#because i will accept no other outcome to their story than that they eventually got married and lived happily ever after

[agir1ukn0w]

I like to think Hilda keeps calling Malthus “Saint” as a term of endearment even after they get married.

[chiisana-sukima]

if heaven/hell hadn't been vying for the apocalypse, do you think sam ever would have reasonably had a shot at escaping / having an actually good and healthy life? just curious about your opinion! :)

I think the root problem was Azazel, and that neither Sam nor Dean could've done better than they did in canon as long as the instigating event of Azazel's deal with Mary remained unchanged. Plotwise, as long as Azazel still wants Sam to rule Hell's armies, everything is still essentially the same up to the point when Dean goes to Hell and Sam is killing himself with drugs and alcohol trying to get there too.

Ruby's machinations are the first thing that would've gone differently in a No Apocalypse universe, and although Jared didn't start playing Sam as having overt, symptomatic PTSD until after the Cage, even without Ruby this is still a man for whom the only way out is through. He would've gotten himself to Hell one way or another, simply because he couldn't tolerate having Dean there in his stead. And given time in Hell as an inevitability for both of them, I can imagine it ending worse than canon, but I can't imagine it ending better.

In the bad (complimentary) spn in my head, the most likely outcome would be that since there would be no rescue from Cas, Dean would be a demon by the time Sam managed to get to him and Sam would eventually end up the King of Hell in order to protect Dean. The CW's spn I don't think would go that far, but before the first writers' strike cut s3 short, they were planning on having Sam go "fully darkside" (whatever that means) to rescue Dean, so I can't see that ending well either.

I want to specify though that I think Sam did get out and live a good, relatively healthy life. He died at home of natural causes at what appears to be a reasonably advanced age, with his apparently well-adjusted adult son at his bedside. Since the cycle of violence in spn is represented by failure to accept the death of loved ones (Mary->John, John->Mary, Sam->Jess, Dean->Sam, Sam->Dean, Dean->Sam again, etc), the reversal at the end with Dean asking Sam to let him go, Sam doing so, closing down the bunker, and having his own child who as an adult lets him go in turn, represents the end of the Winchester curse.

I don't think Sam ever recuperated 100%. He names his kid Dean after all, which is touching, but also kind of concerning given Everything. And the shrine of dead family pictures with no photos of living family to balance it out is a bit weird.

But, blurriness of his gender-nonconforming husband wife notwithstanding, this is a montage of a good life:

He's happy. His son is happy. He goes to parks and has a home and is proud of his son for studying and playing catch.

I assume the Sam of this montage still has PTSD. Jared still has MHIs irl and still sees a therapist after however many years, and he was the one who embodied Sam's PTSD for us on screen. I still have PTSD that I got when I was 10, and I'm 60 now and my daughter is 27. It's a disability. But the hard parts don't mean you haven't had a good life in total. Barely pulling through at 38(-ish, the age Sam was when Dean died his final death) doesn't mean your disability won't be well-managed at 48 or 58.

A lot of Sam fans feel that because when Sam died his Heaven was back with Dean, sitting in the passenger seat of Dean's car, listening to Dean's music, presumably following where Dean leads, without Dean first having had a chance to grow beyond the damage he had and passed on to others, it means Sam didn't escape his past. Tbh I think this interpretation is valid. I don't think any of the writers of spn through the years could imagine a story in which the members of a relationship are truly equals, treat each other as equals, and are treated by the narrative of their story as equals. We live in a society.

But I'm not naive by any stretch, and I nonetheless can imagine it, I'm better than them, so I'm satisfied. I don't want a revival, and the more time goes by for J2M to grow out of a plausible age range to set the revival before the finale, the less I want one, for precisely this reason. I prefer my own version of the future.

[mxtxfanatic]

Hello, new danmei fan here. I'm really late into danmei, just started last year (so I missed the hype). Just when I confused which blog to follow, I found your blog. Thanks so much for this blog of yours, it really helped me to understand more of the stories. I just finished MDZS, TGCG, SVSSS and now I'm reading 2Ha.

For this ask game, can I ask MDZS or SVSSS?

Before I start reading, many people said that SVSSS is inferior to other MXTX works, after finishing the books, I disagree, because I enjoy them all the same....

I mean, if starting last year is considered "late," then I'm also behind, because I only started reading things a few years ago lmao! But it's never too late when fandoms are still booming (for better or worse). So I see we're finishing out the mxtx novels.

MDZS

Favorite Character: Wei Wuxian

Favorite Arc: all Drunk Lan Wangji encounters!

Character I Think is Underrated: Lan Wangji, if i have to hear “he’s boring” from people who can’t read one more time…

Character I Think is Overrated: all of the antagonists and villains. Jiang Cheng is not "single mother!jiujiu," he is just a bitchless Wen Chao. Jin Guangyao is not "poor little Meng Yao forced to do things against his will," he is a a calculating murderer who will scheme against, betray, and kill anyone who stands between him and ultimate power. Madam Yu is not a "girlboss" (unless we accept the real meaning of that word, which is a woman who gains power by ingratiating herself into oppressive systems as the female alternative to corrupt male leaders), she is a domestic abuser who made every single person in her family and husband's clan miserable.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: Wangxian

Something I Love About the Book: I love the way this book is adamant about good always eventually being rewarded. That even if the outcome of doing good was terrible, that does not make the effort wasted or useless. Lan Wangji protecting Wei Wuxian at Nightless City was worth it even if he was almost killed for it, because it made sure that the yin tiger tally did not end up in the Jin Clan's hands as a completed weapon. Wei Wuxian saving the Wen was worth it even though he was killed for it, because A-Yuan got to live. Wen Qing and Wen Ning saving Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian was worth it even though Jiang Cheng betrayed them in the end, because their clan still got to live through its last descendant. None of their actions were met with immediate rewards, but the larger implications of them led to better outcomes than had they just kept to themselves and the status quo of corruption, as everyone else had.

SVSSS (my favorite of the three 🤗)

Favorite Character: Luo Binghe, hands down

Favorite Arc: Holy Mausoleum Arc, cause y'all (Shen Qingqiu 😒) gonna stop falsey accusing my baby, today!

Character I Think is Underrated: Bing-mei version of Luo Binghe, not because he's "unpopular," per se, but because mainstream fandom's perception of him seems to be that he is just Bing-ge who cries, and this is a complete mischaracterization of his character based on popular fanon. I see too much hate for him in this fandom because of it

Character I Think is Overrated: Shen Jiu. The man was a child abuser and died to one of his victims because he chose to be a child abuser. There is nothing tragic or unfair about that. Leave that man in the ether where he'll hopefully never have a chance to harm another person again.

Favorite Ship/Pairing: Bingqiu

Something I Love About the Book: Shen Qingqiu. The man is trying his damndest to do right in what he considers a doomed narrative, but the moment he realizes that his efforts have actually made things worse, he immediately pivots his actions. He never tries to justify himself, deflect from criticism, or misplace responsibility. He has one goal in mind, and that is to make as many people's lives as he possibly can better than what they originally ended up as.

[o-hora-o]

hello your art is amazing !! i wondered, do you have hcs / doodles / thoughts about the aftermath of the 1955 disaster ? be it eins and tesla's reaction, how they had to support each others to rise again, how eins had to survive joyce's loss etc... also i'm curious because we always talk about einjoyce in 55 naturally, but the game showed us she still thinks of him even in 2018, it's been so long.... after all the welt joyce is the whole pillar emblem and creation of anti-entropy, it must be hard to be one of the founder of a worldwide organization based on your old lover's legacy otl

Thank you very much!!! Both for the compliment and the question. I often think about 55's aftermath, of course. And these thoughts torment me most of the time so that I draw sketches and make hcs about the alternative outcome. Sometimes I do want to draw more arts about canonical events, and I probably will but it's just...hard.  

