You really know how to make a ghost feel special.”

Astarion wipes off the dirt using water from the fountain and a handkerchief before picking you back up and heading towards the cemetery.

“There’s something I need to do before we go back.”

He sets you down on the ground and you are surprised to see that you have arrived at his own grave. He remarks the grave as a symbol of his new life and you pluck a flower to drop on his grave. Astarion scratches you in between your ears and laughs as you chastise yourself for purring.

As you walk through the cemetary, you see another familiar name.

“That’s my family’s crypt!”

You sprint to the door and Astarion looks around for any clerics of Kelemvor before picking the lock. You bound down the stairs and Astarion is close behind you with a flame for light in his hands.

Your mother and father are there. It’s odd that your mother lived a much shorter life than your father considering she’s an elf. It looks like your father remarried and you have half siblings.

“Is this you?”

You look over to where Astarion is standing and sure enough- a plaque on a tomb reads, “Here lies Althaeastra ‘Birdie’ Rothwell. Beloved daughter, talented violinist, and the kindest soul this world had the privilege of knowing. We love and miss you forever and always. Kythorn 22, 1,110 to Alturiak 8th, 1,138’.

Your father’s tomb reads specifically, “Birdie’s Father” and your mother’s has, “Birdie’s Mother.” You had been their only child and you had been everything to them.

“Yeah,” you say sadly, “that’s me.”

Upon further investigation, you find that your mother had set your childhood home on fire after drinking too much. She died in the fire because she didn’t try to leave the house. Your poor father must have been devastated.

Your siblings are still alive, but you don’t have any desire to get to know them. That ship sailed a long time ago.

“I’m ready to go,” you say as evenly as you can, “I’m starving!”

You bound up the steps before he can say anything and you are grateful for the fresh air that fills your lungs. At least now you know what became of your family while you’ve been trapped in Szarr palace.

The walk back to Elfsong is quiet and the two of you sit by the windowsill and watch the world go by as the Tavern goers cheer and laugh. All of Astarion’s companions are fast asleep and your eyelids are feeling droopy following the chicken Astarion had managed to steal for you.

“So you’re a cat named Birdie?”

“No, I’m a ghost possessing a cat and my name is Birdie,” you say pointedly with a big yawn, “and I only go by Birdie because my first name is a monstrosity my grandmother insisted I have. I began singing before I began talking so my parents called me Birdie.”

“There’s no reason to argue semantics, Darling,” Astarion says with a dismissive wave of his hand, “no reason to get defensive. Truly adorable story though.”

You roll your eyes before laying your head down to fall asleep. You don’t protest when Astarion picks you up and sets you down to sleep on his bed. He scratches behind your ears before he also lays down on the bed with his book in one hand and his other petting you until you fall asleep.

Author note: Likes, Comments, and Reblogs are always appreciated! Please let me know if you would like to be on the tag list! I am using the Ghostwalk campaign for NPCs, locations, etc. It is a 3e Campaign and doesn’t mirror 5e Ghosts. I have tweaked some of the ghost powers and such for the sake of the story, but if you would like more information on Ghostwalk and the City of Manifest, there is a PDF online that is free to download :)

Additional Note: I didn’t think this concept would be received so well! Thank you so much for everyone’s kind words, like, and reblogs 💜 I am out of town, but I will probably end up posting the next chapter because I’m excited and I love Birdie and Astarion.

[vocalcalibration]

Silver and Blaze need their own game.

This is a topic I, like many Sonic fans, have given a lot of thought. Ignoring for a moment that these two haven't been playable in an official capacity outside of mobile games and spinoffs since... Black Knight? Does that count? The potential for story and gameplay with these two in particular is massive!

Story:

Frankly the plot pretty much writes itself. But let me explain what I specifically had in mind. The story would start with Silver in a burning city he does not recognize. Crisis city would serve as the opening level to the game. At the end of it Silver would be surrounded by monsters and attacked by Iblis before waking up in his home, this is a nightmare he's been having for weeks now. We would then transition to Silver's second level where he runs and glides through the floating islands of his current future. Why floating islands? Because floating islands are cool. We'd meet some new characters who, establish him a little bit of his own supporting cast, that is until a portal opens up and a shadowy individual pulls Silver throufh it.

From here we cut to Blaze who is rather unenthusiastically attending to paper work before someone comes in and informs her someone fell from a portal in the sky. This would star Blaze's first level with her navigating the jungles and beaches of her home island, before coming across an unconcious Silver whom she brings back to the castle. While he's resting the same shadowy figure emerges in the city unleashing monsters onto the townsfolk which Blaze then deals with for her second level in her capital city. After this Silver wakes up and the two exchange notes, with Silver agreeing to stick around so they can figure out what's happening.

From here we can spend time both experiencing visions of 06's future, chasing the new villain through both the sol dimension and Silver's future, and realizing the bizarre connection the two of them seem to share might be more than just weirdly good chemistry.

For some further explanation on my choices here.

I'm building the story as a followup to 06 for a number of reasons. For one it's the game that established them as a duo so if we have a game with the two of them naturally we're going to pull from it.

The series keeps alluding to their 06 partner ship as well. The above is a Colors DS screenshot in which they directly reference their time in 06. Sonic generations has the two both found in the crisis city portion of the hub and has them standing next to each other whenever they're in a cutscene. And they're often paired together in the IDW comic books.

Which is in no way a coincidence. Most of all however is that Blaze's place in 06 is, to this day, one of the biggest unexplained questions in Sonic's lore. Why was she in original timelines future? Why was she so okay with killing Sonic if she was Rush Blaze? If she's not Rush Blaze why does she have such nice clothes in the apocolypse? All questions we've never gotten a proper explanation for.

There's also the fact that I think finally tackling 06 head on would be healthy for the series future. The games impacts on the franchise are undeniable and can be felt to this day. For a while they seemed to live in permanent fear of the game, like it would come back and haunt if they said it's name too many times. Then we had the self flogging era where they "got in" on the joke. Nowadays they seem more comfortable referencing the game in a more matter of fact way, but finally ripping off the bandaid and just acknowledging the game outright in canon may be how they finally put it to rest. In service to that the ending could have Silver and Blaze choosing not to allow whatever past life they had define them, instead focusing on the now and what they can do for it.

Some character stuff you could do could be maybe Silver, due to the events of 06 is cut off from the time line. Everytime he visitis Sonic and co in the past his future is slightly different, the people he does and doesn't know change, but he remains the same. His memories aren't altered to match the current future and so he finds himself in a world of strangers, part of why he spends so much time in the past as Sonic and the others recognize him and he feels like he actually has a place there, but feels as though it's selfish on his part to stay and alter the timeline even more. Meanwhile Blaze could find herself worn out due to her responsibilities as princess, the expectations that weigh on her and finds herself longing for the excitement and adventure she felt with Sonic during their time together. Or something like that, I'm just spitballing here.

We could also reintroduce Marine as a proper "Tails" to Blaze's "Sonic", taking a page (heh) out of the IDW books by having her be much more mature and concientious of her duties in a squire-esk position.

Granted IDW might have over done it JUST little, at least with the tiny bit we see her, so maybe have her keep a bit of that energetic and cocky attitude from Rush Adventure, just toned down a little. You could show her more developed as mechanic, having pick up things from Tails and due to her own practice and training. Also make all her Australian slang incomprehensible to Silver because that would be funny.

Gameplay:

Right out the gate I want the game to be based on the open zone formula of Frontiers, it's the direction I want the series to stick going forward, no more pulling a Sonic Team and jumping ship to a radically different gameplay style for seemingly no reason again. With that said I think I'd like to see it refined a fair bit. Instead of several open zones we have two much larger open areas featuring multiple biomes through which you access the various levels. The Sol dimension would be the first open zone, with the main island and various smaller island surrounding it. Water vehicles from rush adventure could return and exploring would have a bit of a wind waker vibe, sailing from place to place. It wouldn't be as intrusive as Rush Adventure, instead of being their own segments it'd be real time vehicles you can get in and out of whenever and all the major islands would have fast travel points once discovered.

The other open zone would be the same structure, albeit with two main islands connected via bridges surrounded by smaller ones, except they'd, again, be floating in the air and you'd travel via air vehicles. I guess like Skywar Sword... huh.

Blaze would serve as a more traditional Sonic gameplay experience, high speed platforming and action. Specifically base her moveset on 06 Blaze, which featured a double jump, homing attack and grounded fire tornado attack, while also adding in her fire spindash and hover from Rush. Her combat would resemble Sonic's frontiers combat in the open zone, of course with a focus on her pyro-kinesis for her abilities. To put in fighting game terms, she's be a true rush down character with some light projectile stuff.

Silver would be slower. Now let me be clear, Not slow, slower. He'd still move at a good clip but would be outpaced by Blaze easily. In place of that his levels would be more platforming and puzzle focussed. Silver wouldn't ball jump or homing attack, like 06, but he'd have hover, a high jump and a psycho slash move which kept his momentum so as to not slow him down. Also while Blaze would have something closer to the Unleashed-Forces boost, which damages enemies, Silver would have the non-damaging frontiers boost. His combat would be much more projectile heavy, with psycho-kinetic blasts and slashes and aoe attacks. Maybe also some kind of psycho mine that when activated holds ebemies in place? I think it'd be cool. Again in fighting game terms, a zoner/trap character with some light melee and grappling options.

In the open zones you could switch between the two freely, including mid-combo, to tackle the various combat and platforming challenges and puzzles. For levels there are a few options. You could have dedicated levels for both character, the advantage there being that you can taylor each level to their specific abilities. Maybe even take something from Forces Sonic/Avatar stages with select levels using both of them. Alternatively you could have every level accessible by both but with different paths they can take based on abilities. Or you could have it so you can swap freely mid level, kinda' like Sonic Heroes. They all have benefits and drawbacks and I can't really say which one is definitively the best choice.

But now we reach the end of my essay... thing. Thanks for reading. Also all art were taken from official sources including Sega and IDW. Ttfn. Tuh tuh for now.

[alias-sam]

Pierced by a Golden Soul

Chapter 41. (Don't Fear) the Reaper Part 3

Platonic Jojo's x Reader

Summary: Fate is a bizarre concept with countless more bizarre implications. In life sometimes such extraordinary events happen that the only reasoning left must be fate. The tragedies that constantly befall the Joestar bloodline for example may be the unluckiest series of cards drawn in human history, or perhaps the work of a greater power. There is no way to tell for sure. Had Dio Brando or Jonathan Joestar moved slightly on a divergent path the world itself would be left very different. The fate or luck of the noble Joestar bloodline has led to destruction of evil likes of the Pillar Men and DIO. This story is of a similar caliber to that of the other Joestars (as I am sure you are familiar with them). This is a story of lost souls, compassion, hope, and above all fate.