Now further goes my headcanonical 1955 disaster aftermath and einjoyce fan ramble and I’m sorry in advance if this is not what you expected to hear from me: 

In the novel, Ada mentioned that after waking up, Ein and Tesla accepted everything that had happened very calmly. But I imagine Ada wasn't present there when they woke up, she spent all her time with Joachim and took care of him. And maybe at some point, the boy got so attached to her that that’s why he eventually decided to run away with her for 20 years, away from the problems and legacy of the late hero (And then hi3 mentions Ada only...what, once?) I imagine that Ada was really the only one who could look after Joachim because Planck spent most of her time in the hospital. 

So, now let’s talk about Planck. I love Emma, she might have quirks but she’s very dear to me. She played the mother figure whose presence could bring the sense of peace, comfort and safety. Emma was “everything is going to be alright” person with a strong yet soft spirit, she was someone Lieserl aspired to be. But oh, how lonely she’d been...throughout all her life. I think Carl was the only one who understood her like no one else. Then she lost him and was on the verge of losing her dear girls. Not to mention she had already lost Edison and Schrodinger. She had to take Edison's place and single-handedly create an entire organization out of the ashes, and Schrodinger...Planck did not live to see the day when it turned out that Erwin was alive. So yeah, Emma was a lonely woman with no one by her side but the unthinkable unbearable burden, she was the first one who had to carry the weight of the World on her shoulders. All in all, back in 1955-56 Plank was either in the hospital or busy trying to find a new base. Oh, yes, most likely she had to organize funerals which Ein and Tesla, obviously, missed. 

Ein and Tesla...as I’ve already said once, not seeing waking-up-from-coma scene in the novel was the greatest loss but the greatest blessing at the same time. I think it was the hardest and most horrific moment in their lives. And I also like to imagine around then they got drunk together for the first time. 

To be honest, I admire Tesla's copium and how she's doing...mostly alright these days. Especially regarding her unfortunate life. But damn how easily 1955 can trigger her. I think she's been holding a very deep personal grudge against Welt all these years. She almost never mentions him or speaks his name out load and, in general, she never speaks of those years either, unlike Ein. If Ein and Joachim are stuck mentally in the past, Tesla seems to exist only within "today". It's only when Joachim tries to sacrifice himself over and over again all the accumulated resentment and despair wakes up in her. Because Welt's sacrifice did all this to Joachim and Welt's legacy is louder than Tesla's cry to stop playing a lonely hero. I think Tesla is a definition of "I told you so" in this story. She was the one who foresaw Welt's death. She was the one who wanted to share her "know there's nothing worth remembering in our lives so there's no need to dwell on the past" ideology to help him let go of the guilt and start appreciating his life. I think she cared about him no less then Ein because I see Tesla and Welt as a younger brother/older sister duo, they always bicker, tease but care for each other nonetheless. So of course when she woke up, she was lost, angry, hysterical and hurt. I think she deserves no less than Joachim or Ein the opportunity to meet Welt again and to talk everything she’s been holding inside all these years out. But apparently this was too boring for the writers, and they just decided to erase Welt’s soul for forever and took away from AE the opportunity to try locating his soul in the core and bring him back when they’re not busy preventing the end of the world every day. But instead, we got Joffrey (I have nothing against the boy but this whole clone thing just feels so.... utterly wrong, help). And I find it ironic that the one who unwillingly made Tesla’s life a mess is, kinda, became her son whom she’s been taking care of and who will be by her side from now on. 

And Lieserl...you know, I’ve never been a fan of romantic stories but somehow einjoyce got a chokehold on me and my heart, for me they’re the true manifestation of soulmates and match-made-in-heaven thing. I already had a little brainrot post about her living after 1955 but yes, you are right, she still thinks of him even in 2018 and I still can’t wrap my mind around it. That and the fact she’d been analysing him for 3 years before she took him in to the 42 lab. For 3 years, without seeing him in person (and she even tried to practice talking less “nonsense” so she would look mysterious and idk attractive to him? But totally failed on the very first day spent together with him). And then, in the course of one, ONE, month Welt became someone who could not only understand Ein’s quirks, chaotic thoughts but also enjoy her personality and communicate with her in pure silence. He was the last one she talked to so freely and who actually listened to her. And Lieserl being ready to rather die than let Erwin hurt Welt is a whole “hear me out” conversation on its own. So yes, I believe a part of her died that day with Welt and the other - later on with the death of her "ultimate navigator" Planck (I still think about how she shortly mentioned that that period was a nightmare for the organization). Now she's just Doctor Einstein and even though she acts as her younger self from time to time she still feels like an... empty cold vessel with an escapistic fixation on work, books and games. And if she has no Tesla to tease, no work to do, no book to read and no game to play, she escapes into nostalgic thoughts. Does she really care about the future of the world and humanity? Because I think she can't care less about 99% people around her. She and Joachim are just driven by symbolic and twisted sense of Welt's legacy who thought his death would be insignificant and then it turned their lives upside down and inside out. Does she even care about Joachim or just sees him as a part of Welt’s legacy? 

But back to the 1956. 

Would it be too sadistic to imagine she had a long dream in which no one died whilst she was in coma? I remember I had an old headcanon similar to this one but it's about present days where 14th Herrscher puts everyone to sleep with an ideal dream. And it back loops to the moment when Ein wakes up in sweat early in the morning in the villa of Southend-on-Sea.  

But anyway. The moment when she woke up from coma...I’m no writer but let’s say her consciousness awakened before her sensations. She couldn't understand where she was or who she was. She didn't remember what happened. And this void of perception caused both calmness and unease for her, everything around felt like through fathomless water. It was hard for her to open eyes and concentrate because she was met by blinding light and dizziness instead. Her hands were shaking, and her body was shivering when she tried to get up. As she called for Welt and Tesla her lips felt numb and every word seemed to scratch her throat, taking away all her energy so that she was ready to fall asleep again. And let’s say Tesla woke up sooner than Ein so that Nicola and Emma were both in anticipation and fear of the moment when she would wake up only to split her life into “before” and “after” with mere three words. She would be in denial and panic would slowly rise up her throat. As the realisation set in, she would slowly suffocate on the verge of tears. Because all of it was so unfair, she entrusted her little World’s fate to the world, and it took him away. She failed to protect him, and the guilt slowly consumed her from the inside day after day, year after year. And to give her an eternal life with an option of ending it by her will is... sigh. I hope she and Tesla at least got sedative pills while in hospital. 

So that’s when Tesla and Ein formed a strong bond. But their problem is that they are constantly keeping all their opinions, feelings and thoughts to themselves (yes, even Tesla) and most likely it resulted in various quarrels and then Emma helped them realise that from now on they only have each other and the life will go on but in the end... they will be the only one left.  

Sometimes I forget that not long after all of this hospital chaos they took part in numerous interviews with Joachim who had to shapeshift into Welt's appearance, and he had to do that for years. That's almost as dreadful as getting eternal lives.  

As you can see, I can endlessly talk about them and all the known scenes they took part in after 1955. I honestly tried to write my thoughts as short as possible, and I hope you don’t regret opening this door into abyss of my endless thoughts with your question. 

[westlinstar]

I have just caught the tail end of Meet Joe Black after exhaustedly throwing myself at the couch with a cup of tea - didn’t spill any, go me! I couldn’t quite remember the ending of the film, in fact I couldn’t remember much other than Joe was Death, come to spirit a multi millionaire business man away to what ever lies beyond the veil - but accidentally falling in love with his daughter in the process. Oops! There’s conflict right there! 🙄

The music, and a suave Brad Pitt in a well fitting suit, lured me in, and before I knew it I was all invested in Bill - said multi millionaire - surviving his date with doom by some magical twist of fate. Sadly this was not to be, and, at the end, I watched him climb the stairs at his very own 65th birthday party and disappear into some ethereal and well lit mist. Should’ve been cheesy but there was a degree of poignancy to it. Death (Joe) had spent time with this family, come to respect the man he was there to take, fallen in love, learned what it was to be human….and, when it was time, death came gentler because of it.