Word Count: 1,443

(Crosspost from Wattpad, full fic is already posted there.)

"Are stand users fucking magnets for each other or something?!" You really hoped you were wrong about this. Another part of you hoped you were right so you didn't look like a psycho when you eventually got to Vita's room. If you knew you'd be scaling the side of Sommar Vita's house today, you would have worn better shoes. After managing to avoid Harvey and Rodger by using Golden Soul, you weren't sure if or when the stand would come back. So, you decided to face the problem at its source. Which inevitably led to you clinging off the side of the user's house, in the rain, with nothing but the fear of God and wrath like Satan to keep you from letting go.

................

Sommar sighed before collapsing on his bed. Tonight didn't go anywhere near planned. He didn't want you to meet his father, he didn't want to taint the one good relationship he had with his family issues. The little breakdown he had in the driveway didn't help his confidence that you would stay friends. It was just like him. To break things. To destroy the few bonds he had. That was anxiety talking of course, but the dark thoughts were running rampant throughout his brain.

Vita held the back of his hand on his forehead, hopefully he wouldn't get a cold from sitting in the rain. It would be just his luck though. He'd missed almost half of the school year so far because of illnesses, and generally being too weak to get out of bed. However, he had been fairing much better as of late. Sommar liked going to school. Some parts of it anyway.

He never quite understood social cues, or how to follow them, but he tried his best.  He didn't understand why the other kids avoided him until they started calling him names. But he ignored them, or tried his best to do so. Sometimes he would lose his temper. He learned to embrace the so called 'freakishness' he was labeled with.

Sommar glanced at his alarm clock, seeing it was getting late. He slowly sat up, wobbling a little from lightheadedness. Despite his low mood, he decided to get ready for bed. Vita stopped at his bookshelf mid-way to the bathroom. He gently traced his finger across the book's spines before picking up a random one. There was a mix of American and Japanese comic books along with other genres in a multitude of languages, but he picked up a volume of Pink Dark Boy. Sommar liked superheroes, no matter where they came from. It was strange, comics gave him the feeling he could do anything, be anything. Despite his frail body, he wanted to help people, help his Umi, his brother, and put people like his stepfather in their place. That was one reason he liked you so much. You were strong and guarded, but selfless, and understanding. Just like a superhero. Sommar placed the book back where it belonged, deciding to go back to his original goal.

All of the bedrooms in the house had their own connected bathroom, and Sommar's was no different. As the boy brushed his teeth and proceeded with his nightly routine his gaze shifted over to a small wooden box sitting on the counter. Sommar decided to flip open the lid. Inside sat an intricate gold pendant, shaped like a beetle. A gift from his biological father. The only thing his father ever gave him.

Well... that wasn't completely accurate. Sommar was the name his biological father gave him.

He hated it.

The bastard, whoever he was, left Sommar's mother to take care of a sick four-year-old and an eleven-month-old by herself. Despite the time that had passed, Sommar still remembered his short life in Cairo. He remembered his mother's panicked expression when she found out Mannesh had been kidnapped by his own father, and taken all the way to Saudi Arabia. Sommar remembered how tightly his Umi held him during the time Mannesh was missing. He remembered getting the news his baby brother was safe and sound. He remembered how his mother told him to pack his things, and that they were moving away, somewhere his father would never find them again. He remembered the first time he met the man who would become his stepfather. He remembered the first time he heard his parents fight. He remembered all the times his stepfather got drunk after being on the water for weeks. He remembered every time his stepfather would hit his mother.

Sommar picked up the pendant and threw it across the bathroom. He hated his biological father just as much as his stepfather. Sommar never even met the man, but his actions seemed to echo in every aspect of his son's life.

Vita paused when he heard a frantic and violent banging come from his window. The boy paused before approaching the window and pulling aside the curtains.

"Holy-!" Vita jumped back when he was met with a very familiar and very soaked face.

"Let me in!" You yelled through the closed glass. Vita quickly complied, unlocking the window and clumsily helping you inside. "Well... I'm glad that's over with."

"D-did you climb up the wall?!" Vita asked, dumbfounded. Once both of your feet were firmly on the ground you let out a deep breath, still severely winded from the ordeal outside.

"That's beside the point!" Your eyes grew sharp as you grabbed Vita by his shirt collar. "Call off your stand!" You yelled.

"My...what?" Vita gave you a confused look as you glared at him.

"You heard me!"

"I r-really don't know what you're talking about!" Vita responded defensively. A gold aura started surrounding you as Golden Soul was summoned. Judging by the bright orange glow emitting from his person, and the awestruck expression that crossed his face upon seeing your own stand, you had a feeling Vita was the user you were looking for.

Before you could interrogate the boy any further, a blur of orange and bugs knocked you away from him. It was a mix of maggots, worms, and the two beetles.

"Call them off! I don't care what it takes just do it!" You knocked away what you could with Golden Soul, but you weren't going to last long. "I know its you controlling them!"

"I-!" Vita watched what was happening in an extreme state of shock, panic, and confusion.

"Sommar!" Everything going on in the room stopped at the sound of Vita's stepfather's yelling. Even the bugs. "What's going on in there!?" It sounded like he was just outside the door.

"Stall." You whisper shouted in a mix of pleading, warning, and threat.

"I just tripped." Vita responded uncertainly through his closed door. "I knocked over one of my shelves."

"Well pipe down!" The old sailor yelled. After hearing the man's retreating footsteps, the two of you breathed a sigh of relief.

"Y/n..." Vita looked your way. "What's going on here?"

"It's a long story." You groaned, watching the suddenly docile bugs retreat away from you and towards Vita. "How much time you got?"

.....................................

Senora Jones looked out at the horrendous downpour outside with concern. The sun had set, and you still weren't home. Not even a phone call. You were going to be in so much trouble when you got home as long as she had anything to say about it. Despite her frustration with your disappearance, it was heavily shadowed by the worry gnawing at her bones.

You were her child. The only family she had. She stood by the window, keeping a sharp lookout for your form amongst the raindrops and flooding road.

She had been doing this a lot lately. Waiting and worrying. Maybe it was growing pains, but you had become more of a handful as of late. Acting strangely, more restless. Always late, or tired or hurt in some way. It was hard to watch. Especially as your mother. She wanted to pretend she didn't hear you tossing and turning in your sleep, or waking with a scream in the late hours of the night. She wanted to overlook the missing medical kit and band aids. If she asked, you would feign ignorance.

She wasn't dumb. She knew something was up. But she couldn't bring herself to interrogate you. Whatever you were hiding, it was for a good reason. She knew this because you never hid things from her. Even when you had just started living with her, you always told her what was on your mind or who was bothering you.

Senora Jones stared quietly out at the town, waiting, worrying, and wondering where you were.

She loved you, but when you pulled stunts like this it made her sick to her stomach with unease.

[waveridden]

i would love for you to give deets on why you disliked those books. i love salt

yessss i love complaining. putting this under a cut because it's long, however i'll say up top that if you found this post because you tumblr searched a book you like... maybe skip this one! because i didn't like these books!

the ballad of songbirds and snakes, if you haven't heard of it, is the hunger games prequel about president snow when he was young and hot. i dislike it on principle but when we did our hunger games book club i decided i was going to give it my best and most open-minded shot that i could handle giving it.

my main problem is actually that i extremely dislike the politics and the worldbuilding implications for the rest of the series. the timeline becomes incredibly fucked. the thematic implications don't make sense. it is so bloated, and so long, with so many names and characters and so relatively few interesting things happening.

also: the hunger games capitol is in denver. the original hunger games were in an old sports arena that was also used for concerts and events sometimes. it is described as having a massive goalpost that is tall and two-pronged. that's right. it's the denver broncos stadium. (the american football team.) once you know that the hunger games were in the denver broncos stadium, it kind of takes a lot of the suspense out.

-

the bromance book club is a highly-recommended romance novel. the basic premise is: a professional baseball player and his wife are on the brink of divorce after he discovers that she has never had an orgasm with him. in order to save his marriage (and learn to satisfy his wife) he joins a top secret book club of Alpha Men who secretly read romance novels to learn about what women like.

i actually thought the premise was cute but where it fell apart is that i HATED the main character. his wife was literally correct 100% of the time and should've left him. it was just unfunny and weird and bad.

-

identitti is a contemporary drama (translated from german) about a german-indian graduate student who discovers that her beloved german-indian advisor is, in fact, a white woman who has been lying about being indian. the book categorically refuses to cast judgment on her - the protagonist feels betrayed, but the advisor just keeps saying over and over that it's actually fine and identity is fluid, but never actually makes a good argument.

aside from the very strong personal reaction i have to this book (i.e. that the advisor was Wrong and that it was weird for this (german-indian) author to present this case) the biggest problem i have is that it used a real life mass shooting to prove a point. there was a hate crime in hanau, germany, that becomes a plot point in the book, but it revolves around people connecting that shooting to the fictional advisor, and i just think that's shitty, actually!

-

small game is the debut novel by blair braverman who is a survivalist and who raises sled dogs which rules. it is about a survivalist who goes onto a survivalist reality show, only for all the cameras to vanish halfway through, leaving the contestants to wonder: did something happen? have they been forgotten? is this all just a part of the show? or is something more sinister going on?

let me spoil the answer for you: the network lost funding, canceled the show, and something went wrong that meant that the contestants were never picked up. now you do not have to slog through ~150 pages of the contestants having that exact debate, weird gross survivalism, incredibly strange and upsetting animal and human deaths, and a really bizarre dubcon-y love story.

-

singer distance has a premise that i really loved: earth begins getting messages from mars that people realize are actually mathematical communications. after a certain point the math becomes too advanced; enter crystal, a genius mathematician who figures out the solution... and then disappears.

this book is not about crystal. it is about her college boyfriend, who feels inadequate to her and feels bad about it. after she goes missing he spends years pining after for her. eventually it is revealed that the two of them had a kid together and the kid finds him and they search for her together. i was really hoping for a fun and interesting scifi alternate history type thing and instead it was just a book about a sad boring man

-

cover is an indie comic miniseries about a comic book artist who is drafted into international espionage. the art was really nice but i haven't read bendis comics in years and i forgot how far up his own ass he gets, especially when it comes to how many words per page he writes. and this was especially navel-gazey, just talking constantly (constantly) (CONSTANTLY) about The Art Of Comics and how good it is. there also wasn't enough espionage.

-

how to give up plastic & how to save the world for free are two different and unrelated books that fall into a category i'm trying to read more of, i.e. the practical environmentally-friendly guide. these books had the same problem: the advice was fucking stupid! how to give up plastic said that if companies send you unnecessary plastic packaging, you should ship it back to them to make a statement (what!!!!!!) and every idea in how to save the world for free cost money.

i think my biggest problem with books like these is that most of the advice is for 1) homeowners, because so much of the advice tends to be like "compost in your yard" or "install solar panels," and 2) people who have never considered buying reusable bags or water bottles. i am trying to find something with advice that is practical and cheap (the climate diet is the closest i've gotten, some of it is ridiculous but some of it is genuinely applicable) but these books just gave stupid fucking advice

[eccebitch]

hotd & the anarchy

I did a poll recently about how much people knew about the Anarchy, a period of civil war in early English history, and most people said they were not familiar with it, or not very familiar. I was originally going to do a really long post explaining all the historical context, but let's be real, you have access to wikipedia and nothing I'm going to say is going to be more researched than a wiki entry. what I can do for you is put it down quickly and easily, so! the anarchy, and what it has to do with asoiaf / hotd / the conflict known as the Dance of Dragons* in Fire & Blood.

*From here on, when I'm referring to the Dance of Dragons, I'm specifically referring to the events that take place in F&B, not the book with the similar name in the main ASOIAF series.

THESIS:

the Dance of Dragons is based on the Anarchy.

making Rhaenyra based on, or at least inspired by, Empress Matilda.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN:

The way the Anarchy ends historically is extremely similar to how the Dance of Dragons conflict ends in Fire & Blood, and will probably have some bearing on the ending of HOTD. So stop reading if you want to avoid spoilers.

WHAT ARE THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THESE CONFLICTS? The granddaughter of William the Conqueror (the obvious basis for Aegon the Conqueror), Empress Matilda was a really interesting historical figure who isn't well-remembered today, which is a shame because her life was batshit interesting.

Below is a very (very!) brief overview of her actions, and how they compare to the events in the Dance of Dragons:

While Matilda's father King Henry I had many children, he only had two in his legal marriage. One was the prince and heir, and one was Matilda.

The prince, and about 298 other people, fucking died in the White Ship Disaster. (The White Ship Disaster is really interesting in and of itself and I could go into more detail, but you ain't here for that, so I'll spare you. But at least give the Wikipedia page a look if you're interested in bizarre episodes in royal history. Anyway, moving on!)

Daddy needs an heir! He grabs his daughter - who had been married to the Holy Roman Emperor (thus the title Empress) - and made all the lords in England and Normandy swear to accept her as heir.

(exactly like Viserys does with Rhaenyra)

Matilda is extremely hesitant to marry - after an emperor (he's dead now), everyone's a kind of a letdown. Eventually, she marries a foppish French duke, Geoffrey V of Anjou. (This is where the Angevin dynasty started, for those keeping track.)

(could Geoffrey V be an inspiration for Laenor? Entirely possible! I do think one of Rhaenyra's kids being named Joffrey is a homage; Matilda's second son was named Geoffrey after his father.)

When King Henry I dies, Matilda is away in Normandy with her family.

(similar to how Rhaenyra is away at Dragonstone when Viserys dies)

Matilda's cousin Stephen of Blois takes this opportunity to crown himself king as the eldest male heir.

(could Stephen of Blois be an inspiration for Daemon? I think it's possible - at the very least, the Dance of Dragons feels partially like a what-if scenario: what if Matilda had been able to shore up her support by marrying another male heir? What if Henry I had more legal children? etc)

When Matilda finally comes back to England, she does so with full military force, and the conflict between her and Stephen's forces plunge England into a period of war so bad it's commonly known as 'the Anarchy', because no one was in charge.

(Similarly, the period of civil war between the Greens and the Blacks gets its own soubriquet, though, in the Fire & Blood book, it's noted that the 'Dance of Dragons' name is too poetic and hides the real bloodshed)

During this conflict, Stephen's wife - also named Matilda, but we'll call her Maud to differentiate - briefly commands some troops in London; Maud is held up by contemporary sources as an ideal woman for her daring and bravery... things that Matilda is castigated for in the same sources.

(This is, to me at least, similar to how Alicent is treated vs Rhaenyra, because Alicent tries to work more within the extant political systems - only claiming power for male heirs, not herself etc - while Rhaenyra does similar but is seen negatively for it. I do think that Maud is a partial inspiration for Alicent.)

Neither Matilda nor Stephen are ever able to completely claim victory over each other, and eventually, the war ends in a stalemate.

By this time, Matilda's son Henry II is grown. (This is the Henry II who married Eleanor of Aquitaine and is played by Peter O'Toole in The Lion in Winter, for those keeping track.)

Matilda stops trying to claim power for herself and begins putting her son forward as heir. Henry II is an excellent commander who becomes known to the people of England. When peace talks with Stephen finally begin, they're between Stephen and Henry; Matilda stays in France.

Eventually, Stephen agrees to declare Henry II as his heir, and it goes smoothly enough; Henry II is king of England.

(This is similar to how Rhaenyra never definitively 'wins' the dance of dragons, but her son is king.)

tl;dr the clear similarities between these two events, one historical and one fictional, point to GRRM's interest in medieval history and his continued use of it as a source of inspiration in building out Westeros. I think his tragic ending for Rhaenyra is extremely intentional because it reflects Matilda's real life.

[behind-the-screen-of-bangtan]

Jin (진)

Real name: 김석진 (Kim Seokjin)

Birth date: 4 December 1992

Home city: Gwacheon

Instagram account

BU character: Kim SeokJin

BT21 character: RJ

(src)

Biography

Scooted by SM then Big Hit, Jin joined the second because he knew Bang Sihyuk’s name. Changing his plan to become an actor to becoming an idol, he worked tirelessly to learn singing, dancing and later composing.

Despite his shyness, Jin has become a bright figure of the group and an essential support for the members. He has invested himself in several personal projects to show ARMY his appreciation. He notably organized on his own the heart event where during the encore of each concert, he would come on stage with a heart he made himself.

For a more complete biography, you can check these ressources: 

Biography from the volume 4 of the Japan Official Fanclub magazine (trans by kocchi, ktaebwi)

Jin has also shared tidbits of his daily life:

[VLOG] How far have you been fishing?! (2019)

COOKING VLOG (2022)

n월의 석진 | Message from Jin 💌, June, August

To help us wait during his enlistment, Jin prepared short videos released monthly

Birthday albums: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

Recommendations

Music

Spotify playlist

You can find Youtube playlists of the songs he shared on Spotify and on Twitter or during interviews.

Books/Movies/Series/Anime

Google sheet of his recommendations

Solo activity

Music (discography)

Rap Monster, Suga & 진 - “어른아이” (Childish Adult) (2013)

“엄마 (cover)” (mom) (2015)

“난 너를 사랑해 (cover)” (I love you) (2015)

“Awake (christmas ver)” (gift for the Jinsta (see below), 2016)

Jin, V  - “죽어도 너야” (화랑(Hwarang) OST, 2017)

“So Far Away (SUGA, 진, 정국 Ver.)”  (gift for the Festa, 2017)

“가을 우체국 앞에서 (cover)" (In Front of the Post Office in Fall) (for the Festa, 2018)

“이 밤" (gift for the Festa, 2019)

“Abyss” (for his birthday, 2020)

“Yours” (지리산 OST, 2021)

"슈퍼 참치” (Super Tuna) (for his birthday, 2022)

--- Chapter 2 ---

“The Astronaut” (2022) (see this post)

For more details about the songs that don’t have their own post, I listed all the info I had here. For Chapter 2 songs, please check here.

Shows

EatJin (2015, anchor)

Prerecorded: YouTube/Weverse

Live:

151015 BTS Eat Jin Live : 배고프지 않아요?

151217 BTS Eat Jin Live : 배고프지 않아요?

151217 BTS Eat Jin Live : 배고프지 않아요? 2

160226 BTS Eat Jin Live : 배고프지 않아요?

160611 BTS Eat Jin Live : 생일상

160713 BTS Live in Osaka (만다꼬 + Eat Jin)

161201 BTS Live : Eat Jin🍴

161215 BTS Live : Eat Jin + chimchim😂 + kook

170423 BTS Live : EAT Jin + JM&JK

170621 BTS Live : 잇진

171014 EAT Jin!🍴

180905 BTS Live : EAT Jin

190319 BTS Live : 홍콩 잇진

190519 BTS Live : EAT Jin (with Jimin)

190914 BTS Live : EAT Jin

191123 EAT Jin

200408 Eat Jin🍳

200524 Eat Jin

200710 Eat Jin

Jin films himself while eating. Before that, he used to write posts (Eng trans) about cooking on the group’s blog. Starcast made an article in the same style for New Year’s Day

Lee Youngji’s No Prepare (2022, guest)

취중JIN담 (Jin’s traditional alcohol journey/Drunken truth) (2022, anchor)

Jin brews alcohol with Baek Jongwon, the famous chef who also made apparitions on Run BTS!, and some other guests

Jin’s Instagram post: #1, #2

behind-the-scenes video on Park Rokdam’s channel

Naver blog post from Kim Namgil’s agency

푹 쉬면 다행이야 (Half-Star Hotel in Lost Island) (2024, guest):

YouTube playlist

Run Jin (2024):

YouTube playlist

Inspired by Run BTS!, the show follows Jin ending up in all sorts of predicaments

Weverse magazine: ““Run Jin,” featuring your friendly neighborhood superstar”

Everyone’s zoo (2024, guest)

Official tweets

대환장 기안장 (KIAN’s Bizarre B&B) (2025, guest): anouncement

Brands endorsement

Otogi Jin Ramyeon (2022): YouTube playlist, photo

Global Brand Ambassador for Fred (2024): announcement

Global Brand Ambassador for Gucci (2024): announcement on WWD

Feel Soul Good campaign for Visit Seoul (2024): tweets, Official YouTube playlist

Magazines

W Korea vol. 7 (2024): announcement, tweets

Interviews

BE comeback interview: “It feels like my memories of ARMY were all a dream”

Butter release interview: “I just hope anyone who likes me is happy”

Proof release interview: “I’m living my life all thanks to ARMY’s happiness”

Military discharge interview: “Jin: “BTS loves ARMY so much, and it just makes sense that we’d do our best for the people we love, right?””