Now here is the bit where you’ll have to bear with me coz there’s some obscure joined up thinking about to happen.

A long time ago in a previous life, I would cycle to work from my remote farm cottage on some very hilly and bendy back lanes. I loved it….revelled in the quietness and beauty of those early morning hours, just me, the tarmac and nature abounding. One morning however, as I swept round a corner to dive straight into a long, steep dip, I came across a deer at the side of the road that had been hit by a car. It couldn’t stand, despite trying desperately, and was very distressed. My compassion flew into action, as it would for most folk, and I slowed my bike down a safe distance away to see what could be done. Who to call to help? Who would be awake? It was still really, really early! Eventually I tried the RSPCA thinking that they would come, wrap the deer up, and take it away to mend its broken bits, but unfortunately they were too far away and couldn’t help. They did however, give me the number for a local vets, who I eventually got hold of and was told that someone was on their way - whoop whoop!

During this time I’d edged closer to the deer and had plonked myself down on the grass verge a short distance away. With nothing better to do than wait for the vet, and needing to fill my own anxious void with sound, I began to talk to the deer. Soothing words of little importance - kind words, sweet words, reassuring words. The deer had settled by now, maybe accepting at last that it couldn’t run, and it sat quietly in the morning dew and sunshine. It was very tranquil, and although there was pain and trauma, there was also a gentle peace to it all. A small connection was made in ways I still don’t quite understand - a strange intimacy built through a myriad of tiny details. It felt right and it felt safe, and all was well.

I would love to be able to say, with all my heart, that there was a happy outcome to this story when the vet arrived, but sadly there was not. Sometimes a life cannot be saved , no matter how much we will it….just as in Meet Joe Black.

My relationship with the concept of death is a complex one, but I’m beginning to wonder if we are all not a bit like Joe Black….if, like him, we are occasionally given cause to wear the mantle of Death and sit gently with others, wether it be man or beast, while they prepare themselves to take their final journey. And if so, I hope it will always be met with the compassion, love and respect that this film portrayed.

Be kind - always 🫶

[mejomonster]

Finished sherlock holmes chapter one. In some ways its got the same appeal Drakengard 3, specifically Zero's emotional character journey did. At heart its about Sherlock trying to protect and love himself (and that itself parallels what Mycroft did in a way), hating himself and blaming himself, terrified of caring about anyone again and unsure how to care in a way he's not scared would somehow hurt them. Its a character study of one particular What If version of what makes the man John Watson first met that day looking for a flat. What would that man be like before, perhaps why, and how did that interpretation of a young sherlock grow enough to risk opening up to others to the extent he eventually will. Its all about trauma, childhood, growing up, accepting yourself and fighting to love yourself when your experiences have made you want to abandon yourself, trust, fear. The story's about sherlock holmes the character. Like one big character study of who he might have been, could become, does become, and the emotions and internals driving it.

The way Jon is creative, brave, supportive. Loves the supernatural, stories, mysteries. The escapism, the joy fighting to exist in a scared life, the emotional support ever present (sherlock giving to himself basically) because hes too scared to let anyone else real in. Theres tons to be said about Jon the character, and also his existence for what it says about sherlock's own personality and needs. Thats for more articulate people than me. The main of it is: Frogwares games, if theyre mostly going to be of this writing quality, can handle the characters both faithfully and in adding new ways to view them which was a joy. A heartbreaking joy. I really enjoyed the story.

And the scene at the very end, watson and holmes first meeting. A scene in many adaptations, of course in the original. I loved that sherlocks actor added a raw emotional reaction to the sound of his voice, something thats easy to pretend might always have been able to be there its just from Watsons pov maybe he never would have noticed. And since sherlock holmes chapter one is sherlocks game about his internal emotions, it lets it end with a raw show of emotion we'd notice after seeing everything hes gone through inside. We'd also see it as a potential positive. In that he'd ever open up enough to share even that small part of FEELING with another person, in the presence of another person and trust that its okay to feel it. And the way the game plays with the meaning of art in its interpretation, the world maybe being more mysterious than humans can ever understand (with all the use of supernatural love from Jon, and Matista at the end and her own magic practice in a way paralleling Sherlocks creating of Jon), the game ends with a game model of John Watson with similar eyes to Jon, with John Watson introducing himself and Sherlock comparing the name to Jon. Recognizing the coincidence. Maybe some small part, the part of sherlock that IS Jon and made him and drew comfort from him, seeing the magic in hearing such a meaningful name in a meaningful coincidence of meeting od a real social partner that will end his isolation significantly by living with him. It makes the ending feel almost magical, as mundane as it is, and as much as Watson is not Jon (because Jon was in many ways just Sherlocks own self comforting himself). Its this conclusion of a whole game of realizing its the interpretation that matters at least As Much as the truth (which the game enforces both with cases with multiple possible answers and making You sherlock pick the consequences then seeing the city always reacting mixed to such outcomes). A whole game of seeing sherlock belittle emotions (especially his own), unable to open up to anyone except himself occasionally with the help of Jon (and that easy open emotional expression Jon has), and finally Sherlock is facing his own feelings a bit. Has integrated some of who Jon was, has let himself feel his own feelings, is more self aware and brave, still hurting but also more able to not reject himself. And its just feels so lovely to see played. Its a simple moment, the same scene I expect, but it has emotional payoff from the chapter one story fully realized in seeing sherlocks changes when he finally gets to the moment of meeting watson. Payoff of chapter ones whole character growth of one from childhood to adulthood.

[lomappreciationblog]

Can't Look Back: Quest Discussion (Part 2)

Part 2! This is the meat of the story, where the truth finally gets revealed to us as a player and Mephianse comes face-to-face with the lies he built up for himself regarding Nakratos's fate.

So after Mephianse dashes away and we chase him, this is the next story beat - where we finally meet the "ice witch," Crystalle.

She wastes no time beating around the bush certainly, immediately called out Mephianse for that lol.

Mephianse certainly was slandering Crystalle, but one does still feel some sympathy for him with what happened - which Crystalle finally explains.

First, Crystalle immediately attacks two of the core narratives Mephianse built around losing Nakratos - that Nakratos died, and it was because of Crystalle. But the opposite is true - Nakratos is STILL alive, and Crystalle had nothing to do with what happened.

As she makes it very clear later - she was just a witness, but Mephianse's pov turned her into a villain in the story.

Understandably, Mephianse doesn't respond immediately, which Crystalle takes for disbelief, and she does have the right to feel bitter about this.

And so we finally have the full story - Nakratos turned himself into a snow beast with the intent of forcibly making a Faerie obey his will and let him see his wife again.

It does finally get through to Mephianse that what happened to Nakratos was something he did of his own volition, and that he wasn't a victim - but merely one foolish, desperate man.

There is a certain theme across the three major story arcs, and in this quest, of things happening because of "a truth you refused to hear until now." And so, the characters who actually get over that become better for it.

With the Jumi Arc, Sandra wished to heal Florina, but rather than act out of compassion, she saw the rest of the Jumi as cruel and selfish for being unable to cry, and judged them to a fair sacrifice to heal Florina. Blackpearl experiences disillusion too, when she finally realizes that forcing Pearl to be the new Clarius was not the right answer - when she acknowledges that, she accepts the help of Elazul and the MC and finally fights to change the fate of the Jumi for good.

With the Dragon Arc, Larc knew what he was doing to serve Drakonis was selfish and evil, but he continued doing so because he thought that was the only way he could reunite with Sierra. Sierra initially believed the MC was helping Drakonis with the same evil intent, but she later learns we were only coerced to do so and we join forces to make things right.

Now, for the Star-Crossed Lovers Arc...that is the root of all the trouble - the truth of the matter being, Matilda hated that she was bound and stifled by her duties as a priestess, and what Irwin did, by inspiring her to run away with him, and by stealing her elemental powers, she was freed and she found the will to be her own person. Unfortunately, Escad and initially Daena only thought that this was just Irwin following his demonic heritage and trying to hurt Matilda. And eventually, Irwin too, came to think that he hurt Matilda and he regretted what he did (he also got waaaaaaay lost with the whole "destroying the world that hurt us" plot unfortunately).

I did mention in Part 1 that "Can't Look Back' and the Faerie/Star-Crosser Lovers arc have similar themes, so here's some elaboration on that: in a way, I came to see as "Can't Look Back" being the other outcome of Matilda and Irwin's relationship, had we not stepped in to interfere while things were unfolding.

Nakratos became a beast in hopes of forcing the Faerie to do his will, all because he grieved the loss of his wife to death. He changed himself, becoming strange to the people who knew him, and became a danger to himself and others.

In the Star-Crossed Lovers arc, while Matilda didn't die after Irwin took away her powers, she aged rapidly, becoming an old woman - but one who was content with what happened to her. Irwin however, refused to accept this outcome, and he too, became like a beast - a powerful demon, and unlike Nakratos he retained his cunning, and more importantly, unlike Nakratos, Irwin actually put the Faeries under his command. With that, Irwin sought to destroy the unfair world he perceived had done him and Matilda so much wrong, but underneath all that, they both wanted to love each other, and in their current forms they couldn't do it without hurting each other, or Escad and Daena.

As a last point of comparison, Daena did NOT want to accept Matilda's death. She tried her best to bring Irwin and Matilda together when she finally saw what Irwin was doing, but what she failed to account for was that Matilda becoming Irwin's queen in the Land of Faeries wasn't the right solution either, since that meant the Faeries would be forced to accept a human queen.

But in this quest...Mephianse DOES accept what needs to be done, to free Nakratos.

Mephianse finds he can't keep looking back and deluding himself with thinking Nakratos died by someone else's hand, and to fulfill Nakratos's wish, he had to be put to rest.

Of course, that's not the easiest thing to say...or even worse, to actually do, even if it's a mercy kill.

....well, who else is around and is good with weapons?

That's right, it's time for us MCs to do what we do best!...to be nosey. Not to give mercy kills. Though we sorta do that a bit in LoM.

Will do, Crystalle.

It's worth noting the location for the boss fight is called "The Field of Lost Guilt."

So we go and fight Nakratos, now turned into one of the Du' family of bosses. While LoM has a couple of reused bosses, notoriously with the recolored Jewel Beast boss fights, I do appreciate that while Du'Inke in "The Lost Princess" and Du'Cate in "Huntin' Du'Cate" are recolors of each other, Du'Mere, Nakratos's beast form, has a widely different appearance, whether because it lives in a completely different environment, or because it's a hint it was formerly a human.

....I guess Nakratos did lose his mind, why the heck was Du'Mere just hopping at the final part of this fight.

There is something meaningful in the fact that the loss animation for this boss is turning into an orb that floats upward, which does seem to concretely say Nakratos's spirit has been freed.

And now, back to Mephianse.

...so like...did we commit murder or....

And now, for the screenshots which got me thinking about this quest to close it off:

That's probably the understatement of the century.

Crystalle does sound a bit too trolling considering Mephianse just went through the emotional wringer, but I guess she has a pass for poking fun at Mephianse after all the slander he did.

.....annnd I reached the photo limit for this post, so there's a part 3. But it's gonna be short, just the L'il Cactus diary entry, reaction, and pause menu description. No more mega rambling, hopefully!

[bandicoot88]

Good Omens 2 ending was perfect, actually, and I'm gonna talk why, cos I got a lot to say.

Naturally, massive spoilers ahead!

The finale ended in a way that makes total sense to me. I hear y'all being like "this isn't canon, no, let them be happy, I hate this!" *proceeds to write a fix-it fanfic that's all fluff and kittens*, but just... listen to me for a moment.

Don't get me wrong, keep writing alternative endings for that temporary fix, but in terms of canon, I believe what Neil wrote is better than anything else that's gonna get create, more or less. Remember, it's important characters stay in-character.

Sure, I sobbed at 5am with a broken mind, heart, and hated everything in the moment, but letting it digest... it actually works very well. People want their "happiliy ever after", and I do too, eventually. But that time isn't now.

Also, side note, to anyone who sent Neil hate mail because of said ending, fuck you. Don't be a sensitive little shit and just accept that stories don't always have to be happy to still be good.

Here we have a 6000+ year relationship/friendship of two non-humans that don't know how to act around each other. THEY DON'T TALK, as Nina said. For them to suddenly get the talking bit down correctly was never going to happen. Which makes the ending so much worse. A quick kick up the backside from 2 people isn't the sudden fix-it to everything. They continued to STILL not talk, not taking even a single day to communicate, think of a plan, anything! I.e "Good luck", "Then there's nothing more to say." The Metatron told Aziraphale to take all the time he needed, and yet Az was gone within 15 mins. Crowley could've said something more, but instead chose to kiss Aziraphale.

Which while it was long overdue, I think it was still too fast. Aziraphale realized his love for Crowley in 1941, according to Michael, which is VERY late to the game, and in the 60s, he said Crowley moved too fast for him. I assume this is still the case, as the 60s wasn't that long ago in angel/demon years. The kiss probably frightened him, because we know what Aziraphale is like, has always BEEN like. He's cautious and jittery and incredibly soft. He's the emodiment of a kitten, and you need to treat him as such.

Had Crowely taken his time with Aziraphale instead, things might've been different. The outcome also might've remained the same, but there would at least be some communication, and probably much less heartbreak. In that moment, Crowley could've really poured his heart out into words, but he didn't. Even during the confession, he ended rather nonchalantly with a "you and me, what do you say?" This is after hearing Aziraphale's news. It's hardly romantic, and gives the same vibe as "let's shack up".

He should be using every ounce of his power to get Aziraphale to stay, but he doesn't. He says his piece, begins to walk off, rubs the non-relationship in Aziraphale's face, kisses him, and then leaves. All this sets up pefectly for a s3 to sort their shit out. I like that it wasn't just a fluffy arc where everything's suddenly perfect, because where would s3 go then? It would be less fun.

I like the angst. I want to enjoy a good show with conflict and difficulty and confusion and anger and whatever else. I want to watch this angel and demon evolve and go through it and realize and learn and love.

What happened at the end of s2; it was ineffable.

[greatlordfluffernutter]

Today I was bored at work with less to do than usual so I popped open the ChatGPT my company licenses for employees (I have no fucking clue why, nobody uses it for anything but entertainment and they give us 50 prompts per day) and tried a little informal experiment.

I gave this thing the classic fox chicken grain puzzle but with a simple twist to make it impossible: the fox will also eat the grain if left alone. The program responded exactly how I expected it to: it saw the rough outline of the problem and instantly spat out the answer as fast as you could if you'd googled it. No time to "think" needed, this is a standard, frequent question, so just give the known answer.

Except, of course, it was wrong. Step 1 fails with the fox eating the grain while I'm on the other side of the river with a chicken. I pointed this out and it apologized and spat out a new answer, this time telling me to take the fox across first. I pointed out that now the chicken eats the grain and this cycle began to repeat. For a time it picked one of the three items at random to take across and regurgitated the whole thing with minor changes, only to take in my reply and "fix" with a different item. As my answers got shorter, we eventually hit a point where it would respond to me saying that the fox would eat the grain with an apologetic, mildly rephrased re-issue of the failed sequence where the fox eats the grain.

Pointing out the obvious loop didn't break us out. Changing my responses and clarifying information didn't break us out. The only thing that stopped it from giving me wrong answers was telling it in no uncertain terms that there was no right answer. Only then did it realize/admit that there was no solution.

When I asked why it refused to give an "unsatisfactory" answer until practically told to do so, it spat out the token "as an AI language model still in development blah blah blah" and ignored my question.