Trivia

Weverse magazine: “Eight ways Jin loves the world”

After being called as such by fans, Jin started refering to himself as Worldwide Handsome. Indeed, he’s regularly noticed for his good looks.

In 2016, Jin organized a Jinsta for his birthday. Following the Festa they do for the group’s birthday, he released content from the 1st to the 4th of December:

161201 Opening on Vlive (now on Weverse)

161203 EatJin blog post

161204 Jin remix ver. (”Awake (Christmas ver.)”)

161204 Letter on the Fancafe

161204 Photos (Facebook)

161204 Games together with Jin (Vlive, now on Weverse)

Jin used to have two sugar gliders, Odeng and Eomuk. He posted several times on Twitter with them: x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x. We also saw them on Mnet’s BTS Comeback Show. You can see them near him on the poster for the 4th Muster.

In 2024, Jin carried the olympic torch for the Paris Olympic Games, just a few days after finishing his military service (Episode, interview with Louise Aubery in the Louvre, Paris Match article in French).

[askbeannuts]

The Ninetales was reminded of that old conversation as she stood before a cell deep underneath the Yggdrasil Council building, a winding series of tunnels and rooms, with the main purpose of holding the White Room... and gaining safe access to the pulley system used to support travels to the Lands Below.

Her mind was made up, her theory had to mean something... she needed proof before she spoke with everyone else... she needed to confirm it.

For herself, maybe even for her old friend, she was getting old... an understatement really... over a century, holding onto that thread of life for so long... if this was true... if this being was who she thought it was, or at least one of them... she could give her one fleeting moment of joy, of peace, before she finally...

"Hmm." Marta uttered a rough hum, distracting herself from the thought, she turned her focus to the confused youth, who had been trying to garner her attention for a while now.

"... Uh... Council-" Marta shook her head at the young Zangoose, causing him to stifle his comment.

"I'm here to speak with you." This left the tired-looking Zangoose to study her quizzically. Lars was his name, correct? His eyes looked tired... this being was using him as a power supply of some kind. They have to be separated soon, she understood that.

Despite that tired look, he held enough energy to converse. "Um... me? Did something happen?" Lars questioned, he had little intention of standing from where he sat as he asked.

"We haven't heard back from the Guilds just yet, however... it's not you I'm here to speak with, Lars." Marta turned her gaze to the Zangoose's shadow... who looked back at her, with their bizarre milky-yellow eyes. "it's you isn't it?" The question didn't garner a response. "You were there... back when the Cataclysm happened, correct?"

"Huh...?" Lars uttered in confusion. "I'm sorry, Council Marta, but I don't think-"

"Are you... them...?" A third voice filled the room, Marta studying Lars' shadow as it began to take on a life of its own, taking on a physical form and rising to meet her gaze from behind the cell bars, studying her thoroughly, appearing to raise a brow in curiosity, before looking stern and asking again. "Are you them...? The Great Ninetales? You seem... different." It was at that moment, Marta knew...

(It's them... isn't it...?) She didn't respond, instead stepping back, answering that could anger them she assumed. But that wasn't her main reason for retreating now... this was her "proof" in her mind anyway.

It didn't confirm the shadow's inquiry, but prompted them to shrink back into Lars' shadow instead. "... I must go... I apologize for bothering you, I'm certain you're exhausted Lars... I hope to end this soon." The Ninetales spoke strangely, then turned and left before Lars could get a word in, leaving him-and the shadow-somewhat confused as to what this encounter was... what did it mean...? What did the Shadow mean by 'The Great Ninetales'?

Lars didn't know enough about pre-Cataclysm history... would that be something big in the Northern Isles? He heard Wild Ninetales were common there in one of the dungeons during his training, but never had time to read any history books there... he wished he did though.

"What...?" He muttered shaking his head... he hoped things were going well for the others...

[Marta has discovered something...]

< Previous

< Continued from...

< A Past Event...

3am Mod note below!

[[Hello! This scene-or rather a very different version of it-was originally meant to happen around the same time as that post linked in "continued from" but like most of my ideas, I kinda had to scrap or simplify them.

A Pocket of Time definitely helped me capture some things I wanted to explore as actual pages, but couldn't justify placing anywhere. And with that added context it brought, I could do this post! It will lead into what's going on of course, no worries there!

And because I doubt I'll ever get around to this otherwise, I did want to also thank those who responded to the whole Lost to Time... event I guess it was now! I'm certain we'll see them again in the future.]]

[sweatertheman]

its like if a good webcomic was genetically mutated into an eldritch monstrosity as a vessel for the antichrist in order to bring about judgement day, and also it was really long and written by a know-it-all know-nothing asshole.

it's about everything, but it somehow manages to have nothing to say about anything. you have trans characters, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, enemies with benefits, an autistic psycho murderer alien clown cultist, a guy whose entire character concept is just stolen from somewhere else who manages to have nothing to do with anything despite causing almost everything, and despite that i still have no idea what the point even was. even goofy silly joke stories have a point, that being to be dumb fun. homestuck is mostly stupid jokes, but keeps trying to have interesting lore and meaningful stories, but in such a way where it doesn't blend together into a unified whole, and sort of feels like several different comics smashed together.

its like if CAD (Ctrl-Alt-Del) was really long, serialized, and was also trying to be Rick and Morty, Earthbound, and some dark anime with complex lore or something idk.

i know rick and morty came out after homestuck, but its just got that sort of pseudo-intellectual nihilistic streak to it.

basically, homestuck doesn't have a story so much as it has a long string of events. but to sum up as best i can, it's about the life cycle of a universe, and follows the lives of socially stunted teens undergoing years of worldshattering revelations and unjust, meaningless suffering in order to perpetuate this cycle, against their will. homestuck is about nothing if not the perpetuation of cycles. even if they didnt want to participate, that version of them would simply be killed. the only timeline allowed to persist is the one that perpetuates the cycle. the series antagonist is a man who is a time paradox, whose sole motivation seems to be to ensure his own perpetuation at the expense of the universe. it's one self-perpetuating cycle of suffering against another. ultimately, nothing in homestuck really matters, because none of it could have happened differently. in one scene, the alien Karkat Vantas, most well known for being a loud, obnoxious, mean, but ultimately well-meaning guy, has a realization as he argues with his past self. he doesn't really believe he's actually angry at his past self, or that his past self even had a valid reason to be angry at him. he's pretty sure the only reason that argument happened was because it was already predestined to happen as a mechanism of time travel.

while i like this and other scenes, they fail to leave a lasting impact on me, as nothing is done with them. characters' own motivations and feelings will fail to affect the events of the story. time and time again its stated that characters are only doing what they do because they've been given no other choice. sometimes they even try to rationalize their slavery as greater purpose, that being bound by threat of infinite death to perform arbitrary actions by the will of the narrative is what defines them as people, and that being able to do whatever they wanted would make them perfectly generic.

anyway, point is, the comic is too long and too insincere to do any of its good ideas well, or to form a unified whole. ultimately the story is just a long, meandering experience with highs and lows but ultimately no point to the experience. it didn't have anything to say about anything, and it's too long, dark, and complicated to be dumb fun.

when everyone's super, no one will be. when your webcomic is about everything, it ceases to really be about anything.

at the end of the day, it just ends up feeling like a fever dream. bizarre and already half-forgotten.

I’ve been on tumblr for almost 13 years and I refuse to know what homestuck is about

[roy-dcm2]

Superman : This was your life!

If you ever read FINAL Crisis, you might know that in the middle there's a side story called "Superman Beyond." But, did you know there's another special "interlude" that happened in the middle of Infinite Crisis?

There are three issues that hardly anyone ever talks about, known as "Superman, This was your Life..."

(You can find the storyline in Superman #226, Action Comics #836, and Adventures of Superman #649)

It's a really unique plot that takes place in the middle of the battle between Golden Age Superman (Kal-L) and Modern Superman (Kal-El). I would insert it in Infinite Crisis #5, after page 19. It all happens in their minds, in the time between Wonder Woman to hearing them on Earth-2, and when she shows up to stop them. It might be 10 minutes at the most.

(Infinite Crisis #5, page 19)

Part 1 - Superman #226

In case you don't know, "This is your life..." was an old American TV series that focused on the biography of each of its guests. So, the story starts by talk about Kal-L's origins on Earth-2.

It briefly talks about Superman-2's relationship with Lois Lane, before turning to the events of World War II. Now, if you don't know, Superman and the Justice Society existed during WW2, but were unable to help because of magic. Kal-L had to standby helplessly while the Nazi's terrorized Europe.

It is after this that the plot takes a bizarre turn. So far, we'd been recapping Superman-2 lifestory unaltered, but in the last few pages of Superman #226, Kal-L decides he would do things differently.

In the Trial of the JSA, Superman stands up to the US government, declaring that he would change history.

PART 2 - Action Comics #836

From this point, the story goes on a new tangent where Superman of Earth-2 is living on "Modern DC Earth," while our Superman of Earth-1 takes his place in "Golden Age DC Earth".

They switch lives.

Action Comics #836 focuses on Superman-2 and how he would instantly FIX modern day Superman's problems. He outsmarts Batman, he takes advantage of Luthor's cancer, and he avoids the problems with Identity Crisis by throwing Dr. Light into the Phantom Zone.

This is pure fanfiction. Kal-L can do this because he's been watching modern Superman's entire life. He has foreknowledge that gives him an advantage Kal-El never had. You can tell it's pure wish fulfillment because his solution to "Death of Superman" was to simply NOT die.

And when they start calling him a fascist, Kal-L teams up with The Elite to ensure his unquestioned reign.

We should show some sympathy for Kal-L. He's not in his right mind. Remember, he's imagining all this mere minutes after his wife died in the real world. He's deeply frustrated that he was paralyzed and could not save Lois Lane.

Part 3 - Adventures of Superman #649

We finally check in with our "modern" Superman on the Golden Age Earth. They've achieved world peace because Kal-El can solve everything. In the end, only Superman and Power Girl are active because the JSA retired and no one felt the need to continue to JSA.

Earth-2 is a paradise, until Kal-El has to face down The Anti-Monitor by himself.

Meanwhile, on the fictional timeline of Earth-1, Kal-L's reign spins out of control. Wonder Woman and the Amazons team up with Maxwell Lord and Checkmate to oppose Superman's regime. Luthor betrays Kal-L in his time of need, and the world devolves into chaos.

(Note that Kal-L has a minor slip, where he seems to admit his mistake was trusting Alexander Luthor of Earth-3)

Now, remember, Kal-L was able to direct Earth-1 on the path that he envisioned because he had foreknowledge of everything. When his timeline reached the events of Infinite Crisis, which he did not fully comprehend, his regime fell apart.

In the end, Modern Superman dies fighting the Anti-Monitor, while Golden Age Superman is the last survivor or Earth-1.

(btw, this is a very intelligent ending that doesn't spoil anything that happens at the climax of Infinite Crisis)

And this all happens in a blink of an eye, in between the pages of Infinite Crisis #5.

(Infinite Crisis #5 pages 20-21)

When you look at it all together, I think including these extra issues in Infinite Crisis adds a lot more weight to the point of view of Superman-2. We already know our modern Man of Steel, but we spend a relatively short time with Kal-L, and this makes him a much more three dimensional (flawed) character.

I've been in love with these issues, ever since I discovered them. I really think more people need to talk about them.

I hope the next time you read Infinite Crisis, you'll consider taking the time to read these issues in the middle.

(Btw, I own all these comics as TPBs, but if you have these digitally, I like to chop off the last few pages of AoS#649. If you stop it where they say "There's nothing I could have done." It inserts much more seamlessly into IC#5)

[iamothergorls]

One of those Joburg Nights (PT.1)

I have never been in love.  At least I don’t think I have but I am kind of certain that I have experienced romantic heartbreak - to some degree. Most of the time I get a compulsive urge to shirk the possibility of being a person who has experienced heartbreak because of one question that spins around my mind: am I allowed to feel heartbreak? My first maybe heartbreak was predicated on the foolish idea that white boys in private schools could ever notice black women. The day he first strolled in with his lanky self into my life, I could have sworn he did notice me, but that was just the beginning of my lifelong affair with delusion. He was probably just scanning the room for an open seat in the tiny auditorium where meetings were held for the Johannesburg Junior Council.  The organisation consisted of a pair of students from schools across the city who were allegedly “the top 2” of their school. We would gather in this auditorium on Friday afternoons - much to the disapproval of my Grade 11 Maths teacher whose lesson was cut into for me to drive across town - and masturbatorially discuss all the ways the council was “helping” the city’s downtrodden and underprivileged. It was all quite self-indulgent really, but after Green Eyes sat next to me on the first day, I found myself packing my bag to rush out of Maths a little faster each week.  What followed in the later months was, to put it simply, deeply ridiculous. A cursed matric dance invite, a series of awkward text exchanges, Instagram stalking and you know…normal stuff. It all culminated in a confessional drunk text in my first year of University and a talk over coffee which ended in a “see you around Rufaro”. It was not the stuff of epic romances or even a romance at all but I was, sort of, heartbroken. Sometimes my heart still does a thing when I see him and all I can hope is that the look on my face doesn’t give me away.    I have been thinking a lot about the whole debacle with Green Eyes lately as I recently got involved with another man of his ilk - lanky, wears ill-fitting jeans and probably listens to Earl Sweatshirt. This particular predilection of mine has led me down bizarre paths that in turn make for great conversation starters when having drinks with the girlies but ultimately, it has led to my downfall.  “Downfall” may be a rather strong and dramatic word however I have always had a flair for the dramatic, and the events of my life seem to constantly follow suit. 

[culttvblog]

Number 6 was a Plant: Many Happy Returns

This blog post spoils the identity of Number 1.

The introduction to this series of posts considering the theory that Number 6 didn't really resign and was a 'plant' in the Village may be read here: https://www.tumblr.com/culttvblog/738540162388213760/number-6-was-a-plant-introduction

I am going conveniently to ignore the main difficulty in understanding this episode, namely the bizarre way the Village is suddenly empty, to consider other aspects of the episode from the Number 6 was a plant perspective. I think the only explanation which makes any sense of the sudden disappearance of the entire population, inmates and warders, is that it is a heavy hint that Number 6 *is* in some way the Village, or a hint in advance that he is actually the Number 1 he has been dying to identify. However you understand it, it is an utterly bizarre sequence in an already bizarre series, and is actually probably impossible if you think of the logistics of getting everyone out of that impenetrable Village.

The problem of the empty Village aside, this episode gives Number 6 further golden opportunities to arm himself with photographic and other evidence of the Village's existence and to go back to Blighty to blow the whistle on what he has discovered.

And that is the point at what we reach the essence of this episode: what he discovers is that the authorities back home are in on the Village, and in fact his life in London has been thoroughly erased from history. He has, in fact, been treated as if he has resigned and been consigned to the Village for safe containment for the foreseeable future.

I am therefore of the opinion that this episode is further evidence that while it is possible Number 6 didn't really resign and decided to investigate the Village, his mock resignation wasn't prompted by his superiors, and was probably his own idea. This episode makes clear that while he was unaware of the location and nature of the Village, the men he automatically goes to for validation and action of his findings were very clearly aware of it. I would suggest that Number 6 acted on things he had heard without a mandate from above, and that he may not have been as senior as I have been making him out to be, because he didn't need to know about the Village.

In fact this episode also suggests that the Village has been behind his life in intelligence and behind the British state from the word go, in the sort of symbolic way McGoohan loved. There are two points in London where we see Number 6 on a ground surface or floor reminiscent of a chess board, and one of them is the hallway to his own former home (I am indebted to the Free for All podcast for this insight). The chess board as the symbol of the Village's moving people round and expecting them to follow certain arbitrary rules, was already there in his life, he just didn't know it.

I am perhaps being slightly unreasonable given the long hard journey before the exchange with Mrs Butterworth which wouldn't have left him up to much, but he really should have been suspicious of her. I do not believe that anyone would welcome an unkempt man smelling after a lengthy journey and claiming to be the tenant of their house, into their home and bathe them and feed them. You would ring the constabulary. And who the hell moves into a house already furnished and full of someone else's belongings without at least moving things around? The whole encounter has got Village written all over it. However, from the perspective that his intention was to appear to resign and investigate the Village he had heard about, he has discovered the nature of the fictions that the Village will also set up to ensure he stays resigned.

So to summarise, I would conclude that Number 6 was unaware of the extent to which the British establishment was invested in the Village and thus his staged resignation would have been his own idea with no mandate from his superiors. The events of this episode reveal the extent of this investment to him and also the ways in which the authorities (whether of Britain of the Village) can set up elaborate fictions to keep him disappeared. My conclusion would be that this episode can be read from the persepective that Number 6 is a self-inflicted plant.

This blog is mirrored at

culttvblog.tumblr.com/archive (from September 2023) and culttvblog.substack.com (from January 2023 and where you can subscribe by email)

Archives from 2013 to September 2023 may be found at culttvblog.blogspot.com and there is an index to the tags used on the Tumblr version at https://www.tumblr.com/culttvblog/729194158177370112/this-blog

[snowlessknitter]

The Masked Singer: S10 E6 (One Hit Wonder Night) Running Commentary

There wasn’t an episode last week because Fox was airing the World Series. (BTW, congratulations to the Texas Rangers on winning their first World Series championship.)

This week four new masks are joining the competition. As always, I post before seeing any unmaskings, so don’t take these as spoilers.

Donut 🍩: The judge immediately remarked on his height, so he might be an athlete. A lot of references to the Wild West and country music. He said he was part of a “megahit” that catapulted him to number 1. We also saw a police bridge, and he’s been around the theater. He said he just had the toughest year of his life. He actually does sound a lot like Bjorn Skifs (the lead singer of Blue Swede, whose song “Hooked on a Feeling” Donut is singing tonight), but I don’t think the judges would know who Bjorn Skifs is, just Blue Swede. My mind is kind of leaning towards the original RoboCop, Peter Weller (who is also an academic in addition to his acting career). The bonus clue: “How Bizarre” by OMC. He says he’s had “hit after hit”. I think Ken’s guess of Jeff Bridges is the most plausible, actually. Jeff Bridges has been in a bunch of hit movies and has a brother named Beau (the bow and arrow clue). As for the country and western clues, he won an Oscar playing a country singer in CrazyHeart (where he did his own singing) and was nominated for Oscars for his performances in The Last Picture Show (which is set in a dying Texas town), the remake of True Grit (set in the Old West) and Hell or High Water (which is a neo-Western film). I’m going with Jeff Bridges for now.

Hibiscus 🌺: Grew up in a large family. We see a gingerbread house, has interacted with Sharon Stone, David Bowie, and Elton John. Has married multiple times. She mentioned a “stint in a hospital”, which means she either had a prior medical career or possibly was on General Hospital, E.R., or Grey’s Anatomy. Bonus clue: “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred. She says she’s competed in beauty pageants and worn a tiara. I’m a bit stumped here, but I’m leaning towards Kim Zolciak only because she’s attempted a singing career.

Anteater 🐜 😋: I saw some online speculation that this could be John Oates from Hall & Oates, but let’s see the clues first. He’s had a long career. Saw a cougar roaring at him. Went through a dark time and moved onto a farm. We see an eye on a box. Just from the voice alone, this does kind of line up with John Oates. Bonus clue: “Somebody’s Watching Me” by Rockwell. He says he sang in front of 40% of the entire world. My first thought went to Live Aid, and I think Hall & Oates played that show. (Double checked, they did indeed play the Philadelphia part of the event.) But it’s the voice more than anything else. Oates doesn’t sing a lot of lead vocals with Hall & Oates (Daryl Hall primarily fills that role), but if you’ve ever listened to “She’s Gone”, you can hear John pretty prominently in that song singing the lower melody and there’s a rasp that was there in 1973 (when the song was originally released) and I can still hear it in Anteater’s voice.

Candelabra 🕯️: Seen calling Kevin Hart. She began her career at age 12. We see a butterfly 🦋 which means she could have a connection to Michelle Williams from Destiny’s Child. Well, Kelly Rowland has been performing since she was a tween, being a part of Girls Tyme with Beyoncé (which was a forerunner to Destiny’s Child). And of course, she and Beyoncé were bandmates with Michelle Williams. But…we see the state of California, and Destiny’s Child is from Texas. The bonus clue: “Two Princes” by Spin Doctors. “Who needs two princes when you have one Fire Princess?” Nicole’s guess of Brandy is a good one, and Brandy is from California. I’m going to officially say I’m stumped on this one. But I have a feeling she won’t be unmasked tonight.