This is a trend I've noticed in stories published about AI. Not only is it bad at reading the question and coming to conclusions (read: since it can't do that. It's an input/output function that predicts an acceptable answer and displays it), but for some reason it would rather give 100s of wrong answers than to say there is no right answer or even that it just doesn't know. I think back to that story of the lawyer who used ChatGPT like Google and asked it if there were previous cases that backed up his argument, and instead of saying that none exist (because none exist), it just started writing fake legal documents cause "yes" was predicted to be a more favorable outcome than "no".

These tools were created by humans with desires, incentives, priorities, biases, values, etc. For reasons they will never tell me, they made a robot that would rather lie to you than say "I don't know".

That's just one reason why I'm concerned about how this technology is being adopted.

[burningtacozombie]

My story idea for the final season and to tell you the truth, I really thought it sounded great when I originally thought it up but writing it out now I'm not so sure it would have been any better or good either but nevertheless, here it is. It's basically just my idea for a story surrounding Miguel, Felipe, EZ & Angel. The family part which I know it's more about the club but I still think more time should have been spent on it since it was still an important part of the story. Here is some of my idea:

EZ & Angel find out Miguel is their brother early on in the season, like around ep3 or something.

The retcon doesn't happen and story stays that Felipe didn't know about Miguel until season 2.

Tensions build especially between Miguel and EZ because of EZ killing Dita, EZ helping Emily get away (which Miguel learns of eventually), Dita being responsible for EZ & Angel losing their mother and now knowing exactly WHY that actually happened which in turn leads to them going after Happy because everything has been brought back to the surface and the anger over what they lost and how their lives were affected/changed by their mothers death.

Miguel & Felipe slowly start to connect, not fully per se but gradually getting to that point.

If Felipe gets killed by the Sons, it's specifically because someone murders him as a way of getting back at EZ and Angel rather than him getting caught in the crossfire.

It reaches breaking point between Miguel & EZ especially after Felipe's death but (and I hadn't thought this part through or whether it would even be in character but I like the sound of it) Miguel can't manage to actually kill EZ after everything that has happened and lets him go only for the Julius Caesar death for EZ to come about with Angel involved.

- the exact moment Miguel should have found out about Felipe being his father, and the whole truth behind it, was in season 3 when he came to the butcher shop with that old photo and directly asked Felipe about his relationship with Dita. Felipe admitted right then he had feelings for her. EZ and Angel should've found out shortly after that. how hard would it have been..?

- retcon, what retcon? we don't know her.

- Miguel and EZ would never have forgiven each other, or accepted that they are brothers even if it wasn't for their family's history. there is just too much baggage with Emily.

- Angel and Miguel, yes I could have seen them connect, and in a way they were just beginning to. Miguel did hell of a job protecting Angel after he burned the warehouse down and the little boy saw him at the cookhouse raid.

- Miguel and Felipe connecting would also have been nice, I wish he had changed his mind and forgiven him while there was still time.

- I think Miguel would have absolutely been able to kill EZ if given the chance and reason but by the time he'd been ready to and had found EZ, Angel and the club would have already Caesar'd his ass.

what I'm saying is, I agree with most of your idea and a lot of it could have and should have happened this way, it still wouldn't have changed much of the rest of the story or even the general outcome. which makes me even more mad because not only did Miguel get shot, he got butchered too for an entire season.

[waitingforwinterwinds]

A Clash of Kings - 60 SANSA VI (pages 763-769)

Sansa and Cersei dine with the highborn women and wait for news of the battle.

-

The torches shimmered brightly against the hammered metal of the wall sconces, filling the Queen's Ballroom with silvery light. Yet there was still darkness in that hall.

Oh that's some good metaphor. The room is filled with an illusion of safety and security, but they aren't safe, and the room isn't actually that secure and that possibility is hanging over them as much as the death of the men on the walls.

"I would sooner face any number of swords than sit helplessly like this, pretending to enjoy the company of this flock of frightened hens." "You asked them here, Your Grace." "Certain things are expected of a queen. They will be expected of you should you ever wed Joffrey. Best learn." ... "- So it behooves me to give their women my protection.If my wretched imp of a brother should somehow prevail, they will return to their husbands and fathers full of tales about how brave I was, how my courage inspired them and lifted their spirits, how I never doubted our victory even for a moment." ... Sansa was horrified. "These are women, unarmed , and gently born." "Their birth protects them," Cersei admitted, "though not as much as you'd think. -" ... "Were it anyone else outside the gates, I might hope to beguile him. But this is Stannis Baratheon. I'd have a better chance of seducing his horse." She noticed the look on Sansa's face, and laughed. "Have I shocked you, my lady?" She leaned close. "You little fool. Tears are not a woman's only weapon. You've got another one between your legs, and you'd best learn to use it. You'll find men use their swords freely enough, Both kinds of swords."

Sorry, I've been taken out of The Horrors but the realisation that Sansa is Cersei's only friend. Like it's very easy to accept at face value that this is just Cersei flexing her limited power to feel in control by lashing out at Sansa, but damn if this doesn't read like Cersei genuinely thinks of Sansa as her protege, the closest thing she has to a confidant.

Ii mean yes, Cersei has other people she can talk to, but none who she can be honest with without the fear that they'll be able to use that against her. In a weird and twisted way, for Cersei at this moment: Sansa is her only friend.

This is very emotionally conflicting for me because on one hand ^ that ^ and on the other: The Horrors and the Lurking Doom Waiting the Eventuality of Failure.

"Another lesson you should learn, if you hope to sit beside my son. Be gentle on a night like this, and you'll have popping up all about you like mushrooms after a hard rain. The only way to keep your people loyal is to make certain they fear you more than they do the enemy." "I will remember, Your Grace," said Sansa, though she had always heard that love was a surer route to the people's loyalty than fear. If i am ever a queen, I'll make them love me.

Oh! It's the line!

"Would that I could take a sword to their necks myself." Her voice was starting to slur. "When we were little, Jaime and i were so much alike that even our lord father could not tell us apart. Sometimes as a lark we would dress in each other's clothes and spend a whole day each as the other. Yet even so, when Jaime was given his first sword, there was none for me. -"

Well hello Arya|Cersei connections.

No but, I've mentioned before, Cersei represents the "sold child bride" narrative Dany and Sansa both have going on, or at least a potential outcome for their narrative, but Cersei also has "Arya's path/Lady warrior: Denied" going on in the back story.

...I've just realised this has basically become a Cersei chapter review, whoops. XD

"- I know all about your little treason in the godswood." "The godswood?" Don't look at Ser Dontos, don't, don't, Sansa told herself. She doesn't know, no one knows, Dontos promised me, my Florian would never fail me. "I've done no treasons. I only visit the godswood to pray." "For Stannis. Or your brother, it's all the same. Why else seek out your father's gods? You're praying for our defeat. What would you call that, if not treason?"

Well handled! Never confess to a crime, especially if it hasn't been directly stated which crime, and there is no evidence, you will only end up condemning yourself. Sansa did really well not to look at her partner in crime, cause that kind of thing is a reflexive action, very hard to avoid. People will often look to accomplices or hiding spots or move to hide those things without thinking, only to end up exposing them because people notice.

I've actually exploited this habit myself to trick my dad once, he was looking for the candy stash years ago, so I "subtly" moved in front of the broom closet, and he ended up spending several extra minutes looking in there for the stash that had never been there in the first place because he'd become convinced I'd been trying to hide it. >:3c

"He's here for us, he says," the queen said. "Stannis may take the city and he may take the throne, but I will not suffer him to judge me. I do not mean for him to have us alive." "Us?" "You heard me. So perhaps you had best pray again, Sansa, and for a different outcome. The Starks will have no joy from the fall of House Lannister, I promise you." She reached out and touched Sansa's hair, brushing it lightly away from her neck.

"Cersei brushes Sansa's hair away from her neck." Yeah, no, we get it Cersei, matching haircuts with a little too much off the top.