[jmoriarty-221b]

Ok so I’m reading Titans Tower AUs where Jason goes ‘kill the Replacement’ straight to ‘must protecc the child’ real quick (those are the best) and I just read the part of the dialogue where Tim tells Jason that he’s been cleaning up Gotham ‘the easy way’ in reference to how the Red Hood is a killer

And now I’m thinking of this piece of dialogue in a new light because, what if Tim Meant that literally like “have you ever had to disembowel someone with just a spoon???? No, you use guns to kill people and actual knives to decapitate their heads instead, you noob. Only real killers know how to decapitate someone with a pencil and let me tell you that it’s harder than it seems”

Meanwhile Jason is all offended because did Robin, the one who follows Batman’s no kill rule, just criticize him on how he kills people instead of criticizing him for, you know, actually Killing people???

I can just imagine this conversation is going on in the kitchen of Titans Tower with Tim in his pajamas and Jason in full Red Hood gear in the doorway because this was supposed to be an ambush but now he’s actually kinda offended because of course he could kill someone with a spoon and threatens Tim again only for Tim to flip that Uno Reverse card and literally arm himself with a spoon, brandishing it in front of himself like it’s a knife, and just going like ‘bitch I’m not Robin right now so let’s go, I’ve been a little out of practice and it’s so nice of you to offer to be my next victim’ with a little creepy grin on his face and suddenly Jason feels the embodiment of the meme: *nervous laughter* “what the fuck”

Somehow, Tim manages to pry Hood’s helmet open with the goddamned spoon and hey, Jason should really buy some silverware like that and he’s half tempted to ask Tim where he bought it from, and damn who knew a spoon would be such an effective weapon and oh my god this kid is actually crazy why does he know how to use a spoon as a weapon Jason better not go out via spoon now that’s just embarrassing; at this point there would be no life threatening injuries on either one of them, though Jason did manage to cut the kid’s throat at some point and got a spoon to the shoulder for his troubles but now they’re both tired, the Pit of Green Juice is quiet in the back of Jason’s head and ok, maybe he can, begrudgingly, admit to being impressed at how well Tim can fight with a spoon but it’s mostly just concern as to why he knows how to fight with a spoon and Tim is just like ‘Look Jason, yes I know, don’t look at me like that, just, let’s call it a truce and go patch up because I don’t want to kill you but I will have no problem strangling you with your own intestines if you keep trying to kill me ok? Ok’ and at this point Jason really doesn’t think the kid’s joking all that much so he agrees to the truce between them (let’s face it, having the Big Bad Red Hood get taken out via spoon would just be so embarrassing that Jason wouldn’t find peace even in death)

And it’s not until they’re both patched up that Jason decides it’s safe enough to ask about why Tim said that he’s not Robin right now (there’s no more spoon in Tim’s hands but he’s still on alert because the kid is just insane enough to try and bite him); and Tim’s like “uh, yeah I follow B’s moral code as Robin but I’m not particularly attached to it? Like, it’s not my moral code, whatever that is, and I’m not actually part of the family so just think of me as more of a close coworker? Anyway, I am and will always be a Drake, my family motto is literally ‘May Our Enemies Choke on Their Blood While Our Hands Remain Clean’ so you can get a picture of how I grew up, and to answer your questions, yes I have killed people, no I don’t really regret it, they were really bad people, yes i will throw hands again, no the Bats have no idea, and yes I have had to decapitate someone with just a pencil and disemboweled someone with a spoon, so yes I am actually qualified to complain about how easy you people with guns and knives have it when it comes to killing people because I would’ve loved to have had at least a pocket knife back then, hell I would’ve taken a sharp icicle but no, the only thing available was a pencil so I had to make do, also no, I really don’t want to kill you, I actually like you but please stop coming after me and we can just meet up to kill some of the more evil Rogues sometimes, we can even make it look like an accident”

Jason is just so Shooketh at this point that he will just focus on the last sentence for now because he doesn’t have the brain power to battle through that dump of information right now so he’s like ‘what would you know about setting up accidents Timbit’ cue Tim being like ‘well, it wouldn’t be all that hard to just mislabel a few chemicals in Joker’s newest hideout and have him blow himself up while trying to make a batch of Joker Gas, a sort of poetic justice when you think about it’

Basically, an AU where Tim wasn’t trained by Bruce first so he has a different moral code (whatever it is) and has been in just enough crazy situations to warrant his bizarre skills with a spoon

[alias-sam]

Pierced by a Golden Soul

Chapter 1. A Normal Day in a Normal Life

Platonic Jojo's x Reader

Summary: Fate is a bizarre concept with countless more bizarre implications. In life sometimes such extraordinary events happen that the only reasoning left must be fate. The tragedies that constantly befall the Joestar bloodline for example may be the unluckiest series of cards drawn in human history, or perhaps the work of a greater power. There is no way to tell for sure. Had Dio Brando or Jonathan Joestar moved slightly on a divergent path the world itself would be left very different. The fate or luck of the noble Joestar bloodline has led to destruction of evil likes of the Pillar Men and DIO. This story is of a similar caliber to that of the other Joestars (as I am sure you are familiar with them). This is a story of lost souls, compassion, hope, and above all fate.

Word Count: 2,440

(Crosspost from Wattpad, full fic is already posted there.)

Saint Rosewater County Florida 1998. Between one of the oldest cities in the country, and one of the busiest cities in the panhandle, laid an ever-shifting tourist town known as Andorra Beach. Home to many a strange characters and many a stranger spectacles. Local tourist hotspots, including fishing and shopping destinations, had made Andorra quite the attractive vacation area.

Among hustle and bustle from travelers was the daily lives of more permanent residents to the area. This included you. Bordly you continued your trek towards an intersection that led to your high school. It was currently May, one of many hot months of the year where you lived. You wiped some sweat from your forehead, then rifled through your bag to make sure there was an umbrella handy. The gods of Florida weather were chaotic. You had to be prepared if they decided to bless you with random rain around the time you had to walk back home. As your leisurely morning pace brought you closer to the crosswalk, you noticed a peculiarly tall man. His nose was glued to a map and small book he held closely to his face. His staggering height alone did not grab your attention rather it was his flamboyant white jacket and hat.

You were just a few feet from him when you realized he was starting to step off of the sidewalk. The crossing light cleared him to go, despite traffic continuing to flow past the curb. You were oddly calm in this situation, as unfortunately it was one you dealt with every morning.

The crosswalk timer and traffic lights had been broken since before you could remember. Often the light up sign would misinform pedestrians of when it was really safe to cross. Thus began your morning routine of stopping tourists who tried to cross before the traffic lights changed. Occasionally pulling them out of the street before something tragic happened. With practiced movements you sprinted forward, reaching for the back of the man's jacket. Time seemed to slow when you noticed the man was just a hair out of your immediate reach. Before you could do anything else a ghostly hand shot out from your own. It gripped the man's jacket, tugging roughly backwards. He was quite large but the ghost hand managed to make him stumble back onto the sidewalk. A red car speedily zipped through the stretch of road where the man would have been standing. Your grip on the man's jacket loosened while you let out a small breath you had subconsciously held. You looked down to get a glimpse at your arm but the ghost hand disappeared just as suddenly as it showed up.

The man turned. He looked down at you before turning his gaze to the crossing sign and the road. You could see the questioning look gather on his face, just like every time you had this interaction with someone. He seemed to understand the reason you stopped him though, because he didn't look annoyed. You watched the giant tip his hat in front of his eyes and mutter in another language something along the lines of 'Yare Yare.' A phrase you couldn't really decipher.

"Thanks kid." His voice was monotone but you appreciated being acknowledged. In most instances you didn't get anything close to a thank you.

"Someone really needs to fix that light." You mumbled, mostly to yourself but loud enough for anyone around to hear. It was nice the guy was smart enough to figure out the problem, you hated having to explain it. As the light changed and cars stopped you stepped off of the curb and crossed. When you made it to the other side you had to readjusted your bag. There was a weird tugging sensation coming from your back. When you looked behind you there was nothing there. Maybe your strap was to tight or something?

The rest of your venture to school went as it always did, you passed by fellow commuters, occasionally checking your watch to make sure you were moving at a pace that would get you to first period on time.

This year had so far been boring as they come. While you were glad for nothing chaotic per say happening, a part of you longed for some break from the monotony. 1998 marked you entering high school, a change that would shake things up for most teens, however after the first day of school everything fell into a quiet rhythm. You weren't the most outgoing of people, but not a total introvert either, this landed you with a few acquaintances, but basically no friends. After the first few weeks you got marked a 'loner'. The title oddly enough made annoying people want to approach you. Often when you got closer to school a small gaggle of classmates and strangers would start following you. It was up to luck if they were there to try and hang out, or give you trouble.

You picked up your walking pace as you made it to school, hoping to avoid any unwanted attention. Unfortunately, luck was not smiling upon you today. You sighed to yourself as several high-pitched voices called out your name. You walked a bit faster but they just matched your strides.

"(Y/N)! We have a project coming up wanna partner up?"

"Hey! I heard that you aren't in any clubs! You should totally join mine!"

"You're looking nice today."

Any normal person would probably be flattered by all of the attention, but to you most of these people were strangers. You would occasionally recognize people maybe a boy or two from your English class and that girl you accidentally brushed past in the halls one time. Other than slight recognition you had no idea who these people were. It was weird and creepy to be approached like this.

A random brunette who was already walking close by grabbed your arm.

"We should have lunch together! How about it (Y/N)?" You quietly shook the girl away from you before turning slightly to the small group.

"Could you all just let me get to class? This is kind of ridiculous." You watched in confusion as several of them blushed and let out small 'Okays' and 'sures'

Thankfully they left and you made it to class without any other distractions. Classes came and went some feeling gruelingly longer than others. Not many lessons stood out to you today. When you made it to your biology class the teacher showed an article about fish in the area dying of an unknown cause at alarming rates. It was common local news that had popped up recently. Some residents attributed it to the sudden tourist season, others suggested it was pollution of some caliber. You tuned out the rest of class, completely missing when your teacher announced that a marine biologist was going to be volunteering at the school for a few days to give lectures.