Cersei: I'm not letting them take us alive! Sansa: wait what? Cersei: we are gonna Thelma & Louise right of this edge! Sansa: Can I unsubscribe to this plan? Cersei: Beheadings

I was very distracted for most of this chapter by the "Cersei's only friend" realisation, but it's very much Sansa doing an amazing job of keeping it together under increasing pressure while Cersei slowly lowkey loses her shit in the face of their potentially unfortunate fate.

[lumo-dreams]

I’m so sorry, I’m bothering your question box again. But I have to get this off my chest, since I see so much negativity on Lumo lately (my last question also contributed to that, so I’ve also been part of the problem).

I do still stand my ground that this storyline is not the most elaborated one. It just isn’t well thought enough, but luckily also not damaging enough to ruin their loving bond completely.

Of course I understand everyone’s reaction to Moritz actually leaving when Luis warned him that it will be over if he does so, but I’m sure they’ll find their way to each other again. Didn’t Moritz himself admit that he’ll go insane if they would be parted for one week (let alone a long distance relationship). Moritz his heart belongs to Luis and he often voiced his love and gratitude towards him. He even declined high offers from his clients who wanted to sleep with him and wasn’t even scared to flip one off. They showed us that Moritz will not cheat on Luis no matter the circumstances. He stayed loyal, but was dishonest about his job and whereabouts. Luis has also had his fair share of dishonesty, he was even prepared to murder someone if it wasn’t for Moritz. Which brings us to the most important factor of their relationship: the balance they offer each other. During both storylines (luis vs linostrami and Moritz escorting) something very particular happened, namely the ability of Lumo withholding the other from making a mistake. Example 1: Moritz was almost able to change Luis’ mind from going to the catering job interview. He actually did in fact stop him altogether, if the offer didn’t come again the next day. Example 2: Moritz was hesitant whether he wanted to continue the contact he had with Folker, but one little moment with Luis and he was convinced that he didn’t want it. And I know, in both cases Luis as wel as Moritz did eventually go ahead with their original plan, but they stayed unsure. They ground each other, it makes them realise that what they have has more value than a stupid mishap. I’m sure that Luis will open Moritz’s eyes again, he will have that effect on him by default. No guy/party/money/fame will fill the gap that is Luis and he will realise that. They are both new to this, Luis needed time to accept the fact that he likes men and Moritz now needs to know what type of commitment a relationship takes. They will pass this bump and grow only stronger from now on.

We also have to keep in mind that the producers are extremely detail oriented, they always make sure that we see the intimacy between Lumo. Whether it be hand-holding, leaning to each other or just a simple loving gaze, they’ve never missed the opportunity to show us how into each other Lumo are. And let me remind you all that it’s still pretty rare to see gay couples on daytime tv showing so much affection on display. They’ve truly done an amazing job when it comes to the build up and lamenting their relationship. They weren’t even half enthusiastic for FabioxMoritz or LuisxMiro. I’m more than confident they won’t ruin that much work for an escort-storyline.

So Lumo fans don’t be afraid of this story-arc. I’m convinced it will be over soon, with either Luis forgiving Moritz (and he stays in the business) or Moritz resigns from his job for Luis. Secretly I hope and believe it’s the last one, cause I have a feeling they’re already introducing us to the new storyline, namely Johanna falling in love with Luis 🙄 (I really hope I’m wrong on this one!!) yet that will definitely stay one sided, Luis is too nice but not a fool. The love Lumo has for each other is unbreakable, and I truly love them for that ♥️

I am the last person that wants to spread negativity! I wrote the post from an affect because I knew eventually the drama will come (which is good since we don't want boring scenes) but once I actually got to see the outcome it hit me right into my face 😬

I agree with what you said here. They probably will find their way back to each other again. Moritz would never throw that away so easily. They have a very deep connection and love as you described it. I bet he already regrets it and we know from the past Luis' reaction are sometimes over the top when he's hurt or feeling betrayed. I am so curious to see how this moment will effect them! Could imagine Luis talks to Jonas since he was standing right there and witnessed all of it. He must have a lot of questions..

As for the Johanna storyline: I know many of you don't know gzsz that long BUT when Luis and Nina moved to Berlin, Johanna had already a crush on him (though she was very young back then). So years later they picked the storyline up again 🙈

Let's see how it continues! I am very grateful that we have at least Moritz and Luis as a m/m couple on the show and the actors portray them so well! ❤️

[sllhouettedreams]

Hi, I just read Forehead kisses and wanted to re-read Chasing Tomorrow. My simple question is do you have a backup of what you delete? More importantly why deprive the world of AFTG of such well written fics? Please bring them back 🙏😭

Yes, I have kept what I had written for chasing tomorrow and the two part I had planned afterward. I appreciate you so much for coming to ask about it and show your support. I honestly didn't think people would notice or care enough. While there is a tiny sliver of myself that believed the story just didn't matter to anyone else... the 'why' is really, really complicated.

The official answer is that... Objectively, it's not a very well-written story and I should have spent more time than I did to edit and piece each chapter together. Unfortunately, as I usually do with things I write (with very few exceptions) I began to hate it? Usually, even when I hate things, I don't delete them. But that combined with what little feedback received and a few weird bookmark notes a few people added, I felt uncomfortable leaving it up even as an orphaned story. I also deleted the other AFTG fics I had posted on AO3.

Every few weeks I consider going back to it, to fix it up and finish what I started because I still like the direction I went with it and the interpretation of canon I had planned, but something something seasonal depression. something something long personal story under the cut.

To summarize what's under the cut: I wrote Chasing Tomorrow to deal with a time in my life that was highly emotional and I'm not, currently, in the headspace to revisit or continue with Trusting Tomorrow and Tomorrow, After All (which would be the third post-canon continuation). I really, really do want to, though. Eventually, I will.

This is the sad bit so stop reading if you don't want to read about death, abuse (including sexual), and suicide mention in a long emotional ramble.

So I read AFTG for the first time in May of last year when I got COVID. It was a great distraction from being sick enough I couldn't move. I immediately was obsessed, actually.

Here's the thing, my family is kind of a fractured mess. I lived through poverty, homelessness, and abuse, physical, verbal, emotional, and even sexual. So I related to every single character (particularly andrew and neil, which is common, I think), on some level.

So this outrageous, messed up fucking story, meant a lot to me? As stupid as it sounds, I guess.

Anyways, here comes the sad part.

Literally the next week after I finished reading AFTG, my sister died. At the time, we didn't know what had happened to her and why she died so young-- she struggled with mental health and her disabilities a lot so everyone, even people I didn't know speculated it was suicide as she had attempted it before, more than once. I very nearly deleted my facebook because of the people who contacted me and things they said.

Less than two months later, my dad passed away, too. It was around this time that we finally learned how my sister had died as well. I wasn't on good terms with either my sister or father. I always put off making things right for many reasons. Pride, not enough time, exhaustion, the amount of emotional labor they both had always required, "if they wanted to fix things they would try" blahblahblah. I thought I had more time, see?

I became kind of obsessed with AFTG because well, outside of connecting with the characters, there's the whole motif of death and dying and meeting an inevitable end- not knowing if you have the power to change anything but trying your damnedest anyway, but accepting the worst outcome should it happen. It all seemed very profound to me at the time. And it was a distraction from all the emotions I was dealing with.

But, eventually emotions demand to be felt.

So in between those deaths, I began to write Chasing Tomorrow. It began as an exploration of grief and the burning desire to have changed something, anything, to prevent loss. It was a story that, I felt, was about love and the destruction it leaves behind when the person embodying it dies. About second, third, fourth chances to make things right. If there was a magical moment that could have fixed everything, about going back and not missing it that time.

When it was finished, I had no better understanding of what actually happened, of what I could have done, and what life will be like now without her. It was an outlet, but in the end I didn't get any satisfaction from it.

Writing it out now, and opening up about why I wrote it and what I thought it would do for me, I'm understanding exactly why I resent it now. It feels stupid, actually.

[eleiyaumei]

Hehe, if you love these discussions and are passionate about character analyses etc., I guess you won't mind my analysis of the BSE2 because I just got it and I have something to say ^^

Alright, where to start?

I don't interpret the ending to mean that Seven is about to kill himself (and MC since they're both sitting in the same car). He shows an unhealthy carelessness towards the possibility of dying which shows he has become more suicidal than even before but for me, it's not enough to imply he has the intention to kill himself (and MC). I think it's more likely that this carelessness (and MC not seeing the danger in that) is going to lead to a fatal accident involving him and maybe MC too. But that's all. Now, if you have proof that Cheritz intended to imply suicide with this ending, I'll accept that. I'm just basing my assumption off on the way the ending is presented.

Concerning MC's part in all of this:

I don't want to deny the hurt that MC caused Seven through her behavior to get this ending and I don't want to excuse or justify her behavior. But Seven's behavior before the BSE2 doesn't give MC any indication that he is hurt by it. When she pushes him down (instead of back-hugging him), she is bewildered that Seven doesn't push back. She has become used to Seven not reacting emotionally to anything she says or does. Her question the day before "So...can I cheat on you?" was probably supposed to get any reaction from him, indicated by Seven asking something like "Is this supposed to be make me jealous?", but all Seven did was insisting that he doesn't care and reminding her that to cheat on somebody, you have to be in a relationship with them which he doesn't intend to get into. MC is naturally hurt that her crush that seemed to be in love with her now denies having any feelings whatsoever for her and since his shift in attitude and behavior changed with Mint Eye and Saeran interfering, she understandably hopes that Seven and her getting away from all that might make Seven return to the way he was before. In the chatroom directly before the BSE2, MC can say "Seven is free" and "Please just let Seven go... Let him be free." or "Then he may have [cared for the RFA members] but now... I don't now." and "Just leave everything to me." And the BSE2 itself does not mention MC doing or saying anything. For me, all of this is not enough evidence that she becomes Seven's abuser in this ending.

When MC pushed him down and Seven broke down emotionally, I could have seen MC as becoming the abuser if she had downplayed his feelings even then when his unaffected mask had dropped. Not considering his emotions when he was hiding and denying them was somewhat reasonable; not considering his emotions when they're on clear display and he's visibly in high pain and distress would be neglectful if not abusive. Yet, MC's behavior there wasn't the latter. It was not morally the best behavior but she was also in pain and letting out everything that had built up the last few days. They both hurt each other. Hurt people hurt people. She pleads with him to let all of this pain behind themselves and run away from it. Awful situation. But MC is not clearly the one in power nor the abuser in this ending. There might be the possibility in the future but I would have needed MC to act controlling or emotionally neglect/disregard him to see this as the eventual outcome.

And I think this ending being called a "Bad Story Ending" instead of a "Bad Relationship Ending" is an indication that MC is not the one who drives him to suicide or pushes him into becoming more suicidal.

I think Saeyoung had no one he could confide in. The only person he might have confided him is V. And what was painfully clear when I was playing the chatroom at 11:30PM on my way to the BSE2 was that MC had to behave like V in that moment - both had to downplay Seven's emotions and disregard his POV and emotional needs. The person Saeyoung was closest to up until that moment was V and the person with the most power and influence over Saeyoung was V as well.

So, coming back to the sentiment of the OP that is putting blame onto MC in regards to Saeyoung's emotional distress and all:

If you want to blame a single person, blame V.

I haven't played V's route and I don't intend to. I finished the Good Ending as well as the Bad Story Ending 2 with a ball of anger towards V. He had the most responsibility over Saeyoung, he was practically his father/caregiver. MC was only the person he knew for about a week and fell in love with, she doesn't have nearly as much responsibility concerning Saeyoung.

Then again, growing up emotionally is realizing that there is no single reason for most of the things that happen. Just a straw that breaks the camel's back.

MC not providing a safe space for Saeyoung to open up about all his traumas, negative thoughts and emotions is said straw.

But the camel that is Saeyoung was already trembling under the weight he had on his back for years and became too much to handle when Mint Eye started acting up.

PSA:

Have mercy on MC, otome games already have the tendency to make the FMC responsible for the Love Interest's emotions and behavior and make her do most if not all emotional labor for him, and I don't want you to fall into this bullshit message as well, okay? T_T I've suffered through enough otome games to know and be wary of that.

And a question to both of you, @k4txlulzz and @weepylilguy:

Which scenes, endings or whatnot were you originally referring to when you claimed that MC was being praised by Cheritz for the "bare minimum"*? Because, as I have hopefully made clear by now, I cannot think of any evidence for that in Seven's route, After Ending and Valentine's Day DLC.

*I hope you both now understand my point that MC being so understanding while being treated cruelly and feeling hurt by it was not the bare minimum (while also not being saint-like behavior).

P.S./Just a note aside all of that:

Saeyoung's breakdown when MC pushed him down hurt me the most. He was me in that moment whenever a crush I had put me down, especially the guy I dated that traumatized me. Saeyoung was saying the things I did, deprecating himself while putting MC up on a pedestal and feeling incredibly grateful that she stayed with him when "all he was doing was being a burden", so grateful that he's willing to do anything to please her and show his gratitude now (so that she'll not change her mind and leave him). Saeyoung becoming like me BECAUSE OF 'ME'? This is the worst thing I can think of to ever do to a person I love. If MC had shown clear hints of abuse then or after that, I might have had an emotional breakdown myself. That scene was hard. I get that you never want to play that ending now.

cheritz is so silly because they show you how seven is literally SUFFERING THROUGH HELL despite not deserving any of it and tell you "yeah worry about him ! hes so sad!" but then turn around and have the player get treated as some holy selfless angel for worrying about him a tiny bit like ???? BRO HES SUPPOSED TO BE MC'S PARTNER LIKE ???😭😭😭 it's basic human decency to care

"thank u sm mc !! ur so selfless mc !!" she's literally doing the bare minimum . what do you mean .

god i wish cheritz would let the player tell him how truly deserving he is of everything and more because. you don't get to return his devotion and it drives me up a wall . he always gives and gives and gives and you don't get to defend him or protect him . like he gets shot and they don't have the mc NEARLY as worried as she should be ? VANDERWOOD AND V EXPRESS MORE WORRY😭 (fuck v btw . he didnt even try to salvage his relationship with saeyoung when he absolutely could)

they don't even show his brother be nearly as protective of him as he himself is😭

saeyoung choi deserves so so so much better than he is given good LORD . this has me tweaking chat

[kgosigadirebone]

In June of 2019 I was in the midst of mid-year exams, so obviously instead of studying I was catching up on The Commoner's Guide To Bedding a Royal by @olivieblake .

In my defence the reading was also helping to distract me from the fact that my aunt (who had raised me as much as my own mother) was in the hospital, incredibly sick with the doctors unable to tell us why. Eventually they identified that there was a mass in her uterus.

Maybe it was intuition or maybe it was a defence mechanism but from early on my brain told me to accept that she wouldn't make it. I knew the bad news would come in one day soon.

I remember reading this paragraph during that awful time:

"I am resilient; I know that now. If whatever happens next calls for the upper limits of my strength, then so be it. I've been through enough to know that whatever happens, I won't be alone, and for that I will come back stronger than before. When I open that door, whatever waits for me on the other side will not be too big for me to handle. It might be terrible; it might feel like the end of the world while I'm in it, and almost no matter the outcome, I understand that it's probably going to hurt. But it will not be bigger than me."

It gave me so much solace in that time that I sent Olivie an ask on Tumblr telling her how much "It will not be bigger than me" gave me comfort , how I would take it on as a new mantra.

The bad news came when exams were over and I was back in the little village my grandmother is from , while I was getting a driving lesson from my uncle. She was gone.

That first day I'd almost cast aside my new mantra because the pain felt so overwhelming. I felt like I was drowning in my and my family's grief. To this day I can still hear my uncle crying for his big sister.