Eventually school ended and you were freed from your stuffy classroom to enjoy the day that had been laid out in front of you A dark and gloomy sky replaced the clear one from that morning. Pulling your umbrella from your bag you walked with it in hand, ready to open it up in case any rain started. When you passed the courtyard, several eyes followed you. A thing to note about your school was its hive mind. Indeed cliché, but people who didn't conform to the social norm were targets for rumors. Luckily, none of the ones centered around you were particularly damaging. In fact, some of them were so outlandish it was hilarious. Luck seemed to smile upon you in that aspect.

All of your day did end in a bit of excitement since a massive downpour fell from the skies conveniently right as your commute neared home. You half jogged down the sidewalk, keeping in mind not to slip. At last, you reached the 'Jones Family Bakery' Smiling at some customers who exited before making your way to the back. The delicious and familiar smell of sweets hit you as the door closed behind.

"Ciao señora Jones." You greeted. Out from behind a cabinet door came a short Italian woman. Your adoptive mother.

"Greetings darling, how was school?" she asked while attentively removing a batch of cookies from the oven. You plopped down your school bags trading them for a work apron.

"Do you really need to ask?" was your immediate response. Senora Jones gave a light laugh as she sat the hot cooking pan on a cooling rack.

"I suppose not, you always give the same response." She cleared her throat before doing her best imitation of your voice. "Exactly the same as every day, I'm tired and just want to sleep." You chuckled slightly; her playful nature always put a smile on your face. You grabbed a pair of tongs, preparing to move some baked goods to a display.

"Did you make any new friends today?" Your mother's voice was a bit more serious than before. You froze where you were, and looked at her.

"I-... no." You knew the line you were going to get next. Just like clockwork, the conversation happened every day.

"Look," Jones spoke softly. "I don't want you going through life alone. I get that maybe you don't like everyone at school, but please amour? It would put me at ease if you had someone to rely on." You looked at the older woman and saw nothing but a caring expression. She wasn't mad, just worried. You hated disappointing her, but part of you knew her wishes were a bit hard to carry out. Mob mentality was the best way of describing your school's hierarchy. If someone messed up a wave of sorts was the result. A wave of bullying, rumors, and ostracization. Your method of staying afloat was keeping away from drama and wave makers.

"Yeah." You sighed. "I'll keep trying."

You worked mindlessly on a display in a comfortable silence until the front door bell caught your attention.

Ms. Jones raced you to the counter. She made it there first and kindly greeted the customer.

While you didn't necessarily recognize the girl, you were willing to bet that she went to your school. She had on a backpack and carried a slightly soaked textbook (identical to one you owned). She looked a bit disheveled, likely due to getting caught in the rain. Her platinum blonde hair was dripping wet and sticking to the sides of her face.

As the newcomer gave her order you watched and listened in case you had to get something specific from the kitchen for her.

"I'm here to pick up an order for Jaya Rossi." She politely said. Ms. Jones looked over at you, to which you nodded. You retreated to the kitchen and retrieved a small box marked Rossi, then moved back to the front counter and handed it to the girl.

"Thank you so much!" She seemed rather excited for a simple cupcake order, but you paid it no mind.

Your mother motioned towards the windows and the atrocious rain pouring down outside.

"You aren't planning to walk home in that. Are you?" The girl looked outside and visually sagged a bit.

"I forgot my umbrella at school." She responded bashfully.

"Well that just won't do!" Your mother grabbed a towel off of the counter, handing it to the girl. "You dry off what you can with this while I go find an extra one. Can't have you catching cold walking home in the rain!" She walked past you to make her way to the second floor where the two of you lived. "Please keep her company for a few minutes would ya Y/n?" You gave a nod of understanding to your mother, despite mentally preparing yourself for the awkward silence that was about to ensue. You pretty much knew exactly what she was doing too. Senora Jones was always the type to dote on you, and your stark lack of close friends had led her to put you in as many social situations possible.

She smiled and went back to finding an extra umbrella. You looked over at the girl, noticing her unyielding stare up at you. Paying her no mind you began moving around some of the baking displays and tidying up the front counter.

"So...." She trailed off, drumming a slow beat on the table she was sitting at. "You work here?" While the girl seemed comfortable enough talking to you all you felt in the atmosphere was awkwardness.

"Yes?" It was a statement that came out as a question. You were honestly thinking she wouldn't talk to you.

"That's pretty cool!" A wide grin was plastered on her face as she scooted a chair closer to where you were working. She did not seem to feel the same awkward atmosphere you did. "What's it like? Do you help make all of this?" She pointed to the display case that was filled with baked goods. You hesitated, caught a bit off guard at her forwardness but ultimately decided to humor her.

"I work after school and most weekends, it's peaceful actually. Senora Jones insists on doing most of the baking so I really just tidy up and deal with whatever customers she doesn't beat me to."

"What's your name?"

"Y/n. Y/n Jones." You introduced.

"Im Jaya." The girl held a hand out over the counter. It took you a second to process she wanted a handshake. There was really nothing in particular to talk about, but after the handshake your mother returned.

"Here you go." She handed the girl an umbrella with a warm smile. It unendingly amazed you how caring Senora Jones could be to complete strangers. While she would always care about you more than words could say she had a similar love for people in the community. Much like the current instance she would help passers by and customers at a moment's notice.

"Thank you so much! Ill return this I promise!" Your mother gave her signature laugh at the girl's determined expression.

"Don't worry! Just drop by tomorrow." The blonde girl (Who you had now come to know as Jaya) nodded and thanked your mom before heading out.

Your time at the bakery continued on. The familiar patter of raindrops against glass windows was calming. You reorganized some of the pantry as well as wiped down counters and tables. The normal daily work. When closing time rolled around Senora Jones trusted you to close the shop while she headed upstairs to make the two of you dinner.

[youngbugandtonystank]

what's the difference between what wanda did to those people in wandavision and what tony did with ultron?

I have so many asks about this. Hate asks, and people wondering what’s going on. This is the only one I’m answering.

Both of them are responsible for their actions. I’ve seen people try and take away either Tony’s responsibility for that or Wanda’s engagement and accountability. 

In Tony’s case, the Ultron program was supposed to be a global peacekeeping program to protect the people, acting as a suit around the world to prevent events like the Battle of New York. He was doing it in the name of peace and safety. Tony was rightfully scared because he was the only one who knew what was coming. Wanda intentionally enhanced that fear in him and this drove him to create Ultron with Bruce. He has responsibility for it. Same as Bruce. He owns up to this, he took full responsibility and agreed that they needed to be regulated. 

Tony Stark: A few years ago, I almost lost her, so I trashed all my suits. Then, we had to mop up HYDRA... and then Ultron. My fault.

--

Tony Stark: There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys.

--

Tony Stark: That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stop manufacturing.

--

If people think he needs to be in jail for it, then I’m guessing the rest of the Avengers too since all of them have made mistakes and killed people too. As a matter of fact, after the events of Wandavision, I’m sure that Wanda should be in the Raft, but because she’s ‘a poor baby’ yall won’t think she deserves that. 

SPOILERS

It’s a big possibility that we don’t have all the info about what happened in Wandavision but we’re going to go with what we know so far. 

In Wanda’s case, she did it to appease her grief and pain, and I can understand why she would get to that point, she’s been through a lot and maybe she was about to lose her mind. Instead of recruiting Wanda after the Sokovia incident, they should’ve given this girl treatment for her mental health problems. She just lost her brother and passed through a very traumatic war zone, of course she needs assistance. Cap and Natasha were the ones responsible for her because they were training the ‘new’ avengers. Sam was with them and he used to be a counselor to veterans with PTSD. He could’ve helped Wanda with some of her traumas. As shown in the series, Wanda did the whole hex business before meeting Agatha, which means creating that little reality was all Wanda’s responsibility. Hayward and Agatha did exactly what Wanda did to Tony (and the avengers/other people) in AOU. They manipulated her and played with her emotional traumas. Hayward showed her Vision’s body parts and Agatha started to pull strings to know how Wanda did what she did and her real powers while orchestrating against her. 

Both of them have made mistakes. No one is better than the other. I don’t understand why some fans want to make someone responsible more than the other or blame one character for the other. While Wanda gave Tony that vision and pushed his self-destructive side to obsess over saving the world, he did create Ultron, what Tony didn’t predict was that the robot was going to corrupt itself. Same with Wanda, while Agatha and Hayward contributed to her trauma, she held hostage and isolated 3,892 people to create her perfect reality, ripping these people away from their identities and free will to fit her own fantasy. Don’t turn this into ‘omg poor her, it’s Tony fault that she’s this way'. I can’t believe I have to repeat this but you don’t see Peter Parker obsessively looking for the person who manufactured the gun instead of the criminal who actually killed Uncle Ben. Ridiculous that I have to repeat this example. 

Oh and about Vision’s body (damn yall have a gift to turn everything into Tony’s fault for some reason). I can’t believe some of you think Tony (while grieving for 5 years) would give Vision to Hayward. You’re either pulling stuff out of your asses or you didn’t pay attention to the show. Maria Rambeau founded and was the Director of S.W.O.R.D. In 2018 (when IW happened), this is where she came up with a new policy within S.W.O.R.D. to ground snapped agents in case they ever returned. Maria was diagnosed with cancer, then two years later (2020), she passed away. Then, Hayward was promoted to Director of S.W.O.R.D., in his first years (2020-2022) he refocused the organization’s work from extraterrestrial operations to robotics, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence, etc. There, that was the 5 years. Then in 2023 it’s when he started project Cataract, which revolved around rebuilding Vision as a sentient weapon. Tony was dead when this happened. How come yall don’t get this part? I don’t understand, do you really think his dead corpse signed some papers to give Vision to those people? LMAO

Instead of thinking Tony would give up Vision just like that, think (possibilities):

Maria was the head of S.W.O.R.D., she might have just been keeping his body safe without doing anything with him. Maybe she trusted Hayward and he, obviously, betrayed her because he’s turning her organization into something else after her death. 

One of the Sokovia Accords regulations states that the use of technology to bestow individuals (the term ‘enhanced individual’ in this book is defined as any person, human or otherwise, with superhuman capabilities) with innate capabilities is strictly regulated by the government, as is the use and distribution of highly advanced technology. Vision signed those accords ('I'm saying there may be a casualty. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict... breeds catastrophe. Oversight...oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand’) The Avengers were no longer be a private organization and they operate under the supervision of the United Nations. This means they (UN) were the ones that referred Vision’s body to S.W.O.R.D., to a trustworthy leader, Maria. 

Vision died in Wakanda, not in New York. Tony was missing for 22 days after the snap, the rest of the avengers should’ve taken responsibility for his body.  

Why is it always Tony’s fault but never consider that other parties are also involved in this? 

I want to address some other asks with this one. I know some of you are angry because people are starting to blame Tony all over again, so a few things to remember:

Tony did not create the Accords. The Accords were the result of all the collective actions the Avengers have done in their superhero careers. All of them have made mistakes and the collateral damage of that was taken into consideration by the government and 117 countries around the world. He signed the accords because he knew that he could amend them with the support of the rest of the avengers and he knew about Thanos (something big was coming). 

Obadiah Stane (it’s so bizarre for me seeing that some people don’t know who this guy is, I’m guessing that the people who are watching Wandavision are too young to remember or didn’t watch the Iron Man movies at all which is highly probable) was the one selling weapons to the wrong people, not Tony. Obadiah was the CEO of Stark industries and became second-in-command for two decades. He grew jealous of Tony and began cooperating with the Ten Rings in Afghanistan, selling them Stark Industries weapons illegally. Imagine blaming all of it on Tony when Obadiah basically murdered thousands only because he felt a little green. If someone who you trust (he had no reasons to doubt Obadiah since he was like a second father-figure for him) does something behind your back (take into consideration that people like Pepper; who was Tony’s assistant and had knowledge of all of Tony’s activities and responsibilities, Rhodey; who was the liaison between the military in the department of acquisitions and Stark Industries, and Happy Hogan; who was his personal bodyguard and Head of Security of Stark Industries, didn’t know what Stane was doing either), how are you going to know about it? Tony trusted him. And when he realized what was going on he immediately stopped all of it. He worked hard to be better and people overlook that because they want other characters to look better. 

Don’t act like Tony was the only one assisting the military. All of the avengers assisted in one way or another. Natasha (who used to be an assassin) was in the Red Room, trained in the Black Widow Program in association with Leviathan and the Soviet Armed Forces, served for KGB, etc. Bruce Banner used to work for the United States government and was commissioned to create a super serum for them. Same goes with the rest, Sam, Clint, etc. Steve Rogers was a soldier lmaoooooooooooooo like, what happened to Tony with Obadiah happened to Steve with SHIELD/HYDRA in TWS. He trusted the people working in there (SHIELD), served for them, did missions for them and as soon as he found out what they were doing behind his back he turned against them. 

Knowing all of this, how is Tony always the villain for yall? I’m guessing because Tony’s popularity in the MCU, but still, aren’t yall tired of not understanding the plot and having people repeat it to you constantly? Watch the movies if you want to understand the franchise, people. Stop following the crowd. 

Also, Wanda is not a kid, she’s a 35 year old woman in Wandavision, she was 26 in AOU and 27 in CW. Hardly a child. Tony had almost her same age (38) when he realized Obadiah was selling illegal weaponry behind his back. The only reason people don’t fully forgive Tony is because 1. he’s a man and 2. he’s a billionaire. Even if Wanda was poor she still killed and hurt many people over the course of her life. Stop trying to make Tony the villain only to downplay Wanda’s actions. 

Both have killed people, both have made mistakes. They’re both responsible for them. 

[shihalyfie]

With Digimon Ghost Game starting, I thought about how different it is from previous Digimon series, though it's still undoubtedly Digimon... and then I realized all Digimon series are like that. So I wonder, what do you think sets each Digimon series apart from the rest?

I think both Ghost Game but also the reboot have been a wake-up call for people in terms of realizing that likes, dislikes, and tastes are subjective, and I think it's especially important in terms of this fanbase that is so obsessed with this idea you can objectively rank things by quality -- especially when each series is often deliberately trying to have its own identity, so it's arguably apples and oranges -- and forcing this idea of what's Good and Not Good on everyone else (especially when there's a nasty double standard phenomenon where Adventure and often Tamers get to be so impervious to criticism that people conveniently forget they're perfectly capable of being scrutinized for a lot of things they're weaker in). Very frustrating to see everyone who likes less popular series treated as if they have to accept that they like a "badly written series" for some things and everything else is a guilty pleasure, which I find to be incredibly dumb.

The most important take-home here is that the fact each series has its own identity is always going to be the main factor in what makes it "good" or not to you, not some arbitrary bar of comparison that's based on some narrow-minded view of "good writing" (which is usually unreasonably based on Adventure). For instance, the reason why 02 is so important to me is because (see below), to me, it has the highest amount of meaningful, important life lessons and themes that it wanted its audience to remember, to the point that I frankly do not care about where the plot goes in comparison. That may not be the case for everyone else, and that's fine, but should my tastes be called unreasonable for that? I think we're also coming to realize that because of Adventure (and kind of 02)'s precedent, so many people have been judging series purely by how intimate their individual character development style is, but this is unfair because Adventure and 02's ridiculous level of character depth to psychological detail is extremely unusual and unrealistic to expect of others; Adventure and 02 only achieved this by practically considering the plot utterly subservient to its character arcs, and it's arguably why they have some of the weakest "plots" in this franchise. It's so bizarre that I can see character development in other Digimon series that outstrips even most kids' anime on the market, but it's not as much as Adventure's so apparently it's bad. And, moreover, as it turns out, some people have priorities other than characterization; just because Adventure had that as its strength doesn't mean that's the only thing anyone should care about. Is the plot fun? Is there a meaningful message besides characters (also important to me)? Do you vibe with the tone being dark, or being silly? How much do you care about resourceful usage of Digimon lore? That kind of thing. Everyone is different, so that's why everyone has their own priorities. If you’re someone who prefers darker content, you may not realize that writing good and well-timed comedy is actually a very, very difficult task, especially when said comedy simultaneously has meaning (in comparison, it’s surprisingly easy to write “dark” but shallow content).

I think it's fair to like every Digimon series for its own thing, depending on your personal tastes. I can't speak for everyone, but my impressions are that it has to do with the following:

Adventure: Significantly easier to understand than 02 due to its more straightforward plot, and focus on individual character development ("individualism" being a strong point here). In terms of characters, it goes a lot into some very real social problems (the divorce around the Ishida and Takaishi families and the pressures surrounding Jou, for instance) in a very realistic manner. Also, it has that sense of mystique and absurdism to the Digital World that's both whimsical but also mysterious, and while 02 has it too, Adventure's the isekai story that has it the most.

02: The first is its focus on the importance of human relationships and the compelling group dynamic unparalleled in this franchise, and the second is its important themes and life lessons that I think are some of the strongest in said franchise. I have a whole tag for the ridiculous amount of nuance packed into every detail and dialogue line for this series, and I think every time I've rewatched an episode I've learned something new about it because there are so many things that clearly wanted to be said in each line. The entire series is basically an unpacking of the feelings of insidious self-hatred and the crushing feeling of being subject to society's expectations, and ones that are so deep-seated that you often don’t even have a single answer to how to unpack it (for instance, Miyako hardly has a tragic single event in her backstory, but she says and does a lot of things that'll be painfully familiar to those who have experienced chronic anxiety). Almost every plot point can be said to connect to each character arc in some way, and the mantras for appreciating and treasuring your own life and living life the way you will make this, in my opinion, the strongest series in terms of speaking to those who struggle with this kind of existential crisis for reasons of depression or otherwise. (Oops, I think I went too passionate about this; my biases are obvious...)

Tamers: I think it forms an interesting study and unpacking of the kinds of things you take for granted in Digimon or the monster-collecting genre in general, and an examination of how they'd work in a real-world context (although 02 had a focus on daily life, it didn't quite merge the Digimon and the real world factors until very late in the series). Also, probably the second highest on "hard sci-fi" (the only one that outstrips it is probably Appmon, but Appmon has a very different, more simplified take on it).

Frontier: A series that lies somewhere between Adventure's scale of individualism and 02's scale of group dynamic, and one more discussing the feeling of having your heart hardened from being an outcast, and what it takes to accept the idea of opening yourself up to others again. Recommended for those who like transforming hero and magical girl stories, too. From the Digimon perspective, also the one with the most detailed and consistent Digital World mythos.

Savers: I think this is the series that most drives home "life is complicated" (i.e. there isn't a single mastermind behind everything) in the most tasteful manner, because while it drives home the point that you can't just simplify everything into a good side and a bad side, some bad things really are evil (hi, Kurata), and it doesn't change the fact that everyone's responsible for cleaning up the fallout. The portrayal of the evils of government bureaucracy is probably the most realistic out of any of these series.

Xros Wars: For those who like fun, most of all! For those who like seeing Digimon finally get more of the spotlight and individuality since so much of it had been geared and biased towards the humans prior to this. For those who really like worldbuilding, and, after all, this is called Xros Wars, so it's interesting to see shakeups on the usual formulas in the form of the different factions and their priorities. Hunters is very different in tone, but I do think they have some of these aspects in common; that said, it being closer to having single partnerships brings it a bit closer in line to conventional Digimon partnerships, and it also has more of a picture of daily life. Also, as much as Tagiru is probably your-mileage-may-vary since he's not exactly a very nice kid (I get it if you don't vibe with that), which may also rub those hoping for not nice kids to become nice the wrong way, I do have to say I find him to be one of the funniest characters in this entire franchise, and you'd be surprised how hard good comedy is to write.

Appmon: Probably one of the strongest theme narratives besides 02, since it has a very clear and obvious theme about the importance of kindness in a world where technology is dominating and we're almost encouraged to strip the feelings out of everything. (Bonus for more straightforward plot than Adventure or 02 while still retaining a lot of its elements in terms of how to characterize them.) Also the first series to be speculative about the near future instead of taking place around the time it airs, and it's very obvious it wants to provide important and necessary commentary about what we need to do in the incoming era, especially as a lot of what it has to say becomes increasingly relevant.

Reboot: For those who like Digimon mythos and null canon -- this is probably the only series to show it off in this level of detail -- and the kind of cool action fights that would usually be saved for the climax in prior series (and animated in much more intimate detail with battle choreography than prior series would have). There are a lot of people into this franchise who felt like it genuinely was not making enough use of its Digimon roster and its potential because it kept going back to the old standbys (especially Adventure-based ones), so it was a huge relief for that crowd to see attention finally being paid.