But the mantra held true because here I am almost 3 years later, on her heavenly birthday and I'm smiling at her picture. The grief was not bigger than me. Our whole family can tell stories about her and laugh.

Of course it still hurts . Especially in March, the birthday month we used to celebrate together so today I was feeling really under the weather when I got this message from one of my best friends:

I've never been ashamed to tell people that my favourite quote in the world was from a Dramione fic because I knew if they ever got the chance to read Olivie's words they would understand.

And it kind of feels like vindication that the rest of the world is finally giving her her flowers.

From me not being able to even get Amazon to ship her books to South Africa to my best friends being able to walk into the local book shop and get a copy of The Atlas Six , I am amazed and so incredibly proud of how far she has come.

In essence this is my thank you to her for bringing me comfort once more with her writing.

I'm so excited for the thousands upon thousands who might get the honour of that comfort too.

[jellyluchi]

La Squadra x Gamer!Reader + spice

A/N: I’m not much of a gamer but I have been playing a few video games lately that gave me this idea. Edit: this was drafted mooonths ago when I was still playing Hades which I haven’t touched in a hot minute...

— Genre: nsfw, minors DNI

— Warnings: suggestive content, mentions of oral, fingering

Risotto

Tries to understand and play some of your video games if you decide to teach him, depending on the type of game he’s either really good or he sucks

Prefers to watch you play in either complete silence or let you talk and explain what the game is about

might ask you questions here and there because he’s a good boyfriend who takes interest in his partner’s fav hobbies!

enjoys relaxing decorative games or puzzle games the most. Also horror for aesthetics and good stories.

depending on whether he can tell if you’re in the mood (and yes he can tell) might tease you as you play

it starts with very light touches while you’re concentrating on the game and before you can even tell somehow you’re squirming!

very good at being stealthy when it comes to teasing his partners physically

might even use metallica to heighten your experience! your game is soon forgotten and you can’t remember if you beat the level or not

Prosciutto

Most likely to have you already on his lap when you’re playing if it’s his day off and he’s relaxing

a grandpa who won’t even try your video games unless you can somehow convince him with like.... a 45 slide power point on why he’d enjoy it, otherwise it’s just not to his taste

however, in the occasion that you do convince him, it’s truly a sight to see! This man is as intensely competitive as he is shit at games LOL (running in an fps looking at the ground with no camera control rip)

prone to giving up very fast unless you really walk him through it! Even then might not enjoy it unless it’s an interesting story or concept

will be more partial to games that tackle ethics and morals or are darker themed

But his favorite game is teasing you, you’re already on his lap and he loves giving you cuddles and if your having fun with your game why can’t he have fun with his?

It will be such a sensual and soothing experiencing you won’t realize when it even began before you’re panting a bit.

The best outcome is when you willingly leave your video games to go play with him instead

Pesci

Not big on gaming on his own but enjoys them very much when he plays, loves it if you invite him to play something!

Enjoys building and open world exploring type games the most (especially if the latter has some sort of fishing mini-game)

He likes to be creative with his building or wants to get immersed in some fantastical story

Is also chill with listening to you explain your games to him if he’s unfamiliar and loves watching you play

Now if you want some ‘video games and chill’ type situation you might have to be the one to initiate.

Whether it’s hinting at it verbally or physically he would need that confirmation

But once he knows what you want he’s not afraid to support you under the desk if you know what I mean.

Likes to hear your moans overpowering the video game music because it lets him know he’s doing a good job 

Formaggio

He’s already your video game buddy most likely, and he gets playfully competitive to boot

Likes FPS the most, especially if it’s multiplayer because that means he can go against you and keep score who got most kills

But if it’s a story based game he’ll goof off and sabotage missions on purpose to see how he can mess with the game (gfx, mechanics etc.)

Also just generally a fan of shooting things in game because it’s satisfying plus he has really good aim wit all his practice

when he’s not in the mood to play he’ll comment on your gaming and get close to rub your thighs slowly

if you don’t get the hint he’ll get bolder with his touches until they’re on your ass and interrupting your concentration

likes when you get frustrated from his touches and considers it a victory if you drop your game to make out with him

Likes to make bets like ‘if you score ___ I’ll dive between your legs’

Melone

Not partial to gaming but definitely has gaming experience, mostly with rhythm games rather than traditional console or PC ones

He really likes to know the details of games from you and can listen to you for hours explaining your favorite parts 

Gets into Sci-fi games the most, he loves the world building and the creative fictional technology that they come up with esp for space travel

His skills with the computer didn’t give him much gaming skills but it did allow him to get used to the controls quickly and he gets better with time

Touching you is something he’d rather do, even if its got an interesting concept because nothing is better than seeing you try to fight your moans

If you’re concentrated in gaming or explaining something he won’t interrupt you, but will invade your personal space till you get the hint

If you don’t, he will only inch closer till he’s touching you, first in innocent spots but eventually between your legs or your chest

Loves giving oral during gaming sessions, if you need support under the table he’s your man

Illuso

Never been much of a gamer but he loves to watch you play, especially when you get riled up. He’ll make lots of teasing comments about your gameplay to make you angry or irritated on purpose 

He pretends to look down on your gaming skills only because he knows the anger fuels your hormones

He gets bored quick when asked to play, is more into the avatar making section of the game than the actual game 

The type to run around in game going through the surrounding talking to random NPCs than actually playing 

His boredom from the games usually leads to other ideas, abandoning his console he, very sneakily, gets behind you. Like a snake he’s quickly wrapped around your body before you realize

You would only notice when he’s making quick work of your clothes, he’ll stop if you ask but if not, and usually you don’t, he’ll tease your inner thighs 

Doesn’t really putting his fingers between your legs unless you give him your undivided attention. If you whine, he just asks you what you want (may or may not give it to you depending on his mood) 

His goal is to make you sexually frustrated enough to abandon the game and let him finger you instead

Ghiaccio

A competitive gamer himself, you may find yourself actually challenged when playing with him. More likely to play FPS than the rest. 

He’s definitely vocal and focused when playing, comments on your every little move like you’re making the worst decision of your life 

Thinks bets are stupid (because he’s gonna win, obviously right?) and accept whatever challenge you throw at him 

Is super smug if he wins, but if he loses and you make him do something he hates he’ll be a sore loser and curse up a storm saying he’ll get you back for it 

Ghiaccio takes things at face value, he’s not going to think you’re here to fuck unless you actually say so (in which case he goes very red not realizing your intentions) 

If he’s particularly pent up though, he will wonder about the possibility of but won’t initiate it, you really have to be the one to rile him up well 

if you play your cards right, that is, letting him win, handling his attitude about it, getting him flustered enough, he will be open to letting you sucking him off, courtesy of winning the game 

the other much more fun route would be to win against him, tease him to hell and back and just saying “shut up and fuck me” in which case he will be more than happy to oblige after the stunt you pulled when playing 

Sorbet & Gelato

These two are actually pretty accustomed to old consoles such as the n64, having had grown up during it’s time however you will still have to help them navigate any gaming interface properly 

Most likely not used to PC gaming just yet but it’s terribly fun to have them watch especially if you’re playing horror and Gelato delights in the jumpscares while Sorbet really has no reaction 

Very much likes the morbid games psychological horrors with gore, their favorite characters are always the unhinged ones 

They’re both prone to comment if they’re playing themselves and it’s fun to watch as they’re barely phased by the atmosphere or general horrors of the game

Neither of them have much fun just observing you play your game, it’s more likely Gelato will get bored and whisper something lewd into Sorbet’s ear who smirks and they move into action

The plan is simple, they just want to see you squirm, won’t it be so much more fun to play if you’re taking Gelato from behind while Sorbet goes down your throat? 

Sure, in that case you’d be in no position to play by yourself but in perfect position for them to play with their little plaything

they’re really not much for subtlety and two of them and one of you, it doesn’t take much convincing nor man power to get you on your knees.